The Tower

[Ms. Nightingale]

Mercy sat on the window seat next to a telescope in the astronomy towers class room. A large weathered tome laid open in her lap though she wasn't looking at it. Her gaze was fixed skyward and somewhat distant as instrumental metal tracks played in the background. The music flowed from a small disreputable box that looked like it had once been a girls jewelery box, the sort with the little dancing ballerina, until someone jammed the guts of a clock, boom box and nuclear reactor into it and just trimmed off the bits that didn't fit inside.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas had wandering the halls on prefect duty. He had been going from tower to tower for the time being. He had found that most of his duty was uneventful. He had found his way up the Astronomy Tower when he heard some loud music. He considered the study of Astronomy to be more of a peaceful subject, so he was now intrigued by the noise.

He peaked into the classroom door and observed the scene. It was Mercy who looking out a telescope while listening to the loud music. He hadn't pegged the librarian to be into that kind of music, but then again...there was probably a lot that he didn't know about her. He watched for a little bit and then decided to make his presence known.

"Uh...Ms. Nightingale, I don't mean to interrupt. Everything ok in here?"

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Huh? Oh, Montgomery...Yes, every things fine." Mercy didn't appear startled by the intrusion, just a bit distant as if she had been focusing hard and wasn't quite withdrawn from what she had been doing. A large buttercup yellow ragdoll came running up, calling in happily and rubbing itself against Lucas leg. From a chair a fire red maincoon chirped in annoyance at it while a purple Egyptian mau looked at all of them impassively from atop a bookcase.

"I'm just waiting on a comet is all. Prince don't nag Bella." The last remark was addressed to the red cat who looked at her and rolled its eyes before yawning as if it were quite disinterested in the whole affair.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas smiled upon seeing Mercy at the telescope. "A comet you say," he asked with some interest. He walked into the room and was met with a cat rubbing against his leg. He looked down and didn't recognize the cat to be Ibex. He looked around and then noticed Ibex on a book shelf. "I didn't know you had more than one cat," Lucas said approaching.

"What comet are you looking for?"

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Its called the serpents eye. Little red blip of light, barely visible in the sky but it comes around fairly frequently. The last time I was five I think..." Mercy seemed distracted as she looked up at the sky with just her eyes for a moment.

"Are you interested in astronomy? Your welcome to take a look." Mercy said as she got off of the window seat and gestured toward the telescope.

"Its a pain to find, the records on it are slim and often inaccurate." The book which mercy had left on the seat was open to a small illustration of a burning coal alone against a field of black with a burning corona of ruby light surrounding it. A capital w was illuminated beneath it and the letters that fallowed it spelled woe. A cheerful way to start a paragraph to be sure.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas nodded while listening to Mercy. "The serpent's eye? Any particular reason why they call it that?" he asked with more curiosity. The study of astronomy was not something he thought to pursue, but made for an interesting distraction from divination. He walked up to the telescope and peered through the viewfinder. He did not see it at first, but after a bit, he managed to spot it.

He picked up his head and looked at Mercy with a smile. "There it is," he said still smiling. "I've never really sat down with a wizard's astronomy book much less a muggle astronomy book. Any interesting tidbits I should know?" he asked looking down Mercy's sketch. It was drawn rather well, but the word "woe" made him arch an eyebrow.

[Ms. Nightingale]

"It was discovered supposedly by Salazar Slytherin the day he left the school for good but thats a myth. Its older then that and considered a harbinger of misfortunes both great and subtle. Also a myth. Proving that wizards are just as inclined to fantasy as muggles when it comes to the strange and unknown." Mercy said as she continued to look up at the sky.

"Its made of a unidentified substance. A mundane telescope can pick it up but it is invisible to more complex methods of view both magical and mechanical which has given it a fearsome reputation. Before it was called the serpents eye it was the phantom flame, it sounded like comic book hero to me when I was little." Mercy said the last bit with a shrug.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Upon hearing Mercy's explanation of the comet, the word "woe" made a little bit more sense. This comet's presence supposedly caused misfortunes and that made Lucas even more interested. How could a celestial body cause such a thing? He decided to ask a bit more on the matter.

