(G.Hall) Asleep at the breakfast table

[Professor Dia Hubbles]

Dan looked away and for a brief moment, Dia thought she had done something to upset him, something to tread on his pride but Dia soon realised that had been the whole point. He was man enough to take the single blow, she thought and continued eating her breakfast. After a moments silence, Dia put down her knife and fork and picked up her cup of tea. It was still hot and she sipped it gently.

Dan said her name and Dia turned to him, still sipping on her tea. She thought about his question for a moment but didn’t have a chance to answer as he continued. Dia nearly chocked on her tea as she took a larger sip then intended when she heard the rest. Putting her cup down, Dia patted her chest as she cough, her eyes watering slightly. She squinted at Dan sideways and waited till she had finished coughing before she looked Dan full on. She had not expected this from him, it was a very un-Daniel Hubbles thing but Dia decided she liked the sound of being treated.

Smiling, Dia looked at Dan. “That sounds lovely, Daniel,” Dia said in her most posh voice. She expected he would take her to The Three Broomstick for a drink of two before taking her to his ‘usual room’ for a night of… what had he called it? ‘Vigorous exercise’! She smiled wider at this thought and let out a little laugh at the thought. It coming from Dan, though not the most romantic thing she had ever seen, would be very thoughtful and she could ask for nothing more.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Dan watched Dia as she sipped on her tea and he continued to watch on as the surprise filled her face and she started to choke. For that brief moment Dan actually stopped breathing, he stared opened mouthed as Dia choked on her tea. He should have really done something, patted her on the back, reassuringly took hold of her arm. But no Dan just looked on like the hopeless muppet he was not sure whether to laugh or panic. If it had been anyone else, he would have sat back and enjoyed the show, but seeing as it was Dia it was diffrent. Once Dia had finished dying on him and she was able to breath again Dan breathed in deeply as well, wondering why the hell he went so long without.

Although as soon as she answered he felt a slight pang of disappointment as she seemed to joke with him. Normally Dan would have laughed along, joked with and put on his own push accent that simply sound like he had toffee stuck to the roof of his mouth. But in his current state of worry and once again his hole of self pity Dan simply stared at Dia, a small smile playing over his lips as it always did when ever he looked upon her, but there was nothing extra. Maybe he did not believe her, he did not want to let down if she was joking, but he knew she would not do that to him…she had too.

“Dia. Are you being serious?” Although his smile had grown wider it was merely to match the questioning look he was passing over her. “Cause I was thinking we could get away from the castle. Go to London, or further and escape for the weekend.”

This reminded him very much of the time he had tried to persuade Offley to travel the world with him. That her book could wait, seeing the world was more important, being together was. But he was young then and things ended up not turning out how he wanted, he would not make that same mistake again no matter how similar it felt.

[Professor Dia Hubbles]

Dia took a sip of her tea to try get rid of the scratchy irritation that was left from chocking and while she sipped slowly, she watched Dan’s face fall. She wasn’t sure why he was upset or disappointed in her answer. Perhaps he was disappointed that he would now be held to treating her that coming weekend, perhaps he was upset at spending more time with her then he had to. But that can’t be, Dia thought as she replaced the cup on the table, he … he does, I’m certain of it. He does want to spend time with me.

She had comforted herself greatly but what made her laugh was Dan. His face suddenly changed, his expression because surprised and, simply, overjoyed. The fist that had clenched itself around Dia’s lungs let go its restricting grip and she laughed. She put her hand on Dan’s arm and nodded, “yes,” she said, “I am serious. It does sound like a very good plan.” She didn’t know why he doubted her response but it was enduring that he would ask such a thing of her.

Their time in Egypt had been, though a long holiday, too short and they were suddenly thrust back into the routine of school and their normal lives. This mini-break would be a break in that routine and it was perhaps a bit soon since their return but even though they had been back only a few days, she had not seen Dan very much and this would be a good opportunity. They could go anywhere, Dia didn’t care, as long as Dan was with her everything would be fine. She had never been on a mini-break before with someone she felt like this for, she was not certain how exactly she felt for Dan but she knew that she had never felt like this about anyone before, not even Fitz.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

As soon as Dia touched his arm Dan slowly raised his head and looked into her sparkling blue eyes. The feeling of worry and fear melted away and he could not help but let the smile that he always got when he looked at Dia fill his face. He got the same feeling of pride when he looked at Dia as he did with many of his Hufflepuffs, maybe it was the situation that he was proud of himself that he had managed to pull such an amazing women and not the nut cases in the Three Broomsticks.
What ever the reason and motive behind it Dan knew one thing and that was that he was falling stupidly fast for his fellow professor and he could not get out of it. There was nothing he could do. He thought about getting drunk but when he did that in Egypt he only seemed to cause Dia more amusement and he could not help but fall deeper when he saw her smile, a very vicious circle that he was caught in.

“Good. I would have forced you otherwise.” Dan’s tone was slowly turning back to normal, the cheeky grin spreading across his face once again. “I can just see the headlines in the paper now ’Astronomy teacher kidnapped by charming charms professor’ But I imagine it would not do my relationship with Darrow any good, I do not think he likes me anyway but kidnapping you would toe the line.”

