But I'm a Weasley!

Chapter 3: New Things

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September 1st had fallen on a Friday that year, so they had the weekend to get situated. Rose had been hoping for a chance to visit Al and her other cousins, but the first years seemed expected to use the weekend to bond with their house mates, and she didn't really have a chance to get away.

She also spent the whole weekend dreading an owl--or a Howler--from her parents, though she knew that it would take several days to arrive. On Monday, though owls swooped down to deliver letters or packages to some of the students, Rose still received nothing. She was getting very nervous, and had about decided that the suspense was bad enough that she just wished to just get it over with.

After breakfast, the Slytherin head of house, Professor Sinistra, handed Rose and her year mates their class schedule and told them to get to class.

This was nowhere near as easy as it sounded. Over the weekend, it was true, Professor Sinistra had taken the opportunity to give them a tour of of the castle. Apparently she considered that all the guidance they would need to find their classrooms.

Rose stuck close to her house mates as they tried desperately to navigate the castle. Staircases moved, corridors decided to rearrange themselves, and Peeves tried to trick them. What Rose couldn't understand was how the older students had managed to eventually learn their way around if the castle changed all the time.

Their first class was double Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws, taught by Professor Bradley. Rose didn't know anything about him, but she worried that she'd be expected to already be an expert on the subject, her parents both working in the Department of Law Enforcement (among other reasons).

Professor Bradley barely acknowledged Rose, though. Even when she raised her hand, he rarely called on her. It was a bit frustrating, but her parents had both said that he was a good Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, so she'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

History of Magic which they had with the Hufflepuffs, was apparently still taught by Professor Binns. He was every bit as boring as her dad and uncle had described. Dad and Uncle Harry still joked about how Mum would insist on staying awake and keeping meticulous notes, and tried to get the boys to do the same.

Far from disheartened to discover that the ghost was still their professor, Rose was quite pleased, indeed.

It had been almost a year ago when she had come up with the idea, though really it had been inevitable. The pieces of the puzzle just connected so perfectly:

Her Mum had taken detailed notes of a class whose material, at least for the first five or six years of school, was highly unlikely to change.

Her Mum had also kept all of her notes from Hogwarts, and kept them in her files, "just in case" there was something she needed to look up.

It was just a simple logical progression, the conclusion so clear it might as well have been tap dancing on Rose's nose. A quick search through her mother's files, a few weeks with her new wand practising a duplication charm, and voilà: Six years' worth of History of Magic notes, ready to go.

She didn't think of it as cheating, though she knew Mum probably would if she found out. She'd read the notes and memorize the information on her own time, so she'd learn everything she was meant to. In the meantime, she could feel free to fall asleep at her desk or pass notes to her friends or whatever else she wanted.

Things took an even better turn when Professor Binns neglected to take attendance. He seemed to have no interest whatsoever in learning their names or otherwise knowing who was in his class. Rose made a mental note to ask James or Dominique whether Binns would occasionally remember to read a role call. If not, it looked like she might just have a totally free period, three times a week.

The last class of the day was Potions, and this one was a double with Gryffindor. Rose couldn't wait; she hadn't seen Al at all since they'd gotten to Hogwarts, except across the Great Hall or passing in the corridors too quickly to do more than say a quick "Hi." She wished that she could just go over to the Gryffindor table to talk to him, but the last thing she needed in her first few days was to alienate her house mates. Maybe later on, when she knew everybody better.

The Potions classroom was in the dungeons, near the Slytherin common room, so Rose and her companions found it much more easily than Defence and History of Magic. In fact, not a single Gryffindor was in the room when the Slytherins filed in.

"Hi, Aunt Daphne!" Peony said brightly as she came through the door, with a little wave. "This is my friend Rose. Rose, this is--"

"Miss Greengrass." The Professor interrupted sternly, emphasizing the formal address. "We've discussed this." Then she smiled pleasantly and turned to Rose. "Welcome to Potions class, Miss...?"

