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Lily wouldn't have to wait much longer to share a class with the Hufflepuffs.

After they left Potions, Devon's, Hugo's, Stephanie's, Samantha's, and Lily's next class was Herbology and third year Gryffindors shared Herbology with third year Hufflepuffs.

Amongst the third year Hufflepuffs was Hugo's and Lily's cousins, Louis Weasley.

Hugo and Lily had always been very distant from their non-Gryffindor cousins but Hugo and especially Lily were hoping that Professor Kirke's edict of having teachers partner students from different houses in shared classes would provide a natural opportunity to become a bit closer to their non-Gryffindor cousins.

As Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily walked to Greenhouse Three, Lily was secretly hoping to be paired with Louis in this lesson.

As they entered Greenhouse Three just behind the Hufflepuffs, who had barely beaten them there, Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily saw that Professor Longbottom had put out five very unattractive plants and ten bottles, one on either side of each plant.

The plants looked less like plants than thick, black, giant slugs, protruding vertically out of the soil. Each was squirming slightly and had a number of large and shiny swellings upon it that appeared to be full of liquid.

"Bubotubers, " explained Professor Longbottom, "Today's lesson is simply collecting Bubotuber Pus. This is achieved by squeezing the swellings. Squeezing the swellings will cause them to pop and the pus to flow out of them. Bubotuber Pus is an excellent cure for acne. It's also quite valuable. Now, undiluted Bubotuber Pus can leave painful boils on the skin. So, please wear your dragon hide gloves today. You do NOT want to touch undiluted Bubotuber Pus. "

The class all shivered a bit at that as they all put on their dragon hide gloves.

"With Ainsley Cochlain no longer with us, " said Professor Longbottom matter of factly, "We have exactly five Gryffindors and exactly five Hufflepuffs in this class. I have purposefully chosen a lesson that doesn't require a lot of attentiveness for today's lesson because I want the pairs that are working together to have sufficient opportunity to talk to each other. Like the other teachers, I am of the opinion that one on one meetings between members of different houses are the best way to start and then later in the year you can all interact as a larger group. So, every Gryffindor find a Hufflepuff teammate and every Hufflepuff find a Gryffindor teammate and get to work collecting the Bubotuber Pus in the bottles and getting to know each other."

The nanosecond Professor Longbottom stopped talking, Lily galloped up to where Louis was standing and asked, "Louis, will you please partner me today?"

"I'd be delighted to be your partner today, " smiled Louis, giving off an aura of warmth.

"That's settled then," grinned Lily.

Looking around to see who else had paired up, Lily saw that Hugo was partnering Jason Finch Flecthly, who was the son of Justin Finch Flecthly and his muggle wife, Natasha Schwartz, an average sized and heighted brunette woman with brown eyes. Natasha Schwartz had been an elementary school friend of Justin's who he had lost contact with after starting Hogwarts. Jason's physical appearance was pretty much a carbon copy of Justin's.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, Justin had in essence withdrawn from the Wizarding World. Justin felt resentful towards magic after all the death and destruction of Voldemort's second reign. Justin lived with his parents in a muggle way the first few years after the Battle of Hogwarts.

Justin had come across his old friend Natasha at a May 4th, 2001, opening day screening of The Mummy Returns. By sheer happenstance, Justin and Natasha had sat next each other during the movie and when the movie was over, Natasha, who recognized Justin as the old elementary school friend she'd lost contact with. Natasha, who had always felt guilty about losing contact with Justin, invited Justin to a dinner of burgers of fries at a nearby Denny's.

During this dinner, Justin and Natasha had both shared memories and hit it off at the same time. After both thoroughly enjoyed each other's company during this dinner, Justin and Natasha made arrangements to meet up again at Denny's the next week, but that time at breakfast for a pancake meal.

This second meal between Justin and Natasha went much the same as the first and they quickly were meeting each other at least once a week in some way or another. In 2003, Justin and Natasha ended up marrying each other.

Immediately upon their marriage, Justin was sure he would never have anything to do with the Wizarding World again, as his last memories of magic were of terror, death, and destruction, while the muggle world and now his muggle wife were bringing him happiness.

However, for better, for worse, or for indifferent, Jason's birth changed everything. Jason showed signs of magic even as a very young baby. When Jason was only a few months old, he had levitated toys from a top shelf into his crib. Justin knew this was only possible because Jason was magical.

Knowing that Jason would have to be trained and learn how to control his magic, Justin reluctantly allowed the magical world to be part of his life again.

