But For a Stone (A Matou Shinji Series AU)

A Harry Potter / Fate Stay Night Story

Disclaimer: Though I wish it were otherwise, I do not own or in any way, shape or form hold a legal or moral claim to elements of either the Nasuverse, the Potterverse, or other works I may reference in the course of this story.

Summary: What if there had never been a Boy-Who-Lived? What if, at the end of the Wizarding War, young Harry Potter had died alongside his mother and father, killed in the explosion that destroyed the house at Godric's Hollow? What if there was no figure of hope for the British Wizarding Community to rally around, just a knowledge of the high cost of victory? And how will Matou Shinji, fresh come into his status as a wizard, adapt in a Hogwarts with no easy route to fame...or notoriety?With this, Shinji's preparations for heading to Britain are now complete. He has a wand, basic school supplies, and books to study - both of which he has a decent aptitude for, and by the time he receives a Portkey to take him to Kings Cross, he feels ready.

Chapter 34. Lords of Swinverrucas, part 2

As the owner of the cottage in which the party was being hosted, Matou Shinji found himself flitting about the various rooms, seeing to his guests during the intermission in the evening's entertainment, making sure they were all getting enough to eat, were mingling and talking (with no one just standing in a corner and nursing a mug of hot cocoa), and otherwise were enjoying themselves.

'Not that I could have done any of this without help.'

Natsumi had helped him come up with the theme for the housewarming party, encouraged him to make it a potluck so that everyone could share some of their favorite foods, and worked with him to figure out how many people could actually fit comfortably in the cottage.

Amber had sent out the invitations, asked if Miss Black would be willing to be the chaperone for the evening, and coordinated logistics with the guests, making sure that everyone knew what time to be there, how much food they should bring for the potluck, and how they should be dressed.

And of course, Selina had agreed to manage the evening's entertainment, a collaborative storytelling event. When she'd proposed it, Shinji had been more than a little skeptical, but when she'd mentioned that an adventurer's deadliest weapon was their mind, with anyone who wanted to be great needing to examine possibilities from different angles – with Nymphadora Black backing her up by mentioning that Auror training had involved these sorts of roleplays, he'd dropped his objections.

'Come to think of it, this isn't that different from Quirrell's challenges, only without a fancy magical book to immerse us physically in a scenario.'

As it turned out though, people didn't need a completely realistic setting or the aid of an artifact to treat something as if it was real.

The…intense discussions that had transpired over the last couple of hours had proven that much, with everyone having different views on how to shape the future of a character that had never existed to begin with.

Iris Potter, the so-called Girl-Who-Lived.

'Things would be very different if there'd been a Boy-Who-Lived, or a Girl-Who-Lived,'the boy thought to himself, wondering how accurate the world that Selina had crafted actually was. Granted, he was sure it was far more so than anything he could come up with, since he wasn't exactly a great scholar of history himself, and so probably wouldn't be any good at coming up with the backstory to a scenario. 'Though really, I blame Binns for that.'

The ghost may have been a professor for a good number of years, but length of tenure was hardly a good metric for measuring his performance as a teacher.

'Who knows, maybe Binns will vanish next year, and we'll have Lockhart or…someone,' he mused. Someone who could actually keep a class awake. Or at least, keep him awake? Even someone like Aozaki Touko would do. Either way, he was glad that he wasn't the one making up the fictional history of the new world.

Or so he told himself as he made his way over to Cho Chang and Nigel Wroxton, who alone of the guests, had not dispersed about the house for food, to chat with the other guests, or to tour the publicly accessible area.

"Hey there," Shinji said, giving the two Ravenclaws a warm smile as he approached. But his expression faltered as he noted that Nigel had his eyes closed, with his breathing somewhat ragged, and Cho bent over the older boy and rubbing his back.

The Chinese girl looked up and gave him a wan smile as he drew near.

"Hey," she greeted him, her voice soft and somewhat worn. "Did you need something, Matou?"

Shinji swallowed, having not expected to see something like this. "Um…is he alright?" he asked, feeling almost obligated to do so. "Do you need anything?"

