True and False
“The Goblin Rebellions of the eighteenth century is one of my favorites to teach!” Beamed Professor Binns, “It will take up a large chunk of this year's curriculum, but we will also be touching on the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards.”
Violette sat quietly, staring ahead boredly at the front of the class. With the flick of his wand, Binns wrote his notes down on the old blackboard. He whirled around back to his chair, and when he sat down, his words slowed, then he fell asleep. It was a good representation on how classes were going. She had expected things to pick up quite quickly, and they did for certain subjects, but History of Magic was particularly slow.
Lily sighed, and set down her quill. Violette furrowed her brow, and her eyes flickered around the room. Nobody else seemed phased by it.
“Has he…”
“Fallen asleep?” Lily huffed, “Yes, he has. What is this, the fifth time in two weeks?”
The red haired girl pulled a book out of her bag and set it down on her desk, and Violette recognized the title.
“Do you think he’ll wake up within the hour? Or should we call it a free period?”
Violette shrugged, glancing away at the book. Pride and Prejudice. Violette had brought her copy, but she made sure to keep it shoved so deep in her trunk that nobody would find it. She zoned out staring at the book, then suddenly ink spilled all over Lily’s side of the desk.
“Ah!” She gasped, quickly picking up the glass jar and moving it to the corner of the desk. She let out a frustrated sigh as she watched the ink soak into her History of Magic textbook. “No, ah, I’m such a clutz, lately.”
Violette hesitated to help her, only because she didn’t know how. Luckily, the only thing that had been affected was the textbook.
“I’ll need a new copy, I reckon, unless they can fix this one.” Lily grabbed her bag, “Either way, I’ll need one for the time being. Come with me to the library.”
Violette looked up at her, silent. Lily carefully picked up the ink-stained book and waited for Violette to stand.
“But…” She looked at the sleeping professor, then back at Lily, “What if he wakes up?”
Lily chuckled, “What if he doesn’t? Come on, he wouldn’t mind. Look at the mess I’ve made. Now, are you coming with me, or not?”
Violette scanned the classroom, seeing everyone turning away from the lesson and doing their own things. She figured that she did not want to stick around, anyway. What would be the point? The two girls walked to the library, and Lily switched out her textbooks. Everyone seemed to know Lily, always smiling and waving at her. Violette could see that she was very friendly, and very kind. People seemed to duck their heads around Violette, and speak carefully with her. Does that make me unfriendly? She wondered, watching Lily interact with people with such ease, unkind?
They walked out of the library and took a stroll through the courtyards making small talk. Lily never asked about Paris, or about Violette’s family. She was more interested in Violette’s personal hobbies and curiosities. It was refreshing to not be haggard by the same questions over and over and over again.
“We got roller skates over the summer.” Lily told Violette, “My sister, Petunia, picked it up in minutes. She’s a natural, really. I was rubbish at first, for the first couple days, actually. But, after a while, I was skating up and down the street, and down to the shops on the weekends, it was a lot of fun. I wish I had brought them to school with me. Wouldn’t that have been a sight to see? Me, rolling down the hall.”
Violette smiled, “It would make getting to class quicker, I think… but the stairs.”
“The stairs!” Lily laughed.
James turned the page of his Herbology textbook and groaned, “Ten whole pages of this? We’ve covered Dittany every year now! What more is there to learn?”
Remus bit into a granny smith apple as he read, “Oh, quiet, Potter. You love to complain.”
“Me? Complain?” James scoffed, “Is that so? Tell me Pete, is that so?”
Peter nodded, “Mhm.”
“Sirius?”
Sirius leaned back on the tree that they surrounded, and crossed his outstretched legs. His book was shut on his lap.
“Precisely.” He huffed, resting his head on the backs of his hands, “You whine and whine about your homework when you know you’re gonna get someone to do it for you, anyway.”
The sound of laughter echoed quietly throughout the courtyard, and James looked up and smirked.
“Exactly.” He nodded, and stood up, “And here comes that someone now. Hey, Evans!”
The boys all raised their eyebrows, and sat back to watch James’s attempt at a free homework pass, then Sirius narrowed his eyes at the girl next to Lily.
“Is that?” He muttered.
James approached the girls, and Sirius stood up. Remus chuckled, looking back down at his book.
“Ah, interesting.” He hummed, “If he’s lucky, he’ll get the Herbology notes, and an invite to the chateau.”
Remus’s words fell over Sirius’s ears like water, slipping off and soaking in. Mindlessly, he followed behind James, crunching dried autumn leaves beneath his steps.
