Lending A Helping Hand (David)

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Rory liked to come to the orphanage. Not just because one of his best friends was the director, though that was probably a part of it. No, Rory liked seeing the children, working with them. Something about children always made him feel good, especially when he was able to find ways to help them, as he often was when he came to volunteer. That's what he was doing today: volunteering. They didn't even need a mediwizard, which was great. It was always easier when all the orphans were healthy. 

At the moment, he was outside making a snowman with some of the children. Was that really something a grown man should do? Maybe not, but Rory didn't care. He was enjoying spending time with them and helping the snowman look semi-recognizable. He didn't even realize when someone came up behind him.

@optimus  
(Sorry, that's all my muse gave me!)

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It was cold out today, snow was piled up on the ground, and yet he decided to go out for a walk around town. Though the wind was pretty still, it was still cold outside as he made his way towards the orphanage. The closer he got, the more he began to be curious to see what was going on with the children. His mother always told him that helping others was the difference between being a good person, and not. David always prided himself on being a good person, so he decided to change course and see what he could do to help out.

He noticed something going on outside, and decided to investigate. His investigation brought a smile to his face, as he saw that it was an older man making snowmen with the children. He walked up to the group, seeing that they had gotten pretty far on the snowman, which meant that they probably had been outside for a while. Smiling, he reached up to his neck and took off his scarf, approaching the group as he did.

"Here," he said, holding out his scarf to the oldest, "Snowmen get pretty cold outside."

@rory

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Rory turned around when he heard a new voice addressing the group. An older man was standing there, holding out a scarf to one of the children, who glanced at Rory, almost like he was asking what to do. Rory nodded his head with a smile and the child grabbed the scarf. Once that was done, the rest of them started chattering about how to add it to their snowman and deciding what would make their snowman look the best. 

He looked to the man and smiled. "Thank you. That means a lot to these kids," he said, gesturing to the animated little ones in front of them. "I'm Rory, by the way. What brings you out here?" He held out his hand to shake it with the other man. Then he heard someone from his group squealing and turned to see that the older kids had started a mini-snowball fight. He chuckled as he watched it.

@optimus

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"Don't mention it. Always willing to help out the kids once in a while." he said, taking Rory's hand in his in a firm handshake, "David. Nice to meet you."

He smiled at the man, but when he heard a squeal, he turned when Rory did, expecting a fight. Instead, he saw a snowball fight between the kids, leaving the poor snowman unfinished. He couldn't help but chuckle at the light heartedness of the children's behavior. He had to admit, he missed being as carefree as the younger generation is. He couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have a child of his own. Though he was busy with both work and other duties, he wouldn't mind finding out. One day, at least.

@rory

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Rory smiled at David, "Well you are always welcome to come and help out here." He watched the kids running around, chasing one another and throwing snowballs. Rory couldn't help but smile. "I don't work here though. If you're interested in coming around, you'd have to talk to my friend Freddie. He runs the orphanage. I'm just a Mediwizard that comes here sometimes." Rory didn't really know why he was explaining all of this. It wasn't like David asked or anything. 

He grinned when one of the kids threw a snowball at him. Rory nodded at David before turning to the child, "Alright, Mark, I'm going to get you!" He called out, chasing after the boy. He wrapped his arms around him and jumped into the snow, whispering, "Hey Mark, I think that new guy needs a few snowballs too," he encouraged, nodding when Mark got up and ran to his friends. Rory stood up and moved back over to David. "They just need attention," he said quietly.

@optimus

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"Thanks," he said with a smile, "I appreciate it."

He listened to Rory talk about how he just volunteered to help a friend out at the orphanage. It's not often David finds people willing to help just because, but it always warmed his heart when he did. He laughed when on of the kids, whom Rory called Mark, pegged him with a snowball. He laughed even harder when Rory tackled him into the snow. When Rory got up, he watched as Mark ran to the other kids, huddled together and talking. When Rory came over, saying they needed attention, David nodded his head.

"All kids do." he smiled, watching as the kids gathered up snowballs, no idea that Rory had officially labeled him a target.

@rory

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Rory was glad David didn't leave when he went off with mark. That made this way more fun. "Especially these kids," he agreed. "Without their families, they need any attention they can get." Rory felt awkward, like he was giving a speech, and that wasn't what he was trying to do. When were those kids going to attack already? 

"Charge!" Mark yelled, and about two thirds of the children picked up a barrage of snowballs and aimed them at both David and Rory. Rory laughed, using his arm to block his face so he could see what they were up to. Then the next thing he knew, the other kids were hanging on him, he looked over to David, assuming the same thing was happening to him. "Traitor," he teased Mark with a laugh as he started to walk with the children still hanging on him. "How are we supposed to fight this?" He asked his new friend.

@optimus

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"Which is why they have people like us to let them know that there are those that care."

He almost felt sorry for the children here, without parents to raise them, how would they know what love felt like? Yes he almost felt sorry for them, until a barrage of snowballs came flying at him and Rory. Giving a playful yell, he shielded himself from the assault, unfortunately, Rory caught the worst of it when Mark and the others started climbing and hanging from him. When he asked David how they were going to fight against a swarm of children, David just smile, bent down, and picked up a handful of snow.

"With a little backup." He answered, grabbing handfuls of snow and throwing them at the hanging children.

@rory

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Rory nodded, agreeing with everything David said. It wasn't all too common for him to randomly run into people that felt the same way as he did when it came to helping people, especially orphans, and Rory appreciated this man's attitude. 

