Goodnight [open]

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

First place on a classroom wall
Every turn of the face can help to break
The fall from a domestic disgrace
Every rumor displaced
Is lost and found


It was Dimitri's turn to do corridor rounds tonight. It was barely past curfew and there weren't many students around as they were in the last week of the Christmas holidays, but it was still something that had to be done. Dimitri hated doing rounds past curfew for the simple reason he didn't like giving students detention. Especially during holidays or weekends students tended to be less interested in abiding the rules and so Dimitri knew that there was a 60% chance that he'd run into one or more students - and of that 60%, there was a 55% chance it was one or more of the four Gryffindor pranksters everyone seemed to know.
But no, he didn't like giving dententions. Dimitri liked rewarding people for their efforts, or helping them when they were stuck, but he didn't like giving out punishments, not at all, even though he knew he would have to if he came across as student in the hallways. After all, it was unacceptable behaviour and the castle wasn't as safe as some students believed it to be. Especially in the dark, a moving staircase was easily missed (Dimitri still thought it would be best to have a permanent cushioning spell under staircases that were known to move, just in case) and imagine some emergency happened and the students had to be evacuated and one had been on his or her own in the hallways without knowing - that could possible end very ugly. So detentions were necessary. Dimitri sighed - if he could get away with not giving them, just giving out warnings, he would, but he also knew it would undermine his authority as a teacher if he didn't, so he gave students out of bed detention. He preferred to at least give them useful detention, though - no writing lines or polishing trophees that got polished twice or thrice a month because of detentions. Dimitri preferred keeping them in his office with some sort of tricky puzzle or essay subject and they could go once they had solved the matter in a satisfactory way. It was Dim's own silly way of broadening the curriculum.

His footsteps quietly echoed in the empty hallway, hands in his pockets, listening as he walked. Dimitri needed no light to guide his way, none of the teachers did, they simply used a spell to enhance their eyesight. After all, it wouldn't do if a student got a chance to hide because he or she had seem their lumos long before they'd even come close. Glancing at his watch, he pulled a face. Only eleven o'clock, two more hours to go before he could go off to bed. Not that he was tired or wanted to sleep, he just didn't like patrolling. Merlin knew what sort of student activities he might run into - he'd caught a couple snogging in an empty classroom a week ago, snogging but obviously on their way to something more than that. Dimitri pulled a bit of a face - he didn't want to see that, couldn't they just do that in their common rooms or something, where he didn't patrol and never came?
One of the paintings whispered him a 'good evening, professor' and he nodded politely, murmering a 'likewise' under his breath before walking on. Standing by one of the grand staircases, he listened for a moment, standing still. He had to wait for the stairs to move, anyway, because he wanted to go up, to the astronomy tower. The night was rather clear and it wouldn't surprise him if some of the students had gotten the 'brilliant' idea to go there and watch the stars or something. The least he could do was go there and make sure they didn't plunge to their death.

We're all dancing to the same sad song
And we're not sleeping, but it won't take long.

[devin pucket]

Devin had spent a good few nights like this. Bent over a stack of books. Why? Because she found that students did not like to put things back to their spots in the library and had offered to help the librarian out a few nights a week. She'd done this since she was a 6th year at Hogwarts. Except now she didn't have to sneak back to her dorm in the middle of the night when she was done.

Shoving the last book onto the shelf she turned down the lights with a little wave and picked up her own books and a neat little stack of papers she had to grade. Pushing her hair back fro her face she turned out into the dark corridors and squinted into the darkness. She normally wore a pair of spectacles that she'd enchanted. Devin preferred not magically enhance herself for one reason or another. But alas, she had forgotten her glasses in class and was not about to go all the way back just to get them. No that seemed far to wasteful.

Turning down a corner she let her flats hit the floor with a faint soft patter. A staircase going up had just turned. Oh good! Turning up the stairs she walked up them as it moved. Not always a bright idea. Definitely not tonight. Why? Men. That's why. Before she could see him or do anything about it, Devin ran square into the back of the professor in front of her. Her papers scattered everywhere and she swung her arms around feeling herself tip backwards. A sharp sound came to the night as she drew in a gasp and tried to reach for the railing.

