(Gif description: Peyton Alex Smith in front of a vehicle wearing a white tank top; he moves from the left side of the frame to the middle; there is a person seen in the bottom left corner, but just their hair, not their face. The gif's caption reads: "He's my best friend")

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❝ A fool always finds a greater fool to admire him. ❞

── Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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Gregory isn't the brightest wizard; as such, there are many things that confuse him, especially in school. The first and last questions on exams, for example (and every other one in between, they're all worded funny and whoever wrote the questions has a much higher vocabulary than he ever will). School is very hard. History of Magic is the most confusing subject of all time (he can't remember the dates to save his life), or maybe it's divination (that class just doesn't make any sense, and Professor Trelawney is the most unhelpful old bat Greg has ever met), or maybe it's Care of Magical Creatures (there's more accidents than not, and that's all Greg can retain from it).

He's nearly flunked out of Astronomy and potions (again with the stupid numbers). Herbology just gets messy, and there are so many motions and words he can't pronounce in Charms, it's impossible to keep up (plus there's a fair amount of goofing off in that class, because Flitwick can't keep the students in control; and all the Ravenclaws are naturals at this subject anyway). Transfiguration is annoying and stupid (no special reason, it's just super hard). But maybe it's actually Defense Against the Dark Arts that's the most confusing of all the classes Greg has ever attended at Hogwarts (not just for the unnecessarily long title either; it's also the amount of teachers they've had come and go ── they each have their own ways of doing things, and at least three of those ways lacked any actual teaching, never mind that the curriculum changes every year with the teachers).

This year it's Professor Snape teaching it, and so Greg thinks 'okay, now maybe it'll make sense for once, because he's been our teacher for five years and I know what he's like.' It does not get any easier. In fact, it gets much, much harder. Professor Snape doesn't teach Defense the same way he does potions, he's ten times more strict with Defense, and twenty percent less understanding when it comes to screw ups, even to Slytherin, which is infuriating since he's always favored his own house before (and Greg isn't even in the N.E.W.T. class; he's only just good enough to get into the O.W.L. class, somehow or another).

It's not just the classes and teachers that Greg struggles to understand either; it's also his classmates. He doesn't get how people like Julian Carter and Merula Snyde, who he knows understands the material as well as he does, can study all day and night to get good marks; but when Greg does this somehow he gets even worse marks than he would have gotten had he not bothered. Then, there's people like Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini, who really piss him off, because they don't study at all and somehow they still manage to come out with top marks. Stuff like that makes him want to hit them (he has before, but come on! It's not fair!).

Also, nothing in their social lives makes sense either, like the fact that Pansy Parkinson is still pining after a relationship that's never going to happen (especially given that Greg is sure she doesn't even like boys). He doesn't understand why Draco doesn't just tell her to shove off, if he's not interested (and since Greg is almost certain she isn't really all that into him either), but whatever.

(He thinks his friend likes the attention but not the girl, which is stupid, in Greg's opinion, but Malfoy has never asked for Greg's opinion so he keeps this to himself. As for Pansy... He'll never understand what her problem is.)

There's also the fact that Julian doesn't talk to them as much (or really at all, unless it's during meals when they all have to sit with their houses ── alright, they don't have to sit with their houses, it's just that everyone always has) since befriending that Gryffindor kid (which again makes no sense, because the Gryffindor in question used to pick fights with Julian all time). People outgrow one another, he supposes ── but still. A Gryfinndor friend? He doesn't understand it.

But Greg doesn't understand a lot of things ── like the house point system. He still doesn't get how the Gryffindors came out first in their first year. (It's not even just because Slytherin lost, it just doesn't make sense. How can they get all those points at the last minute like that?) He knows he should just let that one go, but it doesn't make any sense.

