Ch 19- Halloween

At last, after much anticipation, Halloween was finally here. Lysander had never been so eager to get through a holiday before- he was practically sick of the color orange and the smell of pumpkins. He bit into a waffle with his usual dispassion, more interested in reading the theories behind priori incantatem than actual nourishment but knowing that if his Quidditch Captain caught him skipping a single meal the day before a match, she was more than willing to force-feed him.

The murmurings in the Great Hall grew a bit in volume and he frowned, finding he had to reread a sentence due to the distraction. If it got much worse he would readily surround himself with a silencing charm. He had come to breakfast early to avoid the largest of groups; the Professors weren't even awake for breakfast yet. He should not have to deal with excessive gossiping for another hour.

A few moments later Zoey's voice said "Morning Sandy" as she sat beside him.

He grunted in his usual manner and flipped the page, too engrossed for conversation but certainly extremely annoyed with the conversations of his housemates that only seemed to be increasing in volume.

Zoey didn't say anything more, but judging by the sounds coming from his right she was choosing to have pancakes this morning, and drowning it in syrup. She didn't distract him with a single question. He waited for her to ask about the pumpkins that were floating over their heads- whether they had replaced the candles or surrounded them, if they were all cut differently or exactly the same, or if someone had designed each individually and if so, who?

Not a single one of the questions he'd expected was posed, and not for the first time Lysander wondered if Zoey could tell when he was seriously interested in his reading material rather than just keeping his mind busy. She was full of endless curiosity, but it never seemed to arise at times like the present moment when Lysander could feel an epiphany or a theory was slowly piecing together in his mind, about to form, demanding his deep and unbroken concentration…

"Which one?" A deep, almost unrecognizable voice growled as fists slammed the table, making all the silverware clatter.

He clenched his jaw in annoyance at the incident that had stopped the flow of his thoughts. Lysander glanced up at the culprit, then jerked his gaze up to stare in surprise. Albus Potter was towering over them, looking over their heads and practically oozing a vile, contemptuous anger that made everyone lean back.

"Umm…" Zoey sounded about as confused as he felt. "Al? What is it?"

"Which snake did that to you?" Albus spoke in a growl again, still staring behind them. Other people were starting to stand behind him, a wall of aggression directed at Slytherin table. Rose Weasley stood at the edge of the crowd, but she was looking at Albus more than anything else.

"Did what?" Lysander asked in shock, knowing it was very rare for Albus to pin an unfortunate occurrence on Slytherins. Unlike his older brother James, who pointed to them for every problem. He glanced over his shoulder to see how the prideful House was reacting, only to notice something from the corner of his eye. A blur of green in the midst of Ravenclaw blue and bronze.

He turned to Zoey in a rare moment of shock, looking her up and down. For once Zoey's hair was the only normal part of her appearance, an innocuous brown. Something had turned her lips a startling red, lined her eyes with a royal purple and turned her skin a deep emerald green. Slytherin green.

She didn't seem to be in pain or feeling ill. In fact, Zoey was smiling at the expression of shock on his face. "Happy Halloween Sandy. Where's your costume?"

He frowned, repeating in confusion "Costume?"

"Yeah," Zoey's eyebrows drew together. "You know, trick or treat?"

"Sorry- what? A costume?" Albus interrupted, his anger fading a bit.

"Yeees," Zoey nodded slowly, looking at the crowd behind him. "I'm Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West."

The name obviously meant something to some of the gathering crowd of people, and as they groaned there was a wide variation of emotions from amusement to anger.

Lysander thought back through the many pseudonyms of famous Witches throughout history but still didn't recognise it. "Who?"

"From The Wizard of Oz? 'I'll get you my pretties, and your little dog too'?" She said the quote in a high, cackling voice, and a few more people made expressions of recognition.

"The muggle story?" someone called, "They turned your skin green because of a muggle story?"

"They? Who are- oh," Zoey followed their gazes to the table behind her, finding a matching wall of Slytherins stares that had arisen against the accusing glares directed at them. She looked between their expressions with growing unease. She had the growing inkling that she'd somehow walked into a minefield. "Um, I don't know what the lot of you are thinking, but Slytherins don't actually have a monopoly on the color green…"

"So... " Albus's voice had become very, very small with embarrassment as he asked "So they didn't hex your skin green to see if you were a squib?"

