Apprenticeships and Whipping cream
Lenalee stepped into the apprentice common room just after dinner and blinked in surprise at the three dozing Gryffindors on the sofa.
"They came as soon as they heard about the vision. They were worried about you" Kanda spoke as he emerged from the kitchenette. She smiled as the man shook the trio awake.
"Lenalee. Are you okay? Did it hurt?" Harry and Hermione bounded towards the woman as Ron chuckled,
"Let her breathe - she's only just got back. Hey" he nodded towards her and she smiled and nodded back before turning to the two in front of her,
"I'm okay. I ended up bumping my head but Professor Trelawney is teaching me ways to stay in control" she admitted. "Did Snape come here before?" she asked Kanda who nodded.
"He came over to discuss things yeah, why?" he rose an eyebrow at her knowing smile.
"Just a hunch" she answered before sitting down, "are the others upstairs?". Kanda nodded,
"Doing homework - they didn't want to fall behind"
"You guys have to do homework?" Ron seemed appalled and Lenalee giggled as Kanda smirked,
"We have a lot of work to do. So of course we have homework" Lenalee answered.
Hermione nodded solemnly,
"Five years of study in a few months is unheard of" and Harry looked horrified but Ron grinned,
"Well if anyone can do it, it's you guys" he told them.
"Thanks Ron" Lenalee smiled as Kanda inclined his head.
"Is Lenalee back?" Alma and Allen appeared in the stairwell and Lenalee stood so the pair could hug her. Harry smiled at the family,
"Where's Timothy?" Hermione asked, looking for the youngest sibling. Kanda smirked,
"Mugen is under strict orders not to let him leave his room until he's finished"
"That's cruel Kanda" Lenalee told him as they laughed. Hermione looked like she wanted to say something and Kanda gestured up,
"You can go and help him if you want. It's third year stuff anyway" he told the girl. Harry and Ron exchanged knowing looks at Hermione's agreement as she headed up the stairs to help the struggling student.
"She's whipped" Harry sniggered,
"Totally whipped" Ron agreed.
Kanda rolled his eyes as Alma and Lenalee looked confusedly at the boys. Allen just looked smug.
"So what did Trelawney say?" Kanda got back to the point at hand - half to regain the conversation, the other to spare the two teens upstairs.
Lenalee tucked a hair behind her ear where it hung loose from her low pigtails,
"She says that it's best for me to start training in Divination as soon as possible. That way, I can read the visions in different ways and end up with less trances and nightmares" she explained.
"So it's not a load of hogswash?" Harry asked, wrinkling his nose slightly and Lenalee laughed,
"Not at all - it's simply that those without the sight don't get as much out of it - it can still be useful though." she explained, remembering what Trelawney had told her not long ago.
"Hermione doesn't like it" Ron admitted, and Harry chuckled at the simplification.
"It's not 100% accurate or logical so I'm not that surprised" It was Timothy who answered as he emerged from the stairs, Hermione carrying Mugen behind him.
"Oh shush you. But I guess, if it's a form of spacing out actual prophecy it's useful" Hermione answered sheepishly.
"Hermione Granger, admitting she's wrong! Has the world ended?" Ron cried dramatically and Harry giggled into his hand as he shushed his friend,
"You're gonna get hit" he warned the red-head. Hermione glared at the boys and Timothy lay a hand on her shoulder, murmuring,
"They're just teasing 'Mione. Let them be" and she huffed but didn't move to shout or attack. Allen and Harry shared a knowing glance. Totally whipped.
Alma hummed from the side and Kanda tilted his head,
"What do you think Al?" he asked the man who hummed again.
"I was thinking - Lena, does Trelawney want to give you regular lessons for this?"
"Uh yes, she thinks I should steadily build up my knowledge of different outlets. Why?"
"I was wondering if Dumbledore would object to our official apprenticeships being brought forwards. We need to pass exams at some point, but I think survival should be our priority for now." he admitted and the room looked thoughtful.
"It's probably for the best anyway. Though I'm not saying you aren't capable, it's a bit too much to expect you to retain that much information as they're trying to give you" Hermione said matter-of-factly. Harry and Ron nodded; when they heard of how much they'd need to catch up, they'd known straight away that it was too extreme.
"I'll speak to Dumbledore tomorrow. I need to ask about the rabbit as well so may as well get it all done in one go" Kanda stated and began herding the three Gryffindors out of the dorm.
"I'll walk them back" he announced, pausing in the doorway as Lenalee grabbed his arm,
"Why don't you stop by Professor Snape's office - ask him what he thinks. It'll be good to have back up from an actual teacher - both about Lavi and the apprenticeship" she implied and Kanda looked at her in surprise before shrugging,
"Guess it can't hurt. I'll stop by his office later. Come on you three" he ushered the trio out of the rooms as the rest of the apprentices watched the door shut behind him.
