Chapter 5
The week continued more or less the same as the first. Rhaenyra was not interested in the classes and she did not make any friends, neither in Slytherin nor in other houses. She endured her days with the thought of getting to see her beloved dragons in the evenings. After first casting a silencing spell, she would cry until the small hours of the morning. Rhaenyra was depressed and knew it too, but ignored it. She knew she couldn't stay in bed all day at Hogwarts (except on weekends), so she would force herself to get up in the morning, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself.
Helaena didn't seem any happier than she did. However, Helaena had always been more comfortable on her own and now she had to be around a huge crowd of people at school all the time, and most of the Hufflepuffs were quite social and nice, so they tried to make Helaena feel welcome all of the time. The irony was, that it only seemed to make Helaena more anxious. On top of that, Helaena had to spend her free time with Rhaenyra as she had promised. Rhaenyra might have felt worse for Helaena if she hadn't been jealous of her, as she watched the friendly Hufflepuffs talk persistently to Helaena. Even though Rhaenyra was Helaena's twin, most of the Hufflepuffs seemed to fear her and even avoided Helaena when in the company of her sister.
With nothing better to do in class, she watched in boredom as Malfoy and his friends bullied and laughed at whomever. Usually it was someone from Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, but never another Slytherin. And then Rhaenyra watched Malfoy bluster on about quidditch to all his mates and then Pansy babbling so sweetly to Malfoy that Rhaenyra felt sick from across the room. Zabini talked about his summer on the French Riviera and Nott just listened with a small smile while everyone else was talking about themselves. Rhaenyra couldn't deny that she was a little jealous even of them. They had friends who supported them in everything. To Rhaenyra's relief, despite her first morning episode with the boys, they didn't seem particularly interested in her and ignored her as much as the Slytherin girls did.
For Rhaenyra, the potions class with the Gryffindors was always the most interesting class during the week, and had nothing to do with potions itself. In fact, Rhaenyra had always been pretty lousy at the whole thing, but the potions class between Gryffindors and Slytherins was entertaining. Add to that the obvious bias of professor Snape, which was odd behavior from a teacher, and the dull subject was made interesting. The Slytherins seemed to enjoy the humiliation of the Gryffindors and grinned happily at the potions lessons.
In the first week of September, Snape started his potions class as soon as he arrived in class and seemed to be in a particularly nasty mood. Rhaenyra saw Malfoy laughing with the other Slytherins, especially as Snape mocked Harry Potters’ potions. Rhaenyra could think of no reason for the torture other than the hostilities between the houses and it still seemed like a strange reason. Harry Potter had not been as exciting a person as she had expected. The boy was ordinary in every way (excluding his history with Voldemort), so there had to be some other reason for being the target of all the bullying from Slytherins and Snape, that Rhaenyra just didn't know about. She watched with interest for a moment, and when Snape began to circulate the class with the other students, she focused on making her own potion. Potion in question was tricky, but luckily Rhaenyra had already made it once last year, so she did better this time.
Snape mocked the Gryffindor potions whenever he could think of something, but with the Slytherins he either said nothing, quietly gave advice or nodded approvingly. With Rhaenyra, Snape was just silent. Rhaenyra felt a little sorry for Neville Longbottom, who Snape seemed to enjoy mocking almost as much as Potter. Apparently unable to think of any more torture to inflict on him, Snape gave they their homework and finished the lesson.
On the same day, they had an herbology class together with Hufflepuffs. Rhaenyra sat down next to Helaena, relieved to have the only classes where she didn’t have to sit alone. In home schooling, she had never realized how nice it was to have someone she knew sitting next to her when it was time to work in pairs on something in class. However, they didn't say much of anything to each other during classes and Helaena seemed to be in her own world.
"Have you had a nice day?" Rhaenyra asked, when she could no longer remember when she had said anything out loud other than ´hi´ in the last couple of days. She feared she would soon forget how to talk to people.
"Yeah," Helaena said, but she didn't sound very convincing. Rhaenyra felt like she was looking at her sister properly for the first time in weeks. Helaena's hair was messy and a little dirty and she looked enormously tired too. Obviously, Helaena wasn't feeling any better than she was.
"Laena..." Rhaenyra started, but didn't have time to continue in any meaningful way before Sprout announced that the class was over. Rhaenyra swallowed and decided she would talk to Helaena later. They packed their things and as Helaena turned from her seat, she bumped into Malfoy, who was just passing them. The things in Helaena's hand flew across the floor. Malfoy looked at Helaena in disgust as if she had deliberately crashed into him.
