Chapter Eight: Black Sheep


When flying at especially high speeds, the wind always felt sharp, as though it were slicing at your skin for daring to cut through it so quickly.

James had always been reduced to tears by the sensation, claiming that it burned his face too badly to carry on flying in such a manner. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the wind's stinging caress.

One of my earliest memories is of finding my dad in the kitchen, covered in blood after a mission had gone badly. The famous lightning bolt on his forehead was overlaid with another jagged wound, one which had left a permanent white scar through his brow. Though the Wizarding World had mourned the marring of his legendary mark, I knew that my father secretly enjoyed the new scar, which made his lightning bolt almost impossible to see.

When I had vocalized my concern over my father's pain, he had, perhaps unwisely, told me that pain was life's way of reminding you that you were still living. Though he rarely talked about dying, he had admitted to me that night that, in death, you could still feel many things. You could still be sad, happy, or in love. The only thing that you do not feel when dead is pain.

Looking back on that evening, I expect that my father was on more than one pain potion at the time, and likely did not anticipate that the conversation would stick with his three-year-old daughter the way that it had.

Regardless, the conversation was one that would likely never leave my brain. As such, there was rarely a moment that I felt so alive as that which I spent hurling through the air on my broomstick, the wind biting at my cheeks. Though more often than not, a good session on my broomstick left me with tears streaming from my eyes and a face reddened by windburn, I never regretted it.

If pain was the thing that reminded you of your life, I was happy to remind my body of its existence by flinging it through the air as fast as humanly possible.


The sun was scorching, mixing with the sweat dripping over my eyelashes and the tears stinging in my eyes to make it nearly impossible to see. People ran across the yard in the distance, my cousins long-since having given up on trying to pry me away from my practice before I mastered the move that I had been working on. I frowned at the goalpost at the far end of the field, carefully considering how I should angle my broom as I flew towards it. As soon as I felt like I had the tilt correct, I leaned forward to accelerate.

"Phoenix!" A voice called, the slight note of impatience to the word indicating that this likely wasn't the first time that my name had been shouted.

Still, I ignored the summons, which was hardly audible anyways due to the speed at which I was traveling. Pressing my body against my broomstick to make myself more aerodynamic, I flew towards the ring at the far end of my yard. Twisting the broomstick hard, I threw the quaffle in my arms and watched with satisfaction as it rolled through the air before flying through the hoop. With a pleased smile on my face, I turned my broom towards the figure at the other end of the yard, snickering as I took in my brother's folded arms and tapping toe.

"Hey, Al. Sorry, I've been trying to get that move down for the past hour and I could tell I was about to get it. Did you need something?" I asked him as I landed, ruffling his curly hair as I spoke, though I was careful to avoid knocking his glasses askew as James often accidentally did.

Albus rolled his eyes as he hastily straightened his curls as best he could (which was not much, considering he had inherited our father's hair). He gave me a faux pout when he caught me laughing at his predicament, though the expression quickly faded into a smile as he took my broom.

"I have half a mind to not tell you now," He teased, giggling when I took another playful swipe at his hair in retaliation for his threat. "Fine! Jay's here."

He had hardly finished speaking before I was dodging around him and sprinting towards the house. Al's laughter chased me up the path to the door, my reaction undoubtedly precisely what he had been expecting.

"Jay!" I shouted upon spotting my best friend standing in my living room. Jay laughed, moving to stand in front of his mother so that he could grab me from the air as I threw myself into his arms.

"'Lo Phoe," The boy chuckled, swinging me back and forth a few times before setting me on the ground again.

Once my feet made contact with the floor, I pulled away from the hug to look at him. Jay had definitely gotten taller, something that seemed to be common with all of my friends. I hadn't grown more than half an inch, but mum assured me that she had been the same way growing up, and told me not to worry about it. Jay had a tan that I was jealous of, and his arms showed that I wasn't the only one who had spent their summer working on throwing the quaffle as hard as humanly possible.

"Merlin, Phoenix, have you spent the summer hiding out indoors? You're so pale!" Jay echoed my thoughts with a laugh. He poked at my arm, and his perpetual grin widening at the obvious contrast between our skin tones.

Though Jay and I were both white, even the slightest bit of sun left him with a tan, whereas I could spend all day outdoors and come back in with nothing to show from it save new freckles. I was at least grateful that I didn't tend to burn the way that Lily and James did, though both were diligent enough with skin protection that it was mostly a minor issue in their lives. One of the first spells that James learned after getting his wand was the sunblock charm, which I knew he used every day in order to keep his face from matching the shade of my hair.

I laughed, giving Jay a mock glare as he made fun of me, but my giggles died out as I realized his parents were standing behind him, grinning at me. My face began to warm as I took in the presence of my idols, giving them a shy smile as they both waved at me.

Jay rolled his eyes as he noticed my reaction. "Come on, if I can get used to being around Harry Potter, then you can get used to being around my parents."

