“beyond wandpoint” 113a.2 by gingerbred
Aug. 29th, 2019 10:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beyondwandpoint“11 12z Wednesday - (Dis)Loyalty” Part 1.2 The Girls
The Snakes renegotiate their positions in the aftermath of the Head's bonding and Harper's beating.
Slytherins: Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, Alberta Runcorn, Ella Wilkins, Flora Carrow, Hestia Carrow, Valerie Vaisey, Astoria Greengrass, Ava Avery, Tomasina Touchstone, Sharon Shafiq, Margarethe Burke
Mentioned briefly: Severus, Hermione, Slytherins: Draco Malfoy, Theo Nott, Vincent Crabbe, Harper Hutchinson, Róisín Rosier
Originally Published: 2019-09-30 on LJ / DW this chapter has been pre-dated
Chapter: 113 part 1.2
The original version of this chapter exceeded livejournal's maximum post length. It's been split in two parts.
STOP! I'm shuffling the order of the last four (or five 😉) chapters around. Have you read 112a ( LJ / DW ), the chapter where Vince goes to get his revenge on Harper? If not, go there first, my lovelies!
Also, this chapter (113a, uploaded 30 September) went over the character limit and had to be split into a two-parter, so make sure you start reading here -> (113a.1 LJ / DW) with the boys' reactions to Harper's confrontation with Vince.
❤️ Ginger 😊
Characters:
Slytherins: Daphne Greengrass 7S (Sparkly! Fwoopers!), Tracey Davis 7S (Swottier), Pansy Parkinson 7S (Prefect), Millicent 'Millie' Bulstrode (Reserve Beater, yes, that.), Alberta Runcorn 7S (Grumpy.)
Ella Wilkins 6S (Prefect with the Healing Charm), Flora Carrow 6S (friendly twin), Hestia Carrow 6S (Chaser, sporty twin), Valerie 'Val' Vaisey 6S (Chaser)
Astoria 'Tori' Greengrass 5S, Ava Avery 5S, Tomasina Touchstone 5S (Prefect, Potions savvy heiress)
Sharon Shafiq 1S (Shawshanks' witch, Sheldon's little sister), Margarethe 'Maggie' Burke 1S (chatty)
Mentioned briefly: Severus (HoS, Potions), Hermione 7G (Prefect, Supreme Swot), Slytherins: Draco 7S (Prefect, Team Captain, Seeker, Swot), Theo Nott 7S (Swottiest, Nervous Wreck), Vincent 'Vince' Crabbe 7S (Beater, Inferi Princess), Harper Hutchinson 6S (Prefect, Chaser, flash Robe Model), Róisín Rosier 6S (her aunt Rosemary died in the last war after bonding Willem Wilkes)
Previouslies are in the first half of this chapter. (113a.1 LJ / DW )
Having only just dealt with the very physical results of Millie's snitching to Vince, looking at the girl now puts Ella in something of a mood. She has the good sense to silently take a seat next to Flora on Tracey's bed, where Tracey and Daphne soon join her. Easily clocking her poor humour, the trio keeps a close eye on the sixth year Prefect to make sure she doesn't try anything foolhardy.
Alberta is watching her, too, but for entirely different reasons. She still hopes one or the other of the girls might kick off and provide some more sport for the evening. She imagines there'll be a good deal less of that in the weeks to come without the seventh year boys in their midst. Naturally that grossly underestimates how much work Draco has keeping the boys in line, and how unprepared Harper is to now have that extra burden dumped unceremoniously in his lap. On the contrary, the hexing in House is about to be radically on the rise as this morning or the subsequent meals should have demonstrated.
But then Alberta isn't the sharpest amongst them.
Privately, Daph can only agree with Ella's impulses, but she isn't the sort to start an altercation; it had taken a lot from her to even risk becoming involved in one, and says quite a bit about how strongly she felt about what Millie had done. (Or perhaps how much she likes Harper, but that's an entirely different matter.)
