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Hogwarts Headmaster

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Posts: 46
Age: 35
Species: Human
House: Hufflepuff
Occupation: Headmaster, DADA Professor
Status: Widowed
Played by: Emma

Last seen Nov 1, 2024 19:01:38 GMT

Piece By Piece Oct 24, 2021 13:53:19 GMT

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Post by WILL RYAN BELACQUA on Oct 24, 2021 13:53:19 GMT

Will had thought that he’d seen the best and worst that the magical world had to offer. He had thrived during his time at Hogwarts and it had been the same for his siblings and during his gap year he had travelled and seen a lot of what the world had to offer. He had fallen in love with Lauren and he had thought that the two of them would have a long and happy life together ahead of them. That was how it had started out, they had been blessed with three incredible children but then Lauren was taken away from them before the kids were even really old enough to remember that much about her. Will had done his best to be there for the kids ever since then, he had tried to be both a father and mother to them and he had raised them as best he could but in doing so he had put his own happiness on hold. Now the kids were older and things had changed Will knew that the time was finally right for him to start thinking about moving on but now that was the last thing on his mind. Magic had been revealed to the world in the worst way possible and Will hoped that sooner or later those responsible would be brought to justice but right now the whole world was in chaos and now that magic had been revealed to everyone he knew that there was no way that they could go back to the way things were.

Breaking the news about what had happened during the Start of Term Feast was one of the most difficult things that Will had ever done, it was right up there with explaining to his kids that their mum was gone, and he knew that things were never going to be the same but he, Kirsten and the other staff were all doing the best they could in order to be there for the students as much as possible. He knew that he had made the right decision in offering Kirsten the position of Headmistress after the university had started taking off, not only did it mean that he had someone to share the workload with but it also meant that he was able to spend every night at home with his family and it meant that he got to continue teaching as well. He had the best of both worlds right now and he was grateful for that. That day he was sitting in the Staff Lounge waiting for Kirsten to join them. They regularly had meetings so they could talk about what was going on around the school along with how the students and staff were doing and that day it was time for one of those meetings. They always went for the Staff Lounge rather than one of their offices since it was neutral ground and meant that they could spread papers out if they needed to and the table was full of food and drink in case they wanted it. Will knew that he might want to later but for the time being he simply sat sipping a butterbeer as he waited for Kirsten to arrive.

KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX

KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX

Hogwarts Headmistress

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Posts: 16
Age: 36 Birthday December 12
Species: Human
House: Hufflepuff
Occupation: Headmistress, Charms Professor
Status: Married
Partner: Josh Maddox
Played by: Mandy

Last seen Nov 12, 2024 0:40:27 GMT

Piece By Piece Nov 3, 2021 11:36:19 GMT

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Post by KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX on Nov 3, 2021 11:36:19 GMT

In the morning when I wake

And the sun is coming through,
Oh, you fill my lungs with sweetness,

Kirsten loved her job, in general she loved everything about her life, but having to watch the fear and confusion across the students of Hogwarts as Will had told the students about the attacks, and that he and the rest of the staff would do everything to keep them safe, that was a rough one. It wasn't her personal roughest day, but professionally it was a rough one. She'd been on edge herself since she'd heard about the attacks, that the world she knew had vanished in such a short span of time and the safety of her kids was up in the air. She'd checked in daily with Nessie, her eldest, likely to the point of annoyance on her part, but Kirsten had always worried, and this wasn't doing any favours for that particularly annoying trait in the Hufflepuff alumni's roster of personality traits. Her phone going off pulled her from the papers, and she glanced at it, and then the clock on the device as the reminder went off, surprised time had gone so fast. With a relieved sigh she put down the pen she was using to read through and mark the batch of essays she'd received from her second-year group and after jotting down a comment on the last paragraph she'd read about a stylistic choice she put the stack of papers in the binder and then the binder in her bag, closing the lid and casting a charm to keep it feather-light and secure from sneaky students, rose from her desk and after picking up and pocketing her phone and wand, left her office, the lock making a clicking noise behind her before she sealed it with a series of anti-theft charms. She wondered what had been left out in the way of food for her and Will's meeting, she'd skipped lunch, unwillingly, to stop at the house where her husband was home with their youngest set of twins, both of which were being terrors and Riley, in particular, refused to take a nap, which roused Renee into this particular form of mutiny. Several tears, and breaking down into a bribe later the Maddox parents had gotten the kids to sleep just in time for Kirsten to rush back to the castle for her afternoon set of classes, missing the lunch Josh had enticed her with earlier that morning that had led to her coming home in the first place. She wasn't hungry enough to want a full meal, dinner wasn't too far away, but she was hungry for something. Stopping to guide a lost pair of first years, poor things weren't directionally inclined it seemed, she smiled warmly at them, remembering herself as a young 11-year-old girl as she finally arrived at the staff room, not a minute early or late.

