Romina trudged along the path for Care of Magical Creatures. She admitted that the longer mane of hair on her back made the simplest of things a bit more of a challenge. She eventually slowed down and, with a huff, let her things drop to unbutton her dark sweater.

"Are you mad!?" Carolinha was quick to say when she spotted Romina's sweater hanging over her shoulder. "It's freezing cold!"

"It's really not," Romina dug her hands into her long hair, not even feeling Carolinha swiping her sweater from her shoulder.

"It's because of that damn hair of yours!" Carolinha went around Romina to gather her belongings. "Honestly, what do you gain from these exuberant changes?"

Romina was quick to braid her hair and tuck a few strands under her enchanted headband that was currently the color of green and silver. "That's my problem, Carol."

"Hey Romina," Hermione stopped by the pair with a warm, yet awkward, smile. "Hi, Carolinha." She felt out of place and more around Slytherins she didn't know...which was almost everyone.

Romina knew that Hermione was struggling with her ongoing fight with Harry and Ron. Those two boys were as stubborn as ever with that broom. Honestly! It wasn't that big of a deal! Now Hermione was left to doddle on her own or, sometimes, take up a talk with other Gryffindors. It turns out, she was not that great at making new friends on her own.

Romina grabbed her stuff from Carolinha and stuffed her sweater into her bag.

"Romina, you really should wear a sweater or you'll get sick," Hermione said, and Carolinha agreed with a hum.

"Think I've faced much worse things than a cold," Romina mumbled and continued her walk.

When the entire class was set for the first lesson of the new semester, Hagrid introduced the Fire Salamander. There was a huge campfire burning in the middle of the clearing where they could all see the little creatures running up and down the logs of the fire.

"Ugh, they're horrible!" Pansy was the first to say, or shriek, when she caught sight of one much too close for her liking.

"They're actually quite harmless," a Gryffindor boy with chestnut brown hair said, much to Pansy's annoyance. The boy didn't seem to mind her narrowed eyes on him, or he didn't notice - nobody could tell.

Romina's eyes flickered to the boy who turned out to be very familiar. She remembered his freckled face and soft smile when they crashed into each other in the library. It felt like that had been ages ago.

"Exactly." Hagrid caught one salamander drifting away from the campfire and let it crawl from one of his palms to the other. "Fire Salamanders are classified as beasts but, just like many others, they are harmless."

"Unless you provoke it," the same Gryffindor boy added.

"Well, just like anything else," Hagrid agreed. "Fire Salamanders are born out of salamander fires and can live for as long as their flames burn."

"So all it takes is for someone to snuff out the fires for them to die?" Pansy's lips curved into a smirk and seeing that made Millicent do the same.

Romina rolled her eyes. At this point, Millicent would cease to ever have a personality and would become a simple drone to Pansy. Like Crabb and Goyle. Her eyes flickered to the two boys standing behind Draco. Neither of them would move until Draco gave the word. Morons, Romina thought of the drones.

"You can all get closer if you'd like," Hagrid motioned to the curious students. "Be gentle with 'em and you'll be fine."

"I am not getting close to that!" Pansy put her nose up to the air and turned her head away.

"And, er, those of you who don't' feel comfortable can bring dry wood and leaves for the fire!"

"C'mon Pansy," Daphne came by for Pansy and Millicent, looking weary of the two girls with their noses in the air.

"Daphne, the war hero," Romina gave a mock salute as the three girls headed in search of wood. Beside Romina, Hermione snickered.

"She just likes keeping the peace," Carolinha explained, "That's how she always is outside of school when our families get together."

"If you ask me, she's wasting her time with that one," Angel came up behind his sister with a scowl. "Pansy's a menace and Daphne just pretends like there's still hope for her. She needs to follow the right crowd and — wait a minute…" He finally noticed Hermione's presence and couldn't help the confusion that crossed his face. "You don't usually hang out with us?"

Hermione could only give an awkward smile.

"Lay off," Carolinha shoved her brother to the side and offered Hermione a kind smile. "Excuse him for being...a guy."

