Disclaimer: Same as before in the other chapters.

Another long chapter finished. I'm so thankful to my beta that is wonderful.

This chapter is like an interlude of sorts as not all chapters can be filled with action.

I love to get reviews *hint hint*. I hate flambé so please no flames.

Big thanks to:

Jinx of the 2nd Law

and

xXMelloxRebekahXx

for their lovely, encouraging reviews that pushed me onwards.

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good,

Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood.

Joe Cocker - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

The bosom buddies had just one thing that they disagreed upon and that was hockey. As much as Emma liked Logan's company there was no way that she could watch a whole match of ice-hockey with him. Logan loved hockey, a fascination he had picked up over the years and a trait that Emma was certain that was somehow connected to the fact that he was Canadian. There was no other explanation that could prove to her why on earth Logan would ever spend that amount of time watching that brutal sport.

Sports were never Emma's interest, not even when she was at Hogwarts and the Quidditch season was in full force. Compared to hockey, Quidditch suddenly sounded a fantastic way to spend one's afternoon.

Logan once made the mistake of inviting Emma to watch a whole match with him. It wasn't that Logan needed company while watching a game; it was more that someone who enjoyed the game was welcome to spend time with him, eat pizza and be silent.

Emma had a huge problem with the silence part when she was watching the only match she ever watched, as soon as she started to ask questions Logan tried to ignore her. The second time she asked, Logan replied but not the way she thought he would.

"Kid, sit here and shut the hell up or get the fuck out and let me watch the game in peace."

For a few moments Emma felt offended before she realized that Logan's words actually gave her the perfect way out from an excruciating mind-numbing afternoon. She walked out of the room without another word and felt happy to have made her escape from a boring afternoon of hockey.

When the match finished Logan found Emma in the kitchen with Ororo chatting merrily over a cup of coffee. The two women were laughing and clearly having a great time as they chatted up a storm.

"How was the match?" Ororo asked smugly as he entered the kitchen.

"Fine," Logan answered gruffly not sure how Emma's mood was and if she was trying to pick a fight by gossiping to Ororo like that even though she knew that he hated it.

"He means after I left," Emma said laughing before trying to sound like Logan with a British drawl, "get out or shut the fuck up."

Looking at his stunned face she even added teasingly, "Nice language bub."

Logan looked at her suspiciously but didn't notice any anger from her; she was more playful than he had seen her before.

"So we're good kid? No female drama coz I told you to get out?"

"It's fine Logan," she said warmly, "you'd better find another hockey buddy as I don't have a hockey loving bone in my body."

"No shit? Not even pizza shut you up," he retorted and felt warmth spread inside his chest at the cheerful laughter and the dark sparkling eyes. There were not many people that could make Logan crack jokes but Emma was beginning to dig herself into his heart and he realized he liked it. It was nice to have someone in his life that wasn't scared of him and dared to stand up to him. In Emma's case she might even try to stand up to him a bit too often but he liked her rebellious spirit. The wilder side of him loved to see her stand up to him.

He shook his head with mirth before going out for a cigar. He still hadn't been able to break Charles Xavier when it came to cigar smoking in the mansion. It was still very much frowned upon and breaking the rules wasn't worth the frown he would get from Ororo if he would.

"Marvellous how uninteresting sports are," Emma said grinning to Storm before refilling their cups with more coffee. To Emma's joy it didn't take long until Rogue took up spending Sunday afternoons with Logan watching hockey. It made Emma happy to get out of the forced watching, Logan was more than happy to have company of someone that knew how to shut up and Rogue was more than happy to spend a little time with Logan. All in all, everyone was happy with the little hockey arrangement.

Things had been somewhat quiet at the mansion for a few weeks. Everybody did their job, including the children who were busy with school and the X-men had only had a handful of missions giving the team and Emma a lot of time to kill.

At the beginning of December Charles Xavier called for a staff meeting. Something he rarely did as communication was quite good between the staff members, it certainly helped that the headmaster was a telepath. If something was off, then he tackled it immediately.

Xavier looked over the staff and couldn't help smiling with affection at them all. Ororo sat on a chair close to his table and Hank stood directly behind her with a hand on her shoulder as if showing the world that she was his possession.

In another chair, facing Xavier's desk was Emma. On her right was Scott, sitting on the arm rest and on the other side was Logan. Xavier couldn't help grinning at the annoyed glances that Logan gave Scott as he and Emma continued to talk together in hushed tones. Obviously the Wolverine was used to be the centre of attention for the witch and didn't like it much when she was busy with someone else.

