Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's back! Anyhoo… I shouldn't be so hyper… I'm ill! Well kinda. So I'm using this chance to be inspired. Well kinda.

It's the day of indecisiveness! Enjoy!

Discalimerooo: Don't own Hogwarts. Man these things get tiresome…


Dusthorpe's office hadn't changed since the last time I'd been in there. Still full of whirring little gadgets. It was a very busy, confusing room, somehow comforting and menacing at the same time. Like your grandmother's house. Not that I've ever seen my grandmother or anything, never mind her poky little cottage wherever it was. I say 'was' because she died a while ago, just before I was born or something. Mum's talked about it before, but only just answering the many questions Hermi plagued her with when we were little; they (my Mum and Grandma) had a fight or something I think, and never made up. Anyway, the first circular little room led into Dusthorpe's office, a slightly less overrun room with a few portraits on the walls, although there were bright patches where there had obviously been frames before. Dusthorpe was seated behind a slightly dishevelled desk filled with papers, looking at me through his bright blue eyes. He smiled a reassuring smile upon my entering, but I was still convinced that I was in trouble. I lingered around the red leather high-backed armchair, not sure whether it would be impolite to sit down. Last time, I walked in and was whisked straight away to lie down on the desk, so that Dusthorpe could examine my sub-conscious. I was having bad dreams when I first came to Hogwarts. Anyway, he indicated for me to sit down, and I happily obliged, I was feeling rather faint at being in here again… this place almost gave me the creeps, and I could almost sense what was coming. The feeling of almost knowing everything yet not was driving me mad. I hate mysteries, well, ones that I can't solve anyway. I was unsure of whether I should start off the conversation, but the silence which he seemed to be relishing was killing me. He gazed at me with those twinkling eyes and just made me feel so small. Eventually I cracked.

"So um… that owl and everything, you must have been pretty desperate to see me." Not the most respectful thing I confess, but still, it broke that dreadful silence. He took a deep breath, which I took as a signal that he was arranging his words carefully in his head, planning before he spoke. Not something I do very often. After a pause, which may have been considered 'awkward' if I hadn't known that he was most definitely going to speak soon, he spoke a simple sentence, not enough to quench my thirst of … I guess it could be called knowledge. Yes, knowledge of why the hell I was there.

"I just wanted to sort of prompt you along, make sure your studies are up to scratch this year."

"Um… you mean you want me to try harder, that I haven't been doing well enough?" I hate it when people told me half the story and left the rest to my negatively working imagination.

"No, no, no." he replied, looking at me dead on in the eyes. I'm not sure whether I was surprised at this, worried, or happy that he finally seemed to be talking to me rather than just… talking. A lot of pupils say they find it unsettling how he never, ever makes eye contact. Now I know what it feels like and I wasn't sure if I wanted to complain next time he didn't. "It's just that we've been looking through everyone's work over the holidays, and all the teachers I confronted about your personal work said that it was absolutely perfect, except perhaps lacking in that it wasn't the most enthusiastic work. You need to be properly motivated, Evelyn." Just that use of my full name, rather than Eve or Evey whilst his piercing gaze was captivating my own, less 'cold as stone' one, sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. I vowed that I would be motivated just for the sake of not having to come back here to have this talk with him again. I didn't even take in the mega-compliment I just received as I stumbled, freezing, out of the old man's office, repeating my goodbyes and excusing myself hurriedly. I almost ran to the Common Room, and was more than pleased to see the would-be snobby faces of all my Slytherin comrades. I lurched up the stairs, trying to hold down what felt like an enormous snake trying to slither its way up my oesophagus. Upon bursting into the Dorms, I found all my friends sat in a circle, playing Truth or Dare, my favourite in the whole world. They immediately saw my pale face and that I was involuntarily holding my stomach, and escorted me to the bathroom, where I crouched over the porcelain toilet, while Amelie rubbed my back lovingly, softly pulling my long hair into a messy ponytail at the nape of my neck. Carol plagued me with questions, and Amelie ended up shoving her out of the small bathroom calling her many a very immature name. Lucifer managed to stay calm, but later quizzed me non-stop until I charmed a zip on her mouth and drew the hangings on my four poster – a sign that I had had enough for one night.

The next day the official school year began. As usual we were handed our schedules over breakfast; I had Ancient Runes first with Professor Dekod. He was a crumply old man, whose wrinkles did actually look like ancient runes. Lysander plonked on to the seat next to mine, trying to casually peer over my shoulder to see what I had that day. I raised my eyebrows, snatched his out of his hands and replaced it with my own. He scanned over my schedule, his eyes flicking from the end of one line to the beginning of another. He finally focused on one subject, formulating a sentence in his mind.

