The woman was light and she seemed to walk in such a way that only lightened her step so that her footsteps were barely audible, even in the otherwise mostly quiet astronomy tower.  As with every other time before, it had been Baldur who noticed Ms. Biladeau's arrival first.  Sasha only became aware of her presence when the Shepherd pushed himself to his feet and trotted across the room to greet the woman.  With each passing 'visit' - or whatever these were - Baldur's greeting had become progressively more friendly and relaxed and this time was no exception.  He reached the woman with an eagerly wagging tail, a ducked head and ears laid back casually against his head. 

A greeting that was in stark contrast to Sasha's own cooler and detached, "Ma'am," as Sasha turned back to the essay in front of him.  Since that first 'emergency' meeting during Astronomy class, Sasha had come to understand that this Ms. Biladeau was the schools new ... well, therapist.  She'd seemed satisfied at that first meeting so Sasha had hoped, somehow, that had been the end of it.  But, then she'd started showing up randomly while he was studying, asking various questions to which Sasha had provided cordial, appropriate and entirely vague responses to. 

Unfortunately, Sasha's patterns were a bit too predictable; it hadn't been hard for the therapist to pick up on them.  Every day, when Herbology let out at five, Sasha cloistered himself in the Astronomy tower through the seminar period and dinner to get a head start on whatever assignments were due the next day.  Especially at that time of the day, it was one of the quieter spots in the castle and Professor Trishna never minded Baldur being there.  Sasha would usually munch away at whatever was left from what he'd put in his backpacking canteen from the lunch table while he studied. 

Monday had been an exception.  Following his ... discussion ... with Professor Trishna on Saturday, Sasha had found himself wandering the castle for an alternate study spot but, halfway through dinner, he'd given up and made his way back to the tower.  Even with their conversation the previous day - and the information that had been aired between them - the tower was still one of the places Sasha felt the most secure.  He still didn't know whether Ms. Biladeau had gone looking for him that day or if his absence had gone unnoticed. 

"I'm doing just fine," Sasha said, as vaguely as ever as he set his quill down in the inkwell and looked up from the essay. 

She walked on her toes on her way to visit with Sasha—a habit from years of ballet. It made Maiko look taller than she really was, and gave her a small little bounce to her step. Her last few visits with Sasha had caused her to grow ever more concerned about the boy, though she would never vocalize that to him. Mai felt like her concern for him showed enough in the amount of visits she paid him—after her talk with his Head of House, Tapendra, she felt like he needed to be watched. Not suffocated, not pressured. Maiko felt like he needed a strong support network, and she felt like she would be a nice addition, if and when he let her in.

“Oh, Baldur! Chiot-chiot! Mon chou!” She started to pet the dog affectionately. Maiko adored animals—particularly cats and dogs. Every time she saw Baldur, she couldn’t help but feel giddy. He was such a kind, sweet dog who had a way of making her feel welcome. If Sasha was not happy to see her, than his dog certainly was. In fact, Maiko knew that even if she felt like Sasha did not need her visits, she would continue to visit him just to see Baldur.  Maiko held a paper bag in her hand, and she handed it over to Sasha.

“I brought you something to eat.” She said. Maiko was getting in the habit of bringing Sasha some food—she felt like he did not eat plenty. It did not take her long to learn that he was a vegetarian. Mai took some great care to make sure that none of the food had any meat in it. The fact that he was not a vegan made it much easier. “There’s a couple pastries, some gougeres, and some tomato basil crepes.”  There were small amounts of each—the counselor did not want to overstuff him. When she cooked, she tended towards French cooking, for it was what she grew up with. “I promise, there’s no meat this time.”

Once the food was handed over, she sat down in a chair next to him. However, Maiko made sure that Sasha had plenty of personal space. “Just fine.” Maiko smiled a little— her green eyes crinkling up ever so slightly. “I’d assume you’d be doing more than ‘just fine’ with the likes of Baldur around.” She gave the dog an affectionate look, and then glanced back at Sasha. “I could not, for the life of me, find you yesterday. Did you find a new place to study?”

