-Chapter Seven-

Mudblood and Murmurs

After being released from the Hospital Wing, Meredith spent most of her time staying out of sight of both Filch and Professor Sprout. The former being the scarier of the two, but Meredith felt a slither of shame whenever Professor Sprout looked at her.

She hadn't yet decided when to give Pansy the small dose of poison, but she knew she wanted to wait until she wasn't being so closely watched by her Professors.

So after a week of being timid and well behaved, Meredith was more than happy that the weekend had finally arrived.

"Meredith," Hermione said impatiently as she woke her up. "It's nearly 8am, we're going to meet Hagrid, remember? I've just seen Ron and he said that Wood dragged Harry to a surprise quidditch training- we're meeting him at the pitch when he's done."

"Urrrgghh," Meredith mumbled into her pillow.

After much huffing and moaning, Meredith got up and dressed, following Hermione down to the common room.

"Nice bed head," greeted Ron.

Meredith sneered at Ron, flattening her hair against her neck.

"A shame we can't do anything about your hair," she snapped back.

"Oh brilliant, a ginger joke," Ron said, "how original of you."

They grinned cheekily at each other.

"It's so obvious the two of you are related," Hermione huffed, "no other family could insult each other with smiles on their faces."

They walked down to the great hall together, talking about how eventful the first few days of school had been.

"And then when you think about how horrendous Harry's summer was-"

"What do you mean?" Meredith asked.

"You know, with the Dursley's locking him up after that crazy house elf ruined some dinner party they were hosting."

Meredith frowned as she buttered her toast. Harry hadn't told her anything about a house elf.

"He must have just forgotten to tell you," said Hermione kindly, noticing Meredith's mood shift.

"Yeah, between all the sneaking out and homework, he's probably just completely forgotten about it," Ron added after a pointed elbow from Hermione.

"Sure," Meredith said, shrugging her shoulders in fake indifference.

She had to hide her face a bit while she schooled her features into something less miserable. Maybe they were right, and Harry hadn't told her about his summer because they'd both been so busy getting in trouble. She hadn't thought to ask him how he had landed up at the Weasleys before the start of the school year. She suddenly felt like a very bad friend.

"Right, let's get going," Ron said.

Meredith stood with a convincing smile, although Hermione could see that it wasn't all that real.

Considering it was still quite early, they didn't see any other students on their way down to the quidditch pitch. The slight chill in the morning air kept most of the students either still in bed or in their common rooms.

The quidditch pitch was still empty when they arrived. The only other person there was Colin Creevey, his camera clicking away.

"Let's not sit too close to Colin," Meredith whispered, "it's far too early for his enthusiasm."

They sat on the stands away from him, making sure to stay out of his line of sight.

It wasn't long before the Gryffindor team came out of the changing rooms. Harry was walking towards the back, talking to Oliver Wood.

"What are they doing here?" asked Ron darkly, pointing towards the new arrivals entering the pitch.

Slytherins.

And at the front of their party, was a shiny blonde head.

Draco.

The two groups met in the middle of the pitch, their bodies rigid with tension.

"We should go make sure Harry doesn't need back-up," said Meredith, already climbing down the stands.

The other two followed behind her. They rushed across the pitch towards their house mates. Meredith felt her pocket for her wand and saw Ron do the same.

"Oh look, a pitch invasion," said one of the older Slytherins.

Meredith remembered his name was Flint, and he was the Slytherins team captain. She'd heard some horrid stories of how he treated the younger students.

"What's going on?" asked Ron. "Why aren't you playing? And what is he doing here?"

He glared at Malfoy, who grinned evilly back. Meredith scoffed at the back of her throat.

"I'm the new Slytherin seeker, Weasley," Malfoy said back loftily, "we were just admiring the new brooms my father donated to the Slytherin team."

Ron gaped at the brooms. Meredith assumed by his expression that they must be some pretty spectacular brooms indeed.

"Impressive, aren't they?" Malfoy continued, "Maybe the Gryffindor team could rally a bit of gold for some new brooms. I'm sure you could raffle off those old Cleansweep Fives, I expect a museum would bid for them."

The Slytherin team howled with laughter.

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

Malfoy's smug smile flickered.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood," he spat.

Meredith snarled in outrage, disgusted that Malfoy would use such hateful language. She knew that the Malfoy's and most other Slytherins were close-minded and prejudiced, but to be so public about it made her feel furious. She wasn't the only one there who wanted to attack Malfoy for what he had said.

Flint had to jump in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George from getting at him.

"How dare you!" Alicia shrieked.

Ron pulled his mangled, spello-taped wand out of his pocket.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy," he said angrily, shoving his wand under Flint's arm and into Malfoy's face.

A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a spark of green light came out of the wrong end of Ron's wand. The light hit him in the chest and sent him falling backwards into the grass.

