A Road Too Often Travelled.

[Sara Moon]

It was a beautiful day, and Sara wanted nothing more than to go outside, to lie back in the sun and to relax. Maybe read, or perhaps she could go flying, but no. She'd decided a few days ago that this needed to be done. She needed to have some sort of plan for when she left school, at the moment the only thing that came to mind was Quidditch, since there wasn't a chance of her getting to be an auror. Not that she could see anyway. She didn't want to be a Quidditch player, not really. Every second person wanted to play Quidditch, and she wasn't the type to follow in other people's footsteps. She did need some sort of job though, if not for the money, to fill up some time. This had brought forth the idea of some sort of Quidditch-related work for the Summer, which might buy her some more time before she had to make any solid, long-term decision.

She was going to meet with the Flying Professor. He'd never taught her, he was new, and his name was Professor Lukosevicius. She hadn't met him, though she'd seen him in the Great Hall. If anyone in the school would have some idea what she could do, she hoped it would be him. Usually, on this warm a day, she'd wear shorts, or a sundress, but meeting a Professor dressed thus, probably wouldn't be the best idea. She'd toned it down a bit, and wasn't wearing too much make-up, though most of her usual eye-make-up was in place. Hopefully, that would be enough. She didn't like having to change herself, or act accordingly, but she needed this man's help. It was best to play to the crowd.

The walk down from Ravenclaw Tower was quite lengthy. She could fully appreciate the fact that Quidditch kept her fit, and that was one of the things that she would miss. She wouldn't be playing Quidditch in a year's time, and she needed to keep fit. She'd never worried about it before. Being an auror was a strenuous occupation, but now that she couldn't do that, what would she do? She could go to a gym, but she'd never really liked pointless exercise. Realising that she was merely distracting herself, Sara pushed pointless thoughts to the back of her mind. She was really, quite nervous about this meeting. She wasn't used to meeting Professor's one-on-one. Especially one she didn't know, if it were Professor Sparkles, for instance, she would be fine. Professor Sparkles had taught her, and she was lovely. She didn't know this man. What if he just dismissed her, and ignored her questions? Surely, someone who taught First Years couldn't be cruel. Even Professor Styx, who had always been terrifying, was a good, and fair teacher' so far as she had seen.

Ignoring her own misgivings, she strode along the First Floor Corridor, almost walking past Professor Lukosevicius' door. Why was she so worried? He was just a man, a normal human being. Her own parents were teachers! This was ridiculous. She stopped outside the door, and took a deep breathe. What could she do? She needed to speak with him. Without thinking about it, she knocked on the door, and immediately stepped back. She felt an insane urge to run, but that would be childish. In a few months, she would be living, and hopefully, working out in the real world. She would have to face bigger, scarier challenges than this. She quickly ran a hand through her hair, crossed her arms, and waited, biting her lip, for him to answer.

 

[Mikolaj Lukosevicius]

Mik hadn't expected how much he would like the job of flying professor. He had accepted the post from an old friend who decided resign just because he needed the money. Generally, he wasn't really tolerant with children but he grew to like his young students and also have secretly some favorites. What he also hadn't expected was how much different would be the second semester from the first one. The only thing that stayed the same were the patrols around the castle and the grounds. No classes whatsover and although he had said he was available for extra lessons to those who wanted to improve their skills but he guessed their other classes were taking most of their time as he had no one asking for extra help. With nothing but his professor duties, his visits at the school were scarce and always scheduled according to his patrols. He had found some free time to spend on himself and also visit his parents in Estonia.

That day he had arrived at the school earlier than he used to for his evening patrol. It was still early in the afternoon as he opened the window of his office at the first floor to let some fresh air in. A steamy cup of hot coffee was waiting for him on his desk, spreading its smooth aroma all over the room. He leaned back on his chair and took a sip, turning around to admire the view of the lake in the distance. He could stare out of that window for hours but he had other duties for today before his usual patrol at the corridors. He had received an owl from a non first year student wanting to fix an appointment with him. Although no much detail was included in the letter, Mik could guess she wanted some advice regarding Quidditch, probably considering a career as a professional player and he sent her back with the time he would be expecting her at his office. He was glad it was something out of his boring routine, although it could just take a few minutes. He just took another sip from his coffee when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." he invited the student inside and turned his attention from the window to the door.