"Watch where you're going, you clumsy fool," Malfoy grunted and stomped over Helaena's things.
"What a prick," Rhaenyra muttered the word she had learned from her older brother Aegon years ago, apparently louder than she had thought, as she saw Malfoy turn in her direction.
"What did you say?"
Rhaenyra swallowed hard. She didn't really want Malfoy as an enemy any more than she did on the first day.
"Repeat what you said," Malfoy ordered and stepped closer to Rhaenyra. She lifted her gaze to Malfoy's gray eyes.
Rhaenyra mustered what little pride she had left, which wasn't much lately, and reminded herself that she was of great lineage witches and wizards and a dragon rider too, before opening her mouth.
"I said you're a prick," Rhaenyra said loudly this time, looking Malfoy down on her nose, which was quite a challenge, since Malfoy was a head taller than her. Well, they were enemies already with their families being on opposite sides, so she guessed there was no loss of a potential friend there.
Malfoy smiled contemptuously at Rhaenyra, but there was a flash of interest in his eyes. "I would think very carefully about who I would pick a fight with if I were you, little Targaryen."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind next time," Rhaenyra said as sarcastically as she could, mimicking Malfoy's manner of speech.
"Ah, little Targaryen can talk more than two words. Here I thought for a while you were mute," Malfoy grinned mockingly and then left the classroom. Rhaenyra scowled sourly after him. After collecting Helaena's things, they too went out with the others.
"I'm still not used to the way people treat us here."
Rhaenyra looked at Helaena and grimaced and laughed at the same time. "Yeah, I didn't realize how spoiled and pampered we were until coming here."
"Is Malfoy or others that horrible to you all the time?"
"No, they aren’t. They don't really seem to notice my presence in the room at all. The last time I spoke to Slytherin was over a week ago, when Nott was paired with me in charms."
"That's good then, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess it's better that way." Rhaenyra was partly lying. She didn't want to be the center of attention in a negative way of entire House of Slytherin, at least not based on how they behaved towards Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, but she also didn't want to be completely ignored either.
"Do you want to take lunch with us and go outside to eat?" Rhaenyra asked, changing the subject and hoping she wouldn't have to go to the Slytherin table alone again. Helaena nodded in agreement and they picked up their food and went out. It was a fine day outside, thankfully, so they went under an oak tree to eat.
"How are you really?" Rhaenyra asked cautiously while poking her shepherd's pie. She didn't really enjoy the products of English cuisine that much and once again missed the food of the now passed house-elves. Helaena stared at her food in misery.
"Well, good I guess... or I don't know," Helaena sighed. "I've never really realized before how much of a crazy person other people think I am," Helaena admitted grimly.
"You're not that crazy," Rhaenyra defended firmly, but Helaena just rolled her eyes.
"You don't have to do that, Nyra," Helaena smiled sadly," everyone here already thinks so, I can see it in their faces. Even Hufflepuff’s think so, though they're nice enough not to make fun of it to my face. I've always known I was weird and that's probably why I avoided other people's company, but now I realize how sheltered my life really was."
"I guess you realize how good your life really was when you lose it. '' Rhaenyra sighed too. “We are a disaster at Hogwarts, aren’t we? One is apparently a future dark witch or something, having been sorted into Slytherin, and the other is apparently crazy," she laughed bitterly.
They sat quietly and dejectedly for a moment, staring at the group of laughing students walking in the distance.
"I never expected that this would happen to us," Rhaenyra said seriously, plucking the grass with her hand.
"I really miss them," Helaena admitted quietly, tears in her eyes, and Rhaenyra knew who she was talking about.
"Me too, Laena," Rhaenyra whispered and gave Helaena's hand a little squeeze. They both continued to finish their meal in sad silence.
****
After lunch, Helaena went to her muggle studies class and Rhaenyra to her numerology class. After the numerology they had another lesson together on defense against the dark arts. Professor Umbridge was eccentric, to say the least, with her girlish clothes and false sweetness. The class was deadly dull at first, but turned interesting after Umbridge got into a war of words with most of the students about her teaching plans according to the subject. According to Umbridge, the students had no real concern or need to learn about defensive magic other than in theory. The pupils understandably disagreed. In any case, the class was the most boring class of all the classes in Hogwarts and Rhaenyra would have slept through them if Umbridge hadn’t given detention for a week to Ernie Macmillan, who had slept through one of her classes.