For the first time that day, Hermione had laughed. Angel glowered at his sister and muttered something under his breath about her being plain rude.

Little by little, the students gathered around the fire - those brave enough anyways - and watched the fire salamanders scamper around the flames. They were stark red which sometimes made it hard for the students to be able to separate them from the flames.

Hermione and Carolinha moved to retrieve the wood needed for the bonefire and while Romina lingered behind, she ultimately decided that she would rather collect wood than touch the salamanders. She was just about to start walking when she felt a salamander crawling over her shoe. She let out a small noise akin to a whimper. She wasn't afraid of bugs but she didn't like having them on her either and that included fire salamanders. She squeaked as the salamander crawled up her ankle. "Agh! No—!" Her first instinct was to throw her foot up when she heard someone tell her 'stop!'.

Chestnut brown hair boy came rushing to her and, just like Hagrid, gingerly picked up the salamander from her ankle. "Don't worry about this guy," he tended to the salamander with the utmost care, "They really are harmless."

Romina was bewildered with his sudden decision to interact with her and for a minute or two, she stayed frozen in her spot. The boy brushed his fingers over the salamander, truly looking quite at home with the creature.

"This one just drifted too far away from the flames. Did you know they can only survive six hours away from the flames? And that's if you feed them pepper." The boy had a small smile on his face when he looked at her again.

Romina shook her head silently. What the hell is going on? Why is he talking to me all of a sudden? It didn't make any sense. Don't even bother putting yourself in this situation. You don't need another one. Bearing that in mind, Romina turned around to leave.

"No, wait!" To her shock, the boy had grabbed her arm.

Romina whipped her head back, brows furrowing together angrily.

"I know you're upset with me—"

"Don't flatter yourself, I'm upset with many people these days," Romina spat and pulled her arm out of his grip. "You're just one of the crowd to me, honestly."

"I'm sorry!" The boy said just as Romina made to leave again. It being the first time someone apologized to her in a long time, Romina found herself looking back at him again. With a sigh, he lowered the salamander to the ground and watched it crawl away. "I'm, uh, I'm not the best with my words."

"You've been speaking very fine this whole class time," Romina muttered.

The boy met her gaze and half smiled at her. "Just about the creatures. It's my favorite subject."

"Mm..."

"You're the Oswell girl, right?"

Romina's expression flattened at the question. Here we go again. "Is there another Oswell girl around this school? Because if so, let me know. I'd love to seek advice from her."

The boy scratched the side of his head, seeming nervous the way his eyes kept flickering to the ground. "I, um, I'm...I'm sorry...about before."

"Before?"

"At the library. And after. I don't...I don't make a habit of ignoring people...or running from them. I'm sorry about that. My name's Rolf." He stretched a hand out to shake with Romina. "Rolf Scamander, nice to meet you."

Romina's eyes widened. Her dumbfounded state was enough to leave her like a statue all over again. Truthfully, she had not been expecting this. She had mentally prepared herself to ignore people's talks, their stares and pretty much everyone in general. She never thought about someone apologizing to her and actually wanting to move past this situation...at least not this early.

"Uuh..." Romina had to initially force herself to move her hand, still too shocked for a proper reaction, and shook hands with Rolf. The action lit up Rolf's face and Romina saw the way his freckles seemed to connect like constellations with the bright grin he wore. Romina didn't know if she was imagining things but there was something about his smile, so kind and inviting. "R-Romina Oswell..."

Rolf chuckled. "Yeah, I know."

"Right..." Romina pulled her hand out from his and cleared her throat, "Well, thanks, uh...for apologizing. Wasn't expecting it, honestly."

"I'm...I'm really sorry about that. I swear it wasn't your fault. I, um, there's just some things that — never mind. I'm glad you forgive me."

Romina was honestly so surprised that he was that happy she'd accepted his apology.

"What do you think about the salamanders?" Rolf asked excitedly. "Aren't they amazing?"

