After her visit with Devlin on Level Ten, Fauna had retrieved her belongings and made her way down the stairs to Level Nine, where she could access the lift to the Atrium. She got a few weird looks from witches and wizards who were dressed way more eccentrically than she was, but the difference was that they wore wizarding clothing: bright robes, impressive cloaks, and owlish spectacles. Fauna looked out of place in her casual muggle clerk uniform with 'Mad Hats' stitched on the front of her shirt.

It only took a few seconds for the lift to chime, and an authoritative voice announced 'Level Eight, Atrium'. She ducked as the fluttering memos flew in, squeezing out of the lift right before the doors shut. From there, she followed the crowd through the golden gates and towards the hall where the fireplaces of departures and arrivals lined each side.

Except the atrium was crowded with people, and a low buzz of discontent filled the air. A few irate individuals hollered at the lone security guard, while others stood in 'helpful' groups, critiquing the efforts of the magical maintenance workers inspecting the floo system.

All the fireplaces were dark, Fauna noticed. Stubborn folks who insisted on trying it out anyway would throw the powder in and state their destination, only to be left in the same spot as before. She shook her head, standing on her tiptoes to catch a glimpse of the Visitor's Entrance, where an 'out of order' sign had just been slapped on the glass.

Those who were confident enough in their magic simply apparated away, and Fauna glanced after them enviously, wishing she hadn't failed her apparation test last year. She'd have to bide her time and wait until either the Visitor's booth or the Floos were fixed. An irritated scowl marred her features. Why'd this have to happen right now? She just wanted to get back to her mum's shop before she got grounded for dawdling. On top of that, she was worried about her boyfriend, still stuck in a holding cell for Merlin knew what.

"Oh, shite," she muttered to no one in particular, crossing her arms. "My mum is going to kill me."

In a perfect world, Kurby thought sourly, he'd have a job like Magical Maintenance.  It would be a position where, no matter how many people were depending on him or how little work he actually had to do, he could just stop and throw his arms up in the air at a moment's notice, claim 'magical malfunction,' and then spend the next six hours scurrying around looking like he was working while all around him, business came to a halt and people with important work were stuck waiting for him to decide to properly extract his wand from wherever he was hiding it and fix the bleeding Floo enchantment on the Ministry's fireplaces so that half the world could get home again.

It was infuriating.  No other department in the Ministry could get away with the incompetence that the Magical Maintenance staff increasingly displayed.  What made it worse was that all it would take was a couple of hail storms outside the Ministry's enchanted windows or one or two carefully-placed floods in high-ranking offices and any consequences would instantly disappear.  Every winter, like clockwork, something would gum up just as the Minister was getting ready to approve departmental pay rates for the next year.  Judging by the threat of impending disasters that they managed to summon up each and every year, every single idiot on payroll for Magical Maintenance probably made more than the entire Werewolf Capture Unit put together.

To make matters worse, the Visitor's Entrance had an Out-of-Order sign on it.  Normally, Kurby would have just taken that straight to the surface and apparated back, but the thought of trying to apparate through eight solid stories of rock and soil made his head ache.  Gritting his teeth, he started through the crowd, keeping a careful eye out for someone that he could snap at about the inconvenience, which probably wouldn't fix the problem but would at least make him feel better. 

The figure that he spotted instead offered a whole new realm of opportunity.  Fauna (hair toss), the former RCMC intern and the primary organizer of the Mixer that had made his life increasingly miserable only a few nights before, was standing by herself near the entrance to the lift, looking like a cross between anxious and irritated.  Snorting, Kurby altered his direction, coming up behind the girl just in time to catch her muttered complaint.

"Yeah, we can't have that, can we?" he asked sarcastically, not caring whether or not he startled the teenager.  "Merlin forbid that the entire Ministry's put its business on hold as long as your mum is happy.  Why don't you go whistle up one of your werewolf friends if it's such an inconvenience, then?  Maybe they can dig you a tunnel back to the street."

Sometimes it was inconvenient to work in the Atrium. Especially on days when the magical maintenance decided they would rather scratch their fat arses instead of getting them into gear to fix whatever was wrong with the floo network. Then people liked to come and fuss at her like she had something to do with it. She decided that now would be the perfect time to take her lunch break- to avoid the disgruntled people. Though she was generally a nice, easy to get along with person- her temper could be short sometimes. So close to the holidays, with this crowd around, was one of those times when it was short. So she put up her little "out to lunch" sign on the desk, warded it so that people couldn't take wands and other such things out of the desk, and was about to head to the little cafe when she spotted a familiar person.

