In Search of a Way Out, --open--

[Alana Starbeck]

It was a Hogsmeade weekend and Alana had taken advantage of the situation by breaking away from the large group of students and apparating over to Diagon Alley. She desperately needed to re-stock some of her private potions ingredients- mainly her supplies for the dreamless sleep potion. She had run out almost two weeks ago and she was desperate with need. Her nightmares had been keeping her up every night and so she hadn't had any sleep at all and it was beginning to show. She had been avoiding Matt as much as possible so he wouldn't notice- after all, the glamour charms she knew could only hide so much and even then, he would know something was amiss. He knew her too well. He could always see through her facades, no matter how hard she tried.

She appeared in front of the Leaky Cauldron and quickly made her way into the Apothecary. Alana wandered around the dark, dank store for a few moments, grabbing random bottles off the shelves as she came across the ones she needed. She was also stocking up on ingredients for the Draught of Living Death potion, just in case the Dreamless Sleep potion proved ineffective at some point. Alana remembered reading somewhere that if one took too much Dreamless Sleep potion, the effects started to wear off. So far she hadn't had any problems with it, but she'd rather not take the chances. She plucked a bottle of Valerian Roots off the shelf and placed it in her basket. She continued to wander around the store, not noticing the other patron as they entered.

[Jason Finnigan]

Jason had no idea what he was going to do that morning. He went over his class plans as he sat in his office, wondering if there was anything else he was going to be needing. Ah, so they would be working more on dueling, well that should have been obvious to him. How had he forgotten? He strode over to one of his cupboards and pulled out an almost empty bottle and sighed. He was going to need to make more. The potion inside was Essence of Dittany, which helped stopped bleeding from even the most serious of wounds. Normally when his older students dueled, more than half of the students ending up bleeding because their opponent threw a hurling hex at them or something of the sort. He tried his best to control his students but sometimes, he had to let things go naturally. In the real world, there would be no one on the sidelines to make sure that everything was fair and no one would really get hurt. He tried to make his class as realistic as it was possible within school rules.

He checked through his cupboards, he was going to need more ingredients for this. He sighed, grabbed some money and a few other things, and crammed them in his robe pockets as he made his way out the door. He quickly made his way out of Hogwarts, off the grounds, and into Hogsmeade. Now he could finally apparate. He found himself in the Leaky Cauldron and stepped outside, hitting the blocks with his wand until he gained entrance to Diagon Alley. He walked through the streets quickly, obvious to everyone that he was on a mission. He stepped in front of the Potions Ingredients store and walked in, looking for what he needed.

He needed some Billywig Stings, he looked around the store for them. His eyes fell on a woman whom he thought looked all too young, but she had to be an adult, what else would she be doing in Diagon Alley? He looked at her more closely, it was a student. One of his own students to be more exact. He walked calmly and ended up behind her, "Now Ms. Starbeck, I don't believe Diagon Alley is a place where students are allowed to go on Hogsmeade weekends," he said calmly. He wasn't going to get her in trouble, as long as she had a good reason to be here.

[Alana Starbeck]

Alana nearly dropped the bottle of Asphodel Root she had just taken off the shelf. She recognized the voice of her Dark Arts professor almost instantly and she whirled around, panic evident in her hazel eyes. Bloody hell! Now she was going to be in trouble! Alana schooled her face back into a mask of calm as she gazed at him. Her mind whirled back into gear and she though of a response. "Afternoon Professor. I was just gathering some ingredients for my potions project- the one I am doing as an independent study." That was partly true. She was working on an independent study in potions and it did happen to be on the Draught of Living Death. She was hoping to become a Potions Mistress and that involved becoming an apprentice. Alana figured if she got as many credits out of the way as possible, her apprenticeship would go smoothly and quickly and she would reach Mistress level in no time.

