It was 6:00. Dinnertime. Normally, Eirene would have left the common room by now and followed the line of hungry students to the Great Hall. However, she had a plan. So, she poked her head out of the girl’s dormitory and waited for the stragglers to leave.

She glanced around. Only a few people were still in the common room, but Sasha wasn’t there, at least, so this would have to do. It certainly helped that she’d memorized his schedule and didn’t expect him to be back until 6:30, 7:00. More than enough time to-

The Book! Eirene dashed to her dorm room, relieved to see that the first-year girls were gone, as well. She dug out The Book from underneath her mattress, hugging it to her chest to hide the cover. If anyone saw what was written on it, they’d know! She’d be a goner for sure!

Eirene made her way back to the common room, trying to decide if she should leave it out in the open, where she’d found it. She knew she couldn’t pretend it had been there all this time, not when Sasha had (politely and carefully) turned the whole room upside down looking for it one day. She glanced at the boy’s dormitory and cringed. Oh, no. That couldn’t be an option.

Yet, if she put it in his room, he’d be sure to find it. Perhaps he’d think one of his mates had safely returned it to him!

With this in mind, Eirene crept towards the boy’s dormitory, sneaking glances at the few oblivious Ravenclaws in the room. As she went up the stairs and stepped into the corridor of the dorm, she breathed a sigh of relief. And then, she wrinkled her nose.

The stench of sweaty socks and stale Fritos assaulted her nostrils! Eirene swayed, horrified. She reached a hand out to steady herself against the wall, only to touch a wad of old gum.

“Ewwwww!” She squealed, immediately casting Scourgify on her delicate fingers.

Pinching her nose, she bravely marched forward, looking for the fifth-year boy’s room. It didn’t take her too long to find it, with each boy’s name scribbled on a piece of parchment and tacked to the doors. Eirene cautiously turned the handle and peeked in. The room was dark and empty, and the smell was marginally better. Attributing that solely to Sasha, she stepped in, cast Lumos, and quickly spotted the only bed that was actually made. Just like hers! Eirene smiled.

She stepped towards the bed and took one last look at the cover of The Book, decorated with chemistry symbols and German words that she barely understood. She’d made an effort, of course, checking out an English-German dictionary from the library and attempting to translate the text. However, she hadn’t made it past the introduction, and after a week of watching Sasha panic, she couldn’t keep the book any longer. She had to give it back.

Suddenly, just as she was relinquishing her death grip on the spine of the textbook, she heard a noise! Eirene dropped the book on the bed, whirled around with her wand still lit, and as the door was opening, dove underneath the bed in panic.

She extinguished her wand just as light filled the room.

He was drenched.  Even toes that had been securely enclosed in warm leather boots had the post-two-hour-bath-pruned feel to them.  The rain had started late last night and only seemed to get heavier as the day progressed.  Sasha and a few others had been intent on practicing through dinner but when the lightning started, they'd had to call it quits.  The Ravenclaws weren't going to help their chances of winning the cup if they started out the year with a third of the team getting fried. 

Unlike his teammates, Sasha would have found sitting in the Great Hall in his present condition impossible, even for food.  After a nice, warm shower, Sasha could curl up munch on what was left in his care package from his grandparents.  How Professor Greyfriar had managed to rig the system so packages sent through European mail to some boarding school in Appenzell, Switzerland found their way into owl claws to be brought up to Hogwarts, Sasha didn't have a clue.  But, luckily, the system was still in place, even after the change of guard.  It spared Sasha of trying to make up some reason why he couldn't get mail anymore and it meant he could still get boxes filled with cheeses, pretzels, dried fruit and a variety of sausages and pastries from home.  The sausages he donated to his housemates, the rest made welcomed study snacks.  Or, substitute dinners when the state of his hair made getting dinner in the Great Hall impossible.

On his way through the common room, Sasha felt compelled to sneak a few more peaks under couches and chairs.  How had he managed to misplace his chemistry text?  He simply couldn't understand - it just wasn't like him to loose things.  Even if (God forbid) someone had found it, what use would they have for it?  It wasn't in the lost and found and it was no place to be found in his dorms or the common areas. 

The search left him empty handed again and the cold had penetrated his bones enough to make getting dry and changed a higher priority than finding the book.  Which said a lot. 

He moved straight to his trunk and fished out a fresh set of knit pants and a polo shirt and peeled out of his wet Quidditch uniform.  The mundane cardboard box that held the contents of his care package was tossed on the bed just as a slight rustling drew Sasha's attention towards one of the less organized bed areas.  "Allo, süße Minka."  Sasha scooped up the slender russian blue cat that crept out from under the neighboring bed it had sought refuge under with the unexpected invasion.  With the Jimmy's cat cradled in his arms, Sasha plopped himself on his bed, only then noticing the textbook that had been partially concealed by the bed hangings. 

