Callidus kept expecting that his ruse was up - that at any moment, word would get out about his secret identity. And yet, after the first few hectic days of classes had passed, nothing happened, and Callidus was slowly able to calm his mental panic. He didn't think he was somehow safe. After all, he was dealing with Slytherin alumni, and Slytherins didn't just let things slide. But if the elder Malfoys hadn't acted immediately, it suggested that they were planning to keep their knowledge of Callidus's true identity a secret. It was likely that they would use it against him in the future. But that was the future - not now. It mean he had time to plan how he might deal with the situation, if it arose.

Unfortunately, free time to simply think wasn't a luxury that Callidus could afford - on top of school, he was inundated with messages from Hermione about interesting tidbits that might be related to his uncomfortable reaction towards the Gryffindors. And furthermore, Madam Filodoxos had given him a small sample of a number of rare ingredients that Callidus hadn't had time to experiment with, when he was experimenting in her lab. The urgency of the Orange Madness was more immediate than the unveiling of his identity. There was no shortage of things for him to stress about.

But Callidus was glad that he didn't have to face all his problems on his own. Harry and Draco were both supportive, with Draco agreeing to look further into the background of the fifth years, while Harry mostly just gave them dirty looks whenever he saw them. So far, no one (not even the Gryffindors girls) had provided any particularly useful information, but it gave Callidus a warm and fuzzy feeling on the inside that he mostly tried to shove aside, since it was a bit embarrassing. Growing up with Eileen and Tobias Snape had taught Callidus how harsh the world could be, but his old friend Lily had renewed his sense of hope in the world, and his new friends only strengthened that hope.

It was a bit over a week in January and he was in between classes, heading towards the third floor for charms, and tuning out Harry and Draco who were discussing Quidditch, when a small owl flew towards towards him, causing him to duck, rather than get a face full of feathers. But the little pygmy owl only looped around in the corridor, and Callidus felt something drop on his head. It wasn't anything wet (thank Merlin), and when he combed his fingers through his hair, he felt a small folded piece of paper. It was small enough that Callidus immediately gripped it in his palm, inferring that it was meant to be a secret (though really, how good of a secret was it to send a little owl after him like that?)

"What was that?" Harry wondered, staring in the direction where the pygmy owl disappeared.

"Looks like a bad prank to me," Draco answered, looking unimpressed.

Callidus only shrugged. He decided he'd read the note first before mentioning anything to his friends. It wasn't that he was intentionally trying to keep secrets. It was just a habit. All Slytherins would have done the same. Probably.

There was no opportunity to read the note in class. Flitwick had initially had them working on Finite Incantatem, which was used to end other spells, but after the Slytherin-Gryffindor feud, most of the students knew the spell already (it was a matter of practicality.) So instead, they ended up working on that and the freezing charm. After all, Flitwick saw no purpose in letting the students sit idle when there were spells to be learned.

Callidus finally had a chance to read the note after supper when Harry and Draco had left for Quidditch practice, and he was on his way to his lab to continue his work on modifying the owl-sight potion. Curiosity had been burning at him all day, and while some part of his mind thought that it was probably nothing, he still impatiently opened the note in the corridors, rather than waiting until he was in the safety of his lab.

Hi Callidus! The note cheerfully began. He immediately recognized Hermione's neat scrawl.

Caiside, Ginny and I finally found a place where we can meet. I mean, I know the feud has ended, but with all that's happened, we all figured it would be safest for you all of us if we just had our own meeting place. Actually, we found a few places, but I had a feeling that you wouldn't be pleased if you had to travel from the dungeon all the way to the sixth or seventh floor. There's an empty classroom on the fourth floor. It doesn't seem to lock, even with spells, but it's clearly unused, and none of us have seen anyone come this way. It's on the northernmost side of the castle. We'll be there all day (after classes are done, obviously.) Harry and Draco have practice today, right? We haven't forgotten your schedules. We hope you can make it!

Hermione

He thinned his lips as he contemplated what to do. He really did enjoy working in his lab (though the enjoyment was mingled with a great deal of frustration, since he was failing to make any breakthroughs.) On the other hand, communicating to the Gryffindors using this awkward, half-secret messaging system was tiring. He wanted to actually talk to them. Besides, they might have useful information to impart. Thus decided, he turned on his heels and made his his way through the corridors, up the stairs.

Finding the classroom on the fourth floor was easy enough, and when the Gryffindors heard his footsteps, they came out to greet him. He could feel his palms getting slick, and his breathing getting ragged, but at least he managed to look calm (or so he thought.)

