Throughout the following weeks, Hogwarts was buzzing with talk of the dementors disrupting the match, especially the Slytherin table. In fact, Draco Malfoy had even taken to dramatically reenacting Harry's plunge to crowds of laughing Slytherins in the Great Hall at mealtimes in an attempt at scorn. As if Harry hadn't been bruised enough by the fall, Avery had learned from Fred and George how his broom had been blown into the Whomping Willow and destroyed. Having often admired his Nimbus, Avery felt real empathy for Harry and wished she had another broom to give away- though the longer she thought about it the idea of being a broom distributor made her more bitter about not being on the team.
Avery and the twins were still working on the skiving snackboxes as best they could, but with Wood hounding the twins for extra practices, which he hoped would help them make up for their unfortunate loss to Hufflepuff, Avery only met with the twins in the room of requirement on Tuesday evenings. She found this almost as frustrating as the twins.
"He's mad. Really. Harry almost died and he couldn't even be bothered to come see him in the hospital wing-"
"Instead, he was so distraught over the loss, he tried to drown himself in the showers. It's miserable. They should take his broom away before he harms himself or others."
"Don't pretend this season isn't as important to you as it is to him… Well, maybe a little less important," Avery relented upon seeing the twins raising their eyebrows, as she was jotting down potential ingredients for their latest product, puking pasties.
"As much as we love quidditch, we've only created prototypes of fever fudge and nosebleed nougat and we'd hope to have the whole snackbox down by now. If this business is going to be lucrative, we're going to need to hurry things along," Fred said, who was also pouring over a book listing various potion ingredients and their properties. George, who had seen fit to take a break in a cozy armchair, did not seem as concerned as his brother.
"We'll manage. Don't forget we have all of our Christmas break to focus on Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes while Wood and the rest of the team are away," he said, his arms back behind his head, yawning.
"You'll be here over break, won't you?" Fred asked, giving Avery a look that made her feel as if she had little choice in the matter.
"As it happens, I will," Avery replied, closing the book in front of her. "My parents'll be in the states this Christmas to visit some distant relatives, and, as fun as that sounds, I chose to stay here," she finished sarcastically.
"What a coincidence! We're staying partially to avoid family too- see, Percy is going home for the holiday, and we think staying would be a well deserved break from him," George smiled.
"Well, you would know about a break, wouldn't you?" Avery chuckled, nodding to his position in the chair while she cracked open yet another book, wishing there was a teacher she could simply ask for the information she needed without arousing suspicion; it would certainly cut down her workload.
The weeks wore on, and Christmas break was fast approaching. To the delight of many students, there was to be another Hogsmeade trip on the very last weekend of the term. Avery, regrettably, was not among those who were. Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory, much to her disappointment, were. Avery had noticed them more than once chatting about their date in the Great Hall, in between classes, and had even heard Cedric talking to one of his friends about it in the common room while she probed the plants for Divination answers. She tried to keep her disappointment to herself, but when the day of the trip came, Fred and George found her out.
"Ready for a lovely day in Hogsmeade?" George asked, slipping into a vacant seat on her left at the Hufflepuff table, where she was eating breakfast. Fred had also slipped into a seat on her right, but he had a mouthful of toast and was not able to comment.
"Erm, actually, I think I will have to pass on today," Avery replied, hesitatingly. She glanced about halfway down the table where Cedric was sitting, enjoying his breakfast. She didn't want to run the risk of bumping into Cho and Cedric on their date and had resolved to stay behind and work on the snackboxes.
"Why?" Fred asked, a bit of irritation finding its way into his voice as he followed her glance.
"I don't want to talk about it now," Avery muttered, "I just don't think I should go."
"You fancy Cedric, don't you?" Fred asked, all but rolling his hazel eyes. "Half the girls in school are bitter over his date with Cho today. Didn't have you pegged as one of them."
"Can you shut up?" Avery said through gritted teeth. Her face was growing hot. In all likelihood Cedric already knew about Avery's crush, but on the off chance he didn't, she didn't want anyone to know or spread that fact around, as she knew it would ultimately end in her embarrassment.
"If you agree to get over yourself and come to Hogsmeade, I can," Fred replied dryly, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice.
"Yeah, alright. Not sure why it matters to you so much anyway," Avery grumbled sullenly, pushing her unfinished toast away and collecting her hair, which was elbow length and turquoise today, to be put into a plait.
"Young Avery, have you not yet come to realize that in addition to our being our business partner, we now consider you a friend-" George began.
"And friends don't let friends brood over unattainable romantic interests for too long," Fred finished quietly, smirking. Avery scowled at him, but knowing they considered her an actual friend did warm her heart ever so slightly.
