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Chapter Text

Harry sighs and takes his briefcase from the passenger seat before getting out of his car. No matter how long the summer vacation seems in the beginning, in the end it always feels too short. Just as he's about to start his way up the path that leads from the car park to the main building -already bored with the prospect of several weeks of introductory lessons to get rid of a certain kind of students (the lazy, credit seeking kind)- Merlin pulls up beside him. He's instantly relieved upon his arrival since being seemingly engrossed in conversation while wading through the masses of students means that no one will bother them beyond a short greeting (The eagerness of certain individuals to go into every detail of their holiday is quite concerning).

"Well don't you look cheerful today". Merlin closes the door of his car and makes his way towards Harry. "Not everyone has the luxury of pre-tests to weed out their attendees," Harry answers just as Merlin walks by and they head for the university entrance together.

"So you say every year."

"Well, it does bother me every year."

"Then you know what I have to say about the subject."

"Yes, I know-"

"Let's change it then."

Harry raises an eyebrow. "Merlin I swear, if you ask me about my holiday-"

"I won't. I was there for most of it and I highly doubt something lifechanging happened throughout the last week we didn't see each other. No, I actually wanted to talk about- okay what is going on here?"

Merlin and Harry both stop and regard the group of teenagers in orange jumpsuits lounging on last year's Art class project- six huge sculptures in various shapes that should represent unity and important values Harry cannot remember, but ended up looking like strange phallic symbols in different erect states. They mainly serve as seats and skate ramps.

"Unless we lowered the age limit of our university significantly and the fashion industry made very questionable decisions this summer I'm sure that those are convicts."

Merlin rolls his eyes. "I can see that myself. How convicts ended up in front of one of the most expensive private institutions is the question." He starts making his way towards the group, Harry following closely behind. "I highly doubt seven youths broke out of prison and decided to rest in front of a public building still wearing their jumpsuits," Harry says.

Merlin snorts and turns to answer, when he stops suddenly. Harry ends up running into him and stumbles slightly. "Fucks sake Merlin what-"

A female voice he can't quite place greets them from behind. "Good morning Professor Hart. Merlin."

Harry turns around to see a former student of his. "Roxy Morton, isn't it?" He reaches out and shakes her hand. Somehow she manages to look even more professional than she did when she graduated.

"Exactly Sir."

"Didn't you finish your studies a year ago?"

"Yes I did, I'm here as a colleague now. Sort of"

Merlin steps forward to shake her hand as well. "Good morning. Harry, Roxy will be my scientific assistent this year, to work on her junior doctoral dissertation as well as helping me with this bloody project of mine. I was just about to tell you when we were distracted. Speaking about that-"

"Oh you spotted them too, then? The entire university is in uproar, it's quite hilarious."

Harry raises an eyebrow. "I assume you know more than us then?"

"Of course. I've been here for two hours already, preparing today's experiments in the lab." Harry looks at Merlin, his mouth twitching. His friend has tried to find a capable assistent for months now- his new project dangerous and demanding, just like his work ethics and hours. Ms. Morton seems perfect from the way he remembers her, but the next few weeks will tell. "They are delinquents sentenced with community service, aged 16 to 24, eight of them. They will work on minor repairs outside of the building, I just don't know for how long."

Merlin and Harry turned to look at them again. Four of them are hanging around the knee-high statue, deep in very loud conversation neither of them can understand from the distance, but several rude gestures suggest it's of a sexual nature. A slightly older girl leans against the biggest statue in the corner, clearly annoyed and smoking a cigarette. Two boys are sitting on one further off, one nursing a coffee and looking more asleep than anything else, the other one typing away on his smartphone, his expression so bored that his brain seems pretty inactive as well. Lovely.

"Do you know how that came to be?" Harry turns towards Roxy again. This entire circus does not really fit their schools reputation and seems very unlike Chester as well.

"Sadly not, no. Just that the headmaster is in a terrible mood and is trying to get rid of them again."

Merlin turns back towards them as well. "Good, I was worried there for a moment. Chester King offering a place to community service sounds like-"

"Don't Merlin." Harry interrupts.

Merlin just sighs. "Fine. We should head inside and get started then. Harry has some credit-seekers to scare away and we have several experiments to run." Roxy nods and heads towards the building, Merlin and Harry following her. Before Harry can start an attempt to congratulate Merlin for his so far fine choice he runs into someone and stumbles for the second time today. He looks down at one of the convicts, who fell from the impact.

