(no subject)

[clumsy_auror]

It's been a hectic couple of days, at the Ministry of Magic. Nymphadora has slowly been excavating her desk from the detritus that accumulated whilst she was gone, which was considerable even though she owled work in from home nearly every day.

Right now all she wants is a cuppa and a biscuit, but it's not quite teatime. Suck it up, Tonks, she tells herself sternly, and scribbles furiously at the report in front of her.

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[clumsy_auror]

Allbright slouches into his office after shooting Bernard a final churlish glare. Nymphadora drops her head in her hands, face a bright crimson. "All right, that's quite enough out of you." She stands and herds him towards the lift. "Off to the tearoom with you."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

He's totally giggling. "He started it!" They enter the lift; a short, balding wizard who started to step in suddenly steps out again.

"...Are we that scary?"

[clumsy_auror]

Facepalming, and rather giggly herself all of a sudden, 'Dora slumps against the side of the lift and pokes her husband in the side. "I'm not. But I make no excuses about you."

The tearoom's as busy as it always is, this time of day. The clattering of china and the chattering of scores of people fills the air. Nymphadora sends Bernard off to claim a tiny little table in a corner of the room whilst she procures sustenance.

After a few minutes she appears, balancing a tray crowded with a small pot of tea, two cups and saucers stacked precariously on top of one another, and a plate full of assorted sandwich quarters and biscuits.

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

Bernard eyes the second cup balefully and takes a sandwich.

"So, have you visited the healer for blood loss from papercuts yet?"

[clumsy_auror]

"Ha ha," she replies wryly as she doles out the cups and pours tea into both of them. "Drink up, it's blueberry. It's got antioxidants. And yeah, I'm looking forward to getting to the bottom of the pile, not that I'm likely to see it anytime soon. How're things by you?"

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

He puts quite a bit of sugar into the cup before drinking; even then, it's a bit of a strain to get it down.

"Slow. Aron's been stepping up more lately, and I want to give him that chance, but, Jesus. He's methodical as fuck."

[clumsy_auror]

"Well." 'Dora lifts an eyebrow at him over the rim of her teacup. "So're you. You're just methodical and fast."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

"Exactly. I keep hoping he'll, you know. Speed up." A sigh, and another bite of sandwich. "He'll do it."

[clumsy_auror]

"Sure he will. He wouldn't be on your team if he didn't have a lot of potential."

Nibbling on a cookie, she glances around at the nearby tables, and drops her voice.

"How's Elektra?"

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

Gosh, that tea is interesting, all of a sudden.

"She's... God. She's very, very quiet."

[clumsy_auror]

A slight nod. "Expect she would be, yeah. Does she seem... I dunno, stable? Like she's holding it together?"

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

A hesitant nod.

"Most days, I guess. We're all kind of on eggshells. I've got her working alone and with Jonathan mostly -- she seems to get on well with him, and he's got a much lighter touch than I do."

[clumsy_auror]

"Yeah. He's a good bloke. Bloody young, but bloody good at what he does. I remember him from school."

Nymphadora sighs, rolling the kinks out her neck, and takes another sip of her tea.

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

Bernard smiles, and sips his tea without thinking, immediately making a face.

"Yeah. He's got good ideas about defensive weapons, which isn't so much my forte. It works well."

[clumsy_auror]

She's quiet, for a minute, and looks down into her cup.

"Whole place is just different, now. More relaxed, but... different, even, than it was before Voldemort got his body back."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

"Not surprising, I guess. Cost of war. All that."

[clumsy_auror]

"Yeah, I guess so."

Her fingers drum restlessly on the worn formica tabletop.

"Still sort of feel like I'm drifting. Before there was this goal, this one thing to focus on, and now it's just this endless stream of, of who knows."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

He laughs, suddenly. "Welcome to the rest of our lives, baby."

[clumsy_auror]

She laughs, too, and shoots him an apologetic look. "Sorry, sorry. It's just sort of like getting a new job without applying for one, y'know? Got the rug pulled out from under me. I'm sure you did too, but don't worry, I won't ask for details." A wry smile. "I know I don't have that sort of clearance."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

"Well, I'm down two people, and interviewing here's a bit different than hiring a new barmaid, so. Yeah. It's weird, all right." He takes a breath, blows it out, and looks around the room. "Place is crowded. But not as much as it was. Lots of young faces, too."

[clumsy_auror]

"Too young, in some cases. Not that I should talk, given how old I was when I started here."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

"Seriously." He pitches a bit of crust at her. "Because you're an old hag now."

[clumsy_auror]

"I am! I'm a mother of two and I'm gonna be twenty-bloody-six in a couple of months!"

But she's grinning, and tosses the crust right back. It hits him in the nose. Then the grin fades.

"I do feel sort of old, though. Feels like I've been doing this forever."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

He reaches over and grabs her hand.

"Shut up. You'll be the granny with the pink streak in her hair."

[clumsy_auror]

"Not so unusual, for grannies," 'Dora muses, popping a biscuit into her mouth. "Maybe I'll have to make... I dunno, aqua my preferred colour by that point."