Checking In, Checking Out [Gryffindor Table]

[Drew Thornton]

Drew shrugged back. There really wasn't a reason other than they had wanted to try to do it. It was like climbing Mount Everest or setting off school wide stink bombs. It had been done just to see if it could be done. It had been a what-if that had become a challenge that had become an accomplishment. It had been done purely for the sake of doing it.

"We use them mostly to check up on what's going on in the offices," he said. "But we really didn't have a specific purpose for setting them down."

[Felicity Hjort]

Pulling back slightly, she knitted her eyebrows. They used the to check into the offices? Wasn't that an invasion of privacy? Felicity wasn't sure she was too keen on that particular idea, but she didn't want to say anything either, for fear of starting another argument that she did not want, nor that she thought she could really handle.

Instead, she adjusted her arms to be around his neck, and just held onto him tightly. While she didn't like what he'd just said, she wouldn't say anything. Of course, she wouldn't ever tell someone, as she wouldn't want either of them to be in trouble, but she didn't understand why he would think it was all right to 'check up on what's going on in the offices' either.

"Do you really think they're going to help?" she asked, leaning her forehead against his shoulder.

[Drew Thornton]

There were moments when Drew realized that Felicity really didn't know what kind of trouble he used to get into. This was one of those moments. While he had expected the gossip mill to fill her in, he was glad that it hadn't... and yet sometimes it made for some awkward situations.

He wouldn't lie to her, but since she didn't press the situation, he didn't offer any more information. The extendible ear network had kept him out of trouble more than once, letting him in on exactly what a particular professor knew or didn't know about a situation. He hadn't used it much lately, but he still made sure it was kept in working order.

And, it was going to come in handy now. "Yeah. We can use the pieces to see what's going on out there." He nodded towards the shattered door. "Maybe we can find a weakness... a way to get out of this thing." A few moments ago he had been in the middle of a panic attack. Now talking about solutions, holding her in his arms, it felt like he could get through it all.

[Felicity Hjort]

While she didn't like the idea of the two Ravenclaws having used the ears to look into things that were going on in offices, as it really wasn't very kind of them to do, she didn't much like the idea of them using the ears for this either.

It wasn't for the same reason, she thought that listening in on these particular conversations was all right, because it would give them a hopeful upperhand. But, what if they were caught? In the end, it would lead to more trouble, not just for them, but for everyone in the room. It was unlikely, in her opinion, that someone wouldn't catch them, either from having suspicions of them getting them from the corridors, replacing them around where they were needed, or what all else. Felicity just didn't like the sound of it.

"What if it doesn't?" It was the closest she felt comfortable getting to asking about what if they were caught?

[Drew Thornton]

Drew was a big believer of thinking through all scenarios, planning for all eventualities... but he had also realized that sometimes doing that kept the plan from ever moving forward. And he had thought about this possibility... what would happen if they got caught. He just didn't want to think too much about it.

"If I don't do something, Felicity, I'll lose it again," Drew told her, knowing that getting caught could realistically put them all in danger. But even with Shaw being on the other side, Drew still trusted the man to some degree. Drew was sure he had some semblance of control over his people and thought that Shaw would probably directly punish any kids trying to get the upper hand. The message would be clearer and reach more people. It wouldn't be until the Deva felt they lost some control of the situation that they would go for the younger ones to keep the older ones in line.

He paused to wipe at his face again. This is why he tried not to think about it too much. He was confident that the others would be safe this time around, but what if he was wrong?

No, he could be sure about those two things. He had sat in the man's classes, been tortured under his wand, and watched him take charge of the situation this night. Drew was confident he knew what Shaw would do.

"I can't do nothing... I'll be okay," he told her, leaning his head on hers. "They won't kill me... and I can fight an Imperio... and I've been under a Crucio. I can do it again if it gives us a chance."

[Felicity Hjort]

It was something more she didn't understand, why did he think he would lose it if he didn't do something? Felicity knew he wasn't the type to sit back and relax while something was going on and people needed help. It was part of what she thought would help him to be an excellent auror one day. His need to help, to get people out of situations that were harmful, hazardous, was like a thirst that couldn't be quenched, and the blonde appreciated that aspect about him, greatly. But, she just didn't understand why he felt the way he did about it. Was his thirst so irrational that he wouldn't be able to handle it?

It hadn't even occured to Felicity the lengths of what kind of harm could come to any of them, but when Drew spoke about the three Unforgivable Curses, she shuddered. Killing was an option, it always was in movies, why wouldn't it be there? True, it wouldn't really get them anywhere, at least not if they aimed at students, but it was an option. Drew may be able to fight the Imperius Curse, but what of others? When a plan wasn't fully thought out, as she didn't believe this one to be, others were harmed. An Imperius wasn't easily fought, what if it was cast upon a younger student who had never had any connection with something of the sort? And as for the Cruciatus, it wasn't pleasant according to the books she'd read. Her mum hardly even spoke of such things with her, not even as she'd taught her daughter at home before Felicity was sent to Hogwarts, she would skip over any kind of material that could possibly lead to such a discussion.

