Would it come as a surprise to any of his classmates that Sasha did not make a regular habit of procrastinating on class assignments?  It was rare that an essay or homework project wasn't completed, proofed and revised within days of being assigned.  It was easier that way; one avoided the stressful build up of last minute preparations all vying for attention before the end of the day.  But, every rule was susceptible to exceptions and, today, Sasha was faced with a quickly approaching deadline. 

End of the year exams loomed a mere month away and all of the professors were piling them with exercises, essays and various projects in the hopes they would provide adequate exam preparations.  They were being constantly reminded that these exams were the crucial halfway point on the grueling journey that was N.E.W.Ts.  Those ever important marks that would follow them for the rest of their lives. 

That Monday, Professor Hughes had presented them with one of these mid-way pre-examination preparatory assignments to be completed by the following week.  Each student had been issued a blank, nondescript pixie-sized doll and a partner.  Everyone was expected to come up with a description of someone they knew and, when they met, their partner was expected to transfigure the doll into a physical replica of the subject's appearance.  Despite the underlying subtext of playing with dolls, the assignment sounded challenging and exciting.  Sasha had been looking forward to it right up until the list of partners had been distributed. 

Sasha Schlagenweit was waiting, anxiously, for Zelig Trumble to join him to complete the assignment. 

Sasha had been avoiding the Hufflepuff werewolf for much of the school year, though for reasons he was only recently coming to fully understand.  Once upon a time, he'd considered the other young man a friend but his own fear and prejudice had gotten in the way once the Hufflepuff's wolfish nature was made public.  In the months since, Sasha had kept his distance, despite the occasional temptation to stop and talk to Zelig whenever the other offered a friendly smile.  Even if Sasha's unease about Zelig being a werewolf had waned some, he lacked the social confidence to approach the Hufflepuff and talk about. 

Finally, the roulette game of partner assignments had caught up.  Sasha still had no idea what he should say when the Hufflepuff stepped inside the classroom.  "Did you bring your Mini Me?"  he asked, with an awkward, uneasy grin.  It wasn't the most profound statement, but it was congenial and might have even sound halfway relaxed.  It was a start. 

He and Sasha hadn’t spoken much since October.

If at all.

Zel did give him the occasional smile in the hallway, but always avoided eye contact immediately afterwards—it was an awkward situation. Sasha didn’t want to be around him because of his lycanthrophy, and Zel could hardly blame him. He was temperamental (or at least, more temperamental than before), and more sensitive to… All sorts of things. Certain people made him feel uneasy that hadn’t made him feel this way before the bite,  it was as if he was able to detect predatory types? It was purely instinctive.

And it bothered him.

NEWT-Level Transfiguration was proving to be challenging. Each person got a small little dummy to transfigure into someone they knew. But they also had to work in partnerships. He wasn’t sure who he wanted to make. Maybe one of his siblings?

Zel was nervous though, his assigned partner was Sasha Schalagenweit. He felt like Professor Hughes must’ve had it out for him, even though Zel had no evidence to support that. They had arranged to meet in an empty classroom on the fourth floor. He entered the classroom to see that Sasha was already waiting.

“Hello.” The prefect cleared his throat, “Err. Yes..” He pulled the creepy white dummy out of the pocket of his robes.  “I don’t know who I’m making yet. But I brought pictures of my family to help?” They were nestled safely in one of his folders in his bag.

There were two ways to approach this assignment. 

One.  They could, somehow, look up from their assigned homework and turn to face the big, toothy, hairy elephant standing in the center of the room.  They could name it Lucy, acknowledge Lucy had grown very old and ornery over the course of the year and allow Lucy to preside over a rocky, awkward peace conference.  Once they both felt comfortable enough to turn their attention fully and unburdened to the transfiguration exercise, they could finish it and move forward whatever was next. 

Two.  They could both pointedly look everywhere but at the massive mammoth and pretend they were each working with a near identical substitute for the source of their individual comfort. 

So far, it seemed the verdict was approach #2. 

For Sasha, part of it was that big, toothy, highly contagious detail.  Truth was, that detail had been much more shorter lived than he cared to admit to Zel.  Yes, the young man’s lycanthropy had made (and still did make) Sasha very nervous but Sasha really hadn’t given it much thought past Halloween.  After the necromancy episode, Sasha had been just as withdrawn from Zel as he had from everyone else.  He really didn’t want to admit to Zel that, for most of the year, he’d largely forgotten about the Hufflepuff. 

“That will work.”  Sasha nodded towards Zel’s bag in confirmation.  “I don’t really have a lot of family pictures for mine,” he admitted.  At least, not ones he wanted to use.  Somehow, the idea of trying to turn a creepy doll into the miniature likeness of Anna had held no appeal.  “I brought a few magazines, instead.” 

Then, trying to sound casual, he added: “How have you been.” 

Zelig sat down at the table, pulling the folder out of his bookbag. He opened the folder and pulled out some pictures—they were all of his siblings. There was one photo of Zel as a child, sitting on the lap of a rather tall, dark haired man. His father. The others were much more recent—scarred Garrett holding his daughter, graceful, tattooed Emeline with her arm wrapped around Emeric’s shoulders, and Lucas holding hands with a small toddler, Emeline. All his siblings had dark hair and thin features, with the exception of Lucas and Zora, who, like Zel, also had albinism.

One would easily notice that there were no photos of his mother or his stepfather. Zel was harboring some rather bitter feelings towards them that had no chance of changing any time soon.

“I’m well.” He replied in a deadpan, though his cheeks flushed slightly. “Still a werewolf. Arf arf.” He raised his eyebrows at Sasha, silently asking how the Ravenclaw was. Maybe Zel wasn't going to ignore the elephant in the room.

The Ravenclaw glanced at the photos and began to reach for them but hesitated before drawing his hand back.  Given where things had been between them, he wasn't sure how much Zel wanted him prying.  After all, they weren't working together by choice and he couldn't measure Zel's reluctance. 

Sasha half-grinned, awkwardly, not quite meeting the Hufflepuff in his humor but also not disregarding it.  "Do werewolves really, you know, bark?"  It was the first thought that had popped into his head and, unfortunately, it had surfaced too fast for his unreliable filter to catch up with.  "Ja.  I'd imagine so.  That kind of thing doesn't, you know, really change.  Overnight."  Or, at all.  The Ravenclaw blushed and busied himself with fetching the football magazine from his bag. 

He wasn't doing well with this. 

He didn't know where to start or what he could say that didn't just blatantly demonstrate how disconnected he'd been.  The best thing he could come up with was: "did, you know, all the rumors and gossip finally settle down?"  He could have just as easily said he didn't have a clue what had been going on in the Hufflepuff's life.  "I'm sorry." 

“You can touch the photos if you want.” He didn’t mind. Zel highly doubted that Sasha would actually do anything to them. Besides, Zel rather liked talking about his siblings—his family. All of their dirty laundry was out in the open, so it was always a pleasant change to talk about them in a positive light.

“We howl, more than we bark.” He said. Zel didn’t recall barking, “And we growl. Plenty of growling.” The Hufflepuff shifted uncomfortably.  He didn’t know if all the rumors and gossip had settled down. He did his best to ignore it and focus on other stuff. It seemed like the less he cared about the rumors being spread, the less weight they actually carried.  He tilted his head to the side in almost a puppyish way.

“I don’t understand why you’re sorry…?” His voice cracked a bit, and he brought his hand to his throat, blushing slightly. “Er. Excuse me.” Zel looked down at his feet. "And you, how are you?"