And we're back again. This chapter should be going up sometime in November, probably around Thanksgiving. If you're American, happy Thanksgiving. If you aren't, have an awesome day regardless!

This chapter gives mentions to the fundraiser for the Hufflepuff uniforms and Cedric's new broom. We get to see several students' reactions, especially Ron Weasley. He and Draco aren't super involved yet, but that will change in the second book.

Still, despite the small peek into Ron's life several chapters ago, he still retains his love for quidditch. Ron is really able to be in Hogwarts strictly because he sold off his collection of Chudley Cannons merch, so smaller things like these posters will actually become a sort of thing for him to collect.

We'll also see a bit of potions, and perhaps some transfiguration. I do want to include some study of the Invisibility cloak, and some research of subjects other than runes for Merlot, although there may be references to her book being written along the way. Might save those for more chapters… push back christmas until december?

Regardless let's get into it!

—0—

Ron stood at the front of a large group of students, all of them milling around a poster hung upon the door of the great hall.

"Wicked…"

It was certainly wicked. The poster displayed Merlot Scortwit in black robes, wearing a tri corner hat and looking at the camera with intensity. Wind seemed to be blowing in the picture, causing the robe to flap along. There was wording stamped across the bottom, outlined in silver.

-BLACK WRAITH SCORTWIT-

Ron grinned for the first time in a while. This was something he could get behind. He had always been a fan of Quidditch, and although he didn't have as much merchandise as he used to. 'thanks mom.' he still followed the national games and club games closely.

From what he had seen from Merlot already, he knew that she would be going places when she got older. The fact that she played this well for her first year ever was a testament to that. It also made Ron hope, maybe if he got onto the Gryffindor quidditch team, he could go up against her.

Alongside him, Draco Malfoy was having the same thought.

"My father will kill me if he sees this on my wall at home."

"It might actually be safe for me, except mum did tell Fred and George to stay away from her after people got wind of the troll incident."

Malfoy nodded. "Makes sense. She hates everyone dark…"

"Well hey, you could convince your father that way. Tell him she killed a troll with a single spell." Ron shrugged.

"Perhaps…" Draco nodded, before turning to his friend. "Only one way to find out!"

"I've only got so much money left, you know." Ron scoffed. "And no, I'm not letting you pay for me. I'm not a charity case."

"No, but you are family."

Ron turned to see Fred and George standing behind him, both grinning as if they had won the lottery.

"How are the lion and snake today?"

"You two are spying on us now?" Ron scowled.

"Not at all dear brother! In fact-"

"We think that mums treatment of you is abhorrent. So-"

"We are here to offer our help."

Draco blinked at the twins, before turning to Ron. "Do they do this often?"

"Trust me, you don't want me to answer that."

Fred and George pulled the two first years close. "Look Ron, Fred and I have our own secrets to keep. You know our big dream is to open a shop like Zonkos, we'll we've made a few things, sold them here and there. Long story short, we have a bit of spending money."

Fred handed a few galleons to Ron. "If you want more, you'll have to work for it. We could use a hand with pranks and such."

Ron blinked at the money before looking up at his brothers. "You're serious about this?"

"Many hands make light work, Ronnikens." Fred smiled.

"Gives us some more time to develop products, and gives you the opportunities to prank whoever you want." George nodded.

"Just stay away from Scortwit."

"Yeah, she'd probably know."

Draco snorted. "You two are afraid of Scortwit? Sure, she does well in class, and she's a kickass quidditch player-"

"Scortwit is the name of the guy Charlie works with." Fred quickly said to Ron.

"Who do you think the extra sweater was for last Christmas?"

Ron blinked. "She's with Charlie…"

"Said he taught her how to fly, but she's way better than he ever was." Fred nodded.

"Anyways," George spoke. "You know where to find us if you want to do some fun stuff, we have it on the list to prank Markus Flint by next Christmas!"

Draco grinned. "I want in on that, the guys a prick, even to the rest of us in Slytherin."

Fred smiled and George nodded to the blonde boy with a grin. "We'll be in touch. Now, we have to go pick up our posters from Hufflepuff."

"We already paid Orofessor Sprout." George grinned.

"We're going to plaster them through Wood's room." Fred smiled.

"He's gonna be livid!"

The twins took their leave and Ron turned to Draco. "Never thought they'd be willing to do that…"

"Maybe some of your family isn't so bad. So, should we get a poster of her?"

Ron nodded. "I think it's a good start to something new."

Draco nodded and they walked off to the greenhouse, hoping to talk to Professor Sprout about the posters.

—0—

"Another well brewed potion, Miss Scortwit."

Merlot smiled as Professor Snape took the bottles of calming draught she had made and placed them within one of his cupboards.

"Thank you sir, I do my best."

