More than just a professor. [Andi&Anna]

Anna laughed lightly, and she stopped abruptly because she thought how strange it sounded to her ears. It was like an out-of-tune violin, but a lot worse than that. She sighed when Professor Fallen had told her that she could tell. She bit her lip. Did she want to tell? Well, there was no turning back now.

"Imagine a young, newly married lady, in a temple at the top of the hill," she began monotonously. "Imagine a colourful room full of tapestries and carpets and paintings. Imagine this woman... giving birth to a baby. At one in the afternoon. Her loving - perhaps, not-so-loving husband, by her side, yelling for help. Monks, running in from here and there, far and near..."

Andria nodded obediently, giving a signal for the girl to continue on with her story. She would listen first of course. After what seemed like the Ravenclaw finally thought of confessing her own deepest secret, there's no way she can ruin the moment. And after all, seeing the young lass like this would be a rare opportunity.

"Yes, you see the young girl being born?" Anna continued. "That is me. Little me. Cradled by her loved ones, she lived on that mountainous place for six months before finally going to the rainy country. She watches herself grow, and grow... her first steps, her first words, her first sentence, her first book...

"Five years later, she is standing timidly on the courtroom. Yelling, shouting, screaming, words she does not understand. She watches, trying her best not to cry. She goes home with only her mother, and she does not know why. She asks, and asks, and asks. She does not get an answer. She goes everywhere around the world as she grows, and she never knows why she does not see her father no more.

Andria gave the girl an encouraging smile and silently gestured for her to continue. That it's still safe to do so, seeing that the Ravenclaw really wanted to spill the story out. And it sure was full of pity. She never did realize that such thing, - that such horrible event, will happen and make the young Anna like this. Now she understood. There's more where that came from. And they're heading that way.

"I do feel sorry for you, dear. Now I get it." She spoke softly and tucked a strand of hair underneath the girl's ear.

"I am not finished yet," Anna replied. She bit her lip as Professor Fallen took a strand of her hair and pulled it back. She took a breath and continued on, this time looking more at the sky than at anyone. Merlin, this was going to be hard.

"For five years, perhaps... perhaps it is bliss, or as they just memories? France, Greece, Finland, Russia... night and day in cities never before seen. A creature lurking. A deadly flower. You don't even know what you are doing. You just laugh along with your saviour, the one you love. You enjoy it, right? They're fun, exciting, interesting. They're not at all what a conventional mother would show their children. Of course not. Normal children stay home and play and poke around with magic.

"Like with everything else in this world, her life has a bad side. This young girl... she sees the lives of the poor and how they live. She wants to help, but she cannot. How can she? She was not President of no man's country. She never knew what normal was; all she knew were planes and culture and animals and plants. Anything but normal.

"Obviously, all good things come to an end. They can not last, like how death and mourning cannot last forever. This young girl, who has lived her life travelling... she will have to grow up sooner or later, and once she finds out she has to go to school... Merlin, she was excited. She loved books, and she loved learning. She made a best friend in the bookstore. They stuck together like glue. They had another friend too, one just as enthusiastic as they were.

"For a year... it seemed perfect. They were together. Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, hand in hand, every day. They talked, laughed, shared each other's secrets. They are sisters, not by blood, not by law, but they were sisters. They had each other's backs, and knew what to do if one was in danger. They had their lives intertwined with one another.

"Like I said before, all good things must come to an end. Summer passed, autumn came. School was ready to receive children in its arms, but not all were ready to return. The young girl, her life full of joy and happiness, and sadness she cannot remember. One came, one did not come, and the other was late. What was happening? the girl must have thought. What happened to the perfection of my life? The life I was content with? Why has it been taken away from me? Oh, she was so naive, so young, so innocent.

"As the house of cards topples down, so does her sanity. Soon, one of them dies. Water is the key here. Deep blue waters. Une riviere, oui? A funeral. Black dresses, and time? It leaves her alone, lone, lone, lone.

"Summer comes again, and she knows that all will be lost. And she loses them. She was in a white dress, walking down the aisle... but she was not the bride. It was her beautiful, bouncing mother, her golden curls laid in perfect symmetry across her shoulders. This young girl sees the man she has seen yet never remembered... her father.

"Soon, they all fall down."

Andria gave her final understanding nod and pursed her lips, creating a sympathetic smile that wanted to feel the girl's one hundred percent emotions. She straightened up from her position, slightly wiping a tear that began to come out of her once curious eyes because of the story. She patted the Ravenclaw's knee, seeming cautious on whether or not the girl will accept a hug or two because the lady desired to. How can she show? When Anna seemed so unknown to herself that she had usual mood swings? Andi wouldn't want that coming again.

"What a story. Now everything is answered. Things I'm dying to know. But I would want to find an answer to your problems, lass. Anything you want to add before we end the likely-dramatic conversation? I think we both need a rest for now. What a day, isn't it? Not just the weather and surroundings themselves. But for the whole lot of confessions made." She spoke, forcing a smile that might hide her watery-eyes.

"No, nothing at all," Anna replied, biting her lower lip. She hugged Professor Fallen tenderly, not really wanting to offend her. There were still things she refrained from telling her that made up a huge chunk of her current personality, and they weren't that particularly important anyway. Not to Professor Fallen, she wouldn't think, but to Anna, it mattered more than anything else that could possibly be in this world. Not like she wasn't going to tell the elder woman that. She abruptly let go of the young Professor, looking down at the floor

After looking at the lake for the final time, Anna then took a glance at the Professor. "Umm... I best be off now, should I?" she asked. She then shook her head, a signal to leave the question unanswered. She forced a wobbly smile upon her face and looked directly at the professor. She swiftly turned around and walked towards the castle, a ton lifted off her shoulders. Perhaps, this was just the first step to what would be a long, mental journey.