"Right, I want two scrolls on the effects of wolfsbane in the recent years, and make a comparison to how it was used in the fifteenth century," Snape droned, flicking his wand at his own blackboard, causing the homework he had just assigned to appear upon it. The groans, all three unhappy, made him grin, "and if it's late, I'm sure I can arrange a detention for you to do around the house... My house elves need a few gardening hands."

His three favourite students grumbled threatening words under their breath, and bid him farewell as they all squished into the fireplace, clearly eager to get home and escape his lesson.

He had to agree; it had been a bloody long day. Everything just sort of dragged by, and thankfully he only needed to teach two days out of the week. The rest of the time he could see Eloise, Shane and Kevin on a friendlier scale.

Exhausted, Snape quickly put away his teaching items into the storage, then decided he would make one of the house elves see to the mess the teenagers had made in the cauldrons. For now, all he wanted to do was to get something to drink and put his feet up for a while.

He made his way out of the lower levels of his manor, then into his study, slumping down in his favourite chair and staring out at the October evening, his tree line ablaze with colour. The sun would be setting in an hour or so, but for now, the sky held a mystical glow, one which he wished he could share with his wife.

Speaking of Ginny...

"Uncle Severus! Look at my new sweater!" Annie squealed loudly, racing into the room and modeling it for him, the black, zip up jacket causing her blonde hair to stand out.

Snape grinned, "Lovely. Did you have a good day shopping?"

"Uh huh," she prattled, nodding her head. "We went and got ice cream and saw kittens at the pet store and ... and..."

"And we did a little bit of shopping, charging everything to Daddy's account, right?" Ginny laughed as she entered the room, her lengthy red hair bundled up at the back of her head, "Draco'll kill me, but Annie and I decided to let her play the youngest daughter card and suck up to him."

"I'm good at that," Annie giggled, rocking back and forth on her heels.

Snape noticed a rather devilish glint in her eye, causing him to raise an eyebrow, "I'm sure you are... Just like your grandmother."

"What?"

He pursed his lips at her tone, but continued, "Your grandmother can get your grandfather to do anything she wants..."

"That's what happens in a marriage," Ginny chuckled, running her hand through Annie's hair for a moment. "Now do you want to stay here with Uncle Severus while I get dinner ordered, or do you want to see your room?"

"Uncle Severus can show me my room!"

What? She was leaving him alone with Annie? Snape's eyes darted up to Ginny's and she grinned, "I'll meet you upstairs... You did remember to prepare a room, right?"

"Yes," Snape lied smoothly, glaring at her. "Why would I forget?"

"Just asking," Ginny replied nonchalantly. "So you remember it's the one down the hall to ours?"

"Yes," he answered through gritted teeth, annoyed with the look both his wife and Annie were giving him; one of total and utter amusement. He sighed, "What?"

"My room's on the first floor, silly," Annie giggled, grasping his hand. "C'mon, I'll show you... Me 'n Auntie Ginny made it up this afternoon."

"Ah... I thought you went shopping this afternoon."

Merlin, two women in the household. Well, two girls, to say the least.

"Among many things," Ginny drawled softly, giving him a quick kiss as Annie led him out of the room. More like dragged, on the small girl's part, but that didn't matter. He regained quick control of the situation, and slowed his forced march into a relaxed stroll, despite that fact that Annie was still tugging on his hand.

"Is there a reason we are running to your room?" he inquired, releasing a soft sigh, "I'm an old man, Annie, I need to walk slow."

"I figured you could use some exercise," she commented cheekily, "and I know you're old."

Why that insolent little snot... She just agreed that he was old, and on top of that called him fat!

He ground his teeth together, constantly reminding himself that she was only a five year old, and most likely didn't know any better. But, he would have thought Draco had seen to educating her on how to behave with adults.

