Astrid turned at the sound of Tommy's anguished words... what voice was he speaking of? Something terribly unsettling must have happened she supposed, and found turning back to her work was much more difficult than before, she was saved from the task however when Tommy spoke.
"Oui. A lot of eet is old rubbish, some of eet is in French... you probably won't be able to follow my words exactly... eet isn't exactly coherent, but zis is all the information I 'ave on my Father." She explained.. How far gone was he that he did not remember their discussions. Not coherent was being to kind, it was a mess, and Tommy probably wouldn't be able to use a tenth of what she'd written, least of all decipher her chicken scratch handwriting. This was perhaps the only book Astrid had ever written in, where you could read her emotions straight off the page. There was a sort of desperation, and pain on each page. "Eet is just zings zat accidentally came out over ze years... conversations zat confused me; things I learnt during my time at ze Minstry of Magic..."
Astrid drifted off. Tommy still held sadness in his features, and her heart hurt also talking about her strugges to find her Father...It was hard for her to see anyone in a state of hurt, and as if Tommy wasn't already a distraction to her already, she could only hope sparking his interest over her Father's indentity might help him to forget what had upset him so, if only for brief time.
"You 'ave names?" She said, hurriedly walking over to the sofa area. "So soon?" She had not expected that.
She brandished her arm offhandishly "You 'ad drunk enough for one evening... I did somezing about eet." She said simply. "So.... you 'ave names?"
The voices were back . . no wait it was Astrid talking, but what was she saying. It was hard to with that accent and the state he was slowly sinking into. A thought came back . . she had asked him to help with her English . . "maybe you do need English lessons " he said to her as he took another sip of the whiskey. good whiskey . . it nulled the brain . . he did not have to think about the pain . . the pain that woman had caused that had brought him to this place. This place he had just made of himself in . . first by telling him how he had felt after the attack then by what he had done . . he gave a groan.
"have you ever stuffed up so bad you fel as if you could not face anyone again " he asked of her. She had her back turned and looked busy but it didn't worry him. She had thrown a book at him, well it must have been her, she was the only one in the room.
She must have heard for she got up and came over. "You ave names" she asked and for a moment he did not understand. She said something else he did not catch, but then she repeated herself and it came to him. He drained off the third glass and set it on the table.
"Yes I got them back this morning . . . I think " he told her as he rummaged around in his pocket. He pulled out some muggle money and sat that on the table then pulled out a lesson list he been working on. He added that to the pile then checked his other pocket. "here it is . . Mary sent it over . . I went through them and narrowed it down to 6 . . no 5 guys. I sent an Owl for more information but here they are if you want.... " he said as he pulled it out and handed it over.
"You are so pretty " he said to her and drunk or not he meant that. Maybe he should forget Belle and go with this one. She at least liked him . . he was sure she would not mind if he kissed her.
She has found it hard to stay composed when he had politely insulted her English, she had not been speaking the language long, and she was not critical of him when he had tried to speak French. She took an intake of breath, perhaps the drink and his personality were not a good match.
"Don't we all Tommy, but perhaps you 'ave not "stuffed up" as much as you zink eh." She offered, placing her hand on his comfortingly. He frustrated her yes, but she could not bare to see anyone hurt for long, irregardless of Astrids personal feelings to them.
Astrid listened intensely as Tommy spoke, and then read off the names of the men who could possibly be her Father. She felt her body shake, could it be that her Fathers name was in the list. She closed her eyes and placed her thumb and index finger on the bridge of her nose, and rubbed trying to soothe herself, and keep her breathing regular.
"You are so pretty." The words flitted to her, and she was thankful her eyes were shut so that she did not have to look at him as he said it. Her eyes opened slowly and found that Tommy was looking directly at her, she looked back at him curiously wondering what he was thinking, though only for a second, his eyes were so transfixing and all she could think about was when he had kissed her hand earlier in her office, and how it might feel if her kissed her, perhaps on her lips... thats was when she realised she was leaning forward, ever so slightly. Her body betraying her... she noticed almost to late the the thick stench of alcohol her breathe over her.
"You are drunk." She whispered sadly, her voice still husky, and looked down at her hands.
For the second time that night, a pretty lady had put her hand in his. . well techinally he taken Belles but she had not pulled away. Belle he thought as Astrid read through the names. Not as much as a thank you or a question asking how he had manged this feat. He looked at her wondering if all this was worth it. He was no longer an Auro, it realy was not his business.
