An Unexpected Confidant

[Tamis Raynor]

"Charlie" peered out from behind a stone pillar right outside a girls bathroom forever cursed with an "out of order" sign on the second floor. Forever cursed as it was the one and only home of the infamous Moaning Myrtle, whom haunted its toilets since before she even went to Hogwarts. But that was not the object of peering.

Her gaze was locked on the door of her office -- of Tamis Raynor's office -- it was her office. She did not know why she would be so timid of approaching it. But yet, students seemed to just randomly come upon it and the only time Charlie Jones had been an actual occupant within it was when Becca had brought Drew in by his ear for jumping off the root of her hut.

For someone to even peek into the office and see the body of Charlie trying to hack away at the paperwork she just knew was piling up would raise more questions than she could answer.

Tamis slid back behind the pillar as a second year passed. She had to find a way to get back into her body. Merlin alone knew what Jones was doing with it. But the girl was not exceptionally smart. Charlie was as much help in correcting this mess as a jarvey was. But she could not approach a staff member with this... they would try and ship her off to Mungo's for insanity! She was practically ready to do so herself.

Nay, she needed help. But from whom?

((Not exactly closed, not exactly open.))

[Drew Thornton]

Drew took the hallway at a jog and stopped short in front of Professor Raynor's door. He usually just barged in and made himself at home (heck, he was in there enough, it might as well be home), but today was different. She had been acting off all day and he wasnt' sure exactly what would happen if he just walked in and slumped into a chair as he usually did.

Raynor had been nice enough to lend him some of her books on defence and now he wanted a new set. He realized now that it had been a huge mistake to ask for them in class, but what bothered him the most was the apparent casualness Charlie had about knowing of the arrangement. Why had she known? Why had Raynor bothered to tell her? It just struck him as odd.

And yeah... it bothered him. He hadn't been purposefully keeping it a secret, but it wasn't exactly like he wanted it to get out. It wasn't much good for his rep to have people know he was asking the Deputy for extra work. Nic's reaction to the news had been exactly what he had been trying to avoid.

But Charlie's reaction again: no jibe, no crack. Just a light little comment. Oh, those books you you told me about lending him... as if they had sat over tea discussing it. Again... odd.

He backed away from the door and slid down the opposite wall, not sure he wanted to go in anymore.

[Tamis Raynor]

Another form rushed passed her current place of hiding, but the shadows that the torches played against the walls were far taller than a second year, far taller than a good three-quarters of the school. "Charlie's" eyes narrowed. She knew that shadow.

Cautiously, ever so cautiously, she shuffled minutely from behind her protective barrier; just enough to have a visible view down the corridor. Ah ha! It was him. The one and only Andrew Thornton, coming to her office... of which she was not in, and no doubt her body was not either.

But wait... he didn't barge in like he normally did, as a matter of fact, it appeared as if he was having an emotional battle of will outside her door. Then he simply backed off entirely, taking up residence on her side of the corridor. A tinge of motherly worry wield up, he looked troubled.

For one reason or another, that was when the obvious source for her solution slapped her across the face. She could not go to a staff member and Charlie lacked the necessary brilliance. And there was the boy that had been sitting in front of her nose all day long. Exceptionally intelligent, he engulfed books in the matters of weeks or months that would have taken her a year to get through. And he might believe her. And... and... ah! she trusted him. There. She admitted it.

Now, if she could only get his attention...

"Psst. Mr. Thor -- Drew! Drew!" Well, whispering was not going to get her anywhere. She needed something, she felt through Charlie's pockets, she thought she had seen -- yes, there it was. A ball. Why on earth Miss Jones kept a ball in her pocket, she could not phantom.

She took careful aim, relying on rusting Keeper skills from her Hogwarts days, and threw it.

[Drew Thornton]

The ball hit him square in the shoulder and he grabbed his arm and frowned, wondering what had caused the sudden pain. His eyes fell on the bright red ball and he picked it up thoughtfully. It looked just like Charlie's ball. She never went anywhere without it and he figured she wasn't too far off... but why had she thrown it at him? He scanned the hallway, finally cathing a glimpse of her hiding by the girls bathroom.

"What the he** was THAT for, Jones?" he yelled back at her, not realizing how angry he was at her until the words left his mouth. It would serve him right if he kept the dang ball. that would show her.

[Tamis Raynor]

Well, that had not been among the wisest of ideas, but it worked. Though she had invoked Drew's anger in the process it was true, probably not the best thing to do as Charlie, but once again, Tam really had no clue to the standard of those two's relationship with one another.

She closed her eyes as he yelled for all of the blasted school to hear. She glanced around, checking if anyone else was in earshot.

Ah well, best to drop the act.

"Not so loud!" She spat back, glancing around again as if afraid the walls had ears. Well, some of them did, they had gained the attention of a number of portraits. She could raise her voice just a little bit at least.

"Be mad at me all you want, Mr. Thornton! Just, come here! It will not look good for Charlie Jones to loiter around the Deputy's office," she called back, still not truly grasping the deeper meaning of his anger, more or less just wanting to get out of the open.

[Drew Thornton]

Drew made a rude noise back at her in reponse. Who the heck did she think she was, smacking him with rubber balls... ordering him around... calling him Mr. Thornton... speaking in the third person?

