"Who's that boy?" Yemi whispered, peeking over her charms book.

"No clue," Kitty replied. "I don't think I've ever seen him before."

Kitty had planned to come to the library with Jack, but he had declined, citing a promise to study with another friend. She had asked Yemi to come along instead, and soon after the two had pulled out their books, they had spotted Jack sitting at a distant table, where he was soon joined by Lily Evans and a tall, skinny Slytherin boy with long, dark hair.

"I can't believe he's become such good friends with Lily so quickly," Yemi sniffed. "He only met her last week."

"You're just jealous because you'd love to hang out with Lily Evans and ask her quidditch questions."

"Not true!"

Truth be told, Kitty was a little bitter too. Why would he rather study with Lily Evans than her? In fact, why hadn't he just invited her along? Lily had clearly invited a friend.

Actually, Lily's friend didn't seem so happy that Jack was there. An eternal scowl was pasted to his face, his expression only lightening when he looked at Lily.

"Oi!" A voice rebounded from behind the stacks. "Evans! Snivellus!" It was James Potter, with an arrogant, crooked grin on his face, a sharp contrast to the Slytherin boy.

"Don't call him that," Lily reproached him.

"I'm just joking. Eh, Snape?"

So this was Severus Snape. Kitty realized. Sirius had mentioned him before, as the mortal enemy of James, his best friend. Yet it didn't seem to her as if James was all that much better.

James was a handsome boy, but his face, usually arranged in a charismatic, self-satisfied grin, was distorted with mockery. His words were light enough, but there was a clear current of something deeper that ran between him and Snape. Something deeper. Something akin to hatred. 

As Kitty and Yemi watched, silently, Kitty realized, with a jolt, that mockery wasn't the only thing distorting James's face. A deep, long scratch ran along his forehead. Smaller ones lined his cheeks. They reminded her of the scratches on Remus's face. Had they both gotten in a scuffle with a plant? Or-- with a werewolf?

Jack had noticed them, too. "That's a bang-up job you've done to yourself. Did you get in a fight or something? Fall down the stairs?"

"He's gotten it by flying his broom through the trees," Lily said dismissively. "Perhaps he'd be a better Chaser if he didn't beat that poor old broom up. I'm surprised it still flies."

"Well, I thought you were both brilliant last game. I'd like to play on the Hufflepuff team next year, so I might nip out to one of your morning practices one of these days if you don't mind. Get some ideas."

"Let the enemy spy on our practices?" James asked, snagging a chair from a nearby table. 

"I'm not on the team yet," Jack countered. "Let's not be enemies until next year."

"Can't argue with that."

"And, you can't stop someone from sitting in the stands anyway," Lily added. "Besides, you're not even the Captain."

"Next year, Evans."

"Doubt it."

James shrugged good-naturedly. Snape, sitting silently with his textbooks, rolled his eyes, but neither Lily nor James seemed to notice. Jack, who had noticed, stared at him curiously. This time, it was Kitty's turn to roll her eyes. Had he really not noticed the bad blood between the two?

"So, what position are you aiming for next year?" James asked Jack.

"Seeker."

"What about Ciorstaid? Is she not planning on playing next year?"

"No, she is. It's just that the more I've thought about it, I just can't see myself playing any other position. I'll just have to out-play her at trials."

"That's kind of cheap, isn't it?" Kitty whispered to Yemi, ducking behind their books. "He could just wait a year until Ciorstaid leaves. Or, he could try out for another position for a year."

"You know how seriously everyone takes Quiddich," Yemi reminded her. "Too seriously."

As they watched, James plopped down in the seat next to Lily, who grimaced but said nothing. Snape, on the other hand, stared at him with eyes full of a dislike he made no attempt to disguise. James didn't have any books with him but leaned backwards in his chair to survey the contents of the bookshelf behind him. Snape looked as if he wanted to kick James's chair out from under him. Lily and Jack, meanwhile, ignored both Snape and James and focused diligently--perhaps too diligently to be convincing--on their work.

