Marcus watched as Kaika left Annie's office and then he turned back to the red head and rested his elbows on her desk as he lent forward. "Oh Annie" he purred and giving her a wink. "If I had of known you wanted to be alone with me, I would have suggested somewhere nicer." He reached out and took hold of one of her hands and gave it a squeeze. "But you know if it's romance that you want I have to tell you, that you're too late." Mwhahaha...oh how he loved to torment this woman.

Nodding to Kaika before the girl stepped out, Anastasia's eyes hardened into ice crystals as she turned back to Marcus. Marcus that son of a flirt.

"Don't you dare assume to know things about me... and don't you EVER TOUCH ME," she growled, wrenching her hand out of Axe's grasp to give him a sharp, hard SLAP across the cheek.

Annie pushed her chair back farther into her corner of the office, away from Marcus and the desk between them. She folded her arms stubbornly and sneered at the red mark growing down to his jaw. "I don't care.... about you and your fake romance... trying to throw something up in my face again like always, aren't you Axe. NEWS FLASH. I don't care."

And she had slapped him precisely because...she didn't care...?

His head moved only slightly from her slap and to annoy her even further he laughed out loud and placed his hands behind his head. "Honestly Annie, my mother hits harder than that. Probably worried that you were going to break a nail." He continued to chuckle before finally stopping and fixing Annie with a hard look. "You didn't seem to mind so much last year when we were at that Quidditch match." Marcus narrowed his eyes slightly, Annie and Kazi were the only two people on this earth that could get to him this way. "But of course you were only using me to get rid of that Torin kid. You were always good at that weren't you Annie? Using me to get what you really wanted."

He fixed his gaze upon her as she sat cowering in the corner of her office. "Ah but I do know you Anastasia, better than I think you know yourself sometimes." Marcus stood up from the chair and waved his hand in the air, dismissing her comment about the fake romance. He certainly wasn't going to enlighten her about him and Iliana.

"Well then let's get down to business then shall we? I've had Jake Upstead in my office complaining about you Professor" He placed his hands on her desk and leaned forward. "I don't care that you don't like the child but I will not have you treating him badly and while we're on the subject of Jake. What exactly did you do to him?"

If he thought he could get to her with mere insults... well he was right. "Next time I won't hold back. And for the record, I was NOT using you, Marcus, I never have," Annie mumbled from her corner. Not in her mind she hadn't. "As for that Quidditch match... well you were the one who cuddled up to me. So what are you using me for?"

And that answer had better damn well be nothing.

She returned his takeover of her desk by standing up from her chair and getting in his face too, hands on either side of his. Annie didn't even answer for a nice long...... long..... wait.... a little longer....... longggggggg minute and a half. Eye contact should be enough torture for him.

Then she smirked, shrugging off his interrogation without even blinking. "Nothing. I can't recall an instance when I laid a hand on Upstead... though he can't seem to do the same. The boy has no concept of personal space, like you."

Annie parked her bum on the desk then, almost sitting on Marcus' hands. Shoo boy. Don't touch my desk.

How on earth could she think he had been using her? He had never used her. NEVER!!! Marcus, shook his head almost sadly at what had become of them. "I wasn't using you Annie. Unfortunately for me, I thought we might have actually made another go at it. As usual I was seriously deluded to think that you might have wanted me back." But of course she had to go and break his heart again when he had saw her and Ethan together.

He raised his eyebrows at her as she tried to stare him down. Please as if she could. Marcus returned her unblinking gaze with a calm expression of his own. "That's all I wanted to hear. But if I do find out that you have been mistreating the boy then I won't be held accountable Anastasia." He pushed off the desk as she sat down and he gave her the once over and smirked once again. "I guess I can see why Ethan likes to watch you so much." He made his way to the door and hesitated a moment before leaving, "But I've been there and done that" he called back to her and then quickly headed out of her office before she could throw anything at him.

He had really thought she would date him again? After years apart and his rude behavior toward her? His relentless teasing and immaturity at every turn? His 'woe is me' wounded ego act? And he had wanted that.... all over again?

Anastasia couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh/eyeroll at him. Men. Honestly. They were almost as bad as children. Hardly worth her time.

