paintitrainbows | what comes up when rain comes down?

[He does so, answers everything she asks on command. And after those, he looks up again, looking... embarrassed, kind of.]

Can-- Can I go now, or...?

[Better. Still not great, but better. She pushes to her feet, still calm, reaching out to take the blanket]

Yes.

[she folds it up, then, and bends down to slip it easily into Edward's bag]

The two of you will need to eat before lunch is over. Both of you.

[she eyes them both, critically]

Sleep with that blanket tonight and return it to me tomorrow, Edward. Understand?

[Edward stares, confused, as she puts the blanket in his bag. Staring at it a little, like he's not sure what to do with it. What to do with any of this, in all honesty.]

...Um. O-Okay. Sure.

[He stands up, looking a little uncomfortable. And just... turning to leave, because he really just wants to get out of here and forget about all this.]

[He turns, and Fish reaches out a hand to gently rest on his shoulder, holding him there with just her fingertips for a moment]

You're doing very well, Edward. I'll see you tomorrow.

[Edward stops, surprised at that and-- tenses up at the touch, looking just a little like a deer in headlights. As if waiting for something, even with as gentle as that is.]

Oh. [He nods, a little. Like he's not sure how to respond.] Right... Right, Professor.

Do make sure Oswald actually eats, won't you? You're actually both growing now, and him eating like a bird still is wholly unacceptable. [dryly]

Wh--Professor! [it's a whine, and he's moving to catch up with Edward] I eat enough!

I will.

[He rolls his eyes slightly at Oswald, which is a little more like himself. Just keeps walking.]

C'mon.

I'm comin', jeez--

[and the door to the dungeon swings shut behind him.

And Fish is going to just floo herself over to Lupin now and be very, very intimidating and angry because what was that exactly]

[Well. Time for Lupin to get a not-so-nice surprise, though he was already waiting for this from... well, someone. Not as if he wasn't planning on setting up a talk anyway, although...

Well, he'd been planning to talk to Edward's Head of House, but apparently this is happening instead.

She's very scary.]

[she is 4-foot-11, 108 pounds of absolutely terrifying, and makes sure that he's very aware that she will absolutely keep brewing his Wolfsbane Potion for him, but if he messes up like that again, he'll have much more to fear from her than he ever did from the moon.

And also they are bringing Filius into this. Immediately.]

[Yeah, Lupin doesn't doubt it for a second. Though to his credit, while he's briefly busy feeling very intimidates, it's clear his number one priority is Edward's well-being. He fills her in on everything, of course, and does the same with Filius.

And naive, naive Lupin, of course, wants to take it straight to Dumbledore.

Because surely he'll do something, won't he?]

[Fish can't help but huff out a sigh at that, crossing her arms when Lupin brings that up. Both he and Filius seem on board, though there's a bit more hesitant to the Ravenclaw Head of House--though he does glance at her sidelong. He's been here far longer than her, and was here when she first had to deal with an...incident like this in one of her houses.

She agrees, of course. They need to take it to Dumbledore. For all the good it will do. And she can't help the bitter, angry scorn when she says it. But they still need to try; that much is clear]

[And indeed... it doesn't do the good Lupin was hoping for. Dumbledore acts the concerned headmaster, certainly. Appropriately saddened and concerned about Edward.

But he makes it clear there's very little he can do, without a proper report--

(And Lupin interjects, angrily, that he's reporting this. He is. Right now. At this very moment.)

--and that it needs to come from Edward. So they'll have to talk to him, first, and get him to admit to anything first.

And isn't that just... discouraging. Expected, for the staff who have been here longer. But oh so discouraging.]

[....Fish wishes she was surprised. She's not. Instead she keeps her expression carefully blank.]

Well. So I suppose we'll have to have a chat with him.

[it's as neutral as possible, but there's definitely an undercurrent of bite to her words. Because Dumbledore already knows what's going to happen here as much as she does. This isn't the first time they've sat here like this, the matter of an abused student between them, and him doing absolutely nothing.

She pushes to her feet, turning away to leave]

[Lupin is frustrated, horribly so, butt here's nothing he can do about this. He just has to back up Fish on this, that they'll talk to Edward. Which doesn't seem wise to do immediately, when Edward's in such a state. And there are things to go over, first.

So it's several days later. Transfiguration class is in session, the Ravenclaws and the Slytherins together, working quietly.

Edward's bounced back quick from the incident a few days ago. And, of course, has no idea there's been... talks about him. Or that there's one planned.]

[Fish floos herself into Flitwick's office just about then, and moves to settle herself in a chair to wait for the end of class and their subsequent...talk. She...really doesn't think that this will get them anywhere to where Lupin clearly wants them to get. But they still have to try. She knows that, and she's wants Edward to at least know that he has the option to talk, if he wishes.

He won't; she's fairly certain of that. She's seen this too many times now. But they always have to try]

[It's Flitwick, of course, who comes down to class. It's the very end, everyone is packing up and he calls Edward over.

"Ah, Edward... if you could come with me, please?"

And Edward looks... a little surprised. He glances around a little confused, no clue why he's getting singled out. Glancing over Oswald's way.]

[Oswald meets his gaze, looking confused also, and he shrugs] I'll, uh...see you in the library later?

Um... Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you later.

[He just finishes gathering up his stuff and follows Flitwick. When they get to his office, Edward walks in and... freezes slightly, when he sees Fish and Lupin there, too.]

Uh.

Am... Am I in trouble or something?

Not at all, Edward. We simply wanted to ask you some questions. [she seems relaxed, at ease, perhaps in comparison to at least Lupin.]

["Yes, yes. You're not in trouble at all, Edward. Please, take a seat."

And Edward does so. A little reluctantly, a little uncertain, because what else would a group of teachers want with him, if not because he's in trouble. But okay...

This is happening, he guesses.]

Oh. Um... okay?

[Fish's eyes flick over Edward once, before leaning forward a bit, looking him in the eye.] First of all, you don't have to answer anything you're uncomfortable with. Am I clear?

...Okay? I mean... yes. I think.

[He glances around a little, again, at every teacher individually. There's a few more reassurances from Flitwick, as well. To tell him he's not in trouble, really, he's not. And then, of course, they have to get to the heart of the matter.

Lupin fields that part, because he's the one who actually witnessed the incident.]

"Edward, we wanted to ask you a few things about what happened in class a few days ago. With the boggart."

[And immediately, there's a shift. Because now Edward knows what it's about, so at least the uncertainty about that is removed. Now, instead, he tenses up. He tries to keep his expression neutral and he'd do a pretty admirable job if he wasn't fourteen and people were already on the lookout, so the anxiety underneath is pretty clear.]

...What about it?

["Well. It's not entirely unheard of for a boggart experience to be troubling for someone. Perfectly normal, really." Flitwick is doing his best to approach the subject gently, but they do have to... of course... get into it. "Professor Lupin has told us a little, but... Could you tell us what it was you saw, Edward?"

Edward is still... looking straight ahead. Not answering right away.]

I--

Does... Does that really matter? I mean, it's not... important or anything. Who cares?

Standard procedure, Edward. We're just trying to ensure that all stories match. [she's casual about the whole thing, perhaps the least tense out of everyone in the room. Certainly between her and Edward.]

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