It felt that things were finally heading towards some kind of normality in the house after the abrupt death of Jean; it had been horribly difficult for everyone to accept it and especially for Scott whom Xavier had been very concerned for. Finally the balance had been resumed within the mansion, the teachers and students were not as restless as they had been and sorrow wasn't the first the thing on everybody's mind as soon as they got up in the morning. It was true that things were still difficult and many matters still needed to be discussed but Xavier tried to have his door always open for any who needed to talk.

"The reason why I asked you all in here was to discuss how they preparation for the exams is going and how the students are reacting to the pressure?"

Ororo was the first to answer, "so far all seems to be going well. The students are nervous of course but nothing too bad. We have seen it worse here."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Charles said and smiled friendly at Ororo who had been one of his first students back in the days when he and Eric founded the Institute for gifted youngsters. Of course that friendship died quickly when Eric realized that Charles would never understand his view on superiority over non-mutants.

"Scott, how are things going with your classes?" Xavier asked carefully to his most troubled staff member. It was no secret that Scott hadn't bounced back as quickly as everyone would have hoped. The wound of losing Jean was still too fresh. The strong friendships he had with Xavier, Ororo and the others had helped him to go on after the heartbreak.

"They are on the right track, Kitty is a little too anxious every now and then but as long as she doesn't affect the others with her nervous behaviour it should be all right. I will keep an eye on her in case something changes."

"Logan? How are your classes going? You never say much about them," Xavier complained and his pale blue eyes pierced into Logan's. A just complaint for sure since Logan wasn't one that wanted often to talk about his students, he felt it was better that the kids would learn to settle things between themselves without the teachers interfering too much. It was a rule that Xavier highly disliked and he was quick to point that out at every teacher meeting they had.

"They are doing fine. If they do well they will pass and if they don't they will fail. Simple enough for them to understand," Logan said annoyed at the third degree, when each semester was about to end it was the same story with Xavier. The professor wanted to know if there were any problems rising but really in a self-defence class there were always problems. Logan never thought the kids were ready enough, that they would ever be able to defend themselves properly in a real fight against Magneto or others like him. One thing he was completely against was Xavier's idea of putting Marie, Bobby and Kitty on the team as soon as possible. In Logan's mind they were simply too young and inexperienced to be added as part of the X-men.

"Emma, what about you? Everything all right in the history classes?" Xavier questioned after deciding to let Logan off the hook. It wouldn't do them any good to fight in-between themselves; it would only put more tension in an already tense household.

"Certainly, as much as it can be when so many exams are coming up. The children are nervous, grumpy and agitated much like we, the staff, are. I think we all need to get a little break and I myself cannot wait for the Christmas holiday," Emma said and received many nods of agreement from her fellow colleagues. It had been a difficult semester and everyone was ready to relax for a while, hang out with friends, have late nights and enjoy the holiday season.

"Indeed I think we all look forward to the break. First we have to think of our annual Christmas dance here at the mansion that will be held this year on the fifteenth of December. Are there any volunteers in helping Ororo to put everything together?"

Xavier looked around smiling widely when he saw Scott, Logan and Emma look away instantly indicating their lack of interest in helping. He had known that those three would need an extra enticing factor for them to help, they were too introvert to be interested in prancing around at a Christmas dance filled with joyful teenagers. Charles chuckled when he noticed that the witch even tried her best to cover her body from view by hiding behind Logan's bulky frame.

"Hank? Certainly you will volunteer this year like always?" he asked hoping that his relationship with Ororo might stimulate the Beast in helping. There were many things men did for their women, including impressing them with things that were not interesting.

"Surely you will help as you are the tallest and can reach the ceiling without a ladder?" Xavier said in a persuasive tone trying to coax Hank into helping out with the decorations. Out of all the staff, Hank was the most likely to take on the job of helping Ororo, the others seemed absolutely not interested in taking on the job.

"I already promised Ororo that I would help," Hank said cheerfully and smiled a fanged grin to Ororo who had a smug look on her face. The private swaying lesson had paid off; Hank had kept his end of the deal. Logan snorted revolted at the look on Ororo's face and even Scott looked a tad disgusted with the obvious female glee of getting what she wanted.

Xavier turned towards Emma, Scott and Logan and said in a cheerful tone, "We just need one of you three to pick out the music. Whoever does that won't need to be a chaperone on the night of the ..."

