Different timeline from the other onging rpies. To save my head.
 

This morning had just been one of those mornings where you wished you had stayed in bed and not risen at all. From the minute he had open his brown eyes he had rushed to fix one crisis after another. By mid morning Leo was exhausted and grumpy. If he could leave and drink some coffee maybe he’d feel better but he didn’t feel he could risk leaving the library unattended.

Slumping down in his seat at the front desk hiding his face in his hands Leo didn’t see the blond snakette coming until she spoke up. Lowering his hands he raised his head to look at her. Giving her a weak smile Leo said "Hi Cassia, congrats to prefectdom!" Grimacing he admitted. "I'm all okay. I haven’t had the best of mornings so far, it's just been chaos on all fronts."

He was letting him draw a dragon picture?! This was simply too easy and the Gryffindor had to remind himself not the grin when the man turned his back to re-arrange the books on the shelves under the counter. He grabbed his parchment from the counter and sat down on the ground with his back towards the man as well dipped the quill in the ink. He began to draw, his tongue sticking out as he concentrated. Then, when he was done he slipped his hand inside his pocket and with a quick glance over his shoulder to see if the Librarian was looking, he pulled out a small box.

He opened it and dropped a few creepy crawlies on the parchment that he had bought in Weasleys Wizards Wheezes over the summer and immediately rolled up the parchment , making sure they didn't fell out. With a grin, he pushed his belongings except for the parchment in to his school bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. The way out of the library had a free path...it was now or never. "I'm done!" he said and held out the rolled up parchment. "Since it is a surprise you have to open it when i'm gone okay?" he handed the man his parchment and bit his lower lip to hide a grin.

"Really! no looking!" he reminded as he stepped backwards towards the entrance of the library, bumping in to a table once and when he reached the hallway he held up his thumbs as a sign that he could open it now. Kevin turned on his heel and got ready to run away.

Ian was grateful for the kind offer. Thank you, sir. It's good to know I have a man I can talk to since I'm away from my dad. It really was good to have that, as a young boy needed positive role models in these transitional years. Not being at home all the time, this was an opportunity for him to learn from other, respected male figures.

No, sir. I think this will be plenty to get started. I'm sure though I'll return soon for another. Thank you for all your help. After he checked the book out, he headed out the door and down to his common room to devour the things he could learn about giants.

Leo busied himself with rearranging the books and clearing away dust and an odd cobweb left over from the summer cleaning. Behind his back he heard sounds of scribbling on parchment telling him that the boy was still drawing. He resisted the urge to peek over his shoulder to ruin the surprise the boy was making for him. When the boy said he was done Leo turned around trying to hide his excitement. Accepting the parchment from the boy he beamed. "Of course, I promise."

Shrugging Leo watched the boy retreating to the hallway. Why didn’t he want to be here when Leo looked at the drawing? Suspicion rising he opened the drawing. As the creepy crawlers fell out on top of all the library books Leo’s eyes narrowed accompanied with a burst of anger and as he called out to the boy. "Boy, come back here! These crawlers have no place in the library. They can damage the books."

Leo bared his teeth and pulled out his wand to deal with the crawlers. He didn’t appreciate getting pranked.

Smiling Leo responded. "You're welcome. You can also always talk to Professor Hadley, your head of house if you need another adult to talk to." It seemed a good place to not advertise but at least point out that Ian had a head of house to lean on.

"Of course, it was just fun helping you out. Bye Ian!" Leo called after the retreating boy. Now what had he been doing when his work had been interrupted? Glancing around nothing came to him. He needed a break and some coffee to clear his head.

"Thank you, sir," She smiled at him. She'd gotten used to being congratulated though what she hadn't known at first, that it wasn't an easy thing. Not just a pretty shiny badge. It was quite the responsibility. "Hopefully I'll be a good one, it's not easy," You know live up to whatever expectations that was put to her. Which was a bit stressing since she surely was watched, not literally but whatever she did was going to be somehow evaluated.

The sixth-year noticed the weary look on the librarian's face. And it was easily-detected since he usually had a bright and smiling face. "I hope your day gets better," she said in genuine concern. "I can help if you need anything," Well, anything that she could do. Although classes had started, she could still find time to spare doing other stuffs. She'd become good at organizing her time and what to do.

"I'm sure you'll do fine. Just do your best and trust your instincts. If something feel’s too big for you to handle then go seek out a staffer." He advised with a smile. Leo trusted that Cassia would with some practice rise to the responsibility equipped with wearing a prefect badge. She was a responsible young woman with a level head.

