Madam Da Silva

Amelia hadn’t realized Madam Da Silva had been in the room, spinning around to face her. “Oh sorry, didn’t realize you had already spoke with him,” she apologized, smiling sheepishly at jumping on the student so fast. “I guess I’m just so use to asking, it’s become a quick reflex.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the professors will be thrilled to know at least some students are following thier duties.” Olivia spoke, brushing off the other’s apology. “Why are you still patrolling so late at night? Wouldn’t it be past your bedtime, too?”

“aw. fine.” ted said, pouting slightly. “i know. i know. i have to be careful. i just really don’t want to get behind in my work and practice.” he sighed. “i don’t want the old mattress.” he said, “fine. i’ll be good.” 

“You’ll get even more so behind your work and practice if you hurt yourself further. You might even not be able to do any of that again.” Olivia threatened the boy. It might be a little too harsh, but, at times, it was the only way to manage students. “Good boy.”

“Yes, I could but I don’t want her. We are doing this to have fun. I am certain Mcgonagall will have a stroke after looking at some of the clothes we intend to model.” she smirked. “They can, but I want you and I might have to have a talk with Adriana to convince you. I am sure she will be easy enough to rope in if I say Dante Esposito is involved.” 

“And what exactly do you intend to model?” Olivia asked, brows raised. She wasn’t as much of a sticker to the rules kind of person, but Olivia knew better than to break them completely. Despite everything, she still had to uphold a certain status as the school’s healer. “So you’ll go through her to convince me? It’s not a wise move.” She frowned, then, when Claire used Dante- that, however, was a different store. “Fine. Don’t talk to her, and I’ll do it.”

“Really? Really?” Amelia scoffed, looking at the other and shaking her head in disbelief that they didn’t even try to hide what they were doing. She was a Prefect afterall. “I’m standing right here.”

“It’s fine.” Olivia assured the other, having had heard the commotion. She had just let the poor student back to their dorm when they were confronted by the Prefect- and while it was good to know someone was taking their responsibilities seriously, it could get overwhelming. “He’s got a note. If only he learned how to show it, rather than panic.”

He wasn’t surprised to see that she was shocked by the decision he had made but it wasn’t one he had made in a whim. It was one he had mulled over for a long time before deciding, if he wanted anything to do with his daughter at all, this was the way to go. He couldn’t be spending a few more years for his career and come and see her when it was convenient for him. Now that he knew of her existence it was now or never. “Well, apparently I’ve missed literally all of my daughter’s childhood, I didn’t want to stay away longer after finding out about her.” he explained, a tiny hint of bitterness to his tone. “So you are telling me that she has never asked about her father? What lies have you fed her about me? Does she think I abandoned her?” 

“If you didn’t go around, digging for information you weren’t supposed to know, you would not have had to worry about missing out on her childhood.” Olivia insisted stubbornly. Perhaps she was being a little too rude, but she knew she had to be that way. Dante was making a mistake, leaving his old, comfortable life behind, for something that he couldn’t have. Their relationship wasn’t allowed back then, who was to say that them having a daughter now would be fine? Did he even consider the danger he’d be putting Adriana in if he was to approach her? “Of course she’s asked about you, she’s not stupid.” She snapped, placing her now-cold drink down onto the empty stand nearby. What was Olivia supposed to tell him? She could lie. She could tell him that Adriana resented him, that Olivia had painted him to be some kind of a bad guy. Or she could tell him the truth. “No, she knows the situation we were in. She knows that she’s a halfblood, and that her father’s a pureblood. And she knows that she’s safer not meeting her father. She’s seen plenty.” Even in Hogwarts, even in these safe grounds, there was plenty of prejudice and judgement. Plenty of risks.

“Oh please come on.” she pleaded. “We do need some of the staff helping us out too. A bit of participating and a bit of supervising. Win win. I feel like I might be able to get Hagrid and Professor Esposito to join in, but we need some strong women too.”

“You could have McGonagall supervising you instead.” Olivia insisted; although, the whole thing seemed like fun. Something different in a school like this. She paused, however, when the girl brought Dante up- not that it surprised her. “I’m sure they can do plenty of modelling for everyone.”

He let her drag him away from the crowds, he had hoped to speak to her alone after all, but things had panned out differently than he wanted. It could be said for most of his life, except perhaps his career which was the only thing in his control. “I quit.” he said bluntly. His decision had been rather abrupt and were all over the papers but Olivia had never been the one to be looking at the sports columns before, and it looked like that hadn’t changed. “Adriana is my family too, Liv. You can’t change that by just hiding her from me.” he argued right back. “She’s not a child anymore, you can’t still be going around making decisions for her. And for me.” 

