The castle was still bubbling from what happened at dinner. Meredith Misslethorpe, sixth year Slytherin prefect climbed the winding stairs in the direction of the Ravenclaw Common Room. She had run a brush through her hair and straightened her silver prefect pin before setting out. Younger students were racing up and down the stairs. Meredith paused to remind them of the time. Friday night still had curfew. Tonight seemed a little wilder than the average.

At the top of the steps Meredith paused for rest. She could have met Kelvin at the entrance hall. Save her climbing so many steps. But she liked the excuse to invade territory. Kelvin always had his nose pressed into a book until the last minute in Meredith's opinion. Typical Claw. She turned to look out over the courtyard. A solitary figure crossed it. They looked like an ant from this high up. She wondered what the riddle was today.

"Hey." She greeted Kelvin with a smile. It turned into a smirk. "I think we might break our record for points deducted tonight. Whole castle is awake talking about whatever it was behind Professor Malfoy." She shrugged. "If you ask me it was a long time coming. What do you say?"

Kelvin was enjoying a book before patrol. Normally he was trying to finish up whatever work he had left, but considering there were no classes for the next two weeks, he was reading for fun.  Which was why he'd lost track of time and even if he flew through the school there was no way he'd make it to the entrance hall in time to meet up with Meredith to start their patrol.  He hadn't meant to get so engrossed in the book, but he'd needed an escape after the stupidity at dinner.

After rushing up to the dorm to stash the book, he hurried through and out of the common room only to nearly run over Meredith.  "Oh, hey."  Well this meant he wasn't late right?

"I hope not.  Maybe everyone got it out of their system and are going to behave until they get home?"  He glanced over at Meredith when she indicated that she didn't know what the figure had been.  It had been a crude attempt at something like a dark mark, but maybe he was wrong and had read more meaning into the jack-o-lantern.  But what was the point if it wasn't supposed to be a dark mark.  And the professor seemed to react to it in way that suggested he thought it was supposed to be a dark mark too.  Not that Kelvin felt sorry for Professor Malfoy.  He'd read the books and heard some stories from his brother and even without that Kelvin would never be able to muster any sympathy for a potions professor.

Not that Kelvin was one to say all that, well not without being provoked, "I don't know.  He's still a professor."

"Wishful thinking." Remarked Meredith. "Yeah he is a Professor but even they have pasts." Kelvin would not care much about a Potions professor. He never was interested in potions when they did their OWLs.

She started to walk back down the spiral stairs beside Kelvin. "He is not popular but neither is Storm or Aldridge. At least Malfoy does not bite your head off." Meredith shrugged. At least not Slytherin heads. "I guess not all of the teachers have famous pasts written in history books. Did you have your nose pressed in one and forget patrol by the way?" Meredith arched her eyebrow and smirked. "Do you think Professor Grefriar will have him in as guest speaker in history lessons? You take it still..."

Some pasts are worse than others though, Kelvin thought to himself. "Eh, professors don't really bite your head off if you do what they say."  And other than the few times where professors had pushed him too far, Kelvin always did what was asked.  He didn't really understand doing otherwise.  Which he assumed was why he was a prefect.

"Merlin, I hope the headmaster doesn't do that.  That'd be terrible."  And he'd probably do it. Seemed like the kind of thing the headmaster who hired Malfoy would do. It seemed to Kelvin there would be much more interesting guest speakers with less questionable pasts.  Though he guessed they weren't already employed at Hogwarts.

"I wasn't reading a textbook," he blushed thinking about the book he'd been reading.  It was a romance between two wizards.  Not real wizards, it was written by a muggle. But it did mean that between that and its topic it was less likely to be recognized by anyone else in Ravenclaw.  He'd debated transfiguring the cover but had decided against outright hiding what he was reading.

Meredith laughed at Kelvin's response. "More terrible than average history. That is super terrible!" Maybe she would suggest it to Professor Greyfriar if she felt malicious.

"Not a textbook?" Asked Meredith. "I guess it is the holidays. What does a Ravenclaw read for pleasure other than reference books?" She drummed her fingertips on her chin. Kelvin was being vague. He would tell her about books normally. "You can tell me if you were reading Witch Weekly. I have like all the back issues obviously. Meredith's dad was one of the owners. Her grandfather had founded it. "Any time you want to borrow like..." She shrugged.

