A/N- I'm not dead, honest! I just keep forgetting how long its been since I updated. Anywho, in this chapter, Harry and Ron finally take things a little too far, and Hermione is forced to choose sides. Ginny finally chews Ron and Harry out, and Perdita spends some more time with Draco. Sirius and Remus make a brief appearance too! Hope everyone enjoys it! And now, the messages:
Bobo Blankrune- Draco is never up to anything good. And, knowing him, it'll only get worse with time. Of course, I know how bad, cuz I wrote it, mwahaha.
Paige- You're welcome! Malfoy is more fun as a git. If everyone was a good person, the stories would be boring. Evil is more fun. None of those annoying morals to get in the way.
Vereniel Greenleaf- As long as I still have loyal people reviewing I'm happy. I've put too much into this story to stop anyway, so you're pretty much guarateed more, its just a question of when...
Alynna Lis Eachann- Okay, I know this wasn't "soon", but there is more now! The plot thickens even more, and we're not even halfway through the story yet.
Sabrina Potter- Hehe, don't worry, I'll have more Zabini later on. Lots more Draco in this chapter, of course. Manipulative little ::trails off into an anti-Draco rant:: Okay, I'm better now. And you know I had to include my Nevie somehow!
harryforeva- Ginny does remember Pettigrew, she just doesn't think it's a good reason to dislike Perdita, like the Trio is doing.
okay, but why doesn't Ginny remember Pettigrew? I think Ginny should remember soon, cause she does like Harry and knows everything about his past.
Ayla Lupin- Now, why would anyone feel sorry for Draco? Even if he is nice inside, he still acts like a prat. But don't worry, I'm not making Draco the typical abused child/my life's goal is to be a Death Eater character that he usually is in fan fics. He's just a git, plain and simple. A self-absorbed git :) He has an ulterior motive for being nice to Perdita anyway, as we've seen.
**************
"I am so glad it's the weekend." Ron sighed. Their last class of the day had finally ended, and they were all utterly exhausted.
"Speak for yourself, Ron." Harry laughed. "I still have a Quidditch game."
"Oh yeah, against Slytherin." Ron grinned. "Make sure you pound Malfoy."
"Ron." Hermione sighed. "Honestly, can't you be a bit more mature?"
"Ron? Mature?" Harry laughed. Ron rolled his eyes, but laughed along with them.
"Hey, guys." Ginny grinned, coming through the Portrait Hole. "What's so funny?"
"Hermione suggested that Ron be mature." Harry replied. Ginny giggled.
" 'ello Ginny, 'ello everyone." Perdita grinned, walking in behind Ginny. The smiles on Ron, Harry, and Hermione's faces abruptly vanished.
"Hello, Perdita." Harry said coldly. Perdita's face fell, and she looked like she was fighting back tears.
"Something you wanted?" Ron asked, in the tone he usually reserved for Malfoy. Perdita looked quickly at Ginny, who looked back helplessly while casting the boys furious looks.
" 'arry." Perdita said softly. "We got along great at Gammy's. I thought we were friends."
"You thought wrong." he muttered, but she couldn't hear him. She took a few steps towards them, looking confused at the cold looks on their faces.
"What is it about me that you 'ate so much?" she asked quietly, biting her lip. "What did I ever do to you?"
She didn't wait for an answer, however. She just turned and ran back out of the Portrait Hole as her tears began to fall. Ginny, instead of going after her friend to comfort her, rounded on Harry and Ron, all of her fury towards them pouring out now.
"That was completely uncalled for! How can you do that to her?" she asked angrily. "She's never done anything to you! Why are you so cruel?"
"She deserves it. She's a Pettigrew." Ron snapped.
"I don't care if you hate her father, nothing gives you the right to treat anyone like that!"
"Ginny, you know what her father did." Hermione said, though she silently agreed with Ginny. She felt horrible about treating Perdita that way, even though she hadn't done anything. And now she was torn between her best friends and Ginny, whom she knew was right. This isn't right, Hermione thought. Its not Perdita's fault, we shouldn't be punishing her for something she doesn't even know about. But I don't want Ron and Harry mad at me either...she hated it when they weren't speaking to her.
"Her father is a backstabbing, murderous Death Eater." Ron snapped at both of them.
"But she doesn't know that!" Ginny hissed. She whipped around and looked at Harry. "And you too! I would have thought you of all people would at least be a bit sympathetic towards her."
"Me? Why me?" he asked blankly.
