Becoming Corruption

Rowan,

Happy Halloween. This is for you and Draco to share.

Love,

Mother

Sitting on the table beside my breakfast plate was a small bag of candy; it was the same candy my mum and dad gave us at every bloody holiday: roasted nougat with a hazelnut center. I’d been allergic to hazelnut since before I could remember. With an irritated sigh, I shoved the bag to the side as I crumpled the letter up and threw it onto the table.

With a huff, I propped my elbow up on the wood and rested my hand on my chin. I was alone at breakfast today; it’d been three weeks since the first Quidditch game. Though most of the nasty names had stopped (considering I scored the majority of our goals) I still wasn’t considered one of the Gryffindors.

Hermione had left me a note on my nightstand telling me she, Ron, and Harry were heading out early to get to Hogsmeade before the crowd, and Fred and George were nowhere to be scene, so I munched my toast alone. I finished breakfast in a rather foul mood; Halloween was less than no fun without anyone else to spend time with.

As I grabbed the bag of candy off the table, I glanced over to the Slytherin’s in search of my brother; his blonde head wasn’t hard to scout out. He looked marginally more like himself. His hair was styled in a more Draco-like manor, and the bags under his eyes were slightly less noticeable. Though he was still thin, it was hard to tell from the clothes he wore.

The only thing I really loved about Hogwarts so far was that I could wear my regular clothes on our days off; at Beauxbatons, we had to wear those bloody uniforms every day, regardless. Today I’d only worked up enough effort to dawn a pair of jeans and plain tee. I figured I should have spent a bit of time looking for my jumper, but I’d been too lazy to double back once I’d remembered.

Well, I suppose Draco can have these, I thought to myself; and just as I was thinking about walking over and handing them to him like a good sister who was able to ignore all the things he’d said to me, a new thought cropped up in my mind, forcing a grin on my face. I quickly got to my feet and rushed out of the hall, glancing back to see if my brother had noticed me; he hadn’t. Pansy was too busy crawling all over him.

Two birds, one stone, I thought, pulling out my wand and whispering, “Wingardium leviosa!”

The sweets in my hand began to slowly float upward; with as good of precision as I could get, I slowly directed the sweets up a bit higher as they floated towards the Slytherin table. Draco was just taking another bite of his porridge; excellent.

Positioning the sweets above Draco and forward just slightly, I flicked my wand, and the sweets began to fall. I watched with a grin on my face as the bag landed directly into his bowl of porridge, splattering him, Pansy, and even Blaise with the slop. I burst out laughing as Draco let out a yelp of surprise, jumping so suddenly that he knocked Pansy to the ground.

Just as he began to look around the great hall, I turned and scampered for the front doors.

ღ

Snow had begun to fall; it was only the end of October, but still a good dusting of powder covered the ground and squished beneath my sneakers as I trekked down the path to Hogsmeade. I really regretted not going back for my jumper now; five minutes into the walk and I was shivering. But every time I thought about Draco’s face and Pansy on the ground, I was warmed a bit.

Halfway to Hogsmeade, I caught sight of Fred and George walking as well. Their faces were slightly darkened from what I guessed to be residue from the fireworks they’d undoubtedly set off. For a moment, I began to head towards them; I’d even opened my mouth to call Fred’s name. But before I could, they were joined by several older Gryffindors, all of which had made me the target of their bullying for the past few weeks. As Fred and George fell into step with the boys, I switched my direction to head away from them. I was having too good of a day to become a victim.

Apparently I was a slow walker. Soon, Fred and George were out of my sight, somewhere in the crowd ahead, and I was even being passed by first years. As I was debating picking up my pace, an obnoxiously loud voice cut through the icy fall air. Glancing over my shoulder, I instinctively shuddered at the sight of Pansy. Her eyes caught mine, and the attempted flirtatious smile she was giving Blaise dropped off her face.