Fauna Blake had been a couple of years behind her at Hogwarts, but they were both Hufflepuffs. Georgianne had always prided herself as being one of those who socialized with everyone- regardless of year or house- and was going to go over and have a big, girly reunion but she was beat to the punch by Kurby Bagnold. "I'd tell you that his bark is worse than his bite, but I'd be lying. He knows how to use his teeth much better than he knows how to yap..." She smiled brightly at both of them following her statement- not even taking the time the consider that it was not only inappropriate, but could very easily leave others feeling awkward.

"Haven't you got werewolves to chase down, Mr. Bagnold?" she asked. Georgianne liked to call him that. He was much older than her- and that was part of the allure. Georgianne rarely had time for men her own age, and she had discovered that older men appreciated more of what she had to offer. And she definitely had more to offer these days. Recently she had started taking potions to enhance the only part of her body she felt was lacking... "I'm sure that's much more exciting than harassing teenagers in the atrium." There were other more exciting things he could be doing with teenagers- as long as that teenager was herself. And the atrium was exchanged with a broom closet.

Tugging at her robes, she smiled at Fauna again. "I wouldn't worry much about it. They'll get it fixed soon enough. It happens every couple of months. Usually not when the ministry is so busy, though." Georgianne cast a glance toward her desk, watching the few people who were obviously waiting on her. "I thought it would be a good time to take my lunch break, given the circumstances." There was at least one thing she knew of that would be good for lunch, too, but that certainly wasn't going to happen now that she'd mouthed off. That, and the fact that Kurby wasn't really the sort to take advantage of the broomclosets. He was so boring in that respect. "I was thinking of having a salad," she added.

The sudden voice behind her made her jump, and as she registered the sarcastic tone, Fauna's scowl deepened. It had to be Kurby Bagnold, cranky pants of the universe. She turned and glared at him, tilting her head in typical moody teenager fashion.

"I wasn't talking to you," she snapped at him. She'd been talking to herself. That's right, to herself.

The werewolf comments made her face flush in unease and annoyance. She was just about to flounce away somewhere (hair flip not required) and leave him with his prejudiced mutterings, when Georgianne approached. The welcome witch was only a few years older than her, and she remembered her well. Fauna smiled nervously. Georgie had always been nice to her when they'd been in school, and though the older Hufflepuff had started to change in her sixth year and gotten into partying and boys and other things Fauna's mum generally told her to stay away from, she was friendly to be around. She'd never once made fun of her, at least. Georgie reminded her a bit of Quinn that way.

And now it seemed she was coming to her rescue! By making... a comment about... oh ew. Blinking rapidly as if to wipe that from her mind, disgust flickered across her face and she glanced at Bagnold, wondering how in the world girls seemed to fall all over him. She'd seen it at the mixer with that famous author, and now it was happening in the atrium with Georgie, and she really, just really, did not want to know those kinds of details.

Fauna focused on Georgie again, reminding herself that it had been forever since she'd seen her and it wouldn't do any good to let Kurby ruin it.

"Haven't you got werewolves to chase down, Mr. Bagnold?" she asked. "I'm sure that's much more exciting than harassing teenagers in the atrium."

"That's what I was wondering..." Fauna muttered, rolling her eyes a little and smiling back at Georgie, glad to know she was on her side.

Georgianne reassured her that the repairs on the floo system shouldn't take too long, and that she was going to head to lunch to avoid the chaos in here. Fauna couldn't blame her. It was as if Kurby's unpleasant personality had infested the crowd.

"I hope I can get out of here soon," she admitted, fiddling with the visitor's badge she'd received earlier. It was designed specifically for Level Ten, which required special clearance, and she'd forgotten she'd pinned it to her shirt until she'd needed something to fidget with.

"My mum's mad enough at me as it is, and I have to get back to work," Fauna told Georgianne, risking a warning glance at Kurby, who would probably make another comment about her mother's happiness being of paramount importance.

She didn't want to keep Georgie from her salad, but she was hoping the girl might offer to side-along apparate with her, or even let her join her for lunch so she wouldn't have to stand around with Bagnold. Perhaps Georgie would pick up on Fauna's anxiety and whisk her away without asking any pesky questions (like why she was here in the first place).