Her eyes scanned the table Will was at for the food choices before landing on Will himself as she sat down, plopping her bag next to her with an audible thud as she smiled in greeting, "Hey. I know I'm not late, but I'm also not as early as I usually am so I apologise anyway. As is my style." She chuckled, picking fun of herself as she wasted no time taking a plate and some of the fresh fruit from the table as well as some pumpkin juice, "How was classes today?" She asked a usual pleasantry that was asked given they were professors, a fact she was so glad to be able to continue given how much she'd loved teaching since the moment she'd been offered the spot of Charms professor in the first place.

NOTES: It's crappy but it will get better. Hopefully, for your sake.

TAGS: WILL RYAN BELACQUA

WORDS: 604

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WILL RYAN BELACQUA

Hogwarts Headmaster

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Posts: 46
Age: 35
Species: Human
House: Hufflepuff
Occupation: Headmaster, DADA Professor
Status: Widowed
Played by: Emma

Last seen Nov 1, 2024 19:01:38 GMT

Piece By Piece Nov 7, 2021 19:35:54 GMT

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Post by WILL RYAN BELACQUA on Nov 7, 2021 19:35:54 GMT

Will had never thought that he would end up becoming Headmaster but it had to be said that it was a job he loved. He was still able to teach and he still spent time with his kids and the rest of his family so the truth was that he had the best of both worlds. He would be the first to admit that he had felt lost after his wife had died, he hadn’t known what to do with himself but focusing on work had helped him get through it, as had focusing on the kids. His family and friends had been there to support him every step of the way and he was grateful to them for that because he knew that he wouldn’t have made it through that loss without them but he had honestly hoped that that was all that the people he cared about would have to endure. Now the whole world was in turmoil because a group of witches and wizards had decided that they knew best and had proved to the world that magic was real and now there was chaos everywhere. Each day brought with it a new report of a town or village being ripped apart, witches and wizards were doing their best to hide what they were from the world but the muggles were on the rampage seeing threats where there weren’t any. This wasn’t the way that things were meant to end up but it was the world they were living in now and all any of them could try and do was look out for each other. Will was doing his best to look out for the staff and students at Hogwarts, there were more Aurors and Guardians on the grounds than there ever had been before and those who wanted to seek out the Enlightened and stop them from doing any more harm were starting to band together. For the time being it was all they could do and he knew that the Minister for Magic was trying to smooth things over with the muggle Prime Minister as well so he hoped that in time things would start to settle down but only time would tell.

