Romina was half asleep when she pulled herself together enough to head out for breakfast. She was not expecting Angel to be so chippy and loud greeting her in the morning.

"Ready for breakfast?"

"Mhm," Romina nodded. "You want to take me there? I might fall asleep on the way."

Angel chuckled. "It would be my pleasure." He interlocked arms with her and headed out of the common room with her.

"Something like that," Romina mumbled. "I had these weird dreams...just so bombarding. I kept waking up like every hour."

"That sucks," Angel said, leading her up the stairs. "You're not the kind to have bad dreams."

"No, I left all the stuff from last year behind me," Romina said with a sour smile. "Because trust me, I have plenty of material to dream about that could re-traumatize me all over again."

"Maybe it's just the stress getting to you."

"The school year just started, Angel. I'm not that behind on work yet."

"I wasn't talking about academic stress, Romina," Angel said and gave her a sharp side-eye. She knew what he meant and sighed. He had been present last night when she and Pansy had a row about the dumbest thing. "You really should try to just, I don't know, ignore her or something," Angel said.

"It's not as easy as you think. She's everywhere. I literally changed dorms to get away from her!"

"Yeah, Carol was really happy about the switch too. She'd never say it but she's kind of scared of Pansy, always has been growing up."

Romina snorted. "Nobody should ever be afraid of Pansy. I'm not scared of her, she just aggravates me."

They entered the Great Hall and went straight to the Slytherin table where their friends were sitting.

"I need some dark roast coffee stat," Romina said as they sat down together.

"You drink dark roast coffee for breakfast?" Angel chuckled.

"Sometimes," Romina shrugged. She had to pause to cover her yawn.

"Oooh, did somebody not get enough sleep last night?" Pansy's voice stopped the pair. She had come along with Millicent, the two going straight for the open seats near Draco, Crabb and Goyle.

Romina lamented that her bad morning was even worse now. "I'm not—Parkinson, keep it to yourself. I'm too tired to deal with you today." She should have at least a few hours to really wake up before she had to insult someone.

"I know," Pansy said, far too sure of what she was saying. "You know, I figured that since you keep ruining Draco's day, somebody should ruin your nights."

"What…? What did you do to me?" Romina left her breakfast as it was. Her eyes flickered between Pansy and Draco, expecting one of them to give her an explanation. Had she been less focused on the shock, she would've realized the flash of confusion on Draco's face.

"Simple nightmare potion," Pansy explained. The malicious glint in her eyes was strong and proud. "Even an idiot could make it."

"And an idiot did," Angel said, earning a brief glare from Pansy in return. "That is very low of you, Pansy. What were you thinking?"

Romina was flabbergasted. Her mind spun to think of when Pansy had slipped that potion to her. It was infuriating not knowing. "So this was some revenge ploy? A sleepless night?" She scoffed. "And really, Draco? Getting Parkinson to do it on your behalf? Beyond lazy!"

Draco glared and pointed his fork at her. "Would you stop calling me 'lazy'? I didn't ask anybody to—"

Romina rolled her eyes, not wanting to hear a word from him. "You're just pathetic. Instead of just apologizing for such a horrendous act, you make it even bigger!" She glared over at Pansy; the latter couldn't be any happier with the results.

"Better luck next time, I suppose," Pansy shrugged, her tone ever so calm.

Romina barely resisted the urge to throw her goblet upside Pansy's head. She pushed herself up from her seat and stormed away. It's too early, it's too early...

"Oswell!" She heard Draco's call not too far behind her.

Oh, God no. She picked up her pace in the hallway, deciding to head back to the common room instead. "Leave me alone!" She yelled back. "Go back and sit with your dear partner in crime!"

"I didn't ask Parkinson to do anything for me!" Draco expected the hard scoff Romina sent his way. It was the only place he could start. "It wasn't my idea!"

"Oh please!" Romina whirled around, finding he was closer to her than she thought. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

Draco's face expression was nothing if not incredulous. "Because I didn't do anything?" He was sure that was the best reason he could offer. "I'm guilty of many things, Oswell, but of this? No."

Romina still seemed mighty unconvinced. She folded her arms. "Yeah right! I just want to know when Pansy slipped it in. Was it while we were arguing last night?"

"Ask her! I didn't do it!"

Romina started backtracking from him. "Forget it, I don't believe you! Just know that I will get you back for this."

"Oswell, if you would just—"

"No! Don't say another word to me!"

Draco rolled his eyes at her. She had no idea. "But listen—"

"Not another word!"

