Starting school on a Tuesday is a little weird for Ana, but it's just a matter of orienting herself and she's back on track.

She gets her new schedule during breakfast and looks it over as she eats, half tuned in to the seventh years' conversation going on around her.

"Ugh, I've only got five classes and I still manage to have no free time on Mondays." Horace gripes.

Hannah grins teasingly. "No rest for the wanna-be lazies." She mocks playfully. "At least you're not still in Astronomy, my class this year in on Sunday at two in the morning."

Ana winces slightly. Her own Astronomy block is set for one o'clock on Friday mornings and she's definitely not looking forward to it.

"Why'd you even keep on with Astronomy Hannah?" Eric questions, his own schedule already put to the side. "It's not a very useful subject."

"It is too!" Hannah counters, and Ana looks up from her own parchment in interest.

"How so?" She wonders. "From what I can tell so far we're just memorizing which stars go where - not very magical."

Hannah sighs in a very put-upon way that has both Horace and Josie grinning. "I'll have you know that Astronomy was the very first branch of Divination. To read the stars is to read the future. Also knowing where stars are located in the sky at any point of the year can be vital if a witch or wizard ever gets lost while out in the field. Curse-Breakers especially make good use of their Astronomical knowledge."

"So you want to be a Curse-Breaker?" Horace frowns in confusion.

Hannah shakes her head. "I'm thinking of being an Astronomer actually."

And with that Ana tunes back out and refocuses on her schedule. It's a bit packed compared to her previous year, but it made sense given she had three additional classes. Her only regret is that by taking her three chosen electives, she'd apparently forfeited the right to sleep in during the week.

Once breakfast is over Ana heads up to the sixth floor for her first class of the day: Study of Ancient Runes.

The Professor is a wisp of a woman, with a severe face and straight brown hair that does little to compliment her features. The room is still mostly empty when Ana arrives except for a single Hufflepuff boy sitting right at the front of the room. His textbook is already out and Ana can see, even from the doorway, that he's already taken some notes on the pages.

She decides she rather likes this unknown Hufflepuff and decides to sit next to him, instead of taking an empty desk and risking having someone worse become her seatmate.

The boy looks surprised when she sits next to him. "Oh, um, hello." He smiles awkwardly. "Ana, right? You've been top of our class for the past two years."

She nods briskly. "I'm afraid I don't remember your name." She admits diplomatically. She's really not ashamed of the oversight - she doesn't know most of her classmates' names.

He gives a lopsided grin that's still a touch uncertain, but a bit more grounded that he'd been when she first sat. "Aidan Ward, Muggleborn. And Hufflepuff, obviously." He laughs and gestures at his robes. "Have you started reading the textbook yet?"

"Naturally." He grins. Ana decides right then that she intends to keep sitting next to Aidan Ward for the remainder of the class.

Eventually the rest of their peers arrive, and Ana is surprised to notice that all four Houses are represented, though even with that there are only eleven of them in the room.

The Professor introduces herself as Bathsheda Babbling and gives a lengthy lecture on the importance of understanding Ancient Runes, and how they are much more than just ancient writing systems.

As Ana had already read the first three chapters of the textbook, she's already familiar with everything the Professor is saying. So she flips ahead a chapter and starts studying some basic runes.

When she happens to glance to the left she's amused to find that Aidan has had the same idea. When class ends, she decides to speak to him about it. They are, after all, heading in the same direction anyway.

"I think it's both fascinating and bit suspect that supposedly all runes are formed on a mere seven base runes." He notes as they head down the stairs towards the greenhouse.

Ana shrugs. "Perhaps, but seven is a well documented figure in magic. It contains quite a bit of power."

Aidan grins at her. "I read that too. You're taking Arithmancy?"

"And Divination." She confirms. "But still, I do agree that it's a bit suspect. I'll bet there are exceptions that we'll see in the NEWT levels."

She decides to stay with Aidan during Herbology, and they continue discussing Ancient Runes while potting Puffapods. Aidan nearly drops one of his but Ana is quick to snag it with a levitation charm that earns her five house points.

Aidan grins. "Nice reflexes. You wouldn't happen to be interested in dueling practice sometime? I've been wanting to try my hand at it but I'm second in the class so there isn't anyone who would really be a challenge."

Ana hadn't realized Aidan's scholastic position until then, and she raises an eyebrow. "Alright, I could maybe show you a few things." She acquiesces. "On the condition you teach me anything about Care of Magical Creatures that I, for whatever reason, cannot figure out on my own."

He agrees, and they shake on it. Ana heads to lunch after the hour and a half lesson feeling rather pleased with herself.

"You'll be happy to know I've made a friend in my own year who is a Hufflepuff." She informs Hannah as she sits down at her usual spot with the seventh years. "So I'll be perfectly fine when you all graduate this year."

Eric grins. "Well that's a relief. I admit, I was worried about you Ana. You aren't the most social person in the world. So who is this kid?"

Ana is momentarily affronted by Eric's comments, and then she remembers that she'd befriended him rather by accident and has to concede the point to herself. "His name is Aidan Ward, and he's second in my year."

Sarah laughs. "Set high standards for friendship." She says approvingly. "Otherwise you end up surrounded by the likes of Josie and Horace."

"I'm perfectly pleasant company, I just get frisky when Ace is around." Josie snipes back pleasantly. "Not my fault you're in a permanent dry spell love."

Sarah frowns and backs down, and Ana once again reaffirms her own desire to never get into or be interested in having a relationship. The whole thing seems to be more trouble than it's worth.

"Hey, not her fault she has higher standards than you." Hannah points out, and Horace looks wounded even as his girlfriend laughs.

"I can recognize a diamond in the rough is all."

"And I think you're both nuts." Hannah concludes cheerily. "Now let's hear more about Ana's new friend. I want to make sure we're leaving our third year in good hands."

Ana flushes at the possessive sentence, but she knows Hannah means it in the best possible way so she tells them what she's learned about Aidan in the two classes they'd had in the morning.

