"Nothing for you again Potter?" Sneered Malfoy, as the owls departed after the morning mail, Malfoys owl having delivered a package of sweets from home. "I must say, that is sad. I suppose this guardian of yours doesn't care enough to send anything."

Hailey sighed theatrically. "It is a shame, I suppose Yukari-sama trusts me not to fall apart the minute I'm away from home. It's a burden sometimes, being so reliable." she put her hand to her forehead in mock woe.

Malfoy scowled and turned away, probably trying to think of a retort. Malfoy was still pretty poor at the comeback game, and was weak to personal attacks. Hailey hoped he would improve, it was getting pretty boring. Then again, she understood not everyone spent their youth with a snarky nekomata.

Just then, there was a loud screech, and several of the owls still leaving flew to the side hooting indignantly as a large bat flew into the hall, being lead by Hedwig. Hailey stood up and held out her hand, and everyone in the hall watched as Hedwig landed on her shoulder, and the bat landed upside down on her arm, screeching loudly.

"Nicolae! I was wondering when you would turn up-Ow! Okay okay, Hello to you too Hedwig." said Hailey, the last part after Hedwig nipped her on the ear.

"A bat?" said Lily.

"Not everyone likes birds." Hailey said, taking a letter from a pouch on the bats stomach, and scratched the bat under the chin. "Your treats are in my trunk, sorry, but help yourself to some breakfast."

The Bat squeaked. It dropped onto the table, and started eating off of Haileys plate.

"Never seen a postal bat. Whose it from?" asked Sophie.

"It's from my penpal, Dirty Secret. And Nicolae is a special case." Hailey said, popping the Letter open, and stroking Hedwig, who had moved to her lap after she had sat back down.

"You have a penpal?" Lily asked.

"Dirty Secret?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah." Hailey said.

"What's it say?" asked Sophie.

"Don't ask won't tell." said Hailey, "Sorry, private correspondence."

Sophie pouted.

"Do you mind keeping that creature under control?" Malfoy said, as Nicolae stuck his nose into the nearby bacon tray.

"Eh, he deserves it, he's flown a long way. You don't like it, eat from a different tray." Hailey said.

Whether Malfoy had a retort this time or not, it was drowned out as Nicolae screeched loudly in his direction, and then took wing.

"Don't go too far, I'll have a reply later in the evening." Hailey called after the bat.

It screeched in confirmation, before flying out the hall. Followed by Hedwig, to show the bat where it could snooze for the rest of the day.

Hailey then resumed eating from what was left of her breakfast, as people around her had no choice but to add it to the list of weird things about Hailey Potter. Malfoy was still trying to stop his ears from ringing.

"Ehh… what a drag." said Hailey as they stepped out onto the grounds.

"We're about to go have flying lessons and you say it's a drag?" Sophie teased.

"I've been flying for years." Hailey said, putting her hands behind her head, "I don't need nobody here to show me how. I went to the Marisa school of flight."

"Who?"

"Friend of mine, she taught me how to fly." Hailey said. "She's one of the best where she's from."

Further conversation on the subject was halted by an interruption by Malfoy who was standing in front of them. "Are you going to be alright Potter, did they even teach you how to fly where you are from?" He jeered.

"Better than you." Hailey said, ignoring him and walking past.

"I hope you are ready to put your money where your mouth is. I'd hate for you to make a fool of yourself in front of everyone." Malfoy called after her.

"Chances of that are pretty low, I'd worry about yourself after I leave you in the dust." Hailey called back.

Hailey can't see Malfoys face but she figures he must be scowling pretty hard right now.

They arrive in a courtyard, where a bunch of brooms lay on the ground.

"Hmm, broomsticks eh?" Hailey said, poking one with her foot.

"Of course. What were you expecting Potter?" Malfoy said jeeringly. Several Slytherins sniggered.

"That you might stop being an absolute Malfoy for five minutes, but I suppose that was unrealistic of me." Hailey shot back cooly.

