Secrets

Chapter 7 - Friendly Advice

It was the last M.A.P. group meeting before Christmas vacation. All of the students were eager to go home, so Professor Bale spent the last two smaller group meetings practicing jinxes and curses with them. They worked for about an hour, and then he spoke with each of them individually before dismissing them. Ernie and Hannah were both going away for Christmas with their families, so Professor Bale didn't bother giving them anything to work on while they were gone. Lisa asked to borrow several of his books, and he lent them to her.

"What are your plans for Christmas?" Professor Bale asked Kyra.

"I'm just going home, like usual," Kyra replied. "If you want to give me something to work on, I'd be grateful," she told him.

"All right," he nodded. "Can you stay a while longer?"

"Yeah, that's no problem," Kyra replied. "I'll meet up with you later?" she said to Lisa, who was waiting for Kyra to finish.

Lisa flashed her a look that plainly said she was jealous, and answered, "Yeah, sure. Have a great Christmas, Professor!"

"Thank you, Lisa," he replied smiling at her. "The same to you!"

Lisa beamed, and left the classroom. Professor Bale watched her go.

After a moment, slightly past the time Kyra had expected him to turn back to her, she spoke up. "Professor Bale?"

Obviously lost in thought, he didn't even blink when she spoke. He just continued staring out the doorway.

"Professor Bale, are you okay?" she tried again. She wondered if some silent and unseen person had cast Petrificus Totalus on him, and looked around for the culprit.

Suddenly he seemed to remember where he was, and he shook his head slightly as if to clear it. He turned around and looked at Kyra. "I'm sorry... I zoned out there, didn't I?" he asked, turning slightly pink in embarrassment.

"Yeah, just a little," she told him. "Are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

"Yes... No... Sort of," he finally decided. "So," he said brightly, changing the subject, "what kind of plans do you have for Christmas?" He'd apparently forgotten that he'd already asked her that question.

"Nothing, really," she answered again, "though Lisa's promised to take me out to dinner for my birthday if I Apparate to her place," she added.

Professor Bale smiled at her. "That sounds nice. Probably nicer than spending the evening with the parents, huh?" he asked lightly.

"Definitely. And I'll take any excuse to get away from my brother on my birthday," she agreed.

"I didn't realize you had a brother," Professor Bale commented, surprised. "Is he older, or younger than you?"

"Younger," she replied, "by almost five years."

"Then he's a Muggle too?" the Professor questioned.

"No," Kyra answered in a low tone, "he's here at Hogwarts."

"But that would make him a second-year, wouldn't it?" he asked, and she nodded. "Does he share your last name?" the Professor asked, puzzled. There weren't any other Ravenclaws named Bradley.

Kyra nodded, and Professor Bale's eyes widened as he a realization suddenly hit him. "Not Tim Bradley in Slytherin..." he uttered in complete disbelief.

Kyra nodded ruefully. "Yes, unfortunately."

"But how is that possible?" he asked. "I don't understand how a girl as sweet and caring as you can wind up with a brother in Slytherin."

"I attribute it to the total lack of discipline he had growing up," Kyra said wryly. "Father was ill, and mother and I were too busy taking care of him to worry too much when my brother misbehaved a little." She sighed. "I probably shouldn't be too hard on him. It's not that he's a bad kid or anything... He's just a little misguided. And inconsiderate."

"Do the Slytherins give him grief about being Muggle-born?" the Professor asked curiously.

"I don't know," Kyra replied thoughtfully. "You would assume they'd have a problem with it, but he's never mentioned it. I'd guess that they either don't give their housemates a rough time about it, or that my brother is trying to pretend that the problem doesn't exist." She shrugged. "Who knows."

"So," she prompted, changing the subject again, "you wanted to talk to me about stuff I could work on during vacation?"

"Right," he agreed. He walked over to the bookshelf behind his desk and removed a large, dark red book. Flipping it open, he turned to the third chapter. "I used this book during my Auror apprenticeship," he explained. "I'd like you to read through it, and practice the exercises listed here in chapters three and four." He spent several minutes going over the exercises with her, answering her questions and giving advice and guidance. "If you have any questions at any time," he told her, "feel free to send me an owl."

"Thanks, Professor," she said graciously, taking the book from him. The exercises looked difficult, yet completely interesting. She was going to have a difficult time waiting until she was home for vacation to start working on them. She would definitely read at least the first chapter that evening.

As she started packing up her books, Professor Bale spoke up. "Kyra," he said, "can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Professor," she replied, stopping to look at him.

"Well, it's a little odd," he replied slowly, "but I was wondering... would you ever consider being friends with a teacher?"

Kyra smiled at him. "Of course, Professor. You know, you really aren't that much older than me, and I do enjoy talking to you."

He smiled at her gratefully. "In that case, I was wondering..." he paused, then reconsidered. "No, never mind, I probably shouldn't..."

