Hard to Come By

Chapter 1

After 7 years, you'd think you'd be done with this place

Want to run away and never come back to the place that gave you the most grueling academics you could take.

Here you are 3 years after graduation, walking through the corridors. Not as a student, nor a teacher, but something smaller to start some kind of career. Being a teachers assistant is not a common dream among little witches and wizards.

During your gap years you tried to think of different paths you could take. Every idea started with your many credits you obtained from Hogwarts and how they could benefit you in any field. Once Hogwarts was no longer a part of that vision, you no longer held interest in pursuing anything.

But you could keep Hogwarts in your life if teaching snagged your interest. You love magic and everything to do with it, kids are 50/50. But you have to remember you were here just 3 short years ago, a kid yourself.

As a child you looked up to your professors and admired their knowledge and their duty to educate the magical youth. You want to be a part of that.

Just like every job you can't just hop in a call yourself a professor. You need experiences, hours, and plenty of mentoring.

When you got the owl from Headmaster Dumbledore, you were ecstatic for the first time in awhile. Your acceptance didn't take long, as he was already aware of who you are and your work ethic.

He offered to move you in over the summer so you can acclimate to the schedules again and start setting up your office and chambers. It seems like such an extravagant arrangement for a former student. For some reason you expected to be thrown into the dormitories again or take a up a residence above The Three Broomsticks, but this is amazing. Makes you feel official.

You've been here a couple days now and have allowed yourself to explore parts of the castle that you never knew existed. You're not interrupted in your perusing since a lot of the staff choose to take time off and away from the castle during the summer. There's no better time to travel.

You'd join in with the summer festivities but you travelled for a few years before starting. You think you've gotten it out of your system for now. Your main focus at the moment is of course being available for the professors if they need help with any lessons plans or such but also decorating your office and living space.

You're at a fairly dark side of the castle, and while you don't mind it, you know that the last thing you'll need to see at the end of a work day is a gloomy space. You love nature and plants and animals. Your living space as well as your office is filled with all kinds of different greenery. You have ivys that hang from the ceiling and vines that grow against the stone walls of your office, giving the space a nice pop of color and a relaxing air.

You hear a knock on my door as you're watering your precious plants. You quickly set down the watering can and go to open your office door. "Good afternoon Y/N," the personification of 'self absorbed' greets you in a tone that you bet he finds so enticing.

"Professor Lockhart," you say in a terribly forced enthusiastic voice, "how wonderful of you to stop by." You step to the side, leaving the door open so that he may enter. He has his hands behind his back and his chin held high, his movements are very theatric. You have to keep yourself from cringing. Though youre sure your tone would fend off any intelligent person, Lockhart does not seem perturbed by it and continues.

"Yes I was just making my rounds and wanted to ask you something," he walks around your office and touches all over your leaves and vines. "Get on with it then," you push, "I'm sure you're a very busy man just as I am a busy woman."