Mini Raid at the Leaky Cauldron

Khaat had had a long day at St. Mungo's, and it had been a lousy day outside. Heavy snow and high winds had left near blizzard conditions in London. It had filled up the reception area with all sorts of maladies, mostly weather related in some sort or another--brooms blown astray, frostbite from exposure while flying, etc. Khaat was tired. Very tired. She wanted to go home, but, as is with many muggle places, cold weather makes for short staffing. she had taken time to go get something to eat and a butterbeer, a couple hours out of St. Mungo's before going back for another full shift--with no sleep. Her mind, though, was on her new daughter, Miseria, and wondering how sheh was coping with the murder of her biological parents by death eaters just a short time ago--and wishing she was home consoling her. She took a sip of the hot butterbeer and waited for her dinner order.

Jemma entered the Leaky Cauldron. She had just travelled down from Hogwarts and was now quite tired. She would have preferred to go straight home, but she knew that she had no food in her apartment whatsoever. As she walked into the room, she saw a familiar face there. It was Khaat Lupin, she sometimes was a substitute for lessons at Hogwarts, Jemma recalled, but she didn't know if Khaat had another reason to be in London. Maybe you didn't need subs all too often, so maybe Khaat works in London too?

She walked up to Khaat. I'll see her at the meeting tomorrow, anyway, it would be nice to catch up before we get into a load of tense discussion and arguments tomorrow. "Hello Khaat! May I join you?" she asked.

"Absolutely! Please. I just didn't want to bother cooking when I went home from work tonight, so I thought I would grab a quick bite here." Khaat waved to the server for her to come over to take Jemma's order. "So what brings you into London?" Khaat was always pleased to see a friendly face, and tonight some company would help distract her from her thoughts. It was truly most welcome.

Jemma smiled as she sat down. "Neither, I've just come down from Hogwarts for the weekend and have no food at my place, so stopped by." she said. "Oh, I'm down here early for the meeting, I guess. I can't get out of Hogwarts much recently, so I'm going to talk to people a bit beforehand to catch up, and such." she told Khaat. She's one of the few people I don't have to lie to.

Jemma ordered a pasta dish along with some butterbeer as the waitor asked her what she wanted. She returned the menu to him, and her attention to Khaat once more.

"I do understand. I have a houseful of teenagers at home. I have a classroom full of them, and a hospital full of sick and needy people. Every so often I just need to get away and find a grownup to talk to and a few minutes without the stress. I'm glad you came along today."

Jemma nodded. "Yeah. I love the Hufflepuffs, but every so often it's just nice to be alone for a bit. Or just to relax. It's practically impossible to relax at Hogwarts." she continued. "I'm glad I found you in here too, a normal adult conversation without being interrupted by teenagers seems hard to find, nowadays." she added.

Jemma noticed the word hospital, when Khaat was speaking. Was Khaat a Healer as well as a part-time Professor? That would make sense as to why she was in London. Why does my memory have to deteriorate? "So, d'you spend more time down here or up at the school?" she asked, curiously.

"It seems a bit schizophrenic right now. I'm doing Potter's charms classes for a short bit, but then most of my time will be here, I presume--unless there are more classes for me to take on. Right now, it is pretty evenly split. Jemma, you are the head of house for Hufflepuffs, right? If so, I think I need to talk to you about my daughter."

Jemma nodded. Yes, Khaat had been doing Jess' classes. Jemma had noticed Khaat was at Hogwarts less, and now she realised Khaat had been working at St. Mungo's instead. "Wow, it must be pretty tiring working in London and at Hogwarts simultaneously." she commented.

"Yes, I am Head of Hufflepuff." Jemma confirmed, wondering what Khaat wanted to talk about her daughter for. "I presume you are meaning Miss Miseria Manson-Lupin." she double checked, to be sure.

"Yes. I'd like you to keep an eye on her, if you could. I'm sure you know her parents were murdered at Christmas time. Well, it seems Miseria is also pregnant. About two months. It seems I have my hands full. And as a new mother to her, I can only do so much. I don't want any sort of harm come to her or her baby. I presume she can still attend school while she's pregnant, or do I need to arrange for a leave of absence for her? I'm just not sure of school policies on this."