Inklings of Celebrity: Of Speech, Quarrels and Smiles Inklings of Celebrity Chapter Sixteen: Of Speech, Quarrels and Smiles

It was early the next morning, sunny and bright, which saw a small girl with straight bronze-tinted light brown hair clinging onto the robes of Gatti. The girl was looking up at him with large turquoise eyes, and the two of them were going down to breakfast. Several of the parents were looking amiss at the two, finding Gatti too young to have a daughter. Especially if he was in school!
Not many people were in the Great Hall at dawn, so Gatti and Meia were able to have a relatively quiet breakfast. It was the day of a Hogsmeade excursion, and most people wanted to sleep in to 'prepare'. "Daddy," announced Meia proudly to him, "my birthday was two days ago! I'm three whole years old now!"
Gatti laughed. "Are you? Good! We'll have to buy you something at the village to celebrate, then. That is, if you want to come..." Meia, excited at the aspect of a present, heartily agreed. The breakfast was gobbled down relatively fast because of this new, innovating promise, and father and daughter left the Great Hall before it became too crowded. The Hogwarts' ground held much allure for Meia, and the next hour was spent with Gatti running after her while she looked around.
The lessons began after that- it was still a half day of school- and Gatti came up with his daughter to the dungeons for the Potion's class to come. He came in earlier than most, flushed and panting, and slid into the bench that he shared with Dalet. Meia began to poke around in Gatti's bag while Gatti recovered his breath, and the students began to trail in dismally with their parents a short while later.
Dalet plopped down in his seat, and in a loud whisper, asked Gatti, "Who's that?" He hadn't been in the dorm the day before when the matter of family came into the conversation.
"It's my daughter," whispered Gatti. "She's three, her name is Meia."
"Who's the mother?" Dalet hissed back.
"It was my wife, Alexia; but she died," replied Gatti, not very happily. A small explosion came from the end of his wand, which Meia had been poking jubilantly, and she started to cry loudly. "No, no," said Gatti in distress, "don't cry, honey, please? Don't worry, nothing happened, and I know it was a loud noise."
"You aren't mad? You aren't going to kill me?" sobbed the poor girl.
"No!" exclaimed Gatti vehemently. "Where did you get that idea?" he asked his daughter softly, trying to calm her down.
"Grandmother and Grandfather, I heard them talking, and they said that you had a bad temper (what's that, Daddy?) and you'd kill anyone who got in your way, and you already have, they said."
"Sh," Gatti coaxed Meia, "and no, I'm not mad, honey. I'm not going to kill you! A temper is how someone can handle bad things happening, that's all. Your grandparents just sometimes don't understand very much, that's all." Meia's sobs calmed down, and Gatti gave her a hug.
Professor Snape came over, in a very bad mood. "What's all this noise?" he asked thunderously.
"Nothing, sir," replied Gatti wearily, having had to answer this same thing many times. "It's just Meia, she accidentally set off my wand in sparks."
Snape looked icily at him. "What is a child doing here?"
"She just... showed up. I don't know how she got here." Gatti hid a smile at the teacher's obvious confusion.
After several minutes of staring, Snape's phase of confusion ended, and his agape mouth closed with a snap. "That will be enough, you," he snapped, and walked on past. Meanwhile, Dalet, who was very alarmed by small children, had been desperately trying to calm Meia down and keep her quiet. To his great relief, he succeeded, and gave a large, gusty sigh.
The rest of the classes passed with no great particular result, and Folken found Gatti and Meia a slight comparison to the relation he and his brother had once had, a long time ago. They got along quite well at the moment, when all was admitted, but if their lives had not changed as drastically, they would have had a better relationship.
Eries was also deep in thought in the duration of the tedious classes. At breakfast, they had announced that, "The Ministry has given us the excellent opportunity of broadening our horizons to learn other subjects: Mathematics, English, and Social Studies." Eries, who'd gone to the breaking point from living her monotonous life, had gone out for the post of an English teacher.
"What are your qualifications?" Dumbledore had asked, and Eries had had to think hard on this point.
"I can read, and write-" at least she's hoped she could- "and I can look at many different viewpoints on subjects, and I've read many different books- very different books."
It had not been the qualifications or descriptions but the quiet desperation and determination that had made Dumbledore hire Eries Aston for the new teaching post.

"Folken!" called out Van, barging into his brother's office.
"What is it, Van?" asked Folken, ignoring the leering face of Draco Malfoy in the office, who was serving his detention.
"I need money. There is a book store in the village, and I want to get some of the books," requested Van.
"How much?" asked Folken, who was always generous when it came to his brother. He was counting on getting money from the Ministry for his Invitaspiritus, besides.
"Twenty Galleons?" Van estimated sheepishly, feeling very greedy to ask his brother for money.
Folken counted out the money from a small pouch, and wondered, "What happened to all the money that Selena pooled for all of you?"
"I traveled down to the village several days ago, and bought drinks," supplied Van.
Folken shook his head with a slight smile. "You aren't supposed to wander off school property so often, Van."
"I know! I know! But the trip is starting in several minutes. Are you coming?" Van wanted to know.
"I was planning to come with Naria and Eriya."
