"Ready your wand, Barton!" Merula said, as she took an aggressive stance. The two Slytherin students stood opposite each other in the courtyard, well after curfew. They were about to have their fourth duel since coming to Hogwarts, and Merula was not about to lose this one, not like the other three...

"Shut up, Snyde. When will you learn that you'll never win?" The boy taunted her as he drew his own wand and took a more defensive position. However, he had other plans in mind. Merula was too easy. She may have been a bully, but she never tried to cheat. And the best way to win against her in a one on one match was to do just that. Lewis secretly reached for a potion with his free hand. "On the count of three, Snyde! ...One! ...Two! ...Th-!"

Before the boy could finish his countdown, his vision went black. Lewis fell to the ground with a thud.

"What the-?"

Before she could grasp what had just happened, Merula's body went stiff and she began to fall backwards. But instead of hitting the ground, she gently floated in the air. Unable to move or shout out in anger, she darted her eyes around as best she could to see who was behind this. A few moments later, she found the culprit as he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and mounted a strange looking broom next to her.

"Yeah, yeah. You'll destroy me or whatever. But you'll be thanking me in a bit. Hang tight."

Merula felt a rush of wind as the two shot off in to the night sky.

Anon Suomy. A strange boy who had gone missing partway through their first year after touching a cursed muggle object. Everyone had thought he had died, probably because he literally exploded. She saw it herself, and still had the occasional nightmare. All they could find after the 'accident' was bits of his arm splattered about the common room, and a smoldering crater next to the table where he once stood.

But some time during summer break, he showed up again. Some say he isn't the same kid that died and is just some dark creature taking human form, others say the object he touched was actually a portkey or some sort of disapparation device that malfunctioned, splicing his arm off in the process. The only facts the other students knew about him after he showed back up were three things. First, he had his right arm back, or at least AN arm. It was wooden, and clearly magic in origin. It worked just like his old one, even going as far as to have actual feeling in it.

Second, he no longer had a wand. He had a staff. Like an actual, wooden staff. Those clunky, ancient means of casting magic before the creation of the wand. Even with the staff, no one had seen him cast proper magic with it. Rumor had it that he couldn't use magic anymore, and the only reason he was still at Hogwarts is because his parents were Obliviated after his demise, being muggle and all. They say Dumbledore had felt so bad after he showed back up, that he let him stay at Hogwarts since he didn't have a home to go back to anymore. At least not without some serious use of the cruciatus curse on his parents that would most likely make them go mad in the process of remembering.

Third, he wasn't 12 anymore. He was more around the age of 15, and no one could explain why. He stood a solid 6 feet tall now, had messy black hair, and somehow ended up with crimson eyes instead of the brown he had left with. His eyes wouldn't be considered all that strange, seeing as how Merula herself had violet ones along with Madam Hooch's yellow eyes, but his had a tendency to glow faintly in dark places. And despite being 15, he was still in second year, and still a Slytherin.

So how was it that a once dead, mudblooded, magic-less freak took out not only Lewis Barton, but herself? And where in the hell was he taking her? She was clearly stunned with petrificus totalus, but how did he make her float? Non assisted human flight by wizards was impossible. He could have charmed her clothes, but he'd need to be using a wand. He was just dragging her about by the collar, and his staff was nowhere to be seen, only that broom.

As she was still angrily trying to puzzle out what had happened, he landed his broom near some entrance to the school and pulled her inside. After several minutes of staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out where they were and where they were headed, she finally saw something familiar. He had brought her down in to the dungeons, and was taking her to the Slytherin common room.

After pulling her inside, he brought her in to the boy's wing of the dormitory, and in to some strange room. He finally let go of her, leaving her to stare up at the unfamiliar ceiling as he went about his business. The flickering shadows in the room and the gentle bubbling sound told her that he was brewing something, though she wasn't sure what.

Anon pulled a small vial from a pocket within his cloak, and emptied the contents in to his cauldron. After adding a few more ingredients and giving it a good stir, he spooned some of the contents in to a small bowl and brought it over to the other side of the room.

"Okay, tell me if this works."

He stood in front of what looked to be a life sized wooden doll, or at least a portion of one. The doll had long, sleek, raven colored hair, a modest torso, and one arm. The other arm, along with the lower half of the body, was missing. Anon dipped his hand in to the potion and rubbed it across her body as if applying sun cream to it.

"Better?

What?

Yes, I know it was stupid. You don't have to tell me twice.

I know.

I KNOW.

But it worked, didn't it?

Oh come on, don't be like that. You know you're worth the risk."

Anon let out a sigh.

"Okay, fine. No more stealing. It just means we're going to either have to buy this shit, which will be hard to do, or we get the rest ourselves. It's going to take a long time.

Yes, I know. But I was only doing this for you. You've done so much for me, but I haven't returned the favor...

...I understand. I don't like it, but I understand. We'll go slow. Here, it's best you come back now. You can't stay like that in your current condition."

Merula tried to see what he was doing and who he was talking to, but to no avail. Was there someone else here? She couldn't really hear anything. God, maybe he really was crazy. Even crazier than Jacob's brother. But before she had any more time to work out what was going on, Anon pushed her floating body over his bed and snapped his fingers. She immediately dropped down with a pomf, and could once again move.

She shot up from the bed and aimed her wand directly at him.

"WHAT. THE. HELL?!"

"Calm down, Snyde. You're safe."

"Safe?! Calm down?! Just what in the hell do you think you're doing, Suomy?! And what in the HELL is that thing?" Merula shouted, noticing the wooden torso hanging on the wall next to the bed.

"Nothing that you need to worry about. But yeah. You're safe. Had I not stopped your stupid pissing contest with Barton, you'd be expelled by now and packing your things."

