Closed Debt of Honour

[Monty Pendleton]

When Monty had told Rama he would buy her chocolates if she managed to stay out of trouble until the end of the year, he hadn't actually expected her to do it. Given her track record, he'd hardly expected her to make it a week. If he'd known she would behave herself just for the chocolates, he would never have made such a silly comment - a comment that now obliged him to single out one student and give her a gift in front of everybody else. Then again, if he'd known she was so easy to bribe into obedience, he'd have offered her the chocolates sooner. When the ceremony was over, Monty saw his opportunity to approach. He held the box behind his back for now, almost hoping she would accuse him of forgetting so that he could prove he hadn't. "Congratulations, Rama," he said, smiling warmly. Was it strange that he would miss her? Yes - it was definitely strange. This was the girl who seven years ago had stamped on his foot and call him a handicap. But she had also taught him a lot about standing up for himself. And she was Hezekiah's daughter. Speaking of which, where was Hezekiah? "How does it feel to have graduated?" he asked, recalling it to be quite a surreal and slightly sad experience.

 

[Rama Mowry]

Rama was looking for Syrus when she was approached by Professor Pendleton. All she had was her diploma in her purse, so her hands were free. She smiled at the man, who seemed to have come empty-handed, which was a bit disappointing. However, Rama was used to people letting her down. "Hello, Professor Pendleton. I am happy that you actually came!" she said with a smile on her face. She still kept her distance from the man because she did not consider them friends. She did not consider them strangers either. For now, they were supporters of each other. That was a better description of their relationship. Rama shrugged at the man's question. "It would feel better with chocolates or something." she told him as she clasped her hands together. She had come expectant. Professor Pendleton was not the type to be a let-down.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty looked a little quizzical. Of course he had come. He had only missed one or two graduations, and only then because he had been too anxious to leave his quarters. Fortunately, those years were long behind him. He smiled knowingly as the opportunity to hand over the chocolates presented itself. "Yes?" he said. "Something like these, perhaps?" He revealed the small box of milk, white, and dark chocolate owls, and offered it to Rama. Attached to the box was a small tag that read 'Well Done!' "Out of curiosity, did you really stay out of trouble, or did you just manage not to get caught?"

 

[Rama Mowry]

Rama was used to being let down by people because of her father. However, she had grown to learn that she should not expected that of all people, like Professor Pendleton. When she saw the chocolates, she gasped and gently reached out to take the chocolates from the man. The owls were so cute! It had different types of chocolate, which she loved. The girl shrugged and smirked at the man. "Are you saying that you don't believe me or your colleagues? I am sure they would have told you if I had gotten into trouble." she told him with a bit of a huff afterwards. However, she was a truthful person. "But, I am not going to say that Syrus took me someone a bit forbidden." she told him as she quickly put the chocolates in her bag so that Pendleton could not reach for them again.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty laughed. "I'm merely suggesting you were clever enough to evade punishment," he said, and apparently he was right. He raised an eyebrow, thoroughly amused, as Rama quickly put the chocolates in her bag. "Mm-hmn? Well, there's a surprise. You know, there's still time for one more detention - you're lucky I'm in a good mood." Monty glanced around, his previous thought returning to him. "Have you seen your father by chance?" He was curious as to where Hezekiah was, and why, if he was here, he had not yet approached his daughter to congratulate her.

 

[Rama Mowry]

Rama rolled her eyes and folded her arms around her chest. If he was going to give her a detention now, she would definitely run out of the Great Hall, with her chocolates in tow. However, he would be smart enough to stop her before she got far. "Blame Syrus. I wanted to go on a simple picnic on the Great Lawn, maybe see the giant squid." she admitted. He was a Gryffindor after all. At the mention of her father, she shook her head. She looked for him while she was on the stage, to see if he had changed his mind about coming, but she was disappointed. "He told me that he was not coming awhile ago, so I am not really worried about where he is." she let the lie slip through her mouth. She began to look around for Syrus. Then she remembered something very important that she was going to tell Professor Pendleton specifically. "Oh, and I will be moving out of my father's place soon! I'm going to ask for an advance at work so I can leave there."

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty really didn't care what Rama had been up to that term; the forest was forbidden for their own safety, so as long as Rama and Syrus made it to graduation unscathed, which they had - well, it was all the same to him. Suddenly he frowned. Hezekiah wasn't coming? Why ever not? Tonight wasn't a full moon - that had been yesterday. Monty had to keep track of such things for the students for whom he brewed wolfsbane. He smiled at Rama's news, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. He was distracted, now. "Really? That's... that's good, then," he said, not sure if it was or not. "Anyway - congratulations, again. I'll leave you to it." With that, Monty walked away to congratulate some of the other graduates, deciding to give it two or three minutes before he headed down to find Hezekiah and find out what on earth had induced him to miss Rama's graduation.