Calynda's Question

Callie Perno sighed as she stood in front of her colleague's door. It shouldn't be so hard to know on the door and ask. She should just be able to gather her Slytherin pride and go brew it herself, but this potion was complicated.

She didn't even know why she needed the potion, just that she did.

Callie sighed. Raising her right hand, she knocked on the door, formulating her question.

"Professor Hall, I have a question for you... Will you brew this potion for me because I suck at brewing?"

Oh yes... That would go over swell.

She had better figure it out quick.

Gage was partially reclined in his office chair, leaning so far back as to be able to prop his feet upon the mostly-clear desk. The book directly to the left of his feet was open and had several parchments and one vial of blue liquid on top of it. Despite his love of potions, the professor had deemed the amount of work accomplished thus far earned a well-deserved break for a while. After all, these were his office hours and he could be interrupted at any time.

One-quarter of a tortilla sandwich wrap sat perched upon the arm of his chair as the professor appeared to be playing a fierce round of Rock Band. Indeed: he was focused on a single spot of the room, and was vigorously clicking away on the various buttons. This muggle device was not ordinary: Gage had charmed it to be playable no matter where he went. Battery power sufficed when not on magical grounds such as Hogwarts, and "wizard-power" fueled the magical components whenever the batteries refused to function due to magical interference.

At the knock on the door, Gage looked away from the spot he'd been staring at and sat up straight. Picking up his cane (which had his wand cleverly tucked within unless he wanted to stash it somewhere else), the professor pointed the foot of it at the door. "Open Sesame!" he beckoned with a cheeky smirk on his face.

As the door opened of its own accord to admit his visitor, Gabriel propped his Rock Band controller against the wall and tucked the uneaten portion of sandwich into a random drawer. The wizard eased himself out of his chair and strode at a half-limp to greet the woman in person.

His robes were deliberately shortened to mid-shin due to his leg; the color of said garment being navy blue. Beneath was a pale blue shirt and black trousers, with polished black shoes. His overall appearance was neat despite the almost bed-headed short mop of caramel hair and stubble of a full beard coming in.

"Come on in - water's fine. Or it would be, if the office came with a pool," he said with a smirk and offered his free left hand to shake. "Calynda, right?"

Callie stepped in at her colleague’s childish words. She recognized it from 1001 Arabian Nights. Plus she babysat for her brother Daniel when she was in Italy the previous summer. Aladdin was probably Lillian’s favorite movie ever.

She moved her dark hair over her left shoulder, hiding the tiny scar she didn't know how she got. But she was still embarrassed over it. Callie entered the room.

She immediately noted the Rock Band controller and filed that away for future reference. Possibly a Muggle sympathizer, or someone like her with a foot in both worlds. “Yes. Calynda.” The woman rolled her eyes. “What my mother was thinking when she combined Calantha and Lynda, I don’t know. Then again, I could be Artemis, so I guess it’s a bit of a blessing. Call me Callie though, please. I have a request, if you don’t mind me asking. Gage, right?”

The corner of Gage's mouth hiked upward even further. "I wish my parents had given me an unusual name. Callie it is," he replied. "Please, have a seat," the wizard offered, gesturing to the two available armchairs.

"Yep, that's my name," he said, non-verbally casting a spell to summon his chair closer. Gage didn't feel the need to sit behind a desk while talking to a colleague and, he'll admit, was slightly lazy to the point of not wanting to take those extra half a dozen or so steps. Leaning his cane against the desk, Gage pulled his chair closer and eased into it. "Fire away: I'm all ears."

A smirk quirked the right side of Callie's lips up. "And Gage isn't unusual?" she asked, sitting down on one of the armchairs. It was comfortable.

She looked down at the potion instructions that were in her hand. "I really hate to ask, but seeing as I'm really bad at Potions..." Callie held out the instructions. "This is going to seem really stupid, but I'm allergic to almost everything out there. Well, except dogs and mold."

Callie took a deep breath. "I can't brew to save my life. Would you brew this for me? I don't think I can afford to Apparate to London, or even Rome, every week."

"My parents didn't pick it. In fact, one of them hates it," he replied, smirking a bit at her returned question.

The professor's head tilted a little to the left at his colleague's admission. "It's not stupid. Although it is a bit of a problem... Unless you happen to be a dog-lover and have a rather interestingly fuzzy diet," he replied jovially as he took the instructions. Gage took a few moments to survey the ingredients and the method of preparation. A genuine interest and curiosity washed over his features as he skimmed the text.

