IS THIS OKAY?

DANICA DREADED THE RIDE TO HOGWARTS each year but knew the end was worth it. The scarlet train was the first place she'd ever received hostility for being part of the Selwyn family and the Weasley family — evidently, she couldn't catch a break on that front. Not to mention the ride lasted hours, leaving her in agonizing boredom. Especially the first three years.

Never one to make many friends, Danica only ever had her siblings to sit next to on the train rides, which was incredibly mortifying. But after she'd gone and failed her third year of school, it got a bit better.

She met a girl in her new year named Claudia, a Slytherin that sat next to her in Charms. Despite Danica being a blood-traitor and a Hufflepuff, the Irish girl had no qualms with her. In fact, Claudia thought blood purity was rather stupid.

From then on out, Danica finally had someone to sit by on the train.

That's who was with her now, Claudia letting Danica pull her thick braids back into a nice hairstyle while going on about her summer. Claudia lived in a huge estate — unfortunately, the Malfoy family were her neighbors, so she saw lots of that dreadful Draco over the summer. But Lucius overpaid for babysitting, so Claudia could only complain so much.

"Anyway, that's how Dinko set my summer revisions on fire," she went on, referring to their family's House Elf.

Danica snickered, knowing how much Claudia hated school work. And setting flame to her revisions meant she had to redo them.

"Perce helped me do all mine," she said, thankful for her brother. Usually, he sat with her and Claudia, but he was Head Boy this year and was in a special compartment. "Defense was murder, I swear."

"Well, here's hoping this year's professor makes more progress in your lessons. Certainly won't be missing fucking Lockhart."

"Fucking Lockhart," Danica repeated.

Since failing her third year, McGonagall, despite not being Danica's Head of House, was kind enough to make arrangements for private lessons. Once a week, on Wednesdays, Danica met with Professor Flitwick for Charms, and on Fridays, she met with the professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The only problem was that each year they had a different professor for her worst subject, which made an already difficult subject even harder for her to follow. Lockhart, in particular, had been an atrocious teacher.

Danica might've fallen behind if not for Percy, who practically taught their entire class the year before. He really had earned his Head Boy title.

"What do you reckon will be wrong with the new professor this year?" Claudia asked. "Boils? Alcoholic? Only dates Puffskeins?"

Danica threw her head back and laughed at that. "I'm sure nothing will be wrong with them. We've just had a bad streak the last few years."

She then finished with Claudia's hair, tying it off with a yellow ribbon. The girls swapped places, Claudia beginning to braid Danica's hair, a green ribbon on standby.

"Well, I just hope this one is at least competent — and not Snape," Claudia went on. Though he was her Head of House, she wasn't fond of the man. "And that... What the bloody hell are those, Dan?"

Danica raised an eyebrow and looked back at Claudia over her shoulder, only to see her friend looking at her exposed neck. Instantly, her face heated up, realizing what she meant.

There were three fresh bruises along her skin, a stark reminder of how she'd spent her night.

"You said you were at the Leaky Cauldron the last two days," Claudia said. "Last I checked, they don't offer these services."

"I may have snuck into Muggle London. Just for last night," she mumbled, smiling mischievously. "Met a man at a pub."

Claudia tugged on one of Dan's braids. "Tell me everything or I'll scalp you. What was it like? What was he like? Was he fit? How'd that conversation even start, because you're horribly uncharismatic—"

"Hey!" she snapped playfully. "And fine. I'll tell you."

"Everything," Claudia stressed.

"Everything," she promised.

☽︎

The pub with an inn above it was nearly empty save for a few. An unfamiliar Muggle song had been playing, but Danica knew she liked the beat as she made her way to the bar.

She'd never actually ordered at a bar since becoming of age to drink, so she was excited. The only problem, she quickly realized as she looked at the little paper menus on the bar top, was that she had no idea what any of the Muggle cocktails were.

"What are you having?" the bartender, whose name tag identified him as Joey, asked.

Panicking a bit, Danica looked to her right, seeing that she'd sat next to a tall stranger, a mop of light brown curls on his head and the beginnings of a scruffy beard on his chiseled jawline. His large hands were wrapped around a cold glass of something dark.

"I'll have what he's having," she said, nodding casually to the man, who raised an eyebrow at her.

As Joey went off to make it, Danica smiled innocently at the man. He just tilted his head curiously, taking in her appearance. She had her dark hair hanging free and only wore a tiny tank top and pair of baggy jeans with huge rips in them, showing off so much skin.

