Two weeks, almost. That’s how long it’d been since the Minister for Magic called for a lockdown on the school. Like wild animals they were being caged. Well, Esther wasn’t an owl. She didn’t belong in a cage. Neither did any of her students, muggle born or not. The whole thing was nothing short of infuriating and saddening, with a healthy hint of sickening thrown into the mix. Her and her colleagues - it was like they were here, but not really here in a sense. Classes went on like normal, but the looming vibe of doom impending was thick in the air. Death Eaters from the Ministry roamed the halls in scheduled shifts being generally intimidating and patronising.

Even her own father had been patrolling the castle on instruction from Ares Wentzell, throwing his weight around in the way only he seemed able to with the blonde. Raymond really had a way of keeping Esther in line. Probably due to the constant threatening to harm her or someone that she cared about, and well she didn’t doubt for even a second that he wasn’t bluffing on that. She still hadn’t quite figured out a way to solve that little problem, short of complying. But shit was getting real now, it had well and truly hit the fan, and something had to be done. She couldn’t bare it much longer being cooped up in this castle. The part-Veela was a free spirit and needed to cut loose, not be some imprisoned creature.

People were on edge. They had no ways of communicating with their family and all they could do was trust in the fact that this would all end soon. But it would come at a price, that was for sure. There wasn’t much any of them could do about it while they were in here. When the only staff allowed to come and go were Death Eaters, that really said something about the motives of the Ministry, in case anyone hadn’t suspected it before now.

Making her way to the Head of Gryffindor's office, Esther had her old friend Professor @samuel in mind for a target of her pent up frustration. Over the last few very long days, staff members had barely spoken about what was happening, at least to her knowledge, probably for fear of being overheard and punished. But it’d been too long and she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Esther needed a means to get some things off of her chest, not to mention she had grown incredibly lonely. Not that she would show it of course, since she was almost always about keeping up a strong exterior, but being away from Max had been much harder than she’d ever imagined being away from someone could be. She actually missed him. He was the first person she’d truly missed since her mother. Sometimes she cursed herself for letting herself care so much about somebody, and to get so close. But it was a bit late for that now.

She didn’t bother knocking on the door. There was no use making any extra noise or drawing any more unwanted attention. Instead she carefully opened the door to his office and let herself in. Dressed in plain black leggings and a black sweater for bed, Esther couldn’t sleep, so now here she was. She said a simple Lumos charm for her wand as a kind of torch and guided it around his office as she scanned the room. Being so late at night, she wasn’t even sure if he was awake… “Samuel…? SAMUEL?” She kind whispered it, but loudly, probably defeating the purpose of whispering in the first place.

As student Samuel would have been survived being held up at Hogwarts like he was wrongly imprisoned but yet he, his colleagues and the students were here. They couldn’t leave except for a certain few and it was surprising to find out who they were. He wanted nothing more than to go and to be with his fiance and their infant son but that was an impossibility right now. He would have to resort to just sending them patronuses as he was confident they couldn’t be tracked. Being a spell inventor he hadn’t heard any way that they could be tracked nor was there any work going on with someone working to track them. Why anyone would want to track something that travelled through the air last not more than a minute. If that was the case then the Death Eaters would probably have their work cut out for them. That was if they had even worked out that someone could still send Patronuses during the lockdown.

Samuel knew why the lockdown had been enforced so he hadn’t wasted his time in questioning it. There had been some students who had done so but once he had explained it to them, they seemed to understand, or at least he hoped they did. It would be scary for some students no doubt about that and he did his best to reassure them, he too had to be careful of what he told them. Since the lockdown many more Death Eaters were patrolling around the castle and so the Charms professor never really knew if his conversations were being listened to or if he was being tracked. But he supposed not since no one had asked for his wand as of yet and the one time (recently) when he checked his acacia wand if it had been tampered with, he had found nothing. It was a relief to Samuel because given his occupations as both a professor and a spell inventor he needed his wand to work properly. It had come in handy the last few times he had had to ward any attacks at the school such as the fiery serpent.

