[sep mp] faster & faster { benny & donna }

SEPTEMBER 2003

Tomie sighed, adjusting the backpack slung over one shoulder with two hands on one strap. “And are you really sure it’s cool if I tag along – for a bit? Really all Professor Ajay said was like… I had to have an open heart or something… And to come see her in two weeks if I still feel the same way.” The brunette rolled her eyes. The herbology teacher was one of her favourites – she found half of the things the woman said quite hilarious – but right now all she wanted was to be assigned a different SNAIL mentor.

The school year had only just begun, but she already knew she’d be remembering this as one of the year’s greatest injustices; that Benny had ended up with Donna West as his student mentor, and she, Tomie, had been paired with Phillip Donnelly?? The questionairre was obviously a dud; she didn’t remember writing anything about wanting to learn how to be rude and irritated from an expert, after all! ...Still, Benny had said she could hang out with him and Donna today, and he was her best friend, and she was doing her best not to blame him for it.

The pair skipped down a couple of steps. Tomie’s thoughts were elsewhere for a short moment before she made herself come back to the present. "So obviously I'm gonna go see her again like, next week. I don't think Phillip's gonna be searching for me for another "session", anyway." She finger-quoted session. After a moment, she had to add: "Isn't "Lip" a weird nickname for "Phillip", anyway? Like why not "Phil"...?" Tomie shook her head. "Sorry, I'll stop talking about it," she said, giving him a sheepish smile.

Benny felt bad that Tomie had been paired up with Phillip when he'd been lucky enough to score a cool mentor like Donna West. The Donna West. She was basically a legend among their little group of Quidditch loving Gryffindor second-years (aka Tomie and Benny). When his mum had filled out the questionnaire and sent it back, Benny thought he'd hate being paired up, but when he found out it was Donna, his attitude changed quickly.

"Yeah, I'm sure," The little wizard reassured his best friend as he held on to the straps of his backpack. "She's really cool, I'll bet she won't mind," He said before realizing that he'd just admitted that he hadn't asked Donna first. He assumed she'd be okay with it, but mostly he'd just wanted to help Tomie out. It wasn't fair that Professor Ajay was forcing her to keep her lackluster Mentor for at least two weeks. In their little world, two weeks was basically forever.

"Maybe tell her about what you told me?" Benny said with a shrug as they headed to where he'd agreed to meet Donna for this session. "That he's really rude to you and everything?" If he was the betting kind, Benny might have been placing stakes on how long before Tomie tried to punch the Seventh year. It wouldn't have been the first time she hit an older boy, Benny knew she could do it, but he hoped their head of their house would let her change mentors before it got to that.

Donna really quite liked Benny Rivera -- he was the same year as her brother, but much better company (Martin only cared about chocolate frog cards and Mad Muggle comics). She’d been a little disappointed not to get a girl; she was no misandrist, but what good advice did she really have, for boys? Wasn’t there so much of her lived experience that they would never relate to?

She could teach a girl which gargoyles could be bullied into eavesdropping on others. She could teach a girl how to smuggle forbidden Zonko’s merchandise back in her bag. She could teach a girl how to sew pockets into a skirt. Like, what the hell was she meant to teach Benny? How to study?

It was nearing three o’clock, and Donna was nearing the Transfiguration corridor, where there was a nifty empty classroom that neither smelled musty nor was pitch dark after four; she and her roommates, trying to plan for their own sessions with their own underclassmen, had put together a few things to pass on, like the sage, wise old men that they were trying to be. Study habits, professor quirks, and -- Merlin help them -- shortcuts.

Benny was ahead of her -- either that, or another absolutely dwarvish Gryffindor was going in the same direction as Donna -- so she hurried ahead to catch up. “Fancy running into you, Rivera,” she said brightly, and a little out of breath. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, cool,” Tomie replied, the sheepishness disappearing as soon as Benny said it was okay. “Yeah, I’ll do that,” she breathed, reaching into her pocket for a couple of lollipops she’d taken from her stash. “Want one?” she asked, holding one out for him. "Oh!" She was unwrapping hers when Donna appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly the image of herself sucking on a lollipop seemed childish, so instead of unwrapping it, she just subtly slid it back into her pocket, her a polite smile appearing on her face.

Who’s your friend?

Okay, so it was only mildly devastating that Donna West didn’t know who she was – despite Tomie remembering very clearly the fact that they shook hands once after she’d been sorted into Gryffindor. Oh well! It happened over a year ago! Who remembered things from that long ago anyway! Definitely no big deal. Ha.

