The next day, three days before term began Penny was sat finishing dinner with everyone down in the kitchen. Sirius was his usual moody self, and Kreacher was trying to bring Penny an endless supply of desserts.
"Enough, Kreacher!" Penny said firmly. "If you keep this up, I'll be a cube by the time I go back to Hogwarts!" She joked, Ginny laughing loudly next to her. Penny laughed along, discreetly pushing her plate to the side. Glancing round she could see Harry out of the corner of her eye, watching her fondly. Steeling herself up internally she spoke out the side of her mouth.
"Meet me in the drawing room in a bit, don't make it obvious." She muttered quietly, seeing Harry blink. He didn't reply but she saw him give the smallest of nods. A few minutes later she excused herself and went upstairs, Juno lounging over the couch, Penny examining the bookcase distractedly. She had read most of the bookcase in here by now, save for a few she knew had curses on them that would need time to dismantle. Plus, if Mrs Weasley caught her using magic again, she knew the lecture following would last an eternity.
Minutes that felt much longer past, and she heard Harry's erratic thoughts getting closer. Pulling a face she tried to clear her mind, blocking out his thoughts as best she could. She was definitely due on, she thought to herself. The thought brought her no comfort.
"Penny?" He inquired, peering into the room.
"Wotcher." Penny said mimicking her pink haired cousin's cheery tone. Juno's tongue flicked the air as she watched on silently.
"What… what did you want to talk about?" Harry said nervously. Even through her mental shield Penny knew he had false hope about this conversation.
"Harry…" Penny said with a little sigh. She saw the light in Harry's eyes fade a little at her tone. Penny hesitated; a lump seemed to have formed in her throat as she could see the hurt building in his face. She swallowed the lump and looked away before continuing. "I'm not your girlfriend Harry." She stated abruptly. Harry blinked but didn't say anything, his arms raised to fold across his chest.
"I know." He said stiffly.
"Do you though?" Penny asked pointedly, turning to stare into his emerald eyes. "Cuz sometimes I don't think you do. Sometimes I think you forget I am your ex."
"I have never forgotten." Harry said with a sulky tone. "But I think you do." He challenged, a bewildered expression crossing Penny's face before she frowned.
"What are you talking about?" Penny retorted taken aback, her weight shifting away from Harry as she took a half step back.
"Protecting me from Crouch…. Holding me…." He broke off for a moment "…caring for me in the Hospital Wing, coming to see me against Dumbledore's orders." He listed off rapidly.
"That…that doesn't mean anything!" Penny denied blustering, seeing Harry's unconvinced face. This was not the way she had planned the conversation to go. "Trying to stop you getting yourself killed is hardly the same as thinking you are anything but a friend!" Penny insisted in a stronger voice, trying to regain control of the conversation.
"So why can I not have just been treating you as a friend?" Harry shot back.
"People aren't aroused by their friends." Juno interjected suddenly, catching them both off guard. Both Harry and Penny both flushed bright red at these words, unable to meet each other's gaze for a long minute of silence. Neither seemed to know what to say next.
"Why?" Harry eventually asked in a very small voice. Penny flinched at the fragility of it.
"Why, what?" She asked evasively, tugging at her sleeve, dropping her voice to match his volume. She still felt hot, almost suffocatingly so, and longed to be far away from here, trapped in this room, in this house, in this conversation she had no desire for.
"Are you just trying to protect me or something?" Harry asked. "Cuz I don't need protecting."
"Harry…" Penny said again in an exasperated tone, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Her insides squirmed guiltily, part of her wanting to back track, just so she didn't have to hear the pain she was causing.
"I mean, in a way, if your father wants to kill me, it makes little difference if you are with me or not. He is going to try to kill me either way. I mean… well, it's kinda now or never right?" Harry rambled, speaking so fast the words almost melded together. Penny awkwardly chuckled. This didn't seem to be the right thing to do as Harry looked disgruntled.
"That's not why." Penny said. "I mean, of course I don't want my father to kill you. But it's not why." Penny went on, noticing with irritation how much she too was rambling now. Get it together she told herself sternly.
"Is there someone else?" Harry asked, positively pouting now. The question irked Penny more than she expected.
"Why does not wanting a relationship with you, always have to mean there is someone else? Why can I not just want to be on my own?" Penny said a little more defensively than she intended. She just wanted this conversation to be over already.
"So there is someone else?" Harry pressed.
"No! For Merlin's sake, why can't you just accept that I don't want to be with you?" Penny said, her volume and temper rising. Harry cowered from her slightly, a look of hurt in his eyes. Penny sighed, pressing her hand into her face before trying to speak in a softer tone. "Harry…" The hurt in Harry's eyes was quickly replaced with a burst of temper that matched her own.
"Stop saying my name like that!" He said aggressively. Penny frowned slightly, her eyes flicking to his scar. "Don't talk to me like a child that needs mollycoddling! You are just like everybody else!" He shouted. Penny could hear footsteps, undoubtedly attracted by the volume of their exchange.
