(no subject)
Date: September 23
Time: 7 AM
Location: Helm residence, Muggle London; Alecto's; Hogsmeade
Characters: Aurin Helm, NPCs Toviel and Colin Helm, NPC Aurors, Open
Rating: Er...hard to say...PG-13, I guess
Incomplete
The package came early that morning, arriving just as the sun rose over the horizon. The sound of the owl's beak knocking against the window roused Aurin from sleep, and he stood with a protesting groan to open the window. He could tell, as he took the large box covered in Ministry seals from the two owls that had delivered it, that the day was going to be a warm one, one of those late summer days that, he believed, were nature's way of apologizing for winter. Shutting the window, he plunked the box on the floor of his room, not wanting to open it until he'd had coffee, breakfast, and a shower.
Giving Romero, who was still dozing perched on the foot of the bed, a quick scratch between the wings, Aurin headed downstairs to the kitchen, making sure not to make too much noise so as to let his father and brother sleep in some more. Putting the coffee on to brew, he opened the front door and got the regular daily mail from the box attached to the front of the house. The Prophet, a few bills, a letter for him from somebody called Dormy Taxa, and...three letters from the Ministry, addressed to him, Toviel, and Colin. He put the bills on the counter and the letters and Prophet on the table, then went about making a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, being sure to make enough for three people.
Aurin had just sat down to breakfast when his brother came down the stairs, bleary eyed. "Mmmmff...gotta package...coffee?" Said Toviel. Aurin pointed his wand at the coffee pot and it filled a mug with black coffee strong enough to take paint off a wall. Toviel took the mug and sat down across from Aurin. "You get a package too?"
"Yeah," said Aurin, turning the page. The Prophet was full of the usual stuff, barely concealed propaganda, paranoia, shock value. He wondered idly if this meant that the tabloids had turned legit in order to keep the balance. "All three of us got letters, too. I think it'd be best if we wait for dad before we open them, though." Toviel grunted assent and got up to make himself a plate of food.
They didn't have to wait long. The third and final Helm came down the stairs, still in his pajamas like the other two but looking marginally more awake. "Thought I smelled bacon," he said. "There enough for me?"
"Of course," said Aurin. "We've all got mail, by the way."
Colin gave his son a wry grin as he sat down, "Ministry, right? They sure work fast."
The letters lay in the middle of the table as the family ate, and only when the dishes had been washed and put on the drying rack did they open them.
"Mine's thanking me for coming back and telling me how I'll be contacted if needed, blah blah blah," said Toviel.
"Mine too," said Aurin, "plus there's a schedule in here. I guess they didn't give you one since you didn't actually agree to work any official hours."
"This one's basically trying to get me to change my mind," said Colin. "We're sorry you feel like you can't come back, contact us if you change your mind, et cetera."
Glancing down his schedule, Aurin's eyes stopped near the top. "Saturday, September 23," it said, "12 PM. Meet with new team and patrol Hogsmeade village during Hogwarts student visiting hours."
"Bollocks," he growled, "Babysitting duty. Well, I guess I've got to start somewhere...damn, I was hoping to restock the clinic today."
"I'll do it," said Toviel. "I can mind the shop, too. I'll just close up a couple hours early to have time to both restock and study."
"Thanks, Tove." Said Aurin gratefully. "Well, I guess we'd better open those boxes they sent us and get ready to head to the store."
"You boys be careful," said Colin. "Being so near the site of the attack, I don't even know what the point is of opening."
Aurin stood and stretched, "That's exactly the point. Even if this is the beginning of a regrouping of Voldemort's old supporters, it's better not to let fear get the better of us, since that's what they'd want. So, we go on as normal. Hopefully us continuing to run the shop on something like regular hours will inspire others to do the same."
Heading up the stairs, Aurin glanced at the package lying in wait on the floor of his room before continuing down the hall to the bathroom to take a shower. A few minutes later, dressed in his work clothes (a simple black shirt and jeans), Aurin entered his room, sat down on the foot of the bed, and cut the seals on the box with his wand.
The box contained the tools of an Auror's trade. Among other things, Aurin pulled out four sets of robes (two for warm weather, two for cooler weather, all in the famliar red), his security clearance, credentials, and Ministry ID, a small disk that acted like a sneakoscope but without the sounds and flashing lights, a pair of glasses for enhanced night vision, and a thick book of rules, regulations, et cetera. Packing a set of warm weather robes, the ID and clearance, and the book into his bag (he considered bringing the lie detector, then realized it'd probably be going off constantly with all those teenagers around), Aurin held his arm out so Romero could hop on and apparated to the shop.
Diagon Alley was, as it had been since the attack, sadly deserted. It reminded him far too much of the war and the days immediately following. Aurin set Romero on his perch in the window of the shop and went around the first two floors, checking the animals for sale and the ones in the clinic, feeding, watering, and cleaning as required. Toviel arrived just in time to put the "Open" sign in the window.
"What was in your box?" Aurin asked as he renewed the charm on a black python's heat rock.
