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‘Jean, where are your books?’ you asked, staring at your friend who was lazily looking at Annie and you.
‘(Name) are you really going to pack my stuff?’ he answered, rolling off his eyes.
‘Well, I never saw you doing it, before or now, so…’ Looking for support Jean glanced at Annie, who was sitting on the desk chair, but she shrugged. ‘Fine.’
Jean rose with a sigh and put his school books in his suitcase. Even if he seemed annoyed by your motherly behaviour, deep down he found it reassuring. Usually it was his mother who took care of the house but ever since she had been offered a job, she was less there. It wasn’t much of a big deal, as Jean wasn’t a kid anymore, and both of them did things around. But to her son the house sometimes felt empty without her cheerful presence. And Annie and you, who had known the Kirsteins since forever, could see how your friend felt.
‘Jean, our new prefect is offering you her help, better use it.’ Annie said.
‘Don’t dream Leonhart, I won’t cover you if you break the rules.’ you said, faking a serious expression.
Annie and Jean giggled, knowing you would do anything for them, just like they would. Ever since you had discovered you were a witch, they both helped you a lot to discover this brand new world, as Annie was hailing from a pureblood family and Jean was half-blood. Back in the days you felt glad you had come across children of your age who could do magic and you could relate to. You did not bond easily, so you assumed at some point you would part from your ‘guides’ and that you would just have in common the village you were from. But the sorting hat sent the three of you to Slytherin and with time, you realised you were making a good team. Annie and you liked Jean’s confidence and charisma, Jean and you needed Annie’s calm and stress free attitude and they sought your conscientiousness and caring acts, even those like now.
‘By the way, Professor Kruger came to your place last week right?’ Annie asked out of the blue, staring at you. You were surprised by the question but did your best to hide it.
‘Yeah… My mother wanted to thank him for everything he did for me.’ you said, shrugging.
‘I don’t get how someone can wish to see him outside of the professional limits. That guy’s like a ghost.’ Jean stated.
‘Guess (Name) likes weirdos, which is how she can stand you.’ Annie said, cocking a brow. Jean widened his eyes.
‘What about you, Annie?’ He said, huffing.
‘I am aware of it, unlike you, that’s the difference.’ she slyly replied. As they began to argue, you laughed and put the last missing things in Jean’s luggage, relieved your friends talked about something else.
September 1st finally arrived and your mother offered to take the three of you to London. Once you were in the train, you let Jean and Annie find a compartment while you had to spend some time with the new prefects. You came in the prefect compartment to meet Erwin Smith, who was a fellow Slytherin.
‘Hello (Name), congratulations, I knew you would be chosen.’ he said as you sat in front of him.
‘Thank you Erwin. Right back at you. I am sure you will celebrate again when you will become the captain of the Quidditch team.’ you answered him with a polite smile.
The tall blond boy smiled. ‘If I do, I promise I will do my best for our house.’
You then began to talk about other topics, such as your holidays and the upcoming O.W.L, and waited to meet all the other prefects of the other houses. Despite not being very sociable, you managed to talk to most of them, helped by the arrival of Frieda Reiss, a Ravenclaw student who had several classes in common with you and you appreciated a lot.
As expected, Erwin was named captain of the Quidditch team. Jean and Annie, who were part of it, were delighted at the news, as he was a valuable player, praised for his wit and strength, even by players of other houses. Though you flyed on broomsticks only when necessary, you were staying up to date with Quidditch and always came to matches and practise sessions.
This is why you were outside at 8AM on a saturday morning. With you was Pieck Finger, a cheerful and whimsical girl from Ravenclaw, who was in a relationship with a Slytherin chaser, Zeke. With a smile, you watched your friend kissing tenderly her boyfriend before rushing towards you. Not caring about the surprised looks people gave her, she grabbed your arm and you headed to the terraces.
But it seems there was a schedule issue, as you noticed the Gryffindor team arrived. Curious, you cast a glance at your team. Erwin approached the captain of the other team and they started to chat in a rather friendly way, and so were the other players of both houses, until Jean began to argue with a boy named Eren.
‘There is no way we share the playing field with the Slytherins!’ Eren screamed.
