The art of payback is a thing that Slytherins take delight in. When it spread through Slytherin that Ron Weasley had put a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin in harm's way and now was in line for some revenge, suddenly, the group of first years were very popular. They had decided though, to keep the circle small-ish, and only included Carrine, Thomas, and Emiline in their planning.

It was a Friday afternoon in the Room of Requirement, and the group of Slytherins were lounged about.

"Now how," said Draco, "Do we get back at Weasley?"

"I feel like I could write an essay on the possibilities," Emiline's eyes shined darkly.

"No maiming," Carrine threw in. "That'll get us in trouble."

"Only if it's traced back to us," Thomas said.

" No maiming ."

"We can't sabotage his grades," said Pansy, "They're already bad, and I don't think he cares."

"He got a Dreadful on his DADA essay," said Daphne, "You know, the one about vampires? Could not have failed that if I tried."

"We could cause him mass humiliation in the Great Hall," Theo suggested.

"Yeah, but then the Weasley twins could try and get back at us. Or Slytherin as a whole," Emiline rolled her eyes, "And I cannot stand them as it is, and that's without a target on my back."

"Not because Fred Weasley has a crush on you?" said Hermione slyly, "I mean I've seen him staring at you in the Great Hall on multiple occasions. His pranks are rather clever. If anything, I think he and George Weasley are rather brilliant to be able to think them up and execute their plans in the way that they do. Do you like him?"

"As if! Just because the twins are the only Weasleys in the school that aren't terrible rotten awful people doesn't mean that they don't annoy me. They're so childish. But now we're off topic. I thought we were trying to figure out a way to get Ron Weasley back for almost getting my baby cousin killed by a mountain troll, not discussing infuriating boys who don't have a thing for me."

"Oh my gods." Carrine sat straight up. "Percy isn't wearing that ugly old rat around every day at school anymore. In fact, I saw it on Ron Weasley's shoulder the other day. We should totally kidnap his rat!"

Pansy said, "That's a good start, but we should do another thing on top of it. I mean, it's a stupid rat."

"What could we do?"

"I've got an idea," Daphne grinned.

The plan was put into effect. First step was Hermione getting into the Gryffindor dorms. Luckily, she asked Neville if she could see the plants he was growing in his dormitory. Neville, of course, agreed, and that was how Hermione found herself at the painting of the Fat Lady. Neville had given her the password, and thankfully, with enough flattery and smiles, she got through the portrait.

Draco's job, in the meantime, was to distract Potter and Weasley long enough for Hermione to not have to see them and deal with their suspicions. When he found out that this was his part of the mission, he grinned. "You're giving me full permission to say whatever I want to Scarhead and the Weasel? It's like Yule came early!"

She shook her head, and looked around the common room for Neville. She wasn't wearing any Slytherin colors, and she was a first year, so people weren't really paying attention to her, which was good. The last thing she wanted was for Weasley's rat to go missing after someone in Slytherin robes was seen in Gryffindor Tower. The ruse would be up in half of a moment. She spotted Neville, sitting in the corner, reading an obnoxiously thick book on underwater plants. She ran up to him and smiled brightly.

"Hi, Nev!"

The boy grinned, "Hey, Hermione. It's really cool that you want to see my plants. Not a lot of people care about them."

Hermione shrugged, "Well that's their loss."

"If anything, the biggest challenge is keeping them alive with four other boys in my room not trampling on them accidentally or somehow killing them," he said conspiratorially.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "There are five people per dorm in Gryffindor?"

Neville looked confused. "Yeah? Is that not the case in Slytherin?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, we're in groups of twos and threes."

Neville whistled. "That's a lucky break right there. You know, Ron Weasley snores like you wouldn't believe."

"I don't know how you can put up with him, or Potter for that matter, but that's just me."

Neville shifted, "Harry's pretty alright to me. I mean he doesn't talk loads to me, but he's not mean."

"Yeah, but he never tells Weasley to shut up whenever he starts being a tosser."

"Maybe he doesn't notice?"
"Maybe. But I know most Gryffindors don't like Slytherins. Honestly," said Hermione, before pausing for effect. "I think it's rather brave that you're still friends with me even though I'm in Slytherin. I think that really makes you more Gryffindor than everyone else."

Neville smiled sheepishly, "I guess. I mean I'm not terribly brave or anything-"

Hermione cut him off, "Neville, I'm not about to listen to you put yourself down. You're the best Gryffindor of them all, in my opinion. That's gotta count for something."

Neville flushed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, here's my dorm." He opened the door. "My bed's the one by the window, you know, for the plants to get some light."