"No, I turned my skin green. For Halloween. Trick or treat." Zoey frowned, asking her own question "See if I'm a what? A 'squid'?"

Albus looked mortified, glancing to Lysander for help. Unfortunately, the Ravenclaw Prefect was more distracted by the way wands were starting to find their ways out of pockets and into hands. A fight was brewing and he could not be distracted with personal drama- not even Albus's. He sensed more than saw the Slytherins moving, some of them stepping forward while others stepped aside, not some but all of their hands holding wands.

Priscilla Parkinson hadn't even stood up, but as she lazily pulled out her wand and set it by her butter knife people from all Houses backed away nervously. It was the Slytherin next to her though who took a stand and said "So, since you lot don't have a reason to lynch us today, why don't you go mob a real culprit, like the bigot that told you to blame us."

"Oi," Rupert, the Hufflepuff Prefect, stepped forward in Albus's defense. "What else would you expect him to think Zambini? You people have been targeting the kids from the Scandal's list all week."

Marcellous Zambini went red in the face, but couldn't bring himself to deny it. That squib list had put a target on the back of every name there- and it wasn't just Slytherins picking on the supposed squibs, but they were certainly being the most persistent. He hadn't even been able to get Melissa to come out of the Hospital Wing, where she'd been sleeping every night since the secret school paper was publicized.

"Hold on a second-" Zoey cut through the tension as she considered the situation, standing up slowly with her own frown of disapproval at the assortment of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. "You just assumed that because my skin was green, I was hexed? And you decided that the Slytherins just had to be responsible? Are- are you insane?"

Protests from Slytherins was to be expected, but at the chiding of a more respected house the confidence of the group dwindled, a few people trying to go back to their seats without being noticed. Rose was one of the ones that succeeded.

"Well based on the color-" Someone finally protested, and Zoey zoomed in on him.

"'Based on the color', the first kind of person you should look for is someone as stupid as you are." Zoey hissed vehemently. "What sort of moron would be so obvious as to chose a color that points straight back to them? Do you think they'd be so blatant? If anything, the lot of you should have been looking at each other as suspects."

"But, but they…" Albus was trying not to take the 'moron' thing personally but found it rather hard to do, horribly aware of how right she was. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to disappear through a hole in the floor.

Zoey spun on her heel to face the Slytherins, looking until she found Marianngela Zambini and Marcel Avery, sitting a few tables away. "Sorry," she said quietly, then rose her voice and she said it again in the quiet hall "I'm sorry."

The Slytherins now looked just as confused as the rest of the hall was.

"Why are you apologizing?" someone hissed, and Zoey's shoulders tensed.

"Because. Because, that is the right thing to do when it is your fault someone has been treated unfairly. The better question," her voice was laden with tightly-controlled anger as she turned around again, her green skin practically glowing. "Is why aren't you apologizing? Don't you care that you jumped to a conclusion so far off the mark that you made yourselves into complete fools? Look at you! Standing there like you're about to start a fight! You should be ashamed!"

A number of them put their wands away quickly.

"I'll admit we should have asked you first," Daniel said, his Gryffindor Prefect badge glinting next to the Head Boy pin as he folded his arms. "But we weren't that far of the mark. They're Slytherins."

"And that's enough of a reason to hate them? To distrust them? God, you're like the world hating German kids for generations after World War II!"

Once again, her words only impacted the people that knew muggle lore.

Seeing this Zoey growled under her breath, moving to a different tactic. "I don't know why the lot of you are thick enough to hate people based on- based on a color, of all idiotic things, but I'll have you know it is perfectly possible to love a Slytherin too. I do."

The Great Hall quieted with such abruptness it was like a physical blow. Priscilla looked at her sharply; that was quite a lot of pride in that statement.

"Wh-" Albus recovered his voice first, immediately thinking of Scorpius Malfoy and speaking around what felt like a boulder that was suddenly lodged in his stomach. "Who do you mean?"

Her green eyes met his and she lifted her chin, even as Lysander saw her grip the table so tightly her knuckles turned a light lime green instead of dark emerald.

"My Mother."

Albus breathed a sigh of relief, but he was the only one. Nobody else moved. Nobody dared breath under her gaze, which was practically daring them try to challenge her affection for the woman that had birthed and raised her.

The door to the Great Hall opened and Jonovan Orion walked in, wrapped in bandages from toe to shoulder. He paused in the doorway, looking between the two groups of hostile students and his gaze narrowing as he saw Zoey standing in the middle.

