TESS
She woke up slowly, coming out of an empty blackness worse than a starless stretch of oxygen-deprived space. But as soon as her eyes opened she gave a great gasp, for her face, chest, arms, and stomach ached like ice and burned worse than fire. Through the haze of mixed pain she gathered that she was in the hospital wing.
"Easy, easy!" Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a glass of water, a large bar of chocolate, and a vial of brown stuff that looked like mud, without the bumpiness. She picked up a small hammer, broke off a few pieces of chocolate, and handed them to Tess, who started on eating them.
The nurse took the brown sludge, tipped a little onto her fingers, and spread it on Tess's face where it hurt, soothing the pain. "I can stop it from scarring your face," she said, "but not anywhere else. If Dumbledore hadn't been there, you wouldn't be here. I hear that Malfoy character did it?"
Tess choked, bolting upright. "He what?" she gasped through the chocolate.
"He used the Dark Magic that caused this," Madam Pomfrey.
Tess sank back down onto her pillows. "I don't remember. It was chaos."
"Any four-person duel would be," Madam Pomfrey agreed. She finished spreading what Tess now knew was dittany and corked the vial. "He wanted to come in a few hours ago."
Tess choked again. "You didn't let him—"
Madam Pomfrey scoffed. "Of course not! Do I look like a bad nurse? I said you weren't allowed to have visitors until two days from now."
Tess nodded. "Could you make an exception? Not for him, for my friend Lilix. She's a seventh year Ravenclaw—"
Madam Pomfrey sighed, but nodded. "I'll send for her."
When she made no move to do so, Tess persisted. "Could you do it now? Like, with a Patronus or something?"
"My Patronus is non-corporeal," Madam Pomfrey informed her patient stiffly.
Tess looked around for her wand, and, seeing it lying on her bedside table, snatched it up. Before she could begin casting the Patronus Charm, though, the nurse seized her wrist. "No. You may not do that in my hospital wing after such a large level of damage done to your body."
Tess tried to pull her wand hand away but couldn't. "Why not? I'll be fine. It's not trying, casting my Patronus—"
Madam Pomfrey wrenched Tess's wand from her hand and stowed it in her robes. "You must rest," she commanded. "Lilix should be here when you wake up."
Tess pushed herself into her pillows and watched resentfully as the hospital wing's matron stalked away before trying to go to sleep.
In her dream she was watching her own funeral.
She woke with a start and a short gasp. A creak alerted Tess to another presence in the darkened room. Her hand flew to the bedside table, where Madam Pomfrey must have put her wand. "Lumos," she whispered. The tip of her wand lit up, but she could barely see the end of her bed. "Lumos Maxima," she tried. The entire room lit up, showing an empty hospital wing.
"Finite Incantatem." Tess breathed out the spell that stopped all active spells in the area. There was a muffled curse and someone hissed, "Ron!"
"Everte Statum," Tess said, pointing her wand at the place where the voices had come from. It was as if the air rippled, there was a giant thud, and suddenly she could see two pairs of shoes.
They have an Invisibility Cloak, Tess realized. Focusing on the "empty space" above the shoes, she growled, "Wingardium Leviosa!" and pulled her wand up. Suddenly she could see Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, both lying on the floor, in the midst of having a whisper-argument. They didn't even notice when the Cloak was lifted off of them, or if they did, they ignored it.
"Hi," Tess said.
The two scrambled to their feet, drawing their wands.
"Remember me?" Tess went on. "Did you wander in here accidentally?"
Hermione dusted off her clothes. "Of course we remember you."
"Yeah, how could anyone forget this morning?" Ron said.
Tess's wand started to go out. She picked up the glass of water, drained it, and put her wand tip into it. "Incendio. So—" she took her wand out and put the glass back on her nightstand "—what brings you to the hospital wing?"
Hermione glanced at Ron. "Well—you see—"
"Ginny got hurt," Ron said shortly. "In the fight. She wasn't fighting, but one of Goyle's messed-up jinxes rebounded and hit her."
"Ginny's his sister," Hermione explained.
Tess swallowed. "I'm sorry . . . what happened to her?"
"She lost her voice," Hermione said, "her teeth vanished, and she has dog hair all over her face. Plus she kind of smells like rotten eggs. Madam Pomfrey must have moved her . . . she's not here."
