The next time Harry saw Romina, he dared not bring up the fact he heard how Draco basically convinced her to go to Hogsmeade after everyone's failed attempts before him. Besides, he had a lot on his plate anyways. That same Hogsmeade trip was also the place where he learned the truth behind Sirius Black. That kind of rage left little to no clear vision about anything else.

"You need to calm down before you explode," Romina watched Harry with concern while the boy in glasses balled his fists over the dining table. "Someone can question you over it and then what would you say? That you snuck out to Hogsmeade and purposely eavesdropped on a teachers' conversation?"

"We've been telling him that," Ron said from across them.

"It's not that easy, is it?" snapped Harry, putting both Ron and Hermione in a silent state. "Black was supposed to be my parents trustee. He was supposed to be their friend and he betrayed them!"

"...he told my parents where yours were," Romina said quietly, managing to calm Harry for the moment. That'd been one of the worst parts for her to hear. Sirius Black confided in the Oswells where the Potters were. They, in turn, notified Voldemort where the Potters were. Romina never felt more ashamed of her family then.

"No one is blaming you for anything," Hermione once again reminded Romina after she'd gone quiet.

Harry's gaze softened when he saw Romina staring at her lap. He could only imagine how Romina was feeling about all this too. Her parents helped Voldemort murder his, and there was nothing either of them could do to change things. "Rom, it's not on you. You're as much a victim as I am—"

"No, I'm not," Romina shook her head. "They live and your parents are dead. I'm sorry." She decided to head back to her own House table before she cried there and then.

"Rom!" the three Gryffindors called after her but it was no use.

By the time Romina took her usual spot beside Arden, she was sniffling with teary eyes.

"Oh, look, something new to cry over today?" Pansy was the first to notice Romina's state. "What is it now?"

"Sod off, Parkinson," Arden snapped then looked at Romina. "What's the matter? You were fine yesterday and—"

"And now that she's gone and visited those little friends of hers, she's gone and reverted back to her depression," Draco spoke from his seat. "You should just stay clear of them, Oswell."

"Oh, like you do," Angel snorted. "Always finding time to come up with new insults for Harry and the others - that sure seems the way to stay clear." Draco rolled his eyes and went back to eating his breakfast.

"Rom, what is it?" Arden asked again, hoping the others would just be quiet and allow Romina a chance to speak.

Romina was aware of the attention she was getting and preferred to end things there. She rubbed at the corner of her eyes and looked up. "N-nothing. I just heard something sad, that's all."

"What'd you expect after talking to those kinds of people?" Pansy gave a nod towards the Gryffindor table.

Romina rolled her eyes and started getting up. "I'm not so hungry anymore."

"Oh no, you can't go without breakfast—" Arden tried to hold onto Romina's arm but the girl pushed Arden away. "Romina!"

Romina didn't listen. She hurried out of the Great Hall and made a beeline for the dungeons, only to bump into Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. The first thing she noticed was Luna barefoot and for some reason, it just really ticked her off even more. "Again!?" she gestured to Luna's pale feet. "Jesus what is it with these students!?" Her loud voice caught the attention of some passing students and of course she called them out on it. "Yeah, you! Do you just enjoy taking shoes!?"

"They didn't take my shoes," Luna said, the utmost calm as usual.

"Luna there's a game going on with your shoes," Romina sighed, rubbing her forehead. She heard Ginny whisper "I knew it!" on the side.

Luna tilted her head at Romina, studying the older girl. "You're distressed. What's wrong? It's not about my shoes, is it?"

Romina dropped her hand from her forehead. "No…" Her hand gesture on the side was particularly confusing for the two girls since they didn't know whether or not Romina was angry. "Although it's very annoying."

"I'm sorry—"

"No!" Romina cut Luna's apology off. "You're not the one who should be apologizing!"

"What's bothering you?" Ginny was the one to ask. "My brother hasn't done anything stupid lately, has he?"

At that, Romina managed a short laugh. "Which one?"

"Aline, you wound us!" Fred Weasley had come up from behind and swung an arm around Romina's shoulders. George came up on Romina's other side, feigning an offended face with arms crossed and a pout ready to go.

Romina groaned and smacked Fred's arm off her. "Never call me that!"

"Who's Aline?" Both Ginny and Luna asked at the same time, curious of course.

"No one! Go have breakfast!" Romina ushered the girls towards the Great Hall then turned on the twins. "Never call me that!" The twins laughed at her as usual, making her groan again and leave.