"Cause it interests you you moron" he told himself quietly."She interests you" and she did.
She leaned in close and for one moment he thought she was going to kiss him, but then the moment passed. Would he have kissed her back he thought and he was surprised to find the answer was yes. He gave a deep sigh.
"I am not drunk . . one does not get drunk on 3 drinks in 10 minutes " he told her, though in another hour that might be a different story as the alcohol transversed through his body. He still had the illusion he could drink himself into oblivion, didn't matter she took the bottle of him . .he had another in his quarters. . . and he doubted she would march in there and take it off him. He'd like to see her try and he gave a snort. He sat back on the couch and looked at her intently.
"I can probably narrow that down a bit more when Pandora gets back. And I sent your certificate off to Lenny . . if there is anything there he will find it " he told her. God he was so damn boring. . a pretty girl and all he could do was talk shop. A shop he no longer even worked in.
"Ah Astrid . . what a mess we make of our lives . . how about you come back to my quarters and have a drink with me and if I pass out then tuck me into bed eh? " he said with a smile. The alcohol was making it's move.
Astrid smiled briefly, "No, Ofcourse you are not drunk Monsieur... my mistake." She smirked, then raised her eyebrow curtly, at his snort, causing her nose to wrinkle slightly.
Tommy brought up her Father again, and she found herself desperately wanting a drink... Surely this is what she had wanted, an answer to the question that she had been looking for her entire life? She wasn't so sure now. She looked at the names on the paper again, and folded it abruptly, pushing it into the pockets of her trousers.
She felt restricted, her clothes were to tight, the room was too small, Tommy was too close. Did she like it? She rubbed the bridge of her nose again unsure.
She had snorted when he's mentioned bringing her back to his quaters. Was he bluffing? Or was the drink truly getting to much for him... either way she realised she could not leave him in this state, epsecially if he had alcohol in his chambers.
She smiled slyly, and found that testing him would be fun, "One drink? Ok zen. We 'ave ze whiskey 'ere." She smiled, and then lent in ever so slightly, and pushed the hair back from her face so she could see his eyes, "or we could go to your chambers like you suggested." She leant back, and stood up, stretching. She could feel the material of her blouse ride slightly, but not enough to reveal her tattoo thankfully.
She looked at him curiously, perhaps he did need a sleep. A glass of water and a nights rest should do him well she supposed. And a hearty breakfast in the morning. Astrid looked at him expectantly waiting for his answer.
She stood up and looked down at him as if waiting for him to do something and that's when Tommy did the second stupid thing that night. he stood up and grabbed her and planted a kiss on her lips. And not a soft kiss like he had kissed Belle but a hard one as his arms went around her waist and he pulled her close.
"I would like very much for you to come back to my chambers " he said to her when he pulled away. The stupidity of all this had not set in yet. . the alcohol was doing it's job beautifully. Tommy just knew he did not want to be alone this night and here he had a beautiful girl willing. Why should he pass up on that.
"C'mon then . . my quarters are up on the fourth floor " he said and grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward the door.
Verlust? Perhaps she had better start learning German. She placed her hand on her hip, where had she heard that word before, she bit her lip, but her mind remained blank.
And then he was kissing her. She closed her eyes and leant into the kiss, and had been about to deepen in when he had pulled away, and said something about chambers, something she had not quite heard. All she could hear was the thumping of her heart, and her own laboured breaths. And then he was pulling her, and she was confused. Why was he no longer kissing her? ... Chamber.
She pulled her arm back, bringing him with her, and looked him in the eyes. He was drunk, regardless of what he said... enough so, that she could drag him. She placed a hand on his cheek, and then leant towards his neck. Je ne sais pas qui je suis quand je suis avec vous parfois" She whispered into his ear... it was hardly often that she had handsome men kissing her.
She kissed him this time. Pulling her body into his, and deepening the kiss. She wanted comfort and to be held tonight. Just for tonight she told herself, though she doubted it was true. Astrid pulled away abruptly, he was intoxicated, and she didn't want to take advantage any more than she already had, and so began pulling him towards the couch.
"Sit, let me get you a coffee, you 'ave some sobering up to do..." She chuckled. "You kiss me like zat when you 'ave no drinks in you... and maybe I will go to your chambers with you." She smiled wickedly, flashing her teeth.
