Autumn 1991

Ronald Weasley

For once, Ron welcomed the cool dry air of the potion's classroom as it stole away the lingering warmth and sweat that clung to his skin and hair from the morning's hard training. He had spent far too long with Salazar that morning, so much so that he had missed breakfast entirely, and now even his eyes were heavy. The only thing that kept him from sneaking off to the common room and collapsing into his bed was the thought of what Professor Snape would do to him— no one, not even a Slytherin, had dared to miss Snape's lessons.

Ron begrudgingly entered the room, the reek of potion fumes flooding under his nose. Instantly his eyes locked to Theo who still sat alone in the same spot that he always sat. Ron bit the inside of his cheek, despite himself he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty. Theo was an annoying git who thought that you-know-who was a great man, but Ron wasn't yet convinced that it was entirely the dark-haired boy's fault. After all, just like Blaise, Theo had been brought up to believe something totally wrong. Ron felt almost as if he should have done something, just as he planned to do to Blaise, to save Theo from his horrid beliefs. Only, Theo wasn't Blaise, and Ron wasn't yet sure that he was worth saving. Ron swallowed and stepped across the room to sit at one of the empty benches.

Less than a second later, Daphne slotted herself into the seat beside Ron. He noticed, just past her head, that Tracy had taken his old seat next to Theo. It made some of the guilt he was feeling wash away. He just hoped Tracy wouldn't ruin Theo's grade.

"Morning," he mumbled politely to Daphne. She acknowledged him only with a brief nod of her head, her eyes staring forward towards the front of the classroom. She sat with a straight posture that made Ron feel a little inadequate as he slouched over his section of the desk.

Blaise, sitting with Milicent Bulstrode, caught Ron's eye and raised an eyebrow slightly, as if to ask if he was okay. He offered a thin smile back and turned his head to face , I hope this class goes smoothly.

Snape swooped in from a door off to the side. He took a single disgusted look across the faces of his students before he turned and snatched one of the pieces of chalk. Hastily, in very precise handwriting, he scrawled a set of instructions across the board. Ron doesn't even pretend to like us?

"You all know what I expect," Snape said coldly. "You will be brewing a strength potion, which some of you might wish to ingest. It is a simple concoction, and I expect that your work is not an entire disappointment. Do I make myself clear?"

Heads around the room nodded.

"I will be watching," Snape warned. The professor sank down into the chair behind his desk and stared out at the class with mild discontent.

"Right," Ron said and turned his head back to Daphne. "Which part should we do first?"

She gave him a blank look. "You're supposed to be improvingmygrade."

Ron's cheeks turned briefly pink. "Snake fangs," he said quickly. "Can you crush them?"

Daphne gave him a short nod and picked up one of the two knives. Ron sighed and used his wand to flick the base of their cauldron. Bright blue flames crackled into the stove top and sent a wave of warmth flooding over him.

"Like this?" Daphne asked, holding up the crumbled bits of fang. Ron took them from her hand and dumped them into the cauldron. The water inside sizzled gently.

Daphne scrunched her nose. "I can't believe my mother enjoys this."

"It's not that bad," Ron said with a shrug.

Daphne gave him a cold look. "It's not just bad, Weasley, it's horrible."

"But your mum likes it?"

Daphne's eyes flickered to his for a second. "It's different, entirely different. She's… good at it. And doesn't mind the smell of rot."

Ron sniffed the fumes rising out of the cauldron. The smell of the potion was not entirely pleasant, but it certainly didn't smell like anything was rotting. Instead, Ron thought, it reminded him of wet dirt.

"Is your mother a potion's master?" Ron asked. "Better than Snape?"

Daphne scoffed lightly. "She's betterthan you."

stirred the potion gently as Daphne added the dusted arm bone. The potion shifted to a mild orange colour.

"It could be good to have someone who knows all about potions, I guess. My mum knows a lot about cooking," Ron said.

Daphne narrowed her eyes at him and said nothing.

"She's strict about it?" He tried again.

"She has… high expectations."

"I get that," he shrugged, "My mum is like that with chores. If we mess anything up then she makes us start all over."

Daphne frowned at him. "What exactly are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Weasley, why are you trying to get me to talk about my mother?" She said frostily.

Ron exhaled, and shifted the direction he was stirring. "Look, I'm just trying to understand you better. I don't know anything about you or Tracy and I'd like to know who I'm partnering with."

Daphne crossed her arms. "So you're interviewing me?"

"No, I–" Ron quickly added the fanged geranium to the potion– "maybe."

Daphne frowned at him. "You don't think my words are enough? Wondering if I can't be trusted, Weasley?"

"Yes," he said a little meekly.

She stared at him for a moment before smirking slightly. "You shouldn't trust me. You shouldn't trust any of us."

Ron's eyes widened and he almost dropped the handle of the stirring rod. "What?"

"Slytherin is full of liars," Daphne said. "And you're not one of them."

Ron bit the inside of his cheek. He didn't need to be told that, he was already worried about who he could trust and Daphne's words only made it worse. A brief panicked thought crossed his mind and he wondered if Blaise's mother truly was a bad person. Maybe Blaise was lying to him?

Ron glanced across the room to see Blaise very carefully doing his work. His partner, Millicent, was nearly asleep beside him.

No, he wouldn' tried to shake the thought away from his mind. Blaise had given him no reason to distrust him, if anything, he had done the opposite. He looked back towards Daphne who gave him another slight smirk.

"Doubting everything?" She asked.

He nodded slightly.

"I won't lie to you," she said simply, "as long as you don't lie to me."

