Dazai 's weekly letter to Mori had been a little light on detail.

It wasn 't for lack of trying. After all, Dazai always tried to flesh out his mission reports to a satisfactory level. Anything less and Mori started to worry he was falling into a depressive episode. But between arriving at Hogwarts and now, he hadn 't made any headway on Lucius ' test. Discounting everything with Lockhart and the Sensing Stone, Dazai had a relatively quiet week.

Still, Dazai wrote out his letter and shipped it off on Featherbrain 's wings. Mori would just have to deal.

(Mori would

also

have to deal with Featherbrain tearing a hole in Mori's nice, new doctor's coat 'Dazai's special orders for the owl just before she took off.)

With that done, Dazai now waited in one of the many halls of Hogwarts. A large, empty wall stood at his back. Sometimes, he knew a tapestry to hang there. Other times, there was a door.

The club-room.

Or 'it was the

gang office

now.

He couldn't get in.

In the past, Dazai and the Loyalty Club would meet here for lessons. But whatever magic made the room appear didn 't agree with Dazai. He would have to wait for someone else to come along before the empty wall split open into a door. It was a hassle, but Dazai was honestly just pleased to have found his way there by himself for once.

Dazai stood perfectly still, only looking up intermittently when someone passed by. He didn 't recognize anyone 's face, but they all seemed to recognize him. It put a pit in Dazai 's stomach.

There had to be some way to mollify the masses. A way to ingratiate himself to them, somehow. At the very least, then Dazai could walk around the school without garnering so much attention. But between Lockhart and the Daily Prophet, Dazai had a lot of bad press to work against. He considered, briefly, explaining the truth about Quirrell to the other students, but eventually decided against it. At this point, he doubted bringing up Voldemort by name would do much in his favor.

But there had to be something. The twins would probably have a good idea.

Deep in thought, Dazai didn 't notice someone walking right up to him without any hint of hesitation.

'Why are you standing by this wall all alone? '

Dazai snapped back to attention, shoulders tensing defensively on instinct.

The person standing in front of him was quite a bit shorter than him. She had long, pale hair with eyes silver and piercing. The blue of her tie told Dazai she was Ravenclaw. Something about her expression gave Dazai the impression that she was seeing straight through him.

"I'm contemplating bashing my head against the wall," Dazai told her for lack of a better answer. He could hardly tell this random girl he was waiting to enter his gang's office.

'Is there something interesting on the other end? ' She asked, evidently ignoring Dazai's remark entirely. 'I read in the Quibbler article

'10 Things You Didn 't Know About Hogwarts '

that the school is full of secret rooms and passageways. It was number seven. '

He looked at the girl, then to the other students in the hall. Nothing had changed: everyone was still keeping a fearful distance from him. Yet, this girl had boldly walked up to him and started a conversation.

'What are you doing? ' He asked instead.

'Asking a question, ' she said in a voice that seemed to be flowing like sand. It fell through the air and slipped between her fingers shapelessly.

Dazai raised a brow. Was this girl totally right in the head? Her eyes were intense, but didn 't seem to be focused on anything at all. 'I mean, ' Dazai titled his chin towards where a gaggle of first-years were staring at them, horrified, 'what are you doing talking to

me?

Your friends think I 'm going to attack you. '

'Are you? '

'I hadn 't been planning on it, ' Dazai replied, a little dumbfounded. Either this girl had no idea who he was, or she was dead-set on alienating herself.

'Those aren 't my friends, anyway. They 're always calling me 'Loony ' Lovegood, since they think I 'm a bit odd. ' She paused. 'My name is Luna Lovegood. Did I mention? It 's Luna Lovegood, not 'Loony ' Lovegood, ' she emphasized. 'Only Ginny Weasley doesn't call me that. But she 's wandered off to somewhere again. I was just checking the Gryffindor common room, but she wasn 't there. Do you think she 's picked up a Wrackspurt infestation? '

Dazai had no idea what a Wrackspurt was.

'Oh,

have you got them, too? Earlier there was a look on your face like you weren 't entirely here. Thinking happy thoughts will dispel the Wrackspurts. That 's what the Quibbler says in Issue 76, fourth article, third paragraph ' '

'Do I know you? ' Dazai cut in abruptly.

Luna blinked. 'No. Although I 've read all about you. '

'Everyone has read about me. '

'Yes, but everyone is reading the Daily Prophet. That Pansy Parkinson, especially. Did you know she stopped by the Ravenclaw common rooms the other day just to talk bad about you? It was quite worrying stuff. Perhaps you should try to make nice with her before she insights a rebellion. ' She paused. 'I tried convincing my housemates to read the Quibbler for information on you instead. If you want a reliable article, then you need to be reading the Quibbler. I 've been subscribed for years now. '

Dazai perked up, interest at once peaked. He 'd never heard of the Quibbler before Luna popped up and started name-dropping it left-and-right. But if it was reporting different events than the Daily Prophet... 'If the Quibbler is so reliable, why have I never heard of it? ' He asked, already wondering how he could get his hands on a copy.

Something imperceptible in Luna 's expression hardened. 'Just because something isn 't popular, doesn 't mean it isn 't true. '

Just as quick as the emotion came on, that strangely stern expression on Luna 's face vanished. It was replaced once again by a dreamy, almost serene look. Dazai mentally clocked the reaction, wondering what history lied behind those words. 'If anyone knows that, ' he said, words carefully chosen, 'it 's me. '

'Hmm.

I suppose that 's true. '

'But the Quibbler tells the truth,

huh? '

Dazai scratched his chin, feigning thoughtfulness. 'What does it have to say about me? '

'Well, ' she brought a finger to her lips in thought, 'for one, I don 't believe you really are a demon. If you were, then I 'd be able to see your horns. ' She got up on her tippy-toes to peer overtop his head. 'I don 't see any... and your hair is quite short. Did you get a snip recently? '

'Luna, ' he chided. This girl sure could ramble.

