Here was the day. Hogwarts staff were to return to the school a day before the students, giving them time to settle in and prepare for the new year. Since there was no red train waiting for her at platform 9 3/4, Kayla hugged Lucy goodbye and apparated into Hogsmeade, where Neville had promised to send someone to help her take her stuff back up to the castle.
It was kinda daunting, going back to school. Kayla would have her own office with a ready to be installed floo system and a room to act as a bedroom if needed, but since she hadn't officially moved in the floo system wasn't activated. Even with the option to go back to her apartment every night, it still felt like she was signing up for the whole term, just like when she was student.
With still no one in sight along the cobbled streets of Hogsmeade, Kayla began walking up to the castle herself. After all, she had been a Gryffindor- she's not going to sit around in the cold and wait for some sod to show up when they finally remember.
Half an hour later and she back at the gates which enclosed the place where she'd grown up. Where she'd met Lucy and cast spells and blew up cauldrons and won matches and fell in love and fell apart. Where she'd dreamed of returning to, grown up and ready to witness it happen all over again.
Footsteps pounded across the pebbles behind her. Kayla turned, managing to bite her lip in time to avoid the audible gasp. James Potter was bent over a few metres away, panting heavily.
"You couldn't...have waited...five minutes?" he said between gasps. His voice was gravelly, and his hazel eyes refused to meet hers. Instead of letting the coldness in her gut ice her over, she focused on the racing of her heartbeat and straightened up.
"I waited ten minutes. Not my fault I don't tolerate tardiness."
James grinned to himself, finally catching his breath. "You're going to do wonderfully here." With a flick of his wand, the gates opened, and he picked up one of her bags which she'd dropped on the floor. "You coming?"
He was already metres away when she began walking, trying to ignore the messy curl to his hair or his visible shoulder blades through the t-shirt he'd thrown on. Her trunk caught on something, almost making her fall over. "Trust him to choose the lighter one," she hissed, instantly feeling better.
After all, she was a teacher now. It was much better to leave the romance issues to the teenagers.
James left her bag in the foyer and disappeared before she arrived. Not that she minded. It was better that way. No awkward conversations.
Instead she allowed herself to breathe in the familiar scent of home, letting her fingers trail along the walls as she followed Neville's instructions to her office. On the way a few paintings noticed her, and Nearly Headless Nick tipped his head off to her with a smile. She grinned back, feeling the warmth spread through her. It was slightly embarrassing how much she'd missed this place, but not as much as she'd memorised it.
As soon as her bags where in her office, and she'd figured out her timetable properly, she set up the floo system. Lucy's head appeared a few minutes later, cheering happily. "Fourth time lucky, eh?"
Still laughing, Kayla recounted her encounter with James, smiling as Lucy sighed and muttered in all the right places. "It's good though, right? Means things are going to be totally normal between us."
Lucy's burning face raised an eyebrow. "Sure, I guess. If that's really what you want."
Kayla thought about the year they'd been together. It had been amazing, there was no denying. Sure, they fought and messed up, but it didn't make her any less convinced that he was the one. But she had been young, and stupid, and now here was her dream handed to her on a golden platter. Was she really going to let that all go to pursue a burnt out flame?
"Yeah. It's been what? Three years? Four years? We're both adults now, and we're both totally over it."
Lucy raised her eyebrow again and agreed sarcastically, wishing her luck before disappearing again. She was working the night shift at a restaurant on Diagon Alley to help pay for her education funds- she was planning on upping her assistant Healer qualifications to a full-fledged emergency Healer, dealing with the top priority patients.
A smile still tainted on her lips, Kayla laid out her clothes for tomorrow night's welcoming ceremony and began ordering her supplies into which needed to go where. By the time she was done, it was nearly midnight, and dinner was well and truly finished. A hoodie over her shorts and vest and her wand lit in her hand, she began to make her way down to her number 1 place in all of Hogwarts; the kitchens.
"Miss Kayla?" a small voice squeaked from knee height. The name travelled until the majority of the house elf population was gathered around her, squeaking her name like it was a pray.
