The sweet nothings of firewhiskey (Felix)

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The fireplace crackled cheerfully at the end of the long room. The house elves must have seen her returning from her walk and prepared the room for her return. She smiled. She always left a bit of refreshment for the little creatures which they had eventually, grudgingly accepted. Gathered around the fire were two crimson two seated couches. On one of them, a black cat was curled up sound asleep. It opened one green eye before settling back to sleep. A desk was not too far away from the chairs. It was large and mahogany. Piles of assignments covered most of the surface of the desk. It was never clear, except come the summertime holidays. There was a small stairway, next to the fireplace that lead up to her sleeping chamber. She shut the door behind Felix and went to retrieve a bottle of Odgen’s Old Firewhiskey that was stored in a small cabinet on the opposite side of the room to her desk. Her feet crossed the stone floor quite soundlessly. The only carpet was near the fireplace. Her breath caught uncomfortably. She rarely brought anyone back to her chambers. With slight tremors touching her hands, she pulled out the bottle of Firewhiskey and two crystal glasses. Her breathes became a little shallower. She shook her head. This was ridiculous. This night would merely be two colleagues sharing a bottle of Firewhiskey and not much more. “Do you still want that cocoa as well?” she asked a little hint of playfulness in her voice. The confidence of her earlier flirting fell away. She placed the glasses down on the table and filled each up with two fingers worth of alcohol. She turned around, glass in each hand, and made her way over to Felix. As she got close, she offered him the drink. She would have liked to examine his wound, but perhaps the care of that would be a better job for the school nurse. Tammy was not ridiculously terrible at healing but she would hate for something to go wrong and he would have her to blame. After all, he had such a pretty face she would hate to botch it up.

[FELIX FAIRBOURNE]

Walking up the cold, stone steps of the castle towards Tammy's office, Felix felt very cold. After the bitterly cold weather outside in the dead of night, he was slightly warmer, but as they ascended the two floors to her office, Felix longed after the inevitable, warm, roaring fire that was nestled in there.

When they entered the office, Felix suppressed a gasp. It was a large room, with two incredibly comfy-looking sofas beside a wonderfully large fire, which was set ablaze. Felix truly would have given a House Elf a kiss, if he had ever seen one around Hogwarts, for making sure the offices fire was ready for when Tammy got back. There was a cat lying on one of the sofas, curled up contentedly as it basked in the heat from the fire. It pricked its ears and opened a lazy to see who it was that disturbed it, but then went back to sleep, unperturbed. Tammy shut the door behind him with a snap and walked over to her desk - which was overflowing with papers - and pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey, as well as two glasses. As she poured, Felix walked over to the free sofa and sat down with a sigh.

"Your office is a lot tidier than mine is at the moment, it was definitely a good idea to come here instead." Felix said, taking the drink from Tammy with a thanks. He took a sip, lay back on the sofa and sighed. "Just what I needed." He said, holding up the glass to the fire-light, watching the amber-coloured liquid dance around the glass as he circled it in his hand. Felix laughed at Tammy's playful offer of cocoa. "Well, perhaps after the whiskey." He said with an equally playful wink. He did not know Tammy well enough to know if she was truly flirting, or just merely being friendly. However, he did not want to take the risk and go all-out on the flirting, just in case it backfired. Felix put a hand up to his cut and tutted to himself. "I have no idea how this happened." He said, shaking his head. "But it'll clean up soon enough, no doubt."

