Chapter 09

"Alohomora."

I felt the magic travel through my wand towards the door, trying unlock it. However, the spell didn't connect to the lock and dispersed uselessly. I smiled.

It took a few days, but I was finally able to get enough free time to put a more advanced locking charm on the door of the Forbidden Third-Floor Corridor. It worked perfectly, too. Sighing, I slowly made my way back to the stairway before Filch or his cat could catch me.

Unsurprisingly, I bumped into the twins.

"Well, look who we found, Forge."

"If it isn't our Firstie Snaky Brother, Gred."

I rolled my eyes. "My name is Ron, not Gred. Have both your memories gone due to age?"

"Slytherin has been good to you, Ronniekins," maybe-Fred said with a smile.

"Gave you fangs and venom."

I smiled. If they wanted to think that I was learning to verbally spar with them in Slytherin, who was I say otherwise? I waited for them to continue, but they seemed to be looking at me expectantly. Sighing, I asked, "Alright, what do you guys want?"

"Well, Gred and I wanted to partake into the wonderful tradition of Hogwarts."

"Breaking the Rules."

"And thus we find ourselves in the corridor which we were expressly forbidden to enter."

I looked at them for a moment, not really believing their story and for good reason. For the week, I've run into them every time I was alone. I suspected they were using the Marauder's Map to check on me ever since mother's idiotic letter came about.

"Technically," I began, "Dumbledore said it was only forbidden to those that didn't want to die painfully. Basically, only idiots would go here."

"Slytherin is definitely is good for you," maybe-George said. "Are you insinuating we're the idiots, then, Ronniekins?"

"Because if we're not mistaken, you are also here."

I nodded. "A mistake I'm about to rectify."

Both began to laugh, before one of them began to ruffle my hair, much to my annoyance.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, moving away. "Do you know how long it takes for me to get my hair done?" I took my wand out and spelled my hair. "Does it look right?"

"Spiffy, Ronnie. You look like a proper pureblood tosser."

"Whatever works, Forge. I mean, have you seen my little brother surrounded by cute witches?"

"For the record, Zabini is neither cute, nor a witch," I replied.

One of them smirked. "Too true, little snaky brother. However, with your disposition in regards to older witches, methinks you have ulterior motives in regards to Zabini."

I raised my eyebrow. "And where do you get off on that?"

"I heard Mrs. Zabini is quite a beauty."

"Captivated multiple wizards."

"Of course, they all died for one reason to another."

"Granted, they were ancient. Couldn't keep up with such beauty, I imagine."

"And Ronniekins is young and starting early with Mrs. Lovegood."

My eyes narrowed. "You two are sick in the head," I accused.

Both laughed again before one asked, "Bulstrode is also bit of a mystery, too, ain't it?"

"Maybe she has a cute older sister, as she's little homey compared to Davis and Greengrass."

"Don't pick on her," I said with a hard tone.

Both looked at me, surprised. "No worries, Ron. We won't pick on your friends."

"Unless they do something stupid."

"Speaking of which, have you heard from Mum?"

I took a breath. "No. Dad did send a letter saying he was happy I was in Slytherin."

One of them frowned. "Just Dad?"

"Didn't even mention Mother at all."

"Which means Mum and Dad are fighting."

I didn't want to comment on that. Sighing again, I said, "I'm going. Nice seeing you both again. Unlike another older brother which I'm not going to mention."

"Percy's always been a prat."

"Took your going to Slytherin a wee bit too hard."

I scoffed. "He was also probably the one that told mother. He is the only one with an owl handy."

"Not to mention as Prefect, he isn't part of the curfew and could have sent a letter that very night."

"You know what, Gred? I think it's time to do a little prank on a prat in power."

"Quite right, Forge."

"Yeah, well, good luck with that. And thanks for looking out for me again."

"Don't rightly know what you're talking about, little snaky brother."

I snorted. "Of course not. Still, thanks."

Getting out of their view, I made my way down the stairs, tallying up everything I still had to do. Occlumency had proved to be a great help in the past few days, and thank Merlin I had some skill in it. It kept my mind off of mother's daft letter while I continued my self-training regime in the Room of Requirement. I finally obtained some measure of satisfaction by completing a Level Three course, as well as getting a good headway on how much magic I needed to push through my wand.