Aegon had finally replied to Rhaenyra's letter briefly, stating that he trusted Dumbledore's judgment and protection, and could not or would not do anything about it, so Rhaenyra had to resign herself to her fate in Slytherin.
The fifth year was clearly stressful for everyone, as the O.W.L exams were due at the end of the next semester. However, Rhaenyra was not particularly worried about O.W.L’s and spent most of her free time with the dragons. In the Slytherin, Rhaenyra was still treated with reservation and indifference, but not with open bullying, as were members of other houses, especially the "weak" ones.
Sitting in an armchair reading in the common room, she saw Malfoy and Zabini come into the room and shoo the tiny first graders off the biggest couch. Rhaenyra watched from behind her book as the frightened first graders hurried to sit somewhere else.
"Has the famous Rhaenyra Targaryen settled in Slytherin yet?" Zabini asked from the sofa.
"I don't think so."
Zabini grinned at her reply. "You haven't even tried properly."
Rhaenyra just shrugged.
"She thinks she's better than the other Slytherins," Malfoy smirked.
"Ah, then she's like a real Slytherin, because that's what all the Slytherins think," Zabini laughed.
Rhaneyra flushed slightly and then raised her eyebrows in their direction. "I don't think I'm better, I know it."
Malfoy turned to look at her now, his eyes flashing. "Yeah, and how are you any better than the rest of us?"
"Well, on your narrow-minded scale, I lead on almost everything, I am sure,” she smiled coldly. ”I am a pureblood from one of the oldest and greatest families in the whole wizarding world. Besides that, the history of my family can be seen everywhere, including Hogwarts and also in the Slytherin house, for Salazar Slytherin had Targaryen blood on his grandmother's side if I remember correctly. So you might think that I belong in this house by a greater right than you two," Rhaenyra said dispassionately and slammed her book shut. Malfoy and Zabini's expressions turned sour at her words.
"Watch out or you'll start to sound like a true supporter of pureblood and the power of the old wizarding families," Malfoy said smoothly.
"I don't give a shit about pureblood. It was just an example," she snapped, her cheeks flushing even more. "I also have no need to boost my own ego by bullying the weaker ones, unlike you do on a daily basis. I wonder why? Are you so insecure and powerless or what's the big deal? Practice for your future duties as a Death Eater?"
Malfoy's face paled and for the first time he looked angry.
"You're no better than the rest of us, Targaryen. Your parents were practically blood traitors, at least in the last Wizarding War. Since you seem to think every Slytherin is an incipient dark wizard, why on earth are you here then if you are so pure of heart?" Malfoy said, annoyed.
Rhaenyra felt a twinge in her heart at Malfoy's words and turned to look at her hands, which were gripping the book tightly. Her emotions were evident on her face, since a triumphant smile appeared on Malfoy's face.
"Well, well. Hit a sore spot? What darkness are you hiding?"
When she didn't answer, Malfoy seemed even more jubilant, and said mockingly, "It must be bad that your twin sister is like a diligent saint in Hufflepuff with the other miserably fools they are, and you are here with the most scheming and evil of the Hogwarts students."
Rhaenyra felt her face twist and swallowed hard. Malfoy watched her face with interest, almost greedily.
"I'm nothing like you," Rhaenyra said quietly, which sounded faint even to her own ears. She got up briskly and walked out of the room without looking back. Rhaenyra marched out in a rage and after finding a quiet place, she burst into a furious cry and beat the wall with her hands, letting out all her rage.
Worst of all, Malfoy had said out loud every fear and disappointment she had about herself in a few sentences. She knew she wasn't always perfect or particularly brave, even if she wished she was. She knew she was calculating, selfish and vindictive at times, which were more than certainly traits that suited Slytherin.
After she stopped crying, she sat miserably for a long time and after she finally collected herself, she walked back to the dungeons.
Malfoy and Zabini were still sitting on the sofa, but they were joined by others. Zabini didn't seem to notice her, but Malfoy's gaze snapped to her immediately upon entering the door, but his expression gave nothing away. His gaze lingered on her face and cheeks, which might have still shown traces of her crying. Rhaenyra turned her gaze, mouth tight, to the floor, no longer looking at Malfoy as she walked past them to the bedroom, though she felt his gaze on her.