James selected a boring-looking book and settled back at the table. As all the excitement seemed to have died down, Kitty and Yemi turned their attention back to their own work. They had an essay due the next day for History of Magic and neither had started it, despite their best intentions. They had fully meant to start last night, but then Rowan had showed up with a brand-new set of gobblestones, one that spat real water in the faces of unsuspecting players, and they had played late into the night in front of the fire, snacking on turkish delight and stuffed dates.

Kitty tried to focus on her essay, but it was dreadfully boring. They were supposed to write about some accord that had been signed in the 1600s with the goblins, and while Kitty had tried to pay attention in class, her mind had kept drifting, as it was doing now. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tina enter the library. She went to call out her name, but Tina seemed to be making a beeline towards one of the tables in the back. As Kitty watched, a person stood up to greet Tina, though they were obscured by one of the bookshelves. Kitty craned her neck to see who it was. She was startled as the person turned their head and she realized it was Regulus. 

Tina and Regulus were friends, at least somewhat, she figured, from their time spent together at Christmas. But she hadn't realized that the two of them hung out together at Hogwarts.

Kitty shook her head. It didn't matter. She stood up and told Yemi, "Let's go work in the common room. I can't seem to focus here."

***

The next day, Kitty walked into breakfast late, yawning. She and Yemi had stayed up past midnight working on their essays. Perhaps they would have finished sooner, but the plant of prophesy had been shrieking about disloyal friends and shocking betrayals for hours, making it quite difficult to get work done. 

"Where's Yemi?" Rowan questioned as she sat down with the other Hufflepuff First Years. 

"Still asleep."  Kitty scanned the table for her favorite blueberry muffins but, not finding one, settled for some toast. 

As she was buttering her toast, Jack leaned over from where he sat sandwiched between Taya and Aludra. 

"Oi, Kitty. Are you free this Saturday morning? Em wants us to run some drills with the team, get to know everyone a bit."

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, she mentioned it to me. It's only February, though. Tryouts aren't till next year."

Jack shrugged. "It's all part of her big plan, I guess. Gotta trust her. Em's a genius when it comes to Quidditch!"

And with that, breakfast was already over. Kitty shoved the rest of her toast in her mouth, and the Hufflepuffs shuffled down to the dungeons for Potions. She had expected Yemi to already be there--when she had tried to wake Yemi up for breakfast, Yemi had thrown a pillow at her and said she'd see them at Potions--but her energetic roommate was nowhere to be seen.

Slughorn frowned at her absence. "Well," he trilled, "we had perfect numbers for groups of three, but with Miss Yasef's absence...well we'll just have Miss Song--er--Miss Aludra Song and Mr DiGievo be a group of two. The rest of you can find your groups."

Kitty turned to Tina, who was sitting next to her, and then the two of them beckoned to Rowan to come join them. 

"Dunno why you'd want me," he whispered as he came up beside them, "I'm rubbish at Potions. Kitty, on the other hand, is one of the best in the class."

Kitty blushed. "I'm not as good as Jack," she whispered back. "And you're better than me in nearly every other subject! Have you seen--"

"Just take the compliment, Kitty," Tina insisted. "And get us a good grade for today while you're at it."

Today's potion was a rather fun one--a laughing potion. Slughorn even told them that they would be permitted to have a small taste, but only if they got the potion completely right, which he himself would determine. 

Kitty, Tina, and Rowan all huddled over Tina's book to read the instructions.

1. Add clear spring water into your cauldron.

2. Chop your alihotsy leaves and add them to the water.

3. Stir slowly. (If you stir too fast you damage the leaves' mirthful properties.)

4. Snigger at the potion.

5.Grind up your Billywig wings and add them to the cauldron. Stir slowly. 

