14.00 PM


Being an Animagi had its own advantages. River's animal form was a robin. It was good enough for him. He could fly and spy without getting too much attention, in theory. Right now, River was being chased by two angry criminals. If River was in his normal human form, he would blast them with some nasty hexes, but he wasn't. With all the strength of a small bird, River tried to flee. It was his first day of the job and he ruined it. His mission was simple; see and report. But apparently, one of the criminals managed to notice him.

River managed to gain some distances. He dodged some hexes and made a couple of sharp turns around the area. He needed to get back to his office as soon as possible. So River turned himself to his human form and apparated. It was quiet rough, he didn't concentrated properly. Splicing was the last thing he needed.

He crashed into his office. Papers were on the air and he was sure he had broke something. River hoped that it wasn't one of his bones.

Ernie had been minding his own business. Making up on paperwork that had been thrown on him because certain people in his department seemed to miss the point of deadlines.  As always, Ernie frustrated with the lack of help he was getting from his co-workers he took responsibility to be sure the papers would be written, processed and filed before the end of the day.

The office was still except for a soft scratching of his quill and the wizard wireless playing softly in the background. The news was on again, breaking up the gentle noise he was finally letting the stress flow out of his hands and onto the page making the work almost enjoyable as he was zoning in on his goal. Ernie looked at the clock on the wall noticing the time. If he was late again this week Susan was going to let him have it. But he was ahead of the game and if he kept at his pace he would hopefully be finished in time to make it home before his scheduled tongue lashing.

That was of course until someone apparated into the office snapping a shelf holding several important forms and documents that Ernie was working on that week. "Bloody hell!" Ernie shot up out of his chair wand at the ready, his heart raced a thousand miles and hour, "Who are you?" he demanded with shrill anger stirring up in his voice.

When a man shouted angrily, River immediately noticed that he had landed in the wrong place. He looked around and saw a man with his wand pointed at his direction. River stood up and picked up his broken glasses. Rather than answering the man's questions, River asked politely, "Is this the ministry office?" He wanted to make sure that he was safe more than anything else. River fixed his ugly black glasses and wore them in place.

The man in front of him looked very upset, River wanted to feel guilty, but that can wait.

The boy in front of him looked nervous but at that point his temper didn't care how nervous he was. "You're bloody right this is the Ministry of Magic and who may I ask are you and what in Merlin's name are you doing in my office!" His voice was getting higher as his anger had yet to subside. Certainly it was a foolish mistake slamming into one of his book shelves and causing what would certainly be hours of work rearranging and sorting.

The heat of his cheeks cause alarm in his head, which was still swimming with annoyance and confusion. How could someone just pop into a room they hardly know? Ernie was quite good at apparating as with all things he practiced tirelessly as a student to be sure he could brag at a later date. It was when Susan was splinched he kept his big mouth shut not to hurt her feelings.

"Oh, then I must landed on the wrong floor.”

River looked around all the mess he had created. This situation was sticky; the man seemed mad. He decided to pick up some of the papers and tried to avoid the man's wrath.  He studied the papers for a while and saw some accidental magic cases. Yep, he was definitely inside the ministry office. River was quiet good at apparating, but he had apparated right after he had turned himself to his human form. Maybe that was why. He looked up to the man and said, "I am sorry for this. I’m an Auror.” He didn’t dare to look at the man in the eyes.

Clearing his throat, he asked, “Can I do anything to help you?”

Another ruddy young Auror. He shook his head furiously, "No don't touch them!" He snapped angrily as he moved to the jumble of papers. What was he going to do now? It was an aggravating situation all around. Some stranger was ogling his paperwork after plowing into the wall snapping his shelf.

Snatching the paper he looked at the other man with a little less malice than before, "These are confidential papers. You shouldn't be handling them. They are my responsibility and now they will take the rest of the night to sort." His eyes screwed up onto the mess again.

"Please move over," he placed some of the mashed up paperwork onto the desk and he sighed again. Pulling out his wand again he muttered a levitation spell and then a spell to fix the shattered pieces. Without much effort he affixed the now repaired shelf onto the wall. Ernie bent low to gather the rest of the papers. His anger had lessened when he took another deep breathe, "I'm sorry I snapped. It's just I already had a busy evening ahead of me and this isn't going to make it any easier to get home to my wife on time." He left out that Susan could very well have his arse for being late again that week.

Guilt. That was what he felt. Not only he had ruined his first mission, he also had ruined someone else's day. This man worked hard to get to his wife on time. He cared about his family and River acknowledged that. His grandfather would be ashamed of him for causing this mess. The word 'ashamed' and the man's attitude started to make him uneasy.  River wanted to do something, but he didn't want to be a busy body either.

Should he explain to the man's wife? Wait, that would be preposterous!

Seeing the man's body language, a forgiveness wouldn't be easy. River didn't have time to stand and wait either, he needed to write his report this evening and get home to his family on time. River touched his glasses and spoke once more, "I'm truly sorry for this..." He peeked one of the papers once again, "...Mr.Macmillan."

"I'll be leaving now. Please excuse me."  He bowed deeply and apparated to his office, leaving Macmillan with a pile of work. 

A deep sigh released from his now tense body. If only he could explain his annoyances without coming off cross and cruel. But Ernie had never been one to rethink things or even go over them logically. So instead of following after the other Ministry worker and explaining that he was just overly stressed.  It wasn't like the young man meant to come crashing in his already small cramped and cluttered office it just sort of worked out that way.

Letting out another sigh he shut the door to his office and walked back to the desk covered in a pile of papers that he would be sorting till the end of time. Ernie wondered what his excuse would be this time. Susan would surely have his head. At least he wasn't going to be late for an anniversary this time. He shuddered when the memory rolled through.

The sound of sighs and shouts had been replaced with the simple sound of quill scratching once more as the mood in the office switched back to eager work.