It was true. We had spent so much time together over the past few months that our parents regularly joked that they had shared us for the summer. As such, we had grown very comfortable around each other's parents. He had learned that mine were just normal people (though he had admitted that he found my mum intimidating), and I had accepted that his were not going to suddenly begin impromptu Quidditch matches (though I still had hope). Still, his parents were Oliver and Alicia Wood. I couldn't be blamed for freaking out occasionally. Or all the time.

"Sorry," I blushed. Jay just grinned and flipped his arm over my shoulder, dragging us both down onto the couch. I turned to beam at him, grateful to see my parents lead his away out of the corner of my eye. "I'm so glad that you're back! I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too. Traveling around Scotland was great though! Maybe after we both graduate, we can plan a trip together. I think you would love it, Phoe," Jay replied.

I nodded enthusiastically. "Details, Jay! I've been waiting for weeks, and you hardly put anything in those letters!"

Jay laughed, shoving my shoulder lightly as he did so. "I hardly put anything in those letters, huh? Well, now I know not to spend longer than an hour on them! All of my pain went unappreciated."

I grinned at him as he dramatically shook his hand out, as though he were still in pain from letter-writing. He then copied my actions in settling further into the sofa so that he could tell me about his travels in more detail than he had in his, admittedly lengthy, letters.

After a while, Jay changed the topic to that of our new shared class. As excited as I was to be moving up a year in Charms, I thought that my best friend may actually be even more eager than I for us to finally have a class together.

"How is Charms coming?" He asked, leaning his elbows on his knees as he spoke.

"Great! I've pretty much got it all down; I'm just having a bit of trouble with glow charms. I've got a light, but it's more of a torch-light than a glow."

"Oh, a lot of people had that problem in our class. It's actually a bit of a funny mistake; the reason it's not coming out right is because you're being too forceful with it. It's a softer spell, so you have to cast it gently. Just-"

Jay was forced to stop speaking as a body slid over the back of the couch and in between us. My twin brother slung an arm around my best friend's shoulders, laughing and shoving at Jay's hand as Jay ruffled his hair in response. I hid a grin at the action, recalling having done the same to Al's hair moments before finding out that Jay was here.

"Hey, Jay," James chirped, not seeming cross in the slightest at having his hair messed up. Though he was still a bit obsessive about how it looked, he had toned things down a lot after Freddy and I had pranked him bald.

"Hey, James!" Jay replied with a smile. "How have you been, mate?"

"Awesome! I got a new chess set that I've been practicing on, it's really great."

"Really? We'll have to play sometime," Jay enthused. He opened his mouth to say more, but was once again interrupted as Albus entered the room and shoved his way onto the couch between James and me. "Hey, Al."

"Hey, Jay! Budge up a bit there, Phoe," Albus demanded, cramming himself more firmly into his place. He was poorly hiding a smile, undoubtedly teasing me with his choice in seat in retaliation for earlier. James smirked at me as I was shoved further down the sofa, which I determinedly pretended not to notice. "How was Scotland?"

"It was awesome! We got to-"

Once again, Jay was interrupted as Levi and Teddy entered the room. My two eldest brothers didn't hesitate in making a beeline for the couch as they waved at Jay, and I sighed as I shifted to the very end of the sofa.

"Hey Jay! Have they asked you about Scotland yet?" Teddy asked as he and Levi took a seat. I shoved at Al as he wound up with an elbow wedged in my side, to which he responded by pushing James further towards Jay.

"Hey Teddy, Levi! Yeah, I was just telling Al about it."

"Well, tell away. Move over Phoenix," Levi demanded as the chain reaction that I had begun by shoving Al finally made its way to the other end of the couch, where he and Teddy were seated.

"Jay! Jay!"

A blur of red bolted through the room and launched itself at my best friend.

"Oof!" Jay gasped as my sister flew into his lap. Ever the good sport, he grinned before helping her get settled. "Hey, Lily! How are you?"

Teddy rolled his eyes, learning around Levi so that he could look at our little sister. "Lily get off of Jay."

"Fine, scoot over you lot!"

With that, Lily forced herself onto the seat between Jay and James, creating another chain reaction, the end result of which left me seated somewhere entirely different.

Thoroughly irritated, I glanced up from my new place on the floor, hands stinging slightly from breaking my fall. None of my family seemed to notice as they crowded around Jay as he began telling them about Scotland. For all of five minutes, I had thought that it was the coolest thing in the world that my family got along famously with my best friend. After that, I saw it as the nuisance that it was.

I stood up sharply, being sure to glare furiously at the lot, and I saw Jay move to follow me. Lily seemed to notice as well, for she latched onto his arm and yanked him back into his seat before demanding to hear about his trip. I flipped my hair over my shoulder and stormed outside, only to smack into my current favorite person in the world.

"Freddy!" I squealed, flinging my arms around him. He laughed, picking me up and swinging me around.

"Hey Nix! I thought Jay was here, why are you leaving?"

"Well, after I was thrown unceremoniously from the couch and no one seemed to mind, I determined that my presence was no longer wanted, so I left," I said grumpily, folding my arms over my chest as I spoke.