Sometimes her professor would let her go gather hr own ingredients, but that was only for things that one could find in the Forbidden Forest and even then, she usually had a staff member accompany her. But Professor Finnigan wouldn't necessarily know that, would he? Alana was debating with herself. If he did catch her in her slight fib, would she tell him the full truth? She didn't really want anyone to know about her nightmares, that's why she had been brewing her own remedies and not going to the medi-witch at school. And, if she were honest with herself, there was only one person she trusted enough with her secrets and that Ravenclaw didn't happen to be around right now. She sighed to herself- life was about to complicated. Again.

[Jason Finnigan]

Jason hid his amusement well as he watched the student turn around and look at him. He could see in her eyes that she was scared and well, he couldn't blame her. He'd be scared if the situation was reversed, he the student and she the professor. But unfortunately for her, it wasn't reversed. He immediately came to the conclusion that she had no idea that he was a Legilimens. He could read right through her lies. He could tell by looking at her that she was lying, one of the many talents that came along with being a Legillmens. But she didn't seem to be able to tell that he could read her mind. Of course, if she continued to lie he could always threaten to actually perform the spell and see her memories and see exactly what she was hiding from him. He didn't want to have to resort to that however, he wanted her to tell the truth on her own accord. He decided that he would give her a chance to tell the truth and then if she lied, he would inform her that he was a Legillmens and see how she felt about that and see if it changed her answer any.

He looked at her sternly, still showing no sign that he knew she was lying in the slightest, "And thats the truth is it Alana?" he asked, locking his eyes with hers. He wanted to see if she'd admit to it or if she would continue to lie, lying would only cause her trouble.

This post has been edited by Jason Finnigan on Apr 13 2008, 04:04 PM

[Alana Starbeck]

Fingering the holder of her basket, Alana tried not to fidget under his gaze. It was so intense, too intense. She didn't like people staring at her so intently, it unnerved her. Alana shivered. His gaze reminded her of her father's and it brought back all the awful memories. She could see herself running down her family dungeon corridor, bloody- the pain in her back and legs all too familiar. She had gotten loose from her bonds that night and had been trying to hide from her father. Turns out that had been a bad idea, it had only made her punishment that much worse. He had chained her to the dungeon wall and whipped her mercilessly with a cat o'nine tails. The beating had gone on for days. He would whip her, then leave her chained to the wall, unconscious for Merlin knows how long only to come back and repeat the torture. As the memories faded, Alana's face set into a stoney calm- no emotion evident. She didn't want to give away her unease because of her emotions, right now she had much bigger problems. How was she going to avoid detention?

She crossed her arms over her chest, gracing him with a slight smirk, "Obviously, Professor, you know that it is not, so why bother asking?" She fought to keep the emotion from her voice. Why did he care anyway? "Although I didn't fully lie, I am here for potions ingredients."

[Jason Finnigan]

Jason could tell in an instant that she was lying, not only because he was who he was but because he could tell by her body language. She was fingering the holder on her basket, she looked like she was lying or trying to hide something. She also seemed to be under some kind of pain, whether that pain be from lying right to his face or from something else, he wasn't sure. He would only know that if he did decide to invade her private space, her memory. He was sure she wouldn't want him to do that, who did? He hated the experience himself, even if he had nothing to hide. Some things were truly better left unsaid. But she was certainly breaking the rules and as a professor, he had to do something about it. He doubted he would give her a detention, that wasn't his style. But he would be damned if he let a child lie to him as she so obviously was.

He met her gaze as she spoke, her arms crossed and her smirk radiating. He quirked his right eyebrow at her response, the sternness in his eyes was unnerving, even to him. He straightened up, "Ms. Starbeck, before you lose housepoints for your attitude, or have something worse given to you, I would advise you to tell me the truth. I see that you are gather Potions supplies but you are also out of bounds, you are not allowed to be here. I would expect honesty from somehow who was so obviously breaking the rules," he replied in a very stern voice, his eyes meeting hers once more. "Please don't make me have to use other means to figure it out," he added in a softer yet suggestive tone.

[Alana Starbeck]

Alana's eyes narrowed a bit. He definitely was making her feel uneasy but she did her best to hide it. She needed these potions ingredients and she would be damned if he was going to stop her. Her sanity was much more important than whether or not she spent a few nights in detention. She quirked her eyebrow at him, what was he doing in the apothecary anyway? He was the DADA professor; he didn't need potions, did he? Alana was frustrated. She was in a predicament and she knew it was her own fault, she shouldn't have snuck out to the store, but she desperately needed to. She sighed and tucked her hair behind her ears.

