The Snake Pit

7; An Honorary Member

authors note: the moment in this chapter between Vangie and Theo in the bathroom (you will know what I mean when you get there) is not supposed to be romantic it's like brother and sistery, they will never date. My friend told me it sounded romantic so I wanted to make sure ya'll know it's not :) Also, Enzo's birthday is in February so him and Vangie are only a year apart but two school years apart.

Almost two weeks after my birthday the boys and I were boarding the Hogwarts express to head home for Christmas. We carried our trunks through the sea of students and settled in an open compartment. We sat down and stared out the window waiting to hear the roar of the train engine.

"Do you think G will be up for a game of quidditch before dinner?" Asks Theo.

"Why do you insist on calling my father 'G'? It's weird."

"His name is Gennaro, what else would I call him, Mr. Palazzo, no I've known him far too long." He answered my question while pointing his quill at me. Leave it to Theo to start homework the second we get on the train.

"I would much rather you called him dad, and so would he," I answered him, ripping his paper out of his hand to see what he was even working on this early in the Christmas break.

"No that would be weird. And give me that back."

I shook my head to dismiss what he said. "What even is this, it's not homework?"

"None of your business Vangie, it's private. Now give it ba-"

It was Blaise's turn to rip it out of my hands, "Private! Let me see." Studying it more he looked confused, "Is this a letter?"

"Give it b-"

"To who?" Draco had it now.

"My mother." It was so quiet it was almost a whisper. All three of us turned our heads to look at Theo who, of course, was looking at the floor out of embarrassment. By the looks of it, it was an answer no one was expecting, not even Theo. His mother passed away a couple of days after Theo was born so why he was writing a letter to her confused us all.

Blaise spoke first. "But she-"

"I know. I know, believe me, I know. She's dead, she's been dead. I just, I don't know. Sometimes I write her letters about what's going on in my life and just leave them in her closet at my house."

"That's actually really sweet," I reassured him.

Blaise laughed, "She's never gonna write back." Coming from anyone else that would have sounded cruel and harsh, but coming from Blaise it was light and funny. We all laughed and Theo relaxed a little in his seat a little, relieved the conversation was no longer serious. These boys were a lot of things but emotional is not one of them, you can thank their fathers for that. They were taught from a young age that emotion was a weakness and I've been trying to tell them ever since I met them that it was okay to cry once in a while.

It was Theo's turn now to change the subject, "Do you know what your parents got us for Christmas this year?"

I rolled my eyes at the boys now all staring at me. "Yes and I'm not saying it's supposed to be a surprise." Everyone knew my parents gave the best gifts, mostly because they knew the three of them better than their own parents, but also because they would get them anything they asked for.

Growing up we only spent time at my house or Malfoy manor. The manor to be outside and mine to be inside. At the manor, Lucius needed complete silence to do who knows what but the garden was beautiful and huge, so we would play quidditch for hours out there careful not to mess up Cissy's flowers. At my house my parents would let us run around all over the house and scream as loud as we wanted, if anyone needed silence they could cast a silencing charm, that's what my dad always said.