~Wren~

I'd had much worse things happen to me. I'd been forced into terrorism by my family, and then held hostage by my uncle for two years. I'd been tortured and humiliated in ways so horrible I'd actively suppressed the memories. I'd been locked in a dungeon with a dozen dementors for three days.

So why did it still feel like my world was falling apart?

I had to act like it wasn't, of course. Once Lacy heard that we'd broken up, news spread like spilled water. No one knew why, of course, but maybe that only made the news (and rumors) spread faster. It was only two days before people were staring and whispering in the halls, and I noticed Nico watching me closely. He was the reason I couldn't act completely wrecked, of course; he would go to my uncle if he thought I actually, genuinely cared about James Potter, and this wasn't just acting.

I dreaded the next time we would have to report. It wasn't so hard to avoid him at school, since Albus had no qualms with making a rude gesture in his direction and steering me away under the pretense of him being a prat. Besides, I did have to act upset when I was surrounded by people. But when it was just me and him, I would have to let all that drop, act normal. I wasn't sure if I could do that.

Before that happened, the sixth and seventh years got to go on a Hogsmeade visit. Albus and Poppy insisted I come with them, so I wasn't alone. Which was good, because otherwise I might have simply stayed at the castle, which would have not looked that good to Nico.

"So, um, how are things?" Poppy asked as we left the castle.

I shrugged. Albus was the one who answered. "Been better, I suppose. With our friend group, that is."

Poppy gave me a sympathetic smile. "James, mainly? I've been meaning to ask how you're holding up."

"Fine," I said automatically. There wasn't much I could say about it all without getting into the why, and we couldn't get into the why. I looked down. "I don't really want to talk about it. I'm sorry."

"Oh, right, of course."

Albus forced a grin. "Hey, let's focus on happier things, right? It's a beautiful day. Maybe we can get some of your friends together for a snowball fight, Poppy."

"That sounds fun," she agreed, smiling. "Maybe Astra and Colette would want to join us, too."

"Um... Probably not..." Albus shrugged. "We're in the middle of an argument, actually."

"Oh, about what?"

Albus shook his head. "Nothing important. Sorry. I'm not sure Astra wants other people to know."

Poppy blinked, then smiled. I could tell it was a bit forced. "Oh, all right," she said cheerily. I felt a little bad. Obviously, we couldn't tell her why James and I had broken up, or why we weren't talking to Astra at the moment, but the lack of an explanation could only breed other ideas in its place. However, even trying to be vague would raise more questions than it would answer. I wished we could tell her something, though.

We went to the Three Broomsticks first, grabbing the only free table, one near the back. Albus had just come back with our butterbeers when I spotted two familiar reporters walking through the door. "Hey, look, it's Gideon and Vinnie," I said, pointing across the pub. Albus turned and caught sight of them, then waved. The two smiled widely and started over to us.

"Well, if it isn't some of our favorite Hogwarts students," Vinnie said as they walked up.

Gideon grinned. "Can we join you?"

Albus nodded, and the two reporters pulled up chairs at our table. "Poppy, these are our friends from the Prophet, Gideon Montry and Vinnie Briar." Poppy smiled brightly at them, and Albus gestured to her. "This is my girlfriend, Poppy Stevens."

"Lovely to meet you!" Vinnie exclaimed, putting her hand out. Poppy shook it. "We take care of a society piece about Hogsmeade a few times a week," she said. She shot a quick glance at Albus. "How... How closely do you follow everything, Poppy?" Which I took to mean, How much does she know?

Poppy frowned, and Albus jumped in. "Not very closely," he said, smiling apologetically. Which meant, She doesn't know much about the DA.

"Yeah, sorry," she said, chuckling. "I'm not super caught up on news, I'm afraid. My parents are muggles, so I get most of my news from my friends here."

Gideon and Vinnie nodded. "Well, want to hear about this super interesting story we got to cover last week?" Gideon asked. "I got some great pictures." He pulled out his camera, and Poppy's eyes lit up.

"Is that a muggle camera?"

"Yeah, it is!" Gideon said, smiling. "I mean, I've charmed it a few ways, but muggles make far better cameras than wizards, you know. Such clearer pictures."