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

Everything was silent safe for his footsteps, though then the staircase began to move and the grind of stone on stone echoed through the still air. Strange, Dimitri thought, because these stairs had to have been moving for centuries and centuries - why hadn't the stone gone smooth and soundless? Better yet - why hadn't it been spelled to be smooth and soundless?
Either way, this way we can safely blame it on the noisy staircases that Dimitri didn't hear the sound of a second pair of feet behind him. He was still walking up (albeit more slowly, better magical nightsight or not, it was still a deep fall) and as he felt someone run into him, it scared the living daylights out of him, I tell you - his heart stopped for a moment, because he hadn't seen or heard it coming and he stood on unstable ground. On top of it all, the stairs had reached their destination and stopped with a jolt at that exact moment and for a second, there was only chaos as Dimitri turned around, parchment fluttering about him, books falling, and the charms assistent trying to hold onto something to keep herself from falling backwards and making a nice tumble down the stone steps.

Instinct kicking in rather than reason, he muttered a quick, palatal sounding (definitely Russian) spell under his breath - his wand was already in hand, after all, and he'd definitely be too late if he tried to reach out to her. With a jerk, Devin stopped in mid air, unable to move but no longer falling. It gave Dimitri time to walk down a few steps and offer her his hand before removing the spell, pulling her back on her feet. "You okay?"
He was pretty sure that she was - probably just as shocked his him (his heart was still hammering away), but okay. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for her books and papers. Dimitri hadn't thought to save those as well, as his colleague bouncing down the stairs was worse than a few books, and he grimaced as he looked over the railing, putting his wand away with a surprisingly steady hand (taking into account he'd just had the living daylights scared out of him). "Sorry about that.." he muttered, exhaling slowly to get rid of the final bit of tension. They were both fine, after all. No one had gotten hurt.

[devin pucket]

The jolt of stopping made her breath escape her once more as her heart thundered in her ears. She had been almost certain that she was going to tuble down the stairs, snapping her neck, only to fall at the bottom a lifeless body. When she could no longer feel her body moving she caught her breath and looked around a little at the body that had sent her flying in the first place.

She prayed it was a teacher. That would be fantastic! An embarrassing moment in front of a colleague. On the bright side, it wouldn't be a student who was going to use this as bribery. As the hand was offered, she carefully took it and righted herself. Flattening out the white skirt that hung around her hips and thighs, she took a deep breath. "I think....I think I'm okay. Just startled." Well duh! He'd practically appeared out of no where. She was definitely going to consider this a near death accident.

Brushing her hair back she breathed again. " Are you okay??" She looked hopefully at him through the pitch darkness of the halled evening. Looking at her feet, Devin was suddenly aware that her books and papers were scattered. "Those.....were.....alphabetized by last name. As well as categorized by year and house and grade point average.." Taking in a breath she closed her eyes and counted to six. Looking frantically over the rail she squinted into the impending depths of the fall and prayed that none had fallen over the edge. Bending she cursed at herself and picked up the first of the books. "Bloody flipping-" She gasped and held a hand over her mouth. "Oh I'm so sorry! Please don't be a student." She squinted up again into the face before her and tried hard to see who it was. Obviously, Devin had missed the very blatant Russian he had used in his spell casting. Not something any hogwarts student would be familiar with unless taught by parents prior to schooling. Which was not typically done.

This was just fantastic. Putting a hand to her forehead, Devin sighed then tugged a little at the shawl she had draped around her shoulders. Shaking her head again she knelt and groped around in the darkness for all her papers. More than once she ran into his leg instead. And after a moment or two the staircase was moving again. With a little yelp she was thrown off balance again but lucky for her this time, she only fell to her bottom a few steps further up than she'd been standing and leaned against the railing. This was turning into a horrible night.