"You don't want me to say anything else?"

"Exactly!"

"Even if it's actually important?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. I won't say anything else then," Draco promptly said. His small smile was confusing but Romina didn't want to give him any more of her time.

She turned around to continue on her way but the moment her foot stepped forwards, she found the ground wasn't there. She was at the staircase. She flailed and fell forwards—she never made it down. A strong tug on her arm yanked her back before she slid off.

Next thing Romina knew, she was looking at a smug-faced Draco right in front of her. "Didn't know you'd be falling for me, Oswell," he said. He really couldn't help it. It was too big of an opportunity to let pass.

Romina's scowl was imminent. "I...hate you! You saw me about to fall!"

"You told me not to say another word," Draco reminded her. He laughed when Romina tried to smack him, or at the very least "tap him" as she'd claimed she'd done the last time. She was locked between his arms no matter how much she attempted to free herself.

"You're an absolute jerk!" And perhaps a strong one at that. Romina groaned at her failed attempts. "Let me go before I punch you!"

"What? Not comfy?" Draco was clearly enjoying the moment. He could smell her rosy scent perfectly. Now he wondered if it was her hair or her perfume. Did she wear perfume?

"I am very prepared to throw both of us down these stairs," Romina declared.

Draco laughed earnestly for the first time in a long time. "You are very competitive, Oswell. Gotta say, I like it. You're making my days fun."

Romina scoffed, head turning away. "Please. Couple days ago you said I was being ridiculous."

"And I stand by it but you're funny when you're plotting. And kinda cute."

Romina's head snapped back in his direction, tilting up to meet his gaze. His silver-blue eyes were already on her, filled with nothing but confidence.

"That a bother?" he asked her.

Before Romina knew it, she was shaking her head slowly. Speak! She blinked at her own stupidity. Warmth flourished up her neck and face within seconds. SPEAK! "You…" This wasn't working—holy shit this wasn't working! She shoved Draco far away from her. "Stay away from me!"

Draco laughed and by God it was a graceful laugh too. Romina wanted to shove him down the stairs.

"C'mon Oswell, can't we call it a truce?" He asked, sending her a smug smile. "I think it would be better if we plotted together."

"In your dreams," Romina spat and went down the steps.

Draco would take it as a win that she hadn't yelled this time. Piece by piece. He just had to put those pieces together. He turned to head back for the Great Hall.

"Where'd Romina go?" Angel bumped into him under the threshold. "Did you say something to her?"

"Sod off, Angel," Draco snapped. "This is none of your business."

"It is when you're continuously messing with Romina. I just went over this with Pansy back there and I'll tell you the same thing: back off."

"Yeah, you're not as threatening as you think you are," Draco said. "But I suppose I can give you points for effort."

Angel glared at him. "I mean it. Romina's taken enough crap these past years. You're supposed to be her friend—Pansy was supposed to be her friend — but you keep trying to make her life miserable."

"I am, but she's being a little difficult right now. Just a bump in the road, certainly nothing you need to stick your nose into. I mean seriously, are you trying to be overly blatant with that crush? It's been almost four years, Angel. Remember what I told you during our second year?"

Angel rolled his eyes. "No."

When Draco smirked, Angel knew that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was going to be infuriating.

Draco was happy to repeat himself. "The sad part is, she's never going to notice you." He clapped Angel on the shoulder. "And I was right. Four years." He wiggled four of his fingers and laughed on his way into the Great Hall.

Angel drew in a deep breath, a very deep breath, and balled his hands into tight fists. He had to calm himself before he did something he would regret, and worst of all do something that could hurt Romina along the way.

~ 0 ~

Romina had found small ways to appease her desire for revenge. Pansy Parkinson would not be making a move against her for a good while, not when she had undiluted bubotousse pus to deal with. Romina thanked Madame Pomfrey for the second lesson and the glorious opportunity she unknowingly provided. Pansy couldn't prove that the accidental squirt of pus wasn't accidental at all. She could complain all she wanted up in the hospital wing. That Thursday, Romina would focus solely on the double session of DADA, their first session of the term. It had been pushed back for some reason, though allowing for the extra Herbology lesson.

Romina sat down beside Hermione and was surprised to see that the girl wasn't there yet. She looked back at Harry and Ron who sat in the desk behind them. "I'll bite, where's Granger? She's never late and much less for the first class of the year."

Both Harry and Ron shrugged their shoulders, equally confused.

