Thin Skin

"You people are so easy to manipulate," Draco Malfoy said as he drew closer to Marietta. He sat in the armchair across from her and Marietta noticed he, too, seemed to be swallowed by the overstuffed cushions.

"What's in it for you, Malfoy?" Marietta asked her captor.

Malfoy smiled, "The same thing that was in it for you, Edgecombe, the chance to stick it to my enemy. We're very much alike, you and I."

Marietta found herself rankled by Malfoy's words. She had spent years loathing Draco Malfoy's superior behavior, his rudeness to everyone he considered beneath him (which meant everyone, including the professors,) his cruelty, and his active dislike of Harry Potter. It was a widespread assumption on the part of many Hogwarts students that Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, had been a follower of You Know Who and most believed the apple had not fallen far from the tree. It disturbed Marietta to entertain the notion that her motives were not entirely dissimilar from Draco Malfoy's. She looked at his sharp features (which may have been attractive had they not belonged to him) and attempted to put as much venom in her words as possible, "We have nothing in common."

To her surprise, Malfoy laughed. "Yes, of course, you Ravenclaws see yourselves as Gryffindors with brains, not Slytherins with less cunning. You are outraged by what you consider to be MY superior attitude, but look at you. Walking around thinking that you are so smart, so noble, so good, telling yourself when the Dark Lord returns, you will fight him to the death instead of following him and saving your own skin. But look how easily you folded when Umbridge turned the screws on you."

"But I thought-"

"Oh I know, you thought that your dear friend Cho Chang had abandoned you for that awful creature Granger," he said in a mocking, sing-song voice, "and poor Marietta has endured so much at Granger's hands that this was the final straw."

Marietta felt tears welling in her eyes. She didn't like to think that she was so transparent, so easy to be manipulated. She looked away from the blond boy as she angrily brushed them away and felt the painful welts that had emerged on her skin.

"So now you are marked a traitor, but somehow I imagine that everyone will forgive you your treachery, including that mudblood Granger. And even though you have been disfigured, no one will think twice about befriending you, because you are a good Ravenclaw who, in spite of all her brains, was duped. Funny how no one extends the same courtesy to Slytherins." Malfoy pushed his face close to Marietta and his voice grew soft. "Marietta, what is so wonderful about Harry Potter? Why am I evil simply because I dislike him?"

Marietta was shocked he had used her first name, shocked at the pain she saw in his eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued.

"I met him, you know, at Madame Malkin's. I thought it was nice, to meet someone who was not part of Father's circle. Then I met him on the Hogwarts Express and he was already hanging around with Weasley. I tried to be friendly and he was rude to me. It was my first day, I was nervous too. I extended my hand to him and he wouldn't even take it. So Harry Potter taught me an important lesson about all you so called good people. He taught me that you won't bother with manners if you don't like someone and you won't even give someone a chance, unless he is the "right sort of person." You think I am an elitist? How many Slytherins have you befriended in your six years here? The reason we hang together against the rest of you is because you all have set yourself up against us."

Marietta couldn't think of anything to say. She had to admit that she had never considered how the Slytherins felt about the general dislike in which they were held by the rest of the school. She looked at the miserable boy who sat across from her. "I'm sorry, I never knew."

"Oh, save your pity," Malfoy sneered, his eyes and voice growing hard once more. "Do you think that after what I have endured from my family that the pathetic actions of your sort have any effect upon me? Listen, the reason I hate Potter is simple and exactly the same as yours: my parents expect everything from me and he stole my thunder. How the hell am I supposed to outshine The Boy Who Lived? And do you think that my parents want to hear how the professors favor him when they see my grades? All that Lucius and Narcissa see is that I have excellent marks but no professors, save Snape, feel motivated to expound on my work. I am not, as my father puts it, setting myself apart."

Marietta blushed underneath the welts on her face because she realized Malfoy was right: it had never occurred to her anyone else might feel the same way as she did, much less that the person sharing her feelings would be Draco Malfoy. In her shock, she blurted out the first thing that came into her head, "At least Potter is famous."