"Hope you like an old fashioned," he said before tapping the cigarette in his hand against a nearby ashtray.

"Never had one," she shrugged.

He peered at her. "You old enough to be in here?" he couldn't help but ask. She was certainly young — and gorgeous, but that was unrelated.

"I'm eighteen," she assured him. "I could tell the difference between a shot of vodka and tequila, but don't ask me to name mixed drinks."

It made the man chuckle and shake his head. "Tell you what — if you don't like it, your next one is on me."

"I appreciate that," she said as Joey sat a beverage in front of her. Danica picked it up and held it out to the stranger. He smiled and clinked his glass against hers, watching closely as she took a sip.

Really, Danica was just thankful she didn't embarrass herself by spitting it back into the cup. But she couldn't hide the disgusted grimace on her face as she swallowed it.

The man laughed more heartily that time before waving at Joey. "Get her a bramble, please."

"A bramble doesn't taste like this, does it?" she asked while sliding the unfinished drink toward him.

"No, it's sweeter," he told her. "I think you'll like it."

☽︎

"Okay," Claudia interrupted. "I know I said everything, but this pace is agonizing."

Danica chuckled and elbowed her friend from behind. "I'm getting there. I'm getting there."

☽︎

The two had gotten closer to each other over the last forty-five minutes. Literally and figuratively — both slid to the edges of their barstools, their knees brushing as they spoke lowly, firing question after question off at the other.

Though neither thought to ask the other for their name.

Danica learned that he was fond of the color red, and he knew she liked blue. He learned she was an athlete, and she figured out he was a bit of a bookworm. And he let her know he was a professor.

"Just hired, actually," he told her while lighting up another cigarette. "I start tomorrow."

"Can I get one?" she asked, nodding to the box in his hand. She watched his lithe fingers pluck one from the carton and the he held it up to her lips, making her smile as she took it. "Congratulations then, Professor."

His eyes stayed glued to her lips as he lit the cigarette for her, figuring something inside of him was a little fucked up for liking when she called him that. Especially given that she was so young.

"And what about you?" he asked, his hand falling on her knee. He traced the outline of one of the holes in her jeans, feeling her warm skin. "What do you do?"

Rather than admit she was a bit dense and was still in school because she'd failed, she kept the attention on him, shaking her head. "No way. You must be excited. Tell me everything about this teaching job."

He gave in, looking a bit bashful to be talking about himself. She found it incredibly cute.

"Well, it's at the boarding school I went to when I was younger. It was like a second home, really. I'm glad to be going back."

"That sounds wonderful. Maybe you can make it feel like home for a whole new generation," she said.

"That's what I hope," he smiled. Merlin, his smile was beautiful.

"What are you teaching?"

Figuring that she was a Muggle, a lie fell off his tongue easily. "Literature," he said. And he adored how her face scrunched up, clearly not sharing a love for it. "Not a reader, I take it?"

"I try," she said, blushing a bit. "I'm, um, I struggle with it. The words don't always look right."

"Ah. Dyslexia is nothing to be embarrassed of, love," he said.

Danica frowned at that, unfamiliar with the Muggle-discovered concept.

☽︎

"What's dyslexia?" Claudia asked with a confused from. She was also Pureblood, so she wasn't familiar with it.

"I think it's some Muggle thing they call what I have — a learning disability, Hermione said. The struggling to see words right," she shrugged. "Told Father, and he said he'd do some research on it. Maybe there's a spell or medicine or something that can help me read better."

"Not that you'd put it to use," she shrugged, nothing knowing that Danica had a lack of interest in reading. Then she shook her head. "Keep going. Keep going! How'd you go from talking about reading to fucking?"

"Well," she blushed from the memory. "He mentioned some Muggle book that I'd never heard of. He wanted to give it to me, but I told him I wouldn't read it. So, he, uh, offered to read it to me. And he was staying at the inn upstairs, so..."

"Hot," Claudia muttered.

☽︎

Danica had only heard a few pages of his favorite exert from Emma and found that she enjoyed reading much more when it was his soft voice whispering the words in her ear, his strong arms wrapped around her. The pair were sitting on his bed at the inn, her head on his shoulder as he read to her.

"I cannot make speeches, Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it."

"That's lovely," she murmured, her eyes glued to his long fingers turning the page.

"And to think, you'd never had heard it because of your hatred for literature," he said while running his fingers through her hair, pushing it back to expose her neck.

Danica's eyes fell shut. "I think I only like it when it's you reading to me, Professor."