"Well, seeing as Salazar Slytherin is the discoverer of the comet, the name makes sense," he said observing Mercy observe the sky. "But are there any concrete examples of misfortunes caused by the comet? I find that one's misfortune can sometimes be a coincidence. Then again, I've seen stranger things."

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Well, as the planet didn't as one lose its life savings when it passed over last I think its safe to say that its just stories people made up. Attaching a greater significance to personal suffering then the usual mundane reasons tends to make some people feel better." Mercy moved to the window next to the one Lucas was at and found the little red pinpoint after a bit of searching without the telescope. It was such a tiny thing but quite a bit of evil had been heaped on its reputation.

"Salazar didn't actually discover it, that honor went to a Mayan astronomer." Mercy looked hard at the comet as if she were looking for something thought what could not be said.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas watched Mercy and took some mental notes on what she was saying. He casually looked around the room to take it all in. Upon seeing the cats again, he made a motion to get their attention. He didn't think they'd come but seeing as he was good with cats, he thought he'd give it a try.

"Ok, if Salazar discovering is a myth, who is the Mayan astronomer?" Lucas asked with even more curiosity. He turned his attention away from the cats and back to the librarian. He was glad this encounter with her wasn't like the last one. He hadn't counted on performing surgery.

"Oh, if you don't mind me asking, how is your...leg," he said with a slight pause.

[Ms. Nightingale]

Bella most accommodatingly ran up to Lucas once more despite Princes chirps of ire on the point. She butted her head against his leg, mewling to be pet. Ibex left her perch but did not approach. She went to sit on the professors desk.

"Well enough considering. I think I have found what was blocking my efforts though the answer presents problems of its own. If I'm correct I should have a treatment developed in a year depending on how testing goes." Mercy didn't flinch away from the question about her leg.

"The astronomer was a king called 'lord shield' thought I understand he has recently been rechristened with the Mayan equivalent. Apparently one of the local guides was offend by him being named in English." Mercy said this with a sharp smile that seemed to have nothing to do with amusement at all. What exactly she was showing her teeth over was not clear either.

"He took it as an omen of good fortune as it coincided with the birth of his first and only son, they called him 'prince flying serpent'. His people changed it to one of bad luck because the son turned out to be quite the blood thirsty git." Mercy sighed and shook her head. She wasn't much of one for luck or prophecy and had opted out of divination during school.

"He started quite a few wars that his people couldn't sustain in the long run. Theres evidence that he did it to try and gain through raiding what the depleted land wouldn't produce in crops to prevent a famine but what ever his reasons he ended up being quite unpopular." She said the last blandly, shrugging her shoulders a bit.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas reached down and gentle pet Bella. He was glad Temperance wasn't around or she might get jealous. Lucas turned his attention to Mercy and listened intently. After hearing the story, he could see how the comet would be taken as a bad omen. Lucas could only think of one person who was similiar in nature and he instantly pushed the thought of Stonewall out his mind.

He continued looking out the window through the telescope. "Forgive me, if you've already said this, Ms. Nightingale, but how often does this comet come around?" he asked with the same level of curiosity. He was glad to have heard earlier that he leg was doing fine. "Oh, and if it's not being too forward, I'd like to help you with anything you do for your leg. I mean, if that's ok..." Lucas said the last part a little nervously.

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Its irregular which is strange in and of itself but it comes around atleast every tweenty or thirty years." Mercy said and finally looked away from the sky and reguarded Lucaus directly.

"As for my leg most of what I'm doing would earn a nice all expenses paid stay in azkaban so I'm wont be getting you involved in that anymore. My moral foundation is sound if a bit warped." Mercy said this with a bit of a laugh though if there were a joke it was likely a very obscure private one.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas' eyes went wide at the mention of Azkaban. He had no idea that what Mercy was doing would be considered "illegal". He nodded his head very quickly and spoke. "Yes, I'll just forget that I helped you then," he said with a nervous grin.

"Um, yeah...so twenty to thirty years you say?" Lucas asked changing the direction of the conversation. He made a noise of interest and then looked at the comet again. "I don't know a lot about astronomy, but doesn't it usually take a great amount of time for a comet to make it's way back over the planet?" Lucas wasn't really sure if there was any truth to his statement. But Mercy seemed knowledgible.

