Eager.

[Michelle]

Michelle had only been at school for a few days but she was already loving every moment of it. This trip to the library was her extending her enjoyment of the day. Once she had checked out some books, she decided to sit down at a table read for a while before returning to the Common Room. The Hufflepuff common room was aplace for fun and excitement, not reading textbooks.

Halfway through the first chapter of Animal Transfiguration and It's Ramifications, she realised she had forgotten her extra reading for History of Magic and Potions, and went in search of them in the labyrinth of bookcases.

[Adia]

Adia sneered privately at the Hufflepuff girl who walked with such confusion down her aisle - 'Dark Magic'. There was no way this kid meant to be down here.

Adia spoke rudely. "Excuse me, but I don't think you're in the right section. Go back towards the light, little Hufflepuff." With a sneer, Adia turned away, partly because of her disdain but partly to hide the bruises and cuts that were on her face. She didn't want any questions. That's why she hadn't gone to the Hospital Wing.

It was her business.

[Michelle]

Michelle turned, her bright green-hazel eyes falling upon the raven-haired student. Confused, she blinked. Was this girl being nasty to her?

"Oh, sorry - I'm looking for the extra reading on History of Magic and Potions. Do you know in what general direction that would be? I'm getting totally lost here." Michelle grinned suddenly, her bright infectious grin that she hoped would melt the icy tones of the girl who had spoken to her. "I'm new here, you see. My name's Michelle, Michelle Westwood. Pleased to meet you."

[Adia]

Adia snapped the book shut that she was reading and turned, eyes glinting in the dim flickering candlelight that floated above their heads. She walked towards the Hufflepuff girl, mouth curled back in an expression of utter distaste for what she saw before her.

"I don't know where it is. If I did, I wouldn't tell you. Do you know why? Because I don't give a f*** whether you find your books or not. I just want to be left in peace in my section of the library, and not to be bothered by shiny happy Hufflepuffs who want to hold hands and make friends with the entire damn world. Do I make myself clear?"

Adia almost spat the last words into her face. Her rage, since Danawi's fall, had increased beyond all manner of belief. It was almost as if his power hadn't even left her, only continued to get more powerful. And what she hated, more than anything, were people like Michelle Westwood, who saw nothing beyond what was in their line of vision, who had no purpose or destiny to speak of other than to have a few laughs and eventually snuff it. Adia, on the other hand, was going to change the world.

[Michelle]

Michelle raised her eyebrows, shocked at such an angry reaction from such a simple thing as asking a question. She glanced at the girl's house badge. Slytherin. She should have known.

"Crystal clear," said Michelle, folding her arms across her chest. "But don't you think that maybe if you just pointed me in the right direction of my books, I'd be gone quick as a flash, other than the two of us standing here throwing insults at each other? Oh, wait, I'd forgotten to throw an insult, how silly of me. b****."

[Ace]

Ace had been trying his best to stay away from Adia. Considering that the last two times he had encountered the Slytherin girl she had very almost killed him, he was understandably wary. But following the fall of Danawi, he was curious as to how she, her power and her pride, were coping. So as he saw her glide stealthily across the lawn to the side entrance of the Library, he had made up his mind to follow her, and was unsurprised to see her enter the Dark Magic section.

After watching her and the volumes she chose carefully for a few moments, Adia was disturbed by a Hufflepuff Ace hadn't yet met. As Adia began to stalk towards her, Ace had felt he should do something - but the Hufflepuff girl, it seemed, had it under control.

Smiling, Ace walked out from his hiding place and came up behind Adia. He looked over her head at the Hufflepuff girl who was standing with her arms crossed. He grinned at her.

"Don't mind Adia, she's a little testy because the Dark Lord she was following got incinerated and left her alone and powerless. That old tragic tale we all know so very well."

[Adia]

Adia whirled around at the sound of his voice, and instantly the library book in her hand began to sizzle, her hands crackling with unboundable power.

"Shut up!" she screamed, and slapped him hard around the face, book still in hand. She dropped the book. It had a handprint-shaped burn on it. "I wondered when you'd be showing up to gloat. I'm only surprised it wasn't sooner. And how clever of you to become a Professor so that I can't even kill you. Only your status protects you, you know - the second they fire you, which they inevitably will, when you give in to your natural urges... I will be there waiting. I won't fail again. Third time lucky."

Adia stopped, cocking her head slightly - it seemed her scream had attracted the rushing feet of the librarian. With a withering glance at Ace, she pushed past him and left the library, knowing she had said her piece. He would be hers. One day.

[Ace]

Ace watched Adia's long black hair swing behind her as she fled the scene. The librarian turned the corner, surveyed the still scene with suspicious eyes, but walked away. She was forced to trust Ace, as he was a Professor, but he knew she still suspected him as a cause of disturbance rather than a peace-maker.

Breaking off his train of thought, he turned his attentions to Michelle, who had been quiet throughout all of Adia and Ace's interaction. Not that he could blame her.

