Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything...

~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/

His green eyes glowed with an intense dislike that unnerved Ashley Pembroke. In the last seven years of their schooling together, she had rarely witnessed Albus Potter anything other than calm and collected. Seeing his eyes alight with disdain disconcerted her more than she would like to admit.

She shifted her balance, locking her sudden apprehension behind a carefree façade. Her father taught her that any revealed weakness would be exploited. The dead silence of the several surrounding students was stifling, arising in her mind an exaggerated image of a large crowd imprisoning her in a cage of bodies, forcing her to face the deadly green-eyed predator inside.

She banished the anxiety from her mind, tossing her hair lightly and pasting a vaguely condescending smile on her impassive face. She let loose a soft laugh.

"Don't you think it's a bit hypocritical to lecture me on hiding behind a parent's reputation? I'm not the one who will be perpetually known as the son of the Boy-who-lived. That's your title, Albus darling." He scoffed.

"Right. But I don't use daddy's money to buy my way through life. I've had to do actual work."

"Aw, poor little Albus. He's actually had to work." His growing irritation was palpable. "Welcome to the real world. People actually have to exert effort, not just ride around all day on a stick of wood trying to decapitate people by throwing ridiculously heavy balls at them. " He snorted derisively.

"You accuse me of being hypocritical? You have never had to do anything for yourself. If anything doesn't go your way, daddy comes along and bribes the right person, and poof, everything's perfect again." It was Ashley's turn to be irritated. She was rather sick of people always accusing her father of bribing people. Believe it or not, it was actually possible to succeed with talent alone.

"My father does not deal with bribes. Frankly, your accusations have long since passed into the realm of tiresome" His eyes glittered.

"Doesn't deal in bribes? Ha." His voice fell flat. "What about that mysterious anonymous benefactor who conveniently donated thousands of galleons to that fancy new healing school to which you have been incessantly bragging about being accepted?" He shot her a triumphant look. "We both know that's not a coincidence."

Ashley froze. It wasn't possible… She remembered the College President visiting several times over break, but her father said he was a friend from school. Sure she found it a bit odd that they were holed up behind the thick, oak doors of her father's study for hours, but they were just catching up. And maybe her father had never mentioned him before, but that did not necessarily mean they had not gone to school together. Her stomach sank in disbelief. No.

She mentally shook herself, cursing Potter. She would not believe this. She had worked hard to get accepted to the Byrne Healing School, and she deserved her place. Potter was just a stupid, jealous git. She would not let him invade her mind with his stupid stories.

"What misguided soul did you hear that from?"

"Doesn't matter. It's the true though, isn't it?"

"Of course not." She shot him a haughty glare. "As I said, your accusations have long since passed into the realm of tiresome. I believe we are done here." Even as she maintained her perfect expression of slight disgust, even as she walked away with a confident spring, even as she laughed off the stories of the wonderful, perfect Albus Potter's outburst, the sinking pit in her stomach remained. It followed her through graduation, slunk after her home, and eventually prompted her to her father's study, where it dissolved away in a messy tangle to allow room for the much heavier burden of truth.

~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/

~Six Years Later~

I looked up as the last bell of the day rang, cuing the flood of students from my classroom. We had finished several minutes earlier, and they had been reviewing together for their exam with a surprising amount of calmness considering it was the last week of school. However, once the last bell sounded, pandemonium erupted. Laughter filled the hallways, and students tried to push past each other in their race to escape what they had deemed equivalent to prison. Although considering it was the first nonrainy day in a week, I could not blame them for wanting to escape. The small window next to my desk remained open all day, enticing me with a nice breeze and thoughts of the outdoors.

As soon as I finished inputting the last few assignments in the computer, I would be free too. I sighed longingly and looked at my desk. The stack of papers on my desk stared smugly back at me.

During times like this I almost regretted giving up magic. A quick spell would have allowed me to record the grades in seconds. Alas, I don't think I would be able to convince even my most gullible students that a self-recording grade book was completely natural.

After two tortuous hours of biology papers and physics labs, I decided I had done enough to warrant my freedom. I grabbed my bag and popped into the main office to say goodbye to Cassie.