Mind you, he did remember several times in which Draco muttered something about Snape being a wrinkly old man, even though he hadn't hit thirty yet, then the boy was in his terrible younger stages.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Annie reminded him a lot of Draco when he was five; whiny, and usually getting their way.

"So was today fun?" he inquired out of habit, "What else did you buy?"

"Auntie Ginny only let me buy the sweater," Annie pouted, rolling her eyes dramatically. "She said we shouldn't spend too much."

Ah, his modest, humble wife, how he loved her. Snape pushed the door open to the room Annie was pulling him toward and she hurled herself in, lunging for the double bed Ginny had insisted on buying. Perhaps she wasn't too modest after all.

"My bed isn't even this big at home!" Annie giggled, bouncing up and down on her bottom, her blonde hair swaying around her face, "So wha'd you do all day, Uncle Severus?"

"I taught," he replied casually. "Your brothers acted up, and I got to yell at them... Not a bad day, I suppose."

"Do you like yelling at your students?" she asked, completely horrified, her eyes wide and all.

Snape grinned, shaking his head, "Annie, Annie... If students act up in class, you need to put them in their place, or they will continue to act up."

Ah, countless years of teaching those dunderheads at Hogwarts had taught him that. There was always going to be the little snot-nosed brat of the grade, and Snape learned that it could take him around five or six minutes to break the child's spirit, maybe eight if he was having an off day.

"I think you should be nice to your students," Annie commented, resting her clasped hands together on her lap in a mock form of dignity.

Severus cocked an eyebrow, "Oh? And why is that?"

"That way they'll be nice to you."

"Why would I want that?"

"So they don't act up in class!"

"Children will always act up in class," he argued, annoyed that she had some logic. "You don't know what it's like to be a teenager... Soon you'll love to talk back to your father."

"I do that anyway," she stated firmly, almost in a snooty tone, "but Daddy loves me too much to yell at me."

"Daddy is too wrapped around your little finger-"

"What?"

"Nothing, I was just muttering to myself," he said quickly, shooting her a grin. Now that he really thought about it, she was quite a smart little witch. She could manipulate most of the males around her, while maintaining to the women that she was as sweet as could be.

Very clever indeed.

"Have you ever tried magic, Annie?" he asked gingerly, taking a seat beside her on the bed. She shook her head, "I asked Mummy once... But she said I was too little."

Well, she was only five, "Ah, I see. Well... Would you like to try some now? Maybe we could learn a few easy spells to impress your father with?"

"Could we?" she asked excitedly, her blue eyes nearly exploding with excitement, "Are we going to use your wand?"

"Er... Yes," he replied, removing it from his pocket, "I suppose you'll have to, seeing as you don't have one of your own."

"S'not fair," she grumbled, watching his wand greedily. "I can look after one if they'd give me one."

"I'm sure you could," he sniped sarcastically, hesitating to give her the wand. "Let's just try a basic levitation spell to begin with-"

"Severus Snape!"

Gods, he nearly jumped out of his skin there. His eyes darted up to the doorway, in which he spotted his rather irate wife, her hands planted on her hips, "Oh, hello darling-"

"Don't 'darling' me," she snapped, crossing the room and glaring at him. "Were you about to let her do magic?"

"Well-"

"He was!" Annie butt in, sliding off the bed and standing beside his knee, "We were going to move stuff!"

"She is too young to handle a wand, and you know that," Ginny snarled softly, holding her hand out for Annie. "Come on, Annie... I think I'll show you around the manor... The ducks have all flown into the pond in the backyard."

"Really?" the little girl squealed, a brilliant smile spreading across her face, "C'mon, let's go then! They may fly away soon!"

Ginny sent him another foul look before departing with Annie. Oh, he would definitely hear about this later.


Kevin wrinkled his face in frustration, squinting to see how he could somehow get this last bit of wood onto the hull of the ship without getting glue all over his fingers.