At least at Hogwarts things were still fairly normal for the most part anyway. Classes were still going on and soon quidditch tryouts would be starting too. Will knew that a lot of the staff and students were worried about their loved ones so he always encouraged them to reach out to them as much as possible and he knew that a lot of them were doing just that. Life went on and that was something that he knew all too well. They were all trying to make the best of things and right now they couldn’t do any more than that. That afternoon he and Kirsten were meant to be having a meeting so they could catch up about how things were going and as the afternoon went on the Heads of Houses would probably end up joining them like they sometimes did as well. He and Kirsten were able to see a lot of what was going on but it was always interesting to get the perspective of others and a meeting like this was the perfect opportunity to do just that. Will normally would have arrived a little early and it wasn’t too long before Kirsten joined him as well. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Did you have a nice lunch with your family?” he asked as he took a sip of his drink. They both had their own routines, Kirsten went home and had lunch with her family while Will had lunch with his kids at Hogwarts. Not all were lucky enough to have that balance but the two of them were and for that he was grateful. “Pretty good actually, Harvey Lestrange and another boy ended up in a fight so they’re both in detention which isn’t anything new. Other than that things seem to be settling down a little,” he explained. “How have yours been?”

KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX

KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX

Hogwarts Headmistress

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Posts: 16
Age: 36 Birthday December 12
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House: Hufflepuff
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Last seen Nov 12, 2024 0:40:27 GMT

Piece By Piece Nov 16, 2021 13:14:54 GMT

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Post by KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX on Nov 16, 2021 13:14:54 GMT

In the morning when I wake

And the sun is coming through,
Oh, you fill my lungs with sweetness,

Working with so many of her friends was a blessing, and she rarely felt like it was work. It was work, teaching kids the ages of 11 and up and all the hormonal mood swings that came with the territory of teaching pre-teens and teens, but knowing she had the staff room as a haven to relax and enjoy the teacher talk with her co-workers before going home to parent toddlers always made it worth it. Now that she was technically the boss of a few of her friends, and on the same level as Will, she was glad that nothing had changed in the dynamic. It was strange at times not being simply a regular old professor and head of Hufflepuff as she'd been from her second year teaching, but she'd gladly gave up her claim to Hufflepuff to help Will now that Hogwarts University had taken off, a wonderfully popular idea that she'd been proud to support and now help run alongside him. Educating the minds of the future was a big job, but she knew herself and the other staff at Hogwarts were ready to take it on with a smile - and wine after it was over for the day. The help of technology was also a blessing, able to send her students who were ill notes from the lesson on the Phoenix laptops they were provided or arrange a meeting with students who were struggling to reach out a hand. Being as handy with Charms as she was, she'd used the technology to her advantage, the computer screen displayed to the front of the class when she lectured, changed with her flick of her wand of the pre-loaded information. Which reminded her to get her third year lessons finished tonight after the kids were in bed. If she didn't fall into it exhausted herself, that was. It was no joke having six kids.

Almost a Quidditch team she'd been teased by her friends, and then Savannah smartass asking when she was going to pop out the seeker, to the general amusement of her twin and the lesser amusement of Josh and herself (though neither of them had taken permanent steps to prevent that seventh child). She'd been looking forward to a bit of time with her husband before toddler temper tantrums ruined that plan, but she'd gotten to see him and the youngest group of kids, even if she didn't get any food out of the deal before teaching some tired looking first and seventh years, both groups looking rather tired of education and she'd had to ask her questions several times before getting an answer even from her usually reliable students. Kirsten shared their pain, but she'd had work of her own after the classes had let out before the staff meeting with Will, and though it was work-related she was looking forward to it, as it gave her and her old friend a chance to catch up and check in on the other as they so often did since they'd both had to share the incredible pain of the loss of a spouse, and so close together they'd been each other's crutches when they'd most needed it. The friendship between them, which had always been solid, grew even more so when they joined a club that no one wanted to join. It was a pain she never wanted to experience again and had been one of her biggest fears during every pregnancy, that in the midst of the joy of growing their baby she'd end up doing it alone and not having her husband beside her every step of the way. Her parents had almost expected her and Will to become an item themselves as they helped each other grieve, but Kirsten hadn't been ready to think about the thought of it, and in the meantime, she'd met Josh, and before she knew it, he and his giant dog and giant heart had swept her off her feet into her second happily ever after. Her friendship with Will was precious and dear to her heart, and she was glad to have him to confide in, or simply just laugh and joke around with and that her kids had an amazing uncle in him. Plopping in her chair next to him for the meeting and hearing his question she huffed a little, which almost served as an answer itself before rolling her eyes and then laughing, "Lunch didn't happen. Renee and Riley decided to throw a hell of a tantrum and refuse to take their much-needed nap. By the time me and Josh got them down I had to rush back to class. So this," she said, gesturing to the plate of food she'd piled together, "Is my lunch. Apparently you're my lunch date today, surprise." She finished with a laugh followed by popping a grape in her mouth as Will recounted his classes and the Lestrange boy in yet another detention, "Another detention? That boy isn't going to know anything but classes and detention at this rate. Is it bad form to start a total detention betting pool for the fellow staff?" She joked, though was actually surprised at Harvey's newest detention, though she shouldn't be at this point. Taking a sip of her pumpkin juice she swallowed it before recounting her own day, "Mine wasn't too bad, after lunch I think everyone was through learning though, my first years and seventh years may as well have been holograms as much interaction I got from them. I checked to make sure it wasn't a hologram actually, subtly of course. I gave them a little mercy and let them have the last thirty minutes of free time working on the essay I assigned last class, though I'm not sure if any of them actually accomplished much." She recounted glad there wasn't any fighting going about in her day, "Anything from the Ministry on progress with finding Enlightened members?" She asked, knowing it was a common question these days amongst staff to another, all on edge in their own ways, all hiding their fear to be reassuring faces to their students as they kept to normalcy as much as possible with all the extra security.

