Chapter Two: The Start of Something?

It was breakfast of the first day of classes and Professor Flitwick was frantically passing out our new schedules for the year. He hurried down the table practically throwing the piece of parchment at us.

"Miss Coggle." He muttered, chucking my schedule at me. I unraveled it to find the most unpleasing site. Potions. First class of the day, mixed with Hufflepuffs. I wasn't very fond of Snape, as most of the students weren't, but I thought he was bearable. It was the Hufflepuffs that bothered me. Hufflepuffs meant Cederic Digory. Boy, did that guy annoy the shit out of me. I sighed knowing that the mornings of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were going to be my personal hell for the rest of this year. Toby looked at me, knowing what my sigh was about.

"Look at the bright side, it's only one class." He chirped. I raised an eyebrow at his happy tone. I took a look at his schedule; the same as mine.

"Hmmm, yes, and three split classes with the Slytherins." I smirked at him and he rolled his eyes. Toby had his eye on a sixth year Slytherin girl by the name of Angelica. "No doubt that you're pleased with this." He was about to retort with a witty comeback, but his dialogue was cut off by the arrival of the owls. The letters started flying down to their rightful owners; well in most cases. There were a few mix ups here and there. Finally my owl, Kallisto, dropped a crisp, white muggle envelope in front of me. I extended my finger for him to land upon and he accepted, nudging his head on my nose. I chuckled and smiled. Kallisto meant 'most beautiful' in Greek. It was arrogant and cliché, but I thought it and it's meaning was pretty. Leaning forward, I kissed it's forehead and let it fly back out. I turned my attention to my letter, which was no doubt from my overprotective mother. I stuck my finger in the corner opening and slid it along the seal to open it. I sighed and began reading the message that I had read a thousand times before.

Dear Macii,

How are you doing? Everything alright? You know I'm always worried about you! Promise you'll right about everything that goes on and stay out of trouble. Don't get in any trouble, especially with magic. I wouldn't know what I would do if anything happened to you. Everything here is alright, the same and usual. Just write if you ever want to come home and we will pull you from classes! Keep up in your studies and don't forget to write back!

With all the love in the world,

Your mother, Tonya

P.S. Your dad says he loves you and will find time to write to you later.

That was my mother. It's not that she didn't like the wizarding world, it's that she didn't fully trust it; she was unsure of it. She wanted nothing more than for me to come home and attend a regular high school, but I hated muggle school. I was forced to go to it up until my fifth grade year. I always got bad marks and hated the ignorant kids. How could they know nothing of magic? But my mother insisted on having a 'well rounded daughter', so I was submerged into both worlds. I studied some magical subjects at home and the regular, dull muggle subjects at school. Not to say that there aren't pleasant things about the muggle world; I could go on for quite some time, I just preferred this world better. It was hard to mix the two. My dad, on the other hand, didn't care either way. He wanted for me to lead whatever life I wanted. Though while I appreciated that more than my mother's outlook, I favored my mother to my father. My father was a very busy man; he always had been, so I had never gotten to really know him. I didn't have a problem with it, he had to work long hours.

The bell rang and everyone rose, all excited for their classes to start. Toby and I slithered around the crowded halls and the annoying, confused first years asking the professors that could be found where they had to be. We hurried to our usual potions classroom, hoping that we could get there in time so we at least didn't have to sit in the front. Once in the classroom there was only a few students had already arrived, but sure enough the whole back row was full. We sighed simultaneously and chose a seat on the left side in the middle of the class. After that the classroom quickly filled up with Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. I looked around, but Cederic wasn't there yet. There were two seats left and, unfortunately, one of them was the one to my right. I saw Jennifer enter the room in a rush and I called out to her.

"Jennifer!"

She stopped short and I pointed to the seat next to me with a smile. She mouthed 'sorry' and chose the other empty seat, which I noticed was next to her best friend. I heard the door close one more time and I cringed. I didn't want to turn around and acknowledge him; I already knew who it was.

"Oh! Luck me." I heard the bastard sarcastically announce and he slid in to my right hand seat. The tardy bell rang as Snape entered the classroom in his usual manner; a permanent frown and ridiculous, flowing black robes that I swear he only wore to intimidate the students. I actually found him quite comical.

