"Because I'm not sure I wanna work for your mother... even less when I'm not sure she's a good ruler... no offence intended, Professor"

"Some taken, Miss Swan. You do realize that a similar offer won't happen again, right?"

"Right" I answered.

She frowned, and kept looking at me. I could not tear my eyes away from hers. She deeply exhaled, stood up and left the room.

Chapter 5. Magic

"Come on, you need some fresh air!" Ruby said.

I growled. She was sitting on my bed, right next to me, and had just woken me from a dream. The dream was about teasing, and never succeeding in kissing a certain teacher.

"Fuck, Rubes! What time is it?"

"It's nearly noon, sleepy head! Rise and shine! You need to eat, and I need to go out! I already made us sandwiches, and everything! Come on!"

"Red, I'm not even washed…"

"Well, use your picturing thing!"

I laughed at that.

"I'm not sure it works that way, you know"

She sighed, obviously exasperated with my behavior.

"And I'm sure it does! Get up and picture you all clean, with clothes, and tadam! That's it!"

I got up, and tried it. But it did not work.

"See? Told you so…"

"Oh please, you didn't even try! Don't think I'm an idiot! Close your eyes and concentrate, for Christ's sakes!"

Once again, I did as I was told. This amazed me; I was not the kind to comply with orders. I pictured myself cleaned, with a pair of jeans, a casual white shirt, and my red jacket. By the gasp Ruby made, I assumed it worked this time.

"Wow! I'm so jealous of you right now! You actually smell as if you had just taken a shower! This is unbelievable! You should do something about your hair, now. Curl it, you look gorgeous when you do! And put on some make-up, too."

I laughed again, and did so.

"Again… wow. I'm not sure if I love you or hate you…"

"Well, if it works on me, it would totally work on you too, you know."

Her smile was so radiant, it made me smile as well.

"Oh. My. God. I want my hair red. With some curls. Please."

I laughed, and instantly her hair was as she had just asked me. She went to my bathroom, screamed some very bad words, and came back saying:

"No, I love you! I'm soooooooo happy to be your friend"

"Glad to know that our friendship is absolutely not interested" I joked.

"It's not. I also appreciate your company from time to time. You know, if I were you, I would work on that cleavage of yours, though. We have a class with Miss Mills this afternoon…"

"Rubes, she can't date students, I already told you that."

"Well, make her regret it… she can't touch, but she can admire the buffet" she winked.

I thought about it for a second, and deepened the said cleavage. Ruby gave me an appreciative smile, took her bags and dragged me out of the room.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked her.

"The gardens! We'll eat on the grass" she grinned.

I smiled at her enthusiasm. It was hard to feel depressed with her.

"So what about a little training of your super cool powers?" she said.

"Depends on the training…"

"Carry my bags for me?"

"It's not about powers, that is slavery" I laughed.

"Not carry them this way, silly! Elevate them and make them follow us, or something" she smiled.

The bags elevated in front of us, and seemed to lead the way.

"Great! Now, take off one of the sandwiches!"

And it kept on like this, up until we finally arrived at the courtyard. She had made me dissembled the sandwich by then. As it all went back in her bag, we noticed a group of students, nonchalantly lying on the grass and eating. I recognized Peter (who was sitting up in the air), Aurora, Belle and Philippe. There was also a Chinese girl I had seen once or twice, and three other persons I had never met.

"Wanna join them?" I asked Ruby.

"Er… not really…"

"You realize you can speak to her, right?"

"Right, but not now" she answered.

We passed next to them, waving hello, but did not stop. We settled one chain away, under a tree.

"You know, it amazes me, how the sun shines underground. I mean, how is it possible to recreate it down here?" I asked.

"We're in a magical place, surrounded by magical people, and this is what surprises you?" Red laughed.

"You're right… I'm still trying to get used to it all…"

We ate, discussing common subjects. Ruby was often glancing at Belle, and I caught the latter looking at my friend several times.

"You should definitely talk to her, Rubes."

"I already did. And I'm not sure she's a… very nice person." She frowned.

"What do you mean by that?" I disbelievingly asked her.

"Remember that day when Regina asked you to stay at the end of her class, after what happened between the boys?"

I nodded. Of course, I remembered it. I had almost kissed her back then.

"Well, we had a little chat at the end of it. And they were all very adamant about how wanderers are inferior, compared to us."