NOTES: Oh look it still sucks. Sorry

TAGS WILL RYAN BELACQUA

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WILL RYAN BELACQUA

Hogwarts Headmaster

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Posts: 46
Age: 35
Species: Human
House: Hufflepuff
Occupation: Headmaster, DADA Professor
Status: Widowed
Played by: Emma

Last seen Nov 1, 2024 19:01:38 GMT

Piece By Piece Dec 12, 2021 1:12:35 GMT

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Post by WILL RYAN BELACQUA on Dec 12, 2021 1:12:35 GMT

When he was younger Will had thought that he had known how his life was going to end up. He had decided to take a year off after graduation to travel but he had always known that he would end up returning to Hogwarts when that year was over so that he could start teaching, he just hadn’t thought that he would end up falling in love a year or so after he returned. He had fallen hard and fast and even though that love had ended up being short lived the truth was that he didn’t regret a minute of it. He had known what it was like to love another person before as he’d had a few girlfriends while he was at Hogwarts but his relationship with Lauren had been so different. They had made each other better and even though they’d only ended up spending a few short years together he knew that he wouldn’t change those for anything in the world. It had been more than ten years since she’d died and he had been on his own ever since but he’d thrown himself into his work and raising the kids. Becoming a single dad wasn’t something that he had ever planned on but he had known that there was no way that he was going to turn his back on his kids when they needed him the most. Instead he had learned to balance his time and having Kirsten there with him had helped. The two of them had been friends all through their time at school and she had lost her husband too. A few times Will’s parents had hinted that perhaps he and Kirsten would end up together but that hadn’t happened. Those feelings had never developed between them although he was glad that they were still friends. She had moved on with her life and started a new chapter with Josh and Will really was happy for her but he couldn’t help but feel like his own life was still in limbo in that respect. He hadn’t tried dating since Lauren had died but the kids were older now and didn’t need him as much so he would be lying if he said that he hadn’t thought about putting himself out there again, he just wasn’t sure how.

