❝You know, for a high-class mother with an infamous husband and two smartypants children, I think you're surviving pretty well so far. Except letting your only daughter run away and live with the Potters. That was a pretty terrible mistake. She's tu...
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IT was night once again. With carefully measured steps, Mercy and James snuck out of the cozy library, with no successful results of Mercy's supposedly mysterious ancestry. Maybe it was just that Mercy desperately wanted to believe that she was not related to her parents, maybe it was the want that made her believe maybe for an instant that she could have a different destiny and life.
James found some random newspaper clippings of a Tom Marvolo Riddle, but they didn't lead anywhere, and when asked, the only place Mercy had seen Tom Riddle's name was in a journal her father kept in their library, which she could not touch. By that time, Mercy had already officially given up. They even called Remus, who came hurriedly in, blabbering on that he was incorrect, and that Mercy hadn't been petrified, it had been just a side effect of the medicine she was taking.
Mercy didn't know if she had to be grateful or angry, after having thought that she wasn't bound to be a death eater, and that her life could take a startling spin, she quickly was let down again. She felt deflated, unsure of what she should do. Bidding her goodbye to her friends, Mercy went down to the house elves for a quick snack, and gave them her useless Slytherin scarf as a gift – she had another two in her room anyway, and the look on their faces was always a gift. Of course, she couldn't let them all go free, even if she wished she could. She despised her father for mistreating them and often yelled at her older brother for being rude to Ernie, their house elf.
As she was bounding down the steps to her dormitory, she thought of all the things that had happened that day. Her, going on a blind date with James Potter, then spending all evening holed up with him, researching her ancestry, all but with no avail. Even Remus Lupin, who always seemed to find everything came up with nothing that day. And honestly, Mercy just wanted to see Amelie, drink a cup of hot tea and just talk.
She clutched her food closer to her chest as she neared the common room, and soon after, seeing as it was vacant, she set it down on the coffee table. She set out two cups, and poured an equal amount of hot tea in them, their tea bags already propped inside them.
"Amelie!" – she called out to her best friend, but her best friend was either asleep, or reading. Finally deciding she should go fetch her, Amelie bound up the steps to their room and barged in, making as much noise as possible. And there she was, Amelie, propped up against both their pillows, her feet put up on the bed. She was reading a particularly interesting novel at candle light, as the girls had broken the light switch a few days ago. And honestly, even if the light were turned on, it would have been impossible to distinguish anything. Amelie was so engrossed with her book that she hardly noticed Mercy lurking by the door, her tall frame casting a shadow over the book.
"Lumos." – said Mercy quickly, putting an end to Amelie's mysery. "Hello loser, did you finally decide to answer my calls and bellows from the common room?"
Sheepishly, Amelie dropped her book onto her bed and pulled on her shoes. While doing so, she started blabbering about. "Sorry about that, M. I didn't hear you. I've been holed up all day today, nothing to do. Everyone was in a sour mood and I didn't get out at all. It was pretty cold outside. Anyway, how was your blind date today?"
Mercy raised her eyebrows, a small smile appearing on her lips. "You're so stupid sometimes Ames, as if I couldn't have guessed you set me up with James. It was obvious. But honestly, nothing romantic happened, and after eating we went over to the library and spent our evening there."
Amelie stood up, readjusting her braid, "And?"
"Let's go downstairs, I'll tell you more over some hot tea." - replied Mercy, leading the way downstairs.
As they finally settled down onto the plush couches of the Slytherin common room, and as they finally finished recounting the tale of what happened to Mercy that day, they both began to doze off.
It was well over midnight, and Mercy couldn't properly open her eyes. As tiredness flooded her field of vision, she heard a loud knock on the Slytherin door. Someone was locked out again. Running up the stairs, she regretted staying out in the common room to even hear the knock.
"Come in," - Mercy said gruffly, opening the door in a hurry, "But the password is "red hot", so please be more considerate next ti–"
It was then that she noticed that no one was standing if front of her, except her family's owl, Ernest. Suddenly, her tiredness faded, and she felt wide awake. The owl had a white envelope with her family's stamp in his mouth, and it looked impatient.
"Thanks Ernest." – Mercy said quietly as she let the owl go, confusion getting the best of her. How did Ernest find his way in Hogwarts? Why did her parents send the letter so late, – and what was so important they used Ernest? All sorts of questions were clouding her mind as she went down the common room, her eyes scanning over it, just to see Amelie gone to their dormitory, probably to finish her book. Mercy wished she could do that too.
Quickly, before anyone could see anything, Mercy opened the envelope, and started reading.
author's note: i am so sorry for not updating this previous month, i was traveling and also was very confused about where the plot was heading. as i cleared it up in this chapter, mercy is not the heir of slytherin, and that the boys' ideas were incorrect. anyways, i hope you enjoyed this chapter, until the next time! also, this chapter is dedicated to mia, shawnspencers for being really nice and helpful!
