William walked through an archway leading to the main staircases, then heard a woman call, "excuse me!"
He stopped, leaving his hands in his robe pockets as he turned around with his eyebrows raised a little. He laid eyes on Professor Grimm, and she scurried over with a few large books in her arms. She panted a little, winded from trying to ascend the stairs with the added load in her arms. William held out his hands, offering, "may I carry any of those for you, Professor?"
"Would you mind?" She asked sweetly, allowing him to pull two from her arms. She leaned toward him a little to make it easier, saying, "I feel bad asking, but I feel even worse after going up five stories with these. Of course my classroom just had to be on the seventh floor."
William smiled politely with a laugh, saying, "and taking two trips wouldn't be a good use of your time."
Professor Grimm gave him a bright smile with an eager nod, saying, "exactly! I'm glad someone understands!"
The two of them started ascending the stairs, with Professor Grimm adding, "also, I'm not sure we've met. I'm Professor Grimm, the new arithmancy professor. Thanks for the help- um…. I'm sorry, what is your name?"
"William—"
"William! Yes, thank you. I'll award some house points to Gryffindor—" she said with a grin, making William humbly smile and reply with, "that's very kind of you. Thank you."
"Of course! I'd love to give back to my house as an alumni of Gryffindor. I'm glad to see that there's still impeccably mannered students belonging to the house," she said, and William gave her a curious but hopeful smile as he said, "you were in Gryffindor?"
She nodded vigorously again, proudly lifting her chin as she declared, "I absolutely was."
"Well, the house is great. I'm thrilled I was sorted into it and wouldn't change it for anything," William told her, making her smile into a heartfelt pout as she went, "I'm so glad to hear. It's a wonderful place to be."
The rest of the way to the office was filled with laughter as William caught her up to date with the antics of Gryffindor house's students. She shared with him some of her own stories, and the two of them found out about some common house traditions had been done in both of their days as students. Before they knew it, they were putting the books away in her classroom on a shelf near her desk.
"William, thank you so much for your help. There's only one thing I wanted to ask— could you point me in the direction of Professor Theodora Gaunt's office? I don't think I was ever told where it was," she asked hesitantly, feeling bad for having taken up his time only to ask for another favor. William only smiled in return, saying, "I'm actually headed there now to meet up with Eva; she's a friend of mine who is close with Professor Gaunt. I know they paid her a visit this afternoon— I'll show you where it is."
With Professor Grimm profusely thanking him, the two of them made their way down a few flights of stairs to a corner of the castle on the side where the Quidditch fields were, finding Theodora in her office with Eva. Professor Grimm handed a folded letter to her, announcing that a clumsy owl had slammed into her window with Theodora's mail, to which Theodora rolled her eyes with a laugh.
"Thank you, Professor Grimm. I'm so sorry my owl is such a klutz," Theodora said, standing and walking over to Professor Grimm to take the letter. William stood in the back just beyond the doorframe in the room, seeing Eva give him a smile as she stood up from a chair that faced Theodora's desk. He offered her a shy smile, with Professor Grimm turning her head to take a glance at him.
"Professor Grimm, William— please help yourself to some tea while you're here. I just brewed some," Theodora announced, pouring some from a piping hot kettle into two cups that she set down on the counter while she prepared Eva a glass.
William suddenly whirled around, taking a step to his right as if something had appeared behind him. The three of them looked, seeing Leviathan's body a blur, passing where William's head had been seconds before. He flopped around, finally crashing onto a desk, where William ran over to make sure he was alright.
Professor Grimm's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she watched William gently picking up the owl and taking a letter out of its beak, and observed him frantically asking the owl— rhetorically— if it was okay. Eva came over to help, and Theodora gave them a small frown as she apologized for Leviathan's clumsiness again. Grimm picked up a cup of tea, holding it under her face to feel the hot steam against her chin with the smell of green tea wafting past her. She then approached them with the owl, bending over behind William to see Leviathan's small leg twitch as he sneezed.
"He's fine, thank goodness," Eva said, judging Leviathan's behavior as typical. It was the usual for when he crashed into things, further confirmed by Theodora's sigh. She turned her back to them, searching her cabinet for napkins to go with the tea. William then stiffened, pulling Eva toward him with such force that she fell onto his lap. Leviathan suddenly took off, hurdling toward Professor Grimm, making her cry out. Leviathan took a steep climb in front of her, nearly hitting her, causing her to jump back with some tea spilling in her wake. It fell to the ground, where Eva had been moments before.
William turned pale, looking Professor Grimm in the eyes as she said, "I'm so sorry, Eva. Thankfully William moved you out of the way in time."
"Leviathan's flight pattern usually looks like he'll hit you, but he normally moves out of the way at the last second. I'm just glad nobody got burned," Theodora answered calmly, waving her wand to clean the mess.
