"Where could we brew it, do y'think?" Sunny asked the twins. They were walking down the hallway to their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Hogwart's newest addition, Professor Moody.
"Not Myrtle's bathroom, that's for sure." George responded thoughtfully, a hand rubbing his cheek.
"Yeah," Fred groaned, "Godric knows ickle Ronnie blew that one for us."
Sunny thought back to that incident. Polyjuice potion had been found in the pipes coming from her bathroom after the "Golden Trio" had brewed some in their second year, a rather amateur attempt at trying to find out who the Heir of Slytherin was. It hadn't ended well for Hermoine Granger either. Sunny had caught a glimpse of her as she was rushed to the Hospital Wing: hair, whiskers, and even a tail! Worst of all though, was that Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was now kept under stricter surveillance by teachers, and no longer an option for many of the twins' devious plans.
"Well the Knight's Nook isn't an option either," Sunny frowned, "We may have all fit in there with ease when we were twelve, but with all the ingredients and the cauldron, there'll be no space. Not to mention ventilation; the recipe calls for Cordswhip Root, and that stuff stinks to high heaven."
"Good thing it's right quick to brew," Fred said, noticing a small group of Gryffindor's trickling into the Great Hall, no doubt to put their names into the cup.
As the trio turned around a corner, Sunny smacked into something hard and fell backwards. Above her stood Marcus Flint, Graham Montague, Xander Lofthouse, and Miles Bletchley.
"Watch it, blood-traitor bitch!" Lofthouse snarled at her, but Flint snapped his hand out, grabbing Xander's shoulder.
"Now, now, Xander. Don't be rude to our friend," his smile was sickeningly sweet as he extended a hand out to help Sunny up. Sunny ignored his proffered hand, standing on her own, and glancing at the twins beside her. Both seemed to be seething, but knew that they were outnumbered and outmatched. Flint's eyes wandered over her brazenly as he nodded to himself. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon, Lysandra."
Sunny pressed her lips together, pushing past her housemates and dragging Fred and George along towards DADA.
"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?"
"Are you okay, Sunny?"
"What a perverted prat!"
"Asshole."
"Git."
"Honest though," Fred said quietly, "Has he bothered you before?" She ducked her head, her face turning red.
"Uh- no, no he hasn't." Fred's eyebrows pulled together, and his gaze swivelled immediately to his twin. George looked thoughtful, Sunny was clearly lying; the girl was absolutely wretched at it, taking way too long to answer and with the tell-tale blush of shame. The pair conversed with their eyes, trying not to alert the small Slytherin, and at last shook their heads, deciding to converse more freely back in the safety of the Gryffindor tower.
Professor Moody's class was an interesting one, to say the least. Within the first day, he was showing his students the Unforgivable Curses, and promising to try out a few by next week. Sunny was uncomfortable around him, and even the twins could understand why. He had shouted at them while in his office grabbing their textbooks, for passing a Puking Pastille to Lee. Turned the other way and through a wall, he'd seen it. When he called on Sunny to answer one of his questions, she squirmed in her seat, before reluctantly admitting the answer. If the twins noticed anything off about her behaviour, they kept it to themselves.
From DADA, the trio split up, with the twins heading off to Muggle Studies with the Hufflepuffs, and Sunny taking Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws. Sunny offered a smile and a wave before disappearing around a corner to make her way to McGonagall's class.
On her way, she passed a familiar tapestry, labelled as "The Defeat of Feller's Dune." Halting before it curiously, she studied the woven characters, noticing a dog in the corner. Realizing the time, Sunny made a mental note to come back after supper to explore her hunch further.
Transfiguration passed by mostly without incident, Sunny's wand was cherry, with a unicorn tail hair, providing her with a rather distinct talent for Transfiguration and duelling.
At dinner, Hogwarts was joined once more by the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students, both schools haughtily taking their places at their tables of choice. It didn't miss Sunny's notice that more of the Durmstrang students tended to gravitate towards the Slytherin table. The Beauxbatons girls were less picky, but did seem more in numbers with the Ravenclaws. Dumbledore's speech was short, reminding the students of their day-count until the names were chosen, and warning once more about the age-line. At this, his eyes seemed to twinkle, directed at the two red-headed twins at the Gryffindor table. Sunny snuck a glance back at them, seeing that they seemed in light-hearted discussion about something. Around Sunny at the Slytherin table sat Adrian Pucey, Theodore Nott, Arabella Finch, Terrence Higgs, and Nia Goldsworth. Terrence was telling Theo and Nia a joke about some Muggle in London, while Adrian and Arabella seemed deep in conversation.
"Hey, Sunny, you're helping those Weasley twins try and enter the Cup, aren't you?" Adrian paused from his conversation to speak to her. Arabella and Theo both raised their heads to look at her curiously.
"I suppose I am, yes," Sunny said, "Are you planning on entering?" Adrian had turned seventeen over the summer, being a year ahead of her.
Adrian's forehead crinkled, "I'm still deciding."
Arabella gave him a nudge and smirk, "C'mon, show your Gryffindor side." His response was to roll his eyes and put his arm around her, giving her straight, dark hair a tug.
Quite suddenly, food began appearing on the table: stews, pot-pies, casseroles, and huge plates of meat and vegetables. The discussion was put on hold as everyone helped themselves to the feast, pouring pumpkin juice and tucking into their meals.
"So, what's your plan with your Weasleys?" Nia asked excitedly. Nia was a pretty girl, curvier than most, with light brown hair, and grey-blue eyes. It was she and Arabella who were Sunny's closest Slytherin friends, the two girls always providing humour with their razor sharp wit and undying loyalty. They were also roomed with Daphne Greengrass, and Amy Frome, the latter two being sweet, but more distant than the three friends.
Sunny's lips turned up as she turned to her friend, "It's a daft plan, and they'll never pull it off, so I shan't tell you." She offered with a sly smirk. Nia made a face and flicked some mash potatoes into Sunny's pumpkin juice, knowing full-well that the smaller witch would tell her later on when they were somewhere more private. Theo leaned over and gazed into her cup apprehensively, eyeing the floating bit of potatoes with disgust.
After dinner, the group made their way down to the dungeons, observing an intensely silent match of Wizard's Chess between Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini before heading up to their dorms to work on homework and get ready to sleep.
"The Defeat of Feller's Dune" didn't even cross Sunny's mind as she dropped off to sleep.