𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗔𝗟

ACT ONE, CHAPTER TEN
the final meeting before christmas.

"WHY HAVE PEOPLE been seeing you with Weasley?" Pansy demanded.

That was just not what Penelope wanted to hear.

It was the last day of term before the holidays — thank Merlin. The past couple of months had been quite stressful. Between not speaking to Draco anymore (after the Weasley is our king incident, she pretty much almost cut him off completely), fighting with Pansy almost every day about stupid shit, Umbridge's dumb fucking class, learning she could see Thestrals because she had apparently seen death (she wouldn't put it past Bellatrix to kill in front of her daughter even when she was a baby), Prefect duties (rounds in the corridors, decorating for Christmas, supervising the second years' breaks inside), learning that Potter and the Weasley twins got banned from Quidditch for life, and sneaking out to go to D.A. meetings, Penelope was just tired.

Speaking of D.A. meetings, they had one today before they would all go home tomorrow. Penelope knew she would probably get back late, and even though she was a horrible packer (procrastination at its finest), she knew she just wouldn't want to do it later. She was in the middle of talking with Tracey, Daphne, and Millicent as all of them packed together. Things were going well . . . wel, until Pansy stormed in.

Penelope inwardly sighed and turned to face Pansy, setting down a Slytherin scarf in her trunk. "What are you talking about?"

"Theo tells me you've been walking the corridors with Weasley," Pansy continued, crossing her arms across her chest. "Care to explain yourself?"

It was true. Sometimes, Ron and her would encounter each other on rounds, and Penelope and him worked together in most areas of the castle to decorate for Christmas. But it wasn't just during Prefect duties. Ron and Penelope began to find solace in each other — they would roam around the corridors of the castle for walks, simply just speaking whatever was on their mind. It wasn't like they tried to hide it or anything.

Frankly, Penelope didn't give a fuck. She liked Ron, so what? Salazar Slytherin was all about blood purity. That might've been the case for mostly the rest of Slytherin (Sacred Twenty-Eight bullshit), but Penelope didn't care. The Weasley's might've been the biggest blood traitors out there, but there was one thing that even Draco Malfoy couldn't deny — the Weasley's were still Purebloods. Not that it mattered, though. Penelope didn't like Ron because of his blood status. She liked him because he was, well, Ron. Despite that day at Grimmauld Place where he thought she would join the Death Eaters just because of her last name, Ron was now one of the only ones who saw her more as Penelope rather than Bellatrix Lestrange's daughter.

"So what if I've been seen with Ron?" Penelope asked. "It's literally no one else's business besides my own."

Pansy scoffed. "Oh, you're on a first name basis with him now?"

"It's been like that for months, Pansy. Keep up."

"You can't be friends with him," Pansy stated firmly. "Penelope, he's a Weasley. You know what his family's like!"

"I don't let other people dictate who I can and can't be friends with," Penelope said, keeping her calm even though anger was rising up through her. "And I can assure you his family is a hell of a lot better than yours."

Anger flashed across Pansy's face. "You dare—"

"Yes, I do," Penelope cut in. "What are you gonna do because I said that? Disown me? I was practically already disowned when my parents got sent off to Azkaban, didn't I?"

"And instead of going with Draco, you got taken in by your blood traitor aunt and Mudblood uncle." Pansy pouted at her. "Pity. Poor little Penny Lestrange with nowhere to go. You would've been so much better off with Narcissa and Lucius . . . who knows, maybe we would end up being cousins-in-law."

"Pansy," Tracey protested, her voice incredulous as if she couldn't believe what was coming out of Pansy's mouth right now. "Stop it."

Penelope's body froze. "Say it again, Pansy." Her voice was dangerously calm. "Call Aunt Andromeda a blood traitor and Uncle Ted a Mudblood one more time and see what happens."

"I think if Bellatrix was still here, things would've been different," Pansy admitted, smirking slightly at the way she could tell Penelope was getting angry. "She would've carried out Voldemort's wishes."

"And have a bloodthirsty murderer on the loose?" Penelope questioned. "Yeah, okay. Sounds like such a little perfect world there, Pansy."

"I'm just saying you would be different, too. You wouldn't be associating yourself with scum like Potter, or Granger, or the Weasley's."

"Maybe that's true, but that's not how things panned out." She took a step closer to Pansy. "So how about you stop commenting about my life and re-evaluate your own? There are much better things to do than sit around and talk about your prejudiced ideals. I don't know, maybe go outside and sit in the sunshine. Maybe you'll realize that all of us are meant to be equal."

Pansy stared at her. "You've changed, Lestrange."

"Or maybe this is who I've been this entire time," Penelope countered.

"Guys," Daphne interrupted. "Please, let's just talk about this—"

Pansy whirled her head to hers. "Shut up, Greengrass. The world isn't as fucking sunshiney as you are."

