So, I was working on this chapter last night, and I was sitting across the kitchen table from my father and I realize he has his phone out. He's reading something, right? After a moment, I realize he's reading Chapter 14 while I'm writing Chapter 15. I got a nice little chuckle out of that, and though you all might too! Anyway, here's Chapter 15. Lots of Minerva & Rolanda. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or his world. It's all J.K.'s.
Annabelle woke up early the next morning and decided to pop in the shower before any of the other girls woke up. She slipped in the shower and let the warm water flow over her skin. Her bruises were all faded and the only thing marring her skin was the occasional scar. There was one on her right shoulder where her father had carelessly thrown her into a mirror. It had shattered and cut her back in many places. A larger piece had cut her right shoulder deep enough to require stitches, but had never fully healed.
Her other notable scar was actually from her mother. After one too many glasses of wine, her mother had gone off on a tangent, throwing things in every direction. A wine bottle had crashed to the floor and Annabelle had been ordered to clean up the mess. Her mother ignored her tears as the pieces of the bottle dug into her shin. It never would have scarred had her mother taken her in to get it taken care of. Instead, Annabelle attempted to nurse it back to health. It had gotten infected and only persisted to get worse. When it did finally heal, it left a jagged scar in its wake.
Annabelle curled her toes and watched as the scar flexed under the water. She could wear short sleeves now if she wanted.
She finished washing her body and hair and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her thin figure. She quickly got dressed in a pair of lightweight jeans and a black tee-shirt, slipping her wand into her back pocket. After getting dressed, she stepped back into the dormitory and pulled her Gryffindor scarf out of her trunk. She tied it loosely around her neck and then grabbed her cloak off of the post of her bed. Rolling her eyes at Ginny's light snores, Annabelle decided she'd wake up the red-head.
She gently shook Ginny and chuckled as the red-head groaned. "Wha' d'ya wan'?"
"Ginny…If we're both going to make the Quidditch team next year, we need to go down to our flying lesson. Madame Hooch will murder us if we're late, therefore we need to get to breakfast on time. We all know that you have to eat before you fly."
At the mention of Quidditch, Ginny shot out of bed and began stripping out of her pajamas. She quickly replaced them with an outfit achingly similar to Annabelle's, with the main difference being the color of their tee-shirts. Ginny's was a pale yellow, which offset the gold highlights in her flaming hair, as well as her toffee colored eyes.
"Alright, I'm ready. I just hope Ronald hasn't headed down yet. He could eat the whole feast if he wanted to." Ginny gave a hearty chuckle, in which Annabelle reciprocated.
The pair made their way down to the Great Hall and sat down together. The twins settled on either side of them and began filling their own plates.
"We heard you got detention-" said Fred.
"With McGonagall." –George.
"Real bad luck, mate." –Fred.
"Except. We couldn't…" George shoved a bite of food in his mouth as Fred took over.
"Be happier. Percy the pinhead is peeved." –Fred.
"Ginny's best friend has detention."
"With our head of house!" Cackling, they both began eating again as Annabelle's face turned crimson.
How had people heard about her detention? She sunk lower in her seat and finished her meal as quick as she could before turning to Ginny. "I'll, uh, meet you down at the Quidditch Pitch." With that, she hopped up from the table and quickly made her way outside. She spotted a couple other first years meandering down that way, but she decided to hang back and make her way down by herself.
Arriving at the pitch, she saw about twenty brooms lying on the ground. She noticed that some kids were moving to stand by brooms, so she found two on the edge and began 'guarding' those. It was their second flying lesson, and this time they'd be given more freedom to actually experiment in their flying. Annabelle had been looking forward to this since their first flying lesson and now she was growing giddy with excitement.
Their spiky haired instructor stood off to the side with her hands on her hips. She was observing each student as they walked onto the pitch and soon her eyes found the pair of Gryffindor girls coming together. They had picked the brooms on the far left side of the pitch and were now whispering together. The red-head was obviously a Weasley, but Rolanda couldn't place the other's lineage.
Noticing that class should have started almost five minutes ago, Rolanda stepped out onto the pitch and, once again, surveyed her students. "Alright, step up to a broom and place your right hand over it. You know the drill! What are you waiting for?"
Immediately, every student stood beside a broom and placed their hand over it, commanding it to come 'up.' A few students had an automatic success, and mounted their brooms right away. They were instructed not to go far or very high until everyone had mounted their brooms. Ginny had achieved hers on the first try, but Annabelle took another attempt to get her broom to respond.