Hermione let out a small gasp. The room was a complete and utter mess. Truly disgusting-the habitat of boys with absolutely no cleanliness whatsoever. Dirty socks hung across dressers, and day old underwear sat in piles. House elf or no house elf, Hermione knew that Draco and Theo would never let their rooms get anywhere near this messy, especially not Theo, who was a bit of a neat freak. But then there was Neville's corner. It was bright and airy-the bed was made, and everything was neat and pristine. But what drew her attention was the miniature garden he had created. Plants hung from the ceiling, grew from pots attached to the walls and planters on the floor. It was bright and clean and beautiful.

"Neville, this is incredible!"

"You really think so?"

"Gods, Neville, do you not see how beautiful it is?" Then she saw it-in the corner was a small bookshelf on the messier end of the room, across from a bed with a small dresser that displayed a cage with a gross looking rat in it. "Is it okay if I look at the books in the bookshelf?"

"Sure," said Neville, "All of them are mine though, none of the other guys really read."

"When do you water your plants?" she asked, as she skimmed the book titles.

"Actually, right about now. If you're okay with it, I'm going to run to the bathroom and fill up my can with water so I can come back in here and water them. I mean, like as long as you don't feel uncomfortable with being alone in a guy's dormitory with…" he gestured towards the pile of underwear, blushing, "stuff all over."

"I'll be fine, Neville," she smiled warmly. When Neville grabbed the watering can and left the room, Hermione sprung into action. She unlocked the latch and grabbed the rat, which was sleeping. It didn't even stir when she held it. She put the rat in a small bag that she was never going to use after this. Seriously, did Weasley never wash the rat? That wasn't a huge shock, though, given that the dormitory was the way that it was. She dashed back to the side of the room with the bookshelf and was reading the back of a book when Neville came back in with a full watering can. As he watered his plants, Hermione smiled. He looked in his element, which was such a contrast to how Neville was normally. Hermione earnestly hoped that he would go into Herbology as a career-he'd be absolutely brilliant.

She glanced at her watch. She was sure that Draco would be able to keep Weasley and Potter occupied for longer than necessary, but she didn't want to risk anything, and that wasn't to mention that there were two other boys-Seamus Finneagan and Dean Thomas-who also shared the room. Even though Finnegan had claimed that she was 'alright for a snake', she didn't want to test how far that extended. As for Thomas, she had no idea his opinion on the subject.

"Hey, Neville, I have to go. I promised Pansy I would be back down in the dungeons by four so we can work on our Charms Paper, and it's already three thirty, and I don't want her to get mad just because I was a minute or two later than I said I'd be. But your plants look absolutely incredible! I'd love to come up here again maybe in the spring and see their progress?"

Neville beamed, "Sure, Hermione, that'd be great! Thanks for stopping by."
Hermione nodded and then left Gryffindor Tower as quickly as she could without raising suspicion. She was on the fourth floor over by the library when she saw a flash of red and black hair-Weasley and Potter. She walked past them briskly, ignoring their glares and mutterings. Whatever Draco said must've worked them up. She was just thankful that Weasley wasn't about to start attacking her. When she finally got back to the dungeons, she raced into the Common Room, where everyone was waiting. She held out the bag triumphantly.

"You got it?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah, though I think I'm going to burn this little bag after I take it out. It's wretchedly filthy." Hermione scrunched her nose. "The thing smells weird too. Oh! You should've seen their dorm room. Theo, it would've given you a heart attack." She sat down, dramatically throwing herself onto the couch. "There were piles of socks and underwear all over. The only bed made was Neville. Actually his section was really nice, the plants really brightened it up and he keeps it just as clean as you do, Theo."

Theo scoffed. "Impossible."

"No, I swear, it was like a line drawn between dirty and absolutely pristine. And! There are five people in every dorm room. Five. "

Everyone pulled back. "They must not have any room at all!" said Thomas.

"Five?" asked Emiline, "Are you sure? I only have one other roommate and sometimes I feel like the dorm is a bit too small. Did they even have room for anything other than beds in there?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, they had these little trunks at the end of their beds, and there was a really little bookshelf where the rat was. Shocker of the century, Neville is the only person with books on the bookshelf."

"Never would've guessed," snorted Daphne.

"You're sure Weasley didn't have a little Robert Frost? No Aristotle? Or even any Shakespeare?" Pansy put a hand over her heart, "Color me shocked! He just oozes culture."

"Speaking of Weasley," said Hermione, "What'd you say to him and Potter? They looked pretty mad when I passed them on the fourth floor."

"They didn't say anything to you?" Draco sounded worried.

"No, I passed them pretty quickly," Hermione said.