Apparently the children were only focused on climbing Rory, and he groaned as he tried to gently get them off of him and play around with them at the same time. If they kept on jumping on, he was definitely going to fall over and squish someone. Good thing there was a good layer of snow all over to break the fall. 

Then David started throwing snow at the children and Rory laughed as most of the girls let go and scampered away, squealing at how cold the snow was. "Bring on the cavalry," he called to no one in particulary, laughing at his joke. Most of the little boys didn't care. They'd been playing in the snow all morning. Rory laughed. He couldn't help it, this was just a ridiculous situation to be in but he wouldn't trade it for the world. Playing with the children at the orphanage brought a lightheartedness into his life that he loved. He started reaching down, grabbing snow and rubbing it on the boys' faces, "How about that," he said to them, wondering if they'd be stubborn enough to not let go still.

@optimus

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"Charge!" David yelled, mimicking the sound of a trumpet.

He laughed as he continued throwing snowballs at the hanging children, then the girls he knocked down came up to him, one tugging on his coat. He knelt down to her, smiling as he did. She was nervous, he could tell, but she asked him if she and her friends could help him fight against the boys. David couldn't help but smile, though he knew it meant that the cavalry would end up turning into the "other side". He picked up a handful of snow, gesturing for the girls to do the same. When he was sure each one of his teammates had their snow, he drew his arm back.

"Ready. Aim. Fire!" he yelled, pointing towards Rory and his minions. Within moments, a volley of snowballs were in the air, heading right for Rory and the boys.

@rory

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Rory laughed when David yelled charge and continued throwing snow at the children. The boys were still relentless, ignoring the fact that Rory was smashing snow in their faces and that David was throwing snow on their backs and heads. Boys would be boys though. He wasn't too surprised. 

Then, out of nowhere, he heard the other man tell someone to fire and a barrage of snowballs came flying at him. Rory cried out in surprise and then started to laugh as the snowballs hit him and the boys hanging on him. Great. The good news was, despite the cold seeping in through his clothes, the boys finally started to let go and turn to see what happened.

Rory took advantage of the opportunity to look and see the same things. David had the girls on his side. "Come on, boys!" He called, rallying the boys to his side and running behind the snowman so he couldn't get hit by even more snowmen. He was positive he hadn't been the target, but he wouldn't make the boys fend for themselves."Alright, we're going to all gather snowballs and then we'll run out from behind the snowman from both sides and attack," he encouraged. All the boys hurried to gather snowballs. 

"Charge!" Rory yelled, echoing David's earlier cry and laughing as the boys emerged yelling and screaming as they ran at the girls.

@optimus

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David saw that Rory had discovered his "treason" and had gathered the boys behind the snowman to regroup. David knew what Rory was planning, he did the same thing not long ago in Hogsmead. He, and the faculty of both Hogwarts and the ministry, had found themselves in the biggest snowball fight in the history of Hogsmead. David had hoped to see an article in the Daily Prophet about it, but unfortunately, there was no such thing. It suited David though, because he had enough of a memory of that day to make his own mental article.

"Come on, kids." he said, gathering the girls around him, "We need to gather as many snowballs as we can, before the boys attack.

He and his team gathered as many snowballs as they could before Rory and his team came charging out from behind the snowman, snowballs at the ready. David answered Rory's cry with his own, pointing towards the opposing team. He and the girls let off another volley of snowballs, then reached down to grab the next round and throw it again.

@jill17

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Rory couldn't hear what David was saying to the girls from the opposite side of the snowman, but he heard plenty of giggles to assume that the girls were doing the same thing as the boys: preparing for battle. And that was just fine with him. Kids like this needed the chance to have fun and have an adult helping and leading them. It was good for them. 

As the boys left their shelter, they found themselves being surrounded by snowballs. "Don't give up!" Rory shouted and the boys obeyed him, rushing toward the girls and starting to throw their own snowballs at them. It was an amusing thing to watch. By this time both sides were suitably wet, but they were all still in full-on battle mode. Rory couldn't stop himself from laughing, so he moved to the side and watched a little while as the children fired snowballs at one another. He observed that when the boys were out, they didn't retreat, they merely made more. It seemed this was less strategy and more throwing at one another now. 

Rory's eyes searched out David and he nodded at the man, pleased with his participation in their game.

@optimus

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"Keep firing, kids!"

The boys began their assault, and the girls were returning fire, just as David had suggested. He began to realize, and he noticed Rory did the same, that the kids had completely ignored the adults and focused on getting each other wet with snowballs. He couldn't help but join Rory in his laughter, finding it funny and amusing how much the kids were having fun in just a little snow. He searched our Rory, finally seeing him as he was nodded to. He gave a nod back, moving away from the battle to stand next to the man. He laughed a little more, then sighed happily.

"I need to do this more." He said, looking to Rory as he did.

@rory

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It was great seeing how into it the children were, and how David was egging them on. Rory definitely approved of the man and hoped that maybe he would come back and spend more time with the children. They seemed to like him. Then again, they liked almost anyone who was willing to stop what they were doing and play. Which was one reason why Rory got along so well with all of them. He could never say no to a game. 

David came over to stand by him and Rory nodded in agreement to his comment. "Me too. Spending time with them is too much fun and a great way to relax." He looked over at David. "In fact, I'm positive the man in charge would love to have you come help out, if you ever want to." Rory didn't want to pressure him, but not everyone got along with children the way that David did.

@optimus