[Staff Room] It was too good to be true. [open!]

[arista]

Arista walked into the staff room, and plopped herself down on the fluffiest chair in the room. She let out a great sigh as her arms drooped over the sides of the chair. Her hair was a mess, the ends curling profoundly. She wiped her flat bangs out of her eyes, and took another deep breath.

What a day she had. Somehow, it seemed that every child at the school decided to let of a prank charms or two within one hour. After the half hour break she had gotten after plucking the squirming tentacles off one girl's face, and popping unsightly purple boils off another's, Arista had been working nonstop. Luckily she had gotten all the children out of the Hospital wing, except for two children. A poor first year girl was sleeping off the fear of horrible hover charm, in which a sixth year put her on the roof. The other patient was a fourth year boy who over did the Burping Brownies, and was now sitting in bed, a nasty burp between every breath.

Arista had needed a small break. Making sure that the children would be fine, she had hurried down to the staff room. She planned on making herself a cup of tea and relaxing for fifteen minutes.

Groaning as she forced herself up, she put a kettle on the burner. Pointing her wand at the kettle, it filled up with water. Again flicking her wand below the kettle, a flame emerge, heating the water. Arista opened the cabinet where she kept her special tea from home. It was bare. "What?" Arista said with a groan, and pushed aside the other items in the pantry to get a better look. Perhaps it was pushed all the way back. In the darkness of the cabinet, she couldn't see a thing. Flicking her wand at her shoes, she hovers slightly in the air, looking and pushing items away, making quite a mess in the cupboard. It was to good to be true. Why couldn't she get a decent break? "Where are you?" She sang to the missing tea.

[Prof. Darrow]

Filing became immensely tedious after a time, though Darrow was a very patient man; he really had to be given his position, the mountains of paperwork were stifling. So with a flick of his wand he had simply whisked them all away; to be sorted through at a later date, with a clearer head. He sorely missed being a teacher proper, the thrill of handling a class, even though it was a very difficult job indeed, he had still dearly loved it; finding the challenges immensely satisfying once completed.

Darrow swept towards the staffroom, a light smile dimly visible. He tried hard to remain cheerful, to maintain a good demeanour, but with such a profession it was sometimes difficult. Still he would never give it up for the world, the school community was very much a family to him; a rather large and boisterous family filled with rather eccentric individuals, but nonetheless they resided in the place he liked to call home; leastways for the vast majority of the year.

Over the years Darrow had developed some rather odd customs, which he declared kept his sanity; for one he never left a door ajar, nor would he step upon a crack in the pavement. They were little things that he barely ever thoguht about, but did automatically without thinking; like bring his own teabags down to the staffroom; he needed his own brand of tea, which he claimed had sustained him throughout his life. So with a single teabag in hand he tapped lightly once upon the staffroom door, and breezed right on in, who should he meet but the very person he wished to congratulate on performing her duties so admirably.
"Miss Otis how are you?" He asked jovially with a smile "ah I see you're searching in vain for the tea, I'm afraid the House Elves dare not enter the staffroom to resupply the cupboards; they are constantly bare as you see them now. The blame sadly lies upon the shoulders of Professor's Starsmore and Fagin, who played a rather nasty trick upon a poor house elf busily cleaning away. They've since refused point blank to re-enter until they receive an apology, who can blame them?" As he promptly began to prepare a brew he added "I've been the middle man for well over a week now, neither side is prepared to budge as of yet I'm afraid."

"Now Miss Otis congratulations of the highest order are indeed in order. I've received countless sterling comments of your exceptional work, the injuries list has never been so short. You're settling in well in that regard, I trust you've encountered few problems?" He enquired genuinely concerned for his members of staff.

[arista]

Searching, Arista's head and shoulders were now hidden in the cupboard, it was getting ridiculous. How could the staff room have no tea? Most of them were English for God sakes! Now that she come to think of it, there really wasn't anything in the cupboards. With a last desperate swept of the cupboard, she noticed the dust cover and wrinkled her nose, sneezing. She sighed, and heard a greeting behind her. Turning she flicked her wand at her feet again and descended. Arista laughed, noticing her goldenrod robes were quite dusty. Brushing them off, she said with a smile. "Knowing Fagin, this room won't be cleaned in the near future."

The kettle she had put on had been bubbling away and now gave its whistle of readiness. Arista smiled and hurried over to take it away from the heat, extinguishing the fire with her wand. Noticing that Professor Darrow was readying his own tea, she gratefully offered him her already hot kettle. "It's seems as though I was not meant to enjoy a cup of tea today." She said with a laugh, offering to pour the steaming water into a mug for him.

Arista blushed and thanked Professor Darrow for his praise. "I'm just doing my job, Professor, nothing less." She said with a smile. "Though I do have to say that the students have an odd knack of finding new ways to test my healing skills." She said with a laugh, placing the hot kettle back down on the counter.

