OOC | Open to 1-2 others, with ideally at least one shop employee involved.

In other circumstances, he might have had someone he could have asked—a mentor, perhaps; a father figure in the ways of this sort of thing. Under his own, the wizard could not think of anyone he might question, at least no one that wouldn’t find such queries out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, Nathaniel Gallivan did need answers; the shock of an impending child had worn off some months ago, and the embarrassment at his son’s reaction to the news some weeks ago, and now was finally the time for panic. Thaniel knew little enough of his condition as it was; he would not remain ignorant on its potential to affect an unborn child any longer.

And so, he elected the only avenue reasonable to him: books.

With great apprehension, he strolled down the High Street—for it was far too busy a location to risk apparating too closely to the shops themselves, attempting to look as inconspicuous as his height would allow by peering in shop windows, and stopping for idle chatter with any acquaintances he saw. It had not been a decision that had come easy to him, but the wizard—the werewolf—did his best to look as if nothing was amiss. After all, he was simply going to the book shop; what possibly could be?

A soft bell tinkled as he opened the door to Whizzard Books, and Nathaniel stepped quickly inside, taking a brief moment to glance around. It was not particularly busy, but the fine weather had ensured the shop was not entirely deserted, either. Uncertain where to start in his search for answers, he strode to the far end of the shop, figuring that it would afford him the least interruption. Evidentially, this was not the best place to start; Nathaniel soon realized, with as soft blush creeping across his cheeks, that this was where the women’s books were kept.

Wasting no time, he moved further down the stacks, both to escape his blunder and continue his quest through the shelves.

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Preparing an entertaining lesson for the first years was not an easy task. When Sabrina first started her job as a professor she thought that the only thing she had to do was teach them whatever the book said. But, in Sabrina's opinion the books which were used for her lesson were so poorly written, so she often told her students to not even bring them at class and write the recipes by hand. She had brought a couple of books which contained potions and ingedents during the Christmas's break, but she soon realised that she forgot to buy one particular one which was needed for next week's lesson.<br>

Sabrina entered in the book-shop in hurry, she didn't want to be away from the castle for too long. She scannd through the shop, searching for an employee. Finally, she approached one employee who was storing books on a shelf. She asked him where the 'potions' section was and he pointed her a couple of shelves.<p>

Once she reached them, though, Sabrina soon realised that there were no potions books there. Her eyes spotted titles like " Learn to be a mother", "The baby arrives" and " How to be a good parent". Certainly not books she was looking for. Edmund was seventeen years old, almost a man and she was not planning on getting pregnant soon.<p>

She was ready to walk away and find the book she was looking for on her own, when she recognized the person who seemed to be searching for a book on the shelf next to her. The blonde man was a person she hadn't seen for many years, but she remembered him well from the many nights they spent patrolling the corridors of Hogwarts together. Besides, if she was correct, he was the father of two of her students.<p>

" Nathaniel!?" she exclaimed, forgetting that she had to look for a book. She walked to the man, a huge smile blossoming on her lips. " Long time no see! How are you?" she asked and then she looked at the books he was looking at.
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The volume of the explanation almost made the man jump out of his skin—an interesting image, given his size. Nonetheless, Nathaniel quickly recomposed himself before turning to see who had addressed him thus. Eyebrows narrowed into confusion for a moment before his face brightened to recognition. “Miss Hausfeuld!” the wizard greeted merrily before realizing the pair were no longer students. “It has been some time—no doubt I do not even know your name anymore!” Nathaniel had little doubt that the woman before him had long since married—there had never been anything about her, physically or mentally, to suggest that such a life was not for her. It had, after all, been a considerable amount of time since the pair had worked together as prefects.

It took only a moment further before he remembered his reason for being in the shop...and it occurred to him that the Sabrina Hausfeuld of old would no doubt know if Thaniel tried to lie to her—he himself was all but an open book, and the trouble-seeking nose that one acquired as a prefect seldom managed to leave once one reached adulthood. Still, if she did not ask, he would not have to deceive her; talk, the wizard decided then, would have to be kept to the past, and focused far away from present circumstances.

