Chapter 5: Unraveling Pt.3
"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree. "
-Michael Chrichton (1942-2008)
Things between Genevieve and Draco had gone back to normal for the most part. Awkward silences were few and far between as both had become more focused on their studies. They still spent as much time as possible with one another and Draco had spent the vast majority of his Christmas break trying to help Genevieve figure out candidates to consider as possible parents. So far, things had not progressed well and they were as clueless as ever, but it was beginning to bother her less and less.
Plus, most of the castle was in an uproar over Sirius Black. He'd been caught and escaped earlier in the week. Genevieve wasn't nearly as panicked as everyone else was. She had a feeling he wasn't as much of a threat as everyone believed. If he had been, there would have been far more dead students than there were, and there were none.
She was in the middle of arguing with Katie over whether it was acceptable for a Gryffindor to wear green to any formal function when two owls flew into the great hall. They were both carrying bulky packages. One package was delivered to Harry and another was delivered to Genevieve.
"Gen, you never get mail," Angelina exclaimed as Leanne scrambled over from the Hufflepuff table. She shoved Katie down on the bench. "Open it, you silly twat!"
"Shove off, Leanne, I can't see," Katie whined as she elbowed her friend in annoyance. Leanne elbowed her back and soon the two were involved in a very heated slap fight. Genevieve spared them only a glance and looked back at her package and then over to Harry. He had gotten a brand new Firebolt. Angelina and Alicia had both jumped up to go inspect it with the rest of the Quidditch team minus Katie, who was too focus on shoving Leanne off the bench by her face to notice that Harry had just been gifted the best broom wizarding money could buy.
She looked up just in time for Draco to catch her eye from the Slytherin table. "Open it," he mouthed, looking far more excited than she felt. She slowly unwrapped the package. It was a book. A large book with a Hippogriff feather pressed into the first page. She held it up, inspecting it from all angles and stopped when she noticed Harry doing the very same thing with his own feather not far away. She saw Hermione elbow him and gesture to her subtly, at which point she placed the feather back in the book and slammed it shut. She looked around the great hall, searching for anyone else who might have noticed. Professor Snape was staring at her with a dark look and Professor Lupin looked absolutely fascinated and dare she say a bit excited. Everyone else seemed to be too distracted with their meals or Potter's new broom to see what she had gotten. Even Katie and Leanne had finally noticed what Harry had gotten.
Genevieve took that as her chance to escape and slid off the bench as stealthily as possible, speed-walking her way out of the great hall and into the corridors. She decided the best place to examine the book would be the library. Nobody would suspect anything about a student reading a book in a library. She practically ran to the back of the library, dropped the book on her usual table and sat down hastily.
Only one person would send Harry a present like that. It had to be Sirius Black. Though she couldn't prove it, she was more than sure Harry, Ron, and Hermione had something to do with his escape from the dementors. But it didn't explain why Sirius Black would be sending her a package as well. She had no connection to him. She opened the large book slowly. It was well worn and several of the pages were yellowing.
She thumbed through a few pages and couldn't hide her confusion. It was a spell-book that also included several recipes for potions she'd never heard of. She hadn't heard of any of the spells either. Several of the pages were illegible due to the ink being smeared.
Someone shuffled their feet behind the bookshelf in front of her and she slammed the book shut quickly, placed it in her book bag quickly and stood up. She rounded the bookshelf, intent on confronting whoever it was on the other side and frowned when she discovered that she was completely alone. She shook her head, murmuring to herself, "You're becoming paranoid, Genevieve."
Genevieve left the library and checked the halls. They were still deserted, which meant evening feast wasn't over yet and she could retire to her dormitory to inspect the book further without having to worry about being interrupted. There were only two or three students in the common room. One of them jumped up when they saw her. It was Oliver Wood.
"Hey, MacDuff," he called as she turned to face him. He gave her a friendly smile, "d'you have a moment?"
