I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 38 – Regaining Balance

The energy in the common room was a bit uneven.

For the majority of the students, it was another Saturday afternoon. The sun shone brightly through the windows. It was not cold enough to warrant a roaring fire in the hearth. Most came and went from the common room on all sorts of business. For those involved with what they were calling the Slug Incident, they all had different frames of mind.

Ron was jubilant. He had managed to exact a long-needed revenge on Draco for all the abuse he hurled at him for well over a year. The fact that there was picture of the aftermath, and that he had not been punished for it, was the cherry on top of the proverbial sundae. He and the twins and Ginny sat with a grinning Colin, inspecting all the pictures the boy had taken. Ron normally would have been very upset that there was a photo of him throwing up a slug, but in hindsight it did look funny and the fact that every picture of Draco showed him being far more miserable, made it much more palatable.

Oliver was still pleased with how practice went, not minding that it ended earlier than he planned. The team showed strong promise and he knew they would hone their skills more as they approached their first game.

Angelina and Katie were more reserved. They were proud of how Harry stood up to Draco, how he had stood up to the concept of blood purity. Seeing how much he had changed over a year was staggering and they were impressed. However, they still worried over him and even though he had touched upon his childhood at the Dursleys, albeit tangentially and only barely scratching the surface, they still thought there was more to understand.

Harry was quiet. His attention was divided. He would fade from conversation and get that far away look in his eyes, the look the team recognized that it was him being lost in his memories. He would sporadically shudder and shake his head, visibly pushing the thoughts and memories down. Whenever he was not thinking, he was trying to pay attention to Hermione.

She was still very much upset. Instead of hiding behind her books and work like she normally would, she sat very close to Harry, much like when the House was upset at her last year. She was used to being mocked for her personality, for being studious. She was used to being teased over her big bushy hair and large teeth. After a while she could more or less ignore those kinds of insults.

She was not used to being called such a terrible thing to her face; over something she could not control. She was not even aware that she could be treated like that over her family, much less knowing that people would. Not even Harry was that successful in drawing her out of increasingly dismal mood.

Alicia pocketed a set of pictures, handing a blushing Colin some coins. She looked incredibly smug, like a cat given a desired treat.

"Do I even want to know what you're going to do with those?" Oliver asked, amused.

"If you're wondering if I'll spread them about Hogwarts, the twins have me beat already," she said. "I imagine over the next few days there will be many pictures of Slug-o Malfoy." She smiled widely at Oliver's snort. "I'm sending these home to my brother. He'll find some good use of such delightful photographic evidence of such a Noble and Venerable House."

"Have I mentioned how much high society terrifies me?" Oliver asked mildly.

Alicia gave him a complicated look. "Once or twice," she murmured. She looked over at her fellow Chasers, at Harry, then her eyes rested on Hermione. "Poor girl," she said softly.

"Yeah, that was really ugly," Oliver said sourly. "Some parts of the Wizarding World are just nasty." He looked thoughtful for a moment then slowly rose from his seat.

"What are you doing?" Alicia asked with interest.

"I'm going to have a chat with her."

"Really?" Alicia could not hide her surprise.

"Well yeah, she doesn't have a lot of people to talk to. Harry's a bit wrapped up in his own head right now. Why not me?"

"She doesn't like you," Alicia said frankly.

Oliver grinned. "True, but I'm hoping she would want to talk to me anyways. It's not good to keep that sort of thing bottled up."

Alicia was truly touched. She knew Oliver had no ill will towards Hermione, something that was not mutual, but he was willing to weather her displeasure to help her. He really was a good person. Alicia decided to show her admiration for him.

"Don't be an idiot. She'll probably be even more withdrawn and hostile with you, not that anyone would blame the poor thing."

Oliver snorted. "Fair enough. Should I ask Percy or one of the girl Prefects then?"

Alicia gave him a condescending look. "I'll talk to her. She needs a delicate touch."

"Then I should ask Percy," Oliver said. He grunted and rubbed his shoulder. "I thought you said you had a delicate touch."

Alicia walked away, shaking out her hand. "She needs a delicate touch, not you." She walked up the second year girl and gently touched her shoulder. "Hey, let's go have a talk. Just you and me."

Hermione's eyes widened. "With me?"

"Yes, with you. Come on."

Hermione looked at Harry.

Harry smiled comfortingly. "Alicia is really smart, I'm sure she just wants to help. You can trust her."

