(A/N) Sorry for the long wait, my exams are finally over so I have more time for writing and such. I'd just like to thank everyone who reviewed, so very, very much because the encouragement is leading me to word count sizes never before reached.

Thankyou
T. Blues

Spiralling
Chapter Thirteen
Birds of a Feather

Scorpius rocked back on his heels, looking shocked and confused. "So...wait, you mean Cobb's death was intentional?" he asked slowly and I rolled my eyes slightly impatient. After Charms, Scorpius and I enjoyed our own little study break whilst Rose and Albus were forced on into Ancient Runes. Why Albus, who wanted to be an Auror, wanted to take such a course, I had no idea but he did get some of the best marks in the class so I figured I'd let it be.

The break had been the perfect opportunity to explain my unceremonious spill in Charms although Scorpius had been less than amused by my excuse. "You're not this slow Scor," I snapped at him, worry edging its way into my tone. "Think about it- Flip said they found her wand close to her. That there was evidence of a duel. This is not normal." I insisted.

Scorpius blew his bangs from his eyes, tiredly. "Blimey, she was the little blonde one right? Always cheered for Gryffindor in our games?"

Trust Scorpius to relate it to Quidditch, I thought, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's her. I- I don't know what to think..." I mumbled, confused even to myself.

Scorpius' head snapped up immediately. "What do you mean? It's horrible and no one deserves it but its a murder case. The Aurors are investigating it, what more is there?" he said.

I shrugged, feeling pinned down by his logic. "Nothing, I s'pose. It's just...Alejandro and now Sofiel...it's just weird alright?"

Scorpius sighed and looped an arm around my shoulders, hugging me as we collapsed down on a section of magically unfrozen bank of the Black Lake. There was a thick frost laced across the surface of the lake and I couldn't help but remember the day we hexed Goyle and his fellow Snakes. I shivered and cleared away more snow so I could lay back on the grass. I could feel the chill through my robes.

"Lyra, don't try to make something out of nothing," he soothed in a way I had to struggle not to think of as patronizing. "It's just a horrible coincidence alright? Let it go. Keep thinking such morbid thoughts and Rose will make you watch that ridiculous muggle kids show again..." his face screwed up just thinking about it and I giggled, remembering the Easter before last when Rose had put on a muggle tv show to entertain the younger kids.

"You mean the Wiggles?" I snickered.

Scorpius growled. "I can't look at skivvies the same way, Ly," he told me seriously while I collapsed on the grass, sniggering. "I'm scarred."

I rolled my eyes and leaned back on the grass, watching the monstrous Whomping Willow in the distance as it shook off the snow from its gnarled, ropy branches onto the ground. "Only you could end up memorizing the entire lyrics to Wags the Dog." I told him, smirking.

"They played it too many times!" he protested. "I'm innocent in all of this!"

I snorted. "Then what do you call me finding you asleep on the Weasley's couch at midnight that one time?"

Scorpius had the decency to go a tad red before smirking and mussing up my hair, obnoxiously. "A fabricated lie to make yourself feel better about having such an immaculate, perfect, godly-"

"Oh shove it," I told him, snickering at the memory of Scorpius humming along to the kid's show. I sighed when I glanced at my watch and saw the time. "C'mon we'd best be getting back."

Scorpius and I kept up our bickering all the way back to the castle which was humming with life as the switch over for classes occurred. I could only mourn the loss of my spare period because I felt like I was allergic to the idea of Muggle Stuides with Hufflepuff. Sofiel Cobb's death was still rattling around in my brain and I felt sick thinking about it. She was younger than me. That wasn't right. The older ones die first. That's how it's meant to go.

But Scorpius proved to be an excellent distraction as he kept up the steady stream of chatter that was like a soothing potion for my nervous brains.

"I'm just saying, they were good for their time but you and Albus are far too stuck in the past. Sevenfold Sphinxes, now there's a band." Scorpius argued with me, lightly. I snorted.

"Sevenfold Sphinxes are a joke. The only modern band I can possibly stand is Floo You and even then, they use way too much bass." I retorted and Scorpius sighed, like it was an embarrassment to be seen with me.

