[Corridors] The Mission (Maxi)

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

The cold liquid ran down his throat, soothing the fire of his never quenching thirst and dry lips. The bacon that he had for breakfast that morning was so salty that for the whole Dan he had been drinking so much water that his work was constantly being interrupted with trips to the little boy’s room. On the upside since Dan had not left his office in fear of dying of dehydration the huge stack of paperwork that had been pilling up on his desk was slowly going down. It was then when he finally found the note about Noah Yves and although after being slightly distracted by the signature of Professor Potter the realisation soon hit him that the school had no head boy.

“Ah crap.” Dan moaned as he ran his hand over his stubble as he re-read the note over and over again. Who the hell was he going to pick? If he picked a Hufflepuff people would start to moan about bias, the same with Ravenclaw as clearly the wife would have told him. With a groan Dan pushed himself up out of his chair and wondered over the cabinet and pulled a new shinny head boy badge out of a draw. And so armed with a bottle of water to aid his thirst Dan left his office on the search for a male student.

It felt like he had been wondering the corridors for hours, his bottle of water was empty, his feet were sore and Dan just wanted to flop into bed and sleep the day away. As he turned yet another bend in the corridor and the flagstone flooring stretched out in front of him a target finally came into site. At first he thought it was a trick of the mind, a mirage due to his tiredness but then he saw the lanky blond Maxi Hennerdale in clear site and the Headmaster could not help but hide his wide grin.

[Max Hennerdale]

It had already been a long day for the blonde haired boy. Max was aimlessly walking around the castle since Laney had said she had to go do ‘head girl’ stuff and since Noah had left double the responsibilities had been landed on her and the prefects. Sighing, it had been this way for a few weeks and Max had, in vain, tried to convince Bryn t lend her a helping hand but as usual, Bryn was too busy chasing the tails of every female that had a decent cleavage and a pair of legs. Sure, right now Max could be doing any number of things. One, the huge amount of homework for his NEWT year which was beginning to pile up. Two, he could go hunt down his friends and spend some time with them. But instead, he found himself wandering down through the corridors with no specific mind set on a course.

As he rounded a corner, walked down a couple of flights of stairs he found himself amidst a load of bustling seventh years. Apparently the Headmaster was on the prowl, but as to why Max couldn’t tell. He probably only left his office five minutes ago and already rumours were flying that he was going to behead some poor helpless animal. Shaking his head, Max couldn’t see Dan doing anything like that, probably he would do something which would have the animal laughing until it died of laughter but apart from that, killing just didn’t seem Hubbles’ style. Though, with all the numerous other rumours flying around, not just about Dan but about Girty too, Max would believe anything.

That was the kind of place hogwarts had turned into now.

As he rounded another corner, pushed through some more students with a rather snappy ‘move’ he clocked eyes on Dan though looked away and through the great hall doors. He could now clearly see Laney there, she was smiling to him calling him over but as his eyes turned to Dan again, he saw Dan looking in his direction with a rather strange grin on his face and gleam in his eyes. ’uh oh this cant be good… I didn’t do anything bad did I?’ He thought to himself. Swallowing rather nervously the blonde took the hint and walked over to the Headmaster, his eyes wary ready to defend himself with any words he could if the situation called for it. ”Hello Sir, how’re you today?” He asked with a smile and as politely as his voice would allow. ”Are you okay? You look a little… well tired I guess.”

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

The proof was in the pudding that Maxi was a smart lad; this was an important factor for Dan. He needed the new Head boy to be able to think on his feet and more importantly is able to understand Dan’s slight crazed gestures. However as the tall blond grew closer Dan could tell that the look he was getting from the Gryffindor was not really one of trust or enthusiasm, it was more a look of worry in fear of bing cornered by the HeadmasterDan however continued to grin away as he thought about other ways in which he could test Mr Hennerdale.

