A/N: Essentially, what you recognize belongs to the goddess that is J.K. Rowling, and what you don't belongs to lil' ol' me.
Fred and George tried and tried to no avail, with rather identical faces of confusion.
"Why isn't this bloody spell working?" George groaned. His mouse remained, quite stubbornly, a mouse.
"I've been telling you," Genevieve was almost to the end of her rope. If they didn't get this soon, she was ready to Transfigure their mice herself. "You have to really concentrate." She demonstrated, her mouse becoming a snuff box almost immediately. It looked effortless, but looks were undeniably deceiving.
"Very good, Ms. Snow! Ten points to Gryffindor!" McGonagall almost smiled. Then she turned her attention to the twins. "I trust you'll be practicing this for homework, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley?"
"Yes, ma'am," they replied with resignation.
Appearing almost bored, Genevieve returned her ornate snuffbox to its original form. "Honestly, if you gits would put an ounce of the effort you use to plot your mischief into it, you'd be acing this class."
"Yeah, well, it's not fair. Both your parents were Ravenclaws," Fred retorted defensively.
Genevieve laughed. "And I doubt the ability to Transfigure mice is genetic."
"How do you even manage it?" George marveled. "You plan stunts with us, hang out with Charlie, write to your dad, and you're still ahead of every class. Teach me your ways."
Genevieve snickered. "It's called time management, Weasley. Might want to try it sometime."
"Watch it, Snow, or you'll turn into Percy!" George teased.
"Please," she retaliated. "I could never have an ego that big." Once she'd gotten to know most of her House, she found that Charlie's comment about his being a prat not far off, almost instantly disliking the git. He felt no shame in advertising he felt the same way.
"How could you like her?" Percy had asked Charlie once. "She's arrogant, and she's got no respect for authority. And always helping Fred and George with their pranks; it's no wonder they continue with her egging them on!"
"Sure, she respects authority, Perce," Charlie had replied. "She just doesn't respect you." From across the common room, Genevieve quite delighted in the shade of crimson Percy had turned, nearly matching his hair. "She's also the smartest person in any given room. And as for their shenanigans, I find them quite amusing at times. She might egg 'em on, Perce, but she keeps them grounded. I can't imagine what they'd have gotten themselves into without her around. Plus, you gotta admit," he continued. "The girl's got style."
Percy had simply huffed in reply and stalked off.
Suddenly, the bell rang, and as she turned to leave, McGonagall called, "Ms. Snow?"
"Yes?" Genevieve stopped, curious.
"Ten points to Gryffindor for helping your friends. I daresay I saw Mr. Weasley's mouse turn gold a bit towards the end. You've got a real talent for Transfiguration, Ms. Snow." She smiled and walked into her office.
A/N: I'm hoping to have a minimum of ten chapters per "book". And sorry there isn't much of a storyline in this one; it'll really pick up when Harry comes into the fray.