'According to the Quibbler, Mr. Quirrell went on sabbatical and came back possessed by an Albanian spirit. You aren 't a demon 'you're an

exorcist. '

She hummed, ignoring the way Dazai 's brow rose higher and higher the more she spoke. 'The Ravenclaw house ghost told me that all the ghosts avoid you, so it must be true. Even Peeves avoids you. Just yesterday, he spilled tomato soup all over my robes... if I were an exorcist, too, I wouldn 't have had to scrub them so thoroughly. Ginny helped me though, so it 's all right. Only, she doesn 't read the Quibbler and says you aren 't any sort of exorcist. '

An... exorcist?

...well, it was better than demon.

Maybe Dazai had it right in the first place, and Luna Lovegood wasn 't the most grounded person in the world. But there was something that held him in place. For the first time since starting his second year, a stranger wasn 't looking at him with fear or trepidation. Instead, Luna looked at him with eyes that didn 't seem to being seeing at all. As if she was talking to just some other nobody in the halls.

It was refreshing.

And a little interesting, if Dazai was being fair. It was enough to keep him from just walking away without another word, at least.

More than that, however, was this Quibbler paper. Hearing Luna now only confirmed it for Dazai: The controversy of his fight with Quirrell stemmed with the Daily Prophet alone. Whatever was going on behind the scenes, it started there.

'Do you have any copies of the Quibbler? ' Dazai asked suddenly.

Luna immediately perked up, an excited smile lighting her face. 'I have every copy. My dad is the editor for the Quibbler. I 'm sure he 'll be very pleased to learn he has a new reader. '

Her dad! Well, that explained Luna 's enthusiasm over the topic. Although Dazai couldn 't even imagine himself being a fan of his own father 's work. Or Mori 's, at that. Though Port Mafia work tended to be bloody, unlike the rather plain world of tabloid journalism. Perhaps

that

was the real difference, here.

'Could I have a copy? Any one of the articles about me. '

She smiled. 'Of course! '

Perhaps something in the Quibbler could give Dazai an idea of what was going on. Somewhere, between Quirrell and Rita Skeeter, the story had gotten entirely out of hand. Even if this Quibbler seemed to mostly be nonsense, it was still closer to the truth than the Daily Prophet.

'Oh?

Who is this? '

'A friend or a foe? '

Dazai and Luna both looked up, coming face-to-face with the impish grins of the Weasley twins.

Dazai cast a quick glance to Luna. 'Friend, ' he said after a second. Beside him, Luna 's expression fell into stark surprise. She obviously hadn 't expected to be called 'friend ' so casually. If anything about that 'Loony ' story was to be believed, he doubted she had many friends to begin with. 'This is Luna. We just met and she doesn 't think I 'm a serial killer. Isn 't that exciting? '

'I 'm friends with an exorcist, ' Luna hummed, surprise giving way to a bubbly sort of smile. 'How lovely! '

Fred and George smirked, laughter on their lips. 'You 're an exorcist now, Snakey? '

Dazai wiggled his fingers at them. They snorted.

'The Weasley twins, ' Luna said suddenly, drawing everyone 's attention back to her. Bluntly, she said, 'I 've seen you around. Ginny says awful things about you. '

George laughed.

'Oh?

What 's our little sis telling everyone about us? '

'That you 're pranksters with a mean streak. She says you take things too far, sometimes. And that you 're maybe planning some kind of mutiny against the professors. ' She hummed. 'Is it true that you told Ginny she 'd have to live in the woods if she missed the boats? '

'Just a little prank. '

'Harmless fun! '

'Is it? '

Once again, that strangely serious look crossed her face. And just like last time, it was gone within a fraction of a second. Luna didn 't pay the twins ' perplexed expressions any mind. Instead, she asked out of the blue, 'are you three planning a prank like that right now? '

Fred and George blinked.

'Er...

no? '

Dazai met Luna 's eyes, shrugging. It could be a problem if Luna spilled the beans about his gang 's secret meeting spot. Thinking this, he offered her a small smile.

The prying curiosity in Luna 's eyes immediately shifted, replaced instead by something warm and friendly.

'No need to worry. I won 't tell anyone that the three of you are up to some mysterious mischief behind this wall. ' Luna 's smile was pleasantly empty. She turned to Dazai, 'I 'm sure my dad would love to interview you for one of his articles. Let me know if you 'd be interested. '

Then, without even a word of goodbye, Luna turned on her heel and left.

Dazai and the twins watched her go, befuddled.

'Er...

she seemed nice? '

'A little strange, ' Fred said with a puff. 'You told her about the secret room here, Boss? '

Dazai shook his head. 'She was just guessing, actually. Evidently, it 's common knowledge in the Quibbler. '

'The Quibbler? '

The twins sounded surprised. 'You read that nonsense? '

'Luna 's father

writes

it, ' he corrected, then shrugged his shoulders. Then, pivoting, he asked, 'did you happen to notice if Ron and Hermione were on their way here? '

'Think they 're around here somewhere, ' George said, glancing around.

Dazai also took a moment to scan the hallway. At some point, that group of first-years seemed to have left. Evidently, the only thing holding their attention had been the possibility of him attacking Luna. Now, it was only Dazai and the Weasley twins.

He turned away from the empty hall. 'Well, they can catch up later. How does this thing open, again? ' Dazai rapped a knuckle over the brick wall. Magic hummed beneath his glove, but it was unwilling to budge for Dazai.

'No luck, Boss? ' Fred snorted.

'You just have to, like, ' George narrowed his eyes at the wall and waved his arms around, as if feigning an elaborate spell, 'want it really hard. '

'At least, that 's what Blaise said when he showed us last year. '

Despite the blas ' nature of George 's instruction, Dazai watched as, after a second, the bricks shifted. They slowly morphed into a familiar stone door. The twins gave the hallway a final, cursory glance before swinging the door open. They helped themselves inside. Dazai followed a step behind, kicking the door closed with his heel as he did so.

The club room looked almost exactly like Dazai remembered it. Stone floors lined the entire, massive room and a colorful, stain glass window lit up the back wall. The mahogany desk and sofa were also exactly where he remembered them to be. A cozy looking blanket was draped over the couch.