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

For a moment, Dimitri was silent and, more importantly (and interestingly), not thinking - just listening to both their quickened breaths and the last rustles of parchment settling down on the cold steps. Until she spoke, then he swallowed and straightened his back, feeling strung muscles unwind a little - she was okay. They were fine. He was not at all concerned with the level of embarrassment, like Devin was, and the only fleeting offtopic thought that rushed through his mind was how ironic it was that a teacher patrolling the hallways, supposedly keeping students safe, now proved to be more of a danger than anything else he'd encountered all night!
"Good," he said softly, letting go of her once he was sure she was standing steadily on her own and tucking his wand away into his sleeve. "I hope the spell wasn't too uncomfortable, it's meant for objects rather than people, I'm sorry." He hadn't been able to think of anything else and it was a spell he used often: in the classroom, he'd use it when he needed to display things for the entire classroom to see. It was more flexible than a sticking charm, as it worked with a sort of levitation principle (only a little more stable) and required less spellwork to take things down again, as well. In fact, it was very alike to the spells Dimitri used to attach bookshelves and paintings to the walls of his private rooms and home, as he was prone to changing things around when he felt like it and he very much disliked the unpleasant residu sticking charms could leave sometimes.

He breathed a soft 'yes' as she asked whether he was okay. He was fine - just still a little shocked and shaky, but doing better rapidly, and relaxing more as time progressed. A more pressing matter than his wellbeing was, indeed, the state of her papers. As Devin looked over down the dark stairwell and told him everything had been in a specific order, Dimitri couldn't help but think about first things first - they'd have to find everything back first. Or would sorting be better, before that? He liked sorting things (one brief glance at his book cases would testify to that). He'd help. Dimitri was helpful by nature and it was a good reason not to patrol the hallways in any case.
Sheer confusion passed over his face as Devin didn't seem to know whether he was a student or a teacher - but then he realised. Of course. There wasn't any light. He could see because of that eyesight charm, but she couldn't - of course she couldn't, or she wouldn't have walked into him. Undoing the charm on his vision (as he was not in the mood to blind himself - enough falling had happened!), he pulled out his wand again to mutter 'lumos' under his breath. "It's only me," he said with half an apologetic smile. No doubt she'd recognise him now: tall, skinnyish, dark-haired, cable sweater-wearing Dimitri. Moving on and away from the subject of himself, he pointed his wand over the edge of the stairs, into the darkness and he squinted his eyes - his lumos wasn't strong enough to hit the bottom by a long shot and there was no telling if any of her things had gone over the edge and down. "I can't tell if any f-ah-"

Dimitri had forgotten, for a moment, that they had been standing on one of the moving stair cases. Devin bounced down a few steps and Dimitri had, mercifully, held onto the banister for much needed support. For a moment he thought it was almost as though Hogwarts itself was taunting them, making the starting and the stopping of the movement more jerking and sudden, just to see if she could throw them off-balance, just to amuse herself by watching two silly teachers take a tumble down the stairs. Dim felt rather like someone on a rodeo-horse.
Once the moving had stopped again, he kneeled next to Devin (wand tucked behind his ear to light their way) and started picking up books and papers as well. "I think it's best to assemble these and just get off the stairs first," he proposed mumbling without looking at his colleague, just picking up things with his left and tucking them under his right arm. He didn't like speaking loud in the dark silence they were in - it was bad enough that he had wrecked her system which had probably taken hours to sort out, so he was not in the mood to wake up paintings and suffer their sleepy insults while they grabbled everything back together. "It will probably be easiest to see what's missing once we sort them, don't you think?" And yes, that is an offer for Devin to accept or refuse, if she feels like sorting everything on her own again. Dim might be useful, though - he loves neat things, a bit of a neurotic neat-freak, really.

[devin pucket]

She'd barely had time before the shift to react to him being him and not a student. But now, as she was setting herself up right and adjusting her self in the light he was now providing, Devin was mulling over how she felt about Dimitri having found her. Or rather her having brutally found him. He wasn't an old professor as so many were. Even some of the young ones where in their mid thirties to early fourties. At least so she thought. She hadn't really been here that long and honestly couldn't have told you even half of their first names. Dimitri's however, she knew. He was only a few years older than she was. He'd started teaching there shortly after she graduated though so Devin knew a little less about him than she would have liked to.

Devin, though she didn't know their names, liked to know things about people. She liked to categorize them all in her mind. She liked knowing what made them tick. What drove them. Mostly so that she knew exactly the right people to ask when she needed help or advice. Looking up at him she breathed a little. "Well, I'm glad you aren't a student. You'd have means to blackmail me." She laughed a little then looked at the mess of paper around her. It was nauseating almost.