Sitting back down on the comfortable chair, she sighed and closed her eyes. "How have you been Professor?" Arista said, opening her eyes and leaning forward to look at him. "I've heard of the paperwork they seemed to have buried you under." She laughed. "Let me tell you, I don't envy you."

[Prof. Darrow]

Smiling as Arista mentioned the rather infamous Professor Fagin he was quite inclined to agree, "Yes he doesn't much care about cleanliness, and I doubt he'll back down easily from an argument, even if he is entirely to blame, yet where there is a will there is a way, and I intend for both Professor's Starsmore and Fagin to write a full and sincere apology, or else just mumble something face to face." He finished with a knowing smile.

As the tea was poured out he handed her the steaming mug saying, "my dear I believe your need is greater than mine, I can easily grab a cupper later." Deciding his weary bones needed a rest, he swiftly took the nearest armchair, gesturing for Arista to join him.

"True but you are doing an exceptional job, great efficiency, that's how this place works best. Students are really our greatest teachers, they do their very best to cause us havoc really." Hands clasped before him Darrow answered, "never better really, paperwork isn't so difficult as one would think really, quite mundane, I'm rather glad I have some difficult decisions to ponder over from time to time." He divulged.

[arista]

Arista gave a smile. She would personally like to witness this face to face apology if it was to be had. However she knew better than to get involved in places she mustn't. She figured that if the apology went wrong, she would be needed to clean up the mess anyway. Arista highly doubted that it would come down to that.

"Oh, you are to kind." She said with a smile. "I won't turn it down." She laughed. After placing a good spoonful of sugar into the tea, she walked over to join Professor Darrow. She sat in the chair next to him. It was soft, and with her tea in hand, she finally felt comfortable.

She sipped her tea. "That they are. I have learned so much, much more than in school. My mother always says the Healing is a problem solving career. I never understood her, feeling that it was basically cut and dry from the books. But now," taking another sip. "I whole heartedly agree with her." Arista said with a smile.

"I expect you are right." Arista said nodding her head. However, mundane was death to her. She needed to stretch her brain much more. "I agree, I rather like a difficult case. Throw me beyond my boundaries. Really gets the adrenaline going. Though, Professor, I hope your decisions aren't as dire as mine. I would be worried if they were." She said with a smile and a sip.

[Prof. Darrow]

"Nonsense any gentleman would do the same," chuckling he added wryly, "only few men wish such a calling in life, manners these days are to often disregarded, yet they are vital to maintaining friendships." He decreed "just an old man's ramblings, take no notice." Darrow implored as he gazed up at the ceiling a moment.

"Your mother is a wise woman indeed then, for she is entirely correct, I tried a healing course once, only just scraped through, one of the most difficult professions around. Perhaps it was my bedside manner that let me down?" He jested, "or more likely my incapacity to deal with blood when I was younger. Yes I was young once, I wasn't born like this, though they say you're as young as you feel, in that case I'm eighty in the morning and eighteen in the evening." He stated quite truthfully but in a joking manner.

"You'd soon find out if I made a bad decision," he stated knowingly a far off expression clouding his features a moment as he recalled a rather rash decision he'd made in buying a present for his eldest grandson, from the look of shock and the quiet words whispered later, it had been clear his daughter wasn't impressed with the Muggle motorbike he'd purchased for the seventeen year old.

"Usually I have a little more time to ponder over a decision, yourself you face split second choices; which can easily make the difference between life and death. I don't envy you that, but the warm look offered when you make a patient fit and well; it never leaves you; the appreciation." Sliding back into his chair Darrow asked shrewdly, "your remarkable mother; did she ever work at St Mungos?"

[arista]

"Ah, blood." Arista said with a nod. "Many of my peers during my training would faint at the sight of blood." Arista laughed. "One man was unusually shaky at the color red. What made him think that he could handle a full blown emergency when he would faint at a mere paper cut was beyond me." Arista shook her head and shrugged, taking another sip of her tea which currently was at a very agreeable temperature.

Arista laughed and blushed. "My dear Professor, do not hate me for saying it, but I can't not picture you as a young man." She said with a girlish giggle. "But I agree with you. As for me I'm 20 by morning and 90 by night." She said with a laugh.

Arista took a sip of her tea and swallowed quickly to answer the Professor. "Oh, I can't believe myself that I am able to make such decisions. But I suppose when you have no choice but life or death, the answer doesn't seem so hard." She said with a laugh. Her tea cup was now empty and she placed it on the coffee table in front of her.

Arista leaned back. "No, actually my mother worked for an Apothecary. I suppose she got to know the work of a healer well while working there. She was lucky to retire however last season." Arista said with a smile. Her mother's retirement meant nothing more than giving her mother more opportunity to fuss over her youngest girl. Arista didn't mind however, it was the cure of being the youngest. "My father however did hold a job at St. Mungo's. Not a healer, but a magical handyman as we called him."