Formal Acquaintance.

[Robert Shaw]

As if his first impression at the feast wasn't enough, Robert dared to go further. He had the afternoon majority free, except for the NEWT lesson at 4:15, and thus after lunch he made his way to the well known seventh floor and after recalling the password ascended his way to the hierarchy office.

Knocking thrice upon the closed door he took a reasonable step back and awaited recognition. His hands clasped neatly behind his back.

[Fiona Faine]

Filth. Disgusting. Horrid. Place. Fiona's shoulders shook with an involuntary shiver as she vigorously rubbed away a smudge of dirt from her robes. Her lip curled up in a sneer. Didn't those filthy people know what hygiene was? She scrunched her delicate nose at the change she felt in the magic around the gargoyle. Someone was in her office. Curious.

Fiona quietly bounded up the steps, too impatient to wait for the slow-moving revolving staircase to reach the top. Slender fingers clasped the plain brown bag she held more tightly closed as the intruder came into sight. A broad smile took hold of her features, a truly sincere one. "It's Mr. Shaw, isn't it?" the Headmistress inquired as she swept in behind him.

[Robert Shaw]

He hadn't expected the voice from behind him and turned around quickly, almost brushing the woman, almost. "It is indeed, Headmistress. I thought it be best if I knew my employer a tad more than by face alone." Robert responded, allowing the woman room to her door.

He knew nothing of the woman, her past, her family, that alone told him she was not of British soil, as most of the English descent heads had some sort of a obtainable background, he had tried and come up blank. Only tried once too.

[Fiona Faine]

"That's always a good sign. I like to get to know my staff, too." Fiona replied, slipping off one of the many necklaces that was hidden beneath her robes and inserting an interestingly shaped key into the lock. Nudging the door open, the woman gestured her staff into the room and followed in after him.

Rather than going straight to her desk as normal, Fiona went to a nearby cabinet and opened it up with another funky key. "May I offer you some tea, Mr. Shaw? Tam got me hooked onto it when I first met her, and now I have a very wide variety. Or coffee, if you prefer?" Ticloon asked. After all of the years she had resided in Britain, she still retained her very distinct American accent.

[Robert Shaw]

After being, ushered, into the office he took time to give it a once over with his eyes. Indeed it hadn't changed much, though that annoying portrail of Alabastian was finally gone from the room. Ruddy thing talked too much.

Still, his ears picked up the woman's offer. "Yes, please if its not a bother. I have no preferance." Robert stated in reply, deja-vu already stepping in and filling the void.

[Fiona Faine]

What had changed, though, was the fact that there were now more bookshelves, though some of them were empty at that particular moment (those that were filled contained all sorts of subjects), and dozens of astronomical devices stood against the farthest wall. Pictures of the heavens were taped up where ever there was a few space.

Removing herself from the cabinet and locking it again, Fiona strided over to the fireplace to put the kettle up for a boiling. "Do sit down. What would you like to know first, hmm?" Fiona questioned, slipping into the seat behind the desk and pulling out a few drawers that should contain tea time supplies.

[Robert Shaw]

"It seems we all take pride in our respective fields." Robert claimed as he took in the charts and objects. Astronomy had as much effect on plants as the rain, for without its control on the tides a good number of plants, fungi, and spores would not exist by this time and age.

"What I wish to know most, Ms. Ticloon, is why you even took this job, over the other options I'm certain you had, that we all had." Robert replied to her question sincerely

[Fiona Faine]

"No one else had the motivation to open the school back up, so I did. Youths were raging and pillaging- anarchy. Someone needed to stop it, and I had the resources to make it happen." Fiona replied simply with a slight shrug of her shoulders. It was true, just not the whole truth. She certainly wasn't going to come out and say 'Because I wish to rule the world, and Hogwarts was the best place to make evil minions out of unsuspecting children.'

