Leaning back in the chair at her desk, Bonnie is, for once, not grading papers. It appears as if the woman has actually finished her grading for the day. Instead, the woman has a book with moving pictures on it, declaring that ACTION and ADVENTURE and THRILLS are contained within its covers. Though her expression is rather blank, it is clear that the woman is rather lost in the book, given her unusually casual posture in a place where students could easily see her.

Tentatively making her way into the classroom, hesitating as she steps into the entrance/bagroom area, Kelly clutches a few books closely to her chest and says nothing for a long moment, this in itself rather uncharacteristic of her. After a moment, she shuffles into the main classroom, offering a quiet call of, “Professor Kensington?” and clinging the books closer to her body like some kind of security blanket. Why did she decide to do this? Why? Well, because Divination is the only subject she’s passingly good at, she needs to brag about it in some way. But… why?

The voice startles Bonnie, and she looks up sharply from her book, snapping it shut and placing it onto her desk gently. “Miss Pantall, yes…” The teacher clears her throat. “How can I help you? It’s not often I see you in here after classes are done.” She stands up from her desk and smooths her robes down, as if reading the book had somehow mussed them. Pulling a tin out of her drawer, she strides around the desk and opens it up. “Biscuit?”

Clearing her throat audibly, not quite meeting Bonnie’s eye, and still clutching the books tightly to her chest, Kelly does try to smile as she approaches, though it is a smile tinged with nervousness. “Er. I was wondering if I could – oh, yes please,” she is distracted only halfway through her point, daring to reach out from her tightly held books to take one, before continuing on. “I was wondering if I could – for extra credit, in Divination, um…” Her actual point is lost to her nervousness, but it is presumed that there is a point in there somewhere.

Waiting for a moment or two for Kelly to answer, Bonnie closes the tin and a silence falls between them. “You were saying, Miss Pantall?” she asks, gesturing her hand to coax the words out of the third-year’s mouth. “You’ve never had reason to be shy with me before, Kelly. What’s bothering you?” Bonnie looks genuinely concerned as she says this and crosses her arms, tin still in hand, as she fixes her arms steadily on the Gryffindor girl.

“I… things haven’t been going well.” Kelly explains quietly, cheeks flushing pink, and eyes turning to the ground. “I need something to focus on for a while. So, I was wondering if, for extra credit in Divination, I could pursue… extra studies.” A small, shy little smile playing on her lips, she looks up at the Professor and offers, tentatively, “I’d still like to try and find out who – who Jack the Ripper was, with your permission and assistance. I think – I mean, what if I do succeed, huh? Then everyone will know and, and, it’ll be really great!” Some of her nervousness dissipates, here, letting loose her usual eagerness and excitement about this topic – rather more restrained than usual, but unmistakeably present.

“Well, if you can write out a proposal of what you plan to do and how, then I might be able to see about some extra credit,” Bonnie tells the girl. “And all things considered, you aren’t doing that badly, Kelly.” Her voice softens as she says this. “At least you’re turning your things in when they’re due. You could use to invest in a spell-checking quill, however.” Bonnie smiles a bit at her as she says this, leaning against a nearby table, and then holding out the tin to Kelly for another biscuit before taking one for herself.

Blushing a bit more strongly pink, Kelly takes the offered biscuit with a slightly shaking hand. “I should double-check these things.” She concedes – even in her quiet nervousness, however, she is not willing to admit to an actual deficit in her skills in any area. “I’m much, much better at the practical work, though, aren’t I, Professor Kensington?” Tapping the cover of one of the books, she continues to explain, “This book details how the mind can be sort of thrown to a certain thing while Divining, how when some people are really, really, really good, they can make themselves see what they want to see rather than just… whatever. I’d like to try it, Professor, even if I’m not that good yet – if I try now, I will be one day.”

“Yes, you are good at the practical exercises,” the teacher answers with a nod, patting Kelly on the shoulder. “If you can match that in your theory, I’d say you’ll be a shoe-in for excellent marks in Divination.” Yes, Bonnie is feeling very nice today, hence, the biscuits. “And you really must calm down. Nothing in here is going to eat you.” Pausing and looking at the book that Kelly has procured, Bonnie studies it thoughtfully. “Now, myself, I would be more inclined to have you use the Guide first, and then refer to that, but as it is your project, I will not lay down any mandates. I would like you to write out how you plan to go about finding this out, and what methods of divination you would use. Remember, a good Divinator always checks her work on things like this.”

