she doesn’t even go here [Felix]

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

24 January 2028

“Come on then, in you go,” Hazel sighed impatiently, leaning against the doorframe and studying her vividly bright nails as she waited for students to straggle in to class. Ivy was usually the painfully fussy one about punctuality, even telling off Asher and Hazel for wandering in late to a family dinner with zero shame at all – but hey. Hazel had worked so hard on today’s lesson that it wasn’t even funny. Yeah, she’d taken the entire weekend to perfect her metal charming, first crafting and then enchanting the elaborate bronze spheres that they were going to study today as part of the next unit in the curriculum. Some little part of her was proud (like hey, she had this whole professor thing down pat huh?) but she was mostly huffy. Because she knew that her students wouldn’t even be grateful about the wicked magic they were about to see, the little punks.

Hazel was still a little pouty that she hadn’t gotten drunk this weekend, but she was already planning to make up for that unfortunate fact after class. Until then, she stood just outside her classroom perfectly poised against the frame and like she didn’t care one bit at all whether class started on time – sometimes it was even hard for her to believe that she was the responsible adult here. Two Ravenclaws scurried in and Hazel continued to nonchalantly study her nails and ignore the frenzied whispers from inside the classroom as students got a good look at the layout. They’d already find all the desks pushed to the edges, which from experience meant that she expected to enter and find them all seated in a circle ‘round the middle -- eyes open and minds ready to receive her overabundant knowledge on Alchemy, of course. Her lovely bronze orbs were already levitating by her desk, and Hazel smirked to herself at the sudden crack of lightning that meant someone had tried to touch one (probably an impatient Gryffindor who couldn’t wait five minutes).

Oh, but hold on. Her classes were small (Alchemy being one of the school’s hidden gems in the curriculum and only available to the right caliber of student, of course) which meant Hazel knew every one of her kiddos. And had given them all nicknames too, because that was more fun than using their actual names. But he looked lost. And much too old to be a student at LIFE (not that he looked bad. Because he did have that sort of abstracted look of a scholar that thought much too seriously about things and that type was always deliciously fun to play with. Hazel would probably tap that). But it didn’t mean he belonged here. “Um yeah. Hi.” Hazel said in a bored voice, finally deigning to look up from her nail art to catch this guy’s attention, “Retirement prep classes are like, not in this wing, so you must be kinda lost. This is Alchemical Philosophies which is, y’know, for students.” She gave him an obvious once-over to emphasize her point that he wasn’t exactly her target demographic as she breezily adjusted the flared sleeves of her prof robes. “And we’re starting in a mo’, so…you know, I don’t exactly have time to play preppy little tour guide or anything with you. But I don’t have to call the security trolls, right? That wouldn't be much fun.”

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Twenty twenty eight had arrived like an explosion. Felix had been promoted to head of department, and he couldn't help drawing similarities between himself and Bianca. Yet he'd seen Bianca at the holiday party - and she had seemed to be doing perfectly fine without him. Even though the last time they'd spoken, she'd congratulated him on his promotion. There was still that spark there, but it was heavily subdued. Felix had instead focused his romantic pursuits on Hanna - bright, young, Hanna. Like the north star guiding him to happiness.

Unfortunately, taking over the Department of Mysteries meant Felix had a lot less time to do the things he actually wanted to do. It meant lots more paperwork and bureaucracy. But with that came the opportunity to try something new - Bianca had mentioned leading a weekly class at LIFE around law, and perhaps Felix could try something similar. Bring his passion to the people. She'd suggested that he sit in on one of the classes to get a feel for it, as long as it wasn't hers. Felix had frowned at that - it had been the first thing on his mind. Instead, he'd spoken to the headmaster and agreed to sit in on the first philosophical class he found. Somewhat surprisingly, it was spearheaded by someone he knew.

Hazel Burke was probably the last person Felix had ever thought would want anything to do with philosophy. From what he had heard from Asher, his former employer before he went off the theoretical deep end, she was much more interested in fashion and self care than opening her mind to the possibility of more. Either way, Felix had already agreed to sit in on her class to get an understanding of the teaching philosophies here at LIFE - though he wished now more than anything he'd chosen a different class.

