A/N MOOHAHA! This turned out fun. We had wanted to work on a story together for quite a bit of time, but we never really even thought about going through with it. And now, through all the troubles we've gone through (mainly annoying the crap outta each other), I can say that I am happy with our production so far. But, everybody makes sense, and I , at least, am open for criticism. . .Have at it, readers!

Chapter 2

Firsts (a lot of them. . .)

Orion woke to the heat of somebody breathing on his neck. He opened his eyes slowly, and turned to the source. When he saw the face, he jumped back in surprise. "Agh!" He yelped as quietly as he could.

"Oh. My. GOSH!" The face said. It was pudgy, and black eyes stared at Orion. "You look like Harry - 'sept he had glasses, I suppose. . . But you are a Potter! I AM IN A ROOM WITH A POTTER!"

"Yes," Orion managed to grumble. "And I was sleeping. . ."

"Your cat is so cute," the other boy said. Orion could hear now that he had an accent that was hard to hear. It was Oriental, but he couldn't quite point out from exactly where. "I bet he has an epic name! What is it, by the way? OH MY GOODNESS! What's my name? I am Po! I absolutely adore Potters! I have around 60 Harry cards - maybe you could be on a card one day, and I could collect you! Wow, I could make a whole collection of Potter cards! I only have one Ginny, I need to find more of those. . .This is so cool, and I am on the bunk bed on top of Orion Potter! I sleep on top of Harry's grandboy! I am talking to a Potter-"

"Why don't you bother Oaf and Swindle?"

"Who?" Orion rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself to talk with this creep.

"My cousins. . . What'd they get? Gryffindor, I bet. . ." Po's eyes lit up with delight.

"You mean there's more of you? More Potters? OH, this is amazing!" Po danced around the room with glee, laughing away. He seemed to catch the attention of Longbottom/Styxe, who was not too happy about being awoken by a boy who seemed to be obsessed with the kin of a famous wizard.

As Po came close to his bed, he flung his clenched fist at the boy, who fell to the ground holding his nose. "Wake me up again, Squinty, and I will let Nagini on you, got it?" He hissed, pushing the fangs of his snake close to Po's face.

Po nodded quickly, without saying a word. Sigma backed up and put his snake back on his lamp. He shot a glower at Po, who was caressing his nose on the ground. He rummaged through his stuff, and eventually pulled a cloak that he quickly put on over his pajamas. He looked at Orion and said, "Nice job, Potter. you got the chink to wake us up on the first day."

He left without another word, and as soon as he was gone, Po groaned in pain. "Who was that guy?" he grunted.

"Sigma Styxe," Orion said. "I would think everybody would remember him - he's Slytheriffindor, if you remember. Don't call him Sigma or Styxe - he doesn't like that for some reason. . . he prefers Longbottom."

"Longbottom?" Po exclaimed, suddenly not caring about the bruise he was getting on his nose. "I am in a room with a Potter and a Longbottom! I have the greatest luck! I will thank every house elf in the world for this! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!"

Po was hit in the face by a pillow. Oscar had obviously been awoken by this pest as well, and wasn't taking kindly to it. Po fell back on the ground again, and groaned. "SHHHH!" Oscar snapped. "I was asleep!"

Orion laughed. There was no point in keeping quiet anymore. Everybody else in the room already hated Po, and it was already the first day. Harry described how the only person who had managed to do that was Ron, and everybody ended up loving him anyway. He crawled out of his bed, and approached the squirming boy. He held out a hand to him.

Po's eyes widened. "I am going to touch the hand of a Potter?"

Orion rolled his eyes. "Did you think I was offering you my foot?"

"That. Would. Be. AWESOME!"

"Are you going to accept that I am trying to help you up?" Orion said, starting to be annoyed again. He was just trying to help, and all Po could think about was touching him? What a weirdo!

"Yes, of course," Po said. He grabbed Orion's hand and held it for a moment before pushing himself off the ground. "Anything to make you happy!"

Orion didn't respond. He turned to grab his cloaks for the day, and Po was left staring. He was still freaked out by the fact that he had touched Orion's hand. Orion was about ready to start changing, when he realized how much of a creep his roommate was. "Can you turn away, please?" Orion asked. Po's cheeks flushed red, but he left the room, and sat on a couch in the commons, closing the door slowly behind him. As soon as the door was sealed, Orion changed quickly. He could handle changing in front of most people, but Po was different. Po was somebody who seemed to be in love with him. Orion shuddered before opening the door back up.

