A/N: Wow, back for more? Thanks.

Anyway, I wrote this chapter years ago and I'm looking back and thinking on how weird it is. Oh, well, whatever.

Disclaimer: I only own Lizzie (she disagrees), nothing else.


Chapter 2-

The second time Elizabeth Fairchild met Theodore Nott was in the kitchens a few days later. Okay, well, not exactly the kitchens, but near the area.

It was after hours. And despite Hufflepuffs being known for their honesty, well, sometimes they did break the rules. And it just happened to be a night where Lizzie felt like breaking the rules. Because she was hungry at this particular time at night. And she wanted to go to the kitchens for food. And she'd actually managed to complete all the homework that was due tomorrow. And Hannah Abbott, the prefect in her year who also shared a dorm with her (who also happened to be her best friend), was on patrol today. Conveniently leaving her prefect schedule in her unlocked drawer since Hannah, being Hannah, already knew her schedule by heart, hence not needing to take it with her. Inexplicably leaving it for Lizzie to find (er, not that she was snooping through her friend's things, nope, of course not) and realize that it contained all the prefects' patrol schedules. Hence Lizzie taking advantage of these instances and figuring out which way would be the best way to get to the kitchens without running into a prefect. Hence, breaking the rules.

Theo also happened to be hungry at this particular time of night on this particular night of the week. And he also happened to know where the kitchens were. However, unlike Lizzie, he did not have the advantage of knowing the best way to get to the kitchens without running into a prefect. Because despite having a prefect, Draco Malfoy, sharing his dorm, he would never just snoop in Draco Malfoy's dresser. Moreover, Draco always kept it locked with charms and jinxes, and while Theo would no doubt be able to get past them easily, he didn't feel like bothering with it. Besides, Theo didn't feel comfortable with snooping through his classmate's (not friend, never friend. Theo didn't need friends) things. So he just went, not worrying about prefects or anything.

It was on this night, where Elizabeth Fairchild was acting remarkably cunning for a Hufflepuff and Theodore Nott was acting remarkably honest for a Slytherin, that they had their second meeting.

.

Lizzie had her wand out, a small light on the end, and was making her way towards the kitchen. The rumbling in her stomach wouldn't stop. This was only her third time in all of her years at Hogwarts where she snuck out after hours, and she couldn't stop the nervous butterflies in her stomach.

Sure, if she was caught, the worst would probably just be detention, but no one was really sure these days. Not with Umbridge – sorry, Professor Umbridge – gaining more and more influence at the school. It'd just been announced in the Daily Prophet that morning that she had been made "Hogwarts' High Inquisitor," and she'd already shown up in Lizzie's History of Magic class earlier that day.

Although, the class went much the same way as it always did, with Professor Binns droning on an on after barely acknowledging Umbridge. The only differences were the sounds of Umbridge's scratching of her quill and that most of the students remained awake because she was there.

So Lizzie knew that she really should be more fearful of their new professor since she didn't know what Umbridge's consequences were for sneaking out after curfew. She shuddered at the thought of being caught by the toad herself.

However, she thought her chances should be pretty good, considering that the kitchens weren't even that far from her common room.

Well, she thought that until she heard a soft meow near her feet.

Crap.

Why couldn't she have remembered Filch and his cat? Argh! Mentally face-palming, Lizzie quickly turned the other way, hearing footsteps approach the cat. She forced her breathing to remain reasonably normal, and turned another corner, where she would wait for Filch to leave.

Which is where she sensed the presence of someone else. She raised her wand, the light illuminating his startled face.

"Nott?" She asked, surprised. "Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he said flatly. "And get that thing out of my face."

Lizzie realized she was pointing the light right into his eyes, and quickly lowered it. "Sorry."

"So," he started, leaning against the wall, "Why are you here? Aren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be the perfect, model students who never break rules?"

"Well aren't Slytherins supposed to hate on people like me instead of helping them with homework?" Lizzie shot back.

He blinked, then pushed himself off the wall. "Touché. Still, you haven't answered my question."

"I asked first."

"You don't give in easily, do you?"