“I’m Tomie,” she said, before Benny got a chance to introduce her. She stuck her hand out for a handshake. “Uh… Benny said I could tag along,” Tomie glanced at her friend, not wanting to look like she was looking for reassurance but unable to help it. “...I hope it’s okay? My mentor and I didn’t really… Click.” Tomie smiled again, realising belatedly that there was a chance Donna and Phillip were friends. Honestly, she couldn’t see it – but she didn’t know the workings of upperclassmen social circles! She glanced back at Benny to back her up.

Benny nodded, never the sort to turn down snacks, and reached for Tomie's candy. His best friend seemed to always have some snacks on her person, and the growing wizard was grateful. Unwrapping it quickly, he popped it into his mouth and was tucking the packaging into his pocket when Donna snuck upon them. Jumping a little, startled by his mentor's sudden appearance, Benny chomped down on the sucker, and it crunched under his teeth. Little bits of gum and hard candy conglomerate stuck to his molars and scratched at his tongue's side. Benny waved slightly at the older Gryffindor, but Tomie was first to respond to her words.

"She's a Gryffindor too," Pulling the sucker from his mouth so his words wouldn't sound garbled, Benny informed Donna of Tomie's house. "Loves Quidditch, like us," Honestly, Tomie and Donna probably had a whole heck of a lot in common. They likely should have been paired up as mentor/mentee, but that would mean Benny would have gotten stuck with Phillip Donnelly, and the Gryffindor wizard wasn't a fan of that idea.

Catching Tomie's glance, Benny spoke up again, "Yeah, and Professor Ajay won't let her switch mentors, so maybe she can just hang out with us today?" In his mind, this was a great solution. If Tomie couldn't ditch her mentor, then Benny had no problems sharing his, but it was at this moment he realized it wasn't really his decision to make. Maybe Donna didn't want to have two mentees. Perhaps she would end up liking Tomie better and then ditch him. In the moments between his question and what happened next, Benny's mind went at warp speed, and suddenly the worry set in.

Donna wavered a moment before she responded. She didn’t really want two mentees. Her younger siblings, once they’d realised they outnumbered her two to one, had gotten unbearable. But these two kids weren’t her younger siblings, she told herself firmly, and -- besides -- Donna was pretty sure she’d wanted to mentor a Quidditch-loving Gryffindor girl, in those exact words.

Maybe this was serendipity. Maybe this was how it was meant to be. Maybe this was fate.

“Yeah, fine,” she said breezily. “Welcome aboard, Tomie. Who was your old mentor?”

She pushed open the door to the empty classroom, ushered the children in, and let it swing shut behind her. “So,” she said politely to Tomie, “Today I was gonna talk about… like… study habits -- then I was going to take Benny ‘round and show him the good shortcuts and what have you. But is there anything you really wanted to know, specifically?”

It felt reasonable to assume that Tomie’s first conversation with her own mentor hadn’t enlightened her much on anything -- but, she realised, perking up, that if both Benny and Tomie wanted to hear about Quidditch, she probably wouldn’t even have time to talk about study habits. Donna stuffed her hands in the pockets of her robes so they wouldn’t see her cross her fingers.

“Cool, thanks,” she said. She felt a wave of relief at Donna’s casual acceptance. But sorry, did she mishear that? – Loves quidditch like us? Us? Benny... and Donna... were the us in this situation? Tomie felt a part of herself wither away into dust, then quickly reanimate as Donna asked her a question.

“Phillip Donnelly,” She piped up, glancing up at Donna’s face (she was so tall!) trying to read her expression and not be too obvious about it. She gave a bit of a shrug, wanting to explain more. About how Phillip had spent most of the time they’d met writing in his diary (It’s a notebook? You write notes in it?), then chastised her when she’d actually asked him a question. It wasn’t a very exciting story, though, was it? At least, not until she knew that shit-talking the older student in Donna’s presence would be funny and cool, and not get her disapproving looks. She glanced at Benny for reassurance, a small action that she didn’t even know she did.

She just nodded when Donna spoke again, happy to do whatever the redhead had already planned out. Shortcuts sounded cool. Her older brothers were too boring to have told her about any of that stuff last year, and Benny’s siblings were all younger than him. She shook her head a little when Donna asked if she had any questions, but then a moment later, she suddenly found herself talking. “Try-outs are next week, aren’t they?” she blurted, feeling a little surprised at herself. Why exactly did she feel so wound up? It wasn’t like her, and she could feel Benny’s eyes on her. She made herself smile. Tried to be her usual easygoing self.

