"You kidnapped Riddle...so you could have a private tea party?" said Ace incredulous.
"He's under a lot of stress due to a third party. I recognized the signs right off the bat, hence why I absconded with him," said Iris without any remorse or shame for what she did.
"Whatever you did certainly helped...he actually seemed relaxed for once and pretended not to notice some of the mistakes made by the freshman," said Trey.
The Alpha had been highly suspicious of Iris for her stunt, but there was no denying the fact she had calmed down Riddle's anger rather effectively.
He found it odd that the only thing she did was make a pot of tea and slip him a minor amount of calming draught.
"So am I allowed back yet?" asked Ace.
"Not in the slightest. Cater wasn't joking about the fact that you won't be allowed back until you return the tart you ate without permission," said Iris with amusement. "However Riddle was kind enough to give me a list of foods that are required and those that are outright banned. Including, oddly enough, chestnut tarts."
"Wait, seriously?" said Trey in surprise.
"Rule number 562, apparently. One must never bring chestnut tarts to an Unbirthday Party," said Iris, eyes laughing. Luna would love this dorm and it's absurd rules.
"Sorry guys, I almost caused you even more trouble," said Trey apologetically.
"Fortunately, treacle tarts are allowed and Riddle has expressed an interest in trying them."
"I don't know that recipe," admitted Trey. "I've heard of them, but we've never made them in my parent's bakery."
Iris was openly chuckling at this point.
"What's so funny?" asked Deuce.
"Treacle tart happens to be my favorite dessert, so I made a point of looking up all the recipes for it. Hence why I asked Riddle if it was allowed," said Iris amused. "Which is why you and Deuce are going to the school store to pick up the ingredients."
She had already checked, and Sam did take payments over the phone. After the mess with the goblins, Iris had transferred the majority of her gold to a different bank recommended by the Sisterhood. And as luck would have it, they were able to convert the bulky galleons into Thaumarks with little problem, so long as she paid the fee.
"You seem unusually motivated about this," noted Trey, as the duo ran to the store with her list of ingredients.
"It's treacle tart, why wouldn't I be motivated?" she replied.
Trey gave her a look. Her smile didn't diminish.
"That half-grown kitten that you call a housewarden needs to loosen up. If introducing him to my favorite dessert helps to ease some of the anxiety he has built up in him, then this entire headache will be worth it. Besides, I haven't discussed my payment for helping Ace with the mess he caused," said Iris.
That worried Trey.
"Your payment?"
Iris' smile was full of Black humor, and Marauder mischief.
"Would you say waking up an Omega you've only become acquainted with at two in the bloody morning to ask for a place to sleep because you screwed up is proper behavior for a card soldier in the service of the Queen of Hearts?" she said, eyebrows twitching.
"Absolutely not," said Trey without hesitation. "I would have given him a thumping for even considering it. Never mind how Riddle would react if he found out."
Iris' expression didn't shift. Trey looked at her properly and noticed the bags under her eyes.
"...Ace went to Ramshackle to beg for a place to sleep, didn't he?" said Trey.
"He's lucky I let him sleep on the couch in the common area, rather than toss him out," she confirmed.
"Do I dare ask what sort of punishment you have planned for him?"
"I was about to fall asleep after having to once again clear up his mess which would have been avoided if he hadn't skipped out on the punishment the headmage had given him," stated Iris flatly. "So I think it's only fitting that he helps me clean up the worst of the dust and grime around the common areas of Ramshackle on the first weekend we have free of classes."
Trey snickered at that. That did sound like an acceptable payback for his reckless behavior and he knew Riddle would approve of it, as cleaning was hard, dirty work.
Besides, everyone knew about the two freshmen who had broken the chandelier and had to get a replacement magestone.
When Ace and Deuce returned, Iris put them to work. Ace was blissfully unaware of the fact Iris was going to make him pay her back for waking her up so early.
Ace waited with baited breath as Riddle examined the tart they had made.
He took a small slice to test the sample product, and ate a bit of it.
"Acceptable," said Riddle. "However next time I won't be so lenient."
"That was lenient?!" said Ace incredulous. Riddle's glare was particularly effective at shutting him up.
Iris snickered, and was secretly pleased that Trey had no issue with her taking back the first two flops. She didn't believe in wasted food.
Riddle then cast a glance at Iris and Grim, who were still in their school uniforms.
"We can't have our guests join in without being appropriately attired," said Riddle.
Iris blinked, as did Grim.
"Wait, seriously?" said Grim excited. He was starving.
"You did help Ace atone for his mistake. It's only fair that you get to join in as well," said Riddle.
"And here my original plan was to order some take out and eat in the dorm," admitted Iris. She had to blink when Riddle used some magic to change her clothes to match everyone else.
The party was a lot of fun, and it almost felt like she was in Gryffindor again.
"So you're not eating any of the cake?" asked Iris.
"Can't stand sweets," said Cater. "One of my sisters went into a baking kick and I was stuck eating all her creations whether I wanted to or not. Hated them ever since."
Iris winced in empathy.
"I hear you," she replied. "I have a limited tolerance to junk food because I was forced to watch my cousin practically inhale obscene amounts of the stuff for years."