Once they had both mounted their brooms, they flew in circles around one another until they were both growing dizzy. Rolanda had let the class explore their abilities and was now watching a few students intently. Ginny and Annabelle agreed that she was searching for talent and the pair decided they'd try and show off.
They flew so that they were barely hovering over the ground and then quickly took off, spinning in circles around each other as they flew toward the opposite side of the pitch. Ginny was obviously much more skilled than Annabelle was and easily took control of their maneuver. Occasionally, the blonde would begin to struggle and Ginny would slow their movements to let Annabelle regain her composure.
Eventually, they raced back to the ground, but Ginny missed her landing and ended up rolling along the ground, only to land at Madame Hooch's feet. She grinned cheekily at the elder witch and pushed herself off the ground. "Your class is dismissed, Miss Weasley. Let your friend know as well. I dismissed class ten minutes ago, but the two of you seemed to be having entirely too much fun, so I let you be."
However, Ginny knew that Annabelle was past due to be at McGonagall's office and waved Annabelle over while keeping Madame Hooch from walking away. "Wait! Madame Hooch, Annabelle was supposed to serve detention with McGonagall after practice. She can't be late!"
Annabelle raced over, noticing that the pitch was nearly empty and frowned. This didn't look good. She glanced between the two witches and realized what was going on. "Madame Hooch, Professor McGonagall asked me to have you send word if I would be late. I really can't be late without a good reason. She'll have my head."
Rolanda chuckled at the younger witch. "Miss Wyte, yes?" At the blonde's nod, the flight instructor simply grabbed her wand and conjured a piece of parchment and a quill. Taking the quill, she jotted a note on the paper and folded it up. "I'd recommend hurrying. Even with a note, Minerva can be rather impatient." She smiled at the younger witch and turned away to put the brooms up.
Ginny and Annabelle sprinted for the large oak doors. Upon reaching them, they said their goodbye's and Ginny ran off to find Matilda and Bethany.
Annabelle made her way up to the fifth floor and trudged down the hallway. Finally, she reached the door to Professor McGonagall's office, took a deep breath, and knocked twice.
Minerva set the essay she was currently marking to the side and glanced toward the clock. She realized that if Annabelle didn't have a note, then she'd have to punish her more. This was not how she wanted to spend her Saturday. She sighed and folded her hands on her desk. "Enter."
Annabelle slowly opened the door and took a step inside. She reached behind her and carefully pulled the door shut. She bowed her head and slowly approached the desk, holding the note out for Minerva to see.
Minerva took the note from her pupil's hand and instructed her to sit down in the chair across from her. She then opened the note.
Minnie,
Don't be too hard on the girl. She and the Weasley girl stayed at my lesson a little late. It was my fault. I didn't tell the pair to go inside because they were simply doing so well. I'm thinking future chasers, or the pair could be beaters. Miss Wyte's a little small for a beater, but I'm sure we could bulk her up. Anyway, I'll see you tonight for dinner with Poppy and Pomona.
-Ro
Minerva couldn't stop a grin from spreading across her face as she set the piece of parchment on her desk. Leave it to Rolanda to be scouting talent for Gryffindor on their second flying lesson. Of course, Minerva didn't have any room to talk there. She had, after all, been the one to spot Harry Potter catching the Remembrall during his first flying lesson, which resulted in him immediately becoming part of the House team.
Realizing that she still had a student in her office, Minerva cleared her throat. "Your tardiness shall be excused. Madame Hooch had a sufficient explanation for your being late. Now, we're going to start on some lines." She gestured to the parchment, quill, and ink pot laid out for her.
Annabelle surveyed the items and look up at her instructor. "What will I be writing, Professor?"
Minerva gave a sad smile. "You will be writing two sets of alternating lines. You will write, 'I will not break curfew,' and 'I will not lie.' You will write each sentence one hundred times before you can go. I expect that will be sufficient punishment. However, you may not use magic to assist you."
Annabelle accepted her fate and began writing her lines. After writing each about thirty times, her hand began to ache painfully from all the writing. Still, she pushed on, but eventually took a break after she'd finished fifty of each. She glanced at the old clock, and realized that twenty-five minutes had already gone by. Sighing, she stretched her hand and began writing again. Now, she didn't bother counting and simply continued to write.