"No. Especially not to people like you."

.

Theodore turned to face her. "People like me? What is that supposed to mean?"

The girl in front of him sighed. "You know, Slytherin, Pureblood supremacist, rude, thinks they're better than everyone else, etc." she listed, ticking off each on her fingers. She looked him in the eye. "People like you. In a nutshell."

He stared, not knowing what to say. He really shouldn't be surprised. He knew what everyone outside of his own house thought of him and his fellow Slytherins. And especially to Mudbloods, who didn't understand Wizarding society. They didn't understand how much significance was put into coming from a good family, a Pureblood family. They were outsiders, so of course he was better than them, because he understood, and he was a part of it. That was how Wizarding society had always been, and it always would be. Especially with the Dark Lord rising again.

But he couldn't just tell her that. Besides, she wouldn't understand. So he told her just that.

"You don't understand."

"Oh really?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Then why don't you explain it to me so I do understand?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I explained in elementary terms," He said.

"You think I'm stupid? Seriously?" She scoffed, clearly offended. "I get decent marks in all of my classes!"

"There is a difference between academic knowledge and knowledge that comes from experience or circumstance." He smirked. "Besides, would you have gotten good marks on that last paper in Snape's class if it weren't for me? And going back to what you said previously, I don't think describing a person as rude when that person helped you with said paper does justice to the person."

.

Lizzie felt her cheeks go red. It was a good thing it was dark and her lit wand was pointing away from her so he couldn't make fun of her embarrassment. She didn't want to, but she had to admit to herself that he did have a point about academic knowledge and other knowledge gained from experiences. Sometimes there were things that you couldn't just learn from a book, or having someone else tell you (sorry, Granger). If you hadn't experienced it, then you had to be willing to view things differently to then gain an understanding of something different. Such as different types of people with different views.

Perhaps she was wrong to list all of those things. Those were just stereotypes. And even though stereotypes do have some basis in truth, she realized that each person has individual traits that makes them whole. And maybe Nott wasn't all of those stereotypes, and she shouldn't just write him off as being the epitome of those traits. He was his own person, right? Just as she wasn't everything a Hufflepuff is supposed to be.

Honestly, she really shouldn't have listed them. Because if he really was those things, provoking him wouldn't be the best idea. What if he had hexed her!

But he didn't, and he seemed to not really care all that much about what other people thought of him. Not enough to be explicitly angry, at least. Just slightly irritated.

And he did help her, didn't he? Maybe he wasn't completely a typical rude Pureblood Slytherin. After all, he hadn't said anything about her blood or magic yet, which was strange for a Pureblood Slytherin with a – possible – Death Eater for a dad. Well, perhaps he just didn't know what her blood was. And when he did find out, then she'd truly see how rude he could be.

That was just a thought, though. Maybe he did know her blood but he just didn't care.

"Fairchild," She heard a voice call her, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"You're muttering to yourself."

Lizzie froze. It had only been for about a minute, maybe even less, but she realized she'd let her thoughts take hold of her and she was muttering to herself. Immediately, she shut her mouth and forced herself to turn to Nott, trying to keep her embarrassment from showing, even in the dim light.

"Was I?" Lizzie let out a small chuckle, trying to keep calm. "Well, anyways, I'm sorry about what I said."

.

Theo raised his eyebrows. He was not used to receiving such genuine apologies from others, even from those in his own house. But Fairchild appeared to be sincere in her words, even though she'd gone into her own head momentarily.

Then he realized that they'd been standing there for a while, and she seemed to realize as well.

"Well, I was heading to the kitchens," She finally spoke. "You?"

"I was going there too."

"Really? Then let's go together! I mean, do you even really know where it is?"

"Of course I do! Malfoy and I have come down here before!" He didn't want to admit that he had, for a moment, gotten lost and had to find his way back. He was a little glad she was there, yet at the same time…he'd have to deal with her the whole time! Maybe he should've stayed in the common room this time?

And what was it with this girl that made him want to talk? He never really had full-fledged conversations, and this, whatever it was, was the closest thing he'd had to one in a while.

