Archive of Our Own ^beta

Agatha Harkness was very aware that she was one of the least liked, least favorite professors.

Quite frankly she did not care. 

She was there to teach, not to make friends with her students. 

Defense Against the Dark Arts was not a subject to take lightly. In this class, one learns things that could help keep you alive in combat. 

She is strict, serious, and intense. Several kids have left her classroom in tears. But hey, it builds character; your enemy will not take pity on you. 

She has been called to the office several times for it. But Headmaster Hart never did much, outside of a soft reprimand, if you can even call it that.

But here was the thing; she knew exactly what she was doing. 

She did not need a muggleborn, or anyone else, telling her the best way to teach these kids how to defend themselves. 

Known to most of the staff in Ilvermorny, Agatha was an Undesirable. She knew her way perfectly well around dark magic and unforgivable curses. That knowledge, she feels, also made her quite unapproachable–which was great because she was not trying to have students in her classroom after hours, or other professors trying to befriend her.

That, though, did not stop the Divination Professor from trying; Lilia Calderu. 

She always spoke to Agatha, tried to make conversation with her whenever she saw her or she and the other professors were all gathered in one place.

Then there was the Potions Professor, Kale.  

Ugh , she cannot deal with that woman. 

They were always found bickering and throwing insults at each other whenever possible. Jen was also the one that made it a point to remind everyone that Agatha was a convicted felon here to teach as a penance. 

Each time, Harkness would give her the finger with a nice, go fuck yourself, Jennifer.

And then there was the Flying Professor who also coached the Quidditch team, Professor Wu-Gulliver. She was nice; friendly, kept to herself for the most part, but also did not seem to be afraid of Agatha. 

It was irksome, really, the way these three women just seemed to not mind, or care for her existence amongst them. 

As if she had not once been one of the most feared witches. 

As if she was not the reason there was a fourth unforgivable curse.

But the one that really did her in most was the professor for Herbology… Rio Vidal. 

She goes out of her way to seek Agatha. Always enters her classroom on her free period to watch the former Dark Wizard teach. And, Agatha was not one to get nervous but she often did when the Herbology professor was in her class. She had tried to be off putting and rude, but that only seemed to encourage Rio to come back.

So, Agatha just sort of stopped fighting it. 

As a matter of fact, she began to look forward to it. The door to her class would swing open and in comes Rio Vidal in her overalls–a bit of dirt smudged somewhere on her and the former Dark Wizard thinks that she has never seen a more beautiful witch. 

It was annoying . It infuriated Agatha, how her heart would flutter and her stomach twisted, pleasantly so. 

Does she show off when the Herbology professor comes into her class? 

…

Perhaps.

They have been doing this dance for half a semester. 

The students, she is certain, have began to notice. She sees them murmuring and snickering when Professor Vidal comes into her class. One particular student was bold enough to linger after class one day, William Kaplan or whatever his name was. 

Excellent wizard, the obnoxious little dweeb.

“Professor Harkness!”

Agatha stops in the middle of her walk towards her private office and takes a deep inhale. 

“Yes, Teen?”

He was another person to add to the list of people seemingly unbothered by her past. 

They all just thought ‘Hey, let’s approach the witch that was a former criminal and probably still would be, had she not gotten caught!’. 

She spent years building a reputation and suddenly, that was all shit. 

The student catches up to her, putting himself in her line of sight.

“Are you and Professor Vidal dating?”

And he asks with barely concealed giddiness. The Dark Arts Professor thinks, how dare he ask with such ease? With such confidence? As if they were long time friends.

“Because I think you two are such a cute couple if you are. How she comes in here and watches you teach, and you get all red in the cheeks.”

All red in the what?!

“I do not get red anywhere, Teen. And who I may or may not be dating is not any of your business! Now, scram before I perform an unforgivable curse on you.”

“You are not allowed to use those.”

“Do you want to find out how much I care about following that rule, Teen?”

He looks at her, tries to decipher if she is bluffing or not. Agatha quirks a brow but her expression otherwise remains impassive, unreadable. 

After a second too long, the student seems to finally show a flicker of uncertainty, fear even. Soon enough William is speed walking to the exit. 

Well! At least she still got it. 

The woman continues on her previous path then, sighing as she enters the room. What the fuck?

A teacup flies to her and she takes it, sipping on the jasmine tea within it as she makes her way to the desk. Teen was bold enough to come ask her if she was dating the Herbology Professor. Which, in itself, was absolutely unacceptable.

Agatha sits for all about five minutes with this running around her head before she stands and sets the teacup down. 