"I hope so too dear.! He murmured as images flashed in his head of all the chaos he had dealt with up till Cassia's arrival. With a small grimace Leo shook his head and smiled "Thank you for your kind offer but its best if I sort out the last stuff on my own. I don't want to subject you to hearing me curse and rant if things don’t go exactly as planned." Cursing and ranting he tried to keep private unless Sophia of course was around.

From the corner of the entrance of the Library, Kevin stood there and waited. Waited for the screams of fear as he knew was going to happen soon. He looked at the librarian as he unscrolled the piece of parchment and had to bite his lower lip not to burst out laughing and reveal his hiding place.

From the distance, he saw teh creepy crawlers falling on top of the books and the first year chuckled at the sight of the man's expression. He was angry! Woohoo! The third staff member he had gotten angry. First Potions dude, then Groundskeeper dude and now Library dude. AND IT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR! Yeah, he was on a roll!

He rolled his eyes at the loud words that he should come back. He bravely stepped back in to the library but remained at the entrance. Safe distance in case he had to run "It's forbidden to shout in a library, 'sir' " he said.

Focusing on the creepy crawlers Leo swiftly and aptly disposed of them all before they made any lasting or for that matter extensive damage to the new books. All the while he was fuming with anger. If you were standing close some of the words might coming out of the librarian’s mouth might have raised the hairs on your arms.

Disposing the last crawler with a well aimed spell Leo pocketed his wand. Rounding the front desk in a few strides he eyed the boy hovering by the entrance a good distance away. The words spilling out of the boy’s mouth didn’t exactly work in his favour. Mr Kitridge was not amused. "Do you even understand the DAMAGE the creepy crawlers might have rendered on the library books if I hadn’t been present?"

"Books are not cheap. I do not buy new books for you to use them as targets for your childish pranks." The more he talked, the more his voice rose with the fury Mr Kitridge was feeling. If the boy had any sense he'd leave before the librarian gave him a month's worth of detentions and really let his anger loose. If he did that the boy would loose points as well.

It probably would have meant that much if it was from anyone else. But hearing it coming from Mister Kitridge had its own effect. "Thanks, sir, I appreciate this," She smiled glad to know about someone having trust in her. Of course others have showed supporting, the more the better, eh?

She let out a small chuckle and nodded. "You're very welcome and okay," She sort of understood what he meant. She wouldn't want people to see her when she's stressed and not in her best mood. And seeing that he had stuffs to do, it was time for her to request what she needed and not waste his time longer. "So, I wanted to ask if I can find a book about apparition skills, I want to enlighten myself about it before the lesson," Which was sometime this week according to the notice board.

There was a mischievious grin forming on the young Gryffindor's lips as he watched the librarian dispose of the creepy crawlies from between the books. There was something about getting people angry just to see how far he could go, it was like an adrenaline rush and his parents had warned him that it was dangerous. But he either did not care or he didn't see the danger in it. It was just funny in his eyes. Bravely stupid as his father had put it.

"Chill man, they're just books" he said as the man was shouting at him. He did flinch for a second but then quickly shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like they're alive. Just a bunch of dead trees with ink on them, nothing special". He did however turned his own bag towards his back where the book had been in that he had just gotten.

Kevin looked up at the librarian as he continued to rage on about the books and he realised that the more he talked, the more his voice was rising with anger and now the eleven year old was getting a bit nervous. "Well, nothing happened to the books so i don't really understand the problem, it was just a harmless joke" he said. "Like you've never done anything before!" Even a librarian must have pulled some pranks in his school days. Everyone did!

"I meant every word." Mr Kitridge affirmed. He did trust Cassia. She was a responsible young woman with a level head. And a little moral support never hurt if it made the snakette more confident in her abilities to be able to complete her prefect duties.

He was pleased that Cassia got his drift. In another circumstance he wouldn’t have said no to some help but this he needed to do on his own. It was just how it was. Grinning he asked excitedly."So you’re the taking apparition lessons when the instructor from the ministry comes to the school?"

Pulling out his wand Leo flicked it a few times to make two books appear. Lifting the books up, he showed them to Cassia. "Here are two that might be what you are fetching after by the same author. One is a compilation of stories of apparitions gone wrong and right and the other is more of a guide to how you apparate."

If Mr Kitridge had been a dragon he would have been spitting fire at the boy. Instead he had to make do with raging and well ranting just little in a high pitched voice to get his point across. Grabbing a handful of books he thrust the books towards the boy as he got off again "I can't CHILL! No books are just books. They are all epitomes of knowledge and all books contain some knowledge worth learning or reading. Don’t ever cross them off as just dead trees with ink on them. They do not deserve that." The last was spitted out as Leo dropped the books in his hand with a thud on counter again.

