Meredith and Cristina sat with their books open to some obscure page in the stands of the Quidditch field. Their first week of their fourth year was proving to be more difficult then what they had originally thought. Between the constant flow of owls sent to Meredith and Cristina's detentions and hijinks, the two of them were exhausted already. Meredith laughed softly at her friend as she wrote the answer to one of the questions on her homework.

"I still can't believe you let them touch your hair."

Cristina groaned and slapped her book to her forehead. "I told you," she mumbled into the freshly printed paper, "I didn't have a choice! Stupid Aria and her stupid friends cornered me! It was either let them practice their cosmagic on me or face the Torres wrath."

"Thank God I'm not a Slytherin..."

Cristina shrugged her off. Straight hair on one side and frizzy on the other was the best the idiots could come up with. The two paused in their studies to watch Derek and his friends dash across the field on their brooms. Meredith smiled softly.

"He's really great, isn't he?" she stated dreamily. Cristina eyed her curiously. "Almost like..." Meredith sighed, "too great?"

Cristina rolled her eyes at the Ravenclaw. "Seriously? Mer, come on. Get over it. He's just a boy! We are the superior sex. Please don't make me do girl talk. You know I hate girl talk. By the way, what did you get for number four?"

While the two studied, across the lot two different girls were sitting and watching their friends play the old game. Today's game was just for fun, but that didn't mean Arizona wouldn't be there. She loved watching her brother and friends play Quidditch. She wasn't much of a flyer herself, but she really enjoyed seeing the people she loved most having such a good time. Addison was there for other reasons. The red head came up and sat next to Arizona, who turned and smiled at her upon realizing her presence.

"Addison, hey! What brings you here?" Arizona greeted cheerfully.

"Um, well," she chuckled awkwardly, "Derek mentioned earlier how he was going to be flying for fun with some of the 6th years today, since Quidditch try outs are still going on. And I figured I'd um..." she trailed off shyly, quickly covering up her insecurity with a cough, "I remember some people last year that played and I was curious as to how rusty they got over the summer. You know, since Slytherin came in second. Had to check out the competition." Arizona eyed her as a slow smile crossed her features.

"Addison?"

"Hmm?"

"You didn't go here last year," whispered Arizona as she leaned in, smiling broadly.

Addison blushed and laughed, nodding her head. She considered briefly keeping things to herself, but decided against it.

"Ok, ok, whatever! I'm here for other reasons! And for the record, just because I didn't go here the first 5 years doesn't mean I don't know a shit ton of things about this school. All of my closest friends have gone here since year 1."

Arizona smiled as the two of them spoke while watching the 6th years toss the quaffle around. There was something about the stadium that made everything seem larger than life. Arizona could remember all the intense games she had watched here over the years. Outside of their sunken ship, this was the place some of her favorite Hogwarts memories were.

"True," the blonde stated, "but it is a bit suspicious..." she trailed off, hoping her new friend would give in to her line of questioning. Addison sighed and turned her body slightly, opening herself up to Arizona. She had a worried look in her eyes which threw Arizona off guard. Usually Addison was the picture of perfection. She was actually surprised she wasn't school prefect, regardless of her lack of attendance. Addison twisted her wand in her hands while avoiding eye contact.

"It's Teddy," she admitted. "I think I like her. Really. And I mean, I've never dated a girl before but...it seems pretty comfortable so far with her. I never get bored of her, and she's always making me laugh without even trying." She gave a deep sigh and a bark of a laugh when she realized the person they were talking about was harassing Mark Sloan. Arizona followed her line of sight and joined in the laughter. Derek flew between the two, playfully pushing Mark's broom down, causing the Slytherin to nearly run into ground. There was a moment of silence before either of the two girls spoke again.

"She likes you, Addison." Arizona whispered.

Addison's face broke into a wide grin. She allowed herself a sigh of relief and giggled. "You have no idea how scared I was of telling you that!" the red head admitted. Arizona's brows shot to her forehead.

