But I'm a Weasley!

Chapter 5: World Domination and First-Year Coups

.

Rose met up with Peony, Aurelia, and Liatris at the Slytherin common room.

"You're late!" Aurelia complained.

"Sorry," Rose said. "Professor Longbottom wanted to talk about some things."

"He's not your head of house, no matter how much you might want him to be," Aurelia said.

Rose had to suppress the urge to sigh. There was only so much confrontation she could take in a day. First Molly was mad at her because she was a Slytherin, and now Aurelia was mad because she was a Weasley. It would be hard to keep her temper in check, but it was also important she make a good impression tonight.

"I don't want him to be," Rose answered shortly. "I like Slytherin. And Professor Bole isn't our head of house, either."

"Not yet," Aurelia said.

"Yeah, Professor Sinistra's getting pretty old," Peony said with a giggle. "I'm sure she's going to retire soon."

"I'd point out that Dumbledore kept working here until he was like 150, but I think she is getting kind of senile, isn't she?" Rose latched onto Peony's peacemaking attempt and tried to make the conversation seem natural and friendly.

"Well, if you're so upset Rose is late, why are we standing here?" Liatris asked. "Come on. Which way is it?"

"Near the Potions classroom. Aunt Daphne wrote me directions in her note."

It wasn't hard to find the room. When they arrived, they were surprised to see Scorpius, Tony, and Andrei already lounging in the sitting room.

"Tony!" Rose said happily. At the same moment, Liatris sounded just as pleased as she exclaimed, "Scorpius!"

"Aunt Daphne!" Peony said, embracing the older woman and kissing her on each cheek. "I didn't know there were other guests."

"Scorpius is also my nephew, you know," Professor Bole answered. To Rose's surprise, she greeted all three of the other girls, including Rose, with a kiss on each cheek, just as she had Peony.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable. Dinner will be in about half an hour. Would you like refreshments? Pumpkin juice maybe, or butterbeer?"

Rose asked for a butterbeer, and she and Liatris made their way to the boys while Peony went to help her aunt get drinks. Aurelia stuck with Peony.

"You sounded excited to see Scorpius," Rose told Liatris, half teasingly, half curiously.

"He's been my best friend since I was seven," Liatris answered. "I didn't tell you that?"

"You never even mentioned you knew him," Rose said. "Are you just pretending you don't realize you didn't tell me, or are you the most unintentionally secretive person in the world?"

"Well... I could answer that, but it would deny you the fun of figuring it out for yourself." Liatris grinned. Before Rose had a chance to respond, they'd reached Scorpius, Tony and Andrei. The three boys were sitting on a couch in front of a rectangular coffee table. The other long end had a sofa as well, while a single chair faced each short side.

"Well, hello, boys," Liatris said brightly, as she took a seat between Scorpius and Tony, who was sitting on the end. There wasn't much more room on the sofa, so Rose sat in the chair near to Tony. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know, trying to bring down an evil dictator and secure the leadership of the Slytherin first years-- excuse me, the first year boys-- for myself," Scorpius answered airily. "And yourself?"

"I'm leaving all that to Rose," Liatris answered.

Rose laughed.

"What's so funny?" Liatris asked.

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Um, what's funny about my scheming to secure the leadership of the Slytherin boys? You tell me, you're the one who told the joke."

"I meant the first year girls, of course, and it wasn't a joke."

Rose looked at her friend suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

"Um, you prevented Aurelia from bullying Morgana and Marion, thus securing their loyalty, befriending me, and even drawing Aurelia's best friend towards your side, leaving the would-be bully leader with no support." Liatris all this as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I stopped Aurelia from bullying those girls because it was cruel of her," Rose said. "And I like you, and I like Peony, and it's been her choice to push past Aurelia's bullshit."

"Wow," Liatris said, mostly addressing the boys. "She's doing a textbook job, and she doesn't even know she's doing it!"

"Is anybody else worried we're looking at the next ruler of the world?" Tony asked, nudging his knee against Rose's with a smile.

"Eh, it'll be a benign reign." Liatris waved a hand dismissively. "And I'm sure she'll give me a continent."

"Ruler of the world," Rose contemplated. "I'd never considered that as a job option."

"I hear it's got great benefits," Scorpius said encouragingly. "You can choose your own hours, be your own boss... it even comes with medical. In the sense that you could force the best doctors in the world to attend you exclusively."

"This is already not sounding so benign," Rose pointed out. "Depriving the rest of the world from its most talented doctors."

"There's a such thing as having too much conscience, you know," Scorpius told her.