"Because your parents were murdered, just like her mother. You hating her because of her father is no different than Snape hating you for your father." she said hotly. "All of you are so horrible to her for something she can't control. She's had a hard enough time lately, trying to fit in to a completely new school, without you making it worse for her."
"So what? Because she can't help it, and she's new, we're automatically supposed to like her?" Ron asked sarcastically.
"I never said you had to be best friends, but you never even gave her a chance. The only reason you started hating her is because you found out who her father is." Ginny said, "Her last name is not a reason to hate her."
"Seems like a perfect reason to me." Ron told her, too stubborn to admit that his sister was right.
"That's because you're a moron." Ginny snapped at him. "And if you hate her for something like that, then you're no better than Malfoy."
"Hey!" Ron cried indignantly. How dare she compare him to that scum Malfoy?
"She's right, Ron." Hermione broke in suddenly. She had had enough, and couldn't stand by silently anymore. Yes, Harry and Ron were her best friends, but Ginny was right. Perdita hadn't done anything to deserve being treated that way. Hermione knew exactly how she felt too. It was just like when Malfoy called her a Mudblood, and insulted her for something she had no control over. It was wrong. "You two have been treating her horribly."
"You haven't exactly been friendly yourself." Ron pointed out.
"I haven't gone out of my way to talk to her." Hermione admitted. "But you two have been treating her like she's the scum of the Earth. Harry, you said so yourself that she seemed really sweet when you met her at Mrs. Figg's."
"Hermione, look what her father di-" Ron began, but she cut him off.
"Yes, what her father did. Not what she did." Hermione said. "We've been treating her the same way Malfoy treats me!"
Harry and Ron both stared at Hermione in surprise. They hadn't seen her get this worked up since she had started S.P.E.W. Hermione didn't wait for them to find their voices again. She had made her decision, and she would stick with it, even if Ron and Hrry stopped speaking to her for it. She turned to Ginny, a determined look on her face.
"Come on, Ginny." she said. "Let's go see if Perdita is okay."
***********
Perdita ran down the emtpy hall as she fled the Gryffindor Common Room, finally sinking to the floor behind a suit of armor. There, she curled up in the shadows, drawing her knees to her chest, and began to cry. All of the grief she felt over losing her mother, of having to start a new school, of failing most of her classes, and most of all, Harry, Ron, and Hermione being so cold towards her, all of it came pouring out at once. She sobbed uncontrollably, huddled in the tiny space, not caring who, if anyone, heard her. She wasn't sure how long she had been there before she heard a familiar voice.
"Perdita?" Draco asked, looking around the suit of armor at her. He had been walking down the hall when he heard someone crying. His path happened to take him by where she was crying. She could dimly see him through her tears. He looked concerned.
"What's wrong, Dita?" he asked gently. Just act like you care, he told himself. Act like you want to know why she's crying. That's what a friend would do. To his surprise, he realized he actually did want to know why she was crying. What could have gotten her so upset that she would be crying in the middle of the hallway like this?
"Everything." she whimpered, burying her face back against her knees. Draco crawled back and put his arm across her shoulders.
"Shh, its okay." he said gently. "Just tell me what's wrong."
"Everything is wrong." Perdita said, still crying very hard. "Not a thing 'as gone right since I came 'ere."
"What do you mean?" he asked, craning his head down, trying to catch her eye.
"I am failing nearly every class." Perdita said. "I am always getting lost in the 'alls. 'arry et Ron me deteste. Je jamais n'importe quoi à les."
"What was that last part?" Draco asked. She finally looked up at him as he gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, the last bit was in French."
"Je suis désolé." Perdita said softly. "I said, 'arry and Ron 'ate me, and I never did anything to them."
"Potter and Weasley hate you?" he asked in surprise. She was a Gryffindor. He thought it was required by law that all Gryffindors get along. Well, except for the Creevey boy, but Draco didn't really believe that kid was even human anyway. Perdita nodded, wiping away a few more tears that were escaping her eyes.
"They are never nice to me." she said, closing her eyes to fight back a fresh wave of tears. "No matter what I do, they either ignore me, or they are cold to me. 'arry was nice to me during the summer, but after we got 'ere, 'e changed."
"You met Potter during the summer?" Draco asked, surprised again. Perdita nodded.
"My grandmother lives near 'im. 'is aunt and uncle sent 'im to spend the day at 'er 'ouse, while I was there." Perdita explained. More tears started forming.
"I'm sorry." Draco said, putting his arm back around her. Perdita allowed him to pull her closer as she cried. She rested her head against his shoulder, more tears rolling down her face.
