"Did... did something happen between you and Violet?" Daphne asked as we were training in our shared mindscape, making me raise an eyebrow as I looked down at her from my hovering position among the aurora lights.
"What makes you think that?"
"The way she flinches whenever she looks at you and then looks down rather than glaring at anyone who might be badmouthing you or trying to get near you." She deadpanned but I could see a sliver of worry in her eyes. "Seriously, what happened for her to stay away from you?"
"It's nothing important." I said with a sigh, ignoring the way the colors around me became darker as my thoughts wandered to what I saw in the Mirror of Erised. "We just saw something yesterday that reminded me of some bad memories and she's feeling guilty as she was the one who found it and is trying to figure out how to apologize, even though it's not really needed."
Looking back on it now, I certainly had reacted without decorum. Letting my control slip like that... it was humiliating. It was a miracle that neither Violet or Dumbledore decided to ask about the cracks I had caused. Violet already knew that I was a telekinetic, even if she probably didn't know the term, but it was something I wished to keep secret from Dumbledore and basically every other adult I knew for now.
My thoughts were cut short as I realized that Daphne wasn't channeling much focus and looked at her to see her looking at me with wide eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I... am just surprised that you saw something that could affect you." This girl.
"What, were you thinking of me as some sort of immovable deity or something?" I teased her with a smirk before flipping my hair and posing like a model. "If so, continue to do so. I do love it when people see me as I truly am."
"Don't be ridiculous." She scoffed, yet it was obvious from the way she held herself that she was still worried about me.
I was fortunate to have such a kind student.
"Since you have time to be cheeky, how about you continue the exercise?" I asked with a smirk and Daphne had only a moment for her eyes to widen before she was suddenly encased in a metal box.
"Jonathan!"
"You will thank me later Daph!"
————————
The lesson with Daphne had been fun. More accurately conjuring complex exercise for her to do and laugh as she failed had been fun.
I was a great teacher.
Especially considering none of those exercises were meant to be succeeded in at her level, yet she had came close several times. It was very impressive for a telepath of her power, it showed development in more subtle and technical uses of mind arts.
And she was growing stronger too. She was nowhere near a Omega level telepath but I would place her potential to be around or maybe higher than one of the Stepford Cuckoos. If not in pure power then definitely in the technique.
Still, as bad as it might to say this as her teacher, Daphne wasn't important now. She had seen the tension between me and Violet and, even if she was one of the very few to do so, I didn't like the thought of people seeing any kind of weakness of mine; and letting yesterday night affect me enough to be noticed could be nothing other than a weakness. It didn't matter if the mirror had shown me…
It didn't matter.
No, what mattered now was to deal with the weakness.
"Hey Violet." I piped up as I turned the corner and came face to face with Violet and Hermione.
Violet froze for half a second when she heard my voice, shoulders tensing as if she had been caught doing something wrong. Her fingers tightened around her books, knuckles paling, and though she did look at me; it lasted barely a heartbeat before her gaze slipped downward to the floor between us. A faint flush crept up her neck as she shifted her weight subtly, not running away but not quite standing her ground either.
"Jonathan?" Hermione looked at me and then at Violet before turning back to me. "Is there something the matter?" Her eyes narrowed, trying to understand the tension between us.
"Nothing you need to be concerned about." I said with a chuckle, trying to think of the fastest way to make her leave me and Violet alone for our talk as an idea popped up in my head. "Just something that happened after curfew last night. You can stay but there is a chance the professors might see you as an accomplice if you know about it." I said with a thoughtful frown and Hermione's eyes widened before she basically dashed away at the speed of an Olympic athlete.
"Don't think I've seen anyone run that fast since coming to Hogwarts." I said with a raised eyebrow and Violet snorted before her eyes widened and she averted her gaze again.
"I'm…" she began, her grip tightening around her books until her knuckles turned white.
"Violet." I stepped closer and leaned just enough to catch her lowered gaze, forcing her to meet my eyes. I offered her a small, calm smile. "It's okay."
Her breath hitched faintly. I caught the faint shimmer gathering at the corner of her eyes before she could blink it away.
I straightened and gently patted her head. "Let's talk about last night," I said quietly. "Somewhere a bit more private."
-------------
For those who like my stories, please check out my Patreon where one can become a patron and get the right to vote for which of my stories will get a guaranteed update for the next week or even vote for which one of my snippets will become proper stories and now even get to see my Patreon exclusive lewd short stories that will come out at least once a month! Not to mention every patron is a sign of support for my, in my opinion, subpar stories to get better! Also you guys can get to see my new patron only story, Imprisoned.
patreon.com/user?u=25343580