"You?" she asked. "Scared?"

Addison shrugged, staring out across the vast green field. "Don't sound so surprised. She makes me sort of...nervous, I guess. I just can't get a read on her..."

Arizona laughed openly at that, shoving Addison lightly in jest. "You're kidding, right? Teddy's eyes are literally mood rings, Addison! She's, like, the easiest person on earth to read!"

The pair chuckled at that, catching the attention of some of the players. They both covered their mouths, waving at the Hufflepuff boys who stared at them strangely. After the two players flew away, Addison turned back to Arizona.

"I didn't mean...oh I don't know!" she exclaimed. "I've never done this before! Not with a girl! She's all...soft, and sweet, and gentle, and kind and...and...I don't want to ruin it by being too aggressive or anything."

Arizona smiled fondly. She placed a comforting hand on the red head's shoulder.

"If you really care about her, then go slow. Teddy's never actually had a boyfriend or a girlfriend. If you want my advice-"

"I obviously do-"

"...then I would say be patient. Get to know her. Ask her about her hobbies. Like Quidditch, or Astronomy, or even her friends. She'll open up to you eventually. And when she does, that's when you should go for it."

Addison looked out across the field, smiling as she saw the way Teddy gracefully glided along on her navy blue Triton 190. She loved seeing the Gryffindor smiling; loved watching her eyes morph with each new emotion. As she was getting up to go, she remembered something and turned on her heel.

"Arizona?" she called out. Arizona's head snapped over to her new friend's, her facial expression curious. Addison smirked.

"Just out of curiosity," she questioned, "who's the Slytherin girl you like?"

Arizona groaned and laughed, tossing her head back as she looked to the sky, memories full of she and Callie riding Glitter bareback. She smiled sadly.

"Honestly? I don't think it matters. I'm not really her type."

Addison smiled sympathetically at her. She knew all about feeling that sort of rejection.

"Well," she offered, "if you ever need a friend to talk to about it, let me know."

Arizona smiled, throwing back a thank you to her friend's retreating form. Looking back up at the clouds, she smiled fondly, allowing herself a brief moment to day dream of the what ifs.

"It's Friday! It's Friday! Teddy guess what?" Arizona asked, bouncing up and down excitedly next to her friend. Teddy smirked and rolled her eyes.

"I don't know Arizona, what?"

"It's FRIDAY!"

The two laughed as they made their way to their Care of Magical Creatures class. Addison, Mark, and Callie came up behind them, molding their way into a blob of black robes.

"So, Arizona, who's this Slytherin girl you fancy, eh?" he asked. Arizona groaned, picking up her pace, hoping she could out walk the boy.

"Mark you are such a nuisance! I'm not telling you. Besides, I don't really like anyone. I was just trying to get Teddy to talk to me again."

Teddy rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh, yeah. Sure Arizona. Whatever you say. No but seriously," she lowered her voice, "who is it?"

Arizona nervously glanced at Callie out of the corner of her eye. Thankfully she seemed to be tuning all of them out. She cautiously whispered back to Teddy, "I'll tell you later."

Arizona absolutely loved Friday's for the same reason any other person on the planet did-she adored the freedom of the weekend. Although it was still slightly hot outside, it being early September, she couldn't help but take in a deep breath and bask in the sun's warm kisses against her cheeks.

The five of them sat down in the front row, making room for Derek as he took his usual spot next to Mark. Professor Leonel walked out of his hut, heading straight for Callie.

"Calliope, might I have a word?"

Mark sniggered as Callie stood up.

"Psh, Calliope...Ow!" he whimpered as he stuck his thumb in his mouth, feeling a sharp pain tap against it. Arizona smirked slyly from a few feet away making Teddy and Addison laugh. Mark tugged her hair, causing her to fall backwards and into the lap of Tobias Horoshack. He smiled wolfishly down at her.