Benny nearly stated Tomie's mentor's name, but then stopped short when Tomie got there first. It was a shame, really, that the Head of the House wouldn't let her change just yet, but at least they had found a workaround. If it wasn't Tomie, and Benny wasn't one hundred percent without question on her side (as he always was), Benny might have seen Professor Ajay's point. He might have seen the merit in giving it one more try, not making quick assumptions, but he didn't see it that way. And after the stories (plural) the wizard had heard about Phillip's first meeting, Benny was pretty sure their assumptions were correct. He was an awful mentor.

Donna was way better.

Thankful they could share, the Gryffindor felt giddy by the prospect of Donna mentoring them both. Primarily where Quidditch was concerned. He'd seen her play last year, she was wicked, and if they could absorb even a fraction of that, maybe they'd have a chance at these terms try-outs.

Perking up at the idea of finding out where the useful shortcuts were, the perpetually lost Benny Rivera moved a little faster to keep up with them. He was keen to learn about those but less interested in these study habits, but none of that mattered in a flash.

"Wait, are they?" Benny's brown eyes shot to his best friend, a bit of a panic on his face. He could have sworn the bulletin in the common room had said the weekend after next, but maybe he'd read the wrong memo. There were about eighty-seven different student-run clubs this term, it seemed, so the bulletin board was full to the brim with notes.

"Any words of advice for us?" He asked, turning to Donna with a hopeful look on his face.

“Donnelly?” said Donna disbelievingly. “What, did he sign himself up or did one of the professors make him?” She didn’t dislike Phillip, much, but she was amazed that he had ever been made a Prefect. She supposed this was why Tomie hadn’t gotten on so well with him -- he had never struck her as a particularly patient, indulging bloke. Donna had been told since the age of eleven to be patient with the students older than her -- her mum had told her about a billion times that she had to be sensitive about what they’d all gone through five years ago -- but Donnelly was just kind of a prick. Fun, though.

Tomie had more to say than Benny did, which made Donna smile: she liked chattering little girls a lot, having been one herself. Her sisters had both been quieter. Still… Tomie was their guest. She reminded herself, very firmly, not to forget who she was actually meant to be mentoring here.

Unfortunately, Tomie asked about Quidditch first. “Yes,” Donna said, spinning to point at Tomie with both hands. “You two thinking about going out for it?” She perched her bum on a desk rather than pull out a chair, dropped her hands to her sides. She was a touch more preoccupied trying to look as effortlessly casual as she could than she was with either underclassman; she realised belatedly a question had been asked.

Fuck, what sort of advice could she give these kids? She’d never seen either of them fly. “Well, I can’t say ‘till I’ve seen you fly,” she said, “But... the number one mistake people make is doubting themself, it makes them screw themself up. Number two is getting too focused on where you’re going and not thinking ‘bout how you’ll get there.”

Tomie wanted to say something about flying. Something convincing, about how good she was and how hard she’d been working and about how she’d owled the last five years’ worth of Gryffindor captains asking for advice, and then actually followed it. It wasn’t easy to boast about being good at quidditch with someone who was like, actually way better than she was, though. She was the best out of her friends (with the potential, very competitive exception of JR), but Donna was quidditch captain Tomie consciously held back a wistful sigh.

Instead, she just nodded when Donna asked if they were thinking of trying out. She’d only recently started learning that it wasn’t the coolest thing to want something badly. She couldn’t keep her feelings out of her expression entirely, though. She was far too readable.

The brunette glanced at her yearmate when Benny spoke, nodding a bit to see if Donna would give them a proper answer. "Guess you will next week," Tomie said with a well-natured smile. She rested against the desk opposite where Donna was sitting, but didn't hop up onto it. “No doubt, no tunnel vision,” she said, repeating Donna’s sentiments and adding them to her internal list. Keela Doyle had told her something similar once, and she’d written it into the margins of her workbooks for two weeks.

"Yep," Benny stated with a nod of his head, they were trying out for the team this term. Benny was nervous, but he was usually worried about everything until he grew more comfortable. The wizard had been a wreck on their first train ride to Hogwarts, but this year Benny had been much calmer because he knew what was going on. The second-year was anxious to try out for the team, but Benny wouldn't get his hopes up too high. He was a second year, it'd be his first time playing real Quidditch (they just ran around pretending to fly in the field back home), and he wasn't even the best player among his friends. Tomie was a lot better, JR too, so if Benny didn't make it this year, he wouldn't be too heartbroken. He had plenty of other things he wanted to try out, clubs and stuff, but Benny really hoped he wouldn't be left behind if they both made the house teams. Maybe they would still let him practice with them... it was a long shot, but maybe.

