Dear Parent/ Guardian,

This email is to inform you of a serious series of incidents involving bullying, harassment and intimidation that resulted in the wrongful expulsion of a student of Collège Françoise Dupont. Once the allegations came to light, the situation was rectified and the student at fault is now no longer welcome.

There will be an emergency assembly held tomorrow at 9:30AM in order to address this incident with the student body and reiterate that Collège Françoise Dupont has a zero tolerance bullying policy.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Regards,

Principal Damocles
Collège Françoise Dupont
+33 1 xx xx xx xx

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The day of the assembly dawned bright and early, though not nearly as bright and early as the Dupain-Chengs.

The morning bakery prep was Sabine's happy place, despite how chaotic it could be. The delicious smells wafting from the ovens, Tom's quiet humming as he worked and the timers going off every now and again were the pleasant soundtrack of their mornings and Sabine cherished it.

This morning they were making something extra special to kick off the day.

"They're nearly done, I'll go get Marinette up if you keep an eye on the frying pan." Sabine gently kissed her husband's cheek.

"Good luck!" Tom joked, knowing how difficult Marinette could be to get out of bed.

Sabine chuckled and headed up the several flights of stairs, bypassing the living room and up, up, up to the attic. She knocked gently on the door, as she did nearly every morning.

This morning, of all mornings, she was surprised when Marinette called, "come in!"

Sabine wasted no time, popping open the attic door and poking her head up into the room. Marinette sat at her desk, in her pajamas, but clearly having showered and gotten ready for the day.

"Good morning maman," Marinette greeted, placing her brush down.

"Good morning sweetheart," Sabine returned the greeting, "you're up early."

Marinette shrugged. "I wanted to make sure I was ready for today."

Sabine nodded approvingly. "Well, we made your favourite this morning—so whenever you're ready, come down and eat."

Marinette perked up. "Pancakes? Really?"

Pancakes were normally reserved for special occasions, on the rare slow Sunday mornings when they could take their time and relax. Today wasn't a special occasion, but Tom had wanted Marinette's day to start off on a good foot because it was sure to be exhausting.

"Really." Sabine smiled.

"I'll be down in just a minute." Marinette promised, "I just want to get my bag ready."

Sabine nodded and gently closed the door, making her way down the staircase and all the way back down to the bakery kitchen. She'd just reached the counter when there was a knock at the back door.

Sabine and Tom exchanged a startled glance. Who could be knocking at the back door so early? It was hardly seven!

Tom placed the tray he was carrying down and headed to answer the door, no less surprised to see Alya standing there.

The normally confident young woman radiated nerves, not helped by Tom's surprised face.

"Good Morning Mr. Dupain, Mrs. Cheng." Alya greeted, wringing her hands, "Marinette said I could come over this morning?"

It was Sabine who recovered from her surprise first. She certainly hadn't been expecting Alya, and Marinette had made no mention… with how exhausted her daughter was yesterday it wasn't a surprise.

"Good morning Alya, I'm not sure…"

At that exact moment, Marinette came racing down the stairs, startling all three of them.

"Maman," Marinette began before she fully realized they had company, "I forgot to mention, Alya said she'd drop…" Finally she caught sight of her friend standing nervously at the door. Her lips formed into a wordless "oh."

"Hey girl." Alya said shyly, half heartedly waving.

Marinette blinked the last remnants of sleep out of her eyes. "Morning Alya. Let's head up to my room, if that's okay?"

Alya nodded, glancing at Tom, who smiled and stepped out of the way to let her by.

Sabine and Tom watched the girls disappear up the stairs, much quieter than they'd usually be. It wasn't until their footsteps faded that Tom felt it safe to talk.

"Alya's here awfully early. Do you think it has something to do with what happened yesterday?"

Sabine hummed in affirmation. "I think so. Marinette mentioned that Alya wasn't akumatized… How she saw that in all the chaos I have no idea. From what I understand, Alya didn't believe Marinette about Ms. Rossi."

"Hopefully she's here to apologize." Tom said hopefully.

As tempting as it was to go and try to eavesdrop at the attic door, Sabine resisted. Whatever happened between the two girls was up to them.

Between putting the pancakes in the oven to make sure they didn't get cold, and the usual morning preparations, it felt like no time at all passed before there was the telltale thumping of multiple someones coming down the stairs. How two fairly lithe teenage girls managed to sound like a pack of elephants when they came down the stairs, she'd never know, but what Sabine was most focused on was the sound of happy giggles and talking as the two girls approached.

