I'd like to thank my reviewer on the last chapter laraceleste whose review made me laugh out loud (I don't think anyone wants Remus to get over his crush and since you've read the old story I think you know he can't). Also, a big thanks to my followers and favoriters! Please let me know what you guys are thinking of the story so far! I'm hoping to have the next chapter out next weekend and reviews always motivate me to work harder!

Previously on Above All Others: As Remus returns to Hogwarts for his seventh year, he reflects on his crush on Messalina, and Remus realizes Lily knows about his feelings towards her best friend.

It wasn't that Messalina regretted drinking as much of the firewhisky Mary had snuck in as she had the night before, it was that she wished Marlene McKinnon was not her roommate. Over the last six years, Messalina had gotten used to Marlene waking up at the crack of dawn to begin her beautification rituals and typically slept through Marlene's lengthy process. She was not, however, used to Marlene tripping on the edge of her own trunk, face planting into the side of Messalina's bed and ripping her curtains down as she tried to find something to grab ahold of.

The girls had partaken in their own tradition the night before: drinking whatever alcohol they had been able to sneak away from their parents on the first night back to Hogwarts. It had become a longstanding tradition for any time they returned to the castle from a break, beginning in fourth year when Marlene stole a bottle of vodka from her parents. Lily typically only did a shot or two, too preoccupied with a fear that someone could find them underage and tipsy in their dormitory, but she had certainly dived into the experience the night before. She was wound up over James Potter being Head Boy, not that Messalina could blame her, but it had led to Lily monopolizing the bottle. If she had to bet, Messalina guessed she had one hell of a hangover for the first day of class. Messalina's own headache was reduced to a dull throb somewhere in the middle of her forehead, but she certainly recalled the previous year when she'd drunk the most and spent the majority of the day miserable and begging the twins to put her out of her misery. And she hadn't been in charge of escorting an excitable gaggle of first years to breakfast so they could get their time tables from McGonagall without getting too lost in the castle.

"Why are you up so bloody early, Marls?" Mary grumbled from across the room as Messalina sat up, looking down at Marlene as she detangled herself from the curtain in a huff.

Marlene was by far the prettiest of the seventh year Gryffindors, and possibly of the whole school. Her dark brown hair was constantly being restyled into whatever was trending in Witch Weekly (the exception being when a Dutch singer had buzzed her hair two years ago and Marlene debated for a week if she wanted to try the style, but then to her delight the Holyhead Harpies' seeker debuted an intricate braid that Marlene preferred) and she had to be Madam Malkin's most frequent mail order customer. Despite Marlene's unquestioned beauty, she looked quite scary in the morning when she awoke with her face smeared with a bright purple potion that kept her complexion perfect. Messalina glanced at the pile of ruined curtains on the floor and saw there was a perfect print of Marlene's face in purple paste left behind.

"What happened? Is everyone okay?" Lily's voice came from Messalina's right, sounding hoarse and weak. Messalina could tell the exact moment Lily sat up because she groaned so loudly it seemed likely that it woke the entire tower. "What crawled in my mouth and died?"

Messalina stifled her laugh into her pillow before clambering out of bed. There was no chance she was going back to bed now, not when the sun was coming up over the grounds and she couldn't remember what spell would restore her curtains to their former glory. Kneeling in front of her trunk, she wished she had actually organized her things prior to packing. She sifted through her school robes, skirts, and sweaters as well as a few Muggle pieces she had picked out when visiting Lily over the summer, cursing her lack of organization.

Arthur Weasley had been so thrilled to see her and Lily in Muggle dresses when they'd come to pick up Charlie that he had almost forgotten to pelt Lily with his growing list of questions for any muggleborn he came across. He'd remembered just as they were leaving and walked the girls and Charlie to the edge of the property, asking Lily just as many questions about her life as Charlie had asked Remus Lupin about dragons. Obsessions must run in the Weasley family, she mused as she finally snagged what she had been looking her.

It was a flask, very similar to the one Mary had snuck her parents' finest firewhisky in, but this one contained one of the twins' worst kept secrets. Fabian and Gideon had had no interest in continuing their Potions coursework beyond the O.W.L. level, but as it was required for their acceptance into the Auror program, they had suffered through an additional two years of the class. But it was not without its rewards. They stumbled on hangover cure in one of their textbooks and had begun producing (and selling to select, trusted customers) Prewett's Magical Hangover Potion, and in less than a month, it seemed the entire tower was coming up to them to try to figure out what the instructions were.

