Previously…

"I need to know who did this to, I know it was a 'Puff, I just need to know which one." He practically forced her to make eye contact, his words surprising her, they certainly weren't what she expected him to say.

"It was…"

Now…

"It was… no I can't say, it'll only get worse. They hate me enough as it is, Ron, I couldn't deal with anymore." Charlotte looked to her cousin desperately. "I can't."

"Charlotte, you shouldn't have to deal with anything from them, I can't even think of a reason any of them wouldn't like you, you're amazing." He sighed looking down at his feet. "You are smart, and funny, and you have a wicked sense of humour, and I took you for granted, I judged you before I could get to know you, it wasn't until I'd heard you were here, that I realised how horrible I've been towards you for no reason, but it felt as though, you were taking my family away and my friends. I— I want you to tell me who did this, and I want to know why." He moved forwards and gently took a hold of his cousin's shoulders and shook them lightly, "Please, tell me."

Charlotte's eyes moved from the redhead to the beautiful brunette next to him, looking for some sort of sign this was the right course of action. "I—it was Smith, Zacharias Smith, he— he and the rest of Hufflepuff don't like me much, they push me when no one's looking, they yell at me whenever I come into the common room, and they put things in my bed before I get back after dinner…" She was sobbing by the time she was finished detailing everything that had been done to her, grasping onto Ron's shirt and Hermione's hand as they held her close, offering comfort.

"Why, Char'? Why did they do those nasty things to you?" Hermione asked looking deep into her tear glazed green eyes, as though she could find the answer there, without her friend even uttering a word, Hermione knew, Charlotte could tell she did, the realisation took over her whole body. "No, they wouldn't, that's crazy, they're Hufflepuffs, surely not, tell me it wasn't because…" She ranted, unable to form a full sentence, her eyes wide with surprise and fury.

"What? What is it Hermione?" Ron asked his friend feeling somewhat bewildered by her ability to know what his cousin was thinking just from staring into her eyes.

Hermione turned to the second youngest Weasley with hatred in her eyes, and she was only able to utter two words to convey what she'd seen deep inside Charlotte's viridescent orbs, "Slytherin Twin."

o0O0o

Zacharias Smith was slammed against an abandoned corridor wall by a furious Ronald Weasley.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Weasley?!" Yelled Zacharias.

"I've come here to tell you that I know what you've been doing to my cousin and why. How dare you? As a Hufflepuff, no screw that, as a human being, knocking someone down and making them feel like the worst person on the planet. Because of who their family members are! You disgust me." Ron growled at his schoolmate.

At Ron accusation Zacharias bristled, "Well look who's talking. Was it not you who was talking about the sister of the cousin you're defending in an equally bad light as I have the other? How does that make you any better than me?"

Ron's eyes narrowed, "I may have said some hurtful things today, but they were only a retaliation, you could even go as far to say I was provoked. You on the other hand, were not. You attacked an innocent housemate. If I hear once more about you or any other Hufflepuff doing anything again, I will not hesitate to go straight to Dumbledore, okay?"

Ron let the coward go and watched as he scurried away down the corridor toward the Kitchens.

o0O0o

It had been a little while since Georgia had found the Room of Requirement. She'd been using it to play her favourite muggle music as she did her writing homework. The reason Georgia was always writing in her small, black, leather bound notebook was because the one thing she wanted to be when she left school was an author. And considering the fact that Hogwarts didn't offer any courses in English or Literature, her father had hired an old friend of his from his Hogwarts days, who had become an internationally renowned wizarding author, to tutor her in writing. Of course with her being busy with classes they had decided to have their sessions only in the holidays, thus, she was given a mountain of homework she was required to have finished by the start of these coming holidays. That was the true reason she had asked for Draco's help with her homework, she was getting quite behind from putting her writing before everything else. That, and one of her writing homework pieces was to be a character profile of someone she was acquainted with.

Georgia hummed along to one of her favourite songs, 'Anything I'm Not' by Lenka, that she was really connecting with right now. One of the lines said, "Even though I'm happy bein' me, I want to get away from all this harsh reality." It embodied her entire outlook on her situation. There were so many people who hated her, from the other houses and even her own, and she just wanted to run away from it all. She'd been listening and writing for nearly two hours when Georgia suddenly remembered she needed to meet Draco for their tutoring session, hopefully he'd show up after the whole Halfblood 'fiasco'.

o0O0o

Georgia was really surprised when Draco had actually turned up to their first scheduled session. She had truly believed that he would avoid her like the plague. But there he was, in all his platinum glory. He stalked toward her like a snake, Salazar would be proud, with a dark smirk on his face.

"So the blood is tainted after all. I knew there was something slightly off about you. Alright then, let's get started." He spoke to her in a casual tone, as though he saw her as of a lesser social standing than before. Georgia was annoyed to say the least, but figured it could be worse. He sat down next to her, but not too closely. "Is there anything in particular you want to look over?"

They'd spent nearly three hours 'tutoring', with her doing homework and occasionally needing assistance (she wasn't incompetent, you know), when things took a turn to the unexpected. Draco had been explaining a really quite confusing transfiguration theory. She was supposed to know it well enough to write an essay on why it would (or wouldn't) work, fortunately, creating a persuasive argument was one of her specialties. Then, she'd looked up to ask one more question, and they both froze. It was impossible for either of them to look away, and before she knew it he had moved closer and had captured her lips in his.

It only took a second for Georgia to push him away, "Woah Draco, what're you doing?"

He pulled back from her, though not letting go of the back of her neck. "I thought that's what this was. You clearly don't need help with your homework, it was the only other possible explanation."

"Firstly, I actually do need help, just not mountains of it. Secondly, you know we're distantly related, right?"

"Emphasis on the distant." He smirked as he looked into her eyes, however, there was a question in his eyes. If she didn't want this, he wouldn't make her. He was asking for her permission. And if she wasn't convinced before, she was now.

Georgia giggled quietly at his comment then moved her head close to his to whisper in his ear, "Thirdly, this will be our secret for now, okay?"