REX PIKE JUST WANTED TO STUDY IN PEACE. With a free period, having dropped some of his classes, being a sixth year, he was in the library with his two friends, all of them bent over their respective books, trying to complete their massive workload.

    "I have to say, I'd rather clean up unicorn dung than do this," Nathaniel exclaimed softly, throwing himself into his seat, back popping from having been bent over.

    "I bet unicorn dung is made of pure crystal and the wishes of young children," Rex said, setting down his quill, propping his head up on his other hand, ready to fall asleep, exhausted.

    "I can check," Penelope offered, always ready to do anything except her assigned schoolwork.

    "Can you get me some food while you're at it?" Nathaniel joked, earning him a flick on the ear for his troubles.

    Penelope flung her scarf over her shoulder as she made her way to the bookshelves, inevitably leading her to pick up a new interest, gathering a large pile of books to read up on, her homework being left to get finished by her worried, but exasperated girlfriend.

    That left the two boys alone. A pureblood Slytherin and a Muggleborn Hufflepuff, the two were a sight to behold, at least when together. They were an even odder pair once one got to know them, realizing that Nathaniel was much nicer than Rex, at least to the general populace.

    Both loyal to a fault and hardworking, there were many jokes that the Sorting Hat had switched their houses, as the nuances in the two were off ever so slightly.

    The boys never paid any mind, however, loving the houses they were in, Nathaniel having found his niche in his house, though that group often camped out with the Hufflepuffs more often than not. Though, if anything, it was mostly him and Penelope.

    "How're the first years?" Rex asked, taking a break from his note writing.

    Nathaniel groaned, unable to hide his displeasure. "I have never met a group more hellbent on making life harder for everyone else. They seem to take our house stereotype too seriously."

    "A lot of you are nice," Rex pointed out, waving his quill for emphasis.

    "You never hear stories about the nice people," Nathaniel laughed mirthlessly, "Why do you think people overlook you Puffs so much? Isn't this one of the reasons why you're so...?" he trailed off, unable to come up with a good descriptor that wasn't wholly awful.

    Rex gave him a sweet smile. "No, I do it to make you look better."

    Nathaniel scoffed and kicked the boy's leg, earning one back with more force than deserved.

    "I'm smaller," Rex justified, scrambling out of his chair and falling on the ground in an attempt to get away from the other boy who was after him with a vengeance.

    "By hurting me, you're just solidifying the stereotype that all you snakes are evil," the boy called out, jumping over a chair and throwing it at the boy as he rushed to get away, "C'mon, Norlind, you know I love you."

    "Can't say I feel the same way," Nathaniel growled with a sly grin as he lunged towards the boy, tripping over a chair, landing painfully on the ground.

    Rex paused, just about to run, looking at the boy, biting his lip. Guilty, he made his way back, crouching down to help him up, only to be dragged down, thrown to the ground and pinned, one hand coming to tickle his side while the other covered his mouth to keep him quiet.

    "Traitor!" Rex cried, licking the boy's hand and breaking free, kicking wildly, "I trusted you!"

    "Your mistake, not mine," Nathaniel said, shrugging and climbing to his feet at the sound of footsteps approaching, adjusting his clothes.

    Rex climbed to his feet, smiling at the passing students as he futilely tried to smooth down his now rumpled shirt, fixing his askew tie and mussed up hair, wiping at his chin which was covered in saliva.

    "You look awful," Nathaniel laughed, whispering into his ear.

    "You're such a prick," Rex hissed back, swatting at the taller boy, "Penny'd be so disappointed."

    Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. "You're going to tell her?"

    The smaller boy scoffed, beginning to walk down to another aisle, "Of course not, I don't have a death wish. Let's go find her before she gets into another fight over Muggle versus Wizard literature."

    "That reminds me, I have to return the books you lent me, they were interesting," Nathaniel said, tossing an arm over the boy's shoulder as they walked, now calm and no longer seeking vengeance, at least for the time being.

    "Wait, we have to talk about them, they're my favorites," Rex said, taking a step forward and turning around, stopping him, his eyes glowing with excitement.

    Nathaniel gave him a sympathetic smile and Rex's smile faltered as he raised a hand to rub at his neck, feeling his face grow warm. A Muggleborn, he couldn't help but miss the life he led when he wasn't at Hogwarts, the candy that was sold by the shop near his family's flat, the books from the library and the bookstores, his telly.

    "We can talk about them," Nathaniel said, and Rex shook his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

    "It's alright," he mumbled, turning away, "C'mon, let's find Penny."

    The two boys began walking down the various bookshelves, running their fingers over the spines, stopping to laugh at certain titles or author names before continuing on their way. They strained their ears to listen, hoping to find Penelope by her unique accent and cadence, though they were in a library.

    "Do you think she'll be upset if we bother her?" Rex asked, stopping in his tracks, Nathaniel nearly running into him, toppling them both over.

    "If we even find her," the other boy scoffed, looking up towards the ceiling at the towering bookshelves, "This place is a maze. How does anyone find their way around?"

    "I'm sure we'd know if we actually came here," Rex snorted, grabbing Nathaniel's wrist and tugging him forward, letting the other boy look around the room as he pleased.

    The two continued to walk, pausing when they heard a few loud voices on the other end of the library. Raising their eyebrows, the two made their way towards the voices, figuring that if there was a problem, Penelope would find their way back there as well.

    "Come on, Moony, just try one!"

    "Yeah, Moony, Prongs and I do it all the time."

    "That means nothing to me."

    "What if he misses?"

    "It's Remus Elizabeth Lupin, Wormtail, he can't miss!"

    Rex glanced back towards Nathaniel who shrugged, the two raising their eyebrows at the other, both thinking the same thing; Penelope might not be there, but it would be interesting to see what was going on.

    "Well, I don't want to do the one you two always use," the third voice said—Remus Lupin, so it seemed, "If I'm going to do something, might as well be something new. Who will be my target?"

    "Draw straws," the first voice called out, followed by the ripping of what Rex hoped to be parchment. After a moment, the same voice cursed, a few laughs following.

    "Okay, Moony, let's get it over with," the voice grumbled, clearly not as excited as he had been only a few moments before.

    "Which one are you going to use, Moony?" the fourth voice asked, sounding both apprehensive and excited, though mostly relieved from not drawing the short stick.

    Rex perked up when he walked down an aisle, finding the end blocked by a tall figure's back. He was barely able to see three other boys standing on the other side, sitting on a few chairs pressed up against the wall.

    "Three...two..." the second voice called out slowly, Rex drawing closer to the scene as he counted.

    The figure jumped to the side suddenly, revealing Rex to the boy aiming a wand in his direction, shock passing over his face as the words slipped from his lips.

    "Entomorphis!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 12. 12. 17 )

Lord, Harry Potter fics are not my forte, not yet at least, and I can't say I'm really proud of this chapter, but it is here, and it is done, and I'm excited to see it move forward. This won't be as canon-heavy as I usually would make it, as it's mostly just going to be a fluff piece that I will have fun with (hopefully)

I decided to have Rex and Nathaniel fit their stereotypes with a twist, and have Penelope be the sort of Ravenclaw that loves to learn and gain new knowledge and insights, but hates school, if that came across correctly.

I don't really have much to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!