At least the owls will be happy

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Weasley had arrived at the owlery earlier than she expected Dan to because she had a letter to send out. She wanted to let her parents know that she would be heading home to see them for the holidays. She knew that they would be thrilled of course because it had been a while since Cyndi had returned home to see them. With work and everything else going on in her life, Cyndi had not made the time to go home to visit and her mother had not failed to remind her of that fact nearly every week. Despite the woman's constant nagging, Cyndi loved her and the rest of her family dearly.

After she'd sent the letter off with her owl, Cyndi glanced around the owlery. It was filthy, but that wouldn't last long. She had the feeling that her student would be less than thrilled with his punishment so she walked over to the window and gazed out, enjoying the silence that reigned. It was only broken by the occassional hoot of an owl. Most of them were resting since it was the daytime, but a few of them were awake, either grooming themselves or munching on the remains of a mouse or other creature. It didn't gross her out nearly as much as it probably should, but that was because Cyndi had always been comfotable around animals. Both of her parents were animal lovers and she'd been surrounded by them her entire life. She pulled out her wand and cleaned off a spot just large enough that she could sit on the sill comfortably to wait for Dan to arrive.

 

[Dan Adams]

Dan slowly walked up towards the Owlery. He was in no rush, he didn't rush anywhere, but especially not to detentions. It was safe to say that Dan had been in a foul-mood since he had been given this detention, and he didn't plan on lightening up at all for Professor Weasley this evening. Usually, a detention wouldn't bother Dan, but his temper had been getting the better of him more than usual recently. He couldn't quite pin-point why, but Dan knew if he didn't stop there would be trouble ahead. He had already dug a deep hole, and didn't quite know how to get out of it unless he dug a bit further. Which troubled the growing-teenager as his temper was drastically getting shorter and much worse.

As Dan reached the Owlery he kicked a twig or two before reaching the door. It was a long walk up the hill, so Dan took a deep breath in, then slowly released it out again, before opening the door. He scowled at the Professor as he caught sight of her. "It Stinks in here..." Dan said, un-amused by the smell of the owl droppings. Dan leant against the shelves like a little kid would if he was in trouble. As if he refused to go any further into the Owlery.

Out of Character:

I don't think Dan likes Owls...

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Out of Character:

If he did, he surely won't after this

Professor Weasley was unsurprised when the first thing she heard from Dan was not a greeting but a complaint. The boy seemed to live to complain. She hopped off of the window, ignoring his comment. She figured that he had better get used to it since for the next few hours he would be surrounded by the lovely creatures.
"Good, you're here" she began, crossing her arms. Her robes were just off the floor and she looked where she stepped not wanting to drag any droppings to her office later. "Well, I hope you don't expect this detention to be like the last one. This is already your second offense, so..." she shrugged as if she didn't care that he probably wouldn't like what he was about to hear "perhaps some menial labor will help."
As several of the owls woke up and flew out the window, Professor Weasley waited until they had gone to speak again. "You didn't bring your wand, did you?" she asked him.

 

[Dan Adams]

Dan stood in the same position as the Professor spoke. He didn't like the sound of actually having to do some work for a change, and he certainly didn't plan on doing much that pleased the Professor this evening. "Menial Labour? I don't think so..." Dan said, before pushing himself away from the shelves and walked a step or two further towards the Professor. He would do everything possible to make the Professor's job as difficult as possible fro as long as he was stuck in detention. "What sort of labour you on about?" He asked, kicking some dust as it feet around.

Dan looked at the Professor and fakely laughed as she asked about his wand, before giving her a stern look. "Professor...come on...me? A boy at a Wizarding school? Have my wand with me? Never?" He said intimidatingly. He liked to make the Professors and his fellow students look a little stupid occasionally. Dan revealed his wand, which was tucked into his belt. He took it out as he spoke. "Yeah...I did bring it...but don't worry...I won't stupefy any of the stupid pigeons...or owls...whatever you wanna call 'em..." Dan said, waving his wand around as he spoke, hoping no sparks would fly as his arm movements grew bigger and became more and more exaggerated. Dan could be a bit of a drama-queen sometimes. Dan chucked his wand up, spinning it 360 Degrees, before tucking it back into his belt. "Happy now Professor?" He asked. It wasn't meant in a cheeky way, Dan asked her without a smile on his face. Dan was just being purely rude...well it was certainly rude to speak to a Professor with such a lack of formality like that anyway.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Weasley shook her head slightly as Dan told her that he wouldn't be doing any menial labor. He was always telling her what he wasn't going to do, but seemed to fail to realize that if he didn't do things to get himself in trouble in the first place, he wouldn't have to do the things that she told him to. As he walked toward her and asked what she was speaking about, Cyndi held her ground and ignored his question. She would get around to answering when she was ready.