Merula got off the bed and slowly made her way towards the door, still pointing her wand at him.

"You're fucking crazy, you know that? Bloody fucking crazy! I didn't need your help! You'll pay for this, Suomy. I swear!"

"Yeah, whatever. Just get out of my room if you're going to be a bitch." Anon said, waiving his hand dismissively at her.

Merula shot him a hateful glare as she backed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her. She had no idea what had happened, but she knew he was trouble. And not in the filthy mudblood sort of way like that Cooper kid. No, the feeling she got with him was more like that of her life being in danger.

With a huff, she stormed down the halls and out of the boy's wing, back in to the common room. But before she could make it to the girl's side, a voice stopped her.

"Miss Snyde."

Merula came to a halt. She could recognize that nasally voice anywhere.

"P-Professor Snape! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Snyde. What are you doing up at this hour, coming out of the boy's dormitories no less?"

"See! I-I told you, Professor! She's up to no good!"

Snape wasn't alone. He had Lewis by the collar, who was clearly distressed. Snape must have found him in the courtyard, and of course he had tried to rat her out again.

"W-well I..."

Merula was never good at lies, even though it was supposed to be one of the skills Slytherins were good at.

"Merula!" Anon called out to her, as he came trotting down the hall and in to the common room. "Here, you forgot this," He said as he handed her a copy of last year's charms book. "Oh, Professor! Good evening, sir."

Snape shot him a glare. "Suomy. This now makes THREE students up past curfew, two of which seem to have been spending time together. Would either of you care to give me an explanation?"

"Yes sir," Anon said. "Though Merula might not like me telling you this, she was helping me study."

"Study?"

"Yes, sir. Charms, to be exact."

"And why would she be teaching you charms at this hour, and in the boy's dormitory?"

"Because I had asked her to, sir. This was the only way she'd agree. It had to be late at night when everyone else was asleep and where no one would catch her helping me.

You see, sir, I'm muggle born, as you know. And since we're Slytherin... Well, you know I'm not a favorite amongst my peers. Anyways, Merula was helping me catch up on some of the stuff I had missed out on while I was gone. But given my parentage, she couldn't be seen helping me. She had to keep up her reputation and image and whatnot. But I begged her to help me, and she agreed."

"And so how is it that bringing a girl in to a boys shared room is keeping her assistance a secret? If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Barton is one of your bunkmates."

"Actually sir, I sleep in the broom closet."

"...You what?"

"The broom closet, sir. I sleep in the broom closet. Barton and the others... They kicked me out of the room the first week of school last year. I've been living there since. I figured you knew, seeing as how no one ever put a stop to it."

Snape shook Lewis by the collar. "Is this true, boy?"

"W-w-well sir, i-it's not like we forced him per se..."

"No excuses, Barton."

"Professor, please. It's quite all right. I much prefer it this way."

Snape gave a disapproving groan, but didn't say anything against it. "Regardless, a broom closet is quite a...cozy setting for two young students, is it not?"

"Oh, very much so, sir."

"And how do I know that what you're telling me is true? Why should I take your word over Barton's, who has proven multiple times in the past that Snyde is quite the disappointment outside of the classroom?"

Shit. Merula tensed up. It was true, Barton had gotten her in to hot water multiple times. It would be pretty easy to see past such an obvious lie.

"Well sir, you're free to check my staff. Merula's wand, too, of course."

"What?" The other three said in unison. Clearly this had caught everyone off guard.

"That'll prove what I'm saying is true. We were practicing turning things in to quills."

Snape thought for a moment before barking at Merula and Lewis to follow him, letting Anon lead them back to his room. Merula was getting more and more distraught as they approached the door. He would open it and see that he wasn't living in a broom closet at all, and that this was all one big lie, and-

Anon opened the door to his room, and Merula blinked in surprise. It wasn't the large room she had just stormed out of with the freaky wooden doll thing on the wall, it was really just a small broom closet. There was a makeshift bed along one wall, a stack of school supplies along the other, clothes hanging on a hook on the back wall, and a small lamp in one corner of the room. Anon grabbed his staff, which was propped up against the wall with his school supplies, and handed it to Snape.

"And your wand, Miss Snyde?"

Merula reluctantly reached in to her robes and pulled out her wand, handing it over to the professor.

Snape sat both devices on the floor in front of him, pulled out his own wand, and pointed it at Anon's staff. "Prior Incantato!"

A bright flash briefly erupted from Snape's wand, linking it to Anon's staff. After it had gone, a dark puff of smoke arose, showing a fork partially turning in to a quill before vanishing. Snape kicked the staff aside with his foot and repeated the same process with Merula's wand, with similar results.

"It...Appears you are telling the truth. Be that as it may, you are forbidden from meeting up in this closet again. If I even catch word of it happening, you'll both be scrubbing cauldrons for the rest of the year. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir." Said Anon, with Merula following in agreement.

"As for you, Barton. Twenty points from Slytherin for wasting my time with your lies, and three months detention for being out of bed after curfew. Return to your rooms at once."

Snape shot them all one final glare before turning around and heading off down the hall. Anon picked up his staff from the floor and handed Merula her wand, which she hastily snatched away from him.

"I don't know how you two did this, but I'll find out. And when I do..." Lewis growled at the two of them before heading off towards his room.

Merula also started off back down the hall, turning around once to threaten him before going on her way. "This isn't over, Suomy!"

Anon sighed. What a pain in the ass. He closed the door to the broom closet and re-opened it, revealing his proper room. He went inside and began changing in to his pajamas.

'I told you, stealing from Snape was a bad idea. Had I not taught you how to manipulate spells, that would have ended poorly.'

Anon ignored the cold voice inside his head as he covered himself up under his blankets. Tomorrow was going to be...interesting.