Belonging in Slytherin

Ethelina was sorrowful to be returning to school, but looked forward to seeing Viola again, and found it was much easier to wave good-bye to her parents than it had been in September. Viola looked fit to bursting as they looked for a compartment on the Hogwarts Express - almost as scarlet and steam-exuding as the engine itself. Eventually they found a compartment, but there was a pair of Ravenclaws in there, so Viola had to wait until they went in search of the witch with the refreshment trolley. Instead Ethelina made smalltalk about the holiday - everything she told Viola was the truth, she just omitted to mention that Cassius de Lacey had stayed with her family.

"Finally!" Viola burst as the Ravenclaws headed off. (First they placed a very clear anti-tampering alarm spell on their things, which offended Ethelina until she saw the look of disappointment cross Viola's nosy face) "I thought they'd never go!"

"What's so important that it makes you look like you're holding your breath, but not important enough to say to everyone?"

"The great Black bust-up!" Viola looked triumphant, folded her arms and waited for Ethelina to be impressed.

Ethelina had no idea what she was talking about. "I've spent the whole holiday with my brother and... and nice people, can't we wait until we reach Hogwarts to think about our housemates?"

Viola ignored her, gabbling away as she unwrapped a packet of cheese and pickle sandwiches. "I can't believe you're not interested. I heard mum talking by the fire to Aunt Rosina, and Aunt Rosina is a second cousin of Dorcas Rosier... By the way, you never told me you were related to the Rosiers, but then I bet they don't talk about it either, it was the one who married the Muggle..."

"My mum's descended from a Rosier? Oh, get on with it, Viola!"

"Aaaaanyway, Dorcas told Aunt Rosina that nobody's seen Eurig since Christmas, and the Rosiers are blaming Bellatrix."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why blame Bellatrix? From what you've said in the past, Eurig's perfectly capable of looking after himself."

"Well, there was this festive party at the Blacks' place. Drinks and nibbles in a manky old mansion in London. Dad dropped by for an hour, he hates it but he knows some of the family through work and said it wouldn't be a good idea to show any hostility, not with you-know-who getting worse by the week, and Bellatrix was there - oh it sounds like she had the most amazing dress robes, all bronze coloured and glittering with these little crystals containing real orange flames..."

"Viola! Those Ravenclaws will come back any minute!" Ethelina was fascinated by Viola's ability to chatter without pausing for breath.

"So, to cut a long and perfectly fascinating story short, Eurig got Bellatrix under the mistletoe, then got rather fresher than she thought decent, she hit him, he slapped her -- not very gentlemanly, I must say - and then Rodolphus Lestrange knocked him out cold, with his bare hands. And Bellatrix's aunt - you know, Sirius' mother - pitched a wobbly about wizards fighting like Muggles and went off in a snit. Eurig hasn't been seen since the party. Dorcas has been looking after Evan."

Ethelina's jaw dropped. Viola grinned.

"Told you it was good goss! Do you suppose she'll be wearing that tacky bracelet in the common room this term?"

Ethelina strongly suspected Bellatrix would give the bracelet to Kelly, just to be upsetting. "Don't even mention it to her," Ethelina said. "She nearly gave Kelly internal bleeding when she lost her temper, and she had been in a good mood before that. She'll probably kill someone this term."

"Look at it this way, Andreas is back in the running for her Black heart. We can hang around him in safety."

Ethelina snorted. "I think I'll stick to the library, if that's all the same. Anyway, why wouldn't she go for Lestrange? I take it it's some relative of his in the fifth year?"

"Yeah, the ugly one with the spots whose hobby is turning animals into potion ingredients. Rodolphus is worse." Viola shuddered. "Kissing him, you'd have to hope he turned into a frog: it would be an improvement."

"Ah well, just an idea."

"Oh, and there was a big robbery at the Smiths. Their best stuff got nicked in a big scandal a couple of decades ago, only a couple of things but it really hit them hard so they've been frantically buying things ever since - horribly nouveau, according to Aunt Rosina, she says they ought to cut their losses and be glad they still have their history and not waste money on trinkets but mum's a big friend of Eulalia Smith..."

"Viola!"

"Anyway, it's important because the Smiths are really paranoid about security and it would have taken real skill to get in."

Ethelina grinned. "You are going to get into such trouble for gossiping one day."

"Not me - I've promised Dad I'm going to channel it all into History of Magic." She looked sorrowful for a moment, and then pulled a large book out of her bag. "Here, you wouldn't believe what really kicked off the second goblin war..."

