The thought of cornering the older girl alone was just, very amusing. To the point where Evelyn actually let out a few chuckles as she continued to try to get the hammer off of her hands. And then the thought of cornering the Ravenclaw Purple head kid... Now THAT would be one heck of a good day if it happened.

Shaking her head at Destiny since it seemed she really wanted to try and pry the hammer off of her hand, Evelyn took a tiny step away from her as she fell silent and continued in her frustrated battle with the hammer. Stupid muggle tools.

However, having most of her attention on trying to get free of the evil thing, the Slytherin almost ran into Marie. Whyyyy were they stopping? Or no, they were walking? Walking and stopping. That made no sense. What also made no sense was that Lawson was standing there and he had the smallest hint of a smile on his face. Yea, she knew it.

Lawson enjoyed their frustrations and pain.

That's why he was leaving too wasn't it? Not because of the music, but so he can laugh at the thought of them being sad! PFFFT! "I don't think he cares about what we were doing." she muttered, glaring at the floor as she heard Destiny and Marie reply to whatever he said before going back to trying to get freeeeeeedom.

The little smile that he was wearing slowly faded from his lips as Marie explained on why the girls had taken off with the tools. Sighing deeply, Marcus lent up against the wall and placing his hands into his pockets. He hadn't even seen the Ravenclaw boy put anything in his bag.

Well that made him feel really, REALLY bad. Not so much for the Ravvie kid because he deserved to be punished for purposely stealing something from his class and when he caught up with the kid, there was going to be points taken and possibly a detention as well.

But that didn't help the girls that were standing in front of him and they were really going to hate him when he told them about the charms he had placed on the tools.

Turning towards Evelyn, he gave her an imploring kind of look. "I do care" he said quietly. "It means a lot that you three actually had gone out of your way to I guess look out for me." In fact if he wasn't such a manly man he might have shed a couple of tears. He was very moved by the these girls actions. The same girls who had tried their best to make his life hell for the past couple of years and now they were showing their caring side towards him.

And Merlin's baggy underwear!

Destiny was doing that thing with her lip and Marcus had to turn away so that he didn't completely lose it. He HATED seeing females upset like that. It was such an unfair tactic that they used.

"I'm so sorry girls, I should have made it more clear exactly what would happen if anyone took those tools out of the classroom." Oh god they were probably going to hit him with those tools in their hands. "I can't reverse it. You have to wait until the charm wears off." And he honestly couldn't remember how long that would be.

Of course there was still a lesson here to be learned and that was not to take matters into your own hands and let the Professor handle it but he figured he might just keep that bit of info to himself.

Look out for him? Was that what they were doing?

Glancing at the others, since well for one, she had no idea really why she followed Marie out to chase the Ravenclaw purple head kid, but now that she thought of it, Evelyn supposed that there was some truth in what the Professor said; if not, it was all true. However, the thought of looking out for a Professor? Just seemed oddly weird no matter how much she cared for them. Especially since said Professor was Lawson.

Looking down at the hammer attached to her hands, she shook it slightly, already giving up on the fact that she wasn't able to get it off until the professor spoke. Oh good, so perhaps he did care! Mmhmm, he was going to take it off! Now that he was done apologizing, he can just, come over here and reverse whatever spell was on the tools. Right?

...

Not right.

With her expression falling into disbelief and horror, Evelyn clamped her mouth shut as she looked from Lawson to her two Slytherin friends. He didn't just say that. No. Nuh uh. She could NOT walk around with a hammer in her hands for who knows how long! Did he even realize that any of the other professors might just be a little suspicious if they saw them walking around with dangerous tools? And THIEF written across Destiny's head? HMM!? They might even get a detention....for practically nothing! Endangering oneself and others or something stupid like that.

"Professor..." she started, a small laugh escaping her as she looked back over to him. "You...can't be serious. You have to reverse it!" How was she going to be able to eat? There was no way she was going to have anyone hand feed her.