The seventh years all have class after lunch is over, but as Ana is free until her Defense Against the Dark Arts class at fifteen hundred she decides to head to her favorite place in the castle and do a bit more advanced studying for her upcoming classes.

The library is almost completely deserted, but Ana habitually walks past the tables brightly lit by the giant windows that line most of the library and finds her favorite spot just past the restricted section. It's a bit gloomier there, but she rather likes the feeling of the world outside her books not existing.

She gets so caught up in her Divination textbook that she almost forgets she does actually have one more class today. She manages to make it to the Defense Against the Dark with minutes to spare, and as the last person to arrive she's stuck with the one remaining seat in class - next to Evie.

The brunette doesn't acknowledge her, starting stubbornly at the front of the classroom instead, and Ana is perfectly fine with that. She unpacks her books and a parchment and quill to take notes with and waits for the class to begin.

Their new professor is a man who looks to be in his mid forties and is suffering something of a beer belly. Ana can't help but think he's probably having a mid-life crisis.

"Well, um, good afternoon everyone. I'm Jonathan Addington and I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" He smiles awkwardly. "I hope we'll all get along this year!"

It's far from a promising start to the class, and Ana ends up tuned out as she reads through the chapter they're studying on her own, taking notes on what she thinks is important or interesting and merely annotating the parts that are less intriguing.

Evie glances over at her once or twice during the lesson, a mixture of confusion and annoyance, but Ana manages to escape the classroom before the Muggleborn can say anything on the topic of her lacking attention.

She hadn't received any homework from her three classes that day, so she decides to check her schedule and prepare for the next day's courses with the remainder of the time until dinner.

She's quite pleased to see that she has Ancient Runes again at the end of the day, and after Herbology again. She hopes she'll be able to pair up with Aidan again and solidify that relationship as quickly as possible.

Dinner is spent listening to the seventh years - or more specifically Sarah as the others for being a stereotype - plan out study schedules for their NEWTs. Ana herself isn't planning to study for midterms or finals just yet, but she certainly understands Sarah's determination for the NEWTs and she imagines she'll likely implement a similar schedule when she's seventeen.

"So if we follow your schedule will you give us House points?" Horace jokes, and Sarah sighs and rolls her eyes.

"Being Head Girl is a very important job - I'm not going to give out points to just anybody for anything less than a stellar reason." She says briskly. "I won't abuse my power."

"Aw, then what's the point of having any?" Josie teases in turn, and Ana rolls her eyes.

"This is why Sarah is Head Girl and not you two. She has actual respect for propriety." She observes, and Eric and Hannah both laugh.

Sarah grins at her as well. "I think you could be a good prefect yourself Ana, if you were a bit more social."

Ana shakes her head. "I'm honestly not very interested in being a prefect. Too much trouble I think, and my grades speak for themselves."

"Most jobs do require you to interact with people Ana." Horace points out, and Ana is momentarily taken aback as she's rather certain it's the first time he's addressed her directly.

"I'm aware of that. I can deal with people just fine if I'm being paid for it." She explains patiently, and is then immediately confused when the whole groups starts laughing.

"Ana you're a gem. I'm going to miss you next year." Josie giggles.

Ana decides to take the compliment even if she isn't quite sure what warranted it in the first place.

The next day starts with Divination, and Ana is very quickly disappointed. Professor Trelawney resembles an insect with her think glasses and trailing scarves. She also spends the first twenty minutes of a fourty five minute class discussing how most of them will never truly be able to use Divination properly.

Ana is aware that while pure Sight is rare, success as a Divinator can still be achieved by a thorough understanding of the symbolism in the field. By the end of the class she's very firmly written Professor Trelawney off as quite mad as well as an incompetent teacher.

Thankfully Transfiguration is the next class on her schedule, and she's quite excited to see Professor McGonagall, her favorite teacher at Hogwarts. Not to mention she has a question for the professor.

Professor McGonagall doesn't bother with any review, stating that they're old enough that she expects them to review on their own time. The lesson is all theoretical, but Ana is enraptured in a way a lot of the students around her aren't. She's so engrossed she almost doesn't register that Alasdair had conspicuously decided to sit beside a blond Slytherin boy instead of her.

She does notice though, and it makes her think about Hannah's words on the train. She shrugs off the uncertainty, reminds herself that she has a new potential school friend in Aidan, and returns her focus fully to the class.

She earns ten points for Ravenclaw during the class, and when it's over she takes her time packing up her things so the rest of the class will leave ahead of her. Once the room is empty of everyone except for herself and McGonagall she walks up to the teacher's desk.

"Professor? I had an inquiry and I was hoping you could help me?"

Minerva McGonagall smiles at Ana. "Of course Ms. Vulchanova. What can I do for you?"

Ana takes a quick breath. She knows her request is a rather major one and she hopes the Professor will consider it instead of simply brushing her off. "I was actually interested in becoming an Animagus and was hoping you could help me with the process. I've read up on everything I'll need to do already and I'm confident I'll have no problems achieving it, but I would feel much better being mentored by one of the best currently living Animagi."

McGonagall's smile had dropped as Ana spoke, but it returns rather wryly at the final sentence. "Flattery doesn't become you Ms. Vulchanova. However, you are too young to begin training to be an Animagus."

Ana feels her heart drop into her stomach. She had considered the possibility she'd be told no, but the reality is much harsher than she'd been prepared for.

"However," The professor continues, "If you're still interested next year and you can maintain your current academic standing this year I'll arrange a private session for you in the afternoons. You won't be able to attempt the actual transformation until you're at least sixteen, but I can teach you more about the process and prepare you for the difficulties in the year leading up to that."

Ana blinks, stunned for a moment, and then smiles.

"Thank you Professor! I won't let you down!" She promises, and feels rather like she's floating out the door.

Divination aside, the year is definitely looking good.

By only the second week Rajani has determined that she absolutely hates her new schedule. Particularly Thursdays.