"I'll never get where I went wrong. I mean, I was with you more than Al and he still corrupted you with all that rubbish!" he waved his hand, vaguely.

"Like what?"

"The old ones...you know, the bugs or something, right?"

"The Beatles?" I chuckled suddenly. "Did you know people thought they were muggles?"

"Who? The Beatles? No way."

"Yeah," I shrugged, smiling a little. "Weird huh?"

Scorpius snickered. "I'll say. I mean, who in their right mind-"

"Hi Scorpius." crooned a high, tinkling voice and Scorp automatically flashed a smile to his right as the brunette stepped up beside him, her skin tan and dark eyes widened prettily.

"Ivy," he greeted, slipping into his flirting mode which almost made me puke. "How's things?"

Ivy Greene (no, really, that's her name) cast her eyes upwards, thoughtfully and smiled. "Could be better."

Scorpius flashed another smile. "Oh? And how could I help accomplish 'better'?"

Her eyes flitted over him for a second and lit up with what they saw. "You could buy me a Butterbeer next Hogsmeade." The brunette beauty and my brother had been playing a sickening game of flirtation since before Christmas although this was the first time anyone had been asked out. Ivy was a sixth year Ravenclaw and she, like a multitude of girls before her, had set her sights on Scorp who was more than happy to put himself up for a look.

I know, I know- I make Scorpius look like a serious pig when it comes to girls but in all actuality, he's not really that bad. He's never cheated or lied or had more than one girl a day or anything, unlike some people I could mention (read: James Potter II) but Scorpius (gag me) is attractive and unfortunately Hogwarts is a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry not the Blind, Deaf and Stupid so of course, girls have noticed over the years.

But Merlin forbid that should mean I get to date.

I rolled my eyes and strolled away from the pair who were quickly making plans for the next Hogsmeade trip which had completely skipped my mind. I was about to start heading over to Muggle Studies when Rose stepped out from Ancient Runes while a cranky looking Albus stormed off in the other direction, not even glancing at her or me.

Rose looked frustrated but she spotted me and her face quickly calmed, igniting both worry and curiosity in my stomach. "Hey Ly," she greeted, heaving her bag's strap on to her other shoulder.

"Hey," I glanced behind her to where Albus was tearing ahead off to the greenhouses, leaving a wave of terrified First Years in his wake. Both he and Scorpius had Herbology this time but he usually waited until Scorpius was done chatting up a girl before tearing off. "Something happen in Runes?"

Rose shrugged, her expression oddly guarded. "No, Albus is just a little...irritated with me."

I heard the flutter of parchment hitting the ground and glanced out into the courtyard in time to see Albus stomping off to the greenhouses without a single glance back at the little Second Year boy who'd literally dove out of the way of the oncoming Potter and was hastily picking his homework back up.

"I'd wager more than a little." I told her, bluntly. "What happened?"

Rose sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Nothing Lyra, he's just a moron. He'll be over it by dinner. Come on, we need to get over to-" she cut herself off, staring at something over my shoulder with a funny look on her face.

"Rose?"

"Who is Scorpius talking to then?" she asked, her tone casual.

I shrugged. "Ivy Greene, remember? They're going to Hogsmeade together, last I head." I rolled my eyes. "Next Scorp will be telling me he's entering Madame Puddifoot's."

I expected Rose to start giggling hysterically at the idea of Scorpius with so much pink and leftover mistletoe but she only gave a dry little chuckle and blinked a few times before linking my arm through hers and steering me on to Muggle Studies. I could only glance back at Ancient Runes classroom and wonder what went on in that room that made my friends act so weird.

-''-''-''-

The days strolled by with the effort of a lazy butterfly, hopping from moment to moment, making some parts stand out brightly and other weeks pass in a dull blur. January made sure its frost crept into every corner of Hogwarts but it was withering slightly, which gave me hope that maybe I wouldn't be stuck in snow for the rest of my life.

