The Blackmail of Rachel's Tears Closed

You'd think Lu would know the layout of Hogwarts well enough by now. You'd be wrong. She knew that the Perfects Bathroom was somewhere near here, yet she had no luck so far. This school was much better than a muggle school, but would it kill them to give the students a map?

Probably, whe thought, pushing open the next door on her mental list. 'Ah!' She said, spying a ring of sinks. She had finally found it. Smiling Lu quietly closed the door behind her. Now all she had to do was wait for a perfect to walk in, feign confusion, and bam! Lu had a Perfect under her belt. A fool proof plan really.

Lu was almost to the sinks when she heard it. A soft crying came from one of the stalls. Blinking, a short plan started in Lu's mind.

She could leave, and just come back later. It was probably easiest.

Then again, Lu (wrongly) assumed this was the Perfects bathroom. If Lu could comfort a crying Perfect, well, who knows what Lu could do with that.

Mind made up Lu took a few short seconds to straighten her robes out. She took a deep breath as quietly as she could, and walked confidently towards the stall.

She gave a soft knock and leaned in close. 'Ello? Are ya okay in there?'

'Ello? Are ya okay in there?'

Merlin's pants! Mia looked up from the floor and wiped her cheeks furiously, trying to calm herself before she opened the door. Unsucessful, she decided to open the door. Hopefully it was a Hufflepuff. Then she could scare them away. Mia got onto her feet and pushed the stall's door open. There stood a Slytherin, maybe her age and year.

"Galloping Gorgons"

Mia swore softly under her breath, trying to cover her face so that the other Slytherin wouldn't know who she was, or even that she was crying. It was to no avail. Her eyes still looked puffy and her nose was runny. She tried to gulp back her sobs.

"D-d-don't t-t-tell an-n-nyone"

She looked up at the girl, hoping that she was one of the Slytherins that should've went to Hufflepuff, like her old roommate Isabella Hill. Obviously not, but she could still hope.

"W-w-what-t d-d-do you w-w-want-t? F-for your sil-l-lence?"

Her voice shook and Mia just cried harder, thinking of the letter, and now this girl. She was at the mercy of the girl, and hopefully she wouldn't want anything big. More importantly, Mia hoped that the girl wouldn't recognize her, even though that was unlikely. She was an Alexander after all.

Well, Lu was pretty sure this girl wasn't a Perfect. She looked too young and sad, and Lu felt a bit bad for her.

By the way the girl swore, and the fancy bit a jewelry she wore, Lu (correctly) assumed she was at least a Half-Blood. A Pure-Blood seemed more likely by the way she still demanded Lu's silence while sobbing.

Well, well, well. Whatever Lu wanted huh? It wasn't as good as a Perfect, but Lu would take what she could get. She'd have to figure out who this girl was first before demanding anything.

Putting on her best smile Lu held up hands, palms out towards the girl. 'Hey now. Can't a girl be concerned about someone? Come on out.' Lu stepped backwards, giving the girl a wide birth. 'We Slytherins have to stick together, eh?'

First things first Lu had to find out who this girl was. She had done some reading before coming to Hogwarts, and Lu had memorized a good chunk of family names that were high up in the Ministry of Magic. If luck was on Lu's side this girl would be part of one of those family's.

'M'names Lu McHugh. Muggle-born, Slytherin first year. Nice to meet you....?' She stuck a hand out, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey now. Can't a girl be concerned about someone? Come on out. We Slytherins have to stick together, eh? M'names Lu McHugh. Muggle-born, Slytherin first year. Nice to meet you....?"

The girl said all of this in a Scottish accent. Mia wiped her face and looked straight at the new girl, her eyes now grey and deadly calm.

"Mia Alexander. Heir, but not head, of the Alexander family. Pure-blood and a Slytherin first year."

Mia steadied herself and stuck out her hand for the Scottish girl-her name was Lu-to shake.

Mia was surprised. Maybe prematurely surprised, but still. This girl-this tough-looking, Scottish girl-was one of the nice Slytherins? Slytherins didn't usually stick together, and even hated each other at times. Sometimes it got so bad between her roomates that she had to flee to the library, where she hung out with all of her Ravenclaw friends, or even Scott and Marvin.

She thought back to the girl. This is no time to be letting your guard down! Your reputation-not to mention your family's might be at stake here! Mia chided herself softly, looking up to stop her tears completely. Within a few seconds Mia was back to her normal self.

The girl composed herself rather quickly. "Mia Alexander. She said, much calmer than before. 'Heir, but not head, of the Alexander family. Pure-blood and a Slytherin first year."

Lu racked her brain for a split second. Alexander family? From what Lu could remember they were a pretty important family. Highly respected, with power.

This was perfect.