It came as no surprise that Hazel didn't recognise him. But she did address him like he was a geriatric bug on her shoe that she wanted to scrape off. "A delight to see you too, Hazel," said Felix dryly, his grey eyes flashing as she finally deigned to look up at him. "I'm sitting in. Seeing if I want to teach. A friend recommended it," said Felix, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Don't mind me though. It will be like I'm not even here," he added with a smirk. He turned before she could say anything else, and settled into a chair in the back corner of the room, a sanctimonious little smirk playing at his lips as he crossed his legs and turned his head to listen.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Okay, it kind of threw her off that he knew her name – because that just opened up a whole new set of questions. Was he some pureblood she’d met at a party once, tossing his name after a moment because who needed that kind of useless information? A former coworker, a random one-night stand, a friend of the family? Hazel didn’t usually bother to remember faces, because most people were just unimportant side characters who fulfilled a purpose and then neatly exited stage left (never to be seen again). Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied his features – the permanent crease in his forehead, his stormy gray eyes with all the depth and mystery of a Pensieve, his slightly rumpled robes like he’d fallen asleep at his desk. “Oh, you’re one of Asher’s minions,” Hazel said dismissively, conveniently forgetting to use the past-tense. As far as she was concerned? Once a minion, always a minion.

She supposed she should be put off by his testy answer, slightly stand-offish in claiming that he’d come to sit in and determine whether teaching was his calling (besides being a good little drone for the Ministry). Her eyebrows raised in a moment of surprise before a matching smirk grew on her face. “Oooh, kitty’s got claws. Hot.” Hazel was a naturally rebellious sort, and as such she couldn’t stand the kind of person who claimed to be a strait-laced, play by the rules good guy. But sometimes they showed a little bit of attitude, a little peek at what they were hiding beneath the surface, and she found that intriguing. Liked to see if she could coax it out a little more. His name finally came to her (Felix, just like her fave potion) just in time for him to pass her and enter the room like he knew what he was doing.

Not a one-night stand, Hazel concluded as she tilted her head to catch a glimpse of his backside and see what he was packing (and whether she recognized it), Yet. With that, she followed him into the room and removed her wand fluidly from her sleeve to dim the lights and write on the board. “Hey kiddos! So glad to see all your cute lil faces again, cause this lesson is gonna break our minds in the most majorly fun way. Don’t mind gramps sitting in the back.” And that was all the explanation she chose to explain Felix’s presence in the room (much the same way Hazel actively chose to introduce Ivy as her sister without explaining why she was black). Her eyes lingered on one of the Gryffindors, looking slightly singed and put-out about it, and Hazel’s smirk widened.

“I see you all noticed these,” she continued in a drawling voice as Hazel indicated the seven orbs floating by her desk, “Good. Today we’re talking about spiritual alchemy. Cause see, everyone takes alchemy so literal. Lead to gold, philosopher’s stone, woo-hoo. That’s all garbage, though.” Hazel turned on her heel abruptly and removed the first orb from the air, examining it lightly before approaching the circle. “True transformation starts within the alchemist. You can’t possibly understand how to take an element and make it beautiful if you haven’t done it to yourself first. It’s a process. Not everyone can do it. But any alchemist who wants to be worth their weight in gold can, and has. Who wants to break this?” Her last question came out of nowhere as Hazel held up the sphere, and the class stared at her in wide-eyed stupidity.

“Come on then,” Hazel said, rolling her eyes as she tossed it to the guilty Gryffindor who'd tried to touch one before class, “Go on Sparky, give it a toss.” He stared at her for a moment before he grinned and slammed it into the ground in the middle of the circle. The stupefied silence turned into gasps (Hazel smirked to herself at her rather good showmanship) as the orb clicked a few times and then whirled open to release its illusion magic. The room turned luminescent as bright particles spilled out from the orb, casting everything in an ethereal light as they formed a large cloud. Sometimes the particles came together in loose spirals or sudden blasts, before eventually dissolving and floating driftlessly again. “Materia Prima. The basis of life. The stuff we’re all made from,” Hazel narrated, satisfied as she leaned against her desk to study the reactions of her students. “Everything we are comes from this. Everything we have, everything we could ever want. Identity, possessions, beliefs. What do you all think is the first step to spiritual alchemy?” Her eyes rose to meet Felix’s in a silent challenge, daring him to chime in.

