Grading [Catherine]

[Alexander Archer]

Weaving in and out of the throng of students, he finally reached the staff room door, located in the middle of the crowded hallway. Entering the warm room beyond, he placed his bag next to his favourite chair and proceeded over to the stretch of bench used for the storage and making of coffee. Pouring himself a cup, he dropped into his seat and pulled out the essays he'd collected in the last lesson of Defence. Withdrawing a quill and bottle of ink from within his work satchel, he took the length of parchment from the top of the stack and began to run his eyes across the work.

The first few pieces of work he reviewed were relatively good, the third was poor at best, the fourth even worse. Generally, however, the essays were quite good, and most of the information he had given them when he had set the homework seemed to be correct when they had reproduced it on paper. Taking a small sip of the still warm liquid within his mug, he twirled his wand toward it and steam began to rise once more.

He cast a small glance around the room as it started to fill up a bit more, various teachers filing in for break. He happened to keep an eye out for a certain Transfiguration professor but didn't see him enter. Perhaps he was in his office, or just delayed slightly. Clearing his throat slightly, he turned back to his work.

[Catherine Dunham]

Suppressing a big yawn, not very successfully, Catherine entered the lounge for a cup of tea. All classes were done for today, since she had started with the 7th years very early, which made her feel thankful but also a bit restless. Normally, she wouldn't spend her free-time inside the stony Hogwarts Castle, but being new among the staff, she felt the need to at least introduce herself to those interested. Besides, heavy dark clouds decorated the sky for the moment which meant the weather could become nasty if she decided to go out for a stroll.

Some in the lounge she recognized, old professors she once had hated during her youth, but quite a few she only knew by name and position. Catherine went to the counter to pour herself some tea, and accidently poured some of the hot liqueur on her fingers. The shock and pain made her drop her cup so it went into ten pieces, the tea spluttered all over the place.

"Crab shit...!" she said with passion, before she could stop herself. Blushing furiously, she looked around and wondered if any of the other professors had seen her little show. Unfortunately, most of them seemed to have. Wanting to curse herself and her clumsy fingers, she took care of her mess quite easily. However, her finger had been burnt quite badly and spots of a blueish/reddish color started to appear. Being useless with magical healing, Catherine usually used her herbs to take care of most injuries, but she had none of them with her. So, instead she started sucking her finger which made her look like a very young, sulking girl. She'd rather die than ask for help for such a small thing as a burnt finger. But boy, it did hurt!

[Alexander Archer]

A whole seven graded papers later, his attention was drawn not by the doorway, but instead by what seemed a small commotion over by the drinks area. The crack of breaking china, the splash of liquid onto solid and a few choice words later, Alex moved through the onlookers. They seemed to be returning to whatever matters they had at hand anyway; apparently the show was over. He stepped toward the woman at the centre of it all with a friendly smile and produced his wand. "May I?" he questioned in a quietly polite tone, indicating her multi-coloured and slightly painful looking finger.

He recalled that this was the new Herbology teacher; Hogwarts really was running through professors, when it managed to get any at all. "Professor...?" he continued on quietly, picking up right where he had left off. Giving a small twirl of his wand and muttering an incantation, a minute amount of clear cooling gel found its way onto her finger, followed closely by a white surgical bandage. He noticed a red tinge to her cheeks, though it was fading now, the more obvious scene of embarrassment having disbanded somewhat. "That should be better, anyway. I wouldn't suggest sucking on it anymore, though," he said with a small smile.

Pouring another cup of tea for her, minus one burnt appendage, he indicated her over to the unoccupied seat beside his own recently vacated one. Re-taking his seat, he questioned if she was alright and decided an introduction might not go amiss. "I'm Alex, by the way," he said with another friendly smile, his stack of unmarked essays laying quietly, forgotten, for the moment. "I'm the Defence professor," he added, wondering if she already knew that.

[Catherine Dunham]

The man who offered his help was no other than the DaDa professor. She knew the students was very fond of him, especially the Hufflepuffs, and always talked nicely and well about him, but she had never got the chance to meet him personally. And now, when finally being introduced, he must think of her as a clumsy idiot. Just her luck.

