Merula Snyde was the spawn of the devil. Of that much, Zoë Spalding was sure.

During Potions, Merula had purposefully sabotaged Zoë's work, causing it to explode and for Snape to give his first detention of the year to Zoë.

Of course, since she was a Gryffindor and Merula was a Slytherin, it didn't matter how she protested and claimed Merula was the one at fault, it only added time to her detention after school with Snape. The cherry on top was that her brother, Achilles, thought it was hilarious and had become fast friends with Merula.

"Just forget about it," her new friend, Rowan, advised as they walked through the courtyard that evening after Zoë's detention.

The empty promise fell silent on Zoë's lips as she noticed Merula (speak of the devil, or rather, the spawn) standing in the centre of the courtyard, a group gathered around her to watch as she taunted a scared looking Gryffindor boy.

"Oh, hell no," Zoë snarled, immediately rushing to stand between him and the tip of Merula's wand.

"Ah, here to save the day, are you, Zo?" Merula sneered, each word spiked with sarcastic significance.

"Zo?" Her eyes flicked to Achilles, who was stood next to Merula. He smiled at her, expression guilty. Looking back to Merula, she clenched her jaw. "Back off, Snyde."

"Make me," she challenged, stepping forward and leaning close to Zoë's face. (Zoë hadn't noticed how purple the other girl's eyes were.)

"Please don't fight her," the boy behind her whispered.

"Ben..." His friend sighed, presumably trying to be reassuring, but he gave Zoë a not-so discreet look that said 'I mean, it wouldn't be the worst thing if you did...'

"No, Kai, I don't want her to get in trouble because of me," he murmured, and Merula scoffed.

Zoë whipped her head back around to face her, refocusing her fury by lifting her wand so it was pressed to Merula's throat. "I'm not afraid of you, Merula Snyde, and I don't mind getting into trouble if it means taking you down a few pegs."

Merula smirked, inhaling to give a response that was sure to have lots of bite when Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, dispersing the crowd in an instant.

"And what do you two think you're doing?" She asked, looking down at the two first years with distain clear on her face.

"I— uh—" Zoë stuttered. She was very good at getting into bad situations, but not so much when it came to getting out of them.

"Nothing, Professor," Merula said smoothly, eyes still burning into Zoë's, full of what Zoë could only describe as intense hate.

"Mm," McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "It better stay that way." Turning to the still-lingering spectators, she raised her voice and called out, "I wasn't aware they were serving dinner in the courtyard this evening! Best get to the Great Hall, hmm?"
Anyone who had still been watching hastily hurried to dinner and McGonagall followed them, giving one last judging look to Merula and Zoë.

Zoë shoved her wand into her ponytail, grabbing Rowan's arm and marching out of the courtyard before Merula could bait her into doing something else.

As Rowan was in Ravenclaw and Zoë was in Gryffindor the two had to part ways at the doors to the Great Hall with an agreement to meet up after dinner and Zoë was left to have awkward small talk with the other Gryffindor first years.

"I can't believe you stood up to Merula!" Evan (the Spaldings' childhood friend) exclaimed as way of greeting, immediately shifting so there was room for Zoë on the bench next to him.

"News travels fast," she commented, immediately reaching for a ladle of steaming soup.

"You're a hero," he grinned, and Zoë couldn't help but grin back. She and Evan got on well enough, but they'd never clicked the way Maddie and Evan had.

"Thanks for stepping in," Ben had joined them at the table, and he was looking much less pale than he had when Merula had been tormenting him in the courtyard.

"It's fine," Zoë muttered, embarrassment creeping in. It wasn't like she'd killed You-Know-Who or anything.

Luckily, Evan, being the chatterbox that he is, took control of the conversation. "Why was Snyde bullying you, anyway?"

"I guess I'm an easy target," Ben blushed.

If they were at the Hufflepuff table, Zoë was sure the others would have jumped in to reassure him, but since this was the Gryffindor table, the others just kind of murmured in agreement and moved on with their conversations.

(Ouch.)

Zoë wondered if Merula was basking in the sudden popularity the fight had given her among the Slytherins, and the thought made her blood boil.

She was right, of course: over at the Slytherin table, Merula was already making friends with the other Death Eater offspring.

"This year's turning out to be more fun than I thought it would be," Merula was saying, smirking at Achilles and Ismelda, who were either side of her, and subtly judging the reactions of the others around them, gauging who could be her ally in the future.

The guy directly in front of her (Barnaby Lee, was it?) seemed happy enough to nod along with whatever she said. He had a strong build and looked like he'd be good if it came down to a fight.

Hmm, she mused, he could be useful later.

"I agree," the girl next to him chipped in. (She looked like a Nott, but Merula didn't know her name. Yet.)

As if she could read her mind, she added, "I'm Delilah, Melda's friend."

"Our parents forced us together a lot growing up," Ismelda shrugged, slicing the potato on her plate neatly in two.

Delilah seemed a little put-off by that comment, and Merula wondered if she'd accidentally broken up a friendship so early in the year.

She smirked a little at the thought. Ismelda really admired her then.

Further down the table, the other four Slytherins who had yet to be drawn in by Merula's... charm (yes, let's go with charm) were sipping pumpkin juice and staring at each other intently.

Well, Ian Wilczek was staring at Winnie Whisp (with interest), and Winnie Whisp was staring at Dustin Sigurdsson (with suspicion), Dustin Sigurdsson was staring at Billie Clark (with annoyance) and Billie Clark was munching on coleslaw like her life depended on it.

Ian was the first to look away, instead turning his gaze to the girl in front of him.

"Ian Wilczek," he offered his hand to her, and she put down the forkful of cabbage salad and wiping her palm on her robes before taking it.

"Billie Clark," she said, raising her eyebrows in an unspoken question.

"Do you know who that is?" he asked, subtly gesturing to Winnie, who had since struck up a conversation with one of the older girls.

"She's the Wisp girl, isn't she?"

"Right," he murmured.

"What do you think of Snyde?" Billie said abruptly.

"I don't like her," he replied honestly. Ian was certain Billie felt the same, either way he knew she wasn't a mole.

Billie grinned, dimples showing. "I think we're gonna be good friends, Ian."

A/N

happy december 1st! 

for those unaware of my ongoing advent challenge, basically I'm going to be posting a new chapter of one of my works every day until Christmas as an advent calendar style challenge. follow my profile to follow along!  

gift chapters coming soon, so if you requested one stay tuned!!

hope you enjoyed, apologies if it was a bit disjointed

as always if your character wasn't mentioned/didn't play a main role they will next time, the Ravenclaws & Nadine will all be featured in the next chapter with cute plots so please don't be upset at the lack of mention! 

(griffindor boy chaos will most likely be the chapter after that don't worry Parker & Isabella!! I swear your ocs always have the most chaotic energy, I'm so excited to project stereotypical-Im-guy onto Caleb & Evan) 

oh and year one is only going to be 2/3 more chapters so we can get on with the quests soon

love, Im <3