A/N: AARON POV
*
Faith and Aaron ran back down the corridor, Faith giggling stupidly.
'Shush!' said Aaron, putting his finger on his lips.
Faith put her hand on her mouth, and just grinned instead. Aaron followed her all the way back down the corridors, that she had lead him through on the way there.
'He seemed kind of moody about something, didn't he? He seems kind of cute.' said Faith.
'You like him, don't you?' asked Aaron, incredulously.
Faith turned her head away timidly.
'Faith! You've only met him once! [I]And[/I] he's twenty-six, way older than you!'
'Yeah, do you think I don't know that?' said Faith, smiling, 'but I can still say he's cute, can't I?! ' She paused. 'But don't you think of telling anyone, will you?'
Aaron shook his head. 'of course not. What were you going on about in there, asking if we were going to ride Thunderclap ZX's? They're an international standard broomstick!'
'Are they?' said Faith, looking only mildly surprised. 'I know I'd heard of them somewhere. I'm not really into quidditch and all of that, it's not really my scene.'
A gaped, but Faith looked calm, as if saying that "quidditch isn't really my scene" was something you heard every day.
'What?!' Aaron shouted, but then remembered to keep his voice down. 'Why are you … how did you … how can you [I]not[/I] be into quidditch?'
Faith shrugged. 'I don't know, it's just something that I never really got into. I've been to a couple of matches, but they all just seem boring to me.'
Aaron shook his head in disbelief, muttering his astonishment under his breath.
Faith nudged him in the ribs, and whispered. 'We're here. Tarkus binihil.'
The door to the common room opened, and Aaron and Faith entered, to find themselves facing an incredibly irate looking Snape.
Aaron froze. He was for it now. Faith giggled, possibly from fear.
'And what,' said Snape, 'would you two first years, be doing out of bed?'
'I … um … we … um …' began Faith.
'Silence.' snapped Snape. 'I want to hear it from you, Mr Bulstrode.'
Aaron gulped, maybe, if he just told the truth, he'd be okay. Faith was looking at him in a funny way, as if she was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't make out what she was trying to say.
'We went to see …' Aaron stopped. Faith was poking him sharply – and repeatedly – in the back, as if telling him to stop. He turned around. 'What?'
'N – nothing.' said Faith.
'Tell me.' said Snape threateningly.
'We went to see, Mr Potter – Sir.' Snape's expression blackened. Instead of looking understanding, Snape was now looking daggers at Aaron. Aaron thought he had better explain. 'We only went to ask him about quidditch professor –'
Aaron heard a cough come from behind him that sounded decidedly like 'Shut up!'
'You should do what she says,' Snape said to Aaron, 'and shut up.'
Aaron closed his mouth abruptly.
'No student – and that includes you, Miss Gettherd, not just Mr 'I'm on my last chance but who gives a damn' here – should be walking around the school at night. It is expressly forbidden. [I]you[/I], Mr Bulstrode, were already on your last chance, what [I]were[/I] you thinking? And leading Miss Gettherd along with you, that was just disgraceful. I don't like to take points from my own house, but I'm going to have to take ten points away for you Miss Gettherd, and you will receive a detention. Faith bowed her head.
You …' he turned to Aaron. 'You, are in very serious trouble. Go to bed, Miss Gettherd.' Faith took one last look at Aaron before she departed up the girl's staircase. When she was safely out of earshot, Snape turned to Aaron.
'You.' he began, 'are trouble.'
'I'm not!' protested Aaron, 'I'm just having a bad day …'
'You're not having a bad day, you are causing trouble, deliberately.' Snape was beginning to look really angry. 'I give you one chance already, but what do you do – you abuse it! I don't mind a student with a little bit of attitude, who likes a swot? But you are either a troublemaker or just plain stupid.'
'I'm [I]not[/I] a troublemaker!' interjected Aaron.
'Then you must be stupid, and I suggest you go and find your place in Hufflepuff.'
Aaron scowled, that was a bit unfair! But he decided not to push his luck by saying so. Snape breathed in sharply, and his – rather large, Aaron noticed – nostrils dilated.
'Don't scowl at me, Mr Bulstrode, or you will be in even more trouble than you already are.'
'I didn't mean to cross any lines …'
'CROSS ANY LINES!?' shouted Snape, 'CROSS ANY LINES? You, Aaron, do not just cross the line, you cross it, turn around, spit on it, stamp on it, tear it up and shoot it with a MACHINE GUN!!!' Snape's voice rose harshly towards the end of the sentence. 'your sister was brain-dead too, never followed the examples of the more intelligent students … after the first incident today, I thought I might have given you one more chance, but you most obviously exploit it!'
Aaron looked at his shoe, the lace suddenly seemed very interesting.
'And then you add insult to the wound, by telling me that you went to see [I]Harry Potter![/I] What do you have to say about yourself?'
