DADA ((All Students))

[Professor Artemis Hawthorne]

She hadn’t heard from her sisters in so long that it was almost a surprise to see the tawny owl land on her desk gracefully, offering a letter to her almost grudgingly. The almost illegible scribble – mimicking their eldest sisters’ handwriting almost perfectly – told her that Cassidy, her youngest and yet so serious sister, had been the only one of the five siblings to attempt contact with her. It wasn’t surprising. After all, she knew that, in their eyes and her own, she had put other people before her own family and that was something practically unforgivable. It had angered Jack and Kenneth most, Artemis imagined with a bittersweet smile. The three of them had always been closer to each other than anyone else, because they were closest in age. But they had all started to drift apart after Jack married Marie and Kenneth had gotten engaged to Katelyn whereas Artemis had remained single, other than the occasional boyfriend every so often. Staying single after the age of 27 simply wasn’t done in the Hawthorne family and, at the age of 24, Artemis supposed that she was teetering dangerously close to the end of the age limit.

Cassidy, on the other hand, had jumped right in and was now engaged, with the plan of marrying her fiancé as soon as summer came and Artemis would be back home again, as the letter informed her. Sensible girl, she approved with a tight nod. Even her 18 year old sister would be on better terms with their family than Artemis at this rate. Perhaps it wouldn’t be love, but that was more Rose’s department. Dreamy eyed, 15 year old Rose, still in Boston because, after only a few months in England, she had declared her hatred for the place and ran away, back to their old home. Fiercely, not liking the weakness that had appeared just before her class was about to begin, Artemis tucked the letter into the drawer of her desk and slammed it shut. What had happened to the myth of Defence professors only lasting a year? This was her second year, and all that had happened was losing contact with some of her family.

Patiently, Artemis reclined in her seat, watching as the students slowly trickled in. When it seemed that the last student had entered, she stood abruptly. Anyone who had had her last year would either be stupid or arrogant to continue talking once they noticed that she was ready to start the class. She had no concerns over handing out detentions, not even to people of her old house. If someone interrupted her or acted foolishly, that person would be serving detention with herself, Filch or their head of house for roughly a week, perhaps more or maybe less depending upon the behaviour that had earned the detention. “Today will be a serious lesson, in which no fooling around will be tolerated. If you’re sure that you can’t handle that, then I suggest you leave now or suffer a few detentions with your all-time favourite Professor Snape. Understood?”

((Yes, I am aware that I tell a bit about Artemis and her background in this post but it's just a way of getting you all used to her because she's the only really non-canon professor here and so it's only fair that you can see a bit into who she is when she's not being a mean Professor ))

[Lita Hollows R6]

Hmph. Lita gazed around the classroom with a bored expression fixed firmly on her face, her chin resting on her right hand gingerly. No one had arrived except her and the Professor, leaving her thoughts free to wander aimlessly. This week probably wasn’t a good week for either her or Adrian. Her lips turned upward in a slow smirk at the thought. Her brother had succumbed to a flu virus that had been passing through Hogsmeade at the time of his visit. Stubborn as he was, Adrian flatly refused to visit the Hospital Wing, preferring to suffer through the sneezes alone. At least, he would have preferred that but Lita had threatened to push him down the stairs unless he went. Still he refused and so she had blatantly played on his dislike of their cousins by offering to owl Clarissa and have her come down to help him out. Just as she had expected, he had instantly agreed to visit the Hospital Wing. How unfortunate that he was missing DADA though, since he had such a...special bond with the professor. Lita grinned to herself mischievously, remembering the events that had led to her brother’s unwanted humiliation. Poor Adrian. Though you would think he’d be happier about pretty girls kissing him.

It hadn’t been the best week for her either, Lita thought emotionlessly. She had been getting better and better at locking her emotions away from clear perusal but she rather suspected that certain people – Adrian and Gaenor, to name the obvious suspects – would always be able to read her eyes, no matter how good she was at smoothing her face so that nothing showed bar a blank expression. That newly found control didn’t stop her getting into fights though, as the small, already healing cuts scattered across the knuckles of her right hand showed. There had been a few bruises showing on her face too, from where a few punches had landed, but a mixture of make-up and half-learnt concealing spells – ones that she really shouldn’t have been able to manage if she hadn’t been practising with the knowledge that she would be getting into fights that she wouldn’t tell her brother about. Alyssa had helped with the spells, Lita admitted grudgingly. The redhead had been surprisingly helpful, even performing the spell for her before starting to teach it to Lita. Not to mention that she hadn’t even mentioned telling anyone about it. No matter what her faults were – and the pesky girl had a lot of them, in Lita’s eyes – Alyssa knew that independence was important. Which was why she just watched Lita return with bruises and scratches, because she also saw the new confidence that surrounded her despite the injuries that were scattered over her body.

