Pariah: The Other Malfoy

Chapter 12: Alone

After we had got out, I caught up with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"What did you say anyway?" I asked Harry, frowning. Tobias was tugging on my sleeve to get me away and I heard the whispers surrounding us, they expected Harry to act again.

"I said stop... I was seriously speaking another language?" he asked turning to me.

I nodded, my lips pursed.

"I'm sorry, I swear I didn't want it to hurt you," Harry said quickly but I just smiled.

"I know you didn't, I mean, I hope I've never given you a reason to," I said, "Don't worry. Even if you did want to kill me, I'm sure you wouldn't be stupid enough to do it in front of Snape and our whole year. There are much more subtle ways you could get away with it!"

Harry didn't laugh and there was an awkward silence, Tobias had stopped pulling on my arm. I sighed slightly, my attempt at lightening the situation falling flat, wondering what to say to make him feel better.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I know you better than that, I was just worried about Lyra," Tobias said sheepishly.

"Thanks," I said, smiling and punching him on the shoulder lightly. I was glad he'd come to his senses, Harry was literally the Boy Who Lived!

"So I speak to snakes... Big deal! I'm sure tons of people can do it!" said Harry finally.

"No... It's not very common, Harry! Salazar Slytherin was one of the few that could," said Hermione, looking concerned.

Harry looked positively mortified, and with good reason. If it was the Heir of Slytherin who had opened the Chamber, being linked to Salazar Slytherin was something you really didn't want. Without saying another word, he walked outside and Hermione and Ron turned to me and Tobias.

"We're going to go talk to him. See you later!" sighed Hermione and they both ran after Harry.

"Thanks for believing him, I don't think he'd have coped if he thought you believed he was out to get you," Ron said before he left.

Me and Tobias looked at each other.

"If he was the Heir of Slytherin, why would he have sent the snake after me and not a muggleborn?" I asked, rolling my eyes as I heard the whispers of other students leaving the club, they were eyeing Harry as he retreated.

"I guess you could be classed as an enemy of the Heir, seeing as you're a Malfoy yet you're in Gryffindor," Tobias shrugged, "They don't need an explanation, they heard him speak to the snake and that's it."

"I think we should find out more about this Parselmouth thing," I frowned, "See what we can find in the library."

When we were at the library we started researching Parselmouths. We both wanted to help Harry, but we had to find out more about it to be able to do anything. We decided our best course of action was to discover who else had been a Parselmouth throughout history, it would help us find meaning in it.

"It says here that You-Know-Who was one!" said Tobias looking up from a book.

"What?! The Dark Lord was a Parselmouth?" I said loudly.

Madam Pince came charging around the corner with a look of fury on her face, "Be quiet! This is a library! I shall send you out if I hear you again."

With that, she turned away and me and Tobias grinned at each other. Madam Pince was a law unto herself, and annoying her was very low on my list of ideas.

"Yeah, You-Know-Who was a Parselmouth," said Tobias.

"Maybe... he opened the Chamber of Secrets last time..." I said.

"But then... how would he have told someone else how to do it?" asked Tobias.

"Well... maybe... I don't know," I sighed, closing my book in frustration, "There's plenty of kids of Death Eaters at this school, me included, and any one of them could have passed on that information. Before he died, he might have given that information to a trusted Death Eater and they've decided its time to act!"

"I suppose it is possible," said Tobias, nodding slightly.

"Let's not say anything yet though!" I said and Tobias agreed, "It'll only stress Harry out more than he already is if he discovers he has another link to the Dark Lord."

We both turned back to our books, trying to find out as much as we could. I moved around the corner to find some more books when I heard a thump then an eerie silence. Hissing suddenly filled the room and I smiled, shaking my head.

"Did you drop a book on yourself, you idiot? And seriously, hissing? We're trying to help Harry, not make fun of him," I said, laughing loudly but it quickly died out.

I stared in shock at Tobias. He was lying on the floor, a grin etched on his face. The page of the book he was reading was still open, it was a mirror that added things onto your face to make it look funny.

I fell to my knees next to him. He was freezing cold and rigid, almost as though he had been there for hours, not seconds.

"Tobias!" I yelled though I knew it was in vain, "Tobias! Get up, stop being an ass. Please, stop it this is serious. Please, please."

"Miss Malfoy, be quiet, what is all this yell..." Snape's voice trailed off.

"Miss Malfoy, that was your last warn..." Madam Pince's voice also died out and they both stared at the scene in front of them.

"Call Professor Dumbledore," Snape said, "Lyra, come with me."

I was still kneeling by Tobias's side when he grabbed my shoulder and dragged me out of the library. I stumbled as he pulled me along, my eyes still staring at the rigid body of Tobias, unsure if I wanted to go with Snape or fall by his side again.

"But... Tobias-" I began.

"Crying over Mr Roberts' body will not wake him up, Lyra," Snape snapped, "What will help is letting us know what you witnessed. You were the only one present at the time."

"I... I had just gone around the corner to find another book. I heard a thump and then hissing but I assumed Tobias was messing around. Then..." I bit my lip, trying not to burst out crying, "Will he be alright? Can he be saved?"

"Thank you, Lyra," Snape said, "He won't be cured immediately. The antidote takes a while to brew, but he won't die."

"Thank you, professor," I said quietly before leaving his office. If I had stayed with Tobias, maybe I could have stopped whatever did that to him.

The next couple of days, everyone was whispering about what had happened with Harry and I, and how another muggleborn had been petrified. Everyone now believed Harry was the Heir of Slytherin and he was, quite frankly, annoyed. They believed that because Tobias had defended me, Harry had dealt with him afterwards, or he had been aiming for me and Tobias got in the way.

It felt empty without Tobias there. I was extremely quiet and barely spoke in classes. I was a shadow of my past self and spent most of my free time in the Hospital Wing next to Tobias. I couldn't help but blame myself, if I had been more aware and stayed with him, he might have been fine.

My brother took particular delight in mocking me. He frequently reminded me he would be telling father about my friendship with another mudblood, and that Tobias got what he deserved. It took Ron dragging me away almost every time to stop me punching him again.

One day we were finishing homework in the library when Harry got fed up and walked off. The next moment, someone came running in and started yelling about him attacking Justin Finch-Fetchley and Nearly-Headless Nick.

Me, Ron and Hermione looked at each other and headed towards the commotion. Harry was nowhere to be seen and the teachers were already moving the frozen ghost and student.

And so, Harry was once again blamed for an attack.

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