‘Why the hell are you yelling, shouldn’t you keep your energy for practise?’ Jean mocked him. ‘Or do you fear to be ridiculous in front of us?’ He added, turning towards the other Slytherins.
A few of them smiled at Jean’s provocation but Annie rolled off her eyes. This is why I am glad I am not a chaser like you , she thought.
‘Do not worry about us.’ A black-haired girl named Mikasa intervened. ‘We have all the required energy and motivation.’ She put the emphasis on the last word and stared at Annie.
‘I have all the motivation in the world, and I look forward to prove it to you.’ Annie dryly answered with a deadly glare. Mikasa’s was matching hers, which was a performance in your books. Eren and Jean had stopped snapping at each other and looked with slight concern at the two girls, who now had all the other players’ attention.
‘Okay, everyone!’ The shout came from the Gryffindor captain, Levi Ackerman. ‘Professor Shadis made a mistake with schedules so we will deal with it. We have two options, either both teams practise separately, either we can face each other to make it more interesting, as Erwin suggested. Who wants what?’
Two minutes later, the decision was made, the two teams would first practise separately then those who wanted could face players of the other house. Delighted with the outcome, you smiled at Erwin who winked at you, then your gaze met Levi’s. You politely smiled at him before waving at your friends, with Jean giving you the thumbs up. But Levi was still staring at you. He understood Pieck’s presence, her boyfriend was practicing now, but surely she was also curious about her rivals’ training. But your presence intrigued him.
‘Hey Erwin, the girl who is prefect with you, why is she here?’ he asked his Slytherin counterpart.
‘Ah well, she likes Quidditch and is good friends with two of my teammates.’ Erwin answered, shrugging. ‘You’re coming?’
‘Yeah.’ Levi said, eyes still on you. Once again your gazes met, but this time you looked away.
The next monday you had care of magical creatures class and met Frieda and Pieck. While taking care of the porlock, you listened to your Ravenclaw friends talking about Quidditch, as they both played in their house team, then the conversation went to plans for the future.
‘Hey, what would you like to do when you graduate?’ Pieck asked. ‘I think I would like to travel to places like Japan or Brazil. Or Africa, I heard they were very skilled in transfiguration and do not use wands to cast spells.’
‘Travelling sounds nice indeed.’ Frieda said. ‘But I think the first thing I would do would be to throw a huge party, to properly wave goodbye to Hogwarts and say hello to adulthood.’ she added with a smile. ‘Don’t get me wrong.’ she continued upon seeing the grin on your face ‘I cannot wait to work at Gringotts, so this will be a celebration for that too!’
‘Celebration for what? Hanging out with grouchy old geezers?’ A male voice said.
Surprised, you turned around and saw Levi, who had approached your group. He was holding a bag of food for the porlock and bent to caress it before giving it some meat. You shyly smiled and decided to focus on the class assignment, which was to draw the beast. Frieda bent as well and joined Levi in taking care of the creature.
‘And what would you do? Work with me and be one of my future grouchy colleagues?’ she asked him with a wide grin.
‘Nah, I’d just gather some folks, drink and then do my thing.’
‘Oh, and what might that be? Your thing.’ Pieck intervened. Despite keeping drawing the animal, you were still listening to your comrades.
‘I intend to become a dragonologist. How does that sound to you?’ he told her with a blank stare.
‘Perfectly fitting. With someone like you to take care of dragons, they’d be too scared to do anything crazy.’ Frieda said with a smirk. You smiled at your friend’s words and Levi shrugged.
‘What about you Finger?’ he said, looking at Pieck. ‘What’s your big plan?’
‘I want to become an Auror.’ she said with a proud smile.
Levi nodded before looking at your figure.
‘And you (L/N)?’
Surprised to hear your name, you looked at Levi, but quickly turned away. ‘Well, I would like to join the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And… a small gathering with friends sounds perfect to me.’
‘No need to ask (Name), we will be there.’ Frieda said while standing up.
‘But no drinking game right Frieda?’ Pieck said, elbowing her friend, which made you laugh. Without you noticing, Levi observed your features while you were giggling.