"Is there a problem?" His voice echoed as though amplified as he walked in, though he hadn't used a wand.

Albus broke his gaze from Zoey's and was about to answer the History of Magic Assistant when one girl screamed, and another joined in. Orion's progress was halted as a mob of his fangirls swarmed him, trying to find his injury and yammering-

"What happened?"

"Does it hurt something awful?"

"Can we help?"

"I'll nurse you!"

Rasputin hissed violently and bit at the first girl that reached forward to touch his master, narrowly missing her finger. His growls grew louder with disappointment. She screamed a moment and jumped back, and the others gave him some breathing room too.

Making a note to give Raz a treat after this was dealt with, Orion swiftly corrected their misunderstanding. "I am not injured, girls, I am dressed as a mummy- it's a muggle tradition, to dress as something dangerous and magical for Halloween. I grew up with it." His swift gaze gathered the lack of costume attire in the Hall, and he smiled at his fans so brightly Gilderoy Lockhart would have been overshone. "To be honest girls I've been hoping for a piece of home lately, and a Halloween like I'm used to might lift my spirits. Would you help me celebrate? It's a lot of fun."

"Oh- oh yes! Of course we will!" A swarm of his fans ran off to do as he asked, grabbing their muggleborn friends for help learning what they should do to perform this muggle tradition properly.

Lysander looked back at Zoey, seeing that the transfer was literally trembling from the high emotions she'd been wielding. He put his book away and stood up, the first to speak in the dead air heavy with aggression. "I think this is a wonderful opportunity to help the new Assistant feel welcome in Hogwarts. Zoey, would you help me get a costume for today?"

Zoethia Malam took a deep breath, and when she released it she seemed to shove all her negative emotions out with it. She smiled at Lysander in gratitude for his support, a bounce in her step as she stepped away from the table. "Of course. Anyone else want a hand getting something together?"

She caught the gaze of a few Ravenclaws at their table, and after a moment they stood, their courage bolstered to follow the example their Quidditch Keeper and House Prefect. After them a few more people joined in as well. Lysander stayed at the back of the group that trailed off to follow Zoey back to their Tower before the first class of the day, looking at Albus and the people that were still standing in confrontation with Slytherin table.

"She's right." Lysander said gently, like he was explaining something to a child. "You should feel ashamed."

Albus dropped his gaze to the floor, walking away without even pretending to disagree.

Marcellous Zambini released a breath of tension as the Ravenclaws left, the crowd dispersing back to their House tables for the rest of breakfast or out the door to join in the costume celebration. He still waited a little longer to put his wand away and sit down once more. "Well. What do you make of that?"

He wasn't looking for an answer, but he got one anyways. Priscila Parkinson laced her fingers together and put her chin atop her knuckles, watching Zoey leave with keen eyes. "She's got guts."

Zambini did a double-take at her. That was about as close as Priscilla ever got to giving a compliment. "What?"

"If she had a bit more self-preservation, she might have made a decent Slytherin." Again, this kind of back-handed praise was the best Pricilla ever spoke of a person.

"S-self-preservation?" Zambini wondered if he'd never woken up this morning and was just dreaming this entire ordeal. He pinched himself to be sure and winced.

"Wasn't it obvious?" Priscilla smirked at his gobsmacked expression, picking up her bag and leaving after she announced "Zoey Malam just tied her own noose."

"You're joking," Roxanne said in a whisper-hiss, gaping at Lorcan.

"I'm dead serious," Lorcan assured her, "There was almost a fight in the Great Hall over breakfast, but Zoey stopped it by siding with the Slytherins."

A Ravenclaw, siding with those snakes? Yeah, that would definitely stop a building brawl short. "What was it over?" She asked curiously, but the only answer was a shrug.

"Dunno. It got hushed when Orion stepped in, supposedly."

"Is that also when he started… this?" Roxanne gestured around the classroom with a trace of nervousness. Near every girl there was wearing some kind of costume, cat ears and devil horns and halos popping out of near everybody's hair.

Orion himself was wrapped in loose bandages to look like a mummy as he stood behind Professor Binns' unused desk, preparing for class to officially start.

"It's almost scary how many girls followed his lead. Even James would have had trouble getting this many to follow him- and it's not even lunch yet!"

