E Pluribus Unum

A/N - For all you who have been sending me death threats to give you more of Minuet - Please don\'t kill me, here\'s a chapter for you. Kate betas and we love her for it.

deblovesdragon - Happy Christmas to you too.
Brian - Yup, that was Latin.
Jeanette and Droxy - Thank you
Lady Aidil - ron does have a lot of potential, I am glad that you could see that in the writing. I am looking forward to his growth and development over the next year. As for Harry, the prophecy has made him grow up faster than he would have. I wanted to show the effect it is having on him. As for Sev and Kat having a daughter? Well, that will all depend on whether or not they both survive teh war, won\'t it? Mwa ha ha ha.


Chapter 10 – The Hopeless Hearts Club

Minuet Ravagienne leaned back against the couch and sighed. Fauna had started the “Hopeless Hearts” club originally as a Draco Malfoy appreciation society, but it had rapidly come to encompass all the girls in school who were hopelessly in love with a boy they knew they could never have.

Set up in one of the countless little meeting rooms scattered about the school, this one near Ravenclaw tower contained a group of giggling girls who were gathered around on couches and chairs. They were a disparate crowd, mostly the lonely ones; overweight, spotty girls with no hope of finding a boyfriend while the prettier girls swanned about, but some were bright, pretty and perfectly capable of finding a boy hey hey were just in love with someone else’s boyfriend, or with Harry, or Draco.

Minuet had joined reluctantly and only because she wanted to stay Fauna’s friend. Only Fauna knew about her feelings for Harry and Minuet wasn’t about to tell anyone else, so she sat at the meetings commiserating with the other girls but remaining mostly silent.

There were many girls who liked Harry and it made Min feel even sillier listening to them go on about him. They obsessed over his eyes, his hair, or his courage, but Min thought about the way he had held her when he had pulled her back from the edge of the cliff. Min remembered his laughter when they were working on potions in Professor Snape’s lab. She replayed his casual ease and his smile and the way his head tilted just so when he was listening to her. His thoughts and moods were her bread and meat. The other girls could go on about the boy-who-lived, but Min only thought about Harry.

“I just wish he liked me.”na wna was saying and even though Min had heard her say it a thousand times, there was something about it that worried her. There was something forlorn and yet somehow angry in Fauna’s voice.

“He’s going to marry Lilith, you know.” Min mentioned for the thousandth time. Min had liked the bright-eyed Lilith. She had been funny and frank yet so elegant and worldly. Min could see Draco and Lilith presiding over the types of parties that Min’s mother used to throw. She could see Lilith using all that sparkling wit and charm to Draco’s advantage as well as her own. They would be a formidable pair.

“You don’t know that!” Fauna protested angrily, tossing her blond curls angrily.

“Uncle Severus says that Draco has made his bid already.” Min had spent the summer with the Potions Master rather than at Snape Manor with her weeping mother. Her little sister had joined them, glad to be away from both Severus’s parents and her mother. They had stayed at his age age for two months, laughing and playing in the waves that lapped almost to the doorstep. She wished she were back there now.

Draco had visited often and Min had enjoyed the older boy’s company. He really was like a brother and she was getting annoyed with all the people who thought they knew what was best for him.

“He could come to his senses!” The other girls sighed in romantic hazes of their own and Min got angry.

“He is doing both his duty and own own will. He is Slytherin; the advantages in marrying Lilith are obvious so why would he break off a bid and make an enemy of the Majere clan?” Minuet was from a very ancient
family; the politics of the pureblood world were second nature to her. Fauna’s ancestors were ancient and pure, but like the Weasleys they were practically yeoman stock.

“So you think I am not good enough to marry a Malfoy, is that it?” Fauna asked in a low dangerous voice, her cornflower blue eyes snapping.

“Fauny, come on, you know I don’t think that! I’m just saying he’s made his bid, he can’t back out now; it’s all arranged!” Min was alarmed by the look on her best friend’s face; there was a darkness there that she had never seen before.

“You’re just selfish and spiteful! You don’t want me to have the man I love when you know you can never have Harry! You really are your father’s daughter!” Fauna shouted with hatred in her eyes. The exposure of Min’s secret crush to the watching circle of girls was not nearly as heart-breaking as Fauna’s cruelty. Her face white with shock, Min spun on her heel and fled the room.

Min ran blindly through the castle, tears burning her eyes. Fauna had always been so gentle and sweet; how could she break her promise? How could she say something so hurtful to her? She collided with a solid body and arms wrapped around her.

“Min?” Harry’s voice so full of concern broke her last reserves and she collapsed sobbing. She was lifted off her feet and Harry was carrying her somewhere but she didn’t care. Fauna had been a source of endless support after her father’s death. When everyone had shunned Min, Fauna had become her friend. “Min? What happened?”

Harry was holding her, rocking her and stroking her hair. Min relaxed against him, breath hitching in her throat and let him soothe her. They were in the Room of Requirement, she realized, and it was set like a miniature Common Room, with a fireplace and couch. Harry had sat down with Min draped across his lap.

“Fauna…she…she said I was like my father.” Min heard Harry gasp in outrage and hug her tight.

“Why would she say something so mean?” His voice was still calm, but she could feel his anger in the trembling of his hands.

“She has a crush on Draco and I told her he was marrying Lilith. She thinks he’ll change his mind.” She relaxed into his embrace, a feeling of peace stealing over her. He was her friend at least; that was nice to know. Even if she never had anything else, she would have his friendship.

“That’s silly. Draco is in love with Lilith.” Min pulled back and looked at Harry in surprise.

“He told you that?” In all the times she had talked to Draco, he had never said the word ‘love’ when referring to Lilith.

“He didn’t have to; it’s there in his eyes when he talks about her.” Min nodded slowly, thinking back to the conversations she had had with Draco. Now that she knew what she was looking for, she realized Harry was right. His eyes went soft when he talked about her.

“Fauna got mad at me for saying that he wasn’t likely to go back on his bid and she said I was…well, she thought that I was saying she wasn’t good enough to marry a Malfoy.” Min changed her words in mid-sentence, trying to keep from blurting out her feelings to Harry.

“Fauna is going to be disappointed.” Min had stopped crying, but Harry hadn’t pushed her away or relaxed his grip around her waist, so she rested her head on his shoulder.

“She’s been acting really strangely lately. She is obsessed with Draco.” Min shrugged and burrowed into Harry’s shoulder for comfort. “I thought she was my friend.” The last was almost whispered.

“Ron, Hermione and I have had some real knock-down drag-out fights. Ron has said some really awful things to me and vice versa. We came out all right in the end.” He dropped a kiss on her head and she trembled, hiding her reaction by sniffling.

“Her face, it was so horrible when she yelled at me.” Min shook her head. “I can’t describe it; it was like there was someone else in her, someone dark.” Harry stilled and she turned her head to see a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Maybe there is.” Min’s eyes widened in understanding, Harry gave her a lop-sided grin and dropped another kiss on her forehead. “You’re a good kid, Min. Don’t let them get to you.”

Min smiled at his words but inside she was dying. He thought she was a good kid, damn it. Even though she had always known there was no hope, her heart hit another low right then and she was hard-pressed not to start crying again.