Nodding in response to this, beaming quite brightly despite her nervousness and less than ideal mood, it seems that Kelly is no longer regretting her choice to approach Bonnie about Divination. “It’s – I really want to try and find out, Professor Kensington, both because I really want to know and because I – I need something to focus on, because as I said, I’ve not been having an excellent couple of weeks.” She hesitates, her expression turning hesitant and thoughtful again, and she adds, “Er. Can I – can I ask your advice on a more personal matter?” She bites down on her lower lip and flushes quite pink, lowering her eyes back down towards the ground, almost as if she’s half-hoping for a ‘no’.

“Certainly you can, Kelly,” Bonnie tells the girl and glances around the empty classroom. “Let’s go into my office,” she suggest, not waiting long enough for an affirmative response before turning with her tin and striding towards her office. Once inside, she takes a seat behind her desk and gets comfortable while she waits for Kelly to situate herself before the desk in one of the plush chairs that Bonnie has supplied for purposes such as this. “Now, what was it you wanted my advice on?”

Seeming quite startled by the passage into her office, Kelly bites at her bottom lip as she sits down awkwardly, taking a moment to formulate a response. “Er. Professor Kensington, how do you get someone you like to stop being angry with you? And how do you get someone who likes you to stop it?” Another moment of hesitation, though she evidently has an intention to keep asking questions, but finding herself unable to correctly formulate words. “And… if you have a friend, who you like a lot, but only as a friend,” these last few words are added hurriedly, as if she expects some kind of contrary accusation, “and he likes you – only as a friend!” Once again, rather rushed words, “How do you stop everyone else from thinking that you’re not… just friends?”

“Well, I don’t know that there’s a way around someone getting the wrong idea about someone you’re friends with. People will talk. So the only thing I can recommend in that respect is for you to write in your journal about how much it frustrates you, to get out the frustration, and then ignore it.” Bonnie pauses as she says this, reaching out to take a cookie out of her tin. “About this friend who is angry with you… have you apologized to this friend for what he or she is angry at you about?” Bonnie keeps an impartial expression on her face as she munches her cookie and studies Kelly’s face.

Hesitating again, biting down a little harder on her lower lip and averting her eyes from the Professor, the girl looks utterly pathetic, as well as uncertain about whether she should explain further. “The one who’s angry with me… isn’t so much a friend.” There’s an insinuation in Kelly‘s tone, implying that it is more rather than less, here. “And he’s angry because… people are talking. About me and my other friend. Er. Do you get it?” Her cheeks are flushed quite pink at this point, and her hands, such as they can be seen, clutching her books to her chest so tightly that her knuckles are white, are shaking a little. “So I don’t know if I can apologise for that.”

After a moment of pause, Bonnie finally responds. “You can have no control over the reactions of others, Kelly. If he’s getting so worked up over the rumors, perhaps he’s not the right one to be your friend.” Bonnie seems to have mulled over how to say this for several moments and is perhaps a bit unsure of how to broach such a thing. “In all honesty, Kelly, if he is your friend, then he ought to be your friend regardless of what other people say, especially if you’re completely honest with him in telling him that such things are completely untrue.”

Sighing heavily, Kelly leans back in the chair, affecting a completely despondent expression. Really, she is being rather over-dramatic about the whole issue, but by the same token, she is a fourteen year old girl and therefore has the right to be dramatic about such things. “That’s what Miss Eliza said, too.” She offers quietly. “But I don’t want to, to stop being his friend, Professor Kensington. Not really. I… I really like him. He gave me a book, once… and he wrote me a letter…” This seems to be about all she has to say, and she trails off into an uneasy silence.

“Well, Kelly, ultimately you have to decide what is best for you. Does this friend mean more to you than the other, about whom the rumors are going around?” While Bonnie has expected this to come with her job, she finds herself slightly unsure of what to say to the student, given her own tendencies and preferences in terms of friends and relationships. “It’s hard to say without being in your shoes, dear, but remember that you have to weigh whether your friendship with him is worth the stress that it seems to be causing you.”