6. Add three Knarl quills (no more, no less).

7. Heat the potion, then stir vigorously.

8. Giggle at the potion.

9. Heat the potion once again.

10. Shave your Puffskein and scatter hair over the surface of your potion.

11. Stir quickly and heat on a high heat.

12. Laugh loudly and uncontrollably.

13. Add a sprinkle of horseradish powder.

14. Stir the potion and heat for the last time.

15.Finally, wave your wand over the cauldron to finish the potion.

Most of the steps sounded easy enough. But steps 4, 8, and 12 threw Kitty for a loop. They were supposed to laugh at the potion? And what was a snigger, anyway?

While Rowan went to fetch the water from the front of the room, Kitty and Tina chopped up the alihotsy leaves. Rowan poured the water into their cauldron, and they all began, slowly, to add the leaves.

"So, who wants to laugh?" Tina asked them.

"I'll take the snigger," Rowan volunteered.

"I can giggle," Kitty suggested. 

"All right, I guess I can laugh loudly and uncontrollably. One of you should tickle me with a feather, that'd do it."

They finished adding the leaves, the first group to do so. Rowan seemed to be building his nerve up and, as Kitty and Tina stared at him, finally released a noise that sounded somewhat like a cross between a horse in pain and a bleating lamb.

Kitty and Tina doubled over in laughter.

"Shh!" Slughorn bellowed, rushing over. "It isn't time for that yet! You'll confuse the potion! And Mr. Cobbs--er--that was a wonderful attempt, but a snigger is a bit more like, well, let me demonstrate."

He let out a laugh that gave Kitty the impression he was laughing at them.

"You see, it's a bit more scornful. Pretend you're laughing at someone behind their back."

"We're Hufflepuffs!" Jack protested jokingly from the next table, but his snigger was perfect. Aludra, next to him, covered her mouth with her hands as not to laugh but looked at him admiringly.

When they got to the step where Kitty had to giggle, she closed her eyes and tried to picture something funny. Without meaning to, her mind drifted towards her brother, Sirius. When he had first been Sorted into Gryffindor, he had become a horrible prankster, the other members of their family his unsuspecting victims. She recalled an incident when Regulus had received a letter at breakfast from a friend from school, who had included a picture of herself smiling and waving on a pink sanded beach, and Regulus's cheeks had turned as pink as the sand. Sirius had bespelled the picture so that the poor girl's nose doubled in length and her ears tripled in size, and when an enraged Regulus called for Wallaburga, the stairs turned to jell-o which was nearly impossible to walk up. Their mother had wibbled and wobbled on the stairs for a few minutes before giving up, while Kitty and Sirius, watching from above, howled with laughter.

Kitty laughed now, too, a soft giggle that turned into a snort.

"That'll do, Miss Black," Slughorn said briskly, passing by. "Not perfect but it'll work!"

Kitty refused to look over at Jack and Aludra's table as Aludra let out a giggle that was pretty, dainty, and perfect. She wasn't jealous of them. One musn't be jealous of one's friends, after all. She focused on heating their potion, while Tina sprinkled in the Puffskein hairs and Rowan got ready to stir. It was soon time for the uncontrollable laughter, and both Kitty and Rowan lunged at Tina, tickling her until she nearly cried. 

"Wonderful!" Boomed Slughorn. "What a perfect laugh! I'm sure your potion will turn out lovely."

At the end of the class, Slughorn walked around the room, surveying their potions. He peered into each cauldron, sniffing at some of them, dipping a finger in others. Finally, he returned to the front of the room. 

"There are two potions that are perfectly drinkable!" He announced. "And a third that was awfully close! Song, Addleby, and Chao, your potion was quite good! I suspect that your alihotsy was added a bit too quickly, and the snigger was perhaps a bit off. But still a great attempt!

"Secondly, Cobbs, Kites, and Black! Your potion was quite excellent! The color is a tinge lighter than ideal--your snicker and giggle were good, though not perfect--but it is surely still drinkable! Congratulations!

