Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel characters or any of the X-men. The same can be said of the wonderful world of J.K. Rowling. I am not making any profit, but simply having fun. I did however create Emma Winter.
Memories and dreams are in italics.
Edited in March 2021 during lockdown.
Emma had been working at Xavier's for a month and was relatively happy with her new life. The witch had quite an easy time teaching the children even though some were wary of her in the beginning because she was a normal human and not a mutant like the rest of the students and staff. It was quite humorous to hear that at Xavier's others had been wary of Emma in the beginning because she was considered normal. Sometimes she wondered what they would say then if they knew she was a witch. She often wondered if they would have welcomed her with open arms if they had known, and deep down she was quite sure as Xavier's was a haven for all those that were different from the norm.
Working as a teacher was enjoyable as Emma didn't have too many classes to teach so she had ample time to explore her surroundings, talk to those that lived at Xavier's and most importantly, start to heal from the terrors she had experienced during the war in the wizarding world. Her schedule was quite lenient, and Emma didn't have to teach until ten in the morning as Xavier had quickly noticed that Emma Winter was in no way, shape or form a morning person. What the witch would not admit to anyone was that she had rough mornings because very rarely could she sleep well. Emma was tormented by nightmares and usually woke up more exhausted than when she went to bed, it was a vicious circle that she didn't know how to break out of.
Emma did not have a full-time job, only the very senior members of the faculty had fulltime positions. All the younger ones had less work so they could pursue whatever interests they wanted. The plus of having the afternoons off was that she could take naps or spend time under a tree somewhere on the premises reading a book, a pure luxury for her as she had very rarely been able to do so at Hogwarts when she became a member of the faculty. Emma was usually finished quite early in the afternoon and could do whatever she wanted for the rest of the day and evening. That was except once a week when she made dinner for the entire house. The faculty changed turns in cooking evenings to give the chef time off.
The witch did not mind cooking even though she was certainly no expert in muggle food that was certainly different from the food she had feasted on at Hogwarts; Emma usually didn't cook anything very complicated as she was raised in Hogwarts where the house elves took care of the kitchens. Wizards and witches usually used magic to cook, and when Emma couldn't use magic she relied on very simple cooking. Typically Emma chose pasta because the kids loved it and it was the only food the witch knew how to make without embarrassing herself.
The witch couldn't sleep well most nights, either she tossed restlessly through the night or, if she was lucky enough to fall asleep, her dreams were filled with horrors from the war which usually made her wake up screaming and in tears. Emma had tried her best to stifle the screaming by keeping awake as to not terrorize those living in the mansion, but that too was taking its toll on her. The last thing she wanted were concerned members of the staff checking in on her while she woke up from a nightmare.
On one of those difficult nights Emma gave up just after midnight, the witch got up and headed towards the kitchens. It was better just to get up, distract the mind and get something warm to drink. Usually, that was enough to get her to fall asleep, at least at some point. Emma sat down by the kitchen table waiting for her coffee to be ready, it was clear to her that she wouldn't be sleeping peacefully that night so hopefully coffee would help her stay awake to keep away from the nightmares that haunted her. Her mind was far away as she tiredly yawned and looked bored out of the kitchen window, there wasn't much to see, a few lights in the distance.
Suddenly Emma heard a gruff voice not far away from her saying, "Hey kid, you new here?"
The witch got startled hearing someone so close and grabbed her chest in an attempt to steady her heart as she looked towards the sound of the voice. Emma was not used to having company in the kitchen so late in the night; usually, the last night owls were in bed just after midnight.
"Sorry, I didn't want to startle you," the man said gruffly and looked apologetically at her with a slight smile on his face. Emma looked at the man curiously and thought he was a strange-looking fellow. The man had the strangest hairstyle she had ever seen and his mutton chops gave him a retro feel. He was wearing jeans and a large flannel shirt that didn't hide his huge bulk. His eyebrow crooked up teasingly when he noticed Emma studying him so intently.