Tess was about to reply when the door was flung open and Harry Potter charged in, looking absolutely furious and kind of wacko because he didn't have his glasses on, but he had a large bruise on his forehead. "Hermione Granger—"
"It wasn't my idea," Hermione squeaked. "It was Ron—"
"RONALD WEASLEY," Harry roared.
"Muffliato," Tess murmured, pointing her wand at Madam Pomfrey's office door.
"HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY INVISIBILITY CLOAK AND USE IT TO COME DOWN AND SEE A RAVENCLAW—"
"I'M NOT VISITING HER, I'M VISITING GINNY, YOU FOUL FACED GUINEA PIG! IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH AN IGNORANT GIT, YOU'D KNOW THAT SHE GOT HIT BY ONE OF GOYLE'S DAMNED JINXES—"
"She did?" Harry said, suddenly looking very concerned. Tess glanced at Hermione, who looked like she was trying not to smile.
"YEAH, YOU SLOBBERING DEMENTOR! SHE'S IN HERE WITH NO TEETH AND NO VOICE AND HAIR ALL OVER HER FACE, BUT NO—YOU THINK THAT I'M VISITING WILFORD! ARE YOU MENTAL? AND DO YOU REALLY THINK I'D BRING HERMIONE WITH ME IF I WAS COMING TO SEE HER?" Ron pointed at Tess. "YOU ARE LITERALLY THE STUPIDEST GIT I'VE EVER MET, YOU—"
"Silencio," Hermione suddenly said, making Ron lose his voice. He kept mouthing until he realized that he couldn't hear his voice and glared at her.
"I hear someone," Tess said, holding up her hand.
"Under the Cloak," Hermione ordered, lowering her voice. "Tess—"
"Pretend I'm asleep," Tess finished. "Finite Incantatem," she added, falling backwards against her pillows. The abrupt movement made her chest and stomach flare in pain so much that she squeaked, but the small noise was lost amongst the scuffling of three people fighting for room under the Invisibility Cloak.
Ron regained his voice, the fire in the water glass vanished, the light from Tess's wand went out, and the Muffliato spell dissipated. Professor Flitwick hurried into the room, followed by Snape. The two heads of houses looked around the room.
"There's nothing here," Snape said.
"I could have sworn I heard shouting, though," Flitwick squeaked.
"You must have heard wrong." Snape cast the Charms teacher a cold look and swept out of the room.
Flitwick glanced at Tess and followed the hook-nosed man out.
"How many times do I have to tell you, young man? Theresa Wilford is not accepting visitors! ESPECIALLY NOT YOU!"
Tess jackknifed upright at the sound of Madam Pomfrey's especially loud voice. The hospital wing matron was standing a few feet from the end of Tess's bed, her arms spread wide like she was bodily protecting her patient.
"Who's that?" Tess asked.
Her query went unnoticed. Madam Pomfrey whipped out her wand and jabbed it at the unseen target of her rage. "Get out. Out! OUT! NOW!"
Mumbling, not Madam Pomfrey's voice. It sounded vaguely remorseful and male.
"I DON'T GIVE A MONKEY'S BOTTOM WHAT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE SAID TO YOU, YOU LYING, SCHEMING, DEMENTOR-FACED MUTILATOR! GET OUT!"
Professor McGonagall rushed into the room, her wand in one hand and her other hand holding onto her hat. "Madam Pomfrey, please! Let's not frighten the students!"
Madam Pomfrey pointed a shaking finger at the offender. "He no longer counts as a student! He is a Death Eater! Don't deny it, Minerva, I've seen his arm—no, don't reprimand me! This—this—thing has been trying to get in here to 'apologize' to Miss Wilford for the past twenty-four hours, but he's really trying to get in here with her alone so he can FINISH HER OFF! DEATH EATER STYLE!"
McGonagall gasped. "Poppy! Not in front of the students!"
Madam Pomfrey drew herself up to her full height, but when she spoke, her voice was quiet. "Do you know Death Eater style, Minerva? I think you do. I've had to treat it once too many times. I know what it is. He'll perform the Cruciatus curse on her until she goes insane like—well, you know. He'll cast whatever terrible spell he did the first time and watch her bleed until her life is hanging on by one thread, and then he'll—"
"THAT IS ENOUGH, POPPY!" McGonagall shrieked. "One more word and I will throw you out of your own hospital wing!"
Madam Pomfrey went silent.