But Fairchild made him want to talk. Granted, it wasn't exactly amiable conversation, but for some reason, when she made him irritated, he couldn't just ignore her as he usually did with others in his house. Perhaps because she was a Hufflepuff. A Mudblood. He couldn't have someone as low as her get away with irritating him. And she was interesting.

He sighed and nodded his head in affirmation, and she smiled.

She better not think we're friends or something. No. A Mudblood, friends with him? What a joke! No, tolerating her presence was only because it was amusing to talk to her. It brought something new to his mainly mundane life at school. He could tolerate her impure bloodline, if it meant getting some enjoyment out of it.

He started forward but she grabbed his arm and tugged him back.

"Not this way. There's a prefect about to turn the corner."

"How do you know?"

"Hannah Abbott conveniently leaves her dresser unlocked."

He didn't exactly understand what she meant by that, but then again, he barely even remembered who Hannah Abbott was. Just another Hufflepuff girl in his year who happened to be a prefect.

Either way, Fairchild obviously knew her way around this area a lot better than he did, so he let her lead him away and to the kitchens. After she let go of his arm, of course.

.

They walked the rest of the way in companionable silence – actually, no, scratch that. It was extremely awkward silence. For Lizzie, at least. Sometimes she cursed herself for being so friendly. She could've just walked away, and let him be caught by the prefects or whatever. Actually, weren't Slytherins supposed to be the ones who were sneaky?

Oh well. She'd just decided she wasn't going to listen to stereotypes, but that didn't lessen her nervousness at walking to the kitchens in the middle of the night together. Especially considering he was a Slytherin, Pureblood, a (possible) Death Eater's child, and generally known for being unfriendly.

Why was he talking to her? Just why? Well, it was she who initiated the conversation back in the library and now, but he's the one who decided to help her, and decided to respond to her, and decided to come with her to the kitchens.

She couldn't figure him out. He was rude, then apologetic, then helpful, then rude, and then, perhaps, somewhat friendly?

When they finally reached the painting leading to the kitchens, she sighed in relief - then quickly checked to make sure he hadn't heard. He didn't give any indication he had, which set her heart at ease even more.

Yes, she was friendly. And no, she wasn't exactly scared of the boy. But he was still a Death Eater's – ex-Death Eater's? – son. And they were alone. He could do anything to her! Hex her, injure her, and there would be no witnesses! He could even make it look like an accident!

Okay, calm down. We're at the kitchens now. Nothing will happen. I have my wand. Besides, I don't think he'd really do that. Maybe. Gosh why do I get scared so easily?

While she was deep in her thoughts she didn't notice that Nott had tickled the pear and opened the door. And was already gone.

Argh! Didn't she say they'd go together? Maybe he only came with her because he didn't know the way or something.

Whatever the case, she walked in and found him on one of the couches on the side, surrounded by house-elves, all offering food.

She stomped over. Slytherin or not, he shouldn't have just left her there!

.

Theo saw her coming over, fuming. What did he even do that would make her angry?

"You left me there!"

Theo raised an eyebrow. If he knew it would make her that mad, he wouldn't have gone inside, but she was just standing there. He was starting to see that it may be normal for her, to just fall into a daydream or something and forget her surroundings.

But he really didn't have the energy to speak. He'd already spoken enough for one day. So he merely told her to calm down before focusing on his plate, laden with various snacks.

She breathed in slowly before sitting down on the couch across from him. "Yeah, sorry about that."

She got angry easily, he noted. Well, a lot of people got angry easily, she was just one of those who got disproportionately angry at the smallest of things while also being unable to hold it in, no matter what. If he hadn't known she was a Hufflepuff, he would've pegged her for a Gryffindor. She would fit right in with the hotheaded Weasleys.

Most Slytherins were able to keep their calm. Well, purebloods at least. They were all taught since birth to be the proper wizards, and keeping calm and giving no indication of emotional distress to others was one of those things. He wasn't used to seeing someone he barely knew be so candid in showing her emotions in front of him. Didn't she know that doing that would give the other person an advantage over her?