Destiny hoped that whatever was happening to the purple headed freak was twenty times worse that what was happening to her and her friends. Perhaps the walnut cracker was hitting him in that head of his. That would be a good enough punishment, and if that's not what was happening, Destiny would gladly do the honours of hitting him.

Only she would use her fist, not a walnut cracker.

Listening to Lawson speak, she almost rolled her eyes when he said he cared. There were quite a few things she wanted to say to that, but decided not to. No need to upset the man right before he fixes them. He was going to fix them, right!?

Right.

Wrong.

As he said the charms on the tools couldn't be reversed, even by him, Destiny felt her lip wibble even more. What kind of person puts irreversible charms on tools!? Lawson, that's who. Maybe he thought no one would actually try to take them..but alas, they did, and now they were all DOOMED! Poor Evelyn, having to walk around with the hammer in her hand and her knuckles looking like they could explode at any moment..and Marie; she couldn't even move her arm! What if she had a really bad itch or something!?

Being branded with the word thief on her forehead wasn't as bad as what her friends were going through, that's for sure.

"So..they have to just walk around with those tools in their hands? Those BIG and DANGEROUS tools?"

What was he thinking!?

Marie looked at Lawson as he just stood there against the wall with his hands in his pockets. How could he stand there so calmly when they had tools STUCK in their hands? Sure his smile was fading but still... he was just standing there... doing NOTHING to help them.

Oh, he does care, so that means he is going to fix this for them... right?

WHAT!?

Marie was NOT looking out for him... was she? Sure she was trying to stop a thief... who was NOT Destiny, but did that mean she was looking out for Lawson? She was just trying to get the nail beater back from the freak so he didn't have to chase him for it.

CRAP!

She WAS looking out for him. WHY did she even care? HE has leaving them at the end of term. Oh right, that's why she cared, she didn't want him to leave. But noooo, he had to go chase some silly band around like he was...

That's it! "Professor, I've got it, I know why you want to leave us. You're going through a middlelife crisis." Yep, she had heard about those. When people get old they think they need to act young again. "You know, you can stay here and still have your little crisis. We'll keep you feeling young." Yep, they would...

Old Professor say WHAT!?

He can't reverse the charm. How is that possible? He was the one that placed the charm on the tools, he should be able to reverse it... right?

"This is a joke right? One of your middlelife crisis pranks... RIGHT?"

Wrong.

He looked serious now. "But... what if I cut my leg off when I am sleeping, or Evelyn smacks herself in the head in her sleep?" Or Destiny tries using those screwydrivers to get the tools out of their hands. "You... can't just leave us like this," she said trying to hold back the tears.

That wold just be... MEAN. Even for Lawson.

Oh seriously could these three girls make him feel any worse then he already did?

This was why he was leaving because he really was not a very good Professor. He went ahead and did things without thinking about the consequences of his actions.

At least in the music when he did something stupid he could pass it off as being an eccentric rock star. Everyone always bought that excuse.

"Look girls" he said pushing off the wall and giving them a lopsided grin, "It's not all that bad. I mean no one is going to mess with you, are they?" Okay so Destiny didn't exactly look very threatening with THIEF written on her forehead. "I'm sure the charm will wear off real soon."

Ahem and maybe not.

"I could...you know...maybe...place a barrier around the tool so that they won't hurt anyone."

It didn't solve their problem entirely but it should help some.

Looking at Marie, Marcus gave her an exasperated look and threw up his hands. "I am NOT having a midlife crisis. Geez I just want to go back to something I am actually good at."

He gave them all a dirty look, "And I am NOT old!"

Destiny hoped her little lip wibble was making Lawson feel really bad. She hoped he felt SO bad that he would throw this crazy music career out of his head and decide to stay and teach. She WOULD cry if she had too.

And then he would feel even worse!

