"No she's not. She was though but she decided to move to LA for a few years and come back here for her fourth her. She mainly asked me here to keep an eye out on her cousin Ruby." Reid explained, hoping Rachel wouldn't be disappointed or dismayed at knowing that the old friend was a she. "Really the only reason that I agreed is that she's like a little sister to me."

Reid smirked as Rachel slowed down her pace, obviously she'd realised what he had. That they were coming to the seventh floor much too quickly. Really the castle was meant to be HUGE but it was seeming pretty tiny at the moment and Reid was cursing the fact that they'd been on the third floor when Rachel had decided she needed to study. Why couldn't they have been on the first floor? That would have give him at least fifteen more minutes in her company.

Looking over at her Reid couldn't help but think how adorable she looked, especially since she was still wearing his jacket which was about two sizes too big for her. But it was still somehow fitting to see her wearing something that belonged to him.

Hmm - the old friend was female. Rachel fought over keeping her face neutral as she listened to him talk, smiling politely as he talked about this girl. Wait - come back in her fourth year... ? So - that means she's a third year, or even a second year - which makes her too small! Grinning fully now the fifth year nodded as Reid explained why he had come back and smiled as he said that she was like a sister to him.

"I've always wanted a sibling... It must be nice, having another kid in the family, you know?" she commented absentmindedly, knowing that he would be able to relate since as far as she knew he didn't have any brothers or sisters. "So is this Ruby a troublemaker or something?" Rachel asked, wondering why Reid would enroll in a different school just to keep an eye on a girl. As far as she knew, Ruby wasn't in Ravenclaw which was a bit of a shame - they could have looked out for her together.

Slightly chuckling at the insanely slow pace they were walking at, she caught a glimpse of her bruised ankle and her fingers automatically went to the pocket of Reid's jacket, where she knew the bruise remover was. "What do you think?" she asked, holding out her leg and stopping for a moment. "Should I use the cream to remove it or let it heal naturally?" Rachel asked, weighing the options in her head.

She could remove it and not have to deal with Jake and his insufferable yet cute rants about how she should be more careful or she could keep it and have people stare at her funny when she walked. All in all, she preferred the staring, but she wanted to know Reid's opinion. It was nice to know that she could get someone's opinion since she had pretty much been alone again this year - what with Livvy and Jenn and Keltan all disappearing on her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

Professor Kazimeriz came walking down the corridor as briskly as a 103-year old man with a cursed hip and severe arthritis can. He froze in place when he saw Caroline... he was not prepared to deal with her attitude yet, he hadn't even yet had a chance to file a report with the Headmaster for her conduct. He still felt rebuffed and angry-- wounded, even-- over her disrespectful tone in front of the students and her dismissal of his promising sixth year in the hospital wing. Hoping she had not yet seen him, he turned as though he had forgotten something and started ambling in the opposite direction, turning a corner and hoping he had not been spotted.

She spotted his immediately. The man was not amazingly stealthy at his advanced age after all, particularly when he wasn't trying to be.

She wasn't ready yet. There were still 204 steps to his office and she wasn't finished going through the terribly awkward scenarios in her head the customary 800 times; she was only up to 792.

He turned! Brave ex-auror! pffft. Immediately ceasing all her mental preparations Caroline sped up to follow. "Professor," she called sharply. She wasn't letting him get away that easily.

Blast. Kazimeriz stopped, cringing as her voice hit him like the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. He took a breath, sighing it out. He turned, keeping his expression dispassionate, cool, despite the fact that he was still extremely angry and hurt by her previous behavior.

"Yes, Madame?" he said snidely, meeting her eyes and hoping that the stew of resentment, fury and bewilderment (I had been complimenting you! Not snubbing... COMPLIMENTING!) were not apparent in his eyes.

How do you say a thing like this? What do you say to not sound like a freak?


A dozen possibilities swam through her brain, most were not totally creepy, but the one that came tumbling from her mouth was, "I'm not who you think I am."

Well that probably wasn't the least freakish thing she could say.

"I mean I went home and saw my family." No that wasn't any better. "Caroline Kinney is dead."