“Afternoon Mr Hennerdale I…” Dan was about to answer his question when the Gryffindor threw another one right at him. So he was inquisitive, that was another good point for a potential Head Boy. They can sniff out trouble makers better if they asked questions and Dan liked that even though the question asked by Maxi was a little personal. “I am always tired now a days, things are…well crazy.” He gave a small sigh and looked around the corridor almost expecting something to happen simply because he had said the word ‘crazy’. Thankfully things seemed to be staying relatively normal and with raised eyebrows Dan moved his attention back to the Gryffindor who was standing before him.

“A-are…” Dan started his sentence but did not know where he was going with this, how could he do this sensibly. ‘HA!’ he thought to himself ‘When do I ever do anything sensibly’ this thought brought a small smile to his weary features and so the headmaster pushed on. “Walk with me Maxi.” Striding forwards Dan began to make his way down the corridor, his left hand lightly pushing the Gryffindor forward just to make sure that he was following him.

“Are you and Laney still together?” Dan turned to look at Maxi for a second or two before turning his focus back to the corridor ahead of them. “I have not been around much to hear the rumours and scandals that flood the castle.”

[Max Hennerdale]

Despite the fact everything in the Corridor was so loud, as Max made his way slowly and rather suspiciously over to Dan the sounds seemed to ebb away and his thoughts took over. He didn’t understand why Dan was looking at him as though he was an old friend he hadn’t seen for twenty or so years. Max ran a hand through his blonde hair which was slightly longer than necessary and was in serious need of a cut. Max wasn’t oblivious to the rumours and lately Max had been pretty much suspicious of everyone except his nearest and dearest.

Max reached the headmaster and began to spout of questions. None of which was relative nor what he had actually wanted to ask. It was no secret that Max was a very curious person and he had wanted to know what was going on in this castle. ”You’re telling me?” Max mumbled to himself. He wasn’t stupid he didn’t need Dan to tell him things were crazy he had experienced the crazies by himself. For this past week however, things had been relatively quiet on what Max was dubbing the ‘battlefront’. He knew things could only get worse, like a sickness. Had to get worse before it got better.

”Are…?” Max copied as he folded his arms, his left eyebrow raised as he looked at Dan. Though it seemed like the Headmaster wasn’t going to finish that sentence. Though as Dan one again spoke, Max felt a hand lightly push on him to get him walking. ”Alright…” He was growing more and more suspicious by the moment but he did as he was told and walked with the Headmaster. ”Where are we going?”

I don’t believe that’s your business, he thought to himself. ”Yeah we are.” He answered though his voice faltered and a slight edge of sadness seeped into it. ”Its difficult to maintain a relationship though at the moment with everything going on in the castle. It’s putting a strain on us considering we don’t see each other often, but we’re working on it.” He smiled though when Dan spoke again and had to bite back a laugh that was threatening to emerge at the back of his throat. ”Speaking of… most of the rumours and scandals in the castle these days revolve around you. But I’m sure you’ve heard those rumours.” He wasn’t edging, he wasn’t really interested whether they were true or not and definatly wasn’t asking Dan to confirm or disregard them. What he did was his business, not Max’s.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

With a small smile Dan continued to lead the way down the corridor giving wondering students passing glances just as a way to state his authority. Sometimes Dan wondered if he truly had any in this school, the way people ran wild with most of the tome him joining in with the running around and destroying. Maybe he was trying to be hard to be liked by his students that along the way he had lost their respect which was something that he always claimed to want from his students. The more Dan thought about it he was much more comfortable acting the fool then being the authoritative figure, of course when push came to shove he would happily take the helm but such as times like now he just, well he just found the whole thing a little bit awkward.

“Ah.” Dan paused and thought about it for a second. “So if you had the opportunity to spend more time with her then you would take it?” Once again Dan looked over at Maxi with an inquisitive expression. A pinch had appeared in his forehead as he thought about the matter more and how he could possibly explain it better to the Gryffindor. He knew he was being mysterious but he did not want to force this responsibility upon Maxi if the poor boy did not want it. Dan could remember that it was like to be a seventh year with all the stress of exams, pressure of being Quidditch Captain and then on top of that finding time to see Offley, after all the Ravenclaw commonroom was a hard one to break into.