"Some water would be nice," Cho replied, glancing over at Nigel worriedly. "Nigel is…the session was a bit intense for him. Especially when it came to the Sorting." She looked back at Shinji. "It's our first time doing this sort of thing, and things were a bit…much."

"Ah…sorry," Shinji said sheepishly. "Let me get some water."

He walked over to the tray of cold glasses on a table by the wall and retrieved two.

"Here," he murmured, handing one to Cho.

The Chinese girl smiled slightly as she took the glass and handed it to Nigel, whose fingers closed around it slowly.

"Huh?" Nigel said, opening his eyes at last. "Oh. Water. Thanks."

It was almost painful watching the older boy struggle to bring the glass to his lips, his hands shaking as if from some great exertion. There were several false starts, with Shinji biting his lip each time the other failed, before the stricken youth eventually managed to take a drink at last.

"Sorry you had to see that," Nigel half-whispered, his voice hoarse. "I'm not on death's door anymore, but exerting myself too much or for too long is still…" He swallowed, wincing. "Exhausting." He smiled ruefully. "That, and I can't eat most of the things here. Too much grease."

"Oh." Shinji's expression was pained as he considered the other boy. "I, ah…I didn't think about your circumstances."

Between the pizza Amber had ordered, the fried chicken and cake he'd had prepared, the roast turkey, the sausages, the puddings, and the okonomiyaki (well, modan-yaki, since it was being served with a layer of yakisoba) that Rumpy was making at the main table, there weren't many things that were low in oil.

Or…

"I think there might be some soup, if you'd like?" he offered, feeling more than a little like he'd failed at something. "Or, if you want, I could bring over a self-heating cauldron and some ingredients, and you two can enjoy some hot pot?"

"Hot pot would be good. Can you eat that, Nigel?" Cho asked, with the stricken youth nodding.

"Hot pot…I don't think I've ever had that," the older boy reflected. "What is it?"

"Um…you keep a pot of soup stock boiling at the table, and you cook things in it – meat, vegetables, things like that," the Chinese girl explained, with the Ravenclaw boy smiling slightly.

"…I think I can eat that," the British boy remarked as he looked up at Shinji. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble?"

"No. None at all," the Japanese boy said with a nod. "You're my guests. The least I can do is make sure you're comfortable."

"Thanks, Matou," Nigel murmured, before sitting back once more. "For what it's worth, it's been fun so far. Thanks for inviting me."

"And for having me," Cho added, her lips quirking slightly. "I had my doubts when Miss Moore said that we'd be doing a simulation, but it turned out better than I expected." She chuckled, recalling something from early on that evening. "Imagining someone like Draco Malfoy acting like a love-sick puppy was kind of funny."

"Heh." Shinji found himself smiling just a hint himself, as those early events in the story had been rather amusing in ways that he'd never seen coming. 'But then, who would have expected that Draco, beyond just wanting to be Iris' friend, would escort her around Diagon Alley and pay for her purchases.' "That whole bit about Hagrid having killed someone was odd though."

"They do say giants are dangerous, so I wouldn't be surprised…" Nigel mused, though he leaned forward, seeming to recall something. "Though won't he be a student next year? As a third year, since that's what he was when he was expelled?"

Cho blinked.

"I'm going to be in classes with him next year?" the girl asked, visibly recoiling from the very notion. "That's…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "…unexpected," she muttered.

"I can see how it might be disturbing, though I think the only person he was accused of killing was Myrtle, and I'm pretty sure the new investigation found that she died because of the basilisk that used to be in the Chamber of Secrets," Shinji replied, with Nigel blinking slowly at that. "That's why they let him start school again."

"Oh," Cho said. "Do you think he'll be put back in his old House, or will he be Sorted again?"

Shinji frowned.

"I never really thought about that," he grunted, now wondering to himself if the half-giant would be living in the dormitories, or if he'd still be living in his cottage. "We'll see, I suppose." The boy smiled half-heartedly. "I'll go get Rumpy to bring you something to eat."

While the boy had hoped that people would enjoy the food – and Natsumi had thought it would be charming to have a house-elf be making okonomiyaki for everyone – Shinji honestly hadn't been sure that the food would be to everyone's taste, given that British food certainly hadn't been to his liking at the Welcome Feast.

