Callie found herself doing a fair bit of exploring when she wasn’t working, which was odd. After seven years at school here, she would think that there was nothing in the castle that she hadn’t encountered. But she found there were plenty of rooms she had never so much as entered before, such as the boathouse. Apart from her first year of Hogwarts, though she’d been a bit overwhelmed then to pay much attention. Of course, there was really absolutely no reason to be in there at all—and it wasn’t exactly the most exciting place in the world, but it was somewhere she had never been before. So she had found herself heading there without much thought about it. After all, all of her patients at the Hospital Wing were sleeping and due to the Dreamless Sleep potions that they’d needed, they wouldn’t be waking until late morning.

As she had expected, there really wasn’t much to see—though perhaps that also had a lot to do with the fact that it was nighttime and not a lot of light illuminated the room. Callie laughed under her breath; she really must be getting bored if she was thinking of this as a room to explore. She really needed to get out of the castle more often, she mused, contemplating if she should relax here for a while or head back up to the infirmary. Deciding that the quiet was actually a nice break from the craziness of the castle, Callie leaned against the wall before sliding into a seated position. She wasn’t sure how long she was there until she heard the door opened, but she glanced up, quite surprised that anyone would be finding themselves down here at this time of night. It was probably a patrol, she mused, and whomever was about to enter would be incredibly confused as to why the school’s healer was sitting in the boathouse in the middle of the night.

@samuel

It was the quiet of the night that Samuel probably enjoyed the most about the castle, it was the first thing he heard after the battle and even that one event would haunt him forever, the stillness of the night would relieve that haunt that he held. He hated that memories of that night came up at the most unsuspecting of times, probably more so around this time given today’s date. The one thing he was glad of that night was that his sister had not yet started at Hogwarts and had not been exposed to that horror. And though he didn’t know where in the world she was now, he still hoped she was safe. He would always hope Hannah was safe. Samuel had always felt it was his duty to protect her after their father walked out on the family when they were younger. It upset him that he was failing that right now.

The professor found himself through his ramblings in front of the entrance to the boathouse and though he hadn’t been here in a while, he did like the room for it held a special memory for him. Without a second thought, Samuel entered and his eyes widened as he had expected the room to vacant, however it was occupied. “Miss Ayers, I didn’t expect to see you here” he smirked in greeting, though it probably not visible given how little light was in the room. “What brings you down here?” he went on to ask further. In his short time of working at the school, he hadn’t spoken to her but of course knew her name. His ability to observe served him well in that regard.

She really hadn’t been at the school all that long, to the point that there were still some of her colleagues that she hadn’t met or spoken to. Having gotten the job over the Easter holidays when most people were home hadn’t helped in the matter, making it a bit awkward when she met someone for the first time that she really should have already spoken to. That was certainly the case at the current moment, where the professor who entered the boathouse knew her name and she wasn’t actually sure of his, “Callie—call me Callie,” she stated, pulling herself to her feet, as she supposed it would be a bit odd to talk to him from her position on the ground. Briefly, she tried to place him in what subject he taught, seeing if that would help her in remembering if she’d heard his name before. Hell, regardless of his name or the class he was in charge of, Callie surely would have paid more attention in her own classes if he had been teaching them. It was clear to her even in the dim lighting that he was incredibly attractive, but she shook the thought from her mind. Co-worker, she reminded herself, wondering if it was at all possible to not be distracted by a fit bloke—it seemed to happen to her way too often, “I’m sorry, you have me at a disadvantage… I’m awful at names.”

Shrugging lightly, she took a glance around the darkened boathouse, an amused smile playing on her lips though it was questionable that he would even be able to see it in this lighting, “Well who wouldn’t want to come down here in the middle of the night? The scenery can’t be beat,” she said, dryly, before berating herself internally. Was there a different way that one was supposed to converse with a colleague than with any other person they came across? Something about professionalism? Who the bloody hell knew? “Just re-exploring the castle, really. What about you?”

He wasn’t expecting to run into anyone on this walk of his, Samuel however was pleasantly surprised to have run into the school’s healer on this occasion. He nodded his head and held his smirk as she requested to be called by her first name. It was a lovely first name so he thought, but he dare not speak that out loud remembering to keep his professional stance. “I will call you Callie then” Samuel confirmed as he stepped closer to her. She was pretty there was no denying that but once again the Charms professor reminded himself of who he was and where they were. “Only if you call me Samuel then” he requested as his smile changed to smirk. “There, you’re no longer at a disadvantage are you?” the wizard laughed. He could have lit his wand but the situation didn’t seem to require it.