"'Amazing' isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe them..." Romina said, gazing at the salamanders gathering around the fire that the students were setting up. "But you sure seem to know your way around them. How do you know all about them?"

Rolf spotted another salamander crawling on the ground and picked it up with ease. Romina's nose crinkled at the creature now crawling from one of Rolf's hand to the other. "My grandfather told me," he replied and led her towards the fire. "He tells me a lot of stuff about creatures."

Bemusement flashed across Romina's face. "All my grandfather tells me is to stay away from bugs." She turned her attention to the bonfire, missing the strange smile on the boy's face. "He's kind of afraid of them. We buy all that Raid stuff."

"Raid?" Rolf made a face at the unfamiliar word.

Romina chuckled. "I take it you're not familiar with the muggle world." It was easy to see the flush on Rolf's face. "It's an insect repellent."

"Oh!" Rolf bashfully smiled at her. "Uh, no, I don't know much. I mean, my grandmother tells me things but both my parents are—"

"Purebloods, I know," Romina nodded. "Your entire family are purebloods, I've heard."

"Hm, I wonder who could have told you stuff about me..." Rolf said as he lowered the salamander to the bonfire. He straightened up and gave her a smirk. "Whatever your crowd told you about me, they exaggerated."

"My crowd?" Romina scrunched her nose.

"Yeah, the elite of the Slytherins."

"Elite?" Romina snorted. "They're anything but that."

Rolf chuckled lightly. "Well, they seem to think it."

"Honestly, they didn't tell me much about you," Romina said, "In fact, they didn't even tell me your name. Don't know if it was their way of solidarity with me or just another way to irritate me."

"Or maybe just a way to screw with me," Rolf said. "I don't exactly talk to them despite the fact we've ran in the same social circle since we were in diapers."

"Why is that?" Romina found herself asking. Luckily, Rolf didn't seem to mind and he answered her almost right away.

"We just have different interests. I like creatures, they like to screw around behind our parents backs."

"And you've never joined them in these shenanigans?"

The smirk on Rolf's face said it all. Romina laughed.

"At some point, all purebloods end up being the same. It's the lifestyle, if you ask me. Too boring. You need a little excitement every now and then."

"Yeah, well, your friends take it very seriously."

Romina could not argue that. "They're stupid but they are about the only people, save for a few others, who haven't turned their backs on me."

"I'm sorry that-that you're going…through all this stuff. But if it helps, those are just gullible people. Not everyone thinks the same."

"I've heard."

"So then stick with that. If you focus only on the ones that do, you'll never find peace. In fact, you'll be giving them power. And isn't that what everybody wants?"

The first thing that came to Romina's mind was Pansy. She's the reason all this happened in the first place. Pansy wanted her to suffer and each day that Romina felt like dying, she was giving Pansy the satisfaction.

But it's just so hard to let it go.

One way or another, she needed to figure it out or else she was going to go crazy.

~ 0 ~

For the next few days, Romina tried to listen to her thoughts and to Rolf's words, but it was easier said than done. She changed tactics and took it day by day, focusing on just getting through the more important bits, like her work. And she got a reminder of one of those important bits on a fine Thursday morning.

"Hello Romina," Luna Lovegood's dreamy voice stopped Romina in the hallway. It was early in the morning and yet Luna looked lucid as ever.

"Morning Luna," Romina covered her yawn with a hand over her mouth. "How are you?"

"Good, and you?" Luna tilted her head, letting her straggly hair slowly fall to one side.

"Uh, okay I guess."

"I like your hair," Luna's clear eyes gazed over the one-sided braid Romina sported that morning. "The red pattern is nice, but it's not very like you. I liked the curls."

Romina smiled and brought a hand over her braid. "I decided for a change."

"Oh. Will you be changing it again?"

Honestly, if Romina didn't know Luna by now she would've assumed that the Ravenclaw was insulting her...but Luna could never do such a thing, which was why it was so funny. "I'm not sure," Romina answered with a smile on her face.

Luna nodded in acknowledgement. "I was wondering when we could pick up my Transfiguration lessons again?"