He glanced quickly around the room but it still appeared as empty as he'd found it.  Cradling the cat with one hand, he drew the text towards him with the other.  There was, of course, no way Sasha would have overlooked a thick textbook sitting on his bed for the last week.  Someone must have put it there.  One of his dormmates?  It had to have been.  Who else would have known where he slept? 

"Are you all watching me or something?" he asked the empty room.  The dorm room didn't have that many effective hiding places but, if this was a joke, maybe one or two had found a way to watch him for a reaction.  But, the room remained still.  "He fished a piece of cheese, broke off a small piece for the cat and flipped the book open. 

Eirene could not believe this was happening! Someone had entered the room and made soggy, squishy noises on the floor with his muddy boots. Surely that couldn’t be Sasha! She hoped that whoever it was would grab something from the room and leave, but when he opened a trunk and started peeling off his clothes, it seemed like he was here to stay.

Hiding underneath Sasha’s bed spared her from seeing anything, which was good, as far as she was concerned. Regardless, Eirene covered her eyes as the boots were removed. This was extremely embarrassing, and the stuffy air underneath the bed made her nose twitch. She should have just stayed put and gotten caught! She was not a Peeping Tim, or whatever it was called!

Eirene’s eyes popped open when she heard a voice and a thump as something small hit the bed. Oh, no. It was Sasha! If only 11 year olds could apparate, she’d go poof right then and there, back to the common room, her dorm, or even the Forbidden Forest if it meant avoiding this mortification!

She saw the beautiful cat creep out from underneath another bed, and for a moment she thought those yellow eyes focused on her. But then Sasha’s arms scooped low, and he picked the cat up and away from her line of sight.

Creak went the bed when he sat down. She could feel the springs brush her back. If she could just stay hidden a little longer, if she could just wait it out…

What if Sasha stayed here throughout dinner? And then what if his roommates came back, and she never had a chance to escape? What is she had to sleep there tonight, on the floor?

What if she had to use the loo?

As these thoughts ran through her head, Sasha spoke again up again, and Eirene froze, caught in her own indecisiveness. However, her body made the decision for her. Her nose twitched. Then it twitched again.

Eirene quickly pinched her nose, trying to stop the inevitable. Even under Sasha’s bed, dust bunnies lurked. It was a fact of life.

“Achooo!” She sneezed, covering her mouth and stifling the sound a bit.

Eirene put her head in her hands and shook her head in despair. He must have heard that. Or maybe he didn’t? She could only hope…

Most evenings, when the dorm room was quiet and empty, Jimmy's Minka was perfectly content to collapse into a listless blob in whoever's lap was vacant and available.  As a kitten during their first year, the Russian Blue had been a downright terror - most evenings found the fifth year Ravenclaw boys sorting through the socks that Minka had collected under various beds.  Since their third year, Minka had been a quiet, content, mature cat.  But, for some inexplicable reason, on this evening Minka kept slinking out of Sasha's lap only to prowl the bed and return for another small morself of cheese. 

For the third time in the last ten minutes, Minka nosed her way under Sasha's arm to step across his book and slink towards the edge of his bed.  Had Sasha not been watching the cat's abnormally curious prowl, he might have missed the subtle noise.  But, between his attention already trained to the edge of the bed and the cat's startled reaction, it was impossible to miss. 

Had someone just ... sneezed?  Someone ... under his bed?  Sasha sat on the bed, staring at edge as Minka stretched her neck out to sniff.  No... it couldn't be.  That would be ... a little strange otherwise.  Maybe ... maybe a cat from another dorm room managed to sneak in here.  And sneezed.  A rather large sneeze for a cat. 

This was one of those scenarios that left Sasha tempted to ignore it in the hope that it would go away.  Maybe, if given time, who or whatever had sneezed under his bed would, simply, go away.  Conversations could be awkward and confusing under normal circumstance but - what, exactly, did someone say to ... whoever would choose to be under a bed?  Presumably, they were a Ravenclaw.  Otherwise, how would they have gotten in?  But, who in Ravenclaw would bother hiding under his bed?  Unless ... unless ... it wasn't a Ravenclaw ...

Sasha froze as a montage of all the suspenseful movie scenes his sister had forced him to sit through want shuffling through his head - most of them revolving around monsters (or ax-wielding raving lunatics, either really) waiting until some poor, unwitting soul is foolish enough to fall asleep.  And, - as unlikely as they were to be under his bed - from everything Sasha had seen, Hogwarts seemed just the place to harbor such questionable souls.  There was little logic to his worry but, then, it wasn't like any other explanation was anymore logical.  Quickly, Sasha scrambled off of his bed (grabbing Minka just in case), only turning back when he was standing alongside the neighboring bed. 

Slowly, half expecting to see something akin to that one really big, shaggy muppet, Sasha bent over and peered under the edge of the bed. 

"Gott sei dank!"  At first, Sasha was completely relieved at the sight of the girl under the bed.  But, once the initial dose of adrenaline wore off, the peculiarity of the situation registered.  He sat down on the bed behind him, the cat still in his arms. 