"Yes, and Granger is a mudblood nobody." Malfoy drawled, "How tedious you can be. I know it must pain you to find out that your heart is not all that different from a Slytherin's, but please spare me your pathetic excuses. You screwed up, Edgecombe. You were manipulated into telling Umbridge everything and you did so of your own free will. She didn't have to use Veritaserum on you, all she used was the evil in your heart. Accept it. We're so much alike, Edgecombe. Both of us come from old, pureblood families and both of us have parents who expect so much from us and both of us have enemies who we will do anything to destroy. Once you come to terms with the truth about yourself, you'll find life to be so much easier."

Then Malfoy got up from the armchair, walked over to Marietta, grasped her hair and pulled back her head so that she was looking up at him. He brought his free hand to her mouth and said, "I could kiss you now Edgecombe."

"You wouldn't dare," Marietta whispered, terrified that perhaps he would. She suddenly became aware that she was alone in this room and that Malfoy had a profound advantage over her.

"Don't tempt me," he growled. Then he smiled. "But you have had enough shocks for one day. Maybe when that skin condition of yours clears up." Then he let go of her hair and walked to the wall by the office door.

Draco Malfoy had impeccable timing because, just as he leaned against the wall the door flew open and Umbridge burst into the room, Pansy and Millicent trailing behind her. Looking at Malfoy, she crowed, "The elves have told me where they are. I need you to come with me." Then she looked at Marietta, raised her wand and cried, "Petrificus Totalus."

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As Marietta walked through the train to the compartment where she and Cho had stashed their belongings, she tried to organize her memories. When Marietta attempted to think of what happened after she was left alone in Umbridge's office, it was a blur of images. At first she thought it was an aftereffect of the Memory Charm which had been placed upon her in Professor Dumbledore's office (and which Kingsley Shacklebolt had lifted the next day.) However, with time Marietta came to see that her experience of the rest of the night was just plain strange and no amount of magic could make it make sense.

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Marietta was completely alone in Dolores Umbridge's office, but was completely paralyzed. She found it an odd feeling, to be trapped within one's body this way, and thought it strange that no one had ever told her what it felt like to be petrified. At first, she was terrified that Malfoy would return and that she would be even less able to defend herself than she had been before. Then the fear turned into shame, or rather, the shame overwhelmed her fear because, in truth, she had been feeling shame from the moment she had heard the snickers of the Slytherin girls and felt the welts grow on her face. She wanted to cry, but found her tear ducts to be as petrified as her limbs. Then she did something which would later surprise her: she fell asleep. At least, she thought she fell asleep. She was jolted to consciousness by Delores Umbridge.

"My dear, Marietta," Umbridge cooed, "we are going to Albus Dumbledore's office now. I would like you to tell him what you told me." She waved her wand and Marietta found she had life in her limbs, while a flood of previously unshed tears poured from her eyes. "Oh there there, dear, I know it has been hard, but I am sure Madam Pomfrey will be able to clear up that jinx. You'll be down to the hospital wing in no time."

Marietta remained silent. She was horrified by Umbridge's attempts to console her, and realized that she would have to go along with Umbridge to Dumbledore's office, that whether she regretted it or not, she was stuck and would have to see her actions through. Luckily, Umbridge required little enthusiasm from Marietta and was satisfied to see her stand up (slowly, for her muscles were cramped from having remained still for so long) and walk to the door.

The walk through the school hallways to Dumbledore's office took no time at all. Umbridge ushered her into the room, gripping her shoulder hard while cooing words of encouragement in that disgusting voice.

Marietta looked up to see Professor Dumbledore at his desk with Professor McGonagall standing beside him. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, was there, as was Percy Weasley, who was desperately trying to look important, though he was clearly there to make a record of the events. There were two wizards standing there whom she did not recognize. She would later learn that one of them, Kingsley Shacklebolt, placed a memory charm on her that night. Harry Potter stood in front of them all, a look of stunned betrayal in his eyes. Marietta knew that it wasn't over her, but rather, that she was so associated in his mind with Cho, so clearly Marietta's treachery reflected onto Cho as well, at least for him.

Marietta stood before all these important wizards and her best friend's boyfriend and found she couldn't say a word. Umbridge kept exhorting her to tell them what she knew, but Marietta stood firm. Umbridge was forced to repeat the information herself and to admit that Marietta had not said anything more.

