Disclaimer: I do not own Pride & Prejudice.

The court-yard was crowded with students all trying to find their friends. Lizzy was no different; she was in pursuit of Jane.

With Professor Thornton's compliment still playing in her head, Lizzy found it hard to focus on finding her sister, especially since everyone was wearing the same thing. Eventually she saw her sitting on a bench talking to Charlie. Lizzy made her way towards them.

"Lizzy! Did you find your classes ok?" Jane asked. Charlie gave her a wave.

"Yeah I did, for the most part." Lizzy said.

"I know. When I first came here it seemed so huge with never ending corridors. It took me a year to get used to it. Then my sister, Caroline came and I had to help her get used to it." Charlie sighed.

"So you're saying that it's going to take us our only year here to get used to it?" Lizzy raised her eyebrows.

"No, because you have me." Charlie said confidently.

Charlie and Jane continued talking while Lizzy thought about what he said. His sister Caroline. Didn't Darcy say that that blonde girl was Caroline?

'Hmm. Well there is more than one Caroline.' Just as Lizzy thought this, she saw Caroline come over to Charlie.

"Charlie," she pouted, "you said you were going to wait for me."

"I'm sorry, but I had to show Jane around. It's her and Lizzy's first day." At the mention of Lizzy, Caroline looked up and saw the mop of curly hair.

"Oh, it's you. The girl from St. - St. Stomach or something."
"St. Abbs to be exact." Lizzy corrected.

'Nope, I was wrong. There is only one Caroline.'

"Whatever." Caroline said. "Oh, Darcy! Over here!"

Lizzy saw Charlie's sister waving her arms frantically and motioning for Darcy to sit next to her. Lizzy had to hide a smile at the spectacle Caroline was making of herself.

'No way is he going to come over here to that.' Lizzy thought.

But he did. He didn't take the seat that was offered to him by Caroline, but he did come over and stand behind Charlie.

"Darcy, you haven't been in any of my classes." Charlie said, standing up.

"Are you accusing me of this or just stating a fact?" Darcy asked. Lizzy noticed that his eyes quickly darted from Jane to her to Caroline, and then back to Charlie.

"I am most definitely accusing you. You're the nephew of the benefactress of the school, you must have pulled some strings. But I understand why you did it." Charlie said.

"You do?"

"Of course! It's so obvious. You didn't want to be over shadowed by my good-looks and charms in every class. No, I quite understand why you did what you did Darce."

"That's a relief." Darcy said this so seriously, that Lizzy wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"Charlie don't tease him. Darcy has an abundant amount of charm, don't you Will." Caroline purred. Lizzy started feeling a little awkward; not just for her sake but for Darcy's as well.

"Darcy," she started, "did I hear Charlie correctly, you're the nephew of the benefactress of Netherfield?" Darcy opened his mouth to answer but Caroline beat him to it.

"Of course he's the nephew of the benefactress; who else would he be?"

"Uhh…lot's of people. He could've been the fisherman's son." Lizzy didn't quite understand Caroline.

"The fisherman's son! Elizabeth, you have no right to -"

Thankfully, Lizzy wasn't going to hear what she had no right to or otherwise, for at that moment Professor Brodi started speaking. He was standing in the gazebo, tapping the microphone with his fingers.

"Hallo? Testing, testing. Can everybody hear me?"

A loud collective "YES!"

"Good. Now to begin. As you know we have an assembly today, I've been meaning to remind you about it." Professor Brodi paused. There was silence.

"No? Not funny? That's alright I have plenty more. Anyway, this year's assembly is going to be a wee bit different. Instead of us professors boring you on what you'll be learning we've decided to send to your house, the curriculum of this year. That way when you're parents ask, 'so honey what did you learn today?' It won't matter if you shrug your shoulders and say 'I don't know' because they can just look at the packet that we sent them. So with that done, we still have the assembly to think about. Now I tried my very best to cancel it," This got a few chuckles. Everyone knew that Professor Brodi loved social activities. "But they would not listen to me." He continued. "So I thought to myself, 'Self, if you can't beat them, join 'em.' That's when I had the brilliant idea of a social hour, where new students could talk freely with old ones. Now I'll stop talking so you can start." Professor Brodi switched off the microphone and stepped down from the gazebo. A second later music started playing.

"What is this? They call this music? Ugh." Caroline pulled an Iphone from her pocket and stuck the headphones in her ears.