The latter had benefited me on my lessons of late. Yes, the First Year course was very basic, but having little control over my magic would have spelled disaster considering I seemed to favor overpowering whatever I cast, instead of under.

There was, of course, also some odd sort of satisfaction to be had when the teachers looked at me, impressed with my skills. I did hold back, of course. Every spell we had to learn, I made sure I needed three or four tries before I 'succeeded' in casting it. It was different to be looked on as a competent student, considering I wasn't exactly one of the top achievers in my previous life.

I would painfully admit that I had been a lazy arse when it came to academics. My academic ranking in Hogwarts might have been lower if it wasn't for my Hermione.

Speaking of which, I might have undermined whatever good favor I could build with the Hermione of this world. I thought that having shown some competence would at least raise my standing with her. Instead, she would glare at my every success, which really felt off. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a different Hermione, but it was hard to be around her, which was almost everyday thanks to the class schedules. She was also always with Violet, who, thankfully, didn't seem to mind that I was in Slytherin.

"Basilisk," I said once I reached a certain stone wall in the dungeons. The wall parted easily and I entered the Slytherin Common Room.

"Weasley," Greengrass called as she saw me. Tracey, Millicent, and Zabini were with her near one of the fireplaces. I gave them a wave and a smile as I approached.

"Wotcher," I greeted.

"Can you be any less sophisticated with your greetings?" Greengrass asked with a sniff.

I smiled. "I could," I said as I sat beside Millicent, who was busy petting Artemis. The black cat looked thoroughly happy with her ministrations. "However, I didn't want to further damage your delicate sensibilities, Greengrass. Hello Millicent, Artemis." I turned to Zabini and Tracey, who looked a little constipated. "And hello to you both as well."

"Where have you been?" Tracey asked, a little harshly which surprised me.

"Who are you and what have you done with our bubbly Tracey?" I teased gently.

Tracey looked like she was about to retort, but shook her head. "Sorry, Ron."

"She's just a little nervous about today," Greengrass commented neutrally. "Still, she has a valid question, Weasley. Where have you been?"

"Exploring," I lied. "Like what I do every morning. You guys know that."

"Every time you say exploring," Zabini replied, "we wonder if it means if you're just hanging out with those two Gryffindorks again."

"I wasn't hanging out with the twins," I said as I rolled my eyes. "They usually just find me."

"Forget your brothers, Weasley," Greengrass said. "We meant Potter and Granger."

I blinked at that. "Fear not, my Lady Greengrass. You are still my Supreme Leader so there's no need to be jealous."

Greengrass just glared. "You are extremely lucky you're not sitting beside me."

"Not lucky, my lady," I replied cheekily. "Sitting away from you is a conscious decision. I am a Slytherin, after all."

Her only response was to stand up and plop down beside me. Before I could say or do anything, she clamped on a piece of my arm and twisted it.

Wincing, I said, "Greengrass, you will either make one bloke really happy, or sentence him to a fate worse than death."

She only squeezed harder. Tracey seemed to have finally regained her cheery self as she giggled at Greengrass' actions while Zabini rolled his eyes.

"Weasley," he began, "we know you, Potter, and Granger get along, only Circe knows why."

"Not Granger," Millicent interjected. She looked at me. "She hates you."

"I wonder why," Greengrass muttered sarcastically.

"That doesn't matter," Zabini said dismissively. "What does matter is you're potentially giving Malfoy additional ammunition to turn our House against you."

"Zabini, I hate to break it to you, but Malfoy will always try and turn the House against me," I replied. "It doesn't matter if I talk to Violet or not. He called me a Blood Traitor, remember?"

Tracey frowned. "Even so, you also have to think about Professor Snape, Ron."

"That's true, Weasley," Greengrass added. "He hates Potter."

"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one," Millicent replied. "He loathes her."

"I could understand," Zabini said, shaking his head. "Potter really endeared herself to our House Head on the first day. Can't tell if she was extremely brave or really stupid."

