9

Doing detention with Quinn was one of the most awkward times of my life, and I had to greet guests from the Ministry at my mother's Yule Balls.

He kept glaring at me from where we scrubbed the floors with no magic.

"Scrub harder! This floor isn't going to clean itself!" Filch yelled at us.

Quinn and I were both on our hands and knees, a single rag in hand, and a large bucket full of soapy water. Naturally, we were forbidden from using magic to clean.

I internally sighed as I scrubbed harder, which didn't exactly make the floors cleaner. I had no strong muscles in my arms, as I never had to clean at the Malfoy Manor. I also never had to really lift weights because of the house elves or my parents using their magic.

Quinn, on the other hand, seemed to be able to clean well. It was like his parents forced him to clean for a living, which I found rather barbaric.

Naturally, the spells I used in combination with the slightly illegal potion for the prank didn't come off of the floor easily. I could probably spell it away, but such was not allowed by Filch or Professor McGonagall.

Quinn glared at me once again, his eyes burning holes into my skull.

I continued to ignore him, instead wishing that someone would come by and distract Filch, even if it was only for a moment.

As if the Devil heard my plead, Peeves came along. Now, you may be wondering - why the Devil? Well, that's because Peeves cackled at Quinn and I before spilling some bloody sticky concoction onto a large area of the rainbow-dyed floor.

"Peeves!" Filch yelled as the poltergeist cackled and flew away. "I'll get you, Peeves, so help me…!" He ran after the literal embodiment of chaos, leaving poor Quinn and I to deal with the mess.

"I will smite Peeves," I declared, not at all pleased with the extra hours we'd have to put in.

"That's how you got me in this mess in the first place," Quinn grumbled bitterly.

"Shhh, I'll fix it," I assured my year-mate before pulling out my wand.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asked right away.

"Magicking the mess away, obviously," I said as I gave him an odd look before casting 'Scourgify' on the mess.

Of course it was unsuccessfully, stupid twins.

"I'll have to ask the twins for help then," I muttered.

Quinn looked at me in confusion. "So it's NOT washable?" He asked.

I looked away in embarrassment.

He sighed. "Who was this even meant for?"

I gave him the best innocent look that I could, which I did very well, if I say so myself. "What do you mean? It was obviously meant for Quirrell-"

He gave me the most unamused look possible. "You were scared by me-"

"I was NOT!" I yelled back despite the blush coming onto my face.

"-into prematurely setting off your little prank-"

"It was a great revenge scheme!" I objected.

"Revenge?" Quinn repeated questioningly.

"I heard revenge scheme."

I did not scream, no matter what Quinn might say. He's a filthy liar, and everyone should know it.

Quinn cautiously eyes Ophiuchus Lestrange.

I, too, eyed my cousin cautiously.

Ophiuchus, or rather Ophi, undoubtedly was chaotic in nature. He definitely inherited the Black Madness from his mother, Bellatrix. He had wild black hair and gray eyes that always seemed to hold a storm of trouble in them. He was sorted into Slytherin, no surprise there, but he didn't really fit into the groups that had already been made. He was a loner, but he probably could have been a part of any group he wanted to.

"He-"

"You planned a revenge scheme and didn't include me?" Ophi whined as he basically skipped down the hall toward me.

"Isn't it past curfew?" Quinn asked as he narrowed his eyes at Ophiuchus.

"That's never stopped me before," Ophi said dismissively.

"Ophi, what are you doing up here?" I questioned.

"Draco told your father 'bout what happened, and now even Draco's afraid for your well-being," Ophi admitted, "I figured Draco would never come out and say it, so I told you for him!"

"Erm, thank you-"

"You owe me two Galleons for giving you that secret," Ophi said as he knelt down beside me and held his hand out.

"That's not fair!" I whined.

"You know the price for me telling a secret," Ophi chided.

"I didn't even ask for it," I complained.

"Too bad," Ophi said.

"I'll give them to you tomorrow-"

"You know my interest rates," Ophi said with a shrug as he stood up. He then walked around the large rainbow-colored area and extended his hand out toward Quinn.

Quinn stared in confusion. "You don't expect me to actually pay you, do you?"

"I do," Ophi stated. "If you don't pay me today, you'll owe me three Galleons tomorrow."

"That's a fifty percent interest rate!" Quinn objected loudly.

"Oh, you can do math. I'm so impressed," my cousin said as he looked down at Quinn with a rather mocking expression.

"I'm not paying," Quinn objected.

"Fenrir, you owe me his money, too," Ophiuchus declared before going off the way he came.

I squawked about how unfair life was for me when Quinn interrupted me, rather rudely if I may add.

"What's his problem?" Quinn grumbled as he glared in the direction that my cousin went.

"Ophi has a monopoly of secrets," I sighed heavily.

Quinn looked at me expectantly.

"He likes collecting secrets so he can sell them later," I tried to explain.

"But why?" Quinn asked.

I thought about it for a moment. "I think his father taught him that it was a good side-business."

"Really?" Quinn asked as he looked at me in shock.

I shrugged. "That's what Father said. Of course, Grandmother Druella and Grandfather Cygnus may have also helped him in that course." I paused before saying, "Definitely Grandfather Cygnus. The Black Madness was strong in him."

"Black Madness?" Quinn repeated questioningly.

I immediately flushed, internally cursing my loose lips.

Before Quinn could press me for answers, Filch returned.

I must have been the only person in existence to have thanked God when Filch showed up. I sneakily put away my wand and continued my scrubbing, hoping that Quinn would quickly forget the subject and move on.

Our detention eventually ended, and I was allowed to go back to Gryffindor tower so I could interrogate the twins on what that slightly illegal potion contained to make the rainbow color stick to the floor despite the cleaning.