"Indeed, you are my top student, despite your other academic pursuits." Snape nodded. "I am happy to see a student who follows instructions with proper discipline. Even some of my Slytherin students can be out of line at times."

"I tend to block them out sir, are they truly that bad?"

"Not as bad as some. I remember one student once caused me to lock down the classroom because of their mistake compromising a line of cauldrons, all containing partially mixed, and therefore volatile, potions. There hasn't been an incident like that since. I made sure of it."

Merlot nodded as Snape turned back to her and raised an eyebrow.

"I have been told you are quite intelligent when it comes to runes."

Merlot blushed. "I just like studying them…"

"Indeed… have you ever considered what runes might do to the brewing process?"

Merlot blinked. That idea had not come across her mind yet, but now that it did. "There are some theoretical potions that could work under the correct circumstances."

Professor Snape nodded and walked to his desk, pulling out a cauldron and lighting a flame beneath it. "I was never quite good at runes. However I have always had a certain penchant for potions and the dark arts… it was these skills that led to me discovering the wolfsbane potion. There was one young woman I knew, while I was a boy here at the school. She was as good as I in this class, and also had a knack for runes."

Merlot blinked. "What was her name?"

"Lily Potter." Snape spoke softly, adding ingredients to the cauldron from memory. "She was the brightest witch of our age… A prodigy in charms, potions, and runes."

Merlot blinked as the man looked up at her. "You have her eyes…"

It was delivered so softly that she barely heard him speak, yet his words were filled with such an incredible amount of sorrow. Merlot knew that Lily was her mother, and she knew that one day she would meet those who were incredibly close to both of her parents.

The way he spoke however, it told her that Professor Snape was more than a classmate. Such sorrow could only come from love.

"She sounds like a brilliant witch."

Snape wiped his eyes with one hand, discreetly of course. He turned back to his cauldron and continued brewing. "She was better than brilliant…"

The potions classroom was silent apart from the swish of Professor Snapes stirring rod and the steady bubble of his cauldron. A few minutes passed like that and the Professor spoke again.

"How far along are you in your other studies?"

Merlot pulled a stool over from one of the desks and sat. "Charms is always tense. I've skipped Professor Flitwicks dueling group several weeks now… I can do the charms but he won't say anything to me that he doesn't have to."

Snape nodded. "He is still upset about the troll and your less than deserved punishment. Speaking of, how are your detentions with Quirrell?"

"They are actually quite informative. Professor Quirrell has helped me with several breakthroughs when it comes to my own mental blocks."

"Such as?"

Merlot nodded and held up a finger. "Using magic on living things. I've always had a hard time with it. He helped me to see that many spells can help creatures with ailments, and that others can be used to gift a merciful end to one that is suffering."

"He has had you kill?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"No. He has only demonstrated on a few magical creatures that have been injured, such as a pixie with no wings."

"They cannot grow them back, and so it is merciful to end them before they are massacred by their flock." Snape nodded.

"Yes. I think that eventually, I may be able to help unfortunate souls like that… he also showed me how to dissect dead creatures and preserve their remains." Merlot nodded.

Professor Snape nodded and added in a scoop of beetle eyes, before making three counter clockwise stirs and then settling into a system of clockwise stirs.

"How about your other classes? Transfiguration?"

Merlot sighed. "Honestly, I find it difficult to hold back as much as I am… transfiguration has always come naturally to me, but I don't want to end up blowing past everyone."

Snape nodded and gave the cauldron one more stir, before taking an occamy eggshell and stuffing it inside a bundle of nettles. He dropped the bundle of leaves, stems, and silver into the cauldron and resumed his stirring.

"I find it incredible how much your mind can process. You are already writing a book about runes, blowing Professor Flitwicks expectations sky high, although he will never admit that…" Snape spoke in his monotone fast and slow drawl. "And you are maintaining your position at the head of my class and Minerva's, while holding yourself back. You seem to be much more than a prodigy."

"Does it bother you? I'm sorry if it's…"

"If it were a what?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Freakish…"

"Freakish?"

Merlot bit the inside of her cheek. "I know I'm a freak. Magic, wizardry, whatever you want to call it. I'm a freak. It's gross and disgusting, I'm tainted by it."

Snape whipped his wand up so it was pointed between her eyes. Merlot squeaked and fell silent as the man scowled at her.

"I will not have a student speaking that way of themselves."

Merlot nodded as the professor put his wand away and added more ingredients to his potion. "Why do you say those things?"

Merlot crossed her arms and looked down. "Because they're true."

Snape gave an uncharacteristic chuckle as he shook his head. "You have such a gift… if you can truly do better, why do you waste your energy in holding everything back?"

"Because it's wrong." Merlot frowned. "I hurt people."

Snape shook his head. "No, you have been hurt by people. There is a difference."

Merlot looked at the man. "And they're all dead now. I killed them."

Snape shrugged. "Then they got what they deserved."

