staying out for the summer

[Professor Paigi]

Isabella Paigi hoisted her toddler Elizabeth further up onto her hip and walked into her classroom. All staff had agreed to meet in her classroom for their weekly meetings- with term coming to an end, the pupils practically smelling the freedom that came with summer, the year was also winding down for the teachers. And yet they still had to meet weekly at least under the pretence of having productive discussion about timetabling and lesson plans and such.

"Come on darling, I promise it'll take an hour then mummy and daddy will be finished and we can all go home and have some dinner. Just be a good girl and sit quietly hmm?" she spoke to her daughter kindly as she sat her down in the armchair beside her own chair and handed Elizabeth her colouring things to keep her busy and, hopefully, quiet whilst her parents were involved in a staff meeting. "Would you like some juice?" Isabella asked, smiling and nodding in encouragement as the girl said 'please', "Good girl," she enthused as she summoned some pumpkin juice with a flick of her wand, straightening then as she heard the classroom door open and turning to face, presumably, one of her colleagues, arriving for the meeting.

((ooc: Anyone, staff or students welcome! Just thought I'd post a little something at ol' Hogwarts.))

[Professor Binns]

Walking in to the Charms classroom, Joe give a large huff of disapproval before flopping into the closest chair he could find "We're really having to do this every week? Doesnt Gayfor know that some of us have families?" Joe grumped lightly before looking at baby Elizabeth and smiling softly, "Hullo little one, you're looking very beautiful" he told her with a nod of his head, rummaging in his pocket, he took out a jaffa cake.

"Can she have it?" he asked Isabella, before giving it to the little girl anyway, leaning back in his seat as he checked his watch again. "Do you think this will take long? Some of us have wives who have read Fifty Shades of Grey..." Joe chuckled, winking at Isabella.

[Professor Paigi]

Isabella couldn't help but laugh at Joe's show of disapproval at the meeting, "Apparently not. It would probably be a lot easier for Hogwarts if we were all terminally alone, no spouses, girlfriends or boyfriends, no friends at all," she suggested as she turned away from Elizabeth momentarily to find the papers that had the agenda they were supposed to discuss. Locating them on her desk she passed one to Joe, "I know, I know, but we can at least pretend we've had a proper meeting if we at least have an agenda."

Softening then and smiling warmly as her colleague spoke to her daughter, "Will that work on everyone? Will everyone begrudge having to attend this meeting but then stop to be cute with Elizabeth?" she asked before laughing as her daughter made grabby hands at the mention of jaffa cakes. "I doubt I have much say," she pointed out as the girl looked delighted. "Little bits, Lizzie," she reminded her not to just try to eat it whole.

Glancing at her own watch as she spoke, "It depends how quickly we all agree... so it might take a while," Isabella joked easily as she sat down in her own chair beside Elizabeth. "Fifty Shades of Grey you say? Some of us are wives who are halfway through reading Fifty Shades of Grey," she countered with a shake of her head and a laugh, "I can understand your desire to get home early in that case. I don't think I'd be able to persuade the Headmaster, somehow I doubt he has read it, perhaps he would like it for his birthday?" she suggested jovially, glancing to Elizabeth to check she was fine- yes she saw a constantly paranoid/protective mother.

[Professor Carlyle]

David burst into Isabella's classroom in time to catch the tail end of their conversation, "Fifty Shades of Grey? I innocently opened a book my sister had lying around, a copy of that... thing. I wish I hadn't, there's just no way to un-read those words," he said despairingly in an utterly horrified voice as he closed the door behind him.

"Why hullo gorgeous," he enthused as he spotted Elizabeth sat by her mum and... enjoying a jaffa cake it would seem. "Aww, Joe, you'll make an addict out of her before she's five," he joked light heartedly with his fellow Professor before resting the cup of tea he'd brought with him on a desk and pulling out a chair for himself. Slumping down in it, his legs stretched out comfortably in front of him, hands behind his head as he leaned back, "Soooo... look, just so we're all clear, is this a real meeting or are we just pretending to work for an hour and then leaving for home?" he asked as he straightened in his seat once more and glanced between the two of them. "Obviously if Gayfor asks I came bounding into the room with undue enthusiasm over discussing next term's possible timetabling conflicts," he clarified with a sure nod of his head.

