Finally updated!

Man this felt like it took years...well, one year? Okay I'm a bad author, but here's the newest chapter! For those that need a refresher, Kaldur, Conner, Wally and Dick got into trouble for being discovered by the Shrieking Shack, and now they're doing detention as punishment, and they're working with Megan and Professor Jones, who's the Transfiguration teacher!

Not much more to say, just to enjoy, and please leave a review!

Megan finally took a chance to really get a good look at the troublemakers in the classroom while they in turn listened to Professor Jones explain what they'd be doing for the week; she couldn't help but notice that the group assembled was a very unique one to say the least. Of course, Dick and Wally looked like they were frequent detention pals, smiling and trading looks at each other, as though they were silently communicating somehow. However, the Prefect looked almost ashamed of being there, like he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time when caught and was actually innocent, but unable to prove it.

Then there was the quiet and surly Ravenclaw, arms crossed, hands twitching against his elbows, as if he was using all his willpower to not whip out his wand out and jinx something. Megan thought he needed some cheering up, and was considering that after detention she'd invite him over to walk around the Great Lake with her. She then remembered what she had to be doing, and started opening the cage nearest her.

"Now, your task is simple. The cages these animals came in on are dented and dirty, so you need to take them out of their cages, perform a scourging charm on the animals to clean them up, and place them in new cages with plenty of food and water." Professor Jones pointed to each station in turn as he spoke, "You have all week to complete this task, so do not try to rush, they need proper and careful care. As I said earlier, Ms. Morse will be assisting you as well. Any questions so far?"

None of the boys said a word, and Megan smiled when the professor waved her over, with the newly released spider-monkey perched on her shoulder, quietly wagging its tail. She didn't notice Conner twitch at seeing the monkey, staring it down, as if that would somehow turn the animal into ash. The aggressive glare prompted the monkey to run down Megan's arms and onto her open palms.

"It'll be best to work in teams of two, just to make it easier so one handles the animal, and another handles the spells and cages, like so." Jones took out his wand, and with a flick, pronounced, "Scourgify!" making soap suds appear all over the monkey, as invisible hands washed the simian, who was looking at Conner with curiosity.

Suddenly, the soap-covered monkey jumped out of Megan's hands and onto Conner, who yelled out trying to avoid the oncoming furball headed his way, but reared right into a desk, losing his balance and tripped, toppling at least three other desks along with him.

"Galloping gargoyles!" Wally exclaimed, looking at the entire scene mildly amused. Dick was trying to stifle a laugh, while Kaldur rushed over to help Conner up, the latter brushing off the helping hand, standing up by himself, glaring daggers at the assistant, not noticing -or perhaps, not caring- that he was covered in soap bubbles.

"Mr. Kent, are you alright?" Professor Jones walked up to where Conner was currently picking up his wand, turning to search for the vermin that had crashed into him, ready to turn him into a very nice pair of boots. When the boy didn't respond, Jones cleared his throat and added, a bit louder, "Mr. Kent? Perhaps you'd wish to go to the Hospital Wing-"

"I'm fine!" he growled back, interrupting the professor, searching the room high and low for the pest. When he didn't find the monkey at the back of the room, he whipped around back to where everyone stood at the front, with Kaldur putting the desks back up and in place. He locked eyes with Megan, who smiled apologetically, but before she could say anything, he stalked over to her, wand tightly in his hand, voice growing with each word "This was all your fault-"

"Mr. Kent!" Professor Jones stepped in, literally putting himself between Conner and Megan. "Unless you want to gain another week of detention, you will go to the Hospital Wing and have Mr. Pennyworth look at you." Conner glared at the older man, and when the professor didn't relent, he sighed, and stomped over to the door. "Fine."

"Mr. Kent..." Professor Jones called back, getting the boy to stop and turn around. "Mr. Durham will accompany you."

Kaldur nodded and walked up to the angry Ravenclaw, and they both left for the Hospital Wing, Conner muttering under his breath about rabid monkeys.

==At the Hospital Wing

"Well Mr. Kent, you were lucky, and seem to have no concussion, though I'd urge you to not get into fights with rampant monkeys again anytime soon." Mr. Pennyworth -who insisted that he be called Alfred- said, trying to lighten the tension with the teen he was tending to, still sour at having been bested by a monkey of all animals.

