Trouble is a Friend [Mycroft]

Guest

Ever since potions, Delia had been thinking about her potion. What she hated the most was to be uncertain, and while her grade for it had been decent, there was still the not knowing that bugged her. Would it have worked? Would her potion had actually done what she intended or hoped? There was no way to find out, not without testing it -- and there was no testing it without, well, it.

And so, one Saturday, when there was nothing on and no place to be, Delia snuck down to the potions classroom. She'd heard from a friend that Professor Holmes was out for the weekend, and it was just the perfect opportunity. Gathering the ingredients and hoping that she had remembered everything correctly, she prepped the items as she had before and got to work.

She was just at the last step when there was a slight creak behind her and she turned, inhaling sharply, towards the door, wand already out. Expecting to see a student, Delia's heart sank when she saw the familiar face of Professor Holmes, and she cussed under her breath, taking a step forward. There was no use trying to hide what she was doing; it would be obvious, and there was no time to clear both cauldron and ingredients.

"Professor," she greeted, nevertheless, keeping her tone innocent and polite. "I didn't know you were around."

Guest

His decision to return to Hogwarts had been purely accidental; he had simply forgotten the papers that he had told everyone that he would be grading. It was all simple enough, that is had he remembered to take them with him to the dormitories. Instead he had left them in the dungeon as he had locked the ingredients back to their proper pantries.

He had used the back door within the castle to enter his classroom only to find that it had a surprise visitor. His arms automatically cross as he stepped forward and properly scaring the witch. He was even ready to use a non-verbal protection charm should she be that spooked.

"Miss Foster" he droned out, eerily similar to previous potions masters. "I must say it is a surprise to find you here. After all" he moved closer as he took the ingredients in and his frowned deepened. "After all...I do not remember allowing anyone to enter here, much let alone brew without supervision. Care to explain?"

Guest

At the ... threat? She couldn't tell. It was probably meant to be that, but Delia wasn't truly affected; she'd dealt with Professors before, especially back in Durmstrang. How bad could a Hogwarts professor be in comparison? (Even if he was a Holmes, and a Pureblood.) In any case, at his words, she merely smiled gently, almost politely, but not in a condescending way.

"I apologise," she said, simply. She paused, then added, "If I had known you would be around, I never would have done it." She saw no point in hiding the truth; why bother? She was certain he'd be able to see through it, and it was stupid to try. Instead, she shrugged once. "I was practising."

There was no need to say anything else; he could see her ingredients, and would no doubt be able to place what she was doing. Why bother trying to explain herself when she knew there would be trouble anyway? Might as well just let him ask more specific questions. She did, however, add, "I wasn't planning on using it. Not on anyone unwilling, anyway. But I'm sure that doesn't change things." Her tone was matter-of-fact, not snarky, and not impolite. She was merely stating facts as she saw it -- explaining herself, as he had asked -- and nothing more.

Guest

Mycroft Holmes did not think if himself as a man who easily got angered. Annoyed? Yes perhaps that was a more accurate emotion. Yet the feeling of a girl being so blatantly daring as to enter his classroom, use his ingredients to make a very dangerous potion even though his explicit rules were not to do so. This...made him feel a burning anger within him.

Without even thinking, he snapped his fingers and the ingredients began to move to their necessary locations. This improper actions from the teenager did not help his temper. For one he turned to her, he murmured a charm to lift her.

"Miss Foster. I do not appreciate someone breaking into my classroom and doing as they please. The audacity to do so gives me no choice but deduct ten points from Gryffindor." Letting her float he simply walked back to pick up the cauldron and throw it down the drain. "I should let you hang there."

Guest

Delia knew when she was in trouble. It wasn't often that she got caught, but when she did, it wasn't difficult for her to read the situation, even if she didn't always care. Seeing that Professor Mycroft was, indeed, getting angry, Delia sighed inwardly. Of all the troubling things to happen...

Watching silently as the ingredients were kept away and her potion cleared, Delia was already beginning to plan her next move. She'd have to ask her mother, of course, but she didn't see how it would be impossible to recreate the potion during the holidays, once home. Her mistake had been her impatience to try it again and see if she could improve; that alone had gotten her caught. Already, she was promising herself to track down the person who told her Professor Mycroft would be away and make sure they understood why lying to her was never good.

As she was lifted into the air, she stiffened for a split second before relaxing. It was an odd feeling, but she wasn't too perturbed by it; it just felt like she was underwater, except in the air. Instead, she kept a neutral expression as he deducted house points -- barely holding in a chuckle; what were points to her? She didn't care about Gryffindor enough to worry about that -- and resisted making a light, snarky comment ("I didn't break in, sir; the door was unlocked,"), settling for saying nothing.

If he wanted to threaten her, let him; if he wanted to hurt her, let him. Pain and threats were nothing to her. So, hanging there, she smoothened out the edges of her skirt to keep it from flying up and exposing anything, and just waited, expression completely neutral.

» Trouble, I Guess? (Grayson)
» Double Trouble ( Camille )
» A Night Off (Mycroft)
» Mycroft Winston Holmes
» A Friend in Need(Mimosa)