"Oh, right," Romina blinked when it dawned on her that she'd neglected her tutoring lessons since they got back from break. McGonagall hadn't mentioned it to her either and it made Romina wonder if it meant that it was up to her now to decide. She would not mind spending more time with Luna. "Uh, well...anytime really."

A smile spread across Luna's face. "Can we start tomorrow afternoon?"

"That sounds good Luna."

Luna beamed and skipped off into the Great hall for breakfast.

"What did Looney Lovegood want from you?" Draco's voice startled Romina behind her. He came up to stand beside her and watched as the last glimpse of Luna's long hair disappeared in the Great Hall.

Romina threw him a mock glare. "Her name is Luna."

Draco looked at her with an expression asking her if she was sure. "You have met her, right?"

"Yes, unlike you and everyone else who insists on calling her that. She's a year younger than you - that is just lazy bullying!"

"So what you're saying is that I should switch gears to say, Potter?"

Romina's hand reached towards him as if she were about to touch his face but instead she curled it as if she were going to strangle him. "You know what, I'm not doing that. I've been meaning to talk to you, actually."

Draco scrunched his face and audibly groaned. "What for? I haven't called Arden a mudbl—"

"It's not that but keep it up please." Romina sighed and started before she completely lost him. "I wanted to thank you for giving me my headband." She made a quick gesture to the headband sitting on her head. Today's color was a shiny silver and white striped. "I love it."

Draco tried his best not to look so surprised and certainly not awkward. It didn't help that Romina was smiling so big. Who even smiled like that!? It wasn't a big deal! It wasn't…

"And the letter you wrote," Romina went on, keeping her voice quiet as more students began to walk past them for the hall. "It really meant a lot."

"It wasn't...Oswell, I just wrote something. It's not a big deal!"

Romina's smile softened out of amusement. "If you say so. I just wanted to say thanks when there was no one around. I know you wouldn't like it if I said it in front of the group."

Draco's look was indescribable but if Romina had to guess, it was a cross of gratitude for not saying these things in front of others and the other part was the side of him that didn't know what to do with himself. Both sides were funny, and maybe adorable.

But Romina would never admit that to him. She would never hear the end of it. "Let's go get breakfast," she suggested when she thought he suffered enough from mushy feelings.

"Please," he rolled his eyes and started walking with her but just when he thought it was all over, she added one more thing.

"I didn't know you were capable of meaningful words…"

Draco groaned. "Seriously!?" Romina burst into laughter. "That is the last present I ever send you! I'm done!"

Romina patted his arm. "Yeah, let's just focus on the big Quidditch game you have today."

That worked like a charm. Draco started going on and on about how Slytherin would crush Ravenclaw this afternoon. It kept the entire table occupied for the entire breakfast. But every now and then, Draco would discreetly look over to Romina and her headband. Despite her constant changes, she'd kept that? Out of everything?

~0~

The game had finished with Slytherin as the winner. The idea that now Slytherin would be playing against Gryffindor didn't escape anyone's mind.

"We'll crush them too!" Draco said with the utmost certainty later that night in the common room. The entire House was celebrating their win so of course the conversation would steer that way.

"You know, I heard that Potter has a new broom somewhere," Theodore made the remark that sent everyone into a state or murmurs. "Supposed to be good."

Romina took it as a personal offence when Harry crashed straight into her and his Firebolt hit her smack in the face. "Just because Slytherin won the first Quidditch match doesn't mean you get to take it out on me, Harry!" She groaned as she shoved the broom to the side.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Harry scrambled up to his feet and pulled Romina up.

"It's fine." Romina adjusted her uniform while Harry reached for the Firebolt on the ground. "Hey, what's the demon broom doing out of its cage?"

"Not funny," Harry deadpanned her.

"So, what's it doing in your hands?"

Eagerness spread over Harry's face in a matter of seconds. "Mcgonagall just gave it back to me! I'll be able to use it for this week's game to crush Slytherin - I mean…"

Romina rolled her eyes as Harry stammered to find an amendment for his words. "Right, well, does that mean it didn't have any jinxes and curses on it?"