She smiled and nodded. If she had a moment for anyone, it would be Oliver Wood. He tended to keep to himself when it came to the drama that was always brewing in Hogwarts. Unless, of course, it revolved around Quidditch. Then he was as bad as her great-aunt Mildred. "What is it, Oliver?"
He gave her a sheepish look and rubbed the back of his head. "You didn't by any chance to say anything to Beckwith to get her off my back, did you?"
She had not been expecting that and she blinked up at him in surprise. "No, I didn't. We don't really talk anymore. She's a little self-involved."
"And you're not," Oliver supplied for her, seeming to understand. He smiled. "Well, I suppose she finally got the hint that I wasn't interested then? I mean, I don't really have time for that sort of thing with Quidditch and all..."
Genevieve bit her lip. "Pardon my rudeness, but where is this going?"
"Oh, sorry," he said with a good-natured laugh, "it's not really important. I was just wondering if you knew whether she was over me for good. I'd been thinking about asking you for almost a year now to say something to her about it. I just thought that if she were to listen to anybody, it would be you."
She rolled her eyes. "Rosamund Beckwith listens to no one. And not to worry. She's hung up on someone else now. You're in the clear for good."
Oliver shook his head sympathetically. "Poor bloke. Doesn't even know what he's in for."
Genevieve smirked. "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. I've warned him. Repeatedly."
He laughed, eyes twinkling and Genevieve began to remember her first train ride on the Hogwarts Express. She suddenly regretted never making any effort to get to know Oliver. It was his last year at Hogwarts and her time had run out. It made her sad. She'd spent so much time with Draco, she'd neglected her housemates. Only Katie, Angelina, and Alicia were her friends in Gryffindor. Draco and Leanne were the only students from other houses she had befriended as well. Realizing this made her feel like a recluse.
"Oliver," she said suddenly, "I really hope you make it on to Puddlemere United. You're a brilliant keeper."
He gave her a dazzling smile and his eyes shone with happiness at her compliment. Again, his eyes reminded her of hot chocolate. Why had she never bothered to get to know him? She felt so thick-headed.
They bid each other goodnight and she head up to her dormitory, where she dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved thermal top. It always got chilly in the castle at night. She didn't understand how Rosamund could wear such skimpy clothing to bed without freezing to death. Who was she trying to impress anyway? It was a dormitory full of girls!
She lift the spell-book from her bag and snuggled down into her covers as she opened it. The inside of the cover was bare, but on the first piece of flyleaf was written, "For my father, my uncle, and my mother. May they all see the beauty in the world they created and rest peacefully evermore."
Casper jumped up on the bed and settled down next to her. She rubbed his back and he purred as she turned the pages of the book slowly. The writing was precise and neat. The lines were perfect. It reminded her of the spell-books in the library and she was certain that the contents of its pages would have made a lovely edition to the library.
Genevieve was cure that none of the spells and potions in the book would be included in any textbook. But who could have written it? Why did they write it? She flipped through each page carefully until she came to a photograph at the back of the book. It was pressed between the last page and the binding. It was slightly yellowed.
It was of a large black dog and a young blonde woman standing out by Black Lake under the same tree she had been meeting Draco at before his Care of Magical Creatures class. The dog looked very familiar. In fact, she knew without a doubt that that was the exact dog that she had been feeding for most of the year. It struck her as odd that the dog had suddenly disappeared at around the same time Sirius had been captured.
The dog was licking the young woman's face excitedly and when she laughed, he looked at the camera and smiled in a way that only a dog can smile. She watched as the image played over and over. The young woman was beautiful. As the dog licked her face, she noticed the ends for her pale blonde hair began to turn a deep shade of blue. The woman was a morphmagus. She flipped the picture over and her eyes widened. "Sirius and Persephone, Seventh Year".
Sirius Black was an animagus, which meant he knew about her and Draco. And it explained why he didn't like Draco. Draco's family had disowned him for being a blood-traitor and so it only seemed right that Sirius wouldn't be very trusting of his cousin's only son. But that didn't change the fact that he hadn't told Harry about them. She was sure he would have told Harry about her involvement with Draco. Draco and Harry hated each other and she could tell that things between the two boys would be coming to a head some time in the near future.