There are a lot of things at Hogwarts that don't make any sense to Greg, but he's never met anyone who confuses him more than Nina Snape. Maybe it's because they don't talk much. Then again, she doesn't talk much to anyone. She sticks to the shadows, and she's always watching everyone and writing stuff in her journals. He's noticed she has three, but he doesn't think they're all for school (at least, he's not sure why anyone would need that many journals just for academics but whatever).

Greg has never worked up the nerve to ask her what she writes down; he has a feeling she'd break his neck for doing so (which sounds stupid, Greg being afraid of a girl, especially when said girl is so much smaller than he is, but Nina has the scariest glare he's ever seen).

The only one Greg can remember Nina ever spending time with is Fin Hagrid (who's just as scary, and Greg is the slightest bit glad she's not attending Hogwarts this year) and sometimes Barbara Johnson (who's not that mean, but she can still fire off some hard core hexes if she's mad enough). Nina Snape only ever shows interest in Hufflepuffs, apparently putting them on some type of pedestal or something; that's why it comes as such a shock when, this year, she starts hanging around Draco, Vincent, and himself so much. It's Greg's understanding that she doesn't care much for any of them, especially Draco. Actually, Nina is quite verbal about not liking Draco. She never misses an opportunity to tell him off.

Like now, as they're heading for the Room of Requirement for the millionth time since the start of term. Greg doesn't know what Draco and Nina do there. They've never said, and he's never asked. But the two of them are already arguing (actually, they've been arguing since the moment they stepped foot outside of the common room; something he'd said set her off). It doesn't help that Draco has been in a foul mood ever since he'd read that article about the Ministry raiding Malfoy Manor the other day (Vincent and Greg had tried hiding it from him but of course he'd found it anyway). And Nina likes to egg him on even without the piss poor attitude.

Vincent is straggling behind them with Greg, rolling his eyes at the pair of them, but come on. It's kind of annoying.

"Do you think it'll be like an enemies to lovers type thing?" Vincent whispers so the other two can't hear.

Greg scoffs. "To be honest, I don't really see it happening like that."

"No," Vincent says. He pauses. "I mean, yeah, he sort of screams raging homosexual, but she'll go both ways. Trust me. I'm very intuitive about these sorts of things."

"Do you even know what intuitive means?"

"Eh... Something about the intestines?"

"That... Doesn't sound right..."

Vincent shrugs, as if to say, oh well, words don't matter. Greg rolls his eyes at his dim witted friend (dim witted because he thinks Nina and Draco will start going with each other, not because he uses words he doesn't know, lots of people do that, but Greg just doesn't see how Draco and Nina can have a relationship of any kind, but then again stranger things have happened). "I've always thought Draco was mad for Potter, actually."

Vincent smirks. "Now, that is grounds for an enemies to lovers trope."

Greg eyes him as they start climbing the stairs. "Have you been stealing more fan fiction from the Creevy Brothers?" It's a well known fact to everyone in the school, except for Harry Potter himself strangely enough, that the "Chosen One's" biggest fans have been writing dreadful fantasy stories about their idol, not the worst of all being slightly erotic.

"They're awful, yet terribly entertaining..." Vincent admits. Greg scoffs. "There's this one with an apple and ── "

"Oh, god. Please don't tell me about it!" Greg protests. "You do realize that if either of them found out about this whole drarry thing, they'd go ballistic?"

"'Course they would. That's why no one's ever told them about it."

Greg opens his mouth, trying to think of something to end this shit show of a conversation, when the universe does it for him. Though, not in a way he would have liked.

"Stop! Don't move!"

The shout has Greg freezing on the spot, his foot hovering inches above the step he'd been about to move onto. It's not so much that he's scared of Nina (okay, he is, but that's besides the point), it's just that he doesn't like yelling. At home, there's a lot of yelling. It just makes him... Well, freeze. He keeps his foot inches from the stone floor as Nina makes her way back; Greg can only think please don't hex me. But then, just as she's made it to the same step he's on, when he's sure she'll just shove him backwards, she crouches down and picks something up.

