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During November, Tessa realised that the unlikely friendship she'd struck with Granger had been her second greatest decision at Hogwarts thus-far for three reasons:

One: as fun as Theodore and Blaise were to be around, especially compared to the rest of the Slytherins, Tessa hadn't succeeded in completely ridding them of their pureblood idiocy. So it was nice, in a therapeutic kind of way, to rant to Granger and get understanding and sympathy as well as a hilarious side dish of outrage on her behalf.

Two: Tessa's friendship with Theo and Blaise was like a darker reflection of Granger's newfound acquaintance with Potter and Weasley. So the next time Blaise chose Theo as his partner in Charms, and a quick glance assured her that Potter had chosen Weasley, Tessa picked up her books and, ignoring the appalled looks of her fellow Slytherins, marched to the other side of the class, crossing the thus-unacknowledged but definitely-there No Man's Land in the middle, firmly onto the Gryffindor side, and ostentatiously sat down on Granger's left, daring anyone to comment. The scoffs and glares from both sides only intensified when they both mastered the Laughing Charm within ten minutes of the lesson, and the undignified giggle-fit they had reduced each other to had been more than worth the old and battered Third Year textbook Flitwick sneakily dropped on their desk afterwards. Snape's face when the same happened in Potions, and the two of them brought him a perfect Sleeping Drought halfway into the lesson, had been the highlight of Tessa's Hogwarts experience thus far.

And three, beating even Snape's face and Malfoy's indignation and the fact that she was gaining twice as many points as any other Slytherin first year was the fact that Granger was actually a good person.

Once Tessa pushed past the bookishness and know-it-all arrogance, she found a surprisingly sharp sense of humour and no small degree of annoyance at the Wizarding World.

"I mean, quills! What's the point of that? It's not like they can't spell ballpoint pens to not cheat just as easily!" Hermione complained after her ink smudged yet again, and Tessa shrugged, no longer bothered by smudges after a lifetime of being left-handed.

"They hate the Muggle world, Hermione. Any reasons they give for persisting with the robes or quills or the shunning of technology is just a smokescreen." She replied, trying not to sound too bitter but failing, judging by Hermione's wince.

"Don't you think 'hate' is a bit too strong?" the other girl asked uncomfortably, and Tessa prided herself on being the only one capable of getting Granger to abandon her studies in favour of conversation. In the library as well.

"Do you?" Tessa shot back, eyebrows soaring. "They had two Hitlers less than three decades apart. And that's just in England, not globally."

"I…sometimes really hate it when you're right." Hermione sighed, sounding grim. "When I first learned about the dislike of the non-magical world, it made me think of something that my dad had once told me about. It was called, um, 'apartheid'? I think? In South Africa." She added.

Tessa was only peripherally aware of what Hermione was talking about, not having studied the topic in depth or having paid too much attention to the newspapers that dared cover it, but she nodded anyway, because Granger was agreeing with her.

They lapsed into silence for a few seconds, Hermione making a half-hearted attempt to return to the foot-long Potions essay Snape had demanded they hand in the week before Christmas break, an essay whose existence Tessa was still valiantly ignoring because thoughts of Snape usually made her want to break something, and she didn't think Madam Pince would appreciate that.

She could be considerate. Sometimes.

"I decided that I would find a way to make technology work in the castle." Tessa confessed a propos nothing, moving away from the previous topic and watching for Hermione's reaction. "I want my cassette player." She added, if only to see Hermione struggle to stifle a laugh, mindful of Madam Pince.

The other girl then tilted her head thoughtfully as she considered her admission. "There's a radio in our Common Room, so clearly, some technology works."

Tessa frowned. "Yeah, but is there a blanket permission on all radios, or was that one specifically spelled to work?"

"Is there not one in your Common Room, then?" Hermione asked confusedly, reading between the lines of Tessa's question.

"We don't have a radio." Tessa replied, mind jumping ahead. "Do you think there's a way to find out what spell has been cast on something?"

"I don't know." Hermione admitted. "But I'm sure you could ask Professor Flitwick."

"And he wouldn't find it suspicious?"

Hermione shrugged. "I think if you explained it as a personal side-project, or even said what you wanted to do, he might even help you."

"'Help me'." Tessa repeated dubiously, but didn't dwell on the matter. "Sure, I mean, I could ask."