"Can you meet me by that house, the Shrieking Shack, then, in the last hour? I need to ask you something," Van told his brother, who consented, and Van departed. Meanwhile, Draco looked as if he was going to ask several questions about this dialogue. As he opened his mouth to speak, however, he was interrupted by a knock on the door, and Eries Aston entered.
"I need your help, Strategos," was her friendly, demanding greeting.
"What is it this time?" Folken wanted to know.
"I just got the teaching job here-"
"You did?" interrupted Folken, finding this unbelievable. "What about Asturia?"
"Millerna will have to take care of it; I'm not permitted to anyway! But I need your help with the new teaching post- 'English'?"
"All you'll need is several books. Are you planning to let that old tyrant, Aston, know that you're rebelling against him?"
Eries blew a strand of hair out of her face. "He isn't a tyrant! Well, not really. Oh, Allen will probably tell him when he finds out. If he doesn't drag me back with him when I tell him, anyway. I do not plan to let him do this, however."
"You really didn't enjoy your previous duty, did you?" Folken remarked.
"It was horribly tedious. Leading back to the previous request, I need you to help me."
"Haven't I done enough for you?" pointed out Folken, but then offered, "I'll take you to the bookstore once the trip starts, and you can get some books, then just teach from that. Unless you'd rather not go to the village?"
"I have to now, I suppose," Eries admitted. "Thank you," she thanked him grudgingly, and left the room. Naria hissed after her as she left, but Eries wisely chose to ignore this. Folken then noticed Draco Malfoy, ready to ask even more questions than before.
"Your detention is over. Get out of my sight, and stay away as long as possible," he commanded briefly and harshly, having developed a strong dislike for the pale boy. Draco fled, ready to report this startling new news to his father. 'We've got a new teacher, and she can't even teach!' was what he was planning to say. He couldn't find his father, though, because Malfoy Senior was hiding while his once-clear face recuperated from the scratches he'd gotten from Eriya.

In Selena's Gryffindor dormitory, she was lying on her bed, and staring at the ceiling above her. To keep herself from utter boredom, she was also talking to Dilandau. Eries entered the room quietly several minutes later. "I received the teaching post for English!" she announced happily, and twirled jubilantly around the room. Selena then joined her, and the two collapsed on the bed, laughing.
Lavender and Parvati peeked their heads cautiously through the door. "Is it safe to come in?" Lavender asked warily.
"We're just celebrating," Selena told them, as she wasn't prone to holding grudges.
"Ooh, celebrating what?" Parvati wanted to know.
"Eries is becoming a teacher here," Selena proclaimed. The other two students did not find this very interesting, though.
Lavender took this opportunity to reconcile with Selena. "I know! We can celebrate by taking you two out for shopping!" Selena agreed, if reluctantly, but Eries refused due to her plans.
"I have to go with the Strategos to the book store, he's helping me get some books," she recalled.
"You're going to the book store with Folken?" Selena wanted to verify, and Eries nodded.
"Who's Folken?" asked Parvati curiously. "Isn't that Prof. deFanel's first name?"
"Folken works at the school," Selena explained briefly, ignoring the second question. "But Eries, you need money, don't you? Here, take this." Selena took out a jingling pouch, and passed it to Eries, who wanted to decline, but was cut off. "No, Eries, books cost money, and I know you do not want to begrudge yourself to Folken." This had to be admitted by Eries, if grudgingly. "And once you're done, look around for us, can you? I want to drag you around and force you to look at the fascinating things of the village." Eries laughingly agreed, and with a clang from a bell, the Hogsmeade trip began and Selena was dragged off firmly by Parvati and Lavender.
Eries ventured out to the front gates of the castle, and arched her head to look for Folken. This wasn't hard, as he was tall, and she spotted him with the cat twins amidst the crowd. She squeezed her way through the midst of others, and ended up next to him. "Where's the book store?" she yelled over the noise.
"I'll show you," Folken yelled back, and made good on this promise. When the village was reached, he steered Eries towards the store, and asked the assistant to get some books on the English language for Eries. Harry and Ron, who had been dragged to the bookstore by the excited Hermione, noticed this with amusement.
"You think there's something between them?" Ron asked Harry in a slightly loud whisper.
"Obviously more than there is between Snape and her," Harry pointed out, stifling a snigger. Before this topic could go any further, Hermione approached the two of them.
"Harry, Ron, come here. They've got a whole section on Quidditch, and I know you'll want to see them," she said, and the two eagerly went over to examine the books. Harry bought Ron about six Chudley Cannons memorabilia for his birthday, and they forgot all about the two newest teachers.
Hermione, meanwhile, was reading Witch Weekly in the corner. There was a very interesting article on Love and Hate Potions, and Hermione wanted to brew a Hate Potion. This was for her own use, as she wanted to make herself stop being obsessed with Dilandau. But as she moved on to the next page, she discovered there was a special on at Gladrags Wizardwear, and figured it would be worthwhile to get some new items of clothing, resist as she might.