Po rushed in. "Wow," he said. "That was quick. I bet you were all ninja mode, and-" Another pillow attacked Po, covering his mouth, and muffling the words that he attempted to say.

"I said to shhh!" Oscar groaned.

"Sorry," Po said meekly. Oscar looked at Orion with his sagging shrugged.

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" Orion said.

"I know!" Po exclaimed, "I know what I can do to help Potter!" Oscar rolled his eyes, but Orion was still willing to deal with him. . . At the moment.

"What is it, Po?"

"LET'S GO EAT BREAKFAST!" Oscar and Orion exchanged precautionary looks. Po leered at them. Orion sighed and left out the door, Po following close behind. Oscar reluctantly tagged along, hoping that Po would leave them alone soon.

Orion nearly tripped over Artemis, who insisted on sheltering between his legs. He shunted the cat aside and continued out of the commons. Po was completely submerged with joy, skipping down the halls and talking incoherently to himself. Orion paled at the thought that he was his roommate. Oscar took notice.

"He's kind of creepy, eh?"

"Agreed. But we still have to deal with him," Orion sighed. He didn't know where he was going, but he trusted this fan-creep enough to take him to the Dining Hall. Once they arrived, Po was bouncing with energy.

"I'll get you your food! What do you want?" Po said excitedly.

"Umm. . ." There didn't seem to be much point in that, as Orion could simply reach over and grab something himself; all the food was sitting on the table already. "I think that'll be unnecessary, Po." He took his seat, which made Po scramble for the nearest seat next to him. The result stole Oscar's seat, who delivered an annoyed glance at the boy. As soon as everyone asserted themselves, Orion reached for a biscuit. Po immediately reached for one himself as soon as the food item hit Orion's plate.

Oscar and Orion looked at the boy. He seemed ready to nab any item Orion decided to take next. Orion became uncomfortable, but took some crepes from the platter in front of him. Po mimicked his action. Orion went far to the right, as far away from Po as possible, and dragged an apple to his plate. Po literally jumped from his seat and went around to acquire the fruit. Orion blatantly face-palmed himself. Oscar did not know whether to laugh or groan. Po did not seem to notice any of the latter.

Cecelia took the open seat beside Orion, making his heart do a mad flutter. He wasn't sure why Oscar hadn't taken it, but he supposed that was trivial. Right now, he could only enjoy the feel of her presence. . .

Then the dark cloud of Longbottom came around. Po seemed to shrink in his presence, and even his joy for famous blood closed up. Orion's lust shrivelled as soon as Sigma took a seat across from him. Fortunately, the boy's venom was directed somewhere other than Orion.

"They call these crepes?" Sigma sneered, watching the thing flail on his fork. Po looked as if he were going to deal him in on some nerdy information, but he was silenced with a terrifying look of Sigma's. "I thought I was promised good food."

"Where do you think you would find better?" Cecelia brought up, trying to contain her spite. Sigma let the food flop onto his plate.

"Good point," he grumbled. The rest of breakfast continued in silence - for better or worse, Orion did not know. A sharp round of clacking came from around the room as letters were dropped from above. Orion looked up to see a teeming mass of owls come swarming from the windows, all bearing letters and packages of some sort. He himself was spiked on the head with a letter, and it fell to his hands. The front of the envelope was labelled with Orion's name, written with familiar handwriting. A smile met his face as he warmly made a move to open it.

Then he felt breathing down his neck.

"Po, can I read a letter in peace?" Orion said.

"Hm? Oh, yes, sir!" Po said. He dove back into his seat. Longbottom stared at Orion as if he had no idea how he puts up with him. Orion shrugged and opened the letter. The script of his grandfather was quick and spidery, reading:

Dear Orion,

I have just received the successful enrollment letter from Hogwarts, and am proud to say my grandson is part of the best school for wizarding. I spoke with Hermione and Ron the other day, and they told me that one of their grandchildren was of your age, and would be attending alongside you. I hope you two come to be good friends.

The first day of school is something you should take easy - This is a time to get to know your teachers, prepare for your classes, and explore the many secrets of the school. You should be able to do that much, at least, with the aid of the Marauder's Map that I gave you. It served your parents just as well as I, and I foresee you having the same use for it as well.

Before I draw this letter to a close, I have but one piece of advice: Please, mind Peeves.

Sincerely, Harry Potter

Orion double checked the last line of the letter. Peeves? What is that? He glanced at Cecelia, who was intent on her own letter, perhaps from her grandparents as well. She was playfully pointing out things to her sister as she read through it.

I hope you two come to be good friends.

Orion hoped so, too. . .