*********

Viola was still rattling on about the goblin wars over dinner. Ethelina had to admit, it was much more interesting than Professor Binns made it sound. Morgan was gleefully talking about the broomstick she got for Christmas; her family were noted for their sporting abilities and every one of them had been in Slytherin. The drive to win was clearly deep in all of them.

Ethelina looked towards the end of the table, where the sixth- and seventh-years sat. Bellatrix looked slightly sad, which was unusual, as everyone had expected her to be angry or temperamental. 'Subdued' didn't normally exist in Bellatrix's emotional vocabulary. Andreas, meanwhile, was all over Lucy Whitby, passing her dishes of food and pouring pumpkin juice for her. Now that was strange - the Whitbies were pureblood, but rascally, owners of second-hand shops and market stalls and frequent guests of the Azkaban guards. They weren't evil as such, just plain bad, but still not the sort of people the patrician Grimthorpes would be keen to be associated with usually. Ethelina nudged Viola.

"... And when Blavak saw what Ehagz had done with the gold he... what?"

"You didn't tell me Andreas had had a change of heart over the hols," Ethelina said in a low voice.

Viola looked peeved. "I didn't know!"

Nobody, it turned out, had expected Andreas to fall madly for Lucy Whitby. Viola, nosy as ever, managed to be standing behind a tapestry later than evening while Lucy confided in Velda Mariner and Calliope Kennard, and passed on the conversation to Ethelina.

"It's new to her too," Viola explained. "Let's face it, Lucy's no dope, her grades are poor because she's not interested in passing NEWTs. She was telling Calliope that six months ago, she'd have fallen for it, but Andreas was such a twit over Bellatrix, she thinks he's after something."

"I thought you were going to spend your time on History of Magic to keep your father happy."

"Ah well..." A moment of silence passed, then Viola said, "I'm worried about Dad. He wasn't really himself over Christmas. I think Mum was worried about him too."

"Maybe he was busy at work. Christmas is a hectic time for Healers."

Viola shivered. "There were more stories of the Dark Mark appearing over the holiday. Of course, it didn't always make the papers, especially if it didn't involve wizards. Dad said people would be horrified if they'd heard as much as he has."

"He patches up... the victims?"

"Yes. Spent New Year's Eve trying to help a busload of Muggles. Poor things were too hurt to ask where they were, although the Obliviators were there to make sure they never remembered anything anyway."

"A bus? New Year's Eve?" The Hawleys had received a Muggle newspaper during the holidays to help Bert and Cassius with their schooling. "Was it up in Manchester?"

"Mmhmm, Dad had to go up and work out of the little clinic there, they don't have enough staff to cope with emergencies like that... Most of the time they just patch people up enough to survive a portkey to St Mungos. How did you know about the bus?"

"Read about it in the Times, a Muggle paper, they said it was a road accident. Seven people dead, eighteen badly injured. No wonder your dad's been a bit different. You can't see all that and not get upset."

"Yeah, you're right... You know, Lucy's got all new robes this term, and before Christmas she was grizzling about being hard up. D'you reckon she's inherited some cash? That might explain Andreas..."

*****

Dear Bert,

Got here safely. Viola's a bit less chirpy than last term - still nosy, though, when she stops being nosy I'll worry about her.

All that time in the greenhouse has helped my Herbology no end, I think. Well, that and Cass's help. I'm glad he came to stay. He's better at it than most of the people in my year. Say hi to him, I miss him nearly as much as I miss you.

Can you do me a favour? Tell me if there are any big Muggle accidents in the news.

Eth

Five days later:

Dear Eth,

Funny you asking about accsidents a train crashed up near Newcastle and 23 people died. The muggles are getting really twitchy, and Miss Marvell says we may get to see a muggle general election soon. Weerd isn't it, they get to pick their goverment, though there's really only a choice of three groups.

Oh, two words: chocolate cake. We did basic cake in the first term, now we're doing variations. And icing.

Love,

Bert

Ethelina read Bert's letter keenly, noting again the strange parchment he used - no, she corrected herself, not parchment, paper. It wasn't as robust as parchment, but it came in many more interesting designs. It was also smaller and squarer. Bert had explained that if you ran out of room, you had to use another sheet, but the likelihood of Bert filling even one sheet was slim. She finished her second mug of tea, and turned to her friend.

"I'm off, Viola, I've got Potions... What's wrong?"

