B.Q. Book Two: Black Princess Ascendant

Chapter 34: Paying the Piper

Disclaimer: Was Ginny praised for thinking that Harry "wouldn't be happy unless [he was] hunting Voldemort", even though that shows a horrible misunderstanding of his motivations (i.e., a sense of obligation rather than any kind of "heroic drive")?

If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whomever else she sold the rights to.

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The black-haired witch slammed heavily into the stone floor, and Filius lowered his wand with a frown. This was the third bout of their weekly dueling lesson, but it was obvious that Miss Black's attention was elsewhere right now. "That's enough for today," he said, the girl giving up on her attempt to push herself to her feet and instead just lying where she landed. "As it is clear that you're not in the proper mindset for fighting, why don't you tell me what has you so preoccupied?"

"It's nothing, Professor," she muttered, rolling over to stare up at the ceiling. "Just a personal matter. Nothing you can help with."

He raised an eyebrow at the fatigued tone of her reply. That told him one thing, at least; this was not some minor issue that had begun today. "Perhaps, but I have found that venting, even to someone who can't do anything to fix it, can do wonders. Sometimes all you need is to think your problem out aloud."

His suggestion caught her off-guard, and she hesitated a moment before turning her head to face him. "And yet there are some things I would not feel comfortable telling a professor. If, hypothetically, what I did involved going against a school policy – but not necessarily a rule – I would still not want to be subject to a half-hour scolding," she finally said.

"As both the head of Ravenclaw house and a professor, there are times I have to decide which of my obligations takes priority," he replied, choosing his words carefully. "In this case, while the professor in me would want to make sure you understand that the school's rules and policies are in place for a good reason, a head of house sometimes has to overlook a few broken rules to help his charges where he as a teacher cannot. You are the only one who knows what is going on, so you are the only one who can guess whether this needs to be a Charms professor or head of Ravenclaw discussion."

She considered his answer without speaking for a few moments, and he withheld his sigh of relief. He knew he had not been the most approachable head of house for the last few years, but ever since this very student had revealed the underhanded dealings going on right under his nose, he had done what he could to repair his relationship with his house. Several of the younger years, and even a few older students, had finally started coming to him, tentatively at first but soon gaining more confidence that they could trust him, but Miss Black had not.

It was a rather regrettable situation, and one he wanted to resolve. Not only was she a prefect and therefore someone he relied on to keep order in his house when he was not there, he could easily see that she would be the one leading the Ravenclaws in her seventh year, or perhaps even as early as next year. Whenever that came to pass, though, he wanted to be sure that she trusted him, something he knew was not the case now. Oh, she trusted him as a professor and as a tutor, but as someone she could come to when she needed advice of a personal nature? Their relationship was nowhere near that close, and Filius knew that with someone as reserved and emotionally compartmentalized as she was, gaining that degree of trust would be a long-term project.