He didn't have to go very far this time. Not even up any stairs. The small Slytherin's sprinting footsteps echoed down the hall as he ran straight from Hirsch's door to Finch's, half the steps slightly muffled by the distinct lack of shoe.

How long had he been running around asking professors questions? It seemed like it had been hours, which was hours longer than the boy wanted it to take. Paul had been unhelpful. Hirsch had been unhelpful. Jaemin could only hope that Finch would be slightly more helpful, but he was beginning to have his doubts.

BANG. BANG BANG BANG. BANG.

The shoe met a door for the third time today, somehow more insistently. The wide-eyed, diminutive Slytherin almost seemed to be vibrating with urgency, and the shoe met the door again.

BANG.

HOW MANY TIMES DID ONE HAVE TO KNOCK BEFORE THE DOOR WOULD OPEN?!

What.

Ansley had been napping on the comfy couch in his office as he had a bit of free time in his day. Students rarely came to see him since they didn't seem to normally have any pressing History questions or emergencies, and he thought he'd be allowed some uninterrupted nap time during the day. But he was wrong.

The first bang on his door was loud enough to snap him out of the dream he was having, nearly causing him to fall onto the floor. And he was up and making his over to the door as he heard several more loud bangs in succession.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

He opened the door to see Jaemin holding his shoe. "Jaemin..?" Ansley was still a bit groggy as he tried to make sense of what was going on here. "What's happened?" Certainly something urgent to be causing that kind of commotion.

...the man had been asleep. ASLEEP. It was immediately obvious from the expression on his face, and Jaemin felt a shudder of urgency go up his spine as he stared up at the man, shoe raised as if he were about to deliver another demanding knock.

He did not have time to wait for Ansley Finch to wake up and answer his questions. He couldn't even remember what the question he'd had for Finch was anymore. The boy shifted from foot to foot anxiously, eyes flickering back down the hall to where he'd left Hirsch, then back toward the stairs. There was only one professor he could be sure would know the answer to the only question he could remember right now. IT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE.

"...I... NEVERMIND," he yelled at the professor, twitching slightly before he turned and took off, fast as a golden snitch, for the stairs. UP, UP, UP WE GO.

What on earth was going on here? Ansley squinted at the boy as he tried to shake the sleepiness out of his head and figure out just what was so urgent. Jaemin wasn't really talking now, just looking shiftily down the hall. And then Ansley looked too, but he didn't see anything quite out of the ordinary.

He was just about to open his mouth to speak again when the boy shouted at him and took off. What the...?

Ansley stared after him for a few minutes debating whether it was a weird preteen thing that he should just ignore or if he should follow him and see what was up. Maybe it was against his better judgment, but he decided to see what was going on and went off to follow him.

It just better not be drama. He hated drama.

Had he lost dear dear Roderik on the way? Because he looked over his shoulder once and hadn't seen him---OR had the man beaten him to wherever Jaemin had gone--wait, no, Jaemin was up ahead, and by the time he reached the area, Mr. Son was once again SPEEDING OUT.

MERLIN'S PANTS.

Paul eyes Ansley. "Merlin, Anton, the boy has gone mad--" and Paul decided to follow after the group. Roderik, KEEP UP MAN.

Ansley was halfway down the corridor from his office and heading towards the stairs, trying to keep the young Slytherin in his sights. He hoped nothing serious was wrong, but there was something very off. He was a little concerned.

Turning, he saw Paul headed his way. ANTON? Seriously? Ansley shook his head and chuckled. "Mad... yes.. had you seen him too? Something very strange is going on.." Probably nothing more than teenage dramatics that he really should keep away from. "Very concerning though." Had Paul been following him?

Julien had been marking papers and was getting frustrated. He hadn't been focusing well at all lately and a few students had fully gotten to him. Was it June yet? He might be ready for summer break. There had just been so much going on and giving two detention in a week was not something that helped his mood.


As he was going to go to the Great Hall for dinner he thought maybe he'd stop by and see if Ansley had been to dinner yet. Walking down the first floor corridor he kept an eye out for Sophia in a different portrait, but the man felt his looking was not going to find her. He felt horrible that the portrait had burned from his own stubborness, but the detention had to happen.

Turning to his door, Julien knocked to see if he was in.

Why did it always seem like the end of the year dragged on so much longer than the est of the school year? As much as Ansley did enjoy teaching, he felt like April had time standing still. So much to do yet in terms of lessons and grades, and he could sense students getting restless for summer.

Another long afternoon of reading and grading essays, and Ansley was in need of a break. He was actually thankfully for the break in routine when he heard a knock on the door. Not many students came to see him about any class-related questions or issues, so he was a little curious to see who was on the other side of the door.

"Oh, Julien. Hello." He gave the man a smile, slightly surprised to see him on the other side of the door as he opened it. "What brings you by?"

"Hello Ansley, I was headed to dinner and didn't know if you had been yet or not." He wasn't feeling like eating alone at the staff table and wasn't sure which staff would be there and which weren't. He glanced into the office hoping he didn't interrupt anything. The end of the term started bringing lots of work for the students as well as the professors.


Turning his eyes back to the History of Magic professor he waited for an answer, but was looking troubled. "I was hoping for a small favor as well." The end of the term was bringing on another stress at the moment. Where would he be living, Julien was really not sure of this answer just yet.

"Oh.. actually, no I hadn't.." Ansley glanced at his watch though he didn't really need to. His growling stomach told him that it was already about that time. "Did you want to walk down together? I am getting pretty hungry and should probably go get dinner myself."