"Really?" Poppy glanced at Albus and I excitedly, and we quickly acted like that had meant much to us, too. "I've wanted to charm my camera, but I don't really know how, and there aren't any books on how to charm digital cameras in the Hogwarts library."

Vinnie rolled her eyes. "What would you expect from Hogwarts?"

"Excuse me?" Albus asked, blinking.

"Ilvermorny has a much better library than Hogwarts, if what Gid tells me is accurate," Vinnie said, flipping her braids over her shoulder with a grin.

"You went to Ilvermorny?" I asked. Vinnie nodded, smiling proudly. I smiled, too. "I almost went there. My grandparents wanted me to."

Vinnie's eyes widened with enthusiasm. "I keep forgetting you're American."

"How did you end up at the Prophet if you went to school in America?" Albus asked.

"It sounded fun," Vinnie said, shrugging. "Besides, the Prophet was one of the top wizarding papers in the world."

"Was?" Poppy questioned.

"Is," Vinnie corrected quickly. "I said 'is,' didn't I?"

Albus, Gideon, and I muttered agreement, and Albus waved a hand. "Weren't you telling us about a story?"

"Right!" Gideon said. "I forgot! Anyway, Dillam himself asked us to cover a muggle murder next town over. An entire family. It was really sad, actually."

Vinnie sighed. "There were four found dead, the two parents and their two children."

"It was kind of odd, though, because there were three children's bedrooms upstairs," Gideons said. He passed us his camera, and indicated that we scroll through the pictures. They'd taken pictures of the house, though luckily not the bodies, and there were three children's bedrooms.

"Every photograph and record showed only two kids, though," Vinnie said, shrugging.

Albus frowned, and pointed at the photograph visible above the family's fireplace. "That's a really odd way to set up a picture." I looked closer. The parents sat on two edges of a bench, and the two children were behind them, but there was an odd gap in the middle of the bench. "Almost as if there should've been someone else there," Albus said, frowning.

Vinnie frowned. "Do you... Do you think everything got changed?"

"I don't know," Albus said, shrugging. "It's a thought."

We all knew it wasn't just a thought. Except for Poppy, of course, and that was why we kept up the act of not knowing. There was a long list of missing people, and this mystery child would simply be one more. Gideon shrugged. "Maybe we should check with the neighbors? See if they know anything?"

"That's a good idea!" Vinnie said, jumping up. "We can do that this afternoon!"

Gideon stood up, too, and I handed back his camera. "Well, we're off, then," he said, grinning. "Oh, by the way, if you happen to see any suspicious activity on the next road down, let us know, okay? We think we might've tracked down one of the criminals who broke out of Azkaban before the Ministry fell this summer."

I froze for just an instant. Albus noticed, and quickly asked, "Who?"

Gideon frowned. "Can't remember her name. I only saw her for a second. The St. Mungo's bomber, though, if that rings any bells. Anyway, see you!" They were gone before we could question them further.

They couldn't be onto Zaria this quickly. She must've done something stupid. As much as I wanted her to get caught and sent back to Azkaban, the fact that I knew they were onto her meant that I needed to do something about it, or else it would come out I knew. Besides, Mr. Potter wanted her in Hogsmeade for a while, at least to simply keep an eye on her. She was relatively harmless here to the wizarding world at large, since she had to keep a cover here. Beyond that, if Gideon and Vinnie started getting too good, Dillam would get suspicious. "This isn't good..."

"Seriously!" Poppy exclaimed, shooting a nervous look around the crowded room. "What if she's here?"

"She's a well known criminal," Albus said, frowning. "She'd be recognized if she tried to come here."

"But to have her in Hogsmeade! Why would she be here?" Poppy asked.

Albus was watching me. "I don't know. I'm sure we don't need to worry, though. I'm sure the aurors will be able to keep everyone safe."

"I think it might be something we should worry about a little," I said. Albus just frowned.

I waited until we were leaving to make an excuse and head off on my own. I claimed I was planning to meet Colette at a bookstore down the street. Poppy and Albus went in the opposite direction to go find some of Poppy's friends for a snowball fight. I waited until they'd turned into a store to set off in search of Nico.

