Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, and this is not a chapter from her books. I borrowed some characters and changed them up for my own amusement. :)

A/N: Okay, it's been a loooooooooong time since I last updated. I've had so much going on with graduating and prepping for college and new jobs and crazy traveling that I haven't really had that much time available. But I'm glad to be back and hope all of you nice reviewing people are still going to read my story :)

Chapter 9

Following their eviction from potions class, Alexei and Roman were leading their chattering classmates through the silent stone hallways.

Here and there a few would diverge to head off towards their classes and the pack wandered around in high spirits sipping their lemonade.

Suddenly a sharp cold voice cut through the din.

"Just had to make a show didn't you?"

Everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at the teen pushing his way to the front.

The pale blond figure of Draco Malfoy emerged from the crowd with a sneer settled firmly on his pointed features.

"Poor orphans...daddy's gone so now they have to resort to getting attention by making scenes. So sad..." he drawled maliciously.

There were gasps and whispers from the crowd at the remark and they leaned in closer to see the Ivanovs' response.

"You know, our father isn't around because he's dead. What's your daddy's excuse?" Roman snapped back.

The Malfoy heir's cheeks gained a bright pink flush, an involuntary admission that he had struck a nerve.

The crowd did a collective "Ooh..."

"My father has important business to attend to that often takes him away from home, it has nothing to do with family relations." he spat.

"That's not what I heard..." Roman trailed off smirking at the anger growing on the lanky blond's face.

With the assurance of a brawl between the infamous Slytherin and the new Gryffindors, no one blinked, determined as they were to see every second of the action.

They were not disappointed; Malfoy drew his wand, quick as a flash and blasted Roman into a nearby classroom.

Hermione Granger began screaming about points and the barbarity of fighting, but no one was listening.

Quick on the defense, Alexei swung his wand in a lasso-like motion and a rope of magic wound around Malfoy's neck.

He proceeded to yank him by the neck into the aforementioned classroom, slamming the door behind him and leaving the frenzied crowd outside.

There was a loud collective "Aww..." from the group as the door clicked shut and realizing their fun was over, they soon dispersed.

Inside, the fight continued.

The magic lasso dissolved just as Roman tackled Malfoy to the ground and began punching him senselessly.

"Don't...You...Ever...Do...That...Again." he grunted between punches. "Got it?"

Instead of responding, Malfoy headbutted him and used Roman's moment of confusion to gain the upper-hand.

With Malfoy punching his brother in the gut, Alexei decided the fight had gone on long enough, and blasted the two apart with the same spell that had begun the fight in the first place.

This was not the first Draco-Roman fight Alexei had witnessed and he doubted it would be the last.

From the time Alexei and Draco had first become friends at a dueling tournament, Roman had been steadfast in his dislike of Draco and the sentiment was wholly returned.

Initially Draco and Alexei had not gotten on either; Dimitri Ivanov had warned all of his children about the Malfoy family and told them to watch out for them.

But they were only seven at the first dueling tournament where they met, and like many little boys do, they got in a fight and then became best friends.

Their friendship was a secret one, as Draco's father was more than a little opinionated about the Ivanov family and would not approve of his son and only heir being friendly with wizards who lived amongst muggles.

Therefore, to keep up appearances, Draco and the Ivanovs got in little tiffs every time they met in public, something Roman was more than happy to do.

Roman, like their father was wary of the Malfoy family, including Draco.

Still, in private, they traded information and as a result were kept up-to-date on the latest Death Eater activities.

Draco groaned and held the head that he had just landed on, leaning against the cool stone wall to soothe it.

"Yeah, see how it feels! Fucking headbutting me..." Roman muttered angrily from the corner he had landed in.

"You were punching me like a madman- what was I supposed to do?" retorted Draco.

"You catapulted me into a stone wall- what was I supposed to do?"