She's testing me, how does she know I'm a seer— he thought, then remembered how he dodged Leviathan's flight into the classroom a bit too early.
I was right… he thought, narrowing his eyes as Professor Grimm, gently squeezed Eva's shoulder apologetically.
She was about to spill boiling water on Eva— he then saw her glance over at him, and she gave him a smile that seemed a little too smug for his liking.
How did she know I would save her in time?! What if I didn't-
William looked at the woman, seeing her serene smile as she wiped tea with a towel on the ground, saying something that William wasn't listening to. She seemed fine, and completely normal.
She knew I'd be there. She knew because she read my mind.
Professor Grimm had moved on to some other topic already with Eva and Theodora, laughing with the two girls as William quickly tried to process his thoughts. The only thing that he could really manage to think was, what is she planning?
Evander sat at his desk, bent over exams of his third year students as he graded them in the silence of the potions classroom. He adjusted his reading glasses, feeling himself growing sleepy with the repetitive work and seemingly endless work in front of him. He looked over his lenses, hearing soft knocking at the door. He called out, "come in," then saw William enter the room and close the door behind him.
"Professor, I was wondering if I could speak to you about something. Privately, if you wouldn't mind," William said, his voice lower and much more cryptic than usual. Evander knew something was wrong, and took his glasses off to lay them on the desk in front of him. William approached the desk, looking at the floor with a sharp inhale.
"I was wondering if you could help train me with defensive magic…" he hesitantly began, looking up to see Evander raise an eyebrow with intrigue.
"I can tell you have something particular in mind," he told William, to which he nodded slowly.
"What kind were you thinking, William?"
William looked over to a window, pausing for a moment before saying, "Occlumency, sir."
Evander only looked at William, making him worry that he would begin questioning him. William didn't know how else to get the training he needed without being up-front about it, and hoped for the best.
To his surprise, Evander didn't question him. His expression caught William off guard— Evander seemed more empathetic than curious of his request.
Ah, he's a walking diary. With a lock, William concluded. Evander's expression remained calm, but knowing. He lived much of his life with secrets, and wouldn't push William to reveal his own. Evander stood up, walking around to the front of his desk, standing a few feet in front of William with a serious gleam in his eyes.
"William, are you sure about this? Are you prepared for me to know everything about you?"
William looked back into Evander's eyes, his thoughts racing as he thought of the countless things he's hid from the people around him. He had put so much effort into keeping it all to himself, it felt ironic that he was giving Evander permission to see everything. William then thought of Professor Grimm's smile, when her eyes met his and seemed a little too knowing.
If it'll protect people...
"I am, Professor Lestrange. I think you'll see that I'm not exactly who you think I am."
"UUUUGGGHHHH I'm so sick of this!" Eva whined, outstretching her arms dramatically on the table in the library as she laid her head down. Isidore looked over to her from his book, raising his eyebrows as she added, "I can't stay awake. Am I bored or tired?"
"Yes," Isidore answered dryly, making Eva's shoulders twitch with a snort of laughter. She sat up, shaking her head with a few hard blinks, then said, "I'm not sure how to stay awake."
Isidore looked up for a moment, thinking, then shrugged and said, "I could braid your hair."
"What?"
"You'll feel me working on it, and you can read aloud what you're studying. It'll work." Isidore's simple logic made sense to Eva, although it was unconventional, but she agreed nevertheless. She sat up, nodding to him, and he got up from his chair and walked behind her. She handed him a scrunchy from around her wrist, then she felt him gently comb through her hair at the crown of her head.
"How do you know how to braid hair?" Eva asked, and Isidore replied, "I have two younger sisters. I used to do this all the time."
"Ah," Eva sighed, reaching for the worksheet nearby. She felt him tug gently on the braid, then felt his long fingers reach over her ear as he pulled a strand into the braid. She stared forward for a second, frozen as she thought he's really close.
"'The Impediment jinx is commonly used during duels to slow down your opponent,'" Eva began, reading from the took in front of her. The entire time she read, she honestly didn't really pay attention to the words and was focused on Isidore. He was incredibly gentle with her hair, managing to work through the occasional tangle in her curls without pulling or hurting her. He was clearly skilled, but the thing she couldn't get her mind off of were the usual self-conscious thoughts she had.
Before she knew it, she felt him tie her hair at the bottom of the braid and announce, "done." She reached behind her, tracing her hands down the braid and felt it all in place, in perfect proportions with each strand. It felt straight too, and he left volume in her hair at the same time.
"Eva, your hair's looking good!" she heard, turning to see Eleonora walking by with a textbook in her arms. Eva grinned, asking, "really?! Thanks!"
"Yeah, that's a perfect French braid," Eleonora said, taking Eva's braid and pulling it over her shoulder to drape it over her chest. Eleonora smiled at it, and Eva said, "Isidore did it for me."