It wouldn't even take much to make her cry. She was already upset that he was leaving, and now with this word on her forehead.. Yeah, she wouldn't even have to fake the tears. "They wouldn't mess with us even if they didn't have tools in their hands." she mumbled, glancing at the BIG and DANGEROUS tools in her friends hands. People were just going to be more careful about leaving their things in front of her, and no one would walk close enough to Marie and Evelyn. Whatever..they didn't like to be close to people anyway.

But the tools and writing were not important right now. What was important was trying to get him to STAY and teach. Destiny didn't know what this midlife crisis thing was, but she was SURE Lawson was having one since he wanted to go back to something he is good at and all. Wait a minute! Did that mean he thought he was a bad Professor!? "I think you ARE a good Professor." Sure, the man got frustrated too easily, but that could be cured with a simple calming draught!

And speaking of getting frustrated! Destiny couldn't help but laugh when he said he wasn't old. "The first step is denial, Professor. Face it, you are OLD!"

Maybe if she got him angry enough, he'd stay just to punish her.

Fine!

Marie was just going to have to live with the fact that she couldn't move her arm and was now stuck with a saw at her side. If she cut her leg off though she WAS going to hobble up to Lawson and kick him with the one she still had... or not since she would probably fall over. Maybe she would just punch him, because yeah, her punching arm was still free to use.

And use it she would... unless he said he was staying. Then she couldn't punch him since she did say she would be nice IF he stayed.

Really? No one was going to mess with them? "Um in case you haven't noticed, no one messes with us now." And if they do well, Marie would just punch them in the nose, like she did Rex and Violet, and Justin, and that girl with the crazy pink hair, and... well you get the point. She'd have NO problem punching someone in the nose... or stomping on their foot.

"A barrier... so I don't hurt anyone. I'm not worried about hurting anyone, I'm worried about hurting ME." Pfft, if anyone got close enough to her to get hurt then that was their own fault.

"Riiiight, no middlelife crisis for you," she said as she almost wet herself laughing so hard. "I agree with Destiny, YOU are in denial," she said between laughs. "I mean what are you, like 50? That is OLD." Well old compared to her thirteen that is.

"Something you are good at? So that means you can stay and teach... right?" Since you know, he IS a good professor. "What other professor is going to teach us these valuable life lessons you seem to keep teaching us?" Okay, so Professor Carlton taught Marie and Destiny one when she put their heads in the same bubble, and Mr. Masterson taught Marie one with that little story of his... but still, they were no Lawson.

Looking at Destiny then back at Lawson, Marie felt her lip start that wibble thing too. Why was he so determined to leave them? Didn't he see that they wanted him to stay?

Obviously not or he wouldn't be so determined to go.

Evelyn couldn't help but laugh quietly when he said no one would mess with them now. Destiny and Marie were right. No one messed with them NOW anyways. And if they did, they learned quickly not to.

Except there are those few exceptions in the mix that obviously have no brain.

Hearing something about a midlife crisis and being old, Evelyn turned sightly to the side as she put her attention back onto the hammer in her hands. Her knuckles, if possible, turned a bit whiter then seconds before, however she didn't know whether that was because of the grip she had on it, or something else. It was all finally sinking in. Lawson was leaving. And their attempts to keep him to stay were not working.

Anyone could have seen that.

Turning completely around so her back was to the others, Evelyn took a few steps away from them, staring down the corridor to where the Ravenclaw kid disappeared before looking back down to her feet. Well, at least tried to. A certain hammer was in the way, blocking her view which for some reason, only made her a little more irritated and frustrated. And just that alone was enough to make her just... want to sit down.

She was tired. Of everything. Walking back to her friends, Evelyn stood silently for a moment more, waiting for Marie to stop talking before she herself spoke up, raising her head slightly so she could look at the Professor when she spoke. "Just give it up you guys." Her voice was a bit shaky, but as far as she knew, she was holding it together rather well. Taking a deep breathe, the hazel eyed girl could feel the tears in her eyes, however, that didn't mean she couldn't try not to show it. No matter how obvious it was.