"Wow, would my parents ever disagree with that," Rose said. "Mind you, I don't think they'd support my career choice of world domination."

"True," Scorpius agreed. "I understand they're more into keeping that position unoccupied."

"That's basically been their career path, yes."

"Now wouldn't that be an interesting scenario," Liatris exclaimed. "They've devoted their lives to making sure nobody rules the world, and you devote your life to ruling it. What do you think they'd do?"

Rose considered a moment. "Blame Slytherin," she said, decisively. The others laughed, but Rose hadn't been joking in the slightest.

Just then, Professor Bole, Peony, and Aurelia came out then with drinks for everybody. They set the drinks on the coffee table in front of each student, and then Peony sat on the side of the other sofa closest to Rose, Professor Bole sat next to her niece, and Aurelia took the chair across from Rose's. Liatris, Rose, and the boys thanked them.

"Speaking of blaming Slytherin," Liatris said, "how'd that tea with your cousins go?"

Rose wasn't sure this was the best topic of conversation, but it was too late now, so she just answered as naturally as she could.

"It was okay," she said. "Molly-- she's my second oldest cousin-- she was a shrew, telling me I should be ashamed of being in Slytherin, that I'm a horrible person, and all that. But all my other cousins sided with me and ran her out of the room. Neville-- Professor Longbottom-- threatened to remove her as a prefect if he heard her talking that way again."

"Oh, wow," Peony said. "It's great the rest of them took your part."

"Yeah." Rose squirmed a little. "I just wonder if what they'd have said if Molly hadn't distracted them by being so unpleasant. Everyone was so busy being disgusted with Molly that they didn't really stop to think about my being a Slytherin."

"Still, I can't believe Professor Longbottom threatened revoke her prefect status," Scorpius said.

"Actually, it was kind of because of you," Rose said, a bit hesitantly. Scorpius looked interested.

"How so?" he asked.

"She was talking about how this was Voldemort's House, and I pointed out that was over 70 years ago, and she went on about his followers being Slytherins too, including the Malfoys, and she brought up, well, you. So I defended you and said that you've never done anything to any of us, and she exploded about how if I think that about a Malfoy, I'm... she'd didn't get to finish. Victoire and Dominique jumped on her for talking shit about a first year student she'd never even spoken to, and Neville agreed with them. Said someone who hates an 11-year-old she never met shouldn't be a prefect, and she only has one more chance."

"Molly," Scorpius repeated, thoughtfully. "Who are her parents?"

"My uncle Percy-- Weasley, of course-- and Audrey Anders Weasley. Why?"

"Just trying to figure out why Molly would hate me," Scorpius said. "My dad didn't go to school with them. I mean, maybe your uncle, but they weren't in the same year."

"No, Uncle Percy was four years older than our parents."

"So why the hate?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Molly's... Molly," she said. "Don't worry too much. Not only did Dominique take your part, the Head Girl and the Head of Gryffindor House took your side over hers. Victoire's grown up with Molly, and Professor Longbottom is good friends with the Weasleys and was enemies with your dad at school. So trust me when I say nobody listens to a words she says. Victoire compared Molly's judging you for being a Malfoy to the Death Eaters' judging my mum for being Muggleborn."

It hadn't escaped Rose's notice that, though Professor Bole remained silent, she seemed to be listening to all this with much interest.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows, looking surprised at Rose's information. "Sounds like it was quite a tea." Slowly his expression changed from surprise to thoughtful.

"Don't," Liatris said. "It's not worth it."

All the others looked at each other, confused.

"What?" Andrei said, speaking for the first time.

"He's scheming to get Molly removed as a prefect," she explained.

Scorpius narrowed his eyes at Liatris. "I need to Obliviate you. Nothing major, just what all my expressions mean."

"You can try," she said. "You know you can never match me at dueling."

"Dueling?" Rose asked. "When have you dueled? You're not allowed to do magic until you enter Hogwarts."

Tony, Scorpius, Liatris and Peony all looked at Rose with someone approaching pity in their eyes. Aurelia just looked contemptuous.

"You poor girl," said Tony, shaking his head.

"Because my parents are law-abiding citizens?" Rose asked.

"Don't worry," Andrei murmured. "I never did magic until Hogwarts either."

Rose smiled at him.

"So, er," she said to Scorpius and Liatris, "no offense, Professor Bole, but you guys really think you should scheme about getting rid of a Prefect in front of a Professor?"

"No offense taken," said the professor. "And please, when we're in private, you can call me Daphne," she added pleasantly.

