Wild child

"Mrs. Skoll's all-purpose magic stain remover: easy to remove stains!" As soon as she entered the house, Fanny couldn't wait to pull out a large bag from her bulging schoolbag, "and Dr. Bree's freckle-removing and whitening cream , you said it is very useful, right? There is also a classic style of Fengya witch robe, although you don’t usually wear it, but it will really look good. I passed by that store when I first started school. Hit it!"

Mrs. Conwell looked at the gifts from Fanny one by one, showing a joyful and gentle smile.

"I've been saving food and money for a long time!" Fanny raised her face with the expression of a child waiting for praise after getting full marks in the exam.

"That's very kind, Fanny. Thank you."

Smith snorted imperceptibly softly at the side, and Fanny pulled out another big bag with a smile: "Don't worry, you have a lot of them. I bought all the new products of Honeydukes, and you last time Eat up a pound of orange jets...and this!"

Smith looked at the blank sheet of paper in front of him, not knowing why.

"Magic arithmetic paper! Look!" Fanny scribbled a few slightly complicated calculation formulas, and the answer appeared at the end of the formula as soon as her hand was off the paper, "This is originally for people who learn arithmetic and divination. I looked at it when Min was previewing, and it felt similar to Muggle math. Many people who took this course were using this, so I bought one and asked Hermione to modify it for me. There are all kinds of formulas , You can calculate by hand, much more convenient than a calculator! Hey, I don’t know how to live without magic.”

Smith's face darkened when he heard the last sentence, and he simply thanked him and took the package.Fanny was a little surprised by Smith's cold reaction—speaking of which, Smith has been a little lukewarm since the first wave of surprises at the station, and he wasn't like before when she was laying the groundwork for her thrilling story on the way Very cooperatively, I was hung up and asked questions, only occasionally answering "what is that".

"Don't you like mathematics, although I don't know why you like that kind of shit... save yourself some trouble." Fanny handed over the blank paper.

"Opportunistic."

"Forget it if you don't like it, do I still beg you to accept it?" Hearing Smith's evaluation of the gift she had worked so hard to get, Fanny frowned, "If you don't want it, I will throw it away, anyway, I will not choose arithmetic divination. Like Can you be as happy as a boy? Yes? Or don't you?"

For a moment Smith seemed about to lose his temper, but he silently took the paper and the package from Fanny, and walked to his room.

Mrs. Conwell seemed a little overwhelmed. After calling Smith a few times to no avail, she first put Fanny’s things and herself in the room. an imp.

The room hadn't been lived in for several months, but it was still very clean. Fanny wondered if it was due to the stain remover she brought back.

One can imagine how difficult it would be for Fanny, who is still a beanie. For Bella Conwell, who has dealt with Fanny for more than two years in the years that Fanny can't remember, it is natural to deal with two little devils who already know something. Not a problem.And so the atmosphere in the cottage at supper returned to the same harmony as on other holidays.

It's just that Smith is still not as good at cooperating with Fanny's "story meeting" as before, which makes Fanny somewhat uncomfortable in the following vacation.

The two-story building was so lively during this holiday, Smith joined the school band, his musical talent was fully utilized, and his easy-going personality also won him good popularity.Several relatively fixed groups in the school band take turns to perform in nearby churches every weekend, and every two or three days there will be various music and singing sounds here one after another.

Most of the singing was done by Amy Butler, singer in Smith's group.She has soft blond curly hair, typical Caucasian nose and mouth complexion, but under the bangs, she has a pair of mismatched black eyes. It is said that she only looks like her gypsy mother in this one place.Of course, impure bloodlines did not affect her devotion. Having grown up with a religious father, she sang and sang, even a heartless person like Fanny could feel the serene and firm power of faith in her heart.

In short, Amy is quiet, introverted, and has faith in her heart, which is the complete opposite type of Fanny.Apart from the same gender, the only thing they have in common is that they both have an incomprehensible mother. One left her three-year-old daughter and went to the forest to find a ghost. trace.Amy didn't see her once in four or five years, and her expression didn't change when she was mentioned.

However, the fiery gypsy blood is still reflected in Amy. For example, when she was only fourteen, she hooked up with a willful and unrestrained-"former"-bad boy Joey Belacova.It is another story about a responsible and good class leader helping the backward students to get themselves into it.

The power of love is great, Joey can be said to have changed his face within half a year, and his conduct performance has the momentum to catch up with the top student Smith.Fanny is not very interested in the argument of "changing yourself for love". Joey's "progress" made her feel a sense of regret that "partners have been assimilated", but seeing Joey's radiant face, she will also appear. An idea to build a bridge or something.Amy's religious beliefs are unshakable, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that she is losing ground.

