He was going to need a visit home, if not today then sometime within the week. It seemed like he told his children literally a million times not to leave their stuff about when they came to see him at the castle but that didn't deter his daughters, oh no, not at all. The man might have been a little more miffed at the whole thing if it weren't for the fact that it was one of the only things that had his girls playing nicely.

...If you could even call it playing.

Maddox turned the little bottle over and over in his hand, finding the faintest of smiles make its way onto his face. Definitely going home later. It'd only been a few days but he missed the little devils.

The Charms Professor jammed his free hand into his pocket and began idly tossing the little bottle of liquid as he walked. A trip to the kitchen for an apple right about now sounded good to him.

There were footsteps coming from the next corridor. He could hear them distinctly. Younger student to be sure, or an older student with a smaller build. Not hurried. Not hesitant. The man could go on with his guessing game but it was hardly necessary when he was hitting the corner right...about...now.

Maddox turned lightly on the balls of his feet and entered the next corridor already expecting to run into someone. As luck would have it there was Miss Lynch. Nice girl she was. Never a trouble in his class unlike a few others he could mention.

The man tossed the little bottle once once, giving her a smile. "Quite fine thanks, I trust you're the same?" If she wasn't, chances were she'd pull a typical student move. Leave him be in peace for all of two seconds after running into him then immediately going off about who did what and who's wand was now where. Just never know what to expect with students these days.

Maddox held the bottle up, inviting her to have a better look. "Are you by any chance familiar with this sort of thing?" Hadleigh was what? A Third Year? They tended to be able to recognize nail polish when they saw it, yes?

Wandering around...? So then....not currently busy doing anything else? He could live with that. "I'm glad to hear that, Miss Lynch." Had he been in some tremendous rush just now? The man couldn't remember if he was. "And you'd be correct in assuming it's nail polish but it hasn't been lost per say."

Maddox held it a little lower, a fond smile growing on his lips again. "Think this one belongs to....Demetria...? Or no, Sophie." His eldest daughter didn't much fancy pink. It made it all the more a wonder when she sat and let her little sister put it on her.

"They left it in my office when they headed back home." And this was the perfect excuse to head home so soon. Couldn't have his little Soph go without. WHAT IF SHE CRIED?? As unlikely as it was given she probably didn't even realize it was gone yet.

"Do you wear this stuff?"

Sometimes in the middle of all his reminiscing he forgot that the students did not typically know his children. Maddox was about to get into that when Miss Lynch guessed correctly. "Yup, 4 and 7. This little beauty here is one of the only things that helps them get along with each other." Though he could never figure out why.

Ah and she wore this stuff some of the time. A girl thing perhaps.

As he turned the bottle over and over in his hand, he was suddenly struck with an idea. "Would you let me put some on you, just for practice sake. Sophie's always fussing that I never get it quite right." Through no fault of his own mind you but the 4 year old was particularly hard to please when it came to the more feminine matters.

One day he would ask them why they didn't rope their mother into things nearly as often...though he had a sneaking suspicion it was she who started it.

"I'm not as bad as you think I am at it and this colour wouldn't look horrid on you." Then again what did he know about colours and complexions? The man was just trying to be convincing. Was this a yes?

"Hmm, you think so?" Maddox scratched his chin at her suggestion, trying not only to imagine his daughters getting along more amicably in general but also them older. It was decidedly not something he was ready for. They needed to remain his little girls for possibly their entire life. No questions asked, they simply were not allowed to grow up.

The reflective stare broke when she agreed to let him have a go at it on her nails, replaced now with a grin. Students could be so giving on the odd occasion. Bless them.

"Excellent! I won't be hogging too much of your time." With that, he pulled out his wand and conjured a table with two comfy chairs opposite each other. This was a corridor, yes, and this was technically blocking the way, also yes, but today it happened to be sparsely travelled so there was no real harm. Not unless a stampede happened with a mass of students trying to escape certain death and danger but everyone knew that was more likely to happen in the dungeons.

"Have a seat Miss Lynch and we can get this started." The man flopped into his own seat and placed the bottle down. "Would you prefer I make it a different colour?"

Ah, that was the kick of it, wasn't it? Miss Lynch didn't have any siblings and couldn't definitively speak on the matter. "That's a shame. I enjoyed growing up with my siblings, all six of us." So there might have only been the three but six made for a more interesting story and served to bring his point across better. "Sharing was naturally a pain but that happens with all sorts of people in your life too."

And there she went making his day. Nothing else planned for the day so she didn't mind his intrusion. That was all the man needed to hear as he went ahead and turned the bottle of nail polish to green. Couldn't say he was too surprised it was her colour of choice; Snakes had their own level of house pride they operated under. "In future I do suggest not letting your level of boredom rise quite so high. People have been known to get into more trouble that way."

...Most usually Gryffindors. 'Least she had one thing going for her.

The Charms Professor uncorked the bottled and took to covering the hand she'd offered in green. The concentration was evident as he set to work but despite his best effort...the first was slightly smudged. Maddox cleared his throat. "I'll get better." Hopefully.

While he could fully agree that having that many siblings would have rattled him the wrong way, Maddox wasn't sure just how terrible it actually was, afterall, his set was only one shy of that number. Five children that got along only when it suited them to. "One thing's certain, there's never a dull moment and it's always interesting to see how the genes split. In my own set I'm guaranteed two Gryffindors." And a Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

The diversity amused him...or it would if he wasn't so dead set against his eldest son following in the footsteps of those in blue. It was enough to make him cringe.

Her response had him intrigued. No worries? Not bored enough? Come to think of it, he'd never noticed behavioural problems with this one. Commendable... but dull. "And you've never thought to skirt a rule or two? Live on the edge for once?" The man asked as he moved to another finger. Perfectly responsible adult here asking perfectly legit questions. This time he tried even harder to focus because though she tried assuring him of his efforts, he knew it wasn't meant to look quite like that.

"You've had others experimenting on your nails?" Perhaps it was a service she offered.

It was true, having a lot of children posed its own problems in itself. It was a real treat too though but he doubted she would be able to understand that anymore than having multiple siblings so it was hardly worth mentioning. "I don't know how much this job has helped with that. It's my first teaching one afterall." And if someone had told him that after having 5 demon seeds he would go on to teaching a large amount of them he would never believe them. "They're quite young at the moment. Oldest twins are 7. Seems like a while but they'll be here before even I know it." Something he was realizing more and more that not even he was prepared for. Was there a charm to fix that? He pondered the thought as he got through another two fingers.

"Oh you'd be surprised, Miss Lynch." The tone was somewhat sing song as he finished off the hand. "Not everyone's got that thirst for adventure and boldness to test lines. Some think it's scary, others think it a waste of time and others still are just," Hufflepuffs, "happier doing what they're told." For whatever the reason, they made a Professor's job easier but the man couldn't help but wonder. What did they do for fun? Did they enjoy themselves?

Ah and it was little cousins that exposed her to such horrible painting. The sentiment he could understand. One often let younger ones have their way to appease them. "Have they gotten any better by now?" They should with all the practice it sounded like they got.