She prepared the drink quickly, and wandered back over, placing it on the table in front of him. "Drink." She said simply, "Why don't you tell me why you started drinking whiskey to begin with?" Astrid offered bluntly, there was no point dancing around with pleasantries after what they had just done.
"Come on... you can tell me." She chuckled, resisting the urge to wink.
He did not get far . . Astrid pulled him back and then she was kissing him. And what a kiss it was. It heightend his senses and he found himself wanting her. Then her turn to pull away, leaving him standing there feeling confused. What game was she playing . . she had offered to go his chambers , yet now she was wanting to make him coffee. Anger set in... oh the alcohol was really working it's magic now.
She seemed to be enjoying it he noticed . . was she just a tease . . promises she could not hold. Bugger her he thought as he sat down wishing she had not taken his whisky. She plonked a cup of coffee in front of him and he eyed it off warily.
"I do not want your coffee . . and I do not want to talk about things and you can stop looking at me in that way. You are not my mother " he told her.
Gosh what a mess he had made of it all. A little reasoning settled in. . the whisky was making a point. . . it allowed him to sink further into his depression. "Leave me alone " he told her blunty. Boy he was going to have some apologising to do tomorrow but at the moment he did not care.
Tommy closed his eyes and leaned back into the couch. He really wanted more alcohol but as she had taken that from him, he decided sleep would be the next best thing.
"Ich bin trauriges anabelle" he mumbled . . and he truly was . . and as he slipped in that world where dreams strayed . . images of Belle danced through the memories . . .
She was fire again, hot, untouchable flames. She choked back his words, and plastered a stiff smile on her face. She wasn't going to run this time.
"Vous homme insensé. What part of you zinks I am trying to be your Mother? I am not, nor will I ever be your Mother. I am angry, if she were 'ere I 'ave no doubt she would be dissapointed in you." She spoke calm and steadily, the fire brewing beneath her words. How could she like a man who infuriated so much... Perhaps that was all it was. Lust. She was attracted to his form, and that was it? That and his charm perhaps... But he was not being charming at the moment, and so she felt no need to bite her tongue. She had been trying to help, be a good person. No doubt this man had ever done a kind thing in his life.
She had turned to sit and her table again when she had heard him speaking in German again. Most of it meant nothing to her except for the name.
" Anabelle. Belle." Astrid hadn't realised she had said anything until she heard it herself, she turned an looked at him, and had his eyes not been closed, she felt sure his hard glazed eyes would have met hers. How had this happened when they had been holding each other not so long ago.
" What about Belle?" She said croakily, her voice thick with emotion before she had been able to stop herself.
Astrid did not know what he had said regarding her friend, but she knew the tone. She shut her eyes, never one to cry in front of company. She bit her lip hard to compose herself, to make herself feel something, drawing blood. She winced, and hurried across to the table behind Tommy to grab some napkins to stem the flow, her breath came out shallow, and she wished desperately that Lux would return. She took steady steps back to her table and slid in. The fire had dulled but the smoke had not yet settled.
Astrid pulled the bottle of whiskey from behind her cloak and opened the bottle, she didn't bother with a cup, and lifitng the bottle to her lips she drank steadily, paused to take a breath and had another gulp, wincing as the alcohol stung the wound of her lip.
She placed the bottle down, the alcohol igniting the flames again.
God the woman was not even going to let him sleep. What had he ever found attractive about her . . fire . . she was more than fire, she was an inferno . . yet part of him admired that. Strong but a wee bit emotional for his liking.
He opened his eyes but did not look at her. His head was still fuzzy but he knew he was sobering up "you do not understand . . my mother would never be disappointed in me. It is I who dishonured my father and my ancestors " he told her evenly.. Gosh why was she so infuriating . . why did she stir the passion within him. Why was she not more like Belle . . . and as if she was reading his mind.
"what about her? " he asked wondering why she had asked that out of the blue. had he said something . . he tried to think. She did not say anymore but it was easy to see the annoyance in her eyes and manner. She came over behind him then went to sit back at her desk and he saw her pull the whisky bottle from her cloak.