"You made it," Caiside smirked, though her gentle tone belied her expression.

"Cal!" Ginny greeted brightly, and Callidus tried not to wince at her use of that particular sobriquet, as well as the fact that Ginny was standing alarmingly close. He took a step backwards.

Ginny seemed obvious to his discomfort, linking her arms around his and tugging him towards the classroom. "It's been aaages! Did you get the Chocolate Frogs I sent you for Christmas? And thanks for that broom polish! I can't believe you made it yourself! It's better than anything they sell in stores!"

Callidus was starting to feel a bit nauseated.

"Hi Callidus," Hermione said, and unlike Ginny, she seemed to be examining him with concern. She reached towards Ginny, and gently tried to extricated her from Callidus's arms. "Ginny, I think he needs space," she said softly. Ginny gave Callidus a worried look, but then nodded and released him. Callidus could have kissed Hermione with gratitude. Well, not really - that would probably only make him more sick, and frankly, the idea of kissing any of the Gryffindors just seemed bizarre. But he did appreciate her intelligence and perceptiveness.

Hermione turned towards Callidus "I know I already thanked you for that memory potion you made me for Christmas, but - thanks again. I tried it and -" she seemed to glow with an inner enthusiasm, "I can't believe how much easier it became to remember things - especially the minute details that I usually have to reread twice. It felt utterly effortless! Magic is amazing."

"Your welcome," Callidus answered, feeling his face and ears grow heated. Unlike Slytherins, Gryffindors were so much more enthusiastic with their gratitude. It was kind of embarrassing (even if he liked it.) "Thank you for the book you sent me. And yes, Ginny, I got the Chocolate Frogs."

Caiside's smile became smug. "I even helped him eat a few."

Ginny gave her friend an irritated swat. "Cass! Those were for Callidus!"

Caiside only shrugged.

They filed into the classroom, and Callidus saw that they had pulled up a few chair and desks to the middle of the room.

"It's not as convenient as the library," Hermione said sheepishly. "But it's private, at least."

Callidus nodded. The abandoned classroom was certainly spartan, but all the empty classrooms were. At least this one had a couple of large, leaded glass windows, offering a view of the darkening sky.

"It's warm," he remarked.

"It is, isn't it?" Ginny said brightly. "So many of the other rooms we searched were freezing! So? Do you like it?"

Caiside rolled her eyes, while Hermione continued to look mildly embarrassed. But Callidus wasn't some tactless Gryffindor or Ravenclaw who would say the first thing that came to mind ('It looks like any other abandoned classroom.') Nor was he some gushing Hufflepuff who pour brainlessly enthusiastic praise into the girls' ears ('It's fantastic!')

Instead, he said: "Yeah."

Apparently it was enough. Ginny beamed brightly, and even Hermione gave him a grateful smile. Caiside only raised her eyebrows, but it was clear that she was pleased.

They sat around the grouped desks, similar to how they positioned themselves in the library, except that Callidus made sure to put more distance between him and the girls than usual. If they noticed (and from Hermione's anxiously knit brows and pressed lips, he was sure that at least she noticed), none of them commented.

"Did you get all the messages I sent you?" Hermione asked once they were settled.

Callidus nodded. "Yes. Have you learned anything since then?"

Hermione shook her head, looking unhappy with herself. "Not much, I'm afraid. But I was hoping that being able to speak with you in person would help me catch details I may have missed."

"There isn't much to tell," Callidus admitted. But seeing Hermione's beseeching look, he ended up retelling everything he could remember, which wasn't very much. Nonetheless, Hermione listened carefully, asking occasional questions, and even taking notes. It was almost an unsettling amount of attention to receive.

"You don't have to go to this much effort for me," he eventually said. "I'm able to solve my own problems."

"I know. You're one of the smartest wizards I've ever met." Hermione's words caused Callidus's face to heat. "But I want to help."

Callidus couldn't argue with that. Instead, he just nodded, hoping his face wasn't some appalling shade of red.

Since they were so far from the library (and Hermione couldn't just dash off to get the books she needed), they ended up working on their homework. That mostly seemed to consist of Caiside and Ginny begging Hermione for help since they had managed to forget all their theory over the break (which Callidus was completely unsurprised by). He hoped that Hermione was at least going to have her favour repaid, but these were Gryffindors, and Callidus wasn't exactly optimistic about their good sense.

