hariana drabbles

035

- J'adore

Author: Me (2017)
Summary: A school trip to Paris; France brings Ariana and her French professor (Harry) closer together.

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Ariana had little faith in herself when she first enrolled in her introduction to French class. Learning a new language shouldn't be too hard, she kept telling herself, but in the case of it being a language she never intended on learning despite having the basic knowledge of then she was left on a border that saw the next four years as either a treat or hell on earth. Ariana's memory speaks for itself as she was able to keep up with her professor's lessons, but her ultimate struggle had to be applying the language in real life. She was okay, but not nearly as fluent as some of her peers and her professor himself.

Harry understood this, reached out to her, and paid particular attention to her in class to ensure his advice was working. He majored in linguistics when he was in school, and French happened to be his favourite language to both learn and teach. His passion for the language is apparent in his lessons, and he only aims to instil the same passion in his students. So when he saw Ariana doing well in his class academically but failed to speak up in class when called on, he staged an intervention. Since then she's been more open to asking questions, most of the time in english despite his disapproval, and sometimes in French which showed Harry that she was trying.

In her third year Ariana's French improved greatly. The year before she had a different teacher, but that following year she had Harry again and Harry noticed the change in Ariana both as a student and as a person. She was much more open in class, unafraid to speak up even if she wasn't supposed to and Harry was further surprised that she almost never spoke English in class. Ariana was one of few students that Harry remembered though he always said that he remembers everyone he teaches, there's always a select few that stick out in the back of his mind. Ariana was one of those students and he was happy to see her in his class again. Despite being in such a large classroom, Harry always managed to spot her in the crowd of students as she always sat in the middle column, five rows behind the front.

Today was the last day of classes for the first term of the semester. They were to have a one week break before midterms beginning the next day. Harry could sense his students' anxiousness to leave so he brought his lesson for the day to a close with a knowing grin.

"Classe ajournée," Harry spoke up for the very last time as the first term came to a close, "I look forward to seeing those who are going to the Paris trip during the break. Remember to arrive on time, come early if you must, and don't forget to bring a notebook and something to write with. While this is a trip you're meant to enjoy it is still your responsibility to learn something from it. Okay hmm off you go, see you in three days. I'll stay behind for a few minutes to answer any questions if you have any."

As Harry ended his minute long speech, the class erupted as students moved their way to the front of the class to leave. Harry remained by his desk, speaking to those who approached him about the trip. Soon he was left alone, noticing that the classroom was now empty, and sighed in relief; answering the same questions over and over again was tiring. He decided that he'd approach the situation differently next time to avoid repeated questions. As he gathered his papers into his bag, the door behind him opened again, startling him as he composed himself to look their way.

"Ariana," He breathed, "you made me jump there."

"Je suis désolé." She spoke as she frowned, "Je voulais poser une question au sujet du voyage que j'oublié de demander."

"Class is done for the day dear, you don't have to speak in French if you don't want to." Harry chuckled as Ariana sighed in relief and smiled greatly, "Thank you sir, I mean yeah, sorry. I just wanted to know if this trip is actually going to be a part of our grade because you said to bring notebooks to write in and so I'm curious if it's for a future test or something like that."