Becoming Corruption

I was the first one in Potions class that morning; I sat for almost an hour before the bell chimed and students began to file into the room. I’d picked the desk in the very back of the room, trying to keep to myself.

Mostly I was hoping to keep Hermione away. Of course I wanted to be friends with her, and with Fred as well. But if being my friend forced her away from Harry and Ron, well then, forget it. I wasn’t that kind of person.

For the most part, when one of the other kids saw I was at the desk, they just moved on, some even crowding up to five at the tables to keep from sitting with me.

Good, I thought to myself, pulling out my parchment to write down the notes on the board. I don’t need friends.

But of course, when Hermione entered the room, she spotted me immediately and took the seat right next to me. Ron and Harry stared over at her for a moment. I turned to tell Hermione to go sit with her other friends, when I saw Harry and Ron slowly make their way over to the table. Shocked into silence, I stared at them as they stiffly sunk down onto the bench beside Hermione.

“Oh good, I’m glad you got your potions book,” Hermione said to me. “I forgot mine. Do you mind if I share yours?”

It took me a moment to realize she was talking to me. After blinking in surprise and looking over at her - only to see she was smiling expectantly at me - I said “Oh, er, sure Hermione, here,” and quickly opened the book to the page scrawled on the board. As class begin, I immersed myself into the lesson just like Hermione did, and our table grew completely silent. I was halfway through the notes when I heard something that sounded like my name.

Glancing up and looking over, I was shocked to see Harry staring at me in painful discomfort, as if someone had shoved a wand up his arse. Staring at Harry, I asked,

“Did you say my name?”

“Er, yeah…” He mumbled, looking away from me and taking a breath. When he looked back, he looked even more pained, if that was possible. “Could I, uh, borrow a quill from you? Mine broke, and neither of these two have a spare…”

My eyes flicked down to Hermione; though she kept her face completely vacant, and made sure not to make eye contact with me, I knew she had lied to Harry. I’d personally seen the three extra quills in her bag when she’d pulled out her parchment. But, ignoring that for now, I said “Yeah, here,” and handed him the one I’d been using, pulling out my extra one. Harry gave me a quick nod, mumbled “thanks”, and went back to work. As I bent over the book to continue my notes, I caught the ever-so-subtle smile that crossed Hermione’s face.

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“I think you owe me your presence at a meal,” Fred began as he settled down in the seat next to me again. Immediately, my eyes snapped to the front to search for Draco, but he wasn’t at the table; actually, I hadn’t seen him all day. Not that I minded.

Feeling a little less paranoid, I glanced at Fred, and he grinned at me.

“Oh, so you’ll talk to me today?”

“Why do I owe you my presence?”

“I was looking forward to a lovely breakfast with you this morning, but you disappeared. I believe you cheated me out of a good conversation, and I’m demanding a rain check.”

Fred’s behavior was throwing me off; it was one thing for Hermione to want to be my friend, but for Fred? His unerring kindness unsettled me.

“Okay,” I said slowly, locking eyes with Fred. His face lit up when I agreed, which just sort of added to my surprise. “I’ll eat dinner with you if you tell me why you want to be my friend so bad.”

“It’s a deal, Rose,” Fred said, grinning wider.

“Why did you call me Rose?”

“Hermione told me that’s what your friends called you,” he said, turning to face me completely. If Professor McGonagall noticed our complete lack of attention towards the class, she didn’t say anything. Reluctantly, I turned towards him as well.

“There’s just something about you, Rose. Maybe it’s the way you know exactly who you are in this world, and you don’t let others influence you. Or maybe it’s that you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, even with the way some of the kids treat you. You’re special, Rose, and I can’t help but want to be your friend.”

As Fred finished his explanation, I couldn’t force my mind to form a coherent sentence. All I managed was to stare at Fred wide-eyed and slightly slack jawed, to which he said,

“Well, next time I’d like you to act a little more surprised when I complement you, love.”

