𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗔𝗟

ACT ONE, CHAPTER FIVE
so over this shit.

IN SIMPLE TERMS, Penelope thinks her friends are dicks, and maybe she should get some new ones.

Not Daphne, never Daphne — that girl's a ray of sunshine. Not Tracey, Penelope knows she's got a heart of gold. Not Millicent, she knows right from wrong . . . sometimes. But Draco and Pansy? Absolute bitches.

Basically, the relationship went like this — Pansy trailing behind Draco like a lost puppy trying to get her to be into him while Draco basically led her on because he liked the attention. Every single time Penelope told Draco to get his head out of his ass, Pansy was instantly there to defend him and yell at her even though they were friends. To be honest, Penelope was extremely over it.

Daphne, Tracey, and Millicent even seemed to be over Pansy's behavior as well. Last night, Pansy had yelled at Daphne because she was saying how — God forbid — she thought Hufflepuff was a decent House (they were having a conversation about which would rival Slytherin to be the best House, even though Slytherin would obviously win.) Now, Daphne can handle herself — she's a big girl — but she's also sensitive when it comes to the people close to her hurting her. So the pained look on her face when Pansy called her a stupid bitch — not in a joking way, in a serious way — instantly set Penelope and Tracey off while Millicent sat and watched.

The night ended with Pansy being absolutely screamed at and her running back to Draco. How pathetic.

When Penelope awoke the next morning, she was the first one up in her dorm. No duh, it was a Saturday, they all wanted to sleep in. Pansy was nowhere to be found, which was great news for Penelope, because she really didn't want to deal with her right now. She glanced over by the foot of her bed to see a package of Hogwarts food with a letter for Nymphadora, and Penelope decided that she would just take a trip to the Owlery now because it would be empty.

Quietly, she got up — careful not to wake the others — and got dressed. She grabbed the parcel for Nymphadora and left her dorm, padding down the steps into the common room. It was literally empty, since it was still early. Penelope glanced out of one of the windows. The Black Lake was giving the common room its usual green glow, but she could see some light peeking out from the top of the lake.

She left the common room, the door concealing itself back into the wall. Penelope climbed the steps from the dungeon to the first level of Hogwarts. As she walked towards the Owlery while looking out the windows. The sky was a brilliant blue color, which lifted her spirits. Maybe she would have a picnic later, maybe take a walk outside . . .

Penelope got to the Owlery when the sun was high in the sky. She paused to catch her breath — a lot of steps — before opening the door. However, unlike the empty Owlery she expected, standing inside were Venus Black and Harry Potter by one of the glassless windows. They both turned to look at her.

"Oh, hey, Potter," Penelope greeted. She nodded to Black. "Black."

"Good morning, Penelope," Black replied.

"Didn't think anyone would be up here this early," Penelope revealed, walking further into the Olwery. She glanced around at the rafters and to the ceiling for any sight of her owl. "I wanted to get up here before I could hear Pansy shriek over something Draco said or yell at me again. She's been acting extra bitchy lately, not sure why . . ."

Potter raised an eyebrow. "Isn't Parkinson, like, obsessed with Malfoy?"

"More like a deep infatuation," Penelope corrected. Her eyes finally set on the ceiling. "Annabeth, come."

Her owl flew down from the ceiling and landed on her arm. She extended her leg, obviously noticing the parcel. Penelope quickly tied it to her leg and made sure it was secure before stroking Annabeth's featers.

"This is for Nymphadora — just some Hogwarts treats she wanted me to get her," Penelope told Annabeth. "Have a safe flight."

Annabeth took off through the window. Penelope, Potter, and Black all watched her for a moment. She then saw the Quidditch pitch in the distance and was reminded of what a nice day it was — definitely perfect for Quidditch. A thought then popped into her head — yesterday, Draco was snickering over the fact that Gryffindor needed a new Keeper.

"So, I heard Gryffindor Keeper tryouts were yesterday," Penelope announced. "You know, with Wood gone, it was probably hard for Johnson to replace him."

Potter nodded. "Yeah, but Ron got it."

"Weasley?" Penelope repeated, her heart slightly racing at the mention of his name and how the image of his face flashed in her mind. "Good for him. Tell him I say congratulations the next time you see him, will you?"

"Will do, Lestrange. I just wish I had gotten to see his tryout. Venus and I were in detention with Umbridge."

Penelope made a noise of disgust at the mention of her name. "That woman seems like such a bitch. She seems to favor Slytherins because she probably was one herself, but the fact that they put both of you in detention for speaking the truth?" She scoffed. "Like, come on."

