September 1st, 1990

"Train's a-rolling to bonny hill

"Armed in track and iron-will

"Where it leads, oh, magic knows

"A secret place where magic grows."

"Quite the romantic, aren't you, Herman?" Heathcote Barbary teased the yellow-tied blond across from him.

"Romance is the key to the heart." Herman Wintringham replied with a knowing smile as he strummed another chord on his lute.

"Sure, but the lads need more than romance to get into the beat." Barbary insisted. "You need something with a bit more power, some rock and roll if you want more people to listen to you."

Wintringham played a few quick chords on his lute, then did a volley of looks between the instrument and his train ride compatriot. "I have a feeling you're seeing life too much as a guitarist, Heath."

At that moment, the door to their compartment slid open, and a young girl's head popped through.

"I thought I heard something stringy! Hi Barbary. Hi Wintringham." The brown-haired girl greeted them.

"Hello yourself, Giggles." Barbary smirked.

Wintringham's smile was far more amiable. "Good to see you, Bennett. Did you have a good summer?"

"Mhmm, I had a pretty good time." She replied as she took a seat next to Barbary. "Went to Yorkshire for a bit and caught up on muggle life. How about yourselves?"

"Spent the summer at the cottage with my family." Wintringham replied.

Barbary adjusted his robes as the girl settled in the adjacent seat. "You know you can spend the train ride with your year-mates, Giggles."

"I was, but I got bored." She replied carelessly. "Jacqueline's focused on some potioneer's autobiography, and Amy and Ignatov are busy talking about Defence. Music's far more interesting than that. So, what were you guys talking about?"

Ignoring Barbary's off-put expression, Wintringham indulged the girl's friendly interference. "Discussing what sells best in music. I'm partial to romance, but Heathcote's of the mind that I should be more rock and roll in my style."

Melissa blinked at him in confusion. "Rock and roll… on a lute?"

Wintringham snorted at the revealed point. "Exactly."

The two of them laughed at the thought, though Barbary looked indignant. "It's not impossible!"

"Sure, sure." Melissa giggled. "And you can play hip hop on a harpsichord. Doesn't mean you should! Especially if the argument is about what sells more." She straightened herself up, though she was still caught up in laughter. "Don't get me wrong, rock sells. Hell, romantic rock songs can stand the test of time; but, mate, lutes aren't made for rock and roll."

"Maybe you two are just thinking too small."

"Or maybe you just don't want to admit that romantic songs are better." Wintringham egged on.

"Yes, right. Because that makes sense."

The Hufflepuff boy grinned. "The guitarist doth protest too much, methinks."

"Aww, Barbary!" Melissa cooed and leaned in close with batted eyelashes. "Haven't you ever been in love before?"

Barbary sputtered and gained a slight blush. "What! I'm not discussing my love life with a twelve year old!" He shoved the girl off of him and moved against the window while re-adjusting his guitar strap.

"Suit yourself!" She teased. "But you'd have a better appreciation of romance if you've been in love."

The Slytherin teen rolled his eyes at the girl now sitting on the floor. "Right, and you have been?"

She propped up her chin and broke into a cheeky smile. "No, but I'm also not a smug prat."

Wintringham was in stitches by that point, falling to his side with one arm hugging his torso while the other clutched his instrument for dear life. Barbary, on the other hand, grew more red.

"Well if you think you're so much better, why don't you give it a shot!" He removed his strap and thrust his guitar into her lap.

Melissa raised a brow at him. "Come on, seriously?"

"Yes Miss 'I'm So Good At Everything'. You want to talk the talk, you better be able to play it!"

Melissa watched the boy and tried very hard not to snort. If this was supposed to be a challenge… there was no way she was going to take the bait. Well, not seriously, anyways. So she messed around with the strings until she got a sound close enough to mimic a spanish guitar, then put on her best [mockingly] romantic face and started to play.

"Well everyone knows Juanita,

"Her eyes each a different colour.

"Her teeth stick out and her chin goes in,

"And her knuckles they drag on the floor.

"Her hair is like a briar,

"She stands in a bow-legged stance.

"And if I weren't so ugly,

"She'd possibly give me a chance!"

She finished the last chords and looked up at the older boys, their expressions befuddled.

"Bennett," Wintringham began slowly, "don't take this the wrong way, but…"

"You're not allowed to write any more songs, Giggles." Barbary clipped.

Melissa burst into laughter and helped Barbary take back his instrument. "In my defence, I didn't write that one."

"Somehow that makes it worse." Wintringham moaned, a hand combed through his hair as he tried to wrap his head around the unusual song. Though there was enough of a shy grin on his face to show that it wasn't all that bad.

"But, hey, it's plenty romantic." She argued playfully.

"I pity whatever poor soul takes your interest one day, Giggles." His eyes went to the sky as he shook his head. Melissa giggled at their exasperation, which seemed to prompt the Slytherin into ruffling her head and give the back of it a light tap. "Alright, that's enough with you. Scamp out of here, Giggles! We'll see you at music club."

The girl rolled away from his touch, taking the hint as she laughed her way out of the train compartment.