Freddy let out a dramatic gasp, leaning forward and using his hand to cup his mouth as though he were telling a secret to the coat rack on our left. "I think she's having adolescence," He told the coat rack with a knowing nod.

I shoved at his shoulder, resisting the urge to stomp my foot and prove his point. "I am not! That's not even how you use that word."

"Aw, come on now. You're letting that little red-haired, green eyed monster take over," Freddy teased, putting his arms around my shoulders and looking at my face.

I turned my face away like a petulant child, tipping my chin into the air for good measure. "I am a little red-haired, green eyed monster."

"Yeah I know," Freddy agreed, "Quick to be angry, quick to be jealous."

I whipped my head towards him with a glare. "That's not what-" I stopped short as he began to laugh, belatedly realizing that he had still been being overly theatrical.

"I know, Nix. I'm just winding you up."

I attempted to glaring at him, but found myself biting back a small grin at his antics.

"There's my favorite smile!" Fred cheered, tucking a few of his shoulder-length curls behind his ears before wrapping an arm around me and steering me towards the door. "Come on, the others went round the back to go swimming in the pond. We'll go say hi, and then come back to see if Jay's escaped by then."

Thoroughly in approval of his plan, I followed him into my backyard. I spent several minutes catching up with my cousins, though I had seen most only days prior. Once I could properly escape, Freddy led the way back to the house.

As soon as we walked in, James jumped up to say hi to Freddy. Lily and Al ran out at my confirmation that everyone was in the pond, while Teddy took a bit longer to tell Jay 'just how great it was to see him again' before he and Levi left in search of Vic. I turned and looked out the window.

"Hey, where did you go?" Jay asked, walking up and setting his hands on my shoulders. He tried to turn me around, but I refused to budge.

"There wasn't any room on the couch, and you were busy, so I went to see if anyone else had arrived while we had been talking," I muttered, still facing out the window. I knew I was acting childishly, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

He leaned in close, his breath tickling my ear, and whispered, "Jealous?"

I spun around, outraged, when I realized that he was doubled over, shaking with laughter. "What is it with people today?" I cried, throwing up my hands and preparing to storm outside again.

He grabbed my arm and turned me around, still chuckling. "Hey, hey. I'm sorry." I glared at him until he stopped laughing. "No really, sorry."

I sighed, and he put his arms around me again and pulled me in for a hug. "Are you alright?"

I nodded against his chest. "Just tired."

It was true. For reasons that I couldn't understand, I had been having terrible nightmares for weeks. It was to the point where I had to take a potion every night before bed just to get a few hours of rest.

Jay gave me a look of concern, opening his mouth to say something, but it was at that moment that James chose to interrupt.

"Hey lovebirds! If we wanted a show, we would have gone to find Vic and Ted!"

Jay and I sprang apart, and I turned to yell at James. "Bugger off"

James ran out of the house laughing, and Freddy winked at me before following. Jay put his hand back on my arm, concern still evident on his face, but I shook my head at him. Instead I wrapped both of my arms around his middle, smiling as I felt him wrap his arms around my shoulders in return.

Being home for the summer was nice, but I was looking forward to going back to school, where I could spend every day with my best friend.


Our trip to King's Cross Station was mostly uneventful. The only exception was when a reporter decided to grab Al's arm to ask him a question. Mum threatened the man with a Bat-Bogey hex, and the rest of the press decided to take their pictures from further away than usual.

The train ride was pleasant. I was a bit surprised when Albus declined the offer to sit with us, but, as I looked around the compartment where I sat with Jay, Lucy, Lana, Roxy, Freddy, James, and their friends Max, Conner, and Ross, I realized that he was probably hoping to make a friend of his own and merely wished him well as he left.

"Where do you think he's off to?" Jay asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder as he spoke.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that he's hoping to make a friend that he's not related to," I replied. I nodded at James as he held up a few bottles of butterbeer for the compartment to see, and I felt Jay do the same.

"That makes sense. Do you think he'll have any luck?" Jay asked as he accepted a bottle. He twisted the top off before handing it to me and accepting another bottle from James for himself.

I took a sip before responding, trying not to make a face at the fizziness of the drink. Carbonated beverages weren't my favorite, but I typically enjoyed the taste of butterbeer enough to overlook the bubbles. "I would imagine so. He's the nicest person that I've ever met. I would kill to be even half as nice as he is."

Jay shifted suddenly, and, when I glanced at him, I found that he wore a mildly uncomfortable expression.

"What?" I asked, a strange lurch in my stomach warning me that I may not like his response.

"Well…there's actually something that I've been meaning to talk to you about, but I don't want to hurt your feelings," He admitted, lowering his voice so that only I could hear him.

"Whether it hurts my feelings or not, I'd prefer for you to just say it," I told him earnestly, tucking my hair behind my ears nervously as I waited for him to speak.

He sighed, looking rather awkward. It was not an expression that Jay normally sported when speaking to me, and I found myself rapidly growing to despise seeing it directed at me.

