Late Night Charms

Wednesday loved the dinning hall this late at night. There were very few times during the day when it didn't have people, when it wasn't abuzz with sound. Now, though, it was mostly dark with only a light here and there to keep the shadows at bay.

And it was quite save for her footsteps, and those of her students, upon the flagstones.

Near the East Entrance was a small wall recess with a hand bell tucked inside. Wednesday withdrew it and gave the bell a quick tinkle. In a few seconds an elf appeared before her. "Yes?" he asked.

"May we have a couple of pitcher of soft drinks, and ..." She knew it wasn't cool enough for more cocoa yet, but maybe... "And a pot of herbal tea?" She handed the elf two Galleons. "And could we have the usual seating arrangement?" The elf nodded and vanished.

Wednesday began walking towards the middle of the empty hall. Nary a table or chair was present; Wednesday knew the elves only set up the furniture early in the morning and then took them away before doing the cleaning. But she knew were to walk to, because every night after class when she brought the students here to unwind, they always sat in the same place . . ..

The furniture and drinks appeared before them: 2 sofas across from the other, two larger love seats/over-sized chairs at right angles, all in a box around a large, low tables with the refreshments. Wednesday smiled and allowed everyone to walk around her. "Take a seat," she said, angling for a love seat, "and get comfy ...."

Annie followed along, her arm resting comfortably on Kerry's waist, as the small class entered the dining hall for some down time. She glanced around the barren room. This area seems to be the most dramatic of the entire school, she wondered, as the sheer size of it without furniture overwhelmed her.

Overall, the advanced charms class had gone well and she wasn't too upset about not being able to perform the summoning and banishing charms. It'll just give me more time to spend practicing. She smiled and took in the mood of the students, letting their playful spirits cheer her up. No one here seems to mind at all that it didn't work for me, so they must all know that it happens...

She made a bee line for the other oversized love seat and settled in, crossing her legs at the knee and sinking back into Kerry. These classes in the evenings are by far...my favorite, she thought, running a finger lazily over the fabric of his khaki pants.

There was a certain coolness to walking into the Dinning Hall in the middle of the night when no one was present. Yes, the Midnight Madness was totally real with the relaxed seating and the dim lights and the blankets and pillows and letting you fall asleep, but this . . . this was spooky cool. Kerry thought of this as one of those "You don't realize how big the place is until you are in it alone," moments.

He followed Annie towards the just appeared seating, heading for one of the love seats. Kerry had never seen that bell before, and figured it was something the elves left out in the middle of the night for someone who wanted to use the place after hours. Which means instructors only, he thought as he sat next to Annie. He saw Wednesday pay the elf for he/she/it's troubles, and remembered how they were instructed to pay the elves for setting up their lab.

Kerry surveyed the seating. Annie and he were on one love seat; on the sofa to his left was Harold between Harmony and Nadine; on the right was Elias with Rivânia between him and Talia. Across from Kerry sat Wednesday, all by her lonesome.

Kerry was comfortable with Annie next to him--sort of rubbing his leg. Since they left class Annie appeared to relax. Just before and during the break she seemed to have a great deal on her mind, but now she was relaxed and even smiling. She has reason to, he thought. It was no great mystery that they brought each other happiness. And the way Kerry felt . . . he knew he loved Annie. That was becoming more apparent by the day. He almost smirked thinking of the other kids at his old school. Man, I would love for them to see me now, he thought. Guess they'll have to settled for the stories I'm not going to tell them when I get home . . ..

While the class hadn't been a total bust for her, Nadine had found herself bothered by something most of the night. It wasn't that they had new students in--or that they were 1st Years... but one of the students, she seemed to know his name....

She finally blurted out what she'd wanted to ask most of the night. "Kerry, I have to ask--" She saw most eyes turn her way. "Are you Starbuck?"

Kerry wondered when he was going to hear that name again. Since the Attacks (as they were now known) nearly all the talk revolved around the instructors and students involved in the fighting, checking on the progress of Professor Palmescoff--who was just now well enough to starting teaching history again--and those people who died.

There was little discussion about what he did, and that was fine with Kerry.

So when Nadine asked about his call sign, Kerry wasn't sure if he was suppose to be modest or not. He caught the part about Nadine playing quidditch, so he knew she was in the air that day. She wants to know; she deserves it, he thought, wondering how a pilot would act in this same position . . . and realized he was a pilot.

"I'm Starbuck." He smiled broadly. "What's your sign?"

Nadine smiled. "I'm the Crimson Witch," she said proudly, "Beater extraordinar for the Raven's quidditch team." She leaned forward, elbows on knees. "Reason I asked is because Emma Neilson is in our coven, and she's talked about what you did... A lot."

Harold resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Emma's story had been throughout the tower for weeks now, and though it had pretty much died away to a whisper, he'd heard enough of the 1st Year's breathless whispers to last him a while.

"Oh, you're talking about Dementor Babe, right?" Always the smart ass, Harold always saw an opportunity to inject levity into a conversation where it likely wasn't needed.

