Becoming Corruption

“We’re leaving in twenty minutes whether you’re ready or not,” my brother called into my room as he sauntered down the hall. Letting out a frustrated groan, I reluctantly pushed myself up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

The train to my old school didn’t leave until three in the afternoon, so I could sleep in to my heart’s content. But the Hogwarts Express left at eleven exactly, and if I missed my ride, our parents would be furious. And honestly, they were already mad enough, so I really needed to get my butt in gear.

I’d been attending the Beauxbaton’s Academy of Magic since I began school; it was a great place, don’t get me wrong, but not being French was a definite downside. I was planning on finishing out my schooling there until something came up.

More like something went down, referring to the way Nicolette dropped like a sack of bricks when I punched her in the face. And then the way that I went down when six other girls jumped me to stick up for Nicolette. Needless to say, I wasn’t very popular at Beauxbaton’s. My only two friends at the school turned on me when I became outnumbered. Talk about friendship.

Shuffling to my vanity, I plopped down on the stool and examined my face; it was much better than it had been last month. My black eye was almost completely healed, my cut lip was good as new, and the scratches and bruises were finally gone.

Leaving my injuries had been part of my punishment; they could have been healed in moments, but as my mother said, ‘that wouldn’t teach me anything’. With a sigh, I ran a brush through my hair, letting my bangs fall over the rest of my black eye.

Good as it’s gonna get, I decided, flashing a cheeky smile at my reflection before reluctantly getting up and shuffling to my wardrobe.

Just as I was buttoning up my jeans, Draco slammed his fist against the door and barked,

“Ten minutes, Rowan! Come on!”

“Shove it!” I shouted back, and was immediately answered with, “Enough with the attitude, Rowan,” from my mother.

Glowering at the door, I slipped my shoes and slammed the door behind me, jogging down the stairs behind my brother. I gave the back of his knee a kick and sniggered as he dropped onto the steps. I hopped over him and headed for the dining room, shooting him a smirk over my shoulder before I turned the corner.

“It’s about time you were up,” my father noted, giving a disdainful sniff as he continued to study the paper. Grabbing a slice of toast off the counter, I said a quick thank-you to our house elf and plopped down at the table. As my brother stormed into the dining room, I gave him a sweet smile.

“Got held up, did you?”

“Think you’re funny, do you? Little brat,” he threw out, dropping down onto the chair across from me.

“Rowan, Draco, both of you please behave,” my mother sighed, coming into the dining room as she finished fixing her hair. Draco mumbled and stuffed the rest of his eggs into his mouth before snagging his wand and disappearing into the family room.

“Would I ever be difficult, mother?” I asked in a sugary sweet voice; she gave me an irritable frown.

“We’re leaving in a few minutes,” my father announced, his icy eyes flicking up to me. “Do you have –“ He cut off and let out something close to a growl. I froze. “Upstairs. Right now.”

“What? Why?” I asked, a piece of toast dropping out of my mouth onto the plate; I felt the eye roll from mother as father snapped the paper shut.

“You are representing the name Malfoy. I will not have my child dressed in shabby muggle’s clothing. I want you in decent clothes in five minutes.” When I didn’t budge, he slammed the paper onto the table. “Now, Rowan!”

“But I want to finish my –“

“Rowan, if I need to repeat myself,” my father started, unsightly vein bulging in his forehead as his face began to turn read.

“She’s going, dear,” my mother sighed wearily, pinching the bridge of her nose as she snagged the back of my jacket, pulling me out of the chair. As I went to slip out of the dining room, my father’s hand locked onto the top of my arm and pulled back me to him.

“Lucius,” my mum began, only to be silenced by the look he shot her. Turning his icy gaze back to me, he said quietly,

“I do not want to hear anything about you causing trouble at that school. If I am informed of any misbehavior, you will be punished further. Do you understand me, Rowan?”

Even I knew better than to mouth off to my father when he was in this mood. His hand tightened just a hit and I nodded quickly.

“Yes, father.”

With that, he released my arm, and I scampered quickly past my mother to avoid any more lectures. I changed fast, tugging on my Sunday dress and kicking my sneakers under my bed, in hopes father wouldn’t have the house elves throw them away.

When I returned downstairs into the family, I found Draco sprawled out on the loveseat, a book held lazily in his hand. With a sigh, I plopped down onto the tiles and leaned back against my luggage.

“Get in trouble with father, did you?”

“What’s it to you?” I muttered, pulling my knees to my chest and resting my chin on my knees. Draco leaned forward and gave me a condescending look.

“Rowan you need to grow up. You’re sixteen now, it’s time you started acting like it.”

“Yes, mother,” I sneered, barely dodging the book he sent in my direction; it landed with a loud snap, echoing around the large empty room.

“Enough fooling around,” came the rumbling voice of Travers as he and Rowle came jogging up the stairs. Mother and father never came to see us off; it would be two of my father’s close, personal ‘coworkers’ who took our luggage to the train for us.