He was up in flash as she took the top of and lifted it to her lips. What in hell was she thinking. He strode up to her and grabbed the bottle. "You fool of a woman . . call me a drunk . . at least I have the decency to use a glass. Here " he said in a rough voice as he pulled her notebook from his pocket " forget the lessons and forget your father . . I tried to help . . you ungrateful witch. " he spat at her. Seems the alcohol had not quite forgotten him. He was going to be eating quite a bit of humble pie in the morning.
He grabbed what was left of the whisky and turned to leave. But as he got to the door he stopped and turned to her "You would never have lasted at the Ministry . . not with that temper. . . what tradegy have you encountered in your life to be so hard . . . . Are you afraid you might actually find you have feelings. Let yourself go Astrid. . let yourself be loved and see how good it feels .. " he said and in a way he surprised himself with such words.
"I do not think you know such tradgedy so ask yourself why you put up walls " he finished off and with that he took the last step to the door, opened it and left.
And it would be fair to say that when Tommy got back to his quarters, he finished off the bottle . . and later in bed as he tried to sleep . . he was wondering how in hell he had managed to wrong two women in one night.
There was a strange vibe in the air, Aurélie could notice it immediately when she opened the doors to the teachers lounge. She'd been quite busy, she hadn't even attended the start of the term feast. Family drama got the best of her. She was longing for something to take her mind off things, but she could already sense this wasn't going to happen.
When she walked into the room, the only other person there was another woman. Aurélie looked at her, judging her quietly in only a few seconds. It was a bad habit of her to form an opinion about people when she didn't even know them. But this woman passed the test. She looked nice and took care of herself. Nonetheless there was still something strange. As if something had just happened. Whatever, Aurélie did not care. All she wanted right now was a nice cup of coffee and a chair to sit in.
''Hello, there!'' She said in a cheerful voice, pretending she hadn't noticed the weird vibe that was in the air.
Aurélie grabbed a cup of coffee and took seat in one of the seats.
She took a look around the room, where was everyone? Had there been an argument? She started to wonder.
Astrid looked up suddenly as the door to the Lounge opened, she yawned and stretched her arms, had she really slept here? ...she must have she decided, looking up at the clock. She stood up and walked to the mirror, checking her appearance in it. She breathed a sigh of relief. She had been extremely fortunate this time, and unless the woman who had just entered the room could read her mind, Astrid doubted she would know she had slept here for the night.
Astrid smiled at the woman, and offered her hand, "Bonjour! My name is Astrid Lueure. Ze Transfiguration Professor." She said cheerily, plucking up enthusiasm from God knows where. "Aurélie... Zat is a beautiful name... what is eet you are teaching?" Astrid inquired politely, walking across to the table, and making herself a double espresso. The woman was very pretty, and seemed rather friendly. Astrid hoped that she would get along with the woman aswell as she has with Belle.
What a strange thing to ask, Astrid thought.. perhaps this woman was more intuitive then she thought. "Missed anyzing? No... Well apart from ze fact zat we 'ave lost ze Flying Professor" Astrid added "'Ave you met ze other Professors? Tommy and Belle?" She asked, deflecting a question back at the woman.
Belle had felt a bit guilty about not catching up with Astrid the night before. She had gone back to her quarters as she had planned and had settled back with her notes over a rum. The good news was she had finally figured out what she thought was the missing ingredient and had actually slapped her head when she realised.
But time heals and Belle missed her friend. She was over her temper of yesterday and was looking forward to hearing if Tommy and Astrid had made up. They would make a nice couple she decided and she knew in time she would get over him.
So after her last class for the day, instead of heading back to her office to mark the days lessons, she grabbed them and headed to the Teacher's Lounge. Upon walking in she immediately spotted Astrid for aside for another woman she was the only one in there.
"Hello Astrid, how are things . . in a better mood now " she inquired before turning to other lady "Hi, you must be Madam Blanchettt, I saw you at the start of term feast but we didn't get a chance to talk. Belle Saynsberry" she said with a smile, turning to dump her stuff on a nearby chair.
"What a day . . I am so glad its over " Belle said as she went over to make herself a cup of tea. "I was wondering Astrid, seeing as how its the weekend, would you like to take a walk with me to Villeneuve, I need to pick up a few ingredients . " she asked as she picked up her finished tea and made her way back to the seat. Pushing her papers to one side she sat down "We could have a spot of lunch while we are there and you can tell me how things went with Tommy " she smiled hoping Astrid would get the hint talks of Tommy could wait until tomorrow.