Messalina approached Lily's best on tip toes, knowing better than to anger the redhead on a good morning, and whispered to ask if Lily would possibly be interested in a little swig of something more valuable than the elixir of life. Lily's hand was promptly thrust between the curtains and Messalina had to bit back a laugh as she handed the flask over. She returned to her trunk, frowning as she realized all her clothes were wrinkly from being shoved into the trunk for over a day, and she hoped Lily remembered the spell that would make her look at least semi-presentable.

"You guys are such bad influences on me," Lily complained as she climbed out of bed, handing Messalina the flask back and stretching. Her red hair looked like a bird's nest from a night of rolling over and bad sleep. Messalina hoped Marlene had enough Sleezeazy's Hair Potion to keep Lily from launching into another tirade about how all of this was Potter's fault. There did not seem to be a time of day when Lily couldn't rant about the boy and Messalina wondered for the first time if there was maybe something there that Lily wouldn't admit. Convinced the firewhisky had eroded all of her brain's rationality center, Messalina took a swig from the flask before shoving it back into the bottom of her trunk and grimaced at the strong earthy taste.

"You love when we're bad, don't lie to us!" Marlene called from the bathroom, popping her head out from behind the door. Her face was bright red from scrubbing the purple potion off and she had begun the process of putting a second clear potion on to soothe the irritated skin. "Besides, no one made you drink that much last night Lily."

Lily had no response to that and she just glared at Marlene as she made her way into the bathroom. Messalina shook her head at both of them, dressing quickly so she could join Lily and Marlene in the bathroom to finish getting ready. They had learned long ago that it was best to let Mary sleep in until they were leaving for breakfast in two minutes, also known as the time it took Mary to get dressed, go to the bathroom, and brush her teeth. Messalina had always considered herself a late sleeper but Mary was in her own league unless it had to do with quidditch practice - then, it seemed the girl was up before the dawn getting ready and mumbling under her breath about what she wanted to accomplish at practice. When the door was firmly closed so as not to disturb Mary again and face her wrath, Messalina took her usual spot on the floor in front of their full length mirror. Lily stepped behind her, already in the process of trying to tame her hair. It sounded incredibly painful and Messalina was glad she'd just left her hair in its braid so she didn't have a mess to work through.

Marlene began to regale them with tales from her holiday in France, leaving no detail too personal or scandalous out. Marlene's openness had originally confused Messalina in their first year, who had never been exposed to such unprompted storytelling before. It had taken some getting used to the habits of the children of non-pureblood fanatics, particularly in how they were willing to share pretty much anything and everything.

Mary and Marlene were both halfbloods after all and Messalina knew it had certainly taken them awhile to come around to befriending her. Lily, bless her heart, had been ignorant to so many of the stigmas around statuses and families of the wizarding world that she had embraced Messalina from the beginning, likely thinking she was just a shy girl from a rough family. By the end of their first year, though, the four girls had gotten over whatever hangups had kept them from initially getting along and they became friends. Now, sitting on the floor of the Gryffindor girls bathroom, Messalina felt nothing but gratitude towards the Sorting Hat, Lily, and the Prewetts and she couldn't help but smile. She loved the routine of getting ready in the bathroom with her girl friends, half listening to whatever Marlene was on about. She loved having a constant support network. She loved her life.

"Can I just say that I think Dumbledore is out of his right mind?" Lily said suddenly, interrupting Marlene's story about when she and this French wizard Pierre had gone skinny dipping in Lake Annecy. Lily was working through a particularly large knot in her hair, yanking the brush into it and making the knot even larger. Marlene looked over, exclaiming that Lily was going to rip a whole chunk out of her hair, and hurried over, covering it with hair potion and gently brushing it through. Lily grumbled her thanks, her frustration evident. "How can he make Potter Head Boy? He is one of the most irresponsible people in this school! It might as well be an open season on students his little gang wants to bully."

"Better than Black, I suppose," Marlene mused aloud and Lily glared at her. "What? I'm just saying!"

"I thought for sure it would be Lupin or that Montgomery in Ravenclaw," Messalina added, furrowing her brows and glancing up at Lily.

"Dumbledore's got a lot on his mind with the war, maybe he thought he picked Lupin," Lily said thoughtfully, nodding to herself. "Yeah, that's gotta be it."

"At least you said it seemed like he was trying at the meeting yesterday," Messalina offered, grabbing her tweezers. She should've known furrowing her eyebrows in front of this mirror was a bad idea.

"I wish he'd been goofing off!" Lily exclaimed. "I could've reported him for not trying and gotten him replaced! It's like he knows how angry he makes me and then finds new ways to do it."

"Maybe even Dumbledore wants you two to get together," Marlene added, winking at Lily. "It seems an awful coincidence."