Rox agreed completely, glancing at James's empty desk. He was skipping History of Magic today in preparation for tonight. They'd given Orion the usual note from Healer Prin and had gotten a cold, calculating look in response- she shivered as she remembered it. She would bet her wand that the Assistant knew it had been fake, but he'd taken it anyways and that's what they needed. Thinking about it, she'd make the same wager that all the Professors knew notes regarding James's health were fake, but Orion had reacted differently.

"Mister Lorcan-" The Assistant's voice made them both start in surprise and realize that the class had started. "What is the title of the goblin leader that was publicly dunked into a pond before leading the rebellions of the 18th century?"

"Umm…" Lorcan's face scrunched, then it cleared with apparent awe as he realized he actually knew the answer. "Urg the Unclean." He remembered because it was ironic, since he'd been dunked in water and all.

He wasn't the only one surprised; they entire room turned and stared at him for a good five seconds before the Assistant regained their attention. "Well done. Catch."

Roxanne intercepted the small candy that was lobbed at him, looking at it in wonder. She didn't recognise it, so it wasn't a Wizard Wheezes candy. Maybe it was something new from Honeydukes?

"Mix Roanne, you did not earn that- give it to him and answer me: what is the motivation behind the giant territory movement?"

She remembered this one. It had been in practically their first lesson of the year. "Space- if Giants live too close together it leads to unnecessary and unending fights. By expanding their territory that can be avoided."

Another candy was tossed in their direction, once again a brand they didn't recognize, then he went back to his lesson.

Lorcan and Roxanne looked at their wrappers with interest, trying to guess what they did from their names.

Lorcan looked at his square in confusion, speaking in their usual whisper "What kind of star do you think this bursts?"

"I dunno," she whispered back, also looking at hers instead of the board. "And isn't cheering potions banned from food stuffs?"

He shrugged, tucking it into his pocket and pulling out a sheet of paper to pass notes with her.

They were halfway into the lesson when Orion noticed that despite having passed out a number of candies in the spirit of Halloween, not a single one of his students was eating any. "Do you not like candy?" he asked the latest recipient curiously.

"Um… no, I do, sir." Abram held his at arms length. "But sir, I don't want my tootsie to… um… pop."

The room echoed with smothered laughter.

"Ah," Orion said with a slight twitch of his own lips. "Well, Mister Abram, how about this- if you try it, I'll excuse you from tonight's homework assignment?"

The boy couldn't get the wrapper off fast enough- Orion was ruthless about homework, giving half a page every night and known to keep students hostage at the end of a week until they made up all of their missed assignments. It was only after it was in his mouth that he remembered his worry and Abram froze, his eyes wide as he awaited his impending doom. He tensed so much that he actually rose a few inches out of his seat, his face deathly pale.

This continued for a few moments until Orion took pity on his pupil. "Nothing is going to 'pop', lad, I assure you. Tastes like chocolate, right? Try chewing it."

Slowly, clearly not believing his luck, Abram moved his jaw and ate the candy, a relieved smile spreading. "It's good. Um- why's it called a 'Tootsie Pop'?"

Orion smiled, and Roxanne would swear half the other girls in the room swooned. "Because that one's a small version of the candy 'Tootsie Rolls'. These are muggle candies." He said the last bit with obvious amusement.

"So…" Roxanne spoke up. "This 'Jolly Rancher' doesn't have a cheer potion?"

"Nope."

"And the starbursts don't burst anything either?"

"Not at all."

"So muggle candies just…" She didn't know how to ask the obvious, but Orion seemed to read her mind.

"...just taste good?" Orion smiled. "Precisely."

Everyone looked at each other in silent shock, too used to exploding wiz bangs and other candies that changed face colors and sent smoke out of their ears to be comfortable with trying a new concoction in public. A couple Gryffindors dared a few more bites of the various sweets, and it was only after they too were unaffected that rest of the room dared to try their own.

"This is delish," Lorcan smiled as he chewed his starburst, leaning back in his seat.

Roxanne made the mistake of trying to chew her Jolly Rancher in the same manner, only to find that really wasn't the best of ideas. "Ow," she swore and put her hand over her jaw, wondering if she'd chipped a tooth. She felt with her tongue- she had chipped a tooth!

Prin could fix it in an instant, she knew, so she asked for Orion's permission to go get the healer's help. It was the middle of class, but it really hurt. She was still holding her jaw as she walked off, almost out the door when the Assistant said casually, "Oh Miss Roxanne? Bring Mister James's homework back with you."

