Ariana didnt hesitate when she was told to leave. before the professor even got the whole sentence out of her mouth she was gone. that was NOT fun nor what it was suppose to be

Bypassing the door a sliver shaped wolf ran into the office and stopped right infront of Professor Bentley. Opening its mouth as if to howl a voice the clear voice of Professor Roslund could be heard in its stead

"Professor Lafay, come to the balloon party tent ASAP! Some things have happened. I need your assistance with the students." With its message given the silver wolf dissapeard in a shroud of mist.

ooc: Ok, here's the deal. I'm cloning and sending Hecate to the Balloon Party, and continuing here as if the patronus came later on.

"Weak come back, Dashiell." She said raising an eyebrow. "The effects will have worn off in an hour..." She added pretending she needed no one's help. "Lose the attitude." ...and maybe they'd be friends again.

She went to her cupboard and pulled out a baggie and a vial. Returning to the two men, she handed Dash the baggie saying "It's a week's worth of my tea..." then turning to Eddie, she handed him the vial. "This is the Allergy remedy. Take one drop every month."

That's as good as Hecate's Thank Yous got.

"I need to... grade... papers." She said grasping at straws. Who was she kidding!? She was going to plan a horrible detention. "So I'll need some privacy. Out out out..." She said and motioned to the door.

Glancing back and forth from person to person, it was becoming a bit obvious that a better time to visit was at a later date. She was actually a bit surprised the 'conversation' had ended as quickly as it did. She'd suspected it could've gone on for ages.

And now...they were being kicked out.

Well, Medea didn't know if that applied to her also since apparently she turned invisible, but nevertheless, she would follow the woman's orders. That tip about having access to their drinking water was a bit of a eye opener. "I'll come back at a later time then."

When people weren't being poisoned...

It wasn't until now that Kurumi noticed the flowers. Staring at them for a few moments, Kurumi hesitated probably a second too long before taking her first steps into the office. Would it be impolite to correct her on the flowers? "Afraid not, professor," she said shaking her head. They were probably there because of their Transfiguration homework.

Now in the office, Kurumi didn't sit down just yet and instead opted to wait until the Potions Mistress gave her permission to do so. Her hands were clenched in tight fists and her eyes downcast on the floor. "I'm...sorry..." Because she just felt like she needed to get that out before her emotions and Lafay's anger silenced her.

ooc: Wow, I thought I already posted here... but I think it was during SS's sickness. Sorry.

"Don't be sorry." She said as she went behind her desk to sit. "I do not like suck ups. Had you brought me the flowers," she said as she trashed them, "I would have been harsher on you."

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She then propped her heels on her desk, crossing them too. "So what is on your mind?" Something had to be. "Boyfriend left ya?"

"That wasn't what I... Kurumi began as ahe folded her hands together on her lap. Apologizing because of the lck of giving flowers to Professor Lafay was sort of the last thing on her mind. Besides her usual batch of cookies that she always gave at the opening feast to all the school staff, Kurumi really had no intention of giving anything to the woman. Nor did the thought of brown nosing cross her mind. "I...I'm sorry about class...I've been having a hard time focusing and..."

The Gryfindor trailed off when the next words came out of the Potions Mistress' mouth. In a sense, yes? But it was complicated. Physically Jonathan had left the school because of his father until next term, but he was also still with her. Kurumi shook her head, a frw tears threatening at the cornets of her eyes. No, no boy troubles. Kurumi didn't realy want to share such personal information with the woman...but it was getting harder and harder to keep it all locked up inside. "It's...it's...my...mother.

Hecate waved her wand and the door slam shut.

Privacy. Good

"Tell me about your mother. Why are you affected so." She asked.Her tone was less jokey, and more serious now.

Kurumi jumped slightly when the door slammed shut. Her only potential exit should things get too scary. Not that running away from Professor Lafay seemed like the best of ideas to do in the first place. Only bad things would come from that.