"It's highland tunes." Lizzy was able to get in before Caroline started her music.

"Do you want some drinks?" Charlie asked. The group said yes and Jane went to help him. Lizzy was left alone with Darcy and Caroline.

"So…" Darcy looked at her as she tried to find a topic on which they could speak.

"Are you from Dunbar?" Lizzy asked hesitantly. She knew the answer already, having heard it from Wickham, but she wanted to know what Darcy would say.

"No, I'm from a town called Ratho; I have an estate there, Pemberly." Darcy said.

"You have an estate?" Lizzy asked.

"Yes."

"You live alone?" Lizzy was trying to coax out the information that she knew was there. When Darcy didn't answer she asked another question.

"Do your parents live with you?"

"My parents are dead." Lizzy could see that he was getting agitated. His fingers were tapping against his sides and he never looked in one spot for too long. She felt almost sorry for him on hearing how dejected his voice was on his last statement.

"I'm sorry" Lizzy said. He looked at her and gave a nod of forgiveness.

"Excuse me." He quickly turned and disappeared in the crowd of students.

Caroline pulled her head phones from her ears.

"Where is he?" She asked looking around.

"Haven't the foggiest." Lizzy left her on the bench, as she went to find Jane and Charlie at the drink table. The line was long, and Lizzy could see that the couple were just reaching the tables. She went to help.

"Oi! Back of the line." A bloke caught her arm and tried to shove her to the back.

"I'm not cutting, I'm just trying to help my friends." Lizzy said as she yanked her arm free.

"And if you ever lay a finger on me again I'll -"

"You'll what?" The chap came up to her and was only an inch away. He looked down his nose at her with a crooked smirk. Lizzy, disgusted with the proximity was about to give him a kick where it hurts, when she heard her name being called.

"Lizzy, here's your drink." Charlie came up to her and handed over the cup.

She stepped away from the sod and took her drink.

"Wankor."

"Who are you calling wankor?" Charlie spun around. Jane had joined them by this time.

"Charlie, leave it. He was talking to me." Lizzy said.

"That's even worse." He handed Lizzy his cup.

"No! Charlie, it's not worth it." The sisters cried.

"Oh. Is rich boy going to take me on?" The students forgot about their thirst and formed a circle around the two lads. Charlie loosened his tie, while Big and Ugly removed his sweater. They were about to engage when Lizzy ran in between them causing Jane to gasp.

Charlie immediately stopped when he saw Lizzy, but Big and Ugly continued to charge.

'Is this really happening?' Lizzy thought. 'I just wanted to help with the drinks.'

The students were silent, not imagining that their classmate would actually hit a girl. He was right on top of her when a hand grabbed his shoulder. Big and Ugly turned to see Darcy's chest.

"That's not very nice." Was all he said. Big and Ugly, intimidated by this new adversary backed away. Jane and Charlie ran over to Lizzy.

"Are you alright? What was his problem? Were you hurt?" The questions kept coming, but Lizzy was too stunned. She looked up at Darcy who took the drinks from her hands.

"Come on." He said to the gang.

Lizzy explained what had happened as they made their way back to the bench that Caroline still occupied.

"His name is Brandon Burrows, he's been a git since day one, ey Darce." Darcy nodded.

"Thank you for stopping him." Lizzy said. Despite her knowledge of his past, she couldn't help but feel grateful for his services in the present.

The rest of the assembly went by without any incident. The students were fed and socialized, and it was off to period five.

For Lizzy it was Language, which she was very much looking forward to. She had the choice between French and Gaelic. She had taken French before so she thought it would be fun and exciting to learn something new. She entered the class and immediately saw over a dozen posters of the Gaelic language. They were all beautiful with Celtic symbols and designs. There was no professor in the room, but she saw that the desks, which sat two students, were labeled alphabetically. Lizzy was in the front with Will Darcy.

'So he's in this class too.' Her opinion of him was growing slowly, allowing her to not mind too much that they had to share a desk. The class was soon full, with still no professor. The students talked to their neighbors and to their friends who were across the room as well. Lizzy and Darcy sat quietly.

The bell rang and there was still no professor.

"Is she usually late, do you know?" Lizzy asked Darcy.

"This is my first year with her." He answered.

Some more minutes passed and the class became even louder, except, of course for the two in the front.