Bending again she quickly scooped up a bunch of the papers. It was awfully nice of him to help her. Devin wasn't accustomed to help. She was usually more comfortable doing things herself. Actually having people organize things for her made her extremely anxious. On a good day. She just really didn't see where exactly the idea of her making more work for herself by staying on this blood stair case, was meant to be a stroke of brilliance. So naturally, Devin flashed him her simple smile and scooped up a few more papers and a few of her books. "Thank you... Um... I think it best just to...Well for the love of merlin! I'd say lets go back to my office. But only if you want to wait for the stairs to change back again." Her tone was dry and irritated but she didn't mean it toward him.

Looking over the edge once more she sighed. "Yes. I suppose you're right. I'll know where all the missing pieces go. Hopefully only a few have escaped. I'll be up all bloody night fixing it. You... um.. You really don't have to help if you don't want to..." Though something in her was really hoping he wouldn't mind. It was always sort of nice to have the company. And Devin really hadn't made a whole handful of actual friends. Professor Flitwick was only interesting for so long. Then he seemed to make the same redundant pun related jokes.. over and over again. Also.. he thought everything was a short joke. As if Devin had the audacity to mock her mentor. It became trying after a while. "I could get some tea or something going for us..." That sounded far more awkward than it had before she said it.

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

Dimitri was a little glad he had never taught her, to be honest. Not that he had much trouble remaining professional around his pupils, of course not, but it might've been a little weird to work with her now after she'd been his student - especially as they were so close age-wise. After all, it was a fact that Dimitri tended to be a little uncomfortable in social situations. He was fine when he was teaching, because he was proficient in his subject - Dim knew what he was talking about and could, in this way, both engage with his students and keep them at a respectable distance at the same time. With his colleagues, it was much the same - most were quite a lot older than him and even if they weren't.. it was a professional atmosphere nonetheless. Not that he didn't chat with any of his co-workers at breakfast or supper, not that he didn't talk to them during coffee breaks, or laughed with them at meetings occasionally - it just felt good that he didn't have to socialise for the sake of socialising. The pleasantries were part of work, not a thing on its own, and that made it a lot less imposing and easier to cope with.
As a logical consequence, it wasn't strange that Devin didn't know a lot about Dim, because he wasn't very open. He wasn't antisocial, he was a pleasant person to be around, actually, especially now he was getting better at small talk. Still, he never really talked about anything deeper than the superficial. He didn't like discussing himself, didn't see the use.

He chuckled softly when she said she was relieved he wasn't a student. "Blackmail you? You have a bleak outlook on life," he commented with a good-natured chuckle. "Our students aren't all that bad." Okay, there were a few rogue ones, but blackmailing teachers? They weren't as bad as that.
Picking up papers and books, the chaotic mess quickly became a neater pile. Still by no means sorted as neatly as before, but they were making progress. To him, it was only natural that he should help - he'd feel bad leaving her like this. He nodded at her suggestion to try and sort out the mess in her office and smiled a little lopsidedly as she meantioned that meant waiting for the stairs to shift again. "That should be no problem, we've survived standing on the stairs this far," he replied with a faint tone of amusement. "And sorting this out in your office is definitely more practical than doing it here."

Once they had everything (or everything they had been able to find, rather), Dimitri got up (wand still behind his ear, by the way, it's quite a silly sight!) and followed Devin's glance over the railing. "We'll find them, either way - they can't have just vanished," he assured her, though in Hogwarts you could never really be sure, especially not with Peeves around..
Leaning against the banister, he relaxed for a moment. Well.. only partly relaxed, because he knew they were waiting for the stairs to move again. "Oh, no, really - it's fine," he assured Devin with somewhat of a lazy grin. Maybe a tired smile. Or a normal smile. It was difficult to tell, with the little light there was. "It's my fault you dropped them in the first place." He couldn't possibly just leave her with this mess which was, at least partly, his responsibility. Also, it definitely beat doing rounds on his own.
"Besides - I really cannot say no to tea," he confessed, chuckling under his breath and just wishing the stairs would hurry the hell up.