After a long moment of hesitation, she nodded jerkily. She followed the older girl who led them both to a corner windowsill. Alicia sat against one facing the outside, letting Hermione take the opposite. The two witches sat in slightly awkward silence.

"I can understand you might feel a bit awkward," Alicia said, "speaking with me alone like this."

"Well, we haven't before," Hermione said slowly.

"Precisely. Has Harry ever told you how he and I chat?"

"Aside from how you help him with homework and Quidditch stuff, no not really."

"Then allow me to tell you. I am a very straightforward person," most of the time, "and value speaking honestly. So don't feel like you have to hold back when you talk to me. Let me have it like you do with the others. I promise I can take it and give it back more often than not."

Hermione blushed. "I'm not that bad…am I?"

"It's one of the things I admire about you, honestly. You speaking your mind regardless of who you are speaking to."

Her blush deepened. "In that case," she breathed deeply, "why you?"

"Come again?"

"Why are you the one approaching me?"

Alicia smiled genuinely. "Because I wanted to. Oliver did too and in fact he was about to but I don't think you think highly of him." Alicia giggled at Hermione's look of being caught. "Do you really want to talk to the twins right now either? They're good lads, but they're lads. Their hearts are in the right place but they aren't that great at talking about feelings and being sensitive."

Alicia nodded at her fellow Chasers. "Katie would talk to you but she's a bit preoccupied with Harry right now. And I know that you and Angelina don't get along at all. Harry's been trying to talk to you but he's also a little lost in his mind and you're not engaging with him right now either. Besides, I happen to like you. You remind me a bit of me when I was your age."

Hermione did not know if she should be insulted or flattered. "What, a know-it-all that needs to be pitied? To be taken under your wing?" She did not know why she was being so hostile to the older girl. She should be happy that someone was trying to engage with her. Not only that, she was usually pretty happy with knowing just about everything, why was she adamant on making herself feel worse?"

She was unprepared for Alicia to laugh so heartily.

"That, and, you're a girl trying to find her place in our world and you don't have some one to talk to about it."

Hermione did not like how close to the mark Alicia was.

"I'm a Spinnet. I'm from a fairly higher up family in the Wizarding World. We're not part of the Ancient or Noble houses, but we're a known family. Technically we're on the fringes of what some call high society, something my mother wishes to change desperately."

Hermione blinked at the information.

Alicia continued. "Which means I'm well aware of the Pure-blood mentality and all the stigmas and reputations that comes with any of the so-called blood backgrounds. My family isn't as fanatical about them, for the most part, but I am aware of them. I understand them."

"But you're not a mud…Muggle-born," Hermione said quietly.

"No, I am not. And I will never assume I know exactly how it is like. I can only say I am aware of the connotations of it."

"How can such a system exist?!" Hermione said angrily. "To judge someone on their…their…"

"Blood status," Alicia provided.

"Even that term sounds vile!"

"I don't disagree with you."

"Why do you accept it then?"

Alicia frowned at Hermione. "Tolerance is not acceptance. There are some things that one cannot simply fight against."

Hermione laughed without humor. "If everyone had that attitude, then nothing would change."

The older girl smiled. "Merlin bless me, I like your fire." Her smile became serious. "I'm not trying to make you feel worse, believe it or not."

"Then what were you trying to do?"

"To let you know that you're not alone."

"But you're not a Muggle-born."

"I'm not immune to prejudices from being a Pure-blood. My whole life I've been told what to do, how to act, what was acceptable behavior and was wasn't. If I listened to all that, I wouldn't even have many of the friends I have now. I wouldn't be speaking to you right now. I wouldn't even be on the Quidditch team." She looked over at her teammates, at Oliver.

She looked back at the younger witch. "And as I mentioned before, the Spinnets are on the edges of the society. I get told all sorts of terrible things by children from other Houses, ones who think I am lesser than they are because my House is not as prestigious as theirs, not as Ancient. They think they can tell me what to do on top of what a 'proper Pure-blood witch' should be like."

"That sounds awful," Hermione whispered.

"It's very unpleasant," Alicia said somberly. "At least I have the benefit of learning the rules of the game as I play. You don't even have that luxury. You're forced to play while knowing nothing. That's just as bad if not worse than my situation."

They sat in silence for a while.

"How do you cope?" Hermione asked.

