start again (diana)

[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

April 2022

Jack loosened the silver and green tie around his neck that threatened to choke him. He hated every bit of the Hogwarts uniform, even if it was the same for every student, rich or poor. He and Mal had been lucky to be on the receiving end of some financial aid from the school governors, not that they'd done anything with their time at Hogwarts to really deserve it. Jack had barely scraped by with three acceptable OWLs and one exceeds expectations in Transfiguration (which had been a shock to all of them). None of that mattered to Jack, though. He only wanted to finish his schooling to satisfy his mums, then hit the music scene and convince someone to take him on. If not as a rock and roll star, at least a song writer.

Temptation won out and Jack slid the tie from around his neck, stuffing it in his rucksack. He knew some prefect would dock points for not being in proper uniform, but Jack truly did not give a fuck. He sauntered through the corridors, wondering mildly where Mal was before realising he was probably in the library revising for his exams. Jack knew he should have been doing the same, as his NEWTs were coming up quickly. That, or Mal would be chatting up a cute, smart lass to help him cheat. Jack had to admit that whatever Mal did, he was doing a good job of it. His marks had been consistently higher than Jack's even with an extra year of magical education under his belt.

Jack passed into the library, and looked around. He didn't spot Mal's abnormally oversized form, but he did recognise a girl he knew to be younger and cleverer than he. Maybe... maybe he could try Mal's tactic. For his mums' sake, of course. "Diana, hi," said Jack, sliding into the seat across from Diana Bainbridge. "Don't suppose you'd be able to help a sorry sod with a transfiguration question? I know you're exceptionally talented... and I could use a bit of help."

diana eoina bainbridge

[diana eoina bainbridge]

there's something about you

it's not that i doubt you

April 2022
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

Diana shouldn’t have been surprised, but Dustin hadn’t mentioned the anxiety of quickly approaching OWL exams. Not that she should have worried. Aside from missing assignments because of distractions, she did well in her courses. It was safe to say that Diana would receive a fair number of OWLs though she was nowhere near the top of her class. Her twin, Cara, had just left, but Diana had opted to stay behind and go over her assignment for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not because she was afraid of the wrong answer but because it was easy to get carried away in her lengthy essay and praise the ingenuity of some Dark Art that landed her on the Professor’s wrong side.

But the chair in front of her moved loudly, and she looked up to see the familiar face of an older boy she knew. Not well, but he was cute, and how he would look at you was enough to make the younger girls blush. Her hair shifted back to its natural blonde, and she was grateful it didn’t mimic the shade her face used to turn around him. ”I—I could look…” She responded timidly. ”I don’t know how much I can help you with NEWT level though...” Well, the thing was Diana could. While ignoring her easy but boring Potions assignments, Diana read slightly more advanced books in Charms or other subjects. Experimenting here and there and hoping she didn’t accidentally transfigure her eyebrows. It was fun for her in a way most people didn’t understand. But Diana didn’t speak about it much. Cara usually caught her with these books and would roll her eyes. But she wasn’t about to claim to have master sixth or seventh year subjects.

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[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Diana Bainbridge would be different from Jack's usual type, if Jack actually would sit still long enough to be able to identify his interests. Right now, they centred on warm blooded humans. Male and female, Jack wasn't particular. He'd befriended and bedded a Hufflepuff in his year, and found the experience quite liberating. But as he sat down before her, citing needing help with his Transfiguration, he thought there was something quite refreshing about the way her hair shifted colours when he made his presence known.

"Do you shift on purpose? Or does it just sort of... happen?" asked Jack, unable to help himself. He thought that if Mal had been gifted with this ability, he would have used it to make his willie enormous. But that was just typical Mal. Jack stifled a smirk at the thought, concentrating his focus on Diana. "I've heard you're heaps clever, Diana. More clever than most sixth and seventh years. And I'm shit at this sort of thing, and well, you just changed your hair colour in front of me," Jack expounded, his gaze darting to her blonde hair before returning to her rather meek face. "Please?" asked Jack, his eyes intense as they met hers.

diana eoina bainbridge

[diana eoina bainbridge]

there's something about you

it's not that i doubt you

April 2022
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

Diana tried to relax, but the smooth way he spoke and complimented her threw her off. She wasn’t really used to boys talking or flirting with her all that often at all, let alone an older boy. And then the dead giveaway that was almost more obvious than blushing—her hair. In these moments, Diana desperately wished she was not a metamorphmagus, so the whole world didn’t know how she was feeling at any given moment. ”Um—well, it depends.” Diana shifted in her chair. ”I can change it, but sometimes it just happens…”

From what she had read, it was common. Emotions lead to shifts in hair color or other features. But she was glad she had some control over it. She wanted to know who had claimed she was clever enough to stand out with the older students. Her professors saw her potential but were frustrated at her lack of focus on what they wanted her to focus on. Diana tended to follow her own interests. ”I—I—yea, I can try.” She finally relented. But Merlin, who could say no when they asked like that? She mentally noted to ask Cara if she’d interacted with Jack much before. Diana had spoken to him before but never at length.

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[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

The hesitancy, the careful reluctance, the cautious nature. It went straight to Jack's head. It was like Diana was tapping into a well shrouded fantasy that Jack could barely resist. "I think the blonde suits you," said Jack after a moment, offering her a grin. Diana reluctantly agreed to look over his essay, and he beamed, sliding the parchment over to her. He pointed out the question he was struggling over. Discuss the benefits and dangers of using human transfiguration spells to mimic the natural abilities of a metamorphmagus. Cite at least two examples of each from reliable texts.

"Sort of has your name all over it, doesn't it," said Jack smoothly, his eyes roving appreciatively over Diana's figure. He wondered if her hair would change again. "Does positive and negative emotion affect it?" he wondered aloud.

diana eoina bainbridge

[diana eoina bainbridge]

there's something about you

it's not that i doubt you

April 2022
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

Merlin, if Cara were here, she’d have rolled her eyes into oblivion at how Diana shifted nervously in her chair or her hair changed to varying levels of blonde. She wasn’t used to this type of attention. Kinsey was the far more outgoing and liked the attention, and Diana was always happy to stand in the back. But then Jack complimented the blonde. Her natural hair color. The common feature of a Bainbridge. Nobody had ever really complimented her hair color before. People just asked her to change it, especially the younger students.

She read the parchment slide toward her. Of course, ‘metamorphmagus’, no wonder Jack had approached her. Her first thought was always that people thought of these changes in too literal of a sense. She nodded as a response. ”Uhm…Human Transfiguration can easily go wrong. You’d have to change one thing at a time. You’re better off with a charm if you can.” Before Diana could explain further, Jack asked another question. ”Sometimes…my brother likes to startle me because it’ll turn purple.” She admitted Dustin thought it was hilarious and her hair turned a uniquely dark shade of purple.

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