This Thursday is the worst one though - she hopes - as not only does she have classes from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon with no breaks in between except for lunch, she also has Quidditch tryouts at five.

And while she's certainly looking forward to tryouts - she knows she won't make the team this year as they only need a Seeker, but she's confident she'll make reserves again and from there she's almost guaranteed Mayra's spot the next year - she's also pretty exhausted by the time she escapes her double Herbology class an hour before tryouts start.

"You look exhausted." Lenox sympathizes as she trudges into the common room for some much needed relaxation.

She drops her bag by the couch, knowing no one is going to steal anything from it and too lazy to go all the way back to her dorm room to put it away properly. She'll grab it again on the way back from dinner.

"Just a bit." She replies to Lennox, a bit sarcastically. "I regret taking Arithmancy more than ever."

The class itself doens't seem like it's going to be too terribly difficult, at least based on the three classes Rajani has had so far, but it's the only non-required course on the Thursday schedule, meaning she'd inadvertently chosen this hell for herself.

Lenox hums and sits next to her on the couch. "I'm sure you'll get used to it. Professor Quirrell says that Muggle students have schedules like yours every single day of the week without any free periods. If a Muggle can handle it, I'm confident that you will too."

Rajani laughs. "I doubt Muggles have as much studying to do as us though." She says, but there's less bite in it. "Hey, would you come with me to tryouts today? I think I could use someone who isn't Alasdair to talk with."

She normally wouldn't have asked, but Eugene had decided not to tryout again this year, saying he had more important things to think about - which Rajani knows is improving his grades to impress Queenie. Why the two of them suddenly feel a need to do things like that when they're already friends is beyond Rajani, but Queenie has assured her that she'll get it when she finds a boyfriend of her own.

Lenox looks surprised for a moment, but then he uncertainly nods. "Alright, I suppose I could. My dad has been telling me I should try out anyway, may as well give it a shot to get him off my back."

"Your dad?" Lenox never speaks much about his family - or anything personal really - so Rajani is curious about this bit of information.

He laughs a bit awkwardly. "Yeah, um, my dad is the manager of the Montrose Magpies. He really wants me to be a player one day, though I'd prefer to coach, or be a manager like him."

Rajani tilts her head. "That explains why you were so good during flying class first year." She notes. "Which position do you think you'll try out for?"

"Probably Seeker? That's who we're missing this year, right?" Lenox sounds uncertain, and Rajani raises an eyebrow.

"You don't want to be on the team but you're trying out for the one spot that's actually open this year?"

Lenox blushes. "Well, honestly if I'm going to be on the team I'd like to actually be on the team and not on reserves." He admits. "Otherwise I'd rather just focus on school."

Rajani nods. "That's fair enough. Do you have a broom you can use?"

He smiles faintly. "I'm sure I can borrow Eugene's." He says, and Rajani can't help but laugh a bit.

"True, he's otherwise occupied this year it seems." Rajani thinks some of her bitterness on that front might have shown, but Lenox doesn't respond and instead indicates that he's going to get a broom.

Once he's returned, Eugene's Firebolt in hand, the two head for the Quidditch pitch.

Alasdair is already there, along with several of the other hopefuls, sitting on the bench and waiting for the tryouts to start.

Mayra is of course already present as well, but Rajani is surprised to see that her sister is there as well. The two seventh years are talking with their heads bent close, seemingly arguing about something. However, when Sahana pulls back and begins walking away, she shoots Mayra a smile that Rajani hasn't seen in years.

Rajani isn't sure how to feel that her sister is more genuinely happy around her roommate than around her own family.

She doesn't get much time to think on it however, as Mayra calls tryouts into session shortly after Sahana has settled herself at the front of the Slytherin stands.

They run the usual warmups, and Rajani is happy to find that despite slacking some over the summer, her flying skills are only slightly rusty. By the end of the warmups, she's back in full form, darting around several of the younger hopefuls just to show that she can.

Lenox keeps right next to her the entire time, and she's impressed at his ability to follow even her more complicated turns with ease.

Mayra finally sends them all back to the bench and calls for keepers to tryout first. Rajani settles next to Lenox and grins over at him.

"I can see why your father wants you to play, you're really quite good." She compliments him, and he shrugs.

"I didn't say I wasn't." He points out, and she laughs incredulously.

They chat lightly for the entirety of the tryouts, until Mayra calls for the Chasers and Rajani mounts her broom and takes off.

She's acutely aware of her sister in the stands, and when she glances over she realizes Sahana is staring right at her. For a moment she falters, but then she decides she doesn't care. Maybe if she plays well Sahana could put in a good word with their parents and Rajani will be able to actually practice her flying during the summer.

Her focus intensifies after that, and she's proud to say when she touches down that she's rather certain it's the best flying she's ever done. Even Mayra gives her a nod of approval before she calls up the Seeker hopefuls.

"Good luck." She says to Lenox as they pass each other, and he smiles easily before taking off.

Rajani settles herself back on the reserves bench to watch the five Seeker candidates audition. She glances up at her sister as well and is a bit confused when she notices that Sahana has pulled out a notebook and a camera, which she has trained on the pitch.

She ultimately shrugs off the odd sight and focuses on Lenox. He's not the youngest person trying out - there's a second year as well - but he's definitely one of the smallest. Rajani thinks that's going to work to his advantage considering the most successful seekers are the slimmest ones.

Even with his advantage though, Rajani can tell that the competition is tight. All five of the hopefuls are male, much to Sahana's surprise as most of their previous Seekers had been female. In fact, according to one of her Quidditch books (received on her thirteenth birthday the year before from Eugene), Slytherin is known for having more female players on their than almost all the other Hogwarts teams.

It does make sense, Rajani thinks, considering they're the most ambitious house. Having been part of a winning Quidditch team on your resume looks good regardless of what job you're actually applying to, so there's more incentive to try out.

The Seeker tryouts last longer than any of the ones before them, and Rajani's neck is starting to hurt from looking up for so long. She has to admit that it's worth it though - all five of the flyers, minus the second year, are impressive. Rajani isn't sure how Mayra is going to pick only one.