"Oh what's the matter, Aline?" Fred was hot on her trail, as was George, which of course further irritated her.

"Leave me alone, Weasleys!" Her hiss was an indication there was something wrong alright. Romina entered the gardens and was striding down with no particular destination in mind except to be the hell alone.

Fred and George exchanged an agreeing glance then rushed after Romina. Before Romina knew it, she'd been hoisted by the twins, each one taking hold of one of her arms, and then promptly headed back to the hallways.

"What—put me down!" Romina's feet kicked in the air as she shouted. "Fred! George! I'm not something you pick up—"

"On the contrary, you're quite light," Fred chuckled with his brother.

Romina had a cold glare on the two when they finally put her back on her feet. "That was not okay!"

"You know what's not okay?" George crossed his arms, settling a good look on her. "The fact you've been completely reserved and...acting plain weird, even for an Oswell." Romina rolled her eyes but remained silent.

"See, that right there would have gotten an easy comeback from you," Fred gestured at the silent girl.

"We're worried, Romina," the twins admitted.

Their seriousness novelty for Romina, and quite endearing. She hated to be causing so much trouble like this, but it was difficult speaking to someone about it. "Thank you, both of you. I'm just...dealing with some things. Family things." The twins looked at each other again. Romina sighed and made wild hand gestures to get their attention again. "I'm going to work on it, I promise."

"Really?" they both asked.

"Because we're not afraid to carry you again," Fred warned, though the hint of a smile made Romina feel like they were returning to their usual playful ways.

"Yeah, you're actually pretty light, we might turn it into a game," George's smile was devious enough for Romina to dread their newest game.

"No, you will not," Romina's warning flew over their heads as they started to think about possible score charts for their new game. She groaned and waved them good-bye, not that they noticed very much.

She had to admit their little skit did lift her spirits a bit. She missed that feeling of happiness, even when it was something as ridiculous as this. It was what made her feel normal again, and definitely not like the daughter of two evil people. These thoughts carried with her into the dungeons and into her dorm.

She crawled up on her bed and pulled out the photograph of Elora and Caplan from underneath her pillow. She shuddered a breath as she met the gazes of the two. "Why did I have to be yours? Out of all the parents in the world, why did I have to be yours?"

Elora's tantalizing smile made Romina's skin scrawl. There was something positively evil radiating from Elora Oswell, even in picture form. Romina was scared enough thinking one day she would end up smiling like Elora, apart from looking just like her.

Suddenly, the dormitory door flung open and startled Romina. "Did you see Lovegood without her shoes!?" Pansy was laughing while she and Millicent Bulstrode ran inside.

"What an idiot!" laughed Millicent.

As Romina hurried to get her picture under her pillow, Pansy looked up and drawled an "ooooh". "What are you doing, Romina?"

"N-nothing!" Romina quickly settled herself in a sitting position on the side of her bed. Pansy's gaze lingered on Romina's pillow, but at the same time Romina noticed the pair of shoes Pansy was holding. "Those aren't your shoes."

Pansy's face went flat. "It offends me that you would think these would be mine. I have better taste than fried up apple seeds." She dumped the shoes underneath her bed and dusted her hands off. "No, these are Loony Lovegood's shoes. The chain passed it onto me."

"Again?" Romina scowled.

"I'm a good keeper."

"Wait till it's my turn," Millicent smirked.

"I'd rather not," Romina got up from bed, wearing an even deeper scowl. "You need to stop messing with her! Don't you have anything better to do?"

"What's it to you?" Pansy set her hands on her hips. "It's a game—"

"Yeah, which Luna didn't create! Honestly," Romina walked over and got on her knees to fish out Luna's shoes from under Pansy's bed. "Maybe if you spent less time playing ridiculous games, you'd have better grades."

"Maybe you should quit butting your nose into things that don't involve you," Pansy shot back but it didn't appear Romina cared. One of Luna's shoes seemed to be stuck on a nail or something. Pansy's scowl almost matched Romina's from before. "Honestly, Romina, you're getting even more annoying than Arden and that's saying something. What's even more annoying is how everyone caters to you every time you're in one of your moods. Don't think I've forgotten you had Draco doing your homework for you!"

Romina stopped trying to reach for the shoes under the bed and looked up at Pansy. "I never told Draco to do anything for me and once I found out, I stopped it. I don't need anyone doing my work for me."

"Good, because I won't be doing anything for you," Pansy spat.

