Nouvelle Coiffure

[mackenziepattinson]

Mackenzie ruffled her hair at the base of her skull. It was now very short and pitch-black thanks to a few magical charms, a simple potion and her nimble hands snipping this way and that with a pair of scissors she may or may not have stolen from David… Professor Carlyle’s desk when she was sort of spying on him. Or attempting to at least. The fact that he wasn’t in his office was a bit of a disappointment but stealing his scissors gave her a bit of a thrill. Certainly he would miss them she thought as she set the scissors down on the edge of the sink.

Smiling at the remnants of her once blonde hair scattered in clumps all over the floor of the girl’s bathroom she reached for the exit. Leaving the girls bathroom Mackenzie looked around the corner wondering if the prefects would be patrolling this hallway waiting to punish anyone sneaking out of bed. She would be one of those rebellious teens. Dressed in a lacy corset that peeked out from underneath a silky little black dress along with silvery eyeshadow and mascara, going to bed was the last thing on her agenda. With high heels in hand she tiptoed along the corridors. As she rushed around the corner Mac looked behind her after the flicker of light and sounds of footsteps.

Much to her surprise she bumped into someone and nearly fell backwards, stumbling a bit before she pressed a hand against the person’s mouth and plastered herself against a while so that whoever the other person with the light was wouldn’t notice her. Once the “hall monitor of doom” had passed she turned to the person, “What are you doing here?” she hissed in a whisper as if they were deliberately stalling her from getting to this party.

((ooc: Anyone?))

[Professor Carlyle]

David was one of the Professors who lived at the castle themselves instead of in their own homes nearby- it reminded him of when he was at school himself as a student and that was definitely something he wanted to remember. The fact he didn't exactly have a wife or child waiting for him coming home at the end of the school day also prompted him to just board at the castle like the students. And on that night he'd just been about to head to bed when Socks had shot, fast as a bolt, past his ankles and out the door. It's as if she knew when he was feeling knackered and purposely decided to do a runner then. He couldn't leave her to wander the castle on her own- last time she'd escaped she'd ended up in the dungeons, lost and absolutely terrified, and he'd found her in the morning cowering in terror, her big eyes wide and absolutely petrified.

He couldn't leave her like that again - yes he was rather fond of his cat - and as such he had swore under his breath, grabbed his thick dressing gown, shoving it on hastily over his usual bedtime atire of boxer shorts and a t-shirt, and ran out the door after her. Now he found himself sneaking along the corridors, nothing but the occassional fire still lit illuminating the way as he walked cautiously along, eyes darting back and forth in vain as he tried to find Socks. "Socks, socksssss," David hissed under his breath. His kitten was damn cute but when she ran off out of his office and escaped to the shadowy, endless corridors of the castle he didn't think she was so cute or innocent, at all.

Suddenly, so absorbed as he was in locating his feline friend, David let out an "Ompfh" of surprise as someone bumped into him. Stumbling like the other person he was confused as someone pressed a hand against his mouth to shut him up, pulling him against the wall so as to sink in the shadows and not be seen by a person approaching with a lit wand. 'Damn I should have just done that' he thought, rolling his eyes in the dark at his own stupidity- sometimes he forgot he could even do magic spells like that! Glancing sharply down at the person who'd bumped into him after the figure rounded the corner of the corridor, his eyes widened in surprise. "Mackenzie!" he exclaimed as he recognised the student, but barely, due to her new hairstyle. "Your... your hair," was the first thing that came to mind and as such he blurted it out rather pointlessly. Upon realising this however he coloured slightly, blushing awkwardly, "Looks really nice," he said quickly, trying to brush past it as he glanced furtively around. Also acutely aware that his dressing gown was open and he wasn't exactly dressed enough he closed it suddenly, tying the belt as he spoke, his tone a tad incredulous as he looked down at her, "Never mind what am I doing here, what are you doing sneaking around?!" he asked in a conspiratorial tone, sounding almost like a gossipy student wanting to know 'what was going down' rather than the teacher that he was... or was supposed to be anyway.

[mackenziepattinson]

There had been no lit wand in his hand so Mackenzie assumed that Professor Carlyle was in fact a student when she abruptly put a hand to his mouth and pushed him into the wall with little regard as to who he actually was.

