Bandaging merpeople definitely wouldn't ever count to my hobbies. To work up these herbs and leaves in the right way to be able to use them correctly alone was already exhausting but applying the end products and bandage the head then properly? This was totally counting to the most complicated things I've ever done without having to fear for my life.

At least the merpeople were thinking of it as honour to be cared for by me and were keeping still patiently or were assisting me diligently instead of snapping at me like they did with Gregory. Some of them were already having a bandage out of seaweed, more primitive ones but also more professional ones than mine, others were parading them without any wrap of seaweed to cover them, some were suppurating, pus vicous and yellow, others were healing better.

I was feeling so, so sorry, that they'd had to carry off such wounds. I could only think of one explanation for them: When I had screamed in utter agony, they'd wanted to scratch off their ears. It didn't look at all like the outcome of a usual We-scratch-our-ears-off-for-fun-orgy, so...

Even though it was an unfamiliar and very demanding work, it was satisfying me immensely. I was able to help creatures of the waters, making up for my actions and we were certainly rescuing some of death through sepsis. But of course we weren't able to make their injuries unhappened; some would probably become deaf, but deaf seemed still better to them than dead.

I wasn't good at bandaging at all, because of this, my class mates were amazing me just even more: Of course they weren't doing it perfectly, but very much better than I. Even Gregory, who was in the constant danger of getting bitten, but somehow managed to stay safe.

Instead of lessen, the amount of our unaided patients was constantly growing. Incredible, how many of them had place in this lake and how bad their dental hygiene was. Again and again my gaze sticked to their splintery teeth, when they were smiling at me deferentially. Their bad breath was more than just bad but one could get used to the permament mixture of fish and decay.

After we'd bandaged all merpeople - the material had been barely enough -, we were strolling back to the castle, enjoying the fresh air and pleasant sunbeams, warming our clammy hands.

"The selkies have been wild about you", Anthony jollied and winked at me. Hopefully, he'll never meet Blaise.

"That's probably because of his eyes. I mean, have you seen his eyes, Tony?" Hannah sighed exaggerated infatuated. "Like mysterious lakes."

"Arcane seas", Gregory aggreed and we giggled. The life was so easy out here and so was laughing.

"Did you know, that I would have loved to be sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff?"

"Never somebody wants to be a Slytherin", Gregory grumbled. "Only the purebloods."

Hannah poked him with her elbow in the ribs. "Maybe because we're much cooler than you're? Would be a possibility. But now say, Percy, why?"

Anthony explained instead of me: "Because he's seen us and has been snap-lovestruck, all of a sudden, there hasn't been anything on Earth for him but us. Totally understandable, I think."

"Of course", I agreed with him, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "No, but blue is my favourite colour and everybody is always blaming me for being too loyal."

"Too loyal?" Hannah raised a brow. "How loyal is too loyal?"

"So philosophical, our children, aren't they?", Anthony murmured to Gregory, who giggled. "This gorgeous copper-blue woud look fantastical on them, don't you think?"

"Be quiet, Tony, you idiot. Back to the question: How loyal is too loyal?"

"I'll-die-for-you-loyal apparently."

Gregory grinned. "You might really fit good into Hufflepuff but usually we Slytherins are those who are I'll-die-for-you-loyal."

"Woah, you know what?", Anthony asked and blowed a streak of his too long, blond hair out of his face.

"You finally want to cut your hair?", Hannah voiced my thougts.

"No! Haven't you seen Bill Weasley? Long hair looks really cool and so pretty."

"Not everybody can wear it", Gregory added tentatively to consideration.

Hannah voiced her opinion frankly, without any deference to anything. "You look like a neglected horse."

"Hey! I look really cool."

"As cool as a neglected horse can look like, you mean."

"Not at all!" Anthony pouted.

"Your hair is only flying around, let me at least braid it, whilst they're having this strange lenght."

"I'm no horse whose mane you can braid!"

"What did you want to tell us?", Gregory stopped their romp. Questioning, he looked at Anthony, who was plucking at his streaks in an offended manner.

"Haha", he uttered. "I horse, no sugar, no words."

"Tony, you're such prat." Hannah rummaged in her pockets and she indeed fished a sugar cube out of it, which she was stuffing overly affectionately into Anthony's mouth. He chewed a few time loudly crunching.

"Mmmmmh, yummy. Okay, so: When you link all of the four houses to the four elements, Slytherin is connected with water, funny, isn't it?"

"I'm laughing myself to death", Hannah commented.

I thought of Hazel and asked: "What is with earth?"

"Hufflepuff. Hannah is wallowing in mud, while I am pasturing on my paddock, thinking to myself that I should totally be compared to birds because the element of Ravenclaw is air."

"You've introduced this very subtly to us", I praised Anthony sarcastical.

"I really have, haven't I?"

"Then you are maybe a cockatoo", Gregory said. "They're having just as funny hair as you."

"He's cocky enough for it", I added but Hannah giggled and meant: "Or a silky fowl." I broke out into fits of laughter, imagining Anthony with the fluffy feather bonnet of such a chicken. That Anthony was cackling annoyedly didn't really help calming down at all.

