Evil looking masks {Johnny}

[ursula.courtney.kingsley]

Miss Kingsley was sat in her office, fiddling through papers as if she knew what she was doing. She was still adjusting to the new job of deputy headmistress. Least of all she wasn't looking forward to conversing with her ex-partner, the head of Slytherin house. However she did enjoy the respect and position that came with her title. She'd gained more appraisal doing this job than she'd ever obtained when she was married, which said something. Unfortunately Ursula's time was cut short by the cluttering sound of quaffles flying and swirling over hoops. She look a gander out of her window and noticed the goal posts shivering from their last touch. If Quidditch practice had been verified to take place then Ursula knew she wasn't going to get any above-par standard of work done.

Her office was the second most quiet place at Hogwarts - the first being the beautifully serene library. Gathering up her robes (it was at present far too hot for her to wear her robes in her office) she slipped out of her office quietly. Her robes fitted like a comfy glove, the long pink dress behind her robes only peeked out at the opening. Humming 'somewhere over the rainbow' to herself, her mind was enjoying the brief time it had to wander. Not that there was much to think about, only certain budgetary reports and the Hogwarts curriculum. Still, before long she reached her sanctuary. Flashing a coy smile at the librarian found herself lost in the stacks. She reached her finger out and walked so that she could feel the thick spines of the books whilst patrolling. Eventually she found the history section and decided to take out a book on the International Warlock Convention of 1289.

For leisure reading there were too many pages for her average lunch break. On the other hand she presumed that one of her colleagues would find it useful and in the meantime it might give her an entertaining read. Mind made up, she signed it out and tucked it into her bag. Then she wandered back into the stacks, browsing for any other books that might be of interest.

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[jonathan.james.townsend]

Johnny rubbed a hand across his face with a sigh. His head was throbbing after spending two whole hours in the common room, trying to catch up with homework. It was only after that point, and enough writing to make his wrist hurt, that he realized he was missing an essential book for his Astronomy homework. This hadn't put him in the best of moods, since someone had obviously nicked his copy of said book, and he was going to have the task of tracking whoever it was down and giving them what for. But at least it gave him an excuse to take a break.

He did enjoy the library, he had to admit, of all of the places in the castle, it was somewhere calm and peaceful where he could sit and mull over life without being disturbed or forced to interact with anyone. Putting his sheets of work back in his school bag up in his dorm, he set off across the castle for the sanctuary he had come to be far too familiar with. Clanging noises from outside caught his attention, and his ice blue eyes snapped to the side to peer out of a second floor window. The Hufflepuff Quidditch team were in the middle of a practice session, and Johnny felt a stab of jealousy as he continued through the halls. He would have killed to be out there instead.

It was with a dazzling grin and a few complimentary words that he passed the librarian, giving her a polite bow and sweeping out of her view. It was never a bad idea to turn on the charm with the staff, he had learned over the years. Granted, some didn't like it, but there were a good few that were pretty susceptible to mild flattery, and Johnny was a master at that. He wove through the shelves straight to the Astronomy section, taking mere moments to locate the correct tome and flip through the pages to make sure it was all intact. Satisfied that nothing important was missing or damaged, he headed back toward the main counter, rounding a corner and almost crashing into an unsuspecting person.

"Ooof! Sorry!" He instinctively reached out to put a steadying hand on the girls arm, just in case he had startled her or knocked her. It was only then that he realized he was standing face to face with the new Deputy Headmistress. She was beautiful. He had seen her around the castle before, but never really had a need to speak with her. She had the most alluring eyes. But, she was a staff member, and at least ten years older than him, which put her out of bounds. That didn't mean he couldn't work his way into her good books, however. "I'm sorry, Miss Kingsley," he greeted, concern on his face. "I hope I didn't scare you, there. I'm Johnny Townsend." Tucking the large Astronomy book under his arm, he held out a hand for her to shake.