This had to stop.

The Dark Arts Professor makes her way to the greenhouse. 

Agatha did not often wander the castle–she usually stuck to her area: the Dark Arts classroom and the professor wing, which was where their dormitories were. So, if she had a bit of difficulty getting around, fucking sue her. She, at the very least, made it to the greenhouse. 

She enters several classrooms before finally finding Rio’s. She was in the middle of a lesson, which she halted at the sight of Agatha.

Instantly, Agatha finds that Rio looks surprised. 

The students turn to see what has made their teacher halt in the middle of a sentence and again, begin to murmur at seeing Professor Harkness here. 

The former Dark Witch clears her throat and speaks.

“May I have a word, Professor?”

Rio looks around and then, at Agatha.

“I’m in the middle of a less-”

“I will be quick.”

The Dark Arts Professor was not leaving any room for denial. 

Rio will step outside and have a conversation with her.

With a soft sigh, the woman nods and tells the kids to tend to their pots. Coming outside, the Herbology Professor closes the door to the classroom behind her.

“Alright, what can I do for you, Agatha?”

“ Professor Harkness, ” came the quick correction; “and I think it is time we address your visits to my classroom.”

There is a silence between them in which Rio only stares at her. Soft, brown eyes quietly telling her to continue.

“They need to stop.”

More silence.

Agatha clears her throat and pushes on. 

“They are disruptive and our students have begun to wonder if you and I are dating.”

“Does that bother you?”

That startles the Dark Arts Professor. 

Does it bother her? That is the first thing she has to say? 

…Does it not bother her ?

“Well, it bothers me that they feel like they are free to ask me such a personal question. And yes, it does also bother me because it is not true. They should not be under the impression that we are. We aren’t even friends, Vidal, let alone girlfriends.”

There is a slight change to Rio’s soft and neutral expression, like some form of barrier is suddenly there.

“Right, of course not. Agatha Harkness is too good and way better than everyone else to have friends. You’re a bad bitch, a former criminal and can’t possibly have or want any friends.”

Agatha was left, well, speechless.

“Don’t worry, Professor Harkness; you won't see me in your classroom again.”

And then, the Herbology Professor slips back into her classroom. 

The Dark Arts Professor stands there for a good moment, watching the now closed door. 

After a minute or so, she makes her way back into the sanctuary of her own classroom.

Rio stayed true to her words–the next day after their talk, she did not come by. 

She also did not show up the next day or the day after or the day after that one. The only ways Agatha would catch sight of the Herbology Professor was at the dining hall, and along the halls of the school. 

All the previously mentioned professors took very little to start talking. Making up their own version of what might have happened between them, all of the sudden.

Agatha would keep her head high as she walked past, and ignored them, not glancing at Rio even though she really wanted to.

The next time that she and Professor Vidal find themselves having to speak is when they take a group of students down to Salem to explore the little town to their heart’s content. They were paired up to chaperone them and therefore stuck together for an extended amount of time. 

At first Agatha was content with the silence. 

Both women wore winter clothes with the colors of their respective houses. The silence between them is filled by the chatter of the crowd and the shakiness of their breaths due to the coldness.

Deep down, however, she was hoping that Rio would initiate conversation. 

She did not.

The minutes turned to hours, and the silent treatment began to drive Agatha a little up the wall.

“I’m going to get a butterbeer.”

She speaks it casually, as they walk the town and spot students here and there.

“Okay,” is all that Rio offers.

It was absolutely infuriating! 

Here she was, extending a form of olive branch in true Agatha fashion, and the Herbology Professor does not take it. 

How dare she?

“That was an invitation, Vidal. Take it,” Agatha begins to walk to the establishment, “or not. I don’t care.”

Except, she clearly did.

The former Dark Witch enters the lowly lit tavern, “The Witches Road”, and sits at a table at the corner. Removing her gloves, she rubs her palms together and exhales into them to warm them up. Her nose and cheeks are red from the biting air, and she feels the slight sting of it from the sudden temperature change.

After a few moments, Rio is taking a seat before her. 

A sense of relief washes over Agatha. Huh.

A bardmaid comes over and asks what they’ll be having–thus, Agatha orders the butterbeer she’d mentioned before. Rio does, too. Stil, the silence falls between them once again, painfully too soon, once the barmaid has left them.

Agatha removes her beanie and jacket, suddenly feeling a lot warmer than before, and shifts on her seat.

Agatha was a solitary witch. Had been her whole life. 

She did not know how to make friends, and had never really wanted any… until now. 

