Disclaimer: Not mine… J.K.R… story hers… twist… mine! XD!
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Chapter 3"Looking for Truth"
Bill was sure that he had gone through every last inch of Hogwarts before going to Professor Nightshade's office. It was sooner than he'd said but decided that there's never anything wrong with coming in a bit early. As he drew nearer he heard a strange sound and began to run towards the office. He then discovered that it wasn't just sound but music… in fact; it was his favorite band playing. As he stood before the door he saw that it was ajar and could now hear, very clearly, the "Twisted Fates" playing from within. He peeked inside and smiled brightly as he saw Professor Belladona Nightshade… dancing to the music! He cleaned himself up a bit and pushed the door completely open in the middle of her air guitar. If Belladona had become red before, one could say that he was flaming now. She closed a very elegant looking box quickly and became as stiff as a board as Bill smiled affectionately.
"M-m-m… Mister Weasley! You-you- you were supposed to be coming in… 10 minutes!" she said VERY red.
"Sorry, I couldn't bare the wait," he said giving her a smile that could make anyone melt.
"Oh-um-well… Let's… let's go then…"
"Hold on. Before we head off, I want to ask you a question,"
"Yes?" she said still rosy.
"Have we met somewhere before? Maybe in Hogwarts?"
"Err-umm-listen, maybe we should just walk," she said nervously as they left the office.
They walked around and went outside. The air was crisp and clear and it hit Belladona's face coolly as she tried to return to her natural shade. Bill just kept looking at her, entranced.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" she said as they walked to a lit bunch of tables in the terrace.
"Why shouldn't I?" he said but turned his head downward and said: "So… did we ever meet before? My brothers said we did,"
"Oh, those two! I should give them detention for that one!" she said crossly.
"Why? What do you have to hide?"
"Oh nothing! Please, I don't want to talk about this. We should be discussing our meetings and the reason you're here,"
"Okay," he said letting the subject slip. "So, what do you want me to retrieve in those caves or mines or whatever?"
"In this case Mr. Weasley –"
"Please call me Bill,"
"Oh… alright. Bill…I want you to retrieve from the cave near the south end of the forest a silver collar.
"Say what?" said Bill surprised.
They sat at the tables but Bill was still wondering what on earth a family like the Nightshades wanted a collar for. He sat down comfortably next to her but she moved a bit away. Bill's eyes saddened. Belladona saw this reaction and decided to move in closer to please him but she came too close and they bumped heads.
"Ouch!" he said smiling.
"Sorry," she said smiling. "Well… Yes… what do you say about meeting each other every Tuesday? So we can discuss how we will proceed with this and when and how we can and retrieve the –"
"Professor Nightshade. I hate to tell you this but I work alone. It could get dangerous for lady like yourself if you come,"
"Well… Bill, I'm very capable of –"
"You might like rock music but I don't think you'll like rocks falling on your head," he said in a concern way.
"Mr. Weasley. Dare I remind you that I'm the client? You're here to work for me,"
"No. I'm here to work for your family. If you want Fluffy's silver-relic-dog-collar than you must let me proceed the way I do. If you get one of your manicured nails dirty than your family will skin me alive,"
This did not amuse her. She got up and said: "Well, too bad. You'll have to live with it!" and she stormed away, back into the castle. Bill, dumfounded as always, got up and wondered what just happened. "Damn! And things were starting to get good too!" he thought. He figured that maybe some sleep was in order so he went to the Gryffindor tower to find Harry, Ron, Hermione and twins still up. He tried to avoid Ron and Harry unending array of questions as he staggered off with the chuckling twins to the dorm where he'd be staying. They still refused to say a thing about Belladona much to Bill's death treats.
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Nearly 2 months passed by as Bill still didn't get any different un-formal treatment from Belladona. They discussed retrieval operations and procedures. The caves had many vertical drops so it wasn't as simple as it had sounded. However, the reason behind the retrieval of such a silly object was still a mystery to Bill, just like why she wouldn't warm up to him. However, it seemed that she did to everyone else. Ron kept bragging at how she kept asking him for answers in class and declared himself her favorite in the Gryffindor house, much to the other boys dislike. Bill could often walk down the halls hearing people talking about her and how sweet she was and how good a teacher she was. The twins kept murmuring things around him like: "Should we really let the man suffer like this?" or "If only his list of girls were a tad shorter… then he could backtrack to the moment… but this IS more fun." He then he heard a conversation that made him stop a bunch of 5th years in mid-stride. He had heard them utter out that it was her birthday in a couple of days and that there was this strange little witch giving out information on professor Nightshade. The two girls huffed about all the silly boys and how they had actually paid the girl on information on what she liked and her favorite everything so they could have a present ready for her.