When she stands again, Greg gets a clear view of what she's holding ── it's small with dry, green leathery skin, short legs, and bumps all over its body. "You almost stepped on the frog." Nina gives him the smallest of smiles that, by some miracle, makes her seem a little less scary (he still hesitates before finally putting his foot down, but by that point he is actually going to lose balance if he doesn't stand right soon; thankfully, she doesn't yell at him again). She actually looks really nice, like a completely different person.

He's not sure if he's meant to say anything, so he keeps quiet just in case. There's no need to set her off if she's not going to hex him already. Meanwhile, Vincent is behind him, staring at Nina like she's mad. Then again, his parents fight a lot too (or they did before his dad was sent to Azkaban anyway) so he could just be shaken, also, but Greg has always thought they were affected differently from each other.

Draco's just rolling his eyes from the top of the steps. He's never been yelled at by either of his parents, as far as Greg knows, but he'd like to think his friend understands why Greg doesn't like it so much anyway. He also likes to think that's why he gets so moody when people start shouting around Greg and Vincent, but it could just be that he dislikes Nina, too. It's hard to tell with Draco. He puts up a lot of fronts.

"First of all, that's a toad, not a frog." He fixes Nina with a death glare, as if he thinks she's somehow getting it wrong on purpose, but Greg thinks she's actually just gotten the two animals mixed up. "Secondly, it's only Longbottom's stupid pet. Who cares if Goyal steps on it?"

"Longbottom, you numpty." She glares right back at him when he scoffs, going right back to being the scariest person Greg has ever met in a matter of seconds. Greg almost wishes Draco hadn't said anything. Nice looking Nina is... Well, nice looking. But Greg guesses he can't be too harsh on Malfoy. Draco has never liked Longbottom much... Or any Gryffindor for that matter. Greg isn't sure when the rivalry started, he just knows that no Slytherin has ever got on with a Gryffindor. They just don't mix well. (Which makes Julian and Merula's relationships with their two all the more mind blowing and confusing in Greg's opinion; he can't see it lasting long. The only reason they have a relationship in the first place is because Barbara Johnson forced them into it.)

"What about Neville?" Speaking of rivals...

It's not the usual Gryffindors that Greg and his friends fight with; instead it's the youngest Weasley. Her red hair catches in the lighting, making it look an awful lot like her head is on fire. The expression on her face could kill someone. Greg groaned to himself. Maybe he's just on edge from Nina's brief shout (it's not that big of a deal, but he's still shaken up about it for some reason?), but he's not prepared to fight with people today. Especially not someone like Ginny Weasley. Can't they just go one day without getting into it with a bloody Gryffindor? Just one day. That's all he asks. Not because he likes anyone in Gryffindor. It's just exhausting, is all.

Ginny takes one look at the toad in Nina's hand and assumes the worst (to be fair, Greg can't blame her; it's not like Slytherin has the nicest reputation, and Nina's father had once tried to poison this same toad). Her wand comes out. The fact that the boys draw their own a second later has nothing (everything) to do with the fact that she has a reputation for being very good at the bat bogey hex. They are not (definitely are) afraid of the Gryffindor girl, who's a year below them.

If there is anyone who can give Nina Snape a run for her money at being the scariest witch alive (aside from Fin Hagrid, that is, but she's also one-third giant, so she doesn't count) it's Ginny Weasley. She's ten different kinds of rage at this moment. Her eyes are as fiery as her hair; her muscles are tense, ready to start firing off her hexes, the second one of the Slytherins so much as to breathe the wrong way. Greg finds himself hoping with all hope that he doesn't have to try going against that. It doesn't matter that she's a year younger, only fools would want to try to fight someone like her. Everything about her is a burning, smoking, intoxicating, fire. Ginny Weasley, in short, is very dangerous.