Rose raised her eyebrows in surprise. Neville only let a few students call him by his first name in private, mostly just the children of his good friends. He certainly wouldn't invite some first year Gryffindor he'd just met to do so.

"Daphne, then," she said.

"I don't believe I heard any schemes," said Professor Bole (Rose just couldn't think of her as 'Daphne'). "I heard Liatris telling Scorpius not to do something, claiming that he wanted to 'get rid' of a prefect. Then Scorpius said, jokingly, that he should obliviate Liatris so she couldn't read his expressions-- which is not even a confession of intent, let alone a scheme. All of it sounds to be in good fun to me."

So what Professor Bole was saying, Rose thought to herself, was that unless she heard the intimate details of a plot to break the rules first-hand, she'd look the other way.

When it came to Slytherin students, anyway.

Well, that was certainly useful information. She wondered how true it was that Professor Sinistra was Head of House only in name, or if the older students exaggerated how little the older Professor was present.

"Do you disagree, Rose?" Aurelia asked, pointedly. "Do you think Daphne should punish them?"

Rose let out a genuine laugh. "Of course not," she said. "I've just found this week it's good to gauge a professor's sense of humor, and Pr--- Daphne seems to have the most yet."

"Why, thank you, Rose," said the professor.

"So, now that we know the professor won't punish us for joking," Rose said, "I want to hear more about this coup apparently happening with the Slytherin boys."

"Oh, yeah, that sounded cool!" Liatris agreed, eagerly.

Unfortunately, it seemed that most of the rest of the room didn't share their enthusiasm. Scorpius shifted uncomfortably, while Peony, Aurelia, and Tony looked down at their hands. Rose had clearly made a faux pas when she'd brought up Scorpius's little battle. She was just thankful that Liatris had also been oblivious, since it meant she wasn't entirely singled out as the outsider.

"I probably shouldn't get involved in room mate politics," Daphne said lightly. "It's healthier for children to work these things out on their own. And besides, I believe the House Elves are arriving with our meal!"

The group adjourned to the dining room, which was much more fancy than anything in Neville's quarters. As they sat down and the dishes appeared in front of them, Rose said as much.

"Professor Longbottom doesn't have a room anything like this," she noted.

"There are a couple of reasons for that," Professor Bole said.

Unlike the Great Hall, which was served buffet-style, the same first course, a goat cheese tart, appeared on a plate in front of each guest. Rose took a tentative bite and found it delicious.

"Professors have a lot of input into their quarters," she explained, "so we do a lot of designing, including the size and layout of rooms. But also, there are benefits to being in Slytherin. Have you been inside Gryffindor Tower, Rose?"

She shook her head. "No, never."

"Well, since Slytherin is the house of the ambitious, naturally it had many wealthy alumni. Slytherin House receives more donations than all the other houses combined. It gives all of us the benefit of better living spaces, better furniture, more funding for activities, and so on."

"You can donate money to a House?" Rose asked, in surprise.

"Of course," Tony said. "My parents have contributed thousands of galleons over the years."

"I don't think my family even know that's an option," Rose said.

As surreptitiously as she could, she glanced over at Scorpius. Apparently his father and grandfather would never miss a chance to call the Weasleys poor, and she'd just given him the perfect opportunity. But he didn't say anything. In fact, not only did he not say anything, he didn't even look like it had occurred to him.

Rose filed that away in her head. She knew she'd need as much proof as possible that Scorpius was different from his father... not that it was likely to change her family's minds much, but at least she'd be able to legitimately claim they were being irrational.

-

The dinner ran late-- everybody lingered over dessert-- and it was nearing curfew by the time Rose and her house mates returned to their dormitories. Rose was surprised by what a good time she'd had-- even Aurelia had been mostly civil, and when she hadn't been, nobody acknowledged her words.

How strange, Rose thought, that a meal with her cousins and Neville would be so explosive, while a meal with Slytherins had been so pleasant.

She slept late on Sunday, and spent most of the day in the Library, doing her homework. The only contact she had with her family that day was when she had just returned her books to her dorm room and was headed to the Great Hall for dinner. On her way, she ran into Dominique, whose unruly hair and sweaty face suggested she'd just been practicing Quidditch.

"On your way to dinner?" Rose asked.

Dominique nodded. "You too? Let's walk together, then."

"I'm surprised you'd let everyone see you, all sweaty from Quidditch practice," Rose said. "You wouldn't rather go and change?"