I did not want to find Nico. I did not want to ask for his help. But I couldn't go confront Zaria, and I couldn't just tell Gideon and Vinnie to back off. I would need help to throw them off, and this was help I couldn't get from Albus.

Nico was in the first place I thought to look for him, surprisingly enough: sitting in a back booth of the seedier pub in town, the Hog's Head. The pub was nearly empty, with only a few dodgy wizards and witches seated at the bar who paid almost no attention to me. He didn't even glance at me as I pulled my hood closer over my head and slid into the seat across from him. "I need your help."

He raised an eyebrow, still staring at his half-empty firewhiskey bottle. I threw a confused glance toward the bar, but as the bartender looked half insane, or at the very least like he was going senile from old age, I supposed it wasn't too far of a stretch that Nico had ordered and been given an alcoholic beverage. After a second, Nico glanced up at me. "You do, do you?"

"Yes, and it's very important," I said, feeling slightly irritated at his indifference. Could he not tell this was a little urgent? Or maybe I just always seemed this anxious.

Nico smirked. "Wow. And you came to me. What an interesting situation."

"We don't have time for this."

"I think that if you need my help, you have time for whatever I say you have time for," Nico snapped, his expression growing hard in an instant. I shrank back a bit, and his smirk appeared again. "I'm a bit comfortable here, after all. Why should I help you?"

"Because if you don't, you'll be in as much trouble as I will be," I said.

Nico raised an eyebrow at the threat, though he just seemed amused, which only made me more irritated. "What is it, then?"

"Those Prophet reporters, they're onto Zaria somehow."

He showed a hint of surprise, but just shrugged. "So? Do something about it."

"I don't know what to do."

The smirk was back. "And so you came crawling to me, hmm? Funny. Last I heard, I made you sick and you couldn't stand the sight of me."

I managed to push down a sigh of frustration. "Really? You want to get hung up on that now?"

"I don't see why not. If you want my help, you can beg for it."

I blinked. It took a second to realize he was serious, then I shook my head. "Jasper, I swear..."

"Oh, that's a bit naughty, isn't it?" He took a drink of firewhiskey and winked at me.

"Shut up."

"Wow, you're not too good at this begging thing, are you? I'll give you a hint: 'please' goes over pretty nicely, most of the time."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Please help me, Jasper."

"You don't really sound like you mean it," he said, eyebrow raised.

I closed my eyes, forcing all of my frustration and pride down. "I don't know what to do, and you're the only one who can help me. Please, Jasper. Please help."

Nico smiled. "Not perfect, but points for trying, I suppose." He downed the last of his firewhiskey, then stood up. "Let's get to it, then."

I explained the situation as we walked out, which took all of ten seconds. It sounded like Gideon had just caught sight of her for a moment, and recognized her. Nico frowned thoughtfully. "We've just got to find someone who looks a bit like her, then, and make sure that someone walks right past them a couple times. Maybe that imbecile will think he just saw them, not Zaria."

"We've also got to make sure Zaria doesn't go anywhere without a disguise," I pointed out.

"Would you like to tell her that?" Nico asked. I shook my head. "Didn't think so. We'll save that for next time we report, and just mention it to Stillens."

For the next few hours, we surreptitiously combed Hogsmeade for a witch with short blonde hair who could pass for Zaria at a glance. We had to be careful not to be seen together, of course, but since we split up, that wasn't too hard. We blended into the crowd of sixth and seventh years, most of whom were too absorbed in their own conversations to pay attention to who the two students with their hoods up, walking several feet apart, were.

Unfortunately, most of the witches with short blonde hair seemed to be students. That wouldn't work, because Gideon wouldn't have seen a student.

After a while, Nico cursed, and I turned to look at him. "This is taking too long. We could just use anyone, and charm her to look like it. Can't do you, unfortunately, because I can't charm height, and you're short." I frowned, and he ignored me. "We'll find someone closer to Zaria's height."