He glanced back inside of his office. It could probably be left as is and not have to clean anything up just to go down to dinner. He would have to remember to lock up and make sure his wards were in order before he left. Not that he had anything too valuable here, but after his office was broken into, he wanted to make sure it was secure enough to not happen again. Turning back to the Charms professor, he gave him a curious look. "Oh.. sure. What can I do for you?" He had come to consider Julien to be a friend so he was sure he could grant him a favor.

Oh good, he hadn't had dinner yet. Julien was not one to care much whether or not he ate alone, but he needed the advice of someone he trusted and this was a person he did trust. He needed all his ducks in a row and it was getting closer to the end of term. "Sure we can go together. I was just headed that way. Do you need to gather anything before we go?" He could never leave without everything in it's right place so he'd never let anyone else leave like that if they didn't want to.


"Yes, it... seems" He was not going to be able to admit this well. How as he admitting this, but it truly seemed this was going to be the way. He took a deep breath and waited for his friend to close his door. "I was wondering if you knew of any flats or houses that are for rent. I'm possibly looking to move this summer and was hoping to possibly have a place before we were done here." There he had finally said it. Lili wasn't speaking to him and as time got closer to the end of a term he was going to have to find a place to live. He wasn't going to be at the school all summer.

Ansley glanced behind him to look at the state of his office. Sure he had things on his desk, but it wasn't any big deal. He left things like that out all the time. Worse than that even sometimes. "Nah, I'm good," he said, stepping out into the hallway and shutting his door. They were just going down to the Great Hall anyway, but he was sure to cast a couple charms to make sure no one broke in again.

He turned back to Julien to give him his full attention, noting his hesitation. Oh. "Not able to work things out?" Well, that was kind of sad. Ansley himself had never been married and had no children of his own to relate, but he hated to see a family broken up. "Maybe some time away will help give you both some clarity so you can work things out." He would hope anyway. "I don't know of anything off-hand, but I can look a bit if you wanted. If you needed, you can stay at my flat for a little while while you looked or got back on your feet." Certainly not moving in permanently as he liked his own space, but he was willing to help out a friend in this way if needed.

"It doesn't seem that way. She hasn't fully talked to me since January. When I stop over it's just short words exchanges." He shrugged a bit as they walked. There wasn't much to speak of about it really. He made his choices and now she was making hers. He wasn't going to fully give up though. His family was very important to him and he was determined to make things right, but he knew he had to give space as well and think of the coming months.


Knowing something off hand wasn't something Julien expected. They had been at the castle all term so it wasn't like they were fully looking all the time. "Just keeping an eye out would be great. I feel a bit lost without the Daily Prophet. They usually had the ads and things for stuff like that." Shame no one was getting it fixed and rebuilt yet. How were they suppose to get their news. He didn't like WHIM and they weren't really news anyway. Though he did subscribe to another smaller paper, but it just wasn't the same. "Thank you for the offer, but I couldn't impose. I'll find something or who knows we have a month yet, maybe Liliana will change her mind by then." That was the hopefully thought he could have. He was really hoping for.


"So any plans for summer for you?" He didn't want the man to feel to awkward with his own issues, so asking or even changing the subject was probably best.

That was a shame. Ansley had been through his own share of breakups and he knew how hard they could be. It had to be even worse when there were children involved. "I'm sorry to hear that. Have you thought about marriage counseling?" Maybe that could help them work out some of their issues so that they could at least have a conversation. Maybe he wasn't the best person to talk to about this, but that was his advice.

He nodded at Julien's sentiments as the continued down the corridor. "They certainly left a gaping hole, didn't they?" Ansley didn't subscribe to anything mainstream, preferring some of the more grassroots publications, but he knew many people had relied on the Daily Prophet to get their news along with other services, such as finding flats to rent. "Oh, it's no imposition, really. And yes, it's just an offer for if things don't work out or if you don't find anything in the mean time. At least you will have a friend to stay with for a little while."

"Nothing too significant," he said in response to his summer plans. "I'll probably work on some of my own artwork." He hesitated a moment. "There's also a University art teaching position I have my eye on. I have an interview scheduled for summer."

"I've thought of many things, but getting her to sit down and talk seems to be the difficult part right now. Not that I blame her. It was all my fault and I should deal with the consequences now. " He made his bed and now he was going to lie in it. He now just needed to figure out what roof that would be under.

A friend, that was actually nice to hear right now. "Yes, I'm surprised it hasn't be restarted yet. You would think a paper that big would have by now. It seems very suspicious." There was nothing they could do about it though, so he was going to find a new paper to subscribe to. "Thank you, I will keep that offer in mind." He had to think of his kids as well, though it was more Juni since she was the youngest and still fully depended on them.

Hearing the last part he stopped and looked at his friend, "A new job? You are thinking about leaving?" With all the stress that he had been dealing with this term he would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about it himself.

Ansley couldn't say that he hadn't had his share of relationship problems, even if he had never been married, so he thought he could relate at least a little. He knew the heartache associated with break-ups, though they did not come with children and the long-standing commitment that Julien's did. He hoped that it could still be worked out. "Well, yes... perhaps she needs some time first." Though it had been some time already. He didn't really have the answers. "But even if she won't go with you at first, you might look into going on your own too. I think that might help."

"It does, though I've never really kept up with it myself. I prefer a grassroots publication myself." But he knew that was where most people did get their information and it was a little strange that it hadn't been rebuilt or nothing new had really come in to fill that void. Maybe everything was going the way of grassroots then. Ansley nodded, knowing the news would come as a bit of a surprise. "Yes, it is something I am very much interested in, but we will see. It's just an interview at this point." Who knew how many others were being considered and who was to say that he would even be offered the position.