Do You Remember

Do You Remember

By Eleret

"Do you remember when we first met?" he asks his lover as they lie in bed.

"Of course. I seem to recall you were looking for a job," his lover replies.

***

"Sir? I'm here about the position for Care of Magical Creatures teacher," the young man said hesitantly, stepping into the office. The older man behind the desk startled, then blinked at him for a few minutes. He looked a bit shocked, and with good reason. The young man, Richard Kettleburn, had both of his arms in a casts that went all the way up to the shoulder. His left foot was also bandaged, and he awkwardly held a cane in his right hand, attempting to steady himself with it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Come in and have a seat," the older man said, after recovering from his surprise. "I am Armando Dippet, Headmaster of Hogwarts. I will be conducting your interview today."

The headmaster then watched, partly worried and partly fascinated, as Richard Kettleburn hobbled over to the chair sitting opposite his desk and sat heavily into it. "Thank you," he said. "I assure you, these injuries aren't lasting. I'll be good as new in a few weeks - well, apart from the left arm."

"Ah," replied the headmaster, "Well, that is certainly a relief. May I ask how you acquired these various injuries?"

Richard smiled openly. At only thirty years old, he was still young enough to be proud of his various broken limbs. "I broke the arm working with dragons. Hungarian Horntails, to be exact. I got too close to a sick one and it sneezed flame at me. Burned my whole arm off: the mediwizards couldn't completely heal it, it has to be kept in the cast. Fascinating creatures, dragons, aren't they?"

It took the headmaster several minutes to realize that Richard seemed to want an answer.

"Oh!" he exclaimed when he realized why the young man was looking so expectantly at him. "Er...yes, I suppose so..."

Richard nodded knowingly. "Of course they are. Anyway, I got the broken right arm and the foot just the other day. I was working with a young hippogriff and got a bit careless. The mediwizards say that the cast should come off tomorrow. They only needed it to keep me from re-injuring it while it was still healing."

"Ah," Headmaster Dippet said, trying not to say a sentence that started with "Dear Merlin" and ended with "bloody hell." After all, as headmaster of Hogwarts he did have to set the standard for tasteful language. "Well, I suppose we had better got on with the inj - er, interview! Yes, the interview, most definitely!" He exclaimed, trying not to show his mortification. That was very insensitive, Armando! He scolded himself, just barely stopping his hands from rising to his flushed cheeks. And after all, you are nearly forty-five. There is no need to blush.

However, Richard didn't seem phased at all. He gave another of his free, open smiles that the headmaster was beginning to become a bit fond of. "Sure, the interview it is."

"Now," Headmaster Dippet said, recovered from his embarrassment, "Ordinarily, we would have applications first, but this job was vacated on very short notice. It is only a month from term, you know. So, firstly, I would like a brief history of your previous employment."

"Right. Brief. Er, I'll do my best. See, my first job was right out of school. I worked on a dragon reservation in Germany until I was twenty-five. That's where I lost the arm, you know. Then I switched to sort of... freelance training and rehabilitation. Traveling a lot, working for various magical animal reservations. I recently quit that job, after the hippogriff incident. I figured it might be best to settle down a little. After all, this is the seventh injury I've had at this job! I'm not getting any younger, you know!"

"Er, of course," Headmaster Dippet responded, trying not to think about how old he must be getting if this young man was starting to settle down. "And why do you consider yourself particularly well suited to teaching? I think we have already established your qualifications."

"Well, I've always loved children. I had a lot of younger siblings growing up, too, so I know how to deal with them. I know a lot about all sorts of magical creatures, so I feel I would be very good at teaching about them. We had to do a lot of educating at the various reservations, too, of course. You know, telling everyday wizards all about the creatures, so that they wouldn't keep invading their environments. I liked doing that, and I think I'd liked doing this too."

"Right, I think that will be all. I will contact you by owl next week to let you know whether you have the position," the headmaster said, and with that Richard Kettleburn levered himself out of the chair and left the room.

***

"Do you remember when I asked you on our first date?" he asks his lover a little while later.

"How am I supposed to forget that?" his lover asks. "I nearly fainted I was so surprised...and mortified... and pleased..."