She raised her eyebrow at the stern expression and tone he gave her. He wasn't usually so strict, but she supposed she had been a bit touchy with her response. Alana listened to him lecture her and her mouth almost fell open at his thinly veiled threat. What did he mean other ways of figuring it out? Was he going to use veritaserum on her? Or maybe tie her down and torture her until she talked? Perhaps he could read her mind? She fought the emotions that were bubbling to the surface- what in the bloody hell did he care anyway? Alana crafted her face into a masque of calm indifference, "Fine. I needed potion ingredients for a dreamless sleep potion I'm making. It's for personal use." she replied nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. "And what do you mean by 'other means'?" she asked him, her gaze sparkling in intrigue.

[Jason Finnigan]

He watched as her eyebrow raised, she obviously was surprised by the tone in his voice. He didn't blame her in the slightest, this was his authoritative voice which he normally only had to use when someone dared to cause trouble in his classroom. He had never had a reason to use the voice on her, she was an excellent student and seemed beyond futile attempts to break the rules, except now. If she had only been honest and well, had kept her sassy attitude to a minimum, he would have talked to her just as he normally would have. He was glad to see that his threat had worked on the girl, he hadn't wanted to use Legimens, he hated having to use it on students, but he was by all means allowed to - he just preferred to warn them before using it. His eyebrow raised as she mentioned the Dreamless Sleep Potion, it made sense why she would need it for personal uses, he didn't want to venture too far into the female mind and find out what she was having nightmares about really. It could be something as serious as a nightmare from real life experiences that were better left unsaid or it could be over some boy who had broken her heart. Though he found that unlikely, though he was a professor he did watch people, it was all part of his job, it also helped that her best mate was probably the best student in the class, also an aspiring Auror which kept himself and Matthew Roberts fairly close, as close as a student and professor could be. He wouldn't break her heart nor would he let anyone else, it had to be something deeper than that but he didn't wish to pry into the personal lives of his students. He nodded his head curtly, "Well, get your things quickly and we'll head back to Hogsmeade. You won't receive detention if you do that." He thought he was being extremely lenient, he only hoped she wouldn't snap back at him. He really didn't want to get her into trouble.

Her last question caught him off guard but only slightly, it was only natural for one to ask a question after a threat like that. He gave her a small smile, "I would have thought you could have figured that one out Ms. Starbeck. I'm a Legimens as well as an Occlumens. I could have simply seen your memories, read your mind, and figured out what you were doing here. That would involve a lot of personal information from yourself, so I preferred that you just answered honestly instead of having to use it."

[Alana Starbeck]

Alana felt relief wash over her at his words. He wasn't going to get her into trouble and he was going to allow her to purchase her items. She flashed him an appreciative smile, "Thank you." she replied softly. Alana made her way up to the counter where the clerk was standing, reading a paper. She looked over her shoulder at her professor, he really was a very nice guy and she felt bad for snapping at him. She wished she could blame it on lack of sleep but she knew it was more because she had needed those ingredients. And here he was allowing her to get them anyway. Alana paid for her purchases and turned back to her professor. "I'm ready to go if you are." she commented. She paused for a moment and then continued on, "And I'm sorry for snapping at you Professor. It was uncalled for, I realize that. I know it's no excuse but I tend to get a bit touchy when it comes to my potion ingredients, especially for this potion in particular." She didn't want to explain too much to him. If she did he might make her go to the Headmaster and that was something she was trying to avoid.

She raised her eyebrows at his answer. He was a Legillimens and an Occlumens?! Alana was flabbergasted! "I figured it might have something to do with that, or veritaserum, but I didn't actually know it was true." she replied. "And I appreciate you not just going into my head and sifting through my memories. Very respectable of you, Professor." she gave a him a genuine smile. Her hazel eyes flashed at him, a mischievous look hidden in them. "Just goes to show everyone has their own secrets, eh?"