Coming from Dan, his smart aleck response was not unexpected. He never seemed to give her a straight answer to her questions, but when he showed her his wand, she got the response she was looking for. She wasn't afraid when he waved his arm around, knowing that with his dramatic motions, he wasn't likely to get anything at all to happen. It was simply rather annoying and she rolled her eyes slightly as she waited for him to finish up speaking. "Quite" she responded, a smile crossing her face as she strode towards one of the owls. It was a tiny one and it still seemed to be getting the hang of flying. "And you certainly won't be stupefying any of these owls. Most of these belong to students and the others are school property, so if you hurt any of them, you will be in trouble with more than just me" she stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

"You won't be needing your wand at all actually...that's what menial labor is all about." She turned to face him. "I know you were complainining about the smell, and today, you're going to be doing something about that. You'll be using this" she waved her wand and a mop, broom and bucket appeared against a wall. "to clean the place up a bit." She crossed her arms to wait the inevitable complaints that were to come. She didn't expect him to accept this quietly.

 

[Dan Adams]

Dan was waiting for the Professor to answer his question, was getting a little frustrated as she pro-longed answering him. Of course, Dan didn't know if she ever would answer him, but he certainly hoped she would. "And you think I wouldn't be able to deal with some little kids who have owls to look after?" He said, having no sympathy for the students if he was to hurt an owl. "Yeah right Professor...they'd soon get over it...the owls I mean..." He added on.

Dan had been waiting for the Professor's answer, and was glad when she began to tell him, but wasn't so happy to hear what he would be doing for this detention. Dan didn't speak a word as a mop, broom, and bucket appeared. He wasn't going to give the Professor the reaction that she was expecting.....not just yet anyway. Dan walked over to the bucket, looked down at it, before taking the mop out and began to sweep over a dirty bit.

Dan did this for a few minutes, as if it didn't bother him, it was then that he decided to play up. Dan kicked the bucket over, spilling water everywhere. "Woops?" He said, dropping the mop then walking away from the Professor and towards a larger owl, who was sitting quite calmly on the shelves. Dan drew his wand...he wondered whether he dared to hurt it...would the Professor's quick reaction stop him? Or was Dan really that stupid? Nothing was ever that simple. Dan pointed his wand at the owl as he thought about what to do next. "You really think I was gonna take that smoothly...I ain't cleaning no Owl Pen..." Nothing ever ran smoothly between these to...ever.

Out of Character:

Haha. Let the fun begin...

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Out of Character:

Oh dear

Professor Weasley refused to let Dan cause her temper to rise like he usually did. Nothing got her more mad than listening to Dan's disregard for other's property and rules. "Oh and you really think I'd just sit here and watch you do that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice level though it was plain to see that the idea annoyed her.

Professor Weasley's eyes widened slightly when Dan seemed to take it in stride and picked up the broom and began to sweep, but then he of course had to inevitably drop the other shoe. When he kicked over the bucket and water spilled everywhere, Cyndi hopped back, her face growing angry as he casually replied to his error. And that he had to go even further by pointing his wand at an owl. "Oh really?" she said, her voice sharp as she casually lifted her robes so that they wouldn't get wet by some of the water that had begun to pool towards her. Pulling out her wand, she got rid of all of the water and then looked back at Dan. "Do it or leave, Dan. I don't know what else to do with you" she said in exasperation. Dan was worth the trouble of all of her first years combined. "Do you really want to throw away seven years of education because you don't want to complete the detention you've found yourself in?" she asked him. She couldn't understand how he could do that, especially when he was just one semester away from graduating and leaving school for good.

