Chapter 2
She woke up to idle shuffling and hushed voices, but when she decided to open her eyes she was in the dormitory alone. Wincing, she sat up, fingers digging into the lacing of the corset she stupidly kept on.
She normally didn't fall asleep with it on -as it was dangerous; running the risk of being constricted and unable to breathe halfway through the night, or her intestines being crushed. It was stupid of her. But she justified it by saying it wasn't tied tight enough to hurt anything permanently; it was just for her posture.
Stiffly, she pushed herself off the floor, using the stripped bed beside her as leverage. Brushing her skirt down, she grabbed the dusty robes left to her and pulled them back on.
She looked like a mess, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to go along with the flow here, not right now. Instead, she was going to find Dumbledore and speak with him.
Of course, that would be easier said than done.
Heading from the dormitory, she slipped out of the common room and stared at where she was. She had no idea where to go or what room went where. Chewing on her bottom lip, she began to wander, trying to read the doors.
No windows on solid wooden doors caused a problem, and she had no real option but to try and peak through the keyholes as if she could see all the way through. Unfortunately, the first keyhole she peered through lead straight to a black, fabric bundle, her eyebrows furrowing.
Suddenly the door whipped open, giving way under her palms and she stumbled, cheek hitting a belt before she pulled back, staring at the man who had shown nothing but aggression towards her last night.
"Miss Fairbourne." He spat. "You're late." His pale, long digits grabbed her, dragging her along. She gasped, hands shooting up to grab his wrist as she struggled against him.
"St-stop." She twisted, the motion causing the fabric of her shirt to bunch and twist his fingers up. He snapped his fingers out of the confines of her shirt, growling in anger. She stepped back, an attempt to keep him from grabbing at her again, and that was when her eyes caught a handful of students behind him, all sitting at their desks, now staring. Her mouth opened, prepared to speak as she turned to look at every other student, staring at with stern, cold eyes for interrupting their lesson.
"I-I'm not," she shook her head, words barely a whisper. "I'm not supposed to be in this class." Her eyes flickered back to him.
"Sit." He spat, pointing.
"I have nothing." She insisted, heart pounding in her chest.
"Your failure is not the classes problem," he countered. "Sit."
"I'm not supposed to be here-" he flicked his wand. Magic grabbed her, yanking her into nearest seat before turning, robes billowing as he made his way to the front of the class.
"I think you'll find, Fairbourne, that as the Professor of this class," he stopped and turned on his heel as he reached the front of the room. "I am well versed as to whom should or shouldn't be wasting my time." He glared at her. "Class, open your books to page two hundred and ninety two."
Ellenyx tried to shake off her stun, looking back at the other students as they pulled out thick textbooks and began to open to their pages. She was about to speak when a pale hand slammed a book onto her desk in front of her, making her jump, a couple giggles escaping the back of the class. Violet eyes shot up to the tall, intimidating man before her, lips parting.
He was sort of attractive, pale skin, dark eyes and a big nose that made his face look haggard, but there were things about him that made him sort if beautiful. His thick, curled lashes, his widespread cupids bow of his upper lip, and those sad, sad eyes. A man who had been hurt too many times.
He felt the book hit her chest, snapping her out of her thoughts by knocking the wind from her lungs. "I trust you know how to count, Fairbourne?" With that, he was making his way back to the front of the class.
Frowning, she laid the book back down and opened it, looking at a diagram of the effects of a potion. Although it seemed as if nothing in this entire place made sense, she continued to stare at the diagram.
Certain plants; Padamora and Lilium Asphar were common ingredients used in potions for physical alterations on minor levels. She flipped back to the beginning of the chapter, skimming through the reading as he spoke, filling in the class on what they had learned the year before -which was all foreign to her.
She was supposed to be a first year, but she was sitting in on a class of forth years. She had no idea what they had done, or really what this class was. After a moment, it began to register to her what this class was supposed to achieve, and the calling of her name.
It wasn't until the book snapped shut on her fingers that she look up, yelping.
Pulling her fingers from the binding of the book, she sucked on them, looking up to the front of the room confused when her eyes fell on the seemingly, always angry professor. He said nothing as all of the other students turned to stare at her, making her skin prickle up the back of her neck.
"Someone as clueless as you, Miss Fairbourne, should have purchased the book and caught up on the material last night instead of waiting till I was giving instruction." He snipped, fingertips pressed together.
"Had I the money I would have, sir." She replied, his face twitching in aggravation at her constant need for a response. In a matter of seconds, he was ascending on her, his steps long and powerful. She winced as he loomed over her, his hand on the back of her head making her stiffen up, back arched a bit.
"Keep giving cheeky responses, Fairbourne, I'll see you out sooner than you can wag a quill at." He shoved her head forward, her eyes closed. She knew she was pushing it, but she couldn't stop herself. As he turned his back on her and began to make his descent back to the front of the room, she smirked.
"May I borrow a quill, sir?" There was a small gasp as he stopped dead in his tracks. He turned, glaring at her with the burning hatred of a roaring fire.
"15 points from Slytherin." There was a loud, angry groan from every Slytherin in the room, the girls smile vanishing.
"What? For a joke?" She spoke. A piece of paper smacked her in the back of the head, making her turn to look at the hand who threw it.
"For obstructing learning, Miss Fairbourne. For wasting my time and every other students time in here." He reiterated, breaking it down. "You know far too little about potions to be a class clown, Miss Fairbourne. I suggest you keep your mouth closed and learn something." Turning he turned his focus back on his lesson. "I know everyone is quite upset at Miss Fairbourne for losing Slytherin 15 points. I'm feeling sympathetic; I will ask a series of questions based on the chapter. For each question answered, you'll get a point to your house." His eyes flickered up to the class. "Ready?"
