This was Leo's hangout, was it? Paul wanted to check out the library...was it the same as when he'd been here? DIFFERENT? His memory was so spotty in place that he wondered if he would even recognize some of his familiar haunts....like the library.

No, it looked the same, just with a few different touches and flourishes here and there. There were still BOOKS (obviously) and many of them, too.

"Mr. Kitridge?" he asked as he approached the desk, smiling. "Leo!" he used the fellow's first name because HI, friend, right? FRIENDS? He hoped so. He needed some coworker friends. "I wandered up here...to see if the library had changed much from when I came here...you know, ancient times." He smiled and tapped the desk gently with his hand.

Adi had no reason to go to the library other than to get books for his studies or the visit Mr K. Today, the reason was to visit the man. Who would want to go back to studying during the first few days of returning to school, anyway?

Also, he had a bit of a present for the Librarian which he hoped wouldn't be minded. But Adi had wrapped up the generous slice of chocolate cake carefully so that nothing could escape on the books or anything. And noooo, this wasn't the cake that had been frosted with canary creams. Those were solely for Professor Culloden and any other testers. Mr K turning into a canary was something Adi couldn't picture happening.

"Hello, Mr Kitridge! How are you?'' Nope, Adi had not come for anything in particular so you assistance was not required at present Mr, K. "I just thought I would drop by and hang out a bit. I brought you something. You might want to open it when you're out of the library.'' He handed the wrapped package over.

The unicorns were practically dancing on the pages of the book Leo was reading telling him that it was time to take a break when Paul timely arrived. Closing the book with a big grin he returned the greeting as the Herbology Professor stopped in front of the counter. "Mr Myers.... Paul!" Using his hands to gesture around the library he said fondly "I've made some adjustments especially after that fire that wrecked destruction in here about 9 years ago now, but mostly it looks like it did when you went to school here. The Restricted Section is still full of old and ancient tomes. We can go on a tour if you want?" For some reason Leo had instantly grown fond of the other man since they had first met before the year. A like that had planted itself more as they shared now regularly ate their meals in the Great Hall within good conversing distance. "How long is it since you last sat your foot at Hogwarts?" Leo wondered curiously.



As was custom at the start of the year the Front Desk counter and floor immediately surrounding it was covered in book boxes, trolleys half full of books and well numerous piles of books on the floor waiting to be distributed around the shelves with a gentle touch and care. Leo was at his best eyeing a several feet long parchment when the puff prefect came up and broke his concentration.

Managing to not put a gigantic blob of ink over Cassandra Vablatsky's name Leo raised his gaze to meet Adi's eyes as a smile formed on his lips. "Hello Adi, I'm good. Trying to bring some order to the start of term chaos." Rolling up the parchment he asked "How are you? Did you have a good summer Adi?"

Dropping the parchment to the counter he accepted the wrapped package from Adi surprise and gratitude evident in his eyes and voice. "Thank you for this. I wasn't expecting a present. You are welcome to hang out here anytime you want, I hope you know that?"

Paul was so CHEERFUL. Had he made a buddy? He hoped so! Also, having the librarian as a friend might be useful because he'd know which kind of books Paul would be interested in..and stuff? It was cool.

OH DEAR O_O

"A FIRE?!" he cried, loudly, and quickly put his hand over his mouth. "A fire...Merlin's beard....well...I'm glad nothing was damaged too awfully. Everything seems to look quite good." He said with a nod. "And sure! I love tours."

"Well..I'm fifty-five...and I was eighteen..so...a LONG LONG time..." he grinned and drummed his fingers leisurely against the desk.

The unicorn book forgotten Leo focused his attention on Paul. He hoped they were on the right track to becoming buddies. Getting a new friend was fun and could be useful for plant disaster reasons and such and just cool.

Pauls cry out at the news of the fire made Leo nod solemnly in response as he looked around the big room. "Yes a ghost with a revenging vendetta started a fire in the library. Parts of the restricted section got burned down and many books and tomes turned into dust."

Perking up and putting a smile on his face Leo said "But that's ancient history the library is thriving now with plenty of books to discover. I'm glad you think it looks good." Moving around the counter and putting up a notice for the students Leo asked excitement clear in his step and voice. "Where do you want to start the tour? Did you have a favourite place back when you went here? I'm 40 years old by the way so I went here a looooooooooong time ago too."