When the door closed Barbary heaved a sigh and fell back into his seat. He peeked an eye open, finding Wintringham still lying on his side and watching him with a warm, knowing smile.

"So… never been in love, eh?"

Barbary huffed and shoved at the other boy with his foot. "Shut it, Herman!"

The rest of the evening up to the Welcoming Feast was a collection of hugs, handshakes, and excitable reunions. Its chatter only quieted during the sorting hat ceremony. The sorting itself wasn't all that novel. Some new Slytherins, Cho Chang and a couple other names that seemed mildly familiar, but that was about all of interest that came from the experience.

Once it had finished, Dumbledore came up to give a similar speech to the previous year about school rules and the importance of school spirit.

"I wish to also announce changes to this year's staff." Dumbledore added. "Our muggle studies professor, Professor Quirrell, has taken sabbatical for the year. His position has been filled by Charity Burbage. Professor Burbage, if you could please rise."

"Wait. Quirrell?" Melissa muttered under her breath. She leaned in close to Jacqueline. "Did he just say Professor Quirrell?"

"Yes. The muggle studies professor." Jacqueline whispered back.

"He taught muggle studies?"

Jacqueline seemed amused by her confusion. "What did you think he taught?"

Beats me, I didn't even know he was a professor before Harry's first year!

Instead of giving a response, Melissa stayed silent as Dumbledore continued to talk about Professor Burbage's experience relevant to the profession. Though the talk was ignored as her mind was a-whirl at the thought that she had been under the same roof as Quirrell for a whole school year and hadn't known it! It was a lost opportunity, to be sure. That, and it made her somewhat concerned about her lack of canon knowledge.

"We are also welcoming our newest Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Marcello Salvatore. Professor Salvatore, if you would please rise."

An olive-toned man stood up on the far left side of the staff table. He was middle aged, highlighted with peppered black hair, though his frame and build showed an unexpected level of fitness for his age, especially for a wizard. That said, the man's most surprising feature was his right arm. Specifically, the fact that it was made of metal.

The children around the room whispered quietly as his features were noticed. Though they stayed quiet enough as Dumbledore continued.

"Professor Salvatore has worked the past thirty years as a member of Los Caballeros de la Espada y la Cadena, an organization of dedicated wizards who remove dangerous beasts and curses across the Mediterranean. Please give a warm welcome to our newest professors."

The hall moved into a polite applause for the two newest members of staff. Once the headmaster finished his welcoming speech and everyone got together through a round of the school song, food magically appeared on the tables for the Welcoming Feast to begin.

During the feast the hall was abuzz with conversation, gossip, and catching up on Summer events. Melissa kept up her end of most discussions, though she kept finding herself looking back at Charity Burbage with something of a frown.

"Melissa?" Jacqueline called her.

"Hmm?"

"Are you even listening?"

"What? Sorry. What did you say?"

Jacqueline sighed and gave the girl a pointed look. "You've been distracted all night. What's wrong?"

"Oh. I've just been scoping the new professors. That's all."

"Planning on chasing out another professor, Bennett?" Ignatov teased.

"That was one time! " Melissa bit back. The girls chuckled at her exasperation, bringing her to bend over the table with a hand through her hair. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"At this rate, Bennett, you have enough reputation to haunt you for the next six years."

"Great." She muttered, though there was enough of a sheepish grin to show it didn't bother her nearly as much as she protested. "Well, can't say I didn't have it coming."

Sunday September 2nd, 1990

"I knew it!" Melissa declared, staring at the sheet in her hand. "The person who makes these class schedules is a sadist!"

"A what?" Jacinth asked.

"It's someone who takes pleasure in the suffering of others." Garrick answered, then looked up at Melissa curiously. "Though I was under the impression that the meaning holds a more… adult nature?"

Melissa side-eyed him and answered evenly. "I know what I said and I'm standing by it."

"Sounds about right." Ignatov stared at her own timetable, oblivious of the added conversation. "Classes on Monday morning, but not in the afternoon. We'd be better off the other way around."

Jacqueline pushed her new glasses up the bridge of her nose as she studied her own copy. "We do have first period off on Wednesday, though."

"With History of Magic in second period." Melissa pointed out. "So we'll be well rested just to sleep in class again."

"Or to sleep too good and we keep awake in class." Domonkos added.

"That's even worse." Warrington added. The rest of the Slytherins nodded to that.

"The only way that would have been fine is if we still had astronomy on Tuesdays." Melissa lamented. "We couldn't even get that on our side."

"Even our house pairings aren't the same this year." Amy lamented. "Defence and Charms with Ravenclaw this time. I liked studying with Egalitaire last year."

"There's no reason you can't do that this year." Melissa pointed out. "You did say you wanted all four houses to study together, right?"

"Yes, but that's difficult to organize when you don't share class together. What if this ends up like last year and the teacher has us learning at different paces?"

"Then we get Bennett to chase him out and start again." Jacinth teased.

"Damn it, Wystan! That was one time! "

A/N: The organization Marcello Salvatore is from (Google) translates to Knights of the Sword and Chain. Also, yes, I couldn't resist with that "mockingly romantic" song choice. Coco is a great movie and that's a fun song.