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Felix appraised Hazel with a flat look. ”Yes. A minion,” he replied dryly. He had heard much about Hazel, even if he didn’t know her personally very well. He’d drawn a few conclusions about her based on the knowledge he’d collected. First, she was the sort of person to form an opinion and stick to it, even if she knew she was wrong. Second, she thought very highly of herself. And the third conclusion - he’d only just figured this one out - she was very, very pretty. Her features were striking - bright blue eyes against tanned skin, her golden hair looking like the subject of one of her transmutations.

Indicating that he would blend right into the background as he watched the lesson, Felix settled into his seat and crossed his arms. Hazel began her lesson in a way that Felix didn’t expect. She addressed the students with familiarity, though there was a natural condescending lilt to her tone. Felix held back a snort, and remained silent. His eyes slid to the orbs that Hazel had on display, dutifully ignoring her jibe about his age. He couldn’t be more than five years older than her. Hazel was surprisingly hands on with her students, engaging them. Felix could appreciate a bit of hands-on learning, even if it had never really been the best way to get through to him.

The strange material that erupted from the broken sphere intrigued Felix, and he listened carefully as Hazel described it. The basis of life and what they were all made of. What everything was made of. The sort of stuff that formed and reformed with or without intention. It was just the type of material to pique Felix’s immense interest. What happened when the material prima that made them all ceased to exist? Mutation and mutation again. Felix wasn’t the most well versed in the subject of alchemy, but he had heard of this before. It fit in nicely with his prime belief that everything was cyclical, and nothing had true meaning - only existence. If they were made up of stuff that the stars and cosmos were made of, if that would return to a different form after death, what was the ultimate point?

Hazel’s bright eyes landed on him and she fixed him with a look of challenge. Did she just decide to ignore the fact that he was simply observing? And that he was not meant to participate? Felix remained silent, arching a brow in challenge as Hazel practically glared at him. But none of her students chimed in, so with a sigh, Felix responded. ”You break the connection to worldly possessions. Burn it,” he replied in an even voice.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel liked to have the attention of an entire room. That talent came naturally to her, a byproduct of all the stupid parties with stuffy purebloods she’d been attending since she could walk. Asher had literally zero social skills and Ivy had an odd purgatory-like status in the family when it came to the rest of South Africa, so Hazel had always been the go-to for forced socialization by their parents. Be a little angel, win some hearts, and serve the family. Well, she at least preferred that over Asher’s entire way of being – you know, sitting at boring business meetings and separating all the fruit by color in a fruit cup and thinking that taking a girl’s bra off was good enough foreplay. At some point, Hazel found the adrenaline from being liked had turned into some sort of obsession. Always chasing that high.

So maybe she’d been born to teach? It gave her a platform to share a continuous stream of what she was thinking with the students, a chance to be universally cheered for not assigning homework much, and they learned a thing or two about alchemy along the way. All in all, a win-win situation for everyone except the occasional student that got an unfortunate nickname and had to suffer it outside of class too. Either way, she couldn’t deny that she loved what she did and Hazel fed off it now – feeling the weight of two dozen pairs of eyes on her, including a stormy gaze that promised hidden depths. Everyone seemed to have gotten over the initial shock of the first orb, and the students were now whispering curiously amongst themselves. Some even dared to reach out a hand and curiously sweep it through the bright particles, watching the clouds break apart and reform in glittering crashes and glorious chaos. Hazel watched smugly at the awed reactions of her students before she asked her next question, all but daring Felix to answer. He seemed like the kind to sit in the corner and watch, observe life without actually participating in it. That wasn’t her style at all – she needed to be in the center of the storm, feel and taste and experience everything before it all swept away.

He seemed somewhat resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t leave him in peace, and Hazel clapped her hands together as he responded dryly to her challenge. “We burn it!” Hazel repeated excitedly, plucking the second orb out of the air to hold it tightly in her hands. She knew exactly how well the power of suspense could work, and she held it idly as she felt every pair of eyes land on the golden orb. “Calcination,” piped up one timid Ravenclaw, going pink as a few heads swiveled to stare at her. Hazel smirked and winked at her. “Quite right, Specs. 10 points to Ravenclaw, and do be a dear and catch this.” That was accompanied by the sudden whoosh of an orb flying through the air to land in her lap, although nobody had time to do anything more than gape before the orb popped open with a hiss.