"Probably about the same as yours. Official robes, ID, clearance, that sort of thing. Though I don't remember having one of these before." Toviel held up a slim volume titled Known Werewolves. "It's got profiles, both of the known weres and their human contacts. I'm supposed to memorize it and study the pictures. There was also a silver band that they wanted me to put on my wand, 'Just in Case,' but I left it in the box."
Arming the Ministry's agents with silver! Aurin knew they weren't dense enough not to know what silver would do to a werewolf, were it to get into their system. Did they want to kill...? He felt sickened by the thought.
The five hours until noon crawled by, with no customers whatsoever. Toviel sat behind the counter and studied for his veterinary exams, and Aurin used the time to catch up on his work in the clinic. Finally, 12 PM rolled around. Saying a quick goodbye to Toviel, Aurin pulled on the red Auror's robes and, taking Romero, apparated to Hogsmeade.
As soon as he appeared at the apparition point, Aurin sent Romero off to hunt for his lunch, telling him to find a tree to watch from when he was done. Stepping onto the path that led into Hogsmeade, Aurin noticed a group of three red-robed wizards and one witch, standing outside the Three Broomsticks. He approached them with a friendly expression, though he felt somewhat trepidatious inside.
"You, I take it, are Aurin Helm?" asked one of the wizards, a huge, muscular man with short-cropped blond hair and brown eyes. "Name's Cyrus Allocen. I'm what you could call the brute squad for our team, though I do prefer talking things out." He offered a ham-sized hand for a shake, which Aurin accepted, saying, "Good to meet you, Allocen."
"Lemme introduce the rest of the team," said Allocen. He indicated each person in turn as he made the introductions. "Caim Darshan," who Aurin remembered was a fellow Ravenclaw of his same year, was a small, wiry man with dark tanned skin, black hair, and pale blue eyes, an expert in divination. "Aleta Ose," the lone female, had masses of strawberry blond hair that she kept contained in a braid and friendly green eyes, and was apparently an able legilimens. The final member, "Marthim Blake," was very young, just out of Auror training. He had dark brown hair that he wore long and hazel eyes, and, said Allocen, was a potions expert, though not quite at master level yet.
Introductions over with, the team gathered around a map of Hogsmeade and planned out their patrol routes. Aurin was to stay in the village proper, making a circuit that took him past all the buildings about every ten minutes, while the others split off into pairs, Allocen and Darshan taking the woods to the east of the village while Ose and Blake took the western border, which was mostly fields. Having agreed to meet up again for dinner at the Three Broomsticks at 7 PM, the Aurors split off, Aurin beginning the first of what he knew would be many boring circuits around the village that day.
Time: 7 AM
Location: Helm residence, Muggle London; Alecto's; Hogsmeade
Characters: Aurin Helm, NPCs Toviel and Colin Helm, NPC Aurors, Open
Rating: Er...hard to say...PG-13, I guess
Incomplete
The package came early that morning, arriving just as the sun rose over the horizon. The sound of the owl's beak knocking against the window roused Aurin from sleep, and he stood with a protesting groan to open the window. He could tell, as he took the large box covered in Ministry seals from the two owls that had delivered it, that the day was going to be a warm one, one of those late summer days that, he believed, were nature's way of apologizing for winter. Shutting the window, he plunked the box on the floor of his room, not wanting to open it until he'd had coffee, breakfast, and a shower.
Giving Romero, who was still dozing perched on the foot of the bed, a quick scratch between the wings, Aurin headed downstairs to the kitchen, making sure not to make too much noise so as to let his father and brother sleep in some more. Putting the coffee on to brew, he opened the front door and got the regular daily mail from the box attached to the front of the house. The Prophet, a few bills, a letter for him from somebody called Dormy Taxa, and...three letters from the Ministry, addressed to him, Toviel, and Colin. He put the bills on the counter and the letters and Prophet on the table, then went about making a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, being sure to make enough for three people.
Aurin had just sat down to breakfast when his brother came down the stairs, bleary eyed. "Mmmmff...gotta package...coffee?" Said Toviel. Aurin pointed his wand at the coffee pot and it filled a mug with black coffee strong enough to take paint off a wall. Toviel took the mug and sat down across from Aurin. "You get a package too?"
"Yeah," said Aurin, turning the page. The Prophet was full of the usual stuff, barely concealed propaganda, paranoia, shock value. He wondered idly if this meant that the tabloids had turned legit in order to keep the balance. "All three of us got letters, too. I think it'd be best if we wait for dad before we open them, though." Toviel grunted assent and got up to make himself a plate of food.
They didn't have to wait long. The third and final Helm came down the stairs, still in his pajamas like the other two but looking marginally more awake. "Thought I smelled bacon," he said. "There enough for me?"
"Of course," said Aurin. "We've all got mail, by the way."
Colin gave his son a wry grin as he sat down, "Ministry, right? They sure work fast."
The letters lay in the middle of the table as the family ate, and only when the dishes had been washed and put on the drying rack did they open them.
"Mine's thanking me for coming back and telling me how I'll be contacted if needed, blah blah blah," said Toviel.
