Awkward

Chapter - 9 The Gift

The corridor of the castle looked so eerie without students rattling around shouting and running. Without those fits of laughter, the unnatural voices made themselves heard, which alarmed her.
Making rounds after hours usually bored Seraphina; after all, she did nothing in those rounds. Sometimes she caught some first-years sneaking out to roam the castle, but she let them go with a mild warning. Those innocent kids never snuck out again.

But no living or dead person bothered her more than the poltergeist Peeves. Pranking, scaring and appearing out of nowhere when she strolled down the corridor were his favourite things to do.

To kill the boredom of these rounds, she mostly listened to songs on her Muggle iPod. But that night her iPod was with George in the hospital wing. The fever had gotten him bedridden, so she had given it to him to kill time and boredom while he was lying alone in the hospital wing.

Silently walking down the corridor which lay in dead silence, a sound grabbed her attention. She stood rooted in place, looking for the direction from which the sound was coming. Scanning the corridor, her eyes fell upon the slightly open door of the classroom in front of her. She peeped in from the narrow opening to find her History of Magic teacher, Miss Jane Hudson, sitting on the student's bench weeping badly. She huffed, wiping her tears, but they flowed down her cheeks anyway. Her eyes and cheeks were red due to God-knows-how-many hours of crying. Seraphina felt bad for her, she knew why she was weeping. Because of Batman. But he couldn't be blamed. He loved someone else, and he loved her truly, with loyalty. Seraphina entered the class silently. Tip-toeing towards her teacher, she sat in front of her without the woman noticing. Miss Hudson was too deep in her sorrows to notice the world around her.

" You know something, Miss Hudson, " softly spoke Seraphina. Her words were no more than a whisper. Miss Jane raised her head, looking at the young Ravenclaw sitting in front of her. Seraphina's voice soothed her.

"Sometimes we think a lot about what we want from life, but life has different plans for us. I know why you are crying, and I won't ask you not to. After all, you have every right to feel sad and express your emotions, "

Seraphina's black orbs locked on the wrecked face of her professor in front of her. Her eyes conveyed no expression, just her empty orbs looked at Jane. Jane didn't know what she wanted to say, although her eyes said nothing, still, those eyes were warm and welcoming.

" I know what happened between you and Professor Snape. I was there, and I listened to every word. But please don't think I was spying or anything; it's just that I happen to stumble upon the corridor at the same time. I think you don't remember me being there because you were very upset," Seraphina continued quietly.

Her voice was so soothing to Jane. " I know it's hard for you, and that you love Professor Snape but sometimes... " Seraphina paused. Her mind quibbled on whether she should say what was inside her or not.

" What... what sometimes, Seraphina? " Miss Jane asked desperately.

" Miss Hudson, sometimes it's not necessary that the one we love feels the same for us. Every person in this world loves, but not all get loved back from the person they love. And I know how it feels, it's very hard to move on with that deprived feeling, but we have to because life doesn't stop because of one person. We can't ignore all those people in our life who just want to see a smile on your face. And maybe, you never know, you might cross paths with someone who loves you so truly that you forget the pain this rejection has given you."

Seraphina's words made a piece of alleviating music with the sound of the wind.

" I heard what Professor Snape said to you, and I can tell he wasn't lying. His words came from the depth of his heart, and I felt the gravity of his words. You know, I can say a very good man will surely come in the life of a beautiful witch like you, Miss Hudson, " she continued in her whispers.