In addition, there is 11-year-old Douglas Green, the youngest in the team, who plays the guitar well.Introverted and good-tempered, he was given the nickname Douglas (pronounced near dog), which is still adopted from several guys who bullied him in the past, which he has not had since he made friends with Joey Class is in trouble.From time to time, Fanny asked him to teach herself to play a few pieces.

The second-to-last youngest, Smith, was the captain. Fanny was quite surprised when she learned this. She really didn't see that this "little brother" who had been with her for several years and had been under her influence had leadership skills.There is no piano in the church, but most of the songs used in the performance are composed or adapted by Smith. Fanny is merciless, but she admires it in her heart. Some songs are really nice.

Gradually getting to know each other, Fanny would sometimes join in the fun.

"...to Almighty God be the honor, the glory, the power and the power. May all things, all things, all nations and nations, worship the Lamb of God..."

After a song, there was applause.Smith is obviously very popular, and "Smith's sister" followed suit. Fanny's voice is still good, and she is quick to find memorization words. Several people are full of praise. Joey also said that Amy will be unemployed for a week, and Fanny will be on the job. .

"Forget it, the roof of the church is more suitable for me than the stage inside the church." Fanny smiled, "If you want to make the service more exciting or simply remove it, I can help—— er, sorry, no intention Offend, Amy." Amy showed a look of hesitation when she heard it, Fanny knew she had said something wrong and hurriedly apologized, "I won't do that, it's just talking."

"But you are quite experienced, right?" Joey always had a signature smile on his face, but unlike Lockhart's idiot, Joey's smile gave Fanny a hearty feeling.

"Well, I'm young and ignorant." Someone who is not much older now spreads his hands.

"I've always thought it's too boring here. Don't go so far to go to some Hogwarts school. How about transferring to our school? I promise you will give full play to your talents." Joey looked at Amy dissatisfied He stroked his hair pretentiously.

Fanny knew that Smith had been telling her friends that she refused to go to the nearby comprehensive middle school and had to go to Hogwarts Middle School in other places because she felt that "it was boring to be too close to home".This explanation is very her style, so she despises Smith's shabby lies and the belittling of her IQ-can you go to a comprehensive middle school if you have poor grades? ——After that, things went smoothly.What makes her more opinionated is the status of Smith's "brother", isn't it just half a year older than her?She was still in charge of this product before.

Fanny’s suggestion to Joey is of course to let her go, and the good student Amy gave some moral education to the former bad boy Joey who is showing signs of relapse.

The practice was coming to an end, and the topic gradually progressed to Fanny's favorite part.After knowing that Fanny is completely open about his life in the orphanage, Joy is always willing to find "inspiration" and "feelings from the past" from her, even though everyone knows that with Amy's gentle spell, he will definitely do it. Nothing.

"... Mrs. Evan probably intends to starve me to death again. In fact, the food she usually gives is only enough to make two-thirds of the stronger children half full, and they are all unpalatable. Something that makes people prefer to starve to death. Even if it’s not for myself, I have to save myself for the dozen or so starving little guys, right?”

"Exactly, so what did you do?" Doug, who has now largely taken Smith's place, asked very cooperatively.

"The old way, a cookie shop just opened on St. Mary's Birch Road." Fanny blinked, "The cooling table is still quite close to the back door, but this time we have encountered..."

"You guys? You brought your companions this time?" Joey raised his eyebrows.

"Well... of course. Didn't I tell you? My 'brother' was my right-hand man..."

"Here is not close to your town. Why did he go there? Did you know each other before you were... brought here?"

"Huh?" Fanny was taken aback by the question, and turned to look at Smith, only to find that his face was red and white, and his expression was extremely embarrassing.

"Uh, what did he tell you? About how I was adopted?" Fanny used words that even Joey was embarrassed to say, but she didn't care.

"No..." Even Joey felt the awkwardness of the atmosphere, but he paused and continued, "It's not that Mrs. Conwell accidentally met you who got out of the orphanage, left you for lunch, and then asked for help. Did Smith decide to adopt you?"

"This..." That's ridiculous!Am I so like a brat who can handle a meal?Well, similar things did happen, but if the protagonist is Mrs. Conwell, it probably won't go so smoothly...

But... "In theory, that's right." Fanny rolled her eyes and began to do what she was best at, "But don't you think I will only come out of that ghost place once? His mother knows him well, that time I sneaked into your yard to steal cherries, right?"

