‘Atticus Evergreen?’ – Jaz almost choked on her tea before asking.

Rosie nodded with visible worry on her face.

‘Yeah, we need to keep Emilia as far away from him as possible.’ – Jaz replied with a disgusted expression.

‘Keep me away from him? Why?’ – Emilia asked, surprised.

Despite Atticus definitely seeming strange and overly cocky, she didn’t understand her friends concern. She bit into a piece of toast and glanced at the girls. They exchanged quick looks, almost as if they were communicating non-verbally, before Rosie spoke.

‘He’s nothing but trouble, Emilia. It’s best not to be seen around with people like him.’

Jaz nodded agreeingly before taking another bite of her cereal. Emilia raised her brow, waiting for some explanation.

‘He’s a weirdo. There’s rumors going around that he practices dark magic.’ - Rosie gave her a certain look.

‘Everyone at school knows it’s best to just stay away from him. No one wants to be associated with dark wizards.’ – the despise in Jaz’s voice ensured Emilia that both girls really did dislike Atticus and were worried for her.

She didn’t say anything. Just looked down at her cold toast, as her hand went down the pocket of her robe and gently brushed the rim of the round sunglasses with one of her fingers.

...

After breakfast both Rosie and Jaz left for their classes, since neither of them were taking advanced herbology, which was Emilia’s next lesson, she had to go and find the Herbology Wing herself.

After leaving the Great Hall she looked around with a lost expression, without any idea as to which direction to even take. She regretted not asking her friends for directions before they left.

She decided to simply go forward and see where the castle hallways would take her, which, as she quickly realized, wasn’t the brightest idea. She wandered around for quite a while, walking past strange paintings, dark corridors, almost fell down a set of moving stairs, before she ended up walking out to some small courtyard which was completely empty.

Before she turned back to head inside of the school she heard a voice next to her.

‘Good morning Ms. Vayane.’ – an elder, ginger haired witch said as she walked out of a classroom door which Emilia stood right next to.

Emilia recognized her as one of the teachers, she remembered seeing her by the faculty table during the Sorting Ceremony the night before. She was wearing a heavy, burgundy dress and a matching cloak with golden leaves sewn into it. Her hair was put up into a tight bun behind her head and her blue eyes were framed with small square glasses.

‘Good morning Professor…’

‘Weasley.’ – she revealed her name.

‘Professor Weasley.’ – Emilia corrected herself, with an apologetic nod.

‘I see you are a little lost.’ – the teacher gave her a motherly-like smile. – ‘Which classroom are you trying to find?’

‘Um, the herbology class.’

‘Alright then, I shall walk you there. There’s something I wish to discuss with you, so we can do it on the way.’ – she said as she walked back inside of the castle.

Emilia smiled with gratitude and followed. They began walking to the south wing of the school as Professor Weasley began her monologue.

‘As the Vice-Headmastress of Hogwarts it is my duty to make sure you adjust well, not only to the school itself but to the entirety of the wizarding world as well. I understand it all must be a lot to take in for someone so young. A lot of our students that grew up in muggle families, unaware of their magical abilities struggled to get used to this new lifestyle. But, from what I’ve been informed, you’ve done exceptionally in all of the training you’ve undergone before coming to Hogwarts and that you were taught the basics of magic, spells and charms in order to be able to keep up with the advanced studies that await for you in your 10th year.’ – the girl nodded to confirm with a faint smile. – ‘Considering you had to catch up on 9 years of academic studies in less than a year, I assume there’s still fields that need to be improved. Therefore, I would like you to visit me in my class every Wednesday at 5. I will try my best to practice charms and spells with you and help you keep up with all of the assignments you may struggle with. I will also give you extra assignments to work on during the week to keep your skills sharpened. – she looked at Emilia and they exchanged smiles.

‘Thank you so much, Professor Weasley. I’m sure it’ll be great help. I’m very grateful for all of the support I’ve received ever since coming to England, and to Hogwarts.’

They stopped in front of the green houses, which was the location of Emilia’s lesson.

‘Now, before you leave, there is one more important thing I must mention.’ – she stopped her for one more moment.

‘What is it, Professor?’

I’ve been informed about your special abilities.’ – she lowered her voice and stood closer to her to ensure the privacy of their conversation. – ‘I would strongly recommend you keep it a secret for now, from any new friends you may make. I’ve arranged you to be training with your Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, Professor Crane, specifically for you to be taught to tame these abilities. I’m expecting you to treat this matter very seriously.’ – she said with a bit of a harsher tone in her voice. – ‘Please, await his owl and do not mention these special lessons to anyone.’

