Hana learned the hard way that rude awakenings weren't merely things you found in books or movies. It seemed that Tulip and Violet didn't get along much if they spent too much time together, and mornings when Violet woke up earlier than usual were the occasions when Hana was roused by the sounds of arguing girls trying to share a bathroom. This morning, as she turned to her side to look into the bathroom, Hana was even graced with the spectacle of hair pulling and angry jumping and stomping, which oddly reminded her of the mating dance of cranes from back home in Japan.
Hana only rose from her bed once the girls were heading out, the sounds of bickering disappearing behind the closed doors. She groaned and sat up, stretching her limbs before shutting herself up in the bathroom for a quick shower and to change into her uniform. By the time she'd exited the bathroom, Noah and their roommate Nathan had already changed into their uniforms, and the both of them were attempting, once again, to tame Noah's hair. However, out of annoyance, Nathan simply ruffled it up.
"Doesn't it look better all messed up, Yukimura?"
Hana looked up from her necktie and to Noah's messy hair. She narrowed her eyes a little, contemplating.
"I don't disagree. The crazy bedhead suits you."
"See? There you go. Now I can save money on hair gel."
"Wait, Nathan—"
Noah's pleas went unanswered though, as the boy simply shrugged and walked out the door. Noah groaned and hung his head back, and Hana chuckled lightly. Her friend glared at her.
"This isn't funny. My hair is a rat's nest, and it needs to be tamed. If my mother was here—"
"But she isn't here, Noah. Embrace the crazy."
"Okay, fine, but if James says anything about me emulating his style, I'm going to cry."
Hana rose her hands up in defence and grabbed her backpack before exiting the dorm room. Noah followed suit, and they walked down the dozens of staircases at the base of Ravenclaw Tower, then down the stairwell and into the Great Hall for breakfast.
The start of term feast had been an amalgam of all things British. However, as Ravenclaws, the students seated alongside Noah and Hana were lucky to have different kinds of food from around the world. There were some dumplings and miso soup nearby for Noah and Hana, stacks of pancakes and waffles in front of a vast majority of students, and there were even some Indian breakfast foods for another few children. Noah helped himself to a small bowl of dumplings and some pumpkin juice, while Hana had tea and a small bowl of miso soup. A simple sip set her straight from the morning's rude awakening—it was almost as good as her mother's.
Hana's eyes went from Noah's face full of food to a familiar twitchy walk when it crossed her field of vision. Severus had walked into the Great Hall alongside Lily, and the girl couldn't help but smirk. Herbology was their next class, and she definitely hadn't forgotten that argument they'd had the day prior. Though, Hana frowned when the boy's head snapped towards the Gryffindor table. She couldn't see anything that merited that look, or Lily's reaction, so Hana thought nothing of it and flicked a piece of scone at Noah's forehead.
Once again, Noah and Hana parted ways on their way to class, and Hana sauntered in the direction of the courtyard. Herbology class was located outside, in the humidity of the greenhouses caused by the unnecessarily bright sun. Hana looked up at it both thankful and confused. Couldn't this sun have shone while she was locked up in her house for the past five years? She shrugged. At least it wasn't raining now, and she wouldn't have to dash from the greenhouses to the castle after class later. After the short sun-glaring delay, Hana made her way to class and spied the students. Hana's lips formed into a small smirk, and she made her way toward Severus. The look of annoyance that broke on his face was priceless.
"Oh, dear God..."
"I'm flattered, Severus. Yesterday, I'm a lawyer, today I'm God. You're lucky I don't believe in such fictional characters," Hana said, taking a seat. "Hana will do just fine."
Severus heaved a sigh and took out his equipment for the class just as Professor Sprout arrived. Hana did the same, and with a wave of Professor Sprout's wand empty clay pots found themselves in front of all the students, four each. Today they were going to begin the planting and caring of plants they'd be able to use throughout their years at Hogwarts, namely those for Potions Class. For now, it was Aconite, Dittany, Nettles and Asphodel, as Professor Sprout explained, and she went on to describe different types of soils and fertilisers for at least twenty minutes, during which Hana took notes in her textbook, scribbling them in her native language. Severus glanced at it curiously, then frowned.
"What is this, gibberish?" he whispered.
"Margin notes, can't you tell?" Hana said sarcastically.
"Idiot, I mean the language. What's that, Chinese?"
"Japanese."
"Okay?"
"Not all Asian people are Chinese, you arse."
Hana stared at her left hand. It was trembling again. She chuckled dryly and gently flexed her hand. Moments later the trembling had stunted, and Hana continued taking notes in her copy of Magical Herbs and Fungi. Severus kept his eyes on the girl, alternating between the crease on her brow and her hand with the slight tremble that remained.
Hana looked back up at Professor Sprout and listened to her talk on and on about the amount of sunlight and moonlight each plant needed to get daily, and then she finished up with potting methods, leaving the students to their own devices. Hana fetched her dragon-hide gloves from the bottom of her backpack and grabbed a giant bag of potting soil, then a smelly container of dragon dung fertiliser. She recoiled when the scent hit her nostrils.
"And I thought the cows smelled bad..."
