A Nighttime Stroll [Open]

[Deleted]

Nigel slowly trudged towards the Astronomy Tower, candle in hand. It had been one of those nights when he can't sleep for more than a few hours before waking up, shivering with cold sweat. It seems his past was slowly catching up to him, and his time in the ICW as a Detail Officer was still fresh in his mind. All of his nightmares seem to center around that certain period in his life, it was as if Morpheus himself was trying to punish him by infecting hi dream with the past horrors he had to deal with. Most did not think much of Security Details but Nigel knew the hardships each and everyone of those guards had to deal with every time they were sent to escort the Representative. People don't think much and often see the Details as bodyguards, but they did not know that these bodyguards had to help with any operation that the Representative is apart of. Rescue missions and relief drops were just the tip of the iceberg. Nigel and his comrades had seen death, death that would make any man spew out his breakfast. Most of his past missions were concentrated on the Middle East, helping civilians to safety against the Dark Wizards that seem to have sprung out of  nowhere in that part of the country. Nigel took part in these missions and saw the horrors of war.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor sighed before shaking his head. He needed to relax and take the memories out of his mind, not indulge and reminice about them. He immediately concentrated on his Occlumency before sighing in relief. Occlumency helped block the emotions and memories, but only just. He slowly walked towards the ajar door and opened it, revealing the beautiful night sky that only the Astronomy Tower offered.

Sitting down, he watched the stars shine brightly, he was in a whole new world whenever he was here. And this world was peaceful.

[ESHAE JOSANO]

Tonight was Eshae's turn to take the towers route at night, monitoring the student population and ensuring that even at these times they didn't roam the corridors. A lot of trouble could be had, should they decide to travel at night. The school was a safe place for the students now, yet each time she travelled the length of the halls she knew so well. She wished to keep the students safe. Memories of living under the hands of the Carrows, even for the shirt time she had been there continued to play on her mind, especially in the dark. During the days they would extinguish the torches that illuminated the thousands of living portraits in the school, preventing anyone from seeing anything ... bad that went on. She shuddered at the thought of anything like that returning to her beloved school.

Though she had not been there long, she felt at peace at Hogwarts. She had returned to do good, to help those who were only beginning their magical education. Eshae felt happy in her place there. She felt useful and needed.

As she made her route towards the Astronomy tower ( a natural place for courting witches and wizards to sneak to in hopes of a late night picnic under the stars ) she found that the door was already open. 'Students. They're all the same' She sighed lightly, putting on a more stern face and sneaking through the door, hoping to catch some hormonal teenagers in an embarassing position, but instead seeing a fellow staff member peering out into the darkness.

"Bit late for you isn't it? I thought I'd only be catching students out of their beds, not colleagues." She said softly, the corner of her mouth creeping into a small smile as she folded her arms and looked at the Defence Professor.

[Deleted]

Nigel stared into space before he heard someone approching from behind him. He shook his head with delight before assuming his current position, if it was a student with a partner, they would be in for a surprise. Of course, students always came up here in the middle of the night to do some 'stuff' that they didn't want anybody to see. The strange fact was that, everyone knew what happened in this place and yet, they still kept on coming. He remembered his first excursion here with a pretty Hufflepuff girl back in sixth year. Yes, those were the times.

He looked back at the woman that seemed to have materialzed behind him, the school nurse. She was a rather attractive woman with a sharp face to boot. It seems as though she was waiting for him to reply so he smiled at her slyly, "Just reminiscing."

Before he allowed her, he continued with the smirk he always wore, "What about you, Madame Josano? I don't suppose you use this room for those kinds of activities as well?"

He knew he was pushing it, but he did not mind. Of course, anything to take his mind away from these horrfying images that swam just underneath his Occlumency shields.

[ESHAE JOSANO]

Her laughter was soft and resulted in her head tilting back, exposing her long pale neck. She found the younger professors far cheekier than the ones she had grown up with abroad and she would admit she liked the cheekiness; she had nothing to compare it with in terms of her own professors in Hogwarts but it was good to see the ones now at least had a sense of humour, even if it wasn't shared with the student population. Looking back now she grinned wide, and placed her hands on her hips in mock indignance. "Now young man you should know better than to ask a lady such things".

With a short sniff she let her hands drop from her hips, showing she held no ill against his comment. "But don't call me Madame, it is still difficult to adjust to being such a high ranking medi-witch it may all go to my head!" She smirked. "In any case, why would I bother coming up here, you know well enough how comfortable the staff quarters are" She scoffed, waving her hand dismissively at the room.

Tilting her head a little, she looked rather sharply at the Professors face before finally querying ... "Reminiscing about what, if you don't mind my asking?"

[Deleted]

Nigel smiled at the response of the School Nurse before replying, "At least now I know where to take you when we engage in such activities!"