[Jason Finnigan]

Jason nodded his head curtly at her thanks, he wasn't sure what else he should say at the moment. He still felt as though he ought to figure out if there was something more serious about the matter, his intuition was telling him that there was something deeper underneath the surface, though he wasn't sure if it was something that he needed to get out of her or not, only time would tell. He gathered the rest of the things that he needed himself and purchased them after she had made bought her ingredients. He gave her a brief smile, "Well, I need to go to the Owl Emporium, my owl is ill from one thing or another," he replied. "You're welcome to accompany me or I can escort you back to the castle and come back, either way is fine with me." He had at least given her options, either way he was going to have to escort her back, no matter if he trusted her to return on her own or not, he had to follow some of the rules. He thought it was fair. Jason tried to look detached, as if it was irrelevant what kind of potion she was brewing, even though it was slightly mysterious. He simply nodded his head once, "We all have our own reasons to escape dreams I suppose." He made no further comment, wondering if it was actually his duty as a professor to pry. "Nothing serious I hope?" he asked her casually, wondering if she would snap at him again even though she seemed much more subdued than she had before.

He chuckled, "Leave it the Potions Master for that one, I prefer to use my own mind rather than to rely on potions." It was true, he actually really wasn't the best at Potions, he was alright, but nothing compared to old Slughorn. He gave her a small smile, "I do my best. Its not usually a fun experience for me either, I end up finding out much more than I intend to most of the time," he replied rather darkly. He noted the look in her eyes at her question, she looked like she was hiding something but he already knew that much. He raised his eyebrow slightly, "Yes, some more important than others."

This post has been edited by Jason Finnigan on May 2 2008, 10:21 PM

[Alana Starbeck]

Alana placed her bag of purchases in her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. She didn't have anything else to do in Hogsmeade today and she felt she owed it to her professor to accompany him for a bit. Plus he seemed to be an interesting person and she wanted to learn more about him. She nodded her head at his offer, "I'd love to accompany you." she replied sincerely. "And I'm sorry to hear about your owl, I hope it gets better soon." Alana didn't have an owl, she had a cat named Morgana, so she relied on the school owls for her correspondence and never had had to deal with one of them being ill. She headed towards the door and held it open for him, waiting so she could follow him to the Owl Emporium. Alana nodded her head at his comment, her face a calm masque, trying to hide her inner emotions. Her nerves were still raw from the recent nightmares and having to re-live all those nights over again and again- it was painful. She raised her eyebrow at his question. "Just some nightmares from childhood. Nothing that won't go away soon enough." she replied nonchalantly. She didn't know how much she wanted to let him know, the fewer people who knew about her father, the better.

She smiled at his comment. She preferred potions to charms most times, but she would love to have the ability to go into someones mind. "I suppose if you use your own mind you are more assured that what you are seeing is fact. Unless someone knows Occlumency or knows how to make false memories. It is an interesting ability though. I must admit I am jealous, I would love to learn legillimency." she responded thoughtfully. She had read up on legillemency and occlumency, they intrigued her.

[Jason Finnigan]

He smiled graciously at her as she agreed to accompany him, he much preferred that than having to leave and come back, it would be much less time and energy consuming for himself. He gave her a quick smile as she told him she was sorry to hear about his owl, "Thank you Ms. Starbeck, I'm not quite sure whats wrong with him, Kettleburn couldn't figure it out, he told me to just get some medicine they have at the Emporium, I can only hope it works. I never realized just how easily it is to get attached to a pet. He's my first one," he replied rather sadly, he had always used others owls or the ministry's owls or the school's owls, but now he had his very own and it was sick. It was truly heartbreaking. He nodded his head in thanks as she opened the door for him and strode quickly outside, deciding it would be best to keep the conversation going he casually asked her, "Do you have any pets? If you don't, you'll probably think I'm a blubbering sap for talking about my owl that way," he replied with a small laugh, his eyes locking with hers for a moment before looking forward once again, his strides becoming shorter as he came to a more amiable pace. He saw her brow raise at his question but noted the absence of anger on her face and concluded quickly that she wasn't going to blow up at him again, thank Merlin. He didn't want to have to get someone in trouble that had an almost impeccable record. He was startled by her answer but tried to keep his face cool and collected, a talent he had acquired in recent years. He looked at her for a moment and looked away, knowing that it probably was his duty as a professor to ask more about the nightmares of her childhood, not only as a professor, but as a fighter against the Dark Arts, if that was involved in any way. He cleared his throat and looked down at her, his pace slowing significantly, "Anything you would like to discuss Alana? I'm all ears if you need someone, then maybe you could come to Diagon Alley with permission next time," he added casually, still unsure if it was really any of his business. Though he decided that if she hadn't wanted him to inquire about it, she wouldn't have added her last statement. He had always firmly believed that professors should be there for the students, whether the problem was inside or outside of school, that was their utmost duty...as well as teaching them of course.

