A Late Meeting

[Caitlin Collins]

Caitlin hurried down the corridor to Professor Sparrow’s office, trying not to slip on the steps down into the dungeons. Since coming back to Hogwarts she’d discovered various consequences of her time away, such as being far behind in lessons and temporarily losing her job at Gladrags. Another of those consequences, as she’d realised this morning upon waking up, was that she hadn’t turned up for the meeting with the potions professor after their last lesson – which incidentally, had gone disastrously. So, now she was attempting to make amends by going down to the dungeons to explain her absence from that meeting. To be honest, she wasn’t even sure if her absence for the last month had been explained to the professors, but this was a chance to find out.

She reached the bottom of the stone steps, only slipping once on a particularly narrow one about halfway down that always seemed to make her trip. But she regained her balance quickly and was soon in front of Professor Sparrow’s door. Forcing her hands behind her back so the teacher wouldn’t see her nervousness, she was forced to bring one out to the front again to knock lightly on the door. She hated being told off, so hopefully the potions mistress would have some idea already of why she hadn’t turned up.

[Evelyn Sparrow]

“I don’t think you should do that, it is very dangerous, and you may find one day that you fall asleep and don’t wake up again. It is dangerous. However if you insist, I will brew up a special mixture for you, one that will ease you in to a dreamless sleep, and will not alter, the drought you currently take.”
“Yes, Professor Sparrow, I would appreciate it if you did. It’s just I can’t seem to rid myself of them, and each time I go to sleep they become worse and worse. It‘s affecting my school work, and I don’t know another way to counteract it. How long will it take?”
“I will have it ready in three days, come by my office around this time and I will have it done. Miss O’Connell, just keep in mind that the drought of the living dead is a dangerous potion, many a people have taken it and never woken from its sleep. See you in class tomorrow.”
“Thank you Professor Sparrow, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Keaira was pale, and her eyes had deep dark circles around them. It looked as if she had been punched in both eyes, and kept locked in the dungeons with no light for days. Keaira O’Connell had surely seen better days. On top of her pale skin tone, and darkened eyes, it appeared as if the girl had lost quite a bit of weight over the past week or two. There was something weighing heavily upon her shoulders as she walked to toward the door. The poor girl, Evelyn though as she watched Keaira go. If there was a way that she could ease the pains of each student she had in class, Evelyn would surely try, but there was little she could really do for most of them. As she watched Keaira grasp the door knob, she heard a light tap from the other side.

She hadn’t been expecting another student this afternoon, but then again she hadn’t expected the first, and she certainly had not expected the topic that Keaira had chosen for her either. However, it was well known that she did not have a class at this time, and thus she knew that if a student chose to seek her out that this would be the best place to begin searching. Keaira had looked back at her before opening the door. As she looked at the student in her office she nodded, saying in an unspoken manner that it was alright for her to open the door.

As Keaira pulled the door open she was quickly shocked to see Caitlin, a reaction that she covered as she regained her composure. Keaira had not seen any of the light fighters in a while, least of all Caitlin. It was easier to avoid someone when they weren’t in the school. “Hi Caitlin.” Was all Keaira said as she slid out the door, and into the hallway beyond. She had not even waited for Caitlin to respond, and simply headed toward her common room, her eyes locked on the floor just beyond her feet, hoping that now it would be empty.

Evelyn watched the entire scene as it played out. Keaira had always been such a great student, in nearly all of her classes, or so Evelyn had heard, and yet it had seemed that something had caused such a dramatic shift in the girls’ mannerisms. She had been making amateur mistakes, her homework seemed as if she was distracted as she wrote it. Even in the way the girl walked and talked lately. Once she had exuded confidence, now she hung her head, and spoke softly. Yes, something had changed. There was something on Keaira’s mind that she had not revealed to her, but Evelyn could not figure what it might have been. Pushing her thoughts of Keaira aside, Evelyn put a smile on her face and looked to Caitlin.

