They were a very unlikely trio: the Prefect Ravenclaw, the Beater for the Slytherin Team, and the Hufflepuff with an incredible knack at most of the topics at Hogwarts. They had no real connection with each other, apart from the fact that they were all in the same year. One was a rule enforcer, one was a snarky bitch and the other a ditzy, cunning character, but somehow they managed to make it work, and they were the best of friends ever since their first year.

Nobody knew the full story, that Quinn and Brittany were cousins and had ended up in different houses purely on character, and that they were quite good friends from long before they were enrolled in Hogwarts. Nobody knew that on their first night, on the way to the bathrooms for a quick bath, Brittany had ran into a young girl, crying her eyes out, draped in Slytherin robes. Brittany had tried to comfort her, and found out that the poor, dark skinned girl was lost. So she led her back to the dungeons, and the next morning sought her out, wanting to make sure she had made it to her dormitory on time without being attacked by trolls (legend had it that the one that Harry Potter and his friends had beaten in their first year had children!). Santana, too young to realize that Slytherins weren't supposed to hang out with anybody but their own kind, had become her best friend too.

Pretty soon, the three of them started to be seen everywhere. By their third year, Santana was in the Quidditch team, becoming known for her ruthlessness on the field; Brittany was known to excel at Care of Magical Creatures, Runes, Astronomy and Herbology, a feat she was very proud of; Quinn was the next candidate for Head Girl in their year, in fact everybody loved the girl who was nice to everyone, and gently corrected those who did harm. With a large, Slytherin boy at her arms by the name of Noah, Quinn was the one all the boys wanted and all the girls wanted to be: the girl with the handsome boyfriend and the two beautiful best friends.

-0-

"So, how do you un-petrify victim's of a Basilisk's stare?"

"Uh..." Santana furrowed her brow and chewed at the tip of her quill, ruffling the feathers. "Mandrake juice...?"

"Yep!" Brittany grinned, leaning forward and giving her a chaste kiss. "You're doing great, Tana!"

"That's coz you keep rewarding me every time I do..." Santana giggled, pushing her face towards Brittany's and nuzzling her nose with her girlfriend's, smiling. "What's your next question?"

"Identify the stars in this red circle on this map...here." Brittany produced a star chart, placing it in front of Santana and indicating the circle. "You have fifty seconds."

Santana huffed and furrowed her brow again, concentrating as hard as she could. In front of people she gave everybody the 'smarter than you' attitude, but behind closed doors, or sitting at a secluded library desk, she wasn't the smartest person. Rather, Brittany was better at all this than she was. Never mind that stupid Muggle stuff, they didn't need that anymore and Brittany was no good at any of that. But this stuff, this stuff she knew.

"Hey guys," Quinn whispered as she approached them, setting her own books down. "Ready for OWLS?"

"I'm helping Santana get ready," Brittany grinned. "She's doing well."

"Thanks, babe!"

"You're welcome," Brittany smiled as Santana kissed her again, and they heard a collective hiss as some seventh year Gryffindor girls passed by, turning their noses up at them and glaring.

"What's your problem?" Santana hissed back at them, her fists clenching as she got off her seat and sauntered over to them.

"We don't need you showing off your...relationship to the rest of us," one of them huffed as she exited the library from the door two feet away. Santana turned back to the desk, shoving everything into her bag, and rushing off after them, Brittany and Quinn running after her as fast as they could, ready to stop her from doing anything stupid.

Santana rushed after the group of girls, losing them down a flight of stairs but spotting them again in the courtyard. She whipped her wand out instantly, growling as she pointed it at one girl's chest as she inched closer rapidly. The girl had already brought out her own weapon, aiming it at Santana's head.

"We don't need to see your pathetic excuse for a love story with your perfect Gryffindor boyfriend either, prick," Santana almost yelled at her, "What makes us any different?"

"It's unnatural!" the girl growled back at her, and Santana found herself silently beginning to Hex the poor girl, before she realized that she already had. Or rather, that someone else had Hexed her instead. She turned around, spotting Brittany with an angry visage and Quinn holding her hand out, obviously the one who had cast the spell. She was panting heavily, and Brittany was holding her back from the shoulders, but she was also aiming at the rest of the group.

"Anybody else have anything to say about this?" she threatened, and the rest of the girls dispersed quickly, rushing off to wherever it was that Gryffindors went. Santana turned to her friends, smiling at them as they came closer to her, Brittany kissing her when she was close enough, Quinn giving her a quick hug. It wasn't long before they found themselves being led away by Professor Longbottom, who was clicking his tongue disapprovingly.

"Quinn, that poor girl will be pulling bats out of her nose for weeks!"

"I know, isn't that a glorious execution of the Hex, sir?!" she grinned as they were pushed down the corridor. She knew about Longbottom's history, about what he had endured and everything he did in his life, and she respected him so much for it. And she swore she could see a tiny sliver of a smile on his face as he pushed the three of them into his office.

"Have a seat girls, I think a week's of detention is enough for Quinn, don't you?"

"But, sir, they were sticking up for me!" Santana retaliated. "I mean, those girls were calling me names!"

"That doesn't mean you answer with a Hex! Violence is never the answer, it only sparks more violence, trust me!" He sighed, rubbing a this temples as he tried to reason with the girls. "I know what they said and I know it was wrong - love is love no matter what and heaven knows I've seen quite a bit of strange things at this school and you're not the strangest by far - but next time just tell a teacher, alright? Now, Brittany, Santana, I'd like a word with Brittany-"

"Sir, if you're giving Quinn detention, you'll have to give it to us too," Brittany said, grabbing Santana's hand in her own. "We were going to attack too."

He looked up at them over his glasses, narrowing his eyes and worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, and then smiled. He thought that they reminded him so much of his three friends, those three very brave friends...

"You know, I think that deducting thirty points from Gryffindor is enough, don't you?"

As he watched them exit his office, arm in arm the three of them, he found himself thinking that maybe Hogwarts had found itself another unstoppable Trio.