AUTHOR'S NOTE I should mention that here Michelle thinks she's a Mudblood because she has one Muggle parent. I know that's not right, but she doesn't. She doesn't really know what the word means. And sorry for not updating in like, 2 months! And another side note, "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" by Yeats is my favorite poem, which is why I included it.

Thank You SO much to Emica and Lauren…they both helped a lot with this chapter!

DISCLAIMER I don't own Draco or Hogwarts, etc. You should know who I own by now.

Michelle returned from breakfast alone. Seamus had managed to cheer her up a little and she was generally in a good mood. But her stomach knotted when she walked into the common room. All of Slytherin House had gathered, staring at her. Draco stood in the middle of the room, smugly watching her enter.

"Sit down Michelle," he commanded.

She did as he told her. Her body froze as she saw what he had in his hand: her mother's letter.

He turned to the other house members. "I want you all to hear this! This is a letter to Michelle from her mother." He cleared his throat and started to read. "'I am so proud of you, Michelle. I know that I don't hear from you often, but I understand that a Muggle mom wouldn't really be a part of your world.'" Draco glared cruelly at the terrified first year.

It was Miranda who actually spoke first. "Your mother is…a Muggle?" she asked in a surprised and hurt voice. Michelle couldn't stand the look of betrayal in her friend's eyes.

"That's right!" Draco shouted. "Michelle's mother is a bloody Muggle! There is a Muggle born in Slytherin!"

Michelle knew that she had to defend herself, but couldn't find anything to say. The horrible, cold stares of the other Slytherins smothered her as Draco ripped open everything she'd tried to hide.

"Do we accept Muggle borns in Slytherin?" Draco shouted. Michelle watched her housemates, hope and pleading very evident in her eyes.

That last shred of hope crumbled at the sight of every head shaking no: some coldly, some uncertainly, but all no.

Draco came up close to her. "You don't deserve to be in Slytherin. You're nothing but a filthy little Mudblood." Before she could form a thought, Draco had his wand out. "Petrificus Totalis."

Michelle's body went rigid and locked in place. She fell back stiff on the couch she had been sitting on. She could do nothing but watch as Draco left the common room.

Every member of Slytherin followed him. Some looked at her, most didn't. But their message was loud and clear. She wasn't welcome.

And she was completely alone.

*****

It was hours before the Full Body Bind wore off. Michelle had lain on the couch in Slytherin's common room the whole time, her only movement being blinking away the tears streaming down her face.

It was over. Everything was over. She knew it when she saw the look in Draco's eyes. A look of pure and total disgust.

Her secret was out and all of Slytherin knew. They had all heard Draco call her that horrible word, all seen him prove to her who had power, and all walked away. Miranda was the only one to stop. Michelle saw her friend's pain as she only whispered, "I'm sorry," and ran away. She knew that Miranda was not the type to stand against popular opinion.

The curse lifted and Michelle sat up. Her face was wet from the tears she'd cried and her body was stiff. She wiped the tears away and just sat there. There was no reason to do anything – nothing mattered anymore. With no destination, she left the dormitory and wandered through the castle.

Everywhere she looked, people seemed to be happy. In the distance, she saw black robes flapping as students played a makeshift Quidditch game on the pitch. Students ambled happily through the halls, all looking much brighter than the blackness Michelle had fallen into.

More than anything, Michelle felt lost. She didn't belong in Slytherin, beyond doubt. But part of her still believed that she didn't belong in Gryffindor either.

'Maybe,' she thought as she trudged on, dark in the late winter sun. 'Maybe I'm not supposed to be a witch. Maybe Draco was right. Mudbloods like me don't deserve to be in the wizarding world.'

Mudblood. That crushing word rang through her head, shattering her heart every time it repeated. She'd never been called such a wretched name before. As if being in Slytherin wasn't enough, her father would be so disappointed with her. Diana would be so disappointed in her.

She stopped walking and thought of her family. John hadn't had any contact with her since he'd first learned she was in Slytherin. Diana had made it painfully obvious that she wanted nothing more to do with her little sister. And Marie?

Since meeting Malfoy, Michelle had cut off all contact with her mother in her efforts to keep her family a secret. She thought of the wonderful relationship they used to have, laughing together, going to Muggle movies while John and Diana visited the Ministry.

More tears sprang to her eyes when she realized that she'd thrown all of that away for absolutely nothing. She many never be able to repair it.