"Maybe," I said, dubiously. "How will you get someone's permission to do that, though?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Who said anything about permission?" Before I could register what that meant, he'd ducked into the nearest store. I followed him in time to see him walk up behind a witch and pull his wand out. He pressed it into her back and whispered something. After a moment, she left her basket and followed him outside.

"What did you do?" I demanded, though I had a pretty good idea already.

"Imperius Curse," he said nonchalantly, leading the woman to the next side road. He glanced at me, and misread my alarm. "Oh, don't worry, I've gotten much better since fourth year."

I quickly composed myself. "Oh, right. Good, I mean." Nico just grinned.

We took the woman back to the Hog's Head. She got a couple of glances, looking a little more out of place there than two furtive teenagers. No one paid us much attention, though, as Nico prodded the woman toward the back booth. 

I finally got a good look at her as we slid into the booth across the table. She didn't seem to be seeing anything, but she had a small smile on her face and was humming to herself. I frowned in confusion, which made Nico laugh. "What, did you think the Imperius Curse was painful? It's the most peaceful thing she'll ever experience, probably."

"I don't think this is a good idea."

He rolled his eyes. "We're not going to hurt her. She won't even remember any of it. If you want, we can take her right back to the shop she was in. She won't even notice she was gone."

I still didn't think it was a good idea, but it was more of a moral qualm than anything else, and I couldn't use that as a reason. For one thing, Nico didn't have morals. For another, if there was a sure fire way to make him convinced I was a traitor, playing the "but that's not right" card was it.

I let Nico do the spellwork. He quickly changed her brownish-gray hair into a blonde bob, and charmed her face to be shaped more like Zaria's. He left the wrinkles, though, as well as everything else. "Just so they know for sure they just made a mistake," he explained.

After he was done, he glanced at me. "So, now what?"

"I guess we have to find the reporters." I frowned. "They were going to the next village to interview some people about a murder. I'm not sure when they'll be back."

"Probably soon. It's been a few hours since you showed up. Should we wait by their apartment?"

"I think that's a good idea," I said.

We led the woman to Kyle's street, and sat her on a bench before pulling back into an alley behind her. I was surprised at how easily Nico directed her. Most of the time, he didn't even have to say anything. He really had gotten better since what Astra had described in fourth year. I didn't really want to consider how he'd gotten practice.

"So," Nico said, crouching next to me behind a trash can, "hear things aren't so perfect in paradise?"

"What?" I knew full well what he was referring to, but chose to pretend I didn't.

"You broke up with James Potter?" Nico raised an eyebrow. "Interesting choice, considering what a wealth of information he must be."

"James broke up with me," I said, struggling to act indifferent.

"Why would he do that? The git practically has hearts in his eyes every time he looks at you."

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Think he suspects something?"

I blinked. "I... No, I don't think so. He'd be to angry to hide it if he thought I was a spy for Stillens."

Nico shrugged, accepting that. It was the truth, after all; that was exactly what had happened when James had thought I was a spy. "Okay, but what about Astra? Noticed you aren't talking to the queen bee anymore."

"That's temporary," I said, hoping that saying that would make it so. "She was being a rude. Besides, aren't I supposed to make her feel isolated and vulnerable?"

Nico blinked; I could tell he hadn't expected that. "That makes sense, I guess."

"I'm just waiting until she breaks down enough to come crawling back," I said. What scared me was that it didn't take a lot of effort to muster the coldness I needed to say that. I was still far too angry at her.

"If it doesn't happen in the next few days, I think that would be best."

"What?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Keep acting like a stuck-up little prat for a few days. You'll know when to stop. I just want her unstable for a bit, is all."

"Why?"

Nico narrowed his eyes. "None of your business. We both know we've got different missions, Predetal. You're supposed to help me however I need."

I frowned. "If she apologizes, I can't really turn her away. It would confuse them all."

"Let her be confused," Nico snapped.

Luckily, I recognized Gideon and Vinnie's voices coming down the street just then and hushed Nico. I pulled my hood closer over my head and pressed myself into the shadows of the wall. Nico, however, crept forward and whispered something. The woman stood up. I watched Gideon and Vinnie come into view just as the witch started walking towards them. She bumped into Gideon, and stopped to apologize. Gideon stared at her in confusion for a moment, making Vinnie sigh and apologize for him before dragging him along.