"You just told me not to trust you," he countered.

"Yes, I did. But, I meant that you shouldn't take everyone for who they appear to be. I'm offering you another agreement, and honestly, Weasley, it's the best deal you'll ever get. I'll tell you the truth."

"You won't lie to me?" He asked dumbly. "Like ever?"

"No, I won't. But, I'd like you to make the same agreement."

Ron opened his mouth and then closed it tightly. He couldn't agree to that deal. He couldn't let anyone know about Sal or about his visions. It would place too much risk on Charlie's life. He swallowed thickly and gave his answer. "No."

Daphne's eyes widened slightly for just a second. "And here I thought you weren't a liar?"

Ron didn't bother replying, as guilt swirled in his stomach. He was lying, in some ways, to a lot of people. He didn't tell Percy why he was truly in Slytherin, and he hadn't yet told Charlie that he was some kind of actual seer. He also lied constantly to Blaise about where he was going and what he was doing. It made him feel slightly ill.

"My mother is Dianna Greengrass and my father is Aloris Greengrass," Daphne broke his thoughts. "My mother doesn't work, she doesn't need to. My father runs the family business and he serves on the Wizengamot. My mother wants him to be Minister, but he says it's not proper. I have a sister, a younger sister, and our family owns two house elves."

Ron met her gaze. "I didn't agree?"

"No," she said softly. "But you will, eventually."

No, I won't. Nobody can know my secrets.

"My family has multiple vaults at Gringotts and my grandfather was one of the richest men in Britain. I don't tell people that, not normally. Only when I'm trying to prove a point."

"And what point are you trying to prove?" He asked.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Pay attention, Weasley, I'm trying to prove to you that you can trust me. Our alliance won't work if you think I'm lying to you. I need you to trust me because I need you to listen to me, not Nott."

Ron paled. "His father… he followed you-know-who." Daphne nodded even though it wasn't a question. "I can't trust him, regardless."

"No, you can't." Daphne nodded. "He's who I'm talking about. He is a liar, and you won't see it until it's too late. Don't make that mistake."

Ron nodded but a small part of him still felt bad for switching partners. Was it for the greater good? He wasn't sure if Theo deserved to have no chances. After all, if they wanted him to stay away from Malfoy then didn't he deserve a chance? Even if it was at an arm's length? He frowned.

Just as Ron was about to say something else, a sudden loud hiss filled the air. A couple rows in front of them a large black plume of smoke rose into the air.

At the front of the classroom, Snape shot to his feet. He wore a very dark frown. "What is going on!?" He hissed.

Whispering spread through the classroom. And Snape rushed over to the source of the smoke.

"Longbottom," Daphne muttered under her breath.

A wave of fresh air erupted from Snape's wand and forced the smoke against the ceiling. Neville and Harry stood up from their desk, eyes wide as Snape pushed them aside.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your utter incompetence!" Snape barked.

With another wave of his wand, Snape caused the entire cauldron to disappear with a loud pop. The rest of the smoke settled gently into the stones of the ceiling.

Somewhere, behind where Ron and Daphne sat, Malfoy laughed cheerily.

"He's a git," Ron muttered.

Daphne nodded. "He thinks he's better than Longbottom, but he isn't."

"I just don't understand him," Ron admitted. "What does he get out of being such a prat?"

"It probably makes him feel important… that maybe his father will love him" she said quietly, almost as if she was speaking just to herself.

"Why do you hate him? I mean, besides the obvious reasons?" Ron asked.

Daphne's eyes darkened slightly. "I don't need another reason. I don't have any reasons to think much of any of them," she said flatly. "Not Malfoys, or Nott, or anyone tied to them."

She was right, Ron knew. It should have been enough that their families had been on the wrong side of the war. None of them were old enough to really remember anything that happened, but they all knew it was horrible.

"My father…" Daphne said. She took a short breath, her face seeming to be almost unreadable. "The truth, Weasley, is that my father tried to have Lucius Malfoy arrested."

A shiver ran down Ron's arms. He hadn't expected that. "After the war?"

Daphne nodded. "So, I don't have a choice here. That's the truth, my end of the deal. If I don't have you, Zabini, Tracy, I'll have nobody. I won't be accepted into their group, because of that."

"I'm sorry," Ron offered.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't be, I don't want to be his friend. I'm just letting you know where I stand. Despite my family's reputation, Malfoy stands in my way of ever becoming something."

A few seconds of silence passed between them as Ron added the last few bits into their potion.

"I'm sorry," he said again, his voice barely above a whisper. "You're fighting an uphill battle. I know what it's like to feel out of place."

Daphne stilled for a moment and regarded him with a questioning look. "It doesn't matter, and I don't feel out of place. It's just the way things are."

"Still, it doesn't seem fair," he added.

"It's not about being fair. It's about power, and who holds it. Right now, Malfoy does. And because he does, I can't." She cleared her throat. "But thanks, Weasley."

Ron hesitated, unsure if he should say anything else. "I'm sorry forinterviewingyou. I just had to make sure."

"You did the right thing," she said softly. "I hope my answers lived up to your expectations."

He nodded. He appreciated honesty, especially when he wasn't sure who he could trust. Out of the corner of his eye, Ron saw Daphne's jaw tightening but not in anger. He wondered if he said something or did something to upset her. Maybe he had pressed too far. But he had to, he justified. He had to be certain that she could be trusted. Maybe, if he was right, he wouldn't have to save Hogwarts alone. He had Percy already, but he needed others and Daphne,he decided firmly.