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[speakscanadian]

“So basically, I think what I’m asking is, is there something, y’know, wrong with me?” Ray asked in a loud whisper, shrugging a shoulder as he pressed his back up against the tree trunk. “In your opinion.”

Not that Fraser’s opinion when it came to matters of the heart was particularly normal itself.

“Because-and this is scary, Benny. I mean, it doesn

Comments

[honestlyrubbish]

The problem with studying so many hours of the day, in addition to teaching two rather advanced courses, was the fact that there was little time for exercise or fresh air. The boys had made that fact pretty clear to Hermione whenever she sat down for work, Ron in particular, but Hermione had been firm on staying in all of her classes and continuing to work for the Council, more because with all the activity, she was feeling happier than she had in quite some time. The idea that she was being productive in some way, even if not the way she would have most preferred, managed to keep her nervous energy at a simmer, tolerable to her as she went about her day

[speakscanadian]

It was a good thing Ray was still in the habit of switching on the safety on his gun. He was startled to say the least and could hear Kowalski's annoying jibe in his head: jumpy.

He gave the girl a sheepish look as he lowered the weapon, getting the butt out of her face.

"No worries. Just be louder next time."

[honestlyrubbish]

Hermione gave the gun a sudden and frightened look, staring up at the man's gaze and immediately holding up both hands; it felt strange, to be so alarmed when the weapon wasn't anything like a wand, to instead rely on conditioning that had occurred only by means of watching movies and television to keep up with pop culture in the muggle world. She knew full well what a gun could do, of course. But the instinct wasn't there in the same way that it'd ever be, for magic.

"Do you normally have your gun on hand to point at anyone with a light step?" she asked, trying her best for a light and airy tone, though her voice remained a little too strained for that.

[speakscanadian]

"When I'm on patrol I do, yeah," Ray replied, lifting the gun up and clicking the safety on in front of her, so that she knew she could breathe easy now. "Ray Vecchio, IPD." He offered her a hand, the one without the gun.

[honestlyrubbish]

"That would make..."

Hermione didn't quite finish her sentence, although the gist was clear enough from her tone alone. The fact that the man was on the IPD explained a great deal, and it was enough for Hermione to find some relief, knowing that he wasn't simply some citizen with a trigger-happy hand, the kind who could very easily end up hurting someone. But at the same time, she had to wonder if there was a need for such panic on the island, where crimes were so few, and almost never instigated by the islanders themselves.

Putting the thought aside, she offered a small smile. "...much more sense, sorry." She took his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Hermione Granger. Councilwoman, I suppose I should say, although doing so feels a bit much, to me. Hermione's just fine."

[speakscanadian]

"Hermione," Ray repeated slowly, the name ringing a bell. He pushed his gun into the back of his belt and rested his hands on his waist. "Right, right, your the girl whose name I--" He cut himself off before he could admit to not knowing how to pronounce it when he'd seen it around the place. Fraser had told him time and again but it just hadn't stuck.

"Uh, remember," he finished, clearing his throat. "So politics, huh. What's your specialty?"

[honestlyrubbish]

The slow way that the man worked his way around her name amused Hermione, and the pause seemed almost telling- if only because she'd been through the same problem with Viktor before, needing to sit the boy down and slowly go over every syllable, a couple hours of nothing but repetition. But as Ray quickly pushed the mention aside, Hermione decided that there was little to be gained in running the matter into the ground, and so picked the conversation up where he left off.

"I'm not sure I would say that I have a specialty, exactly," she conceded with an embarrassed tilt of her head. "I ran for the position with very little experience in policy-making or review, but instead with a proven work ethic and a bit of a knack for resource allocation and emergency response, I suppose. Paper pushing, I believe they'd call the former."

[speakscanadian]

Ray knew all about paper pushing. That was all he seemed to do most of the time in the IPD office. That was why patrols like these were important to him - time to hone his skills, remind him that he was a cop and not a receptionist.

"Y'know, I thought about running once, but I dunno..." He hadn't even been able to look after his horse, let alone an entire island.

[honestlyrubbish]

"Well, there are very few people I'd discourage from running. There's nothing to lose, after all, no need to spend countless dollars on campaigning when our island population is as small as it is. Actually, sometimes I wonder if our established government is a bit too large, even, given the small population size, but... that's another matter entirely," Hermione shook her head, releasing the thought, sure that it'd bore most anyone she brought it up to- or at least, anyone for whom politics wasn't a major interest.

"And I'd say that as a member of the IPD, already that lends you a lot of credibility," Hermione added with a small smile. She didn't know the man well enough to remark on much else other than that, but watching people get more involved in the community was never something that she'd discourage or dispute.

[speakscanadian]

"Wow." Ray was a little dumbfounded that stuff like that could come out of a young girl's mouth. She sounded like Fraser and that was saying something.

He couldn't help but ask. "Are you Canadian?" Somewhere far, far down her blood line, if the English accent was anything to go by.

[honestlyrubbish]

Blinking at the question, Hermione stared for a second, before tilting her head in confusion. Beyond questioning the relevance of the inquiry, she had to wonder if this man was truly so unfamiliar with accents that he couldn't distinguish a rather typical British accent from a Canadian accent.

"No," she began, words slow as she continued trying to determine anything she'd done to suggest that she was from the country. "I'm British, actually. I don't have any relatives in Canada, as far as I'm aware."

[speakscanadian]

It took a while for Ray to hear his own words but when he eventually did, he realized how stupid he sounded.

"No, I, yeah." He laughed awkwardly. "I just meant... Know what, it doesn't matter. I should let you get back to your book. Sorry again for the--" He made a gun shape with his hand. "Thing."

[honestlyrubbish]

"Oh no, no, it's fine, really," Hermione smiled warmly, shaking her head, still baffled over the question, but not about to impress too much upon it, in case it was just an easy mistake. All the same, she ducked her head politely, hand hefting the book a little higher against her hip. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Ray, and really, if you ever have any questions about the Council that you would like to have answered, I'd be more than happy to offer whatever I can. I'm almost always in the Compound, either in the Council offices or just in the rec room, so... definitely, feel free to stop by and say hello."