Belonging in Slytherin

Dear Bert,

I've managed to get some bubotuber seeds, plus some for Somerset hair-grass and Deptford pink. Cassius should know how to grow them. Whatever you do, don't mess up the last two, they're fairly rare and I don't know if I'll be able to get any more in time to be harvestable at Easter. I've enclosed a pair of labels for them.

Love,

Eth

Bert looked at the labels, which read 'Common grass' and 'Common pink'. His sister was getting jumpier with each letter she sent, he felt.

He shared a room with Cassius, who was currently sitting at his desk writing an essay on nifflers and hoping he'd look so busy he'd be let off watching television that evening. Cassius hated television, partly because it was so overwhelmingly Muggle in tone, but mostly because he thought it was horribly lowbrow. Bert plonked the seeds on Cassius' desk.

"Eth says we're to start these off," he grumbled. "Didn't have time to tell us how anything else was going, she just dished out the orders."

Cassius grinned. "Ah well. We'd better get used to it, she'll be worse at Easter." The prospect of another holiday away from his family cheered Cassius no end. Bert had assured him that they would have Easter egg hunts in the garden, and that although they couldn't go anywhere where wizards might see Cassius, they could go for days out to the Muggle zoo and theme park with his parents.

"She's so different," Bert said sorrowfully. "I mean, she was always the clever one and could do loads more than me, but now she's getting scary. You saw that at Christmas. There were times when she didn't even look like herself - her eyes sort of iced over."

"She's just keen to get on," Cassius said. "And school will toughen her up no end."

Bert shrugged. He found it hard to explain how he felt; words were not his forte. Ethelina had grown so much tougher, more secretive and even sneaky since she started at Hogwarts. He loved his twin, but he didn't know her as well any more. She hadn't even told him where she got the seeds or the cash to buy them, but he was certain they cost more than her pocket money alone. In a strange way he felt the plants hobby-business had to succeed, because if this plan failed, Ethelina might try something else without him, and he wasn't sure how many risks she'd take.

***********

Morgan winced as Viola dabbed an antiseptic healing potion on a nasty graze. The younger pupils in Slytherin frequently dipped into Viola's stash of medication nowadays. As Ethelina refused to turn her back on anyone who asked for help, Viola was often roped into aiding people who would, a year earlier, have made her life miserable.

It's odd, thought Viola, checking that the liquid completely covered and adhered to the injury, I've become part of this house, and last year I never thought I'd belong. Although really, Eth belongs to Slytherin and I'm just part of her entourage. Viola Beanacre, always the storyteller, never the heroine.

"How does it feel?" she asked.

"Okay," Morgan told her, "thanks." She fled the Common Room.

"What happened to her," asked Ethelina, walking up.

"Broom to the face," Viola said grimly.

"She doesn't have her own broom, and she's only now going to Quidditch practice." Ethelina pointed out, confused.

"I didn't say it was her own broom."

Ethelina had a pretty good idea who'd been wielding it. Bellatrix had been on the verge of a major tantrum for days; it had probably been Morgan's bad luck to set her off. Viola carefully closed her Healer's first-aid chest. Along with her books on Goblin History, the polished oak box had been her Christmas gift from her parents, and she was using up the contents more rapidly than they could have expected. Slytherin problems were, as a rule, kept in Slytherin, and if someone had a minor injury, getting patched up by Viola was preferable to going to the school nurse.

"Hey, Vi, what herbs and potions would you say your parents use most?"

"Mum uses cleaning stuff mostly, so I guess that's soapwort and other bits and bobs, possibly lemon juice, Shining Orchid, Hungry Dirtmoss. Anything fragrant. Dad used..."

"Uses," Ethelina corrected.

Viola smiled, "...uses a lot of clotting and painkilling potions, because he deals mostly with people who've had accidents involving creatures. The herbs would be willow, rupturewort, woundwort, stitchwort. That sort of thing."

Ethelina made a note on the small scroll of parchment she'd taken to carrying around.

"Listen, Eth, I've had a letter from your brother. He's worried about you," Viola ventured. Ethelina glared at her. "Don't look at me like that, I'm telling you because I'm not going to sneak around behind your back. But he's right to be worried."

"Why? Because I've found a way to use something he can do?"

"Because you seem to be mixing with some dodgy people to make it work."

Ethelina took offence at this. "Lucy's not as bad as people make out, and Bellatrix isn't dodgy at all. She's a dreamer. She wants to help me. She wants to help everyone."