****
The next day, going to an astronomy class in the evening, Rhaenyra took a seat in the corner by herself, as she had done in previous classes. The class was scattered with students from all the houses who had chosen to study astronomy. Professor Sinistra started the class with her calm voice. Astronomy was not Rhaenyra's favorite subject by any means and she prepared herself not to listen to anything that was said in the class. Helaena had not chosen to study astronomy, as she felt she had enough predictions for her life without interpreting the stars.
"In this lesson we need pairs, so please pair up, thank you," Sinistra asked calmly. Rhaenyra grimaced and watched as the others paired up. Only one Hufflepuff girl was left without a pair, and she didn't look happy to realize that Rhaenyra was the only one without a pair.
Rhaenyra and the Hufflepuff girl reluctantly moved to sit next to each other, after which Sinistra proceeded to give instructions for the task. They were to predict each other's next months from the stars.
Rhaenyra pulled out her astronomy book from her bag as Pansy turned in Rhaenyra's direction.
"Your task is easy. Everyone knows how to predict the future of the most famous idiot in the Hufflepuff. Probably a few more trolls and the teachers can finally say that you can't fit anything into your thick head and kick you out of the school." Pansy said mischievously about the other girl, smiling fraternally at Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra glanced at the Hufflepuff girl, who blushed with embarrassment and seemed to be swallowing back tears. The girl said nothing, however, only stared miserably at her astronomy book.
"It's easy to predict your future here, Pansy. Yesterday, today and tomorrow Hogwarts' most miserable bitch," Rhaenyra looked at Pansy with contempt. The girl raised her eyes in starled, clearly surprised that Rhaenyra was defending her to Pansy. Pansy looked at both of them with disgust.
"At least I'm not crazy like you Targaryens. We all have to be scared that you will do as your parents did and burn everyone with fiendfyre in your madness," Pansy snorted venomously. Rhaenyra narrowed her eyes and then smiled condescendingly.
"I wouldn't burn everyone else, but only you, Pansy," Rhaenyra taunted. Sinistra asked the students to concentrate on the task at hand, so Pansy merely scowled and then turned back to her own partner.
"Thanks for that," the girl said and smiled sincerely at Rhaenyra. The girl was very pretty, with blue-gray eyes, a small slender face, framed by long thick curly reddish-brown hair.
"Sure," Rhaenyra shrugged.
"I'm Anna Bluend," Anna introduced herself with a cheerful smile. Rhaenyra raised her eyebrows in surprise at the girl's reversal to her attitude towards her.
"I am Rhaenyra-" Rhaenyra started, but Anna spoke over her. "You're Rhaenyra Targaryen, I know. You and your sister all the school talks about. Well, you and Dumbledore and Potter," Anna grinned.
"Great, it's nice to know that the whole school is gossiping about our craziness," Rhaenyra smiled weakly, but Anna shook her head.
"It's just a wild rumor. Everyone seems more interested in Targaryen twin daughters and the fact that you were sorted into as opposite houses as possible and yet you seem to be on good terms. It's unprecedented. Everyone is shocked, as I'm sure they haven't seen members of Hufflepuff and Slytherin houses having a conversation where one of the other doesn't get a hex on their back at some point," Anna chuckled, even making Rhaenyra grin a little. "On top of that I bet at least half of them are scared of you, with your family being so powerful and then well..." Anna stopped not knowing how to continue and glanced at Rhaenyra worried if she had angered her.
"And then they're also concerned about the deaths in my family and wondering how much of the rumors are true and whether we'll soon start burning people like our parents did," Rhaenyra finished Anna's sentence and glared annoyed in Pansy's direction. "And what do you think?" Rhaenyra asked, interested to know Anna's answer.
Anna grinned happily. "Well, I don't think you're going to start burning anyone. I've talked to Helaena a few times. She's kind of reclusive, so even though we're in the same house I don't really know her that much, but she doesn’t seem like a person who would do something like that," Anna stated and then hesitated before continuing," but given my background and experience so far with pureblood Slytherins, you always have to be a little wary."
"Your background?"
"I'm a muggleborn," Anna admitted, looking uncomfortable.
"Aah. Well, I don't care about that," Rhaenyra said, frowning in confusion.
Anna smiled in relief at hearing that. "Good. Slytherins were becoming too much of a self-repeating stereotype."
The girls grinned at each other. The girls spend the rest of the class chatting happily and for the first time since arriving at Hogwarts, Rhaenyra felt somewhat happy.