Shortly after the twins promised they would meet Avery at Zonko's, but that they first had to tend to some business.
"What business?" Avery asked as they stood, straightening their robes. However, they simply reiterated that they would meet her and Lee at Zonko's as soon as possible, and winked conspiratorially. With Marilyn nowhere to be found that morning, Avery joined the queue near the entrance of the castle alone. Already she was regretting being bullied into going, as one of the first things she saw was Cedric and Cho holding hands as they waited in the queue ahead of her. She tried to ignore it as she showed Filch her permission slip and made her way across the snowy grounds and through Hogsmeade, but it was impossible for her to ignore the way they glanced at each other nervously or smiled shyly as they made their way to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop a few lengths ahead of her. Seeing them together hurt her more than she was willing to admit. The realization that Fred was right, that Cedric really was unattainable, had always been a possibility at the back of her mind, but now it was becoming a reality.
If it hadn't had been for catching Marilyn out of the corner of her eye, Avery's pity party might have continued to the point of tears. However, she became distracted- and most of all- utterly confused upon seeing her best friend walking with Draco Malfoy and his ghouls Crabbe and Goyle. Though not holding hands, they were exuding the same coy energy Cedric and Cho were as they walked together, Crabbe and Goyle following them at a short distance. They were talking quietly so that Avery could not make out the topic of their conversation, but it was clear that it was not their first interaction, and Avery could not help but remember Marilyn refusing to tell her about her newest "hobby." Could it be that she was secretly seeing Draco Malfoy, one of the most prejudice and rude people Avery had ever had the displeasure of meeting? Avery had never liked Draco, so it would make sense that Marilyn would not want to tell her if they were dating, but she still had difficulty imagining her best friend with someone so shallow and hateful.
While Avery wondered, the foursome rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. Avery then realized she had frozen upon seeing them, and was standing not far from Zonko's. Although she was deathly curious, she reasoned she should not spy and simply ask her friend later about what she had seen. So, she made her way to Zonko's and waited.
In spite of herself, Avery had a wonderful day with the twins and their friend Lee in Hogsmeade. They shopped at Zonko's, musing on ideas for superior products. They brought candy from Honeyduke's. They ordered Butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks, Avery occasionally having to fight to keep it from coming out of her nose while laughing. She was able to momentarily forget her bitterness over Cedric and her confusion over Marilyn and enjoy her new, unlikely friendship.
However, when she returned to the common room late that night, she found it to be empty except for all but one person.
"Of course Cedric would be here in the common room, probably still googly-eyed from his date with Cho," Avery thought bitterly, her good mood quickly disintegrating.
"Avery! Just the person I was hoping to see," Cedric beamed, standing up out of his armchair near the fire, stretching a bit. Avery couldn't help but admire how well built he was as his muscles tensed and flexed under his shirt. She tried to quickly shake the thought, though, reminding herself he was with Cho now and she was filled with bitter energy.
"How was your trip to Hogsmeade?" he asked politely, hands in his pockets, ambling over to her. She paused on her way to her dormitory, shrugging off her cloak, just to give herself something to do during the awkward interaction.
"It was very nice, actually… How was yours?" She asked, not really wanting to know.
"It was very nice," Cedric began, "that's why I was waiting up for you. I wanted to thank you. Cho told me that our date was all thanks to you."
Avery froze. Had Cho really told Cedric her secret? And that it wasn't Cho who agreed to the date at all, but Avery disguised as her? She became infuriated at the idea; She had gotten Cho a date with arguably the most desirable 5th year at Hogwarts, a date with the boy she herself was most interested in, and Cho had betrayed her trust by revealing her secret to him?
"She what?" Avery said, furrowing her brow and sounding a little angrier than she had intended. Cedric looked taken aback, as he had probably never seen Avery look that upset before, save when she wasn't chosen for the quidditch team.
"She just said that it was thanks to you she agreed to go… I mean, it was a little confusing and she didn't tell me all the details. All she really said was that she was grateful to you for making the date happen. I had just assumed she told you she was nervous about the date and you reassured her or something… Did you not want me to know that? You seem… upset," Cedric explained, trailing off uncomfortably.
Avery's anger subsided, but not her bitterness. Cho and Cedric had discussed her while laughing and holding hands and enjoying their date. If their relationship continued, she would be credited with starting it, and simultaneously ending any chance she had at getting into a relationship with Cedric. Perfect.
"Oh… No, not at all. Sorry. I… I don't know. I don't feel like I really deserve any credit for anything, I suppose. Let's just leave it at that… But I'm glad you both had a good time," she added awkwardly, avoiding his gaze for a moment.
