Gettin' Outta Here (Eleanor)

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Today was a long day. Some days were that way, even in the Department of Mysteries. Liam absolutely loved his job and had no problem with the fact that he couldn't talk to anyone about what went on during his work day. His biggest problem seemed to happen when he was more productive than the clock. At least, when he felt like he was more productive than the clock was. In other words, when he got through his list of things-to-do before it was even time for lunch. Those days were difficult because he still had to stay and find things to do, which generally ended up annoying him. 

So he was making his way through the corridors of the Ministry, ready to head home. He wanted to spend time with Tamara now, or Tia or one of his other friends, not that he had many of those. Honestly, he just wanted to get out of here. He walked into the elevator, glad when no one was in it. He jumped when he heard someone call for him to hold it. Great. Now he'd have to share it with someone, but he still did as they asked.

@eleanor

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Eleanor had a good day at work; she got in early, had a productive morning followed by the most amazing lunch at a new little bistro just a block away from the office, and it had been a colleagues birthday, so cake had been eaten in the afternoon. Not that Eleanor really considered any day bad at work; during the Triwizard Tournament there had certainly been stressful days particularly when she had to be paired with her ex-boyfriend Nate, but she never truly considered them bad. The only day she’d considered bad was the day their office got the news about the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons explosions. She had been stunned to tears; most of her colleagues in the office ended up going on a late breakfast run to get some fresh air and a change of scenery from the morose atmosphere in the office.

As she walked towards the elevators, her heels clicking on the floor, she saw an elevator arrive and a young man with dark hair get on. “Hold the door!” she called with a wave, picking up her pace so he wasn’t waiting for too long. She smoothed down her skirt and offered him a polite smile. “Thank you,” she said, appraising him quickly. “You were in Ravenclaw weren’t you? I think I remember seeing you in the common room,” she added, before sticking out her hand. “Eleanor Percival, Department of Magical Games & Sports,” she introduced.

@liam

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Well, at least she was cheery. That was definitely a positive thing, but Liam still preferred riding the elevator on his own. He wasn't good at talking with people and making connections. That was part of the reason he worked in the Department of Mysteries, other than the fact that he simply loved that place. It was so intriguing and ... wait. She was talking to him. He nodded at her thanks, not feeling like he needed to say anything, but she continued talking. "Yeah, Ravenclaw," he answered once he could get in a word. Then she was sticking her hand out toward him. He took it, shaking and nodding his head at her. "Liam Flint, Department of Mysteries. Nice to meet you." He knew he should probably say something else, but Liam really didn't want to. He wasn't good at small talk and didn't want to bother with it with a stranger. If she wanted to talk, she could start it. Rude? Maybe, but he didn't really care.

@eleanor

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Eleanor of course recognized the name Flint; while dating Cyrus she had been pretty up to date on all the Pureblooded families since that was his family lineage. She also kept up to date with the Daily Prophet - she knew that both Flints, Marcus and Pansy were deceased. The papers hadn’t gone into much detail, likely to spare the family, but Eleanor had a feeling it had gotten messy. She had met Marcus a few times as a young upstart and he hadn’t exactly seemed to be the happiest of fellows.

“I thought you looked familiar, you must have just been a few years younger than me. Perhaps I was your Prefect when you were at school - when did you graduate?” Elle said, taking a moment to study him. He was definitely several years younger than her; perhaps the age of that poor boy Ethan who had been murdered by Elaine Dupree his last year, which would make him about five years younger. She had been made Prefect her fifth year, beating out Callisto much to her delight, and one of her duties had been shepherding the younger students to the dormitories on their first night. Of course, she had also been a little...distracted by Cyrus, so she didn’t remember all of their names. That wasn’t expected of her though, right? “How are you liking the department of Mysteries? Is it as mysterious as they say it is?” she asked, making small talk and trying not to chuckle at her own joke.

@liam

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Liam nodded when she said that he looked familiar. She sort of seemed a bit familiar too, but he wouldn't have known her. Liam wasn't really one to pay attention to the names or faces of others unless he was really interested or wanted to and in school most of his attention was on his friends (Ethan and Tia) or on the girl he'd had a crush on. "Last year," he answered easily. "You?" Maybe that would help him know how close they were in age, though he doubted it would help him recognize him. She asked what he thought of the Department of Mysteries and he smiled. "It's exactly what I thought it would be. I like it," he said, rolling his eyes at her second question. "I doubt it. People like to talk." He didn't exactly know what people said about the Department of Mysteries so he didn't quite know how to answer her. "So did you help plan the Triwizard Tournament?" Liam was trying to make things not awkward in the lift. Talking was the best way to do that, he thought.

@eleanor

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Eleanor smiled; she knew she had been right that Liam was a few years younger, but now she had been proven correct. “2019, so five years ago.” Wow, had it really been that long since she had graduated? It felt as if it were only yesterday she was celebrating with Adeline that they were going off into the ‘real world’, and the hard realization that she and Cyrus had needed to part ways with each other. Their career goals just took them to completely separate areas of the country, and Elle had been determined to rise up the ranks quickly in the Ministry. Now of course she realized what a mistake that had been, but no matter. They were back together now, and that was what mattered. “It’s strange to think it’s been five years,” she added with a light laugh.

She didn’t know what to say when Liam said people talked - of course they did it was human nature! - and was relieved when he changed the subject to the Triwizard Tournament. Ah yes, now this was something she could easily converse about for hours, or at least an elevator ride. “I did yes,” she said proudly, then her smile faltered. “Of course, no one could expect what happened at the end. We were so sure that everything was going to go smoothly this time. No extra champions, no major injuries during the tasks. It went as smoothly as can be, until they left the security of Hogwarts.” She shook her head, trying not to think of the carnage that had awaited the mediwizards when they arrived to the scenes of the crashes. “It was nice though to see a Hogwarts victory - Anna Weasley seemed like she was born to be the champion,” she added, trying to steer the conversation in a more positive light.

@liam

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Liam was surprised that she was so much older than him. She didn't look it, but he also knew that talking about a girl's age wasn't really polite. Ethan talked to him about it once, a long time ago. A sharp pain thumped his chest as he thought of his best friend, who was definitely gone now. Then he brought himself back to the conversation at hand. "I wouldn't know ... other than the fact that the last year passed very quickly for me," Liam answered. 

She was quiet for a moment, until he brought up the Tournament. Eleanor seemed to cheer up, becoming much more talkative at the mention of it. He nodded as she talked about how everything was supposed to go. "You couldn't have known," he said softly as thoughts of all the foreign students came to him. He hated that this was what the world was coming to. "No one did. The Tournament was over. Why would someone attack then?" He wasn't expecting an answer, just trying to express the truth. He smiled when she mentioned the Hogwarts Champion. "She did very well. I read about it in the papers, but I didn't get to actually see any of the Tasks. Did you? What did you think when you watched her and the other two competitors?" He'd been too busy with work to go and see anything, which wasn't a surprise. He learned the little he knew from the paper. Talking to Eleanor seemed like a better source. She was actually involved with it, after all.

@eleanor