Start of a new life (Richard and Briony)

Richard Romain had never been to Hogwarts before today and he had to admit that it was a rather impressive campus for anyone to learn magic on. Not to mention the sheer size and majesty of the castle would mean that any and all first years visiting the castle would be unable to do anything other than gawk and wish, mostly in vain, that they would one day be able to make something of such splendour.

In Durmstrang they had just been treated to the view of the disturbingly dark castle and told that if you wanted to make something of yourself, it was the place to be.

Shaking his head a little bit as one of the house elves led him up through the moving staircases, Richard hummed and nodded to some of the more curious paintings. Of course they were curious. Students weren't due to arrive back for another month or so and her was a dark and mysterious stranger prowling the halls.

Of course that sent some of the female paintings off to gossip and giggle.

Shaking his head a little bit, Richard was told her was now stood in front of the Deputy Headmistress' office by the elf before it disappeared. Taking the time to straighten out his black military trench coat, Richard cast a quick spell to shine the silver buttons to an acceptable standard before knocking upon the door,

"Madam Blake... I believe I am to be your two'o'clock appointment." he called out through the door, "Meine namen ist Richard Romain, here about ze new Transfiguration position ja?"

Briony was currently...unhappy with her position.

She was the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, something that at her age of 25 was not an easy feat. She was accomplished in many schools of magic including Occlumency, potions and duelling with dark and light spells of all varieties. In terms of her professional life there was almost nothing that she could want for, except to be better, to climb to the highest profession and stay there.

Her goal was to be Headmistress, and she was not above employing certain tactics in order to get there. One of them though was to bide her time, to gain trust and to do as the Headmaster asked with no qualms. Eventually he would reveal a weakness.

Humming as she poured over her plans for the lessons of the new school year, Briony knew her off the wall style wouldn't be accepted well by the parents but it would yield the best results.

"Come in." she hummed as soon as she heard someone knocking on the door, with a wave of her wand the door unlocked and opened on its own, revealing the new teacher she was interviewing for the Transfiguration position. Many professors were incompetant, or old, and needed replacing - Minerva was one of them.

Standing she smoothed down her black skin tight work trousers and offered her hand professionally; "Mr. Romain, a pleasure. Please take a seat." Briony stated, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk "And we'll get started."

Richard had to admit that being interviewed was not something that he was used to dealing with. Most of the jobs he had had since leaving the German military revolved around the criminal underworld so interviews hadn't really been the mainstream. He knew enough to keep himself above the water so to speak; to keep himself from being overwhelmed by the situation itself. He was sure that many people would be a lot more nervous than he was.

His interviewer was the duelling professor of Hogwarts and was, by all accounts, someone you didn't mess with on pain of death.

Shaking his head to clear it slightly, he entered the room and immediately noted that the stories about said professor did not include that she was an incredibly attractive woman who appeared to be from aristocratic descent if he was not very much mistaken. That left the 'imagine the interviewer naked' option out as that would likely prove too damn distracting. He smirked softly as he entered the room,

"Danke."

When she stood up he took the chance to notice her attire had whole-heartedly approved of what she was wearing. Professional, functional and alluring. She definitely knew the advantages of taking control of a man's eye and used it to great effect here.

"The pleasure ist surely mine Professor Blake..." he greeted her before sitting down in the chair opposite her, "I must admit Professor Blake, I had not expected such a... how do you say... verführerisch... interviewer."

Briony's eye was caught if she was honest with herself, this Richard Romain character was attractive in an odd manner and she hoped that she would be seeing that he had a personality that would match this. He would not be obnoxious, arrogant, or sexist...that might be a little bit too much to expect in an employee however and she placed those out of her mind.

Right now the Headmaster needed someone who was proficient, professional and accomplished in their field of magic which, despite the colourful segments of the CV he had handed in to her, Briony could see Richard was.

"No problem." she stated with a smirk on her lips, as Briony herself sat back on her chair and she ran her hand through her long hair pushing it away from her face as she levitated the parchment with his application information so that she could use it alongside the questions that she had devised from it ready for the interview "Would you like any tea, coffee, juice before we begin?" Briony asked graciously.

When Richard complimented her Briony looked at him with a slightly arched eyebrow, coughing slightly she diverted her attention back to the parchment so that she could stop herself reacting to the compliment in German he had just paid her.

"Why thank you, you may call me Briony, if I might call you by you first name." she stated with a small smile "Now I believe that we should get started...if you are ready. You applied to teach the Transfiguration opening, how long have you had an interest in Transfiguration, and what have you done to push and further your knowledge."

Richard had this insane little hope that the attraction towards her he felt the second he saw her had been mutual but to be honest he was expecting to be disappointed. A woman of such skill, such a position and (potentially) of such good breeding was not on the 'market' for long. He wouldn't be surprised if her father had tried to set her up with a suitable husband by now.