"He's not going to stay." Deep breathes...

What was this?

They thought he was a good Professor?

Marcus was tempted to walk over to each of them and check their foreheads to see if they were feeling alright.

He decided to ignore the jibes about his age, that was an argument that was just going to go round and round in circles. Of course to three thirteen year olds he would look old.

But he wasn't

Nope.

He was NOT old.

And then there was more lip wibbles and tears. Oh Merlin, please don;t let them cry not in front of him.

He was going to have to get out of here and fast because his reputation as a manly man was seriously under threat right now.

"Look girls" he croaked, "I appreciate that you think I am a good Professor and all but..." oh god no, he could feel a lump forming in his throat and there was a prickling at the back of his eyes.

"Please don't cryyyyy" he begged them and slowly inching his way back down the corridor. He had to make his escape and he had to do it NOW!

Where did Lawson think he was going?

If he was trying to be sneaky and run off, well, he had another thing coming. Destiny wasn't going to let him get away THAT easily.

Although, it would be pretty fun having to chase him around the castle.

But this was not the time for fun and games. Lawson was really leaving and as Evelyn said, they should just give up. Sighing in defeat, she felt her lip wibble once more before she ran over and HUGGED him. "Lawsonnnnn," he voice was muffled, since she had buried her face in his robes, "I'm going to miss you."

And then..

..she started crying.

Give up... Evelyn thought they should just give up? But Marie didn't want to give up. She was determined to make him stayyyyy.

"If we give up now Evelyn we may never see him again." Well after the term ended that is. Marie did not want to risk that happening. She was NOT done trying to persuade him to stay. She still had a few tricks up her sleeve and if those didn't work... well then she may have to admit defeat... maybe.

Don't cry, how could she NOT cry? Lawson was LEAVING them at the end of ter...

HEY!

He was trying to get away from them now. Well that wasn't going to happen.

Marie ran up to him and gave him a HUGE one armed hug, you know since she only had one arm to use right now. "Please don't go. You can't leave us here alone." she said now in full blown tears. Okay, so they wouldn't be ALONE, but HE wouldn't be here with them anymore.

She held on tight, she was NOT going to let go any time soon.

Nope, that one arm of hers was pretty strong. She could hold on for a LONG time if she had to.

None of their attempts were working though. Not even the tear eyed and lip wiggling looks were getting to him! Well, it was as it looked like, but not in the way they hoped.

"But Marie..." she started, glancing back over to the professor for a moment. Her eyes widened when she saw Destiny go right up and hug him, with Marie following soon after. Hugging him? Hugging him would make him stay?

And she did not miss that little attempt to get away from them. Her vision may have been blurry from unshed tears, but she still noticed these things. Besides, didn't he know that telling them not to cry was a queue for them to actually cry? It's was like sticking a big red button underneath their noses and telling them not to push it. It was going to happen.

However, now she found herself in a situation that she didn't know what to do. Destiny and Marie were hugging him, which automatically gave the impression that she was to hug him as well?

That wasn't going to happen.

For one, her personal space alarms were going off in her mind, two, both hands were stuck to the hammer so it'll be quite hard to hug someone, and three... she didn't want to be here anymore. Seeing her friends crying finally made her own tears fall, however, there were only a few as she stared at the scene.

She had to get out of here. She did NOT cry in front of others, no matter what the situation. Lawson was leaving. And...she just wanted to go...

Oh crap!

They were coming at him and there was no place for him to go. Marcus backed up and found himself up against the wall and then Destiny was there with her arms around him and sobbing her heart out.

Not long after Marie joined her and she too was crying. Oh Merlin, could no one help him? This was not how it was supposed to be. he was going to leave on a high note, not be reduced to a blubbering mess.

He patted the girls awkwardly on their backs while trying his hardest to blink back those pesky tears.