'Daft cow' alright. Ella had had the right of it.
Daph attempts to redeem herself for her reluctance to duel over this by sending frightfully unsubtle glares Millie's way. Ella appreciates the sentiment, and once she calms down a little, she'll even find it funny, later going so far as to ask what Daph would do if someone froze her face that way (not impossible in present company), the mere thought of which causes some giggling from Flora, but for the present, Millie takes no notice of Daphne at all.
No, the Reserve Beater's hurt is only compounded when Pansy refuses to take Ella to task for the name calling that had started the whole thing to Millie's way of looking at the events. When she begins to complain about it, because of course she does, now feeling slightly bolstered by the fact Ava and Róisín had been forced to argue her case in order to defend their own (convenient that), Millie only earns herself another round of criticism for refusing to see that her actions had precipitated the whole bloody thing, and the discussion threatens to begin again from the top, much to Pansy's annoyance.
Name calling, ultimately, is within limits. Physically attacking a fellow student, coming close to starting a fight was not. "And I'd still see it that way, Millie, even if I weren't a Prefect," Pansy assures her friend. That may just be part of the reason she's a Prefect in the first place, the fact she can hold court like this over the lot of them, both willing and able to reprimand misbehaviour being another. (But obviously her family's political standing hadn't hurt in the least.)
Fine. If name calling's in bounds, Millie's presently trying to come up with a few choice ones for Pansy and her stupid button nose, as if shiny, silky hair allowed one to get away with everything. Millie excels at grudge keeping. It's one of her best skills as far as she's concerned and she'd claim it, not that it does her much good, but she reckons her talents are thin enough on the ground as to count every single one. She'll nurse a major grudge against Pansy for several days to come, not truly forgiving her until a duel Sunday knocks Millie's priorities back in line. But for the moment, she may just be angrier at Pansy than she is at Ella. (The commonality being their Prefecthood, Millie considers expanding it to that. Given Harper isn't exactly amongst her favourites at the moment either, there may just be something to it...)
Ella takes advantage of Pansy's seeming support and tries to make Millie understand the ramifications of her earlier actions. Beyond how they apply to the Head and his bonding and any agreement the girls may have reached about it, Millie's interference had led directly to Vince beating Harper, the seventh year had left him gasping on the ground and barely conscious. The expressions of the girls who had witnessed it easily convince the others it isn't an exaggeration.
Mille's also incredibly obstinate. If she were better at the subtle self promotion that seems to come naturally to many of her Housemates, she'd frame it as tenacity. She rather doggedly tries one more time, "But he took pictures of him. What do you suppose those are for?"
'Sale' being the most obvious response, Ella doesn't reply; at the latest since the 'Flobberworm' photos last year, everyone knows the answer anyway, and Millie drives on, exposing the double standard, "They're only to humiliate Vince further. Or do you honestly mean to tell me if their roles were reversed, you couldn't understand Harper objecting to being photographed like that?"
Ella doesn't answer immediately now either. She hadn't really seen the photographs in that light, and when it comes right down to it, she'd personally had a hand in their continued existence and honestly rather enjoyed it. First and foremost, as she thinks of them, they were a Galleonsmaking scheme for Harper and Merlin knows the Hutchinsons need the dosh. But half the reason people will want to buy prints is exactly what Millie claims it is: a desire to see Vince embarrassed.
And Millie is right, if it had been anyone else, Ella probably wouldn't be as comfortable with that fact.
Millie's objection makes some of those gathered think, and they'll be a little less welcoming of the pictures than they'd have been otherwise. Most of them get over it when they see how bloody marvellous they turned out, but a couple will remember this and refuse to buy any. Besides a few Galleons less in the Hutchinson coffers, it doesn't much change things for the parties involved, however, as they all have to swear Harper's Oath of secrecy to even see the snaps in the first place.
