Oh. She killed the teacher!
"Don't DIE, Reyn! That'd only make it worse!" Ellie eyed him anxiously while he composed himself.

Was he good now?.... Good.

But "personal reasons"? Really? "You could have warned me, you know. Like wayyyy ahead of time. I could have been prepared. I could have...gotten you something..." Yeah, she said it. So what. She LIKED him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have wasted all that time in that stuffy classroom up in the heavens of Hogwarts.

"Proooomise?" she asked. Though, she wouldn't believe him even then. No one could compare to him. The next professor would hate her. And you know what? GOOD. Cuz she'd probably hate them. Compared.

POUT.

"Of course," Lexi said, nodding once in reply to Tate's request for her to move her chair back to her original place at the staff table.

Once back in her original spot, Lexi glanced from Nolan to Maya then back again. Both seemed to be deep in conversation with someone else, so she busied herself with eating a little something while she waited for a break in conversation. Her silence allowed her to think back on the previous school year and all it had brought to her life.

For the most part, this had been the single most non-dramatic year of her life, and for that, she was thankful. The school year had been pretty low key for the most part, which had allowed her to spend a lot of office time visiting with her students. Things had only gotten a bit dramatic at the very end, when Hecate had decided to assign that end-of-term puking assignment. Ew! Oh, and there was that article in Aparecium, but...it had all been made up anyway. In a way, she was thankful that things had been so non-dramatic for her. On the other hand, though, a summer vacation seemed far too long overdue. It'd be an interesting change in scenery.

Then suddenly, her brain decided to switch thoughts on her, and her focus moved from summer vacation to her Gryffindor cubs. Mama Lion sure was proud of them, and even though they hadn't won the house cup, they'd still given Slytherin a good race to the finish line. Her eyes flickered to the Gryffindor table, and she smiled at the entire lot of them.

All of her students had been wonderful, though! She smiled again as she remembered how so many of them had sacrificed Hecate's homework assignment just to stand in front of Lexi's office door and make sure no one puked on it. That had meant so much to her, and she was glad she'd discovered what they'd done, so that she could thank them all in person. Oh, and then there had been the Ravenclaw girl, Grayson, who'd even bought her a ferret for her birthday! On that note, her eyes traveled from table to table, and she glanced appreciatively at all she'd crossed paths with at some point and time.

With a soft sigh, she returned her focus to the immediate happenings, which drew her attention to Ellie Stone. The girl was encouraging Nolan not to die, which caused Lexi to glance back and forth between the Ravenclaw girl and the Divination professor. Was something the matter with Nolan? "Miss Stone, is something wrong?" she asked the girl.

His eyes widening, he wouldn't doubt any of that whatsoever. She seemed evil enough, why should he doubt her? He saw what she did to him first hand! Tieing him to a wall with spaghetti worms...blarghhhh....

"I...uhh..." Turning to where she indicated, he blushed a little, walking over to Vindictus now.

"Professor..." his eyes widening once again as a spark hit the paper. "Professor!" The pie now wobbling hapazardly on his hand, as he stared at the little spark that seemed to be growing.

Lily patted Preston's head and sent him off to his table before returning back to hers just like she'd never even left.

Heh. The elbow room was back again. Lily glanced at Sage, giant ball of nerves that he was, and thought about offering him a calming drought, or.... she smiled in the Headmaster's direction.

Preston returned Miss More's hug and stepped back. Looking up at her, eyes clear of tears he was determined to make sure she would be there next year. She was the closet thing besides his Auntie to a mother.

"W-w-will y-you b-be here n-n-next t-t-term?" He questioned as he crossed his fingers.

Preston gave a smile and told her to have a good holiday and headed back to his seat in a better mood than what he had been in when he came to the feast in the first face.

Nolan cracked a little smile. "I assure you, I've been thinking about it for a while but no plans were actually put into place until recently," he told her. SO he couldn't have warned her ahead of time! Also, he hadn't realized some students would take it so...hard. Interesting.

"Gotten me something? Like a present? Well darn! If only I'd known sooner!" he joked with a chuckle. He LOVED presents. That super nice Gryffindor prefect last term had gotten him a present when he first arrived...yup, gifts were GREAT. Hehe.

Oh hey, look at that, Lexi was back! Nolan hadn't even noticed her move her seat back while talking to the Ravenclaw. Nolan sighed and shrugged. "She's just a bit...distraught over the fact that I'm leaving after this term," he explained. Hmmm. Maybe distraught was a bit of an exaggeration.