After the end of this class, you headed to the castle with the rest of the students. Levi was still with your group and made some comments at the jokes Frieda would crack. You were listening, but suddenly you spotted Professor Kruger in the hallway. You excused yourself and approached your teacher.
‘Hello Professor. Since we meet here, I wanted to give you back the book you lent me.’ you said, taking out of your bag a small book. ‘Thank you, it was indeed very helpful.’
‘Thank you, miss (L/N). I am glad you found it useful.’ your head house answered you with a serene smile. ‘If you need more of that, or wish to meet some people, I have more to recommend to you.’
‘Oh, I would be grateful Sir!’ you said with enthusiasm.
‘Very well. We can further discuss that during the orientation day.’
‘Oh, yes! I will leave you now. Thank you again.’ You waved goodbye to your professor and headed to the library, unaware that Levi had followed your brief talk with the teacher.
Levi had planned to go to Hogsmeade with Isabel and Mike, but had to wait two hours until his mates were free to leave the castle. He wanted to see you. Looking at his bag, he thought of the transfiguration homework he had. This would be a good reason to approach you. He decided to check the library, as his observations taught him you often came there. Bingo.
You were sitting near a large window and engrossed in the reading of what he assumed was some assignment, judging by the length of the parchment you were holding. He dropped himself on the chair right in front of you, which made you jump.
‘Hello Levi.’ you said in a surprised but welcoming tone.
‘Hey. I got some homework in transfiguration and I thought you could help. Rumor has it you do very well in this subject.’
You smiled at the compliment. ‘Well, I can certainly take a look. It is about the switching spell right?’
Within fifteen minutes, you had explained to Levi most of the things he was asking for.
‘You are very good.’ he said after you paused. ‘That’s your favourite subject?’
‘Oh, yes, guess you can say that.’ you answered with a slight smile. ‘Plus Professor Kruger is a really good teacher.’
‘Oh, he’s your favourite?’ Levi said with genuine curiosity.
The question made you shrug and smile. ‘I find this kind of magic fascinating, but it is true the interest I have for that also comes from Professor Kruger. He was the staff member that came to explain everything to my mother when I got my acceptance letter. Ever since, he has kept advising me.’
‘That’s actually cool.’ he stated. ‘When I visit my uncle, he always make a point of teaching me two spells a week, even when I didn't ask first.’
‘Oh?’ you said with interest.
‘Yeah, when he starts talking, he never stops. But he has many interestings things to say, so whatever.’
After that, Levi met you more and more at the library. You provided some help in transfiguration and he did the same in defence against dark arts. Step by step, you began to feel comfortable around him, much to his pleasure.
As you were exiting the owlery, you saw Levi. You grinned and approached him. He noticed it and, for a second, felt his cheeks heat up. He batted his lashes to regain his composure and stared at you.
‘Hey. Any good news?’ he said.
‘Hello. Well, my mother wrote to me, her aunt wants to see us, so I guess I will spend the holidays there, in London.’ you told him, gripping your mail.
‘Do you like it?’
‘Oh well, I never had the chance to properly visit it. The only times I go there is when we have to take the Hogwarts Express.’
‘Mm. Look, I have family there too. If you want, we can meet up and I can make you visit.’ he said, shrugging.
You widened your eyes upon hearing the offer. ‘Oh, I would love to, but… maybe you have other plans… Plus I don’t want to b--’
‘No worries.’ he interrupted you. ‘I love this town and the Ackermans have been in London for generations, so you won’t find a better guide, country girl.’
The nickname made you giggle. ‘Thank you Levi!’ Happy and blushing, you failed to see Levi was blushing as well while looking at your blissful expression with relief.
Your holidays in London started very well. Your great-aunt greeted you with enthusiasm, and your mother, glad to finally have some holidays, was less tense. Levi kept his promise and made you discover the city. He took a picture of you with the Welsh guards, agreed to go to the London Eye after you begged and begged him to take you there. At first there were a lot of people but Levi cast most of them a spell to make them go. This shocked you only ten seconds, as you were happy to enter the giant wheel.
At first, you didn’t dare to tell the two women you were going out to see a boy, but they quickly noticed the times you were blushing and shying away, which was when you went out to meet Levi. Eventually, it was your great-aunt who offered to invite your friend for dinner. She smirked at your embarrassed expression and ruffled your hair.