'But maybe I shouldn't have worried,' he mused as he walked into the dining room to find most of his guests seated around the table, oohing and ahhing over the new culinary delights they were being exposed to, though perhaps some of that was just how an elf stuffed inside a Yeti plush was showing off by cooking several of the savory pancakes at once. 'The British did conquer the world in search of better tasting food, right?'

Selina had told him so, and he had no reason to disbelieve her, really, since any culture which prized pumpkin juice to such a degree was clearly a primitive backwater in need of good civilization.

Or so he told himself as he waited for the house-elf to finish the current batch of pancakes before pulling him aside and telling him about Nigel's special dietary needs.

"Yes, Rumpy being happy to help!" the strange creature said, snapping off a salute as it scuttled away to the kitchen on all fours.

'…I know I should be used to this by now, but maybe I should look into a replacement.'

"Ah, Matou, hullo," Luna Lovegood greeted him, with the bird-reptile hybrid on her hat waving its wings and dipping its head.

"Hullo, Luna," Shinji replied warmly, as he glanced about the table and noticed a few conspicuous absences. "Are Phelan, Ernie, and Selina not joining us for dinner?" Natsumi, he knew, had taken Marten out for a walk, with Amber joining them, but the others… 'Wait, there's one more person missing too.' It was one of his fellow Hufflepuffs, he knew – Ernie's guest for the evening – but he honestly hadn't been very good about remembering people outside his inner circle. "Justin?" he hazarded, hoping that he' gotten the name right.

"Oh, I'm here!" a voice spoke up from what was seemingly thin air, with the boy from the east looking over to see a drumstick rising into the air, with something taking a bite out of it.

"What the…where?" Shinji asked, taken aback by the sight of fried chicken seeming to devour itself.

"Ah, right, sorry," the voice spoke again, with a rather serious-looking face, and the head it was attached to appearing in mid-air. "Heh, forgot I was wearing this."

"Who, wicked. Is that…an invisibility cloak?" Ron Weasley questioned, having paused in his sampling of the many culinary delights on the table at the sudden commotion. "Where'd you get one?"

"My parents gave me some pocket money for Christmas, so I went to Diagon Alley," Justin Finch-Fletchy replied brightly. "After I gave them a copy of Journeys with Jinns, they were all for me getting the right tools to become a wizard-adventurer."

"…and just what are you supposed to be?" Shinji's voice was perhaps a put out, but he didn't consider it particularly good form for someone to show up at a party and not even talk to other people. "A boggart?"

"No, a demiguise," the other Hufflepuff said earnestly. "One of those monkey-like things from the Far East which can turn invisible."

"Demiguise hair is used to make invisibility cloaks," Luna Lovegood chimed in, having just set down a slice of pepperoni pizza.

Shinji blinked, as the creature was unfamiliar to him, despite allegedly being from the far east.

"Huh. I don't think I've ever seen one," he said aloud, to which Ron Weasley shot back that of course he hadn't – they were invisible. "That's not what I meant, Ronald, and you know it. "

"Well, it's what you said."

The boy from the east closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and counted to ten.

"Perhaps it was. I'll be more careful in the future," he replied tonelessly as he opened his eyes again. "And what about the others?"

"Ernie Macmillan had something serious he wanted to talk about with Miss Moore," Luna related, with the boy shooting her a grateful smile for the information. The smile froze as she continued though. "As for Phelan, he went to keep Miss Black company. Something about standing in for the house elf."

"Keep…Miss Black…company?" the Japanese boy repeated, as a nightmare vision of the earl's son getting utterly smashed and doing something unspeakable to the house – or to one of the other guests – appeared in his mind. 'No. No. No. That won't happen. Miss Black is the chaperone tonight. She's an Auror Trainee. She wouldn't do something like give alcohol to a minor.'

At least, he dearly hoped so, because the prospect of Phelan going even more out of control than he usually was…

'Well, let's hope that doesn't happen,' he told himself, banishing the premonition of disaster from his mind. 'It won't. It won't.'

