|
Leaky Cauldron Rae entered the dark pub and glanced at the full tables. She sighed quietly. She had so been looking forward to a quiet meal, but it didn't look as if that was in the cards for her right now. Sliding into a booth by the far wall, Rae pulled a menu up in front of her face. |
Doyle had just finished attending a long meeting and was ready for a nice, uncomplicated, meal. He headed for the Leaky Cauldron. It seemed an odd choice for a gentleman such as Doyle Branxton but, he actually enjoyed the atmosphere where he could just allow himself to get lost in the crowd without being expected to interact with anyone. Unfortunately, the crowd was particularly large today and he was having trouble spotting a free table. He stepped up to the bar and ordered his usual drink while he waited for some of the crowd to clear. |
Rae set her menu down and then picked it back up again. She was tempted to hide behind it, but settled instead for waving politely at Professor Branxton. Things were still a bit awkward between them, and she wasn't sure she wanted to be awkward in public. She smiled gratefully at the boy who spoke to her. "No, the school will survive without me for one day, and I have some business in Diagon Alley." |
He nodded in Cassandra's direction and debated going over to greet her. She hadn't waved him over, though. "Thank you," Doyle replied as the bartender fulfilled his order, tossing a few coins on the bar before deciding a quick hello wouldn't be out of order. A student began talking to her before he had a chance to get across the room. He stood a few tables away, examining the paintings on the walls while he waited for the student to finish. |
"In a few weeks," she nodded before gesturing for Professor Branxton to come closer. "Good afternoon, Doyle. Are you on your way out or can you..?" She pointed at the chair across from her. |
Doyle smiled as she invited him to sit. He placed his drink on the table before removing his cloak, draping it over th eback of the chair. After sitting down, he removed a hankerchief and began to clean his glasses. "Good afternoon. I was hoping to get something to eat but, the tables appeared to be full," he explained. "Have you eaten yet?" |
"I just arrived myself, actually. I was hoping to speak to someone at Flourish and Blotts about procuring some rare texts for me," she shrugged and handed him a menu. |
He replaced his glasses and took the menu. "Thank you," he said, pushing his glasses up on his nose and opening the menu. "What sort of texts are you looking for?" |
She glanced around. "Something more informative than Hogwarts, A History that I can use to... look around the school. He has to have left it there somewhere. He has to." |
Doyle nodded and then, sighed, leaning back in his chair. He'd just finished that long meeting where... "Of course," he replied and then, lost himself behind the menu for a while. |
Rae studied her menu. She'd been sure Doyle was about to say something, but he'd let it pass. Silence wasn't so bad between the two of them, but it seemed there was a lot of silence these days. "Do you suppose we order at the counter?" |
"They come around, eventually," he answered then, placed his menu on the table. "I apologize for being quiet and irritable. I have just gotten out of a rather lengthy and unenjoyable meeting." |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
"Flying... he's taking over the flying instruction so Andrew can focus exclusively on Quidditch." She put her hand on the table palm up. A test. "Do you think they've forgotten us back here?" |
"It wouldn't surprise me," he said and stood up, motioning for a waiter who scuttled over. Doyle sat back down and noticed Cassandra's hand laying palm up on the table. He hesitated for a moment before placing his hand on top of hers. He took a deep breath after the waiter scurried away with their orders. "The Ministry is not too pleased with me at the moment," he confided. |
Rae curled her fingers around Doyle's. "Tell me... what are they so unhappy about now." She couldn't help but smile at him. |
Quote:
|
"I wouldn't have hired you simply because the Ministry wanted me to. I hired you for your expertise and your ability to do the job. If we never find it, at least you'll know you made a difference in the lives of these children. You were stable and capable. The Ministry may fly through the Veil for all I care." |
"Be that as it may, these were my colleagues," he replied. He'd been away long enough that they didn't consider him one of the 'gang' anymore and now they were threatening his job. "But, I am honored to be a member of your staff and glad that you consider me part of your team." |
"I should think by now you'd be aware that you are more than just part of the team," she squeezed his hand before letting go. Rae was never really certain they were on the same page, and these days, she wasn't even sure they were in the same book at all. "Do you regret your assignment to come to Hogwarts?" |
Doyle left his hand where it was and looked straight at her, realized she was a bit blurry and replaced his glasses. "No, I don't regret the assignment, though on occassion the students to test my patience and the debacle that was last term... There are compensations to make the stay quite worth the effort aside from the monetary benefits." |
"Like me?" Rae hadn't meant to whisper it, and she cleared her throat and looked away at the bustle around them. "Like me?" She repeated again, in a more conversational tone. Perhaps they weren't on different pages afterall. |
Doyle felt a need to clean his glasses again and he cleared his own throat. "Ah... yes, like you," he said, placing his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. He looked around the room before sliding his chair around closer to hers, trying to make the shift look casual. |
Rae his her smile behind her menu. "It's possible you're as bad at this as I am. Do you suppose it's completely inappropriate for two professors... one of which is the Head... to have a relationship of this sort?" |
| All times are GMT. The time now is 03:44 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
LinkBacks Enabled by vBSEO 3.3.2 © 2009, Crawlability, Inc.
Site designed by Richard Harris Design