Ash spilled everywhere, turning the Materia Prima black and covering the room in dim darkness. “We become different people over time. Doppelgangers of ourselves, if you will. Parts of us fade, they die, they become something else. And you can become bitter and hard,” Hazel nodded at Felix’s corner, “Or you can burn it away. Peel away everything that used to be and hurts you so you can see what’s left inside. Because that, my dear children, is what we transform in alchemy. That inner hidden core can become anything if you’re brave enough to go looking for it.” Her eyes inexplicably found themselves wandering back towards Felix – but he seemed to have that strange ability. That magnetic quality that could be easy to miss but kept you hooked once you noticed it. Hazel brushed off the thought and turned back to the class. “This is a good time to ask questions, bee-tee-dubs, because there will be a quiz on this.” And with that bombshell, Hazel turned to scribble some notes on the board.

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Hazel seemed much too excited to set fire to her substances - but Felix had quickly deduced that she was the chaotic sort of creature who hated to be too predictable. Begrudgingly, Felix respected that about her. If you kept your quarry on their toes, they could never catch you unawares. Felix continued to watch her, even as she turned to address the class at large. She tossed the orb at one student - Specs, Hazel had called her - and it popped open with a hiss in her lap.

There was a moment of silence as they all braced for impact. Felix was half worried that the student would burst into flames, or at least lose a limb. But he was equally convinced that whatever happened, Hazel would be able to rectify it with a flick of her wand. But nothing so spectacular occurred - ash spilled from the orb and the substance turned black. Darkness descended upon the room, and there were a few gasps of shock. Hazel continued to explain how as we changed - the general we, as in the sapient creatures who recognised and practiced alchemy - over time, and we could either harden or burn off the outer skin and discover something new and exciting underneath.

Narrowing his eyes, Felix met Hazel's charged gaze. There was a beat in which they simply looked at each other before Felix finally spoke. "And what if the change weakens the substance? What if the core inside isn't worth the change?" he asked. "What if there are no benefits to changing? Would it be better to exist in the knowledge that bitter and hard can sometimes be advantageous, rather than the potential of something utterly worthless?"

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

The ash had turned the room dark as it spilled out from the orb and overtook the swirling masses of color that had surrounded them a few moments before. There was a faint buzzing as students whispered to each other through the ash while Hazel scribbled some notes on the board. Her inner performer preened at the reactions she’d gotten out of her kiddos by this point because they’d definitely be talking about this lesson once they’d all left. And the only thing Hazel enjoyed more than hearing their gasps was the thought that they’d be telling this story much later.

Hazel twirled around and shot a crooked smile at the class, pleased with the result she’d gotten. A few dutiful students had startled at the thought of a quiz and were scribbling notes furiously, inkwell and parchment on the floor while they hunched over in an attempt to see through the ash and dim light of the room. Hazel locked eyes with Felix and raised an eyebrow in anticipation, waiting for some scrap of praise at the complicated spell or twisted alchemical philosophies. But he looked deep in thought and the first words out of his mouth were a challenge. She suspected that might be a fundamental truth about Felix – he never took anything if it was easy, because the reward was hidden deep in the possibility of failure. He seemed like the kind who liked to torture himself, if only because there were a few sweet moments hidden amongst the painful.

She could work with that. Hazel’s energy didn’t dim but she sidestepped the circle so she could move forwards toward Felix. Heads swiveled to follow her. “What you’re describing doesn’t exist in nature, babe,” she said playfully after a few moments of silence. She examined the ash swirling around her in no semblance of a pattern, and then continued. “Things can get stronger or weaker, sure. And not everyone will experience the transformation in the same way, duh. But everything in the natural world changes, even the positively ancient turtle that thinks it can hide in its shell. So if you accept as an immovable principle that nothing is immovable, then you must reach the conclusion that change not only has worth but is the only thing worthwhile.” This was one of the parts of her classes that she liked the most -- forget the academic theory, forget the exams and essays and diagrams. She liked the arguments, she liked the battle of wills when people tangled with each other over their most fundamental beliefs. That had just never existed at home, but the rebel in her sought it out. Felix seemed like he was born for it, and Hazel's eyes stayed locked on him like he had one opportunity to capture her attention before he lost it.