If not then he was sure miss Briony Blake was single purely because she wanted to be, not for lack of male interest.

At the offer of a drink he smirked slightly,

"A cup of your English tea vould be wunderbar." he told her with a small smirk, "I have to grow accustomed to your English vays und is not tea one of the favourite drinks of the nation?"

He could see that she had caught the compliment. Ah... so she was a woman of the world as well! A woman who understood different languages was always a woman with a mind sharp as a blade. He could also see, from her reaction, that she didn't hate the fact that he had complimented her either. That was something he could be hopeful about right?

"Okay then Briony." he smiled a little wider before humming a little bit and nodding his head, "Transfiguration... I have loved the subject since boyhood. Short vere the hours vhen I did not practice it. All my accidental magics vere transfigurations so you could say my interes vas from about vier - four."

When she asked what he had done to push and further his knowledge he paused for a moment before speaking again,

"I took my knowledge to var vith me Miss Blake und it gave me chances to expand in vays that vould otherwise have been impossible." he admitted before smirking lightly, "I am also von of the vorld's only practicers of 'Active Alchemy', vhich needs a mastery of transfiguration to even begin."

Briony couldn't help but smirk when he asked for a cup of tea purely because it was British and he was learning the ways of their country. She had to admit that one of the main stereotypes about Britain was the love of tea, and how it appeared to solve everything. Just because he had made a small joke at the expense of the English didn't mean that Briony was going to deny him a drink based on that. Tapping her wand on the table, Briony conjured two cups of tea, one was a steaming green tea, and the other traditional Earl Grey.

"Yes it is one of the favourite drinks of the English." she stated with a smirk tugging her lips "It's healing powers are known world wide after all, the perfect things for nerves."

Picking up her own drink she sipped at it, and waited for Richard to begin to answer her questions, she couldn't tell if he was nervous or not, and that meant that he was very good at hiding his body language. Maybe there was a reason for that she needed to eek out of him in the course of this interview?

"I can imagine that being problematic." Briony commented with a little smile on her lips "Will you tell me about one of the accidental transfigurations that you did? I hope you did not turn someone into a frog and were unable to change them back."

The mentioning of 'Active Alchemy' made Briony's eyes widen slightly and she looked up from the parchment she was reading. Briony was intrigued about this in particular and she wanted to be able to talk to him about this matter further. It was these little extras that made Hogwarts Professors a step above the rest.

"Could you give me a demonstration of your proficiency at Active Alchemy, I noted you mentioned it in your application but I have never seen such a thing in action. It would certainly add to your credibility as a Hogwarts Professor if such a thing is true."

Richard chuckled a little bit because he knew his little joke about the English and tea had been rumbled. Of course he gratefully accepted the cup when it was offered to him. Taking a sip of the tea, he hummed as he tasted it thoroughly before swallowing. It was nice he had to admit and had a refreshing quality that coffee often lacked,

"I do think I can grow to like this." he joked lightly with a small smile, "Is my first time in drinking tea."

He was a little bit nervous but she was doing a good job of putting him at ease even if she didn't realise it. Richard was one of those people who liked it better when no one was trying to make him feel less nervous but would rather just ignore any nerves he had. Made him deal with it a lot quicker he had to admit. He smirked lightly,

"Sometimes." he admitted before shaking his head a little bit, "Oh nothing like that... turned a cat into a dog... und the dog into a little tree. It vas not a gutt day to be our neighbour's dog you see Briony."

Active Alchemy.

So misunderstood and so rare that few ever understood what it was, let alone made any attempt to try and learn it. Picking up his tea cup, he smiled a little bit over the rim of it,

"Of course Briony. I like to show it... ist von of my favourite abilities." he admitted, casually changing the cup into sparkling silver, to clear and brilliant diamond, "Vhen is something not vhat it should be? Vhen you change it. Advanced human transfiguration..."

His fingers on his left hand began to change. One was silver, one was coal, one was wood and the last finger was made entirely out of blood red ruby. He looked down at his own hand,

"They are the easiest parts of it." he told her, shaking his hand and having his fingers, return to normal. He finished his tea and placed the diamond tea cup on the table, "You may keep that Briony. I vill last."

Briony smirked softly when she heard Richard saying that it was his first time in drinking tea, despite the fact just minutes before he said that he was already getting into the British culture and such. Perhaps he was just teasing her by saying that? It wasn't something damning after all to be from a different country than Britain to teach at Hogwarts, it might be nice to have a little differentiation for a change.

"Here I thought you were saying you had begun to adapt to British culture, I can't believe that you have not been subject to it before." she stated with a feline quality to her smirk.

The fact that he had done something so amusing when he was younger showed a personable quality to him and Richard was not abrasive in the slightest. Briony didn't see herself having any problems with him or him having issues with other professors within the school. Hopefully her judgement would be correct.

