Just Checking Out (Shawn)

[Deleted]

Rory came to Hogwarts for a quick visit to the hospital wing. Of course, he didn't come here often, but every once in a while he came to volunteer services and see if there was anything they needed. He'd done it more in the last few years, what with all the attacks and now the Triwizard Tournament. He wanted to make sure his friends weren't overwhelmed. At the moment, the wing was relatively quiet and Rory figured that things were fine. He talked with the healers a bit, catching up with them and checking to make sure they had everything they needed before dismissing himself. 

As he left the Hospital Wing and moved to leave the castle, Rory looked around fondly. He loved this place. One day he might like to come back as a healer here, but at the moment he enjoyed what he was doing. Still, the castle held good memories for him, ones that made him smile when he remembered them. Speaking of memories ... was that who he thought it was up ahead? Rory sped up a little, trying to catch up with the figure who looked like on of his very good friends from school. "Hey Shawn," he said casually as he drew nearer, pretending like this was an every-day occurrence.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Shawn left his class room as he had plenty of time to eat or just do something between classes. He wouldn't have said it out loud as it probably wouldn't have sounded like something a professor should say but enjoyed teaching the first years the most. That was his first class today and it wasn't that he disliked teaching the other years but the amazement was kind of gone during later years. First years saw magic from their parents but it was the muggleborns that gave him such a joy. He was in their place when he first started thrown into a scary new world where magic was real after all. Yet seeing it in class and trying it yourself was so exciting. That was just him, other professors he was sure didn't feel the same way.

Shawn was just around the first floor corridor when he heard his name. Which was slightly out of place. Students called him professor even if he had them drop his last name. Staff didn't typically use his first name either. The voice also sounded familiar as he turned to see Rory standing there. They had been friends for sometime, having been in the same house and year while at Hogwarts and here they were all over again. Still he hadn't seen him or written in awhile. "Rory, what are you doing here? Come to see the cool new Transfiguration professor?" Shawn was genuinely curious but whatever it was he was always happy to see an old friend.

@rory

[Deleted]

Rory couldn't help but grin at his friend as he turned around. He hadn't seen Shawn in what felt like ages and he was glad that he had the opportunity to see him now. It was always nice to see old friends, right? He shrugged at his friend's question. "Of course! Had to make sure things were going well for you," he teased with an easy laugh. Then he shook his head, really answering Shawn's question now. "I just came to check things in the Hospital Wing. Every once in a while Mungo's sends someone over to make sure that everything's good and they have all the materials they need. This time it was me. Didn't expect to run into you." He looked around the castle, surprised by how much he still missed this place. "So how are you liking it here? Everything's going well?" Rory looked back at Shawn, curiously awaiting his response. 

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Rory explained he was here to check up on him, something Shawn found a little unlikely but he wouldn't be surprised if someone showed up to make sure he wasn't just having fun and not actually teaching. Rory followed it up by explaining why he was actually at the school and that made far more sense. "You'd think I'd know that St.Mungo did stuff like that for the school since I work here but this is the first I've heard of it." Shawn laughed a little at that, even with working here for almost a full school year he was still learning new things. Shawn smiled as he was asked how he was doing and liking it here. "Well I'm getting in far less trouble in school now that I'm a professor and not just a student. I'm actually allowed to do half the things I used to get detentions for." He joked but it really was a totally different experience being an adult instead of a student while at Hogwarts. "How have you been? St.Mungo keeping you busy?"

@rory

[Deleted]

Shawn seemed surprised that he didn't know about the checkups, but Rory wasn't. If he didn't work in the Hospital wing- which he didn't- why would he need to know that information. Rory shrugged, a smile on his face, "It's not a big deal. I doubt most of the professors here know that I come to check up on things every once in a while." He smiled as his friend explained that he wasn't getting into as much trouble now as he used to. "Well that's probably a good thing. I'm assuming if you did they'd have to follow up with disciplinary actions or something," he joked around, laughing. He nodded at his friend's questions, "Mungo's is good. I mean, there are always attacks and stuff going on, so there's always stuff for me to do. So I'm at least busy." He paused a moment before adding. "You remember that girl I wrote to all throughout school? The one that moved to America?" He couldn't remember if he'd talked to his old friend about Emmy, but if not he was going to get a whole earful now. 

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Rory had a point, it wasn't so much his department what the hospital wing was doing. Nor did he know much about what St.Mungo did for the school so he just wouldn't know about these things. Still he felt he should, he did work here after all but maybe it was just so common place no one bothered to tell him or other professors really didn't know either. "Yeah that's another perk, really the only one who could get me in trouble anymore is the head mistress but I'd have to do something really dumb for that to happen. I may be crazy at times but I'm not going to do anything that crazy." Shawn laughed, he couldn't think of what he would have to do to get in trouble as a professor but he also didn't want to find out. He enjoyed his new career to much to risk it on something silly.