Most of her attention is on Lenox though, and she finds herself getting a bit jealous. He'd been holding back when flying with her during the warmups. Now, when actually trying to outshine everyone, he's easily keeping up with even the seventh year trying out.

When Mayra finally wraps things up and lets the final group land again, the sky is getting dark and Rajani is pretty sure they've missed dinner.

"Should we check the Great Hall? There may be some people lingering there late." Lenox suggests after the two third years have put away their brooms and headed back across the pitch.

Rajani shrugs. "It's worth a shot, and it's on the way to the dorms anyway. Goodness knows I'm ready to pass out, today has been nonstop for me."

Luckily for them, late dinners seem to be common among older students, as there are still quite a few sixth and seventh years lingering around the Great Hall, chatting with each other over textbooks or just staring lovingly at one another.

"That I'll never understand." Lenox makes a face after they pass a Hufflepuff couple making weird faces at each other. "Liking someone shouldn't reduce your brain capacity the way it seems to."

Rajani laughs. "Well they were Hufflepuffs." She points out playfully, and Lenox grins in turn.

"Fair enough. Though Eugene looks pretty similar when he's talking about Queenie so it doesn't seem House-specific unfortunately."

"Well I don't intend to be so silly when I fall in love." Rajani declares.

"Big words from a little girl who's never dated before." A familiar voice teases, and Rajani spins, grinning brightly.

"Hello Edward, I don't believe I asked your opinion."

The prefect laughs. "My opinion should always be heard. It's always correct after all." He waves to the seats next to him. "Join me, my friends all pissed off before I even got here."

Lenox looks a bit uncomfortable, but follows Rajani's lead as she sits next to Ed.

"So why are you two in so late? Second years don't normally get delayed by teenage nonsense." Ed notes, and Rajani fills him in on the intensity of tryouts. She mentions her sister's presence as well, and Ed grins in a rather knowing way.

"She was probably just documenting everything so Mayra could go over it later." Is all he says, but Rajani gets the feeling he's holding something back on that particular subject. However, Ed quickly veers onto a new discussion.

"So Hogsmeade is coming up in a month. You two excited?"

Lenox shrugs quietly. Ever since sitting down with Ed he'd remained rather stoic, and Rajani wonders if he might be more tired from tryouts than she is. He had been up in the air much longer after all.

She, however, is still hungry, and she hasn't really been able to talk with Ed in the past two weeks due to his being kept busy with prefect duties. "Of course! My roommates and I have been planning what route we want to take for the optimum shopping experience. Is there anywhere you'd suggest we definitely go?"

Ed is only too happy to fill her in on all the best and worst places to see in Hogsmeade.

"People make a big deal about the shrieking shack, but it's really just a tiny wooden nothing so don't waste your time with that. And be careful not to go into Zonko's at the same time as a Gryffindor, you will absolutely find yourself getting zapped by something and it just isn't worth it. That said, do check out Zonko's if you can, there's some fun stuff in there."

Rajani nods thoughtfully, and glances over at Lenox. "What about you boys? Got any big plans for the first Hogsmeade weekend?"

Lenox simply shrugs again, and Rajani finds she's getting a bit worried. Sure Lenox has never been the most talkative person, but he usually speaks when spoken to. She wonders if the day has tired him out more than he'd admitted earlier. So she makes a decision, pushing away her half-finished plate and standing up.

"Hey Ed, we're going to head back to the common room. It's been a pretty long day and it's just starting to catch up to me now." She announces, and while the prefect raises an eyebrow suspiciously he simply nods.

"Sure thing, I remember how hectic third year felt. Enjoy it while you can, it only gets worse." He grins a bit mockingly as Lenox stands up as well.

Rajani rolls her eyes at him before she and Lenox leave for the dungeons.

Lenox doesn't say much, so Rajani fills the silence herself as best she can, talking about her classes and how boring Ancient Runes is proving to be. When they get back to the Slytherin common room she politely excuses herself to the dorm, where she's immediately jumped by Clary.

"Where the heck have you been? We've barely seen you all day." She complains. "Now sit your down and talk to us for heck's sake before we forget what your voice sounds like."

"Thursdays are busy for me, and we've been in classes together all day what are you even talking about." Rajani replies pointedly, and Clary rolls her eyes.

"Classes don't count, they're boring and we can't talk. I mean you weren't at dinner! How are you missing meals already, it's the second week and I know for a fact your workload isn't that heavy yet." Clary continues unabashed, and Rajani can only shrug.

"I had tryouts for the Quidditch team and I stayed late to support Lenox. We had late dinner with Ed Poole."

Nia glances up. "I remember him, he sat with us during the last week of school last year. I don't know how I feel about him yet."

"He's nice." Rajani defends. "And he's a prefect now too, so it's not a bad idea to have him on our side."

Queenie grins. "Spoken like a true Slytherin. So Ed huh? He's pretty cute for an older guy."

Rajani can feel her face heating up. "Queen, just because you're obsessed with dating at the moment doesn't mean the rest of us are in a rush to make fools of ourselves. And certainly not with Ed! He's way too old." She defends quickly.

Queenie just grins wider. "I'm not obsessed with dating, I'm already engaged. I've moved on to higher planes of romance. I just don't want you to be all alone is all."

The girls chat for a few more minutes before Rajani forcibly calls it a night, and she passes out almost immediately after she curls up under the sheets, so it's well worth it.

They have to wait an entire week before Laurel puts up the results from Quidditch tryouts, and while Myr is content knowing he's probably just on reserves again, the rest of his friends are freaking out rather spectacularly.

This is because there were a lot more openings than any of them had expected there to be. In addition to Bill leaving, Jamison had dropped out after seeing his OWL results, leaving a beater slot open as well. And most importantly, rumor said that Laurel was considering favoring younger students in order to create a longer-lasting team that could really get to know each other to ultimately become an unstoppable force.