"That much, madame, has become painfully obvious to me over the course of this term." Kazimeriz said in an icy tone. "And perhaps I deserve no better, after what transpired. But after all that we have been through over the years, I would have expected you to be able to let bygones be bygones and act with a modicum of professional decorum, if nothing else. Ms. Avalon." If she wanted to use her married name to prove a point to him, he would cater to that. Women. He did wonder what the family thought when they saw young Caroline come walking in, though. Must have been a shock... Merlin knows he could relate to them in that. "At this point, I merely ask that you show some respect and professionalism to me in front of my students, as I have attempted to afford you the same respect."

"Oh... and I'll thank you to return my Time Turner. The ministry was most displeased when it could not be accounted for, those many years ago." He glared at her. Miss Avalon indeed.

Caroline pressed hard on the bridge of her nose with two fingers, groaning slightly. "She warned me you were stubborn and thick-headed when you took a thought into your mind," she said exasperated. She wondered if he was this difficult back in his day.

She tried again. "I am not the woman you have mistaken me for. I am her great-grandchild. Caroline Kinney was your schoolmate, and I was born January 21st 2043," she said very slowly and clearly. "I never studied under Professor Slughorn, I studied under Professor Branxton. I didn't specialize in spell damage, I specialized in Potions. I can go on."

Wha--???

Whaaaa---???

Professor Kazimeriz blached white. He literally could not wrap his mind around the concept that Nurse Avalon was trying to explain. He was so firmly certain about the conclusions he had made about this woman-- essentially, that she was his old... friend... Caroline Kinney-Avalon, here from the past. That she was visiting by way of his Ministry-loaned time turner, the one he lost back when he was an Auror. The time turner he lost just before all time turners were smashed in the ministry during the historic invasion by Death Eaters.

He was certain of this.

Positive.

She looked identical to the women he had known so well. She behaved the same. She moved the same, with that slight swish in her walk that he remembered so well. She was a healer. Her mannerisms... the tilt of her head... Merlin, even her bloody name was the same!

No. He rejected this notion; it simply did not make sense (never mind that it totally, totally did). No.

"You're having me on. For a laugh. That isn't funny, Cari." Kazimeriz played what she had said in his mind, over and over again. An inconsistency appeared to him, and he grasped at it like a drowning man going for a rope. "You said... Dead. But you also said 'she' told you about me. Far be it from me than to accuse a lady of an untruth, but Cari, which is it? Dead, or chatting with you over the break? Or perhaps neither, and you are merely toying with an old man...?" Kazimeriz stared at her, trying to grapple with the story she was laying out for him. It simply. couldn't. be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

Wha--???

Whaaaa---???

Professor Kazimeriz blached white. He literally could not wrap his mind around the concept that Nurse Avalon was trying to explain. He was so firmly certain about the conclusions he had made about this woman-- essentially, that she was his old... friend... Caroline Kinney-Avalon, here from the past. That she was visiting by way of his Ministry-loaned time turner, the one he lost back when he was an Auror. The time turner he lost just before all time turners were smashed in the ministry during the historic invasion by Death Eaters.

He was certain of this.

Positive.

She looked identical to the women he had known so well. She behaved the same. She moved the same, with that slight swish in her walk that he remembered so well. She was a healer. Her mannerisms... the tilt of her head... Merlin, even her bloody name was the same!

No. He rejected this notion; it simply did not make sense (never mind that it totally, totally did). No.

"You're having me on. For a laugh. That isn't funny, Cari." Kazimeriz played what she had said in his mind, over and over again. An inconsistency appeared to him, and he grasped at it like a drowning man going for a rope. "You said... Dead. But you also said 'she' told you about me. Far be it from me than to accuse a lady of an untruth, but Cari, which is it? Dead, or chatting with you over the break? Or perhaps neither, and you are merely toying with an old man...?" Kazimeriz stared at her, trying to grapple with the story she was laying out for him. It simply. couldn't. be.

Oh Morgana's pink petticoats!!

Caroline spun on her heal and made a strangled noise. "I KNOW IT'S NOT FUNNY!!!" she yelled.

It had been NOT funny for months now as she tried desperately to figure out if the man was senile. Or just messing with her in some kind of new healer/ new staff hazing ritual.

There was obviously sooo much more to the story than what she had gotten out of her great-grandmother, but she clammed up tight after a furious diatribe to the effect of Valon Kazimeriz was a friend hers once, they were a year apart in school and she had treated him for his initial hip injury. And she knew that her great grandmother utterly refused to visit the school and prove Caroline Kinney and Caroline Avalon weren't one in the same.

