It takes a little digging

[fauna]

Fauna was settled nicely in a nice comfy chair behind her desk. On the desk she had papers everywhere with students’ names on them and their Hogwarts histories. Of course though, there was no such thing as a permanent record. Only a record that was constantly changing and included everything from the marks you made in Year to all the detentions you received in Year 6. There was only file in particular that she was looking through, and the manila folder in which the papers rested in was on corner of her desk. The pieces of parchment with the student profile was in front of her and the picture of Lianna Maylorn was right there clipped to it. The third year Hufflepuff had some decent marks for her first and second year at this school. Her attendance record was good for all the years that she attended the magical school, and even so far this year she had not yet missed a single class....Of her other core classes. Herbology was a different matter entirely. She had not been coming to class though Fauna would see her in the Great Hall for breakfast or for dinner. The girl had looked alright to her. When the Hufflepuff was just wandering the school grounds, Fauna would see her moving about gracefully with no visible signs of something wrong with her legs. So what then prevented the third year from going to Herbology? Fauna Hectis thought that it must have had something to do with what happened at the school the previous year.

The whole greenhouse fire, and the missing student, not to mention the Mark appearing and all that; of course it would have a strain on the girl. Fauna could picture herself when she was a young and girl. The first time she had seen the Mark she had been terrified, absolutely nuts with hysterics at the sign there in the sky. Her parents had to calm her down for twenty minutes before she would even begin to stop. Her brother had only watched with a sort of gleeful smile on his face. So yes, Fauna could see how the girl would be traumatized by the sight, but Hectis had no clue if this was really the problem. The plump woman had not been here the night it happened and had no idea as to who had seen it and who hadn't. Lianna's absence from her class could have had something to do with hormones. As a girl grows her priorities change and there may have been some older boy or something in the middle of all this.

Fauna moved the paper over and began to lean back in her chair. She was looking up into the branches of her tree and closed her eyes. This school was having all sorts of problems lately. What with the hooligans called "Deva" running around wreaking havoc upon the student population. Fauna had spent a great deal of her time going through the bios of her students, but the one that had mostly deprived her of sleep was Lianna's. Fauna had spent a great half of her day devoted to this one student because she cared. It worried her when a student went missing from class for a whole term. Fauna had rummaged through some papers from the first few weeks of the year too. Only that information had not been well documented since the old teacher had been neglecting her duties.

"What am I to do with you?" she asked aloud as her mind concerned itself with Lianna and whatever troubles the girl might be having. She stood up and gathered whatever papers belonged inside the file. She would find Lianna right now, and have a little talk with her.

[Lianna Maylorn]

There was no avoiding it, eventually the woman would find her and pull her aside. Of this there was no doubt. She'd spent almost the entire months of September and October cowering, hiding from the small portion of the grounds that intimidated her so, from the woman that ran them. It had come to her attention they had a new Professor, and from what she'd asked of others she'd inquired as to her specific whereabouts. And yet, she'd received no detention, no reprimand, nothing. It was as if she understood her without even knowing her but Lianna knew this stage of not intervening couldn't last much longer.

She'd seen the woman at meals and occasionally in the halls, she seemed alright, pleasant, caring, perhaps she had even been a Hufflepuff herself? What did it matter, it was a fear and like all other fears they had to be confronted at some point, right? She'd had a clear view of the fire, of the Dark Mark, and then the articles over the summer relating to Drew...it was all just too much to think about. Hogwarts had essentially been penetrated, her safety could very well be in jeopardy every day and she not know it. She needed to talk to the woman, without either dropping the course or passing it, she wouldn't get through her third year. And she had to do that. She wasn't about to disgrace her parents...she loved them too much to let a fear, an act of cowardice allow her to disappoint them.

It hadn't taken her long to come up from the Dungeons, but had taken her time to do more than stand outside the slightly ajar door. She'd been there minutes, heard the woman say more than a few murmurings but couldn't make them out. She sounded busy, extremely such in fact. But she was a professor so it was to be expected. Should I really bug her now..is it safe to? The Hufflepuff thought before her hand left her with no other option.