Which means the third years are in an excellent position to actually make the team.

Myr finds himself seeking shelter in the library more often than not to avoid getting caught up in the endless argument raging between Evera and Drake over who's going to get the Chaser spot between them.

He's at one of the larger study tables near the windows when Evera comes barging in, shrieking excitedly and getting an extremely firm shushing from Madame Pince.

Evera obligingly lowers her voice, looking contrite for all of two seconds before she's beaming again and bodily tossing herself in front of Myr.

"Myr! Myr Myr Myr guess what?" She gives him half a second to orient himself to her sudden appearance before she answers her own question. "We made the team!" Her voice rises in excitement and she receives another sharp hushing from the librarian for her troubles.

Myr blinks uncertainly. "Um, congratulations?" Then her words properly process and he starts, nearly knocking Evera off the table when his knee jams against the bottom of it. "Wait, we?"

She nods eagerly. "You're replacing Jamison and I'm up for Bill! Drake, Remi, and Fiona are reserves but Laurel said when she put up the list that she's going to integrate the practices a lot more than last year, so basically we're all going to be practicing like we're on the main team!" She beams, and Myr can't help breaking into a grin as well.

"Holy heck, I didn't expect that..." He slumps back in his seat, giddiness overwhelming him for a moment. "Does Kent know?" He thinks to ask once his thoughts have somewhat reconfigured into something coherent.

Evera giggles. "Yeah he knows. I'm pretty sure I have cracked ribs from how excited he was that we'll get to play together before he graduates."

Madame Pince shushes them once again, and the two Gryffindors decide to leave the library and head back to the common room. Myr figures he probably should talk with his friends now that the results are out and the conversation will be a bit different.

"First practice is this weekend, Laurel says she hopes you stayed in shape over the summer!"

Myr smiles faintly as Evera chatters eagerly about her excitement and how she can't wait to play in a real game. He decides to not rain on her parade by bringing up exactly how exhausting Laurel's practice sessions get, though he thinks her brother has likely already given her something of an idea.

"Myr! There's the man of the hour! You missed Laurel posting the new team!" Charlie greets him enthusiastically and slings an arm around his shoulder. "You realize we now out number the older kids on the team? Between us and the reserves the team is basically dominated by third years."

"Yeah yeah." Brandon grumbles, slouched on the couch by an equally put-out Remi. Myr realizes with a twinge of sympathy that Brandon is the only third year who had tried out who hadn't even made the reserves.

Charlie frowns and sits next to his best friend. "Hey, maybe next year, yeah? A lot more positions will open up with Laurel and Cassidy both graduating."

Myr frowns and glances at the parchment on the announcement board, checking the names of the team and realizing to his shame that he doesn't actually know the two other Chasers on the team.

"Cassidy Walsh is a seventh year and an absolute beast on a broom. Her and Laurel have a bit of a friendly rivalry going on so don't be startled if they insult each other any time they're in hearing range. Or if Laurel fires a Bludger at Cass in the middle of practice." Charlie fills him in with no small amount of amusement when he notices Myr's bewilderment. "Jacob Fawley is fifth year and honestly kind of a prat but he's pretty good at staying open. Very bendy that one, could have been a Slytherin really."

"He's that bad?" Evera makes a face. She'd come up to stand with the two boys as they talked. "I hope I don't have to work with him that closely then."

"Oh he's fine during games. Just don't think you'll be friends off the pitch." Charlie assures her. "And really, having someone that competitive contributed a lot to our win last year - Jacob has the highest shot-score ratio on the team."

Evera seems to weigh something in her mind, and then she nods determinedly. "Then I'm going to make extra sure I work with him!"

"That was a quick change of heart." Kent drawls mockingly from where he's seated in front of the fireplace with a few of his year mates, playing a round of Exploding Snap.

"Well I don't intend to be the team weak point." Evera says briskly. "Failure isn't genetic after all, yet people all too often like to assume it is."

"Hey!" Kent protests as his friends burst out laughing. "I resent that!"

"I resent you so I guess we're even." Evera sticks her tongue out at her brother with an air of finality, and he just rolls his eyes in response.

Myr decides to go speak with Fiona instead of watching the familiar scene of sibling rivalry pan out. She's seated on the opposite end of the common room, half focused on a barely-started essay and half on the general chaos in the room.

"Is that the Horklumps essay?" He questions as he sits next to her, and she startles slightly before smiling in greeting.

"Yeah, at least it's an attempt. I understand whey these things are classified as 'boring'." She laughs. "I'm just glad we're moving on to XX classifications next week, Flobberworms and Horklumps aren't exactly exciting material."

"Agreed." Myr nods. "Maybe if we work on it together it will be a bit more bearable?" Myr suggests, pulling out his own blank parchment.

"Wait, are you guys doing the Care of Magical Creatures essay? Hold on, lemme get a quill, I'll join you." Charlie interrupts excitedly, charging towards the dorms and yelling at Brandon to come with him. Pretty soon the entire third year Gryffindor class are spread out on the floor in a needlessly wide circle, swapping notes and offering suggestions on what to write.

For his part, Myr is quite happy about the whole situation. The entire class had decided to take Care of Magical Creatures so he's hoping that group study sessions like this one won't be uncommon for the rest of the school year.

They actually manage to mostly finish the essays, though Brandon and Remi are noticeably lagging behind in required length. But as everyone else has stopped, they roll up their parchments as well and Brandon declares that they should spend the rest of the afternoon down by the lake.

Myr decides it does sound like fun, and he follows his friends out of the castle and into the warm autumn air. He stays on the sandy shores of the lake - he's heard one too many rumors about the Giant Squid to feel safe actually getting on the water - and watches his friends splashing each other.

Evera tries to wave him over but he shakes his head and she blows a raspberry at him before tackling Drake into the surf.

