"Why the post office?"

It was Sunday morning, and a Hogsmeade weekend for the student inhabitants of Hogwarts Castle up on the hill above the village. The locals were set to receive hundreds of students pouring down the track to the village, to eagerly spend the money their parents had sent them, or they had remaining from their Christmas presents.

Ordinarily, Ignan would try to avoid visiting on a weekend such as this, but the staff occasionally had to deal with accusations of some of the students having sticky fingers (usually Slytherins) or causing trouble (usually Gryffindors) or claiming prices were incorrect (usually Ravenclaws). Nobody really complained about being mediocre (Hufflepuffs), so that was at least a quarter of the student population he didn't have to worry about while he was there. All better for avoiding being there in the first place, he believed.

Johann had instead insisted that he meet him on the Sunday morning, early enough before the students were released from the castle, that they could at least catch up on a few family matters and scope out a good position in the post office. Not the most comfortable of locations to wait for someone, Ignan considered, finding the counter edge digging into his back uncomfortable. It was at the right height for the average wizard or witch to write on, and was not intended for nonchalant leaning.

"Because its neutral, and its interesting." Johann replied, batting away his question with a hand.
"Fine." Ignan replied, eyeing the several hundred owls in pigeon holes surrounding the walls. The room had a bit of a dreadful din about it with all the screeching from the owls on their colour coded perches.

"And Gabrielle actually wants you to spend some time with one of the students?" Ignan asked, incredulously. "You? Aren't you going to bore them to death?" Johann's mouth fell open.
"Charming, at least I'm not favourite to kill a couple by the end of term." He quipped back, which only made Ignan laugh.
"Only a couple? I'm clearly not making enough of an effort." He folded his arms and looked upwards with a momentary smirk.

"I'll introduce you both, and then I'm off. You can have your owl fetish together. Just please, do return her in one piece, because I don't want tarred with the same brush, with Snark, Gabrielle, parents, anything."
"If I must." Johann sighed, and then ducked a little to look better out of the window.
"Merciful Merlin, please let it be Delacroix." Ignan muttered.

Valentine's Day had been more than great, especially with a boyfriend who carried the moon & brought it to her personally. The jamfest with her most fave bands had also helped but now, it was Sunday morn & she was heading to the owl post in Hogsmeade, dressed with a sockcap, jeans, a dark grey hoodie with 'HUFFLEPUFF' in faded yellow font with a pair of bebop flats. The wind was somewhat forgiving even as some snow still lingered about when entering the owl post, finding the Storms in no time.

"Mornin', professor! Hope I'm not too late, yeah?" she began, forgetting her manners with the 'yeah' which caused a blush before continuing. "Sorry! Didn't mean t'say that! So..." Her eyes looked at Johann, grinned & immediately stuck out her hand. "Wotcher! I'm Adelia, Addie if'y please, your new laboratory assistant. Pleased t'meet you finally!" she chirped up, feeling (rather, forgetting) as though Ignan was a normal, harmless fluffy professor & not the professor who, like Johann had said prior to her arrival, had bets against him.

"I've got m'slips here in me pocket? Where we headed t'today? I know Professor Storm said ye'll have t'bring me back 'round seven, right?" she said, soon looking at Ignan like 'he's not going lose me or my mind, is he?' Surely he wouldn't, then again, who knew...right?

Johann couldn't help but feel a flurry of excitement amongst the nerves he was experiencing. All those signatures could lead to a great damp squib if he didn't pull this off correctly. He wasn't even sure if he'd get paid either. It had called for reinforcements, in Ignan. His reluctant spy in Hogwarts, he'd gleaned quite a bit (admittedly tinted with Ignan's high standards expectations).

"Mornin', professor! Hope I'm not too late, yeah? Sorry! Didn't mean t'say that! So..." Wow, she had guts to greet Ignan like that, Johann caught sight of the older wizard's face twisting into a look of disapproval at her informality, before he met her eyes for the first time. She grinned and immediately stuck out her hand.

"Wotcher! I'm Adelia, Addie if'y please, your new laboratory assistant. Pleased t'meet you finally!"

"Likewise." Johann replied. "Johann Storm." His gloved hand shook hers firmly, holding just a little longer than was social conformity.

"I've got m'slips here in me pocket? Where we headed t'today? I know Professor Storm said ye'll have t'bring me back 'round seven, right?"

"Oh really? Pity." Johann heard himself reply before his more rational thoughts kicked in. "I mean, of course, seven, I'll bring you back to the gates, and you'll report to Professor Storm on arrival," he paused and lowered his voice "to prove I haven't got us both killed." He winked.

"Thank you Ignan, we'll see you later?" Johann posed cautiously to his cousin, who looked at them both with some gravity and repeated
"Seven. Both of you." in warning before giving Johann a nod and leaving the post office, the bell above the door singing out amongst all the squarking and fluttering from the owls above, and his heavy winter robes catching in the breeze. Johann found his own grey winter coat a little stifling in the warmth of the owlery, and would be glad to step back out into the cold now, despite the fact he'd probably get cold feet tramping about if he didn't charm his shoes first.

