PRAETERITUS - 𝕊𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕣

4 - Eye of the Storm

꧁•⊹٭𝟺 𝙴𝚢𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖٭⊹•꧂

It was time to face her father. Her next class was flying, with Mr Black and Mr Potter. Olivia would have skipped the class, except she really wanted to try flying. She imagined being that high up, so free, so far from the constraints of the ground, tiptoeing the line of death.

She had spent the last of the lunch break reading a book on the basics of flying. At this point she had missed both breakfast and lunch, but this was not unusual for her. It was much more important to not fail in front of that man, she thought.

Hogwarts had also matched her to a wand; she had found out upon walking into her dorm. She'd found it on her bed, wrapped up with a note. The note stated: flexible pine wand with dragon heartstring core. Olivia had no idea what that meant. 

Along with the wand was a broom, a nimbus 2000, made of dark wood that shone in the light. Another note held the initials S.O.B. No prizes for guessing who had gifted it to her. She rolled her eyes. As if a piece of wood could make up for years of her life.

Remembering what she had read in her book, she tested summoning her broom.

"Up." She called to it.

Thankfully, it moved up to meet her hand quite easily. At least she wouldn't have to struggle with that in front of Sirius. She also tried it without the word, thinking of the few wordless spells she could perform. The first time it simply wobbled in place, but upon her second try it shakily rose, and by her fifth it complied quickly.

Satisfied, she grabbed her wand and broom and walked to class, building her mental walls and gearing herself to face what was to come. She reached the flying grounds and joined the line that had already formed, spotting Adrian in the crowd and going to stand with him.

She nodded a greeting to him, which he returned.

"Is it true Sirius Black is your father." He queried, rising a derisive brow at the thought, teasing her.

"I prefer the term sperm donor." She replied, giving him a look.

"Ah. Me too. Maybe absent fathers is a trait of Slytherin," He grinned, "I'll spread the rumour. I assume you don't want everyone thinking you're best buds."

"Cheers. Can't think of anything worse."

The man in question walked in, tailed by James Potter.

"Hello everyone; I'm Sirius Black and we'll be teaching you flying this year."

James also introduced himself before they began a speech on what they would be learning, and answered any questions. To Olivia's surprise, Sirius refused to look at her as he talked. He pointedly avoided her face, instead looking at everyone around her.

"You weren't kidding." Adrian leaning in to whisper.

James on the other hand seemed to have no such qualms. He frequently glanced back at her, puppy dog eyes meeting hers as though wanting her approval.

When they had finished talking, Sirius immediately walked to the far side to coach a group of Gryffindors. James looked back at him, seemingly surprised by his quick exit. James instead walked towards her, and Olivia had to plant her feet to stop herself from running away from him.

"Olivia! Because you're... new to this I - we," he corrected frowning, "thought we should check in on you. Have you ever tried summoning your broom?"

"I don't think one person can be called 'we' Mr Potter," Olivia sniped, "And yes, I can summon it."

To prove her point she called it up wordlessly so it hit her hand. Adrian, who had stayed behind with her, grinned toothily down at her in a silent show of support. James was clearly surprised; he had assumed she would know nothing from Dumbledore's description.