Lily groaned, chucking her hairbrush across the room at Marlene who dodged it easily and laughed at the look of disgust on Lily's face. "The day that I say I want to date Potter is the day I expect you take me to St. Mungo's to get my head checked."

The girls all chuckled at Lily's statement and before long a peaceful silence fell over them as they finished getting ready. Lily was humming some song Messalina didn't recognize as she pinned the Head Girl badge on her robes and, to Messalina's surprise, moved a portion of her hair to cover most of it. Messalina stood up, prepared to go figure out where her shoes were, when Marlene made her wish she wasn't her roommate for the second time that morning. "You're single now Lina, you going after any boys this year we should know about?"

"I've sworn off boys for the year," Messalina replied, throwing open the door to the bathroom and letting Marlene wake Mary up again. Marlene was on her tail, stomping across the dormitory as she objected quite vocally.

"You can't just give up boys, Lina! You'll be setting yourself up for failure! Plus that's not fair to all the boys that want to snog you!"

"I'm going to be too busy, you know what grades I need to get into the Auror program," she said over her shoulder, digging elbow deep into the trunk to find her shoes. She really should've unpacked the night before because the way the morning was going she was going to need a nice long nap before dinner. "And besides my type has not given me great results in the past."

Her type certainly had poor historical results. Arrogant and handsome had described roughly half of the male population in her year and above in the past, and she had tried enough of them to know that she had no interest in pursuing anything with those that were still left at school. She had spent two months when she was fifteen obsessed with sixth year Ravenclaw chaser Benjy Fenwick only for it to end at the Dueling Club, which had been reinstated by their DADA professor that year, when she had sent him through a wall. His ego bruised, he'd broken up with her that night, claiming he wanted to be with someone who understood his needs better. Yeah, sure, his need to be better than her, Messalina thought to herself, rolling her eyes. The previous year had had a rather intense love affair with Caradoc Dearborn, seventh year Gryffindor quidditch captain, who despite his vanity had seemed to truly be interested in her. But, after three months of listening to his grand plans about working at Gringotts when he graduated, she was bored and ended things, much to Fabian and Gideon's displeasure as he worked them even harder at practice by association. So, she was done with guys who couldn't fit their oversized heads through a doorway, no matter how attractive they were.

"So go for someone outside your type," Lily added from the bathroom doorway, her voice distorted as she brushed her teeth more aggressively than normal. "I've always thought Lupin was cute myself."

Messalina felt herself blush and was at once grateful that she had not unpacked the previous night as her head was hidden from her roommates' view. She had also thought Remus Lupin was rather handsome, but there were far too many embarrassing memories involving him for her to ever consider it. Her history of awkward interactions with him started in their first year at the sorting when she had almost passed out on him in fear when Sirius Black was sorted into Gryffindor. It went further in second year, when she decided on a whim to give a boy she did not know or talk to a chocolate bar. He had seemed quite depressed as he worked on his essay by himself in the Common Room, but judging by the panicked look he had on his face when she'd come up to him, she still should not have come over. She was still getting used to the social interactions normal kids her age did as opposed to prim and proper purebloods, and had figured maybe she could make a new friend. But other kids in their year had started 'dating', also known as blushing deeply when the other party looked at them and sending each other notes in the owl post, she worried instantly that she had made a mistake. To keep it clear that she wasn't coming onto him or trying to be weird, she'd spent an hour talking his ear off about the troll wars of the 1500s before finally recovering enough of her dignity to go back to the twins on the other side of the room and subsequently avoided him as much as possible for the rest of the year.

Then in fifth year, she had walked straight into him when he was leaving the hospital wing. She had been going quite quickly to make it to library before Severus Snape got it in his mind that he could ask Lily for her study spot because Messalina was already running late and Snape seemed to sense when she wasn't around and would appear out of thin air to talk to Lily. And so, in her rush, she was not paying attention to where she was going and had run into Remus and knocked him to the ground, his bag spilling parchment, ink, and books all over the hallway. Thoroughly embarrassed that was capable of literally sweeping someone off their feet, she helped him collect his things and squeaked out a 'sorry' before walking away as fast she could. The delay meant Snape had taken her spot in the library and she had sulked to the back of the library to avoid the boy's sneers. She had hated Snape for years, but Lily's friendship with him meant she needed to be at least polite most of the time. That civility lasted until the end of fifth year when he'd called Lily a Mudblood and Messalina was finally able to publicly show her disdain.