'I'm very shoe … sorry! I meant sorry!' Aaron knew he'd just made another mistake.
'Well then. If you're shoe is more interesting than hearing what you've done wrong, then I suggest your punishment will be extended.'
Aaron couldn't believe it, [I]punishment … extended?[/I]
'You will lose ten points from Slytherin, which I believe puts us twenty points into the minor. Students will be notified of who lost those points. You will receive a detention, and you will not attend the Slytherins first flying lesson on the seventh of October.'
Snape turned sharply, and departed from the common in a swish of cloak, leaving Aaron standing in the middle of the room, staring at the fire.
It was all going wrong – all of it.
He didn't walk up the staircase, he didn't feel like going to bed at all. Instead, he traipsed over to one of the carved chairs by the fire, and sat down. He leaned forward, to put his elbows on his knees and his forehead in his hands.
Why was it all going wrong? Why here, of all places? He hadn't [I]meant[/I] to do anything wrong. All right, so maybe he shouldn't have tried to make the food appear at his plate, or even gone to see Harry Potter, but Snape seemed to have a total overreaction.
Why had his face darkened so much when Aaron had mentioned Harry? After a moment of thought, Aaron knew he would have to try and bargain with Snape; offer to take another detention, or something.
He couldn't miss his first flying lesson, he just [I]couldn't![/I] He had to be good at something, he had to make himself good at something, he had to make an impact.
If anyone asked about his mother, he would have to say she was dead. If anyone asked about his father, he would have to say that he didn't know who he was.
He didn't know if he was pureblood or halfblood, he could have been half-Neanderthal for all he knew. All he knew was that his mother was supposedly stupid, along with everyone else on the Bulstrode side of the family, hardly anything to boast about.
He would have to make his own way, make his own reputation. He supposed that if no one knew his parents, he was starting on a clean slate with everyone. Everyone, that was, apart from Snape.
Look on the bright side – he told himself – you've made two great friends, if Faith would forgive him, and he still had people to meet.
He looked at his old – and sometimes very unreliable – watch. The face said it was eleven-thirty.
Right, he thought, he would go to bed now, before the next day started. At least, if it was a new day, he could start again with everyone; and technically speaking, tomorrow was the first day, so he could make a new impression. Today was just a kind of prologue – a very bad prologue.
He climbed the left staircase, and counted the doorways, until he finally found the sixteenth one up. He opened the door, where he was greeted by silence. The whole room was silent, bar a dreadful snoring that was coming from one of the beds.
He approached the only bed that didn't have the curtains drawn, his. Hebe was quietly curled up at the end, purring in her sleep. When she heard Aaron walk to the bed, she raised her head, opened one sleepy eye, gave a small mew and went softly back to sleep.
Aaron changed into his pyjamas, and lay back in his bed, pulling the covers right up to his chin. They were green velvet, as were the hangings, which were delicately hung on an ornate silver frame, which surrounded the bed.
He shut his eyes, and as he thought about the new start he would be making tomorrow, waves of darkness lapped over him, and he drifted into a deep sleep.
*
The next morning, Aaron woke to boy's voices.
'Wake up Aaron, it's the first day!'
Aaron opened his bleary eyes, and saw two boys standing in front of him, Ben and Copper.
'Good morning, sleeping beauty.' joked Ben, and Copper laughed.
'Hurry up Aaron, it's the first day, and you've got a beautiful girl waiting downstairs in the common room!'
Aaron swung his legs out of bed. 'Which one?' he asked.
'Ooh, he's getting c0kcy now! Which one …'
'No, I mean is it Winter or Faith?' he asked. He secretly hoped it was Faith, he liked them both the same, as they had only met the previous day, but he would have rather seen Faith at that moment, as he needed to know if she still liked him.
Ben and Copper looked at each other. 'Is Faith the one with the blonde hair?'
'No, black hair.' said Aaron.
Copper nodded, 'well in that case, it's Winter. Come on Ben!'
Copper and Ben departed from the dorm, and Aaron glanced round his hangings, to see whether Godfrey or Ike were in the room, they weren't.
'Phew!' said Aaron, and carried on changing into his robes. When he was changed, he left the room, and went downstairs to the common room, where he saw Winter.
'Hi!' she said cheerily, 'have a good time last night?'
'Don't ask.' groaned Aaron, 'I can't really explain all that happened, but let's just say that Faith and I have landed ourselves in detention, taken Slytherin twenty points into the minus,' Winter was looking horrified, 'and I'm going to miss our first flying lesson.'
'Oh Aaron,' she said, 'I'm so sorry.'
'It doesn't matter!' he replied, 'I'm still smiling.' He stretched his mouth into a big grin, just to prove that he wasn't lying.
He and Winter left the common room, and tried to find their way through the many underground passages, so they could leave the cold dungeons and get to the great hall.
