Marcus Flint was a chaser that was built like a beater, and he had the personality of a nogtail. He grinned at her family name and hung on every one of Snape's words. She could feel her stomach acid curdling whenever she was near him. But he liked to win, and he liked her speed on a broom, so she could tolerate him for the sake of the game.

Adrian Pucey seemed to care more about the rules than she'd expected a Slytherin to. It made more sense when she found out he'd referenced those same rules just the year before to invalidate Hufflepuff's win in their match due to one very specific interpretation of the haversacking foul. He barely seemed to notice or care when she joined practices as a seeker; all that mattered to him was getting the quaffle through the hoops.

Terence Higgs knew how to hold a grudge. It was only fair, she supposed, and Regulus had warned her that getting on the team the way she had wouldn't inspire teamwork on her behalf. But she couldn't bring herself to care about the way Higgs scowled at her from his new position as chaser when she knew that she'd run the tryout against him on Flint's broom, a whole week before Lucius had sent her new Nimbus 2000. And even Snape had agreed with her; if Gryffindor could bend the rules, so could Slytherin.

Miles Bletchley heard her name and laughed. It was during their second practice, while looping lazy circles through one of the hoops, that he told her she could always help them win if she could avoid being caught putting her hands on their opponents. Then he'd sneered at Bole that he was surprised he could tell his head apart from a bludger with that club of his.

Lucian Bole himself was more brawn than any other feature except bad sportsmanship. He and his fellow beater, Salama Shafiq, frequently got bored during practices and had a habit of hitting the bludgers towards any spectators. Or even their teammates for sake of some kind of entertainment.

Leo didn't have to do much with them during practices given how separate from the rest of the team a seeker was by design. So she spent the time instead running through the drills and moves she and Flint had discussed; she wouldn't be surprised if there was friction in the future due to her preference for maneuvers like the Plumpton Pass over his love for the Transylvanian Tackle.

Regulus was split over her new role as the team's seeker. Sometimes, he would chatter endlessly about his own time as a seeker and how much he missed it. Other times, he would float silently during the practices, his mind anywhere but where she was. But most often, he was snarling, angry any time she put quidditch and her broom above practicing her spells. And it didn't matter to him that she'd finally learned how to put up an imperturbable charm on her bed each night when she spent just as much time behind her drawn curtains reading from McGonagall's list on animagi or the Prince's old book as she did the texts she'd found in the library on fire magic or the copy of Secrets of the Darkest Art that she kept hidden in her trunk whenever it wasn't in her own two hands.

"Fine," she finally said, stopping in her trek up from Potions to lunch and staring up at the ceiling, jaw set. "I'll start on Confundo today. Does that please you, oh master?"

Regulus growled in response. "Don't get distracted by the game."

"I won't," she hissed. "By the time I catch the snitch, I'll already be expert on the theory."

He looked doubtful.

"I'll work on it," she promised.

Despite being a Fifth Year spell, Confundo somehow was harder to understand than the imperturbable charm. There was a lot of theory written on it, but since the start of term, Madam Pince had gotten in the habit of quite frequently kicking her out of the library for speaking to Regulus too loudly. She'd also very sternly reminded her that some language was inappropriate for both her age and location, and Leo belatedly realized that maybe she'd gotten rather vexed with Regulus sniping her inability to master advanced enchantment theory as an eleven year old.

So Leo compromised with Pince and sat in the hall outside the library instead.

"What are you doing here?"

Leo looked up at Regulus with a frown, but he was still hunched over the notes she'd finished earlier and laid out for him to read. She wasn't sure if he'd moved since he'd first started reading.

"Curfew started a half hour ago."

She turned towards the voice, and Regulus jolted back to reality. She stared at the prefect standing there and then frowned down at her study materials. Her wand was still lit with Lumos, providing her light for her reading, but she hadn't realized until now just how dark it had gotten. She looked up again. "I'm sorry, Mister . . . ." She paused.

"Prewett," Regulus said.

"Weasley?" she asked.

"Percy," he confirmed, raking his gaze over her and her things. He was standing tall, shoulders squared and chin lifted. "It's after curfew. I don't understand why you would break it to read in a hallway."

She frowned. Then she realized she was hungry and the bag of sweets at her side had been empty for a while. "I missed dinner?"

He stared at her, jaw set. Then his brow furrowed. "How long have you been here, Miss Malfoy?"

She squinted at the book she'd been working on. She wasn't even halfway through the library book, but she had scrawled across a good portion of the pages in the journal she'd brought. "I went to the library after lunch," she concluded. "Madam Pince had me leave because I was too loud while studying. I had double Potions this morning, but my Friday afternoons are free, so I . . . ." She glanced at the closed library doors. "I must have missed Madam Pince leaving."

"Sometimes she stays late in the library," he informed. "It's half past ten. Let's get you to your dormitory."

She started gathering up her things, closing her books and putting them away in her bag. She reached out and took the notes Regulus had been reading. "We're going now." She canceled the light in her wand with a Nox and tucked it away in her robes.

Percy was still looking at her with that odd expression on his face, somewhere between stern and confused. Once she was on her feet, he turned and started walking. "Let's go, then." As they started to the dungeons, he glanced at her. "In the future, you can complete your homework in your Common Room past curfew if need be."

She nodded absently. "I wasn't doing homework."

"Oh?" He was frowning, now.

"Professor Flitwick mentioned that certain spells can get more complex and change based on the target." That was true. "He mentioned the confundus charm was a good example of that fundamental difference. Living being versus object." The lie rolled easily off her tongue. "I was doing some independent study to try to better understand the shifted casting theory."

He studied her for a moment. "That's quite advanced theory work for a First Year."

"I enjoy advanced theory work," she said truthfully. She shot Regulus a glare. What she did not enjoy was being told repeatedly she wasn't good enough at it.

Percy nodded at that. "Well, do remember that the older students should always be willing to help you if you ask, especially the prefects. And especially with a subject as difficult as that."

"Yes," Leo mused, staring at Regulus. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I thought you would go to a Slytherin prefect."

"Is that required?" Leo asked immediately.

Percy frowned. "Well, no. But students are usually more comfortable asking for help from prefects in their own House."

"Yes, that would make sense," she agreed.

Regulus was hovering just over her shoulder, intently focused. After three nights in a row at the Shrieking Shack until her Flipendo was confident, he was not only happy to let her switch her focus to her other spells, he was insistent. And she knew that his frustration was boiling at her struggle with the concepts she was trying to grasp.

Percy was still standing there, watching her expectantly. But he hadn't sent her away, and his prefect badge was still proudly pinned to his chest.

"I'm relatively socially inept," she admitted, "but I'm not oblivious. I'm quite sure the only other Slytherin that does more than tolerate me is my brother. And I can assure you that Draco would be no help in the finer details of magical theory."

Regulus scoffed.

Percy was frowning at her again, and she thought he did that to her quite a lot. Finally, he said, "I have quite a few duties, as a prefect, that keep me quite busy."

"I understand." She was already rifling through her other options. She had far less of a practical reasoning she could provide this time, but perhaps Professor Flitwick would still—

"However, I might be able to afford to set aside a small amount of time." He puffed his chest out. "As a prefect, it's my duty to help you."

Regulus laughed. "This Prewett might be helpful after all."