A quiet knocking resounded off the door as it inched open to reveal her face. From her lips came an equally quiet voice, shy, awkward, scared, too many emotions were packed into it to list. "Ma'am...er...Professor...are you busy...I um...I can come back if you are..." The Huffle offered taking a brief moment to glance around the office. Certainly different from Shaw's design...she didn't know his predecessor so, compared to his office this was...interesting. Yes..certainly interesting to be sure.

[fauna]

Fauna turned around to see the student right before her very eyes. The voice was so quite and filled with such emotion that Fauna thought perhaps this was merely a projection of her mind's making. She was so tired and her mind was so cluttered that it seemed to her to be a bit like her desk. Fauna blinked her hazel eyes and saw that the image before her did not go away. So this was the real deal. "Come in deary. I was just about to go out and search for you, but you've just made things a bit easier for me," she said smiling and offering the girl the only seat that was before the desk. Fauna moved out of the way and made way for the girl to sit. The crazy haired teacher made her way back to the other side of the desk so she was once again behind it, and seated herself in order to get off her feet. There was no need to stand if they could both sit. Her parrot made a loud squawk just then and whistled as Lianna's face was revealed through the small crack she had made. "Shhh Phelan. Can you be courteous?" The bird shook it's head and jumped down from him bar in the cage. Then he made his way to the front of the cage to get a better look at their visitor.

Fauna shook her head at the antics of the silly bird, but then she smiled at him fondly. As rude as the bird could be she loved him. "So what is it you’ve come to talk to me about deary?" she asked the third year. She would not be the one to bring up the topic. Instead she would let the girl bring it up at her leisure. It would help more than throwing the subject in her face and leaving her with deciding how to carry on from there. Fauna was not going to do that with her seeing as it was obvious from her voice that the girl was carrying something heavy. No girl of that age should have to carry something heavy. Not even a young man should have to do that. However, this day and age all of the young adults went about doing things that were not so good to be doing, and they all carried weights heavier than their whole body. Heavy burdensome things that they felt they could not share with anyone else. Fauna had often seen this in her students from the school she had just recently transferred from.

The students had kept things to themselves and thus bad things happened. So if this young lady was willing to come to her then that was alright with her. She only hoped the girl would watch her step among the flowers in the grass. They were precious things that took time to grow. Fauna took out her wand and waved it over the desk, making a platter of lemon cookies appear. "Hungry? Please feel free to take one," she said with as smile as she grabbed up one for herself.

[Lianna Maylorn]

Already she could feel her unease beginning to vanish. The office, and it's respective owner were highly welcoming, almost homey in a sense. The grass-ish carpet, most likely magical in origin made it seem as though she were outside rather than in. And of course the squawk of the parrot only made it seem more so. She didn't know how she hadn't noticed the bird but now that it was looking directly at her and she at it, she couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the creature. It was just one of those things that the way it looked at you made the difference between amusing and creepy.

As she took the offered seat as well as one of the offered cookies, Lianna eyed it a moment. It wasn't hat she didn't trust the woman, rather that she hadn't had one in awhile. Well, alright so she didn't trust her alittle, she didn't know anything about her, how could she fully trust off of looks and actions alone? Afterall...everyone had done that with Shaw and that had proved a costly mistake for all involved.

"So what is it you’ve come to talk to me about deary?"

As the professor's words continued through her ears, Lianna rose her eyes to the woman's face and fidgeted a moment before replying meekly, "Probably the same reason you were about to look for me...." So far the woman didn't seem angry, nor upset. Concerned perhaps but nothing more than that. After talking with Professor Atwood about the situation they'd agreed it best fr her to 'speak with her professor' on the matter before making any final changes to her student record. A wise decision for all involved but that didn't make it any easier for her ton confront the issue. At least she hadn't had to confront it out at the greenhouses, she probably never would've made it.

This or that, pass or fail, it was all really irrelevant, the only thing she wanted to do was be able to back into the greenhouses again. There had been a time when she enjoyed them, when she spent more time there then the library, she wanted that back. That small bit of freedom she'd lost, back.

[fauna]

"You don't have to worry about me deary," she said with her kind eyes knowing why Lianna was looking skeptically at the cookie. "I am not, nor will I ever be, Robert Shaw. He did a bad thing to many of you by deceiving you, but I assure you that I am nothing like him. This cookie is not poisoned and there is no spell under it. See I ate one myself and I will definitely have another." She reached over to show the girl and grabbed another cookie. She then proceeded to eat with great enthusiasm for the cookies were very good. Her bird squawked again seeing the two of them eating a cookie.