"By choosing my battles. Some things I'll compromise on. For example, the Spinnets are deeply involved in all things potions. Thankfully, I happen to enjoy potions a lot so that was an easy thing to accept and be involved in. Just as thankfully, I am good at it. People tend to forgive certain…character peculiarities, if you're good at something they deem worthy."

She leaned back against the wall. "Thus, that comes with leverage. Accepting something high up on a list means more flexibility on things lower on the list. What matters is where you place things on your own list. I'm going into the family business, willingly and enthusiastically, so I am 'allowed' to enjoy Quidditch and to make friends how I wish. They think those two things are low, thus they are willing to bend on them. I place them higher on my list, so in this case, both sides win."

"That's exhausting."

Alicia shrugged. "I kind of enjoy the game sometimes so it's not too bad for me, mostly."

"What happens when something on your list is as high as it is on someone else's, and neither side are being flexible?"

The older girl breathed deep. "Then you have to decide if that's a battle you're willing to fight, and how hard."

Hermione looked at her. "Has that happened yet?"

"Not yet." Soon, but not yet.

Hermione looked down at her lap. She could tell she was getting close to something especially touchy for the other girl. "Thank you, for explaining things to me."

Alicia leaned forward and gently patted Hermione's hands. "You're welcome. Like I said, it's unfair that you're thrown into things like this. Muggle-borns have a distinct disadvantage when it comes to Wizarding traditions." She snorted inelegantly. "Probably contrived that way honestly. Not to mention you're a witch and that adds on more headache."

She waited for Hermione to look up before she winked. "Us brainy types have to stick together."

Hermione blushed, but this time it was a happy blush.

Alicia looked over at her team mates again. "We have to do all the thinking for our friends too." She smiled fondly at Harry cuddling with Katie and Angelina. At one point during her conversation with Hermione, the boy had joined the two girls on their couch and they sat and joked over something.

Alicia did not miss Hermione's look of longing as she too looked at the trio. Hmmm, I wonder what's the reason behind that, she thought to herself. A question for another day I suppose.

"Anyways, if you have any questions or just want someone to talk to, just come find me. Anytime."

Hermione looked back at the older girl; gratitude apparent on her face. "Thank you, I really appreciate it."

"Like I said, we have to stick together." She rose from the window sill and could not resist a parting remark. "Oh, and a word of advice?" She smiled mischievously. "If you want something, sometimes you have to reach out and grab it for yourself."

Hermione followed Alicia's line of sight and her blush was the reddest and deepest yet. "I, uh, don't know what you're talking about," she stammered.

Alicia chuckled knowingly and walked over to Harry, Katie, and Angelina. She reached out and pulled Harry up, pulling him with her as she sat on the opposite couch. "You two have had too much Harry time lately, monopolizing the poor boy. Learn to share."

Harry looked bemused and embarrassed at the attention, but did not resist hugging Alicia back. Katie looked slightly embarrassed herself. Angelina rolled her eyes though. "I never have to share with you. You always just take things without asking." She looked at Harry. "Not that I'm calling you a thing, Harry," she said hurriedly.

"For shame! Trying to claim Harry like that," Alicia said with mock severity. "Don't worry Harry, I'll rescue you from the horrid brute."

"Brute?!" Angelina gasped. "Don't listen to her Rabbit! She's the brute. She pretends to be a lady but you should see her in private. Grunts worse than the twins and just scratches herself whenever and wherever!"

Alicia colored. "You sleep like a concussed crup! All sprawled out on your back and drooling all over the place."

Angelina leapt at her.

"Save me Harry!" Alicia squealed and pushed him into Angelina's way. She then leapt over the couch, laughing to herself while Angelina got tangled with the boy. With an unhurried air, she sauntered away, looking pleased with herself while Angelina hurled dire threats at her and Harry laughing.

"What was that about?" Oliver asked as she approached. He too looked amused at the face Angelina was making, as well as the yelling.

"Oh you know me, starting a bit of trouble after calming some down," Alicia said with false innocence. She stood by the seated young man, making faces at Angelina.

"Good thing the trouble you start is never that serious," Oliver said with a grin. "Hermione looks better, looks like your talk helped."

"She's a good girl. Just needs a bit of help."

"Glad you talked to her. That was really good of you."

Alicia blushed. "Oh, well, thank you." She went silent for a moment then in a moment of self-reflection, decided to follow her own advice. She tentatively rested an arm on Oliver's shoulder, leaning against him.

She was glad he was not looking at her when his arm went around her waist companionably since she felt all the blood in her body rush to her face.