A/N: Just getting rid of some stuff saved on my laptop... Think this was written from a prompt that I found online... though can't remember where...
Professor Padma Patil walked along the corridor humming to herself.
She'd had what she would call a pretty successful day. With the castle being almost student free and quiet she had been able to do all of her marking, plan her next few weeks of lessons and rearrange her classroom (which she had been planning to do for quite some time.) All without the, sometime trivial, interruptions of members of her house.
And now as the evening was drawing to a close she had decided that she was going to go and have a nice hot bath (using the bath salts Parvati had sent her) and have an early night before the madness started again tomorrow.
She was stopped in her tracks, her thoughts interrupted, as she heard sobbing from one of the classrooms. Walking over to the door, which was slightly ajar, she saw through the relative darkness a small figure huddled on one of the desks.
"Curfew was nearly an hour ago." She said softly.
In the darkness she saw the figure straighten with a start and with a whisper she lit one of the lamps in the room. Bringing Rose Weasley into view.
"I- um- I- I'm sorry professor." Rose said dropping down off of the desk and standing in front of her head of house.
"I didn't realise what the time was." She added wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
"What's wrong Rose?" Padma asked entering the room fully and closing the door behind herself.
"It's nothing." Rose said a red tinge gracing her heavily freckled cheeks.
"Ah yes, I see, 'nothing' always makes me cry alone in a dark classroom as well." Padma said walking over to one of the desks and sitting down on it.
"Professor-" Rose started but stopped and looked down at the floor.
"Sooo, did you go into Hogsmeade today?" Padma asked, even though she knew that Rose had set off for Hogsmeade along with the rest of the students that morning.
Rose nodded still not looking at Padma. She felt awkward and was wondering if there was a way to escape her teacher.
"I used to love going into Hogsmeade when I was a student here. The chance to get away from the castle for a while, go off with my friends, shop, even go to the pub for a drink. I always came back with the biggest grin on my face after a day in the village. So why don't you have one on yours?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Rose said.
"Ah so was it something that happened in Hogsmeade? What happened?" She asked.
"Nothing." Rose said again.
"Ah yes nothing. So who did you go down to the village with? Did you go with Harriet and Imogen?" Padma asked knowing that the three girls were close.
Rose shook her head. "No I didn't go with them." She said.
"Oh." Padma said, a look of realisation crossing her face. Rose had more than likely been to Hogsmeade on a date. She knew from her own experience that Hogsmeade was a popular place for Hogwarts students to go on dates and that those dates usually didn't go too well which explained the crying Rose she had just found.
"So who did you go with?" She asked Rose.
Rose mumbled something that Padma couldn't quite make out.
"Sorry?" Padma said.
"Dylan Garrett." Rose repeated not looking at Padma. She couldn't believe that she was having this conversation. It was bad enough that she had been embarrassed by him, but now she was talking about her date with her teacher.
"Oh." Padma said. She wouldn't have pictured have pictured the two of them together but what would she know she was, after all, only their teacher. "First date?" She asked.
Rose nodded wiping her face with the back of her hand.
"So I take it that it didn't go well." Padma led seeing that Rose wasn't going to elaborate not that she needed to.
"No it didn't. It was a disaster and now I bet that he's in the common room telling all his guy friends about it. My life is over." She finished, her head on her hands.
A slight smile tugged at the corner of Padmas mouth. It was such a... teenage thing for her to say.
"I know it's hard to believe, but it's not the end of the world Rose. There will be other boys, other dates and whatever Dylan is telling people in the common room right now will be old news by this time tomorrow."
Rose mumbled something that Padma didn't quite catch, but she was sure that Rose was disagreeing with her. "But-" Rose started but fell silent.
Padma stood and crossed the short distance between herself and Rose and the sat down on the desk next to her.
"You know, the first man I dated dressed badly, had a crush on another girl and refused to dance with me. I think as far as first dates go that was pretty disasterous." Padma said smiling to herself at the memory.
"Ouch." Rose said. "That must have been awful."
"Maybe." Padma said with a shrug. "It didn't make me feel good about myself for sure. I mean he was there with me and spent the whole time staring at her and her date. And his outfit, well I think even he was embarrassed by that one." Another smile. "They were possibly the frilliest, laciest dress robes I've ever seen on a female, let alone a male."
"So what happened?" Rose asked.
"Well I went and danced with someone else. And he just sat with his friend and carried on staring at the girl he had a crush on as she danced away oblivious to it."
"What happened after that?" Rose pressed.
"Well we did become friends eventually. And he made it up to me at his wedding." Padma laughed softly and she remembered him stepping on her toes a couple of times, maybe it was a good thing that they hadn't dance at the ball. "He danced with me for a whole song before his new wife dragged him away again to dance with her."
"What happened to his crush?" Rose asked curious.
"She was the one that he married. Happy ending and all. They're incredibly happy together have a couple of great children." She added with a wide smile looking at Rose.
"And you still talk?" Rose asked amazed.
"Yeah we do. You might know him actually." Padma said still smiling.
"Really?" Rose asked her expression confused.
"Yep," Padma nodded. "His name's Ron Weasley."
"Ron W-" Rose said shocked. "But that's my Dad!"
"Yes that's your Dad."
"You went on a date with my Dad?" Rose said her eyes wide, "No way"
Padma nodded.
"Yes I did. He was my first date. And it was a disaster! But things worked out for me. And they will for you."
Padma smiled at Rose standing up.
"Now, maybe it's time that you went on up to bed."
Rose smiled to herself as she slipped off the desk.
"Thank you Professor Patil, you really are the coolest!" She moved forward giving Padma a swift hug before hurrying out of the classroom, glancing over her shoulder at Padma as she crossed the threshold.
Padma smiled to herself as she thought about her own teenage years and how significant even the smallest thing seemed.
She headed to the door and with a whisper the room fell back into darkness.