"What are you doing?"  He asked, staring at the girl.  "Why are ... get out from under there.  You're not supposed -"  Sasha's gaze flickered from the girl to the book still lying open on his bed and back again.  "You ... you put the - my book on my bed?"  He asked, still slightly puzzled though trying to put the pieces back together.

Eirene waited, holding her hand over her offending nose in case it got any other ideas. A few seconds passed by, and then suddenly, the weight shifted from on top of the bed and the springs lifted up to their normal position. Heart pounding, Eirene squeezed her eyes shut and stayed very still. It was dark underneath the bed. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to see her. If she couldn’t see him (which was why she shut her eyes), maybe he couldn’t see her! Maybe-

“Gott sei dank!”

Eirene let out a squeal and her eyes popped open. She had no idea what that meant, but it didn’t sound good.

Hiding was no longer an option. Eirene scooted out from underneath the bed, aware of every dust particle that clung to her and any wrinkles in her clothes. She stood, trying to be graceful about it, and wiped off her clothes as Sasha started asking questions.

Gulping, Eirene stole a glance at him and then stared at the book on his bed. None of this was supposed to happen! First she’d gotten caught hiding underneath his bed, and then he’d figured out that she had been the one to bring his book back. She’d better say something, fast!

“I’m sorry!” she squeaked.  “I… I found your book! I found your book, and I knew it was yours, so I thought you’d want it back, and I was going to put it back in the common room, where you’d left it, but then what if you didn’t see it, or what if- what if some horrible person took it, and you never got it back!”

Eirene took a gulp of air and went on, talking even faster now. “So then I decided, if I left it in your room, you couldn’t miss it! I found your name on the door and looked in and no one was there, because everyone is in the Great Hall.” Where he should be, she thought, pausing for a second. “So I put the book on your bed and I was just about to leave, when, when you came in. I wasn’t sure who it was, and I panicked, and… hid.”

Blushing, Eirene looked at him to see if he believed her. She thought she’d done a good job of explaining without making it seem like she’d taken the book, but she wasn’t the most convincing liar. Her eyes darted around the room and she touched her face a lot while talking. Eirene also didn’t realize that a few things were suspicious, like how she knew he’d left the book in the common room, and why she hadn’t just given the book to him in person.

As juvenile as the fear of monsters under the bed might be, Sasha couldn't deny the relief that followed the discovery of the girl.  Eirene.  The girl who'd fallen in the lake and who'd been brought (not the most willingly) to the Muggle Appreciation Club.  Of course, he wasn't going to admit to his few moments of fear and, luckily, Eirene seemed wrapped up enough in her own humiliation to have noticed his initial bout of anxiety. 

His mind still catching up with the current predicament, Sasha stared blankly at the girl only vaguely registering her attempts to free herself of the few dust bunnies that had clung to her clothes.  Slowly, her actions started to register and Sasha nodded, tugging his wand from his pocket.  "Here, wait.." he said.  It took two attempts but, finally, he cast a refreshening charm on the girl's clothes. 

"You found it?"  Sasha repeated, the suspicion was clear in his voice.  "I've been looking for it for almost a week - when ... when did you find it?"  And, there was no doubt Sasha had turned the common room and library (and several other locations) upside down in his search.  How was it this girl just happened upon it now?  "You found it in the ... how did you know that was where I lost it?" 

Eirene had decided putting the book back on his bed was the easiest, safest way to return it?  That ... that made no sense.  "Why ... why didn't you just give it to me?"  Was he that unapproachable?  Sasha pushed himself to his feet and stepped forward to pick up the textbook and settled down on his own bed.  There was a little about the girl's story that was measuring up - but Sasha wasn't quite the type to point that out blatantly.  He was looking for the real story (to figure out how much damage control he had ahead of him) not to humiliate her.  Perhaps, playing to her guilt (that she seemed to be experiencing) was the best route. 

"Well, thank you for bringing me my book back.  I appreciate your efforts and honesty." 

The pride Eirene felt at telling such a convincing lie faded when Sasha’s questions began. Perhaps she wasn’t as convincing as she thought. She gaped at him, speechless, as he asked when she found the book, and how she knew where he’d lost it. Those were simple questions that she didn’t have an answer for. Panic rose up in her again, but she couldn’t hide under the bed this time and hope the bad situation would dissolve. She had to outsmart one of the smartest Ravenclaws she knew, and think of an explanation for everything.

Eirene glanced all around the room, as if an answer would appear in the bed curtains or the Quidditch magazines on the floor. She remained quiet, glancing down at her feet when he moved back to his bed and wondered aloud why she hadn’t just given him the book personally. There was something in his voice that sounded… disappointed. Eirene couldn’t meet his eyes. Her determination to think of an even better, bigger lie soon faded as well.

Then, he thanked her. Eirene stared at him, horrified. Honesty? Effort? Those were two qualities she thought she’d had, that her parents always emphasized as being important, and yet the only effort she’d spent was in keeping the book from him, and then lying to him about it. Oh Merlin… she really was a horrible person!

