.a beautiful lie.

From all the classes she liked, and there was a long list to those, if Mallory had been told to pick her favorite, she would’ve said, without any hesitation, Politics. Politics was, by far, the best decision Mallory had made so far in life. The class was not only entertaining and challenging, but absolutely rewarding in every single sense of the word. It, of course, helped that Professor Rayne was the one in charge, who had, since day one, treated all her students as nothing but equals. That sure was a change from her other professors; a great change, she must say. The woman’s kindness and genuine care for her students had got Mallory considering following her steps and becoming a professor of said subject. It was that strong, the bond they had. And it wasn’t limited to the classroom either, not at all; Mallory had written the other numerous letters over the previous summer, listing all her concerns about her future and the country’s future and the community’s future – basically, the future itself. It was something that scared the girl endlessly and had her on edge all the time.

All of this rushed through the blonde’s mind as she stood up from her seat and started gathering her belongings. Another successful class had gone by and she had lost track of time, yet once more. With her brains processing everything they’d talked about, Mallory nodded at her classmates as they stepped around her to get to the door quickly. Apparently, not everyone enjoyed the class as much as she did, although she couldn’t see how. Tossing everything inside her bag, she hung it over her shoulder and turned on her heels to step outside with the crowd, although someone calling her from behind made her stop. Only one person in the classroom would address her by “Miss Edwards” and it also happened to be the person she admired the most. Turning on her heels as she tried to dodge the rushing students, Mallory looked at the woman and smiled warmly. “Yes, Professor?” she asked her, her fingers playing with the hem of her skirt. “Do you mind sitting with me for a bit, Miss Edwards? It won’t be long; I promise I’ll let you get to the Great Hall in time to snatch some food from your table” the other said, the thick British accent swirling into Mallory’s ears as music.

And so, she sat down where the woman pointed at, the chair in front of her desk, and rested her hands on her lap, one atop of the other. “Am I in trouble?” she asked all of a sudden, her face going pale as she went over everything she’d done lately that might have caused this sudden meeting – but she found nothing. Of course she found nothing, Mallory never got into trouble, she found those who did and took away their House Points. Perhaps she’d been too harsh on a student and that’s why the woman had asked her to speak – her thoughts were interrupted by the professor’s short laugh and shake of her head. “Nothing like that, Miss Edwards, I simply wanted to talk about life. I know you’ve been informing yourself about the outside world, the possible ways to continue your journey after you finish your Hogwarts education – I am interested in what you might give back to the community, since I believe you’re… Possibly one of the few students who are actually into my subject” the woman said warmly, the smile never leaving her face.

Mallory’s relief could be seen from miles away as she listened to the woman’s words. It was everything she needed, someone to genuinely ask her about her future, about her politics, about her. Not that she didn’t have anyone to talk to, it wasn’t that, she had plenty of friends and her family but – it wasn’t the same.

“I still don’t know what I’ll do when I leave this Hell—when I leave Hogwarts” she corrected herself quickly, her eyes widening nad her gaze falling awkwardly. “I thought about training to become an Auror, but I’m not too sure I want to spend my life chasing bad guys, I’d rather—I’d rather train people to not be bad guys” she pointed out, moving her hands quite a lot in the air, trying to explain herself. “Uh—I don’t know. I considered being a professor, but I’m not sure I’ll be good at it—“ she admitted, pursing her lips together at her confession.

The woman’s hand rested on hers as she nodded slowly. “I believe you can do anything you put your mind to, Mallory” she told the girl, earning a soft sigh of mixed relief and stress. “You would be a wonderful professor, if what you really want to do is train others. And I’m certain Politics come naturally to you, have you considered being a politician?” she asked the other.

Did the woman read her mind? She’d been thinking about it just moments earlier. “I did consider it, I just—I’m not sure yet.” She repeated. The professor smiled and nodded knowingly. “I understand. I am simply asking because I see a lot of potential in you, but there is no need to rush your decision; not for me, at least. I would, however, appreciate it if you were to communicate your final choice to me. Is that possible?” Linda mused. Mallory could only nod. What else was there to do? Professor Rayne was everything she wanted to be: a strong woman who actually cared for her student’s well-being and treated them as, ah, people.

There was a split of a second in which Mallory saw the woman’s lips part as if she were to add something else to her speech, but she was unfortunately cut off by the door opening. Muffled, slow steps made Mallory know who it was even before facing the man: Professor Kemp. The man’s cheeks seemed to have turned red the moment he realized he’d walked into something, but before he could leave, Professor Rayne raised her hand at him and looked at Mallory. “I hope you understand, Miss Edwards, but Professor Kemp and I must speak of some adult, boring matters… I do hope you will keep me updated” she nodded her head, leaving Mallory no other choice but to stand up and leave. She nodded her head shortly at the man before grabbing her things once more and stepping out of the classroom.

Although it was uncommon of Mallory to eavesdrop on people’s conversations, she had simply been wanting to check how the woman behaved herself around people her age; she was so kind to students, there had to be a catch. Or so she thought. Laying her back against the wall besides the classroom door, Mallory tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, as if that would help her hear more neatly.

“I’ve been hearing things…” that was Kemp’s voice. It sounded husky, like a smoker’s voice would sound. Mallory doubted he smoked, though, and she pitied his students for having to stand his tone for two or three daily modules.

“Kean, you know better than to listen to rumors.” The woman’s words were a lot more cheerful, which made Mallory smile. It meant, perhaps, she had enjoyed their talk as much as she had.

The man cleared his throat and a muffled sound resembling a sigh was heard. “Yes, of course. I don’t mean rumors, persay, but merely… whispers. I wanted to ask you if you’d been hearing the same.”

Chairs moved around and Mallory found it impossible to hear what the woman had said but when she heard what came next, she was able to imagine.

“The Ministry.”

“I hear a good many whispers about the Ministry, Kean. You’ll have to be more specific” Linda said vaguely. Apparently, she wasn’t taking the other too seriously and it was notorious the effect it had on the man. His voice became more impatient. “About elections. About elections happening, and not too far from now” he said.

“Well, I don’t know if I would classify that as whispers. We knew that things wouldn’t stay like this for long. It’s the same as the situation here. We go in, we make our changes, we show what we mean… and we step back. Once our stance is taken, we don’t have to be as forceful” she explained, though her tone impied she was now paying more attention to Kemp.

More sounds made Mallory miss a bit of the conversation again, and she slid impossibly closer to the door to hear what came next.

“I didn’t think Falsdom was going to loosen his grip.”

“Falsdom is one man. Sundim consists of a good many more.” The woman was nowhere near irritated, but Mallory figured the man was playing with fire there.

“You’re right. Though I’m not sure if it will be seen that way by everyone” he let out a muffled groan, which Mallory figured meant he ran his hands across his face, impotently. There were more muffled sounds but Mallory couldn’t hear anything else… They might have gone further into the classroom, because soon enough, there was nothing left but silence. Silence, only interrupted by the sound of her heart beating in her chest. The girl slid down the wall and sat on the floor, looking forward.