"Well, never mind that," Shinji said after a few moments, turning his attention back to his guest, and the guests of his guests, some of which seemed a bit ill at ease, since they didn't know him too well, yet were enjoying the hospitality of his house. "How is everyone doing tonight? Is everything to your liking?"

"Y-yeah. T-thanks for asking," Neville Longbottom stammered, unable to meet the Japanese boy's half-fevered gaze. "A-and, uh, thanks for inviting me."

Left unspoken was the fact that the awkward boy wasn't often invited to social gatherings, since he was hardly the most sociable person about. Even if one was just considering things at Hogwarts, he wasn't exactly picked for group activities or such, at least in anything not related to Herbology.

"But of course, Longbottom," the boy from the east replied. "We know each other well enough, don't we? Besides, you and your girlfriend certainly do add a bit of color to the room," he added, noting how the stodgy Gryffindor was wearing a mantle inset with many shards of colored glass, with a helmet studded with the same. Hannah Abbott's robes, by contrast, seemed to have been dipped in green, with delicate, vine-like filigree in green gold running up and down, and two long leaves woven into her hair. "A fire crab and a bowtruckle, was it?"

"S/he's not my boy/girlfriend!" the two replied with reddened faces in perfect sync, making Ronald Weasley snigger, and their blushes only deepen.

"Um, that is, yes, I'm a bowtruckle!" Hannah exclaimed, smiling brightly at the Japanese boy. "Are you supposed to be a one too?" she asked, gesturing at his cloak of vines and his crown of branches. "You don't look…quite green enough."

"Ah, no – I'm a kodama, a tree spirit from Japan," Shinji corrected her, with a twinge of amusement. "They're not as well-known as kitsune or tanuki – foxes or raccoon-dogs – but they're pretty special anyway. Still, your costume is my…third favorite of the night?"

"Oh, then which is your first?" Neville asked curiously, wondering what kind of costume Matou preferred.

"Hers," the boy from the east remarked, nodding over at Ginny Weasley, whose robes seemed woven of multi-colored scales, with iridescent scale-like patterns painted on her arms, a scaled mask that accentuated the shape of her eyes, and two somewhat crumpled antlers sprouting delicately from her mane of flowing red hair. "I never thought to see a kirin in my lifetime! As lovely as I imagined, too!"

Hearing his words, Ginny's cheeks darkened dramatically, till they matched the color of her hair.

"Actually, she's a Crumple-Horned Snorkack," Luna said matter of factly, glancing between her friend and the party's host. "But, what's a kirin?"

"Hm? And I was sure…" Shinji mumbled, shaking his head. "Well, a kirin is magical creature said to appear with the imminent birth or death of a great sage or a wise ruler," he explained, before an impish smile crossed his lips. "Which probably explains why no one has seen one in a very long time."

Ginny, giggled a bit at this, a sound which Shinji found to be quite pretty, like the tinkling of bells.

"Rare and beautiful creatures, even seeing them is said to bring fortune to anyone who sees them, and I think the legends true, as I am fortunate to have you at my party, Miss Weasley," Shinji said with a roguish smile, causing the petite redhead's flush to deepen, while Ron shot him a withering glare. "But, I'd consider myself even more fortunate if you graced us with the sound of your voice after the break, as you haven't added much to the story we weave."

"…I'll try…" Ginny said softly, her voice barely audible, with the Japanese boy smiling warmly at her.

"Please do. You have a lovely voice, one that should be shared with the world, much like this excellent costume." The boy paused, tilting his head. "Wherever did you come with the idea to dress as a ki—uh, Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

Ginny just pointed at Luna, with Shinji raising an eyebrow as he turned to her.

"It was originally mine," the moon-bright girl murmured in her sing-song tones. "The Crumple-Horned Snorkack is my favorite magical creature, after all. Mother saw one once before I was born, after all."

"Oh?" Somehow, Miss Lovegood didn't exactly resemble what he would think of as a sage, yet he didn't think the fact that what she called a Crumple-Horned Snorkack was essentially a kirin was coincidence either. This bore looking into. Later. "And you lent her yours?"

"That explains a lot," Ronald Weasley muttered, "Was wondering why Loony had the less whacky costume between her and Gin."

