Chapter 3
Scorpia gently closed the door to the abandoned classroom behind her and whipped off her cloak, already in the uniform, her uniform. She couldn't help but skip in front of the mirror and spin, giggling at the flare of the skirt happily. This was going to be the fourth night she and Aquarius were meeting up since their encounter about a week and a half ago, and she was desperately looking forward to it. The more time she spent with the girl, the harder and harder it got for her to keep up the act of them hating each other, not to mention the fact she hated seeing the girl presenting as a boy almost as much as she hated doing it herself. These nighttime meetings were their compromise between the need to keep up appearances and their need to spend time with someone who understood the other.
And the quick formed, steadfast friendship they found came so easily was certainly a bonus.
These meetings normally fell into a study and gossip session, and Scorpia couldn't be happier with that. Sure, she still refused to actually show just how much she actually enjoyed learning about magic, and certain subjects in particular, to the rest of the school, but ever since that night on the Astronomy Tower Scorpia knew Aquarius was safe, safer even than Hermione. Or Ron she supposed, but she rather felt that if he had any idea of...well anything about her he'd probably keel over in shocked outrage, the thought actually made her snort.
She felt a smile stretch across her face as she heard the door open, "Aquari-"
The smile froze on her face, then shattered. That wasn't Aquarius.
"H-h-h-Hermione!"
The bushy haired girl gave Scorpia a confused look, "I...Harry?"
Scorpia violently flinched, being called that name while dressed so right hurt so much more than it did normally, but still she couldn't bring herself to respond.
Hermione however was a very bright girl, and while some social cues might evade her, a flinch that was obviously at being called by...her?...name, the clothes that her friend was wearing, the secret excursions...
"Har-ah...you don't like that name do you? Er...is there a name you'd prefer I use?"
Scorpia's eyes widened in shock, but she still couldn't bring herself to move, the fear of losing one of her closest friends practically screaming in her head.
Of course, that's when the door opened a second time.
"Scorpia, I swear, I looked over your potions ho..me...work...Granger?!"
Hermione leapt back, pulling out her wand, "Malfoy! Petrificus Total-"
Scorpia flourished her own wand, "No, don't hurt her! Umbrae Capis!"
A tendril of Scorpia's own shadow darted out and wrapped around Hermione's wand, wrenching it out of her grasp and throwing it to the side as the girl stared at Scorpia in shock.
Aquarius nervously looked between the two girls, not sure what to say, and very aware that she, like Scorpia, was very much in a girls uniform.
Hermione opened and closed her mouth a few times without saying anything, her eyes flicking between Scorpia's horrified expression at what she'd just done, and Aquarius' terrified one.
"...Before I make assumptions. And I really want to make assumptions right now. How about you both sit down, and explain."
All three of them could hear the tremor in Hermione's voice, it was clear she was trying very hard to remain calm, but equally clear she was extremely shaken. Her words had the desired effect however, and snapped the other two girls into action, Scorpia pulling over an extra chair to the table she and Aquarius normally used for their study sessions, and Aquarius nervously took a seat close next to Scorpia as Hermione sat down in the offered chair, facing the other two girls.
"So..."
"I'm a girl!"
Hermione blinked, and then looked pointedly at Scorpia's outfit, "I guessed, what with the uniform, and how you flinched at your name earlier. Though...I guess that's a good place to start. Names. I'm guessing you have a name that isn't what everyone else thinks it is?"
Scorpia nodded, "Right. Yes. My name, er, my name is Scorpia, it's nice to meet you again? Sorry 'Mione, I didn't really expect to...be doing this yet. And she-" Scorpia points at Aquarius, "-is Aquarius, which you probably already gathered, huh?" She shot Aquarius a look as well, "Also, I think she has something to say to you."
Aquarius blushed and looked anywhere but at Hermione, but still took the opportunity for what it was and spoke up, "Right. I'm...I'm sorry for how I've treated you and Scorpia. I..." She sighs, and finally meets Hermione's eyes, "I really am sorry, but I didn't have much of a choice."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at Aquarius, "I...noticed that you've been leaving me, Ron and...Scorpia alone over the past few weeks. I assume that's when this-'' She gestures at the other two girls, "-whole thing first started?"
Scorpia and Aquarius look at each other nervously, and nod. Neither trusted themselves to speak, not yet. Scorpia needed Hermione to understand and accept the situation or she'd be devastated, and Aquarius knew how important the outcome of this would be to Scorpia and was scared to mess it up and lose not only her best chance at getting a chance to do the ritual before puberty really kicked in, but also the friend she'd come to rely on quite a bit.
Hermione took their nervous expressions in for a moment, then sighed, "Aquarius, if you can give me a good reason for why you 'didn't have much of a choice', then I'll agree to a fresh start with you. Scorpia, there's still stuff I want to talk about, but I do accept you, don't worry about that."
Some of the tension visibly drained from Scorpia, but Hermione noticed that there was still anxiety there. Apparently her friend really wanted for things to go well between her and Aquarius.
Aquarius looked down at the table, not willing to meet Hermione's eyes, "I...there are...expectations for the 'son' and heir of Lucius Malfoy. I have to hate the Weasleys, I have to hate anyone who's not a pureblood, I have to hate anyone who's not the right kind of pureblood, I have to hate 'Harry Potter'-" Both Aquarius and Scorpia gave uncomfortable shudders at Scorpia's deadname, "-because my quote unquote 'generous' offer was refused at the beginning of the year. I just...I have to look like I hate, or else any number of the students whose parents are in my father's pocket would wind up talking about it, and it would wind up reaching him and it...it wouldn't be good."