Dominique waved a hand dismissively. "Even looking like this, I'll have boys-- and some girls-- crawling all over me. That's part of the fun!"

"Of course," said Rose, amused. "Well, I'm just as glad, because I have a question I've been meaning to ask you."

"Yes?" her cousin asked.

"Does Professor Binns ever take attendance?"

Dominique looked surprised. "Not that I can remember," she said. "Why? I didn't think you'd want to skip classes."

"How about this," Rose said. "You don't ask why I asked, and don't tell anybody that I did, and I'll help you get into the Slytherin dungeons when you want."

Dominique laughed. "What?"

"Al mentioned something about you wanting my help in snogging Slytherins," Rose said, with a wink.

"And you'll give that help in exchange for my silence? You really are a Slytherin, aren't you?"

Rose just grinned.

"Okay," said Dominique, "You've got yourself a deal."

They reached the Great Hall.

"I guess this is goodbye," Rose said.

"You're welcome to join me at the Gryffindor table," Dom told her.

"Thanks, but I think I need to keep my house loyalties clear. At first, anyway."

Her cousin nodded.

"But you're free to join me," Rose added. "Might meet some cute Slytherin guys."

Dominique grinned. "I'm sure I'll take you up on that sometime soon. But I think I'd rather be a bit more presentable for first meetings." She gestured at her disheveled appearance.

"Fair enough," said Rose, and the girls veered off to opposite sides of the Great Hall.

-

If only, Rose thought longingly, as she forced herself out of bed on Monday morning, History of Magic was the first class of the day, not smack in the middle. Then she'd be able to sleep in.

Of course, there were a few kinks to work out in that particular plan, but she was confident she'd work something out.

Unfortunately, the more Rose was in Professor Bradley's Defense class, the more she became convinced that he was ignoring her, and in fact seemed not to like any of the Slytherins. He didn't play favorites as obviously as Professor Bole, but he seemed to teach directly to the Ravenclaws, and pretend that the Slytherins weren't even in the room.

Well, she thought, if Albus could put up with Professor Bole, she could put up with this. Her parents had had much worse experiences with Defense against the Dark Arts teachers; she wouldn't let this man get to her, and certainly wouldn't let him prevent her from learning what she needed to know.

That day, for the first time, Rose skipped History of Magic, and went to her dormitory instead. She didn't tell anybody that she wouldn't be there, nor give any excuses; she was curious what would happen if she just didn't show up. Once she knew what sort of response that got, she could better plan how to to skip on a regular basis, without anybody important realizing it.

Rose was twitchy through that whole class period, as she sat alone in her room, reading her mother's notes. She didn't like just waiting to see what kind of trouble she'd be in she'd be in; but she had to experiment and gather information before she formed a plan.

Her Slytherin classmates gave her some weird looks as she joined them in Potions, but they didn't say anything about her absence as everyone found their seats. Rose still sat in the front row, beside Peony. She'd have liked to partner with Al at least some of the time, but unfortunately, the second day of class, when Rose and Al had tried to sit together, Professor Bole had put a sharp end to it.

"I hope everyone likes the partners they chose last lesson," she'd told the class, "because those will be your potions partners for the rest of the year. I've marked down where everyone sat on Monday; everyone should consider those your assigned seats. If that's not where you're sitting, please go to your correct seat."

Rose had been disappointed, but Al asked the older cousins, and they confirmed that Professor Bole had the same rule every year; it wasn't focused at the two of them specifically. Of course, the older cousins said, Professor Bole sometimes made exceptions if Slytherins wanted to change partners.

-

"So why weren't you in History of Magic?" Liatris wanted to know, soon after Potions class had finished.

She'd waited until they were out of earshot of anybody who hadn't been there in class to see Rose's absence for themselves. Once Potions was over, all the first-year Slytherins headed to the Common Room together. Liatris and Rose decided to show their friends the private mirror-room they'd discovered the week before. Rose had invited Tony, while Liatris had invited Scorpius; and both of the two boys pulled Andrei along for the ride.

Of course, Peony had been welcome as well, but she apologetically went to spend time with Aurelia instead. Rose got the feeling she'd rather be in the secret room with them; but as it seemed she couldn't bring all of them together at the same time, Peony was trying her hardest to divide her time between Aurelia and the others evenly.

It was just as well, considering there were five chairs in the little room, and Peony would have made six. Tony, Scorpius and Andrei had been suitably impressed by the hidden chamber.

Once they were seated, though, Liatris had wasted no time asking Rose about why she'd been mysteriously absent.

"Because I wanted to see what would happen," Rose answered, honestly enough.