One thing Felicity did not like, was how Drew was speaking of this as though it was his personal business, as though he was the one who had to figure it out. It didn't come down to him to have to be the one to keep them safe, it didn't come down to him to make sure they all got out of this, it wasn't him that it came down to to make sure they weren't hurt. It was up to all of them, and she really didn't like how he was talking as though it was him that had to make this better.

"I know you'll be all right, we all will be," she mumbled into his shoulder. "But I'm afraid."

[Drew Thornton]

"Me too..." Drew answered, speaking into the top of her head. "But I think that if I'm trying to do something about it, I won't be as scared... or at least I'll be scared of something I have a little more control over."

He paused and kissed the top of her head. "You don't want me to do it, do you?" he said, feeling her tension. If the roles had been reversed, he wouldn't want her to do it but he still felt it was something they needed to try.

[Felicity Hjort]

Was there a large difference between being scared and being scared of something you had a hand in? Felicity wasn't sure, but signs were pointing to no for her. While he thought he could possibly have control, any tiny bit of it over the situation, she disagreed. He could try, he could lessen the control of their guards, but she didn't think that made him have any kind of control.

It was then that she felt most comfortable, he was holding onto her, but he'd also kissed the top of her head, another, possibly insignificant movement, but not to her. It was a sign in a way, one that meant comfort, as well as safety, but the words that followed his action were not ones to keep her in the same mind-set.

"No..." she told him softly, feeling the tears begin to fall down her cheeks again. He was going to be mad at her for sure now, for telling him she didn't want him and Hiro to do it. But even in the end, she knew she didn't have control over his decisions, he would do what he wanted to, whether she liked it or not, and she would have to deal with it. Felicity just hoped he wouldn't be mad enough at her that he would leave her right then.

[Drew Thornton]

He could feel the tears on his shirt and reached up with on finger to gently wipe her face. "I have choices right now and one of those choices is to be an Auror... when choices like this become my duty..." he said, feeling like even if he had wanted to drive the Knight Bus, he still wouldn't be able to sit back and do nothing.

He had thought about this for years now, understanding the ramifications his choices put on others. His mother had laughed and forbidden him to become an Auror when he was 12... and had cried when she realized a few years later that it hadn't been some childhood game to him. He knew, had spent sleepless nights thinking about what would happen if they used someone he cared about to keep him in line. He knew it had happened before, had actually happened to Raynor and the Auror she had been engaged to, and it scared him most about this particular line of work.

It was a catch 22. He cared for the girl in his arms so much but he knew she'd be safer if he didn't. "If I can, I have to try," he told her, rocking a bit as he cradled her. It was their choices that defined who they truly were, and he knew that.

[Felicity Hjort]

Felicity actually understood, she knew he wanted to be an auror, knew how much that meant to him, knew that by choosing to be something of the sort he would have choices to make far more difficult than ones she could see herself being forced to make in the future, but it didn't mean she had to like it. Really, she trusted Drew, and Hiro, she trusted what decisions they both made, but what if they were caught, what if it was made difficult on others because of their actions? If that so happened, were they prepared for such consequences?

Again, she understood. She knew he would say that, that if there was a chance for him to be able to do something, he had to put for the effort for it, but once more, that didn't mean she had to like his decision, it only meant she'd have to deal with his choice. There was no way she could change his mind, make him choose something else, and really, she wouldn't even if she could, but it just made her nerves move more fiercely because of it.

"I know..." she told him, muffling her words by keeping her face buried still. "But I still don't want you to do it." But it was just something she would have to accept, deal with.

[Drew Thornton]

"I think I'd be kind of bummed if you didn't not want me to do it," Drew told her with a small smirk, kissing the top of her head again. The fact that she cared enough about him to be so worried kind of felt good. It was a strange thing to feel good about, but still, it was there.

He wanted to stay there and just hold her, but he knew he couldn't. Now that he had a plan, he had to start acting on it. "When Corey comes back, I have to go back to my table..." he said solomnly. He'd fill Hiro in and give him a break from the firsties. Then they'd start acting.

[Felicity Hjort]

Recognition of the slight joke was made, but she didn't react to it. Of course she was didn't want him to worry about it, she was afraid of the outcome if they were caught. Drew had already been through one ordeal, he didn't need to go through another one, and she didn't think he'd handle it well if someone else was put through something on his accord.

Nodding her head in response, she knew he wouldn't be able to stay there, knew it wouldn't be wise. Even in movies, people reacted to relationships as they saw them. If someone stayed for too long with another, it created suspicions, and being they were in different Houses, it made things even more suspicious.

But, that didn't mean she wanted him to go. In fact, she didn't think she'd mind if Corey never came back for that one little reason, then again, she's miss him something horrible if he didn't. Rather, she pressed her face deeper into his shoulder, trying not to let the tears trickle anymore, but finding it to be rather difficult to stop them. He was telling her he was going to leave, and he was going to do something she really didn't want him to do.