"I wanna cookie," it said and then whistled. Fauna reached for a cookie to give to him. She broke off one end and then shoved it through the bars of the cage. The flashy red parrot then proceeded to eat it with vigor and gulped it down rather fast. "I wanna cookie," it said again. This time Fauna shoved the entire rest of the cookie into the cage. "His grammar is not something I taught him. Believe me. He gets it from my sons. They named him and practically raised him. It was on their behalf that I brought him here. His name is Phelan and I think he likes you. And I think now we know the cookies are safe. I've eaten two, the bird has eaten one, and we can make the count an even four if you eat one as well. I will not force you too. It's up to you whether you want to eat it or not." Fauna picked up the file that she had placed in front of her and placed it before Lianna. She didn't see any harm in showing her the file that all teachers were supposed to have access too. Besides, Fauna was not one to follow any strict rules anyway. She had a way of being soft hearted and forgetting those kinds of things.

"So on to business. You and I both you that your attendance in my class has been nil," Fauna smiled at the girl and then said in a soft motherly tone. "What's been bothering you deary? Are there ghosts in your past that haunt you? If so then I would like to figure out a way to make those ghosts disappear. Or at least make them appear less frequently. If it's a boy then I would like to think that I could help you with that as well." Fauna thought from the look on the young girl's face though that it was the former and not the latter.

[Lianna Maylorn]

...I'm not Robert Shaw... Of this Lianna held no doubt, to be honest the woman seemed more like her own mother than a Professor and it was that perhaps that was making her the most comfortable at the moment. Well, except for the bird, mum didn't have a bird...not a parrot anyway. "Oh, no ma'am, It's ont that I don't trust you...it's just I haven't had one in awhile" Lianna replied while choosing her words carefully. The words still didn't feel quite right, but it would have to do. The words were in the wind, left to be carried to the four corners by the currents and flows.

As the parrot to her right-ish became more demanding of food, the thirdyear again let out a small laugh. It truly was an amusing creature, and there was no doubt the bird had been through some sort of obedience training...or, perhaps it was magically altered, wither way it made for a wonderful companion no matter one's age. As the conversation progressed and the situation was as she'd assumed the girl sighed quietly, almost in slight frustration. She didn't want to confront it, but she knew she had to at some point and now was certainly better than when she was failing.

"It's just....everything at the end of last term...it's still there...because of that...that blackened frame. I see it and all I can ppicture is flames and that, that--that thing...the Mark. I know what it means and everyone else seems to have just forgotton it, like it doesn't eman that or it won't happen again but I know it could..." A pause as she could feel her eyes trying to water up. "I love nature, and I love plants I ju--that's the only part of the grounds I can't go near and it's no one's fault but mine," the Hufflepuff lass confessed. Even if she had been there, Mark would've proved a distraction more oftent hen not so yes there was the latter too, but that wouldn't keep her from lessons, he would merely distract her during lessons. There was a major difference.

And as she thought about that a small blush did appear though minute, and it quickly faded as she turned her mind back tot he true reason she was where she was. She wasn't there because of Mark--give that a month and maybe, but certainly not now. Now it was because of fear, of haunting.

[fauna]

Fauna nodded her head as the girl spoke.

"It's just....everything at the end of last term...it's still there...because of that...that blackened frame. I see it and all I can picture is flames and that, that--that thing...the Mark. I know what it means and everyone else seems to have just forgotten it, like it doesn't mean that or it won't happen again but I know it could..."

As she left off Fauna opened the cage to let the bird roam free. It had been looking longingly around the room as the Huffle spoke. Being a mother she had been able to notice this and pay apt attention at the same time. As she let the bird free Lianna continued.

"I love nature, and I love plants I ju--that's the only part of the grounds I can't go near and it's no one's fault but mine." Fauna shook her head. She stood up and went around the desk, placing her meaty arms around the girl's shoulders. "Deary it is not your fault. Nor will it ever be your fault. What you are feeling right now is something that I can completely understand. There was a time when I too couldn't go near something that I thought stood for evil. Can I tell you something?" Fauna asked the girl. The bird chimed in without a second thought. "Go tell it," Phelan said from somewhere on one of the tree branches. Fauna smiled and then pulled away from the girl, tilting her head so that she was looking directly into Fauna Hectis' eyes. The woman wanted to show her that she was telling the complete truth. She also wanted to see the difference between her now and the "her" she was about to tell her about.