A third voice spoke. "Look, I think I'll just go now, Professor . . . I didn't mean to cause so much trouble, I just wanted to apologize, Professor Dumbledore told me to and so I figured I'd do it now. . . ."
Tess tried to speak, but she was so shocked that she couldn't. Draco Malfoy was trying to apologize? And he sounded sincere!
"Oh, no," Professor McGonagall said quietly. "You're not leaving until two things happen: Madam Pomfrey apologizes for accusing you of something so large, and Theresa wakes up so you may properly say you're sorry."
McGonagall looked severely at Pomfrey, who sighed and muttered something Tess couldn't hear.
"Good," McGonagall said cheerfully (or as cheerfully as she'd ever get), reminding Tess of Dumbledore. "You may go now, Poppy."
Tess forced herself to lie down and close her eyes.
"How about I wake Tess for you?" Madam Pomfrey sounded forcedly polite.
"How about you do that," McGonagall agreed.
"Rennervate," Pomfrey said, and there was a flash of red light that Tess could see behind her eyelids. Knowing that this was the reviving spell, she stirred.
"That will be all, Poppy," McGonagall said. There was a rustling of skirts, and a door slammed with bitter intensity. Tess opened her eyes, then closed them. "Go away," she murmured, except she made it sound more like "gmfur fmaw", because she figured that was what she would do if she was actually waking up.
I look like a zombie, I'll bet, she thought suddenly. Crud.
Since when do I care? It's Malfoy.
Yeah. It's Malfoy, the guy who will taunt you endlessly and mercilessly after seeing you as a zombie in the morning.
She opened her eyes again and shrieked.
Malfoy looked more like a zombie than she most likely did. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was completely messed up, along with his robes. He even looked paler than normal. At the sound of her yelp, he jumped visibly and didn't bother to try and hide it.
"You look like an Inferi," Tess blurted.
"Thanks," Malfoy said.
Tess sensed a new opening for her to mock him. "Wowwied about de poor wittle Mudbwood, aw you?"
"Why on Earth would I be worried about you?" Malfoy said, with an attempt at a sneer. It came out as a sort of grimace.
"Apologize, Draco," McGonagall said sternly, making the former stare at his shoes.
Finally Malfoy glanced at Tess. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Tess said fiercely. "Ripping me open with Dark Magic and scarring my face? Oh, bub, it's gonna take a lot more than apologizing to make me come even close to partly forgiving you."
"I believe in miracles," Malfoy said.
"Oh, really?" Tess challenged. "I do too. I believe that it's a miracle you're going to live through the day. You probably should also."
"Miss Wilford," McGonagall broke in. "That is enough. Malfoy, out."
Malfoy stared at Tess, his gray eyes making her feel like he was staring into her soul. "Yes, Professor," he replied at last. He turned on his heel and walked out.
McGonagall gave Tess a deeply penetrating look and followed the Slytherin student.
As soon as she was gone Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office. "I was afraid he was going to do something," she muttered to herself. "Silly me, hmm? Oh, yes, silly me indeed."
Tess stifled a laugh.
"You," Madam Pomfrey said to her. "You are being released today, but be very careful."
"What is today?"
"Wednesday," the nurse snapped. "You will have to wear Muggle clothing for a full year, whether you're at Hogwarts or not. The school robes are made of a fabric that will tug on your scars and potentially open them." She snorted dryly. "It took me ages to seal those up properly, and if they open when you're in the Muggle world you will most certainly die."
"But I heard Professor Dumbledore saying a countercurse," Tess protested.
"That helps," Pomfrey confirmed, "but it doesn't completely heal you." She shook her head. "And to think, just a few weeks ago, that boy was suffering from the same thing. . . ."
Tess nodded.
"Frankly," Madam Pomfrey continued, "I'm surprised he didn't lose his status as prefect."
Tess nodded again, not knowing what to say to this.
Madam Pomfrey waved her wand. Suddenly Tess was wearing black jeans, a black tank top, and a white jean jacket. When she swung her legs out of bed to stand, she had white combat boots on her feet.
"Keep the clothing," Madam Pomfrey said. "I suggest you go to the Headmaster's office. The password this week is Jelly Slugs. Off you go now, and don't trip over anything."