Yes. Obviously. He was abandoning her. But so was she. So that wouldn't help much. And, "He was choking.." Tehe.



Okay, so Ellie might have smirked at this. This was why she loved Reyn. Cuz he made her doubt Divination more. But it was fun. "Yes, like a present, silly." Seeeee. Now he regrets it. "Maybe you should just, you know, stay. Then I'd still be able to give you a present. And it will be AWESOME." Pleeeeaaaasseeee?

Distraught? Blink. That was...severe, wasn't it? Like...rolling on the floor, bawling your eyes out. No. She was... upset. A step down from distraught. But... if it made them pity her more..."Absolutely distraught!" And she stamped her foot.

"And you too. Your leaving." She added to her charms professor. They were meannnn, man, mean. "I liked your hair." And she'll miss it. POUT.

With a wrapped up [in of course pink paper] photo frame, and a box with holes poked into it, Lorelai Dakota Bristol headed up to the Staff Table after dashing back up to her dorm to collect these things.

She had to say bye, in a way. And thank you, also.

First, she headed for the Charm's Professor, and stood before her, teeth nibbling softly on her lower lip. "Professor Carlton? I.. uh... I got you this." Or so, she'd made it for her.

"It's nothing big.. Just a thank you really." A thank you, in the form of an inscribed frame [cotton-eyed joe lyrics FTW!], full of photos from that lesson. Of people on their horses, and then in the center one of the Professor during that lesson. To one side [marginally bigger than the rest ], there was a picture of Lorelai kitted out in her fairy!cowgirl costume, with Porcelain the wooden horse which Carlton had let her keep.

"I'll look after Porcelain, and i'll keep her forever. And I wanna tell you that I really am glad I didn't do that homework and stood outside your office door." Because it had been ... eventful, and something she'd remember. Heck, you didn't forget the sight of sick very quickly.

"I hope you like it..." She mused as she handed it over.

---
ooc: I know Hadley isn't here, Posting for Jessers, 'cos she said so XD <3

Once she'd left Professor Carlton, the Hufflepuff moved along to where she knew Professor Hadley's spot at the table was, and stood quietly waiting for her. The box certainly wasn't heavy, but it wasn't light really. You'd expect with what was in it, that it wouldn't be.

...

Nolan was leaving after this term? Was this just a sudden announcement, or had she completely missed the memo? "W--why?" she asked, in sort of a state of shock. She had no idea the Divination professor was heading elsewhere. She looked at him closely, almost like she was thinking she'd never see him again or something. "I mean, I'm just surprised, that's all. I wish you well, wherever it is you're going." She followed that last line with a smile.

...he had been choking, too? *blink* Lexi was starting to think she'd just missed about everything up at the staff table. Was Reynolds leaving...or had he been choking? Or both?

Uhh, huh? Lexi thought to herself. She just blinked again, this time at Ellie's last piece of news. This little girl was just full of all the good gossip, now wasn't she? Her facial expression changed into a small smile, though, when Ellie mentioned how much she'd liked her hair. "Well, thank you, Miss Stone," she politely said.

Upon hearing her name, Lexi turned and came face to face with Prefect Bristol from Hufflepuff house. Ahh, Lori Bristol! Lexi was ever so thankful for this girl, as well. One brave little Badger, this one was!

...and she had her something? Suddenly, Lexi wished that she could have gotten a little something for each and every one of her students. It was impossible to do so, but she hoped they'd all know a bit more about Charms and had that knowledge to take with them. "Oh, Miss Bristol!" Lexi exclaimed, accepting the pink papered package from her.

She carefully pulled the paper away, revealing a picture frame full of photos from her very first lesson of the term. She laughed a little as she watched a few of the students dashing by on wooden toy horses, but a few seconds later, she was wiping away a stray tear. "Thank you, dear. I'll cherish this always, and yes, I do love it," she told her. "...and thank you, again, for guarding my office door. That meant a lot to me."

Lexi 2 walked slowly to the Staff Table, afraid Tatertot would get ... Tateish about students being there. Well... no one was eating yet so it was fine. Right? No speech = no food. Usually.