"On the floor. Gasping," Ella finally repeats, her complaint valid, because even if Vince's irritation was... justified, his response wasn't. But then it rarely is. This is the boy who sent her a Serpent because she didn't want to date him after all. And she'd given him more of a chance than any of the other girls had...
"If anyone is to blame for that beating, it's Harper for taking the pictures in the first place," Millie refuses to budge, and she may just have another point. Tracey claps hands on Ella's and Daphne's shoulders in case they see it differently.
Pansy interjects once more, "A pounding still isn't the answer."
And Millie rounds, a little desperate, "How is that any worse than a hex? What earthly difference does it make?"
"Well a hex probably wouldn't have been any better," Tomasina replies, promptly adding her name to Millie's list of Prefects who annoy. For fuck's sake, it's like they try to be pains in her arse... Er, backside. Oh, fuck the lot of 'em.
Ava (by now rather annoyed at the bollocking she's taken on Millie's behalf) disdainfully adds, "Well it's frightfully Muggle of him, wasn't it?" which is pureblood for 'déclassé', and tacitly includes Millie in the reproach for her attempt to attack Ella earlier.
"If beating Harper is no different to a hex, how is taking a picture any worse? If you understand why the seventh years are getting hexed..." Ella regroups.
"And if the boys knew who was behind the hexes, they'd address them as well. Most have the sense to do it on the sly, not to go too far. Harper took the picture openly. What did he expect?" The answer is he can't sell pictures if no one knows they exist and Oaths keep word of mouth from advertising them, but that won't help Ella's argument.
"There's still the Head to consider," Hestia tries to reason with her teammate.
"Given their rings, no one could possibly blame him for bonding the witch. Who could question his motives?" That seems like a massive failure of imagination on her part, and her 'who' has more than half the girls inhaling sharply as these are topics best left unbroached, names that very much need to remain unspoken. Ava and Pansy had had the good sense to skirt it. Millie, all bullish Bulstrode, plows right in.
"Millie..." come at least six admonishments, from both sides of the divide as she'd see them.
Again her obstinacy surfaces, and now even more desperate to just once have them agree with her, to see she's right, she turns to face her Housemates, swinging a little wildly from one to the next. "Seriously, what objection is there?" They can think of several, all depending on from whose perspective, and her question makes them even more uncomfortable. "Have you even looked at their rings?" Millie charges, and it's surprising how few nod. Millie feels a little better about herself in the face of it, not that she'd sought out the opportunity per se, but it had presented itself and once again she finds herself knowing things others don't. That's sort of nice, all the more so for it being unaccustomed. "It's the thinnest, blackest strand possible. No one, no one can think he deliberately chose her, of all witches, as his bondmate. So how do you still object to that?"
A murmur of discussion greets that, steadily growing in volume, as various groups try to cautiously reason that through amongst themselves. Millie may actually have a point there.
To Tracey's great relief, Pansy puts an end to it before it can become too dangerous, "With a Protection Vow, it won't make any difference if... they blame the Head for the bonding or not."
Val grumbles something about it still not being proven, but it's mostly under her breath and unlikely to be seen as anything other than pedantic.
Millie's face reflects the fact she still doesn't quite grasp the significance of that Vow, and Tracey now tries her hand, "It's not a question of someone objecting to his bonding her, or whether they'd target Professor Snape. With that Vow, it's enough if they target her, and one side or the other, possibly both, almost definitely will."
Hestia seizes the opportunity to reinforce her position from last night, "And in that light, we really should at least be making an effort to keep Granger..."
"Snape," Val corrects with a smirk, cheering immediately.
"Whatever," Hestia replies, shooting her fellow Chaser a look.
Flora takes up her sister's thread, "We should be trying to keep Madam Snape safe for him." Hestia would much rather they concentrate on that than on decimating her team; she smiles at Flora in appreciation of the support.