Then again, she was just a mudblood. She didn't understand. She grew up with muggles, who probably didn't have half a brain in teaching their daughter how to properly handle herself and her emotions.

She asked a house-elf for some kind of food he didn't know of, probably some muggle snack as she gave the elf very specific instructions on how to make it, and he noted how friendly she treated the elves, even going so far as to say "please" and "thank you."

He shook his head wryly. As expected of a Mudblood. They'll never fit into Wizarding society. They stick out like a sore thumb.

"You think I'm stupid, don't you?"

"Huh?" Theo was jolted out of his thoughts by her question, and hadn't expected her to ask something like that, out of all things.

"You do."

This time it wasn't a question. He pursed his lips, thinking about what to say.

"I don't think you're stupid."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Then what?" She challenged.

He inwardly groaned. Why again had he thought to tolerate this girl?

"You're not stupid. Just incredibly naïve and ignorant."

"Excuse me?! I'm ignorant?"

.

Lizzie didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the notion.

"How can I be ignorant? Ignorant to what? If anything, you're ignorant. Even though you haven't said anything, I know. I know how people of your house and your bloodline view people like me. They're the ones who are ignorant, because they can't get past their own prejudices!"

Only now did she realize she had stood up and was pointing an accusatory finger at him.

He was still silent. Please don't be planning my demise, she pleaded inwardly. Oh gosh, he really is planning my demise, isn't he? What have you done, Lizzie? Why, Lizzie? Why would you say something so stupid and ridiculous and it's true but it's still rude and ahhh what am I going to do –

Lizzie shook herself out of her panicking thoughts. They had a tendency to run ahead of her. Okay, calm, Lizzie, calm. Be calm. You can be calm, right? Totally calm, Lizzie. Breathe. In and out. Good job, you're doing well. I am so amazing. I'm like my own therapist. Hmm, maybe I could be a therapist in the future –

LIZZIE focus!

She wanted to slap herself for her runaway thoughts. I. Am. An. Idiot.

She realized that Nott still hadn't spoken about her outburst and he'd opened a book (where'd that come from?) and wasn't paying any attention to her. Which terrified her.

It's always the quiet ones, isn't it? Oh, please, please, Nott, forgive me! He's probably planning my gruesome death and –

Lizzie, its okay. He's not that bad, right?

"Erm," She started but was cought off-guard when he turned his gaze to her, without any emotion which freaked her out again. His staring bore into her skin, making her feel as if he could see past her and into her mind. Can I please die in a hole right now? Universe, I would really appreciate if you could make a black hole appear right about now from under me. Really, I would.

"Could you, ah, say something, at least?" She asked nervously, forcing a smile on her face, trying to hide the fact that she was uncomfortable but knowing it was futile.

.

He regarded her curiously, before ignoring her in favor of his food. He didn't know what to say, honestly. How could he say that it was the muggles' own ignorance that caused them to be hated and viewed as lesser beings? How could he word it in a way that she would understand? So he said what he'd said before:

"You don't understand."

"That again?" She huffed. "Try me."

He contemplated for a few moments, before doing exactly that. He told her everything, from how people with magic were treated in the past, forcing their world to go into hiding. And how less and less people married muggles after the International Statute of Secrecy, fearing they would be punished for breaking the law. And how the muggles' ignorance of all things magical, their ignorance, hatred, and fear, led to an entire society of people to hide themselves who feared going outside because they couldn't risk a muggle getting suspicious. And how those same muggles, or their descendants at least, thought they were somehow better than people with magic. And how all the muggle-borns (and sometimes halfbloods too) who enter wizarding society decide that they know better and that they have some sort of right to do whatever they want and work wherever they want and take wizards' jobs and change the wizarding world to be more like the muggles' world. It was infecting wizarding society and changing many old traditions because for some reason, these muggle-borns think they know more about the wizarding world than the wizards themselves, and they try to change it to fit their vision of the perfect world, and it infuriates many people. They don't have the class of purebloods, and they don't even try to learn of it. They just waltz into their world, not caring about how the society works. They don't adhere to the social status and social norms. Hence, they are ignorant.