"Shit, sorry!"

Harry holds out his hand to help him up. An orange jumpsuit doesn't invalidate manners, after all. "No harm done. You should get back to your group though."

"Yeah probably. Sorry mate, not really awake yet."

Estate, going by the accent. Still, no reason to forget his manners.

"It really is no problem." He nods and turns towards Merlin who is waiting a few feet ahead. "Try not to make a habit out of it, some of my colleagues might become rather annoyed. Have a nice day." As he follows Merlin up the path, he hears the boy calling after him.

"Of course... Professor."

A moment later a middle aged man wearing the most hideous matching purple jacket and cap Harry has ever laid eyes on exits the university and heads towards the group, calling for them to gather around. Probation officer, if the strangest one he has ever seen.

"Oi!" Harry turns around to see that Sleepy Brain, now without his smartphone, is calling for the missing member of their team. "Oi Eggsy, you coming or what?"

The older boy, still looking in his direction, answers. "On my way!"

Eggsy. What a strange name.

Harry lets the door of the main building fall shut behind him and doesn't think of the boy nor his fellow lawbreakers for the rest of the day.

Chapter Text

Of course Harry is late at least once before the first week of term is over. He quickly grabs the stack of papers he graded until well after midnight and gets out of his car to walk towards the building (No matter how late he is, he will give up his dignity by running anywhere, thank you).

He's just thinking about the fastest way to class and whether or not he should drop by his office before (yes) and check his mail (also yes) when he stumbles over something before him. He manages to prevent himself from falling, but drops all the papers in the process. Before he can start cursing he gets interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Shit. Sorry."

Harry turns and looks at the same boy he ran into on his first day. He's kneeling on the cobbles beside him with a small spatula in his hand. "Shit, I should-" He puts the scraper aside and starts gathering the papers, which are now spread out over the pavement.

"I'm already late, this doesn't make that much of a difference," Harry says as he crouches down to do the same.

"I started with the pavement cause I thought everyone was inside by now and I wouldn't be in anybody's way." The boy, Eggsy, he remembers, tries to sort the papers while collecting them. Harry thinks he should have stapled them at home. He also thinks that he should head to class without further delays and do his office and mail afterwards.

"Thoughtful. Just leave it, I'll sort them in class. Or better, I'll let them sort the stacks themselves."
He's pulled out of his thoughts by hearing the other laugh, what suprises him a little. Usually only James laughs at his professor jokes, and then only to annoy Percival, who hates them.

"Here." Eggsy hands Harry the first stack before he turns slightly to pick up a few pages on his right.

"Thank you." Harry looks at the two uneven and unsorted piles in front of him and sighs. "I should have stapled the essays yesterday."

"Essays." Eggsy tries to even the next stack before he hands them over. He scannes the page while Harry takes it. "Shakespeare... you teachin' literature class then?"

Eggsy collects the last pages, while Harry adds the assorted piles to his large, unsorted heap.

"Yes I do, literature and theatre actually."

They both get up, Eggsy holding the last few pages and Harry holding his messy stack in both hands, making sure nothing falls out again.

Eggsy speaks again while evening his out. "Who the fuck writes about Romeo and Juliet? A bunch of people dying 'cause of two hormonal teenies."

Harry raises an eyebrow as he tries to take the last few pages. It proves to be difficult without dropping anything. "If this one is overrated to you, what would you write a paperabout instead?"

Eggsy tuts and moves closer to simply place the paper on Harrys pile and answers immediately.

"Shakespeare? So many good plays. I really like King Lear, it's like an actual good version of Game of Thrones. Much ado about nothing is hilarious. My fave is Coriolanus though, no one is straight and the women are awesome." Eggsy huffs slightly as he pulls out of Harry's personal space again. "There are too many. Depends on the class and the context I guess. But everything is better than Romeo and Juliet. Not a lovestory, it's a damn joke."

Harry doesn't respond for a moment, being genuenely impressed with what he just heard. Eggsy seems to pick up on Harry's surprise so he crosses his arms and raises his chin slightly. "Surprised, huh? Guess what, someone like me can know shit about Shakespeare, too."

Harry regains his composure quickly enough and raises an eyebrow. "No. I'm simply surprised that someone your age prefers Coriolanus to one of the most well known romantic stories in pop culture."

Eggsy huffs and seems to straighten up further. "What do you mean someone my age? I'm not 16 and in my Romeo-crazy phase any more."