Anyway... she clutched a small brown package to her chest and smiled brightly as she reached the table and shyly called out, "Professor Carlton I got something for you. It is nothing much really, but I wanted to show my appreciation for you being such an awesome Head of House to us." She held the package out that contain the little charmed Lioness figurine that walked a few inches then turned back and roared. What made this lioness special? There were little pink streaks through it's mane and it's little claws were painted pink as well. Lexi had put the pink on it herself. Which was difficult considering it tried to bite her a few times. It was all worth it though. Lexi 1 was aces in her book.

Just as Lexi had finished opening her picture frame from Lori, she heard someone else call out her name. This time, the student was Lexi[2] Denver, one of her very own Lion cubs! "Oh, Miss Denver, thank you so very much," she said, reaching her hands out and accepting the gift.

Upon opening it, Lexi drew in a surprised gasp. "This is some excellent charms work, Miss Denver! Oh my goodness, it's gorgeous!" she exclaimed, Just as she said that, the little pink-streaked Lion turned and roared at her, causing Lexi to giggle just a little. "Thank you again, Miss Denver."

Nolan chuckled and smiled. "I wish I could, but I just can't," he said simply. That was the sad truth and that was all there was to it. "I will be more than happy to accept it via owl post, though," he teased. He didn't REALLY expect a present, of course. He'd be getting enough of those when the wedding came along.

Something that Ellie said made Nolan wrinkle his dark brows and he looked over at Lexi. SHE was leaving too? GAH they didn't ever talk anymore! This was so sad. Lexi was easily one of the few professors here he was actually close too, they should have exchanged this information months ago!

"Yes, sadly...Ginger insists. But it's my decision too," he added as an afterthought when he realized how BAD that sounded. "What about YOU?" he asked.

Lexi smiled brightly at Professor Carlton and clapped her hands together slightly in excitement. "I am so glad you like it! And thank YOU for being such an inspiration to us this term, Professor. I look forward to seeing you next term," she said with a giggle as the lioness roared at the woman. She gave her a little nod of the head and said, "I will get back to my seat now, but I hope you have a great holiday, Professor. Well, Professors." With that she turned and looked down the table at the Professors nearby before turning and scurrying back into the crowd.

Sylvie just sat quietly in her seat, she would sense the tension in the air but didn't want to give into it. The term had really gotten away from her and she was just coming to terms with it. Hearing snippets of what the headmaster said, her head turned and her eyes got slightly larger. He really must be joking, right?

Allowing her eyes and head to return to the place setting before her, she sighed to herself and took great interest in her water goblet, staring at it.

"Because he's evil." Oh yeah. She was so the head person of this conversation. It was totally her place to answer that. Totally.

Wish him well? HMPH. Carlton obviously wasn't on her side here.

"Ellie." Mann. 'Miss Stone' made her sound like she was old. And in class. And she was neither of those. So. Yeah. "You're welcome."

Another 'HMPH' was on it's way, and it was called for. She wasn't gonna let him go easily. Nope. But he mentioned owl post.. And..well, maybe she WILL send it to him by owl post. And then it'll be a surprise. And then he'll remember her for forever! Which was not exactly her goal of this conversation, but it was close enough.

"Ginger?" Yeah, totally her business. And his decision? "But you just said you wished you could stay." She looked at him straiiightt in the eyes. Maybe...if she'd payed attention in Divination, she could read his mind for reals. She wasn't sure, though, cuz she couldn't remember if they'd learned how to do that or not. But still. Maybe she could make him think she could.

Ellie looked back at Professor Carlton..Hm...she coulda used a nickname too. Yeah, Carl, what about YOU?

The nickname could use some work.

Wait...what? Why was everyone suddenly assuming she was leaving? First Ellie, and now Nolan! Nolan must have overheard what Ellie said. That had to be it! "Oh, well, I do wish both you and Ginger well. You'll have to owl me from time to time and let me know how things are coming along," she told him. "What about me? I'm going to Hawaii this summer," she answered, guessing that he may have been asking about what she was doing as soon as term was over. "Lil and I are going."

She had been an inspiration? That just warmed her heart. "You know, Miss Denver, you've been an inspiration, too. I've noticed how friendly you've been to other students, and...I'll never forget what you did at my office door," she said. "You have a great holiday, too, dear!" She smiled at Lexi and have her a small wave as she watched the girl walk away. Ending feasts were sad time, yes? Surely so! They were also time to celebrate the fact that the seventh years were entering a new and exciting time in their lives. She hoped they'd all had a great graduation!