"I'll do it!" Emma interrupted swiftly; there was no way she wanted to be at that dance and she grabbed Xavier's offer hastily. Using her quick mind she managed to interrupt the professor and grab the job for herself mere moments before the other two would.

"That was quick. Seems Ororo knows exactly how to stimulate you three," Charles said laughing at the murderous glances that Emma was getting from the two men and especially Logan who was known for hating public settings, particularly the dances.

The witch looked at the two men grinning wickedly and patting them both friendly on the shoulder as if they were children that just lost a soccer match, "you snooze you lose, isn't that what the kids say?"

Logan rolled his eyes at her and she gloated back at him knowing full well that she had won that prize fair and square. There was nothing that Logan could do; she had won.

"Indeed," Xavier said grinning at the witch who so enjoyed teasing her co-workers. He had noticed that her discreet friendship with Logan was helping her to open up to her co-workers. In only a few months Emma had turned from a very timid person into one that dared to talk in front of them all to express her opinions and concerns. That was a huge step for someone so introverted as her and Xavier knew that Logan's forwardness had somehow triggered that reaction in her.

"I've never been to a dance this side of the pond so I will need a few hints from you, Ororo, about what music to pick out," Emma said and peeked at her friend from behind Logan's bulky frame. She really had to stretch her neck to see her friend at the other end of the room.

Ororo smiled warmly at Emma and replied, "No problem, last year I took care of the music and I'm sure I have the list somewhere so you can use it as a reference."

"Efficient," Logan said sarcastically to Ororo who glared angrily at him at his words. It was no secret that Logan hated to work in a team and more than anything he hated organization and any kinds of lists. He respected Ororo a lot as part of the team and also as an acquaintance. On the other hand, her noisiness and loose tongue had often gotten the better of Logan's nasty temper. The clashes often resulted in epic fights between the two and the team was not interested in reliving them any time soon. There was one problem with Logan's temper, when someone managed to annoy him like that it was really difficult to get him to change his opinion on that person.

"It's good that some of us are efficient," Scott said aggravated throwing a mini torpedo Logan's way. Just the mere presence of the Wolverine was enough to bring out a side in Scott that he hadn't even known he had.

"How should you know Scooter, haven't seen you do much lately but wallowing in your own shit," Logan growled back at the younger man. It was true that Scott had not been too active in finishing his job that semester but every staff member had volunteered to fill in for him whenever needed. All that is but Logan who thought Scooter just needed a firm kick in the ass.

"What do you know Logan? You have your head so securely up your own ass that you don't know which way is up anymore," Scott bristled and the rest of the staff members started to roll their eyes in annoyance at yet another fight between the two. The most uncomfortable one was Emma who was now sandwiched between the two who looked very much as if they wanted to attack each other. Only problem with that was that neither of the men seemed to remember that Emma was still wedged between the two on the small chair.

Logan growled at Scott trying his best to pick a fight with the frustrated mutant, "look if anyone needs a kick in the ass it's you Scooter. You are so fucked up that..."

"Gentlemen!" Xavier's voice boomed in the room, annoyance evident in his tone. It seemed that every time that Scott and Logan were in the same room something like that happened. They were opposites, instead of attracting each other; they pushed each further apart every time they saw each other.

"This is neither the time nor place for this, if you two have something to talk about it shouldn't be here," he said indicating to the other three teachers that were watching the sparring contest with considerable interest.

"Good luck with the preparations. I have a class so if you will excuse me," Xavier said indicting that the meeting was over. Emma quickly got up and away from the two men, if they wanted to fight it was fine with her. She simply didn't want to get in the way of any fists or claws, Emma had already tried that and it hadn't appealed much to her.

Emma walked with Hank and Ororo talking about the dance. It gave Logan a golden opportunity to walk up to Scott and say "danger room tonight?"

Scott nodded in agreement to Logan's words but ignoring the feral mutant in other way. The two would never admit that their regular sparring matches in the danger room were actually helping them to get their aggression out and helping them to get over the death of Jean.

It was a week before the Christmas dance and Emma was in Ororo's room to get the music list that Ororo had made the year before.

"This is the list; I gathered that you would need about six hours of music all in all."