"Hi guys! Long time no see!" she grinned, bending down and catching as many as she could into a big hug. Throughout the seven years here, the kitchens and its inhabitants had been her only constant. Friends left and boyfriends broke her heart and tests numbed her brain, but these guys were always here with a plate of pie at the ready. When her and Lucy finally became close friends in fourth year, this was the place where agreed upon their friendship. After all, Kayla refused to take anyone else down to the kitchens with her until Lucy, always worried about their reaction.
"What are you doing here Miss Kayla?" Minky asked from the front of the group. The rest of them stilled, waiting patiently for an answer.
"I'm a teacher now," she grinned, "so you guys are gonna be stuck with me for a hell of a lot longer!"
Back when she was younger, a plate of good food fixed everything. A bad grade. A broken heart. A stabbed back. Right now it dashed away all of her nerves as she listened to the elves recount their stories from the years she'd missed, telling them in thrilling, over-exaggerated detail. It was a nice thought that even after she'd left this school, maybe there would still be one story of her floating around, waiting to be recounted to another student years from now.
The students would be arriving at around 7, so Neville called all the teachers into the hall at 6pm. Kayla, as a muggleborn, resented the traditional wizarding robes, and had managed to convince Neville to allow her to wear normal clothes on one condition- she had to wear the cape. Which was fine, once she got over running around the apartment singing 'NANANANANANANANABATMAN!" So, while the rest of the teachers looked like twenty decades ago, she stood in ankle boots, thin tights, a black skirt and a short, long sleeve tartan top tucked in.
"So, Professor Locke will bring the first years in, they'll be sorted, I'll make a few announcements including the introduction of our newest member. That's you Kayla." She nodded enthusiastically at his words, her hands wringing in nerves. "Then we'll eat, and everyone will go to bed. Teachers aren't required to eat in the hall at any other time other than the sorting, though it would be appreciated. Good to go?"
With Professor Locke and two other teachers hurrying down to collect the students, Kayla made her way up to the large table at the end of the hall. It was weird, seeing everything from such a different perspective. Usually she sat at the Gryffindor table, where everything surrounded you like a bubble, but up there it seemed so...insignificant. It was just plain weird.
"Strange, isn't it?"
With a jump, Kayla looked up to see Professor Quinn, the Ancient Runes and other Muggle Studies teacher. She was in her early thirties with black bangs, eyeliner, and a silver band on her ring finger.
"Yeah. Keep on wanting to sit over there instead of way up here."
Quinn smiled, offering her a hand. "Lisa. You're Kayla, right? I'm sharing Muggle Studies with you."
"Yeah. Nice to meet you," Kayla replied, shaking her hand and smiling nervously. "This is going to sound weird, but where am I meant to sit? There's a lot of seats and a lot more people and is it like set or-"
"Next to me," Lisa cut in. "It's a lot better than being stuck next to the potions master."
Kayla laughed, taking the seat beside her just as Neville announced that the carriages were on their way. On the other side of the table, James was talking to the young Divination teacher, his black robes fitting him perfectly.
"I hope Hufflepuff get some good ones this year. We haven't won the cup for ages," Lisa commented aloud.
"No wonder. You guys still have Steven Hart, don't you?" she teased, remembering the first year from when she was here. In his first month at Hogwarts he managed to lose Hufflepuff 70 points, ruining their chances of victory for another year.
Twenty minutes later and the doors burst open, revealing clusters of students. Kayla sighed, her eyes flitting from the grey sweaters to the hitched black skirts to the jumble of coloured ties.
"Settle down, settle down! The first years will be arriving soon!" Neville shouted over the noise, forcing the students to break apart and move to their appropriate tables. Just as he said, Professor Locke appeared barely five minutes later with shivering first years trailing behind. She and Lisa began trying to sort them, squabbling quietly over whether one boy would be a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.
"Andrews, Jonathan."
The boy trembled up to the front, jumping as the hat was dropped over his head.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Unexpected," Lisa and Kayla said in unison, laughing quietly and continuing their game as the sorting went on.
"Zabini, Crystal."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Once the yellow table had settled down, Neville took his stand. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. It's lovely to see both new and old faces. However, a few important reminders. No Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes are allowed in school, let alone be used in school. The Forbidden Forest, as the name states, is forbidden. Anyone found in there without a teacher will be punished immediately. Quidditch trials will be on in the second week back, check your common room for the time and for which positions are open. Finally, I would like to welcome a new member to our staff, who has very kindly joined to help us out in an array of subjects. Give a warm welcome to Professor Kayla Smith!"
