The days that followed felt a lot calmer at Hogwarts castle. Now done with the excitement of a new school, all that was left were an average school and its classes. It was a little surprising to note how little I saw of students in other houses. I saw Hermione from time to time, as Gryffindor had potions with us, but there wasn't much time with them aside from that. Every once in a while I met with her in the library; she was one of the few I constantly saw in there, aside from a few Ravenclaws. Fred and George were a little more persistent than that. Often they would try to invite me to spend one time after dinner with them, or during free periods. I was even starting to get better at telling them apart, their personalities were the slightest bit different, but I still had issues with it. The two were fun to be around and, even if I had originally used them for information, I was glad we had met.

"Why do you keep talking to those weasels?" Draco grumbled to me one morning. He hadn't glared at me since last time, but he was still being pouty. Even for his stupidly high standards toward the people he associated with, he seemed to particularly dislike Fred and George.

"I like them. And it's not weasel, it's Weasley" I grumbled back, continuing to eat my breakfast. Draco let out a low grumble in response. Behind him, Pansy made a face. Ever since that night I went to Draco's room, he had been acting a lot snippier with me. That was a little annoying, considering we lived together, but I would make due.

Movement caught my eye as Fred and George waved at me from the Gryffindor table, exaggeratedly mouthing something and pointing to the door. From experience, that was their way of asking if I wanted to meet after our meal. I shook my head, pointing at Draco. I was going to spend some time with him for the day. The two shrugged before turning back down to their food, and to laugh with some friends. Draco was a baby; if you didn't give him constant love and attention he just started to cry like one.

Soon the owls flew into the Great Hall. All at once, they began to drop student letters and parcels. Draco's hawk owl, Balthazar, dropped him off a package from home, one full of sweets. Being the charming boy he is, Draco gloated to whoever would listen. But, being charming myself, Draco offered me some treats. Nibbling on what he offered as dessert, I was surprised to see my own owl in the mix.

"Whiskers, what are you doing here?" I cooed, at my tawny owl.

"I can't believe you actually named it that" Draco complained, but I ignored him. It was strange, yes, but I liked it.

My owl lingered a second on the table, dropping off a small square parcel. I picked it up, seeing it was just bigger than the size of my hand. As a thank you, I threw a small piece of my breakfast, which he caught fairly easily. Whiskers flew out of the Great Hall as I began to open the package. Inside was a pocketbook edition of Moste Potente Potions, a potions book I didn't actually have yet. It was a bit more complicated than what we were dealing with as first years, and had been looking into it. I frowned a little, more surprised at the choice. My parents had no reservations about buying me expensive things, but they weren't usually that spot on about my tastes. They didn't normally care enough to pay attention.

"It has a letter" Draco mentioned, fluttering a piece I had missed.

I set my items down between us and took the letter from him. With a smile, I realized it wasn't from my parents, but my aunt Sasha. She was my father's sister, also powerful and well-known in her circle, she lived in their hometown in Russia. Aunt Sasha was easily one of my favorite people in the world. But, seeing as she lived so far, it was hard to keep in contact with her.

My dear Katerina,

I wanted to make sure to congratulate you on your placement in Slytherin. From what I have heard, it is an extraordinary house. And I know how much you love potions, so I thought this could help get you ahead of the rest of the kids in your year. You have always been exemplary for your age, and I know you will rise above them in no time.

With love, your loving aunt, Sasha.

P.S. I heard from your father that Draco will be attending Hogwarts with you. If you see him, make sure you say hello, and give him a kiss for me.

Draco looked over my shoulder, trying to read the letter from me. Draco looked up, having finished the short reading. With a smile, I mouthed a hello and blew him a kiss. He gave me a frown before turning away, blushing a little at the visible show of affection. Behind him, I saw Pansy frowning at me too. I wasn't really sure what her reason was, but I chose to ignore it, turning back down to grab one more of Draco's treats.

"Hey" Draco called, wanting to catch my attention. "Do you want to go outside?"