[ursula.courtney.kingsley]

Ursula could've sworn she had been able to topple over before the boy took hold of her. She hadn't been expecting anyone turning that corner so suddenly, especially as the stacks seemed near empty. Her amber eyes looked at him, they were about even in height in spite of the age difference. She was a huge fan of colouring her eyes via magic and today amber seemed to suit the professional tinge she was going for. She naturally questioned any student that was polite to her, as she had to lecture them most of the time about something or other. Why would anyone be friendly toward the person that set boundaries and rules? Teenage witches and wizards were the worst for following rules.

However, with noble speculation she decided to look past it. The few years she spent at Beauxbatons taught her to look above fake faces. "You didn't scare me, I just had a lot of stuff in my hands." she countered, before realizing that the only book she had looked at was the book in her bag. She briefly scanned around, no books in sight. Great she figured she'd better move past it. She was the one in control here. Surprisingly she had no comment about his name, she hadn't heard it before. Which means he wasn't in any of the professor's bad books or none of the professor's he'd frustrated had made the trip to her yet.

She had actually reached a point where her brain was emptying of all natural or rational things to say. Maybe because she wasn't used to natural conversation flowing between her and any student. "Pleased to meet you." she told him, more focused on the section on chemical recipes than the boy's face. He was very attractive but she'd never stopped to think about anything like that before, now wasn't a good time to start. Being alone in the stacks with him she actually wished the librarian would call for her assistance in some way so she had an excuse to leave without giving the impression that she felt awkward talking to a student. Then again, he was a fellow civilian of the wizarding world. "Found anything of interest?" she inquired, trying to indicate the book under his arm.

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[jonathan.james.townsend]

"You didn't scare me, I just had a lot of stuff in my hands." Well, starting things off with a blatant lie was kind of promising in Johnny's eyes. At least she wasn't above such a thing. That might have scuppered his plans there and then. It might not have deterred him, though. She went on to add that she was pleased to meet him, though her attention seemed elsewhere as she asked if he had found any interesting books. Glancing over his shoulder, he scanned the books on the shelves she seemed focused on. Chemical recipes. How.... thoroughly uninteresting. Maybe she felt uncomfortable.

"Actually, I'm just picking up a book for Astronomy," he told her, pulling the book back out from under his arm and giving it a distant glance, as though he wasn't really seeing it. His head still throbbed, and he wasn't exactly on his best form. He returned his eyes to her face, taking in each of the delicate features. "What brings you up here?" he asked, truly wondering why the Deputy Headmistress would need to peruse the library, unless it was for pleasure. Maybe she liked to read. That was always a nice quality for a girl to have, in Johnny's eyes. "If you don't mind me asking, of course," he smiled.

It was a strange situation, he had to admit. Though he was on familiar terms with quite a few of his professors, he wasn't really sure where he stood with someone in such a position of power as the woman before him. Surely it wasn't such an oddity to stop and chat to her. They were both only human, after all. Yet she did seem to be a bit uptight about it, though for all he knew, she might have just been that kind of person in general. "I would have thought the Deputy Head had better things to do than slum it with the students in the library. Not that I would complain, personally," he teased, with a cheeky grin.

[ursula.courtney.kingsley]

Of all the colony of books she could've pretended to be interested in, she had to find herself next to a book of chemical recipes. The only recipe she wanted to learn was one that made food. Perhaps a lot more rewarding to eat food than read one of those books, though books in general were a very good thing. Ursula picked herself up mentally when she realized that this poor student was leading the conversation and she might've seemed stagnant or rude. She couldn't help but smirk a little when he asked her what she was doing in a library. "I should think it's obvious what brings me to a library" she grinned, her body starting to relax a little more, as a sense of humour tended to do to her. She didn't get where she was today by looking at wikipedia, that was for sure. Even if anyone tried that, the lack of computers at Hogwarts would be a severe disappointment.

She couldn't conceal a smile provoked by his teasing either, it felt nice to know her company was appreciated by somebody. It spurred a tingly feeling inside. "I just came down from my office, thought i'd get a few books. I wasn't counting on anyone being brave enough to approach me." she confided honestly, power tended to send people two ways. One, avoidance. Two, flattery. She knew which one this guy was going for. "I noticed the librarian seemed to take a liking to you. Are you accepting applications for your fan club?" she teased right back at him and in good humour, it wasn't hurting anybody after all.