It came as a surprise obviously when David actually spoke. Her face went a little white and she gazed up at him her huge eyes as big as saucers, “D-Professor, I-I didn’t know it was you, I’m sorry,” her brow knitted in confusion, “Why don’t you have your wand?” If she hadn’t been skulking around in the dark trying to escape to a party she would have lit her wand.

As his words however she smiled, and blushed even when he complimented her. He did fancy her, she thought mind you this was her thought process after having a few drinks in the common room. She needed a little liquid courage before cutting off all her hair and dying it black. She noted his boxers and t-shirt before he suddenly closed his dressing gown, “Thanks,” she replied, “Nice boxers,” she added in what could only be seen as flirty.

“Oh I, well I thought you were a student,” she blushed again out of embarrassment this time looking down at her shoes, “I was cutting my hair,” she told him, that wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.

[Professor Carlyle]

As Mackenzie's eyes widened he waved his hand dismissively at her apologies, "No worries, I mean I don't usually skulk around corridors so, you know, how could you have known it'd be your ol' Muggle Studies Prof," he commented lightly. Snorting then as she asked why he didn't have his wand he replied, "Because I very often forget I'm a wizard at all, it's the whole 'loving Muggles' thing... I tend to leave my wand places and not have it with me at all times. And I... I was looking for my cat, she escaped just as I was about to go to bed so I ran off after her without doing the sensible thing of grabbing a light source," he explained quickly in a whisper, not sure if the person who'd just passed would double back as they monitored the hallways. Probably not be one couldn't be too careful. When he thought that, David stopped himself internally- why the hell was he worried about being caught 'out of bed' after curfew, it wasn't like he was a student! Sometimes, David really did just feel like he was back at Hogwarts like in his youth.

Smiling easily as he saw her do so too he shrugged, "Well aye, you know, it's true so... you're welcome," he replied simply before looking down at her as she said 'nice boxers'. "Wha-?" he started and then he quickly tied the tie around his dressing gown firmly, "Oh I... uh... I... I was about to go to bed so I uh... yes I just... I didn't have trousers on," he tried to justify this, but really he was just hoping fervently that if he blabbered awkwardly for long enough he'd get rid of the awkwardness in his expression and the blush that had crept onto his cheeks. Attempting to crack a joke and so change that look on her face which, he had to admit, was making him very confused and a tad uncomfortable he commented with a short laugh, "Hey, you're lucky it's cold tonight otherwise I probably wouldn't have had anything, any t-shirt or boxers, on when I ran into you... and y'know... naked Professor Carlyle... not uh good... " he trailed off slightly as he realised this probably wasn't the most appropriate of comments to make anyway, let alone to a student.

"That's easily done," David replied quickly, trying to brush past the awkwardness he was now feeling by talking and smiling widely as though nothing was wrong. "Oh, you cut it yourself?" he asked curiously and then squinted at her hair once more, "How did you do it... magic or good old fashioned scissors?" he asked conversationally before frowning then as a thought came to him, "Why did you wait until it was dark to cut it? Surely it'd be better in the daylight so why not just..." he trailed off, realising his own stupidity as he then caught the glimmer of her eyeshadow and paused, looking down at her more closely. Taking in her outfit quickly (because, really, her somewhat revealing silky black dress and lacy corset peeking out from it probably weren't things a Professor should be seen staring at for longer than a cursory glance) David's brow furrowed even more. "Going somewhere fancy are we?" he asked, trying to inject some kind of 'stern, teacherly vibe' into his tone but it definitely failed... probably due to the slightly quirk of his lips as he tried not to smile his usual cheery grin and, once again, failed at that too.

[mackenziepattinson]

When Professor Carlyle continued to whisper Mackenzie began to fantasize again about the possibility of him fancying her. Why else would he whisper? Maybe he didn’t want to get caught talking to her. He didn’t want to get caught talking to her, this thought reverberated in the back of her mind like the most beautiful bell imaginable. He was a teacher he didn’t need to whisper. Perhaps this meant he did fancy her. This thought sent eager chills up her spin as she continued to listen to him.

“Oh, poor Socks,” she added, he complained about his cat all the time, this was nothing new. Maybe it was just an excuse. The fact that she was admittedly already a little buzzed might have had something to do with her lack of judgment and inadequate thought process that was spiraling out of control.