I yawned when I sat down at breakfast Tuesday morning and leaned my head on Al's shoulder sleepily. He chuckled and passed me toast while Rose shuffled to the other side of Scorpius who was looking disgustingly cheerful. "Tired?"

"You have no idea." I mumbled, bitterly.

"Debbie and Missy kept us up last night," Rose filled him in, rubbing her eyes.

"About nail polish." I chimed in, indignantly. "I wasted hours of sleep because they were so bloody excited about nail polish!"

"The new line of Witch Me products come out this week," Rose once again translated and Albus frowned.

"You mean those frilly pink things that come out of Gladrags every month?"

"That would be it. I swear, if I have to listen to how Perenelle's Pink Perfection is a much better shade than Penny Pin's Pretty & Prim when they are both exactly the same colour, I am going to lose it." I growled as Debbie and Missy made their way to the end of the Gryffindor table and sat down, still babbling and occasionally throwing dirty looks at some girl from another table.

"Sounds ponderous," Scorpius chuckled, taking a pancake for himself and dousing it in maple syrup.

"Scorpius, shove it where-" Rose never got to finish her threat because at that moment, the mail came, a flurry of brown, black, white, hazel, gold, red feathers showering us all. I watched as Eugene perched himself beside Rose's plate and nibbled on her bacon while she untied the letters from his leg and stroked the back of his head, fondly.

I was wondering if I could use langlock on Debbie and Missy for the sake of my own sanity when I heard a soft screech and brown-gold-chocolate-hazel feather drifted down before me. My head snapped up immediately because those feathers were too incredibly familiar for it to be coincidence-

And there she was. Secilia, my only pet, one of the only things apart from Scorpius that kept me sane in Malfoy Manor, flew down and down and down and eventually perched herself on my arm, rubbing her head against my neck affectionately. "Is that Secilia?" Scorpius wondered and it clicked in my head that Secilia was probably not meant to be here.

"Secilia, what are doing here?" I murmured, not really expecting her to answer. She didn't, but she did cock her head toward the letter and paper tied to her leg and I practically ripped the first one open with a vengeance.

Lyra,

I know you'll share this with Scorpius if he isn't with you already but I figured you might like Secilia back. She's been living under the care of a House Elf named Twilly at Malfoy Manor but I had a friend in the Department of Postal Services fix her wings so she should be arriving at Hogwarts soon.

You're probably wondering what I'm doing at Malfoy Manor and the truth is we're investigating the attack on Potter Mansion as well as the abuse charges on Narcissa and Lucius. It's deserted guys, everything left as it was but no one inside. A few things, from what we can tell, are missing but they're possibly just keepsakes the House Elves have started to hoard. But you might as well know it since we're not sure how long we can keep it from the Prophet: your grandparents are officially on the run from the Ministry and are to be arrested upon sight.

There will be alot of hype and media attention but I need you to listen to me when I tell you to ignore it and any questions: you don't know anything, you don't want to talk about it. Investigations here are getting complicated- we're finding leads into things which, quite frankly, the Prophet would have a field day with.

You guys have got to be careful. There's no telling just how far Narcissa and Lucius would go to protect the Malfoy honour and while Hogwarts is entirely and irreproachably safe, Hogsmeade is not and there's always the possibility that they'll try to contact you through owl.

Take care of yourselves,
Harry

I exchanged a look with Scorpius who immediately gave the letter to Rose and Albus to read while I tried to contain my inner breakdown. Narcissa and Lucius hadn't been caught. They were on the run. They were out there and armed and thirsting for my death and possibly Scorp's, Al's and Rose's.

"Finding out your grandparents are fugitives and are possibly trying to kill you and have live connections to Death Eaters," Scorpius muttered. "What a great start to the day."

-''-''-''-

Wednesday morning, we soon discovered just how much hype Harry had alluded to. The Daily Prophet was blunt in its headlines and I winced when I saw it, sprawled across Albus' paper. POTTER ATTACK LEADS TRAIL TO MALFOYS.

They might as well have painted a red target on my back, I thought miserably as the other students cast whispering looks towards Scorp and Al.