When they arrived in the Great Hall, breakfast had been going on for a while, and lots of the plates were only half-full.
'Here,' said Winter, as they arrived at the Slytherin table, 'eat this,' and reached over to get something for Aaron to eat.
But Aaron retched when he saw what she was going to give him.
'No!' he cried, making several people stare.
Winter looked puzzled, 'but what have you got against pancakes?'
'Everything,' said Aaron darkly, and picked up a piece of toast instead.
Winter shook her head, and muttered something about "having it his way."
Aaron looked down the table, looking for Faith, but was disappointed when he couldn't see her. He glanced at the staff table, and caught sight of Harry Potter, who he could have [I]sworn[/I] had been looking at him.
After a while, Aaron received his timetable from a prefect, and he saw that first he had charms with Professor Clearwater, followed by various other lessons.
Winter noticed him looking at his timetable, and pointed to one of the lessons.
'Look, we've got History of Magic later, someone told me that was really good.'
He pulled another piece of toast from the rack, 'I dunno, I wouldn't have thought history would be all that exciting, would you?'
Winter shrugged, 'I don't know, it's just something someone told me.'
They sat in silence for a few more minutes, glancing at the passing ghost, until finally Aaron plucked up the courage to ask the question he had been meaning to ask since he had first seen Winter that morning.
'Have you seen Faith today?'
Winter looked over to the staff table, avoiding Aaron's gaze, and then back to Aaron. 'I saw her this morning, but I don't know where she is now.' she said coldly.
'Have you fallen out with her?' asked Aaron, Winter did not respond. 'Winter, you've only been here a day! You can't go falling out with people just like that!'
'I didn't say we had fallen out.' she said, 'let's just say that she's not the kind of girl I like.'
Aaron shook his head, and didn't question her any further. She grinned at him, and collected up her things.
'Come on, or we'll be late for charms.'
They arrived in the charms corridor, outside their classroom, they were five minutes early. But so, it would seem, was everyone else.
There was a big huddle outside the classroom door, with Godfrey and Ike dawdling around at the back, as if trying not to look too keen, ignoring the fact that they were five minutes early.
'Clear the door please, clear the doorway.'
Everyone turned around as they heard Professor Clearwater's shoes clacking on the flag stoned floor, and heard her brisk voice calling out for them to move.
Aaron saw that she had long, curly hair, and was quite young, compared to many of the teachers, about thirty-ish.
She manoeuvred through the crowd of students and entered the classroom, indicating for the others to follow her.
Aaron walked into the dim classroom, looking around him in amazement. There was so many amazing things he needed to see, all in one classroom!
One of his friends sat next to him, who had brought his rat with him, Aaron was suddenly glad he had left Hebe in the care of someone else that day.
He took a seat in the back row; he found that sitting in front of the teacher was far too in-your-face. Professor Clearwater cleared her throat and stood in front of the class.
'Good morning first years, and welcome all to charms. My name is Professor Clearwater and I will be your teacher. Before we start though, you must learn a little bit about the subject.
Close to transfiguration, charms is one of the most difficult subjects you can learn whilst here at Hogwarts. If you do not concentrate, it will be as useful as being in a divination lesson, without the gift. You must concentrate, persevere, and try hard in charms, and it is my job to make sure you work to the best of your ability.
For our first lesson, we will be learning the Revealer Charm. Would you please all get out your wands.'
Aaron got out his wand, the offending wand that had started the slippery slope yesterday.
'Now, the Revealer charm can have two purposes, and can be quite complex – if you get it wrong. I hate to tell you this, but I'm going to start you all off on one of the more difficult charms. The first use it to reveal something to you, such as writing, written in invisible ink. The second use for the charm is to lift the lid on a box, or to flip something over on the ground, it's very good for taking precautions. Let me demonstrate the first use.'
She took out a clear quill from the desk, filled with a clear ink inside. She took out a piece of parchment and wrote something on it, that nobody could see. She held out the piece of paper for the class to see.
'You can see nothing on the piece of paper.' the class mumbled their agreement.
She waved her wand at the piece of paper, in a double swirl movement and shouted 'Quirimus!'
Slowly, something began to appear on the picture, in bright red ink. It said, "Never tickle a sleeping dragon"
All too loudly, Aaron said, 'sounds like good advice if you ask me.'
Professor Clearwater turned to him. 'It's Aaron isn't it? Or Thomas?'/
'Aaron,' he said, defiantly.
'Well,' she said, 'can anyone tell Aaron why you think I chose to write those words?'
Winter raised her arm high into the air, and waved her hand.
'Yes, Winter?'
'It's the school motto, Professor.'
Professor Clearwater smiled, 'very good, ten points to Slytherin. Yes, draco dormiens nunquam titilandus – translated as never tickle a sleeping dragon – is the Hogwarts school motto.'