"By shoving a broom in Morgan's face because she trod on a book Bellatrix had left in the middle of the floor? Whatever she's doing, Eth, she's not even helping herself. Can it really help anyone else?"

"She did her best to help your dad."

"She did, and she can be kind, like you've pointed out. But she hasn't been kind lately, not for ages. Even Lucy avoids her, and they used to be friends. She's hanging around with Andreas, Velda and Evan. She's taken to spending time with Severus, of all people, and if that's not a sign of serious derangement I don't know what is."

"She'd have to do more than fall out with Lucy for me to give up on her."

"I know, and that's good. But there's something going wrong with Bellatrix, and people care too much for you to watch you go bad with her... Here, I've got you a present. Mum sent me these for you - I told her you were growing things." Viola pulled a packet of seeds from her pocket. "Pale dog violet, viola lactea. I think she meant it as a joke..."

Ethelina took the flimsy paper envelope with its hand-written label, feeling as though it was a peace offering her friend had prepared in advance, in case their talk had gone badly. She wasn't irritated with Viola, not really. Viola was really only voicing all the concerns she herself had. "I don't know if I like Bellatrix or not, but it's weird - she really believes she can make the world a better place. And yet..."

"And what?"

"I can't say much, I promised, but I don't think the people who she's pals with want what's best for her, and if they don't even care for one of their own, I'm not sure they really do want what's best for everyone else either. She's falling apart, Vi, and there's no one to look after her, no one, and she could be a great person. I can't give up on her, any more than I could give up on you."

"Just remember," Viola warned, "Dad's trouble all started after the Blacks' Christmas party."

The discussion turned to Healer Beanacre, and Ethelina did her best to calm her friend's fears.

Viola's warning troubled Ethelina greatly, distracting her all through History of Magic. Still, that was a lesson she could ignore thanks to Viola's superb tuition; she was already way ahead of the rest of the class. Healer Beanacre's trial was the next day, and the fact that Viola was still concerned enough about Ethelina to talk to her about school things made her feel slightly guilty. Viola would be taken down to Hogsmeade after the day's lessons had finished so that she could take a portkey to her home. Ethelina hoped their talk had made Viola feel better, and that next time she saw her, they would have happier subjects to talk about.

Ethelina tagged along after Lucy the next morning after breakfast, following her through the corridors. "I need to talk to you."

"Let's stay in plain sight," Lucy told her, making sure she sat in the Library where pupils from other houses could see but not hear her. "How's Viola?"

"Um, okay, sort of. Worried. I haven't seen her since yesterday; the trial's today so she left school last night."

"Has she been sending her dad those chocolates?"

"Yes, she's really grateful for the tip."

Lucy looked relieved. "If I ever get caught, she can repay me by sending me some... My dad did three months in Azkaban, and I told her he got better, but it took a year before he was his old self again. Anyway, what do you want?"

"I'm worried about Bellatrix, and everyone is telling me to stay away from her. Even you're avoiding her. She needs friends."

"Are you her friend?"

"Not exactly, but I worry about her." Why can't anyone see how much trouble she's getting into, thought Ethelina. Oh, no one knows about the marriage, but they must be able to see that something's wrong. How can they all just give up on her?

Lucy took a deep breath. "You're devious as hell, and I still don't know if I can trust you..."

"You have so far."

"There are things bigger than my, um, hobby. You know who Bellatrix's friends are, don't you?"

"There's Rodolphus Lestrange, and Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa her sister, and Eurig and Evan Rosier although Viola reckons Eurig's disappeared, and Regulus Black and Severus Snape, although none of us understands that one, and Velda and..."

"No, you little dope. Do you know what they are?"

Ethelina was confused. "She's got a friend she never names but talks about a lot, and I s'pose he's really important, like someone in the Ministry, but he seems a bit of a git if you ask me."

"A bit of a git?"

"Ye-e-es... Why?"

Lucy put her head in her hands and laughed softly. "You're a complete innocent! Eth, you know all about Dark Wizards. You know about Death Eaters, the nutters who have used Viola's father. Bellatrix will be one of them one day. I'm sure at least one of the people on your list is one or will be one too."

"Oh no, no that's not right." Ethelina was stunned. Dark wizards were bad, Death Eaters were the worst, but surely you could spot them, they wouldn't be able to cover up all that inhumanity.