Finally the professor came in hurrying.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, but I was preparing our class."

This didn't make sense to Lizzy, but she didn't say anything.

"But before anything else, I am Professor McBride and now let me see who all of you are."

She scrolled down the attendance sheet, mispronouncing only one name.

"Alright, as you know, I'm here to teach you Gaelic, but since it is such a fine day out, I've decided that we will conduct this class outside, on the green. How does that sound?" A loud hurray and many cheers came from the students. Lizzy even caught a small grin on Darcy's face.

With Professor McBride leading, the class walked through the halls of Netherfield Academy until they were out in the fresh air.

Professor McBride called for attention.

"Now see that tree over there, with the basket under it?" The students looked to where she was pointing. They turned back to her.

"First one there gets a slice of cake."

They were off. The whole class ran like crazy, acting like little kids. They were hollering and whooping and just having fun. Lizzy reached up and took her clip out, letting her hair go crazy in the wind rushing past her face. She was in the lead by a good yard, causing many of the lads to run even faster. But she was determined to have that piece of cake. She was almost there, when all of a sudden, a figure flew past her and grabbed the basket. It was Edina.

"Oi! What did you do that for?" Lizzy called.

"What? I wanted the cake just as much as you did." Lizzy came up to her out of breath.

"That was a good run. I have a feeling I'm going to like Professor McBride." Lizzy said.

"Oh yeah, she's the best." More students were finishing their run.

"Have you had her before?" She asked.

"Yes, in my first year." Edina smiled.

Lizzy looked back to the professor and saw her walking with Darcy. She couldn't imagine him running.

"I see Edina is our winner. Congratulations! And Elizabeth placed second. I have a prize for you too."

Out came the slice of cake from the basket and was handed to Edina. Elizabeth was awarded with a cupcake.

The class was all sprawled out on blankets, some sitting, some lying, others standing around. Professor McBride had given them short stories to read to each other in both English and Gaelic. Lizzy, Edina, and Darcy shared a blanket. The girls were barefoot, having removed their shoes and socks, and Lizzy had taken off her sweater.

"Aren't you two hot?" Lizzy asked them. She was fanning herself with her hand.

"I didn't run."

"And I'm comfy." Edina shrugged. The girls were still eating their prizes, trying to savor every bite. Lizzy had cut her cupcake in half and had offered it to Darcy. He looked at it as if not understanding.

"I didn't eat it, you know. And whether you believe me or not, I don't have cooties." Edina smiled as Darcy took the piece of cupcake.

"Thank you." He said.

They were now struggling through the short stories. Lizzy had volunteered to go first. She read it in English, then she started on the Gaelic. She thought she was doing pretty well until Edina burst out laughing and fell on her back. Darcy was even smiling.

"What did I say?!" Lizzy looked between the two. Edina was in hysterics and Darcy just sat there with his grin.

"You mispronounced a word." He explained. "It sounded as if you said -"

Edina quickly sat up and said, "Fu-"

"Edina! Please! No cursing." Professor McBride was making her rounds.

"Sorry professor." She said.

Professor McBride passed and Edina started laughing again.

"It's not that funny." Lizzy said.

"Yes it is. Try it again." Edina said.

Lizzy tried the sentence again, and this time she heard it.

The girls were both laughing now.

"How do you pronounce it?" Lizzy asked. Edina showed her the proper way and they continued with the story.

"Have either of you seen my clip?" Lizzy asked. Edina was now reading and Lizzy realized that her hair was lying all over her face in tiny curls. They both responded in the negative. Lizzy didn't mind this until she realized that Darcy was looking at her every now and then.

'I must look like a mop, it's such a humid day.' She didn't like that she cared what he thought of her, so she lied down. That way she could pile her hair under her head. Stretched out on her back, she could watch the clouds as they slowly passed in the sky. Edina read the Gaelic well and was soon passing it onto Darcy. Lizzy propped herself up on her elbow to listen. It was the first time that she would hear Darcy speak more than one sentence at a time. As he read, Edina came up behind Lizzy and started plaiting her hair. Being so thick and long, it took Edina almost the same amount of time to finish with Lizzy's hair as it took Darcy to complete his reading of the story.

"Thanks." Lizzy pulled her hair to her front and was playing with it.

The end of the class came, much to the disappointment of all the students. They helped Professor McBride pack away the blankets, and she escorted them back into the school.