He nodded his head curtly, "Of course that would be one of the biggest limitations, normally one can tell when memories are misleading or fake, but other times it can prove to be incredibly difficult. Though I couldn't imagine doing my job without those skills, there are still many others that I would like to have myself, for one, I would love to be an Animagus but never really had the heart in Transfiguration to do it," he replied, probably giving her more information than she had intended to hear. They came upon the entrance to the Owl Emporium and he opened the door for her, leading the two of them into the noisy, dark, and rather smelly shop.

[Alana Starbeck]

Alana felt herself relax as the professor smiled at her. She was glad he wasn't mad at her anymore. She knew it was her fault, she shouldn't have snapped at him like she had, but she had been frightened that he would keep her from getting her needed ingredients. She nodded her head at his thanks and listened as he spoke about his owl. She had only ever had Morgana, her calico cat, and she had never been sick. Alana could empathize with him though, if something ever happened to Morgana, she would be heartbroken. She wondered what was wrong with his owl. "What's been happening with your owl? I mean, what kind of symptoms does he have?" she asked him. Alana didn't know much about animals, but she was fairly well read on potions and herbs. Depending on the owl's symptoms would depend on what kind of medicines the owl would need, and that might hint towards his ailment. Alana followed in her professors footsteps as they left the apothecary. She had to practically run to keep up with his quick pace. She smiled at his next comment. "I do have a pet. A calico cat named Morgana. She's my first pet as well. My father never wanted pets around the house, and only bought me the cat because I was going to Hogwarts." she replied. "She's a wonderful cat; very friendly and likes being pet. If she ever got sick, I'm sure I'd be acting the same way. It's amazing how pets can become such a large part of your life. I think it's got something to do with the fact that they stick by your side unconditionally." she mused, almost to herself. Her eyes met his briefly and she was thankful when he slowed his pace down so that she didn't have to jog to keep up with him. A comfortable silence settled over them for a moment before he posed his next question. Alana sighed within herself as he slowed his pace even more and caught her eyes. She was surprised that he would offer to let her go to Diagon Alley again if she needed it. It was a tempting offer and Alana considered telling him her story. She bit her lip as she mulled over her situation. It would be nice to talk to someone about it, besides Matt. She loved Matt, he was her best mate and all, but sometimes she needed another perspective. Now was one of those times. Still, she didn't know if she could trust him to not go running to the Ministry just yet. She paused mid-step and looked at her professor before continuing walking, "I want to talk about it, but I need advice more than anything." she tugged on a piece of her hair. Her eyes darted around the street, she didn't feel comfortable talking about this in public where so many people were around. Even though there was a small chance of it happening, someone could overhear and word could get back to her father and Alana didn't want that at all. "Maybe we can talk about it after you are done at the Emporium?" she asked hopefully. "I just don't feel comfortable talking about it in public with so many people around." she stated.

She raised her eyebrow at her Professor's words. He wanted to be an Animagus? Alana smirked to herself. she found it rather funny that she would love to be a Legillemens like Professor Finnigan and he would like to be an Animagus of sorts, like she was. But he didn't know that she was a metamorphmagus, did he? He couldn't have. She smiled at him. "I'd imagine being an animagus would be interesting, but definitely a challenge. From what I've heard, it's a lot of work. Some people are lucky though, born with an ability almost like an Animagus, and do't have to go through all that work with transfiguration." she pointed out as she nodded her thanks at him and stepped into the Owl Emporium. Alana wrinkled her nose at the smell as she looked around.