[devin pucket]

She half smiled at his comment on her outlook on life. It had a twisted way of wrapping itself around her mind this was true. She wasn't going to go so far as to call it bleak. And of course she knew not all students were bad. She'd been one of them not long ago after all. He was right that moving from this spot was a much more practical idea. No sense in getting thrown off balance again and risk loosing more papers. Standing poised and neat on her own step she looked up the stairs and sighed. These bloody things liked to throw her off in her younger years, it was no surprize to her that they should be throwing her off now.

His willingness to help caught her off guard a little. Devin, who was not used to bothering with assistance of this nature, was especially not used to someone being so at ease with helping her. She was very much an independent person. Always had been. Brushing back a strand of her chocolate brown hair she smiled at him. "I really appreciate it...." She wasn't entirely sure what else to sat but when he mentioned tea again she brightened up a little.

"You'll find I actually make amazing tea. I grow it myself." She paused for a moment took a breath as if to say something, paused then took another breath. "I dry it out and then put it in these little glass containers of appropriate size and shape....." Swallowing she smiled at him then looked straight ahead. The wand behind his ear made him look silly. Cute.. but silly. Keeping that thought (which was accompanied by a slight grin) to herself and just stared straight head.

When the stairs shifted (FINALLY) Devin jumped a little and lashed a hand out to grab the railing beside her new companion. Holding her breath for a second she steadied herself before letting go. Her cheeks felt hot as she glanced at him then nodded and walked up the steps. "Best get off these ruddy things before they mock us any further."

She made a hard left at the next corridor and looked to Dim. "Um....You're....The Defense against the Dark Arts professor, yes?? Ehh.. Dimirti?" she wanted to be sure she was right as she realized they hadn't actually spoken to each other before now and lord only knew he could have been an impostor.

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

Dimitri hadn't meant his comment about her 'bleak' outlook on life that literally - it had been a joke. Then again, Dimitri isn't very good at joking, he is notoriously bad, actually. Once, when presented with the riddle 'Why did the skelleton not go the the party? - Because he had no body to go with' he had actually very confusedly pointed out that the skelleton was part of the body and that the joke was more suited to a ghost. Not funny Dim.
But he had willingness and friendliness to spare, which makes him into a lovable person after all. He didn't see why it would be so strange to help her. Wasn't that what friends colleagues were for? Besides, if you were nice to someone, they were usually nice back and he did have to work and live with these people, being unhelpful and grumpy would get him nowhere. But luckily, he was oblivious of Devin's confusion about his helpfulness, so he smiled back brightly as she thanked him.

"Grow it yourself?" he echoed, in admiration. "That is impressive. I'd try it myself, but I'm afraid I don't have green thumbs at all - I'm less nurturing than a desert." Very true, even cacti die around Dimitri. He was glad to have something to talk about while waiting for the stairs to move. "I've been told that tea and dried herbs keep their flavour for longer when kept in a dark environment - do you use tinted glass or simply keep them in a cupboard of some kind?" Dim kept his tea all stowed away in a cabinet away from sunlight. He didn't like dark glass, because he didn't like labels, and he liked guessing which bottle he needed and then smelling if he was right.
One does the strangest things when without close friends, huh?

Unintentionally, he started a little when the stairs moved again, laughing breathily and a little nervously. "Damn thing still comes as a surprise." A quiet mutter, more to himself or the silence than to anyone else, to be honest. Tightening his hold on the railing, he waited for the moving to stop before following Devin upstairs and left.
At her question, he nodded, and feeling his wand slide from behind his ear, he took it into his right hand. Not his preferred wand-hand, but it was easier to light their way when the lumos was illuminating the floor rather than the ceiling. "Yep. Defense," he said, nodding again and taking a peek at the papers he was carrying. "And you, eh, charms, I suppose?" He looked confused for a moment (and he was), as Flitwick hadn't left, had he..? Oh wait, he had announced he'd be taking on an ex-student of his as an assistant. Blushing a little, Dimitri felt embarrassed as he realised he had stupidly assume 'assistent' would be a man rather than a woman - way to go forgetting English didn't assign gender to their vocabulary like Russian and French did! "The new assistant, of course," he said, quickly, still a little embarrassed, before she could think he was as stupid as he had just realised he was. "I didn't even know teachers could hire assistants," he added, a statement that didn't make him seem any more intelligent. Stupid, silly Dimitri.

