The Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson was as brilliant (and as
terrifying) as expected, but Hestia still felt that she could have enjoyed
it much better if James had not been right in front of her, triggering her
thoughts back to recently-made and old memories that she would rather have
forgotten.
She was heading down to Herbology when Remus Lupin, followed closely by Peter Pettigrew, stopped her.
"Look," he said, "I'm really sorry about what James did. I think he is too."
"Why'd he do it then?"
"I don't know, I think. . .I think—I don't know," Remus finished, carefully inspecting the floor beneath them.
"Oh, come on, Rem," said Peter, "Just tell her."
"You."
"Fine. He thinks—we think that James still likes you. He sometimes says that he never thought that when he broke up with you that it would be—permanent," said Peter, now his eyes were on the floor as well.
"He expected me to come crawling back, did he?" she asked, taking care to keep an incredulous look on her face, though she now found that it didn't really bother her anymore.
"No!" said Remus quickly, "James isn't like that! You know him. Maybe he doesn't know what to do with girls, but he's the best friend anyone could ever have. Just believe me. . .he's nice," he gave a half- laugh at the obvious lameness of his last statement, "No, but seriously, he's just. . .you know."
Hestia did know. James was popular yet unpopular, confidant yet lost. Yet much as she pitied him, and as much as she was flattered that he (maybe) still liked her, she knew the part of her with a little bit of pride would not allow her to go back to him.
"No more James Potter for me," she said to Phyllis Edgecombe over lunch.
"That's the spirit," said Phyllis, rather half-heartedly, as most of her face was lost behind a book.
"Aw!" said Nancy Clementine, "But that's so cute, he still loves you! Not to encourage you or anything, but I do feel bad for him, and you were SO crazy over him."
At Nan's words, Hestia looked over at the Gryffindor table. The bit of egg on the end of her fork went up to her mouth, but then she put the fork down, too distracted to notice that she hadn't eaten it yet. Phyllis and Nancy both noticed, but didn't say anything, exchanging meaningful looks.
"No way, not for me," she said to herself, while looking at the fork with mild perplexity, wondering how the food had jumped onto it all by itself, "And if he comes up to me again, I'll—I'll. . .something."
But James Potter did not address her again, or on any other topic. She avoided him regularly with such success that they did not come into close contact (except for seeing each other without acknowledgement during classes) until two years later when Professor Isenmouthe, the new Potions teacher, created the Organization of Student Tutors (OoST), and selected a few students from each house to be a tutor twice a week. Professor Isenmouthe had hung up signs in every common room, requiring the people he chose to attend a meeting. Hestia's name was on the list, and so of course she went to the meeting.
She arrived five minutes early and the only other person in the room was Severus Snape, not exactly someone she wanted to be alone with, being a half-blood. She sat two tables down from him, and gave a polite smile when he looked her way, but then made sure to avoid all eye contact. Snape was one of those people who had no friends and was just plain creepy. She had had several discussions with Phyllis on how smart he was and how sad it was that his talents were wasted on the Dark Arts and being creepy, but it was hard to feel that sort of pity for him when he was right there in front of you, either glaring at you or reading The Guide to Murder, Torture, and Deceit, which he was rarely seen without. It was said that he kept an entire bookshelf of that same book, so that when he wore one out so much that it was unreadable, he could just take another one. That sort of rumor sounds odd and implausible when one hears it, but were one actually to see the boy paging through his book with disturbing intensity, one would have trouble disbelieving it.
Because of all this, Hestia was distinctly relieved to hear the dungeon door open and hear people coming through it. When she turned to look, however, the sight was much less relieving. She felt the familiar clench in her stomach. Even after two years, seeing James still made her squirm a bit. He came in followed by Remus Lupin, and they sat at the table next to hers. For once in his life, James did not spare a comment for Snape.
"Hey, Hestia," he said, smiling. So now they were on first-name terms. No more 'Jones.'
"Hi."
"Do you know if we have to do this? You know, this tutoring? Because if it's going to interrupt my Quidditch, I hardly think it's worth the extra credit."
Hestia shrugged, "I'm sure he'll let you get out of it."
"James!" said Remus, his voice taking on a teasing quality, "I thought you wanted to help people with their work! Why, just today you were talking to that Ravenclaw girl, you know, Urania Golding, the studious one, and saying how important it was to not only apply yourself, but help others as well in their academic pursuits."
"Yeah, well," said James, not particularly embarrassed, "Quidditch is even more important."
"To a directionless airhead, maybe," said Hestia with a smile, not knowing if she meant it or not.
"I have direction!" said James, "I'm a Chaser; I have to have direction!" Remus and Hestia exchanged looks.
"That's not what she meant, James," said Remus, with a laugh.
This meaningless talk continued until the dungeon classroom was filled with the brightest students in the school and Professor Isenmouthe entered.
The Professor spent more time than necessary outlining his Students- Teaching-Students-Theory. Had the students' egos not been so pleased to be chosen as the most intelligent in the school, they all probably would have begun passing notes and whispering, but as it was, they listened patiently. It was hard for Hestia to think of anything besides having spoken with James for the first time in so long. She couldn't help but feel grateful to him for making it so easy, though it seemed as if he hadn't even noticed that they hadn't been talking all the time.