Hermione's face lit up with a smile, one that didn't fade when she went back to making her notes for Snape's cursed essay. Tessa, after sparing a moment to wonder whether it was really that simple to make the brunette happy, gave up and went searching for more resources for her Herbology essay.

"So," Blaise began as soon as Tessa sat down and pulled the potatoes over, "Greengrass said she saw you and Granger in the library. Together."

Tessa's heart stopped for a second and she froze, but then, she defaulted to the tried-and-tested Slytherin response and scowled.

"Yeah, so? We were studying. You should try it sometime." She said, fully aware she sounded defensive.

Blaise mirrored her scowl at her words, the expression looking uncomfortably at-home on his face. "But she's a Gryffindor. And a M—" the combined power of Tessa and Theo's glare made his scowl fade as he quickly changed tracks to "-uggleborn."

"She's consistently beaten you at every subject." Tessa pointed out, skewering her potatoes with more force than was admittedly necessary, but maybe Blaise would get the hint that if he didn't stop, his hand would meet the same fate, and soon.

"Not Herbology. Theo does better." Blaise pointed out, as if that validated his entire argument, and Tessa released a gusty sigh that was a bit too close to a snarl for dinner conversation.

"Because Theo, for whatever reason, gets Herbology, just as I get Charms and Transfiguration, and Hermione gets everything else." Tessa explained, not catching her slip-up until it was too late.

"Hermione?!" Zabini demanded, eyes widening almost comically, and Tessa fought the impulse to shush him when some older students shot them annoyed looks. "When in Merlin's name did you and Granger get on a first-name basis?!"

Tessa wasn't annoyed at this point; she was angry.

"Saving someone from a mountain troll tends to do that to people." She hissed at the boy, the fork she was using for her potatoes growing uncomfortably hot in her grip. "Now enlighten me, since I seem to have missed the memo, since when do you keep such a detailed log of who I talk to?"

"So that's where you were on Halloween." Theo spoke up quietly, not even looking up from his soup, the corner of his lips ticking up in a small smile. "I should've guessed."

"Since you're hanging around mudbloods and Gryffindors! You have the House reputation to think about!" Blaise raged quietly, opting to ignore Theodore's input.

"The House's reputation?" Tessa crooned, leaning over the table until she was uncomfortably close to the other boy, her tie half-hanging in her plate, her appetite forgotten as her eyes blazed. "Or yours?"

She made to move back but paused, and, very deliberately, leaned back down and spat on Zabini's plate. Only then did she finally push away from the table, getting to her feet, though not before grabbing a chicken drumstick in one hand and pocketing an apple and an orange with the other. She wouldn't voluntarily miss a meal, not even for her current fury with Zabini.

"I'm not holding you on a leash, Zabini. If you think you'd move up the social ladder easier without me tainting your reputation, feel free." She threw as her final, parting jab, and left the Great Hall less than three minutes after she'd walked in.

It was only once Tessa was half-way up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower, the chicken she'd impulsively grabbed all but forgotten in her hand, that she realised there was a weird wetness on her face that was making her skin feel oddly cool.

She lifted the hand not stained with chicken grease and ran her fingers over her cheek, absolutely dumbfounded by the realisation that she was…crying.

Tessa could not remember when she had last cried, but it had been years. And then, it was as if the knowledge that the dam had broken made every other time she'd come close to crying spring fresh to her mind, and she ended up having to shove the chicken in her mouth to muffle the sudden sobs that wanted to escape.

Between the chicken, the heaving breaths of a long-postponed cry, and the endless incline that was the journey to the Astronomy Tower, Tessa arrived on the balcony of the Tower breathless, sweaty, and with tears and snot alike dripping down her face.

She was sure she made for an attractive picture.

It was there, in the chilly afternoon air of early-December, that she finally set to eating the goddamn chicken and let herself cry for the first time in a very long time.

And to think, it was due to Zabini… Her dignity may never recover.

She lost track of time.

When she came back to herself, the reds and oranges of the afternoon sky had given way to navy with streaks of silvery clouds, and her hands were so cold her fingers hurt when she tried to move them.

But, more importantly, there was somebody else on the balcony with her.

"You're an idiot." Theodore's quiet voice informed her, seconds before a soft, dark material was draped around her shoulders, not giving her any time to get her heart rate under control after being startled from her musings. "You better stop by Madam Pomfrey's for a Pepper-Up Potion or you'll get a cold. It's not exactly a good time to be sitting outside."

