Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater, not Harry Potter (more's the pity).

This is just a sucky filler chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

…

The fires were getting annoying.

Kim scowled at the curtain, which blazed on cheerfully (completely oblivious to her glare) in the corner. She waved her hand quickly, and the fire went out.

"They're getting smaller," she muttered, still staring suspiciously at the charred spot.

"They're getting more frequent," Jackie countered, looking equally confused. "Where are they coming from?"

"Damned if I know," Kim sighed and slumped against the table. "This is unfair. Why can't we reveal ourselves before this blasted Care of Magical Creatures essay is due?"

"Because we've got to wait for Maka and Soul," Jackie said, glancing over her (already finished) homework. "And they can't be pulled off their mission until next week."

"This is crazy!" Kim shot to her feet and started pacing. "There's a kishin egg somewhere here and we can't do anything…!"

"We've already started profiling the teachers and students most likely to feed on human souls," Jackie said soothingly. "We'll work on that again when you've finished that essay, okay? Take a few deep breaths and calm down."

Kim shot her an annoyed look, but sat down once again and stared at her essay.

Jackie sighed and closed her eyes. Five, four, three, two…

"I can't take this anymore!" Kim lurched up and started towards the door of the common room. Jackie hurried quickly behind her and grabbed her arm, dragging her back to the couch (for the fifth time).

"No," she said firmly, sitting Kim down and shoving her homework into her hands. "We're not going to be able to do any good at the moment."

"We could be patrolling…"

"The teachers are patrolling, and we're supposed to be guarding Harry. What happens if he finds that we're not here, and goes looking for us?"

"We could just tell him…"

"He'd want to come with us, and knowing our luck we'll happen upon the kishin egg and get him killed. Do you want that?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Then do your homework, Kim, or so help me I'm going to stab you in the eye with your quill!"

"Jeez," Kim groused under her breath, "Someone's in a good mood today."

Jackie stared at her Meister, and then collapsed next to her on the couch and groaned. Truth be told, she was just as antsy sitting around doing nothing as Kim was – but the Headmaster had been perfectly reasonable in asking them to protect Harry. It wasn't that he was more important than the rest of the school – it was just, well, he had a certain bad habit of going and finding trouble. Besides, with one (or three) people, they were fairly confident in their ability to protect. The whole school? That was pushing it.

So Jackie waited and held her breath and freaked out because there wasn't anything that they could do and – and these stupid fires just kept coming up –

"Another one!" Kim waved her hand and glanced around suspiciously at the room. "Okay, whoever's doing this has some serious issues. You see any first years around here?"

"No first years. A few second and third, but no first years."

"Death, this is tricky," Kim growled. "Accidental magic is bad enough as it is – but this has gotten out of control!"

"I know," Jackie snapped, rubbing her eyes. "I don't know what in Death's name is going on, but it's bugging me too, Kim."

Kim paused, tilting her head to one side as she studied her Weapon. "Do you have a headache again?" she asked softly.

"Yes, I've got a headache!"

Kim pursed her lips and looked thoughtful. Usually, Jackie was an expert on predicting what Kim was going to do (a skill that had come in handy both in and out of the battlefield), but today her head just hurt too much for her to think straight.

Therefore, she was taken completely by surprise when Kim slung her arm around Jackie's shoulders and pushed her down onto the Witch's lap, rubbing soothing circles around her temples.

Almost unwillingly, Jackie felt herself relax.

"Calm down," Kim murmured soothingly. "There's something going on here, but until Soul and Maka come, we aren't allowed to do anything about it." And wasn't that grating. "Let's just focus on the job that's been given to us."

Jackie nodded and sighed. Kim stared down at her, feeling rather strange being the voice of reason. It wasn't a position that she was used to (nor did she particually like it, either). Jackie was the sensible one. Jackie was the logical one.

Jackie was the straight-laced one.

As soon as the thought it, Kim felt a feint pang of guilt. She hadn't thought about her partner like that in years. Hadn't called her that for even longer.

"I'll go and check on Hermione," Jackie offered sleepily from her spot on Kim's lap. "I don't think she's very happy with us, at the moment."

"Why not?" Kim frowned, wondering what she had gone to irritate the prickly witch this time.

"I wouldn't tell her what we saw," Jackie admitted quietly. "She wanted to know if she could ferret out any clues from the scene, but…I didn't…" she faltered. "I didn't think that she should have to think about something like that."

Kim frowned. "They're going into a warzone, soon, if this Voldemort isn't stopped. I don't think that you can shelter them…"

"I'm not!" Jackie said, sounding stressed. "I'm not, Kim, really – it's just – I don't know – they're not ready!"

"We weren't, either."

"We're different." Jackie muttered.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a Weapon, and you're a Meister." She said. "We're – I don't know – born into this. They're just kids."

"Kids who could kill you with a flick of a wrist," Kim said grimly. "Oh, don't give me that look, Jack. Don't tell me you haven't seen it – you're better at the analytical than I am. Any of these kids could do things that even a Deathscythe would be hard-pressed to do. They're living, breathing weapons."

"No!" Jackie shook her head. "I'm a living, breathing weapon."

"Forget it," Kim shook her head. Intellectually, she understood that Jackie was squeamish about talking about death to Hermione – but emotionally, she just didn't get it. Death was Death. Blood was blood. Life was life.

Of course, she fully understood that that her views on – well, everything – were more than a little skewed when it came to 'normal' things. Money, emotions…blergh. Growing up as a Witch had never taught her much about when it came to the 'real world'. Bribery, corruption, murder…Witches were literally willing to do anything to gain what their heart truly desired.

Chaos – chaos was the one thing all Witches craved.

Everyone except her.

"I'll go," Kim offered – and to her sudden surprise, Jackie tensed.

"No, no, it's fine – I'm the one who offended her." Jackie's shoulders were tense.

Kim watched her go with a slight frown on her face. She didn't like it when her partner was unhappy – something that seemed to be happening more and more, nowadays. Yeah, she'd be happy when she could leave this stupid castle and get back onto actual missions…

Of course, now that a kishin had made a kill here, though, this could be considered an 'actual mission'.

Now, if only they could find the damned thing…

…

A/N: I apologize for the sucky filler chapter. As you can see, Maka and Soul aren't coming until next week – sorry! I just had a few little bugs to work out, and I didn't want to skip a week…so…

Big thanks to Krazyfanfiction1, Waywardneko, and Guest for reviewing! I love you all loads, you wonderful people!

See ya next week!

MM