By the time Edwina was allowed to rejoin her friends in the Slytherin Common Room, her nose had turned a delicate shade of blue. Various little white dots appeared on it over time, as if it had begun to grow freckles.
"Madam Pomfrey says it's just a side effect of the medicine," Edwina glared, nursing her pride. "I've told you lot this a thousand times."
"So what you're saying is that it's permanent?" Margo squeaked, fighting back another round of giggles.
Edwina rolled her eyes, sniffling slightly. The color of her nose darkened for a brief moment, before returning to its previous shade of light blue. As far as anyone was aware, Edwina's nose would be back to normal within a few days. It was a pity that Colin Creevey wasn't around to photograph it endlessly.
The trio made their way towards the Great Hall on a brisk December morning, their green and silver scarves wrapped around their necks tightly. The dungeon had a bit of a heating problem—and by that, it was truly a complete lack of heating. Bluebell flames in jars had to be kept at the foot of each and every bed or it became completely intolerable.
The Great Hall, of course, was decorated with the utmost taste. Alice appreciated it tremendously, as Tim Burton and Lena Gieseke had hosted the last Christmas party she attended. She had grown accustomed to a certain level of quality, and the Christmas trees put all around the hall satisfied that. Small little snowflakes fell delicately down from the ceiling, vanishing right before they touched the ground.
Margo grinned sheepishly up at it, her tooth poking out slightly as ever. "I never want to graduate."
Edwina chuckled. "I can't wait until I'm Head Girl of this place—things will be different when I'm in charge."
"How?" Alice questioned, rolling her eyes slightly at Edwina's delusions of grandeur.
"For starters, butterbeer will be considered a basic necessity," Edwina declared, her voice rising slightly as to attract attention. "Together, we can! Now, who is with me? Who is ready to take over the school?"
Marie's small head glanced over in their direction at Edwina's shouting. Her eyes fell on Alice, and her smile vanished from sight. Arlo pulled her attention away from them, and she continued to chatter on amiably with the other Hufflepuffs. They had all gravitated towards one end of the table, where an irritating second year named Justin was speaking excitedly about something.
"Any idea what's going on with them?" Edwina asked, before making her way over to the Slytherin table. "It's not too often that those idiots get happy."
"They're always happy," Margo laughed. "My brother never stopped grinning—not once. He had to get some bones regrown, didn't stop smiling at all… He's a moron sometimes."
Alice's heart fell a little more. Once again, she found herself being torn apart. She could not resist the urge to fit in among her house and with her friends, yet at the same time, her mind was swimming with Marie's broken face. There has to be a better way, Alice hoped, her spirits crushed. I don't have to be mean—right?
"True," Edwina conceded. "That's why they're such morons. No one could possibly be that happy all of the time and have any sort of sense to them."
Alice winced slightly, parting her lips. Before she could stop herself, the words had slid out, almost as if they were of their own accord. "Surprised Creevey isn't one of them," she said.
Edwina nodded. "Gryffindor is different, you see. They're the type of stupid that gets themselves killed. Hence why Creevey's probably dead in the Hospital Wing… They should just get his grave ready."
"That isn't funny," Alice whispered as Edwina and Margo took their seats.
"You say something, Alice?" Margo asked, pouring herself some marmalade.
She hardly hesitated. "Nope—didn't say a word."
Alice sat down next to Edwina at the table, and she scooped some bacon onto her plate. She despised it when she was younger, yet her mother had taught her to enjoy food that she hated. Actors and actresses didn't usually have the nerve to complain to a caterer about the quality of food.
"Miss Holmes, Miss Fawley, Miss Cavey," Professor Snape said sternly, stepping behind Margo. "I need to know if you are intending to remain here for the holidays…"
Margo shook her head. Her brother was taking her on a trip to Mexico, in order to see the ruins of the Aztec civilization. And Edwina was going to some sort of secret society meeting—she only let them know that only twenty eight families were allowed to attend. Beyond that, she had refused to say a word about it.
Alice hesitated for a moment. Amaryllis would gladly take her, though Alice had no interest in going back to that quaint cottage. Her parents wrote her the week before to inform her their plans to spend Christmas in Bulgaria had to be canceled—her mother was hosting some American television program called Saturday Night Live immediately before guest starring in a new season of a popular crime show.
She didn't care at all for the idea of spending Christmas in another trailer on some set.
"I'll stay," Alice said, reaching her hand out for the form from Professor Snape. "Do I just write my name here?"
"Obviously," Snape muttered calmly. As soon as Alice had scribbled her name onto the form, he took it and whisked away, down to bother the rest of her housemates about their vacation plans.
Edwina snickered slightly. "You know, Draco is staying for the holidays as well. I heard a rumor that he fancies you."
