Closed Spare Any Books

[Stefan Archer]

Stefan liked the calm of the end of the year, there was just something nice about all the students having left and the only people being left were the staff. It was the calmest point in the year. The school would be open a little over the break so that people like him and the professors could prep for the next year but he was keen to finish up what he needed to and go home to his family. It was scary to Stefan to think that soon his son would be coming to Hogwarts. The boy had grown up so fast, and he was in awe of how amazing he was. Such a bright, intelligent, book loving child. He could say the same about his daughters too, they were so similar and yet so different. He watched with awe at the kindness Rosie showed to all manner of creatures and plants and he couldn’t get over how bold Aurora was. Stefan couldn’t wait to spend the holidays with them and with his wife. Their house was a far cry from what it had once been. He wondered sometimes in watching them if given the right circumstances he might’ve been like that growing up but mostly he was always just glad that he was able to make them feel safe and loved. He gathered a few books and noticed that the school counsellor was still there, ”Oh Hey,” he greeted, he was always a little visibly nervous around other adults, usually until he got used to them. Old habits. He had his arms full of books, sleeves rolled up exposing the faint scars on his arms that were barely noticeable to him any more, ”You don’t happen to have any school books in there? Kids leave them everywhere,”​

 

[Maria Madison]

Winding down at the end of a long year was always bittersweet in Maria's line of work. She loved the holidays for the amount of time she got to spend with her own kids, especially now that they were all graduating one after another, but she never liked leaving work for so long. Though she had worked hard to make sure her clients had the coping tools they would need for a holiday away from her office, there would always be a knot in her stomach. So many weeks alone could do terrible things for a child in a bad mental state, and the worries wouldn't fully leave her mind until the new year had started and she had a chance to catch up with all of her regular appointments. So she was taking the time to go through her papers one last time, just to reassure herself that there wasn't anything else to be done, that all of her clients had had their final appointments for the year and had everything they needed for the holidays. She was interrupted by a sound through her office door, having left it open just in case she got any last minute drop ins. She looked up, smiling at the familiar sight of one of the librarians. She was familiar enough with Stefan after years working in the same space, though Maria made a habit of avoiding any colleagues who would have been at Hogwarts at the same time as her, out of sheer embarrassment. "Hi!" She said brightly nonetheless, setting her papers down. "Oh... I'm not sure." Maria got up, looking around the office for anything out of place, which was... most things. "I haven't even started tidying up yet." She laughed softly, rifling through the piles of parchment and notebooks on her desk. "It's possible though."

 

[Stefan Archer]

Stefan knew that the books got a bit everywhere, and that it was as likely that the woman just hadn’t had a chance to really look. It was what she ended up telling him, and Stefan just nodded. ”That’s fair,” he said, shifting the weight of the books in his arms slightly. He had been working with Maria for a while, they existed in the same space for a while, he was always pleased that students now had somewhere they could go to discuss issues. A place to speak openly about things if they needed to. ”The books go everywhere, if I didn’t watch kids for a whole semester take the books everywhere and put them down in random places I’d think the books themselves could walk,” he joked with her. There was a spell he could do that would bring the books back, but he didn’t want to mess things up for maria, who knew where the books were if she had any. ”If you spot any, you can just leave them at your door, I’ll come back round and pick them up,” he told her, he didn’t want to inconvenience the woman any further than he had to. He would circle back anyway as he put the books away, so he could grab them then. ​

 

[Maria Madison]

Digging through the piles of files on her desk, Maria quickly came across something that felt distinctly like a book. Withdrawing it, she quickly recognised it as an old volume on temperature control spells she had found left behind after an appointment earlier in the week, and completely forgotten to return to the library itself. "Well, here's one." She smiled apologetically, holding it up before crossing the room and handing it to Stefan. "I'll make sure to return any others I find." She glanced behind him at the empty library. "Must be a busy time of year, trying to get everything back into order after the exam rush."

 

[Stefan Archer]

Stefan smiled as she held up a book and passed it to him. He was sure there would be more dotted around, but at least that was another one found. He gave her a smile, trying to assure her that it was fine, ”Kids and adults alike are pretty forgetful, if i’ve learnt anything in working in a library, it’s that,” Stefan told her as she took the book. He glanced back at the library and gave a little nod, it was a busy time of the year getting everything in order but it was a good time of the year in his mind, it was quiet, only a few students left and that meant length coffee or tea breaks and just being able to tidy and organise books. ”It’s busy, but good busy, gives me time to really organise and see what we’re missing. It’s also quiet, despite this being a library it can get pretty loud.” he knew it wasn’t as loud as other places in the school, and despite having three children, he had always preferred silence. The noise of his kids was welcome, but so was a little silence. ”This must be a quiet point for you too then,”​

 

[Maria Madison]

Maria chuckled softly at Stefan's comment about forgetfulness, nodding in agreement. "You have a good point." She smiled, glad that he wasn't upset about the book. She had no idea if it was late or not, or if there were any overwhelmingly late returns lingering around in her office, but hopefully Stefan wouldn't mind. She nodded as he talked about the break, smiling slightly. "I know exactly what you mean about the noise. My office is soundproofed for privacy, but any time the door opens..." She chuckled softly and shook her head. Maria laughed a little bitterly when he said this had to be a quiet time for her, shaking her head. "I wish." She said sadly. "I have to arrange continuity of care over the holidays, and for students who are graduating. Most of my clients will be fine without me for a while, but some need ongoing care, and I need to make sure they'll be getting it over the break. The end of appointments just means the beginning of paperwork."

