The Consequences of Being Ignored

The hour didn’t feel long enough.

So with a heavy heart Azrael and Cain had to leave their comfortable dormitory and travel back into the world. They had Herbology, which they knew the general area it might be in. But they had to leave rather early.

The letter clutched in Cain’s hand made sure of that. So they stopped by the owlery, Cain gave Hedwig a nice petting before handing over the sealed parchment. The snowy owl flew away into the sky, far far until she was no longer in sight, then they trudged back out.

Onto the Grounds of Hogwarts. Already students of various ages were moving along the cobblestone trails. Three older Gryffindors lurked in the grass, throwing an object that shot and whizzed about. Underneath a tree two hufflepuff boys sat, cuddled into one another as they studied a large dark blue book.

Those with free periods so early in the morning had to been mocking them with their freedom. Az could find no other explanation.

Cain probably could, but no one was asking him.

The two wandered behind the castle, spotting first year Ravenclaws and Slytherins alike doing the same. They ended up grouping by one of the castles exterior walls. Clearly none of them had actually been told where to go. Az shrugged. If it meant he wasn’t at a disadvantage then he didn’t care.

“Dray!” Cain called. Az looked up. He hadn’t recognized the blonde malfoy from so far away. Sometimes he wondered if he needed contacts like his sibling. Nonetheless Draco perked up at his friend's voice and waved the two over.

“About time.” Draco huffed impatiently once they had leaned against the wall beside him. Theodore sat in the grass beside him, tinkering with something in his hand. Blaise was nowhere to be seen. “What did the headmaster want?”

“Wanted to ask about our family.” Cain said. His fist was clenched.

Draco frowned. Family was a touchy subject even when it was him asking. Let alone Albus freaking Dumbledore.

“What about it?”

“Wanted to understand how there are more Gaunts.”

“To be honest,” Theo mused. “I wondered that too.Most of us did.”

“What makes Gaunts so special that you guys slobber over the name?” Azrael questioned. He had slunk down into the grass, resting on his stomach and holding his head up with his hands.

“The fact that the name is Gaunt?” Theo said, staring at him as though he were joking. Cain and Az just continued to stare, their faces slightly burning. How was it they were the ones with the last name, yet everyone around them knew more.

At the very least Draco was just as confused.

“What?” the blonde questioned. Theo bristled under their attention, his own face turning a seemingly routine colour of bright red.

“Well..the Gaunts were the last descents of Salazar Slytherin. Why do you think the Slytherin table was so excited to welcome Azrael and Cain in?”

Azrael’s arms gave out and his head smashed into the dirt. Theodore shot up alarmed.

“I- did i kill him!?”

Cain, eyes wide and face pale, guided himself into the grass, his feet wanting nothing more than to give out like his sibling. But he had a reputation. Something Azrael clearly did not.

“No, but-...Bloody hell Nott! That-  No sugar coating or anything!” Draco sputtered, staring at his friends with wide grey eyes. That meant that the dark lord- It made sense but- dear god Draco hadn’t wanted something like that to be revealed so-

Theo watched the three's reaction, soft understanding washing over him.

“You’re-You’re serious? You…You really didn’t know?”

Az poked his head up, shaking it softly.

“Father…never liked to talk about his family.”

He yelped as he felt a foot kick him in the ribs. He glared up to find his brother staring at him anxiously.

“Az!”

“He ain’t gonna run to Dumbledore-” Azrael barked back. His impulsiveness had struck again, but just like any other time, he was to attempt to defend it.

“We have to be consistent in our story!”

Draco huffed as the two siblings furiously bickered.

“Run to Dumbledore?” The boys paused and looked at Nott. 

“Yeah..the headmaster asked about our…parent. The one with the last name. We told him we didn’t know.”

A voice sounded behind them, making the four children jump.

“As you should’ve.”

Blaise Zabini returns. Of course now of all times.

His frown was visible and his eyes were narrowed.

“You don’t tell untrustworthy folk anything. At least, not anything true. Especially when it's important.”

“Oh, and you guys are trustworthy?” Az asked. His defence was hinging on such a fact afterall.

“Of course.” Blaise said smoothly. He slipped between the two Gaunts and sat down on his knees. Azrael couldn’t help but notice the calculated grace. “Slytherins are really the only sort you could trust with this kinda stuff.”