At first, Justin had been uncomfortable and even slightly bitter about reentering the Wizarding World. But he warmed up to magic again after meeting Hannah Abbott in the Leaky Cauldron and learning that Ernie MacMillan would be his son's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Reconnecting with his old Hufflepuff friends and seeing the success they were having as adults who were still fully invested in the Wizarding World changed the adult Justin's perspective on magic. Reconnecting with his old Hufflepuff friends had brought the joy of magic Justin had felt at age eleven back to him.

Natasha had supported her husband and son by becoming a successful muggle lawyer while Justin became a stay at home dad. When Jason was a little older, Justin home schooled him in muggle subjects such as English, math, science, geography, and computer skills until Jason was old enough to go to Hogwarts and learn about magic.

Though he had received plenty of love from mom and dad in his formative years, Jason hadn't known any other kids until he started Hogwarts. All five Hufflepuffs in this class had formed a very close quintet immediately upon their arrival at Hogwarts.

Another one of these Hufflepuffs was another half blood. He was a short black boy, and his name was Dansby Thomas. He was the son of Dean Thomas and his muggle wife a short black woman named Denise Dance who he had met at his dance den. Dean and Denise had had a dance on the dance floor of Dean's Dance Den, immediately hit it off, and the rest was history. Dean and Denise were married within a year of this first meeting, which had taken place on June 14th, 2001.

Unlike Justin, who had openly told Natasha about his magic and his Hogwarts career the night they had reconnected, Dean went several years without telling his wife that he was a wizard. Dean was content to run his dance den and didn't figure he needed to use magic. Dean hadn't been turned off to magic the way Justin had, but he felt he could easily live without it. Dansby was a late bloomer in terms of revealing his magic.

During the early years of Dansby's life, Dean had no reason to believe Dansby had magic in him. It wasn't until a couple months and a couple of days after Dansby's eighth birthday that he finally showed his

On a Sunday morning, Dansby had misplaced his IPOD and was expressing frustration to his mom and dad about not being able to find when, suddenly, to all three of their surprise, Dansby managed to summon his IPOD back to himself without knowing how he'd done it.

Dean realized at once that this incident proved Dansby was a wizard and that he had performed accidental magic. Dean then sat Dansby and Denise down and told them all about his and Dansby's magic and that Dansby would be going off to Hogwarts when he was eleven.

Denise rather resented that Dean had kept such a big secret from her for many years when she learned that Dean was a wizard and trust between the couple broke. However, Denise decided against considering a divorce as she morally believed that parents of minors should always stick together.

As for Dansby, he had attended a public muggle elementary school from kindergarten through fifth grade. He had in fact made several very good friends in the muggle world, but much in the mold of Stephanie, Dansby let go of his muggle friends easily once he joined the Wizarding World. He had moved on and so had they. As it turned out, Stephanie would be his partner on this day.

This class also included two muggleborn Hufflepuff girls.

One was a tall stocky girl with jet black hair and beetle black eyes named Ronda Racket, who was a passionate tennis enthusiast. Ronda Racket was the daughter of her look alike father Roquan Racket and his wife Chelsea Court, a tall and lanky brunette with brown eyes. Both Robert's parents were avid tennis players and taught him the game from the age of three. Ronda had been given a home school muggle education prior to starting at Hogwarts. On this day, Ronda would pair up with Devon.

The other was a short, small, and slim Asian girl named Nisha Zhang who was the daughter of Yoshi Zhang and Yasuko Chen. Both of Nisha's parents were schoolteachers with Yoshi being a Physics teacher and Yasuko being a Chemistry teacher. Nisha, Yoshi. and Yasuko were all very avid readers, both of academic type books and fantasy stories. Nisha would be working with Samantha in this lesson.

After seeing who was working with who else, Lily turned to Louis and said, "What have you been up to lately?"

As they spoke, Louis and Lily got to work popping their swellings and collecting the pus in the bottles.

"I was sorted into Hufflepuff in the first year of the new private sorting in Diagon Alley," said Louis glowingly, "On September 1st, 2019, on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, I sought out then first year Hufflepuffs. Ultimately, I, Jason, Dansby, Ronda, and Nisha all sat in the same compartment on the Hogwarts Express that first train ride to Hogwarts for us and we really hit it off there. The Hufflepuffs in my year are a very close quintet."

"That's good to hear, " said Lily approvingly, "Making friends is one of the most important things for first years. I'm glad to hear you did that in your first year and that you are part of a strongly bonded group."

"With the delta variant of Covid-19 raging, " admitted Louis, "Mom didn't want Dominique and I to come back to Hogwarts this year. She wanted to homeschool us."

