September 1993
"Riddikulus!" Longbottom yelled, changing the potions professor robes into something a little more eccentric. The class was filled with laughter, and even Cressida Lestrange had to put a hand over her mouth to cover her smirk. She felt a little guilty; after all, Professor Snape is a close family friend, but at the same time, the sight of him in something so absurd was hilarious. Next to her, her blond cousin was scowling, his lackeys following suit.
"Cheer up, Draco; this is supposed to be fun", Cressida encourages, nudging him slightly.
"It's stupid, is what it is", Draco shoots back, and she simply rolls her eyes at his antics.
Professor Lupin instructs them to line up single-file for their turns. The room buzzes with anticipation as everyone, including Draco, Greg, and Vincent, jostles for position. The Boggart reveals a myriad of fears: giant spiders, drowning, snakes, and clowns, each transformed into something whimsical. Laughter fills the room, and Cressida's cheeks ache from smiling so much.
"This is a waste of time." Draco mutters, "Why should we have to stand here and show our worst fears to everyone? When I write to Father, he will not be happy about this."
"You can't have Uncle take care of all your problems, Draco." Even though they both know Lucius Malfoy would be more than happy too, for both his children, "Besides, you already made such a big deal with the Hippogriff. If you really don't want to do this, I'm sure you can skip it. Some of our classmates have already opted out."
Draco huffs but doesn't argue any further. Vincent is next and steps forward, and the Boggart begins to change. He is visibly upset, and Cressida gives him an encouraging smile; the creature turns into a large table with a feast, but all the food is rotten. Some snickers in the room earned glares from the Slytherin, and Professor Lupin had to calm everyone down.
"Now, now, class. Everyone has valid fears, and I'm sure none of you would appreciate it if it was you being laughed at. Now, Mr. Crabb, do you remember the incantation?" Vincent nods. "When you're ready." He gestures to the table.
"R-Riddikulus!" Vincent shouts, but nothing happens, and more laughing ensues, "Riddikulus!" The table comes to life and starts jumping up and down, barking like a dog. He smiles at his achievement, and after some quick congratulations, Greg takes his place. The dog-like table starts to morph and change in front of him until it takes the shape of a burning fire. The whole classroom starts to feel warm, and an orange hue covers everyone.
"Riddikulus", Greg says, and the flame explodes into itself, going off like fireworks. Oooos and aaahs can be heard in the class as the light show continues.
"Good job, Greg," Cressida congratulated him before taking his place. The black-haired witch stepped forward, and the fireworks froze. She took a deep breath, waiting as the Boggart began to twist and turn until it took the form of Bellatrix Lestrange.
Everyone freezes. The madwoman is just laughing, causing her "daughter" to stumble back. Draco grasps her hand in comfort. The other students cower in fear and whisper to each other. As for Cressida, she feels as if the room is closing in around her. The whispers sound like someone yelling in her ears. The ground is spinning, and everyone is staring. Her cousin's iron-tight grip on her hand is the only thing keeping her grounded.
"Bellatrix" shrieked at the cowering classroom, and Professor Lupin was about to step in before she started talking. "Cressida", she screeched "Are you ready to take your rightful place, darling." Her voice was sticky sweet, and it felt so wrong coming from her; the underlying threat was evident in her tone. She stomped closer to Cressida, "Are you ready to do your duty as a Lestrage!?" The girl stood frozen, unable to cast the spell. Lupin was making his way in front of her, but before he could, someone shouted, "RIDDIKULUS!"
As The Boggart's form changes, Bellatrix starts singing off-key songs in a childlike princess dress. Nervous chuckles eventually lead to full-on laughter. Cressida looks to her side to see that Draco was the one to cast the spell and is currently glaring at his 'aunt'. She looks around the room, embarrassed. Most students are laughing at the childlike woman, with a handful of exceptions. Hermione looks at her with concern, Potter looks confused, Weasley grimaces in pain, and Longbottom looks like he wants to both pass out and cast every hex he knows. The tension in the room dissipates, and a sense of relief washes over everyone.