Flushed even brighter pink, clinging her books even closer to her chest, Kelly is silent for a moment, thinking. Judging from her expression the thoughts coming to her are hardly desirable ones. “Prof – Professor Kensington…” She trails off, unable to verbalise her thoughts for a moment longer. “If I… if I have to choose between them, I’d have to choose my, my rumour friend… but I don’t want to have to choose, Professor.” Hesitating for a moment longer, she offers quietly, “And how… how do you make someone stop liking you, Professor?”

“You can’t make anyone do anything they don’t want to, Kelly,” Bonnie tells the girl, then pauses. “Well, you could, but it’s not something you should be trying to do. Only those who stoop to lows would actively pursue something like that.” Bonnie reaches out to pat Kelly on the shoulder and looks at the young girl pensively for a moment. “Try not to trouble yourself too much about it, though, Kelly. These friendships may wane over time, and in the end, you’ve only yourself to count on. Remember that, hmm?” Bonnie smiles slightly at Kelly as she says this, leaning back in her seat.

Hesitating for a moment, chewing at her bottom lip awkwardly, it is a long time before Kelly manages to get her thoughts together for long enough to reply sensibly. “Prof – professor Kensington, it’s just so hard.” Sighing heavily, if a little overdramatically, she continues to explain. “I’ve already stopped being friends with one girl, and now I think that was mostly his fault. And now, if I have to choose between him and him…” Exactly which ‘him’ she means where is quite lost in her recitation, and she doesn’t look up at the Professor. “I can’t… I can’t be alone forever. I just can’t…”

“You don’t have to be, Kelly. I’m just saying not to let them get to you too much, alright? Don’t let yourself get lost in them. Now, as for not wanting to lose them, sit each of them down and have a chat with them. If he or he has too much of a problem with it, then it simply won’t be worth your time and energy to fret over it. If they truly like you for you, Kelly, then they’ll understand.” Bonnie holds out the tin of cookies again toward Kelly, beckoning for the girl to take one, or perhaps three.

Given that she’s dating probably the least understanding of all Hufflepuffs, this advice is probably both very good and the least likely thing the dismal Kelly will listen to and follow. However, she does appear to be listening, even if she has no intention of carrying it out as such, so it’s a good start. Smiling a thin, vague sort of smile, and reaching out for another cookie – just one, she’s not being greedy about it – she is silent for a moment, thinking this over. “I don’t know what good it could possibly do, Professor, but… it’s just so complex, Professor. I hate rumours.”

“Is there a way for you to get out around the school that those rumors aren’t true? Perhaps confront those who are spreading them, or put up notices in places where they will see them. If they bother you, Kelly, you have to do something about it. It is my experience that they simply will not stop on their own.” In this, Bonnie is very right, though the fact that it still happens makes it clear that children will not stop or learn this principle, no matter how well they know it. “I’m very sorry this is happening to you, though, Kelly. It, unfortunately, is a part of life. Just try to find a way to stop it, and also a way to vent your frustration, alright?”

Though she does hesitate for a moment, it does not seem that Kelly finds this advice terribly applicable. After a moment, she offers, still nibbling on the edge of her cookie, “I can’t see how it would make it any better to put up big signs that say ‘Kelly Pantall is not dating Charlie Linwood’. For a start, people wouldn’t think there’d be any point denying it if it wasn’t true or something. And also, well, it’s just a bit weird.” And we all know that Kelly would never do something that can be construed as weird, of course not. After another moment of silence, she sighs heavily, slumping down a little. “If I could saddle rumour with the truth, it’d be good. But only the bits of the truth that aren’t secret. Because it’s not like I can just tell anyone the whole truth if they ask me about it.”

Looking at Kelly, Bonnie appears to have now got out of her element, a fact which does not sit well with her. “The only thing I can suggest, then, Kelly, is for you to journal about it a lot. Take out your frustration with that. Perhaps you could also join the Quidditch team next year if there are any openings. That could also help you relieve yourself of the frustration from the rumors. There isn’t any way to make people stop talking, unfortunately. Believe me, that’s the one secret everyone wants to know how to do. But, people will talk.” Bonnie reaches out and makes to pat Kelly on the hand, though Kelly sitting in the chair across does make this a difficult gesture.

