[I] `STUCK in the moment -open-

[adriannalennox]

SOMETIMES I FIND IT HARD
• to believe there's someone else who could be •
JUST AS MESSED UP AS ME

The moon's rays hit the castle at an angle, creating a towering shadow over the lawns that reached all the way to the edge of the Dark Forest. Adrianna was walking in this shadow, humming to herself, enjoying the cold air on her face and the crunch of the footprints she left behind her, thinking about everything. Many times she had wished she could have changed by saying goodbye to her old life before she came to Hogwarts to teach. She was wearing her long black coat which flowed gracefully behind her. Underneath she was wearing a simple pair of black trousers, a green jumper and her hair was pulled back into a slick ponytail. It was comfort she dressed for and it was a chilly night.

Light rain began to fall, erasing Adrianna's footprints. The crushing quiet of the grounds seemed to drown out any sounds, though of course anyone approaching would have made a lot of noise in scattered twigs and reeds. Staring ahead, unseeing, Adrianna continued walking along the edge of the forest, having a lot of thoughts swimming in her mind. She began to walk to wards the lake and once she had arrived she sat upon a boulder and looked up at the stars, so of which were visible for a moment before resting her head on her knees to look out at the lake. It was late into the night so she knew no students would be out and teachers would more than likely not come outside. She liked this spot; she could just simply think and be Adrianna Susan Lennox and not Professor Lennox. She needed time where she was not a professor, just where she could be her. Now she was babbling in her mind, she did this often; it was just something she did when she was stressed. She sighed to herself softly. Adrianna had seen how much had changed over the past year or so.

Her lessons had been going smoothly for the best part, but other times they would not go as she had planned. The assignments she had set had not what she had been expecting, for some reason the students thought of her to be a push over, and would not do the standard that was expected of them. But Adrianna had spoke to some of the students that had done terribly on her assignments and they seemed to have gotten better grades in her classes. Her choices of words were often colourful when I lesson, but she thought of herself as a stern teacher when she was teaching the practical aspects of the subject. She lifted her head up from off her arms when she heard someone walking her way. Adrianna did not know who could be outside at this time of night.

TAGGED ! Open
WORDS ! 467
OUTFIT ! CLICK
LYRICS ! sometimes by skillet
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! None

[stephaniewestwood]

STEPHANIE would never say that being a teacher was perfect. For one, she would only lie if someone's life depended on it. Secondly, anyone that believed her would be a complete idiot, or else just deaf and blind. If having to stand in front of a classroom of teenagers, despite having chosen to do so, and attempting to teach them something that they clearly show no interest for wasn't difficult enough, there was the marking, the detentions, the meetings, the planning, and of course the patrols. If she'd had a say in the matter, Steph would've much preferred to be well rested for her first years tomorrow (they still hadn't got the hang of 'be quiet and get on with your work'), followed by a bunch of seventh years.

UNTIL then, she still had work to do. Tonight would probably be another sleepless night - once she'd finished her patrol, there was a pile of essays sitting on her desk, screaming at her to be marked. Sure, she could ignore the parchment, but it wouldn't be long before the students too were screaming for their papers back. As she made her way from her office on the first floor to the entrance hall, she pretended not to notice a fourth year Slytherin hiding behind a suit of armour. At least he was inside and safe, and he'd probably run into Thomas on his way back to the dungeons. Since he wasn't in Ravenclaw, he was less likely to listen to her, though the sight of Professor Moore might encourage him to get back into bed and sleep like he was supposed to be doing.

AFTER pushing open the main doors, Stephanie stepped out into the cold night air. This was one of the benefits of having to check everyone was in bed. It was as silent as things ever got at Hogwarts, and she loved to just listen to the quiet. That was until she spotted somebody else in the grounds that was. Most of the members of staff at Hogwarts were male, despite the Ministry making regular attempts to push equality in the workplace, and she was the only female due to patrol that evening, as far as she knew anyway. Steph came to the conclusion that it was a student (though she was to be proved wrong) and the grounds weren't quite so safe as the castle. There wasn't much that posed as a threat to their very existence, but the gystrashes weren't particularly friendly either.

RATHER than yelling at them from where she stood, Professor Westwood assumed it would probably be better to speak to them face to face. That way she stood more of a chance of recognising them and putting a name to their face, and passing it on for an appropriate punishment, and it also gave them less time to run off into the forest or something. Upon getting closer, she felt that they didn't look very... well, student-like. There was an air of maturity to them, and focusing closely on the girl's face, they looked rather old to be a student. The woman in herself was far from old, but she wouldn't be able to pass for seventeen anymore.

"IF it isn't Adrianna Lennox. What brings you out into the grounds at this hour?" Steph asked after figuring out that the woman was in fact the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

( WORD COUNT ) 569

[adriannalennox]

SOMETIMES I FIND IT HARD
• to believe there's someone else who could be •
JUST AS MESSED UP AS ME

Sitting upon this boulder was not going to do wonder for her health, but for the time being that was not at the top her list. Adrianna had somewhat of a talent for just zoning out, when she was outside alone. It allowed her thoughts to come to life and the fact was, it was better than sitting with a bunch of hormonal teenagers. Of course she loved teaching, she would not deny it, but it was the fact the students would slack off if given the chance. While she was at school she was a so called bookworm, she liked to pass her subjects comfortably. The downside of this was that she did not have a life most of the time. But the one time she did let her hormones get the best of her, her grades had suffered. That was of course until she met her ex-fiancé. He had shown her how to balance work and play. If only the teens within the school knew that fine balance.

Adrianna did not pay attention to the person walking her way, if it was a student, they could not pass her without them seeing, even if they were to run. It was just the position in which she was sat. Adria pulled her jacket closer to her body to keep the cold out. It was indeed an unusually cold night, but a sign that it would most likely be a warm, pleasant day when the sun rose. She looked in the direction of where this person was walking, and could make out an outline in the shadows, though it was hard to see just who it could be. The castle looked beautiful, as it sat silhouetted against the darkened sky. Closing her eyes, this place could often feel like a dream and she was just waiting to wake up and become the teen in her muggle home, living back with her parents. But the best part was that it most certainly was not a dream.

It was a voice that pulled her back to her reality. A female voice. Opening up her eyes, Adrianna willed them to focus so she could see just who it was. A small smile appeared upon her face. “Well if it’s not Professor Westwood.” Adrianna spoke back, the smile staying upon her face. “I came to enjoy some peace and quiet this place had to offer and my quarters just don’t allow thoughts to flow freely.” The statement was very true, Adrianna did very much like nature; it often felt like she was connected to it, in some strange, yet almost magical way. Now that did sound very ironic. It was strange the way Adrianna though recently, it must be the fact her parents were pushing for marriage of their youngest child. Though they already had a grandchild from her eldest sibling and her older sister was also married. “How is the patrol going?” She asked the head of house, it was a nice that they were both Ravenclaw, it meant, well it actually meant nothing but it was a nice though neither the less. They were professor and meant to rise above house rivalry, but most of time that did not happen. This professor knew that she really should head back to her quarters for some much needed sleep, but her classes would be somewhat pleasant, since it was scheduled to be practical classes with a bit duelling here and there to practice.

TAGGED ! Open
WORDS ! 579
OUTFIT ! CLICK
LYRICS ! sometimes by skillet
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! None