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Depending on the track it normally takes, but theres nothing normal about this one. I've come up with a few theory's but thats all they are, knives thrown into the dark." Mercy said with a sigh and a glance over her should tword the window.

"But don't worry about last time, that was a minor offense at worst for you. Honestly the ministry would probably let you off with a 'pick your associations better' and a stern look." Mercy said coldly, her dislike of the ministry showing for a rare moment.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas arched an eyebrow at Mercy's comments. "You really think that's all they'd say? 'Cause I'm more or less a pest to them," Lucas said with a disgruntled look. "For all the questions I ask them about my mother's death, they just ignore me," Lucas said looking away from the telescope.

"Anyway, care to share on any of those theories about the comet? I promise I won't tell," Lucas said in a friendly/cute kind of way. It was his pathetic way of flirting with her. Even though there was no shot in hell, but Lucas always had soft spot for the librarian.

[Ms. Nightingale]

"You'll find in time that they rarely hide things so much as don't understand what they know." Mercy said, not realizing that it might sound a bit cryptic.

"As for my theories I happen to think that what ever it is that the serpents eye isn't really a comet. Or at least not a natural one. I havent gone so far as to speculate about what it might actually be but the fact that it appears at such short intervals and is invisible to all but mundane means of detection seems a little to coincidental...But then I always did like bed time stories." Mercy said with a bit of a laugh at the end.

"You grew up in a wizarding household, did you ever hear the story about the sky wizards?" Mercy asked, her expression distant as she looked back toward the window.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas looked at Mercy and then approached her. "Well, yes, I come from a wizarding household, but it's only my dad now who's a muggle. My mother died the year before I got accepted to Hogwarts," he said with a bit of a sigh. "So no, I've never really heard that story. Care to tell me?"

Lucas walked up to her and looked out the same window. He was rather glad to hve developed a repoire with Ms. Nightingale. Most of the other teachers seemed too distant or not on his level. Fiona the Magical Creatures Teachers was a pleasant sort, but she seemed to bond with Sadie and he didn't know how to act around her now.

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Well the story goes that before any sort of anything happened there was just the world and the people in it. Some of them were wizards and some of them were not." Mercy smiled a bit but her eyes were distant, as if she were looking somewhere only she could see.

"Some were good and kind and others were not but that is simply how people are and nothing can be done about it. This was where the wizards disagreed however. Some thought that those who could not use magic would always be envious and that they should leave them be, the other half thought that they could live together in harmony if the wizards were simply willing to try and make it happen. So it was that half of the wizards cast a mighty spell and rose up into the sky and flew away to live among the stars while the rest remained here. However a promise was made that if ever the wizards of this world grew tired of trying to fit in that they could go and join those who lived among the stars." Mercy looked at Lucas with a smile that seemed to erase all of the hard edges and coldness and made her for a moment just a young woman.

"My father told me that story, he said that the comet was the sign of that promise."

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas looked to the librarian and smiled. He wished that his mother was alive to have told him the story. He wasn't sure what to say. Mercy was showing a warm smile that made him feel warm inside. He met her eyes and then quickly looked to the window again.

"That's a very unique story. I like it," he said softly. "Do you believe the story? I mean, I would have loved to have heard that story as a child."

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Every time I forget not to...Its not possible, according to modern experts, for wizards to leave this world permanently...but whose to say whats possible in a world where poison is a cure for disease and where words can travel between people hundreds of miles apart as if there standing hand in hand." Mercy looked up at the stars a final time, her expression still soft.

"After all, its not the experts who become great but those who chose to defy them. Not so long ago it was believed that we could not fly without transmogrification." The metal that the bizarre music box was playing changed from metal to acid jazz without warning.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas was listening intently to the librarian speak. He was happy to see a softer side to her. He wished others could see it as well, but then again, Mercy's stern nature is what keeps a lot of students in check. Something Lucas respected greatly. He thought it best to stay mum on the subject and just enjoy the moment.

