"What I thought of you, your favourite colour, if you had any pets, if you liked foxes, if you were single, your birthdate, blah blah blah. Pretty much any dumb question I sent you was cos he made me ask." Linnea rolled her eyes.

"He even asked Silk to look up on you, after Silk had already done enough to give the family the all-clear."

"Trust me, Cass, he's never needed an excuse to talk to me. We've been friends for as long as I can remember. He and I have reached that level in a friendship where talking isn't necessary, and no subject is off limits. He didn't need to bring you up to talk to me." She giggled, "My sister made a drawing of him kissing you. His face turned 3 shades of red before he left the room, mumbling about something while Xlestia and I doubled over in laughter"

Cassandra Rae-Branxton nodded her head and smiled broadly. "I hope the proprietor got my owl. She would have owled back if they couldn't accomodate us today." Her words sounded anxious, but her demeanor was anything but. She smiled at the students in the dark pub and held tight to Doyle's hand.

Cass blushed and shook her head. "Nope, theres another excuse..there has to be. We hardly talked and that was so long ago." She bit her lip and smiled and played with her hair. She laughed at Linny's expression of her reaction and stuck her tongue out and taking a sip of her butterbeer.

Linnea laughed at her friend's reaction, "What's that got to do with anything? The start of a healthy relationship is a physical attraction. He thinks you're hot, and wanted to find common ground to approach you on.

She took a sip of butterbeer and nearly spat it in Cass' face as Rae and Branxton walked in, holding hands and.....oh my! Is that a ring on Rae's finger?!

She choked the butterbeer down, "Cass!" she whispered, "Look!"

Cass was in the middle of blushing again when all the sudden Linny almost spit butterbeer in her face. "What the huh...?" Cass looked in that direction and squeeled. "Awww oh my gosh!" She jumped from her seat and ran up and gave Rae a big hug. "No way! No way! No way! Thats soooo cute!" Cass gushed.

Linnea spat all over Cass' chair as she ran up and....and...HUGGED RAE. Linnea couldn't believe it, I mean, she liked Rae well enough, but the thought never crossed her mind to hug the woman. Though, if it weren't for her and Branxton, she probably wouldn't have made it here to Diagon Alley.

But.....what if they wanted to be alone? She bit her lip, then slowly stood and approached the group. She curtsied to both Rae and Branxton, "I just wanted to thank you properly. If you two hadn't been in the halls.....if you hadn't acted as quickly as you had..." she shuddered and didn't want to think about what could have happened instead.

Rae laughed and hugged Cass back. "I guess we meet with your approval?" She patted the girl on the back and eyed the tables pushed together. "You're more than welcome, my dear. Why don't the two of you join us? We'll have plenty of room."

Cass looked at Linny and gave her a smile. "Are you sure? I mean, we don't want to impose upon you two if you would prefer to be alone." She told them running her hands through her hair.

"No, there's going to be a whole party. We want the students to come and celebrate with us." She squeezed Doyle's hand and grinned at him joyfully. "We're... I... I'm happy," she said foolishly. "We had the ceremony at Hogwarts."

"Awww Hogwarts! I bet it was gorgeous." Cass smiled. "Well, then if its really ok with you...then yeah, we'd love to stay." She turned to Linny. "Is that ok with you?" She asked her.

Linnea grinned, "It's alright with me. The boys'll find us later, I'm sure." She followed Rae, Branxton and Cass to where they were sitting.

Doyle continued to hold Cassandra's hand and smile at her as two students came up to greet them. He didn't say anything but, followed them to the table. The marriage was still so new that he and Cassandra were still quite attached, especially now that they were making the announcement about the wedding in a very public way. His free hand twitched, wanting to clean his glasses but, that was a habit he was attempting to break and he only had one hand, anyway.

Professor Lainey was looking paler than ever as she entered the pub. Quietly and quickly she walked passed Rae and Branxton, letting them both know she was here for them. She then retired to an empty corner, her wand at the ready, and watched.

Aero made her way over to the happy little couple and smiled at the introductions going round. "Hello there, Mrs.... oh... what do I call you now, Branxton?" She smiled at them happily. "Feel free to ask for anything to drink of eat. Chef would be more than obliged to serve you. And I believe a particular former student of yours is searching for you."

A rather disgruntled Mr. Salem Thorn arrived at the Leaky Cauldron’s doorstep. “Blasted apperation; Never again, floo powder for me from now on.” He muttered in slightly labored breath, straightening out his travel worn emerald green robes and royal blue cloak as he did so.

He opened the door to the dimly lit and packed pub, stepping inside he allowed the door to close with a soft click before making his way to the bar. He began requesting a small glass of firewhiskey when he spotted a table with a few participants; observing that some were his colleagues, he decided to cancel the drink and join the group, pending of course if they had room for more company.