Nina, however, doesn't so much as blink. She doesn't waver; she's not intimidated (though when your father is Severus Snape, Greg guesses not much else can be considered intimidating). Her expression is hard to read, a little more than apathy, a little less than boredom; it's as if she's looking at something Professor Binns handed out for homework (well, Greg isn't good at metaphors, but yeah, she doesn't seem that invested in the other girl, that's what he's getting at). She's not at all moved, as if she's thinking something along the lines of who let this child out of her daycare center? Nina looks dangerous, too, but in a completely different way than Ginny does. She's the storm ── or maybe not quite the storm itself but rather what happens right before it.

In the dungeons, her eyes always look green, but up here near the towers they appear to be more blue than anything. Still, calm, like the sea just before things get ugly. Greg is just hoping he's far away before things get ugly.

If Nina were anyone else she might have already fainted from the sheer intensity of the look Ginny's giving her. As it is, Nina has been raised by none other than Severus Snape; that fact in of itself is enough to send anyone smart running, tails between their legs. Gryffindors aren't notorious for being smart. Neither is willing to admit defeat. Immovable object meets an unstoppable force type thing. That's why rivalries between Gryffindor and Slytherin are so dangerous. He really, really doesn't want to be around when that happens, but neither Crabbe nor Malfoy seem like they're going anywhere, so he stays too. It's not like he can just leave them, is it?

Nina, however, doesn't so much as blink. She doesn't seem to notice the tension. Or maybe it's just that she doesn't care. "Well," she says, "that's mature. What a right-proper young lady you are. Your parents are proud, I'm sure."

"Don't talk about my parents!" The red head points her wand at Nina; the fire in her eyes intensifies.

Nina shrugs, as if to say fair enough. "You're right. Let's leave heritage out of it, yeah?"

"Hand over the toad." Ginny grits her teeth, her wand still on Nina, her eyes narrowed. It's like she thinks the other girl is going to toss the thing over the banister. The lack of response from the other girl only agitates the Gryffindor further. Her grip on her wand tightens; her jaw clenched. Greg can tell she's about to explode.

"Why? He's not yours." Nina still looks very much unmoved, and Ginny seems to have forgotten all about the boys standing behind her. Nina, too, for that matter. Both girls' attention is stuck on the other, as if everything else has stopped existing and the two of them can only see their varying shades of blind rage. Which, Greg thinks, is good, at least for him, because he doesn't fancy being noticed by her. Either of them. He doesn't want to be caught in the crossfire. It's happened before with Malfoy and Potter, and it's not fun. Can he at least get through a month of school before he's sent to the Hospital Wing?

If only Malfoy doesn't butt in they might get by with not having to fight, but Greg can't think of a time where Malfoy has ever not stuck his foot in his mouth (look, Greg really does like his friend, and he's done a lot for him, and he's really the only reason he or Vincent or even Julian have managed to skirt along as far as they have in classes; but Greg can't ignore the fact that Draco has a habit of running his mouth when he shouldn't). This looks like it's Nina's rivalry, anyway, not theirs. They don't have to be a part of this. They can just slip away unnoticed.

Still, it's not very Slytherin to leave one of your own behind. Sure, no one in the dungeons trusts the person next to them as far as they can throw them, but if someone else starts in on them, they'll all rally behind them, even if they're enemies. It helps that most of them come from the same or similar situations as the other (no one talks about it, though). So, here they are.

"Hand him over!" Things would have ended a lot sooner if Nina just complied, but that's another thing about Slytherins. They're very stubborn.

"You are not my boss." This, of course, only pisses the Gryffindor off ten fold; her face is as fiery as her hair, now, fingers clutching her wand so tightly her knuckles turn white. Greg doesn't think it's a good idea to agitate her, but who is he to point this out? In any case, he doesn't want Nina to hex him either.

"He doesn't belong to you." Ginny looks seconds away from firing off hexes at every single one of them, and Greg braces himself for the impact (he may or may not have forgotten that he has a wand too).