"Vin, I think that might've been the woman I saw before," I heard Gideon say.

"What woman?"

"The one I thought was the St. Mungo's bomber? Maybe I'm just too eager for a big story."

Vinnie frowned and glanced over her shoulder. "I guess I see it. I mean, that's good, right? It would be kind of scary if she were here..."

Their voices faded away as they kept walking. Nico and I waited another minute before jumping up. Nico grinned at me. "Hey, we did it!"

"We did it!" I repeated, smiling in spite of myself. There was something exciting about accomplishing anything, even this. Even with Nico. This was the first time I'd seen him look actually happy, no motive behind his smile. I hadn't known he was capable of that.

After Nico lifted the charms, we took the woman back to the shop she'd been in. Nico lifted the curse as we walked out the door, and I just managed to hear her confusedly remark that it had grown much darker.

Before I could leave, Nico grabbed my arm. "Hey, honestly, you were sharp today."

"What else would you expect?" I asked, frowning.

He shrugged. "Hempsey's been telling me all sorts of crap about you. Anyway, we'll make sure to tell Stillens about all this, right?"

"Of course."

Nico winked. "See you then, darling." He was gone before I could snap at him.

I turned around to see Astra and Colette staring at me across the street. When she caught my eye, Astra's face grew sullen and she looked away, but Colette crossed the street, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, glancing around. This part of the street was empty other than us. "Yeah. We had to do something."

"What was it?" Colette asked.

"Throw Gideon and Vinnie off Zaria's trail..."

Colette raised an eyebrow. "How'd you do?"

"Well, we did it," I said, shrugging. "He used the Imperius Curse on a witch to do it, but..."

Colette's eyes widened. "He did?" She turned to wave Astra over, but Astra was already walking away.

I sighed. "I didn't want to talk to her anyway."

"How am I friends with such petty people?" Colette asked, rolling her eyes.

I winced; I'd never been called petty before. "She has no reason to be mad at me, Colette."

"You're all too melodramatic, if you ask me."

I frowned. "Astra didn't break a promise to you."

"You're right. But that's because I don't ask people to make promises I know they won't keep."

"I... I didn't know..."

Colette's expression softened. "Hey, don't worry about it. Give it a few days. Astra doesn't act this moody when she's fighting with people she doesn't care about. She'll come around." Colette paused, frowning at me for a moment. "I hope you do, too."

I didn't know how to respond to that, because I didn't really get what she meant. Well, maybe I did. Maybe she was saying I needed to get over myself, forgive, move on. That I needed to recognize Astra's friendship was more important than what she did.

Maybe I just didn't want to understand what she meant just yet.

"Anyway, tell me what happened," Colette said, breaking me out of my thoughts. I blinked at her, and she continued, "With Gideon and Vinnie? And Nico?"

"Oh, right." I explained everything on our way back to Hogwarts. "The only problem is that I'm afraid that woman might start asking questions about where she was, and get suspicious."

Colette shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. People are remarkably capable of just assuming everything's normal. She'll probably just think she lost track of time."

"I hope so."

"She definitely won't assume it was some teenagers who work for Stillens using her," Colette said. She smiled. "That sounds a bit ridiculous, you know."

I smiled, too. "Yeah, I guess it does."

We rounded a corner on the road, and saw a group of seventh years up ahead. My breath caught in my throat. James was there, laughing with Colin and Lillie and Mackenzie. It hadn't occurred to me that he wasn't as miserable as I was. Seeing him having fun, apparently not even bothered about anything, suddenly made me want to cry. And that was on top of the fact that I'd wanted to cry every time I saw him, anyway.

Colette frowned. "Just don't pay attention to them, okay?"

"But..."

Colette grabbed my arm and dragged me back, until the trees hid the group from view. "Wren, it's okay."

I was tearing up now, and shook my head. "It's not. He doesn't even care."

"He definitely does." I shook my head, and she put her hands on my shoulders. "Wren, look at me." I did. "You should see him. Most of the time he's just as dejected as you, if not more. He cares a lot."

