Trials and Tea Leaves.

[Lianna Maylorn]

It was nearing May now. With that ever obvious fact came the rather looming shadow of exams and the end of term worries and woes that played their accompanyment. She was worried about all of her exams; yes, but this was the one that stuck out the most in her mind when it all came down to passing or failing. They had gone through so many professors for this position through the term and then the takeover happened and they'd gotten further behind... Merlin knew that since the class was by far her favorite of her electives that the lass had tried to keep up on her own but she never seemed to fully get the hang of anything over the course of the term and by the time she went for help, the office was vacant again.

Now Professor Jules had been around since right after the take over but her doubts had kept her from seeing him. After being let down so many times, and the distress of Raynor doing her the same gracious way...to say the girl was mistrusting of the Hogwarts staff was, an understatement. But now exams were quickly approaching, the man was still present and she certainly needed help and fast but she still held a fair amount of reluctance and mistrust and in her viewpoint with the recent history of the position and the rest of the staff, it was with very good reason.

The girl had stood outside the door after trudging the six flights of stairs for several moments, her independent side claiming with a rather loud mental arguement that she really didn't ned to see the man at all. She didn't do well with authority - that wasn't to say she defied it, no she was probably one of the most law-abiding students of the castle, she just shy'd up around instructors and in the end, she supposed she never did like asking for help. Diving in was just easier and more available...

There was a quiet knock on a closed door as the Hufflepuff took a step back, the urge to run off nearly taking hold again. She didn't want his help, but she needed it...

[mindlessmoreyjules]

Foot steps shuffled over the floor, crinkling papers that had haphazardly drifted there throughout the day. An unfinished painting of the galaxy stained the ceiling, the stars in finished corners twinkling like jewels in the black-indigo velvet abyss. Morey had pulled out several charts and books on symbols ranging across several different cultures. An ominous series of paint drippings had caught his attention to the point where he placed a protective charm over them, so they could not fade, be washed away or chipped. Some of the symbols were obviously familiar, yet others were....somewhere in his memory that simply wouldn't arise. Besides that, it didn't make any sense...except the first spots. They indicated the school takeover that had occurred before the term began. He hadn't been at Hogwarts, but had learned about it through other means.

Nothing so terrifying had occurred to him when he had been a student in those archaic walls. The concept of Hogwarts being something other then a safe haven troubled the professor. As he flipped through the page of a large, crusty tome, a soft knocking occurred at the door.

Brow creased, Morey turned, throwing a confused expression at the old oak entrance. A knock? "...Come in! The door isn't locked." At least he hoped it wasn't. Had he locked it after entering? Scratching the back of his neck, he took a step away from the book and opened the door himself, staring down at the young lady outside. Professor Jules blinked, his blue eyes strained from having spent so much time reading. "Hello, dear. I almost missed your knock. Come in, come in." He moved aside to allow her entrance.

It wasn't the most opportune moment to have a visitor, but he wouldn't hold it against her. How could she know he was consumed with a perplexing dilemma of interpretation? Instead, he set aside his problem and prepared for an interaction of a different nature.

[Lianna Maylorn]

All I have to do now is leave...

But I already knocked, can't be rude;

I don't want to be here...

But I can't fail...

The mental battle went on and on for the seemingly endless stream of seconds, the man's calling to come in falling on unintentionally deaf ears. It was a moment later when the door was suddenly opened that all her mental arguements ceased to exist from rationality. Her time for deliberation was over and she was now stuck with...well...the first step to solving a problem. She was stuck with admitting she needed help.

"Hello, dear. I almost missed your knock. Come in, come in."

He had a kind voice, welcoming and while she had known this from class already, it seemed almost more so here at the gateway to his office. The Hufflpuff teen was quite possibly the only student in the entire school who was avidly interested in his teachings, and it seemed most took it only to fill a void among electives - she was actually disgusted by it.

Lianna smiled never the less in thanks however - even though it was just a tad bit forced - and took a couple tentative steps through the office door. What she found within didn't surprise her much, Divination stuff...books...a desk and a couple chairs... It was an office, it wasn't supposed to surprise her. The girl's green eyes caught sight of the book laid open upon the desk and again that little voice told her she should leave, but now she was inside, she couldn't rightly make a believeable excuse on a whim - well, not now anyway - if she could she would have done so at the door.

"I...don't mean to interrupt...since I didn't schedule or...anything...I..." her voice trailed off the way it typically did when she found herself confronted faced with these sorts of conversations. She never had felt comfortable around those with authority titles - even if that authority was only an instructor - and yet while she had no real reason to be uncomfortable she just couldn't help it?

"I'm just...I'm worried about my exams...I don't think I'm ready," the Hufflepuff finally quietly conceded. She had no quarrels with giving help, in fact she was more than willing but when it came to asking for it? Oh no that was an entirely different matter...being academically independent had its downsides too.