"She's been zooming through meals," Ron said. "Dunno where she gets into lately."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Romina remarked. "She seems kinda upset, though. Did you two do something?"

"That's offensive," Ron said sourly, glancing at Harry for some help.

Harry was frowning. "Of course not, Rom. Whatever Hermione's up to, we'll end up learning about it soon enough. Like the Time Turner."

Romina had to give him the point. Just as she was turning to face forwards again, she caught sight of the bushy haired Hermione zipping into the classroom.

"Made it!" Hermione said in utter relief when she plonked down beside Romina.

Romina eyed her friend curiously and slightly concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Course! Yeah! Why do you ask?" Hermione eagerly started pulling out her book and quill and parchment and everything else they would probably need for the class.

Romina still watched her strangely. "Just...curious…"

Shortly afterwards, Moody finally entered the classroom. He made his way up to the front, commanding silence with his bare walk. "You can put those away—those books," he started, his gruff tone startling the class, "You won't need them."

Hermione was deeply disappointed unlike Ron who couldn't put his book away quick enough.

"I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?" Moody didn't exactly wait for any hands to raise. "When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

Unsurprisingly, Hermione's hand was the first one in the air. Moody gave her the nod to answer. "Three sir."

"And they are so named?"

"Because they are unforgivable. Use of any one of them will…"

"Will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban. Correct. Now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different!" Moody said with a particular snap in his tone. "You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared, you need to find somewhere else to put your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk Mr Finnigan!"

Finnigan jumped at the sudden call of his name, all heads turning his way while Moody went up to the chalkboard.

"Aw no way, the old codger can see out the back of his head," Finnigan murmured to his partner.

Moody threw a piece of chalk in his direction but went on with the class as if nothing happened. "So, which curse shall we see first? WEASLEY!"

Ron jumped. "Y-yes?"

"Give us a curse!"

"Well, my dad did tell me about one...the imperious curse."

"Ahhh yes, your father would know all about that. Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why." Moody opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a jar with a spider inside it. As soon as Ron saw it, he leaned away as if the spider was about to come his way. "Hello. What a little beauty. Imperio!" Moody raised the spider into the air with his wand. "Don't worry. Completely harmless."

The class watched as the spider went side to side, up and down, in circles. Snickers started erupting when the spider was sent over the tops of several students and soon enough most of them were laughing. Ron certainly didn't laugh when the spider danced over his head.

"Get it off! Get it off!" He slapped his own head in an attempt to rid himself of the spider. The class roared with laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Moody chose Draco to silence amongst the class by sending the spider to his nose.

Much like Ron, Draco swatted his hands over his face to throw the spider off. There may have been some extra laughing with the sight.

Mad-Eye sends the spider onto Draco's face.

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only do did you-know-whose bidding under the influence of the imperious curse," Moody explained, "But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars? Another.. Another…" His gaze swept over the class for another volunteering hand and to everyone's surprise, Neville did it. "Longbottom is it?" Neville nodded silently. "What is it?"

"There's the um...the Cruciatus Curse," Neville responded, gaze slightly downfallen.

"Correct! Correct! Particularly nasty. The torture curse. Crucio!" Moody said, and suddenly the spider was writhing. Its legs were twisting and turning in angles that it shouldn't be.

Romina's face twisted with fright. She really wished she wasn't sitting upfront. What was more odd, at least to her, was that it seemed Moody was lost in the spell, focused solely on the pained spider. "Professor?" she decided to call, though not sufficiently loud enough.

"STOP IT! Can't you see it's bothering him, stop it!" Hermione yelled suddenly, Everyone near her looked at her but realized she was looking not at Moody but at Neville who couldn't be more positively disturbed.

Moody gave the spider a break and looked at Hermione. "Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse Miss Granger."

Hermione shook her head defiantly, a very surprising move for the other students.

Romina then raised her hand, expression emotionless. For a fourteen year old girl, it should be rare to know it but she wasn't exactly raised like the rest of her companions.

"Oswell," Moody gave her the nod. Romina swore that he knew, and why wouldn't he?

"The murder curse," Romina said, hands balling into fists over the desk.

"The killing curse," Moody corrected for technicalities.

"Is it not the same thing?" Romina challenged and earned a small smirk from the man. "Avada Kedavra," she said slowly and clearly.

"Avada Kedavra!" Moody's wand emanated a green flash of light that instantly stilled the spider in the air, Romina and Hermione flinching when it landed on their desk. "There is no countercourse for this, no blocking either. Only one known person has ever survived it and he's sitting in this room."

