"I am so bored," said Lal, putting her head in her arms. She was as prepared as she wanted to be with the end of year exams...not that she needed more than a minor refresher, but still. She didn't feel like training, the weather wasn't the least bit conductive for flying, and there wasn't much point in reading when everyone was studying so hard for their tests.
So you could imagine her surprise when Professor Flitwick asked her into his office.
"Is there a problem sir?"
"In a manner of speaking. I've noticed that you don't seem very challenged in class," said Flitwick. "It's not the first time I've had a student who needs a little more challenging in their coursework."
"You mean like Hermione?"
"Ms. Granger is a good student, but she doesn't have the same instinctual grasp of magic that you do. She's far too close-minded and sticks too much to the source material. Perhaps when she opens her mindset she could be a great witch, but right now what she needs is more socialization instead of book learning."
"...The teachers tend to skim her work because it has too many minor details that are best left out, don't they?" said Lal sweatdropping.
Flitwick coughed, neither confirming or denying it.
"In any case, it would be a great disservice as a teacher to allow one of my students to be held back because of your age. Which is why I'm going to be giving you a special test at the end of the year to see exactly what your true level is, and come up with a lesson plan for you."
"Are you sure sir?" asked Lal surprised.
"It is the teacher's job to ensure a student properly flourishes, and holding you back on account of the other students would only stunt your true growth," said Flitwick firmly. "And as one of my Eagles, I intend to see how far you can fly while using this school as your nest."
Lal grin was rather infectious...there was a reason she always liked Professor Flitwick over some of the other teachers. He actually cared about his students, and listened to what they had to say.
Which was why Lal put actual effort into refreshing what she knew of magic, particularly charms. She wanted to see what else Flitwick could teach her when he wasn't using the same kiddie gloves for everyone else.
When exam time hit, Lal eagerly awaited her charms test.
She wasn't disappointed. Right from the very start Flitwick went straight from third-year level charms and continued to progress in difficulty until she had to actually think about how to get past the little obstacle course he had set up.
Then came the final part of the exam. She had to face Flitwick and cast the most advanced and difficult charm she knew. She would admit she was a bit rusty considering she had to combine some of the lower-year charms to get this far, but she felt pretty confident that she would get a really good grade.
Lal was so glad pensieves were a thing, because the wide-eyed shock on Flitwick's face when she cast a corporeal patronus was one memory she'd cherish for a very long time. Considering the difficulty level of the spell, she had always considered it a baseline when it came to her magic training.
For most it was the visualization and the power levels that made the charm difficult.
However there was one thing that had her frown.
"Just as I thought...it's not a stag," said Lal in annoyance. "Tch... just how long is that idiot going to haunt my steps?"
Where the stag used to be was a very familiar falcon. For some strange reason just looking at Falco made her feel as though that idiot student of hers was standing at her back, ready and willing to stand by her side or even jump into a curse he knew nothing about to protect her.
Lal felt unexpectedly irritated... that damn idiot, haunting her even now.
"I must say, I never expected you to have reached that level of control with your magic," said Flitwick. "Full marks, across the board. It would seem you would be wasted on the normal curriculum below fifth year, but I cannot allow you to join those lessons for a few years yet."
"I had a feeling," said Lal. She was somewhat exhausted, but she looked pleased with herself. She wasn't as out of shape as she thought, but she did spend a lot of time training or practicing. And casting the patronus was magically exhausting, so it made her core grow far more than the paltry first year spells ever could.
"In light of recent events, I believe a compromise would work best... I want you to help the other students under fifth year with their homework."
"I can do that."
"And in exchange, I'll personally instruct you on the weekends in the art of dueling. I would hate to see your potential in combat charms wasted when it could flourish under the proper training."
Lal perked up at that. Her own training had reached a rut, and learning real dueling as opposed to on-the-go warfare with limited magical training sounded right up her alley.
It was as she was heading back to her dorm, tired but happy, that it happened. She had honestly forgotten Quirrelmort.
Waking up in that chamber staring at the mirror was rather annoying. Especially when she saw his face staring back at her older self...only with matching wedding bands and wearing what could only be a wedding dress with him in a military uniform used for formal occasions.
The second she saw that, any thought of faking it died.
"What the fuck are you trying to show me, you shitty mirror?!" she demanded, completely red in the face.
The odds of that idiot falling for her twice were ridiculously low to begin with, much less having that sort of ending.
Lal was so pissed off she barely even noticed the stone dropping into her pocket. All she wanted was to take her inexplicable rage out on a worthy target, and wouldn't you know it? The possessed Defense teacher made a very tempting victim of her wrath.
Lal's eyebrows were twitching rampantly as she took out her semi-automatic gun and started using Quirrelmort as target practice.
"Dance, fucker dance!" she cackled.
By the time Dumbledore arrived, Lal had gotten bored and killed Quirrelmort...and then promptly called one of the elves to deliver her to the dorms.
She wanted a hot bath, some food and a well deserved nap after the long day she had.
A few days later...
"How did you get into the advanced courses?!" demanded Hermione.
"Professor Flitwick noticed how bored I was during class and took me aside and offered me a deal. I had to get through an obstacle course where I had to use my magic to escape and then cast the most advanced and powerful charm I knew of for my grades. Apparently the charm I used is something that would have gotten me an O in the secondary magical exams because of how hellishly complicated and magic-intensive it is," said Lal shrugging. "As a result instead of having to do the written work he wants to see if I can get other students to improve their Charms grades while he teaches me dueling on the weekends," said Lal.
"That is so unfair!" said Hermione, huffing.
"Are you mad because I don't have to do the written course work, or because he didn't offer you a similar deal?"
From the expression on Hermione's face, it was mostly the latter.
