𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗔𝗟

ACT ONE, CHAPTER NINE
the realization of penelope.

WHEN PENELOPE ENTERED the Great Hall that day of the Quidditch match against Gryffindor, she did not expect to be met with a sight that made her want to be sick.

Lately, anyone could tell that there was something, well . . . different about her. Daphne suspected it was a boy — which Penelope kind of admits it is because her and Ron were getting friendlier as the days went on — but that wasn't it. The real reason of why she felt happier was because of the Dumbledore's Army meetings. She was getting the hang of spells rather easily, and Hermione had even created new fake Galleons that told everyone the date and time of the next meeting.

Anyways, back to what she saw in the Great Hall. Penelope walked in with Tracey and Daphne on either side of her, both of them clad in their Slytherin gear. The castle had gotten rather cold now that it was November, so they were snuggled up in Slytherin hats and scarves. The three of them spotted Pansy and Millicent sitting at the Slytherin table by Blaise, Draco, Theodore, Crabbe, and Goyle (the last two being the new Slytherin Beaters), so they made their way over to them and sat down.

Penelope glanced around at the table once she sat down. As she piled some scrambled eggs onto her plate, she noticed that most of Slytherin were wearing these strange badges. Before she could even ask about it, one was shoved into her hand. She took it and stared down at it. Her eyes wanted to widen, but she kept her composure and just studied it.

It was in the shape of the crown, and etched into it were the words WEASLEY IS OUR KING.

"Brilliant, aren't they?" Draco asked, snapping Penelope out of her thoughts. She looked up at him. "Theo and I made them last night. It's a joke, honestly — Weaselbee being on the Gryffindor team. It'll be hilarious to see how he does today in the game."

"These are pathetic," Tracey commented, placing the one that was given to her down on the table.

"They're awful," Daphne agreed. "I'm not wearing that."

Pansy scowled at them. "Getting soft, Davis and Greengrass?"

"Did you ever stop and think that this basically makes you obsessive, right?" Penelope cut in, holding up the badge. "Literally, the way you went out of your way to make these . . . seems a little like fan behavior to me, Draco."

Their group went silent as if everyone was letting her words sink in. Penelope knew it was true. Ever since first year, Draco would go out of his way to talk about Harry, Ron, and Hermione in some way. Honestly, she was getting sick and tired of it, even more so now that she was friends with them. These badges? It was taking it way too far. Penelope also thought it was strange how protective she was getting over Ron, but whatever.

"Don't listen to her, Draco," Theodore voiced. "Little Lestrange doesn't know what she's talking about."

"You think I don't know anything about obsession?" Penelope questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Take a look at my mother, Theo." She placed her palms on the table and pushed herself up, completely discarding her breakfast. "I'll be out at the pitch. Let me know if you want to stop being complete assholes."

She quickly glared at them before walking out of the Great Hall. Penelope went to go take the long route to the Quidditch pitch — which basically was just taking an extra loop around the castle before actually going outside — until she saw two familiar figures nearby. It was Ron and Harry. Harry seemed to be lugging Ron along.

"Hey, Harry, Ron," Penelope called and began to approach them.

They turned to face her. Harry looked fine, but Ron looked like he was about to throw up all of his stomach's contents. It was his first Quidditch match as Keeper, after all. She frowned at him in concern for a moment at his anxious state.

"Big day, huh?" Penelope continued, laughing slightly.

Harry scoffed, a small smile on his face. "You could say that again. First match, and it's against Slytherin — er, no offense."

"None taken, I get it." She paused for a moment. "I just, I wanted to warn you both. Most of the Slytherins are going to mock and tease you while you're up there. It's like that with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw too, but it's only heightened with Gryffindor. Harry, I'm sure you know that all to well, but Ron . . ." She decided not to tell him about the badges, since it would probably just make him feel even worse. "Their goal is to make you lose focus. My goal is to tell you to ignore them. No matter how hard it is, no matter what they say, keep your mind balanced."

Harry nodded, Ron not saying a word — if anything, he looked a little more nervous. "Thank you, Penelope."