"Funny enough, I wasn't expecting you to..." Romina stretched an arm underneath the bed and finally pulled Luna's shoe out. She then got up from the ground and grabbed the other shoe. "I'm going to go return these to Luna and God help you if I ever find out you play this game again." She swung Luna's shoes behind her shoulder and turned to leave.

"Now what are we going to do?" Millicent huffed. Pansy was fuming in her spot that Millicent swore she saw smoke coming out of the girl's ears. "Let's just go see if someone else has another pair we can hide."

"Oswell's been getting on my last nerve lately," Pansy crossed her arms, scrunching her face. "For some reason, people love bending over backwards for her and for what? They've barely known her. I think it's time she learned her real place."

"Like how?" Millicent leaned on a hip, curious of what Pansy had in mind. As far as anyone knew, there wasn't much known about Romina despite having most of the Oswells' dark nature recognized by society.

Pansy scoured Romina's side of the room until her eyes landed on Romina's pillow. A smirk started making its way across her face. She hurried over it and threw the pillow to the side, revealing a face down photograph. "Whatever Romina's got going on, I'm sure it has to do with that. She's been hiding something all year...and it looks like I'll have the pleasure of finding out."

~ 0 ~

By the time Romina found Luna Lovegood again, she and Ginny were out in the courtyard with a couple other second years. "Luna! Look what I've got!" Romina was happy to wave Luna's shoes in the air.

The girl in question gasped. "Oh, those were one of my favorites!"

"Yeah, well, with any luck, no more roommates of mine are going to be taking them," Romina handed the shoes over to Luna. "And really, if anyone else takes them, let your head of House know, okay?"

"I keep telling her to," Ginny called from her spot on the ground. "But she won't listen!"

"Things have a way of working out in the end," Luna smiled in that lazily, hazy, manner of hers.

Romina chuckled but nonetheless worried over the ongoing game she was sure was nowhere near over.

"You're so nice, Romina," Luna smiled and surprised Romina with a big hug.

"Uh, thanks," Romina hugged back. She awkwardly said her goodbyes and headed back for the dungeons when she was stopped by Harry, Hermione and Ron. The three looked so distraught Romina wondered what happened since breakfast.

"You have got to help Hagrid!" Hermione was the first to exclaim, Harry and Ron quickly followed with pieces of sentences Romina couldn't quite understand.

"Hagrid's been notified—"

"Buckbeak's in danger by—"

"—Malfoy's father has the whole committee—"

"—and he'll get axed!" Ron finished with a loud shout.

Hermione whacked both boys into silence, something Romina was grateful for. The bushy-haired girl explained everything in a much more calm manner so that Romina knew exactly what was going on. Hagrid received a letter notifying him of the need to present himself and Buckbeak the Hippogriff to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. Apparently, Lucius Malfoy's complaint had stirred things into a real problem, something Hagrid was completely destroyed over.

"It's bad, I get that," Romina assured, because as much as the creatures Hagrid loved were scary, she knew the man meant only good. "But...what am I supposed to do? I've got no pull with the Ministry."

"The boys and I are going to look into previous cases with similar situations," Hermione began to explain again, making faces Romina didn't understand yet, "And, well, despite us being totally against it, you seem to get along a little better with Draco, so...maybe if you talked to him—"

"Oooh," Romina rolled her eyes. "You want me to ask him to call things off. So it's bad whenever I speak to him but the one moment where it might actually benefit you all, it's suddenly okay?" The three fidgeted under her flat stare. Romina sighed. "Yeah, alright, I'll...see if I can dig for some human decency in Draco—"

"That'll take eons which we don't have..." Ron mumbled under his breath.

"Thank you, Rom," Harry honestly said, glad to have her on board with one of their plans just like old times. She seemed to be looking better than earlier in the morning.

Romina seemed to guess his thoughts and smiled kindly at him. "I'm sorry for acting so weird, Harry. It's no excuse but I've got family things to deal with and...I guess it's taking a toll on me."

"We've been worried over you," Harry said, getting Hermione and Ron to nod in agreement.

"Yeah, I've heard from the twins and my other friends," Romina sighed, feeling guilty over their attention. Perhaps Pansy had a point somewhere in all her angry spats. "I'm going to try and get better, just watch."

"We're counting on it," Hermione smiled at the girl.

Romina smiled back then noticed Angel and Carolinha walking by, probably towards the dungeons, and decided to walk with them. "I promise I'll have a word with Draco," she whispered to the trio then hurried to catch up with the other twins.

