The Ravenclaw still wasn't sure what, exactly, he would be asking or saying when the Runes professor beckoned him into the office.  But, Sasha stepped through the door and closed it behind him when invited anyway. 

"Ma'am," Sasha offered in greeting, with a slight nod.  "Can I have a moment of your time?" 

Sasha knew this wasn't entirely appropriate.  There was simply no way he could pretend what he had to discuss was at all official or academics related.  It was personal and Professor Trishna was probably the only other professor Sasha would consider discussing something this casual with.  What more, he knew how high society worked and, even if that Durmstranger hadn't actually asked Abby to the Yule Ball, that didn't necessarily mean he could.  And, chances were, even if he did, Abby would just see it as a fun chance to hang out at school. 

Chances were, he should just leave well enough alone.  Perhaps, he was just simply a glutton for punishment and he was just being foolish.  Yet, here he was. 

"I ... I was hoping to ask you something.  It's not really school related.  More, you know, about Abby.  And, her ... situation." 

"Yes, of course Mr. Schlagenweit." Aileen smiled at the Ravenclaw, shuffling her midterm plans and setting them to the side. He rarely needed to visit her for his schoolwork, though she was happy to see him when he did.

"Her situation?" Aileen repeated with a touch of wariness. "You’ll need to be more specific. A situation with Abby could mean she’s chipped a nail or wandered into an ancient tomb.”

No ancient tombs in her neighborhood! But surely Sasha remembered Abby’s adventures in Egypt.

The professor set her quill down and gave him her full attention, worried that there was something happening with her sister to cause the normally unobtrusive boy to seek her out. Unlike the last time he’d come to discuss Abby, he didn’t even bother to pretend he was here about career counseling or Runes.

The Ravenclaw couldn't help but blush, slightly, as he grinned and nodded at Professor Reid's description.  For once, he was grateful for his ability to blush at the slightest of provocations - enough so that any stray blushes didn't mean much on their own. 

But, Professor Reid did have a very good point.  With Abby, a chipped nail could be a major situation while wandering into a tomb simply an intriguing curiosity.  But, the grin was short-lived and faded into a slight scowl as he lowered himself into a chair. 

"I ... well, the ... Brunn situation."  Sasha watched Professor Reid closely for a moment, looking for any indication that that was where Sasha should leave the conversation where it was.  If he was crossing a proverbial line, he figured it'd be evident and he could abort the attempt before getting too far in. 

Sasha glanced down at his hands and shrugged.  He tried to sound casual, as if the question was just an offhanded curiosity.  "Have you, you know, heard anything from Abby about him asking her to the Yule Ball?  Or, if she's hoping he will?" 

A genuine grin from Sasha was nice to see. The blush she attributed to his usual mannerisms. At the  mention of Tyr Brunn, Aileen glanced at her desk for a moment, her expression clouding over.

Tyr asking Abby to the Yule Ball? Merlin, she hoped not.

"I've not heard anything, no," she replied quietly. Abby hadn't mentioned him once in the past few weeks. Instead she'd been chattering about Roger, which Aileen found almost as worrisome.

"Though if he plans on asking, he'd better not do it at the last minute." Her mouth thinned. Staff could take outside dates, but could students? Aileen needed to check with the Headmistress and see if a squib would even be allowed to go. The more time she had to do it, the better.

"Mr. Brunn hasn't mentioned anything to you, has he?" Aileen's eyebrows drew together, so wrapped up in the 'Brunn situation' that she failed to realize Sasha was sitting here gossiping with her. Not Neely. Not Naomi. But Sasha.

Sasha pursed his lips and nodded, slightly.  So, Professor Reid hadn't heard anything and Jacoba hadn't heard anything.  Secretive wasn't really Abby's demeanor of choice - Sasha possessed more than enough of that for both of them.  If Abby had already been asked to the ball, Sasha was certain she would have shouted it off the rooftop so Professor Reid, Jacoba and every neighbor for a three mile radius knew.  It was an assumption but a seemingly safe assumption - if neither his sister nor professor had heard of it, it probably hadn't happened. 

There was still a margin of error - but a very, very small one.  With the first (and, arguably, easier) question behind him, Sasha tried to figure out how best to ask the second. 

"No," he answered with a slight scowl.  He typically avoided Brunn - he wasn't even sure if the Durmstranger was aware of him.  Which was highly unlikely given Abby's fondness for gossip.  "I - I don't really ... I ignore him as much as I can."  Which hadn't been hard, given his workload and ... extracurricular activities. 