 

[Sara Moon]

Sara took a deep breath as the Professor called for her to enter. She'd never met Professor Lukosevicius before. She hoped he was nice, but she could cope with it if he wasn't. She slowly pushed down the handle, and stepped into the room, she nodded at the Professor, as she turned and closed the door behind her. "Hello Professor." She smiled, walking over to the front of his desk. She wasn't sure whether or not to take a seat, she just stood, and observed him. He was big, she couldn't tell how tall he was when he sat down, but he was quite handsome, with striking blue eyes, which looked friendly enough, and that gave her more confidence. "I'm Sara Moon, I wanted to, meet with you today, to... maybe find out about Quidditch." she stopped a moment, not quite sure how to explain herself.

"You see... I'm in Seventh Year now, and I... Well, I'm not entirely sure what I want to do. Not professional Quidditch, I'm good, but I'm not that good, and I know it, but I was wondering if maye there were... Quidditch Camps or something? In the muggle world, they have camps and stuff, where they need councillors of sorts. Is there something like that for wizards?" she rushed out, feeling it was probably best to just get it said, and out there. She didn't want to waste a Professor's time, and she was here for a specific reason. She needed some guidance. Her parents couldn't help. They were muggles for Merlin's sake! It still annoyed her at times, knowing how little she still knew of the wizarding world. As much as she loved magic, it felt like the world had doubled in size, and complexity. Sometimes she felt smothered by it all. There was a beautiful view of the lake from the classroom, and she glanced outside. It must be peaceful here, when you were tired, had worked all day, with young students who were your responsibility. "You have a wonderful view." she commented, her hands on her hips, and a small smile playing upon her lips.

 

[Mikolaj Lukosevicius]

The flying professor was expecting to see a young student but instead in the room entered a young brunette woman. He felt like an erumpent rammed him from the side, impaling him and inevitably in the end exploding together. The brunette was talking but he couldn't hear a thing. Her lips were moving but her words were inaudible to his ears. His piercing eyes were studying her, giving the impression they could read one's mind.
He leaned his head on his hand and let her finish. As if in this way he would come around from a comatose state.
"Hello." he uttered when she finished and a hearty smile melted on his face. He had managed to hear just her last comment so he decided to start from there.
"Indeed. Although I would much prefer the view of the towers but this one would do as well." he said and momentarily managed to take his eyes off her and glance outside his window.

He pointed at the two chairs that were standing in front of his desk.
"Excuse me for my bad manners. Please have a seat. Sara, right?" he apologised for keeping her standing, confirming her name now that had more importance to him. "Would you like something to drink? A hot chocolate, a tea, a coffee maybe?" he offered his hospitality, not sure if she was supposed to drink coffee.
"Ok let's take it from the beginning. I haven't drunk my own coffee and my system is not working properly yet so bear with me." he chuckled and apologised for not listening to her earlier. "How can I help you? You are too old to ask me for flying lessons I guess." he asked her and took a sip of his coffee, his eyes on her, waiting for her response.

 

[Sara Moon]

Sara looked across at the Professor as she stopped talking, there was a strange moment of silence, as they looked at each other. His eyes were piercing, she couldn't stop looking at him, and part of her felt like she should look away, but she couldn't. She matched his gaze, her brown eyes meeting his blue, and suddenly felt tongue-tied as he greeted her. It was so odd, she'd never held someone's gaze for this long, but something pulled her eyes to his, until he greeted her, and smiled. He had a lovely, friendly smile, and she found herself smiling back. "The towers are great, especially the window seats. You can see all of the grounds." she replied, as he broke the silence, and looked away from her. "It'll be weird not living in the castle next year." she smiled, looking at the ground, and taking a seat as he motioned to the seat. It felt strange sitting opposite a Professor like this.

"Yes, I'm Sara." she answered him, tracing the edge of the chair. She looked up at him again, and could feel a slight blush rising to her cheeks. You weren't supposed to act so normal around a teacher. She straightened up in her chair, trying to act more.. student-like. As he offered her something to drink, she paused for moment. Normally, she would immediately say hot chocolate, but that was such a childish drink. She was sick of being treated like a child; "A coffee would be great thanks." she smiled, looking up at him, she felt small in the seat. She laughed as he admitted he hadn't listened. "I know, I can talk a bit fast too, so that doesn't help." She interlocked her fingers on the desk and smiled; "Well, I'd be a pretty bad Captain if I was looking for flying lessons now." She laughed, and pushed her hair away from her face. "I was sort of wondering, if there were some sort of Summer Camp, about Quidditch where I could work this Summer, while I try to figure out what I'm going to do after Hogwarts. They have camps like that in the muggle world, but I wasn't so sure about, in the wizarding world-you know?" She explained, leaning back a bit.

