The Stars on the Staircase

One Lesson Two Teachers Part 2

The next morning I enjoyed luxuriating in his bed with him. He's in an affectionate mood and I find myself being thoroughly kissed. After some cajoling, he lets me kiss him back the way he had kissed me and I get to explore the planes of his chest and belly with my lips the same way he always does to me. We only eject ourselves from the bed to catch the last part of breakfast.

I arrive in the Great Hall after him, having floo'd first up to my room, and changed before descending. I sit on the opposite side of the U from him. I decide to indulge in waffles with fruit. I have a lovely chat with a fifth year girl from another house that I had never really gotten to talk to before but is in charms club. It turns out we have a lot in common. We make plans to meet up tomorrow and try charming our hair into different styles for fun.

On my way out of the Great Hall I hear my name being called. it's professor Flitwick, chasing me down across the massive room. "Good morning." I say to him as he approaches.

"Good morning, indeed. I was wondering if you had time now to come practise some charms with me."

"I suppose I do." I hadn't had any plans. The potions master and I had not made any plan to get back together. We both understood we had to be seen around the castle at least sometimes.

"Let's go to my office and chat." He says and gestures for me to follow him. As we begin our trek up stairs he asks "Did you find your bubble bath illuminating?"

I cringe internally, he remembered I was going to have a bubble bath. "Yes. I find water to be a particularly interesting way to hone the mind-body connection because the movement forces you to think about where it's touching you, it can draw you out of your head if you let it."

"Yes indeed. Plus the warm, soothing water should draw tension from your body. You cannot cast effectively when your shoulders are tightly up around your ears." He returns.

"Right. I suppose it makes sense. Magic has to be able to flow freely, not get held up at tense points." I respond, holding my knowledge of my evening of Professor Snape's meditation and relaxation lesson close to my heart, it makes me smile in the corner of my mouth.

"Well the average witch or wizard can get through their ordinary life with all kinds of blockages, physical and mental, but to create truly interesting magic one has to be fully connected mind and body."

We walk and talk up the many staircases between the Great Hall and his office. He asks why I've stayed at school for Christmas and I repeat my usual excuses about sleepwalking and the stress of keeping up. For good measure I add that my parents are staying with my aunt and uncle and I absolutely loathe my uncle's wife. He asks more about the sleepwalking and I am grateful that this excuse allows me to be vague and not have any answers to his questions. Having only sleepwalked once I can at least lend some credibility to my lying.

We finally arrive at his office and I am not used to seeing it empty. The huge room is full of 19th century furniture all upholstered in a sky blue to match the view of the sky from the windows. It's light, bright, and full of seats. Normally these are all occupied by fellow charms club members or choir students. Even outside of his clubs Flitwick often had students around, he was easily one of the most involved teachers at the school. He never seemed to tire of the presence of teenagers.

Often in this room we would sit around the large smattering of chairs and sofas to discuss complex charms, the limitations of wand magic, and how to make longer lasting spells. There was a large round table where long after charms club had ended we would all still be sitting drinking butter beers and talking about non-charms things. Flitwick didn't mind at all, and he loved to be let into the idle gossip of students, always dutifully hushing us up when there were things not meant for his ears but we could secretly tell he adored to be let in on it, he just couldn't be seen to enjoy it.