Lu tilted her head and crossed her arms after shaking Mia's hand. 'Can't say I've heard of ya. I'm not really well versed in all things witchy yet. I wanted ta buy more history books before coming here, but my ma wanted to stick to the basics.'

Mia had stopped crying by now which was very good. Lu didn't have the best bedside manners and had the girl kept crying Lu would of most likely have put her foot in her mouth. That would ruin her plans for sure.

'So Mia Alexander, heir but not head of the Alexander family, would ya like me ta guard the door incase anyone comes in so you can splash your face with some water, ya know, clean up a bit?' Lu grinned as brightly as she could. 'If anyone tries to come in I'll say I'll threw up on the floor. Puke will send anyone running. Trust me.'

'Can't say I've heard of ya. I'm not really well versed in all things witchy yet. I wanted ta buy more history books before coming here, but my ma wanted to stick to the basics.'

So. The girl was muggle born. Mia wasn't surprised.

'So Mia Alexander, heir but not head of the Alexander family, would ya like me ta guard the door incase anyone comes in so you can splash your face with some water, ya know, clean up a bit? If anyone tries to come in I'll say I'll threw up on the floor. Puke will send anyone running. Trust me.'

The girl smiled and Mia returned the smile.

"How do you know that? Experience?"

Mia shook her head as if to say No don't tell me!!! She then turned to the sink and started splashing water on her face, trying to look presentable. She was beginning to like this Lu girl, even if she was probably Muggle born. Mia wasn't that racist or classist or anything, as a lot of pure-bloods were, but always remembered people's blood type. Especially if they were muggle-born. It was just easier, Mia found, to be a bit more informed. Information is power.

The girl cracked a smile, a huge success in many ways for Lu. Now Mia was at least a little bit distracted from whatever she had been sobbing over before, and it meant she wasn't too annoyed with Lu. Everything was working more or less according to plan.

'How do you know that? Experience?' Mia asked, and Lu only grinned wider in response. Oh the stories Lu could tell.

Allowing Mia a moment of privacy Lu went over to the door and poked her head out. No one so far.

A sudden thought came to Lu and she frowned. This obviously wasn't the Perfects bathroom. She'd have to look later. Maybe Mia knew where it was.

Lu turned, leaning against the closed door. This scheme of hers required Lu to play the very long game. Meeting Mia's parents would be a definite. Even if she couldn'tget close to them, the Alexander name would be helpful in the future. Naming dropping them might even get her a job in the Ministry after she graduated.

That is, if she isnt expelled or killed first. But what are the odds of that happening?

Lu pursued her lips and tried her best to appear clueless. It was a look she perfected. 'So what's it like being Pure-Blood? Did ya ever accidentally do magic as a kid? I turned my da's hair orange when I was three. I was told it was shocking at the time.'

"So what's it like being Pure-Blood? Did ya ever accidentally do magic as a kid? I turned my da's hair orange when I was three. I was told it was shocking at the time."

Mia laughed a bit over the sink.

"Orange? I imagine he wasn't pleased!"-Mia adjusted her hair-"No, nothing like that. Unlike you, I was around magic my whole life, and I was given every opportunity to learn, so no. I never did magic by accident."

Mia sniffed and turned off the broken faucet. She walked over to the girl and positioned herself across from Lu.

"If you need to uh.."

She gestured towards the bathroom, especially towards the stall.

"But if you don't have to then where would you like to go and how?"-Mia shifted a bit and kept talking-"We can leave at different times, or the same, or walk out together and stay together, or some thing else. What do you want to do?"

Mia stared down at the floor. She then looked back up at Lu, hoping that the girl would want to stay with her. She-Lu-had been very nice, and seemed like she wouldn't tell anyone. Mia couldn't bear to think of what would happen if another pure-blood came in here looking for vengence. She shivered and turned her attention back to Lu.

Lu couldn't help but laugh with her. 'Nah.' She said, watching Mia fidget with her hair. 'Da went to the Doc after that. They said he was eatin too many carrots. Ma thought the doctors were bonkers. Turns out she was right!'

Mia, as it turned out, seemed to live very different life than Lu. A twinge of jealous stabbed Lu in the heart. Many of Lu's bullies targeted her, and Lee since they were joint at the hip, because of the strang things that would happen around Lu.

Main had grown up around magic, she had said so herself. Lu imagined family dinners with floating meals and parents bandaging a wounded knee with a flick of their wands. Magic in Mia's family was normal and maybe a bit boring. Magic in Lu's family was inconvenient and strange.

Lu blinked and suddenly Mia was in front of her. 'Ah. No. Uh. No. I'm good. She grinned sheepishly. 'Ta be honest I came in here because I was lost. This place is still a maze to me.'

Not a lie technically. Lu didn't end up where she wanted to be, so, lost.

Lu took a step back, opening the door as she did so. 'Maybe ya can show me around, or we could go ya your favorite spot? Up ta ya Mia Alexander.'