"Yeah!"

"Hm, then I guess you can now use it without the least bit of concern over your safety. It's almost as if Hermione wanted this all along…"

Harry's eagerness deflated at the thought of his friend whom he hadn't spoken to in weeks. "Right…"

Romina tilted her head at him, eyes boring into his. "Hermione doesn't do things to make you suffer, you know. Ron should get that through his thick ginger head too. She did you a favor."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Harry sighed. It'd been tough not speaking to Hermione when they practically lived together. Plus, he kind of missed her.

"You should go talk to her, you and Ron," Romina suggested and re-opened her book. "And let me know how it goes. I have to get to the library to do my research."

"Research?"

"Muggle studies. 'Why do muggles need electricity?'" Romina laughed lightly. "Sometimes these essays are so ridiculous but, I suppose for someone who didn't grow up in the Muggle world...it's novelty." She rolled her eyes playfully then moved around Harry. "Let me know how it goes!" She was already heading to the library and what was worse is that she had agreed to meet up with Rolf to do the assignment together.

The next day, Romina and Rolf were just about finished with their Muggle Studies essay, when Hermione came into the library with an unusual loud huff. She startled the two when she dropped into the empty chair across them.

"Ron thinks Crookshanks ate Scabbers! Just because he found ginger hair strands near some blood! Honestly, Crookshanks is everywhere! That could've been there since Christmas break!"

It was the first time ever that Hermione Granger was shushed in a library. Madame Pince herself even looked incredulous after she lowered her finger from her lips.

"Uum...okay..." Romina met Rolf's confused glance and apologetically smiled. "Hermione, have you met my new friend Rolf?"

"Yes, hi," Hermione crossed her arms tightly, eyes glued on a bookshelf to her left.

Romina's eyebrows rose with the short greeting. Who is this and what have they done to Hermione Granger? "Okay," she cleared her throat and glanced at Rolf again, "You wanna pick this up later?"

Rolf chuckled lightly. "Yeah, that's fine."

They both started to gather their things off the table and stuffed them into their book bags. Romina was sure Hermione would still have many more things to say and they would not be said quietly so she hurriedly said goodbye to Rolf and got Hermione out of the library.

"Okay, you wanna rewind and start from the top?" Romina said once they were safely away.

Hermione had no problem starting all over again. "Honestly, we were just getting over the Firebolt nonsense and now my poor cat is being accused of eating that rat!" she raged as the two girls walked down the hallway. "It really could've been anyone!"

Romina made a face but kept it hidden from Hermione. It really did sound like the cat had eaten the rat: a tale as old as time. But it sounded like Hermione was more upset at the fact Ron had basically screamed at her. Romina thought if she'd been in Hermione's spot, she would feel the same way.

"Why don't you guys just try looking for the rat?" Romina suggested but Hermione scoffed.

"After that whole fiasco!? I think not! But I can't wait for Ron to find Scabbers and realize that he was wrong!"

Romina's eyebrows raised together. For a brief moment, she was happy that she wasn't in Gryffindor. She got to avoid all the useless tension there. Poor Harry.

~0~

Over the next weeks, Romina would find that she too was being sucked into the 'Crookshanks ate Scabber' ordeal and unlike Harry who was too kind to both sides, Romina was more on a short fuse.

"Ron, I swear to God if you don't shut up about the rat, I'm going to feed you to Crookshanks!" She finally cracked one afternoon. She, Ron, Harry and the twins were doing some work in the Great Hall.

Ron, who sat across from her and the twins, was downright offended with her threat. "Weren't you listening!?"

"Were you listening?" Romina countered. Her hands fell with a thud against her textbook. "Ron, I'm sorry about Scabbers but he's gone and I don't think my ears should suffer any longer."

"I mean, it would be nice if you gave it a rest already, Ron," Fred said, not even bothering to look up from his essay. "What's it been? A week?"