I thought about that for a second, then shook my head. "Maybe he does, but only because I hurt him so much. It ruined everything, Colette, you have to see that."

I didn't know if I wanted her to tell me that I was insane or validate me. She did neither. Instead, she just watched me for a minute, then smiled grimly. "Maybe you did ruin a little bit. But it's not all your fault, and James certainly doesn't think it is."

"Why wouldn't he?"

"He knows you had good intentions. Because you did, didn't you? You just wanted to protect him. And maybe you didn't handle it all very well, but you didn't mean to cause all this. And James knows that."

I didn't believe her. The road to hell was paved with good intentions, as that old muggle saying went. I'd messed up, and though James was probably hurt and wished it hadn't happened, he very clearly could move on with his life. It had only been a few days, too.

Life did not get better after that. In fact, it got worse. James seemed set on acting like I didn't exist, on showing very clearly that he was moving on and didn't care. Astra was avoiding me, and I didn't know if it was anger or embarrassment or fear keeping her away but it hurt. Albus was simply pissed at both of them (mainly Astra), which didn't help. He did make a valiant effort to cheer me up, of course, but it didn't work very well when I could see how angry he was every time he saw Astra. 

Colette, always horrible at being a mediator, ended up retreating into her books and leaving the "melodrama," as she put it, to the rest of us.

Part of the problem was that we had no explanation to give our curious friends. Poppy was so confused that after a while she refused to discuss anything remotely related to Astra and James. I overheard her telling Arthur to avoid getting into drama with us at all costs, because we took it far too seriously. She was right, too; I just didn't know what to do about it.

At the next prefect meeting, Arthur chattered on and on about Herbology (the most neutral subject he could think of, I imagined) until the meeting started. Albus and Poppy added a few things every now and then, but I didn't bother. Poppy had probably asked him to, just to avoid either Albus or I slumping into moodiness and to keep our minds off Astra and James. As far as I knew, we hadn't done that around her (Albus wanted to impress her, of course, and I just didn't want to drag her down with something she couldn't know about).

"Excuse me, attention, please!" Emmanuel Beck rapped his wand on the podium, and everyone fell silent. He smiled broadly. "Welcome, prefects! Just wanted to say that you're all doing great! There have been less and less people caught out after curfew recently, which means we're doing our job well!"

"Or maybe people are just better at sneaking past us," Albus whispered.

"However, there have been a few complaints," Eris said, frowning. "For example, a certain prefect was caught out after curfew last week, which tarnishes our reputation." Though she didn't say my name, she was staring right at me. Several people turned to look at me curiously, and I felt my face heat up.

Emmanuel waved a dismissive hand. "A simple mistake! We all know it won't happen again!"

Eris pursed her lips. "Right. Anyway, I think we should all work on building relationships with the students in our Houses this next month. We are the bridge between the students and the professors, after all, and we need to have good relationships with everyone in our House."

Emmanuel nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly!" He waved his hands. "We need to rise above petty arguments and drama, right? We have a reputation to maintain, after all."

Albus rolled his eyes, and I wondered if Eris had meant for that to be directed at us, or if it was simply a coincidence.

Eris blinked a bit, recovering from having Emmanuel's hands waving in her face for so long. "Right. Anyway, that means you each have a personal goal now: work through any childish drama you're involved in and leave it behind.I'm not saying get chummy with your ex or anything, just be professional to everyone." She glanced at me. "Messy break-ups are a bit beneath us, don't you think, Predetal?"

I blinked. Before I could react, Albus had glared at her. "I don't think that's any of your business, Prince."

Kimmel frowned. "I agree, Eris, that was out of line. Please continue with the business, and keep it strictly business."

Eris looked like she'd been slapped, and Emmanuel had to take over. She recovered quickly, of course, but sent us glares every few minutes until the meeting was dismissed.

We stayed put for a few minutes, talking to Poppy and Arthur. Poppy was trying to convince us to come sit at the Hufflepuff table for dinner that night, but Albus was worried Kimmel would find that a bit too unprofessional. He already had a write-up this term, for nearly hitting Eris at the last prefect meeting, and couldn't afford to get in any more trouble with an entire month left.