When she arrived at Gladrags, she saw a flurry of people there, and in the corner she recognized Selena and Lavender being fitted in the corner. They being the most familiar faces, she approached them, and waved. The two greeted her readily, and Parvati came over and shoved an outfit on Selena. "Try this on," she insisted. "It's perfect for you; I think it's called a cheongsam?"
Selena amiably agreed to Parvati's request, and emerged from the changing room several minutes later. She did look nice in the camel-colored silk dress, and Parvati and Lavender forced her to buy it. They also made her get self-styling hair chopsticks (to go with their 'theme'), and high sandals, along with normal Muggle clothes. Selena laughingly purchased the items, and before Parvati and Lavender could drag her anywhere else, she left.
Hermione, having bought a hat, accompanied her; the company of Parvati and Lavender was only to be tolerated for so long. The two girls started to stroll around the village, and Hermione mentioned, "I saw the woman who came to visit you -Miss Aston?- in the book store just then."
"Really?" was Selena's quick response. "Well, I'm supposed to go meet Eries anyway, so I'll go there to look for her. She just got the post of English teacher, you know. Did you see anyone else there?"
"Those cat people, Van Fanel, Professor deFanel, and I brought Harry and Ron there," Hermione answered.
"Shall we go and reclaim our friends, then?" Selena suggested, and Hermione agreed. The two went to the book shop then, and Selena took Eries, Naria and Eriya with her to 'drag them around and force them to look at the fascinating things of the village'. This left Hermione, who, feeling rather alone (Harry and Ron had left the vicinity of the shop), sighed heavily and went to flirt with the new waiter at the Three Broomsticks.
As she went on her merry way, she saw Gatti, carrying an infinite amount of purchases with him, along with Meia in his arms. He gestured to her, saying politely, "Hello, Hermione. How are you?"
"I'm fine. What about you?" she wondered.
At that moment, Meia noticed someone's bright blue pointed hat. "Daddy," she cried, pulling his sleeve, "can I have a hat like that too?"
Gatti laughed. "You're going to go back home with a hat like that, I promise you," he vowed lightly, and urgently whispered to Hermione, "Where do I find a hat like that?"
Hermione stifled peals of laughter, and set about to aiding the poor father. She liked children, and liked being helpful. Hermione escorted Gatti and Meia back to Gladrags, where Parvati and Lavender were still lurking. The two girls began to pose and preen when they saw Gatti approaching; they found him very attractive. Hermione led him over to them, and explained the situation simply, "Gatti wants to get a bright blue pointed hat."
Meia, meanwhile, slipped down from Gatti's arms, and ran around to look at the articles for sale. Gatti ran after her, and Parvati, Hermione and Lavender followed him. Lavender noticed a bright blue witch's hat as she ran, and snatched it up. Meia had stopped at a shelf with sunglasses, and pointing, said, "Can I get this too, Daddy?"
"Of course, Meia," Gatti promised as Lavender and Parvati gasped, "but how are you going to take all these presents back, hm?"
"Er..." Meia hadn't thought of this.
"You can wear some of them, alright, and I'll bring back the rest of them for you when school ends." Meia grinned at this, and held her arms out again to be picked up. Gatti then scooped her up, and bounced her up and down several times, making her squeal.
"She's your daughter?" Parvati asked suspiciously. Gatti nodded.
"Can I give something to Damien?" Meia asked her father.
"Who's Damien?" he wondered.
"He's Damien, Daddy! You know, my brother?" At this news, Gatti staggered against the socks aisle.
"What brother?" he gasped- Lavender and Parvati listening to every word.
"The one that came before Mama died!" Meia said, sounding as if it was something that everyone should've known already anyway.
"So that's how Alexia died," muttered Gatti quietly to himself. Then turning to Meia, "Yes, you can give whatever you want to your brother."
"So you have two kids?" Parvati still could not understand this fact.
Gatti nodded. "I suppose so," he admitted wonderingly.
"Oh! You..." Lavender gasped, but could not find any word suitable or derogatory enough to use.
"Meia," Gatti addressed his daughter after buying her the bright blue witch's hat and sunglasses, "I'm running out of money, so we are going to go to the Three Broomsticks to eat." She nodded, and Gatti bowed to the three adolescent girls, thanking them politely, before he left. Along his path, he saw Viole with his arm around Ginny, Mrs. Weasley suspiciously following them. He waved. "Ginny! Viole!" he shouted, and the two came over.
"Oh, so is this Meia then?" Ginny asked, bending over the small girl. Mrs. Weasley sidled up to her daughter at this moment, and tapped her on the shoulder. "Oh, hullo, Mum."
"Yes," Gatti answered Ginny. "We're going down to the Three Broomsticks, you coming?" Viole and Ginny agreed, and Mrs. Weasley deemed herself as the chaperone and followed. Upon arriving, the five settled themselves at a table, Meia on Gatti's lap. They all ordered their orders, and Ginny offered to pick up the tab.
"Ginny?" her mother wondered, surprised. "How will you be able to pay for all this?"
"Oh, all of us pool our money," Ginny explained carelessly to her mother, who gazed at her for a moment before admiring a small tree.
There was a silence for a while, broken then by the waitress, then by Molly Weasley. "So, how do you all know each other?" she asked, pointing at the group (not including Meia, however, as she assumed that the toddler was Gatti's sister).