Not meeting his eyes nor smile, Catherine continued to sulk when suddenly the pain on her finger was gone, and replaced by a bandage. A grateful smile appeared on her lips and she was just about give him her thanks, when he commented on her little finger-sucking session. The blush that had almost left her face came back with its full strength and Catherine wanted to disappear from the surface of earth. How could anyone think of her as anything more than a foolsih, irresponsible, unprofessional little girl? Not at all suitable for a professor.

Having no other choice than following the man to his table, Catherine continued to worry about how the hell she would be able to get back her dignity. When she realized that the man had spoken.

"Defense?" Catherine said, awaken from her painful self-hate thoughts. "Oh, yes. You're Alexander Archer! My name is Catherine. I mean, professor Dunham. I mean, Catherine Dunham..., sir." She was babbling, like usual when nervous, and took a large sip of her tea, hoping to smooth things over. She gave him one of her best smiles over her cup, hoping he would get distracted and think of he as cute rathre than an idiot. Big fat chance of that...

[Alexander Archer]

Noticing the nearly scarlet shade of blush that had crept onto her cheeks, he merely grinned in a friendly manner. Deciding however that it was best to perhaps steer the conversation away from the previous scene in the staff room, he continued quietly with the basics of getting to know each other. His smile grew as she stated that she knew exactly who she was. Of course, the staff were all been informed of new members of the faculty, but he still liked the age-old tradition of introduction.

As she proceeded to babble a little bit at her own introduction, followed by a glowing smile as she was taking a sip of tea, he responded in kind with a friendly smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Catherine," he said in his quiet voice, and he sounded genuinely happy to meet her. "You take Herbology, correct? I always did have a flair for gardens; I was rather proud of the one at my last house," he commented happily. "I'd always rather liked the idea of teaching it, but of course I applied for Astronomy over anything else and taught that for a while before being called to Defence."

His eyes had stopped scanning the door for any sign of the staff member he might be looking for, focused entirely now on the woman before him. Everytime he seemed to become friendly with a fellow professor they seemed to leave the school; it didn't stop him from trying though, certainly. Alex never did have much trouble finding friends if he had anything to say about it, and the more he had on the teaching staff the better off he would feel about being here. Of course, he wouldn't trade his position for anything in the world; he absolutely loved teaching, but all the same it was nice to have someone to talk to in the Great Hall and in the corridors.

[Catherine Dunham]

Archer's way of smiling all the time was indeed very contagious and Catherine couldn't help but return his smiles, getting a bit distracted when looking at that pretty face. Obviously, the man knew exactly the effect he had on other people, especially women, and Catherine did her best not to start flirting with the man. Although, normally, she'd love to.

"Gardening, yes..." Catherine said, amused. It was not the first time a person mixed herbology with gardening. "My mother has a thing for gardens. Myself, I like when nature can grow into beauty by itself." Absently, while she talked, she reached the flowers on the table they were sitting at, and with a touch of her fingers, the roses started to bloom. "Of course, one shouldn't underestimate the help of humans. But I believe sometimes humans underestimate Nature." Leaving the flowers, she smiled at him, a glow in her eyes appeared. It usually did when she had direct contact with plants or trees.

"How come you left Astronomy for Defense?" Catherine asked, a frown of confusion appeared in her eyes. "I must say that DaDa might be extremely helpful during... uh, clumsy situations..." Looking down at her recently injured finger, she giggled and continued, "... But far from as interesting as Astronomy."

[Alexander Archer]

Quite innocently oblivious to the effect he was having on Catherine, he nodded happily as she spoke. For him, he had never really realised how many women he left hoping; his attention was usually focused elsewhere, not least on friendship. He was genuinely a very friendly guy and always had been a very real definition of a Hufflepuff. Alex really never did pass up the opportunity to get to know someone new, it was always far too enticing to find a new friend. His kind face, bright smile, and cheery disposition had never left him wanting in that department, either.

Following the track of her hand, he smiled lightly as the roses before them began to bloom. He had always loved the smell and sight of such flowers, especially those of a deep crimson red and a bright, pure white. He understood her affinity for nature very much, and letting it grow as it will; back home there had been a small wood on the border of the town and he had often found himself more at home there than anywhere else.