Mackenzie tried not to react to his joke and instead laugh at it but the idea of running into a naked Professor Carlyle was way too good. She took it the wrong way indeed and felt even more sure that he fancied her. She took a tentative step forward but stopped and nodded along as he spoke.

Blushing again she thought of his scissors clearly labeled ‘Professor David Carlyle’ on them sat on the sink in the girls bathroom, “Scissors, I used a potion and a quick charm to make it black though, that way it keeps it’s natural texture rather than drying out my hair like normal muggle dyes,” she explained quite proud of herself.

Watching as he gave her a cursory glance, she inwardly sighed. Yep, he fancied her, the idea was now wedged in her head. “No,” she managed, “Just… just a party.” Noticing his smile the alcohol she had previously consumed got the best of her and getting the wrong impression entirely from his teacher-y glance at her outfit she leaned forward and kissed him so fast it was like lightning. Then it was done. When she returned to her position Mackenzie frowned and looked at the ground, “I’m sorry, that wasn’t… you didn’t mean…. oh God!” she felt so embarrassed and put her head in her hands.

((ooc: Hope that was okay, it seemed like the kiss should have come before when he was talking about being naked but then they would have had to talk more and… well I thought at the end was better, I dunno? Hehe let me know if you want anything changed.))

[Professor Carlyle]

David snorted lightly in an incredulous manner, “Poor Socks?! Poor me, more like, I have to chase her around school now. It’s usually best to find her, last time I didn’t and she looked so petrified in the morning… she’d got lost down in the dungeons and, like me, she cowers at the sight of LeMire,” he joked easily about the other Professor- she tended to scare students and professors alike with her death glare.

Awkwardly scratching his cheek slightly he looked down in confusion as he could have sworn she’d moved closer to him. Thinking he was just imagining things he tried to push it aside but still felt oddly… unsettled. There was just something not quite right about the way she was now looking up at him. ‘Or maybe you are the crazy one?’ his mind argued back. Glad of something to occupy his hands, so to speak, his hands still held loosely onto the dressing gown tie as he finished knotting it closed together. By the flickering gleam of a nearby light David noted a slight blush creep over her own cheeks as he asked her, almost conversationally despite the odd situation they were in, how she’d cut her hair. “Ah,” he said in understanding, more to say something rather than let himself fall into an awkward silence as so often happened. “That’s uh clever… really aye, clever,” he commented, a tad lamely he felt, but he merely smiled casually as though this excused the awkwardness of his speech.

“Oh? A party, aye? Hmmm I think someone is being rebellious Ms Pattinson,” he commented with, again, an attempt at a stern teacherly tone and expression but his face faltered visibly as she moved forwards slightly. ‘Oh My God!!’ was all his mind screamed at him as he felt practically frozen in place as he suddenly was acutely aware of the warmth of Mackenzie’s lips against his. And then, before he knew it, she’d retreated and had her head despairingly in her hands. “Well…” he managed, his voice coming out a little hoarsely, as though he hadn’t used it in a while but it was more the shock that caused it to be so than anything else, “I… Mackenzie… you… I…” he tried again but failed as his wide-eyed expression remained as he looked down at her. Only then did he realise something- the true nature of a warning comment Isabella had made to him. The other Professor had seen him and Mackenzie talking one day in the Library as he helped her with an essay she’d claimed she didn’t quite understand. Isabella had drew him aside one evening and said ‘just be careful, David, because I know a smitten girl when I see one’. David had, of course, laughed it off and thought perhaps the other Professor was merely lightly teasing him (everyone knew he was a bit of a disaster himself when it came to dating and women) but now… now David remembered her comment and he suddenly gasped rather loudly as he realised the truth it held.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, “You thought that I… and so you… oh god!” he said disjointedly, looking a little horror-stricken down at Mackenzie. Then he closed his eyes momentarily in despair and shook his head. He was not quite sure how on earth to deal with this; no teacher training would ever help you to work out what to do in this kind of situation. He couldn’t help but feel both embarrassed and guilty about the girl’s kiss though. He looked down at her with a sad smile, “Look, Mackenzie ummm… wait, come over here?” he started tentatively, taking her gently by the arm and leading her to the stone window ledge seat opposite to where they’d been standing. Sitting down he indicated with his head for her to sit down beside him before turning to her, “Look uh… I didn’t realise what you… what you thought I meant by what I said… I don’t…” David tread carefully, gently, because he didn’t want this to sound callous after all but he genuinely couldn’t believe she’d think that he… he didn’t know… fancied her or something! “Mackenzie, you are an amazing girl and yes, your hair does look wonderful but I didn’t mean it in a way that… oh in a way that, say, a boy in your class might say it to you. I meant it as a teacher, perhaps a teacher who happens to be crap at being the figure of authority but still…” he trailed off with a forced smile. “I’m sorry if you thought umm differently,” he finished, his brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