"And yet, you're here." Tessa mumbled as she tried to surreptitiously wipe at the caked-on mask of snot and tears that had dried over her face with her sleeve, with little success.

Theo made a quiet sound of amusement before he sighed.

"I spoke to Blaise." He told her simply, and Tessa tensed unconsciously, her hand freezing mid-motion. "I told him that you're close with Granger to get an 'in' with Potter." He cut her off before she could interrupt. "Whether that's your actual reason, I don't know, and neither do I care. You're allowed other friends, even if they are from other Houses or…backgrounds. But I told Zabini what he wanted to hear. Which reminds me."

He turned to look at her, though how much he saw in the limited light of the moon and the few stars that managed to break through the clouds, Tessa wasn't sure.

"When he tries to apologise, let him. And, just maybe, consider reciprocating the apology." He must've seen her indignation at the idea despite the lack of light, because he snorted softly. "You did spit in his food, Tess."

So saying, he got up from the ledge of the balcony, either unaware or uncaring of how much he'd blindsided her with the…nickname? Hell, she didn't know anymore. Her post-cry brain was too sluggish to try and divine what on earth that had been about.

Then, the warmth of Theo's robe was removed from around her shoulders, and Tessa didn't quite manage to bite back the small whine she let out once the cold air once again assaulted her body.

"I already broke one school rule coming out here, Black." Theodore informed her curtly, though there was a thread of humour in his voice. "I'm not breaking another one by being caught with improper uniform after hours. You get one bent rule a day, don't get greedy." He chastised.

Tessa tried for an approximation of the grin Blaise hated, even as she hugged her own robe closer round her shoulders and sniffled.

"One rule a day? Is that a promise, Theo?" she asked him, aiming for teasing but probably missing by a mile, a fact not helped by the violent sneeze she let out not three seconds later.

"Of course that was the one thing you paid attention to." Theo sighed, then headed for the stairs, slipping his arms through the sleeves of the robe that had, not a minute earlier, been wrapped around her shoulders. "Yes, it's a promise. Now, get to the Hospital Wing, or you can forget about my class notes when you inevitably get ill."

And with that parting remark, he disappeared, and Tessa, grudgingly, got to her feet.

(she almost tumbled right over the edge and to her certain death when she stumbled, her legs numb with a mixture of cold and pins and needles after sitting still for so long, but she caught herself on the stone pillar just in time. She decided that Theo decidedly did not need to know that, and made her way dutifully to the Hospital Wing, readying herself for the sweet song of Madam Pomfrey's famous grumbling.)

The next morning, Tessa's first class was at 10am, and she was not in a hurry to get to breakfast, since breakfast likely meant facing Zabini and the fallout from whatever the hell yesterday had been.

But, it seemed the choice was taken out of her hands, as, no sooner had she stepped foot in the blissfully empty Common Room, her eyes fell on a figure lounging on one of the tall armchairs. A figure who, upon closer inspection, turned out to be no-one other than Zabini.

Goddamnit.

"It's almost quarter to, were you planning on getting breakfast at all? You of all people should not be skipping out on meals." Was his greeting, and Tessa seethed.

"What are you saying, Zabini? Be careful, or it might be mistaken for care." She shot back, ready to shoulder her way past the teen, but Blaise stopped her.

"Wait, Black- Tessa. Wait." He said, holding an arm out, and Tessa stopped, unused to hearing her first name from the boy.

"What, Blaise?" She asked wearily, too tired to keep up the charade of upper-class nonsense and addressing each other by surnames.

"I…hell, I'm sorry for yesterday, alright? You were right, it's not my business who you spend time with outside of me and Nott, and you bring a lot to Slytherin despite your ridiculousness. And, if Nott is right, then having Potter even vaguely in your circle could prove advantageous."

Tessa took a few seconds to absorb that monologue, because Blaise, like Hermione, didn't seem to believe in breathing while he talked. Or, and she was almost unwilling to believe it, he was nervous.

"Okay." Tessa sighed, falling onto the armchair opposite Blaise. "Okay. I've heard Theo, now I want to hear you."

"Excuse me?" he asked, as if unsure he heard her correctly, and Tessa smirked tiredly.

"I heard Theo in your words. I'm glad you were receptive, but I want to hear what you think, Blaise. You, not Theo."