“But if everyone already knows we’re-”

“They know you're the twin heirs of Gaunt. But they assume it to have a normal relation. Which apparently, it is not.” Blaise stated, eyes scanning over the two. His tone was precise and polished, giving no room for arguing.

“So Slytherins, the stereotypical bad guys, are the only ones we can trust?”

Azrael had held a part of his bias to Slytherin. For five years it had just been what he’d heard. But even ignoring such a Bias, why were the shifty cunning ones all they had?

Blaise narrowed his eyes at him. Az allowed his head to fall back into the dirt.

“Because, you idiot. Why on this god forbidden earth would Slytherins, in the house of Salazar Slytherin, rat out information about the HEIRS of Slytherin?”

Azrael grumbled something unintelligent under his breath. Cain eyed Zabini with interest. That was very true. House loyalty was a fickle thing, one could always turn their backs in most circumstances. But the end of the day marked returning to one's own dormitory.

So why side against those who practically owned that said dorm.

Azrael whined.

“Why is everything in Slytherin so secretive and backstabby! It's like that with Father! It's like that with our aunt and uncle!”

Azrael shot up and pointed an accusing finger at Draco and Cain.

“It's like that with you two idiots too!”

“HEY!”

“I haven’t forgotten about the train station!”

“It did you good to do something for once!”

Blaise gave an annoyed glance at Theodore, who stared at the three bickering with intrigue. His eyes always lingered on one too long as he switched back and forth. Eventually, to the relief of most everyone in the area, forced to listen to the high pitched screaming of Malfoy and Azrael, their herbology teacher showed up to take them away.

Professor Sprout the womens name was. She sported wavy hair that was the colour of gravy. Her eyes were dark like the richest of soil. And she already was leaving an impression on the group as she never spoke without an encouraging smile.

She very much so put them all at ease. 

She led them down the Hogwarts grounds, guiding them to a rectangle of green houses.

“We’ll be using Greenhouse one for the time being,” she said. It was loud enough that even the two ravenclaw girls conversing at the back of the line could hear her clearly. She unlocked the greenhouse's door and guided them all inside.

She explained how her class would work, how there would be both physical and written portions. She explained how they would start with least dangerous plants and would work their way up as their years at Hogwarts continued.

She proceeded to spend the rest of the hour and a half helping them all get accustomed to the greenhouses layout. She took time to speak about how they would work together, both houses forming groups to tackle plants.

She went ahead and put them in their groups. To help get used to one another she said.

Azrael ended up in a group with Daphne Greengrass, the girl he couldn’t get more then a few words out of at the welcoming feast. They awkwardly stared at one another before two ravenclaws were nudged into the silence.

Two boys were in their group, much to Daphne's apparent disappointment. Az however, saw it as an opportunity. 

“Hi. Uh-” Azrael decided to make the first move. He put on a cheekily grin and did what he did best. 

“Terry. Terry Boot.” the first ravenclaw said. He had light brown hair and pale green eyes. Like watered down mint.

“Nice to meet ya. I’m Azrael. Call me Az.” 

Terry gave a small grin. He then turned to the boy beside him. He was shorter than Boot, though not by much. He had golden blonde hair, much more vibrant than Dracos pale blonde. His eyes were dark blue.

He seemed much less happy about the group arrangements.

“Terry…” he muttered quietly. His face was tense. “We need to get a different group..”

“Why? We’re stuck with Slytherins regardless.”

“I know that! But does it have to be…them?”

Azrael frowned, losing the charming smile he had previously been sporting. He figured it had been him. Afterall, the discovery of his last name had clued him in to the nervousness and excitement of the respective houses. But what had Daphne done to earn such a reaction?

“Do you want to end up in a group with that one? hmmm? Do you Anthony?” Terry asked, pointing at a slytherin. It was Goyle, Az noted. Anthony wildly shook his head.

“Then you can be in this group.” Terry said, flashing a triumphant smirk. The only female in the group frowned.

“How rude.” Daphne scoffed. Az noticed her fist was clenched. 

“I-..I don’t want to-” Anthony stuttered. His face had turned a shade of pink.

“Be with some evil moustache twirling Slytherins?” Daphne asked, eyes narrowed and hands on her hips. “Hate to break it to your tiny little brain, but not all Slytherins are like that.”