They're all sort of facing Millie now, as if she were this ominous unnamed threat to the Protection Vow. Inasmuch as she's the only one of them to have ever actually laid a violent hand on the witch in question, there might even be something to it, but Millie juts her chin stubbornly forward and looks into the circle of faces. "And just what have you done to that end?" Her gaze finally lands on Flora, mostly because she was the one to voice the suggestion, but also because Millie thinks she has the advantage here. It's a slightly risky gambit given the girl's twin is prone to take her side in any argument, but Hestia wants something from Millie, Flora hasn't got the comfy niche of contributing to the House that the Quidditch players and Prefects have, and Millie goes for a perceived weak link.
Flora has no reply.
Pansy could say she and Ella answered the portraits' call for aid for the witch only last night. Ella could answer she then went so far as to heal the woman at the Baron's behest. Tracey could tell them how she and Daphne have been seeing her safely to classes. Daph, in fact, looks like she just might say as much now in answer to the query, but Millie beats her to it, "I walked her back to Chambers from the library today," which is met by surprised silence from all but her teammates. "A shame of Gryffindorks came in, she seemed unhappy to see them, and I saw her safely home. So you don't have to tell me about not stepping up to help the Head."
"That's..." Tracey is at a bit of a loss. 'Unexpected' is probably the kindest choice, but only likely to set the girl off again. More judiciously, she settles on, "Good of you." And then tries one last time to make the girl understand, "But given how serious the threat to him is, we should be treating the boys accordingly."
Hestia and Val give Millie subtle nods, that's her cue, and she now launches into her defence of the 'Quidditch agenda' as she's coming to think of it. As the girls are less obsessed with the sport than the boys, by far, she has some difficulty gaining traction there, especially as many happen to share Bart's view that skill at a sport shouldn't grant the boys carte blanche. For any rational being, the justification seems patently absurd - what has the one to do with the other? - and yet it's sobering how many of the boys believe just that. Millie remains steadfast. Eventually, once the others have lost some of their steam, Hestia and Val join in taking Millie's side, slowly at first but with increasing insistence. Surely the others see the importance of beating the Moggies, even if they don't care for the game...
Really, no one can object to that.
However as they hadn't been the ones to keep Vince and Gregory from practice today, there also isn't as much need to sway the witches.
Alberta, somewhat maliciously, appears to try to help their cause, arguing that, "If we're serious about winning, we shouldn't wish to rely on the Reserve players after all."
Millie is quite sure she's simply shit-stirring - she can recognise a dig when she hears it - and looks about ready to pop her one, when Sharon pipes up with a "Hey!" Her brother Sheldon is just one of those Reserve players, and Maggie Burke seems in total agreement: Sheldon is absolutely fab.
Maggie's just opened her mouth to say so, in fact, when Sharon's "Hey!" echoes loudly through the girls' dorms and the youngest Burke closes her mouth with a clack of teeth. She nudges her friend but it's too late. All eyes are on them now.
"Sharon, you should know better than that," Pansy chides her, and the Firstie begins to squirm.
"But no one is sleeping," she tries to plead her case. "You're all here." Maggie looks at her apologetically, but she really doesn't fancy her chances.
"You did this only yesterday, you did it again today. If you aren't conscious of it, you're every bit as likely to do it when people are," Pansy counters, not unreasonably.
Sharon gulps, and Maggie swallows sympathetically. Neither is much surprised when Pansy levels her wand at Sharon and hits her with a Stinging Hex that leaves its mark.
Sharon's "Owwww!" predictably now echoes through their rooms as well.
"Please, Pansy, not another one!" She sniffles as she rubs her aching arm, but her voice is lower this time so she's learning the lesson and Pansy mercifully stows her wand. Most girls grasp the concept within the first week, a few need the first month. Sharon is the first in ages to have taken longer, but then she's fairly enthusiastic by nature. A couple of their Housemates, considering her and Hunter, have wondered if that's a familial trait on the Shacklebolt side.
