[melmaid]

helena sun / journalist / b. 1980

☾

The name on the slip of parchment matched the bronze inscription listing all muggle liaison officers in the department but still, she read and reread the information given to her, just to make sure. Helena never enjoyed visiting the Ministry. Everything was so strenuous and far too monumental. It seemed as if over half the population of magical folk worked at the Ministry, and its colossal size seemed to reverberate this fact. It was always a matter of getting lost trying to find one person in a colony of tens of thousands.

Meandering through the maze of desks, Helena stopped at the one whose nameplate rivalled the one on her information sheet. Rian she read, and was quick to assume that the officer would be of Irish origin. The only problem was that his desk was currently empty. Perhaps he had gone for a spot of lunch?

Helena chewed nervously on her lower lip. Perhaps she ought to wait here until he got back? She needed to retrieve some documents from him regarding a case she was writing about. Although Helena wasn't pressed for time, she figured that waiting more than twenty minutes would be a waste of her time. Still, she could sacrifice ten or so minutes. If he didn't show up, she'd just have to send an owl. It would have to do.

Taking a seat in the chair provided directly opposite his, Helena put down her bag and looked around the room. It looked like any old office from the Daily Prophet. She figured that anywhere you were, corporate life had a singular aesthetic.

[Nik]

Rian Mac Bradiagh / Muggle Liaison Officer / b. 1962

it had been a year since Rian had returned from living back home in Ireland with his family to living in London on his own again. thankfully he got his job back at the ministry easy enough and was overall, happy enough with how things had been going. it was the first time in his life that there was no war or conflict going on and Rian felt, well, normal.

Rian was just Returning to his desk, a coffee in hand, when he spotted someone sitting, waiting for him. Was he expecting someone? Had he completely forgotten about a meeting? The Irish man briefly looked down at what he was wearing. Definitely not the business look most went for around here. Quickly he flattened his shirt and closed another button on his shirt, hopefully give the appearance that he was more professional that he perhaps was.

"Apologies, have you been waiting long?"

[melmaid]

Helena did not have to wait long for the liaison officer to declare his presence. Upon hearing the Irish drawl of the man in question, Helena got up from her seat to face Rian. The first thing she noticed was that he had a pleasantly square jaw that seemed to fit his roguish accent.

"Not at all," the woman said gently as she straightened her posture consciously. "I'm Helena, the journalist assigned to write the media report on court case number B308. I came here today to pick up a few documents, mainly transcripts and background checks and what have you."

She stood standing, not sure whether it would seem rude to resume her seat. She was aware of how impressionably young she probably appeared. Not two years out of an internship and still bumbling around trying to piece together broken stories like a wry bludger.

"I would have sent an owl, but you know how the Ministry like with official documents going through owl post" she said with a nervous laugh as she brushed a vagrant lop of hair out of her eyes.

[Nik]

Great, the Irish man thought to himself. It would just be his luck that the one day he put little to no effort into his appearance that a pretty girl would show up unexpected at his desk. Typical. However, it wasn't like the two were going to ever see each other again after this so really what did it matter. Plus. She looked young. Very young. He pushed the thought out of his mind.

"Ah yes," Rian replied. "I was expecting someone to come to enquire files for that alright. Althgouh, usually it's grumpy old men I have to deal with." Rian laughed and made his way behind his desk. "You can sit down. It'll take me a few minutes to find everything you might need." He smiled at the younger girl and began searching for the files.

"How long have you been a journalist then?" he asked, making small conversation as he looked through files in a cabinet behind him.

[melmaid]

As a journalist, Helena was often in the presence of strangers, and did not think much of meeting people whom she came across in passing. It was a requirement for her job, albeit an uncommon one. Although she much preferred the comfort of her desk littered with house plants and succulents, going to the Ministry was hardly the commotion. Yet she felt uneasy and perhaps borderline nervous. Rian was the first person she had met through a consultation where she could fathom what could only be perceived as physical attraction. It was a strange feeling for the witch- not exactly carnal in nature, but definitely more acute than anything she had ever experienced before. She felt incredibly wary under the presence of someone whom she found so... seamlessly handsome, well in her personal definition of beauty. Refusing a blush that forced its way up her neck, Helena inwardly took a cavernous breath. She wasn't going to stammer or twirl her hair consciously for this stranger whom she knew next to nothing about. Helena had left that juvenile fear for love and lust and men back in her youth. She knew how things worked now, how this worked, but there was no denying the flustered vulnerability that surged unremittingly in every nerves. For now she was going to blame it on a lack of coffee.

Carefully, as if on eggshells, Helena took a seat. She didn't know what the most reasonable response was to the officers little quip, and thus decided not to say anything. What alarmed Helena was his easy going attitude, his willingness to talk with her. This wasn't another formal brief meeting that didn't include more than 4 spoken words. He was willing to talk to her, and that made her heart race just a little faster than usual. Or maybe this was all in her head and she was overthinking this like a sixteen year old schoolgirl.

"I was a photojournalist intern for two years. This is my first season as a reporter," was Helena's response as she clasped her hands together to stop them from fidgeting. "First time away from the camera." She laughed nervously, and managed to catch a glance of some ministry files sitting on his desk.

"What about you? How long have you been in the Ministry?"