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Sabrina smiled when Nathaniel called her Miss Hausfeuld. It had passed so much time since someone had called her that way. It felt weird to hear that name again. Sabrina felt as if she was seventeen again. Nathaniel was one of her good friends from school years and she felt shame that they hadn't contacted these years. She couldn't help but wonder if Nathaniel was actually excited to see her again. He was probably married now and he probably had children as well. Sabrina knew that there were two Gallivans in her classes, Cecily and Theodore and she couldn't help but wonder if her was their father.<p>

" It's Sabrina Carrington now." she said with a smile. " I cannot believe we meet after so much time." she repeated, her smile growing wider as each minute passed. " May I ask you, why are you looking at these particular books, Thaniel?" she asked, looking at the book titles. She doubted that he was pregnant, so she figured that he was probably married and his wife was with child.
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That she married did not surprise him in the least, though Thaniel could not help but wonder whom she married. Then again, it was his own fault for not keeping abreast of his schoolmates’ activities—the perils of immersing one’s self in the muggle world, no doubt. He left it, simply returning the witch’s smile and nodding, half to assure her he was paying attention, half as some sort of belated congratulatory gesture. Her question, however, prompted Nathaniel’s face to flush, as he realized they were still well situated in a section that was...not one in which a passer-by would expect to encounter the lanky wizard.

“My...my wife...” Nathaniel offered dumbly, completely unsure where he was going. “My wife, Veronica, is with child,” he offered confidently after a moment’s hesitation. That was, after all, the reason for his presence in the shop, if not the whole reason. “It is her first, though I’ve two children of my own—Theodore and Cecily, both at Hogwarts—and I...” He what? Thought she might need some light reading? No, Veronica was quite capable of getting any information she needed from personal sources; no need to embarrass herself and her husband by purchasing a book on the topic.

“I will admit that I find her a bit more highly strung in this state.” The words were unexpected and entirely untrue, but the wizard hoped that they might do the trick. After all, it explained his presence in the book shop without revealing his true nature which, for the moment, was all that concerned him.

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Few men were like Nathaniel. Men usually didn't help their pregnant wives learn how to be good parents. Sabrina's husband, at least, didn't. He wanted the child, but he never even opened a book about babies or pregnancies. He let Sabrina give birth to the child and then he hired the best nannies he could find but that was all he could do. Men only cared about gaining a heir, nothing more.<p>

The names Theodore and Cecily were familiar to the witch and she smiled as she realised that they belonged to two of her students. How stupid she had been, to not realise earlier that the two Gallivan children were related to Nathaniel. " Oh, young Cecily and Theodore are your children?" Sabrina asked happily, even if she didn't expect an answer. " They are both excellent student, I am rather glad to have them as my students. Cecily managed to brew the colour blending potion quicklier than most first years would and Theodore's potions always seem to touch perfection." <p>

Sabrina raised her eyebrows at Nathaniel's comment. " I guess it is her first child, then." Sabrina commented. Every woman felt that way when she expected her first child, after all.
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The wizard’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You became a professor?” he inquired, somewhat superfluously. It was unexpected, to be sure—this Sabrina Carrington had no doubt made a good marriage, if her parents had had any say in the matter, and so, Thaniel did not doubt, had little need to find an occupation of her own. His eye darkened slightly as he realized she might be a widow—many such women, if they were the more active sort, opted to find profession under those circumstances—but perked immediately once more as he processed what she had said about his children. It was a rare parent that did not enjoy hearing praise of their children, and Mrs. Carrington’s was so high that Nathaniel could not help but swell with pride. Theodore and Cecily told him little enough of what they underwent at Hogwarts; it was good, he realized, to hear that they had been selling themselves short, rather than boasting of a feigned prowess to impress him.