“Ah, Miss Collins, where have you been lately? I heard rumors that your parents had taken you away from us for a while, were they true? Come in now, have a seat.”

[Caitlin Collins]

Almost as soon as she knocked, Caitlin processed the sound of voices already talking in the room. Was the professor busy? She had been sure she didn’t have a lesson now, not wanting to possibly make her more annoyed by disturbing her while she was teaching. Perhaps she should just go back… but, she’d already knocked on the door. And if she left then she’d have to come back again, which meant that horrible feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach would still be there for at least another few hour.

Before she could make a decision, it was made for her as Keaira opened the door from inside. The Slytherin had certainly seen better days. She looked terrible. Cait never really saw her much apart from lessons and lightfighter activities, but she had definitely not looked this bad before Caity had left for that weekend home and not returned.

“Hi Caitlin.”

The concern evident on her face, she was about to reply to the greeting and then quickly follow it up with an ‘are you okay’ or ‘is anything the matter’, but before she could do so Keaira had passed her into the corridors and was heading away without another sound. Wordlessly, she turned to watch as the girl left, curious as to what might be the matter. Susan had said that nothing much had happened in the time she’d been away, but something significant had obviously occurred in Keaira’s view. How Keaira looked now reminded Caitlin of the way she’d felt immediately after Mallan’s death, and for most of the time while she’d been at home and the muggle school. The other students there had easily noticed the natural separation - caused by her magical status, grief and amazing lack of knowledge in nearly all subjects - and had done nothing to stop it growing wider. She’d spent most of her spare time reading, or browsing the internet in the hope than someone, somewhere, was a wizard or witch who was competent with computers and could provide her with some link to the magical world. She hadn’t found anything, nor had she made any friends. To some extent, she still had the same aura surrounding Keaira, it was just that she had taught herself to hide it better.

“Ah, Miss Collins, where have you been lately? I heard rumours that your parents had taken you away from us for a while, were they true? Come in now, have a seat.”

Spinning her head back around to look into the room, Caity realised she was still standing in the doorway, staring in the direction Keaira had disappeared in. “Sorry,” she quickly apologised, entering the office and sitting down opposite the potions teacher. The smile on the professor’s face was a little encouraging as were her words that she did indeed have an idea of why she had been away. It wasn’t her fault she’d been removed from the school – although technically, she had been the one to tell her parents the information that caused them to take such drastic action – and she was coming to see the professor now. “Yeah, I went home for the weekend and my parents wouldn’t let me come back,” she admitted, ducking her head slightly. “That’s why I missed the meeting with you after the last class, sorry.”

[Evelyn Sparrow]

Evelyn wondered whether the girls were friends or simply acquaintances as the quick greeting was given by Keaira. They were apparently familiar with each other at the least. Familiar enough for Evelyn to catch the way Caitlin looked at Keaira slightly shocked at the girls’ almost ragged appearance in body. They might not have been close, but it appeared that Caitlin knew her well enough to take a good note of how down trodden the other girl was.

Nodding softly at Caitlin’s quickly uttered word of apology, Evelyn waved her hand slightly, and simply responded “Oh its fine.”As the girl took a seat across from her, Evelyn kept her quite and reassuring smile on her face. It was always easier to interact with students who felt welcome then those who were put off by your display. She listened to Caitlin’s words, taking them in and processing them. She wondered if Professor Archer had given her permission to return home for the weekend, or not, but she did not actually broach the subject. Whether or not permission was granted for this weekend getaway was neither Evelyn’s business, nor her true concern in the matter.

Waving her wand ever so slightly Evelyn summoned a small coffee pot, two cups with spoons, and a rack of vials containing a row of white powder and white liquid. Picking up the coffee pot she poured some of it in to a cup, and then quickly added one vial of the powder and one of the liquid. As the ingredients combined, it turned the black liquid into more of a creamish-beige color. Setting the pot of coffee beside the rack and the other cup, she gestured to the ensemble, while stirring her own cup, “Coffee?” she asked in a questioning tone, before sipping at her own mug.