"Hey, don't call her Loony!" Ginny growled, looking up at her bother – brother. "Besides, this is a nice costume. Unlike that big…yellow, bird thing you're wearing."

"You take that back!" Ron said, raising his voice. "Fred and George worked hard on this for me."

"And you think they didn't do anything weird to it? Maybe have you turn into a bird at midnight?"

Ronald Weasley grew very quiet – and very thoughtful – after that.

"…hey, Matou, want to trade costumes?" he offered with what bits of dignity he had left.

Shinji took about two seconds to consider how to phrase what he was about to say gracefully but failed.

"You know, Weasley, I think you pull off the big yellow bird better than I do," the boy from the east replied gravely, with Ron just grumbling about how no one appreciated the history of Quidditch. "Other than your costume, are you liking the entertainment?"

"Well, I didn't really want to make Iris act like she wants to snog Malfoy's face off," the redhead commented sullenly. "And I don't really want to play a Slytherin either. Especially one who just listens to Malfoy's drivel about good families, idolizes Lockhart, and…yeah. It might have started ok, but…it got weird."

"You want to play as someone else?" Shinji probed, feeling a bit sympathetic to Ron's plight. It wasn't his fault that Cho, Natsumi, and Amber had basically taken over many of the choices, deciding that they may as well levy a pretty girl's privileges. "This Liliana girl Selina mentioned?"

Ron made a face.

"She sounds like she'd be even worse than Potter," he growled. "A Minister's granddaughter and a Noble, like the Blacks? I'd rather play as Malfoy. At least he's…"

"A guy?"

"YES!" Ron exclaimed, sounding utter relieved, yet repulsed as he continued. "He's a right prat, but he's a lot less scary than some…girls." He paused, his smile becoming somewhat…vicious. "Even if we did put that Granger girl in her place."

"I-I'm not sure if making her run away is a good thing," Neville opined. "Even if you don't like Granger for some reason—"

"—because SHE TRIED TO KILL ME—"

"—this Granger hasn't done the things the real one has," the heavyset Gryffindor stated. "You shouldn't hate someone for things they've never done."

"But…its Granger. How can she not do those things when she's already done them?!"

"Granger…in a story," Hannah Abbott commented, finding herself a little frightened of Ron's outburst. "A Granger whose only crime was to be annoying in how much she was fawning over Iris up until we sent her running."

"Yeah. Some of what Iris said was a bit much…" Neville agreed.

Privately, Shinji didn't think that he'd made Iris say anything too strange on the train, given that he'd mostly been advocating the standard magus view that only a society that moved forward, that embraced the truth had meaning, and that all else was secondary, be it morals, ethics, or the law. Since the group had decided to portray Iris as a powerful practitioner of the magical arts (or to make her pass herself off as one), he'd added in little tidbits here and there.

Bits about how without ambition, there was no future. Without the courage to accept change, and defy stagnation, one would never gain…true wisdom. As such, obstacles should be eliminated, with those who did not struggle, who do not seek to transcend being…purged.

In retrospect, perhaps it was not so surprising that Granger would have found this talk disturbing, after all. What was surprising was how a version of Sialim Sokaris had entered during Iris' magus-like speech, proceeding to argue another perspective. According to her, it was the very mediocrity of society that allowed social structures and order to be maintained, that created a framework in which the brilliant could work – and if there were no rules, than mankind would meet its end.

Iris had bluntly asked who the interloper – an obvious nobody – was, with Sokaris introducing herself as the ward of Nicholas Flamel, who had arranged for her to study at Hogwarts under the tutelage of Lord Severus Black, the world-famous Potioneer.

…following that revelation, most of the group's attempts to build good relations with future Slytherins had been for naught, as with the exception of Draco, most of those in the compartment were far more interested in the knowledge possessed by one who studied Alchemy.

"Well…you might be right," Shinji admitted, shaking his head. "Let's try to do our best with Liliana and Draco then, hm?"

There was a chorus of yeses, with the boy from the east heading off shortly after to seek Selina and ask when she wanted to start again.

…and, yes, to make sure Phelan hadn't done anything outrageous.

Again.