"Hey, you stood up to her, too," Black insisted. "That was brave of you, Penelope."

"Thanks, Black. I was also just speaking the truth. It's seriously only a matter of time until my mother somehow manages to break out of Azkaban, and a theory isn't going to be very beneficial when that happens."

The Owlery door suddenly opened again. Penelope turned to see Filch, their caretaker, come wheezing into the room. She raised an eyebrow as she took in his appearance. He had purple patches on his very sunken and veined cheeks, his jowls were aquiver, and his thin gray hair was disheveled. Obviously, he had run here. Mrs. Norris, his old cat, then came trotting at his heels. She gazed up and the owls overheard and meowed hungrily. There was a restless shifting of wings and a large brown owl snapped its beak in a menacing fashion.

"Aha!" Filch exclaimed, taking a step towards Potter. "I've had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs!"

Potter folded his arms and stared at Filch. "Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?"

"I have my sources. Now hand over whatever it is you're sending."

"I can't, it's gone."

"Gone?"

"Gone," Potter echoed calmly.

Filch opened his mouth furiously, mouthed to try and find words for a few seconds, and then stared directly at Potter's Gryffindor robes. "How do I know you haven't got it in your pocket?"

"Because—"

"Venus and I both saw him send it," Penelope interrupted, only using her first name because Filch probably didn't know who she was.

Filch glanced in between her and Black. "You saw him—?"

Black gestured to Penelope. "That's what she just said."

For a long moment, Filch glared at both Penelope and Black. Penelope sent her best one back, and apparently Black did as well. Filch then shuffled back towards the door. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob and looked at Harry.

"If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb . . ." Filch started to threaten.

He stomped off down the stairs. Mrs. Norris cast one last longing look to the owls and followed him.

"Thanks," Potter voiced.

"Don't worry about it," Penelope responded. "I deal with so much bullshit on the daily that he's not a problem."

Black looked over to Potter. "Were those Dungbombs in that envelope you had?"

Potter smirked at her, and Penelope could see Black was getting flustered. "Me? Never."

He pushed himself off the wall and left the Owlery. Black, with a ghost of a smile on her face, scoffed and shook her head. She trailed after him. Penelope watched after them for a second. Oh, they were so oblivious. She smirked to herself and followed them back down the steps and into the castle.

"So, Black, how are you liking Hogwarts so far?" Penelope questioned, deciding to start a nice conversation as they walked through the corridors to go to breakfast.

Black shrugged. "It's all right. I mean, it's a big change from Ilvermorny."

Penelope couldn't even imagine doing that. Different time zones, a whole new school with no one she knows, having a whole different slang language and culture, and being the odd one out because of an accent? She wondered how Black was so okay with it.

"I bet," Penelope stated. "America to Britain must be quite the jump."

"It is," Black agreed. "Half of the time, I don't even know what anyone's talking about. Like, what is a prat?"

"We'll get you adjusted to here," Potter reassured her, all of them turning into the entrance hall. "Just promise me you won't lose your American smile."

Black smiled at him. "Oh, that will never change."

The three of them entered the Great Hall. Penelope barely had time to breathe before she was beckoned over to the Slytherin table.

"Penelope!" Draco called.

She groaned, throwing her head back in frustration for a moment before walking over to him, leaving Potter and Black behind. "Holy shit, can't you leave me alone for once?"

"Come here, I mean it," Draco urged. She sighed and sat down next to him, which therefore meant she was also across from Blaise and Theodore. "You have any idea why Parkinson was leeched onto me last night?"

"She called Daphne a stupid bitch and I yelled at her."

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Daphne? You mean, ray of sunshine Daphne? She's, like, the farthest thing from a bitch."

Penelope spooned some scrambled eggs onto her plate. "Tell me about it."

"Saw you walking in with Potter and that new girl," Theodore commented. "What's that about?"

"Am I all of the sudden not allowed to walk into the Great Hall with people, Theo?" Penelope countered. "For your information, we were all in the Owlery this morning."

"Why were you in the Owlery so bloody early?" Draco asked.

"I had a package for Nymphadora. Wanted me to send her some food for Hogwarts because apparently their cupcakes are way better than Aunt Andromeda's."

He scowled at the mention of Andromeda and Nymphadora. "I don't understand why my mother didn't just take you in instead of them after Aunt Bellatrix got arrested."

