AUTHOR'S NOTE I must mention that Percy is very out of character in this. I want him to be. I'm attempting to find a softer side of him…maybe Michelle draws out his compassionate side. Who knows…but yes I'm aware of how out of character he is.
But Book 5 Percy needs to die…grr.
HUGE thank you to my two Betas on this one! Neville's appearance was entirely Emica's idea and Lauren came up with the idea of the fingertip shaped bruises. Thanks so much you two!
DISCLAIMER I don't own anyone except Michelle and her family, etc. Everyone else is JK Rowling's.
Michelle was still flushed when she reached the empty owlery. Part of this was most likely from running but she was sure she was still blushing from that scene in the shower room. No matter how hard she tried, the image just refused to leave her mind.
"Michelle?"
Michelle spun around, looking around the silent owlery. Owls of all sizes and colors roosted on every rafter, some asleep, others just watching her with round eyes.
"What took you so long?" Diana asked. Michelle jumped, then saw Diana absently stroking Apollo's feathers.
"I got lost," she admitted with a blush.
Diana giggled slightly. "Understandable." She walked down to where Michelle waited. Michelle was utterly terrified of what Diana had to talk to her about.
The older girl took a deep breath. Michelle braced herself. With a pained look, Diana said, "I'm worried about you, Michelle."
That wasn't what Michelle expected. "Huh?"
"I'm worried about you," Diana repeated.
Michelle blinked. "Why?"
Diana sighed. "You haven't made a very good start here. You got put in the wrong house, you shy away from me and the other Gryffindors, you even hang around with a Malfoy!" She spit out the last word with disgust.
Michelle just glared at her older sister, hurt by her words. "There's nothing wrong with Slytherin," she finally said coldly. Tears welled in her eyes. "And I like Draco! I don't care about his stupid family!"
"That stupid family follows You-Know-Who!" Diana yelled at her little sister. "They're evil!" The owls, clearly disturbed by the girls' argument, shuffled in annoyance. One particularly expressive snowy owl glared and hooted down at them irritably.
"THEY'RE NOT EVIL!" Michelle shouted. She was crying by now. "Draco likes me and he's my boyfriend!"
"Stop!" Diana kept her crying at bay. "Don't be like this! Stop being a Slytherin!"
"No! I am a Slytherin!"
Diana looked crushed. "Fine! Be evil like the rest of them! But don't expect to talk to me ever again!" Diana turned and ran from her sister, nearly flattening a scared-looking Gryffindor second year on the way. "Sorry Neville," she mumbled before fleeing from the tower.
Michelle glared at the boy, who hesitated a second before running after Diana. She was still crying, more out of anger than anything else. How dare Diana be like that! She who always seemed so good and the model child, yelling those horrible things at her little sister!
The tears stopped as Michelle got angrier and angrier. Finally, she talked down from the owlery back through the darkened halls, fuming about the unfairness of life.
*****
"Where have you been?"
The furiously icy voice stopped Michelle dead in her tracks just as she reached the dorm's secret entrance. Turning her head, she saw Draco emerge from the shadows. In her anger, she hadn't seen him.
His tone of voice scared her. "I, uh, what do you mean?"
He glared at her. "You know what I mean!" he hissed. Like vices, he grasped her tightly around her upper arms and pulled her close to him.
"Draco, I'm sorry! I – "
"You weren't with Lockhart," he growled. "I saw the good professor nearly a half an hour ago," he said sarcastically. "Alone." His gray eyes were stone cold. "Never keep me waiting and don't lie to me again." His fingers dug into her arms. "Ever."
She could only nod, terrified. Disgusted, he threw her to the side, crushing her shoulder against the hard stone wall. Muttering the password, he swept into the dorm and left her alone in the hallway.
Cradling her shoulder, Michelle curled up against the cool wall. She didn't cry, just buried her head in her arms until she felt she could face people again.