She was in such a deep trance that she didn't hear Draco asking if they could be excused or their teacher's approval. "Let go, Cece." And he started dragging her out of the classroom. The two of them sat in the hallway together, silently. Neither of them really talked about their estranged relative; after all, Bellatrix Lestrange was such a stain on their family that everyone would rather pretend she didn't exist.
"I...I didn't think she would be my Boggart," she confessed in almost a whisper. Draco looked up at her, a worried look on his face. "I mean...I don't even think about her. Not anymore," Cressida hugged herself tighter.
"She can't hurt you", Draco assured her, "She's locked away in Azkaban."
"Just like how Sirius was." and the silence was palpable. "What if...What if he helps her escape?"
"I thought you said you don't think he's going after Potter?"
"Well, that's just because of what Aunt Cissy and Cousin Lia say about him; he didn't seem like the type of person to betray his friends. But I don't know him. I don't know what he's capable of or what Azkaban can do to a person."
They return to a tense silence, neither knowing what to do or say. Cressida leaned her head on Draco's shoulder in comfort, grabbing his arm to ground herself. After a few minutes, they heard a pair of footsteps running down the hall. Looking up, they saw Hermione Granger running towards them; Draco was scowling at her, and Cressida smiled.
"Cece!" she called out, stopping in front of them and catching her breath. "Are you okay? I was worried about you."
"She's fine, Mu-" Cressida nudges Draco. Hard, "Granger"
Glaring ensues.
"I am fine, Hermione," Cressida assures her friend. "I'm just a little shaken up, is all."
"That woman, she was...?" And, of course, Hermione knew; she wasn't called the brightest of our age for nothing. Knowing her, she probably read about the case before she even started Hogwarts.
"I don't want to talk about it." The Slytherin girl says, and Hermione just nods in understanding.
"There's no homework," Hermione tells them, changing the subject. "Professor Lupin just wants us to practice the spell. It's easy."
"What business does he have, making us do that in front of the class," Draco hissed,
"He just wants us to practice, so when it's real-" Hermione is interrupted.
"So he has us reveal our traumas to everyone. No one should be forced to show their biggest fear like that."
"Draco, no one forced me to do anything. I did that of my own free will." Cressida says, with slight frustration, "I knew the risks of participating, so don't go belittling people." Draco says nothing; he just crosses his arms in frustration and mumbles something under his breath.
Hermione stares at the squabble, not knowing what to say. She clears her throat, "Well, I have a charms essay to finish, so I'll be in the Libary if you want to talk. See you later, Cece."
"See you later, Mione."
Once the Gryffindor was out of earshot, Draco turned to his cousin with a loof of displeasure on his face, "I don't see why you lower yourself to filth like that."
"Draco, be nice," she chastised him. "That's not a nice thing to say."
"It's the truth! Father says-"
"There are a lot of things Aunt and Uncle are wrong about."
"She's a mudblood." He stresses, and Cressida hates it when her family gets like that. Blood purity has done nothing good for their family, and even tho they deny it, most of their fortune came from working with muggles before the stature of secrecy. Even if she had a problem with muggles, which she didn't, then why should they turn on each other by discriminating against magical folk just because of their blood?
"Hermione is an amazingly talented witch, which you would know if you could look beyond your dumb prejudice," she chastised her cousin.
"It's the principle of it, Cressida." He stresses, "Muggles and Mudbloods are coming after our jobs and money way of life. We no longer celebrate Yule at Hogwarts; it's Christmas now. They're getting rid of all our traditions, and we can't forget the witch trials—It's just not right."
"It's not like we are getting rid of the stature of secrecy; no, it's my turn to talk." She cuts him off before he interrupts her. "We're still hidden from the muggles, and it's not like they killed a lot of us. Most, if not all, of the victims of the witch trials, were unlucky muggles and muggle-borns. And it sucks that a lot of our traditions are changing, I won't lie, but we're becoming a bigger culture, and it's not like it's dying; old wizarding families still use the old ways. And if you fear that someone will steal the future jobs available to you, then you probably don't deserve it...Oh, don't pout, Draco. It's unbecoming. Besides, you'er the Malfoy Heir, that's not a job that can easily be stolen."