If one were to ask, Sasha wasn't entirely sure why he was so uncertain about this woman.  Chances were, it had a lot to do with her profession.  It wasn't that he was against the soft sciences - he understood their value and academic worth.  But, he could very clearly remember his stepfather's comments on the matter when he'd discovered Sasha had found himself in the school's counselor's office at Queen Ethelburga's academy.  Quite simply, his father had disapproved and, as always, made that disapproval very very clear.  Those whose sole purpose in life was to encourage kids - boys, especially - to explore their emotional side weren't to be trusted.  And, it was entirely counterproductive to helping Sasha become the heir and firstborn son he was expected to be.

Even more so, right now, exploring his emotional side was the last thing Sasha wanted to do.  Even as a young child, when his magical misfires started happening, Sasha had quickly learned that thorough emotional control was the key to preventing those strange events.  And, right now, for the first time in a year, life at least had the perception of working - of being stable.  But, it was a very tentative stability.  He needed to focus on classes and not repeating the mistake he'd made on Saturday and keeping his head down and out of trouble as he navigated through this year. 

What was most settling was, really, it was her job to worry.  That's why she was here.  That's why she'd sought him out.  He was to her what a financial report was to a banker.  Her interest was with whatever issues she thought he had.  Not him.

But, as always, etiquette prevailed.  He'd always been, technically, polite to the counselor.  Distant, cool, but respectful.  "Thank you, ma'am," Sasha said, taking the offered food and, again, setting the essay to the side.  He'd resisted the food during the first two visits but had quickly learned the food was actually good.  Meat-free and good.  Even if it probably had more butter than he'd like to think about. 

"He is a good dog.  I hope they let him continue to stay.  I know someone might complain about it being unfair, some day, but - it's nice having him here."  Sasha did worry a time would come when the Headmaster or the Board of Governors would demand the dog leave; he didn't know what he'd do at that point.  Right now, he was fairly certain he couldn't stay without the Shepherd. 

Of course, Sasha couldn't tell the woman the real reason for his wandering last night.  He wasn't planning on repeating the mistake he'd made with Professor Trishna.  Even if he couldn't share the reason for his restlessness the night before, the results were pretty basic.  "I tried to look for another spot but I couldn't find one.  He's not allowed in the library or Great Hall," Sasha nodded down to the dog.  "So, I ended up coming back up here.  It's as good as anywhere."

“Ugh, don’t call me Ma’am.” Maiko insisted, “It makes me feel old! I don’t even have babies yet.”  She pouted childishly, only to realize that was unprofessional, and she quickly put on a serious look, but it didn’t feel right to her. Maiko wasn’t in the most serious of moods, and she wasn’t one who masked every emotion and thought that came through her. Yes, there was a time and place for feelings, and there was a time and place for professionalism. She felt mildly embarrassed that she let her thoughts slip out of her mouth before reaching a filter. “Just call me Ms Biladeau, sil vous plait.”

Maiko glanced over at Baldur again, and held out her hand so he could sniff it, and perhaps invite her to pet him again. “What a brilliant dog; I’d be utterly distressed if Baldur left. Not as upset as you, obviously. It’s nice to see such a clever creature around that isn’t feline or avian.” She was getting the feeling that Sasha did not exactly want her around. When he looked at her, she felt like he was looking at her profession, not at her as a human being. There were reasons that she decided to go into this field—Sasha was not just another number. He was a person with very real feelings, thoughts, problems, and accomplishments.

She nodded at his answer—whether or not he was lying did not matter at the moment. He had reasons behind his cryptic answers. She appreciated his politeness, but almost wished that he wasn’t so polite and reserved. He was uncomfortable with her, but Maiko also suspected that the politeness was so deeply ingrained in his upbringing, that he simply could not be intentionally rude. In this culture, feelings were not ‘polite.’ Often times, they were viewed as weak. From her point of view, the opposite was true.

