After Hours (Henri)

[Danica Krizova]

It was an art, really, sneaking out after you were supposed to. The art lay in not getting caught, anyway, and so far, Danica had been pretty good at it.

It was a stormy night, and the thunder always scared her into staying away until it was over. And if she was awake anyway, how was she supposed to stay in bed?

Tiptoeing through the hallways, she was slowly making her way to the kitchens, doing her best to avoid Filch and his cat. She was on the fourth floor, and was so far successful.

[Henri Gillet]

Henri received an assignment to patrol the school. Of course, he wasn't going to complain. The assignment had gotten him out of the office after all. All the students were supposed to be in their dorms, seeing as it was past curfew. He was patrolling the hallways, making sure that there weren't any stray students out in the hall.

His arms where behind his back as he hummed silently to himself. It was a piece by Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Henri looked at the paintings as he passed them. Even the people in the paintings had gone to sleep. Smiling as he noticed one of the men in the portraits nearly sliding out of his chair while snoring, he continued patrolling the fourth floor.

As he neared the stairs, he caught a glimpse of someone trying to sneak around. Henri's smile grew as he took bigger steps to catch up with the little girl. Once he got closer, he cleared his throat. "Trying to sneak around the castle are we," Henri asked in his French accent, smiling.

[Danica Krizova]

Danica jumped when the adult cleared his throat, not expecting him to come up behind her. She turned almost on her heels, and her shoulders fell visibly.

"Aw, come on," she muttered, her wide eyes narrowing. She didn't recognize him as a teacher, and he was too old to be one of the students...

An impish little grin spread on her lips and she put her hands on her hips. "Well, you're out after hours too, aren't you?"

[Henri Gillet]

Keeping his hands behind his back, Henri looked down at the little girl. He couldn't help but chuckle at her question. "I'm supposed to be after hours," he replied back. "It's part of my job to make sure that you are safe and in bed."

Henri kept a friendly look on his face as he let his hands fall down to his sides. By looking at the girl, she couldn't have been no older than eleven or twelve. "What are you doing out after hours?" He made sure he kept a friendly tone to his voice.

[Danica Krizova]

"Maybe I'm trying to make sure you're safe, too," Dani answered, putting her hands behind her back and shrugging her shoulders.

He wasn't yelling at her and demanding that she get back to her common room yet, and that made her instantly like him more than she thought she would.

"Are you hungry?" She asked. "I could... uhm, take you to the kitchens. To make sure you get there safe and all."

[Henri Gillet]

"Oh really now," he asked amused. The little girl was adorable, that was for certain. Her quick answers made a smile stay on Henri's face.

"Well, I suppose if you're trying to make sure that I'm safe, and watching out for my hunger, I suppose I could just let this whole thing stay between us." He gave her a look as if he was thinking. "Plus, I couldn't say no to something to eat."

Henri gave a laugh then offered the little girl his hand. "Alright little lady, you can lead me to the kitchens."

[Danica Krizova]

"Cool beans," Danica whispered, more to herself than to him. She was pleased with herself for having lead him to the idea of keeping this quiet. At least she wasn't going to get in trouble.

She took his hand. "Good, because you know, I'm hungry too. And the house elves are very sweet. They'll make you anything you want."

She was still careful to make sure they didn't run into anyone else. She didn't want him to get in trouble for helping her either. "Thank you for not saying anything."

[Henri Gillet]

"That's good. We'll grab something to eat together." He was surprised at how trusting the little girl was, but he wasn't complaining. She had an attitude about her, that was certain.

"It's alright. I understand the sudden hunger in the middle of the night." Henri smiled again and walked with her down the stairs toward the kitchens. He would make sure that he covered both of them if anyone were to run into them. After all, she was safe with him and she was hungry. No one could say that was wrong, could they?

"Do you sneak out often?"

[Danica Krizova]

"Are you trying to catch me to get me in trouble?" She returned, her eyes narrowed again as she looked up at him. He was very tall, especially to her since she was one of the smaller girls in her class.

"I never sneak out," she lied with a big grin so that they both knew it. "Okay, maybe I do. But only when it's important. The thing is, what if the lightning hits the windows and they break?"

The question was asked as if it were the most logical thing to be going through a person's head. She knew none of the other girls minded living in the tower, but she worried for them, too. "It's safer in the kitchens."

[Henri Gillet]

"I'm not going to let you get in trouble, promise. After all, you shouldn't get in trouble for just trying to settle your night hunger." He looked down at her as he spoke to her while trying to keep one eye out on the steps.

Henri let out a quite laugh at her grin. "Well, as long as it's only when it is important." Hearing her question, Henri shrugged. "You're not a fan of storms are you? Neither am I. Although, I have to admit that is a very important question."

They neared the kitchens. "Yes, it is a lot safer in the kitchens. After all, you have all the food you can eat and more in there."

[Danica Krizova]

"And it's ground level," Danica added. "I like the lightning. It's pretty to watch. But... no, I guess I don't really like storms all that much. They make it hard to sleep."

She would share her life story with a complete stranger, given the chance. Danica trusted everyone until they proved to her that she couldn't trust them.