"So, just so you know, due to Liliana having a bit more experience at this whole magic thing than Iris, you won't be doing something as simple as choosing a class for her to focus on and one to…put less effort into," the young game master explained, once everyone was gathered again in the large salon. "For her, she looks at magic in terms of domains."

"Domains…?" Pansy echoed. "Explain."

"Domains like Knowledge, Charm, Creation, Destruction, Balance – each of which affect multiple subject areas," Selina elaborated. "Something like Creation, for instance, will give a bonus to Transfiguration, Potions, and Herbology, while giving a disadvantage to Defense. Knowledge will increase her knowledge in most non-practical disciplines. Destruction, well…charms and defense, mostly, with a malus to creation-related disciplines. Balance is just neutral."

"Ah. That's an odd way to look at things," Shinji remarked.

"Isn't every way?"

"Well, true," the Japanese boy admitted. "In that case…maybe Creation?"

"I would have thought destruction," Natsumi murmured, somewhat surprised.

"Or maybe Charm?" Amber ribbed. "You could use a bit more of it yourself, Matou."

"Let's take this to a vote then, shall we?" Selina suggested, with a slim minority settling on Creation.

"We need someone for Iris to copy homework off of!" Ron explained, with Pansy just rolling her eyes with a long-suffering sigh.

"…yeah, you wouldn't last a day in Slytherin."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Prat."

After being sorted into Slytherin, much the joy of that house and the horror of the others, Iris found herself at a bit of a loss as she walked over the seat Draco had saved for her. It didn't escape her that most of the other people she'd sat with on the train had gone elsewhere – mostly to Ravenclaw, for whatever reason.

"Glad you're with us," Draco said warmly. "With the Hat taking so long to Sort you, I almost thought you were going to go off and get put into Hufflepuff or something."

"Hey!" Ernie interrupted. "What do you mean by that?"

Selina sighed.

"Don't take it personally, and remember, these aren't my thoughts. They're Draco's."

"…right."

The reason for the others joining Ravenclaw became clear shortly afterwards, with Sialim Sokaris being Sorted into that House.

'They must have known she was going there,' Iris realized, trying – and failing – to hide her disappointment that whatever pull she had among the students of Hogwarts, it wasn't enough to beat out Flamel's ward, whoever Flamel was.

She couldn't exactly ask either, not without revealing her ignorance of the magical world, if Flamel happened to be at all important.

"Hmph. Dangle a hint about of forbidden knowledge in front of people and they forget who they are," Draco murmured, shaking his head. "Just because she's Flamel's ward doesn't mean she'll teach you how to make a Philosopher's Stone."

"No, but you don't need a Philosopher's Stone to impress Professor Slughorn, by all accounts," a voice spoke up from Iris' other side, with the Girl-Who-Lived turning slowly to see a striking green-eyed blonde. "Sometimes the ones most successful in their ambitions are the ones who are not afraid to venture far afield."

"And sometimes, you do best when you remember what you already have, instead of chasing an impossible dream," Draco countered, raising an eyebrow. "Moon, was it?"

"If you want to be informal, then yes," the other girl responded, her voice taking on an aristocratic tone. "But I think you, Mister Malfoy, would better recognize my pedigree if I call myself Liliana Spencer-Moon."

"Spencer…like the former Minister?" Malfoy asked sharply.

"Exactly so," Liliana replied with a thin smile, as she turned to the Girl-Who-Lived. "And I know who you are of course, Miss Potter."

"You and everyone else at Hogwarts, it seems," Iris quipped, to which Liliana just tossed her hair.

"Yes, though unlike most of them, I'm not especially impressed by rumors and speculation about past deeds," the blonde commented wryly. "I hear enough of them when I spend time around people from the International Confederation."

Draco's eyes bulged at this minor name drop, and he swallowed.

"You, uh, know many people there?"

"My grandfather raised me, so I've spent a good deal of time getting to know his colleagues," Liliana noted diffidently. "And you? I hear there is always a Malfoy close to the Minister, so do you know many people in the Ministry?"

"Yes?" Draco hazarded, but at a look, just sighed. "No, except for Lord Black. He's my godfather you know."