This was much more serious than the serpent incident of Halloween 2015 as it affected all of them, not just the purebloods. While only few people had been physically hurt it didn’t mean that more wouldn’t get hurt as the lockdown continued. The Death Eaters from what Samuel had seen weren’t one to really refrain from punishing anyone. Samuel knew that some of the group had their children at the school so it would be interesting to see how much they were favoured (if at all) over the other students. From he had seen Lucian certainly had gone easy on his niece when she had disarmed him but then again it was Virell who had dragged her away from the situation. It was a shame though that they couldn’t completely get out of the room before the minister had arrived. For a moment Samuel had wondered if Percival would show up but he had not been there and if that was the case then it would unlikely that he would be joining in on the patrols too. This at least made Samuel happy. This way he knew that Cali would have her father on hand to help with Jeremy and to at least look after when she took a nap. He knew it was hard for her, he didn’t have to assume but he simply knew. When he eventually got home he would be letting either Jeremy or his fiance out of his sight for a long time to come.

The same could also be said for his students at present. He wanted to make sure his lions were okay and so he had really doubled on the visits he made to the tower. The extra walking didn’t bother him the least, there were more serious things playing on his mind. He checked on them nightly before he retreated to his quarters for the night. The bed here was lonely and it was empty. He didn’t like it one bit, He missed Jeremy crying his lungs out at three in the morning, at the same time here there was silencing. Deafening silence too. As he approached his office he saw his door was open….that was not a good sign. Entering the room he heard the familiar voice of his colleague calling out his name. ”Esther…..” he addressed her as he shut the door as softly as possible. ”Are you alright?” he continued as he pulled up the sleeves on his shirt.

Ever since this dumb lockdown had been imposed onto the school, Esther had found herself in an absolutely foul mood. It was a combination of a few things for sure; having her so called FATHER patrolling the halls and tormenting her, the rage she felt on behalf of the muggle-born students who were copping the brunt of the punishments, and finally but probably most significantly, the lack of physical intimacy. The missing of someone - that someone being Max of course. That part was the worst. It was as if she were some kind of addict having withdrawals - and maybe she was - all the side effects were there. Irritability, insomnia, poor concentration. The list went on, and she could barely take it anymore. For the sake of her students she would put on a brave face every day like nothing was wrong, reassuring them that this would all be over soon, doing her best to explain the unexplainable whilst retaining a sense of normalcy for them.

But she needed the same for herself. Even just for a little bit, that’s why she’d come to see Samuel. She had a few friends on staff, but none that knew her quite like he did. It probably wasn’t fair to unload onto the Charms Professor given she knew that he had his own problems. He had to since he had a fiance back home, not to mention a newborn kid. But maybe he needed the company as much as she did so it was worth a shot. When he emerged, she turned around to face him and even appeared vaguely bashful just for turning up so pathetically at this hour. “I couldn’t sleep.” She told him simply, dropping her wand down to rest behind her so that the glow softly backlit her frame inside his office.

“Please tell me I’m not the only one about to lose their mind.” Esther sighed and looked to him hopelessly. This was so messed up. And there was nothing any of them could do about it since the threat of danger was so imminent. One false move could bare dire consequences for them and for their students, even a ripple effect on society as a whole. The pressure was intense and it sucked to have to sit back and let it all go down.

Samuel was not the most patient of people. He had already waited for what seemed longer than nine months to meet his little boy and now that Jeremy was here, he was stuck at Hogwarts. He of course was only meant to come here to supervise the dance and that was it. It would have been no more than a few hours away from his family but rather now it had been a countless number of hours. He missed them terribly, it was as simple as that. Samuel was just biding his time until he could go home and hold his fiancé and his newborn son. He knew he was missing out in things with Jeremy even though he was still very young. But if he missed things like his son’s smile or even a laugh he knew that Calli would capture that on film. He had showed her how to use his muggle mobile phone in the time they had been together. If she was unable to capture them then he knew that he'd hear about it when did get back to them.