I nodded in agreement as I recalled the first day of potions. Violet made a move that even had me left reeling in shock. It started out like I remembered, with Snape pausing at Violet's name during roll call, sneering as he called her the new celebrity. It was a bit of surprise for me. I knew Snape disliked James Potter a lot because of their school years. His animosity was immaturely transferred to Harry. However, Violet wasn't Harry. She might have looked somewhat like him and did have that Potter-hair, but I would have thought the obvious differences would have at least made Snape a bit more neutral in his treatment of Violet.

Then he began to throw out the very same questions that stumped Harry during our first year. To my surprise again, Violet answered it all correctly. Maybe it was Hermione's influence or maybe Violet's own initiative, but it looked like she read ahead. Everything seemed to go fine until it came to the last question.

"They are the very same plant, sir," Violet had said. Then, she gave that disturbing smile of hers. "Professor, just to make sure, will you actually be teaching potions instead of just asking your students questions that only a few could reasonably answer during their first day in your class? Because if not, it'll make you look like some sort of incompetent."

"I haven't heard of anyone losing twenty points on their first day," Tracey said smiling.

"Too bad Granger and Potter earned those points back and more with their other subjects," Zabini shrugged. He looked at me. "Professor Snape has more influence in the House than Malfoy. If he gets the idea that you're befriending Potter, he might take it out on you as well."

I shrugged. Snape had been very neutral in regards to treating me. I did catch him looking at me once or twice, but it seemed that my performance during classes and the points I earned for Slytherin were enough for him to leave me be.

"I'm sure he'll talk to me first if it ever comes to that," I said. I looked at Tracey. "So, why were you nervous about today?"

Tracey winced before muttering something.

I blinked. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Flying lessons," Greengrass replied for Tracey instead, ignoring the latter's glare.

"You hate flying?" I asked.

"I hate flying on unmaintained broomsticks," Tracey clarified. "Have you seen the brooms at Hogwarts?"

Greengrass nodded. "You'd think that how much money our parents pay here, they'd at least have some decent brooms."

"Stupid rule of not being allowed to own our own broomsticks," Tracey muttered darkly.

I stood up and sat beside Tracey. "There, there," I said, patting her shoulder gently. I stuck my tongue out at Greengrass, which she replied narrowing her eyes. Millicent grinned. "Think of it as a trial," I continued. "Life will always throw problems at us, Tracey. Right now, it's throwing a bludger at you. I fully understand why you want to bring your own broom. You want to be safe and as well as not humiliate yourself in front of not only your Housemates but also the Gryffindors."

Tracey looked at me, smiling. "Thanks, Ron."

"Of course, compared to Malfoy's attempts to poison the House against me, Granger hating me, my parents being really poor, and Greengrass trying to slowly pinch me to death, you sound like a whiny spoiled princess."

Zabini snorted as Tracey hit my shoulder with a gentle slap. "Prat," she said.

"I try," I replied with a grin. "Point is you'll be fine. And in case you do fall, I'll catch you. You'll owe me allegiance, and maybe, just maybe, we can overthrow our Supreme Leader together."

"In your dreams, Weasley," Greengrass replied.

"We can make her our unloved Fourth," I said, winking at Tracey. She laughed.

At around three, all of the First Year Slytherins began to file out of the common room, and with a united image, we marched onto the grounds for our first flying lesson. Well, my second, but that really matter. I stole a glance at Malfoy and his Trolls. He gave me a dark look, but otherwise said nothing. It was somewhat funny, him trying to politic his way into trying to get me hated. I'd be more worried if he performed well in classes because so far, Slytherin was receiving me warmly.

Merlin, Harry, what would you say if you saw me fitting in well with the Snakes?

We arrived first on the grounds, noticing a bunch of broomsticks lying on the ground. Lining up on one side, we gave Madam Hooch a nod of greeting, which she returned neutrally, as we waited for the Gryffindors. They appeared after a few more minutes.

My eyes went to Hermione and Violet. The former, in usual form, was glaring a storm at me, while Violet looked a little apologetic. I gave them both nods before looking at Neville, who settled beside Violet. He looked at me expectantly and gave me a nod of greeting, which I returned.

"Good afternoon, class," Hooch greeted.

"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch."