"No, I suppose not." Now that Harry is able to take a closer look he can clearly see that Eggsy is in fact not at all a teenager but seems already past his early twenties. And knows his way around at least some classical literature, with very unusual choices. Interesting.

Eggsy frowns slightly and shifts, seemingly uncomfortable with being looked at so closely- when did Harry start looking so closely? "Those orange nightmares make it a bit hard to judge I guess. No one can pull them off, everyone looks short and ridiculous."

Eggsy wears said jumpsuit with the top half pulled down, the sleeves wrapped around his middle to make sure the bottom part won't drop. Harry's gaze slides down his bare arms, to the tanktop he's wearing underneath. "Oh, I very much disagree."

Eggsy frowns even more and looks like he wants to say something before the probation officer- this time wearing an orange jacket and neon orange cap, as equally hideous as the ones he wore last time- calls him. Eggsy looks down to the not even close to finished task of exchanging old broken cobbles with new ones.

Harry continues swiftly. "Well talking about orange nightmares."

Eggsy quickly kneels and picks up the spatula again. "Shit."

"And here we agree. His choices are truly...shit."

Eggsy picks up where he left off and pokes around the cracks between two stones. "Yeah yeah, don't you have, like, essays about shitty romances to hand back?"

"Indeed. Have a nice day."

"Whatever."

Harry turns around and makes his way up to the building only to stop and look back, once halfway there.

"Ah, and Eggsy?" Eggsy looks up, obviously suprised that Harry knows his name. "You really shouldn't make a habit of making professors run into you." Harry, now satisfied with the slightly embarrassed and still surprised look on Eggsy's face, turns around again and finally reaches the entrance.

Full of surprises, this Eggsy, he thinks as he makes his way to his office to check his mail.

While the boy who wrote the essay on Romeo and Juliet tries to defend his "true love in plays" theory in front of the class- and of course fails, it is a story about two teenage idiots after all- Harry's thoughts wander to the young man, who, without Harry's knowledge, broke a spatula while aggressively trying to hack out a cobblestone from the pavement after their last encounter.

Chapter Text

Harry has just checked his watch as he makes his way up towards the university the following monday- on time- when he spots Eggsy crouching down on the pavement. Unlike Friday he is situated on the path near the student's parking and completely out of Harry's route. A small detour to greet the young man couldn't hurt.

"Good morning Eggsy."

Eggsy uses his fingers to shield his eyes from the early morning sun as he looks up at Harry, squinting. "Morning professor. Late again?"

"What makes you think so?" He was late once last week and is really trying not to make a habit of it this term. Again.

"Everyone else got inside ten minutes ago, so figured."

"My Monday class starts c.t.. That means at quarter past, so there's plenty of time left. But thank you for your concern."

"Concerned, sure. "Eggsy grins and moves into a more comfortable position, the work forgotten for the moment. "So, any more Shakespeare this week?"

"No. That subject was finished with the essays, at least on the introductory level. No, we cover basic foreign literature this week, modern literature next, and then I will start the actual course."

"Why bother with the three week introduction? Seems a bit much to me."

"I try to ascertain their current level, it's first years after all. My course should be hard work, but not impossible from the start. It's also nice to get to know each other. I will get to know the class, their interests, can test their strengths and weaknesses, and they can get to know me, my teaching style and can attempt to test my non-existent patience."

Eggsy raises an eyebrow. "You seem pretty patient to me."

"Well, you're not one of my constantly debating students."

"And yet we argued over Shakespeare on Friday," Eggsy countered immediately.
"I wouldn't call that arguing," Harry objected, "you simply shared your opinion on several of his works with me."

Eggsy shrugs. "Fair enough." He thinks for a moment. "I would like to see you argue about it though."

"Continue like this and you will."

Eggsy's started grinning again and Harry finds himself almost smiling back at this open display of amusement. After a short pause he continues.

"You were at least partly right."

"What?"

Harry tuts and Eggsy rolls his eyes.

"Oh, whatever could you mean professor," Eggsy answers while indicating a formal bow with his upper body. The movement looks strange with Eggsy still sitting down, and yet slightly impressive. He seems very flexible. After a moment of holding the position he slumps back again. "Better?"

"Without the sarcasm would be better, but getting there. I was talking about the Romeo and Juliet essay from last Friday."

Eggsy grins, a tad too self-congratulatory this time, and sounds even more so. "Oh, was I?"

"As I said, partly. The young gentlemen writing the essay was focusing on the lovestory you think is so, what was it, shit?"