His eyes flicked back from the flowers, up to regard her pleasant features once more. "I love Astronomy, but I felt that in such times, not having a Defence teacher would be rather catastrophic for a lot of students," he replied simply. "I would hope that if ever we were to get a new professor interested in the position that I could resume my Astronomy lessons; I did try to conduct both at once, but the workload was simply too much." He smiled with a slight regret, though he was of course more than happy to take the Defence lessons. The more the students all learned to defend themselves, the better off they would be.

"How are you finding things so far?" he questioned happily, remembering how he himself had first gotten on at Hogwarts when he had joined the teaching staff. Apart from people going missing, most had seemed friendly enough toward him and he hadn't had any real issues; for that he was quite grateful. He was rather exhausted by drama in his life, and had a mind to leave it behind entirely. Unfortunately, that was not entirely up to him.

[Catherine Dunham]

Catherine nodded, and tilted her head slightly as if wanting to see if the man was hiding an agenda to that friendly spirit of his. He genuinely was a sweet guy.

"You seem to care for the students, which I think is one of the best features a teacher can have." she said, meaning it with her heart. Not sharing his love for meeting new people though, Catherine frowned a little when he asked about what she thought about the school so far. No one had really been this nice to her, except for the headmistress, and Catherine didn't want to disturb anyone with her "new in town" behaviour.

"Well, it's a nice change. It is so nice having the forest and the lake so close to your bed. I always had that, growing up, but being married to a self-centered city-lover... well, it's a nice change. Also to get away from him... I mean everything."

Catherine sipped her tea, not wanting to bring up her husband to this very fine conversation. Just the thought of him made a wrinkle appear between her eyebrows and she put down her cup a bit harder than she intended. "I'm sorry..." she said, and looked up at Archer's face again, all anger and bitterness melting away from her own. The man was really enjoyable to look at.

[Alexander Archer]

Smiling happily at her comment that he seemed to care for his students, he nodded. He certainly did want to see them all succeed and do well in life, and at least in school where he could help them. He liked to feel that his open nature and friendliness offered his students support and the ability to ask for help regarding either schoolwork or personal issues. Alex wasn't entirely sure how the other professors were regarded in that manner, but the few students that had approached him showed that perhaps they didn't feel they could be offered support from other members of staff.

He wholeheartedly agreed that the location of the castle was fantastic, surrounded on all sides by either lake or forest, nevermind a rather foreboding latter. The Forbidden Forest was still rather charming to look at, if not to stroll through. As she breached the obviously slightly undesirable topic of her husband, he wasn't sure if that was an ex or not, his smile faded a bit and transfigured instead to one that revealed a small, polite smile that caused his eyes to crease slightly.

Picking up that perhaps she didn't wish to continue on that particular course of conversation, Alex smiled down at the table briefly as she took another sip of her tea. Raising his eyes, he saw the small crese between her brows and saw the liquid within her cup slosh around rather more than might be normal as she replaced it on the wooden surface. "No apology necessary," he admitted quietly, his eyes lit with a happy smile as he leant back into his cushioned chair. "So you grew up in the country?" he questioned quietly, having assumed so much from her comments.

[Catherine Dunham]

"I did!" Catherine replied happily, remembering her parents fondly. It had been a while since she spoke to them, and she wondered if they even knew she had started her new job at Hogwarts or not. She knew they were concerned about her... choices in life, and seeing their daughter unhappy left them heart-broken. Alastair had never really forbidden Catherine to visit her parents, but she knew the hell him and his parents would give her if she did.

"My parents are both Muggles," she continued, taking another sip of the tea. "Or actually, I have no idea of my blood status since I'm adopted. But I grew up in a very Muggle way of thinking. Which ain't that ignorant some of us wizards like to think." She raised an eyebrow and looked at him, as if wondering if he was one of those wizards. Since he was a Hufflepuff, she hoped he didn't have the "Pure-blood is better"-attitude the Slytherins usually had or used to have.