It seemed his attention was fixated on the Gryffindor table. Fred and George had left their table, which might have had something to do with to do with his decision. I gave him a nod, standing up form the table. Pansy continued to glare as we got up and left the table. I wasn't exactly sure what had caused her change in attitude, but I was sure it wasn't something I had intentionally done. Draco walked a few paces ahead of me,

"Katerina," I heard Theodore call for me, "your book."

I paused a moment, circling back to grab it. Draco kept walking forward, while I lingered at the Slytherin table. I reached over to grab my gift, smiling a thank you to Theodore as I hugged it to my chest. Next to it was the leftover box of Draco's sweets. Now that he had walked away, Pansy was kindly helping herself to the rest of them. I thought a moment, whether I should do something about it, before giving myself a nod.

"I'll be taking these too, thank you" I smiled at her. If she was going to be difficult, then so was I. Pansy kept glowering at me as I waved the rest of them goodbye.

Draco was a little ways away. But he hadn't gone too far away. He had stopped at the Gryffindor table. The round-faced boy from before had apparently gotten a parcel too, that Draco had found interesting enough to grab for himself. I rolled my eyes as I went to meet him. He could very well buy a Remembrall for himself, but he always liked to cause trouble. By the time I met him he, along with two of his roommates, had caught enough attention to bring in a professor. I gave him a look until eventually he set the gift down, and walked toward the entrance hall.

Outside of the Great Hall, Draco was leaning against the entrance door waiting. He let out a small frown when he saw me. I frowned back before realizing he was frowning behind me. Gregory Crabbe and Vincent Goyle had followed us out. Like many other in our house, their family name sounded familiar but we weren't particularly close. Those two, in particular, they never really spoke much. Draco didn't look thrilled to see them, but he didn't ask them to leave either. We wandered around a while, not needing to do anything for quite some time.

Eventually, it was time to attend our first flying lesson. I had of course been on a broom before, as I assumed most my age had. Not to mention I had a childhood friend who had been quite talented on a broom, so I learned a few fundamentals from him. My father had taught me a few things as well, as he believed a powerful wizard had a well-rounded knowledge of all magical basics. Aside from lessons, Papa didn't really prioritize our time together, but I had learned to make due.

With our arrival, all of the first years Slytherins were there, we were just waiting on the rest to begin. I chatted with Daphne for a moment, waiting for the lesson to begin. Draco was off being his charming self with some of the other Slytherins. He and his roommates had been doing better, following the time he kicked them out. I wasn't sure what they found to like about him, as his personality was overall… lacking. Personally I found Draco adorable, but somehow I didn't think they had met the same criteria.

Finally the last of the Gryffindors arrive, and our professor began the class. Everyone was placed next to the individual brooms that had been dropped on the ground. Madam Hooch, our instructor, weaved through the lines as we called up our brooms, directing us on how to properly hold them. I caught Draco frowning at her a bit, not happy to be told he had been doing it wrong for years. Most picked it up fairly easily, and the class went on smoothly, until Longbottom managed to fall quite a few feet off his broom. Pausing the lesson a moment, Madam Hooch decided to take him to the hospital wing. As soon as they were out of view, Draco burst out laughing. Not long after, all the other Slytherins had joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy" a Gryffindor girl screamed.

Not taking the threat at all seriously, Pansy mocked her in return. Not wanting to involve myself in whatever this was going to turn into, I took a step away as Draco stepped forward. He had found something interesting on the ground; Longbottom's remembrall. Potter decided to make the stupid decision and get involved. He spoke up, demanding Draco hand over the gift, loudly and brashly. But he obviously didn't know Draco very well, as he wasn't one to listen to demands.

"Come and get it, Potter!"

Draco loudly teased, tempting him to follow. Not being as smart as I had thought he would be, Potter was falling for it. Harry grabbed hold of his broom, darting towards Draco.

"Draco!" I called out to him, but he ignored me.