((ooc: Hehe no it was fine, lovely actually haha I love how Mackenzie took what he said in the wrong way! I hope mine's okay! David's trying to do the decent thing and explain rather than run off like he wants to haha.))

[mackenziepattinson]

“Really because I thought you would Try and be extra cheery towards LeMire to counter act her… well whatever attitude she is going for,” Mackenzie replied beaming up at him admiringly. It was that kind of crazy stare only students with huge crushes on their teachers a girl could give.

“You think so?” she asked suddenly looking up at him with a smile that was just a little too happy twitching at the edges of her mouth that she was trying to but failing to hide miserably. “Yes, I’m being rebellious,” Mackenzie said in a saucy tone and giggled.

Completely mortified with her head still in her hands, she nodded fervently as he finally spoke, albeit disjointedly. “I’m sorry,” she sniffed, “I think I was possessed by a crazy person,” she muttered through her finger.

Dropping her hands with her head dipped toward the ground Mackenzie let him lead her to the stone ledge she sat beside him wordlessly. Mackenzie gave a small laugh and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, “Yeah, I know…” her voice trailed off for a moment as she smiled at her own stupidity. Finding her voice again briefly she added, “I just… I hoped… I was possessed by a crazy demon schoolgirl with a very inappropriate crush okay… I don’t get crushes so-so let’s just say I had a momentary laps of insanity.” Mackenzie shook her head, “Not that a girl has to be insane to like you or anything but...” her voice trailed off again unable to form coherent sentences. Suddenly she gasped and grabbed his arm, “Please, please don’t tell my brother!” Her bluey-green eyes were big and pleading. “He’ll kill me, or worst expel me, please don’t tell him!”

[Professor Carlyle]

“Nah, she terrifies me just as much as she terrifies the first years,” he admitted simply, “I tried to be overly bouncy and cheery and well… one of those withering stares was enough to make me stutter and blush and swiftly run away. I try to avoid her in the staffroom, she intimidates me,” he laughed slightly but it faded awkwardly as he gulped slightly, not even realising he had done so, upon seeing the look in her eyes. It worried him to say the least. “Yep, I do,” he said cheerfully, simply even, his usual complimentary, bouncy self. He had literally no idea how Mackenzie could misconstrue that sentiment but he soon found out, oh boy did he! He almost felt as though he’d acted wrongly too, though, he should have… pushed her away quickly or… shouted or… done something surely other than stand there and practically let her do it, or that’s what it probably looked like anyway David now realised. But he couldn’t just flee, like he usually would, from this; he had to sort it out, make sure that Mackenzie was alright because he really did like her, just not in the way she must have imagined.

Upon hearing her laugh David nodded, “Aye, I… well I can’t say I know what you hoped because I can’t imagine many of my students have crushes on me… oh… hmmm so for that, actually, I’m flattered,” he commented, attempting to be light hearted about ‘all this’. Then, as she started to babble, seemingly digging herself further into a hole he chuckled slightly, “Hey now come on, I am supposed to be the one who can’t form a coherent sentence,” David pointed out, hoping to gain even a semblance of a smile from her, before he shrugged, “And all my ex-girlfriends, bar one, have been ever so slightly insane… so maybe there’s more truth to that than you thought. ‘A momentary lapse of insanity’ I definitely can understand and goodness knows you’ll have many of them over the years, believe me.”