Immediately shutting my mouth and mumbled,

“Well, I wasn’t really expecting that.”

“And that’s one of the reasons you’re so irresistible. Most girls would be soaking up my complement, and here you are trying to figure out if it was actually a well-masked insult.”

My mouth dropped open again; as a matter of fact, I’d been doing just that.

“I wasn’t-“

“You were. You’re also a terrible liar.”

Before I could say more, the bell chimed. As I got to my feet, Fred gently grabbed my arm and turned me back towards him.

“I held up my end of the deal. Will you?”

Meeting his gaze, I couldn’t help but answer,

“Oh alright, I might as well.”

“That’s the answer I’ve been waiting for.”

Once again leaving me in a dazed silence, Fred disappeared out the door and I was left to gather my things as I ran over what Fred had told me.

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The Great Hall seemed to hold twice as many people as usual as I made my way towards the Gryffindor table, but maybe that was just my paranoia. I’d already checked twice to make sure Draco wasn’t at the table; though he wasn’t there (even as I checked again over my shoulder) I was still certain he was watching me like a hawk.

“Here, Rose, we saved you a seat,” Hermione said happily, patting the vacant space between herself and Fred. Not surprisingly, the area around the small group of Gryffindors was empty. No one wanted to sit near me. The only ones still around Fred and Hermione were Harry and Ron (who looked like they were being held against their will), a red-haired girl that looked remarkably like a Weasley, and another red-haired boy who not only looked remarkably like a Weasley, but also remarkably like Fred.

As I took my seat, the red-haired boy across from Fred said,

“Nice to meet you, Rose. I’m Fred’s brother George. We’re twins!”

“Oddly enough, I think she figured the twin part out on her own,” Fred said dryly to his brother; they exchanged identical grins. Giving George a small smile, Hermione piped up and said,

“She and Draco are twins as well.”

My face flushed for a moment as George leaned forward, examining me closely. Feeling a bit self-conscious, I was about to pull back when he said apologetically,

“Sorry, Rose, but I think Draco’s the prettier girl.”

Fred, Hermione, and I burst out laughing; for a moment I tried to smother my outburst, but when I caught George chortling, I laughed harder. Even Ron and the red-haired girl were smiling. Harry stared down at his dinner, pretending not to notice.

“He does look a lot better in a dress than I do,” I admitted between breaths, only making the four of us laugh even harder. Finally, when we managed to control our laughs to vicious snickers, I said,

“It’s very good to meet you, George.”

And honestly, dinner went amazingly. Despite Harry’s grouchiness, all of us got along pretty well. The red haired girl, who had introduced herself as Ginny (another Weasley), seemed to take a real liking to me. Even Ron began to warm up to me, asking me directly to pass the plate of rolls.

By the end of dinner, my face hurt from laughing, and I felt lighter than I had in days. As our small group got up from the table and began to head back to the common room, someone asked from behind,

“Miss Malfoy, would you mind if I had a quick word with you in my office?” Stopping, I turned and stared up in surprise at Dumbledore.

“We’ll meet you in the common room, Rose,” Hermione said to me as she gave my shoulder a squeeze and followed the rest of the group out of the Great Hall. This time I longed to follow the crowd; my stomach twisted uneasily and the smile fell off my face. Dumbledore beckoned for me to follow as he led the way out of the Great Hall and up the stairs to the right, winding his way through the castle. As I trailed behind him, I couldn’t help thinking,

What did I do? Did I break some rule about having too much fun at dinner? Am I in trouble for making fun of Draco?

It wasn’t so far-fetched of me to assume I was in trouble for having fun. My God, my father grounded me for far less than that. And I’d been given detention at Beauxbatons for laughing too long. Twice.

By the time we reached Dumbledore’s office, I was a bundle of nerves. I was convinced I’d laughed too long about my brother and I was going to be in serious trouble.

So when we wound up the stone steps and the door opened, I was extremely shocked to see my father standing in the middle of Dumbledore’s office.

That couldn’t be good.