"Well, Arizona, gotta say I'm a little shocked!" She scoffed at him and pushed him once she regained her proper seating.

"Shove it, Toby!"

"Oooo..." the boys whispered in mock fear. Teddy and Arizona stuck their tongues out at them in unison. Addison giggled softly to herself. As Callie sat back down, Arizona turned her attention towards her.

"Were you named after the muse? The mermaids told me all about her." she asked. Callie blushed and shyly smiled.

"Um, yes, I was. My Dad has always loved magical creatures as well, and my Mother loves mythical music, so she named Aria, and she and my Father joined forces to name me."

Though the Latina was blushing, Arizona beamed at her.

"I think it's a gorgeous name. Xia will love that I have a friend with her middle name!" Callie's brows knit together in confusion.

"Is Xia one of your mermaid friends?" she questioned. Arizona nodded as she beamed. She loved talking to people about the merpeople in the Black Lake.

"Yep! She's our age. But her middle name is Calliope. There's a prefect bathroom that has a stain glass replica of her, did you know that?"

"Of Xia?"

Arizona laughed. "No, of Calliope." Callie smiled widely.

"No, I didn't know that. I'll have to go check it out some time." She responded. Arizona chewed her bottom lip in thought.

"You know," she said, "the mermaids have an absolutely beautiful voice, and when they sing it's positively astounding. I could bring you to one of their concerts if you want?" Callie's eyes sparkled with delight at Arizona's offer. Teddy heard it and eyed the two warily. Addison watched her friend's reaction and grew suspicious.

"I would love that Arizona, thank you!" Callie leaned in to give Arizona a hug while the two girls next to them watched them curiously.

"What's wrong, Teddy?" Addison whispered. Teddy's eyes turned from her usual lavender shade to orange.

"The only person Arizona lets in the water with her is Owen, and that's after he begged her for years. He's still not welcome in most of the open water with her. I wonder why..."

Suddenly the two girl's eyebrows shot up, eyes wide and locking onto one another. Immediately they both came to the same conclusion.

"Arizona likes Callie!"

"Ancient Runes," Tim murmured, "must be the single most boring subject Hogwarts has to offer."

"You said it." Mark commented back. The entire subject was, literally, archaic, and the boys were completely bored. Owen drummed his wand in his lap as he was known to do when he had a lot on his mind.

"Owen..." Tim whispered, but Owen's rhythmic tapping against his pants prevailed. Tim shoved him lightly.

"Oy! Ginger!" Nearly toppling out of his chair, the Scottish boy caught himself just in the nick of time.

"The bloody hell was that for, Robbins?"

"Shh!" Aria Torres' slick black hair whooshed around, a perfectly manicured finger pressed to her lips. "If you idiots don't mind, I'm trying to actually listen!"

Mark guffawed loudly. "Aria you wouldn't know a rune from a rock!" Tim and Owen chuckled as the girl glared at them.

"Are you about done?" Izzie asked from the corner of the table. "I can't hear a thing Preedmore is saying." Tim raised his hands in mock apology.

"Sorry, ladies, didn't mean to disturb you."

"Yes, alright, can anyone tell me what number the Quintaped symbolizes?" A young Ravenclaw's hand shot up in the air.

"Yes, Miss Grey?"

Lexie cleared her throat before excitedly responding, "The number 5, sir. It's represented by the legs of the creature itself."

"Wonderful, wonderful! Splendid! 5 points for Ravenclaw!" A few Ravenclaw students whispered their gratitude as Lexie blushed. Mark grinned and nudged Derek.

"Hey, isn't that Meredith's sister?" Derek looked at him pointedly.

"Yes and she only just turned 13, Mark, so don't even think about it."

Mark scoffed. "Dude, in ten years, that'll be, like, nothing! Come on!"

"No!"

"SHHHHH!"

Aria's head flipped around again, glaring at the boys.