"Well, maybe she was just trying not to disagree with them…"

"Oh no, actually she very much agreed with them, showing evidence of their… inferiority. It made me sick. And it doesn't even make sense! She's a vampire!"

I remained silent. I did not know what to reply. This kind of discussions made me uncomfortable, I had a bad feeling about all this. I just shrugged, and addressed her a complying smile. The door of the gardens opened in the distance, and Graham and Regina came in. They seemed to be arguing.

"Fuck. What the hell are they doing here? It's not even that idiot's level!" I growled.

"Apparently, it's not a pleasant conversation, sweetie" Ruby tried to reassure me.

"Yeah, troubles in paradise… I thought she wasn't allowed to date her students" I angrily said.

"Technically, he's not her student… fourth and fifth years have other teachers…"

"Great."

They had stopped, still arguing, not even noticing the people surrounding them. And I just fixed them, studying her. She was breathtaking, as always. She seemed to have gain even more self-confidence over the months. As always, her short skirt fitted her perfectly, emphasizing her perfect curves. Her hands were in the pockets of her black jacket, and her killer hills accentuated her femme fatale side. I was so absorbed in my contemplation, that I did not notice the door opening once again. Ruby gently poked me.

"Neal's here, Ems".

And indeed he was, coming to us. Seeing his face expression, I figured I would have a hell of a time.

"Great" I repeated.

But as he passed near the other group, some of them shouted at him. Her turned to them, and asked something. We were not close enough to hear it, but Regina and Graham did. They turned to them, and impassively watched the interaction. Soon, it became obvious what it was about. The taleners were making fun of him, again. And they were outnumbering him. Suddenly, Neal was elevated in the air, his head upside down. It outraged me, and I got up instantly, coordinately with Red. We ran to them, and I screamed something like "What the hell do you think you're doing?". They watched us coming and when we arrived close enough, Peter answered me:

"Swan, when will you understand that you're not supposed to defend them?"

I did not reply, I simply raised my hand, taking control of Neal, breaking Peter's telekinesis and gently pulled him back to the ground. He immediately reached his wand.

"Stop!" Ruby exclaimed.

But nobody listened; they all got up and attacked each other. It was a complete mess. Neal had created a magical shield around him, so none of the physical attacks reached him. But I was sick of it. I raised my hand again, and elevated the eight taleners, blocking their moves, and stopping their powers. Peter and Philippe tried to break my grip but failed.

"Now, you listen to me…"

"Free us, Swan" Philippe interrupted me.

I silenced them all.

"As I said, you listen to me. What you're doing is sick. We're all the same; there are no fucking inferiority between us. Do you realize your behavior?"

Ruby continued:

"What is wrong with you, people? We all have powers, why would you take into account the source of it?"

"This is just fucking wrong…" I added.

"Language, dear."

Her voice ran through all of my body, sending shivers in my spine, and arousing me beyond imaginable. By the sound of it, I figured she was not far away behind me. Remembering who she was with, it just made me angrier. I did not turn around, and just waited for her to continue.

"Now, let them go."

"I'm not sure they understood the lesson quite yet, Professor" I angrily replied.

"It's not up to you to teach them, Miss Swan"

At that, I finally turned back, rage written all over my face.

"Right. That is up to you. And yet, seeing eight people bullying one person didn't seem to bother you. Oh but wait, I'm sorry. You were probably too busy doing other things…"

I pointedly looked at Graham, then back at her. She stared at me, furious. But her rage didn't match mine. She raised her hand and tried to free them of my grip. I felt her try. It took me all my rage not to let her power control mine. When she did not succeed, she disbelievingly looked at me. I smirked. Then Neal laughed and said:

"Oh my God, Ems. I knew you were good, but this is just priceless, sweetie."

And this time, the rage I saw in her eyes was completely surpassing mine. The taleners were freed in the instant. She then said:

"Miss French, I expect to see you at the lecture, tonight. Same for you, Mr Pan. The three of you – she was pointing at Ruby, Neal and I – in my office. Now."

She turned, and rapidly walked away, Graham just behind her. We silently followed. I was wondering why Belle and Peter were assisting a lecture we had not heard about. I questioningly looked at Ruby, but she seemed lost, too. Graham excused himself and went away after saying "I'll see you later", touching her arm. I felt the jealousy running through me for the hundredth time that day. As he walked away, I made him stumble. Nobody noticed but Regina who sniggered. I smiled. She entered her office, and held the door for us. I came in last, looking straight in her eyes, and brushed her arm with my own. She cleared her throat, averting her eyes, and closed the door. She made three chairs appear, inviting us to sit down. She went to sit on her own chair, behind her desk, and stared at us for several seconds. However, she did not maintain any eye-contact with me.