"Hermione, the reason he didn't offer you the same thing is because you rely too much on what the books tell you. He said you need to broaden your horizons more."
"What does that mean?" demanded Hermione hotly. Neville tried to make himself smaller.
Lal pinned her down with a stare.
"You take the books as gospel and never try to expand the range of what is possible with your magic. Simply put your mindset is too restrictive to achieve your full potential and the teachers generally skim your homework without properly reading it because you have a bad habit of adding too many minor details. They like the fact you bother to remember that stuff, but they don't want to waste their time reading about it when you could be showing them how deep your understanding of your craft is instead."
Hermione flinched.
"What should I do?"
"Loosen up. Try to put the theory books down for once or learn to try and read some fantasy for a change. While muggles can't use magic, their imagination when it comes to what is possible more than makes up for the lack and they often come up with some really good ideas. I know for a fact there's a lending system among the Ravenclaws when it comes to fiction and fantasy novels because it often helps the upper years come up with interesting breakthroughs for their personal projects."
Lal planned to bring a ton of fiction and manga novels for the unofficial library. If only to kill her boredom.
Somewhere in France...
"Holy cow, who's that total cutie over there?" said Gerry.
"What cutie?" said Cole.
"Over there! That girl with the green eyes and black hair! She gives off a totally different feel than the other girls, ya know?"
Cole looked to where his casual friend was pointing, and stared.
That face, those features, the aura of an indomitable will combined with the fierce passion of a tiger on the prowl... Cole felt his heart beating wildly at the very sight of her.
She wasn't some untouchable beauty, but rather held herself with all the confidence of a mature older woman who was perfectly comfortable in her own skin and wasn't ashamed to show it off. At the same time, her clothes were casual and had the feel of someone all too happy to get down and dirty with the boys and show them who the real top dog was.
The other girls immediately gravitated to her, as did the weaker boys. She seemed to have a vibe of a "mature, older sister" who was fond of her younger siblings to the point of being nurturing, even if she tried to hide behind a wall of thorns.
Cole had the strangest feeling of deja vu looking at her. He had to meet her.
"Hey Cole, where are you going?"
"Hey there sweetheart... I thought angels were supposed to stay in heaven?" said Cole without thinking.
The girl's face twitched, and suddenly the calm, mature older sister vibe she had going on disappeared in an instant.
"Sweetheart?" she repeated, dangerously. "Let's get one thing straight blondie..."
She grabbed his collar and brought him down to eye level with her. His heart beated rapidly staring into those vibrant green eyes. There was a passion unlike anything he had ever experienced behind her gaze, as well as a drive to succeed.
"I'm not sweet..." said the girl... before she punched him hard in the gut. "And I don't have a heart."
Cole felt the wind going out of him, and seeing the irritation she had on her face he fell even harder for her.
"Can I at least have your name?"
"Lilac," she replied. "And for the record, I am not interested in dating."
"Cole, you alright?"
"...I think I'm in love," said Cole, staring after her.
That weird feeling of deja vu was only getting worse. It felt rather natural to tease her and be told off by the irate woman, who was at least two years younger than him. At the same time he couldn't help but be drawn into her rhythm and followed her orders naturally.
A week later...
Cole was out taking a walk since he couldn't really sleep. For some reason he kept having strange dreams.
Dreams of an older woman with brown eyes that looked like an adult version of Lilac wearing military fatigues and carrying a sniper rifle. She held an aura of command about her, but at the same time there was no doubt in his mind that she genuinely cared about her subordinates.
Either way he couldn't get Lilac out of his mind.
It was as he was heading back that he heard something. It sounded like someone was trying to skip rocks on the lake.
Curious, he went to find out who else was up this late.
And was caught completely by the sight of Lilac trying...and failing miserably...to skip rocks.
"Dammit! How hard is it to skip a freaking rock against a lake?!"
Cole had to hide his laugh. Her expression right now was seriously too cute for him to take. The amount of energy she was putting into doing something as ridiculous as skipping a rock was rather adorable.
Lilac nearly gave him one nasty black eye when he walked up behind her.
"You're putting too much force into it. Here, let me show you."
Okay, so he might have cheated a little with a bit of wandless magic to make it repel against the water for a few seconds, but he was trying to look better in front of a girl he really liked.
He tossed the rock in a calm, smooth motion and it skipped seven times before sinking.
Lilac picked up another rock, and tried again. Her movements were a bit jerky, but the rock still managed to skip at least once.
"See?" said Cole gently.
He couldn't tell under the limited moonlight, but he would swear she was blushing slightly.
It was strangely relaxing, tossing rocks under the moonlight. At least until Lilac noticed the time.
"You're seriously cute when you're trying to be serious, you know that?" said Cole.
"Shut up, you idiot!" said Lilac.
He would almost swear she was blushing.
Lilac POV
It was official. She was in her own personal hell because of that boy.
Cole reminded her painfully of a younger, more naive Colonello to the point it was almost unbearable to be around him. Worse, the idiot was clearly a budding masochist of some sort if the way he kept coming back despite all the time she kicked his ass was any indication.
It was torture...the more time she spent around that idiot, the more she was reminded of her foolish student who was so brazen as to jump into the middle of an unknown curse for her and continued to try and win her affections even after she fell into despair. No matter what she threw at him or how many times she rejected him, that blond fool would come back.
Though in the end, perhaps she was the most foolish of all.
Lal wanted to smack herself.
She didn't have time for romance or painful memories. She had to deal with the idiocy of England and make it back into COMSUBIN so that she could see him again. If she lost sight of her goal now, she might as well throw in the towel entirely.
In the end she would always be another soldier reporting to stand at the ready against the wolves at the door.