"Two weeks," George said automatically. Unlike his brother, he looked straight to Ron with a smile. "So please, give it a fucking rest."

Ron was even more offended than before. "Scabbers was part of the family! Plus, c'mon, he bit Goyle! That has to make you love him!"

Indeed it did because the twins, and Harry, all snickered at the reminder. Romina raised her eyebrows at the trio. It was the first she heard of this. She wouldn't mind hearing the entire story later on.

"It was his finest hour," Fred said with a low chuckle. "But seriously Ron, why don't you just go down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat?"

Ron decided to end the conversation and leave altogether. He stuffed his work inside his textbooks and got up from the table with a huff. He stormed out soon after.

"He is not getting over this rat thing quick enough," Romina said, eyes landing on Harry. "How do you deal with that? Does Hermione do the same thing?"

Harry half shrugged. He'd been stuck between the two's argument for so long now that he was beginning to learn how to live with it.

"Isn't there something we can do to get them to make up already?" Romina asked. She was open to any and all ideas at this point.

"If you find out, let me know," Harry said. "I don't have much time to do many things these days. Now that I have the Firebolt back, Wood's making me practice like crazy. I only have one night to do all my homework."

"Wood's not that crazy to do that to you," Fred said, face scrunched in confusion. "You got anything else going on or what?"

Harry said nothing but Romina knew that it had to be the secret lessons he was taking with Lupin. As far as she knew, those weren't going so well either which led to an increase in lessons. That, coupled with the Quidditch lessons, would definitely leave Harry with very little time to do homework.

"Well, whatever you need, if I can help, let me know," she said.

Her offer pulled a smile from Harry. "Thanks, Rom."

"Well don't go thinking that being so nice is going to make us want to crush Slytherin any less," George warned her. She rolled her eyes. "Because as much as we love you, we are going to crush you."

"To do that, you first have to defeat Ravenclaw," Romina smiled sweetly. "And if you do that, you'll have to then defeat our team."

Fred snorted. "C'mon, even you know that your team is no match for the Firebolt."

"All I'm saying is that miracles can happen," Romina shrugged. "Don't get all cocky because that might be your downfall."

All three snorted at her.

"We'll see," Fred said.

~ 0 ~

When the final game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw finally came up, everybody was either frantic or bubbling with excitement. Romina found her House team looking slightly off their game that morning. Usually they were beyond confident that they would eventually win when it became their turn to play but given the fact that the Gryffindors now had an incredible advantage, there was a slight reason to worry that Ravenclaw wouldn't make it.

"I bet it's fake," Romina heard Draco say to the team and the others that morning in the Great Hall. "It has to be."

"Yeah, gotta be," Goyle repeated after him and, of course, Crabbe.

"Or, and here's a thought," Romina interjected without sparing any of them a glance away from her book, "It's actually real."

For some reason, Pansy thought it was her turn to speak in the same conversation. "Course not. He can't afford it."

"How would you know? You don't know what he has." Romina carelessly passed the page of her book. With one hand, she grabbed a spoonful of oatmeal to eat.

Draco couldn't sit there and not find out whether or not the damn Firebolt was genuine. He started getting up from his seat, ordering Crabbe and Goyle to stand up as well.

That got Romina to lower her book for a second. "What? Draco, don't go over there…" He was already gone in a stride. She sighed. "And he's gone."

"Don't even bother," Arden said beside her. "He's never going to learn."

Romina hummed. She continued to read until she heard a prominent round of laughter from the Gryffindor table. Judging by the scowl on Draco's face when he stormed back to their table, things had not gone well.

"So, what did we learn this morning?" Romina asked as soon as he was sitting again.

"Oh shut it, Oswell!" He snapped.

Romina smiled to herself as she turned the page of her book.

~0~

The game was riveting. Harry's Firebolt took the show away. Even the commentary was all about the damn thing. Several people giggled each time a Mcgonagall to interrupt Lee Jordans history lesson about the Firebolt.

Romina, and her friends, including Hermione, were all sitting together at the benches. The weather was clear which gave them a perfect view of each player in the air.

