Chapter 8: The Other Miss Wilkes

With Al back in Quidditch practices regularly and homework piling up, September felt like it passed very quickly. The leaves in the Forbidden Forest were turning now, and there was a definite chill to the air even before the sun went down each night.

James had served his detention with Pelfer and got another out of it to boot, this time because he'd gone searching through the caretaker-in-training's papers at some point during his first detention. Like his predecessor, James found, Pelfer was a Squib. This caused much amusement for James and Louis until Fred pointed out that, in fact, Filch managed to put them both into detention at least five times a year without magic, so there was no reason to expect his successor would prove any different.

And unlike Filch, Pelfer did not appear to carry any shame about his lack of magical ability.

"He told me straight out!" James had exclaimed. "To my face! He just said, 'Yes, I'm a Squib,' and then gave me another detention!"

"Because he's a Squib?" Louis asked.

"No, because he walked in when I was going through his cabinet," James replied.

"Mate, you have got to get that map back from Roxy," Louis had replied. Rose and Al looked at each other, perplexed.

Lucius Malfoy had made no further surprise appearances at Hogwarts and no attempt to contact Scorpius. Neither Draco's mother nor father had mentioned or even acknowledged that his grandfather had been at the school at all, or at least so he maintained to Rose and Al. And Melisenda had been either fairly subdued or very distracted – they hardly saw her at all anymore, except in classes. She didn't sit with them for meals unless she absolutely couldn't help it, preferring to perch over at the Slytherin table. The professors generally looked the other way on that sort of thing unless there was a Feast of some sort.

Rose's mum had written her back, saying – in the sort of semi-disapproving parental tone that translated even via parchment – that she had no idea what was in Greenhouse Five, and if it was off-limits, Rose was better off not worrying about it.

And there was no indication, at least so far, that anyone unwonted was sneaking into Gryffindor Tower this year. It seemed impossible, because Rose knew that Marduin could not have accomplished everything he'd done last year without inside help, but perhaps, somehow, the danger had died with him?

Rose was thinking about this as they left Potions one day. There wasn't much else to think about with Potions, usually. They were learning a lot of theory about Swelling Solutions now. Rose had hoped, now that they had moved onto slightly more advanced topics in Potions, Wistorren's pedagogic practices might have likewise improve or advanced, but they had no such luck. So far Wistorren had managed to get as far as listing the ingredients (no quantities) before waxing rhapsodic on the different types of bat spleen that might be used and their individual benefits and detractions as components of the Swelling Solution. It's not that this wasn't interesting, or at least Rose found it interesting. It was more that he had spent two weeks already talking about pufferfish eyes and nettle varieties, and at this rate it seemed unlikely they would actually brew any potion at all before Christmas.

So Rose was in a bit of a snit even before Wendy Wilkes barged straight into her. Wendy, Melisenda's older, louder, fourth-year sister, was considerably bigger than Rose, who tripped backwards and dropped her bag. Her books scattered over the carpeted hallway.

"Watch it, Weasley," Wendy snarled, flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder. Her tone was harsh, but she rather ruined the effect by bending down to help Rose pick up her books and papers. Rose watched for a moment, bemused, then hurried to help gather her things. Interrupting the flow of students in the hallways during classes put one in a fairly precarious position, and in great danger of being knocked down again or stepped on.

"Er, thanks," said Rose as Wendy handed her books back.

"Don't mention it," Wendy said. She caught Rose's arm in a strong grip, "Seriously, Weasley, don't mention it."

"Er . . . right."

Rose nodded. Wendy nodded. They went their separate ways.

It wasn't until that night, as Rose was settling into a corner of the library to do homework with Al and Scorpius, that she found the note, written in an unfamiliar scrawl, and lodged between two of her books.

Weasley –

Lunch tomorrow. You and little Potter meet me by the lake.

-WW

Rose, eyes wide, passed the note to Al, who read it and passed it to Scorpius.

"WW?" Al asked.

"You'll never believe me," Rose whispered, looking around to make sure Melisenda wasn't in earshot, "But I'm pretty sure it's Wendy Wilkes."

"You're right," said Al, "I don't believe you. Also," he wrinkled his nose, "Little Potter?"

"Intriguing," said Scorpius. "You'll have to tell me how that goes."

"Don't be ridiculous, Malfoy," Rose said, "You're coming too." Rose wasn't sure, but she thought Scorpius looked a little pleased at that.

"Yeah, what difference is one more Gryffindor second year going to make?" said Al. "This is Wendy Wilkes. She could eat us for lunch and still have dessert."

"I've always thought she could play rugby," said Scorpius seriously. Al and Rose failed to react. "Oh, seriously? Rugby? The Muggle sport? You've never –"

"It's pretty surprising it took as long as it did for us to find out you went to Muggle school, Scorpius," Al said.

"Too true, 'Little Potter,'" Scorpius said, grinning and dodging the half-hearted swing Al took at him.

. . .