Not only did Samuel worry about his fiancé and son but it was playing on his mind about what was going on with his mother. He had heard about the muggleborns being forced to register and his thoughts had immediately travelled to his mum. If his sister was around he could be reassured that she would have taken their mum far away from the UK. However, that was not the case and he knew it. Before he had come here for the end of year dance he knew that his sister was wherever she was and she was not here, where she was supposed to be. Samuel wondered if Calli had managed to help her soon to be mother in law at all. He knew it would have been a big ask with her trying to look after Jeremy too and he felt guilty that he wasn’t there trying to help but it was not his own doing and he had to keep reminding himself of that. It wa really pathetic when he thought about it. He feeling bad for something that was not his fault and he was already vowing to spend as much as possible with his fiance and his son when the lockdown was lifted.

Samuel looked to his colleague and nodded. He knew all too well about not being able to sleep. Being unable to sleep when Jeremy was fussing at midnight was different and it was welcome, this nonsense was just as it was, ridiculous and unwelcome. ”You aren’t the only one losing their mind, Clawster” he said as he looked at the time on his watch. ”I’m sure like me, your worries extend beyond the grounds of the school” he concluded, though the man wasn’t entirely sure since they never spoke about their personal lives so much anymore. It was fine by him, he knew that Calli and Esther didn't get along so much but maybe it was one sided on the part of his witch. At least that was the impression he got from when the blonde had come to visit them when Jeremy was born.

One thing that Esther could always boast about her life was the level of control she managed to maintain over it. She was in the truest sense an individual with an incredible amount of independence. That’s why she was at a loss with what was going on right now. It was hard to lose that power over what she could do with her own time. They were basically being treated like a bunch of caged animals. It was definitely not something that she ever imagine being faced with. And to not be able to do what she wanted to do or go wherever she wished was restricting and suffocating. It wasn’t hard to see the blonde was practicing a dismal amount of chill. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever felt so helpless.

But she tried all the same to exercise perspective. At least the target on her back was a lot smaller than some of the less privileged people stuck in here with her. For one, there was the muggle born students. Honestly, it did make her feel a little guilty for her constant inner monologue of self pity and anger. Then there was Samuel; he’d just had a baby for Merlin’s sake! And while her and Cali had their differences to say the least, Esther immediately felt bad for making this visit somewhat about her.

“Sorry…” The blonde lifted a palm to rest against her forehead. “I know this must be hard for you.” Esther told herself right there and then that she needed to pull her shit together ASAP. It wasn’t the best look for someone like her. Someone who was normally so sure of herself, without a single care to give about what anyone thought of her. While she could be super selfish and done so in the past, her friends were exempt from it. She did actually care about them, a few select people. And Samuel was one of them. “It’s just getting kind of boring around here, you know?” By boring, she meant lonely, and that was a hard thing to admit to herself, but here she was.

Samuel thought it was obvious that they would all be out of Hogwarts sooner rather than later. It was all up to them to make the best of the situation they were in. That was easier said than done however. Samuel wanted nothing more than to cuddle Jeremy and to fall asleep next to Calli but he would have to wait. He knew his lions worried about when they would see their parents and just when they would get out of the castle. Despite it’s vast size the Hogwarts castle was starting to feel claustrophobic for Samuel. He would have to keep a positive frame of mind regardless. He had to do that for his students more than anyone else. It may be exam period for them right now but if the lockdown continued past that then he knew that all the students would be bored very quickly.

While flying was a popular pastime for many students, he knew that even that they would soon grow bored doing that. Samuel had no idea how they could get entertainment. He of course could go about holding meetings of the charms club but then again he didn’t want to be questioned by any Death Eater for their pure enjoyment. Surely they wouldn’t be able to find any need to interrogate him or the students for attending a meeting of a student club. Samuel really hoped that the students didnt meddle where they didn’t but on the other had he realised that they probably saw everyone in the castle as free game.