"I had you marked down as a would-be Death Eater already. What has she talked to you about, then?"

"I can't talk about it mostly, but it's just love and stuff. The rest of the time she talks about wanting to make the world a better place. Death Eaters don't want that, they just hurt people. She's not like them."

"Oh, they want to make the world a better place - it's just not better by most people's standards." Lucy looked sorrowful. "Bellatrix gives all or nothing, we all know that, and you're right, she could be the kindest, most wonderful witch in the world, but not now. She's chosen her path, and neither you nor I are strong enough to stop her walking it."

Ethelina started to cry. "She can't be like them. Don't you remember how she used to help people with homework, and she'd lend you things and make you laugh? She wrote to people to try to help you get a job."

"I don't like it any more than you do. Don't fall out with her. That would be very dangerous. Are you listening? Because what I'm telling you now is very serious. As in, could get me killed serious." Tiny Lucy looked both scared and steadfast.

"'M listening," Ethelina snuffled.

"Good. Carry on talking to Bellatrix. Be the same as always. You're too young for her to bother much with now, but in years to come, if she asks you to meet her during the holidays, or wants to introduce you to her friends, don't go. Do. Not. Go."

"You've refused to join them." Ethelina suddenly knew it for a fact. Through tear-blurred eyes she stared at Lucy, who was clenching her jaw and doing her best to look determined. Courage wasn't a Slytherin trait, really, but Slytherins could be brave. They just had to be pushed into a corner they couldn't weasel out of any other way.

"Yeah, I told them where they could shove their masks. I was supposed to meet Bellatrix on the edge of Hogsmeade last time we had a Saturday there and got surrounded by these faceless idiots on the way. She pretended not to know anything about it when I finally met up with her, but she's a terrible liar. It was obvious she knew who they were. She was the bloody lure to get me on my own. She set me up. That's out of character for her, too. Once upon a time she'd have just come right out and asked me to join; there never used to be anything sneaky or secretive about her."

Lucy continued. "I don't need that rubbish. I'm no saint, but all the people I've visited could afford to lose what I took - when I saw the Prewett place, I left again; they were too poor to rob. I didn't even know that tiara wasn't there. I've never stolen a life or someone's sanity, and I'm not starting that now." She sighed. "My little excursions have been arranged to attract the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. They've got a clue that it's me, but not enough evidence to prosecute on. I've got people from the MLE keeping an eye on me, and should Bella's chums get too close, I'm going to get myself banged up in Azkaban."

"That's awful!"

"It's better than joining that lot. I have skills they can use. Call me selfish, but I work for Lucy Whitby, not some loony in a mask. You've got potential, kiddo. I mean it. I'm a Whitby, we can spot fellow sharks a mile off, and you're one of them. But Bellatrix and her friends can see it too, and they'll want to use you too one day."

"My plan is to work with Squibs and parthumans," Ethelina confessed. "I've got a couple of equal partners. Squibs."

"Maybe they'll be the saving of you," Lucy said bluntly. "Dry your eyes, go back to the common room and wait for Viola. We won't discuss this again."

"I have a whole lot of things I can't discuss."

"Well, Ethelina Hawley, if you know what's good for you, you'll stick to your real friends and your Squibs. Good luck. And don't keep badgering me. I'm not a safe person to know any more."

Ethelina nodded and walked out.

She sat in a corner of the common room waiting for Viola, mulling over what Lucy had told her, pretending to be engrossed in a novel ('Passion Over Potions'). It made sense. Bellatrix had never made any secret of the fact that she believed Healer Beanacre was under the Imperius Curse. Did she do more than believe? Did she actually know? And Crispin, Andreas and Velda had been kind to Viola, but that could have been because as far as they were concerned, she was doubly theirs to defend - a housemate, and daughter of a fellow follower of dark orders, unwilling as Healer Beanacre must have been.

She looked at them all out of the corner of her eye. Velda was losing to Andreas at chess. Crispin was working through a complicated Transfiguration problem. They looked so normal. Across the room Datura Bentley was also working on the same Transfiguration problem, and she was definitely not part of Bellatrix's set, but you couldn't tell just by looking which one was likely to be concealing dark secrets.