"Gatti and I went to a training school and served together, and when we came here I met Ginny," indicated Viole.
"Served. How did you serve? Were you in jail?"
"No," replied Gatti. "We enlisted in the army."
Mrs. Weasley was stunned. "Well!" she exclaimed. "That must have been... interesting."
"Oh, it was," put in Gatti eagerly. "We got to see all sorts of different places!"
"Yeah, right before we burned them," muttered Viole under his breath, and was kicked under the table by Ginny. She also shot him a Murderous Glance.
"Daddy," yawned Meia, "I'm tired."
"Are you then?" murmured Gatti vaguely. "After I'm done, then, we can leave, alright, honey?"
"Yes, Daddy," yawned Meia, and began to fall asleep in his arms. A short while later, Gatti departed with Meia, and Mrs. Weasley descended upon poor Ginny.
"Your friend is a father?" she hissed angrily. "What sort of people do you hang around with, Ginny? They've been in the army! The things they could've done! What are you doing with your life, girl?"
"Hey!" broke in Viole angrily, then calmed down enough to speak. "With all due respect, my lady, Gatti was only tied down by family custom and responsibility. And the army was not particularly disreputable, for all that might be said. It is much better than living at sea, I tell you from personal experience. We have not endeavored to do any things, and if I may say so, we have significantly improved Ginny's life. As I observed from the beginning of the year, she was frequently unhappy, tired, pale, and had few friends. Of course, this is only an observation from a poor sailor boy who got into the army, so it would not serve to your high standards, I presume."
Viole got up with a dark look, and kissed Ginny on the cheek before storming out of the place.
"Well," said Mrs. Weasley blankly, as Ginny stared wistfully after Viole's retreating back.
"Mom," she groaned, "look what you did."
"Ginny," responded her mother stonily, "you have a lot to learn about life. It doesn't matter what class, but still. As I said, people like that..." Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "They're just no good, Ginny. That boy just upbraided me in front of the whole café! Now, what does that tell you about his character!"
Ginny straightened her back, and in a dignified tone, voiced her opinion. "It tells me, mother, that Viole is an eloquent speaker, who is good at summarizing, and cares for me & his other friends." Ginny stopped, and continued softly, "To you, maybe he's just that poor, long-haired sailor boy who got into the army." With this, Ginny scattered some Galleons on the table. She also proceeded to leave her mother dumbfounded, and went in search of Viole.
Mrs. Weasley stared up at the ceiling, alone. "One would think that after six others, one would have more practice at quarreling the seventh time around," she addressed it. "Apparently not; I haven't gotten my point across, and I've come off as the reigning loser." Mrs. Weasley sighed loudly at the ceiling. "What is this world coming to?" she asked it, and wasn't answered.
Meanwhile, Folken went to the Shrieking Shack to meet his brother, who showed up several minutes later. "Hello, brother," Van began, then got straight to the point. "I'll ask you what I was planning to ask. You know how Dryden Fassa and the Asturian princess got married in an engagement. There was never anything like that planned out for me, was there? No engagement?"
Folken shook his head. "No- not for you. But for me, there was, and it still stands." He didn't continue, nor did Van press him to. Both had what could be called an unspoken agreement about this.

When the trip ended, it was dark and cold. The students poured into the school eagerly, chatting and laughing, although with exceptions. But the majority of the crowd was happy, and the mood carried them to the common rooms, where they happily shared the experiences of the day.
Professor Dumbledore took the time to show Eries around what he knew of the school. The end of this tour was to what would be her quarters. "Very sorry, professor," he apologized to Eries, "but the only rooms left are not exactly what one would call... elegant. In fact, they are absolute simplicity. You'll be moving in straight away, in fact. If you don't like your room, however, Severus Snape has offered to relinquish his room instead."
Eries was actually very tempted to take up Snape's offer when she saw her room. It was just so ugly, with a threadbare feeling about it. She felt very glum at the prospects of this room, but cheered up when she found she was allowed to refurbish it to her taste. Eries had always kept a little, secret desire to be able to 'fix up' a room. Luckily, this prevented her from taking up Snape's offer; she figured the consequences of encouraging him would be purely catastrophic.
After moving her voluptuous trunk from where the parents' temporary quarters to her new residence, she set to work. She started by adding flowers, then going down to the house elves' section of the castle to get one of them to help her. Surprisingly, Winky volunteered, although this task was rather dismal. Between her and Eries, the new teacher's room was given a straggling attempt to improve. One wall had a tapestry on it, but there was no paint, so the other walls were left a bleak gray color.
The ugly, small pallet was covered with what would have been a nice comforter anywhere else, but was not in its environment. Therefore, Eries was far from satisfied, and the fact that the pallet was much too small, hard, and cold was not encouraging. But Eries thought, or at least hoped, that this could be ignored. She sighed tiredly.
Would abandoning her life as the shunned heir help build her character and save her from jadedness? Eries wasn't sure, although she thought it might help. She found it ironic that she'd packed all her clothes for leaving Asturia, for this served to be a useful foresight. Other than the fact that much of her wardrobe was colored dull and dark. The room Eries had been assigned gave her a sudden change of heart towards pretty colors, and she resolved to get some bleach or dye, or both, to refurbish her closet with.