[Nik]

Glancing up from behind a stack of files, Rian gave a small nod and a smile to the younger girl. "My nephew is into photography too actually," he said in reply, his hands rifling through different files. He quickly picked out a few and placed them on the desk beside him before turning around to another filing cabinet behind him. "More of a hobby for him than a career but I don't think there's a whole lot of chances of being a photojournalist when you live in the Irish countryside."

Finally, Rian turned around to face the girl again. He gently pushed some of the files he had across the table to her, his eyes locked on hers for perhaps a few seconds too long. Finally, he turned his eyes away and sat back in his chair for a minute.

"Been here since I left Hogwarts." he replied. "Mostly." he laughed and gave a small shrug. "Took some time off a few years ago and went back to Ireland for a while." He took a sip of his coffee. "It's not the most fun job," he paused and turned his eyes back to the girl sat across from him. "But some days are much better than others."

[melmaid]

The man talked a lot, but Helena found that she did not mind that terribly. In fact, she enjoyed listening to his winsome Irish accent. She smiled at him weakly as he continued to talk. Out of the corner of her eye she noted how he took his coffee.

"What house were you in?" Helena found herself asking, as she feebly took the files. She only leafed through its contents briefly before shoving the dossier in her satchel, already forgotten.

[Nik]

It had been noticed that Rian had come out of his shell in later years of his life. Post civil war and wizarding war, Rian had realised he had to take life by the reigns and just go with it. And so he did. SO he pushed himself more, tried to talk to people he wouldn't usually talk to, go to places he wouldn't usually go. But he did notice that he still often spoke more than usual when he was...nervous.

"I was in Gryffindor." Rian replied. "Seems like a long time ago now though." The Irishman smiled. "What was your house?"

[melmaid]

"I was in Ravenclaw," responded Helena with a neutral shrug. She had little practical knowledge of house camaraderie during her Hogwarts career. She had been a loner, always a single shadow against the wall.

Naturally he just had to be a Gryffindor. She knew it before she even asked the question, but Helena was not one for presumptions. He seemed to be the kind with a burly beating heart and a mane of unshackled courage. A lion in his most unalloyed form.

"Can I ask when you graduated? Or is that moving a little too fast?"

[Nik]

"Ravenclaw." he echoed, a faint smile on his face. Of course she was. It made sense even though he barely knew the girl.

Rian let out a small laugh at his following question. "I can assure you it was much before your time." The Irishman ran a hand through his hair and took a quick sip of his coffee as he quickly added up in his head the year that he graduated. It was such a long time ago now that it often slipped his mind the exact year that it was.

"1980." he announced after a couple of seconds. "It's been a quick twenty years I'll tell you that."

[melmaid]

Twenty years! The younger witch ignored the urge to whistle under her breath out of sheer politeness. She was barely twenty years old! He must have been a part of an entirely different generation. She wondered what it would have been like. Had his year gone through the same turmoils? Conflicts in love, and war, and the conflicts deep within oneself?

Helena wasn't sure what to say to this. She was suddenly conscious of how immature she must seem to someone like him. And, well... this was a little painful to be quite honest. He'd never see her as anyone but a credulous fool of a girl.

"It wasn't that long ago," Helena eventually managed to squeak out in reply, wondering if it was all worth lying about her age or not.

[Nik]

Rian chuckled at the younger girls reply. "No need to be so polite." He smiled at her before continuing. "Sure you musn't be much older than 20 yourself." he said with a smirk.

In reality, Rian was hoping he would be shocked by the younger girls age. Maybe she was older than she looked but he was unsure.

[melmaid]

Something about the way he smiled at her made Helena wish the ground would just open up beneath her feet and swallow her whole.

"I wasn't trying to be polite," she said quietly, tightly clutching the files he had given against her chest. She found it nervewracking talking to the handsome older man, compared to talking to some fool her own age. Maybe because he was just that much older and well, she kind of wanted to appear more mature in his perception of her than what age permitted her to be.

"I don't think it was that long ago at all. Times but another magical construct, no?"

[Nik]

Rian nodded while letting out a small laugh.

"I guess you're right."

Rian didn't know what it was about this young woman that he found so intriguing. Every day he had people coming in, looking for files and information. But so few ever caught his attention as she did. Maybe it was the way she held herself or spoke to him. He wasn't sure.

Standing up from behind his desk, Rian finished his coffee before taking a piece of paper and writing down some of his details.

"I'm Rian by the way." he said, looking up from his piece of paper for a second, giving the girl in front of him a small smile. "I'm not sure if I ever officially introduced myself."

The Irishman folded the piece of paper in half before holding it out for the woman to take.

"If you need any more information, or need help with anything at all, don't be afraid to send me an owl." he explained, a smile on his lips.

[melmaid]

A lightly-trembling hand took the piece of paper offered to its owner who was currently engaged in an internal conflict to demolish the jittery feeling in her stomach.

The journalist offered him a wry smile. This bashfulness she was feeling really wasn't very cool of her at all. Where was her frozen stare, her nonchalant distaste for everyone around her? Whatever laws of attraction this man was using, she hated how it unsettled her.

Somewhere, she found her voice. Folding the paper into a tiny square and slipping it into the pocket of her robe, Helena then picked up her work satchel and slung it on her narrow shoulder. "It's nice to meet you, Rian", the woman responded, then reiterated her own name to him. "I'm Helena. Maybe I'll see you around..."

The last of her words didn't sound as confident as she would have liked it to, but perhaps Rian was the forgiving type.