It was her pleasure, now that was the sweetest thing. The sweetest. If there was one thing she could appreciate, it was when students took time and effort to produce something meaningful... something that she could hold onto as a keepsake, and cherish in her darkest hours. And at Hogwarts, there were many dark hours... it really was one disaster after another.

Suddenly though, she looked up. Aubrey. With a B. Isn't that what she said? "Of course it is, dear," she agreed with a convincing nod, "my mind isn't in a fit state at the minute.. too much work to do see," she noted, motioning to the papers littered around her. Curriculum planning always did do her head in. AJ though, she liked the sound of that. "AJ it is then," she mused, smiling brightly.

Was this all the girl had come for? Did she want to discuss something further? At any rate, it was an opportune moment to converse with the young Lioness.
"How have you found your first year so far?" she asked, curious to hear AJ's perspective. Considering the drama with the weather - something she was only too eager to escape - she couldn't help but wonder too if it was deterring students from the school. Potentially. If parents themselves weren't already wary.



She had heard the knocking on her door loud and clear, and for a brief moment hadn't thought much of it, but of course, her feet moved her in the direction of the door while she skimmed an letter she received in the post.

Swinging the door back on its hinges, allowing it to creak softly, she peered out at the form of Zander Adair, or more to the point, the back of him.

"Zander, can I help you with something?" she asked, folding the letter in her hand and stuffing it into the pocket of her red robe.



This was, perhaps the best way to go about it. Seren paced her office, pausing briefly to stick a poker in the fire that barely burned in the grate of the fireplace. It was useless. If there was any consolation to the cold that was permeating through the castle walls and seeping into her office through the window pane, it was her rabid indulgence of tea over the past months. Her own supplies had dwindled to the point where she had to purchase a great deal more to supplement her needs.

With tea on her mind, she turned her back to the suffocated flames and eyed the steaming pot on her desk, perhaps a cup now to settle the nerves would be advantageous.

The knock at her door interrupted her movements, and she found herself bracing mid-step and turning her attention instead to her office door. That must be Annie. It had taken her months to work up to this, and still she didn't have courage enough to knock on the Headmistresses door herself, leaving this as her only option. She made for a terrible Gryffindor in that sense.

Gingerly opening the door, Seren beamed at the Headmistress, all the while her nerves making her fingers dance along the surface of the door knob and the other inside her pocket. "Annie, please come in... thank you for meeting with me. I'd have payed you a visit myself, but I can't seem to bring myself to do so," she greeted, her honest words slipping out so casually. She extended her arm, gesturing for her to make herself welcome. "I have tea and biscuits," she offered, figuring it was an appropriate segue into what she wished to discuss.