Also familiar was the sting of magic on his skin upon entering. The entire room seemed to be made of magic. Naturally, No Longer Human needed to make its upset of this known.

However, there seemed to be a few new additions to the room as well. A new lamp by the desk cast a golden glow over the whole space, illuminating the room with flickering firelight. There was an odd iron smell in the room. Dazai 's nose scrunched up as he searched around for the source. A dozen potted plants lined the walls. A few other new things had filled out the room as well: a chalk board, an empty bookcase, a mountainous nest of pillows and blankets '

Dazai abruptly stopped his exploration of the room.

A nest?

A furrow in his brow, Dazai sneaked across the room towards the pillows.

'Well, this is new, ' Fred commented from somewhere behind him. 'I don 't remember wanting a fancy lamp light this. '

Dazai took another step closer to the pillows. It was hard to focus on with the magic swarming everywhere in the room, but Dazai thought he could almost make out a distinct magical signature hiding within the nest. It felt warm. Faintly smoky in his lungs.

'Or this... ' George paused,

'uh,

pile of suspicious raw meats. '

A fire lamp, a nest, and raw meat. A magical signature like ember and ash.

Oh.

Dazai knew what this was!

Just as soon as the realization set in, however, so too did tension snap his entire body ram-rod straight. They weren 't alone in the club room.

An old enemy of Dazai 's was hiding amongst them.

A scaly, black head poked out from the nest of pillows.

She was a lot bigger now 'head alone the size of a watermelon 'but Dazai recognized the creature immediately.

'Egg isn 't still feral, is she? ' He asked aloud.

Tentatively, Dazai took a step back, accidentally bumping into one of the twins. Fred glanced down at him. Following Dazai 's gaze, Fred 's joking smile immediately flickered out.

The Norwegian Ridgeback dragon slowly rose from out of its nest, blankets slipping from its form and falling into a pile on the floor. Its body rose, and rose, and rose. Dazai 's eyes widened as he took in the sheer size of Egg now 'she must have at least quadrupled in size since he 'd last seen her. Egg 's claws

clacked

against the stone floor. Her wings stretched out, twitching and pulling the thin, dark skin out unnaturally. Fire-orange eyes blinked one at a time. The dragon took a step toward them. Dazai felt his breath catch in his throat as a low growl slipped from Egg 's snarling maw.

Going stiff, Fred grabbed Dazai 's shoulders and pulled him away.

'Uh, '

Fred whispered, 'I 'm going to guess 'still feral. ' '

Dazai 's fingers twitched at his side, No Longer Human poised to defend.

Egg took another menacing step, wings outstretched and large '

'Are you harassing my dragon? '

Like flipping a switch, all the tension in the room vanished.

Egg made a strangely cooing noise before plopping down on her hindquarters. Her wings pulled back into her sides and her claws tucked under her stomach. Dazai hesitated for a second longer before whirling on whoever had spoken.

Draco raised an unamused brow.

'Good afternoon, Draco, ' Dazai called, 'this dragon is trying to kill us. '

'She 's just saying hello. Aren 't you, Egg? '

Dazai blinked. He gave the room another quick once over only once he was sure Egg was staying put. 'And you 've just been... keeping her in the club room? '

'Where else am I meant to keep your illegal pet, Dazai? She 's

illegal. '

'Ah... '

Dazai rubbed the back of his neck. 'You said 'illegal ' twice. '

Draco shot him a glare. Then, he walked straight past Dazai and the twins to give Egg a gentle pat on the snout. Dazai watched with wide eyes as the dragon stayed perfectly still. She didn 't prepare to attack or growl threateningly. Instead, she made a pleased-sounding squeak and butted her head into Draco 's leg.

'You tamed her! ' George piped up, interest sparkling in his eyes. 'Impressive! '

'You did tame her, right? ' Dazai asked before Draco could respond. 'I 'd rather not have to fend off a dragon for a second time. She's definitely old enough to be breathing fire now, too. And burning to death is

not

on my list of

best ways to commit suicide. '

"Your

what?!"

Fred and George whirled on him.

Draco gave Egg a hearty scratch on the chin. She practically melted into the touch.

'She looks tame to me, ' Blaise said from the doorway.

He walked up to Dazai 's side, giving his friend a quick once-over. 'At the very least, she 's a far cry from when she first hatched. '

She was also

bigger

, which didn 't do much for her looking non-threatening. But Blaise was right. When Egg first hatched, she was a little spitfire of a thing, all claws and fangs. Blaise had been hurt, then. Blood on his cloak '

Dazai pushed that memory aside. 'How did you tame her? ' He asked. All his research on the subject said that Norwegian Ridgebacks, females especially, were violent beasts.

Draco finally looked up from Egg, hands falling to his sides. 'Even wild animals respect the Malfoy name, Dazai. ' At the row of blank expressions staring back at him, he added, 'My father keeps all sorts of ancient books in the library. After I came home with a dragon last year, he gave me a book on them. '

'Did someone say 'book? ' '

Dazai turned upon recognizing Hermione 's voice. He waved first to her, then to Ron once he noticed the red-head at her back.

Draco 's lip pulled downward. For a second, Dazai thought he might snap at the Gryffindors. But after a moment, all he said was, 'Written by

the

Merlin. The Great Wizard Merlin was a Dragonlord, so of course he would know how to tame a dragon. '

'The Malfoy charm helped as well, I 'm sure, ' Blaise commented idly. His eyes fell briefly to Egg, who had since returned to her nest.

'Naturally. '

With that settled, Dazai finally crossed the room to the desk. He dragged his fingers through a thin layer of dust.

Everyone was finally gathered all together. Fred and George, Draco, Blaise, Hermione, and Ron: Dazai 's own little Hogwarts gang. With the addition of Egg, they even had a sort of mascot. Something about seeing them all together like this bloomed warm pride in Dazai 's chest. Not only had these people come to trust him, but Dazai felt that he could really trust them in return.

Dazai ignored the reflexive voice in his head sounding like Mori 's,

'You 're too fond of them, Shuuji. '

Mostly. He could

mostly

trust them.