"Don't talk to her like that," Penelope protested. "Daphne has nothing to do with this. If you've got a problem with me, don't take it out on other people. I'm so fucking tired of this."

"Then leave me alone!"

"I wish it was that easy, because every time I leave, you come crawling back to me." Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Have a good holiday, Parkinson. I hope your Manor is as cold as your heart."

Penelope knocked her shoulder into Pansy's as she left the room. Her wand in hand, she exited the common room, completely disregarding how she always walked to D.A. meetings with Charlotte. It was also early, but she didn't care. She would just be in the Room of Requirement by herself.

The door of the common room concealed itself back into the wall. Penelope began to climb the stairs, the anger inside of her reaching a boiling point. Maybe when she got there she would destroy a cushion or something. She just had to get her anger out somehow.

After climbing a lot of stairs, Penelope finally made it to the seventh floor. She peered around the corner — nobody was there — so she quickly walked to the blank stretch of wall, her hair billowing behind her. Penelope closed her eyes and imagined the familiar room in her mind. When she opened them back up, the highly polished door was waiting. She grasped the brass handle and swung the door open.

However, once she entered, she wasn't alone. Harry and Venus Black were already in there and the lights were illuminating the room. However, that wasn't what shocked her. A hundred golden baubles hung from the ceiling, each one showing a picture of Harry's face and read the words HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS! Harry's head snapped over to her from trying to get them down, his face turning as red as Ron's hair.

"You know what?" Penelope began. "I'm just not going to ask."

"It was Dobby," Harry insisted.

"Wouldn't put it past him. That Elf is infatuated with you."

"You're early," Black commented. "And you look like you're about to punch somebody. What's wrong?"

"Had another fight with Pansy," Penelope explained bitterly. "Hey, mind if I destroy one of those cushions?"

"Be my guest," Harry replied, still trying to get the Christmas decorations down.

Penelope pointed her wand at one of the cushions. "Wingardium Leviosa." The cushion levitated into the air. Penelope squinted at it, imagining Pansy's face on the cushion, before she said her next spell. "Reducto."

Instantly, the cushion was blasted into a pile of ashes. Penelope looked at it triumphantly before tucking her wand into the pocket of her Slytherin robes. She looked back to Harry and Black.

"That bad, huh?" Black inquired.

"Pansy's a bitch," Penelope stated.

Harry nodded in agreement while laughing slightly, lowering the one of the last baubles. "That she is. Also, nice one, Penelope. You're improving by the days."

The door then creaked open. All of them turned to see that the person entering was Luna Lovegood, looking dreamy like she always did.

"Hello," Lovegood voiced, her tone vague. She looked up at what remained of the decorations. "These are nice, did you put them up?"

"No, it was Dobby the House-Elf," Harry responded.

"I still think you should've kept them up," Black muttered.

"Shut up, Star."

Luna then pointed to a large clump of white berries that were placed over Harry and Venus' head. "Mistletoe." The two jumped out from underneath it, their faces redenning. Penelope smirked. "Good thinking. It's often infested with Nargles."

Before any of them could ask what Nargles were, Johnson, Bell, and Spinnet then arrived. They were all breathless and looked very cold.

Johnson pulled off her cloak and threw it into a corner. "Well, we've replaced you."

"Replaced me?" Harry repeated blankly.

"You and Fred and George. We've got another Seeker!"

"Who?"

"Ginny Weasley," Bell answered.

Harry gaped at her. Penelope shrugged. Ginny Weasley was a firecracker. Of course she would play Quidditch.

"Yeah, I know," Angelina replied, pulling out her wand and flexing her arm. "But she's pretty good, actually. Nothing on you, of course." She threw Harry a very dirty look. "But as we can't have you . . ."

"And what about the Beaters?" Harry continued.

"Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper," Spinnet stated without enthusiasm. "Neither of them are brilliant, but compared with the rest of the idiotswho turned up . . . hey, Lestrange, you won't go telling this to the Slytherin team, will you?"

"Absolutely fucking not," Penelope responded, just as Ron, Hermione, and Neville arrived. "Listen, I like seeing my Quidditch team win just as much as the next Slytherin, but the way they act . . . they really just have to pull their heads out of their asses."

Ron then walked up to her once the discussion ended. "You all right?"

"Fine," Penelope said shortly. "Pansy and I got into another fight."

"About?"

"You."

"Me?"

"That's what I just said."

Ron gave her a look. "Penelope."

She sighed. "She doesn't like that I hang out with you."

His mood visibly deflated. "Oh."

"But then I told her that it's none of her business who I'm friends with." She looked up at the ceiling, desperately trying to control the heat that was rising to her cheeks. "Plus, I like spending time with you."

