A/N: I own nothing
Clio hit the ground with a thud and groaned a bit as Lulubell stood over her.
"Footwork still needs work." said Lulubell with a disappointed sigh "Reflexes are excellent, speed is good, form is a bit sloppy still, but overall, you've improved at an impressive rate."
"Thanks Lulubell." said Clio as she stood "Are we done for now? Breakfast is in an hour and I need to shower and change." Lulubell nodded and started making her way back to the castle with Clio at her heels. They had been up since four, going over the non-magical aspects of Clio's training regime a.k.a. physical education from hell. Making it safely back to the Gryffindor common room, Clio headed up to her dorm and showered before dressing in her uniform and heading down to the common room with her backpack and school supplies, entertaining herself with her new copy of Ancient Runes Made Easy until Hermione came down stairs at about seven-fifteen. Tossing her book back into her bag, Clio stood and slung it over her shoulder before going over to Hermione.
"Ready for pain and suffering?" asked Clio as they exited the common room, making Hermione look at her funny "Sorry. Being morbid is practically a requirement to survive with the Family of Noah. Most of them are crazy and/or insane." she shrugged "Besides, this year is supposed to be the worst year we'll experience at Hogwarts. They'll be putting our noses to the grindstone, so to speak."
"That's right." said Hermione "This is our O.W.L. year. I do hope I'm prepared for it."
"You'll do fine, Mione." said Clio "You're the best of our year." Hermione gave her a grateful smile and they talked idly about this and that until they reached the Great Hall. As they walked along the Gryffindor table to find a seat, a tall black girl with long braided hair stood and intercepted them. Clio gave the girl a smile.
"Hi Angelina." she said.
"Hi, Clio." said Angelina briskly "Good summer?" Clio nodded before Angelina continued "Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."
"Nice." replied Clio with a grin.
"Yeah," said Angelina with a shrug and a motion of her hand "Well, we need a new Keeper now that Oliver's left. Tryouts are on friday at five o'clock and I want the whole team there, alright? Then we can see how the new person will fit in."
"Friday, five o'clock." said Clio "Got it." Angelina smiled before sitting back down.
"I'd forgotten that Wood had graduated." said Hermione as they found a spot away from everyone else "It'll make quite the difference on the team."
"I know." said Clio "Wood was a good Keeper. It'll be hard to replace him. Though I won't be missing his hour long pep-talks, if you could call them that." Hermione snickered and the two of them started eating. Clio smiled brightly when the Owl Post arrive and Hedwig flew gracefully down to her.
"Hello girl." she said as she removed the letter from Hedwig, who was damp from the rain "Have they been treating you well at the Estate?" Hedwig hooted tiredly before graciously accepting the bacon that Clio offered her and flying off. Turning to the letter, Clio was glad that someone had put water repelling charms on it as it wasn't soaked like everyone else's. The letter was from the Earl and she detected his worry at the fact that Dumbledore was trying to wrest guardianship of her from him but with little success. Still, he wanted her to be careful around the Headmaster and to stay with someone she trusted at all times. The part that touched her the most was that he wrote of his love for her and reminded her to take care of herself. There was also the fact that he had slipped one of her favorite flowers from the gardens at the Kamelot Estate into the envelope. It was obvious that he had spelled it as the delicate lavender colored hybrid tea rose hadn't been crushed on its long journey to her.
"Did your fiancé send you that?" asked Hermione "It's gorgeous."
"He did." said Clio as she stroked the petals delicately "He knew that I had fallen in love with these roses the moment I saw them, so whenever he wished to give me a gift to show his affection for me, he'd give me one of these roses." Clio smiled dreamily as she inhaled the scent of the rose. Yep, still smelled as wonderful as when she was back home yesterday morning. Delicately, Clio tucked the rose and letter into the front pocket of her book bag before returning to her breakfast as Professor McGonagall began to hand out timetables. Looking over her timetable, Clio hummed slightly as she read her schedule for today.
Monday
8:15 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. History of Magic
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Potions
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. - 2 p.m. Ancient Runes
2:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Defense Against the Dark Arts
"History of Magic, double Potions, Ancient Runes, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts." she said "I would have rather not started the year off with Binns and then Snape but beggars can't be choosers I guess."
"I thought you took Divination?" asked Hermione in confusion.
"Transferred classes." said Clio "I learned the material for the last two years over the summer so that I could transfer out of Divination. I was told that the mystical arts were better learned through self-discovery rather than a class."
"Interesting." said Hermione as they finished up their breakfast "I think I might have to look into that."