“Yes, the child is to be Veronica’s first,” Nathaniel affirmed. “Though I shall not deny that it feels much as if it were my own first, for all that neither Theodore nor Cecily were troublesome in their younger years.” Their later years, however, particularly for the former, had been seen to leave something to be desired.

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" Oh, I understand." Sabrina said with sympathy in her voice. She was the mother of a boy as well, so she knew how boys behaved when they grew up from boys to men. Edmund had never been a too rebelous child, but he was still stubborn and somewhat loud. She remembered how he practically yelled at her when she told him that she wanted to work as a professor. Then again, she knew that he just didn't want to attend classes taught by his mother, since he wouldn't be able to play pranks on others and talk with his classmates without making a fool of himself. " Boys tend to be quite... rebelous around this age, Nathaniel. Patience will be quite useful at this point."<p>

Sabrina couldn't help but wonder what would Edmund do if she ever re-married. He didn't really change after his father's death and he didn't seem to care when he saw her talk with other men. Then again, she was never sure what would Edmund do in a certain situation. One day he was the perfect proper gentleman and the other he was running around kissing girls from the slums.
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“Mercifully, Theodore’s rebellion has yet to extend beyond a distaste for his stepmother.” Though the sentiment itself was a serious one—he had tried to help the boy warm up to the woman, to no avail—Thaniel could not help but laugh as he spoke the words. Theodore was, otherwise, a shining example of a son, after all; he could not be too harsh on him for his limited shortcomings. “As far as I am aware,” Nathaniel amended thoughtfully. “He does not give you any trouble in class, I hope?”

During his own school days, the wizard had been perfectly behaved, seldom participating in the antics of his peers but getting along with them nonetheless. Theodore, he knew, was very much different where personality was concerned—Cecily had always mirrored their father more closely, while Theodore took his vivid personality from his late mother—but that did not stop Nathaniel from daring to hope that the boy shared at least some of his childhood self-restraint. If not, with any luck, the boy would eventually grow out of it. Eventually.

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Theodore was certainly not the biggest trouble-maker in class. He was not excactly quiet either, but he never really made her frustated. Ravenclaws generally were the quieter students, the ones who did wrote their essays on time and behaved in a proper manner.<p>

" Theodore never caused any serious trouble in class." Sabrina finally replied to Nathaniel. She did not want to lie to him and tell him that everything was good and fine, but the two Gallivan children were generally some of her best students. " Theodore is actually a bit stronger, when it comes to practice." Sabrina informed Nathaniel. " Cecily is better with theory, rather than practise." The first year was trying hard, but she always seemed to never put the right amount of each ingredient in her cauldron. The woman liked to believe that this would improve with time, but sometimes Potions required natural talent as well.


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It was a positive, the wizard knew, to hear good things about his children, and Cecily’s troubles did not surprise him—he himself had had his issues with the practical aspects of his magic, and while he was not thrilled that his daughter had begun replicating these, there were worse problems that the girl might have. Nor did Theodore’s, though Thaniel was pleased that the professor did not seem to think ill of the boy, however much of a prankster nature his firstborn was in possession of.

Still, for all his existing children were succeeding, more or less, in their education, Nathaniel could not forget the fact that he had another on the way—another who might face far greater troubles than his half-siblings, the extent of which Nathaniel himself was yet unaware of, and would not become aware of so long as he spoke to his fellow prefect. “I will admit, I am quite relieved to hear it,” he offered graciously, though a bit distracted. “Might we catch up further at a later date, however? I fear I have forgotten entirely a rather important business engagement, and I really must be off.” It was quite lame, as excuses went, but he had only limited time out that day, and still other bookshops—bookshops without old acquaintances to run into—that he might check for his answers.

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" Have a good day, Thaniel." Sabrina said to the man and then she walked away to search for some more potion books. Once she found the books she needed she bought them and she walked out of the shop.


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