"What's your next period?" Lizzy asked Edina.

"Science. You?"

"History. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Edina turned left down the hall as Lizzy and Darcy turned right.

"What about you?"

"I have History as well." He said.

"With Professor Bennet?" Lizzy smiled at adding professor to her father's name.

"Yes. Isn't Bennet your name?" Darcy asked.

"It is. Professor Bennet is my Da." Lizzy said with some pride.

"Oh."

"Yeah. It's how he was able to get me and Jane scholarships."

The two entered the class and immediately were bombarded with shouts.

"Darcy! Lizzy! Your seats are here." Charlie waved them over. Jane was sitting next to him with a large smile on her face. Lizzy quickly grabbed her seat next to Jane and started telling her about Professor McBride. The four all had seats next to each other. It was Jane, Lizzy, Charlie and then Darcy.

"Where's Da?" Lizzy asked.

"He had to run out for a coffee." Jane answered.

"Do you know if it's his first?"

Jane pointed to their father's rubbish bin. There were several cups of coffee.

"He's that nervous, huh?" Lizzy sighed.

"Well it is understandable," Charlie said, "first day teaching a bunch of nitwits who will only pay attention if you wave food in front of their face. Present company excluded, of course." He said, smiling at Jane.

The four chatted until Lizzy saw her Da come in.

"Good afternoon, Professor Bennet." She called out.

Her father looked towards her and smiled.

"Good afternoon, Miss Bennet. Is it my imagination, or is your hair doing something different than it was doing this morning?"

Professor Bennet was standing in front of the group now. Lizzy laughed.

"You are not mistaken, professor. I had a wee bit of a makeover in Language class." Professor Bennet raised his eyebrows.

"I see. And who was the hairstylist?"

"Edina."

"Irons?" Her Da asked.

"Excuse me?" Lizzy was confused.

"Edina Irons. Is that who you're talking about?"

"Oh. Maybe, I don't know her last name. She has red hair."

"Yes. Edina Irons. I had her for period three. She's a nice lass."

The bell rung and Professor Bennet went to his desk. He waited for the class to settle down so he could take attendance.

"Good afternoon, everyone." The group in front chorused his greeting.

"I am Professor Bennet and as many of you probably know this is my first year here -"

"We know gramps. Get on with it." Some one called from the back. Lizzy and Jane cringed; they looked at their father who seemed unfazed by this comment.

Professor Bennet walked over to a globe resting on a counter on the side of the room and picked it up. He stood there looking at it for a few seconds and then suddenly tossed it to the out spoken git. The class gasped and the lad had to remove his head from the desk to catch the flying globe.

"Show me the Middle-East."

The class was now interested and all eyes were on the bloke. He spun the globe around several times trying to locate the Middle-East. Finally a neighbor had to point it out to him.

"Here." His finger rested on the correct spot.

"Good. Now come up to the board… don't be shy." Professor Bennet said.

"Write the name of the only Jewish state in the Middle-East."

"Uhh…I don't know."

"Pity. Does anybody know the answer?"

A few hands rose, including the four in the front.

"Mr. Bingly."

"It is Israel, professor."

"Correct. Now," turning back to the lad, " name the capital."

The lad just stood there, finally shrugging his shoulders.

Professor Bennet tut-tutted him and then looked to the class.

"Anyone? Miss McCree."

"Jerusalem." She answered.

"Correct. Alright, lad have a seat."

From then on, Professor Bennet was labeled a fun professor, in which you had no idea what he was going to do next. The class continued and the students were told about what they would be learning.

"I know we're sending packets home to your parents, but how many of you are going to read it with them? Exactly."

They were going to cover the Maccabees, The Roman Empire, The Ottoman Empire, the Second Boer War, WWI, WWII and the Holocaust.

Lizzy felt that the class ended too soon and she was off to period seven, Craft and Design. She didn't pay much attention in that class, not having inclinations to computers.

Finally the last period of the day - Fitness Class.

She changed in the girls locker room where she looked for Jane or Edina, but could find neither. Once in her gym clothes she entered the gymnasium and saw that Darcy was sitting by himself on the bleachers. Feeling roughly acquainted with him, Lizzy walked over. He looked up at her approach and nodded.

'Why does he always nod? Can't he say hi or…I don't know, something else.' To make her point she gave him a very loud 'Hallo.' He only raised an eyebrow.