"I'll see if I can get you some pamphlets." said Clio as they left the Great Hall and headed off towards the History of Magic classroom. History of Magic was by common consent the most boring subject ever devised by wizard kind. Professor Binns, their ghost teacher, had a wheezy, droning voice that was almost guaranteed to cause severe drowsiness within ten minutes, five in warm weather. He never varied the form of their lessons, but lectured them without pausing while they took notes, or rather, gazed sleepily into space. Only Hermione seemed able to resist the soporific power of Binns' voice, though Clio was doing rather well this year. She managed to avoid falling asleep until the last ten minutes of class and was promptly woken by the Hermione jabbing her in the side. Tiredly, Clio followed after Hermione as she yawned.
"I can't believe that I managed to survive one of Binns' lectures for that long." yawned Clio as they made their way down to the Potions classroom.
"Professor Snape is probably going to have us do something incredibly difficult today." said Hermione "Most likely because this is an OWL year." Clio hummed in agreement before yanking Hermione down a different hallway.
"This way is quicker." she said when Hermione gave her a questioning look. Hermione accepted her explanation and didn't question her any further. What Clio didn't want her to know was that she was avoiding the route Ron would be taking. Clio didn't think that she was ready to deal with any of the Weasleys at the moment, even the twins (whom she actually liked). They arrived in Potions with several minutes to spare and they managed to avoid sitting with Ron by sitting near the front of the room.
"Settle down." said Snape coldly as he swept into the room, shutting the door behind him. The class instantly went silent the moment Snape entered the room.
"Before we begin today's lesson," said Snape as he swooped over to his desk "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your OWL, or suffer my . . . displeasure." his gaze lingered this time on Neville, who gulped "After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me, as I take only the very best into my NEWT Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying goodbye." his eyes rested on Clio and his lip curled. Clio just stared back impassively with her newly acquired 'business face' that she had perfected over the summer.
"But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell," said Snape softly "So, whether or not you are intending to attempt NEWT, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high pass level I have come to expect from my OWL students. Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing." On Clio's left, Hermione sat up a little straighter, her expression one of utmost attention "The ingredients and method are on the blackboard." Snape flicked his wand and instructions appeared on the board "You will find everything you need," he flicked his wand again and the door to the storage cupboard creaked open "In the store cupboard. You have until the end of class... start." The potion Snape had assigned was difficult and fiddly. The ingredients had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times, firstly in clockwise, then in anti-clockwise directions; the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added. Clio was relieved that her potions tutor had gone over this potion over the summer, so she was able to follow the directions precisely.
"A light silver vapor should now be rising from your cauldrons." said Snape when there was only ten minutes left in class. Clio kept her eyes on her potion as Snape swept around the room before stopping at her cauldron. She noted that the Slytherins perked up as if expecting Snape to criticize her work.
"Well, it seems as though you aren't as much of a dunderhead as I thought, Potter." sneered Snape before sweeping away, not even commenting on Hermione's potion, which was as perfect as Clio's. Both girls gave a quiet sigh of relief as Snape taunted Ron before banishing his potion.
"Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing." said Snape. "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday." Clio promptly filled a flagon, corked it tightly, and wrote her name on it before turning it in. Going back to her seat, she cleaned up her work station and when the bell rang, she and Hermione left class.
"So, Clio," said Hermione "I've noticed that we've been avoid Ron completely since yesterday. Is there a reason behind that?" Clio quickly lead Hermione into an empty classroom and put up privacy wards.
"I found something out about the Weasleys over the summer." said Clio "More specifically about Mrs. Weasley and Ron." A troubled look crossed her face.
"Clio?" questioned Hermione.
"Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley attempted to arrange a marriage between me and Ron." said Clio as she sat down "Dumbledore was also paying Ron a large sum of money each month to be my friend and spy on me with money from my vaults. He also gave Mrs. Weasley a key to my vault and both her and Dumbledore have been helping themselves to my money since I was two years old. According to the goblins, about a million galleons were stolen in total, maybe more seeing as they're still going through the records which had become a huge mess since the death of my parents." Hermione looked taken aback.
"How could he?" asked Hermione "I mean, there were times when he acted suspiciously and he always seemed to be jealous of you but he seemed to be a good friend."
"I thought the same until I looked back at my memories." said Clio "He always did his damnedest to keep me from my schoolwork and during our first trip on the Hogwarts Express, he convinced me that Slytherins were all evil. I didn't question anything he did because I had been so desperate for friends. I hadn't realized back then that he had been chasing off anyone that wanted to try and befriend me. If I hadn't listened to him, things might've turned out differently. I could've very well ended up in Slytherin with that git, Malfoy."
"But you didn't." said Hermione "And you can't change the past." she sat down next to Clio "Ron is a right git. How could anyone do that to an orphan?"