“Go on, take a bite.” Mai urged, tilting her head in the direction of the food. “I’m not going to try to psychoanalyze you any more than I would anyone else. I just want to feed you.” It took all of her effort to keep her face deadpan, as she thought that her words were rather ridiculous and amusing. She would not try to psychoanalyze him, but she couldn’t always help it. She studied everybody equally, unless there were some red flags going up that were a cause for concern. She knew bits about Sasha's history from Tapendra, so many of his odd behaviors, she felt, could be attributed to his history. She was not about to make him talk about it if he had already discussed it with the Astronomy Professor. If he ever shared it with her, it would be when he felt comfortable with her, and trusted her. 

For a moment, Sasha debated pointing out that one's proper name served a different grammatical function than the polite means of address, such as ma'am and sir.  Ma'am' wasn't simply a substitute for the use of her name; it was used when one's proper name was too bulky...too awkward.  It would have been a nice, boring, distraction from any conversation paths that dealt with the question of whether or not she'd ever given birth.  But, even in his head, such a comment felt too snarky so he opted for a more honest, though equally dull alternative.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to cause offense; it's just ... it's habit." 

Baldur shifted towards the woman's extended hand, eager for the promise of attention.  "He is a good dog," Sasha agreed, simply, reaching out to stroke the dog's back.  Sasha had been exceedingly careful about abiding by the rules Madam Snark had established at the end of last year.  He never took the dog anywhere he wasn't supposed to go and Baldur had always been gentle and respectful around the other Ravenclaw pets.  They'd both tread very carefully, taking care to make sure that the rule, itself, would be the only reason the dog would be asked to leave.  "I'd probably just leave with him," Sasha admitted with a slight shrug.  "They'd probably kick me out of Ravenclaw tower without him, anyway." 

Sasha eyed the food dubiously for a moment.  She wanted to feed him, not psychoanalyze him?  Was she being serious and was that supposed to sound more normal?  Of course, he knew her intentions were kind - somewhere, deep down, he understood that she was trying to be supportive.  He finally reached out and drew the food towards him, hesitating a moment as etiquette got the better of him and compelled him to hold the selection out to Biladeau.  "Would you like some?  I don't think ... please, having you watch me eat would be a little too strange." 

She was going to hesitate—protest that he needed to eat all the food. Maiko then realized that Sasha was not going to be comfortable if he was the only one eating. She made the mental note that next time, she should bring some snacks with her to eat as well. Every time Mai went to visit Sasha, she learned about things that she needed to improve on. It truly was a learning experience, and she greatly appreciated it, even though Sasha was most likely unaware of her strange gratitude.

“Alright, I’ll eat a little. I already ate dinner, so I’ll just ‘ave a couple of gougeres. Unfortunately, I don’t have wine. Many different wines go beautifully with these. Paired with the crepes though, I would avoid most pinot noir wines… That’s just my personal preference.” She was half talking to herself, and half talking to Sasha.  She grabbed one of those small little cheese pastries, and started to nibble on it slightly.  “I’ll need to remember to bring Baldur some treats next time.” She felt bad leaving him out, and felt like the dog deserved to have something tasty as well.

The counselor gave the dog a tender look. “I certainly ‘ope that Baldur gets to stay as well.” She agreed. Mai didn’t find the answer suspicious in the least; it was one that seemed to be typical of Sasha to make. She was hardly sure when he was or was not lying, but she figured that whatever he did or didn’t tell her, he had his own reasoning behind it. That was enough for Mai.

“You know, this is actually a really nice place. It has something soothing about it.” Perhaps it was the fact that it felt a little secluded, and with it came peace and quiet. Although Maiko was an extrovert, she definitely appreciated isolation from time to time. “I can see why you like it so much.”

She was quiet for a few moments, though the silence was far from uncomfortable. “Do you enjoy Germany?” Maiko asked, assuming that he was German due to his last name and mild accent. Her ex-fiancé had been German, so she was rather quick to recognize accents, however slight they may be.

Sasha hesitated until Ms. Biladeau started eating and then picked up one of the crepes.  The food was, indeed, tempting.  Hogwarts wasn't really known for its vegetarian cuisine.  The selection had gotten better this year but, still, it was nothing like this French vegetarian fare.  Once the awkwardness of eating in front of someone had passed, Sasha took a few bites of the crepe.  "I've got a few treats for him in my bag," Sasha admitted, pointing roughly in the direction of his bag with his chin.  "They're in the front pocket."