Alice gagged slightly. "Please, Eddie. I'm hardly twelve."
Margo grinned, scooping another spoon filled with porridge. "Make sure to write to us, yeah? I'll be sending your present as soon as I get home."
"Why not just leave it here?" Alice frowned. "Save your poor owl a trip…"
"…Good point," Margo grinned. "Why aren't you in Ravenclaw, eh? You're sure smart enough to be one. Mr. Garter gushed over your essay to Professor Snape last night at dinner—I heard the entire thing."
"The hat almost put me in Ravenclaw," Alice mused.
"Explains why you took forever to be sorted," Edwina chuckled. "Maybe you aren't actually a Slytherin then."
Margo rolled her eyes. "That's silly—Alice is the most crafty, cunning, and sly person I've ever met. Plus, she's pureblood. Makes her a shoe in."
"Yeah," Alice lied. Her stomach twisted with discomfort, as she recalled the Golden Globes tickets. Somehow, she'd have to convince Draco that her muggle father was a pureblood wizard.
Maybe I'll say he would have been a Hufflepuff, Alice pondered. It could lower his expectations a smidge.
Edwina's nose had lightened considerably by the end of the day. Rather than being blue, it had turned into the palest shade of lavender. Alice and Margo were both secretly disappointed, as they had hoped that Edwina's nose would remain unusually colored until the holidays began.
"This is so exciting!" Edwina gushed, braiding her hair quickly. "I'm going to beat all of you lot."
"Assuming I don't beat you first," Alice chuckled, smirking slyly.
Tonight was the start of the accomplishment of her dream to become the greatest witch who ever lived. She would heroically beat every other student in the Dueling Club, and then she would best Lockhart. It wouldn't be too hard, and she would then narrowly lose to Professor Snape. He would then train her, and next year, she would be the youngest person in history to win the Peverell Cup.
Stars shined in her eyes as they joined the large crowd of students. A few of the older students had neglected to wear their robes, their sleeves rolled up as if they were prepared to arm wrestle, rather than to duel. At the center of it all, Lockhart and Snape stood on an elevated stage of sorts. Lockhart wore an atrocious lavender garb, while Snape was clad in his usual black.
"I bet Snape'll beat him," Edwina grinned. "Maybe Mr. Garter will have to teach our Defense Against the Dark Arts class too."
Mr. Garter—or Professor Garter, no one could quite agree on which to use—had proven to be fanatical. He had spent the last class lecturing on the importance of the Tales of Beedle the Bard. At one point in class, he realized that Alice's mother was Dymphna Blackstone. Her mother had played the maiden in the Warlock's Hairy Heart, and Mr. Garter had been in attendance that day at the theatre.
To say Alice had been embarrassed was an understatement.
"I heard he won the Peverell Cup, actually," Margo whispered.
Alice's eyes widened slightly with newfound respect, yet before she could ask Margo anything else, Lockhart pointed his wand at his throat, and his voice was amplified.
"Welcome everyone to this little dueling club of ours!" Lockhart announced, smiling largely. "Professor Snape has been so kind to offer to assist me, and I promise I won't damage your Potions master too much…"
Alice, Edwina, and Margo glared at Lockhart, along with the rest of the Slytherins. The other houses snickered, looking forward to the idea of seeing Snape get beaten black and blue. They hated him for hardly any good reasons.
"Now, I am going to demonstrate a rather basic move," Lockhart boasted. "Watch—Colovaria!"
Snape chuckled as Lockhart stared forward with shock. To him, it must have appeared that the spell had done nothing. Snape stood there completely unharmed.
Lockhart's hair, however, had turned magenta.
"Professor, your hair!" Marie's voice cried out, though Alice could tell that she was enjoying the spectacle nonetheless.
"Oh dear," Lockhart frowned. "Well—I meant to do that, of course! You see, you need the utmost concentration when dueling, otherwise this is what will happen, children. Now it is Professor Snape's turn."
"Aeris Percutio!" Snape commanded stiffly, whipping his wand around. Lockhart's robes suddenly were cut up as if by a million tiny razor blades, and minor scratches littered his body.
"Well…There we have it!" Lockhart chuckled stiffly. "Of course, I let Professor Snape do that to me…Ordinarily, he wouldn't have stood a chance!"
Edwina rolled her eyes, before making a very rude gesture towards Lockhart. They largely ignored his words, though they did pay enough attention to watch as they were all put into pairs. Edwina found herself matched up with Ginny Weasley, and the two of them already bore death glares. Margo was paired up with a far older boy named Cedric, who wore a dashing smile.
"You'll be with Miss Nicholas, Miss Holmes," Snape announced, shoving Alice delicately towards Marie.