He folded the letter back up and placed it under a corner of his plate. He picked up his fork, and began trying to break apart his rubbery crepes. Next to him, Po was shaking anxiously. As soon as Orion put his letter down, Po began to reach for it. "Po," Orion said. "Some things are private, okay?" Po nodded his head but did not bring his hand back "So, you can't read my letter."

Po pulled his hand away and began looking at his food sadly. As soon as Orion took a bite out of his crepe, Po scrambled for his fork to do the same. Orion rolled his eyes, and tried to finish eating without a distraction. He turned his body away from Po, and found that Cecelia had done the same thing. His knee touched hers for a moment, and he pulled away quickly.

Cecelia smiled at him. "Good morning," she said. "How was your first night?"

"It was okay," Orion answered as casually as he could make himself sound. "Po woke me up this morning, and hasn't left my side since. He woke us all up."

"Oh, that's too bad," Cecelia said. "At least he is still hanging around you. Nashira woke the others in my dorm up, and they haven't talked to me but to tell me to 'keep my things under control'. I don't even know why that was such a bad thing! Nashira was awake, so I needed to be awake, but they treated me like I was lower than a house elf. . ."

At the sight of Cecelia's sad eyes, Orion's stomach churned. This wasn't supposed to be happening to her. "Who are they?" he asked, suddenly in a protective mood.

"Their names are Tara, Kayla, and Rachel," Cecelia said with a frown. "They are upperclassmen, though, so please don't do anything. . . They ran out of rooms of just first-years. . . I don't want to get further on their bad side. . ." Orion was slightly disappointed to be forbidden so, even if he had no idea what he would have done in the first place. It probably would have been foolish.

"I'm sure it was nothing - you know how older people get when their sleep is interfered with. Perhaps it will pass?" Cecelia looked at her little sister with something like sorrow.

"Perhaps," was all she said. Orion regretfully tore his eyes away from her once again, and resumed with his morning meal. Oscar later brought up a good question:

"So, what are we supposed to do after this?"

Po immediately looked to Orion as if he had held all the answers to the world, but he was just as clueless. Longbottom's scowl shifted from Orion to Cecelia to Oscar, but he gave no input himself. Finally, Cecelia said, "Why don't we go out and find a teacher?" The idea sounded good, so Orion nodded his head.

"Let's go to Potions, first," he said. "I think I remember Pippin Palmer saying something about the teacher's name being 'Maxime Macrabre' , or something along those lines."

"I thought it was Maxis Macaroon," Oscar piped in.

"It's Maxis Macabre," a taller upperclassmen said from behind. Orion turned to see Gary speaking. "He is the best Potions teacher I have ever had the chance to learn from. Come - I can show you what room he teaches in. I think he was planning on acting as though today was a normal day of class; I think he decided to teach you how to make Polyjuice Potions."

Orion's face lit up at the sound of "Polyjuice". Harry had told him about multiple occasions where the potion was useful. He was curious to see if he would ever use it himself. To his left, Po was smiling because he was, and to his right, Cecelia was smiling as if she had just been asked to prom by Harry Styles. She was excited. He heard an agitated Longbottom grunt impatiently behind him, and Oscar was still focused on his food. "Let's go," Orion said.

Gary clapped his hands together. "Great," the prefect said. "Follow me!" He led them through corridor after corridor, before the students found themselves at a staircase. Right as the last of them took a step, the flight of stairs began to move. Most of them were unphased, as they knew about the fabled stairs, but Po opened his mouth wide, and grabbed at the railing. "Oh yeah," Gary said. "The stairs move. I thought you already would have known."

Po shook his head, "I didn't, but I do now!"

Gary chuckled, as the stairs came to a halt. "C'mon, keep up!" he said. Gary began twisting between the students that were crowded in the small hallways. Orion lost track of him once or twice, but his ginger hair was easy to spot in a crowd. At the end of the hall, there was a wide, tall door, big enough for a giant to walk through. In Harry's stories, the Potions class was in the Dungeon, where the Slytherin lurked. Here, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. Orion imagined the pains that would come if he had to traverse the entire school to get up here.

Gary glanced back at them with a smirk, and opened the doors wide. Inside, a class was already in progress - fortunately, all that must have passed were names. The Potions teacher looked up from his work, nodded curtly, and focused back on the task at hand. A mild chatter went around as he continued preparing for whatever experiment he was doing. Apparently, whatever he was going to do was quite exciting.