"So, I've been thinking a lot about the prank that you and Fred played on your family last year…" He began, the discomfort on his face growing. "I understand why you pranked them, and I do think that the pranks were brilliant, but…I think how you pranked them was a bit cruel."

I shifted a bit so that I was facing him. "What do you mean?"

"I guess…well, take Vic for instance. You made her speak in complete gibberish, rather than the way she normally speaks, right?"

I nodded.

"Right. And you did that because…?"

I suddenly realized what he meant. There was a sensation not unlike a stone dropping into my stomach as I realized in that second that I had pranked my family by preying on their insecurities. "Oh. We did that because she's always very well-spoken, but Vic's like that because she's insecure about people not taking her intelligence seriously because she's blonde and pretty. Which makes what we did really mean, not a funny prank."

"A bit," Jay confirmed with a nod. He rubbed my arm gently. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't prank people, especially not when they've given you a reason to, I just mean-"

"Don't stress," I told him, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze, though I was actually trying to blink back tears. It wasn't that Jay was wrong for pointing this out to me, in fact, I was glad that he had, but something about it being Jay to do so made me unbearably embarrassed. I felt chastised, despite not having been in the slightest. "I understand why you're telling me, and I'm glad that you did. It really was nasty of us, especially because we were intentionally finding pranks that played off of their insecurities. There really wasn't anything else to it but meanness."

"That's not true," Jay told me. "I don't think that you were trying to be mean. They just hurt you, so your prank was a bit more hurtful than it would have been under normal circumstances. Look, I'm hardly one to talk. I've got a temper of my own, and I'm a jealous sod to boot. I just wanted to bring it to your attention. I still think that you should pull pranks, and honestly, I don't see any problem with you pranking someone in retaliation for something that they did to you or your family. I just think that it's different when it's your family that you're pranking, and I figured that you would agree."

"I'm glad that you told me," I assured him. "Thank you. I do think that it's different when it's my family, and I would hate to only realize that after I did something that really hurt them. Really, thank you, Jay."

His shoulders relaxed, his expression becoming one of relief. He wrapped his arm around me once again as I sat back into the seat more normally and took a sip of my drink, still blinking furiously. Roxy caught my eye as Jay began thumbing through a book in search of the page that he wanted.

'Everything okay?' Roxy mouthed; her brow furrowed with concern.

I nodded, giving her what was probably a slightly watery smile. She returned the gesture before turning back to her own conversation.

"Are you okay with reading a play?" Jay asked me.

"Sure," I agreed, taking the play, Romeo and Juliet, from his hand and holding it so that we could both easily see it.

We had discovered last year, after our exams were finished, that Jay and I had very similar tastes in muggle literature. He also enjoyed reading about sciences that muggles studied that wizards had a tendency to overlook, which I found fascinating. We soon began taking turns selecting books to read together, reading over one another's shoulders when we were physically together and reading them at the same time when we were apart over the summer. Jay joked that it was like our own personal book club.

Jay and I settled in for the rest of the ride, our quiet reading only occasionally interrupted by the others. Jay's friends popped into our compartment at one point, but didn't seem particularly bothered to find Jay with us. Roxanne left with Nikki, coming back only a few minutes before we arrived and causing Lucy to stress a good deal over whether or not she would be able to change in time. I didn't set Romeo and Juliet down until we were pulling into the station at Hogsmeade, where I eagerly leaned around Jay in order to see out the window.

"Glad to be back?" Jay asked, sounding a touch amused.

"Very!" I confirmed, grabbing his hand and yanking him to his feet so that we could follow the others out into the crowded hallway. Roxy caught my free hand in her own as we attempted to not get separated, and I glanced back to see Freddy walking with his hand on Jay's shoulder. We had to split up at the carriages, with Jay and I riding with Roxy, Lana, and Lucy whilst the rest of the boys rode in the carriage behind us.

The Sorting Hat ceremony started off normally, but about midway through, Scorpius Malfoy walked up to the stool, sat down, had the hat set on his head…

And was placed in Gryffindor.

The silence was deafening. There had never been a Malfoy in Gryffindor. Or anywhere else but Slytherin, for that matter.

It was then that I remembered the Sorting Hat's words to me, as well as those from my favorite aunt. Without another moment of hesitation, I let out a cheer and started to clap for the boy.

The other Gryffindors were further stunned by my response, but I was a Potter, so they gave Malfoy a lukewarm round of applause before falling silent again.

I slid over, giving Malfoy a place to sit. I had purposely sat on the end so that I could sit next to my family members, should they follow our pact and be placed in Gryffindor, so there was plenty of room for him to sit down. Rose had opted to be sorted with the Ws rather than the Gs.

I couldn't help but notice that the boy seemed to be a walking conundrum. Though he clearly took after both of his parents already in looks, with the angles of his face all sharp and pointed despite only being 11, his expression was soft and slightly timid. Though the way that he walked clearly indicated that he had been trained to command the attention of a room simply by moving through it, Scorpius Malfoy didn't raise his eyes from the floor until he was seated beside me. Only then did his cool blue eyes meet my own, offering one last paradox as I took in his warm expression. He stared at me shyly for a moment, his cheeks still slightly flushed after his eventful sorting, before whispering, "Thank you."