Though the room was barely lit, the professor still caught the smile that graced Callie’s lips. He arched a brow at her next words but shook his head quickly afterwards, she’s your colleague don’t go there mate. ”I do agree with you there, the view can’t be matched” he said as he moved his hands behind his back and walked over to the opposing wall. He was still dressed in the suit he had been wearing for work that day save for his jacket, the warmer weather even at night nowadays didn’t call for it. “Re-exploring the castle are you? Seeing what mischief one could achieve as employee of the Hogwarts rather than a student?” he asked coyly. “Me? Well I’m just out for a walk to clear my head” he told her, of course right now he wouldn’t mind doing his own exploring. Wait! You’re NOT supposed to think that Samuel.

She supposed it was rather odd to be in a dark boathouse at night, but he didn’t seem to be thinking anything of it. After all, he had ventured down here as well, though being in a boathouse with an attractive bloke in the middle of the night wasn’t exactly professional… or was it? They were just talking, she supposed, but Callie really didn’t know what was considered inappropriate. None of the jobs she had worked in the past had been all that important, and so her reputation didn’t really matter. She supposed it did now, at least a bit, which led her to some amount of pondering on a daily basis about what she was supposed to bloody do. Callie wasn’t exactly the most demure and respectful witch… quite the opposite, really, but she supposed Minerva had known that well enough when hiring her. The man taking a step forward really only further proved to her that he was attractive, as a light was better cast upon him, though she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. There were many aspects of her life where she wasn’t professional in the slightest, and that would never change. But this surely couldn’t be one of them, “It seems I’m not. It’s nice to meet you, Samuel. I’ve been meaning to introduce myself to everyone, but it seems there’s always someone needing healing—very accident-prone, these students.” She replied, laughing under her breath.

Callie really should have introduced herself to all of her colleagues when she had first arrived, as it would have been the polite thing to do. But the Easter holidays had put a wrench in that plan, and then time had just passed since then. She found herself rather occupied by whatever stunts students were pulling to end up in the hospital wing as much as they had been. She was really starting to believe that some of the male students were injuring themselves on purpose, as she really was seeing some familiar faces at this point. “I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks so,” she said, finding herself at least a bit amused that he seemed to be playing along. Running into an attractive bloke was one thing, but it was an entirely different situation when they were actually funny as well. It made conversations a hell of a lot more interesting, even if she was speaking to a colleague and was at least attempting to keep her thoughts professional. Callie’s smile widened at his next words, shaking her head slowly, “Mischief? Me? I wouldn’t think of it,” she told him, amused by the concept. Of course, she really wouldn’t cause any mischief, as she knew better than to do that, but it didn’t mean that she didn’t find herself incredibly entertained by the antics of troublemaking students, “It’s as good a night as any for a walk,” she agreed. Callie found that walking around, the grounds especially, certainly helped to unwind.

Whenever had come down to the boathouse at night after he had started teaching at Hogwarts, it was always empty, never occupied by any pretty witch as it was now. He knew that she was knew having only started around Easter and though he never spoken to her before now, he had noticed her and since some of his Gryffindors had a penchant of getting hurt he had come to learn her name also. Samuel of course was not complaining that he was alone with her right now in the boathouse just as long as things remained professional between them, everything would be okay. He could have almost laughed at the speed at which she got to her feet when he had first entered, it was almost as she thought she was caught out. Nevertheless he chuckled lightly as he came to stand closer to her. In this light he looked down at her and arched his brow slightly and his smirk grew as she spoke. “It is a delight to meet you as well” he told her smoothly as his head whipped around the boathouse before he looked at her again, his smirk still plastered on his features. “I’m happy to finally meet you and I’m sure some of those accident prone students would be some of my Gryffindors, am I correct? They still have it in them to prove that they can do anything” he said shaking his head lightly as he started to smile.


Somehow Samuel could believe that some students were injuring themselves on purpose and repeatedly too if the school’s healer looked like the witch that stood in front of him. He thought coming back with a sappy line continuing their conversation about the view the both of them were currently seeing but decided to go with a slightly different approach. “Of course I always compliment a beautiful view when I come across one” changing his tone to one of sincerity. “I come here often at night and never have I seen such a view” well there went him not using that sappy line of his. He was red blooded wizard after all. Samuel’s expression changed to one of a mock scowl, though Callie couldn’t probably see it in this light as she spoke of not getting herself into any trouble. “That is a shame” he told her as his expression changed from a scowl to a pointed look. “I walk most nights around the grounds, much like I did during my later years as a student here.” He informed her, wondering if that bit of information mattered to their current conversation or not.

