Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but Christmas is coming up soon. :hint hint:
Once, when Alison was six, her father woke her up so they could have their tea at sunrise. Soon, it became a type of morning ritual and when Alison is at Hogwarts, she wakes up early and goes to the Great Hall for a hot cup of Earl Grey.
Without an alarm, Alison rose at four in the morning, took a shower and brushed her hair and teeth. She didn't bother to turn on any of the lights, they would only wake up the other girls. After throwing on her robes in a haphazard fashion, the redhead walked straight to the Great Hall.
The ceiling was only just starting to turn pink when Alison entered. As she sat down, a house elf appeared, carrying a tea tray. "Good morning young mistress, Tawni is bringing your tea, just how young mistress is liking it."
"Thank you Tawni, I hope I'm not being a bother," Alison replied as she took the tray.
Tawni began to shake her head, "No no no! Young mistress is a bother never! She is kind to Tawni, always says 'please' and 'thank you'. Tawni is happy she can bring young mistress her morning tea."
"More of the students should be kinder to the house elves," The redhead insisted, " They deserve equal rights."
Over the summer, Auntie Hermione had convinced her to join The House Elf Liberation Front, a group of witches and wizards who protested for equality between wizard and elf kind. So far, she hadn't actually been able to protest, because she was still underage.
"But young mistress, Tawni is happy being not equal. It is Tawni's duty to obey all the young masters and mistresses at Hoggy-warts. Even if they is not polite like young mistress." The house elf replied in a hesitant voice.
"Would you mind care for a cup of tea, Tawni?" Alison asked, sighing in defeat.
"Oh no! Tawni doesn't need young mistress' tea! Only bad elves take their mistress' tea. Tawni is a good elf, right?" The elf looked at the young witch with big brown eyes.
Alison smiled at the elf, "You're one of the greatest, Tawni. You can leave if you want now."
Tawni nodded and disappeared with a crack. Alison took a careful sip of the still hot tea and tilted her head towards the ceiling. The stars had long since faded and the sky was slowly turning blue. She kept staring at it until she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat.
Turning, she saw her head of house and Defense teacher, Professor Lupin. As he sat down, Alison smiled, he was always a bit too thin, but his lessons were fun. When they were studying jinxes and their counters, he had them break into partners and had dueling contests. Even though Alison had been out by the first round, she had fun.
"Good morning Alison, how was your break?"
That was another thing you had to like about the man, he always called students by their first name and was always polite, making it hard for many of the students to believe he was a werewolf.
"It was nice, mostly I visited my relatives. What did you do?" Alison handed the professor a cup of tea, which he accepted with a nod of thanks.
He sipped it, "The same as you. Visited family. My niece had a baby boy in the January last year. His name is Allen."
"I love children, my Auntie Hermione had a little boy this April. He's got the bluest eyes I've ever seen." Alison replied affectionately.
Professor Lupin raised his eyebrows, "It seems like there's a new Weasley every year. You must make a fortune in baby-sitting."
The teen shook her head; "Mum would kill me if I charged family. Which will become difficult since there are so many of us, and Uncle Charlie's wife will be due around Christmas. Little Harry won't be the baby in the family for long."
The tinkling of broken glass filled the air. Professor Lupin had dropped his cup, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
Alison muttered a quick Reparo, and then said, "Harry won't be the baby for long. Uncle Ron picked the name. Harry James Weasley. Why?"
The gray haired man shook his head briskly, "No reason, I need to go get my things prepared for my first class," He began to walk away, than rushed back and handed her a slip of paper, "It's you schedule for this year," He squinted as if he was inspecting her, "Your eyes look much darker then I remember, must be the lighting in here."
Then, the professor left Alison, alone and feeling quite puzzled, in the Great Hall.
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"Connor, how do I look to you?"
The boy looked up from where he was eating his lunch. He gave his friend a quick look over, and then cautiously replied, "Is this a trick question that will get me hit no matter how I answer?"
"I mean how do my eyes look? Professor Lupin said they looked darker then usual this morning." Alison replied.
The brunette studied her face for a minute, "They are darker and your hair as well, it looks like someone put a bad dye spell on it," He shot Becca a suspicious look.
"Why is it when anything weird happens it's my fault! I'm just an innocent bystander." The brown-eyed girl was waving her sandwich for emphasis.
Alison snorted as she fished a tomato out of her robe, "Please Becca, you're about as innocent as a kneazle with a mouse," She stood up, "We should get going, we have potions next, you know how Professor Parkinson can get."