He just scoffs but doesn't say anything. This has always been a point of contention between them, and with the imminent threat of Voldemort's return, it keeps getting worse. Cressida can feel it in the air, the looming darkness that threatens to destroy the peaceful life she has known her whole life: dark magic-possessing professors, ancient evils unleashed onto the school, supposed death eaters breaking out of Azkaban. Cressida shudders, thinking about what's to come next.
The rest of her friends came rushing down the hall. Daphne, Pansy, Theo, and Blaise were all there to offer support. They all bombarded her with questions, asking if she was okay with going to the healers to skip the next class and relax. However, she suspected Blaise just offered that so he wouldn't have to go to History of Magic. It was all starting to get overwhelming, and Pansy was the first to realize.
"Alright, everyone, back. OFF." The dark-haired girl told everyone, "Can't you see she's on the verge of passing out? Give her some space." She and Draco pushed everyone away, giving Cressida some space to breathe. Once she was given some room to breathe, she composed herself and addressed her friends.
"I'm fine, guys really. I just needed a breather. And no, Blaise, I'm not going to let you use me as an excuse to skip Professor Binn's lecture."
"It was worth a shot." He shrugged
"Are you sure you are fine, Cece? You were looking quite pale in class when.." Daphne trailed off, knowing how delicate the matter of Bellatrix Lestrange was to her friend.
"Don't worry; I know it wasn't real, " she told them, but everyone was unconvinced. She noticed that Theodore had the books she left in class, "Thanks for bringing them, Theo, I can take them back now," She reached for them.
"Nope, I'm carrying them for you until we get to class. We have Divination together."
"Hey. I'm the disabled one here," Draco gestures to his arm in a white sling.
"And Pansy's already holding yours." Theo shot back.
The six of them were walking to their classes, Pansy fussing over both Draco and Cressida. The blond boy seemed to revel in the attention while his cousin just rolled his eyes but had a smirk on her face, amused by their antics.
They dropped Blaise and Daphnee off at History of Magic, saying goodbyes and promising to meet after lunch. Pansy goes to her Arithmancy class, shoving all of Draco's books into Theo's arms.
"I'm not a bloody bookshelf", he complains with no real bite.
"You offered to carry Cece's, and Drake can't carry his own, so you're the only one who can carry all the books," Pasy tells him before shutting the door on them. Theo rolls his eyes as they keep walking towards the staircase to get to Divination. "Leviosa is a first-year spell," he mutters under his breath.
They go up and up the stairs until they reach the classroom. Potter and his gang are already there and start staring at the trio. Theo and Draco take a protective stance. They make their way to their table; Theo drops, and they all take their seat, looking at the crystal ball. As Trelawney goes on about the importance of clearing your mind to see, Cressida can feel someone's eyes burning the back of her head. She tries to ignore it and focus on the lecture, but the gaze is intense. She turns around to see that Neville Longbottom is the one staring at her. Cressida flinches and turns away.
She knew their families' history; it was awkward when they were in the same room together. After what happened in Dada, she was just embarrassed, though. His gaze wasn't malicious or full of hatred or fear. He seemed confused and somewhat curious.
"Alright, class. Let's look into our crystal balls and see what our futures have in store," Trelawney tells the class, clapping her hands together. There's a series of drones; most people don't like this class but take it for the easy Outstanding.
"This class is bloody pointless", Draco complains, looking at the ball in front of him, "Nothing is happening; this whole thing is a scam, I tell you."
"Wasn't one of your cousins a Seer?" Theo asks, clearly enjoying his friend's frustration.
"Yeah, I think one of Aunt Cissy's cousins was a seer. On the Rosier side." Cressida supplies, "I heard she went insane tho."
"See! Nothing good comes from it." Draco points out
"Then why did you take the class?" she asks him.