Quickly realizing what he was doing, he composed himself. It was not good to flirt around with staff, especially with the School Nurse. There were countless of tales about students who got too fresh with the School Nurse, and sad to say, most of them who had injuries were treated way longer. Nigel shivered at the thought of having to suffer a week of a broken wand wrist, it wouldn't do well for him to irk this vicoius, if not vivacious, woman.

Hearing the question about his first statement, Nigel thought about it. Should he divulge such horrors to this woman? Or should he keep it to himself. Not everyone can take the stress that Nigel took when and during his duty with the ICW, and yet he was here, surviving.

"It's about my time in the ICW." Nigel started before continuing with a grim face. "Some of those experiences still haunts me, although my Occlumency keeps them at bay...most days."

With that, Nigel Ravenhearst shook his head and sighed, before looking out once more into the vast expanse of space. He couldn't show weakness now, it was not becoming of a man like him. Nigel Ravenhearst was known to be cool, calm, and collected, and being weak is not a part of his image, at least not his public one. No, he must control himself.

[ESHAE JOSANO]

"Don't be so presumptuous." She said light-heartedly. "You should know if anything was going to happen, it would be me taking you. Not the other way around." With a cheeky wink she let herself grin. So few adults her age indulged themselves in such talk, she was brought up by very strict educators on the continent. Private education did take a lot of the old pureblood value into account and Eshae had found herself on the receiving end of some unconventional teachings.

However, seeing the expression change on her colleagues face made her quite suspicious. Ever the medical practitioner she could never ignore when something was causing a potential patient distress. Be it physical or otherwise. Slowly, she moved towards him and, while resting a hand gentle on his shoulder let herself down into a sitting position. Pulling her robes around her tighter to ensure she was well covered and kept warm. 

She listened, taking in what he had said and keeping her face neutral. It was not often she came up against someone who had been part of the ICW, but she had heard from her old colleagues of some of the horrors they were admitted with. She knew it was not something as simple as many bade it to be; but she didn't know why.

The hand resting on his shoulder gripped a little tighter in what was meant to be a semi-comforting manner. "Occlumency can only do so much, Nigel. You yourself should know that. After a while you're going to forget what you're suppressing and it will hit you hard when you falter." It was times like this that she wished she had been a more active person in the medical field, but working with children had been her passion during her career at St Mungos. It was very rare any medi-witch or wizard was taken from their ward, even rarer from their floor. "My door is always open if you need a little extra help though. I make one heck of a dreamless sleep draught. So long as you don't become dependant, there is nothing better for bad memories."

[Deleted]

Nigel Ravenhearst sighed after hearing the comments of the School Nurse. She was right, of course. Occlumency can only do so much to a person, as well as for the person. These repressed memories, and emotions, if bottled up too long, may end up exploding in his face ten-fold. The dangers of having these memories unresolved would be his downfall, and he knew it. The young professor sighed before rubbing his temples. It was a sad night, and one that was getting even more depressing as this conversation flew by. He needed a distraction, and he was going to do what he did best.

"Enough of this talk about me, Eshae!" Nigel smirked before rubbing his hand dubtly on the woman's hand, "Tell me, what have you been up to this past summer? Any wizards you have taken interest? Aside from me, of course!"

Nigel made that last part a joke to try and appease the nurse. He knew that most witches in the school staff were single, and yet, there was an abundance of male professors who were single as well. It was a little shocking that no two professors had ever dated, even if it wasn't forbidden. Of course, Nigel knew the stress of teaching and could somehow sympathize, but still, the summer held tremendous amounts of time for the teachers to mingle, and yet, they don't.

[ESHAE JOSANO]

She wasn't impressed at the aversion of the subject by the young professor. She didn't think avoiding the subject was a wise thing to do, but she would never push the subject on someone who did not want to pursue it. She was disappointed, but not shocked. It was not common for someone to want to discuss the harsh horrible realities of their past. she herself was evidence of this, she refused to speak to anyone about her past, no matter who they were.

She did smile as he rested his hand atop her own, if he was going to commit to changing the subject, then she would too. "What do I ever do, attend seminars on the new treatments for students and tried to find a semblance of sanity in this place. I do not leave the school over the summer like many. I live here and i must be responsible for any and all injuries that take place during the summer or otherwise. I just have a little more leeway when the students are away." She said, sighing dramatically. "Oh what an exciting life I have. I miss being young like yourself, I would be out every other weekend and enjoying myself. Not drowning in paperwork and theories." She did smile though, removing her hand from his shoulder after a final squeeze. 

"There isn't much an old maid like myself can do with herself now. Past prime and all that, may as well resign myself to just making inappropriate remarks at those who are far too young for me" She said with a wink.

[Deleted]

Nigel nodded before starting, "Well, Eshae, one would think that a beauty such as yourself is never too old to go out and have some fun! I mean, age is nothing but an illusion, is it not?"

