AN: Yay, update :D I really wanted to get both my fanfics updated over this weekend (ARtFP got an update yesterday, don't forget to check it out!) and I managed :D I'm happy :3 I really hope you guys enjoy today's chapter x
Arianna could remember walking into the gym as a freshman, excited and scared. She had barely noticed Professor Grabiner stood at the partition between the freshmen and the Sophomores, even if she really should have recognised the teacher she had bumped into before she'd even started her magical education. In all fairness, she'd barely even registered the sophomore side of the gym, focussed on the interesting attributes of her classmates as she had been.
The 'partition' was a mild silence barrier directly through the centre of the room. It was only visible with great concentration, and even then was simply a lightly shimmering veil of pure magic. However, now that her magical abilities were improving, Arianna could sense the barrier's presence.
Benches had been set up for the students to sit on, and Arianna was reminded of Elementary school assemblies, singing hymns and listening to their patronising headmaster coo over his favourite ones.
As she and her roommates took their seats, she saw two unfamiliar women walk in. On closer inspection, however, the red-head appeared to be a man. His hair was long, billowing out behind him freely. It seemed longer than his dark grey cloak, which reached his ankles and Arianna imagined it might drag along the floor if he walked too slow. His face was gentle, but his eyes dark; she couldn't make out the colour, and he was pale, but not as pale as Hieronymous. He also had pointed ears, which was the only reason Arianna could actually see them, since they poked out from his long, crimson hair.
She was surprised to note that he did not wear robes like everyone else; perhaps an attempt to assert some kind of masculinity. Instead, he wore dark khaki-green trousers, which were baggy and tucked into his dark brown boots. Around his hips was a thick brown belt with a golden clasp, similar to the one Hieronymous wore. He also wore what appeared to be a cotton shirt, which was of a lighter shade of khaki-green than his trousers. The sleeves were long, but tight around his arms. Upon one arm he wore a golden band, and his cloak was fastened around his neck with a gold clasp, which appeared to match.
The woman had ears and a tail, similar to Manuel's, though black to match her hair, which was cut in a short, slightly messy bob. Even from a distance, it was clear that her eyes were bright yellow, contrasting massively with her dark hair and skin. Her robes were dark grey and dull turquoise. The front was cut to just above her knees, but long at the back, barely skimming the floor. She wore simple, black ballet flats, and on her exposed lower right leg was a black tattoo that wound around her ankle and up, disappearing under her robes. Her dark cloak was relatively short, cut to just above her waist, but the material was jaggedly cut. She had a kind, but tired-looking face.
"Who're they?" Ellen whispered as they made their way to the platform that was acting as their stage.
"Professors Rotham and Finch." Virginia said. "William told me a bit about them. Professor Rotham is Manuel Arias' Aunt; she married his Dad's brother."
"Then why is her name Rotham?"
"He... died several years ago. I don't know what happened, but after that she took her old name back; guess she didn't want to be reminded she was a widow…"
"Woah…" Arianna breathed solemnly.
"She's nice though. She's got a couple kids, but they're still pretty young, I think." Virginia elaborated.
"And Professor Finch?" Arianna prompted, pointing at the effeminate professor. Virginia shrugged.
"Nobody knows much about him."
"I dunno why, but I thought of Legolas when I saw him." Ellen muttered.
"He's not even blonde, Ellen…" Arianna muttered.
"Lego-who?" Virginia asked, bewildered. Arianna grimaced.
"Another non-magic thing… Sorry, Virginia."
"Right, okay… I won't ask. Anyway, yeah… He's even more of a mystery than ol' Grabby." Virginia continued, choosing this time to leave the non-magic references to her roommates. Arianna sighed.
"I wish you'd stop calling him old…" Virginia ignored her.
"In fairness, no one knows much about Potsdam either… Only that she's had like… seven marriages."
"Seven!?" Ellen exclaimed.
"One's enough hassle." Arianna commented with a smirk, earning a chuckle from her two friends.
Unlike the previous year, the entry of the teachers did not silence the crowd of rowdy sophomores. Granted, they weren't as rowdy as the new Freshmen, but when Arianna glanced over at her grumpy husband, she noticed he had ensured he was positioned on the Freshmen side of the barrier; Potsdam had stepped onto the stage, and although she couldn't hear that side of the room, it was clear that they'd all quite promptly shut up.
A loud "ahem" reverberated across the hall and Arianna snapped her attention to the make-shift stage before her, as the loud chatter quieted first to a low murmur, then to almost silence. It was Professor Rotham who had spoken, her black tail swishing out behind her as she smiled pleasantly at her students. Was it a charm that made her voice reverberate? Guess we'll learn that eventually… Arianna contemplated.