"Well, its not like I could just let you get away with that snarky little comment about my father now could I?" Ever since the day Draco and Alexei had become friends, Draco had been drifting farther and farther away from his father. His frequent exposure to the muggle world through the Ivanovs had done a great deal to change many of his old notions. Though Draco still pretended to go along with his father's ideas for his sake, he secretly disagreed and the rift grew wider with every bigoted remark his father made.

"Yeah well-" Roman spluttered. He knew it was a low blow even as he said it, but then so had Draco's comment.

Alexei, who had heard enough of this over the years and was tired of it all interrupted, "Hey!"

The two bloody and bickering teens turned to face him from their respective corners.

"Both of you were in the wrong, so let's just move on with our lives alright?" said Alexei, sounding bored.

"I'm not talking to you either, you roped me like common cattle and threw me in here by my neck!" shot Draco, looking deeply affronted at the memory of his undignified exit.

Shrugging, Alexei answered, "I'm sorry, okay? I was trying to keep up appearances."

"Yeah, I know, but you didn't have to do it like that." Draco shot back sourly.

Alexei smirked. "I know."

Although the two were friends and Malfoy had changed a lot over the years, he was still a pompous prat and Alexei still loved knocking the guy down a peg or two.

Roman snickered while Draco rolled his eyes.

The bell rang marking the end of first period, making the three boys jump out of their skins.

"Guess its time to go." Alexei said springing to his feet cheerfully while the other two pulled themselves up grimacing, their bruises already forming.

There was an oval shaped bruise blooming across Roman's forehead from where Draco had headbutted him and Draco smiled smugly before inquiring as to whether they should heal each other or not.

"I don't think so," replied Roman "the other students will need proof of the fight and we can tell the teachers we got into some sort of accident."

"Yeah, I guess so. When can we meet up again? I've got things to tell you." Draco said looking most serious.

"Er, well I guess we can meet up here until we find some place better. We'll just have to use silencing spells to ensure we're not overheard." Alexei answered thoughtfully.

"Fine. How about we meet up on Saturday night at nine?"

Alexei nodded, "Sounds good."

"Whatever." Roman replied; he was already heading for the door.

"See you Saturday." said Alexei and turned to follow his brother their next class.

Once they were back in the hallway, they headed for their next class; Defense Against the Dark Arts.

They were excited at the chance to get in some dueling practice, but unfortunately the tired looking professor informed them they would not be doing that until at least November if not later.

Instead they had done a bunch of theory and taken notes; well most of the class did, Roman and Alexei passed notes and played hangman with Sera, hoping that someday they would start covering something that they hadn't already learned before.

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Remus Lupin had always been a logical man.

He took time to think things through, something that he believed separated himself from the rash violent actions of the wolf within.

So, when Lily had first approached him about keeping an eye on the Ivanov boy he knew inside he would have to prove to her rationally that this was not her son.

Unfortunately, this was not turning out quite so easy as he had hoped, for the more he watched the boy the more he felt in his gut that he was wrong.

Remus never liked gut feelings; they were animalistic and often irrational.

So he fought it.

The newly re-instated professor looked out onto his sixth year class as he droned on about the theory and practical uses of silent spell casting.

He knew that he was rambling, but all the facts were in there and he was just too distracted to be more involved today.

The distraction was currently laughing quietly at something his brother had written on his paper, and it was amazing how much they looked like James and Sirius when they were sixteen.

But that was just coincidence.

Besides, was there not a theory that everyone in the world had a twin, so to speak? Maybe this was James'.

Okay so it was far-fetched, but so was a long dead son coming back to life, and just happening to transfer into the school his mother worked at.

He glanced again at the boys and the look alike was ruffling his hair and sneaking looks at the Walker girl.

'This does not happen in real life!' Remus shouted inside his own head, 'But it is, and you know it...' a sly voice responded.

'Lily is going to crazy when she actually has a class with him; she'll be convinced that she's found her son.' thought Remus sadly.

He just hoped she had not told James yet; if he thought he was going to be reunited with his son and it fell through, he did not know what James would do.