He finished his speech, and couldn't even believe how long he had talked. He rarely spoke more than three sentences to someone in one sitting. But once he had opened his mouth, he couldn't stop. There were centuries of hatred against muggles that he laid out for her, and he didn't care if he hurt her feelings or some crap like that.

She'd listened through the whole thing, which surprised him, a little. She'd wanted to interrupt him many times, he could tell, but she managed to keep her mouth shut.

He didn't expect her to understand anything. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if she chose never to talk to him again. It wouldn't shock him in the slightest if she got up and stormed out, just now. (And why did he feel a sinking in his stomach at the idea of her never speaking to him again?)

But of course, this was Fairchild, the same girl who approached him in the library and who had no qualms in talking back to him and challenged him and never showed she was scared or intimidated by him. He should really not underestimate her ability to surprise him.

"So basically, I'm ignorant, and all other muggle-borns, and muggles too, are ignorant, and your reason for this is ethnocentrism?"

"Ethno-what?" Theo asked, taken aback by her calm and matter-of-fact response.

"Ethnocentrism. It's the idea of looking at another society through the lens of your own, so that often a lot of the other society's traditions and norms might seem strange and weird to you because it's considered weird in your society, even though a lot of the things you do would seem weird to them," Fairchild explained. "Though I suppose you wouldn't know the term, because of your ignorance of the muggle world and how you don't even try to learn about it before calling it inferior," She added pointedly.

He scoffed. "I don't need to know about the muggle world, because I'm not trying to be a part of it. But you, you're a part of this world, whether the rest of us want you here or not. And instead of trying to integrate yourself properly, you just flagrantly reject all of our traditions and strut about as if you own the place."

.

Lizzie knew he wasn't targeting her specifically, and was saying "you" in general, but she couldn't help but be offended. Especially since the "you" was targeting muggle-borns. Like her.

"Well it's not like you ever give us the chance to integrate ourselves properly! What with the whole "Mudbloods are disgusting and beneath us" thing," She faltered a little at the use of the slur, but she wanted to make her point. Her voice slowly rose until she was sure she was shouting. "How do you expect us to respect your culture when your culture blatantly disrespects us?! We're people too, whether or not you believe that. We're fully human, and we're thrown into this world at the age of eleven, and we have to prove to the wizarding world that we are just as good as purebloods! I mean, would you want to integrate yourself into a culture that forces you down and tells you that you are less than the rest and that you aren't worth the dirt beneath people's feet? No, you would try to prove yourself and show them that they are wrong and that this whole thing about keeping up with centuries-old traditions and staying tied to a stupid, supremacist culture is wrong. Very, very wrong!"

He opened his mouth to cut her off but she wasn't done. Not yet. The house-elves had heard her shouting and they had gone to hide behind the tables and many were staring at her, not knowing what to do. She paid them no mind. All of her attention was focused on the…the bigot in front of her. In this moment, she wasn't afraid of him anymore. She wasn't terrified of what he'd do to her after she'd said what she wanted to say. She knew she would regret this, but it just felt so good to let out all of her rage at the wizarding world, even if the person in front of her wasn't entirely deserving of her rage. Well, he was definitely deserving of some, at least. And she could worry about being afraid of him after she got to yell at him.

"That doesn't make me ignorant! I may not know everything about old Pureblood traditions, but maybe I would actually respect them more if the basis of so many of these traditions aren't 'We're better than those disease-riddled savage muggles! Let's revel in our awesome superiority!' That's why you want to kill us all, isn't it?" Lizzie realized, her voice taking on a calmer tone. "You say it's because we're disgusting, because we're filth, but really, you're afraid of us taking over the wizarding world. You're afraid that somehow the muggles will find out about magic and start a witch-hunt, like in the past. You're afraid of the world as you know it collapsing and wizards and witches having to find their own place in a new, different wizarding world with muggleborns and muggles everywhere and you no longer having all the respect and the wealth that the Pureblood traditions have given you that you've had to rely on for centuries. You hate us, because in gaining our equal rights, we're ripping away the privilege that you've always had."