By the time the professor had finished speaking and assigned Hestia her tutoring days (Mondays and Thursdays), she was feeling very satisfied with how everything had played out. There was no point in sustaining a silence for a break up that had occurred two years ago, no matter what unforgivable things had been said afterward. It was just an inconvenience to not talk to someone for that long, especially if it was someone, like James Potter, who would probably not notice anyhow.
Hestia started her tutoring career badly, at best, not like anyone would know that but herself. The person whom she was tutoring would never have been able to tell the difference, she was sure, but knowing that gave her little satisfaction. She tutored a seventh year Gryffindor, Raphael Meliflua, who was in danger of staying at Hogwarts for an eighth year or not graduating at all, but not from any lack of trying, only from lack of intelligence. Being a fifth year herself, Hestia wasn't familiar with the material and after confusing Raphael twice by saying conflicting things, she had to run and get a book (conveniently, most tutoring was in the library) and realized she wasn't even talking about the same charm, and they had to start the essay over again.
Her second try was much more satisfactory, but it was accompanied by the awkwardness of assuming the role of a teacher to one's own classmate. She needed only to re-explain some Divination concepts to Peter Pettigrew. Two years had not improved him much academically. He was best friends with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, but he was not in their league in any other sense, least of all academically, and a lot of people, or Hufflepuffs at least, pitied him for it. Everyone knew that he was James Potter's first friend at Hogwarts, yet it always seemed as if he was a sidekick to the other three. He was quieter than the others, and probably nicer, but he always seemed perfectly content with them.
Teaching him was not hard. Hestia merely repeated what the teacher had said in class and then answered all his following questions patiently, but still she felt strange about it. Tutoring didn't suit her; not even her vanity was satisfied by being placed above her peers, because she knew that she knew very little more than someone like Peter. The same concepts that she was now teaching might have baffled her, but she still would have had to teach them. She didn't mind teaching Peter so much, though, because though he was not a quick learner, he was eager to please and not easily frustrated.
Hestia, therefore, concluded the session contentedly, and they walked back to their separate common rooms together as far as was convenient, discussing such everyday things as teachers and divination.
If they had seen the future, as we all know it to be, perhaps they would not have been smiling so brightly...
A/N—Thanks for the reviews!! Oh, and Lili, Hestia is not very spunky for two reasons, one is that I have something against spunky people (they tire me when I read about them), two, my summary says that there will be a relationship between Hestia and Peter and, quite frankly, I can't see a spunky person falling in love with Peter Pettigrew. You understand. Check the fifth book for Hestia. She's there, I promise.
REVIEW!
She was heading down to Herbology when Remus Lupin, followed closely by Peter Pettigrew, stopped her.
"Look," he said, "I'm really sorry about what James did. I think he is too."
"Why'd he do it then?"
"I don't know, I think. . .I think—I don't know," Remus finished, carefully inspecting the floor beneath them.
"Oh, come on, Rem," said Peter, "Just tell her."
"You."
"Fine. He thinks—we think that James still likes you. He sometimes says that he never thought that when he broke up with you that it would be—permanent," said Peter, now his eyes were on the floor as well.
"He expected me to come crawling back, did he?" she asked, taking care to keep an incredulous look on her face, though she now found that it didn't really bother her anymore.
"No!" said Remus quickly, "James isn't like that! You know him. Maybe he doesn't know what to do with girls, but he's the best friend anyone could ever have. Just believe me. . .he's nice," he gave a half- laugh at the obvious lameness of his last statement, "No, but seriously, he's just. . .you know."
Hestia did know. James was popular yet unpopular, confidant yet lost. Yet much as she pitied him, and as much as she was flattered that he (maybe) still liked her, she knew the part of her with a little bit of pride would not allow her to go back to him.
"No more James Potter for me," she said to Phyllis Edgecombe over lunch.
"That's the spirit," said Phyllis, rather half-heartedly, as most of her face was lost behind a book.
"Aw!" said Nancy Clementine, "But that's so cute, he still loves you! Not to encourage you or anything, but I do feel bad for him, and you were SO crazy over him."
At Nan's words, Hestia looked over at the Gryffindor table. The bit of egg on the end of her fork went up to her mouth, but then she put the fork down, too distracted to notice that she hadn't eaten it yet. Phyllis and Nancy both noticed, but didn't say anything, exchanging meaningful looks.
"No way, not for me," she said to herself, while looking at the fork with mild perplexity, wondering how the food had jumped onto it all by itself, "And if he comes up to me again, I'll—I'll. . .something."
But James Potter did not address her again, or on any other topic. She avoided him regularly with such success that they did not come into close contact (except for seeing each other without acknowledgement during classes) until two years later when Professor Isenmouthe, the new Potions teacher, created the Organization of Student Tutors (OoST), and selected a few students from each house to be a tutor twice a week. Professor Isenmouthe had hung up signs in every common room, requiring the people he chose to attend a meeting. Hestia's name was on the list, and so of course she went to the meeting.
