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Post by Ted Tonks on Jul 14, 2009 14:10:13 GMT -5
Ted had feared this. He didn't want the whole Ministry to panic, but Riley was a special case at this point.
He ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. "About 20 minutes. Which is why I really didn't want to worry you, but... She was seen in the bathroom, and then headed towards the lifts about 20 minutes ago. Someone would have seen if she was taken forcefully, right? But I really don't think she would leave without telling anyone. I just don't think she would do that after everything that happened."
As an Auror, she should know better, above all else.
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Post by Vincent Corrigan on Jul 14, 2009 14:59:26 GMT -5
Vincent thought for a minute. "OK. Well, if it's only 20 minutes, then we shouldn't panic too much yet. I'll alert the guards at the main entrance and the visitor's entrance, just in case. I'll also close the floo network for now. There's always a chance she apparated somewhere... in which case, she could be anywhere. But let's start with a sweep of the building. Start thinking of any places she might have gone in the building first, then if you don't find her, start a floor-by-floor sweep."
He sighed. "Thanks for alerting me to the situation, Ted."
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Post by Hayden Ferrera on Jul 14, 2009 15:06:57 GMT -5
He didn't really know why Riley would have just disappeared like that. She knew she could have said something to either him or Ted that she wanted a moment alone or something. Hayden wasn't even sure if that was the reason why she just disappeared. The whole situation just puzzled him too much and he left his desk when Ted asked him to.
Composing himself he walked directly to Angelique's office. He hated to bother her but this was completely necessary. Reaching her door, Hayden knocked.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Jul 14, 2009 15:21:59 GMT -5
Ted nodded, getting back to his feet. "I'm still just hoping this is a false alarm and we'll find her in the cafeteria with a cup of coffee or something. But I thought you should know. We already have a few people looking for her in likely spots... and if they don't find her, we'll start the floor by floor sweep."
He paused again, his gut clenching. If anything happened to her, it would be his fault. "If someone came for her... someone would have seen, right?"
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Post by Vincent Corrigan on Jul 14, 2009 15:26:51 GMT -5
Vincent nodded gravely. "If that happened... yeah, someone should have seen it. It's the middle of the day.... The Ministry's not exactly deserted. Someone had to have seen something. She's probably fine, but..." He sighed. "Just let me know. Thanks again."
He looked down at his desk in a silent dismissal. The sooner they figured out what had happened to Riley Neves, the better.
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 14, 2009 15:30:33 GMT -5
He didn't really know why Riley would have just disappeared like that. She knew she could have said something to either him or Ted that she wanted a moment alone or something. Hayden wasn't even sure if that was the reason why she just disappeared. The whole situation just puzzled him too much and he left his desk when Ted asked him to. Composing himself he walked directly to Angelique's office. He hated to bother her but this was completely necessary. Reaching her door, Hayden knocked. Angelique wasn't sure why she bothered closing her door anymore. There was always something going on, and it seemed like someone was knocking at that door every five minutes. Today was just another one of those days, and her headache had started early. At the sound of Hayden's knock, Angelique set down her coffee cup and gave up any pretenses of getting any work done. "Come in." |
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Post by Ted Tonks on Jul 14, 2009 15:34:25 GMT -5
"Will do," Ted said. "And thanks for... understanding."
He turned on his heel and left Vincent's office, checking a clock on his way to see how much time was left. He decided to head right back to the Auror department and wait for the others. He only had a few minutes before they were supposed to meet back up anyway. He was trying to convince himself that one of them found her. Or maybe she'd been in Angelique's office the whole while. There had to be some explanation.
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Post by Hayden Ferrera on Jul 14, 2009 15:40:39 GMT -5
Opening the door, Hayden kept an expressionless face. "I'm sorry to bother you but Riley has disappeared." He didn't see the need in beating around the bush. "She's been gone about 20 minutes. From what we've heard she was headed toward the lifts. Ted has gone to tell Vincent, Cynthia went to go check with Geoffrey's girlfriend to see if she went there, and Kit went to go check in the cafeteria."
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Post by Kit Cunningham on Jul 14, 2009 15:42:33 GMT -5
Kit had already returned from the cafeteria, her search having turned up no sign of Riley. On the way back, however, she had run into Arthur Weasley, who had also spotted Riley. He was standing next to her as Ted walked into the Auror office.
She simply shook her head at Ted, then nodded at Arthur. She might as well let him explain what he had seen.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Jul 14, 2009 15:47:18 GMT -5
Arthur had run into Kit by sheer chance. He had got up to see if Ted wanted to go to lunch, and nearly collided with a frantic-looking Kit. After she had explained that Riley appeared to be missing, he told her what he had seen. Now at the sign of Ted's worried face, he almost hated to tell him about it.
"Ted, I hear you're looking for Riley. I saw her about 15 minutes ago.... she went to the apparation area. I called out for her to stop, but she got there before me and she apparated somewhere. She's not in the Ministry."
