Professor Farah Smith's Office

[Farah Smith]

Farah stepped into her rooms, shutting the door soundly behind her and stretching. The ceiling was enchanted with the same spell as that used in the Great Hall, so she had a lovely view of the sky above and her desk was directly beneath it. Moving to the desk now, Farah took her seat and pulled out some parchment and her favorite orange quill. She needed to write to her husband.

Getting comfortable and charming the Wizard Stereo to begin playing one of her favorite songs, she settled down and began to write...

[Astin Descartes]

Astin knocked lightly on the door to Professor Farah Smith's office before slipping in quietly. He looked up in wonder at the dark sky; it looked just like the Great Hall, which was a near-perfect replica of the actual sky outside. Thinking about it that way made his brain hurt, so Astin righted it by thinking of her ceiling as not existing.

He hoped she wouldn't mind him interrupting, but again, he found solace in their conversation the other night, when she'd listened to his problems, and he had the unmistakable urge to confide in her once more.

"Hi, Professor," he greeted.

[Farah Smith]

The knock had taken Farah by surprise, but she always welcomed visitors. And when she saw who it was, her face lit up.

"Ah! Mr. Descartes! Come in, come in. Have a seat, please. Would you like a toffee? I keep them around in case I get hungry," Farah said brightly, pointing at the bowl of toffees on her desk and magically scooting out a comfy chair in front of her desk and the closing the door behind her student.

"What can I help you with, dear?" she said, scooting her letter to the side to finish later. She would no doubt have more to add to it later anyways, so there was no use in rushing it.

[Astin Descartes]

Astin took the offered seat in front of her desk, settling into it and squirming until he found a comfortable position. "Oh, it's not that important," he insisted. "If you're really too busy, I can wait," he said as politely as he could, even though he was a little excited to share his accomplishment. Still, his eyes fell to the parchment she'd pushed aside; hadn't she said something the other day about a letter to her husband? Yet Astin leaned back into the way-too-comfy chair and said, "I just came to chat."

[Farah Smith]

"Not at all, Mr. Descartes! I love hearing from you. Did you ever write your mother? You seemed to be missing her terribly last time we spoke," Farah said, also getting more comfortable in her chair. She looked forward to any stories she heard from her students, and she felt that was what set her apart from many other professors. While some aimed to be full-on friends with their students and others preferred to stick to purely professional relationships, Farah herself hovered somewhere in between and felt that she rested soundly on "mentor and foster mother." Or at the very least, that was what she always aimed to be. She cared deeply for each and every one of her students.

She was also very protective of her students, particularly her Hufflepuffs, who tended to get bullied a lot. Speaking of which, "And what of your Slytherin bully?"

[Astin Descartes]

Astin smiled. He loved this woman. "Yeah, I wrote her. She wrote back; she kept going on about how proud she was and about how Marcel misses me." He paused for a moment. "And actually, he was what I came to talk to you about. We ran into each other in the Astronomy Tower today. I thought for sure I was going to throw him over the edge or he was going to curse me well into next week."Astin had to stop to suppress a laugh at the hilarity of the situation. They went from yelling to almost crying to yelling to being somewhat civilized in just one meeting. Talk about a tumultuous relationship. "But anyway, I think we're going to be okay," he said, still smiling. "I mean, there's no way we'll get along well for a long time, but at least by the end of our chat we weren't at each other's throats so much anymore."

[Farah Smith]

Farah felt her eyes widen in surprise. "A tumultuous relationship indeed! Whatever did you guys discuss to go through such a variety of changes?" Farah wondered, however, if this Slytherin was taking advantage of her student's better nature. She didn't want to say anything, but she always suspected Slytherins of ulterior motive. It was practically the definition of a Slytherin. She couldn't even count how many times she'd seen Walburga act all nice and sweet to someone one second and then talk about how absolutely clueless they were and insult them profusely.

She didn't want to see Astin get hurt, as those students had been hurt when they finally discovered that they had been used and didn't mean anything to the nasty Slytherins.

[Astin Descartes]

Astin quirked his lips. What did they discuss? Everything!