Lizzy clambered up onto the bleachers next to him and started asking questions.

"Do you know anybody here?"

"Yes." He said.

"Who?" She looked around at the students in the gym.

"You." He said simply. She gave an exasperated sigh.

"I know that. I meant anybody else from your previous years here."

"I know a lot of them but I'm not close to anyone in particular." He was resting his elbows on his knees.

"Except for Charlie and Caroline." Lizzy stated. She had to laugh at the expression he made when he heard Caroline mentioned.

"Just think, next year, you won't have to deal with her. At least you won't be locked in the same building as her everyday." Lizzy said.

"True. But I'll still see her through Charlie."

"Sorry." Darcy turned his head to Lizzy for a second; she was already facing him. The bell rung and startled the pair of them.

Gym was gym. They exercised and stretched and played a game of football, in which Darcy had no choice but to run. He was fast and seemed to enjoy the sport, he even high-fived a team member when they scored a goal. Lizzy was one of the few girls who really got involved in the game and made many brilliant passes and a couple of goals herself. She and Darcy were on opposite teams and there was a point when she had the ball and Darcy was coming up behind her trying to steal it. He stretched his leg out to get it away from her but she preformed some fancy foot-work and spun around him and kicked it into the goal. Her teammates came running at her as that was the winning goal, their professor had blown her whistle. Lizzy caught Darcy's eye and smiled at him, he smiled back, but quickly walked away scratching the back of his neck.

"That was a good game." Lizzy caught up to Darcy in the hall.

"For you." He grumbled. Lizzy looked up at him to see that he was determined to look straight ahead. Smiling, she did the same.

"Oh look." She grabbed hold of his arm which made him finally look down at her. "There's Jane and Charlie." She rushed over to them.

"Lizzy, you're all red." Jane said.

"Fitness class." By way of explanation. "Where's Da?"

"Don't know. We can wait for him by the car." Jane said.

"We'll join you." Charlie said, motioning to himself and Darcy, who had now joined the group.

"Great, just give me a second though, I have to use the loo." Jane said.

The three stood there talking until Lizzy spotted Edina.

"Will you excuse me, I want to say bye to someone."

"Go ahead." Charlie smiled.

"Edina!"

"Lizzy!"

"I wanted to tell you that you are welcome to my house anytime. And it's a relief that I don't have to give you the directions since your uncle lives in St. Abbs. I live on Briery Law."

"I will definitely come by. I'm glad you came this year."

"Me too."

The girls parted and Lizzy was just making her way back to the lads when she heard her name spoken by Charlie.

"I think you should go with Lizzy." He was saying.

"Charlie really. Be happy with your lot, don't try to arrange mine."

"Believe me, I am very happy with my lot. Jane is the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen. But you have to admit that Lizzy is just as pretty. They're twins after all."

"Are you kidding, Charlie? She talks too much, asks too many personal questions, her hair was a mop of frizz today, she's seems to be just another country bumpkin, and to top it all off, she almost got you into a fight!"

"Hey, that wasn't her fault." Charlie warned. "That sod, Burrows, is to blame."

They discussed it a little more until Jane arrived.

"Where's Lizzy?"

"She went to say bye to a friend. She should be back any moment - Oh, there she is." Charlie smiled when he saw Lizzy coming through the crowd.

"Ready?" Jane asked. Lizzy nodded. She didn't look up at Darcy, or anyone. She didn't want to risk the chance that they would see the water in her eyes.

Their Da was in the car waiting for them, so the group quickly said their good-byes. Charlie was looking at Lizzy, he noticed something was off.

In the car Lizzy looked out the window as Jane told their Da about her day.

'I don't care. I don't care. I don't care.' But she did care. Despite her knowledge of his past, she had witnessed his dealings in the present. She had even admitted to herself during the day, that she wouldn't mind being his friend. He might be quiet, but some people are just shy. But now it didn't matter. He was back in her mind as the bloke who ruined Wickham's life.

A/N: Hi! I had a fun time writing this chapter, especially the picnic scene in their language class. I miss the summer! I am sooo cold write now, I think I might need gloves L. Anyway, just to help out, in their fitness class when they are playing football, they are playing American soccer. I know you probably know but I figured it's better to just put it out there in case some one doesn't. That's all for now. Bye.