August 26th, 1895 — Kitchen, Hogwarts

Rory hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep at the bench until a glimmer of sunlight shone directly in his face. He blinked awake blearily, drool having pooled a little, and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. His left hand was all pins and needles from where he’d rested his head on his arm the majority of the evening. There was still quite a bit left to be done before term started but Rory was proud, as he surveyed the greenhouse, of what he’d yet managed to accomplish so far. Where before the spaces had looked messy, overgrown and impersonal (as was bound to happen when their previous caretaker perished), now they looked well kept and even had a little bit of his personality shinning through.

Rory had hung a differently colored maedeup in every single doorway, small and discreet. In the front corner of the main greenhouse, he’d cleared out a space for a desk and settled Bueongi in his giant cage, always left open for the owl to come and go as he pleased. He had a job here just like Rory and he was excellent at it. (Ms. Woods had luckily helped him see to the cat situation so they too would be safe so long as they didn’t venture back here.)

Rory gave a small stretch and stood. It was early and he had another full day ahead of him so that meant wandering off to the kitchens to find something for breakfast. Or at least a cup of tea. As he made his way, he ran his hand along the stone walls with a goofy smile on his face. He remembered this path very well. It ran just near the Hufflepuff common room.

The kitchen was quiet this early in the morning and only a few elves were busy prepping what he imagined to be a very limited little selection for the faculty that was returning early. Before he could even ask or poke about and make a nuisance of himself, one of the elves shoved a plate of kippers and eggs in his hand and a teacup floated over to him. Rory beamed. He didn’t know how they knew - or if maybe someone here remembered - but this was exactly his breakfast of choice. He called out a vague thank you before stuffing a piece of the toast with egg into his mouth.

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Gus Lissington

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The new term was creeping in faster than Gus was ready for, and each day felt like it carried a new weight along with it: lesson plans, Hufflepuff Plans, new duties and everything else that came with it. He felt woefully unprepared to take on everything but unlike when he started, Gus was ready to take on the responsibility rather than shrink away from it.

It was why he was up so early, having already moved back into the castle after ensuring that the children were well cared for. Fig promised she’d check in on them as often as she could and Gus would do his best to slip away some evenings after classes to see them, returning before the barricade went back up. It wasn’t ideal but it worked for them, at least for now. Eventually they would all join him here, anyway.

Gus had parked himself at one of the little tables shoved off to the side (the house elves were used to him pestering them for food and goodies by now), his legs stretching out as he rubbed his eyes. He was tired of staring at lesson plans but they had to be done before the term started or he might lose his head in the process. He clearly wasn’t the only one prepping for the term, as he heard the house elves moving about as they gathered some breakfast items for another professor.

“Rough night?” He asked, kicking out the chair across from him. “Come sit before you keel over.” It had been ages since he’d last seen Rory Carrow, but then again it wasn’t like Gus had really kept up with anyone from around here after he left to be a curse breaker. He wasn’t shocked to hear that he was taking over for Mason – he was always into Herbology and well, his personality was warm enough that the students would probably take to him instantly.

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Rory’s mouth was full (surprising nobody) as the sound of another voice floated over to him. He startled slightly, and hunched a bit to keep from making a mess, as a grin split his features. He forced down the bite-full and let out a breathless little laugh.

“Gus Lissington!” He beamed. “I heard you were back in town but I never realized this was where you’d run off to hide!” At the very thought, Rory felt himself calm considerably. He’d always liked Lissington and the familiarity of him was a small comfort amidst the new and potentially chaotic role of Professor. If there was someone here he knew already, Rory would feel much better about asking them all his silly questions. (Not that he had any quite yet.)

Making his way over, Rory settled himself in the place across from Lissington and put his plate down. The teacup rested itself just adjacent and he picked it up to take a quick sip. “It’s been a long time,” he said when his mouth was once again free. “How have you been? How long rather, have you been back? Did I miss your homecoming so terribly?!” An eagerness was building in his chest to know all and Rory shoved another bite of toast in his mouth to keep himself occupied.

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Gus Lissington

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Gus nearly winced. When he’d first started at Hogwarts everyone was shocked to hear that he was a professor – how could someone who’d spent years gallivanting around the world and unable to sit still for a moment be content with being trapped inside the castle for months at a time? It’d definitely gotten easier over the last few years, the urge to disappear becoming less and less, but then again he still had time to do what he pleased during the summer, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t scratch that itch when it came up.

Carrow sat across from him and he leaned at him. “I’ve been here for a few years, maybe five or so, and no, the weirdness of being back doesn’t ever really go away.” Sometimes Gus still thought he’d be yelled at for being in places he shouldn’t be after hours, but he was a professor so there weren’t many (if any!) places that were off limits to him. “I have a cottage in Ireland, by the sea, so you wouldn’t really see me around town. I only come in to stock up on treats.” He left off the bits he didn’t think Carrow needed to know: how cursebreaking had ended terribly because someone knew his secrets, about his marriage and subsequently, how he was a widow in less than a year’s time.

Gus shrugged. “So Hogwart, eh?” He was curious how (and why) the man decided to apply to be a professor.

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Five years. He had missed Lissington’s homecoming; by a long short. Rory resolved to himself to make up for lost time. They were together as professors now anyway, were they not? Maybe all it took was Hogwarts to bring them back from their straying paths in life. He gave Lissington an apologetic nudge. “I’m sorry, Gus,” he admitted. “I’m sorry we ever lost touch in the first place.”

The conversation turned back to him however and Rory grinned. “Yeah, Hogwarts,” he agreed. He wasn’t ready yet to tell anyone why— or mention Elsie’s curse until he was sure it was safe. And while Gus Lissington was probably the exact person he could lean on when the time came, having been a curse breaker and specializing in the defense of dark arts and all, he had a lot of making up for lost time to do first. “I’m sure there aren’t many who’d have pegged me for an academic,” he teased lightly instead. “But I do like my plants.” Rory gave a fond smile and shoveled another bite of food into his mouth. “Only time will tell if it was a good decision,” he laughed around his mouthful.

They ate and chatted for a bit then and Rory couldn’t help the reassuring feeling that it was just like old times. When he’d cleaned his plate and Lissington was approaching the end of his meal, Rory sat up a little straighter. “Hey, speaking of professorship and all that—“ not that they had been at that moment, but anyhow. “Do you think you could help me take a look at the collapsed greenhouse? I want to make sure it’s protected so that nosy students can’t get in or too close in case of danger while it’s being repaired.” He flashed Gus a knowing smile. “Students like you and me who would have been the first to go poking about,” he teased.

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Gus Lissington

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Gus smiled before he nodded in agreement; it did suck they lost touch, but he’d dropped most of his friends when he’d left the country. It was really on Sophia he’d kept in touch with and now she was dead. Maybe that was the curse of not letting her go like he’d done to everyone else.

The conversation drifted back to Hogwarts and he listened to the man speak about the decision. It seemed like he had a few of the same reasons for becoming one. It was nice to be able to have another friend here, and the conversation flowed easily despite the time that had passed between them. Then of course, Gus smiled. “Yeah, I’ll come by later today to help with that,” because Rory was right – they would have been the first to go poking around. They were both lucky that neither of them had gotten maimed or died while they were at Hogwarts.

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   Ambrose Carrow

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