No one knew why exactly Conner had such a strong distaste towards monkeys, though granted, no one really dared to ask, since they were afraid of the reaction they'd get. Even now Conner didn't even crack a smile at Alfred's quip, instead scrunching up his nose and uttering the faintest of grunts, as if he were being forced to still be civilized.

Kaldur, seeing Conner's lack of response, did so for him. "Thank you Mr. Pennyworth. How long is he going to have to stay here?"

Alfred turned to the Gryffindor prefect, thinking. After a few seconds, he replied, "Well, ideally, he'd stay overnight to make sure he truly doesn't have a concussion, but if he prefers, a fellow Ravenclaw student can do the honour of keeping an eye on him tonight, and he can be discharged. Though they must come to see me for additional instructions, so just have them visit my office before taking Mr. Kent."

Kaldur nodded and Alfred left to tend to other students. Turning to Conner, who still hadn't said a word since entering the Wing, he asked, "Do you have anyone who could-"

"No." Conner didn't even look up, and Kaldur nearly didn't hear the mumbled response. "I just keep to myself, never really cared much for friends."

Kaldur sighed, "Well, I might have someone who can help. I have a friend, Garth, he's in sixth year too, perhaps he could-"

"No." Conner finally looked at Kaldur, face hard and grim. "I don't need help or pity. I've been taking care of myself for all these months, and I'm certainly not going to start asking now."

Kaldur sighed, sitting on the bed beside Conner's, clasping his hands together trying to think of what to say. "Having friends help you is not a sign of pity or weakness, my friend. In fact, it makes you stronger to know you have people to help you when you need them."

Conner huffed with a mocking air, but Kaldur could tell the Ravenclaw was considering Kaldur's words. They sat in silence, Kaldur studying Conner's face, while the latter was trying to avoid looking at the Prefect.

This was new ground for him, like he had said, he always prefered keeping to himself, but Conner supposed that Kaldur was probably right. Take Wally and Dick, they seemed thick as thieves, as the Muggle expression went, and they looked no less weaker for it. His teachings as a kid were always overshadowed by Conner's admiration with Clark. He wanted to be just like him, knowledgeable and powerful, never seeming to want for certain frivolities like family or friends. After all, he hardly came by home to visit, and his lack of caring for Conner was certainly due to not wanting to be hindered in his quest for power as the Minister for Magic, and his friendliness to the public was obviously a ruse to rally up voters behind him. The only person Conner saw he cared for more than the norm was Lois Lane, Daily Prophet reporter, but that could just be to get some positive news stories on him, as she was the main writer in the Ministry section at the paper.

Kaldur saw an internal battle going on within Conner, and cleared his throat. Seeing the Ravenclaw finally look at him, Kaldur asked, "Would I be correct in assuming this philosophy of yours has to do with your brother?"

Conner sighed. He had misjudged the Prefect, he seemed to know how to read people quite well. Conner nodded and explained the story to Kaldur, confiding in him things he had never told anyone else. It felt good to get it off his chest. After a while of talking, and the Gryffindor listening, he sighed. "I always expected to replace him when he got old. Keep the family business going, become as great a Minister as he is revered as being."

"But you're not your brother -" Kaldur stopped as the door opened, and Alfred came back out with a trolley of food.

When he spotted Kaldur, he called out "Mr. Durham! You should get to the Great Hall if you want to eat lunch!"

Kaldur looked at his pocketwatch, and saw that it indeed was nearly 1pm; he needed to eat before the House Elves took away all the food, and then get back to detention. He was certain Professor Jones had not given him an excuse to escape detention by accompanying Conner, and he didn't want to start a streak of bad habits because of this one detention.

As Kaldur was standing up, Conner said, "Hey Kaldur, thanks."

The older boy smiled in return, "You're very welcome. Are you sure you still do not want Garth to-"

"It's fine. I don't mind staying here." The Ravenclaw shrugged, offering the faintest hint of a smile.

Kaldur then left, heading to the Great Hall to at least catch a quick bite before heading back to detention. He walked through the the majestic doors of the Great Hall, and spotted Garth by the Ravenclaw table leisurely eating while reading a book.

Hogwarts never had a set rule for sitting in your house's table at all times, in order to promote inter-house friendships, except when eating dinner, so Kaldur made his way to where the Ravenclaw prefect was, and sat across from him.