Her friends looked at each other, clearly expecting something more.

"What did happen?" Tony finally asked.

"I don't know yet," Rose said, an unspoken 'duh' implied by her tone. "I just went to Potions, and we came straight here. Nobody came to find me during History of Magic, if that's what you mean."

"What are you expecting to happen?" Scorpius asked, a bit more shrewdly.

"Not sure. I've found lately that life makes more sense if I try not to have expectations." She grinned, and her companions acknowledged her point.

"But I mean," Rose continued, "I guess mostly I want to see if someone says anything to a teacher, if I get in trouble."

"Um... why?" asked Liatris.

Rose winked, but refused to say much more. "It's a secret... for now. I'll tell you when I have it fine-tuned."

"Are you going to be in History of Magic on Wednesday?" Tony asked.

She considered. "That's a good question. I'll have to think about what will work the best," she answered.

"I take it we're not supposed to say anything to a teacher?" asked Tony.

"I'd prefer you didn't."

"Why shouldn't we?" This came from Scorpius, who was leaning back lazily in his chair.

She considered. "Well, for those of you who are my friends, because of that. If not, then maybe that whole future-world-ruler thing might encourage you to get on my good side?" Then she tossed her head, and added, casually, "Oh, and because if my plan works, then anybody I tell can benefit, too."

"Awww," Liatris said, with a joking grin at Scorpius. "Our little Rose, acting all Slytherin with the best of them! Aren't you proud?"

Rose couldn't deny feeling a little proud of herself, at that.

-

She ended up coming to History of Magic intermittently, between half and a third of the time, just to confuse people. Even when she was there, though, she made a point of sitting in the back of the room and doing very little to draw attention to herself-- not that Professor Binns asked for student participation very often.

Only Professor Bradley could rival the history professor for pretending that students simply didn't exist. At least the latter ignored everyone, while the Defense instructor seemed to be selectively unaware of Slytherins.

Truthfully, Rose didn't find DADA nearly as hard to deal with as her Potions class. Being purposely ignored was one thing, but being praised as her best friend was abused was something else entirely. Still, she couldn't think of anything she could do.

"I hate it so much," Rose said glumly after one class, about a month in, as she and some of her house mates sat together in the common room. "She's so nice the rest of the time. I don't suppose talking to her would do any good?"

"No, it wouldn't," Peony answered emphatically.

Rose raised her eyebrows at her friend's tone.

Peony sighed and sank back a bit in her chair. "I've already tried discussing it with her," she confessed. "She said that as a first year student, I don't understand her teaching methods. Asked me if I thought that I knew how to do her job better than she did. She just acted like terrorizing Albus was part of some big teaching plan. And you know that if she didn't listen to me..."

"Yeah. You're her niece, and I'm the daughter of two people she hates. If she won't listen to you, I've got less than no chance." Rose cocked her head and looked at Peony curiously. "Why did you do that? Try to talk her into backing off Albus, I mean? I didn't think you and Al were friends."

"We're not," Peony said. "I mean, I have nothing against him, I just don't really know him. But you're my friend, and you care about Albus, and it upsets you."

"That was really sweet," Rose said, touched. "Thank you."

Peony made a face. "Not that it did any good."

"Still," Rose said. "That you tried."

Aurelia rolled her eyes and made a gagging noise.

Rose turned and raised an eyebrow at the other girl. "Something to say?" she asked.

"Yes, I do have something to say, actually," Aurelia spat out. She turned to Peony. "What is wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me?" Peony asked.

"You asked Professor Bole to be nicer to some random Gryffindor because a Weasley likes him? That's a disgrace, plain and simple. What do you think your parents would say?"

Rose stiffened, as did Liatris, Tony, Andrei, and Scorpius, who were also sitting with them. Something about Aurelia's tone struck all of them as dangerous.

Peony leaped to her feet.

"Are you threatening to tell my parents?" she asked, her voice quiet, but with an edge.

Aurelia stood up as well, crossing her arms. "What would you do if I were?"

"I'd tell you to think about that very, very carefully," answered Peony. "See, friends don't tattle on each other. So if someone went running to my parents, telling them things to get me in trouble, then I'd have to ask myself... how could I call that person my friend?"

Aurelia stared at her in shock. "I've been your friend-- your best friend-- your entire life! Until we came here, that is! Friends stand up for each other, too. But you decided to choose blood traitors, and anyone else who happens to be in the room, over me! So maybe I have to ask myself, how could I call that person my friend?"

