b Chapter 4: Dangerous Liaison /b
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Stretching his arms out above his head, Everett breathed in the crisp morning air, viewing the expanse of dark, murky water before him. He let his arms fall to his sides and sat down by the school lake. It hadn't changed at all, remaining watchful, observing everything.
Everett contemplated the previous night, feeling guilty about what he had done. Yes, it was for a good reason, but he still felt like a rotten git. i At least I know how I can help her now. She should be able to trust me then….should she trust me? ...maybe. /i Everett's inward battle raged for he didn't know how long, but eventually concluded that visiting Hermione last night had been a good thing.
He got up with a sigh, brushed himself off, and regretfully headed for his classroom.
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"Hey, you guys! Look at the i junk /i Skunk has on his desk!" Kip Flaggan was once again up to his ears in mischief, loving every moment of attention his fellow students were giving him.
"Wonder what this is…" Kip fiddled with the small metal device, twisting and pulling at every piece he could but unable to open the center box. He threw it to one of his cronies. "Get a load of it! I think it's some kind of potion-maker!"
"Yeah, he must be horrible at potions!"
"Why don't we help him out?"
The small classroom of first years was bubbling with the excitement of their first year at Hogwarts and felt like they could do anything. A tiny witch with frazzled red hair offered her skills, and soon Kip had a vile of luminescent purple liquid in his hand. (The glass vile had been donated by one of Professor Landon's specimens, which now lay on the floor disintegrating.)
" i Where should I put it /i !—" Kip yelled wildly to his posse of bored first years.
"…in my hand."
The long tardy teacher had finally arrived to find his classroom in chaos. Kip slowly turned around to find Landon standing directly behind him with his arm outstretched, hand expectantly waiting. i He gets me again…at least he doesn't look mad. /i The boy handed over the purple liquid and stumbled to his seat.
Everett studied the potion for a moment before placing it on his desk.
"You forgot the hornwort."
The class watched their professor with an amazed look. 'How would he know that?' 'But we found that potion-maker!' 'He's supposed to be awful at potions!' floated around the classroom in whispers.
"Today we will be studying the science of boggarts. i Accio camera /i !" Everett caught the camera and looked it over. "…As I see, one of you has already discovered the boggart's hiding place. Thank whoever that person was for being smart enough not to open it, or being naive enough to not know how." He looked pointedly at Kip.
"Boggarts have been around since the beginning of the Wizarding world, and are creatures which take the shape of what you fear most. Joann, please come to the front of the room." The girl with the frazzled red hair obeyed, and was soon facing her fear of the dark. (The whole class was shocked when the bogart blanketed the window, turning the bright room into a night filled with Joann's screams.)
Five tries and one faint later, Everett complimented his student at doing a wonderful job of defeating her boggart, and called the next apprehensive student up to the front.
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After Landon's class:
"Did you see those scars! They are so i weird /i !"
"I know! I think Skunk got beaten up by a werewolf or something. He might be clever with words, but fighting? Nah, he looks like a wuss. I even stole his pathetic boggart and he didn't notice it." Kip was flanked by his admiring friends, flaunting his ability of exaggeration with a skill few possessed.
"Sowhatareyagonnadowithit?"
"Maybe if I understood what you were saying, idiot, I could think of something," Kip answered. "I think I'll do something to get back at Skunk. He keeps killing my fun." But even as his brave words left his mouth, Kip remembered the scarred arm grasping the vile. He couldn't help but think that maybe he was wrong about Skunk.
"Sowhenareyagonnadoit?" The excited voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
Kip shook his head and smiled wickedly. "Soon."
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It was lunch at Hogwarts Castle, and the whole school was there. To replenish their energy, to make new friends, to find old ones, but mostly just to eat. The trials of the first school day had made everyone hungry, including Hermione.
She was sitting at the end of the Great Hall with Malfoy, chewing and swallowing with as much gusto as the best of them.
"Hey! Here comes that new professor again! Hermione—Hermione!" Malfoy nudged her.
"Yes, yes I see. Malfoy, I have eyes too, you know. Can't you just let a woman eat?"
"Sorry..." Malfoy returned his attention to the juicy orange in front of him.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
Professor Landon's voice registered in Hermione's mind, and she simply nodded, taking a large mouthful in an attempt to prevent conversation. Embarrassed by her previous behavior around Everett, she felt awkward under his gaze.
"Hermione…" Everett whispered out of Malfoy's earshot. "I really am sorry about what happened in your office. I didn't mean to frighten you."