Rose was distracted, to say the least, in Charms the next morning. They were onto Shrinking Charms now, so at least there was a much lower risk of being impaled by the pointy end of a feather. The tradeoff was that Shrinking Charms were more finicky than Engorgement Charms, so there was a much higher risk of general frustration. Dax and Bradley had shredded several feathers accidentally and kept sneezing as they breathed in the fragments. They had Charms with the second year Hufflepuffs, who seemed generally unimpressed with their Gryffindor counterparts, although Leo Spink did give them a cheerful little wave every time they came in for class.

Rose looked at the feather she was supposed to be shrinking and sighed. "Reducio?" she said hopefully, waving her wand in a tight circle. The feather vibrated for a moment on the desk before the tip started to smoke slightly. She hastily smothered it with her robes and looked round to make sure no one had seen. Forget distracted – she was a menace.

When Al managed to ignite his feather in a dramatic flash-bang! of purple sparks, Rose scowled and refocused. If she didn't get this right in class, Flitwick would no doubt assign her extra Charms homework, and she couldn't have that.

They left class after a surprisingly stern talking-to from Flitwick and a written assignment on the "mental manifestation" required for physical Charms. Bradley could be heard swearing that his shoes were at least two sizes smaller than normal, and shouldn't that count as a success for the spell?

On their way down to the Great Hall, just when Rose, Al, and Scorpius were shoring up excuses to leave the rest of the second years and head to the lake for what promised to be an incredibly strange meeting with Wendy Wilkes, they ran into the Slytherins coming up from Potions in the dungeons. This would normally not have been much of an issue – in fact, it would have been a welcome opportunity to get rid of Melisenda Wilkes, but for the fact that Zeke Smith made a beeline for Rose.

"Rosie!" he exclaimed loudly. Rose winced. Only her family called her "Rosie," but she'd never bothered to tell Zeke that. "I was just thinking we never caught up after the summer," he blustered earnestly. "Can I sit with you at lunch?" Roma Rowle and Valissa MacNamara snickered behind him.

"Honestly, who'd want to sit with her?" Roma whispered so loudly that Rose could clearly hear her.

"She's so annoying in class. And those freckles . . ." Valissa snickered.

"Oh, Zeke, I'm not sure – " Rose began, ignoring Roma and Valissa to the best of her abilities. Most everyone in her family had the famous Weasley freckles – from Victoire, who was nearly as pale as Scorpius aside from the smattering of freckles across her nose, to Roxy, whose deep tawny skin was dotted with darker freckles in patterns like constellations writ small. As far as she was concerned, freckles were completely normal. And still, she found herself rubbing at the freckles on her arm, as though unable to help herself.

"Melisenda's at our table all the time," Zeke pushed on earnestly, "So I'm sure it's fine if I'm at your table." His face was pink and shiny. "I'd love to hear about your summer."

"I'm sure he would," Azalea Selwyn hissed to her friends. She came up next to Scorpius and looped her arm through his. "How about we do a trade?" She said sweetly to Rose, who could practically feel the tips of her ears turning red. "We'll take Scorpius for lunch, and you can take Zeke. It'll be a fun little switcheroo," she giggled as though she'd said something incredibly clever.

"Oh that sounds like fun," Rose snapped, inventing quicky, "But unfortunately I've already promised one of the first-years I'd help him out with some tricky Transfiguration work today. I think you might know him?" she said with a smile, turning to Valissa. "I'm sure it's your cousin. So strange that he came to me, and not to you."

Valissa's younger cousin Jasper was, in fact, a Ravenclaw first year, and had never talked to Rose in his life, but she didn't need to know that right now.

"I promised to help," Scorpius said, untangling himself from Azalea.

"And . . . er . . . I promised to bring them food." Al said wildly. He gestured towards the Great Hall. "So, I'll just go get sandwiches for you two, and . . . er . . . meet you back here?"

Rose and Scorpius could do nothing but nod and stand waiting outside of the Great Hall, trusting Al with their lunches for the day.

Before he left, Zeke looked intently at Rose. "I hope we'll be able to catch up some other time, Rosie," he said with such solemnity that Rose felt as though he were proposing a walk in the Forbidden Forest, not a lunchtime chat. Rose watched him go with what must have been a very bemused look on her face.

"How in Merlin's name he ended up in Slytherin, I will never know," Scorpius said behind Zeke's retreating back. "He's got no strategy at all."

Rose blushed fiercely at the implication but didn't deign to reply.

It was windy and cool when Rose, Al, and Scorpius finally left their classmates behind in the Great Hall to meet Wendy Wilkes at the lake. The surface of the lake was mottled with white foam, and ominous clouds above promised rain later. Few students were out on the rocky stretch of grass in front of the castle, and practically none were by the lake. The three struck out for the solitary figure on the far side of the lake. It was hard to see, but the figure looked brunette and blocky. It had to be the older Wilkes sister. Rose wrapped her Gryffindor scarf more closely around her neck and wished she'd thought to wear another layer underneath her cloak.

