No, I Ain't Broken, But I - I Need a Fix

Declan had come in early to Hogwarts, in order to get a handle on what was changing now that the staff was being altered. He had been asked to come in for the day on Friday, to meet the new staff and to plan for his occasional courses with the fourth years. So it was in the Staff Lounge that he lingered through Keiran's first meeting, concerned by the news he had been given about the younger man. The question of how much Keiran knew of Declan had not been answered, of course, considering no one had been given reason to ask after him before.

Somehow, he had a feeling that he would come out of the day's interaction desperate for a drink. It wasn't like he could expect to find anything in the lounge - regardless of the fact that most all of the professors were younger than him. The majority were, at least. Of the ones he knew, they didn't strike him as the sort to risk professionalism for want of a fix.

So Declan sank into one of the arm chairs, pulling out a book for lack of anything else to do, and attempted to focus on the words written before him. It was difficult, of course, when he would rather have just gotten his discussion with Keiran and the other new staffers over with so he could return to The Leaky, as he was more accustomed to. As he was comfortable with. Was that too much to ask? He glanced up as the door opened, hoping to see the Deputy Headmaster, but instead finding a brunette with long, curled hair. She gave him a confused glance in return for his own, but she offered him a nod as she entered, walking over to the table settled on the far side of the room.

From her bag, she drew out what appeared to be several stacks of parchment, and Declan had to wonder if she had assigned essays the first week. It seemed almost torturous for the kids - though, he hadn't exactly loved doing homework, so he supposed he was biased. Unable to help it, he turned slightly in his chair to face her properly, one ankle lifting to settle atop his knee.

"Sorry, but- are you already grading homework?" Declan questioned, one eyebrow lifted as if it would help the disdain dripping off of the words.

Her head snapped up, fixing him with an unamused stare. "In-class assignment," she corrected. "To see how they're doing." She waited until he nodded, lifting a hand in mock defeat, then turned back to her work.

A quiet chuckle left Declan, followed by an annoyed huff from the brunette across the room, which just led to him smiling down at his book as he endeavored to continue reading.

Dom knew that she not have gotten this job. She was supposed to have disciplinary authority over the students, and she was barely out of student-hood herself. She was friends with some of the students, and now she was responsible for docking them House Points if they got in trouble? Sure she was only the Game Keeper, but she had actual responsibilities now. Kenna had been kind in helping her find a job, but at least Teddy had put her in positions where she really only had one job (and even those she had failed.) Perhaps Kenna simply had more belief in her - it was a misplaced belief, but it was a nice thought.

Dom slipped into the Staff Lounge, not certain if she was supposed to be there or not. Did she really need to check in with the Headmaster? She really did not want to, especially because she was not even one hundred percent sure what her job title was. Game Keeper? Did that mean make sure all the animals on school grounds didn't eat the students? Dom was already feeling completely lost, and the school year had barely begun.

She figured it was probably best if she did not talk to the Headmaster, as she could only bring forth her own termination in such a situation. It was good, however, for her to be here, just so her face could be seen and she could be believed to be a somewhat responsible young woman who attended meetings and made herself available. The charade would continue so long as no one actually asked her anything about her job.

She glanced around and slowly became more and more at ease as a reality set into her skull - these were her new peers. These professors and faculty were all her co-workers and would be her friends once they got to know her - naturally. She began slipping between groups and pairings, greeting everyone she could, happy to be apart of something. The social environment of a job - that was where she thrived.

She slipped between two of the nurses, smiling widely at one she recognized, and she took a step backwards. She had misjudged the angle she was stepping at, however, and her ankle slipped, causing her to stumble backwards. Her arse found the arm of a plush armchair and she grabbed the arm to ensure she did not fall any further. She twisted her body and saw that the chair itself was occupied.

You meant to do that. You meant to do that. You meant to do that.

"Assigned yourself some homework, too?" she asked playfully, hoping to distract from her wonderful little fall.

He hadn't managed more than a couple sentences before he was jostled by who he assumed was another new professor. He hadn't seen the blonde before, but as he looked up at her, he caught a false sense of confidence in her tone and posture. Sure, he didn't always judge people correctly, but he definitely had a lot of practice with it. Either this girl was secretly embarrassed, or she was just exceptionally awkward on a regular basis. Maybe both. Declan couldn't decide.

