The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was sweltering, as usual. Also as usual, Professor Pym did absolutely nothing about it; in fact, she seemed to be enjoying it immensely.

The petite woman peered out at the ensemble of 5th year Gryffindors and Slytherins, the blue Celtic-like lines on her face shimmering from reflected beads of sweat. She stood behind her desk and downed an obligatory half-liter of water, set down the porcelain jug, grinned, and traipsed over to an easel erected front and center.

“Can anyone tell me what this is?� She indicated a photograph on the easel with a tiny pointing finger, gazing out at her sea of students expectantly. At first glance, it appeared to be a still-shot of a rock. This was evidently why the faces looking back at her were all relatively blank, some even a little concerned. However at a second, keener glance, you could see little hairs bristling and swaying, and two stemmed eyeballs protruding like a crab’s. Mei Yang’s hand shot emphatically in the air.

Albus, sitting towards the back, rolled his eyes along with his best mate Lukas, and a good majority of the Slytherins. He was surprised by her three-second delay; usually she was quicker than that.

“Mei?� Came the resigned voice of Professor Pym, when she realized no one else was going to take a gander.

“It’s a Pogrebin!� She announced with gusto, grinning so largely that her eyes disappeared into small black slits in her face. Albus mused that no one could get so excited over a crab-rock as Mei.

“Correct. Five points to Gryffindor,� the professor amended, and turned her attention from the individual to the class at large. “Look’s harmless, right?�

Professor Pym smirked and flipped the large canvas over, revealing a second underneath which was met with a collective groan of disgust from the class. Its image showed this hairy, rock-like creature devouring a man’s ear. The wizard was collapsed to the ground, but still very much alive.

“That’s sick,� Blaine MacFusty announced with morbid fascination, sitting on Albus’ right. All he could do was nod in agreement, his hand subconsciously moving to clutch at his stomach in a moment of weakness. His eyes drifted across the room to rest on Scorpius Malfoy, whom he associated with most things unpleasant, and was not surprised to see the Slytherin’s eyes lit up like Tiny Tim’s on Christmas. Or perhaps this was a bit of an exaggeration. Scorpius rarely betrayed any emotion other than displaced condescension or bored superiority; when he did, the expression was only vaguely evident in a twitch at the corner of his mouth or a brief flash in his eyes. Albus was only privy to these things because it was completely necessary to know your most loathsome enemy’s mannerisms, of course.

When Albus awakened from his reverie, he noticed the professor had flipped back to the initial canvas, probably to spare a very green-looking Parsley Burke from losing her lunch. She was now pacing in front of the class, water jug back in hand.

“The Pogrebin is an immensely unique specimen, because it works in less direct ways than most dark creatures. It’s virtually undetectable by the untrained eye, and attacks its prey’s emotions foremost, rather than their physical being. In its predatory state, a Pogrebin can inflict one with a sense of helplessness, so immense that it can make an individual literally collapse unless they are quite strong-willed. From there…It eats you,� she somehow managed to finish with an airy nonchalance, before taking a large gulp of water and placing the container on her desk behind her.

“For those of you who have not looked over your text,� with this Albus swore she looked directly at him, “I should let you know that we’re beginning our unit on Dark Creatures. By the time we reach the winter holidays, we will have covered a vast majority, and when you return for the spring semester there will be an assignment due, first thing.�

“We have an assignment over Christmas?� gaped Aliwishus Zabini, incredulous.

Professor Pym carried on as if she hadn’t heard him. “I will divide you into groups of four and equip you with the means necessary to successfully study and evade a Dark Creature, as defined by the list provided,� a sheet of parchment appeared magically before each one of them. Albus heard Blaine groan in dismay, and figured it was probably because ‘dragon’ appeared nowhere on the list.

“This list does not include those I deem too dangerous, so please, do not be apprehensive. I thought I’d give you the assignment now, to give you a bit of incentive to pay attention,� she added with a smirk. “So now, for the teams:�

Blaine exchanged a hopeful glance with Albus and Lukas, and then snapped her head back to face Professor Pym when she called her name first.