Perhaps Magical Maintenance would fix the floo system in a timely matter.

And perhaps Kurby would simply get bored and go back to snarling at the interns on Level Four.

Oh, the futile wishes she clung on to!


((OOC Note: Thea, I'm assuming that Georgie was on break or something earlier when Fauna first arrived at the Ministry, so that is how they missed each other. Hope this is ok!))

Any modicum of improvement to his day that had come with the opportunity to harass Fauna Blake vanished in an instant when the Welcome Witch spoke.  Kurby stiffened at her words, shooting the older of the two teenagers a heated look as he held his ground, his stance tensing as if he were preparing for a fight.

What the hell had he done to deserve getting thrown to the wolves every time he goddamned well opened his mouth?  Kurby gritted his teeth, eyeing the Welcome Witch darkly as she plowed full stop into the conversation.  Was sticking up for Hogwarts teenagers the secret hobby of every witch?  First Gertrudis, then Dolly St. James, and now Georgianne Sleeper.  Or maybe protecting Blake was the secret purpose of some widespread feminine conspiracy.  He wouldn't put it past them; it made the melodramatic teenager and her flouncing irritate him all the more.

"I didn't realize everyone took so much interest in our work," he snapped, visibly bristling as he looked between the two teenagers.  "Maybe I would have, if the cause of the moment wasn't clippin' our wings to insist on treatin' them like a lot of furry pets."

Facing a united front did nothing to improve his mood.  The Welcome Witch, whom he was now eyeing darkly, was quickly sinking in his estimation, and it was incredible how Fauna (hair toss) still seemed to think that her worried mum was the foremost concern of everyone present.  She had to get back to work.  Ironic that she was standing in the middle of the Ministry and couldn't seem to imagine anyone else in the same predicament.

"Well, let's go tell Magical Maintenance, then," he suggested, still glowering at Fauna as his tone edged well into sardonic.  "I'm sure they've only been workin' for hours to get it fixed, but if someone's mum is upset, well - that's all they need to really spur them along, isn't it?"  Defending his arch-nemeses at the Ministry, even to upstage Blake, left a sour taste in his mouth, so he forced the thought down and marched on.  "Why don't you apparate to the surface if you're in such a rush now?  Or did Gertrudis never bother to teach her summer pets that trick?"

Colonel Kabir Ahmed was in full uniform today, because he was on his way to a damage-control meeting with MI 5. He had just left the RCMC office; and as he walked down the hall toward the Floo Station, he overheard what was growing to be quite a heated conversation. Looking to see who was talking, he observed a scruffy-looking individual, with an attitude one could spot miles away. Ahmed’s lips tightened as he realized who it must be. If the slight accent had not been enough to give the man away, what he was saying left little doubt. By now Kurby Bagnold's reputation had made the rounds of the entire Ministry, and no one had much positive to say, except that Bagnold was good at beating the crap out of werewolves.

Ahmed did not look down on him for that part. He had faced more than a few slavering fangs himself. Most had belonged to non-magical cobras, but during the course of his career in the Himalayas he had encountered a few more exotic things. Including a magically enhanced venomous yeti...

So...Kabir might have sympathized with Bagnold, except for one thing. Kabir recognized that there was a difference between the likes of Fenrir Greyback and others such as Remus Lupin. According to the talk, Bagnold made no such distinctions. In Ahmed’s opinion this was disrespectful to Lupin’s memory, as well as being unfair to law-abiding werewolves...who after all were in the majority, at least in Britain.

"Why don't you apparate to the surface if you're in such a rush now?  Or did Gertrudis never bother to teach her summer pets that trick?"

Ahmed’s lips tightened still further. During the course of the Runespoor investigation, he had become well-acquainted with Mme. Gertrudis. Hearing Bagnold’s snide comment about a colleague he liked and respected made Ahmed even less inclined to be friendly.

But perhaps most important of all, Ahmed had once had a daughter. Therefore, he disliked grown men who made a habit of bullying little girls.  No doubt, he thought, recalling Kamala with a rueful smile, these young ladies would bristle at the thought of being called little girls, but fatherly habits die hard...

And so...when Ahmed caught up to the others...he was loaded for bear. He did try to give the girls an encouraging smile; but as he drew himself up to his considerable, muscular height, his eyes blazed amber and it was apparent that he was not pleased about...something.