Several minutes later, Michelle struggled to stand up, not putting pressure on her injured arm. She gave the empty wall the password and the panel slid open. Draco glared coldly at her as she quickly ran through the common room. Her roommates all greeted her when she came in. Plastering a fake smile to her face, she responded fairly cheerfully to them, then shrouded herself in her bed. Her excuse was Transfiguration homework.
Not once did she shed a tear.
*****
Michelle sat in front of her mirror. Her roommates were gone, off secretly to the boys' side for something or other. Her shoulder was bruised dark purple from where she had hit the wall. Her robes hid the physical mark, but it was getting hard to move her arm at all.
She knew she had no choice but to go to Madame Pomfrey. 'I'm sure I can't make up something about how I got this…' she thought.
A glance at her clock told her that if she was going to the hospital wing, she had to leave now. Curfew started soon and she couldn't lose Slytherin any points. It would make Draco mad again. She didn't want any more bruises.
Pulling her robes back on, she quietly left the dormitory and headed upstairs. No one was around to ask questions until she had almost reached hospital.
"You!" Michelle froze. "Where are you going?" the prefect asked.
Michelle turned around. Her heart sank when she saw it was Percy Weasley – Gryffindor and the same year as Oliver. "I'm…I'm just…" She tried to think of a lie, but couldn't. "I'm going to the hospital wing," she said softly.
Percy's face softened when he recognized her. "You're Diana's sister." Michelle nodded. "What's wrong?"
"Oh…just feeling a little sick. That's all." She smiled wanly.
He put a hand out. "I'll walk you to the hospital," he offered with a smile.
Before she knew it, Percy was leading her through the school towards hospital. They didn't talk until Percy stopped and told Michelle to be quiet. "Who's there?" he called to the empty hall.
A low moaning came from one of the coats of armor, followed by a clatter as the helmet fell off. Michelle shrank back, but Percy just rolled his eyes.
"All right, you two. I am not amused."
Laughter came from behind the chain mail and two identical red-haired fourth years stepped out. Michelle blushed hotly as she recognized them as the boys from the shower room only a few hours earlier.
"Hey Percy!" one of them said.
"Prefect Percy," the other corrected. He noticed Michelle and smirked just a little, obviously recognizing her. Her blushed deepened to crimson. "Where are you taking the Slytherin girl?"
"This is Michelle, Fred. She's Diana's sister."
The twins were silent. "Diana's sister…is a Slytherin?" the first one asked. Percy nodded. "There must be something wrong with the Sorting Hat."
Before Michelle could retort that, the second twin, Fred, said, "Hey George, remember how we tried to get the Sorting Hat drunk?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea!" The twins shrugged and, with a grin, pulled off Percy's prefect badge. They were down the hall in a flash, tossing the badge back and forth.
Percy rolled his eyes. "Fred and George. My twin brothers."
"Oh." Michelle had been pushed a little when the twins had grabbed Percy's badge. It was nothing, except she'd been bushed on her bruised shoulder. She was in a lot of pain.
It must have showed, for Percy looked at her, concerned. "Michelle? Why are you really going to hospital?"
He knew and Michelle knew she couldn't hide it. Grimacing, she took off her robes so that Percy could see her shoulder. He gently pushed up the short sleeve and looked at the dark purple injury. Her eyes widened when he focused on five fingertip shaped bruises around her arm. She hadn't noticed them before.
"Please don't tell Oliver and Diana!" she pleased. She knew Percy would know how she got them. He had a reputation of always knowing everything that was going on. "Please."
He nodded solemnly. "Put your robes back on." Standing up just a little straighter, he continued. "I will not lie to cover up for you, but I won't tell anyone either. I promise."
Michelle could barely get her robes back on, painfully maneuvering her arm back into the sleeve. Once she had the robes on again, Percy went ahead of her, bringing Madame Pomfrey out into the hallway to tend to the injured and frightened girl.
Earwen of Alqualondë Yes, those twins were the Weasleys. They'll play a bigger role later in the story. For now, Percy is the instrumental Weasley.
H'tari It turns out…not happily, unfortunately. But that is the wonder of angst! I just hope it comes across that way…