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Felix seemed to settle in quickly, taking a chair close to the fire. For a brief moment, she was reminded of the cold that had sunk into her body from their walk in the woods. Due to the adrenaline, she had forgotten about the icy cold that drained heat from all outside. Bathed in the warmth of her office, she remembered the cold.   "I have had quite a few years here to get my life in order," she said lightly, replying to his comment about the neatness of her office. After Felix, had taken his drink, she placed her drink down on a side table and removed her heavy cloak that had covered a thin, low cut midnight blue robe. For the most part, Tammy had tried to keep her wardrobe fairly modern with the more fitted type of robe. The warmth seeped through the thin fabric quickly. Her cloak felt cold in her hands. She placed it on the couch occupied by the cat, then hesitated for a moment. She was unsure as to whether she dared to sit next to the younger professor on the same couch, or chose a safer tactic and sit next to the cat. A glimmer of the shy professor down in the courtyard emerged for a second before she braved sitting next to him.  She smiled in return to his play retort, however, with more reserve.  She watched him bring his hand back up to the cut on his face. He seemed quite concerned that he was unaware of how he acquired the cut. Tammy smiled tentatively, before gently lifting her hand up to take his face where the wound was. Her expression grew serious for a moment as she regarded the depth of the wound.  "That certainly needs a little bit of looking after," she said softly, her gaze intent. "May I?" She paused for a moment, as though she still had more that she wished to express.  Her next words she had not expected to share with Felix. A heaviness found her words. "I took some training after Hogwarts to do healing and then I spent the rest of my time traveling the world. I spent some time in Asia, where there was a muggle war. The witches and wizards that were with me said that we should not interfere. I could not stand by and watch though..." she trailed off into silence for a moment, her eyes a little further away. "Anyway, what I meant to say is that I am not completely hopeless at healing!" She shifted her gaze from his wound to his eyes. She noted how close he was, and then moved back a little. She felt a little embarrassed, knowing that Felix may not feel all that comfortable with her so close.

[FELIX FAIRBOURNE]

As Tammy handed Felix his drink, he felt as calm as could be. When the acromantula attacked them in the forest, Felix was quite agitated and stressed, which was quite uncommon for him. Sitting in a warm, fire-lit room on a comfy sofa with a glass of firewhiskey was sure-fire way to calm him down, and he was getting calmer and more relaxed by the second. He sank his body into the material of the sofa and sighed, taking a large sip of his drink as he waited for Tammy to take a seat. The big question at that moment was which sofa she was going to sit on - of course, sitting on the opposite sofa will encroach on the cats personal space, but prevent any awkwardness, but sitting on the same sofa as Felix would mean they could talk more freely.

In the end, after what seemed like embarrassed deliberation on her part, Tammy sat down next to Felix. He bunched up to allow her some space as he sat more in the middle than to the side. "Yes, I suppose you've had longer to unpack than I have." He laughed. "How long have you worked here, precisely?" After a moment or two, Tammy lifted a tentative hand up to the cut on his face, her face darkening. She asked for permission to tend to his wound, informing him that she trained as a healer after she graduated from Hogwarts.

Keeping his eyes fixed upon hers, Felix nodded. "Of course, of course. I trust you." He said, and almost immediately could have punched himself in the face. You trust her? His mind said incredulously. You've only just met her! But he did, even though they had only known each other for an hour or two - she had a trusting personality, and a kind face, two of the main traits he looked for in a friend. He shuffled his position on the sofa so that he was facing her directly, and placed his glass down on a table, preparing for Tammy to take a closer look at his wound.

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Tammy paused as she thought about how long she had worked at Hogwarts. The years had melded into a long stretch and she had almost stopped counting. Her time at Hogwarts had certainly been blissful. It had been a time where she had had the privilege to witness some of the most talented witches and wizards learn. "Hmm, it must be around six years now. If I stay much longer, I may become part of the furniture. Perhaps I should start looking for adventure elsewhere," she said grinning. She was not planning on leaving Hogwarts soon. The castle held many adventures that Tammy had not yet fully explored. She nodded at his words, not taking them too literally. People often said things like 'I trust you' without really realising the full impact of their words. But she understood the strange sincerity behind the professor's words. She took a close look at the wound. It was fairly deep but not too serious. However, she would hate for it to leave a scar on his pretty face. Oh, Tammy was under no illusions that a young good looking man like him would go for her. Perhaps it was better that way. She did not mind though. At least for this night she could have a friendly encounter with the Charms Professor. Her eyes narrowed in concentration and she touched her hand to his cheek. Being adept in wandless and wordless magic, she did not utter a word as she cast the healing charm. The wound began to melt together, reuniting the skin. Warmth touched the end of her fingers. She smiled in satisfaction. All that remained of the wound was some dried blood and a pink tinge where it was.  "There, you can now seduce the ladies easily again, dear sir," she said lightly.