Looking over to Evelyn, Marcus could see that she was also fighting back the tears. Even though she was trying to be tough about it, just like he was trying to do.

"Girls" he began in a slightly shaky voice and a single tear did roll down his face.

Man if anyone else walked down this corridor and saw him, he was going to say they hexed him. Or kicked him because Marie was really good at that.

"I promise to write to you all the time and during your vacation time, I'll get you V.I.P. tickets to the concerts and then I'll take you out for..." er what did teenage girls like?

"Ice cream?" Yeah that sounded like something they would like right?

"Just please don't cry anymore." Because he was like a dam waiting to burst right now.

Ice cream? He thought he could make this better...

...with ice cream.

Scoffing, Evelyn turned away with a smile on her face as she shook her head. She didn't know why she was smiling, but she was. And, she couldn't hold in the tears any longer, which was why she was walking back to the classroom to gather her things, head hung slightly as her eyes stared at the blurry floor in front of her, shoulders shaking, and just with a whole defeated posture.

She needed to get her stuff before going to hide in the dormitory and in her bed with the curtains shut to block out everything else. Maybe she could sleep, and when she woke up, this would all just have been a nightmare. She'd recently been forgetting to take that potion Lafay gave her, and her nights weren't all that great, so this was just one of them. Just a bad dream.

The thought of it being a nightmare made her smile once more as she finally held herself up as she reached the classroom. Just a nightmare. Everything would be better if she could only wake up from it.

Destiny felt Lawson pat her back, and if it was supposed to calm her down, it didn't work. Nope. That little pat, awkward as it was, only made her cry even more..if that was even possible.

She purposely ignored the fact that he said he would write to them. He wouldn't have to write to them if he stayed. She also didn't want those snazzy V.I.P tickets, since she really didn't know what they did, and these concerts, yeah, she probably wouldn't even know any of the songs played. She didn't want to be bribed, she just wanted HIM to STAY!

But..

He mentioned ice cream.

She sniffled a bit, the sobs stopping, and she unburied her face from his robes. She was going to ask if she, and only she could get a double scoop of CHOCOLATE, with all the toppings that would fit, but then she realized she didn't want ice cream. Just like she didn't want his letters or those V.I.P things.

"Fine." she mumbled, backing away from him and wiping the tears from her face. He wanted her to stop crying, well she would. Or at least she wouldn't do it in front of him. With her head hung low, she started walking towards the staircase, not bothering to see what Marie or Evelyn were doing.

And now that Lawson couldn't see her face, she started to cry again.

Marie couldn't stop the tears now. It was like someone had turned on a hose and it couldn't be turned off. Who knew that one person could have so many tears in them. Then it happened, Lawson didn't push her away. instead he started patting her on the back. Awww, he did care about them...

Feeling Destiny pull away she looked up just in time to see... Lawson crying? Okay maybe not crying like she was but she definatly seen a tear there. Yes, they did it, they got to him. Maybe now he would change his mind and stay... or not.

Writing to them, getting them tickets to a concert, and buying them ice cream was not what someone would say if they changed their mind and decided to stay.

And now Evelyn and Destiny were leaving him. Wiping her tears on his robe, since she was still hugging him and her other arm still wouldn't move, she started to pat him on the back. "Aww, Professor Lawson, you don't have to cry, I will stay here with you, I won't leave you like they're doing." she said looking from Evelyn to Destiny. Sure, he was going to leave them at the end of term but she wouldn't leave him. Nope, he would have to make her go away.

Okay so maybe ice cream hadn't been the best idea. Perhaps he should have suggested taking them shopping.

All girls liked to shop.

Marcus was about suggest it when Evelyn and Destiny started to walk away and he brushed back the tear that had managed to fall down his face. Didn't they realise how hard this was for him too?

