"Hey." Verity threw herself down upon the plushy leather sofa and stared into Theodore Nott's dark hair.

Leaning against the sofa's side, Theo didn't reply. He turned another page.

"Pretty clean. No lice or dandruff, that's a start."

The book snapped shut. "What?" Theo asked incredulously.

"Your hair," Verity said, gesticulating vaguely. "I'm not seeing any kinds of wizardy bugs or lice or dandruff. Pretty nice, but good smelling-hair is always an important factor too."

Theo didn't look up; instead he reopened his book. "What, in the name of Merlin, are you talking about?" He sounded bored, laconic.

"Uhm. I thought we were discussing your sexy attributes, but now I'm not sure."

Theo choked. The book closed again. "What?"

Verity stifled a giggle. She wasn't really into Theo, but it was funny to shock him. Maybe she actually would try to be friends with him. "Hmm... Intelligence... that must not be one of them. Ooh, but your brusque nature and sparse words have to rank high. Some girls like that sort of thing."

The boy turned around, now leaning against the wall, in order to stare up at her. Verity grinned at him. He had truly gorgeous dark eyes and a clever face. He looked like he could be a moviestar thief or assassin. He was just a little too gangly; his knobby knees stuck up when he pulled them to his chin, making it clear he didn't have much body mass. Well, maybe he'd muscle up later, he was only fifteen.

"You've got very nice eyes, though," she told him.

"Thanks." He blushed crimson.

Verity leaned farther down, allowing her hair to drop into her face. "So, what's that book?" she asked, trying to read the cover.

Theodore held it closer to himself, almost protectively. Verity was reminded of how closely she guarded her own things around other Slytherins. "It's... uhm, it's called T-Twilight. I'm reading it for a class."

"You're reading Twilight?!"

"I'm reading it for a class!" Theo yelped. He was completely red-faced now. "It's for a class!"

Verity giggled. "But you're actually reading it. And it's a Muggle book."

Theo's blush went almost puce. "It's for Muggle Studies, alright? Yes, I'm taking Muggle Studies."

Verity tilted her head. From what she'd heard from Draco, no one in Slytherin would ever willingly take it. Theo must have been coerced into doing it, or he was as just as a Slytherin misfit as she was. Maybe he was a loner not because he was so screwed up, but that he was just screwed up by Slytherin standards.

"I read, like, half of that book. It's kinda boring."

Theo shrugged. "Well, I like to read. I'm going to finish it anyway."

"Really? I got stuck in it pretty fast. There's not much of a plot."

"Well, what books do you like to read?"

"Uhm... I don't really read books. Mostly I just listen to music."

"Oh." That ended the conversation for a few moments. Theodore stared at her for a few moments, then blushed again and reopened his book.

"Okay, awesome, ignore me." Verity stretched out farther, craning her neck to see where Theo was in the story. She was on tiptoe now, her chest rammed up against the sofa arm, and her eyes squinted. There was a sudden and violent reaction in her robes. "Oh, warlock muffins—"

"What did you say?" Theo asked, snorting.

"Uhm." Verity let AM out of her robes, procuring the kitten from her shirt as if it were a magic trick. "'Warlock muffins'. You wizards all have weird sayings, so I was just... uhm... improvising."

She set AM down beside her, and kissed the kitten's head to try to atone for squishing her against the sofa. She didn't look any happier, but at least now she wasn't clawing or hissing.

"You know," Theo said, "gulping gargoyles usually works better. I'm not too sure about warlock muffins."

"It sounds alright."

"There's always Merlin's ballocks."

"What?" Verity giggled. "Do people actually use that one?"

"If they're being a little crass," Theo replied.

"Oh, okay."

"My mum hits me for using it," Theo snorted (the book was laying on the floor, now quite forgotten), and paused. "What is that?"

He was looking at her staff, which was propped up against the sofa.

"Oh, this? I found it in the hallway."

Theo wrinkled his nose, which Verity thought was adorable. "Shouldn't you turn that in to Dumbledore or something? It might belong to someone."

"Uhm. I don't know. It was in a secret compartment. In an unused classroom."

"Excellent!" Theodore's eyes were glittering. "You might have found something really incredible! There are all kinds of hidden objects and secret passageways and such all over Hogwarts."

"Really? This one was in the wall. I was being chased through the halls and I fell against this one stone that unlocked a secret compartment. I don't think I'd even be able to find it again if I tried." She shuddered at the memory of the inkpots shattering and the frightening figure at the end of the hall. "So I just picked it up and I ran."

Theodore stared a little more. "Wow. I didn't have that much excitement in my entire four years here. The most I ever got was when my mum sent me a Howler third year for, uhm, for taking Muggle Studies."

Verity frowned. So Theo had good reason to be a misfit; he must have been the black sheep of his family. Not even fitting in amongst his peers. Or did he like being a rebel?

"So... should I turn it in or not?" she asked, shaking her head free from those thoughts.

Theo hesitated, then took the staff and turned it over in his hands a few times. "I'm not sure. It doesn't look dangerous, but you can never be certain. If it's a Dark object, I'm sure the other Slytherins wouldn't be upset with you owning it..."

He flipped it over and saw the Hogwarts seal in the center of the rose blossom that capped the staff. "Hm. This really is interesting. That seal isn't on very many things, except for letters. I think... maybe..."

"Maybe it belongs to the school?"

"Or to a founder of the school." Theo's eyes were shining now. "This is incredible. Really, truly incredible. You might have found something undiscovered for eight hundred years!"

Verity was getting excited too. "Really? So is it powerful? Does it have magic?"

"Probably!"

The two sat for a moment and grinned at each other.

"You're going tell me to turn it in anyway, aren't you."

"Yes."

"Knew it."