“I didn’t-”

“And I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart.” And with that Daphne turned around and started to examine some of the plants lined in soil against the glass greenhouse walls.

Azrael sighed as Antohny settled facing in the opposite direction. So much for opportunity. He’d be lucky if the tension didn’t cost him his grades in the distant near future. At the very least Professor Sprout seemed to be quite understanding.

When the class ended Azrael was one of the first to escape. His group was practically suffocating. He wondered if Daphne would be more open to speaking to him now though, perhaps united against a common enemy?....Were the Ravenclaw boys considered enemies…?

Absentmindedly he glanced behind him and to his surprise, saw Cain happily waving to his own ravenclaw partners, a girl with dark hair, and a boy with long hair. He soured. Of course Cain was already friends.

Being the elder brother was just never easy. Was it.

The week continued on with little change from Herbology. They were introduced to their classes, and teachers, and began learning the basics of magic. Azrael found it surprisingly enjoyable. He knew Cain had worried they would be much farther ahead then the other children, thus making classes boring and pointless.

Fortunately for them however, the only class they truly had a leg up on the other children was Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by a quivering old fool named Quirrel, who stuttered every five seconds. Very much so an annoyance more than an actual teacher.

All other classes were new. Az wondered if the dark lord only taught them so much as to keep off suspicion. From what he could tell Voldemort was, if nothing more, an excellent brewer, yet they never received a lesson on potion making.

When asked what their favourite classes were, Cain found his answer to be charms, where the magic could be versatile in its uses, not just defensive. The teacher was a short little man with brown hair. The first day they had him he had been rather excited. They later learned his last class period had housed Cameron, causing the professor to become most fanboyish.

Transfiguration was Azrael's favourite, much to his own shock. He had assumed potions would have been his thing, though since he had yet to go it made sense it wasn’t. Mcgonagall as a teacher engaged him. She was strict, and cared not for his mischievous nature, but she showed no favouritism towards Gryffindor to his knowledge, nor did she withhold credit where credit was due.

Astronomy was more or less average in terms of enjoyment. Azrael liked the teacher well enough, and the class was only on Thursday nights, but the actual classwork itself was rather boring in his opinion. There was less doing, and more calculated watching and memorising. Cain liked it more than he did. 

No surprise there.

History of Magic was a drag in many ways. Azrael used the class as a place to nap more often than not, while Cain talked animatedly to Draco about flying lessons, those of which would start at some point after the second week. Both found the class fun as long as they didn’t tune in to their deceased professor’s lectures.

Az found the contents of Herbology fascinating, furthering his belief that potions the coming Friday would be his favourite class. However those he was partnered with did not lend the environment to being a favourite class. 

By the time Herbology ended on the second day Daphne had all but shoved Anthony into a large patch of devils snare and Anthony had almost burnt her plants to a crisp. The third day had had both Azrael and Terry exhausted from keeping the two as far away from each other as possible.

To think Cain had become friendly enough with his groupmates that he invited them to lunch with the rest of the Slytherins. They had declined such an offer, though they had invited him to play wizard's chess with them on the upcoming weekend. 

He had accepted. Much to Azrael's irrational irritation.

That Friday morning Azrael found himself at breakfast, sitting between Pansy and Theodore as he munched on some toast. They’d have a double block of potions with the Ravenclaws, who apparently were always to be their potion partners, in less then an hour. 

Azrael shivered as he imagined having to make potions while in the same group as herbology. At the very least the other Slytherins, mainly Blaise if he were being honest, had said the ravenclaws were decent to work with, and that they at least got to choose their groups. His thoughts were stolen away when a bony elbow slammed into his gut. He nearly choked on his toasted bread as he swirled to Pansy.

She smirked for a moment, then settled back into her resting dog face.

“Where's your brother?”

Azrael opened his mouth, but no words came out. Truth be told he had gotten up earlier than normal, leaving Cain still happily sleeping in the dormitory. He hadn’t seen him sense.

“Dunno.” his mind was already racing. The only thing keeping him calm was the fact that Ron and Cameron were sleepily eating across the great hall. No other Gryffindors had a problem against Cain, so at the very least it wasn’t likely that he had been attacked.

Unless he had a secret fight with one…

“Az!!!!”

“What?” Azrael silently let out a breath of relief. Beside him Pansy snorted and scooted down the bench. Now it made sense. She wanted Cain there so she wouldn’t be sitting next to him. He made a note to sneak a toad into her dorm somehow.