"Well, thank you," Cedric said sincerely, his normal enchanting smile returning to his face, although Avery thought she noticed a hint of guilt behind it, which she could not explain. Again, Avery felt a stab of bitterness and knew she would not have any trouble keeping herself from wearing his smile herself tonight.
"Goodnight, Avery. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break."
"You too," Avery said in a small voice to Cedric's back, as he made his way toward his own dormitory. As she turned and made her way to her own, she heaved a deep sigh, wishing she knew a potion or incantation to alleviate the heaviness she felt in her chest.
In the flurry of the last Hogsmeade trip, all of Avery's additional responsibilities and the late nights they required, and Marilyn being mysteriously absent from the Great Hall and dormitories, Avery did not see Marilyn before she left for Christmas break. She considered sending Marilyn an owl, but decided that she would rather not bother her at home during Christmas and would wait to ask her about Draco face to face.
Meanwhile, Avery was enjoying her Christmas break at the castle. With so few people around for the holiday, Avery and the twins were able to associate freely and frequently without fear of suspicion. And what time they didn't spend working on the snackboxes, they enjoyed having snowball fights and playing wizards chess, and ultimately getting to know each other better.
"So why didn't you go to the states with your parents?" George had asked one afternoon as they slaved over the creation of fever fudge. To combat the drafty halls, a roaring fire had appeared in the fireplace when they entered the room of requirement, and the room had decorated itself for the holiday season.
"No real reason," Avery lied, adding bulbadox juice to her cauldron. She enjoyed being their friend, but so far their friendship had been surface level, and she wasn't sure she was ready to delve into her homelife.
"For someone who regularly lies about their identity, you're a terrible liar," George said quietly, focusing more on tipping lacewing flies into his cauldron than on his response, it seemed. Fred remained quiet, but shot Avery a curious look. Avery couldn't help but chuckle; he was absolutely right.
"My parents haven't been getting along," she replied simply, hoping her barebones answer would also communicate they need not inquire further. "It's a bit difficult to be around, so I opted to stay here." The twins remained quiet. Avery had gathered from hearing tales about the Burrow and their family that despite their bickering, the Weasleys actually got along very well and loved each other very much. Avery's family had as well, up until recently, and she found herself feeling very jealous of the family the twins had- the happy family she had once had.
"What does your family think of your business venture?" Avery asked, trying to change the subject and disperse some of the tension.
"They don't know-"
"They wouldn't approve at all, of course-"
"Mum would tell us we were wasting our time and how we should be studying instead, and dad would worry about what would happen if our products fell into muggle-hands… Our family has its tension, too," George added quietly, as though reading Avery's mind. She smiled slightly and nodded, feeling a little comforted and a little closer to the brothers than before.
Things continued like this over the break, their friendship becoming less and less surface level, to the point where Avery was beginning to consider the twins some of her best friends, along with Marilyn. And, as George had predicted, they were able to get quite a lot done with the rest of the students gone; the very night the rest of the school was due to return, the trio had completed their prototypes for their skiving snackbox collection, including fainting fancies, fever fudge, nosebleed nougat, and puking pastilles.
"Incredible! We did it!" Avery said, actually jumping for joy after Fred came too after eating her fainting fancy antidote. "We've completed the snackboxes!"
George and his twin (after a few seconds of recovering) joined her in making celebratory noises and motions, culminating in a group hug. Smooshed in between the two, Avery laughed and awkwardly tried to wrap her arms around them as well.
"We need to do something to celebrate! Butterbeer in the kitchens?" Fred suggested, pulling away to look at George and Avery's faces.
"Actually, can we celebrate another night? It's getting late, and I'm anxious to get back to my dormitory and see Marilyn," Avery replied.
"What's so important? We just completed our first Weasley Wizarding Wheezes product- I think this should take priority," George said, putting his arm around Avery and giving her a cajoling shake as he tried to convince her.
"I know, I know. It's just that I saw Marilyn skulking around Hogsmeade with Draco Malfoy and I've been dying to ask her-" Avery stopped explaining as she saw the twins cast each other a look she couldn't quite classify. "What's that look about? Do you know something I don't?"
Fred shook his head, turning his attention from his brother's face to hers. "I don't think you should trust Marilyn. She has always seemed a little dodgy, and now that she's hanging round Malfoy... I think that proves something's off with that one."
"She's been my best friend since first year," Avery said, lamely. She was taken aback by Fred's characterization of her best friend and wasn't sure what else to add.
"Right, but people change all the time… I could be wrong, I just get a bad feeling about her, that's all I meant," Fred said, now averting his eyes and collecting his cloak.
"We can celebrate another night this week," George added, also collecting his cloak, seeming eager to be rid of the subject. Avery said nothing, thinking hard about what the twins said. She had come to be very close to them and trusted them and their judgement; were they right that Marilyn was not the same person Avery had befriended in her first year? She decided she would confront Marilyn about Draco and see what she thought for herself.
