disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just Arabella and her story. Hope you guys like it!

Mudbloods

Arabella was woken up on Saturday morning by Hermione shaking her violently. It was Saturday, she was allowed to sleep in – she should be allowed to sleep in. Why was Hermione shaking her?

"Let me 'lone," moaned Arabella, turning and burying her head under her pillow.

"It's time for breakfast," chimed Hermione. "You don't want to waste the whole day in bed."

Arabella rolled her eyes. "Yes, I do."

Hermione, after changing her clothes, grabbed a hold of Arabella's leg. Arabella had barely registered Hermione grabbing her before she was yanked out of her bed in one tug. Arabella let out a scream. She felt her heart beating wildly as she looked up at Hermione in utter shock.

"Come on," said Hermione. "Get up."

Arabella pursed her lips and once again buried her head under her pillow. She was determined now to sleep on the floor, despite knowing fully well that she would not be able to go back to bed. But she did it to spite Hermione. For a while, it seemed as though Hermione conceded in defeat, but then Arabella hear the faint sound of water. Hermione returned and grabbed Arabella's right leg again.

"Where are you taking me?" groaned Arabella.

Hermione continued to drag her towards the washroom and Arabella could hear the shower running clearly now.

"Hermione – I swear – Hermione – please – HERMIONE!"

Arabella had tried to get away, but Hermione had pushed Arabella into the icy cold water and walked off, obviously pleased with herself. Arabella stood there, shocked and drenched. She glared at the door and then took off her clothes and took a quick shower.

Once she was done, she got changed and met up with Hermione in the common room.

"I reckon I've become a bad influence on you, Hermione," said Arabella, running her hand through her damp hair.

Hermione pondered on it for a moment. "I believe you are a bad influence on me, Arabella. But I suppose I will just have to live with it."

They went down to the Great Hall for some breakfast and Ron joined them in a couple minutes. They ate quickly and packed some toast and marmalade for Harry. They then made their way down to the Quidditch stadium to see Harry and the rest of the team just getting out of the locker room.

"Aren't you finished yet?" called Ron from the stands incredulously.

"Haven't even started," said Harry. "Wood's been teaching us new moves."

Harry then mounted his broom and soared into the air. Arabella felt a small pang of jealously. She truly wanted to play Quidditch for Gryffindor – or perhaps she just wished she had a broom with her at Hogwarts so that she might be able to fly whenever she pleased. It helps ease and clear her mind.

There was a clicking noise to her right and Arabella turned to see Colin sitting in one of the highest seats, taking pictures. Hermione and Ron looked his way as well.

"They're not going to like that," mumbled Ron.

"Why?" asked Hermione. "It's only Colin. He's harmless."

"We know he's Colin, but I doubt Wood or the others do," said Arabella. She then looked back at the field and saw several people in green robes walking onto the field with their brooms in hand. "Oh no –"

"They're certainly not going to like that," said Ron.

Oliver Wood looked positively outraged at the sight of the Slytherin Quidditch team. He was bellowing at the Slytherin Captain, spitting with rage. Arabella, Hermione and Ron shared a look and quickly hurried onto the pitch.

"Oh, look," said Marcus Flint loudly. "A field invasion."

Arabella, Hermione and Ron crossed the grass quickly to see what was going on.

"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing?"

"What's Malfoy doing here?" said Arabella.

She looked at Malfoy with dislike. He was standing there in his Slytherin Quidditch robes.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Black," said Malfoy, smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."

Arabella and Ron gaped at the seven sets of the new Nimbus Two Thousand and One. She could hardly believe it. It just came out and Lucius bought them for the whole team.

"Good, aren't they?" said Malfoy. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

The Slytherin team howled with laughter.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione sharply. "They got in on pure talent."

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her. "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he spat.

Arabella's eyes widened in shock. Flint dived in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him. Alicia shrieked, "How dare you!" and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" He then pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Malfoy's face. A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him backwards onto the grass.

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione.

Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he gave a belch and several slugs came out of his mouth and onto his lap.

The Slytherin team were paralyzed with laughter. Arabella, shaking with pure fury, turned from Ron, took a big step forward towards Malfoy and punched him square on the nose. She felt it crunch under her knuckles and it was a sweet sound to her ears.

Malfoy let out a shout of pain. He fell backwards against the grass and held onto his nose with both hands. He then looked up at Arabella, her fists shaking. Her knuckles stung and she was sure it was going to be sore in a while, but that did not matter.

"How dare you!" she shrieked. "You – slimy – arse – you complete – Hermione is more of a wizard than your whole pathetic family put together! You –!"

Arabella made to swing at his face again, but Fred and George held her back, grabbing a tight hold of her arms. The Slytherin team looked at Arabella and Malfoy with shock. Flint helped Malfoy up as he continued to cover his nose.

"My father will hear about this!" exclaimed Malfoy, glaring at Arabella.