He clapped. The noise startled away Dazai 's unwanted thoughts and drew the gang 's eyes straight to him. 'Thanks, everyone, for coming when called. '

'Why is he talking about us like we 're his dogs again? '

Ron stage-whispered to Hermione.

She shook her head.

'Last year we all did fantastic work of stealing the Philosopher 's Stone. ' Dazai looked from one person to the next as he spoke. Fred and George were smiling, still clearly pleased with how the heist had gone. Hermione and Ron shared a brief, exasperated glance. It wasn 't lacking in fondness, Dazai noted warmly. True to character, Blaise merely nodded in passive agreement. Only Draco wore a serious expression on his face 'but given everything between the Port Mafia and the Malfoys, that made sense.

Moving on, Dazai continued to address the group, 'I want to do something big this year, too. Something less likely to end in the magical community demonizing me, if possible. I liked the idea of stealing test answer keys. ' He glanced to the twins, noting how they eagerly bounced on their feet. 'But I 'm open to suggestions. '

'That 's

cheating, '

Hermione cut in immediately.

'It 's business, ' Dazai corrected with a cheeky grin, 'as long as we charge for it. '

Hermione squeaked. 'That 's still cheating! '

'Wait, we 're making money on this? ' Ron perked up.

Dazai shrugged. 'It 's more exciting like that. '

'Boring, ' Draco drawled. He crossed his arms. '

Some

of us don 't need to pawn off test answers to make do. If you need money, Dazai, I 'm sure my father can loan you some. '

As one, the Weaselys went stiff and glared down Draco. Dazai understood why: the Weasley family didn 't have much in the way of expendable money. They wore hand-me-down clothes and shared books between them. Whereas Dazai and Draco seemingly had unlimited financial backing, Ron and the twins didn 't have such a luxury. It was clearly a spot of contention between them. Dazai frowned.

'No fighting."

He blinked, suddenly realizing '

Looking around now, it became very clear to Dazai how his gang was arranged: the Gryffindors on one side and the Slytherins on the other. The only outlier was Dazai himself, standing smack-dab in the middle. Upon noticing the distance, Dazai sighed, 'Don 't tell me you six have just been bickering with each other the entire time I was away. '

'We 're not

fighting

, per se, ' the twins said. The anger in their eyes vanished the second they turned to Dazai. They sounded hesitant. Apologetic. 'And we haven 't

been

fighting this whole time. It 's more... '

Dazai raised a brow. 'What? '

The gang shared guilty looks, save for Draco, who stuck his chin in the air and avoided everyone 's eyes.

Hermione patted down her robes. 'To be honest, the gang didn 't meet up at all after you left last year, Dazai. '

Ron nodded, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

'Yeah, ' Fred agreed. 'I mean, Blaise showed us to this room, but then we all kind of stopped talking to each other. '

'You 're the glue holding us all together, Boss! '

Dazai blinked, taking in everyone 's appearances again. Draco and Blaise off to one side, Ron, Hermione, and the twins off to the other. Upon entering, no one had spoken to anyone outside of their house, barring a few sparse words from Draco to Hermione. They barely looked at one another. Even in Diagon Alley, Draco and the twins hadn 't interacted like friends might. The gang was falling apart before it was even built together.

(Dazai had told Mori his gang was strong 'that his gang was a resource. Apparently, it had been a lie.)

Dazai had been born into the mafia under the current boss. By extension, he was born to lead. If he couldn 't get this group of idiots to work together, then he wasn 't fit to be alive.

Something tangled in his chest.

'That won 't do, ' Dazai said, propping his hands on his hips. 'How are we meant to do anything nefarious if none of you will even look at each other? '

'N-nefarious? ' Hermione stumbled.

'Before we move on to anything exciting, we need... ' he hummed in thought.

'Oh, '

Dazai blinked. 'We need team-building exercises. '

In the mafia, people just got along. If you couldn 't put up and work as a team, one or all of you would die. Dazai was forgetting again that people at Hogwarts were soft. House loyalty was as divisive as things got around here. Discounting Quirrell, mortal peril never really factored in.

Fred and George immediately burst out laughing. Meanwhile, Draco 's disapproving condescension had dropped into shock.

'You can 't be serious, ' Draco spat. 'I 'm not working with blood-traitors and a mudblood. I 'm here because of you and Blaise. '

Dazai 's eyes narrowed, but he didn 't comment except to raise a brow. 'Last year, ' he said, stepping closer to Draco. They locked eyes. 'You had me do a show of loyalty. It 's kind of the same thing, isn 't it? Only now it 's a show of comradery. '

'Dazai, ' Draco huffed, 'that 's not at all the same situation, and you know it. '

He shrugged.

Blaise cleared his throat. 'What did you have in mind, Boss? '

'Ah,

I hadn 't thought about it, ' Dazai kicked the ground. Unconsciously, his eyes slipped back to Egg. The dragon yawned before curling up in a heap. He hummed. 'How about this? Draco can teach Ron how to care for Egg. Then you can take turns caring for her throughout the year. That would be a good start. '

'What?! '

'Absolutely not! '

Dazai waved them off. 'Don 't yell 'it's giving me a headache. '

Ron shook his head, wide-eyed. 'That snake'll have Eggy corrupted against me! I 'll be dragon food by the end of the week 'no way am I going anywhere near Draco! '

'As if I would let you taint Egg with your soiled blood-traitor hands. '

Clicking his tongue, Dazai mentally rolled his eyes. These two hadn 't changed at all. The only time Dazai had ever seen Draco and Ron get along had been last year in the owlery.

'Draco wouldn 't have you killed unless I asked him to. ' He smiled pleasantly.

Draco didn 't comment.

Ron squawked.

'Draco, it 's more practical to share responsibly over Egg 's care.

I

can 't do it, ' he waved a gloved hand around in point, 'and I technically told Ron he could keep her." He beamed, giving them a saccharine, "Try not to kill each other, okay? '

'I ' '

'Dazai '! '

'If you all behave, then I can finally give out my joining gifts. ' Dazai drew a whine into his voice. 'But you 're all so disobedient, it 's like we 're barely even a gang anymore. '

Fred and George immediately snapped upright. They shared a frantic look.