Lexi just laughed at the little at the fact that Ellie had just called Nolan evil. Nolan looked like the single most non-evil person in the whole world, but she guessed the nickname was due to the fact that the Divination professor was leaving after this term. Lexi had lost a few professors in her time at Hogwarts, so she honestly knew the feeling. "Sure thing, Ellie," she said, calling a student by their first name for the...well, first time. She followed the girl's gaze back to Nolan, as she waited to hear the ex-professor's reply.

No response from Max, but then again... he was on fire. Hated it when that happened. Tate openly listened in on the melodramatics going on up and down the table until he decided he couldn't take it anymore without losing his dinner. Centaurs would be an improvement to morale, that much was for sure.

Tate heaved to his seat and held up his hands for silence. "Students... as our term once again draws to a close, I would like to congratulate you on yet another term in which no one died. I think we must have some sort of record, don't you? That being said, we must again throw our congratulations to the Triwizard Champion, Mr. Duncan Fletcher, who represented our school with dignity, honor, and courage. A hearty congratulations to him, and to all those privileged to represent their schools this term. Thank you to the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang visitors. We look forward to future tournaments at your schools."

Tate waited for clapping for the champions to subside before continuing. "I believe we must once again congratulate our Slytherin friends for winning the house cup. Their hard work this term, as well as continued drive for excellence, has earned them a significant lead. Great work to you, Slytherin students."

"And now, I must wish you all good night and good term. You will be heading home soon... very soon... and you have a few short months to enjoy the summer weather and being home. To our seventh years, we wish a fond farewell and good luck for the future. And to everyone else, I hope you'll stay safe, and we will see you in the fall."

Di stepped into the Great Hall, hair a little [only a little tousled at the top] but eyes bright and clear. She'd had a good term, a good time, and she had that feeling she could look ahead to the future, now - to a real future.

She hadn't felt like that in a bit.

Sitting down at the edge of the staff table, she clasped her hands in her lap, nodded to [and smiled at some of] her colleagues, and then listened to the Headmaster in total silence. She didn't have much to say, right now.

But the year had been excellent.

Hecate clapped loudly and stood for her House. She watched her house table and nodded to them in appreciation. They had done a good job this term.

"My fiancée," Nolan explained. That was partly the reason he was leaving...to spend more time with her. Maybe, in retrospect, leaving a secure job for his relationship was not the SMARTEST idea, but he'd worry about that later. Oh yes. He'd be worrying about THAT later.

"I do wish I could stay but, it simply can't be helped," he explained again with a frown. It was either give up his whole life and stay here...or give up Hogwarts and salvage a bit of his life in the long run.

UGGH. Seriously, his Inner Eye couldn't have told him ANY of this? So much for hoping this job would bring out his inner powers. Bleghhhh.

"Ohhhh. I misunderstood," Nolan said with a little chuckle. "Hawaii? That sounds great! Ginger and I are looking into going there for our honeymoon," he told her. He wasn't so sure though, didn't EVERYONE go there for their honeymoon? He wanted to go somewhere NOT totally crowded by newlywed couples. He wanted to special and one of the only ones there. Hehe.

She LAUGHED. Not funny, Carlton. It's the truth.

Ellie. There. That was much better. But then again, even 'Miss Stone' could be categorized as 'much better'. Better than 'Eliana', which made her shudder. Not that she didn't like it, but her mom just used it in a not-so-nice tone too often. And much, much better than using her middle name. Thank Merlin the teachers didn't know that.

Ellie listened to Tate... "Another term in which no one died?" she repeated. She gave her conversing teachers a scared-ish look. "You know. I really hate to think of what happened before. Guess I came at a luck time." Yeah. Totally.

Fiancee?! "Ooooo." Ellie coo'd. She was SMILING now. "Reyn and Ginger sitting in a tree..." Hah. "Congrats Reyn." He's getting married! Totally makes up for her abandoning her. Kinda. It woulda been cool if he could be married AND stick with her. But...it's an acceptable excuse.

"Ooooh Hawaii would be awesome for your honeymoon." Ellie Stone. Wedding Planner. Or...Honeymoon Planner? "Not that I've ever been there...Or had a honeymoon...But it LOOKS like a good place. And you can drink stuff outta coconuts." That always looked like fun. "And wear pretty flowers around your neck." Heh.