It was fairly quick how Harry's excitement for the class vanished in a matter of seconds. He couldn't wait to see the end of the session so he could hide under a rock from all the looks.

"I can't believe he actually used those curses," Hermioe muttered when they were finally free. Moody took a head start out of the class, ironically, as if he had somewhere else to be.

Romina slid out of her seat and cast a wary look at the chalkboard that was full of notes on said curses. She had to admit that Moody's teachings were very different from their previous professors' styles. "We can only hope this was the worst lesson to learn."

"Fat chance," Ron said, nearly exclaiming. He was the only student who remained excited about the lessons.

"Harry, you alright?" Romina asked, noticing how quiet their friend was as he put away his roll of parchment. She had a pretty good idea what he was thinking about. The last unforgivable curse was the reason he was an orphan.

"Yeah, course," Harry said quickly, even throwing on a fake smile for show.

"Neville's not," Hermione said, watching as Neville walked out of the classroom in a sort of haze. Hermione was quick to follow, prompting the others to then follow her.

"Oswell," Draco called, standing up from his seat when Romina was to walk by. "I heard what you did to Parkinson…"

Romina had long ago mastered her innocent expressions, even in the face of accusers (Draco) and the suspicious (Hermione). The latter had figured it out a while ago and wasn't backing down despite Romina's assurances that she didn't do anything.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Romina said, shrugging her shoulders.

Draco tilted his head at her, eyes narrowing on her with a small smile. "Yeah, sure." Romina shrugged, truly committed to her role of innocence.

"Rom!" Harry called by the doorway. Thinking it wasn't enough, he marched over to grab Romina's arm. "Whatever he's saying, don't even bother responding!"

"Even if she did, she knows she's lying," Draco said, eyes still glued on Romina. "Isn't that right?"

Romina opened her mouth to shoot down such accusations but Harry never gave her the chance. He yanked her away.

"Rom, I've told you not to provoke him!" He began to say once they were out in the hallways.

"I didn't!" Romina exclaimed in a mix of laughter and incredulity. "Why does everyone think I'm doing it?

Hermione heard the last question and had the answer up and ready. "Because you are doing things. Did he accuse you of hurting Parkinson? Because if he did, I hate that I agree with him."

"Hermione!" Ron was horrified. "How could you ever agree with Malfoy of all people?"

Hermione gestured towards Romina. "Because she is doing that stuff and one of these days, you're going to push too hard, Romina, and you'll get really hurt."

Romina scoffed, entirely unconvinced. "C'mon, Neville looks terrible right now." She walked towards the boy who had become like a statue in the hallway, staring endlessly out the window. "Neville?" Romina approached him slowly and cautiously.

"Oh, hello," he cleared his throat to say. He turned away from the window, looking as if he was trying to wake up from a dream, probably a bad dream. " interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm-I'm starving, aren't you?"

"Neville, are you alright?" Hermione asked him despite the answer being clear as day.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," Neville said, his tone just a pitch too high, "Very interesting dinner—I mean lesson. What's for eating?"

Neville didn't always make sense but this was too strange even for him. Concern filled each of the other students as Neville continued his efforts to make a coherent conversation.

"Um, Neville…" Harry had started when Moody of all people was returning.

"It's alright, sonny," the professor put a hand over Neville's shoulder, "Why don't you come up to my office? I have some books that might interest you." Neville didn't exactly look eager to go with Moody but since no one said anything, he had no choice but to walk.

"What was that about?" Ron asked as soon as they were alone.

"Something we don't know, clearly," Romina said, watching after Neville and Moody. "The way Neville acted...there's something on his mind."

"Some lesson, though, eh?" Ron cracked a smile. "Fred and George were right! Moody really knows his stuff, huh?"

"I'm pretty sure what he taught us wasn't supposed to be on the syllabus," Romina shook her head. Hermione agreed.

~ 0 ~

Romina was acutely aware of Pansy's dirty looks in the days after her unfortunate puss mess had been cleared. There was nothing Pansy could do to prove that anything malicious had been done to her and it was just infuriating, Romina knew it and she was proud of herself.

Now as the drawing of the Goblet of Fire was nearing, many students of all ages had taken a liking to hanging in the very room where it was being kept to watch those potential candidates drop their names inside the goblet. Romina came in that afternoon and immediately spotted Hermione sitting at the bleachers with a book in her hands. She was a little wary to greet Hermione due to the matter with the SPEW stuff.