"Tell me about your childhood. And how do you like Hogwarts?" She leaned forward, obviously very interested in what he had to say. It felt like ages since she had talked to someone who wasn't a student, and she felt the need of a nice, adult person right now. Of course, she couldn't deny, the fact that he was more than handsome only made the situation better.

[Alexander Archer]

His smile growing as she replied so enthusiastically to his query, he nodded along happily as she continued, adding that her parents, supposedly the ones she had grown up with, were both Muggles. Not finding any problem with that in the least, he accepted that fact and listened curiously as she elaborated. He noticed her raised eyebrow and was slightly taken aback by it; apparently she needed to determine whether or not he was 'one of those wizards' that she was talking about. Deciding he would slip a small comment into his reply that should effectively give her the answer she clearly wished for, he spoke quietly. "I grew up with my parents in a large sort of market town in West Yorkshire. My father's a Muggle but my mother's a witch, so I'm a little bit of both worlds."

He was painfully aware of the fact that he hadn't seen or spoken to either of his parents in years, though the only signs he gave were a small clearing of his throat and a slight dimming of the light in his eyes, which he lowered to the table briefly. "I was relatively fortunate, actually, that I got to grow up in both a Muggle and wizarding manner," he added quietly, a brief smile flashing onto his features. He was indeed grateful for that fact, though at times perhaps he hadn't shown it; normally, he would wander away from home into the nearby forest and find his only peace there, strolling amongst the trees alone. Though he was one of the friendliest people around these days, back then he had been a slight recluse, not trusting the company of others. He had learnt, out of necessity perhaps, how to communicate with people, and in time it had grown easier.

That being all he particularly wished to discuss about his childhood, as it wasn't a very hot topic with Alex, he moved onto her next question. "Hogwarts has been great so far, though I've been here just under a year. I've enjoyed all of my lessons and the work involved; I just love teaching, of course, and the students are very bright. I think you'll enjoy it," he said with a happy smile once again rising to his features. He did carry a true fondness for the students he taught of every house, and was always willing to help them out. "I just hope I'll be around a bit longer, to at least see the year through," he added, perhaps not realising how odd those words might be. Hoping to still be around could of course mean one of a few things; either he had vague plans or ideas to be leaving that might not wait until the year was out, or in the much darker sense that the disappearances around the castle were hard not to notice. Being a new professor, she might not know or have heard about the happenings going on yet, and his comment might strike her as more than slightly odd.

[Catherine Dunham]

Relieved that Archer wasn't a Pureblood-fascist, and quite intrigued by his childhood, Catherine smiled when he seemed to really have enjoyed his childhood. Something she really could relate to. It was nice to talk about the Muggleworld with someone again, since it had had such an impact on her all her life, before she got married. These conversations with people who understood a non-magical life felt so important to Catherine.

Still smiling, when he moved on to his year at Hogwarts, she was just about to agree when he said he hoped he got the chance to stay a bit longer, which made her startled and she looked at him with confused eyes. "Why wouldn't you be around...? You're not going to quit, are you?" Catherine had no idea of the dark secrets within the school and the magical world. She felt something cold take hold of her heart, almost like panic. Was the first decent man she'd met over almost seven years disappear before she even got a chance to know him? Or was it something worse troubling him, making him doubt his future on the school?

"You're not sick are you?" she said, almost in a whisper, concern filling her eyes and she put her hand on his as if that would make him healthy.

[Alexander Archer]

Seeing her confused eyes and noticing that clearly she was rather startled, he himself took on a small expression of surprise. He hadn't realised at the time that his words might have been more than slightly confusing without any background information on the castle, and that knowledge was almost certainly something that a new professor wouldn't have. Looking back on it, however, he supposed he should have realised, or at least thought about his words a bit more carefully. He didn't tend to like critiquing his own choice of words when conversing, thinking it usually tended to exclude certain people from information others might be privy to.

"Oh, of course, sorry," he apologised quickly. With a surrepticious and barely noteworthy glance to the other occupants of the staff room, he continued. He didn't think his first conversation with this nice young woman should turn so dark so quickly, especially not in a room full of people. It wasn't that it was exactly a secret among the various members of staff, but if someone untrustworthy happened to see him conversing with her about such a subject it could be detrimental to either of them. At the same time, he didn't wish to open a can of worms, persay, and then cover his words up, refusing to give her a straight answer. That really wasn't very fair, and fairness was something Alex tended to pride himself on.