"Harry, can I talk to you for a moment?" Penelope inquired. She nodded her head to one of the windows away from Ron, and he followed her over there, leaving Ron standing there in the middle of the corridor. "Did you see what was on those badges the Slytherins are wearing?"

"Yeah."

She let out a frustrated breath. "I'm so sorry about them. It was Draco and Theo — Merlin knows they won't listen to me if I tell them to get rid of them. Just . . . please don't let Ron see what's on them. He doesn't need that."

"Thank you for looking out for him," Harry responded. "You and Charlie . . . you make Slytherin a little better."

"I appreciate that." She then raised her voice. "Hey, Ron." He looked over at her, still not saying a word, and she smiled brightly at him. "Good luck. I mean it."

Ron didn't respond. Penelope went to go walk past him back in the direction she was heading, but she hesitated for a second. She built up her courage — stupid bloody Gryffindors — and walked straight up to him. Penelope placed a hand on his shoulder and rose up onto her toes. Gently, she placed a soft kiss onto his cheek. Her smile grew just a little wider as she walked away, completely unaware to the way Ron's hand had reached up to his cheek where Penelope had kissed him just a moment ago.

Penelope did her extra loop around the school before going onto the Quidditch pitch. The frosty grass crunched underneath the rubber soles of her Converse. It wasn't windy and the sky was a pearly white, which made it good for Quidditch. The only problem was the cold. Penelope wrapped her coat a little tighter around her as she went up to the Slytherin stands, her friends sitting at the very front. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were here, too — apparently everyone wanted to see how this would go down.

"What's got you looking so happy?" Millicent asked once Penelope had found her spot next to Daphne.

"Hm?" Penelope hummed in response.

"You've got a big smile on your face."

Daphne gasped excitedly. "It's so a boy!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Greengrass," Pansy drawled out. "She would've told us if it was."

Penelope wouldn't. The only person she would probably tell was Tracey — that girl was basically her ride or die. There was a reason she had told only Tracey about Dumbledore's Army.

A roar from the crowd suddenly sounded. Penelope looked to see the Slytherin team coming out of their changing rooms. She cheered loudly, clapping her hands along with the rest of the Slytherins. It only dimmed when she noticed all of them were wearing those stupid fucking badges. Now that she thought about it, the only ones who weren't wearing them in Slytherin were her, Tracey, Daphne, and Charlotte . . .

Not soon after, the Gryffindor team walked out in a single file line. A roar sounded for them as well. Penelope clapped politely, her heart racing as she watched Ron in his Quidditch uniform. Now is not the time, Penelope, she scolded herself.

"Captains shake hands," Madam Hooch ordered. Johnson and Montague reached each other, and they shook hands very tensely. "Mount your brooms . . ."

Madame Hooch placed her whistle in her mouth and blew. The Quaffle, Bludgers, and Golden Snitch were released, and the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams soared into the air. Penelope cheered along with everyone else as the game began. She spotted Ron streak towards his goal hoops. Averting her gaze, she saw Harry and Draco doing laps around the pitch, looking for the Snitch.

"And it's Johnson, Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me—" Lee Jordan commentated.

"JORDAN!" McGonagall yelled.

"Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest — and she's ducked Warrington, she's passed Montague, she's — ouch — been hit from behind by a Bludger from Crabbe . . . Montague catches the Quaffle, Montague heading back up the pitch and — nice Bludger there from George Weasley, that's a Bludger to the head for Montague, he drops the Quaffle, caught by Katie Bell, Katie Bell of Gryffindor reverse passes to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnet's away—"

Suddenly, the Slytherins all around her — including Millicent, Pansy, and Theodore — began to sing. Penelope didn't know when Slytherin decided to form a fucking choir, but the lyrics made her stomach twist in disbelief.

Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherins all sing:
Weasley is our King.

Weasley was born in a bin,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley will make sure we win,
Weasley is our King.

"You're kidding," Penelope muttered, utterly horrified. "You're literally kidding."

"—dodges Warrington, avoids a Bludger — close call Alicia — and the crowd are loving this, just listen to them, what's that they're singing?"

Jordan paused to listen to the song, which only made the Slytherins sing louder. Penelope stared around at her House incredulously. She quickly glanced over to Weasley. Even from so far away, she could tell he was even paler and more nervous than before. She had told him not to lose his focus because Slytherin would mock him, but she didn't expect them to pull out a fucking song.