 

[Dan Adams]

Dan scowled at the Professor as she spoke to him. He wasn't going to leave just for not wanting to do one simple detention. No way would Dan let that happen. Dan may have not liked school, and he may have wasted many people's time while had had been here, but he didn't want to leave. Dan had caused enough trouble at school, letting him loose into the wide world was a bad idea anyway, let alone letting him go early. He would cause havoc throughout the country.

Dan looked at Professor Weasley, then at the Owl, then back to Weasley. He then walked towards her, pointing his wand at her. The wand bit wasn't intentional, he hadn't realised what he was doing, Dan wasn't that stupid...even though he may have seemed it. "Listen Weasley..." Dan said through his gritted teeth, before realising the angle of his wand, and putting it away. "It's hardly seven years of education is it?" He said, revealing all now. He had been hiding the truth for years and it was finally beginning to release. "Seven years of hell more like...when I was a kid...my dad beat me...I got thrown out...I stayed homeless, before getting taken in by my spoilt idiot of an older brother...then I get sent here...and they expect me to be the perfect Gryffindor...NO I don't think so...so no Professor...if you really want me to do this detention...then try being in my shoes for the day...it's not the cleaning that annoys me...I've had far worse...but it's about time someone listened to me." Dan was beyond frustrated now, his breathing had grown heavier.

Dan backed away from the Professor. He had never revealed his past to anyone before, and as much as it had done him good, he still had some anger to let out. Dan punched the shelf with force. "URGH!!!" He said, before spinning round and sinking down, before he was sat on the floor in a heap. Only Dan's past could break Dan, and it just had done. It was an outburst that had been a long time coming, and it brought Dan to tears as he brought his legs to his chest then crossed his arms over his knees, putting his head in his lap.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Weasley felt her heartrate kick up a notch when he turned towards her, his wand still held up. It wasn't that she really thought he would do something to her because Cyndi had the feeling that even despite his smart-a$$ remarks to her, that Dan really respected her. But, seeing a wand pointed at her simply made her feel that way. She pursed her lips as he spoke, deciding to remain silent rather than say anything. It was a good thing too because she had the feeling that what he was revealing to her right now had never been told to anyone before. It was as if the information had been boiling up inside of him and now was spilling forth. She listened, horrified that he had been abused and abandoned and unable to understand how a parent could treat their child that way. Cyndi's own parents had been so loving to her that it was difficult to understand why someone would bother to have a child that they didn't want to love.

The scream she expected and the punch as well, but the tears that came after she never would have expected from Dan. She froze in place, unsure what to do. "Dan..." she paused again, torn between moving closer and giving him some space. Finally, she decided space was probably what he needed. "No one expects you to be a perfect Gryffindor, whatever that is anyway" she spoke gently, not wanting to upset him further. "But, you are expected to follow the same rules that everyone else does. What you've been through...it's even more reason for you to get through these last few months. Once you've graduated, you'll be able to go out there and not have to depend on anyone." She paused, not even sure what it was that Dan wanted to do when he left. "What is it you want to do when you leave here?" she asked curiously.

 

[Dan Adams]

Dan listened to the Professor. He may not have liked her all that much right now, but he once had, and Dan would be the last to admit it, but he actually thought this Professor deserved some respect. Even though he may not have always given her that respect, he knew that she deserved it. She had tolerated him almost all the time since she had first encountered Dan, and that was something that wasn't easy to do. And she had even listened to him when he had just pointed a wand at her, she could've quite easily interrupted and have gotten Dan into more trouble, but she didn't, and Dan appreciated that.

The outburst had needed to happen in order for Dan to calm down, and finding someone who wouldn't interrupt him had been a task that Dan had struggled to complete. But now he had revealed the truth completely by accident and he felt so much better for it. Dan lifted his head when the Professor had finished speaking. "Thanks Professor..." He told her...that's something he had never done before either, thanked someone, he had never had a reason to. "But I don't know what I want to do...all these years I've been rebelling...causing havoc...and now I'm sat here realising just what a mess I've made of my life...and I don't know what I can do about it...and when I don't know what to do...chaos happens...and people get hurt..." Dan felt he could be truthful with Professor Weasley now, he owed her a lot. It may have not seemed like it, but Dan had taken in everything the Professor had said to him since they had first met, and quite honestly, Dan didn't want to loose touch with her when he left this place. She meant something to Dan.