After he had returned from his day at Snape's, he was extremely annoyed and in a foul mood. Not only was he stuck with more homework then he could handle, he completely failed almost everything Snape had assigned him. Sensing his displeasure, Lucius asked if he would like to come up to the attic and work on a ship model, as he had a few to spare.

He was actually thankful Lucius had invited him upstairs, since he was sure that he and Shane would start beating each other, as they were both in sour moods, and could get on each other's nerves very easily. He was actually a little shocked that his new Grandfather worked on his small ship without magic, seeming quite content to just roll up his sleeves and work on his little model.

"I find looking at it from a different angle can sometimes help," Lucius commented as Kevin grew more and more agitated that he could not fit that one little piece on. Frowning, he turned the ship around and attacked it from another angle, grinning triumphantly when he finally slotted the wood into place. This was sort of soothing, after all.

"Kevin," Lucius said sharply, causing the young teen to look up. "Tell me about your mother."

His grandfather's head was still bowed, his forehead knitted together in concentration, and Kevin stared at him in shock, "My mother, sir?"

"Yes..." Lucius replied casually, "We never really got to know each other... I'm curious about her."

He shifted awkwardly and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "Well what do you want to know?"

"Anything really. What do you remember the most?"

What did he remember? Kevin had been thinking about his mother ever since she dropped them off at the Malfoys, but for some reason, at that moment, nothing came to mind.

He cleared his throat, "She used to yell at me when I played on the computer for too long... She said I'd ruin my eyes more than they already are."

"She was probably right..." Lucius muttered, nicking his finger on a sharp edge and inhaling sharply. "Mind you... I don't think this is any better for one's health. What else?"

Kevin racked his brains, "She had a huge family, but always felt depressed at Christmas because our aunts and uncles could afford proper presents for us, and she couldn't."

"Dear me."

What the point of this? Was he trying to point out what a bad parent Kevin's mother seemed to be? She wasn't!

"She used to take us to the park a lot when we were little," Kevin continued, "and she'd buy us ice cream... And all three of us used to sit on the swings, and she'd somehow push all three of us at once... Well, Shane got too old and too 'cool' to let her push him, but she used to push me and Loo all the time."

"Eloise and I," he corrected. "She sounds like a good mother, despite her flaws."

"I never saw any flaws," Kevin snapped, causing Lucius to glance up at him. "She did everything she could with the situation she was in. She worked a lot... We spent a lot of time with Aunt Hermione when they needed mum at the Ministry."

"And how did that make you feel?"

Kevin paused momentarily, thinking, "I suppose a little left out... I didn't really get what was happening until I was a little older..."

"Things are always so much easier when you're younger, aren't they?"

Merlin, they were. Kevin remembered when he was younger the biggest thing he ever stressed over was whether or not he had behaved enough that day to get desert, or if Shane would let him come on a hike through the back properties with him and his friends. But now? Now it was so much more complex. He needed to focus on schooling if he ever wanted to get anywhere in his life, and no just cast as a mindless worker for the Dark Lord, as so many boys older than him had been.

"I kinda want to be small again," Kevin muttered sheepishly, pushing his half-completed boat around his work station with his finger. "It was so easy."

"Ah, but time continues to pass, doesn't it?" Lucius chuckled, standing back to admire his boat, "There's nothing you can do but move on."

They stood in silence for a moment, until, "Why did you ask about my mother? Honestly?"

"I was curious to see what you actually thought of her," he remarked truthfully, his eyes dead on Kevin's face, "and you saw her as I saw her, a good person in a bad time."

Kevin was ready to comment back, but a house elf appeared at the door to the attic and informed the pair that dinner was ready. With that, Lucius swept out of the room, Kevin at his heels, and they moved in complete silence until they reached the dining hall, joining up with the rest of the family.

"Were you two seriously building ships up there?" Shane mumbled as Kevin slid into the chair beside him and across from Eloise.

Kevin glanced at his brother, then shrugged, "Yeah, why?"

"Sounds boring."