She plunged her hand into her satchel and yanked out a long scroll of parchment. "She's both, Professor, as a wizard you know it's possible. As for being dead, and not me, Grandmamma died when I was seven years old. This is my family tree. My birthdate is near the bottom. And in the middle?" she pointed, "there is Caroline Kinney where she married into the family in 1984. Date of birth February 2nd, 1966. Date of death November 1st, 2050. She's been a ghost ever since. Check with the Spirit Division if you don't believe me."

Kazimeriz, already pale, turned paler still as the color completely drained from his face. He looked at the scroll silently, his head shaking once: No. His hand moved up to gently cover his mouth. He met the young girl's eyes, and then looked again at the unfurled family tree, his arthritic, weathered hand reaching out shakily to touch the name:

Quote:

Caroline Kinney
Date of Birth, 2 Feb. 1966
Date of Death 1 Nov. 2050

He took an uneasy, trembly step backward, away from the parchment. To his good fortune there was a bench just inches behind him. He sank down onto it, his shoulders sagging. His elbows dropped onto his knees and he held his head in his hands, grieving silently.

Oh, Cari.

Abby walks down the hall when she sees Professor Kazimeriz and Assistant Healer Avalon standing over him. She remembers what Professor Lawson had said about Professor Kazimeriz. Even though he was capable of ordering her to do his dirty work, Abby could not let go of her feelings for Professor Kazimeriz. She rushes up to where he is sitting. The man looks like a ghost. "What did you do to him?" Abby asks Assistant Healer Avalon. Can't the woman see he's not well. Why is just standing there staring at him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

Kazimeriz, already pale, turned paler still as the color completely drained from his face. He looked at the scroll silently, his head shaking once: No. His hand moved up to gently cover his mouth. He met the young girl's eyes, and then looked again at the unfurled family tree, his arthritic, weathered hand reaching out shakily to touch the name:



He took an uneasy, trembly step backward, away from the parchment. To his good fortune there was a bench just inches behind him. He sank down onto it, his shoulders sagging. His elbows dropped onto his knees and he held his head in his hands, grieving silently.

Oh, Cari.

She stood frozen, wondering if it might have been better to let him believe she was her great-grandmother. Awkward for her, certainly, but clearly he was distressed.

Was it too late to say, You've been punked?

Yeah probably. He'd never buy it. And if he did, she was pretty sure she'd be dead where she stood.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

She was. Sorry to burst his bubble and sorry about her Grandmamma. She had no idea what was going on there, but she was sorry for it.

Quote:

Abby walks down the hall when she sees Professor Kazimeriz and Assistant Healer Avalon standing over him. She remembers what Professor Lawson had said about Professor Kazimeriz. Even though he was capable of ordering her to do his dirty work, Abby could not let go of her feelings for Professor Kazimeriz. She rushes up to where he is sitting. The man looks like a ghost. "What did you do to him?" Abby asks Assistant Healer Avalon. Can't the woman see he's not well. Why is just standing there staring at him.

Cari turned to see the wretched little child with possibly the worse timing in the world. Normally she might not approach a grieving man especially since she was the one who gave him the news, but she suddenly felt defensive, of both herself and the ancient professor. Impulsively, she sat down next to the old man and glared.

"Nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you don't mind your own business, young lady," she snapped.

Abby looks at the Healer in disbelief. What is wrong with this woman? Professor Kazimeriz looks ill, she's yelling at me. If she wasn't a member of the staff, I would let her know what I was thinking right now. Abby just gets the woman a glaring look. "Professor Kazimeriz, can I get anything for you?" Abby really doesn't care what is going on between Professor Kazimeriz and Healer Avalon. She already has too many secrets to keep right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs. Weasley

Abby looks at the Healer in disbelief. What is wrong with this woman? Professor Kazimeriz looks ill, she's yelling at me. If she wasn't a member of the staff, I would let her know what I was thinking right now. Abby just gets the woman a glaring look. "Professor Kazimeriz, can I get anything for you?" Abby really doesn't care what is going on between Professor Kazimeriz and Healer Avalon. She already has too many secrets to keep right now.

Caroline was not able to deal with this. She was not known for her patience, but Merlin's toe jam, whatever patience she did had was reserved entirely for the man on the bench beside her who MIGHT be having a stroke. Was she raised by bears or something? Didn't she know better than to butt into a conversation between adults?