James and a few of our cousins had been listening in, and they looked stunned. I was a bit surprised myself, as I knew how spoiled his father had been during his years at Hogwarts, but I didn't let it show as I stuck out my hand.

"Phoenix Potter," I smiled at him.

"Scorpius Malfoy," He responded, and his hand was quite cold as he took my own. His smile, however, was warm, and I could already feel myself growing fond of him.

With that I patted the kid on the head, then turned my attention back to the front as they called Al's name.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I let out a cheer, louder than anyone else in the Great Hall, and clapped delightedly for my baby brother. To my surprise, Albus rushed over to the seat next to me, shoving himself between Malfoy and me, and flung his arms around my waist.

"Thank you, thank you so much Phoe!" He whispered, his eyes shining with pure happiness as he looked at me.

"Um, Al, I love you, but I think you're getting mum and I mixed up. If you're wanting to thank someone for being in Gryffindor, it would be her and dad."

Albus shook his head at me, fighting off a grin as he attempted to keep his expression serious. "No, Phoenix, I met Scorp on the train. He told me that he wanted to be in Gryffindor, but he was scared no one would accept him. I'm thanking you for proving me right about you."

I was touched. "You told him that I would be the one to accept him?"

He grinned at me, before leaning in and whispering, "I told him you were the sweetest, most loyal person I knew, and that you would accept anyone put in Gryffindor."

"Aw, Al, that's so-"

"So basically, I told him that you should have been a Puff." Al finished with a smirk that I would have been proud of, had it been directed at someone else.

"Hey!" I squealed, giving him a playful shove. He wrapped his arms around me in response, before turning towards Malfoy. I glanced up to see where the sorting was at and realized that I had missed it. Louis and Rose sat across from me, watching Scorpius, Albus, and I interact with interest.

"Oh Merlin, sorry Rosie, Lou, congrats! You too Albus, and you, Malfoy," I rushed out apologetically. Rosie snorted, flipping her reddish-brown curls over her shoulder rather huffily as she glanced towards the rest of the hall, but Louis gave me a small smile.

Louis had always been the quietest in the family. Even Hugo and Molly typically had more to say than he did. Grandmother worried about him, but Louis was wicked smart and never failed to say something insightful when he did choose to speak, so everyone was quick to assure her that he was perfectly fine.

On the other side of Al, Malfoy leaned over to speak to me. His pale hair was nearly the same shade of silvery-blonde that Louis sported, and I wondered suddenly if the Malfoy family had Veela blood somewhere in their family tree.

"You can call me Scorpius, or Scorp, if you'd rather," He offered a touch shyly.

"Okay then, Scorp. You can call me Phoenix, or Phoe, if you'd rather," I mimicked, giving him a wink. He smiled at me, and it was then that I noticed he was the last one on our side of the bench. Crammed onto Louis and Rose's side, however, were about 5 or 6 new first years.

"You know, our parents fought in the war to get rid of prejudices, not to shift them onto a different group of people," I snapped at them, understanding their choice in seating without having to be told.

A first year glanced up at me then. He was rather large, probably at least a foot taller than me and all muscle. I didn't like the look that he directed at me, and I braced my shoulders as he opened his mouth to respond.

"So, Minister Hastings is on the right track then?" He drawled. "Let's let the Death Eaters out so that we can all hold hands and pretend that the war never happened?"

"That's not at all what she meant! Obviously, she's saying that we shouldn't hate people for who their parents are, because that's exactly what the Death Eaters were doing in the war," Freddy spoke up from across from me, twisting in his seat to give the boy a nasty glare.

I privately breathed a sigh of relief, my worries that Freddy disagreed with my support of Malfoy's placement eased.

The kid just rolled his eyes, but a few of the other first years got up, shame-faced, to move next to Scorpius. Both he and Al were eyeing me gratefully, and I gave them a slight wink.

When the feast was finally over, Teddy, who was now headboy, Vic, and the other Gryffindor prefects called for the first years to walk them up to the Common Room. The rest of the Great Hall followed suit, and I stuck close with Jay, unsure of the general sentiment towards me after I had stuck up for Scorpius.

Jay, on the other hand, simply glanced down at me and said, "I'm proud of you," before taking my hand and walking towards the Common Room.

I noticed Roxy eyeing our joint hands before smirking at me. I decided to take it as a sign that she wasn't angry with me. Nikki, who had her arm hooked through Roxy's, leaned forward to whisper something into my cousin's ear before winking at me, and I knew that I was also in her good graces. The others, however, I couldn't be sure about.

As much as my parents and I preached against prejudices, they were hard to be totally rid of. Uncle George hated Death Eaters, which was understandable since they had killed his twin. Teddy hated them because they had murdered his parents. Dad had lost countless friends and family members to them. Mum and all of her other brothers lost a brother. Uncle Bill was mauled by a werewolf working as a Death Eater. Aunt Fleur had lost her little sister and her father. Aunt Angelina had lost her older brother. Aunt Penelope, Uncle Percy's wife, had been tortured by them just for being muggleborn.