She pulled away from him to push open one of the double doors into the kitchen and waited for him to follow. When he did, she looked over her shoulder and was tempted to ask him to lift her up so that she could see over the counter, but she was quite used to doing things on her own. So she grabbed a chair and pulled it to the counter, climbing up on it until she could see the house elves behind it.

"What do you want?" she asked Henri.

[Henri Gillet]

"I agree with you. Sometimes the storms do make it hard to sleep, although I do like to listen to the rain."

Henri would continue to amuse the girl. Plus, he was enjoying himself. He followed her into the kitchens and looked around. He hadn't really been in the kitchens just yet and he was amazed at how huge it was. Walking up behind her, he saw her climb up on the chair. Henri was going to ask her if she wanted him to help her, but he refrained as it appeared that she had it.

Standing beside her, Henri smiled. "Macaroni and Cheese please."

[Danica Krizova]

Dani turned and looked at him with a dropped jaw. "No way! You like Macaroni and Cheese too? I used to put ketchup in mine when I was really little."

She turned back around and asked the house elves for two plates of macaroni and cheese. "I thought I was the only one in the whole school that liked it," she added, using both hands to hand him the first plate she was given. "My mom says it's too American, even though I'm pretty sure that all pasta comes from Italy. Anyway, I don't like most of the food here. It doesn't taste like anything."

[Henri Gillet]

"Yes little lady, Macaroni and Cheese is one of my favorites." He reached up with one finger and pushed her jaw up while he gave a quite laugh.

"There's nothing wrong with liking macaroni and cheese. I honestly didn't know it was really American until my mère told me." Even though Henri had lived in England for several years now, his french accent was still there, and sometimes he couldn't help the words that slipped into his conversations.

"I like anything pasta, and I like cheese." He grinned and gave a shrug. Henri took the plate she offered him. He moved to the chair beside her and placed his plate on the counter before taking a seat. "If you don't like the food here, then what do you like, other than macaroni and cheese?"

[Danica Krizova]

When she was given the second plate, she sat down on the chair she had pulled over, fork in hand.

"My mum makes knedlíky," she said, and then looked over at him. Hearing the word she didn't recognize, she realized he would probably have no idea what it was. She just recently learned how to properly say it. Unlike her mother, she had long forgotten her native Czech tongue. She still understood it, but really couldn't speak it much anymore. "It's like this doughy ball stuff. It's really good."

The house elf behind the counter handed each of them a glass of pumpkin juice. "What language is that from?" She asked, and then repeated the French word he had said a moment ago.

[Henri Gillet]

"Knedlíky? Really? My mère used to cook that from time to time. She always wanted to be a chef but she had my sister and I." Henri gave her a smile. His mother always made a wide variety of food. Marianne always wanted her children to know about different cultures rather than just their own.

He thanked the house elf for the glass of pumpkin juice and took a sip of it before eating a forkful of macaroni and cheese. Henri swallowed his food and then looked to Danica. "French. I lived their until I graduated from school there. After that my mère, my sister and I moved in with my aunt Julie for awhile."

[Danica Krizova]

"And mere means mom? What do you call your sister in French? Does she work with you?"

That was another thing about Danica- she loved asking questions. She just liked knowing things about the world around her, and she would share what little knowledge she had in return. "Matka is 'mom' in Czech. That's where I'm from, but we moved here a long time ago. We've been in England forever."

She ate fast, and was done with her plate in no time. "Are you a teacher here? I haven't seen you before. Oh!" Her eyes got big when she realized she hadn't introduced herself, and she turned in her seat towards him, sticking out her hand. "I'm Danica."

[Henri Gillet]

"Yes, mère means mom," he said nodding his head and starting to pick up the pace as he was eating his macaroni and cheese. That was one thing about Henri. When it came to macaroni and cheese, Henri wasn't afraid to put it away. "My sister's name is Marie but in french, sometimes I refer her as my soeur, which means sister. My mère named her after her. Her name is Marianne."

He didn't mind her questions. In fact, he was more than happy to answer them. "Really? Czech? That's pretty cool. I've always wanted to go there." He finished off his macaroni and cheese just a little after Danica.

"I'm not a teacher. I'm one of the aurors that are patrolling the school for a little while." Seeing how quickly Danica changed subjects only made him smile more. "I'm Henri," he said sticking out her hand and shaking hers.

[Danica Krizova]

"It's nice to meet you, Henri," Danica said, shaking his hand, though it dwarfed her own.

"I don't think we're ever going back to the Czech Republic, or I'd invite you to come with us. I don't really remember it. Sometimes, I think my mum misses it, though. What other words do you know in French?"

She blinked prettily at him, genuinely interested. She liked his voice and his accent, and it was very relaxing for her. It made him easy to trust, not that she ever had that problem on a normal day.

[Henri Gillet]

It wasn't his place to ask why they wouldn't go back to the Czech Republic, so Henri just ignored that though. "Other words? I know a lot." He was interested in entertaining Danica. She was extremely trusting and he only hoped that whenever she grew up, she would be careful at who she chose to trust. Even though Henri would never hurt her, there was no telling about anyone else.

"It depends on what you want to know. Father is père, brother is frere." Henri reached up one of his hands and started to run it through his hair while he thought. "Aunt is tante." He paused and returned his eyes to her. "What else do you want to know?"