Aaron looked to Winter, who was looking smug at his side. 'I never knew we had a motto! And … thanks; you just rescued the ten points I lost.
'S'okay,' she said smiling, turning back to the front, 'anytime.'
Aaron caught sight of Faith, on the other side of the room, looking at Winter whispering to him. When she saw him she smiled and gave a small wave.
'Now, to demonstrate the other method, I will have to use something else.'
She reached under her desk and brought out a small box. It was pretty, silver in colour, and encrusted with jewels. She pointed her wand at it, rotated it in the swirling movement, said "quirimus" and the box began to open slowly, revealing its contents to her, bit by bit.
She lifted her head to the class, 'did anyone see anything different this time?'
Winter lifted her hand.
'Yes, Winter?'
'Did you use a different tone of voice?' she asked tentatively.
Professor Clearwater made a so-so face. 'I might have,' she said, 'but that's not the answer I was looking for. Did anyone else notice something?'
Aaron raised his hand, he had an idea, and he hoped it was right, because he could see Godfrey and co looking at him from the corner of his eye, snig gering about something.
'Well, the first time you did it, you kind of twirled you hand this way,' he moved his hand to show the direction he meant, 'and the second time you went the other way.'
Professor Clearwater grinned at Aaron. 'Well, we seem to have a very observant student here, don't we? Yes, that's right, and you can have ten points to Slytherin, for good observation.'
Soon, after some practice without wands, little boxes, pieces of parchment and quills with invisible ink in them were handed out to each one of the Slytherins, for them to practice.
Aaron could hear Godfrey, even though they were at opposite ends of the room.
'Ooh, we seem to have a very observant student here, don't we.' He mocked, and Ike burst into stupid guffaws.
'Ignore them,' muttered Winter.
Aaron took out his wand and was just practicing the twirl movement, when Winter looked over at him and said, 'you've got very delicate hands.'
'Excuse me?' said Aaron, taken aback. He wasn't sure whether to take "delicate hands" as a compliment or not.
'Sorry, but you do!'
'Yes – but delicate …' Aaron grimaced at the [I]girly[/I] word.
'Okay, you have spindly fingers, what do you want me to say?' Winter smiled, 'silly masculine pride … but just look,' she took his hand, 'you've got really thin fingers, you could be a pianist, or an artist!'
Aaron laughed. 'I can't draw!' he said, 'and I can't even play a drum, let alone a piano.'
'Well, it was a theory.' Winter shrugged. 'Are you going to have a go at this spell?'
Aaron nodded, and picked up his quill and paper. It looked hard, people were trying around them, but no one seemed to have mastered it yet.
Aaron and Winter glanced at each other, each of them holding their own parchment, and together they reached a silent agreement. Aaron would write something on his paper, for Winter do decipher herself.
Aaron grabbed his quill, and began to write on the paper, soon, his message was written, and the two swapped papers.
'I'll go first,' said Aaron, and took his wand in his left hand, placing the quill on the desk. He swirled it two times to the right, and said, 'quirimus.'
Aaron and Winter watched, amazed, as words appeared on Winter's paper. He had done it – first time too! – and he watched the red words appear on the paper.
"So tell me about it, Tom."
He turned around to look at Winter, wondering what she meant.
'Tell you about what? And it's Aaron.' he said stubbornly.
'I know,' she said, 'but Tom kinda sounded more snappy, to go with the message. You don't have to tell me.'
'I can't tell you,' said Aaron morosely.
Winter looked puzzled. 'Why?'
'I don't know.'
Suddenly Professor Clearwater called out from the front of the classroom. 'Has anyone managed to master the spell yet? Either ways?'
'I have,' said Aaron – albeit somewhat sheepishly – and raised his hand. He could practically [I]hear[/I] Godfrey's snickers from the other side of the classroom.
'Would you be prepared to demonstrate? Do you think you could do it again?'
Aaron nodded nervously, even though he was not sure he could repeat it. Professor Clearwater wrote something on a piece of parchment at the front of the room, and took it back to Aaron.
'You have mastered this spell, yes?' Aaron nodded, as he hadn't tried the other one yet.
He raised his wand, and pointed it at the piece of parchment. 'quirimus,' he said, and once again, writing in red ink began to appear. Winter started at him incredulously, he couldn't believe it, it [I]must[/I] be a fluke!
As the writing appeared, Aaron read the message it revealed, and smiled. It read: "five points to Slytherin."
The rest of the lesson passed without incident. Aaron learned how to master the other spell too, and helped Winter with it. She seemed very good at reeling facts from a textbook, but less confident in the practical tasks.
Some other students picked up the charm, but some – like Ike – didn't pick it up at all; and some – like Godfrey – took until the very last minute to master it.
When it was time for the lesson to end, Aaron walked out of the room with Winter, deciding that he liked Professor Clearwater, and he liked charms – very much.