"So does Flooing some girl for ten hours straight."

"Fuck off."

"Say it a little louder so the rest of the class can hear you," Kevin snarled under his breath, pulling the massive spoon out of the mashed potatoes bowl and slopping some on, "I dare you."

"Again... Fuck off."

His slightly good mood had once again been squashed by his brother, and he continued to pick at his plate of mashed potatoes in silence, stewing over the fact that

Shane actually had a girl to Floo with for most of night.

"So how was school today?" his father inquired, "Annie's at Uncle Sev's for the night, right?"

"Yes, we sent her over this morning, remember?" Eloise droned, rolling her eyes to herself.

Lucius raised an eyebrow, "Watch your tone, Eloise."

"I don't have a tone!"

"Yes, yes you do..."

"Yeah, well I didn't say anything-"

"It's not what you said, it's how you said it," Lucius finished tightly, earning him a look from his wife. Lucius had been in such a fickle mood lately, and no one really understood why. Well, none of the teenagers in the house understood why, to say the least.

"School was boring," Eloise continued, opting out of the mashed potatoes for some steamed broccoli. "Kev bombed on everything Snape graded for him though."

"Shut up!" Kevin hissed, kicking her leg under the table, which earned a sharp cry of pain, an overdramatic one, from his sister.

His father's eyes were on him instantly, "Apologize."

"But-"

"Now."

"Sorry, Loo."

"Idiot," Shane chuckled under his breath, taking a sip of his water innocently. Why were they all ganging up on him lately?

"Can someone please explain what... bombed... means?" his Grandmother asked finally, her forehead only slightly creased.

Shane cleared his throat, obviously happy to answer, "Means he failed."

"Like you constantly do, oh shocker," Kevin scoffed, glaring at his brother.

Shane turned back on him sharply, "Oh, grow up you-"

"Enough!" their father barked, causing both boys to look up at him, "Enough... I won't take stupid bickering at the table. Both of you grow up and deal with it later."

The rest of the meal was eaten with tension, although slightly broken when his father opened up the topic of Quidditch game tickets for the Cannons upcoming game in a few weeks. For a moment he and Shane actually bonded, then remembered they were angry with each other - reasons unknown - and ate the rest of their meal in horrible moods.

Once everyone had finished, Lucius and Narcissa flitted off to have some tea in some study, Eloise was off doing homework in her room, and Shane always ventured upstairs to do something or another, probably Floo that girl again. Good, he wanted to talk to his Dad anyway. For some reason, that whole week had him feeling down. Both his older siblings had another person to talk to, one of the opposite sex, whenever they weren't feeling content with life. Sure, he had his friends, but they would most likely laugh in his face if admitted to feeling depressed or unhappy with anything.

He just needed to talk to Draco for a little while, even ten minutes.

"Hey, Dad?" he called, following the direction Draco had gone only moments earlier, "Can I talk to you?"

Draco emerged from a closet, a broom in hand and a jacket thrown on. He smiled, then ruffled Kevin's hair, "Sure, mate, but I promised Shane we'd go flying... I just want to see if anything's bothering him."

"Oh... Sure. Yeah, that's fine," Kevin muttered, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "Have fun."

"Thanks," Draco grunted, zipping up his jacket. "C'mon, Shane... Let's go before it get too cold!"

"I'm coming!" Shane shouted, hurrying down the stairs past Kevin, his broom in hand, and following Draco outside.

As the back door slammed loudly, Kevin let out a sigh, "Have fun."


Hermione paced nervously in her flat, wringing her hands together as she glanced at the clock every so often. She hadn't been able to get back to sleep since she woke up at nearly four that morning, and was feeling somewhat tired, yet alert.

Harry was supposed to meet her at nine-thirty so they could finally discuss, properly, what he was doing in England. She had been a nervous wreck since she last saw him, and spent a great deal of her night worrying about him being discovered and arrested. The more rational portion of her mind had to constantly remind her that he was a smart young man, and had gotten himself out of difficult situations before with little to no difficulty at all.