"Okay," Harry then announced, now that everyone had arrived. "I thought this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week break—"

"We're not doing anything new?" Smith demanded in a disgruntled whisper that was loud enough to carry through the room. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come . . ."

"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you, then," Fred told him loudly.

Some people laughed. Penelope smirked. Seriously, even though he was a Hufflepuff — which didn't mean anything, Penelope's just saying most of the Hufflepuffs she came across were nice — Smith often had to be put in his place.

"We can practice in pairs," Harry instructed. "We'll start with the Impediment Jinx, just for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again. Er . . . just step over the pile of ash Penelope made from a cushion."

They all divided up obediently. As always, Penelope paired up with Ron. They raised their wands and pointed them at each other. Ron opened his mouth to say the jinx, but ultimately, Penelope was faster.

"Impedimenta!" she shouted.

Ron froze. As always, Penelope looked around the room and waited for him to unfreeze. She watched as Longbottom successfully hit Charlotte. A small smile appeared on her face. He had really improved a lot.

"You're too bloody fast," Ron complained once he unfroze.

"Or maybe you're just too slow," Penelope replied, watching as his face turned red. "Come on, your turn."

After ten minutes going back and forth with freezing each other, they laid out the cushions on the floor to practice Stunning. Space was too limited to allow them to all practice at once, so half of the group observed for a while before they swapped over. Penelope was in the second group, and she had successfully managed to stun Smith (in which she did not hold back.) Smith was kind of hesitating on Stunning her, though. Penelope reckoned he was a little bit scared of her. However, at the end of an hour, Harry called a halt.

Harry beamed around at them. "You're getting really good. When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff — maybe even Patronuses."

Mumurs of excitement rang through the room. Penelope felt her own excitement swell. Patronuses? She had always wanted to know what hers was.

Charlotte waited for her so they could leave, but Penelope told her to go on, for she wanted to talk to Ron a little bit before they would go home. The room began to clear in the usual pairs of twos and threes, wishing Harry a Happy Christmas as they went. Him, Ron, Hermione, Black, and Penelope then helped clean up the cushions and neatly stacked them away.

Penelope joined Ron's side as they began to walk out of the Room of Requirement, Hermione and Black right behind them. However, they all noticed someone was hanging back. Penelope turned to see that Harry was still in the room, staring at Chang as she began to cry right in the middle of the room. She frowned. Poor Chang, she was probably so hurt and confused without Diggory.

However, her gaze then landed on Black. Black was looking at the two of them with heartbreak painted across her face. She nodded in understanding. Seeing a crush suddenly start to go for someone else wasn't exactly fun. Black, obviously wanting to hide this fact, made up a fast excuse that she was to go finish packing.

"You know, Black, that boy is head over heels for you," Penelope stated. "If he chooses her, well . . . let's just say he's the biggest fucking idiot on the face of the planet."

Venus gave her a sad grin before deciding to leave the room altogether. Deciding that Chang probably didn't want everyone to see her crying, Penelope left the room as well with Ron and Hermione right behind her.

"What are you doing for Christmas, Penelope?" Hermione asked politely as they walked down the corridor.

"Going back home," Penelope answered. "Not sure what Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted have planned, but . . . I hope Dora's home. She sometimes gets too caught up with the Ministry, Auror and all. What about you two?"

"I'm going skiing."

"Yeah, Uncle Ted told me about that once," Penelope replied. "Don't really see the point. What about you, Ron? What are you doing for Christmas?"

"Going back to the Burrow with Harry," Ron responded. He then paused for a second. "Hey, Penelope, uh . . . the Burrow — it's always great at Christmas time."

Penelope smiled slightly. "So I've heard."

"That's my cue," Hermione cut in. "Happy Christmas, Penelope."

"Happy Christmas, Hermione," Penelope added as Hermione walked away.

"If you ever get bored at your house, you know . . ." Ron trailed off, his cheeks flushing red again. "You're always welcome at the Burrow, mum wouldn't mind — unless you don't want to—"

"Ron," Penelope interrupted, laughing a little. Her heart swelled at the thought of him actually inviting her to come to his house during Christmas break. "Thank you for the invitation. If Dora swings 'round . . . maybe you'll catch me there, too."

He grinned at her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Penelope confirmed with a nod. "I actually have to go finish packing, so . . . I'll write you if I'm coming."

"Happy Christmas, Penelope," Ron told her quietly.

She smiled at him. "Happy Christmas, Ron."

However, little did she know that none of them were going back to their respective houses for Christmas, for something much, much worse was going to occur.

☆ 彡

𝙴𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝙵 𝙰𝙲𝚃 𝙾𝙽𝙴

heyyyyyy 💃🏼 how tf is act one done uh that's crazy !!!