She arrived five minutes early and the only other person in the room was Severus Snape, not exactly someone she wanted to be alone with, being a half-blood. She sat two tables down from him, and gave a polite smile when he looked her way, but then made sure to avoid all eye contact. Snape was one of those people who had no friends and was just plain creepy. She had had several discussions with Phyllis on how smart he was and how sad it was that his talents were wasted on the Dark Arts and being creepy, but it was hard to feel that sort of pity for him when he was right there in front of you, either glaring at you or reading The Guide to Murder, Torture, and Deceit, which he was rarely seen without. It was said that he kept an entire bookshelf of that same book, so that when he wore one out so much that it was unreadable, he could just take another one. That sort of rumor sounds odd and implausible when one hears it, but were one actually to see the boy paging through his book with disturbing intensity, one would have trouble disbelieving it.
Because of all this, Hestia was distinctly relieved to hear the dungeon door open and hear people coming through it. When she turned to look, however, the sight was much less relieving. She felt the familiar clench in her stomach. Even after two years, seeing James still made her squirm a bit. He came in followed by Remus Lupin, and they sat at the table next to hers. For once in his life, James did not spare a comment for Snape.
"Hey, Hestia," he said, smiling. So now they were on first-name terms. No more 'Jones.'
"Hi."
"Do you know if we have to do this? You know, this tutoring? Because if it's going to interrupt my Quidditch, I hardly think it's worth the extra credit."
Hestia shrugged, "I'm sure he'll let you get out of it."
"James!" said Remus, his voice taking on a teasing quality, "I thought you wanted to help people with their work! Why, just today you were talking to that Ravenclaw girl, you know, Urania Golding, the studious one, and saying how important it was to not only apply yourself, but help others as well in their academic pursuits."
"Yeah, well," said James, not particularly embarrassed, "Quidditch is even more important."
"To a directionless airhead, maybe," said Hestia with a smile, not knowing if she meant it or not.
"I have direction!" said James, "I'm a Chaser; I have to have direction!" Remus and Hestia exchanged looks.
"That's not what she meant, James," said Remus, with a laugh.
This meaningless talk continued until the dungeon classroom was filled with the brightest students in the school and Professor Isenmouthe entered.
The Professor spent more time than necessary outlining his Students- Teaching-Students-Theory. Had the students' egos not been so pleased to be chosen as the most intelligent in the school, they all probably would have begun passing notes and whispering, but as it was, they listened patiently. It was hard for Hestia to think of anything besides having spoken with James for the first time in so long. She couldn't help but feel grateful to him for making it so easy, though it seemed as if he hadn't even noticed that they hadn't been talking all the time.
By the time the professor had finished speaking and assigned Hestia her tutoring days (Mondays and Thursdays), she was feeling very satisfied with how everything had played out. There was no point in sustaining a silence for a break up that had occurred two years ago, no matter what unforgivable things had been said afterward. It was just an inconvenience to not talk to someone for that long, especially if it was someone, like James Potter, who would probably not notice anyhow.
Hestia started her tutoring career badly, at best, not like anyone would know that but herself. The person whom she was tutoring would never have been able to tell the difference, she was sure, but knowing that gave her little satisfaction. She tutored a seventh year Gryffindor, Raphael Meliflua, who was in danger of staying at Hogwarts for an eighth year or not graduating at all, but not from any lack of trying, only from lack of intelligence. Being a fifth year herself, Hestia wasn't familiar with the material and after confusing Raphael twice by saying conflicting things, she had to run and get a book (conveniently, most tutoring was in the library) and realized she wasn't even talking about the same charm, and they had to start the essay over again.
Her second try was much more satisfactory, but it was accompanied by the awkwardness of assuming the role of a teacher to one's own classmate. She needed only to re-explain some Divination concepts to Peter Pettigrew. Two years had not improved him much academically. He was best friends with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, but he was not in their league in any other sense, least of all academically, and a lot of people, or Hufflepuffs at least, pitied him for it. Everyone knew that he was James Potter's first friend at Hogwarts, yet it always seemed as if he was a sidekick to the other three. He was quieter than the others, and probably nicer, but he always seemed perfectly content with them.
Teaching him was not hard. Hestia merely repeated what the teacher had said in class and then answered all his following questions patiently, but still she felt strange about it. Tutoring didn't suit her; not even her vanity was satisfied by being placed above her peers, because she knew that she knew very little more than someone like Peter. The same concepts that she was now teaching might have baffled her, but she still would have had to teach them. She didn't mind teaching Peter so much, though, because though he was not a quick learner, he was eager to please and not easily frustrated.
Hestia, therefore, concluded the session contentedly, and they walked back to their separate common rooms together as far as was convenient, discussing such everyday things as teachers and divination.
If they had seen the future, as we all know it to be, perhaps they would not have been smiling so brightly...
A/N—Thanks for the reviews!! Oh, and Lili, Hestia is not very spunky for two reasons, one is that I have something against spunky people (they tire me when I read about them), two, my summary says that there will be a relationship between Hestia and Peter and, quite frankly, I can't see a spunky person falling in love with Peter Pettigrew. You understand. Check the fifth book for Hestia. She's there, I promise.
REVIEW!