Rose looked around to see what the others were doing; this seemed like it might be a private fight. But her classmates had all remained seated, and seemed to be watching with interest. Rose decided that she'd probably just draw attention to herself if she were the only one to leave.

"I haven't been choosing anybody over you. It's possible to have more than one friend, you know! It's just you've been so cruel," Peony cried. "If someone else were saying cruel things about you--"

"You'd what?" Aurelia nearly snarled. "Oh, that's right, you'd say I deserved it, like you did the very first night. You'd kick me out so you could agree with them and talk behind my back."

"You did deserve it that night," Peony said. She looked near tears. "What's wrong with you? Why were you being so mean to Morgana? What had she ever done to you?"

"It was just a joke!" Aurelia nearly screamed. "I told you that."

"And I accepted it!" Peony answered, stamping her foot. "I forgave you! But then you just went and started talking shit again, and again, and again."

"I'm just joking! You should know that! Do you have no sense of humor?"

To everyone's surprise, Liatris stood up, and straightened her shoulders. "I don't think it's Peony's sense of humor that's the problem," she said.

Aurelia took a threatening step towards the small blonde. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Liatris took a step backwards, but she did so with considerable aplomb. I'm not retreating, her body language seemed to say; I'm disdaining your crass invasion of my personal space.

"It means that nobody thinks you're funny," she said. "Five girls you have to live with think you're awful, and you all by your lonesome think you're cool."

Peony quickly tried to stop them. "I don't think Aurelia is awful," she told Liatris firmly.

"You think she's being awful," Liatris responded.

Aurelia turned to Peony, hands on her hips, waiting for a denial.

"I just don't know why you're acting like this," Peony told Aurelia apologetically. "I just wish you'd stop being mean to people I like."

"Yeah? Well, I wish that our friendship actually meant something to you. Because right now, when asked to make a choice between me and some girls you've known for a few weeks... you're choosing them."

Aurelia turned to flounce off, but Peony ran after her and grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch me!" Aurelia cried.

"Just listen!" Peony insisted. "Nobody's asked me to make a choice! I don't know where you're getting this choosing thing! There's no choosing happening here!"

"Maybe I'm asking you to make a choice," Aurelia said. "What would you say then?"

Peony drew back, looking at the other girl in shock. "I'd... I'd want to know why you'd ask something like that."

Aurelia just glared stonily.

"Let's find somewhere private to talk, okay?" Peony asked pleadingly. "Please?"

"Yes, please do," chimed in a random older student, who was sitting in one of the nearby chairs. "Some of us are trying to study."

The first years looked over in surprise, embarrassed that they'd been making such a commotion.

"There's a secret, sound-proof room if you tap that stone right there with your wand," the girl continued, pointing. "The one three down from the middle of the painting."

"Please," Peony said again. "Please, let's talk."

Aurelia huffed. "Fine." She stalked towards the painting. "But just the two of us. I don't want them coming."

"Of course not." Pansy followed and tapped the stone. "This is you and me." She looked over her shoulder and said, apologetically, "I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

The others nodded as the other two girls disappeared into the wall.

"Well," Rose finally spoke. "It seems someone thinks I should feel like an imposter."

Liatris just rolled her eyes. She sat down and squeezed Rose's arm reassuringly. "That's one in favor of your being an imposter. All opposed?"

Liatris, as well as Scorpius, Tony and Andrei, all raised their hands.

"There's four right there!" she said, with a smile. "And I'm sure Peony would make five. Plus Morgana, and Marion, and even Professor Bole. We're at eight to one already."

Rose smiled weakly. "Thanks."

The blonde girl rolled her eyes affectionately and shook her head. "Don't you realize?" she asked, putting her arm around Rose's shoulders. "You're not the outsider in this group."

That definitely made Rose feel a whole lot warmer, inside. "Really?"

Scorpius laughed. "About the opposite. That was your proof of victory right there. Didn't you even notice? Why did you think we've been so quiet?"

"I have no idea," Rose said. "I thought it was kind of weird that neither of you were saying anything. Of course, Andrei never says anything anyway." She shrugged apologetically at the boy, who didn't seem insulted. "What do you mean, my victory?"

"You just achieved with Aurelia what Scorpius's has been trying to do to Clarence all month," Tony explained. "You prevented the dictator from getting into power. We couldn't interfere in the final scene!"

Liatris rolled her eyes. "For a girl who's been full of answers in class, you can be really dumb." She laughed, then turned sober. "Aurelia's a bully. She's a mean girl who's used to keeping people in line with fear. She's used to people like Morgana, or Marion, people who don't fight back."