"Let me guess, " reasoned out Lily, "Fleur wanted to home school you so that you would have no contact with anyone outside your own household. "

"This is true, " confirmed Louis, "And I don't blame mom for being worried. Mothers worry about their children. It's what they do. That said, dad overruled her and made the decision that Dominque and I would return to Hogwarts this year."

"Bill probably has his own concerns about his children but feels it's just really bad for them to be isolated from their peers, especially as teenagers, " inferred Lily.

"You should've been in Ravenclaw, Lily, " said Louis teasingly, "Dad felt that socializing with the other kids at Hogwarts was very important for Dominque and me. He also didn't want to rip away Dominique from her friend group in what's scheduled to be her final year."

"What is your own opinion?" Lily asked Louis.

"Again, I don't blame mom for being worried, " said Louis slowly, "However, my own view is that I belong at Hogwarts. Maybe I'm a little reckless, but I believe in living my life and whatever happens happens. Now, I'm not going to run into a busy street or anything like that. But I just don't believe in living in fear."

"And I agree with Bill, " said Lily firmly, "Human beings are social creatures. We need interpersonal interaction. So, what's your favorite subject?"

"All of us third year Hufflepuffs adore Care of Magic Creatures, " smiled Louis, "We share that class with Ravenclaw. Like Hufflepuffs historically have, we're also fond of Herbology. We all love animals and plants."

"Hufflepuffs are drawn to life, " said Lily proudly, "What's your least favorite subject?"

"Transfiguration!" blurted out Louis without even thinking, "Transfiguration is just so fucking hard!"

"Is it your worst subject?" inquired Lily.

"By far!" confirmed Louis, "I don't find the subject material too interesting either."

"What is your best subject then?' inquired Lily.

"Though it's not as much of a personal favorite of mine as Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures, I have an extremely natural aptitude for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm an O student in Defense Against the Dark Arts, a low A student in Transfiguration, and a mid to high E student in everything else, " answered Louis, "What about you?"

"I'm a straight O student, " said Lily proudly, "But my favorite subject by far is Charms and if I had to pick one subject I'm best at, Charms would be it. My favorite color is hot pink. What is your favorite color?"

"Yellow and black because they are Hufflepuff colors, " said Louis brightly, "I'm very proud to represent the Weasleys in Hufflepuff and I'm so grateful to have found such great friends there. The Sorting Hat debated between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff for me before settling on Hufflepuff on the end. I wasn't a Hatstall, but it took the Sorting Hat a little over three minutes to sort me."

"Do you think of yourself as brave?" Lily asked Louis.

"The name Louis means renowned warrior, " explained Louis, "Dad named me Louis because he hoped that if a situation ever called for it that I could be as brave as a warrior. My ambition is to become an Auror. But, if a war were ongoing at the time of my graduation, I would not hesitate to offer my service."

"That's awesome, " said Lily proudly, "I hope you do become an Auror someday."

"Thanks, Lily, " said Louis glowingly, "What do you want to be?"

"I want to become a Wandmaker, " said Lily hopefully, "I'm taking James's Wandmaking Class. For the longest time I didn't know what occupation I might want to go into. I only knew that I wanted to do something that would help people. I was inspired by James becoming a Wandmaking teacher and now I want to become a professional Wandmaker and provide witches and wizards with these essential tools of magic."

"That's fantastic, " said Louis radiantly, "Good luck "

By this time Louis and Lily were about halfway through their Bubotuber and they shut up for a little bit to listen to what the other teams were talking about.

"Like all Hufflepuffs, I'm super into Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, " Jason was telling Hugo, "But my favorite subject is Potions. I brewed a perfect Cure for Boils Potion in my class in my first year and instantly fell in love with the subject!"

"Potions is my favorite subject too!" replied Hugo eagerly, "I want to be a professional Potion Maker because of how important Potions are in medicine and healing. My friend Rachel Robins, who graduated from Hogwarts at the end of my first year, is now a highly successful Potions Maker for the Ultimate University of Wizarding Healing."

"Awesome!" beamed Jason, "To be honest, I haven't thought about my career path yet."

"Maybe Hugo and Jason can bond over their shared love Potions?" Louis suggested to Lily.

"That's another reason to have these interhouse pairings, " said Lily approvingly, "In addition to the whole interhouse unity thingy, new and beautiful friendships hitherto unknown are going to be uncovered. Professor Kirke, you get it girl!"

Meanwhile, Dansby and Stephanie were confiding in each other.

"I haven't suffered a tragedy such as losing my biological parents and original home in a house fire, " Dansby told Stephanie, "But my home life is far from perfect."