Oh Caroline would teach the little brat some manners, she would indeed.

"That's quite enough, Ms Wright, you were warned to mind your own business and since you cannot tell what that is, a lesson is in order." Caroline said so calmly and so patiently, those who knew her better, knew to fear, "Detention for you, a lesson in proper decorum in the Owlery, if you will. Report there immediately please. I will meet you when I am finished here."

Abby does not know what is wrong with this woman. If she wants to teach Abby a leason in good manner, she more than willing to learn. I hope she's better at giving etiquette leasons then she is as a healer. "Yes ma'am. Do you prefer being called Healer Avalon or Madame Avalon?"

"Yea it is nice. With her I also got an older brother and sister out of her two siblings. It's good to have someone to talk to because between the three of them they filled the silence pretty well." When mentioning silence Reid's eyes turned dark and you could tell that he was referring to the silence left by the death of his twin Alex. A silence that would never fully be filled. "As far as I know she isn't a troublemaker. Not how Sakura described her and how I've seen her anyway." he said shrugging. "She's a second year Slytherin and I guess she has the potential to be dangerous. It's just her boyfriend was murdered by her uncle during the summer holidays it kind of pushed her over the edge. Sakura also dealt with the loss of her boyfriend. They were twins and Hufflepuff students I think. Either way Ruby changed afterwards and I figured coming here could be exciting and new. It's turned out to be better than I imagined."

Glancing down at Rachel Reid couldn't help but to smile in reaction to her laughter. They were going at an insanely slow pace but who cared? Reid certainly didn't. Reid paused for a moment while weighing up his answer to her question. "That depends. If you don't remove it people will probably stare and you'll have to explain it away. If you do use it no-one will know what happened, that anything happened at all. Personally I'd leave it and embellish the story of how I got the bruise." he told her before starting to walk again. It felt good having her ask his opinion.

"Please. Miss Wright. Please... just... go to detention. Without another word." He did not look up at her; his head was still in his hands.

It distressed Caroline quite a bit to hear Professor Kazimeriz that way.

It was his job to scare the living daylights out of Abby Wright. Like, with his mysterious and subtly violent demeanor. Not with uncharacteristic... melancholy, and the word 'Please.'

Well the girl seemed to get the picture anyway, because she was gone. Yay detention, she'd never known someone who was enthusiatic about going there before. Ms Wright must be creeped out by Kazimeriz too.

She turned so that she was facing the older professor better, tucking her legs under herself. "Professor..." she trailed off. What was there to say?

Kazimeriz looked up at her, his face pale, his eyelashes damp. His face had that curious falling-away look that elderly people who have had a bad shock sometimes seem to take on.

He cleared his throat, his hands falling uslessly into his lap. His shoulders dropped.

"I believe I owe you an apology... Madame Avalon." he whispered huskily. "I did not know. It did not occur to me... I did not know." he finished lamely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

Kazimeriz looked up at her, his face pale, his eyelashes damp. His face had that curious falling-away look that elderly people who have had a bad shock sometimes seem to take on.

He cleared his throat, his hands falling uslessly into his lap. His shoulders dropped.

"I believe I owe you an apology... Madame Avalon." he whispered huskily. "I did not know. It did not occur to me... I did not know." he finished lamely.

She wasn't entirely sure he did. "Professor, there is no need. It's... I get compared to my grandmother on a daily basis. I just didn't figure being mistook..." She sighed.

Oh I am so bad at this!!

Very tentatively Caroline reached over and placed her hand on one of his wrinkled old ones.

He smiled a little at her, grateful. He took her hand gently, marveling at how even her hands were just like Caroline's. His, however, where wrinkled and liver spotted, the joints knotted and gnarled with arthritis. Old man's hands. "You look.. sound.. and act just like her. Same fiesty spirit, brilliant mind... sharp tongue." He smirked a little at this last part, hoping she would not take umbrage at what he saw as a complete compliment. "It did not occur to me that you were anything other than your great grandmother. She was... very important to me in my younger years. We were... Well, very close. And when I was an Auror, at one time a TimeTurner in my possession went missing. She had told me she used it to visit our future and on return, had mislaid it. I can imagine... she might have been joking then. But all my life, I have had it in the back of my mind to watch for her... so naturally, when I saw you... young, vibrant, looking just as she did, acting just as she did... a master of the same discipline..." He shrugged. "An old man's mistake, fueled perhaps by wishful thinking. I had no idea of her passing. I am... so terribly sorry. For so much more than you could know." He took a breath, sighing it out, his eyes watering again.