Draco stared off a bit, thinking as Perdita cried. Why was Potter mean to her? She was one of the nicest people he had ever met. She actually seemed to care about him. Perdita had said that Potter had been friendly to her during the summer, but once they arrived at Hogwarts, he had changed...what could make him change suddenly? And what reason could he possibly have to dislike Perdita?
To Draco's amazement, he found himself feeling sorry for Perdita. She had started a new school in a completely different country. She had come here with no friends, knowing almost nobody. It was no wonder she seemed so miserable. Now, Potter and Weasley were giving her problems. It was bad enough Potter walked around like he owned the place, but picking on someone who had never done anything to him!
Where did that come from, he wondered. He was actually getting angry at Potter on Perdita's behalf. He wanted to hunt Potter down and make him sorry for making Perdita cry. That's not supposed to happen, he thought. The only reason I hang around her is because I'm supposed to gain her confidence, he reminded himself, so we can use her, if necessary, to remind her relative of where his loyalties should be. Draco looked down at Perdita and saw that she was still crying.
"Hey, its okay." Draco said. He reached down and gently nudged her chin up so that she was looking at him. "Don't worry about Potter. If he's going to be mean to you for no reason, ignore him. Trust me, he's not worth it."
Perdita smiled slightly. It really did make her feel better to hear him say that. She looks so sad and alone, Draco thought, staring down at her. He really did want to make her feel better. After a few seconds of silence, Draco leaned down and hugged her. He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her, which was rather difficult as they were both still lodged behind the suit of armor. Perdita rested her head against his shoulder as he held her close.
"Merci, Draco." Perdita said softly, hugging him back.
"No problem, Dita." he replied. Finally, he pulled away from her. "Want to go for a walk around the lake? It might make you feel better."
"I already feel better." Perdita admitted. "But yes, a walk sounds like it will cheer me up even more."
"All right then." Draco smiled. He managed to get out from behind the suit of armor, then offered his hand to help Perdita up as well. She smiled gratefully, allowing him to help her up. He put his arm around her shoulders as he led her down towards the front doors.
Ginny and Hermione, who had been searching for Perdita, saw her walk across the hall up ahead of them. They were about to call to her, when they saw that Draco was with her. Both girls stopped in their tracks. Draco and Perdita didn't see them, because Draco was still talking to her, and Perdita was staring down at the ground as they walked.
"What's he doing with Perdita?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"She's friends with him." Ginny answered.
"Malfoy? She's friends with Malfoy?" Hermione repeated, shocked.
"I know. Unbelievable, huh?" Ginny said, knowing exactly how Hermione felt. "She says he's very nice to her."
"I don't believe it." Hermione said dubiously.
"I don't either." Ginny sighed. "But according to her, he's a nice guy."
"He's up to something." Hermione said suspiciously. "Why would he be nice to her? He hates all Gryffindors."
"I don't know." Ginny said. "But Perdita is allowed to choose her own friends. She already knows I can't stand him."
"She does?" Hermione asked. Ginny nodded. "And she still hangs around him?"
"She just doesn't hang around us both at the same time." Ginny explained. "He's certainly been treating her nicer than Harry and Ron have been. Which makes me even more suspicious, because he isn't nice to anyone."
"They're both stubborn gits." Hermione said. "They're my best friends, but they're letting their hatred for Wormtail override their common sense."
"Trust me, Ron doesn't have common sense." Ginny told her. Hermione laughed a bit.
"Well, I suppose we'll have to wait until dinner to speak to her." Hermione said at last. "Do you think she'll forgive me?"
"Of course she will." Ginny said confidently. "She gets along with everyone. She even has Malfoy acting almost human around her."
*******
"Don't let Weasley and Potter get you down." Draco told Perdita as they started their walk around the lake. "Trust me, they aren't worth it. They're both idiots."
"I just do not understand why they act like this." Perdita said. "Why would they be mean to me? I am not mean to them."
"Well, Weasley isn't exactly the brightest sickle in Gringotts." Draco said. "And Potter is a speccy git. He gets away with anything he likes."
"You don't like Ron, 'ermione, or 'arry, do you?" Perdita asked after a long silence.
"Well...no." he admitted.
" 'ow come? If you do not mind my asking."
"Well, Weasley's dad is a Muggle lover, Granger's a Mu-Know-It-All, and Potter refused my offer of friendship back in first year." he replied.