"Adelia Iris Delacroix of Portsmouth - the United Kingdom's only island city, population approximately two-hundred-thousand. Daughter of Malcolm Blake, non-magical and Anneliese Delacroix, obliviator, whose name you inherited. You're a Hufflepuff, recently resumed your studies in History of Magic amongst other subjects at the instruction of Ms Murray-Harker, are a keen student in Ignan - sorry - Professor Storm's class - though he'd prefer you spoke up a bit - he's getting deaf in his old age - no - contributed verbally a little more in what he means. Oh, and you recently discovered your housemate is your half sister. Good to meet you at last."

Johann folded his arms and rocked back and forth on his feet in self satisfaction at how clever he'd just been, a grin plastered across his face. Behind Adelia a snowy owl had flapped down onto the counter with a parcel.

"And now you know that I know an awful lot about you, I think its time you checked if you've got any post." He nodded towards the owl behind her, which bore a parcel a little bigger than two clenched fists, wrapped in brown paper, and addressed clearly Adelia Delacroix, Hogsmeade Post Office.

Johann waited for her to unwrap the parcel, leaning back against the counter, resting his bony elbows on it beneath his coat. Beneath the brown paper of the parcel was a bright blue box, and within that, nestled quite safely, a model of a very iconic, gothic building, with tiny spires and a large clock bell tower at one end.

"Question?" He asked, almost hopefully.

She had indeed felt like a rightful git when Ignan had looked at her in disapproval facial expressions but it all seemed to fade away when Johann made himself known. Addie squeezed his hand tightly at the last moment before the hands removed in a formal embrace & smiled at him. "It's a pleasure t'meet cha!" she chirped, soon listening to Ignan's fair (firm as stone more like it) warning as he left, her eyes watching him leave. Addie's words were forming but only to be cut abruptly when Johann read off information about her like some robot.

CREEEEEEEEEPY.

She raised an eyebrow - had she signed up more than what she could bite for today? Oh yeahhh, she had. Addie wasn't in Kansas (or Hogsmeade for that matter) anymore. The eerieness did slightly subside as a package 'just happened' to show up & happened to be for her. Addie gingerly opened the package whilst hearing Johann ask if she had questions - oh, she did but it'd wait until she finish unraveling the gift.

Was....was this Notre Dame? Uh, maybe, no? "I have lots of questions for ye....first of all, why are y'such a creeper? Y'aren't some robot underneath this skin, are ya? If this building isn't Notre Dame, which is quite beautiful in Christmas time, what is it? Lastly, has Professor Storm got an everlasting gobstopper in his mouth (garters is what she really thought) but the flavors a sourly lemon? Cause y'know, he isn't so bad but the angsty pants...." Addie pondered whether or not to complete the statement. She didn't as her eyes looked down back to the model & began trying to figure out what this place was. It couldn't be that hard, right?

"I have lots of questions for ye....first of all, why are y'such a creeper? Y'aren't some robot underneath this skin, are ya? If this building isn't Notre Dame, which is quite beautiful in Christmas time, what is it? Lastly, has Professor Storm got an everlasting gobstopper in his mouth (garters is what she really thought) but the flavors a sourly lemon? Cause y'know, he isn't so bad but the angsty pants...."

Johann's eyebrows had made their way up his forehead.
"I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot of English slang from you, Delacroix." The linguist expressed, with a mixture of delight and horror in his tone and expression. "What's a robot...? Oh, inform me later, more important things at hand." He muttered distantly, wondering whether it was worth making a list of sorts to get Adelia to define later.

"Notre Dame is lovely, but sadly we're not going quite so far afield as France today, alas. Plenty of time for that later." He cracked another grin, and watched Adelia study the scale model of the Houses of Parliament with satisfaction. "Can't comment about Ignan, long story, no time, stop worry about him." Johann waved a hand, as if swatting the thought from Adelia's mind.

"No ideas? Hmm? Well, more the surprise, let's waste no more time." Seizing Adelia's hand, she swung her round, scooping the model up in his other hand, about to toss it to her when he realised his co-ordination for any form of sport was lacking, and dragged her out of the post office instead.

Out in the cold air of the street, he pulled her out of the main thoroughfare of foot traffic, their breath condensing into little clouds in the crisp air, still gripping her hand in his gloved one tightly.
"Hold tight now!" Johann told her briskly, and with a pop the two of them vanished out of thin air, Johann pretty sure he saw Ignan watching them keenly from just down the road.

Apparition took some getting used to when you were young, and Johann had entirely forgotten this as they reappeared in Victoria Tower Gardens just South of the buildings, in the middle of a bush, which he led them out of, unaware he had a leaf stuck in his curly hair. The Muggles were unaware of how they had got there, and it didn't cross Johann's mind that they possibly wondered what a man and a teenage girl had been doing amongst the less than leafy trees and plants along the side of the gardens.

"Here we go." Johann told Delacroix and held out the model to her again. "This is your mystery building." Handing over the model, he gestured to the real building towering above them through the last line of trees. Well, more exactly, Victoria Tower was above them, the rest of Parliament lay behind.