She slunk down in her seat a little, staring at the desk as the other students around her prepared for the assemblage of questions he would be asking them for the meager points he offered.
"I am making a potion that will allow me to drop my body temperature and become one on a physical level as ice, snow, frozen water." He began, pacing slowly back and forth, eyes on the students at their desks as his fingertips touched. "The ingredient is found on the surface of a lake, but can only achieve this property if used frozen in nature. What ingredient is it?" Her head snapped up, her hand shooting into the air. His eyes narrowed as he continued pacing. "Hand down Fairbourne." He demanded, but she refused, her hand in the air still.
"I know the answer." She replied. A couple students glanced back at her, a hissed whisper in her ear for her to put her hand down and to stop making things worse for them, but she persisted.
"You know nothing, put your hand down, or I'll take 30 points from Slytherin." He stopped, eyes focused on her sternly.
"Put your hand down." The boy next to her snipped.
"I know the bloody answer!" She snipped back. "Let me answer the bloody question. If I get it wrong, you can take the 30 points from me, but if I get it right give Slytherin a point." She nearly pleaded, hand refusing to drop. That was an offer the professor paused on; from his stance, she was a new student who was supposed to be a first year wanting to answer a question the students he had been teaching for four years couldn't answer. He was positive she would fail this, and Slytherin would be down 30 points extra.
"Fine." He replied, head twitching as he stood up straight, a groan leaving the lips of her fellow housemates. "Your, undoubtably wrong answer, Miss Fairbourne." She felt that insult burn into her and she was desperate to shoot him down. She'd show him, knock him down a couple of pegs.
"The answer is lilium lacus asphar." She answered, everyone silent as they waited for the 30 points to be taken.
"Why?" He shot.
"Lilium lacus Asphar, also known as lily of the lake has properties that magically challenge physical attributes to a human body based on the the environment it was removed out of. If it's frozen, it changes your bodies molecular construct to mirror ice or icy conditions. If burned, it changes your bodies molecular construct to mirror fire or heat." She replied.
"I'm looking for an ingredient that can replace lilium lacus asphar as a substitute or as a bolstering agent." He shot, turning to face her in his own private one on one show down.
"Padamora." She answered quickly without taking the time to think about.
"Where is Padamora located?"
"Along sides of frozen ponds. They don't grow outside of an 8 meter radius making locations to find it more difficult." She shifted, hoping she was at least getting the answers right.
"Why does Padamora's location rely on the location of Lilium Lacus Asphar." He shot. She froze, the question not in the reading, but he seemed content on asking it. She didn't answer right away, looking down at her hands for a moment. He snorted a little, turning to head to a table decorated in an array of beakers.
She couldn't help but feel a bubbling inside her, words pushing up through her throat, prying her lips apart like fingers reaching up and extending from deep down inside of her. He was about to write down the points lost when she answered.
"Because Lilium drops Padamora seeds once they bloom on the lakes surface. The seed roots into the ground and travels inland till it meets another body of water. If it reaches 8 meters away and there isn't another body of water, the Padamora dies, and so does the Lily." She answered.
He stopped, his head turning back, hand frozen in the air as he stared at her. She wasn't sure she was right. She was fairly positive she was wrong. After a moment though, he lowered his hand and faced the class, dismissing them in a quiet voice. The students didn't get up right away, staring at the scene before them, but not wanting to encourage the wrath of their potions teacher, they gathered their things and began leaving.
As she followed suit, he addressed her, giving a flick of his wand to yank the book from her hands. "You're staying, Miss Fairbourne." He snatched the book out of the air, pointing to a stool as he gave a flick of his wand, pulling it to his desk. She hesitated, biting her bottom lip, but she didn't linger for too long.
Standing, she made her way down to the front of the room. Carefully, she took a seat on the stool and looked at him.
"Am I in trouble, Professor?." She questioned, keeping her eyes averted.
"Where did you learn that?" He ignored her question, intruding the silence with a question of his own. It was firm, curious, but over all, suspicious. "You said you have no knowledge of the wizarding world, but you knew all of that." He stared at her, holding the book tightly.
"I skimmed the chapter." She replied, looking at the book, hands in her lap.
"No one can skim a book that fast and memorize everything." He slammed the book on the table, leaning in to look into her eyes. "Tell me the truth, Miss Fairbourne."
"I am, Professor." She looked up at him finally. "I've just always been good at studying. I'm not good at much else."
"Then explain what you knew about Padamora and Lilium Asphar." he crossed his arms across his chest, teeth clicking lightly as his words remained sharp as glass.
"I don't know, sir. Lucky guess?" She looked down at the book, but that was only half of the truth. "I just...feel like I knew the answer. I'm not even sure if I was right or not."
"You were." He confirmed. She felt a little flutter of excitement at the thought that she had guessed it right, but there was a feeling of guilt inside of her that she couldn't quite place. There were mixed feelings that settled wrong in the pit of her stomach. She stared at him for a moment before looking down at the book. He didn't say anything for a long moment before sliding it forward to her, turning his back on her as a silent dismissal.
"So did I get the points?" She asked. He didn't say anything, not right away. After a moment of no response, she grabbed the book and pushed herself to her feet. She stood there for a long moment, watching him as he made his way to his storage of potions, making himself busy to keep from looking at her. Coming to terms with the fact he would die before giving her some of the points she'd lost her house back, she made her way for the door, leaving him alone.