She stopped in surprise. "Sir?"

"His homework." He blinked shrewdly at her. "I will need it by the end of the day; I had planned to go to the Hospital Wing at lunch, but since you are going to be seeing him bring it back with you."

Rox could have kicked herself. The dumb fake-note they'd used to excuse James's absence! The entire class was well aware that James Potter wasn't actually in the Hospital Wing- and that to actually meet James and really get his homework would take Rox a suspiciously long time.

"That won't be a problem," a glint in his eye made it apparent he knew her dilemma as well, "Will it?"

"He…" She fished for a plausible excuse. "He might be asleep."

"He's family. Surely he wouldn't mind you grabbing it for him- after all, if it's not in his bag then I shall have to visit him later to be sure that he did it."

His voice held the undertone of a threat, and Rox knew she was trapped. She'd already made a big deal about wanting her tooth fixed, so she had to go- but to return without James's assignment would pin him for skipping class and herself for helping him. Morosely she wished that Lorcan had been the one to hand in the letter. Or that he'd gotten the Jolly Rancher. His candy was too soft to chip a tooth.

… had that been intentional?

"Oh, and make sure you have Prin write me a fresh note for you as well."

There went the plan for another forged excuse. Rox clenched her teeth as she walked out, ignoring the way it added to the ache of her jaw. This new Assistant was a real pain to work around.

Healer Prin was a busy man. He was always rushing around his Hospital Wing with contained urgency, snapping bedsheets into place or reorganizing shelves of medicine or- and most dreadedly- buried beneath a pile of paperwork. On this particular Halloween, he was sitting at a desk between two leaning towers of paperwork.

Marcel Zambini was barely given a wave as he walked inside, going straight to the curtains around one of the beds. He tugged on it, only for the soft fabric to stay firmly in place; the hospital curtains were enchanted for privacy, so they wouldn't open unless the person inside was awake and willing to see visitors. He sighed, not really surprised but still discouraged because of it.

"Melissa? It's me. I've got your classwork, open up." He knew his tone was borderline pleading.

Her voice, by comparison, was so soft he could barely hear it. "Are you alone?"

"Yes." Of course. Melissa wasn't talking to anybody else lately, not even Malfoy or Nott. Priscilla maybe, he honestly wasn't sure. Priscilla was still as much of an enigma to him as she'd been the first day they'd met.

Melissa, though, could be even harder to understand. She opened the curtains then went straight back to her cot, sliding under the thin cover. "Just leave it with the rest. My homework is-"

"-the stack on the right, yes, I know." Zambini sighed, unhappy with how routine this was becoming. "Mel, when are you going to come back to the dorm?"

She shrugged into her pillow.

"Melissa, com'on. You can't seriously be planning to stay here the rest of the year, are you?"

She shrugged again, not saying a word.

He was tempted to strangle her. "Seriously? Seriously. Okay then- just stay here. The rest of us are gonna spend the night searching the Restricted Section for a cure."

"There is no cure." Melissa whispered, sounding like the words broke her heart.

"Then we'll make one. And then we'll shove it down the throats of every brute that's been after you; maybe it'll turn them into-" he cut himself off instinctively, then cursed. The only thing more insensitive than saying it was obviously trying to not say it.

"Squibs." Melissa finished, "Turn them into squibs. Like me. But they won't be pureblood squibs. They'll just be normal squibs."

He felt a fury in his chest. "We'll make one, Melissa. I swear it." There wasn't much else he could say, really.

As he walked out he saw that Prin's paperwork had somehow ended up all over the floor, the man cursing as he had to re-sort it all. A Legacy redhead was furiously scribbling on a piece of parchment as he did, both of them unaware of the Slytherin leaving their midst.

He double-checked that the curtains around Melissa were closed before leaving; he wasn't about to let an enemy know their weakness.

"Happy Halloween!"

"Nice costume."

"Thanks! Happy halloween- oooh, is that one of my masks?"

"Yup!"

"Looks amazing! Happy Halloween!" Zoey stopped to celebrate the holiday with practically every Ravenclaw at their table. Of all the houses they had the best holiday costumes in her opinion- and that wasn't just because she'd had masks prepared for her housemates. Though that certainly helped her opinion.