Caught between a bit of a rock and a hard place, he decided the best course of action might be to remove himself from the current location. "No, I wouldn't dream of quitting," he said with a small, happy smile, though it wasn't perhaps as full and joyous as it might normally have been. "And I'm in perfect health, thankyou," he added. He appreciated her concerned eyes and the soft hand on his own nevertheless. "Would you care for a walk around the grounds, Professor?" he queried lightly, unconsciously reverting to a polite form of address. "Have you seen your greenhouses yet?" He really did love the school greenhouses, especially those used by the higher years. They were full of fascinating and often vibrant plantlife, and between Herbology professors he had tended them rather carefully. Beginning to pack his only half-graded papers and the other items he had been using into his work satchel, he cast another quick smile up to her.

[Catherine Dunham]

Catherine blinked, surprised by the sudden suggestion of changing locations. The man seemed a bit nervous, and obviously, he wanted somewhere more private. Maybe he really was sick, despite his denying of it? Or maybe the Headmistress was about to cleanse up among the staff, and no one new who or when one of them would have to go. A reason indeed not to want to talk too freely about it. Nodding and following him, Catherine giggled a little at the Greenhouse comment.

"I'm not that new..." she said with a grin. "The moment I arrived I started to decorate both the Green Houses and my office." All the plants she took care of was in perfect health and she had also changed the furniture with pure wood. Not human-touched wood, but trees that had formed themselves after her will, which made them still alive and amazingly comfortable. She liked the symbiosis between nature and humans which most people never really were able to achieve. Understanding how the heck she achieved it was another matter. Sometimes, it was as if she was a tree herself!

They had been walking for a while, and Catherine really wanted to show him her favorite Green House, where most spring flowers made it a paradise and a heavenly feeling struck most people who entered - including some of the most stubborn students. She waited for him to say something, and walked quietly beside him.

[Alexander Archer]

Unable to help the smile that crept onto his features as she giggled, he laughed slightly. "Of course," he responded to her grinning comment that she wasn't, in fact, that new. "How long ago did you arrive? It's the first time I've seen you in the staff room, though to be honest I don't frequent it that much myself," he queried lightly as they walked, wanting to stray away from slightly less airy topics for the moment as they moved out of the room. He grabbed his work satchel and proceeded away from the warm staff room and down the hallway toward the stairs, Catherine keeping step beside him. "I apologise for putting you in a rather odd position, there are just certain things best not to be discussed when surrounded by people." As he spoke, his words were quiet; there were still students and professors wandering the halls.He automatically headed for the Greenhouses and the grounds that surrounded them, making his way down the first set of stairs without any hinderance caused by them moving in the most inconvenient direction

possible. He decided to quietly elaborate on their previous topic of conversation, though was still slightly anxious about having brought this up at all. "So..." he began, stopping after that. Alex never was fantastic at hiding his emotions, and now was certainly no exception. As his words faltered slightly, he offered a brief flicker of an uncertain smile toward her and lowered his eyes to the marble floor flowing beneath his feet. "There are a lot of rumours going around the school at the moment," he said quietly, as if he wasn't sure whether or not there was any truth behind said rumours. That, of course, was not entirely truthful of him, but as nice as Catherine was, he couldn't entirely be sure of her reaction to the news he was prepared to divulge.

As they reached the foyer of the great castle, he flicked a nervous eye to her. Normally he was so friendly and happy that this was vastly uncharacteristic for him. He cleared his throat and if he hadn't thought it would make him look like an idiot, he would have shaken his head impatiently at his own actions. "Rumours about disappearances," he said quietly, unsure if she would be shocked or simply scared away, or even say that oh, she already knew, and all of this idiocy was for nothing. "I suggest you don't go looking for more exotic plantlife in the forest, at any rate," he suggested, his feet still moving almost automatically toward the vast oak doorway that marked the change between castle and grounds.