Viola was white as a sheet, her hands trembling as she read a letter over her breakfast. She was shaking so much her ponytail was bobbing slightly. Even as Ethelina looked at her wondering what to do, the headmaster popped up behind them. His expression was grave but kindly. "Miss Beanacre? I think you should come to my office. Your mother's coming to see you, and we're all going to have a chat. You've been excused from lessons for the rest of the day."

Viola looked at the headmaster, simultaneously putting her hands under the table and dropping the letter on Ethelina's lap. If the headmaster noticed, he said nothing. Dumbledore led Viola away, and she was clearly starting to cry. The other students looked over with mild interest, but Ethelina picked up her bag and dashed off to Potions, knowing she'd have five minutes to read whatever letter Viola had given her. Not that the short note took any time at all to read. The letter was scrawled, dashed off in a hurry on a piece of parchment that had been haphazardly torn, rather than cut, from a larger roll.

Dear Vi,

Dad's been arrested. Don't believe what they say, sweetie. I've got to see him this morning, but I'll come to Hogwarts straight after. Be brave today, Vi.

Mum

Be brave today, thought Ethelina. Clearly chubby Kitty Beanacre had reserves of bravery of her own. Then again, if you needed anyone fighting in your corner, a Hufflepuff was the person to have. They never gave up, always had faith, and always strove to do the right thing... But why would Viola's dad be in trouble? He was a good man, a top Healer. Viola talked endlessly about his refinements to potions and healing spells, his dedication to making people well.

Slowly the corridor outside the dungeon filled with Gryffindors and Slytherins. Kelly stood beside Ethelina.

"I see you've really been making up to the top people, Hawley," Jessica Montague said cattily. "Although Beanacre won't be much help now, eh? You'll have to find some new Death Eaters."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ethelina said.

"Funny, because everyone else does."

A small Gryffindor boy looked at her. "You know Healer Beanacre?"

"His daughter's my friend," Ethelina stated.

The Gryffindor stared, and then said, "My mum was really ill after having my sister. They reckoned if she'd had any other Healer, she'd have died. I don't believe he'd do what they said."

"Get real," another Gryffindor muttered. "Your mum's a witch. All the people he killed were Muggles."

Viola's dad, a Muggle-killer? Her dad worked hard to save Muggles!

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Ethelina declared, "and until you know all the facts, you don't know enough to talk about it either. And even if her dad did hurt anyone, she's still my friend. She's not her dad."

"She's... she's my friend too," Kelly said, straightening up and glaring at the others every bit as fiercely as Ethelina. Ethelina smiled at her. Slowly Kelly seemed to be realising that it wasn't what you were born that mattered, it was what you made of yourself. While the other Slytherins and the Gryffindors stared at them, Kelly and Ethelina stood proud. I won't turn my back on a friend, thought Ethelina. Never!

All through the lesson she was distracted, and while it was usually her best class, her potion turned out completely the wrong colour, and was fizzing ominously. History of Magic followed, and she felt sick to her stomach as every event Binns mentioned in passing brought to mind a livelier, more interesting version that Viola had recounted. Oh Viola, she thought, be brave like your mum asked. She barely took a single note, and rushed to the Great Hall when class was over.

Viola wasn't there. Ethelina sat down despondently. From the other end of the table, the older pupils watched her. "C'mon, Ethelina," Lucy said in the end. "Come and sit with us."

Ethelina obediently shuffled up.

Lucy looked kind. "Worried about your friend?" Ethelina nodded. "He'll be all right," Lucy told her. "Viola's dad, I mean. I've had family in Azkaban. They get over it, as long as they're not in too long."

Ethelina didn't know what to say. How long was too long? And if Healer Beanacre was convicted, he could be in prison for years.

Kelly bumped in beside her. "Sorry I'm late, I've been talking to a couple of Ravenclaws."

"Oh, there's a surprise!" one older girl said spitefully.

Kelly looked at her. "When I need advice on my socialising, I'll take it from someone who doesn't have three halfblood cousins!.. Anyway, Eth, they had to go past Dumbledore's office, and they said they saw Viola and her mum, and her mum was going off to Hogsmeade, so it looks like the visit's over."

"I'm just so worried about her!" Ethelina explained.

"I know," Kelly said, dolloping some mash onto Ethelina's plate and topping it with sausages. "You worry about every lost soul and lame duck. And you'll be a fat lot of good to us all if you starve yourself. Eat up."

As Ethelina prodded her lunch round her plate, she couldn't help wondering what the food was like in prison.