"Six hours? That's a lot of music," Emma said feeling a bit intimidated. Perhaps it hadn't been such a clever idea to snatch the music job after all. A worse candidate was harder to find than someone who knew absolutely nothing about muggle music. Emma was a specialist in a fantastic band, called the Weird Sisters, who had rocked at one of Hogwarts Yule balls but somehow she doubted that their most famous song 'do the Hippogriff' would be a success at Christmas dance at Xavier's.

"Relax Emma, it's not that bad. You can split the time into special themes so it won't be as overwhelming to you," Ororo said friendly and patted Emma on the shoulder as if she was one of her students and not one of her co-workers.

"What kind of themes?" the witch asked suspiciously while grabbing a pen to scribble down all the information that Ororo was freely giving her.

"The first two hours can be jazzy dinner music, the next hour like rock oldies to warm the crowd up, two and a half hour of party music and then half an hour of slow dance music to end the dance with."

Emma scribbled down furiously what Ororo said. The more information she would get from 'Ro the easier it would be for her to do the music job without coming off like a total idiot.

"You mean slow music so the students can have a bit of snogging?" Emma asked her voice filled with laughter. That was a tradition not unknown to her. Every Hogwarts dance had ended with a few slow songs, a fuming potions master, embarrassed students when caught by said potions master, followed by a long list of detentions for the new semester.

"Well not only for that of course but I'm sure that some of the couples will jump on the chance".

"I'm sure that Logan will love to see Bobby snogging Rouge on the dance floor in front of the entire school," Emma said ironically knowing that Logan would be more likely to break something in Bobby's body than dance with happiness.

"Yes err, about that. I was wondering if you could be a chaperone instead of Logan? We don't need the Wolverine in a protective mode dragging Rouge away and treating her like she's a child. If that would happen Bobby would freak out and we would have a major drama on our hands and honestly after the year we have been having we just don't need that. The kids have to be able to have fun without Logan going crazy."

"Me? But I got music so I would be sure that I would not have to go the dance," Emma said defensively, feeling not too thrilled with Ororo's idea. There had been a reason why she snatched the music job so quickly. She had never felt really comfortable at school balls as a student at Hogwarts and had been more than a little happy to finally get out of them. As a teacher at Hogwarts she had been excused from her duties as Dumbledore had understood her reluctance to be surrounded by teenagers who were often a little bit too enthusiastic for their own good.

"Look Emma, think of it like this. By doing this you would be doing Logan and the rest of us a huge favour. I know you two are tight so you might want to keep him out of jail for murdering Bobby," Ororo said trying her best to convince Emma to take on the job even though the young woman looked less than thrilled to take it on. It was proving to be a bigger challenge than Ororo had initially thought. Using the friendship against Emma had been the last straw, a dirty trick but by that point Ororo was ready to trying anything.

Emma snorted at Ororo's words; sure Logan might kill Bobby but jail? Not bloody likely, "please tell me the name of a prison that could hold the Wolverine because I really think that place doesn't exist."

"You're probably right. But don't you want Bobby and Rouge's last Christmas dance to be one of enjoyment and not of disappointment?"

Emma recognized an emotional blackmail when she heard it; it was after all Dumbledore's favourite pastime. However she thought back on Logan's frustrated face in Xavier's study and realized that she would take one for the team. There had to be some real reason why Ororo was so unhappy with Logan attending the dance, "Of course I do. I don't want Logan to make a scene and mortify the children."

"Good, thank you. I was thinking that you could tell him that you had never been to a dance in the States. That you would like to go to see and could just as well take over his duties."

"But why can't I just tell him the truth?" Emma asked surprised, honesty had always been the key ingredient in her friendship with Logan. He detested lies and those that lied to him never got his respect or friendship.

Ororo wondered just how innocent Emma really was, it was a known fact that Logan never reacted well when he thought people (especially her) were stepping on his toes and trying to control him in any way. It never ended well and usually with three adamantium claws going through something or simply the Wolverine leaving the mansion for a while. It was impossible for Logan to leave now that they were so understaffed and therefore Ororo thought it was best to try to keep the snarly mutant good with a few fixes here and there to keep his temper to a minimum.

"Look Emma. I don't like lying to Logan either but I am not going to tell him that we don't want him around the kids when he's in a nasty mood like he was before. I can't imagine that going well for any of us and I'd hate to see you leave the mansion with claw marks on your body."

If Ororo had been paying attention to Emma she would have seen the young woman visibly pale at her words but like so often she was trying to do too many things at the same time and therefore missed the stunned expression on Emma's face. Ororo had no idea how she had nailed the hammer on the head and Emma would never admit how close she had actually come to the truth. It was more than a slight possibility that Emma would walk out of Xavier's with claw marks on her, in fact it was a certainty.