"Why can you imitate animals so well?", I asked Anthony as soon as I wasn't nearly throwing up from laughing anymore.

I earnt a bloody serious look. "Because I'm frigging cool."

Hannah giggled. "Exactly. He's already been cool before the actual word has been invented."

"The nerd is speaking out of you, love. Don't take offence at her behaviour, after all not everybody is able to get along with my incredible presence."

"Poor you", Gregory scoffed. Then he sat down in a sunlit pit in the meadow where he stretched with relish. "Ahhh, I'm so glad I don't have any classes after this one anymore."

The other two let themselves sink next to him. "Ditto."

"What? You don't have classes anymore? There's still an hour of Charms ahead of me", I whined.

"Wrong. Correction? You'd have Charms, half of the hour is already up", Anthony corrected me.

"What?!"

"Well, it has taken quite some time to take care of the merpeople and we haven't sprinted back to the castle, if you understand me", Hannah explained to me. When she noticed my gaze, she hastily added: "If we'd known of your Charms lesson, we'd totally have done that!"

"We'd have run as if a horde of centaurs'd have been behind us", Gregory approved with the Hufflepuff.

"Don't waste even more time, Perce." Anthony was waving lazily. "Flee alone from the centaurs, don't show any restraints. Run!" Then he closed his eyes to slumber in the sun.

I'd have loved to do this too but instead of lying down I dashed to the castle, where the Bloody Baron was already waiting for me. What was quite fortunate for me, because I didn't have any clue where to go.

"I'd nearly have gone to search you", he welcomed me. "You're missing your Charms class, I hope, you know that?"

"Yes, where do I have to go?"

"In you charms class, of course." Haha. "Come on, I'll show you the way."

~~~

I ran up stairs and down corricors, always behind the Bloody Baron, until he pointed to a heavy wooden door, against which I was throwing my whole weight full of zest to prise it open. Unfortunately the door wasn't as heavy as it looked like. It opened smoothly and collided with a loud Rumms with the wall.

Because I hadn't expected the door to open so swiftly, I still had too much dash and fell forwards, rolled over the floor a bit and stayed in a sitting position on the floor to orientate myself for a bit. The Bloody Baron was disappearing in the meanwhile.

All eyes were sticking to me, in contrary to Care of Magical Creatures, this class seemed to be quite popular, the room was crowded with students. A tiny man with mustache was standing on a high pile of books, he was like a goblin: small and cute. Or like a shrunken head, they were just the same.

"Are you Mister Jackson? I'm professor Flitwick, your professor for charms. How nice to see you in class now." He didn't sound sarcastical at all, but honestly friendly.

The door returned and nearly hit me. My instincts seemed to feel bad for all the times they had forgotten their mere existence and had let me get knocked out or they're just feeling the urge to show that they're still here, however, I caught the door before it could catch me. Oh my gods, the cringe in this sentence.

Gods, it would have been so embarrassing, if I would have been unconscious again.

"Well, then I'll just sit down somewhere?" Somewhere that wasn't the floor. Flitwick nodded at me and I skived off to the last bench, where Blaise and Draco were moving to create some space for me between them. They're sitting quite apart from the others, the soft rockers got avoided like some plague.

"Hi", I greeted them and somehow I still felt quite bashful because of the whole situation and its weirdness. At least they were returning the greeting, so it didn't feel that strange anymore.

"Don't you want to sit completely on my lap?" With risen brows I looked at Blaise - at whom else? - who was trying to get back to his former place and was pressing himself against me in the process.

"Of course I could do that, sweetie." Blaise winked at me and, gods, were his eyes gorgeous, so long and slanting. This guy was abnormally beautiful in general. "But if you believe it or not, my left bum cheek is freezing to death right now and I've just had warmed my seat so pleasantly", Blaise whined and pouted, before he was pressing his body against mine again to push me aside.

Grumbling, I shifted to the right, in Draco's direction, who was absolutely not understanding why he should move. I tried to shove him aside because now Blaise really was nearly sitting on me but Draco seemed to be fixated on the bench with an anchor, I just couldn't move him.

"When you won't stop shoving soon, I'll-", Draco snarled like some pissed wolf and pushed himself totally deliberately against me, in Blaise's direction, who had in the meanwhile begun to press his head against mine like a bull. As if this would help with our seating problem. Or Blaise's ass problem.

"Then what?", I asked. "Just move, Draco!" It was really narrow and uncomfortable to be jammed between the two, especially because the two were acting like magnets.

"-Then I'll lick you!", Draco threatened like a small child.

"Then go for it!", Blaise bitched, not I.

"Are you serious?", I asked.

"I'm dead serious." Wow, Draco was really, really pissed today.

"We even love you, when you're in a bad mood, Draco, honey", Blaise growled and continued mashing me, funnily, his forehead exactly fitted into the pit of my temple.

"Just shift. Gods, Draco!" It was a riddle to me, how Blondi, so lean and meager as he was, was able to sit so firmly. As if his stubborness would root him to his place.

And suddenly there was a tongue in my face.

"Could you please live out your desires outside of my class?!" Flitwick gaped at us - like everybody - with a more than just bewildered expression.

Dam.