Gage's eyebrows did a little jump at the thought of apparating to London or Rome. He certainly could and did manage the former, at least by floo. London was where the woman who held his heart lived and worked. "Looks easy enough. Well... all things considered, that is. I'll see what I can do," Gage agreed, pocketing the instructions with confidence. Already, he began to take mental stock of what he had on hand, and what he would need to purchase. "How soon do you need it by?"

Callie faltered. She didn't quite know what to say to that. "Yeah," she said, regaining her composure. "My grandparents are pureblooded wizards. They insisted on always calling me Calynda. It's part of why I prefer Callie so much."

She snorted. "Yeah, I'm a cat lover and allergic to cats. It's amazing that I've survived this long with my big fur ball as long as I have." She paused. "What I meant is that after I take it, I have to be observed by either a potioneer or a medi-witch or -wizard for at least a hour afterward. To make sure I don't have a reaction. And that normally means me staying someone in London or Rome."

Callie smiled gratefully. "Preferably by the end of next week. I need to take it every two to four weeks."

Gage nodded his understanding. Purebloods seemed a rather strange lot, in his opinion. "Perfectly understandable," he replied, though didn't say anything more on the topic of names.

A silent chuckle and yet another nod met Callie's comment about her cat. However, the wizard turned entirely serious with her next statement. "I see," he said, suddenly thoughtful. "Well, I am both a potioneer and something of a medi-wizard. I used the be the head of the Poison Control department at Saint Mungo's."

Sapphires blinked, taking a mental estimate of precisely how long it would take him. "You'll have it two days before that. Scouts honor," he replied, supplying a smirk and a brief wink at the 'scouts honor' part.

"So, what subject do you teach?" Gage asked suddenly. He was genuinely curious to know which of his colleagues taught what.

Callie's eyes grew wide. "Oh, no, I just meant I was going to ask the School Nurse!" She didn't want to put her colleague in that position. She paused. "St. Mungo's? You worked there?" She grinned slightly. "I visited there frequently when I was a kid. According to my parents, I had health issues. I know my way around there quite well."

She tilted her head. "Please tell me you aren't a former boy scout. My brothers are both former boy scouts and jerks about it. Sadly, I'm a former girl scout myself."

Calynda found herself a little shocked at Gage's question. "Oh, um, Defense Against the Dark Arts. You obviously teach Potions. Why did you come to teach here?" she asked, hoping to throw him off as much as he did to her when he posed that question. She just hadn't been expecting it.

Gage bit back a smirk when Callie's eyes widened. The wizard shrugged. "Whomever you're most comfortable with," he replied smoothly. "Just putting it out there that I'm qualified, though with particular emphasis on emergency response." At her question confirming he had worked at St. Mungo's, Gage nodded.

A roar of laughter left the wizard as they talked about scouts. "Merlin no, I was not a boy scout," he replied between mellow portions of mirth. "My father was, though. Tried to get me to join up. Said 'thanks, but no thanks.'"

Eyebrows the shade of chocolate rose with interest at the subject Callie would be teaching. At her assumption he nodded, though Gage blinked and did something like a double-take at the question asked of him. He had a feeling it might come up at some point. This point, however, was not that time he had predicted. "It's a, uh... bit of a long story," Gage replied honestly, mellowing out from his earlier near laughing fit. "Cliffnotes version: I got bored, shortly before I quit I had lost a patient, and..." the wizard paused to glance downward at his hands. Particularly, he focused upon the band on his right index finger. "And I found out I enjoyed teaching brief seminars, so why not go for the big-time classrooms, right?"

Callie shrugged once she’d gotten over her shock. “If you would be willing to give up an hour of your time every other week, I wouldn’t mind.”

She grinned. “Oh, thank god. I was worried for a minute. I got forced into it by my older sister. My aunt was my troop leader,” Callie said.

“Long story. I’m sorry about the patient. I can’t say I’ve gone through that,” she said truthfully. “I’ve enjoyed teaching for a while too. I’m the youngest. I helped my sister pass her third year my first year here.”

"I can manage that," he replied simply. If absolutely necessary, he could always bring his study materials with him and split his attention between the two. But he doubted he would need to do that. "Could even make it a paper-grading party," Gage added lightly as an afterthought.

Gage nodded his head at her condolences, and listened with interest at hearing how Callie had siblings that also attended Hogwarts. "I helped teach one of my siblings when she was here. I'm the second oldest in the family. I'm glad she didn't need any help with Divination because I still can't make heads or tails out of what the whipped cream on my hot chocolate is trying to tell me other than 'Help me - I'm melting!' ... that and it seems like I always get the tea leaves that never passed an art class..." he laughed.