"It would be true though, I never been to a dance here. I haven't had any time to go to dances while here at Xavier's," Emma said in a shaky voice and trying to mask the shock she had gotten by Ororo's perceptive words. The witch knew she had to go to the dance now, if not for anything else than to have the goddess of weather stop talking about Logan as if he were some animal. Logan might have been a feral mutant but there was more humanity in him than in most people that Emma had met during her lifetime.

"Then consider it an experience you won't forget," Ororo said smiling victoriously. She knew exactly what dress she would lend Emma. However she wouldn't tell her now, she had a sneaking suspicion that Emma would flat out refuse to wear something so glitzy.

The two friends had just had the last session of the year. Emma had not been able to pull anything new out of Logan's memory and he had been too frustrated to see any of her memories. Instead they had decided to continue in the New Year when the holidays would be close to an end.

As a substitute, the two friends were sitting on the veranda of the cottage late in evening, enjoying the crisp winter air. The silence was wonderful and so needed now that the students had finished their exams. The joyful sounds of exuberance were sometimes too much for the more reclusive members of the staff who didn't enjoy waking up at all hours to what at first appeared to be tortures but were in reality play fights in the TV room over the remote.

"I finished my compilation for tomorrow and burnt it to CD's. It's all ready," Emma said happily feeling relived to have finished her crash course in the musical history of muggles all over the world. She still had many holes but could at least hum in tune with some songs without embarrassing herself too much.

"Good kid. Now you're done and don't have to show up for the piece of shit torture fest that happens tomorrow night," Logan answered sullenly, feeling sorry for himself for being forced to attend something that he disliked so much.

"Is it really that bad?" Emma asked alarmed. It was difficult to be offering to go to a dance that sounded more like a torture than anything else.

"Nah it's just an annoying hormonal festival. With my senses it freaks me out being there," Logan said honestly shuddering to think of the horny boys and the lusty young ladies. When he could feel the scent in the air he just wanted to scream with annoyance and the Wolverine didn't function very well with large groups of people when annoyed.

Knowing that Rouge was one of the kids this year freaked him out even more. Ever since the teen had managed to control her power enough to kiss Bobby, there had been little else she did do. To smell that scent from her, Bobby and their teenage lust would make him throw up he was sure. It would be absolutely nightmarish to sit through that and Logan had been secretly dreading that ever since Xavier announced the Christmas dance.

He looked to his right and noticed that the young witch was staring at him with interest and more than a little bit of concern. Emma awkwardly stroke his hair as if he were a lost little boy and not an annoyed mutant that didn't want to go to a school dance as a chaperone.

"I'm sorry Logan. I had no idea that it affected you like that," Emma said gently and continued to ruffle his hair so it looked even wilder than usual.

"Its ok kid, nothing you can do about it anyway," he said trying to sound optimistic about the whole thing and enjoying the attention her hands were giving him. It wasn't often that Emma touched him first and when she did, Logan intended to enjoy it to the max, even if it was as simple as stroking his hair.

"But there is. I will be a chaperone instead. You should have told me earlier that it made you feel like that, I would have traded with you at the meeting without a hesitation," she said honestly and meaning every word.

"Now kid don't get all soft on me and start pitying me. I don't need it from no one and especially not from you," Logan said proudly while standing up and lighting the tattered cigar that he had been chewing since that morning.

"I do not pity you Logan! I'm a friend of yours and friends help each other out, or so I'm told by experts," she said determined and quickly continuing when Logan looked as if he was about to protest to her words.

"Plus I want to go. I have never been to a dance here and this is the perfect opportunity to see what the fuss is about."

He closed his mouth quickly and almost suffocated on a puff of smoke, having a coughing fit as a result of his shock. Who was he to stop her from going to the dance if she really wanted to? He for the life of him couldn't understand why she would want it but that was her choice.

"But I have to tell you something and you can't get mad at me," She said seriously, there was no way she could lie to Logan about that she had been asked to take over. That wasn't how their friendship worked; she had never lied to him and wasn't going to start with a lie for Ororo about a school dance. If Emma ever lied to Logan it had to be about something important, not about Rogue snogging Bobby.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't get mad at kid and just spit it out," whatever the kid was trying to say had to be bad for her to stammer like that. Emma usually didn't have any problems telling him what she had to and for her to hesitate it had to be bad.