"Can you not talk about them like that?" Penelope questioned, slightly wincing at the mention of her mother's name. "And they're your family too, whether you like it or not."

Theodore nudged Draco, apparently having enough of this conversation. "Hey, you ready for Quidditch later?"

"Quidditch?" Blaise inquired, his tone confused. "But Slytherin doesn't—"

Theodore instantly covered Blaise's mouth, making his words turned muffled. He smiled innocently at Penelope, who was just staring at them with her eyebrows knit in confusion. What the fuck was going on?

"Why are you acting so weird?" Penelope asked.

Draco coughed. "No reason, Pen. But yes, Theo, I am ready for Quidditch later."

"Theo, you're not even on the Quidditch team."

Theodore checked his imaginary watch. "Oh, would you look at that, it's time for us to go. Come on, Draco."

The two boys then scrambled up — abandoning their breakfast — and rushed out of the Great Hall. Penelope stared after them and then shared a confused look with Blaise.

"I'm just as lost as you," Blaise admitted. "Motherfuckers don't tell me anything."

"Huh," Penelope responded. ". . . Interesting."

・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★

INTERESTING WAS DEFINITELY the right term to describe what Penelope discovered her friends doing that afternoon. Actually, the term bullshit would be better, because that's what it was.

She decided to take advantage of the beautiful day. Millicent and Pansy were gone — who knew what the fuck they were doing — and Tracey and Daphne said they also didn't have any other homework to do, so the three of them decided to go for a walk outside on the castle grounds.

The sun felt good on Penelope's skin. Knowing Hogwarts, it would be cold and rainy soon. Therefore, many other students decided to also get outside. Penelope, Tracey, and Daphne were taking a rather long route — one that went by the Quidditch pitch, to be exact — so they could spend as much time outside as possible.

Daphne sighed in content. "This is nice. I like when it's just the three of us sometimes without Pansy making some snarky comment and Millicent kind of agreeing."

"She honestly just has to get over herself," Tracey voiced. "And Millie's always been kind of on her side. I just don't get it. Being prejudiced is just so pointless. Like, can't they see everyone is equal? We're all humans."

"That's the thing, Trace," Penelope cut in. "They grew up like that. I mean, I get it, but we're all old enough to make their own chances. If they want to go down that path, then so be it."

Tracey raised an eyebrow. "You're gonna let Draco go down that path?"

"I'm trying to make him — and Pansy, for that matter — see that pretty much bullying someone isn't a form of humor. He just won't listen to me. Part of me things it's because I grew up with Aunt Andromeda and Nymphadora."

"I love Andromeda," Daphne revealed. "She's so sweet. How could anyone not like her?"

"Because she's a blood traitor," Penelope reminded her. "They don't like she married my Uncle Ted. Disowned from the family forever because she didn't believe in Pureblood ideals." She shook her head. "Things are getting worse. Ever since Potter came back that night saying Voldemort had returned—" she ignored the shudders from the two of them "—things have only heightened. I'm sick of it."

"Hey, Johnson, what's with that hairstyle anyway?" the voice of Pansy shrieked — right from the Quidditch pitch. "Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?"

Penelope stopped in her tracks and stared up at the Quidditch pitch. Sure enough, she could hear Pansy's laugh, along with Draco's, and Theodore's, and Millicent's, and Crabbe and Goyle's. Tracey and Daphne paused as well, sharing dark looks with each other. That certainly wasn't good.

Hey, you ready for Quidditch later? Theodore's voice rang throughout her head.

Now she knew what that meant.

"Oh, hell no," Penelope muttered.

She marched off into the Quidditch pitch, Tracey and Daphne trailing after her. Penelope entered to see the Gryffindor Quidditch team — Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, Weasley, the Weasley twins, and Potter — flying in the air. She looked over in the stands to see the entirety of the Slytherin Quidditch team — plus Theodore, Millicent, and Pansy — sitting there, jeering and teasing the Gryffindors.

"Penny," Daphne began cautiously as Penelope moved forwards. "Penelope, what are you doing?"

"My Prefect duties," Penelope answered.

She climbed the stands to where all of the Slytherins were sitting. None of them really seemed to notice her because they were laughing at something. Penelope glanced over to see Weasley had dropped the Quaffle. She frowned. He just needed some practice, is all.

"Hey, Potter, how's your scar feeling?" Draco questioned. "Sure you don't need a lie-down? It must be, what, a whole week since you were in the hospital wing, that's a record for you, isn't it?"