Eries was tired of dullness.

At that late time of night, Mrs. Weasley was still up, staring into the dark, worrying and planning.
The next morning during Fred & George's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Molly Weasley approached Folken. "Would I be able to meet with you to talk about how my children are doing?" she asked.
Folken was surprised, but stated, "Of course you may. My office is next to this classroom, so you may come in at any time after school hours. I'm usually in my office." Mrs. Weasley nodded briefly, and returned to where she had been sitting. Essentially, she disapproved of Folken, or at least his look. Having a long-lasting campaign against long hair, she righteously believed that a teacher should not set such an example of long hair to his students. Especially if he was coloring his hair! Mrs. Weasley, bless her heart, did not know- could not have known- that Folken's hair had always naturally been its phenomenal color.
Another peeve of Mrs. Weasley's towards Folken was that he had tattoos, three obvious tattoos. She wondered if there were more, in fact. She also thought that tattoos were not quite appropriate for school. Professor deFanel was a young teacher, also, and this was another point against his style. The students would be more likely to follow. And Ginny's crowd were disrespectful enough to call him by his first name! This held very strongly with Molly Weasley, mainly because Folken did not seem to mind this in the least.
Altogether, Molly thought, teachers like Folken set a bad example, with long blue-green hair (or at least a mullet), tattoos, and earrings! Of course, Mrs. Weasley charitably supposed that teaching did go further than that, and Folken was otherwise a well-enough teacher. Even so, one must not set any bad examples. It was how Molly Weasley, née Prewitt, had been brought up, and had attempted to bring her children up, even if they would not and did not listen.
But Mrs. Weasley set these points behind her, since she believed Folken was the only person who would be able to help Ginny out of the rut the poor girl was in. Armed with her usual firm determination, she barged into the Defense Against the Dark Arts office after all students had delightedly trailed off to their Common Rooms, for parties and other what-not. Folken was in there, whimsically redoing a sketch a street peddler had once sketched of a Fanelian celebration, that he'd kept. The celebration had taken place during the Asturian royals' visit, and in the picture, the thirteen-year-old Folken had the Aston and Fanel children climbing up all over him to have a better view of fireworks.
When the red-headed mother burst into his office, however, Folken sighed and laid his drawing down for then. "Yes?" he obligingly inquired. "What is the matter?"
"It's my Ginny," began Mrs. Weasley.
Folken nodded. "I have her in my class, and I've seen her with the others."
Mrs. Weasley did not enjoy the sound of 'the others'. "Yes," she addressed Folken, "so that's what I'm worried about: the others."
"You don't like who she's befriended, and are suspicious of them," summarized Folken calmly.
Mrs. Weasley banged her hand emphatically on the desk. "Exactly!" she exclaimed. "I don't trust them, you see- don't like the look of that sort."
Folken stretched back in his seat. "No, they are not particularly horrible. I've supervised most of them for quite a while now, excepting Ginny. None of them are really much of a problem, aside from Dilandau, but Selena keeps him from becoming too dangerous."
This unnerving last fact was not what Mrs. Weasley considered very encouraging. "Too... dangerous?"
Folken nodded. "Yes. But there is no need to worry. He's doing fine, and so are all the others, including Ginny. You have no need to worry. We're not largely at war at the moment, so we shall be fine."
Mrs. Weasley remembered something. "Two of the boys told me they were all in the army. Is this true?"
"Absolutely," Folken told her. "Every single one of them have been in war together. It's not their fault, really, just their fate. On other terms, all of them are well-educated, and they aren't like your modern stereotypes of adolescents. Much more efficient."
Molly Prewitt Weasley laughed nervously. "You know them well?"
"Well enough. As I've just told you, I have supervised them for quite a while." Before Mrs. Weasley could respond, Naria and Eriya came in.
"Lord Folken," they greeted together.
"We were out just then with Selena Schezar," explained Naria.
"Do you want anything right now, Lord Folken?" asked Eriya.
"I'm running out of parchment. Would you be able to get me more from the school supplies, please, Eriya?" requested Folken. Eriya, of course, readily consented, and set off at a quick pace. Naria seated herself in a corner of the office, where the sun poured in through the large window, to sit and soak in the warmth.
Mrs. Weasley looked tentatively over at this corner. She had never seen a cat person before, not having seen either twin, and was having many mixed reactions about it. She prided herself on not being too judgmental or prejudiced, so said nothing on this matter. "But," she persisted to Folken, "one of Ginny's friends is a father. He had his toddler with him on the Hogsmeade trip. Surely this is a sign of disrepute?"
Folken shook his head. "Many different places will have different customs of their own. That could be one of his. And I've seen Gatti's daughter; an adorable little girl. Anyone should be glad for him." Mrs. Weasley, feeling that this last sentence was a slight chide towards her, sighed. She figured there was nothing else she would be able to try for her only daughter. She wasn't very convinced of Folken's assurance about Ginny's group, as she termed them, but decided to give them a chance. A small chance, mind, but a chance nonetheless.