Then, as her eyes widened, “Mackenzie, Mackenzie,” he repeated soothingly, trying to calm her down since she seemed horrified by the prospect of Will finding out. “Of course I’m not going to tell your brother, do you think I have a death wish? No, honestly, it’ll be our little secret, okay?” he suggested with a kind smile. Internally he was still absolutely horrified at what had just happened but seeing the girl’s distress had forced him to push that awkwardness and sheer panic aside for the moment. After all, everyone knew about misinterpreting the gesture of a person you liked and regretting it instantly when you were swiftly rebuffed- David knew it well in fact, well not quite the crush on the teacher thing but he near enough understood. As such, he really felt for Mackenzie as she looked dejected and terrified of her brother finding out, “Hey, hey, it’s fine, honestly,” he stressed softly, putting a comforting hand on her arm as if to say ‘there there’ but perhaps under the circumstances it wasn’t the most appropriate thing to do.

[Professor Binns]

Due to having far too many essay's to mark, Joe had decided to stay up at the school as his children were both ill with the cold and distracted him too much, he was already 2 weeks behind schedule and really needed to hand the essays back.

Holding the rather large pile yet to do, Joe had decided to visit the Kitchens for a snack and some more tea and was on his way back to his classroom when he saw shadows moving up ahead and after checking his watch, he realised the students were breaking rules and he'd have to tell them off if they saw him. Joe hated to tell anyone off and instead decided to try and avoid detection and therefore avoid having to pass punishment.
Looking up when he heard his fellow Professor's voice, Joe's eyes went wide as he saw David exchanging a kiss with a student. This simply wasnt allowed! It just wasnt on, the parents trust the Professors with their children and this was an abuse of trust and Joe frowned as he silently watched the couple move along to sit down together, David touching the girl's arm softly only causing Joe's feathers to become even more ruffled.

Walking over with a determined air, Joe didnt hide his arrival and looked between the pair of them, "You're lucky its me here and no one else! What exactly is going on here?!" he spluttered out, his cup of tea spilling all over the floor as he waved his arms about as he spoke. "A student and a professor! Really?! What the hell are you thinking?! Oh wait....YOU'RE NOT!" he spoke loudly and angrily, a side no one ever got to see.

(ooc. Hope this is ok, he's a bit rubbish lol)

[Professor Carlyle]

So preoccupied was David, in projecting an air of comfort and friendliness to the seemingly dejected Mackenzie, that he didn't hear any footsteps approaching them at all despite the fact that Joe wasn't exactly quiet about it either. It was only when the other man spoke up that David let out a slightly shout of surprise and instantly paled as his gaze snapped to his friend and saw the angry look on his face. Immediately retracted his comforting hand from where it had rested on the girl's arm he held his hands up in front of him in a defensive manner, "Joe, Joe," he repeated as the man began spluttering in such a frantic way that David had never seen him in before. He understood immediately from the look on his face that Joe had seen their kiss and, moreover, was absolutely livid about it. "Joe, it isn't... oh christ it really isn't what it looks like, at all, honest. You know me, would I really... am I capable of trying something like this? With a student no less?" he questioned logically.

"I..." he paused before explaining, looking to Mackenzie guiltily and saying softly, "I'm sorry, I know how you're feeling right now but... look this is Joe, he won't tell anyone once he knows the truth and I'm so sorry for having to do this but... but I have to tell him, Mackenzie, I can't... I can't not do it," he said, feeling bad for having to recount the tale to Joe but he couldn't lose his job over this, he loved it with every fibre of his being and he wasn't going to let a series of misinterpretations ruin it for him. Then, looking serious at Joe he started, "We're not... whatever you think is going on here... it's not, honestly. It's a case of... wires crossed, Joe, misunderstandings and... a kiss that really shouldn't have happened, should it?" he said in a serious tone then to Mackenzie but his smile still showed apology and warmth in it. "And there's nothing like that going on between us, come on, it's me... do you seriously believe a student would be deluded enough to have a secret relationship with me?" he asked him with an incredulous look- he was honestly still having trouble believing women seemed to fancy him, let alone Mackenzie!

((ooc: It was FAB aaaand was gonna let Cara reply first with Mackenzie but David begged me to reply as him tonight, pesky little thing that he is. ))

[mackenziepattinson]

Mackenzie’s eyes widened into saucers as she watched Professor Binns stalking over to them and began yelling. It didn’t play out in slow motion like it did in the films. Instead everything seemed to speed up. One minute she was thanking Professor Carlyle for his discretion and the next she was mute as she watched Professor Binns act like she had never seen him before. Who knew the man actually had the ability to get angry? She thought that trait was somehow absent from his gene pool.

