noun; a dispute or slight contest
The Muggle Studies class was almost over, and Alice was already feeling a bit enlightened both on the habits of British muggles and on the habits of Remus Lupin.
She didn't mean to sound creepy or anything, but it truly was revealing to watch someone without them being able to see you.
Nope, that was definitely creepy, Alice laughed to herself, refocusing on her notes, which had frequently been abandoned during the class. It was true though, it was fascinating to watch someone's twitches and movements, what they did when they were bored, or distracted, or when they would gaze longingly at whatever poor sap they fancied.
Lupin for example, did not pay attention, at least in this class, nearly as much people seemed to think he did. Sure, he took notes and he certainly seemed as though he was hanging in to every word Professor Shepard said, but it was obvious that he couldn't do that all the time. His hand, the one that was not writing, always would drift to either brush over the scars on his neck or absentmindedly drum on the desk. Lupin also seemed to be quite interested in the room around him, students included, because for a minute or two at a time, his gaze would settle on the bookshelf to their left or on the pretty Slytherin near the front of the room, then bounce over to the Hufflepuff lad etching something on his poor desk, and then eventually snap back to attention, fixing his posture and refocusing on his notes.
Alice also noticed that he had a mole right at the nape of his neck, then chided herself for thinking about it.
She was fairly relieved that she was behind him, that he couldn't see her terrible posture and stupid spaced out face, which Tabbie liked to tease her for. Hell, she was glad she was behind everyone, but she knew (sorta) and respected Lupin, so her awareness of herself and all her faults just skyrocketed whenever he looked at her, as much as she was ashamed to admit.
Alice was also aware that Professor Shepard had yet to call the roll, the list still sat on her desk as she spoke about something called taxis.
Now, how did she handle this? Alice liked Professor Shepard, she was passionate and intelligent, so making her aware of her own forgetfulness without invoking the mockery of the class was out of the question. Should she engage psychological mind tricks? Maybe raise her hand and ask about something like sole wall (perhaps it existed?) and hope it triggered whatever in her head that allowed her to skip it in the first place?
No, that was ridiculous and didn't make any sense, and while that was usually Alice's specialty, now was not the right time to bust out some needlessly elaborate and ineffective plot to remind the professor.
Simplicity is key in moments like these, Alice told herself as she very carefully slipped her wand out of her sleeve and recalled the spell to summon wind.
Ventus, she thought, recalling all the training her sister had given her. Alice had yet to completely master non-verbal spell casting, but Rosalind had been able to drill a few useless mental spells into her head.
The gust of wind shot forward, over Lupin's shoulder and towards the front of the room. Shit, it had been lower than she had anticipated, brushing over Lupin's shoulder and left ear, but made it to the front of the room nonetheless, fluttering the papers over the back and onto Professor Shepard's chair. Most of the kids snickered, probably figuring it had been some kind of practical joke by Peeves or another errant ghost. Most.
Lupin had evidently felt her breeze and turned around. Alice ducked her head down pretending to be doodling on her notes. She held that for a few seconds, then glanced back up.
Shit.
Lupin was still looking at her, a bit confused, both also a little amused. Alice felt a hot flush climb up her spine. She began to sweat, anxious drops spontaneously forming under her arms, her lower back. Shit. Shit. Shit. Bloody hell.
It wasn't like she had done anything serious, but he was still a prefect, in line to be Head Boy. Casting charms in class, even harmless ones, was a no-no.
He was still looking at her. Alice decided to "play it cool" to the best of her ability. She cocked her head, giving him a puzzled expression that she hoped conveyed "can I help you?"
Remus let out a small breathy laugh, then leaned in, over the back of her chair to rest his elbow on her desk.
Alice's heart leapt.
"Did you do that?" His voice was a whisper, head tilted forward conspiratorially. Alice was vaguely aware of Professor Shepard rustling through the papers on the floor and the rising tide of the voices of students taking advantage of the teacher's distraction to discuss whatever was going on in their lives.
"Do what?"
"Are you playing dumb?"
"Are you calling me dumb?"
Lupin let out another one of those breathy laughs and Alice decided that she needed to get control of her hormones.
"Did you just cast a nonverbal wind spell?"
Shit, he was coming direct. Alice opened her mouth no, of course not. I'm dumb, remember? But the words didn't come. Alice, come on, just lie. Just do it. Come on.
Her hesitation was enough for him. His eyes brightened and he leaned in to say something else. Alice wanted to stab herself in the thigh.
Fortunately, both Remus' incoming question and Alice's murderous tendencies were interrupted by the Professor abruptly calling out.
"Roll, students! My apologies, it appears I missed it this morning. Must be my old age," Shepard laughed, then winked at the class, who clearly never knew what to say when a Professor made an age joke, Alice included.
Remus gave her one last pensive look, then turned around and slid forward. Alice began to let herself calm down, setting down the muggle pen that had been inching towards her leg, and let the world fall out of focus. She heard Lupin's name called, and his hand reached up.
Lupin seemed relaxed about her bending of the rules, thank Merlin, but she still didn't want a bloody marauder knowing about it, at least not in the unimpressive way she had just demonstrated to her unwitting audience. Alice wanted to cast a cool spell, or nothing at all. What if he told Evans? Aren't those two honor-bound to report rule breaking or something? Alice felt her shoulders tense. God, what if he did tell? What if he was just trying to get proof of her guilt before handing her over to the authorities? Alice imagined her cell in Azkaban, then decided she was getting ahead of herself.
"And lastly, Miss Florence Whippet?"
Alice dimly raised her hand.
"I actually go by Alice, Professor."
Professor marked something on her paper, then glanced up and gave Alice a searching look, to which Alice awkwardly returned a smile. Shepard flashed back a sunny grin, leaving Alice momentarily disoriented. Did she imagine the look she just gave her? No, it definitely happened. Odd.
"Okay class, that's the last of you. You're free to go after this last announcement, alright? Consider it a little treat," Shepard shuffled some paper in her hands. "So, as you know with everything going on, things have been a little… tense regarding muggle-wizard relations, so I've been discussing with some of the other faculty ways to bridge that gap, considering it's my job as the Muggle Studies teacher," here she paused, flipping around whatever she had been holding.
"So we decided that it might be fun to start a little muggle-book club! We'd meet and discuss muggle literature, the impact it had, and the historical context of it, among other things. It's completely optional, of course," she seemed to have noticed the shrinking of the less studious members of her audience, "but I do encourage you to join! It will be a small group, nothing wild. If you're interested, come see me after class okay?"
Alice's heart got a solid grip on her esophagus. Tabbie only really read wizard books and Diana didn't really read at all, but they had had to be her audience for the past six years while she ranted about the superiority of Anne Shirley and Amy March, though she would choose the former in a heartbeat. Her bag was already packed, so Alice was the first up to the front of the room, first to receive one of those precious slips of paper, first to see what book was on it.
"I'll let you know when we'll meet to discuss, read as much as you'd like, alright?" Alice nodded, then turned to leave, pausing to face the Professor to say goodbye. Shepard waved back jauntily, but there was still that beseeching expression on her face as she looked at her. It bothered Alice, but frankly, she couldn't make herself care. The slip of paper was clenched in her hand. Things were looking up.
Hey guys, sorry it took so long to post this! I started at a boarding school and have been rather busy dealing with all of it. Please leave a review! We've hit 1,000 views, and a grand total of one review. Anyways, love you guys :)