He hadn't made this decision lightly, he had been thinking about nothing else for the whole term and he just knew that he couldn't go on teaching. Marcus didn't think he was as bad as he had been making out to be but he was better at music.

And he was too much like a child himself to be taken seriously as a Professor.

Looking down at Marie, Marcus gave her a small smile and squeezed her arm gently. "Thanks Marie, it's nice to see your softer side." He tipped her a wink before looking back up at the other two girls.

"I can't stop you from walking away but I really wish you wouldn't leave like this, Destiny. Evelyn?"

Pausing at the door to the classroom as she heard the Professor's words, she leaned against the wall and...well, she would've crossed her arms, but that was a bit hard at the moment. He wished they wouldn't leave like this. Like WHAT?!

Turning and leaning her back against the wall instead, the Slytherin stared at the wall opposite her, trying to keep the tears at bay. Apparently they all couldn't have what they wanted.

Letting a slightly solemn and defeated laugh escape her, Evelyn turned her head to stare at Marie and Lawson. "Leave like what?" she asked quietly in a somber tone. THEY weren't the ones leaving! HE WAS! He was the one leaving THEM.

Suddenly scowling, she looked down at the floor in front of her feet, just feeling tired and emotionally drained. Showing this emotion in front of people, it just... did not work for her. She couldn't even wipe away the tears on her face! Her hands were stuck to the dang hammer! UGH!

Sav stood, big smile on her face, she was waiting for Aiden to break out the big news.

OH SWEET SHOE COLLECTION.She was excited. Savvy tapped her foot on the ground, waiting to the tall and dark haired boy. He knew she was excited about something, he had heard about it over twitter, he still didn't know though. Aiden had no clue.

*smirk*

Where was he ? Ugh. She was getting impatient.

Aiden ambled through the school, down to the first floor corridor. What the heck was Savannah so happy about? Well. Not that he was complaining. This was a good thing. And sure enough, there she was, tapping her designer heels impatiently as she waited for him. "Okay, I'm here," he said as he showed up and his feet came to a halt. "What's the big news?"

The heel stopped tapping seeing Aiden's face.

*flail*

"Aiiiiiiden !"She said, running up to him, her arms still flailing. She stood with a proud smile on her face, "I'm going to warn you....you might like die of shock and stuff..."

Longggggggggg pause.

"THERE IS A BOY IN MY LIFE THAT ISNT YOU!"

Alas. More flailing.

The old Savannah Conrad had returned.

Aiden smirked as she came running, flailing up to him. Ohhh, lordy. He waited for her to actually tell him what all this was about, and then.. GASP. A boyfriend? Was she saying she had a boyfriend?! This was excellent news! He grinned widely at her. "That's great, Sav!" Good. Great. She needed this. "So, who's the lucky guy?"

More flailing, even more flailing.


"I KNOWWWWWW !!!!!"She said, hoping in a circle, arms still flailing.Savvy was sure looked a wee bit on the mental side right now but she didn't care, she was too happy to care.

The flailing stopped and so did the jumping. Savannah coughed and hoped to look calm, like an actual normal human for a few moments. She flipped her straightened hair off of her shoulder.

"Travis Cartwick. He's in your hoooouse."Savannah said, hoping ot like not act like a total idiot right now.

"He is of royalty too...."Sav added, just for the hell of it. She had the right to brag, Aiden deserved to hear her brag and gloat and be all happy.

"He's hot too."She said, just throwing it out there. LAWL.

"Hmm, Travis Cartwick," Aiden repeated, wracking his brain. Nope. He didn't know the kid. "I don't know him, but that's brilliant, Sav." Hah. Royalty? What was that supposed to mean? Maybe he's the fifth cousin, twice removed, to the Queen. Or perhaps she meant royalty metaphorically.. Either way, Aiden stifled a laugh. He wasn't laughing at her, per se. Just at her flailing and ridiculous gloating that was much more like the Savannah he knew. It was nice to see. "I'm happy for you. Congrats."