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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 17, 2009 16:35:55 GMT -5
Riley didn't really take off the traditional weekends from work. Usually, even when she was off the clock, she was still working, but today she couldn't do it. She needed to get her mind off of work, off of Roland, and she couldn't do it if she was by herself.
Which lead her to owling, naturally, Geoffrey Montgomery. He had been the first person she ran into the Ministry, and had been a close friend from then on.
She was already inside the gardens, assuming he would find her when he arrived.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 17, 2009 16:53:14 GMT -5
Geoffrey smiled when he received the owl from Riley. He hadn't actually talked to her in quite a while, but he always liked spending time with her. He'd been hearing some rumors going through the office that Riley had been partnered with his cousin, Roland Ferrera. He could only imagine how well that was going.
Although Roland was his cousin, Geoffrey wasn't especially close with him. He'd always found Roland to be very serious, cynical, and aloof. Geoffrey had always been closer to Cyrus, whose easy-going temperament was closer to his own.
So, that morning, Geoffrey got himself ready and headed out to meet Riley at the Botanical Garden. He could see her up ahead, looking tense and stressed out, and he increased his pace a little.
"Hey, Riley," he greeted her with a smile. "Nice to see you actually taking a little time off."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 17, 2009 18:19:51 GMT -5
Riley turned and greeted him with a smile as well, her shoulders visibly falling when she saw him. "Hey Geff," she said, hugging him quickly. She was glad to see him, either in the office or out, but she hadn't spoken to him in ages it felt like.
"It's good to be taking a little time off," she replied. "I forgot how nice it feels." It was like she was five years younger just in the time she had relaxed since she saw him. People often thought she was much, much older than her years when they saw her working. Off the clock, when she truly let herself be, she was just a girl again.
"How are you?"
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 17, 2009 18:37:49 GMT -5
Geoffrey smiled. It was nice to see her like this, calm and relaxed. More like her own age. He worried about her, with such a high-stress, dangerous job. It seemed to be making her older than she really was. But now, out in the sunlight and fresh air, she looked more like her own age.
"I'm doing good," he replied with a shrug. "Christine came home a few weeks ago, so Mum and Dad are so busy smothering her with attention they don't even have time to worry about me."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 17, 2009 20:51:28 GMT -5
"Oh, well that's nice," Riley said. "I don't even remember the last time I saw your sister." She wasn't much older than Christine, only 2 or 3 years. She heard of the girls adventures from Geff every so often, though, and the girl meant a lot to him. She imagined he was as glad as his parents to have her home.
"So, what, are you taking the oppertunity to cause trouble since they're not fussing over you?"
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 17, 2009 21:19:13 GMT -5
Geoffrey laughed. "Me? Cause trouble? I'm appalled that you'd think such a thing. Actually, I like to pretend I'm the good one, that way, they just fuss over me even more. I also get away with a lot more that way."
He gave her a little wink, then studied her carefully. "Seriously, though. How have you been? I've been hearing all kinds of rumors about the problems up in the auror department... the stress over Katie's murder and the doubts caused by the stupid reporters in the Daily Prophet. And you look tired. What's going on?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 17, 2009 23:17:04 GMT -5
Riley frowned. Why did everyone have to remind her about work when she was trying desperately to forget it? Her shoulders regained a little bit of the tense hold in them again, and her thoughts drifted to Roland.
"I'm fine," she started out, laying it out there so he hopefully wouldn't bother her about her. "And Katie Lawrence's death has been placed in my lap to solve, so you shouldn't worry about that either." Though it did seem like every path they took ended up as a dead end. It was frustrating in it's own right, and she still felt like Roland was only half committed, except that now she was obligated to give him some slack.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 17, 2009 23:52:33 GMT -5
"You'll solve it," he said confidently. "I know you... You can do it. But you don't want to talk about work, do you?" he smiled. "I could tell you all about the exciting happenings in the Floo Network department, but I'm pretty sure you'd fall asleep. Even the gossip from our office is boring."
He laughed. "Don't get me wrong... I like my job well enough. It does what I wanted, which is to get me out of my family's shadow for a while, you know?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 18, 2009 0:50:18 GMT -5
RIley smiled. "Well, Merlin. Between Tonks and Black, my partner, and Jackson, I've got enough gossip in my department to feel like I'm back in school."
It was true. Aurors were an immature bunch, if she really thought about it.
Finally, she shrugged. "We can talk about work if you want. You should, though. You might just get a lot of complaining from me."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 18, 2009 1:56:24 GMT -5
Geoffrey gave her an understanding smile. "Yeah... I heard about your partner. It was the first time in a month they stopped talking about Tonks and Black. Did you know he's my cousin? We're not close or anything... we're too different. He was always kind of cold and aloof, telling all of other kids what to do. I was closer to his brother Cyrus... he's the same age as me."
