XX
Slughorn
Bill dutifully set up his kit as he always did before class, then meticulously turned every label in his kit to face forward while the rest of the students began to file in. He was so busy doing that that at first he missed the excitement of several girls standing by the Ravenclaw side of the room, but once he finished he noticed something was different. A girl he hadn't seen before was in the mix, although at first he couldn't really see her well as the others around her argued about where she was going to sit. She was tall, thin and heavily freckled with long red braids, and a shrunken demeanor as if intimidated with everything going on around her, but she smiled shyly when the other girls finally settled her into a place several rows back from the front.
It was just as the office door began to open that there was a flurry next to the entrance and Lucky dashed into the room, vaulting over one of the desks and startling the boy who was sitting there as she hopped into her seat, opening everything up just as Professor Slughorn waddled in, ornate cane in hand as he looked over the class with a smile.
"First years, first class, a fresh start to the day! I see everyone is well prepared, except perhaps for the lady puffing like the Hogwarts Express," he added, getting a round of laughter from the class. "Did someone sleep in…Miss ah…"
"Conejo," Lucky said, and the Professor's tone suddenly changed, a glittering in his eye.
"Ah, Miss Conejo! I have heard all about you, of course! You're the Arithmantics prodigy! Delighted to meet you, I hope you weren't terribly offended by my teasing, no real harm done. I was thinking of starting off with a lab experiment to see what you all have learned so far, but we can spend the first few minutes getting to know one another while you're setting up…especially since you're not the only one not prepared," he added, his eyes shifting to the new girl who just gazed back at him. "Well?"
"Your pardon, sir, but that's Juliette Darnay from Beauxbatons," said Kaylee, the girl sitting next to her. "Her English isn't all that great yet. I've been helping her."
"Ah! But I thought she was second year?" Slughorn mused, then glanced at a note on the desk. "Oh, I see, they don't give Potions first year there, only a class on component classifications and preparation? What a very wise idea! Helps keep the lab in one piece, I suppose, but of course, at Hogwarts, we've always preferred a hands-on sort of agenda, so you can get your feet wet right from the start!" Slughorn said enthusiastically, gazing at the rest of the class when Juliette didn't seem to respond. "Anyhow, I am Professor Slughorn, and I have agreed to cover for Professor Craw for the time being. You may not know me, but I used to work here before and taught some of your parents…well, maybe your grandparents…actually…well, let's just skip it. The point is I know a great many of your families and am eager to help another generation of witches and wizards see their true potential and become the leaders they were born to be." He smiled again, but now everyone seemed to be looking at him with the same blank look that Juliette was giving him. He cleared his throat. "Shall we start with a Sick-And-More Salve?"
Bill supposed he wasn't all that bad of a teacher; at least he seemed to know what he was doing. But Bill couldn't help but be more than a little annoyed when after learning his name, the Professor seemed to discount him, despite the fact he gave a few glib, encouraging words for his efforts. Instead, he lingered the most around Lucky, although he also spent time with Delia and the exchange student. Was it just Bill's imagination? It wasn't until later that Bill knew for sure. It was as they got to the point they were cleaning up and Slughorn asked them to send up their homework before they left.
"Juliette is excused, of course, since she didn't know of the assignment," he smiled understandingly at her. Juliette smiled timidly back. "Now, if you need help with your next one, feel free to come to me. I will even help you with your English!"
"Merci, Professeur, it eez thanks I 'ave for vous. Yez?" Juliette said hopefully.
"Good try, good try," Slughorn head with a tolerant smile, collecting the rest of the papers. "Now I hope the rest of you have it done! I'm sure Professor Weasley will not be pleased to learn that any of you didn't do what she asked of you…very neat and precise, Delia! I see you'll go far." He then passed several more students without a single word, including Bill, before pausing in front of Lucky who sheepishly handed it over. He tsked softly as he looked over the quickly scribbled pages.
"So this is what you were huffing and puffing about, I see. Wasn't expecting to see a replacement here so soon, is that it? I suppose in your position I may have not expected it either, and after all, you do have one more class than everyone else in your year," he reasoned with a wink. "So I suppose I can cut you a small break. I won't mention it to Professor Weasley, so long as you come in my office for lunch and recopy this neatly. I wouldn't want to begin my first day taking points off, and besides, I believe in starting things off on the right foot, don't you?"
"Yes, Professor," Lucky said, all too aware everyone was staring at her.
"Good! I'll let you hang on to this until then," he told her with a warm smile as he picked up the rest of the papers. "But don't work on it in your other classes, now. You can't live up to your potential if you don't learn to pay attention to your surroundings. It was good to meet all of you!" he added to the class, dismissing him. "And I will look forward to getting to know you better next time we chat!"
"Well, that was lucky, wasn't it?" Lucky murmured to him as they went out the door. "He doesn't seem so bad."
"I like Professor Craw better," Bill said immediately. Lucky looked at him in surprise.
"Hey, you know I do too," Lucky said. "I hope she's all right."
"Yeah, me too," Bill said thoughtfully. "Want to go to the library after dinner?"
"What, again?" Lucky complained. "Do you ever want to do anything but homework? They were talking about having this sparring thing going on tonight, you know…"
"It's not about homework I want to talk to you about," Bill said. "There's something I have to tell you."
"Okay, okay," Lucky said in exasperation. "Maybe I'll come after the sparring."
"All right, good, because…because there's probably something you ought to know, and I can't tell you here," Bill admitted. "Besides, I have Herbology next."
