Looks like it took me awhile to get this out anyways, huh? ^^;

Many thanks, (I mean many, I feel like a dork because of how simple it sounds now) to Kyra. You rock!! You kept it alive! Even though it was severely delayed, it's still alive! =)

Hehe.

***

Chapter 12

Breakfast was over quickly – the pilots, though they ate a lot more than before, didn't eat large breakfasts out of habit. Having spent years never knowing whether they'd be called out on a mission any second light breakfasts had become the routine, and was still taking quite an effort to kick the habit.

In any case, after breakfast Hermione and Heero went off in the direction of Arithmancy while Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, Heero and Ron went to Charms. On the way Harry informed them that the class was joint with some 7th and 6th year Ravenclaws, and that some Gryffindors would also be there.

Mr. Flitwick, the Charms teacher, made Duo take a double-take. He was… a troll? Duo wasn't sure and knew it was impolite to ask, but… he settled into a seat next to Harry and regarded the troll interested. As per some discussions they'd had that morning before everyone had woken up, Duo had called Harry as his "teacher", while Trowa had claimed Hermione and Quatre conceded to taking Ron. Heero and Wufei could not be convinced to claim someone, though, and had said they would find their own "teachers".

Upon entering the class, Wufei seemed to find his.

He immediately started towards the only Asian girl in the class, and he bowed and introduced himself.

"Chang Wufei."

The girl arched an eyebrow and smiled.

"Chang Cho."

Wufei smirked a bit. "That is interesting."

The girl laughed and gestured to the empty seat beside her. Wufei took it immediately.

Duo grinned at him, giving him a thumbs up and winking. Wufei glared menacingly at him before waiting for Cho to look away. He then stuck out his tongue. Duo laughed and shook his head, looking up at the midget/troll at the front of the room.

"Welcome to sixth year Charms," the little man began. "I am aware that there are particular students in the room with certain allowances, therefore we will be starting off fairly easy this year. However, those of you thinking this will be an easy course are sadly mistaken and you should pay close attention lest you get left behind."

Flitwick looked pointedly at the four boys, who stared back impassively. Seemingly please that his speech had been given, Flitwick began his lesson.

~*~

Heero glared at his Arithmancy teacher. The stupid man had the gall to insult him in front of the entire room? It took all of Heero's will not to kill him on the spot.

The only reason he did, of course, was because it would jeopardize their status.

And, possibly because Duo would be disappointed in him.

Professor Vector continued on as though he hadn't realized his slight towards Heero; specifically, his comment about the "less privileged" in the classroom. Heero's fist had clenched immediately, and the girl sitting to the one side of him had jumped as his knuckles cracked. The blond to his left had smirked, and looked at him.

Upon further inspection, he realized that the boy was the one he and Duo had run down two days prior.

"Ignore him, unless you want to lost marks," the boy told him, quiet enough that nobody would over hear but loud enough that Heero could make out what he said. "Vector's a crotchety git at the beginning of the year."

Heero smirked slightly, and turned towards the boy. "Yuy, Heero."

"Malfoy, Draco," came the reply, the blond smirking at him. "You're the bloke that hit me a few days ago. You caught me in a good year; any other year if you'd have done that then I would have had you arrested."

"Mister Malfoy and Mister Yuy," came Vector's voice. The two boys regarded him slowly. "Please continue your conversation when class is completed, as now is not the proper time."

Heero shrugged in response, while Draco merely raised an eyebrow at the professor. Vector, seemingly unnerved by the lack of response, went back to his lesson.

Despite what he'd initially thought, Heero realized that the Arithmancy course was not a math course at all, although it was primarily focused around numbers. Numbers, apparently, held a magical property about them, which the class was expected to learn to read and distinguish.

Heero understood it in about half an hour, and spent the rest of the class playing Solitaire. Being that he was at the back of the class, nobody noticed except for Malfoy, who just chuckled and went back to writing down random notes.

~*~

After Flitwick had finished introducing the course and had given a short lesson, the class was pretty much left to their own devices. They were to practice a Cheering Charm, which seemed to be very, very easy to everyone in the class save the four boys.

Duo had stared at Harry as he'd performed the charm on him; Duo had, in fact, felt a bit happier after Harry had done it. Clumsily, Duo had attempted to reenact the charm.

Professor Flitwick had removed the bunny ears quickly enough.

After that particular incident, the boys turned to their respective "teachers" to teach them the basics.

Their "teachers" gladly complied.

~*~

Class was over eventually, and Heero was very grateful. He'd beaten Solitaire about seventeen times and was beginning to grow bored.

He collected his laptop and made his way to the door and met Hermione, who looked at him sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry Heero, that I couldn't help you out during that class. I hope you aren't too lost."

"I'm fairly certain that Heero has everything under control, Granger," came Draco's drawl behind them. "Because he seemed to grasp the concept of the course pretty quickly. Isn't that right?"

Heero smirked and turned back to face Draco. "Fortunately, some words were said that stopped me from attacking that poor teacher. Other than that the class went fine, Hermione."

"…Attacking?" Hermione looked confused, before a look of dawning crossed her face. "Oh, Heero! You shouldn't feel bad, Vector is very-.."

"Crotchety," Heero and Draco said at the same time. Hermione bit her lip and nodded, smiling slightly.

"Don't worry, Hermione. Next time he does it I'm sure a death threat will be all that's needed. Are we going?"

Hermione blinked in surprise before nodding. "Yes, off to Divination! It's quite a hike, so we'd better get moving." She looked to Draco and frowned, "Malfoy," she said, in a way that clearly meant dismissal. Once she and Heero were moving, though, Malfoy caught up and began walking with them. Hermione looked at him suspiciously.

Draco smirked at her. "What, Granger? Didn't you notice? Divination is a Gryffindor and Slytherin class."

Heero didn't respond, seemingly uncaring, while Hermione turned pale.

***

Dun dun dun. And that's it for this chapter, folks.

Gotta wonder why Hermione turned pale. Hmm… ^^