"Hey... sorry about that." He broke off. What to say now? "Oh! You were... looking for some textbooks, correct? History of Magic, that's only two aisles away, and Potions is on the far side of the library. I'll take you over. It's my subject you know. I'm Professor Ace."

He held out a hand for her to shake, replacing his frown with his usual easy grin.

[Michelle]

Michelle watched the exchange with slightly widened eyes. How could a student cheek a Professor like that and get away with it, let alone threaten murder! It was beyond her realm of understanding.

Still, as Professor Ace held out his hand for her to shake, Michelle took it shyly - she was almost as awed by her Professors as she was when she had met the Headmistress. "That would be really nice of you, thank you, sir," she said politely, thinking privately that this man did not look like a Potions Master, more of a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

[Ace]

Ace almost laughed at hearing a student call him 'sir', but resisted the urge. She was new, after all. Despite the fact he was a Professor now, a good few of the students still called him only by 'Ace', and, to his chagrin, 'Acey'.

"Right then, this way," said Ace, leading her to the History of Magic section of the library. He scanned the bookshelves with his bright green gaze seeking the elusive book. After a few moments, he turned his gaze to the stationary Hufflepuff. "So, you're a newbie then? And in Hufflepuff." He grinned indulgently. "Great House, Hufflepuff. But I'm sure you'll find that out in your own time. Ah!"

He pulled the book out and handed it triumphantly to Michelle. "So... which school were you at before this? I mean, you look about seventeen, you must have been to another wizarding school, right?"

[Michelle]

Michelle was caught by his haunting green eyes. There was something almost unnatural about them. She smiled anyway, looking at the Professor more closely. There was something different about him - I mean, despite the fact he was oddly gorgeous for a Professor of a wizarding school.

"I'm fifteen, actually," said Michelle with a self-conscious grin. She ran her fingers through her auburn hair, a bad habit of hers for whenever she was nervous. "People always say I look older than I am. But I did go to a school before here - Wizarding Technical Institute in Australia. It sucked. I'm glad to be here, in a real school with real knowledge, not all modernised in grey and white paperthin books, you know?"

[Ace]

Ace smiled at her distantly. He did know. Magic Horizons was as a school should be - a place that worshipped and celebrated knowledge and wisdom. He had visions of Michelle's old school being like Muggle comprehensive schools, and shuddered. There was no devotion in those paperthin walls, either. There was just necessity.

"Well, I for one am glad you came here," said Ace with a slight grin, eyes twinkling. But then he caught himself. "I mean... well, I mean... always good to have another Hufflepuff around. My old house, you know. Best times of life. Indeed..."

He trailed off. But before he let the hailstorm of memories catch ahold of him, he smiled easily at her again. "Right then. Off to Potions we go. My speciality."

[Michelle]

Michelle hurried after Professor Ace, still trying to place what it was about him that was different. He had an awkward charm about him that she was warming to.

"You were in Hufflepuff?" she said wondrously, following him around corners and down endless lengths of shelves in order to get to the other side of the library. Ace seemed to know where he was going though. "So you went to school here? That's cool, that you came back and all."

[Ace]

Ace smiled to himself as they rounded the final corner into the Potions section. It seemed he had left a couple of books lying open from where he was referencing a couple of days ago.

"Yes, it is cool..." Ace walked further down the aisle. It was darker here than it had been in the History of Magic section - Professor Windwaltz's classes were far more popular than Ace's Potions, and this area of the library was usually fairly untouched. He sought out the book Michelle was seeking with his extrasensory vision pushing through the weaves of darkness.

"I'm going to tell you something, Michelle," said Ace, taking the sought-for book and holding it out to the Hufflepuff. "Magic Horizons changes people. People come here, and no matter who they were before, or who they had planned to be once they got here... you change. I had never planned to become a Professor. I had never planned to do anything this good with my life. In fact, I never had any plans beyond my next meal before I came here. I believe - and the few people I have spoken to about this tend to agree with me - that there is some kind of enchantment over this place. Whether it is a curse or a gift, I have yet to tell."

Ace looked at Michelle intensely, his eyes burning into her. He wanted them to know what they were getting into, wanted them to have the chance he could never have had. Magic Horizons was a magical place indeed, but it was not the right place for someone who was already happy with their life as it was. Because, inevitably, everything would soon be changed.

[Michelle]

Michelle stared at the Professor who had suddenly and drastically turned serious on her. Here it was, that something different again. he spoke as though he had seen it all, as though he knew far more than anyone could comprehend. What was that? There was something so curious about him.

"Then I'm glad to be here," said Michelle, returning his piercing stare with her own calm gaze. She had wanted to escape from her other life, to make that break - and if change was the result then change it must be. "Change is not something I'm afraid of. I'm not afraid of much of anything. If my life pulls me one way, I'd be stupid to try and resist that tide - go with it, and hope for the best." She paused and looked into his eyes, peering for the thing she knew was there somewhere. "How have you changed, sir?"