The evening turned out perfect. Your great-aunt was the perfect host, caring and smiling, and Levi acted way more sociable and polite as usual. Your mother was a little bit surprised, as she had never heard about Levi before, and she could tell he was not a friend like Jean. Nevertheless she grew fond of him, upon seeing you both were very cute together, with the smiles and glances you cast to one another.
Eventually, Levi asked the two women if he could invite you over as well. Before your mother could say anything, your great-aunt cheerfully accepted, stating it was good for you to be with such a wonderful young man like him.
When the night arrived, you were a bit nervous to meet Levi’s family. He felt it and took your hand to reassure you. It felt so natural none of you noticed you kept holding hands during the whole journey, or the looks people gave you when you were outside.
The family house was a huge stone house hidden in Camden Town. The edifice impressed you, but fortunately, its inhabitants made you comfortable. Mikasa was here with her parents, as well as a very old man - the head of the family and Levi’s great-grandfather - another man who introduced himself as Kenny, the uncle Levi had mentioned, and Kuchel, his beautiful and welcoming mother.
All the members, who were very proud of their family, answered all the questions you had about their history. Mikasa’s mother, who was from Japan, was happy as well to tell about her own country and traditions. Levi first feared his relatives would bore you but he noticed you were very interested in what everyone had to say. Then the patriarch began to ask you questions about your background and was surprised when you told him you came from a muggle family.
After the meal, everyone parted and Levi offered you a home tour. Every room was huge and neat. There was even one with the sole purpose to have all the archives and official papers about the family. Two walls had a library full of huge leather books, and on another was the family tree, which indicated the most ancient known members had lived in the fifth century.
In the back of the room, you noticed a small wooden door.
‘Where does it lead?’ you asked your host, pointing to the door.
He let out a small smile. ‘Let me show you.’
Despite the size of the door, the room was not small, but not huge either. The eight walls were made of white stone and were covered with ebony furniture that reached the ceiling and countless small squared drawers. In front of the door was something that reminded you of the water fonts in churches. Eyes and mouth opened wide, you contemplated the room, starting to understand the purpose of this place.
‘Levi...’ you said, turning around and facing your classmate ‘... is it a pensieve?’ you asked, pointing at the font. The latter, who knew you would be amazed, was still smiling.
‘Exactly. It is where my family members keep important memories.’ he said matter of factly and gestured at the drawers. Your jaw dropped.
‘Wow. There are so many. There is a drawer for each member?’ He nodded. ‘When did this tradition start?’ you continued, impressed.
‘During the fourteenth century I think.’ he said, shrugging.
‘Don’t shrug, that’s impressive! I guess there is an extension charm for each drawer. Do you have one?’
‘Yep.’ he said, pointing at one that touched the ground.
You kneeled and saw his name written on it. Next to his was Mikasa’s. Above their line, you saw the names of Kenny, Kuchel, Mikasa’s father, and his wife’s too. So political members have their own too, you thought. Satisfied with your finding, you stood up and grinned at Levi.
‘Did you put something in yours?’ you asked with a smirk.
‘Nah, I didn’t find anything to add yet. There’s no rush.’ he answered, shrugging. Despite his amused look, his heart was pounding hard in his chest and he couldn’t help himself gazing at your excited expression. He was glad he had managed to make you happy.
‘What kind of memories are there usually? I mean, if you are allowed to talk about that.’
Levi let out a small laugh. Most of the time you didn’t talk much, but now you were so adorable with all the questions you kept asking. Fearing you might bore him, you opened your mouth to apologize, but he squeezed your shoulder.
‘Well, we put whatever we want. We just need to wonder if we are ok with others seeing it. Which is why my drawer is empty. And if it stays like that when I die, it will be automatically sealed.’ You nodded. After a moment, he spoke again. ‘Have you ever tried that?’ he asked, pointing at the pensieve.
You frowned. ‘Oh. No.’ you bitterly stated.
Slightly confused by your change of behaviour, Levi stared at you. ‘Hey, if you have enough, we can l--’
You interrupted him and grabbed his arm. ‘Not at all. This is fascinating, and I am honored you showed me something that important and fantastic…’ you said with a smile, before gasping. ‘It just… reminded me of my father. That was kind of the point but… you know…’ you continued, eyes on the ground.