"Blimey," Albus whistled, drifting through the pages in boredom. "We sound fantastic. Hmm...looks like we didn't come out too bad after all..." he gestured to a segment and Scorpius leaned in to read it out.

"Investigations into the Ex-Death Eaters, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy have raised suspicions within the ministry that perhaps they are behind the attack on Potter Mansion last New Year's. While Head Auror Harry Potter denies this link, no details have been given as to the purpose behind such investigation. No mention of Ly or I anywhere," Scorpius huffed. "Well, I'm appalled."

"Really? I thought you were Scorpius." I replied, distantly as I read over more of the pages, flipping quicker than ever. I hadn't needed to fill Rose and Al in on Sofiel's death since McGonagall announced it over dinner that night but as I looked through the pages, I couldn't find a mention of her anywhere. The Aurors are keeping the case tight. They don't want any leakage. I realised.

But why? Why not do the same with the Potter Mansion Attack? I frowned, flipping back through, ignorant of Rose's odd look. There was no mention of Alejandro's death either. Nothing. All it said was there was an attack on Potter Mansion but the paper seemed more interested in painting the dark picture of my family's background and how impeccable the Auror Office was in their work.

I tossed the paper back to Albus and reread the letter from Harry. No mention of other cases they were keeping under wraps but it made no sense...

"Lyra?"

Just like that, my train of thought derailed and I glanced up to see Albus stuffing his newspaper to one side and staring at me with concern. "Yeah?"

"Alright?"

Not wanting to lie to Albus, I just nodded, trying to put Auror cases out of my head and concentrate on the real world. "Can we head back to the Tower? I just want to relax for a little while..." Rose was saying, rubbing her eyes. Needless to say Debbie and Missy had kept up their babbling for another night this time about how 'totally unfair' it was to have the Hogsmeade's trips every second weekend which meant they wouldn't be able to go to Gladrags for another two weeks.

Poor things, my heart bleeds for them, I thought, sarcastically as we started back to the tower.

"Thank Merlin for double morning spares." Albus murmured to me as Scorpius and Rose's discussion quickly turned into an argument about something or other.

"Agreed," I moaned, stumbling along. "Rose is incorrigible. I was perfectly happy just to skip breakfast but I should've known she wouldn't let me go that easy."

Albus chuckled and nudged my shoulder. "Well just think...today can't get worse."

"Wrong."

"Huh?"

"I said wrong." I told him, miserably. "I have a double Astronomy tonight at midnight." Albus tried to stifle his laughter but one poke and he was sniggering at my misfortune. "Wow thanks for the support Al, you're a real friend." I added, sardonically.

Albus paused and glanced ahead to make sure Rose and Scorpius were a fair way away. He ran a hand through his mop of hair, an infuriating nervous twitch he gained from his older brother and eyed me seriously. "Lyra, I was actually wondering if I could ask you something."

I nodded, immediately. "Sure, what's up?"

"Well...it's kind of awkward..." he added, a tad sheepish. I smiled, tilting my head in curiosity.

"Al, I was there when your voice broke. Awkward is behind us." I told him and he cracked a small smile but it was tinged with nerves. "Come on, you can tell me anything."

"Well, I was wondering...if maybe you could help me in Charms?" He finished with a whoosh of breath. I frowned.

"Albus I always help you in Charms, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just could use a little extra help." He told me with an odd tone of voice and I nodded, shrugging.

"Sure. But why'd you want to be away from Rose and Scor?"

"Well, Little Miss Questions," he teased me as we started walking again. The staircase moved to join us to the Gryffindor corridor. "They're doing pretty well and it's embarrassing asking for help-"

"What's your problem with her?"

"Nothing! Merlin, why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"Because you obviously have something you want to say!"

"Godric, it was just a question!"

I winced as Rose and Scorpius' argument grew louder and louder in volume as we approached the portrait hole. The Fat Lady looked irritated and jerked a thumb behind her. "See if you can't settle them down would you? It's far too loud," she complained, swinging open. I refrained from telling her the reason for it being too loud was probably the empty bottle of wine I spotted in her frame and entered with Albus trailing beside me.