"It's okay Mr. Landon," Hermione replied, her eyes remaining fixed on her plate. i He must feel as embarrassed as I do. /i
"Please, call me Everett."
Hermione blushed slightly. i Why am I acting like a school girl! /i
"To change the subject, did you sleep well? I find it hard to sleep peacefully in a new place, but I'm guessing Hogwarts isn't that new to you." The awkwardness diminishing, the conversation continued. Hermione finally glanced up.
"No, it isn't. Hogwarts has been my home for the past seven years. And I did sleep well last night, thank you." She fleetingly thought about the cat. "So how was your first class?"
"Trying. Very trying. There's this student that seems to have no sense of decency."
"Kip Flaggan? He gets under my skin too. I would suggest not thinking about him right now. It's spoiling the food."
Everett smiled and picked up his fork again. "Fine by me. Hey, would you like to join me at the Black Lake when afternoon classes are over? I'm going to go on a kind of… adventure, I guess you could say."
"What is it?" Hermione seemed hesitant.
"Now i that /i , you'll just have to find out," Everett answered her playfully, his eyes smiling at her.
Hermione felt a mixture of excitement and uneasiness as Everett finished his meal and left the Great Hall.
"So are you going to go?"
"What—?" Hermione jumped. She had completely forgotten about Malfoy, who had apparently been listening to their conversation.
"Are you going to go with Professor Landon to the lake?"
"Well, I think I just might. It's not that often nowadays that I make new friends."
Hermione offered Malfoy a smile and patted his arm, returning her attention to her plate.
Malfoy was feeling bummed. It wasn't that he was jealous of Everett. He truly was happy that Hermione was making a new friend.
It was just that he had forgotten to bring his letter with him to lunch.
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Afternoon classes had ended, and Everett once again found himself sitting beside the ominous lake, leaning back on his arms and thinking about his conversation with Hermione at lunch. She had seemed friendly, yet wary at his invitation to join him here, and he didn't know why he hadn't told her the reason for it.
i Oh well. If she comes she comes, if she doesn't she doesn't. /i This was for her, anyway. If Hermione chose not to come, it was perfectly fine. i But I really do want her to come, /i Everett unwillingly admitted to himself.
Glancing around, he saw what he was looking for.
Hermione was walking across the grounds in Everett's direction, pulling distractedly at a strand of her hair. Her eyes were down, watching where she was going, so she had not yet seen Everett.
Delight that Hermione had decided to come was tingling down Everett's spine, until he saw that she had apparently changed her mind and was turning to go.
"Hermione!"
"Oh! I'm…I'm coming!" i Oh, blast it all. I'm so foolish, /i Hermione thought as she slowly turned around. i What am I getting myself into? /i
"There you are. I was looking for you," Hermione said as she reached Everett, but her lying eyes betrayed her.
"It's okay, Hermione," Everett whispered. "If you still would like to do this with me, I think you would enjoy it."
"But what is 'this'?"
"Well, I've recently been reading about an interesting muggle sport, but I want to try some improvisations to it seeing as I have no clue where to find the right equipment. So I guess breathing-bubbles will have to work. And I brought a warming potion, of course, I had—"
"But what i are /i we doing? What i is /i the sport?" Hermione interrupted Everett's hurried explanation. "I thought this was going to be an adventure, anyway... You got my hopes up." Accompanied by a tiny smile, the ice was broken and they exchanged grins.
"Why, scuba diving. We're going to be scuba diving today."
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Malfoy had hurried back to his office after lunch to retrieve the letter before his next class started. Little did he know what was waiting for him.
Entering his office and shutting the door behind him, Malfoy turned around. The sight he now beheld freaked the living daylights out of him, to put it plainly.
"HOLY MOTHER OF MERLIN! Have mercy…" And then he fainted, leaving the giant black widow to sit on his desk alone.
Malfoy was revived a short time later in the hospital wing by Madam Pomfrey's daughter, who had followed in her mother's footsteps.
"Who put that sp-spider in my office?" Malfoy sat up slowly, wincing as he once again remembered that horrific experience.
"Why, that was no spider, Professor Malfoy, it was a boggart."
"…oh…"
The nurse smiled amiably at his response. "You may go now."
Trying to conceal his rage, Malfoy shakily made his way to his office. He was late for his class, but wanted to have five minutes to himself to think about what had just happened.
i That Professor Landon planted his boggart in my office! I know he has one for teaching! But why use it on me? What did I ever do to him? I /i knew i something was wrong with that man. I'll have to worn Hermione…may as well give her my letter too, while I'm at it. She should really like me now for protecting her from making the mistake of becoming friends with that—that hooligan! She /i already i has trust issues, she doesn't need this. /i
As he approached the door of his office, Malfoy's determined thoughts evaporated. Trembling, he slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open.
i Phew! /i No spider.