At least he had a friendly face here. While things were tense (that is putting it lightly) between the blonde witch and his fiancé, Samuel tried to not get to involved with the two of them and their misunderstanding. While it was centred around him, he had other things on his mind. ”There is no need to apologise Cla..sorry, Esther. One day I’ll try and break that habit” he smiled before nodding as she mentioned it was hard for him. His colleague was missing people but she was not a parent, she had idea what it was like to miss out on time with your child. Samuel knew that Esther, or rather he suspected that she had an aversion to children, which was ironic since she was a head of house and she taught eleven year olds. ”Well I’m afraid my lions can’t entertain you too much, most of their pranking materials were confiscated” Samuel sighed. What he would do for another tin of paint to fall on his head….

It was all good and well to try and make the best of this situation, and Esther WAS trying, but short of sounding like a broken record, practically stretching the truth to ensure her students didn’t become too frightened or paranoid, there wasn’t much else she could do. She had students coming to her constantly, scared that they weren’t going to be allowed to see their parents again, or that someone was going to hurt them. And that wasn’t even just the muggle born ones! It broke her heart to be honest, and sure, Esther didn’t have a natural leaning towards maternal instincts for kids, but that was mainly for her own. She didn’t have that desire. However, where her students were concerned, she cared about them greatly. She wanted to make sure they were doing alright, especially since they were heavily reliant on her right now. It was a lot of pressure, as Samuel would know.

But this combined with the fact that she had her own little issues concerning abstaining from a certain physical activity had her going kinda crazy in her own head. It was kind of funny, really; the things she was learning about herself in light of this recent isolation. Esther folded her arms in front of her and leaned against the wall of his office and looked to him vaguely amused when he went to call her by that old nickname. “Yeah. You really should knock it off, before your fiance kills us both.” She popped an eye at that and smirked, knowing it was probably a soft spot for Samuel. Knowing he probably wanted to avoid that awkward conversation like most men did. It was a real bummer to know that Calli didn’t like her, but for the reasons she’d explained, Esther couldn’t really care less. She wasn’t going to let some snooty witch judge her like she had done. Nope.

“Oh, they did?” Esther responded to him telling her about his kid’s pranks being confiscated. “I guess that explains why everyone’s been more productive in class.” That was a joke, to be honest. She didn’t really see any improvement in the student’s productivity since the lock in, and the contraband. If anything, the teenagers just seemed bored and dissociated more than usual, and that wasn’t really pleasant to witness. Esther hadn’t always been a huge fan of pranks herself, but she appreciated the light-heartedness of it. It really was a sad place they were living in right now...

They should all be looking forward to getting now by now, however that was not going to happen for sometime, Samuel had to keep telling himself that. Of course he was putting his own worries aside as he had to concern himself with his students. They came first at all times when they were together at Hogwarts. He knew that had he been at home instead of coming to the dance that night he would regret it. But he also regretted not staying home. Particularly in times like this it was hard to balance home life and school life for the man, admittedly. He knew that Calli was at home trying her best to managed Jem but also to look after herself. He hoped she was doing the latter. He would insist on it each time he sent a patronus, of course he had no idea if the witch was listening to him or not. Samuel could not rely on his mum to go and check on his fiancé, she was now threatened being a muggleborn. Samuel had so many people to care for in his life and he had restrictions placed on himself right now thanks to being a halfblood, it inhibited him from looking after the two witches that mattered most.

Of course having Esther here with him in this messed up situation presented it’s own challenges. Though that was between him and Calli. He knew that she didn't have the best opinion of the blonde but he knew that Esther was not out to get him back or anything, she herself was happy in her own relationship and Samuel was happy for her and Max. Though he had seen many of his friends go through failed relationships and had been in them himself, he wanted Esther happy. Samuel saw no harm in wishing that for his friend and colleague. Samuel looked away as she brought up how much Calli hated his nickname for Esther. Only they knew the story behind it and Samuel wanted to keep it that way for their own safety really. ”I’ll stick to Esther, how's that?” he looked back to her and cleared his throat and nodded a little. Samuel was not going do anything with Esther, he was happily engaged to Calli and he wished the witch in question trusted him more.