Hermione worried her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, then sighed, "Fine. I'll accept that, but don't expect us to be friends as quick as you and Scorpia apparently made nice. Speaking of, Scorpia? That...that name doesn't really seem like you, why did-"
Scorpia pursed her lips, "It's my name Hermione, and I like it. A lot. Plus...there's a lot about me that you and Ron don't know."
Aquarius shot Scorpia a mild glare, "For example, did you know she actually sabotages her own grades? It's infuriating! She's better at potions than I am! Don't even get me started on her talent for Dar-"
"Aquarius!"
Aquarius flinched at Scorpia's panicked shout, "Uh, anyways, the point is she's holding herself back and it's driving me up a wall!"
Hermione looked at them both suspiciously, then put all of her attention on Scorpia, "Why would you do that? I can't imagine how frustrating it has to be!"
Scorpia sighed and rested her forehead on the table, not looking forward to this conversation at all, "Because I got used to doing it at my Aunt and Uncles' ok? Plus, can you imagine how Ron would react if I suddenly was a 'Swotty Brat'? I just don't want the trouble."
The venom Scorpia used when repeating the same thing that Ron would still sometimes call her made Hermione feel a sense of warm vindication, but...she was more concerned over what else her friend had said. "Why would you get used to it? That's...did they make you underperform?"
Scorpia's head didn't move as she snorted derisively, "Oh, it was simply impossible that anyone could outperform their Dudders. Especially not a freak. As if he wasn't too stupid to figure out how to roll a ball downhill. Idiot never managed to figure out that maybe if he didn't want bugs finding their way into his bed then he shouldn't rely on his favorite little victim to clean his room."
Hermione looked horrified, but Aquarius just looked sad...as if she'd already heard this before. Hermione looked between the two and took a reassuring breath before she continued, "That's...that's awful Scorpia, I'm so sorry, but-"
"But you want to know why I would say something so cruel, or take revenge like that?"
"Well...I mean..." Hermione sighed, "You have to admit it doesn't sound like you."
Scorpia snorted, "Hermione, you're one of my closest, and only, friends, but there's a lot about me you don't know."
Hermione took another look at Scorpia's outfit, "That...that's pretty clear. Are you...are we...do you even want me as a-"
Scorpia's head shot up, "'Mione! Don't question that! Of course I still want you as a friend! I was...I was worried that you wouldn't want me. I'm...I mean, I'm not the same person that you thought you knew, or that's in those books..."
Hermione got up and rushed over to Scorpia, and wrapped her in a hug, "Obviously I still want you as a friend! As long as you still want me!"
Scorpia melted into the embrace and silently nodded, turning her face into the embrace and relishing the fact that she wasn't going to lose her closest friend.
"No more hurting your own grades though, ok? If Ron or anyone else has a problem with it, then that's their problem."
"...Ok. I'll...I'll start giving my actual effort in class."
Aquarius threw up her hands, "Thank you! I swear, if you showed even half the talent you actually have in potions Professor Snape wouldn't treat you like he does! He can hold a grudge, but actual potions talent like yours is so rare he'd drop it in a heartbeat just to have someone actually worth teaching, I've heard him rant about how bad he wants an actual talent in his class often enough."
Hermione looked up, and a flash of...something...crossed her expression, "Actually, that reminds me. It sounded like you were about to say that Scorpia has a talent with something that sounded an awful lot like 'Dark Magic', what, exactly was that about?"
Scorpia pulled back and shot an annoyed glare at Aquarius before looking at Hermione with a strange mix of both sheepishness and defiance on her face, "That is what she said 'Mione. I...it's...look, dark magic isn't evil ok? I know that's what all the textbooks say, but that's because of-of-"
Aquarius cut in, "Systemic sexism in the sphere of politics pressed by those in power, and a dedicated smear campaign headed by...a very publicly trusted individual."
Hermione looked between the two of them, obviously on edge about this topic, before she hesitantly spoke, "I...do you have something to-to prove it? Or something? I-Scorpia I trust you but..."
Aquarius couldn't help her flinch at the meaning behind Hermione's words, but she also couldn't blame the other girl, "Uh, I have a book you can look at, it's kind of...a primer on the history of women in our world, and the unedited history of Dark Magic? It's-I gave it to Scorpia when she first came out and she kind of tore through it in a few nights, so It's free if you want to read it?"
Hermione took a moment to really look at Aquarius. The girl, and she really couldn't think of her at all like the Malfoy she'd learned to hate. She...she looked uncertain while Malfoy always looked cocky, ashamed of what she'd done while Malfoy always seemed to relish the anguish left behind in their wake. Or, she thought that was the case. The longer she looked at Aquarius, at the real, unfiltered emotion on her face, the more she realized...everything from before was a mask. Even recently, when Mal-no. She was Aquarius now, even when Aquarius just ignored them...that was a mask too.
Darn it, she just couldn't hate the girl in front of her, not with how happy she obviously had helped Scorpia to feel, and how vulnerable she was being.
Hermione nodded, and gave a small smile to Aquarius, "I'll give it a read, and I'll hold off any judgment until then ok? If I'm being totally honest...the idea that there was just a whole subject of study that was mentioned and then warned away against and made illegal doesn't sit well with me."
Aquarius' face lit up in a beaming smile, and Hermione felt her heart briefly skip. However, before she could even recognize that feeling or think about it, she suddenly found her arms full of a laughing Scorpia, and immediately forgot all about it as the three girls happily spent the next several hours studying and getting to know each other authentically for the first time.