I frowned, watching the two chase after each other. Potter was more impressive on a broom than I had anticipated he would be. I didn't think he had prior training, being muggle raised and all. He chased around after Draco with ease. Not that I had looked too far into his past, but the boy-who-lived sure drew attention around the castle. Crossing my arms, I continued to watch them run around after each other. The tossed and turned a moment before lingering to a stop. They exchanged a few words with each other, but not the fun kind it would seem. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could see them, and I knew that look.

"Draco Malfoy!"

I saw his eyes flick to me for only a second before turning back and throwing the remembrall as far as he could. Potter chased after, as Draco dropped down and dismounted his broom.

"HARRY POTTER!"

In a much louder tone, someone yelled for the other boy. Stepping closer to our class, Professor McGonagall interrupted the students, not looking too happy with Potter in particular. She sputtered out a few incoherent words, barely forming sentences as she went on. The professor grabbed hold of Potter, pulling him into the castle with her. A few Gryffindors tried to reason with their head of house but she ignored them, taking harry the rest of the way inside. Draco looked rather pleased with himself. Crabbe and Goyle looked almost as pleased as he was, sharing in his pride. I glared at him and his smirk waivered a moment, before reassembling and turning his self-serving smirk to the others. My frown deepened a bit at the reaction. He was acting off again; he was acting like his older self. After Potter was taken away for the day, Madam Hooch came back to join our course.

For the rest of the day I chose to ignore him. Draco didn't take too kindly to that. He kept insisting that we talk, not even sure what it is we were supposed to talk about. Following me for a ways out, he stepped into a vacant corner of the dungeon with me. Knowing he wouldn't quit, I wanted to find a good place for us to argue. Just because I was upset with him didn't mean I wanted to embarrass him in front of the others. Knowing him, I would never hear the end of that.

"Katerina, would you—"

He paused a moment, noting the look I was giving him. Draco rarely irritated me but when he did, I couldn't take it lightly. I kept looking at him a moment, waiting for him to start. But he didn't. Either not knowing what this was about, or having the same idea as me, he wasn't talking. Normally I would have waited for him to figure it out, but it was almost time for dinner, and if we took too long all of the good entrees would be gone.

"Look," I began, knowing this could take a while, "we're going to be late for dinner if we keep waiting like this. Why don't I just tell you why I'm upset and you can decide whether you actually want to apologize or not. You know I never fall for your fake apologies, anyway."

I stopped for a second, giving him an opportunity to reply. Draco gave me a frown, but nodded in understanding. I let out a sigh but nodded as well and continued.

"I don't like how you've been acting."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Draco replied with a frown.

"It means exactly what it means" I replied before pausing a moment. Draco and I had our problems in the past, but I thought we had grown past it. The original reason I had stopped talking to him was because of how he could be. When we had met again in the castle, I thought he had changed; that maybe he had learned his lesson. More than a year had passed now, since our original argument, but… "But you're acting just the same as before. And I don't like it."

"Same as before?" he repeated softly. Piecing what I meant together, Draco frowned a little more. "I thought we were over this."

"Apparently we're not."

"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" Draco frowned at me but I didn't answer, not entirely at least.

"I must not have noticed, what with you trying to charm the whole of Slytherin and all. You usually act your fake sweetest self until someone you don't like, in this instance Potter—"

"You know what" he interrupted, looking down at me intently, "I don't want to know. Do whatever you want."

I looked over at Draco to see him making that blank expression he always put on when he wanted to hide what he was really feeling; straight face, with cold, stony eyes. I stretched a hand and gave his cheek a poke, just to see if I could get his expression to change. His eyes softened a bit but not much else changed. I sighed and started walking, stepping past him on my way out of the dungeon. Most of the others would be at the Slytherin table already, and not a single one was the type to share.

In the Great Hall, I took a seat next to Daphne for dinner, rather than what my usual place would be next to Draco. He grumbled in shortly after I did, taking a seat next to Crabbe and Goyle. Once he did, Draco glanced at me to see I had found a new place to eat. Draco frowned in my direction, but pretended not to care otherwise. With the tension very clear between us, Pansy took that as an opportunity to take my spot. She shuffled herself to the place next to Draco, getting a little closer than I think he appreciated. I frowned a little, realizing why she was sat so close to him they could be touching.