"A lot, I guess. But I don't know. It was like, I found his weak spot and he found mine, so we called a truce. It was really weird. I'm still not sure what happened." He shrugged. "But after that, even though we were arguing, I guess we weren't really all that mad anymore. Like I said, it's weird."

Astin didn't like her suspicious tone. It made him feel unsure and wary of the choices he'd made in the past half hour. Even though Dastan was a Slytherin, and often did seem a rather heartless one at that, Astin had seen a side of the boy today that he doubted anyone else-- at least of those at Hogwarts-- ever had taken the time to uncover. And although Astin wasn't ready to consider him a true "friend" at any rate, he also was positive that Dastan wouldn't use him; Dastan himself had made very clear that he was worthless, anyway, which was fine. Astin just wished there was a way to explain WHY he trusted the slimy git-- ooh, make a mental note of that one -- but he didn't know why, either. He supposed it was the glimpse at the rather vulnerable and child-like human side of Dastan that had done it. It had at least helped stifle some of the animosity, even for a moment.

[Farah Smith]

It was clear that Astin was turning gears in his head. She admired that in a Hufflepuff. Most of the time, people assumed that Hufflepuffs were dumb and incapable; she knew that to be completely wrong. "What are you thinking about?" she asked. "You look like you're thinking very hard about something."

Farah reached into her toffee bowl and grabbed one of the delicious candies, offering one once more to her student before popping her own piece into her mouth. The thing melted and she sighed contentedly before fixing her gaze on her student's face in order to show him that she was still listening, despite enjoying that little piece of heaven.

[Astin Descartes]

Astin bit his lip. To lie, or not to lie? Well, the truth will set you free; besides, Astin had always been a horrible liar. He held up a hand to nonverbally refuse the repeated offer of a toffee while he thought of how to tactfully say what was on his mind. But, well, tact just wasn't Astin's forte.

"I was just thinking that you sound awfully suspicious of Dastan," he noted, finally revealing the name of his problem, however unintentionally. "But the funny thing is, even though I know you have a right to be, I can't for the life of me find a reason to worry that he's using me, because some stupid part of my brain has decided to trust him."Besides... he'd seemed far too emotional and exposed to hide much of anything. Granted, there was always a chance that either Dastan was better at acting than Astin gave him credit for or that Astin was simply bad at reading people, but neither seemed all to plausible in his head. "I don't know what it is, but something tells me he won't be too much of a problem." Well, sort of. Astin snorted. He doubted Dastan would ever STOP being a problem.

[Farah Smith]

"Ah. Dastan is it? Dastan Cross," Farah sat back in her seat. So that was who it was. Something about the forming relationship between him and Astin made her feel content inside. She had told Dastan that she hoped that someone would break through to him, but had never imagined that it would be Astin Descartes. She also hadn't known that he was a bully, although she suspected he could be seen as cold and thoughtless at times.

Dastan Cross was one of the more troubled boys she'd seen in her life. She had always been able to tell when someone had been through a lot, especially a child, and she could see in his dark eyes that he had. She didn't know what, but maybe, if Astin could figure it out, then she would be able to see both boys growing happier over the years. She didn't know any specifics about Astin, either, but she could see that he was in search of something in his life. She wondered if it was something that Dastan could, and would, willingly give to him on day. "Well, I am most certainly happy that you have come to an agreement for the time being."

"And Astin, I pray that trusting Dastan is a good choice. But be wary of Slytherin cunning; he may not be faking and using you now, but there may be a time when it is an option for him. And if he is as ambitious as he seems to be, I can see that he would likely throw nearly anybody under the bus if it meant his goals would be accomplished. I'm not saying that you should distrust him, understand. I can see in him a soul in need of understanding. He is desperately crying out for someone that is willing to put up with his nonsense and apathy in order to see what he's like inside, and in his soul, it is possible that it is a dark, dark place. I just hope that you are ready, and willing, to deal with the consequences of befriending one such as he. It isn't likely to be an easy road," Farah said, thinking of the boy's comments during the class. "Can you be that person for him, Astin? Because anything less isn't likely to be enough."