"I can see that." she commented with a small chuckle "My own first accidental magic experiences were rather more explosive, I remember blowing up the green house once."

Watching Richard change the cup, from silver, to transparent and then to something resembling diamond, Briony knew that he was the real thing. This was impressive and it was even more so when he turned himself into different components and then changed back again without even batting an eyelid. It was quite...enlightening. She had never met an active alchemist before.

"Truly astonishing." Briony murmured "You must have great skill to have mastered these abilities, if these are the easiest elements of Active Alchemy then you have me utterly intrigued in the rest of the stages. Perhaps another time though."

With a small hum Briony looked at the questions and selected another; "Have you had any experience in training, or teaching in any capacity? Perhaps you have worked with children in another capacity? It can be hard to alter your style to adhere to the guidelines of the school, yet it is necessary."

Richard chuckled a little bit. Perhaps it had been a stretch to joke about adapting to British culture considering he'd only entered the country properly the night before. Shaking his head a little bit, he smirked lightly,

"Vell I have been in your country less than einen tag - von day." he teased her with a wink, "So far it is just fish und chips und now some tea. I'll get the rest in time ja?"

Yeah that was one of his best accidental magic outbursts he had to admit. Back then he had loads of them and his family had been so proud. Of course they had been annoyed that none of his accidental magic was offensively based. Always pushing for dark spells or at least damaging spells,

"Really? Vow that sounds like it vould have been a pain to clean up." he joked with her with his small smirk back in place, "Vere your other outburst of magics so explosive? Or did you dislike herbology?"

Richard looked down at the cup and at his fingers when he changed them. It was odd to think that this was the same skill that he had taken to war with him. The ability to change things on an atomic level into something else. How easy it was to turn steel and stone into water and oxygen. And how simple it was to reduce the human body to it's most basic of elements. He shook his head to clear it seeing as he would have no doubt looked rather wistful for a moment. He grinned rather suddenly,

"Danke... alvays nice to find someone who sees it as new magic instead of just more transfiguration." he admitted with a grin before tilting his head to the side, "It's a date. That is vhat the English say isn't it?"

He hummed and before nodding slowly,

"I taught soldiers in my time in the deutsch army." he admitted, "Taught them how to transfigure things to be shields und blocks. Basic but on large scale."

Briony was a little bit shocked that Richard had only come here today but perhaps he had residence in Germany, and not here in Britain. There was no guarantee that he would get the job but, now that she had met him she would most definitely be accepting his application based on the fact that he was just the best she had seen in terms of qualifications and prowess at the subject he would be teaching.

Method of dealing with children could be learnt and adapted through time, they would never get someone this good at what he does coming through their door.

"No, not all of them were that explosive. You know how accidental magic can be, always flaring up as an emotional response to events. At least in the majority that is how they occur." Briony stated, dismissing the statement, her childhood was a sore spot she wasn't willing to discuss, let alone discuss with an almost complete stranger.

Unable to stop herself from smirking when she heard Richard saying that it was a 'date' Briony couldn't see herself being against that, but, she would have to get to know him a little bit more first. Despite the fact he was attractive, that did not mean that he was good enough to go on a date with her, he could very well still be a psychopath or something.

"I wouldn't say that." Briony retorted silkily, running her fingers around the rim of her cup.

Nodding her head Briony thought that this man was pretty much perfect for the job;

"Well, I have to say that pending on a background check clearing you have the job Richard. Nobody has come through this door with so much experience in their field but also in training, albeit not with children but that discipline will come in handy in the classroom. Would you like to take up the job within Hogwarts then?" she asked with a small smile on her lips, pleased she had met someone so competent.

Richard did indeed know how accidental magic was.

It was so much more intent based than magic was when you grew up. When you were young your magic reacted to your desires, not your commands. When your brother wanted to punch you then your skin became stone. And when you wanted to retaliate... your hand became a blade.

Or at least that was his childhood.

Sensing that Briony didn't want to continue this line of thought for her own reasons that he could not hazard a guess towards, he dropped the subject of accidental magic. They were too old to be worrying about that anymore after all. And dwelling on the past wasn't something that he liked to do at all.

He could also see, however, that his joke about the date had been well received. Smirking, he clicked his tongue when she said she wouldn't say that,

"Darn... vould have been too much to hope ja?" he teased her with a light wink, "But meeting up later vould be fun vould you not agree?"

When she said that he had the job he released a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding and his shoulders sunk slightly in relief. Damn it had been rather stressful, just waiting on any kind of answer. Grinning, he nodded,

"I do believe I vould leibe the chance to vork here." he told her with a grin, leaning forwards over the desk with a widening grin, "Vhere do I sign meine namen?"

Briony found herself oddly coming to like Richard through this interview, he had a good personality she seemed to get on well with and she wanted to be able to see if they could grow closer, maybe become friends or go further than that. God knew that she hadn't had anyone like that in her life for a while, and even when she had not much good had come of it.