Malfoy's face went red with anger as the Gryffindors showed up, shortly followed by the teacher, Madam Hootch.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Hailey did as she was told, and soon everyone was standing by a broomstick. Hailey looked down at hers, it was a rather mangy looking stick, clearly years of students had taken a toll.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"

Curious, Hailey did what she was told, and the broom shot into her hands, she tried gently pushing down on it. There was some resistance, but it still yielded easily.

"Huh, enchanted brooms eh?" she muttered to herself. She then put up her hand.

"Yes?" said Hootch.

"Can I be excused on account of being woefully overqualified?" Hailey said, sounding bored, causing everyone to look at her in shock and confusion.

"What? No. Absolutely not, I don't care how good you think you are at flying young lady you will stay here and learn just like everyone else." Hootch said testily.

Hailey sighs. It was worth a shot.

After that they were shown how to properly mount brooms. Malfoy getting criticized for his poor form managed to get a smile from Hailey. Before long they were all properly mounted on their brooms and Hootch was counting down to takeoff.

But before she could blow her whistle, the toad boy, whose name escaped Hailey at that moment, went off prematurely.

"Come back boy!" shouted Madam Hooch.

The boy however kept rising… until he fell off his broom, then he descended rather quickly.

Everyone winced as he hit the ground.

Hootch went to the fallen boys side. "Broken wrist." she muttered, helping him up. "Come on, boy. It's all right, up you get."

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Hootch gently lead the boy away.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Malfoy started laughing.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?"

Some of the other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up Malfoy!" snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

Hailey smirked, this might be fun.

Out loud she said. "Oh I don't know, I don't see what's so funny either."

The other Slytherins turned to her in surprise, as well as the Griffindors. Sophie simply smirked at Haileys side, while Lily tried to make herself smaller.

"I mean don't get me wrong, I enjoy a bit of schadenfreude as much as the next girl. But you honestly seem to be taking this out of proportion. He fell, big deal, hardly worth a snigger really." Hailey examined her fingernails in feigned disinterest.

Sophie nodded her head sagely. "Seems rather immature if you ask me."

Malfoy scowled. He was being undermined, not only in front of his fellow Slytherins, but also in front of the Gryffindors, for the second time. "And what about you, Potter?" he said, squaring up to Hailey. "Woefully overqualified indeed. Are you sure you are just afraid of making a fool of yourself like Longbottom did?"

Hailey smirked. 'Hook, line and sinker.'

Hailey leaned in. "I'll say it again Malfoy. I can fly. Better than you."

Malfoy sneered right back. "Care to prove it?"

"Gladly." said Hailey, gesturing toward the brooms.

Malfoy mounted up without a second thought, and shot into the sky.

He looked down at Hailey from his vantage point, and called down. "Well what are you waiting for, get on your broom, or have you gotten cold feet."

Hailey smiled right up at him, and for the second time Malfoy saw Haileys teeth.

"Don't need it."

And she kicked off the ground.

She shot up like a rocket.

Malfoy nearly lost his balance as Hailey shot past him.

Hailey came to a sudden stop, and wobbled a bit, "Oops, overcompensated a bit there." she muttered to herself. Before speaking out loud. "Well Malfoy? Cat got your tongue?"

She drifted back down to the slack jawed Malfoys level, and stated drifting lazily around him on her back. "Well Malfoy, is this proof enough?"

"H-how…"

"Because I can fly…" said Hailey, drifting closer.

"Better…" Malfoy started leaning back, as Hailey invaded his personal space.

"Than…" Hailey was right up in his face now, smiling wickedly, her eyes aglow.

"You." she finished, flicking Malfoy in the forehead, causing him to fall backwards.

Malfoy desperately grabbed for his broom as he fell, managing to get a grip, and still hanging, manages to lower himself to the ground.

"AHahaha! Now that's a face worth laughing at!" Hailey cackled, rolling on her back in mid air.

Some of the Griffindors even got over the shock of her flight to laugh as well.