Maggie budges up closer to lend some moral support once the other girls return to their stupid debate about how to treat the dumb boys. Sharon is so over it now. Sadly neither Firstie knows a good Cooling Charm as they soon establish. Sharon mentally adds it to the list of things she needs to learn.
Daphne waits until the arguments to spare the boys have had a chance to make an impression on the others. It should help her case. Once Millie has made some headway, Daph tries to piggyback on her success with another plea for leniency for Theo.
"Theo? He isn't even on the team," Millie objects to the hijacking, which strikes several as frankly stupid, but then that's all too commonplace. The main issue was they weren't altogether sure the other boys should be given a break for that fact, so any discussion of Theo's deservedness of forbearance that isn't predicated on Quidditch playing presumably works in his favour.
"And yet he was the only one of them not to get a Serpent, his father's Serpent blamed Draco for the whole fiasco, and you know that has to be true..."
"As he knows it," comes Pansy's objection. She still has something of a soft spot for her ex.
Daphne continues as though she hadn't said anything, "The man's owl praised Theo's actions," and a couple of the girls scoff. Sure, that was unproven; she probably shouldn't have bothered mentioning it. She regains traction with her next argument, "But Draco himself gave Tracey an Oath that Theo not only hadn't contributed to the Head's situation, but rather had attempted to prevent it. Where's your way around that? That's got to be true then."
"As he knows it," Millie echos Pansy's words.
"You can't have it both ways. If the Serpents blaming the boys are true, then one of them exonerating someone else, with an Oath to back up the claim no less, must also be. It has to be true."
"No," Pansy objects. "If the... senders of the Serpents had gotten the wrong end of the wand, they could still claim a thing without it being correct. And a person who wasn't involved could try to defend another to the best of his knowledge and then his wand wouldn't snap. Draco doesn't have to be lying, he could just be mistaken."
"Or a person who was involved but has... compromised memories of the thing could also try to defend another, potentially equally guilty party, to the best of his knowledge and then his wand also wouldn't snap," Tracey objects quietly, having spent a good portion of the day trying to find the loopholes in Draco's Oath. She gives Daphne an apologetic look, but her sympathies don't change the facts. That scenario was a definite possibility.
"What's more likely, that both sides have it wrong, or that both sides have it right?" Daphne demands. "Consider the people involved. And when you add in that Professor Snape personally told Blaise he should follow Theo's lead, it would seem to lend credence to that claim."
"Blaise could have been lying..." Tracey points out.
"Any attempt to paint Theo as guilty relies on everyone being mistaken or lying. That's unlikely. Certainly given the individuals, Oaths and Serpents involved."
It's not that they disagree as to the facts, but most don't consider them as conclusive as Daphne seems to. Really, given what she's come to suspect from Theo's odd behaviour and Jones' withdrawal from the school mid-term... Well, Daphne doesn't find them as definitive as she might once have either, but Draco's Oath and her faith in her friend have her thoroughly persuaded, Theo doesn't deserve to be lumped in carelessly with the rest. Even worse, as the only non-team member amongst them, as things presently stood, the rest were likely to take any frustrations out on him alone if people like Millie had their way. Daphne can't stand for that.
Tori gives her what support she can, it's more difficult for her as she isn't as close to Theo and hasn't her sister's near unwavering faith in him. Tomasina joins in, backing the Greengrasses and with the others already so exhausted from their fight with Millie, Daphne gains a little more ground. They can agree to upholding the decision to help the Head with his bondmate and thankfully no one seems to feel they need to revisit the decision to... spurn the boys. Hexing them is now viewed more as a matter of individual conscience and less an official mandate, and Theo's culpability has been called more thoroughly into question. In light of that, perhaps his status has improved marginally.
It's not much, but it's a start, and considering how he had looked when he'd left the Great Hall after dinner, covered in bits of napkin and darting for the door, every little bit could help.