Lily rolled her eyes, “Potter.” She bit under her breath.
“What do you want?”
It was the boy from potions class. The one with glasses. He walked confidently, with his chest puffed out over to Lily and Violette. When he’d noticed Violette, he smirked.
“And Ms. Laurent, what a treat?” His hands were in the pockets of his slacks, pushing away the front of his Gryffindor robe. Sirius approached, too, and stood next to him.
“Tell me,” James huffed, “... what is my friend Sirius really like at home?”
Violette tilted her head and shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe better.”
“I’ve always imagined that a dinner at the Black’s would be miserable as all hell. Would I be right, mademoiselle ?”
Sirius seemed to be anticipating Violette’s answer. She looked up at him and met his all-interested gaze. Violette knew that she shouldn’t answer so honestly. She did not know Sirius well enough to dish out an insult at him and his family.
“What is it you want, Potter?” Lily cut in, crossing her arms.
“The Herbology notes.”
Lily groaned, tipping her head back. “What did I say? Last time was the last time I give you the homework.”
“Come on! I just need them one more time.”
“No.”
“Please?” James begged, “What if I paid you?”
“You can pay someone else!”
The two of them took their back-and-forth to the tree where Peter and Remus sat, leaving Sirius and Violette to themselves.
As their voices faded away, the subtle breeze filled the silence and space between them. There was an awkwardness that loomed, but not the uncomfortable sort.
“How have you been?” Sirius asked, softly. “Have your first couple weeks been okay?”
Violette rubbed her lips together and nodded, and she fiddled with her thumbs.
“Fine.”
Sirius swallowed, nodding, too, “Good. That’s good.” He glanced around the courtyard, then looked down at her, and he thought that he liked the way that she looked just then.
“I’m sorry about yesterday.” He told her, and she furrowed her brow, “About James. Our friend Remus, back there, he’s been in the nurse for these past few days.”
“No, it’s alright.” Violette shook her head, “I get it. Evan was nice to invite me to his table.”
Sirius nodded, slowly, parting his lips and inhaling. “Right. Very nice. Charming, too, I’ve noticed.”
Violette blinked, slightly tilting her head. “You two don’t get along, I’ve been told.”
“What else have you been told?”
Violette giggled, “Do you take me for a gossip, Sirius Black?”
He smirked, and raised his brow, “I’m not sure what I take you for yet.”
Violette scoffed, and slightly shook her head staring up at him. She heard Evan’s voice in the back of her head, he used to be pleasant .
“The company you keep contradict themselves, have you noticed?” Sirius inquired, "Well, that is if your views are what everyone might assume they are."
He was referring to a belief in the importance of blood-purity. He still could not tell which side she was on. He knew that her older brother was surely on the side of belief, already establishing himself as an elite merely because of his last name. At first, he thought that Violette might be different than her brother, seeing that she had been friendly with Lily, but she got along great with Evan and the other Slytherin boys, too.
“What's that supposed to mean?”
He grinned, crossing his arms and rocking back on his heels. “You don’t know?”
Then, Lily came up from behind Sirius.
“Come on, Violette, we’d better get back.” She said, walking past her.
Lily kept walking, but Violette hesitated a moment. She hated Sirius’s smug smirk, and the way he was looking at her. She hated the idea of him knowing something about herself that she didn’t.
The company I keep , she thought.
“You’ll figure it out sooner or later.” Sirius told her, “Cheers for the Herbology notes, Evans.”
Violette whirled around and caught up with Lily.
“Sorry about that.” Lily sighed, “Potter always asks me for the homework. He even offers to pay me, but I wouldn’t take money for that sort of thing.”
They returned to class, and Binns was still asleep. Class was eventually dismissed, and Lily and Violette parted ways. Violette strolled along in the halls along with Evan and her new friends, and they droned on about the portraits in the castle and who they were. Every now and again, they would whisper amongst the group insults about nearby students, sharing their gossip with Violette.
“Camila Canberry.” Avery nodded at a blonde girl who stood outside of the girl’s bathroom, “She’s crazy for Ros. Used to write him love letters and all that.”
“Egh, she’s ghastly.” Mulciber’s face distorted at the sight of her, “Can you imagine snogging’ that ? Opening your eyes and getting the fright of a lifetime.”
The boys laughed and moved on with Violette following along, and she wondered about what Sirius had said. How harsh he was.
Perhaps Evan is right about him , she thought, and scoffed at the memory. So presumptuous… ‘I’m not sure what I take you for yet.’