"Tell me," Severus said all of a sudden.
"About smelly cows?" Hana asked, making a mix of the soil and the dung.
She passed the soil bag and dung container to Severus. They busied themselves with their tasks as they spoke.
"Your hand. It keeps shaking."
"Why? So you can pretend to care?" Hana scoffed. "I'll pass thanks."
"So what if I don't care. Isn't it enough to be curious?" Severus reasoned, nearly gagging when he opened the dung container in turn.
"It's not something I'm just going to talk about, Severus. It's... personal."
"You don't look physically disabled, so is it something wrong with your brain?"
"Since when are you a medical expert?" Hana said, annoyed.
"I can read," Severus answered as if it were an obvious response.
"You can? Wow, that's a surprise."
"I have a lot of time on my hands at home, damn it, so I read."
"Homeschooled?"
Severus was silent for a second.
"Sort of. My mother has old books that I read through. She taught me what I need to know."
"And that included the intricacies of physical and psychosomatic tremors?"
"You talk too much, Yukimura," Severus said with a sigh.
"Hana," the girl corrected.
"Yukimura."
"Look," Hana sighed, annoyed, "even if I did explain it all to you, it would take way too long. Besides, it's way too personal for me to just tell you this when we're elbow-deep in dragon dung, and even if we weren't, I'd probably tell Noah before I'd tell you."
Hana took a deep breath and clenched her hands. They were hiding in a foot of soil, but Severus could tell that her hand was shaking.
"Sorry."
Severus shrugged.
There were a few minutes of silence between the two, in which Hana carefully planted her Dittany and Nettles and debated whether she'd say anything. In the end, her lips were moving before her brain couldn't tell her to stop.
"The Healers say it's psychosomatic."
"You disagree?"
"No. I know it is. It just makes it harder to treat it."
"What happened?"
"My mother died."
"Oh..."
"Oh?" Hana chuckled. "How very eloquent of you, Severus."
Severus turned to Hana and rose an eyebrow. The laughter had come unexpectedly.
"What?"
"You're laughing."
"My mother has been gone for six years, Severus. I miss her, but it's part of my culture to accept death. Besides, can't you tell? I'm built tough."
Severus rolled his eyes, but Hana noticed the smallest of grins on his face.
"Can I ask you another question? Last one probably."
"Since when do you need to ask permission? I'm not your superior unless you want to call me God again."
"You complete dunderhead."
"Dunderhead? That's a new one," Hana chuckled. "Sorry, go on."
"Why do you call me Severus?"
Hana snorted in a very unladylike fashion. She covered her face a little out of embarrassment, but she only ended up getting dirt and dung on her cheek instead.
"Because it's your name, you dunderhead."
"Doesn't stop your friends from calling me names..."
"What—Noah? Severus, the boy barely speaks at all, let alone to you," Hana chuckled, potting up her Aconite and Asphodel roots. "He can't be calling you names."
"Who's Noah?"
"The Asian kid I hang out with. With the crazy hair."
"Oh, that's his name."
"Not really the point, is it?"
Severus shrugged.
"You brought it up, kid. Spill."
"Those idiot Gryffindors!" Severus growled.
Hana rose an eyebrow. She'd seen him irritated before because he was continuously irritated to be perfectly honest, but the sheer anger in his voice was unmistakable.
"Strutting about the castle like they own the place. Snivellus, this. Snivellus, that."
"Snivellus?" Hana muttered to herself. "You're..."
"And yesterday you wondered why I didn't treat you with respect," Severus scoffed.
"Hey! I've heard them say some not-so-very nice things, but they're idiots," Hana argued. "I always thought they were exaggerating or flat out lying."
"So you did nothing? Just figured they were inflating their own egos with this sort of story?"
"Well, yeah, they do it all the time. But—"
"You're just like that Lupin," Severus spat. "Watch it all happen and do nothing."
"Wait, wait, slow down, Severus!" Hana urged. "I mean, are you sure?"
"Am I sure? That's a laugh."
"Look, look. I'll talk to them, okay?"
Severus scoffed.
"What good will that do? All three of them have heads as inflated as the Hindenburg."
"Hindenburg?"
"Giant muggle airship."
"Oh, okay. That's an adequate metaphor."
"The point is, their heads are inflated, and there's no way a scrawny little Japanese girl is going to change their minds."
"Then why'd you bring this up at all?" Hana asked. "Is it just because you like to complain?"
Severus ignored her and went back to his potting. Hana sighed.
"I'll talk to them, Severus, okay?"
"Whatever."
"Baka, I'm trying to help you. I'll talk to them, and they better not be doing anything stupid because I'll—"
Hana strung a sentence together in Japanese that Severus couldn't understand. However, judging by her tone, he could tell that she was really annoyed.
"I'm serious," she continued after a sigh. "Severus, they have no reason to hate you. And if after I talk some sense into them, if they keep at it, you better tell me, all right?"
Severus scoffed. Hana dropped the soil in her hands and got in the boy's way, glaring at him.
"You'll tell me, right?"
"Fine."
"Good," Hana said happily, sitting back down. "Now, pass me the dragon poop, will ya?"