Penelope cleared her throat and crossed her arms. All of their heads whirled over to her in a panicked manner — especially Millicent, since she knew Penelope expected better of her. Crabbe, Goyle, Adrian Pucey, Graham Montague, and Cassius Warrington — most of the members of the Quidditch team — had wide eyes once they noticed the deadly look on her face. The only ones who didn't seem affected were Pansy, who looked annoyed, and Draco, who just smirked.

"So this is what you meant," Penelope voiced bitterly, crossing her arms. "By Quidditch, you meant making fun of the Gryffindor team."

"Come on, Pen, it's funny," Draco insisted. "We're all having a great time."

"Oh? You are?" Penelope gestured to the Gryffindor team in the air, who was just trying to have a normal practice. "How would it feel if you had them doing the exact same thing to you? On the other hand, maybe it would actually help you catch the Snitch for once."

His features hardened. "Take it back."

"Can't take back the truth, sweetheart." She let out a deep breath to try and calm herself. "Okay, here's what's going to happen. You're all going to go back to the common room and leave them alone. Got it?"

"And what if we don't?" Pansy suggested. "What are you gonna do?"

"Give you detention," Penelope answered simply. "Did you forget Prefects have the power to do that? Because I'm not afraid to give them out, not even members to my own House."

Pansy's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"Oh, come on!" Draco shouted, pointing into the air. "They're pathetic! Look at Weasley!"

Penelope glanced over. Weasley was in the midst of being scolded by Johnson. She could tell from even so far away that he was nervous. Draco then began a chant saying Gryffindor are losers, Gryffindor are losers, the rest of the Slytherins (besides Millicent, but Penelope knew she had already done enough damage), chorusing along with them.

"ENOUGH!" Penelope yelled, so loud that even the Gryffindors turned to look at her — except the twins, who were flying a bleeding Bell back to the castle. "Thirty points from Slytherin — do not give me that look, Draco."

"Penelope, you can't!" Millicent protested.

"Oh, I can't? Watch me."

She then began to point to every single one of the Slytherins there, her Prefect badge gleaming underneath the sun.

Penelope pointed to Crabbe. "Detention." To Goyle. "Detention." To Pucey. "Detention." To Montague. "Detention." To Warrington. "Detention." To Theodore. "Detention." To Millicent. "Detention." To Pansy. "Detention." To Draco. "Detention."

"You can't give detention to a Prefect," Draco insisted.

"Do you want me to make it two?" Penelope threatened, raising her finger and going to start the whole thing over again.

"No, we're good, thank you."

"If I catch you doing this again, it'll be a hell of a lot worse," Penelope warned.

She turned and walked down the steps while the Gryffindors went into the changing rooms. Tracey and Daphne trailed behind her, both scared to say something since they didn't want to set her off. They were back by the front of the Quidditch pitch when Penelope finally turned to her friends.

"Go back to the common room," Penelope told them. "I'll meet you there, promise."

Daphne looked worried. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Now go."

Tracey and Daphne linked arms before walking in the direction of the dungeons. Penelope sighed and glanced around for a head of messy black hair and a head of flamingly red hair until she finally saw them a little ways to the side of her.

"Potter!" Penelope called. "Weasley!"

The two of them turned. She approached them cautiously, since she could see Potter was a little annoyed and Weasley seemed like he was ready to go hide underneath his covers for possibly the rest of his life.

"I — um, I wanted to apologize for them," Penelope said. "I know they're not my responsibility, but . . . I feel like when people from my House are horrible I have to apologize in effort to make them see that not all of Slytherin is like that. I docked thirty points and gave them all detention, so I hope maybe it'll show them to stop being absolute dicks."

Potter nodded to her. "Thank you, Lestrange."

"They were all laughing at me trying to catch the Quaffle," Ron stated miserably as Potter clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm just trying my best . . ."

Penelope frowned. "Listen, Weasley. They get joy out of teasing others. It's pathetic, really — but with some practice, you'll be catching all those Quaffles. Promise."

His cheeks turned a little pink, making her frown turn into a small smile. "Uh — um, thanks."

"No problem." She glanced in between the two of them. "So, once again, sorry for my bitch of a cousin and his idiot friends. I guess I'll see you two around?"

Weasley waved to her. "Bye Pen— I mean, bye Lestrange."

She waved to him and Potter before turning back around. And somehow, Penelope knew from the way that she smiled when Weasley blushed, that she was in too deep.

☆ 彡

lil filler chapter <3

anyways I left the beach today after a week and I'm mega sad about it