"I can certainly imagine," Rachel replied, her voice conflicted. One the one hand, she felt sad about Reid's reference to his brother - while she hasn't known Reid for that long, and knew about his brother for even a shorter time than that, she felt that she knew and understood that it was a terrible subject for him and it hurt a lot.

But then on the other hand, she was jealous. Jealous that he had people who could fill up the silence like siblings. Ever since she was small she had wanted brothers and sisters, but her parents had thought otherwise. Now, the maximum she could get to a new life at home was a cousin. It wasn't much, but now that Jake had invited Lucy to live with him, maybe they'll get married soon and have kids.

"Oh my - that doesn't sound pleasant. I'm glad that you're enjoying Hogwarts though," the fifth year said with a nod and a smile, although her eyes were wide. He said it so calmly but the story he had just told her was awful... Two boys, dying? Twins from Hufflepuff - it was really horrible.

Trying to get rid of the slightly saddened mood that Reid had put her in with his story, Rachel looked down at her ankle and pondered on what he had said, smiling slightly because that had been almost identical to her own thoughts. "I think I'll leave it - it looks pretty cool, right?" she finally decided, grinning as she looked up back at him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

He smiled a little at her, grateful. He took her hand gently, marveling at how even her hands were just like Caroline's. His, however, where wrinkled and liver spotted, the joints knotted and gnarled with arthritis. Old man's hands. "You look.. sound.. and act just like her. Same fiesty spirit, brilliant mind... sharp tongue." He smirked a little at this last part, hoping she would not take umbrage at what he saw as a complete compliment. "It did not occur to me that you were anything other than your great grandmother. She was... very important to me in my younger years. We were... Well, very close. And when I was an Auror, at one time a TimeTurner in my possession went missing. She had told me she used it to visit our future and on return, had mislaid it. I can imagine... she might have been joking then. But all my life, I have had it in the back of my mind to watch for her... so naturally, when I saw you... young, vibrant, looking just as she did, acting just as she did... a master of the same discipline..." He shrugged. "An old man's mistake, fueled perhaps by wishful thinking. I had no idea of her passing. I am... so terribly sorry. For so much more than you could know." He took a breath, sighing it out, his eyes watering again.

Caroline blushed, bowing her head slightly to hide behind her short mane of curls, "I can't explain how I came to look so much like her, but I've had the benefit of most of her attention as a child. Even after she... passed... she didn't really seem to notice or care. She was almost happier for it. And she still afforded me more attention and training than a lot of children in big families get. She had a lot of influence over me in my formative years."

She thought it perhaps... prudent.. not to mention that Grandmamma didn't talk about him... ever. Something was plainly odd about that, but she didn't want to poke at a wounded old man.

"Grandmamma always felt that the best practical joke was the one where you sat back and did nothing and let your target's imagination do the work," she pointed out. "She's helped me torment my brother for his entire life, I'm almost ashamed to admit.... almost."

Professor Kazimeriz burst into a warm, deep laugh. "That sounds just like her!" He smiled, his eyelashes still damp but some of the color coming back into his cheeks. "And she is right... and it was a devil of a prank; she let my imagination get the better of me for the last oh, 80 years or so. I suppose I just always wanted to see her one more time, as she was back then, when we-- well, back then." He smiled wistfully, as though that said it all. "I hope you can forgive an old man... I did not know. Sharp repartee and banter was our shorthand, a kind of way of saying-- well, saying what needed to be said. I presumed that things had not changed. For that, I am quite embarrassed." He shrugged a little, sighing.

"Well, that's reassuring!" exclaimed Daphne rolling her eyes even underneath the dark fabric threatening to go up her nostrils and suffocate her. She heard something drop and roll down the steps they had come up from. Her feet glided against the floor and Hopton attempted to put on as much weight on her legs as possible.

Maybe the Flying Pants would stop now, except, they didn't even as they passed two familiar voices; Wand! Oh, Wand! If only, her wrists weren't attached to one of the pants legs. Struggling, she managed to peek her eyes out. "Plymouth! My waaand! It's in my pocket!"