"I cannot tolerate this sort of behavior…"

Neal immediately and angrily interrupted her. She murderously looked at him:

"What the…? We didn't do anything! I was just walking, and here I am, six feet off the ground, and not able to move! Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Mr. Cassidy, your punishment is now of one week."

"One week of what?" he suspiciously asked.

"Community services… you will keep clean the toilets" she devilishly smirked.

He gasped, his mouth wide open, completely astonished by the injustice. He did not even reply.

"As for you, Miss Lucas, I would have thought you were smarter than that. Nonetheless, you did not use your powers to fight, and consequently, you will only clean up the gardens this afternoon."

I laughed at that. The unfairness of it all just seemed too great. Ruby had not even said anything rude. Regina turned to me, and said:

"Something funny, Miss Swan?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Something very funny. What about the wanderophobic assholes?"

"For the second time today, Miss Swan, watch your tongue…"

"Oh don't worry, Professor, I perfectly know when to use my tongue." I interrupted her, smirking. I paused a second, and she was taken aback, but before she could answer my innuendo, I continued "But I don't think that describing that kind of discriminatory behaviors with bad words, is something to be reprimanded".

"And again, Miss Swan, it is not up to you to decide that. You will effectuate one month of community services."

"What should I take care of? The toilets and the gardens being taken, would you like me to clean your room?" I teased.

She inhaled deeply as if she was outraged by my presumptuousness. But I knew better: she was probably trying not to picture me cleaning her room. And as her cheeks reddened (proving me right), I could not help but sneer. That angered her.

"My room is clean enough, dear. Thank you for the offer, I shall keep that in mind, if some day it gets dirty and requires your… services." She grinned. "But as for now, you will focus on every hallway of every floors of every building of the first years."

I closed my eyes, picturing it cleaned up, felt the magic ran through me, and opened my eyes again, smugly saying:

"Done"

Her smirk vanished. Ruby and Neal giggled.

"May I have a word in private, Professor?"

She did not answer right away. I could see in her eyes, she wanted to murder me. I had really upset her, and she was clearly not used to be contradicted. But she also seemed to be greatly aroused. Almost as much as I was. Her eyes lowered, and met my cleavage. I mentally thanked Ruby for her advice. I tried to remain stoic, while a wave of desire ran through my body. She rapidly looked at Ruby – who was knowingly smirking – and at Neal – who seemed completely lost – and said:

"Leave us."

They quickly got up and left. As soon as the door was closed, I got up too, and magically locked the door. The sound made her eyes darkened instantly; she stood up, her hands on the desk in front of her. I tried to go near her, but she magically stopped me, and said:

"Don't"

I could not move anymore, and could not help to frustratingly growl. Clearly, the sound had some kind of impact on her, because she stiffened and bit her lower lip.

"What do you wish to tell me, Miss Swan?" she tensely asked.

"What is the lecture about?" I annoyingly answer.

"I beg your pardon?" she said, lost.

"You talked about a lecture tonight with Peter and Aurora. I wanted to know what this is about" I explained.

She restrained her laugh.

"And is there a reason why I should be entitled to give you details about something you are not concerned about?" she sadistically smiled.

"Well, yeah. I wanna know, and I'm pretty sure you do want to tell me about it … you wouldn't have mentioned it in front of me otherwise."

Regina did not answer anything, she just freed me from her magical grip.

"So?" I insisted.

"They accepted the job my mother was willing to offer them."

My mouth fell at that. How stupid I could have been to assume that the offer was only for me. Regina smiled at my reaction.

"Don't look so surprised, dear. You are not the only valuable first year I've seen."

"I could easily defeat them both at the same time, though" I childishly answered.

"You can still change your mind, you know?" she smiled.

"Is Graham part of your team?". I did not even bother to hide the jealousy in my voice.

"Yes, he is" she casually answered.

"And what were you two fighting about?" I angrily kept on, already knowing she would snap at me for my arrogance.

She stared at me again, smiling. A loud chuckle grew in her throat.