Romina, much like everyone else that she knew of in Gryffindor, were all a little tired of hearing Hermione's badgering to join her elf welfare club. Romina admired Hermione for taking such an initiative but she really doubted that it would go anywhere. She saw Harry and Ron milling around the Goblet, as much as they could anyways. There was a circle barring anybody from getting too close to it.

"Whatcha doing?" Romina startled the pair of boys behind them. She smirked when they jumped and turned her way.

"You know, just looking," Ron said, shrugging casually even though his eyes were sparkling with yearning for the Goblet.

"Mhm," Romina nodded sarcastically, "And I suppose neither of you have attempted to put your name in there?"

"We can't, Rom," Harry said, "Not of age."

"Has anybody come to put their name in?" Romina curiously asked. She gave the room another look and saw that Carolinha had come in and had made the mistake of starting up a conversation with Hermione. No doubt the Gryffindor would be pulling out one of her SPEW badges.

"Angelina from our Quidditch team did half an hour ago," Ron said, giving a big thumbs up. "Oh, and I heard Cedric Diggory did too."

"Really?" Romina raised an eyebrow, absolutely dazzled with the idea.

"Not you too, Rom," Harry rolled his eyes.

Romina giggled. "He's just cute. And mysterious. And polite." Ron made a yapping motion with his hand, making Harry snicker and Romina frown. She smacked Ron's hand down. She was about to scold him for that bit when she heard familiar voices entering the room. Looking back, she saw Draco, Crabb and Goyle laughing about something.

"Oh great," Harry muttered and soon Ron was donning the same face.

"You know I heard that Warrington from the Slytherin's Quidditch team put his name in," Ron remarked, shaking his head. "Can you imagine if we had a Slytherin champion?"

"Well," Romina's tone was sharp enough to have both him and Harry wincing. She folded her arms over her chest. "You guys are sure making me feel welcomed."

"You know we don't mean that about you, Rom," Harry was cautious when he patted her arm.

"So, everyone else, then?" Romina tilted her head. "My friend over there, Carolinha," she pointed over to the brunette speaking with Hermione, "She's pretty great. I'm sure Hermione is talking her ears off right now but my girl Carol is too sweet to cut anybody off. And her brother? He's the same. Harry, you know Arden since we were dumb kids. Are we calling her bad too?"

"No, of course not," Harry shook his head. "Sorry." He did have the decency to look a little sorry which was why Romina elected to move on from there.

"Were there any Ravenclaws who put their names in?"

"We're not—"

"We've done it!" They heard the voices of Fred and George announcing. They hopped up to the first bleacher, looking mighty happy about something. They commanded the attention of the whole room with it.

"Thank you, thank you, well lads we've done it!" George exclaimed.

"Done what?" called Romina, fairly curious of what they were cooking up now.

"The Aging Potion my dear Ali—"

Romina caught the first part of her nickname and immediately glowered until they fixed it.

"My dear Romina," Fred began anew, "It is the Aging Potion! One drop each. We only need to be a few months older."

"You can't possibly think that'll work," Hermione said, shaking her head. The twins rapidly came up to her seat, forcing Carolinha to scoot away a bit so they could lean on both Hermione's sides. "Dumbledore drew the age line himself." She made a nod towards the circle around the flaming Goblet.

"So?" challenged George.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "So, a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something pathetically dimwitted such as an age potion."

"That's why it's so brilliant!" Fred exclaimed, straightening up along with George.

"I mean...they could be onto something," Romina whispered to Harry and Ron who both chuckled with her. Sometimes, you don't need to think so much. The solution was simple and straightforward.

"Ready George?"

"Ready, Fred!"

Both twins interlocked their arms with each other and drank their potions. They then hopped off the last bleacher and walked up to the Age Line. They paused for a moment before taking synced steps forwards. And they made it through.

Everybody cheered for them—mostly everybody—as they walked confidently up to the Goblet of Fire and dumped their names inside. They high-fived each other as the flames ignited behind them. But, just like that, the flames exploded and threw the pair out. Smoke covered them and most of the room for a few seconds.

When it cleared up and the twins sat upright, they were sporting heavily long beards that matched their new set of grey hair.

"You said.." George pointed at his brother.

"You said," accused Fred.

They lunged at each other. Most of the room cheered as they rolled and fought each other, including Ron himself.

"I stand corrected," Romina shrugged to Harry. "Point to Hermione."

"Yeah," Harry said, unable to hold his laughter in.