“Team A: Blaine MacFusty, Albus Potter, Molly Weasley, and Scorpius Malfoy.�

Blaine’s jaw dropped, echoing the shock that Albus felt. This time when he glanced in Scorpius’ direction, the blonde sneered back at him, looking equally displeased. He drowned out the rest of her team assignments and sunk down in his seat, and was only vaguely aware when she mentioned that their first team study session would be the following Monday.

~~~~~
“I can’t believe she’s giving us a team assignment that we have to finish over the holidays,� Lukas Alderton griped, shifting his bag off his left shoulder to sling it over his right.

“It doesn’t have to be done over the holidays – you could finish it before,� Blaine offered hopefully, looking between Lukas and Albus. Giving them each a second look, she decided their hair really needed cutting, and was about to offer the change of subject when Albus came out with something incredibly profound.

“I hate that…thing.�

Blaine snorted back a laugh. “Don’t you mean woman? Professor? Witch, even?�

“Oh come off it,� Lukas chimed in, having caught on to her subtle appreciation for their unique professor. “You know she’s not a witch, whatever she is. Her lips are blue!�

“And her face,� Albus added helpfully.

Blaine rolled her eyes at their obvious aversion to any sort of academic assignment, but couldn’t refute them. They were right, that whatever she was, it wasn’t a witch. “Only in some places,� she remarked defeatedly.

“And anyone who can consume that much liquid in an hour and a half without wetting herself has got to be unnatural,� Albus carried on, ignoring her.

“What do you reckon she is?� Lukas mused.

Blaine just shrugged, but Albus was quick to suggest she was a sub-human manifestation of the giant squid, which would explain her need for massive hydration as well as the tentacle-like markings on her face. Looking to her left at Albus, and then to her right at Lukas who was chuckling appreciatively, Blaine wondered briefly how she ever became friends with these two arse-hats to begin with. It had been so since their first year when they banded together over their shared hatred for the potions master, Professor Borgin, and even now she sometimes could not fathom it. After all…Everyone hated Professor Borgin. Something of them must’ve eked its way into her over the course of the last 4 ½ years, however, because she found herself smirking, however slightly, at the picture Albus painted of their DaDA professor.

“Who did you get on a team with?� Albus asked Lukas, and Blaine turned to hear his answer as well. Anything that Professor Pym had said after ‘Malfoy’ had been lost to her ears.

“Mei, Aliwishus Zabini, and Parsley Burke,� each succeeding name he spit out with amounted dislike. Blaine looked at him sympathetically, and Albus laughed (as if their own team were much better).

When they arrived at the portrait hole, masked by a painting of the Fat Lady, Blaine noted that the pink-cheeked witch’s garb had changed from the maroon ruffled ensemble of three hours ago to something pale blue that Blaine considered just a trifle more flattering. This must mean, of course, that the password had changed with the attire.

“Sneezewort.� Lukas offered, lacking observance in regards to fashion due to his unfortunate possession of a Y chromosome. The Fat Lady just shook her head apologetically.

“This is the third time you’ve changed the password this week!� Albus interjected.

“Well if you lot wouldn’t be so careless with them–I had to turn down a pair of Slytherins last night, for the third time since the start of the year. Took me all morning to think up this one,� she stated proudly.

“Which is…?�

“Moutohora!�

The Fat Lady winked before her frame swung open, and Blaine turned around in unison with the boys to see who spoke the magic word. Mei Yang stood behind them, smiling happily.

They all staggered through in through the portrait hole, the three best mates making a quick move to the corner of the common room, pointedly so that Mei wouldn’t stick around. She halted at the sofa by the bare fireplace and plopped down, seemingly unphased.

Lukas was the first to speak what was on Blaine’s mind as well, in a lowered tone that still managed to carry a current of concern. “Who do you reckon keeps trying to get in?�

Albus let out a little ‘ha’ of indignation. “I’ll give you one guess.�

Lukas frowned, but before he had the chance to say anything Blaine chimed in sensibly, “You can’t go on blaming Malfoy for everything just because you hate him. What’s his motive?�

~~~~~

Molly Weasley sat on the lid of Scorpius’ closed trunk, the 5th year boys dorms abandoned save the two of them. She remembered absently the first time he had beckoned her up here to confer in private; the thought of having the privilege of seeing where Scorpius slept at night had left her feeling sort of light, the same way she felt when she was at a museum or an art gallery, like she was about to see something remarkably important that she’d only fashioned haphazardly in her imagination. In reality the boy’s dorms looked unceremoniously similar to the girl’s…Probably even a little worse, given the fact that whoever kept the third bunk from the door left it a pig sty.

That day in their 4th year had been the first of many meetings like this – they had somehow formed a friendship falsified by mutual need. Scorpius’ was the need for a Weasley family insider, she imagined. Molly’s was just the blind, passionate need to get in Scorpius’ trous- er, good graces.

She had spilled many family secrets on that day, mostly to do with the Weasley-Potter heirlooms, and not unwillingly of course. Having the surname ‘Weasley’ was without a doubt the bane of her existence, capped off with a mop of dark red hair and a splattering of red clay-colored freckles. Her father was basically the most narrow-minded, black-and-white individual that walked the face of this earth. Her mother was a total neurotic. They were the kind of parents that compulsively touched the bristles of their kid’s toothbrush to make sure they weren’t lying when they said they brushed their teeth; they were the kind of parents that set impossibly strict rules and curfews, and while all the other kids on the block were out playing until the street lights went on, their children were inside eating carrots and being made to read Ghouls with the Wind to better understand and preserve such a prude time in history. With parents like Percy and Audrey Weasley, you could only evolve into one of two things: their exact, law-abiding, tooth-brushing, carrot-eating replica (like her little sister Lucy), OR a rebellious Slytherin brat that desires nothing more than to be burned off the family tree tapestry permanently (like Molly herself).