The gesture wasn't lost on the shepherd, nor was the treats' usual location.  His tail whisped across the floor and he crawled a little towards the bag.   

"I like it up here," Sasha confirmed and admitted.  He looked up and around at the tower's interior.  "It stays quiet and it's a comfortable place to work.  And I'm, you know, generally comfortable around Professor Trishna."  Despite what had been said or implied the other day, Sasha did feel safe around Professor Trishna.  He knew he hadn't conveyed it well and he was aware somethings had probably been misconstrued in all of the argument and confusion.  But, even in the wake of their conversation, after trolling the castle for almost an hour yesterday, looking for an alternate study spot, he'd still ended up back here.  It still felt more familiar than most other places.

At least until the evening's practical Astronomy class started and Sasha was forced to migrate to his next study spot. 

Sasha shrugged and took another bite of the crepe.  "And, if I come across questions in the other stuff I study, it's nice to be able to have someone to ask.  Before, I never really had anyone to ask for help with the science and math stuff." 

"I love it there," Sasha admitted.  "My family ... well, I guess, now it's me.  I have a place down in the mountains.  It's quiet.  Relaxed.  It's a nice contrast.  And, I don't really like being at home, anymore.  It's just a little too weird being in that house alone.  I was here in the UK most of this summer but I don't think I can do another holiday in that house."

She nodded as he spoke; still taking tiny little nibbles from her little cheese pastry. From what she had heard, and assumed from others, Tapendra was a fairly good teacher. She appreciated that he made the area more accessible and welcoming for students. Mai also appreciated that students seemed to be able to feel like they could come to him if they had questions about their work without feeling stupid or belittled.

The counselor could not hold in a soft giggle when she saw Baldur’s reaction to the treats. He was really an bright dog, and she felt like canines were not given enough credit for their intelligence.

As she listened, Mai decided to stray away from the subject of his family. She felt like he would talk about it if he felt comfortable, and this was not a subject she wanted to force him to talk about. It was not an effective way to build trust, so she changed the subject.

“Do you ‘ave any plans after school?” She was curious as to what Sasha planned to do. Whether or not he shared, she felt like it would be appropriate for her to share what she did. After all, muggle education was not lacking, and it definitely had it’s benefits. She wouldn’t recommend anybody training to be a healer at the same time; though if she had to do it over again, Maiko knew that her choices would have remained the same. They resulted in memories and experiences that she would carry for the rest of her life.

Sasha finished all but the last bite of the crepe and leaned over, offering the last morsel to Baldur.  He had lots of plans for after school and he had even more answers for that question.  Most of them were variations of the truth that had been modified slightly for general, magical-world consumption.  He knew better than to go around telling just anyone what his real plans were. 

Ms. Biladeau was still very much an unknown entity.  Sasha knew very little about her, as would only be appropriate.  While not a professor, she was still a school official and there were professional boundaries.  He knew she didn't subscribe to the notions of blood purity.  But, it was one thing to not believe purebloods were superior to those of mixed blood; it was something entirely different to be willing to accept any idea that challenged the basic idea that the muggle and wizarding worlds were completely segregated. 

And, Sasha was finding it immensely difficult to trust this woman.  She'd never actually done anything to earn his distrust.  Other than summoning him from class in a manner that suggested they were on the verge of catastrophe.  Perhaps it had been his stepfather's clear and obvious disdain and disapproval of the profession.  Perhaps it was Kronos' obvious distrust when Sasha mentioned the women.  What more, perhaps it was the fact that, in this one instance, Kronos Malvivicus and Gerhard Schlagenweit agreed on something.  But, trusting her required a leap of faith he wasn't sure he was prepared to take.

"Not really," Sasha lied.  Though, as of two months ago it had been the complete truth.  "I have lots of options.  Lots of ideas.  I've been interning a lot with the Department of International Magical Cooperation.  With the translations department.  That's an option.  Then, sometimes I ponder just, you know, riding professionally.  That's what I'd been planning on before, well, finding out I was a wizard.  I would have been applying to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna this year.  Sometimes I still consider it an option.  There are other options, though.  A couple other things I'm considering."