Romina had to move carefully around the groups of students lest she wanted to be caught up. Some people were really into the growing fight. Among those were even Crabb and Goyle, something Draco wasn't too pleased with.

"That's what you get for hanging out with idiots," she told him. "Blaise, Theodore, and Angel busy or something?"

"Zabini and Nott have zero interest in this until names are actually drawn," he retorted. "And as if you don't know that Angel has newfound animosity towards me."

Romina paused and looked at him. "What? What did you do?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Like you don't know."

"I don't. Usually, you do something."

A loud bang startled the pair. Karkaraoff was leading the Durmstrang boys into the room, forcing the crowd to separate. Even the twins had finally given up trying to kill each other. Romina was sure that most of the attention was going towards Victor Krum, the star of that school. She was absolutely dumbfounded when he and Draco exchanged nods.

"Since when do you know Krum?" she had to ask. It was a force beyond her, honestly.

Draco smiled smugly. "I do know how to expand my networks, Oswell. One of the many talents instilled in me."

"The others being…?" Romina made a gesture for him to list them specifically. She doubted the list would be long.

The Durmstrang boys were on their way out of the room, each of them having slipped their names inside the Goblet.

"Show off," Romina huffed at Draco after he'd waved at Krum.

"Me? Never," he smirked.

Romina shook her head at him. "I'm surprised you haven't bragged about this. I would've expected the whole school to know about it, actually."

"Stories about me get told anyways, Oswell. You wouldn't believe the ones I've heard." The way he smiled ever-so-widely warned Romina those stories had to be ego-inflating.

"Yeah, not interested."

"Oh, c'mon, you'd…" Draco trailed off when Madame Maxime led her Beauxbaton students in.

Romina rolled her eyes heavily enough to make her feel twinges of pain. "Are you going to finish that sentence?"

"Mhm," Draco nodded, but no actual words came out afterwards.

"Seriously!?" Romina huffed and looked away, soon noticing that the same thing was happening to every other male student in the room. "For the love of God!"

The Beauxbatons each dropped their names inside the Goblet and turned, in a neat line, after Madame Maxime who promptly led them back out. By the time Draco came to, Romina was long gone.

~ 0 ~

Arden was nose deep into her Unfogging the Future book before class when she heard the noise of someone dropping into the seat beside her. She looked up and frowned. "You're not Parkinson. I can't decide if that's better or worse."

"I've got a problem, King," Draco said, frowning when she snorted in return.

"No, you've got many problems but there's not enough time in the world for me to list them."

He decided to ignore Arden's little jab. "It's Oswell."

"Shocker."

"She's continuously pissing me off and I would rather fix it before this becomes permanent."

Arden put her book down on the table, now deeply interested in where the conversation was going. "You actually want to fix things?"

Draco nodded. "It's got to be better than having to look twice when she's around. Her apt for retaliation is commendable but also a growing pain in the ass."

"Fair," Arden agreed. "But you do know what you have to do, right?"

"If I knew that, I would not be here, would I?" Draco gestured to his current seat. He had managed to shake off being Arden's partner this year and he would like to keep it that way. She got stuck with Pansy which was a win for him. The never ending jabs at each other were hilarious to watch and hear.

"I know what happened in the forest," Arden said, keeping her voice low, "And you were out of line. That's what Romina's upset about. And instead of apologizing, you made it worse by turning it into a game of tricks."

"She started it," Draco drowned. "Have you met her?"

"Yes," Arden said slowly, "Since I was seven. And you're right to be wary of her when she's in this mood. Back in our muggle school, this girl basically did the same thing to Romina and it did not end until Romina was suspended from school for a whole week."

"What she do?" Draco curiously asked. Being a troublemaker wasn't really part of Romina's personality. Mischievous was, but a full on troublemaker wasn't.

"She grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the girl's hair in one snip." Arden could still vividly remember the screaming she and the rest of her family had heard coming from the Oswell residence next door that same night. She didn't see Romina for a full month after that.

Draco was frankly bemused and stunned with what he heard. "She did not," he said, barely holding his laugh in.

Arden nodded earnestly. "She did. I love my best friend but she has a nasty temper when things get too much. If you don't want to end up like Gale Perry, apologize now."

"I will do no such thing," Draco said, shaking his head. "I want to see how far Oswell will go with this."

"That wasn't the point of my story!"

"Yeah, and it was better. Thanks King, you actually can help sometimes." Draco promptly got up from his seat and moved on up the steps towards his actual spot.