The latter, assuredly, had not been an easy path. It had taken quite a while to prove herself a true Slytherin, considering by the time she got to the school the third generation Weasleys had made a name for themselves as muggle-loving do-gooders, all peace, happiness and the best intentions, and some more candy-coated bull spit.

Molly managed to have a smart series of catastrophes under her belt, able to boast it as her doing when last year’s head girl (a Hufflepuff mudblood) spontaneously ignited her hair on fire during mealtime. It was also her scheming, two years prior, when her cousin Corinne’s first cat went permanently missing and the rumor spread like wildfire that it turned up in Thursday’s meatloaf. Small victories they were, but finally recognized by the self-proclaimed yet publicly-adhered-to Prince of Slytherin himself: pale, gray-eyed, fair-haired Scorpius Malfoy. Indeed, the two had been virtually inseparable since that ceremony of sorts in their 4th year when she proved a worthy comrade; she had been like his red-headed shadow ever since. Fire and Ice, they were.

And so now she perched dedicatedly on his trunk, while Scorpius sat a full head higher on his bed. He was displeased, it was evident by the most delicate crease in his brow, and he cast a reprimanding glance at Molly.

“You told me the password was Sneezewort,� he accused, his tone like a man softly scolding his daughter for telling a lie, without so much affection.

“Well it was,� she shrugged, matching him with a glare. “Didn’t you see? She almost let us in, but thought the better of it…Probably because we appealed to her as two unfamiliar miscreants at two in the morning.�

“Don’t go on saying that like it’s my fault,� Scorpius retorted lazily, stretching out on his four-poster like a cat waking up from a nap. “Would you rather we attempt a full-scale break-in at the high light of noon?�

“Better that James and Albus might not be there,� she refuted pointedly. His brief hesitation was enough to signal she made a valid argument, so she continued. “How do you suppose we’ll manage rummaging through their things without waking them? Really, are you less cunning than people give you credit for?�

This was the wrong thing to say, and Molly immediately wished she could take it back. Scorpius sat upright and tossed daggers at her with his stare. “You think I don’t know sound stifling charms? Masking spells? You thought we were just tossing ahead blindly? Really, are you more ignorant than I sometimes imagine you are?�

Molly tried to hold his gaze but her eyes averted away on an involuntary impulse, and she hated that she automatically felt guilty for insulting him instead of indignant that he insulted her. With whatever remained of her dignity and self-preservation, she stood up and folded her arms crossly. “Maybe next time you can use those clever masking charms of yours to convince the Fat Lady we’re two Gryffindors who- who fell asleep in the library working overtime on our Potions project, or are on their way back from snogging in the Astronomy Tower.�

“That’s ridiculous,� Scorpius drawled, leaning back into the embrace of his tassled throw pillows, “Gryffindors don’t snog in the Astronomy Tower. That’s Ravenclaw territory.�

Molly had a feeling he knew this from experience, and felt an odd pang in her abdomen. “You’re insufferable,� she managed, backing toward the exit. “If you really want to get the map and that cloak, you ought not to…to tick me off so much.�

“But I so love it when you’re angry…your face gets to matching the shade of your hair.�

