The British Ministry of Magic claims that magical blood is dwindling in Pureblood families. This puts some students in awkward positions. Kris Averbach finds himself being dangled like a piece of meat in front of eligible Pureblood young ladies, but...
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Calliope made her way to Ancient Studies that night feeling particularly cheerful. Quidditch practice had gone wonderfully; she had once again caught the Snitch several times and their confidence was at an all-time high. She reached the History of Magic classroom and spotted Lavinia already sitting down. Calliope weaved her way past the tables to sit down next to her. They were still early. A group of Hufflepuffs were already at one of the tables in the front, but otherwise, the room was fairly empty.
"Hi Calliope," Lavinia said brightly as she sat down. "How was Quidditch practice?"
"Really good," she replied with a smile, but didn't elaborate. Both Ewan MacLeod and Took MacIver were sitting up front, and they were on the Hufflepuff team, their first opponents. Calliope glanced over at them and Lavinia took her meaning. She switched gears to tell her about how Aurelia Lindle, a Gryffindor student, had started a desk on fire yesterday during their Domestics Club meeting. A few of the Hufflepuffs up front turned around to add their own details to the story as more students walked in.
"Kit kept insisting he could smell the smoke on his robes," Lavinia said with a chuckle. "So Professor Tillsbury taught us a charm to remove odors."
"Which was actually pretty useful," Kristen Yardley chimed in.
"Aurelia should set things on fire more often," Took MacIver added with a grin.
"I don't know if I'd go that far," Lavinia said, shaking her head. She spotted someone at the door and broke into a wide smile. "Kris! Over here!"
Calliope turned to see that the Averbach brothers had just entered the room. Nik smiled while Kris turned an interesting shade of red. He made his way over to them while Nik took a seat at a table with another Slytherin. Lavinia stood up and moved a chair over so that Kris sat between them. Calliope was surprised. She'd thought Lavinia had made herself perfectly clear that she wasn't interested in dating Kris to appease his father's blood purist sentiment.
"Hello, Lavinia," Kris said as he settled between them. Then he turned to Calliope with a slightly shy smile. "Hi, Calliope."
"Hello," she replied politely.
"Congratulations on making Quidditch," he said. "I saw your tryout. You were brilliant. I had no idea you even liked Quidditch."
Calliope felt her cheeks go a little red. She still wasn't used to having people complimenting her on her performance. And why was it that it took Quidditch to get people to notice she was talented? She had been quite good at spells all along, but no one had ever taken any notice of that. "It seemed like something new to try," she said evasively. She wasn't about to tell Kristian Averbach about her need to outshine her sister. Although... she twisted slightly in her seat to glimpse Nik Averbach behind them. Perhaps Kris would understand what it felt like to be in the shadow of a perfect older sibling.
Kris glanced over his shoulder too and his eyebrows creased slightly. "Well," he said lightly. "From what Kit's said, Slytherin will have a run for their money this year."