"Ororo asked me to take over as a chaperone for you," Emma confessed and tried to hide her embarrassment over the whole fiasco. It had been a horrible idea from the start and Ororo should never have tried to put her in such an awkward position. Emma didn't have many friends and the few she had she cherished beyond anything. Logan had been included in that small group for a long time and she didn't want anything to jeopardize it, especially some stupid schemes from someone who didn't understand the dynamics of the friendship between her and Logan.

Logan looked at her suspiciously and chewed his cigar deep in thought, "then why the farce? Why not say that? And why did 'Ro want that?"

Emma not only looked horribly guilty but she also smelled like a child who had been caught with its hand down the cookie jar, "Logan, I'm trying to be honest here because I thought you would appreciate it. Ororo was worried that you would make a scene seeing Bobby and Rouge snogging and we know those two will be glued together on the lips as they have been the entire semester."

"Yeah, so?" He said not fully trusting where the situation was headed and how Ororo had managed to mix Emma into one of her schemes.

"It's their last Christmas dance. Ororo didn't want them to remember it as the dance when the Wolverine had a fit and killed Iceman."

"So she decided to be sneaky and use you because we are friends?" he asked starting to get angry about the whole thing. He hated plotting females and especially he hated Ororo when she was plotting. Her schemes had often included the other staff members, usually Hank or Scott, but never had she dared to step so close to Logan before by using someone as close to him as Emma was. Truthfully no one really knew how close Emma and Logan were as they hid it pretty well, even so everyone knew of the Friday night soirees they had together every week.

"She did try to be a little sneaky but I had already decided to say no to her. I was quite happy to stay away after I saw what kind of fuzz she is making over the whole thing. But that was before tonight; before you told me it gave you discomfort to have to go. I don't want you to feel that if there is anything I can do to prevent it. Plus I really have never been to a dance here," she said smiling softly at him feeling totally out of her element as a truth loving Slytherin.

"It's not that bad kid, you don't have to give up your spare time for me," Logan said brusque. He was not angry at her any longer; her scent told him that she had been telling the truth and had wanted to be upfront with him as that was the essence of their friendship. Ororo on the other hand was in a world of trouble.

"You don't understand what I mean, do you?" she said puzzled at why he was so angry at her for wanting to do him a favour. She got up and stood next to him. It had taken a few fights with him before Emma had realized the closer she got to him during the first stages of a fight, the shorter time it took to sort things out.

"What do you mean? Talk in a way that I can understand instead of always speaking in riddles and hints," Logan snarled at her question as he thought it was patronizing to his intellect. What the hell did she mean anyway? He had no idea what she meant from time to time; her train of thought was often very outlandish to him. It wasn't that she was a foreigner, more like it was the magical society that gave her an entirely altered point of view from what he was used to.

"It's not a chore Logan or something that I have to do. No, it's my pleasure to help you and relieve you from a situation that is uncomfortable. That's what friends are for," she said petting him on the upper arm as if he were a lost puppy and not the famous grouchy Wolverine.

"Fine have it you way," Logan said grinning teasingly thinking that someone had answered his prayers since he wouldn't have to go to that dance after all. Praise god, or whoever ran the cosmos, for having sent him a woman crazy enough to want to be his friend and for tolerating him so easily when he bristled up in anger.

"Oh, I insist!" she said smiling widely at him feeling relived at how well he was taking the news of Ororo's plotting. Emma had worried that he would run straight home and kick some serious ass, instead he had simply growled a little bit. That to her was an admission enough of how bad he wanted to get out of the dance, even Ororo's plotting wouldn't annoy him for any length of time.

"Right, but I will still rip 'Ro a new one," Logan said determined as he chewed angrily on his cigar while dreaming out ways to get his revenge on Ororo. The bright, sulphur glint in his eyes was a warning enough that perhaps Logan wasn't as cool with the whole thing as Emma had first hoped.

"That damn woman is getting almost as bad as Chuck with her meddling and it has to stop, I can't stand working in a place where everyone is plotting like they do."

"Please don't make a scene over this Logan," Emma said in a pleading tone trying desperately to calm him down before he would do or say something at the mansion that he couldn't take back. Xavier was notoriously protective of his students and wouldn't hesitate to cut anyone of his teachers lose if he would feel the need.

"You were never to know, plus she did this for you," Emma said trying to get Logan to think positively of Ororo even though that seemed to be an uphill battle.

