Closed Caffeine Fuels My Soul

[Professor Misha Haden]

Professor Haden always had a lot to do towards the end of the semester and more so at this end of semester when it was also the end of the year. He had to. get his students prepped for their respective OWL and NEWT exams, which was difficult. He didn’t like to see them fail, why would he? It was growing ever important that too, as once again his daughter would be in his class and he knew it was bad if he didn’t manage to help his own daughter pass the class he’d been teaching for so many years. There was nothing that filled him with joy more than seeing his students pass and he tried his best to ensure everyone got something, but with his daughter coming into the class he had to be sure he was at his best game to make sure he helped her pass. He couldn't imagine it would look very good if he wasn't able to teach his own daughter. Of course none of the pressure was being put upon her, just Misha placing it upon himself. It meant that he was perhaps a tad more stressed than he would usually be, certainly for someone who aimed to always be as calm as he could. He had however run out of coffee and it was only midway through the day and that was simply going to be unacceptable. He had come to the professor’s common room where he knew there would be more of it. So, he was slowly making a cup of coffee, humming to try to keep away some of the very real stress that he was feeling. The professor's common room was not somewhere he went that often, since he. had everything he needed in the office and certainly in recent years he'd focused on being apart from the others, for no reason other than he knew he could be pretty lazy. ​

 

[Harlow West]

"Coffee...Coffee..Coffee.." Like a chant, Harlow bustled into the common room with her favorite mug, making a beeline for the coffee pot. She was enroute to her office to finish some grading and only realized she did not have coffee when she was already in her office. This meant going down sets of stairs all the way to the common room. It was not only when she was three feet away when she noticed somebody was already there. She stopped short before she would bump into the person. "Oh, hello, Professor Haden.", she greeted the man politely. She rarely saw him in the room except for meetings. Other times, she saw him during meals and rarely crossed paths in the corridors. Thus, Harlow did not know anything about him aside from his name. Although she was told that Cyzarine was her daughter. "I'm sorry I didn't see you there." She was nearsighted and often forgot to wear her glasses.​

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha was a little surprised as someone almost bumped into him. He looked at them, noting it was one of the newer professors, ”Oh no, just Misha, I don’t even ask my students to call me Professor Haden,” he said quickly, he didn’t want her to address him formally if no one else did. There would be no point in it. He didn’t need the formality. He on the other hand didn’t particularly know Professor West that well. He knew she taught arithmancy and according to his daughter was pretty nice and well as pretty. He smiled at the professor, ”That’s alright, coffee?” he said holding out what he’d already finished making and offered to pour it into her cup to. ”How are you finding teaching?” if he was right this was her second or third year of teaching, he knew the first few years could be interesting as people learned the ropes and the other professors and now as a professor who’d been teaching for a great long while he maybe didn’t interact that often, but it didn’t mean he didn’t care. ​

 

[Harlow West]

Harlow smiled,relieved that she did not do any damage to the other professor. "Alright, then. Misha. You can call me Harlow.", she returned. Or H., she added in her mind. One thing she surely noticed was that Misha still looked handsome even for a man with a daughter. Too bad he was married, although crushing on a fellow colleague was harmless. When she was offered coffee that he had made, she smiled before she moved to make another cup. "No,no,no. You take it but thank you." It would not take a long time to make one and it would give her hands an excuse to be busy. "Never thought I would become a teacher myself.", she chuckled, "It was actually fun and rewarding, imparting what I know to the students although I must say there are smart kids too.", she added. She leaned on the counter as she waited for the coffee to finish brewing. "Have you been teaching long here?", she asked, hoping she could know more about the man in front of her while not keeping the conversation boring.​

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha smiled at the woman, Harlow. He had been sure her name was somewhere in his head, but the professor that came and went were trickier for him to remember. The charms professor was good enough at remembering his students names and he could always vaguely manage his co-workers surnames and what they taught. He took the cup, thinking about offering it to her some more but pretty pleased to have it himself, ”Thanks because I need this coffee, I made it super strong, so it would’ve been awkward if you’d had to pretend it was enjoyable out social politeness,” he joked with an easy tone. He was already feeling a little less stressed, perhaps he’d just been spending too much time on his own. He listened as she talked about teaching, ”Oh, I’ve been here a while, not as long as Professor Styx, but a little while,” the man said with a little laugh. ”I always wanted to teach, when I was in school, it was just nice to help out other students so, naturally I decided to teach,” he replied, ”The kids are smart, but they can also be pretty loud and my daughter chats to me about teen gossip and goodness I’m glad I can close my office door and shut all that out,” he continued. He liked teaching but there were elements he didn’t like as much. Getting involved, having to discipline were not things he liked to do. ​

 

[Harlow West]

Harlow chuckled when Misha did not push her to take the coffee he offered. Normally, she would flick her wand to get her coffee quickly prepared but with the man with her and the company it brought, she did not need to hurry. "I also happen to like it super strong when I need to. Plus I know you really want to take a sip already.", she teased him while pouring a bit of creamer into her cup. She already had her coffee and was just standing there with him. She listened in fascination about what he told her, amazed that Prof. Styx, the man atleast, taught way longer than them. He mentioned his daughter among many other students. "I don't mind a little teen gossip. You know, enough to keep you in the loop.", she commented with a chuckle. "How does it feel having your daughter as your student? Cyzarine is smart but doesn't she feel pressured by having you as her teacher?" She did not have any family here so she was pretty sure she did not have to go through that.​