We were the last ones to descend the stairs. When we reached the bottom, Eris was leaning against the wall across the hall. I glanced over my shoulder, to see if she were waiting for someone else, but she pushed herself off the wall and kept her eyes on us. "I need to speak to Potter and Predetal," she said.

Poppy and Arthur exchanged a look. "Why?" Poppy asked.

"I'm sure they'll tell you later," Eris said. She waved a dismissive hand at them. "Go on, please."

Arthur frowned. "What if we don't?"

"Five points from Hufflepuff."

Their eyes widened, and Albus shook his head. "Just go, okay?" After a moment, they did. Eris gestured to a door down the hall. I was starting to feel a little anxious, but Albus just looked annoyed. If he wasn't scared, I didn't need to be, either.

"What do you want?" Albus asked after we'd walked into an empty office.

"Both of you have been out to get me all year," she snapped. "You think Kimmel will demote me if you're enough of a smartass, Potter?"

"What?" Albus frowned. "We haven't done anything. What are you talking about."

"I know you both hate me, and think I don't deserve my position. Kimmel disagrees, though, so there's no point trying to slander me or make me look bad in prefect meetings."

"You made yourself look bad today," Albus snapped. "Listen, if this is about the last prefect meeting, I'm sorry, okay? You were being a prat, though, you have to admit."

Eris rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I just wanted to let you know that you'll both be sorry for crossing me if you ever do it again."

"Is that all?" Albus asked.

Eris glared at us for a moment. "Yes."

"Fine, then. I've got to get to dinner. My girlfriend's waiting for me." He turned and stormed out, probably assuming I'd be right behind him. I almost did follow, but something stopped me. If Eris wanted the prefects to be professional, maybe we needed to start with each other.

Eris frowned at me as the door swung closed. "What?"

"What's your problem, Eris?" I asked, trying my hardest not to sound upset.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you always so horrible? I've never done anything to you, and Albus certainly hadn't until you pushed him to it."

Eris blinked. "I'm not horrible."

I raised an eyebrow. "Less than a week ago, you told me I'd gotten off easy when I got a detention. Then you shoved me. And just now you technically threatened Albus and I for no reason other than the fact that Albus called you out on something you did wrong during the meeting. I could tell the headmistress, you know."

Eris glared at me. "it would be my word against yours."

"That's not the point."

"Leave me alone!" Eris shouted. "Stop acting like a perfect angel all the time, who everyone should feel sorry for! Everyone dotes over you, does whatever you want, just because... why? You used the Cruciatus Curse on a dozen people? It's ridiculous! So excuse me for not buying into your little act, Predetal."

I blinked. "I'm not trying to make people treat me like that."

"And yet it happens! Isn't that lovely? Effortlessly perfect."

"I'm not 'effortlessly perfect!'"

"Shut up!" Eris raised her hand like she was going to slap me, and I reacted out of instinct, flinching and moving my arm up to block my face. That made her pause for a second and stare at me. "I..." She looked at her hand and slowly lowered it, then back at me. I didn't move, just stared at her. My heart was thumping so loudly now I was afraid she could hear it. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I'm... I'm not going to hurt you, Wren."

I took a step back, shaking my head. Why had I stayed? Why hadn't I just followed Albus?

Surprisingly, Eris stepped back as well. She watched me for a minute, then quickly turned and left.

I watched her go, trying to calm down. Whynhad I done that? Had I really thought Eris would be fine if I just talked to her? She had a deep hatred for all of us that I didn't understand. I couldn't read her, and that made me uncomfortable, because I could read most people. But she was a mystery.