As she walked through the Great Hall she was welcomed by her House with ease. After the almost-fiasco that morning at breakfast they has responded in the usual intellectual way- debating from an analytical viewpoint. After a little bit they'd come to the conclusion that Zoey had been right about their jumping to conclusions, and having grown accustomed to her strangeness causing upheavals in their lives moved past it fairly quickly.

Zoey was unaware of the continuing stares and occasional glares that followed her from the other houses, however. And the few she did notice made her beam with pride that her Elphaba costume was so well liked.

She sat next to a raven mask with a smile, putting some pork chops on her plate. "Hey Sandy."

"Not my name," Lysander grunted, the exchange having become their equivalent of 'hello, how are you's.

"Did you make that one?"

"Yup." If he had to wear a costume he had decided to use one that was not as childish or silly as others were wearing. He'd created an entire headdress from basically scratch, the 'beak' of the raven going forward from his forehead so that his vision remained unimpaired and he could read books and blackboards with ease. And being a Prefect of Ravenclaw, the bird had simply made sense and been an easy inspiration.

"Down to monosyllables I see. Must be a good book." Zoey smiled and went back to her food, pulling out her own notes and looking over them as she waited for Lysander to find a good pausing point in his reading.

Lysander finished the same passage he'd been reading that morning and put his bookmark on the page, looking at the younger Ravenclaw with a stern gaze. "You almost caused quite the mess this morning."

He thought he was intimidating. Zoey thought he looked nowhere near as imposing as Jon could be. "I did nothing but poke the hornet's nest. Or, snake hole, lion and badger dens, in this case. There's a lot of animals- why do their nesting habitats have such different names? You'd think they'd make an umbrella term for moments like this."

"Moments like almost sparking an explosion of decade-old feuding?"

"What? It's not that unusual."

Lysander sighed. Considering who Zoey was, she was likely being serious. She had a way of dancing through such sensitive subjects with so much obliviousness that it was a wonder she didn't incite violence more often. He put a finger on the brow of his nose, where the bridge his glasses would be if he wore them. He technically did over summers when he couldn't use spells to help him read small texts, so the habit carried through the rest of the year. He opened his eyes to catch sight of some Gryffindors staring and whispering in their direction, obviously talking about Zoey. Whether it was about her loudly expressed opinions, the muggle tradition she'd somehow inserted into the midst of their wizardly ones or her Slytherin blood Lysander had no idea, but the specifics didn't matter. They were talking about her, and it likely wasn't good.

He looked at her to see if she'd noticed, but of course she hadn't. She was eating her carrots with happy ease, checking her hand-drawn diagram of a thestral. She felt his gaze and looked up at him. "Are you ready to talk?"

How she noticed one look but not the focus of the Great Hall didn't make sense, but Lysander had gotten used to it. "About what?"

"Um… a lot." Zoey looked back down, drumming her fingers on the table nervously. "I just… I wanted to- thanks."

Lysander waited for her to get her words together.

"Thank you for- for this morning. If you hadn't joined in the costuming it probably would have been a bigger deal. And- and for a lot of other things, like answering all my questions all the time and being so patient with me. I know I'm not easy to get along with…" she gulped, her heart racing more and more as she thought about how much of a pain she must be to be around. "I mean, you need a lot of patience. And I guess it's sometimes like babysitting for you- without the actual baby, I know. I'm not that bad. But you do help me out with a lot with things I don't know and you spend a lot of time sitting and- Thanks. I'm gonna shut up now…"

Zoey finished with a mumble and what he expected was a blush underneath the green skin of her costume.

Lysander had felt his eyebrows rise at her self-awareness; he hadn't thought she had any. It seems she did know the troubles her and her personality could cause, and though he wouldn't have chosen 'babysitting' it was an apt description. She was like a problem child with incorrigibly bad habits but good intentions.

Having reached this conclusion he shrugged and looked back to his book. "You're welcome. It's no problem or hassle." If anything, having her around meant other people were less likely to interrupt him than if he were alone with his books, and Zoey was actually better at staying silent during his moments of concentration than most anyone.

Zoey grinned and threw an arm around his shoulder, giving him a hug. "Thanks Sandy."

"Don't call me that." He immediately replied, but there was a smile tugging on his lips as he did so.

Rose Weasley smiled as she relaxed in the Gryffindor Common room. The day was done, it was the end of the week, and for the first time in practically ever she didn't have to dress for Quidditch practice or waste time tutoring the transfer. She leaned back in the heavy chair with a sigh that sounded more like a groan.

