As Harriet walked through the halls, the boys in their caps and gowns nodding politely towards her but with those mischievous grins on their faces, she felt her father's disapproving voice ring in her mind. What was she doing there? This wasn't what she had set out to do. In fact it was quite the opposite. Never in her dreams of educating the world did she see herself standing in a hall of some of the wealthiest and most highly esteemed people in Britain, in the world. Princes, knights, philosophers, and all kinds of great men had walked these halls and now she stood with the pile of folders in her hands amazed at the elaborately designed hallway that she was now moving through. Her classes were set from the day she walked through the doors. The headmaster had warned her about the boys' behaviour and their shenanigans and they hadn't dreamed of disappointing her by not being brats.

Harriet had been raised to believe that if you wanted to make a difference in the world you had to help those that couldn't help themselves. She had dedicated her life to investing time and energy into helping the little guy, giving them a chance at success in life, getting kids out of those awful situations they were born into and giving them hope for the future. She had thought herself the rescuer, the saviour, the only one who could do it. It had become a self-righteous act for Harriet. She had become so much like the hero from her favourite stories that she hadn't thought of herself as someone that needed helping. She was the one that helped others, not the other way round. It had taken a heartbreak, quitting her job, and the loss of her closest friend to make her realise that she had become the pompous snob that she had desperately been trying to avoid. It was a snobbery that could only be countered with an act of betrayal of ideals. She needed humbling again, she needed to find the humanity in the people she detested, and she desperately needed to get away. Thus, she chose the one place she could think that would make her feel like she had nothing.

The email was there when she had arrived home from her last day at work. An offer from Eton to come and join their teaching staff for a year. She had written to them asking to be taken on board with the credentials of a peasant from the colonies and as someone who was in desperate need of a sea change. The oceans that now separated her from her home, her family, and the people she adored was at some times unbearable but she took solace in the fact that she was going squeeze every bit of juice from this job. Her life was now here, in these hallowed halls where princes and politicians had trained to rule the world. The culture shock had worn off over the last few months of her being there. At first the theatrics were a little overwhelming. The students had tried their very best to break her but her resilience and sense of humour was close to unshakeable as they soon discovered and her intolerance for crassness weeded out the hormonal charges from her classroom and into the playground instead. The boys knew her now. Her stories of rural life in Australia amused them to no end and her ability to relate whatever tangent they had tried to persuade her along back to the topic of the day was artful. There was a softness and humour to her that made the boys warm to her teaching methods and style, so much so that after two months the headmaster called her into his office. She was terrified, naturally, as being summoned was not the norm for the teachers in the school. Her colleagues assured her that it couldn't be anything bad but Harriet thought of all the worst possible scenarios as the time of her meeting drew near. She needn't have worried, it was all praise. A few of the gentlemen in her senior classes had mentioned her success in the classroom to their parents and the positive feedback had reached the headmaster with several phone calls enquiring after her. From then on it had been a challenge to live up to the expectation and praise. But there was always the one or two boys who knew how to get under her defences and mount a brutal attack on her sensibilities.

Harriet's black gown swept past her feet as she strode down the hall of the main building towards the administration office. She was late for the staff meeting as she had been reprimanding another one of these elitist, entitled, spiteful snobs. She was still fuming from the humiliation she had held down inside her whilst in the class. Her breath caught in her throat as she thought about the disrespect she had been shown. Back home she knew when the kids misbehaved it was because they either didn't know better or something horrid was happening in the child's home life. At Eton it was because they thought they knew better that they spoke down to her. She had tried keeping her sense of humour about her but some days it was just lamentable.

She pushed the heavy wooden door open and stepped through into the staff common room for the meeting. The room was filled with the staff from all the different faculties in the school and she spotted Julie sitting on the edge of the room and moved towards the seat besides her. Julie gave her a half smile as she approached and then turned her attention back to the head master who was giving another one of his famous rants on correct etiquette towards the students. Julie had been the first person to approach Harriet as a friend at Eton and had become her closest companion and mentor over the time she had been there. She was kindhearted and had also taken a job at Eton for moral purposes, although they weren't any where near as personal as Harriet's had been. Julie had felt an urge to counsel the young men that tended towards political, business and leadership roles in the correct manner in which to treat those around you. She taught History as her main subject area but took every opportunity to instruct the gentlemen in her care to behave in a manner that wouldn't make their grandmothers cringe with disgust. She was very good at it too, not one of the boys in her class ever had a bad word to say about her or her classes.

"This year, as many of you know and all of you should," the headmaster started as Harriet took her seat, "is Eton's biannual Alma Mater festival. It is a week long celebration of those who have come before and who have gone on to achieve great things. This year we will be ending the celebration with a black tie ball. We need several faculty members to organise and arrange for the celebration. I have nominated Mr. O'Keefe and Mrs. Allan to head up the organising committee but I need some volunteers to organise this event. It will be a lot of work and we will need dedicated and hard working people to ensure it is run professionally and smoothly."

Harriet could see the headmaster looking straight at her and she tried to avoid his gaze with no such luck.

"Um, I'd be honoured to help arrange the ball, sir," Harriet said in as normal a voice as she could muster. His smile sent a shiver down her spine, his gaze moving towards her bust rather than her eyes and making her feel just as uncomfortable as the first day she met him. In such a large school she hadn't been required to see him often but every time she felt like she needed to wash the stare off her.

A few more staff volunteered and a date was set for their first meeting, along with their specific roles in the organising of the event. Julie pulled her aside after the staff meeting and looked into her eyes suspiciously.

"You do realise who one of the main speakers for the festival is right? Every festival they have at least three of the Alma Mater return and be the guests of honour. Each has to present a speech at one of the events. It's a big deal and they only request successful previous students. And do you know who this years is?" she asked in a concerned but excited voice.

"No, I don't really know anything about it. Australian, remember? Don't much care for the school and its past inhabitants? You do know who you are addressing, right?" Harriet questioned her friend cheekily as they moved towards the exit of the staffroom, shuffling behind the other teachers who were eager to go home for the day.

"Oh my gosh Harry! You are going to lose it. And especially being assigned as the relationships manager of the event. Oh golly gosh!"

"What is…wait, did you just say 'golly gosh'"?

"Shut up. It's a British thing," Julie replied as she took Harriet's arm in hers and walked her outside into the large courtyard that made Harriet feel like she was at Hogwarts. The stone walls raised towards the sky surrounded them in a grand fashion revealing a bright, clear day. Harriet sighed, for once a beautiful day that reminded her of home, a slight chill to the air but the warmth of the sun shining onto the freshly cut grass.

"So who is this mysterious Alma Mater guest speaker?" Harriet said giving into her curiosity.

"Oh, it's no one really. Just the love of your fantasy life." Julie replied, trying unsuccessfully to hold in her grin.

"No."

"Oh yes."

"Not him."

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Most unfortunate, really."

"Please tell me you are joking! Jules! Please tell me it is not Tom Hiddleston!"

"Oh but it is." Julie laughed as she turned to Harriet and hugged her.

Harriet felt her entire body sink into utter joy and a sudden feeling of horror overwhelmed her at the thought that she would actually have to deal with the man she had idolised for so long. Her mind swam with emotion as Julie pulled her towards the exit of the school and away from her fantasy towards reality.