CHAPTER TEN

EASIER SAID THAN DONE

✧

          MORGAN HAD A PLAN, ALBEIT NOT A GREAT ONE. It definitely wasn't foolproof or anything, but it was her first plan that she came up with Remus that could get her somewhere. Being a little brat at school and getting in trouble wouldn't lead to the end of a marriage, it would just cause everyone – including Helen if she knew of how much shit Morgan was doing – to get annoyed, but not annoyed for a divorce to come into play.

But her plan was something that could get her somewhere, led to some dirt she could use against Alistair to blackmail him and force him to divorce Helen and then Morgan could swoop in and comfort her aunt, saying that it was for the best and he wasn't worth anything at all in the first place. She was prepared for that, prepared to find another house that felt like a home that wasn't overly large and didn't have white walls that felt like an asylum and there would be clutter on the floor, sunflowers on the dining room table, and a patio in the garden.

It would be perfect, and the only thing standing in her way was Alistair Ainsley.

So, she had to eliminate him, and no silly pranks at school or talking to a Gryffindor (how scandalous!) was going to accomplish that. Instead, she needed to take down the enemy from the inside out, and maybe if she could convince one little Greer Ainsley that she was remorseful wanted to be the perfect daughter in the eyes of Alistair, she could accomplish that.

Now, of course, she knew that convincing Greer was a lot easier said than done. Because in practice, she had to remind herself that she already had a terrible relationship with her step-cousin step-sister or whatever and had said that she doesn't align with the Ainsley values or rules because Alistair didn't fucking control her (because he didn't), but she could pretend.

She could lie a little and put her acting skills to use to pretend that she felt guilty and had a talking from her aunt and was willing to put the past behind her and be the perfect Ainsley with pure blood and all (ugh), and so she would. Admittedly, it wasn't Morgan who came up with the plan, but Remus, though when she told this to Adeline and Dominic it wasn't easily.

Admitting that Remus Lupin was actually helpful and worth all the while was hard and not something she liked doing. She just hated even asking him for help and taking his advice, giving it merit and being embarrassed when she hadn't thought about that herself. Because, honestly, in no universe would she think to actually talk to Greer willingly, so the thought of cozying up to her didn't even enter the realm of possibilities in her mind until Remus brought up.

And it was so casual too, like it was obvious for him, which made it worse. "Well, why don't you start with Greer? You want information from her, right? So why not talk to her and get her to like you instead of making her hate you, then you ask her whatever you want." And he was right; it would be so much easier and she could anything she wanted out of Greer if they were actually friends and not kinda-sorta enemies.

Merlin, why hadn't she thought of that?

"Well, in your defense," Adeline said when Morgan explained her plan to them, "Greer's been a little bit more than a bitch to you."

"And she hangs out with the likes of Carmichael and Nicolai," Dominic piped up, causing Morgan to groan.

The two boys hadn't been too bad this year to her, hadn't said that she was unworthy to be in Slytherin due to her blood status or anything, but it was clear that they still hated her for the times when she had hexed them and changed their hair to cheese yellow. That was fun, and they definitely deserved it. She suspected it had something to do with Greer not allowing them to be so openly rude now that Morgan was family and had a 'pure bloodline' now due to the marriage between Alistair and Helen, which was fucking dumb.

"Don't remind me of them. I don't think I could handle hanging out with them just for the sake of trying to get rid of the Ainsleys," Morgan admitted. She loved her aunt, and would be willing to do a lot, but hanging out with Carmichael and Nicolai was really pushing the limit here.

Dominic shrugged. "Still, I think it's a good idea," he said, "Definitely on the right track. And then when Christmas break comes you can really do some damage."

Morgan nodded, pinching off a bit of bread from her roll, "That's what I was thinking, but I'm just not sure what I can do that'll really do the amount of damage that I need. Like, I need something big – like Alistair's a criminal or something – I can't just say that he missed dinner or doesn't love her."