Draco leaned back, relieved. "Good. Didn't want them taking their anger at me out on you. As for what I said to them, well, I may have compared Weasley's mother to a shrew and a variety of other unflattering animals, and I may or may not have insinuated that Arthur Weasley will literally never go anywhere higher in the Ministry than his dead-end useless job that he's in right now. And as for Potter, I may or may not have called him a coward for just letting his best mate pick on a girl. As well as a few other things. But the best part is," he grinned, "Every single word of it was true. Molly Weasley is a shrew. Arthur Weasley will never get a promotion. And Potter is a coward. But you know what Weasley let slip? Apparently Potter didn't get in trouble for the stunt he pulled in Flying. In fact, he's the seeker for the Gryffindor team. And he got a Nimbus 2000. I almost thought he was lying but then I remembered seeing Potter get a broomstick-shaped package a week back."

Emiline was fuming. "What!? I couldn't try out for the Slytherin team until second year! And I was on reserves that year! If I could've tried out First Year, I totally would've made reserves and been able to play Second Year! I only just got the position of Beater!"

Draco nodded, "Yeah, typical Gryffindor favoritism. I was pretty mad about it, but then I told Weasley that he was the one Weasley with absolutely nothing at all going for him. That was like meditation or something for me. I mean, I'm still pretty mad about it, sure, but then I remembered that my best friend's cousin is a beater, who can hurl 20 pound balls at the Seeker at 100 kilometers an hour." He looked at Emiline meaningfully. "And he'll probably suck. And I can try out for seeker next year, because Higgs is in seventh year, so he'll be leaving."

"Higgs is really something, man," said Thomas, "Head Boy and Quidditch Captain? That's what I hope I'm doing come Seventh Year. Well maybe not Head Boy, Carrine's kind of got Head Girl on lock and there's no way Dumbledore would have double Slytherin Heads. Any other house, sure, but not Slytherin."

"So you're one of the three Chasers," said Theo, "The other two are Adrian Pucey and Marcus Flint, right? Miles Bletchley is Keeper. Who's the other Beater, then?"

"It's Alfie Selwyn, he's a sixth year, and he's my cousin on my Mum's side," said Emiline.

"Are you guys going to look at the stupid rat that I got or are we going to continue talking about Quidditch?" sighed Hermione.

"Oh, yeah, let's look at the rat," said Daphne, "So we can get it out of your bag so we can burn it. Like as soon as possible."

Hermione took the small bag and gently pushed the rat out onto the table without making contact with it at any point. It looked up at them for the first time, and then went back to sleep.

"Ew," said Pansy. Carrine took out her wand and cast a scourgify on the rat, removing years of grime and filth. "I still don't like it. The sacrifices I make to torment Weasley…" she sighed dramatically.

"Well, let's get this thing to Professor Snape. Maybe he'll take Thomas and I to the Ministry when we get it registered," Carrine mused, "In that case, Thomas, let's meet back in five minutes after making sure we look alright." She kissed him on the cheek and ran off towards the fifth year girl's dorms.

Thomas didn't move. "I look alright?" he asked. Daphne gave him a thumbs up. When Carrine returned five minutes later, looking somehow more perfect than she already did every day, Thomas scooped the rat up, and they left the common room.

"Now can we talk about Quidditch?" grinned Emiline.

Neither Professor Snape nor either of the Slytherin fifth year prefects were seen at dinner. But maybe an hour after, the small group of the first year Slytherins, as well as Emiline, were called to Professor Snape's office. When they arrived, Professor Snape was wearing a straight face, Carrine seemed disturbed and Thomas looked like he wanted to laugh.

"So we went to the ministry to get the rat officially registered at the Ministry..." Carrine trailed off.

"We ran into an interesting... hiccup." Snape finished.

Thomas rolled his eyes at their stalling. "You know how when you get a pet registered with the ministry so they make sure people aren't like sneaking dragons into the country or anything, they run a series of tests on the animal? That they aren't diseased, they aren't illegal, or like that they aren't an grubby thirty something year old man in the form of an animagus, one who was supposedly killed thirteen years ago by some supposedly dark wizard who also killed a bunch of muggles on a street? Well, he was fine for the first few tests. No rabies and he wasn't some mysterious breed of rat that turned into a Chimera. He didn't even have fleas or anything, which was a real shock given that he was owned by the Weasleys. There was a slight issue on the grubby thirty year old supposed to be dead animagus test. If you've been picking up on the subtle little hints I've been dropping, you'd know that he was a thirty year-"

"They get the point Thomas, they're not stupid," Carrine chided gently. "Anyways, the rat Ron Weasley, and previously Percy Weasley, has been carrying around and sleeping in the same room and maybe even bed with is Peter Pettigrew."