She was caught up in all her essays, caught up on all the materials for the next tests, the only project she had to work on was a group project in Ancient Runes, and she needed her partners for that. She had nothing to work on- though there was always revising to do. Glancing at the clock, she realized she has so much time she could even draw a bath.

A bath. A real bath. She'd have to sneak into the Prefects bathrooms for it, but if everyone was at the feast it would be empty… her muscles relaxed at the thought of soaking in warm water for an hour, floral scents wafting through the air…

She should have known even the idea of going easy on herself would be shattered momentarily.

"Rose!" Roxanne's hissed voice came out of nowhere. "Rosie, where are you?"

With a groan she picked up her head from the nice, soft, oh-so inviting cushions. "What?"

"Woah, hey, no need to bite my head off," Roxanne pulled the Invisibility Cloak off her shoulders after she'd made sure they were alone for the moment.

Gritting her teeth, Rose wished that were actually possible. "What're you doing here? You should be outside the Tower by now."

"Right, well, about that…"

This can't be good, Rose inwardly groaned. Why can't it ever be something good?

"I have detention. On Halloween."

"What! From who?"

"The Assistant." Rox practically spat, sitting on the couch beside her cousin with a huff. "He broke my tooth and sent me to the hospital wing and wanted me to get James's homework while I was there, but of course he wasn't there so I had to turn in mine with his name and a bunch of spelling mistakes."

Blink. "What?" One word, three times, in one conversation. Rose was struggling to follow her friend's story but the main message was clear, "So you can't get into the Tower tonight?"

"Any moment now Orion's rat is gonna track me down and watch me until I give him the assignment. Lysander's not gonna help me- it'll take ages!"

"Murtlap." Rose corrected automatically, feeling a knot form in the pit of her stomach as she realised where Rox was going with this.

"Whatever!" She threw her hands in the air, then remembered they were holding something. She pushed the silky fabric of the Invisibility Cloak onto Rose's lap. "So, since I'm under rodent house arrest, you need to go with James and Lor."

"WHAT!?" Make that four times in one conversation. Rose jumped three feet off the couch, holding the cloak out like it was a piece of contraband viable to explode. Or worse, send her to prison for thirty years. "But- I can't- this wasn't the plan!"

"Plans change!" Roxanne jumped to her feet as well, doing her best to calm her cousin and glancing nervously between the stairs to the dorms and the fat lady's portrait.

"Not my plans!" She threw the offending item down, despite its undoubtedly vast significance and rich heritage and general importance. "James's plans- yes. Lorcan's plans, of course. But not my plans. The boys can just do it themselves."

"No they can't!" Rox's voice gained an edge of panic now too. "For one thing- they're boys, they never get it right."

Hard to argue with that…

"For another- they're boys! They can get in the Ravenclaw Tower, but they won't reach the girl's dorms! It was my job to actually find something, but since I can't it literally has to be you! No one else knows!" The last part she whispered, realizing their voices were beginning to carry.

Really hard to argue with that. Several of her father's choice swear words flitted through her mind, but the one that came out was the only one her mom ever let him say. "Bloody hell," Rose was surprised by how relieving it was to swear aloud and actually mean it, "I have to do everything, don't I?"

Still thinking in terms of tonight, Roxanne nodded readily. "Exactly."

Rose scowled and pulled on the Invisibility Cloak to hide the unattractive expression that no doubt marred her features. "Where are they meeting?"

"Fourth four corridor, the secret room by the-" she cut herself off as the portrait opened, and Rasputin waddled in with a toothy grin. Even though he was only the size and talent of an average rat, both girls would swear there was a glint of abnormal intelligence in its beady gaze.

"...suits of armor…" Rox finished in a whisper as she backed up, as always unnerved by the magical creature Orion kept as a familiar. It followed her steadily until she sat at a table and pulled out her books, a light sheen of sweat forming on her upper lip as she started the essay. Sooner she did the sooner this creepy rodent would be gone.

Remembering Albus's suspicions that the Cloak didn't work on animals, Rose tried to walk with a combination of stealth and naturalness in case of either eventuality. As she reached the portrait though she agreed with his assessment; Razputin's beady eyes had seemed to watch every step she took until the Fat Lady closed behind her with a hempf.

"Bloody hell."