Either way, he set his thumb down on the middle of his page, closing the book to it so he wouldn't lose his page as he turned his chin fully to look at her. "I guess you could say that?" Declan replied slowly, looking down at his book. It wasn't exactly something one might expect a professor to be reading - but, then, he wasn't technically a professor, was he?

He was a guest lecturer of sorts, merely brought in to teach the fourth years how to cook, so he wouldn't claim to be any 'real' professor. Not like Keiran, who had recently been promoted due to what Declan assumed was a good track record as a professor and the Head of Slytherin House.

The book in his hands was actually about the history of Diagon Alley, and was a total snore, but it made him feel slightly more in place, so to speak, having it with him. Lifting the shoulder closest to her in a shrug, Declan focused his gaze on the blonde once more. "I would say you look too young to be a professor, but then, most people teaching this year are younger than I expected. So perhaps that's not so odd, after all. what is it that you're teaching?"

If he had noticed her blunder, he wasn’t bringing it up, which made him a capital fellow in her opinion. She had a feeling all of her new coworkers would be mighty and pretentious, so to have found someone who did not take any opportunity to treat her with condescension was a wonderfully good omen. Perhaps she had misjudged. Perhaps this would be fun, and that professors were not as boring as she had assumed them to be in school, but were actually human beings with needs and whims and really funny knock knock jokes.

She could dream.

He spoke slowly and deliberately, and Dom wondered briefly if he was annoyed, then decided there was absolutely nothing she could do about it if he was true, so who gave a shit? She felt good for having not torn someone down on her trip across the room, and was pleased at how well and how gracefully she had recovered from the misstep. Very little could take that away from her, especially not the distaste of a stranger – that was, if that was even what he was thinking.

She tilted her head to read the title of the book, then glanced back up at the man. “It seems like a yawner. I’ll trust that there are some dazzling insights – no need to investigate for myself.” She was now planted to the spot on the armchair, even though there were plenty of more appropriate spots littered about the room. If she could get a good conversation going with this man, then it would not seem at all out of the ordinary. For her, anyway.

“My age is the least of my disqualifications for a professorship,” she said, smirking widely. That whole P-average she had sported during her OWLs was more of a danger to her than being twenty. “I am teaching Hogwarts game to keep to itself. Or… whatever the gamekeeper does. I really should know my job description, but what can you do?” She shrugged, before thrusting out a hand for him to shake. “Dom Weasley. You?”

"Oh, it definitely is," he returned, giving the pages a particularly dirty and unimpressed look. "But all of the professors I can remember from school were all about their books, y'know? So I can pretend to care, and thus pretend to fit in, eh?" A teasing smile was passed her way, hoping she would catch the sarcasm though it wasn't prominent in his tone.

His eyebrows lifted at her explanation, though he was more amused than he cared to admit. Usually, his go-to reply to any and all ridiculous things said by women like her was to just condescend or ignore the lady in question. But this one was strangely amusing. He honestly couldn't tell if she was yanking his chain or if she just talked like that all the time. Declan secretly hoped for the latter, if only because he could go to her for some amusement when he was required to be on campus. Then he wouldn't have to put up with the pretentious ones - like that annoying brunette across the room, whoever she was.

Declan leaned forward and set his book atop the low table between his chair and the couch across the way, then sat back to look at her as she finished. One foot lifted and his ankle was rested atop the other knee as he turned slightly in the chair to face her a bit better. "Declan Arryn," he returned as he shook her hand, vaguely concerned that she might make a comment about his name. Many did, half expecting he had made it up. "My parents had a sense of humor," he explained and shrugged one shoulder. "Plus, they're Irish so it sounded like a lot of fun to say the whole of when I got in trouble, I suppose. Plus the middle name, though that's not as exciting, so I'll leave that bit out."

A chuckle left him as he released her hand, his elbow returning to rest on the arm of the chair that she hadn't taken up residence on. "I'm only going to be popping in from time to time. Unfortunately, my job is perhaps even more ridiculous than yours. The fourth years are meant to learn all manner of things that might help them when the Marriage Law deal destroys them and all, so I'm meant to help them with cooking. Bonkers, right? My best mate really had into me about it - though, frankly, I think he wishes I'd teach him," Declan leaned in as if he were sharing a secret, his voice dropping to a tone indicative of the same, "if only so he won't be trying to mooch off me while I'm at work."