Everyone had some reason to hate the Death Eaters, and try as they may to keep it from carrying over to the children of Death Eaters, sometimes it was hard not to. We had grown up hearing the name Malfoy being included in the list of murderers and torturers, even with what Mrs. Malfoy had done for dad, and it was a hard thing just to drop on a dime. Just earlier today, I had heard Uncle Ron whispering to Rosie about how she should try and beat Scorpius in everything, and, while Aunt Hermione had scolded him, she hadn't really said anything against his words. I knew that my family would come around, but some, like James, who was currently trying to burn holes in my back with his eyes, would take longer than others.

When we reached the Common Room, Vic, Teddy, Al, Scorpius, Rose, and Louis were waiting on the couch for us. Upon seeing us, Teddy stood and pointed to the stairs leading up to the boys' dorms.

"Family only, sorry to the rest of you."

Jay gave my hand a squeeze before dropping it and moving towards the couch. I watched him give James a once-over, his expression far from the easy grin that he had worn back at our house, before turning towards Scorpius with a smile.

"S'alright, I'll just wait down here with Malfoy. You like Quidditch, kid?"

I smiled, glad that Jay had apparently noticed Scorpius's reluctance to make his way up to his dorm without Albus. To my relief, Nikki bounded across the Common Room and hurled herself sideways over the arm of the sofa, giving Scorpius an upside-down grin as she flopped across Jay's lap on her back. Don and Arnold followed at a normal pace, bickering as usual as they settled themselves onto the armchairs on either side of the couch. Scorpius looked slightly overwhelmed at the attention he was getting, but I knew that it would be good for the rest of Gryffindor to see the third years interacting with him. Ted gave the group a slight nod before moving towards the staircase. We followed him up there, per usual, but were surprised to find him walk right past his dorm and towards the end of the corridor.

"Um, Teddy? Where are we going?" Dom asked.

"I'm headboy, Dom. I get a special room," He called over his shoulder.

When we reached the end of the corridor, Teddy pulled off his badge, holding it and his hand up against the wall. Immediately, the wall turned into a door, and we entered his room.

"Don't you have a password?" Vic asked as we took in the huge room.

"I haven't set it yet, but I was thinking about making it 'Constant Vigilance'," Teddy said, and the tension momentarily broke as we all chuckled at the old family joke. Ted waved his hand around the room, and everyone quickly settled down on the floor. Teddy sat on his bed, as usual, and Vic sat behind him, her head on his shoulder. Levi plopped down next to them, poking Vic in the side and snickering when she jumped. Teddy hid a smile as Victoire smacked Levi's shoulder before lifting her nose in the air and once again settling her head on Ted's shoulder.

I was extremely pleased to find Roxy sitting next to me as well as Freddy. Al glanced at us, then at some of our less friendly-looking family members, before ever so rudely shoving me into Freddy's lap so that he could sit in between the twins. Freddy laughed at my indignant snort before placing me on the floor on the other side of him. Our antics earned us glares from some of the other members of our family, who clearly thought the issue was more serious than we were taking it.

We sat in silence for a few moments before, to no one's surprise, James spoke up. His face was already flushed with anger as he turned a glare on Albus and me.

"How can you two defend him like that? His dad murdered Professor Dumbledore. His grandfather was one of Voldemort's number one followers and he gave mum that cursed diary. His dad's aunt tortured Aunt Hermione and Neville's parents, tried to kill Grandma Weasley and mum, and killed Uncle Sirius! That's a lot of bad blood to just overlook there!"

"His dad did not murder Dumbledore; he couldn't do it remember? Plus, you can't just list off all of the bad stuff that the Malfoy family did and overlook the fact that his grandmother saved dad's life. He would be dead without her! And his dad's aunt was insane, everyone knows that," Al countered, angrily shoving his foggy glasses up his nose as they slipped slightly.

"Yeah, I've heard it's genetic," Rose responded instantly, her expression making it clear that she had been hoping for the opportunity to bring up the notorious madness that ran in the Black family genes.

"Death Eater lovers," Molly scoffed, folding her arms as she surveyed our group with a frown. I tried to hide my surprise at her reaction, as I had always thought that Molly and I thought similarly.

Lucy gave us a cold glare, her fists clenched tightly at her sides. Dom, who was sitting off to the side of the room with Lou, returned it immediately. Lucy and Dom had never gotten along particularly well, but I still felt a surge of relief that Dom and, unsurprisingly, Louis were apparently on our side.

"We're the Death Eater lovers? Seems to me like you lot would get along with them better," Rox snapped.

"Alright, guys. Cool it a bit, will you?" Teddy tried to call for order, but he was ignored.

"Well at least we wouldn't get along with them, even if we could," James sneered. His face was a spectacular shade of red, and I found myself a bit surprised at how upset my twin was at our apparent betrayal. I wondered if it had anything to do with both of the twins and Al being on my side.