Garth looked up with a shrewd smile. "First you land yourself in detention, now you show up late to lunch? Has that little expedition started you on your path to breaking rules on a regular basis?"

Kaldur smiled, and shook his head, eating his food. He then explained he had been accompanying Conner to the Hospital Wing after the monkey incident.

"Oh yes, I know him. Tall kid, doesn't really talk much, but has a temper that scares most of the students away from him, especially the first years. Once nearly threw a book at poor Jaime for making monkey noises." Garth chuckled, and then added, "I'm surprised he got detention, didn't really seem the type to go off gallivanting, even if it was for peace and quiet."

"Yes it surprised everyone that knew him from what it seems." Kaldur wanted to finish his lunch, so he refrained from going more in-depth regarding Conner's actions.

After a few minutes of silence, Garth cleared his throat, clearly uneasy about what he was going to say. "Kaldur, I've been meaning to mention-"

Before Garth could continue, the doors opened with a bang, and none other than Wally West came dashing in, skidding to a halt just in time before bowling over some girls.

"Ladies." Wally's smooth voice could be heard from where Kaldur and Garth were, as well as the giggles from the girls. Clearly they found his antics amusing.

Kaldur continued eating, but could still hear Wally clearly still flirting with those girls. After a few minutes, Wally made his way to where Kaldur was sitting and collapsed on the seat beside him, grinning widely.

But then it seemed as though he remembered why he was there, and immediately sobered up. "Hey Kal, I know you've got your bad boy cred to keep up-" Kaldur shot Wally a look, promising him a very well placed jinx if he dared to say that one more time. The silent message was communicated, and Wally cleared his throat, and added, "And uh, we've got to get back to detention, Jones is starting to wonder where you went."

Kaldur sighed, and turned back to Garth. "I'll see you after dinner, and you can tell me what you wanted to say then." Garth nodded meekly, and Kaldur and Wally made their ways back to detention.

Once they got to Jones' classroom, Wally walked ahead and threw the doors open, entering while boisterously exclaiming, "The Wallman is here! Let's get this party star-" He froze on the spot, noting that everyone in the room, the animals included, were dead silent, and Dick was trying to stifle a laugh behind his hand. "-ted?"

A sneering voice finally broke the silence. "Wallman huh? So, who jinxed you? I want to personally thank them for doing a service to the magical community."

Wally whipped around indignantly to find a Slytherin girl standing inside the classroom with her arms crossed, smirking. He scoffed, no way was a Slytherin going to get the best of him. Making his way over to her, he replied, "Funny, must've taken all your Slytherin pals weeks to come up with that one huh?"

The girl smirked wider, "Really? That's the best you can do? I'd have thought you'd come up with a better comeback after your grandiose entrance."

Wally spluttered trying to come up with a witty retort, getting the Slytherin girl to let out a chortle. Before either of them could say anything, Professor Jones came out from his office, holding a stack of papers out to the Slytherin girl. "This should be what Professor Vertigo asked for."

"Thank you, Professor." Wally could've gagged at the fake sweetness in her voice talking to Jones. He was so not going to let her have the last word.

When Jones was out of earshot, he hissed, "Harpy."

The girl, who had just finished stuffing Jones' papers into her bag, got up and flashed a smirk. "Good, you're learning, I'll let you know when the next meeting of 'Teaching comebacks for the dim-witted' is. I'll make sure it's not during your Quidditch practise."

Now Wally was infuriated. As he saw the girl reach for the door he bellowed, "Who are you?!"

All Wally got in response was a wink, and she was gone.

And that's Artemis! She's something else huh?

Also, Conner's take on Clark is skewed - he clearly made up reasons for Clark's lack of love for his younger brother, and told himself often enough that he believed it. And his take on Clark & Lois' relationship is spurned by jealousy. I'm not trying to make Clark seem like too much of a villain, but Conner's POV of the situation is different than what actually is happening. Clark does indeed not like his brother, like in the show, he doesn't feel ready to deal with everything, but he's not completely heartless.

Anyway! That's that chapter, next to be updated will be How to Date the Girl, also, I'm still holding a poll to help me figure out whether to continue these two stories of mine, so please vote!

And don't forget to review!

Hezpeller