James was seated behind her desk, responding to a very intriguing owl she had just received from the Arrows - not from her Maximus, surprisingly - when there was a knock at her open door. Leaning slightly to catch a glimpse of who it was, she smiled, gently rested her quill on the desk, and beckoned the unfamiliar young man inside, "Come on in!" He... looked like an important man. He must have been, if he was allowed to roam the Hogwarts grounds so freely. "Erin James," she introduced herself, rising from behind the desk to walk around and extend a hand to the man. "How may I help you?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Jory could not simply forget about Professor James. Was she busy? He listened trying to hear any sound of voices. But he could hear none. Great! He'd knock now.

Knock! Knock! Knock! All he had to do was wait now.

Ah, and one of the departing seventh years! A Hufflepuff, at that, which - though she'd never admit it aloud - made the boy quite naturally much more dear to her heart. "Come on inside, Mister Stonewall! Nice to see you! Make yourself at home!" She tossed him a peppermint candy as an extended welcome. "To what do I owe this visit?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talikins

So...goodbyes. Not too long to go, maybe it wasn't a bad idea to start them before the feast. After all there were certain people Nessie wanted to see personally and alone. The feast was cool, but when you were surrounded by many others it wasn't so easy to have a proper goodbye where you could say what you wanted to.

This. This would have been better. Especially for Professor James because there were a lot of things Nessie wanted to say to her before leaving this place forever and that was place not people, because if there was one thing Nessie wanted to be sure of was to stay in touch with all the people that meant something to her here. There wasn't a chance she'd let them go out of her lives just like that.

These goodbyes then. They were going to be more of a goodbye till later, rather than goodbyes till forever. Yep.

Knock. Knock. "Professor J?" She did her usual peek through the open door.

And... another seventh year. Her favorite seventh year, undoubtedly the one she'd be the most sorry to see go - yet the most excited, too, to see what the future held for the young woman. "Nessie," Erin greeted cheerfully, and yet... a bit solemnly, too, as she braced herself for what she assumed would be a conversation pertaining to Nessie's departure. A sad subject for the both of them. "Is everything all right?"

Jory entered Professor James's Office, carrying the small wrapped package. "Hallo, Professor!'' he greeted with a grin. "Hope you're good.'' He placed the package on her desk. "I've brought a going away present for you.'' Going away for him, of course. It was a model of Harry Potter dressed in his Quidditch outfit. "You're a great referee!'' Grin.

At Professor J's voice Renesmee's lips turned into a soft but weak smile. It was hard not to think about all the things she'd miss as she entered the office, but she did her best to shake it off for now. It wasn't her last day, just yet.

Nod. Nod. "Everything's just fine." The small smile remained on her lip as she spoke not too loudly. Sweet of James to ask, which was why of course Nessie asked the Quidditch Official herself how she'd been doing. "How about you?" Considering all the dementor attacks she wouldn't blame James if she wasn't alright, she wouldn't blame anyone who'd seen them.

Silly,them dementors.

But the reason she was really here. "IjustcametosaygoodbyetoyouproperlybeforeNEWTsgetb usyandall." Mumble shmumble. Professor J got what she said yeah?

"Quite so, thank you, and I hope the same for you as well." Uh oh. He had a gift. Was it going to be one of those sappy, heartfelt gifts of thanks for teaching me things and I hope to go off into the world and make you proud? Those made her uncomfortable and teary-eyed and she wasn't feeling that today, but James mustered up a sincere smile at Jory's words. "You really didn't have to..." she spoke softly, letting her eyes fall upon the package for a few moments before realizing Jory probably expected her to open it now.

Well, if she had to...

"I'm glad you think so, Jory. Thank you," she laughed a bit, unwrapping the package carefully - ah, he knew her too well! Couldn't go wrong with a Quidditch figurine. "This is absolutely lovely, dear. Thank you so much. How about I put it on display for the whole world to see?" Or, at least, anyone else who visited her office. She rose from behind the desk, approached one of the bookshelves with various picture frames on it, and delicately stood up the Harry Potter model as the centerpiece of the shelf.