Offering a small half-smile to the Professor as she reaches out, Kelly sits in thoughtful silence for a moment. When she speaks, it seems less because she has something that needs saying and more because the silence is beginning to feel awkward. “Well, I would kind of like to join the team, but I don’t think there are any open positions. If there are tryouts, I’ll go just to see… but I wouldn’t be a very good Seeker, you know? Or a Keeper or a Chaser. I can’t catch very well.” Another pause, a much shorter one, though still entirely thoughtful. “I suppose I could be a Beater. I’ve been told I’d be good at that.” Sure, it was a nod to her anger management rather than to her strength, but it’s more or less a compliment either way. “Charlie’s a Beater, though. That might be slightly problematic. Me an’ my best friend being Beaters on opposing teams…”

“You’re in different houses without it causing a problem, aren’t you? You just have to remember that the quidditch match is only once a year, and then you have to be friends with him the rest of the time. If you’re truly good friends, then it shouldn’t get in the way of your friendship to be on opposing teams.” Bonnie pauses. “Think of it like a game of chess. You wouldn’t stop being friends over a game of chess, would you?” The woman smiles a bit to the girl and withdraws her hand. “And if you really don’t think you could play against him, well, then perhaps it’s best to go back to the journal anyway.”

“In a game of chess, you aren’t trying to hit iron balls at each other.” Kelly points out, though she does giggle quietly over her own remark. “I get what you’re saying, Professor. I – I think I’ll try out for the team anyway, though, because, well, more than one person has encouraged me.” A pause, and she adds, “I write in my journal all the time, but I still don’t feel like I can be completely honest with it. I mean, what if someone else gets their hands on it and reads it? I can write about some things, but not about everything. Not the secrets, and the secrets are big, too…” Another tentative nibble of the cookie in her hand follows. Then, she chomps down the rest of the cookie all at once. No point in being tentative about it now.

“It seems to me that you need to learn and master the locking charm, Kelly,” Bonnie states frankly, scooting her chair back quickly. She walks over to the bookcase nearby and starts running her fingers over the books quickly. “Aha, here.” She slips a book out from the shelf and sits down again at her desk, quickly leafing through it. She continues until she is about three quarters of the way through the book and stops. “Here’s a charm that can help you lock your journal shut,” Bonnie tells her, holding out the book and turning it around so that Kelly can see the charm she’s pointing to. “You can borrow the book until you master it. I’d be careful doing it too much on the same object, though. Try to find an old book that you don’t need anymore, or perhaps a door that can be replaced first. Once you master that, you needn’t worry about someone getting it and reading it, because only the person who locks it can unlock it, with the exception of very skilled wizards.”

Though Kelly does take the book and inspects the page explaining the charm carefully, she seems hesitant about it all; perhaps because she feels uncomfortable being encouraged to use magic outside of class, even by a teacher, or perhaps simply because of her consistently poor efforts in Charms and other related subjects. Either way, she offers a small smile, adding the book to her pile. “Thank you, Professor Kensington.” She offers quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “You’re… thank you.” This seems to be all that comes to her mind, so she merely sits awkwardly for a while, watching the Professor in silence.

Sensing that Kelly doesn’t seem to have much more to say, Bonnie smiles congenially. “That charm ought to help you, if you can master it, and then you can feel free to rant as you like.” A pause. “Now, get off to supper. I don’t want you to starve to death on my account.” Bonnie stands as she says this, and it doesn’t seem to occur to her that Kelly came to her to seek advice rather than the other way around. “Come and see me whenever you need to,” Bonnie chimes as well, glancing around her office and making her way around the desk to look out into the still-empty classroom. Sometime, Bonnie is likely to remember what she had been doing before the student joined her, but for the moment, she is content to see Kelly out and then endeavor to remember.

Smiling again at the Professor – her expression tinged with a certain sincerity that it lacked before – Kelly stands, adjusting the pile of books in her arms and turns to leave. For a moment, it seems that she is about to leave in silence, but she hesitates on the way out, offering a whispered, “I’ll see you in class, Professor? I’ll – I’ll have my research proposition written up for you as soon as I can.” While, indeed, the extra-credit task was really just an excuse to come and ask the Professor for advice, but it would be wrong to indicate that the girl is actually disinterested in the idea. On that last note, she makes her exit, careful to keep her things in order. It is with a thoughtful expression that she leaves; whatever else the conversation achieved, it gave her something to reflect on.

Other Interesting Logs:

• Several Important Questions
• A Prospective Divination Student
• A Curious Proposition
• Office Hours in the Divination Tower
• The Art of Seeing