"Greed is a powerful thing." said Clio "I'm just glad that I still have you, Hermione. I don't know what I would've done if I didn't have you."
"You would still be in first year because of Ron," said Hermione "You would've never realized that there was a basilisk in the school, Sirius would've gotten the Dementor's Kiss, and that dragon would've killed you last year, among other things." Clio smiled slightly.
"Blunt as always, Mione." said Clio "But that's what I love about you." Hermione returned her smile before standing.
"Well, no use brooding over things." said Hermione "Besides, we need to get to lunch."
"Right." said Clio as she stood and dismantled the wards before following Hermione out of the room. They went to lunch, Clio resisting the urge to break Ron's nose when he started pestering them, and afterwards, they headed to Ancient Runes with Hermione leading the way. Ancient Runes was a fascinating class and the teacher, Professor Bathsheda Babbling, was welcoming and helpful, even going as far as to tell Clio to come straight to her if she had any trouble with the material at all. It made Clio wonder why she had listened to Ron and taken Divination instead of Ancient Runes in the first place. Then she remembered that Ron really hadn't been acting in her best interest and she wished that she could punch the git in the face. She was also glad to see that her summer cram sessions had paid off and she was about two weeks ahead of the rest of the class (Not that she'd slack off. Adam would increase her work load over winter break if she did that!).
"I never realized how fun Ancient Runes is." said Clio as she and Hermione made their was to the first floor where D.A.D.A. classroom had been moved "I would've chosen it instead of Divination if I did." Hermione nodded as they entered the classroom. This classroom was different than the other D.A.D.A. classroom as one wall was completely made of glass, allowing the afternoon light to shine through and it overlooked an enclosed courtyard that could only be entered via a glass door connected to the classroom. The rest of the room was decorated in a tasteful parisian style that Clio knew Lulubell loved.
"I wonder what Professor Millennium is going to be like?" wondered Hermione as she and Clio sat down near the front. Clio shrugged before smiling as Lulubell (in her cat form) jumped up onto her lap and meowed softly. The Potter heir scratched the cat behind her ear while Hermione looked at Lulubell curiously.
"I don't think I've ever seen a cat with a marking like that before." remarked Hermione as she also scratched Lulubell behind the ear "Is she the Professor's familiar?"
"Dunno." said Clio when Lulubell jumped off of her lap and trotted off as the door to the classroom opened and Umbridge came strolling in. Clio's eyes darkened for a moment as the toad-like woman who wore way too much pink stopped at the teacher's desk.
"Good Afternoon!" she said cheerfully. Hermione and Clio shared a looked while a few people muttered 'good afternoon'. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, Clio saw Lulubell in the shadows and boy did she not look pleased with Umbridge's presence. If there was one thing Clio had learned about Lulubell, it was that she didn't like people interfering with her missions or jobs. Umbridge~ was~ gonna~ get~ it~!
"Tut, tut." said Umbridge "That won't do, now will it? I would like you, please, to reply, 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'. One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge." said the class in a lack luster manner.
"There now." said Umbridge "That wasn't too difficult now was it? Wands away and quills out, please."
"What do you think you're doing?" questioned Lulubell as she stepped out of the shadows, startling everyone but Clio.
"I.. I was getting the class ready for you, Professor Millennium." said Umbridge sweetly.
"No, you were trying to take over my class." said Lulubell, her voice calm and even "I don't take kindly to people trying to do my job. The Headmaster has also informed you that if you wish to observe one of the classes, you need to schedule it ahead of time. Now, would you kindly remove yourself from my class, miss Umbridge?"
"Yes, of course." said Umbridge with a sickeningly sweet smile before leaving. Once she was gone, Lulubell snorted and walked over to her desk.
"Now." said Lulubell, her voice taking on the brisk, business-like tone Clio was use to "As you were informed at the start-of-the-term feast, I am Professor Lulubell Millennium. You may call me Professor or ma'am, understood?" once the class voice their affirmative, she continued "This is not a class for silly tricks, pranks, or other such nonsense. You will be learning how to defend yourself in the event that you are attacked and before any of you start spouting any nonsense about what the ministry has said, the world is not a peaceful, happy place. It can be dark and cruel if you are not prepared and nightmares can become very real things should you be caught unawares. In this class, there will be no house allegiances and no blood purity nonsense. To me, you are all equals. Male, Female, Pureblood, Half-blood, or Mundane-born. I will not tolerate petty fighting. You are here to learn. No more, no less. Now, quills out. Today, we shall go over what we will be learning this year." She picked up a piece of chalk and began to write on the blackboard as students fished out quills, ink, and parchment before quickly starting to take notes.