“It wasn’t his fault,” Mackenzie squeaked her voice barely audible above a whisper as Professor Binns continued to yell. When Professor Carlyle gazed back at her Mackenzie shook her head furiously, so much so that she felt like one of those bobble head dolls on the dashboard of a car. “Nah-uh, nothing like that, honest, I kissed him, it was my fault, I sort of had a wee crush on D- Professor Carlyle but I mean why I don’t know, I mean come on he’s old!” she stammered, then looking at Professor Carlyle she added, “I mean, your not that old but- but you’re a teacher and I’m a student, it’s jut not- not right, you know?” she added trying to make it seem better but as felt like she was digging her grave.

She could picture the disappointment on her brother’s face as the Headmaster kicked her out of school like she knew he surely would. This was a disaster, she thought as she put her head in her hands, “I’m so sorry,” she muttered through the tears that started to spill down her cheeks, “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, it just happened, I wasn’t thinking.”

Looking back up at Professor Binns with tear stained cheeks, “They’re gonna kick me out aren’t they? I’ll be expelled,” her voice went up a few octaves on the last word as her bottom lip trembled. She didn’t want to leave school. She loved Hogwarts. Maybe she wasn’t the most ambitious student, but that could change. She could change. Her eyes were pleading.

((ooc: Telle I loved Binns!!! Sorry that took me forever, and thank you Emma for posting with David it made my work easier! ))

[Professor Binns]

"It isnt what it looks like!" Joe spoke in a high pitched mocking voice, not usually this sarcastic but when he got angry he turned into a regular little snark, a side of him that Daisy only ever got to see.

As David spoke to Mackenzie, Joe narrowed his eyes and glared at his fellow professor as his voice softened when he spoke to the girl, "You have to tell me what? Tell me how you're having a torrid love affair with a minor!? Tell me how how you're breaking EVERY rule in the book?" his eyes widened as he spoke, his cup of tea all but empty as his hands waved madly around. "Look at you! You cant even lie without giving her a soppy smile with your puppy dog face! You're naive David if you think Im to believe that you're unaware of the female students having a crush on you...and some of the males" his voiced dropped to almost a hiss, Joe heard a lot of things in his classes and more than a few times he had heard about schoolgirl (and at least one schoolboy) crushes on David.

Noticing Mackenzie about to call David by his first name, Joe narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head, "First name terms? Seriously? David, its not looking good for you at all! Mackenzie Pattinson, I am disappointed in you, I thought you'd know better" he gave a sigh as her tears started, thinking 'here we go, waterworks!'.
"You would be expelled yes, and Professor Carlyle would lose his job and all respect anyone in the wizarding world has for him if it was anyone other than I who had caught you! Headmaster Gayfor takes a walk around the castle every evening, if you think Im something worth crying over then so help me if it had been him who'd seen your act of debauchery!" Joe finished dramatically, taking a tissue from his pocket and handing it to the girl.

"Why are you dressed like a baby hooker? Its past curfew, no students are supposed to be out of their beds at this time." he shook his head before taking off his robe, draping it over the girls shoulders to hide the copious amounts of flesh on show. "I am a fair man, I turn a blind eye when I hear of students sneaking to parties. I should report this..." he waggled his finger between the pair of them, "...I thought my life would be easier now that Ms Bennett had left, are you trying to take her crown from her? I assure you it wont work, there is nothing I cannot deal with" he shook his head, looking sadly into his tea cup and realising he'd left his wand in his office.

