Despite Yelena's initial nervousness at starting Hogwarts, the first few weeks of school flew by. She shared a dorm with Wanda, and every morning they joined Vision and Pietro for breakfast before heading to their classes. They all met back up for lunch, and chose a common room to study in after their afternoon classes before heading back down to the Great Hall for dinner.
Yelena was the best at Charms, although she also liked Transfiguration and Potions. History of Magic was incredibly dull and she fell asleep every time, waking up to a crick in her neck and ink in her hair. The meals in the Great Hall were amazing, and the castle was full of exciting nooks and crannies to explore. Everything was great, and Hogwarts was amazing. There was just one problem. Loki Odinson.
Loki, like several older Slytherins, resented Natasha for her position as a favorite of the teachers, and he seemed determined to resent Yelena too. Natasha was the top student of her year, a prefect, and was even completing a year long internship for Professor May. She was responsible and hardworking, and as a result of her favor with the teachers had been given several privileges that were not extended to others, such as personal tutoring from several teachers and a Time Turner.
As a result, many of the other Slytherins were jealous of her, and Loki in particular resented her for not sharing this favor with the rest of Slytherin House. Natasha was friends with his brother, and Loki felt that she should repay this friendship by providing him with access to her Time Turner.
Loki and his friends had been bothering Natasha about the Time Turner since she received it last year, and he began his relentless campaign again this year, except he seemed to think that bullying Yelena would get him access to it. This had been going on since the second week of school, and Yelena was pretty tired of it.
"He can't still think you're going to help him!" Pietro fumed.
It was a chilly October day, and the weather was beginning to turn. Freezing rain battered the sides of the castle, and the halls were cold and drafty as they walked to class. Yelena blew on her hands, shivering. She turned around and spotted Loki and his friend, Nebula, walking towards her purposefully, no doubt to bother her again about stealing Natasha's Time Turner.
"Whatever." Yelena rolled her eyes. "He doesn't scare me."
"He's basically stalking you!" Pietro said angrily, turning around to shoot Loki a glare. "We've gotta do something."
"You should tell your sister." Wanda said quietly. "She's a prefect, no?"
"No!" Yelena said hastily. "It's fine. I can handle Loki, I don't need Natasha to solve my problems for me. I've got this under control."
"You mean we've got this under control." Pietro said. "We're a team, Lena."
Vision and Wanda nodded in agreement.
They reached the Transfiguration classroom, and took their places outside the door with the other first years as they waited for Professor May to let them in. They stood as close to the door as possible, but Loki and Nebula didn't seem to care. They walked up to the door and stopped right in front of Yelena and her friends.
"Belova." Loki said haughtily.
"What do you want, Odinson?" Yelena retorted.
He sniffed and rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I come in peace. I'm here to give you an offer you won't be able to refuse."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?"
"A bet. If I win, you steal your sister's Time Turner. If I lose, I'll leave you alone."
Yelena raised her eyebrows suspiciously. "What's the bet?"
"I bet I can beat you in a Wizard's duel. Midnight tonight, in the empty classroom on the fifth floor. Nebula will be my second."
"You're on." Yelena said.
She looked at the twins and Vision for a moment, considering. Pietro was more enthusiastic and always threw himself into spells, but Wanda was better at charms than he was even if she lacked a bit of confidence. Vision was all right at spells but his strength was really more in subjects like Potions and Herbology.
"Wanda's my second. The others can come and watch."
"Fine." Loki agreed. "But they don't interfere."
"Agreed."
Yelena offered him her hand, and he shook it once before turning on his heel and walking off dramatically. Nebula glared at them before following Loki.
"Lena!" Wanda said, turning to her with wide eyes. "What did you do that for? Loki's a second year, he'll know more spells than us. What if you lose?"
Yelena scoffed. "I'm not worried about Loki. Natasha taught me some spells when I got my wand, so I could practice before we were in school and the Trace was active. I've got some tricks up my sleeve. Besides, this way we can get rid of him."
Pietro nodded resolutely. "Good call, Lena."
Wanda opened her mouth to respond, but just at that moment the door swung open and Professor May walked out to usher them into class.
The rest of the day seemed to pass agonizingly slowly. Yelena found it hard to focus during class, her mind on the upcoming duel. Finally, the last class of the day ended, and they rushed to the Slytherin common rooms to practice their spells.
Natasha had taught Yelena Expelliarmus that summer, but she still had trouble with it sometimes, and it took a few tries before she was able to disarm Vision. After she had disarmed him a few times, the others tried the spell. After an hour of disarming, they decided to stop before Pietro accidentally took someone's eye out with his wild wand waving.
Yelena checked her watch and realized it was already dinner time. They rushed to the Great Hall just in time to get a serving, and they ate at record speed before rushing back to the common room.
Wanda set up her chess board, and they pretended to be deeply engrossed in the game as they waited for the rest of the Slytherins to go to bed. As curfew neared, Natasha came over to say good night to Yelena.
"Спокойной ночи, Lena." Natasha said, ruffling Yelena's hair affectionately. Looking over at the boys, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Shouldn't you guys be in your common rooms?"
"We're having a sleepover!" Yelena said quickly as Pietro opened his mouth. "They've got sleeping bags and stuff."
Vision nodded and held up the sleeping bag that was resting at his feet.
"Yes, we thought it would be fun." Wanda added.
"Okay…" Natasha said slowly. "Just make sure to go to bed on time, okay? It's late already."
Yelena rolled her eyes. "Yes, Мама. Я знаю."
Natasha held up her hands defensively. "I'm just saying! Don't blame me if you're tired."
She gave Yelena a quick hug.
"Good night, guys."
"Good night!" They all said in unison, watching as Natasha disappeared up the stairs to her dorm.