"Circe, Rose why do you hate her so badly?"

"I don't!"

"You certainly seem to!"

"That's because I'm a girl and you're a boy and most of the time we speak different languages!"

"Don't give me that hippogriff dung!"

"You're making a giant out of a troll!"

People started to stare at the pair as they had one of their screaming matches in the Common Room. I winced again and whispered to Albus, "If we ran away now do you think they'd notice?"

"I'm all for pretending we're not related." He breathed back in my ear but it was sadly not meant to be. Scorpius span around and pointed to me, triumphantly.

"Lyra's a girl and she doesn't hate Ivy!" he shouted, using me as an example. "Do you Ly?"

"Er, I don't-"

"Well Albus is a boy and he doesn't think I hate Ivy!"

"Hang on, what-"

"Why do you have to be so stubborn, all the time?"

"Same reason you have to know everything!"

"OI!" Albus yelled, calling a halt to their debate for a brief second. I blinked and wondered why my ears were ringing before carefully negotiating myself between Rose and Scorpius, both of them glaring daggers at each other, chests heaving with effort.

"Now why don't you both just go to your rooms and cool down for a while, okay?" I suggested, cautiously. "You're making the First Years frightened."

Scorpius demanded, coldly. "Not until she apologises."

"For what?" Rose snapped back.

"For being rude about my girlfriend!" he replied, indignant. My eyes widened.

Rose growled in frustration. "I rolled my eyes Scorpius- hang on-"

"Girlfriend?" she and I both repeated in unison, eyes bulging. My surprise was purely because although they'd been dating for two weeks and had been to Hogsmeade just once, there had never been any talk about Scorpius being someone's boyfriend. The thought made me a little green to be honest but Rose-

Rose looked as though she'd just come face to face with a Dementor, her skin pale and her expression stunned. I blinked rapidly and shook off my shock before clearing my throat a little to Scorpius who still looked mad. "Scorpius, I'm sure Rose didn't mean anything by it. She's Rose for crying out loud- she's sarcastic, the sky is blue, the grass is green. This shouldn't be a shock." I soothed, slowly.

"Oh but it's such a shock I can get a girlfriend?" he fumed, gesturing to Rose's petrifaction. She was startled out of it and cast him a disinterested glance.

"Ivy's fine. I have no problem with her." she told him, nonchalantly and I gestured to her with a 'you-see-?' kind of attitude.

Scorpius snorted before storming up the Boys' Dormitory. Rose rolled her eyes and stormed up to the Girls'. I shared a weathered look with Albus. "I'll take Rosie-"

"I'll take Scorp." He replied and both of us followed our respective targets up to their respective sulking zones.

And there was peace in the Common Room once more.

I sat down on my bed and watched as Rose brushed the knots from her hair violently and scrubbed at her teeth and double checked her books, scowling when she couldn't find the one she needed for Ancient Runes. She was like a tornado of movement and I tried to guess at the best way to approach her.

"So...Scorpius has a girlfriend." I started, peering at her for an expression but she didn't seem at all phased. She just shrugged with one shoulder and flipped through the Runes book she'd found under her bed. We were alone in the dormitory, the other girls having slept in and gone down for breakfast later.

"He said he wasn't going to date for a while, you know?" I continued on, trying to express to my best friend that it was a bit of a shock that he was involved with Greene. "After the whole Harper thing-" I added, referring to Harper Berry, the Gryffindor Sixth Year who moved to America before the Christmas Break who my brother had been dating for six months prior.

Rose's back went totally rigid and her entire body looked like she'd snuck a second-hand peek at a Basilisk. "Seriously Lyra, it's not a big deal." She told me, still not facing me. Her voice trembled the slightest fraction.

I caught Bartholomew as he streaked out from under my bed and petted him. For such a little thing, he purred like a great lion. "Rose, I'm your best friend," I pleaded with her. "Just tell me what's wrong."

"It's no big deal," she replied, casually stuffing her book in her bag and gathering her Charms notes. "What did Albus talk to you about?"