"Well, it's like Nina's already said, isn't it?" Draco butts in, because of course he does. He loves drama for some reason. "He's not yours either. And anyway, there's more of us than there are of you, well, at least now that the rest of your overly large family has cleared off. About time too. This place was getting a bit crowded."

To Greg's surprise, Nina shifts her glare on Draco. She looks like she's going to tell him off, but Ginny beats her to it. She turns her wand on him instead, her own glare intensifying. Greg thinks she's still bitter at the Malfoys for getting her kidnapped in her first year. But in her defense, Draco probably should have left her family out of it the way the girls had already agreed to do, not that Greg will ever tell him that out loud. (And, again, that article doesn't help anything; after all, it had been the Weasley's dad who'd lead the raid.) "Shut your mouth, Malfoy. I can hex all four of you, you know."

"Four?" Nina laughs. Now she's back to sending her hateful looks at Ginny. "No, no." She gestures at the boys. "Well, these three, yes, perhaps you could. But not me, no."

"Oh, please, you don't even have your wand," Ginny points out. And Greg, despite himself, has to agree. It does seem like she's the easiest target, given that she hasn't gotten her wand out like the rest of them. Her dominant hand is also preoccupied, as she's still got the toad in her palm. How does she expect to move fast enough to put the toad down and get her wand out before she's hit?

Nina hums. "Well, I'd love to prove you wrong, but fortunately for you I'm a very busy woman these days. I don't have the time to waste."

Ginny scoffs. She clearly does not agree. "You have ten seconds to hand over the toad before I hex you!"

Greg is bracing himself. He risks a glance at his friends. Draco looks highly amused (again he's a huge drama queen). Vincent, meanwhile, is giving Nina a look like can we just give her the damn toad so we can leave already? Nina doesn't seem to notice; neither does she seem aware of how serious Ginny is being about hexing them. Instead of relenting, she stares right back at Ginny in that 'calm before the storm' way she has; her lips curl upwards for a moment with the slightest hint of a smirk. Then, she says something that really throws Greg for a loop, "Go ahead, then."

Next to him Draco and Vincent blanched at those words. Greg himself is staring at her in disbelief. Is she really just going to let them all get hexed?

For a second, Ginny looks just as surprised, but she recovers more quickly than the boys do. Her eyes are narrowed further than they've been before. Greg supposes she must be thinking this is a trick. "Excuse me?"

"Go ahead and hex me, if you think you are so adept that you can do it without hitting the poor little frog." Nina grins, but it doesn't look as nice as it did before. Greg thinks the storm has finally hit. Nina doesn't just look dangerous anymore, she looks practically evil. But Draco's wearing an expression that reads something like, well, that's actually pretty clever, so Greg supposes it must be necessary. Somehow.

Ginny's grip tightens, still, on her wand; she lets out an angry growl at the Slytherins. It takes all Greg's will power not to leave his friends at her mercy right then and there. Selfish thought maybe, but come on!

"No?" Nina eyes the Gryffindor, that evil gleam never leaving her eyes. "That's a shame." Greg wonders if she knows she's adopted her father's speech pattern here. Is she doing it on purpose? Or does that happen naturally? "Well, then, I'll tell you what, Ginevra," Ginny scowls at the use of her full name, and Greg thinks that's what Nina is going for, "I'll hold on to Longbottom's frog for him until he turns up."

Ginny doesn't seem to like this idea. She opens her mouth to protest, but unfortunately for her she doesn't get to drag this thing out any further. Just then, Longbottom himself shows up alongside the Golden Trio, as the Slytherins have taken to calling them. They don't ask questions, they just withdraw their wands. Potter's the first to speak, because of course he is. "Hand over Neville's toad!"

"Of course." Nina gives the smallest of grins, but it's all around fake. She still sort of sounds like her father.

The Gryffindors all aim their wands at her as she steps forward, as if she's going to attack the lot of them somehow. The Slytherin boys still have their own wands out, just in case they try anything.

