THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, lily evans

cinq, defence against the dark arts

Stevie clasps her sister's hand reassuringly from where they're nestled on her discarded robes, spending the remainder of lunch skimming rocks across the Black Lake the way their late grandfather had taught them to. Her shirt sleeves are rolled up to her elbows and her shoes are speckled with dew from the grass, brown curls twisting around her face.

  "I'm sure it's not that bad," she reasons, mulling over Daphne's woes in her head.

  "Well, that's easy enough for you to say, ma petite monstre," Daphne huffs, plucking the petals from a daisy. "Everyone at this school acts like the sun shines out of your arse."

  "That's not true!" Stevie protests.

"Puh-lease. We've not even been here for a full term and people are already falling at your feet as if you're royalty. For the love of Circe, the bloody teachers are starting to swoon over you too."

Stevie scowls. "S'il te plait, tais toi. You know that's not true."

"Alright," Daphne relents. "I believe you. But at least you don't need a tutor. I think she genuinely loathes me. When she isn't insulting me, she just patches me altogether!"

  "Are you certain you're not just paranoid?" she asks gently, scratching behind Romeo's ear. Tentative; almost as if she were prodding a hibernating grizzly bear. "Maybe she's just tense about exams or something daft. Have you tried being nice to her?"

  "Of course I have!" Daphne shrieks like a banshee, garnering the attention of the people nearby. "She just deflects all of my attempts and starts being a nasty cow for no apparent reason. Our exams are months away, as well, so that's hardly an excuse," she points out.

  Stevie throws up her hands exasperatedly. "Well, I don't know," she says calmly. "Give it time, I suppose. She could cheer up eventually. What was that saying mum used to tell us?"

"All things pass," Daphne choruses helpfully, ignoring how her heart sinks at the mention of their mother.

"There you go!"

Fluffy clouds darken with a foreboding spell of rain on the horizon, the once clear skies heavy with precipitation. Everyone is starting to drag themselves back indoors — wary of the rain but reluctant to go to their classes, caught up in an emotional tug of war. Daphne already feels that if she gets up, she'll collapse from exhaustion, optimism wearing thin. And it's only Tuesday!

"Your advice is shite, but I won't hold it against you," she sighs, twisting to check her watch. "Eugh, I've got to run. I have a class with that new wanky Defence teacher."

  Stevie wrinkles her nose teasingly. "I heard from someone that she's a vampire. Beware of biting, Daph."

"You're so annoying," she mutters.

"And very lovable."

Her receding figure makes a crude hand gesture as laughter chases her all the way up into the castle, ringing in her ears and drowning her sorrows until the bell plagues her with it's cry.

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