"You're changing the subject."

"I'm not."

"Weasley, you're talking to the Queen of Changing Subjects," I told her, dryly. "You'll have to do better than that."

Rose sighed and tore a brush through her long red curls again before sitting down across from me on her bed, looking flushed. "I'm fine, really. Just a little embarrassed." She assured me leaning back across her duvet. I rolled my eyes but sighed, copying her stance.

"Sure you are. But as long as you don't slit his throat in your sleep, I'll drop it," I teased her and she cracked a tiny smile.

"So seriously, what did Al ask you about?" Rose said after a moment of quiet and I snorted in a most unladylike way.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm curious, sue me." She replied, off-handedly but there was a hint of...something in her tone. My brow furrowed- I used to be better at reading my friends than this. I used to be able to tell them inside out. But now they were just confusing the hell out of me and it was driving me nuts.

"You make it sound like you want a specific answer." I accused her, closing my eyes.

"Well if you told me instead of dancing around the question, I wouldn't have to keep digging."

"That's ridiculous Rose," I said, sternly. "You know perfectly well I can't dance-"

"Lyra. Tell me."

"He asked for help in Charms." I caved, exasperated. "Why is it such a big deal?"

I didn't see Rose's eyes tighten a fraction. I just heard her say "Nothing" in a normal voice before moving on to a plan to shut up Debbie and Missy tonight.

-''-''-''-

The rest of the day was normal and boring except of course for being able to legitimately curse Slytherins in Defence Against the Dark Arts but by the end of it, I was entirely too ready for bed and cursing myself for taking Astronomy as an elective.

I didn't know what I wanted to do Post-Hogwarts although it didn't surprise me that Albus and Scorpius were both gunning to be Aurors. Rose was debating between Unspeakable work or Healing although she'd be cut out for both. And then there was me, sitting in the middle of all these paths and too scared to pick one and make it official.

Astronomy was a class I enjoyed and it pissed Lucius off something terrible so I took it and normally, it wasn't too bad. I didn't have to converse with anyone, the teacher was the gentle Professor Sinistra and lots of the work was solitary. Perfect for someone who despised having to socialize with strangers.

I dragged myself up the staircase, attempting with little success to remember the seventh star in Orion. Betelgeuse, Meissa, Alnitak, Rigel...I chanted, finally getting to the Astronomy room door and ducking inside. The interior of the room was circular and in each of the archer windows was a silver gleaming telescope, focused out on to the night sky. In the gaps between windows, charts upon charts of constellations and starlore were plastered across the walls and the teacher's desk sat in the middle.

Rigel...left foot...Saiph! Saiph, right foot...Professor Sinistra hadn't made it yet but a few Hufflepuffs were there, already set up or chatting quietly. Everyone was too tired to really focus on making conversation so I just headed over to my own telescope and pulled out the chart I had yet to finish labelling of the Northern segment of sky. I'd finished almost every one of the constellations except of course, Orion the Hunter.

I tapped my quill against my chin trying to remember the last Rigel, Saiph, the feet, Alnitak and...Mintaka, the hips, Meissa the head and...come on...right shoulder Betelgeuse and...It clicked in my head and I wrote the answer in grimly. Bellatrix. The Left shoulder.

I tapped the parchment with my wand and the chart flew off my desk and onto Sinistra's with a neat flourish. I yawned and started to focus my telescope on the Perseus Constellation, biting my lip absently. I was trying to pick out if one star was Medusa's head or Andromeda's foot when Professor Sinistra cleared her throat.

"Tonight we're going to make a start on our Mid Year Projects as you know," she said in a soft, musical voice that sounded a little dreamy. But then again her profession was looking at stars all the time so I figured she had a right to be dreamy. Sinistra was one of my favourite teachers, mainly because her head was so far in the clouds she didn't really notice me all that much.

"But I've decided to change things a little. Instead of handing in your own solitary reports, I'm assigning you all to take a partnership approach-"

And just like that she went from favourite to most hated.

