Chapter eighteen

Nell glanced at her watch and yelped. "Oh! I'm so late. I have to dash, Em, love. I need to catch Professor Carlson before I head back."

"Go, go," Emma waved her off. "Come visit us -- Andrew misses you too, and everyone else, of course. Ring Audrey, I bet she has a spare room -- her flatmate's just left, the dozy cow."

"I'll do that -- thanks for the tip! And now I really must run." Nell got up and gathered her things. "Oh! I nearly forgot -- here's my share." She handed Emma a 5 pound note, kissed her cheek, and dashed.

She made it to Dr. Carlson's office just as the professor was locking up.

"Oh," she said in disappointment, and at the sound of her voice, his head jerked up and the keys in his hand fell to the ground.

"Nell!" he bellowed. "What was that message about? How's your family?"

She waved her hand. "Oh, well, things are quite strange 'round my place. I've a new son, now things have shaken out a bit. He's fantastic," she said fondly. As her advisor blinked in shock, she blithely continued. "But I have a new draft of my thesis for you -- I did manage to make those revisions like you said. Here," and she pushed her parcel into his hands.

He nearly dropped it, seemingly still agog at her news. "A son, Nell? How -- who -- what?" Her wonderfully articulate mentor was clearly not at his best, she thought, frowning slightly.

"His name is Harry, he's eight. Er, it's quite a long story, but it turns out his guardians hadn't been treating him very well at all, and now he's mine." She cocked her head to the side consideringly. "That's all that matters, really."

She watched Dr. Carlson's face contort. Finally, he heaved a great sigh. "Right. Son. Okay," he paused, "you'd better come in, we do have something besides the thesis to talk about." He explained as he grabbed the keys from the ground to unlocked the door and they walked into his office, "I have a colleague, in private research, who was asking about finding a postgraduate fellow. I put your name up, and he was interested. If you like, the position is practically yours -- just send him your vita."

Nell grinned and clapped her hands. "Oh, I was just wondering what on earth I'd do after school! Obviously, things had to change around with Harry in the picture and all. What does the job entail? How long does the grant money last for me? Who's the friend?"

"I'll take those questions in reverse," said Dr. Carlson, smiling at her enthusiasm. "It's David Maksymowicz that you'd be working with, for two years unless the grant gets renewed, and you'd be his research assistant. One of them, at least. It's wonderful experience," he added.

She sat down and stayed still for a moment, then made a quick decision. What could it hurt to send in her CV? "Do you have my vita on file?" she asked.

"I believe so," he said absently, beginning to dig through his files. "It may be rather old. Ah, no, here it is -- no changes since January, correct?"

"That's right," confirmed Nell. "Will you go ahead and send it to him? When would it begin?"

"I'd be delighted, my dear," he said excitedly. "Oh, this will be wonderful for you! And his grant money doesn't come through until July 1st, so if you decided to go for it, that's when you'd officially start getting paid."

She grinned until her face ached, rising from her seat. "I'm sorry not to stay and chat, but I should be getting back. I'm a bit nervous leaving Harry for so long. That's wonderful news! If there's nothing else...? Thanks so much!" And once more Nell dashed.

She didn't get very far, however. In the hallway, she ran headlong into her child psychology professor, making her drop everything she'd been carrying. Blushing, she helped gather the other woman's belongings.

"How have you been, Miss Burton? Have you gotten your family problems sorted?" she asked.

Nell rolled back on her heels. "Not exactly, Professor Meyer. I've recently had to relocate, but we're still trying to get settled."

"We?" inquired the professor, raising an eyebrow. "You and -- your 'family emergency', was it?"

"I have a bit of a confession about that," Nell said, rubbing at her temples. "Honestly, that was the thing I could think of. He was more like a ward, then. A charge. But I've actually adopted him in the meantime."

Her professor looked shocked. "Oh, my!"

Nell nodded. "Exactly. I'm not really quite sure how it happened, really. I'm a bit dizzy at the speed of all this. I've been meaning to talk to you, really. Is there any way I can take the exam early? The situation with Harry is -- complicated."

Her professor looked sympathetic, but shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I can overlook your absence in lecture, but that's as far as my mercy goes."

"Thank you," said Nell, shrugging. "I didn't really expect you could."

"If you need to chat, my door is always open. But for now, I have a department meeting," Professor Meyer said apologetically. "I'll talk to you soon, I hope, Miss Burton."

"I'll come to see you when I can, Professor," said Nell. "Thanks again."

Nell left the building, heading for the Underground. While she walked, she flipped open her mobile and dialed Audrey. Audrey didn't answer, and Nell left a cheery, teasing message asking to be called back.

On the tube, returning to her original stop, Nell suddenly realised that she had no idea how she was to return to the Burrow. She hadn't paid particular attention to her surroundings, and while she was fairly certain which pub they'd Floo'd into, she couldn't remember how to get back to it.

She was stranded.