The next comment that came out of Maxi’s mouth should not have surprised Dan seeing as he really had walked straight into that one. “Oh” With a small chuckle Dan looked away from the Gryffindor and once more focused on objects in the distance. “Yeah I do seem to attract attention don’t I?” Now the Headmaster could not help but laugh. “How does poor Dia put up with it?” That last one was a rhetorical question but most people in the castle had a habit of answering those sorts of questions being eager to share their opinion. Dan was extremely interested to see how Maxi would handle it.

[Max Hennerdale]

Max followed Dan without really knowing where they were going. He began to relax however as the two walked and talked. It was a little awkward but not as awkward as Max would have originally thought. Max could never figure Dan out and after a while when he had transferred here, he had given up trying and just assumed Dan was a little bit, well either backward or just plain crazy. Max, when he was younger loved nothing more than jokes and tricks and more than once he had played a few jokes. Though the best ones he had been when he had been in Durmstang. The Headmaster there had hated him and part of him smiled, wondering if Dan knew what he had put Durmstrang’s headmaster through, would he be glad Max had cooled off on the whole trickery scale.

”Well that depends.” He answered truthfully giving a moment or so before he continued. ”I wouldn’t go around and beat up everyone or kill nobody.” He laughed, ”Unless of course someone hurt her then I would go on a mass beat-up spree… which thinking about it probably isn’t the best thing to tell a headmaster.” He scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous laugh. Way to put your foot in your mouth Max. He continued walking and just let the silence fill over them. Laney was Max’s world and he made no secret of it. That girl was his everything and at this moment in his life he couldn’t think of anybody he would rather share it with.

When Dan answered, it came out as a small surprised sound but Max disregarded it. Obviously he either hadn’t heard the rumours or he hadn’t expected Max to come out and say something like that. Either way, there was no doubt a small edge of surprise in Dan’s voice. ”Yeah you really do. But your affairs are more interesting than ours considering you’re headmaster an’ all.” He hadn’t thought about what he had said and the word ‘affair’ was probably not his best choice of words but Max wasn’t one for thinking about what he said. ”Dia has probably had a lot of experience.” He joked as he walked. He kept his eyes mainly on the floor.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Dan could not help but laugh as Maxi nervously talked his way through the main situation he could think of that he could possibly spent time with Laney. Even though he talked about using physical force and beating people up and even though Dan was headmaster and meant to stop things like this but he could not help but grin. It was nice to see that this lad was still willing to stand up for his gal, Dan after all did throw a punch at one of Dia’s ex’s so he knew the feeling of wanting to stand up and fight for his love. There was no way he could punish Maxi for saying something that he too would do.

Dan decided to leave his decision on offering the badge to Maxi that little bit longer to see how he handled the other situation and as Dan had expected in true Gryffindor fashion he spoke his mind. The problem was although he was oblivious to what was really going on in Dan’s very private life the word ‘affair’ made Dan’s breathe to catch in his throat. With a light nervous chuckle the headmaster tried to brush over this accidental choice of words and instead analysis the boy’s other answer. ”Dia has probably had a lot of experience.” Now that was true and Dan could have thought of worse answers to the question that he had posed, at least the answer was not ‘No idea you’re a bloody nutter’.[/font] With a soft chuckle and nervously laughing while rubbing the stubble on his jaw Dan had all but made up his mind on his vital decision. Out of all the possible candidates for the role Maxi had to be the best qualified and someone the rest of the students would look up to and respect.

“What if I gave you a less violent way of seeing Laney?” Dan joked as he gently slipped his hand from his jaw and into his jacket pocket feeling the cold of the metal badge against the palm of his hand. His fingers slowly closed in around the badge and with it safely in his grasp he removed his hand from the confines of his pocket. “What if I was to give you this?” His left arm slowly extended forwards towards Maxi and just like a flower seeing the first rays of sunlight his fingers opened to reveal the prize inside. Dan’s cool blue eyes were focused on Maxi and the two of them had now stopped walking and were now a chicane in the middle of the corridor for the other students to weave around. [/font]