"Bummer. I didn't know you took Arithmancy; I hadn't pictured you as the type." He looked up, hoping for me to elaborate. I shrugged; I wasn't sure what else to say. So, in true 'me' fashion, I simply stated:

"I'm a very un-picturable type." He gave a small chortle, when I noticed that his friends were nowhere to be seen. "Where are your friends? I can't see them." I leaned forward and swished my head in both directions to indicate looking for them.

"I'm not really sure. They got slightly err… drunk last night. Beginning of term spirits and stuff. They do it most years. I usually join in, but I want to try harder, you know, make sure my studies are completely up to scratch this year. Thought I'd make a good impression and everything." He sort of trailed off, not realizing how interested I actually was.

"Coolness. Hey, I'm trying to do the same thing this year… um… you know, get my studies up to scratch. Maybe we can study together sometime?" he didn't have time to answer, because an extremely annoyed person sat heavily down in the seat next to mine. I assumed it was Lucifer being huffy because of something on her schedule, and turned to see not Lucifer, but Hermi, sporting the extremely fetching purple tinge to her face that she had worn yesterday whilst being plagued by that small and seemingly annoying first year. I was in shock. This had never happened before, and, for the first time in a while, I was at a loss for words. Hermione took a deep breath, counting rationally to ten, before addressing me.

"I think… that if that little…" (She stopped herself from saying something she would regret here; she was always good at that) "If Adam keeps persisting with his annoying endeavours, then I think I'll be forced to throttle him. Very severely." She took another calming breath. "Poor little mite." Lysander looked confused and amused all at the same time, and I, seeing his face, got even more amused, and finally let out a little giggle, to which Hermi looked even more miffed. She seemed to want to get her own back then, because she decided to add "Oh, who's this, your boyfriend?" I promptly stopped giggling and quite obviously blanched. He didn't seem to have heard the last bit and introduced himself almost too politely. The other three from my dorm turned up, looking worried to see me so pale. They bustled round, saying hushed 'hellos' to Hermi.

"Evey, are you OK? I mean… you're up really early, and you look so pale… are you feeling better?" Amelie put her palm to my forehead, and Carol put some dry toast on my plate.

"Am I missing something?" Hermi asked, perplexed. Lysander had turned away, but was casting worried glances over every now and then.

"Evey wasn't too well last night… Dusthorpe asked her into his office and she came back and threw up everywhere." Carol said, none too tactfully.

"We still haven't established exactly what it was that set her off like that…" Lucifer said, looking as if Eve was forgiven for the zip out of worry. They must all have been completely riddled with worry if this was the case, and Eve hastened to tell them exactly what had happened. Most of them decided she must have been overreacting, but after breakfast, Hermi cornered her on their way to Ancient Runes (it turned out they had it together) and asked if that was all that had happened, because if no-one else at Hogwarts knew Eve, Hermi did. Being her sister, she quite obviously knew that Eve had a very strong stomach, so something awful must have happened to get her to throw up. Even for all her quizzing, Hermi still wasn't convinced that Dusthorpe hadn't said or done something horrific. But she decided to half-believe Eve, and took in her description of feelings in happily, making notes in her head. They arrived at the Ancient Runes classroom, and Professor Dekod welcomed them all in together. Hermi and Eve took seats next to each other in the middle of the classroom. Not too close to the front, and not too close to the back- perfect for absorbing knowledge. Of course they both shut up upon entering their classroom, as Hermi had always taken her class work seriously and Eve's new resolution to be good and concentrate was still fresh in her mind. The lesson flew by, and Eve tried to put up her hand as much as possible, getting all the questions she answered right, and adding her opinion to a lot of them, a 'good part of any subject' as Professor Dekod had complimented after the lesson when he called her back to congratulate her on her excellence. After accepting the extra credit homework he offered her, and collecting the slip that granted her permission to use the restricted section library books in her studies, she blushed, mumbled a thank you and hurried out the room, so fast she managed to bump into Lysander, who was heading to Transfiguration as she was bustling to Potions.


I'll be back soon with another chappie though! I think I'm gonna go do some of Return to Sender or something… see ya!

And I know they don't really do extra credit in England, but oh well. Tough cookies.

Thanks for reading, Bracken xx