The Ravenclaw shrugged, slightly.  "Do you think she's hoping he will?  I mean, if he doesn't ask ... or she had an alternative, do you think it'd be ... too inappropriate?"

Aileen raised her eyebrows, studying his face. He didn’t like this Tyr Brunn, that much was obvious, since she’d never heard him admit to avoiding a fellow student before. Was it mere tournament rivalry? Aileen doubted it. Rivalry of another sort? That seemed more likely.

When he mentioned an alternative, her eyebrows inched higher.

“Abby would be thrilled to go at all.” Whether it be with Tyr, Sasha, or a one-eared gnome, Aileen felt sure she’d jump for joy. These past few weeks, she’d been trying to ‘help’ Aileen with her dating prospects, her gown, and the types of dances she'd be doing as a professor. Though it got annoying, it also broke her heart a little - that half-frozen chip in her chest that went thump thump.

“I certainly wouldn’t find it inappropriate. In fact, you might say I’d be glad if someone else invited her.”

The corners of her mouth curved up slightly. Instead of her usual smirk or polite smile, she looked genuinely pleased.

Almost in unison, Sasha's face grew a progressively deeper shade of red as Professor Reid's brows rose further on her forehead.  Hearing Abby would be thrilled to go wasn't all that surprising.  Of course, in an ideal fantasy world, the answer would have been: Sasha.  Abby would love to go with you.  But, this wasn't an ideal fantasy world and Sasha assumed Abby still didn't count him as That One That Stands Out Amongst the Pack of Boys. 

He wasn't even entirely sure he was included in the pack of boys in the first place. 

But, he couldn't stand the thought that he wasn't included in that field but Brunn was.  So, he usually didn't linger on the thought. 

Sasha became suddenly aware that he'd been sitting in wordless thought for a little longer than usual and grinned, awkwardly and tried to refocus on what Professor Reid was saying.  "I ... you wouldn't?"  Sasha asked, not entirely sure if she knew he meant himself. 

Half-expecting the pleased look to turn to quite the opposite, Sasha continued.  "You'd really be glad if ... someone else asked?  I mean ... if, for instance, I were to ask her, do you think it'd be possible?  Do you think she really likes him?" 

"I can't say how she feels about Tyr," Aileen admitted only half-truthfully, politely ignoring his red face, his long silences, and his questioning grin.

That was all she would say about the Durmstrang boy. As much as she liked and respected Sasha, some family matters were meant to be private.

"And I can't guarantee without a doubt that she would agree to go with you," she lifted her hands up. Aileen took no responsibility for the flightiness of her teenage sister!

"But in my personal opinion," she paused, folding her hands on her desk. "If you asked, Mr. Schlagenweit, I couldn't imagine her saying no."

A rare, gentle smile settled on her face for a brief moment. Part of her wanted to say go for it, but that simply wasn't her nature, and the Runes professor had a feeling he would understand. He had her approval - at least for the Yule Ball!

The Ravenclaw scowled, momentarily confused and surprised by the Professor's answer.  Though he had been hoping for some little clue or hint that pursing this was a good idea or a horribly bad idea, he wasn't surprised by the lack of information about Brunn.  So, that hadn't been the source of confusion. 

It had been the gentle nudge of encouragement and the smile.  That hadn't, exactly, been what he was asking - his question really had been a much more mundane one about general feasibility.  Not ... not asking if she thought he should ask her. 

The confused scowl quickly morphed into a broad grin, followed by another deep blush.  Almost as quickly, Sasha straightened up and resituated himself in his chair, trying to resume a more context-appropriate, business-like demeanor. 

"I - um ... no," Sasha asked, finding the more mundane question that he'd originally asked much less exciting the second time around.  Especially after the answer the professor had offered. 

"I mean, do you think it'd be possible.  That they'd let her allow her to come?  I don't want to get her hopes up for nothing." 

She'd been so looking forward to Abby and Sasha going together (and disrupting her parent's plans in the process), that for once, practicalities slipped her mind.

"I'll speak to the Headmistress. I'd imagine it would largely be up to her," she nodded. "I don't forsee any difficulties, but I should be able to let you know in a day or two."

Aileen paused, appreciating his thoughtfulness. Perhaps he had already thought about how to ask Abby, but if not...

"Just in time for the Hogsmeade weekend. The shops will look lovely this time of year."

She donned her most innocent expression, unable to help herself. Abby would have a giggle fit if she could hear her now.

Sasha nodded, offering a grateful grin.  "Thank you, ma'am.  I appreciate that." 