Now that Adi had greeted the Librarian, he turned his attention to the stacks and stacks of books that surrounded the man. WOAH! Trolleys and boxes... so MANY books! "Is it always like this at every start of the term?'' He wouldn't know since the library wasn't one of his chosen places to visit this early in the term. Except for this time around because one did not simply forget Mr K and his bravery last term. "If you need some help, let me know.'' Actually, Adi wouldn't mind helping out. He didn't have anything to do plus he liked being helpful. Right now, he grinned. "I'm great, actually! I'm just so pleased to be back. Summer was awesome, thank you for asking. How about yours?'' He did remember about Mr K and Professor Cassie last term and was curious if they were really dating but he knew it wasn't his place to butt in on their personal lives. Plus, he was just a student. Boundaries. Adi knew them.

"You're welcome! I made it myself so I thought I would share.'' Cue the usual bounce on his feet and the grin. It turned out he wasn't bad at baking, either. Wheee! "I know. The corner room is my favourite place here. You'll be seeing me here a lot because of NEWTs this year. You might get fed up of seeing me, Mr K.'' Shame the Puffer had to spend his final year studying so much.

There were lots of gasping as Leo related the story to Paul, who dramatically had his hands over his mouth. He was APPALLED. And how does one defeat a GHOST?! It must have been very difficult! And the poor ghost had probably been suffering, too! Oh dear.

"And..they weren't ever recovered?" If not...Paul was deeply saddened on Leo's behalf...he could only imagine if his enormous library(well, he and Milton shared it) burned down at all...it would be just awful. Their collection had grown over so many years, much like this very one at Hogwarts! Like a true Ravenclaw, Paul was so worried about the books! Deeply, DEEPLY worried!

Ahhh. Leo was only...ten years younger, heh. "Well..I'm not sure...I always just sat at the tables over there--" he pointed to the study tables. "I don't much mind where we begin, Leo." Paul wasn't a picky fellow.

Glancing around at the mind boggling number of trolleys and book stacks Leo said "Actually I think so but I never see it as a bad thing. Its glorious to be surrounded by so many books." he finished off with a fond look at the books closest to him. Counting off things off in his head Leo said "Well if you are offering to help? Could you help me by taking a stack of books and placing them in the appropriate trolley? All the trolleys are labelled by subject or genre." It was to make it easier and swifter for Leo when he went around the shelves.

"My summer was great too, spent lots of time with friends and relatives." He wasn't going to say anything about Cassie. He liked Adi but he didn't want his relationship with the blond divination professor to become aparecium gossip if he could help it so he said nothing about that and that was how Cassie wanted it to be too.

Shaking his head Leo said with a smile. "I doubt I will get fed up with seeing you in here, you should check out the stack of old newt exams to practice on when you start revising. They might help."



Paul was the perfect person to tell stories too since he really showed his emotions on his sleeve. Shaking his head in response Leo said "No there wasn't much left to recover. The board of governors and others donated a lot of books to the library after the fire and then the number of books have slowly been replenished over the years."

Throwing a glance over at the study stables he nodded. "I used to sit a lot over there too. A good vantage point if I needed the librarians assistance and not too far from the shelves." Many good memories from the study tables. Hadn't he even gotten his first ever kiss there? Motioning for Paul to come along Leo said "Let's begin in the restricted section I need to check the alarm, charms in place and locks." It was something Leo did in intervals to make sure no book from the section got out again and could cause trouble.

Adi had to smile at Mr K's reply. It was quite easy to hear from his tone of voice and words just how much he adored books. Adi used to read quite a bit but as he got older, that just died out. Oh goody! There was something for him to help with! "On it!'' Randomly, he selected a stack of book. Would you look at that? They happened to be Care of Magical Creatures texts! Adi's favourite subject.

"Did you have to travel to other countries to see them?'' the seventh year asked with interest as he carefully set the books in the appropriate trolley. He didn't know much about the Librarian so excuse his bit of prying.

"Well, I'm glad to hear about that, Mr K! Thanks! I'll be sure to check them out though I still think it's way too early to get started on studying.'' But he would get started... it was just that today wasn't that fateful day. Adi tilted his head. "How many OWLs and NEWTs did you write, Mr K?"

With Adi getting straight to work putting books in the right trolleys Leo continued with what he had been doing when the badger prefect had interrupted him. It was tedious work that entitled adding all books presently in front of him to the grand master book parchment.