"I mean, to his credit, it is a cool broom," Angel remarked. Harry was whizzing in the air, leaving poor Cho Chang to try and follow.

"Yeah, it is, innit?" Romina, who had never really taken much of an interest in broom flying, found herself drawn towards the Firebolt. It reminded her of those wicked roller coasters that she and Arden would ride at the fairs. "Maybe Harry can give us a turn on it afterwards."

"Would he really?" Carolinha raised an eyebrow. "Don't think he'd be too keen on us getting near him."

"Harry's not like that," Hermione said, offering the twins a kind smile. "Really, none of us should be like that." She had learned quite a lot about the twins and Arden recently, things that made her feel guilty for her prejudices against Slytherins.

Angel was sweet and funny, very friendly but most of all funny. His sister Carolinha was slightly more serious and very shy. They were good students in general. Arden was the only one who had a bit more roughness to her personality but nothing that made her unfriendly. Hermione could now understand why Romina took to that group when she wasn't with her and the Gryffindors.

"Hey, what the hell is that?" Arden's sudden question made everyone around them gaze to the field.

Black hooded creatures were gaining on Harry—Dementors?

"I thought they weren't allowed in the field anymore!?" Carolinha panicked first. She clung to her brother's arm.

"They're not," Hermione said with a frown. "Harry!"

Luckily, Harry had seen the Dementors and aimed his wand at them. Why he had his wand at that precise moment, nobody knew but thankfully he did. He used it and to the audience's awe, a silvery white jet of energy emanated from his wand. It engulfed the Dementors, sending them to the ground.

The game continued and in a short minute, Harry caught the Golden snitch. The audience, especially the Gryffindors, erupted into cheers. They were quick to start flooding the fields to congratulate the team.

"Wait till Dumbledore hears about this," Angel said, still concerned about the Dementors.

Arden had yet to take her eyes off the creatures and for that matter, she saw it first. "Oh my God—they're absolutely nuts!"

Romina stopped cheering to see what Arden was talking about. Her face fell flat. "You have got to be kidding me."

Hermione shook her head. A prime reminder for her that unfortunately, not every Slytherin were like Romina's friends.

~ 0 ~

"Fifty points! Your stupid joke cost the House 50 points." Romina said as soon as Draco had come into the common room. He, Crabbe, Goyle and Marcus Flint had no doubt gotten an earful out of McGonagall at the field. Nobody wanted to know what Snape or Dumbledore had to say after that.

"Again, shut it Oswell." Draco didn't seem the least bit concerned with the points system.

"I think the one who cost us 50 points should shut it right now," Angel came around the couch where Romina sat. Draco rolled his eyes at the pair of them. "Seriously man, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking it would be hilarious to see Potter fall of his stupid broom!"

"Mm, and how'd that turn out for you?" Romina raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're both insufferable."

"And you cost us 50 points! You deserve some insufferable torture right now."

Draco preferred not to waste his time with either of them at the moment. He was already going to be wasting his evenings in detention, he would not give them one of his free nights too.

"He's so stupid," Romina laughed when he'd left the common room. "He really thought he would get away with it. What did he think was going to happen afterwards!?"

Angel hummed. "I would give my entire allowance to see what runs through his head."

"Ooh," Romina's eyes widened, "That would be interesting."

"Yeah?" Angel chuckled.

"Yeah!"

"He's all talk and no bark, you know that."

"Most of the time, yeah," Romina pushed herself up from the couch. "Though sometimes I worry one day, he might accidentally go too far. I don't think he could handle it."

"Really?" Angel seemed very unconvinced with what Romina assured. "This is Draco we're talking about."

"I know," Romina said just as certain, "Which is why I'm saying it. Look," she pushed some hair behind her ear, "Draco's not the kindest around here but to be something more, something...dark, that's not him either. Hell, it's not even Pansy. One day, they'll get it."

"Oh Romina, you dare to believe that?" Angel watched her nod her head without a moment's hesitation. "Hopefully you're right, then."