“The liquid is milk, and the powder is sugar. Help yourself if you would like some. Now about that meeting. The purpose of it was to help determine where you went wrong in the discovery of what your assigned potion was. So, let’s start there, Miss Collins, where do you think you made your first mistake?”

As she finished speaking she brought her mug to her lips and sipped at the brew lightly. The aroma of vanilla and cinnamon mixed together in a perfect blend filled her nose, and brought a warm glow to her features.

[Caitlin Collins]

Caity was relieved to hear Professor Sparrow’s reassurance that getting distracted was fine, and as she finished talking waited nervously for the reason she would receive. She wasn’t great at confronting things when she was nervous, teachers especially. She just hated being in trouble and having that horrible feeling of guilt and remorse rise up in her. Unfortunately, she had the idea that being with the lightfighters wasn’t going to help her in the slightest when it came to keeping out of trouble. Already she had broken the rule against keeping out of the forest several times. And if Caira really was sided with the Mage, then she was hardly going to make things easy for them all. So long as she stayed out of the headmistress’ way and didn’t draw any unwanted attention then she’d be fine. Of course, being pulled out of school for a month probably counted as drawing attention to herself. Once again she felt a burst of anger and hurt directed at her parents for doing that, but pushed it away quickly. If she thought on that too much more she would get herself into a foul mood which would be directed at anyone who annoyed her, including the potions teacher before her now.

What she got in reply to her little speech wasn’t at all what she was expecting. The older witch brought out her wand and summoned a pot of coffee and some cups.

“Coffee? The liquid is milk, and the powder is sugar. Help yourself if you would like some.”

Making little movement but that which was necessary, Caity gave a small shake of her head in declination. She had never liked coffee, or many hot drinks to be honest. Tea was okay but a little bland. On the contrary, chai – Indian tea – was too strong for her. Sometimes she would have hot chocolate, but all too often it would end up burning her tongue. Back in India, she’d always been told off by her mum for refusing hot drinks like chai, but surely it was better to politely decline than to allow people to see her dislike when she drank it?

“Now about that meeting. The purpose of it was to help determine where you went wrong in the discovery of what your assigned potion was. So, let’s start there, Miss Collins, where do you think you made your first mistake?”

Thinking back, Caity tried to remember the potions lesson so long ago. It had gone disastrously, that much she remembered, but what had she done wrong? Glancing down, she saw a small scar spread across several of her fingers. Of course, she’d burnt herself. “I didn’t put gloves on. Burnt my fingers,” she admitted miserably, keeping her gaze turned away so she didn’t have to meet the professor’s eyes. “And then I breathed in the vapours, I think. I couldn’t see anything for a minute, and it smelt horrible.” She didn’t want to admit that she had become completely confused about the instructions, still not realising that her confusion had been the effect of the potion on her mind. She just assumed it was being so distracted, only a few days after she had found out about Mallan’s suicide. “I was tired... and distracted,” she said quietly, hinting that she hadn’t listened to the instructions properly but not saying it aloud. How she hated this kind of meeting, whether parent-daughter or teacher-student, where you had to explain what you had done wrong. It made her feel so self-deprecatory and made her even more introverted than usual.

[Evelyn Sparrow]

With her coffee perfectly prepared to bring a warm smile to her face by the mere aroma of it, Evelyn sat patiently as she waited for Caitlin to respond. Although the teacher had already deduced what had happened though a careful examination her students throughout the class, she felt that by having them explain what they did wrong it generally helped them to keep from repeating the same mistakes. And thus keep them learning what they should from her class, and not remembering the things they failed at.