Eggsy's grin drops and he gets slightly defensive. "Yeah, so?"

"Well Romeo and Juliet is about a lot more than that. You should consider the other characters, the other relationships and the other ongoings and re-read with a slight shift in your focus instead of being angry about a lovestory between two teenagers the entire time. You'll see that the play is a lot more giving this time around."

Eggsy huffs, now crossing his arms and cementing his defensive demeanour. "Doubt it."

"My student refused to accept another take on the play as well and was very keen to stick to the lovestory as the main plot and content to analyse and focus on."

"What happened with him, then?"

Harry raises an eyebrow. "He will have a lot more free lessons than he expected throughout this term."

Eggsy's closed off expression gives way to surprise. "No way, you threw him out?"

"There are several things I don't like in students- laziness, tardiness, not to mention credit seekers who aren't even interested in the material. But there is one thing I cannot stand in anyone: the refusal to learn, to widen ones horizon. So yes, I threw him and his clever clogs out."

Eggsy frowns slightly. "Good thing I'm not your student then."

"And why's that? Are you that opposed to the idea of learning or progress?"

Eggsy snorts and picks up his spatula again. "No. That's bullshit, I like learning. After hearing that you throw some rich tosser out of your class for disagreeing with you on a play I just don't wanna know what you'd do to the likes of me after some fight." He gestures to himself slightly, fingers gripped tighlty around his tool which he hacks into the ground with a loud crunching sound a second later. "And if you'll excuse me now-"

"Eggsy." Harry uses his calm and authoritive voice, hoping to get him to listen. He really doesn't want this interaction to end on a bad note because of the boys class issues. "That's not what this is about, nor what I was getting at." When Eggsy stops and looks up again, Harry decides to explain further. "Measuring oneself compared to others is secondary. It's like Hemmingway said. 'There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former self.' And one can only get there by staying open-minded. To new ideas, other opinions or points of views, by learning and progressing in general."

Eggsy's frown deepens. He doesn't show any immediate reaction to Harry's speech.

"And that does not only apply to Shakespeare plays or university, Eggsy."

Eggsy still doesn't answer, whether it's from sinking into his thoughts or from simply becoming uncomfortable with the topic, Harry can't tell.

"Anyway," Harry continues before the silence can actually be recognized as such, "I wish you a successful second week with those cobbles- weren't you trying to finish those last Friday already?"

"This is an entirely different location," Eggsy says, still slightly distracted, and gesturing around the area, which is around 10 metres next to the place that he was working last time.

"Apologies for the assumption. I'm afraid my expertise is situated in a different field from cobbles or landscaping."

Eggsy snorts. "Situated where, falling over people and distracting them?"

“I hadn't really thought of it as distracting, but since you're mentioning it...” another snort, “but I can assure you that I don't usually fall over other people. You were a very delightful exception."

Eggsy raises his gaze and looks at Harry again. The sunlight reflects in his green eyes.

"And as much as I secretly enjoy the disctracting part-" Eggsy features show a hint of a smile, "-I do have a class to teach. Have a nice and productive day, Eggsy."

When Eggsy doesn't answer immediately Harry turns around and starts to walk up the path again.

"Thanks professor. You too," Eggsy hastily replies a moment later. "See you around?" He adds, slightly uncertain.

Harry looks over his shoulder. "I would hope so, Eggsy." He smiles for a briefly before continuing on his way, leaving Eggsy to his thoughts and his pavement.

Harry is five minutes late to his first class that day.

Morons. This entire year is filled with air-headed imbeciles. After three double periods on basic German literature only three students could properly explain the difference between Goethe (wrote the most famous poems, plays and other works) and Kant (philosopher- not even a literary figure!), but how good it is to know that an entire class can laugh at the same name spoken out loud for three days straight.

He's still trying to reorganize his lesson plans (there is no way he will start Russian literature this week) as a knock on the door pulls him out of his thoughts.

"Come in." Harry rolls slightly back to get a better view of the visitor, thinking that his brand new swivel chair was a very good investment, as it not only allows him to turn in a very bondlike and dramatic way towards the door, but also to roll from his desk to his cupboards on the other side of the room.

Merlin enters his office. "Still happy with that swivel chair, I see."

"Best investment I've made in years."

"Well, one gets older, I suppose"

"Just because I won't get up every five seconds doesn't mean I can't. So, did you want anything besides your daily dosage of annoying and casually insulting me?"