''Oh well hello Astrid, thank you. I'm teaching Charms.'' She told the woman who was already in the room.
Aurélie stood up again and seached through some cupboards to find a box of chocolate chip cookies. There was only one left, but finders keepers, she thought as she dipped the last cookie into her cup of coffee.
Right after she made herself comfortable on the couch again another woman walked in. Aurélie recognized her as the potions professor, they'd surpassed each other in the hallways a few times.
She heard Belle say some things to Astrid, it sounded as though her instincts were right. She heard Belle mention someone else. ''Tommy... He's a professor here too right?'' She asked out of curiosity.
"Ah ze woman 'erself... Bonsoir Belle!" Astrid greeted, "Oui, much better." She smiled, though not encouragingly, she did not want to discuss her day in front of the new Professor; not without at first determining her character.
Astrid smiled whilst the two women introduced themselves, and found herself nodding along to their conversation "I could not agree more, I am quite looking forward to ze weekend... I feel like I 'ave never truly known real work in my 'ole life... ooh knew teaching took so much out of you." She chuckled, settling further back in the sofa.
"Ah, eet is funny you should say zat, I was zinking of going zis weekend, I am in dire need of some zings, mainly books." She commented matter-of-factly, knowing that she probably ought to stop off and pick up some more quills, she was no fond of using Lux's discarded feathers, despite the allure and beauty of them.
Astrid shook her head, her arm falling to her side, "Zere is not much to talk about really, we 'ave sorted zings, and zere is nozing more zan friendship." She smiled, and she found that she was rather ok with that, even though she did find the Defensive Magic professor incredibly attractive.
Astrid turned her attention then to Aurélie, desperate not to isolate her, "So tell me about yourself, 'ow long 'ave you been a teacher... did you attend Beauxbatons in your youth?" Astrid asked curiously.
"Aurélie it is then, that''s French isn't it. Belles French, well Anabelle but Saynsberry is good old fashion English " she laughed. "It is a pleasure to meet you " she said as she took a sip of her tea. one thing she like about the tea here was it always hot and strong.
"What are your plans for the weekend Aurélie " she asked turning to the other woman, ever mindful Astrid had just asked her about her time here at the school.
Astrid chuckled, "A bit conceited?" She laughed harder, "In truth he is a charming man, z'ough he does talk about 'imself rather alot." She replied, calming herself down. "Ah zat would be perfect, 10am eet is... may I meet you down zere, I a've a few zings to do before zat?" She asked, looking up at the clock above the fireplace, her eyes widening. Where had the time gone, she ran a hand through her hair. She had just been beginning to enjoy herself aswell.
"Oh goodness, look at ze time. I do 'ope you can forgive me, I am expecting word from my Grandfathers 'ealer very soon, I do not want to miss eet." Astrid exclaimed, gathering her things up, making a mental note to have a little get together with the other professors.
"Aurélie. I do 'ope we 'ave ze chance to speak again." She said, truly hoping that she would have the chance to better know the young Charms Professor, though she had just officially met her, Astrid has good instincts, and it seemed her instincts liked the woman.
"Oh you overwork yourself, you are such an extraordinary woman... If I can ever help..." Astrid nodded, knowing that Belle understood her.
"Bonsoir, goodnight ladies." Astrid called, hastily leaving the room.
Belle waved to Astrid when she left and continued on with her marking. She could not agree with her though on Tommy. The man was infuriating . . of course she would say different . . she was going out with him after all.
She have a sigh. Aurélie was not saying much. Not it bothered her with so much to mark. Why had she agreed to do both lessons. It was time consuming and it meant she had late nights and early mornings. Belle was starting to feel it deep in her bones. She knew if she kept it up it would bring her down. If only the Head Mistress was around, she could and have a chat with her.
She needed a bath . . that was she needed . . a long hot relaxing bath. At least she had the Botany homework done . . she could always do the potions over the weekend. She had that trip to Villeneuve tomorrow with Astrid. For some reason she was looking forward to this . . she really liked Astrid and she was determined she would not take the fact Tommy liked her, out on her. It was simple . . Belle blamed Thomas. . not Astrid.
Belle stood up and cranked her neck. It was stiff and she swore she heard a crack. "I am sorry . . it is late and I need a bath . . it has so nice to meet you Aurélie . . I hope we can do it again one day " she smiled at her then picking up her papers she shoved them into her bag and made her way from the room.