"Oops, we haven't done a single thing Sinistra asked! I have to get Acceptable for this or I'll get detention soon if I get one more failed school task," Anna gasped in alarm and began writing rapidly on the parchment, studying the star charts as she did so. They both completed the task sloppily just before class ended. After the class Rhaenyra and Anna began to gather their things and returned their parchments to Sinistra. They walked out of the class together.
"What did you think of Hogwarts?" Anna asked as they walked out of the classroom.
Rhaenyra bit her lip, unsure what to say. "It's... okay, I guess."
Anna's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't you like it here?"
"I... I guess it's just been hard to adjust to being around so many other people all the time and no one seems to like me and then of course the events of the summer and moving here are still weighing on me," Rhaenyra admitted honestly.
"What happened in the summer?" Anna asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
Rhaenyra looked at her with a frown, unsure if Anna was being serious. "Well, half my family died in the fiendfyre."
Anna blushed violently and looked embarrassed. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to... or I mean I forgot... oh, what an idiot I am," she wailed, clearly afraid she had offended her.
"No problem," Rhaenyra said, a little sourly.
They walked in silence for a moment, before Anna started talking again. "You know, I'm sure you'll find some friends here. You seem like a great person and once you get used to being here I bet you'll start to like Hogwarts. Everybody eventually loves it."
Rhaenyra looked at Anna, who was looking at her with such a sincere expression on her face that she had to swallow a lump in her throat. Anna's words were something she so desperately wanted to be true and it felt good to hear someone say them with such certainty.
"I hope you're right."
"It was difficult for me to adapt here at first and it took some time. It also took me a long time to get used to the attitude of many people towards muggleborns, especially when I had been quite ordinary among the muggles, and then here some people hated me for who I am," Anna chuckled good-humouredly.
Rhaenyra nodded, but couldn't say anything. She didn't bother to mention that she had never met a muggleborn in her life before coming to Hogwarts and had been quite interested if muggleborns could do magic like the others. One lesson with Hermione Granger had proved that muggleborns were indeed equal in magic and potential. She would not, however, admit any of her prejudices aloud.
"Do you want to go to Hogsmead together this weekend?" Rhaenyra asked, her heart pounding almost desperately, and hastily added right after, "unless you already have other plans."
"I don't have anything else, so it would be nice to go together," Anna said excitedly and the girls smiled happily at each other.
****
Rhaenyra and Anna quickly became good friends and confidants and Rhaenyra could not believe her luck. Anna had a personality of perpetual cheerfulness and always laughed easily. She was also helplessly talkative and completely foolish at times, but even these were only good traits in Rhaenyra’s opinion. Anna wasn't the sharpest person, but she was nice all the same. Rhaenyra had never met such a sunny and good-natured person before. In many ways they were opposites, but that didn't stop their friendship. It felt nice to have someone in her life who was eternally sunny and quickly noticed that she was worrying less and less about her life and losses every day.
Anna told Rhaenyra about her life in the muggle world, which was almost completely unknown to Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra's parents had been supporters of muggle born rights, at least in theory, but had little to do with them in reality and so were not their children either. Rhaenyra's father, Viserys, had been somewhat prejudiced against muggleborns, but had not wanted to endorse the philosophy of Voldemort and Death Eaters on other wizarding matters, so had sided with Dumbledore. To Rhaenyra, the muggle world sounded fascinating and far more complex than she had ever realized it could be. Rhaenyra also told about her life before Hogwarts to Anna, for whom the life of an ancient pureblood family was as much a mystery as the muggle world was to Rhaenyra.
The others quickly noticed the friendship between the girls and took it with suspicion. Apparently, the friendship between the pure-blooded Slytherin and the muggleborn Hufflepuff was unheard of before. The Slytherins seemed to think that Rhaenyra had betrayed Slytherin values and honor by befriending Hufflepuff, and Hufflepuffs seemed to think that the friendship was just some elaborate trap to humiliate and bully Anna. Rhaenyra didn't care, however, for she had got something she had very much wanted. A true friend in Hogwarts. Anna and Rhaenyra spent much of their free time together and the rest of the time Rhaenyra was with her dragons. Rhaenyra didn't dare tell Anna about the dragons, even though she wanted to.
