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Tweak says, "Have a seat right over there."

Lyra June Moon (junebugh) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-10-15 18:50:00

Entry tags:

!2003: 10, !incomplete, lyra moon, severus snape

Who: Lyra Moon and Severus Snape
When: Saturday Early Evening
Where: Headmaster's Office
What: Lyra plucks up some courage to ask for some things for the library!
Rating: PG
Open/Closed: Closed to Severus Snape

"Honestly, it's like you're going to meet with the devil or something. Why are you being such a ninny?" asked her reflection. Lyra scowled at herself and made sure, one final time, that her robes were not too wrinkled and that her hair was perfectly in place. She wanted to make an excellent impression. She had to get these requests approved, just had to!

But this was Snape and today was the day! She was finally going to stand her ground because Madame Pince was obviously done fighting this battle. If Lyra was going to take her place soon she needed to get used to these sorts of situations.

She didn't take long to get to the office, uttered the password quickly and made her way up the steps until she got to the door. Lyra took a deep breath and rapped her knuckles against the door three times.

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in_the_grass
2010-10-16 12:07 am UTC (link)

"Come in," he said, laying his book aside. He was, for once, not buried under paperwork, although that might change at any moment. As always. He wasn't terribly worried about letting the assistant librarian strong-arm him into any additional work, but neither was he very eager to learn exactly what sort of problems had been building up under Madam Pince's ever decreasing attentions.

He waved her to the chair on the opposite side of his desk when she entered. He might have been at leisure, but he still had next to no patience for pleasantries. "What exactly is it Madam Pince is refusing to hear, then?"

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junebugh
2010-10-16 12:22 am UTC (link)

For a moment she regretted taking this on at all. He was going to be mad. He was going to say she wasting his time and then she'd get nothing at all, because now that she thought about it the request was a bit simple, maybe too simple to bring to his attention like this.

She entered, sat where she was told to sit and forced herself to look him in the eye because she was not just a student anymore, dang it! Lyra's eyebrows knitted for a moment as she went over her request once more and then she spoke.

"It's regarding our muggle section. While this school's primary curriculum is most obviously of the magical nature of our.. culture," oh god that sounded dumb. She swallowed and continued.

"There is still a whole world to be experienced beyond our own, a muggle world that has been discriminated against many times because of ignorance on the parts of those who would refuse to learn about it's beauty and simple ways. Actually, it's not always so simple, either, it's quite a.. I'm sorry, I'm rambling. I mean to say I've been .. I want to expand our muggle selection of books considerably. We need more updated muggle fiction and non-fiction books if we are going to help our culture better understand their culture."

And then she went silent, eyebrows arching as she waited for him to respond.

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in_the_grass
2010-10-16 01:31 am UTC (link)

He was certainly prepared to tell her that he had enough on his plate that worrying about assuring the proper diversity in the library was rather far down on the list, and that she ought to have learned Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration at some point in her first year, which would have told her that money did not simply appear out of thin air.

But as soon as she mentioned the Muggle section, he began to reconsider - not that it showed on his face. He held his stony expression until she had finally trailed off, and let the silence extend another moment or two. He was considering. Muggle Studies had been disadvantaged, to say the least, in the school's recent past, and it was only fair to bolster it a little - quite aside from which, he did not at all mind the thought of informing the relevant Professor that her resources had been expanded.

He opened a drawer in his desk, pulled out a pad of paper, and set his quill atop it, where it balanced and waited. "Cross-cultural understanding is, of course, of the utmost important, given recent ... events," he said, his words a little dry, as the quill began to write out a withdrawal. "I am not acquainted with the average of price of Muggle books. Will a few hundred Galleons suffice?"

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junebugh
2010-10-16 05:27 am UTC (link)

She expected to be disappointed with his reply, expected to have to convince him far more than her initial pitch but just as he agreed with her Lyra felt a flood of relief in her bones. Was Madame Pince really thinking he wouldn't adhere to such a request? Ha! Lyra Moon just proved her wrong!

She couldn't stop the smile from widening bright across her face.

"Oh, that's be.. I mean.. that is extremely generous, thank you, but.." and she hated to see him react to her but. It was necessary, though.

"But, while that may get us close to fifty new volumes, for the rest.. uhm, might I suggest an idea? Perhaps something akin to a fund raiser? Something that might raise awareness in the students of the new books and what we intend to achieve. I could maybe get Professor Oakby involved, too?"

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in_the_grass
2010-10-17 03:49 pm UTC (link)

He waved away her thanks a little dismissively, glancing up at her only for a moment - he wasn't accustomed to pleasing people, and accepting thanks was never something he'd managed gracefully. But then she was asking for more, and while his quill didn't quite stop, it jarred a little. He raised his eyebrows.

"If you need anything more in the way of funds after you've finished with this," he said, tapping the paper on his desk, "you may ask." As far as he was concerned, money for expenses came from the Board, not from students, and he wasn't about to complicate his rudimentary but sufficient understanding of accounting by making exceptions. "As for some other sort of campaign, I will leave that to the two of you. I have no objections, as long as it doesn't prove too distracting." Now that it was a required subject for the upper years, he doubted there was any real problem with awareness, but it was true that there were still some reluctant learners in the bunch.

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junebugh
2010-10-18 02:47 am UTC (link)

She lifted a hand to her chest, as if the motion would quell her racing heart, and she tried to say something other than the same old thing said before but all the came out was a mumbled, "Oh.. oh really? My.. I.. well.."

She took a breath and steadied herself.

"And of the list of books and.. publications, do you require approval first or do you trust our judgment as well? I would say Madame Pince would have a hand in that but.. sir, and this is something else I wanted to mention, it seems to be that she's thinking of retiring a bit earlier than I was told or than anyone expects. Which.. which would mean I would be... unless you're going to hire.. I mean.. well, would you be hiring another.. to take her place or would I simply..?"

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in_the_grass
2010-10-18 03:34 am UTC (link)

Severus waited, jut barely resisting the urge to drum his fingers sharply on his desk, for her to finish her question. He didn't know why it was taking so long; he was sure she hadn't had a habit of stammering when he'd hired her.

"I don't need to see the list," he said, brusque, when it was his turn again. "Consult Professor Oakby if you have any questions. As for Madam Pince, it seems she's more or less passed the torch already. When she decides to retire in name as well as practice, I expect you to step into her position. Unless you can think of a good reason not to?" He'd planned to promote her all along, certainly. He considered it an apprenticeship more than anything else.

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junebugh
2010-10-18 04:09 am UTC (link)

Her lips quirked into a bright grin. This wasn't so hard! Sure he was being.. a bit stony, as usual, but that was to be expected wasn't it? Why was she letting this meeting make her so nervous?? With a sudden flair of excitement and confidence she stood.

"Excellent! And I won't let you down, sir! I can't think of any reason not to," other than the difficult days she had been having, but suddenly she didn't care.

"Well, thank you for your time, I'll just be heading out now. Have a lovely evening, sir!"

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in_the_grass
2010-10-23 11:47 pm UTC (link)

Hopefully this incident wouldn't end up softening his reputation; he wasn't prepared to tolerate an increase in the number of people knocking on his door for favors. Moon was tolerable enough, if a little ... chipper, but not everyone was as easy to cope with. "Oh, good," he said, taking up his book again. "I doubt if Madam Pince will consent to stay long enough to train another librarian. Good evening." He turned to his previous page. "I'll notify you when the funds are made available." He was glad she had come, really. He thought - hoped - that Essery would enjoy it, and so long as he wasn't asked to give equal treatment to the greenhouses or anything, he didn't see that there was a downside.

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