“I doubt Madame Gertrudis would be teaching her interns to Apparate,” he said coolly, meeting Bagnold’s eye, “since at least some of them are still at Hogwarts, and as such are forbidden to use magic outside of school.”

He had told himself to remain calm and not sink to Bagnold’s level, but if Bagnold wanted trouble he would have to take on somebody his own size.

(Thea let me know I could post before her!)

At the very least, Fauna was glad that Kurby seemed as uncomfortable as she was when Georgie mentioned how he used his teeth. The glare in his eyes and the snappish response towards the Welcome Witch brought up this strange, smug feeling. It was odd. She normally didn't derive satisfaction from another person's discomfort. Fauna normally felt more and more anxious, worrying over what she'd said or how she'd said it, but now, that smugness pushed away a bit of her anxiety. He talked about furry pets and she rolled her eyes, more emphatically this time.

However, it didn't take long for her unease to return when he mocked her for mentioning her mum. She'd half-expected it, but the comment made her feel like a child, and she glanced at Georgianne, then looked at him again when he told her to apparate if she was in such a hurry.

Shite! It was like he knew! Her face flushed. Fauna preferred not to broadcast that she'd failed apparation her sixth year, and yet she continually got herself into pickles like this one because of it.

Her eyebrows drew together and she opened her mouth, then shut it when a Ministry worker she didn't recognize approached them, looking mighty displeased. He gave her a thin smile and then stared at Bagnold, drawing himself up to his full height as he reminded him that it wasn't Gertrudis' responsibility and that Hogwarts students weren't allowed to use magic outside of school.

She was 17 now, so the trace was off, but he couldn't have known that. And Fauna wasn't about to tell that to Bagnold.

She was grateful yet embarrassed by the intrusion, and wondered if the man had said something because Kurby Bagnold was a nuisance and grumbled really loudly (his glare was also known to stretch for miles), or if it was because she looked like she couldn't handle it. The second possibility worried her. It didn't occur to her that most adults might see it as unfair for another adult to pick on a younger person.

"Thank you," she told the newcomer, offering him a slight smile.

Fauna glanced back at Bagnold and tried to match his glower, spurred on by the need to prove that she wasn't a doormat, and the support from Georgie and what appeared to be a high-ranking Ministry official.

"Why don't you... go flush yourself?* I don't see you apparating either."



*The phrase "flush yourself" is something I came up with after Dawn told me about another entrance to the Ministry described in Book 7. Apparently, golden tokens were used to stand in a toilet and floo to the Ministry by flushing, haha. We're assuming the toilet transportation method was put into place because of increased security at the time, but that many employees grumbled about it and avoided it. So "flush yourself" is a nod to that, and a way to tell someone to bugger off, I imagine.

"The maintenance team has it under control, I'm certain," Georgie assured Fauna with a smile, patting her shoulder, and taking a look at those who were working on it. Was Sidney lurking around? It had been a while since she had gone out of her way to torture him. Now that she had this new set of tatas, she was going to have to make it a point to show them off to him. She was sure he'd notice- he was a man, after all.

Georgianne felt bad for Kurby when she heard him snap. "Oh, come on Kurbs, I was only teasing. Don't get so upset with me," she pouted, sticking her bottom lip out at him as she tugged gently on his shirt. "I know you guys work hard to keep us safe. There's no need for us to bicker. We can be friendly while we wait, can't we?" Georgianne asked hopefully, letting her blue eyes flit back and forth from Fauna to Kurby.

She had thought that perhaps things might work whenever Kabir Ahmed walked up. Georgianne knew a lot of the ministry workers rather well, but she had not quite managed to pin down Ahmed. He seemd professional. She knew that he was a liason- and that was about it. He was one of the few men in the ministry allowed to come and go by her desk without her trying to drag him them home for some fun- so that probably had a lot to do with the awkward she felt around him. "Fauna is old enough to do magic," Georgianne stated flatly- defensive of Kurby.

But it seemed that Fauna was still bristling from Kurby's less than kind remarks. "Fauna, don't be so mean to him. He's had a rough day, I'm sure. He was just joking aroud- I don't think he really meant to hurt your feelings. Did you, Kurby?" Georgianne prompted, giving him a level stare, willing him to just agree. There didn't need to be some big rowe in the middle of the atrium over these stupid floo problems.