“You quit?” Olivia paused, letting the shock take over her for the next few moments. Quidditch was always such a huge part of his life- the part of his life that she had given up her own happiness for. So, knowing that he had quit only left her furious. “You love Quidditch! You always did! Why did you quit? You weren’t even injured, and you’re still young enough for it.” She argued, letting her initial worries fade away for a bit. No matter what, no matter how many years had passed, she still cared deeply for Dante, and wished him all the best. Still, she was quick to go back to her worries over Adriana. Did she expect him to understand? Not really, no. He wasn’t there that awful day, when all those threats came her way. “She’s been just fine without you for nearly twenty years. Are you really going to take that comfort away from her? What are you going to do when the word spreads that she’s your daughter, and the media will be all over her? Are you really willing to let her suffer through all of that?”

“You look pretty hot.” Claire told the other, looking them up and down and deciding that they didn’t look half bad. “You’ll do just fine. Safiye and I are conducting a fashion show and we needs models. Are you up for it?” 

“I’ll pass, Ms. Parkinson.” Olivia frowned a little as the girl looked her up and down. “As flattering as it is, I’m sure you can find another student or two for your fashion show.”

“Well, I couldn’t not come after knowing what I know.” he said once the other finally got over her shock and spoke to him. “I came to see you at school earlier, but you weren’t there. But luckily..” He simply shrugged his shoulders, it was good that he got a chance to meet her before he came to the castle to start his job. He had wanted to say many things when he saw her again, he had been running through it in his mind over and over, but somehow all of those thoughts seemed to disappear now. She was the woman he had once loves, but she was also somehow who hid the existence of his daughter for almost two decades. He didn’t know what to feel or what to think about her. “I just came to tell you that I took a job at Hogwarts. And I need to meet and get to know my daughter. And that I am not taking no for an answer.” 

“Luckily. Sure.” Olivia drawled out as she tried to figure out a way out of this. Twenty years, she dreaded this. For twenty long years, she feared that Dante would find out about Adriana’s existence- and that he would come looking for her. In any other situation, it would have been seen as something absolutely sweet, showing that Dante had morals, but this wasn’t any other situation. If Dante knew, otherw would eventually find out. And then, even living in Hogwarts would not help. The mere thought of his parents finding out and tracking Adriana down made Olivia pale, and she shushed him, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him further away from the crowds, further away from the prying ears. “Why would you take a job here? You’ve got your own career! Your family!” She argued, letting go of him. “You are taking no for an answer. She does not need to know that you’re her father, she’s happy as it is.”

ted had just been released from the hospital wing and even though he was still in a lot of pain, he was glad to be out. “think it’s too soon to go back to practicing my dueling?” he asked. sure he’d been told to take it easy and rest, but that seemed rather pointless given everything going on. 

“Yes.” Olivia frowned, crossing her arms, baffled by the boy’s careless attitude. “What have I told you about being careful? If you end up in the hospital again this week, you’re getting the bed with the old mattress.”

Narcissa, ever since coming back to Hogwarts, spent a great deal of time in the library. Perhaps it was the quiet of the area; it led to fewer student interactions. The sooner everyone could move past offering her their condolences for a man they hardly knew, the better, in her eyes. Still, she played the part of the grieving youngest daughter well–her hair slightly disheveled, clothes a much darker tone. She stopped covered up the dark circles under her eyes to make it look like she’d been losing sleep over the loss. There was a tension she carried about her, however, that was genuine–a dear friend was locked away in Azkaban, and there was still the issue of her mother to be dealt with. But, at least at school, she found that if she stuck her nose in a book, any book, people tended to pass her a pitying look and move past. It unnerved her; she wasn’t someone to be pitied. She knew she had to let them do that. She had to ‘mourn’ the loss, and it had to look real.

However, the book at hand had begun to be less interesting than her own thoughts, and she’d been peering into the same page for quite some time when she caught sound of a voice next to her. “Forgive me,” she apologized, wondering for a moment how long she’d zoned out. If anything, she must at least look out of sorts, which fit her narrative quite well. She made sure her voice was a tad more unsure that it had been of late. “I’ve been–distracted. What was that?”

@finestra-starters​

It was rare that Olivia needed to visit the library for work reasons, yet, at the quieter times, she liked to get a more advanced book, and read through it, continuing to study for a dream she could never fullfil. It was all down to the empty hopes, at least, and she genuinely enjoyed it.

Tonight, however, the bookshelf she needed to gain access to was blocked by the youngest Black girl. She’d heard plenty over the few past days about the death of her father; it would have been impossible not to. And while she probably had to be wary of the whole situation, she still felt bad for the three daughters; losing a parent always hurt. “It’s alright.” She assured the girl with a small, polite smile. “I was just trying to get to the books behind you.”