"Is that my daughter and her friend coming down the stairs, or a rhino?" Tom asked in an over the top, loud voice. The two girls finally appeared at the base of the stairs.

"Sorry, dad." Marinette apologized, not looking sorry at all.

"I'll meet you at the front gates, okay?" Alya said earnestly, her hand hesitating ever so slightly as she touched Marinette's arm.

Marinette nodded. "I'll see you soon."

Alya bid Sabine and Tom a quick goodbye, leaving the Dupain-Cheng family alone once more.

"Everything okay with Alya, sweetheart?" Sabine asked gently, though by the two girls' demeanors, she already knew the answer.

"We're good." Marinette let out a breath, but she was still smiling, "Alya never believed that I could do any of that stuff. That's why she wasn't akumatized… but she didn't believe me at first that it was Lila." Marinette subconsciously wrinkled her nose at the name.

"You told Alya she threatened you and she still didn't believe you?" Tom asked, shocked. That didn't seem at all like Alya, who was normally fiercely protective of Marinette!

Marinette quieted for a moment, and Tom and Sabine exchanged an uneasy glance.

"No." She admitted finally, "Alya didn't know. I didn't tell anyone about Lila's threat." Sabine's grip on her rolling pin tightened, but Marinette carried on.

"Alya and Nino thought I was just jealous about A-Adrien." Marinette scowled, "and then Adrien told me that I shouldn't expose her before I had a chance to tell anyone about what she did so…" Marinette trailed off with a shrug, her parents knew the rest of the story now anyways.

"I know how much Alya means to you. Did she apologize?" Sabine asked after a moment, reaching over and squeezing her daughter's hand.

"She did," Marinette squeezed back, "and we're good now. Alya was really shaken up once I told her about Lila's threat. I had to make her promise not to murder Lila today, because I didn't want my best friend in jail."

"Are you sure you want to go to the assembly, Marinette?" Tom asked seriously, leaning down so he was eye level with her, "you can change your mind. You don't have to if you don't want to. You just need to say the word."

Marinette smiled softly, but shook her head, resolute in her decision. "Thanks dad, but I want to do this."

Tom patted her shoulder, smiling approvingly. "And we'll be right behind you...Now who's ready for pancakes?"

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...

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"Hey girl!" Alya greeted Marinette when she reached the front gate of the school ten minutes before school started.

"Hey Alya." Marinette greeted happily, feeling lighter than she had in weeks.

"I just have to stop at my locker, then I'm good to head to class." Alya explained as both girls began their way to the locker room. "Did you happen to catch the new—"

Marinette chatted happily with Alya, and it wasn't until they reached the stairs when someone whispered loudly:

"Didn't she push someone down the stairs?"

Marinette stumbled over air.

Luckily Alya had a subconscious Marinette instinct honed at this point and reached out to steady her without even thinking. Judging by the grimace on Alya's face, she heard them too.

"Ignore them." Alya said loudly, shooting a venomous glare over her shoulder at the random student. She snaked her arm around Marinette's shoulders and pulled her close.

Marinette nodded shakily and let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. It was that moment she realized the majority of the students in the courtyard were staring at her blatantly, pointing and whispering. Her shoulders slumped further and it was only Alya's unwavering presence and strength that carried her to the locker room.

Her parents told her about the email the school had sent out late last night, but it looked like not a lot of parents had either gotten around to reading their email, or hadn't informed their kids. No wonder her schoolmates were gawking at her like an animal in the zoo!

The two girls just reached the locker room door when Marinette inexplicably tensed.

Alya stopped, concern written all over her face. "Are you okay?"

Marinette nodded slowly. Right. It felt like forever ago, but it was just yesterday when she'd been humiliated by Lila and Principal Damocles.

"Just… a lot." Marinette smiled weakly.

Alya's eyes widened in comprehension. She groaned and slapped her forehead. "I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have asked you to come with me here right away!"

Marinette shook her head, feeling the normalcy slowly bleed back into her. "I had to come to my locker sometime."

Maybe one day she'd be able to joke about what happened, but that time was a long ways off.

"I'll grab my stuff and we'll get out of here fast, okay?"

"Okay." Marinette agreed.

Tikki stirred in the purse on her hip, pressing against her comfortingly.

Luckily the locker room was fairly empty, only a few students lingered and most of them either didn't notice her or didn't care. True to her word, Alya moved at lightning speed, dumping everything she needed into her bag in fifteen seconds flat.