"Finally, Song and DiGievo! I should have expected no less from dear Jack! But Miss Song's giggle was absolutely perfect! And what a funny joke you must have told Mr DiGievo to make him laugh uncontrollable--it's quite harder to do it that way, but it turns it the most lovely shade of pale lavender. You'll contrast that with the color of Cobbs, Kites, and Black's potion, which is a bit duller as it was done by tickling."

Kitty wanted to sink into the floor, especially as Slughorn sidled over to Aludra and whispered loudly, "You'll have to join us at the Slug Club sometime soon! In fact, I've been thinking of having a gathering tomorrow night. You'll have to tell us all about being a twin. It must be fascinating!"

Kitty did her best to banish all bitter thoughts from her brain as she took a swig of the potion. Immediately, everything was funny. A muggleborn was better than she, a pureblood, at potions? Ha! 

If Kitty could have clapped a hand over her brain as one did a mouth, she would have. But she couldn't. Was that really how she thought? Maybe it was. Ha! No!

Beside her, Rowan and Tina were laughing as well as the rest of the class looked on, bemused. 

"You'll have to make sure everyone gets to the next lesson alright," Slughorn winked. "I'd let you all try it otherwise! They've only had a small sip, so the effects will wear off within ten minutes!"

Kitty let herself be escorted out of the dungeons by a kind-faced Ravenclaw boy she hadn't met yet. "What's your name?" She wheezed.

"Timothy. Timothy Nothwell. And you're Katherine Black, right?"

"Kitty," she laughed. "I recognize your name. You're a pureblood, ha! My mother knows your mother."

Timothy nodded his agreement. "Yes, I met your mother once in Diagon Alley. Well, I just kind of stood there as our mothers chatted." He paused for a second. "We are a wizarding family, but I don't really take pride in being a pureblood. It's talent that matters."

"I agree," Kitty giggled. "And I haven't got much of it! Ha!"

"You've certainly got some or else you wouldn't be giggling like this. Listen, the next time you see your brother Sirius, tell him I say hi. And tell him that if he ever talks to my sister again, I'll curse his feet to the ceiling. Nothing personal, of course. I rather like Sirius."

"Sounds like him. I won't ask what he did, ha ha!"

As they shuffled into Defense Against the Dark Arts, they were greeted by..."Yemi!" Kitty exclaimed, breaking away from Timothy Nothwell. "Where have you been?"

"Sleeping," Yemi said, sheepishly. "But, hey, I have a note from Emily Afton for you. She was sitting in the common room when I finally dragged myself out of bed and practically pounced on me."

Kitty unrolled the note.

Saturday morning, 9 a.m. Black, don't forget. Remind DiGievo as well.

Kitty rolled her eyes. Jack was not going to forget Quidditch drills with the House team.

Do you have a broom? If not, you can borrow one of the team's. Make sure you dress warm, it's going to be a cold one! But there'll be hot butterbeer at the end. See you then!

♡ Em

Jack sidled up to her. Kitty realized with a jolt that the potion had worn off. 

"Do you realize what this is?" Jack whispered. "Em wants to get a head start on training. If you hold tryouts at the start of the term, you only have a couple of weeks to train all together before matches begin. I'll bet anything that if we do well tomorrow, we're on the team!"

Kitty couldn't concentrate all through Defense Against the Dark Arts. Tomorrow, she might actually make her family proud. She was so excited she could barely remember to breathe. How was it that a girl who had only flown once actually had a shot of making it onto the House team? She just hoped that Emily and Madame Hooch hadn't misplaced their faith in her. Somewhere inside her was a talented Quidditch player. She could already see Hufflepuff winning the Quidditch Cup next year, heard the Hufflepuffs cheering her name, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty.

No one cared that she was in Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin. No one really remembered. All they knew was that she was Kitty Black, Quidditch star, a girl who people looked up to. 

A girl who got things right.