2 September, 2014—First Day of Classes

Zara Fawley shifted in her seat, rolling the sleeves of her robe up in the hopes of keeping her cool. The air was unusually sticky and warm and had made her first full day back at Hogwarts so far rather uncomfortable. Zara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She'd grown used to sleeping until mid-morning during the summer and, though it had been several hours since she'd woken up, she still felt groggy from her early rise.

Opening her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose (she really hoped this humidity wouldn't give her a headache), Zara looked around the classroom she was in. There were still a few moments before class officially began, but it seemed as if nearly everyone who'd scored high enough on their O.W.L.s to take N.E.W.T.-level Arithmancy was already seated. The class had already been relatively small in size before the exams, as Arithmancy had not been a very popular choice of class when the time came to choose their electives at the end of second year, and it seemed as though nearly everyone who had been in Zara's class the previous year was there.

Zara's attention was pulled to the front of the classroom, where Professor Shao had begun to speak.

"Welcome back to another year of Hogwarts and to another year of Arithmancy." Shao spoke in her velvety, accented voice. She was African—Tanzanian, Zara believed—and her deep voice was alluring and made listening to the occasionally dull subject more bearable. "As you are all sitting in this room, you received a grade of at least 'Exceeds Expectations' on your Ordinary Wizarding Level exam for Arithmancy. If you are expecting the difficulty of this class to remain the same as it has been for the past three years, I regret to inform you that—"

"Professor, I am so, so completely sorry!" The head of every student in the class swiveled toward the back of the room, where a boy with turquoise hair stood, looking quite frazzled. "I lost my class schedule already and I could have sworn that I had Muggle Studies right now and—"

"As it is the first day, I will excuse your tardiness just this once." Professor Shao's amused gaze was somehow still piercing. "Take a seat, Mr. Lupin. I believe there is one available next to Miss Fawley."

"Thank you, Professor." Teddy Lupin's eyes searched the classroom until he met Zara's startling blue ones. He smiled warmly and made his way toward the empty seat to her left. "Wotcher, Fawley! Have a good summer?"

"Er… yeah," Zara responded awkwardly. Social interaction wasn't her strongest suit. Teddy smiled at her again and they both turned their attention back toward the front of the classroom, where Professor Shao was finishing up her speech on what to expect of the class.

"...And, furthermore, you will be expected to keep up with the extreme rigor of this class throughout the year. I will thus be grading you more harshly than I have in the past. Please do not hesitate to ask for help if you desire or need it." With that, Shao launched straight into the first lesson of the year. The sound of scratching quills filled the room, melding harmoniously with the timbre of Shao's voice as the sixth years frantically tried to write down each word that came from her mouth.

The rest of class passed comfortably and Zara forgot all about the stifling heat in her race to take effective notes. When the class ended, she stood up to gather her things, stretching.

"'S'gonna be a pretty busy year with this class, eh?" Zara nearly dropped her inkwell when Teddy's voice startled her. She looked at him, surprised he was talking to her. Lupin was the sort to always muck about with mates and was generally well-liked by most. Zara was generally unnoticed by most, and she didn't really mind that fact. She wasn't much of a people person.

"Er, yeah," Zara shrugged, looking toward the door and dropping her quills into her bag.

"Is that all you can say?" A comment like that would usually make Zara scowl and turn away, but the cheerfulness of Lupin's voice and the genuine smile that graced his features made Zara smile and shrug.

"I guess so."

Zara moved past him, a slight smile still tugging at her mouth, and left the classroom, once again barraged by the heat of the day. Sighing, she messily tied her hair up as she walked and wished that she had Potions sooner rather than later so that she could escape into the cool darkness of the dungeons.

Teddy Lupin yawned as he took a seat in the Great Hall for lunch. His first day back had so far been frantic but otherwise uneventful. He was looking forward to the year, though he wasn't exactly sure why. Perhaps he was excited to be able to take advanced courses that would eventually lead him to a career. Or maybe he was just excited to be back in the castle. Either way, Teddy had a good feeling about this year.

As he'd been one of the first people to enter the Hall, Teddy was able watch the doors and observe each person that entered as the regular mass of students began to flood into the room. Several people caught his eye and Teddy smiled at them, waving hello. He craned his neck, looking out for the mop of sandy blonde hair that easily identified his best mate, Charles Kastor. Teddy hadn't seen him since their Transfiguration class earlier that morning. Instead of locking onto a mop of blonde hair, Teddy somehow found himself locking his eyes onto a messy updo of dark brown. Zara Fawley.

Teddy knew who she was of course, they were in the same year after all, but he'd never really associated with her. It wasn't the fact that she was a Slytherin that put him off—no, Teddy thought himself to be above petty prejudice—she just had an air about her that almost dared anyone to try and talk to her. In fact, Teddy hardly ever saw her with anyone aside from her cousins.

Bennett Fawley, a seventh year, was rather popular and as a fellow member of Hufflepuff, Teddy considered himself to be on very good terms with him. The other cousin was someone that Teddy wasn't all too familiar with. She was a Gryffindor, two years younger, and Teddy always saw her running about and laughing like mad. He couldn't for the life of him remember her name—was it Samantha? Sabrina? Teddy shrugged, dismissing the thoughts. He didn't know why he was so fixated on Zara. He'd only shared a very one-sided conversation with her, and it wasn't as if he'd never had a class with her before.

Still, Teddy couldn't shake his thoughts completely. There was something intriguing about her. Something in her eyes, something about the way her blue eyes seemed almost eerily pale against her olive skin. Something about the way her thick eyebrows had knit into several expressions of focus throughout the entirety of the class. There was just something about her that was utterly fascinating. Teddy just couldn't place his finger on it.

"Hey, Ted!" Teddy's head snapped up from his plate as he saw Charles heading his way.

"Hey, mate!" Teddy grinned. "How've the rest of your classes been so far? Any horror stories?"

"Nah, just your usual first day back. Why are your eyes blue?"

Teddy furrowed his brow. His eyes—? Oh, Merlin, he must have been thinking so hard about Zara Fawley's eyes that his must have imitated their color on accident. He couldn't even begin to imagine how awful that must have looked with his turquoise hair.

Grinning, Teddy blinked and his eyes returned to their normal dark, twinkling state. "Guess I just got carried away in my thoughts."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that, even after five whole years." Charles grinned, beginning to pile food onto his plate.

"Yeah," Teddy murmured, his eyes flickering toward the Slytherin table for a split second. "Me neither."

Hello, all! Thank you so much for reading this first chapter, I really truly appreciate it. I have very high hopes for this story, and I hope that I will be able to see it through to the end. I know this chapter is a bit boring, but things will start to get more interesting very quickly, I think and hope. Please leave me feedback in reviews!
XOXO
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