"Jeez, Ron," Meredith muttered sympathetically, "Rubbish time for your wand to act out."

"Ron! Ron! Are you okay?" asked Hermione worriedly.

Ron opened his mouth to speak, and gave an almighty belch. Two large slugs came sliding out of his mouth and onto his chest. They continued to slide repulsively into the grass.

There was a moment of silence before the Slytherin team broke down with laughter. They were hanging over each other, struggling to catch their breath as they shrieked and pointed.

Meredith pulled a disgusted face as Ron hurled up another slug.

Harry nudged her with his elbow. "We had best take him to Hagrid's, he's nearest," he said.

Meredith sighed through her nose but went to grab Ron's right arm as Harry went for his left.

They pulled him up and Meredith couldn't help the disgusted squeal she made when Ron puked a slug onto her shoes.

"What happened Harry? Is he ill?" Colin Creevey was jumping on his tiptoes to get a good look at Ron, his camera clicking madly.

"Get out of the way Colin!" said Harry angrily.

Hermione followed behind them on the way to the hut, nervously asking Ron how he was feeling.

"I'm fine Herm- blergh," Ron gagged on another slug.

"Best not talk, Ron," said Meredith grimly, "I don't want to have to pull a slug out of your choking throat."

"Pleasant," Harry huffed.

They were twenty feet away from Hagrid's front door when it suddenly flung open. Yet it wasn't Hagrid stepping out of the hut, it was Gilderoy Lockhart.

"This way!" Harry whispered, pulling them behind a large tree. Hermione followed reluctantly.

"It's really very easy," they heard Lockhart say, "I can borrow you one of my books if you'd like!"
"He's insufferable," muttered Meredith, "poor Hagrid."

"He's just being helpful," Hermione whined, defensive.

Meredith rolled her eyes and Hermione shot her a look, opening her mouth to retaliate.

"Alright, he's far away enough now," said Harry watching Lockhart head back to the castle, stopping the girls before they could start, "let's go inside."

They half dragged, half walked Ron to the door. Hermione knocked urgently and almost fell off the top step when Hagrid pulled open the door angrily. He was clearly grumpy from his encounter with Gilderoy Lockhart. His expression brightened when he saw it was them instead of their professor.

"Come in, come in," he said, holding the door open for them. "Been wonderin' when you lot would come by to see me!"

Hagrid didn't bat an eye as Ron coughed a slug into his hands. He just passed over a tin bucket for Ron to hurl in. Harry quickly explained what had happened.

"I think he's just going to have to ride it out," said Hermione nervously, fluttering around Ron like an anxious bird. "That's a difficult spell to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand…"

Ron belched again and the sloppy sound of slugs hitting the bucket made Meredith gag.

"Better out than in," Hagrid said, patting Ron roughly on the back before moving over to his tiny kitchen to make them all some tea.

"What did Lockhart want with you?" asked Harry, he was sat on the floor scratching Fang's ears.

"He was tryin' teh tell me how to get kelpies out of a well," Hagrid said gruffly, "and going on about some Banshee he banished. I'd be impressed if any of it were true!"

Hagrid never spoke ill of the Hogwarts teachers and Meredith was surprised to hear him speak of one with such a venomous tone. She had to admit she enjoyed it. Hermione went a bit pink in the face and responded in a voice higher than usual. "That's a bit unfair, don't you think? Dumbledore obviously thinks he's good enough for the job-"

"He's the only one for the job," said Hagrid, offering them some fudge. "And I mean the only; no one else wanted the position. People be reckoning that the Defense Against the Dark Arts position is cursed. No one has lasted in that class very long. So tell me," said Hagrid, nodding towards Ron, "who was he tryin' ter curse?"

"Malfoy called Hermione something," Harry said, "it must have been really bad because everyone went mad."

"It was bad, Harry," said Meredith crossly, still angry at Malfoy," that little rat called her a mudblood!"

Ron made an angry noise and then ducked his head back into the bucket to get ill again. Hagrid looked outraged.

"He did not," he said to Hermione.

"He did," she said softly, "I don't know what it means, but I could tell it was incredibly rude…"

"It's the worst thing you could say to a person," said Ron, pulling himself away from his bucket, "it's what horrible people call someone with muggle parents- like the non-magical folk. It's to do with pure bloods thinking that you have to keep the family lines clean, or else you don't have strong or pure magic. But it's all nonsense! Look at Neville- he's pure blood and he can barely stand a cauldron up the right way."

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can't do," said Hagrid proudly, causing her to blush happily.

"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," Ron added, wiping his sweaty brow. "Most of us are half-bloods anyway. If we hadn't married muggles we'd have died out."

He retched and ducked out of sight again.

"The Malfoy's just need to feel like they're better than everyone else," said Meredith darkly, "Merlin knows they aren't going to get anywhere on magic ability or talent."

