Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

nineteen.

Completing the room on Wednesday meant I had Thursday and Friday to myself. Thursday I had very little motivation so I just hung around the house, watched tv and did a little cleaning. Will got off work early so he was at least there to help me clean parts of the house.
Friday, being my last day of freedom before school went back on Monday, I decided to do something I hadn't done in a long time. I spent the day out shopping for myself. I got my hair cut and nails done, as well as purchased a few new outfits. It had been at least 18 months since I spent a day dedicated to me, so the thrill of swiping my card was greatly received.

Saturday, Will and I went grocery shopping for the next week. It was actually fun, he was the most carefree I had seen him since University. Maybe his trip away did more good for him than I had thought. He was very touchy, which was quite new for him in public. He continually grabbed my hand, rubbed my back, had an arm around my shoulder and kissed my cheek. He was never like this, and it was something I had craved in our relationship for years.

Monday morning, my alarm woke me with just enough time to quickly move myself from the couch to the bed before Will woke up. I slid under the covers with minutes to spare before Will's alarm went off on the bed side table. He let out a low groan, hit snooze on the alarm before rolling over to face me.

"Morning, baby." His deep morning voice got closer when he leaned in to plant a soft kiss to my lips. An arm was flung over my hip to pull me closer and in seconds, he was asleep again. Looking at his soft, sleeping features with the light shadow from the window falling across his face, it's hard to picture someone so gentle being so cruel to another person. If you saw him in the street, you wouldn't think he would be capable of breaking the skin of my face with his knuckles.

His alarm blared for the second time and this time, he actually got out of bed. After waiting a few minutes, I followed suit and began getting ready for the first day of the new term.

The drive to work felt shorter today and I put it down to the excitement to see the kids reactions to the room.
It wasn't raining too bad today but the weatherman said it would get worse as the day progressed, so I cherished this moment of light rain.

I did the basic morning things like turn on the heater, check my pigeon hole for any mail and check my emails. Before I knew it, the bell was due to ring at any second, so I made my way out into the hallway and shut the door behind me.

Children filled the hallways shortly after and my class stood in a single file line outside the classroom and waited for instruction.

"Ok everyone, I went into our classroom this morning and something has happened!" They all gasped and looked at each other.
"Someone has been in our classroom over the break. Are you ready to see what they did?" I grabbed the door handle and slid the door open.

Sounds of awe flowed from the hallway into the space and all the kids flooded through the doors to inspect the room.

"This is so cool!"
"It's blue!"
"Why are their black squares on our chairs?"
"Oh my god it's a chalkboard"

After decorating their name places and slowly starting to get back into regular school habits, the lunch bell rang and the students were dismissed to run around.

My stomach had been grumbling for the last 20 minutes so I sped walked up the hallway towards the staff room for lunch. I threw my ham and cheese sandwich in the sandwich press and waited for the cheese to melt.
The loud sizzling noise from the cheese mixed with the hammering rain against the windows filled the room. But it wasn't loud enough to drown out the memories of last week. The pleading and begging for comfort.

I took my toasted sandwich out and put it on a plate before I made my way into the sitting area of the staff room. I glanced between the seat I usually take and the weather outside, battling internally with myself. I was in two states of mind, weighing the pros and cons of both until a crack of Thunder cemented my decision and I walked across the hallway to Harry's closed office door.