At once relieved, Malfoy released the breath he did know he had been holding and returned to his bitter thoughts. i I should go find Landon now, and confront him! /i But Professor Landon scared Malfoy, and he was frightening himself. Malfoy resolved to simply tell Hermione tomorrow. For now, he had classes to attend to.
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"Scuba diving? Really?" Hermione stared at the man in front of her in disbelief.
"Yeah. I thought it would be fun." Everett rubbed the back of his neck and watched Hermione intently.
"I've…I've been reading about scuba diving lately." A suspicious look spread across her face. "Have you ever been before?"
"No. The idea just sort of popped into my head this morning when I woke up. What makes you so interested in it?"
"Well, I like the discovery aspect of it. I've never been underwater before—I mean, I have, but not... really."
"Care to explain?"
"Well, when I was a 4th year, Hogwarts held the Triwizard Tournament. One of the tasks for the champions was to save the person they cared about the most from the bottom of this very lake."
"And what champion cared about you the most?" Everett teased her.
"Viktor Krum."
"The Quidditch player? Really? Nice!"
"Well, we don't talk anymore. We sort of lost touch over the years. Anyway, I've never been good at swimming, and remember nothing from being under the lake. I was unconscious, like all the others."
"So, this will be a new experience for you." Everett squeezed Hermione's elbow genially. "I've been swimming before, so if you are having any trouble I can help you."
"Where have you been swimming before?"
"Just…around."
Feeling like Everett did not wish to continue along that topic of conversation anymore, Hermione began to watch the owls hunting among the trees for food, envying the way in which they glided effortlessly across the sky, carefree and calm. When she turned back to Everett, she blushed a deep crimson and looked away.
The DADA teacher had taken his shirt off, revealing broad muscular shoulders, strong arms, and a chest and stomach chiseled to perfection. Overall a body at its physical prime. Except for the scars…
"Um… Everett?"
Noticing Hermione looking at his chest, Everett felt a strange stirring in himself. "Yes?"
"Where…how did you…why do you have so many…"
"Scars?"
Hermione blushed again, feeling like she had crossed the line. "Yeah…"
"Well—I…I used to be an auror of sorts."
"Of sorts?" Hermione studied the man in front of her. The scars ran the length of Everett's body, all on his right side. They began at his forehead, traveled across his strong brow and weathered cheek, continued along his chest, passed down his stomach, and ended…Hermione turned scarlet and quickly lowered her eyes.
Everett had either not heard Hermione's question or had chosen not to answer it. An awkward silence ensued.
"I knew someone who was going to be an auror," Hermione managed.
"Who?"
Hermione tried to find the right words. "Well, Ron was... My friend…Ron, well, he was going to be an auror."
The light in Everett's eyes went out. "…is…What does Ron do now?"
"Ron died. Three years ago. I don't know why I'm telling you this. Please…" Hermione did not want to talk about it, choosing instead to bring the conversation back to Everett.
"So, what did you do as a 'sort of' auror?" Looking up, Hermione was astonished to find Everett dead silent. His eyes were looking at nothing, like his mind was far away, somewhere else, preoccupied.
She fiddled with her hands. "I'm sorry. I—I said too much. Please, let's just g—"
"It's okay, Hermione." Everett felt like he had been saying that too often. He blinked and shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Glancing at Hermione, he realized that she thought his behavior had been a reaction to her question. i Probably best to let her think that. /i
Everett handed Hermione a small bottle. "Here's a warming potion. I already drank some before you got here, but I saved some for you. It will keep us warm at low depths."
Thankful that Everett had chosen to ignore her question and was not going to get angry with her, Hermione took the potion and drank it to his satisfaction.
"Are you okay with getting those clothes wet?" Everett asked, the luster slowly returning to his emerald eyes. Dark hair slowly danced across his forehead in the breeze.
"Yeah, it's fine. There's nothing magic can't dry."
As the warming potion took effect on their bodies, the two professors performed the charm necessary to guarantee them oxygen under the lake. Before Everett spoke, Hermione looked at him again, admiring the courage with which he put one foot, and then the other, into the lake. He stood with his scarred hand held out to her.
"Ready?"
She nodded.
Hermione was dangerously close to falling in love.
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