Nott glared. "We're not afraid of you," he sneered, but Lizzie could see that he faltered slightly, that some of what she said had raised doubts in his mind.

"Aren't you? I mean, maybe not you specifically and maybe you don't believe in this personally, but that's the general Pureblood belief, isn't it? I mean, that's probably how all of these prejudices were manifested, because those who were magical in the past feared the muggles who were hunting them down. And they passed it onto their children, who passed it onto their children, where the fear eventually turned into hate. But since the muggles had eventually forgotten about magic and it had merely turned into the stuff of myths and legends and stories to them, they were no longer a threat. And the wizarding world needed a reason to hate muggles. So eventually, with all the fear and hate combined, rose stories of how "uncivilized" muggles are. Of how diseased they are. Of how muggle-borns would never belong, because they always try to ruin wizarding society. And that's why the generations of today look down on us so much, because their ancestors greatly feared us in the past, even though now the fear is mostly gone."

"And do you have proof for all of these assumptions?"

.

"I have logic," She replied, raising her chin defiantly. She raised her mug of hot chocolate and sipped from it, her eyes not leaving his face. She was clearly done with her say and was waiting for him to respond.

But he had nothing to say to her. Clearly she was deluded. And clearly he was an idiot for ever thinking he could tolerate her presence. Mudbloods will always be mudbloods, Theo. Curse you for ever thinking that one could be different than the rest. That one of them could be amusing, and fun to converse with. She isn't different. Admittedly she is bolder, and definitely someone with well thought-out words, but just the same.

Suddenly he didn't want to be there anymore. Suddenly he was itching to leave the kitchens as quickly as possible, to be as far away from the Mudblood as he could. But he couldn't leave. Not just like that, anyway. He couldn't show her that she had some sort of hold on him, that she held some power over him. Hah! That was laughable. And he didn't want to give the impression that he was afraid of her, because he definitely wasn't.

She's just a mudblood, Theo, who cares about her? Just read your book and eat your food in peace until she leaves. You don't have to talk to her. Just ignore her.

So he raised his book and began reading, trying to ignore the fact that she kept glancing at him every few seconds, as if afraid of what he would do.

Ha. She claims that Purebloods are afraid of filthy muggles and mudbloods, but obviously she's the one who's scared. What a crazy girl.

.

Lizzie squirmed in her seat. Obviously, this was not how she imagined her night to be. She imagined coming down to the kitchens and drinking hot chocolate and relaxing and mulling in her own thoughts. But no, she just had to bump into Nott on the way down and her stupid brain just had to make the choice to come here with him and start an argument with him. Couldn't she have just stayed silent? She didn't have to ask him if he thought she was stupid, but she just blurted it out without thinking. Sometimes she really hated herself. Sometimes she could word things in a really well thought-out way but mostly she would blurt the most random things.

At least she proved to him she wasn't stupid. And not in the slightest ignorant. Or naïve.

She looked over and noticed he was still reading. She didn't know what came over her, but she'd thought of an idea.

"Hey, er, Nott?"

"What?"

.

Argh, he'd talked without thinking. What happened to ignoring the girl? What was he thinking? He hoped she wouldn't yell at him again. She was probably just apologizing, if anything.

"I um…I noticed you like to read?"

Well, guess not. No apology then.

"Yes, so what?" He snapped. He didn't care to hide his emotions anymore. She'd insulted him and his world. He was mad, and angry, and frustrated, and he'd resolved to ignore her but that didn't last, so he had a right to snap at her.

"Well I just thought…have you read every book in the library?"

"Of course." Obviously he hadn't, because it was a library and a big one at that, but obviously this girl was crazy so he humored her.

"Really? Well, even if you haven't, you've probably read at least a few books from every section, right?"

"Obviously." There was no point in trying to ask her what the point of all this was. Although he was curious about what she was going on about, maybe if he kept his answers short and brief, she would shut up and leave.