Dan wiped the last few tears from his eyes then stood up. "And I promise you this...when I turn 17...we're going out, and I'm buying you a drink..." Dan said, sniffling in the last bits of emotion then smiling at the Professor. Dan walked towards the Professor and held his hand out. "Friends?" He said softly with a smile. Maybe the rebel Gryffindor did have a nice side after all...

Out of Character:

Aww.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

As Cyndi awaited Dan's reply, she wondered if maybe he had needed something like this to happen for a really long time. Perhaps he needed to let it out and have a good cry rather than simply being tough all the time. When he lifted his head and spoke, a smile crossed the professor's face. She couldn't believe that Dan had actually just thanked her. She let him speak his piece, aware already that in that sense they were the same. Neither of them liked to be interrupted. When he was done, she spoke up. "We're not throwing you out into the real world just yet. You've still got a few months. Go to the library, look up some careers or Merlin's beard...speak to some of the professors. Most of 'em wouldn't mind helping a student trying to figure out what he wants to do." She had told Dan on the day they met that the professors weren't the enemy. Perhaps he was now realizing she was right.

A small smile crossed her face as he offered to buy her a drink and then held out his hand. She paused and then took his hand giving it a quick shake. "Friends..." she said and then looked around the room. Straightening her robes and clearing her throat because she'd felt a lump form there with how touched she'd been at his words. Finally, she looked back at Dan. "You're still not getting out of this detention though" she smirked. He had broken a rule after all and she could hardly let him just get away with it. If word got around to the other Gryffindors, they'd all be walking all over her.

 

[Dan Adams]

Dan listened hard to the Professor's advice. He had realised now that he needed more help from Professor Weasley than he had first thought. She had strangely brought the best out of him. "Okay Professor...I'll see what I can do..." He told her confidently. This had been the first time in ages that Dan had a positive attitude to life, and it was already doing him good. He didn't know which direction he would fall in when he left Hogwarts, but he knew that while he was here, he would try his best to change for the better.

Dan noticed the Professor smile, and was glad when she shook his hand. Dan released his hand from hers then looked around the room a little before hearing the Professor speak. Dan smiled cheekily at the Professor..."Arrr nooo...and I'd thought I'd gotten out of it..." He said, before letting out a friendly laugh and picking up the brush.

When Dan had finished sweeping the place up, Dan placed the brush so that it was leaning back against the shelf. "I'll see you around yeah Professor..." He said, giving her an 'alright' nod. Just as Dan was about to open the door, he stopped and turned back to the Professor. "And...thanks again yeah..." Dan fiddled around for a couple of seconds before taking a step closer to the Professor, and kissing her cheek. Dan smiled nervously then waved, before walking out the door, and walking away, not a stroppy boy, but a happy man. The kiss had been totally un-professional, but it was the only thing that Dan could think of doing before he left the Owlery.

Dan hoped he'd be able to keep in touch with Professor Weasley when his time at Hogwarts ended. She kept him on the straight and narrow, and Dan didn't quite know what he was going to do without her. He would give his all if it meant he could develop the nicer side of his personality, something that he had never been given the opportunity to find before now. Dan had turned a corner in his life, and it was heading in the right direction.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi couldn't have been more pleased with how things with Dan were turning out. It was as if in that instant, Dan had gone from being a sullen, angry guy to being more willing to listen and accept advice. And when he smiled it made him look totally different too. As she waited for his response to her telling him he needed to complete his detention, Cyndi wondered if she might have ruined the progress he'd just made. That would suck. It seemed that his new outlook was going to remain though as he picked up a broom and got to work.

With his new attitude, it didn't take Dan long to finish the job. She was pleased with his progress and knew that the groundskeeper would be as well. "No problem. See you around Dan" she said with a nod. She was his head of house so it was fairly cetain that they would see each other at one point or another. The kiss was completely unexpected and before she could even comment on it, Dan was gone. It wasn't at all what she had expected and even though it was quite inappropriate, Cyndi smiled and waved as he left. As her own owl flew back in through the window, Cyndi stood around for a few moments petting it and wondering how things would turn out for Dan. Despite his harsh upbringing and the difficulties he had during his years at the school, Cyndi's optimism wouldn't allow her to think anything other than that Dan would have a productive last few months. And when he crossed the hall to receive his diploma, Cyndi would be right there cheering him on.

Out of Character:

I loved the way this ended