"Or you could blackmail him to end the marriage instead of trying to get Helen to call for the divorce," Adeline offered.

"Yeah, but I'd still need something big to blackmail him with," Morgan pointed out, "Like, gargantuan really."

"So go digging. He works with the Minister of fucking Magic, he's gotta have some dirt on him, got involved in something they had to cover up," Dominic shrugged, "Every politician is dirty."

"Which is why we shouldn't trust the government, we know, Dom," Adeline interrupted before he could say it himself, which they all knew he would.

Dominic held his hands up in mock defense. "Just saying..."

"And thank you for that," Morgan assured him, "Because you're right; he is a politician and politicians are dirty. All I gotta do is find out if he brought some of that dirt home."

"See? She finds it useful," Dominic pointed to her, looking at Adeline who rolled her eyes when he did so.

"Grow up," she shoved him lightly and laughed.

"I am grown up. Grown up enough to realize that government bodies are shady as fuck and we shouldn't trust them in the slightest," Dominic defended himself, though it was with an easy smile on his face as he fought down his laugh.

"Okay, now you're just sounding a crazed conspiracy theorist," Morgan told him and he frowned, obviously unhappy that she turned on him, but it was time to put an end to that talk.

"I'm just telling the truth, even if you simple minded people don't want to hear it," he held his head up, laughing at himself after he did so because he could never take himself too seriously. Adeline still hit him lightly for it. "Stop hitting me!"

"Then stop being an arse," Adeline shot back at him before turning to Morgan, "Please tell me that you don't actually find any of that useful."

Morgan shrugged at that. "I mean, he's being truthful but a bit overboard, and the dirty politician approach is useful," she conceded, "I can blackmail him with something of that if it pans out."

"Merlin's beard," Adeline grinned as Dominic cheered.

"What? You have to admit that it's a good angle," Morgan defended herself and Dominic by association.

"Blackmailing isn't good. It's illegal and if he rats you out, you'll be in big trouble."

Morgan rolled her eyes at Adeline's very rule-following response. She never liked to break the rules, had never gotten detention a day in her life or called out by a professor for bad behavior. She was the could do no wrong ever in their life of their group and while sometimes she was a lifesaver, sometimes she was a bit too righteous and rule-following. She needed someone who would help her break up a marriage, not get put in Azkaban.

"That's not helpful," Morgan felt the need to tell her.

"On the contrary, I think it's incredibly helpful," Adeline disagreed, "Not having a politician who knows the fucking Minister of Magic say that you're blackmailing him and staying out of Azkaban or wherever else they'll send is very fucking nice. Honestly, is the possibility of getting caught and having charges brought against you worth it?"

It was. There was no hesitation for her, thinking about her aunt. Helen never hesitated before bringing Morgan into her home and raising her young niece even though she abhorred the idea of children and raising one of her own. She never made Morgan feel unloved or unwanted, quite the opposite actually. Helen always made her feel loved and feel like she was enough, never made her feel like a burden.

Helen was worth anything if it meant she was away from Alistair and happy, living her best life and not in a relationship with a bad man. Anything was worth it for this woman.

"Yes," Morgan stared straight into Adeline's eyes, letting her know that she didn't doubt her choice for a second. Helen was worth anything price Morgan had to pay, because that price would never come close to everything Helen had done for her.

Adeline pursed her lips, wanting to refute and ask her again to reconsider that, but she didn't. Instead, Adeline sighed. "Fine, alright. Blackmail him, set him up, get dirt on him, whatever. It's your death sentence," though she still didn't sound pleased at all.

But it was enough for Morgan, for now at least. She was sure that it wouldn't be enough soon, but for now she could live with acceptance and not support. Dominic seemed gung ho enough about this for the both of them, and it was all she needed.

✧

MORGAN SAW GREER FOR the first time after deciding to fake befriend her the next day in the corridor, when she was walking alone, which thank Merlin for that. The last thing she wanted was to also be around Carmichael and Nicolai as a result of befriending Greer and trying to get something out of her.