"Well, I don't blame yeh for tryin' to curse him, Ron but maybe it's a good thing yeh didn't," said Hagrid loudly over the thudding sounds of slugs hitting the bottom of the bucket. "The last thing yeh need is Lucius Malfoy comin' up here and causing yeh some more trouble."

Meredith agreed with that at least. After meeting Lucius Malfoy in Diagon Alley, Meredith would be happier if she never had to see that man again. He terrified her.

"So Harry," said Hagrid, "I heard yeh're handing out signed photographs. I can't believe yeh didn't give me one."

"I am not giving out signed photos," Harry said hotly. "If Lockhart's still putting that about-"

Meredith giggled once Harry realised that Hagrid was laughing at him.

"I'm only jokin'," said Hagrid jovially, "I knew yeh wouldn' be handing out signed photos- and I told Gilderoy as much. I told 'im you didn't need to since yeh're more famous than him anyhow."

"I bet he loved that," said Harry.

"Oh he definitely did not," said Hagrid with a twinkle in his eye.

Meredith made her way over to the small kitchen window, finding the furthest spot from Ron's slug puke bucket. The smell was making her feel unwell.

She twitched the curtain restlessly and looked into Hagrid's small vegetable garden.

"Hagrid," she said, "those are the biggest pumpkins I've ever seen!"

"Do you think so?" Hagrid asked proudly, opening the back door so they could take a closer look at the giant things. "They're for the Halloween feast. They'll be double the size by October."

"What have you been feeding them?" asked Harry curiously.

"Well I've been giving them - you know- a bit of help."

Meredith saw Hagrid slyly reveal a pink umbrella. Harry once told them that that was where he kept the pieces of his wand. The thing occasionally managed to cast a few spells, although he was not supposed to use magic at all since he had gotten expelled from Hogwarts when he was younger. Meredith wanted to poke and pry to find out what had happened to get him kicked out but Harry said that any time it was mentioned Hagrid would clam up. Meredith didn't want to upset him.

They took one last appreciative look at the pumpkins.

"Yer sister really liked them Ron," said Hagrid, "she came here a couple days ago. Said she was just lookin' around the grounds but I reckon she was looking for someone else. I don't think she'd say no to a signed photo Harry-"

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

They stayed at Hagrid's for a bit longer but eventually made their way back to the castle.

They had taken two steps into the main hall when a figure stopped them in their tracks. Professor McGonagall towered over them, glowering down at the four of them with her analysing eyes.

"There you are, Potter, Weasley," said McGonagall sternly, "you both will be doing your detentions this evening."

"What will we be doing, professor?" asked Ron weakly.

"You, Mr Weasley, will be polishing trophies in the trophy room with Filch," said Professor McGonagall, "and that means no magic, Mr Weasley."

Meredith didn't envy that punishment. She was still having to run and hide whenever Filch was near because he hadn't forgotten about the incident with the Mandrake.

"And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail."

"Oh no- can't I go to the trophy room with Ron instead?" asked Harry pathetically.

"Absolutely not," she said with a raised eyebrow, "Professor Lockhart requested you specifically. Your detentions start at eight o'clock. Don't be late."

Meredith sniggered at the look on Harry's face.

"I don't know why you're laughing, Miss Prewett," McGonagall said, sternly looking down at Meredith. "I haven't forgotten about your detention. You're just lucky that Professor Sprout requires your help instead of Filch. Your detention will be on Monday at the greenhouses after class. You will be there every Monday for the next four weeks."

Meredith scowled at the ground. It was incredibly unfair that Harry and Ron only had one detention for flying to school in a car but she just knocked over some potted plants and she had four weeks' worth.

The three of them slouched into the Great Hall while Hermione gave them all a told-you-so look.

"I can't believe you guys only get one night of detention and I get a month," Meredith said, angrily taking a bite out of her sandwich. "It's not like I did anything that bad."

"You did knock out Filch," said Harry with a shrug. "We only damaged a tree."

"A beloved tree," said Meredith indignantly. "And I got knocked out too! It's not like I meant to hurt Filch."

"Speaking of that night," said Ron, a hand clutching his stomach as he stared at the food, "what did you ever do with that leaf you stole?"

"I asked Fred and George to preserve it for me," Meredith said.

"With a spell?" asked Hermione curiously.

"I didn't ask- I just didn't want the leaf to die before I got the chance to use it."

"When are you going to use it?" Harry asked.

"I was thinking about the Halloween Feast? I just need to figure out how to get it into something she's drinking or eating."

"Maybe you could ask Mafalda," Ron said sarcastically, Harry laughed at the joke.

Meredith looked across the hall and saw Mafalda chatting happily with Daphne Greengrass. Pansy sat next to Malfoy, shooting her sister sneering glances. They were obviously in the middle of one of their many power struggles.