“Think you’re funny, do you?” she sneered as she and her gang of Pansy-wannabees fell into step beside me. Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle hung back a bit. Though they’d never admit it to my brother, I knew they disliked Pansy at least as much as I did, if not more. “Drakie and I know you had your little Weasel friends drop the candy in his bowl. I’m sure you thought you could trick him with those joke snacks again, but we’re too smart for that.”

“Once again you and Draco put two and two together and came up with seven,” I told her, giving her my best what-now look. She narrowed her beady little eyes at me.

“Don’t think your father won’t be hearing about this,” she sneered, flipping her hair at me and sauntering off, waving a hand for the little Slytherin girls to follow. I made a gagging noise, to which she flipped me off.

As Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle made to pass me, I asked,

“Where’s my brother gone off to?”

“Said he needed to talk to Professor Snape,” Blaise said in his usual drawl voice, giving a half-hearted shrug of his shoulders.

As Blaise nodded farewell to me (he was actually very civil to me- Draco had jinxed his eyebrows off when he’d called me a pregnant mandrake when I was twelve), Crabbe took up a place at my side. Goyle glanced at the two of us, blinked, and then hurried off after Blaise.

“H-hi, Rowan,” Crabbe said, giving me a smile. It’d been a while since we’d talked. He was the only one of Draco’s friends that was voluntarily nice to me. A few years ago, Draco’d told me that Crabbe had a crush on me; unlike my brother, I didn’t go out of my way to hurt people. I was always nice to Crabbe, no matter what.

“Hey, Crabbe,” I said, giving him a smile. "Happy Halloween."

He blushed profusely as he hurried off after his friends. Maybe if things were different, I'd be spending my days with those three.

A chilly wind had picked up, making me glad that the shops came into view a moment later. I glanced around for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I couldn’t spot them anywhere. With a sigh, I hurried down the hill, reaching the village in just a few short minutes.

The first shop to catch my eye was Honeydukes; the smell was amazing, and it just looked like the kind of cozy shop I would love to warm up in. The place was crowded, but I was right- the sweet aroma and the bubbly atmosphere had me toasty in no time. The downside, however, was that I wanted to buy every single piece of candy I came across.

I realized then that the reason Draco probably hadn’t come down to Hogsmeade was because he had no money to buy anything, just like I didn’t. Mum and father rarely sent me money at Beauxbatons; the most I got was a galleon on my thirteenth birthday.

Maybe I’ll behave myself for a few months, I decided, eying a very tasty looking caramel apple. If I’m good maybe they’ll agree to send me a bit of money.

“Excuse me, miss,” a voice said from behind me without warning. “You’re drooling on the tile.”

I let out a squeak of surprise as I spun around, managing to regain my composure. Fred and George were grinning down at me, and Fred asked cheekily,

“Did I scare you this time, or were you just saying hello?”

Brushing my bangs out of my eyes with as much dignity as I could muster, I cleared my throat and said,

“The latter.”

“Well hello to you too,” Fred laughed, pulling me into a hug. “Once again you smell like honey. It makes hugging you that much more pleasant.”

Hugs slightly made me uncomfortable, but Fred smelled good as well- the delicious scent of vanilla and firecrackers overtook me.

“I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that Rose here was avoiding us earlier, Fred,” George said, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes. "Don't think I missed you nearly falling on your face going down the hill."

Fred pulled back to look at me, feigning hurt.

“I wasn’t avoiding you,” I corrected. “I was avoiding the other guys around you. Big difference.”

“And why would you avoid them?” Fred asked, tucking his arms into mine as he began to lead me around the store; George hung back, talking to a rather pretty Ravenclaw girl.

“They’re not exactly on friendly terms with me.”

“Well, my best friend doesn’t need to worry about those kinds of things anymore,” Fred informed me, pausing in front of a stand of color-changing lollypops. “Which flavor d’you want?” he asked, spinning the stand around to get a look.

“I don’t have any money,” I told him with a shrug. “I’m fine.”