Helaena seemed relieved that Rhaenyra found a friend and occasionally spent time with the girls. However, Helaena had always liked to be on her own and found it difficult to spend time and socialize with others all the time, even if it was her own sister. So with Rhaenyra's new friend she could go off on her own with a better conscience and Rhaenyra didn’t mind.
The others at Hogwarts, with the exception of Anna, were still suspicious of the Targaryen sisters, but it was easier for Rhaenyra to ignore it now. The weeks passed quickly in Anna's company and the anxiety of being at Hogwarts faded with time. Anna didn't have many good friends either, as many considered her a bit silly and gullible. Anna seemed to lack any feelings of anger or disgust and was openly cheerful towards everyone even if they were mean to her. Anna seemed to find it amusing how Rhaenyra didn't really like anyone except Anna and her own sister. Pansy and the other Slytherins hardly spoke to Rhaenyra any less than they used to, but now they glowered and whispered mischievously, especially when Rhaenyra was in Anna's company.
Herbology classes with the Hufflepuffs were a nice time for Rhaenyra, because Anna was there now. At the start of the class, Rhaenyra sat next to Anna, chatting quietly about the upcoming quidditch game that would take place in a couple of weeks between Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. The first game had already been played and Slytherin had lost against Gryffindor while Hufflepuff had lost against Ravenclaw. With the exception of Rhaenyra, the Slytherins had been in a particularly venomous mood after the defeat and had been unloading it spectacularly on whoever got on their nerves. Even before the class started, Malfoy and some Hufflepuff boy named Zacharias Smith had a heated exchange regarding Quidditch. Apparently, Quidditch was taken very seriously at Hogwarts and the atmosphere was more tense than usual when the games got closer. Rhaneyra, who had never been particularly interested in Quidditch, had gone to see the dragons instead of the game during the first game against the Gryffindor.
Professor Sprout clapped her hands to get the students' attention.
"Today I am going to give you an assignment that you will do with a partner until the end of the school year, and the assignment will determine your grade for this semester. You will do the assignment as your homework but you will not receive any other homework this term on herbology, so it should be manageable. In class we will focus on preparing for the O.W.L exams, okay?" Rhaenyra and Anna glanced at each other meaningfully to pair with each other for the assignment.
"I'll draw the pairs for you," Sprout said and the class immediately began to murmur in disappointment, including Rhaenyra and Anna. Sprout began to draw pairs, shouting them out as she did so. Anna was paired with Zacharias Smith whom Rhaenyra did not know very well but didn’t like the horrified look on his face when he realized he was to do the assignment with Anna. The girls exchanged sad expressions. Helaena had also been paired already with Tracey Davis and neither seemed too happy about it either.
"Rhaenyra Targaryen and Draco Malfoy," Sprout shouted. Rhaenyra's head turned in a flash to look at Sprout and felt her face drain of color. Rhaenyra glanced at Malfoy in slight shock, who scowled acidly in Rhaenyra's direction as if the pairing was her doing somehow. She turned her gaze quickly, heart pounding. Rhaenyra was no longer as afraid of Malfoy or the other Slytherin boys as she had been in the beginning, but working on a project together for the rest of the semester was going to be unpleasant to say the least.
Rhaenyra was preoccupied with worrying for the rest of the class, and therefore did not listen to the assignment, only flinching back to reality when she noticed the others starting to leave. As she was packing her things into her bag, she noticed Malfoy approaching her with a sour expression.
"How do you want to manage this, Targaryen?" Malfoy asked in a bored voice as he came up beside Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra felt her brain go blank.
"How do I want to manage what?"
Malfoy looked at her in disbelief, as if he had just grasped how much of an idiot Rhaenyra was.
"Is your friend's stupidity contagious? I am meaning that assignment we just got, obviously," Malfoy mockingly reminded. Rhaenyra blushed in embarrassment.
"I don't know. Any suggestions?" Rhaenyra asked, berating herself for the idiot picture she'd apparently decided to give Malfoy of herself. Not that Malfoy had held her in very high regard so far either. He looked at Rhaenyra appraisingly for a long moment and she felt uncomfortable, avoiding his gaze as much as she could.
"We could start planning the following weekend after my Quidditch practice," Malfoy finally said, looking as if he'd rather go roll around in the hippogryphs’ dumps than spend time with Rhaenyra on the weekend. Rhaenyra just nodded and Malfoy left after first glaring disdainfully at Anna sitting next to her. Rhaenyra asked Anna what the assignment had been, not wanting to be completely foolish the next time she met Malfoy. It turned out that Anna hadn't listened to instructions either.