"Hello Sophomores!" She called. Her voice was soft but deep, for a woman, and it suited her. Her bright eyes scanned the sea of faces before her. "Welcome back. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ynaedra Rotham and I shall be teaching you in Black Magic this year."
"Really? Black? Shouldn't she be teaching Green?" Virginia murmured.
"Virginia!" Arianna admonished her friend.
"And this-" Professor Rotham continued. "-is Seymour Finch, your Red and White Magic teacher." Professor Finch inclined his head slightly in greeting.
"Yessssss!" Virginia whispered. "No more Grabby in Red Magic!" Arianna rolled her eyes. It amused her, however, to think that she probably would have been just as happy as Virginia a year previously. She couldn't help smirking at the knowledge that Hieronymous was still teaching two of their lessons, information that Virginia probably knew, but hadn't realised.
In fairness to her, Red Magic was Virginia's favourite subject. In fact, it was quite possibly the only actual magic lesson she enjoyed (she loved gym the most, but Arianna honestly didn't count that). So, to Virginia, having a teacher other than Professor Grabiner teach her favourite subject was just something to make it more awesome.
The two had their attention drawn back to the stage when Professor Rotham continued speaking. "Now I won't go on about how each of you has your own style. I think we all know that, and I know I shall never be able to match Petunia's ability to make anything and everything fluffy and bright and girly…" she paused for the laugh that rippled around the Sophomore students. "But I will say that we expect you to work even harder than you did last year. Also, you have a new subject this year; Magical History. This is an important course, especially for wildseeds, and we expect everyone to attend at least one session a month." A groan rose up from at least half the hall, Virginia included, but Arianna just smiled. No worries there. She was ecstatic to be learning about the history of the world she was now a full-time resident of. "Now, we don't want to waste too much of your time, after all you have lessons to schedule. So we shall see you all in class. Don't forget, morning classes start a little later than normal because of the Junior and Senior assemblies."
And with that, the hall burst into life again, as students rose from their seats and filed out through the doors, though filing suggested it was orderly, which it was not. In fact, it was more like a surge as everyone tried to push through at once. Virginia had quickly joined the throng of teens, while Ellen and Arianna hung back, rolling their eyes.
When they finally reached the door, Arianna heard a voice beside her. "Almost as rowdy as the Freshmen." Her husband grumbled. As she turned to him, she tried (and failed) to supress a giggle at his grumpy tone.
"We're not all like that." She argued, pointing behind her to the stragglers who, like she and Ellen, had decided they'd rather not get crushed. Hieronymous smirked.
"True, but you will certainly make up for your lack of zany stupidity with reckless idiocy later in the year." Arianna rolled her eyes.
"You accidentally end up married one time and suddenly you're reckless…!" she sighed. Hieronymous only raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so I'm reckless, so what? I'm a horse, deal with it." she stuck her tongue out at him and flounced away, her hair nearly whipping him in the face as she turned. He stared after her for a moment, before noticing the steady stream of Seniors entering through the door, and he made his way towards the stage, dissipating the veil of the silence charm as he went with a flick of his hand.
Why do I have to do this? He wondered. Petunia actually enjoys talking to these deliquents at assemblies… Why can't she do this one as well? He knew she probably made him do it simply because he hated them, but he did wonder if it was worth her "sacrifice". Judging by the grin on her face as she stood at the back of the stage waiting for him, it probably was. He put on his best scowl and turned towards the crowd of older students.
"What's your first lesson of the new year going to be then?" Ellen asked cheerily. Virginia raised an eyebrow.
"It's not new-years yet, Ellen." She said, earning an irritated growl from her friend.
"You know I didn't mean that!" Virginia grinned.
"I know. Well, I for one am going to the gym!" she announced. Arianna and Ellen exchanged a look, smiling. "What about you nerds?"
"Well I'm going to Black magic. I want to see how Professor Rotham teaches." Ellen said.
"Seriously? I thought you'd be all about History." Virginia said. "You know, like that bookworm you compared yourself to?"
"Like Hermione? Oh… I guess she would do History, wouldn't she, Arianna?" She only received a shrug in answer. "Well, in that case it's even more reason for me to go to Black Magic! I'm not Hermione, I'm me! What're you gonna do, Arianna?"
"History…" she muttered quietly, sheepishly, earning laughter from her two roommates, which she met with a scowl.
"Okay, definitely not Harry!" Ellen exclaimed. Virginia gave her a confused look.
"No, I'm not Harry. I actually enjoy learning for one." Arianna grumbled.
"And in fairness, Harry wouldn't be so chummy with Snape." Ellen said with a wink. Virginia groaned.
"Who's Snape!?" she cried, exasperated by all the references she wasn't understanding.
From somewhere behind them came a cry of "WHAAAAAAAAT!?" followed by hurried footsteps. A small-ish girl with short purple hair (though it was clearly dyed, her mousy brown roots were coming through) came up and stuck her nose in Virginia's face. "You don't know who Snape is!?"