***

But he was back the next week, for a staff meeting. Or, at least, that was what it was officially called. Truthfully, only the headmaster and Richard attended, because everyone else had been around for so long that they didn't bother to show up to the first staff meeting of the year. It was really a time for Armando Dippet to tell Richard Kettleburn (now Professor Kettleburn) the basic rules and guidelines of teaching at Hogwarts.

"Armando?" Richard called from the doorway, much as he had the previous week.

Again, he had surprised Headmaster Dippet, who startled a bit. "Oh! Well, there you are, Richard. This isn't so much a staff meeting as a time for me to go over the basics of teaching here. The others probably won't show up - but then, they don't need to. They've all been here for quite a while. Please, come in and have a seat."

"Thank you," he smiled and walked into the room. "Look," he said, holding up his right arm and gesturing to his foot, "two less casts today!"

"Ah, yes. Very good. Now, about the rules...?"

"Oh, right," Richard answered, blushing faintly. He took a seat and looked expectantly at the headmaster, who smiled.

"They are quite basic, really - the same as at any place of employment. No affairs with students, obviously. All resignations must be turned in three months in advance. No improper language (we have to set standards for the students, you know). And no affairs between teachers. There is, of course a more detailed list which I will provide for you."

Headmaster Dippet looked up to see Richard biting his lip. "Is there anything wrong?" he asked, a look of concern on his face. He had never thought that Richard would be anything other than jolly.

"Well, not exactly," the new professor replied, "it's just that, well, it's a pity."

"Ah...what's a pity?"

"That last rule of yours, of course," Richard answered. He still looked unhappy, but the headmaster thought he could detect a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. However, he didn't understand what he meant.

"What do mean, Richard? What's wrong with the rule?"

"Well, I was going to ask you on a date next Saturday, and now I won't be able to," the younger man said with just a hint of hopefulness.

Armando Dippet had never fallen out of a chair before. But that day he did. He slipped right out of it and onto the floor. He and Richard both let out exclamations of surprise as he hit the floor, and Richard quickly jumped up and ran around the desk to him.

"Are you all right? I didn't mean to shock you!" He said quickly, helping him up. "Er, well...I didn't mean to shock you so much, anyway!" he said, looking slightly abashed.

"I - I'm all right, thank you. However, I must - I mean, I can't - " Armando took a deep breath, trying to collect himself. "I cannot possibly accept your invitation for a - a date. It's - well, it's against the rules! It's quite improper," he paused then, looking a bit abashed himself. "I - I am sorry."

"No, no - I do understand. I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry too," Richard seemed to be looking everywhere but Armando. "Sometimes, my confidence gets away with me...I'll just be going then, shall I?" and he left.

***

"But that was hardly the end of it, was it?" he asks his lover with a chuckle.

His lover joins in, laughing good naturedly. "No, it wasn't. And that's a good thing, too!"

***

"Mr. Kettleburn? Armando Dippet's in the floo for you." The soft voice of his land lady jolted Richard out of his thoughts. But...I thought...ah well, it's probably only to tell me I've lost my job, in any case, he thought, melancholy settling back over him. He got up from his chair and went into the living room of his small flat. Sure enough, there was Armando's head in the fire.

"May I help you, Headmaster?" he asked, hardly daring to be hopeful.

The headmaster looked uncomfortable. "Well, yes - that is, maybe. If you can forgive me?" he looked a bit hopeful.

Richard scratched his head, surprised. Perhaps I'm dreaming...

"Help you, Armando? I don't understand."

"Well, you see," the headmaster looked even more uncomfortable, "that last rule, it wasn't really a rule. It was just...my rule. The other teachers don't have to follow it. I don't even have to follow it. I just do because, well, it seemed proper. But...I'm beginning to rethink it. In fact, I would like to change it. And so, if you would forgive me...I would be very, ah, pleased," he said this haltingly, looking a bit nervous.

Richard Kettleburn's face split into a wide smile. "How's three o'clock on Saturday suit you?"

"That would be...lovely," the headmaster answered.

***

He smiles warmly at his lover. "We were idiots, weren't we?"

"Yes."

"So...do you remember our first date?" he asked his lover.

His lover laughs. "Yes, of course I do. But I believe that is a story for another time. And we could be doing more interesting - mmph! Mmmm..."

The End