Chapter 5: Journalists, Healers, and Pros.
The Quibbler head office was a very busy place, especially now that Luna Lovegood ran the magazine after her father died two years ago. Since then, the magazine had gained popularity, due to the fact that most of the so-thought ridiculous assumptions about a few creatures mentioned in the Quibbler were proven true. Luna had been particularly pleased about this, since everyone had thought her crazy back in school, but now here she sat, running one of the most popular magazines in the Wizarding World. True, she'd always had her head in the clouds, but that didn't mean she had no emotions. She'd always brushed peoples' thoughts off, thinking they'd never meant any harm, that it was her own fault. She was usually dreamy and smiling, but now, always serious when the occasion required her to be. One of these occasions was now, as she tried to sort out what she was doing.
The shiny metal plate, stating 'Luna Lovegood, Editor', that stood proudly on her work-desk, now was out of sight, under a mountain of official papers, articles, magazines, scrolls of parchment and other things. And Luna was a mess, not knowing where to start. This was what happened when you get the Wizard Flu when you have so much work at hand.
An abrupt knock sounded on the oak, and the blonde sitting behind the mass, looked up in annoyance.
"Come in." She sighed and pulled off her reading glasses, rubbing her eyes as Abby stepped in, her hands holding more papers. The seated woman groaned. "What now?"
"Sorry, Luna," Abby said breathlessly. "I know you're busy, but Arnold Smith was wondering about that-"
"Yes, yes," Luna said impatiently. "His article hardly makes any sense…" She pulled out a drawer in her desk and rummaged for a bit, before pulling out a large envelope. "Here, resend it, with a polite rejection letter. Just a minute." She said when Abby began to leave, and handed her a few scrolls of parchment. "I need these typed up. And those are for you; I have loads more to edit, so it'll be a big help…"
"Right," Abby nodded, and her eyes scanned Luna's desk. "Maybe it'll be easier if you stack those neatly first, then go through them, Luna."
Luna looked doubtfully at her desk before covering her mouth and sneezing, and then grabbed a tissue. "Sorry."
"You're still sick," Abby observed.
"I had to cut the sick-leave short…Look at how behind I am." Luna waved a hand at the mountain in front of her, and began arrange various articles, parchment and paper to one side so she can concentrate on what she's working on, just like Abby suggested.
Abby shook her head and edged toward the door. "Well…I'll be going. I don't want to catch your germs," she said playfully, and with a small wave, closed the door behind her as Luna nodded absent-mindedly, reading through a scroll.
Abby dropped several of the scrolls at her own desk, and then crossed the room to her colleague.
"Hey, Ginny," she greeted the red-head, who was busily typing away on her computer.
"Abby," she glanced up briefly, to see the papers in Abby's hand. "Put them over there for me will you? Thanks."
"No problem," she turned to leave.
"Hey, listen," Ginny called her back, turning her attention from her typing to the other woman. "My brother and the rest of the team are going to some club this weekend, and they invited me. They said I could bring along some friends…would you be interested? I'm going to drag Luna along too. She's working twenty-four seven."
Abby's eyes lightened up. "Yes, count me in. It would give me an excuse to see Hermione; I haven't seen her in a while. And an opportunity to meet your brother, of course." She smirked.
"Of course," Ginny laughed. "You're more interested in my brother than in Harry Potter."
Abby grinned, and replied, simply, "He's a redhead."
* * *
"Here, press it to the wound, alright? I'll be right back." The brunette said as patiently as she could, and left the man on the bed grumbling about stupid female healers and whatnot. She sighed softly as she closed the door behind her, and hurried down the stairs.
"Is Healer Finnigan here yet?" She asked the witch at the front desk, who was busy filing reports.
She totally ignored her, and the Healer started to try again before she heard a weary voice behind her.
"Don't bother. I'm here."
She rounded on him, frowning. "It's about time, too, Seamus. Your patient has been asking for you, and I have my own things to do."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry." He sighed as he pulled his white coat on and pulled her aside from the throng of people.
"What happened?"
Seamus cleared his throat slightly, and looked slightly sheepish as he shrugged. "I overslept."
"Excuse me?" She raised an eyebrow. "Your patient-"
"I know, Jules. Come on, I don't let it happen too often. And you're not my boss," he teased.
"I know, but I was forced to leave my patient and attend to yours."
"I'm sorry," Seamus repeated. "I'll make it up to you."
Julie folded her arms over her chest and tilted her head. "How?"
"I'll buy you lunch today?"
"You better," Julie shook her head and pushed him toward the stairs.
"You're so pushy," he said playfully as they entered their shared office.
"You're always late," she retorted, checking their mail. "Here." She handed him a few letters, and he looked through them, his eyebrows rising in surprise.
"Merlin, I haven't heard from the bastards in so long."
"Who?" Julie asked absently, ripping open an envelope.
"The Silver Arrows."
She looked up at him blankly. "I repeat-who?"
"They're a Quidditch team," he said in disbelief.
"Right," she said uninterestedly, grabbing a clip-board. "I'll just go check up on Roberts."
He nodded as she left the office a grin adorning his face as he read the letter.
Seamus-
How've you been, mate? Sorry I haven't been in touch, been busy this past year. Things are pretty ace here, we got a new Chaser, did you hear? Anyway, we were going clubbing Saturday, come along if you have nothing better to do. You do remember where Escape is, right? We'll see you there, say about 8.
Hope you're good.
Harry.
* * *
"Come on, Hermione. Get up," Jess poked her head in and saw Hermione sprawled on the couch, a bowl of popcorn on her stomach, watching a movie.
"Why?" She asked, not taking her eyes of the screen. "I'm really comfortable."