Meanwhile, the circle of students had settled down as the shock of the ash began to wear off. Her smirk widened as she heard a student mouthing to himself while he wrote, ‘if you accept as an immovable…’ and she took the opportunity to wave her wand and summon the next orb to her. Snatching it out of the air, Hazel only glanced it over once before she turned back to the class. “Alchemy follows the philosophies of the universe, not of wizards. And those philosophies can be explored, questioned, pushed, but not broken. So if we passed through fire to burn the old self away, then the next stage of self-reflection could only come from…” she waited a few moments but no one answered so she shrugged and continued, “…water.” She opened the next orb herself and watched as the whole scene turned a dim blue, waves of water gushing out from the orb until it looked like they were underwater and bubbles floated across the open space of the room. Dancing through and around the bubbles were ribbons of silverly wisps, easily recognizable by anyone who’d used a Pensieve before. ‘The water washes away the imperfections in our pasts,’ a student timidly suggested and Hazel winked at her as she watched the memories dance through the water and slowly dissolve.

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Felix had always been a dozen steps ahead of those around him. His mind was sharpened and honed to pose difficult questions, to understand the very mechanics of existence. And yet as the room darkened and Hazel explained what was happening, her tone flippant but holding a measure of gravitas, Felix felt a kernel of fear in his belly. That he didn't fully understand what was happening here, that somehow Hazel had managed to get the upper hand and was teasing him, luring him along a path that only she saw the end of. It was infuriating but also refreshing in a way. In its unfamiliarity, Felix challenged everything that Hazel threw at him, playing the devil's advocate even when he didn't quite agree with his own observations.

Once more, Hazel countered Felix's arguments. She proposed that change was the only unchanging aspect of existence. "Years of philosophising and we come to the simple conclusion that the only constant in existence is change," said Felix at last. "It's a very human approach, but certainly not wrong. For better or for worse, over time, everything does change. But what assign's worth? Do you think that anything beyond sapient creatures understand that concept? What exactly makes something worthwhile?" Felix tapped his fingers on his knee, his mind whirring as he considered his postulating. It was the same argument he had researched for years and years - what power did we humans have to place merit on anything?

Felix had lapsed into silence, and the rest of the class were looking between the two adults, bewildered by the exchange. Felix had briefly forgotten their existence, so intent on philosophising with someone who was - dare he say it? - equal in mind, at least on this sort of subject. Alchemy was a tricky topic, looking directly into the very matter and building blocks that made up the universe and forcing them to change. Felix watched as Hazel summoned a second orb, narrowing his eyes slightly as she spoke. She was drawing parallels between their two areas of study, a connection Felix had admittedly not taken much interest in before. Hazel shrugged and the orb popped open, releasing a gush of water that flooded all of their senses, though not in an unpleasant way. Rather than feeling like he was drowning, Felix rather felt like he was floating, in a place between time and space.

Silvery wisps danced through the bubbles, each containing a memory. Felix recognised the substance and watched as they ribboned through the water that was not water, the air that was not air. One student suggested that it could wash away the imperfections of their past. Felix frowned at that. But if not for the imperfections, what would stimulate change?

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

In the end, the one thing that had always captured Hazel’s attention and imagination was beauty. She wanted to create beautiful things, perfect things. To be as admired and sought after as the gold that she could create and the elements that she’d learned to manipulate. Besides her family, that was the one constant that had followed her in life – even if her definition of beauty might have started to change. Just a little. Not enough to be noticed by anyone with a passing glance, but these last couple years had taught her about the beauty in broken things and watching them slowly come back together.

Still, she let herself revel in the beauty she’d created. It felt like they’d gone to another world, one tinged in blue and silver and the ribbons of memory that danced between them. The students were completely transfixed (even the Ravenclaws had stopped scribbling notes), and one brave Slytherin even reached out to swipe a hand through a ribbon only to quickly retract it when the memory faded. The strange ethereal world was the perfect backdrop for Felix’s wondering thoughts, like he was narrating a light show for the students. It was almost enough for Hazel to tear her eyes away from the thing of beauty she’d made, but come on – no one had ever quite managed to do that before.