Oscar was the first to take a seat. Each of the tables seemed to have a maximum occupancy of two people. Gary took the spot next to him and watched as Professor Macabre carefully divided the ingredients. His movements were with such care that you'd think that he had OCD - but then you come to realize that the wrong dose of something can very well blow your face off the planet. Orion kept an eye on Cecelia, and instantly moved to her side when she took a seat. This made Po very anxious, and he saw nowhere to sit as his very dreams were composed of him beside the amazing Potter. He contented himself with the seat behind him, which was immediately replaced by alarm as Longbottom unenthusiastically took the vacant seat next to him.

As soon as the preparations were set, Professor Macabre bolted up and straightened his maroon cloak. "So, at the note of Polyjuice, I have collected all the required ingredients for precisely that, which is what you see in front of you. Now, just a faint warning, this stuff tastes like sh-" he paused and corrected his language, "This stuff is the worst tasting stuff possible, and the effects aren't shabby, either - and that is not meant in a good way." Someone raised their hand, and Professor Macabre slammed his hands on the table, stirring the objects atop of it, and gazing horrifically at the child. "Imagine the most disgusting thing you've ever tried, then multiply it by twenty-million and add in a few cups of death."

Everybody stared at the man. He righted himself and consciously smoothed his cloak again. "Now, the potion is very simple to make." He hesitated, then tried again, "Now, the potion is simply an excruciating pain to make, though you just can't deny the wonderful smell it makes. A bit like. . . Rotten corpse. Yes, that's it. Well, anyway, if you can follow these guidelines very carefully, you can successfully create the Polyjuice potion. . ." He proceeded with a rapid-tongued list of the ingredients, throwing them in with expert precision without a single peek at the cauldron on the table. He stopped at "Frog Vitreous" and said a number of things to look out for - specifically color and smell ("If you smell something like rotten corpse, then you either have an excellent start to Polyjuice or there is a dead body in your immediate vicinity.") - but nobody could keep up with him to even understand what had happened.

Gary leaned in by the first years. "He'll go slower in actual classes, I promise. He's just been around some suggestive potions lately - all those smells can get to you after how long he's been working at it." Orion thought he was similar to the Sorting Hat, with his tangents and cracked mind. Then he saw something black in the corner of the room. He scrutinized the area, and saw the shape of something remarkably like the hat itself!

"After you do all that, you have to let it marinate - I mean you have to stir it for two to four hours. The color will change yet again, and you will have the completed Polyjuice potion before you. Of course, nobody wants to wait around here for four hours, so I already have a finished Polyjuice potion right here. Well, actually, it's not quite finished. For it to be done, I need a single human hair," Professor Macabre said, placing a glass beaker on the table. He dug around behind his desk and drew a chainsaw with a flourish. "Any volunteers?" he said enthusiastically, firing up his lumber-destroying machine.

Now everybody in the room was convinced he was crazy, staring at him with eyes as large as dinner plates. The machine gave another roar, and the professor smiled sweetly at the students. Gary stood and walked up to him, Cecelia releasing a distressful gasp as the others decided he was crazy as well. Gary confidently came to Professor Macabre's side, and the professor yanked the chain. The mechanical beast gave a terrific scream, and the professor brought down the thing on Gary.

The chainsaw missed, and it stopped inches from the teacher's desk. For a moment, it looked like nothing happened, but then a small bit of ginger hair floated down into the beaker's mouth, sizzling as it touched the substance inside. Dumbfounded silence found the room, and then it broke out into applause. Professor Macabre and Gary bowed, and the prefect returned to his seat. Cecelia bolted from her seat and seized Gary, checking everywhere for any sign of harm done to him. Gary chuckled cynically and allowed his younger sister to give her examinations to her satisfaction.

Professor Macabre stuffed the chainsaw somewhere behind the table and held up the Polyjuice potion in triumph. "Behold! The finished product - a Polyjuice Potion! And since I love you guys so much, I will do the honors of drinking this disturbingly gross concoction." He lifted the potion, appeared to brace himself, and turned the bottom up.

Some of the potion dribbled across his face and he chugged the thing, making gurgles and faces as he downed the Polyjuice. When he finished, he threw the beaker aside, smashing it against the ground, and viciously wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He spat on the ground, attempting to dispose of the taste of the substance, and slowly began to change.

Oscar was the first to point it out: "Look! His hair!" The students in the classroom inclined toward the man, and, indeed, his hair was changing a few shades into red. His height grew equal to Gary's, and his clothes hung looser on his body. After stumbling a little bit, Professor Macabre found his way upright and looked identical to Gary in every way - minus the clothes.