"I treated Jake well once, Marcus," she spoke softly, focusing on a small photo situated on the mantelpiece instead of actually looking at Lawson. "And then he showed his true colors. Pink. The boy will never be anything but a pink-haired disrespectful catnapping fiend who can't be trusted. I won't let it happen again."

And frankly, she could care less what happened to the boy. Why the hell did Marcus care? Why? How? How could anyone care for such a twisted child????! Even she hadn't been that bad back in the day...

"Ethan likes to watch whhh---" Annie snapped her head back toward Marcus, blinking a few times as she realized he was already gone. Well. Good. Anastasia always seemed to be in a worse mood after speaking to him.

But a #cupcake would fix that. Bunz hopped off her desk and munched down on one of the pink frosted desserts that had been left with that mysterious box. Mmmmhmhmhm. She licked all the frosting off and disposed of the #cupcake wrapper before remembering Kaika.

Ah, right. A student that might possibly be worth a smidgen of her time. "Lockhart, you can come back in," Bunbury called out the door Lawson had conveniently left open.

Are you kidding me? Kaika thought this was going to last longer than that. She was entirely annoyed at Lawson now, because she was certain that whatever he had to say could be said by means of a letter, a patronus or a freaking singing owl...

But, someone called her back inside, Bunbury of course. And she entered, yet again, except this time her eyes were still narrowing at the thought of Lawson. And the fact that she had no idea what was going on with Jake, or what had Bunbury done to him...if Lawson was speaking the truth, but considering the way she met the DADA Professor...probably not...after all, omitting important information is still a lie in her book.

"He's never up to any good" she almost whispered, and her eyes widened, because...let's just hope Bunbury didn't hear that.

"Er, right...so, where were we?" she asked, shaking her head as if the previous sentence could vanish from doing just that, "Right, the purpose behind the alihotsy-dahlias experiment? We were working with Alihotsy and its properties in Potions already, but we simply wanted to know how a mundane plant can be affected by a magical one..." she started, trying to explain as fast as she could, or whatever she could remember...silly Lawson..."...there were other groups that worked with both magical plants, and both mundane, we chose differently" clearly obvious, "And, well, as you can see in the picture the colors of the flowers are way much brighter and cheery than normal, the stem is also stronger, and the dahlias are on constant movement without the need of wind" and they had no idea why.

"One thing you can't notice in this picture, because it was taken by day, is that the dahlias glow at night...and they sort of...close a bit" yes, no more Herbology terms, she was clearly exhausted by having to explain this.

"It was very entertaining" and for the first time she enjoyed working with plants, but, really, who will love plants after having Professor Erikson in Herbology.

The box she'd left in the table before Lawson came in, was still in there, and...yes, it will be soon explained.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lockhartian

Are you kidding me? Kaika thought this was going to last longer than that. She was entirely annoyed at Lawson now, because she was certain that whatever he had to say could be said by means of a letter, a patronus or a freaking singing owl...

But, someone called her back inside, Bunbury of course. And she entered, yet again, except this time her eyes were still narrowing at the thought of Lawson. And the fact that she had no idea what was going on with Jake, or what had Bunbury done to him...if Lawson was speaking the truth, but considering the way she met the DADA Professor...probably not...after all, omitting important information is still a lie in her book.

"He's never up to any good" she almost whispered, and her eyes widened, because...let's just hope Bunbury didn't hear that.

"Er, right...so, where were we?" she asked, shaking her head as if the previous sentence could vanish from doing just that, "Right, the purpose behind the alihotsy-dahlias experiment? We were working with Alihotsy and its properties in Potions already, but we simply wanted to know how a mundane plant can be affected by a magical one..." she started, trying to explain as fast as she could, or whatever she could remember...silly Lawson..."...there were other groups that worked with both magical plants, and both mundane, we chose differently" clearly obvious, "And, well, as you can see in the picture the colors of the flowers are way much brighter and cheery than normal, the stem is also stronger, and the dahlias are on constant movement without the need of wind" and they had no idea why.

