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` ⇨x ﹙There are countless ways of attaining ┆↘ 。GREATNESS ﹚x` ⊱ x*but any road to reaching one's maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the, 。 INDIVIDUAL x﹙ ♛ ﹚x a commitment to ✄ EXCELLENCE 。 ↙
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xxx ↘ xxx ↘ xxx ↘ Đεɱȋϯяȋ Mɑϯђεωs
` ⊱x ﹙ AND A ┆ REJECTION┆ OF MEDIOCRITY ﹚
_____________ It's one thing to see that shimmer of gold, but quite another to hear it's heartbeat.
☢x Releasing the grip he had on the now ruined quill he had been using to mark his students’ quizzes, Demitri blew his lengthy bangs out of his eyes with a grudging sigh. He would do best to finish correcting these atrociously formatted questions, but his stomach protested loudly and, at the sound of Nefertiti’s concerned hissing, he stood up and pushed in his chair. He would not have to worry about his familiar, there were plenty of rodents lurking in the dungeons and even if, and that’s a very big if, they were lacking he would simply take her to the transfiguration room where they always housed all sorts of small, expendable creatures for her to consume.
An idea sparked in his mind and, deciding that the Transfiguration hallway would indubitably be his best choice of destination, he took off at a sprint. The heels of his leather dress shoes clicked violently against the cold stone, but softened as they began to make contact with the carpeted corridor of the upper levels. It had been some time since he was able to have lunch at the castle, and by Merlin he would at least have someone to accompany him. He hadn’t seen her in quite some time and, with baited breath, he tiptoed his way to the door of Professor Quinn’s office. He figured that, since she still had his last name, her marriage was alive and well— Demitri had steeled himself to any feelings he may have had for the head of Gryffindor house as a result.
He gave a little knock, a shy smile gracing his moisturized lips. His amber eyes sparkled beneath his modern spectacles as he invited himself in to perch on the edge of the violet haired witch’s desk. “You can’t keep yourself locked in here forever, you know…” he mused, chuckling melodiously, leaning down to push any papers she may have been studying from her view.
“You haven’t aged a day… Did you miss me?”
Demitri shook out his hair as he did in his youth, inky black locks shrouding his gaze before he, once again, flicked it from his eyes. A dusting of pink coloured his cheeks as he prepared himself for, what he remembered to be, a less than graceful retort. He offered her a boyish grin, a seemingly virtuous look she would not, or so he hoped, find threatening. He paused, heaving a well-deserved breath to clear his lungs and mind. “Would you… like to attend today’s lunch with me?”