"She wanted to be the leader, and rule by fear. You didn't let her," Tony said. "Just like we're trying not to let Clarence." He paused. "Well, mostly it's Scorpius doing the work."

"You did a beautiful job," Scorpius said. "I'm impressed."

"This is the same thing you were talking about during Professor Bole's dinner, isn't it?" Rose asked doubtfully.

"I told you she really didn't realize what she was doing," Liatris said to Scorpius.

"I think I believe you," he answered, regarding Rose with a look of interest. "Fascinating."

"So you're saying I'm now, what, the leader of the Slytherin girls? That's ridiculous."

Somehow, Marion and Morgana chose that exact moment to approach the little group.

"Rose?" Marion asked timidly.

"Yes?" Rose asked.

"We noticed that you haven't been in History of Magic for a few weeks," Morgana said.

Rose was about to open her mouth, trying to think of what to say, when Marion spoke again.

"We just wanted to know if you wanted us to give you our notes," she offered. "We can copy them out for you."

"Um, no," Rose said. "No, thank you, that's not necessary."

"Okay, if you're sure," said Morgana. "Tell us if you change your mind."

"Also," added Marion, "you might want to know, that some of the Hufflepuffs in class were talking about telling a teacher."

Rose nodded. "Okay... did they say who? Professor Smith?" Professor Smith, who taught Charms, was the Hufflepuff head of house.

Morgana and Marion looked at each other in surprise.

"Well, we... of course, we warned them they'd better not tell anyone," Morgana said, as though that's just what Rose ought to have expected.

Marion nodded earnestly. "We even got Donaugh and Thomas to stand behind us and look really menacing as they said it. Andrei helped too when he saw us," she added, nodding at the boy who was sitting next to Scorpius.

Rose turned to look, in surprise, at the large but very shy boy who had so far always seemed to be scenery, given that he almost never talked around girls. Andrei just shrugged back, blushing a little.
"So we don't expect them to actually do it, they were pretty scared," Morgana concluded. "We just thought you should know."

"I see," Rose said. "Well... thank you. Um, don't actually have anyone hurt them if they tell, okay? I know someone will, sooner or later. It's okay."

The girls nodded earnestly. "We promise, threats only," said Morgana.

"I'll tell Donaugh and Thomas," Marion said, "though..." she trailed off, looking at Scorpius a bit nervously.

"I'll mention the same," he said casually. "There won't be anything for them to worry about; I don't think Clarence will be pushing them to beat people up to protect Rose."

Relieved, the two girls nodded, and hurried off. Rose stared after them, stunned.

Tony laughed. "So... you're not the leader of the Slytherin girls?" he teased.

Rose just shook her head. She turned to look at Andrei.

"You knew about this?"

The boy shrugged again.

"Well, that was nice of you, I guess. So, thanks."

"No problem," he mumbled.

The conversation turned to more normal topics, as Rose tried to process what was happening around her. Hufflepuffs had been threatened to keep silent because of her? Well, it was obvious that if this leader thing was real, she'd have to pay closer attention to what happened in her name.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the wall open up, right where Peony and Aurelia had entered it. Aurelia stalked out first, still looking furious. She marched straight past everyone without saying a word, and down the hall towards the dormitory. Peony came behind her, looking tired, and obviously crying. She sat in an empty chair between Rose and Tony.

The boys looked uncomfortable, seeing a girl cry, so the other girls took the lead.

"What happened?" Rose asked, gently.

"I think she's going to owl my parents," Peony said. She kicked the air. "I can't believe she'd do something like that."

"Oh no!" Rose groaned. "What are they going to do?"

Peony shrugged and sniffled. "A Howler, maybe. I already told you I wouldn't be surprised if I got one about being friends with you. They were bound to find out eventually." She fidgeted. "I think she's going to tell a teacher about how you've been absent all the time in History of Magic, too. I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't worry about that! I knew someone would." And as a bonus, no innocent Hufflepuffs would be hurt as a result. Rose leaned over and hugged her friend, tightly. She was worried that the others would say something about the fight cementing Rose's reign, or something, but instead they also just seemed concerned about Peony.

"It'll be okay," Liatris said, joining Rose and Peony's hug. "If we have to, we'll stand with you against your family, just like we'll stand with Rose against hers. You live with us now, not with them."

"I still live with Aurelia," Peony pointed out.

"It's five against one," Liatris reassured her. "She can't do anything."

"But... I didn't want to be against her at all."