“I didn’t ask if you had any money,” he informed me with a humored glance. “I asked what flavor you wanted. Any preference, or shall I pick for you?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, saying,

“I don’t want one.”

“You want one and you know it,” he retorted, grabbing a lolly and reading the label. “Oh, how appropriate- this one’s honey. Alright, yours is picked out. Now help me find toffee, that’s my favorite.”

“You’re a real pain, you know that?” I told him, beginning to search the labels for toffee.

“Of course I am,” he laughed, grabbing out another lolly and saying,

“Watermelon. George is fond of these.”

“I’ve got your toffee right here,” I told him, taking a step back. “But you only get it if you put my lolly back. I don’t want it.”

“It’s a real shame that I’ve just found my own toffee flavored one, isn’t it?” he said mildly, holding another lolly up.

“Oh bloody hell,” I sighed, putting the toffee lolly back on the stand; the second my hand was off it, Fred snatched it up and said,

“Just kidding; it was only nougat.”

“You’re a right foul git, you know that? Don’t buy me anything, I don’t have any money to pay you back-“

“I guess you won’t be too happy to learn that I’ve just purchased you that caramel apple, then, will you?” George asked from behind me, and I let out a frustrated sigh.

“No more candy,” I demanded, though I admit I all but snatched the caramel apple from George’s hand and began to devour it. He just grinned at me.

As I munched my apple, Fred paid for his purchases, and joined me at my side as we walked out of the store.

“This bag is yours,” he told me, handing over a stuffed paper bag.

“Fred,” I groaned, peeking inside. It was filled to the brim with delicious looking treats.

“We’ll head to The Three Broomsticks to get a drink, and then we’ll head to Zonkos. Sound good?” Fred asked as George slung an arm around my shoulders while Fred wrapped an arm around my back.

“Don’t buy me anything else,” I demanded, glancing between the two.

“Of course not, love,” Fred laughed, giving my waist a squeeze. As we approached the Three Broomsticks, a familiar tall, blonde-haired Slytherin erupted from the front door, hurrying towards us. Immediately I detached myself from the twins; the last thing I needed was for him to see me arm in arm with the Weasley twins.

Draco wasn’t even paying attention to me, however. He had a wild gleam in his eyes; his hair was mussed, his clothes disheveled, and he kept throwing glances over his shoulder as if the Dark Lord himself was after him.

I wanted to rush up to him and ask him what was wrong; though he’d been a royal prick the other night, I was seriously worried about him. And then I remembered Fred and George, and I turned to apologize for all but jumping from between them. They were both giving me understanding smiles.

“Check on your brother,” Fred said, taking my bag of sweets for me.

“We’ll save you a seat and order something warm,” George assured me, to which I said,

“Thank you, but don’t buy me anything, I’m fine!”

The twins ignored me as they sauntered past Draco and into the Three Broomsticks. As my brother approached me, I said,

“Drac-, hey! Draco! Hold on a sec!”

But he completely ignored me, as if he was in a trance and was oblivious to his surroundings. As he rushed past me, I snagged the arm of his coat and pulled him to a stop. He whirled around on me, his eyes wild and burning with-was that fear?? Immediately all my anger disappeared to be replaced with worry. Seeing my brother, well, looking like a trainwreck (to put it gently) sent a cold wave of unease through me.

“Draco, what’s wrong? Are you-“

Draco yanked his arm free of my hold and shoved me back a step. I stumbled and caught myself before I slipped on the snow. I blinked in complete confusion as I stared at him.

“How many times do I have to tell you to keep your thick head out of my business, Rowan?” he snarled, balling his fists and taking a step towards me. My worry was replaced with confusion and a bit of fear; Draco wouldn’t hit me, would he?

“I’m just worried about you,” I began but he cut me off.

“I don’t care, Rowan! Keep away from me, you hear?”

Anger swelled up in my chest; I’d tried to help him, and he’d figuratively spit in my face. Well, fine. I’d stop caring.