They were more than happy to see her more cheery than before. Carolinha heard of Romina's moment at the dining table and of course assured Romina she was there if she ever needed to talk to someone. Romina chuckled and said she would think about it. When they entered their common room, they found most of their friends around the fireplace, either messing around or taking some of their free time to catch up on work.

"Is that my Supergirl comic?" Romina spotted Arden on the floor, back against the couch just beside Daphne Greengrass' legs.

"Oh, uh, I borrowed it," Arden grinned at Romina. "Is that okay?" Romina's smile was answer enough. "Glad to see you're better!" she then buried her nose in said comic.

"Who's Supergirl?" Carolinha curiously walked over.

"Only one of the best superheroes of all time!" Arden was all too happy to give the background on the iconic character when Carolinha joined them.

"Would you two keep it down?" scolded Draco from the opposite couch. He and Blaise were some of the students catching up on work. "No one cares!"

Arden rolled her eyes and continued explaining to Carolinha, despite the double sets of glares she was getting from the boys. Theodore, who was sitting next to the boys, shushed them as he read out of a Potions book.

"We're going on break tomorrow, are you sure you'll finish in time?" Angel went over to the couch to get a peek at the work between Draco and Blaise.

"We got some notes off, Nott," Draco nodded over to the brunette. "So we should be good."

"How is it that Theodore managed to finish all his homework and you two didn't?" Romina sat on the couch's armrest where Daphne sat.

"Because I'm clearly the superior one in this group," Theodore said with a clean smile on his face, causing an uproar of indignation from the rest of the group.

They all quieted down as Pansy emerged from the hallway with Millicent at her side, both girls holding a pile of papers in their hands and hollering for everyone's attention.

"We thought all students should get a reminder of who we have sleeping with us!" Pansy announced, waving one of the papers - which turned out to be a photograph - in the air.

"Can you keep it down!?" Arden was the first to shout back.

Pansy pointed her wand at Arden, and just when Romina thought Pansy would attack her with a spell, Pansy shot forwards one of the photographs with her so that it would smack Arden on the face. With a smirk, Pansy went back to her announcement. "I just thought you should all know what's got our dearest Romina in such a foul mood lately."

Romina paused at that, eyeing Pansy with suspicion.

"Hey…" she heard Arden saying. The girl peeled off the photograph from her eyes and examined the photograph. "Wow...hey, she kinda looks like…" Her eyes widened and quickly found Romina.

Romina's heart began to race as more murmurs started around the common room. Those who had the photographs were whispering and looking at her. "No…" she slowly got up from the couch's arm rest and looked to see Pansy and Millicent distributing more photographs. "Pansy, what did you do?"

Pansy came by their group and handed out more photographs.

"Hey, I know them," Angel said after looking at his copy of the photograph.

Even Draco's eyes had widened. He straightened up on the couch, eyes glued to the photograph. Pansy slipped a photograph on Theodore's book, forcing the latter to stop reading and look at it.

Angel still hadn't caught up yet, but the others were beginning to. "That woman kinda looks like—"

"Shut up, Paes," Draco said without thinking then snatched the photograph from Angel's hands. He did the same with Blaise's but it was too late for the others.

"Romina's parents," Carolinha slowly looked to Romina with a saddened face.

Romina felt all eyes landing on her, the room even feeling like it was shrinking. "I-I — why'd you do this!?" she rounded on Pansy, her eyes filling with tears. "Why would you do this!? How did you - why!?"

Pansy's smirk widened seeing her work gone so well. "I just thought we should all get a glimpse of the famous Oswells who helped the Dark Lord murder Potter's parents."

"You had no right!" Romina's voice shook.

Arden didn't know a lot about Romina's parents, but even she knew those two people were one of you-know-who's closest followers. Romina carried that shame with her - even if it didn't fall on her - every day, and here was Pansy showcasing it to the entire House. "Parkinson, you've finally taken it too far!" Arden jumped to her feet, letting her comic fall to the floor.

Pansy rolled her eyes at the girl. "Sit your ass down mudblood, this doesn't encumber you!"

Arden angrily whipped out her wand from her boot and pointed it at Pansy. "Stupefy!" Before Pansy knew it, her entire body was knocked backwards without the ability to move.

But even then, it was too late. Everyone else in the common room had made the connections and were whispering and murmuring about Romina, pointing and looking at her. Romina breathed in and out hard, tears blurring her vision.

"Romina!" Angel called after the girl as well, but Romina had already ran into the corridors.

The damage was done.

A/N:

P.S. As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)