Not Ron though. The more he knew about Hailey Potter the more the girl made him nervous. While he didn't like Malfoy by any means, he wonders if Hailey had been actually trying to hurt Malfoy. For some reason he didn't put it past her.

"Well aren't you full of surprises…" Sophie muttered to herself. In comparison to Ron, the more she knew about Hailey, the more she wanted to know. Hailey was paradoxically an open book, and a locked box. One thing Sophie knew for sure though is that she bet on the right horse with Hailey.

Hermione frowned, torn between her irritation at rules being broken, and her curiosity on the unaided flight, First the strange cat girl and now Hailey. She resolved to ask Ran about it later.

Lily simply looked on, an unreadable expression on her face.

"What are you doing up there girl!"

Hootch had returned, and she didn't seem to be happy seeing someone in the air.

"Get down here girl, you are in… in..." she trailed off, as Hailey drifted down smugly.

"I told you I was overqualified." she said, once more lying on the air.

Hootch swallowed, her throat suddenly very dry. "Yes… I suppose you are."

Then she recovered from the shock. "You are still in trouble Ms Potter."

Hailey went from smug to nonplussed. "Eh?"

"When I told everyone not to move I meant it," Hootch said, crossing her arms. "I do not appreciate being undermined."

Meanwhile Mcgonagall watched from a second story window. Her brow furrowed.

"What on earth have they been teaching her?" she wondered aloud.

"Now that, would be telling." said Yukari, behind her.

Mcgonagall whirled around, but the corridor was empty.

Hailey sat on the roof, with her knees drawn up, sulking as she watched the rest of the flying lesson in the distance.

"Hey Hailey." said Chen, floating down beside her. "I heard you got booted from flying lessons."

"Not at all," said Hailey, turning up her nose in a huff. "She simply let me leave as she realised that me remaining would be pointless, as I don't need a silly broom to fly."

"Your still getting a detention though right?"

"Hmph." Hailey audibly pouted.

"Hey come on, it's not like you to start sulking like this." said Chen, "At least, not about something this petty."

Hailey sighed.

"School not agreeing with you?" Chen said, sitting down beside her.

"Not really," said Hailey. "I mean, it's not awful, Sophie's fun… Lily too I guess. But the magic is annoying, there are too many rules, the uniforms boring, I have hardly any free time, I miss my animals, and the worst part is that I have to keep a lid on everything."

"You call that keeping a lid on it?" Chen said, "I'm pretty sure flight was pretty high on the list of things to keep on the down low."

"They fly too," Hailey said.

"Yeah, on magic brooms," Chen said. "And then there was that little episode in the dungeons. Lets face it Hai-chan, you aren't really nailing the Subtilty thing."

"That's my point. I'm going stir-crazy here Chen. How am I going to survive a whole year!" she whined. "Even teasing Malfoy is starting to get boring."

Chen patted Hailey on the shoulder. "There there, I'll tell you what. I think we've given the school a long enough grace period, lets start having a little fun."

"You think?" said Hailey perking up somewhat, "Isn't this a little too soon? It's not even halfway through the first year."

"Nah, it will be fine." said Chen, "As long as we do it out of sight, I think we can afford to go a little crazy. And I have just the thing."

"Do tell." said Hailey, her slump forgotten.

"Remember that little speech ol' Dumbles gave at the start of the year? About the third floor?"

"Forbidden for anyone who doesn't want to die a horrible death?" said Hailey, slowly grinning. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Of course. We will be together for Rans late night classes, and when Ran takes Hermione back to her dorm. I say we go have a little explore. What do you say?"

"Totes in," said Hailey, exchanging a high five. "I take it you already had a peek?"

"Yup, giant ass dog, three heads, mean sonofabitch too." Chen said, "Was sitting on a trap door."

"Guarding something?"

Chen shrugged. "Probably. You ready to find out?"

"I can't wait." Hailey giggled.

"And why pray, can't I give her a detention?" Hootch said, irritably.