"Have I ever told you that you're weird as hell?" Blaise asked once he was done staring at her in disbelief, the corner of his mouth ticking up almost unintentionally. "Fine. I'm still mad at you, a little. I mean, Granger, of all people? You are the least Slytherin of all the Slytherin I know, and also the most Slytherin at the same time, somehow. Do you realise how infuriating that is? And you also seem to just be the best in our year at all wand-related magic and you've known magic for, what? Three months? That, combined with your truly charming personality just. Grinds all my gears, you know?"

He paused, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and looking her in the eye. "But. The fact is, and I'm probably crazy, and the Muggles probably have some fancy term for what I'm feeling, but I like having you around. You're insane but you make it fun. So. I'm sorry, for upsetting you, and for making you run away. Please don't spit in my food again."

At that, Tessa couldn't help but laugh.

"Apology accepted. And, for the record, I'm sorry too. You annoyed me, and I won't lie that you struck a nerve I'd have rather had remained buried, but I shouldn't have spat in your food, that was a little uncivilised."

Blaise's eyebrow soared as if he wanted to ask 'a little?' but to his credit, he held himself back.

"Truth be told, I constantly feel like I'm playing catch-up. You and Theo and most others in our House have known magic from the moment you were born. I came into it, like you said, three months ago. But, Olivander said I'd be good at Charms, so I'm trying to milk that for all it's worth, but in most other subjects, I'm behind. Hell, in the common-knowledge area I'm behind. Hermione's in the same boat, but she's also a lot more of a bookworm than I am, and has been a godsend in the last few weeks, once I got past the annoying holier-than-thou attitude. And she is close to Potter, so, I probably stand more of a chance at forming any sort of positive rapport than Malfoy does at the present point in time."

"Point is, Blaise," she summarised, once she got her thoughts in order and got over her embarrassment at her sudden monologue, "the point is, that I have no idea what I'm doing. The Houses are a completely arbitrary and needlessly divisive concept to me, so I don't feel too pressured by the notion of 'House-pride' or anything like that. You, you've been raised with those values, so it means a lot more to you than it ever will to me, and I didn't realise that before. To me, being in Slytherin just decides the colour of my robes and which dormitories I'm sleeping in. I make my fate, and I choose what I do with my time here. I'll…try to be more considerate of your feelings on the matter, although you may have to remind me sometimes."

Blaise blinked up at her, seeming completely stumped.

"I never thought I'd hear the words 'I am' and 'sorry' from your mouth unless there was a 'not' in between." He informed her at last, and Tessa snorted again, not bothering to fight the grin that bloomed on her face.

"Apparently, I'm just full of surprises." She shot back sarcastically, but Blaise laughed like she'd hoped he would and got to his feet.

"Come on, then. Since we're already late to History of Magic, we might as well go and get proper breakfast. It's not like Binns is going to notice either way." He suggested, holding a hand out for Tessa to take, which she did.

Inwardly, she reckoned the gesture meant more than just helping her to stand up.

"Ooh, advocating bunking class now, are you, Zabini?" she teased, even as she obligingly followed Blaise to the exit. "Poor Theodore will be so disappointed."

"If anything, he should be proud. Two Sickles say he'll get sappy over us being on speaking terms again." He corrected, smirking at Tessa when he offered his bet, an expression which she reciprocated with glee.

"You're on. But I bet he'll be too grumpy with us for leaving him alone to Binns' tender mercies to be too appreciative of our 'newly-rekindled friendship'." She shot back, making sure Blaise didn't miss her sarcastic tone.

(They both won, and they both lost, in the end. As soon as he sat opposite them at lunch and took one look at their matching self-satisfied smirks, Theo did indeed sigh dramatically and mutter 'Thank Merlin', but before Blaise could hold his hand out to demand his winnings, Theo pointed a finger at them, and declared, in no uncertain terms, 'if you think I'm going to give you my notes just because you're friends again, you need to go to Pomfrey and get your heads checked. I had to suffer through Binns alone. Have fun writing the essay he set without me.'. And though Tessa wanted to groan at the prospect of a History of Magic essay when she hadn't gone to the class, she at least knew she could probably rely on Hermione for her notes, and it would likely be as good as if she had gone to the class. With that knowledge in mind, she turned to Blaise with the teeth-baring grin he hated and held her own hand out, wiggling her fingers meaningfully, and all three dissolved into quiet laughter.)

She wondered, absently, how long she should wait before broaching the topic of her friendship with the twins with the boys. Probably till after Easter.

Yeah, that might be best.