"Thank you," she said as she rose, still looking dubiously at Naria, and reached out to shake Folken's hand. He was not quite sure of what to do, but improvised by standing up and bowing over it, as was the Gaean's custom. This mollified Mrs. Weasley, in part, and she departed with a slightly better feeling than before.
When she went on her way to Ginny's dorm, she came across Eries Aston in a narrow corridor. Eries, with her usual courtesy towards strangers, stepped aside to let Mrs. Weasley through, but Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "You first, miss," she requested.
Eries smiled. "No, thank you, I'm sure you are in more of a hurry than I," she replied unconsciously, having learnt this speech so often that it now came naturally.
"No, I insist," insisted Mrs. Weasley.
Eries, perceptively realizing the pattern that would occur, took this chance to step pass before anymore politeness would cause the two women to keep on standing where they were until they began to row. "Thank you," Eries told the other politely, and continued on her way. She hoped Van had been right and Allen had gone outside to pick flowers for his sister. This was a gesture that Eries privately thought very sweet, another reason why Allen Schezar had unknowingly captured her emotions.
Continuing along her way outside, Van's point was proven by the sight of Allen's long blond hair streaming in the light wind of that day. "Allen," Eries addressed him as he bowed in her direction.
"Hello, princess," replied Allen.
"Allen. I need to give you a message to give to Father for me," Eries told him.
"Your wish is, and shall always be, my command, princess."
"Thank you, Allen." Eries smiled. "Tell Father for me that I've become a teacher at a magical school on the Mystic Moon, could you?" Allen stared blankly at Eries, rendered speechless.
When he managed to speak again, he remarked, "You have a wonderful sense of humor, princess; please tell me that you are bluffing me."
"Allen, I am a princess," Eries reminded him. "A princess tossed out of her country's lineage. What have I to lose or gain in Asturia? What have I to lose here but my title, and what to gain but my liberty, my happiness?"
"Princess Eries," pleaded Allen, "I'm sure there must be something that could convince you to return?" He did not say this decidedly, but asked, mutely begging Eries to realize that of course she wanted to return to Asturia, her country and birthplace, her obligation, her life.
Eries looked at Allen's mutely begging eyes. She wanted to say that she'd go if he offered to marry her- to love her- to live with her.
"No," she answered dully.
"There is nothing to tie me to Asturia anymore, Allen. Not Millerna, not Father... maybe not even you." And as Eries spoke, a small thought lit aflame into her brain. She tried to extinguish it, but she couldn't stop thinking that what she said might be true. The thought stayed mutinously in her mind, and even more in her heart.
"Princess, please." The last words of pleading in the direction of Asturia, the direction of monotony and heartbreak.... maybe even the direction of love?
Eries smiled with unshed tears in her eyes, and held out her hand to Allen. "Come, Allen, and I'll help you pick flowers for Selena. Who knows, we may find the lucky four-leafed clover. If we do, I want you to wish me the best luck in my new life, and your everlasting support and friendship- but not love. And I'll wish you prosperity, happiness, a content life, and my friendship- but not love. I think we have had all we can bear of romance anymore, Allen Crusade Schezar the eighth, Knight of Caeli."
"There could be no truer words, Eries."

It was later on that Eries realized that Allen had called her by name, not title, for the first time. Her heart did not flutter with joy over this as it once would have. It instead felt warm, and Eries could feel the stirrings of friendship between her and the handsome Knight. And unlike how Eries once would have felt, she did not regret having found out this friendly feeling instead of love after all these years, instead of when she was sixteen. She hadn't noticed any comradeship between Allen Schezar and her before, however. Neither had she noticed Harry and Ron, playing the indomitable, observant role of Cupid for her, as they were to do in the future.

While Eries and Allen had a conversation that Eries thought changed her life, the other woman that had been in the corridor was also having a conversation.
"Ginny," her mother addressed her gently upon finding her in her dorm, curled up in a ball on her bed.
Ginny smiled weakly. "Hello, Mum," Ginny greeted in a steady voice.
"Ginny," her mother repeated, "we need to have a talk."
"We do, don't we?" the teenager agreed.
"Indeed we do. Now, I just went to see your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and although I still think he has weird style, he has managed to assure me that your friends are perfectly fine people. In fact, he says they are better than most their age."
"He would be right, Mum, and I don't think his style is weird. It's more of a distinctive style."
"I'm sure... but I want you to be able to prove to me that your friends aren't as disreputable as they first seemed."
"I'll start now. You saw how kind Gatti was towards his daughter, and how happy she was. You saw how Viole was a good speaker, and kept his manners. You've met everyone else, and they were polite, weren't they?"
Mrs. Weasley had to admit that they were.
"And about the matter of the army: you know how a Muggle will talk about World War 1, or 2, and they'll always mention how brave the soldiers were. Take Harry Potter as another example, the Boy Who Lived. Yes, he lived. He was a veteran, as a baby, for what he didn't remember. All my friends are veterans of war. They were right there, in the midst of fighting and blood and gore, and they remember it all. You get along just fine with Harry."