Her lower lip trembled and she stared down at her shoes. What to do, what to do.

“But… I’m not!” she exclaimed suddenly, doing a funny little turn around the room like her father did whenever he started pacing. “I’m not honest,” she told him, stopping in the middle of the room. Eirene gave him a miserable look and glanced at the book in his hands.

“I took it,” she whispered dramatically, glancing away from him and down at her feet.

“I know!” she cried, before he had a chance to say much. “It’s so awful. It’s just, I… I saw it, and noticed it was in German, so I knew it was yours. And- remember the muggle club meeting I went to last week? I was curious. I hadn’t seen any books like that around Hogwarts. I knew it couldn't be a wizarding subject.”

That was partly true. She had been curious, and kept on telling herself that was why she’d kept the book for so long and even tried to translate it. It had nothing to do with the book’s owner. Nothing at all!

“So, I thought I’d try to translate it. I thought it would be easy, because I already grew up learning Greek, you know. But it wasn’t easy. The sentences are all in the wrong order! And I couldn’t, in good conscience, keep the book any longer, because… because you seemed to miss it so much!”

With that, Eirene had run out of words, so she hung her head, expecting him to ask her to leave and want nothing to do with her. That expectation made her feel even worse, and she brought a hand up to her face, pretending that she had something in her eye.

His tactic was working - but, perhaps, a little too well.  He knew all the telltale signs of getting caught in a lie and they were welling up, full force, in the first year.  It hadn't been his intention to terrify or humiliate her - it had just been to find out the truth about the book.  Again, to know how much damage control he had ahead of him. 

Was he supposed to be making a lesson out of this?  He was a prefect.  And, despite his own hypocrisy, lying was wrong.  He hated it. And, he could probably even convince himself that it wasn't that much of a hypocrisy - if it wasn't a necessity, he wouldn't be doing it. 

He blushed, slightly, embarrassed and slightly guilty when the young girl stared at him, clearly on the brink of tears.  Sasha Schlagenweit was making an eleven year old girl cry.  Really - perhaps he should just stay in the boy's dorm and never go near the opposite sex every again.  Swear off girls completely; he clearly was entirely incompetent.  Of course, current events would make one question the efficacy of hiding in the boy's dorm. 

Sasha lifted both hands in an effort to calm the girl.  "Alright, alright," he said, trying to sound collected when the girl's own tears were only making him more uneasy.  But - ok - he needed to focus on the positive, right?  "I appreciate you telling me the tr-," he started but was cut off by her dramatic confession. 

"You were curious?"  His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  "About ... the German?  Or the book?"  He was so used to keeping the book and his studies private, it hadn't ever occurred to him that someone might be ... well, interested in them.  He gazed down at the text in his hand and flipped it open, chewing on his lip.  "It's science.  Yeah - it's not wizarding - it's what muggle kids study in school." 

He couldn't help it.  Sasha snorted a laugh, looking up at the girl.  "I'm sorry - I don't mean to ... you were trying to translate Chemistry?"  He could only imagine how that might have gone.  Even if she'd gotten it translated correctly, it was unlikely it would have made much sense.  "German isn't like Greek.  And, yeah, sentence structure is pretty different but - even if ... Chemistry often doesn't make a lot of sense most of the time." 

"Well - thank you for bringing it back.  I was almost about to order a new one and - that's just complicated. I - and if you're curious about something in the future, you can just ask.  Okay?"

“Really?” Eirene breathed, surprised that he didn’t seem angry and had just told her she could simply ask him about muggle subjects the next time she got curious. Her impending tears and the emotional turmoil of the past few minutes faded away very quickly. She had hope! He didn’t hate her for lying, or for taking his book. He was still being nice to her, which was absolutely astounding.

Eirene remained standing, but stepped closer to Sasha so she could look at the page he’d turned to. She felt awkward, because she had no idea what the etiquette was for being in a boy’s dorm room, and was certain her mother would panic if she ever asked about it. However, she didn't notice if Sasha felt uneasy, and took comfort in the fact that he was acting so nice and normal. It wasn’t everyday you found a first year hiding under your bed. Anyone else might have treated her like a meddlesome child, but he treated her like a person, and talked to her like she was intelligent and interesting.

“I am sorry about taking your book,” she added hastily, glancing at him. “It would have been awful if you had ordered another one. I’m not even sure why I…” she hesitated, then tried to modify her sentence. “I know why, because it’s a muggle subject and it’s different, but I should have asked you directly.”

Eirene nodded solemnly once, then brightened again. “I only got through the introduction, and I don’t understand any of the symbols, and there’s one thing I kept thinking about. Chemistry is science, so it’s a lot like Potions, right? Is there any overlap?” she wondered, forgetting etiquette and sitting next to him.