"Hey! Looks like we had the same idea!" Myr turns in surprise at the new voice to find a group of third year Hufflepuffs walking over from the castle. Aidan waves to Charlie and Brandon before sitting next to Myr along with Jemma Finnigan and a boy Myr thinks is called Cian, but he's not sure since he's never actually spoken to the other before.

"It's too nice a day to waste it inside." Jemma says pleasantly. "So Myr, how was your summer?"

It's nice to catch up with the Hufflepuffs, the House Myr thinks he gets along with best outside of his own. Once Aidan runs off to join Charlie and Brandon in the water, Jemma, Cian and Myr start talking about Muggle Studies, a class all three of them are taking.

"Personally I quite like Professor Quirrell, he's so enthusiastic about the subject!" Jemma nods firmly. "I like when teachers like what they're teaching, it makes the class more enjoyable for me."

"It's kind of a waste in my opinion. Half of what they're teaching is either wrong or only partially correct. Do you wizards actually pay attention to us at all?" Cian grumbles, and Jemma frowns.

"Well at least we're trying to learn. For a long time the wizarding world was completely cut off from Muggles, so we might not be perfect just yet but it's a process."

Cian shrugs, and Myr smiles faintly.

"It's certainly better than total separation." He offers. "Imagine living in the USA, where they aren't allowed to have any contact with the Muggles."

Jemma laughs a bit. "True, they are a lot slower about progress over there it seems. But to be fair they struggled with prejudice long before the witch trials started, if you consider the way Native shamans were treated during the initial settlement of the colonies."

"We should get Brandon over here, since he's the American. See what his opinion is." Myr grins, and Jemma giggles as well.

"Oh gosh, please no, I couldn't stand to hear him go on about the States again. They're perfectly serviceable but I don't much fancy living there myself." Jemma shakes her head. "It's good to love where you come from though."

They continue talking together until the sun starts to lower and stain the lake red and gold, at which point everyone finally gets out and they head in for dinner.

Most of the group has to go dry off and change, so Myr is the only Gryffindor third year at the table for a solid five minutes. And in those five minutes he realizes he doesn't actually have any friends outside of his own year, making the whole experience rather awkward.

He stares firmly at his plate until his friends come down and join him.

"So first practice in two days, I can't wait!" Evera wastes no time before launching into more Quidditch talk.

Myr spots Holly rolling her eyes in his peripherals, but he's happy to have the information.

"When did Laurel tell you that?"

"We ran into her and Eric just outside the Great Hall." Charlie informs him. "They were off in quite a rush."

"Well that's what couples do." Brandon says with an air of understanding that Myr know for a fact he's faking.

Evera picks up on the tone as well. "Oh please, like you'd know what couples do. You've never even asked a girl out!" She points out.

Brandon sits up straighter. "Well I'm going to, and really soon too. Have you done that?"

Charlie looks over with a frown. "You are? Why is this the first I'm hearing about this?"

"'Cause he probably just decided that right this second." Evera sing-songs.

Myr shares a wryly amused look with Charlie as the two begin bickering. "So practice in two days? Any tips for a new member of the main team?"

Charlie grins. "Never fly between Cassidy and Laurel."

Two days later finds Myr in exactly that position, and he realizes very quickly why Charlie had given the warning.

A bludger flies half an inch from the front of his broom as Laurel practices friendly fire. Cassidy dodges neatly and then proceeds to score on Kent, who had to dive out of the way of the flying metal ball of death as well.

"Full attention Myr!" Laurel calls to him. "Being aware of where your own teammates are is as important as knowing where the opposition is!"

Myr veers out of the danger zone and spots Evera laughing. "Hey, you made the same mistake not ten minutes ago if I recall." He shouts to her as they pass, and she sticks her tongue out.

Practice is rather intense with not only the seven main players in the air but also the seven on reserves. They're split into two teams but Myr is finding he has a difficult time keeping up with who's on which team thanks to all of them wearing red and gold. He knows Laurel is his second among the beaters, putting Fiona and a fifth year who's name he doesn't know on the other team, and his Keeper is Kent, but he really can't recall which Chasers or which Seeker is playing for who.

He wonders if they remember either.

To make up the difference he's mostly aiming at the air around the players to throw off direction and intercept passes. One of his proudest moments so far was when he managed to actually hit the Quaffle using one of the Bludgers while it was in mid-pass from Cassidy (who he knows is on the other team - he's relatively sure Laurel wouldn't be firing at her if she was with them).

Of course, it had been somewhat accidental, and Laurel told him she'd teach him to do it on purpose the next time while they waited for the Chasers to finish their dive after the Quaffle.

The game is an intense back and forth and Myr finds himself starting to actively chase down bludgers as the scores climb and he finally figures out who's on which team. Evera swears at him rather impressively when one of his bludgers forces her into a tight swerve that results in the second year on the reserves stealing her ball and proceeding to fire on the posts, though the fourth year reserve Keeper blocks the attempts rather neatly.

By the end of practice Myr finds he isn't quite as sore as he remembers usually being after sessions with Laurel, and he hopes that it's an indication that he's in better shape than he used to be and not that she'd gone easy on them for the first practice.

He's hopeful it's the latter when both Evera and Drake are utterly beat when they finally touch down to head in for dinner.

"Is it always that intense?" Evera groans slightly, stretching her legs repeatedly as she walks and looking father ridiculous.

Charlie laughs. "That was nothing, you wait until game time comes around. Those are intense practices."

Drake and Evera share matching looks of distress that cause Charlie, Myr, and Fiona to all grin a bit at their expense.

The group continues talking excitedly, and Myr is happy to simply walk along and listen in. For all his summertime concern, school is turning out quite well so far.

Franziska thinks that third year is absolutely the best one yet.

Putting aside the fact Saundra Caldwell, a second year who had been making trouble from day one, had managed to vanish half the plants in the Hufflepuff common room on the first day, resulting in people randomly finding leaves and seed around the dorms, the year has been amazing so far.

Both Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes are fascinating, and she's made friends with a new Hufflepuff first year, Roderick Jarvis.

