The next few months were fairly uneventful. Leo and Marisa tried to get slowly closer to Potter and his friends, but they didn't want to ask about the diary directly in case it aroused suspicion and there were few reasons for Gryffindors and Slytherins to be having civil conversation.
As the date of the Slytherin against Ravenclaw Quidditch match drew ever closer, Marisa spent more and more time on her broom, flying until every muscle in her body ached from pure exhaustion in her determination to show her House what she was capable of.
She'd also begun her secret potion-brewing in the Room of Requirement, aided and abetted by Leo, who was responsible for smuggling ingredients into Hogwarts by any means he could. So far there were cauldrons in her room containing Polyjuice, Antidote to Common Poisons and Confusing Concoction.
The Snow Leopards, under Leo's direction, were learning more and more advanced spells. Already they'd covered all of the second-year Defence spells and revised most of the Charms curriculum, as well as dabbling a little, very cautiously, in Transfiguration. Leo had ordered books for third-year spells and was hard at work learning them himself so that he could teach the others.
Under the pressure of trying to do so many things at once, Marisa's grades were beginning to slip. She was still top of the class at Potions and was having little trouble with Charms, but her Transfiguration was weaker than it could have been and History of Magic, in particular, she was getting dangerously close to failing. Leo took pity on her and allowed her to copy some of his essays, of course changing them just enough not to be seen as plagiarism.
He, of course, was keeping on top of his own workload with ease. Not having to worry about Quidditch or doing as much potion-brewing as Marisa, he didn't have quite as much to do as she did, but between organising revision, learning new spells and keeping up with his homework there was remarkably little time left in his schedule.
There had been no more attacks. No amount of speculation from the Snow Leopards had been enough to find a definite reason for this, although there were plenty of ideas: The Heir was worried about being caught. Something had happened which made it harder for them to attack (although what this could be, no-one knew).
That was how things were for the rest of February, and all of March and April, until it came to time to select their options to take up the next year.
Marisa stared curiously down at the list of options: Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Muggle Studies, Study of Ancient Runes… She didn't know where to start. Actually, she did: by getting some advice from Leo.
"What even are some of these classes?" she asked him.
"Arithmancy… that's sort of using numbers to predict and calculate and analyse things like personalities, like the future… it's more accurate than it sounds, but quite complicated. I'm doing it. Care of Magical Creatures… exactly what it sounds like. Divination is a different kind of predicting the future, by doing things like reading tea leaves and crystal balls. I don't think it's very accurate. Muggle Studies… again, what it sounds like… you won't need to take that, of course… and Ancient Runes is really interesting. It's like understanding the past through another language."
"What are you taking?"
"Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes."
That was Marisa's decision made: she ticked those three boxes. That done, she sat back and listened to the other Slytherins discussing their options.
"My dad says I should take Arithmancy," said Draco, "but I think I prefer Divination, Arithmancy sounds a bit too complicated."
"I'm a bit nervous about the practical side of Magical Creatures, but I think it would probably be worth it." This was Tracey to Daphne, who was asking her about her choices.
"How many are you expected to take?" asked Vincent.
"You have to take at least one," explained Leo patiently, but with a quick roll of his eyes at Marisa, "but you can do as many as you like."
"Do you think I should take Muggle Studies?" Marisa recognised Theo's voice. "I don't think my parents will like it."
"Don't bother," advised Leo, "it's a waste of time. You can learn far more about Muggles by just asking someone with first-hand experience."
This thoughtless remark instantly increased the tension in the room.
"Why would you need to learn about Muggles, anyway?" asked Draco. "What's the point?"
No-one answered. Marisa could sense Leo's frustration, arguments for learning about Muggles brimming inside his head, but he was unable to voice any of them for the sake of being tactful and not raising suspicions.
Eventually everyone had filled in their slips of paper and handed them back in to Professor Snape, who glanced through them with mild interest before exiting, cloak billowing out behind him.