He gave Dia a toothy grin before tearing his eyes away on the hunt for some food. Now that the fear of rejection had passed his stomach was starting to make unnatural noises and Dan thought it best to heed its call and fill the empty void with grease covered food that would be classed as a traditional English breakfast.

[Professor Dia Hubbles]

By now, Dia had forgotten her breakfast and was leaning her chin on her linked fingers, smiling at Dan. It was good to see his charming, cheeky smile on his face. She had not seen it in a long time and it suited him better then his charmed smile. She smiled back at him, as charming as she could manage, and couldn’t stop her heart fluttering. Every time he looked at her like he did then, Dia’s heart gave a shudder, as though he was touching her like he did in Egypt and she loved it.

She laughed and dropped her hands. “I’m sure that the presses would twist it the other way and make it Charmed Charms Teacher kidnapped by Astronomy Teacher,” Dia laughed and took a piece of toast from the toast rack. She took a bit and laughed again. “And that’s the way Fitz …” her voice dropped to a whisper, “always said it worked.” Dia frowned and cleared her throat before taking another bite of her toast.

Knowing Dan’s eyes were upon her, Dia quickly busied herself with buttering her munched upon toast and adding the first jam she laid her hands on. She took another bite of her toast before turning to her tea. It soothed her dry throat and she could speak again. Problem was she couldn’t think of anything to say. After a moment’s thought, Dia turned to Dan and smiled. “So what have you got in mind that you’re speaking of kidnapping?” Dia asked. She was interested to know what he had planned and wanted to remove the tension she felt.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Slowly cutting open a sausage Dan listened to Dia laughing as she went on about how the press would turn into her. So he was about to comment back on how he was sure his reputation might swing it in her favour when she mentioned another man. He forgot what he was going to say and felt the painful stab of jealousy, just hearing another man’s name pass between Dia’s lips in such a way made his blood boil.
The thing that annoyed him the most was that he knew he had heard that name before, it was not a common name and he felt something nudging him in the back of his mind. With a slight groan that once again he was getting paranoid over nothing he looked up and saw the first of the owls bringing mail to the students. Looking to the sky he saw a brown owl fly towards him dropping the Daily prophet in front of him. Absentminded he picked it up and flicked through the pages at the main head lines and he saw a name, Fitz Hargreaves.

Dan’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ shape as it suddenly twigged. Dan turned to look at Dia and began to laugh, he ignored her question about what was going to happen at the weekend this had taken the main stage in his mind. The mere fact that his Dia had been involved with this man, the man who jumped to conclusions at anything.

“Fitz Hargreaves? No wonder he would put that spin on it. The man is an idiot; he tried to write an article on Girty having an affair with a teacher, and that teacher being me. He may have a pretty face but he does not have the brains to match. A typical journalist.”

Maybe Dan was being a bit to harsh on the poor man, but the problem was that he could not stop the images of Fitz and Dia together running through his mind. And although he had had pasted relationships and so had Dia for some reason it slightly grated on him, maybe it was the fear that he could take her away from him.

[Professor Dia Hubbles]

Dia let out a nervous laugh, despite herself. She knew that she had no right to comment of Fitz or any reason to stand up for him but she also knew that Fitz was a good journalist and that The Prophet was running dry on material. Dia pushed a bit of egg around her plate bloodily, suddenly loosing her appetite. She hated it when she was with someone new and she began thinking of the past. It was gut wrenching. She dropped her fork in irritation and pushed her plate away.
"Typical," she sighed in agreement. Typical b****** to leave you drying before you run away together, she thought and purposefully avoided looking at Dan. She knew she couldn't look at him now. She needed to leave, get some air, so she pushed her chair out and stood up. She put her arm around Dan's head, hugged it to her chest and kissed the top of it. "I'll see you later," she said and left the hall through the side door. There was nothing left to say and nothing she could do about her sudden mood change and above all she didn’t want to do anything about it. So she left and left it at that.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Everything seemed to be such a blur, the last few minutes where over in seconds. Dan could remember laughing to himself about what he had said thinking it was funny, but clearly Dia did not. He heard the clatter of her fork hitting her plate the sound of her chair scrapping on the floor as she pushed it away to stand up. His mouth had gone dry but before he could ask what was wrong she was pulling him close and kissing him on the top of his head before walking away. His shock and surprise was clear of all to see as he watched Dia walk away with out even trying to call her back.

Turning his head back to his plate he looked down at the food on it still unable to work out what the hell has just happened. He could tell the noise of the students seemed to have dropt, glancing upwards he saw many looking at him, others at the door where Dia had left and then suddenly the hall erupted with noise and laughter. Just to make sure this really had just happened he turned to where Dia had been sitting, her plate still with food on it, her half drunk tea.

Running his hand through his hair Dan turned his head back to his food and slowly began to cut up his food simply to give him something to do and give his mind something else to focus on rather then the paranoia that was starting to fill him. He had just slatted off her old lover and seconds later she had walked away with hardly saying anything. ‘She still loves him….I am her replacement…..her rebound.’ This was hard for Dan to understand, he was the one who did the using, he was the one who abused situations and took full advantage he was never on the receiving end to it. Now he knew how that girl felt like after he slept with her the day before her wedding, Dan had promised her everything and twist her arm to the point where she told her she loved him, but then he left her lying in bed the next day. It was his turn to be left alone and feel the pain.