Preoccupied with her misery, Michelle didn't see the book lying abandoned in the hallway until she tripped over it. The pages flew open and she picked up the leather bound work.

"An Irish Airman Foresees his Death," she read the title aloud. "By W.B. Yeats."

I KNOW that I shall meet my fate

Somewhere among the clouds above;

Those that I fight I do not hate

Those that I guard I do not love;

My country is Kiltartan Cross,

My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,

No likely end could bring them loss

Or leave them happier than before.

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,

Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,

A lonely impulse of delight

Drove to the tumult in the clouds;

I balanced all, brought all to mind,

The years to come seemed waste of breath,

A waste of breath the years behind

In balance with this life, this death.

Chills assaulted her as she stood still, clutching the poetry book. Tears started flowing again as Michelle realized that this was her whole life in words. It scared her. She dropped the book and ran.

Desperate for anyone to talk to, Michelle ran towards the Great Hall. She knew the Slytherins would be there at lunch, but Percy or Seamus could be there also. They'd tell her everything all right.

Seamus ran from the Great Hall with a goblet in one hand just as Michelle came to the door. Another second year with darker skin followed him. "Good going, Seamus!" he was saying. "The water to rum spell finally worked!"

They were gone, far too excited about the spell's success to notice the miserable lonely girl who shrank into the shadows. As she sadly gazed at all the students in the Hall, her gaze fell on Percy laughing happily with a Ravenclaw girl. She couldn't bear carefree mood of the Hall, so she silently slipped back into the corridor.

The wall was open on one side of the hallway, looking down onto the courtyard where she and Diana used to have lunch together.

Now Michelle saw Draco, Marcus Flint, and a few of the other Slytherin Quidditch players talking in the sun. Marcus had a broomstick, so they were presumably talking about the next Quidditch match.

'If only there was a way to make them see me as just as good as them!' she thought angrily. She gripped the stone wall as tightly as she could as he pain welled up like a tidal wave in her chest.

Overcome with feelings of shame, pain, and total worthlessness, Michelle glared daggers at her former boyfriend. What right did he have to be so maliciously happy after driving her to be utterly miserable? And now he'd never look at her again.

The silver snake leered tauntingly up at her from the Slytherin patch on her robes. Unable to bear it, Michelle closed her fingers over the stitched edge and ripped the patch from the heave black fabric. But even after throwing it to the stone floor, she still felt the snake's eyes upon her.

She found it morbidly amusing that the snake – the symbol of Slytherin – wouldn't stop looking at her but no actual Slytherin student acknowledged her existence. Her hands gripped her silver and green tie until the silky fabric was crumpled permanently.

The feel of the material, damp with sweat, gave her a macabre idea. 'I wonder if Draco would see me if I hung myself with the Slytherin tie? He wouldn't see me, but he would see all the torment he caused me. Wouldn't that be ironic?' she thought, laughing bitterly.

'But…' she pondered the idea. 'Maybe…maybe it is a good idea. At least all the pain would be gone.' Hoisting herself up to sit on the ledge, Michelle leaned over and gazed down to the ground. Sunlight glittered off of the ice-covered last snow far below her. She was high enough.

"Yeah…" she muttered to herself. "It would be so easy!"

Teetering on the edge, she shut her eyes and waited to fall. But all she could imagine was the look of sick pleasure Draco got when he witnessed people or things in agony. That's all this would bring him. She dragged herself back and collapsed on the stone floor, wracked with sobs.

"Michelle?"

"Bloody Hell, what's wrong?"

Through her tears, Michelle could see the blurred faces of the Weasley twins. "Help me," she whispered desperately before lapsing back into tearful fits.

George picked her up off the floor gently and carried her away from the ledge. "We can't just leave her like this, Fred. We've got to do something."

"I know."

"Let's bring her to Percy."

Fred looked at his twin incredulously. "Why on Earth should we go to him for help?"

"Fred, we don't call him Perfect Percy for nothing! He thinks he knows everything! He must have some idea of what to do."

Fred was quiet for a minute. "All right," he said begrudgingly. "Fine."

Michelle knew they were right. She needed help and Percy would know how. The twins carried her off as quickly as they could to find him.

Starr Light1 Oh yes they are *wink* They come in much more later in the story.

Preciousonee But Malfoy gets her back unfortunately. He's pretty evil himself.

A Nonni Mouse Wow! You must be psychic…my roommate Lauren did indeed have a birthday around then! You're so smart…

H'tari I kinda forgot about Pansy when I was writing this…oops.