Albus was over at the Hufflepuff table with Poppy when I walked in, so I sat with Colette. "Why do I screw everything up?" I asked as I sat down. Colette glanced at me, but chose to ignore that, probably taking it as me talking about James, or Astra. I didn't correct her.

~~~~

"Interesting," Stillens said, frowning at Nico. I glanced at him, but his face betrayed nothing. "So you're saying Hempsey let herself be seen?"

I nodded. "The reporters in Hogsmeade told me they thought they'd seen her."

"I'll have to speak with her about that myself," Stillens said. he did not look pleased, and I was just glad the displeasure wasn't directed at me.

"We got them off her trail, though," Nico said.

Stillens raised an eyebrow. We'd surprised him. "Oh? How?"

Nico explained what we did, and Stillens actually seemed a little impressed. "That was quick thinking. I am glad I have two competent agents to make up for Hempsey's mistakes."

Nico smiled, and I did, too. As much as his praise made me sick, I craved validation. Even if it came from a monster, there was a small part of me that was always happy to accept it.

We had to wait while Zaria was called in from Hogsmeade to answer for her mistake. It didn't take long. As we followed her back to the sitting room, Nico leaned over to ask me, in a whisper, if she wasn't going to be punished for it. She would be, I told him, but after Stillens had thought of a fitting one. Until then, she'd have to deal with the anxiety of waiting.

Zaria didn't even look at us before disappearing into the fireplace. I didn't know why we'd had to wait, except that Stillens did like having the accused be able to face the accuser. I wasn't looking forward to that, and made Nico go first. Zaria was going to be angry enough to actually hurt us.

When I Flooed into the kitchen, it was just enough time to watch a jar fly across the room and shatter against the wall. Nico stood up (having ducked to avoid the jar, I presume), and drew his wand. "You want to fight, then?"

"Think twice, twig." Magnus was standing in the doorway, blocking our exit. Did he live here? I wouldn't have been surprised.

"We didn't do anything, except get those reporters off your trail, Hempsey," Nico snapped. "You're the one that let them see you in the first place."

"I didn't! There's no way they could have! I haven't left this god-awful apartment in three weeks, Jasper." Zaria had murder in her eyes, more than normal. Her wand was drawn, and I very slowly moved to stand a little behind Nico, who didn't seem frightened at all.

"Well, then, explain what Gideon Montry saw, hmm?"

"I don't know, you little bastard!" Zaria yelled. She whisked her wand, and another jar flew across the air and smashed behind our heads.

"Next time you accuse her of something like that, you'll both die," Magnus said, clenching his wand so tightly I thought he might break it. "You're lucky I don't kill you both where you stand!"

"You wouldn't," Nico said nonchalantly. "You'd be punished for that."

"I'd get a little fun first, though, wouldn't I?"

Zaria glared at us both, too angry to even speak, it seemed. She pointed at the door, where Magnus was standing. "Out! Now!"

Magnus reluctantly moved aside to let us pass, and I hurried out. Nico took his time, making several obscene gestures before we left the apartment.

"That was fun," was all he said.

"How was that fun?" I demanded. "Now they want to kill you, too."

Nico shrugged. "You'd be surprised how many people want to do that."

"Why did you antagonize them?"

"What else was I going to do? Cower and hide like you're so good at? I'm not a coward." He raised an eyebrow, his smirk back for the first time in a while. "Does that make me more of a Gryffindor than you?"

I glared at him. "You're not a coward, but you're stupid, which is almost as bad."

"Excuse me?"

"You're an idiot. You're acting like those two don't have a million ways to hurt you that Stillens would never care about. I'm not afraid of them for no reason, Jasper."

"Yeah, you're afraid of them because you're a child," he sneered.

"I'm afraid of them because they've both done horrible things to me. Forgive me for not wanting to experience any of it again." I glared at him. "If you want to be stupid, that's fine, but do it when I'm not there to suffer the consequences."

He narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything, which was fine with me. I didn't want to talk to him. We were nearing the castle now, anyway, and needed to be quiet. For the second time in a row, I marched off without sparing him a glance after we'd gotten inside.

~~~~

Question of the Day: What's the most Slytherin thing you've ever done?

Answer: The most ambitious thing I've ever done is either attempting to turn this series into an original work, or getting into the top college in my state with a nice-sized scholarship. The college thing is more of a Slytherin thing than a Ravenclaw because I didn't necessarily get my scholarships because of smartness, but because of all the other things I've done for the sake of looking good on my resume, which seems like a very Slytherin thing to do. 

Vote and comment!

~Elli