Maybe the quivering gryffindor boy’s toad…

“The world is ending.” Cain said, eyes wide with looming horror. For a moment he thought their father had responded to their earlier letter. That was quickly seen to not be the case.

Azrael raised an eyebrow at his brother as he took another bite of toast. He was the dramatic one, not Cain.

“What's got you in a panic?”

“I’m not panicked…just frustrated/”

“Ok, lemme rephrase. What's got you in a frustrated? Wait no..that doesn't sound right.”

pansy smacked him. To his surprise, it hurt. Like really hurt. A glance at her hand showed she had cut him with a silver ring. He glared at her, earning a dark smirk, but turned his attention back to his sibling none-the-less. 

“So what's up?”

Cain bit his lip and slipped a schedule into Azrael's hand. 

“They changed it. Apparently we aren’t doing potions with Ravenclaw anymore.”

Azrael twisted it in his grasp and looked at the edited scrawl. Pansy and Theodore peaked over his shoulders. The other first years at their table peered with interest. Blaise gestured from across the table to continue.

“Who are we having potions with then?” he asked.

Cain stared at the table with interest. It was Azrael who answered, his hand clutching the paper till his knuckles were white.

“Gryffindor.”

The Slytherins narrowed their eyes.

“What?” Blaise hissed. “You can’t be serious. Those idiots haven’t even had potions yet.”

Pansy nodded, glowering at the parchment.

“They’ll set us back on our progress!”

“They’ll probably blow up their cauldrons.” Theodore stated absentmindedly. Azrael noticed he was tinkering with something metal, a book laying open with diagrams of objects Az had never seen before.

“There goes having a good year.” Daphne snipped. “Or a good life.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” Theo said, looking up from his work.

“I’m not.” Daphne stated simply. “I’m realistic.”

“Realistically dramatic?”

“Nott.”

“OoOo~ Punch him.” Pansy purred, eyes glinting with malice.

“Gladly.” Daphne muttered under her breath. Still, she didn’t move. She only sat back and brushed her long blonde hair with her hand. Draco rolled his eyes, seeming to not notice his own hand running through his own hair.

“It can’t be that bad.” Cain said, though his uncertainty made it sound more like a question than a statement with conviction.

It turned out he was actually quite right. For the very exact reasons they were all afraid. Class started in the dungeons, though this time they didn’t have a nice warm common room to escape into. Instead their breath took the form of white mist every time they exhaled.

Professor Snape, their head of house, was a tall man. His eyes seemed to be narrowed into a glare at all times. His cold demeanour fit the classroom perfectly. The student group of snakes and lions sat at tables, right next to cauldrons, in groups of two.

The brothers had grouped together, with Azrael staring into their cauldron, seemingly already plotting to put something inside.

Snape cleared his throat and stared around the room. Then he pulled out a piece of parchment and began to call roll. His voice was disinterested, tone bored and annoyed, by what they all had no idea.

“Millicent Bulstrode?”

The girl raised her hand. Snape nodded.

“Tracey Davis?”

Another hand raise. Another nod.

“Seamus Finnigan?”

Seamus raised his hand. Unlike the others he got a grimace like sneer.

“I didn’t hear anything Finnigan.”

Seamus looked at him, his face appalled.

“No one else said anything.” the rather brave Gryffindor said. Snape glowered.

“I wasn’t speaking to anyone else Finnigan. Two points from Gryffindor.”

The boy huffed, only to be quieted by his companion sitting beside him. A boy with dark skin and dark hair.

Snape continued down the list, only ever growing impatient with the Gryffindors that dared not say here. Azrael couldn’t believe there would ever be a time he enjoyed such a bias. Cain had been one of the few Slytherins to actually speak when his name was called. For a moment Snape seemed to do a double take, before shaking his head and reading on.

It was only after he had reached Cameron's name that he paused.

“Ah, Yes,” he said quietly, “Cameron Potter. Our new…celebrity.”

Draco and Theodore snickered. Cain looked at the potter with loathing. Snape said nothing and continued on with roll. When he finished he rolled up the parchment and gazed around the dungeon, cold eyes studying every child slightly shivering in the cold.

“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making,” he began, slowly moving like a shadow to the front of the room. Azrael noticed his eyes were pitch black as they bore into him. “As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic.”