"Weasley," Rose supplied. "Rose Weasley."

"Of course. How could I have forgotten." She didn't say it meanly; her tone gave no clue whatever about her thoughts. The professor turned back to Peony. "We've been over this, and you know the rules. In the classroom, I'm not your aunt, I'm Professor Bole. You will treat me as a professor, as I will treat you as a student."

"Right." Peony nodded emphatically. "Sorry, I forgot."

"You promised three times." Professor Bole had her arms crossed, but she didn't seem truly angry.

"I'm sorry!" Peony said again, with a pout. "It's just hard to get used to."

"If you think it's strange for you, imagine how Alphard and Minta feel."

Peony and Rose looked at each other, and gave a little shudder before they slid into seats at the front. The Gryffindors were finally beginning to straggle in, under Professor Bole's disapproving eye, though there was a still minute left before they'd be considered late.

"You know, I hadn't thought how weird it must be for Alphy and Minta," Peony said.

"Imagine if your mother taught at Hogwarts," Rose agreed.

"Ugh." Peony pretended to gag. "I'd kill myself."

Rose didn't think it would be quite as bad as all that, but--

Her reply was aborted as Rose saw Albus enter the classroom. "Sorry, be right back," she said quickly to Peony, before jumping out of her seat and running over to him.

"Al!" Rose exclaimed, grasping his hands happily. "I haven't seen you at all! How's life in Gryffindor? How was your morning? What classes did you have?"

He looked just as happy to see her. "Gryffindor's just like James described, surprisingly enough. We--"

"Mr Potter," Professor Bole said sharply, "it seems you haven't noticed that it's time for class. Take a seat immediately."

Albus and Rose looked up at the professor in surprise. Why had she scolded Al, while saying nothing to Rose? There were several Slytherins still standing as well.

"Yes, ma'am," Al said politely. He tugged on Rose's hand, and said to her, "Let's find seats."

"Oh." Rose pulled her hand away, feeling embarrassed and guilty. She should have thought this through better. "I'm kind of already sitting next to Peony." She slid back into the front-row seat she'd taken before her cousin had entered.

"Oh," Al said, as Rose cursed herself. She'd been looking forward to Potions so that she could see Al, and she hadn't even considered that they'd want to sit together? But she couldn't just abandon Peony after they'd already chosen seats.

"Did I tell you to make more conversation, or did I tell you to sit down, Mr Potter?" Professor Bole asked acidly.

He looked like he wanted to argue--Rose wanted to argue too, to be completely honest. She was being favoured, and it made her angry more than anything. She could only imagine being on Al's end.

But he just said again, "Sorry, ma'am," and sat down near the back, next to a fellow Gryffindor.

Rose looked back at her cousin several times throughout the class, but he wasn't looking at her. It was hard to concentrate on the lesson, but it didn't matter, because she already knew all the material from reading the textbook. It was the first day, so they weren't brewing anything.

She tried to talk to Albus after class was over, but he and his house mates rushed out of the class as soon as it was finished. She couldn't blame him; Professor Bole had not exactly been friendly towards the Gryffindors. Rose had no idea whether Al was avoiding her, or just trying to get away from the unpleasant class.

She was about to rush after him, when she heard Peony call, "Hey, Rose, wait up!"

She paused and bit her lip, unsure of what to do. She hesitated too long, though, and her choice was made up as Peony and Aurelia joined her.

"Bye, er, Professor Bole," Peony said.

"Goodbye, girls," the professor said. "Miss Greengrass, you and your friends should join me for tea this weekend. Why don't I owl you?"

"Sounds good," Peony grinned. By now Liatris had joined them as well, and the four girls left together.

"So what was that about with Professor Bole?" Rose asked. They were headed back to the Common Room, as Potions had been their last class of the day.

"What, with the tea? I told you she's my--"

"No, not that," Rose interrupted. "I mean the way she was during class. Especially at the beginning, with Albus."