Listening to what Donna had to offer, Benny tried to commit it to memory. He nodded no tunnel vision, understanding what they meant but wondering if he could put it to use. He had the tendency to hyper-focus on things that maybe didn't matter as much as he thought they did. And he'd probably do the same thing when it came time to show what he could do on the pitch. The wizard shrugged, unsure what kind of advice he was hoping for, but knowing there wasn't some secret to it. No amount of talking would answer all of his questions or ensure he'd get a spot on the team.

"Maybe we can practice some time," he said as he began to drag one of the chairs out from under a desk and sat down on it. Elbows on top of his knees, the Gryffindor slumped a little and looked up toward Donna. "As like a mentor/mentee type thing, ya know?" A boy could dream, right? He'd trade away half his famous witch & wizards cards for the chance to practice with a Gryffindor team captain.

This was great, Donna decided. She’d been worried that they’d gang up on her without pausing to think how that would kind of be awesome. The only thing better than a potential new Gryffindor player hanging on her every word was two potential new Gryffindor players hanging on her every word.

“Yeah, exactly,” said Donna, pleasantly surprised by Tomie’s quick grasp of her meaning. She nodded. “If you’re playing against any team worth their salt, the other players will notice if you get distracted and target you for it,” she said. “Be -- I dunno, aware of your weaknesses. And don’t underestimate your opponents.” Last year’s Hufflepuff team had consisted mostly of enthusiastic, underskilled underclassmen, and they’d still taken the cup: Donna wasn’t making that mistake again.

“Hm,” she said -- quidditch was not, strictly speaking, in the list of things she was meant to be mentoring her mentee on, but she supposed it wouldn’t hurt. And -- as the co-captain and not the real captain -- it wasn’t like this was really preferential treatment. “You have to tell Ajay that I’ve been teaching you, like, actual stuff too,” she said finally, then grinned conspiratorially. “But yeah, we can go out on the pitch together sometime.” Not right now -- she wasn’t dressed for the sport -- but soon...

Wait. Did Benny mean just the two of them? Was Tomie being left out of this? It would probably be impossible to tell without prying more. “What positions are you trying for?” she said, curious to see how they responded. “Have you got brooms?”

Tomie tried not to be too obvious, but she hung off of every one of Donna’s words. There was a special sort of focus the small witch reserved just for quidditch-related things. Benny had commented once that she’d be unstoppable in class if she had a fraction of the dedication towards academics that she had when it came to quidditch. She squeezed the edge of the table she was leaning against, trying to memorise it all. She’d do anything to get on the team. Anything.

“No, we don’t,” Tomie said, her easy smile shifting into grimace territory. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d answered for both of them. Donna had asked it, so Tomie guessed that that fact would work against them. Neither of them had brooms, and neither of their families were about to front up the cost of a new one – even a new, second-hand one. She took a deep breath, then sighed, stalling and wondering how honest she should be. “I think I’m gonna try for seeker,” she said. She gave Benny a moment to say he’d be trying out for chaser before she admitted, “I really want to be a beater one day, but I’m not strong enough yet.” She exchanged a glance with Benny.

And then, because she was feeling ballsy, “I’m a really good flier though.”

Benny laughed, nodding in agreement when she reminded them to tell the head of house they were learning about school subjects too, not just gushing about Quidditch. In reality, this was the thing he wanted the most help with, but not because he didn't need help in his subjects. Benny was decently smart but far from the top of the class, and he shared the lack of attention span, so many of his year-mates seemed to have. There were just so many other things to do at Hogwarts, so many exciting ideas, clubs, sports, and the chance of being targeted by a nasty poltergeist, that it left very little time for things like studying.

"Will do," he said with a nod, and then his eyes moved to Tomie when she began to explain the positions they were keen on. Benny had no idea what would be best for him, but eventually, he hoped he'd figure it out. The boy wanted to play on the team so badly he'd of taken any position. Even mascot, so long as there was a rule change and the mascots got to fly around the match.

"She is," Benny added, instead of telling Donna anything about himself, and then he took a breath as he wound up to say the same story he'd been advertising since July. "She punched Mathew Maverick in the face at camp," The smile on his face was obnoxious, a mix of pride because Tomie was his best friend, and solidarity because Maverick had deserved it.

He was beaming with that isn’t she amazing look that usually made her heart soar, content in knowing that she was the luckiest person there was to have such an amazing best friend. Right this second though, she kind of wished he hadn’t brought up fistfights with the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Not literally the week before try-outs.

Her smile shifted from easy to a little forced as she interjected. “Uhhhh,” Tomie said quickly, her eyes snapping to Donna. “He’s fine though,” she added, before Benny could say anything else that might hurt her chances. She laughed a little, glancing back at Benny with what she hoped was a subtle look, feeling sheepish.