The Library was silent. Of course, it often was- but this was a different kind of silence. This silence was an absence of life, a lack of another living soul in the vicinity. Scorpius Malfoy grinned; it was perfect. Not even the professors expected people here on the night of the Halloween Feast. He motioned Nott and Zambini forward, watching their backs just in case as they moved along the bookcases to the infamous Restricted Section.

They didn't run into a soul, living or dead- the Ghosts were all at the Feast as well. Peeves hadn't even been seen all day. As he broke the last ward protecting the Restricted Section, Scorpius hoped that bit of luck would hold out.

He pulled the list of books out of his pocket. Hoping to make the most of their time, he tore it into three sections and passed one to Nott and Zambini. He'd listed any title's relating to unusually weak or unusually strong wizards, thinking at the least they might have a comparative reference that could point their research in the right direction. "Meet back here in thirty minutes. Go."

They scattered, sticking to the shadows of the shelves and blending in with ease. Scorpius quickly lost sight of them, but was too focused on his own progress as he kept an eye out for any further magical wards he might come across. If they got caught here there'd be no possible excuse that could save them from Sybbles' wrath.

He pulled down the title Great and Grateful, then all but sneered and tossed it away when he saw Gildoroy Lockhar'ts trademark grin on the front cover. He should have known a title that cheesy had been written by that fop. He'd bet an obsessed fan put it in here, with no consideration of the actual contents. At the last moment though he remembered exactly how magical this library was and dutifully put it back in its correct spot, moving on to the next one down the shelf.

Ten minutes later he was tempted to chuck Weak Wizards, the World of Plague as well. He hadn't exactly had high hopes based on the title, but the level of disregard this author had for squibs was inhumane. It was full of borderline torturous 'treatments' that never had a chance of working, one of which called a lobotomy was quoted from a muggle reference.

That was the point at which he slammed the heavy tome shut and, quite vindictively, locked it before shoving it back in its place. Then he pulled it back out, cast a charm on the lock to jam it for what he could only hope would be all of eternity before shoving away again, making the entire shelf sway from the force.

He checked his watch and cursed- that had been way more than ten minutes. Or maybe it'd taken them longer to breach the library wards than expected; either way he didn't have nearly as much time as he'd planned to look through the last book on his list. In fact, he should probably be heading back to meet the guys now.

…Malfoys never quit till a job got done. He rushed his way to one of the back shelves, climbing up a ladder to find a book that claimed to be a copy of Merlin's Memoire. The Merlin. If there were ever a stronger wizard, he'd like to know. Gingerly pulling it off the shelf and treating it with far more respect than any other book that night, Scorpius looked at the faded words with a critical eye and concluded that if it was fake, it was done well.

Even the foreward looked as old as it was supposed to be, old english and cursive script and everything:

This Chronicle tis the tale of the reknown Merlin, a Great Wizard who risked exposing us all to protect his dear friend Arthur Pemberton, loyal Steward of cruel King John. Despite the many who find fault with him now, I belive there may be some such as thou, o reader, who may find interest in the truth. Though I may only depict his tale till the eve of his disappearance after his battle with Mordred, one of the darkest Sorcerers ever known. Merlin was not born in the castle, nor was he born in servitude to Stewart Pemberton. His given name was Emrys, and he was born but a peasant. Like all wizards he was naturally raised far from Royalty…

Looked like a lot of the famous tales had things wrong. No 'King' Arthur of England, though he supposed anyone versed in Muggle history would know that. Nonetheless the half paragraph bothered him, so he read it again. And again. And on the third time he realized the phrase that was bothering him.

...depicts his disappearance after his battle with Mordred, one of the darkest Sorcerers ever known…

...He had no idea there were any claims of Merlin being defeated…

Mordred, one of the darkest Sorcerers ever known.

One of the darkest Sorcerers.

Mordred, a Sorcerer. Scorpius felt his eyes widen, finally realizing what bothered him. 'Sorcery' was a muggle term. Made up to go with their silly stories of gentle dragons and cute fairies that sprinkled flying dust.

Sorcery didn't exist.

There was only Witchcraft. And Wizardry.

...wasn't there?

Dun dun DUN! Hope the wait was worth it; we've got sooo many people sneaking around next chapter- Slytherins in the library. Gryffindors in Ravenclaw Tower. Zoey and Orion- oops, ya'll don't know that yet.

But you will soon!

~E