Two of the largest cups Fiona owned clunked loudly on the oak table. They were soon followed by honey (a must with tea; sugar would never do), spoons, napkins, and a large box of teas which she slid over in front of Shaw. "What about you? What brought you here to teach at my school?" she prompted him. She leaned back and folded her hands atop her desk while she waited for the kettle to start whistling.

[Robert Shaw]

"Thank you." He nodded claiming a bag of Jasmine tea. And then, it was back to the conversing. "A past, a future to prevent, and a present without a planned future." He replied initially, waiting for his tea to prepare itself.

"Tamis and I went to school here as I'm sure you know, along with a couple more of the staff probably, after graduation I went abroad to continue my studies; missed out on most of the war and made no real contribution. I've been called both coward and sensible in the same sentence because of it. I came back-" He paused. "To help make a difference, make up for what I didn't do in the past." Robert clarified lowering his head a moment.

So many had been lost in the senseless fighting, and like he had told Tamis, 'old habits died hard'. It was beginning all over again.

[Fiona Faine]

Fiona was almost certain he implied making a 'good' difference. What a shame. She needed more staff that were on the darker side of the world. "I'm sure you'll make a remarkable difference, Mr.Shaw." her tone was somewhat mocking, but there was truth enough in the statement. A small smirk arrived and vanished in a flash.

"What made you come now? Why not earlier; the school was opened quite some time ago," Fiona inquired, plucking out a packet labeled 'African Redbush' out of the box and sticking it back into its rightful place.

[Robert Shaw]

"I was finishing a project, well, my colleagues and I were. But, it all turned out for nothing as our funding was cut." He claimed in partial truth. Yes, the project existed, and he was on it, but he had been in country for over two years. The project itself, was still being funded.

The ironic thing was Robert was on the fence in this whole misdemeanor...no, revolution. Definitely a revolution.

"A difference, theres not much difference I can make from a greenhouse. I can't return the favor to the ones who killed my friends, and plants have nothing to do with the killings going on out there, or at least not most of them. No, perhaps I'm just being a sensible coward again."

Robert declared this now, because it was the first time he'd alloted himself to think of the effect of his field, of what he was doing, on the problem as a whole. Nothing. His field, himself, they were all doing nothing.

[Fiona Faine]

"Yet you are educating our young people, the world's new generations of young magic folk." the Headmistress pointed out just as the whistler on her kettle went off. Scooting her chair back, retrieved it from its place amidst the fire and poured the water out into the two mugs.

"What do you say to that? And besides, aren't you teaching them that plants give us our oxygen and keep the air clean?" Fiona asked, unscrewing the cap to the honey bear and letting a liberal amount drip into the bottom of her cup.

[Robert Shaw]

It would definitely be another restless night, for now his mind was pondering the subject furiously. A headache ensuing now could bring the wrong remarks and tones out.

"Ms. Ticloon, forgive my rudeness, but they learn that in muggle grade school. And as much I hate to discredit my field, but on the whole knowledge of plants does not keep one alive. For if someone were to poison something wit a plant, you wouldn't know till you already ate it."

It was true enough, but did raise a few points as to his loyalties, which were, as stated, undecided. What was there to side with exactly, two factions and a pack of foolish, indecisive, abusive politicians? Surely thats not much to go with.

"I just don't see how I help 'the cause' but of course nowadays the Ministry isn't even sure what 'the cause' is. And neither are the rest of us I suppose."

[Fiona Faine]

"Well, what do you expect yourself to do? Anyone to do? Educated people will make the right decisions. That's all we really can do." Fiona answered sharply. Right decisions to their morals, though. Like her.

"The Ministry?" the Headmistress barked a laugh. "Trust me darling, the Ministry never knows what its sure of." And that's a fact! Fools they all were! Terrible security to boot!

[Robert Shaw]

"I suppose the Ministry never has, I respect them no more than I respected Severus years back." Robert trailed off into a muttering. The words 'bloody insufferable git' coming up at least twice.

Taking a sip of the now settled tea he nodded. "What of your life prior to taking on this role? Anything worth speaking of?" Robert inquired, a feeble, and useless attempt to change the subject.