Hierarchy of Need [t.r]

Chapter Twenty Two

She dug in her cabinet for a moment before grabbing a potion bottle, the lighting was too dim and she couldn't see the label properly. Nonetheless, when the healer gave it to her, Delilah downed it before giving out a spluttering cough.

"That shit's disgusting."

Her profanity earned a glare and she smiled slightly. "Sorry, and thank you." Wiping at her mouth, she began to walk towards the door but Madam Fontaine told her to wait a moment.

Rubbing at her eyes, they felt dry but she couldn't get the image of crimson pools out of her head.

Where had she seen those eyes before? That was going to annoy her to death if she didn't figure that out. They weren't Tom's eyes, yet they looked strangely normal on him. Maybe it was just her drunken mind fucking with her.

That dream in total was just weird.

Madame Fontaine came back out of her office and threw a black robe at Delilah. "Put that on, you can't be walking around the castle in that small thing."

Frowning, Delilah looked down at her nightie. It wasn't too revealing, though she partly forgot the forties were a bit more reserved. A blush filled her cheeks then, she spent the entire night in front of Tom in this 'small thing'.

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Deciding to grab an early breakfast, she headed down to the Great Hall. It was relatively empty, considering it was Saturday morning. Coffee is what she wanted, her appetite hasn't really came back ever since Christmas holiday.

As she walked through the two large oaken doors, her eyes landed instantly on the auburn haired man sitting at the staff table. Her coffee could wait, Delilah made a beeline for Dumbledore and he smiled at her over his goblet.

"Good morning, Miss Pontmercy."

"Morning Professor," she messed with a golden strand of her hair as she looked around. The only other teacher at the table was the Care for Magical Creatures Professor, and he seemed half asleep in his porridge.

"Can I talk to you? Privately if that's alright, or we can wait till later."

He looked at her over his spectacles, a knowing tilt to his lips. "I fear if we postpone a meeting till later you might burst and do something reckless." Taking one last sip from his goblet, he stood up from his chair and Delilah grinned.

"Me? Reckless? Never."

As they walked down the main aisle, he waved a hand to one of the tables, "might as well grab that coffee you wanted." She raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't question how he knew what she initially came there for.

Blowing the steam away from the rim of her mug, Delilah followed Dumbledore to his classroom. She'd offered to help him grade papers, seeing as she had nothing else to do since it was the weekend. Studying for exams wasn't really needed either. One; she knew the material. Two; it didn't matter if she bombed the test, she wasn't staying in this time long enough for her scores to matter.

Dumbledore conjured a comfortable chair for her to sit in front of his desk, a large stack of essays greeting them.

Once he separated them by years, giving Delilah the third years' essays, he popped a lemon drop into his mouth. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" He grabbed a quill and his eyes scanned the first essay, marking what he saw necessary along the way.

Setting her mug down in exchange for grabbing her own quill, she began to scan the essay in front of her. "When will this 'plan' of yours be set in motion? I've been invited to go to France with the boys this summer, but I need to know if I'll even be around."