"You know, I should just hold on to this," he said, smirking at her as he tossed the red rubber ball in one hand. He knew that would get her. The ball had been her mother's.

[Tamis Raynor]

Perhaps it would have, had she any idea at all of the sentimental value attached to the ball. She glanced around again, all but bouncing with nerves, before letting her gaze fall back onto him. Her anger was being brushed. Why did he have to be so difficult!

"Keep it for all I care!" she responded, irritated, shooting a glare at the now avidly watching portraits. The glare must have been as effective coming from Charlie as Raynor, for they at least pretended to stop paying attention.

"I have no idea why a girl of fourteen of fifteen kept that in her pocket. It was there when I put these on." Tamis plucked at the Slytherin robes and frowned. She tried not to hard to think about that, these had been the cleanest robes she could find and if that ball had been in the pocket, she doubted just how clean they really were.

[Drew Thornton]

"You're acting weird, you know that?" Drew spat back, throwing the ball back at her. The fact that he hadn't gotten a pounding for threatening to keep the ball was just the newest in a long line of strange behaviour. And there she went again, acting like she was a stranger stuck in a Charlie suit. ... why a girl of fourteen or fifteen kept that in her pocket... Was she going girly on him?

[Tamis Raynor]

"Thank you for the enlightenment, Mr. Thornton," she huffed in return. "I'm most certainly not feeling like myself."

She yelped as the ball came pelting back at her. She had been a Keeper after all, not a seeker. And beyond huge quaffle-sized balls, her hand-eye coordination was little to none. She grabbed for it, it skimmed her fingers, and she had to grab for it again, almost losing it down the hallway.

Tamis bounced it once or twice in her own hand, then put it back in the pocket of which it had been found.

[Drew Thornton]

"What is WRONG with you lately?" Drew asked, his anger slowly fading to concern. He still glared at her from the other end of the hallway, but it didn't hold the menacing nature it had befere. He had never seen Charlie miss a ball like that. She was almost... almost as good at the whole sports thing as he was and here seh was fumbling an easy catch like that.

Maybe she WAS going girly. It wasn't a bad thing necessarily, but slightly disappointing.

[Tamis Raynor]

"I don't know," she said in frustration, almost too low for him to hear down the hall as he was, "that is precisely what I am trying to figure out."

Some of his anger had at least seemed to dissipated, oh, his glare was still evidential enough, but it had lost some of its menace. The portraits were staring again. Curse them. If they found out about this, it would be all over the school, they gossiped worse than the students.

"For Merlin's sake, and mine, Mr. Thornton, come here and I'll tell you everything that I know." She glared at the portraits again, who at that precise instance all seemed to be "asleep". "Its not safe enough out here... if this gets around the school, there will be no end of it!"

[Drew Thornton]

Drew growled at being ordered around, but picked his long frame up and made his way over to her hiding place. He was aware of the portraits following his every move and he shot them his own death glare. "Bugger off and mind your own business," he grumbled at a particualry nosy looking witch. She turned her back on him with a huff, but he still saw she was peeking over her shoulder at him.

"What?" he grumbled as he plopped down on the floor next to her. Whatever this was all about, it better be good.

[Tamis Raynor]

Glancing over at the portraits one more time, Tamis made shooing gestures at them, pretty much eluding to the same results as Drew. Had she been in her own body they would have scurried off without a second thought. Sure, being Raynor had its headaches, but it had its advantages too.

They could still be heard from behind the pillar....

"Its not safe out here!" She hissed again, nervously, and looked around frantically.

They couldn't go into her office, way too risky, or her classroom for that matter, and the Library... ha! Then, where... her gaze lit on the out of order bathroom. She thought she had heard Myrtle leave a few minutes ago...

Drew would protest...

"Oh, come on!" She did the one and only thing she was sure would work; grabbed him by the ear and tried to tow him into the bathroom after her.

[Drew Thornton]

"HEY! OW! CUT IT OUT!" Drew cried out, protesting loudly at not only being dragged by his ear, but mostly about going into the girls' bathroom. For Merlins' sake, they were right down the hall from Raynor's office! What would she say if she saw him coming out? He'd be in LOADS of trouble then.

"What the heck do you think you're you doing? I can't be in here!" he shouted, doing his best to relieve his ear from her grip. Where the heck girls leaned to do that particular hold, he'd probably never know. "If you get me busted, I'm SO taking you down with me!"

[Tamis Raynor]

((LOL. That is irony right there. ))

Little had changed with this particular bathroom it seemed. It was still dingy, mold-smelling, chipped and broken, and very ill-maintained. No doubt the house-elves still avoided it.

She released his ear and hurriedly closed the door, leaving them in the dank light of the candles sporadically left around the room in single holders.

"Trust me, you are not going to get in trouble. Besides, the bathroom is out of commission, none of the girls will use it, even in an emergency. It wasn't safe out there."

She passed back and forth, grumbling to herself. "You are going to think I'm crazy, but I'm not Charlie Jones. Well, I am, but I'm not. This is her body, for sure, and I am not even exactly sure how this is possible, but I -- the consciousness behind this shell -- am not Charlie."

There had to be a better way of explaining this.