Rei woke up in the morning and felt that the side of the bed where Yoruichi slept was already cold, so she must have left at least an hour ago. He let out a little sigh, changed from his pajamas into his robe, and took his bag with books and everything he would need to write. After walking down to the common room, he looked around because in the evening he hadn 't gotten a chance, as Charlie and Jess were making fun of him and Priscilla.
" Good morning," he heard from behind, and when he looked, he saw Jessica sitting with a book about ancient runes. " Do you need help getting to the Great Hall?" she asked
with a polite smile.
" No, I have been here for four months already, and the teachers made sure I knew how to move around , " he said, walking towards the exit.
"Don 't you want to wait for little Priscilla?" Jessica asked, a spark in her eyes.
" Oh, I know what you want to do, but I don't need to wait for her , " he said, glancing at the stairs behind him. " She has been listening to us the whole time and is just too shy to show herself," he added in a warm tone while Priscilla peeked at him from the stairs.
" I just..."
" Do you want to go together, Priscilla?" When he asked her that, she beamed and quickly went down the rest of the stairs to take his hand.
" Let's go," she said in a happy voice, although she didn't look at their hands or didn't want to because her ears were red; however, her hair was perfectly camouflaging it. After some time, they arrived at the Great Hall and went towards the Gryffindor table, starting to eat while talking about how they spent the last days of vacation. About twenty minutes after they arrived, Professor McGonagall came to them with a smile and gave them their timetables .
"Professor, will I be able to learn more advanced magic when the rest of the class is learning the curriculum ?" Rei asked her while Priscilla looked at him in shock. She had heard that he was above his grade but hadn 't thought that he would ask to just learn by himself.
" After you complete your assignment , you will be free to learn and ask questions, " said Professor McGonagall with a smile, ruffling his hair. " I know that you want to learn, but there is a whole seven years, so you can take your time now that you will not be here only on vacation days."
" Mhm, I understand, Professor . Thank you , " Rei said, turning towards Priscilla , who had her little mouth open since he had his hair ruffled by McGonagall.
" She is always so strict, but with you, she was like a loving aunt," she whispered to him after their Head of House went towards another group of students to give them their timetables.
" Well, she has treated me like that since the day we met, so for me, it is normal."
" Really?"
" Yeah, well I need to go to the dungeons for two hours of Potions with Snape, and you?"
" I have Charms, then Transfiguration . We can meet here to eat; I have a clear hour after lunch, and then Herbology at the end."
" Oh, so we can hit the library after lunch, as I have a free hour too, and then DADA," Rei said with a smile, at which she showed a little blush and nodded.
" So, meet you here after first classes , " she said and waved to him while walking towards the stairs. He followed her with his eyes until she disappeared from his sight, and after that, he walked towards the classroom where he would have Potions.
Library after lunch
" So, how was your class?" asked Priscilla in a hushed voice while looking at Rei.
" Well, I would say it was so-so. He tried to take points from us, but I didn't give him the opportunity, and I even got 5 points for Gryffindor, which will shock the entire school after the next class, hehe," he said without caring for his voice, which scared her, and she quickly covered his mouth with her hands.
" Shhh! Madam Pince isn't nice if you are loud here," she whispered in fright while looking around. When she saw the librarian going in their direction , she was terrified .
" Oh, Aunt Irma, how was your day?" asked Rei, removing Priscilla's hands from his mouth. The strict witch looked at him and sighed.
" Well, if there were one less troublemaker, it would be better," she said but looked at him with a smile in her eyes and without her strict voice, which made Priscilla stare at her as if she were an alien. " Miss Weasley, do you need something?"
" Oh, you just don't understand, Aunt; she is just surprised that you can speak normally, hehe," Rei said, making Priscilla look down at her boots with a red face.
„Hmm, well, only you and the staff know me from this side, so it is understandable, but please, young lady, don't speak about it, as I need to be strict with troublemakers here, and my reputation is helping me with most of the cases. If you need anything , honey, just ask me at the counter. You are Rei's friend, so you can come anytime." She said and looked at the red-haired girl with an affectionate smile. She thought about something and leaned her head to Priscilla's ear. „If you need more advanced books , just come to me, and I will look for you for the needed book, even if it's in the Restricted Area." After saying that, she patted the girl's head and looked at Rei with a stern face. „Now behave here. I don't want to be the one who restricts your time here , as I like your company," she said and went back to the counter. Priscilla followed her with her gaze , and after she saw that she was far enough, she whispered.
„Did you just treat her like your own aunt?"
„Well, I treat most of the staff as family . I was here for two vacations, and they treated me like their own when teaching me , so it just came about after a few weeks. Besides, do you want to know a secret?" he asked her in a low voice to avoid being noticed by Madam Pince. When Priscilla heard him say this, her eyes looked like stars, and she closed the distance between them to hear better .
„What secret? About who?" she asked with curiosity.
„Well, Aunt Irma is very warm and clingy with anyone she likes when she is in private , " Rei said with a devilish smile. The young witch, hearing this, looked towards the counter where the older woman was sitting and smiled at her, which Madam Pince reciprocated .
„So you are saying that behind her stern face is someone softhearted?"
„Oh no, don't think like that. Once I wanted to take books without her permission, and I spent about an hour running from her while she was casting curses on me all the time," said Rei while shuddering. „There were really nasty ones between too."
„Hmm, then I need to learn from her, it seems," said Priscilla while looking him in the eyes, which made him still.
„Uhm, Priscilla, why are you looking at me like that?" he asked with worry in his voice.
„Oh, it's nothing; just you don't know when you will need it, right?" she said with a sunny smile, which didn't make him feel safer. If anything, it made him feel like he was going to regret what he said.
„Okay, let's just go back to something else. How were your classes, Priscilla?" he asked her to change the subject, which made her look happier.
„Oh, you don't know what we did in Transfiguration ! Professor McGonagall made us change little animals into a chalice and then change them back. I could do it at the end of the lesson, which granted us 5 points, hehe," she said excitedly in a low voice, a little blushed at her own success . „In Charms, we started to learn a spell to make someone dance, which was a little funny, and we were paired with Slytherin, so it was even more competitive . In my class, only 3 people could cast it at the end of the lesson : me , Clarissa from our House, and Henry from Slytherin."
„Oh, and who could do it first?"
„Henry did and got 5 points for Slytherin , " she said with a sad face, as if it were her fault that they didn't get the points from the lesson.
„Can I ask you something?" said Rei to turn her mood in another way. „Can I call you Cilla like others?"
When she heard it, she turned red and almost fainted.