[Professor Pattinson]

William Pattinson burst into his lovely wife’s classroom looking a bit ruffled. He has been to visit his ex-wife, Amanda, to drop Connor off for his usual visits with his mother. They fought continually, more so now that he was happily married to Isabella and they were spending more time with Connor. Will tried not to fight with Amanda in front of Connor, but sometimes it was difficult not to argue with such and impossible woman. Connor enjoyed being with Isabella and Will more and more, something which annoyed Amanda. After all she had primarily taken care of him for the first four years of his life, something she liked to bring up every chance she got. To be fair Amanda hadn’t wanted Will around, something he reminded her when not around Connor.

William, frazzled, plopped into a seat beside his beautiful wife. “Hello my gorgeous girl,” he looked to his daughter, “How is my baby girl?” he asked, she grinned at her Dad and thrust the partially eaten jaffa cake at him. “Good I see,” he smiled back at her, kissing her on the top of her head. “And how are you my dear?” he asked turning to Isabella and smiled wearily at her. “So, what are we doing today?” he thought aloud glancing at Joe and David. “I have a list of textbooks and things,” he said rummaging around in a folder he had brought from his office. It was riddled with useless pieces of paper. “Somewhere…” after a few more moments of leafing through papers he gave up.

[Professor Freeman]

Meanwhile, Geoffrey Freeman had fallen asleep in an uncomfortably small desk at the back of the classroom while waiting for the meeting to start. He awoke with a sudden jerk before looking around groggily. "There's no way Rose is reading that, yeah? I mean... come on. Come on." He held out his arms as if waiting for someone to back him up on this.

He pulled his desk forward so he was closer to the group, made eye contact with Isabella and Will's daughter and waved. "New teacher? What are her thoughts on educational reform? The Napping and Juice Initiative, I highly support," he announced with his brow furrowed seriously. He taught a class that was fairly unpopular and was a go-with-the-flow sort of guy in general, so he usually just agreed with everyone else before leading the charge in slacking off.

[Professor Paigi]

"This is a real meeting," Isabella clarified to David with a knowing smile before winking easily to him. "Look, I'm sure we all really have better things to be doing but let's just play along, give the illusion of a productive staff meeting, no?" she suggested lightly.

Isabella then smiled automatically as Will entere and sat beside her, paying attention primarily to their daughter. "I'm fine, as ever," she assured him with a small warm smile before passing him a piece of paper containing the agenda. She vacated her seat to also hand one to David and Geoff and then, on returning, retrieved her cup of coffee from her desk, clutching onto it like a lifeline. Having to give up coffee during pregnancy had been tougher for her than she'd liked to admit.

Noticing something slightly frazzled in her husband's expression she turned to him subtly, speaking to him in a hushed voice, "Are you alright? Did you drop Connor off okay?" she asked merely conversationally in tone but in her look to him she was asking if things had been cordial with Amanda when he'd dropped their son off with her. She'd gathered that Amanda wasn't exactly thrilled with how things were at the moment - Connor had become a bit attached to ltitle Lizzie and seemed to be enjoying his time with his dad, Isabella and Ezliabeth more than he did with his mum. She'd never wanted to cause problems with his ex-wife, she'd just automatically welcomed Connor into her life and she now couldn't imagine their little family without him. But she hated knowing such things had caused arguments and stress between Will and Amanda.

[Professor Carlyle]

"Oh, aye, real meeting, gotcha," David nodded solemnly and then winked back at Isabella. They all knew this week's meeting would inevitably follow the last, descending into chaos and unproductive chatter within ten minutes, it always happened but for the sake of appearances they had to all at least meet every week with the intention to have a productive meeting. "Good, but maybe I suggest this charade last but an hour? Some of us have our incredibly thrilling home lives to get back to, you know?" he suggested, mocking himself a tad as he added with a grin, "Emmerdale, crime drama and panel shows accompanied by naught but the companionship of a trusty pet." He couldn't help but smile as Will interacted with his daughter, he too liked seeing colleagues and friends happy and settled together. Now if he could only get a grip on his own personal life, all would be fine and dandy.