She nodded. “You do ‘ave many options.” She paused, and then hesitated. Mai was not sure that what she was about to ask would be offensive or not, but she decided to go through with it anyway. After all, wasn’t Sasha also muggleborn? That meant he was aware of the culture, and of the schooling. Perhaps he wouldn’t view it as out of the question. “I am curious—‘ave you considered going to a muggle school?” Mai asked, “It is a very legitimate option, and it is a fantastic way to explore both worlds.”  Maiko paused to finish up the last bit of her cheese pastry.

“I may have mentioned that I worked at St. Mungos for a period of time. While I was working there, and even when I was in training, I was also attending Cambridge. I received my Master’s in 2005. I’m working on a Psy.D from Oxford, since Cambridge doesn’t have quite the program I’m looking for in a Psy.D.” She wasn’t currently enrolled in school, but she definitely planned to take classes through the summer. Because she already had a master’s, the time it would take her to get a psy.D in this particular program was shortened. Yes, she did take classes before getting this job, but she knew that this job would have been taxing enough without continuing her education. However, it was likely that she would be able to complete her degree by the end of summer—though it depended on when she could get her dissertation completed.

“It’s a muggle university. It’s quite good, I recommend it for someone as studious and diligent as you are.”   Maiko knew she was taking a risk, showing her support for muggle education, but she felt like Sasha also needed to know that it was a very valid, and sometimes very rewarding option.

Maiko felt like riding professionally was a very fascinating option-- it seemed like he loved horses and riding, almost as much as she adored dancing. After all, he wouldn't consider a professional career that revolved around horses if he didn't love them. In the past, she had seen it as a vague interest, though now it seemed that Sasha adored them. Although she was passionate about psychology, and learning about people, she was a little more passionate about ballet. It was her absolute most favorite thing in the world, and all her best ideas came when she danced.

Had he considered going to muggle school?  Had that actually been an entirely coincidental recommendation?  Had it really been an entirely unprompted recommendation?  Or, did she somehow know or suspect that he'd already been considering that an option?  Had someone told her? 

Or, was this a trick? 

But, despite his discomfort around her, Sasha knew, in all fairness, that he had to acknowledge he'd never known her to do anything that was deceitful or outright manipulative like that.  If anything, quite the opposite.  She was too open and honest and transparent.  And, if he wasn't just reacting, her own educational history made sense; she certainly wasn't going to learn about the branch of mental health she was using in a magical educational institution. 

Sasha took a deep breath and nodded.  He knew ... he knew she was likely to overreact when she discovered all his extracurricular studies.  She already treated him like some overburdened mule with just a full spread of Hogwarts classes; learning about the spread of independent studies wasn't gong to help. 

"I ... yes," Sasha offered, glancing quickly around the tower to make sure no one had joined them.  Of course, there wasn't any.  If someone had come up, Baldur would have been the first to know.  "I'm considering that, too.  I am thinking about applying to University.  I'm ... I'm sitting my GCSEs over the next holiday.  In Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Math as well as history, German and French."  After a moment's hesitation, Sasha tugged his Physics and Biology text free from his bag and set them on the coffee table.  "I'd been keeping up with my muggle education since my first year; it seemed such a loss to have it all go to waste at this point.  Even though it means more work." 

Sasha shrugged, flipping his physics text open to a parchment filled with review equations. "Then, depending on how well I do on those exams, I'll start preparing for A-Levels in the spring.  I've got some ideas where I want to go with that, but I don't know if it'll work." 

She raised her eyebrows, mildly surprised that he had been considering it. She certainly hadn’t been expecting him to keep up with muggle studies. It was highly unusual for a wizard to do so, even a muggleborn. The fact that he kept up with this gave her a tender feeling of nostalgia. The situation had been different for her, yes, but she remembered struggling to keep up with her studies.  In seventh year, she had gotten NEWTS in DADA, Charms, Herbology, Potions, and Transfiguration. It had been quite a challenge for her to take all those classes—and she hadn’t even taken a full load like Sasha was currently doing.