Putting his head in his hands Leo did his best to control his breathing that because of the rage had become explosive gasps. Standing like that for a few minutes in silence nothing saying anything made the worse of the rage run off him. Raising his head he said calmly "No it didn’t. And I thank merlin for it. If it had you should know that I would without a doubt given you detention." Even he had his limits. Just so they were clear.

Slumping down on the chair behind the desk Leo suddenly feeling very tired he grimaced. "You’re definition of a harmless prank needs to be re-evaluated," Shaking his head he said. "Yes I did pull some pranks back in the day but never something that could potentially damage school property. That is just stupid."

A very short temper this one had. At least Culloden had been able to control it a bit, right until he snapped in front of his Head of House towards Kevin. But still, THIS man right here was easily angered. As the pile of books was thrusted towards him, Kevin caught them and then jumped a little bit when the Librarian dropped them down on to the counter."Okaaay, so you're easily angered...good to know" He too placed down the books and was about to turn around and leave but the man wasn't finished yet. UGH, they were JUST books!

The young Gryffindor looked at the librarian as he put his hands on his head in frustration and for a second, Kevin felt guilty. He had seen his mother like that before after he had been talking back to her. But just as fast as the guilty feeling came, it was washed away again and he rolled his eyes. "Okay okay, i'm sorry for the books" he said as he watched the Librarian slump down in a chair. He wasn't really sorry though but pretending had gotten him out of trouble before.

So he HAD done some pranks back in the days. Kevin's eyes lit up as if they were twinkling and he looked at the older man with expectations. Had he blown up the Great Hall? Turned the Quidditch Pitch in to a swimming pool? What? whaaaat?! Wait, not something that could damage school property?

............................................ugh... BORING.

And like that, the twinkle in his different colored eyes vanished just like the guilty feeling from earlier. "What is detention actually like here?" he suddenly asked after the mention of it. "I'm not saying i want one, i'm just saying i'm curious because the Transfiguration woma---Professor... said that it wasn't like writing lines so what is it then?" Just curious~

Could Leo apparate out of the library to somewhere nice and quiet?

It was really tempting right about now since this boy was really trying the little patience he had left which kept him from exploding and actually resorting to use his wand to make his point clear. Taking several calming breath’s with his head in his hands and eyes closed Leo still heard the boy chattering away as if nothing had happened. He would have thought the boy would have taken heed of all the warning signs shooting out of Leo’s angered body language and tone of voice but no.

The boy was still there to test his patience or for all Leo knew torment him further. With a burst of energy he stood up from his chair and responded matter of flatly "No, I'm not easily angered but some things can make even me lose my temper. I love books and if books are endangered I have every right to get upset and angry." Was it clear now why Leo had been doing everything but spit out fire because of the boy’s reckless actions?

The boy surprised him a little since he actually apologized for his prank but it felt insincere to leo's ears. It didn’t seem like the boy fully meant the words that flowed out of his mouth. He said them because it was expected of him. Sweet Merlin he was two times worse that Laura had ever been.

Leo suppressed a shudder as the boy asked for information about detentions. Shifting his gaze to the boy he responded cryptically. "The detentions vary depending on offense and which staff member is in charge of administrating the detention."

finally came to bother you. :P
 

There was a good reason, a VERY good reason why Rhodes Merivel had walked into the library.

And even though she may have kicked one of the first bookshelves she had come across once or twice, or even five times, that wasn't the entire reason for her being there. Sure. Kicking the bookshelf let her know that the thing seemed sturdy enough, and not having any books fall down on her was a good sign as well, but Rhodes being Rhodes had questions, a whole lot of questions, and the man sitting right behind the desk was the one who could answer them. Hopefully.

He was the librarian, which meant he knew everything, right? He probably ate books to make him smarter. Because that seemed like something a librarian would do.

Ahem. The Slytherin cleared her throat as she stepped up to the desk, and standing on her tippy toes, because she was a bit on the short side, she tried her best to peer over at the man. What was he doing? Reading? Eating? Sleeping? Her eyes weren't very good either. "Hello!?"

*glues you to the library* you should bother us often.
 

It was a good day. By all accounts Leo reasoned if nothing unexpected happened he’d write this day off as a good one when he’d close the library for the night to head to his chambers. Finishing the last paragraph of a letter for his mother Leo didn't hear the young girl step up to the desk until he heard a voice saying 'hello.' Peering over the desk at the girl, who was a bit on the short side he beamed. "Hello, welcome to the library, how may I be of assistance?"

Putting the letter in a desk drawer to go to the owlery and send later he waited for the girl’s response. Hopefully she wouldn’t make his good day turn into something ugly.