"Oh. Well, she's nice in normal life," Peony said, "but she's pretty strict as a professor. You saw how she insisted I call her 'Professor Bole' and all that."

"Well, yes," Rose said, "but did you see how, when Albus and I were talking, she yelled at him but didn't say a word to me?"

"She wasn't yelling at him," Peony said. "And you'd already chosen a seat, and got up to see your cousin, so--"

"Exactly," Rose cut in again. "I went to see him, and he's the one who she yells at... or is stern with, whatever."

"Are you actually complaining because she was being nice to you?" Aurelia asked scornfully.

"That's not quite what I'm--well, actually, yes. I am. I don't like it when a professor plays favourites. Especially at my cousin's expense."

Peony shrugged, then said, "Fine. I guess she's kind of nicer to the Slytherins. But we deserve it! Other teachers treat us worse. They play favourites the other way."

"I guess I'm more surprised that she'd favour me. Being, you know, a Weasley and everything. She must have been at school with some of my uncles, or even my parents. If she's so pro-Slytherin, I'm sure they didn't get along."

"Rose," Liatris spoke up. "You aren't your parents, or your uncles, or your cousins. Family and House may usually go together, but this time they didn't. You are a Slytherin."

"I know that," Rose insisted.

Liatris shook her head. "Then why do you act like you think you're some kind of imposter or something?"

Aurelia muttered something to Peony that the others couldn't hear. In return she received a dirty look and Peony's elbow shoved hard into her side.

"Bloody hell, Peony!" Aurelia cried, loudly. "That hurt!"

"It was supposed to."

Aurelia drew herself up indignantly, but before she could say anything, an older Slytherin came up to them.

"Stop that," he hissed. "There are other Houses around. Fight all you want in the privacy of your dorm or the Slytherin Common Room, but don't air your dirty laundry in public." The boy jerked his head at the Gryffindors who were passing them in the hallway. "Got it?"

The four girls nodded mutely.

"Good." He continued in the direction of the Slytherin dungeons. Aurelia looked deflated and frustrated. Rose and the others stood uncertainly for a moment, then silently they made their way quickly in the same direction.

The moment the door to the Slytherin dungeons closed behind them, Aurelia turned furiously to Peony.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked. "You hit me! Like a common Muggle! Why did you do that?"

"Because I don't want you whispering mean things into my ear," Peony told her evenly. "Especially mean things about my friends."

"I'm supposed to be--forget it. If that's the way you want it, fine." Aurelia turned on her heel and stalked off.

Peony turned to look at Rose and Liatris apologetically and a bit desperately.

"Go ahead," Rose said. "We'll see you later."

Peony nodded, then took off after her friend.

"Aurelia, wait!" she called.

Rose and Liatris stood there a moment.

"Poor Peony," said Rose.

"You don't know the half of it," Liatris agreed, with feeling.

Rose looked at her friend, curious what she meant. Liatris just waved her hand vaguely.

"Let's sit down and try to knock this homework out of the way," Liatris suggested. "Ugh, on the first day!"

Rose didn't mention that she was actually quite excited to do her first Hogwarts homework ever. Instead she just followed her friend, and they searched for seats as near to the fire as possible. The upperclassmen took all the best seats, of course, but the two girls managed to find a reasonably cosy place to study.

They'd been working for about ten minutes when Tony came up.

"Hey guys!" he said. "Rose, move over. These chairs are big enough for two first-years, anyway."

Rose gave him a Look, but nevertheless pushed herself to the side of the chair. They fit okay, though it would be harder to juggle her schoolbooks, parchment, and quill this way.

"Sorry about potions and the thing with Al," Tony said. "I heard you guys talking in the hall."

"Thanks," Rose said. "It got me really angry actually. I hate favouritism. You know what, I think it ticks me off even more when I'm the one being favoured--I feel dirty benefiting from it."

Tony nodded.