Minerva found that she was comforted by the silence that had long since settled between them. She smiled as she imagined many afternoons like this, except without the punishment. She rather enjoyed the child's company. Unlike many students, she hadn't complained about the lines. Also, it was rare for Minerva to find herself relaxing around a student, and now she was kicking herself for doing just that!
Annabelle wrote the line 'I will not lie' and was moving on to her next line when a golden text appeared below her hand. It read, 'Stop.' Annabelle grinned, even though she was still in detention.
I love magic.
Annabelle twisted the lid on the ink pot and placed the quill back on the desk. She looked over her lines and found that she was satisfied by her handwriting. She hadn't rushed it, so her script was neatly scrawled across the entirety of the parchment without being difficult to read. "I'm finished, Professor."
Minerva looked up, over her square spectacles and met the child's twinkling green eyes. She had to fight a smile upon seeing the girl's expression. There was no way that Minerva would doubt if Annabelle had truly finished. "Well, you're welcome to leave then, or you can sit and watch an old witch grade papers." She meant it as a joke, but couldn't deny that she'd been secretly hopeful that her student would agree.
Annabelle glanced around the room, taking in the many book shelves, but also remembering that she was supposed to meet Ginny for lunch. "Uh, perhaps another time, Professor." She grinned at the professor and got up. Upon reaching the door, she turned around. "Have a good day, Professor."
Minerva returned the child's smile. "I will, Miss Wyte. Now, go on. I expect Miss Weasley and yourself need to devise more Quidditch tactics, yes?" Seeing the child's confused expression, Minerva continued. "Madame Hooch expects you'll both make marvelous Quidditch players. Now, go." She shooed the student out the door and finally let herself relax again.
Minerva moved to close her door when a shoe blocked the door's way. Noticing the footwear, Minerva guessed it could only be one person. No one, but the flying coach wore Quidditch shoes all the time. Even the students took breaks from those shoes. Sighing, she opened the door and went to sit down behind her desk again.
Rolanda didn't need any further invitation. She sauntered into the room, not bothering to shut the door behind her.
Minerva noticed this and simply flicked her wrist to make it close itself. This action was met by a childlike giggle. "Minnie, you know I do that just to bother you, right?" The silver-haired witch sprawled across the chair across from Minerva. "It's good to see you smile, Min."
Minerva raised an eyebrow at the younger witch as she attempted to control her facial expression. "I'm not smiling, Ro."
Rolanda rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand. "Accio mirror." A handheld mirror flew from across the room and settled into Rolanda's hand. She immediately held it up to Minerva's face and pointed to a pair of barely-visible dimples. Rolanda chuckled at Minerva's immediate frown. "I haven't seen those in years, Min. She's good for you." With that, Ro placed the mirror on the desk and sat down. "We're still going to Hogsmeade for dinner, yes?"
Minerva sighed and shook her head at Ro's musings. "As long as we aren't going to Madam Puddifoot's again, yes. How on earth did you convince us to go there last time? Surely, you had me under the Imperius Curse." Minerva chuckled.
"It's Pomona's turn to decide anyway. She picked The Three Broomsticks." Rolanda rolled her eyes. "At least we had fun at Puddifoot's."
Minerva rolled her eyes and stood up. "Don't you have something you should go supervise somewhere?" The professor chuckled and stretched. She wasn't really kicking Rolanda out, but she did need to go down to lunch.
Rolanda snorted. "You know my schedule better than I do, Min." Rolanda glanced toward the clock and grinned. "However, we both ought to head down to the Great Hall for lunch. Albus will have my hide if I keep you from eating!" Rolanda laughed and skipped to the door.
Minerva quickly joined the younger witch and simply shook her head as Ro wrapped an arm around her waist. "So, what will it take to get you back on a broom?" Minerva refused to answer. They'd been arguing the topic for years. "If Gryffindor wins the Quidditch cup, you don't have to. Otherwise, you're getting back on a broom." Ro grinned happily at her own idea.
Minerva knew that she had finally lost this battle and simply nodded. "When Gryffindor wins, you will never ask me to get on a broom again."
Rolanda rolled her eyes. "Yea, sure. When's the last time that Gryffindor won the House Cup?"
Minerva glowered at her long-time friend. "They'll win it this year. They're more prepared, and much more talented." Minerva grinned and separated herself from Rolanda as they neared the Great Hall. Pushing open the doors, they went their own ways.