"—and Alicia passes back to Angelina!" Jordan shouted, trying to drown out the singing. "Come on now, Angelina — looks like she's got just the Keeper to beat! — SHE SHOOTS — SHE — aaaah . . ."

Bletchley, the Slytherin Keeper, saved the goal. Penelope felt her insides fill with disappointment as Warrington sped back to the Gryffindor goals with the Quaffle. Meanwhile, the singing only grew louder.

Weasley is our King,
Weasley is our King,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King.

"This song is awful," Penelope voiced loudly over the singing. "That didn't even rhyme. You know, guys, maybe this is why the other Houses hate us. Ever think of that?"

"Shut up, Lestrange," Pansy seethed. "Maybe if you were a bit more like your mother you would actually be more fun."

Penelope's eyes darkened. "What the hell did you just say to me?"

"—and it's Warrington with the Quaffle, Warrington heading for goal, he's out of Bludger range with just the Keeper ahead—" Jordan continued.

Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring . . .

"You want me to be a crazy murdering lunatic?" Penelope questioned. "Join the Death Eaters?"

"No, I want you to be more Slytherin," Pansy revealed.

"What does that even mean? Bullying other people? Last time I checked, that wasn't what Slytherin stood for."

"—so it's the first test for new Gryffindor Keeper, Weasley, brother of Beaters, Fred and George, and a promising new talent on theteam — come on, Ron!" Jordan exclaimed. The Slytherins around Penelope cheered as Ron let the Quaffle soar through the central hoop. She always loved when Slytherin won, but not when it was like this. "Slytherin score! So that's ten-nil to Slytherin — bad luck, Ron . . ."

WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN,
HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN . . .

"I can't believe you," Penelope stated. "You know I never want to end up like Bellatrix."

"—and Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell tanking up the pitch—" Jordan cried, still trying to drown out the singing even though it wasn't working.

WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN,
WEASLEY IS OUR KING . . .
WEASLEY IS OUR KING,
WEASLEY IS OUR KING . . .

"—and it's Warrington again, who passes to Pucey, Pucey's off past Spinnet, come on now Angelina, you can take him — turns out you can't — but nice Bludger from Fred Weasley, I mean, George Weasley, oh who cares, one of them anyway, and Warrington drops the Quaffle and Katie Bell — er — drops it too — so that's Montague with the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Montague takes the Quaffle, and he's off up the pitch, come on now Gryffindor, block him!"

WEASLEY CANNOT SAVE A THING . . .

"—and Pucey's dodged Alicia again, and he's heading straight for goal, stop it, Ron!"

Ron didn't block the pass. The Gryffindors all around, meanwhile the Slytherins screamed and applauded. Pansy smirked and stood right at the front of the stands with her back facing the pitch. Then — oh, get this — she began to conduct.

THAT'S WHY SLYTHERINS ALL SING:
WEASLEY IS OUR KING.

"This is a new low for you," Penelope told her. "Is this all to get Draco's attention? Because I hate to break it to you, Parkinson . . ." She winced for dramatic effect. "Dude, he's just not into you."

Her gaze hardened, disregarding to how Ron let in two more goals. "Fuck you, Lestrange."

"You wish, sweetheart." Pansy's face turned a brilliant shade of red, making Penelope smirk. "Nice try."

Jordan continued on. "—and Katie Bell of Gryffindor dodges Pucey, ducks Montague, nice swerve, Katie, and she throws to Johnson, Angelina Johnson takes the Quaffle, she's past Warrington, she's heading for goal, come on now Angelina — GRYFFINDOR SCORE! It's forty-ten, forty-ten to Slytherin and Pucey has the Quaffle . . . — Pucey throws to Warrington, Warrington to Montague, Montague back to Pucey — Johnson intervenes, Johnson takes the Quaffle, Johnson to Bell, this looks good — I mean bad — Bell's hit by a Bludger from Goyle of Slytherin and it's Pucey in possession again . . ."

WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN,
HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN,
WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN—

Penelope looked back to the pitch. Finally, Harry and Draco were diving towards the Slytherin end of the pitch, seemingly spotting the Snitch. They flew very close to each other, and their arms both extended to try and catch the small golden ball. Ultimately, Harry's hand clenched around the Snitch first. He pulled his broom upwards and lifted the ball up for everyone to see. The Gryffindors roared in approval, and Penelope smiled.

However, the smile immediately fell off of her face. A Bludger — sent by Crabbe — hit Harry square in the small of his back. Her eyes widened as she watched him fly off his broom and land on his back. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and zoomed towards Crabbe. She spotted Venus Black running directly towards Harry from the Gryffindor stands, Hermione not far behind.

"I'm about to go beat a bitch up," Penelope told them. "Be right back. Tracey and Daph, don't wait up. I'll be at the common room later."

She quickly walked down onto the pitch, joining the crowd that was forming. Penelope pushed her way to the front just in time to hear Draco's whole stupid speech.

"Saved Weasley's neck, haven't you?" Draco said bitterly to Harry. "I've never seen a worse Keeper . . . but then he was born in a bin . . . did you like my lyrics, Potter?"

"Oh, they were yours?" Penelope inquired. "No, they absolutely sucked. And remember what I said earlier? This just brings your fan behavior to a whole new level."

She looked away from him and tried to find a familiar head of red hair. Finally, she spotted Ron walking slowly back to the changing rooms alone. She frowned and went to go follow him, but something Draco said made her stop.

"We wanted to write another couple of verses!" Draco called over the Gryffindor team's celebration. "But we couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly — we wanted to sing about his mother, see—"

"Draco, stop," Penelope warned, her blood boiling. "You wouldn't want somebody talking about Aunt Narcissa like that—"

"—we couldn't fit in useless loser either — for his father, you know—"

"Nope, we're done," Penelope cut in, taking Draco's robes in her fist upon noticing the Weasley twins were realizing what Draco was talking about. "Draco, we're leaving, let's go—"

"—but you like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter?" Draco sneered. "Spend holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles even the Weasleys' hovel smells okay—"

"Absolutely not," Penelope stated firmly. Meanwhile, Harry and Black were trying to hold back George while Johnson, Spinnet, and Bell were trying to hold back Fred. "Draco, shut the fuck up, I'm going to murder you—"

"Or perhaps, you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it—"

Penelope was actually about to slap him, but Harry and George beat her to it. She gasped and stumbled backwards as Harry and George started to punch the shit out of Draco. People were screaming, Draco was yelling, George was swearing, a whistle was blowing, the crowd was bellowing . . . a hand reached up to her mouth in shock. Okay, Draco deserved it, she just wasn't expecting this fight to happen so suddenly.

"IMPEDIMENTA!" Madam Hooch shouted, and Harry was knocked backwards. "What do you think you're doing?"

Harry leaped to his feet. His arm was immediately taken by Black, who looked a little shaken up. Draco was curled up on the ground, whimpering and moaning as his nose bled. George now had a swollen lip. Fred was still being held back by the three Gryffindor Chasers. Crabbe was cackling in the background. Penelope turned and glared at him, making him instantly shut up.

"I've never seen behavior like it — back up to the castle, both of you, and straight to your Head of House's office! Go! Now!"

Harry and George both marched off the pitch towards the castle. Penelope watched after them for a moment before she decided to go and find Weasley. However, as she went to walk away, a hand grabbed her ankle.

"Penelope," Draco groaned. "They punched me."

She looked down at him. "And you fucking deserved it. You're disgusting for saying that, for doing all of this. I'm sure if somebody did that about your family, you would beat the shit out of them, too." She ripped her ankle out of his grasp. "Learn how to be a decent human being."

With that, she walked away. She walked towards the Gryffindor changing rooms. There was no sign of him. Penelope glanced around for a moment before spotting a figure faintly in the distance, glumly walking around the perimeter of the Quidditch pitch. It was most definitely Ron. She quickly tried to approach him, but it wasn't hard to do because he was walking so slow.

"Ron," Penelope called, but he didn't stop. "Ron, please."

He whirled around to face her. "Did you know? About the badges? About the song?"