Roderik's older brother is in Franziska's year, and the young boy had been extremely nervous when he'd been sorted into Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor like his brother. So Franziska, upon noticing his discomfort, decided to take him under her wing. For the most part she helps tutor him in his classes but she's also talked with him about Hogwarts in general and a bit about Quidditch as well, though the subject still makes her a bit ill when she thinks about how dangerous it actually is.

"I don't think I'd want to play myself." Roderik informs her one day. They're sitting in the Hufflepuff common room doing homework. Franziska is mainly focused on Rue translations, but she occasionally will answer questions or go over wand movements with her first year friend when he gets stuck on his Charms essay. "But Drake really likes it so I'll go to games. He made reserves this year for Gryffindor."

Franziska thinks it's rather cute how much Roderik looks up to his older brother, even if doing so has made him rather ashamed of his own House placement thanks to the fact Drake apparently doesn't think very highly of Hufflepuff House.

"I heard, Jemma mentioned it during lunch last week." She smiles over at him. "I think he'll really appreciate your support."

Roderik smiles shyly. "Maybe."

Franziska doesn't get a chance to inquire into why Roderik would think his brother wouldn't appreciate his support, as Leona Poole chooses that moment to burst into the common room in a flurry of energy. The brunette is surprisingly chipper considering she had apparently almost died in a side-along apparation gone wrong over the summer, but the experience doesn't seem to have impacted Leona's pep in the slightest.

"Frannie! Frannie I heard that you've got a date to Hogsmeade! Girl i cannot believe I'm having to get this from the grapevine and not from you!" She exclaims, sounding hurt. "Oh, hey Roddy." She adds to the wide -eyed first year.

Franziska blinks. "Well this is the first I'm hearing about it as well. I was just going to go with Kiera and Tonks."

Leona frowns. "Oh, oops. I guess he hasn't asked you yet. Act surprised when he does! And say yes!"

Franziska isn't quite sure what she's getting herself into when she agrees, but hopefully it will be fun.

And if she's honest, she's glad for the legitimate excuse to chicked out of asking the cute fifth year if he wants to go with her.

She finds out that evening who her mystery date is when Brandon Young sits next to her at dinner.

"Hey Badger!" He greets cheerfully, as if it's perfectly normal for a Gryffindor to sit at the Hufflepuff table.

Franziska raises an eyebrow. "Hi Brandon. Why aren't you sitting at the Gryffindor table?"

"I wanted to ask if you had any plans for Hogsmeade this weekend." He proclaims, and Franziska is a bit jealous of his confidence. She figures it must come from being a Gryffindor.

"Um, I..." She can feel herself blushing and she curses Leona mentally for not  giving her more of a warning so she could properly prepare herself. She certainly hadn't expected her surprise suitor to be Brandon. "I didn't have any plans in particular no." She finally gets out, and Brandon beams.

"Great! Then would you be interested in going with me?"

She nods maybe a little too quickly, but his grin is well worth it.

"Great! Then I'll see you this weekend! And, um, in classes tomorrow too, obviously." And with that he rushes back to the Gryffindor table, leaving Franziska bright red and the rest of the Hufflepuff table grinning at her expense.

"Ooh, Frannie's got a date!" Leona giggles happily.

"A little more forewarning would have been nice." Franziska moans, dropping her head into her hands to attempt and hide the bright red hue she's certain it's turned.

Leona just grins. "This was much more entertaining."

"Agreed." Tonks guffaws, and Franziska genuinely considers throwing some bread at her before thinking better of it. No reason to potentially start a school-wide food fight over something as simple as a bit of embarrassment.

Her friends a bit more before the conversation drifts into the more general topic of Hogsmeade and their plans for it.

"We know Franziska is getting whisked away on a romantic afternoon-"

"We do not-"

"But how about everyone else? I for one intend to hit up Zonko's." Tonks completely ignores Franziska's attempted protest.

Aidan nods enthusiastically. "Charlie and I will be there too. I thought Brandon would be with us but it seems that he'll be otherwise occupied." He teases, and Franziska's head is back in her hands.

Thankfully, on the actual morning of the Hogsmeade visit her friends are much more helpful.

For a certain definition of helpful, anyway.

"Frannie you can't actually be wearing that." Leona tuts, looking over her coat and jeans combo. "This is a date! You need to dress up a little!"

"It's a date with Brandon though, so not too much. He's a pretty active kid." Kiera recommends.

"Ooh, and wear something red! He'd like that." Tonks contributes, turning her own hair red to demonstrate. "Or gold, but red is better."

"Try talking about potions." Jemma suggests as Kiera and Leona raid Franziska's trunk for a more suitable first date outfit. "He's quite passionate about that class."

"Here, put this on." Leona shoves a red sweater into her arms, and Franziska frowns.

"This is still going to be under my coat though." She points out.

"But you'll take it off! Now go change, the group is leaving in fifteen minutes!" Leona shoos her into the bathroom and Franziska decides to humor her friends for the time being. Hopefully they'll quit fussing once Brandon is actually with them.

Her wish is more than granted when her friends seem to spontaneously vanish into thin air as soon as Brandon spots them approaching and breaks into a smile.

"Hey! You look nice out of your school robes." He compliments, and once again Franziska is blushing.

"Oh, um, thanks, you too." She manages to stutter out. As they begin walking towards Hogsmeade she remembers Jemma's advice. "So how is it you like potions when Snape is the teacher for it?"

Brandon bursts out laughing. "Fair question. I don't like him much, and the feeling is mutual, but I've always been pretty interested in potions and how they work. How is it they only work for witches and wizards even though we use a surprising amount of non-magical plants to create them? Which plants carry which properties for the potions? It's all pretty interesting to me. One day I want to make my own potion!"

Franziska has to admit she's impressed. "I guess you probably like Herbology as well then? Since we learn about what the plants actually do?"

Brandon nods eagerly. "You get it! Potions and Herbology are really closely linked together. It's surprising how many people like one but not the other."