Then he turned his head quickly to the sound of the music box changing it's current selection. It had startled him for a moment and then he shook it off. "I'm sorry, I was just distracted there. Transmogrification? But what of flying with brooms? Or are those the muggle equivalent to cars?" Lucas said with intrigue in his voice. "Sorry if that might sound like a dense question."

[Ms. Nightingale]

"They've been around long enough to be taken for granite. But I meant more like this." Mercy without warning stepped up onto the window ledge and then out into the night air. She remained mostly in place, only bobbing somewhat in the air.

"A gentleman in Azkaban dreamt this up and used it to rob a ministry field office in Glasgow." She turned slowly several times then drifted back to the ledge and stepped back into the tower. She wasn't smiling like she had been before but her hard edges had not returned either.

"What he didn't know was that my sister beat him to the punch when she was ten. Telling her she couldn't do something did nothing but set her to prove you wrong." Once back inside the she walked to the desk where Ibex was laying and sat on it next to the cat and began to pet it.

"But theres the thing, you can never know what you can or cant do unless you try. The old lesson as my mother used to say."

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas watched with wide eyes as Mercy stepped out through the window and hovered in the air. He was lost for words. He didn't know how it was possible for a wizard to do such a thing. But there it was, right in front of him. He nodded slowly at everything Mercy said.

When she entered back into the room, the smile on her face was gone. But Lucas felt a growing admiration for Mercy. He pulled up a chair and said opposite her at the desk as though he were ready to take notes. "That's very impressive, Mer...uh...Ms. Nightingale," Lucas said forgetting to be respectful. "But, is the nature of that spell...or what ever...is it something to get you sent to Azkaban?" he inquired.

"Or was just the applications of it....like robbing a Ministry Field Office," he said with a smirk.

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Robbing the Ministry office more then the spell itself. This wont get you more then put down on a list like being an animagus." Mercy was on the latter list but not the former. She respected the rule of law to a point and was always aware and ready to accept the consequences of her actions. She just had no desire to be on another damned list. Registering for them annoyed her.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas nodded and smiled. "It's a fascinating spell. I think I'd like to learn that one," he said. But then he recovered and said, "When I'm a little bit older, of course." Lucas didn't want Mercy to think him an over impressionable youth.

Lucas turned back to the telescope and then back to Mercy. "So, what were your plans this evening? Were you just going to watch the comet and listen to...this music?" Lucas said still not sure what type the music was. He got up and walked back to the telescope and looked out again. He was very content to be in the tower all night at this point. He enjoyed the conversation of person in his company.

[Ms. Nightingale]

"For an hour or two more. I'm an early riser by nature rather then a night owl. I don't usually stay up this late." Mercy said with a shrug as tiny dancer started playing on the music box to be fallowed by more Elton John songs then Bob Marley.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas nodded and peered out through the telescope for a bit more. When the music changed, he practically froze in place and slowly looked up at Mercy's strange music box. The song that came on filled him with very mixed emotions. It was one that when he heard it, he thought of Sadie. It wasn't a particularly sad song or anything, but it was one that reminded him of the good times.

He stepped away from the telescope and sat down in desk seat. He stared off into space with a hand holding his head up. He wanted to ask her to change the song, but there was another part of him that said to just let it play. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

[Ms. Nightingale]

Mercy occupied her self for a few songs by petting her cat in a contemplative fashion until 'everythings gonna be alright' began to play. Ibex endured it gamely as she had grown accustomed to her masters odd habits.

"You'll probably take this the wrong way Montgomery but I think you should start seeing a personal counselor this term." Mercy said suddenly.

"I'm a member of the faculty and your welcome to come and speak to me when you need to but...I used to see one regularly during my third year. I had a lot going on and it made it easier to have someone who I could talk to who understood my problems and listened even when they didn't." Her austere manner had not returned but her tone was odd. As if she were recalling an unpleasant memory as she spoke. She grimaced slightly, knowing it probably sounded like she was trying to shove him off on another teacher.