She let out a frustrated, rather peeved moan that at best could phonetically be printed: ‘EURRRGHH!’, stamped her foot, and made a loud exit; nearly loud enough to mask the sound of a satisfied chuckle coming from Scorpius’ curtained four-poster by the room’s solitary window, but not quite.

~~~~~

“He doesn’t need a motive. He’s a Slytherin.�

Blaine rolled her eyes for what Albus thought was the umpteenth time today, and looked like she was fighting the urge to say something that probably made a lot of sense. He had to give her credit, she could really commit when she thought he was being a…what term did she most often use? An arse-hat?

No one, however, said anything in retort, and after a brief pause in conversation Lukas succeeded in changing the subject.

“You know, the Halloween Hogsmeade trip is next weekend.�

Albus grinned. This was the first year they’d be allowed on the trip, reserved for upperclassmen due to its PG-13 nature, or something. He couldn’t imagine it’d be anything too ludicrous, considering it was still a school trip, which meant no partial nudity and nothing gorier than Nearly-Headless Nick.

“I think Corinne did a good job with the theme this year,� Blaine spoke thoughtfully of Albus’ Ravenclaw cousin who was this year’s Head Girl. Albus had been surprised; Uncle Charlie’s daughter wasn’t really the most likely candidate, hardly very kind and selfless.

Albus wrinkled his nose. “Masked Formal isn’t really very clever or original.�

“Did you wake up this morning and decide to seize every opportunity you could find, however mundane, to argue with me?� Blaine huffed, looking at him as if to say: ‘Seriously?’

Albus only chuckled and gave her a manly clap on the shoulder. “Don’t be so sensitive Blaine, honestly. Sometimes I think you might actually be a girl.�

“I am a girl!� She spluttered indignantly, reaching to rub the spot where he smacked her.

Lukas, who was usually quiet while the two of them bickered, decided to uncharacteristically chime in, “Not a typical one though.�

“What do you mean, ‘not typical’?� Her normally washed out skin was coloring rapidly.

Albus and Lukas exchanged a glance that spoke numbers: ‘How should we explain this to her?’ they asked each other nonverbally.

“You like sports,� Albus began.

“So? There are other girls who play Quidditch!�

“But you’re a Beater,� Lukas pointed out.

“And you like dragons,� Albus continued.

“It’s a family thing,� Blaine muttered, though Albus knew her passion for the family business exceeded that of even her brother.

“And you don’t dress like a girl, or do anything to your hair,� Lukas carried on as if he hadn’t heard her. Blaine self-consciously reached her hand to her dark, stringy locks.

“You don’t even wear make-up, or lip-reddening charms,� Albus agreed, nodding sagely. “Most girls would freak if they had a zit like that one on your forehead…�

“Alright enough!� Blaine barked and stood up, collecting her DaDA materials. She’d known them long enough not to be too offended by their banter, but still couldn’t help feeling abashed. “You guys are seriously tactless. I’m going to the library, don’t join me,� she glared savagely and tossed her nappy hair in disdain, before stomping out of the common area.

Once she had gone, a familiar, girly giggle came from the sofa in the middle of the room. “Word to the wise, you two…No matter how much of a tomboy Blaine may seem, she’s still a girl,� Mei shook her head sadly at the two of them and rose to head up to the dormitory. Lukas only shrugged and Albus actually snickered.

~~~~~

Blaine carried on her tantrum all the way to the library, stamping her feet and slamming doors in her wake. Those two were serious imbeciles sometimes.

“Ugh! Boys!� She glowered, slamming her books down on a table in the common study area.

“Tell me about it,� came a distracted, muffled voice from behind her. Blaine turned around to see a red-head in a loose green cardigan, who she recognized instantly as her least favorite Weasley. Molly turned around in time to see who she was addressing and curled her lip disdainfully. “Oh. It’s you.�

“Sorry to disappoint,� the Gryffindor retorted, not feeling sorry at all. However, her curiosity got the better of her when she noticed an image in the book Molly was reading. It showed a metamorphosis of sorts on repeat, much like what occurs when an Animagus goes from human-to-animal. Except in this instance, it went from human-to-human – from boy to girl and back again. “Speaking of boys,� Blaine began in an amused, patronizing tone, “Suddenly interested in becoming one yourself?� She snatched the book from under Molly’s loose grip, reading the title of the chapter outloud.

“Gender changing potions and charms for the anatomically curious. Really, Weasley?�

She grabbed the book back with force, causing Blaine to lurch forward and nearly stumble, though Molly remained seated and poised. “It’s not for me. I figure it would bode well with some of our male counterparts to walk a day in our stiletto Jimmy Floos… Not that it’s any of your business,� she huffed, and turned her gaze back to the text.

But Blaine was halted. She stood there, debating inwardly whether it was more rewarding to maintain the proper Gryffindor-Slytherin feud, or let her guard down for the benefit of her own similar intentions. Finally, almost reluctantly, she decided on the latter, and sat down in a chair beside Molly. The Slytherin looked up at her briefly before flickering her eyes back to the text, and sighed when Blaine didn’t leave. Without looking up at her she drawled, “Shoo fly,� frowning, “don’t bother me,� and turned the page.

“Who do you want to turn into a girl?� Blaine asked in spite of herself. Molly sighed again, sounding more exasperated this time, and closed her book, giving Blaine her full attention now. Blaine continued, “Obviously it’s not out of pure malice…You sound totally spiteful. Is it Malfoy?�

Blaine noticed Molly blanched a little bit, just slightly, before maintaining her usual cold composure. “Didn’t I already say this is really none of your business?�

Blaine shrugged, “It sort of is. I mean, we’re all on a team together…I should be concerned if the estrogen-to-testosterone ratio was knocked out of balance.�

“Well he’ll be recovered before we even start-“

“Aha! So it is Malfoy!� This time Molly’s face reddened, clashing horribly with her freckles.

She glanced to her left, then her right, before leaning forward. “What do I have to give you,� she spit out each word sounding entirely resentful of them, “To keep quiet about this?�

Before she could stop herself, Blaine quickly set her terms. Molly looked astounded at first, and subsequently intrigued.