"Done correctly, you will be able to look and sound identical to the person you snatched a hair from. Of course, you could always turn into an animal, if they play with their dog too much." Professor Macabre's voice was just like Gary's, who raised his hands in surrender when everyone looked directly at him to see if it was a hoax. A hoax it was not - Professor Macabre had taken the exact size, shape, and sound of Gary Weasley.

"The time you stay as the person depends on how much Polyjuice you consumed and. . . And. . . Something! Now, with that load of lard I drank, I will probably stay like this for three hours," the professor continued, "And. . . And. . . That sucks. But not as much as a vampire does! I eagerly look forward to seeing you in my class! And while I'm Gary. . .I would so love to see Jeremy Renner dress drag and sexy-like!"

Gary rolled his eyes. People roused, gathering their stray items and leaving. Orion and Cecelia stayed around to see where Gary would take them next. After all of the students were gone, he said, "Lets go to Defense Against the Dark Arts, next. Levvi Wakes had been the teacher under that subject for a few years now, and her skills are outstanding. I think she had a mini lesson prepared for today, if you brought your wands." Gary winked.

"You know I have mine, Gare," Cecelia said. She pulled it out of the chest of her cloak, making Orion turn red. As soon as it was out, Nashira's little hands reached up to try to pluck the stick out of her sister's hand. "No, Nashi, wands are for big girls." Nashira began pouting, and Gary picked her up.

"Oh, Nashi," he said. "It's okay! You will be a big girl soon, and you can have a wand!"

Orion smiled, and Cecelia rolled her eyes. "Are we going, or not?" she asked, defiance written in her voice.

"Ugh, you are so impatient- yes," he said. "It's just across the hall." He walked out of the room, the other two following them

Apparently "just across the hall" meant three stories up spiral staircases. When they reached the top, all three of them were completely out of breath. They stopped to take a break, and Po caught up with them.

"Wow," Po said. "I can't believe I left you back there in that classroom with that whacked out teacher. He looks like a student! And he looks like Gary - oh, hey Gary! I guess I didn't leave Mr. Potter in the wrong hands after all, sir prefect! WOW, I am hanging out with a Potter and a couple, no three, Weasleys and we are on our way to another class together. This is pretty awesome!"

"Yes, pretty awesome," Orion said rolling his eyes. "Can we go, now?"

Gary nodded his head, picking Nashira back up in his arms. "This way," he said. The next door they entered was half the size of the other one, and some of the taller students had to duck to make it in. "Welcome to Professor Wakes' classroom."

The walls of the room were dominated with figures and sketches of mythical creatures, anatomical designs of their skeletal structure and organ systems intricately laying out the classroom. The area itself was roughly a dome shape, perhaps an astronomy class before the Defense Against the Dark Arts class manifested itself in there. A few students were inside, waiting for Professor Wakes to start up her instruction. The professor herself was examining a creature on her desk, which was submerged in water. Like Professor Macabre, her attire seemed to focus primarily on a single color - this one was purple.

"Professor Wakes, would it be about time to begin your presentation?" Gary said. The professor gazed at the creature a little longer, then said, "This is a mediterranean sea creature, known as the Oni Kimetsuke Umi, or the Sea Demon, as it is commonly known. I believe Kimetsuke part is completely made up, but I admit it has a nice ring to it." The woman stood up and fixed her pointed hat.

"They are not completely hazardous, but a blow to their weak abdomen should render them incapable of any more actions," she continued. Her eye gleamed from under her hat. "Thus executing them. Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts, children." Orion and the others filed in, taking their seats where any were open. The professor walked to one end of the room, placing her hand on one of the many papers on the walls. "This is a very intermediate class, but it is strictly necessary to the lifestyle of the wizarding world. Since there are many things that are more than willing to kill you, it is important that you understand the means to defend yourself."

Her long fingers pinched an area in the wall, and plucked out a white orb. "For instance, the boggart." She released the thing and it floated around the room, determining which one of the students in the room to victimize. "This is a simple type of Shapeshifter that preys upon the fears of its target. It can only attack you if your fear is material, so those who are afraid of the dark, for example, can not be subject to a boggart strike."

The orb zipped behind Professor Wakes' desk. She stared after it, fiddling with her wand. "It isn't too dangerous - compared, at least, to the Oughn, which is the Japanese Shapeshifter, Nasty things, they are; Always from Asia." Po looked rather affronted. "But the boggart can and will kill you without a second thought. The thing that makes it the most harmless being of the dark magical world is its repulse to laughter." A duplicate of Longbottom rose from behind the desk. Po toppled over his chair in fright, yelping in sudden panic. The true Sigma rolled his eyes. Professor Wakes found this amusing. "Repelling your deepest fear is quite difficult, especially with laughter. So the way to make your boggart 'funny' is with a simple spell: Ridikulous. Say it with me, now. Ridikulous."