Hearing Caitlin recount the classes’ events from her perspective Evelyn nodded slightly with her recollection. She had noticed that the 6th year student was not the only one who had forgotten the safety equipment that she had insisted on them wearing. In fact Zane Bishop had made a very similar mistake involving the use of gloves. As she nodded lightly she twirled her index finger on her right hand ever so slightly in a clockwise rotation. A motion that was echoed with the seemingly touch less swirling of the coffee within the crimson stoneware mug that she held in her left hand.

Evelyn smiled softly. The warm glow of her skin seemed to brighten with the action of her lips curving upward. It didn’t come as a shock to the professor when Caitlin mentioned that she had inhaled the fumes from her potion. In fact it had been practically what Evelyn had thought the problem had been. As Caitlin ended her story by stating that she had been tired and distracted, Evelyn simply nodded her head. Yes Caitlin had been distracted, but not for simply any reason. The stone mug was gently rested on a granite coaster engraved with that looked like a pixie sitting on a rose. The coaster was previously underneath a few papers that she had to shuffle about before placing the coaster down. With her hands free she laced them together, leaning her elbows on her desk, her hands rested just below her chin as she sat there.A small assessing smile came over her as she opened her mouth to speak.

“Miss Collins, Caitlin, the reason you found yourself distracted and lost in the lesson was in fact, due to the very nature of the potion you were supposed to be determining. Had you not allowed the potion to be inhaled into your body, you would have found yourself far less confused about the lesson. The reason that I specified that all potions should be wafted to you was because in the case of your potion in particular, an adverse chemical reaction can occur simply by allowing the potion to be inhaled directly.”

Sitting up straight, Evelyn picked up her coffee cup once more and took a hearty sip from its steaming contents. After letting a small sigh escape her lips she sat her cup aside once more, and began shuffling through the piles of papers on her desk. After a few short minuets of looking about she paused, and with a minor “Ah” noise she opened the top right drawer of her desk. Pulling out a single paper after a few moments she turned it so that Caitlin could see it. There were several remarks about the class that the meeting was concerning. Noting several things that the students had done wrong, as well as many things that had gone correctly.

“Here we are Caitlin. You were given a vial of confusion concotment, Unfortunately you started the lesson by not using the proper safety equipment and then you did not follow the instructions that I had given very clearly. After you inhaled the fumes I’m pretty sure that you lost any idea of what you were doing and although you did it follow the initial instruction It was very good of you to come to me at the end of the class to get the antidote.”

Waving her hand once more the coffee cup that Caitlin had not chosen to use, the vial of milk and sugar, and the coffee pot all disappeared, banished to the staff lounge where they had come from to begin with. With another sweeping motion a small ray of cookies appeared on her desk. Smiling she held her hand out to suggest Caitlin may have one if she wished.

“They were just baked this morning. You know, making potions is much like the process of cooking. If you follow the directions and remember not to pull the hot pan out of the oven it can be very rewarding. Now that aside, I’m sure you know that you received a failing grade for that class. In addition you were not present to turn in to homework assignment that was due the following class, which will also affect your grade negatively. On top of that you have missed several classes since then, which means you will be behind. So let’s make a plan shall we? Let’s see if you can have that homework assignment about the importance of safety equipment, to me by the end of the week. Our next class we will be working on the drought of Peace, so make sure you brush up on that so that you won’t be lost in the class. And we’ll worry about the rest later ok?”

[Caitlin Collins]

Caity kept her eyes focussed on the edge of Professor Sparrow’s desk, not looking up at the potions teacher as she spoke. The one time she did glance up, Evelyn appeared to be smiling. But that couldn’t be right, why would she smile at one of her students getting something wrong? So Caitlin assumed she must have not seen properly and continued to look down.

As it was explained why she had been distracted, she allowed her head to rise so that she at least had the professor in her field of vision. The potion had been why she was distracted? But she’d been distracted before even entering the classroom, and she knew exactly why. “The potion wasn’t –“ The potion wasn’t why I was distracted. At least, not to start with, although it probably didn’t help. But she couldn’t say that, reveal so much to an adult she hardly knew. Not many of the lightfighters knew quite how upset she had been because of Mallan’s death; how upset she still was. Dylan, maybe Susan. D’rorah might have worked it out, but as far as she knew none of the others had much of an idea.