Cornelius Fudge addressed Marietta. "Well, now, it is very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor Umbridge, you did exactly the right thing. Now, will you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was its purpose? Who was there?"

Marietta realized how proud her mother would be if she told the Minister everything she knew. But in order to do that, she would have to implicate her friends, she would have to betray the people she loved, and to people who had shown that they were not themselves above lies and trickery. Her eyes grew wide as she realized that, regardless of his exalted position, the Minister of Magic was untrustworthy. She shook her head and shut out everything they said, repeating to herself that if she just refused to answer their questions, they would eventually let her go. They began discussing the jinx, believing her reluctance to be a result of her vanity and fear that it would grow worse. Soon they forgot all about her completely and began talking about some wizard who had overheard them at the Hog's Head, then about whether their meeting at the Hog's Head violated Umbridge's decree against meeting in groups. Dumbledore said something about there being no evidence that the meetings had been taking place since that initial first meeting in the bar six months ago. All eyes turned once again upon Marietta.

"Miss Edgecombe, tell us how long these meetings have been going on, dear. You can simply nod or shake your head, I'm sure that won't make the spots worse," Umbridge said reassuringly, hoping to coax an answer out of her. "Have they been happening regularly over the last six months?"

Marietta wondered why they wouldn't just leave her alone. She could see that Umbridge and Fudge only wanted one answer and that it didn't matter if she actually gave it to them or not. She was growing so tired. She just wanted to go to the hospital wing and sleep. Why did they keep asking her questions she couldn't answer, she wondered? She just shook her head at all of them, hoping this would let her go. But Umbridge kept pressing the issue, suggesting she didn't understand the question. Why couldn't she accept that Marietta knew nothing?

Finally Professor McGonagall spoke up and said, "There have been no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?"

Marietta nodded in relief. Finally, someone understood her. She didn't know what they were talking about. Secret meetings? She spent her evenings studying, she didn't have time for secret meetings. She found out later, the lethargy and irritability were side effects of the memory charm which Kingsley Shacklebolt had placed upon her. As it turned out, he was an auror who was on Dumbledore's side all along and they were worried that she might reveal the truth. She couldn't blame them for thinking this. After all, she had snitched on all her friends already. Another side effect of the memory charm was that the subsequent events of the evening were all in a haze, as if her brain had been unable to process any information it received. She remembered an argument between Dumbledore and Fudge, then a bang and Professor McGonagall threw her to the floor (to protect her, she did understand that much.) The next thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital wing with Madame Pomfrey fussing over her.

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There you are, I was beginning to worry about you," Cho said as she approached Marietta in the passageway.

"Cho, what are you doing here?" Marietta asked, startled out of her memory.

"Well, you took so long getting back to our compartment and I did leave you all alone with Granger," Cho said as she hooked her arm through Marietta's, "I started to get worried that perhaps you two got into an argument. I shouldn't have stormed off like that. I really thought you were right behind me." Cho blushed.

"It's okay," Marietta said, suddenly extremely happy, "thank you for coming to look for me."

"So what did take you so long?" Cho asked.

"Oh, I was thinking about stuff, then I got interrupted by Pugface and Trollicent-"

"Did you turn them into slugs?" Cho asked

"No, I did not. I don't even know how to turn people into slugs."

"Oh, I think you would do just fine," Cho said loyally, "and besides, they are both so slimy to begin with."

Marietta had wanted to discuss that night with Cho, the night she betrayed them, but found it difficult. But now, as they entered the compartment, she realized it was now or never. "Cho, you never asked me why I told Umbridge everything."

Cho looked down, "I know."

"Why not?"

"Well, Madam Pomfrey told me not to. She said she was afraid it might affect her ability to cure you. And then I realized it really didn't matter to me why you did it. I mean, you're my best friend, you have put up with so much from me. I figured you must have had a good reason and you would tell me when you were ready."

"Oh." Marietta couldn't bring herself to look at her friend. Marietta opened her mouth to speak, "You see, I always felt--"

She was interrupted by the sound of the train whistle. They had arrived in London.