Luckily he could use a few handy spells that made the process swifter. Looking over at Adi he replied with a small shake of his head. "No, most of my relatives and friends live in England so if I had to travel it'd be within the country." Not that he couldn't have travelled internationally if needed. It was in the summer he had lots of time to spend. "Does your relatives all live close by where you live?"

Grinning he nodded "Yes it might just be a tad early to start revising already unless you of course have some subjects that you know you struggle with and need to study extra for?" Just offering some study advice. But maybe Adi wasn't going to sit the NEWT's in those subjects? Furrowing his brows thoughtfully Leo said "I wrote 10 OWLS and 10 NEWTS. It was overly ambitious in hindsight since I studied way too much and got so nervous when I sat them. I don't remember much of the exams now but I'm proud of myself for passing them all."

The book at the top of the Care of Magical creatures pile caught Adi's eye. It was one about Hippogriffs. Smiling to himself and at the picture of the Griff on the first page, he flicked through the pages at random. These were truly the most awesome creatures ever. He replaced the book just in time for Kitridge's reply and question.

"You should go out of the country, Mr K.'' Adi suggested cheerily. "Don't you think you work a little to hard not to go on a long trip?'' In his mind the man worked a lot. Wasn't it proof now that he was poring over all these books and the term had only just started. "Well, my close family does. My grandparents from my dad's side live not far off from us. 'Us' means my parents and my dad's brother. I have some distant relative scattered all across the country but all from my mom's side are back in India.'' Adi liked his close knit family, actually. It worked well for him. Plus everyone spoiled him. Haha. Not really.

Er... Cue the sheepish look at the Librarian. "Ancient Runes,'' was the reply. "I scraped an Acceptable in OWLs.'' Like seriously... why was that subject so darn difficult? Overly ambitious? This sounded like the seventh year. He and Mr K had something in common! "Nope, I don't think that was over ambitious, Mr K. See? You did pass them and that's great!'' Ohh, Adi had an idea! "Possibly someday if you're not too busy, you could quiz me or help me study?" Was it too much to ask? He didn't want to bury the man. Or take away time from him and Cassie.

Finished with adding books to the master book list for now he put it the side as he heard Adi's suggestion. Pulling out his wand from his holster Leo paused to answer with a glance over at the seventh year. "I did actually go out of the country on a two week trip with a friend during summer vacation." He was not going to say where or with whom though. Leo was private about that.

With his wand he started to work through the book pile closest, using his wand to distribute the books in their right trolleys. Magic was pretty useful Leo had to admit when you didn't want to do the leg work. Raising a brow in reaction to something Adi said Leo asked "I didn't know you were part Indian, have you ever travelled to India to meet your mother's relatives?"

The topic flowed over to OWL's and NEWT's again as Adi told him what subject he was struggling with. Ancient Runes. Furrowing his brows he said "I can't remember if I took runes NEWT's but anyways have you considered asking a peer to study with you? Someone you know that is good in runes?"

As for him helping Adi study Leo said "I've got a lot of work to do on most days but I suppose if you sat in the study area then I could help you in between my duties." He needed breaks anyway.

Adi just couldn't let the Hippogriff book go! "Mr. K, do you think I can borrow this book? No body's reserved it or anything, right?" Reading was one of his habits that had faded over the years but he did love reading about anything creature related. But then Adi nodded. Goody! Mr K did have some time for himself. Getting sprayed with Gobstones goo so often plus working this hard during the term could be tiring, he imagined.

"I am,'' said the Hufflepuff cheerily as he lifted more books into their appropriate trolleys. Nope, he didn't always use magic for doing things. He was used to the Muggle way of life too. "I've never been there. Actually, I've never met any of my family from mom's side though I've spoken to them on the phone or online. See, mom's parents died on a train crash when she was young in India and she never wanted to go back since then.'' His poor mama. She still did grieve for her parents.

"I have. I just have to find someone who's really good at it. If Toby were still here, I would have asked him.'' His fellow Puffer was brilliant at the subject, he knew. There was no way Adi wanted to scrape an Acceptable again. Adi grinned. "Sure! I would appreciate that. I'll be sure to let you know that I'm here to study.'' It was awfully nice of the Librarian to help him. He would do his best to return the favour now. "Do you need help delivering any books to Professors?''