"I am."

~0~

Gryffindor's victory lasted very little because that same night, Sirius Black nearly attacked inside the castle again. Word spread like wildfire that Ron Weasley had nearly been knifed in his own bed. Instead of being afraid, however, Ron seemed to bask in the attention he was getting everywhere. Romina didn't even bother asking if he was alright—she couldn't even get through the crowd to talk to him. She instead discussed the matters with Hermione, though that may have been a bad idea seeing as the two weren't talking to each other.

"He seems alright," Hermione begrudgingly said on their way to their Muggle Studies class.

"Yeah, that much I can tell," Romina muttered. Her eyes lingered on the Filch who'd been tasked to cover up any possible entrance into the castle, no matter how small. The security was definitely being tightened up.

"How are you, though?" Hermione asked, pulling Romina's attention back to the conversation and just in time because she would've crashed into another student had she not looked ahead.

"Hmm," huffed Romina. "Well, unlike Ron who's getting all positive attention, people are now asking me if I stole the passwords from Neville to then hand over to Black. "It's frikin lovely, I tell you."

Pansy had a field day with the jokes. Some people truly believed that she had a hand in Black's appearance inside the castle. No matter what logic Romina used, it didn't change their minds.

"I'm sorry," Hermione apologized as if it was her fault.

"Don't be, I'm going to have to live with the fact that people won't separate me from my parents."

"Hey Romina?" The two girls head the distant call. Rolf Scamander was approaching them. "You heading to Muggle Studies?"

"Yeah," Romina nodded, gesturing to Hermione for an introduction. "You remember Hermione?"

Rolf chuckled. "Course. Hey, Hermione, feeling better?"

Hermione flushed with embarrassment. Now that she was more cool, she realized how awful she'd acted around the stranger. "So much for first impressions, sorry about that."

Rolf smiled at her. "Don't worry, I know a thing or two about bad impressions." He exchanged glances with Romina who sheepishly smiled in return. "So can I walk you girls to class?"

"Of course," Hermione smiled at his politeness. The trio continued their walk down the hallway for their class. "Did you two finish your essays?"

"Yeah, it was fairly easy," Rolf shrugged his shoulders. "Especially when you're friends with a witch who lives with muggles."

Romina laughed. "Some would say it's cheating but I think it's smart. This class is a breeze compared to the rest of my classes. And don't dAnd don't even get me started on Hagrid's assignments."

"Oh, do you need help with those?" Rolf asked, sounding dangerously excited like Hermione when it came to homework. "I love that class!"

"You do have all the experience," Hermione remarked, drawing Romina's attention.

"What do you mean?" Romina knew she'd missed out on something when Hermione started looking at her crazily. "What?"

Hermione let out a short incredulous breath. "Romina, seriously?"

"Seriously what?"

Hermione looked at Rolf with what could only be described as an 'I'm so sorry about her' type of look. "Rom, his grandfather is the Magizoologist author of our first year book. 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' — remember? Newt Scamander?"

Romina was embarrassed to say that her first year was rather fuzzy when she thought about it. "I have no idea what books we read now," she said. "Much less who wrote them. And more so books in our first year!"

"Honestly," Hermione put a hand on her forehead and apologized to Rolf on Romina's behalf.

Rolf took it all with an amused laugh. "It's fine. Grandpa doesn't really like the limelight."

"Well, it's pretty cool that he wrote a book," Romina said, genuinely meaning it. "Is that why you're so good with the creatures too?"

Rolf shrugged his shoulders with an innocent expression. "I don't know. I just like them. My grandmother says it runs in our blood but I don't think that's true."

"Why not?"

Rolf smiled mischievously. "Because she says she's afraid of some of them. My mum's definitely afraid of all of them."

The two girls snickered with him. He had plenty of stories to tell them about the various times he'd pulled one over his mother and grandmother. By the time they went into class, Romina had long forgotten her troubles and even Hermione found solace in the new friendships she was forging outside of Harry and Ron.


A/N:

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