Hooch nodded before smiling. "Welcome to your first flying lesson." Then, her expression turned stern. "Well, what are you all waiting for? Stand on the left side of a broomstick. Quickly."

All of us moved forward.

"Now," Hooch continued, "stick your right hand over the broom and say up."

Violet got her broom up at once, of course. Mine came up soon afterwards.

"I hate school brooms," Tracey muttered beside me as she tried to get her broom to her outstretched hand. "Up!"

"You're hurting its feelings, you know," I commented.

"Then it shouldn't be flopping around like a Morgana-damned flobberworm. Up! OW!"

I winced as Tracey's broom finally responded by hitting her in the face and heard Zabini snort beside her. Patting her back gently, I said, "There you go, Tracey. You got your broomstick up in exchange for a lovetap. What a charmer you are."

"Oh shut it, Ron," Tracey said as she began to rub her face. "I finally realized why Daphne loves to pinch you."

"I don't know why you're mad at me, Tracey," I replied with a smile. "Zabini's the one laughing at you."

"Don't know what you're talking about, Weasley," Zabini said. "I'm just concentrating on getting my broom up. It's being stubborn."

"Performance issues," I replied. "It happens to some of us. Don't worry, Zabini."

"Now, mount your brooms," Hooch said as everyone finally got theirs in hand. "Grip it tightly." She then began to walk around, correcting a few postures here and there. I tried not to laugh at Malfoy's angry face when Hooch corrected his posture; his complaints of having done it all these years didn't phase the Madam one damn bit.

"Now," Hooch continued after looking at everyone, "on my whistle, I want all of you to push off the ground hard. Keep your brooms steady as you climb. Pull the broomstick handle towards you to go higher. Push it away to descend. Do not go higher than what you're comfortable with. Ready? Three, two—" and she blew on her whistle.

My eyes went to Neville. In my previous life, he'd kicked off the ground nervously, and in panicked fashion, pulled on the handle, causing him to climb up in rapid and uncontrolled pace. It happened again, but to my surprise, Violet caught him before he could go dangerously high. She grabbed Neville's handle and pulled it down until he began to steadily hover a few inches from the ground.

"Thanks, Violet," I heard him say.

"Don't pull up too fast," Violet lectured.

I smiled. This was far better than the last time. Looking at Tracey and Zabini, we all nodded before kicking off the ground hard.

I wasn't a flying prodigy like Harry, but I had my share of experience in it. Able to get my broom to steadily rise, I noticed that the handle jerked slightly as it tried to veer me off to the left, but I corrected it with minimum difficulty. Soon, all of us were flying around at steady speeds.

While Tracey, Greengrass, and Millicent opted to stick closer to the ground, Zabini and I began to explore higher. I saw him smile, a real smile, as we began to attain heights that were usually reserved for Quidditch players. I was fine, having been a Keeper for two years, and Zabini was showing an unsurprising amount of aptitude. He had played for the Slytherin team, after all.

After a few laps around the grounds, I was surprised when Violet joined us. "Weasley," she greeted with a smile.

"Hey yourself," I greeted back with my own.

"Weasley," Zabini warned.

Violet looked at Zabini. "Violet Lily Potter. Sorry if I don't offer my hand. This broom's a little rickety."

Zabini looked at her for a moment before nodding sharply. "Zabini." He turned to me. "Just remember what we said, Weasley." Then, he gave Violet one reproachful look before he broke off.

Instead of looking annoyed, Violet's smile widened. "Found your own Hermione, I see."

"We're not best friends," I replied. "Not yet at least. Close associate, maybe. Ally, still under discussion."

"Slytherins," Violet said with a roll of her eyes. "And I meant more of the fact that you have a friend-slash-associate-slash-tentative-ally that scowls at your other friends."

"Yeah, sorry about that. He means well. Warned me that associating with you could be harmful to my standing in the Slytherin House." I paused. "Speaking of which, where is Granger?"

Violet pointed downwards, and I saw Hermione hovering below us. If my eyes weren't deceiving me, she had her eyes closed, as if she was concentrating on forgetting that she was in the air.

"She's a little scared of heights."

I smiled. "I can see that. Oh, and for future reference, don't tell a Slytherin of people's weaknesses like that. We snakes tend to exploit it to our benefit."