****
On Saturday morning the following week, Rhaenyra went early to her dragons and spent the lunch hour with them before heading back to school, depressed. Quidditch practices would soon end and after finishing her lunch she went to the common room to wait for Malfoy. To pass the time, Rhaenyra read an old Targaryen family history book that she and Helaena had received from their father as a birthday present when they turned ten. The book had not burned in the mansion, as it had been with Helaena when she was in hospital. The book told stories of the ancient dragon lords and magnificence that was the Targaryen family. Rhaenyra had read it many times before, but always found it reassuring to read about the power of dragons and their riders. Rhaenyra was so engrossed in her book that she had almost forgotten who she was waiting for and why, before Malfoy appeared in front of her, wearing his Quidditch uniform. His clothes were wet and disheveled from the wind and rain, but otherwise he looked tidy, even though it was really bad weather outside from several days of rain. His face had the usual disdainful look on it as he looked at Rhaenyra. She got up on the sofa in a more upright position and frowned slightly.
"Do you want to go and change or shall we start now?" Rhaenyra asked, glancing at Malfoy's clothes.
"Let's start now. It shouldn't take long. Let's just make an arrangement of labor and plans so we can do our parts separately," Malfoy said indifferently.
"Okay. Since the task is to grow either a dark sister, an ice rose or a blood cactus, shall we first choose which one to grow?" Rhaenyra said, trying to make her tone a similar bored tone as Malfoys’, although she was actually as tense as one could get.
"Let's choose a dark sister."
Rhaenyra raised an eyebrow at his commanding tone, but did not object to the choice, as she herself had thought of suggesting the same.
"Okay, let's start by doing some background research on the plant and then next week we can put our knowledge together and figure out the next step," Rhaenyra said back in a commanding tone, again mimicking Malfoy. Now it was Malfoy's turn to look sour, but he didn't resist the suggestion.
"You figure out the growing conditions, and I'll figure out the magic properties of the plant and what it can be used for," Malfoy ordered.
"Okay, at the next meeting we'll start with a plan to write an essay on the process." Rhaneyra couldn't help thinking that they seemed to be having a bit of a competition over who could be more bossy.
"We can meet on Saturdays after Quiddicth practice or Tuesdays after dinner," Draco announced, shifting his gaze from Rhaenyra to the book she had been reading before Malfoy arrived.
"Saturdays are fine."
"I assume that you are not completely behind in your studies, even though you have been home-schooled, so I expect you to give your best to the project. I don't want to get a lousy grade because of you," Draco said coldly, looking at Rhaenyra from head to toe appraisingly. Rhaenyra flushed in annoyance. She was dressed in her thick black magically rainproofed robe, which was coat-like in fit. The robe was one of Rhaenyra's finest robes and possibly most expensive. It had gold buckles on the front and leather laces. Rhaenyra had always had her hair half up in the usual way since learning the braiding spell, so half of her hair was braided up. She knew she looked as much like an upper-class witch as you can get, so the look of disapproval on Malfoy's face didn't make sense.
"I know enough," Rhaenyra said between her teeth.
Draco smirked. "Good. If we want the best possible grade it would be good to use information from outside the school library. I'll ask from home to send books on the subject and you can check the library."
"Fine." Rhaenyra did not mention that her family also had an extensive library, because she did not think Aegon would go to the trouble of sending her any books. They stared at each other for a moment, displeased.
"Anything else to plan? I've promised to see Anna today."
Malfoy's expression turned contemptuous at her words. "I wonder, how a pureblooded witch, who is Slytherin, can sink so low and hang willingly with Hufflepuff, and what is worse, with Hufflepuff, who is mudblood. I had thought that your lowest point would be a sister in the Hufflepuff, but you have decided to sink even lower."
Rhaneyra scowled at him angrily. "You can keep wondering, for all I care. Clearly, I have not been brought up in the same narrow-minded way as the others here in Slytherin."
Malfoy smiled. "Maybe that's why the others still have parents."
Rhaenyra froze, half-stunned and half-angry at Malfoy's words. "Are you trying to say it was my parents' fault, they died? For not accepting you-know-who's rule of terror and that muggleborns should be considered so inferior that they can be treated as cruelly as wizarding world pleases?"
Malfoy tilted his head, acknowledging Rhaenyra's words. She stared at Malfoy in disbelief.