Now with the way the Enlightened had thrown the world into chaos that idea was put on the back burner once more as Will knew that he had much more important things to think about. Becoming Headmaster wasn’t something that he had thought would end up happening but when the position was offered to him he had known that there was no way that he could have turned it down. He had been managing on his own but he had wanted to do more and Hogwarts University was his way of making sure that students had options when they graduated. It had meant a lot more work so offering Kirsten the Headmistress position had been an easy decision to make and he was glad that he had done. Working together had always been good but he couldn’t deny that having one of his best friends to bounce ideas off of was so much better and now he couldn’t imagine it any other way. He had asked how her lunch had ended up going and the huff that came as a response was enough to tell him that it hadn’t gone well but Kirsten’s answer was enough to have him laughing. “I remember those days all too well. Holly always had a habit of throwing a tantrum just when I had to leave to get back here. They seem to know when the worst time to have a tantrum is,” he chuckled. “I won’t argue with being your lunch date though,” he added with a grin as he took a sip of his drink. “Not really, I won’t be surprised if a few of them are already taking bets,” he laughed. Harvey couldn’t seem to stay out of trouble these days it seemed but Will hoped that sooner or later he would settle down and that everyone else would do the same. “I think a lot of the time it’s other students starting fights with him but he never learns to walk away.” Whenever there was a fight then Will always tried to be fair and he knew that the other staff tried to do the same but they couldn’t just turn a blind eye. “I’m not surprised they were distracted, ,it has been the same in my classes as well,” he admitted. “I’ve been trying to get them learning some spells to keep them engaged but they can’t seem to focus at the moment.” That was something that he had been hearing from some of the other staff as well and it was to be expected given everything that had happened lately but he knew that he didn’t want the Enlightened to win even more by ruining the education of those at Hogwarts. “Nothing yet, the Minister and Jensen both checked in earlier and they’re following some leads but they haven’t found anything concrete yet. It’s almost as those they’re ghosts.”

KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX

KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX

Hogwarts Headmistress

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Posts: 16
Age: 36 Birthday December 12
Species: Human
House: Hufflepuff
Occupation: Headmistress, Charms Professor
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Partner: Josh Maddox
Played by: Mandy

Last seen Nov 12, 2024 0:40:27 GMT

Piece By Piece Jan 5, 2022 22:05:43 GMT

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Post by KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX on Jan 5, 2022 22:05:43 GMT

In the morning when I wake

And the sun is coming through,
Oh, you fill my lungs with sweetness,

Having children in both two different stages in life, older children who were fairly independent and young children who were entirely reliant on her and her village of people, though they were now at that stage in life where they thought they were independent and didn't need mum and dad. Children were stressful, there was no way around it, no one who had kids would tell you they weren't, and if they did they were lying through their teeth. Did she love them with everything in her heart and soul? Hell yes. Did they stress her out? Also hell yes, but that's what happened when you had six kids and half of them are under the age of 6, hence the lack of lunch today. "I remember them too with Samuel and Savannah but I was hoping that this time around this set of twins would be okay with mum actually eating food. I was wrong." Kirsten chuckled as she popped one of the pieces of fruit she'd piled on her plate in her mouth in a demonstration of her words and the kids' lack of desire for mum and dad eating food and spending time with each other. "Glad you're okay being my lunch date. You aren't half bad a date." She teased with a smile glad she worked with some of the best staff members around and that some of them were legitimately her best friends such as Will and Alison, who she made a mental note to arrange some sort of girls night even if it was wine on the couch with her getting up every twelve seconds to check on the kids and reminding Alison she was overdue for another adventure through toddlerhood. Will wasn't so strict a boss either even if they hadn't already been friends since they were Hogwarts students and then had a bond formed because both of them had unfortunately joined the young widows club and it made work even more enjoyable than it was just getting to teach. "They can't take bets and not include us though, that's not fair. I have six kids I could use some extra pocket money." She joked, knowing she didn't actually need extra pocket money and was actually the breadwinner between herself and Josh and they managed to provide a healthy lifestyle for their kids together.

