December 4th, 1890 - Slytherin Dungeon

It was a lot easier to claim ownership of their homework corner now that they were third years than it had been last years - which would probably continue every year. Privately, Sirius was thinking they should find a better homework space next year, or even in the Spring - one of the unused classrooms upstairs, or else somewhere with brighter lighting. The dungeon was, probably, not great for his eyes.

These were the things he thought about so he didn't have to think about their Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. It should be illegal for them to have to still do schoolwork this close to winter break. Frankly, he would have put it off until the end of the weekend, but they had Hogsmeade tomorrow, and really would be screwed if they ignored things too long.

"Five signs of a werewolf," he said lazily, flicking his quill between his fingers. "And I'll go literally anywhere you want if you go to Quality Quidditch Supplies with me tomorrow."

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As she was getting older, Flora had found things to focus on that didn't include homework. Now her hair was more of a concern than her Potions grade, and she worried more about how she was perceived when she struggled to solve a Transfiguration equation than actually solving the equation. Still, Flora found herself in the same corner of the dungeon to study with Sirius as they had in the years before, her other textbooks stacked neatly to the side while she struggled to find the answers in her Defence Against the Dark Arts book.

"Their humanlike eyes," she mumbled in response as she scanned the page with her fingertips. It was difficult to see, but she wouldn't complain. She had now decided that she was concerned about what boys, even Sirius, thought of her—more specifically that they might find her annoying. She scribbled down her own answer before letting out a sigh. She propped a single elbow up on the table and rested her cheek in the palm of her hand.

"I don't mind, of course," she said with a tired half-smile. "I need to stop by Twilfit and Tattings to get my dress robes tailored for the winter recital. You should take your coat to be tailored while we're there; you've grown since school started." Just as she had, much to her delight.

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"That's only one," Sirius said, writing it down. "We've also got the tufted tails." He prompted. Frankly, Sirius didn't think one needed to identify werewolves so much as one needed to get the fuck away from werewolves, because if a large wolf was trying to murder him he really wouldn't question things for very long. And yet.

"Mm," Sirius agreed, glancing down at his hands - his sleeves were shorter than they'd been a few months ago, but his coat was genuinely dire. "I wish I could just finish growing. I hate getting things tailored."

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She scribbled down the answers as well, writing tuft tails neatly beneath the words humanlike eyes. She'd never been a fan of Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and knew that by sixth year she'd likely drop it, but she had to admit the dark creatures unit was one of the more interesting things they'd learned about. She only hoped she'd never have to use that information (...but then again, they shared classes with half-vampires and half-breeds of all sort. Maybe she'd meet their parents one of these days.)

"Short snouts," she said monotonously, writing that beneath her other answers. There were only a few left, and she was certain Sirius could figure them out for her. She hated reading from this textbook; the text was too small and the book lacked pictures except when illustrating wand movements.

"We'll finish growing soon enough," she hummed, secretly hoping it was sooner rather than later on her end. She was all too eager to wear a tighter corset, put her hair up, and wear elegant gowns that hid her ankles. She wanted to be a woman, and one as regal as her mother. Sirius, she supposed, would look something like Headmaster Black—though she did believe that he would be a little handsomer with Ursula Black as his mother. "I've heard the girls stop growing first. You'll have to suffer a while longer, I suppose," she said smiling.

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"At least I'll get taller," Sirius said with a shrug of his shoulders. He was hoping to inherit more of Ursula's height - while slightly tall for his age, if he stopped growing soon he wasn't going to be happy at all.

"Oh, regular wolves don't go after humans, really," Sirius added, almost as an afterthought.

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It was becoming all too easy to be caught up in her own future, and she wondered if the boys went through similar panics. She'd never seen or heard Rex or Sirius worry about their future careers, but at age thirteen she had already begun to worry about her future (with some help from every single female authority figure in her life, including Sirius' mother!). Perhaps girls and boys were simply made differently. Imagine if a boy's only struggle was his height!

"Is that all of them, then?" she asked, scribbling down the answer nearly a minute after Sirius had spoke. She felt the need to express that she did not care about their Defence Against the Dark Arts class—but then, maybe Sirius cared, and she would hate to cause offense.

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"I think so," Sirius said, reading back over their answers. "What subject do you want to do next?" This was a slog, but it was their slog - and just because Flora was being weird about growing up didn't mean that they should stop homeworking.

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She scribbed down their answers, and then they were done. She closed her book and sat down in her chair, pondering the question for a moment. A second passed, but then, seemingly out of nowhere, a smile came to her face and she grabbed for a textbook atop her pile.

"Transfiguration, of course," she said, as if he ought to know better. If they had to do a class she did not care much for, she deserved time to study for one of her favorite classes. She flipped through her textbook swiftly, spotting the last page of the chapter that she'd left bookmarked. However, her attention was on the next page, where a new chapter started—one they had not yet studied yet: Animagi.

"I can't wait until the unit we finish the lecture on the draconifors spell. I know I'll never need it," she explained. She'd done it a dozen times now, and not once had it been any more interesting than the last.

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He should have guessed that they'd be working on Transfiguration, next; it was pretty reliably Flora's favorite. Sirius did not feel as strongly although he did like it, and so he grabbed his own textbook and flipped to the relevant chapter without complaint.

"No plans to turn random objects into dragons in your everyday life, then?" Sirius asked, obviously flippant. It was an unfortunate unit, and not the most useful spell he'd ever seen.

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Flora smirked. "If only it were real dragons instead of silly dragon models," she said, wondering why they were even taught it at all. She supposed there had to be something in the formulas and theory they studied that would help them in future lessons, but the actual spell seemed so dull!

"Do you think Professor Yi will be giving his animagi lecture soon?" she asked as he reached the same page as she. Their transfiguration textbook did not come with many illustrations, but this page had large one of a gentleman turning to a raven in frame-by-frame movements. "One of the older students told me it's customary for third years to be introduced to the topic midway through the year."

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"Maybe in January?" Sirius said; they were so close to the Christmas holidays that he hoped Professor Yi wouldn't go over animagi beforehand. If he did, there was no way Sirius would pay attention, and Sirius wanted to pay attention to the animagus lecture. It wasn't that he thought he would ever attempt the transformation, but, well - he wanted the option.

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Flora's face slipped into a pout. She glanced at Sirius and shook her head, as if January would not possibly to.

"I cannot wait until then. What else will I have to think about during winter break?" Apart from Christmas itself.

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Sirius thought, briefly, that he ought to point out that there was nothing he could do about it so why was she pouting at him, but contained the impulse because it seemed likely to piss Flora off. He usually tried to avoid pissing her off for no reason; still, he couldn't resist teasing a little and said, with a little theatrical roll of his eyes: "I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something, Flora."

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Flora pursed her lips and gave a little hmph sound. "And how do you plan to spend your break, anyways?"

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"Being dreadfully bored in London like I always do," Sirius answered dutifully, "And spending time with my Aunt Elladora, perhaps."

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It seemed their holiday plans did not change much year to year; Flora was determined to change that.

"We should do something fun," she suggested, nudging his arm with the side of her wrist. "Christmas in Hogsmeade is always more fun in Hogsmeade than it is in London!"

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