Georgianne decided she would have to do something nice for Kurby to make this up to him. She had only been trying to lighten up the mood but it had seemed to have the exact opposite effect. And she did not want for him to hate her. Kurby had rough edges- but he was more than those rough edges, and every now and again she saw that. They could get along well enough even banter and be friends- outside of the walls of the ministry of course. Georgianne just forgot herself sometimes. But she was nineteen- surely she could be forgiven the slip of the tongue. She hadn't meant to embarass him by teasing him about his biting.

"If they take much longer, Fauna, you could always send her an owl and let her know that you're going to be late? I'm sure that would be a lot better than just risking it. Just let her know that you're okay or something." Georgianne was so glad that she had moved out as soon as she could- so that she wouldn't have to answer to her parents. Hers were just so strict, and Georgianne just loved to have fun! "Your mom will understand- it's not your fault there are problems with the floo network."

Kurby almost - almost - backed down when the Welcome Witch took hold of his shirt.  In the grand scheme of things, he didn't really give a damn about Blake one way or the other.  The teenager could flounce around all she wanted; it didn't really affect him unless she did it on Level Four, and if she ever dared to venture back there again anytime soon, at least he could make her life miserable enough that she'd think twice about intruding on his territory.  Being friendly was far too much to ask for, but he might have been prepared to at least stop bickering and either head back down to the WCU office or start off to rip into the nearest Magical Maintenance representative.

But then a man that he vaguely recognized as having spent some time in Gertrudis's office swooped in, eyes flashing and words spoiling for a fight.  The werewolf hunter bristled, straightening where he stood as he shot the new arrival a deadly look.  What the hell was this?  Was Blake secretly descended from the bleeding Minister himself, the way random passerby kept taking it upon themselves to swoop in to her rescue?

He burst out laughing at Blake's retort.  Judging by his last interaction with the girl, not taking her seriously flustered her far more than trying to set her off in an argument. 

"Yeah, that'd be grand if there weren't wards set against apparatin' from floor to floor," he said, flashing her a smirk that showed all of his teeth.  The snappish 'Go flush yourself,' added on top of the girl's latest random rescuer, had set him in his purpose.  He didn't give a damn what the Welcome Witch said, no matter how quickly she might jump to his defense now.  Not bicker, his arse.    "I might, if I head home after all.  It's nice to have the choice though, isn't it?"

"And I didn't realize that we'd invited you into the conversation, Galahad," he added in a snappish tone, his eyes flickering to the tall, lanky man as he sized him up.  Whoever the tosser was, he might be big, but Kurby wasn't intimidated.  No Ministry twit would start a fight in the middle of the atrium.  If the older man was expecting him to back down, he was about to crash headlong into a brick wall set with a sticking charm.  "Don't you have a grail to go chargin' after?  You can follow the kid's advice and go stick your head in a toilet."

Hearing Ms. Blake suggest that Bagnold go flush himself, Ahmed smiled faintly beneath his beard. It was just the sort of thing Kamala would have said. Had she lived... His eyes grew thoughtful as he realized she would now be about the same age as these two young women. And who knows? Perhaps even standing here, to be insulted right along with them.

"Fauna is old enough to do magic, " said the Welcome Witch. Ahmed had indeed passed by her desk almost every day since his return to active duty. Since he was old enough to be her father, he had never even imagined the idea of going home with her for fun and games. Though perhaps if he'd been twenty years younger...

He gave Fauna an apologetic glance, acknowledging his mistake. He would never have suspected that she couldn't Apparate yet because she hadn't passed the test. Though if he had known he would have sympathized, because he had flunked his first attempt at obtaining a Muggle driver's license...

"Fauna, don't be so mean to him. He's had a rough day, I'm sure. He was just joking around- I don't think he really meant to hurt your feelings..."

Ahmed looked at Bagnold skeptically. Those comments to Blake might well have been the werewolf hunter's idea of humor, but what he had seen of the man gave him the distinct impression that hurting the young woman's feelings was precisely what would have made it funny to him. Nevertheless, it was not offensive enough...yet...to justify a major incident. At this point, having had his say...inadvertantly insulting Ms. Blake in the process... Ahmed was inclined to live and let live.  After all, Fauna Blake's response had proved she was quite able to speak up for herself.

