[M.Bird] Jealous looks and nervous glances (Jen)

[Professor Elliott Casaubon]

Being a Professor at Hogwarts was not really what one would call a glamorous job but then wasting years of his life at a desk in a small, dark room in the ministry meant that to Elliot Casaubon anything would be classed as more glamorous. His first few months in the castle had passed by quickly and a bit too silently. The man had kept to his office and classroom only venturing out into the near by village with Harvey on the odd occasion. The other staff members he had not even made the effort to get to know as they all seemed to busy and more important to talk to him, after all some crazy business was going on in the castle and it seemed to be getting to everyone.

Today however Elliot has left his office; he had even left the castle with out the companionship of Harvey and was making his way down to the village of Hogsmeade with what could be argued as a smile on his face. This was because for the first time in almost a five months Elliot was meeting up with his younger sister Allison at the Majestic Bird where the two siblings were, and to put it in Allison’s words ‘going to get a spot of lunch’. The table had been reserved and when he had got their the glistening cutlery sparkled in the mid afternoon sun.
Slowly the time began to pass and the chair in front of Elliot reminded empty and the frown across his brow grew deeper and more prominent. It was only as the Professor sipped slowly on his glass of water that one of the waiters wondered over with a folded bit of pink parchment. Outlandish, over the top and theatrical, even from a distance he knew it was a letter from his sister. And it read thus:-

Eli darling,
So sorry sweetheart, but Charles surprised me this morning with tickets to that new muggle play that is showing in the West End. I shall not bore you with details as you will not understand nor I doubt truly care. Shall we reschedule for next week darling? Of course we shall, I will drop you an owl ASAP.

Kisses
Ali

While reading the letter he could hear his sisters fake posh accent sounding out in his head, her patronising tone as she acted like he was better then her. Carefully Elliot folded up the parchment acting as if it was a historical document despite the content that it held. What was he meant to do now? He could not just leave, he had eaten a few of the breadsticks and drank their water, it would just be rude to just go and of course what would the other people in the room think? His dark eyes scanned the room and the other people sitting at the tables. He could not help but look at their happy smiling faces with envy, that should be him and Alison.

He was however able to take a bit of satisfaction out of the fact he was not the only lonely person in the restaurant. At a table to his left sat a young woman, alone and unaware of it Elliot lost time just staring at the woman as he thought about why she was here, who stood her up and possible names for her. Then she looked up and their eyes met across the room.

[Jennifer Queens]

Jen was in her second year now of being at Hogsmeade and although her social side had its ups and downs the main part was that she loved being there and it was really feeling like home for her. Ash had moved back in with her and she quite liked his company sometimes. Although living and working with the same person you were bound to become agitated with the sight of each other. It was from Ash that Jen was currently escaping, not because she was sick of the sight of him but because before he came along she was used to being alone and now she never seemed to have a minute to herself. She was a sucker for the norm.

Grabbing her white dress her ears pricked up, listening intently for even the slightest of noises, a creaky floorboard, a cough, a single breath from Ash, as she struggled to keep her balance as she slipped her head into the neck of the dress. Slipping on her heels she grabbed her bag and stumbled out of her bedroom door before racing down the stairs and opening the door only to get out and close it just as she thought she saw a flash of Raven hair. With her back pressed against the glass door for a moment she took a deep breath before she jogged a little up the street and rounded the corner away from Ash’s prying eyes.

She knew it was wrong to be doing this, after all the poor boy had just been really ill and was feeling down about Christian, but what else could she do to have just five minutes rest? If she wasn’t babysitting Ash she was working and never had any time to think, or catch up with friends. What friends she had anyway. She still could not stop a twinge of guilt as she looked over her shoulder, her dark brown locks bouncing, at Ash and how she had purposely gone out of her way to avoid him.
But today was a day off. The shop was closed for the first time in the week since she had opened up and it felt good. Business had been good since opening but now there were no events currently she knew one day off would not hurt. Besides, if Ash felt up to it he could always do some of the repairs and alterations.

Walking down the main street Jen looked from left to right at the various shops. Some had been boarded up and closed down due to shop keepers freaking out about apparently things that had been happening at Hogwarts but that wouldn’t put Jen off until something actually happened. Why be scared of rumours when you’re not sure if they are true or just lies? Anybody could of spread them, a shop rival perhaps. Some people just acted too quickly on vicious gossip.
The Majestic Bird had caught her eye today and so she pushed open the door, being greeted by a waitress before being seated at a two seater table. She was alone, but she was not scared of what people thought of her being alone nor did she even think of it. She was in truth just happy to be away from work and away from Ash, even just for a little while.

Accepting a menu from the waitress she saw a man stroll in wearing grey. Her eyes flickered back to the menu as she contemplated what she would order. Her diet had consisted of mainly tea, toast and soup for the past few months and so a good hearty meal seemed to be in order. She missed the home cooking, the feasts her father used to make and the cookies her mother used to bake. The cooking was the thing she missed from home the most, but she was almost twenty seven and she had left home at aged eighteen and moved to France to train to be a nurse. Still, she decided she must go and see her parents soon, it had been too long, seeming even longer when her sister came to Hogwarts.

Ordering her food, she thanked the waitress and caught the eye of the man in grey once again. His eyes made her feel tense and she was unsure whether to try and look away or smile sheepishly. She chose the latter and in turn felt like an awkward fool. In truth, his icy glare was not harsh but it sent a shiver up her spine. Looking away quickly, she wished she had kept the menu to hide her reddening face.

[Professor Elliott Casaubon]

Confidence was not something that Elliot had; it had been knocked out of him over the years at school after being bullied throughout his duration at the castle. Sometimes this lack of confidence comes off as pride, as in situations he does not blush and shy away he just remains silent, stony faced and his condemning eyes. Now was the perfect example of this, as Elliot’s eyes met that of the woman’s, he did not shy away embarrassed for being caught staring he just continue to watch her completely fascinated by her reaction. Her sheepish smile towards her made him smile inwardly but these was not a trace of this amusement on his face, for an ex-Hufflepuff he really did come across as a miserable sod.

The woman soon looked away and even across the distance of the restaurant he could see the light red tint highlighting her beautiful features. That was Elliot’s cue to look away and return his gaze back to the empty chair in front of him, the folded sheet of parchment that was still in his hand was slowly becoming more crumpled as his grip tightened around it. Breathing in deeply the slammed the fragmented pink parchment down upon the table and in a quick motion swept up the menu and impatiently started to look through the options. However every time he moved to look at the next section at the top of the page Elliot could not help himself from glancing over towards the other loner in the restaurant, he could not help but look over at the women.

He could not help it, he was fascinated with her. His mind was coming up with reasons why she was here alone. Maybe she had been stood up by her date? Maybe a relative like him, maybe she was just having her lunch here as she had no food in the house? It was the light cough from the waiter then broke his string of possible reasons and after ordering a bowl of vegetable soup (yep, nice and boring) he sat back in his chair and loosening his tie every so slightly by wiggling it slowly from side to side. At least he had time now to think without the sound of his sister rattling away at him, he could contemplate on life, reflect on his first few months in his new job and stare some more at that blushing woman in white.