Shuddering, Connor pushed his plate away, "Merlin, Alison, I swear you practice just the worst possible thing to say. Honestly, who wants to think of that pug face while they're eating?"
"Connor! She. Is. A. Professor." Alison said in an indignation voice.
"That doesn't stop her from being a biased pug who secretly wants to feed us poison," Becca had seemingly appeared from nowhere, "Well, not you so much Alison, but that's because you ace at potions."
Alison blushed and began to walk faster, "Hurry or we'll be late."
Incidentally, the trio arrived early, so as they waited for Parkinson, they discussed the upcoming Quidditch trials. Each house would have to bring in fresh meat this year; Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw needed Chasers, Slytherin a Seeker, and Gryffindor a Keeper. Becca tried to subtly hint that Connor should try for Keeper, of course, Becca is about as subtle as tap dancing cabbages.
"Keeper! You think I'd make Keeper? Have you had one to many Bludgers to the head?" Connor said exasperatedly.
"I don't see why your getting your knickers in a twist," Becca replied huffily, "You fly brilliantly and it's in your blood! Quidditch skills are hereditary, everyone knows that."
"So you think that my dad playing when he was at Hogwarts means I'll be on the team as well? Have you even considered that things like this are chosen by your skill, not your parents?" Connor snapped.
"Of course it is all about skill! You have skill, but no one is going to know if you keep it such a big bloody secret!" Becca replied gesturing wildly with her arms.
The two sixth years didn't notice that Alison had slipped into the classroom until the bell rang. They tried to slip into the room unnoticed…
"Miss Weasley and Mister Wood, kindly explain why you are crawling on the floor like infants,"
Every head turned to stare at the pair, who quickly sprang to their feet. Connor's face had turned an alarming shade of red. "We were trying to sneak into class before you noticed we were missing, Professor," Becca blurted bluntly.
Parkinson gave them a look over before replying, "Five points from Gryffindor each and you'll be serving detention on Saturday. Be aware I am only being lenient in my punishment because it is your first day back to classes. Now take your seats and begin your potion."
The Slytherins snickered as the Connor joined Alison and Becca, Dylan Moss, a Muggle-born Gryffindor. Alison quickly brought her friend up to speed, they were making a complicated sleeping draught that would take at least a two days worth of classes, because it had to sit in moonlight for several hours before the mooncalf tears diluted.
Sending the boy off with a list of ingredients, Alison started to put the potion together with what she had in her student kit. Slicing and skinning, the girl was in her element. Potions were the only O.W.L. she had received 'Outstanding' in. She began to hum under her breath, as she stirred the now blue potion seven times clock ways, then twelve counter clock ways.
When Parkinson finally came around to check their progress, Connor and Alison's were the only Gryffindors who got the proper shade of mauve, Cassandra Thomas and Tracy Jones coming in a close second, theirs was plum.
The bell rang and they were dismissed, Becca griping about how she had singed her thick hair. Alison assured her nobody would be able to notice. As they jumped the trick step on their way to Care of Magical Creatures, Alison felt her stomach throb and eyes began to sting. "You lot go ahead, I'll catch up in a minute. I think I got some soot in my eyes," the Gryffindor said as she made the turn towards the lavatory.
"Just don't be late!" Becca called as the door closed.
The throbbing in her stomach had worsened and fearing she would be sick, Alison rushed into a stall and locked the door. She dry heaved for a moment, until the spasms passed. She rested her face on the cool porcelain and vowed to write home before dinner. Now that her stomach had settled, Alison noticed that her eyes had stopped hurting.
Walking to the sink, the teen turned on the tap and cupped her hands, splashing the cool water onto her face. Wiping her face dry with her sleeve, Alison looked into the mirror to check her hair. And promptly began to scream. She felt horridly dizzy for a moment, and then the world went black.
A/N: Cliffhanger! Well, kind of, most of you probably know what happened.
jimmy-loves-hermione: This chapter and the next should explain it pretty well. :gives out cupcake:
The Allknowing Tonks: A spell would work, but spells can be broken more easily than potions, and Violet is a bit thick, she just noticed. :gives out cupcake:
simply infatuated: Clever thing! You're right:gives out cupcake:
rasberitwist: Parseltoungeness BRILLIANCE:gives out cupcake:
Look at all those lucky people getting baked goods and such! You could become one of them, just review. Until the next chapter!
M.