Avery walked through the shelves in the library, looking for a specific book Harold told her to get for potions. Apparently she had gotten worse over Christmas and needed to read up to get back her old skills, which were "satisfying enough" according to his standards. She had looked around for Alle, but surprisingly she wasn't around. She had thought Alle lived in the library to be honest; there didn't seem to be a moment when she wasn't there. She chalked it up to her cousin being paranoid about the thing going around petrifying everyone and moved on with her search. The damned book really was impossible to find, at least for her. Maybe her eye just wasn't trained enough for this sort of thing.

"Well, well, well, look what abomination decided to show its face in our lovely library today," a slimy voice drawled from right next to Avery, causing her to tense up. "Just the mutt I was looking for."

Dexter Lestrange, the one Slytherin who seemed to have it out for Avery and Alle especially out of all the Muggle-borns and half-bloods in the school, was standing right beside her, close enough for her to feel his breath on her ear. He got a sick kick out of watching them suffer at the hand of his off-color insults and name calling. He mostly pestered Alle out of the two, but it wasn't completely uncommon for him to have a little "fun" with the younger cousin.

"You tell your slutty cousin to stay away from Mr. Malfoy; he is well above her status and cannot be bothered by such...inferior beings. I've already spoken with her but she apparently didn't get the message."

"Okay, whoa, I think you've got the wrong pair of cousins here. There is no way Alle would ever willingly fraternize with your inbred bloodline, Lestrange!"

"What did you just say?"

"That's right! Inbred! I'd say the only family worse than you were the Habsburgs in Spain! Ah-ha! What you going to do about it?"

"Habsburgs?"

"Y-yeah, everyone knows about the Habsburgs, idiot!"

His ice blue eyes narrowed at her, causing the cold feeling of fear to creep up her spine. She had gone too far now, and she knew it as soon as the words had left her mouth.

"Just pass the message along, half-breed, got it?"

"How'd you figure this out?" Nathaniel chuckled as Alle led him through the library by the hand.

"Just shut up and keep walking," Alle rolled her eyes, towing the boy along. She had learned a spell to make an enclosed circle of objects visible to only those within the circle as well as sounds. It had taken a year or so but now she finally had a use for it.

"Alright but if we get caught I'm saying you tricked me with a love potion," Malfoy winked.

"Oh stop flattering yourself and sit," she replied pointing to the table in the library. Up until this point their friendship had consisted mostly of small nods and smiles across classrooms and nudges during Defense Against the Dark Arts. It had been yesterday that he slipped her a note asking for her help with a "project" and now she was interested in just what this "project" might be. They both took seats on opposite sides of the table.

"So I'm working on this potion," Nathaniel began.

"Oh no please don't tell me you brought me here to brag about your potions," Alle interrupted with a sly smile.

"You didn't let me finish. The potion is to heal the paralysis of the victims. I'm helping Sprout with the Mandrakes but I need your help figuring out how we can use them most efficiently." He paused, giving her the chance for rejection but she simply nodded. "So will you help?"

"Are you asking me out?" She quipped back.

"Oh hush. Will you?" The boy asked, maintaining his cool demeanor.

"Why not."