[devin pucket]

The corridor was longer than she wanted it to be. Devin wasn’t always good at keeping up small talk. Lucky for her Dimitri had taken to talking about a few subjects that she was happy to comment on. “Well… Teachers have to learn to teach somehow I guess.” Smiling Devin brushed back some of her hair and watched him adjusting his wand. Dimitri was actually a rather good looking boy. Man. Guy. She played with that thought train for a while. When do you stop calling someone a boy and start calling him a man? When he’s earned it? They were all boys…but not all of them men. Devin thought about this for a good few moments before taking in a deep breath and laughing to herself a little.

“So… Um… You can’t grow….anything?” She looked at him curiously. “Tea is easy. Just let it…grow.” She shrugged a little and smiled. “Water it then wait until it’s nice and ready. I hang it up to dry and then bottle it. But some people just lay it out on a counter top. I just think that hanging it helps with the flavor.” She held her breath a little. Devin had started to ramble that was not a good sign. Breathing a little for a moment, she looked ahead. Thank god her office was just ahead. She wanted to walk faster, but thought that would seem a little too hasty of her. So she kept with the same pace and breathed a sigh of relief once they reached her door.

Unlocking it quickly, she pushed it open. The door was actually rather heavy, but she managed and held it open with her foot for him. “Come on in.” It was a very neat little office. Smaller than the other’s because she was only an assistant and it had a little door to the side that lead to a small room with a bed and a little night table and very small washroom. The shelves in the office were lined up perfectly with her books. A tall wardrobe stood in the corner that was where her tea was stored. Going to the desk, Devin laid the mess of papers down on her otherwise perfectly clean space. Running a hand through her hair she looked over the scattered unorganized pile.

“Um, have a seat I guess.” She moved around to the wardrobe and took out a little bottle with a label clearly printed with “chamomile” on the front. Shaking her head she reached to the top shelf and put it back, instead pulling down one marked “peppermint.” Smiling she rested back on her heals and moved around to a little burner with a kettle on it. “So um… You can just add the papers to that pile…Once I get this tea fixed up for us, we can get started and everything.” From the wardrobe she pulled down a little set of cups and saucers and a little box of assorted cookies and treats and set them on the desk with the milk and sugar.

{Word Count} 510

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

I suppose Dimitri has already proven he's not quite the small talk expert either. Still, he didn't mind the walk much, and walking mostly in the dark was giving him a bit of a sense of security - he knew it was nonsense, but she could hardly see him blush in the hue of his lumos (somehow, the electric blue of it narrowed the colour spectrum) and that just made it easier, somehow.
Smiling back, Dim nodded at Devin's answer. "I suppose so," he said, remembering how he had not really been taught, he'd just been handed the lesson plans of the previous teacher and had stumbled along until he had gotten the hang of it. Being an assistent first definitely seemed like a good idea. "You want to be a teacher, then?" A bit of a stupid question.. obviously she did, or she wouldn't be Flitwicks assistent. Then again.. Dimitri hadn't heard anything about upcoming vacancies - was one of his colleagues leaving? (Merlin, he hoped it was that German guy!)
Au contraire to Devin, he didn't think he was very good looking. Well. Not that he thought he was bad looking - he just didn't think much about it. I suppose this is the point where I should add that we should feel grateful Dimitri takes after his mother in appearance, mostly. Not that his father isn't impressive - Russian aristocracy, broad shouldered, strong jawed, high forhead.. It's just that Dimitri's mother, Miraise (who's from France originally), has a different, gentler built. Not that she was a gentle woman personality-wise, but she was slenderer than her husband and would almost not have been as impressive had it not been for her astonishing height (nearly six feet). Anyways, that's where Dimitri gets his looks from and he might not think much of them, but he's certainly no pain to look at, indeed.
As for what Devin looked like, Dimitri hadn't given that an awful lot of thought, to be honest. Appearance wasn't something he usually paid attention to, unless to recognise people and to be able to pick them out of a crowd. Rather, he thought Devin was nice. He couldn't even quite put his finger on it, but something had just clicked in his mind and he liked her. Maybe it was because she was so organised, perhaps the fact she'd offered him tea.. It didn't matter, anyhow. He liked her.