"It's all right, I'm new yes," Emma said blushing a little before standing up holding out her hand in greeting. Somehow that man looked very much like a handshake kind of man.
"Emma, I'm the new history teacher," She said and noticed that the man hesitated a microsecond before grabbing her hand tightly and squeezing it tightly.
"Logan," he said not giving her any more information on himself or what he did at Xavier's. He crooked an eyebrow at her when he noticed her pull her hand out of his grasp and trying to shake life into it again.
"Ain't you too young to be a teacher?" Logan asked curiously while looking at the young woman in front of him that didn't look much older than Rogue. She was good-looking that much he could notice but aloof as if not quite connected to earth somehow.
"No, I'm not," was the simple answer that Emma gave him. This Logan fellow was not the first one who had asked her that at Xavier's. The man gave her a teasing grin at her abrupt answer and nodded approvingly. Logan always did like people that kept to themselves and Emma, the new teacher, seemed to be a hermit at heart just like himself.
"Ya from England?" He asked gruffly hearing her accent that didn't sound American at all.
"Yes I am," Emma said smiling brightly before walking to the stove where a mocha machine was making what smelled like a very strong espresso. They two watched the coffee to get ready in silence, neither of them in much of a talkative mood.
Logan's eyebrows rose in surprise when Emma poured spoon after spoon of sugar into her coffee before finally deciding it was sweet enough for her taste. She took a sip and closed her eyes while a small smile of content formed on her tired face. Emma opened her eyes and saw Logan looking at her with a keen interest in his eyes.
"You want a cup?" the witch asked Logan even though he looked far from being an espresso kind of man and much more of a lager type. Her suspicion was verified a second later when he replied.
"No thanks kid, I'll grab a beer," Logan said and for emphasis dragged out a six-pack from the back of one of the cupboards. He had hidden his stash behind boxes of muesli that he knew the kids would never touch. He was correct, not one of the boxes had been moved since he put the beer there months ago
Logan sat on the counter and watched the young woman while he drank his beer. At least she didn't try to smother him with mindless chatter since they didn't know each other. The new teacher seemed quite content to ignore him and sit in her corner looking out of the window while sipping on her coffee.
Logan left silently a while later but was quite certain that Emma hadn't noticed him leaving the room.
It was about a week after Emma met Logan, and she still didn't know what he did in the mansion and she was curious about the strong, silent man who had a surprisingly peaceful presence. Emma was sitting with Ororo having breakfast and the witch decided to ask about Logan to learn something, anything about the handsome man who often sat beside her in silence late at night. The house was relaxed, most of the people were out and the two women had the whole house to themselves.
"How many teachers are there here?" Emma asked Ororo, hoping she would get some information about Logan who seemed so evasive.
"Let me see, it's me, Scott, Hank, the professor and Logan. He just arrived a few days ago. I don't know if you have met him yet."
"I met him a few times," Emma said nonchalantly as if meeting one of the most dangerous mutants in the world didn't scare her at all. It might have if the witch had known just how dangerous Logan was.
"Oh, you did?" Ororo asked curiously wondering why Emma hadn't mentioned it before. Usually, people mentioned it right away when meeting the famous Wolverine. He had a certain presence that wasn't quickly forgotten by any who stumbled upon him.
"Then you have met all of us," Ororo said smiling at the younger woman that she had grown to like over days that Emma had spent at the mansion.
"You said everybody is a mutant but me, so what's their power?" Emma asked Ororo curiously. The witch had noticed that Ororo didn't tell her much unless she pumped her for information. As she was curious by nature it was not a problem for her to ask questions.
"I prefer to call it a gift myself," Ororo said trying to direct Emma to use more politically correct words in the house that was filled with mutants, "as you know I can affect the weather."
"Yes, I remember that you said it was a gift," Emma said smiling at the woman sitting with her. The mutant power was a curious thing to her and very interesting.
"Do you know your eyes turn white when your power is on? Does that happen with everybody?"