Azrael almost laughed. Were there actually people who believed magic was limited to wands? He wondered what such people would think of him and his younger brother, able to do certain spells without even words. He continued on with his speech, eyeing the Gryffindors with contempt as he did so.

“I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses....I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

The room was quiet as he finished. Then a slight rustle as Azrael slowly slipped out a roll of parchment and a quill. Cain, Daphne,  and Theodore were the only ones to do the same. Cameron glanced back at the sibling pair, seeming to wonder if he should be preparing like them.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Cameron froze like a deer in the headlights. His face began to burn red from embarrassment as eyes peered at him, some judging, others pitying.

“I…I’m not sure..s-sir.” he stuttered, face darkening in colour till it matched his hair.

Snape gave a cold hardened sneer.

"Tut, tut -- fame clearly isn't everything."

Hermione Granger shot her hand into the air, followed by both Cain and Theodore.

“Gaunt. Answer.”

“Draught of Living Death. A sleeping potion.”

“Competence. Fifteen points to slytherin.”

Cain smirked at his birth siblings' crestfallen face. Then he beamed as his real brother gave him a grin and a pat on the back. Potion books were some of the few Az would read with him, so they were always among the types he bought. From across the aisle Theodore lowered his hand, raising an interested eyebrow as Cain grinned at him.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Granger stretched her hand again, looking as though she were seconds away from standing up to make it go higher. Draco snickered from behind, some of the other Slytherins, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy, joining him. Snape made no effort to stop them. 

Cain was a bit confused to not hear Azrael's voice in the laughing chorus, only to find his hyper-active brother…taking notes. Cain looked down at his own parchment and shrugged. If he got new information, then he’d write. But so far? He knew this. 

He was sure Az had to.

"I- um..a..goat..? sir?" 

Snape sneered at the correct answer.

“And what is its purpose? Hm Potter?”

That was a question Cameron had no answer for. Draco raised his hand lazily.

“Malfoy?”

“It can cure you from most poisons.” Draco stated smugly. Snape nodded.

“Correct. Another fifteen points to Slytherin.” His eyes locked on Cameron again.

"Thought you could skirt by just flipping through the pages, eh, Potter?"

Cameron looked almost ready to cry, and no amount of Ron glaring at Snape was going to change that. Though, not for a lack of the weasley boys trying.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"Please sir…I don’t know” Cameron sniffled. Cain ignored the ping he felt as the boy's eyes misted up. He ignored the feeling that coursed through him as the response seemed to make Snape unreasonably angry.

"Sit down," he suddenly snapped at Hermione. The muggleborn scrambled down back into her seat properly, cheeks tinged pink. At that Azrael paused in his writing to snort, a sound once more not called out or stopped by the Professor.

“Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, which also goes by the name of
aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down? Is Gaunt the only one of you with sense?"

Scrambling of tearing parchment out of bags erupted in the classroom. Cain shot his brother a surprised look. Had he predicted this?

"And a point will be taken from Gryffindor for your foolish crys, Potter. No one wants to hear a worthless brat’s sniffles."

Cameron sunk down into his seat.

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued, much to Azrael and Cain's amusement. To their surprise they were split up into groups on Snape's command, though they all ended up with who they’d ideally want to partner up with anyways.

Professor Snape watched intently as they mixed their brews. He criticised them all quite loudly. If he didn’t approve of technique, then a person would certainly know. Ron Weasley’s dried nettles weighed too much despite the scale saying otherwise. Hermione Granger's snake fangs were evidently too crushed.

Cain noticed the professor criticised nearly everyone in the room, even himself and other Slytherins. Except for two.

Draco and Azrael. In fact, it was these two he praised, much to Cain's amused jealousy. Draco apparently stewed his horned slugs perfectly, while Azrael had somehow gotten rather far ahead from them all, already stirring his brew clockwise. He looked about ready to complete their potion, gesturing for Cain to get out his wand, only for a cloud of acid green smoke and a loud hissing to fill the freezing dungeon. 

The boy with the toad, Neville as Cain had to remind himself the boys name was, had managed to melt the cauldron he was using, causing what was practically acid to flood the room, beginning to tear into people's shoes and flesh.