"You've been through quite a bit as it is and odds are that the strain of visions will only make things more difficult for you...and I'm not really the right person to advise you about much. My file at the ministry lists me as 'mildly disturbed' for a reason. My influence will likely lead you to trouble in time." The words practically burned her tongue as she spoke them but they were true enough. She was black balled in her true profession and had obtained her job as librarian by virtue of a lack of competition for the position, falsely blank work history and Stonewalls generally indifference to the post. Right or wrong she tended to cause more problems and sorrow for herself and her loved one then anything else. She did not want any of her ways rubbing off on an impressionable youth.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas looked at Mercy rather shocked at the notion of seeing a counselor. Surely he wasn't crazy and that was not Mercy's implications. But the word counselor did not sit well with him. It was something his father wanted him to see on seperate occassions. The first was when he started having visions at a young age. Fortunately, his mother talked his father out of it; telling him that he needed time.

The other occassion was after his mother's death. Lucas seemed to have a permanent frown on his face for months afterwards. His father feared some sort of wizard depression and wanted Lucas to see someone. First it would have been a wizard counselor and then to a muggle one. The hope was that Lucas would grow out of the "wizarding" stage. Not that Lucas' father disliked anything to do with the wizarding world. He would have preferred that Lucas avoid it with such a tragic incident in his life.

Lucas turned to Mercy and stared at her blankly. He wanted to shout a defiant "No!" at her, but he held his tongue. The librarian was the one staff member of the school he felt any connection with. He didn't want to sever that connection with a rebelious "Thom Seivert" moment. He looked down to the desk and sighed. "If you think that's best. I'd much prefer to talk with you," he said. "I don't care what the ministry says about you, Ms. Nightingale. The Ministry can sod off, for all I care."

He held no love for the Ministry. They still had to give him answers and always refused. "So with all due respect, I'll see about a counselor, but I will also continue to talk to you," he said with a small smile.

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Look, you don't have to but I know I found it helpful. You'll have to make your own decision on the point though and you can certainly come and talk to me when you want." Mercy said with a bit of a sigh. No one liked the way the word 'counseling' sounded. She didn't so much as bat an eyelash at Lucas disdain for the ministry. It would be hypocritical for her to start touting the party line.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas looked at Mercy and blinked. He wasn't sure what else to say on the matter. "I'm sorry if I spoke ill of the Ministry. I have trust issues with them since my mother's death," he said standing up from the seat he was in. "I'm sure it isn't proper for a student to say such things."

"I just...I really enjoy our talks. And hearing the Ministry saying something bad about you just really set me off."

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Don't worry about that, they get about as much abuse as the name of god among muggles. I imagen they ought to be used to it by now." Mercy stood up and went to the music box, kicking shutting its lid with her foot.

"And theres no reason you couldn't talk to me when you wanted still. I'm not trying to put you off on someone. I just thought it would help. At any rate its about time you got back to your dorm. I'll walk you there." She said as she picked the box up. Talking out side of academic subjects was not her strong suit.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas nodded and picked himself up. "I understand. I would still like very much for us to talk," he said following her to the doorway. "I suppose it is getting late. Though I would like to see the look on a student's face if she or he came across the two of us meandering the halls," he said with a small chuckle. "I bet they'd go running back to their dorm as fast as they could before we said anything."

Lucas figured that the site of the "Goodie-Goodie" and a teacher patrolling the halls would strike a good amount of fear into a truant student. He looked to Mercy to see if she would agree with the sentiment.

[Ms. Nightingale]

"Heh...Or do something stupid to try and get a way. Had a boy trip over himself and nearly go down a flight of stairs. Honestly I haven't seen anyone so scared since I was a prefect and caught them-" Mercy cut of with a bit of a laugh fallowed by a sigh. People did some strange things when they thought they were alone.

"But at any rate they'll be hard put to get away. I'm lame but not by any means incapable." She said with a smile that verged on feral.

[Lucas Montgomery]

Lucas looked up at Mercy and smiled with her. Not to the degree at which she was smiling though. He gathered she took pride in dispensing some forms of justice. It made him wonder if Mercy ever wanted to be a judge at some point in her wizarding life. He pushed the thought away and continued walking down the hall with her.

"I have no doubts that you are capable, Ms. Nightingale. No doubts at all."