Most of her snacks were usually dehydrated fruits and vegetable, and she tended to lean towards healthier foods because making anything too grease laden only reminded her of all the crap the Dursleys made her cook for them. That and it always made her feel too bloated for her liking if she had too much of the stuff.
Cater blinked, mostly surprised he found someone who understood completely.
"So what was the deal with you kidnapping our prickly housewarden?"
"He reminds me of my adopted sister. Her parents were overbearing as hell too, and it was pretty obvious he was about to snap."
Iris' hand lashed out and without a second thought, she snagged Grim's collar and stopped his escape.
"Nice catch!" said Ace.
"We are guests here. Behave or I'll put you on a vegetarian diet...without any fish," she told the cat.
"Nyahaha...why should I?" said Grim.
"You want to be a great mage, correct?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "If you agree to behave and stay on your best behavior, I'll teach you what I know about magic and fix that aim of yours."
Grim paused in his mischief.
"You...would teach me magic?"
Iris rolled her eyes.
"If I can teach twenty kids how to properly cast a shield charm and steal someone's focus, I can teach you how to properly aim a bloody fire spell," said Iris.
Ace and Deuce looked at her in surprise.
"You know how to teach?" said Ace.
Iris looked around, saw some interested parties and went to Riddle.
"Would you be against me teaching some of your housemates how to cast properly, or at least hit what they're aiming at?"
Riddle blinked at that.
"I have no objections, but I would like to see what you plan to teach them first. I don't want it to clash with any club responsibilities."
Iris thought back on how things had spiraled out of control when she made the DA. She had the sneaking suspicion this would become an actual club, which meant a far larger number of people asking her for help.
"How does one go about starting a club, and what are the requirements?" she asked seriously.
Riddle seemed to perk up as he went into detail, since it seemed she was serious about helping his housemates improve.
He had seen Ace's ability to use magic. His aim was atrocious and his spell work was subpar. Deuce was just as bad, and the less said about Grim the better.
By the end of the second week at the school, Iris had a proper club formed with her as the club president.
On the plus side, she was now considered an unofficial member of Heartsabyl because she had an odd calming effect on their temperamental Queen.
"Remind me again why I'm here?" complained Ace.
"Your Queen agreed it was a suitable punishment considering you woke my ass up at 2 in the bloody morning for a place to sleep, despite the fact I helped cover your arse already," said Iris. "The fact you were only in that mess because you skipped out on a different punishment set by the Headmage did not help your case."
The fact Ace was acting like an idiot alpha around an omega who ruled his dorm probably didn't help either. Making him help clean the common areas as payback for her help would insure Ace at least learned something.
If not...well, Ramshackle had been abandoned for quite a long time and there wasn't a real end to the things that needed cleaning or repairing.
"So what are we doing then?" asked Ace.
"We're doing all the common areas, since I'll clean my room personally. And I have no issue with you speeding things up with magic," said Iris. "However some things will have to be done the old fashioned way."
"Uh... I don't know any cleaning spells," said Ace embarrassed.
"Well I do, and this is the perfect time for you two to practice your spellcasting," said Iris. "So first we'll work on your pronunciation, then you can practice your aim once you get it down."
Ace looked nervous, but was an attentive listener. He managed to get the spell down before Grim did.
Grim for the most part was very enthusiastic about going up in the rafters. Mostly because he kept dropping dust down on them both, to Ace's annoyance and Iris' fond exasperation with him.
"How much dust is in this place?" said Ace annoyed.
"Now you see why I asked for help...cleaning the common room is hard enough with just Grim for help."
Ace eyed the amount of work left to do, then looked at Iris.
"Any objections to me calling over help?"
Iris considered this.
"Tell Deuce and anyone he brings over that I'll feed them a home cooked meal if they help."
Ace was already calling Deuce. Apparently Cater happened to be within hearing range, because he showed up as well.
"I heard the words free food," he said.
"Let me guess...Trey's making another sugar laden dish you want to avoid," said Iris.
She had gotten into a long talk with Cater on his aversion to sweets, and the two had gotten around to discussing recipes and possible sugar alternatives that would be easier on him.
"That and it means Riddle can't get on me about homework," agreed Cater with an easy smile. "Besides, you're the first female student in NRC in over a hundred years. That's pretty big news in itself."
Iris wanted to twitch. First the youngest seeker on a house team in a century, now the youngest female student. She could only hope the rest of her school years didn't follow the same path her last school did.
"Any requests for dinner? I might have to make a quick trip to the school store for ingredients," she replied.
Ace wanted some cherry pie, Cater and Deuce were in the mood for ramen.
"Spicy ramen with extra boiled eggs it is then," said Iris cheerfully.
It was a good thing she had been experimenting with Asian foods recently. She at least knew how to make a basic spicy ramen.
Cater left one of his Split Cards with her, mostly because he didn't know if Iris knew how to cook or not.
By the time she was done with the ramen and the pie was cooling off enough to eat, the boys had mostly cleaned the worst of the mess in the common room. It was now reasonably presentable. She would have to either fix or replace the furniture, but it wasn't the dust covered mess she had arrived to.
"I smell food," said Ace.
"Hope you're hungry boys...I might have overdid it when cooking. And Ace, feel free to take the cherry pie back to the dorm with you if you want."
The boys took one bite...and all four agreed Iris was one hell of a cook. Ace didn't mind helping her out if this was the sort of reward he'd get.