Tess took her wand from the table and exited the hospital wing, somewhat stiffly. She went to the Ravenclaw common room and checked her schedule. Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin was due to start in ten minutes. I really don't think I can make it, she thought. She waited out forty-five minutes by imagining humiliating Malfoy in front of the entire school. Then she crept down the halls to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and waited in the darkened doorway of one of the nearby rooms.
Soon enough, the class filed out. Malfoy was one of the last. Tess started working up her courage, but then a passing Ravenclaw saw her. "Tess!"
Malfoy spun, but his minions dragged him down the hall. The Ravenclaw that saw Tess was Lilix. "I can't believe it," she said. "You're out already! Do you feel okay?" And she squeezed Tess into a hug.
"OW," Tess shouted, as fire and ice lanced throughout her torso. "Please let go, Lilix."
"I'm so sorry," Lilix gasped, letting go instantly. "I didn't realize!"
"Lilix, come on, we'll be late," said another seventh year. Tess recognized him as Lilix's boyfriend (of course Lilix denied it, but the entire school knew that they were dating), Garfield.
"Look, I'm really sorry," Lilix said, "but I have to go, Tess. You should head down to the Great Hall and wait for lunch."
As soon as she had gone, Tess whispered, "Expecto Patronum," and her snow leopard leapt out of her wand. "Go to Malfoy's dorm and wait until he gets back to relay this message," she instructed. "'Thanks to you, it hurts to breathe.' Got that?"
Her snow leopard did a funny sort of nod and bounded down along the hallway. "Try not to be seen," Tess called after it.
Just before it plunged around the corner, it paused to whisk its long tail.
Then it was gone.
Tess headed off in the direction of the Great Hall. She couldn't help but feel as though Lilix had brushed her off to go to class. Truthfully, she thought she'd be the popular one, at least until the Hogwarts Express left for Platform Nine and Three Quarters at King's Cross; but so far she'd been swatted away like a fly by her best friend.
She needed to go to class.
She could have been a little bit nicer! Look at Malfoy, he actually turned around at the sound of my name, he wouldn't have brushed me off—
Oh, so Lilix has sunken to such depths that you're comparing her to Malfoy? The guy who calls you a Mudblood at every turn?
Lilix has never defended me when Malfoy's called me a Mudblood. She's a pureblood, I think she actually thinks of me as a Mudblood also!
Only one more day, you'll never see her again.
Right, because she's a seventh year! Last year at Hogwarts . . . Hoggy Warty Hogwarts.
Tess walked into a pillar, setting her face aflame, and cursed wildly, so much that her mother would have shoved a soap bar down her throat if she'd heard it. She stepped around the pillar.
Where was she, anyway? She'd gone down a few too many steps of stairs, and now she seemed to be in front of a stack of barrels. It was the Hufflepuff entrance. One had to tap one of the barrels in a certain rhythm or be doused in vinegar. Raising her eyebrows, Tess backed into the same pillar that she'd walked into, giving herself a splitting headache along with the fire on her face. Stumbling blindly, she somehow made it to the Great Hall and collapsed onto one of the tables' benches. She clutched her head in her hands as rage washed over her. Malfoy had done this to her.
Well, sure, she'd walked into that pillar—but if it weren't for Malfoy, she wouldn't have a face-fire and a headache, just a headache.
The pain faded over the course of the next half-hour, and the following thirty minutes were spent plotting how to get back at Malfoy and cause him the pain that he'd caused her. Without getting caught. Or accused. If she was careful, she might get away with blaming it on another person she disliked (she was happening to be thinking of Lilix at that moment, then realized Lilix wouldn't be here next year), and Malfoy would blame Tess, but all the signs would point to the disliked person.
"'Believe in miracles,'" she quoted, thinking of one of her favorite Coldplay songs.
Suddenly she jerked upright. I believe in miracles.
Did Draco Malfoy, the evilest little twit in the school, listen to Coldplay? Like, the Coldplay?
She devised a plan.
Just as she was adding the finishing touches to her scheme, the Great Hall was flooded with students, all talking and chatting in groups of twos, threes, and fours. They filed to their separate houses' tables, and with a start, Tess realized she was sitting on one of the Gryffindor table's bench.
She hopped up. "Sorry."
The first year she'd apologized to stared at her in fear, and she suppressed a sigh. Was one of her scars showing? She adjusted her jacket, gave the first year a reassuring smile—at which she thought she heard a squeak of fear—and moved towards the Ravenclaw table.