'Boss isn 't going to give us our gifts?! '

'Quick, Ronnikins! Give your good pal Draco a hug! '

The twins unceremoniously grabbed Ron 's shoulders and pushed him towards Draco. Ron squirmed and kicked in their hold. 'He is

not

my friend! '

'For us? Please? '

'For the joining gift, Ronnie! ' Fred pleaded. 'Don 't you want a gift from Dazai? '

Ron finally weaseled out of their grasps. He sounded out of breath, but thoughtfulness had taken over the prior disgust. He shot an almost too-quick-to-catch look in Draco 's direction. 'I guess... ' he grumbled.

'Well,

I

already have my joining gift from Blaise, ' Draco puffed up. In example, he lifted up the skirt of his robes. Wrapped around his leg was an elaborate-looking wand holster. It looked to be made of high-quality black leather. A silver dragon was embroidered on the side. Draco dropped his robes after giving the room only a second to admire its craftsmanship. 'But I suppose, if you beg me for it, I 'll teach you about dragons. '

Dazai watched as Ron held an inner war with himself. The twins, too, seemed to be eagerly awaiting Ron 's response.

Surprisingly, it was Hermione who put an end to things.

'Oh,

that 's enough, you two! ' She shook her head, curls bouncing. 'Quit bickering already. In the time it takes for you two to stop arguing, I could read Merlin 's dragon book ten-times over! '

Dazai beamed. 'Great! Hermione will learn how to take care of Egg too, then. '

'Huh? '

She jumped. 'I-I wasn 't volunteering, Dazai. '

'But you 'd make such a good chaperone! ' He grinned. 'Reading and reminding people to behave... It sounds like something you 'd enjoy. '

'Well... ' she trailed off, unable to really disagree.

'Wait, what about those two? ' Ron asked, shoving his thumb out in the direction of the twins. 'And Blaise? What are you forcing them to do? '

'Hm?

Well, they 're actually very well behaved already ' '

'Stop talking about us like we 're dogs you haven 't trained yet. '

Dazai cleared his throat, pivoting quickly to another topic. 'They 'll be helping the gang out with some other stuff! You kids can work on this dragon thing until you 've learned to behave yourselves. After that you can join us with the big-time schemes. '

Fred choked on a laugh. George, helpfully, smacked him on the back.

'You 're the same age as us, ' Draco intoned.

'In the meantime, ' Dazai said, turning to the twins rather than gracing Draco with a response. He sifted around his robes for a second. 'Something for you two. '

Fred and George bounced excitedly in place. They shared matching grins and held out their hands expectantly.

'Ooh! '

'What 'll it be? '

Dazai dropped a small, metal object into each of their waiting palms.

The twins

oohed.

Fred held his up to see it better. A small, red gem caught the light. 'A cuff-link? ' He asked, surprise in his voice.

'Yeah, but these look

really

expensive! ' George quickly looked from his gift to Fred 's.

The cuff-links were, in fact, excessively expensive 'not that Dazai 's wallet was any lighter for it. Back in Yokohama, Mori was probably mourning the loss of his fanciest cuff-links, an unknowing benefactor to Dazai 's gang. Each cuff-link was about one inch wide and was made of a clean-looking metal. In the center of each cuff-link, an authentic, red ruby was affixed. A quick glance earlier in the school year told Dazai that they were pigeon bloods.

"Very expensive. You could buy a house with them, ' he said. Then, Dazai explained with a wink, 'they 're a set, so don 't separate them. '

For a second, he thought Fred and George might have short-circuited. But after a second, the Weasley twins rushed to pin the cuff-links in place. On George 's right sleeve and Fred 's left, a shiny new joining gift reflected firelight.

They gave each other a once-over.

'My dear Fred, your cuff-link looks stunning. Wherever did you buy it? '

'Oh,

this little thing? ' Fred waved his arm out. 'At the fancy store for rich snobs. I have an in with the boss. '

At once, they dissolved into laughter. Though Dazai noted with some amusement that their wild gesticulations had died down some. Instead, both Fred and George seemed to be trying to move very carefully, lest a cuff-link come loose.

Annoyance flickered across Draco 's face as he eyed their mocking hysterics. 'Socialites don 't talk like that. '

' 'Socialites, ' '

the twins echoed. They only laughed harder.

Rolling his eyes, Dazai tried not to let the fondness show too obviously on his face. The twins were still laughing, only pausing briefly to admire their gifts. Dazai decided they could have a moment to themselves. He looked at the others.

'Aren 't you jealous? ' He hummed. 'Hurry up and become friends so I can bequeath expensive gifts onto you. '

Ron glanced to Draco with an expression like he might be sick. But instead of spitting out something unkind again, he sucked in a huge breath. "Fine. '

'Fine? '

Ron nodded. 'But only for the gift. I wouldn 't hang out with a

Malfoy

if it weren 't for the gift 'and Egg, since she 's actually

my

dragon. '

Draco 's head snapped to face the red-head. '

Your

dragon?! '

'Dazai gave her to

me

first ' '

'And when you couldn 't take care of her, Dazai gave her to

me

' '

'Okay, that 's going well, ' Dazai commented with a hum. 'Good luck to you all, but mostly Hermione for having to put up with everything. '

Hermione let out a world-weary sigh.

'Speaking of, ' he said to her, 'there 's some research I need to do. You 're welcome to tag along once these two don 't need supervision any longer. '

She perked up. 'I can help now. You know I can always make time for research. '

Dazai shook his head, turning away when her frown looked hurt. 'One thing at a time. It 's nothing time sensitive 'I think. '

Hermione was obviously very curious, if her wide, asking eyes were anything to go by. But Dazai didn 't relent. His gang was of no use to him if it could barely function as a unit. It was more important to get that sorted out first. Moreover...

Ron and Draco kept shooting one another scathing glares.