"Nah, she did this for herself. But I won't say anything just because you were honest, even if it were at the last minute," Logan said looking into her eyes, the yellow gleam still visible in them even though the warm hazel colour was taking over.

"So what will you be doing instead?" the young woman asked curiously even though she could more or less guess what he would be up to.

Logan figured that saying that he would be getting laid would be the wrong thing to say, so he picked the Disney version, "getting drunk, or trying to anyway."

Why did he have the feeling that the witch had known exactly what he had meant? The way her eyes twinkled with mirth suggested that she was starting to know him too well to believe Disney versions. Even though she looked so young and innocent she was far too mature to believe that. The witch laughed merrily into the night air, happy that things were still fine between them.

The staff had their own private dinner at the mansion on the evening of the dance while the students went to the nearest pizzeria to celebrate, before arriving later at the mansion for the ball.

Logan and Scott had been at each other throats the entire meal, agitating the others who were trying to have a quiet evening before their duties at the dance. Scott was very annoyed by the fact that Logan suddenly didn't have to go to the dance anymore and that Emma had actually agreed to Ororo's ridiculous plan.

"Do you realize that Ororo didn't want you at the dance? That she asked Emma to relieve you of your duties because she didn't trust you to behave like a normal human being?" Scott said angrily as a snidely comeback to something that Logan had said to him.

A pregnant silence followed as the staff expected Logan to rip Scott into pieces and then maul Emma for lying to him. To everyone's surprise nothing even close to that happened. Logan sat relaxed in his seat under the verbal torrent from Scott and the only hints of his annoyance were his clenched fists. In Wolverine land that was nothing, it meant that the joke had hardly registered on his radar.

Logan puffed his cigar before finally saying "I know everything. You ain't telling me any news; Em has already told me everything."

Logan winked at the witch who looked very much like she didn't want to be at the dinner table anymore. Emma felt very much like the snitch that she was and looking at the gaping face of Ororo supported that theory.

"What did she tell you?" Ororo asked stiffly wondering what the hell Emma had said to the Wolverine and how she could fix the damage. Going behind Logan's back was never a smart idea, going behind his back and getting caught was an even worse idea. It was something Ororo had experienced before and the result had been a lot of snarling, adamantium claws, broken door of the Blackbird and Logan's refusal to work with the X-men for a few months.

"I told him the truth, that nobody wanted to see him freak out over Rogue kissing Bobby," Emma said warily, not enjoying the situation very much. She had suspected that Logan would confront Ororo for what she did but had hoped that she wouldn't be there when that happened. She was not embarrassed for telling Logan, no it was simply part of the bond with him. Being targeted at the dinner table as the residential snitch was however not very enjoyable and was really something that Emma would have wanted to miss as an experience in whole.

"Freak out? That's the understatement of the century," Scott muttered under his breath slightly shocked that Emma had dared to tell Logan that he was not wanted. Shocked that she had had the guts to do that and really shocked that Logan had taken it like a man. Perhaps it was different when the bad news came from a pretty, young female than if they came from someone like Scott whom Logan had detested since he entered the mansion for the first time.

"Emma told me and I was happy to not have to work. She has figured out something vital when it comes to me, be honest and we will be friends."

The way he looked at her with pride made her blush, especially when the others started to look at her question in their eyes. Everybody seemed shocked but Xavier who knew exactly how close the two odd ones in the mansion were getting and was quite happy with the result of the first fight of the mansion that involved the new staff member. It had to happen sooner or later as every teacher had gone though that at some point.

Loud chatting from the hallway signaled the end of the meal as the students poured into the mansion after what seemed a successful meal.

"All right, it's time to go to work people," Ororo chirped happily and left the table hand in hand with Hank who was like her shadow most of the times.

"I'm outta here," Logan mumbled, already feeling like a caged animal. He grabbed Emma's shoulder tightly for a moment on his way out of the room as to show his appreciation and then he was off through the back door. He didn't even want to face all the kids as he knew it would be a hormonal festival. Sneaking out the back was very un-Wolverine but something he had to do to keep sane.

Emma was in bed after a very long evening at the dance. The destined time had been midnight but after whining and begging it was changed into one a.m. and it had been much harder than Emma had anticipated.