(ooc. I hope he wasnt too bad, I imagine his voice going all high and stuff, kind of like Simons does when hes playing angry and that lol)

[Professor Carlyle]

As Joe mocked them in a high-pitched voice David sighed in exasperation- there was absolutely no use in trying to make the other man see sense when he was as angry as this. “But I’m not having a ‘torrid love affair with a minor’!” he exclaimed loudly in protest, about ready to pull his hair out in frustration at how quickly this situation had gotten terrible. “I’m not giving her a soppy smile and I do not have a puppy dog face, Joe, I’m trying to be considerate because… because I know how it feels to have a bit of a stupid crush on someone you shouldn’t and then finally… do something about it and be rejected, okay?” he said truthfully, his voice cracking slightly as he said it, before he frowned, realising this probably didn’t help the situation. If anything it made David seem more dodgy but that was honestly why he was trying to be kind and let her down gently, as it were. He really didn’t want to hurt Mackenzie’s feelings because honestly she was a wonderful girl but that was it, nothing else at all, despite what Joe might think.

Eyes widening as Joe accused him of being naïve he shrugged and replied a bit shortly, “Maybe I am, maybe I am dreadfully naïve Joe because I sure as hell wasn’t aware of that, actually!” he informed him truthfully. He just couldn’t believe it, really couldn’t. But then again, Joe was the one who knew things that the students said whereas David remained blissfully unaware of most gossip and such. Glancing back at Mackenzie who slipped and almost called him by his first name he closed his eyes in despair, already knowing that this was going to end badly and Joe would never ever quite trust him as a friend again. When he saw the tears in the girl’s eyes he gulped, feeling terrible- this was his fault entirely, Joe was right… he was naïve, he hadn’t seen any of the signs that Mackenzie had any kind of inclination towards him. Alright, so she often ended up in extra credit sessions and such with him… she always listened in his lessons with 100% more attention that the rest of the class put together… she always seemed to just be there whenever David went for a walk around the castle. As all the pieces clicked together once and for all he groaned slightly, “Oh god,” he said, shaking his head at himself, “I am so, so sorry… I really didn’t realise,” he told the girl sadly, apologetic even, before he turned back to Joe.

“I… I really just… I swear to you now, that there is really nothing going on between us,” David said seriously then, looking at Joe imploringly, “Nothing at all,” he said firmly. To be honest the thought of losing his job and the respect of all his colleagues, ex-colleagues at the Ministry and friends, and Mackenzie being expelled made him realise the gravity of the situation. “Joe, you can’t… please, there is absolutely nothing going on but… but if you want to tell the Headmaster, please leave Miss Pattinson out of it. I don’t know, tell him you saw me but you didn’t know which girl or something… because it’s not her fault and we all make mistakes when we’re teenagers don’t we, we sure did,” he commented then with a sigh. “And surely you can’t expel her for being… being a teenage girl with an unfounded crush on a teacher, you’d have to expel most of Professor Bennett’s class then,” he argued, it was true he knew that many boys found Elizabeth to be rather wonderful, and it was no secret either.

However, as Binns asked Mackenzie why she was ‘dressed like a baby hooker’ he looked shocked, “Joe!” he exclaimed in surprise, not expecting him to be quite so blunt… even if, he now realised, her outfit was a bit… revealing. “What can I do to convince you that there is nothing going on here? I would never, ever, pursue a relationship with Miss Pattinson… or any student for that matter… I may be supposedly ‘naïve’ but I’m not stupid,” David concluded seriously, looking to Joe, his face now blanched at the thought of anyone else finding out about this whole ‘incident’.

((ooc: haha yeah I can totally hear it now, hehe awww Simon/Joe! <3 ))

[mackenziepattinson]

Mackenzie looked wide eyed between the two Professors. This was going from bad to worst, or worst to terrible and terribly wrong. It was spiraling out of control. Where was the damn emergency brake on life when you needed it?

“No, I don’t,” Mackenzie stammered wide eyed, “I mean, Professor Carlyle has us call him Professor Carlyle I accidentally might have almost called him David because I repeatedly wrote it down on my note book like one of those horrible schoolgirl crushes I like to pretend I don’t get for other people,” she began to ramble, “Though admittedly my already crush may have been further induced by Molly Warblers attempt at making a love potion for Seamus which didn’t turn out so well, and I might have accidentally touched it when I was helping her clean up the mess. Okay so it was demanded of me as a punishment for talking during Potions class, and then my next class was Muggle Studies and… well you can see where this is going, my already crush grew gigantic pink elephant sized,” she admitted sheepishly, “And now having done that, and being sat here like this makes me wonder why I did it in the first place,” she continued her gestures were beginning to look very similar to Professor Binns’. “It was wrong, I’m sorry, it was all wrong,” she was beginning to feel completely helpless but felt like she should explain, she needed to explain at least for Professor Carlyle’s sake, even if her antics got her expelled.

