Up and Down

Diligence and Wit

There have been many times Anna was alight with nervous energy, barely able to sit still. Today is another one of those.

Her hand shakes badly as she tries to pour herself a cup of tea. Some liquid spills all around the saucer.

"Steady now," Ominis' hand covers hers, allowing her to pour the rest of the cup more or less successfully, "you worked hard for this. It will be alright, my love."

"Is this the boy you've been talking about? During the Sorting?" A familiar little girl looks at Anna with large, innocent blue eyes.

"I... uh..."

Ominis smiles softly and gives an elegant half-bow in the direction of the voice.

"And who might this young lady be?"

"Mina Lovegood, a pleasure to meet you, Mister!"

"The pleasure is all mine, Ms Lovegood," Ominis is polite and respectful, treating the tiny little girl not as a child but as a lady. Mina blushes fiercely and Anna chuckles in understanding solidarity. She too has been on the receiving end of Ominis' charm before.

The three of them are sitting at the Ravenclaw table this time, with her needing to join her team soon. Her stomach does another flip as Anna forces down a piece of omelette. The churning only gets worse and she puts down her cutlery.

"Will you be cheering for your House's team, Ms Lovegood?" Ominis continues to distract the girl so she doesn't pelt Anna with questions that she really can't handle right now.

"Yes! Will you?"

"I'll be cheering for my dearest Ms Visconti..."

Beside her, Sebastian's arm wraps around Anna's waist and he pulls her in to leave a kiss on her cheek. Across the table, she can see little Mina's eyes go big as saucers.

"But... but...?"

"Sebastian, don't you see we have company?... not that it stopped you before..."

"Hello there, little miss," Sebastian winks and Mina's eyes focus on the blue-and-bronze tie the young man is wearing, along with the emerald-trimmed cloak.

"Wait, you lied to me?" Her voice is hurt. Anna bites her lip, but Ominis only chuckles.

"Not at all."

He leans over and presses a kiss into Anna's cheek right as Sebastian does too on the other side. It's Anna's turn to blush to the roots of her hair.

"You can love more than one person, Ms Lovegood," Ominis smiles when both boys pull away and Anna grasps a teacup in front of her to steady her shaking hands.

The revelation seems to have stunned the little girl, and Anna searches for something to say, but then Sienna gets up from the bench and whistles sharply.

"Team Ravenclaw, let's go!"

"Good luck, my love," Ominis' hand brushes hers.

"She doesn't need luck. She has skill," Sebastian presses a quick kiss to her lips and Anna gets up, clenching her hands in fists. As she travels down the aisle between the tables, a hand slaps her hard on the back. She looks over her shoulder to see Imelda giving her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

"Go get 'em, Birdie."

She is wearing a Ravenclaw scarf. For her.

Despite all the boys' reassurance, it's Imelda's unwavering faith in her that gives Anna the confidence to hold her head high and her hands to stop shaking.

They change and Anna smooths down the skintight jersey. She is no stranger to trousers, true, but it's the top of the uniform that gives her pause.

There is no way she would be able to play in her corset, that was something she learned very early on. Despite being able to fight and climb and run through forests in one, performing aerial acrobatics on a broomstick requires a different level of flexibility.