She really did feel bad for Harvey and all of his fights and the fact that his year was already looking like it was going to be spent mostly in detentions for fights but she knew that all her co-workers tried to lay a fair hand but fighting was fighting and both parties had consequences of their actions, and it was part of being a professor at a school where the students lived on the grounds and you clustered a thousand kids into one single building regardless as to how large said building actually was. "Maybe I should redo cheering charms with my seventh years and put everyone in a good mood who takes the class." Kirsten mused thoughtfully knowing that things were pretty high in the stress and tension department for everyone given the newfound problems the world was going through with the Enlightened having ousted magic to the world through the form of murder, which didn't exactly start off the muggles on the right foot with accepting that magic was real but that they were normal people like them. "I can't blame them, especially given the most inattentive were my first years who are still taking all the school in and trying to find their way to classes on time, and my seventh years are looking at the world they're about to be released into if they don't stay on at University and that world is chaos. So it was a distraction tactic at the end." She understood it all too well, and she was understanding to it and now and then she was more than willing to let them be distracted in a different way even if it was 30 minutes to catch up on other classes, heaven's knew the older years got piled on with homework pretty quick from the gate. Learning from Will that nothing knew had happened via concrete leads on stamping down this group before they caused more damage and the troubling fact that there wasn't any lids either. "That's what worries me is that they seem like ghost but can still cause so much chaos second handed. It's hard to let my kids out of my sight and makes me want to beg Ness to move back home so she can be back in the nest because I have this thing that they'll be safe in the nest." Safe with her. She had the reinforced spells around the house for protection put up by a Ministry friend after the death of her first husband and her increased anxiety given her then current pregnancy with the twins and Ness being so young. "We should have a end of summer type something. Something fun, not a dance or anything that encourages couples over singles but someone designed for everyone." She suggested, followed by taking a swig of her pumpkin juice.

NOTES It's better than it was. I think?

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WILL RYAN BELACQUA

Hogwarts Headmaster

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Posts: 46
Age: 35
Species: Human
House: Hufflepuff
Occupation: Headmaster, DADA Professor
Status: Widowed
Played by: Emma

Last seen Nov 1, 2024 19:01:38 GMT

Piece By Piece Jan 8, 2022 23:11:19 GMT

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Post by WILL RYAN BELACQUA on Jan 8, 2022 23:11:19 GMT

Nothing in Will’s life seemed to have worked out the way that he had thought it would but he had learned to accept that a long time ago. He hadn’t planned on falling in love and starting a family so young and he definitely hadn’t planned on becoming a single father of three either. Will had learned the hard way to expect the unexpected and he was just grateful that he’d had his friends and family around him to offer support. He and Kirsten had gone through something similar around the same time so they had leaned on each other and Will was happy for her when she decided that she was ready to start the next chapter of her life with Josh. That wasn’t something that he had felt ready to do while he was juggling so much on his own, he had never been as good at multitasking as Kirsten or Alison were, but now things seemed to be settling down in that respect. Kirsten had taken on the Headmistress position so that she could share the load with him and having her there with him had proved to be a huge help. Now the kids were older as well he finally felt like he was ready to move on but he wasn’t quite sure how. He had dated quite a bit when he was younger but he would be the first to admit that he was out of practice so he couldn’t deny that the thought of getting back into it was scary.

Right now he knew that he needed to focus on other things though. The Enlightened had over the course of a few hours thrown the whole world into chaos and now the rest of them were being left to pick up the pieces. There were more Ministry workers and Guardians at Hogwarts now than there ever had been before and while Will knew that it was necessary, he couldn’t deny that it was going to take some getting used to. He had heard about how the Ministry had tried to interfere at Hogwarts in the past when Dolores Umbridge was sent to work at the school and he knew that he wasn’t going to let that happen again. Things had been going well at Hogwarts since he had become Headmaster and he knew that wasn’t going to change. They were all doing the best they could to keep Hogwarts safe while the Ministry tried to track down those responsible.

