Slytherin Common Room.

Boris knew that he was supposed to be in bed and out of the way before the First Years showed up, but he didn't care. He had heard some odd rumors and horror stories about the second year boys dormitory, and he was procrastinating as long as possible as going in.

He was curled up in an overstuffed silver chair, placed just so near the fireplace. He wasn't pondering about something that was deep-he was just trying to figure out why the fire was green.

Suddenly, a piece of used parchment flew into the fireplace, breaking Boris's concentration. Melenie plunked down into the other chair, frowning viciously at the shrinking ember.

Boris jumped slightly, and whirled around to see who was next to him. Oh. It was that girl sitting near him at dinner, with the bangs.

"Shouldn't you be in bed now?" he asked, and then he was once again silent.

"Give me some of that parchment." he said, after the embers finished consuming the piece she had tossed in.

"Trash your own homework," she snapped, crumpling up another sheet and tossing it, only to come up a foot short on the carpet. "Shouldn't you be in bed now?"

"You got homework already? Are they giving you guys summer assignments now?" He reached down and scooped up the parchment in his hands. The parchment sailed smoothly into the air, and landed in the middle of the flames.

"That better not have been for Snape. Have you met him yet?" he pointed at the fire.

"It's a history essay." She tore off another half-foot and began balling it up. "Snape's alright, I suppose. He doesn't seem nearly as intimidating as everyone seems to go on about, if you ask me. Just as ugly, though."

"That's because he's the head of the Slytherin house. Everyone knows that he favors us. My friend Orion Tribly melted his cauldron at least seven times last year, and Snape still gave him an E. Can you imagine trying to get away with that in McGonagall's class?"

He had his school bag beside him. He dug out an essay from History of Magic.Why Ulric Being An Oddball Was Actually Not True by Boris DiGandi. Beside the title, a fat red T was scribbled next to it, along with the note "Uric has no L in his name.

Bore tore off the title of the essay, and threw it in the fire.

"He took the absolute piss out of the Gryffindors on our first day." Mel tossed in her last remnant, curling up a bit in the chair. "Especially that one boy who lived lad. He looked miserable."

"I saw him. He doesn't look anything special to me. 'Course, Dad wasn't too happy when he found out that he was attending." Bore tore up the first sentence of his first paragraph "Ulric wasn't odd because all people are pretty strange."

He snorted at his writing. "Terrible." He threw it in, happy to be rid of it.

"Aren't you Angel's little sister?" he asked.

Mel frowned harder beneath her bangs. Was the resemblance that obvious? "What about him?"

"I was just asking." Boris read another section of the essay.

'Anyway I believe that people shouldn't have made fun of Ulric because he wore a jellyfish hat. Jellyfishes are nice and there stingers are used a lot in potion making and-'

"Had History of Magic yet?"

"That's what my essay was from. I thought I said that."

"No you didn't. You just said it was an essay. Not the actual subject."