They resumed their walk to the classroom, Marinette shrinking under the questioning or outright glares she received from the other students. It was only Alya's presence beside her that kept her from turning tail and she was immensely grateful for it.

Just as they reached the classroom door, Alya stopped and squeezed Marinette's hand. "Are you ready?"

Marinette took a deep breath and smacked her cheeks with just enough force to reinvigorate herself. "I'm ready."

Looking somehow both amused and concerned, Alya nodded and opened the door to their classroom just as the bell rang.

The lively chatter in the classroom immediately died when Marinette and Alya entered. Marinette didn't bother to say good morning to Ms. Bustier, who gave a weak smile, allowing Alya to lead her to their old seat. After yesterday's debacle, Marinette wasn't sure how to feel about their teacher's bullying policies anymore.

In her absence it seemed the class had reshuffled itself back into their previous seating chart, out of habit she scanned the classroom for the familiar blond head of hair, but Adrien's seat was empty.

Marinette barely settled down in her seat when Chloe's grating voice cut across the classroom.

"What's Marinette expelled-Cheng doing here?" She asked loudly, looking down her nose at Marinette despite being seated on the floor level of the classroom.

"Back off, Chloe." Alya snapped, eyes blazing.

Chloe's face twisted into a satisfied smirk, "Rossi's not here either, did you finish her off Dupain-Cheng?"

"Chloe, that is enough." Ms. Bustier finally stepped in, tone sharp.

Marinette's heart thudded in her chest and she did her best to stay calm despite her knee jerk reaction to rip Chloe's head off. That wouldn't help today, and Marinette just didn't have the energy to deal with it.

Chloe shot Marinette and Alya a smug smile before turning around in her seat.

Ms. Bustier gave Marinette an apologetic look, but Marinette just looked away. She was too tired to deal with Ms. Bustier's habit of stepping in only after Chloe had gone too far.

"Class," Ms. Bustier began after an awkward pause, making sure to cut off any potential talk, "this morning there will be a special emergency assembly at nine-thirty regarding a serious incident of bullying at our collège."

Ms. Bustier either pretended not to notice (or just ignored) how nearly the whole class turned towards Marinette, interest piqued.

"The entire school is required to attend in order to clear up Marinette's wrongful expulsion. That is all I will say on the matter for now, please bring out your workbooks." Ms. Bustier said sternly.

A flare of surprised whispers exploded in the classroom, but Marinette ignored them despite how her cheeks burned. She wasn't quite ready to deal with her classmates yet, and instead dutifully pulled out her workbook and began to work.

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…

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Sabine and Tom arrived at the college gates at precisely 9:20AM, almost at the exact moment Gabriel Agreste and his son Adrien were getting out of their sleek vehicle.

"Hi Mrs. Cheng, Mr. Dupain." Adrien greeted politely, clearly nervous.

"Hello Adrien, it's nice to see you again." Tom greeted, his friendly manner clearly putting Adrien at ease. "It's good to see you as well Mr. Agreste."

"Likewise." Gabriel said stiffly.

"I take it you're here for the assembly?" Sabine asked.

"Yes." Gabriel sighed, "I was asked to attend. I was unaware Ms. Rossi lied her way into my household to see Adrien, among other things."

"Well, let's get inside shall we?" Tom prompted.

Gabriel nodded wordlessly, Adrien following behind him dutifully as the group made their way towards the school.

Marinette practically ambushed them at the door to the gym.

"I'm so glad to see you." Marinette said in lieu of greeting, before realizing her parents weren't alone.

"Oh, hi Adrien." Marinette greeted with barely a stammer, "hello Mr. Agreste." She greeted the fashion mogul shyly.

"Ms. Dupain-Cheng." He gave her the barest nod in return, which was practically a full on fist bump when it came to the scale of Gabriel Agreste's greetings.

"How are you, Marinette?" Adrien asked once his father was finished exchanging pleasantries. They slowly walked into the gym. Most of the student body was already there, mulling around in groups and talking.

"I'm okay." Marinette said truthfully, "I'm looking forward to getting this over with."

Adrien nodded understandingly, he opened his mouth to say something, but that was the exact moment Principal Damocles cleared his throat on the stage into the microphone.

Sabine watched Marinette's shoulders tense as she looked to the stage and saw Lila standing with two people who could only be her parents. Lila looked sullen and pale, and didn't make eye contact with anyone but the floor.

"Good morning students," Principal Damocles began without further ado, the excited chatter of the entire student and faculty body died out abruptly, eyes trained curiously on the stage, "yesterday we had a very serious situation occur at our college."