*
Faith and Aaron ran back down the corridor, Faith giggling stupidly.
'Shush!' said Aaron, putting his finger on his lips.
Faith put her hand on her mouth, and just grinned instead. Aaron followed her all the way back down the corridors, that she had lead him through on the way there.
'He seemed kind of moody about something, didn't he? He seems kind of cute.' said Faith.
'You like him, don't you?' asked Aaron, incredulously.
Faith turned her head away timidly.
'Faith! You've only met him once! [I]And[/I] he's twenty-six, way older than you!'
'Yeah, do you think I don't know that?' said Faith, smiling, 'but I can still say he's cute, can't I?! ' She paused. 'But don't you think of telling anyone, will you?'
Aaron shook his head. 'of course not. What were you going on about in there, asking if we were going to ride Thunderclap ZX's? They're an international standard broomstick!'
'Are they?' said Faith, looking only mildly surprised. 'I know I'd heard of them somewhere. I'm not really into quidditch and all of that, it's not really my scene.'
A gaped, but Faith looked calm, as if saying that "quidditch isn't really my scene" was something you heard every day.
'What?!' Aaron shouted, but then remembered to keep his voice down. 'Why are you … how did you … how can you [I]not[/I] be into quidditch?'
Faith shrugged. 'I don't know, it's just something that I never really got into. I've been to a couple of matches, but they all just seem boring to me.'
Aaron shook his head in disbelief, muttering his astonishment under his breath.
Faith nudged him in the ribs, and whispered. 'We're here. Tarkus binihil.'
The door to the common room opened, and Aaron and Faith entered, to find themselves facing an incredibly irate looking Snape.
Aaron froze. He was for it now. Faith giggled, possibly from fear.
'And what,' said Snape, 'would you two first years, be doing out of bed?'
'I … um … we … um …' began Faith.
'Silence.' snapped Snape. 'I want to hear it from you, Mr Bulstrode.'
Aaron gulped, maybe, if he just told the truth, he'd be okay. Faith was looking at him in a funny way, as if she was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't make out what she was trying to say.
'We went to see …' Aaron stopped. Faith was poking him sharply – and repeatedly – in the back, as if telling him to stop. He turned around. 'What?'
'N – nothing.' said Faith.
'Tell me.' said Snape threateningly.
'We went to see, Mr Potter – Sir.' Snape's expression blackened. Instead of looking understanding, Snape was now looking daggers at Aaron. Aaron thought he had better explain. 'We only went to ask him about quidditch professor –'
Aaron heard a cough come from behind him that sounded decidedly like 'Shut up!'
'You should do what she says,' Snape said to Aaron, 'and shut up.'
Aaron closed his mouth abruptly.
'No student – and that includes you, Miss Gettherd, not just Mr 'I'm on my last chance but who gives a damn' here – should be walking around the school at night. It is expressly forbidden. [I]you[/I], Mr Bulstrode, were already on your last chance, what [I]were[/I] you thinking? And leading Miss Gettherd along with you, that was just disgraceful. I don't like to take points from my own house, but I'm going to have to take ten points away for you Miss Gettherd, and you will receive a detention. Faith bowed her head.
You …' he turned to Aaron. 'You, are in very serious trouble. Go to bed, Miss Gettherd.' Faith took one last look at Aaron before she departed up the girl's staircase. When she was safely out of earshot, Snape turned to Aaron.
'You.' he began, 'are trouble.'
'I'm not!' protested Aaron, 'I'm just having a bad day …'
'You're not having a bad day, you are causing trouble, deliberately.' Snape was beginning to look really angry. 'I give you one chance already, but what do you do – you abuse it! I don't mind a student with a little bit of attitude, who likes a swot? But you are either a troublemaker or just plain stupid.'
'I'm [I]not[/I] a troublemaker!' interjected Aaron.
'Then you must be stupid, and I suggest you go and find your place in Hufflepuff.'
Aaron scowled, that was a bit unfair! But he decided not to push his luck by saying so. Snape breathed in sharply, and his – rather large, Aaron noticed – nostrils dilated.
'Don't scowl at me, Mr Bulstrode, or you will be in even more trouble than you already are.'
'I didn't mean to cross any lines …'
'CROSS ANY LINES!?' shouted Snape, 'CROSS ANY LINES? You, Aaron, do not just cross the line, you cross it, turn around, spit on it, stamp on it, tear it up and shoot it with a MACHINE GUN!!!' Snape's voice rose harshly towards the end of the sentence. 'your sister was brain-dead too, never followed the examples of the more intelligent students … after the first incident today, I thought I might have given you one more chance, but you most obviously exploit it!'
Aaron looked at his shoe, the lace suddenly seemed very interesting.
'And then you add insult to the wound, by telling me that you went to see [I]Harry Potter![/I] What do you have to say about yourself?'
