The Shadows on the Wall {Romulus}

It was dark. Matthew was certain it was past curfew. But he couldn't come out from under the table, the big teacher's table with the table cloth drooping to the floor. He was out at this time of night because he'd been trying to catch Kumajirou and take him back to the Hufflepuff dorm for the night, but he'd dived under the table, grabbed his polar bear, and had just looked out when he heard the distinct click of a lock. The candles had been extinguished for the night, and Matthew's footsteps echoed in the hall. There was a wail from somewhere in the distance- probably a ghost, but Matthew flinched and clutched Kumajirou tighter.

The charmed ceiling was shining a blue light down into the room, and Matthew didn't have time to appreciate the pretty night sky, distracted by the twisted shadows it cast on the walls. Within minutes of coming out, Matthew had dived back underneath the tablecloth, and clutched Kumajirou to his chest. This brings us back to the present, where Matthew is quivering under the table, and trying to hold a conversation with a bear to keep his mind off the terrors on the other side of the table cloth.

The later he stayed up to do his teacherly duties of sweeping the halls for roaming students, the more and more he craved some sort of midnight or 11 pm snack. Something sweet, or creamy or more importantly warm in his belly was an incredibly enticing thought. So he sneaked his way into the the kitchens, yowling only after tripping over a suit of armor and liberated a nice, warm chunk of chocolate cake to eat while on watch duty.

Romulus wandered to the Great Hall and his customary seat at the teacher's table merely out of habit, stretching out his legs and hitting..something. "What have we here~?" he mused aloud to himself as he went to peer under the table.

Matthew's heart was racing. Someone was entering the hall! Oh god, oh god... Matthew clutched at his chest and tried to keep as silent as possible, but the person's footsteps were quickly approaching. He covered his mouth to quieten his breathing which was so loud he was sure it could be heard across the room. Matthew wasn't sure why, but the footsteps seemed to be coming up the the table... And around it to the seating area... And then the chair right in front of Matthew pulled back. He knew it was only a matter of time before a wand pointed at him through the tablecloth and he got Avada Kedavra'd before he could even blink!

The person sat down in the chair. And then pulled the chair in, and then the legs stretched out, kicking Matthew directly in the face. "Aargh!" He jumped up, and banged his head on the underside of the table! "Gah!" He barely noticed the face peeking underneath the table and the voice accompanying it, Matthew's only instinct (Or rather, option) was to topple out from underneath the table, clutching his head and his nose while Kumajirou sat to one side and licked his paw uninterestedly. He sat up wildy and scooted away from the teacher- Professor Vargas, he realised -in a panic.

All Romulus could do was stare at the obviously terrified student. And his apathetic bear {which he had no idea students could bring to Hogwarts, oh well}. As the kid was having a mild panic attack and his companion looked as if it couldn't be bothered, the older man just started to let out a hearty chuckle. This situation was just too silly not to be appreciated with a good laugh.

He held out a hand to help the kid, probably a Hufflepuff, up and smiled brightly at him. "A bit late for you to be up, huh?" Of course, now his midnight snack was getting cool but the kid probably would scurry back to his commons for some shut eye shortly. That is, if the little blond kid recovered from his heart attack-like state.

Matthew let out a small choked sob, turning away to compose himself. Was Professor Vargas being funny? Or mean? Was he going to be teased or sent to detention? Either way, Matthew was not happy. He had tears swimming in his eyes which he quickly wiped away and took a moment to take a deep breath before facing the other. His nose, though not broken, seemed to have gone red- or at least, that was what he could tell from going cross-eyed and staring downwards, but that made his eyes hurt, so he didn't do it very much.

Instead he picked up Kumajirou and hid his face in it in order to look at Professor Vargas a little more easily. Kumajirou didn't seem to mind and just stared at the teacher with a bemused expression- his default expression, Matthew was certain. And finally, after those few moments of silence, Matthew mumbled, "Hi."

...Because that's exactly what you say when a teacher finds you out of bed and hiding under the teacher's dining table at, like, midnight, Matthew! He scolded himself mentally, flushing.

Now he was starting to feel tinges of pity for the kid. He just looked so pathetic and sad. Of course, Romulus was now at an moral impasse. "You know, as a teacher I'm supposed to give you detention for you being out after hours and such," he mused aloud, taking a bite from his midnight snack.[color=darkred] "However, since as far as I'm concerned, this is your first offense to the curfew rule, right?" How yummy the cake he was eating was gave him a nice rosy view. Besides, when had he been a stickler for rules?

"Anyway, you alright?" Between the red nose and the watery eyes, the blond kid looked like a mess. Romulus went to ruffle the Hufflepuff's hair in a paternal fashion.