"One thing you can't notice in this picture, because it was taken by day, is that the dahlias glow at night...and they sort of...close a bit" yes, no more Herbology terms, she was clearly exhausted by having to explain this.

"It was very entertaining" and for the first time she enjoyed working with plants, but, really, who will love plants after having Professor Erikson in Herbology.

The box she'd left in the table before Lawson came in, was still in there, and...yes, it will be soon explained.

"No he isn't, you're right about that," Bunbury murmured to herself, weirdly in reply to Kaika. She shook her head and returned to her seat, scooting it back to its normal spot in front of the desk.

Anastasia crossed her arms and listened to Kaika with an interested expression. Hmmmm so alihotsy, when consumed by humans drove them mad, but when mixed with flowers made them happy?

She liked that.

"Did you do any further experimentation with the cross-breed?" Bunbury wondered aloud. "Did the leaves of this.... mix..." whatever they were calling it, "exhibit qualities more similar to the alihotsy or the dahlias?" Because the rest of the plant's bloom, appearance, stem, etc. seemed to have taken on the qualities of the dahlias.

Interesting interesting. Anastasia's eyes again drifted toward the box (which had been scooted off to the side from the confrontation) but she didn't even twitch to open it.

Let's just pretend no one mentioned Lawson after he left and we'll all live happily ever after. Yes.

Okay, okay, back to the plant.

"No, nothing really..." no, wait, there was something, "...well, we did use the leaves in a potion, because we were working with Alihotsy in Potions, but the effect didn't change in it" so, yeah, the plant retained the magical properties when heated, otherwise..."The leaves...Alihotsy qualities, the flowers clearly dahlias...the leaves retained its magical quality and the dahlias none, except for the cheery part" yes, except for that, nothing else.

And, Kaika took the picture, because she wasn't going to give it to Bunbury, and saved it in her bag, where it belonged.

The box. The box. "Anyway, besides Quidditch and all, a few.." lots, "...of friends went shopping, and I went to this muggle store..." she was entirely sure Bunbury was going to think she was stupid from this, "...which reminded of you" she nodded, and pull the box a bit to her own side, "Well, not precisely the store, but the name of the brand...I'm completely positive you've heard of it..." she knew top designers, right? So, she must have to know this one, "...Burberry...and you're Bunbury...so, yeah, see the similarity?" it was rhetorical, no need to answer it, "Anyway, it's now my favorite brand..." because it isn't complicated to the Huffie Captain, and is obvious that the fact that it has the same or almost the same colors as Hufflepuff had something to do with Burberry entering her mind, "...and I thought I bring you a little something" emphasis in little, because it's no big thing, just a scarf...a pink one, by the way.

And Kaika gave the box a little push towards Bunbury.

"Well it sounds like you learned something. Let me know if you or your other experimenters discover anything else about the plant." Bunbury nodded slowly, unsure of what else to say. Kaika wasn't letting her keep the photo and she didn't have a physical specimen of the plant right there so....

What was in the box?

"I do love Burberry, and not just for the similarities to my name," Anastasia offered the Hufflepuff a rare small smile before eagerly - but trying to appear not to eager - opening the box.

Oh! PINK! Pretty pretty pink Burberry print scarf! "I love it!" Annie gushed softly, whipping the scarf out and swirling it around her neck immediately. Soft and fine quality too. "Why thank you so much, dear, I don't know what to say."

But she knew she had to see how she looked, of course. Bunz bounced out of her chair and headed for the fireplace where she used to have a giant mirror... only to remember it was now outside her office. Oh right. Well. No reason not to just pop out there real fast... they were done anyway, right? Or was she supposed to give the Hufflepuff captain in return of the gift?

Kaika simply nodded. Of course she learned something, perhaps having no grades or points given made quite a different when doing something school-related. Even Quidditch had points.

The photograph was already safe. And it seemed to be very cherished, too.

A smile appeared on the Hufflepuff's face. However, she didn't even know why she seemed glad that the Herbology Professor liked loved Burberry. Oh, right...because then she might like the gift? Kaika wasn't sure why but she was beginning to like having a couple things in common with Bunbury..............

........until Jake came to the Captain's mind.