Yelena sighed in relief. "Good thing you guys brought the sleeping bags."
They waited as the last few older students headed off to bed, checking Yelena's watch every few minutes.
At half past eleven, Yelena stood up resolutely.
"It's time."
Wanda put away the chess pieces, and the boys set up their sleeping bags on the floor of the common room just in case someone came back. They crept out of the Slytherin common room and Yelena shut the door quietly behind them. They made their way to the fifth floor, and reached the abandoned classroom just as the alarm sounded on Yelena's watch, signaling her that it was midnight.
Pietro pushed open the door and they filed into the classroom one by one. Loki and Nebula were already inside, leaning against the far wall.
"Belova." Loki said, pulling his wand out of his pocket.
"Odinson." Yelena twirled her wand in her fingers as Pietro shut the door.
"Shall we get on with this? I don't want to embarrass you any more than necessary." Loki said, smirking.
"You're the only one who'll be embarrassed." Yelena retorted. She moved towards him, Pietro and Wanda flanking her as Vision stood watch by the door. Nebula stood behind Loki, pointing her wand at Yelena.
"Really? We'll see about that."
They circled one another, their wands at the ready. Yelena studied his movements, watching for a sign that he was about to cast a spell. She could hear Pietro pacing nervously behind her and could feel her heart banging wildly in her chest.
A few agonizing moments went by, and then she saw Loki step forward.
"Locomotor Mortis!"
Yelena ducked just in time, and heard Pietro fall to the floor behind her as he was hit with the Leg Locker curse. He cursed loudly in Sokovian as he pushed himself up from the floor with Wanda's help.
"Is that the best you can do?" Pietro said, breathing heavily.
Loki just smirked and readied his wand once more.
Yelena watched him shift his feet in preparation to cast another spell and she decided to act quickly.
"Expelliarmus!" She cried, and Loki's wand went flying out of his hand.
Nebula leapt up and caught it easily before tossing it back to Loki.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Belova." He said smugly. "Expelliarmus is old news for us second years. Petrificus Totalus!"
Yelena felt her body freeze as she fell to the floor with a crash. She groaned as she hit the floor, pain shooting through her arm.
Wanda moved to stand in front of Yelena, her wand pointed at Loki.
"Incarcerous!"
Ropes shot out from her wand and tied Loki's arms to his sides. As he struggled to free himself, Wanda waved her wand at Yelena, freeing her from Loki's spell.
"Finite Incantatem!"
Yelena pushed herself up from the floor and glared at Loki, raising her wand in preparation for another spell. Just as she was about to cast another Expelliarmus, the door to the classroom opened suddenly.
The caretaker, Jasper Sitwell, stood in the doorway, a thunderous expression on his face.
"Well, well, well. What's happening here, then?" He said, one eyebrow raised. "Out after midnight, are we?"
"We - we - we were just -" Loki began, stuttering a bit.
Sitwell cut him off with a sneer. "I know what you were just doing! You lot are fighting, and after curfew!"
He grabbed Loki and Yelena by the arm, glaring at the others.
"We're going to your head of house! All of you, come with me!"
The others followed timidly as Sitwell dragged Yelena and Loki to Professor Melinda May's office. Leaving them there, he returned ten minutes later with the head of Slytherin house, Professor May, who was dressed in a black dressing gown and slippers.
"Mr. Sitwell tells me you've been dueling at night. I expect I don't need to explain to you that that is against the rules." She said coolly.
"I will be deducting thirty House points from each of you, and you will all serve a week's detention."
With that, Professor May sent them to bed, telling Vision and Pietro that they were expected to go back to their own dormitories. They all slunk back to their dormitories and collapsed in their beds, too tired and intimidated to consider disobeying.
The next morning before breakfast, Yelena and her friends went to the Transfiguration classroom for their detention. Yawning, they stood by the door and waited for Professor May to arrive.
Loki and Nebula joined them a few minutes later, but uncharacteristically, they refrained from making any snide remarks. They all stood in silence for a few minutes, before Loki finally spoke up.
"Well, I don't think we can determine a winner."
Yelena looked at him in surprise. "I guess not."
"Technically I suppose we can call it a draw, as we were both incapacitated." He said haughtily.
Pietro rolled his eyes, but Yelena shrugged.
"Fine by me."
"Fine."
There was a moment of silence, and then Loki cleared his throat.
"You put up a good fight, for a first year."
"Wow, thanks." Yelena said sarcastically.
"No, I - I mean it." He said, shuffling his feet. "It was more difficult than I anticipated, our duel. You're not bad."
"Um, thanks?" Yelena looked at Pietro, who merely shrugged. Wanda furrowed her brow in confusion, and Vision tilted his head in thought.
"You also fought well." Vision said.
"Thanks." Loki rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Look, um, I've been thinking. Maybe - maybe I was wrong. I really want to try your sister's Time Turner, but I didn't mean to be a dick about it. The truth is, I think you're cool, all of you. I suppose - I suppose I was jealous."
Yelena raised her eyebrows, surprised.
"Um, okay?"
"So, um. Maybe we could all be friends?" Loki said hesitantly as Nebula nodded.
Yelena looked at her friends, considering.
"Что вы думаете?"
Wanda and Pietro shared a long look, then turned back to Yelena.
"Да." Pietro said.
"Vision?" Yelena asked.
Vision nodded.
"Я тоже." He said in heavily accented Russian.
Yelena turned back to Nebula and Loki.
"Okay. Friends?"
She offered Loki her hand. He shook it decisively, giving her a small smirk.
"Friends."
Author's Note:
Спокойной ночи = good night
Я знаю = I know
Что вы думаете = what do you (plural) think
Да = yes
Я тоже = me too