"You brought Malfoy," Wendy said when they trekked up to her, but her tone was flat and not accusatory. She'd come prepared with a thermos and a blanket to spread. Rose did not mistake the extra room on the blanket as an invitation to sit; she, Al, and Scorpius clustered awkwardly at the edges of the fabric.

"He's with us," Al said. It might have come out sounding defensive if Rose had said it, but from Al it was just a statement of fact. Wendy let out a noise that was somewhere between a grunt and acknowledgement.

"What did you want, Wendy?" Rose asked, trying not to sound aggressive. "Why all the cloak and dagger?"

"Didn't want my sister knowing I was talking to you," Wendy said. She took a quick sip from her thermos, and her eyes darted around. Rose had an inkling it wasn't just her sister that Wendy wanted to keep from knowing about this little tét-a-tét.

Al pursed his lips and knit his brows, and Rose could feel that her expression mirrored his. It was moments like this that reminded Rose they were related. "What for?" she asked, at the same instant Al asked, "Why not?"

"I know you're not friends with Melisenda," Wendy said shortly, "If she knew I came to you, she'd never speak to me again. But you lot are more trustworthy than the other second year Gryffindors, I think." She looked up when Al let out a small huff of mirth. "And no doubt you'll be involved before long anyhow," Wendy continued, more quietly.

"Involved?" Rose asked sharply, "Involved in what?"

"Can't say, can I?" Wendy said. "It's all 'cloak and dagger' like you said." She looked meaningfully at Rose, who could not have been more confused about what she was trying to say if Wendy had asked her to do a barefoot jig on the grass. At midnight. Wearing clogs. Rose felt as though she'd missed a step. Had it been last year, she would have thought that perhaps Wendy was confirming that Melisenda had been involved in getting Peter Marduin into the castle – but why would she be doing that now, after all this time?

The wind blew uneasily through the trees around this side of the lake. Wendy looked up at the darkening sky and said nothing.

"So why ask us here?" Rose asked.

Wendy sighed deeply, her brow furrowed. Her mouth moved a few times, but no sound came out. And then, reluctantly, "I'm hoping you'll keep an eye out for Melisenda," she said.

"Keep an eye out?" Al asked incredulously.

"You do know your sister and I just got detention for hexing each other in Callister's class, right?" Scorpius added.

Wendy nodded and pursed her lips. "I know you don't like her," she said, "And she doesn't much like you, so it's even. But what she's caught up in . . . she needs somebody to watch her back. It was me, last year. But I'm well shut of it this year. I'm out. And she's . . .," Wendy paused, and to Rose's astonishment, took a shaking breath. When she spoke again, her voice wavered. "She won't talk to me."

Rose let this sit for a moment. The Wilkes girls had been practically inseparable last year, once it had become clear that Melisenda was not going to find her people in Gryffindor. They stalked the halls regularly together. Wendy was much of the reason Melisenda had been accepted by the Slytherin crowd – or at least, so Rose had thought. The fact that they weren't talking . . . now that was surprising.

"Does this have anything to do with Melisenda trying to get into Greenhouse Five?" Rose asked, somewhat abruptly, as she'd just had a flashback to the small still face, seen in the fading light outside the castle.

"She what?" Wendy asked, blanching.

"We saw her trying the door just the other night," Rose explained.

"She shouldn't be . . . she can't need . . . it's too soon . . ," Wendy broke off before she said anything truly useful. Al was looking back and forth between Rose and Wendy as though he were watching a fast-paced Quidditch game. Scorpius was staring somewhere slightly above Wendy's head as though he were doing complex Arithmancy and needed to focus. His eyes were narrowed.

"What's does she need that's in Greenhouse Five?" Scorpius asked.

"And what does she need it for?" asked Rose.

But Wendy was gathering up her blanket and shoving it into a bag. "I can't say any more," she said sadly, quietly - a tone wholly unfamiliar, coming from her. And then she had scrambled up with her thermos and the blanket half in the bag and was striding away from them.

The wind picked up and nearly carried away Rose's call after Wendy. But it made no difference. Wendy Wilkes wouldn't have come back even if she'd heard Rose. She couldn't say any more, thought Rose, turning over Wendy's last sentence. But why?

As far as Rose was concerned, this only confirmed what she'd thought before: Melisenda and Wendy had been up to something last year. Whether it had something to do with Marduin, she had no idea. But she was going to find out.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! It seems ffnet has been having some technical trouble for me over this past couple weeks (not sure if other folks are also dealing with this), so it's hard to tell if things are updating properly. If you notice any glaring issues (chapters being out of order, missing chapters, etc.), please do let me know?

Side note: I am incredibly partial to the idea that Wendy Wilkes did, in fact, play rugby, and in my head she continues to play pick-up games over the summers when she's home from Hogwarts. She particularly likes to try out new ideas for plays on Melisenda. As Wendy is much bigger than Melisenda, this rarely goes well for her little sister, which perhaps explains why Melisenda has never taken to the sport.

As usual, feedback in any form is much appreciated!

Love always, bbh