Nina, however, is back to her usual, passive self. Back to being bored with the situation. Back to before the storm. It's scary how fast the change takes place. She shoves Longbottom's pet into his hands. "Here, take your frog."

"Toad," Longbottom corrects shortly.

"Whatever. Just try to keep him out of the corridors. He's very small. Something could happen to him."

The Gryffindors are all fired up at that.

"Was that a threat?" The older of the two Weasleys snaps.

Nina gives him a perplexed look that may have been faked, but to Greg it looks very real. "No? How is that a threat?"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe because we just seen you and these three about to kill him?" Potter says, gesturing at the Slytherins. It's a fair assumption, to be honest. Malfoy, Crabbe, and himself are always picking fights with them (well it's mostly Draco, but Greg and Vincent don't exactly do anything to stop him, and they do help). But Nina has never done anything. At least, not that Greg has ever seen. She sticks to the shadows, on her own. She doesn't need to use threats to scare people.

Draco opens his mouth to butt in again, but Nina whirls around, giving him one of those nasty glares. "Shut up," she tells him. He's smart enough to listen. The Gryffindors seem surprised by this. But honestly, just because they're in the same house doesn't mean they're friends. They don't have to be nice to each other (even if they are hanging around each other this year for reasons that are beyond Greg's understanding, but whatever).

"It's not as if I were planning to punt him into the sun or anything," Nina says, turning back to the Gryffindors. Greg isn't sure why she's wasting her energy trying to defend herself, especially considering she doesn't seem to like talking to people, much less defending herself. But he knows better than to point this out. He values his life much more than that, thanks. "I only picked him up because Goyal almost stepped on him, accidentally," she adds when the Gryffindors start to round on him, like they're in some sort of animal murdering league together or something.

"Gryffindors. Honestly." Nina rolls her eyes. "Just because our fathers are evil, doesn't mean we'll be following in their footsteps." Odd choice of words. Or maybe not. It's just Greg has never heard anyone state it so bluntly before ── at least, no one from their own house. He's stopped caring whenever people from other houses point this out, but, somehow, with someone from his own house doing it... Well, he's not sure what it is. It's just odd. He's not sure if he agrees with her either ── for one thing it means he has to admit his father is a bad person, and he's not sure if he's ready for that ── but he's never sure what to agree with until someone tells him it's okay to do so.

The Gryffindors do not look convinced, but it seems most of them don't deem it worthy enough for a response. "Right," Granger says, apparently deeming the whole scene over with. "Well, come on, Neville. Let's go make sure Trevor is okay." Longbottom gives a curt nod, and it looks like they're leaving, it looks like it's finally over... But Potter can't help himself. "From where I'm standing it looks like you already have."

Granger gasps, as if her friend doesn't have a tendency to say stupid things. "Harry!" She's scolding him, but they're all thinking it. Even the Slytherins; they just don't like to admit it. The thing is, Greg isn't sure if that's a good thing or a bad one, being like his father, like he's said before, he never knows what to think.

Draco's got his shoulders back, head held high, so evidently he thinks it's a good thing, being like his dad, but Vincent and Nina are different. Nina, for a second, almost looks down right murderous. She's offended. By the assumption that she'd hurt the toad? Or the insinuation that she's like her father? Greg didn't know she cared; she's always come across as standoffish or indifferent. It's not like this sort of behavior from the Gryffindors is new or anything, and he's always been under the impression she didn't give a damn about any of them.

But Greg swears he sees it ── that storm behind her eyes. Just for a moment before it's replaced with something else, something even more unfathomable, implacable. It's in her voice too, much smaller, quieter than it was before.

"Maybe you're right..."

Her eyes are deep blue, now, changing color in the blink of an eye (well, it looks like they've changed color anyway); the storm has died completely. Greg can't help wishing it'd come back; as awful and frightening as it is, it's better than this ── this hollow, empty shell of a girl who, seconds ago, could have moved heaven and earth itself. This girl who looks meek and broken at this moment. So unlike Nina (or unlike the Nina he thinks he knows, rather).