Hazel let the silence sink in, let the drama build for a moment while she noticed some furtive glances quickly darting to the remaining orbs. But she ignored those as she wandered around the classroom a bit, finally moving back to her desk so she could lightly hop on and settle her robes around her like she was at a tea party. “Desire.” The word cut through the silence like a knife and all the heads swiveled around back towards her. “What makes it worthwhile?” Hazel repeated, pointedly ignoring him so she could cross her legs delicately and let her eyes trail over the memories. “Because someone else has it, babe. Or because you want it badly enough. Everyone is constantly looking around for what they want. But alchemists learned the real secret, that you’ve got to look inside.” She suddenly turned her head to point at a random Hufflepuff. “Ribbons! You remember your basic Archimedean elements, don’t you? We’ve covered fire and water. Which is next in the cycle?” The girl squeaked, but eventually she breathed out the word ’air’. At the magic word, the next orb opened with a hiss and a strong wind began to blow in the room.

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Felix was completely and understandably transfixed. The way Hazel narrated her lecture was enrapturing, and Felix was stuck like a fly in a honeytrap. His lips parted slightly as he watched her, as she gave her response to his supposition. He swallowed thickly, wondering if he was completely out of his depth. He excelled in positing the unknown, of discovering new things. Of deep and detached thoughts. And yet, as Hazel reminded him exactly what was worthwhile about desire, he felt it stream through his bones. It overwhelmed him for a moment, his grey eyes flashing as they followed Hazel’s languid movements. She was a cat and he was her mouse, her prey.

Hazel abruptly brought him back to reality with her sharp demand from a girl called ribbons. Felix arched a brow, looking between student and teacher. He was glad Hazel was distracted from him, as it took him a few moments to get his thoughts in order. But when he did, he tapped his fingers mindlessly on his knee. ”And what can air do to make way for change?” asked Felix idly. ”Blow it away?” he added with a smirk. ”What determines being a constant? If change is made of different components, wouldn’t the components suggest that they are also constants? And therefore your theory that change is the only constant is faulty,” finished Felix, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

There was a long pause as the wind rustled the pages of a Ravenclaw’s notes, and all of Hazel’s students looked between the pair of them. ”Merlin, stop posturing and shag already,” muttered one Slytherin, loud enough for both of them to hear. Felix kept his face neutral, but his stomach flipped at the accusation.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

There was something so powerful about being in the classroom that kept Hazel hooked. She’d only truly gone to Hogwarts to follow her sister, because Ivy’s judgment was flawless and she was a great deal more inspirational than their grim older brother. But at some point, Hazel had started to realize the absolute playground that a classroom could be. You could teach anything, learn anything, throw a theory in the bin and completely start over. And the students just ate it up. Especially if it meant they could theorize with their professor and not simply write the same mind-numbing answers to the same bland questions that Hazel would have to waste her precious time marking. Win-win-win.

This was a different feeling though. Hazel had never felt so involved in a lesson the way she did now, and truthfully – the students had faded from her awareness a long time ago. In fact, she was barely aware of the air billowing around the classroom now, chasing away the memories and containing them in what was supposed to be a lesson about the soul of alchemy. She kept her gaze fixed on her robes or her nails, but her awareness (even without seeing, even without touching) had totally narrowed to one point in the room. She’d been admiring her magic but her eyes snapped to meet the stormy gray of Felix’s as he picked apart her theory. Her mind was racing at about the same speed as her pulse, and she could feel the brightness of the memory wisps reflected in her eyes as she kept them locked on Felix.

She’d opened her mouth, ready to fire, when one Slytherin’s cutting remark sliced through her awareness. Hazel paused, let her lips quirk into a crooked smirk. She wasn’t in any rush. No, there was no need to rush when she could see the awe on his face and read the utter way he was transfixed in the rigid set of his body. Felix had his own language, one that seemed just close enough to mimic how the rest of the world moved but that surely he’d had trouble finding others who knew what he was truly saying. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head,” Hazel drawled. She might’ve continued, but a wave of sound from the corridor suggested that classes were over and Hazel waved her hand.