Looking up from the stack of books he was currently levitating over to their correct trolleys Leo responded as he flashed a glance over at the Hippogriff book that Adi was carrying. "Of course you can borrow it. Just check if it has a library card and fill that out and put it on the counter for me." He'd put it in loan box under Hufflepuff when he had a minute over.

Pausing in his work as Adi revealed the tragic situation Leo murmured sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, that must be though on your mother and your whole family." It made him feel a little uneasy too. The last thing Leo wanted was to bring up something that was tragic and painful just because he was making conversation and attempting to get to know Adi better.

Grasping onto the runes straw Leo said "I'm sure you'll find someone. You'll have plenty of classes in the subject before your exams to find a study buddy. How is your friend Henric in runes?" He remembered the other badger boy from the spider battle when Adi had wanted him to check out his injured friend.

Smiling Leo said as he waved his hands. "Don't mention it. I just hope it leads to good grades on the NEWT's when you sit them at the end of the year." Since it would be really sad if all of Adi's hard work wouldn't be rewarded. Casting a glance around the trolleys he said "I might have a few books that need to be delivered to some of my colleagues but you don't need to deliver those. Don't you want to go do something fun instead with your friends like play wizard chess or something?"

Woot! Adi was ecstatic! This book was his for now! He nodded at the Librarian. "It sure does.'' He moved over promptly to full out the card with the appropriate information. "The card's here, Mr K.'' He pointed to it resting neatly on the counter as indicated. "Thanks!'' He then went back to finishing up assisting with the other books.

"I think mom, mostly? She hadn't met dad as yet.'' And naturally, Adi hadn't been around as yet. "Don't worry about it. I think if I had actually known them, I would have felt more sad about it." It's not that he didn't feel sad, it's just that since he hadn't known his maternal grandparents, he didn't go crying whenever they came up in a topic.

"That's true!'' Yes, bring on the positive vibes! "I think he's bad at it as I am,'' Adi said. And this sucked because Adi was not one of those persons who was not afraid to seek help from someone younger. His ego wasn't THAT big. "But I'll ask him to be sure.''

"Oh, I'm sure it will, Mr K. I'm going to make you and all of the Professors proud,'' the determined Hufflepuff. Hmmm. The Librarian had a good point. He grinned. "Yep, I guess I would. I can always help you another day if you like.'' He could always go find one of his friends. Bet you he found one the moment he walked out those library doors. He had toooo many friends for that not to happen.

"You're welcome. Let me know if you liked the book or not." Leo requested of Adi. "The book is new so I'd like student views on it." And to be honest he couldn't read every book that came into the library to see for himself if it was worthy of recommendation. He didn't have that time to spend even if he would have liked to. Leo had time to sink into a number of books but not in any great numbers. He had other duties to attend to too.

Nodding Leo said "At least you seem to know that it's okay to be sad and miss them since they were after all family even if you didn't really know them." If Adi wanted to get to know his maternal grandparents or at least how he they had been then Leo assumed he'd talk to his mother.

Laughing heartily he said "Good, you should. If you and Henric team up you guys can get better at runes together. I'm sure Headmaster Botros can give you guys some revising tips." Or at least tips on how they could improve their rune skills.

Glancing down at his clock Leo said "Yes, I'd like help another day. Now you should go find some friends and spend some time outdoors. Soon enough winter is here and you'll be confined to the castle anyway." He had had to clear this book chaos up and then go attend a staff meeting.

Oooh, Adi could provide a review for the book! He liked this suggestion A LOT. He made a mental not to get the information back to Mr Kitridge as soon as possible. And let's face it... he was going to get started on this book the minute he got some spare time which would definitely be happening today.

He nodded, pleased that the librarian didn't find it weird that he didn't feel very, very devastated about his grand parents. Adi had been wondering if something was wrong with him since years before since he had never felt totally broken up. He grinned now, though, when Kitridge laughed. "That's a great idea! I'll ask both Henric and Prof- Headmaster Botros for help.'' Hopefully the old dude wouldn't be too busy and could spare a few moments.

Good point! Though Adi loved winter, he did like being outside a lot and the snow could hamper that. "I'll drop by another day. See you, Mr K! Don't over work yourself, you know.'' With a grin, the Hufflepuff departed, the library book clutched tightly in his hand.