Glancing to Geoff as he managed to jerk awake, David shook his head, "Course not, mate, course not," he assured him, reaching over to clap a friendly hand on his shoulder before mouthing 'yikes' in jest to Isabella and Joe and settling back in his own seat. Taking a sip of his cup of tea he nodded fervently, "I agree with the previous speaker," he announced regarding Geoff's, and supposedly Elizabeth's, 'Napping and Judice Initiative', "I may also like to see a confectionary clause added at some point in the near future, perhaps regarding the addition of jelly beans into the programme," he joked light heartedly. Sure enough, they'd already got off the subject of their meeting and all it had took was a few minutes.

[Professor Binns]

Taking the agenda from Isabella, Joe groaned loudly and shook his head, "Im going to have a word with him, he doesnt realise that these meetings could be ruining my chances of a 3rd child" Joe grumbled, his eyes moving over the list before him & taking exactly none of it in.

"Hello swetiepie..." Joe answered David as if he'd greeted him instead of Elizabeth, winking at his friend before turning to look at Geoff, "Rose has read it, she's the one who told Daisy about it...didnt Rose tell you she was creating a Red Room of Pain for you both when you move in together?" Joe nodded his head, his mouth twitching ever so slightly at his little white lie. "Next time you see Rose with shopping bag, ask to see inside it. I can guarantee there'll be cable ties & rope" Joe held his hands together to show Geoff exactly what he meant, thinking that he needed to get Rose in on this joke.

"I also vote for the aforementioned Initiative & suggest that the confectionary clause be rewritten to include all things jaffa cake" Joe nodded his head, pointing finger guns towards David then Geoff in turn.

(OOC. Mama B will be along shortly, she's like her daughter & is always late!)

[Professor Carlyle]

David glanced over at Joe with a laugh at his friend's wink before he acted seriously, "Shush, I told you, no one must know of our forbidden love," he proclaimed dramatically. Looking between Geoff and Joe then a grin grew as they talked of 'Fifty Shades of Grey', "Ohhh so that's why Rose had quite hefty Ann Summers and B&Q shopping bags when I ran into her the other day?" he asked innocently, playing along with his friend's little joke and thinking it would be hilarious if they got Rose in on it and took Geoff for a ride with it all.

"You, my friend, are a genius," he enthused, stretching across for a high five from Joe, "Can we maybe just widen it out to sweet things in general, 'The Sweet Subsection' of the initial initiative, maybe? Cakes, pies, chocolate, ice cream... anyone else really hungry all of a sudden?" David asked, looking around the room for a consensus whilst he sipped his cup of tea.

((ooc: I am terrible with keeping up with things. He's a bit bleh but hey, he's here, concentrate on David Tennant's face if it makes it at all better!))

[Professor Paigi]

Isabella looked momentarily sympathetic, "Oh Joe, that's awful, he could be ruining your chances at creating a... Han, right? I apologise, my Star Wars character knowledge is clearly limited," she said with an easy smile. She continued to smile in amusement as Joe and David interacted, "Oh, David, subtlety is not one of your strengths, sorry to have to tell you like this," she joined in light-heartedly as she scanned the agenda she'd drawn up to remind herself of what they were supposed to be discussing. She'd be surprised if they even made it to the second bullet point.

As Geoff waved to Elizabeth, the brunette smiled fondly and looked down at her little girl who seemed to perk up at the mention of juice and later jaffa cakes. Letting out a soft groan she closed her eyes in despair, "I cannot believe you two have got to her already. She will be fostering her own sweet addiction by the time she's three at this rate," she jokingly grumbled, glancing at her watch to check that, yep it had only taken them five minutes to get drastically off-topic.

[Professor Freeman]

"I'm naming my first child Chewbacca, and none of you can take that from me," Geoff piped up suddenly. He then yawned and blinked blearily, looking between Joe and David as he tried to piece together (in his very sleepy state) whether they were joking or serious. "Messing with a man who's just woke from a nap, it's... well it's not on. Not on!" he called out in the middle of yet another yawn, though he still looked slightly concerned about the whole thing.

"May I point out... that out of juice, jelly beans and jaffa cakes, mine was the only suggestion both relatively healthy and vaguely reminiscent of its original fruit state? Excellent adult role model right here," Geoff said, enjoying his brief moment of moral superiority as they were so few and far between. He continued to wave at Elizabeth until she raised her hand as well, then grinned. "Ah! We have our final vote. Motion passed. Might I say this has been our most productive meeting yet?"