"When I was younger my parents did something in my home that I never suspected. They did something that I thought would be pretty hard to forgive them for. They harbored supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. All through my years of growing up in a rich house that was decorated with only the most expensive things, I never expected something as ugly as that would happen. The same wizards they harbored killed other innocent wizards, wizards who tried to do good for people who like you and me. After the Second War I could not go back to that home. Not then, and at the time, not ever. I could not think about those walls that I lived behind for so long, or the rooms where our 'guests' had spent night after night. I could not think about how those same 'guests' went out and did things, terrible things, all in the name for someone who wanted to wipe out an entire peoples. What the greenhouse means for you now, is what my own home meant to me then. I thought the something as you. How could people walk past with their cats and dogs; send owls to the door; come and visit on the weekend; knowing what took place there?"

"I had to go to that home though; I could not avoid seeing my parents forever could I? There is my mother who gave birth to me, and then there is my father who taught me how to ride a broomstick. Going back to that home felt like hell, but I was glad I did. I felt like a bigger person for it. Sure there were demons that haunted me in my sleep, but overtime they went away. Lianna I know how difficult it may seem trying to go back to that place, and how paralyzing that blackened frame may make you. But you must trust me when I say that making the effort to go back diminishes all of this. Don't ever forget what happened, I'm not asking you to do that. I'm only askin' you to help alleviate your feelings. Try walking a little closer everyday. If you feel you cannot do it alone then I would be more than happy to make the smaller steps. I do not expect to you in the class, but if I see you standing across the lawn then I will know you are making the effort. Will you do that for me if not for yourself? Will you make the effort?" Fauna stopped talking but surprisingly she did not feel winded. Instead there was only a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

[Lianna Maylorn]

It wasn't her fault? How could it not be her fault? It was her fear that kept her from going, her legs that refused to move and most importantly her mind that refused to let go of the image in her brain. It sure didn't seem like it was anyone else's fault for it, except maybe Professor Shaw's for causing it all, but she didn't have to fear it did she, no. She didn't.

As the woman asked her question and then went right into her story, all Lianna could do was nod politely and listen. She'd been right when she thought the woman to be much like her mother, she'd make a good Head of House, but then Atwood was alright, alittle nutty, but that's what made him great. By the time the woman's story was finished the Hufflepuff felt alot more confident about herself, or at least that this fear wasn't permanent. "I...guess I can try...I can always get the notes from Mark or maybe Will," Lianna replied with a small smile. She still had one important thing to say to the woman, a confession that the woman would probably better know from her than risk her learning it form Atwood.

"Um...I, last week I asked my Head of House to drop your class...and he told me to talk to you first...I guess...I shouldn'tve thought that....I...well to be honest I was afraid to come here." She paused. "I thought you might be mad because I haven't been showing up, I just...the other woman-- I knew she saw me standing there...sitting there...I could almost get there...I could see the greenhouse...and then my feet just wouldn't move and I know she saw me..." She trailed off into silence for a minute as her eyes averted to the foliage 'round the room.

"She just didn't seem to care..." Lianna murmured to a finish. She hadn't cared...this woman did, this woman certainly wasn't like Shaw...or if she was she did a really good job of hiding it.

[fauna]

"That's good. Trying is a start." Fauna felt so much better for having to talked to the girl. Now that she knew what the problem was she knew what to expect. She was not mad for the simple reason that there was nothing to be mad about. There could only be sadness. Sadness that such betrayal to the entire student body should lead to this. So if there were other students who felt the way she did then Fauna would only have more sadness. Only because students ran from the problem instead of slowly trying to find a solution. There was so much evil in the world that she could see how giving up would be the perfect solution, but giving up was not in her dictionary. "If that's the case then I would make sure that Mark and Will are very good note takers first," she said with another smile. Fauna went back to her seat behind the desk and the parrot found its way on top of the papers piled there. Phelan started to have a feast of the cookies that were still there, and Fauna tried to shoo the bird away. Phelan merely whistled again before flying back to one of the branches that scraped the ceiling.

