Trying not to produce rather creative ideas about this cup of tea in his mind, Josh walked in this very familiar office once again however this time for a completely different reason. He had not get in trouble...yet, or was not going to present gifts to the woman... and yet again. This was going to be a private conversation, yes, yet the boy still had doubts that he wanted to tell the woman the whole incident. It just would sound pathetic and he was not pathetic. He was already planning to get things right with it next summer after all since he was now of age and...knew how they looked like or where they liked to hang out....etc. Knockturn Alley, right? The man had said it was his alley. Bleh.

Walking towards the professor's desk, he stopped in front of it not bothering to look around. It was the same office he knew after all. But...where was the tea?

Okay...no thinking about tea.

Definitely not.

Mmm.

She came in and sat at the desk. "Carter... Tea?" She said offering a pre-made cup of tea to the boy? "I see you have two girlfriends now? Or is it still only Miss Shepard?" She asked. She swiveled her chair back and forth and waited for the boy to answer her.

Of course the no thinking about tea rule was not going to live for good. Watching the woman occupy her desk in his silence, the Gryffindor fixed his eyes at the cup she had offered him for a moment or so. Was this a risky thing? Perhaps, it was. Or it was not. He didn't mind it much anyway plus risky stuff was already his stuff to deal with. Not to forget the fact that he tended to trust the woman completely despite everyone else's ideas about her.

So, taking the cup with a kind nod ''Thank you, professor'' he settled himself down on that very uncomfortable chair in front of her desk. It would be much more uncomfortable trying to drink a cup of tea while standing, wouldn't it? And...ummm...whaaa? Two girlfriends? Did it already look...that bad? ''No.'' he replied quickly trying to sound oh-so-sure-of-himself ''Not really. It's only Evelyn.'' And he was going to try his best to keep it that way.

"Good. I don't know the other girl yet, but Shepard is a special girl. And I do not want to see her hurt. Got it, Romeo?" She said, though it certainly sounded more like a threat. "Now... let's talk about that pretty little scar of yours." She leaned back in her chair. "What sort of accident was this."

He was quite aware that Evelyn was a special girl but...

Eh?

*ahem*

Whaaa? As if he had not been surrounded by enough threatening things and people lately, not Lafay was added to the club of them. Apparently, if not by those brutal dark people, his death was going to occur in the hands of some she-snakes. Why did she call him Romeo if she thought he might cheat on his girlfriend anyway? Not to mention he had never though of it. It was those other girls that made things difficult for him...so much that actually he had slowly started to fear that he might be the real victim of a love potion this time.

Now, no one had seen and knew about this yet however Lafay looked like she needed a proof about his thoughts and he was sure she was not the kind to run around the school and tell everyone about it. She wouldn't bother. So, sighing a little he took his wand out a placed it on ther desk to a point where the engravings he had asked the Ollivanders guy to do could be clearly seen. Two words 'Evelyn Rose' . Perhaps this was enough for her to believe him. No words were needed to be prounced.

However about the incident that led him to get this scar definitely needed to be voiced as the woman had finally asked about it. What could he do? He did not want to lie, yet, he did not want to talk about it either. So what could he do?

No idea.

''Umm...it did hurt. Kinda. The slightly painful kind''

Hecate looked at the tea... She smiled finally and looked up. "I don't like being lied to, Carter. I think we both know this wasn't an accident. I'm not going to beg for the information. But I need to know what happened. I don't like that someone's hurt you." Only she got to hurt him... "Is it a family member?"

Umm...

O_O

Had she just smiled? Now, if he ever tried to tell his friends about this, surely noone would believe him. But he knew what he had seen anyway, unless he had been imagining and starting to see things that did not exist anyway. Like those black, skinny horses with wings. Anyhow, this made the Gryffindor smile slightly as well. Not for long though.

Yea, he already knew she did not like being lied to, previously she had made this pretty clear to the boy. Plus he was intending to lie to her anyway, not anymore so while listening to her next words in silence, Josh just kept staring at her and sighed slightly in the end. It was nice to know that she did not like him being hurt actually yet he was still uneasy about telling what had happened since he was...ashamed of it.

Ashamed because he couldn't deal with it and ashamed because he had those letters on him as if he was carrying around the evil man's signature which oddly made him feel like he was a poor property of him. Yet, on the other hand, such things could not be kept inside for long and if he had to share with someone, Professor Lafay must have been the perfect choice.

''No...not from family.'' The part of his remaining family were muggles after all. ''It was a man...well...men. One was kinda passive but the other two were...mean. I don't know who they are.''

They were just men.