Eventually, the younger girls were all caught up on their assignments, and for Ginny at least, this meant it was time to talk, rather than working ahead on her assignments, like Hermione or Callidus would have preferred. She spoke of rather trivial things, but then the discussion shifted to talk about the Orange Madness. Callidus leaned forward in his chair.

"Did you read that article about the new bill they're planning to vote on?" he asked Hermione.

She nodded, worrying her lower lip. "It's just awful. With all the progress made in the muggle world, you want to believe the same of the wizarding one. If so many problems can be solved with magic, you'd think that witches and wizards would have the time to solve social problems as well."

"Most people aren't willing to put forth the effort to solve more than the most immediate problems," Callidus answered cynically. "An alarming number of people even take pleasure in not thinking."

"Hey!" Caiside exclaimed. "Sometimes it feels good not to think! Besides, I know you meditate and that's the very definition of not thinking!"

Callidus narrowed his eyes at her. "The point is -"

"That you think most people are ninnies?" Ginny supplied, eyes dancing with merriment.

Callidus frowned. "You're not wrong," he eventually answered.

The conversation drifted to other matters, but eventually it returned to the Orange Madness, and soon Ginny and Caiside were yawning, saying that they had to get back to their dorm. But Callidus and Hermione were too engrossed in the conversation to leave.

Hermione absently waved her friends off. "I'll join you later."

Both Hermione and Callidus were completely oblivious to the sly smile on Caiside's face, as she drawled: "All right. Have fun, you two."

Callidus looked up towards the doorway when he heard Caiside and Ginny's giggles, but then shook his head, returning his attention to Hermione. He was so caught up in the conversation that he didn't even think about how he had edged closer to Hermione.

Instead, he said: "So you've actually read the entirety of the proposed bill?"

Hermione nodded. "The memory potion you gave me was still in effect, so I didn't even have to reread it." She furrowed her brows. "It wasn't an easy read - they use surprisingly archaic language. Supposedly it's a tradition to write laws that way, but honestly! Some traditions are meant to be broken. If no one can parse the meaning of the bill, how can the public hope to understand what legislators are doing?"

"I haven't read the bill," Callidus admitted, wondering how Hermione could find the time for all the reading she did. Of course, most people might say the same about Callidus's potion experimentation. "What did it say?"

Her expression darkened. "About what you'd expect. A whole bunch of language about controlling 'dangerous elements of society' and the 'public good.' And how it will be made a public record." She shook her head, bushy hair flying angrily. "A public record! They plan to register all muggleborns as soon as they're found. From the very first time a witch or wizard enters the magical world, they'll be marked as different." Callidus noticed her hands were tight fists, knuckles white. "Seen as outsiders. It's awful!"

Callidus nodded in agreement. A muggleborn registry was a terrible idea.

"Of course, they claim that the registry is only temporary - that it will only be in place until the disease is cured. But if history is any indication -" Hermione trailed off, looking unhappy.

"The current sentiment of fear doesn't help either," Callidus mused. "It's never a good idea to make these kinds of decisions without a clear head. But humans have never impressed me with their rationality." He looked over at Hermione, but he could think of nothing to say to reassure her. His perception of humanity was far more negative than her own, and to Callidus, the future wasn't looking very bright.

"I've been trying to find a way to stop it - or at least stall the vote -" Hermione said softly, her expression distant and troubled. "I've written letter after letter to members of the Wizengamot. I even wrote to Professor Dumbledore! He, at least, agrees with me."

Callidus's eyebrows lifted. "You wrote to Dumbledore?"

She nodded, worrying her lower lip again. "He says he's doing everything he can. But, with running the school, how will he even have the time?" She looked down at her hands, resting atop her notes. "I wrote to the Daily Prophet as well. They have opinion pages, so I thought -" she sighed and shook her head, "- but they just wrote me a thank you letter, and never printed it." Her eyes became hard. "I bet if I were a pureblood, they would have."

A silence settled over them, but Callidus was busy turning Hermione's words over in his head. "What if -"

Hermione looked at him questioningly.

"What if we were to use my name? The Prince name? It's - respectable."

Her eyes widened hopefully. "Truly? You'd let me write letters in your name?"

Callidus nodded decisively. "Of course. If you want to accomplish something, you have to learn to use every tool at your disposal. I'm just - offering you a tool." The corners of his lips crooked upwards.

"Thank you!" Hermione cried, and to his surprise, she flung her arms around him in a hug. But just as quickly as it came, she flung herself back as if scalded.