He smiled widely at the nurse. It was one of those days that he just needed to unwind and relax. The dreams and visions he had were not too healthy for him, in fact it was killing him from the inside. But still, he would persevere. Maybe one day he would find a confidant to share all of these experiences, to unload. But for now, he was going to enjoy himself.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor took the hand of the nurse before exclaiming, "Old maid, alas! The old maid may have captured a poor mans heart! What will I do to sate this aching pain inside my chest?"

[ESHAE JOSANO]

Oh this boy could talk the hind legs off of a centaur, he was certainly a charmer. "Don't be silly. I am far too old for that, and trust me there is nothing more awkward than an old lady encroaching on a young crowd." She said softly, placing a hand on her chest and laughing lowly. It had been a long time since she had been out with anyone, even in a simple social environment. The last time she had, was on her 30's and it had ended in her feeling very outdated and rather embarrassed for her lack of co-ordination and inability to blend in. Apparently, she was old for her age and it had been a long time since then. She was not going to go down that road again.

Then again, she was not expecting such an outburst. Eshae was unsure how sincere he was being and felt it was far too much of a joke to take seriously. After all, he was a very young and dashing professor. What good would he see in someone her age. She was not quite old enough to be his mother, but it was incredibly close. She had no intention of making herself a fool of. "How kind of you to humour an old bird like me, but there is no need dear. I am quite happy in being over the hill. There are few wizards willing to take on someone like myself." She patted his hand with her free one gently, in what would seem rather a confident manner. However, inside her emotions were like a bunch of knotted ashwinders. She could feel a fluttering that she had long forgotten. She would not do well to let herself get in too deep. She wouldn't want to embarrass the poor boy.

"In any case, a strapping young wizard such as yourself should have witches begging at his feet. I should hate to take you away from them, hard as it may be to endure."

[Deleted]

Nigel smiled at the older woman in front of him before realizing what he had done. He had, indefinitely, told the woman that he was crushing on her. Of course, that may not be entirely false since the woman still had her magnificent charm on her. As well, she was still quite beautiful for her age, more regal looking if he was being specific. He was sure the woman had her fair share of men who courted her, but as always, the men may have been too shallow, or just not up to the nurse's standards.

The Slytherin Head took both hands of the woman before looknig into her eyes deeply. It was at least his duty to finish what he had started. Of course, the nurse would probably decline, but what harm could this do? It wasn't as if he was going to ask her to marry him. No sir, he was just going to do what most men would do when confronted with such afascinating witch.

"Love, you should never doubt your age. You are more beautiful than most women I have seen! Tell you what, how about we go out tomorrow? A drink in the Three Broomsticks, which I am sure we will both enjoy!"

[ESHAE JOSANO]

"You better be careful, Professor. I may hold you to that."She sad jokingly before giving consideration to his question. It would be rude to refuse, and what other plans would she have? Sit in front of the fireplace in her room with a mug of Hot Chocolate and a romantic novel to sate her loneliness? 

Then again, what would be said if she did indeed go out drinking. There was nothing to say she could not have a day away from the castle - or a couple of hours anyway. But the students would definitely speak of it if they found out. Would he be willing to come with the questions that would inevitably come from it? And would she be able to cope with the many females in the school out to sabotage a friendship in the hopes of having more chance at catching his eye.  He wasn't bad looking, and she would admit she enjoyed his company. He was not like the Sytherins of old, she could see that. His position as head of house was out of his ability to care for the students, not for personifying their ancient values. Perhaps it would loosen her up a little.

"Alright Nigel. If you are quite happy to go out for a drink with someone like myself I wont refuse such an offer. Who knows, you might make me less of an off stuffy, if you're good enough." Her tone was playful, but there was a slight glimmer in her eye. She had hoped this year to make herself well knows amongst the staff, there were so few it seemed that she could either find or have more than a two word conversation from. It could be a new leaf she was turning over. "So long as you promise me that you're not one of those incredibly horrendous people who cannot hold their drink and begin spouting the woes of the world. I shall quite look forward to it."

[Deleted]

Nigel smiled at the reply of the nurse. Sure, he was young and he could probably woo any woman in this castle but Eshae was different. Different in a way that she was much more true, original, and had no barriers placed upon her self. She spoke her mind more than anyone else he had talked with, well maybe not more tha Eva since she trully spoke her mind about him. More so about his personality.

Shaking his head, Nigel stood up from his position before grabbing the nurse's hand, "Then it is settled! Tomorrow, we shall explore the mysteries of Hogsmeade!

Sensing her worries, he immediately closed his hand on hers before whispering, "Do not worry about the students. They gossip about me more than what Witch Weekly earns every year! They will say what they want to say, the most important thing is for us to have fun."

With that, the young professor started to walk out of the tower with a smile and a wave towards the School Nurse. He was definitely tired now, and he needed to sleep. Tomorrow would be a day that he probably would always remember, and he was not going out tired. No, he needed to be refreshed for tomorrow.

Exit!~