What did she look like, anyway? Hopefully she didn't seem too scary. Where were all her scars? She touched her face. There was a small ridge on her jaw, near her left ear, and one on her forehead. Those must be scars.
"Hey, looking good," Hermione Granger said as she passed.
"Yeah," Ron Weasley added, following Hermione. "You could be Harry's twin if your hair was a bit darker."
"Ha ha," Harry said. He punched Ron on the shoulder. "I love it when you make fun of my scar, Ron."
"Anything to be of assistance," Ron grinned.
Hermione leaned over to Tess. "He's teasing."
Tess raised an eyebrow. "Is he really? I never would have guessed." She smiled and joined the Ravenclaws, finding herself next to Cho Chang, the current seventh year Seeker for the Quidditch team, and a pale-blond haired fifth year who had radish earrings and a dreamy expression.
"Uh, hi," Tess said.
Cho glanced at her, then went back to her food.
"You must be Theresa," the blond said.
"Erm. Tess."
"Tess, sorry." She was reading a magazine upside down and eating what looked like pink rabbit fur. "I'm Luna Lovegood."
"What's that?" Tess blurted, pointing at Luna's food.
"Cotton candy," Luna answered. She pointed at a golden bowl of the same stuff. "It's sugar that melts in your mouth. A Muggle delicacy. You should try it."
"Maybe another time," Tess hedged. She looked down the table. Lilix was sitting at the end with Garfield, her head on his shoulder. Jen was not there.
Tess sighed. She was stuck between the strangest and saddest Ravenclaws ever to exist. Yippee.
She waited about ten minutes into lunch to kick-start her plan. She waved her wand under the table and the Coldplay song Violet Hill started playing. The Great Hall had excellent acoustics. She looked over at Malfoy. He was mouthing the words, and when the guitar started, his head bobbed in time to the beat.
Luna looked up from her cotton candy. "This is a good song," she said, and started singing along. She had a nice voice and was on pitch.
"Muggles are good at singing," Tess agreed.
The other students, however, disagreed. Several from each table got up and ran out of the room, shouting things like "Disgraceful" (a prefect) and "I'm getting Professor Sprout" (a Hufflepuff).
Luna looked at Tess. "Did you start it?"
Tess nodded absentmindedly. "Testing Malfoy." She flicked her wand. The music stopped abruptly. Malfoy looked at the ceiling fast, then at Tess. All he saw, though, was Tess reaching across Luna to get the cotton candy, a confused but grateful expression on her face.
This she made sure of.
The next morning, Tess lugged herself down to the Great Hall for one last meal as a sixth year. It felt weird to be wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and the new jacket she'd gotten yesterday, not school robes. Then she headed down to the Hogwarts Express and found a compartment with Lilix. Just as the train started moving, Garfield entered the compartment. "There you are, Lils! I thought you'd been left behind."
Tess got up, and, taking her trunk with her, she found an empty compartment. There she dug out a spellbook and tried to read.
You won't have to deal with Lilix and her ignorance next year. . . .
Still have to deal with Malfoy though.
Tess slammed the book shut, moved closer to the window, and stared at the passing scenery. Of course she was grumpy. Who wouldn't be, in her position? Last day at Hogwarts for three months, no friends in school or at home, and in a year, she'd be making this trip for the last time.
"It's all a very sad state of affairs," she murmured.
Home.
When she thought of home, was home with her parents, or was home Hogwarts? At Hogwarts, sure, she had to learn, but learning was fun.
With her parents, and her two sisters, however. . . .
Alexa and Sadie, the twins, were both older than her, and they taunted her nonstop for being a witch. They were like girl versions of Malfoy.
Malfoy.
Draco Malfoy.
"I prefer Draco Malfoy to Alexa and Sadie," Tess said, "believe it or not. I actually prefer Draco Malfoy to my own sisters. Draco Malfoy, who calls me Mudblood at every turn."
She shook her head. "Good Lord. Malfoy."
There was a tap on the glass. Tess whipped around. It was the Honeydukes Express trolley, manned by the plump, friendly witch. Tess got up, opened the door, and bought some Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, and a large slab of Honeydukes chocolate. It came with a small hammer. Tess smiled wryly, unwrapped the bar, and hammered off a small piece. She set the other sweets on the bench.
A ginger-haired prefect passed, followed by a girl with light brown, slightly bushy hair. She was yelling at him.