Kayla stood up shakily, waving slightly at the clapping students. A few of the seventh years recognised her from their first and cheered loudly, Steven Hart amongst them.
"Best Head Girl we've ever suffered!" he shouted loudly, forcing a blush on to her cheeks.
"With that all over, please eat."
The plates filled with food and the goblets overflowed with juice, Kayla laughing as Lisa pointed out the astonished looks on the first years faces. Before she'd managed to realise how much she'd eaten, the feast was over, and she was following the students up the stairs to her office.
"See you tomorrow at breakfast? It would be nicer than surviving on biscuits for the morning," Lisa asked.
"Sure. I think I'm teaching Quidditch first, so I'll need a little bit more to get through the day."
Lisa frowned slightly. "Looks like Potter finally got his wish."
"What to you mean?" Kayla asked, pausing at the point where she turned off.
"Just that he's been begging Neville to take the first and second years off his hands since his first year here. You must be like an angel to him."
Kayla forced a laugh and said goodnight, hurrying back to her office.
That odd feeling in her stomach was back, and it definitely wasn't in a positive mood.
First years were little shits.
The second Kayla commented that to Lisa when she arrived at the table for lunch, she was begged for the story. Absentmindedly cleaning the grass from under her nails, Kayla began to tell her story of woe.
She'd arrived in a good mood. The first years were all waiting patiently, eyeing her black skinny jeans and layered tops cautiously. They'd obviously been expecting full-on Quidditch robes, or just something slightly more wizard-y.
"If your right handed, place your broom on the floor to your right. If your left handed, place it on the other side. Wrong way around Davies. The tail doesn't go at the front."
Once their brooms were all on the ground and facing the right way, she told them to hold their hand above it and say "up." Three students jumped as their brooms flew straight into their hands, though only five had brooms which did nothing at all.
"Just keep on trying. If you've got it, show me how you think you'd mount a broom. Remember- no flying!"
Of course, half an hour in and one student thought that simple instructions were beyond them. With a scowl on his face, he muttered something to his friend and shot off into the air.
"Hey! Get down here now! Do you want detention on your first day? I'm sure your parents would be so proud!" Kayla shouted after him, mounting her own broom. "All of you stay here. If I see a single one of you even think of copying him, you'll be out of my lessons until Christmas. Understood?"
The boy, however cocky, wasn't used to flying in such windy weather, and was trying to push back down to the grass from his position by the goals.
"Just stay still, okay? I can charm the broom to-"
The boy began thrashing in began, crashing into the golden hoop behind him and falling. He ended with a broken arm and collarbone, and her entire class now followed her instructions to the T.
"Isn't it better though? Overall, you've got an obedient class, and the dickhead has already learnt his lesson. Job done!"
Kayla shook her head furiously. "I had to sign four forms, and write a letter to the boy's parents explaining what happened. It took six times until I wrote one which Neville found appropriate. Then, in my second lesson with the second years, one of them managed to knock out themselves and two others with their broom, and a second almost impaled me trying to do a basic circle."
"You could always ask Neville to give the lessons back to Potter. You didn't sign up for them in the first place so it shouldn't be a problem," Lisa suggested.
"I can't do that!" Kayla said, aghast. "I only have this job because of Neville. If I went to him barely halfway through my first day asking for favours he'll think I'm a-"
"You only got this job because you were the only candidate worth it. I saw all the files, Kayla. You beat them all by miles."
The bell rang, cutting off any further conversation. "It's still no. It was probably just a first day thing- once they settle in, they'll handle it fine."
But Kayla couldn't help but sense the obvious lie in her solution, a feeling which wasn't helped when she passed Potter while muttering about the bruise developing on her leg, and was almost certain she saw him smirk.
Author's Note
I am an awful person. I said I'd update regularly, and then I just...didn't. But I'm back! And I literally have no excuse to not update- I've sorted out chapter names for the songs I've got, and it's half-term! The songs are a mixture of love-themed and just songs I was listening to that I really like. I originally started with james' POV's, but it doesn't really fit throughout the whole of the story, so there may only be one or two sections like that again. Thanks for following/favouriting, and try to leave a review? :)
Chapter title- History by This Wild Life