Alice gulped, desperate to find anyway to escape. Marie had each and every reason to detest her. She had called her—she had called her… Alice cringed, forcing herself to not even think that word again. Perhaps if she forgot it existed, she would never use it again.
"Alice," Marie said softly.
"Marie," Alice replied curtly, avoiding her gaze. She didn't want to see the pain and anger in Marie's sweet eyes.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Marie charge forwards. This was it—she was certain Marie was about to punch her. The wind was knocked out of her, and she choked, only to find a certain Hufflepuff hugging her tightly.
"I forgive you, even if you don't forgive yourself," Marie whispered in her ear. "I know about your dad."
Marie let go, and Alice's eyes widened with fear. She knows he's a muggle—she knows I have dirty blood.
Her heart pounded, and she found herself unable to speak. Her ears rang and all around her, she could see people begin to practice spells with each other, demonstrating their prowess at the Disarming Charm.
"What do you mean?" Alice swallowed thickly, her hands trembling as she grasped her wand.
Marie glanced from side to side. "I know you want them to think that you're a pureblood—but I know your father is Edmund Holmes, the muggle actor."
Alice gulped, her eyes welling with tears. She closed them briefly, only to find Marie enveloping her in a hug once more.
"I'm sorry I didn't help you," Marie mumbled. "People in Slytherin can be really prejudiced—I can't imagine what it's like in there."
Alice laughed, shoving the hug away. "You shouldn't be saying sorry… Expelliarmus!"
Marie's wand flew out of her hand, and Alice beamed at Marie's confused face. "We're supposed to be practicing this, remember?"
Marie rolled her eyes. "You know how to ruin a perfectly good moment."
Alice grinned. "Do you want to see a spell I've been working on?"
Marie nodded. Alice pointed her wand at Marie's wand, and she cleared her throat. "Accio wand!"
Nothing happened. It hardly even rolled to the side a bit. Alice's face fell, and Marie snickered, glad to see her ego take a hit.
"Maybe you just need to say it in a silly voice," Marie offered.
However, the suggestion was cut off quickly. Everyone had fallen into hushed whispers as Lockhart and Snape pulled the fabled enemies, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, up to the stage. The pair stood on opposite ends, each holding their wands at the ready.
Mairead Fallon stood in front of Marie and Alice, obscuring their views slightly. Draco and Harry bowed to each other, and in a moment, a snake appeared out of Draco's wand. It slithered its way towards Harry, and Alice's heart began to pound once more.
Even Lockhart couldn't have confused that spell with a Disarming Charm, surely. This was entirely intentional, a fact that was evident from the broad smirk on Malfoy's face.
"Scared, Potter?" Draco sneered.
Instead, something very strange and very stupid happened. Harry walked towards the snake, ignoring the warnings of Professor Snape. He opened his mouth and hissed at it, and the snake moved towards Justin, the Hufflepuff second year. Justin's face went white with fear, and Harry hissed more forcefully at the snake.
"Potter!" Snape warned, and Harry turned to look at him.
Slowly, the snake backed off, and Snape waved his wand, vanishing it quickly. Justin fell to his knees in terror, and all of Hufflepuff house swarmed around him for comfort.
"He was trying to kill me!" Justin stammered. "He's the Heir of Slytherin!"
Everyone's heads turned at Harry in surprise, and Harry's eyes widened with fear. He had no idea of what was going on, and deep down, Alice pitied him. His life mustn't have been easy.
But at the same time, she despised him. Two conflicting philosophies were at work inside of her, battling each other constantly. It was a fight for Alice's soul.
"He's going to kill everyone!" a girl screamed. "He opened the Chamber of Secrets!"
The hysteria swept through the crowd, and Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley dragged Harry away from the scene, before anyone could do anything rash. Alice gulped, exchanging a panicked glance with Marie. Mairead turned to the two of them, as if looking for someone to gossip with.
"Do you think he's the Heir of Slytherin?" Mairead asked, her eyes wide with fascination. "Is that possible? He's a Gryffindor…"
Marie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I'm not really an expert on this entire thing."
Alice frowned, her mind flashing back to the developments in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were certainly up to something. Were they attempting to open the Chamber of Secrets and purge all of the muggleborns? No, Hermione's muggleborn, Alice decided. It simply wasn't logical.
But yet…The Boy Who Lived was most certainly up to something.
"I don't have a clue," Alice admitted, just as a strike of inspiration hit her. "But I think I know who would."
"Who?" Mairead asked, just as Michael Corner tugged on the sleeve of her robe.
"Professor Garter," Alice mumbled, the plan falling into detail more and more. "He's a Slytherin alumnus, gifted historian and duelist… If anyone can figure out who the Heir of Slytherin actually is, I bet he can."
Marie nodded in agreement. "I heard he likes cheesecake."