Bloody hell, he had to go all the way to the fourth floor just find a place that wasn't filled with prying kids. Marcus held the door open for Caroline and still he said nothing. It was just better to let her get it all off her chest and then the begging would begin. Sigh.

Cari didn't say a word. Not. A. Word. On the way up to the fourth floor bathroom.

Not a word when Marcus held the door open. Not a word when she walked through it. She waited to speak until it closed behind her.

When it did...

"Don't you think," she asked in such a deadly quiet voice it was obvious that she was so furious that she was beyond the point of yelling, "as the youngest member of the staff, I am the one who is expected to be spreading rumours? Not to have them spread about me?"

She hadn't expected it. It had completely stunned her, there was broken ceramic on the staff room floor to prove it. Not having expected it didn't make the potion go down any easier though. She was utterly acrimonious, and completely betrayed.

"Caroline" he began in an equally quiet voice. "I didn't mean for it come out that way. It's just that Annie...well...I...crap." Marcus ran his hand through his hair and contemplated on kicking the wall.

He lent against the wall and took a deep breath. "She was being her usual annoying self and goading me every chance she could get and well I took the bait didn't I." Looking up at her, he gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry I dragged your name into something that has absolutely nothing to do with you. It doesn't excuse it but I don't know what else to say." Never in his life had he apologised to a woman before.

"Hehehee. Heeee. Heheeheeeeee."

A light, girlish giggle came from one of the stalls in the back of the loo but no feet were visible below the door. Just the echoing giggle following the man's apology.

Cari turned her face away. "I don't want a blanket apology. Who mentioned me in the first place?" she asked.

As far as Cari was concerned, there was no use in apologizing for things he didn't know he was in trouble for. Actually she was pretty sure there was no use in apologizing at all. She couldn't think of anything he could say that would undo what was done.

Oh geez, it was he who had brought up her name first. This wasn't going to down well at all. "I did but all I said was that we had spent time talking to each other." Marcus hadn't expected the begging to come so quickly but it did and he hated himself for it.

"Look you don't know Annie, like I do. She pushes my buttons and I snapped and..."he trailed off at the sound of a giggle in one of the stalls.

Lawson looked under the door but could see no feet on the floor. Either it was a kid standing on the toilet or it was that ghost that haunted the toilets. Either way he didn't feel like dishing out his dirty laundry in front of them. "Sod off" he growled, in no mood to be polite.

Cari whipped her head back glare at Marcus, "First of all, Anastasia Bunbury puts it a little differently, second of all, it doesn't matter what you said; it's that you dragged me into whatever is going on between you and her. Without my permission, or any consideration for me at all. I am not a pawn in your little games."

Oh no... it wasn't... he wasn't going to... "I wouldn't do that if I were you..." she warned, somewhat disinterested. If it was who she thought it was, let her go for it.

*GASP!*Oh no this man....professor....goatee guru was NOT trying to tell Myrtle, The Queen of Bathrooms, to leave? She was in a locked stall, for Peeves' sake! What if she had been a real child?

The ghost let out one loud sniffle and all was silent for one ominous moment. The next thing Marcus Lawson knew, Myrtle had popped out through Caroline Avalon's head and was sticking her tongue out him, with both of her eyes crossed and her fingers making rude gestures out from her ears.

"Booohoohoo," the ghostie moaned, still making a face. "You are RUDE."

She disappeared down the nearest sink and laid in wait, making loud tinkery noises within the pipe. He would regret trying to tell The Myrtle what to do.

"Yeah well she would" Marcus retorted. He could tell that Caroline was extremely angry about this and it wasn't going to matter how much he apologised, she already had her mind made up. "And I just said I was sorry for dragging you into it didn't I? Geez, it was a heated moment and I said it without thinking alright." Ugh he didn't mean to take it out on her but he was so angry with Annie right now. At least if he could have explained it first it might not have sounded so bad. Well that was what he had been hoping anyway.

Marcus looked back at the ghost and her childish act and openly yawned at her. "So I've been told love" he said lazily. He did not have time for a sulky ghost. He watched her go down the sink and was tempted to turn the tap on full blast.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moaning_Myrtle

*GASP!*Oh no this man....professor....goatee guru was NOT trying to tell Myrtle, The Queen of Bathrooms, to leave? She was in a locked stall, for Peeves' sake! What if she had been a real child?

The ghost let out one loud sniffle and all was silent for one ominous moment. The next thing Marcus Lawson knew, Myrtle had popped out through Caroline Avalon's head and was sticking her tongue out him, with both of her eyes crossed and her fingers making rude gestures out from her ears.

"Booohoohoo," the ghostie moaned, still making a face. "You are RUDE."

