Another day of Aoife's second term in Hogwarts, another chance to earn a pet cat. That's what her mother had said to her over Christmas break. If she got only O's and E's, and if they had enough money, Aoife could get a cat to accompany her to Hogwarts for her second year. Of course, the cat would have to work on the farm too, chasing out the occasional mouse or rat that wandered on to the farm.

To help raise money Aoife had decided to practice her natural skill of cooking. She was currently in the Great Hall, posting papers where ever she found someone walk by. If a person were to look at them they would see:

COOKING LESSONS!

Held in empty class room on ground floor from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

Talk to Aoife Moffett about cost.

She grabbed another paper out of her worn red bag and put it on the wall with one hand while she used her wand to cast a simple sticking charm on the paper. Just as the charm was cast, the strap to her bag snapped, dropping the bag to the floor and spilling all the papers in all directions. "Oh no!" She said before kneeling to pick them up. "Great, I need to ask mum for a new bag too..."

"Great, I need to ask mum for a new bag too..."

Gale hadn't meant to be watching, spying on the little lady, but he couldn't help but be curious as to what she was posting along the walls. Taking up one of the papers that had fallen he bent to help her collect the little bit of a mess she was making due to her poor bag.

"Oh come now," He said with a smile, the white haired Charms Professor shook his head, "Nothing a little needle and thread can't fix, M'dear." Reading the paper he smiled at her, "Cooking lessons huh?" Gale found great pleasure in the domestic parts of life, and always had little baked treats for his students when they had extra study time or even detention.

"What do you plan to make?" Right in the middle of the hall he sat down, folded his legs beneath him to start stacking the papers one by one.

Aoife looked up at the man before stuttering out, "Oh! Professor! I um...Thank you sir." She then kneeled before sitting down on her legs to start picking up the papers. The bag strap had snapped off, but it didn't look that serious now that Aoife had a better look at it.

"I guess I'll have to carry my books in my arms until I can have mum fix it." Aoife sighed before perking up at "Cooking lessons huh?"

"Yes sir! I mean, they won't be big recipes since I thought a lot of my students would be beginners, plus I only have an hour, although I guess I could skip lunch once or twice..." Aoife looked down, wondering if anyone would notice. She didn't think lunch was mandatory.

"Right now we'll just do simple baking recipes, like cookies and cupcakes. Everyone likes sweet stuff. Then if there are enough people we'll get into meals." Aoife answered, helping her professor stack the papers.

"No, no. I can fix it. I have thread and needles in my office." Gale grew up in the back of a caravan, a traveling family that carried everything they owned on their backs and around their hips. He could fix her strap, or at least until she got home. "I don't know if I have thread that will match, but it will be better than waiting hmm?"

Nightingale, listened to her go on about sweets, and he couldn't agree more. Students and staff alike wandered around their them now on their way to classes and other various places, but Gale didn't seem to care. They were used to his strange antics, or at least were able to overlook the strange placement of Professor and Student in the floor.

"You are very right, and I think that is a wonderful idea. If you wish, you can use my classroom, or my office." Like a gentleman he picked up her books for her, and stood to help her stand.

"Is there a particular reason you are hosting a few lessons?"

"Really? Thank you Professor!" Aoife smiled, one less thing to bug mum about. "It'll be fine, I'm used to my things not matching. It'd be nice if the thread was yellow though. B-but it doesn't have to be." Aoife then stuttered.

"I can use your classroom? For real? Thank you again professor!" Aoife almost shouted, resisting the urge to hug her Charms professor. "I'm raising money to help mum buy me a pet cat. She promised me that if I get all E's and O's, and if we had enough money, I can get a cat. I'm gonna help her." Aoife's smile grew bigger.

Rowena had almost missed the posters over the pile of books she was carrying. She'd been doing a lot of studying and trying to coax Boudicca out from under things and then more studying. But cooking sounded interesting, even though she almost spilled her books trying to read everything on the poster.

And then there were voices talking about kittens! Rowena did like kittens, even if Boudicca was actually up in her room rather than following her around like a small fuzzy shadow at the moment.

She caught sight of...oh, Professor Kesali. He might have been a little odd, but he was still a Professor. So she curtsied to the both of them, still trying to carefully balance the books in her arms as she did so. "Umm...who do I ask about the cost?" It seemed like a very awkward question but she couldn't see much around the books.