"Staying busy is good for most things but I personally hope you guys slow down." Shawn smiled but he was telling the truth. People will always get hurt and need healers. St.mungo would always be busy but he didn't want to any more attacks to happen. It was a fruit less hope as the people behind the attacks were still out there after all but he could hope still. Rory asked him if he remembered the girl he used to write that moved away. Shawn took a second to remember but was pretty sure Rory saying something about it. "The one we all thought was made up to impress us, right?" Shawn teased him for a second just having some fun. "So she was real after all?"

@rory

[Deleted]

Rory grinned, understanding what his friend meant when he talked about having to do something big and dumb in order to get into trouble now. "The benefits of growing up," he said, forcing a serious expression before adding, "At least, growing up on the outside." Rory couldn't help but tease. He was quite sure that outside of school, Shawn was just as silly and crazy as he'd been when they grew up. It wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was one of the things Rory liked most about him. They just had fun together. 

He nodded at his friend's comment about slowing down. "That would be nice. Even without major attacks from Elaine Dupree, we've been getting more attacks of late," he admitted. That knowledge wasn't particularly common knowledge, but he figured that Shawn would keep it discreet. "I mean, we haven't really announced that, but I think people are feeling more free to do magic because of her." Which was yet another reason why Rory despised the girl and her actions. She was hurting people, which he wouldn't like on its own, but she was also encouraging others to do the same, whether on purpose or not. He made a face when his friend teased him about Emmy. "I didn't make her up," he said, answering the teasing question. "Yeah, she's real and she moved to England a few months ago. I've seen her a few times." Which was amazing and wonderful in and of itself, but Rory hadn't really told anyone. He wasn't trying to keep Emmy a secret or anything, he just didn't really have a reason to talk about her to others. "Maybe I'll have to introduce the two of you sometime so you can see she's actually real," Rory teased.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

"That and the benefit that I can drink and not look over my shoulder for someone who can get me in trouble." Shawn replied jokingly as well, still being an adult had plenty of perks and being a professor even more so but he didn't need to go into all those details now.

Rory explained a little about the attacks going on, not just by Elaine or her group of followers but by others. Of course people would feel bolder to use magic as they wanted even if it hurt other people. Out there somewhere was still a group of the darkest wizards and witches attacking when they felt like and they still hadn't been brought in. People would of course take advantage of it. An idea he didn't want to think of but the dots were all there. "I'm not surprised just because she's still out there others think they get get away with doing whatever they want to people." There wasn't a joke there for Shawn to find and if there was he wouldn't have said it, he knew his serious matters when they came up.

 Shawn laughed a little as Rory made a face and insisted the girl he wrote to was indeed real. He believed she was but just couldn't help but tease Rory just a little. He was glad to hear she was back in Europe just based on how it seemed to make Rory happy he even offered to introduce him to her just to prove she was real. "Are you sure about that? I'm sure I could think of a few embarrassing stories that didn't make it into your letters." He was only kidding but couldn't help it.

@rory

[Deleted]

Rory couldn't help but laugh as his friend continued to give reasons as to why being at Hogwarts as an adult was a benefit. He shook his head, though not critically. "Well I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he responded. 

Rory nodded as his friend commented on the attacks. "Exactly. Another hard thing is trying to decide the intent of the attacks. We're trying to find a way to figure out if she's behind them or if they're just people taking advantage," he admitted. It wasn't really his department, but being the first on the scene meant that he generally had a lot to do with any investigations that took place.

Rory grimaced again when Shawn mentioned that he had plenty of embarrassing stories. "Oh I'm sure if you did that, she'd start shooting stories right back at you. She has plenty of embarrassing ones on me as well." He hated it, but he could actually imagine her doing something like that. He looked at his friend carefully, "Would you really though? I do want you two to meet ..." Maybe not when Rory was around though. That could be difficult if they both got into story-telling mode.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

"It's what I've always been good at." Shawn replied with a laugh, he was an expert at trying to have fun when he could. It helped the time go by faster and was far better than being bored or unhappy. Rory explained in more detail about the problems with the attacks. This was all just a huge mess from the sounds of it and from what Shawn could only imagine. He was just glad the school year had been peaceful so for. "Well you just make sure to be careful out there. You're one of the healers out there, if you get hurt I can only imagine the jokes that'll follow." Shawn said with a weak laugh, "the healer having to get healed."

"I can only imagine, you wrote her plenty from what I remember." Shawn smiled after remembering more as they talked about it, he had definitely told him about the girl in America. Rory offered for Shawn to meet her and he smiled once more. "Hey any friend of yours is a friend of mine, as long as she can put up with me." Shawn knew just who he was and how he acted, he was himself though even if some disliked how he was rarely serious. "I'll even be on my best behavior and only share the mildly embarrassing stories when we first meet."

@rory

[Deleted]

Rory nodded as his friend teased him about getting injured. "Yeah, I know, I know. Don't worry, I'll take care of myself. I always try to be as cautious as I can when I get those summons." Or any summons really. Rory wasn't the overly cautious type, but he also wasn't a huge risk-taker and he really didn't have any intention of getting himself into trouble. He wanted to help people. He couldn't do that if he got hurt. 

