Absit Omen RPG

[Your name/nickname:] Angel
[Your affected characters:] All of them
[Start date of absence:] Today
[Approximate date of return:] I don't really know
[Reason (optional):] Lots of reasons, mostly personal.

Still being stunned that someone in this school actually came to talk to him voluntarily, Draco was overwhelmed and needed to get the boy out of his office quickly before he did something uncharacteristic, like smile in another's presence.  "Very well." he took a piece of parchment from a desk drawer and quickly wrote a note for the boy saying he'd given permission to use the books only in the library of course, he couldn't be too generous after all, someone might think something was wrong and send the Healer to check him over.

On another bit of parchment he wrote a note to the boy's head of house, "There's the note for the librarian." he told Tim as he handed him the first note, "That should do, but keep in mind, this permission is only for you, not the other hellions of the school." he stood up and walked over to the door and opened it, "Now scram," he waited for the boy to walk past him and quickly handed him the second note, "This one's for your Head of House, to make sure no one think's I'm using you for potion ingredients." As the boy left the office, Draco took a deep breath, he needed to pinch himself.

Had he actually spent those minutes with an individual that didn't despise him? That was a new feeling of lately, that not everyone in Hogwarts, or London wouldn't look at him with some sort of disgust.  As he sat down behind his desk again and ran his hand over his face all he could think now was, 'Merlin, I need a drink.'

Draco was momentarily stunned that the boy knew of this.  He tried to keep his name out of the St. Mungo's assistance because he wanted it to be anonymous. "I'm surprised you know that, most students don't know about that, at least I don't think so." He sat back in his chair. 

"Well, you are one of the more responsible students in this school. So here's the deal." He crossed his arms over his chest.  "After dinner you may come here and sit in my office while I brew potions in my private laboratory." He looked at the boy, "You must leave before curfew though. On the weekends you can come and peruse the books as long as you send a note first asking permission."

Draco sat forward and played with a quill on his desk, "Are these terms acceptable?"[1]

1.	I hope it's okay.

Draco nodded when Greyfriar introduced him. He didn't really know what he was going to be doing here.  But he looked around the room and could see that the family that lived here was happy.  The pictures everywhere were proof of that.  Briefly he thought about what his son was doing right now. He hadn't seen him in a few months. Astoria and her sister had taken him to Paris with them on their shopping spree.

Sitting down on an armchair, Draco waited for the boy in question to show up.  He wanted to get this over with and get back to his potions.  They were consistent and only changed when he decided to change something.  He relaxed into the chair and listened to the chatter so he would know when he needed to respond to a question.

Shaking himself out of his semi-trance, Draco nodded and replied, "Looks like the place I guess." he mumbled, still not comfortable with being here.  However he followed right behind the Headmaster up the stairs and tried to ignore the little dogs that were vying for attention. 

As they were let into the house, Draco eyed the dogs with disgust, never having really liked the barking creatures at all.  Draco decided to stay quiet so he wouldn't say anything that could be perceived as ill intent or rudeness.  To be honest, he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed with all the people that were most likely going to be converging around him and the Headmaster soon.

He knew that this was going to be hard, but as it was his turn to go with Greyfriar, mostly because he hid in his office when it came time to go visiting the new students.  After he divorced his wife, he preferred solitude and hadn't been around a lot of people in a very long time. He didn't count the classes of students. 

Standing in front of the class, he could escape into his mind and go through the motions of teaching his favorite subject, after all it was all second nature to him at this point, he could probably teach all day and not even notice if the students were even in the classroom anymore. 

Focusing back on the task at hand, Draco braced himself for the tedious task ahead.

At first, Draco was very reluctant to join the Headmaster in his visit to the prospective student. But as he was reminded that he was trying to change the way people looked at him, he decided to go along with it.  However, he was so far out of his depth as the Headmaster took him to the edge of the property. 

Draco stumbled when they landed but managed to catch himself before he fell, so as not to look like more of a fool than he felt.  He heard the Headmaster speak and even though he had a reply for him, he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud.  So there he was, standing next to the older man with a slightly befuddled expression on his face and that's when the dogs came out.

He had to stop himself from jumping back as they came towards him.  "Ruddy beasts." he murmured to himself as he waited for the Greyfriar to make the first move.

He studied the boy for what seemed like forever, but he knew that most of the students that were brave enough to approach him outside of class, they were most likely able to be trusted, so he decided to do something that he rarely ever did.

"Question for you Pepper," Draco began as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, "If you were to be granted access to some of the more rare books that would help you, would you be willing to only use them in my office?"  Looking over at the boy's list again, he knew he had a few books that came from Snape's personal library that might help him out, but he had to be sure that they would stay in his office. After all, Snape did often write notes in all of his books, and having been on the receiving end of one of his developed curses meant he definitely did not want them out in the school.

Draco sat in his chair behind his desk as he watched the last of the Fourth Years left his classroom.  Contrary to popular belief, his favorite classes were the ones with Ravenclaws. They at least didn't cause problems and went about their work in a calm and quiet manner.  So when the Pepper boy approached him after class was over, he sat up and straightened some essays on his desk as the boy asked if he had a moment.

He was about to tell the boy that he could spare a few minutes, but he continued on with his request.  To be honest, Draco was surprised that someone at the school was actually sending someone to him for assistance. He still felt the sting of his past actions every time he entered the Great Hall, and also whenever he entered the staff room.  It was like the other staff were judging him just because he walked into the room.

However, as he took the list from the boy, he was actually looking forward to seeing what all of this was about. As he looked over the list, he realized that three of the four books were among those he had donated to the library.  He knew that the Pepper boy was an eager learner and was always looking for something more to learn.

"You'll take extra care with the books then?" Draco asked him.  After all, Draco had donated those books to the library and most all of them were in pristine condition.  "If you promise that, then I have no problem giving my permission to you and you alone."

Draco held up his hand to acknowledge that he had heard the girl.  Truthfully, he hadn't been paying much attention to any of his students to really know their names by just seeing their faces.  Sure he was a little more attentive towards the Slytherins, but that was just how he was. 

"Yes, what did you need?" he asked the girl, trying not to let it show on his face that he currently wanted to be left alone. 

When the second knock sounded through the room, Draco ran his hand over his face and sighed.  He flicked his wand out of the wand holster and sent a spell towards the door to release the lock and open it slightly.  He didn't say anything, but hopefully that the person on the other side of the door would realize it.[1]

1.	Sorry that it's so short

As the pieces of broken glass from the potion vials slowly mended themselves together, Draco felt his temper receding just as slowly.  He knew that he shouldn't of let his anger get the best of him, but tonight he lost all the control he had painstakingly put together since the war ended.

Once the room was back in order where it looked like nothing happened Draco sat down in his office chair and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped what little trace of tears was left off of his face.  He took a few deep breaths and took off his over-robe.  He was glad he was in his office, he could afford being relaxed and not so put together.

The parchment he had by his door that was tied into the light ward he had placed there let him know there was a student outside.  Draco couldn't really be bothered to answer the door at the moment so he just sat behind his desk with his shirt untucked and his sleeves rolled up, his wand back into his arm holster on his lower arm.  He didn't want any company and he was pretty sure that whatever company he did admit into his office at the moment, would not end well.

Slamming open the door to his office, Draco just stood in the doorway for a moment.  He was breathing hard from his effort to maintain a calm demeanor as he left the Great Hall.  Although, right now, if his eyes could shoot out flames they probably would be.  Realizing that his actions could still be seen by anyone walking by his open door, he turned and closed the door as calmly as he could manage at the moment, which still managed to shake the walls on either side of the door as he closed it.

He really should of expected this... sooner or later something that reminded him of his mistakes in the past was going to happen.

He had let his guard down and now he had been publicly humiliated by a group of school children.

As much as Draco hated to admit, he actually had become used to being shamed or worse for his actions during the war.  Did people think he didn't hate himself for everything.  He had just been a kid, thinking he was going to get power or acclaim from joining the Dark Lord, but instead he got threatened at every turn.  Honestly he expected it every time he left his house.

But here, now that he was a Potions Master and working a credible job, he thought he might be given some peace of mind for a change. It was in this moment that he remembered, sometimes children can be cruel. He should know, he had been one of those cruel children.

His breathing had calmed down, but his anger still was roaring in his ears, Draco let out an angry shout and released some of his magic into the air.  He pulled his wand out of his arm holster and began to systematically destroy his office.  Flipping over his desk, smashing potions vials (that thankfully were empty), and basically lashing out at anything he could see in his office.  After a few minutes, he began to get tired. He hadn't used his magic for anything but brewing potions for years so the strain was almost too much.  Draco leaned back against the door of his office and sank slowly to the floor.

And then Draco did something he hadn't done since he was a very small child.... he lost control... and as much as he would never admit it to anyone and would most likely hex anyone who would suggest that it happened. His head leaned back to hit the wood of the door as a few tears slipped out of his eyes and fell down his cheeks to land on his robes.  Draco brushed them away, but hated that he'd let even a few fall. 

After what seemed like forever, Draco stood up, wiped his face off on the sleeve of his robe (his mother would be horrified at the action), and set himself to the task of repairing the damage he'd done to his office.

Draco was so wrapped up in trying to get out of the Hall before losing his temper on a bunch of kids when he ran smack into someone.  And while he had been grown up for quite a while now, when he heard her question, his mother's training kicked in and he immediately offered her his hand.  It was instinctual.

Although, once she had stood up, he released her hand quickly.  "Move." he said quietly, as she was currently standing in front of him after he helped her up.  He didn't want to make a scene right here where all the students and professors could see.   He really just wanted to get back to his rooms and drown himself in Firewhiskey or Scotch, whichever bottle was closer to the chair he passed out in.

"Please." he added, knowing on some level he should still be polite, she wasn't the one who put the stupid symbol in the air above him.  It had to of been a student... He really wanted to find out who had done it and punish them accordingly, but in a last ditch effort to regain some of his dignity, he stood up straight, moved to the side of the woman in front of him and with a fixed gait, walked past her and down towards his rooms.

As the gestures and laughter got more noticeable, Draco finally had enough and looked around fast enough that he almost fell out of his chair, but he'd gotten enough of a glimpse of it to know that whatever it was, it looked roughly like a Dark Mark...

In his mind he was coming up with all kinds of brutal detention when he found out who was responsible.  He'd tried so very hard to forget that time in his life, yet it still seemed to pop up at the most inconvenient times.  Like now, when he was holding onto the last shred of his temper to keep it from lashing out and making a mess of things.

Draco tried to ignore it, the whispers, the laughter, but it was all too much.  He stood up so fast that his chair fell backwards and landed on the floor with a loud noise.  Although it probably sounded louder to him, since his head was pounding with anger.  All of the lessons on manners and how to behave he'd received while growing up were being put to the test to keep his temper in check at least until he left the Hall.

And in his anger, he'd forgotten there was a door that was much closer than the double ones at the end of the Hall.  He could of been out of there and headed back to his rooms sooner, but instead, he stalked down the steps from the platform which the professor's table rested on, and reminiscent of a previous Potions Professor, walked down through the middle of the Hall with his robe swirling around his feet as he walked.

He was super focused 0n the doors to the Great Hall, so much that he wasn't paying attention to anything else in the room.  He just needed to get out of there.... and in a hurry.  Before he did something that he would regret... and get him fired from his position.

So caught up in his own want to be back in the privacy of his rooms, Draco didn't register the noise at first.  He took a drink of his water and happened to look up as he was setting the goblet back down onto the table.  Laughter.

When he finally focused on the noise, he realized that the laughter was accompanied by staring children, some of them pointing towards where he was sitting.  He looked around as subtly as he could but there was nothing out of the ordinary in front of him.  Turning slowly, he looked behind his chair and there was something behind him.  Whatever it was had moved when he looked, but he did catch a sickly green trail of smoke, but he couldn't quite make out what the shape was.

The spoiled brat he was in his youth reared it's ugly head deep in his mind, but his outward appearance hadn't changed at all, minus a tinge of red around the cheeks.  No, he was not embarrassed, he was angry.

In the public eye he was used to it.  The taunts, the glares, the hateful words, even the occasional parent would pull their child out of his sight as he walked by.  It had been happening for as long as he could remember and quite frankly those things didn't even phase him anymore.  But here, he had thought he would escape the stigmatism of the tattoo on his left arm.  He was a professor here, a master of the art of potion-brewing. 

But it seemed, even though he was out of the public eye while he was here, his past was coming back to haunt him.