"I don't understand why everyone hates average history," the air quotes around average were evident even if Kelvin didn't actually make them.  "It's fascinating."  At least it was as long as Greyfriar wasn't inviting terrible guests to give a lecture.

"What does a Ravenclaw read for pleasure other than reference books?"

Kelvin frowned at Meredith, "plenty." But he couldn't keep the laugh from bubbling up at reading Witch Weekly.  "I've never read more than an article from Witch Weekly."  It was impossible to avoid some articles from the magazine.  But he'd never willingly read anymore than that.  He wasn't embarrassed by what he was reading though.  Was he?  No. He wasn't.  Not much.  And besides, Meredith read Witch Weekly.

"It's a muggle romance.  About wizards." He said it matter-of-factly, and he hoped with his best 'I dare you to take the piss' expression.

"Missing out." Meredith teased. The average Witch Weekly reader was not Kelvin Watkins. Meredith knew this. But the more copies sold the more money her dad made. The more money he had... she did not need to spell it out to Kelvin.

"Muggles write about us?" Asked Meredith. Rhetorically. "Do they have long white beards and wear hats with stars on?" Witches in Muggle books had green skin and warts. They lived in caves. Cursed princesses. A Muggle would not know a real witch if they hexed them in their kitchen. "Is it set like now or before the Statute?" Muggles had known wizards before then. That was why they were so out of date with their interpretations.

"Missing out."

"Doubt it." Kelvin shot back.

He laughed at Meredith's questions about what muggles wrote about.  "Yes, sometimes its that.  Sometimes its completely made up worlds. Sometimes its their world but with magic."  He turned to look at her, "Sometimes its about secret magical communities set in secret magical schools."  The details weren't ever right but sometimes they seemed to get close.  A few times he'd even wondered if the author had a squib in their ancestry, or a wix cousin. Did the Ministry check all the muggle fantasy books?  Was that a job?

"I could lend you some fun ones if you want."  Probably not the one he was currently reading, he wasn't sure he had the courage to lend someone else that one.  "Something short?  I could find you something with pictures."

"Haaa. Funny Watkins." Meredith laughed sarcastically. "Why read about Muggles inventing our stories. Like you study history to get all the real stories." She shrugged. 'Real' was subjective when it came to Witch Weekly. She knew. "Are they ever accurate? Like a squib author pretending to be Muggle?" Meredith peered into an empty classroom as they passed. "Would you ever write one? For Muggles? Do they make any money selling them to muggles? I suppose they must." Meredith had an OWL in Muggle Studies. But she had not studied the niche of muggles writing fantasy stories about a world they did not know existed right beside them.

"It's fiction. It's just fun."  Kelvin paused to gather his thoughts, "They aren't telling our stories.  They are telling their stories in a world that exists inside their own imagination.  Sometimes the real world, our world makes it in, but I think that's just because some of their myths and fairytales have bits of truth in.  Sometimes it's just chance. Though I've read a couple books that I think might have been written by squibs."  But Kelvin had no idea how to actually find out and he liked the books, what if asking around caused problems for the authors with the Ministry.

"Me write one?  I don't think I have any stories to tell.  And I'm not sure if the Ministry would let a wizard write a book for muggles."  Not that Kelvin thought muggles would believe what to them would be obvious fiction.  The only book Kelvin could see himself writing was a history book but he didn't really see himself doing that either.  He liked history but Kelvin didn't plan to make it his life after school. 

"Are you going to write for Witch Weekly?  You could probably go from that to writing books and if you write for muggles there are a lot more of them than us."

"Maybe." Said Meredith. "I have not made up my mind yet." Her dad did not make her work there in the holidays. He offered. She did sometimes. But she could be a healer too. Or an auror. Or anything she wanted to be. Maybe she would be a singer and harpist and travel the world.

"Maybe I should borrow your books and see if inspiration strikes." She smiled at Kelvin. Shrugged. Someone's cat dashed past them pursuing a mouse. A portrait of a little girl let out a high squeal. "Good cat!" Praised Meredith. Even though she had no idea whose cat it was.

"You are going to the museum? Right?" She changed the subject. "I swear if I go one day and go back the next I will see different things. My heart cannot make its mind up what it most desires ever."