"It's really silly how stupid they look!" said a very large Slytherin girl.
"Yeah. They've sent owls for deliveries to the school so they can have their gifts for her," said a pug-faced one.
Bill looked at them pointedly and said:
"Wasn't there another teacher that got as much attention as professor Nightshade a couple of years ago? Lockheart I believe…" The two girls pointed their noses into the air and began to walk away.
He walked to the Great Hall quickly. He knew who he had to see. The little witch giving out the information HAD to be Acacia. He looked about the Hufflepuff table and saw the girl strangely surround by many older boys. He also saw that other little boy, Christopher, pouting in a chair next to her but he didn't seem half as mad as that other time he'd seen him. He walked up closer to see that the boys around Acacia all had sachets of money out and giving some sickles and galleons out. He was even more surprised to see his own brother in the crowd. Hermione and Harry were just a few feet away looking at him with disappointment. Bill decided to see them first.
"Hello, I guess this is the information center?" asked Bill as Harry looked up at him with a strange cross between a smile and a look of discouragement.
"You could say that. I think this is going a TAD too far if you ask me," he said.
Hermione was looking at the back of Ron's head like a sniper, making sure the he was in perfect range for a kill. Bill twisted into a smile and said:
"I guess this new club is bigger than Harry and Ron's…"
"Oh! Just look at them! Especially this idiot! And the worst is because he's friends with the little Hufflepuff, err –"
"Acacia," said Harry.
"…Right, Acacia. He thinks that she'll give him discounts on all this nonsense. Boys are really stupid sometimes!" she said hotly.
"Hey, you don't see me there do you?" said Harry.
"Yes, but it's not a Cho meeting isn't it?" she replied.
Harry blushed again. It seemed that he had been spending more and more time with Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker, but like Bill wasn't really getting anywhere romantically.
"How did you all meet her?" Bill asked Harry.
"Well, she was very nervous the day of the sorting and we encouraged her. Ron was being the nicest though, he told her about how to get into the kitchen to feed her cat. I think that's why she likes him so much. When we heard the name Nightshade, we were very surprised to find out who she was,"
"Oh look! This can't be real!" said Hermione seeing Draco Malfoy near the crowd of boys.
"Out of the way!" he said pushing a 4th year Hufflepuff. "Nightshade, you gave me bad information I want my money back!"
"What did I say?" she said with a mischievous smile.
"You said that she loved the smell of that cologne you told me about, "Poisson Pourri" or something like that. I put it on in class and I began to stick up the room! She looked once at me and sent me to the showers!" he said now shouting.
"Malfoy… I said "Poison pour Vie". If I remember, you ordered cologne that smells like rotten fish," she said while looking at Ron evilly with a chuckle as the crowd of boys up roared with laughter.
Malfoy stomped away still shouting out that he was cheated out of his money but Ron just got closer to Acacia and said: "Yeah, like he can't afford it!"
Christopher grumbled.
Bill walked up to the crowd and shouted: "Ok. That's all for today! You should all leave!" Everyone looked at him surprised but decided that this was perhaps enough and left Ron, Acacia and Christopher. Bill sat down at the Hufflepuff table.
"My… you're a ruthless, conniving, devious, business woman aren't you? …Have you met my twin brothers?" said Bill.
"No." she said confused. "But I did meet your sister! She's really nice!"
Ron laughed and got up. He went to see Hermione looking, darkly at him and they all walked back to the Gryffindor table. Bill took this opportunity to talk to Acacia about whether Belladona had ever spoken to her about him, to which she said no. Discouraged, Bill plopped his head on the table. He knew that if he could figure that out, then his chances with her would raise 10 fold. She wasn't mean to him, just cold… dead cold. Acacia inquired whether he'd talked to her about it and he said that she wouldn't say anything. The back haired girl thought for a moment and said:
"I know! She likes to keep up impressions! Why don't you come to my next Dark Arts class? It's right after lunch! Then you'll be able to get her talking, I know it!" she said sweetly.
"Are you sure? Do you think I'm allowed?"
"Yeah. She did say that if anyone missed a class of hers that we could go to another house's class. And you've missed A LOT Mr. Weasley!" she said in an extraordinarily good imitation of Belladona.