"You stupid 6th years and your non-stop blabbing. I swear it, don't you want to get anywhere in life? Mark? Derek?"

"Mawk? Dewik?" Mark mocked from his seat. She rolled her eyes at him and turned back around, causing him to laugh.

"What a twit."

She rounded on them again, causing Mark to slide himself backwards. He had always been a bit afraid of an angry Torres woman, especially the eldest.

"And what are you going to do once you leave this school, hmm? Think you're going somewhere? Think you're going to get anywhere in life without your education?"

"That's rich," Mark responded, "coming from a girl whose sole purpose in life is to supply 'pure' offspring and keep up with the latest fashion clippings. Didn't you fail your NEWTs last year? I heard Daddy Torres had to buy an entire new trophy case for Slytherin hall just so you didn't have to repeat sixth year." Tim and Owen laughed beside Mark while Aria's face grew red.

"I'll have you know, I passed just fine. Besides, it's not like it matters. I'll be marrying Leopold Wigner come next Summer, and then I'll never have to lift a finger again. It's better off than where you'll be." Tim rolled his eyes and scoffed while Mark and Derek just ignored her. Growing up purebloods themselves meant holidays at the Torres hotels. They were used to Aria and her nonsensical view of the world.

"And just what are you laughing at? You'll be going nowhere as well, what with your disgusting heritage." she said. Tim's face grew serious. The class suddenly quieted down as Professor Preedmore shuffled through the papers on his desk.

"And what's that supposed to mean exactly, Torres?"

She laughed cruelly in his face. "Are you really that stupid? It means your mudblood status will guarantee your failure. Yours and your sad excuse of a muggle family."

A gasp was heard throughout the room. No one had dared to use that term in years. Tim was livid, wand at the ready in front of the young woman's face.

"Mr. Robbins! Ms. Torres! What on Earth!" Professor Preedmore approached the two of them.

"Lower your wand, Timothy," the teacher commanded. "Now!"

Tim's eyes were angry blue slits, but he lowered his blackthorn wand, the light brown shining dangerously in the light cast above them.

"As for you, Ms. Torres, I'm going to ask you to leave the room and see the Headmaster at once." Aria's jaw dropped as she stared at her teacher in shock.

"But, Professor Preedmore, he was-"

"I don't care what he did! There is a zero tolerance for that sort of language! 10 points will be taken from Slytherin for the foulest mouth I've heard in years! Now go, young lady, before I call him here myself!"

Upset and on a rampage, Aria threw her things into her magical clutch. Huffing, she slammed her chair under the desk and leaned forward, whispering in Tim's ear, "This isn't over yet!"

"Who does she think she is?!" Tim yelled angrily. Teddy, Owen, and Arizona sat upon tons of their cushions in their sunken ship listening to his retelling of their Ancient Runes class.

"A Torres?" Owen supplied. Tim laughed without the smallest bit of humor.

"Yeah, right. A Torres. Exactly. They're horrendous! All of them!"

Teddy noticed Arizona shrink further into the cushions, suddenly fascinated with them.

"Not all of them are bad, right? I'm sure there's good in some of them, somewhere." she offered. Tim rounded on her.

"Are you kidding me? Do you know what she called me? What she called us?!" He asked frantically as he motioned between him and his younger sister. Tim was someone who was full of pride. Their family had been marines for as far back as they could trace their heritage. When he found out he was a wizard, he knew that he had to use his powers to do right in the world. Because of this, he had a very strict moral code that he was stubborn about at the best of times.

"Look, I know you and Arizona have your little Slytherin crushes this year, and that's fine. Just promise me you'll never love a Torres and we're good to go."

Teddy bit her lip as she surreptitiously glanced at Arizona, who was now full on avoiding them.

"Swallow me whole, swallow me whole, please stupid ship, please swallow me whole..." she mumbled in a sing-song tune under her breath, praying that her brother would drop the case. No such luck.