Ginny didn't finish her point, partly because she didn't have to, and also because she'd just burst out into tears. The ending of her point hung in the air as thick as molasses. Mrs. Weasley managed to pick it up. "Oh, Gin, you really do love your friends, don't you?" Mrs. Weasley asked wonderingly in a sudden burst of insight, and hugged her daughter close to her.
That hug brought back the memories of when Ginny had been lost in the Chamber of Secrets. It had been a horrible night, but what had haunted Mrs. Weasley even more was that Ginny had been almost completely miserable throughout her whole first year. Miserable enough to pour out her fears into a memory diary, and so utterly miserable that Tom Riddle had managed to appear from her misery. It was a topic that Molly Weasley had been mulling a lot over lately.
"Mum?" interjected Ginny. "Would I be able to visit my friends for the summer? It is far away, and I'd have to stay for the whole summer, problem is."
"Oh." Mrs. Weasley had not even considered this possibility. "I'm sorry, Ginny, but we just don't have the money. And aren't you much too young to be away from home for so long?"
"Mum, I go to a boarding school," Ginny pointed out, somewhat sarcastically.
"Oh yes, that's true, of course, but what about your transportation?"
"It'll be taken care of, probably by magic, and it's all free. I'd be staying with Selena, and her family is the old-rich-land kind. Like the Malfoys, I suppose, but I wouldn't compare the Schezars to the Malfoys, they're too nice. You saw Selena, remember, and then there was her brother Allen. Wasn't he charming?" Ginny slyly asked her mother.
"Yes, he was, wasn't he? Reminded me of Gilderoy Lockhart, but much more sincere and genuine. What happened to Lockhart, anyway?"
"He's in St. Mungo's- has to recover from memory loss. Back to the question, Mum, can I please go?"
Mrs. Weasley sighed. "It's not entirely up to me, Ginny, I have to talk to your father first."
"Great! Here, we can look for him now, then you can ask him!" Ginny got up enthusiastically, and dragged her mother towards the direction of the common room.

"So it's settled then?" asked Dalet.
Ginny nodded happily. "They said that I could go!" She took Viole, and danced happily with the poor fellow.
Viole sighed. "What kind of dance was that?" he teased her.
"It's my 'Happy, Happy, Joy' dance," quipped Ginny.
Selena laughed. "I danced like that with Eries when she told me she was teaching here."
"Being a princess must apparently get very boring after a while," remarked Guimel.
"She's teaching here?" asked Van and Dilandau at the same time, then glared at each other.
"Yes," confirmed a voice from behind the small group, "And I assure you, it is no ball being a princess, although you have to go to many boring ones." They all turned to see Eries standing with Allen, twirling a flower in her hand. Shesta, upon seeing Allen, squeaked and was about to run when Selena caught him by the wrist to hold him there. Shesta was her favorite Slayer, and the two got on very well. Therefore, Selena was trying to cure him of his Allen-Schezar-phobia. So far, it did not seem to be working.
"You realize," Allen asked Shesta, "that I am not going to kill you because, first of all, we are not at war, and second of all, because you are Selena's friend?"
"Well," Shesta retorted defensively (a joy he rarely had when with Dilandau), "my running is to make up for all the other times you had your sword to my neck and I could not run. I'm just exercising the urge." Everyone laughed. "What? I am! I'm not scared of Allen Schezar!"
"Good," commented Allen, "that would make all of us."
Guimel rolled his eyes, and sighed.
"Oh, Allen," piped up Selena. "Ginny will be staying with us over the summer holidays, because she's visiting Gaea."
"Ah yes, the captivating young Miss Weasley," said Allen, and Viole scowled heavily towards him. "It will be a pleasure having you stay with us."
"Yes," said Selena loyally, "it will." Which was true enough, as Ginny was a good friend of hers.
"So," Shesta asked Eries, turning towards her, "your sister married Dryden Fassa, did she?"
"Yes," replied Eries, "she did. But they're not really together anymore because Dryden went off to make himself worthy of her."
Shesta was amazed. "Uncle Dryden did that? That's not like him!"
Eries was even more amazed. "So Dryden is your uncle then?" she inquired.
"Yes, which would make you..." Shesta calculated this for a few seconds, "... probably my aunt-in-law, if there is such thing. I highly doubt there is, but it's a close enough word to symbolize the association." He nodded solemnly in conclusion, and Eries quirked a smile, raising her eyebrows.
"You seem to work on humor often," she remarked whimsically.
"Well, actually, it comes naturally," replied Shesta, using his hands to demonstrate this point, and in doing so, whacked Dalet right on the physiognomy.
"Ow! My face!" came the muffled yell. "What're you doing, Shesta?" Dalet would have added that Shesta had hit him almost as hard as Lord Dilandau would have, but did not want to incur this specific person's wrath.
"You see?" Shesta told Eries, "Although whether it is humor or mishap fate has stuck me with, I do not know. Sorry, Dalet!"
Dalet stared balefully at him just long enough to make him feel uncomfortable, then stopped.
Allen remembered the flowers in his hand. "Selena," he called out to her, "catch!" He threw a well-aimed bunch of flowers towards her, which she caught neatly.