Avery crawled in through the common room door to find her entire house had returned from the break to congregate there in front of the fire and swap holiday stories. Pushing her way through her classmates, smiling and exchanging a few greetings to some Hufflepuffs she was more familiar with, including Anne the Keeper and Jeffrey Talbot, Avery saw no sign of Marilyn, so she decided to head to their dormitory in search of her. As luck would have it, she was unpacking her trunk which was at the foot of her four poster bed.
"Hello! How was your Christmas?" Avery began brightly, sitting on the corner of Marilyn's bed, near her trunk.
"It was quite alright, I suppose. And yours?" Marilyn said without feeling, not pausing in her task.
"About the same," Avery said shortly. She sensed a tension she could not explain. Or maybe she just felt uncomfortable since Marilyn was busy and didn't seem eager to chat. Avery, however, was eager to chat, and decided she had to inquire about Draco despite the perceived awkwardness.
"Listen, I meant to ask you before you left for break, and I didn't want to bother you during the holidays… But I saw that you and Draco Malfoy were together in Hogsmeade and I was just wondering… You know… What that was about. I mean, are you friends or…?"
Marilyn froze as she was placing some of her robes into her dresser and said "I thought we agreed not to talk to each other about our hobbies?"
"Well, I suppose so… And maybe it's not my business, but-"
"It isn't," Marilyn said curtly, resuming her task, not looking at Avery. Avery grew hot. She felt embarrassed and ashamed because Marilyn snapped at her; was Avery in the wrong for asking? Was she prying? However, she was also irritated that her supposed best friend was clearly hiding something from her, and that was the feeling that won out and motivated her to keep after it.
"Look, I am concerned for you. I think we both know that Malfoy isn't the nicest of people, and the fact that you're clearly hiding something from me isn't convincing me that it's a healthy relationship," Avery said hotly.
"Really, Avery? You're going to talk to me about hiding things? You're one of the most dishonest people I know, despite how innocent you pretend your little 'business' is," Marilyn snarled, finally stopping to look at Avery, who was now sitting with her mouth agape in reproach. "It's also interesting to note how you question the respectability of my company, considering the kind you keep," she added, folding her arms and glaring hard at Avery.
"What is that supposed to mean? What are you doing with Malfoy that's making you this defensive and- and…" Avery struggled to find the words, rising out of her seat, angrier than she had ever been at her best friend. "And vicious!" She finally stammered out.
"If you must know, I am friends with Malfoy. I've been helping him put together his case against that oaf Hagrid and his hippogriff. I knew you wouldn't approve, so I didn't bother telling you, and considering all the things you keep from me, I didn't think it would be an issue," Marilyn said cooly. Avery stared at her, shocked.
"What in the world are you thinking, Marilyn? We both know Malfoy provoked that creature, and poor Hagrid-" Avery began, only to have Marilyn snort and cut her off.
"See? I knew you would sympathize with that embarrassment. Honestly, Avery. It's idiots like him and blood traitors like those Weasleys that give wizards a bad name. We're preparing a case to put that hippogriff to death, and get Hagrid sacked-"
"Are you listening to yourself?!" Avery gasped in horror, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she had time to fully think them through. "Merlin's beard, you sound just like Malfoy! It's sickening, Marilyn! This isn't you! You've never promoted pure-blood propaganda or been so unforgiving and cruel; it's like you're a pompous Slytherin all the sudden or something!"
Marilyn said nothing for a moment, but then a slow smile began to creep onto her face. "You've always said that eleven is too early to be sorted. Perhaps I should be resorted," she mused, echoing Avery from past conversations. Unfolding her arms and crossing to her now empty trunk, Marilyn slammed the lid closed. "And while they're at it, maybe they should resort you and the Weasley twins, too. They're not as innocent as you think, you know," She said, turning her back to Avery now.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Avery repeated, her voice quiet now, so full of anger and shock she was no longer capable of full volume. Marilyn snorted again, before rounding on her.
"Would you believe me even if I told you? Me? A 'pompous-all-the-sudden-Slytherin'? Ask them what I mean. I don't care to speak to you any longer," Marilyn finished, crawling onto her four poster and drawing the curtains around herself, leaving Avery staring at the blank canvas.
Just then, the door to the dormitory opened. Avery whirled around to see it was Susan Bones, who also shared their dormitory. Susan gave her a sheepish look- she had probably heard the more heated part of their argument from outside the door. Avery gave her half a sheepish smile in return before retreating to her own bed and drawing her own curtains so that she could lay down and stare up at the ceiling, wondering what Marilyn had meant and who she had become.