"Did he, now? I din't know he could do hair so well," Eleonora replied with a smile as she looked behind Eva's head, then she added, "you look pretty."
Eva whirled around to Eleonora, visibly reddening with a touched expression. "Ella, thank you," she cried, waving a hand as she continued flustering over the compliments. Eleonora gave them both a nod, heading out of the library and down the hallway. She played over what she had seen, still surprised that Isidore had done Eva's hair.
He actually looked... really happy, Eleonora thought as she recalled the vivid image of Isidore crossing a long lock of blond hair over another, standing behind Eva with a hint of a smile on his face. It had seemed like Eva was trying not to smile too much herself, and like she was hardly paying attention to the words she was reading aloud. Small gestures like those were impactful for Eva, and especially endearing coming from Isidore.
"Oh- ouch!" Eleonora cried, squeezing her eyes shut and coming to a stop in the hallway. She removed her glasses, gently pressing against the area under her her lashes rather than above to avoid ruining makeup, feeling the burning sensation lessen a little as blinked a few times.
"Ah I forgot to blink for a really long time," she muttered to herself as she felt the dryness beginning to lessen. She put her glasses back on, then groaned when she adjusted the book in her arms.
The one reason I went to the library was to return the book, and I did everything but that, apparently. I was so distracted by Isidore, I completely forgot to return this, she realized, looking over her shoulder and contemplating if she would go back. I could return this and not deal with late penalties, but...
That would be embarrassing.
Not long after, she entered the common room and found Tom seated on a couch by the fireplace. He was leaning against the armrest, and upon closer inspection she realized he was asleep. He had a book set on his lap, his arms resting on top of it as if he was guarding it. The spine of the book read, Slytherin's Lesser Known Deeds, with dark faded lettering that indicated the age of the book. As intriguing as that was, she knew it was getting close to dinner, so she gently shook his shoulder saying, "Tom, wake up."
After a couple shakes, she felt his shoulder stiffen and he lifted his head, opening his eyes with a few blinks. He looked at her sheepish smile, sitting up straighter as he rubbed his eyes with a croaky, "Eleonora?"
"Dinner's in 15 minutes," she said gently, sitting next to him. He set the book upright against the armrest on the right as he stretched his arms up, with her concluding If he wanted to talk about it, he would've set it between us.
"You've been really tired lately. You feeling okay?" she said, and he nodded as he straightened out his uniform from the stretch he just took. "I just haven't slept much lately."
"Are you up reading or having an existential crisis?"
"Yes." She looked at him, snorting with laughter at the smirk he offered with his snarky answer. She rolled her eyes with a shake of her head, pushing against his arm lightly with her own as he let out a small laugh. She stood up, saying, "I need to return this book to my room real quick, then we can head to dinner."
"Be careful." Eleonora gave him a wry smile, saying, "I won't trip over the ground this time."
She began walking away, looking him in the eye as he grinned with a skeptical shake of his head. "You'll find something else to trip over."
She gave him a smirk, replying with "we'll see." Within her next step, she felt her Mary Janes kick a table, her body screeching to a halt as she lunged over the table at her feet. She bolted upright, feeling her face redden as she heard Tom burst out laughing. He stood up, tucking the book under his right arm as walked over to her.
He held out his left arm for her, saying, "watch the table." She looked at it for a moment, then linked her arm through his and said, "what's this?"
"It wouldn't be awfully gentlemanly of me to let you walk back alone after that," he said with a light giggle, and she said, "I know, I know. Elaine reminds me I'm a hazard to myself all the time."
He raised his eyebrows with a smile showing his restrained laughter, and she shook her head as they walked toward the dorms. They crossed the room, stopping by where the hallway to the female living quarters began. They let go of their arms, and she turned to face him, looking up to his tall stature with a sarcastic grin on her face.
"Thank you for getting me all the way over here in one piece, Tom."
He bowed slightly forward sarcastically, and she added, "I don't know what I would've done without you."
"I'm glad I could get you here safely."
"I'll be back soon. I'll be very careful as I embark on my own," she said, backing into the hall. He grinned back at her, then she turned with a swirl of her robes and strode down the hallway to the living quarters.
It never failed to amaze him how gifted she was. Her magical abilities were incredibly powerful and strong, her quidditch playing highly skilled and seemingly effortless. Yet on the inside she was clumsy, sarcastic, and endearing in her own way. The contrast was amusing to him. It got him thinking with the reading he did, especially in the book he held in his arms. It was easy to forget the most powerful wizards were regular people too, which lead him to his next thought:
I wonder what the founders were like.
A/N: *laughs* If only Tom saw the Hogwarts founders memes.
Thanks for tuning in again! I'll probably have another update soon because I wrote ahead again. I'm just trying to piece together how I want everything to flow. If I can ever figure it out.