Oh, she knew she’d get herself into more trouble than she could handle one day. But, even though she had people to rely on, Lita fought to survive on her own, if only to prove that she could. Because it felt like there were so many people just watching and waiting for her to fail and admit defeat. Too bad that they didn’t know her enough to realise the truth. She might just be eleven and she might have grown up in a home full of riches, but she had the true spirit of an alley cat who was just discovering that her claws and teeth could be lethal. Another person entered the classroom and Lita looked up curiously before her interest faded again. If it wasn't her brother or Gaenor or Dana, maybe Cleo or Kris, then she didn't see a reason to be bothered rousing herself from her thoughts.

[Solitaire Keighley]

Taire sighed as she realized that she had to start getting ready for DADA. She liked the class, but hadn't been ready for the term to start when it did. She still had so much to do at her apartment from the move, but she couldn't wait to get back to school either. School had meant being with her friends, and getting that extra boost of inspiration that she needed to draw new Vixen designs for her walls and her race car. Dominic had even asked her to make a small one to go near the hood of his car since Taire now did most of the mechanic work on it as well as the painting. He had also asked her to find an animal persona that would depict Nadine very well to go with the Vixen that was to be Taire. Dominic had taken really well to Nadine. As much as Dominic had talked about Nadine just before the summer ended, it made Taire wonder if he didn't have some type of crush on her. Taire pushed the thoughts from her mind and prepared herself for class.

Taire had already been dressed so that was done with. Class wouldn't be too hard, Taire hoped as she gathered her books and wand. She even made sure to grab her sketchbook to show Nadine the latest Vixen images, and even the few animal personas that she had made that weren't Vixen. Taire hadn't decided which yet, but one of these personas had to be the right one for Nadine. That was a decision that would have to be made later. Making her way out of the Hufflepuff Common Room, Taire remembered that she had agreed to meet up with Nadine before class.

Taire made her way through the halls, finding Nadine exactly where she said she woud be waiting. "Oh my gracious. You have got to see the new Vixens I have made. I even made a few others this time though, Dominic asked for more than just Vixen this time for his car, so I had to draw some others." Taire wasn't going to tell Nadine just yet that she was the reason that Dom had requested other personas. Taire wasn't sure how Nadi would take that. Taire pulled her sketchbook out, opened it to the first of her latest drawings, and handed it to Nadi. "I know you wanted to see these. So I brought them with me. I figured you could look at them while we walked to class."

Before Taire realized it, the girls had already made it to the classroom door. "Now to find a couple of seats, huh?" She said nudging Nadine in the ribs and pointing to an open table that had two seats waiting. It was sitting near the middle of the classroom, almost as if it had intentionally been put there just for the two of them. Taire saw that hardly no one had arrived so she and Nadi could talk a minute more, as long as one of them watched for Professor Hawthorne's cue to hush, which everyone knew was when she stood up as the last student walked in.

[Nadine Whitaker]

The past summer had been the best ever. Okay, so her father had revealed that he dating someone else and she had practically ran away, abandoning her siblings – well, it couldn’t really be called abandonment when they actually liked their new stepmother. Yeah, her father had sent a letter a few days ago announcing that he had married the muggle that he was now in love with. Susanna was the opposite of everything that Nadine’s mother had been. Opalis had fiery red hair, more vibrant than Nadine’s soft auburn, so Susan had mousy brown hair. Opalis had been forceful and assertive, never backing down and rarely showing weakness. Susan was overly emotional and was absolutely terrible at making decisions. Nadine and Ryann had left less than a day after hearing the news, only Tyler had stayed. Ryann had left to stay with her godfather, and option that Nadine didn’t have because she had never had contact with her godfather. Mostly because her mother had picked him and so her father ordered her not to contact him. Maybe that would change with her increased disgust for the man she wouldn’t call father any longer. Where else would Nadine run, but to her best friend and her new apartment?

She had experienced true freedom there; had gotten to watch her best friend race for the first time and had cheered as Taire won. Dominic had made her slightly uneasy at first, because Nadine just had a natural wariness around anyone she didn’t know, but it hadn’t taken long for her to warm up to him. He had made her laugh and kept her company while Taire was racing. All three of them had stayed up late a few nights, watching movies and eating popcorn, with hot chocolate that she had even helped to make. In short, she had grown closer to Taire – not that she had thought that possible until they had survived living together for a while – and had a new friend in Dominic. He had even jokingly ordered her to come back next summer, something that she and Taire hadn’t discussed yet.

“You’re almost late,” Nadine scolded her friend lightly when Taire arrived, something that she wouldn’t have done last year. She had lightened up a lot over the summer, something that she credited to being away from her family for once. She hadn’t had to act the adult of the family, but rather be herself and know that she was liked that way. “Oh, new drawings? I wanna see, I wanna see!” Nadine demanded childishly, flicking through the sketchbook and stopping at one drawing that especially caught her eye. “It’s so beautiful,” she breathed in quiet awe. “How is Dominic by the way? I haven’t heard from him since the summer, not that I expected to.”