Bill smiled. This would be fun and he could see first hand the side of her personality that he was denied. So after lunch ended, Bill accompanied Acacia and Christopher, who didn't seem to like Bill's company anymore than Ron's, and went to "Defense Against the Darks Arts" class.
They entered the classroom and the children took their seats. Bill looked about and was amused to see the 1st year Hufflepuffs looking very excited about the class. Bill wondered if he should stand in the corner instead of sit with the students, especially since he would stick out like a sore thumb. After some pondering he decided that perhaps this was what he wanted and sat next to two giggling girls, far away from Acacia so she wouldn't be blamed for this. He noticed that on the table there was a large hill of presents that students had left from the last class because only a few from this one had some parcels hidden under their desks. Bill looked at Acacia who was now speaking to a very talkative Christopher. "I guess he only talks when he's alone with her," thought Bill as he heard the door open.
"Hello everyone!" said a very cheerful professor Nightshade while heading for her desk. "So have you all done you homework on – Oh! More presents? Really! Who IS telling everyone that my birthday is in two days? Does anyone know?" she added as she turned to face the class.
She had intended to look at Acacia but her attention was quickly stolen by Bill's obvious presence. He smirked at her while looking like a giant next to the group of 11 year olds. Belladona was shocked. She walked up and addressed Bill… once again very formally.
"Mr. Weasley, I don't BELIEVE you have a class with me," she said frowning.
"Oh. Well, I just want to brush up on my Dark Arts. I hope you don't mind it?" he said continually smiling.
Belladona actually broke out into a half smile but shrugged it off quickly as the girls next to Bill began to giggle again. She turned around and sighed. She cleared the pile of presents from her desk to put them on the floor and it was obvious that Bill couldn't stop himself from staring as she bent down. Suddenly one of the girls next to him flicked his ear.
"Hey!" he started.
"Don't DO THAT!" she said with a little pouty face.
He looked at her and plopped on the desk looking like he'd just been punished for something totally unfair. Professor Nightshade opened her cream colored bag and took out her lesson plan, tally sheet and notes, and began to call out the students names to make sure everyone was there. When she finished calling everyone in the list she even added: "Weasley, William" and Bill said: "Here!" feeling very satisfied with the way she was paying him attention.
The class did go fairly well and she was a great teacher as she enthusiastically explained to the students about: "Ashwinders" which were serpents born out of embers of unsupervised magical fires. She also explained what to do when they're burning down their homes and which charm to use against them. Everyone lifted their hands with anticipation to answer questions that she asked. The thing that made them even more motivated to answer was the fact that she threw a sweet to everyone that responded correctly as a part of getting ready for Halloween.
Bill had even answers a few questions because he had not eaten at lunch but Belladona threw him the smallest candies reminding him that they were for her students. Bill didn't mind because she beamed so beautifully when she taught that he thought he'd make the sacrifice. This was more like it. This was the light he had seen shining out of that wall of solid ice. When the class ended Acacia and Christopher walked up to Bill and she whispered: "Go talk to her!" and ran off with the boy following close behind. Three students left their gifts on the desk and ran off swiftly. Once everyone was out of the room Bill took a deep breath and was about to talk to her when someone slithered into the room. It was Professor Severus Snape, the potions master. He glared at Bill quickly and then looked at professor Nightshade.
"I see the offerings have not ceased. Did you inform your students to stop leaving you these trinkets. This could damage the respect that we try to establish in this school," he said coldly.
"I told them but they just keep sending them and running off! I can't even tell what's from whom – well, except two or three," she said nonchalantly.
"Then I suggest you return those parcels!" he snapped.
"I will, I will," she said.
"If I recall Miss Nightshade you liked to say things and then not do them at all. It was by pure chance you barely passed your 7th year Potion lessons,"
"Oh, Sir! I'm not a student anymore!" she said beginning to sound upset.
"It's a good thing. All you used to think about was beating up students and playing Quidditch. The number of detentions I used to give you could be compared to the Weasley Twins," he said then throwing a glance at Bill.
He looked somewhat appalled that he was being associated with the twins when speaking about detentions. He'd only gotten one in his whole seven years at Hogwarts.
"And the house points I used to take off cause of it…" continued Snape.
"I made up for every house point I lost. Minus 10 for knocking Wood out because he called me a nerd and plus 30 back because I sent a bludger flying near enough at him so it wasn't a foul and allowed Ravenclaw a winning score!" she said passing from Snape's gaze to Bill's.