And, the most embarrassing of all, the last Valentine's Day Hogsmeade trip. She knew Peter and Remus had seen Caradoc snogging the life out of her in an alley. It was bad enough that Peter of all people had seen it, but the idea of Remus, who she repeatedly embarrassed herself in front of, seeing it made her stomach hurt. She had seen them walking away from the alley when she'd come up for air and there was certainly no way they had not seen her pressed up against the bricks. She blushed just thinking about it. Then yesterday on the platform, Charlie had grabbed him and asked so many questions about dragons it made her head spin and she had revealed she knew he was in Care of Magical Creatures. He probably thought her some kind of crazed stalker but was too nice to say anything. So yes, she thought Remus Lupin was cute too, but she could barely make eye contact with the boy without having haunting flashbacks

"Can you guys shut up?!" Mary yelled from her bed, yanking her curtain back to glare at them. Pleased with the distraction, Messalina put her cool hands on her face in hopes it might make the blush disappear before anyone noticed. The momentary lapse in searching made her realize she couldn't find her shoes in the trunk because they had been under her bed all along.

"We're leaving for breakfast in five minutes, Mary," Lily declared just as Mary started to tug her curtains closed again. Hurricane Mary leapt out of bed, grabbing her clothes off the chair beside her bed, and raced into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her as the remaining girls laughed.

"Speaking of boys," Messalina said as she yanked her shoes on, looking back at where Lily was adjusting her hair in the mirror. "Don't you have to take the first years to breakfast with Potter?"

"I told him to be down there at 7:30 sharp. We'll see if he shows up," Lily grumbled. "I for one doubt it."

"Lily, it's 7:29, are you going to show up?" Marlene questioned and had Messalina not heard what Marlene had said, she would have thought someone hexed Lily. The redhead screamed, grabbed her bag from her chair and threw open the door so aggressively it hit the wall and left a dent. She took off down the stairs at least two at a time, most likely muttering madly about how her roommates were terrible influences on her and how she was never drinking again.

"What time is it actually?" Messalina asked, craning her neck to see their clock. 7:20. "You're evil, she's going to kill you."

"I live for the drama, you know this Lina." Marlene winked at her before crossing the room and banging on the bathroom door. "Mary, let's go!"

Moments later, the three girls made their way down the staircase, speculating wildly about who their new DADA professor was going to be. Whoever it was had been missing from the feast the night before and it had inspired a great deal of outlandish theories. Mary was convinced it was going to be a werewolf because the moon had looked so big the night before and she either did not hear Messalina say it wasn't even a full moon the night before or was choosing not to listen to her. It was when Messalina said for the third time that a werewolf professor could've been among them that Mary finally seemed to hear it.

"How do you know when the full moon is? You're not even in Astronomy!"

"Because September's full moon is harvest moon and it wasn't orange last night, was it?" she asked as they neared the bottom of the staircase and Mary went silent, probably contemplating if there was some other dark creature their professor could be. "So if the professor's a werewolf, he could've shown up."

"Nerd!" Mary coughed and Messalina elbowed her in the stomach, quickly moving out of the way when it looked like Mary might retaliate.

"Why do you even care? You're not even in DADA," Marlene asked Mary, giving her a suspicious look, but Mary just shrugged and said she thought it would've been cool. They walked into the Common Room and Messalina was surprised to see the Marauders were already assembled, Black and Peter looking annoyed. Remus looked paler than he had the night before and his gaze had been fixed on the spot they walked out of but he quickly averted his eyes when they entered. It seemed he couldn't stand to make eye contact with her either. Lily was standing in front of the group of first years, telling them to be sure to ask older Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs (you can tell by what colors are on their robes!) for help if they got lost. Potter was beside her, but he was silent and not fidgeting for once, instead looking rather attentive. It was like seeing a dog decline food - unnatural in Messalina's opinion.

"Can we just go and meet Lily there?" Marlene asked in a low voice and Messalina guessed it had something to do with the way Black and Peter had perked up when they'd walked in. Marlene could stomach Sirius Black, how Messalina had no idea, but she wasn't a big fan of Peter and he looked about ready to say something to them.

"Yes, I'm starving," Mary said, yawning widely and grabbing Messalina's hand to keep her from lingering. Had it just been Peter, Messalina might've stayed behind to say more than just a 'good morning' to her Herbology partner of the last several years, but it was far too early to deal with Black. He still hadn't aged out of the habit of spraying the whole table with scrambled eggs when someone said something funny and Messalina couldn't handle her robes being wrinkled and covered in egg. Plus, she had blushed enough today, she didn't need to talk to Remus and do it again."Lily, we'll meet you in the Great Hall."

Lily waved her hand absentmindedly as her three roommates made their way out of the Common Room, too worried about filling the first years' minds with as much knowledge as possible to think about something boring like breakfast. Mary let go of Messalina's hand when they were safely in the corridor, but their attempt to avoid an early morning conversation with the Marauders failed as the portrait hole opened again and they heard Peter's wheezy laugh. Mary turned and glared at Messalina (who could do nothing but throw her hands up in surrender) before pausing and waiting for the others to catch up. Apparently she wasn't in the mood to be rude before she'd had her morning tea, which was a surprise to Messalina, who often found Mary was the most disagreeable in the morning.