"Good!" bellowed Arabella, putting all her weight and energy into shouting at him. "Good! Tell him! Tell him about how Arabella Black – a filthy half-blood – broke your stupid nose! Go on, then, tell him everything! I wouldn't mind having a chat with Lucius."

Arabella broke off from Fred and George, and turned towards Ron. She saw Flint saying something to Malfoy, but could honestly care less about that stupid boy.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid, it's the nearest," said Harry. He and Arabella pulled Ron up by the arms while Hermione was bedside Arabella. They left the field and walked across the ground towards the edge of the forest. Ron left a trail of slugs in their wake.

"Nearly there, Ron," said Hermione as Hagrid's hut came into view. "You'll be all right in a minute – almost there –"

They were within twenty feet of Hagrid's house when the front door opened. Lockhart emerged, striding out into the sunlight.

"Quick, behind here," hissed Harry. He and Arabella dragged Ron to a nearby bush. Hermione followed, somewhat reluctantly.

"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying loudly to Hagrid. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one — I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good bye!" And he strode away toward the castle.

They waited until Lockhart was out of sight. Harry and Arabella then pulled Ron out of the bush and up to Hagrid's front door. They knocked urgently.

Hagrid appeared at once, looking very grumpy, but his expression brightened when he saw who it was.

"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me – come in, come in – thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again –"

Harry and Arabella supported Ron over the threshold into the one-roomed cabin, which had an enormous bed in one corner. Harry hastily explained what had happened as they lowered Ron into a chair.

"Better out than in," said Hagrid cheerfully after Harry explained what happened. He put a large basin in front of Ron. "Get 'em all up, Ron."

"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," said Hermione, anxiously watching Ron. "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand –"

"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asked, scratching Fag's ears.

"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table and setting down the teapot. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

"I think you're being a bit unfair," said Hermione. "Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job –"

"Hermione," interrupted Arabella. "He was probably the only one for the job."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now," said Hagrid, jerking his head at Ron. "Who was he trying ter curse?"

"Malfoy," sneered Arabella, crossing her arms and clenching her fists. "He called Hermione a 'Mudblood'."

"He didn't!" said Hagrid in outrage.

"He did," said Hermione. "But I don't know what it means. I could tell I was really rude, of course –"

"Rude!" exploded Arabella. "Rude does not even begin to cover it. That word is about the foulest and most insulting thing you can ever call someone who's a Muggle-born. Wizard families like the Malfoy's think they're all better than everybody else just because they're pure-bloods. It's a disgusting word!"

"Anyway, they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can' do," said Hagrid proudly, making Hermione blush.

Ron came up from his basin and said, "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. The rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all." He have a small burp and a single slug fell out. "Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. Look at Arabella – half-blood and part of the Black family – but it makes no difference at all. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out."

He retched and ducked out of sight.

"Well, I don' blame yeh for tryin' ter curse him, Ron," said Hagrid, loudly over the thuds of slugs hitting the basin. "Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least ye not in trouble."

"But Arabella punched his nose," said Harry.

"What?" asked Hagrid, shocked as he turned to Arabella. "Yeh did?"

"Well – yes, he called her that word!" said Arabella. Hagrid shook his head, but she could see a hint of a smile on him. "Let Malfoy tell Lucius, I don't care if he comes after me for something so childish, but he won't – I know Lucius and I know he would be positively ashamed of the fact that it was me who punched his kid."

Hagrid nodded him head, knowing that Lucius Malfoy would be shamed by this.

"Harry," said Hagrid suddenly. "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"

"I have not been giving out signed photos," Harry said hotly. "If Lockhart's still spreading that around —"

But then he saw that Hagrid was laughing.

"I'm on'y jokin'," he said, patting Harry genially on the back and sending him face first into the table. "I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."

"Bet he didn't like that," said Harry, sitting up and rubbing his chin.

"Don' think he did," said Hagrid, his eyes twinkling. "An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle toffee, Ron?" he added as Ron reappeared.

"No thanks," said Ron weakly. "Better not risk it."

"Come an' see what I've bin growin'," said Hagrid as Harry, Arabella and Hermione finished the last of their tea.

In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house were a dozen of the largest pumpkins Harry had ever seen. Each was the size of a large boulder.

"Gettin' on well, aren't they?" said Hagrid happily. "Fer the Halloween feast… should be big enough by then."

"What've you been feeding them?" said Harry.

Hagrid looked over his shoulder to check that they were alone.

"Well, I've bin givin' them — you know — a bit o' help —"

"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" said Hermione, halfway between disapproval and amusement. "Well, you've done a good job on them."

"That's what yer little sister said," said Hagrid, nodding at Ron. "Met her jus' yesterday." Hagrid looked sideways at Harry, his beard twitching. "Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house." He winked at Harry. "If yeh ask me, she wouldn' say no ter a signed —"

"Oh, shut up," said Harry. Ron snorted with laughter and the ground was sprayed with slugs.