Kurumi fidgeting with her uniform again, tugging on her tie and pretending to be adjusting it when really she was only looking for something to distract herself. She really did not want to have this conversation with Lafay of all people. However, being in front of her had the same effect as taking a heavy dose of Veritaserum.

The Gryffindor chewed on her bottom lip, swallowed and pride she may have still had in this moment, and clenched her fists tightly.

"She...is...dying..."

"Ahh..." She said sitting down and crossing her arms in front of her. She readjusted herself in her seat. "Do you need the Headmaster could give you a leave of absence?" Her Head of house should do that... but who knows if she is aware of this.

She watched the girl fidget and bite her bottom lip. She would usually scold her, and tell her to stop fidgeting. She called over her pot with hot water in it. She opened a jar, and began spooning some herbs in two tea cups. "This is Red Clover, Terragon and Chamomile. It's a calming tea." She said and poured the hot water in the cups. "How are you taking it? Your mother's situation? Not the tea." She said summoning the cream, lemon and sugar.

Kurumi shook her head. "S-S-She wants me to be here," she replied, averting her gaze downward. If only she had been more in control...she wouldn't have ruined her potion and she wouldn't be in this situation right now. No one on staff knew, until now that is. She didn't want people looking at her with sympathetic glances. That just made things even more painful.

Kurumi was a bit...startled? Was that the right word even? Either way, she was startled by Professor Lafay's rather matter of fact tone and calmness right now. Bowing her head as she accepted the cup, Kurumi continued to look down. Wasn't it...rather obvious, the answer to her question. "I...don't know..." she whispered, looking down at her tea but not yet drinking it. "J-J-Judging from my actions...not very well."

And not just about Potions class.

But honestly, how WAS she supposed to answered such a question?

Hecate remained quiet. She hadn't expected Kurumi to drink the tea. She had really just given it to her so she had something warm to hold. Comfort. "How long has she been sick?" Hecate asked, sipping her own tea. "Or rather, how long have you known about it." Parents didn't usually tell their children they were dying until it was too late.

Kurumi's fingers traced the smooth surface of the cup and eventually rested on the rim of it. Her eyes remained not really focused on anything while her heart pounded in her chest. Had she not been in the state she was now, she would have been confused by Professor Lafay's kindness and seemingly gentle persona. Kurumi was under the impression that the woman only knew how to spew fire.

How long? She didn't know the answer to that question and could only theorize based on what she had read. It had to have been a year or two at least by now, and the disease was moving along much faster than it typically did. A rare case as it were. Doctors were guessing that her mother only had until July, August tops. "I...I've known since the Christmas holidays," she whispered in return.

"And your boyfriend?" She said looking at the girl. "I've seen proof of your relationship to Mr. Kim... Some of your fellow students enjoyed my photography class so much... well, lets say I have a picture you may want..." She said and she removed it out of her drawer and gave it to her. "Here."

She then took out parchment and quill and said "Your mother. What is her ailment exactly?" She asked writing something on the parchment.

Kurumi's eyes widened. Seriously, it was frightening how much Professor Lafay seemed to know about her students...until it was explained the reason she did. Her eyes watered a bit more and her cheeks flushed as she accepted the photo with one hand while her other hand softly touched the moving Jonathan. "H-H-He...isn't at Hogwarts right now," she replied. "His...father pulled him for the remainder of the term." She didn't mention that she hadn't heard from him since the holidays. The letters had just...stopped. "Thank you...professor..."

She actually really did appreciate it.

Looking up again as Professor Lafay took out some parchment, Kurumi swallowed back a few more tears to allow herself to speak. "It's... an incurable degenerative disease...spinocerebellar degeneration..." Kurumi wondered what the woman was writing down, but didn't ask. It was probably none of her business.

... Merlin.

She wrote something on a parchment. And handed folded it up, placing it into an envelope which she addressed to Gregious Corpsenfight, Potions Master, Uganda. She handed the girl the envelope and said "Send this out for me when you leave here. He owes me. He will mail me back a potion which, although will not cure her, will make her pain bearable."