[Jason Finnigan]

Jason stopped for a moment as he thought about her question. What exactly was wrong with his owl? He wished that he could explain it without sounding like one of those loony people who are too overly obsessed with their animals. He could just tell that his owl was in pain, that it was suffering. It truly showed no signs of anything other than a loss of spirit. He didn't know how to put that into words that didn't make him sound just a little bit loopy. He paused for a moment as he collected his thoughts and turned away from her, almost embarrassed as a slight, very slight, pink flush rose up his cheeks, "Well, I don't know exactly whats wrong with her but I only know that she isn't being herself. Something is clearly wrong while the symptoms aren't quite so obvious in specifics but I can generally tell that she is indeed quite ill," he was mumbling and wasn't sure he was making sense. He wasn't sure why he was so anxious about talking about his owl with his student. It was a weak spot for him though, animals always had been. He listened to her talk about her cat and found it quite odd that she viewed a cat in such a way. Normally cats were independent, sassy, almost vindictive to a point. He rose his eyebrow ever so slightly as he turned towards her, "Really? Your cat sticks by your side unconditionally? I'd always imagined felines as being more of a fair weather friend but maybe I'm mistaken. Or perhaps your cat is one of the exceptions to the stereotype," he added quickly with a small smile hoping that he hadn't found a way to offend her once again. His eyebrows furrowed together at her next words, "Well Ms. Starbeck I can assure you that I am always open to talk to any one of my students. If you'd just allow me to go see if there is anything that they can do for my owl, maybe I can just get her some treats or something, then I will be right back," he gave her a small wink before heading towards the counter, mumbling quickly and under his breath to the witch behind it.

He returned shortly to Alana with some treats and a few potions that they said may do the trick into getting her right back up in her usual spirits once more. He could only hope his owl would go back to her normal self once all of this was over with. But now onto more important matters, the wellbeing of one of his students, of one of his best students actually. He smiled, "Yes some are born with similar abilities. I must say that I would be intrigued to find someone who was born that way. Wouldn't you?" he asked her, merely trying to keep the conversation going. He did want to find out what was troubling her but he wasn't about to push it.

[Alana Starbeck]

Alana worried her lower lip as she thought about what Professor Finnigan had said about his owl. She wasn't too good at Care of Magical Creatures, and even though she was racking her brain for answers, she couldn't think of anything. She shrugged her shoulders at him, "That is interesting. Maybe she's depressed?" That was all she could think of really. Animals had feelings and emotions just like humans, and his owl seemed to be acting the same way a depressed person might. She should know, she had experienced that emotion often enough herself. Alana registered the shock on his face and in his voice when she spoke about her cat. She raised an eyebrow back at him, "Usually cats do their own thing, but cats, like most animals, have very innate senses that let them know if their owner needs them. Obviously she feels that I need her, and so she sticks around. That's the only way I can explain it." she chuckled slightly. Morgana wasn't by her side all the time, but she was around more often then not when Alana was alone or trying to sleep. She new Alana needed someone near her to comfort her, and Matt wasn't allowed in the Slytherin girls' dorm rooms. So, Morgana stepped in to cover for him. Alana nodded her head at his offer and waited for him to return with his purchases. She looked around the store, her eyes scanning over the shelves. It looked clean, except for some of the higher shelves and a few spots on the floor, but the stench was rather oppressive.

When he returned with his purchases, Alana followed him back out onto the street. She wondered where they would go to have their discussion. Perhaps a cafe or the Leaky Cauldron? They needed somewhere where they could put up a silencing spell so she didn't have to worry about eavesdroppers. Alana fought to hide the smirk that was threatening to make itself known on her face. He wanted to meet a metamorphmagus? Little did he know he already had. Alana just smiled and nodded at him, "That would be interesting."