Not that she didn't blame Harry, Ron, and Hermione for being sore at him for the whole Buckbeak debacle. He had, after all, been at fault for that and she'd told him just as much. He hadn't taken it very well, but they hadn't had more than a slight argument over it. It had ended with the two of them glaring at their textbooks hatefully for the better part of an hour.
She flipped the picture back over and ran her fingers over the image delicately. They looked so happy. There was no doubt in Genevieve's mind that this was the girl whose initials had been burned into the underside of the table in the library along with Sirius's initials. She sighed dreamily. It was nice to think of having someone care so much for you. Genevieve wanted that some day. Everyone should have someone who loves them, she thought to herself, someone they can be with forever. Someone who didn't judge them and loved everything about them. It looked like that was something Persephone and Sirius had together.
She put the book in the trunk at the foot of her bed and locked it before snuggling back under the covers and rolling onto her side. She looked at the picture one last time before stuffing it under her pillow, careful not to bend it. She didn't acknowledge the others as they filtered into the dormitory, chatting loudly. Not long afterward, the other girls were snug in their beds, the candles snuffed, and the room was silent.
Genevieve awoke the next day completely refreshed and feeling much lighter than she had in a long time. Her life had become so complicated over the last year that she had constantly felt she was walking around with an intense weight on her shoulders. She could slowly feel that weight being lifted. She spent breakfast laughing with her friends. She even talked to Oliver and wasn't at all bothered when the conversation was heavily dominated by Quidditch and he seemed more than happy to try to explain it to her. Thanks to him, she understood the general gist of the game and definitely planned on going to future games.
McGonagall had confiscated Harry's firebolt. There was some worry that Sirius may have jinxed it, intending to cause Harry harm. She highly doubted that and was surprised to find that she was just as put out by McGonagall's actions as the rest of her housemates. Genevieve didn't know who was more upset, Harry or Oliver. She suspected the latter. Harry just seemed disappointed.
"Here comes Beckwith," Angelina warned, causing Alicia to groan. Genevieve watched as Rosamund strutted over to the table, head held high with her nose pointed up in the air. Could she possibly look any more stuck up? It was sad, really. She stuffed the remainder of her muffin in her mouth and looked away quickly. But it was too late. Rosamund had seen where she was sitting-which just so happened to be next to Oliver. And though Rosamund was no longer interested in him, it didn't mean she wasn't still smarting from his rejection. Rosamund didn't take her eyes, which were full of malice, off of Genevieve as she passed, choosing to sit toward the head of the table.
"Are you going to be okay," Oliver asked. It was clear he had seen the vengeful look in Rosamund's eye, "I can walk you to your next class if you like. You know, just in case."
She shook her head. "She can be confrontational, but she won't do anything. The most she may do is make a few rude remarks and then storm off."
"Sounds about right," Katie chipped in as she reached for a slice of bacon on her plate, "girl's a coward."
"I'd say it's more of her not wanting to mess up her fancy clothes and hair than anything else," Alicia snorted as she shoveled mouthful after mouthful of the biscuits she had piled on her plate. Genevieve watched her in disgust. She could eat Ron Weasley under the table any day. She wrinkled her nose and pushed her plate away. "I think I'm done."
Katie's lip curled at the sight before her and she nodded in agreement. Alicia scowled at both of them and rolled her eyes. Angelina laughed and soon, all of them were laughing. Genevieve grabbed her book bag and stood. "I'm going to go ahead. See you in class Katie?"
Katie nodded and they all waved her off. Genevieve had just made it through the doors of the great hall when she heard someone calling her name. She turned back to the person and was surprised to find it was Harry Potter followed closely by Hermione and Ron. She raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Well, I sort of, was wondering what it was you got in the mail yesterday," Harry explained, seeming unsure of himself. Hermione and Ron looked uncomfortable. Genevieve straightened herself to her full height, lifting her chin the barest bit. "And why would that be any of your business?"