Levi took your hand in his and began to caress the back. His other hand cupped your chin and his thumb brushed your cheek in a soothing way. Your eyes locked with his. You took a deep breath and managed to smile again.
‘I am sorry.’ you muttered.
‘Don’t be.’ he said in a whisper. ‘As you said, that is the purpose of this room. It brings back all kinds of stuff. The good, and the shitty ones too.’ He patted your nape, then looked at the stoned device. ‘If you don’t feel like putting and facing it, maybe you can tell me. Magic is not always the answer.’ You widened your eyes at his suggestion. ‘If you don’t want, I get it.’ he said, fearing you were uneasy. ‘In fact, let’s go.’
He took your hand and headed to the exit, but you stopped him.
‘No.’ you stated. ‘You are right. I am sorry I scared you off.’ you continued. ‘It’s just that... I haven't told anyone about that…’ You took another deep breath, Levi staring at you, waiting for you to speak again. Eventually, you opened your mouth again and began.
‘As you know, I come from a muggle family. But I was raised by my mother, my father left home when I was nine. Shortly after, my powers appeared. I could make plates fly without touching them, if I jumped from a high spot, I bounced when I touched the ground... I knew it was not something usual, at first I was scared off but in the end I got used to it. Obviously I hid it, because I did not want to be in trouble. Even my mother wasn’t aware. Since there were woods near our village, I used to go there and had fun on my own.
The following year, two kids approached me, my friends Annie and Jean. Jean had witnessed what I could do, and had brought Annie. Their families were the only wizarding families of the village, so they were surprised to find out there was another witch. I was glad I got to meet people like me, and all of them were kind to me. The summer before our first year, my letter arrived, with Professor Kruger. My mother was shocked, but he answered all of her questions and reassured her. She was a bit sad I did not confide in her earlier, but she understood.
Ever since that moment, he has been very present. Professor Kruger came with us to Diagon Alley the first time, he answered all the questions I had and the Leonharts and the Kirsteins didn’t know the answer… That helped a lot my mother to accept my situation. And my faith and trust in Professor Kruger deepened when I was sorted in his house. He gave me a lot of advice and support, but also spent time with us. He took my mother and I to visit places like Godric’s Hollow, or the spot where bowtruckles live...
Last year, a few days after I was back home, my father showed up. I hadn’t seen him for a long time. And… he seemed sorry he had neglected me, and asked about my life. I was so excited, I didn’t think twice, I wanted him to know like my mother did, so I told him about my powers. That didn’t surprise him much, actually, he told me his grandmother used to tell him stories about wizards and witches when he was a kid. From that moment, he began to ask me favors. First, small things, then stuff like multiply his cash or make things in his house unbreakable. I was reluctant, as even if the ministry was more indulgent with muggle-born students, I felt uneasy by my father’s behaviour. I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t want to cause any trouble to my father, and make my mother resents him even more.
But he kept pressuring me, and made me feel guilty for refusing to help him after the efforts to make it up to us. And then, Professor Kruger arrived. I found out later it was my mother who contacted him, because neither she or I could make my father go away. He found my father, took him and me away. He was so furious about my father’s behaviour he wanted to erase all of his memories. But I decided to do something else instead. I erased every memory he had of my mother and me. After that, we never saw him again.’
You took a deep breath, eyes on the ground. What would Levi think of you now?
‘Wow, you said you were thinking of your father, but it is hard to tell if you are referring to the asshole you kicked out of your life or the man who assisted you to do so.’
His comment surprised you so much you instinctively raised your head and stared at him. He was looking at you as well, and you saw nothing else but compassion in his gaze.
‘You… you think I made the right choice?’ you stammered, eyes locked with his.
‘Yep. You’re clearly better off without him. And I am sure your mother must be glad you relieved her of a man who was a shitty ex, and a shitty dad to her child.’
His statement relieved you. Finally, you smiled again. ‘Thank you for listening.’
‘And thank you for telling me that. I am honored. And I think I get more why you are in Slytherin.’ he said, smiling back. You giggled.