Hecate's smile turned to a look of utter disgust. "Men... Three men on one child?" She seemed furious now. Angry beyond belief! "Cowards... picking on you that way." She said coming to the front of the desk and leaning over to run her thumb over the scar. "This thing is dark... I can't heal it for you... I can lessen the redness... but that's it." She said.

Well...the Potions Mistress now did not look happy at all. Psssh. Maybe he should not have mentioned it for he definitely did not want other people to be annoyed about it, especially not those he valued. At that time he had been 16 and wandless, however now he was finally of age so the next time he was free to visit the alley, he was going to seek revenge. No need for other people to bother about it.

After sipping some of the tea the professor had offered to him, Josh nodded some and went on to make things clear. ''Actually, professor, it's part my fault. I tried to get their attention on myself so they would be distracted and would not hurt the others there.'' Yet she was right. They were still cowards playing with an underage boy.

Watching the woman approach with blinking dark brown eyes, the boy shivered a little when she touched the wound. ''Dark...'' he repeated. Something dark on him? This was what he feared so he couldn't help but groan. He hated dark stuff. Totally despised it. ''That's fine. Really, thank you. I think i got used to it anyway. And i am not the kind to stare at mirrors much''

"You did what?!" Was he... He was a... Stupid Gryffindor, "Always having to be the hero, and now you marred your perfect face!" She was angry. "You may not be one to stare at mirrors, Carter, but I'm going to have to look at you this year and next!" She shook her head and took his face in her hands. "Josh..." she said using his first name, "Next time run. It's not cowardly to run when you're outmatched... Where did this happen?" she asked, looking in his eyes.

For an instant, when she had exclaimed with that 'You did what!', Josh thought the woman might attack him out of anger for that so his eyes were widened at her. Hopefully, he relieved a bit when she did not do anything except looking...angry. Well...what? Did not she think it was the right thing to do? Eh...apparently not. But Josh knew it was an universal fact that he was not as qualified, skilled and smart as she was so that had been the only thing he thought he could do.

Hmm...whaaa? Perfect face? Was she trying to cheer him up some because he never thought he was perfect in reality. No. Silly thought. Her tone definitely did not sound that way and why would she bother doing that anyway?

Yet, now her calling him by his first name pretty much surprised him. Yet he was unable to comment about it for...well...it was that surprising. Perhaps there really was a professor in Hogwarts who did not think he was nothing but a trouble maker. ''I...'' he began looking at her face almost without blinking ''...might try that next time, professor. But hero or not, i can't just run when there are others in need of help, whoever they are, can i? That's impossible for me to do. I would never forgive myself.''

Where had it happened? Good question indeed which made the boy swallow a few times before answering it. ''The Knockturn Alley.''

...

"Knocturn Alley?" She repeated pulling back from him. Did Victor, her brother in law, do this to him? The thought of talking to him made her shudder. The man was a creep, he and her sister deserved each other...

"It's a wonder you are alive." She said and stood walking behind her desk. "I don't want you going there anymore. Do you understand?" She said protectively.

Josh nodded quickly when the woman repeated the name of the alley and hopefully she did not bother questioning why he had been there. It was not his fault anyway. If one asked him he would never take a step in there, not that he was scared, for he hated dark stuff so much and he had no business there. None. Yet, he had to take those who thought it was wise to go some exploring there out the place and they were caught in the act.

It was a wonder he was alive. Well...he had to agree that since he could remember how much one of those men wanted to kill him. The evil, bloodthirsty glare of the man was still clearly in his mind. After that glare, he did not need to be told how much he had wanted to kill him.

As the Gryffindor boy drank some more of the tea, Lafay went on speaking words that Josh would definitely agree if the situation had been different than the one he was in. ''I can't promise about that, professor'' so he said truthfully. No lying o Lafay anymore. ''Because...because it's not only this scar. There's something else and it bothers me pretty much. I don't think i can live with it for so long. So, i should go and make the man take it back.''

She looked at the boy.

She was almost afraid to ask. "What else did he do you to?"

Could he...?

But he already had mentioned it, right? It was too late to step back and stepping back would not be a logical move right after telling her so much. Not that he had a problem with telling her anything, he knew he completely trusted her, again it was just the embarrassment about it that made him hesitate.

Plus, this was going to be weird. But on the other hand the woman had previously dealed with his mouth when that bloodroot incident had taken place in the Potions Laboratory last term. So, without saying a single word yet, the Gryffindor opened his mouth some and showed her the branded 'A' and 'T' letters on his tongue. Probably something like the signature of the man or whatever...

Was it so bad?

...

A.T. Atropos Trelawney. And Victor must have been one of the others.