"Yeah, that'd be grand if there weren't wards set against apparatin' from floor to floor," said Bagnold, flashing Blake a smile that was definitely not the sort that wins friends and influences people.

Which, Ahmed reminded himself, was what he was supposed to be doing here. Or at least that was the cover story. Though since Day One, Ahmed had misgivings about sending an Auror to do an Ambassador's job...

Just as Ahmed was telling  himself that it would be wisest for his mission to just walk away, Bagnold turned to him. "And I didn't realize that we'd invited you into the conversation, Galahad. Don't you have a grail to go chargin' after? "

Bagnold was right that Ahmed was not the sort to start a fight in the middle of the Atrium, or anywhere else for that matter.  But more than one man had imagined that just because he was no longer young, the Colonel would be easy pickings. Most were now in assorted Muggle prisons, and a few were in Azkaban...

" You can follow the kid's advice and go stick your head in a toilet."

"I did not see anyone exactly inviting you to converse," Ahmed pointed out, speaking with a crisp North Indian lilt. "And as for sticking heads in toilets...I would think you'd be far more comfortable with what is commonly found there, than I."
 

(Jumping in out of posting order with permission!)

A smirk spread across the werewolf hunter's face as he stared at Ahmed, dark eyes locked on the older man's.  This was a conversation that he felt much more comfortable with.  The normal flight-or-fight response that came every time he was attacked had settled back into humming anticipation.  It was probably too much to hope that the bigger wizard, whoever he was, would take a swing at him, but if the older man was willing to be drawn into a gutter fight, then Kurby was perfectly happy to dive in with him.

He barked out a laugh, shifting a step forward to encroach on the other man's space.  "Yeah, of course.  You've found me out, then," he said sardonically, smirking at him.  "Right in the middle of it all the time, I am.  That's where I come across all the winnin' company."

Knowing which buttons to push with any one individual was a repertoire normally built up over time.  Some were more difficult to push to the edge than others, but everyone had a breaking point.  When it came to the people that he had known for years, Kurby could usually instantly guess what to say to set them off.  This man, though, was a stranger.  Whatever his fears and insecurities and annoyances might be, they might as well have been blasted onto his forehead in Ancient Runes for all that the werewolf hunter could read them.  The only hint he'd had was the point at which the man had burst so gallantly into the conversation.

Kurby smirked, his gaze flickering over to Fauna.  "Of course, some of that company spends time in different places," he remarked snidely, his attention fixing on the badge attached to her shirt.  "You had business on Level Ten then, Miss Blake?   Don't tell me one of your flea-bitten friends snapped already.  Was it the girl or Greyfriar?" he asked nicely, tapping at his arm as if he were considering which one was the more likely case.  "I'd say chances are good that they'll both be there soon enough, don't you think?"

Of course Kurby laughed at her. She gritted her teeth, then looked at Georgianne, who was trying to smooth things over and sound reassuring. When Georgie told her not to be so mean and that he was just joking, Fauna gave her an incredulous look. Bollocks! She didn't know what to say to that, so she let it go, reminding herself that the Welcome Witch was attempting to be helpful.

"Yeah, I can send my mum a note," Fauna agreed, nodding at her. "Um, thanks."

The newcomer (she should really ask his name) gave her an apologetic look, and she shrugged in return. He hadn't done anything wrong. Of all the things to be offended about, someone mistaking her age was the least of her worries. Bagnold was the problem here. He proved her right by calling the man Galahad, and as the two men began to bicker about toilets, she wondered if she could slip away.

Too slow. Kurby took the opportunity to zone in on her visitor's badge, then he went in for the kill.

As his words sank in, her expression darkened, and she stared at him disbelievingly. Her friends weren't even here to stand up for themselves (not that she would have wanted them to hear his comments anyway).

"Don't talk about them like that!" She shot back, ignoring the hitch in her voice. "And it's absolutely none of your business!"

At least he didn't know the real reason she was here. Still, that smirk on his face was grating on her last nerve.

"Why do you have to keep pestering me? Don't you have... ugh, I don't know, better things to do?" Fauna paused. "Is it because... do you think you can discourage me from applying here later, or something?" She paused again, glaring at him. "I will do it just to spite you."

Strong words. Fauna wasn't sure she believed them. If he went out of his way to annoy her at the mixer and while she was waiting in the atrium, she didn't like to think about his reaction if she actually applied to the RCMC after graduation. She could imagine him throwing her job application in the fire, in fact. Just to spite her!