“I don’t think it’ll be hard to find seats,” Nadine commented wryly, picking the left-hand seat to sit down in since she usually preferred to walk with Taire at her right. Haha. Did that make Taire her right-hand man? It made it sound like Nadine was some evil overlord with plans to rule over the students of Hogwarts. Which really didn’t suit her hat of the day, since she was wearing her Robin Hood-styled hat again. Well, her black fedora needed to be fixed because the decorations on it had started to fall off – she was sure that it was from the times she had worn them around the apartment during the summer – and the silver chains on her bowler hat were missing so she couldn’t wear that one. Not that it mattered anyway since Hawthorne always made her remove her hats once she started the class.

[Lynne Adams R6]

She felt...empty; listless. Before sixth year, that feeling would have been completely alien to Lynne. She was Lynnette Corinne Adams, a twin to the less social Kael Marcus Adams and she was never anything less than tastefully sociable. Her heritage and her upbringing as the female Adams heir – so she’d only get one third of the family fortune, she’d still never have to work if she didn’t want to – had been part of the pride that openly showed. She’d had acquaintances, friends...and even a best friend, one that wasn’t her twin. She’d had boyfriends, both causal and serious though all relationships had been more casual since third year. It was hard to date someone when you were coming to terms with the fact that you were in love with your best friend. She had yet to discover if it was easier to date when said best friend had abandoned her without so much as a letter to explain or ask if she was mad at him. When Danny had left, Lynne had withdrawn into herself. She wasn’t as talkative as before and it was harder to remember the names that were associated with the colours she saw unless she had known the person for a while.

Time for DADA. Lynne nearly sighed. Kael had asked to meet her five minutes before class so they could walk down together. Her darling twin was evidently feeling at least some guilt for abandoning her in favour of Adrina De Luca, his new girlfriend. “Oh Danny,” Lynne sighed wistfully, remembering her best friend and all the time they’d spent together in the common room and everywhere else in Hogwarts. “Why’d you have to go and leave me here alone?” And he had, Lynne wasn’t stupid enough to deny that fact. The person she trusted more than almost anyone else had betrayed her in one of the most basic ways possible because he had left without an explanation. He hadn’t even owled her! “Danny Lowell, you big jerk,” she hissed fiercely, knocking over the picture frame that held a photo of her, Danny and a few of their other friends over without noticing that the glass protecting the photo shattered as she left her dorm room.

“C’mon then Kael,” Lynne chirped lightly, grabbing her brothers elbow and pulling him along without even stopping. “Well if you hadn’t been late,” her brother grumbled good-naturedly, not commenting on the way he was being pulled into the classroom. “Hello Professor,” Lynne greeted cheerfully, hearing her brother echo the greeting slightly quieter and a lot less brightly. She was acting rather oddly, his raised eyebrow told her, but he wouldn’t ask unless it was obvious she needed to talk. Lynne smiled at him gratefully, silently patting his arm reassuringly in an affirmation of what she knew he had already concluded. The situation that was disturbing her wasn’t something she would discuss with Kael unless it became necessary.

[Kael Adams H6]

That sister of his was always late. Only a few seconds, less than a minute, but it was still something that Kael could always count on. Unless he was right in front of her, urging her to finish whatever she was doing, Lynne would just get distracted and forget about whatever she was meant to be doing, remember roughly two minutes before she was meant to be there and then sprint down to the meeting place or wherever she was meant to be. It had always been that way, for as long as Kael could remember. She didn’t even stop running when she reached him, simply grabbed his arm and dragged him along. At least she slowed to a walk this time, Kael laughed silently.

His twin wasn’t good with hiding her emotions; she never had been. So he wasn’t entirely sure how Lynne could possibly think that Kael hadn’t noticed that something was bothering her, and had been since the summer. It was written clearly on her face, a truth that made Kael grimace to himself. His little sister, younger by only a few minutes, was having boy troubles. It was no wonder that Kael felt the need to run and hide until the problem sorted itself out. He could listen to Lynne chatter on about fashion, clothes, nails or other girlish subjects if he really had to, but boys? No chance in hell. His sister had friends for that purpose so Kael was keeping as far away from the topic as possible. Unless he was needed to curse some idiot boy for fooling around with Lynne. That he could, and would, do with pleasure.

Thankfully, Lynne answered his silent question negatively. No, she didn’t want to talk about it. He wasn’t sure, but Kael reckoned he’d never felt so relieved in all of his sixteen years. Silently, he got his textbooks out, passing some parchment and a quill over to Lynnette when she looked at him pleadingly. How did she always remember the pot of ink but nothing else? Something had changed about his sister, Kael pondered as he studied his twin from the corner of his eye. He wasn’t quite sure what, but he knew it hadn’t been a very good change. If it had been a good change, she wouldn’t look like her world had ended and she had witnessed it.