Cassie Jones was probably one of the best people in the world, and I cannot even begin to say how much I am indebted to her. When I first came to the United States, seventeen, alone, with only a bit of money and even less knowledge about the muggle world, she saved me. She was a squib, and was much more used to the wide-eyed lost look from stupefied wizards than the rest of the muggle population. Consequently, she did not immediately write me off as a nutcase like everyone else.

She helped me to apply to a local college, introduced me to the muggle world, and even got me a job as a science teacher where she worked. She is the assistant principal at Rochester High School, and has managed to completely turn the school around. We live in a relatively poor area, where schooling had a small budget and a smaller priority ranking. She created enthusiasm among the students, and completely altered the atmosphere of the school. Quite simply, she's a miracle worker.

I popped my head into the doorway of her office, unsurprised to see her rapidly plowing through a list of emails at her computer. She glanced up briefly from her work, which was relatively high form of acknowledgement when she was in "secretary-Cassie" mode.

"Heading out?" She called over her computer.

"Yup. Will you be back for dinner? " Whenever possible, we tried to have dinner together on Tuesdays.

"Yeah, I shouldn't be here much longer." I raised my eyebrow skeptically.

"If you say so. Remember dinner's t six-thirty tonight." I waved at her (not that she noticed with her eyes glued to the screen) and left the building.

I pulled my tiny car into the parking lot of my apartment. My flat, like the rest of the town, was largely run-down and dilapidated. I entered the code to the building at went up four flights of stairs to my tiny suite, and then froze in the middle of putting my key into the lock.

Whether from instincts or heightened sensitivity due to years living where pickpocketers and thieves are a real danger, but I could distinctly feel a pair of eyes crawling up my spine.

I whipped around, already gripping the pepper spray in my purse, only to be faced with a slightly graying tabby cat. I sighed at my paranoia. The neighbor's cat occasionally snuck out of the flat across from mine.

I slowly approached the cat, intending on bringing her back to my neighbor, only to freeze again. Around her eyes gleamed the unmistakable markings of spectacles.

"Prof-Professor!?" Suddenly a tall, elderly woman appeared in the hallway right where the cat was standing, materializing fast enough that my brain tried to deny that she had been anything else.

"Hello Miss Pembroke." I stared gapping at her, completely unable to fathom a socially-accepted greeting for an old teacher that randomly pops up on one's doorstep after six years of silence. After several increasingly awkward beats, I managed to stumble out a muttered greeting.

"May I have a moment of your time? There is something I wish to discuss with you."

"Er, right then. Come in." After fidgeting with my keys awkwardly for several seconds, I managed to get the door open, letting light shine on my dingy flat. At least this morning I finally decided to wash the stack of dishes that had been piling up for the last week.

"Would you like some tea? Or anything to eat? I think we have some cookies around here." I trailed off, completely unsure of how to respond to the present situation. Tea sounded as good a course as any.

"Tea would be lovely." I filled up the tea pot and stared at it, painfully aware of how muggle I seemed.

"Sorry, I would heat it up with magic, but I don't have my wand with me at the moment."

"Allow me. " She tapped the pot with her wand, and it instantly whistled. It was the first magic I had seen in six years.

Once we were finally seated at the table with our tea, I glanced questioningly at my old Professor, who was ignoring my questioning looks. I attempted to make small talk to give me time to figure out just what she was doing here. How did she even find me? Six years ago I came to the United States, not bothering to leave a contact address for my friends or family. Every once in a while I might remember to send a postcard or a Christmas letter to my brother, but our correspondence was spotty, and he did not even know my exact residence.

So why was she here? What did she need to talk about with me? Suddenly, my stomach clenched in realization.

"Is it my brother? Is Callum alright?"

"Your brother is fine, although perhaps suffering from a severe case of neglect from his sister." I snorted at that, relieved. If I was bad at keeping contact, Callum was even worse. Several weeks ago, in the middle of May, I finally received a reply to my Christmas letter. I don't know how he manages to survive as an auror. "I am sure you are curious as to why I am here." Right you are. "To put it simply, I came to offer you a job." I blinked.

"What?"

"I am sure you remember Professor Brown from your days at Hogwarts. She tells me that you took divination with her a year."

"That's right," I said tentatively.

"Due to a family crisis, she will be unable to return this year to teach divination. Unfortunately, we only became aware of these circumstances several days ago, and did not have sufficient time to advertise the position." At my look, still confused look, she sighed and continued. "I remember you had somewhat of a gift with the subject, and I do believe your brother mentioned you teaching at a small school here."