"Quite a few people believe in equality between the ‘bloods’ more loudly than my family did and they are alive and well. The killing of my family has more to do with the significant financial and political support they gave to the Order of the Phoenix during the wizarding war and fear that they might do that in the future again."
Malfoys’ lips tightened, but he did not deny it.
Rhaenyra stood up right in front of him, annoyed at Malfoy's insinuation, and said, her voice shaking with rage, "I have no regrets about what my parents believed or what they died for. My only regret is that they did not expect such a low and dishonorable act on their lives from the supporters of you-know-who. They killed my parents, but also my ten-year-old little brother, and tried to kill me and my sister too, thinking we were there that night. They killed a defenseless child who was no danger to anyone. I will regret it if one day, I don't get my revenge on the despicable cowards who did this to my family." Rhaenyra's voice cracked slightly at the end, but she managed to hold back the tears from her eyes.
"Your parents must have known the risks when they took part in the war years ago," Malfoy said slowly, in an almost pensive tone.
Rhaenyra snorted impatiently. "And what should they have done? Put their heads in the bag and pretend not to notice while people are dying everywhere?"
"Maybe, if they had wanted to survive. Many did."
"What about your parents, Malfoy?"
"What about them?"
"Have they considered the risks and consequences of which side they have taken? They may have gotten away with their crimes during the last war, but I don't think their good relations and power will last indefinitely. I don't think you-know-who will be satisfied with slightly mocking muggleborns, muggles and half-bloods, like you do here at school. He wants blood, pain and death. That's the legacy of your Death Eater parents. Are you ready for that? To torture others because of your superiority and hatred, to kill Muggles and muggleborns?" Rhaenyra poked her finger into Malfoy's chest. "I would not, but fortunately my parents' legacy is on the right side in this war and does not require tearing my soul to shreds," Rhaenyra spoke in a near whisper, watching with satisfaction as Malfoy paled at her words. He was about to open his mouth, but had no time to say anything when the dungeon door opened.
"Draco. I brought you some food since you didn't have time to stop by for lunch," Pansy breezed in, breathless, but her steps faltered slightly at the sight of who Malfoy was talking to. Rhaenyra and Malfoy stepped back from each other and both turned to look at Pansy. Rhaenyra swallowed her anger and tried to calm herself.
Pansy glared malevolently at Rhaenyra and then took Malfoy in a possessive hug and kiss. Rhaenyra watched them for a moment and then picked up her book from the sofa. Pansy looked at her with an expression that would have led one to believe that Pansy had interrupted her attempt to steal Malfoy for herself. Rhaenyra rolled her eyes and grimaced at the whole idea.
"Okay. I think that's it. I'll see you next week, Malfoy," Rhaenyra said and left the common room, Feeling eyes on her back all the way to the door.
Rhaenyra had arranged to meet Anna at the library after finishing with Malfoy and found her studying with Helaena. Anna was used to Helaena's occasional strange talk and predictions, and didn't seem to mind. Rhaenyra dropped into a chair next to Helaena and Anna raised her eyes in anticipation.
"So, how did it go? How unpleasant was Malfoy on a scale from hippogriff shit to manticore?" she asked with a slight grin. Rhaenyra shrugged.
"Just his normal self, I guess. Malfoy bossed me around most of the time, but it didn't last long, since we decided to do most of the work on our own," Rhaenyra said with a grimace and then scowled, "except in the end Pansy came in and they're apparently together and Pansy in her crazed bitchiness seemed to think I was just trying to steal Malfoy for myself."
"Yeah, I heard they're dating. It could be her worst fear, considering how desperately she's been chasing Malfoy," Anna chuckled.
"Why should that be her worst fear? She knows that I don’t like Malfoy and that the feeling is mutual."
"Well, considering that you meet all the criteria for the spouse of Malfoy's heir: you're a pretty, pure-blooded witch, from one of the most famous and wealthies wizarding families in the world, and a Slytherin, so that's bound to make Pansy jealous," Anna grinned and Rhaenyra blushed a little.
"She's all those too," Rhaenyra countered.
"Maybe, but not from a nearly powerful and filthy rich family as yours."
Rhaenyra snorted a little confused about Anna’s remarks. Helaena had followed their conversation in silence, and looked at Rhaenyra with a frown, as if she didn't understand her sister at all. Rhaenyra decided to ignore Anna and her sister and changed the subject.