Just thinking about her ex sent shivers up her spine, but she could see that Richard was clearly nothing like that, the way they had met had been completely different and he hadn't attempted to shank her with a knife just yet. Things were going quite well.

"I think that it would be nice to see each other again, which we will do in the meeting between the other staff members before term begins." she stated with a toying smirk "I haven't quite made up my mind about you Richard." Briony admitted, leaning forwards over her desk slightly.

The release on Richard was amusing. He must have been quite stressed after all. It was nice to know that her cared enough about getting this job to actually have been worried about it, some people had come thinking they would immediately get the position. Their arrogance was their downfall in the end of things.

"Excellent." Briony grinned, summoning a contract with a wave of her wand and placing it down on the desk in front of Richard "Here is your contract, your terms of employment, rules and regulations, perks of the job etcetera. When you have finished reading, and if you agree please sign at the bottom, any questions, fire away."

Handing Richard a quill and ink, Briony went back to looking over her lesson plans, so as not to freak Richard out with her observing him as he read.

Richard had to admit that he was liking this. Meeting new people had always been something he enjoyed and when he was in the army he had been a very social person. It was he who had drawn his team together after all, even if he wasn't the one to lead them in the end. But still, those were some good times.

It was only after the incident in Prague that Richard had started actively trying to avoid people so as to avoid making anymore friends like the ones he had lost. But that was, honestly, cowardly. Meeting Briony had cost him nothing but a small amount of time and already he knew he liked her a lot. She was more than worth coming out of his self-imposed seclusion,

"Ah Briony you are a cruel voman to cut so deep..." he teased her with a wide smirk before pausing and deciding, "Before the faculty meetings begin please keep eyes open for my owl... I vould sehr much leibe the chance to see you again before that."

When she summoned over the contract he grinned a little bit. It was settled, he had the job and there would be nothing that would stop that. Grinning a little bit, he picked up the terms of employment and scanned it quick. Nothing out of the ordinary. He read the rules and regulations and quickly decided he was going to be playing fast and loose with them. The perks he just ignored. He immediately signed the contract,

"Done." he declared barely a minute later before grinning slightly, "I can assume ve start at school before the children ja? Vhat date, there vere no dates I could see in the contract or the terms. Or perhaps I should just meet vith you on the day und you could take me?"

He winked to show it was a joke.

Briony smirked softly when she heard that Richard thought that she was a cruel woman, she was cold and distant but there seemed to be something odd about Richard that she couldn't help but interact with him and want to see him more than normal. It was something she was going to have to be careful of, until she got to know him better.

Yet there was that niggling voice in the back of her head telling her that if she didn't go out and get to know him, she would never know him well enough to stop having to be careful. It was that all too common vicious circle.

"Very well Richard, I shall make sure to watch for your owl. You might need to get to know your surroundings a little bit better now that you're working here, perhaps you could use with a guide to show you around?" Briony suggested with a smirk on her lips, her arms folding across her chest as she regarded him.

He would love to see her again would he...well...that was swiftly becoming mutual she had to admit.

When she heard that he had finished signing the contract, Briony returned to the conversation after finishing the lesson plans finally and placing them in her top drawer. Now that they were done she was going to finally be able to relax a little bit.

"Term starts on September 12th, and the staff are expected to start residence a week before that, so the first meeting will be on the 5th." Briony informed with a small smile before it turned into a smug smirk "If you truly need someone to hold your hand Richard I'd be happy to escort you to the meeting, don't want you getting lost in here."

Richard could tell that he was treading that thin line between flirting and being a bit of a pain in the ass so perhaps it was time to ease off the gas a little bit. Let the ball be in her court for a little bit. Smirking a little bit, he couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. Honestly he had been on the run for so long that this was actually going to be the first time he'd really needed an owl,

"Vell I had best hasten to buy von." he told her with the smirk widening, "How else vill I pepper you vith questions und requests for further contact?"

He had said it in a jokey enough way that it would be seen as a joke he hoped. Grinning a little bit, he had to admit that he was looking forward to the start of term here. Not only would he be in a stable job with little danger but he was going to be able to teach some kids how to better transfigure things. That was something he could definitely get into.

"I vill be there bright und early." he declared as he stood up to leave. He smirked a little bit in return, "If you truly offer the chance to hold your hand I vill be too happy to hold it."

Winking at her, he took her hand as if to shake it but instead kissed the back of it,

"It vas a pleasure to meet you Briony Blake..." he grinned, "Gesegnet treffen my people vould say. A blessed meeting... von that leads to things deemed vunderous."

He bowed to her,

"Gutt nacht Briony."

With a final incline of his head, Richard allowed himself to be escorted back out of the castle by the same house elf who had brought him inside.