“Kk so this was super fun guys, but we’ll just have to finish later,” she said to a chorus of groans from the class (she could practically feel their eyes burning a hole through the remaining orbs). Moving her wand in a lazy motion, she vanished the wisps and then waved her wand again to summon the heaviest looking book she could find before unceremoniously dropped it in the lap of the upstart Slytherin. “Write me an essay about this.” She ignored his complaints, his rapidfire questions about what the essay should be about, and shooed him out the door with the rest of his House mates.

Soon she was almost alone. Almost, but not quite. “Soooo,” Hazel said, making her way to the only occupied desk in the room. She leaned forward, placed her palms on the desk and let her nails click-click while she smirked down at him. “How was it for you?”

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

The manner with which Hazel commanded her classroom was quite unlike anything Felix had ever seen. All of her students looked on, rapturous. How did she even manage that? He did't think that half of the students really understood the point she was trying to make - he himself was struggling to grasp it, but he was distracted for entirely different reasons. If he could channel Hazel in his own department meetings, maybe they'd have a solution to some of the research they undertook in the department of mysteries.

Feeling rather vexatious, Felix picked apart Hazel's theory. While it was sound, and based in both physical and philosophical proof that change was, indeed, the only constant, he wanted to rile Hazel up. He liked the way her cheeks would flush in frustration. Then she would tilt her head slightly, glaring at his challenge, inhale and exhale, and say something that was very likely clever, but Felix was too concerned with the way her lips formed words. Luckily for them both then, that a Slytherin grumbled loudly about their posturing, and Felix felt his own face go red. Before either of them could address the observation however, the bell sounded and the students were brought back to awareness that they were, in fact, in school. Felix remained in his seat as Hazel dismissed her class, the only sign of his impatience the bouncing of his knee.

Finally, the pair of them were alone. And at last, Felix rose, and took a step towards Hazel. She was taller than average, but Felix still dwarfed her. However, when she approached him, he promptly dropped back into his seat like a reprimanded dog. Felix pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes slightly. "I can think of a thousand other ways I'd like that question to be posed," he said slowly, the light in his eyes sparkling with mischief. "But it was interesting. "I suppose I'll have to come back to learn how earth cleanses the soul," he added with a smirk.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel’s eyes slowly trailed down to take in the sight in front of her, enjoying the way that Felix seemed to be completely at attention for her. His posture was stiff, leaning forward like he’d rather be standing while his knee bounced and he looked up at her. His stormy gray eyes were locked on hers, but there was no mystery lurking there now. He’d seemed standoffish at the beginning of class, but there’d been a little hint of attitude there that had been unraveling throughout the lesson. Now Hazel took back her earlier assessment, because there was no way to describe Felix as cold. There was an electric feeling shooting through her veins and her eyes dropped to appreciate the new curve to Felix’s lips as he smirked at her.

Because really, she never saw any need to hide her admiration whenever it was earned. Most men were so boring, weren’t they? So eager to please that they’d say whatever they thought she wanted to hear, and it’d become predictable enough that they took all the fun out of the chase. Like, it couldn’t even really be called that anymore. But Felix had risen to the challenge, and even thinking back to a few moments ago when he’d started to rip into her theory – it made Hazel’s blood boil, only somewhat infuriating but mostly…intriguing. She wanted him to do it again. To do it again while they were alone and she could shoot back right at him and for there to be much much less distance between them (although the desk could stay).

He was definitely matching her energy, and Hazel smiled crookedly at his teasing response. The slow way he said it, like he was dragging out the moment between them, caused her to lean in a little more. “Oh we’ve only scratched the surface, babe.” It was the exact opposite of what she wanted to do, but Hazel forced herself to pull back. She tossed her hair back as she shot him an enigmatic smile. “I might be able to find a lil time to squeeze in some office hours. Tonight. We can finish…sorting this out.” Her throat went a little dry at the thought, although she was mostly absorbed with the possibility of seeing what else she might be able to tease out of Felix. A few kiddos began to wander in for the next class, so Hazel waved her fingers at Felix. “Byyyye. See you soon.”

FELIX CICERO TELLER
[End post Hazel!]

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Felix was delighted that Hazel so graciously offered him office hours that very evening. Their gazes locked, and they shared a silent moment of mirth before Hazel dismissed him. "See you later," he promised before sweeping from the room.

end thread