Truly, she did want their friendship to succeed. But she could already foresee a lot of struggles in their future, and she wanted Astin to be well-aware of that, though she knew he probably already was.

[Astin Descartes]

Astin shifted uncomfortably. He didn't know anything about him aside from the fact that he obviously had a bad past. He wasn't ready to commit himself to being metaphorically thrown under a metaphorical bus just yet. It wasn't that he didn't care or that he didn't think Dastan was worth it, but really, Astin thought they'd made enough progress in their relationship for one day. He simply didn't have it in him to thoroughly commit to try to draw out the good that was in Dastan.

Ha. Who'd have thought he'd even admit that good existed?

"Professor, I don't mean to be rude," he eventually said, "But I really don't know anything about him. We've just barely moved past wanting each other dead, and I'm not really sure if I want to say that I'm ready for him to try to kill me all over again. I can put up with his apathy for now, but I'm not volunteering myself for use as a stepping stone, either. For the moment, I trust him not to try to walk all over me, but that's going to have to be all. I'm not going to risk my whole life for someone whose head I wanted to smash into a stone wall a few hours ago," he admitted.

It seemed a little heartless coming from him, but Astin felt he'd made enough sacrifices that day. Emotionally, he was exhausted. He would try to be Dastan's friend, yes, but he was too drained to stomach the idea of being tossed in the garbage like a used tissue.

Maybe eventually he would commit to JUMPING in front of the bus for Dastan. But not when their relationship was centred solely around petty insults, childish jabs, and only a few well-chosen arguments in the Astronomy Tower. No. Astin may have trusted Dastan to an extent, but his full friendship was still going to have to be earned.

[Farah Smith]

Farah smiled and fought a laugh at Astin's description of how he had just previously wanted Dastan dead. She was proud of Astin for passing her little half-test, half-real warning; he wasn't your conventional, doormat Hufflepuff (she hated to admit it, but she saw far too many of those in her House). She would have been worried if he'd said that he trusted Dastan to an extent that she had previously described. But the fact that he was willing to even put up with him was a start, a start she firmly approved of. She could think of few who would be willing to do even that for someone as cold as Dastan tried to make himself out to be.

"I'm glad to hear that, Astin. Usually, I worry that my students will allow themselves to be tricked and taken advantage of. But the fact that you aren't willing to do that is admirable. I can at least be confident that you won't be stepped all over. You surprise me, I must say," Farah stated, folding her hands in front of her. "To be honest, I think I'd be more worried if you had told me that you were willing to commit that heavily to him. Even so, please don't slam his head into any doors or walls. I don't want it said that I condone such acts of violence, even if I'm sure there will be times that will be totally tempting." Farah winked.

"So," she said, feeling a change of subject was in order. "Have you managed to make any other bonds with your fellow students?"

[Astin Descartes]

She made his head hurt. He wasn't sure what she was condoning and what she was criticizing for a moment. In any case, she apparently didn't want him resorting to acts of violence. Astin scoffed. That very well might be made necessary with someone like Dastan, who enjoyed pushing his buttons until he snapped. Not that he was really any better, but he liked to believe that he had reason, seeing as that twat was always the one who started it.

Okay. Subject change. Other friends, alright.

"I wouldn't say I've made bonds." Actually, it was kind of sad that the person he was most emotionally tied to wanted to horribly maim him. "I mean, I've talked to a couple of my housemates, but I don't know. I still wouldn't say they're good friends yet, but they seem nice."

[Farah Smith]

Farah fought not to laugh at the look of confusion that she had incited in her student. She hadn't meant to make his head hurt; just to get him thinking and to see where he was at in his relationship with that Dastan.

"I mean, I've talked to a couple of my housemates, but I don't know. I still wouldn't say they're good friends yet, but they seem nice."

Farah nodded in understanding. "I see! Well, I hope to see you grow more bonded to those housemates. You'll be a family for seven years, after all!" Farah giggled lightly, taking another one of her toffees and popping the candy into her mouth.

"How is your mother and brother adapting to you being away? Are they missing you as much as you've missed them?" she asked congenially.