‘Oh… of course, Professor Weasley. I won’t tell anyone.’ – Emilia agreed, surprised by the sudden secrecy.

She parted ways with the teacher and walked through the sunny greenhouses, thinking about that peculiar conversation. She thought her magic was the same as everyone else’s. She’s had no idea that her abilities were in any way special or different than those of the other Hogwarts’ students.

Emilia entered the greenhouse to the left, that had a golden number 10, written on top of it’s door. The class was still halfway empty, with only a couple of students sitting by the big long table covered with strangely looking plants. She sat down at the far right end of the class with a troubled look on her face and stared down at the table. Lost in thought, she took Atticus’ sunglasses and started playing around with them subconsciously.

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Unexpectedly, she was awoken from the trance she was in by the owner of said sunglasses. Atticus plopped down on the seat right next to her and turned to Emilia, his head resting on his hand as his elbow leaned against the table.

‘Missed me?’ – she didn’t even have to turn to him to sense the arrogant smile that would never leave his lips.

‘Not really.’ – she answered, but couldn’t stop a soft smile from appearing on her face.

‘Huh, interesting.’ – he looked down at the pair of sunglasses in her hands. – ‘Taking good care of them I hope?’

‘Well, they are still intact, aren’t they?’ – she said sarcastically as she slid them on the table towards Atticus.

‘I guess so.’ – he chuckled and hung them on his collar, right under his Adam’s apple.

He took a long look at Emilia, who was still turned towards the table and was looking through the first pages of her Herbology book. Grinning mischievously, he grabbed the book out of her hands, hoping to get some reaction from her.

‘Still not bored of trying to annoy me?’ – she asked, finally turning around to face him, one of her eyebrows raised.

‘No.’- his grin grew wider. – ‘I want to test your limits. See how long it takes before you smack me over the head with this book or something.’

His statement seemed so ridiculous that it actually made her laugh.

‘But why?’

‘That’s what friends do, right? Tease and annoy one another.’ – he stated, his gray eyes studying hers.

‘Heh. I didn’t know we were friends.’ – she chuckled slightly.

He raised his brows, waiting for an explanation. She grabbed her book back and then looked back at him.

‘Well, we only met like, what, 2 hours ago?’ – Emilia answered with another question

‘Yeah, and now we are friends.’ – he agreed, giving her a somewhat challenging stare.

Another chuckle escaped her mouth before she replied, smiling:

‘Hm. Alright.’

Atticus elbowed her playfully, before the person walking past them bumped their arm against his back. His smile faded momentarily.

Emilia looked up and saw Matt and Ash walking around their and of the table and then sitting down directly in front of them. With the corner of her eye she noticed Atticus’ fist tightening under the table.

‘I see you’re already tormenting the new student, Atticus.’ – Mattias stated. – ‘Why don’t you leave her be.’

‘I apologize, if my brother is giving you a hard time.’ – Ash had finally spoken, his voice was surprisingly soft and calm.

Brother?

‘H-he’s not. I’m fine. We’re friends.’ – Emilia stuttered, suddenly unable to think straight, as Ash’s green eyes studied her from across the table.

‘Friends?’ – Matt laughed, but didn’t add anything, as the bell rang that exact moment, starting the lesson.

‘I better get to my class before I’m late.’ – Atticus spoke with a softer tone, so that only the girl would hear him. – ‘See you later, Vay.’

He smiled at her once more before getting up and leaving the class the same moment the professor walked in.

The girl was sure they had the herbology class together, so the sudden disappearance of the boy surprised her. Perhaps, he had only come in to see her during the break. Or to have her return his glasses. Her mind began wandering once again.

Seeing the puzzled look on Emilia’s face, Ash moved his seat to her side and sat next to her.

‘Are you sure my brother wasn’t bothering? I’m really sorry about him. I know he can be too much sometimes.’ – he whispered, since the lesson had already started, his face very close to her, causing her breathing to become irregular and her heart to flutter.

‘No, I promise. He’s actually very nice to me, I like him.’ – she tried to collect herself and speak calmly.

A soft smile appeared on his lips and laughed quietly.

‘Well, you’re certainly the first.’ – he looked down to take the books out of his bag before his eyes met back with hers again.

She smiled nervously, feeling her heart beat unusually quickly and her cheeks turning rosy pink. What was even happening to her? She was never this flustered around anyone before, this was an entirely new, sort of annoying feeling.