'I'm very shoe … sorry! I meant sorry!' Aaron knew he'd just made another mistake.
'Well then. If you're shoe is more interesting than hearing what you've done wrong, then I suggest your punishment will be extended.'
Aaron couldn't believe it, [I]punishment … extended?[/I]
'You will lose ten points from Slytherin, which I believe puts us twenty points into the minor. Students will be notified of who lost those points. You will receive a detention, and you will not attend the Slytherins first flying lesson on the seventh of October.'
Snape turned sharply, and departed from the common in a swish of cloak, leaving Aaron standing in the middle of the room, staring at the fire.
It was all going wrong – all of it.
He didn't walk up the staircase, he didn't feel like going to bed at all. Instead, he traipsed over to one of the carved chairs by the fire, and sat down. He leaned forward, to put his elbows on his knees and his forehead in his hands.
Why was it all going wrong? Why here, of all places? He hadn't [I]meant[/I] to do anything wrong. All right, so maybe he shouldn't have tried to make the food appear at his plate, or even gone to see Harry Potter, but Snape seemed to have a total overreaction.
Why had his face darkened so much when Aaron had mentioned Harry? After a moment of thought, Aaron knew he would have to try and bargain with Snape; offer to take another detention, or something.
He couldn't miss his first flying lesson, he just [I]couldn't![/I] He had to be good at something, he had to make himself good at something, he had to make an impact.
If anyone asked about his mother, he would have to say she was dead. If anyone asked about his father, he would have to say that he didn't know who he was.
He didn't know if he was pureblood or halfblood, he could have been half-Neanderthal for all he knew. All he knew was that his mother was supposedly stupid, along with everyone else on the Bulstrode side of the family, hardly anything to boast about.
He would have to make his own way, make his own reputation. He supposed that if no one knew his parents, he was starting on a clean slate with everyone. Everyone, that was, apart from Snape.
Look on the bright side – he told himself – you've made two great friends, if Faith would forgive him, and he still had people to meet.
He looked at his old – and sometimes very unreliable – watch. The face said it was eleven-thirty.
Right, he thought, he would go to bed now, before the next day started. At least, if it was a new day, he could start again with everyone; and technically speaking, tomorrow was the first day, so he could make a new impression. Today was just a kind of prologue – a very bad prologue.
He climbed the left staircase, and counted the doorways, until he finally found the sixteenth one up. He opened the door, where he was greeted by silence. The whole room was silent, bar a dreadful snoring that was coming from one of the beds.
He approached the only bed that didn't have the curtains drawn, his. Hebe was quietly curled up at the end, purring in her sleep. When she heard Aaron walk to the bed, she raised her head, opened one sleepy eye, gave a small mew and went softly back to sleep.
Aaron changed into his pyjamas, and lay back in his bed, pulling the covers right up to his chin. They were green velvet, as were the hangings, which were delicately hung on an ornate silver frame, which surrounded the bed.
He shut his eyes, and as he thought about the new start he would be making tomorrow, waves of darkness lapped over him, and he drifted into a deep sleep.
*
The next morning, Aaron woke to boy's voices.
'Wake up Aaron, it's the first day!'
Aaron opened his bleary eyes, and saw two boys standing in front of him, Ben and Copper.
'Good morning, sleeping beauty.' joked Ben, and Copper laughed.
'Hurry up Aaron, it's the first day, and you've got a beautiful girl waiting downstairs in the common room!'
Aaron swung his legs out of bed. 'Which one?' he asked.
'Ooh, he's getting c0kcy now! Which one …'
'No, I mean is it Winter or Faith?' he asked. He secretly hoped it was Faith, he liked them both the same, as they had only met the previous day, but he would have rather seen Faith at that moment, as he needed to know if she still liked him.
Ben and Copper looked at each other. 'Is Faith the one with the blonde hair?'
'No, black hair.' said Aaron.
Copper nodded, 'well in that case, it's Winter. Come on Ben!'
Copper and Ben departed from the dorm, and Aaron glanced round his hangings, to see whether Godfrey or Ike were in the room, they weren't.
'Phew!' said Aaron, and carried on changing into his robes. When he was changed, he left the room, and went downstairs to the common room, where he saw Winter.
'Hi!' she said cheerily, 'have a good time last night?'
'Don't ask.' groaned Aaron, 'I can't really explain all that happened, but let's just say that Faith and I have landed ourselves in detention, taken Slytherin twenty points into the minus,' Winter was looking horrified, 'and I'm going to miss our first flying lesson.'
'Oh Aaron,' she said, 'I'm so sorry.'
'It doesn't matter!' he replied, 'I'm still smiling.' He stretched his mouth into a big grin, just to prove that he wasn't lying.
He and Winter left the common room, and tried to find their way through the many underground passages, so they could leave the cold dungeons and get to the great hall.