"Maybe I could ask Mafi," said Meredith, smiling at the plan she was forming.

"I was joking," said Ron to Harry and Hermione as Meredith stared off into space. "She must know I was joking right?"

They both shrugged at him.

Meredith waited for her sister to get up from the Slytherin table before leaping up to follow her.

"Bye then!" yelled Ron behind her.

Meredith waved a disinterested hand as she trailed her sister out the door.

She'd have to make sure that Daphne didn't want to stick around for the conversation, not trusting the Slytherin girl to be happy about poisoning one of her own housemates.

"Mafalda!" Meredith called out, stopping the girls from entering the door that led down to the dungeons. "I need you to read through a letter I'm sending back home."

"Why would you need my help?" Mafalda asked skeptically. "Has hanging out with all those daft Gryffindors finally damaged your brain? Have you forgotten how to read?"

Daphne snickered and turned back to the door, hooking an arm through Mafalda's.

"Please Mafi," Meredith begged, "it's a letter to Silas."

Meredith was always a good liar, but she was surprised to see that Mafalda bought it. She was usually the only person who could tell when she was lying or not.

Mafalda pursed her lips.

"Who's Silas?" asked Daphne nosily.

"None of your business," snapped Meredith.

Daphne made a teasing noise. "A muggle boyfriend then- I can see why you'd hide it. I'll see you later Mafalda. You should spend this time convincing your sister that she needs to keep better company."

Daphne headed through the door and down the stairs, leaving the sisters to themselves.

"Let's head over to the owlery," Meredith said, walking away.

Mafalda followed reluctantly.

Once they were out of sight of most of the other students, Mafalda ran to catch up with her.

Meredith bit the inside of her lip, trying to think of the best way to broach the subject.

The owlery was this big winding tower that was filled with holes and perches for the owls. Meredith made sure there was no one else around before she made Mafalda stand near one of the windows.

"Why are you acting so weird?" Mafalda sighed, already fed up with whatever this was.

"I'm not acting weird," Meredith said defensively.

The silence that followed was awkward.

"So… ah… you and Pansy are fighting right?" Meredith pried.

Mafalda tilted her head curiously. "I wouldn't call it fighting- but I guess we haven't been getting along that well this year. She gets jealous whenever Malfoy talks to anyone, but she seems to really hate it when he talks to me, and she even called me a-"

Mafalda stopped suddenly, scowling at her sister.

"She called you a what?" pushed Meredith, enjoying gossiping with her sister.

"Why do you want to know? What are you up to?" Mafalda demanded.

"Don't be so suspicious," Meredith said, "I could just be interested in your life, you know."

"But you're up to something," Mafalda said.

"I'm up to something, yes," Meredith said, grinning at her sister, "and I need your help."

"You want me to help you get back at Pansy?" Mafalda asked incredulously. "Why would I help you get revenge on a fellow Slytherin?"

"Because it could be your revenge too!" Meredith said. She grabbed her sister's hands and squeezed, begging with her touch. "All you have to do is slip something into her drink at the Halloween Feast."

"You want me to do all the dirty work!" Mafalda said crossly.

"I'll have you find that I got a month's detention and the life long hatred of Filch to get this particular ingredient so I think I actually did all the dirty work," said Meredith.

"What will this do to her?" Mafalda asked.

Meredith hid her grin, if Mafalda was asking these types of questions then she was already willing to do it.

"It's just going to make her laugh uncontrollably for a few days while they make the antidote."

"What if she's allergic?" Mafalda asked.

"Funny, Hermione asked the same thing," said Meredith with a smirk, playing on her sister's weakness, "who'd have thought you have something in common with Hermione-"

"Oh shut up, I'll do it," Mafalda huffed. "I'm nothing like that bushy haired loser."

Meredith rolled her eyes. Her sister was so easy.

They spent the next couple of hours sitting together on the grass outside the owlery, passing stories back and forth about their housemates. Meredith learned that Mafalda had a crush on Blaise Zabini. Meredith had to admit that he was cute.

It felt good to be sharing secrets with her sister again.

"So I guess you still like Harry?" Mafalda asked, only just managing to hide her disdain.

"Who said I ever liked Harry?" Meredith squeaked.

"Please, you're so obvious," scoffed Mafalda, "I can always tell when you like someone. You get this stupid look on your face whenever you think he's not looking."

Mafalda pouted her lips and fluttered her eyes ridiculously.

"I do not look like that!" laughed Meredith. "...Do I?"

Mafalda laughed at her. Meredith didn't mind when her sister laughed at her like that. It wasn't the same way Mafalda and the Slytherins laughed at her. This laugh was more inclusive. A laugh shared between the two of them.

Eventually they had to head back into the castle, separating before they got into view of the windows.

Meredith was still smiling to herself when she made it back to the dorms.

Pansy Parkinson was finally going to get what was coming to her.