"Don't you dare." Penny said in an unusually quiet voice that made Harry fall silent. "I've done more for you than anyone else here and you know it!" She spat as Mrs Weasley reached the doorway. "You want to waltz around like a martyr? Fine! But maybe if you get your head out your arse you might realise there are more important things than you feeling sorry for yourself!" Harry's jaw hung slack in shocked rage as Penny stomped out of the room. Mrs Weasley made as if to say something but thought better of it, as Penny pushed past the Weasley matriarch and into the room she shared with Ginny and Hermione. Slamming the door she plonked herself down on her bed, only to huff and pull herself back up when an impatient hiss came from the other side of the door. Yanking it open, Juno slithered in, her tail barely over the threshold before Penny slammed the door once more. She flopped along her bed slightly less forcefully and sighed.
"Did that go as Mistress foresaw?" Juno asked, sliding up and over Penny's legs and midriff. Penny answered only with a grunt, her hand absentmindedly running along Juno's thick body. "You creatures are most emotional." Juno commented.
"I really wish we weren't. Sometimes I wish I didn't feel anything at all. It only ever causes trouble." Penny said heavily.
"You certainly seem to lose your edge when you are personally afflicted." Juno told her. "It's as if all that intellect of yours evaporates when your romantic emotions get involved." She went on.
"Intellect and emotion rarely co-exist Juno." Penny reasoned wisely. "That's why I have no intention of dating again any time soon." Juno laid silently on her for a while before speaking again.
"Does Potter have the ability of Legilimency too?" She asked, Penny frowned slightly as she raised her head a little.
"I don't think so. Why?" She asked,
"He just seemed to read your emotions as well as you read his. Like how you are not as indifferent to him as you pretend."
"I never said I was indifferent." Penny muttered irritably. Juno didn't say any more and the two of them laid in silence for some time before Hermione and Ginny joined her. Ginny virtually bounced onto Penny's bed, ignoring a disgruntled Juno who slid her body off the bed and made her way up onto the top of the wardrobe. Penny stayed layout as she was, not bothering to sit up.
"You and Harry had a smooth break up then, yer?" Ginny asked. Hermione settled elegantly along her own bed.
"You can't break up if you are not together, Gin." Penny said tartly. "But if you mean he finally realised we really are broken up, then yer, sure. Smooth as a Knarl's back." Penny said, making Ginny snigger slightly.
"Give him time, he'll come round." Hermione said gently. "He's hurting, that's all."
"He is just being so dramatic." Penny whined, noticing a disbelieving look between Ginny and Hermione, their eyebrows raised. "Yer, yer, alright." She huffed, acknowledging her hypocrisy.
"He could always date someone else to try and make you jealous." Ginny suggested coyly, as Penny gave her a shrewd look from under her eyelashes.
"That would be very childish, like refusing to talk to someone for months." Penny retorted with a hint of playfulness, a snigger escaping her whilst Ginny smirked. She could sense Hermione's brain whirling, trying to make sense of it all.
"I really don't understand why people our age take relationships and dating so seriously anyway." Hermione commented, shaking her head a little. "Honestly, so many girls in my year act like everybody they date is the love of their life and then act like it's the end of the world when it's over. Only to start again in a couple of weeks. It's ridiculous." Hermione tutted. "Like I told Ginny, there is nothing wrong with dating around a bit. Have fun in people's company and get to know yourself as well but it doesn't mean you are going to marry them." She said.
"You are still in touch with Krum aren't you?" Ginny asked the older witch. Penny's smiled became rather fixed as she thought of the Seeker.
"Yes, we still write to each other occasionally. He is far brighter than people realise and I do like him." Hermione said, Penny's smile turning to more of a grimace. She again fought the urge to inform Hermione the stocky wizard had in fact pursued her first, which growled inside her. "But even so, it's not like I am going to marry the man." Penny felt the urge subside, settling into more of a huff. She noticed Ginny watching her, a slight bemused look on her face, Penny avoiding her gaze.
The girls soon settled not long later, Juno already fast asleep as Penny pulled the covers over the pair of them.
The following day, for a second year in a row, Penny's birthday was awful. Mrs Weasley had made her pancakes for breakfast, though her lips were rather thin the whole time, her "Happy Birthday" rather lacking in warmth. The small pile of gifts were presented to her, with a supply of Frog Spawn Soup from Tonks and Andromeda, a shimmering book of Playful Charms from Hermione. There was also a young witch's magazine from Ginny, which Penny suspected might have content in Mrs Weasley that would not have approved of hidden within its pages, a new chess set from Sirius, given she had trashed his old set by beating him repeatedly, and lastly a small badly wrapped package was given to her.
"With love, Harry." Penny read on the tag, her face remaining composed despite an uncomfortable shift in her mid-rift. Unwrapping it she found a large container of Honeyduke of caramel chocolate bites, her favourites. She cleared her throat carefully.