"Hello boys," Mary called as the Marauders approached. Peter was practically glued to Sirius' side, still laughing from whatever had been said on the way out of the Common Room, and Remus trailed after them, hands in his pockets and looking deep in thought. How anyone thought Sirius, playboy extraordinaire and notoriously obnoxious, was a better catch than handsome, mild-tempered Remus Lupin, Messalina would never know. And as someone with a terrible track record of being attracted to boys as handsome and cocky as Sirius, Messalina considered herself an expert on the subject. Thank Merlin she'd never been interested in Sirius Black - she would've had to avada herself or throw herself off the astronomy tower.

"Hello to the loveliest ladies of Gryffindor House," Sirius said as he walked up to them, smiling flirtatiously at Marlene who scowled at him.

"Just Gryffindor? Way to insult us on the first day of classes, Black," she snapped but Messalina saw her lips turn upwards ever so slightly. Maybe Pierre had some competition, Messalina thought before quickly quashing the idea. She had seen the picture of Marlene and Pierre that she had brought back and Messalina wasn't sure Pierre had competition anywhere, let alone from a boy who didn't know how to chew with his mouth closed despite his upbringing.

"Have a nice summer, Lina?" Peter asked as the set off for breakfast and she smiled, happy to be away from Mary who was visibly fuming that the boys had joined them, Marlene and Black who were bickering about if Potter should be Head Boy, and Remus who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than here right now. She'd take the friendly Peter Pettigrew out of any of those choices any time, especially considering the walk to the Great Hall would likely be lengthened as they ran into people they hadn't seen since the last school year.

She chatted pleasantly with Peter, regaling him with stories from her week long trip to Spain with Lily and filling him in on details about the twins' Auror training program. He told her about his mother, a pureblood witch, who had become obsessed with the royal family during a trip to London and had insisted on going to see the changing of the guard nearly twenty five times over the course of the summer. Giggling, she turned to ask Remus how his summer was but he still looked deep in thought and she chose not to start the year off by annoying him.

By the time they reached the Great Hall, Messalina was grateful that Mary had been in such a pissy mood about the boys joining them as it meant she had gone ahead and secured just enough space for the girls to sit between two clumps of younger Gryffindors. Messalina bid Peter goodbye and hurried over, relieved to be able to stop worrying about embarrassing herself in front of Remus for a half an hour. Lily showed up with Potter and the first years not long after looking harried and plopped down on the bench demanding they kill her if she ever said she could tolerate James Potter. The girls agreed, but Messalina looked further down the table to see said boy looking disheartened as his friends tried to cheer him up. The movement of her head must've caught Remus' eye as she saw him staring at her intently and she turned back to her friends so quickly it was a wonder she didn't get whiplash.

The girls spent the majority of their breakfast time comparing time tables (they were all jealous of Mary who was only taking three N.E.W.T. classes and had all of Friday off every week) and Messalina was pleased to learn Lily was in all of five of her classes, Marlene in DADA and Charms, and Mary in Transfiguration. They spent the rest of breakfast debating about who their new DADA professor would be as whoever it was was still noticeably missing from the head table. Mary would not for the life of her give up the idea of a werewolf, Marlene was theorizing that it was some handsome foreign fellow she was destined to fall in love with, Lily guessed a former auror, and Messalina assumed it would be someone like all their previous professors: grossly incompetent and useless. The other girls booed her for her lack of faith in Dumbledore, who had stressed the importance of the class in his address to the Great Hall the previous night, but in the end conceded she was probably right.

The girls left Mary at breakfast as they went off to their first DADA lesson of the year, promising to let her know if they suspected anything odd about the professor. Mary, who was going to be in Divination first, said she would be opening her mind to the possibility of uncovering the professor's secrets. With Mary's insistence on debating about the professor gone, the girls changed their conversation to what they hoped to do before they left in the castle in less than a year for the last time.

Marlene wanted to be able to secure a job with Madam Malkin by displaying a wardrobe collection based on things at Hogwarts, Lily wanted to be a proper Head Girl and set an example for others, and Messalina was striving for the Es and Os she needed on her N.E.W.T.s to get into the Auror program. They were debating the merits of a proper Head Girl as they entered the classroom, though they fell silent as they noticed the rest of the class was oddly quiet. The girls took their typical seats towards the front of the room, Marlene and Messalina together and Lily sitting beside the bubbly Hufflepuff prefect Jenny Connors. They were just about to ask Jenny how she was doing when the doors to the professor's chambers flew open with a bang, the whole class staring up at the balcony in awe.