You could have heard a pin drop in the gym as nearly a hundred pairs of eyes swiveled to find Marinette. The devil may work hard, but nothing worked harder than the school rumor mill.

Everyone had heard about yesterday, how Marinette supposedly shoved another girl down the stairs and everyone wanted to know what happened.

"Yesterday a student was expelled due to some serious allegations that came against her. We quickly got to the bottom of…"

Sabine couldn't help it, she made a face.

It was a terrifying face, one that Principal Damocles saw immediately (and may forever see in his nightmares) causing his words to die in his throat.

"I was perhaps a little bit… hasty," He began again, his voice a few octaves higher, "Ms. Rossi maliciously bullied and then proceeded to frame Ms. Dupain-Cheng for several serious incidents. As a result, I expelled Ms. Dupain-Cheng in error, and a great misdeed was unfortunately permitted to happen. For that, Ms. Dupain-Cheng has my deepest apologies. Now, we will listen to Ms. Rossi, who will apologize now for her actions before she leaves the Collège Françoise Dupont."

There was a surprised rumble of whispers and low voices that swept the auditorium as people turned to their neighbor in surprise or shock. A good number of her peers turned again to stare at Marinette, who watched the front stage unflinchingly.

Adrien was used to being scrutinized by so many people at once, and simply stood at his father's side, face carefully blank.

Lila walked towards the microphone not unlike someone about to be sentenced to their demise. Her shoulders were slumped, eyes red and she gave one last imploring glance at her parents, as if asking, do I really have to do this?

Her parent's faces hardened into stone, and finally Lila turned back to the microphone, fuming.

It was an interesting mix, trying to watch someone admit all their wrongdoings while trying to appear vulnerable and innocent all at the same time. Every word that came out of Lila's mouth was set in the bizarrely innocent "I didn't do anything" tone even as she detailed every single little lie she'd ever told.

Lila didn't know Jagged Stone, and certainly didn't save his kitten from a runway.

Lila didn't have tinnitus, a wrist injury, or any other kind of ailment.

Lila didn't know any famous manga artist, Clara Nightingale or any other famous persons.

Lila knowingly snuck into the Agreste mansion and deceived Mr. Agreste's staff and Mr. Agreste himself.

Even by the time Lila finished going through her outrageous lies, the audience's reactions were mixed. Many of Marinette's classmates looked shell-shocked, while the majority of the rest of the school seemed confused and bewildered. Some of the lies were so outrageous, why were they even believed in the first place?

"And then I talked to Marinette in the bathroom—"

"Lila." Her mother's warning tone was pure ice, making Lila stammer.

"I mean, I threatened Marinette in the bathroom." She tried to breeze over the word "threatened", but there was an audible gasp that ran through the assembly, people's heads whipping around towards Marinette, eyes wide.

Her classmates were suitably horrified, Rose's eyes already shining with the telltale wetness to her eyes that said she was close to tears at any moment.

Marinette didn't notice any of this however, too focused on the stage.

"I'm...sorry for… everything, Marinette." Lila looked as though each word cost her the equivalent of getting a tooth pulled.

No one said a word.

In fact, Sabine was certain no one so much as breathed in the stunned silence that followed the apology, however, Principal Damocles had one more surprise up his sleeve.

"Marinette," Principal Damocles surprised them by addressing Marinette directly, "do you accept Lila's apology?"

Several hundred pairs of eyes turned as one towards Marinette expectantly.

If Sabine were Chat Noir, she would have had kittens right then and there.

How dare he.

This hadn't been discussed, how dare he expect Marinette to publicly accept this girl's apology? The Dupain-Chengs weren't stupid. The only thing Lila was truly sorry for was because she got caught.

Sabine was approximately .01 seconds away from verbally and maybe even physically snapping the idiotic man in half when she was interrupted by a strong, self assured voice cutting across the silent auditorium.

"No." Marinette said simply.

There was a very long, very awkward silence.

"N-no?" Principal Damocles stammered, completely bewildered.

Even Lila looked dumbstruck, probably the first honest emotion to cross her features.

"No? As in… you don't accept Lila's apology?"

"Do I have to, Principal Damocles?" Miranette asked, her voice barely wavering, but the fire in her gaze burned bright.

"Well—I—in the spirit of things—"

Marinette gave the Principal a look so frosty it would have frozen hell over. He stammered to a stop and tried again.