When Lianna mentioned the last teacher Fauna shook her head and placed a sad little smile on her face. "I would never be mad. Like I said it's not your fault that you feel the way you do. You sure didn't place those feelings there and you didn't ask for them to be placed there. At least I'm assuming you didn't. The last teacher......She did not have a very good head on her shoulders. It was a new situation to be placed in with students who have just experienced something they would never forget. She would be sure to never forget it either." Fauna had never met the last person who sat in this room. She had never greeted the woman with a smile and would never give her a nod in passing greeting. The two had never exchanged words and so Fauna would not know what the woman had been feeling.

She had no idea why the woman never called out Lianna for what she did, or why she never reached out to the students. The short plump woman just did not know. "I cannot say if the woman cared, and neither of us should assume she didn't. Whatever she had going on in her life at the time may have prevented her from saying something. From saying anything. At least you that there are other teacher around here who do care. They Lianna, and don't be afraid to go to them." Fauna reached for the smaller girl's hand and enclosed it within her thick meaty one. She gave it a quick light squeeze and then let go. The corners of her mouth turned up with that ever present smile.

[Lianna Maylorn]

It still seemed her fault. Somewhere locked deep within her head there was a part of her that still blamed herself, a part that would continue to do such until it all went away. If there was one thing true about the mind, it was that no matter how old a person became, their mind would always remain like a child. Learning, fearing, running, lying, imagining. There was no way to make your mind 'become' an adult. Sure, your vocabulary grew, but no matter how you look at it 'verbose' still means 'you talk to much' and 'cowardly' still means 'afraid'. So in the end what did it really matter to try and overcome fear if it would wonly find a new way to beat you?

But, Lianna's brain couldn't work that fast nor that logicly so she would try to overcome fear--or, this version of it. It was better than running, even if facing it hurt her far more than running could in her entire lifetime. "I..." The girl trailed a moment. "When can I start catching up?" Lianna questioned, a small smile pulling at her corners sicne the answer to the question was obvious. The problem of course, was to be frank, she really didn't trust Mark or Will to taking decent enough notes, not completely anyway. Maybe she could talk to that Ravenclaw girl who seemed, well, actually she didn't know what to make of her, she needed to get to know more people her own age... Friends. That was another problem, most of hers were either gone or leaving either this term or next, or, taunting her in the worst positive way possible.

The third year grabbed another couple of lemon cookies while she thought over the woman's words. Professors she could go to, there were only really three two she knew she could trust, three if you included the woman before her. But she couldn't base a trust on a semi-forced meeting, could she? Trust was earned, and so far the only two who really had hers were Raynor and Atwood...which, quite frankly didn't say much. Trust, and equally respect, were earned, not given away...though Lianna did have her moments where both went into the wind for whomever to grab. Some people just seemed naturally trustable.

[fauna]

When? Fauna grabbed Lianna file again and opened it up to her attendance history. She needed to catch up on a lot, but Fauna was sure that she could catch up if she really put her mind to it. She would have to juggle this quarter's work as well as make up the work from last quarter. From the lesson plan that the last teacher had set up for her student's they were mostly lectures anyway, but surely there was important information that she needed to know in order to pass her O.W.L.S. Unless the third year felt that she could do without all that. Fauna wasn't type to give lectures so if you missed on of her lessons then you missed out on an opportunity to work one on one with the plants. Only her first and seventh years had to sit through a bunch of talk. Even then there would --she hoped-- be something she said that would attract them. Lianna wasn't stupid though. If she had been then there would have been some work to do. Like morning and night study sessions and extra "lab" time in order to make up. However, Fauna was dealing with a bright student, thank goodness, which would make this go quicker and smoother. Though not too quick so that the girl had stressed or something. That was the last thing she needed right now.