Dazai picked at the skin of his wrist.

In the meantime, he needed to give them something to focus on. In the mafia, one of the main things (aside from the threat of death) that limited infighting was the fact that everyone shared a common goal. Things were shakier now with Father so ill but...

No. Dazai wouldn 't make the same brainless mistakes as that man.

'So, ' he turned to Fred and George, 'did you two already have any plans in mind for this test-answer-stealing scam? '

They perked up immediately.

A shared goal. He could give them that.

The gang continued to chat for nearly an hour after that. Dazai and the twins plotted out potential heist ideas: which professors to target, what distractions would work best, how they would attract customers. After a while, the others jumped in to offer up ideas as well.

At one point, Ron piped up, 'let 's charge a galleon from each student we sell to. '

Draco promptly argued, 'only a galleon? It would be more economic to charge something like...

hmm

... a sickle per question. '

All things considered, it was a surprisingly tame exchange between the two. Dazai 's gang was coming together already!

'We 'd make a killing on longer tests, ' Dazai hummed. 'That 's a good idea. Golden star to Draco! '

'Don 't patronize me. '

Talking it out like this helped not only to bring everyone in the gang closer together, it also fleshed the scheme out a lot. By the end of the hour, everyone in the group had an objective to be working towards:

Draco and Ron would be learning to not scream at each other, with Hermione supervising.

The twins would be preparing for a heist.

Blaise would be sniffing out viable customers.

And lastly...

'Wait, what are

you

doing in this whole operation? ' Ron had a brow raised and an expression somehow both amused and annoyed on his face.

'I 'm delegating, ' Dazai leaned away from the blackboard, where he'd been writing out everyone's assignments like he were a teacher, and the others his students. 'I 'm keeping everyone on track, preparing for every inevitable detour, and taking the fall if we get caught. Basically, I 'm keeping the trouble to a minimum, and cleaning up whatever messes you kids get into. '

Hermione paled at the threat of trouble.

'You, of all people, don 't need any more bad press, ' Blaise said.

Dazai waved him off. 'I 'm a demon, remember? The staff will probably blame me even if Ron were holding up a giant, flashing sign that says, 'I did it. ' '

'Why me?! '

'Anyway, ' Dazai said, 'I don 't mind. In a way, it makes things easier. '

Blaise gave him an unimpressed look.

With that settled, Dazai opened his mouth to dismiss the gang. Before he could, however, the twins suddenly asked, 'Hey, if Dazai is a demon, what does that make us? '

Everyone 's eyes turned to the twins.

They wore looks of deep concentration between their brows. Dazai noticed immediately how they seemed to be mouthing the word 'demon ' silently to themselves, as though testing it out.

Dazai paused. 'What? '

Draco crossed his arms. 'What are you two talking about now? '

Fred hesitated for only a second, eyes flashing to the Malfoy quickly. Then, he grinned. 'Good question, Mister Dragon Tamer! '

'We were only thinking, ' George continued, 'if our boss is a demon 'at least according to everyone who reads the Daily Prophet ' '

' 'does that make us all demons, too? Or are we more like his demonic underlings? '

Dazai grimaced. He had enough trouble with the title 'demon ' as it was. Surely, everyone else here didn 't want to carry that weight around as well?

'We aren 't Dazai 's

underlings

, ' Ron huffed, 'You know what he really thinks of us? We 're his

dogs

. '

Blaise hummed. He brought a considering hand to stroke his chin. '

Ah

... were you two trying to come up with a name for the gang? '

They nodded emphatically. Dazai himself perked up a little at the idea. He hadn 't really considered naming his gang, instead seeing it as something they would tackle down the line. But now that they were working towards more concrete objectives, maybe it

was

time to start 'for a lack of a better word 'branding.

The twins bounced excitedly.

'Dazai 's Demons! '

'Dazai 's Dogs! '

'Stop bringing my name into it, ' Dazai immediately shot them down. 'If you go around saying my name like that, it 'll only be a few

hours

before we get caught. '

The twins paused, briefly looked to one another, before smashing their two suggestions into one, 'Demon Dogs! '

The name hung in the air for a second, nearly 'but not quite 'taking root in Dazai 's head. It was certainly a menacing name for a gang. Something that inspired fear and obedience. The word '

demon'

still struck him, though.

A moment longer passed, then:

'Hell Hounds, ' Dazai said. 'We 'll be the Hell Hounds."

He wrote it in bold, chalk letters across the top of the blackboard.

Hell Hounds

Then, he paused. "Well,

you 're

the Hell Hounds. I 'm just... '

'Hell, ' Ron supplied unhelpfully.

Instead of pulling a face, like Ron probably expected, Dazai beamed. 'You 're right! It 's more like 'Hell 's Hounds ' then, isn 't it? With an apostrophe. '

In the small space between the word

Hell

and

Hounds

, Dazai drew in a tiny

's

. He had to write it crooked to make it fit.

Hell's Hounds,

it read proudly.

'Hell 's Hounds gang... ' Hermione tasted the name on her tongue. 'It 's a bit dark, though? '

'It has a nice ring to it, ' the twins cheered,

'Hell 's Hounds! '

Hell 's Hounds... Dazai could agree it had a certain charm to it. A little threatening, a little rebellious. Just the right name for a mafioso 's gang of schoolchildren.

'If there are no complaints ' ' here, Dazai paused. No one made any word of argument. ' 'then it 's settled. Welcome to Hell 's Hounds, everyone. '

Fred and George

whooped!

Hermione and Ron clearly looked hesitant, but Dazai saw them give one another quiet, private smiles. Even Blaise managed to pull a grin into his usually dull expression. And Draco '

Dazai 's smile stilled.

Draco was still standing alone 'his own lonely little portion of the gang 's office. But unlike the others, he was not smiling. Instead, Dazai realized, his body was lined with tension. He was good at masking emotions behind a glaring mask, but Dazai could read through it. Draco looked to be deep in thought. Based on the line of his shoulders, it wasn 't a good one.

It was time the two of them had a talk.

-

If anyone at Hogwarts were to ask, Draco did not take commands.