“Eating food means you aren’t paying attention to them. They’ll probably never be okay with that,” Will teased. He knew the twins weren’t actually that bad but they did seem to like playing their mum up when she tried to make plans so he couldn’t resist teasing her nonetheless. “I’m glad you think so,” he chuckled as Kirsten said he wasn’t a half bad date. He knew that this wasn’t what she’d had planned but he was happy to stand in and keep her company anyway. As Kirsten said the other staff couldn’t take bets and not include them, Will couldn’t help but laugh. “Perhaps we should bring that up at the next full staff meeting, might lighten the mood a little,” he grinned. They all needed something to laugh about now and then, the staff included. They were all doing the best they could to get each other and the students through what was going on and he couldn’t deny that he loved that about the staff team they had built up. Some staff tended to come and go but there were others who had been working there for years just like the two of them had and Will knew that it wouldn’t be the same without them.

“That might not be a bad idea, might distract them for a while,” Will admitted. All of the students seemed so distracted with what was going on at the moment and he knew that was to be expected but they were all determined not to let anything bad happen to the students so he hoped that in time they would see that too. “It’s the seventh years I feel bad for. By the time we graduated things had settled right down after Voldemort’s defeat but these kids are going to be right in the thick of it.” It was worrying to say the least and Will couldn’t deny that he hoped that most of them decided to stay on at the University so they would stay safe for that much longer but at the end of the day it was their decision. “Knowing Nessie I doubt she’d let you talk her into that now that she’s had a taste of independence but even though she’s not living under your roof any longer she still has everything you taught her to fall back on. I know it isn’t easy but she’ll be okay,” he said gently. The girl had a good head on her shoulders and he didn’t doubt that she would be careful. Kirsten’s suggestion had Will’s expression turning thoughtful for a moment. “What about a start of term bonfire?” he suggested. “We could hold it out by the lake and give the students the chance to camp out if they want to. I’m sure we could talk the Ministry workers and Guardians into helping us watch over them and it might help everyone feel like they can breathe again,” he added. Whether they would go for it or not he wasn’t sure but he knew that it wouldn’t hurt to try and bring everyone together.

KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX

KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX

Hogwarts Headmistress

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Posts: 16
Age: 36 Birthday December 12
Species: Human
House: Hufflepuff
Occupation: Headmistress, Charms Professor
Status: Married
Partner: Josh Maddox
Played by: Mandy

Last seen Nov 12, 2024 0:40:27 GMT

Piece By Piece Feb 14, 2022 13:49:20 GMT

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Post by KIRSTEN MARIE MADDOX on Feb 14, 2022 13:49:20 GMT

In the morning when I wake

And the sun is coming through,
Oh, you fill my lungs with sweetness,

Kirsten often worried about Will, not just because worrying was a particular super power of hers, especially true if you asked her children, but because she knew the struggles of being a single parent, and though she'd found her second chance at happiness she could vividly remember the days when she was alone. No matter how many people surrounded her, Will himself included, loneliness came with the territory when your friends came home to husbands and wives and you slept alone in a bed made for two. It could be overwhelming, or at least it had been for Kirsten who'd spent so long mourning Grayson and thinking she'd never move on that when Josh and her had collided paths she'd almost let him slip through her fingers because she couldn't see that being happy after loss was allowed. She often wondered where Will was on that spectrum, she hadn't heard of any dates in the years since his wife had passed, but she wasn't sure if it was because he hadn't been ready, or because being a single parent was just exceptionally hard, or a combination of the two. It'd taken a lot of convincing for Kirsten to go out with Josh, and she'd struggled to accept what she knew she was feeling, her heart and brain wrestling with each other until her sub conscious went and settled the matter in the form of a dream of her late husband telling her it was okay, something she knew deep down already but it was almost as if she needed that image of him, that perfect man she'd fallen head over heels for, to tell her what she already knew. That and a well timed magazine article of someone describing the experience. She also knew what it was like to always worry about what your kids would think if you moved on, though in her case the only child able to remember Gray had been Ness, and Kirsten had seen the look on her face when Josh had kissed her for the first time on New Year's and it'd came close to causing her to backup with Josh, that was until the thought of doing so made her chest hurt and she wrote off the notion and sat Ness down and talked to her about it woman to woman instead. How would Ryan Alyssa and Christian react to their dad dating now that they were really old enough to understand? It wasn't as if Will was getting any younger and having more children would be harder unless he found himself a trophy wife, and somehow Will didn't seem the type to date a woman around half his age. Regardless Kirsten made a mental note to broach the topic with him if she could do so delicately and sensibly. Preferably after food had been shovelled into her mouth.