Rose sighed. She could certainly relate to that.

-

Two days later, Rose was summoned to Professor Bole's office. She had very little doubt what it was about, and though she knew all along that this would be the result of her actions, she couldn't help but feel extremely nervous.

The door to the office was open, but Rose stood in the doorway, waiting until she was invited in. "You asked to see me, professor?" she asked politely.

"Yes, Miss Weasley, I did. Please, come in and take a seat."

Rose did so.

"Do you know what this is about?"

"I'm not positive," Rose answered. Well, she didn't know for 100% certainty.

"A fellow student claims that you're skipping class," Professor Bole said.

Rose tried to look as innocent as possible. "You've seen me in class, Professor," she said. "You know I care about my studies a lot. What class am I supposedly not attending?"

"History of Magic," Professor Bole answered, to Rose's utter lack of surprise.

She nodded. "Did you ask Professor Binns if I've been in class?" she asked calmly.

Professor Bole snorted. "He had no idea who you were, but then, he couldn't name a single student of his, in any year, up through seventh," she answered dryly.

"That's unfortunate," Rose said. "So... what now?"

"I've asked a few of your fellow Slytherins, and they've all said you've been in class," the professor continued. "I haven't asked the Hufflepuff students yet. Would they agree that you've been in class?"

"I believe so, Professor," Rose said. "Unless they had a grudge against me or something." Or bravery worthy of a Gryffindor.

"Hmm," said the professor.

"What are you going to do, ma'am?" Rose asked.

"Well, usually, even an unsubstantiated claim should be discussed with your parents," Professor Bole said, with an oddly malicious smirk that Rose didn't think was actually meant for her. "But I don't think that's necessary in this case. All the other teachers have said your attendance is good, and with the exception of one" --the professor's nose wrinkled, and Rose could guess pretty easily which teacher was the exception-- "they've all declared you an exceptionally bright and dedicated student. Your performance in my class has suggested the same."

"Thank you, ma'am," said Rose.

"Of course, as your professor, I must urge you to consider why a student might have made this claim, and try to avoid whatever caused such problems in the first place."

Hmm. "And if the student makes the claim again?"

"Unless she-- or he-- brings compelling evidence, of course, I won't bother you with it again."

Rose smiled and thanked the professor. "And, um, I'm sorry if I did something, that caused you to have to ask around other professors and students for nothing," she said, very apologetically indeed. "I'll do my best to make sure schoolgirl grudges don't cause you any annoyance again."

"I'd appreciate that very much, Miss Weasley."

But Professor Bole's voice was warm and friendly as she said that. Rose bid her professor farewell and left the office, smirking once she was out of sight. That couldn't have gone any better if she'd planned it.

For unlike Aurelia, Rose remembered quite well how Professor Bole had said she didn't like getting involved in "room mate politics." Though she'd really told the truth, Aurelia appeared to have sent their professor on a wild goose chase, just because she disliked Rose. That wasn't going to earn Aurelia any points with the Slytherin professor.

-

The girls didn't get a front seat to Scorpius's final victory, or whatever they might call it, against Clarence, the way the boys apparently had to Rose's against Aurelia. But it was obvious that whatever the boys had set out to do, they'd done; over the next months, Clarence sulked his way through Hogwarts, just as Aurelia did. Mostly they served as each other's only companions.

Peony got a threatening Howler from her parents, and though she recovered from the cruel words quickly, it seemed to have ruined her friendship with Aurelia. Rose wrote home, and told her Mum about how much Peony had to go through, all because she asked Professor Bole to be nice to Albus. She'd been hoping for some acknowledgment that Peony was suffering because she'd tried to help Al, maybe even an offer for Peony to spend the Christmas holidays with them so that she wouldn't have to face her family. But Rose's mum, though she still wrote pleasant letters, didn't say a word about Peony.

Dad still hadn't written to Rose, which made her nervous. As the Christmas holidays approached, both Peony and Rose became more anxious about having to face their families for several weeks.

"You two could come stay with me," Liatris offered. "My parents said they'd be happy to have you."

Rose shook her head. "I can't avoid my family forever," she said. "Better just to face it head-on. They're Gryffindors; they'll want to see the brave approach."

Peony also declined, regretfully. "I have to smooth things over with them," she said. "Maybe they'll understand better if I tell them in person."

Liatris nodded. "Good luck," she said. "To both of you."

Rose though about the huge Weasley Christmas celebration at the Burrow every year, and winced. She was pretty sure she was going to need every ounce of luck she could get.

.

.