An ancient looking wizard with a hunched back and a cane stood at the top of the stairs, glaring down at the assembled students through thick, horn-rimmed glasses. His face was grizzled and Messalina guessed he hadn't shaved in several days, though it was hard to tell because it had grown in rather patchy and covered most of his face. He made his way down the stairs gingerly and the whole class silent, whether out of fear he might collapse or in wonderment, Messalina wasn't sure. He made his way to the front of the room, fixing his stern look on Potter and Black who had sat together and were clearly trying hard not to laugh at something. Feeling his gaze on them, the pair shut up and Messalina blinked. She'd never seen anyone but Dumbledore get them to be quiet.

"I am Alexander Vector, former Auror. This year is not going to anything like your previous years. Professor Dumbledore has asked me to come out of retirement to teach the talentless children of this school the art of Defense. This is not going to be a class for the weak - if you're hoping for an easy course, you had better get out of this room right now and not look back," the professor paused for effect and Messalina couldn't help but frown at being called 'talentless'. She was, after all, the best at DADA in the school, though it wasn't really saying anything because her previous professors had each been a bigger fool than the last. "That being said, this will be the most important class you ever take. It could mean the difference between life and death. There will be no such thing as Houses in this class - you will be paired based on skills from what I could make out of the notes your useless former professors have given me. I've heard of fighting between Houses in the corridors - there will be none of that in this classroom. This is the N.E.W.T. level, act like it and you will be rewarded."

"I've heard of this guy," Messalina murmured to Marlene as the professor started shifting around papers on the front table. "Retired because he wasn't bringing any Death Eaters back alive. I guess Dumbledore's trying to send some kind of message that-"

"Messalina Lucien!" The old man shouted suddenly and Messalina felt her eyes pop out of her head as she turned to the front of the room, expecting to see him glaring at her for talking. Instead, much to her relief, he was still bent over the parchment on his desk, apparently reading off a list. He lifted his head, peering around the room for her and she raised her hand with more confidence than she felt. He looked at her appraisingly before nodding to himself, muttering something under his breath that she couldn't catch. "You Licorous and Yelena's girl?"

"Technically," she replied slowly, eyebrows furrowing as she tried to figure out what was going on. None of her professors had ever mentioned her family to her face before, not even Slughorn who was certainly the type. Professor Vector just made a noise of acknowledgement before turning towards the parchment in front of him again, still muttering.

"Gather your things and go stand over there," Vector gestured towards the wall behind him vaguely, and Messalina blinked at him in surprise but did what she was told. It wasn't until she was standing by herself at the front of the room, gazing at the rest of the class that she realized what it meant to be chosen by skills. And Severus Snape was sneering at her from his seat, evidently believing himself to be the second best, which was unfortunately likely considering his obsession with the Dark Arts. She wondered if she would get expelled for strangling another student before deciding it was a risk she was willing to take. "Graham Pucey! Get your stuff together, you're partners."

The relief she felt when Snape's name wasn't called was short-lived as she saw Pucey approaching her. His black hair was slicked back in a way that made it look like he didn't care about his appearance but Messalina guessed he was rather like Marlene in the morning - getting up at the crack of dawn to apply half a hundred potions to his face and hair. Graham Pucey was, after all, Sirius Black's main competition in the looks department as far as the female population of Hogwarts was concerned.

"Hey Lucien," he said quietly as he stood beside her, jerking his head towards the back of Professor Vector. "Think this guy knows what he's doing?"

"Let's hope so," she replied, already feeling as though her favorite class was going to be ruined by a Slytherin who didn't seem to know how to be quiet. They'd had classes together over the years, even DADA last year, but she wasn't sure they'd ever spoken. She'd liked it that way - she tried to avoid her cousin's House at all costs.

"Snape! Lupin!" Vector yelled and Messalina felt her eyes grow wide. She was, rather inconveniently, still looking at Pucey, which she noticed only when he had to duck his head, likely laughing at the comical look on her face. Snape and Lupin were coming up from the same aisle and Messalina wondered which of the two was more displeased by the turn of events. Snape was looking murderously at the back of Remus' head, who had at least plastered a neutral expression as he walked to the front of the room.