"Now," she said, turning to face the Hufflepuff with a bright smile, "if I might inquire, what do you plan on doing after you leave Hogwarts?" Important matters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talikins

At Professor J's voice Renesmee's lips turned into a soft but weak smile. It was hard not to think about all the things she'd miss as she entered the office, but she did her best to shake it off for now. It wasn't her last day, just yet.

Nod. Nod. "Everything's just fine." The small smile remained on her lip as she spoke not too loudly. Sweet of James to ask, which was why of course Nessie asked the Quidditch Official herself how she'd been doing. "How about you?" Considering all the dementor attacks she wouldn't blame James if she wasn't alright, she wouldn't blame anyone who'd seen them.

Silly,them dementors.

But the reason she was really here. "IjustcametosaygoodbyetoyouproperlybeforeNEWTsgetb usyandall." Mumble shmumble. Professor J got what she said yeah?

Was she lying about things being fine? James eyed Ness for a long moment, trying to read... whatever was behind her all-too-small smile. "I'm... all right, thank you for asking," she spoke delicately, her brows furrowing at her own thoughts. "I'm quite grateful that the dementors seem to be gone - when I took on this job, I didn't expect to step into a heroic role as much as I have in the past few weeks." Dementors on the pitch, dementors in all four common rooms, dementors in the Great Hall... James had enough of that nonsense.

James hesitated for a long moment, contemplating elaborating more on her just being 'all right' and sharing her news about the Arrows with Ness. But... with the way the Head Girl was already looking at her with sad eyes, Erin thought better of it. She supposed it would be easier to let no one know, besides Annie, that she was departing. That way, she wouldn't have to deal with any sad faces and the students would hopefully only find out once they came back next term and couldn't try to convince her otherwise. But she sure would miss her cubs.

Through Nessie's mumbling, Erin picked up a few choice words, then rapidly shook her head. "No, no, none of that. Goodbyes are meant for true departures, and I can't imagine that I won't see you again over the coming year, or even months. How about a nice, encouraging... 'see you soon'?" Wasn't that better?

Jory couldn't think of anything better to give Professor James and so he was really pleased when she put her present on display. Very pleased. He was not gonna make this all mushy and sappy. Nope. Those stuff were not for him.

Okay, career discussion. "Well, Professor, I've decided to apply at the Auror Department,'' the seventh year said. So he would be following in his dad's footsteps. Kind of, anyway. "My second choice would be the Department of Magical games and Sports.'' Yep. Because he loved sports.

The eyeing, Nessie sensed it but she didn't change her expression. There was no need to, not around James. Around James she could be completely herself and so there was no need to pretend anything. But James got some eyeing in return, especially at her hesitation to answer. Was something up? Pout. Was she meant to ask if anything was wrong? Or would that sound silly...maybe she'd wait a bit. Yep. Agreeing completely about the dementors being gone, Ness nodded a few nods at James. "They don't belong here." Nope, not one bit. "You were amazing though. You might as well go be a superhero or something." Small giggle there because the thought of James in a superhero suit was kinda comical.

More hesitation. Okay. Something was not right then. Why else would sh hesitate? Maybe she was just thinking, like you know how pouting worked for Ness. Hmmmm.. no..that wasn't very much like James. "Um..." She paused herself to think of how to word what she wanted to say. "You're a little..hesitant today." This way she wasn't exactly asking if anything was wrong, but she was stating she could see something different.

No goo-Oh. Okay. The red head had almost thought the former Hufflepuff had lost her mind not wanting to say goodbye but as she finished off saying what she did it all made sense as well as it brought a bigger smile to Nessie's face. "I'd love to see you soon then, Professor." And nope that didn't include the feast or at Hogwarts. "I'll try write to you too." Like she'd be writing to a few others too. It seemed to be the best way of contact. Mhhm.