She however, looked away when she noticed the redhead staring back.
"Well…" he said now eyeing suspiciously Belladona because of her reaction to Bill's stare. "I'll leave you. Heed my words Nightshade,"
"Professor Nightshade if you please sir?" she said now with a smirk.
"Yes… Well, we have a meeting in 2 days before the Halloween feast. Be there," he said as his billowing black robes followed him out of the room.
"I can't believe he just came in here to complain! Honestly, I don't know what happened in that man's life to make him so bitter but –" she started until she remembered whom she was talking to. "Oh! Sorry!"
"Oh, it's okay! He should understand the young businesswoman's mind. Acacia did make a lot of money off it," he said trying to lighten the mood.
"What? Oh! I knew it was her!" she said frowning again.
"Oh! Oops! I wasn't supposed to tell!"
"It's fine! I suspected as much. Err… you were going to ask me something?" she said smiling after what Bill had said, he sounded like a little 1st year himself.
"Well, I was just going to ask you if… you could tell me when we met because it's driving me batty!"
Belladona was surprise by the returning subject. She then looked at him shyly and said: "Well, if you really want to know… It was when I was in 4th year and when you were in 7th… That's all I'll say because if you don't remember the rest then it's not worth coming back to it," she said sorrowfully as she picked up the many presents of hers with a surprising ease.
Belladona walked out quietly leaving Bill alone in the room but just then, her head poked out the open door and she said: "So, tonight at 8 at the usual place?"
"Yeah sure," said Bill, his thoughts streaming.
"Alright," she said as she disappeared.
Bill left the halls and returned to the Gryffindor dorms so he could lie down and think. "What happened when I was in my 7th year?" he pondered as he occupied a vacant four-poster. He then decided that tonight he'd get all the information or just give up. It had been nearly two months and still no results! This last thought sorrowed him because he'd never felt so passionate or so intrigued by someone like this but he couldn't keep going around in circles. He reached for his bag that was next to his bed and pulled out the golden Egyptian medallion. He looked at it and put it on. "Well Horus, if there's any time to wear you… it's tonight," he thought as he slipped it around his neck. He descended that night to find his family and Harry and Hermione in the Great Hall. He ate well, as usual and the twins spoke up yet again.
"So? How are you coming along with Bella?" asked Fred.
"Shut up," he said.
"That well huh? I dunno Fred, he's starting to look a bit pathetic. Should we tell him?"
"No! Remember what Bella said? We don't want detentions for a solid month do we?" said George.
"I guess not. I can't believe her! She used to spend nearly every detention with us, and now she giving them! Well, I guess it must feel good,"
"Yeah, maybe we should become teachers," suggested George with a grin.
"Oh wow! Now that's a scary thought!" said Ron.
"Yeah, but it could be cool!" added Ginny.
They all laughed and continued their food. Bill finished in record time and decided to take a walk before meeting Bella in the yard. As he went along the corridors he bumped into, well, more like passed through, Nearly Headless Nick.
"Oh my GOD that was cold!" said Bill with shivers.
"Sorry there young Weasley… oh. But you're not one of the others… BILL! My, how good to see you again lad," he said.
"Good to see you too Nick," said Bill, still shaking.
"My, what brings you to Hogwarts?" he inquired.
"Belladona Nightshade…"
"Oh yes. It is just as grand that Miss Nightshade has returned as well. The Grey Lady was telling me how different she looks. I haven't had the chance to haunt her classrooms yet."
"Oh… I see. Well, what was she like before?" asked Bill now warmed up by the thought of getting more information.
"Well, if I recall, the young Miss Nightshade always had her hair in a bun and wore glasses. This didn't change the fact that she easily got into fights. She was a tenacious one! I didn't see much of her however. I knew her mostly by reputation. Apparently although she defended herself with fists, she was shy about making friends. The Grey Lady told me that she was a good confidant of hers,"
Bill tried to remember hearing rumors about a headstrong Ravenclaw but nothing came to mind. He didn't remember ever getting into a fistfight with her, nor her hurting one of his friends.
"Anything else?" Bill asked.
"No. Not a thing," he said gloomily as he began to draw nearer to a wall. "Well, I must be off Bill. Ta-ta!" and he disappeared without a trace.
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A/N: More review PURLESE! I really wanna know if you like this story!