"This'll be my most interesting class," Pucey whispered and Messalina couldn't help but nod. Snape might hate her for supposedly stealing Lily from him, but he hated the Marauders with a passion Messalina had rarely seen. Remus might have never actually done anything to him but he also was completely unable to prevent his friends from taunting the boy, which seemed to infuriate Snape even more. Messalina had been at the lake with the Prewetts after she finished her O.W.L.s and had witnessed Snape's humiliation in front of the whole assembled school first by the Marauders who lifted him off the ground, then Lily who stormed off when he called her a mudblood, and then supposedly by Potter again when he used 'scourgify' to clean Snape's mouth out. Messalina had missed the last part and had only heard about it that night from the Prewetts because she had taken off after Lily and the pair spent the rest of the day hiding out by the unused Herbology greenhouses, sitting mostly in silence and soaking up the sun.

She was drawn from her reminiscing as Remus stood beside her and 'Black, Higgs' was called. John Higgs, like Snape and Pucey, was in Slytherin, but Messalina had actually spoken to him before. He was dating one of Lily's good prefect friends, Jenny Connors who happened to be a muggleborn. That earned Higgs a spot in Messalina's heart as she was certain his three-year rather serious relationship did not lend itself well to the rest of the pureblood Slytherins. She supposed she should also give Pucey some credit as well as he was practically inseparable from John Higgs. Higgs and Black came up from the same aisle, jockeying for whoever got to walk ahead of the other as the aisle only had room for one to comfortably walk.

"Think it's a coincidence it's all Gryffindors paired with Slytherins?" Pucey asked quietly as they both watched Higgs shove Black behind him so he could walk first. That further endeared her to John Higgs as Black was forced to follow behind, visibly pouting. Pucey did have a point, she realized she looked around the room. As they were N.E.W.T. students, their Houses were forgotten in scheduling and there were students from all four Houses in the class, though the room was mostly Gryffindors and Slytherins. Jenny Connors was the only Hufflepuff she saw in the room.

"Doesn't seem like it," she conceded, shrugging at Lily who was giving her an inquisitive look from across the room. At least Pucey was talking to her, she conceded, most Slytherins ignored or mocked her. She was certainly happy she wasn't in Remus' place. She'd consider dropping the class and choosing a new career if she had to be paired with Snape.

'Evans, Potter!' was called next and Messalina snorted, covering the noise quickly with a rather extended fake coughing fit. Lily was staring daggers at the professor, who was obliviously continuing down the list and calling for Jenny Connors and a Ravenclaw named Montgomery to be next. Potter already had his things packed, Messalina noted, but he just walked to the front of room instead of theatrically proposing to Lily that the fates had once again selected them to be together. Messalina's eyes slid to Snape next, who was holding his wand so tightly his knuckles turned white. She hoped he snapped it.

"How long until they get together?" Pucey asked with a smile and Messalina scowled. Not only was this Slytherin rather talkative but he was nosy too. This would be a long year. She chose not to comment, instead glancing at Remus who was staring intently at something on the far wall. She followed his example, knowing all too well if she looked at Lily she might burst out laughing at her misfortune.

Sorting the students into pairs took a large chunk out of the class and by the time all the students were assembled behind Professor Vector, Messalina was longing to do something other than just stand and stare at her peers. She got her wish as soon as the last two students (Peter, who was bright red from being outed as the least skilled in the class, and a Ravenclaw boy she remembered vaguely took their place and Vector waved his wand, the tables stacking on top of each other and going to the sides of the classroom. Vector stepped into the newly opened space, appraising the students thoughtfully.

"You know about dementors, I'm sure. Nasty creatures, untrustworthy and disloyal. You may never come into contact with one, but I want to test your abilities beyond what your previous professors have been able to. We will be practicing the incredibly complicated Patronus Charm today, which repels dementors and could very well save your life one day," Vector announced, his eyes meeting each student's in turn as he spoke. They were all listening raptly, interested in learning something other than the inside of their textbook as their previous professor had believed in. "We will first practice the incantation and the tricks to the spell, then at the end of the lesson, we will test who is able to actually conjure a corporeal Patronus. I want to know what I'm dealing with here. Spread out!"

The students did as they were told, standing with their partners in the open classroom space and looking expectantly at the professor. Remus, Messalina noticed, was standing far closer to her and Pucey than he was to Snape, who was glaring at the back of Potter's head from across the room. Vector walked them through the incantation, making them all repeat after him and practice the wand work until Messalina thought they were going to waste the whole class away and they would never be able to test them out. Just when she was starting to think about how she ought to have eaten a larger breakfast because she was getting hungry and she still had Herbology before lunch, Vector said he was satisfied with what he had seen, or was growing just as bored from the lesson as Messalina was. He ordered them to start focusing on their happiest memories, telling them to try the charm when they were confident they had selected the strongest memory they had.