Penelope slowed to a stop in front of him. "I saw the badges this morning at breakfast — but not about the song, no . . ." Ron shook his head in disbelief and Penelope quickly caught up to his side, slowly walking with him around the pitch. "Ron, I tried to stop them, you have to believe me—"

"They were right," Ron admitted.

She shook her head. "No."

"I let every single pass through. I'm just going to quit—"

"Like hell you will." The two continued to go around the pitch. "Ron, it's the first game. So what if you didn't do well? There's a lot more matches after this one."

"You don't get it, P," Ron stated, and Penelope couldn't help the way her heart raced at the new nickname. "I was a bloody idiot for thinking I could play Quidditch."

Penelope ignored the way it was starting to lightly snow. "No you weren't. Ron, you're brilliant. You gave yourself a chance." She smiled softly at him. "It's up to you if you're gonna give yourself another chance to fly. Um . . . both literally and figuratively."

"I don't think I deserve it."

She nodded in understanding. "That's where we're one in the same. We're both too hard on ourselves."

"How do we stop?" Ron innocently inquired.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy," Penelope admitted, her smile turning a bit sad. "We're both trying to hard to prove ourselves that when we have one little slip up, we get tunnel vision. In your case, trying to be the best Quidditch player you can possibly be, and in my case, trying to detach myself from my last name. So what if you didn't have a good first game? So what if they wore those badges? So what if the Slytherins came up with a song like that? Use it to your advantage. Weasley is our king — twist it around. Think about the Gryffindor perspective rather than the Slytherin. You, being the king of the Gryffindor team? Hell yeah."

Ron blinked at her. "How do I do that?"

"You have to figure that out yourself." Penelope shrugged. "Find out what makes the tide turn and what makes the fire burn."

"You're really good at this whole advice thing," Ron told her, staring down at her in slight amazement. "Has anyone told you that?"

Penelope laughed slightly. "About once or twice. But Ron, I'm serious. You shouldn't give up on this. Practice makes perfect, right?"

"I guess."

They had suddenly, without knowing, walked the entire perimeter of the Quidditch pitch. Penelope and Ron headed up to the castle, where once they entered a corridor, they brushed some snow off of their clothes. Her heartbeat sped up just a little bit upon noticing how his cheeks were tinted red from the cold. She shoved her gloved hands into the pockets of her coat and looked up at him — having to incline her head because he was so fucking tall.

"You should probably get back to Gryffindor tower," Penelope voiced. "Harry, Hermione, and Black . . . they're going to be worried about you."

"I will," Ron replied. "Uh . . . I'll see you later?"

"Probably the next D.A. meeting, unless we have another rendezvous to the kitchens." He chuckled slightly, making her smile. "Goodnight, Ron."

"Goodnight, Penelope."

With that, she made her way back down to the dungeons. When she entered the common room, the atmosphere was tense — first from losing the Quidditch game, and then from Draco being beaten up. Penelope walked past the crowd of Slytherins and made her way up to the dormitory. Pansy wasn't there, thank God — and it was only Tracey sitting there.

"Daph's in the bathroom and Millicent's in the Hospital Wing with Pansy and Draco," Tracey explained upon noticing Penelope's confused expression. "Where have you been?"

"On a walk," Penelope answered, sitting down on the edge of her bed and removing her scarf and hat.

"With Weasley?" Tracey guessed.

Penelope's head whirled over to her. "How did you know that?"

"It's painfully obvious. You should see the way you look at him. I'm really the only one who's picked it up."

She thought that over for a moment. Penelope was looking at Ron differently? She hadn't even noticed. But then she remembered the butterflies in her stomach and her rapidly beating heart, and everything started to make sense . . .

"Tracey . . ." Penelope whispered, a terrified tone in her voice.

Her friend looked over at her in concern. "What's up, Pen?"

She swallowed, staring at Tracey in shock. "I — I think I fancy Ron Weasley."

☆ 彡

yes that one line about second chances was inspired by the song from hsmtmts. and what about it.

anyways

HARRY POTTER THE BOY WHO STOLE MY HEART AND BASICALLY INTRODUCED ME TO THE WORLD OF FANDOMS, HAPPY MF BIRTHDAY ❤️❤️❤️