Franziska smiles. She's really glad conversation with Brandon is still quite comfortable despite the fact that they're technically on a date.

They continue talking about their favorite classes until they reach Hogsmeade, at which point to do make a pit stop at Zonko's joke shop before they get to what Brandon is calling 'the fun part'.

"I just need to pick up some supplies." He assures her vaguely when she questions his purchases from the joke shop. "Aidan and Charlie pranked me with a nose-biting teacup a couple days ago and I intend to return the favor."

Franziska frowns. "Won't they be wary of any teacups you've touched though?" She questions, both nervous about knowing rules will be broken but also genuinely curious about how exactly the pranking process works. Goodness knows she doesn't trust anything Aidan hands her if she's seen him hanging out with the ABC Club recently beforehand.

Brandon grins. "That's the genius of it! I'm going to pull a fake out." He pauses, looks around, and then grabs Franziska's hand. "But I can't tell you details here, you never know if they're nearby. Come on, let's go to Honeydukes first, and then the tea shop. No way Aidan or Charlie will be in there."

Franziska allows the subject to be temporarily dropped as they walk over to Honeydukes, a store she's admittedly excited about visiting.

It's naturally swarming with students, and Franziska spots a few of her friends stuffing as much candy as they can manage into their bags.

"Man it's busier than I expected. Do you want to do this last instead?" Brandon calls to her over the noise, and after a moment of hesitation Franziska nods. She'd like to actually be able to hear Brandon while they're there.

So they leave Honeydukes and head for Madame Puddifoot's Teashop.

"Honestly this place isn't ideal, but most of Gryffindor is going to be at the Three Broomsticks in an hour and I thought you might like to not be hounded by my roommates." Brandon admits, and Franziska laughs.

"That is preferable, yes. And I like tea, so this is lovely."

Admittedly the tea shop is a bit cheesy for Franziska's taste, but they manage to get a table in a corner so they mostly avoid the garish decorations. They both order and then settle back in their seats.

"So tell me about this 'fake out' prank of yours." Franziska prompts, and Brandon grins.

"Okay, number one rule of pranking is to not use the same prank on the same person twice in a row, otherwise they wise up to your tricks. The catch is that everyone knows that trick, so no one is going to expect a pro to make that mistake. I plan to use that assumption to my advantage."

Franziska raises an eyebrow in amusement. "You've really thought this out, huh?" She observes, and Brandon shrugs with faux modesty.

"I am a pro after all. One can never overthink a prank."

Franziska honestly isn't sure if she's saying the right things, and she feels especially awkward as Brandon seems to be completely confident. So she sits quietly and nods and smiles where she thinks she's supposed to as Brandon outlines his plans to temporarily transfigure Aidan's cat Cerid into a teacup. Little warning signals are going on at the back of her head, but she firmly ignores them, not wanting to give in to her nervousness when Brandon really seems to be trying hard.

"So I think I've talked for a while now, um, you're taking Muggle Studies right? What's that like? Myr and Charlie can't seem to agree whether it's a good class or not." Brandon finally says, his lips and taking a sip of his certainly now-cold tea.

Franziska flushes - she shouldn't have let Brandon do all the talking, she's clearly messed up again. "Oh, um, I like it for the most part? Professor Quirrell is really enthusiastic but sometimes he goes off on tangents so we have to teach ourselves the rest of the day's lesson since he always sticks to his schedule. I think some people might find that frustrating but I don't mind. I usually study with Leona, Kiera, and Jemma before we go to bed." She shifts nervously in her seat, and glances up at Brandon. She's relieved to find that he's smiling.

"Cool! I wish I had someone to study like that with for Ancient Runes. I'm the only Gryffindor taking it."

She can't help but giggle. "I know, I'm in that class too." She points out. "Does Aidan not study with you?"

Brandon makes a face. "He's usually studying with that Ana chick from Ravenclaw and I can tell she doesn't like me."

Franziska nods in understanding. She doesn't quite get how Aidan managed to befriend the single least friendly person in their year, but she has noticed that he tends to distance himself from his friends when around the black-haired girl.

"I think he'd probably be happy to study with you if you asked, but you could join me and Cian and Donaghan for our study sessions if you like." She offers nervously. Is it wrong to invite a guy who likes you to spend time with you and two other guys?

Brandon nods a bit uncertainly. "Yeah, that would be good. Thanks."

They continue to chat, and Franziska is glad that despite second guessing every other word out of that all in all things seem to be going rather well. When it's nearing the end of their alloted time for Hogsmeade visits, the two pay for their tea and head over to Honeydukes, which is much less crowded than it had been before.

"Which sweets are your favorite?" Brandon asks quickly. "I'll get them for you."

Franziska feels herself blushing. Brandon had paid for the tea as well. "No, I'd feel bad if you paid for everything."

"Then you can pay next time." Brandon's statement comes out more like a question, and for the first time Franziska can see that he's as nervous as she is. The knowledge immediately puts her more at ease.

"Well, alright, but no take backs." She agrees, and Brandon beams.

"Great! So what did you want?"

After ten minutes the two finally start heading back to Hogwarts, laden down with several chocolate frogs, sugar quills, and cauldron cakes.

"You have quite a sweet tooth." Brandon teases, and Franziska giggles.

"What can I say? Sugar tastes good."

"True enough."

When they arrive back at the castle they divide their candy and then head back to their dorms after a very awkward hug goodnight.

Franziska is so busy floating on the remnants of the date's positive atmosphere that she forgets to keep an eye out for her roommates when she enters the dorms.

"How was it?"

Franziska jumps as Leona leaps in front of her the moment she walks in.

"Calm down Leona, let her put her gifts away." Tonks scolds, but her eyes are bright with curiosity.

Franziska sighs. "I couldn't get away with just saying it went well and leaving it at that, could I?"

"How long have you known us?" Jemma points out with a warm smile, and Franziska laughs.

"Oh alright, I kind of want to share anyway. But I hope you weren't planning to sleep much tonight because there's a lot to say!"