He let out a low groan and dropped his head to her shoulder, lips seeking out her skin. A soft sigh escaped her mouth as she reached back, grabbing onto his thick hair.

"Is this okay?" he asked as he ran his hands up her thighs, the book forgotten on the bed.

"More than okay," she murmured, turning her head to capture his mouth in a kiss—

☽︎

The train lurched to a sudden stop, startling Danica and Claudia. The lights flickered in their cabin for a moment before going out completely, surrounding them with darkness.

"We aren't there yet," Claudia said, looking out the window with a frown. Only for it to deepen when she saw frost creeping up the glass. "What the hell?"

"Something's wrong," Danica muttered, reaching for her wand.

"No shit!" she hissed. Then she saw Danica heading toward the door, so she grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just looking. Maybe someone knows what's going on," she said, keeping her voice low.

Slowly, Claudia released her, and Danica poked her head out of their compartment. Only to see a dark, floating mass of shadows creeping down the corridor. She gasped and quickly fell back, hitting the floor hard.

"Shut the door. Shut the door!" she whispered to Claudia, who did as she was told. "It - I think it was a Dementor."

"A Dementor?" Claudia asked, her eyes wide. "What are they — Merlin! They must be looking for Sirius Black."

All Danica had heard about all summer long was Sirius Black. Even the Muggle world was talking about the escaped convict who'd killed twelve people. Not to mention Peter Pettigrew, who was so destroyed that only his finger was left behind. Arthur and everyone at the Ministry had been working overtime no matter what department you were in.

It was why Molly got so furious every time Danica snuck out.

She was, after all, a Selwyn. Theories as to what Black had planned included killing Harry Potter and tracking down fellow Death Eaters and supporters of the Dark Lord. Given her last name, she could easily be on his list of people to seek out.

Danica had seen a Dementor once before. There had been one present when her parents were arrested during the war. Given how young she was, it was one of her first memories, and it was dreadful.

And because Claudia understood her fear, she wrapped her arms around Danica and held her close for a good five minutes until the warmth began slowly returning to the train. Two minutes later, the engine started up again, and the trees slowly moved by in the window.

"I think they're gone," Claudia said, her voice still low. "That was insane. Parents are gonna be furious when they find out."

"I - I need to go check on Ron and Ginny," Danica muttered, wiping her eyes a bit. "I'll be back."

"Tell them I said hi. And if you run into Diggory, tell him I'm still scared and could use some comforting," she said with a cheeky smile.

That brightened Danica's mood a bit, finding her crush on the boy in the year below them hilarious as nothing would ever come from it. Probably.

"I'll be sure to do that," she said, rolling her eyes and sliding out of their compartment.

Several people were already milling about, running to check on friends and gossip about what had happened. And while walking, she overheard someone saying that Harry Potter passed out like a baby, which made Danica go even faster.

She ran right into a firm chest, someone clearly too tall to be a student. And his old robes told him that he was probably a teacher not a student. She hardly paid him a glance as she kept going.

"Sorry," she muttered, continuing on her way.

The man froze for half a second before shaking his head, convincing himself he was hearing things before continuing toward to conductor.

When Danica did stumble across the third years, she sighed in relief, seeing that Ron was okay. A bit paler than normal, but okay nonetheless. Harry was curled in on himself, looking ghastly as he ate a bar of chocolate. And Hermione was watching him worriedly.

"Had a brush in with a Dementor, did you, Harry?" she asked with an uneasy smile.

Harry's smile looked more like a grimace. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"Oh, you're too late on that one," she said with a wink while taking a seat next to Ron. "You okay, Ron?"

"I feel cold," he said, leaning against his sister's shoulder. She instantly wrapped an arm around him.

"Well, just think about the chicken that'll be at the feast," Danica reminded him, knowing it was his favorite.

Ron did brighten up at that, and Hermione rolled her eyes playfully at his stomach.

"You know, you three are very brave to have gone up against a Dementor," Danica told them.

Harry scoffed at that. "I fainted. Everyone is going to know."

"Well, Draco cried."

"Did he really?" Harry asked, grinning.

She matched his smile and shrugged. "No, but you know Claudia. She'll tell everyone that he did, and they'll believe her because he's only thirteen."

"That's brilliant," Ron laughed.

"Right," she said, standing up. "I'm gonna go check on Gin. You three behave."

"We will. There's a professor sitting with us. He fought off the Dementor," Harry muttered.

"His name is Professor Lupin," Hermione said while pointing to the briefcase that was above them in the compartment. "It was amazing how he chased it off."

"Well, here's hoping we have a competent DA professor this term."