"Oh, and you're saying we would?" Freddy asked. The two, normally good friends, exchanged a fiery glare. Rose, despite being very angry herself, leaned towards Molly to escape the line of fire.

I was struggling to keep my mouth shut. If things got too out of hand, I didn't want to get in trouble with the parents, but there were quite a few things that I longed to say to my twin. Jay's earlier words about our prank were still ringing in my ears, though, and I found myself biting my tongue in order to avoid saying anything cruel that I might later regret.

"That's really more than enough," Vic said, raising her voice slightly in order to make herself heard. Despite her best efforts, however, she too was ignored.

"It sure seems like you would be thick as thieves to me," Rose snapped at Freddy. "You've got to be willing to overlook a whole lot to be in with the Death Eaters, but you're all on the right track, in my opinion."

"Yeah? Cause I'm still thinking you and they would get along better," Al responded, yanking his cloudy glasses off of his face so that he could glare at our cousin.

"You lot probably just want to play goody-two-shoes. Preaching 'we should be friends with everyone!' so that everyone thinks that you're perfect," Lucy spoke finally, her eyes firmly trained on me, much to my surprise. "Don't expect us to help you fix your mistake when this goes badly."

"Shut up, Lucy," Freddy growled as Roxy twitched angrily in Lucy's direction, turning his glare onto our cousin as he shoved his twin back into her seat. I frowned at their odd actions, but was promptly distracted from pondering them too hard as the rest of the room kept moving.

Molly leaned forward, furious, as her sister shrank back from Freddy's harsh look, but she kept her mouth closed when Roxy fixed her gaze on her.

There was a tense moment as everyone sized each other up. One of the only rules in our family was that no one could pull wands during a disagreement, but I'm sure that I wasn't the only one who was wondering if that rule were fixing to be broken.

"I understand that everyone is upset about this, but we should probably take a breather," I said softly, not wanting to deal with the reckoning that would be our parents' response should someone pull a wand out. "We're not even talking about this; we're just throwing insults at one another."

"Shut up, Phoenix! You started this! If you're not going to stand behind your decision, then you can just keep out of it. Honestly, you're such a child," Rose told me, her tone taking on a new level of iciness that told me that she had most likely been waiting for the chance to jump on me.

"I mean, yeah, she certainly looks like one, doesn't she?" James agreed with a cruel laugh. I hated when that laugh was directed at me. My twin always knew precisely where to level his punches when it came to me, and that laugh meant that he was aiming low. "You'd think she were at least Lily's age, not my twin, with as little as she is. And she expects people to take her seriously? When's the last time you had a growth spurt, Phoe? Our seventh birthday?"

"I'm pretty sure I was taller than her at seven," Rose countered with a laugh.

"Hey!" Dom snapped. "At least she's mentally older than seven."

Beside me, Freddy leaned forward, firing off a scalding retort to Rose's jibe before she could respond to Dom. Rose looked close to tears when he finished, but I had tuned everyone out, so I had no idea what Freddy had said to her. They all continued bickering, but their voices were no longer registering in my brain.

Though I was aware, of course, that I was rather on the short side, their words stung. I had never been self-conscious about my height before, but suddenly I found myself wondering if my godmother would send me heeled shoes if I wrote to her and asked.

After a moment, I realized that I had so successfully tuned out of the conversation that I hadn't noticed that Teddy had finally wrestled control of the situation. He was clearly several minutes deep into a lecture, as most of the group already looked shame-faced.

"-Scorpius is just a kid, James, and he hasn't done anything to us. What would dad say if he heard you saying such awful things about a kid Al's age?"

My twin ducked his head, his ears red, and I realized that the argument was over. Everyone started to leave, and I walked along, still trying to figure out what I missed.

"Are you alright?" Rox asked me, trying to catch my hand, but I dodged the gesture, nodded, and kept walking.

I was suddenly grabbed from behind, arms wrapping around my shoulders tightly enough that I couldn't turn around. Silvery blonde hair floated in the peripheral of my vision, narrowing the mystery person's identity down to one of three people.

"They insulted your height because they couldn't find anything better to target," Dom told me, her mouth pressed close to my ear so that only I could hear her. "Your height is not a bad thing; they just had to make you insecure about something perfectly fine because you're too good a person for them to talk about your personality. Mum calls you her "tiny spitfire". She means it as the highest praise, too. She's going to be so proud of you for standing up for Scorpius, and she's going to be very, very angry if she finds out that they went after your height. You know what she would tell you to do with this, so keep your chin up and don't let them know that they hurt you. Come see me later if you want to talk about it."

With that, Dom pressed a kiss to the side of my head before grabbing Louis by the hand and dragging him away, muttering something to him about showing him her favorite view before curfew. Dom had surprised me so many times in less than twenty minutes that I realized maybe I would need to pay more attention to her, if I wanted to claim that I knew her at all.