Everyone in the classroom repeated after her, all except Po, who was quailing with horror, and Longbottom, who already understood the concept. Professor Wakes said the spell again and flicked her wand at the doppelganger, and the false Longbottom instantly grew a pair of cat ears and a pink suit doubled with hearts. The room boomed with laughter, the only person not enjoying the show being Sigma himself. The boggart was startled by the noise, and looked incredulously at the crowd.

"The spell activates when you imagine your fear in the most humorous way possible, thus making it easier to laugh at. This confuses the beast, and makes it easier to dispatch of while it is in its stupor," Professor Wakes finished. "Now, who's next?"

Gary, the prefect who seemed unafraid of anything, stepped towards the boggart. When the creature saw him, it immediately turned into a large spider, and Gary took a step back in horror. "Ridikulous!" he stuttered. The spider turned into a clown, its fangs becoming covered by large red nose, its eyes covered by a rainbow wig. Each of the eight feet had long shoes that made it impossible to walk. The class burst out into laughter, including Gary who was no longer afraid of the creature in front of him.

Professor Wakes clapped her hands together, "Wonderful job, Gary!" she exclaimed. "Any other volunteers?"

Everybody was excited, but nobody else volunteered. "Why doesn't the Potter try it?" someone called, breaking through the noise. All eyes directed themselves to Orion. He paled, not knowing that he was even acknowledged as a human let alone a Potter. He steadily got up, and walked up to the boggart. What was he afraid of? Rejection, his mind snipped. It wasn't material, right? So he wouldn't -

"That's one sexy ass of yours, Potter!" a voice called out. Orion feared to look back, frantically supposing that the fumes of the potions last class had distorted someone's mind. The voice was male, and the manner of speech it was used in was unmistakable.

The entire room boomed with laughter. The boggart wavered, confused that everyone was laughing and it hadn't even turned into anything yet.

Levvi Wakes scowled at the class. "If you have a comment," she said, "then you take on the boggart!"

"Nah," the voice replied. "I'd rather watch Potter from behind."

Orion looked back, his face red and written with horror. In the back of room was a boy, about his age, who was grinning from ear to ear. He had dark blue eyes, and black hair on his slight figure. The hair was spiked up in all places, and he looked almost. . . scary. Orion wasn't quite sure, but this guy seemed to look like somebody he knew, when it hit him. He looked like the headmaster; this must be the Collin kid that some of the second years were worried about.

"Glad you decided to take a glance back at me, love," the boy said. "I don't think we've properly acquainted ourselves; I happen to be Spartzis Abraxus Collins." His brain twinged; so he was the headmaster's son. Does that give him authority to do this, or is this an excellent way to get this freak in trouble?

Po didn't seem so creepy, all of the sudden.

"Can we just enjoy the show?" Longbottom muttered.

"That's a good point - I'm just waiting to see Potter in action." Orion turned back around to the boggart, uncomfortable with his back to the audience. He suppressed a shiver as he imagined Spartzis staring at his -

"It doesn't seem to be able to read you," Professor Wakes said, mildly intrigued. "I suppose you don't have any tangible fears. Though with that -" Professor Wakes indicated Spartzis with distaste "- I suppose it makes sense." Orion went back to his seat, thankful to be out of the spotlight. "Anybody else without a sexy ass to look upon?"

Some giggles came from the crowd.

"Though my face must be stunning," Spartzis said, "I'm sure some wouldn't mind to look at the other end of me." He stood up and walked, no strutted, up to the boggart. The creature seemed excited to have another victim, one that actually had a fear. Once Spartzis was no more than an arm's length away, it morphed into an animal, becoming an otter. He jumped in fear, his posture tightening, and his fists clenching. Some mild laughter came from the back of the class. "Ridikulous!" he yelped. The otter immediately grew butterfly wings, was encased in hotdog buns, and began to fly around the classroom ejecting bubbles from its behind. When the class laughed even harder, Spartzis knew that they were not laughing at the now silly looking otter, but that they were laughing at his fear of such a kind looking creature. "Hey, when you have otter soup three weeks straight, you start to fear the stench," he said, locking his eyes on Orion, and winked before continuing. "Care for some soup, Potter?"