“I’ve always enjoyed Biology.” She said softly, “Particularly the genetics aspect of it.” Maiko gave Sasha a gentle smile, “And if you ever need ‘elp with French, you can certainly ask me. It’s my first language.” Maiko nodded. French was the language that her family spoke to each other in, though if there were guests around, they spoke English. Kohaku was not fluent in French, so she did not speak the language around him unless she was positive he would understand her.

 Sasha was so overburdened; the last thing that the Ravenclaw needed to hear was criticism for taking so many classes. Yes, she was concerned—there was no doubt about that. She also acknowledged that he felt like he needed this.  It was how he coped with stress. It was not necessarily healthy, but it was not as bad as other coping mechanisms he could have been using.

Her eyes rested upon his textbooks, and then she looked back at the student.

The woman raised a curious eyebrow, “What are your ideas?” She inquired gently, a serious tone to her voice. Maiko didn’t sound like she was approving or disapproving either way. It was hard to approve of an idea if you hadn’t heard it yet.

Sasha nodded.  "I like biology," he admitted, perhaps needlessly.  There were, after all, very few academic subjects he disliked pursuing.  Divination was, perhaps, the only topic he outright disliked studying.  And, genetics was certainly a branch of biology that Sasha foresaw spending a fair bit of time with in the future.  "I do tend to prefer the sciences that are more ... fundamental.  Like genetics more so than ethology or botany."  Perhaps he was a bit predictable but there were two surefire way to get Sasha engaged in a conversation with just about anyone: talk about horses or talk about academics.

The Ravenclaw's interest was clearly especially piqued by the offer of help with French.  Grammar, vocabulary and reading and writing skills had been easy enough to continue developing on his own but, of course, opportunities for practice with conversational French had been much more difficult.  The addition of the Beauxbatons students had provided more opportunities this year but Sasha wasn't one to readily turn down the offer for more study help.

And, to his surprise, Ms. Biladeau didn't comment on the additional course and workload. 

"My ideas?" Sasha reached for his physics textbook, again, this time putting it in his lap in place of the essay he'd been working on moments before.  He flipped through the pages and opened it to one of the resource pages in the back.  The text itself, like all his other muggle textbooks, were written in German as were the various notes added into the margins.  But, despite the language difference, the table was easy to decipher.  It comprised of a list of common muggle elements, metals and other natural materials along with their basic physical properties: density, molecular mass, specific heat as well as their melting points and boiling points. 

A piece of parchment had been taped to the bottom of the page and the lines of the table had been extended onto it.  There were four magical materials listed: powdered ashwinder egg, billywig stingers, lovage extract, erumpent exploding fluid.  Empty squares sat next to them in the properties columns - the four materials Alvis had listed as potential rocket ignition sources. 

Sasha glanced warily at the woman once more, a last moment of hesitation.  He was taking a significant leap of faith here.  The number of wizards that would whole-heartedly despise and oppose what he was doing far outnumbered the number that would be apathetic.  Those that would be supportive were a slim minority.  He could only hope he wouldn't regret it.  "They say the magical and muggle worlds are completely segregated.  That science and magic can't ... can't coexist.  Or explain each other.  And, they may very well be right.  But, it doesn't make sense.  That doesn't..."  It didn't fit with what Sasha understood having studied both magic and science.

The Ravenclaw pointed at the empty squares on the parchment.  "Science is, ultimately, our ... muggles' way of describing and understanding the natural world.  Magic is how wizards interact with the natural world.  But, the natural world isn't as segregated as we think.  It seems, the only way we'll really, fully understand the way our universe works is if we study it ... and analyze it through both lenses.  Together.  At the same time.  I want to study that grey area.  Figure out how magic fits in with everything we know in science and vice versa.  And, it might be a complete waste of time.  But, I want to try."