He had to remind himself not to use the word Mudblood around Perdita. Her mother, she had told him, had been Muggleborn, and using the word Mudblood around her would almost certainly set her off. That would ruin any chances he had of keeping her trust, as well as ruining his father's plans to use her. They'd have a problem using her to get to Potter, however, he realized. If he hated her, as Perdita claimed, how could they use her to get information about him? Perhaps, once he had gained her trust enough, he could get her to do the same with Potter...Perdita's voice broke in on his thoughts, however, drawing him back to reality.
"Oh." Perdita said softly. "That is it?"
"Well...yeah." he said, suddenly feeling a bit strange. Now that he'd told her, it didn't sound like much of a reason to him either...oh, what did she know? She was just a klutzy, idiotic Gryffindor.
"And you do not think that is a bit...shallow?" she asked. "I mean, it is not the best reason in the world to 'ate someone. Not that there is a good reason to 'ate someone."
"Don't you hate them?" Draco asked, looking down at her. "I mean, they've been acting horrible towards you. If anyone should hate them, its you."
"No, I do not 'ate them." Perdita said, after a moment of thought. "They 'ave not given me a reason to 'ate them."
"Ignoring you and making you cry isn't a reason?"
"Lots of people ignore me." Perdita shrugged quietly. "Even at Beauxbatons they did. I can not just 'ate someone because they do not listen to me, or because they do not like me."
"Now, how could anyone not like you?" he grinned. This faking friendship thing was getting easier.
"I don't know. I'm so shy, I guess they don't even notice I'm there." she replied.
"Their loss." Draco told her, finally drawing another smile out of her.
"Thanks." she said softly.
They fell silent again, continuing to walk around the lake. They were the only ones out there. It was very peaceful, with just the waves lapping against the shore to break the silence that had fallen. Draco glanced out of the corner of his eye at her. She looked much calmer than she had before. Still a bit upset, but not nearly as much as before.
"You okay now?" he asked. She nodded slightly.
A question kept nagging in the back of Draco's mind. He still hadn't found out why she had transferred to Hogwarts in the first place. She mentioned her grandmother quite a bit. What about her parents, he wondered. Why didn't she ever mention them? Did she trust him enough now to tell him? Only one way to find out, he thought.
"Perdita?" he asked, breaking the silence once again. Be polite, he told himself. Try to sound like you care. Why should she trust you if she doesn't think you care?
"Hmm?" she asked, coming out of her thoughts.
"If...you don't mind my asking, why did you transfer here?" he asked. "I mean, there was a reason, wasn't there...?"
Perdita bit her lip, slightly hesitant. She had told Ginny about her mother, but she hadn't told Draco yet. It was still hard to talk about, and she didn't want to tell him outright. It would have seemed like she was running around trying to get pity for it, and she wasn't. Still, she thought, she was around Draco almost as much as she was Ginny. She trusted him, even if Ginny didn't seem to. He was nice to her. He was her friend too.
"My mother died." she said, in barely more than a whisper. Draco barely kept his mouth from dropping open in shock.
"Your..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say. "God, I'm sorry, Perdita. I didn't..."
"Its not your fault." she said, wiping away the tears that were starting to form again.
"What about your dad?" he asked tentatively. "Do you live with him now?"
"My dad died before I was even born." she told him, shaking her head. " 'e was trying to stop Sirius Black."
"Sirius Black..." Draco trailed off in sudden realization. "Your dad was Peter Pettigrew?"
"Oui." she replied, wiping away more tears. "I was sent to live 'ere, because this is where my grandmother lives. She lived in a Muggle neighborhood, near where 'arry lives. That is 'ow I met 'im during the summer."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Draco apologized, not even realizing that he felt genuinely sorry for her. "It was none of my business."
"Don't be sorry, you couldn't 'ave known." she said quietly. Like before, Draco started to feel like he wanted to help her, but he didn't know how.
"Well..." he began at last. "I really hope things get better for you here. If nothing else, you have me to talk to."
"Thank you, Draco." she said softly, hugging him suddenly.
Draco's initial reaction was to pull away. He might be a lot of things, but touchy-feely was not one of them. He glanced around quickly over the top of Perdita's head. Good. No one was around. That was all he needed, someone finding out he was letting a Gryffindor girl hug him. That one would spread like wildfire through the school. It was easier pretending he liked her when no one was around. He didn't have to worry about being seen. Feeling suddenly awkward, Draco put his arms around her, patting her on the back.
"It'll be okay," he said. "Just think, things can only get better from here on."