It was interesting, to say the least, working at Hogwarts, and quite a bit different than any of the other jobs she’d had in the past. She really wasn’t sure that she’d ever had guessed she would work at Hogwarts, as she didn’t really have the best personality to be a professor and none of the other jobs here had even remotely been on her radar back when she was a student in this castle. Callie had had jobs in almost all aspects of the wizarding world, which she had found rather intriguing; she had certainly met a lot of interesting people that way, even if a job never caught her interest for too long. She had a feeling this one would be sticking longer, not only because this didn’t seem like a job to just up and leave spontaneously, but also because she was enjoying it so far. She was sure that once she met more of her colleagues, as well, she would have more of a reason to stick around. Merlin knew she was never bored in the hospital wing with all of the crazy antics that got students sent there, “As a former Gryffindor myself, I can certainly vouch for that mentality,” she replied, shaking her head in amusement at the thought. Of course, her antics back in school had ended with her in more detentions than trips to the infirmary, but she’d had to visit her friends a hell of a lot of times in her day, “And yes, there are a few repeat offenders from Gryffindor House,” Callie continued, as at least a few of the ones she thought injured themselves or ‘were ill’ on purpose were from the lion’s den. She would expect nothing less from her former house, after all.

Professionalism was something she really did need to work on, and she did wonder just what someone would think walking into the boathouse where two members of the staff were—even though they were only talking. Callie supposed there was a possibility it wouldn’t at all look like that to someone who just glanced in there. Perhaps if she were professional she would be cutting this conversation short to be picked back up in a more appropriate location? She had no idea, but she figured the odds of anyone else coming in here were low enough that it really wasn’t worth much more thought to contemplate what she should be doing. Callie raised an eyebrow at his comment, an amused smile on her lips. She was unsure that he was talking about the boathouse any longer, though the professional thing to do was probably letting that one slide, “Oh, you come here often, do you,” she replied, teasingly, before glancing briefly around the boathouse. She really didn’t have any idea why she had decided to come here, of all places, even though she wasn’t complaining with her current company. “After all, what kind of responsible adult-type-person would I be if I caused trouble as opposed to healing the aftermath of it?” Callie asked, solemnly. It certainly was amusing seeing what the students were getting into now, and she was always entertained to see what new WWW products they used to wreak havoc in the halls. “I did that a lot when I was a student as well, particularly around this time of year,” she said, nodding in agreement. Most of the time those walks were leading up to some other manner of rule breaking, though every so often it really was just a walk.

It was slightly surprising that he hadn't run into her before but then again he knew that Callie was new to working at Hogwarts. And from his own experience he knew that starting to work at the school can be daunting at first and such a vast learning curve from working anywhere else. In his case coming from working on spell invention to teaching young witches and wizards had completely smacked him in the fast at first but now he knew all the ‘tricks of the trade’, well he hoped he did. No doubt when the new school year came around in September he would have a new set of challenged posed by the students to face. His eyebrow rose as she spoke of also being a former Gryffindor. Samuel certainly did find that interesting. Though he was trying to keep his thoughts professional he was failing miserably. To possibly help him in his plan of not going that path, he focused on what Callie was saying “I see, it’s a nasty trait us Gryffindors possess isn’t it? This knack of finding ourselves in trouble from time to time” he commented as he took a moment to think through that thought. Of course he could see that in their current situation ‘trouble’ could occur here too, however Samuel would try his hardest to stop that from happening. “Repeat offenders? I can see why that would be happening” he commented, having some idea how the school’s healer would take that. He of course would have to speak to those students. Even if the school year was nearly done, he would rather have his lions in class rather than in the Hospital wing, even if the healer was very pretty.


Samuel was trying his hardest to restrain his thoughts and keep everything professional between him and Callie. There was no doubt he had a small voice in the back of his brain urging him to leave and to continue the conversation at another time and during daylight hours. Of course he couldn’t do that, firstly it was rude (and he was not that) and it would probably mean that Callie would find him later on ask him to explain himself and he rather not do that. In the dim light of the boathouse Samuel caught her smile and matched it before speaking. “I come by every so often” he shrugged. He still hadn't told her why he came here so often and Samuel wasn’t sure if he wanted to, well not now at least. “Very well concluded……Callie” he said before smirking. He looked around the boathouse slowly before his eyes came to rest on her again. The professor could have said something else but he decided against it, after all it wasn’t very professional. “Oh? Is there some reason why at this time of year, or is it simply because of the warmer temperatures?” he enquired, very curious for her answer.