"Because It will clash with her evening classes." Ran said simply. "She has classes until one in the morning every day of this week except the weekend, and I'm sure you have better things to do with your weekend than watching a vaguely disobedient student over a minor infraction."

Hailey was trying to pretend she wasn't super pleased with herself and failing miserably.

"One in the-" Hootch said incredulously before forcing herself back on topic "I fail to see why this should be an issue. Your classes are a privilege just like any other extracurricular-"

"Not for Hailey," Ran interrupted, "Your headmaster negotiated for Haileys attendance, and the main condition is that I would be able to continue her tutelage. Her education takes precedence Miss Hootch."

"So what, she just gets away with it?" Hootch said, "I'll admit her offence was minor, and she was clearly in no danger. But flight is dangerous, and my students need to respect that and me if I am to prevent further accidents. To maintain that, she can't simply get off scot free."

"If I may be completely frank with you. Detentions on their own are probably the least effective ways of managing bad behaviour in students, it sends the entirely the wrong messages and is likely to cause repeat offenses. However, if you insist on a punishment…"

She walked over to Hailey, who had managed to school her expression into something resembling remorse.

Ran chopped her on the head.

"Ow." Hailey said, giving Ran a reproachful look.

"Please avoid causing too much trouble for your teachers, if I hear too many complaints I will confiscate your Game Gear."

"I'll be good." mumbled Hailey.

"Good to hear, keep up that attitude for the rest of the year, and you might just be taking a trip to Europa Park next Summer."

"Promise?!" Hailey said, her mood doing a one-eighty.

"Provided your behaviour stays in tolerable ranges." Ran said, patting her on the head. "I trust you can handle that?"

Hailey nodded enthusiastically.

Ran turned to Hootch, "There, a simple immediate, yet harmless punishment, followed by a threat of further personal consequence later, and a potential tangible reward for correct behaviour. That is how you disapline a child Miss Hootch. Is that acceptable?"

"Well, it is rather unorthodox…" Hootch said.

Ran rolled her eyes. "Fine, ten points from Slytherin then. Now run along Hailey, you have class in fifteen minutes."

Hailey giggled and ran off.

"Now unless you need me for anything else, I have business elsewhere. Good day." Ran walked off, her footsteps immediately stopping when she rounded the corner.

Hootch didn't need to check to know she wasn't there anymore. "How on earth does she do that?"

"You seem to be in a better mood." said Sophie over dinner. "Something happen?"

"Oh not much." Said Hailey, as usual serving herself liberal portions. "I just got out of detention and I'm planning a little bit of fun with Chen after my evening class."

"After your evening class? Don't those things run till Twelve?"

"Past one on most days. Only so many hours in the day after all, and I got a lot of material to cover."

Sophie shook her head. "How do you do it?"

"Just Perks of being me I guess." said Hailey.

For Hailey, sleep was merely conserving magical energy, and managing mental fatigue, She could go weeks without sleep, although Ran discourages this. Regular sleep was a good habit to keep after all. Some of the most powerful Youkai in Gensokyo were notoriously heavy sleepers, including Yukari.

'There seems to be a lot of perks to being you." Said Sophie playfully. "Any downsides?"

"Now that would be telling."

"What are you doing with Chen?" asked Lily.

"We are scoping out that third story corridor." Hailey said.

There was a silence.

"But… but isn't that forbidden?" Lily said.

"Technically not," said Hailey "His exact words were 'Forbidden to anyone who didn't want to die a horrible death', that's a warning, not a rule."

"But…"

"Ah don't worry, I'm not planning on dying, It will take more than a Cerberus wannabe to off me." Hailey said, patting Lilys head, "So don't worry your cute little head."

"But..."

"But it seems that Lilys protests were destined to go unheard as Malfoy decides to mosey over, his pet gorillas in toe.

"Hey there Potter. Looking forward to detention?" He sneered.

