"the flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all."
in which Peony Parkinson falls for Fred Weasley amidst a sea of adversities and finds herself grow stronger in the process
note: this is a slow-paced story taking place fro...
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chapter six
Peony Parkinson's body wasn't found until the next morning.
Robert waited in the common room for her to come down, when she didn't he assumed she had early rounds that morning and went down to breakfast alone.
Millicent looked up from the Slytherin table, noting Robert coming down to the Great Hall alone. She didn't panic. It was actually quite common for Peony to miss breakfast, all of the smells made her nauseous.
Professor Flitwick was walking on his way to his first Charms when he found her. Peony was laying just a few feet away from his classroom, her eyebrows creased in a scared expression, mouth opened just slightly and one arm holding her books, the other held out and in an almost fist as if she had been grabbing for something.
He gasped when he saw the student, but wasted no time in levitating her body and leading her towards the Hospital Wing, asking Helena Ravenclaw's ghost to call for the Headmaster.
Madam Pomfrey was in the hospital wing, tending to a homesick first year and stressed out in fifth year when Peony and Flitwick arrived. She, similarly to the Charms professor, gasped before leading them towards a bed next to Colin Creevey, pulling the curtains back when the fifth year leaned up to look.
Dumbledore arrived just minutes later, joining Flitwick and Pomfrey behind the curtains as the Healer examined the girl, however the answer was obvious.
The Heir of Slytherin had laid claim on its next victim.
Rumors that Peony Parkinson had been petrified spread quickly. The fear multiplying, as well as the confusion.
Peony was a pureblood, why would the Heir, who seemed set on attacking muggleborns, petrify a pureblooded girl?
The first assumption was that because she was a Ravenclaw, she should be considered an enemy. But that was quickly dismissed as she wasn't the only pureblood in a different house.
The next guess was her family. But what could the Parkinsons have done to make the Slytherin Heir into petrifying their child? And why wasn't Pansy attacked?
The truthful answer came in the form of Pansy Parkinson. After many prying questions from her friends, she came clean.
Peony was not pureblooded. Peony was the bastard child of Vance Parkinson and an unknown, muggleborn woman. Peony Parkinson was the result of a love potion gone awry, the result of a rape case.
And the rumors began to fly once again. The tale began so popular between students, that a relative of a Daily Prophet journalist sent a letter and soon the Wizarding World knew of Peony Parkinson and her evil, muggleborn mother who tricked an old-blood wizard into having a child.
Vance Parkinson arrived at Hogwarts one day after the story had been released, white with rage. He demanded answers about his daughter, Dumbledore calmly supplied that they were treating her with the utmost respect and she would be healed along with the other students when the Mandrake potion was ready.
Vance then asked to speak to his second daughter. Pansy was pulled from class and into Professor Dumbledore's office, no one asked when she emerged with tear tracks down her cheeks and neither the father nor daughter supplied an answer.
Millicent and Robert spent most of their time outside of class with Peony. Millicent would practice her painting, gently talking to Peony about her day and how classes had gone.
Robert sat with her while doing homework, sometimes reading from his textbooks. Or asking her questions about whatever the assignment was about, he would wait for a second as if she would actually respond before giving the answer himself. Neither of them mentioned the rumors during their visits.
Madam Pomfrey checked on Peony every time she had a chance. Between other patients and her breaks, she would stop by Peony's bed, pressing a warm towel to her forehead and telling her about the newest patient that had arrived.
Vance didn't visit again but every week asked for a report on how his daughter was doing. Lamia and Pansy never visited, Lamia said she didn't have the time, Pansy would say she was too busy with her studies.
The story of Peony and her mother slowly faded away into unimportance when two other muggle born students were petrified, after the rumor high passed students no longer cared about it. Instead the focus returned to studies and fear of being petrified and the nearing Easter and Summer breaks.
Peony became another petrified student in the hospital wing, pitied and soon to be forgotten.
Peony herself could only stare up at the ceiling. Every once in a while she would see Madam Pomfrey sadly smiling down at her. She could hear her speaking and telling stories of her other patients,
Her voice, like everyone else who spoke near her, was muffled. Like they were being separated by thick glass. But she understood most of what she said. And some of the stories made her want to laugh.
Someone set their hair on permanent fire. Thankfully they only left small, easy to fix burns on their forehead. Honestly, these students are getting more and more dangerous every year.
And there were times when she would see just the curls of Robert's head. He would sit beside her and talk about his assignments or their teachers.
Snape is really trying to kill us, did you know? I mean, I'm pretty sure the Invigoration Draught is a fifth year potion... I bet you know it though.
What are the three main ingredients to it?
... It's alihotsy leaves, dried billywig stings, and peppermint.
It made Peony sad to hear Robert sound so dejected when he would answer his own questions, she really wished she could respond to him. At least so he knew she was listening and to tell him that talking about school work was boring, he should really discuss something new now.
But time with Millicent was the saddest. She couldn't really see her, but she always spoke when she was there. She would tell Peony about her day and talk to her about the painting she was making and the colors she was using and how much she liked certain shades and knew Peony would like them too.
I remember when you used to paint the sunset. It was the summer after your second year and you were outside painting. Daphne and Pansy were talking about something boring, so I went to join you.
You were mixing oranges and pinks and it looked so pretty and I didn't understand how you did it. You just told me to watch and let your hand do all the work, let the colors mix themselves and if they felt right it would work, if not you'd need to start over.
I never watched the sunset after you told me that. But I did yesterday. I think it was even prettier than the one from that day, it was yellow and orange, no pink but it looked like liquid gold.
I don't think I can do it like you, but I'm going to try painting it. So you can see it too.
Her only other visitor was the most unexpected.
Ginny Weasley arrived in a flash of red, months after Peony had been petrified. She walked by every student before settling next to Peony.
Hi... We don't really know each other. I mean, I've heard about you but I don't really know you.
Her voice sounded so small and Peony wanted to reach out and hold her hand.
I wanted to apologize... I did this to you, to all of you.
But I didn't know. I didn't know what I was doing and now... now I don't know how to stop it. I am so sorry.