"That's Hermione," Tess said softly, through the calming piece of chocolate in her mouth. She tucked her legs up onto her seat, wondering how she'd managed to get a compartment to herself, when the Hogwarts Express was normally so full.
A pack of second year Hufflepuff girls burst into her compartment, giggling loudly. They froze when they saw Tess, who instinctively shoved her chocolate so that she was in between it and the second years.
"Is it true?" one of them interrogated.
"Is what true?" said Tess, vexed.
"You have a scar on your forehead like Harry Potter's," said another eagerly.
"Can we see?" asked a third.
"I—" She didn't even finish her sentence before she was crowded by girls, all dying to get a look. She felt her new white jacket get smushed up against the chocolate and stifled a curse.
"HEY!"
The second years all fled to the corner opposite Tess. Malfoy was standing in the doorway with a murderous glare on his face. "Out," he said coldly, stepping aside to let them pass.
They all looked at one another.
There was a loud bang—all the second years screamed. Malfoy was holding out his wand, but other than a slight haze of smoke, nothing in the compartment was wrong. "Out," Malfoy repeated.
The second years scattered, darting past Malfoy like a school of fish. Tess pulled out her wand and shed her jacket, examining it for chocolate stains. There was a big one right at the small of her back. She lifted her wand.
"You good?" Malfoy asked.
Tess dropped her wand, lunged for it, and nearly stepped on it in the process. When she finally reclaimed it, Malfoy was sitting on the seat opposite her with a smile on his pale face. Tess pointed her wand at her jacket and murmured, "Scourgify."
It became its normal stark white.
She met Malfoy's gray eyes. "Thank you."
"You didn't answer my question," Malfoy said.
"What question?"
"Are you okay?"
Tess glowered at him. It didn't feel very sincere, though. "I've been split in two by a certain someone, and pieced back together, I feel like I'm leaving my somewhat broken soul at Hogwarts, and yes, it's missing pieces because they were lost when I was split open, and I don't want to leave Hogwarts to go back to my freaking ugly and antagonistic sisters, I'd rather be the victim of your stupid spell three hundred times over than go see them again, be called a Mudblood, and sent to Azkaban with no wand to defend me form the dementors when they perform the Dementor's Kiss!—but sure, Malfoy, I'm okay!"
She blinked back tears.
Malfoy looked stunned. "Things are that bad?"
Tess nodded.
"You could stay with me," Malfoy blurted.
What was with him? He was trying to be helpful, trying to be nice—was this the actual Malfoy, or a clone of him? "Because that would be way more fun," she said, looking at the floor.
"To me it sounds better than living with your sisters," Malfoy said.
"Living with my sisters would be ten thousand times better than living with you," Tess hissed.
"That's not what you said."
"What?"
"Hey, call me Draco."
Tess jerked her head up to stare at him. "What did you just say?"
Malfoy got up. "Never mind. See you next semester." He paused at the door. "When's your birthday?"
What was with him and the randomness? The sudden niceness? Tess was greatly confused. Did he know about her big plot to humiliate him? The plot that had no middle to it? She was startled into answering truthfully. "September 1st," she said.
Malfoy—sorry, Draco—blinked. "That's interesting. Unfortunate, too, if you like big family celebrations."
"I don't," Tess said coldly.
"June 5th," Draco said, and exited, closing the door behind him.
Tess spent the rest of the train ride in complete confusion.
When she went downstairs a week after getting home, she saw the normal family scene she had come to dislike during the past six years: Mom on her phone, Dad scribbling away on paperwork, and Alexa and Sadie fighting over some trivial thing. Today it was who got to sit in the recliner closer to the stairs, even though there was another recliner on the other side of the room.
"Welcome home, sis," Sadie said sarcastically. "OW, Alexa, not in the eye!"
"You're the one who moved your face," Alexa snapped.
"How old are you really?" Tess asked. Before either twin could say anything, Tess had moved on into the kitchen. "Mom, can I bake something?"
"Chili," her mother said. Then she looked up. "Oh, sorry. Did you have a nice year at Warthog's?"
"Hogwarts," Tess corrected. "Yes, I did. Thanks. Can I make cookies or something?"
"We don't have any paper," Mom said to Dad. "Of course, if we have the ingredients."
Tess headed into the pantry, a mental recipe for brownies in her head. She'd made them so many times, she'd memorized what Dad called "the chemical formula"; they were her signature treat.
