On the next Thursday, Amelia and Larissa dragged their feet over to Great Hall thirty minutes late, just to see Draco bullying Neville.

They eavesdropped on the conversation. Amelia cracked her knuckles, which Larissa had no idea how to do. "Let me take him down."

"It's to early for violence." Larissa protested with a yawn. "Just ignore him. Besides, Charlotte would never let him..." Larissa looked around. "Amy? Where'd you go?"

As it happened, Larissa had to hurry to catch up with her but friend right before she gripped Draco Malfoy's arm and dragged him into the shadows. Goyle and Crabbe looked around stupidly, wondering where their leader had gone, while Larissa slipped next to her friend.

"Ow." Draco protested. "What?"

They were near the Ravenclaw table, but Amelia ignored the few students who actually noticed them. " 'Just looking' my arse." Amelia growled.

"Don't tell me you're standing up for Longbottom, Watson." Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I never thought you'd stoop so low."

Amelia trapped the front of his shirt and pulled him close, her eyes narrowed. "When I hear you say one more word against Neville, Malfoy, I'll send a cactus up your arse, do you understand me?"

Malfoy nodded, the condescension in his eyes softening and letting a glimpse of fear show. Amelia let him go, sending him skidding across the floor.

Her victory over Malfoy sent Amelia in a good mood all day. When they got to Flying, she had a spring in her step as she and Larissa positioned themselves on each side of Neville. A few people down was Harry Potter, to which Amelia offered a curt nod. And when they shouted "Up!" to their brooms, Larissa's was one of the few that lifted to their hand.

"You'll get it next time." Larissa assured Neville, whose assigned broom hadn't budged. "Mine only came to me because I've flown before."

Finally, they mounted their brooms. Madam Hooch corrected Amelia, Neville, and Larissa, before moving on. When she informed Draco that he'd apparently been doing it wrong for years, Amelia smirked.

And then came Neville's incident. Madam Hooch issued her command to stay firmly on the ground before guiding him to the hospital. Larissa was as white as a sheet - which wasn't very hard, since she was naturally pale anyways.

Once they disappeared inside the castle, Malfoy burst into laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump?"

Some of the other Slytherins joined in, but Larissa just clenched her fists. However, Amelia spoke up.

"I have cacti on me, Malfoy." She threatened.

Larissa felt happy to have such a violent friend.

"Oh, shut up." Draco told her. Parvati April and Pansy Parkinson started arguing, which Amelia promptly ended with a punch to Pansy's face.

Then came a Potter/Malfoy flying standoff, which temporarily restored Amelia's faith in Harry and also broke the rules. But then Harry turned out to be a professional flier, which diminished her faith immediately.

"I won't accept him until I find his flaws." She told Larissa.

"Knowing you, that shouldn't be hard." Larissa responded, tearing her eyes off of the celebrity just as he plunged into a dive and caught the Remembrall. She joined the Gryffindors in cheering as he came to a stop.

Larissa tried to voice her protests to the Gryffindor Head of House, desperately trying to get him out of trouble while Amelia stayed stubbornly silent.

"Be quiet, Miss Patil-"

"It was all Malfoy-"

"That's quite enough, Miss Hamilton-"

"But Malfoy-"

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley." Professor McGonagall said firmly as she led Harry away.

Draco, once again, burst into laughter. "He's got it now!" Draco crowed.

Amelia's fist connected to his stomach and he doubled over. Drawing a small cactus from her robe pocket, she tore his sleeves.

Draco, not even looking back, began to run. Amelia chased after him, her face the calm before the storm.

Ron turned to Larissa. "You're the only Slytherin that stood up for Harry. Why?"

She stared at Ron. "Because some Slytherins aren't evil, Weasley."

"I'd never be friends with a Slytherin." Ron responded quickly. "Just letting you know before you try to deceive me. Bloody liars, you lot."

"Discrimination isn't cool, Weasley." Larissa spat. "Just because bad people from from our house doesn't mean that we're naturally bad. Dark wizards come from every house. You know that there were Gryffindor death eaters."

"But their leader was a Slytherin." Ron pointed out.

Larissa narrowed her eyes. "If this is the discrimination I would have to endure for seven years, I might be persuaded to be a Dark Wizard, too." Swiping her dark hair behind her ear, she prepared for one final blow to the Gryffindor. "I may be a pureblood, but I have friends from every blood status, and I have friends in every house... three in Slytherin, two in Ravenclaw, two in Hufflepuff, and Neville." She put her foot down. "I'm the milder of me and Amelia. I wouldn't cast it up to her that she's a Slytherin. If anybody hates discrimination, it's my best friend." She spun around with a flip of her long hair and ran in the direction that Amelia and Draco had gone.

--

Once Amelia and Larissa had reunited, they went to go visit Neville in the hospital wing. He still looked very pale, but his wrist was mended and he was sipping hot pumpkin juice. Sitting next to his bed was Charlotte.

"You're such a clumsy bloke." She told her cousin.

"Hey!" Amelia waved. "Madam Poppyseed let us in, finally."

"Her name is Madam Pomfrey." Larissa corrected her friend.

"Yes, whatever." Amelia pulled up two chairs for her and Larissa. "How's the wrist?"

"A lot better." Neville said slowly. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Florence agreed to the whole group thing, by the way." Charlotte informed them. "What are you doing tonight after dinner?"

"Studying." Larissa said firmly. "Amelia and I will be studying."

"Sure." Amelia sighed. "Let's go with that. But what did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking we could all meet by the kitchens." Charlotte told them. "Neville would be out by then, and we could avoid Draco because the kitchens are near the Hufflepuff entrance."

"Oh." Amelia nodded. "But isn't tonight Slytherin Quidditch practice? I'd hate to miss watching it."

"You're going to be crushed by Gryffindor." Neville said gleefully. "We're going to be epic!"

"Without a Seeker?" Larissa scoffed. "You don't stand a chance."

"Harry Potter is our new Seeker." Neville blurted out.

Amelia barely knew what a Seeker was, but she stiffened. "What?"

"I overheard him and Ron talking about it." Neville continued, getting a but red in the face from his outburst. "He's the youngest Seeker in over a century."

Amelia clenched her fists, her face red with suppressed anger. "What-"

"Amelia." Larissa admonished her friend sharply. "Calm down before you hurt something or someone."

Amelia rolled her eyes, but her face got visibly less tense. She knew as well as her friend did that when she got angry, she couldn't control her magic.

"Who put him in that..." Amelia caught herself. "Position?"

"McGonagall herself. She's even sending him a broom. Why is your nose twitching?"

Charlotte evidently knew more about the situation that the Slytherins did, so she explained in full detail what Neville had brokenly explained to her earlier. "The Gryffindor team hasn't had a Seeker in a long time. McGonagall saw Harry fly and now he's there."

"I thought it was against Hogwarts rules for first years to play." Amelia protested, evidently having taken something away from Terence's coaching session.

"It was." Neville shrugged. "Not so much anymore I guess."

"Well, I guess this year's match really will be interesting to watch... Gryffindor versus Slytherin especially." Larissa pondered.

"Terence will beat the..." Amelia made eye contact with her friend... "well, he'll beat him." Amelia finished confidently.

"What have you got against Harry, anyways?" Neville asked. "He seems nice."

"He's rich and famous." Amelia retorted, leaning back in her chair. "What's not to hate?"

"You and Draco Malfoy have a lot in common then." Charlotte commented as an afterthought.

Amelia's face flushed dark and she stared moodily out of the window. Larissa made awkward conversation with Neville, but then she decided that it was time for the two of them to go. She dragged off a seething Amelia, making a beeline for the Slytherin dorms.