It's celebration time people! I got my results today and I got a 2.2 which is good, and what I was aiming for and quite unbelievable because I really should have done more revision but anywho, yaaaaaaaaaay!.

This is for Karen, a fellow KT fan. Hope my punctuation's better in this one hun ; )

Chapter four.

Karen Tunstall was still in bed when the doorbell rang. She pulled the duvet closer and stuck her head under the pillow. It was her last day in England, and that bed. She didn't intend on getting up for anyone just yet.

The doorbell rang again, followed by the thump, thump of someone bashing the old brass door knocker.

"For crying out loud." her voice was muffled under the two pillows she had clutched to her head. "I won't get up." she said to herself. "I won't."

The noise stopped and Karen relaxed once more. She pulled her head from under the pillows and loosened her grip on the duvet. Her eyes still closed, she decided to go back to sleep. It was probably wasteful, to sleep her last few hours here away, but for the moment the idea of moving was far from her mind.

She had been in Sussex for six months. She was not a native, but a Canadian on an extended holiday. It was supposed to have been a working holiday, but very little work had come her way. She had tried, she had gone to endless interviews, but nothing ever came of them. Tonight she would be leaving English shores for home. She didn't want to leave, but it was time. The holiday had been nice while it had lasted.

She rolled over, realising too late that she hadn't closed the curtains the night before. The light streamed in, making her eyelids glow a pinkish orange. She groaned. Now she'd have to get up.

There was a soft noise coming from outside, Karen opened one eye and squinted out the window. A grey tabby, with a severe expression was battling the window with its tail and front paw.

"Aw puss, go away. Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?" Karen said, her voice cracking after hours of sleep.

The tabby continued to pat her window, now mewling its annoyance also.

"Ok, ok I'll get up. I don't know why you want to come in here." she said, opening the window. "There's not a crumb of cat food about."

The cat climbed awkwardly over the window frame. It was quite old and seemed stiff at the joints.

"I can assure you I'm not after cat food. What I want is a word, if you please." said the woman who had taken the place of the cat.

"Professor McGoo-"

"McGonagall."

"That's what I was going to say."

The older woman raised one eyebrow and walked to the door, her heels clicked loudly on the hardwood floor.

"I'll go make a cup of tea, while you get dressed. Then we'll talk."

"Right oh!" Karen said, flopping back down on the bed. "What the bloody hell does she want?" she muttered to herself.

The week before, Karen had made the trip up to Hogwarts. While the person she was going to meet assumed she was there for an interview, all Karen wanted was to check out Britain's only wizarding school. That was how she had met Minerva McGonagall. From Karen's point of view the interview hadn't gone well. She hadn't really expected it to. She wasn't there for the job; she assumed that McGoogle or whatever her name was, was there to tell her that her application had been unsuccessful. What was wrong with a good old fashioned rejection letter?

She threw on a pair of jeans and a hooded jumped before descending the stairs for the customary, "I'm sorry but-" conversation.

McGoogle, as Karen had resolved to call her, was sat on a stool at the breakfast bar. She looked very out of place, so old among the modern decorated kitchen. She was sipping from a teacup and held a matching saucer in her other hand. Karen could only assume these had been conjured, she knew for a fact that the house she had been renting only contained mugs.

"Well Miss Tunstall."

"Please call me Karen. I only get called Miss Tunstall when my mom's angry with me."

"Karen. I must say you made quite an impression in your interview."

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but do we have to do the nice thing? Couldn't you just tell me that I don't have the job and leave it at that?"

"Well you see that leaves us with a problem Miss, sorry, Karen. You see, I'm here to offer you the job."

"I'm sorry, you're doing what now?"

"We, that is to say I, were very impressed. You seemed so interested with the school and its history. Of course you were also the most qualified applicant. We would be more that happy to offer you the job."

"You're serious?"

"Always. I've waited a long time to find the person I feel is most suitable to take over my old post as Transfiguration professor. Now I've found you, and I shan't take no for an answer. So what do you say?"

"Thank you. Really, but I'm going home today. I'm sorry, I can't take it."

"Do you have a job waiting for you at home? A husband and children?"

"No."

"Do you have a life limiting illness?"

"No. I didn't come for the job. I just wanted to see the school. I think I've wasted you're time and I'm truly sorry for that."

"If you have no essential reason for returning home why not take the job? You are obviously passionate about the subject, and teaching."

"I've never taught anyone before. How do you know I'll be any good?"

"I just know. Take the job Miss Tunstall, you won't regret it I promise you. If you're worried about applying to the Ministry for permission to work here you needn't. I have all the necessary forms with me. All you have to do is sign them, I'll pop them back to the Ministry on my way home."

"You seem to think I'm going to say yes?"

"You remind me of myself. I couldn't think of anyone more suitable for the job. Say yes."

"Ok then. Thank you. This is crazy, but thank you."

"As I said, you won't regret it. If you have any questions I'm quite easy to contact. And if I'm unavailable there's always the Flint's at number three. Marcus and Ayla are former students of mine"

"Right. Thank you again, I didn't really want to leave."

More soon, as I'm no longer a lazy student :)