Everyone sat in stunned silence. "You're joking ," Pansy managed to get out.

"Well," said Snape, "There are a few upsides to this."
Everyone looked at him incredulously. "Well, let's just say that the rat that Mr. Weasley has been sleeping with for twelve years is a man, but let's theorize that hypothetically, instead of just finding it on the ground, as Carrine claimed-"

"Plausible deniability," she inserted.

"You hypothetically used Hermione's connection to Mister Longbottom to get inside the Gryffindor dorms and she hypothetically stole the rat as revenge for Weasley inadvertently putting Miss Abbott and Hermione in danger by being in the same bathroom as the troll went into by bullying Miss Abbott. If I were to guess, in this scenario, the pet would become something for Slytherin to show off, and Weasley would be unable to contest the claim as it was registered through the ministry, but he would know that that was his rat that they had taken, and wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

"This is a rather brilliant plan, Professor," said Hermione, her eyes filled with innocence.

Snape smiled wryly, "It is quite brilliant. Unfortunately, if it was hypothetically derailed, it would be rather unfortunate. Coincidentally, we stopped in Diagon Alley before we returned to Hogwarts and went to Magical Menagerie. We bought a rat and changed its appearance to make it more...ah, appealing? And to add character, we vanished it's third toe on the left paw." He held up a rat that looked identical to the one they had acquired from Weasley.

"Thank you, Professor," said Draco, smirking as he took the much cleaner rat from Snape's hands.

"Draco, Hermione, Daphne, you three are to stay behind. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy are going to Floo into my office to talk about a few things. Draco, you're their son, so you get to stay, and I figured you girls would like to see your godparents."

Hermione and Daphne beamed. "Thank you!"

Draco handed the rat off to Thomas, before he, and everyone else, cleared the room.

A few moments later, the fire turned green, and Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy walked out of it.

There was a tangle of limbs and a massive hug that somehow caught Professor Snape up in it, who was trying to look disgruntled, although the corners of his mouth were pulled upwards. When everyone sat down, Draco looked up at his parents. "I'm really happy to see you guys, but why are you here?"

"Well, we found out from Professor Snape that a rat you stole from the youngest Weasley son turned out to be Peter Pettigrew," Lucius said, "Which he mentioned was for revenge. What for?"

All three of them went bright red. "Well, he might've told Hannah in Herbology that she was evil for being friends with Slytherin and that all of us were evil and said some really not great things about you," said Hermione.

"Not to mention how he's been endlessly insulting Hermione. Or the time he asked me, loudly, which one of my slag Greengrass cousins I was betrothed to," said Draco, steely.

Lucius's eyes flashed, before calming himself. "So it was revenge for that?"

"Not exactly," said Daphne, as Hermione started tugging on a lock of her own hair. "So Hermione sat next to Hannah in Charms, which was her period after. Hannah's really upset, so after the class was over, she took her to the bathroom. Hannah had a bad panic attack before Hermione could calm her down. She explained the whole story, and they were about to come to the Halloween Feast when the troll-that we had just been announced had broken into the castle during the feast by Professor Quirrell to the entire Great Hall, broke into the bathroom."

"Long story short, we were able to beat it, and then Professors Snape and McGonagall came in with Dumbledore, as well as Pansy, Draco, Theo and Daphne," said Hermione breathlessly, as she focused on the strand of hair wrapped around her finger..

"Ooh, you wouldn't believe what Dumbledore said!" Daphne fumed. "He asked Hannah why he didn't come to the Halloween feast and said she should've been with her house! As if she couldn't have friends outside of her house cheer her up!"

Lucius's eyes were dark and angry and Narcissa was sitting even more rigidly than she normally did. "Anything else?" he ground out.

Hermione and Daphne said "No," at the same time as Draco quietly said, "Yes."

Lucius looked at Draco expectantly. "Well, Longbottom might've told me that he overheard Weasley saying that he wished that the troll had killed Hermione when he was in their dormitories that night."

Hermione's face went slack. "Why didn't either of you tell me?"

"We didn't want to upset you," Draco said apologetically.

Hermione's lip quivered. "Somebody wants me dead. And I haven't even ever really done anything to him! I mean I guess we stole his rat but that was in retaliation for him almost getting me and Hannah killed." She raced into her godfather's arms and buried her face in his neck, who was shaking ever so slightly.

"Why did none of you tell any of us?" he said, through clenched teeth.

"Oh please don't be mad!" Hermione wailed, "We were going to tell you around Yule in person because that sort of stuff shouldn't be said over a letter."

