Closed A Cup of Tea

It had never been more obvious to Ignacio than it had been that year, that he wasn't as social with his colleagues as he should have been. If not only because having more friends than just Killian would make his day to day life a little brighter, and give him more people so speak to surrounding staff meetings, than to also set a good example now that his girls had started school at Hogwarts. They were wonderful girls and Ignacio loved them with his entire heart, and it was this that had begun to compel him to go out of his way to spend more time with his colleagues, knowing that if his girls saw how many friends or acquaintances he had it might allow them to begin to grow their own circles of friends and in turn their confidence.

Arriving to the Professor's common room that day, Ignacio had only really intended to get a cup of coffee to help pick his energy up, at least until he spotted Mallory sitting on a nearby sofa and that moment seemed as good a time as any to be more social. He had played poker with Mallory before, and knew her enough to want to check up on how she was doing in the new school year, assuming it wouldn't be out of place or uncomfortable for either of them to have a quick chat before going on with the rest of their day. "Hey, how's the new semester going?" He asked gently as he approached the sitting area with his cup of coffee, genuinely curious for how the start of the year had been fairing for her as a professor.​

At Mallory's invitation, Ignacio sat next to her on the sofa, nodding at her answer to his question. He sipped from his cup of coffee before answering her question in return. He was fairing well, but was admittedly a bit more overwhelmed that year than he had been in previous years knowing his daughters were now sorted and attending classes. It was a different feeling that year, than it had been when he first started as a groundskeeper and began looking out for Marcos and Flavio. He was far more protective and watchful over his daughters than he would ever be over his brothers who at the point he became groundskeeper were already a few years into their schooling and independent in their own way. It was different, with Carolina and Aleja in their first year and being so new to Hogwarts. "It's good, my girls have started at Hogwarts this year so I'm trying to find a balance between looking out for them and letting them be independent." He tried to explain. "They're a bit shy, and I want them to be happy at school and find their own groups of friends, but I also don't want to interfere too much." He added. "Hopefully I'll figure it out." Ignacio then said definitively as he sipped from his coffee again.

"Oh, actually, they might be in your class. Is it the Hufflepuff first years you're teaching this semester, or next semester?" Ignacio asked gently, knowing little about the different class schedules other than the first year lessons were separated by different semesters with different houses paired together. "I don't imagine they'd be disruptive, but I hope they're participating in the lessons enough." Charms was a subject he hoped the girls would find interesting, in the same way he found it interesting to learn different charms when he was in school himself.​