She disappeared down the nearest sink and laid in wait, making loud tinkery noises within the pipe. He would regret trying to tell The Myrtle what to do.

Cari jumped when the ghost passed through her. Damn! That's COLD! She hated being cold. What had she done to deserve that? Marcus was the one who was behaving... like he apparently seemed capable all along.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

"Yeah well she would" Marcus retorted. He could tell that Caroline was extremely angry about this and it wasn't going to matter how much he apologised, she already had her mind made up. "And I just said I was sorry for dragging you into it didn't I? Geez, it was a heated moment and I said it without thinking alright." Ugh he didn't mean to take it out on her but he was so angry with Annie right now. At least if he could have explained it first it might not have sounded so bad. Well that was what he had been hoping anyway.



Marcus looked back at the ghost and her childish act and openly yawned at her. "So I've been told love" he said lazily. He did not have time for a sulky ghost. He watched her go down the sink and was tempted to turn the tap on full blast.

"Oh, a heated moment?" Caroline retorted, letting her temper warm her again, "Did anything else occur in this heated moment that you might want to mention? Or are you too much of a gentleman to tell? Because you certainly aren't too much of a gentleman to fabricate something about me to 'not tell' Anastasia Bunbury."

He just didn't get it. What besides the obvious, was so wrong about throwing her in Bunbury's face?

It's speaks of his opinion of her. And it was an opinion she couldn't escape no matter where she went or who she tried to be friends with.

Grrr...Annie had obviously told her everything. "I KISSED HER ALRIGHT" he yelled more out of frustration than anything else. "Annie and I have a past okay and it's not a very good past. She..."dumped me for the singer of the band the night I was going to propose to her..."it didn't end very well."

Marcus pressed his head against the wall and closed his eyes. "Caroline, what I did was wrong and I am truly sorry for using your name. It was stupid of me and I sort of blurted it out before I took the time to actually think about what I was saying." He opened his eyes slowly and looked at her, she was not going to let him get away with this lightly. "I know you're angry and you have every right to be and I'll understand if you just want to be away from me."

Caroline leaned back as he yelled at her. Oh he kept missing the point. He was an Auror? Really? She'd always understood they had to be relatively perceptive.

"The instrument has not yet been invented, that can measure my indifference to whatever your relationship is or was with Anastasia Bunbury," she replied scathingly.

"Further," she added rebutting what else he had to say, "I don't want your excuses. And you have no idea what I'm feeling, or you wouldn't dare make any excuses."

She was bad at this. She she could debate and argue over an academic or professional matter without breaking a sweat, but a personal one? She was past the point of all her nervous habits and was now just struggling not to humiliate herself by bursting into tears and calling him childish names. She might have wiped away one. Just one. Allergies.

"You used me to make her jealous," she accused. "Brilliantly, I might add, congratulations, because I was completely unaware that I was involved at all, until she told me that you made a point of going to see her and tell her all about the time we spend together, and -" Caroline broke off. Nope too humiliating. Besides, he knows what he said.

She took a deep breath and continued, "So apparently, the purpose I have served you since we met was to upset an exgirlfriend? Well I think I succeeded; she hates me, hates you and was having a brooding tantrum in the Staff Room when I crossed her path. So now that I've made myself useful to you, I'm going to try and go on with my life, and learn other ways to be useful, maybe learn to apply this intelligence that I supposedly have." Oh it's never good when Caroline breaks out the sarcasm in an argument. It's a clear sign that all is over. ALL.

"The first application of this intelligence, I think, will be to appreciate that I'm stuck working with you. So to say I never want to see you again would be impractical and impossible to live by." Caroline straightened her spine, she could only say it once and then she'd definitely have to go have a cry somewhere, but Marcus Lawson would not be allowed to see it, "However, barring the considerations of a student's health, if I ever find you in my hospital wing and your life isn't in immediate danger, it surely will be."

There was nothing else to say, as far as Caroline was concerned, on any subject for any kind of foreseeable future. She brushed past Marcus and left the bathroom, refusing to lower herself to slam the door over the likes of him.

Marcus stared at Caroline his mouth slightly agape. She honestly thought that he had used her to make Annie jealous? He shook his head it could not be further from the truth. He could have used any woman's name and had the same effect where Annie was concerned. It was merely a slip of the tongue that he had said Caroline's name because he had been thinking of her at the time.

He sighed deeply as she went on with her rant and everything she said was true but he honestly didn't have the energy to say anymore about it. Annie had gotten there first and given her side of the story and it didn't matter what he said right now, Caroline was simply too angry.