This was definitely more fun than looking through piles of finances anyway. She was still processing the idea that she could have a normal conversation with a student. Maybe a flirty one, she wasn't quite sure how to name it. She was rusty when it came to that kind of endeavor. She knew not to take anything Jonathan said to heart, it'd be like an alcoholic calling her pretty. The circumstances made his tone, not her. Didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it though.

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[jonathan.james.townsend]

"Well, I'm either very brave, or very stupid," he smirked at his superior, the playful glint starting to work it's way back into his eyes, after a dull day. This might turn out to be be a very worth-while break, after all, especially if he got to make a good impression on Miss Kingsley. He honestly didn't know whether she would be a good person to have on side just yet, but there was only one way to find out. She seemed to have a good sense of humour, or the beginnings of one, as she teased about the librarian, hinting that Johnny had his very own fan club.

He flashed his most charming grin at her. "You can have the top spot in my fan club any day, Miss Kingsley," he told her confidently, with a wink. She didn't really think he had a fan club, did she? Sure, he was a charmer, and liked by a lot of staff for his polite, confident ways, but he was no lothario, or arse kisser, for that matter. He dropped the act and laughed loudly, disregarding their location and it's rules about noise for the moment. "Seriously, though! What do you think I am, some sort of teacher's pet?" He kept his tone friendly, even while mocking her words a tad.

"I was always taught that it's nice to be nice," he explained, simply, as though that was the whole reasoning behind any kind word he ever said to anyone. Well, mostly, it was. There was no reason to be a brat to people for nothing. He often got judged because he was a Slytherin, and not a nasty bastard, which to him was ridiculous. His house had a lot of good, strong traits that were constantly overlooked for the darker ones. He considered himself a representative of all of the good things a Slytherin could be, and anyone fool enough to treat him like crap because of his house, would find out just how nasty he could be.

Not this lady, though. He had a feeling she was just a bit different from a lot of other staff members around the castle. "So, on that note, what kinds of books were you looking for? I practically live in this library, so if you need any help finding things, I'm your man."

[ursula.courtney.kingsley]

"Oh well I am honored to be in your fan club, I know after all how arduous it is to try to reach the list." she smirked, the sarcasm of the situation wasn't lost on her, though with his apparent interest in books and jaw-dropping appearance she would be surprised if he didn't have one. She couldn't suppress a short giggle as he referred to himself as anything opposite of a 'teacher's pet'. "No your right, you being a teacher's pet is just not possible." she agreed, her smile faltering only slightly. She acknowledged his remark that it was nice to be nice, nodding somewhat to say that he did have a point. "That's true. I hope I'm being nice enough." even though Ursula was always nice as long as nobody made her pulse-racing angry, but she was still conscious that she was setting a good example for the staff.

Her eyebrows raised a little when he said that he spent all his time at the library. Not many students chose to spend their afternoons at the library. "You are a man of many complexities." she commented cheerfully, "and thank you, but I wasn't looking for anything specific. Just browsing, I tend to do that." her smile resumed and her eyes barely left his. "I find if you set out not looking for something, that's when something will strike your interest." she added after a pause. That day was living proof. She'd wanted to spend more time working, the Quidditch practice drove her to the library, the books drove her to Jonathan. None of which had been foreseen when she left the office.

She remained honored that he'd wished to talk to her, it gave her warm fuzzies for the rest of the day. Sometimes her job got lonely, the odd conversation could sometimes satisfy nicely. Though she was conscious that she was distracting him from his learning. "I'd hate to interrupt your library time. But I'll be at the Three Broomsticks tonight if you wanted to meet up and talk out of school?" she offered, having thoroughly enjoyed his company it seemed unfortunate to let it end.

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[jonathan.james.townsend]

"You're being far too nice, by just standing here talking to me," Johnny told her, though he didn't fully believe his words. It was nice of her to converse with a student like this, but it wasn't an unusual occurrence in the Townsend boy's life. He could talk to pretty much anyone, if needs be, even hot authority figures who, to his well hidden astonishment, seemed to be firing a bit of charm right back at him. Now that was unusual. Though he had to admit, he didn't dislike it. Not at all.