Again, he nodded with, yet, another blush rising in his cheeks.  "We'll be meeting up over the weekend," he confirmed. This was, obviously, a given.  It felt like it had been ages since the last time they'd seen each other during the previous Hogsmeade weekend.  Not having Abby around all the time had been easily one of the hardest parts of transitioning back to school.

"It would be nice if we could have some snow by then but it's not looking promising."  And, that could be, perhaps, a bit cliche. 

Then, it occurred to him.  The comment hadn't actually been a casual inquiry about the upcoming weekend.  Was she really making recommendations for how Sasha should ask Abby?  Sasha's brows shot up on his forehead. 

"I - yes...I'm sure it'll be lovely.  I figure we could get some coffee and I could, you know, recommend the idea.  And, hope she likes the idea." 

Aileen nodded at his thank you, finding the frequent blushing rather sweet. She expected he would meet up with Abby. Likely they'd made plans for it this summer - a bit of an exaggeration, but still.

Coffee and recommending the idea? Why did she imagine him going about it in a very roundabout way, until finally Abby caught on and pounced on him?

"You could do that," she conceded.

"Or," Aileen clasped her hands together near her face, but didn't yet rest her chin on them.

"If you feel more daring, you could try something more elaborate." She sounded as if she were discussing a Runes project, yet her smile, a small mischievous smile, was not one the students saw often.

"Write it out in the snow if there is any, or something equally silly," she shrugged, then realized that she'd just called it silly. "She loves grand gestures," Aileen waved her hand in the air. "Perhaps you could give her clues or hints all over town? Make a game of it?"

Really, professionally, Aileen should just let the poor boy do this his own way. But she never got a chance to turn the tables and plot against her younger sister! This was too much fun.

Daring was usually not an adjective one associated with Sasha.  Or, when making recommendations to the Ravenclaw.  Surprise and confusion registered, briefly, in the boy's expression but, a moment later, it was replaced with a slight grin. 

"More elaborate?" he repeated, chewing his lip slightly.  "Make it an even bigger surprise?  I - yes, she probably would like that kind of thing." 

And, of course, Abby deserved it and would probably be thrilled by it.  The only question was whether she wanted it from him.  If there was one thing movies taught boys, it was either elaborate plans like these worked really well or went horribly wrong.  There was usually no middle ground. 

"So, you don't think it'd be too ... inappropriate?" he asked, hesitantly.  "To ask in a not-really-casual way?  I mean, given-  The more elaborate it is, the more likely she is to know ... the less it's just ... "  Sasha shifted awkwardly in his seat. 

Obviously, she didn't think it was too inappropriate.  Or she wouldn't have recommended it.  Unless, of course, she thought it was casual, too.  Sasha grinned, again, and nodded.  "Ja.  I can do that.  I can think of something.  It's like the party planning.  Or, the parts that don't involve other people.  Which, I'm better at anyway."

Sasha’s crush on Abby couldn’t have been more obvious if it had been coming from a guileless Hufflepuff or blunt Gryffindor. His enthusiasm now only confirmed her suspicions. Aileen had not actually known before this meeting that he liked her sister romantically – she had assumed he was still going through an odd, experimental stage that, frankly, she didn’t understand and didn’t want to.

Aileen smiled back, hiding the concerns now forming. She had no idea whether Abby returned his feelings, and did not want to encourage him only to see him get hurt. She knew she’d be risking her mother’s wrath, allowing Abby to go to the ball with Sasha, and that she risked serious feelings developing between the two teenagers. But she did feel that Abby would appreciate the gesture, and wanted to make the whole occasion special for her.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help set things up,” she nodded. “You might need to plan for some extra space around you in case she tries for a running tackle.” Aileen paused. “Or is it a tackle-hug?”

Whatever it was she heard around the corridors from those Salem students!

Was Professor Reid asking him about the ins and outs of casual colloquial terms? 

That concern, of course, was of secondary importance to the other.  (With luck)  He needed to be prepared for whatever exuberant response it might prompt. 

Which, all this meant he had to come up with some unique, unexpected way to ask Abby to accompany him to the Yule Ball.  And, get said plan organized and ready to go.  All of which would need to happen in the next three days.

Sasha blinked and glanced around the classroom.  He was wasting time.  "I ... thank you, ma'am.  For your time.  But, I ... I think I can figure something out.  If I need help-"  it would make sense to ask, of course.  Except, that might be blurring the line between 'Professor' and 'Abby's sister' a bit too much. 

"Thank you," Sasha repeated, getting to his feet and hoisting his bag to his shoulder and heading towards the door.