The class begun and Professor Garlick, who was their herbology teacher, paired them up to work on some creepy looking plants, seemingly similar to Venus flytraps, but much larger and with sharp, animal-like teeth. Emilia and Ash were supposed to work together and tend to the creature, feed it with small insects and then prune it’s dead ends.

That class was going to be 2 hours long so, when realizing she would have to talk and work with the boy for that long it actually made Emilia very anxious, but to her surprise, once they started working on their task, she found out how easy he was to talk to. They ended up chatting for the entire time, getting to know each other better and just cracking silly jokes.

Emilia could feel herself subconsciously being more and more charmed by the boy and began to really understand the main reason behind his undoubtful popularity. She kept on catching herself staring at him at random moments, studying every inch of his face, his green, enchanting eyes, his pink lips, his elegantly styled hair as well as his slim and yet muscular body. He was wearing a dark blue, fitting sweater with white stripes that was showing off his great physique.

However, to her own surprise, he was also noticing his discrete glances towards her. Every time that their eyes unexpectedly met it would cause her heart to skip a bit. Yet she did began feeling more and more comfortable around him as the lesson progressed. By the end of it, it felt like they were old friends having yet another great chat with one another.

At some point, Ash got accidentally bit by the plant they were tending to. A quick ‘ouch’ escaped his mouth and Emilia instinctively reached out for his hand before even thinking about it. The second her fingers brushed against the small cut it disappeared momentarily, leaving nothing but a faint, white mark remaining. The boys eyes widened but he said nothing. The girl, scared of revealing her abilities unintentionally, tried to change the subject quickly, even though she did know that Ash saw what happened. Yet he seemed to have brushed it off and kept on chattering with her for the rest of the class.

When it was over she felt genuine sadness, considering that she did not know when they were going to see each other again. As she got up and started packing her things he suddenly asked.

‘Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?’

Her cheeks burned and a sudden wave of excitement arose in her.

‘Hogsmeade?’ – she asked.

‘Yeah, it’s a small village right next to Hogwarts, most students go out there during the weekends. We could just go for a walk there or go get something to drink. Or even just go through some shops in case you’re still missing some things you need for school.’ – a sudden shyness seemed to go over him as he looked down after asking, his hand scratching the back of his head in a nervous manner.

‘I’d love to, actually.’ – a wide smile brightened up her face.

Emilia and Ash both left the classroom and walked together for a minute while he was telling her about Hogsmeade and she listened in silence. One moment their hands accidentally brushed against one another making the girls heart sink in her chest.

As they were about to part their ways he suddenly turned to her, paused for a second, as if he was considering what to say, before he admitted.

‘I… I’m looking forward to more Herbology classes with you, Emilia.’

She smiled and looked up at him.

‘Likewise.’ – she simply replied. – ‘I’ll see you on Friday.’ – she added before turning around and going up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower.

It took all of the strength that she had in her not to turn around to get another look at the boy. After reaching the common area, she squeezed in behind the Fat Lady portrait and walked into the room, immediately spotting Rosie and Jaz sitting on the big couch right next to the fireplace.

She plopped down in the armchair next to them with a tired sigh. Both of the girls greeted her. Jaz was still in her Quidditch uniform, all muddy and dirty, with the heavy knee and elbow pads laying by her feet on the carpet alongside her broom. Rosie was sitting up with her legs crossed, wearing her usual school uniform but with her tie undone and as always laying flatly on her shoulders and her skirt cut up and modified to, as she always would say ‘give it more style’.

They began asking her about her first day and she started her monologue, telling them everything in great details. When she mentioned Atticus coming to talk to her before herbology, a disgusted look appeared on Jaz’s face and her and Rosie exchanged quick looks. When Emilia got to the part of the story where Ash asked her to go to Hogsmeade with her, Rosie screamed with excitement, making a couple of Gryffindors sitting around the common room look up in annoyance.

‘Merlin’s beard… I can’t believe it’s your first day and you already got yourself a date. And a date with Ash Evergreen at that! I knew him staring at you last night during the feast meant something.’ – she shook Jaz’s arm in excitement and her brushing it off angrily. – ‘I can’t wait to help you dress up for it!’

Jaz just smiled silently, letting Emilia know by looking at her with her bright yellow eyes, that she was happy for her as well. Their conversation continued as the room began filling up with more and more students coming back from their classes and the fire was cracking happily.