“I mean to say, do you think muggles do magic without even knowing it, sometimes? When they make things happen with science. Because they don’t cast any spells, but… they are still able to create things, and a lot of Potions isn’t even spells, but mixing and doing things in the right order and having the right ingredients.”

She looked at him, hoping she wouldn’t think she was silly, but unable to resist talking to someone who actually seemed interested in her ideas.

Finally!  It seemed like a bloody miracle but, success!  He wasn't sure what it was or how he'd done it but, somehow, Sasha had managed to say something that made a girl relax rather than get even more agitated!  Now if he could only figure out what it was so he could do it again. 

"It's alright," he said, shaking his head and looking back down at the book.  He was just relieved that his text wasn't wandering around the castle like a stray puppy.  And, he wouldn't have to reorder it  - which would have been tricky.  He hadn't quite figured out how he was going to manage it.  It seemed unlikely the new librarian would have helped him get his hands on a copy and he really didn't want to explain to Gerhard that he'd somehow lost his textbook and needed a new one. 

He looked up at the girl and tapped his fingers against the hard cover awkwardly.  "I'd just ask-" he started, but hesitated a moment, trying to choose words that would explain what he needed to say while minimizing any follow up questions on the topic.  "I already get enough grief from purebl- purists.  I try not to make it too public that I really, you know, study this stuff.  I don't mind you asking about it, but I'd appreciate it if you were ... discrete."  Making it public knowledge that he studied this stuff would invariably cause more trouble.  Even if those that really didn't care found out, it was inevitable people would ask him why. 

Sasha watched the girl sit down on the edge of his bed, both surprised and impressed by her questions.  They certainly weren't easy questions and Sasha was far from being an expert on the topic.  But, his conversations with Mr. Eleor and his own bilateral situation had, definitely, left him fascinated by those very questions. 

"I don't know for sure," Sasha admitted, looking back down at the textbook, his brow knitted as he tried to put words to the thoughts and theories his mind had been pondering for several months now.  "I mean - I've ..." he hesitated, the feeling of confessing being rather foreign.  "I've been kind of studying both the muggle and wizarding side of things since my first year - well, the muggle stuff since before, obviously.  But, you know, it's always been really preliminary stuff.  It's been a kind of a can't see the forest for the trees type of thing?"  He glanced at Eirene, trying to gauge whether she was still following.  "I've been focused on the details and I ... I'm just now starting to see the forest?" 

But, he was now definitely curious about that very question - and hoped to continue pursing it.  As for now, "I only really have theories - but, I think there's a lot more overlap than wizards like to admit.  Both wizards and muggles are studying to find ways to explain their worlds, right - we learn to make potions but we also learn what role those ingredients play in our world?  Which - I think - is pretty much Chemistry to muggles.  But, in the end, we might be muggles and wizards but the world we share is the same.  To muggles, water is two hydrogen atoms bonded to an oxygen atom and has three phases.  To wizards, ... water's still the same - we just ..." 

"Sorry," he offered sheepishly, his voice trailing off.  In his enthusiasm for those very questions, he'd started rambling - undoubtedly giving the poor girl more of an answer than she'd been expecting.  "But, yes, I think it's more complicated - but also simpler - than either muggles or wizards want to make it.  And, I don't think wizards give muggles enough credit.  Has magic gotten any wizards to the moon?"  He shrugged, flipping the book over to skim the back cover.

Eirene’s brow furrowed, but then she realized what he’d been about to say. Purebloods. The purebloods who were purists, that is, might give him a hard time if she asked about Chemistry in public. She understood that. The thought of what Effie would say worried her very much, and somehow, she’d kept quiet about the muggle club meeting she had gone to last week. It felt so strange and uncomfortable, keeping a secret from her best friend, but she couldn’t imagine that Effie’s reaction would be very accepting. Elias, too… he would give her his cold, superior look that she hated so much.

She nodded at Sasha, a part of her thrilled that he’d trust her with his Chemistry secret.

When he answered her question, at first Eirene held her breath, afraid he might brush her off or give her a short answer that invited no other questions. Yet, he did just the opposite. He talked about how he’d been studying both sides, the magical and muggle, since he was a first year. A first year like her! Then he said something she didn’t quite understand, about seeing the forest for the trees, but it had to do with the big picture, she thought, so Eirene nodded again and murmured an “Mmhmm.”

As he went on, Eirene almost wished she could take notes, because she wanted to remember what he said and really understand it. It was interesting, and different. The world we share is the same. Eirene had never thought about it like that before. She’d always seen muggles as being completely separate, completely removed from her own life, and before Hogwarts, they were. Now, she was getting to know people like Pax and Sasha, and the worlds didn’t seem so separate anymore. Though often she felt like her childhood friends and family expected them to remain separate.

Eirene was sidetracked as she puzzled over the hydrogen atoms, and she thought Sasha might have noticed her confusion because he apologized.