Listening to Devin's explanation how easy it was to grow tea, Dimitri smiled faintly, a smile somewhere between apologetic and amused. He didn't mind her rambling at all. "I tried to grow things, really," he assured her. "I can't seem to find a balance, though.. I tend to water them too much and they rot away in their pot and then I don't give them enough and they starve.." He shrugged and made a sound that was a combination of a chuckle and a cough. "Besides, back at home, I have a cat - she eats anything that looks edible, no plant is safe." Some people wondered why Dimitri even bothered having a home if he only lived there for two months a year. Thing was, though, he craved a place of his own. Of course his rooms here were his own, in a way, but not quite his. He needed to have this back up, a place to go if he needed it, where he could just be, and his little semi-detached house in a muggle neighbourhood was just the thing. Maybe he ought to bring his cat along next year, though.. she probably got lonely.

They had reached her office by now and as Dim walked in and closed the door behind him, he muttered a quiet 'nox' under his breath (or, rather, 'ночь', but it's pronounced almost the same, really) - they had proper light here. He looked around for a moment, his eyes resting on the titles of some of the books (he could never help himself), before putting his pile with the rest of the chaos on the desk. It looked so out of place in this room.
Sitting down on the nearest chair he could find and crossing his legs, he browsed the papers a little, trying to think of the most effective way to sort them again. House first, year second, then alphabet, and finally grade? He glanced at Devin, he'd have to ask he what she thought - it were her papers, after all. Her system. He smiled up at her a little as she broke the silence and suddenly realised how unresponsive he had been, he hadn't spoken for minutes. Maybe he was more tired than he thought. "Sure," he said, smiling a little wider, trying to be a little reassuring. "Oh, and no milk or sugar for me," he added. "Just tea." He had never managed to understand why these British people liked milk in their tea - it completely wiped away the taste, especially when it was herbal tea, and it left a wan, sticky taste in his mouth. Normally, he'd also decline the cookies, but it was late and they would be busy for a while - he could use the sugar for once, if only to keep him up.
"So-" he had to hide a yawn and hoped he had done so succesfully, he didn't want Devin to think he wanted to leave. "How do you prefer your papers sorted?"

[devin pucket]

She listened to him babbling about growing plants. He was an interesting sort of person. Smiling, she sorted through her papers and made a little mental list of what she had and what he either had or was missing. Devin was a very organized person. She was amazing at lists and sorting and.... labels and rules and order. Massaging her hands she nodded at him, "Um...By year, house, name, and grade point average..." She blushed a little and looked down at the papers. This really could take a while. Maybe she should arrange to have something to eat brought up. No... She didn't want to bother them. Not to mention she wasn't so keen on the elves that were up later at night. They seemed to have grubby little hands.

With a sigh she started placing different papers in little stacks and making sure they were EXACTLY aligned with each other, looking neat and tidy. She nodded at them a little and smiled. "Did you say you had a cat??" She'd stopped entirely what she was doing, to look up at him and puzzle over her inquisition. Blinking a few times she smiled. "I hadn't pegged you as a cat person. I myself only have fish. I've been too afraid to have other animals. Messy...But I've always had a great love of them.. Thought about getting a crup. But.....I'd rather keep my shoes..." She laughed a little at herself and pushed back her hair before turning to her own tea cup.


Comments: It's short cuz its getting conversational. I know excuses excuses. LOL! XP

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

Dim had the tendency to ramble a little when he wasn't sure where the conversation was going, when he felt insecure about the situation. Most people found it annoying, especially as Russian sounds tended to slip into English words as he spoke faster, it made it into a chain of palatals and fricatives until he remembered to stop. Then he'd usually go silent, which people found even more aggravating, as they at least needed confirmation he was listening every once in a while.
Nodding at her response, he repeated it to himself in his mind. "Year, house, and name - I can do that," he said, "I don't know their grade point averages by heart, though." He smiled a little. Sure, he knew he was smart (or at least intelligent enough to function), but he had always been better with language than anything with numerals. Words were a lot easier for him than numbers. Numbers were good because they were definite, they were exact and could be counted on, but Dimitri preferred the possibility of nuance that language offered. So I can sort them on year, house, and name and you can then do the grade point average and see if anything's missing? he suggested. That would leave him with the majority of the work, probably, but it was the only bit of work he could do and he didn't mind.

