Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the Harry Potter book series.
Gwyneth sauntered down the halls of her school, in a horrible mood. This day had to have been one of her worst. Her first five classes had gone wonderfully. She had finished all of her work, was given no homework, and nobody had made any comments about her. But, Gwyneth's last class went badly. Gwyneth's last class was Herbology, her least favorite subject. Not only was she quite poor in this subject, but also the teacher was a pain. The teacher's name was Mr. Rosewood, and he seemed to absolutely hate Gwyneth. And the strange thing, Gwyneth thought, was that Mr. Rosewood only disliked her. He was friendly and helpful to everyone else, but always tried to embarrass Gwyneth, or get her in trouble.
And this day, he had done it. Not only had he made Gwyneth cry with embarrassment in class, he found a reason to give her a detention. He gave Gwyneth a detention for falling down, when somebody had actually tripped her.
"Clumsiness will not be permitted." He had said, standing over her.
So Gwyneth got a detention, and on the worst day possible, Halloween. While the rest of the school will be having a bit party, Gwyneth will be stuck in the greenhouse, pulling weeds most likely, while Mr. Rosewood made fun of her. Its not like Gwyneth would've went to the Halloween party, but it would've been nice to have a night to herself.
So Gwyneth continued down the halls, heading to her detention.
"You're late, Miss Venusheart." Mr. Rosewood said quietly, when Gwyneth entered the conservatory.
Gwyneth looked up at him and said nothing.
Mr. Rosewood was a young man, probably not even thirty. He was tall, and rather thin, with short-cropped light brown hair, along with a thin goatee. For some reason, he rather frightened Gwyneth. And this was strange to Gwyneth, also, because Mr. Rosewood wasn't one you would usually be scared of. In fact, there was nothing scary about him. His face was kind and good-looking, his personality usually charming and charismatic, except around Gwyneth. Around Gwyneth he was sarcastic and snide.
"Sorry." Gwyneth finally replied.
Mr. Rosewood rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well, I hope you're ready to pull weeds." He hissed, throwing some gardening gloves at her.
Gwyneth stared at him. "Well, get to work!" He snapped, taking a seat behind his desk.
Gwyneth slowly crouched by the weeds, slipped on the gloves, and went to work, half-heartedly. It was an uncomfortable job, because she could feel Mr. Rosewood's eyes bearing into her. She knew he was getting ready to attack.
"I know you can work faster than that, Miss Venusheart. I mean, I am flattered that you'd want to work slow to spend time with me, but I don't want you wasting my night." Mr. Rosewood said coldly.
Gwyneth glanced at him over her shoulder. She was tempted to say something, but remained silent. She didn't speed up her job. She stayed at her slow, steady pace, but pulled much harder on the stray plants, bringing big hunks of dirt out with them, and getting her clothes covered in soil.
After about ten minutes of filthy weed pulling, Gwyneth heard Mr. Rosewood stand up, and walk toward her. She could feel him crouch beside her, and grab her hands.
"Dear, you're getting yourself filthy. Do it like this." Mr. Rosewood put one of Gwyneth's hands flat on the dirt, close to the weed, and wrapped her other hand around the stray plant. "Now pull." He whispered.
Gwyneth followed her directions, and the plant came out, bringing a small bit of dirt with it. "Thank you." She murmured shyly. And that was when she realized she didn't need to be afraid of Mr. Rosewood, that he just liked to joke around. And that was the night Mr. Rosewood became Gwyneth's favorite teacher.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Since that night, Gwyneth's Herbology grades improved immensely. She wasn't as quiet anymore, either, since she knew Mr. Rosewood was just joking around. Her social health improved, also. She still had no real friends, but occasionally people would talk to her, ask her opinion, or pull her into a conversation. This made Gwyneth very pleased, and, before she knew it, her first year in school was over. It was the last day of school.
"Remember, students, rest your minds, but don't let them get too relaxed. Before you know it, you will be back to school." Madam Xanthippe yelled happily to the crowd outside the school.
This was the time the entire school gathered in front of the school to say their goodbyes. Friends would cry and embrace eachother. Teachers would politely give their adieus to their favorite and not so favorite students. Siblings would reunite, and prepare to head for home.
Gwyneth was in no mood for this. It all gave her a great headache. So she sat under a tree a little away from the crowd, chin in palm.
"What's the matter Miss Venusheart?" A friendly voice asked. Gwyneth looked up to see Mr. Rosewood.
"Nothing." Gwyneth replied tonelessly.
"Then why are you sitting over here alone?" Mr. Rosewood questioned, standing near her.
"I'm waiting for all the commotion to clear so I can go home." Gwyneth sighed.
"Isn't there anyone you want to say goodbye to?"
Gwyneth looked at him. "Not particularly."
Mr. Rosewood ran his hand through his hair and stared at Gwyneth, thinking. " I know someone I want to say goodbye to." He said softly.
"Good for you. Go find him."
Mr. Rosewood smiled. "Gwyneth, I'm talking about you. I'll miss your charm over the summer."
Gwyneth raised an eyebrow. "Charm? What are you talking about? I have no charm."
"Gwyneth, you have plenty of charm. You're one of the most unique students I've ever met." Mr. Rosewood insisted.
"Whatever." Gwyneth stood up, in front of Mr. Rosewood. "Well, goodbye then." She held out a hand.
"Goodbye, Gwyneth." Mr. Rosewood took Gwyneth's hand.
Gwyneth drew her hand away quickly, and hurried off to catch up to her brothers.
A/N: Yay, year one is over! Went by quickly, didn't it? I know, I know, I just want the summer to be here. In case you were wondering, I took Mr. Rosewood's personality from one of my own teachers, whom I got pretty close with. Well, Please review!