She truly did respect that he was interested in muggle subjects. She felt like many magical folk needed to be more open minded, and needed to try to understand how muggles viewed the world. Mai supposed that it was easier for anyone who was muggleborn to be accepting. Of course, there were those who would be fascinated with the muggle world who were, in fact, pureblood wizards. As she watched Sasha and examined his body language and tone, she realized that he was about to tell her something, something big. Whatever he was going to tell her was important—if not to her, it would be incredibly important to him, and that was what truly mattered.

Needless to say, his ideas definitely surprised her, and Mai made no effort to hide it. Her eyes widened, and she simply stared at Sasha in pure shock before her face exploded into a huge, genuine smile. It was the sort of smile that affected her entire body, and it was the sort of smile that reached her eyes. She was very pleased to hear this idea, and felt like it was rather brilliant. She just wanted to give Sasha a giant hug and some cookies.

“C'est vachement chouette! Ton idée est plus,  plus merveilleuse!”[1]   Maiko exclaimed, and it was evident that she was not one of the wizards who would have found offense in Sasha’s plans. “C’est une idée lumineuse, franchement.”[2] When she realized that she was blabbering in French, she immediately switched to English, despite the fact that Sasha could probably understand what she was saying. “I feel like it’s très importante. It’s honorable, and very respectful.” She hesitated, “Toutefois[3], it’s going to be very difficult work, and you will likely face much ‘ostility from others who do not share the same views.”

She settled down, though her face was mildly flushed from excitement, “It’s not a waste of time. If it doesn’t work, it just means that you need to try a different approach. If multiple approaches don’t work, at least you’ll know, and ‘ave a better understanding of the world, regardless.” Maiko glanced at his book, “Do you feel like you’ve made any progress thus far?”

1.	"That's freakin' awesome ! Your idea is really marvelous!"
2.	"Truly, it's a brilliant idea."
3.	However

There was little ambiguity to the woman's reaction.  Sasha, indeed, thoroughly understood every word of the woman's approval whether it came in French or English.  A deep blush rose in the Ravenclaw's cheeks and he shifted on the couch, crossing his legs up underneath him.  He never really liked being in the spotlight and the outpouring of enthusiasm was innately awkward but it wasn't wholly unpleasant.  A slight grin played in Sasha's expression as he picked up one of the cheese pastries. 

"Thank you," he offered.  "And, I know."  He gestured to the stack of books on the coffee table, the physics book in his lap and the backpack next to the couch that was still not completely empty.  There was no Ministry pamphlet telling him what N.E.W.Ts he needed for such a career path.  He was guessing and improvising and ... assuming he'd need them all at some point.  "But, then, Galileo met his share of hostility.  And, I've already faced a fair bit of adversity and survived.  I'm ... it's what I want to do."  The wishy-washy ambiguity from before was gone; Sasha had struggled for some time with the question of what he wanted to do with his future. 

Yes.  Ms. Biladeau's point was correct and valid and one he'd been telling himself over and over.  In any experiment a non-result provided just as much information and insight as a result.  "I know it's going to be hard to find real support for something like this.  I'm pretty certain the Ministry isn't going to go for it.  And, you can't exactly go around selling the idea to Universities.  Britain has no higher education for wizards.  I don't know.  I have ideas.  But, most of them are ... based off of marvel comics.  So, I don't know how viable they are."  Secret labs with cover stories.  University research departments that claimed to pursue one thing but were actually creating radioactive spiders that gave people the ability to produce silk in their veins. 

But, she was right.  It wasn't going to be easy. 

"I've only really just started to try to meld the two together," Sasha admitted, closing his physics book and putting it to the side.  "Before..."  The Ravenclaw hesitated a moment, suspicious she knew more about what he was saying than she was letting on.  He glanced curiously at her before shrugging.  "My parents didn't know I was a wizard.  They couldn't know.  They thought I went to a muggle boarding school in Switzerland.  I had to make it seem realistic - when I went home.  If I'd supposedly been studying math and science and literature for a year, I needed to have the knowledge to back it up.  But, I was so terrified of accidentally mixing them ... of saying the wrong thing when I was home that I had to keep it all separate.  The most I'd do is study chemistry after potions and that sort of thing.  I've really only been able to ... combine them since ... January."