"Mine too," said Aurin, "plus there's a schedule in here. I guess they didn't give you one since you didn't actually agree to work any official hours."
"This one's basically trying to get me to change my mind," said Colin. "We're sorry you feel like you can't come back, contact us if you change your mind, et cetera."
Glancing down his schedule, Aurin's eyes stopped near the top. "Saturday, September 23," it said, "12 PM. Meet with new team and patrol Hogsmeade village during Hogwarts student visiting hours."
"Bollocks," he growled, "Babysitting duty. Well, I guess I've got to start somewhere...damn, I was hoping to restock the clinic today."
"I'll do it," said Toviel. "I can mind the shop, too. I'll just close up a couple hours early to have time to both restock and study."
"Thanks, Tove." Said Aurin gratefully. "Well, I guess we'd better open those boxes they sent us and get ready to head to the store."
"You boys be careful," said Colin. "Being so near the site of the attack, I don't even know what the point is of opening."
Aurin stood and stretched, "That's exactly the point. Even if this is the beginning of a regrouping of Voldemort's old supporters, it's better not to let fear get the better of us, since that's what they'd want. So, we go on as normal. Hopefully us continuing to run the shop on something like regular hours will inspire others to do the same."
Heading up the stairs, Aurin glanced at the package lying in wait on the floor of his room before continuing down the hall to the bathroom to take a shower. A few minutes later, dressed in his work clothes (a simple black shirt and jeans), Aurin entered his room, sat down on the foot of the bed, and cut the seals on the box with his wand.
The box contained the tools of an Auror's trade. Among other things, Aurin pulled out four sets of robes (two for warm weather, two for cooler weather, all in the famliar red), his security clearance, credentials, and Ministry ID, a small disk that acted like a sneakoscope but without the sounds and flashing lights, a pair of glasses for enhanced night vision, and a thick book of rules, regulations, et cetera. Packing a set of warm weather robes, the ID and clearance, and the book into his bag (he considered bringing the lie detector, then realized it'd probably be going off constantly with all those teenagers around), Aurin held his arm out so Romero could hop on and apparated to the shop.
Diagon Alley was, as it had been since the attack, sadly deserted. It reminded him far too much of the war and the days immediately following. Aurin set Romero on his perch in the window of the shop and went around the first two floors, checking the animals for sale and the ones in the clinic, feeding, watering, and cleaning as required. Toviel arrived just in time to put the "Open" sign in the window.
"What was in your box?" Aurin asked as he renewed the charm on a black python's heat rock.
"Probably about the same as yours. Official robes, ID, clearance, that sort of thing. Though I don't remember having one of these before." Toviel held up a slim volume titled Known Werewolves. "It's got profiles, both of the known weres and their human contacts. I'm supposed to memorize it and study the pictures. There was also a silver band that they wanted me to put on my wand, 'Just in Case,' but I left it in the box."
Arming the Ministry's agents with silver! Aurin knew they weren't dense enough not to know what silver would do to a werewolf, were it to get into their system. Did they want to kill...? He felt sickened by the thought.
The five hours until noon crawled by, with no customers whatsoever. Toviel sat behind the counter and studied for his veterinary exams, and Aurin used the time to catch up on his work in the clinic. Finally, 12 PM rolled around. Saying a quick goodbye to Toviel, Aurin pulled on the red Auror's robes and, taking Romero, apparated to Hogsmeade.
As soon as he appeared at the apparition point, Aurin sent Romero off to hunt for his lunch, telling him to find a tree to watch from when he was done. Stepping onto the path that led into Hogsmeade, Aurin noticed a group of three red-robed wizards and one witch, standing outside the Three Broomsticks. He approached them with a friendly expression, though he felt somewhat trepidatious inside.
"You, I take it, are Aurin Helm?" asked one of the wizards, a huge, muscular man with short-cropped blond hair and brown eyes. "Name's Cyrus Allocen. I'm what you could call the brute squad for our team, though I do prefer talking things out." He offered a ham-sized hand for a shake, which Aurin accepted, saying, "Good to meet you, Allocen."
"Lemme introduce the rest of the team," said Allocen. He indicated each person in turn as he made the introductions. "Caim Darshan," who Aurin remembered was a fellow Ravenclaw of his same year, was a small, wiry man with dark tanned skin, black hair, and pale blue eyes, an expert in divination. "Aleta Ose," the lone female, had masses of strawberry blond hair that she kept contained in a braid and friendly green eyes, and was apparently an able legilimens. The final member, "Marthim Blake," was very young, just out of Auror training. He had dark brown hair that he wore long and hazel eyes, and, said Allocen, was a potions expert, though not quite at master level yet.
Introductions over with, the team gathered around a map of Hogsmeade and planned out their patrol routes. Aurin was to stay in the village proper, making a circuit that took him past all the buildings about every ten minutes, while the others split off into pairs, Allocen and Darshan taking the woods to the east of the village while Ose and Blake took the western border, which was mostly fields. Having agreed to meet up again for dinner at the Three Broomsticks at 7 PM, the Aurors split off, Aurin beginning the first of what he knew would be many boring circuits around the village that day.