Arden made a face, her teeth gritting together as she realized the conversation did not go the way it probably should have. She had the feeling Romina would kill her if she found out that she'd basically spurred the games on.

~0~

A few days later would have Angel finding an empty spot with Draco, Theodore and Blaise at their table in the Great Hall. It was a study session, the first one of the year.

"Didn't expect you to sit anywhere near here," Draco spoked quietly as Snape was making his rounds.

Angel shook his head. "I've been thinking. What you said a couple days back?"

"I say a lot of things, you'll have to be more specific."

"Stop acting dumb!"

"It's not an act, mate," Blaise remarked, snickering with Theodore when both Draco and Angel sent them the same glares.

"I'm being serious," Angel said.

"So was I," Blaise said.

"Eyes on the essay, Zabini," warned Draco. Blaise shrugged and continued to scribble over his parchment. "And as for you—" Draco glanced at Angel beside him, "—what the hell are you talking about?"

"In your own fantastically mean way, you've pushed me to act with Romina," Angel said, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess tough love really does work."

"No," Draco said sharply, "I did not do 'tough love'. I don't do 'tough love'. I didn't do anything."

"More like he never does anything anyways," mumbled Theodore which, once again, sent him and Blaise into another fit of snickers.

"This time you did," Angel insisted. "I mean, it's been almost 4 years and I should, logically, be able to do something. So, I thought I'd maybe ask Romina if she wanted to go together on the first Hogsmeade trip that's scheduled."

"It's funny…" Draco said slowly, eyes flickering to the side, "I don't remember…"

Angel made a face at him. "What?"

"I don't remember...asking to hear this conversation."

Blaise and Theodore laughed and eventually had to duck their heads to keep it covered before Snape heard. Angel deadpanned the two; they could never take anything serious.

"You can't stop being sarcastic for a minute, can you?"

"Oh, I wasn't being sarcastic. I was being honest," Draco clarified, "Because I'm pretty sure nowhere in my previous conversation with you did I give you the idea that I would want to talk about this."

"I was just letting you know—"

"Why?"

"Because you and Romina have entered this little war with each other and since you're both my friends I would rather you put an end to it already."

"Yeah, I spoke to King about that and it's not happening. Did you know that Oswell had a record? I'm talking about a serious record." Days after talking with Arden, Draco was still impressed with the story. He would've given anything to see Romina cut that muggle girl's hair.

"Draco, c'mon," Angel said, "It's been—what?—two weeks since this started? It's getting tiring. She did not appreciate the exploding ink bottle you left for her, by the way."

Draco's smirk didn't express disappointment. "I sure enjoyed it."

"I'm just telling you to back off already. It's not funny anymore."

"On the contrary, I think it's quite fun," Draco shrugged. "You're just boring, Angel. That's going to have to change if you're actually going to do something for the future."

Angel would've liked to strangle him at that point. "You just can't take things seriously!"

They heard the heavy footsteps of Snape nearing them, cutting the conversation short.

~0~

Romina had just finished dotting her last 'i' on her letter she was sending to her grandmother when she heard somebody coming into the common room. She looked up briefly to catch sight of Blaise walking in, shaking his head about something that seemed funny.

"Never thought I'd see the day when Blaise Zabini laughed," she called from her spot. She'd recused herself to one of the individual tables by the wall to complete her homework.

Blaise stopped in the middle of the room to scoff. "You're not funny, but I will admit that what you're doing is rather amusing."

Romina made a face as her eyes landed on her letter still in her hands. "Writing a letter to my grandmother is funny to you? That's a sad sense of humor you got there, Blaise…"

"I meant with Malfoy and Paes! You know they're arguing over you, right?"

Now Romina was the one laughing. "What? Last time I heard, they weren't exactly on speaking terms."

"Yeah, because of you," Blaise pointed. "It's funny as hell but I'm also a little concerned they're going to end up hurting each other."

Romina stopped to seemingly ponder. "Well...are they still arguing right now? Think I can catch them?"

Blaise shook his head at her. "Great, you can't take things seriously either!"

"I can too!" Romina said, but her lips were already curving into a smile that would no doubt turn into a laugh if she pushed it. "I just...like fun stuff. What exactly are they arguing about anyways?"

"Well…" Blaise swayed his head, "Angel is demanding that Draco apologize to you for whatever he did to piss you off."

"I like Angel," Romina nodded, "Everybody should listen to Angel when he says that I'm right."