"I think you know why," Harry said heatedly. Genevieve leveled him with her best look. "Enlighten me, Potter."
"Don't play dumb, MacDuff-"
"Ron," Hermione scolded, trying to shoot her an apologetic look. Harry remained insistent. "Who sent you your package?"
"Who sent you yours," she shot back just as stubbornly. By this point, Harry had become quite agitated. "I should like to know why a convicted mass-murderer is sending you packages in the mail."
And there it was. Genevieve's eyes narrowed and she could feel her temper spark. "I think I could ask the same of you, but instead I think I'm more curious to know how said mass-murderer managed to escape Hogwarts and the dementor's kiss. You wouldn't happen to know how that was possible, would you?"
"No," he finally bit out, clearly unhappy with the way the conversation had managed to turn on him, "I wouldn't know anything about it."
"Good," she responded in a clipped tone, "now, if that's all, I'll be going."
She simply turned away without a backward glance. No wonder Harry got on Draco's nerves. That boy had to be the nosiest bloke in school. Draco would have a cow once she told him what had happened. Under any other circumstances, she wouldn't have minded being open with Harry about the spell-book, but if Sirius hadn't mentioned his connection to her to Harry, then that could only mean that he was trying to protect her. She was sure that Harry wouldn't have minded had he known, but something told her that the only people she could trust with the knowledge of her lineage was Draco Malfoy and Sirius Black.
It had occurred to her, that Sirius knew more about her lineage than he had let on so far. Unfortunately, she had no way of contacting him. She suspected that for the moment, he preferred it that way and that this may have had something to do with Draco-possibly that he didn't want Draco to know about his whereabouts. Of course, there was also the tiny possibility that her was protecting them both.
It had taken Sirius an incredibly long time to warm up to Draco and even then, he had seemed far too suspicious of him. He'd only ever let Draco pet him a few times and he rarely let Draco get that close to Genevieve. If he did, he made sure to be in between the two of them, ever watchful of the blond Slytherin's every move. There was no explanation for Sirius's overprotective manner.
This all caused a bit of a dilemma for her. If Sirius didn't want anybody to know, that had to include Draco, and she wasn't comfortable keeping secrets from Draco.
"You look a little lost, MacDuff," someone teased rudely, "forget where you're going? Or were you too busy daydreaming about Wood to notice you're going the wrong way?"
"What I'm think about is none of your business, Beckwith," she replied just as coolly, throwing the girl a look of disdain. Rosamund crossed her arms and smirked. "Don't you think you're a bit beneath him? I mean, you've hardly got anything to offer a man."
Genevieve scoffed. Was that really the best she could come up with? "And you do? You're the dimmest girl in our class and you have the nerve to try to insult me? You couldn't catch a man for anything. You're about as interesting as a pile of dragon dung and as attractive as a mountain troll."
"You filthy mudblood," Rosamund snarled loudly, sounding dangerously like a banshee. There were several audible gasps from around them and Genevieve glanced about the corridor. Almost every student in the corridor had stopped to watch them. The Gryffindors closest were staring at Rosamund in abject horror. One of their own had just called someone-another Gryffindor-a "mudblood".
Even Genevieve couldn't believe she'd sunk that low. The look in Rosamund's eye indicated she knew she had gone too far, but it was too late to back down now. "You're beneath me, MacDuff. You're a disgusting, second-rate witch-"
"What's this? Bullying other Gryffindors, Beckwith," came an amused voice with an edge to it that seemed to be noticeable only to Genevieve. It sounded almost murderous to her ears. There was Draco, pushing his way through the crowd followed closely by Crabbe and Parkinson. He had his usual arrogant smirk, but she noticed the way the muscle in his clenched jaw-and it was clenched-pulsed. He was furious. He had heard. He practically strutted up to Rosamund and it didn't look as though the blonde girl knew quite what to expect. If it had been Genevieve, she would have turned tail and fled. "What's wrong? Not enough Hufflepuffs for you? No, wouldn't want to hurt your disgrace of a sister now would we? And how's your family," he pressed, stepping even closer to her, his smirk morphing into something almost evil as he spoke. He was enjoying this. "Your mother? How's she doing? Must be hard not being able to do magic as a pureblood. Those squibs have it pretty hard, don't they, Beckwith?"