"Ohmygod!" she exclaimed in a quick blur, brown eyes filled with worry, "I forgot - I'm sorry, Callidus! I didn't think. You don't feel ill or sick do you?"

"I -" he blinked. He hadn't even been thinking about that, but now that he remembered, the feeling of sickness returned and he paled. Nonetheless, he didn't want Hermione to fret over him needlessly. "I'm fine." Was it just him, or did his voice sound strangled?

"I'm sorry," Hermione repeated again. "I -" her cheeks flamed red. "I'll try to keep my distance."

The conversation turned awkward and stilted, but after a few questions about the new bill and public opinion, Hermione was back to passionately arguing her beliefs. They decided that they would meet up again to write a letter to the Prophet together. After all, as a Slytherin, Callidus had a little bit more experience with the idea of manipulating public perceptions. It might not be much, but it would be a start, and perhaps they could start some sort of dialogue. It was better than the one-sided paranoia against muggleborns, all because of a tangentially related disease.

Eventually, both of them realized it was nearly curfew, and they said their goodbyes. As Callidus descended the stairs down towards the dungeon, a smile curved at his lips. Of all his friends, Hermione was, without question, the most intelligent, and though they did not always have intensive discussions, whenever it happened, it always made him feel alive. As much as the disease troubled him, talking to Hermione gave him a sense of possibility and potential. It reminded him that if she could do so much on her own, then he too could push himself to make the breakthroughs he needed in potions.

Callidus was so distracted by the thoughts and ideas pinging wildly through his head that he almost missed the sound voices around one of the corners as he neared the dungeons.

But before he rounded the corner, he heard a familiar female voice saying: "Even if I did try and teach you, I doubt you can pick it up, Alphie. Merlin's pants, I've never met anyone with less aptitude in mind magics than you. Your brain is as shallow and clear as a puddle. Seriously. Not even a bit of mud to obscure anything."

Callidus froze in his steps. There was no mistaking the voice of the fifth years. Something tugged at his memory - the familiarity of it. If he had only spoken to the fifth years that one time in the dungeons, why were the memories of their voices, and why was the name 'Alphie' so familiar to him? He held his breath and listened.

"I'm trying!" the boy called Alphie whinged.

A male voice sighed. "Just let it go, Alphie. You've got other strengths. Just accept that mind magics might be out of your reach. I mean, you can't even concentrate on basic meditation, and a meditative state is the foundation of Occlumency."

"And I don't actually need Occlumency, do I?" Alphie argued. "Rosalind said herself that it's more like Legilimency than Occlumency."

"You're such an idiot," the girl, Rosalind muttered.

"You don't need one to know the other, true, but the ability to do both is linked," the boy pointed out. "Even if you did manage to use Legilimency on someone, you couldn't make sense of what you were seeing if your own mind wasn't strong, and a strong mind is best built through a base of Occlumency."

"I could do it if you just show me!" Alphie cried, but his friends just made irritated noises of frustration and doubt.

"Oh just can it!" Rosalind said, the scowl clear in her voice. "I'm so sick of your begging. Day after day - I swear! I don't know why we're even friends." She sighed. "Besides, I've got the energy anyway, and I've finally finished McGonagall's bloody essay, so we can do it tonight."

For some reason, those words caused a sickening dread to crawl down his spine. Why did it feel like this was related to him? Why did it feel like there was something he just wasn't grasping?

"We can? Yesss!" Alphie crowed, and from the uneven shuffle of his feet, it almost sounded like he was doing some sort of victory dance.

"C'mon," said another boy's voice. "Let's get out of here. It's almost curfew, and the last thing I want is detention."

Callidus's entire body became rigid when he realized the fifth years were heading his way. He knew without question that it would be terrible for him if they saw him. He didn't know what they'd do, but his instincts screamed fear, danger, and strangely, pain. His body unfroze, and unable to think up any plan (especially in a long stretch of corridor with few places to duck into), he ran.

He heard a male voice behind him saying: "Hey! Is that -" But Callidus didn't hear any more beyond that. All that mattered was the push of his muscles, and pounding of his feet against the floor as he frantically ran back towards the Slytherin common room.

When he reached the entranceway to the common room, he tripped over his tongue and had to say the password twice, but thankfully, the wall parted for him, and he all but leapt towards the sofa where his friends sat.

"Act like I was here the whole time!" he breathlessly said to the wide-eyed second years around him.