When they arrived in the Great Hall, breakfast had been going on for a while, and lots of the plates were only half-full.
'Here,' said Winter, as they arrived at the Slytherin table, 'eat this,' and reached over to get something for Aaron to eat.
But Aaron retched when he saw what she was going to give him.
'No!' he cried, making several people stare.
Winter looked puzzled, 'but what have you got against pancakes?'
'Everything,' said Aaron darkly, and picked up a piece of toast instead.
Winter shook her head, and muttered something about "having it his way."
Aaron looked down the table, looking for Faith, but was disappointed when he couldn't see her. He glanced at the staff table, and caught sight of Harry Potter, who he could have [I]sworn[/I] had been looking at him.
After a while, Aaron received his timetable from a prefect, and he saw that first he had charms with Professor Clearwater, followed by various other lessons.
Winter noticed him looking at his timetable, and pointed to one of the lessons.
'Look, we've got History of Magic later, someone told me that was really good.'
He pulled another piece of toast from the rack, 'I dunno, I wouldn't have thought history would be all that exciting, would you?'
Winter shrugged, 'I don't know, it's just something someone told me.'
They sat in silence for a few more minutes, glancing at the passing ghost, until finally Aaron plucked up the courage to ask the question he had been meaning to ask since he had first seen Winter that morning.
'Have you seen Faith today?'
Winter looked over to the staff table, avoiding Aaron's gaze, and then back to Aaron. 'I saw her this morning, but I don't know where she is now.' she said coldly.
'Have you fallen out with her?' asked Aaron, Winter did not respond. 'Winter, you've only been here a day! You can't go falling out with people just like that!'
'I didn't say we had fallen out.' she said, 'let's just say that she's not the kind of girl I like.'
Aaron shook his head, and didn't question her any further. She grinned at him, and collected up her things.
'Come on, or we'll be late for charms.'
They arrived in the charms corridor, outside their classroom, they were five minutes early. But so, it would seem, was everyone else.
There was a big huddle outside the classroom door, with Godfrey and Ike dawdling around at the back, as if trying not to look too keen, ignoring the fact that they were five minutes early.
'Clear the door please, clear the doorway.'
Everyone turned around as they heard Professor Clearwater's shoes clacking on the flag stoned floor, and heard her brisk voice calling out for them to move.
Aaron saw that she had long, curly hair, and was quite young, compared to many of the teachers, about thirty-ish.
She manoeuvred through the crowd of students and entered the classroom, indicating for the others to follow her.
Aaron walked into the dim classroom, looking around him in amazement. There was so many amazing things he needed to see, all in one classroom!
One of his friends sat next to him, who had brought his rat with him, Aaron was suddenly glad he had left Hebe in the care of someone else that day.
He took a seat in the back row; he found that sitting in front of the teacher was far too in-your-face. Professor Clearwater cleared her throat and stood in front of the class.
'Good morning first years, and welcome all to charms. My name is Professor Clearwater and I will be your teacher. Before we start though, you must learn a little bit about the subject.
Close to transfiguration, charms is one of the most difficult subjects you can learn whilst here at Hogwarts. If you do not concentrate, it will be as useful as being in a divination lesson, without the gift. You must concentrate, persevere, and try hard in charms, and it is my job to make sure you work to the best of your ability.
For our first lesson, we will be learning the Revealer Charm. Would you please all get out your wands.'
Aaron got out his wand, the offending wand that had started the slippery slope yesterday.
'Now, the Revealer charm can have two purposes, and can be quite complex – if you get it wrong. I hate to tell you this, but I'm going to start you all off on one of the more difficult charms. The first use it to reveal something to you, such as writing, written in invisible ink. The second use for the charm is to lift the lid on a box, or to flip something over on the ground, it's very good for taking precautions. Let me demonstrate the first use.'
She took out a clear quill from the desk, filled with a clear ink inside. She took out a piece of parchment and wrote something on it, that nobody could see. She held out the piece of paper for the class to see.
'You can see nothing on the piece of paper.' the class mumbled their agreement.
She waved her wand at the piece of paper, in a double swirl movement and shouted 'Quirimus!'
Slowly, something began to appear on the picture, in bright red ink. It said, "Never tickle a sleeping dragon"
All too loudly, Aaron said, 'sounds like good advice if you ask me.'
Professor Clearwater turned to him. 'It's Aaron isn't it? Or Thomas?'/
'Aaron,' he said, defiantly.
'Well,' she said, 'can anyone tell Aaron why you think I chose to write those words?'
Winter raised her arm high into the air, and waved her hand.
'Yes, Winter?'
'It's the school motto, Professor.'
Professor Clearwater smiled, 'very good, ten points to Slytherin. Yes, draco dormiens nunquam titilandus – translated as never tickle a sleeping dragon – is the Hogwarts school motto.'