"Er… well, I don't suppose you have to…" He adjusted his tie nervously, finally caving under the withering gazes of all three Dupain-Chengs, "with that, we will conclude today's assembly and…"

Lila glared hotly at Marinette from her position on the stage, cheeks a strange ruddy red colour. Wherever Hawkmoth was today, it was a miracle he seemed busy because otherwise they could have had a seriously powerful akuma on their hands. As it was, Hawkmoth clearly had other things to do today.

Marinette returned Lila's glare with an unreadable look. She didn't know what Lila wanted or expected, but she wouldn't give it to her. No reaction, no nothing. She turned her back to the bully.

It was over.

Lila shuffled off the stage with her parents, avoiding anyone's gaze, shoulders slumped.

They wouldn't see her again.

Sabine tuned out the Principal's closing remarks, only having eyes for her daughter. Marinette had chosen one hell of a moment to exercise her right not to accept an apology and Sabine couldn't be any prouder. Her daughter was so brave.

Tom too, looked extra proud, his chest puffed out and when Marinette glanced up to both of her parents, Tom was unable to hold back his beaming smile any longer.

"We are so proud of you." Sabine kissed her daughter's forehead lovingly, before Tom caught his wife and daughter up in a fierce bear hug. He only let them down once Marinette's face went bright pink (presumably from the lack of oxygen).

"Do you want to head home, sweetheart?" Sabine prompted gently. It was something she and Tom had discussed prior to the assembly, knowing it would be a very draining experience for Marinette (and if Principal Damocles had a problem with it, he could bring it up with her).

Marinette mulled it over for a moment before shaking her head, determination burning in her gaze.

"No thank you, maman. I want to stay the rest of the day."

Sabine nodded. "If you want to come home earlier, just let us know."

"Okay." Marinette agreed, smiling.

Tom and Sabine barely bid Marinette goodbye before her classmates quite literally swarmed her.

"Marinette we're so sorry!"

"Dudette—"

"Can you ever forgive us—"

Apologies flew at Marinette left, right and centre in an overwhelmingly chaotic cacophony that would make anyone else dizzy.

Sabine and Tom slowed their departure, glancing nervously at each other as their daughter looked momentarily overwhelmed. Just as Tom was about to step in, there was a subtle shift, and suddenly Marinette's stance changed.

She planted her feet, her spine straightened and there was an unmoveableness to her form that was eerily familiar, but neither Tom nor Sabine could place.

She held up a hand and immediately the class quieted, individual apologies dying on their lips.

"Thank you, everyone, for your apologies." Marinette began quietly but firmly, and immediately the relief surged through the class, but that quickly changed with her next words.

"I can't pretend it didn't hurt, because it did." She frowned, the truth slapping the rest of the class across the face. "Everyone doubted me so easily, or brushed off whatever I said as jealousy."

Everyone in the class immediately knew what Marinette was talking about in relation to who she was jealous of exactly, only Adrien didn't grasp what she meant by that, but she continued. " Lila was a good liar, and part of the reason why I love this class so much is because you all are so trusting and kind. You had no reason to doubt her, and I wouldn't have either unless I had seen her steal Adrien's book. I never asked you to blindly believe me instead of Lila… I just wanted you to do your own fact checking."

By now everyone in the class looked shamefaced. Perhaps they'd expected an immediate forgiveness, and maybe if things had turned out differently Marinette would have given it to them.

"I forgive you, but it's going to take time to rebuild our trust." Marinette smiled kindly.

The class was subdued for a moment, but it was Nino who eventually spoke up for the whole class.

"We understand, Marinette. Thanks for giving us another chance."

With that, the solemn nature broke and some of the tension bled away. While Marinette had accepted her classmate's apologies, it was clear she had boundaries and had drawn the line.

Tom and Sabine thought they couldn't be any prouder, but they were wrong. They watched as their daughter blended back in with her classmates as the assembly dispersed, teachers leading their wound up charges back to class.

Sabine reached up and grasped her husband's chin in her hand, pulling him gently closer for a kiss to the cheek. He surprised her by turning his head at the last moment and sneaking in a kiss on the lips.

"Shall we head home dear?" He asked, smiling.

"In just a moment, I need to have a little word with Principal Damocles. It won't take long." Sabine said sweetly, but the underlying steely glint in her gaze said otherwise.

"Yes dear." Tom sighed happily, watching his beloved wife march off in the direction of the cowering principal.

He was one lucky guy.

…

(A/N) :Thank you so much for reading and for your kind reviews. I hope you enjoyed chapter two just as much, and maybe got a little more closure :)

Have a great day!