"Stop that chattering at once." He demanded in his usual dull drone. We all sighed at his normal greeting, all secretly wishing something that would never change, had magically changed over the summer. He went on with his typical first-day-of-school-speech about us being a load of dunderheads and such.

As class slowly went on I found that Cedric had tossed a note on my desk. I looked at it, then at Snape. He was too caught up in his speech to notice, so I picked it up between two fingers and flicked it back at him. This was only answered by him copying my actions. I sent him a glare that could probably kill, but his smirk persisted. Without opening it once again, I chucked it back at him with more force, but he just mimicked my actions.

"Open it!" He whispered. I rolled my eyes and gave up. I unfolded and blankly stared at what I found within it.

Hi :)

I heard him chuckle and I crumpled up the note. Oh my god, this guy was difficult. Then I heard the dreaded voice speak my name.

"Mr. Digory, Miss Coggle, I suggest you pay attention," He snapped. "and put more energy into your education instead of your social lives." He sent us a glare and went back to his rambles. Toby nudged me and I rolled my eyes. I was used to Snape's short fuse. Eventually the bell rang and I hurried out, dodging Cederic, with Toby.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts is next." I half muttered, half said to Toby. The classroom wasn't too far away, just up a flight stairs and down a corridor. We were the first to arrive and Toby headed for a back seat. "I want to sit in the front." I simply stated and he followed. I set my stuff down in the "over achiever seat" and leaned against the side of the desk.

I curiously eyed the professor who was nervously rearranging the items on his desk. Not surprisingly, anyone would be nervous on their first day of any job. It was his first day; he probably has butterflies in his stomach and already tired from dealing with inattentive students. Maybe it would be polite to say something instead of slouching here awkwardly. There were still very few students in the classroom and we had several minutes before class started. Why was I getting nervous; with all these thoughts running through my head, why didn't I just say something? Oh! But what if he thought I was sucking up? I pushed my insecurities out of my mind and made my decision.

"Good morning, professor…?" I greeted with a smile, hoping to make his first day a little less stressful.

"Lupin, Professor Lupin." He replied, extending his hand over his desk with a tired smile. I accepted it, and gave a firm shake. "And you are…?"

"Macii Coggle." I replied thanking god; he was already an improvement from last year. He wasn't an airhead and he was courteous. I spied the plethora of novels and text books that already cluttered his desk. Though directly below me was a familiar, tattered book. A novel by an unknown wizard called, 'Sweetly Drowning'. My favorite book for several reasons. The subtle hints of romance that could never really exist between a teacher and his student, that get thrown into an outrageous adventure was just so… interesting. The title 'Sweetly Drowning' referred to how the female student felt her sanity slipping away throughout the book. I pointed to it, not sure if it would be rude to just pick it up, and spoke. "Have you finished it?"

"Oh yes, many times over. One of my favorites." He revealed. My face twisted between surprise and delight.

"Me too!" We smiled at each other as the bell rang. "Well, nice to meet you." He tipped his head to like he has done the previous night and I turned to go back to my seat. I slumped into my chair as Professor Lupin rose from his desk. He walked around his desk and started down the aisle to my left, walking past me and-

"Macii!" I heard a hiss from my right, swinging my head in that direction to see Toby with a confused look on his face. "I've been trying to get your attention forever. Is something wrong?" I shook my head no, and he smiled, jabbing his thumb to his right. I peered around him to see Angelica sitting next to him. Beaming, I gave him a nonchalant thumbs up. He had been chasing her since our third year, but she was oblivious to his obvious interest in her. I was happy for him. Love, for me, wasn't… present, I guess? I was almost 17 and, other than one muggle in primary school, I had never really taken a fancy to anyone. I hated the boy's antics, and I considered girls, but I hate their whiney neediness. It bothered me to no end because I had never known what I wanted, but I think it just hit me. I wanted a man. It made perfect sense. My father had been there without really being there and now I craved the attention from someone who was mature and could match me intellectually. It all made sense. I smiled at my own little epiphany as Professor Lupin passed up my right hand aisle. It all made sense now…

Author's Note: Okay… I know in the previous chapter I said Hugglepuff, but I'd just like to say… No, there is just no excusing that. I'm sorry. I'm stupid. :) Please review! Any type of feedback is appreciated!