"It wasn't fair," Liatris agreed. "But you know, Albus must be getting tons of favouritism everywhere else."

"That's not his fault," Rose protested.

"I know that," Liatris said. "Just like it's not your fault that Professor Bole picked on him and not you."

"But," Tony added, "I bet you Al isn't even thinking about the fact that he's being favoured everywhere else. It probably hasn't even crossed his mind."

"That's not his fault either! I thought you liked him."

"I do," Tony said. "I'm not blaming him. I'm just saying. But, hey, you do know him better. Do you think he's worrying about the ways he's been given special treatment today?"

"Well... It's... He's..." Rose trailed off. Nothing she wanted to say seemed like it would come out the way she meant it.

"Well... no? It's... how he's always treated?" Tony guessed. "He's... used to it? Is that what you were going to say?"

"Maybe something like that," she admitted. "But it hasn't crossed his mind because he honestly, truly doesn't realize! His parents have made an effort to shield him and his brother and sister from the fame and all that. The other day, when we were boarding the Hogwarts express and Uncle Harry was saying goodbye, Albus asked why people were staring. He's that oblivious. He..."

Rose trailed off, her thoughts churning, taking her places she'd never been before. Tony didn't seem to notice.

"He actually asked what people were looking at?" he asked. "That's... kind of adorable. And hilarious."

Rose made a non-committal noise, and it was Liatris, looking up from her school work, who realized that something was wrong.

"You're upset," she said, surprised worry in her voice, and she set aside her books. She turned to look at Tony in concern, then back at Rose.

Rose shrugged, a bit morosely. "I guess I just realized that... I'm probably exactly the same, aren't I? I've probably gotten that kind of treatment my whole life, too. Like, not quite as much as the son of Harry Potter, but... still."

"It's exactly like you said about Albus: it's not your fault," Liatris reminded her

"But I just noticed it today. I just noticed it when it was totally blatant and turned against someone I love."

Tony punched her shoulder gently. "Hey, stop beating yourself up," he ordered her. "You're going crazy over nothing."

She just shrugged again.

Liatris sighed, and leaned across to put her hand on Rose's. "Look, nobody notices anything weird about the things that they see every day until they see something new," she said. "And actually looking at the things you take for granted and being open to changing your mind once you see that new thing... that's the important part. A lot of people just won't."

Rose digested that, then looked curiously at Liatris. "You're really smart," she noticed.

Liatris laughed. "Thanks," she said. "But that bit of wisdom's been in the making since our first night. Not about you, though. If it helps, someone else is going through about the same thing, only way worse."

"What... you've been having...?" Rose asked, with some surprise. Liatris had seemed, of all the first year girls in Slytherin, the most issue-free.

But the girl shook her head. "No, not me."

Rose started to ask more questions, then she shut her mouth and looked over at Tony. She glanced back at Liatris, who was was subtly shaking her head 'no' as she mouthed, 'Later.'

"Uhh..." Tony said. "I think there's something I'm missing."

"Girl stuff," Liatris said briskly. "Emotions and feelings and things like that. Don't worry about it."

Rose frowned, a bit perplexed by this comment. She'd never really had any girl friends her age... the only close friend she'd ever had, really, was Albus. She had girl cousins two years older and two years younger, and she liked both of them, but they'd never talked about feelings.

Maybe this was why Mum had been worried about her 'socialization.' When Rose had been young, Mum had sent her to Muggle school, to get a basic grounding in non-magical subjects and so that she could make friends. It had been okay for a year or two, but when Rose was about seven it quickly became miserable. She'd been bored out of her mind by her classes and didn't get along well with anybody in her class.

Though Mum had been insistent that Rose stick with it, eventually she'd relented and let her daughter leave school. Rose guessed her Mum had probably had a hard time at Muggle school, too, because she didn't usually back down from her convictions. Her parents had been too busy to teach her, but Grandma had taught all Rose's uncles and aunt before they'd attended Hogwarts, and she'd been doing the same for some of the other cousins.