"Not at all. There is no common factor that you can use over a group of mutants simply because we are too different to be categorized," Ororo said not unkindly as she genuinely appreciated Emma's curiosity on the matter. She had noticed that Emma had a curious mind that loved to ask questions about everything under the sun. Ororo could just picture how she had been when she was a child and the endless questions she must have asked back then.
"I'm sorry Ororo. I didn't mean to offend in any way, I'm just curious," Emma said apologetically not wanting to ruffle any feathers with the woman that she had started to like quite a lot.
"No, you got me wrong! I am thrilled that you're asking. It's my pleasure to teach you about mutants and the differences between them. It's better for you to know so you can understand us."
"What's Scott's thing?" she saw Ororo look at her with a disapproving glance, so Emma decided to quickly fix it, "I meant of course ... errr gift?"
"Besides being good looking you mean?" Ororo joked being rewarded by a giggle from Emma who had noticed the same thing herself.
"You have noticed that he always wears sunglasses?"
Emma nodded at that; she had wondered about it. Even though it was a different life from the magical world she had not seen anyone but Scott wearing sunglass all day and evening.
"Yes, he doesn't seem the type to use them as much as he does," Emma replied hoping that Ororo wouldn't get that comment wrong as well. She didn't and nodded in understanding.
"Scott's gift is an immense laser beam from his eyes. The glasses help him to control his gift so we won't all be burnt to ashes.
"I'm trying to picture it in my mind, but it's very difficult," Emma admitted having never seen anything resembling it and she was quite stunned at the power that Scott possessed. It was amazing to know that non-magical people could have such power.
"I'm sure you will see it at some point," Ororo said smiling, "he often practises it, as we all try to enhance our strengths and reduce our weaknesses."
"And Hank? Besides being a mutant activist, a physician and ... blue," Emma said blushing furiously at her last statement. Ororo laughed at that, Hank was indeed very blue and hairy.
"His nickname is The Beast even though you wouldn't think so since of his usual gentile nature," Ororo said more lovingly than she realized and Emma shot her a teasing glance full of understanding. Romantic feelings were clearly brewing between Hank and Ororo that the witch did not want to investigate further until the two resolved them.
"Beast would be the furthest away from what I've seen from him. He has been nothing but kind towards me," Emma said not hiding the fact that she held him in the highest regard. Hank had been kind and gentle to the little human that was learning the ways of mutants. He went out of his way to explain things to Emma, that she was quite certain she should have understood but didn't due to her upbringing at Hogwarts. The gentle giant had endless patience for her questions as he shared Emma's thirst for knowledge.
"It's for his alter ego that he picked it, when he's fighting, he can be vicious. A real beast."
"And Logan? His gift is smoking cigars or the way he drinks a beer in mere seconds?" Emma said sarcastically to Ororo who laughed loudly at her words.
"Well now it's confirmed, you have met the real Logan," Ororo laughed knowing that at first glance that's how Logan appeared.
"I've only seen that side," Emma said apologetically since she had only met him a few times during the night when neither of them wanted to talk. The silence was what had connected the two tortured souls in the beginning.
"Don't worry, that's as far as most people will get to see. Logan is a very private person. A friend of his friends but the rest he won't care for one way or another."
"He looks like the type of person you would love to have on your team and hate to have against you," Emma said knowingly after her share of battles in her life. She would have loved to have Logan on her team when her world crumbled around her in the war and the thought surprised her. The witch was startled to admit to herself that she trusted the gruff mutant, even if they had only shared a few words over the time they knew each other. Somehow, Logan simply felt safe to her, and not many felt safe to Emma Winter.
"That's Logan in a nutshell. A formidable ally and a dreaded enemy," Ororo muttered thinking of all the times that Logan had picked on Scott in the past or how often he had saved them from a tight spot. There was no question that Logan was beloved by the mutants at Xavier's but most of them had seen his temper and knew exactly what his mutation made him capable of. The Wolverine allowed no one to stand in his way if he wanted something, especially if that something was revenge.