Orion went red again, and couldn't bear being in the room anymore. This guy was making a complete fool out of him, and he was uncomfortable. No boy had ever acted like this towards him; no girl had done it, either, but the notion of a fellow male flirting with him was repulsive. He got out of his seat and left the area. Spartzis blew a kiss as he went out the door.

Orion could feel his insides rolling violently within his stomach, barely able to retain its contents. That was a show he hoped to never see again. Cecelia came out the door shortly after, Nashira tagging along hand-in-hand. "Are you okay?" she asked. The concern of a girl was a relief to him, and he could feel his stomach settle slightly. His face, however, did not lose its red touch.

"I think so," Orion said, "I'm just not fond of boys hitting on me." Gary came out as well.

"That's all right - we all have our moments," he said, "Everybody's concerned about the headmaster's son - you just happened to be the first victim." Po peeked out, Orion caught his eye.

"Po, get Oscar and Longbottom. I want to ditch this place," Orion said. Po nodded obediently and disappeared back in the classroom. Cecelia looked at him oddly.

"Did you just ask him to fetch Longbottom?" she asked, "I thought you had something against him." Orion didn't quite understand it himself, but he didn't leave a lot of time to speculate.

"Protection," Orion answered. Cecelia took it.

The others soon gathered: Longbottom, looking halfway between bored and indifferent as always, Oscar, curiously looking around, and Po, excitedly bouncing on the balls of his feet at the presence of Potter. Orion restrained the urge to roll his eyes. "Where to next, Gary?" Cecelia asked.

"I don't know. . ." the prefect said. His stomach growled, and he smiled sheepishly. "I haven't had breakfast yet, but I guess it would be called 'brunch' now, wouldn't it?" He looked awkwardly at the young students before him. "Well, I'm going to go eat something. You guys should figure something out - there's plenty to explore around here." At that, Gary hurried down the stairs. The remaining children looked at one another.

"Well. . ." Orion said, "Why don't we go visit Hagrid, or something? I'm sure he must want some company." Agreement went around the small group of friends, and then they all looked down the flight of stairs.

Everybody groaned.

They had a long trip to go through.

Cecelia, always good at making things better, smiled. "At least we aren't walking up all these stairs to see Mr. Pippin Palmer Hagrid," she said grinning, "It's just a very long trip down, right?"

"Oh yes, of course, Madame Weasley," Po said. "I'd much rather walk down than walk up!" His enthusiasm made an honest and hard attempt to spread to the others, but it was squashed out by those who stared at the suck-up with contempt. Po hid his face from the others, and they descended down the steps.

The pictures were whispering behind their backs, stopping the moment they came within ear's reach. As one of the steps swung around to meet another set, Longbottom grabbed Orion. "I don't trust them," he said cryptically.

"What?" Orion said.

"The pictures. Look at how they stare at us and how they stop talking when we come by. Something is happening." Longbottom pushed him away and continued down the stairs. Orion thought a little on his words - what could they be hiding? But then Orion speculated that Sigma must have come from a bad neighborhood. Superstition was natural.

They finally reached the bottom floor, Oscar gratefully shaking out his legs. "At least that is over with," he said. Everybody shared his feelings. They journeyed down the halls, looking at the ancient suits of armor and paintings as they passed by. A disruption occurred farther down the hall, people breaking out of the way of some whooping creature. Orion scrutinized the occurrence, and was soon able to determine the source of the havoc.

Headmaster Collins, helmet clad and dressed in protective wear, was screaming down the hallway, shooting through the crowds on a skateboard. Oscar yanked Orion out of the way, the Headmaster giving a thrilled shout as he jumped onto the side of the wall. The professor winked at them, before shouting "woo-hoo"s and "taa-taa"s through the hall.

The group gazed after him. As soon as he was out of sight, the students looked back at each other.

"Did I just see that?" Oscar queried.

"Yeah," Po said in equal bewilderment.

"He likes to skateboard on his spare time," someone said, "This is the last chance he'll get before school business starts."

The group turned to see a picture speaking to them. "What, never seen a painting before? The newer generations are getting pulled farther and farther away from the way things used to be. Damned technology. Well, go on, then! Move along!"

Shaking their heads in disbelief, they continued onward to Hagrid's house. Near the entrance to the school, however, a figure showed up out of the darkness. At first, Orion thought it was just one big fat kid walking down the hall, until whoever it was came out of the darkness. He grunted, recognizing the face of his least favorite cousin: Swindle, a girl on each arm. Both of them were gazing up at Swindle's face as if he was royalty - no, godly. They were smiling wildly; Orion was disgusted.

"What do you want now, Swindle?" he asked.