She looked over to see what Tony thought, but he seemed to have taken Liatris's comment in stride. Things were still a little awkward, though.

"So, did you come over here to work on your homework with us?" Rose asked.

Tony eyed her suspiciously. "None of it's due until Wednesday. At the earliest."

"That's the day after tomorrow," Rose replied, exasperated. "Come on, don't you want to get it over with so you don't worry at the last minute?"

"I won't be worried," Tony assured her.

"Well, we're working," Liatris said. "So join us or stop distracting us."

"Uh huh," said Tony. "Well, in that case, it's been great, girls. Rose, stop worrying about your cousin. Gryffindors love the whole bravely-suffer-through-oppression, until-we-can-fight-back thing. He wouldn't know what to do with himself without Bole. Anyway. Have fun with the homework."

He stood up, giving Rose full possession of her chair again.

"I will," she replied, grinning. "Have fun with the homework, that is. I'll try on the whole Al thing."

"Uh huh," he said again, before waving and heading over to a corner where some of the other first year boys were sitting together.

It only took about another half an hour to finish up their homework, which left Rose feeling vaguely disappointed. Also edgy, like if she'd done it right it would have taken longer, but she couldn't see what more she do.

Both Liatris and Rose were so cosy, though, that once they put away their books, neither felt like getting up. So they sat and talked instead.

"So you never mentioned last night," Rose said, "about your parents, and their Houses."

Liatris shrugged. "That's because they didn't have any," she explained. "They didn't attend Hogwarts."

"Oh," said Rose. "Where did they go, then?"

"Mum's family lived in America until she was fifteen," Liatris said, "so she attended the Salem Witch Academy. Then they moved to Sweden for work, so she went to Durmstrang for the last two years of school. That's where she met my Dad. His parents are British--so are my Mum's, by the way, they just moved around for work--but they wanted him out of the country for the war. They tried to keep neutral themselves, but... well, choosing Durmstrang as his school is a little pro-Dark-Arts, I think."

"Huh," Rose said. "But your grandparents--"

"All Slytherins, except for one Ravenclaw," Liatris answered. "No Death Eaters, though, to my knowledge. Well, my Mum's parents were out of the country for the war."

Rose nodded.

"I thought I'd find the whole House think kind of silly," the girl continued, "but it's so hard not to get really into it! Especially Slytherin. It's like the whole rest of the school hates us, or is scared of us, or something. Hard not to want to give them all a giant 'screw you.'"

As Liatris had been talking, Rose, though she was listening, had let her eyes wander. Just as Liatris was finishing, Rose was startled to see two older Slytherin girls emerge from what had, up until that moment, appeared to be a perfectly normal mirror.

"Hey," Rose called to them, standing up. Liatris, confused, followed Rose's gaze, twisting around in her seat to do so.

The older students looked over, and Rose jogged up to them. Liatris followed, still not sure what was going on.

"Yes?" One of them answered, a tallish black-haired girl with a swarthy complexion.

"What's the deal with the mirror?" Rose asked.

The black-haired girl looked over at her companion, a curvy girl with brown hair. "First years," she said, shaking her head. The brown haired girl smirked, but not unkindly.

"Yes, we're first years," Liatris agreed amicably. "As we all must be at some time. I'm Liatris, and this is Rose."

"I'm Carina," the brown-haired girl introduced herself.

"Soraya," said the black-haired girl.

"Nice to meet you," Rose said. "So... what's with the mirror? What is it for? How do you use it?"

"There are secret places to all around the Slytherin dungeons to have private conversations," Carina explained. "The mirror just leads to a little room where nobody can hear you. You just walk through it. If it feels like liquid, then it's empty, and you can go in. If it's solid, then there are people in there. If you think they're people who want to see you, you can press your hand against the glass and say your name, and see if it turns liquid-feeling."

"Thank you." Rose smiled gratefully.

"Sure."