He was a Malfoy 'kin of the strongest wizarding family in history, inheritor of countless wealths, and son of the ever-cunning Lucius Malfoy. Draco commanded others. If he said, 'do my homework, ' commonfolk begged at his feet to do it. When he said, 'leave the common room, ' so he could have a private chat with someone, they booked it out of there at double-speed.

At Hogwarts, he was head of the pack, king of the crowd, and ruler of everything else.

At home, Draco tried to stay as unobtrusive as possible.

It wasn 't that his home life was

bad

, per se. He got everything he asked for and was free to speak his mind. If Draco wanted something known, he needed little more than to say it. But there were rules to navigating life in the Malfoy manor that those peons at Hogwarts just didn 't understand.

Most importantly: Lucius Malfoy was a busy, busy man.

The stresses of whatever business he was up to weighed on him a thousand times over. And that stress had only multiplied since Draco 's father first received a certain phone call, one year ago.

The Port Mafia.

Every time Draco asked, 'what 's going on ' or 'how can I help, ' he was met with nothing more than a sharp look. The words, 'go back to your room. This doesn 't concern you, ' were all too familiar now.

But a Malfoy didn 't give up, and they didn 't back down. The second Draco entered Hogwarts, he investigated anyway. He had hunted down his only lead (a student by the name of Dazai Osamu) and hung around the boy all year long. His father would appreciate the effort, Draco was sure.

He was sure...

Then there was the Philosopher 's Stone which Draco had given back to Dazai without even consulting his father.

And

then

there was Dazai, whom Draco had pledged loyalty to with only a second thought to the Malfoy name.

...He was sure he couldn 't tell his father any of this!

Draco was trying not to feel too guilty about it. But silently stewing over the Port Mafia 's ambassador over the last two weeks only made Draco more desperate.

Deep in thought, Draco was only distantly aware of the gang 's office clearing out. Dazai dismissed the others to dinner, saying a friendly 'see-you-later' to Blaise in particular. Draco had to jumpstart himself to follow them out, brain still buzzing with worrisome thoughts.

Loyal to Dazai, loyal to his father.

Draco was sure it wasn 't supposed to be both. They weren 't really in

business

yet. They were

competing

.

Before he made it to the door, however, a voice stopped him short.

'Draco, a word? '

Dazai was staring at him, smile pleasant in the way a Slytherin could smile when they wanted something from you. Draco matched the smile reflexively.

If I 'm seen enjoying your company,

Draco 's mind silently tightened the bind around his throat,

I 'll be dragging my father 's name through the mud.

'Sure, ' Draco said. He watched as Blaise gave them a final glance before shutting the door. Alone with just Draco and Dazai, the gang room suddenly felt very cold.

A Slytherin thrived in the cold depths of dungeons.

(Unless you were Dazai,

Draco thought fondly,

then you were constantly whining about the temperature.)

'Since you 're so insistent on avoiding me, it 's awfully difficult to get you alone, ' Dazai said, leaning back against the desk. His fingers rapped along the wood, the thoughtful movement looking intentional. 'To think,

you

were the one who wanted to talk with me. '

Draco recalled their conversation in Flourish and Blotts. A thousand questions were still buzzing in his skull just thinking about it.

What is the Port Mafia? How are you involved in something like that? What do you want with my family?

'You know why I can 't have you hanging over my shoulders right now, Dazai, ' he said instead.

The mafioso shrugged, amused smile flitting across his face. 'Bad press, ' he inferred, fingers tapping out a beat.

Bad press for Dazai would mean bad press for Draco would mean bad press for the Malfoy family. Would mean '

Draco couldn 't do that to his father.

Had been told, under no uncertain terms,

not

to do that to his father.

Dazai seemed to understand. Being in the mafia, maybe he did. 'Well, we 're alone now. Whatever questions you have, ask them, ' he said, to the point.

'Should you be this loose with information? ' Draco asked, thinking of his father 's own tight lips. He didn 't give Dazai a chance to think it over, though. He didn 't think he could handle it if Dazai changed his mind and kept the truth to himself. Bursting franticly from Draco 's lips came a thought that had been bothering him for weeks now: 'You... you 're in the

mafia!? '

'Ah, '

Dazai chuckled, 'there it is. Yes, I 'm in the Port Mafia. '

'That 's absurd. You realize that 's absurd, right? You 're twelve. '

'So are you, ' Dazai 's ring finger tapped once, twice, thrice before stilling completely. His hands fell to his sides. 'I have the mafia, you have Lucius. '

Draco frowned. 'That 's not the same thing at all. '

Dazai lifted a brow, but didn 't comment. Draco felt his heart murmur.

'What does the Port Mafia want from my father? ' He asked, starting with the most important question. 'What do

you

want with my father? '

'I didn 't lie, in Diagon Alley. ' Dazai 's brow fell, rendering his expression one of boredom. 'Lucius is powerful and wealthy. He 's a good connection to have. '

Draco took a breath. That made sense.

Everyone

wanted to be friends with the Malfoys. But Draco couldn 't find it in him to puff up with pride right now. This conversation had been weighing on him for weeks now 'he just wanted concrete answers. Once Draco understood, his father would gladly accept his help! 'But why

you

? Why not your boss or... or an

adult

? '

'The Port Mafia is too busy to send executives for every meet-and-greet. Yokohama comes first, the Malfoys come second. '

There was something Dazai wasn 't saying. Something Draco couldn 't name. Something bigger than '

A chill suddenly ran up his spine as realization set in.

Boss, executives, ambassadors...

This was big.

This was

really

big.

This wasn 't one magical group schmoozing with the Malfoy 's for a favor or two. It wasn't a group of friends laughing over pranks and schemes. Wasn 't Dazai asking, 'heads or tails? ' like he already knew which way the coin had landed before it even spun twice.

It was an organization. A

city

.

More than just social niceties,

Draco thought. The usual Malfoy politics were superficial. This was decidedly

not

.