There was an abrupt knock on the door, causing Hermione to jump; he was early by almost ten minutes. After quickly debating whether or not she should seem composed or frazzled, she went for an approach that was somewhere in the middle, and rushed over to the door, opening it swiftly, "Harry, you're earl-"

"Not quite," Draco stated, cutting her off. "Morning."

Hermione let out a puff of air, one she had not realized she had been keeping in, then smile, "Morning... Come in."

She stepped aside, allowing Draco to sweep into the room, the small grin he had on his face a moment ago slowly disappearing, "So you're expecting Potter then?"

"Yes," she sighed, running a hand through her loose hair. "He... We... I just want to know what he's doing here."

"Fair enough, I suppose," Draco muttered, turning back to face her, his hands in his pocket. "When's he coming?"

"Five minutes or so," she replied awkwardly, glancing at the clock for an excuse to avoid his gaze. "So, um... I appreciate you coming over, but I know you don't get on with him-"

He snorted loudly, "A bit of an understatement there, Hermione."

She shot him a look, which he returned with a cheeky smile, "I just came over to see if you had eaten anything yet... I would have taken you out..."

"That's very sweet," she remarked, trying to allow her tension to slip away, "but I can't just leave and make Harry wait around here all day."

She noticed he had stiffened once again upon hearing her best friend's name, but she chose, this time, to not take it personally. With a bit of a sigh, "Look, Harry'll be here soon, and I don't want to be rude, but..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he grumbled, his eyes suddenly whipping up to the door when there was a knock at it, "I won't report him this time either... But next time, Hermione-"

"Thank you," she breathed, moving over to him quickly and giving him a swift peck. "It really does mean a lot to me."

He gave her a faint smile, then shot a glare back to the door when there was another knock. Hermione turned back, "Just a minute!"

She tried not to let Draco notice she had quickly fixed her hair in the mirror, then hurried over to the door, opening it a crack to reveal her smiling best friend, two cups of coffee clutched in his hands, his hood pulled over his head, "Morning."

"Hi." Hermione whispered, flinching when Draco suddenly pulled the door open completely, his hand planted on the small of her back. Harry's gaze hardened, and for a moment, Hermione was worried he would drop the coffee and reach for his wand.

"Well, well, Potter, still skulking around?" Draco chuckled, pulling Hermione back into him, "I'll pop 'round later to pick you up for dinner."

"Oh?" she inquired, then remembered she had accepted an invite to the Snape's tonight, "Oh, oh, right. Yes, bye then."

She almost wanted to just shove him out, since she had noticed Harry's hands gripped so tightly on the plastic cups that they were threatening to tear right through.
When he wouldn't move, she looked up at Draco, and noticed he was making eye contact with Harry, then before she could stop him, he had leaned down and planted his lips firmly on hers. She let out a puff of air, shocked at his actions, and pushed her small hands against his chest, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment. Her eyes wide, she finally managed to shove him off, taking a little step back, "Bye then."

Hermione jumped when his hand came into sharp contact with her behind, and Draco grinned, "Pick you up around five or so..."

"Right."

"Bye, love."

"Bye."

She watched as he rammed his shoulder into Harry's as he passed him in the hall, both men with glares on their faces. Harry's knuckles were whitening from the grip he had been pushing onto the cardboard coffee cups, and suddenly thrust them out to her, "Take these while I go hex that gi-"

"No!" Hermione snarled, grasping his wrist and with all her strength dragging him inside, "No, get in here!"

When he was finally inside she slammed the door, then locked it, and snatched the cups out of his hands. Frustrated, she crossed to her open kitchen and began dumping the hot contents into two of her own mugs, then disposing of the cups Harry had brought them in. Meanwhile, she heard Harry rustling around her apartment, closing all the curtains, save one to keep her small flat lit up.