"...It seemed easy at the time," he mutters. The rest of the class continues, with little success in seeing the future, and Cressida ignores Longbottams' stares. Once it was over, the three of them made their way to the common room. Theo was still carrying both his and Draco's books, but Cressida grabbed hers before he could insist on carrying them, too.
"Draco, you can cast a levitating spell."
"He just wants to milk his injury as much as possible."
"Blimey, mate, don't you get enough attention at home."
Before Draco could answer, Cressida cuts him off, "Oh, he does; he just wants to annoy Potter." She cackles
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I would say you have a crush on him, Draco." Theo teases, and Draco makes a scandalized noise. The two of them laugh at his expense.
"Hey, I'll see you guys later. I have to drop off some extra credit with Mcgonagle." Cressida tells the boys,
"Nerd", Theo says in a poor attempt to cover it up with a bark.
"Hey! That "nerdiest" is winning us House points." She hits his shoulder softly, and he feigns pain. They go their separate ways. Cressida walks down the hall, greeting all the ghosts and magical portraits. Soon, she makes it to her destination, knocking on the professor's door and waiting for her to be let in.
"Come in," she says, and Professor Mcgonagle is at her desk, grading some papers. "Ah, Miss Lestrange, do you have the 13-inch essay about theoretical transfiguration and its origins?" she asks, and Cressida hands her the scroll. "Excellent. I'll have this graded during my detentions and give you the respective points accordingly."
"Thank you, professor." Cressida turns to leave, but before she gets to the door, it's slammed open, and two matching redheads run through it.
"Hello, Minnie!" Fred shouts.
"We're here for out!" George adds. Two matching cat-like grins on their face. Behind the Slytherin, she can hear Mcgonagle let out an exasperated sigh. Cressida is Frozen in place, holding the books to her chest, blush creeping on her cheeks, but she covers it with her curly black hair. The boys notice her and smirk down, circling her like vultures.
"Well, if it isn't the little Lestrange heiress," Fred says with an amused smirk; she smiles at the nickname.
"Little Ronikins tells us you had an interesting day in DADA today," George adds, and she freezes.
"You two are here for detention. You can continue this social call after you have served your punishment." McGonagles tells them, summoning a stack of papers. George goes to talk to the professor, leaving Fred and Cressida alone at the doorway. He seems to notice her tense body language. "Are you alright, Cressida? We didn't mean anything by it?"
"No, it's fine; I know George was just trying to lighten the mood, " she assures him, messing with her books. He just smirks at her, "What?"
"You know, you are one of the few people outside of Gryffindor who can do that."
"What?"
"Tell us apart." He leans down so they are face to face as if trying to stare into her soul, and she turns her head so that he doesn't see her blush, "How do you do that? Even our mother mixes us up sometimes. But you always get it right, even when we try and trick you." He leans closer, his voice almost a whisper, "What's your secret?"
She shrugs, "I'm just lucky, I guess."
"I don't believe it" His voice is mischievous and full of amusement, "But I'll find out, mark my words."
The two of them were smiling at each other, and she quickly relaxed. Cressida's friends are less than impressed with her infatuation with Fred Weasley, but she couldn't help it. He was funny and sweet, always quick to help his friends. The warmth he exudes is so different and so refreshing from the loving yet formal way she grew up.
"Are you alright, tho, Cressida? You seemed a little shaken up earlier," he asks her, his voice laced with worry.
"Yeah, I just... wasn't expecting that to happen, especially in front of the whole class." Talking to him has always been easy. There's no judgment, no ridicule, no shame. He'll just listen to her and offer her support.
He was about to say something else, but Professor McGonagall interpreted. "Mr Wealsey. I have papers I need you to organize. If you could rap up your little chat with Miss Lestrange."
"Well, looks like that time. I'll see you later, Cece." Fred told her, winking.
"Bye, Cressida!" George calls out, and she waves to them before closing the door behind her. With a new pep in her step, Cressida walks down the halls. There are still some whispers and points from her fellow classmates, but she's used to that by now. She knows that whatever she is going to face, she'll face it with her head held high.
The End