She didn't want to miss her chance, so she ran up to the girl, not caring how it might look to anyone else because their opinion of her honestly didn't matter, until she right next to her step-sister (cousin?), and gave her best smile. "Greer, hi!" she exclaimed, the brightest greeting she had given the other girl.

Of course, because Morgan had never been the kindest to her, Greer skeptically looked at her. "Hi?"

"So, I know that we haven't exactly gotten along, but I've been thinking about you've said," Morgan started off before beginning the biggest piece of shit she'd ever said, "And I realized that I was wrong."

Merlin, she hated saying that. She never liked admitting when she was wrong in the first place, and now she was lying about it. Sometimes she could say the words after taking five minutes for the words to actually leave the tip of her tongue to Helen or Adeline, but never anyone else.

(Dominic was too much of a little shit for her to ever admit that to him, and they didn't usually have any disagreements either, so being wrong just never came up.)

Greer blinked in surprise, nodding slowly. "So what does this mean exactly? You'll take my help, you'll stop in your traitorous ways?"

Traitorous ways – what? Morgan might not be the model Slytherin or pureblood (because, hint: she's not one), but she wasn't a fucking traitor. What did that even mean? How was she being a traitor by saying that Alistair didn't fucking own her because she was a person and not a lamp? It didn't make any sense, but Morgan could play along.

Helen was worth it, Helen was worth it, Helen was worth it.

"Yes," Morgan nodded, "I realized that I shouldn't have talked to you that way and shouldn't been respectful. I...apologize."

No, she didn't, because she had nothing to apologize for. She hadn't done anything wrong. Not wanting to be submissive to a man she didn't trust who was trying to control everything about her wasn't traitorous or wrong. It was the right thing to do, the sensible thing.

And, yeah, she might have been a bit rude to Greer, but Greer was just as rude to her. Greer was trying to say that her being seen with the Marauders was traitorous and making up shit that didn't make sense like how she was now a pureblood by her aunt's marriage. Newsflash: that's not how that works.

Her aunt's marriage doesn't change the blood flowing in her veins or the fact that her mum's a muggle, and why did that have to be such a bad thing?

"Very well. Father will be pleased to hear that, he's been very worried about you," Greer told her, and Morgan really had to resist the strong urge to roll her eyes, "You were going down such a dark path..."

They had very different definitions of dark then, because Morgan didn't think saving her aunt from a terrible marriage was a dark thing at all. It was a good thing, all bright and shiny and good like the sun. Quite possibly the best thing she's ever done, or well, was attempting to do anyway.

Besides, there were darker sides to take, especially in this time with the word of Voldemort going around...

"It's not the best path, I agree," Morgan said quite hesitantly, because going all gung ho into the it was so dark and awful could be suspicious. She had to defend herself a little.

"Good," Greer looked pleased with her, and Morgan wanted to glare at the girl and curse her out, maybe even hex her a little. "I'm glad we can agree on that. Now, what exactly changed your mind?"

Morgan pursed her lips, trying to think of the best lie for this question. "Well, I guess it's always been in the bad of my head, but I was talking to Adeline recently and she helped me see everything from your perspective and I guess it helped. She helped me see that I was wrong in this situation."

"I'm glad that you can admit that, some might be too prideful," Greer said lightly, so casually, as if it wasn't a jab at the whole of Slytherin house. Morgan almost twitched at the comment, but she pulled herself together. She couldn't do that, not now, not in front of someone she was trying to falsely befriend.

There might have been truth to the comment, Morgan knew all about that Slytherin pride engrained in all of their bones by this point, but that didn't mean she could appreciate it, especially coming from Greer. She was one of the last people who she be talking about pride getting in the way.

"It's a hard thing to let go, but sometimes we must," Morgan said just as lightly, just as casually, just like she was discussing the weather and not also making a remark Greer would no doubt understand the true meaning of.

Greer looked at her for a moment, studying her before nodding. "I agree," she said, and that was the end of that, at least for the moment.