The collective gasp around them was deafening. Rosamund's already pale skin became ashen. It was as if she'd just witnessed someone being murdered. Pansy Parkinson was grinning gleefully up at her, overjoyed at the older girl's mortification. Draco's gaze shifted to Genevieve for a moment too brief for anyone else to comprehend and he clenched his jaw tighter. He pulled back suddenly and smirked again. "It must be so embarrassing for you. To have to pretend your family's not some fucked up little train-wreck. Riddled with half-bloods, blood-traitors, and squibs. Disgraceful."
"At least there's no mudbloods," she declared, trying to recover some small bit of her dignity. She looked close to crying. The three Slytherins surrounding her laughed amongst themselves and Draco went in for the kill. "Yes, because three out of four isn't quite losing, is it? But I'm sure when your sister marries that muggle she's shagging, you'll be one step closer to completing the full set."
Parkinson was cackling with joy when Rosamund bolted away from them. Draco let out a low chuckle of his own and the three strutted away. But not before Draco caught her eye and winked. Genevieve smiled back just the barest bit. The arrogant prat had been defending her. Openly. It made her heart swell with pride. He really did care about her.
She started to walk back toward her class when she noticed Hermione Granger standing not far away, watching her with open incredulity as she glanced after Draco. Hermione had seen it. And she seemed to be the only one to have realized just what exactly had happened. Genevieve looked away from her quickly and continued on her way. She was going to have to avoid Hermione at all costs. The girl was too smart for her own good and the last thing either she or Draco needed was Hermione figuring anything out.
Unfortunately, for her, Genevieve had forgotten how much Hermione enjoyed spending time in the library. They were bound to run into each other at some point. It had just before the end of term. Genevieve was busy looking through potions books, looking for any potions that might match up with the ones in the book Sirius had given her when she caught sight of Hermione loitering near the end of the shelf, watching her. The two stare at each other for a long while before Hermione finally approached her. Genevieve went back to replacing a book she had already read through, trying to mentally prepare herself for whatever the bushy-haired third year was about to say to her.
"I haven't told Harry and Ron what I saw that day in the hall." She turned back to look at Hermione, who looked just about as uncomfortable as she felt. Hermione's confession had not been something she had expected. "But whatever it is that's going on between you and Malfoy-"
"I've been tutoring him in potions since his first year," Genevieve replied. Her voice sounded clipped even to her own ears. There was a long pause. "Draco Malfoy does not go out of his way to help anyone, especially not muggle-borns." Genevieve could see clearly that something clicked in Hermione's mind. Her eyes widened as she stared up at the older girl. "I've never heard him call you that word."
"He calls every muggle-born that word," Genevieve dismissed, trying to seem as uninterested as possible, but her mind was in chaos. It took everything in her to keep from shaking. Hermione shook her head adamantly. "Not you. He never bullies you and he's had plenty of chances, Genevieve. You know I'm right. Why?"
"Why are you so interested," she asked, annoyed at being unable to shake her. "Why are the three of you so obsessed with Malfoy?"
"We aren't. We can't stand him." Genevieve smirked at that. "Hardly anybody can."
Silence settled between the two of them and Genevieve tried to ignore the way Hermione continued to stare at her as if she were some sort of puzzle she desperately wanted to solve. "I was going to tell you to be careful, but now..."
Genevieve turned to look at her again. It surprised her when Hermione was smiling in a way that implied she knew something Genevieve didn't. "I'll see you later, Genevieve."