“It may have also had something to do with the alcohol T- some guy, I have no idea who he was, older, younger, probably not even in my year, this person whoever it was brought some alcohol and gave it to me and the others in our common room, or tried to but they refused because they were good unlike me they weren’t going to sneak off and attend this party in Hogsmeade or- somewhere like that,” she rambled trying in a mottled sort of way to protect the innocent, as she liked to call it. Mackenzie wasn’t a tattle tale and she wasn’t about to rat out her friends, or even her enemies for that matter.

“I may not exactly be completely 100% sober right now,” she said each word tentatively wincing at the prospect of where this might lead her, nowhere good that was for sure. But she couldn’t let Professor Carlyle get canned for her stupidity. “Hence the baby hooker dress and the whole kissing debacle,” she added trying to add some lightheartedness into the otherwise very serious conversation that was turning a somewhat angry and dismal corner.

Taking the tissue Mackenzie dabbed her eyes and gazed down at the ground feeling utterly hopeless, “Expel me then but please don’t get Professor Carlyle sacked,” she pleaded obviously resolved with her doomed fate, “He’s the best Muggle Studies Professor I’ve ever taken,” she said pointing to Professor Carlyle, “And I’m not just saying that because I had a schoolgirl crush on him, but he makes the otherwise mundane subject exciting. The other teacher, no offense, was a bore. I would fall asleep after the first three minutes. Maybe it’s all his jumping about and wild hand gestures but it tends to keep a person awake,” she pointed out trying to mimic his hand gestures and failing miserably at that. “It’s either that or his tendency to slam a massive book onto his desk and say something much too loudly when he gets excited about something. That one is a guaranteed wake up alarm, ask Artie Leminski,” she finished trying to be light hearted again. If it was going to be the demise of her schooldays she might as well make it laughable, she thought. Underage drinking, sneaking out of school after curfew, dressing like a baby hooker apparently and kissing Professors, it didn’t bode well for her at all. At least she wasn’t a baby mama that had to count for something right?

((ooc: Me too, awww Simon/Joe, I love him.))

[Professor Binns]

"You do have a puppy face, you're doing it every time you look at her! If you arent engaging in an affair with this student and she does only have a crush on you...you cannot tiptoe around her feelings! You have to be firm with these girls because any hint of kindness can and WILL be misinterpreted" he nodded his head firmly, he had heard many a girl talking in his class about how so & so had said this to her and that this obviously meant that he cared deeply for her. His classroom was like a gossip & advice column all rolled into one and he paid great attention.

Giving an angry look at David as the man had the nerve to act angry with him, HE hadnt been the one kissing a student, accidental or not! "And exactly who do you think you're getting angry at Professor Carlyle? Dont raise your voice at me, You're in the wrong here, however accidental you claim it to be. And here you go again, mollycoddling the girl, she will get the wrong impression!" he couldnt understand David's complete lack of rationale, Mackenzie was completely besotted with her Professor and he wasnt helping at all with the tenderness.
Turning to Mackenzie, Joe gave her a stern look and held his hand up to her to silence her, "Miss Pattinson, please do not try and talk your way out of anything, you're no good at it. I'd like to remind you that I know a lot of things...I know about the party in Hogsmeade, I know everyone in attendance and I know exactly who is going to be hooking up with who and tomorrow I will know exactly who has drunk what" he nodded his head to show he was serious, he was greatly informed and had many ways to find out what he wanted to know.
"I knew you were going to be in attendance & I know who gave you the alcohol, I was willing to turn a blind eye but I hope you can understand why I am disappointed in you?" he looked at her with a gentler expression before giving a sigh and shaking his head.

"David, a cup of tea for me if you will. Miss Pattinson, I will not tell anyone of this...incident but you are to stay away from Professor Carlyle, he is a grown man and any afection you may feel from him are purely professional. David, you need to..." he paused briefly, looking at his fellow colleague before sighing, "...make me a cup of tea" he nodded his head before extracting a packet of jaffa cakes from his pocket, offering the pair before him one before hlping himself.

(oog. Sorry hes a bit rubbish)