She was pulling the brownies out of the oven when she heard a resounding CRACK from upstairs. She looked around instinctively; the twins weren't downstairs.
"SADIE OR ALEXA, I DON'T CARE WHICH ONE OF YOU IT IS, JUST GET THE HECK OUT OF MY ROOM," she yelled.
"WE'RE NOT IN YOUR ROOM," Sadie and Alexa yelled back in unison.
"Yeah, sure, now you're not," Tess grumbled. She grabbed a knife from the knife block, cut a stack of brownies, and loaded them onto her plate, scorching her fingers. "Ow. Brownies up for grabs!"
It was like a herd of elephants had been introduced to running in the house. With much pounding, the twins shot down the stairs and into the kitchen. Tess went up the stairs with her brownies and stopped short.
"Why's my door closed?" she called.
"Has been for the past five minutes," Sadie informed her loudly.
"My window must be open," Tess muttered. She walked over to the door, opened it, entered her room, and turned to close the door. She considered Colloportus, but then again, that'd be a violation of Wizarding rules. No underage magic.
"Smells good."
Tess shrieked and dropped the plate, whirling.
Malfoy flicked his wand. The plate and brownies stopped inches from the floor and floated back up into Tess's hands. "Brownies, hmm?" He was sitting on the bed. Her bed. She'd have to wash the sheets six times before she could actually sleep in it.
"What," said Tess, pressing herself against the door as Madam Pomfrey's warning—it took me ages to seal those wounds up properly, and if they open when you're in the Muggle world you will most certainly die—echoed in her ears, "the hell are you doing in my bedroom?"
"Well, would you rather I Apparate into your front hall, scaring the living daylights out of all your family members?" Malfoy asked. "Because I can do that."
"You're breaking every underage magic rule in the world," Tess gasped.
Malfoy raised an eyebrow.
Tess's mind flew back to the train. June 5th, he'd said. Oh, great. Malfoy was of age. "Okay, fine, you're not. But what the heck are you doing in my house? I never invited you, and I never will!" She realized she had drawn her wand but made no move to put it away.
"Tsk, tsk," Malfoy scolded. "No cursing."
"I can curse whenever I want," Tess growled.
Malfoy stood and walked over. "May I have one?"
Tess was torn. She didn't want Malfoy to have one of her brownies, they were hers, but she also wanted someone to say that she made good brownies. Yes, or no?
Finally she caved and wordlessly held the plate out, relaxing a tiny bit so that she was no longer so tense. Malfoy picked up a brownie, inspected it, and asked, "Are there any nuts in it?"
Tess shook her head.
Malfoy nodded and took a bite. Instantly his face lost its half-disdainful expression. "This"—he held up the brownie—"is the best brownie I have ever eaten."
For a moment, her spirits soared. Then they lost their wings and plunged. It was Malfoy. Who cared what Malfoy thought of her brownies?
Well, it was better than him calling her a Mudblood.
There were footsteps in the hall. "Theresa? Is everything all right?"
It was Dad. He always called her Theresa. Tess handed the brownie plate to Malfoy—who was asking something that she didn't want to answer—shoved him to the side of the room that her door blocked, and stuck her head into the hallway. "Fine, Dad."
"Hey, let me in," Dad said. He pushed on the door. Tess hoped that Malfoy had the good sense to cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself as she reluctantly stepped back. But no, he was leaning against the wall, watching casually as Tess's father as he entered the room.
Dad turned and saw Malfoy. "Wizard, hmm?" he said to Tess.
Malfoy blinked hard. "Mr. Wilford?"
Dad pointed at him. "Draco, right? Lucius Malfoy's son?"
Malfoy nodded, looking somewhat astounded. "I knew that she's a Wilford, and that you're a Wilford, but I never pieced them together . . . Dad says you've got the night shift at the Ministry?"
"SHH," Dad hissed. Gears started turning in Tess's head, and she stepped between the two of them. "Dad."
Her father gulped.
"Oh, no," Tess said. "You didn't. You didn't lie to me for my entire life, saying that you're a normal Muggle, when actually you work for the Ministry of Magic. You wouldn't do that to me. You wouldn't."
Dad fidgeted backwards a step.