It was two a.m. and she had finally cleaned up with Hank, Ororo and Scott after ushering the last of the kids from the ceremony hall. She had decided to shower and was now in her super pink pyjamas that she started to wear ever since Logan had made it somewhat of a habit to pop by in the evenings to chat before sleeping. Logan had seen Emma half naked the evening she had blasted him out of the room. It was not an evening she wanted to repeat at any level, not the fight nor the nakedness. Logan had gotten an eyeful then and she did not want a repeated performance of that fiasco.

Finally she could get to bed and rest after an excruciating evening of chasing after teenagers while wearing high heels that Ororo had provided for her to go with the golden, glitzy dress she had pulled out from somewhere. Emma had been amazed at the loveliness of the dress, it wasn't often that she liked to dress up but it had been a special occasion. It wasn't until a few hours into the dance that she realized how utterly impractical the high heels were.

The first thing she had done when she got to her room was to kick the shoes into the furthest corner of the room and wowing never to wear such disgusting torture devices again. She stumbled into bed completely exhausted and sighed. There were few things better in the world than to lay down after warm shower.

A soft knock on the door woke her from her slumber; thankfully she had guessed that Logan would pop by so she had left the door unlocked. As usual Logan opened the door without waiting for her to open; to him it was a waste of time to wait for her to get the door. It was courtesy enough that he knocked, or so he felt. Emma didn't care anymore, she had learnt to put on pyjamas and from that on she didn't mind when Logan entered her room.

"Hey kid. Thought you might still be up," Logan said smiling widely at the tired witch that looked completely spent on the bed wearing the ugly pyjamas he had given her.

"Come in and lock the door behind you," she said smiling tiredly at him.

"Lock the door? People might talk," he said wiggling his eyebrows at her while locking the door obediently.

"Let them, I don't care. I'm sure they talk about you all the time. I just can't stand to face yet another teenager for tonight, I have had enough."

"They do talk about me but I'm a lot older than you and usually everything they say is true."

Emma laughed surprised at his words. Logan never ceased to amaze her with his bluntness, "not many would admit that you know."

"Well I don't care what they say," he muttered sitting at the end of her bed and Emma could hear the old bed groan in protest as his huge frame crashed onto it.

"Careful, I don't want to have to sleep on the floor tonight."

"Relax, that won't happen, in case you would just sleep in my room," Logan teased while watching her pull her duvet higher up and snuggling up like a tired kitten.

"How was the dance? You look worn-out," He said gazing at her sleepy face as she struggled to keep herself awake long enough to talk to him.

"They had fun and even managed to get one hour more from Ororo."

"How did your first American dance go?" he asked with sarcasm remembering her lame excuse to take over his chaperone position for the evening.

"I think I'm too old for teenage dances. My feet are killing me after those bloody high heels that Ororo forced on me and I had to walk in them all evening. I don't understand the fuss and by the end of the dance I really just wanted to sit down and have a cold beer," Emma said trying to stretch to get more comfortable, it was difficult as Logan was spread over half of the bed. Her long legs finally ended up on Logan's lap. He didn't protest so she kept the feet there and sighed contently when his large hands started to massage them.

"But you're just a kid, how can you be too old?"

"Inside, I feel old inside," Emma answered tiredly with her eyes closed and enjoying the massage she had been hallucinating about for hours.

"Nah, don't kid. You're still so young," Logan said, it always annoyed him when Emma said things like that even though he knew she was merely telling the truth. It made him powerless to see someone so young feel so jaded. She wasn't supposed to feel like that, if he had wished for anything it would have been that she would feel like a kid again. That she would enjoy all the things young women her age enjoyed to do, instead she felt bitter and world-weary.

"How was your night?" Emma asked to change the subject from her to him while relaxing under his expert hands that were working on the knotted muscles of her calves and feet.

"It was ok, drinking, played pool, a fight. Good stuff."

"How did you manage a fight this time?" Emma slurred feeling closer to sleep with every stroke of Logan's hands over the tense muscles of her feet. Each caress felt like a little piece of heaven to her exhausted body.

"This chick was hitting on me and I was fine with it because she was good looking. Then her guy comes out from behind the bar to kick my ass. Then I kicked his," Logan said chucking at his own story before noticing the silence in the room. He looked over at Emma who was fast asleep, her breathing even and she looked even younger as she slept peacefully using Logan as a footstool.

"It was a good story, I'll tell you it again tomorrow when you get up," Logan whispered and as quietly as a cat he got out of bed without waking Emma up.

"Nite kid, I owe you one," he whispered, turned off the light and closed the door silently behind him.