I tried not to scowl as I heard her explain that she wanted us all to 'combine our learning' and 'gather different perceptions'. I fiddled more with my telescope, zoning out from her drifty voice. Partners? What, were we in First Year? I hated partner work when none of the guys were around. Now I'd be stuck with some stranger who quivered at the sight of me-

"Hi."

My gaze flickered from the telescope to the shoes of the owner of the voice and slowly trailed up to the face of a Hufflepuff boy I'd never really cared to know the name of. "Er...hi." my voice had an upward inflection on it, like a question because I had no clue why this boy was standing in front of me with his bag and parchment.

"My name's Wyatt." He introduced, stretching a hand. I just stared at it and then back at him, confused. I glanced behind him and there were a few Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs who were wandering around, asking after partners. If he didn't leave now, he'd have a hard time finding someone. I looked back at him, blinking. He didn't look like a total freak.

"Lyra." I replied, shortly. Paranoia kicked in like crazy- was this a joke? A prank? Was I about to go headfirst off the Astronomy tower?

Wyatt seemed to get the picture and he took back his hand awkwardly. "So I was wondering if you wanted to partner up for the project."

How odd, I thought absently. The crazy ones really do look normal in the beginning I suppose. "Why?" my voice came out harsher than I expected but it was understandable. Apart from Rose, Al or Scorp, I had never in my six years of schooling ever had someone ask to partner up with me.

But to my eternal surprise, the Hufflepuff didn't scatter off, mumbling nervous apologies. He smiled and I noticed for the first time how cute he was- caramel coloured curly hair and dark eyes and tiny freckles sprinkled lightly across his cheeks.

His smile was lopsided when he replied: "Because you seem more put together than Droopy Drew over there," he jerked his thumb at Drew Pickles, a spacey Hufflepuff, who was looking at his finger nail with fascination. "Plus you're much nicer to look at."

My jaw dropped a centimetre in total shock.

Was that- did he just- what did that-

"Are you flirting with me?" I asked, bluntly but give me a break. I was in shock. I'm not sure if it's been made clear but guys do not talk to me. Ever. Especially not cute Hufflepuff boys.

His smile widened into a grin. "Well I'm trying but you're not making it easy."

"Are you insane?"

"I'd like to think not," he replied cheerfully and sat down at one of the two chairs that had magically appeared beside my desk. I tried not to smile at that because my former suspicions were sinking in.

"Is this a joke?" I demanded, warily.

"You ask a lot of questions," he observed. "But no this isn't a joke, I legitimately want to be partners with you."

"But- but- but why?" I couldn't connect the dots; it was just too weird.

"That's my name." He chuckled. I felt like smiling but restrained myself, looking for an accomplice instead.

"No," I clarified, feeling stupid for indulging him. My paranoia was telling me with increasingly loud screeches to hex him and make him leave me alone. "I mean, why me? Most people would choose out of the dozen other normal kids in the class."

"Well to be honest," he leaned forward, setting out his ink pot and parchment. "You look interesting and you're obviously intelligent-"

"How'd you figure that?" I asked, dryly and he gestured lazily to my homework that Sinistra was now marking with a smile.

"And I'm bored of being the one that does all the work." He leaned further forward and I caught a glimpse of ink marking his hands in splatters. "Besides, my Hufflepuff nature insists that I make sure you don't miss out on the joy of having a partner."

"Wonderful," I said in a dead tone. But as I kept watching him, I noticed that he wasn't glancing around the corner to a hidden friend or stealthily drawing his wand. There wasn't a hint of malice in his gaze and he seemed strangely...honest. I glanced at Professor Sinistra, knowing she probably wouldn't let me get out of having a partner and wasn't it better I have someone who'll talk with me instead of trembling on the spot?

Besides, said my paranoia, placating itself. You can always hex him easier alone anyway.

So I let him sit beside me.

The whole "Why?" – "Yes that's my name" thing, comes from my own experiences with a boy I know in real life and if he ever found out, he'd freak that I made him a Hufflepuff. Wy, if you're reading this, I think they're cute so you can deal with it =)

Thanks and please review!

T. Blues