The wizard crossed the room to his desk, nodding as he walked. ”Of course, you think they would allow fun in this place? unless of course it was their kind of fun” he looked at her as he grabbed a biscuit from the tray that Salt had left for him. The house else had always been good to him, from the time he had first walked into the castle until now, even with all the trouble going on. ”Are you missing Max? he asked, it was an inevitable question.

It was no secret that Esther had been struggling throughout the lockdown and she’d been doing her best to keep her poker face on, mostly for the sake of her students. But even the more observant ones had noticed her frustrations. She wasn’t as bubbly and vivacious as she usually was. In a way it was as if a part of her was being stamped out, and that came from her lack of free will which was essentially her most valued privilege in life.

She’d always been independent and she’d always been a free spirit, too. Always looking out for number one. These days she had someone else to consider, and that wasn’t even a conscious thing, it was just a side effect of being with someone and loving them, and that person was Max. On top of all of her other worries, there was the fact that the full moon was approaching and Esther feared she wouldn’t be there for him, and that scared her. She’d never meant to have someone that she considered like that, ever. But now here she was.

“Well, that is my name.” She told Samuel, slightly disappointed when he suggested he just call her regular old ‘Esther’. It was a shame really that things had to happen the way they were as far as his fiance was concerned. Esther didn’t have a lot of male friends at all, mostly on account of her thinking that the majority of the male species were really lame, but Samuel was one of them. He was one of the very few people she trusted and truly respected as well, so it sucked that Calli was skeptical of her. She supposed she understood why. Esther had gone throughout her whole life unintentionally making other women jealous. Sometimes she thought that if she could change who she were then she would, but people couldn’t change their histories. They were who they were and there was nothing she could do about that.

When he asked about whether she missed Max she nodded and gave a thin smile. She’d always had trouble expressing herself and her real feelings, which Samuel would already be aware of from knowing her for so long. The Gryffindor Head of House had been there with her through her teenage years, through the death of her mother and navigating High School during such a monumental loss. Esther had been shattered but she’d used other less conventional tools to deal with it. She didn’t really talk about it in a healthy way, and she was hesitant to let anybody see her cry. So in a similar way, she didn’t really elaborate. She did miss Max and she worried, but she wasn’t going to let on to what extent. Her just being here should be a testament enough to that. “You don’t have any whiskey do you?”

Admittedly Samuel had been enjoying the dance until the drama had started, though in the back of his mind he was still wishing he had been home with his family. Right now that was what he wanted. The man had balanced being there for his students and his family equally as much for most his tenure so far at Hogwarts. However for most of his time at the school his family has just been his mother. Though he had become well practiced at looking after her given that he had being doing that since he was a child. He was an old hand at looking after people in general and seeing so many students upset by their current situation made him empathise with them easily.

The man could only hope that thing on the outside were not as bad as they were in the castle but he would never know because even though he and Calli were communicating by patronus, there was only so much someone could convey in a message like that. She knew that it was hard on him and in turn he knew it was the same for her. Samuel could not even speak to Jeremy yet since he was too young. Had he been older he would have made sure that their son would look after his mum but Jeremy was only two months and it was impossible. He only hope that Jem was not giving his son a hard time and he wondered if he knew that his father was not around at the moment. Father and son had their moments at bathtime and bedtime and Samuel missed Jem’s expressions during those times. Dealing with a newborn was vastly different in comparison to teenagers.

The kids at Hogwarts had their different ways of coping through this time, some talked, some studied (but it was was exam period) and some just got upset. Samuel did his best to comfort and reassure his lions while making sure he did not let his own internal struggle show. He too was only so strong. Samuel offered his colleague a small smile. They had been friends about half their lives, and even though they had been lovers once, they were now in their own relationships but still Samuel knew a great deal about Esther and he trusted her just as she trusted him.

Her question about alcohol hardly surprised him. During their time that they had been bedroom buddies they had consumed more than enough whiskey. In fact they had not discriminated when it came to to them choosing to drink something. He nodded and headed over to his sleeping quarters and returned with a bottle and two glasses. ”Remember when you tried this stuff for the first time?” he smirked as he filled a glass and handed it to her. He remembered that time vividly for some reason and it made him laugh. They had had many memories growing up together.