Fanny gave her a look that Smith must have understood. In those years, they cooperated with Mrs. Evan and Orozco to blow up, or sang and made up nonsense.

Smith hesitated. "Yes...we had a fight."

"No, I beat you up." Fanny pulled her hair, "It's just your small body. Hey, after all, it's a story of a good boy being spoiled by a bad girl, but that's all. Just looking for excitement three or two times, this guy lectured me ten times more than he helped me. Then I got tired of listening to it, so I decided to change my course and be a good person for the time being. Then, I was picked up by Mrs. Conwell. "

"Oh..." Joey nodded and dragged his voice, and several people looked at Smith meaningfully.

"It seems that Mrs. Conwell is indeed your mother, you know, legally? (mother-in-law means mother-in-law in English, making fun of Smith and Fanny...)"

Now Smith was completely red-faced, and he showed this clearly with his fair skin.Even if Fanny didn't understand the reaction, she understood it. She was generous: "Lawfully, Mrs. Conwell has been my mother for a long time. I'm not like some people, the roses are in full bloom. Beautiful little grove, hehe."

Amy and Joey's faces turned red all of a sudden, but Joey was still half-smiling and three-pointed proudly.Two months ago, on the night of Amy's birthday, Joey brought roses in ambush on her way home.The plan was recommended by Fanny, and she had no reason to miss this good show.

So the question of "Where did the guest come from" was successfully dismissed.

"By the way, why are you telling such unnecessary and unprofessional lies? Could it be that there is a rule in the school to 'prohibit admission to orphanages'? Or is there some tradition in this place? I don't think so." Fanny in the study casually said Biting the sugar quill, "You can tear it apart in a few words, you really don't make progress. Fortunately, I react quickly."

Smith, who was busy at another desk, didn't answer, and crossed out the draft he had just typed with a sullen face.

"These things look really scary, didn't you just say a few words, why are you so self-conscious?" Fanny leaned over to have a look, "You don't need to force a pen to put such a good thing, it's really like what you do .”

"You don't care." The tone of the reply was a bit unlike Smith.

"Yes, it's none of my business anyway." Fanny sat back and looked at her messy witch-hunting thesis, "Why don't you miss the fun things in the past at all? Living that boring life in Muggle high school , if it were me..."

Fanny really thought so, she couldn't imagine herself sitting in a classroom in a middle school, day after day, year after year.She had been to several elementary schools, several high schools, and the general impression was that only assholes and nerds lived there.In the corridors of the classroom, there are paintings or handwritten newspapers drawn by silly students, or the portraits of Einstein, Newton and Nobel, telling everyone to follow the rules and study hard every day to become such a person in the future.

Fanny has never planned her life like that, she doesn't bother to pay attention to obedient idiots, and disobedient bastards like to get together to make trouble for her.

The emotion that he said casually made Smith explode all of a sudden.

"Blow up the school long ago? Yeah, then why don't you go back to your Hogwarts?"

"You know that Hogwarts doesn't arrange accommodation for summer vacation." Fanny said calmly, "Besides, if I don't come back for summer vacation, no one will bring you gifts. There is no way to buy it..."

Fanny fell silent because Smith threw in front of her a small pile of familiar fragments of parchment, one of which was marked "For Fool Smith."When she looked up, she saw that Smith's eyes were bursting with anger, and he was completely different from him-to be honest, Fanny had never seen him so angry even when he was beaten and insulted.

"Who do you think wants all this crap? Squeaky owls, gooey candies flying around, and your smug bragging! I'm sick of it! Don't put on a face there Charity face, why do you think you can buy these ghost things?!"

"I don't give alms! Who would spend so much time doing alms? Do you think I'm Amy or some kind church volunteer who uses my own living expenses to buy things and give them away?" Fanny is not so easily intimidated. Yes, she stood up and grabbed the pieces of paper and turned them into powder in her hands, "I said don't want it if you don't want it, why should I please you? Who do you think you are?"

"Don't scare me with those tricks of yours!" The powder floated in front of his eyes, and Smith was stunned for a moment, becoming even more angry, "Your living expenses! Which penny did you earn? How much money do you think your mother has for you to spoil?"

He threw a book in front of Fanny, and Fanny glanced at it subconsciously.The yellowing of the pages, and the fact that Smith Benson's name has been crossed out with two black lines on the back of the cover, indicate an obvious truth.

"Robes that will never be worn a few times, a mess of sugar and a piece of paper! Do you know that this pile of shit cost me and my mother two months of food expenses? We save money for you in that ghost The place saves face!"