"Really? I'm surprised you are still alive Carter. I know of the man who did that to you. He will not take it back, and if you pursue this, you will not live to see your next birthday, please," She said and her voice turned sweet and gentle. Hecate didn't say the P word often. "Please don't go back."

Well...really?

Was it really that serious? Then if Mistress Lafay was surprised that he was still alive then he was surprised about that as well. At least it looked like he should have been. It had already been too obvious to his eyes that the men were extremely dangerous but if Lafay had said she knew them and he should not be back there, then probably they were much more dangerous than he thought.

So, one side in him wanted to listen to her and never get to bother about the men again. Yet the other side was telling him that they had scarred his honour and he needed to get it back. How could he live if he would never be an honourable man again?

Sighing deeply he put the cup back on the professor's desk and stared at his wand resting there before moving his gaze back into her eyes. ''I know, professor, if i ever found the way there again, they would probably erase me from this world with a single move. But what if i train and get stronger? They also were rookie boys once, weren't they? I can train and get stronger enough to match their power. Can i? Can YOU train me?''

"Can I? Yes... Will I? No." She said decisively. "Even if I did, they are really dark wizards, with other dark wizards at their disposal. I'm not sending you into certain death. Not even if you had Tate to back you." She said. "Carter, go back to your room and thank Merlin you haven't died."

No?

She could but she wouldn't?

Yeah, she had said NO which was a great disappointment for the Gryffindor boy. So there was no wonder the pout and upset expression on his face was deep. He couldn't even ask why for she had quickly added the reason. It was the matter of being alive again. Though he was still directly staring into the woman's eyes and he couldn't help but frown as he put the cup in his hands back on her desk.

''So, you have the skill and information but you are going to let them be. I might not be one of your Slytherins, professor, but i am not a fool. I am just an ordinary person who unfortunately found himself there and was late to depart. And they did this to me. What does that mean, you see? It means they have no problem with doing such things to ANYBODY. No choices, no preferences. Anybody that would accidentally walk on their way.''

Looking down on his lap for a moment or so, Josh looked up back at the woman's face and went on. ''And you expect me to be happy that i am alive while i know they are out there somewhere and can hurt others? Thank you but i can't live in such a selfish order'' Next standing up, he picked up his wand from the desk, put it back in its holster however as he did those, he did not break the eye contact.

''Strong enough or not. I WON'T let them be. And i will fight them until my last breath.'' Now she had told him to leave for the room right. She meant the dormitory. So, fine. He turned around and walked to the door opening it yet he halted when an idea hit him.

As a result the lion boy turned to face her back again. ''That man, you know who i am talking about, is not that so-called boyfriend of yours, is he?'' Hmmm, was he? ''Ooor whatever. I want you to know though. I am not angry at you. It's your preference and i am supposed to respect that. I guess.'' Pfffft. Slytherins! ''Good evening''

And with the last word voiced, he sighed and walked out the office.

He wasn't a fool? Anyone who went into Knockturn Alley was a fool.

He... What?!

Huh?!?

But the boy was gone.

Oh Merlin...


She peeked out the door and said "You lot. Come in."

Doop.

That was all.

Noah stepped into the potions office, looked around the place... and smiled to himself. Potions; perfect subject. Much better than Divination or Arithmancy or that stuff. Potions was like a SCIENCE. Noah was all set to gush about the subjects to this lady, but he knew his manners unlike a certain Hufflepuff predecessor.

"Good-..." Errr... morning, afternoon, evening? Noah couldn't remember. "... day, Professor." Was it day? EH. "My name's Noah. Noah Garrison."

...

... that was probably it for now. He knew not to babble... kind of.

"Yes... Yes... Go on... What do you need?" She said annoyed.

Noah was a little busy grinning, oblivious to the annoyance. He shook his head, which jogged his breathing and made him gasp gently. The boy covered his mouth and turned away slightly, coughing into his sleeve. Owie.

"Well," Noah went on, when he'd finished. "I was just... well... wondering some stuff about potions. I've really been looking forward to being in a potions lab again and being in an actual class. I've been kind of sick so I missed the start of all the lessons, so I supposed I'd come ask you. Are you teaching any, like, complicated potions this year? Really tricky ones? Because I think they're the most interesting."

...

Oh.

"Oh... and also... I just wanted to tell you, I really love potions and stuff, but I started getting really clumsy recently. I'll still be allowed to brew some, won't I?"

He'd been PANICKING about that.

"... ma'am."

She looked up.

Eager first years annoyed her the most.

"I always teach challenging potions. If you are clumbsy, you can redo your potion twice, once the third time is ruined, you will not be allowed to brew again." She said. "That is my usual rule."