"Ah yes, Lord Black – I have heard…stories about him," the blonde commented.

"Good ones, I hope."

"Among others," the girl quipped, before turning her attention to the red-head sitting beside her. "And you, Iris?"

"Yes, of course," the Girl-Who-Lived replied immediately. "I'm on good terms with Mister Malfoy. And a few others."

There was a beat, as Liliana just looked at her, before nodding.

"Of course you are," she allowed grandly, noting out of the corner of her eye that the Sortings had just finished. "And will you be taking any of the extracurriculars? Some of them seem quite promising."

"Extracurriculars?" Shinji echoed. "But Iris is a first year. What would she know about these things?"

"Watch and learn, Matou."

"Well, my father would like me to take How to Make Friends and Influence People, which conveniently is being put on by our Head of House," Draco offered, wanting to impress both Iris and Liliana with what he knew. "He's a family friend, but he also knows a good many people in Britain, so his connections would be invaluable."

"I see," the former Minister's grand-daughter noted. "I would think that Moon, Mood, and Medicine sounds more interesting."

"I don't see myself becoming a Healer in the future," the Malfoy scion said stiffly. "And as I recall, it is better to have a better understanding of Astronomy before taking it. Third-year, at least if you are not my young cousins."

"Ah, little Alberio and Alkaid?"

"…you know their names." Draco blinked, slightly disconcerted.

"I may have written to your godfather before coming here," Liliana told him, before turning to Iris. "And what about you? What course strikes your fancy?"

"What were the options again?" Iris inquired a tad sheepishly. "I admit that I didn't really pay attention to the extra classes. I had other things on my mind, you see."

"In that case, let me enlighten you," Liliana said expansively. "Among the classes on offer are Adventuring 101, taught by Lady Nymphadora Black, Magical Art, taught by Professor Vector, the Dramatic Arts, taught by Gilderoy Lockhart, Frog Choir, taught by Filius Flitwick, Home Economics, taught by Lord Black, the aforementioned How to Make Friends and Influence People, Occlumency and You, taught by Professor Quirrell, and Moon, Mood, and Medicine, taught by Lady Andromeda Black and Remus Lupin." The blonde smiled just a hint. "And while they all sound interesting, we can only choose one."

"So why did you two choose what you did?" seemed the obvious follow-up to that.

"My father would like me to better acquainted wither with Slughorn or with one of my…relatives," Draco sniffed. "Not that I think that Home Economics will be of much worth, since that's what a House Elf is for. That, and Lord Black used me to determine what a Pureblood could stand to learn, so I know most of the material already. And while Adventuring sounds interesting, my cousin is something of the rebel of the family, and my father would prefer I not associate with her.

"As for me," Liliana stated, "learning about how the moon affects medicine and magic from both a noted witch and a werewolf sounds interesting."

"A werewolf, huh?"

"Yes, Remus Lupin was one of father's friends," Draco noted, shaking his head. "Though with that name, you'd think his parents were tempting fate."

"No more than yours," Liliana quipped. "Best beware of dragons, Malfoy, for you are crunchy and go well with catsup."

"…catsup?"

"…a dipping sauce."

Truthfully, Iris was uncertain what would fit her best, but…

"I think I'll choose Home Economics," she said after some thought, prompting Draco to look at her strangely. "I like cooking," she explained. "I've been doing it for years, and would like to see what a skilled potioneer thinks of the subject."

She wasn't sure if she'd be able to learn much from the others, as they would no doubt expect her to know things she had no way of knowing, since she hadn't actually grown up in the wizarding world, but if this was cooking…yes, she thought she could excel.

"Well, um, I see," Draco grunted. "Ah, I may not like the course much, but ah, I would be happy to help you with any assignments. Or to try out any dishes you may make…just to make sure they meet with the approval of my godfather, you see?"

"Riiight," Liliana drawled. "And you wouldn't dream of bragging of enjoying home-cooked meals made by the Girl-Who-Lived, hm?"

"...of course I wouldn't. I'm just helping a fellow student."

"Mhm."

"Really."

"Suuure."

"Confound it, why don't you believe me?"

"Because you're not particularly believable when you're face is that red, Mister Malfoy."