"Wait, are you saying that the family doesn't have any money? No one ever told..."

"Mom won't say it, she doesn't want you to have a psychological burden." Smith took a breath, maybe he was a little annoyed by his indiscriminate words under his anger, but the desire to attack occupied his consciousness like never before, "Aren't you always Isn't it amazing? You know how to deal with other people's thoughts, but here you don't feel anything? We live in the same house, second-hand textbooks are always on my desk, and there are only a few clothes for my mother. You didn't even notice?

"I really don't, or else...you know I'm always rough..." Fanny didn't know what to say, and she didn't have the confidence to get angry.

"No, you're not careless." Smith said indifferently, "You can find anything if you want. You just don't care. How we live is none of your business, as long as someone cooks for you during the holidays." Yes, it’s enough to have a place to sleep and someone to listen to your bragging. As long as you have these, even if my mother and I become beggars, it’s none of your business.”

"I don't think so! I really care about you! Otherwise..." Smith's words were serious, but Fanny couldn't think of any "otherwise" to refute. "Otherwise I wouldn't come back as soon as the holiday comes"? "Otherwise I wouldn't buy you gifts"?These words are too ridiculous.

"That's really thankful, it's a great gift, Miss Witch."

"I'm not that..."

"That's what you mean! Listen to what you say, 'what a boring activity' 'living that boring life in a Muggle high school', you to us—what's your name?— Muggles don't even care about it! That's how it was in the past, relying on those little tricks that will shine, and after you enter that monster school, you won't even..."

"You say I'm a monster?" Fanny looked at Smith. She used to think that even if the whole world said so, the always gentle and polite boy in front of her would stand by her side unswervingly.

Smith didn't say a word, and he sat down at his desk under the eyes of those brown-blue almond eyes.This is a sign of a truce after every quarrel. Fanny, as the one who has the upper hand, will not be reluctant, and Smith is always the one who takes the initiative to cease fire and then goes to make amends.

But this time is different.

"It's true that I never noticed, and it was my fault; it's okay if you don't like the gift and ruin it, anyway, it's yours if you give it to you; I was wrong to say that Muggle life is boring, and I apologize. But..." Fanny stared at the back of Smith's neck with her back turned to her, "You said you liked Miriam, and you and Mrs. Conwell both agreed to let her fly around the house. You didn't say she was noisy back then. Also when I told those stories you kept asking 'what happened next' 'then what' did I push you to listen when you practiced or when you didn't like to listen like this holiday? Drink it? Who came to me? Why didn’t you think I was a monster when you went to steal bread?!”

"Yeah! I'll always be the one in the way! But at least I won't shamelessly brag about being from an orphanage, stealing and fighting all day long! Do you think you're amazing? They just didn't say it, you Think normal people like hooligans and thieves? They think you're crazy!"

"I can see better than you what they think of me! At least I won't lie to make friends!"

"Who have you never lied to? It's just that you only lie for yourself! Because you only think about yourself!"

"I saved your life several times!"

"If you didn't fight them like a lunatic, why would I need someone to save me? Have you noticed that no one wants to approach you? Only I am willing to stand with you, and I support you! The exchange is time and time again I was almost beaten to death, almost expelled from school, repeated a grade, warned by the police, isolated by others, and you gave orders endlessly! Finally, I had a chance to stay away from you, but you appeared in my house again, causing me to Living the same life as in the orphanage! If I can no longer be dragged down by you, I would rather not have anything!!"

The two stood in the middle of the study, because Fanny had started to grow taller, she was a little taller than Smith, and Smith was facing each other, panting and staring at each other.The blood was throbbing in Fanny's temple, and the next second she'd be throwing her - former - best friend across the room and choking his neck.

Then the soft music sounded, filling the burning room.The source of the sound is in Smith's pocket. The pocket watch was a birthday present from Fanny last year. It can play any music you like at any time. Fanny insisted that he replace the one that only produced monotonous electronic sounds. Alarm clock.

It's easy to tell that the music playing now was played by Smith and recorded by Fanny.Beethoven's "Fur Elise" is Smith's favorite piece. Even though he can already play much more difficult pieces than this, he still plays it once or twice a day. Fanny treats him like every detail. He is as familiar with his own palm prints.

No one moved until the end of the song.Smith turned around and walked out of the room quickly. Fanny heard him deliberately ping-pong, and slammed the door shut with a bang when he went out after packing up, probably to express that he was still very angry.

After a while, Fanny also left the house. Of course, she didn't slam the door.