"What is the biggest issue you face in your home life then?" Stephanie asked Dansby in a low voice.

"My parents don't trust each other, " said Dansby sadly, "My dad is a wizard and mom is a muggle. I was a late bloomer in terms of magic as I didn't reveal any magic until several months after I turned eight. Dad never told mom he had magical powers until after my own were revealed and mom resented that dad kept such a big secret from her for so long. Now, mom has said she won't consider a divorce because parents of minors should stick together. But the writing is on the wall. Once I'm of age and looking after myself, I'm certain that mom and dad will divorce and exit each other's lives forever. That breaks my heart. "

"Well?" inquired Stephanie clearly, "Have your parents actually talked this out. Have your mom and dad ever sat down and a serious talk about why your dad kept such a big thing from your mom for so long and why your mom felt hurt when she found out that your dad had kept this secret from her?"

"No, " said Dansby matter of factly, "The most that's ever been between them on the subject is that mom has told dad that she resents that he kept such a big secret from her for so long and dad has told mom he never felt it necessary to her about his magic."

"Dansby," said Stephanie in a businesslike voice, "Your parents' relationship can be saved. They need to have a serious and open sit down and air out all their reasonings and feelings. This sounds like a case where both of your parents have kept feelings bottled up and so haven't moved past them. Understanding is the first step to acceptance and only with acceptance can there be recovery. One misunderstanding shouldn't ruin a relationship of any kind. If your mom and dad sit down with each other and have open honest discussion about this issue, they can move past it and begin to rebuild trust and love."

"So, there is hope?" said Dansby uncertainly.

"Absolutely, " said Stephanie confidently, "They just need to own to their own and each's feelings and talk them out in order to move on."

"Good for Stephanie, " said Lily to Louis, "She's right on the money about what needs to happen between Dansby's parents and by telling him what is needed has given him the opportunity to save his parents' marriage in the long run."

Devon and Ronda were discussing the differences in their upbringing.

"I remember seeing you when you were overweight and I couldn't believe it was humanly possible for a person to be that overweight, " mused Ronda, "Good on the Potters for getting you to see you couldn't continue down that destructive road. My mom and dad are both tennis enthusiasts and I am too. I grew up playing a lot of tennis. "

"I was never good at any sports growing up, " admitted Devon, "But it was a proud moment for me when I became a Gryffindor Chaser last year."

"And you a really good Chaser, " remembered Ronda, "I don't like Quidditch though. I feel more comfortable on the ground than in the air. Plus, I love that Tennis is an individual sport where my success or failure is based purely on my own performance against my opponent. I also like how much stamina and endurance Tennis requires and how the sport tests me and pushes me to my limits."

"I love Ronda's passion, " smiled Lily.

"I agree, " said Louis cheerfully, "I personally share Ronda's lack of fondness for brooms and Quidditch. "

"That doesn't surprise me, " said Lily matter of factly, "I know for a fact that Bill and Fleur were never fond of brooms so they can't have been a big part of your home life growing up."

"No, they were not, " confirmed Louis, "And I didn't exactly enjoy first year flying lessons either, so."

Nisha and Samantha seemed to exchanging discussion of their muggle interests.

"It was pure jubilation for me last year when Deandre Hopkins caught the Hail Murray, " Samantha was saying, "An ultimate moment of pure joy for me."

"My purest joy was when my Hogwarts report card came and all my grades were Os, " Nisha relied proudly, "If I were a muggle, I'd want to be a chemist or a physicist. As a witch, the possibilities are endless. I won't think about career paths for a few more years though."

"It seems like all the teams are getting along really well, " said Lily joyfully.

But Louis and Lily had come towards the bottom of their Bubotuber, and Louis said, "Lily, I think you should step back and let me handle both sides of the bottom. Pus from the bottom swellings can spill towards the floor when they are popped and you're wearing flip flops. I'm sure you don't want to get any of this stuff on your feet."

"Oh, thank you Louis, " said Lily sincerely, having not even thought of the possibility of spilled pus.

Lily stepped back and let Louis complete the task.

When the class ended, Professor Longbottom said happily, "You've all collected a decent amount of useful pus. More importantly, the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs clearly got on well with each other today. We're making great progress in inter house unity building."

Lily smiled. This had been one of the most satisfying lessons she'd ever attended since she'd started Hogwarts.

Seeing how well all the teams had got on with each other warmed Lily's insides as though someone had forced six cups of hot chocolate into her.

Yes, today was a great demonstration of what interhouse friendship could look like.