"You wouldn't make me go to Hogwarts believing that I was magic-bloodedly alone in the family," Tess went on, her voice slowly rising. "You wouldn't make me spend six—no, seven years being bullied and pushed around by people like him!" Here she pointed at Malfoy. "You wouldn't make me withstand seven years of being ignored because I'm in Ravenclaw, ignored by everyone but him, who would seek me out to call me a Mudblood at every turn!"
"Look, Tess—"
"No, you look! Did Professor Dumbledore ever contact you telling you about this?" She pulled up her sleeve to her shoulder so Dad could see the long, still-pink scar on her arm. "Guess who did that to me?"
Dad's eyes slowly strayed to Malfoy.
"Yes! Ever heard of the spell Sectumsempra, Father dear? That's what he did to me. And all because I stated a true fact; not many people can cast a Patronus Charm, and if anyone couldn't, it'd be Malfoy."
"That is not what you said," Malfoy interrupted.
Tess ignored him. "So, being a Malfoy, this jerk nearly killed me. I mean, seriously! He thinks I'm a piece of scum under his foot because he thought I'm a Mudblood—"
"Don't say that word," Dad warned.
"DANG IT!" Tess shouted. "SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL ME WHAT TO SAY! YOU HAVE BEEN LYING TO ME ABOUT YOUR FREAKING IDENTITY FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! FOR ALL I KNOW YOU'RE NOT EVEN MY FATHER!"
She turned around, crossing her arms. "What was it that you were asking me? Something about my name?"
"No," Malfoy said. "So, um, my dad—Lucius Malfoy—he works at the Ministry—"
"I know," Tess said darkly.
"So, he knows this couple, right?" Malfoy said. "And they're both pure-bloods, you see."
"What does this have to do with anything?" Tess demanded. Her head drifted down so she could look at her feet.
"The guy is Henry, and the lady's Kendra. Wilford."
Her head snapped up so hard she nearly got whiplash. "Say what? Henry and Kendra Wilford—that's—that's—"
No way no way no way no way, she thought. I'm a pureblood. A pureblood.
She marched over to Malfoy and slapped him. He was so startled he dropped his second brownie. Massaging his cheek, he glared at her. "What was that for?"
"All the times you've called me a Mudblood," Tess snarled. "Out."
"What?"
"Get out."
"Out of where?"
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
Malfoy took his time standing up, but finally he was on his feet. He looked over Tess's head at her father. Five minutes passed.
Tess grabbed Malfoy's arm to haul him from her room.
And then he Apparated.
It was all a whirlwind of color, making Tess sick, and she couldn't breathe. Just as she felt she was going to pass out, she tumbled onto gray-green grass. Before she would have stopped moving with momentum, she was on her feet and lunging at Malfoy, getting an arm around his middle and tackling him like an American football linebacker. "Take me back," she grunted in his ear.
"I can't if you're laying on me," Malfoy grunted back.
In one swift movement, Tess had pulled herself halfway up and shoved her forearm against his throat. "Do you think I'm going to fall for that? Yeah right. I'm the one in Ravenclaw."
"Get off me," Malfoy said sharply.
"Take me back."
"No, seriously." He looked agitated. "Get off." He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her off forcefully, then scrambled to his feet. "Hello, Father."
Tess was about to join Malfoy on his feet when a boot slammed into her back, sending slicing pain darting through her entire body. She cried out and slumped against the grass. Something was wrong. She should be getting up by now, never stay down—
"Don't!"
There was a thud behind her.
"Draco, what have I always told you?" Lucius Malfoy said silkily. "If you harm me, there are serious consequences."
"She's a pureblood," Draco said quickly. "She's the daughter of Henry and Kendra Wilford. She's one of us."
"You yourself have told me that she's a Mudblood, Draco."
The pain was still there. It should have faded. Tess reached behind her and felt her back. It was wet.
She cursed softly. Then the reality sank in and she cursed again, quite loudly. Stay still, don't make your heart pump more blood out—
"Tess?" Draco said. She heard the swish of grass—then someone was prying her hand away from the reopened scar—another curse—
Then blackness.
A/N: First author's note (because I forgot the other two chapters)! Yay! Thanks for the views and the nice comments, you guys! I almost cried from happiness when I saw how many views this story got (as of now, 14 or 15 and in one day, that's GOOD)! Also, sorry for any typos or errors. I should have gotten them all because I finished this in Microsoft Word before I started publishing and it's good for pointing out mess-ups and stuff. Thanks again, guys, you made my day! :D