Georgianne was fully aware that she was losing the battle here. Kurby was properly riled up at this point, and now that he seemed to have more people against him instead of for him there was no reason to try anymore. She sighed quietly, and gave all three of them a pleading look. "Really, I don't want to have to involve someone else in breaking this up before it gets out of hand," she told them. "But I will."

"Not that any of you care, but if a big fight breaks out I can likely end up in trouble since I"m supposed to be the one keeping an eye on everything around here. There's no reason to fight."

The witch did think that Kurby's comment about Greyfriar and the other werewolf was uncalled for. She understood that people who worked with the creatures had a different view points. Georgie had heard Fox's opinion on it, and it seemed those two had the same idea. She didn't really care one way or the other- she wasn't a werewolf, she didn't have any friends who were werewolves, so she tried her best to stay out of it.

Georgianne knew that she had no effect on Kabir or Fauna. She was fairly certain that any attempts to distract Kurby would fall short, too. But she decided to try anyway, placing a gentle hand on his arm, tugging at his sleeve. "Come on now, Kurby. There's not reason to pick a fight. It'll just get everyone into trouble. The floos aren't working- but you don't have to use them, do you? You could take the lift up to the surface and apparate from there." She leaned over to whisper in his ear, promising to make it worth his while if he decided to behave and stop this fight before it got out of hand. It took a lot of self control not to follow it up with a friendly nip- but she knew better. Not everyone was okay with public displays of affection, and she didn't like to flaunt her conquests. Not all of them, anyway.

"Not that any of you care, but if a big fight breaks out I can likely end up in trouble since I"m supposed to be the one keeping an eye on everything around here. There's no reason to fight."

Ahmed gave the Welcome Witch a look that plainly expressed his surprise. He was not accustomed to having witches who were  half his age speaking to him as if he was ten years old.

"Miss," he said calmly, "it is possible to have a difference of opinion, without it turning into a brawl."  In fact starting a fight was the last thing on his mind, as this was too obviously what Bagnold was hoping for. Ahmed would not be so foolish. While he was reasonably sure if it came to a fight he could take Bagnold, why bother? The man was an annoyance...like a horsefly buzzing around...but this in itself was not worth a scene at the Ministry.

He was amused to see Ms. Sleeper whispering in Kurby's ear, as if a little attention would make the werewolf hunter manageable. From what Ahmed had observed so far, it would take a great deal more than a nuzzle on the ear to accomplish that...

Kurby threw back his head and laughed, but there was no humor, no lightness in his expression as he leveled a look back at Fauna.  He flashed the girl a pointed smile that showed his teeth and did not come close to reaching his eyes.

"You think I give a hippogriff's bare arse whether or not you apply at the Ministry?" he asked disbelievingly, his vowels long and broader than usual as he drew each word out.  Of course Miss Hair Toss would think that he woke up each morning and went to bed every night dreading the day when she and her do-gooder crusading nonsense was finally employed full time at the Ministry, ready to shine a gallant beacon of light down on all werewolf-kind. 

Kurby snickered again, rolling his shoulder back as he shook off Georgianne.  The Welcome Witch was tolerable enough after hours, but he wasn't putting up with this at the Ministry.  If she thought she had a right to tell him how to act, she was going to be in for a pleasant surprise in the near future.

"You've put the Killing Curse right between the eyes, kid," he agreed, shaking his head as he swallowed another laugh.  "Here I am, cryin' myself to sleep every evening because I can't stand the thought of runnin' into you each day in the Atrium or slavin' over papers when you're sittin' five offices over." 

The mental picture was hilarious; who the hell did this kid think she was?  He couldn't stand half the people at the Ministry.  One more little slip of a Hufflepuff wasn't even going to phase him.

"Here's the secret," he continued, flashing Fauna an awful smirk as he lowered his voice.  "I don't care.  You could apply for the bleedin' head of the department and get it with Gertrudis' blessing if you want to, and I still wouldn't give a damn.  Come sign on to the WCU and maybe then we'd talk."  He flashed his teeth in a quick smile, giving the girl a dismissive look as he turned away.  If Galahad wasn't going to rise to the occasion to defend her, the conversation had gotten infinitely less interesting.  "But we all know that you're not up for it.  I've got not a worry there."