"Uh… no." Virginia said quietly, her eyes wide as she backed away from the girl. Snake hall, no wonder she'd so eccentric. Arianna couldn't help but observe with a smile.
"Oh, sorry! I'm Molly. Molly Kingston." She stuck her hand out towards Virginia, who took it gingerly. It was odd to see someone else's enthusiasm make Virginia uncomfortable, but Arianna considered it pay-back for all the times she had done so to her and Ellen. "I'm a HUGE Harry Potter nerd!" she was in fact clutching a rather ragged copy of the sixth book to her chest. She turned away from Virginia to smile at Ellen and Arianna. "What're your names?" In any ordinary circumstance, Virginia probably would have been the one making introductions, but she was just staring ahead of her, startled into silence. Ellen was the one to reply first.
"I'm Ellen." She said with a smile. Arianna was about to continue with her own introduction, but Molly was still watching Ellen expectantly. "And that-"
"Oh, come on, I told you my last name!" she cried.
"What? Why do our last names matter?" Virginia finally managed to say, turning to regard her friends, who were both equally confused.
"B-but it's like their first meeting! You've got to say your full name!"
Arianna rolled her eyes. Just because Harry, Ron and Hermione did it doesn't mean you have to… Besides, did she really want to be revealing that she was married to a Professor this early in the year? In fairness, they'll all find out eventually… They probably already know, and just need to put a face to the name. But she wanted to avoid it for as long as possible. She knew, for a fact, that once they knew, a throng of interested Freshmen would mob her begging to tell the story… That was something she wanted to put off for as long as possible. Unfortunately, Ellen had not had the same thought process as Arianna. She'd gone into her nervous-mode, which always materialised around new people.
"W-well… if you insist. I'm Ellen Middleton… Although…" sadness flashed across her features, and Arianna immediately knew what was going through the blonde's mind. She gulped down the lump in her throat. Virginia noticed her friends' discomfort, and chimed in next.
"I'm Virginia Danson. If you meet a guy called Donald Danson, avoid him. He's a prankster." She explained.
"Like Fred and George?"
"Uh… yes?" Virginia said with a shrug. Ellen smiled, broken from her reverie by the need to explain.
"They're twins who play pranks on everyone… So yeah, in a way I'd say Donald is a bit like that. Luke Phifer helps him out a lot. But Donald is definitely the leader in that duo." Arianna nodded in agreement. Then, Molly turned to her, and her heart began to thump.
"And you are?" Nice quote… she thought, trying to calm herself down. She glanced at each of her friends in turn. Virginia clearly knew the thoughts rampaging through her mind, as she looked concerned, but she gave a small smile of encouragement. Ellen took a little longer to click, but when she did she gasped, her eyes widening a little as she tried to emulate Virginia's encouragement. Arianna grimaced. Maybe I can just say my first-name and be done with it… she pleaded.
"Arianna." She said, forcing a smile. Unfortunately, Molly didn't seem deterred, and she resigned herself to her fate with a sigh. "Arianna Grabiner." She said. Molly smiled.
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Last names are part of us! They make us who we are!"
Arianna shared a look with Virginia, who shrugged.
"Are you Sophomores? I didn't see you in the assembly…" Molly continued suddenly.
"Yeah, we are."
"What's it like studying magic?"
"Dull…" Virginia muttered, crossing her arms. "It's school, it sucks, end of."
"Oh shush Virginia!" Ellen cried. "Don't listen to her, she's not wildseed. To her this is totally normal."
"Wildseed? Oh, you mean muggle-born?"
"Um… yeah…" Arianna muttered. "Ellen and I are both wildseeds. I'm guessing you are too, considering the extensive Harry Potter knowledge?" she asked lightly, pushing away her worries over her name. Molly hadn't reacted, so maybe it wouldn't be a problem.
"Yup! I've got a pure-blood roommate." Arianna cringed. Don't use that term. She begged in her mind. "She didn't really tell me anything…"
"Well, make sure you go to at least one lesson in each colour in the first couple of weeks, so you can get a flavour for what kind of magic suits you… Learning magic is great, just don't go beyond your level." Arianna explained with a shrug.
"Oh, and watch out for grumpy ol' Grabby!" Virginia added. Arianna face-palmed.
"Grabby?"
"Professor Grabiner. He's the guy we were comparing to Snape." Ellen explained automatically, though she seemed to realise her error as Molly frowned.
"Grabiner?" Arianna closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. Nicely done guys… she thought as she saw realisation dawn on Molly's face. Nicely done.
I'm going to take this moment to remind you all that as I have no beta, all mistakes are mine, and I'd appreciate any corrections et.c
Also, please let me know what you think overall :) I love to read your feedback x