Well, the way she thought about Rio was not in a friendly manner but, you gotta start somewhere.

“The kids miss you popping by their class.”

Translation; I miss you.

“William specifically. It's been weeks and he still asks about your whereabouts.”

The Dark Arts Professor avoids looking at Rio while she says this–suddenly the room around them was of great interest. 

Rio is quiet for a moment, which is saved by the butterbeers being set before them. Agatha reaches out and takes a sip. Nice and slow and long, Rio mirrors it, watching the other woman over the brim of the mug.

The Dark Arts Professor sets her own down and nurses it on the table with both hands. She hears a soft giggle and looks up to see Rio’s eyes shimmering and a wide smile stretching on her lips. 

Her gaze is set entirely on Agatha.

“ What ? What’s so funny?”

Rio tilts her head, still grinning while she leans forward. A hand reaches out and a thumb slowly runs across the other’s upper lip.

“You had a little mustache.”

If Agatha’s cheeks were pink before, right now they were red. Instantly, and quickly, she jerks away and wipes the rest off to save herself further embarrassment.

“Relax, Harkness, I thought you looked cute.”

Her stomach does a weird dip and she feels flutters.

“Shut up.”

It’s a grumble and it does nothing to wipe the smile from Rio’s lips.

“And, I missed you too.”

Agatha scoffs, looking at the Herbology Professor with faux incredulity. As if she had no idea why the other woman was saying that. 

Even though she thought it so much, and so loudly, she feared Rio would hear it.

“I never claimed to miss you.”

“No, you just claimed your students did and I read between the lines.”

And oh, Rio looks smug about it, leaning back with a smirk. Her arms cross as if challenging the Dark Arts Professor to prove her wrong. 

Agatha clicks her tongue on the roof of her mouth.

“You are so aggravating. Has anyone ever told you that?”

Rio grabs her butterbeer and simply bats her lashes as she drinks. 

Agatha grumbles and does the same, although she hides a smile behind the mug.

They drink the butterbeer and chat, for the first time ever they actually speak. The Dark Arts teacher tells her she comes from a long family of witches, which made her a pureblood. She speaks of her mother, and how strict she was growing up, looking down upon Agatha no matter how hard she worked to excel in school.

Rio tells her that she came from human parents, a muggleborn. Her mother had been so proud of her, cheered her on, while her father always viewed her as an oddity. He eventually left and her mother died, so nothing really tied her to the Muggle world anymore. So, Rio now took residency among wizards.

Before they both know it, it is growing dark outside and they have a few mugs empty on the table.

They bundle up once more and make their way out to seek the students and return back to Ilvermorny. They stop at the entrance, finishing on slipping their gloves and hats, Rio glances up and brown eyes settle on a mistletoe.

A mischievous smile settles on her lips.

“Agatha, look up.”

The woman does so without question and the Herbology Professor swears that she hears Agatha’s breath hitch. Then she looks at Rio, eyes wide. The other, for her part, looks entirely too satisfied with their predicament.

“We have to kiss Agatha. Otherwise we’ll have bad luck for the rest of the year and all of the next one until Christmas again, where we can break the curse by kissing under a mistletoe.”

“You just made that shit up.”

Rio shrugs and slips her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

“Do you really want to take that risk?”

The silence stretches, neither woman moving. And then, Agatha grabs Rio by the lapels of her jacket and pulls her into a kiss. 

It was supposed to just be a press of the lips and nothing more. Quick. But it lingers, and Rio’s arms slip from her jacket to wrap around Agatha’s waist. She is pulled closer and, what was she supposed to do? 

Not part her lips as an open invitation? Not lose herself within this kiss which steals her breath?

The Dark Arts Professor groans softly and presses her body into that of the other woman’s. They may be standing outside in the cold, but Agatha has never felt warmer. 

They part when air is necessary but remain nose to nose, sharing the same breath.

“There… good luck for next year.”

The words are breathlessly spoken. The Dark Arts Professor steps away and fixes her beanie before walking away, with her heart hammering in her chest. 

Rio stares at her, with a goofy grin on her lips, before jogging over to catch up. They gather the students and begin the trip back to the castle. 

William slides up next to her casually and Agatha has to bite back a groan.

“Did you know that in Transfiguration, I learned how to turn a small bell into a mistletoe?”

He lets the words hang for a second. 

The exact second Agatha needed for her brain to catch it. 

She snaps her neck towards the boy with wide eyes that could not quite believe what she had heard.

“ William Kaplan, you have detention for a week! ”