Aaron looked to Winter, who was looking smug at his side. 'I never knew we had a motto! And … thanks; you just rescued the ten points I lost.
'S'okay,' she said smiling, turning back to the front, 'anytime.'
Aaron caught sight of Faith, on the other side of the room, looking at Winter whispering to him. When she saw him she smiled and gave a small wave.
'Now, to demonstrate the other method, I will have to use something else.'
She reached under her desk and brought out a small box. It was pretty, silver in colour, and encrusted with jewels. She pointed her wand at it, rotated it in the swirling movement, said "quirimus" and the box began to open slowly, revealing its contents to her, bit by bit.
She lifted her head to the class, 'did anyone see anything different this time?'
Winter lifted her hand.
'Yes, Winter?'
'Did you use a different tone of voice?' she asked tentatively.
Professor Clearwater made a so-so face. 'I might have,' she said, 'but that's not the answer I was looking for. Did anyone else notice something?'
Aaron raised his hand, he had an idea, and he hoped it was right, because he could see Godfrey and co looking at him from the corner of his eye, snig gering about something.
'Well, the first time you did it, you kind of twirled you hand this way,' he moved his hand to show the direction he meant, 'and the second time you went the other way.'
Professor Clearwater grinned at Aaron. 'Well, we seem to have a very observant student here, don't we? Yes, that's right, and you can have ten points to Slytherin, for good observation.'
Soon, after some practice without wands, little boxes, pieces of parchment and quills with invisible ink in them were handed out to each one of the Slytherins, for them to practice.
Aaron could hear Godfrey, even though they were at opposite ends of the room.
'Ooh, we seem to have a very observant student here, don't we.' He mocked, and Ike burst into stupid guffaws.
'Ignore them,' muttered Winter.
Aaron took out his wand and was just practicing the twirl movement, when Winter looked over at him and said, 'you've got very delicate hands.'
'Excuse me?' said Aaron, taken aback. He wasn't sure whether to take "delicate hands" as a compliment or not.
'Sorry, but you do!'
'Yes – but delicate …' Aaron grimaced at the [I]girly[/I] word.
'Okay, you have spindly fingers, what do you want me to say?' Winter smiled, 'silly masculine pride … but just look,' she took his hand, 'you've got really thin fingers, you could be a pianist, or an artist!'
Aaron laughed. 'I can't draw!' he said, 'and I can't even play a drum, let alone a piano.'
'Well, it was a theory.' Winter shrugged. 'Are you going to have a go at this spell?'
Aaron nodded, and picked up his quill and paper. It looked hard, people were trying around them, but no one seemed to have mastered it yet.
Aaron and Winter glanced at each other, each of them holding their own parchment, and together they reached a silent agreement. Aaron would write something on his paper, for Winter do decipher herself.
Aaron grabbed his quill, and began to write on the paper, soon, his message was written, and the two swapped papers.
'I'll go first,' said Aaron, and took his wand in his left hand, placing the quill on the desk. He swirled it two times to the right, and said, 'quirimus.'
Aaron and Winter watched, amazed, as words appeared on Winter's paper. He had done it – first time too! – and he watched the red words appear on the paper.
"So tell me about it, Tom."
He turned around to look at Winter, wondering what she meant.
'Tell you about what? And it's Aaron.' he said stubbornly.
'I know,' she said, 'but Tom kinda sounded more snappy, to go with the message. You don't have to tell me.'
'I can't tell you,' said Aaron morosely.
Winter looked puzzled. 'Why?'
'I don't know.'
Suddenly Professor Clearwater called out from the front of the classroom. 'Has anyone managed to master the spell yet? Either ways?'
'I have,' said Aaron – albeit somewhat sheepishly – and raised his hand. He could practically [I]hear[/I] Godfrey's snickers from the other side of the classroom.
'Would you be prepared to demonstrate? Do you think you could do it again?'
Aaron nodded nervously, even though he was not sure he could repeat it. Professor Clearwater wrote something on a piece of parchment at the front of the room, and took it back to Aaron.
'You have mastered this spell, yes?' Aaron nodded, as he hadn't tried the other one yet.
He raised his wand, and pointed it at the piece of parchment. 'quirimus,' he said, and once again, writing in red ink began to appear. Winter started at him incredulously, he couldn't believe it, it [I]must[/I] be a fluke!
As the writing appeared, Aaron read the message it revealed, and smiled. It read: "five points to Slytherin."
The rest of the lesson passed without incident. Aaron learned how to master the other spell too, and helped Winter with it. She seemed very good at reeling facts from a textbook, but less confident in the practical tasks.
Some other students picked up the charm, but some – like Ike – didn't pick it up at all; and some – like Godfrey – took until the very last minute to master it.
When it was time for the lesson to end, Aaron walked out of the room with Winter, deciding that he liked Professor Clearwater, and he liked charms – very much.