To Listen with Our Ears, Minds, and Hearts Chapter 2- How Have You Been Lately? (S.H.E.)

A/N: I kind of copied and pasted some parts of Chapter 1 from I Bid You Adieu to here because I'm kind of lazy xD, but I changed and added some stuff xD

The next day, during breakfast, Professor Flitwick passed out their class schedules. As usual, Mizy had the same classes as Nooni since she just picked whatever she picked, so she wouldn't be alone. Potions flew by, Snape being his usual sarcastic bat-like slef, and then DADA, a class that she was looking forward to. She was curious, as Quirrell had originally taught Muggle Studies the year before last year, but was interested to see how he'd teach DADA. As soon as she and Nooni entered the classroom, they were taken back by an overpowering aroma of garlic. What the hell, she thought, is this a joke? Nooni pulled on her arm and brought them to a table nearest the door.

"I hope he leaves the door open so the smell can seep out." Nooni said, taking her seat. Mizy sat down, waiting for the rest of the class to settle themselves down.

Right before the bell rang, signaling the start of class, Quirrell swept into the room, thankfully leaving the door open. "G-good m-morning, hope y-you all h-had a nice s-summer." He stammered out. Weird, Mizy didn't remember him having a stutter. She also noticed that one of his eyes twitched while he talked, and his hands frequently moved over each other. She wondered if he had gone mental.

"P-please t-take out y-your b-books and t-turn to p-page 1". Mizy could hear some of the students giggling at his stutter. She felt a little pity for him. She opened her book, and Quirrell began the lesson. It was very peculiar; he seemed rather terrified of the subject, and claimed his turban was given to him by an African prince for getting rid of a zombie, but turned down every attempt to elaborate. Mizy was glad that Nooni did not make any comment about him throughout the lesson.

-Later that day-

"Wow, he…changed… a lot." Nooni said, choosing her words carefully. She turned in her bed to face Mizy. "He stutters and twitches, and have you noticed that weird smell that hangs around his turban?"

"I heard that the Weasley twins say that its stuffed with garlic so he's protected wherever he goes from this vampire." Mizy replied. Of course, anything the Weasley twins said was debatable. She looked at her homework spread out on her bed, hopelessly confused by a particularly nasty essay assigned by Snape.

"Forget this, I'm going to bed." She picked up her stuff and dumped it into the small desk next to her bed. They both settled in on their beds. After bidding each other good night, they both climbed into their beds. As Mizy laid in her bed, staring off into the darkness, she reviewed Quirrell as she remembered him before. He was young, shy, and quite polite. She admitted that she had a crush on him. But now he seemed different, and prone to breaking down. She didn't know what to make of it.

The next few weeks, Mizy and Nooni spent studying and completing work. It was their last year at Hogwarts; after this it'd be off in the real world. Snape was demanding as ever, McGonagall as strict, and Flitwick as cheerfully. The rest of the professors worded them at a slightly fast pace, wanting them to cram every knowledge and skill into their brains.

One day, in DADA class, Quirrell was discussing a topic on vampires. A student raised his hand, and asked, "Professor, is it true you met a vampire?" Quirrell nodded, "Y-yes." Another student piped up, "Why do you stutter? You didn't before."

"How about that twitch?"

"And the turban"

"Why purple?"

Quirrell went pink, and started talking about iguana. She couldn't believe how straightforward their questions were, but she was interested in his answers, but unfortunately he did not give any. She wondered vaguely what happened to him during his leave. Could a vampire have frightened him that much? But then she realized that there was no point in caring, so she set herself on the class work.

It was rather difficult to do her work. She kept on getting distracted by the conversations the other students were having. It seemed that almost everyone was taking advantage of Quirrell's lack of self confidence to do whatever they wanted. She was glad that Nooni, like her, did not talk very much. She looked over at Quirrell, who was seated at his desk and seemed to have given up trying to teach the class. Instead, he was reading a book. Mizy felt sorry for him, as he must be disappointed at how the class was going. Feeling as she should do something productive, she tugged on Nooni's arm and said, "Hey, come with me."

"What?" She asked. Mizy replied, "Quirrell's all alone and the class is being immature. Come on." She pulled Nooni up, who reluctantly agreed and walked up together up to Quirrell, dragging their stools along. He looked up as they set their stools in front of his desk, and said with a nervous smile, "H-hi, w-what c-can I d-do for y-you g-girls?" They sat, and Mizy gave him a gentle smile.

"We were wondering if you could carry on with the lesson, with just the two of us." She said. Quirrell smiled gratefully, and agreed. He marked his page, and put down his book, and continued where he left off.

Mizy took the time to study him up close, noticed he looked rather sickly, with dark circles under his eyes. She also noticed that his eyes a nice, pale blue. "Professor, what happened to you during your leave?" She interrupted, before she could consider whether or not she should actually ask that. The professor looked taken back by the sudden question, but quickly recovered and replied, "W-what d-do y-you m-mean? I-I am p-perfectly f-fine." One of his eyes twitched.

"Fine my arse, you look terrible!" Nooni exclaimed. "It's okay to tell us, we won't tell anyone." Mizy added quickly. Quirrell looked flabbergasted. "I-I-I-" He started, but was interrupted by the bell, signaling the end of class. "T-theres the b-bell!" Quirrell said, stating the obvious, but Mizy stayed seated. "Professor, we're sorry if we said anything wrong. We were just curious."

"Y-yes, I u-under s-stand, b-best y-you go to c-class, n-none the l-less." Quirrell said, getting up. The two girls grabbed their belongings and exited the class, Mizy looking back and giving Quirrell an apologetic look, which he responded by staring at her blankly.

"What a weirdo." Nooni said, heading for Charms class. Mizy secretly agreed.