Aoife looked up at the girl and smiled, having met her before, no matter how informal that meeting was. "Hi Rowena, you ask me about the cost. Since I know not everyone has a lot of money, I thought that it would be good to make the cost ne-...Nego-sha-ble. That's the word right?"

It was then that she noticed the kitten again. "Hello!" She waved to the kitten. "What's your name little...Um, boy or girl?" She looked up to Rowena again.

Gale was quick to let the little ladies start their talks, it was a rather beautiful thing to see friendships bloom--especially in the first years, because they were building bonds unlike any other. What friends they made now would set them for the future and for sure speed them through to their adult lives a much happier person.

When Aoife struggled over the word negotiable, Gale almost started to help her sound it out, but stopped himself when she got it. Good, he thought to himself, "She's a girl yes?" He answered when the kitten came into question, "Your sister was telling a friend about it when you returned. Congratulations she is beautiful." Remembering how harsh Sophia had been about using their proper title Gale refused to address either young lady by their first name, but did wish to excuse himself.

"Miss Moffett, come fetch your bag when you are finished here. I'll be in my office, but it seems Miss Knight is interested in your classes. I'll leave you to it, and do remember you are welcome to use my classroom." With that he bowed respectfully to both of them by the hip, like any knight kneeling before a royal, and started down the quiet path to his office.

Rowena gave Professor Kesali a polite nod, still managing to keep the books balanced. "Yes, thank you, Professor. Her name is Boudicca."

And the books were...slipping. Rowena bent down to carefully set them on the floor before standing back up and smiling at Aoife. "I still have some of my Christmas money saved up. Hope it'll be sufficient." Some of it was still in Muggle money, and she hadn't really wanted to change it. But cooking was sounding exciting. "Mum never taught us much cooking. Her mum showed us a little, though."

Being at school meant Rowena got to see her less, though. At least Sophia and Paeytn were at Hogwarts too. "It's a lot like potions. But much tastier." And also with a lot less strange colors.

"Any amount at all will help!" Aoife exclaimed, clapping her hands together. She had gotten one student at least, and who knew how many would wander into where ever she would teach cooking? The pet cat was coming closer by the second.

"Any kind of money is fine." Aoife went on. "Magic or Muggle money, mum still hasn't decided where she wants to buy the cat." Aoife's mother was a muggleborn, raised by parents who owned a small market and grandparents who farmed in Massachusetts, so she was adept at handling both kinds of money.

"I wasn't really sure when I would start the classes, but is it alright if I wait for one more person to sign up?" Aoife asked her.

Oooh, cats. Rowena did have a particular interest in that subject. She suspected that Mum has promised the kittens just to help get her to study. Sophia would always study. She was good at that.  But it had worked, and potions was really interesting either way. "Do you want a part-Kneazle? They're really smart. Boudicca gets into everything, though."

Mostly Rowena's hair. It was hard to keep it braided when it kept being attacked by tiny claws.

"And you can always get the Goblins to exchange the money at the bank, once you know what you want. They're not that scary."

"I wasn't really sure when I would start the classes, but is it alright if I wait for one more person to sign up?"

"Oh, sure. I have some studying I can do first." She looked rather plaintively down at her pile of books and sighed. So much to read, and she didn't even have Sophia there at that moment to compel her.

"I know, studying can be so boring..." Aoife sighed with her. "Mum says I should be lucky I'm good at practical stuff, whatever that means." She shrugged. "But if it means I get okay grades I'm happy."

Aoife looked at Rowena's hair and giggled. "Wow, I never thought I would meet someone with thicker hair than mine. Is it hard to get all braided? Mine's too short to braid." Aoife thought she had seen someone with hair like Rowena's before. Actually, she looked quite a bit like Rowena. "Do you have a sister?"

"School's not bad, but my sister usually helps me. And she's not here. She helps me braid it, too, she got Mum's hair so hers is easier to manage." Rowena smiled a little, then frowned as her thoughts turned to wishing Sophia was there.

She took an unsteady seat on the pile of books. "Sophia's my sister. She's in Ravenclaw. I'm older though, by a few minutes." At this, she straightened up, obviously proud of that fact. People didn't remember it enough, but she thought it was important.

The book seat was, well, unstable, and so she stood back up, trying not to disturb any books in the process. "And practical is good. What's your favorite class so far?"