Nadine turned her ire towards her coven mate. "She's not 'Dementor Babe', Harry," she said, using the nickname that Harold so despised. "I told you, keep calling her that and when a Dementor comes for your ass, see if I help out with a Patronus, much less a broom."

Once the laughter died down Nadine said to Kerry, "That was... freakin' awesome what you did. And not at all stupid--" She almost spat the word out, "like that bimbo said in the Madness that one night."

Nadine sat back and crossed her legs. "You did good, Starbuck--" She took a dainty sip from her herbal tea. "So why didn't you try out for quidditch? I seen you fly: you'd have been good."

The complement took Kerry by surprise. In the near-month since The Defense (as some called it) Kerry had gone with business as usual. He'd seen Emma in class, of course, but not since Dark Arts had they had any contact besides a "Hi" in the Dinner Hall. And few others said anything; most preferred to look in his direction, and Kerry often wondered what they were thinking . . ..

"Thank," he said to the first comment; as for the second . . . "I don't know. I don't know much about the game 'cept what I'm learning from watching and listening to Annie--" He gave her a gentle squeeze with his arm around her shoulder. "So I guess . . . just not really for that." Now he was feeling a bit embarrassed. "I never played sports in real life before, so I would have probably sucked at it here."

Kerry snickered. "Maybe next year. This year I think the magic is gonna keep me busy enough."

Everyone, including Wednesday, chuckled at Kerry's last comment, with a lot of looks and smiles between them. "Oh, man," Nadine said, "you can't live around here on magic alone." She gave Annie a quick glance, then said, "This ain't like Muggle school. You got more goin' on that just showing up for class every day. I mean, got enough free time in the day for foolin' around and clubs and stuff. And the weekends . . .."

She changed tone as she changed subject. "We do quidditch pick up games on Sunday morning, over at the stadium. It's mostly us from the teams, but anyone can show up and play." She giggled. "We don't even keep to our normal teams: Vickie has a charm that put you on a team randomly. All you have to do is put your name on a slip of paper and in the box."

Nadine gave the "come on" sign with her hand as way of open invitation. "We start at 8 AM and usually play until lunch. Come on out and I'll get you set up."

Kerry nodded. "Okay; great." He was smiling 'cause he couldn't believe that he'd not only been asked to come play with some of the people who played on the coven teams--but he'd been asked by an upper classmate. This never happens in Cardiff, he thought, remembering a few football pick up games that he'd never been invited to join--

"I'll do that," he said, and leaned into Annie. "If it's okay with Annie." He smiled as he looked into her eyes.

Harmony almost "Awwwed" when Kerry looked to Annie. She's heard about these two, the 1st Years who seemed inseparable. Harmony had already had a rough time of things at school, romance-wise, with a finding a boyfriend in her 2nd Year and getting dumped last year. She knew Harold was interested in her, and, to be honest, she liked him too--

Though there were times when he acted like he didn't have a romantic bone in his body. Like now. Like the moment coming up when he was going to open his mouth and say something about Kerry being . . . "whipped", or something even more crude . . ..

"Harold," she said, putting her hand on his leg and giving it a gentle pat, "If you have any chance of getting me to say 'Yes' to going to the Samhain Dance with you--" Her eyes twinkled as she added, "You'll not say what I think you're going to say."

Annie gazed deeply into Kerry's eyes. She knew quidditch would be tough for him. He has no idea what he's getting himself into, she thought, grinning at his adorable face.

She was about to tell him how much she'd enjoy watching him fly when Harmony spoke up...and what she said caught Annie's attention immediately.

She turned her attention to Harold, who seemed to be wrestling with a huge thought too good to let go.

"I'm sorry," she said, sitting forward a bit to speak with him directly. "Was there something you wanted to say, Harold?"

Harold got caught with his comment in mid-mouth--first by Harmony and then by Annie. Double teamed by girls, and then the implied threat that if he said something . . . bad . . . Harmony wouldn't go with him to the dance. How did she even know I was going to ask her? he wondered, then let it go. She did; she said to be quiet, and then that Annie . . . What is with all these intense 1st Years?

"Ahummm . . ." His mouth flapped a little, then Harold smiled. "Sure, Kerry. You should go for it." He smiled at Annie. "You'll let him play, won't you?"

Annie thought about his comment. Let him? Boys were a new species to Annie, and she was finding their nuances to be confusing.

She sighed and sat back into Kerry's arms. "Kerry's life is his own to choose, Harold. I did not direct my life. I didn't design it. I never made decisions. Things always came up and made them for me.

"That's what life is." Her gut told her he wouldn't understand what just flew out of her mouth, so she said simply, "I won't stop him if that's what he wants."

Kerry was catching Annie's mood; he knew her well enough to understand that she wasn't sure about him doing this, but she wouldn't stop him. She was worried about me being on a broom at first, he thought, and I think she'll have this with everything.

Still, Kerry thought it would be good to do one thing . . ..

"So," he said, leaning in close to her face, "would you mind if I played with Nadine and the others?" He touched his forehead to hers, then whispered, "You can cheer for me."