Josephina was never a fan of feasts, even during her Hogwarts days. Well at least closing feasts, because they tended to be too melodramatic. Things drawing to a close and farewells? They were only good when your personal year number was a nine. So perhaps that was why she didn't really rush down there to the Great Hall, despite the fact that's she'd been dressed with her heels and everything for a good hour or so now.

Sliding into her seat that was second from the end, she glanced around nonchalantly, smiling politely at her neighbors who seemed far more proper than other dramatics occurring other areas of the staff table. And then ... the Headmaster began his closing speech, to which she had barely made it. Nodding with politeness at him, she turned her attention toward the food instead. About to scoop some steaming mashed potatoes onto her plate, her hand froze at the sight of someone before her seat...

"Miss Bristol?" Josephina asked, eyes blinking with surprise at the young Hufflepuff's presence. But more than that, the girl was holding a box! "Can I help you?" Because you should really be along to enjoy your last feast and all... and let me eat my potatoes.

"Di!" Fina exclaimed looking towards the end at her bestie sitting there next to her. "Did you enjoy your first term teaching here?" Ugh, she was SO going to miss this blond chic this summer !! But on the other hand, she was going to be busy with all kinds of other plans thanks to that meeting that she attended with Lily a couple months back. Was she making the right decision? Who knew? But it sounded interesting . . .

Chewing at her lip as she watched the Professor open it, Lorelai bounced a litttle on her toes and grinned as she saw the blonde laugh. Phew. She wasb't going to freak about Lori having taken photos and stuff, which was good. Because Lor technically couldn't change it now.

... WAS THAT A TEAR?! OH MERLIN! The bouncing on her toes subsided, and the eighteen year old squeaked. "I didn't mean to make you cry, Professor! Please don't cry..." Oh. Merlin. Way to go Lori. Bring a Professor to shed a tear! Maybe Carlton didn't like Lori's shoes? D:

OH. She did love it. Teehee. "I'm glad, Professor. I just wanted to you know.. say thanks. Your lessons have been my favourites this term." And no, that wasn't because she'd gotten to wear fairy wings hehe.

"Anytime, Professor." Because that was what Lori did. She GUARDED. Like a badger. A Guard!Badger perhaps. Heh.

From her standing position near Hadley's position [just as the woman entered], the Hufflepuff turned to look at the Headmaster as he spoke.

... 'In which no one died...'

Ah, of course. Because dying was the worst thing that could happen at Hogwarts. Nothing to do with being TORTURED with exams. Nope. That was easy peasy. Indeedy.

OH PROFESSOR HADLEY!!!

Lorelai had watched the Professor walk in, and had been occupied by the fact her shoes were PINK. AND GLITTERY! And.. Oh. They were beautiful.

OH! SHE'D BEEN CAUGHT! "Umm..." The brunette turned her head from the Headmaster to the Arithmancy Professor, and smiled. "I.. umm.. I'm sorry I had to dash out of your office before.. I decided my question was silly..." It had nothing to do with the fact Little!Treyen!Glitterhead and Stupid Stupid Leg End were there. Noooothing. XD.

"I wanted to give you this... but I understand that it... well I should have asked... and you don't have to take it, you really don't." Because it wasn't fantastically important.

Well, it was.

And with that, she lifted the box from waist height, and let it sit in arms reach for the Professor. NOT on the table. Ew.

Fina was shortly followed by Jeremy who was still fumbling around with his hair but in the end giving up on it and simply walking up to the Staff Table swiftly with his hands in the pockets of his trousers. They weren't late, were they? Making his way to the other end up the table than Fina he quickly slid into his seat between Kimber and Hecate, smiling at both of them. He couldn't, however, strike up any conversation with either as right then Tate made his speech. Phew, just in time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Droo

Hecate clapped loudly and stood for her House. She watched her house table and nodded to them in appreciation. They had done a good job this term.

Jeremy gave Hecate a wide grin while joining in on the clapping for Slytherin winning the House Cup. Again? Letting his hazel eyes wander down the table again he noticed Lori was handing out presents, one of which was for Carlton, who was squeezed in between Sage and Lily's seats. Riiiight. Hang on...was that a tear making its way down her cheek? N'aww.

Hecate sat back down and raised her eyebrow at Jeremy. She then looked straight ahead and with a smirk said "Better late than never, I suppose... Professor Zookara. Did someone charm the tellmevisions again?"