“Well excuse the fuck out of me for worrying about you, Draco,” I spat back, balling up my own fists. Let him hit me; I’d hit him right back. He saw my fists and hissed,

“Hit me, Rowan. I dare you.”

“You really wanna start that?” I asked, beginning to lift my arms. Draco narrowed his eyes, but then let out a disgusted snort and said,

“You’re not worth my time.”

Draco spun on his heel and rushed away from me, seeming to fall into the daze I’d broken him out of.

The moment my brother turned away from me, I dropped my fists and let out a ragged breath. Sadness and regret washed over me; why did he have to hate me so much?

Once again brushing my bangs from my face (I really needed to invest in a few clips) I trudged towards the Three Broomsticks, head hanging low. My fight with Draco had seemed to drain all the energy out of me. The Three Broomsticks was just off to the side when I felt someone grab a hold of my shoulder and yank me to a stop. Now regretting that I hadn’t just gone into the tavern with Fred and George, I turned to see who’d grabbed me.

The boys who’d been walking with Fred and George earlier had formed a half-circle around me. The eldest boy, a seventh year named Travis, currently had his hand clamped onto my shoulder.

“Let go of me,” I told him coolly, shrugging my shoulder to try and dislodge his grip. Travis’s hand tightened, so I grabbed his wrist with as much strength as I had and yanked it off of me.

“Ooh, Malfoy’s angry,” Travis cackled, grabbing my ponytail and giving it a yank.

“Don’t touch me,” I snapped, backing up and swatting his hand away from me. Travis put both his hands on my shoulder and shoved me back; he pushed harder than Draco had, and as I tried to get my feet under me, I lost my balance and fell into the snow.

One of the boys behind Travis threw a snowball at me; it didn’t hurt, but it was bloody cold. Another snowball hit me in the chest, and one more slammed into the side of my face.

“No one wants you here, Malfoy,” Travis sneered, kicking a pile of snow and rocks into my face; one caught me beneath the eye, and I winced.

Can I really never catch a break? I asked myself, angrily wiping the snow from my eyes and beginning to get to my feet. Travis shoved me down again. Anger coursed through me.

They picked the wrong day to mess with me, I snarled to myself, reaching under my shirt and pulling my wand from the hem of my pants. As another boy threw another snowball at me, I flicked my wand and sent it flying back to him.

“I told you to leave me alone,” I snarled, pointing my wand at Travis to keep him away as I climbed to my feet. Travis pulled his own wand out and pointed it at me.

“Confringo!” Travis yelled; a burst of flames shooting towards me. As I opened my mouth to defend myself, a shield charm appeared between myself and the flames. Both Travis and I looked to where it was coming from.

Fred and George were both standing off to the side, along with a crowd of several students from all houses. Fred lowered his wand, and the shield charm disappeared.

Silently, Fred approached our little duel, sliding in front of me. George followed suit, pressing his shoulder up against his brothers’.

“What’s this all about, Moore?” Fred asked coolly, crossing his arms over his chest as George did the same.

“Are you sticking up for the Malfoy girl?” Travis asked in disbelief, glancing between the twins.

“Her name’s Rose, and yes, we are,” George informed him.

“She’s our friend,” Fred announced, looking around to the others observing the scene. “If anyone wants to mess with Rose, they’ll answer to us. Understood?”

The crowd was silent; a few first years nodded anxiously. Though I was a bit miffed about Fred fighting my battle, that feeling disappeared when he spoke those words. He and George were standing up for me against their own friends. I had two best friends, and they were willing to put their reputations on the line to defend me.

As the crowd slowly disappeared, Fred and George turned to me.

“Blimey, can’t leave you alone for five minutes, can we?” Fred laughed, ruffling my hair. Grinning up at him, I said,

“Thanks, guys. I really appreciate you two sticking up for me.”

“Like I told you,” Fred said as he and George wrapped their arms around me again. “You’re my best friend. I’d do anything for you.”