Being back in the castle had been a bit different, as it really reminded her just how long it had been since she’d been there. It hadn’t felt all that long since she’d graduated, but time was apparently passing quicker than she had realized. Callie did enjoy being there, as it was entertaining for reminiscing and there were a hell of a lot of memories for her at this school. Now that she worked here, it was obviously all not the same, and attempting to learn how to be a relatively responsible adult had been… interesting, to say the least. She nodded in agreement, laughing softly. Of course, house stereotypes weren’t always true, but she found that Gryffindors always did seem to get themselves into more trouble than the other houses seemed to. That was true when she had been a student, and it was something that she had noticed was still quite accurate now, “Some thing’s don’t change,” she stated, and she was finding that the Gryffindors that frequented the hospital wing only proved that statement truer by the day. If she were keeping a tally, Gryffindor would be the clear winner in most visits to the infirmary. Callie lifted a shoulder in a shrug, wondering if he was implying the same line of thinking that she’d had herself. It wasn’t really good that students were missing class to be in the hospital wing unnecessarily, but she didn’t exactly know what to do about it, necessarily. Callie supposed the novelty of the attractive healer would eventually wear off, not that she would say that out loud, as the thought alone sounded rather cocky, “I’ve got a few ideas myself,” she said instead, because there really were other reasons that they could be in the hospital wing so much that had nothing to do with her. Perhaps they just wanted to skip class, which was a very logical excuse.

She had no idea how long she had even been down in the boathouse, or how late it was getting. It was odd that she was pondering about patrols as though she was about to get caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be. But she did know that the patrols made it down here eventually, which might be a bit awkward if that were to occur. However, from what time she had recalled venturing down here, Callie didn’t think it had really been long enough to get concerned about that. “Oh, I can see why,” she answered, solemnly, taking a brief look around the boathouse again. In all honesty, Callie was surprised that they didn’t just lock up the boathouse year round, as for the most part she didn’t really see any reason for students to be in there. She supposed she recalled the older years being allowed to take the boats in the warmer months out back when she was at school, but she had no idea if that was still something that students did. “I often come to marvelous conclusions like that,” Callie replied, jokingly, before briefly concerning his question, “Always got restless this time of year. That, and I liked sneaking out and seeing what trouble I could find,” she added, rolling her eyes at the thought. She had hated being bored back at school, finding it to be something that happened very rarely as she always had another idea up her sleeve.

The man was amused as to how the conversation was progressing, firstly he hadn’t even expected to come across the school’s healer down here and now he had no idea where the conversation was heading. But it certainly was an enjoyable conversation. For that he would not complain. Also his present company was most wonderful. Coming into Hogwarts as a professor, he had expected to be working with a fair number of women but never had he thought he would be talking to them at night time in such a dark place. He did briefly consider lighting his wand again but they were only conversing and anyway who was going to catch them down here. He highly doubted that prefects even ventured down here during their patrols. When he was a student he certainly hadn’t come across them down here and in the time of him being a professor here, that hadn’t changed much. Samuel refocused back on the conversation he was having. It seems like yes things indeed never did change. “In that regard I doubt the lions will ever change their ways, sometimes I head into the common rooms and I see the most interesting of sights” he chuckled. The professor recalled how a few weeks back he walked into to find older students trying to teach the first years the levitation charm but using brooms instead of the usual feather. They were lucky no one got injured that evening or else Callie may have had her hands full. “Do you? What are your theories?” he asked as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked over to the wall opposite her and leant back against it. It wasn’t as if he was going to do anything but still this distance would be safer for them both.

Samuel wasn’t able to check his watch but before he came down here it had been nearing 11pm and he figured they had been here for about 20mins or so. But if Callie had to be somewhere or more importantly head home, he wasn’t going to keep her. He himself could very well sleep in his office, he could easily transfigure the couch in there to a rather comfortable bed. “When I was in my final year I came here at nights to practice charms and stuff, it helped” he explained, though he wasn’t sure if he wanted to share with the witch, what exactly he helped him with. He chuckled as she spoke of coming to marvellous conclusions. “That you do, you also do wonderful work on my students, sometimes I wouldn’t even tell they injured themselves, so thank you for that” he smiled at her sincerely, though he was sure she couldn’t have seen it in this dimly lit place or from where he stood. “Let me guess because it was so close to the school year ending? What kind of trouble did you find for yourself?” the professor asked the woman as he arched his brow.