Looking back now, Geoffrey realized that Roland had simply been telling the other kids things that were for their own good. But that kind of thing was hard to relate to as a kid. Roland had always seemed older than his age.
"Anyway, if you want to complain, you're welcome to it. It might help to get it all out of your system."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 18, 2009 2:09:39 GMT -5
Riley rolled her eyes at that bit of news. "Well, thanks, Geff, but I'm not going to complain to you about your cousin."
She sighed, leaning against a tree that was close to her, and muttered something about not being able to get away from Roland no matter where she went.
"I think I need a vacation." Despite the fact that this was undeniably true, she meant it as a joke, and flashed Geoffrey a smile.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 18, 2009 2:39:35 GMT -5
Geoffrey shrugged. "Hey, look, you won't be offending me. Like I said, I barely know him. He's a hard guy to get to know, I think. He treats everyone different, so everyone has a different impression of him. His younger brother and I used to play pranks together, and it really used to annoy him."
Seeing the look on her face, he stopped talking. "But I can tell you don't want to talk about him, so I won't. But I do wish you luck. You should know, though... half of the Ministry is taking bets on you two. Which one of you will kill the other."
There were also bets of a different nature, but he had the feeling Riley would be furious if she heard about them.
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 18, 2009 2:52:59 GMT -5
Riley looked up, completely caught off guard by this piece of news. "What? How immature. Seriously, does no one have any actual work to do?"
Merlin, she felt like she was in school again all over, and it was irritating as all heck.
Her eyes shot back to his. "Don't even tell me if you took part in those stupid bets. But if you did, you better have bet on me. Honestly, we're both professionals.... mostly. Why can't the rest of the ministry be the same?"
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 18, 2009 2:59:50 GMT -5
Geoffrey rolled his eyes. "Certainly not," he replied easily. In fact, I caught a group of people doing it right in our office and I broke it up. I mean, I like playing the occasional pranks, but betting? It's just stupid. Besides, it's so obvious you'd win."
He grinned at her, then continued seriously. "I think the gossip mill has been worse than usual lately. I think they're even talking about me."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 18, 2009 3:05:54 GMT -5
She raised an eyebrow. "Are you just saying that to make me feel better?" She asked. "I haven't heard anything about you." Granted, it was Riley. Those foolish enough to try and gossip with her were shut down pretty fast. She rarely heard anything, and she rather liked it that way.
"But if they are talking about you, it means you have gotten into trouble. Why don't you tell me about it, and then we can plot ways to murder Roland. Afterall, I don't want to let the people that bet on me down."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 18, 2009 3:15:27 GMT -5
Geoff laughed, but quickly sobered. "No... I'm not kidding. I don't have proof, of course, just the whole thing were people stop talking when I come in sort of deal. But I'm sort of... seeing someone. Well, I want to be. I don't know, it's kind of confusing. Her name's Alison, and she works in the Ministry, too."
The situation with Alison was definitely complicated. He still wasn't sure what to make of it. And maybe it would help Riley to get her mind off of Roland to talk about his problems.
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 18, 2009 3:19:30 GMT -5
"Whoa... when did this happen?" Riley asked, suddenly feeling very out of the loop. Maybe they were right... maybe she did spend too much time working. She even felt bad. He was such a good friend to her that she should have known about this sooner.
"What department is she in?" She asked. "And why are you only sort of seeing her?"
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 18, 2009 3:58:54 GMT -5
Geoff shrugged. "It only just happened," he said. "She works in the Department of Reversal of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. The thing is... she won't seem to make a commitment with me. Like... we just sort of met at Spellbound... and we hit it off and then saw each other the next day... I asked her out... but she kinda blew me off. It was weird. I like her, but... I don't know."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 18, 2009 17:52:41 GMT -5
"How did she 'blow you off' exactlt?" Riley asked. The way Geoff described it, it could have been anything. The girl was probably just busy. "And anyway, you saw her the next day, which means she's interested. Or did you just run into her, and it wasn't planned?" Now that she thought about it, the second senario seemed more likely, but she could be wrong.
She waited for Geoffrey to give her more details. She never really liked to give answers without having all the information.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 18, 2009 18:54:47 GMT -5
Geoffrey sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "OK... see, here's what happened. I met her in Spellbound, I went up to her and talked to her for a bit, then we danced. We were getting on really well... and then this guy... real slick... you know, a player? He cut in. She didn't seem like she was interested in him, but when she got away from him, she just left. But she'd told me what department she was in, so I went down to visit her and she acted like she had no idea who I was."
He turned to look at her, a bleak expression on his face. "She's not interested, is she?"
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