"I wanted to ask you out for lunch. Roxy and I will have to take a longer break. The lab needs to air out for a few hours."

"A stuffy room never stopped you from working for days straight in that cell. Getting soft with old age as well?"

"It's less 'need to air out' and more 'the alert went off, we had to take safety showers and are barred from entering for at least 160 minutes'."

Harry raises an eyebrow. He can guess where this is going, but he wants to hear Merlin spill it out. "And you did not fire Miss Morton upon her first mistake like the last three?"

Merlin narrows his eyes. Harry really wants to hear him say it. "Since it was my mistake that seems hardly fair does it." Sucess.

"Interesting," Harry says as he leans back. The leather of the chair makes a loud crunchy noise. "What happened?"

"Something went wrong, obviously. I don't see why the specifics interest you. So, lunch in ten?" Merlin talks fast and matter-of-factly in his heavy accent. He's terribly annoyed. Wonderful.

"Oh, I obviously need to hear all the dirty details of your first failure in ages. Main entrance in twenty."

Merlin raises an eyerbrow. "Why walk all the way over the grounds to the main entrance instead of just going to Graces' here on campus?"

"Because, in order to bribe Roxy, we're going to have a real lunch in a cafe or restaurant for which we'll obviously need to take the car. Since you're barred for another two hours we've got more than enough time, so why not indulge in a long decadent lunch instead of some dirty quick business in between?"

Merlin snorts."And it has nothing to do with the possibility of meeting a certain young man on the way to the carpark, I assume."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's been raining the entire day, they will hardly force them to work outside."

Merlin does not reply immediately and Harry grows slightly uncomfortable for a reason he can't quite place.

Thankfully Merlin nods and opens the door."Of course not. Front door in fifteen," he says before leaving. Harry is not sure if the other heard the " In twenty" he threw his way, but they both know Harry won't show up before the 25 minute mark has passed.

"..and anyway," Roxy continued her long list of reasons why Merlin's mistake wasn't as grave as it might seem, "by now the fumes should be gone and we can just continue where we left off. And let's face it, that break was long overdue anyway." Roxy has been trying to shut off the argument about the lab accident for nearly two hours now and has grown sick of it. Merlin refuses to admit any mistakes in front of Harry, who in return refuses to stop teasing him about the fact that the entire chemical department had to shut down for three hours. Hopefully the air has cleared during their lunchbreak. Literally.

Merlin sighs as he holds the front door of the university building open. "I apologize for pushing you so hard-" Roxy interrupts him while hurrying inside. "I'm not complaining," she starts shaking the rain off her umbrella and continues. "It's really interesting and since we figured out how to stabilize the third component on Sunday-"

Harry interrupts her as well as soon as he gets inside after them. "Can you stop the science talk until you're back in the lab? I'm bored to tears by the the first half of that sentence already and-"

The door is just about to fall shut behind him, when somebody tries to squeeze inside after them and rushes against Harrys back.

"Shit, sorry, I-"

Harry turns around to look at a completely drenched Eggsy. Not that he needed to look to know it was him. "Eggsy!"

"Hey Prof." Eggsy smiles immediately and shakes his jacket slightly in a hopeless attempt to get off some of the rain and become drier."Sorry for running into you. Again. But it's pissing down like hell so I tried to save my ass."

"It's fine, Eggsy. No harm done. I apologize as well."

"You? Why? You didn't do anything." Eggsy frowns slightly and takes a step towards Harry in order to close the door behind him.

"Exactly. Usually I've got better manners and hold the door instead of shutting it in someones face."

Eggsy raises an eyebrow and grins slightly. "Another delightful exception I guess?"

Harry almost smiles back. "Must be."

They just look at each for another few seconds until Roxy, whom he completly forgot about, addresses Eggsy.

"Hello, delightful exception?" Eggsy turns towards her and Merlin, a flash of confusion in his expression before he closes off. A slight blush spreads across his face.

Roxy continues before he can answer. "I don't want to impose, but I doubt shaking the jacket is very effective. Maybe you should take it off and hang it over one of the heaters in the hallway until it's dry? It's freezing inside this building and you might easily catch something."

Eggsy looks down at his drenched jacket and unzips it quickly. "You're right." He quickly shrugs it off his broad shoulders and pulls it off completly. "Didn't really think about it, so thanks."

He looks up again, dripping jacket in his hand. The shirt he's wearing underneath clings to his body and has become slightly see-through due to the rain and the orange fabric of the jumpsuit stretches across his thighs. Goosebumps cover his skin.