“Good Afternoon.” Salem said with a genuine smile now standing near the bunch, “Mind if I join you lot?” He asked running a hand through his jet black, now shoulder length hair in an attempt at fixing the rouge stands.

Rae took a seat and pulled Doyle into the chair next to hers. "You can still call me Professor Rae. I'm keeping my former name to avoid confusion, but I suppose if we're being correct, I'm Professor Rae-Branxton." She smiled foolishly and squeezed Doyle's hand. "Thank you so much for your hospitality."

She gestured for Salem to take a seat and looked around for more professors to join them. Across the room, she spotted Professor Light speaking with one of her new professors. Rae waved at them and turned back to the small group gathering. "I think we'll have a round of drinks."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Rae took a seat and pulled Doyle into the chair next to hers. "You can still call me Professor Rae. I'm keeping my former name to avoid confusion, but I suppose if we're being correct, I'm Professor Rae-Branxton." She smiled foolishly and squeezed Doyle's hand. "Thank you so much for your hospitality."

She gestured for Salem to take a seat and looked around for more professors to join them. Across the room, she spotted Professor Light speaking with one of her new professors. Rae waved at them and turned back to the small group gathering. "I think we'll have a round of drinks."

Mr. Thorn gave Professor Rae a wide smile and took the seat offered him. "Congratulations Headmistress, Mr. Braxton," Salem said observing the wedding band upon Rae's left index finger. He dug around in his cloak pocket for a moment then extracted a small package wrapped in blue and green metallic wrapping paper. He muttered a spell and placed the considerably larger parcel in front of the couple. "Not much but, I thought you two could use one of these."

(ooc: its a black pensieve with green and blue runes.)

"Thank you, Mr. Thorn," Rae accepted the gift and set it next to her plate. "It was so nice that you could attend the ceremony. I never imagined we could get Hogwarts to look that lovely, but of course... there are many lovely spots at the school. I appreciate your assistance in choosing that location by the lake and assisting in setting it up." She could only imagine how badly it would have gone if not for the bug-repelling charms and cooling charms. It had been quite a hot day, as she recalled.

"Yes, thank you," Doyle said, unable to resist any longer. He took off his glasses and freed up a hand so he could reach for his hankerchief. He began cleaning his glasses as he looked around. Professor Lainey was looking especially on edge and he wondered what in Merlin's name was wrong with the woman now. It was most unfortunate for him that she was his wife's best friend.

Lee returned hand in hand with Linny and seated her at the seat where she once was, taking a seat himself. "Sorry for taking Linny away for a couple of minutes. Things just had to be said, "Lee said smiling, "I hope you don't mind my being here 'Mistress and Sir. But congradulations anyway!"

Peony peeked in shyly, her black hair hanging over one eye before she reached up to brush it off. Her eyes widened as she recognized the headmistress and the Potions Professor.

Wooo~ looks like someone finally got their act together!

But - but - but they're old!

...your point?

"Old people can't do that! I mean, it's practically obscene," muttered Peony.

"Do what, you dirty-minded child?" said a withering voice from behind her. Peony turned to find the light blocked by a tall, moderately young woman. A pair of dark brown eyes glared down at her, boring through her skull seemingly. "Are you a student? Going to pay your respect to your venerable teachers?"

You know, why not? S'not like they ever gave you a detention.

S'not like I ever deserved one.

Hahahaa.

Andi glanced at the odd child with raised eyebrows and then simply shoved her in. "Quit blocking the doorway."

Andi looked around for Branxton and Rae, and made her way to their table, skirts swishing. She nodded first at Rae, then at Branxton. "Congratulations," she said, smiling as she proffered two angpao packets to them. The small money-filled packets were red in color with the double 'xi' sign that accompanied wedding celebrations.

Hazelle approached the tables where the professors had gathered, "Congratulations, P.....Headmistress," Hazelle said, remembering at the last minute her new status, "and....Mr. Branxton" she said the last as a slight question, being sure she had his name right.

Linnea sat down next to Lee and gave a small smile at what had to be said.

Hazelle gave a small smile to the two children, though she knew Lee would not take kindly to being called a child. She moved around the table, spotted Professor Lainey with her wand drawn, then sat down across from Linnea's friend.

Cass looked around at the new professors. Things surely had changed since she had left. She turned and smiled at Rae. She definitely looked alot happier now. She had to give a small giggle at Professor Branxton. He still had that nervous habit. She wondered what he was thinking. She waved at Lee as he came back with Linny. She raised an eyebrow at Linny curiously and wondered what they had left to go talk about.

Professor Virohsa found her way towards the table. And there they were! She smiled as she walked towards them holding a black box. "How does the day go for the happy couple?", she said with a small smile. After all, she had known Rae for quite some time.