"Thank you, Harry." She acknowledged politely, glancing at him. He stared silently at his plate, his fork fiddling with his pancake unnecessarily. Penny felt the room glancing between the two of them, before Mrs Weasley announced who was cleaning which room today.
"Don't I get out of cleaning, given it's my birthday?" Penny whined.
"Didn't realise you didn't get out of it usually." Ron muttered rather loudly. He fell silent at a stern expression on Mrs Weasley's face. Ignoring Penny's protests, she set her to work with Ginny, albeit an easy job for the two of them in one of the mostly cleaned bedrooms. Despite Harry and Penny avoiding each other, the few times they were forced into the same room, the air was palpable. Harry said nothing but gritted his teeth loudly as he refused to acknowledge her existence. From what Hermione told her, he spent the whole day ranting about her comments, enraged by her suggestion he was behaving like a martyr. Ron apparently, had not helped things, by avoiding confirming or denying this, and instead focussing on insulting Penny, despite Hermione's scolding.
Mrs Weasley was not quiet about her disapproval either, driving Penny batty with her endless comments. Her adoration of Harry was nauseating and her manner towards Penny had definitely dropped a few degrees.
"But he is such a nice boy." She said for the millionth time. "Of course, he could do much better but I wish you hadn't hurt him so." She fretted, Penny ignoring the sting to her pride.
"Leave her be Mum! It's her birthday for Merlin's sake." Ginny said slightly crossly. "Even you can't deny he is acting like a moron about it!" Mrs Weasley pouted.
"You watch your tone young lady!" She warned, pointing her threateningly wand in Ginny's direction. "Besides, he is only fifteen –"
"And Penny is only fourteen." Ginny interrupted. She met her mother's stern eyes unrelentingly, Penny acutely reminded of her own stare downs with Narcissa. The thought of her aunt made her chest tighten with an ache. She wondered if her aunt had remembered it was her birthday, and if she had forgiven her for leaving.
Her question was answered in the evening when sat downstairs for dinner, Mrs Weasley having made lasagne. Apparently she could not bring herself to make Macaroni cheese as a birthday dinner and had settled for a close substitute. Kreacher had wheeled through an enormous two-tiered chocolate cake into the kitchen.
"Kreacher has been making it all day, Mistress Penny." He confessed, bowing so low his nose brushed the ground.
"Wow, thank you Kreacher." Penny said a little breathlessly, her mouth watered at the chocolate icing that wrapped around it. "Would you mind cutting it up for everyone? I don't want to destroy it." She said. Kreacher had done so, though he appeared very reluctant to serve it to anyone but Penny.
"Mistress Penny had a package arrive." Kreacher told her, bringing her a pristine black wrapped box with an elegant bow made from a golden ribbon. Eying it, her gut twisted as she guessed the sender. Glancing at the tag, she saw familiar cursive writing: With love, Aunt Cissy.
Swallowing a rising lump in her throat, she released the label, her hand caressing the box delicately. As her hand ran over the packaging, she felt a slightly raised area along the edge of the box. Her eyebrows contracted slightly as she lifted it up to examine it. She felt a stab of rage as she realised the paper had been torn and resealed. Raising her eyes to glare at Sirius she addressed him.
"You opened it." She said icily, a statement rather than a question. He looked unconcerned by her comment helping himself to his second slice of cake.
"Given where it's come from, of course we checked it was safe." He replied with an indifferent shrug.
"For all we know she could have sent you something dangerous." Mrs Weasley said, who at least had the decency to look sheepish.
"Narcissa wouldn't send me anything dangerous." Penny said angrily.
"You don't know that." Mrs Weasley said gently.
"Yes, I DO." Penny snapped back adamantly. grabbing the wrapped box and heading for the stairs. Pausing briefly she marched back, snatched a plate with her cake slice on and resumed her storming off. "Worst birthday ever!" She shouted as she went. Upstairs in the room she never seemed to leave she unwrapped the gift. A golden bracelet encrusted with what were undoubtedly diamonds and emeralds. Next to it, was a small ugly looking bag that Penny looked at quizzically. Though soft to the touch Penny found it to be very out of place alongside Narcissa's usual choice of gifts. Finding a product tag within the wrapping, which read:
"Mokeskin bag, possesses flesh memory. The first person to draw the strings will be the only individual who can open it."
Penny looked at the bag with new appreciation, a flood of affection for her aunt. Somehow a small piece of privacy felt invaluable right now. Reaching under her pillow, she pulled out the Black family photo album, turning through the pages, despite knowing every detail of every picture. Closing it again, she held it tightly against herself for a moment before drawing the strings of the mokeskin bag and placing the album within it. Admiring the bracelet, she added it to the bag before pulling the strings tightly shut and holding it to her chest.
"Thank you" She whispered into it, hoping somehow her aunt would hear her.