“What?" Was she supposed to be sorry about something too? Eirene frowned, thinking back, but she’d committed no social blunder (like hiding under the bed) in the past few minutes or so. Then Sasha shrugged, making a comment about the moon, and Eirene latched on to it with enthusiasm.

“The moon,” she exclaimed. “Well, I suppose…. Those people who fly into space? Pilots? They help us learn more about astronomy, don’t they.”

Eirene paused, feeling sad all of a sudden, though she hadn’t yet sorted out why. That would come with the talking, which she really liked to do.

“Sometimes I feel so… dumb,” she admitted, touching the end of her braid and glancing at him shyly. It was something she’d never admitted before. “Like I don’t know anything, about muggles. It’s like a whole different world, like a foreign country, and I don’t know the language or... even what the objects are, or how things work.”

She glanced at him again, before continuing. “Whenever I ask questions, my parents- many people,” she tried to hide her slip-up. “They don’t really want to explain. Except for you. I don’t like not knowing how things work,” Eirene sighed. She hated feeling left behind, or ignorant in any way, and it bothered her that Mairead and the other muggleborns understand things she didn’t.

“Everyone expects things to be separate, but they’re not. And some of the muggleborns are mean to me, which makes me think…” she trailed off, choosing not to finish that thought. “But you’re really nice. And Pax is halfblood and he’s nice. It’s just really confusing!”

Her posture, which was usually ramrod straight, sunk a little. “And I know I should be proud of my wizarding heritage and background, but then I hear the p-word. The purists. And I feel bad. Guilty,” she mumbled the last bit, surprised yet relieved that she’d told him so much. For her, his willingness to listen to her questions about science opened up all the worries she’d been bottling up over the semester, so it all just spilled out.

It was clear Eirene had become distracted - whether it was boredom or confusion or she was just simply thinking about what Sasha had said it was hard to judge.  Either way, his apology only seemed to make her more confused.  Sasha waited patiently, allowing Eirene to decide whichever direction she wanted the conversation to head in. 

But, rather than backing out of the conversation, it seemed she had more questions.  Sasha grinned slightly, shaking his head.  "Pilots fly planes, but they don't really fly into space.  They just fly planes across the sky, in our own atmosphere.  The people that fly into space - we call them Astronauts.  Well - they can learn a lot about Astronomy from Earth - muggles can see ... well, actually - this past summer they finished a telescope - a long tube that can look into space.  It can see ... they say ... more than a hundred million light years into space.  That's - that's really really far."  He knew that was unlikely to mean much to her - he knew what a light year was and couldn't really grasp what that meant.  But, he hoped, with his tone of voice he'd make it clear how bloody far it was.  "I think he nearest star, they think, is less than five light years away.  So, muggles can see a lot of what happens in space from Earth.  But, they learn a lot about Earth on the moon, too." 

Trying to explain muggle science to a pureblood wasn't easy.  It seemed hard to even figure out where to begin.  And, every answer seemed to promote more questions.  But, that was kind of the backbone of science, wasn't it?  "I don't know how much cooperation there is in our studies," Sasha admitted.  "If wizards really use what muggles have learned.  They should, though.  Who knows what they could find out about our world if they did."  It wouldn't be unlike balancing a chemistry equation, Sasha realized, glancing down at the book.  Each half of the equation (the wizarding and the muggle) held pieces to the same process and puzzle.  It wouldn't be until they could be compared side-by-side and each half related to the other that it could really make sense. 

Like, the muggles' law of gravity and levitation charms.

Sasha's gaze left the book in his hand and moved back towards Eirene.  For him, it was a little strange to think that this young pureblood was feeling jealous and self-conscious of her lack of knowledge about muggles when it was usually familiarity with muggles that got muggleborns in trouble.  Perhaps more purebloods felt that way - it was unlikely they'd show that around the likes of him, though. 

"It's ignorance, not stupidity," Sasha corrected, shaking his head.  At first it might not have sounded like  a profound difference, but it was.  "You don't know it because you haven't been allowed to learn it.  But, you can.  Luckily, ignorance is curable," he added with a slight grin.  "But, that's why it's good you came to the club.  And, when you're a third year, you can take muggle studies."

"Some of the muggleborns are mean?" he asked.  Of course, one's blood status had nothing to do with one's personality.  There were mean and nice people in all the blood classes.  But, that didn't make it any less or more right.  Was he supposed to be doing something prefect-ly about it?  "What do they do?  They haven't hurt you or anything?" 

Her last concern was one Sasha understood all too well, though it had little to do with the wizarding world.  At least, as far as he knew.  At first, he simply nodded his head, not sure if he really wanted to go into the topic.  He barely knew this girl - other than fishing her out of the lake and ... finding her under his bed.  But, she looked so defeated, so downtrodden, he found it difficult to not say anything.  Sasha chewed his lip a moment as he chose his words ahead of time.  His sister had said very much the same thing to him, several times before.  Mr. Eleor had repeated them rather recently.  He knew the right answer, believing it was always harder - freeing yourself from the guilt was even worse.  But, he could repeat the words. 