"What, did you miss me, Starboy?" his cousin sneered. "Oh, and I must have forgotten to tell you; because we are in this new school, you can and will stop calling me Swindle. I have decided that Benny sounds so much nicer, and Jessica and Siri here like it very much. They say it suits me."

The smaller one bit her lip, before saying, "There is no better name for a kisser like you." She stood on her toes, and pushed her face into his. They kissed for a good ten seconds, before girl number two got jealous.

"My turn, Jessie!" she whined. She pushed away the other girl and began kissing Swindle fiercer than her friend. Swindle didn't have a complaint.

Swindle pulled away after a few moments, Oaf coming up behind. He looked dismayed. "Tessa told me to go find some first year to bug," he said. "I didn't think I was being that annoying."

"Oh, my stupid little brother, you just don't know a thing, do you?," Swindle said, his eyes glittering. "And as for finding some first-years, you might as well. Nobody is as lucky as me to get two fourth years on the first day of school. Hey, look! Cous' has got a girl right there who is as new to the school as us! Go try picking her up."

Oaf's eyes brightened. He turned toward Cecelia, and began walking her way, when Orion stepped in front of him. "No," he said firmly. "Stay away from her."

"Oh, got a crush, Starboy?" Swindle taunted. "Somebody feeling a little protective over his girl?"

Orion turned a deep shade of red. First Po following him, then Spartzis staring at his ass, and now Swindle embarrassing him in front of Ceci? "You were right when you said not everybody is as lucky as you on their first day," Orion spat. "Oaf isn't lucky enough to have any good looks on him to get the ladies grabbing at him. You just have that silver tongue of yours, and you can talk your way into getting anything you want. I bet those girls on your arms hadn't even thought of the chance of you wanting to do more than kissing. Maybe they don't know that, but I do. I have way too much going on already to take this from you. Oaf, learn how to live on your own, and Sir Benny Swindle, I hope you learn that girls aren't toys."

Jessica and Siri looked up at Swindle in disgust. "You wanted to take advantage of me?" Siri asked, fury in her voice.

"Yes. . . no, er. . . that's not all, I wanted to. . . I wanted to. . . hug you?" Swindle stuttered.

Both the girls pushed him away, retching in disgust. In no more than a second, Swindle was left without a girl, and Oaf was staring after them with a confused expression, unable to comprehend what had just happened with his puny mind. Swindle looked back at Orion, glowering with hatred.

"Not so lucky are you now, eh 'Benny'?" Longbottom teased. Swindle shook his head, and grabbed Oaf's arm. The two were out of sight quickly.

"Wow," a girl said from behind the group. "That was amazing."

Orion, Oscar, Longbottom, Cecelia, and Nashira all turned to look at the source of the voice. It was a girl, with long, brown hair that hung in curls along its length. Her eyes were a dark brown, almost black, and she didn't look as kind as her voice had sounded.

Cecelia was the first to say something. "Hey, Rachel," she said, her eyes down, and her voice quiet. "These are my friends: Orion, Oscar, Longbottom, Po, and, well, you know Nashira." She listed them slowly, almost reluctant to be even uttering these names to Rachel.

"Yeah I know Nashira," Rachel said, her voice going cold. "The little bugger who woke us up this morning. As for your friends, I'm happy to meet them."

Orion's eyes widened. So this was the Rachel Cecelia had mentioned earlier, the one who had complained about Nashira waking them up. Her voice had a strange way of going from saccharine to bitter, yet it seemed perfectly natural.

"Anyhow, I overheard Orion there speaking to Swindle, as you seemed to call him," the new girl continued, her voice slightly tapered with unctuousness, "And I have to say that Cecelia should have been able to stick up for herself. Your speech was actually, intriguing, though." Her voice continued its rollercoaster of hot and cold, and Orion found himself seeing why Cecelia hadn't wanted him to go stand up to her. I wouldn't stand a chance. "Well played, Potter." Rachel turned her head, and stalked away, her hair bouncing as she walked.

"What was that all about?" Oscar asked, looking at both Cecelia and Orion for answers.

"No idea," both of them said.

"She hates me because Nashi woke her and my other roommates up this morning," Cecelia explained. "She is a second year, and I don't understand her like I usually do with other people. Sometimes she seems nice, but then she suddenly goes cold, and gets all mean."

"Yeah," Orion agreed. "I have no idea if she was teasing me, or giving me a compliment."

Cecelia shrugged her shoulders. "For all I know, it could have been both." The conversation was stopped there, and the group continued on their walk to see Pippin Palmer.