"I don't think Hermione's the only one who's whipped" Lenalee smiled.
"Is that why you sent him to Snape's?" Allen asked with a smirk as Tim looked confused by the statement.
"Did you see something in your trance Lena?" Alma put a hand on the girl's arm, jolting back when she snorted,
"Nope I'm just not blind" she stated before heading to make cups of tea for those left, placing a bowl of water down for Mugen.
"Hey Allen, what does whipped mean?" Tim asked and the only answer he received was the man's badly hidden laughs.
Severus barely looked up from his marking as he barked 'Enter' to whoever was at his door this close to curfew.
"Evening Severus. You busy?" Kanda asked as he entered the office. Severus looked up briefly at the apprentice before looking back at the stack of essays he had yet to mark but shrugged, not putting down his quill.
"I am but I can multitask. What's the issue?" he looked up briefly as Kanda shut the door behind himself.
"Alma put forward a proposal for our apprenticeship and I agree with him"
"So, what is this proposal?" Snape asked, finishing one paper and moving onto another.
"Well since Lenalee will need pretty rigorous training with Trelawney, we wondered if it would be worth settling into our separate roles sooner than expected. As he said, we can sit our exams whenever, but survival and preparedness comes first" Kanda finished and waited for Severus to give his opinion. In the meantime, Kanda found himself watching the man as he marked - tracking his hand as it painted red ink across the yellowed parchment. Eventually, Snape finished his task and sat back in his chair and looked over at Kanda who tried to look like he hadn't been avidly staring at his teacher's hands.
"It could be a good idea actually - it would mean that we could train you with what you will need rather than what the curriculum requires. Hexes and duelling being top of the list with what Miss Lee saw." Snape said eventually, raising an eyebrow at Kanda's inability to meet his eyes.
"Was there something else?" he pressed and Kanda blinked before turning back to the professor and nodding,
"Yeah. Before the whole storming out of his office fiasco, I was supposed to ask Dumbledore if some of our friends from back at Headquarters could visit. I may have also told them about this whole 'dark lord rising' problem and they asked if they could help out." Kanda scratched his head awkwardly, knowing that he probably shouldn't have told anyone outside of the magical world about it. But Lavi was a Bookman - and the others were part of a secretive organisation - they knew how to keep quiet. Snape raised the other eyebrow at the admittance.
"I'm guessing that these friends are muggles?"
"Yeah - well, as far as we know. But Lavi's a Bookman so he knows all about the magical world anyway - and I have a feeling that the others know about it as well." Kanda admitted, putting forward his case. Snape nodded, deep in thought and mulled over the idea in his head. Muggles were not supposed to come into contact with the magical world. But if they already knew of its existence - and had friends on the inside looking out for them - then maybe it wouldn't be too much of an issue. The only problem would be the types of books they may have to read.
"They'd have to have someone with them at all times - not as a matter of trust but protection. Some of the books, especially those relating to darker magicks, have the possibility of being cursed or warded in some way which would be damaging to those without magic to protect them." Snape eventually stated and Kanda nodded - he'd found a screaming book once, but he knew that would be one of the milder ones.
"Either way, we will have to ask Dumbledore in the morning. Meet me by the Great Hall before breakfast - we'll head up to the headmaster's office from there"
Kanda looked up in surprise,
"Don't you have classes first thing?"
"Which is why we're going before classes?"
"Sweet Jesus when do you sleep?"
"At night preferably" Snape snarked and Kanda snorted
"Not much I'm guessing then?", and Snape shrugged,
"I get enough. Now head on back - I have more work to do. If you're so concerned with my sleep schedule let me finish before daybreak" and the man ushered a still chuckling Kanda out of his office.
"Alright alright. Before breakfast right?"
"Right. Good night Kanda"
"Goodnight Severus"
Snape watched Kanda head down the dark corridor before shutting the office door. He spotted the pile of marking he had left to do and groaned. Daybreak may not have been too much of a stretch. Speeding up the Apprentice's separation would give him back the frees that he would never admit that he needed, as well as giving him a second pair of hands. That was, of course, going on the assumption that he himself would gain one of the apprentices. But that was never a given and he should never see it as such. To do so would be wishful thinking. Why did he want an apprentice anyway? Severus was a private and introverted man and having an apprentice would mean sharing his quarters with another person - granted they would extend the quarters to accommodate - did he want that? And he found, after thinking it over - that he did. If it was Kanda. The specificity of the revelation made him wary but he decided not to think about it too hard and set about charging through fourth year essays.