Arabella felt her cheek turn red but said nothing about this. But she then caught herself. Why was she turning red? There was no reason for her to do so. She then looked at Harry trying stop Hagrid and Ron from teasing him. She scrunched her eyebrows and pursed her lips. She bit her lips as she felt another wave of heat hit her cheeks. This was completely ridiculous and completely unwanted.

It was nearly lunchtime as they said good-bye to Hagrid and walked back up to the castle, Ron hiccoughing occasionally, but only bring up two very small slugs. They had barely set foot in the Entrance Hall when a voice rang out, "There you are, Potter – Weasley – Black." Professor McGonagall was walking toward them, looking stern. "You three will be doing your detentions this evening."

"What're we doing, Professor?" said Ron.

"You will be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Mr. Filch," said Professor McGonagall. "And no magic, Weasley – elbow grease. Black, you will be helping Professor Sprout with some of her plants that will be later used as potion ingredients. You will help her cut and store them. And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail. Eight o'clock sharp, all of you."

Harry and Ron slouched into the Great Hall, while Arabella was much happier.

"Filch'll have me there all night," said Ron heavily. "No magic! There must be about a hundred cups in that room. I'm no good at Muggle cleaning."

"I'd sway anytime," said Harry. "I've had loads of practice with the Dursleys. Answering Lockhart's fan mail… he'll be a nightmare…"

"I like my detention," said Arabella brightly, smiling towards them. "It's with Professor Sprout."

Ron and Harry gave her dirty looks before turning back to their pies.

In no time, Arabella left the castle and made her way towards the greenhouses. Professor Sprout was already there outside of greenhouse one.

"I have most of the plants Professor Snape wants in here," said Sprout, unlocking the door.

There were about forty-somewhat plants on the table. There was a pile of tools on the bench and a huddle of bottles at the end of the table. Sprout stopped in front of the chair and motioned at Arabella to stand next to her.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Sprout asked Arabella.

Arabella looked down at her right hand and saw purple and yellow bruises forming around her knuckles.

"Nothing," said Arabella swiftly. "Dumped against the wall."

Sprout pursed her lips. "You know, I used to be Tonks's Head of House and I maintained a steady correspondence with her mother, Andromeda. Do I need to speak to her about you now?"

Arabella shook her head. "I just hit the wall, I promise."

Sprout pursed her lips but said nothing more on that subject. "Right, now, you'll be taking these plants over here and cutting up the leaves into tiny bits. Once you've done that, you'll be grinding them into find dusts." She gestured to a group of plants. "Then you'll be taking these ones over here and take the roots out. You'll be saving those roots aside. Then you'll be taking the petals out of these plants and store them. There are some bottle over there, just store them and I'll be labeling them later. I'll be inside grading some papers, come get me if there's any trouble. I'll be back in a couple hours."

Arabella nodded as Professor Sprout walked towards the door and into the castle. Shen turned to the plants and began to work.

It wasn't hard, her detention, but after a while it became tedious and boring. It irritated her and the plants, like Mandrakes, seemed to have a mind of their own. The roots took a good chunk of her time and the petals seemed to not want to come out while grinding the leaves took a lot of physical strength out of her.

Professor Sprout came back and nodded at the bottle and nodded. "Not too bad, Black. Leaves could have been done better – but it seems as though you've made a mess. Do clean up the table, bench and pots – all of the pots."

Arabella gapped at her as she left once again. She then stared at all the pots with compost in them. She groaned and began to work, dumping the compost in the used pile and scrubbed the pots out for another two hours.

It was nearly midnight by the time he walked up the stone stairs into the castle. Her arms were sore and her should blades were stiff. The Gryffindor common room was almost empty by the time she got back. She went straight up to her dormitory. Hermione was already there, awake with one of Lockhart's books on her lap, while Parvati and Lavender were fast asleep.

"How was your detention?" asked Hermione.

Arabella sunk into her bed, groaning. "Sorted out some plants and scrubbed the pots clean. My arms feel so sore…."

"Why don't you go put your arms in cold water?" asked Hermione.

Arabella sighed, not wanting to move. It was a couple minutes until she finally got up and walked towards the washroom. She turned the cold water in the bathtub and put her arms under, with her sleeves still on. She bent forwards with her neck handing over the railing of the tub. She closed her eyes as she felt her muscles tense and ease up. Hermione came in after a while with Arabella's nightgown, a towel, and some bandages. She grimaced at Arabella's knuckles.

"You should not have punched Malfoy," said Hermione.

Arabella opened her eyes and looked at her. "Punching him was the highlight of my day, Hermione."

Hermione shot her a look of disapproval.

"He called you a you-know-what," continued Arabella. "He had no right to do so and if you think I was going to let that slide, then… well…." She took a deep breath. "We're friends, Hermione. I was not going to let him get away with that."

Hermione's face softened at her words. She then took Arabella's right hand and dried it before wrapping her knuckles in bandages. Arabella appreciated her helping. Once she was completely done, Arabella went back to her four-poster bed and was fast asleep. Somewhere during the night, Hermione threw a blanket over her.

Thank you all for reading! Tell me what you think!