"You're welcome. Harry? Won't you introduce us?" Harry is pulled out of thoughts and tears his gaze away from Eggsy. He takes a step back and clears his throat.

"Where are my manners-" Merlin snorts in the background, "Roxanne, this is Eggsy-" Harry realizes for the first time that he doesn't know anything about him, other than some opinions about Shakespeare, his nickname, and that he never wears the jumpsuit properly. "-who is working here currently. Eggsy, this is Roxanne Morton. She graduated last year and is now working alongside Merlin on chemical projects."

They shake hands, and Roxy steps away to make room for Merlin, who holds out his hand for Eggsy as well. "And this is Merlin, colleague and friend and head of the university's chemistry department."

"Nice to have a name to go with the list of minor accidents Harry's had in the last two weeks," Merlin says before taking a step back. Eggsy seems slightly uncomfortable and takes a step back as well.

"Talking 'bout accidents. Do you as head of chemistry know what the fuck happened down there this morning? We had to leave the lawn we were working on cause of some gas or something."

Merlin clears his throat and straightens his back. "A minor-" Harry raises an eyebrow- "accident happened this morning and I should propably check up on that. If you would excuse me." Merlin turns around and leaves with long strides for the chemical department.

"You knew it was him, didn't you?" Roxy sounds highly amused, and when Harry turns back towards them Eggsy is grinning widely as well.

He responds very proudly. "Of course I did. Head of the department, big, bald angry-looking Scotsman, nearly set his experiment on fire 'cause of a chemical reaction he didn't calculate. I'm not taking any shit from some professor-"

"Eggsy," Harry interrupts him, "Watch your mouth. He's my friend. And, despite how it may look, I do actually work here too."

"Oh, I know. You don't count though."

"And why's that?"

"Let's just say-" He grins and leans slightly closer towards him. Oh boy. "-you're my delightful exception?"

For once Harry doesn't actually know how to respond and needs a moment- taking in the boy in front of him, his green eyes and wide grin, and how could he counter his own former statement here...

"You're dripping."

Harry startles and looks at Roxy. "Excuse me?"

She tries very hard not to laugh. "Not you Harry. Eggsy, your jacket is dripping all over the floor."

"Oh shit." Eggsy lifts the jacket slightly, one arm sliding through a puddle on the floor until it dangles down from the lump in his hands, still dripping steadily.

"Come on," Roxy nods towards the hallway to the right. "I'll show you the bathroom to wring it out and the heater I mentioned."

Eggsy replies quickly. "You really don't have to-"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm off for at least another thirty minutes and need entertainment." She turns slightly and gestures at Harry. "Harry here has a class to teach. Like he said, he does actually work here. So?"

Eggsy wraps the jacket into a bundle to avoid further dripping and nods. "Sounds cool. Thanks."

"Just follow me. We'll see each other tomorrow Harry?"

Harry, who followed the conversation with a frown, nods. It definitely looks like Roxy has a hidden agenda behind this, and that is more than slightly concerning. Harry clears his throat. "Yes, tomorrow. Give Merlin my regards." Harry turns to see Eggsy off. The tips of his ears turned red, propably from the cold, and the goosebumps cover his entire arms. His nipples are clearly visible through the thin shirt. Harry nods and looks in his eyes again. "Eggsy. ...Be careful you don't slip on the wet tiles."

Eggsy grins widely. "Won't do, thanks though. I'll see you around?"

"Yes Eggsy. See you around."

Eggsy nods and follows Roxy after looking at Harry for another few seconds. Harry gazes after them for a brief moment. He takes a deep breath and makes his way to his afternoon class. Don't slip on the wet tiles. He's lucky Merlin wasn't around to hear that one, but going by Roxy's expression she won't let him live it down either. Let's just hope she's not as bad as his best friend. And that Harry is starting to get slightly paranoid and she isn't plotting anything.

When Roxy makes her way home early that evening (they had to throw away the remains of the accident and will start again tomorrow, after an -to them- early night) she hears several rumours about Professor Hart drifting off during his afternoon class- twice! On top of that, he ended the class a whole four minutes earlier than usual. Naturally the student body is trying to figure out what might have happened (most bids say he's coming down with something really awful). Roxy smiles and exits the building through the front door, her summercoat billowing behind her as she makes her way to her car through the afternoon sunlight. Everything smells like the rain from earlier and the hopeful future success of a fully-formed plan.