And what if Professor Sparrow was involved in the shadow wars? On the wrong side? She would just be handing over information about herself that could be used against her. Did the Shadow Mage even know that Mallan was dead? She felt a quiet stab of victory at the idea Mallan might still be causing Dark Phoenix trouble, if she was lacking in that knowledge. Because as far as Caity was concerned, Dark Phoenix had to be at least partly responsible for his suicide. Whatever the reason – stress; the double bonding; something else – it was related to the Shadow Wars. And if they weren’t fighting against the Shadow Mage, then Mallan wouldn’t have had that source of stress, and wouldn’t have had to join with her as well as Dee.

Realising she’d phased out again, much as she had while Evelyn had been issuing instructions at the start of that disastrous potions lesson, Caitlin re-focussed her attention back into the classroom and away from the grave that kept haunting her just as Professor Sparrow was retrieving the sheet of paper concerning that class.

Confusion Concoctment... that would explain the state of her head by the end of the lesson. She really hadn’t had any idea of what was supposed to be going on. A slight blush tinged her cheeks at the mention of not following clearly-given instructions, and she felt a little apprehension as the coffee was banished, but to her surprise another plate appeared, this one containing various types of biscuits – and she was still smiling. Taking one closest to her as they were proffered, she listened carefully, making sure not to allow her mind to wander again.

Homework by the end of the week... she hadn’t actually managed to do that anyway. She probably could have if she’d tried – you didn’t need textbooks or a wand to write about the importance of safety gear. But it shouldn’t be too hard to get that done, preferably straight after this meeting so she wouldn’t forget. And read about the draught of peace. She’d have to catch up on the rest of the classes she’d missed, of course, but for now that wasn’t too much work overloading her at once – one of the things she’d been afraid of when returning to Hogwarts. “Okay, I will. Thank you,” she said sincerely. She didn’t move out of her seat in case there was more to be said, but the general air she could sense was of the meeting being finalised. Next class, she was determined to do better – if only to show gratitude to Professor Sparrow.

[Evelyn Sparrow]

((sorry cait i forgot about this, but i figured we should wrap it up, and then I'll think about getting a class up.))

Evelyn stood gracefully from her chair, her hands ran over the soft fabric of her dress robes in a smoothing fashion before she moved around to the front of her desk. Her best soothing, and encouraging smile was adorning her face as she stood facing Caitlin. If there was one thing to be said about Evelyn Sparrow, it was that she had a way of making people feel like they were safe with her. Much like she had made Keaira feel, when she had learned what was bothering that particular student. Of course sometimes there was nothing that could be said nor done to make the student feel comfortable talking with a teacher about their problems. In those times all that she could do was to hope the student would do fine and continue with her work.

“Alright Miss Collins, if that’s everything that needs to be discussed, I shall see you in class later this week alright? Get that homework in to me, and study so you don’t fall behind. Unless there is something else that’s troubling you?”

A quiet concern washed over Evelyn. The teacher was barely 10 years older than the student in front of her. And still had the wits about her to know that something other than what she had revealed to her was bothering the younger girl. It was however, not in Evelyn Sparrows nature to prod and poke at another person simply to find the details of their life that they were wishing to keep secret from those around them. But there was always that feeling that if she could help them through something she would gladly do it.

As she waited for Caitlin to respond to her, she kept the soft and encouraging look on her face as she moved toward the door to her office. Her next class would be staring in a short while, and as much as she wished to help all the students in the school, some of them were less willing to want that help than others. In those cases all she could do was reassure them that if they needed someone to help, or simply to listen that she always had a free hand and a free ear.