 

[Mikolaj Lukosevicius]

Mikolaj instantly snapped his fingers when the girl said she would love a coffee. A house elf appeared next to Mik's chair and bowed. He kindly requested a coffee for his visitor and the house elf disapparated after it bowed again. He smiled as Sara had the same opinion with him about the view from the towers. He was staying at the castle for only a few months but the first place he had visited upon his arrival at Hogwarts, were the highest levels. "That's the reason why I envy the astronomy and divination professors but then I come to think that they don't get to fly with a broom as part of their job and I feel slightly better." he flashed a smile, feeling really comfortable around Sara. It felt like he was talking to a friend or something rather than to a student.
He was now listening to her carefully. Like what she was saying could point to something new to learn about her.
"So you're a seventh year." he concluded from her words. "I don't want to disappoint you but you're going to miss school really soon. It wasn't more than a year after my graduation and I wanted to head back for classes." he admitted just when the house elf returned with a tray and a cup of coffee, accompanied with some milk and some sugar.

Mikolaj thanked the house elf for its service before it disapparated once more. He took a sip of his own coffee as she served herself with the amount of sugar and milk she liked in her coffee. "Oh you are a captain? Which house?" he asked still wanting to learn more about her. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to watch the Quidditch match that it had taken place a few weeks ago as he was busy outside the castle. He should have tried and learn if any of his first years students had managed to make it to the teams as they were quite a few of them that they had expressed their desire to participate during his classes. He leaned back to his chair as she listened to her, explaining why exactly she was asking him for assistance. "So you need something like a summer job." he said after she had finished. "You are pretty lucky you know. Me and a couple of friends are arranging a summer camp for young wizards and witches. You see their parents are busy during summer with their jobs and some of them don't have grandparents or someone else to take care of them." he explained to her the idea behind this plan. "Children will be able to make new friends, have fun and at the same time learn so we need a few people able to teach them a few things." he summed up and took another sip of his coffee before continuing. "Quidditch of course will be one of the main activities. You know how children do about sports so I think you could contribute to this part." he thought that this could be what she was looking for.
"Is this what you have in mind as your summer job?" he asked her before getting into farther details.

 

[Sara Moon]

Sara smiled at the House Elf who appeared. She'd miss the friendly little creatures. She'd often snuck down to the kitchens, to cook for herself, or to get herself a snack. They didn't have a house elf; as her parents were muggles, but it was too unbelievable for all four siblings to be magical. She was convinced they had magic in their blood somewhere, some ancestor or other, perhaps one of her Grandparents? She planned to do some research into it once she left; four muggleborns in one family, just wasn't believable. "I couldn't imagine it, getting to work doing something you love all the time, I mean, for me, playing quidditch, singing-I'd never be able to see it as a job, it's too much a part of..well... me you know?" she answered him, laughing as he spoke about getting to fly all day; "It must be great though, especially with the first years; they're so cute!" she grinned. It was odd, she was probably closer in age to this Professor, than to the First Years at this point. It seemed ridiculous.
She nodded, quite seriously at his comment; "I know. I already miss school. I can't imagine not being in Hogwarts, it's home to me now. I just don't have a clue really; I've been so sheltered here, sure bad things happen, but there's always someone you can go to; a teacher, or the nurse. You're just alone out there." she hadn't really said this to anyone until now, it was odd saying it to a teacher.

She grinned as the coffee arrived, and nodded her thanks. She added milk and two spoons of sugar to her coffee. She couldn't drink it black, it was too strong, and took a sip; perfect. "I'm in Ravenclaw." she beamed, proud to speak about her house. It would be only too soon when she wouldn't be able to talk about her house anymore. It was a sad thought, knowing that she wouldn't be a part of something bigger anymore. "I'm just delighted we won this year, it really ends on a high." She cupped her hands around the coffee mug, enjoying the warmth. He seemed to follow what she said. She knew she'd rambled a bit, but she'd been very nervous coming in, though she was calming down now. A grin spread across her face as he spoke about the camp he was trying to organise. It sounded perfect; "Wow! That's amazing, it's exactly what I'm looking for!" she laughed, raising one hand to her lips, to hide how excited she was, she didn't want to come across as an immature child. "Wow, Professor, I'd love to be a part of it." She sipped her coffee, unable to stop herself from smiling. It felt good to have some sort of solid plan, for after she left. It was such a relief. She leaned back in her chair, feeling so much better now than she had before this meeting.