[FELIX FAIRBOURNE]

As Tammy strived to remember how long she had been at Hogwarts, Felix sipped his drink with a pleasant expression on his face. It was a tad warm for his liking though, so he pressed his finger against the glass and the glass frosted, and chilled the whiskey nicely. He took another sip and nodded in approval. When Tammy finally remembered how long she'd worked there and commented about how she would like further adventures, Felix laughed.

"I know what you mean. My previous work as an auror was thrilling enough, but it was rather restrictive on what I could do with my spare time. Still, nurturing young, brilliant minds is an adventure in itself, is it not?" He winked.

Luckily, even though Felix regretted using those particular words, Tammy didn't seem to be bothered by the possible, hidden connotations within them. She nodded along, keeping her eyes on his cut and then moved in for a closer look. She was so close to his face that he could count her eyelashes, but he didn't feel uncomfortably - on the contrary, he felt quite relaxed. Tammy placed her hand on his cheek, and with a wince of pain for a second, the pain suddenly subsided and he felt the odd sensation of his skin knitting back together.
A warmth spread through his cheeks, but he couldn't figure out whether that was the spell, or Tammy's slender hand.
"Thank you." Felix said, lifting his hand up to where the cut used to be, but now all he could feel was dried blood and a slightly numb feeling. He laughed as he pulled his wand out and siphoned off the rest of the dried blood, leaving his face completely unblemished. "Seduction isn't really my strong suit." He said modestly. Leaning back on the sofa, he looked towards the window and all he could see was black. "Did you find it hard?" Felix said softly, turning back to Tammy. "When you first came here, I mean. As a professor."

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Tammy smiled at Felix's statement. Well, he was right. She took the comment about teaching children being an adventure lightly. In a way, it was but she doubted that the thought needed extensive exploration. She took a sip of her whiskey that had stood neglected for the past moments. She refrained from grimacing as the strong liquid burnt her throat as it went down. Warmth spread from her stomach to the tips of her extremities. She liked the feeling of alcohol. The liquid made her able to find her voice easily. She took another sip, relishing the warmth that is brought. With the warmth, relaxation stretched itself across her mind.  She smiled a little at his comment that seduction was not his strong suit. Oh, with a face like that she doubted that woman needed too much seduction. She shook that thought from her mind, although a strange smile touched her lips. His next question caused a small frown of concentration to touch her brow. She could deduce from his question that he was finding the position of a new professor challenging. She reached out and touched his wrist reassuringly for a moment.  the warmth of his skin lingered momentarily against her palm when she pulled away. "It was challenging at times and some days were just plain difficult. Which aspect in particular are you thinking about?" she replied, her voice slow and rhythmic. "It gets easier -- especially when the students learn to fear you." She winked as she delivered her final remark.

[FELIX FAIRBOURNE]

Felix noted that Tammy was taking frequent sips of her whiskey, and he was deducing in his mind whether that due to a simple thirst, a method of calming or seeking pure intoxication for whatever reason. Still, it mattered not, and he was starting to relax even more in the flame-haired Transfiguration professors presence. Felix took another sip of his drink and enjoyed the spread of warmth through his body that only firewhiskey can produce.

His eyes fixed upon the rising and falling back of the cat on the opposite sofa, his eyes glazed over as he thought of nothing much at all. After a moment, his comment about him not being the best in the area of seduction provoked a small smile from Tammy - something he couldn't quite figure out. Was she being sympathetic, or sceptical? He had happened upon that kind of response before, and he was quite sure that they were under the impression that because his looks were somewhat above average, he was more than adequate in the area of ... relationships. Still, he was quite shy and awkward in the wrong situations.

Glad at the change of subject, Tammy answered his questions, and he knew that she understood his veiled feelings about teaching. She was more experienced than he, so he confided in her. She moved her hand to his wrist and squeezed reassuringly. Felix smiled at her in appreciation and listened to her response, his features focussed on attention to accompany her small frown of concentration. He laughed softly at her comment about making the students fear him. "Well, I don't know about fear...adoringly respect I can manage though." He winked playfully at Tammy. "I am relatively new to this game. My previous job was an auror, so quite different to being a professor at Hogwarts." He took another sip of his drink and looked back over at the stunningly attractive professor to his left, who was seemingly getting more beautiful with every passing moment. He reached out a hand and touched hers in appreciation. "Thank you. For this, I mean." He waved a hand around her office. "Good friends are hard to come by."