"He didn't say that—"

"That's what I heard, Blaise."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Can you just fix it, please? It's bad enough that I have to hear Draco complain about your incessant retaliations. I don't want to hear him bickering with Angel too over you. You are not that special."

Romina raised a hand to her chest, feigning offence. "How rude. But I commend your bluntness. I'll talk to Angel."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to fix things with Draco already?"

"Yeah, if you want me to take the loser's path." Romina snorted and went back to folding her letter nice and perfectly. "Losing's not my style, Blaise. I'm talking to Angel. She smiled to herself when Blaise groaned and headed for the hallway.

Later on, Romina gathered her things to bring them into her dorm. There was still enough time to get her letter to the owlery before dinner. She was coming out of the common room altogether when she saw Angel coming down the stairs.

"Hey!" He greeted her with his typical cheery smile. "Not getting dinner already, are you?"

"No, I've got a letter to send to my grandma," Romina waved her envelope in front of her. "Wanna come with me?"

"Yeah!" Angel nodded, turning on his heels to walk with her. "Everything good in that letter? I mean—your grandmother's okay?"

Romina chuckled. "Yeah, I'm just letting her know that I haven't really gotten a chance to talk with Madam Maxime yet."

Angel snorted into a laugh. "Why would you want to talk to her?"

"Apparently, she was the headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy when my grandmother went there. They're close, I guess."

"Oh boy. What would you even talk about?"

Romina laughed and shook her head. "I have no bloody idea! As far as I can tell, my grandmother was this pristine young woman back in her day and I—" she put a hand on her chest, "—don't have a lick of pristineness in me. I've heard rumors that I have a big mouth, actually. And by 'rumors', I mean Arden."

"You're just fine," Angel patted her arm. "Perfect, actually."

Romina smiled shyly. "You're too sweet." She led the way up the stairs in silence until they reached the last one. "So, Blaise and I were talking earlier…"

"Really?" Angel's heavy disbelief was simply too amusing not to laugh at.

"We can talk civilly sometimes," Romina said, sobering from her laugh. "And he was saying that you and Draco have been arguing. Angel, you don't have to fight anyone on my behalf. I think I can handle it on my own."

"I can't help it, Romina," Angel shrugged. "I don't like seeing you get hurt and I definitely don't like it if someone's doing it for fun."

"Draco's not hurting me, first of all," Romina said, shaking her head. "It's harmless jokes that I willingly participate in. In fact, I'm pretty sure I started it."

"Yeah, but only because you're upset. I know it, I see it." Angel stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, forcing Romina to do the same. He turned to face her and looked directly into her dark eyes. "You're laughing and smirking but I know that Draco did something really bad to hurt you."

Romina absolutely didn't like the way he read her with ease. She wanted to avoid Angel's gaze. "He didn't hurt me."

"Not physically, that much I know for sure," Angel said. "But he did something to...to deeply upset you."

"He disappointed me and when he didn't apologize, he pissed me off." Romina shook her head. She started walking quicker than before. She was not going to show any tears, no sir.

"And that's why I'm demanding that he apologizes," Angel was quick to follow after her.

"You're wasting your time, Angel, he's not going to do it anytime soon!" Perhaps that was what hurt Romina the most. "And I don't want him to do it because somebody demands him to. It wouldn't change anything."

"Hey," Angel grabbed Romina's arm to stop her altogether, "See this is what I mean."

"It's not your fault," Romina said, gently taking his hand off her. "Ironically, I suppose it's not completely Draco's fault either."

"What? You just said—"

"Sometimes I can't help wondering who I would have turned out to be if my parents had raised me," Romina said quietly. "If I had lived with everybody who thought as twisted as they did." She genuinely shuddered at the idea each time she thought of it. "I got lucky. My parents are murderers. Under their influence...I don't know who I would've become."

"Your situation is not the same though," Angel gently pointed out.

"I know, but our parents...Angel, they ingrain stuff. Their past can very well be our future."

"Romina…"

"I understand myself, Angel," Romina cut him off before he said anything else, "And I may be daft but last year was terrible for me and, as surprising as it may sound, Draco actually helped me. People thought the worst of me but he didn't. He never did. Somewhere inside him there has to be a shred of genuine guilt and if I have to annoy him until we graduate for him to finally own up to it, I will."

Angel couldn't take the fact Romina was both smirking and overly determined. It was kind of scary how determined she was. There was no way in hell anybody would be talking her down.

A/N:

I actually love Blaise and Theo being absolute clowns in the background. They're always there for the drama ;)

P.S. As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)