"Well, Lucius," Narcissa's voice cracked, "I think the Weasleys ought to find their lives a bit more difficult. Lucius, I want you to throw everything we have at them. Everything." She then laid a hand on Hermione's back and started tracing circles on it with her thumb.

Daphne, who was silently crying, promptly stood up and rushed over to Lucius and threw her arms around Hermione, while Draco clasped his hand around Hermione's. After a few moments, Hermione's sobs had subsided into tears that leaked from her eyes. She slowly got up and wiped her eyes.

"I'm a bloody mess," she said, her smile watery. "What did you come to the school for, though? You haven't told us yet."

"I believe I've mentioned my cousin, Sirius, before." Narcissa was staring far away, at something only she could see, the corners of her eyes slightly crinkled. "He was always rather outspoken. We were similar ages as children, so we would play together. He would be the knight to rescue me from my tower guarded by a fierce dragon. The dragon of course was a stuffed animal my father had enchanted for us when we played to fly around and give off stinging hexes if you touched it. Sirius was always so lively." She took a deep breath before continuing. "He was absolutely terrible at holding up a mask. Couldn't do it to save his life. This was the bane of my Aunt Walburga's existence. Sirius saw no point in even trying to put up a mask, but instead of accepting that he was a hyper little boy, she was angry with him. They had never really gotten along, as he had never lived up to the impossible standards she set for him as the next Heir of the Black family, and he didn't care to.

"When he got sorted into Gryffindor, my Aunt was furious with him. Their previously strained relationship was completely destroyed. He quickly became friends with James Potter, along with Peter Pettigrew and another Gryffindor by the name of Remus Lupin. I was a year ahead of them. On the first morning, during breakfast, Walburga sent a howler to him, yelling at him for being sorted into Gryffindor and besmirching the Black name. I can still remember the tears in his eyes that I could see from three tables over. When Regulus, his younger brother, was sorted into Slytherin the next year, it got even worse. Eventually, when he was sixteen, Walburga and Orion tried to make Sirius take the Dark Mark. Walburga tortured him when he refused. Somehow, he escaped to the Potter's house. He was blasted off of the family tapestry by Walburga.

"The Potters went into hiding in 1981, and were put under the Fidelus. Their secret keeper was supposedly Sirius. When the Fidelus was broken on the night the Dark Lord was defeated, it was assumed that Sirius was a spy, who must've betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord. The next morning, Pettigrew was seen confronting Sirius on the street, when, supposedly, Sirius killed him as well as twelve Muggles in an explosion. He was taken to Azkaban, where he has been for the past eleven years."

Hemione, Draco, and Daphne sat stunned, before Daphne cleared her throat. "You said 'supposedly' a lot during the last part."

"Yes, well, with the recent rediscovery of Pettigrew, a lot of these events have been thrown into question," said Lucius.

"Did you ever believe that he did it?" asked Draco.

"Looking back on it, no, I don't think he did. And I wouldn't have thought so at the time either, but we were so wrapped up in everything that I'd forgotten about Sirius. I just accepted that there must've been something I didn't know, and I didn't spare it a passing thought. We had the trials with Lucius and Severus, as well as getting them back into a state in which their mental health was in a good place. Then there were you three as well, and Astoria was only six months old," Narcissa began to cry in earnest. "We were too busy desperately trying to keep our heads above water to think about anybody else."

"But now, we're in a place where we can fight for Sirius. With Pettigrew showing up, we can finally get Sirius out of that hellhole," Lucius scowled. "Who knows if he even got a trial? Everything was such a mess then, that I wouldn't be surprised if they took their assumptions as fact and locked him away without a trial."

"When will you be able to get him a trial?" asked Hermione.

"Hopefully, with enough motivation to get the wheels turning, he'll have a trial within a week and a half. I will be taking you to the trial, Draco, as you are the Heir to House Black and House Malfoy, and Hermione, I'm sure your father will take you as Heir to House Greengrass." Lucius checked his watch. "It's getting quite late, so we should be leaving soon. Is there anything else of a pressing matter that needs to be addressed?"

Hermione shook her head, while Draco and Daphne said "YES!" in tandem.

Draco went first. "Potter broke the rules during Flying lessons, and McGonagall caught him. And now, somehow, he's got a broom and is playing for the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"

"Draco, that's not what I quite had in mind for a pressing matter, although it is a rule that first years cannot play on the Quidditch team. We can have this conversation either before the trial or during your Winter Break. Daphne?"

Daphne looked up. "Well, my matter is actually quite pressing and dire. In fact, I'd say it's life threatening. Namely, to my own. Did you know that Professor Binns, who teaches History of Magic, is quite literally, the worst possible being for the job, and practically desecrates the subject on the daily?"