For Messalina the memory came to her faster than she would've expected. There had only been one time in her life she had been speechless and only one time she thought her heart was going to explode from joy and prid: when she'd been named Charlie's godmother in her second year. Prior to that moment she had felt like a burden on the Prewetts no matter how many times they tried to dissuade her of that fear and she often likened her arrival in their life as if the twins had brought a stray dog home and refused to let it be sent to the pound. But as they gathered around the Prewett family's Christmas tree that morning, Molly had declared they couldn't imagine their lives without her and that they knew just the way to finally make her believe she was as much a part of the family as she truly was. And would Messalina do them the honor of being two week old Charlie's godmother?

She had thought it a joke and looked around the faces of everyone else in the room but they were all smiling knowingly, looking at her with such love and acceptance that she had promptly burst into tears. Someone had navigated Charlie into her arms and taken a photo, which hung above her bed to this day. Her in a bright pink pair of pajamas crying hard and Charlie (who resembled a raisin) in a blue blanket also crying. Concentrating as hard as she could on that first ever feeling of true family, Messalina said the incantation and waved her wand just as Vector had shown her. To her (and the rest of the class') utter amazement, a creature burst from the end of her wand.

She focused hard on it as it ran around the room. It looked rather like a weasel, but was furrier and stouter. Messalina squinted but still couldn't figure out what it was as it dashed around her peers' heads. They had all gone silent as they stared at whatever her Patronus was, which aided her concentration. Well, until Marlene sneezed loudly from behind her and the creature faded away to nothing. It had only been a few moments but it seemed an eternity and she stared at where it had disappeared.

"A mongoose, very well done Miss Lucien. That's it for the lesson, keep practicing everyone and see if you have any talent yourselves," Vector announced as silence fell upon the class. Everyone was looking at Messalina as they picked up their things and as she made to approach Lily, she felt a bony hand on her shoulder holding her back. Messalina turned, half expecting to see Snape hex the life out of her for no particular reason, but instead saw Vector peering at her from under a set of rather bushy eyebrows. "Stay behind a moment."

She lingered awkwardly as the rest of the class filed out, Lily and Marlene giving her curious glances as they walked by. Messalina was certain they would be waiting in the hallway for her to fill them in when class got out, or at least Lily would be as they had Herbology together next. Once all the students were gone and the door was shut firmly, Vector staggered over to one of the desks on the side of the room and sat down heavily, gesturing for Messalina to do the same. He looked her over as she sat down, his brows furrowed and a frown on his face.

"You looked disappointed in your Patronus' form, Miss Lucien," he said after a moment and she nodded. She was rather unimpressed by her Patronus - she'd heard of lions, tigers, and bears and had expected her own to be as equally impressive. Not a slinky little mongoose that scuffled through the air rather than galloped or instilled respect or fear. Vector scooted his chair closer to hers, examining her face closely from behind his glasses. "Do you know the story of the mongoose, Miss Lucien?"

"No, sir, I don't."

"During my years as an Auror, I worked often with my counterparts in India as we worked to track a rogue British Auror who was believed to be hiding out there. While I was there, I learned the story of the Brahmin and the mongoose. Now, a woman found a mongoose and treated it just like her son, bathing him and feeding him. But, she didn't trust him because she thought he might hurt her real boy. One day, she went out and told her husband to watch the baby and make sure the mongoose didn't hurt it. The husband left his son and the mongoose behind to go find himself food. Miss Lucien, do you know what the mongoose's natural enemy is?"

"No, sir."

"The snake. While it was just the mongoose at home with the baby, a snake entered and went to kill the baby but the mongoose loved the boy. He killed the snake to protect the boy he considered to be his brother. He ran off to show the woman what had happened, believing himself worthy of her trust and wanting her to be proud of him. The woman, seeing the mongoose covered in blood, thought he had killed her son and killed the mongoose. She made her way home where she realized what she had done and grieved for the mongoose that had been so worthy and useful," he concluded, gazing out over the grounds. Messalina was on the edge of her seat listening to the grizzled old man speak and she blinked when he concluded the story. "And so, Miss Lucien, now that you know the mongoose, are you ashamed to have him represent you?"

"No, sir."

"You wish to be an Auror, do you not?"

"How did you-"

"A word of advice: don't expect that society will welcome you back when you kill Death Eaters to protect them, Miss Lucien. Be very careful of the fate you choose. You may go." He dismissed her abruptly with a wave of his hand, still looking over the Hogwarts grounds thoughtfully.

"Thank you, sir," she replied, heaving her bag back onto her shoulder and heading towards the door. She opened it to see Lily was, as expected, waiting for her as were Peter and Remus, the only other Gryffindors still in Herbology. As she approached them, she couldn't help but agree with what Graham Pucey had said earlier: this might be her most interesting class yet.