"Whatever you say Caroline" he murmured in response to her threat about staying away from the hospital wing. Marcus watched her leave and waited a good five minutes before he pushed off the wall and decided since Hogsmeade was open he was in need of a drink.

This was a bathroom, right? Right!

Slapping the note he held in his hand on the door, Jake entered the bathroom and began sticking more of the notes he had copied out onto places like the mirrors and the doors of the stalls. Myrtle would see these... she just had to.

Sighing, Jake backed out of the bathroom and headed up to the boy's one, wondering how he'd get the message into the Prefect bathroom.

Why was it that whenever she needed to run to a stall, there was absolutely no loo available anywhere? It didn't help that she didn't have the best sense of direction in the school of Hogwarts. Pushing the door open, she tip toed in a hurry towards the stall, got in and locked it.

Oh Merlin. Oh Merlin. Oh Merlin.

She thought she wouldn't make it.

Varius rushed in, trying his best to keep his snickering low and quiet so as now to give himself away. He wondered if the Crocker boy followed him afterall? He knelt onto the floor and saw Daphne's shoes. Yep, definitely her. He thought he best check first... wouldn't do well if he ended up surprising Kazimeriz or something.

Walking over to the other side of the small bathroom he lifted one of the stools and positioned it right beside the stall. "OI DAPHNE! STAGE FRIGHT!!!" He shouted, cackling as he threw his head over the top of the stall. "How you doing down there?" he said to the top of the blondes head.

For some inexplicable reason, the human body always felt more relief when you kept your bladder full for a longer period of time. Daphne didn't doubt this time would be any different.

Except for the fact that a one Varius Tipps was ogling at her from above.

SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEK!!!

Garret didn't have to be asked twice. He had practically run in after Varius and into the stall on the other side of Daphne's. He lowered the seat cover and stood on top, taking just a moment to think about the wisdom of what he was about to do.

He heard her shriek and looked in over the partition, "Cheers, Daff!" he called, grinning sheepishly down at her and waving awkwardly.

Garrett had followed him afterall! Awesome! However, he had looked up to see the boys face pop up at the other side of the stall so he hadn't been prepared for the scream that Miss Hopton let out... whether it was from her vocal chords or a squeeky fart... well, we shall leave that up to the imagination... BUT it startled Varius anyway and his stool fell from his feet. He gripped onto the top of the stall for dear life -- his legs dangling. "Ahhhh! Garrett! Help me!"

And as her entire mouth, uvula, throat and possibly lungs was exposed to Varius, Daphne's hazel eyes found another Hufflepuff's face: Garret Crocker. Her shriek faltering slightly, like the dying engine of a muggle car, Daphne licked her lips before trying to reach up and HIT something, someone, anyone.

"I should have known you were behind this, Crocker! You insolent, perverse, dirty little boy!"

Never mind the fact that Garret was no longer a little boy; far from it. Grabbing the paper roll from the toilet paper compartment, she stood on her tip toes and began banging it against Varius Tipps' fingers. "I hope you fall and break your coccyx!"

Broken butt. He'd deserve it. And she stiiiiiill had to whizz. Stupid boys!

Garret laughed out loud, not only at Daphne's reaction but at the splash that came from Varius' stall, "Right, to the rescue!" he waved goodbye to Daphne, hopped off the toilet seat and ran round to where Varius was. The door slammed against the stall wall and he had to pause for a second in the doorway to laugh at the sight of Varius hanging onto the stall while his foot was stuck inside the bowl.

"See?" he said, sniggering as he wrapped his hands around Varius' thigh and pulled, "This is why you should've put the seat down, you git." he laughed and bumped his butt on the stall wall where Daphne was still shrieking like a hag, "Righ', Daff?"

Now she was ATTACKING him! "Ow! quit. that. will. you," he complained, still dangling, his legs flailing and then -- thank MERLIN -- Garret came and saved the day. "Cheers chuck," he thanked, his heart beating at a normal pace now.

"It's fine Daph. Don't mind us," he continued, the cockiness back in his voice now that his slight tumble was over with.

"No! It is definitely not right. Nothing about this situation is right, Crocker!" spat the angry Gryffindor, holding her legs tightly together. Why were they still in the bathroom? Why couldn't they just leave? Why couldn't they just drown in the infested waters flooding the school?

"GET OUUUUUUT!"

Oh Merlin. She was going to explode. OHMERLIN.OHMERLIN.

"Hey, hey," Garret scolded as he climbed onto the toilet seat next to Varius and looked over the stall at Daphne again, "be nice, now. We came to pay you a visit, the least you could've done was say hello."

He turned his head to look at Varius, faking a pout as he did so, "Don'choo fink she's bein' extremely rude, Vee?"