Detention Under The Stars (Open)

Deanna shuffled the exams that she had just graded. Placing them in her basket for the next class, she stood up and yawned. It had been a long day, and she still had a detention to oversee. She looked at the clock that hung over her office door, startled that it was as late as it was.

She straightened her desk , trying not to let her fatigue show. Her student would be in the office soon, and she couldn't be tired. That wouldn't be right. After all, she needed to take her student outside and combine Astronomy with Mythology. She was going to have them choose one of the constellations and write a report on the reason it was in the sky, using the history of the constellation's story in Mythology. A bit silly, she knew, but it would take a while for her student.

Deanna crossed the room, setting the basket by the door where she would remember it for the morning, and settled into a chair to wait for the detention to start. Of course, she needed to wait for the person she'd assigned it to. They were to arrive within the next twenty to twenty-five minutes, and she decided to make up a list of possible constelations for them to choose from. Nothing too easy, of course, since she didn't want to be a pushover with this detention, but she was tired of having all of those she assigned detention to writing reports on the Mythological person closest to what they had been given the punishment for.

A knock sounded at her door just as she ran out of ideas for her list. She lay down the quill and cleared her throat.

"Come in."

Deanna

Jocelyn had only finished crying, not five minutes before knocking on Professor Benfield's door. She had never in her entire life gotten a detention, and now she was worried that this was all her professor would ever think of her, not to mention every other student in her Mythology class. She was a good girl, she had never misbehaved and her perfect record showed it. Until today. And she couldn't help but think that her future was over because of this stupid mistake. Maybe they would even take her Prefect's badge from her!

The infuriating thing was that it was all her fault! She knew Evan didn't approve of public displays of affection, but she had tempted him enough to start snogging him during their break between classes. But his lips had felt too amazing against hers to just let him go for class. And that was when they had been interrupted by Professor Benfield. And to tell the truth, she had been lucky to get off with only a detention. She heard other professors at Hogwarts were even more difficult to deal with when it came to this offense. Rumor said that Professor Maddox called her students' parents if she ever caught them snogging in the halls. This was definitely better, though Jocie knew her mother would find out. And she wouldn't be mad...she would just be disappointed and blame herself. Jocelyn felt sick to her stomach.

When Jocelyn heard her professor's voice, she walked in, her eyes downcast.

"Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it. And again...I am so sorry, Professor. I promise, it will never happen again," she sniffled.

Deanna smiled. She didn't like to see her students upset, and she wanted to let Jocelyn understand that it wasn't so bad to be in a detention with her sometimes.

"Jocie, calm down. I'm not a monster. I understand that you want to be with your boyfriend, but I need to have you learn that it's not the best time to do it between classes." She stood and went to Jocelyn's side and wrapped an arm around her. The girl was a very good student, and Deanna thought she was a joy to have in class. The fact that she was so upset about the detention said that she obviously hadn't had one before.

"I'm not going to bite you or make you do anything to bad tonight. We're going to be outside, and looking at the stars. Looking at the stars and find a constellation that you find interesting and you're going to write a report on it, telling me why it is in the sky and how it was that the constellation came to be part of Mythology."

She handed Jocie the list and smiled at her. Some of the subjects on the paper had stories that were rather romantic, sad, and made her think of the girl's situation with her boyfriend, and then of her own love life. Or lack thereof. She sighed inwardly, now slightly jealous of Jocie and the fact that she had someone in her life. Deanna had had one serious boyfriend at that age, but had not had anyone interested in her since.

She silently reprimanded herself as she waited for Jocie to pick one of the choices. Her love life wasn't important. She had to keep her mind on the detention.

"So, have you decided on one, yet?"

Jocie sighed as she looked at the list in front of her. She was not concerned over having to write a report. She had always been quick and efficient with her school work, and tonight would be no different. In fact, she might almost enjoy this particular assignment. She loved Mythology, and she often found similarities in the stories to her own life, small though they might be. But she still worried about what her professor might think of her. She needed to explain herself, if not to convince Professor Benfield, but to rid herself of some of the guilt and worthlessness she felt now.

After she had studied the stories for a few moments, she looked back to Professor Benfield. She brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face and attempted a smile.

“I choose Andromeda, Professor, if that’s alright.”

She had always found the princess very interesting. The fact that she was trapped on that ocean for so long before Perseus had finally come to heroically save her. It sounded corny and trite, but that was how Jocelyn felt about Evan. Yes, she knew he was not perfect, but neither was she. And he had still saved her, even without knowing it. She had to smile when she thought of him coming to her on a winged horse and taking her off into the sunset. She wondered how he would react to such a fantasy.

“I really feel like I should explain myself more, Professor. You see, I don’t usually like to parade my love for my boyfriend in front of the entire school. It was a lapse in judgement. But I understand that it was done at the wrong time and in the wrong place. I’m not asking you to let me out of detention, I just wanted you to know that I’m not some...some tart,” she said, blushing.

Deanna wrapped her arm around Jocie's shoulders and hugged her lightly. She thought nothing of the sort of the young Ravenclaw. She had done the same thing with her first boyfriend when they were students at Hogwarts, and she'd been caught once or twice.

"Of course you're not," she said comfortingly. "You're a normal teenage girl, and he's a normal teenage boy. I just have to instill some sense of morals among the students, love. I'm certainly not saying that you and he don't have them, but if I let you go without some sort of punishment, then it looks bad on the school and the other students will think that they will be able to do the same."

She was delighted that Jocelyn had chosen Andromeda for her report. The Mythological princess was one of Deanna's favorites. She'd dreamed about her own Perseus coming to rescue her from the beast that was threatening her and the entire castle. Before he'd been faceless, but more and more he'd come to resemble somone that she'd spoken to in this office just a short time ago. And the monster was no longer the same, either. It was now a giant Hungarian Horntail. Remembering how the dream had ended always made Deanna blush. Especially since she didn't know if anything would ever come of her crush.

She beckoned for Jocie to follow her from the office and out onto the school grounds. They needed to come down here as there would be an Astronomy class in session soon, and they would need the tower for that, but Deanna had chosen an area where she would be able to see the stars that she needed quite well.

"All right," she said when they had reached their position. "Now I want you to tell me where Andromeda is in the sky at this moment, and where the rest of the constellations that are from her story are."

Now, this was the easy part. Jocelyn had always had an academic-centered mind, and she enjoyed the work it took to follow through with an assignment. Not only did she chart Andromeda's location, but she found Perseus and Medusa as well. She finished her chart quickly and efficiently, handing it over to Professor Benfield with a shy smile. She knew it was right, but she wasn't one to say it out loud. Jocelyn knew she wasn't perfect, and she had made plenty of mistakes on assignments and tests before. But tonight, it had all come together. And she actually felt better being here, knowing her professor didn't think any less of her. So what if everyone else thought she was somewhat of a slut, she was happy that at least one other person besides herself and Evan knew the truth.

Jocelyn found herself looking at the Mythology professor, wondering if she was in love. Deanna Benfield was beautiful, young, kind...Jocelyn didn't see a wedding ring, but maybe she had a boyfriend to keep her company. If that wasn't the case, Jocie could not understand it. There were people out there who had significant others that didn't deserve such happiness, and others who needed true love that would never find it. It was quite sad.

"Professor," she began. "I have a personal question to ask you. You don't have to answer, but...are you dating anyone?"

She blushed and looked away, immediately feeling stupid for asking such a ridiculous question.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that. Just forget I said anything. I think we still have time here, so go ahead and put me to work again. Need any help in the classroom or anything?"