"There's pride and then there's arrogance and righteousness.  We can be proud of where we come from without believing our heritage and background makes us better than anyone else.  You can be proud that your family are all wizards but ... should I be less proud because my mother is a muggle and I don't even know what my father was?  And ..." he hesitated a moment.  "Muggles have done a lot of that stuff, too, you know - it's not just wizards."

The one solid nugget of information that she’d gathered from Sasha’s explanation of astronauts, was that a light year was really really far away. She listened, though, and decided she’d try to find out more later, if she could. Perhaps Pax would also have an idea of how light years and astronauts and telescopes worked.

He mentioned that wizards should use what muggles have learned to discover new things about the world, which led Eirene to wonder if sharing knowledge could ever go both ways. If, perhaps, muggles and wizards could ever teach each other and be open about both their worlds. However, that thought was so radical to her that she pushed it out of her mind and focused again on what Sasha was saying. There must be a reason why muggles couldn’t know about wizards, and that must be because muggles were dangerous and would try to take advantage of magic. She remembered her mother saying this, once.

When Sasha grinned at her, she smiled back, relieved to know that he didn’t think she was stupid. Ignorant wasn’t much better, but at least that could be fixed! Eirene kept smiling but glanced away when he mentioned the muggle studies class. It seemed like a huge step to go from a single muggle club meeting to taking a class about muggles, and she doubted her parents would be pleased about wasting her time on ‘frivolous’ topics.

Eirene hadn’t expected Sasha to be concerned when she’d said that some of the muggleborns were mean to her. She’d just needed to let it out. She noted the worried tone of his voice and instantly perked up, eyes widening dramatically.

“Well, no- yes!” she exclaimed, appearing far too thrilled about the chance to elaborate. “One time, in Herbology, this girl tried to hit me, and she got into Big Trouble.” So did Eirene. For that little thing called a fire. “And she definitely started the fire too, but I got the worst punishment for it, and had to shovel-” her nose wrinkled, “dung!” she ended in a whisper. “I don’t think Professor Bombay hates us anymore, but it’s so hard to tell!”

Eirene calmed down a bit now that her exciting story was over. “They mostly say mean things. Like when I do well in class. It’s not my fault they don’t try.”

After she admitted that she felt guilty about the purists, Sasha seemed unsure and hesitated before replying. Eirene wondered for a moment if she had said too much, but then he spoke and it became clear that he’d just been thinking.

She thought she understood him, but she still didn’t know how someone could act proud without acting superior. Effie was proud that she was a pureblood, and showed it by expressing disapproval towards the muggleborns whenever she could. Mairead was proud that she was a muggleborn, and showed it by shouting the m-word and laughing at Eirene. Where was the middle ground? Eirene couldn’t yet see how to separate pride from superiority. It felt like she had to pick a side, muggle or pureblood, and she wasn’t about to insult who she was by choosing muggle.

Eirene looked up, visibly confused. “Really?” Knowing next to nothing about muggle history, she had no idea that they were guilty of discrimination as well.

“Why don’t you know what your father is?” she asked quietly, failing to consider that this might be a touchy subject. She also completely failed to consider that the father he spoke of might not even be in the picture. Eirene had this idea in her head that every family had two parents, a mother and a father, and one or two children, and they all lived in a nice house, and the children all had their own rooms, and if they were lucky they got to ride horses in the backyard. “My father has subjects that are off limits. Does your father not want to talk about it?”

Sasha peered down at the girl sitting next to him and regarded her as she seemed to mull over what he'd said.  He could only imagine how overwhelming all of what he said might be.  Astronauts versus pilots.  Light years, telescopes and potions and Chemistry.  He could just guess how different and foreign and overwhelming it might be.  Though, come to think of it, he did know what it was like.  He just had to think back to his first year to remember.  It was overwhelming and it had all been presented in a rather sink or swim fashion. 

Eirene was, in many ways, Sasha's test case - as far as purebloods exploring muggle culture first hand.  Outside of class, at least.  Despite her trepidations during that first meeting, she seemed at least willing to try things out.  Which was rather brave and admirable.  And, he hoped she'd continue to, as well.  Sasha didn't know much about her family - maybe they were more open-minded and she'd gotten it from them? 

But, of course, such things weren't nearly as important to a first year as things like bullying.  Yet another topic Sasha was rather familiar with - though, perhaps, he wasn't the best role model. 

"A girl tried to hit you?"  Sasha asked, clearly surprised, shocked and horrified by the idea.  "In Herbology?  Professor Bombay's class?  I ... that was ..."  He could only imagine how that had done over.  Professor Bombay was one of Sasha's favorite teaches, it was true but even he was well aware of the man's potential temper.  And, the rather strong protective streak he had towards his plants.  Roughhousing anywhere near them was  ... just bad.  "She was the one that started the fire?"  Of course, rumors had spread - as they were prone to doing at Hogwarts. 