Daphne and I spoke, mostly to ourselves for dinner. The conversation drifted about through a few topics, one of which included our most recent flying lesson. I made sure we didn't linger on Draco's little standoff with the Gryffindor. But according to Daphne, who had somehow already found this information, Potter hadn't been expelled. Madam Hooch had warned us we would be if found on a broom so, apparently, that had just been an empty threat. Looking over at the Gryffindor table I found Fred and George rushing over to where some first years were sat. They hunched over a few to whisper a bit, looking pretty happy about whatever they were talking about as Draco walked into view. I frowned next to me, not realizing he had left our table. Standing from the table, I excused myself, mainly to Daphne, and headed outside. I needed some fresh air.

"There you are" Fred, I thought, called with a smile on his face. George followed after him towards the end of the Gryffindor table.

"Hey" I smiled back. From the corner of my eye I saw Draco behind him, stepping away from the Gryffindor table. He seemed really pleased with whatever it was he had started over there. Draco paused having caught sight of me too, and noticing who it was I was talking to.

"We wanted to know if you wanted to come with us" George went on, drawing my attention back to him.

"We're going to meet a friend of ours. Wanna check out a secret passageway we think we found. Want to come with?" Fred went on to explain.

Ignoring the looks I was getting, I agreed to go with them. Both looked happy enough to have me along, and led the way out of the Great Hall. As we exited, I noticed Draco complaining about something to the boys next to him. The twins' friend, Lee Jordan, reminded me a bit of the two. He did, however, seem… less trusting. Not that I blamed him; his was the most reasonable reaction of the bunch.

Unfortunately for them, the passage they thought led out of Hogwarts, actually just directed us into a restricted section of the school. The two insisted it was still good to know these sorts of things, but it was clear they were disappointed. Even so, they did have a point. I wasn't sure how they had managed to track down the passage, or who they had originally heard the rumor from, but I was curious to find out. Suffice it to say, the two were interesting boys, and I was glad they had chosen my compartment to run into at the very last minute.

As time passed, and it got later in the evening, we said goodbye to Lee. Fred and George offered to walk me down to the Slytherin Dungeon. While they couldn't step inside without a password, there was no rule preventing them from lingering around outside, so I didn't see a reason to decline. On the way down, we spoke a bit about what had happened in the last few days. I mentioned my aunt, and the things they had left me, but nothing too exciting had happened that I cared to share. The boys, however, had a bit more insight. They knew how Potter had been taken away from our flying lessons, the reason apparently being much more lenient than I expected it would be. He was asked to join the Gryffindor Quidditch teams, and they had learned so as fellow members.

"Beaters" they announced proudly.

"Just keep it a secret, we're not supposed to tell people yet" Fred mentioned with a wink.

"So why are you telling me, if it's supposed to be such a secret?" I reminded them as we approached the Slytherin common room entrance. "I am in your rivaling house, you know."

"We trust you" George smiled at me.

"You trust far too easily" I smiled back at him. George's smile grew a little at that.

We had reached the bottom of the steps, and I turned to say goodbye to the twins. Fred leaned in and gave me a hug. Taken a bit by the gesture, I didn't push him off. Before I got enough composure to, George decided to join in, putting his arms around the both of us. I laughed a bit, stuck in the middle of the two. I had only known the two a few days, but they were more affectionate than some I had known for years. Ignoring the looks we got I said goodbye to them in the corridor, before walking into the common room.

"How was dinner?" Daphne asked as soon as she saw me step inside. Next to her, I saw Draco, along with a few of the others, having a chat. He paused when he saw me come in but turned away just as quickly.

"It was fine" I nodded and turned up to my room. This is exactly the kind of thing I didn't want to encourage out of him. So, until he fixed it, I wouldn't involve myself with it.