She smiled at him as the room disappeared around her. "I'm your biggest fan," she whispered back. "And I'd love nothing more than to watch you play quidditch."

She cleared her throat, all too aware of the eyes staring at their display on the loveseat. If only I could perform this well with magic in front of these people.She giggled, feeling her cheeks grow hot.

"Sorry. Sometimes I just forget there are other people in the room when I look at Kerry." Her moment of honestly caused her cheeks to flame even more.

Feeling as though the temperature of the room had suddenly risen, she sunk back into her seat and wished someone would say something...quick.

Wednesday was not only happy how well Annie and Kerry were fitting in tonight, but she was amazed at the relationship they exuded. Wednesday had watches the recordings from the dungeon, but see them interact in person ... the overwhelming sensation of love rolled from their side of the group.

When they figure out how to channel all that energy into magic, they'll be scary. And that was one of the things Wednesday wanted to help them do. Because she'd seen what happened when that energy was left unchanneled and unfocused--

"So, Kerry," she said, sipping her tea before putting it on the table, "since you blew though Summoning and Banishment tonight, how would you feel about raising the bar just a little?" Because I would love to see what you can do ....

This was the part that hit Kerry two-fold. Part of him loved the attention--and the other part was clenching up over the idea that he was gonna punt the task. He knew he'd been running a long string of luck over the last month; he also knew it wasn't going to last forever.

At some point you gotta come down, he thought. Though maybe it's not quite time . . ..

"Sure, Wednesday." He felt Annie relax into him as he asked, "What do you have in mind?"

Wednesday went right into it, because Kerry was a clever boy and he already knew what she was going to say. "Next week I'd like to try you non-verbal." She leaned back, crossing her legs. "I don't expect you'll do as well tonight, but ...."

She looked over all her students at the gathering, then back to Kerry. "It's not about the doing, it's about the understanding." She tapped her fingers on the arm of the love seat. "Understanding is 90 percent of everything; the other 10 percent is just taking that and making it work.

"And that's really all I'm teaching, Kerry, Annie." She lifted her cup from the table and placed it on her lips. "Understanding." She took a sip. "The rest is up to you."

The rest is up to you. Kerry felt that a lot the last month; everything he was doing was on him, it was him, it was everything that he could do.

And Kerry felt like going for the challenge. Even if it did make him nervous.

"Sure, Wednesday," he said, liking how her name rolled off his tongue. "We'll do this." He smiled at Nadine. "I'm really liking this advanced stuff . . . better than regular school back home."

Elias hadn't said much because he was listening, getting a feel for the new kids... still mystified that Wends had brought 1st Years into their fold. The girl had seemed a big jumpy--nerves, just like he had the first time--but her... he had trouble with "boyfriend", but Wends seemed to handle it okay--he seemed damn good.

"So where did you learn your magic?" he asked, picking up on the "regular school" comment. "Parents send you off to be mentored? Or did someone in your family show you how to sling?"

Sensing Kerry's acute embarrassment from the question--and she saw he didn't quite know how to answer--Wednesday jumped in. "Kerry's Muggle born," she said. "He'd never had exposure to magic before coming here--" She corrected herself. "Before going to Hogwarts and then here."

She looked to Kerry. "It's okay, Kerry. Don't be uncomfortable with who you are--or what." She tossed her head back and stared up at the ceiling. "A couple of the Founders were Muggle born, and look what they left behind."

Rivânia had heard this story once before, that not all the Institute Founders had been Full Blood. History was it was so, but ... Rivânia knew history had a way of getting messed up along the way if people didn't pay close attention ... or let themselves get BSed by others, she thought.

"Who were they?" she asked. "I remember Trevor saying something back a couple of years when he taught history." She looked around, seeing a few rolling eyes. "What? I like history." She lowered her eyes as she mumbled, "Olhe-me não gostar de eu sou geek, tá bom?"

"Rhiannon Fettle and Astria Blomqvist." She paused then added, "Covens Bloeddewed and Cernunnos." Wednesday poured her tea cup full before going on. "The story is that both left Europe because of anti-Muggle sentiment, and meet up with Van der Kroft and Malthus a few months after they arrived."

As she squeezed in some fresh lemon Wednesday said, "And there's plenty of evidence that Van der Kroft was Half Blood, which was one of the reasons she was in the U.S. as well." As she settled back with her tea Wednesday sighed. "The only one's legitimately Full Blood were Lovecraft and Malthus, and they were both considered outcasts by their own families.

"Face it--" Wednesday chuckled loudly, a high, girlish sound that Kerry and Annie had never heard before, but with which the other students had some familiarity, "The Institute was created to teach those witches other schools wouldn't touch. The first 5 graduating classes were Muggle or Half Bloods; they didn't have a majority of Full Bloods until the school moved here."

Wednesday smiled at Kerry over the rip of her tea cup. "No need to worry about what you are, Kerry: your Founder saw to that 400 years ago." She took a sip before saying softly, "And she'd be very proud to see those in her coven today."