Harry gave him a puzzled look. "Erm -"

Meanwhile, Draco had raised his wand, and sent a spell towards Callidus that made his face feel like it was being tickled by feathers.

"What was that?" he asked his friend, still out of breath.

One corner of Draco's lips quirked upwards in a wry smile. "Well, you can hardly look like you were here the whole time if your face is splotchy and red. I just used a - a skin spell."

"Beauty spell, you mean!" Parkinson cackled gleefully.

Draco gave Parkinson an irritated glare, while Harry tried to muffle his laughs, and even Callidus felt an amused smile tugging at his lips. But short moments later, the group of fifth years burst into the common room, and the students looked towards them in surprise.

The fifth years looked towards Callidus suspiciously, seeing that he was ensconced on the sofa between his friends, with slightly mussed hair, but a relatively colourless complexion. Callidus looked away from them. Under normal circumstances, that was what he'd do, and he sensed more than saw the fifth years shuffling away towards their own corner of the common room.

Harry's voice was both worried and angry when he said: "Did they do something to you? Because I swear, if they did -"

Callidus shook his head. "No. No, they didn't. I just didn't want to end up alone with them in a corridor."

Draco nodded. "Wise."

"Is something going on?" Parkinson asked, looking from Callidus to the fifth years and back to Callidus.

"It's nothing I can't handle," Callidus answered, his tone crossing the line into snappish.

Parkinson harrumphed in irritation, but then shrugged as if indifferent, crossing both her arms and her legs, and turning her nose up at him. "I might not be Harry or Draco, but you know I'm an ally. Or maybe you don't. Whatever. I don't care."

Callidus looked up at Parkinson, startled. "I -" he looked over at Zabini, unsure of what to saw. But Zabini only arched a dark eyebrow.

"I apologize, Parkinson," he said stiffly.

Parkinson slid her eyes towards him, and after an eternity, she relaxed her stance, shaking her head. "Oh, just call me Pansy and get it over with, you surly prat."

"You really know how to endear yourself to someone, don't you, Pansy," Callidus drawled.

An amused smile quirked at her lips. "There's a reason everyone here loves me, Callidus."

Callidus raised a brow. "Because you'll spill all their deepest darkest secrets if they don't?"

Pansy cackled with glee. "Sharp. Very sharp. So? Will you tell me what's going on?"

Callidus drew his brows together, thinning his lips. "To be honest, I don't entirely know. That group of fifth years accosted me before the break, but we haven't had any direct encounters since then." Callidus didn't mind sharing a bit with Pansy, but he didn't want to share too much. Especially with the rest of the second years nearby (even if most of them were absorbed in their own conversations.)

"Do you know anything about them?" Callidus asked, hoping that by getting Pansy to talk, she'd forget to ask for more details. While Draco had said he'd look into the fifth years, the process took time, and there was a chance that Pansy would know something.

Pansy's looked over at the fifth years before returning her attention to Callidus and nodding. "The girl, Hoyt - I don't remember her name -"

"Rosalind?" Callidus supplied.

Pansy nodded. "Yes, that's it. Rosalind Hoyt. It's not a terribly old pureblood family, but they've been around a while. A lot of the Hoyts work for St Mungo's. Many of them in the Janus Thickey ward, I believe."

Callidus couldn't believe the information that Pansy so easily imparted. That girl, Hoyt, had family members that worked in the Janus Thickey ward of the hospital? The fact that Hoyt had also mentioned mind magic seemed to tie it all together. She had done something to his mind, hadn't she?

Pansy continued to tell them what she knew of the other fifth years, but none of the other information seemed pertinent. By the time that Callidus went to bed that night, he was filled with a greater sense of hope than he had felt in a long time. It was sheer luck that he had learned so much about the fifth years in one day, and on top of that, perhaps he and Hermione could find some way to sway the wizarding community's perspective towards muggleborns. Hermione was a brilliant witch and if anyone could change people's minds about the merits of muggleborns, it would be her.

But as Callidus's head sunk into his pillow, he recalled Hoyt's words. 'We can do it tonight.' Do what tonight? And why was Callidus so sure that it had something to do with him. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, as one thought became clear in his mind: he was not going to sleep tonight.

A/N: Now that I've been writing for a little bit, I've decided to start reading books on how to write. Which means I'm able to finally articulate what's wrong with aspects of my stories (rather than just having a feeling that something is 'off'). But I'll still finish this story, and try and apply what I learn to the next one

It's demotivating though :(. Not learning, but trying to sort out an overly flawed project