Freddy gave me a one-armed hug and a look of concern before going into his dorm. I noticed Al standing outside his room, so I stopped to wish him goodnight and congratulate him once again on his sorting. Roxy hovered near my shoulder, glowering fiercely into Albus's dorm while I spoke to him. When she was done glaring the first years into submission, we walked down to the Common Room, where she glanced at Jay and told me she would meet me in our dorm in a bit. She held out her hand for Nikki, who leapt off of the sofa and ran to take it, before the two moved up the stairs to the dorms. Don and Arnold got up, waving goodbye to Scorpius and Jay before moving up the stairs that I had just come down. Arnold reached out to ruffle my hair, which earned him a smack upside the head from Don, who smiled warmly at me.

"Hey, Scorpius," I nodded absently as I flopped down on the couch, letting my head fall into Jay's lap. "Al's waiting outside your dorm for you. I think he wanted to see if he could convince the others to let you two have beds next to each other."

Scorpius thanked me shyly before rushing towards the staircase, a happy smile on his face. Jay and I both raised a hand to wave at him, and I had to smile as Scorpius paused at the foot of the stairs before turning and waving back at us. Once he had done that, he ran so quickly up the stairs that I was half worried he was going to slip.

"What's the matter?" Jay asked me as soon as Scorpius had disappeared from view.

"Do you think people don't take me seriously because I'm short?" I responded to his question with one of my own, though I felt ridiculous for the words even as they left my lips.

"Who said that?" My best friend asked, his face immediately flushing with anger. "That's not true at all. Not only are you incredibly intelligent, but you're fair, and now you've got the threat of a good prank to keep people in check. People take you seriously unless they're complete idiots. Who was saying shit about your height?"

"Don't worry about it," I told him, not wanting to start another one-sided feud between Jay and my brother. His glare alone earlier had been enough to tell me that James was probably already in hot water as far as Jay was concerned. "Thank you, though. That's nice to hear. I just wanted to be sure."

"That means it's James," Jay muttered, glancing off to the side as he pondered something, his brow furrowed with irritation.

"Stop," I said, poking him in the cheek until he looked at me. "It wasn't just James, so you can't blame him alone. I won't tell you who the other person was, either, so just let it go please."

He sighed, leaning back against the sofa as the anger bled out of his features. "Fine, but, for the record, I hate this. We've got to work on a middle ground here, Phoenix. Me commenting on your prank didn't mean that I wanted you to go back to letting everything slide."

I gave him a small smile. "I know, but it's already over, so I may as well let this go."

Jay rolled his eyes, though the gesture was negated by the affectionate look that he gave me as soon as his gaze was one again on me. He tapped me on the nose lightly. "Hey, Phoenix?"

"Yes?" I asked him, meeting his hazel eyes, which crinkled at the corners when he gave me a warm smile.

"You're pretty great. You know that, right?"

I could feel my face heating up. "Thank you," I whispered, suddenly struggling to meet his eyes for some reason.

"What you did for Malfoy was very kind," He continued, determinedly looking at my hair as he spoke.

"Thank you," I said again.

I poked him in the chin, smiling slightly when it dimpled beneath my finger as he grinned at me. His smile faded a bit as he met my eyes, his gaze measuring, and I could tell that he was looking for signs of me still being upset about what James had said. He must have been satisfied that there were none, for after a moment he stuck his tongue out and licked my finger. I let out a loud peal of laughter, and Jay pretended to be disgusted as I wiped my finger off on his cheek.

"So, you know what happens now, right?" Jay asked me, his expression growing serious.

"No…"

"Wow. It's like I don't even know you," He gasped, clutching a hand over his chest dramatically.

I was taken aback by his sudden change in tone. "What are you-QUIDDITCH!" I yelled, throwing my arms up and nearly hitting him in the face as I suddenly realized what he was getting at. My best friend snorted, dodging my flailing limbs and throwing his hand over my mouth.

"Shush, Phoenix! People are sleeping!" His shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. "Are you ready for tryouts?"

I licked his palm, ignoring his noise of disgust as his hand moved away from my mouth so that I could eagerly respond. "Of course! I'm so happy Jennings is gone; now I'm not even competing for a spot! Not that it would have been much of a competition, given the way he played, but still. It's perfect! Now I just have to hope that I've worked hard enough to get the position…" I trailed off, suddenly growing a tad nervous.

"Of course you have! Come on, you're brilliant and you know it," Jay said. I beamed.

"We're going to be chasers together!" I squealed. His hand went back over my mouth, and he grinned as I pouted at the action.

"Yes we are. Now hey, why don't you go and get some sleep, okay? Classes don't start until Monday and I want to get some practice in over the weekend, but we can't do that if you still look like you're about to fall over asleep at any moment," He told me, forcing me to sit up.

"Bossy," I muttered, wrapping my arms around him briefly before turning to go up to my dorm.

"Sweet dreams, sunshine!" He yelled in return, loudly enough to wake the whole castle.

I rolled my eyes. Of course, he gets to shout. I prayed that no one had heard him as I entered my dorm with my face burning.

All of my dormmates were smirking at me.

I was going to kill him.


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