He watched her hands as she stacked the papers and smiled a little apologetically as she sighed, a quiet 'I'm sorry I messed up your system, I'm really sorry'. Lost in a brief 'what if I hadn't made her drop everything?', he was a little surprised by her question about his cat.
"Hm? Oh, yes - Sappho," he clarified with a bit of a chuckle. "She's a bit of a menace, I spoil her." He wondered why Devin wouldn't consider him a cat person, but didn't ask. A lot of people didn't consider him anything while he was something and the other way around. He laughed softly, cradling his teacup in both his hands, feeling the heat tingling into his fingers. "I have to admit, she is a little messy.. well.. not messy, she's just curious," he smiled a little wider, "which is why she's at home and not here." Maybe next year, though, when she was less of a kitten, when she had matured a little.

Putting his teacup down, he reached for the first pile of papers and leafed through them briefly. "Shall I just get started?" he asked, smiling at her briefly - a smile that was still faintly apologetic. "Or did you have some sort of system in mind for putting these in order?"

[devin pucket]

Flipping through pages she checked the name and wracked her brain for how it was to be categorized. It was almost a sickness her obsession with organization. It was unfortunate but Devin had learned to deal with it. She typically just let it run its course. Soon it would be all neat and tidy and there would be no worries over it. Soon it would be perfect. "uhh... perhaps we should start by by house. Then by year. Then alphabetically. From there I can remember what their grades look like. soo... All the ones that are sorted by house can go here..." She started a pile by placing a paper by Lena Becket on the desk. "Just maybe four nice piles?"

Once she started laying them out she began to think about what he'd said about his cat. He must go home to quite a mess in on the holidays. That was a ridiculous notion!! "Who...looks after...Sappho? I presume someone checks in so you don't have to come home to-" The parchment grazed the skin between her thumb and forefinger. The gasp left her lips swiftly as she let the paper fall to the desk.

The trouble with parchment is its thicker than other papers. Which means its edges were sharper. Devin should have been more careful and believe it or not in all her years she's never had a cut from parchment. A ruby liquid seeped out between the folds of the slice. "Merde..." Her initial reaction was to suck on it but... that was gross. She made a panicked little noise as she turned to her cupboard and searched for a rag or towel or anything... which she could not find. "oh vous devez me badiner" When she was frustrated... Devin often spoke in French. She wasn't really sure why. In fact she was only fluent in the language because her parents thought that to give her any proper sense of social interaction one must know at least one other language.... Her mother, though she would never admit it, simply thought the French instructor, Jaques, was the most attractive.

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

Dimitri didn't mind order. He was all for order. Order was a good thing. He was an Order-member. Okay, bad joke. One of the reasons why his home was so distinctly muggle was because Dimiti liked doing things by hand, it cleared his head and made thinking a lot easier. That and it gave him something to do. All well and good that magically doing the dishes saved time (even if it hardly did when it was only dishes for one), but he didn't have an awful lot else to do during the holidays.
Nodding, he agreed with Devin's suggestion for ordering the papers and set to work, trying to do it as quickly as possible. "Four piles sounds good." He had the urge, sometimes, to dwell on people when their names flashed by (that was why he asked his students to put their name on the bottom of their essays - that at least gave him a chance to read through their work unprejudiced) and right now the priority really was just restoring Devin's order and going back to bed.

"Who looks after Sappho?" he echoed for a second. "Oh, yes, neighbours, indeed. Though I have to admit," his eyes glinted a little conspiratory,"don't tell anyone, but I sometimes pop out and back home during the weekends, just for a few hours." He'd use the flu station in Hogsmeade for that, got him back and forth within a matter of seconds. Dimitri highly valued his personal space and sometimes he just needed a few hours of domesticity by himself.
He had not been looking at Devin as they spoke, all focused on sorting out the mess he'd caused, but he looked up as she gasped - afraid that maybe something was wrong with the paper work - only to find her muttering in French as she was looking for something to get rid of the blood. "Devin-" He half smiled as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket - clean. Laisse-moi, he offered, taking her hand and pressing the fabric to the cut. So what if he replied in French? His mother had been French - he'd spoken it often enough, even if it was accented.