Carina and Soraya walked away, and Rose looked over at Liatris.

"Want to give it a try?" she asked.

"I'll go grab our stuff. Why don't you go inside so nobody else steals it," Liatris suggested.

Rose bit her lip as she prodded the mirror; it felt like water, maybe a bit thicker. She took a deep breath and held it as she walked through, but she needn't have bothered; the sheet of liquid was extremely thin, a millimetre thick, if that.

She looked around; the room was small, with barely enough room for the five chairs, wooden with green upholstery, that sat in a circle.

She took a seat in one of them and waited. There was a chiming sound, almost like the Muggle doorbell she had at home, and she heard "Liatris" echo throughout the room.

Rose had no idea how to approve a person who wanted to come in.

"Let her in," she tried. "Enter."

That seemed to be good enough, because a moment later Liatris emerged. From this side, the entryway looked like a shimmering wall of black water.

"Welcome," Rose said, with a smile. "Thanks for getting my stuff, too."

"Of course." Liatris settled down on a chair next to Rose.

"So..." Rose trailed off, then tried to rally her courage. "What was that you were saying before? You know, the girl talk?"

Liatris hesitated.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me," Rose said hastily.

"No," Liatris replied slowly, "it's okay. I mean, I think it's okay. If you're going to be friends with Peony, it's not fair for you to be completely in the dark about her and her family and Aurelia and everything. I don't think Peony would mind, exactly, but they're things she'd never say."

"Okay... I'm confused," Rose said. "I thought you said you didn't know them."

"When did I say that?" Liatris asked.

"Er, the first night, I thought. You said you didn't really know anyone yet... and you didn't act like you knew Aurelia and Peony. Especially with that whole 'we're going to be friends' thing."

"Oh." Liatris shrugged. "I don't know either of them well. Especially not Aurelia. But my parents and Peony's are colleagues. My parents don't like hers, but we had to go over sometimes and have dinner with the Greengrasses and sometimes some other families." She made a face. "She and I never really talked, just sat at the table and ate and listened to the adults. But Peony's parents are awful. I mean really, just hideous human beings. It's a miracle that she somehow figured out that conversation is anything besides insulting supposedly-inferior people. Let alone that it's wrong."

"Oh," said Rose, unable to think of any other response.

"That's what I was talking about. Peony must have always seen the kind of behaviour you see from Aurelia as a normal thing. But since she wasn't really allowed to socialize with people her parents didn't approve of, the people being insulted were never people she knew."

"So she's just now realizing those people are real, I guess," Rose mused.

"Something like that." Liatris looked thoughtful. "I'd expected Peony to be like Aurelia. I was shocked when she took your side, and then apologized for what Aurelia said. On the first night, too. Well, maybe she's had some role model who's demonstrated what a decent human being is. If not... you have no idea impressive she's been, considering. It might be hard to tell now, with her trying to figure everything out, but given some time, that girl will have a backbone that'll put the rest of us to shame."

The girls didn't have that much longer to talk before it was time to head to their dormitory and get ready for bed, but Rose was glad that Liatris had decided to tell her about Peony. It did make things a whole lot clearer, though it was a lot to digest.

Also, they both were happy to know about the secret compartment. In a boarding school, privacy was a precious commodity, and a room like this one had been a real find.

Both Peony and Aurelia were in the dormitory when Rose and Liatris arrived. Aurelia ignored both of them, while Peony looked up to smile at them and give a little wave, but she didn't say much.

Rose wondered what it would be like to discover that Albus was actually a really mean person, and she'd just never known it. She couldn't fault Peony for wanting to keep her best friend.

It had been a long, full day, and Rose was looking forward to some rest. She showered, brushed her teeth, and got into her comfy pyjamas. It hadn't been a bad day, but it had been very exhausting, and she was happy for it to end.

She sat heavily on her bed, and was just about to crawl under the covers when the family owl, Chudley, flew into the dormitory through one of the open windows and deposited a letter into her lap.