"Well right away if you want. Better yet, come to me in a few days and I will have some things for you to review. You have a quarter and a half worth of work to catch up on. We can do it though; of course we can do it." It would have been nice if she had an hour glass to give her. Unfortunately she didn't and so they would have to work with time the way it was intended to be used. She could give the girl a flask of Wit-Sharpening potion to be taken whenever she got to the extra work load to make it easier to get through. There was also a speed potion and invigoration solution. The Wit-Sharpening solution would work best of the three. The other two could have different side effects depending on the amount taken, and Fauna was not so sure that Raynor or Ticloon would want any student bouncing off the walls for Herbology. Plus they were taught the Wit-Sharpening potion weren't they? So there would be no harm done. So long as Lianna did not use it to gain an unfair advantage in her other classes, or if she gave it to other students. Especially any students that were prone to pranking. Merlin knew she didn't want more advanced scheming going on behind the walls of Hogwarts. Oh dear. She was starting to think maybe she shouldn't give Lianna the potion and just work out a way for her to deal with all the work. Kind like how muggles work things out without magical assistance. Bleh.

It was only to be taken by her and her alone in order to catch up in Herbology. There. "In a few days and I will have a few things ready for you. Don’t worry, it will not be as bad as it seems, and Mark and Will can still help you," she smiled as she started to figure things out. This wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

[Lianna Maylorn]

Lianna knew the amount of work wouldn't be the problem, or she didn't think it would be. She enjoyed plants, enjoyed nature and the outdoors, her fear wasn't of the course, her fear was of where the course was located and that was the defining diference. She had friends who could help her and a will to succeed, just, not a will to confront her fears.

Armed now with a chance at making up, well, apparantly everything, and a professor who was willing to help her through every step, she might pull this off after all--now all she needed to do was pull off the miracle of achieving the work and pulling a zero up to something that was passing. Oh yes there were many a long days and nights forseen for her at the library--she didn't even need Divination to find that in the future. For once, it wasn't entirely clouded.

"I should probably go if I want to get caught up, thanks so much for...well...understanding and everyhting...not too many people bother to do that anymore...I don't think anyway," The girl quipped as the pulled herself from the chair. "This really means alot to me, the outdoors means alot to me so I...really appreciate this..."

[fauna]

Fauna giggled, smiled, and nodded at the girl as she started to stand up. The blonde haired lady did the same and as she did so Phelan came down from the tree and perched right on Lianna's shoulder. Fauna shook her head, Silly little bird. She then walked around the desk to the side where Lianna stood. "It's okay. It really is, and remember what I said about taking your time with coming back. Just so long as you do come back eventually. Take as many cookies as you want deary, I have way too many to eat them all by myself." Phelan chipped in with his own two cents. "I wanna cookie." A whistle and then he bobbed up and down on Lianna's shoulder. "My mistake, there are way too many for Phelan and I to eat," she corrected as she grabbed a cookie off the desk and gave it to the bird who then took flight back to the safety of his tree. "And while this means a lot to you , my students mean a lot to me ." Fauna stood before Lianna and smiled one of those warm motherly smile of hers. "Come back anytime deary. Anytime at all," she then enveloped the girl in one of her hugs and then let go with another smile.

"Now it's time for you to get back to whatever it was that you were doing before someone starts to miss you. Unless of course you want to stay for another cookie or two. That's alright with me. I'm sure Phelan would very much enjoy your company. Wouldn't you Phelan?" She looked sideways at the tree and a bright red flash told her he was listening. As did his statement, or rather his reply. He made another cat whistle --as he had earlier-- to Lianna which left Fauna chuckling. "I think you've really made an impression on him."

((ugh! sorry.))

[Lianna Maylorn]

(Now I'm the sorry one, I didn't give you much to go with either )

At the offer of continued hospitality the Hufflepuff was indeed tempted to stay, the ever becoming more adorable bird increasing that temptation twofold. And the cookies, and...in truth the entire atmosphere of the room made her want to sit right where she was--even if she didn't say a word. It seemed weird for a professor's office to have a welcome feeling, mind you she hadn't spent much time inside professor's offices over her past two years either. However she had motivation, she had hope and a bit of self-confidence that she'd thought was long gone and out of reach. If she didn't take advantage of that now while it was still here, she'd be right back in this chair again--not that she'd mind that option much either...

"No ma'am I really, really need to get started, and to be honest all I was doing before I came here was panicking about coming here...no one will really miss me doing that, I don't think." The third year spoke with a small but clearly happy smile. This was perfect, she could pass, she wouldn't disgrace her parents -- regardless of how much they would 'understand her circumstances' she knew they'd be disgraced with a D or a T on her report -- and above all, well that was already said. She'd pass. But she'd only manage that if she left now, started working now, and didn't stop for three days, and to think people call that unhealthy...