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 14, 2009 15:54:13 GMT -5
Opening the door, Hayden kept an expressionless face. "I'm sorry to bother you but Riley has disappeared." He didn't see the need in beating around the bush. "She's been gone about 20 minutes. From what we've heard she was headed toward the lifts. Ted has gone to tell Vincent, Cynthia went to go check with Geoffrey's girlfriend to see if she went there, and Kit went to go check in the cafeteria." Angelique's reaction was immediate. "Son of a banshee," she grunted under her breath, then shot to her feet. If it had been anyone else, any other time, she wouldn't have thought anything of it. But the fact that it was Riley, just few short days after she was attacked in the Ministry... It didn't look good. "Thanks for telling me, Hayden," she said, her voice sounding tired. She headed for the door of her office, throwing it open and stepping out. "So Riley's missing?" she said, addressing Ted and the others. |
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Post by Ted Tonks on Jul 14, 2009 15:55:18 GMT -5
Ted's eyes shifted from Kit to Arthur. Neither one of them made him feel very hopeful, but the look Arthur gave him made his heart drop to his stomach. He sent a quick note to Vincent relaying the message before he even spoke to the two of them.
"Then we need to find her," he finally said, his tone solid and determined. "She didn't give you any clue where she was going, I suppose? Did she look like she was under a spell or anything?" he asked his friend, though he already knew the answer. "We should check the hospital. She might be at St Mungo's to see Geoffrey." That seemed like the most likely story. "I'll check my apartment in case she went back there."
Angelique's voice sounded a moment later, and Ted allowed himself to break the news. "Yes. And Arthur saw her apparate. She's not in the Ministry."
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Post by Hayden Ferrera on Jul 14, 2009 16:03:17 GMT -5
Hayden followed Angelique back to the others. Seeing Arthur there, he just nodded to him at the moment. Hearing the news of hearing Riley leaving the Ministry, he sighed. "I'll go check the hospital, see if she's there. We should also go possibly check the cemetery just in case she happened to go by there."
Riley could be anywhere by now and Hayden only hoped that they could find her before anyone else did.
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Jul 14, 2009 16:07:57 GMT -5
Cynthia returned a moment later. Riley had obviously not been with Alison, either, and she was about to report as much, but never even got the chance. She heard Ted's report and frowned. Everyone knew Riley's special circumstances. Why would she just leave the Ministry without telling anyone?
"Maybe someone should check with the Ferreras, too," she suggested. "Maybe she went to see them."
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 14, 2009 16:25:01 GMT -5
Angelique sighed. "OK. All right, everyone, split up. Ted, check your apartment. Hayden, you can check the hospital. Kit, will you check the cemetary? Cynthia, you can check with Cara Ferrera. Arthur, since you live close to Riley, would you mind checking her apartment? And while you're there, you can check Roland's apartment... I understand Mathieu Ferrera is staying there now."
Merlin, if Riley was all right, Angelique was going to murder her for putting the department through a scare like this. She should have known better than to just walk out like that. Now, instead of doing their own assignments, they had to go looking for Riley.
"Meet back here when you're done," she instructed.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Jul 14, 2009 16:48:50 GMT -5
(I'm just gonna post a tiny bit with Hayden. Thanks, Rori!)
Ted and Hayden both nodded, both anxious to find Riley.
Ted was certain that Riley would have said something if she left of her own will. She wasn't stupid. In fact, it was knowing that she was a smart girl that made Ted even more worried.
He waited for the others, and then lead the way to the apparation area, explaining that the floo network was down because of Riley's disappearance.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Jul 14, 2009 17:05:59 GMT -5
Arthur agreed to check Riley's apartment, but he had a verty strong feeling that she wouldn't be there. In fact, he was almost positive that she had not been staying at her apartment even before she had moved in with Geoffrey's family. He had not seen her outside her apartment since Roland's death. Geoffrey had come looking for her on several occasions and had been unable to find her. And for a while, issues of the Daily Prophet had been piling up in front of her door. It was all very suspicious. He suspected that she had been spending her nights somewhere else, and if they could figure out where that was, maybe they could find Riley.
But rather than say any of this to the others, some of whom he didn't know, he decided he would check Riley's apartment, and Roland's old apartment as well. Then, if they didn't find her, he would suggest it to Ted and Hayden.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Jul 14, 2009 17:25:01 GMT -5
Ted came back from his apartment empty handed. He didn't think he was going to find her there, but it was worth looking. There were enough other people looking for her now that he still had hopes that one of them would have found her.
He was the first one back to the Ministry, pacing the floor while he waited anxiously for the others.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Jul 14, 2009 17:32:06 GMT -5
Arthur considered asking the landlord to open up Riley's apartment, but in the end, he just banged on her door for a few minutes, then went over to check with Mr. Ferrera. It still felt weird to Arthur to have someone other than Roland living next to him. He wasn't sure he would ever get used to it. Still, Mr. Ferrera was very polite, if slightly distant. But hearing that Riley was missing concerned him deeply. He even offered to go over to the Montgomerys' house to make sure she wasn't there.
Feeling defeated and worried, Arthur returned back to the Ministry and met up with Ted.
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Post by Cynthia Darling on Jul 14, 2009 17:37:20 GMT -5
Cynthia had also failed to find Riley, and she returned with a worried look on her face. She didn't really know Riley, or anyone in the department still, but she still felt responsible. If she had stopped Riley when she saw her, maybe she wouldn't be gone right now. But then, they all could say something like that, if they thought about it. people
Still, it wasn't looking good, as everyone started to return empty handed once again. Where could she have gone? Or had she been taken somehow?
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