Determination

[Cirino Raven]

Ciro had been prepared for the start of term already, knowing that he would have a fresh new bunch of first years to teach. Alongside his current years. It was only his second year at the school, and now that he had accomplished a full cycle at the school, he felt more comfortable with this year than he had the last. The last had held some surprises for hi, most definitely. The gossip magazine, the childish squabbles he had fallen witness to, the needing to patrol obviously dangerous areas to keep students away, the varying levels of knowledge of some of his students - he was not sure what he had been expecting. Something calmer? It was only to be expecting, having had no children of his own, and only being exposed to very calm, sensible children in his lifetime. Yet, he liked teaching a great deal more than he had first thought he had.

Looking over at his companion, Abbigale, he inclined his head to the slightly older woman before addressing her. He had asked her to join him for a walk while on his way passed her office and had been making small talk with her since, until they found themselves walking across the Great Lawn in the pleasant weather. "Have you finished preparing for this year, Abbigale?" They had kept correspondence over the holidays - as friends often did. Enough for him to know that there was no reason to bring up her holidays. her children, who were now attending the school, had been giving her problems. They were now to be his problem, somewhat, as he ran a required class, and so would have both the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor in his classes. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. It was hard enough teaching some of his own relatives - and finding them getting into fights. He would hate to find the same with Abbigale's children.
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[Abbigale Raven]

Abbigale's holiday had not at all been what she would want it to be. She hadn't really had a decent rest since she divorced from Jasper and her children had seen fit to make sure she was living in a perpetual hell. If it wasn't Nathanial whining about not seeing his father enough or blaming her for everything that happened, it was Emily whining about not wanting to see her father, or growing upset that she wasn't in Hogwarts yet, or crying about not seeing her mother enough, or it was the both of them arguing over whose fault it was in the divorce proceedings. Things were stressful enough without her own child hating her. She knew he really didn't hate her, or at least she hoped he didn't. She wanted to believe that he was just going through a phase or that he was angry. She understood that this type of thing was hard on kids, but there was nothing to be done. Thinking about all of this was driving Abby absolutely bonkers, so she sighed in relief when she was asked to go for a walk by the one man who seemed to be able to simultaneously annoy the heck out of her and make her feel like nothing else in the world even mattered. She was grateful for the reprieve, she definitely was.

Small talk drowned out the usual quietness of the corridors this early in the year and as they walked along the corridors towards nowhere in particular, Abby found herself remembering the walks she had taken with the man over the past year with fondness. The first time she had ever met him, she had been an absolute wreck and she had been even more surprised to find that he had been offered a job at the school. At first she had freaked out only to remember that the job offer would have had to come before his meeting of her. Though it had still been weird. As much as she tried to deny it, she had to admit that she had grown fond of the times he would drop by her office. Receiving letters from him during the holidays had been the only rest she had allowed herself from dealing with her wayward children. She could only hope they would grow out of it and quickly. Turning to Ciro, Abbigale realised he was being careful not to mention her holiday. She was rather grateful for that. "There is not much to prepare to be honest. My excursions are set up in advance of all of this. They expect me now as I have been doing it for a number of years. Otherwise, everything else is usually already there from the previous years." She told him, looking out over the expansive Lawn. "What about you?"
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