"Nobody deserves to die."

Snape looked up as he extinguished the fire beneath his cauldron. "How old were you when you first took a life?"

Merlot blinked, before looking down. "I was around eight or nine…"

"Stop picking your fingers, they will bleed and get infected." Snape spoke. "I was five when I killed my father."

Merlot looked back up, her eyes wide. Snape nodded. "My mother was a witch, and my father a muggle. He ran away when I was born. Once I started doing magic, he came back and tried to kill us both. My body lashed out, and my magic crushed his heart, as if it were an ant."

Merlot stared as the man bottled his potion and slid a vial over to her. "I had no idea."

"There is a lot about my life that no one knows. I'd like to keep it that way."

Merlot nodded. Snape put his cauldron away. "Try to stop holding back while you're at it. It's a bad habit to get into."

"I don't want to hurt anyone." She said, picking up the vial. "Another topical potion?"

"Nutrient restorative." Snape pursed his lips. "People get hurt, it is part of the natural way of things. Perhaps if you do use your gifts, you will find ways to avoid hurting others, to avoid taking lives."

Interesting." Merlot nodded. "But you are saying I will still need to take lives…"

"Perhaps." Snape nodded. "The fact of the matter is that everyone has their own free will. What they choose to do with it will impact others, and so it may impact you. If another dark lord arises, and you had a choice to kill him, or watch him kill your family, what would you do?"

"I would kill him." Merlot said, without hesitation. "Oh god… I really just said that…"

"I am glad you did. Otherwise, I would have thrown you from this room." Snape nodded. "It is getting late, you should go to dinner."

"Thank you for talking to me again." Merlot smiled.

"You have power at your fingertips miss Scortwit, a capacity that far outstrips any I have seen, or will ever see in the future." Snape nodded. "As your teacher, it is my job to direct you in these ways. And I am always happy to fill in for Poppy when she is overworked. Now, go eat and be merry. Yule is fast approaching."

"Indeed. Goodnight to you Professor."

"Goodnight to you as well. I will give Poppy my notes for tonight so that she may show them to Albus. Perhaps I may take you off of her hands more than once a week."

"That may be fun." Merlot smiled.

"For you, you get to perform to your actual level away from prying eyes. If I didn't already have an apprentice, I would snap you up in a heartbeat… now good night."

Merlot smiled and skipped out of the classroom. She made her way to the great hall, running across Peeves the poltergeist along the way.

"Hey Peeves!"

"Ohoho! Ickle firstie all alone!" The specter laughed.

"I have a joke for you, if it makes you laugh, can I go without being pranked?"

Peeves blinked. "Perhaps, I may also let you go if you give me new ideas!"

Merlot smiled and looked around, before motioning for the poltergiest to follow her. She took out her wand and pointed it at a door. "When is a door not a door?"

Peeves leaned in as Merlot waved her wand, turning the door into a large mason jar which blocked the entranceway.

"When it's a jar!"

Peeves grinned and whirled about, in and out of the walls, giggling a bit as he did so. "Ohoho! When it's a jar! I see I see! Ajar! Ohoho! Well, you won the game… I will let you go! I will keep a look out for you in the future!"

Merlot smiled. "I have a lot more for you, so I'll be sure to be prepared."

The poltergeist floated away laughing, and Merlot continued on her way to the great hall.

"So how was talking about feelings with professor Snape?" Hannah smirked as Merlot sat down.

Merlot smiled. "It may surprise you to know, but Professor Snape is a very empathetic individual. We had a very good talk, and I think I may have learned a bit more about myself."

"Okay Socrates." Hannah rolled her eyes. "Dinner roll?"

"I'd love one, thanks. So how is the fundraiser? I see that Cedric and the others aren't here."

Hannah nodded. "Aldens having them help count, and getting measurements. Apparently, they raised over six hundred galleons already."

Merlot blinked in disbelief. "That much?"

Hannah nodded and leaned over. "All of the posters are sold out. Alden took backorders for the second round. One day! He's also super excited about the shirts and pins. He's expecting to make enough to get brooms for the whole team!"

Merlot gave a low whistle and shook her head. "That's a lot of money…"

Hannah nodded. "Once the other posters are ready, Alden will hand them out and collect payments. He's got a few hundred already, so on top of the six hundred galleons, there's at least a thousand collected."

Merlot shook her head. "You know what this means?"

Hannah smiled. "Dashing uniforms and the all around best quidditch team that Huffleuff's ever had?"

Merlot shook her head and finished making her plate.

"More photo sessions…"

—0—

Okay, so I know what I said in the last chapter. There would be a few more chapters and blahdy blah, but I thought that this would be a good way to draw it all out a bit more, especially because it gives me some time to bring Snape in. He gets more in depth around books three and four :3

So, leave reviews, I will answer questions. I kinda be rushing this one, sorry.

Adios!