Bellatrix - she was different, always had been. The others seemed to act out of a desire to gain power, to belong, to be important. Bellatrix knew she was already powerful and important. If everyone cast her out, Bellatrix would simply regard herself as being an in-crowd of one, with all other people outside it and beneath her. Right now she was glaring into the fire as though it offended her. The others acted from desire, Bellatrix from faith. The others could be saved, Ethelina realised, not by her, for she had nothing to offer them, but power and respect from other sources would bring them back in line with most people. A good job, some cash or even a slathering of flattery would easily tempt them back to mainstream society. Their weakness would be their salvation. Bellatrix was unstoppable, and doomed.

Bellatrix knew, Ethelina told herself. She must have known what was happening to Viola's dad. She's getting him out of Azkaban because he's a useful tool. And she invited me to meet her friends because I could be another useful tool one day. Oh Bellatrix. What a waste.

Sad and quiet, she refused to accompany Kelly to lunch, and skipped dinner too, ignoring the pangs of hunger in her stomach. The Common Room was deserted apart from Ethelina when Viola burst in. The friends hugged, each relieved to see the other.

"He's free! He's free, free, free!" sang Viola.

They helped themselves to the coveted fireside armchairs. Viola threw Ethelina some chocolate frogs. "We might as well eat these, Dad won't need them now."

Wolfing down the sweets, Ethelina thought that they might well know other people who'd need some chocolate in future. From now on, she'd take Lucy's advice and stick to her friends and her brother. Bellatrix would have to go her own way, and if she ever turned back from her path, Ethelina would be there to help her, but she wouldn't walk down it alongside her.

***

It was close to the end of Ethelina's first year at Hogwarts, and as she mused on all the things she'd learned, both in lessons and about people, she couldn't believe she'd been the nice, polite but naïve little girl who'd caught the Hogwarts Express the previous September.

Kelly and Ethelina had completed their first-year exams, Viola her second-year ones, and all three were relaxing in a deserted part of the grounds, just where a corner in the castle walls trapped the Scottish summer sun. Kelly was rifling though the Daily Prophet.

"My parents are going to go nuts,"Ethelina mourned. "I knew I was rubbish at Herbology, but not that bad."

"Everybody messes up sometimes," Kelly comforted, flicking over the latest copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Bert already knows he passed with flying colours," Ethelina moaned. As it was a much smaller school, pupils at St Judes got their marks a week after finishing their exams. "He got an O! I'm never going to hear the end of it. Especially after we spent all Easter in the greenhouse."

"You've made plenty of money from plants, though," Viola reminded her.

Ethelina brightened up. "True! The Easter sale was great. That lemongrass went like lightning, and the Deptford Pinks sold by lunchtime." Lucy had been pleased with her share of the profits, which Cassius and Bert had reluctantly agreed to - Ethelina had been forced to swear not to bring in anyone else without consulting them. Some money had been reinvested to pay for more products, the rest had gone to the three of them and Lucy equally. "Bert's put all his in the bank, dunno what he's saving for."

"Do you think you'll keep on doing it?" Viola asked.

"Crumbs, yes. If I can make enough to buy a new pair of shoes the first time, imagine what I can earn by next Christmas. And from there... who knows?"

"Maybe you can employ Dad one day, when we've all left school," Viola half-joked. "He hates dealing with people nowadays." Healer Beanacre was back at work, but banned from helping with anything involving Muggles, and his complete lack of memory of who'd put the Imperius Curse on him meant Auror Moody was a frequent visitor to his ward at St Mungos.

"If I get to the point of supplying full potions," Ethelina said seriously, "I'd snap him up." What a coup that would be, to have a Healer of that quality brewing up healing potions. Sometimes it was frustrating having so many ideas but not the ability to carry them out.

"Would you look at this!" Kelly exploded suddenly, slapping the newspaper down so hard the little people in the photographs winced. "Bellatrix Black is getting married! And in mid-August too. She must have been planning it for ages, and she never said a word."

Viola's sharp little nose turned like a weathervane to point at Kelly. "What? Who?.. I just haven't been keeping up lately. I thought she was still single."

"She's marrying Rodolphus Lestrange," Kelly announced. "Eeeew. I know she's a rotten old hag, but I don't wish that on her."

"He is SO grim," Viola agreed.

"It would explain why she's in such a bad mood," Kelly pointed out. "Who knows, perhaps her parents sorted it out. Although I dunno, I'd say their families are too close. I'd be worried about six-toed babies if I was her."

"They do say her aunt Walburga had to have a tail removed," Viola mused. "One she was born with, not a Transfigured one. But why is Bellatrix doing it? She could have anyone."

"She's doing it for love," Ethelina said simply.