Hailey grinned. "Funny story that, the detention clashed with my evening classes, So they decided to leave my punishment to Ran. She gave me a slap on the wrist and I lost ten points."

Malfoys sneer was replaced with a scowl. "I wouldn't be acting so smug about it if I were you. I doubt everyone else will be pleased at the loss of house points."

Hailey Shrugged. "'I'm not worried. Unlike you I'm not inherently unlikeable."

His eyes narrow. "I'd watch your back Potter."

"Ohh, thinly veiled and hollow threats, scary." said Hailey, waving her hands mockingly. "How very Malfoy of you."

Colour was starting to fill Malfoys cheeks, "Stop using my name like that!"

"Or what? Face it Malfoy, you're all talk." said Hailey. "And as much as I like playing with my food, this is getting boring even for me."

Sophie and Lily were watching the exchange with looks of interest and concern respectively.

"Playing with your food- Who do you think I am!" Malfoy said angrily.

"A spoiled rich kid, whose learning very slowly that the world doesn't revolve around him." Hailey said. In the back of her mind she was thinking that she was using too much of her material, but right now she didn't really care. She just felt like hurting Malfoy today.

"How about this Potter, Wizard duel, you and me tonight. Wands only, no contact."

"Why wait?" said Hailey standing up, with a grin. "If you'll just step outside I'll do this right now. So what are the rules? First blood, first submission, or just until somebody dies?"

Malfoy reflexively leaned back in the face of Haileys sudden enthusiasm.

However things were prevented from escalating further by Snape. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing sir. Just some youthful high spirits." Sophie said before anyone else could get a word in.

Snape stared at the scene. "That better be all that's going on, If I was forced to deduct house points from Slytherin, I would be extremely… displeased."

Hailey straightened up and stepped out of Malfoys personal space, sighing. "No professor, nothing fun happening here."

"I'm not sure I like your tone potter." Snape said.

"Well bully for you." Mutters Hailey.

Hailey caught sight of Ran standing up to leave. She made eye contact and beckoned Hailey by tilting her head, before making her way to the exit.

"Excuse me Professor, my tutor is calling, I have my classes now." Hailey said, before turning to her friends, "you don't have any extracurriculars today, so I'll see you later."

As she passed Malfoy she whispered, "Any time Malfoy, if you think you're up to it."

Bonus:

"You really shouldn't leave your personal correspondence just lying on your desk for anyone to read." Sophie said, although no-one else was around. "Let's see what the Dirty Secret has to say."

Deer Hai Border Collie

Thees names are kinda funny

Thanks four the new toys I prapromise to tak care of all of themalmost all of them Sory abot the ourl

Is skewl fun I hav never been to skewl befor sis says that its a plas wer mii mee mediocrity is in forced and wer ambishi ambisho ambition is smotherd

Sis uses a lot of hard worbds

You arnet getting smotherd are you

Nothin much is happinin her you always hav more interesting stuff to talk abot

I want to play again you will be ther for chrismas rite

Miss u

Dirty Secret

PS im gettin betta at drawin

There was a small badly drawn picture of a smiling girl with fangs and multicoloured wings, as well as a second message attached to the first.

Sorry about the terrible spelling and lack of punctuation, but she's been so proud with the progress she made with her handwriting that she insisted on doing it herself this time. She looked so happy with herself that I didn't have the heart to tell her it's practically illegible.

Despite that, she's improving a lot. I Know I've said it before, but I can't tell you how appreciative we are for you being her friend, especially considering the risks. The mistress is too, although don't tell her I told you that.

I don't give much chances for those toys you gave her though. She's already blown up the stuffed owl. Still, at least she's making some progress.

See you sometime

The Gardener

Sophie looked up, rather confused.

"What kind of Pen name is Border Collie?"

Well, Guys new Chapter, Horray!

Although if I am being honest, this one has been written for ages, I just hadn't got around to editing it.

Not a lot to say here, Just that apparently I have been having some tensing problems in some of my chapters. If you spot any please give me a message so I can fix them.