He agreed wholeheartedly with her sentiment that if you stopped looking, things would find you in time. He had a lot of experience with that, believing in fate and all of that mumbo jumbo as he did. Still, it was a struggle for him to live his life that way, since under the surface, he was a little bit of a control freak, and tended to over think most things that happened to him, when he had a chance to be alone. "That's why I walk blindly around corners," he told her, matter-of-factly. "I tend to walk into the most fascinating things." His eyes flashed with an indescribable fire, one that was hard to miss, yet easy enough to understand, paired with his words.

Then she went and genuinely surprised him by upping her game. Seriously upping her game. She was inviting him to join her in the Three Broom Sticks? Really? Well, well, well. This was a turn up for the books. Covering his shock exceptionally well, he allowed his gaze to drop to the floor while he regained his composure. "Well, I would love to," he began, peering up at her with intensity as he tried to figure her out. "But it goes without saying that that might look a little funny to any outsiders." What was he saying!? He wasn't seriously going to turn down the chance to get to know this beautiful older woman, was he? "Not that I would see it that way. I'd be more than happy to continue our conversation," he admitted, wondering what could possibly be going through her head. How rebellious of her. Johnny smiled to himself.

[ursula.courtney.kingsley]

Ursula laughed inwardly, implying that he was lucky to be in her company was perhaps only a half-truth. Ursula found it lucky that her day had been brightened by his presence and hopefully some kind of opposite effect had occurred for him as well. While she may have had her queries in the beginning, she rapidly felt more comfortable in the situation she was in. Not unusual in the slightest, mostly because she hadn't worked out yet that anything out of the ordinary was being exchanged between them. Naive, no, broken, definitely. But she didn't think about it. Optimism was a much better shining beacon of a life.

Blindly walking around corners.. now that sounded familiar. With a gentle smile she raised a quizzical eyebrow. "But the question is how do you know when you've walked around the right corner?" she answered, keen to see what answer he could make of that. She was oblivious to his beliefs on fate, he could've just as easily walked two stalls to the left and their paths would've never crossed the way Ursula saw it. What a dim alternative that would've been. The fire in his eyes made her buzz inside. It was a warm feeling that she couldn't be sure whether it was coming from being charmed or a natural inclination toward him as a person.

For a split second it seemed that the seventh year was turning her down. Then he quickly recovered himself and Ursula could see why he had been hesitant. He did have a point. "Oh I know people might see it as some sort of... date. but we know that it's not, don't we?" she consoled sweetly, her eyes a challenge.

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[jonathan.james.townsend]

"I haven't rounded a bad one yet," he informed her, biting down on his lip to keep himself from grinning like an idiot. It would not do to come off as some sort of immature school boy flirting with his teacher. He was anything but that. It actually worried him a little, in all honesty, that he seemed to be getting those sorts of vibes from her. Naturally, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't pursue any kind of serious flirtations with her. What of the consequences? She could lose her job, and he would be expelled. That definitely wasn't something he would ever allow to happen.

But, there didn't seem to be any harm in striking up some form of cheeky friendship with her. One that satisfied his desire to let her know just how gorgeous she was, whilst still keeping a level of respect and formality to it. He was surely capable of that. Glancing around to make sure they were truly alone in their aisle, and lowering his voice to avoid any eavesdropping from nosy students in neighboring ones, he pursed his lips, a look of innocence crossing his handsome face as he reeled off an effortless response.

"Yes, we do. And I personally don't see anything wrong with bumping into a member of staff at the local pub," he shrugged casually. "I'm sure it happens all the time." That was how he would have to play it. Casually. A case where acting like nothing unusual was going on, somehow made it a reality in the eyes of others. The occasional murmured compliment or significant look couldn't get him into any trouble. Besides, he still didn't know if she would be worth the risk, anyway. She could be a total terror, or a bore, someone he wouldn't ever dream of associating himself with normally. And at her age, she was probably matched, too, which made it even more of a ludicrous situation. He returned her steady gaze. "If we were to be there at the same time, that is," he hinted, wondering if she would take the cue to give him a specific time when he could find her and, honestly, unsure of whether he would actually show up at all.