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha laughed as she said she did happen to like coffee very strong but still didn’t ask for his cup. He took a grateful sip of the bitter liquid, he could feel it almost immediately take hold of him, making him feel more awake than ever. He knew that coffee didn’t have an instant effect but sometimes it was easy to forget that and just imagine that it did. He watched her vaguely as she made her own coffee, and laughed at her statement, ”I didn’t like teen gossip when I was a teen,” he knew that it could be useful to understand students and know what was going on but he didn’t like it much at all. He smiled at the question, ”I worry that she does, but Cyzarine would tell me if she felt pressured.” he knew his daughter was open to him and would tell him, like she told him so many other things he didn’t need to know but knew anyway. ”I think she’ll feel it in my class next year, with it being both me teaching and the OWL year, but I’m pretty laid back and she knows I don’t care how well she does so I’m hopeful. Do you have any children Harlow?” he knew it was a slightly personal question but it was an easy question to shut down if Harlow found it too personal.​

 

[Harlow West]

Harlow took a sip of her own coffee, humming at the bittersweet taste. She chuckled, agreeing with him. "Well, girls are girls. I don't really mind gossip when I was a teen as long as it does not concern me." She smiled, taking more sips on her cup, as she listened to Misha talk about his daughter, surprised that he was just as relaxed as a dad the same way as a professor. When she was asked about children, she almost stammered on her coffee. "Oh,no. I don't have any. I'm not even married yet.", she did not mind the personal questions, in fact, she was open to them. How would you know a person if you did not ask. "Uhmm, how about you? Does Cyzarine have any siblings?", she asked in return.​

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha had to just shrug a little at Harlow’s statement, as he had never experienced that apart from through his daughter now. He had never minded gossip when he’d been a teen or now. He hadn’t cared much and didn’t care much about what others - apart from his best friend Professor Styx - thought of him. He smiled a little as she said that she didn’t have any children, and that she wasn’t married, though he didn’t see why the two would be linked, after all, he wasn’t married and he did have a child, ”She doesn’t, her mother and I aren’t together,” he told her. It was sort of ignoring that Misha knew it was very possible he had other children to other people, he’d been careful in his life, but perhaps not always careful enough. ”I mean I have thought about having more children, but you’ve got to at least be dating someone for that to be the case, and I am far too busy being a hero teacher to my kids for that,” the man joked with a little smile. ​

 

[Harlow West]

If surprise was the appropriate reaction to what Misha said, Harlow tried to hide it. She did not expect that he was not married or even together with Cyzarine's mom. Still, she should say something about it, at least. "Oh,I didn't mean to pry." She mentally slapped herself. She nodded, agreeing at what he said and even laughed although she agreed on the latter part. "Well, I must say you are definitely a hero teacher with thousands of students adoring you." She wondered if the man was dating someone though.​

So many apologies for the super delayed response.

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha shook his head, ”Oh it’s fine, we were never really together,” the man said, not wanting harlow to think that he was upset about being asked such a question, he knew it would’ve been better if he’d been in Cyzarine’s life, but things had worked out okay, and he was happy to be in her life now. Things were good. He was proud to watch as his daughter grew and developed her magic. He just gave a smile at her words. ”Why thank you, I do try,” he said with a mock bow. He took a long sip of the coffee and then asked, ”Where did you go to school?” he wanted to keep the conversation going, he didn’t often get to talk with his colleagues - his own fault - and she seemed nice, someone he would want to keep talking to. He didn’t know much about her or the subject she taught so that was as good a place as any to start.​

 

[Harlow West]

Harlow chuckled lightly. Misha was just too nice and modest. Traits that she found endearing in anybody, which she seldom met. Aside from Irene and her husband, she never really had the chance to speak to anyone. Taking a sip at her coffee, papers forgotten, she must admit that she was enjoying talking to Misha. Asked where she went for studies, she replied with a warm smile. "I went to the other Hogwarts, in Scotland. I was in Hufflepuff.", adding the last bit proudly. She was one proud badger. "How about you, Misha? Did you go to school here?", she guessed as from what she heard, most people who worked in the school graduated from there as well.​

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha nodded as she said she’d gone to the other school, that she had been in hufflepuff, he couldn’t help but look her over, wanting to spot the same signs of hufflepuff in her as he had spotted in his students. He shook his head though at the question, ”I was at Durmstrang, I moved to New Zealand for the job,” he said, he had been keen to work anywhere, and the job opening had come up and it was just an added bonus that it was pretty far from everything else. He liked New Zealand too - he hadn’t been sure he’d like it, but he had really come to enjoy everything the place offered him. ”Fell in love with teaching here, fell in love with New Zealand, there was never any excuse to leave,” He knew this was more information that maybe necessary but she was quite easy to speak to, ”Did you move to New Zealand for work or were you already living here?”​