[Caitlin Collins]

As Professor Sparrow stood, Caitlin did likewise. The smile on her face was indeed encouraging, and it gave Cait a little hope that maybe this all wouldn’t turn out too badly in the end. If all the teachers were this understanding about her time away from the school – which she doubted, but there was the chance nevertheless – then maybe she could get back into the usual school routine without as much disruption as she’d thought there might be. The work she’d been set certainly wasn’t unmanageable.

“Alright Miss Collins, if that’s everything that needs to be discussed, I shall see you in class later this week alright? Get that homework in to me, and study so you don’t fall behind.

“Okay, thank you,” she said again, hoping the gratitude was clear in her voice. She hadn’t expected the meeting to be so... not pleasant, exactly, more... not unpleasant. It hadn’t been enjoyable, but it hadn’t been anywhere near as bad as she’d feared when knocking on the door. The pit of dread in her stomach had disappeared soon after entering the room.

“Unless there is something else that’s troubling you?”

The second question worried Caity a little. Was she that easy to read? She thought she’d become better at hiding what she was feeling, but maybe hiding constant turmoil was a bit too difficult. She’d never been great at hiding her emotions, and this was really the first time in her life that she’d found much of a need to do so. “No, I’m –“ probably best not to lie outright, she’d never been good at that either – “it’s okay.” Well, it wasn't okay either, but that was more truthful than saying she herself was okay. The change of phrasing halfway through was probably obvious, but she didn’t want to say anything more on the matter to make it more so. “Thanks,” she added again, finally heading out of the room. With no lesson next, it made sense to do the work that had been set now, before she forgot, so she headed to the library intent on doing just that.

[Evelyn Sparrow]

Evelyn Sparrow was not normally a woman of stern gazes, however every once in a while she would make an exception. This was one of those times. As she watched Caitlin nearly tell her that she was fine, her eyes narrowed slightly and the smile faded just a little. The look was only there for a brief moment, before she reverted to her reassuring smile. But it had been enough. There was something not quite right about how the student was acting, and yet she would not interfere. She nodded her head, a fraction of a movement before responding to the girl.

“Well, Miss Collins, if you find that there is anything that I can help you with, schooling or otherwise, please don’t hesitate to come see me. My available hours are always posted up in the classroom, so next time you’re there copy them down if you need them. I’ll see you in our next potions class if you don’t need my assistance further. Take care of yourself Caitlin.”

Evelyn stood just inside her doorway as she watched Caitlin leave, certain that there was far more troubling things on the not much younger girls mind. She wondered whether it was something that she herself had experienced in her teen years, but couldn’t recall any event that had left her as distressed as Caitlin had seemed. Sighing softly she closed her office door and went back to grading the assignments she needed done.

[Caitlin Collins]

The stern look sent her way by Professor Sparrow made Caity quaver a little in her resolve, even despite the smile that replaced it only moments later. Her shoulders moved backwards a little but she kept her mouth firmly shut, biting a little on the inside of her lip. She couldn’t tell the potions mistress, even if she wanted to, so there was no use feeling all regretful and guilty about it. Of course, logic had never had much of an effect on Caitlin’s emotions in the past, and failed to do so now.

“Okay. Thank you,” she added, keen by this point to be out of the office. She felt like she was being scrutinised and disapproved of, and it wasn’t a nice feeling. The fact that she didn’t know why she was being scrutinised so suddenly made it all the worse. Before, Evelyn had seemed quite pleasant in her temperament, but now she wasn’t so sure.

Suddenly a little nervous, and certain that feeling so was quite irrational, she was glad to be able to finally escape from the room. Heading up the stone steps, she went in the direction of the library. If she did this essay now, then there was no way she could forget about it as she seemed to be doing frequently of late. Although she was glad of the reassurance offered her, that one look at the end had raised her anxiety levels a bit. What if she pressed her about it again in the future? She didn’t like discussing how she was feeling anyway, and giving the reason she was currently so depressed to a teacher she barely knew wasn’t pleasant. Pushing the thought aside, she entered the library and retrieved what she needed from her bag so she could start on the homework.