They ended up standing on their stools as it swarmed around the dungeon. Azrael felt a sudden mischievous urge, the first of the school year. Quickly he scooped up a spare glass bottle and managed to contain a dose of the fowl liquid. He pocketed it with a sly grin at his brother.

Cain merely rolled his eyes. As long as he wasn’t caught, he truly didn’t care.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, making the disgusting acid disappear with his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils started to sprout all over him. Boils that were big, red, and very much so containing liquid. Maybe the same acid that had consumed the floor.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Finnigan. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been unfortunately working next to Neville.

"You. Potter- why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

Cameron gaped, eyes misting again. When class ended an hour later, Azrael having managed to redo his potion in record time, the supposed boy-who-lived was the first to rush out.

“I never thought sharing a class with Gryffindor could be so…fun.” Blaise said absentmindedly, watching Gryffindor after Gryffindor exit the dungeon with a frustrated expression or a hanging head.

“That's a bit rude.” Cain commented, though there was no bite to his words.

“He's not wrong though.”

“Az. Shush.”

Behind the three of them they could hear Daphne chuckle as Theo whined. Az turned to look behind him to see an exchange of silver and gold coins. The female slytherin caught his eyes and smiled coyly, the first time such an expression from her was given.

At least that he knew of.

“Placed a bet.” She said simply. Theo begrudgingly nodded.

“I said they’d blow up their cauldrons,” he said. “Daphne told me to bet on it.”

“I said they’d melt their cauldrons.” Daphne supplied, stuffing the coins into her robe pocket.

“When did you have time to do this?” Cain exclaimed, mouth agape, though there wasn’t exactly disapproval in his expression.

Daphne and Theodore shrugged, Theo’s face beginning to burn red. From behind even them Draco and Pansy cackled.

“When we were walking to the dungeons.” Daphne explained. Then she walked ahead, rounding a corner and disappearing, to a place they all had no idea of the location.

“Strange one, isn’t she?” Azrael mused, raising an eyebrow. 

“I’d take her over you any day Azzykins.” Pansy said in a voice that was so very sickeningly sweet. Then she sashayed away, leaving the remaining Slytherins behind.

“Where the heck does everyone keep going?” Az wondered aloud. He was going to ignore the revolting nickname she had given him. He received three shrugs. Cain pulled out his schedule and scanned the page.

“Hm. We have Defense Against the Dark Arts next.” he said aloud.

“Now I get it.” Azrael complained. Then he sprinted off. Cain could only shake his head at his brother's impulsive stupidity. With an eye roll he folded the parchment back up and slipped it in his robes.

“Gaunt has the right idea.” Blaise mused aloud. “Not like we’d be missing anything. Daphne and Pansy seemed one step ahead.”

“We’ll get in trouble, won’t we?” Cain asked, genuinely curious as to the sudden motives to skip such an important class. Sure the teacher sucked, but he still taught them. He just made it rather hard to follow with his stupid little stutter.

“If we’re quick about it, no. Could get all Slytherin first years to do so..hmm.” Blaise paused in his steps, Theodore nearly slamming into him. Draco yanked him by the scruff of his robes before they could collide.

“Don’t just- Don’t just block the hallway then go still!” Theodore complained. Cain could see Draco was clearly holding back a laugh, only stopped by the rather sudden urge to not upset Theo like he had done previously.

Cain didn’t understand, and he quite doubted he wanted to, if he were to ever learn.

“Hm. Theodore. Go get Davis. Tell her class was cancelled. Malfoy, go get those boneheads that were laughing with you in class today. I’ll see about finding where the girls went. Cain, get your brother to the common room if he isn’t already there.”

They all blinked as Blaise finished his instructions.

“Want me to lie to Tracey?” Theodore asked, crossing his arms.

“I don’t do anyones dirty work.” Draco snipped, glaring at the boy in front of him.

“Ok.”

The other two looked at him in astonishment.

“Cain come on!”

“Slytherin unity and all that crap!”

Cain blinked at them, cocking his head to the side like a dog.

“Blaise is a slytherin too?”

“Son of a…” Theodore muttered under his breath. But he nonetheless nodded and ran off to catch Tracey before she could reach the classroom. Cain gave Draco a look before creeping off. 

Of all the things they could be doing, housing what was essentially a party for slytherin first years during class time did not seem like the most productive. Not by a longshot. But then again, why not? 

You only live once after all.