"To Muggles, this is where the big decisions get made in England. Their Ministry - well, your Ministry only mimics it in terminology and style." Johann told Adelia, still holding her hand, completely unaware of how odd that might be, given that they'd only met for the first time ten minutes before. They just looked like an odd couple stood in the gardens.
"Beautiful building to govern from, isn't it? Charles Barry, absolute genius architect. You'd think he could be one of us, but sadly, just a very gifted Muggle." Johann tipped his head a moment, "Though I'm pretty sure I met a wizard architect at a party once who claimed to be a descendant, but didn't entirely believe him. Sales patter more like." He caught sight of Adelia's face and paused.

"Oh Merlin, this is an awful anticlimax isn't it?" He asked, suddenly dismayed. 

Addie did feel rather idiotic for her own tongue throwing Johann off, so she began an attempt to explain what a robot was when she was yanked back outside. "AIEEEE! OY! WHOA! WHOA!" POP! Ayuh, they had just Apparated, there was no doubt as the scene changed from gingerbread houses to full regalia, spiral towers. And Big Ben. They were in London & in a bush - perfect for blowing an unseen cover. She noticed full well the leaf in his hair but opted to just let him wear it when people looked around at them, her hand releasing from his.

"Remember, remember the fifth of November, much?" she stated, the feeling of gloom replaced by a dopey look placed upon her features while Johann spoke about Parliament & what have you as she was given possession of her model again. Then spoke something of its architecture, along with its architect. She raised an eyebrow as if  she were to be amazed (she was but it seemed the two of them were equally confusing for one another on this first visitation), but she felt he was a bit textbook-y. Thus, his question came to confirm the feelings she was having.

"Jus' a wee bit, yeah? Ye talk a bit like a textbook, but it's okay, really! However, innit this th' place where they try t'blow it up, have even had, like poisonings, stuff like that? It's really pretty - I've always wanted to go back in time & see the big decisions made, but even t'have a glimpse inside, that'd be wicked."

"Jus' a wee bit, yeah?" Adelia replied. Johann's shoulders slumped, he was being all clever and cocky as usual, and it had backfired already. 

"Ye talk a bit like a textbook, but it's okay, really! However, innit this th' place where they try t'blow it up, have even had, like poisonings, stuff like that? It's really pretty - I've always wanted to go back in time & see the big decisions made, but even t'have a glimpse inside, that'd be wicked." He looked at Adelia as if she'd just had something rotten land on her nose for one intense moment of staring.

"What, you don't like the way I talk?" He asked, looking like she'd just told him the Houses of Parliament were made of cheese.  "Yes, it is the place they 'tried to blow up' they being the-." He stopped himself, sighed and pouted, the description of textbook at the forefront of his mind. "No, can't go back in time, I don't have authorisation to use a timeturner, nor is going back that far recommended at any time." He folded his arms and looked critically at her.
"Nor can we just apparate inside. But don't worry, where there's a will, there's a way."

Instead of seizing her hand this time, he shoved his own into his coat pockets and set off down the path at a swift rate, mind working furiously, not even looking back check Adelia was behind him for the first twenty or so rapid paces, until he about turned suddenly to ask,
"A textbook? Really? Is that a very bad thing?" with a huge frown on his face of worry, before leading her down the side of the building.

OOC: Just tying an ending to this.

Professor Storm regarded his pocket watch once more, just as the crack came. Two foot to his left outside the Hogwarts gates, and only twelve seconds to go, Johann reappeared with Delacroix on his arm.

"Seven." Ignan reminded Johann firmly, no other greeting.

His younger cousin grinned broadly, stepped forward and seized the watch from Ignan's hand, glancing at it and turning it to Ignan as the second hand ticked up to the hour.

"Seven." He repeated, handing the watch back.

The two of them certainly seemed more familiar than when they had left the post office that morning. Positively glowing with smiles - almost sickening like a couple. Only it wouldn't be - mostly because Johann didn't do that, and secondly because he knew it couldn't happen with a student in his trust. Too many parties would lynch him without hesitation.

Though Delacroix… Ignan's gaze lingered on her suspiciously.
"You will notify Delacroix and the Headmistress in writing when you next seek an excursion." He reminded Johann as the younger two unlinked arms and Johann gave Adelia a slight bow in farewell.

"Yes Ignan, I'll dot the i's and cross the t's." Johann spoke tiredly. "You will write to me another suitable Sunday though, Ad- Miss Delacroix."

Making a quarter turn away from Johann, Ignan raised his hands to the Hogwarts gates which swung open.
"Delacroix." He addressed the seventh year formally, indicating she should step inside with haste.

The two made their farewells, and Johann vanished with another crack, leaving student and Professor to regard each other just inside the winged boar gateposts.

"I trust today was informative?" Professor Storm enquired, "Undoubtedly you'll be enthusiastic to inform your housemates. I will report you as returned."

As he watched Adelia retreat to the castle with a spring in her stride (not much different to usual) he found himself wondering how a girl like that would spend a day with someone like his cousin.