She looked at him curiously, wondering what was going on. "What's the matter, Professor? Is there anything I can help with?"

"Well," he started, screwing up his face, "I guess I just need some advice about a problem I'm having, but I don't know where to find that advice at," he admitted.

"What's the problem about?" Kyra asked helpfully.

"A student," he replied, somewhat uneasily.

"Well," she suggested, "I'd probably either talk to another student, or the Headmaster, depending upon the problem."

"That would be the fence I'm sitting on at the moment," he told her, "but I don't think talking to the Headmaster is a good idea," he admitted.

"Oh," was all she said in response. The situation was starting to sound a little odd, and she wasn't sure where it was going. "Are you afraid of getting in trouble, or something?" she asked finally.

"No," he said slowly, "not really... I've been over the rules, and I can't find anything that says it's against school rules, but I don't feel comfortable asking Dumbledore about it. He's just, well, I still feel like a student around him, you know?" he asked her, suddenly sounding very much like a student to Kyra's ears.

"What is it, J- Professor?" Kyra asked softly, wanting to help if she could. She'd almost slipped and called him Justin. She didn't know why, but it had just felt right.

He looked at her, opened his mouth to speak, but apparently changed his mind and closed it again. He sighed, and tried again. "I, um," he hesitated, and tried one more time. "I've fallen for one of my students, and I don’t know what to do about it," he said softly, averting his eyes from hers.

"Oh," she said again in a low voice. "Do I know her?" she asked quietly. "Or him," she appended quickly, trying not to offend him. She knew that not all of the boys at Hogwarts preferred girls.

Professor Bale smiled, and actually emitted a short sound that could have been a laugh. "Her," he informed Kyra in a somewhat amused tone, "and yes, you know her."

Kyra didn't need three guesses to know whom he'd fallen for. Not with the way he'd gotten lost in thought as he watched Lisa leave earlier... Her flirtations had actually worked, and the teacher had a crush on her. Kyra should have been happy for her friend, but there was something unsettled in the pit of her stomach.

As she turned it over in her head, she saw two problems. The first was that she knew Lisa's infatuation with Professor Bale was just crush. It was a pretty serious crush, but Kyra knew her friend better than Lisa knew herself sometimes. Furthermore, Kyra was almost certain that Terry had fallen for Lisa. Terry and Lisa had Herbology together without Kyra, and during Potions class Terry rarely spoke of anything besides Lisa. While Kyra certainly had nothing against Professor Bale, she knew both of her friends well and was actually looking forward to Terry asking Lisa out.

The other problem was more a little more obvious - even if there wasn't a rule that prevented teachers from fraternizing with students, there were bound to be people who would have a problem with Professor Bale dating one. Professor Dumbledore - or worse, the Ministry - would probably fire him, and the students would have a field day with the subject.

Suddenly realizing that she'd left Professor Bale hanging with only an "Oh" in response, Kyra tried to come up with something helpful to add. "I can see why you would be confused," she told him gently.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I don’t know if I should talk to her about it and see if she returns the sentiment, or if I should just leave it well enough alone."

"What would you do if she did return the favor?" Kyra asked him gently. "Do you think you could get away with dating a student?"

"I don't know," he sighed again. "Like I said, I've gone over every rulebook I could find, and there aren't any rules preventing it. But I do have a hard time believing that everyone would be okay with it," he admitted. "I also don't want to scare her," he added softly. "I couldn't bear it if I ruined what we do have by telling her how I feel."

'Was he dense?' Kyra wondered. Practically everyone in the school knew that Lisa had a crush on Professor Bale. But then again, he was a male, and males were inherently dense when it came to women.

"Well," Kyra replied slowly, "if you really want my advice..." she paused, giving him time to change his mind and stop her. He didn't, so she continued, "it sounds to me like there are more reasons why you shouldn't talk to her about it, at least right now." If Lisa ever found out that Kyra was talking him out of this, she was going to kill her, very slowly, and very painfully. But she honestly thought it was for the best. Everyone involved was more likely to get hurt than not. She could just imagine what would happen if the school got word that Professor Bale was romantically involved with a student, and Lisa was not the most discrete girl in the world.

He nodded reluctantly. "You're probably right." He sighed. "Thanks, Kyra. I really appreciate the help." He smiled at her, but Kyra couldn't help feeling bad. She'd just completely crushed the poor man's spirit.

"I'm sorry, Professor," she apologized. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

He looked at her and smiled. "No, I don't think so. Thanks for talking with me. I should probably let you get on with your life now. Lisa is going to get jealous of me monopolizing your time," he joked.

Kyra didn't have the heart to say that it was most likely the other way around. She had a funny feeling that it wouldn't have helped the situation any. Feeling slightly spontaneous, she gave her teacher a quick hug, then gathered up her books and left the classroom. Professor Bale watched her go, once again lost in thought.

~*~