 

[Stefan Archer]

Stefan couldn’t block out the noise of the library, not even in the office space for librarian’s given that they did need to know whenever students needed them but he was a little envious. There were occasions when even at work he’d want nothing more than to block out all of the noise. At home when he wasn’t feeling too up to it, he had Kate, she managed it. Then it helped that branson was older now and could do a little more. But those days were few and far between. So much time had passed. He nodded lightly when she said that there were paperwork to do, students to support outside of the school walls itself. He had to admit he hadn’t thought about that, hadn’t thought that would be a thing. But of course it was, problems in school would continue outside of it..he knew that. ”Oh, I hadn’t realised,” he said honestly with a tone of clear respect for her. ”That’s really good, the students who need it must appreciate it.” he said, thinking of how it would’ve been a useful thing for people he’d known while at school, he refused to think about himself. ”Do you want a cup of tea or coffee? I was doing a last round for a while and was going to get some coffee, you are welcome to join me,”​

 

[Maria Madison]

Maria smiled warmly when Stefan complimented her work, nodding. "It's an important part of the job." She said. She was a little surprised when he asked if she wanted to go get a cuppa, smiling brightly. "I'd love that actually, I'm well overdue a break." She said gratefully, wondering why she had been so scared of socialising with her colleagues for so long. Maria set down her papers and got up, pausing a moment to stretch out her stiff leg, sticking after so many hours sat at her desk.

 

[Stefan Archer]

Stefan smiled when she agreed, he felt a little nervous about inviting her to tea or coffee, given what she was, but he was an adult, with a beautiful wife, three amazing children, a good job and he was happy. He just knew that even with how far he’d come, he was a little nervous about certain elements. Some days weren’t as good or as easy. But, this would be fine, he led her to the little staff room that the librarian’s used. It was enough for them, and to stop them from having to seek it out elsewhere. He used his wand to get the magical kettle to fill up and begin to boil. ”So, tea or coffee then?” he said, ”Feel free to sit, it’s just me today, the other two aren’t working today,” ​

 

[Maria Madison]

Maria didn't realise until Stefan led her there that she had never been in the librarian staff room, usually just taking breaks in her own office. She didn't frequent the actual staff room out of fear of running into Cyndi or Kalif or Aeon, still trapped in the lingering worries of being remembered for her actions as a student. This was far cosier though and much less intimidating, and Maria made a mental note to spend more time here. It would maybe help her make some actual friends among her colleagues, rather than hiding away in her office. "Tea, thanks." She said with a grateful smile as she took a seat. "Two sugars, no milk." She sighed contentedly, looking around. "This room is so nice, I can't believe I've never been here before."

 

[Stefan Archer]

Stefan got the tea and coffee started and looked back to Maria as she complimented the room. He took a moment to glance at it. Unsurprisingly there were books on most of the surfaces, and the room was modest, it was lightly decorated and was clearly a used room, but it wasn’t busy, ever and Stefan had done a lot to make sure that in theory he never needed to leave the library. He had been a librarian for a while and he liked staying there. ”It’s a nice little room,” he agreed as he added the two sugars to her tea. He didn’t bother with his coffee and just brought both to where she was sat, ”You are free to use this room, you might not be a librarian, but you work amongst us, so, use it,” he gestured to the room vaguely. ”I know your role is to be there from students but this is a good quiet space to take like ten minutes,”​

 

[Maria Madison]

Maria smiled gratefully for both his offer and the cup of tea, accepting the latter with a quick, "Thanks." She took a sip, nodding quietly. "I might take you up on that, thank you." She said gratefully. "I usually just take breaks in my office, but it's not a very sociable way to live." Maria chuckled softly, blowing on her tea before taking a small test sip. "Ohhh, that's lovely." She smiled gratefully. "So, do you have any big plans for the holidays?"

 

[Stefan Archer]

Stefan nodded and smiled. He knew that he wasn’t the most social person either. It had gotten easier over the years to just feel relaxed in the area he minded. He didn’t socialise all that much but he didn’t mind it. It wasn’t like he was therefore that, and he always felt better a little independent. He gave a little smile, ”Not really, I have three kids, my wife and I don’t usually get many opportunities to do big plans,” he joked lightly, it was also that as a family they just went to places in New Zealand if they went anywhere. He didn’t like travelling far from where things were familiar. Plus, wrangling three kids, on any holiday could be hard enough, but if they had been abroad he thought it would just be awful. ”What about you?”​

 

[Maria Madison]

Maria chuckled softly at Stefan's comment about his kids, nodding in understanding. "Oh no, same, I've got four." She laughed softly, taking a sip of her tea. "We usually take a quick trip to Australia, my middle two grew up there, but that's about the extent of what we can manage for plans." She chuckled softly. "How old are your kids?" She asked, curious about Stefan's life outside work.

 

[Stefan Archer]

Stefan laughed softly with her, four kids. That was a lot even for him and he only had one less. He and Kate had never discussed how many children they wanted and honestly stopping after the twin had been good, three was a manageable amount, four would've perhaps been too much. They probably could’ve managed one more but three was enough. He hadn’t thought of going to Australia, but they had no link to it. Perhaps why it had never occurred to them to go to the closest neighbour. ”They are 11 and 8,” he said, ”The youngest two are twins,” he added realising that though she might’ve figure out that two were twins it was easier to explain. ”How old are yours?”​