"Well, I'm willing to bet that there's one section you haven't read from," she challenged, a smirk on her face.

Willing to bet, is she? Well maybe then I can prove how crazy she is. She's probably talking about the restricted section. Naïve little Hufflepuff.

"And no, I'm not talking about the restricted section, because you've probably read all the books in there already," she remarked, making him frown and look at his book, which was, indeed, nicked from the restricted section. He'd just charmed the outside to look like a book about potions.

Now he was curious. Throughout the years he'd been at Hogwarts, he'd read many books, and, yes, he thought, no, knew he'd read many from each section.

"Fine, then. I have read books from each section."

"Okay, well, tomorrow, I'm going to go into the library and I'll try to find a section you haven't read anything from yet."

"And if you don't?"

"Well, what do you want?"

"Nothing from you."

"Well, I'll let you decide later then!" She chirped. How could she get so happy after being so angry just earlier? And was she so confident that she didn't worry about what he would ask of her, since she didn't consider losing a possibility? Or was she so innocent that she trusted that he wouldn't come up with something too bad?

"But don't forget about if I do find a section!"

"And then what?"

"Hmm…then you'll have to read a book of my choice, from that section."

Theo frowned. That was it? First of all, what was her motivation in asking him randomly, and second of all, why was his consequence…not really a consequence at all? He wouldn't mind reading another book. More knowledge, wasn't it?

And she didn't seem that stupid…maybe she just didn't really care about what she got out of it, or maybe it was just a Hufflepuff thing to be nice, even when betting, or maybe she really only cared about proving him wrong and wanted to gloat afterwards or something.

Or maybe…she was planning something.

If she was a Slytherin he would immediately be suspicious of her planning something, but this was just a Hufflepuff.

Then again, she was not merely an innocent and nice Hufflepuff, was she?

And the way she was so confident in her suggestion made him think that she knew something he didn't, or at least thought she knew something he didn't.

Well, he was right and she was wrong and even though this was about something completely trivial, he couldn't have her think he was refusing because he thought he might be wrong. So he nodded at her, then stood up and stretched, closing his book.

"When are you going to do this?"

"Well, since I usually go to the library after dinner anyways to do homework, I'll just do it then!"

He let out a sound in affirmation, then, holding his book, he figured he should leave.

He had reached the door when he heard her say "Good night!" cheerily. What had gotten into her, really! He told himself to forget about it, but then figured it couldn't hurt to wish her goodnight as well before leaving.

.

Lizzie smiled to herself, finally in the comfort of silence without a strange, bigoted Slytherin hanging around. She knew she would win this bet or whatever, and it was all part of her crazy plan. Well, not plan, exactly, but she had a particular book in mind she wanted him to read. And she considered several different ways to get him to read it, and this seemed the best way. She couldn't just suggest the title under the guise of just wanting to give him more book choices out of her goodwill or something silly like that, and there was no guarantee he would actually read anything she suggested anyway.

But this was the best way. Because Slytherins weren't sore losers. So he would read it, even if he somehow figured out what she was trying to do. It was just a book, after all. There was no guarantee that reading a book would change his mind. But it might.

Because honestly, he wasn't a bad person. Not necessarily. He held prejudiced beliefs, yes, but they could always change.

Lizzie's dad always told her to look for the best in people, and to always look to the opportunity for change. Someone might believe in an absolutely terrible thing, but if they honestly believed they were right, that didn't automatically make them a terrible person (well, unless they harmed someone or something like that). It just made them a person who was either ignorant or someone who chose to ignore the truth.

And she had a feeling that Nott was somehow a person who was both.

After all, he had been nice to her. Well, sort of. But he helped her with her essay and he apologized for being rude and really, he'd shown that he could be decent to muggle-borns. He held horrible beliefs, but he didn't act on them. And so maybe…maybe he didn't fully believe in them. He wasn't like Malfoy, who always looked for the next opportunity to bully those he considered to be beneath him.