"Yeah well watch those Griffonlilies whatever you do. Sometimes a green thumb is not a good thing," Lucky warned.
"Don't worry about that, I've been weeding lilies since I was old enough to walk," Bill grinned, waving her down the corridor as he took off down the hall.
Lucky paused and gazed over at her friend, realizing then just how little she knew about him. Did the schoolwork come easy for him then because he had grown up with magic? Except for Arithmantics and maybe Charms, it didn't come easy to her. Not that she wasn't at the top of her classes too, but much to her dismay, she sometimes felt she had to work at it and often felt like she was playing catch-up, even though nothing could have been further from the truth. Now she had Transfiguration, which often lost her completely at times, but that was not the class she dreaded most….that would come after. Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, Lucky seriously considered finding a valid excuse of missing or skipping broom lessons.
By lunch, she very sincerely wished she had done just that. She arrived at the door of Slughorn's office with Fix-me-up Bandages still on her elbows and a slightly weakened arm from just having it mended from its broken state.
"Come in, come in, goodness you're a mess! But don't you fret, you're not the only person who's fallen off a broom! Why, Gwenog Jones herself used to take a tumble now and then when she was a student!" Slughorn said, insisting on telling her a story about a Quidditch match that was absolutely undeniably lost on Lucky. She did try to listen as intently as she could, and understood it had to do with some sport and some attempt to cheer her up, but at the end of the long winded speech, she couldn't help but asking what Quidditch was. Slughorn's face fell for a split second. "Well, you'll get the hang of it…here now, just sit here and do your work, comfortable enough? There are sandwiches too, if you need them," he said as she sat down.
"I'm fine, thanks," Lucky said, getting out her work.
"Would you prefer something else? I can be very flexible," he said. Suddenly he smiled as if he were amused about something. "Although it doesn't come as easily as it used to. But yes, if you need help, just ask. I know things must be a trial to you right now."
"Not really," Lucky said, not sure where this was going.
"Well I mean, well, I know, of course, that Professor Snape is your guardian," he said.
"Aaaah, yo comprendo, Professor. I am used to people like that disappearing on me. There is no need to worry about me."
"Used to it?" Slughorn said, puzzled.
"Adults that take me in always end up having something happen to them. It's like I steal the luck out of them or something, that's why I normally live alone. I thought maybe being wizards and stuff the Snapes wouldn't, but I'm not surprised," Lucky shrugged, turning to her work.
"I'm sure your presence had nothing to do with it, although I'm really not at liberty to speak of it…"
"It was a curse. Judge Vallid told me yesterday."
"Judge Vallid is here?" Slughorn said with surprise.
"Yes, she is my guardian too," Lucky said, peering at her scribbles and frowning when she couldn't read her own writing. "You are right, this is a mess."
"My goodness, it was good of such a busy woman to cancel her schedule to come here on your behalf," Slughorn said, slightly impressed. "All the same, I can't help but feel concerned about the Snapes, as I'm sure you are. You wouldn't happen to know where I can send them an Owl?"
"What's an Owl?" Lucky said. Slughorn stared at her in a moment in the same way the Gryffindors often looked at her.
"Never mind, Lucky, you just finish your work. Help yourself to the sandwiches, no really," he insisted with a smile. Reluctantly Lucky took a sandwich and tried to concentrate on her work, despite the fact she found herself wondering if that was what Mark would look like in a hundred years. She was also slightly disappointed that he hadn't even attempted to tell her what an Owl was, it might have proved quite entertaining…she would have to include the incident in her next note to Vallid.
The library was almost vacant that night when Bill arrived, sitting at a table where he could see the majority of students coming in, even if it did block his view from the door. He had seen several Professors heading towards the back also, and he frowned. Well, of course it would be heavily used now when they had no classes, he thought. But how late would they stay? He had no real way of knowing. Surely on a weekday not so late as they might, considering they would have classes the next day. Of course, that didn't solve his main problem. How would he ever get in? He had to get in somehow, that much he was sure. But every time he thought of it, he remembered that fateful morning when he had attempted to win his way to Hogwarts and lost. And instead of graciously losing, he had done anything but. A pang of guilt went through him as he thought of his deception again…it had been bothering him for some time. Of course, he could always go to Andrew about it. Then again, he had tried that route before.
"Just stick it out a little longer, Ambrose," Andrew had told him. "Just make it until Christmas when the big marks come out and we can prove you can handle the work. It'll be here before you know it, and then we'll stand by you and make it one big confession," he had reassured him with a smile.
But that too, played upon Bill's guilt, knowing that he had inadvertently gotten Andrew and Aurelius involved after Aurelius had tracked him down and gotten out of him his plan to try to disguise his way into Hogwarts. Now Bill realized he would have never gotten there without their help, and that only added to the pressure on the young boy. As much as he wanted to call it quits, the constant reminder of their sticking their necks out forced him into a taffy pull.
"Don't you ever stop working?"
Bill looked up to see Delia and one of her girlfriends standing at his table where he was staring blankly at his Transfiguration book.
"Oh, actually I was just waiting for Lucky, really," Bill said.
"Well, don't expect to see your girlfriend any time tonight, she went to sparring."
"I know where she is, and she's not my girlfriend," Bill said.
"Well, my boyfriend went too, and he told me they wouldn't be done until right before curfew, so I hope you're not planning to stay past that," Delia said, the other girl whispering something to her as they walked away. Bill resignedly leaned his head against his hand, tossing his quill into the fold of his book. All right, if that's the way she was going to be, perhaps he would try to break in himself.