"Thank you, brother," replied Selena dutifully, although she was not particularly fond of the flowers that grew around the castle. But she pretended to enjoy them, then retreated towards her room. Despite how everyone spent their time in fiesta, Selena had homework to do (as did those celebrating), and she was planning to get it done even if she had to lock herself in her quarters for a whole year.

At suppertime that Thursday, there was an announcement from Dumbledore. "We have found," he proclaimed, "our new English teacher, Professor Aston, and the posts are still open for Social Studies and Mathematics." Eries wondered if she should stand up to be recognized, and Dumbledore called her over and insisted for her to do so.
Ron poked Harry. "Look!" he hissed. "She's the one who'll be our new English teacher!"
"Obviously, that's what Dumbledore is saying," pointed out Harry. "Look at Snape." Snape was looking almost as pleased as Filch had been when Peeves was expelled the other day. He was grinning, almost from ear to ear. It was a rather ghoulish sight.
Hermione leaned over to where Ron and Harry were whispering, and said in annoyance, "For Heaven's sake, can't you get your mind off that topic already? Don't you think you've already been nosy enough?"
"Er... no," admitted Ron, and he and Hermione continued a heated debate throughout the whole meal. Harry, who was long accustomed but never exuberant about this, sighed and laid his head down on the table in mock dismay. His dramatic effort to be noticed by his two best friends was in vain, although Malfoy came over at that moment.
"So," he observed smoothly, "the famous Potty-boy is finally getting a taste of his own medicine from his common friends and fans."
"Oh, Malfoy," sighed Van loudly from his seat at the Gryffindor table. "I've already humiliated you so many times. Would you like to try for another?"
Malfoy's gray eyes narrowed. "You think you're so smart, don't you?" he spat at Van.
Van shrugged. "I ended a war. I'm entitled to have a good opinion of myself, aren't I? Not that I necessarily do, but I have a right to."
"Oh, you stupid liar," insulted Malfoy.
"No. You aren't a very worthy foe, so I'm not going to bother. Dilandau's much better as an enemy than you, so I'll look for him to injure now." Van went over to Dilandau to fulfill his words, and the two got into a furious fistfight.
"Must be fun, Malfoy," commented Ron snidely, "to not even be a good enemy."
Malfoy reddened. "Up yours, Weasel," was his charming retort.
Professor McGonagall came over. "Not any trouble, is there, boys?" she asked in a steely voice.
"Well," began Malfoy casually, "you might want to look into that right there." He moved his fair head to indicate Van and Dilandau, who were working on breaking each other's bones. As McGonagall rushed over, a distinct crack could be heard, and Van groaned.
"That was my leg!" he yelled, pale-faced, and taking Dilandau's arm in his, broke that with a bit of effort and panting.
Both Professor McGonagall, Folken and Eries reached the scene at the same time. Folken turned to Van and Dilandau. "Why are you still fighting?" he asked keenly. "I know you hate each other, but why are you still fighting?"
"It vents off frustration and anger, Strategos," Dilandau replied viciously, clenching his teeth from the pain in his arm.
"Is there a point to it?" continued Folken, not satisfied with Dilandau's answer. "You can stop. Your lives aren't being threatened, except by yourselves and each other. I'm not asking you to get along, I'm asking you to live. If it's possible in the bloody remains of war grounds, why can't it happen within a school? You're both taking this too far. Dilandau, remember your men. Remember the scar. Van- you're endangering your life. You have obligations to fulfill, if you'll recall. If you both push yourself farther into violence, you may see a repeat of what has once come."
He left McGonagall to take care of the situation, but Eries followed him out of the Great Hall. He turned towards her resignedly. "Yes, princess, what is it now?"
"Do you really think you should have brought up the past?" she yelled at him. "Wouldn't it have been easier to leave those two in the present, where they are happy fighting? Just look at their faces, and you would see that you've made them both feel really bad. Is that what your kind of punishment is? You rip off the wounds of the past, and leave them bleeding into the present?"
"They'll hurt each other severely if no one interjects," defended Folken, "and no one else seems willing to do that. Their first resort is violence. They're still young enough to be able to change that, and if they don't, the two of them will never stop fighting. They will waste their lives."
"Such foresight, but don't you think you should trust them a little more?"
"Not on this matter. On everything else, I trust them both to be completely self-sufficient. You don't know them like I do."
"All the better for me to be able to criticize your matter of discipline, then," was Eries' quick response.
Folken sighed. "Princess, with all due respect, it would be much more convenient for the two of us to each do our own jobs, and not to cross over into each other's."
Eries looked skeptical. "With all due respect, Strategos, doing our own jobs is more tedious than spreading our horizons."
"You are bored already..." Folken gave Eries a quizzical look.
"Of you, yes."
Folken smiled cynically. "Your misery would be ended if we both parted ways. Don't you agree, Princess?"
Eries nodded forcefully. "Until we meet again, Strategos." She spoke using the standard Asturian manner of parting.
"Until fate hurls us into each other's paths again, Princess," concluded Folken with his own version of parting.
The two turned from each other and walked away in opposite directions.

A/N: Be kind to me, your review makes my day. Give input. Check prior author's note on what input you can give. Dryden has been stuck in my head to incorporate as a new teacher, tell me what you think. Simple, ja?