"I can see that. But now's not the time. We're going clubbing and we have to look sexy!"
"Oh okay," Hermione sat up, then froze. "Pardon me?"
"We have to look sexy?"
"No, the part before that," Hermione narrowed her eyes at her friend.
"We're going clubbing," Jess smiled sweetly. "Oh, damn, we forgot to tell you!"
"I'm sure it slipped your mind," Hermione said disdainfully, and plopped back down. "I'm not going."
"Oh, yes you are," Jess said in her no-nonsense voice, and pulled her up. "Come on, it'll be fun."
"It's not my type of thing, Jess."
"I know it's not, but, come on. We're all going! If you don't like it, you can Apparate back."
Hermione sighed and stood up. "Fine, alright. But just this once."
Jess grinned and practically dragged her off to her room, and threw open her closet, standing in front of it with her hands over her hips. "Do you have anything suitable for clubbing?"
"I'm not sure…" Hermione shrugged. "I'll just wear jeans."
Jess scowled at her. "Yeah, over my dead body. Wait here."
"I'm not going anywhere," Hermione grumbled as Jess left the room, and came back with an assortment of clothes, and dumped them on Hermione's bed. She scrunched up her mouth in thought then picked a black dress and handed it to her.
"Try it on."
Hermione held the thing up and stared at it. "I am so not wearing this."
"It's not that bad. Just go try it on."
And so, she did.
"You look amazing!" Jess exclaimed when Hermione came out of the bathroom, looking extremely self-conscious.
"Jess, I don't know…" She frowned, allowing Jess to zip her up.
"I do," the blonde declared, grabbing her by the shoulders and bringing her around to stand in front of the full-length mirror. Hermione ran her hands down the material and stared at her reflection. The dress clung in all the right places, and made Hermione feel very womanly. It was a simple but elegant spaghetti strap, with the neck-line low enough to show a bit of cleavage but not seem sluttish. It came up to her knees, with a tiny slit on each side. Jess noticed the small smile on Hermione's lips, and grinned from behind her.
"See? You look good. Now go sit down and let me do your hair and make-up."
Hermione obeyed, and soon after, she was slipping on a pair of black heels she had stashed in her closet. Her hair hung in glorious ringlets down her back and her make-up was tastefully done.
"Hurry up, both of you!" Oliver's voice carried impatiently up the stairs, and Hermione bit her lip. She felt very apprehensive going downstairs, where the boys were waiting, but it seemed like she had no choice now. This was what happened when you listened to Jessica Kyle, Hermione thought, her stomach twisting in knots as she grabbed her cell phone and purse from her desk. She took a deep breath, then exhaled, her hands held up in mid-air as if to calm herself. Then she walked out into the landing and looked down cautiously into the first floor, where the male members of the team were talking. They didn't notice her. Yet.
She knocked on Jess's door, and heard the muffled response of, "You go on! Tell them I'll be a few minutes."
Okay, she would have to do this herself. Summoning her courage, Hermione lifted her chin and went down the stairs confidently, even though a part of her wanted to stop, start screaming like a banshee, and run. But she didn't.
Her heels made clicking noises on the stairs and the boys-well, men, you could say-gaped at her as she descended the last step. She smiled tentatively, thinking this was a bad idea after all.
Oliver finally cracked a grin. "Looking good, Hermione," he said, lifting his hand and whacking Harry with the back of it hard in the stomach. Harry lurched forward with a painful "oof!" and punched Oliver in the arm with a scowl, before turning to Hermione.
"Yeah, um-You look rather…"
Well, he looked rather flustered, was all Hermione was think, feeling a warm glow in her stomach.
"Gorgeous," Adam put in, grinning widely, while Ron nodded, as if in awe of her.
Hermione blushed furiously. "Thanks. You guys clean up very nicely as well."
"What about me?" Jess called, coming down the stairs, looking amazing as usual with a short denim mini-skirt and a halter-top.
"You look absolutely stunning," Oliver smiled, as he snaked his arms around her waist and kissed her lips lightly. Adam shook his head in mock-disgust at the display.
"Yeah, yeah…you look nice, Jess," Harry said, knowing the offhanded comment would annoy her and flashed a sly grin. "Let's go."
Jess threw him a dirty look, and sniffed. "Too bad I can't say the same for you, Potter," she retorted.
"Of course you can't. Because nice doesn't even begin to describe how utterly handsome and sexy I am," Harry puffed out his chest, and Hermione laughed, shrugging her jacket on.
"Riiiight," Jess said in disbelief, allowing Oliver to help her into her own jacket. "Thanks, baby." She pecked his cheek.
"The Portkey activates in ten seconds," Harry held out a book, and everyone reached out their hands to touch it.
They were transported to the alleyway near the club with a small pop.
* * *
READ THIS:
A/N - I won't swarm you with excuses about why I'm updating after over a month, but my exams are just around the corner, give me a break. But I'm sorry. I'm trying, I swear. Anyway, how was this chapter? Also, the twin' last name is Kyle. I am aware that I had made a mistake of naming them differently in the pervious chapters…
The ending was a bit abrupt, aye? I just wanted the club chapter to be a chapter of its own. It'll be longer than this. Pinky promise. It'll be fun too! I hope you liked the idea of me bringing Seamus into the picture. -cackles and rubs hands together.-
That being said, thank you guys so much for the reviews! I got 34 for last chapter! And this might sound greedy, but I aim for more, since I get literally thousands of hits per chapter and only 20-40 reviews. That's hardly fair. I'm asking this as nicely as I can, please review; I'm doing this for you guys! And I'm talking about those who lurk around anonymously, without commenting. : p So do review, it makes my day!
-Chris.
-->