Now for the hard part. "Prefect Hollingberry." She said and held her head tall. "Your mother wants you to remain in school and excel. I can tell you with certainty that that was a very hard decision to make on her part. It is very important that you excel in all you do here. Do you think your recent applications in my potions class would make her proud?" Maybe that was harsh, but the girl needed to understand the sacrifice her mother was making for her to receive the best education possible. "Had you been one of mine, I would have insisted the headmaster send you home for not being able to concentrate, and you would be held back a year. But your mother does not want that. I could still make that recommendation, even if you aren't a Slytherin. I will respect your mother's decision and I will not be going easy on you because of your situation. I suggest you shape up."

Hecate swallowed. It had been hard for her to say that to someone who was hurting. But the girl couldn't be selfish... she needed to make her mother proud, so she could... go... happy.

Kurumi looked the envelope and bowed her head graciously. Really, the Potions Mistress didn't have to do this...and Kurumi wasn't sure she knew how to make her mother drink it seeing as it was something from the wizarding world. "I'd...hate for you to waste that favor on me, professor," she said nervously. "Mother...rejects everything from the wizarding world..." Which included the potion that could potentially make her final days easier.

Kurumi sort of just grit and bared what came next. She knew that these words were coming, or something similar to them at least, but that didn't make them any easier to hear. Actually, it only made Kurumi's emotions all the more complicated. Her mother never wanted her to attend Hogwarts. Never. So it came as a shock to her to hear that she wanted Kurumi back in school instead of back home with her. A small part of her misunderstood what was being said to her. So...she should just numb herself to her emotions entirely and act as though nothing were wrong. The other half was screaming at her that that wasn't right.

It was all so confusing.

"Mother...has actually never said she was proud of me," Kurumi replied. "So...I don't know what she would say about my actions." It was the sad truth, but it was the Gryffindor's reality growing up. Her mother hardly ever looked at her unless she had her brown colored contacts in either. "I will try though, professor, to not repeat my failure."

Her eyes looked up at the girl in disbelief...

... really?

Oh... right. This one was a Gryffindor.

"Miss Hollingberry, simply do not tell her it's a potion. Slip it into her juice." Why didn't the other houses know how to do this stuff? "Parent's don't need to say they are proud of you. They just are."

Kurumi squirmed uncomfortably in her seat for a moment. What Professor Lafay was suggesting she did was to betray her mother's trust. Her mother already hardly ever looked at her, what was going to happen if she found out that Kurumi had slipped something into her drink? Still, Kurumi didn't argue and fully accepted the letter now and placed it on her lap under the picture of her and Jonathan.

As for the comment on being proud of her, Kurumi didn't say anything. Professor Lafay didn't need to hear her sob story. The Gryffindor just wanted to go back to the common room with her head hanging in shame and hide under the covers on her bed.

Kurumi just nodded her head and waited for what she hoped would be her cue to be dismissed.

Hecate looked at her and then said. "Hollingberry..." But she stopped. She then shrugged and said "You're dismissed." She said and waited for the girl to leave. Asking her if she was ok, was not appropriate.

Kurumi winced when her name was said rather sharply, but she tried her best not to show it. Hearing that she was dismissed, Kurumi bowed her head and slowly stood up. "Thank you, again, professor," Kurumi whisrpered as she toyed with the two pieces of paper in her hand.

And with that, out the door she went.

"Next!" She called.

Lea Carter walked into the office, which looked more like a dungeon to her, rather cheerfully. ''Helloooo!!!'' she said with a quick wave and stood before her. Now...there were things she was going to ask to the woman but this place was...

Hmmm...

She eyed around pursing her lips a bit. ''Why did not they give you a better room professor? Is not Potions an important subject?''

Seriously, this place was worse than Andrew and Josh's cottage at the farm.

"My Office is fine." She said curtly. "Now state your business child."