"I know you hate him," Hermione began, turning back to see he had taken a seat on her couch, his black cloak resting across his lap, "and obviously he doesn't really like you-"

"Obviously."

She sighed, asking for some patience, "But... Look, just... I'll keep him away from you, as long as you try to keep away when I'm around him. I don't want him to report you."

"Did you just not hear what came out of your mouth?" Harry inquired as Hermione made her way to him, "Look... He's dangerous, Hermione... I don't trust him, and neither should you."

She handed him his cup, and he toasted her in thanks, taking a small sip, "I mean... He nearly kills Dumbledore-"

"But he didn't-"

"Yeah, that was dear uncle," Harry added spitefully. "Then he runs into hiding like a bloody coward, only to come back out when it's safe."

"People do strange things during wars," Hermione remarked coldly. "May I remind you that many of the Order members fled the scene when Voldemort won..."

She trailed off, her eyes fixed on the floor, then shook her head, "Look, I don't want to talk about Draco Malfoy with you... I want to talk about you. Why are you here? You could be killed! I mean, if anyone caught wind of your very being in London, London of all places, we'd have hordes of Voldemort's lugs pounding down doors the Muggle way just to find you, and-"

"Hermione," Harry chuckled, a placid smile gracing his usual handsome face. "Hermione, you really shouldn't worry about me so much."

Her jaw fell open slightly; how could she not worry about him? Her best friend was one of the most wanted men in England, and most likely Scotland, Wales and Ireland! Voldemort had spies out searching for him every single day, and she was surprised no one had discovered him yet! Shouldn't worry... Bah.

Hermione took another sip of coffee, then set her mug down on the small table in front of her, "Harry... What are you doing here? You know it isn't safe."

"Well... Dean's not been doing his job," Harry started, swirling his coffee mug slowly. "His reports are too different from Fred and George's to make any sense... And we haven't been getting any from you..."

"I've been a little busy trying to make sure I can afford to live in my flat, thank you very much," Hermione sniped. "A lot of places have fired me because I'm not pure."

It stung quite a bit to continuously hear her employer had to let her go because of her family background, but so far Draco had managed to keep her working, if she would ever go back to work in his office that is.

"I know, times are tough, I get it," he agreed. "McGonagall keeps getting sick, and Remus can't keep a job if he keeps going through... You know."

"Doesn't he still take the Potion?"

"We can't order in the ingredients from anywhere... And we can't grow them, or find them, up in Scotland... It's too cold."

"Oh, gosh."

"Ron's doing pretty well," he continued, Hermione's ears perking up at her former crush's name. "He and Luna found a small house out in the country... It's a bit cramped with the kids, but they get by."

"Oh," she managed, her mouth dry as her heart was plucked with jealousy. "They have kids?"

"Yeah... Two. A boy and a girl... Cute little things."

"How... nice," Hermione managed to get out, a fake smile barely touching her lips. "I'm sure they're happy."

"As can be expected with, you know, living in hiding."

"Oh, yes, of course."

She didn't really have feelings for Ron anymore, but she wished that she was the one married with children, not him. But, her feelings could not let her stay mad at her friend, and sadly wished him all the good fortune she could.

"That still doesn't explain why you're here," she stated after a moment or so of silence. "It's dangerous, Harry. It may not seem it, but there are so many things happening behind closed doors."

"Like that's never happened with our politics before," Harry snorted, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure Voldemort is running things into the ground."

Hermione paused for a moment, trying to think logically. Society was actually functioning under Voldemort's rule. They had not sunken into debt, a lot of people had jobs and were living comfortable lives. Most people anyway. There weren't any public torturing, and there were no curfews, as had been threatened in the beginning all those years ago.

She cleared her throat, "It could be worse?"

"Could be worse?" Harry repeated, raising his eyebrows, "Hermione, Voldemort-"

"Is in total control, I know," she hissed, "but look... Harry, we don't have enough members of the Order left that are in good health to make some sort of rebellion... We need more people. So for now, all we can do is sit and allow things to happen."