Travers held out his hand to help me up, and then grabbed hold of my bags; for a henchman, he wasn’t so bad. I preferred him over the other goons that frequented our house, including Rowle, who sneered in distaste as he followed Draco into our fireplace.

“Because crawling into the fireplace is the grossest thing he’s done in his lifetime,” I mumbled to myself; Travers’ stern face twitched with amusement.

“Could you please not talk to yourself?” Draco groaned, straightening his overcoat as he stepped in.

“Why not?”

“You look mental. I won’t have my sister making a fool of myself or our family at school.”

“I’m sure you’ve already got that covered,” I sneered, and he shot me a look.

“You’d better watch yourself,” he warned. “Father asked me to make sure you behave this year.”

“Right, like my snot-faced brother whining to daddy actually worries me. I think you’re just afraid the others will like me more than you.”

“Shut up Rowan.”

Just as he began to go up in flames, I shot him a rude hand gesture; Travers let a full smile come onto his face as he conveniently pretended not to see.
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“Hurry up!” Draco sighed, pausing once again as I stopped to look around Kings Cross Station. “We don’t have time for you to sightsee!”

“Fine, fine, I’m coming,” I muttered, trudging after Draco as Travers and Rowle brought up the rear. The station for Beauxbaton’s was so plain and empty. All I ever saw were a few wandering cows in the countryside. But this muggle train station was astounding!

“You’re going to be sharing a compartment with myself, Blaise, Flint, and Pansy, so-“

“Not Pansy! Please! I’ll do your homework for a month if you let me sit somewhere else –”

“I need to keep an eye on you!” Draco snapped, coming to a halt at a stone pillar and pointing to it. “Walk through there and wait for me on the other side.”

“Oh cool! I’ve always wanted to go through this!” I was backing up and then sprinting for the barrier before he stopped speaking. “See you on the train!”

“Wait for me!” Draco called as I disappeared. Moments later I was on the other side, stumbling to catch myself before I ran into someone.

“That was awesome,” I breathed to myself, pushing my hair back from my face. The crowd was bustling, and I peeled off towards the others ready to start my Hogwarts adventure.

“What part of ‘wait for me’ do you not understand?!” Draco hissed, snagging my arm to pull me to a stop, waiting for our luggage-men to catch up.

“I just want to look around, and you were taking too long!” I defended, allowing myself to be towed after my brother. I gave Travers a quick wave as he tossed my bags up into the storage compartment; he gave a quick nod, and then he and Rowle disappeared back the way we’d come, leaving me alone with my irate brother.

“Please try not to embarrass me, Rowan,” he growled, pulling me up the stairs after him. As we wove our way down the aisle, I tried to get a look at all the kids I’d be going to school with. I didn’t miss all the nasty glares, frightened looks, and rude gestures kids gave my brother as he passed.

“Not very popular, are you?” I whispered to Draco; he jammed his elbow into my ribs as we turned into a half-full compartment. Even while wincing, I recognized Pansy right away; she gave me a rather nasty glare as I did the same. Draco jerked my bag off my shoulder and hoisted it up into the luggage racks as we settled down in the compartment. As he sat, he pulled me down into the seat beside him.

“Flint, Blaise, I think you remember my sister, Rowan,” Draco said in his smoothest voice, trying to impress his friends. Blaise merely nodded at me while I got a smirk from Flint.

“She’s grown up well,” he said in what I guessed was supposed to be a seductive tone.

“Keep it in your pants, Flint,” I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared out the window. Thankfully, the others were happy to ignore my existence, and I was soon enough forgotten. As the others exchanged dull stories of their summer, my patience began to wear down to dangerous levels. Finally, unable to take any more of Pansy’s obnoxious laughter, I shoved to my feet and stepped around my brothers’ legs.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Draco asked me, grabbing my wrist to keep me from leaving. I yanked my arm free and slid the compartment door open.

“I’m leaving before I shove Pansy’s hand down her throat. Feel free to come if you want.”

Letting out a frustrated sigh as I smirked at Pansy, Draco said,

“Be back in half an hour, Rowan, or I’m coming to find you.”

“Ooh, scary,” I sniggered, all but running out of the compartment and slamming the door before he revoked my freedom. I took a deep, relaxing breath – glad to be rid of the most obnoxious people I knew – and set off to roam the train.
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With my half hour nearly up, I began to head back down the corridor, looking for the snack trolley I’d seen when we’d arrived. After what felt like walking the entire train, I reached the end of the aisle and turned abruptly to head back the other direction. I hadn’t taken two steps before a body slipped out of the dressing stalls and bumped into me. The girl I’d collided with stumbled back and her armful of books dropped to the ground.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said quickly, stooping to grab them. She knelt down too, saying,

“Don’t worry about it, that was completely fault.”

After I’d gathered her books, we both stood up and smiled at one another. She stuck out her hand and as we shook she said,

“I’m Hermione Granger.”

My mind registered exactly who I was talking to a moment after I said,

“Hi, I’m Rowan Malfoy.”

Hermione’s smile froze on her face.