"You…you want me to teach at Hogwarts? You want me to teach divination?" Of all the things that she could have wanted to discuss with me, I doubt anything could have surprised me further. Yes, I did have something of an affinity for the subject, but it was not something I publicized at Hogwarts. In truth, I had even taken measures to conceal it.

When my dad insisted I needed some sort of training for my so-called "gift," I opted to take summer classes with a special tutor instead of bearing another year with Professor Brown and her atrociously smelling tower. Very few people knew that I knack for the subject. And I had certainly never told Professor McGonagall.

"How did you know?" I asked hesitantly.

"That you have the inner eye?" She spoke the words "inner eye" with a hint of exasperation that distinctly marks a skeptic. "Your brother mentioned it to me. This was his idea, in fact." Callum's?

"Isn't there someone better qualified?"

"Quite frankly, no. The pay is generous, and you have the option of living in the castle, which of course means your meals will also be provided." I thought back to my dismally empty fridge. "You must understand, if you chose to reject my offer, I will have to act with haste to find another suitable candidate. Thus, we need a prompt decision. I can spare you a week to consider the offer." I nodded, still unable to process everything.

"Alright. But I don't want to mislead you, I already have a job here, a life here, and I'm happy." Never mind the fact that my insides exploded into fluttering mush at the thought of returning back there. I like my intestines in tact, thank you.

"Even so. Think it over, your answer may surprise you." She finished off the last of her tea, and carefully set the cup down on the table. "I'm afraid that I must be off. Thank you for meeting with me and for the tea. I hope I hear from you soon."

Three hours later, and I was still sitting in the exact same position, staring at my half empty cup of cool tea and mindlessly musing. In the last six years, I had never considered going back. Of course, I did not expect to stay away from Europe forever. I did want to see my brother again, and after six years of scattered letters, I missed him a lot. I just never expected to be presented the opportunity to return so quickly (and yes, six years was much too soon for me).

The very thought of going back there and facing certain people again twisted my stomach, and I knew that if I did go back, I would most certainly be facing them again. My stupid younger self did not have the sense to choose slightly less prominent people to avoid for life. Unfortunately.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, causing me to jump. A lengthy list of other long lost acquaintances flashed through my mind, before I realized it was just Cassie, and not Peeves offering me a job as a the Minister of Magic. I was jolted out of my thoughts by the realization that it was Tuesday, and we were going out to dinner tonight.

"Ashley? You there?" Cassie called from outside the door.

"Sorry, one moment." I hurried over to open the door, revealing an amused looking Cassie.

"Lost in your thoughts again?" It was a fairly often occurrence for me. I let a flicker of a smile pass over my face. She noticed (naturally) my lack of response to her teasing. Her eyes glanced over at me, and then flashed to the two cups on the table. Cassie is scarily observant and intuitive (it comes from working with teenagers for years).

"Had some company while I was gone?" She spoke lightly, obviously trying to not spook me from the subject. I cleared my throat.

"My old Headmistress came to see me."

"From Hogwarts?" I nodded. It was odd to hear here mention magic. I associated her so much with my muggle life, I often forgot that she actually knew about the wizarding world as well. "What did she want?"

"To offer me a job." Cassie had a satisfying shocked face that would have been comical had my world not been exploding. "I'm not going though, don't worry," I reassured her. Her brown eyes poured over me again in her signature soul-searching way, and then nodded.

"Shall we be off then?"

We spent a lovely time together, grabbing a quick dinner and then shopping at some craft stores in the tiny mall near my flat. I had completely forgotten about McGonagall until the very end of the night when we were saying goodbye. Before Cassie left, she turned back to me.

"Don't let your fears hold you back. At some time you will have to face them, and it is better to do them on your conditions." She sent me another mysterious smile, before heading back to her car, while I was once again plunged into a hole of confusion.

Was I letting my fears cloud my judgment? I stayed up until three in the morning pondering this idea, before I finally collapsed from sheer mental exhaustion.

When I work up the next morning,I knew what I had to do.

~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~/

Authors Note :)

Hello all! Thank you for reading my (hopefully) lovely new story! Not much has happened yet, but it will soon (so don't give up quite yet). Please please tell me what you think :)