Doing so, she laughed at Will's very accurate statement that if she was eating she wasn't paying attention to the kids and if that wasn't the most accurate description of her children today she didn't know what was. They were all about mum and dad paying all the attention to them and only them and napping wasn't happening, there wasn't a minute Kirsten and Josh were having to themselves, "Not any time soon. Austin was the same way, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. He liked to pull his little stunts as if he could sense when mum and dad wanted private time. It was rough there for a while." She chuckled, remembering several times when Kirsten and Josh were interrupted at night by the knock on the door or the cries for his momma, usually at the worst possible moments and she was pretty sure a few of Josh's hairs turned grey during those trying few months before he outgrew that phase minus spurts of clinginess here and there. But at least she had a pretty good replacement date plan in the form of an impromptu lunch with Will, "If I can't have a lunch date with my husband there's no one else I'd prefer to take it with than you, my friend." She said with a sincere smile, knowing that if anything the meeting and catchup session that also classified as a work thing made it the easiest work meeting she'd ever had to attend, and given how long she'd been employed at Hogwarts (a number she was not thinking of thank you very much) there was a lot of meetings. Especially if it involved the other professors taking on bets without cluing them in, setting aside it's ethical issues, it was all in good fun and what the students didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Mummy needed a new pair of shoes. "Think we all could use some lightening up. Fun betting pools in the private of our staff quarters sounds like just the trick. If Harvey's fights gets one of us a little extra money well...so be it." She mused aloud with an amused smile at the thought of some of the competitive professors going all out for the fun bets and all the weird ones she was sure some the professors could think up.

Staff wouldn't get the reprieve of cheering charms and other pointless pick-me-up lessons like the students could, not when the staff was responsible to help keep all the kids safe it was their top priority along with educating them along the way and trying to have continued normalcy during a time of chaos. "I know. They're going to be out in a whole different world than we had as fresh out of Hogwarts students. I feel bad that there isn't a whole lot we can really do in the way of advice, this is all new for all of us." Seventh years, especially those who were choosing not to remain on as University students would be going out to start their adult lives in a different world than anyone else had been in before, and there wasn't the same cookie cutter advice that would work for them if they had questions. Magic was out, even when the Enlightened gone there was no zipping this back up, magic was revealed and once the chaos and violence was done, there'd be even more to adjust to as laws and practices changed with the times. "Yeah, Ness would look at me and laugh if I ever did beg her to move in. She isn't going anywhere without her man and let's just say I wouldn't be married any longer if I invited them both to stay knowing they'd be sleeping together in her room." The room, it was noted, that she still had for her, and would always be "her" room. "I know she'll be okay, but you know me, always worrying about her especially now." She shrugged knowing it was in her nature. Suggesting ideas to help ease the students minds and give them something fun to look forward to, it seemed Will liked the bonfire idea and she liked his expanded suggestion, "I can cast a charm that'll keep the temperature steady throughout the night especially for the younger ones who couldn't cast it themselves. Of course I'd also help patrol and such. Maybe make it a little outing for my littles if that's okay with you? If not Josh can babysit the babes for the night or ship them off to my parents or his and enjoy a night of solitude." She joked, knowing she would be there to help regardless, any event in the school was her responsibility now that she had joined Will as headmistress, a job she took seriously. "It could be a fun way to let everyone let off steam and friends to gather around and tell ghost stories and whatever else teenagers do these days to amuse themselves." She added, starting to get excited herself for the prospect of the bonfire.

NOTES Feeling very rambly apparently, sorry.

TAGS WILL RYAN BELACQUA

WORDS 1322

BOBBI