Draco blinked silently, thinking hard as a thought suddenly struck him. What relative could she possibly have that was a Death Eater, he wondered. Her parents were both dead...only her grandmother was still alive, it sounded like, and Draco's father had never mentioned a Death Eater that lived near Potter. No self-respecting Death Eater would live in a Muggle neighborhood anyway. The only person he had ever heard of with the name Pettigrew had been the Pureblood murdered by Sirius Black, just after Voldemort's first downfall. Her father, he reminded himself. He knew from experience, however, just how far some Pureblood families extended. Well, he thought, this mystery Death Eater she was related to probably had a different last name or something. Perhaps she was related to them through her mother's side. Just because they had different last names didn't mean they weren't related. Still, something didn't make sense here...if she had a relative who was a Death Eater, why didn't she know about it? If Perdita didn't realize she had another family member still alive, outside of her grandmother, how did the Dark Lord plan to use Perdita to keep the Death Eater loyal?
Its not your place to question his motives of plans, Draco told himself. He could only imagine how that would go. Hey Dad, I think the Dark Lord's plan is flawed and doomed to failure. Draco shuddered at the thought of how that might turn out. Just keep going along with it, he thought. If it fails, its not my fault. I'm just doing as I was told. Besides, as an added bonus, he was completely fooling Perdita. She was so clueless.
"Are you okay, Draco?" she asked, looking concerned.
"Yeah, why?" he asked quickly.
"You shuddered." she said. Draco thought quickly.
"Its just a bit cold out here, that's all." he lied.
"Oh." she said, believing him. "Why don't we go back inside then. It should be almost dinner time by now."
"Good idea." Draco agreed, trying to convince himself that he hadn't felt bad about lying to her just now. That would mean he cared the tiniest bit about her, and that certainly wasn't true.
***************
"That went well." Sirius said sarcastically, collapsing onto the couch in Remus' living room. They had just been to break the news to Arabella. It had taken a long time to explain everything to her, about Sirius being innocent all along, and Peter being the real traitor. Things had gone downhill rapidly. Especially when Arabella had told them her own bad news.
"What did you expect, Sirius?" Remus asked. "She just found out her son-in-law was a Death Eater, and a traitor. Of course she's going to go ballistic."
"I still can't believe it." Sirius sighed, burying his face in his hands. "I can't believe Kassia is dead. It doesn't seem real."
"I know." Remus agreed. "Because of Death Eaters, no less."
"Damn them all." Sirius swore, but it lacked the usual hatred. It was more of a defeated reflex. "Damn the bastards that killed her, and damn Peter for letting them."
"There's no guarantee he even knew about it." Remus pointed out. "I can't bring myself to believe he would have let her die."
"But he was all too happy to hand over James and Lily!" Sirius spat. Remus sighed patiently. He was used to Sirius' bouts of temper.
"Come on, Moony." Sirius said. "If he could have betrayed James and Lily, he could have let Ka-"
"No." Remus interrupted, not even letting Sirius finish. "I can accept that he was a traitor, and a Death Eater. Hell, I could even accept that he was secretly a ballerina. But I won't accept that he may have had something to do with Kassia dying."
"He was in league with Voldemort." Sirius pointed out.
"That doesn't mean he had anything to do with her dying." Remus said, getting back to his feet.
"Remus." Sirius began, following him. "Look, obviously we didn't know him as well as we thought, if he could have done something like that. You said yourself that even Kassia probably didn't know he was a Death Eater. If he could pretend to be on our side, couldn't he have pretended to love her?"
"I'll grant that there's probably a lot we never knew about him. He was a good actor; that's obvious." Remus conceded. "But I will not believe that he would have let Kassia be murdered. It was obvious how much he loved her, all through school. You can't fake that kind of love. He wouldn't have orphaned his own daughter."
"Rem-"
"Shh!" Remus hissed suddenly, glancing over his shoulder suddenly, out the darkened window nearby. A look of confusion crossed Sirius' face, but it went unseen by Remus.
"What is it?" Sirius asked, unconsciously lowering his voice.
"I heard something outside. A pop...like someone Apparating." Remus said, looking tense. "Transform, now."
"If there's someone out there, I can you help better if I'm in human form." Sirius said, instinctively knowing something dangerous was about to happen.
"Whoever it is, they can't know you're hiding here." Remus hissed at him. "Do it!"
Sirius knew it was no use arguing with Remus when he used that tone of voice, and reluctantly gave in. Just then, the front door exploded into splinters, and three black clad figures stepped inside.
Bloody Death Eaters, Remus thought as he moved to defend himself.