Harry relaxed into the couch, a placid smile on his face, "Oh come on, Hermione... Do you think I'd travel in the dirt all the way down from Scotland if I was just going to sit back and let things happen?"


"Dad! Relax! You had no fucking issues with it-"

"I will not tolerate that sort of language coming from you, Eloise!"

"Fine! Whatever... You didn't care when I went out with him before, why are you making a bigger deal out of it now?"

"I did care!"

Kevin rolled his eyes and slammed his Potions textbook shut, still listening to his sister and his father scream at each other over Eloise's date that evening with Will.

"Yeah, well, I don't see what the big deal is!"

"We are going to dinner at the Snapes, all of us!"

"I don't think anyone will freakin' care if I'm not there for one dinner!"

"It would be rude!"

"They won't care!"

"Eloise Malfoy, you will not argue this with me..."

"Why, because what you say goes?"

"Exactly!"

"You're so full of it."

"How dare you-"

"Bugger off, Dad."

"Don't you walk away from me!"

"Oh, too late, already doing it!"

"Eloise!"

Kevin rose from his seat in one of the numerous first floor work rooms and gathered up his homework, deciding he just wasn't focused enough that day to do any of it properly. With arms full of papers and books, he slowly made his way toward the staircase, his spirits lifting when he spotted Lucius lazily strolling down them.

"Grandfather?" he called, picking up his pace to meet him at the bottom, "D'you wanna do some building today? Homework is getting a little boring."

"I would, but another day," Lucius replied, walking past Kevin and retrieving his cloak from the closet near the front door. "I'm just on my way out to take your Grandmother for some lunch."

"Oh..." Kevin sighed, shooting him a small smile, "Yeah, sure, that's fine. Have fun."

"Thank you."

The teen continued upstairs, chucking his books into his room, then cringing when they missed his bed and were flung out all over the floor. Groaning, he simply shut the door, making a mental note to pick them up later. Perhaps Shane would be up for a quick game of Quidditch, or maybe just a fly around the property.

They weren't really mad at each other anymore, as their anger usually dissolved overnight, unless they had a huge argument, and in that case, it could take days for them to be content with each other again.

"Eh, Shane?" Kevin called, pushing his door open, "Want to... Shane?"

The room was empty, and he noticed a note tacked up on the back of the door.

Gone to study with Sawyer - be back at four.

Oh, of course. "Study" was definitely Shane's main reason for going over to her house. As Kevin brooded over the very idea, he again wished he had a girlfriend to go visit on days like these. Days when he really had nothing better to do, other than play computer games or do homework.

"Hey Loo?" he called, poking his head into her room.

She stood, fuming, at her desk, "Get out of my room!"

"I'm not technically in your room yet-"

"Get the fuck out!"

Before he could argue back, she flicked her wand at the door and it slammed in his face, knocking into his nose slightly. He grumbled something softly under his breath, then decided to get a snack from the kitchens. Perhaps the house elves would make him a nice snack, something they usually did when he went to visit them.

However, as he rounded a corner on his venture to the kitchens, he slammed into his father, who did not seem to be in any better mood then his sister.

"Watch where you're bloody walking, Kevin," Draco snapped, shooting him a glare. "Nearly ran me over."

"Sorry, Dad."

"Yeah, yeah."

He watched as Draco stormed upstairs, then heard as his father began pounding on Eloise's door, "Open up, young lady! We are not finished with our discussion yet!"

Kevin stood motionless for a moment, then crossed the foyer swiftly, snatching his cloak out of the closet and puling on a pair of his shoes. With a depressed sigh, he grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the small container next to the first floor central fireplace, then stepped inside. No one would notice if he was gone, anyway. He raised his fist, murmured a name under his breath, then threw the handful at his feet, instantly becoming engulfed in green flames.