'Yokohama is a big place, ' Dazai said. Firelight turned his eyes a murky red. 'The magical community is even bigger. The Port Mafia is just sniffing around 'you can tell Lucius that. '

Draco blinked, suddenly torn from his thoughts. 'I wasn 't going to tell my father any of this. '

'You were. It 's fine, ' Dazai knocked against the side of the desk again. It rattled, hollow. 'I would do the same. We 're alike, in that way. '

'My father isn 't my boss, ' Draco countered, the comparison rankling in his mind. He tried to force some of his usual condescension in his voice, but it was difficult. With Dazai, simple things had a way of complicating like that. 'And it 's weird that you have one. '

Dazai waved him off. 'Did you have any other questions? Or did you just want to verify that the Port Mafia exists? '

Somehow, it felt like Dazai hadn 't answered any of his concerns at all. Draco 's irritation was swamped out by the overwhelming feeling of being well out of his depth.

(But I can handle it, Father! I can help!)

He shook his head. 'Last year, with Professor Quirrell. Did your boss tell you to... ' the words caught on his tongue.

'To kill him? '

Draco nodded, finding it suddenly a challenge to hold Dazai 's gaze.

'No. '

Draco blinked. 'No? '

'That 's just how things worked out. But that's all turned into such a hassle. I should have jsut let Quirrell kill me instead of fighting back. ' Dazai paused, eyes flicking briefly to the side. 'Did Lucius say anything to you about Quirrell? '

'This does not concern you, '

his father had said.

'There is nothing for you to do, '

followed by a series of private meetings Draco had pretended not to eavesdrop on.

Draco wouldn 't ask again, just what had happened to lead to Quirrell 's death. Summer was long and full of unasked questions like that. The long, empty halls of Malfoy Manor had no answers to give. Draco had no answer to give, either. Father stewed, and Mother fretted, and Draco watched from his room.

'Not to me, ' he responded, only after a few seconds had passed.

'About Voldemort? '

'No. '

'Or anything about his test for me? '

Draco 's hands turned to fists. 'No. '

Dazai hummed. Then, he pushed off the desk and stalked across the room to the door. 'Bosses are the worst, like that, ' he said, a pointed grin splitting across his face. Draco wondered what kind of expression that was. 'Never telling you anything, even when you 're smack-dab in the middle of everything. '

Draco jumped in surprise. 'Your boss doesn 't tell you anything, either? '

Dazai tittered with a tight-sounding laugh. 'He tells me more than Lucius tells you, evidently. ' When Draco 's frown fell way into a scowl, Dazai amended, 'don 't worry, though. I 'll be a good boss to you. Hell 's Hounds don 't benefit from keeping secrets, like that. '

Before he could stop himself, Draco asked, 'Does Blaise know about the Port Mafia? '

Dazai froze.

Whatever humor was on his face hardened and turned brittle. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

'He 's your best friend, ' Draco continued. 'And he doesn 't know. '

Another pause. Light caught on the stained glass window, shattering blues and reds across the floor. One of those crimson hues flashed in Dazai 's eyes.

Dangerous.

'Ah,

Draco is being really mean today! ' Dazai whined.

'Then ' '

'We 're all friends, but this thing between the Port Mafia and the Malfoys is bigger than some silly friendship. ' Dazai 's voice was very suddenly flat, sounding rehearsed. 'Some things...

most things

are more important than honesty 'just read the Daily Prophet and you 'll see what I mean. '

Draco stood stock-still, eyes staring at Dazai 's, watching.

It felt like, suddenly, he was looking at a total stranger. That uncanny feeling tightened a band around his chest. Why did Dazai sound so

cold

? As though he 'd already seen the worst humanity had to offer and was merely imparting pebbles of that knowledge onto Draco now.

'All this mafia business should just be kept between us. ' Dazai smiled thinly. Something about that expression seemed to be a lie, and Draco 's unease only grew. 'I think we should leave the others out of it. But since you 're a Malfoy, I don 't need to keep anything like that a secret from you. I can trust Draco to help me out with Lucius ' test. Right? You want our bosses to be happy. '

The more Draco heard from Dazai, the more of a stranger the other boy seemed.

'...right, ' Draco said, voice sounding weaker than he 'd wanted.

A second passed. Dazai 's severe tone became mirthful.

Like flipping a switch,

Draco thought. He tasted bile on his tongue.

'I'm glad! We 'll make a good team, I can tell. ' Dazai tittered, and Draco nearly did a double-take at the other boy 's abrupt laughter.

'Ah,

but Draco! We 're going to miss dinner if we lollygag anymore. Blaise will yell at me if I don 't eat today! '

Do I even know you at all?

Draco 's heart skipped a beat.

...Does anyone?

'Are you coming to dinner, Draco? ' Dazai asked, smiley. 'Since we 're such good friends, I promise to sit

reaaally

far away from you. '

Maybe his father was right, and Draco had no business trying to help. The more Dazai talked, the more Draco realized just how out of his depth he really was. The more a waxing fear began to curdle in his gut.

But here Dazai was, extending a hand to him and saying things like,

'I can trust you to help me. '

Father had told him not to get involved. Had said he wouldn 't be able to do anything.

Dazai was asking to stand by his side and figure it out, anyway.

Even at kind words like that, the guilty feeling in Draco 's chest didn 't abate. It wriggled and roiled. All this talk of tests and loyalties only left him feeling sick. It was different, being on

this

side of the test. Draco was used to being the one forcing others to prove themselves to him.

Was this how Dazai had felt last year?

If Dazai recognized that discomfort in him now, he didn 't comment. Like it meant nothing at all, being caught between father and friend. Talking about Father 's test as if it were just an everyday occurrence for him.

Draco frowned.

Given what little he knew about the Port Mafia...

Maybe it was.

'The Port Mafia is a scary place, ' Draco mumbled with a sigh. He walked to Dazai 's side and opened the door.

'What was that? '

'Nothing. ' Draco shook his head.

If they were really friends, then why did talking with Dazai about this feel like a betrayal against his father?

Draco wished money could solve this particular problem. But all the galleons in his pockets only made the weight on his chest feel heavier.