Rory shrugged a little as Shawn reminded him how often he used to write Emmy. Well, why wouldn't he write to her? They were close friends, even from a distance. He rolled his eyes as Shawn talked about Emmy being able to put up with him. "Honestly, I think she could give you a run for your money if she wanted to." At Shawn's further promise, he felt a little nervous. "... What sort of embarrassing stories?" he asked hesitantly. Rory was trying to remember what sorts of shenanigans Shawn would tell someone about Rory. Oh boy.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

"That's good to hear." Shawn replied genuinely glad to hear his friend would at least attempt to stay safe out there. It's all on could really do in these days is try, especially when you were sent out to heal people. "As long as things stay quiet here all I have to worry about is getting a million paper cuts with all these tests and homework." Shawn joked even if it was the downside of this job. For about ten years he didn't have to deal with homework or assignments but now he was back, only it was the assignments of students and there were hundreds of papers. Oh well it was just a small downside in his life and he wouldn't have changed it for the positives he had gained.

Rory explained how his friend Emmy might just be able to give him a run for his money. Now that was something he would have loved to see. "If that's the case than I can't wait." Shawn replied with a small smirk, it wasn't often Shawn heard of someone who might rival him on having fun or what others might call being annoying. He didn't care what word people used, he was just being himself after all. "I don't remember any off the time top of my head but I'll keep racking my brain." He teased as Rory asked about the embarrassing stories he knew of him. " If I can't think of anything I'll just make some up that sound believable or use some of my own. I have enough to share."

@rory

[Deleted]

Rory nodded, figuring there wasn't much else to say on the topic of him staying safe. There wasn't really much to say on it in the first place. He chuckled when Shawn started talking about getting papercuts. "Well if any of those get extreme, you know where to find me," Rory answered, not envying grading papers. Doing paperwork for the hospital was bad enough, at least he didn't have to check over other people's work. He could simply trust them to know what they should be writing. 

Rory made a face again when Shawn said that he couldn't wait to meet Emmy. Of course he couldn't. When they ended up meeting, it was going to mean merciless teasing for Rory. Still, he liked the idea of them meeting. Both of them knew him very well and so it'd be nice to do things all together sometimes. "I shouldn't have warned you," Rory mused, "Maybe you'll forget." Then Shawn mentioned making stuff up and Rory groaned. "Oh, you don't have to make stuff up! I've done enough crazy stuff with you, and I know if you make stuff up it'll sound even crazier." Maybe he should put off them meeting ... no, that wasn't Rory. He tried to convince himself it wouldn't be that bad. If it was, he'd just leave for a bit while the two chatted about him. 

He sighed, "So when is your next class? Or are you done for the day?" He didn't want to keep his friend if he was busy or missing out on things he needed to do, after all.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

“You might want to be more clear on extreme. Who knows what excuse I might use to barge in on you at work.” Shawn teased being completely kidding. He knew when jokes needed to stop and the middle of St.Mungos was one of those places. People were sick or hurt and needed attention more than he did just joking around with a friend.

“Non-sense, it gives me the chance to be ready for when I do meet her.” Shawn explained with a smile as he could only imagine Rory was probably nervous about how the two might have gotten along. From how Rory made it sound it would seem his pen pal and Shawn would just make the whole meeting about teasing Rory, which was highly possible. Shawn laughed once more as Rory was right after all, he wouldn’t have to make up anything with all that had happened between the two. Mostly things caused by himself in the name of having fun but Rory certainly wasn’t blameless either. “You have a point after all. Still like you said the made up stuff might just be a little funnier for you to try and explain.”

“I still have a few more classes today but they aren’t for a sometime. How about you? Anyone whose life needs saving that you have to get back too?” While Shawn wasn’t completely free it wasn’t like he was in any hurry. Still he didn’t want to keep his friend if he had somewhere to be, he was still working after all.

@rory

[Deleted]

Rory rolled his eyes when Shawn told him that he needed to be more clear on what he meant. Shawn knew exactly what he was getting at and Rory was sure he wouldn't joke around with that. "Sure, sure," was his only response. He didn't want to provoke Shawn, or encourage him to get into shenanigans that might involve Rory's work. That would not be pleasant.

Shawn mentioned that Rory's heads-up gave him a chance to prepare to meet Emmy and Rory nodded, resigned to his fate. Whatever happened when he got the two of them together would happen, no matter whether or not he tried to discourage it. He had a feeling Shawn and Emmy would get along great so there was no use fighting that either. He laughed when Shawn said that the made-up things would be fun to make him explain. "And what if I decide to just go along with it instead of trying to fight it?" Hmm. That was an interesting thought. If he didn't argue with whatever Shawn came up with, he might have more fun dealing with both him and Emmy together. He might have to try that. 

Shawn asked how busy Rory was and he shook his head, "Not really. I just ended my shift before I came over here, so I have the rest of the day off." He probably wouldn't spend all of it at the school, but at least he could have it to himself and relax. It also meant he wasn't in any sort of rush. "I am famished though. Want to head down to the kitchens, for old-times sake?"

shawn lesley ashcroft