Tim walked slowly over to his younger sister. "Arizona?" He asked. She let her eyes meet his at a leisurely pace. He took in his younger sister's quiet demeanor, something that was rare to come by. It irked him. "Are you avoiding this conversation because the girl you like is a Torres?"

Arizona floundered, doing her best to appear innocent while simultaneously knowing she could never outright lie to her older brother.

"Well uh, see the um, the thing you gotta understand about that, is uh..."

"Oh my God! Owen!" Tim cried. "Owen you have got to talk some sense into her! Tell her how awful Aria is! Arizona, Aria Torres isn't pure blood, she's pure evil!"

Arizona rolled her eyes. "I know that, Tim! I hate Aria too! Especially for the way she treated..." she cut herself off just before she could say her name, "...the way she treated...you. The way she treated you." Owen's eyes lit up from the corner of the room as a sudden thought dawned on him.

"Wait a minute," the red head said, "doesn't Aria have a sister?"

Arizona couldn't believe her luck. The only time Owen speaks up is always the most inconvenient. Teddy looked on nervously at her friend, her eyes turning their trademark brown for when she got nervous. Tim watched his sister for a sign. A slight twitch of her lips and her darting eyes said it all.

"Are you serious? Callie? Callie Torres? You like Callie bloody Torres?!"

"You don't even know her, Tim!"

"So it's true then?" He asked, practically foaming at the mouth. "You fancy a girl whose sister called us...that." She shook her head at her older brother's density.

"She's nothing like Aria, Tim! Trust me. She's good, and she's kind, and she would never say anything like that! Not ever!" Tim laughed and threw his arms up, exhausted with his sister.

"You know what, Arizona? Fine. You and your little pureblood Slytherin can go sneaking around the school falling into broom cupboards or whatever it is you do with those girls, I don't care." Arizona looked hurt at her brother's cruel words, physically recoiling from the impact of them. "But Arizona, know this: Aria Torres is set to marry Leopold Wigner by the end of the school year. I can guarantee your little girlfriend has a MALE pureblood lined up right behind her to keep the family going." He came up on her now shaking form from both anger and hurt, eyes glaring into hers.

"You'll be nothing more than a toy for her, Arizona. Nothing but a fun little game. You wait." he snarled. Both Owen and Teddy looked on with apprehension. They'd never seen the two of them fight so badly. Arizona looked on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, well," she said, trying to choke back her sobs, "it's not like it much matters then, does it? She doesn't fancy me anyway. So just..." she huffed angrily, pushing him back by the chest, "piss off!"

Rushing out of the room the last thing they heard from her was the spell to shoot her back out of the water, followed by a gold light throughout the room. Tim kicked a pillow angrily, hitting Teddy square in the face.

"Um, ouch?" she offered. He picked up another pillow and threw it right at her.

"And you! You're just as bad! Prancing around with that red headed little-"

"Hey, ok, enough with the ginger jokes," Owen interrupted. Tim rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, with her, and playing like everything is just hunky dory! What is wrong with the both of you? Honestly!" he shouted melodramatically. Teddy stormed out of the room before changing her mind, stomping right back in and getting directly in Tim's personal space, pointing a finger at him.

"You know, Timothy Robbins, for a good person you sure are a downright git sometimes!"

Thundering off through the ship they heard her shout, "And her name is Addison!" Another golden light shone throughout the room, leaving just Owen and Tim to themselves. Owen shook his head at his hot headed friend. Tim threw his arms up at him angrily.

"What?!"

"Nothing, nothing!" he rebutted. "Shit!"

Hi! Just so everyone knows, this story is already half way written, it's just a matter of posting everything. I unfortunately have to spend a weekend camping ((ugh)) so I decided to give a smaller update, since I won't be able to until late monday or early tuesday. I hope everyone's enjoying the story so far! If you have any questions or anything of the sort, feel free to PM me. Have a good weekend (: