November 5, 2009
7:00pm


Nightingale Kesali, had a little free time in a pub today, speaking with a stranger, and found his answer in a book he read. He had come back his office with a cold chill just before the weather turned bitter, and he settled in his desk with a slump. Curling his feet beneath him he wrapped his sweater around his shoulders and dove into his own private studies--waiting for his students to arrive.

The rains fell heavy and imprisoning as they tumbled one drop at a time over the thin windows of his office. The high ceilings seemed a tomb as the heavy downfall rushed above, but with the fire burning warmly in the expanse of the hearth Gale had fought himself to keep his promise of detention. He felt so very worn, and the cold air mixed with the rain made him feel so very small. A heavy feeling pressed to his chest, the disappointment getting the better of him. He was young, and he understood that this would be tough. But he just wanted them to succeed, and thrive off of each other. A lot has changed since he was a student, and without the ever threat of a war growing in the darkness, he realized they didn’t have as much to fear as he did. They don’t have as much to let go of. Bonds were made those fateful years, the sort that could never be broken, and as he curled now in the large stuffed chair at his desk he thought of how many were seated here before him.

One by one they started to file in, and he was thankful they read the sign.


Hell, even his lettering seemed hurt. Scratched really with half anger, and half disappointment. Softly, he had a bit of muggle music playing, the quiet cool jazz tones a somber addition to his mood, but it was perfect for the atmosphere he was trying to suggest.

Nightingale, finally settled into his chambers, his living space above the office, and the decoration complete. It felt like home, one that he had never known, but something that was finally—his. It was something he could be proud of, just as his place in life, and he loved for the first time since his lover was killed. He loved these children as if they were his own, but he couldn’t truly care for them if they didn’t take the time to care for themselves. Or others.

“Take a seat,” He spoke without giving them a look, or raising his eyes from the large book of charms. “Help yourself. We'll start when everyone gets here.”

The seating area for the students made up of a few old Victorian style sofas, wing backed arm chairs, and thick cushions all aligned elegantly over a decorative rug. But on the coffee table there in the middle, a bit of parchment was stacked along side a kettle of spiced cider, steaming with little phantoms, and apple biscuits—that he baked himself. Suzy Homemaker this one. Naturally.

Zoe's hair is currently pink from a worm.

It had been a day since Zoe was assigned her detention, and just spent the whole time wondering how miserable she'd up up. Would it really be worth shoving worm guts in Casey's face? Alright, very little wasn't worth shoving worm guts in the Slytherin's face. However, with the requirement of a writing utensil the Ravenclaw suspected lines, which would be no trouble at all.

It was a shame that after a day the pink had not worn off. The girl had spent the whole previous night trying to use Color-Changing Charms on her hair, even at one point having Lily bring hair dye to her dorm, but nothing could penetrate the effects of the worm. The rosy color still framed her face.

Zoe walked into Kesali's office, her usual bag not with her. Her Color-Changing Quill was in one pocket of her robe, her wand in the other. "Good evening Professor," she greeted with a bow of her head. Might as well be polite while she was here. At least she was there before the others, which showed that she accepted the detention and didn't try to sneak out of it.

The young witch sat on one of the couches, not daring to move towards the food. Professor Kesali was too kind, offering refreshments at detention, there was no way she'd take advantage of this. Zoe removed the quill from her robe, devoting her full attention to fiddling with the tip of the feather.

Alvis arrived a few minutes after Zoe did, slightly out of breath with a quill tucked behind one of his ears. It leaked a little, leaving a splotch of ink on his neck that matched the similar stains on his hands. It was nothing new. He tended to be particularly ink-stained, particularly when he got so caught up in a new bout of inspiration (like the Runes project he planned to forge this weekend) that he lost track of the time.

Upon arriving at Professor Kesali's office, he was a bit surprised to find Zoe still pink-haired. Not that looked bad on her -- honestly, though it wasn't her usual style, the color was quite striking -- but it did make him worry about the worm's lasting effects. Poor Casey had practically grown seeds in his reaction. And poor Angie Lemon, was she stuck too?

He swallowed those concerns for now and nodded to the teacher politely. "Hello, Professor. I hope I'm not late."

Though he wasn't entirely fond of apples, he took a few of the offered biscuits to be polite and, without really thinking about it, took the seat next to Zoe. The couch was just large enough that they didn't touch, which was good...he thought. This was detention, after all. He gave the girl a flickering little smile in greeting before turning his attention forward, nibbling a biscuit and completely oblivious to the fact that his quill was still leaking onto the collar of his shirt.

Bloody detentions. Ambrose had a face like a sour lemon as he stomped his way up to the office. He could be heard coming.

On reaching the doorway he could see Alvis and Zoe already within, and it looked more like some cozy little coffee morning than a detention. Great, that meant one of those emotional or weird moments where a Professor attempted to 'understand your problems' or 'be your friend'. Both gave Ambrose the chills, he'd almost go as far as saying he'd prefer the cold ways of the Durmstrang tutors in comparison just to avoid the surrogate parent act.

Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Ambrose slipped into the office, and eyeing the items on the desk, elected not to partake, and took a seat in an armchair, his eyes moving from the Professor to his classmates, to the door. Whatever they had to do, he was going to do it quickly, so he could get out of there and be rid of them.

Besides, he had other detentions to get to this week.

Casey was absolutely miserable. It was a feeling as close to the Slytherin as a conjoined twin, all his life when attention was called to his allergies and weaknesses. He was still pink from the lesson with the 'strawberry poisoning' worms, like an unnatural sunburn. At least no new boils had formed though the remaining were egg sized lumps that looked like strawberries smushed on his skin. His house tie and collar were loose on his neck where three dotted the circumference. What was more humiliating, if a boil burst or Casey sweated too hard he perspired a sticky red jam, luckily not an exact match to the related food allergen.

There was always suspicions in the back of the Slytherin's mind, especially when it came to 'punishments' that appeared to be rewards or comforts. Much like the upbringing he had under his grandparents. As such Casey chose a single seat and avoided the apple foodstuffs on the table, akin to how he avoided any food he didn't know the origins of.

Instead he took out a very lavish quill, worth more a complete book list for school. Casey valued the practicality of it more than the image of wealth it portrayed. The point could be twisted to different sizes, it never ran out of ink and light brushing with the exotic feather could erase previous writing.

As he sat Casey made sure he was looking at no one in particular. Adding to his misery was that this detention denied him an Occlumency lesson with Professor Storm and the Deputy Head would not excuse a student from punishment to have advanced training.

Zoe smiled back at Alvis, giggling when he turned his head. She could easily see the blotch of ink. She placed her own quill back in her robe. "Oh, Alvis, you're getting ink all over yourself!" The Ravenclaw plucked the quill out from behind his ear, ignoring a drop of ink hitting her hand.

Zoe drew her wand and pointed it at the splatter of ink. "Hold still. Tergeo." With a movement of her wand the ink was gone. Zoe held out the boy's quill to him with a smile, putting her wand in her lap. If anyone had observed the girl before Alvis walked in they might have noticed her mood seemed to improve once her housemate sat next to her.

Ambrose arriving brought little reaction, but as soon as Casey arrived Zoe looked down. She couldn't bare to look at him as he was. That was her doing. Well, Naomi had started it, praise her for not getting noticed and assigned detention. Yet the Ravenclaw still carried the burden of feeling it was her fault.

Zoe bit her lower lip, turning her head towards Alvis but still keeping her eyes down. "I feel horrible about what happened to Casey. I-I had no idea..." she whispered. The Slytherin was allergic to everything, she should have expected this. "I would apologize, but he'd probably punch me or yell at me. It's not like I can undo what I did either way. Well, my mum could probably lessen the effects of the allergy, but he'd have to go to St. Mungo's for that." The girl bit her lip again to keep herself from saying anymore, and suddenly became very interested with her feet.

Everyone seemed there that would come, though his disappointment showed as he knew a few others were guilty, but they opted out of doing the right thing…again. This class he swore was to be the death of him, but when he lifted his face momentarily his moon colored hair covered his bad eye that was without his patch. A frame of silver glasses rested on the end of his nose, but he pulled them off.

“There are a few books beneath the table, you will all need something to write on. Please take out your quills, and get a few sheets of paper.” He spoke in between rubbing the bridge of his nose to stave away a headache. Gale closed the book on his lap, slipped his little feet back inside his slippers and moved to cover tie a sash of silk around his blind eye so that way he could be seated amongst them without being a distraction.

“Starting with the person directly beside you on your left, Alvis to Zoe, Zoe to Ambrose, Ambrose to Casey, and Casey to Alvis. I want you to write five complete sentences. A paragraph of nothing but nice things. And ‘You have great pink hair.’ Doesn’t count. As a matter of fact I don’t want any physical descriptions at all. And then when you are finished with all of your paragraphs, put your pen down.’

‘You are not dismissed, but this way I can know you are finished.”

"Huh? Oh..." Alvis's cheeks dusted a light pink as Zoe plucked the leaking quill from behind his ear. It darkened when she used a spell to clean him up. "Thanks. I didn't even notice."

He took back his quill and twisted the nub back into place so it wouldn't leak as much anymore. When Zoe spoke of Casey, Alvis's eyes slid briefly over to the Slytherin. He caught a wiff of general misery and quickly averted his gaze. "I don't think he'd punch you. Physical violence isn't really his style. He might hex you though." And he would definitely yell, or at least berate, although that was nothing new. "Don't worry. He'll be all right. Unhappy, but all right."

He wanted to say more -- change the subject, offer his spare biscuit, do something that would clear away her gloom -- but that was when Professor Kesali moved to speak, so Alvis fell silent, giving the teacher his full attention.

Their assignment was...interesting, though it seemed a bit too easy. Alvis suspected that it was just the first step of something more. He retrieved two of the indicated books from under the table, handed one to Zoe, and spread a fresh sheet of parchment over the hard surface. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before he began writing.

Zoe was easy, almost embarrassingly so. Even if he did as the Professor asked and left out the fact that she was pretty, she was still kind and smart and noble, willing to stand up for people and help everyone, even house-elves. Casey wasn't too hard either. He wasn't nearly as bad as he made himself out to be. The only trick was picking out facts that wouldn't embarrass or anger him later, like his ingenuity, his drive to succeed, and his skills as a duelist.

But Pepper? Alvis didn't have anything nice to say about Ambrose Pepper. After three and a half years of school, Alvis could count the number of times they'd interacted on one hand, and those ranged from ambivalent to genuinely unpleasant. With only this last paragraph to go Alvis hesitated, nibbling anxiously on the feather-tip of his quill. Nothing. He couldn't come up with anything, save for generic blather about hard work that he didn't really believe. He tried channeling someone who actually liked the Gryffindor and only came up with Winifred Oliver, which was even worse -- Oliver made Alvis's head hurt just by walking into the room.

Alvis removed his glasses for a moment and rubbed his temple to kill a minor twinge before it could start. With the lenses still off, he scribbled down the first mess of half-true compliments that he could think of. His paragraph for Ambrose was less than a third as long as the other two, with the sentence structure of an eight-year-old. But it would have to do. Alvis set down his quill and folded his hand over the parchment, waiting for the others to finish up.

Ambrose gathered his paper and stared at each of his detention-mates in turn, thinking.

Five sentences on each. This was hell.

Casey

Ambrose narrowed his eyes and contemplated the boy beside him with his disgusting strawberry ailment. O'Doherty, what pleasant things could he say about him? They'd never seen eye to eye in four and a bit years. He wasn't able to use physical compliments, which was probably for the best with this one.

Casey is clever.

That was one sentence down, admittedly three words, but, a sentence. Couldn't lie that the boy certainly had an answer for everything.

Casey is loyal to his house.

Excellent, he could use that for each of them. Two down, three to go on this intolerably smart-arsed Slytherin. He stared intently at the Slytherin while the others stared at each other in turn.

Casey loves his house elf.

Was that a compliment? He would risk it.

Casey studies hard.

Well, he'd never seen him turn in homework late, so he assumed that to be true. Ah, excellent that would be another good one.

Casey always delivers.

Five. Ambrose smiled faintly. Perhaps this wasn't as bad as he thought. Alvis next then? It took a while to work on Alvis apart from the Alvis is a true Ravenclaw which he figured might slip past as a rephrasing of loyalty to his house. Alvis is a good friend to others. Beautifully generic, that would do. Three more. Alvis is considerate. Ambrose was now plucking adjectives out of thin air and applying them. Alvis is polite. Hmph. Alis is helpful.

And finally, Zoe. Zoe is a team player. Zoe works hards in lessons. Zoe ... He squinted at her under her pink hair. Thinking back to the menagerie. He'd tried to chat her up.
Zoe is kind to animals. Zoe is friendly. Zoe is clever. Eugh, it all sounded so false. If it had been a paragraph on Winnie he could have written ten.

Adding the final full stop, he dropped his quill down on the parchment and looked up to the one-eyed professor, hoping for an easy way out.

The Ravenclaw gave Alvis a smile before turning her attention to Kesali. She knew he was trying to make her feel better. So not lines, compliments. Zoe suspected this wouldn't be too hard. "Thanks," the girl said as she excepted the needed supplies from Alvis.

First up, Ambrose. The first thing Zoe thought of was the menagerie. You are very intelligent when it comes to animals. She wrote down a few others things she immediately thought of. You are hardworking and persistent, even when you make mistakes. Even if I don't seem to appreciate it, you do have a good sense of humor. What else was there? She thought back to potions, how he made her practically be a babysitter. He had a child-like innocence. There is a certain innocence to you I enjoy. She finished it off with a plain sentence. You are kind.

Casey. This would be the one that killed her. Zoe looked up at the boy, big mistake, instant guilt, and looked back down. Ok, what were some of the things that made him a jerk in her eyes? How could they be made a compliment? You are always quick-thinking, whether it be spells or insults. You are a good duelist. Good so far. You are always willing to test limits and boundaries, simple bravery. Though, this is what she would consider stupidity. No matter. Hmm... well she had to admit, he did usually know what he was talking about. You are smart, well practiced when it comes to spells. Now, what did Alvis see in him? Zoe sat for a minute or so, thinking through the last sentence, before writing it with as much truth as she could. You have feelings, a heart, no matter how hard you try to hide it, though whether they are for yourself or others is for you to decide. Let's see how he reacted to that.

Alvis, this was easy. Without stopping to think she became four sentences deep. You are very kind and care about others. You are humble, and treat others with respect. I know there is someone wonderful under your shell of shyness. You know how to make a person feel better. These were things she had gotten just talking with him the previous day. The fifth sentence was the one that made her stop, contemplating if she should really go through with her idea. She did. You are the only boy in our year I'd happily associate with.

Reading over her sentences once more, Zoe put her quill down. At least most of them didn't sound too forced, and most of the sentences had some length to them. Hopefully this would be all the detention held.

Snakes to Salazar, it was going to be one of those detentions. One of the Professor forcing them to compliment each other. Not that Casey had experienced this specific mediation but he had learned of the type of reprimand, mainly by how ineffective it was according to his family and early tutors.

Casey scowled at his blank parchment, at a loss for what really to write. Alvis he could start with, that would be the easiest. Excluding how Casey didn't want to be seen as having a 'relationship' with Norling, however that was being framed, he much preferred the Ravenclaw's company over anyone else. He wrote without pause.

Alvis Norling is highly intelligent and inventive. When working at a problem he sticks to it and sees possible issues and solutions. His muggle knowledge is arguably useful for a broader definition of the work at hand. He is respectful of others though he also feels for others. The biggest sign of humility is when someone apologizes to an elf.

None of that should point to any of their secret project...as far as it had stagnated with bumps in the road like school and Norling's...obtrusive empathy, the best phrase Casey had for it.

Who next? Torret. Oh joy. Casey briefly glanced her way but missed any sign of her guilty conscious. What to write about Torret? He didn't mean to seek her out no mater what conspiracy against her she was preaching. The Halloween prank and been an opportunity, he hadn't known who it was until it was already underway. During Charms he had only overlooked her presence in his efforts to succeed. However, she was still annoying and self righteous. Casey began to write.

Torret believes her ways are best and is very pushy about arguing you into agreeing with her. It must be something to do with Ravenclaw.

Casey brushed the words away with the fluff of his quill. He wouldn't be able to pass that off as a compliment. His struggle was rooted in the lengthy school experience of he and Zoe not getting along. What was there to say about someone who specifically hated just you? How could Casey...his train of thought took a different track. There had been a time when he had bypassed her bias against him. When Casey had been presented as a stranger, Hexy, and while inquisitive Torret had not been prompted to react harshly as she would upon seeing Casey.

Torret is compassionate in her views, a compassion kept strong by stubbornness. However she is generous, even to strangers. She would go out of her way to not inconvenience anyone, even an elf. This is due from the concern she has for others, usually regardless of past history. Plus she is in Ravenclaw, for her a manifestation of plenty of common sense.

He looked over those words again and again to make sure there was nothing revealing. His insight, while received during a little masquerade could be repeated. Zoe was usually like this when she wasn't dealing with Casey so he couldn't be marked suspicious for taking an observation in class and inferring the intent behind it, as he would answer if asked.

That left Ambrose.

Ambrose is an idiot. He can barely cast a spell and rarely bothers to pay attention, much preferring to open his fat mouth with distracting fantasies. He's an utterly pathetic excuse for a Gryffindor.

Once again all was erased. What the hell was he going to write about Ambrose? Casey didn't have a previous agreement of mutual benefit or a fresh perspective like he had with the other two. Pepper had served to become only more annoying with this school year. Casey was still tempted to enact vengeance on Pepper for all the trouble he had caused. There was not a positive thing he could say about the Gryffindor, let alone five.

It must be stress free living in Pepper-world.

Punctuated by a long pause of contemplation.

Supposedly he looks out for his younger brother. T-something in a lower year

Casey cleaned up that sentence and struggled for more. Pepper was becoming the hardest one to write about. Come the time that the scratchings from the others writing faded to silence, Casey would be writing or erasing every few moments trying to expand on Pepper's qualities until he ultimately was fed up with doing so.

Ambrose noticed that he, Alvis and Zoe were all finished with their quills set down, but the fourth member of their detention party continued to write, and erase, and rewrite, and erase again.

"For Merlin's sake Casey, just hurry up will you? We're all stuck here waiting while you try to cram how much you love Alvis into five sentences." The Gryffindor muttered irritated by the time it was taking the Slytherin to complete the task. For all of Casey's enormous brain power he should have dashed off the task in a minute or so, not this year long wait.

Grumpy, Ambrose folded his arms and scowled at Casey.

It was in the middle of this passage:

Pepper is an integral lynchpin for comparison of grades within the classroom. His presence within his dormitory provides work for the laundry crew. Without him the class size would be an odd number.

That Pepper became annoying again. This lavish quill did not snap under Casey's grip as his face grew harsh and eyes fierce, piercing Pepper in their gaze. It would be a simple motion to hex the ill timed Gryffindor so that his ears spun about his head. Or worse.

But then Casey had a different inspiration. As this was detention he would receive further trouble for hexing Pepper. So instead his darkened face relaxed, smoothed, then took on catlike features with a slight but dangerous smile.

"Oh, I'm not writing about Alvis," Casey said with a gently amused tone. "I've already finished writing about him. As you may recall I was prompted to start with him. I'm actually taking considerable contemplation figuring how to write about you, Ambrose, so it doesn't sound like you're at the top of a hit-list. Sorry for the delay but you leave me with little material to fit the parameters of the discipline, what with your misplaced judgement call. Wait, never mind, I've got a last sentence. You're getting six, lucky you."

Ambrose Pepper's penchant for baseless gossip would prime him for a successful career writing for Witch Weekly, or The Quibbler.

"And I'm pretty sure I didn't give you permission to speak, much less spit out insults to your classmates, Pepper." Gale spoke without hesitation, seeming bored already, "And the more you bicker the longer we will be in here. Seriously. What are you five? You think this is where I want to spend my evenings? No. No it's not." He turned the page of his book,

"What you should really be more concerned about is that it's taking this long to write five nice little things, Casey." He sighed, but straightened in his chair.

"So ok, let's change the rules. Turn the papers over, and now list three. And only three things you feel that your classmates could approve upon, and then...when you are finished you can write one thing that you absolutely can't stand about one another." The truth hurts. "But don't repeat anything that which you write, and when you are finished put your name on the corner and leave. Until then. No talking."

Zoe ignored the bickering between Casey and Ambrose, honestly, couldn't one be pleasant for at least fifteen minutes, looking over at Alvis instead. What was it with the whole 'Casey and Alvis' thing? She gave Alvis a sympathetic look for having to be brought into it without him doing anything.

Yes. Finally. Now she could be a jerk to everyone. This would be fun. Zoe turned over the parchment quickly, smiling.

Ambrose would be easy. First to write the thing she couldn't stand. You are way too absent-minded. Now for the list. 1. You should really think before you speak. 2. You need to start actually listening to directions. The second one was written with Potions class in mind. 3. Don't bring Al classmates into things they didn't get themselves in. Even if you don't like them. This was obviously written with Alvis in mind.

No, Alvis next? Couldn't she just skip to Casey, whom she could easily write a novel on? Zoe stared at the parchment, glanced at her housemate, and thought. Was there anything about him she couldn't stand? You .... uh.... You don't stand up for yourself, or not well anyway. Good enough. 1. Work on not getting ink all over yourself. Yeah... that could pass. How about what had happened in Charms class? 2. Concentrate when you cast spells. That sounded like something from one of her tutoring sessions with Winnie. Blimey... 3. If you get nervous or embarrassed in a situation or around someone don't let that hold you back.

Finally, Casey. If Professor Kesali hadn't capped it at three the Ravenclaw would have spent the whole night here. You have no consideration for anyone but yourself. Ok, there was probably a better thing she couldn't stand, but that would have to do. 1. It's okay to apologize, to be in the wrong, work on it. 2. There might be people out there that actually care about you that aren't trying to get anything out of it. Just be thankful. Another thing written with Alvis in mind. 3. Think before you speak. Don't say the most aggravating things in most situations.

This time there wasn't a point in reading it over, it was supposed to be offensive. Zoe simply signed her name at the top left-hand corner, walked over to return the book to the table, and placed her parchment on Kesali's desk. Wordlessly, she calmly walked out of the office, before running the rest of the way up to the Ravenclaw common room. Detention was over.