"I cannot believe I'm letting you ask me all these questions… had it been any other student, they would have been expelled by now…"

I did not answer. Instead, I bypassed her desk, and my hand reached her arm, caressing it very slowly from the bottom up. I stopped at her collarbone. She was frozen. Her hands were still on the desk and her face had not followed my moves. But her eyes closed.

"Will you take the job?" she hoarsely asked.

Her voice shot another wave of desire through all my body. The wetness I felt between my legs felt so uncomfortable… and yet, I did not give her the answer we both wanted.

"No".

She exhaled deeply, her eyes still closed, and my hand still brushing her arm from up to the bottom. Her disappointment was written all over her face.

"Then this has to stop." She murmured.

But instead of retrieving, I stepped closer to her, my front against her back, and whispered in her ear:

"Why? Scared to get sentimental?"

"Absolutely not. Love is weakness, Miss Swan" she sarcastically answered.

"Who said anything about love, Professor?" I amusingly whispered.

"I'm sorry, wasn't it implied?"

"Particularly revealing of your feelings, if you want my opinion" I murmured.

She suddenly turned around. I tried to grip her hips, but she blocked my wrists in her hands.

"How can you be such a bitch in front of everybody else, and so human with me?" I teasingly grinned.

She frowned.

"The real question would be, how can I let you say such things in front of me?" she slowly answered.

"We both know the answer to that."

I intensely looked at her, entwining our fingers. She let me do so. She seemed captivated.

"Indeed."

I stepped closer until our lips brushed.

"Please don't" she frustratingly moaned. But her eyes closed.

My desire increased a hundredfold. It felt like a monster had grown in my stomach and was now ripping it in pieces, while butterflies tried to escape it, flying all around. My core hurt, needing her. Nobody had ever had such an impact on me. I closed my eyes, too. I needed to feel. I let her scent intoxicate me. Our mouths were slightly opened, inhaling and exhaling deeply, erratically. She moaned again, silently asking me to kiss her. My hand released hers, grasping her neck and passionately bringing her to me. But as our lips finally fully and brutally met, someone knocked at the door. She jerked and pushed me away, avoiding my eyes. She turned around, looking at the front door, and quietly asked me to sit. I was too astonished and frustrated to think straight. I did as she asked. She cleared her throat and loudly said:

"Come in".

An old woman I had never seen before came in, followed by Regina's puppy. When I saw Graham, I snorted. The noise brought the woman's attention on me. I felt her stare, but kept on despising fixing the wolf. He looked back at me, amused. It enraged me even more.

"Regina, I hope we are not interrupting anything, dear." The woman said.

I finally looked at her. She must have been fifty-ish. Her posture was regal, and her attitude was just… haughty. As if she was losing her time, and wanted everybody to realize how lucky they were to benefit from her presence. She reminded me a little of Regina when she was in public.

"Of course not, Mother." Regina answered.

My eyebrows rose. So here was Cora Mills, the leader of the magical world.

"Good." She looked at me again, and said, "Leave us, dear."

I disbelievingly snorted again. I turned to Regina, but she did not look at me. The jealousy was back when I realized that Graham was not dismissed as well. Looking back at Regina's mother, I sarcastically answered:

"But of course. It was a delight, shared I'm sure, to finally meet, your Majesty." Turning one last time to Regina, I added, "I'm looking forward to finishing this… discussion, Professor".

She looked at me, astonished by my audacity. But she did not reply anything, and it infuriated me again.

I turned around, and as I walked to exit, I stared at Graham, furious. I opened the door, and was about to close it, when Cora's voice reasoned:

"What's your name, girl?"

My grip on the door handle tightened when she called me girl.

"Emma Swan."

She grinned and turned to Regina:

"This is her?"

Regina simply nodded affirmatively at her mother. Cora looked at me again, detailing me from head to toe.

"I have heard so much about you, Emma Swan".

"Probably not as much as I have heard about you, Ma'am" I answered, looking at her intensely.

"Did Regina tell you about my offer?"

"Yes." I annoyingly answered. I was still in the doorway, and was fed up with her haughty tone.

"I assume I will see you tonight, then." She answered, dismissing me.

"No you won't, I'm not invited."

Her eyebrows rose.

"And why is that?" she disbelievingly asked her daughter.

"Because I turned down your very generous offer, Ma'am." I answered.

I did not wait for her reply, and quietly shut the door.