She was still curious about what Lawson slipped in her presence.

But her thoughts came to a halt when Bunbury spoke again, and her smile widened. "You do? I'm glad" or happy or whatever, probably just glad that she liked the little something she got for...er...well, Bunbury wasn't precisely her favorite Professor, but...yeah...

"You have nothing to say, Professor...it's just a little something...but, it wouldn't hurt to have some support in the Stands" she said with a wink, referring to Quidditch games, of course, she wasn't going to turn into any sort of musician or anything like that.

Yes. Bunbury wanted a mirror. And Kaika was amazed at the fact that there was none inside her office. Odd, very odd. "I guess that's all, Professor" she smiled and nodded, again, "I'll be seeing you in class" or around, whatever.

And then she took her bag, and sailed away into the Castle...right? Except, there was no need of sailing.

Annie had noticed Kaika leave but the girl hadn't shut her door, which was all right she supposed. She wandered back into her office with a sigh and set Torin Kane's dessert on her desk beside the box of teacups. Hmm. Maybe she could have a spot of tea before going back out to the greenhouses?

Nah. Wouldn't want to keep the Prefect waiting longer than she already had. Besides, these teacups were so bright and shiny and new that she didn't want to bust 'em out just for herself. She needed a guest for such an occasion. Where was Ethan? He might enjoy the baklava since it wasn't pie. Gingersnapple might enjoy it too but after the chaos of last term, Bunbury hadn't even brought him back to school this year.

Sighhhhhh, sad thoughts. Annie turned and headed back out her door, pausing to lock it first. She flicked her wrist to use her wand as usual but nothing happened. Hmm. Was her wrist holster malfunctioning? Annie peeked up her sleeve and didn't see anything... but it always had been Disillusioned. Odd. She flicked her wrist again and then started shaking out her sleeve. WHERE was her WAND????!

Typical. One of the students must have taken it when she'd been distracted... by... the new scarf or the photo opp or something. Great. Well there was really nothing to do there but hope no one came into the office while she was out. Bunz slammed her own door and stomped off to the greenhouses. She'd just have to look for it later.

As if it was the most normal thing to do, just casually cruising into a professor's office, Jake did just that. He acted like he owned the place, which was, of course, the best way to act when he was up to his little revenge.

Out of his backpack, Jake pulled his little rogue Devil's snare cutting out of it and placed it under the chair that Bunbury was to sit in. And even if she didn't, this thing would grow QUICKLY as soon as Jake took the enchantments off it. Bwaha.

But first... he looked around for the cat. The last thing Jake wanted was for any harm to come to little Pinkersnapple. A quick complicated spell soon revealed that no cat was present. But, Jake's eye WAS caught by...

Smirking, Jake approached these with his wand in hand, and I think we alllllll know what he was intending to do. Another complicated little spell freed the broomsticks from where they were trapped (brooms were supposed to FLY) and the boy stepped away.

Glancing once more around, Jake approached the bookshelves and pulled down a couple of cool looking volumes (try as he might, he could NOT ruin cool books) and dumped them in his bag.

Okay... done? Done.

Zipping his backpack up and slinging the heavy thing onto his back, Jake made sure his hood was still up before heading to the door, undoing his charms on the Devil's Snare that had made the thing very VERY angry, and began growing at an impossible speed.

At once, Jake opened the door and ran out, slamming it behind him, holding the old brooms carefully in his hands.

Within minutes of him pelting away from the door, the Devil's Snare had reached the door, having grown... wayyyyyy fast.

It was so much warmer by her office than out...out in the gardens, where rogue student photographers could pop up at any moment and harass you unexpectedly. Bunz shivered and came around to the side door of her office. She put a cold hand out to turn the doorknob but it wasn't budging.

......hmkay.

Annie leaned against the frame of the door with a bit of force now. She could feel the door moving a little but it was still stuck like something was just behind it, blocking the stupid thing. WHAT could it BE though??! WHAT? Baklava? Had the baklava just... just expanded like a marshmallow in the microwave to take up the whole room?

Muttering some expletives under her breath, Annie gave the door a harsh kick with her boot and then decided to go around to her waiting area to try that door there.