But what does Greg know?

Potter makes a noise, apparently not noticing the state he's put the Slytherin girl in. Or perhaps not caring. He looks like he's ready for a fight, even though it's the Gryffindors who started it this time. His eyes are fixed on Draco, looking right through the rest of them, as if he's thinking, you are doing something bad and I will find out what. But that could just be because Draco has been a massive bully to him since first year. Who knows?

Vincent shrugs. His expression is neutral, the way it always is when they have to face off against Potter and friends for Draco. "Well, I'm not sure about the rest, I feel I'm much better off now that my father has been tossed into Azkaban. Say, do you think you can get my mum arrested as well?"

Everyone's caught off guard by this. Could be that he's dead serious (and the Gryffidnors don't know how to handle a self aware Slytherin, especially when he's supposed to be a moron). Or it could be that they're not used to hearing him speak. Greg and Vincent usually keep their comments to themselves during these confrontations; they let Draco do the talking. But Vincent has been bolder since his father was sentenced to prison.

Malfoy and Nina look stunned as well, but Greg isn't all that surprised. He and Vincent talk to each other more often than anyone else when they're in private.

After a moment Nina smirks, all traces of that hollow expression gone, as if it has never been; her eyes lighten (or seem to, anyway) several shades. Not quite green, but not exactly blue anymore. "So, they do talk." Vincent shrugs. She jabs a thumb in Draco's direction. "Yeah, I suppose it is a bit difficult to get a word in edgewise with this one yammering on all the time, isn't it?"

"Oi!" Malfoy complains. "I thought we were on the same side!"

"I don't have sides."

Weasley (the older brother one) rolls his eyes; he pulls on Potter's sleeve. "Come on, mate. They're not worth it." The other Gryffindors sneak out, but Potter refuses to move. Naturally, Weasley stays too. Even more naturally, they're exchanging glares with Malfoy.

Nina hums. She's still the only one who hasn't gotten her wand out. "We should leave as well. As riveting as this whole thing has been, we, much like the White Rabbit ── " The what? " ── are late."

Potter turns his stare on her, as if those words alone are a criminal offense. "Late for what?"

"A seance, if you must know, in the Room of Requirements. Care to join?"

"Yeah right," Potter scoffs.

"Mm. Probably for the best. It's not for the faint of heart." Nina grins when Potter and Weasley give her identical glares. She climbs the rest of the stairs, only to pause in front of the two Gryffindors on the landing. There's a pause, and her lips curl up in a false smile. Her eyes flash. The storm is back again. "Oh! Piece of advice before I go, Potter." Potter frowns in suspicion at this. "Be careful with that book ── I'm sure you know which one I'm referring to ── you don't know what sort of mad man might have owned it before you did."

Greg has no idea what she's on about, but it evidently means something to Potter because his whole expression changes from rage to panic in three seconds. Weasley looks surprised as well but he's not that important. "How do you know about ──"

"Must be going now," Nina cuts him off.

"Wait ──"

"Demons to summon, devils to worship. Bye, bye, Gryffindors."

"Hold on ──" But she's already rounding the corner; the Slytherin boys are already following her, finally, finally, putting their wands away; how they managed to not set off a bunch of hexes is beyond Greg's understanding (then again most things are).

Much like Nina. She can change her whole expression, her whole personality multiple times in a matter of minutes; she can flip back and forth between sides (Malfoy and the Gryffindors and herself) just as fast. It's all very confusing. She is very confusing. And strange. And frightening.

Greg isn't sure what he's meant to do with this revelation. Tell someone? Keep it to himself? Ignore it? This seems like the best and safest option (it isn't like it's going to change anything either way). It seems like a decent thing to do (and really who cares? Everyone already knows Nina is a bit odd). He thinks it's better, smarter not to mess with Nina Snape.

But Gregory has never been the brightest wizard.