But Nott didn't do that. He was perfectly civil to her the other day, and today too. Well, until their, uh, argument. Even though the way he talked to her gave her the impression that he thought of her as being like a small child, what with the whole "you wouldn't understand" thing, but he was never outright mean, and she'd never heard him shout slurs at others like the others in his house (cough *Malfoy* cough).

For the longest time, since her introduction to the wizarding world, she assumed that the pureblood supremacists all adhered to their beliefs the same way. The same way as Malfoy, namely. She assumed that all of them wanted her dead, that all of them considered her the dirt beneath their shoes.

But there were different layers to bigotry, she supposed. Like Nott. He seemed to consider her lesser in some ways at least, but he didn't seem to want her dead. He didn't give the impression that she was dirt, or that he was itching for the time when muggle-borns "learned their place" (Malfoy's words, not hers).

She didn't think he'd care if all the muggles and muggle-borns were wiped off the planet, but he didn't seem to care if they all lived and if muggle-borns kept coming to Hogwarts either. He wouldn't care either way, because their lives didn't matter to him, but he wouldn't actively try to get rid of them. He'd just stay out of there way and hope they did the same.

But maybe she could change his mind. Maybe she could make him care about the former, about whether or not people like her lived and had the rights they deserved or if they were all killed or subjugated under pureblood rule.

She didn't know why she cared so much. His beliefs were his beliefs, and as long as he didn't harm someone with them, it shouldn't matter to her if he cared.

But there was a reason. A very serious one. And she realized that she'd known for a long time, a longer time than she was willing to admit. Voldemort (she shuddered even thinking the name) was back. She didn't want to believe it, but it must be true. She didn't know Harry Potter that well, but Ernie Macmillan swore that Potter never lied. And she trusted Ernie. And she trusted Dumbledore too.

So that meant that Nott's father was definitely a Death Eater. And had definitely returned to Voldemort's service.

And it would be better if Nott didn't want to kill her, right?

She also supposed she just wanted to know. Wanted to know more about this complicated and interesting person, and if it was possible to let go of beliefs one has held their whole life.


Lizzie jerked awake and it took her a few moments to realize she wasn't in her dorm. She was in the kitchen and she blinked a few times to adjust to the darkness. The elves must have gone to sleep, she realized.

She glanced at her watch and almost screamed at the time. It was 3 am! She left the Hufflepuff common room at around 10:30 or so, and she'd probably been with Nott for about an hour and so if she went back then it wouldn't be so much of a problem. But no, she dozed off instead and Hannah probably noticed her empty bed when she returned from patrols. She should have closed the curtains around her bed when she left! Then it would look like she was sleeping!

Stupid, stupid, self. Why am I so stupid?

As quietly as she could, Lizzie rushed out of the kitchens and snuck back to the common room, where she hoped Hannah hadn't stayed up or something waiting for her, as Hannah was the kind of person to do that.

Lizzie rushed up the stairs and, as quietly as she could, tiptoed to her bed and was about to sink in, when she heard an accusatory voice behind her.

"Hello, Lizzie."

Lizzie bit her lip to keep from screaming and swiveled around, plastering a smile on her face. "Hannah! Why are you awake at this hour?"

"Me? What about you?"

"I was just…" Lizzie mentally face-palmed for her stupidity. She couldn't lie well. Not to Hannah, at least. And she always felt so guilty afterward because Hannah was such a good person, that she would usually end up telling the truth to her anyway.

Hannah sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Save the lies, Lizzie, where did you go?"

"I went to the kitchens," Lizzie said, and as Hannah opened her mouth, Lizzie cut her off. "And the reason I was gone so long was that I fell asleep and woke up just a little bit ago."

Hannah sighed again. "Of course you did. I don't even know why I bother worrying about you all the time. And you know I have the right to give you detention for that. Also, did you look at my prefects' patrol schedule?"

Lizzie flushed. "Er…possibly?" She admitted sheepishly.

Hannah just shook her head. "Why do I bother?" She asked again, more to herself this time, before laying on her bed and promptly falling asleep.


Poor Hannah. Dealing with Lizzie is certainly a pain.

Anyway, please follow, favorite, and review! I love reviews!

~Saturn10710~