"Even if they're your friends?" Violet asked.

I paused. "Are we? Friends, I mean?"

Violet seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Maybe, Weasley."

"I don't want you to get in trouble with Granger," I said.

She laughed. "You know, just for that, Ronald, I'll consider it."

"It's Ron, Violet," I replied with a grin. "Glad it's easy to make friends with Gryffindors."

"What do you mean?"

"Slytherin seems to have a philosophy that we have to offer something to receive something in return."

"That is so odd," Violet said.

"Tell me about it."

"I mean, I thought you were friends with Zabini and those three other girls. The five of you seem inseparable."

"We do seem that way," I replied with a shrug. "I'm pretty sure they offered an alliance with me because I'm their court jester."

She blinked. "Court jester?"

"I make them laugh and annoy Greengrass. She's our leader."

Violet snorted. "Well, it seems a little unfair of me then to impose my boorish Gryffindor tendencies on your Slytherin ones."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and what are you proposing?"

There was mirth in her eyes. "Race me. One lap around the grounds. Win, and you can brag that you made friends with the great Violet Potter because you beat her in a broom race."

"A little arrogant to call yourself great, aren't you?" I asked, laughing. "And if I lose?"

"I'll sic Hermione on you," Violet replied with that scary smile again. I shivered.

"You are evil."

"What's life without challenges, eh?"

I snorted. "Yeah, yeah. You're on, Violet." And without another word, I leaned down on my broom and sped away laughing.

"Cheat!" I heard Violet call after me, also laughing.

I looked behind me, and saw her slowly catching up to me. I looked forward once more, grinning as I took a turn. The grounds weren't that big, and the brooms were pretty fast for their age. As I began my last turn, though, I felt something odd before the broom began to buck from under me, hard. I held on the handle, trying to control it, only for it to break off.

My eyes widened. For a second, time seemed to slow as I held the broken piece with two hands. I could see the shaft cut smoothly before breaking off roughly on the upper side. Part of me noted that before I fell.

"Ron!" I heard Tracey shout as I went past a few blurry figures. I was about to unsheathe my wand and cast the spell that would slow my descent when Neville's pale and scared face came to view.

He was shoved off of his broom as we collided, slowing my descent, but I was now rolling around in the air. Unable to pinpoint where the ground was, I began to look through my mind for another spell that would allow me if I could still bring my wand out to cast the spell when my time was up. I felt a sharp pain and a crack before I felt my shoulder and everything around it was on fire. I heard screaming, before realizing it was my own.

My vision began to blur as I looked up in the blue sky. Other First Years began to point at me. There was a small whimper beside me. I turned to it, and saw Neville, face down, grabbing his wrist.

"Nev," I called hoarsely. "You okay?"

He didn't respond, but continued to cry. I couldn't blame him. Everything felt like shit.

"Oh, goodness!" I heard Hooch say. A few footsteps, and I could see her face, peering both of us. She turned and shouted, "Someone call Madam Pomfrey!"

"Ron!"

I turned to see Millicent and Tracey slowly floating towards us, with Greengrass and Zabini in the tow. They all ran towards us after touching the ground.

"Don't swarm them!" Hooch warned. She looked at us. "Help is on the way, Longbottom, Weasley. Don't move!"

I saw the faces of my Slytherin allies, or maybe associates, or—I lost my marbles, apparently, as I couldn't seem to think anymore. The only thing that sprung up was Tracey's expression. She had her mouth covered and looked like she was about to cry.

"Hey," I said hoarsely. "This exempts me from pinching and slapping for a while, right?"

That got a snort from Tracey.

"Ron, stop talking," Millicent said sternly.

"I guess Tracey wasn't being a complete princess."

"Weasley, just shut it," Greengrass added.

"Yes, mi'lady."

In my semi-conscious thoughts, I felt myself being floated off the ground. I could hear the indistinct chatter as well as remember seeing Violet and Hermione's eyes wide in shock as I was moved towards the hospital wing. Before everything faded, my thoughts returned to the image of the broken broomstick handle I was holding.

I could be paranoid, but I think someone just tried to kill me.