Sasha didn't answer the question of whether Professor Bombay still hated them - chances were good he still did.  It would probably take a couple of years before any of them would drop off of his 'naughty list.' 

"They say mean things when you do well in class?  Why - whatever for?  How can someone be ..."  But, then he remembered.  It seemed to happen less now but he remembered getting grief for being 'nerdy.'  "No, it's not your fault - they're probably just jealous."  Ahh ... jealousy of their accomplishments.  The really booky kids loved that excuse.  "But, you must know some kids who are nice to you - like that Hufflepuff.  Pax?  He seemed nice.  And - the other Ravenclaws.  I mean, we're all kind of ..."  What?  Nerdy?  Booky?  Mad in their own sort of strange logical ways?  "- overachievers." 

Clearly, muggle history wasn't something Eirene was aware of.  "Yeah," he confirmed.  Muggles were as guilty as the wizarding world of discrimination.  "We see it a lot.  Their history is loaded with it, too.  Sometimes it got really bad, too.  I think it's just ... humans, really." 

"I never met my father," Sasha admitted, shrugging his shoulders.  Clearly, Eirene hadn't considered the fact that his father simply didn't exist in his world.  Never had.  In any capacity.  "I was raised by my stepfather - he's my sisters' father, though.  But ... my mother - I guess she met ..."  How did one explain a brief, illegitimate child-producing affair to an eleven-year-old that was a casual acquaintance.  Even more importantly, how did Sasha do that?  "My father was gone by the time I was born.  I was actually eight before I found out my sisters' father wasn't my father."  It had been news to his younger sister and Gerhard, too.  As far as Sasha knew, none of the extended family was aware of the affair. 

"So, what did you gather of Chemistry?"  Sasha asked, with a slight grin and he flipped the book over in his hands and flipped the front cover open.  "What does your translation look like?"

“Pax is very nice,” Eirene agreed with a nod. In fact, he was nice to everyone, and she didn’t know how he did it. He was easy to get along with, and seemed to notice the good qualities of people. By contrast, Eirene was not easy to get along with, loudly voiced her opinions (even when it was better to keep quiet), and got upset at the slightest criticism or teasing. However, despite their differences, they were becoming friends, she thought. She never expected to be friends with a boy, or a halfblood. And yet here she was, enjoying the company of another boy, who was a fifth-year muggleborn!

“It’s just a few, really… though they are really mean to me,” she looked at him earnestly. It was only Mairead and her friends that made things difficult for her, but she was still bothered by it. She wanted to be well-liked. She wanted to be friends with almost everyone, like Pax was, but she didn’t understand how to make that happen or change her own attitudes toward that group of Gryffindors. Usually, when someone made fun of her, she retaliated and tried to get them into trouble, and sometimes even started drama during the times they were leaving her alone. Of course, Eirene didn’t see this about herself, and couldn’t express any of it to Sasha. In her mind, they were the bullies, and she was the victim. Also, Sasha’s shocked and concerned reaction was just the kind of attention she wanted, and though it wasn’t intentional, Eirene couldn’t help but ham up the story for all it was worth.

Luckily for Sasha, he didn’t have to play at counselor for too much longer, because the conversation shifted to the subject of discrimination and then fathers. Sasha’s father, who he had never met. Eirene’s mouth dropped open a little as she tried to understand what he was saying. He was raised by a step-father, not his real father. She’d heard about those. Step-fathers and step-mothers were supposed to be truly awful! Eirene’s heart went out to him and she started imagining Sasha sweeping the ashes in a cold room somewhere, like that story… Cinderbell? Whatever it was, she thought it was horrible that his real father hadn’t stuck around to get to know him. Hearing about it made her uncomfortable, because it was so far out of the realm of her experience, but because it happened to Sasha, she felt sympathetic towards him too.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered with wide eyes. “I couldn’t imagine not knowing my own father. It just doesn’t seem right, and I don’t see how someone could just leave. It’s not very responsible.”

Sasha didn’t act too upset about it, however, and cheerfully moved back to discussing Chemistry. Eirene mirrored his smile and looked back at the book, though his question made her a bit nervous.

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly show you the notes I took. It’s embarrassing! I couldn’t even-”

Eirene froze, remembering something. Something even more embarrassing than her translations- the doodles in the margins of the translations! She glanced at the page he’d flipped open to. In the crevice of the pages, a folded sheet of parchment stuck out, and she watched in horrified slow motion as the parchment slid out of the book and started to float to the floor.

She jumped a little, and reached as if to make a grab for it, but then she drew back, realizing that scrambling over Sasha to grab the note would just make her feel awkward. So, Eirene covered her face with her hands in typical dramatic fashion as she cried, “Don’t look! Don’t look at the note!”

Eirene’s reaction wasn’t entirely ridiculous. She had her reasons. Those doodles in the margins of the parchment? Pink hearts, of course. And inside the hearts, there were two names scrawled in a neat, tiny hand…