RP: Ladies who lunch

[shh_irma]

Date: 23 January 2005
Characters: Irma Pince, Hermione Granger
Location: Socks
Status: Private
Summary: Irma is in need of nourishment, when she runs into a somewhat familiar face.
Completion: Complete

Comments

[shh_hermione]

This week certainly seemed off to a busy start. Hermione wasn't entirely certain that it was a good sort of busy, since it was meeting after meeting, but she had to get the meetings finished because she'd not have the time for them once the shop opened. She planned to hire a clerk for the bookshop, of course, but what little time that freed up would have to be devoted to the press. Plus, there were her projects and paperwork for the shop and finding time in between all of it to relax

[shh_irma]

Aha, she had guessed correctly Irma felt a tug of triumph in having put the right name at the right face.

"Yes, thank you," she answered the girl with a small smile. She gestured at the notebook. "You were always hard-working, Miss Granger."

Irma remembered that much about the girl.

"It's been a long time since..." Irma cleared her throat and tried another direction instead. "How have you been?"

[shh_hermione]

"I'm surprised that you remember, Madam," she said honestly. "There were so many students at Hogwarts that I'm sure it wasn't easy to keep us all straight."

She sat back down and closed her notebook. "I've been as well as anyone else, I suppose." She smiled faintly. "How have you been? I heard that you're working for the Ministry now with their records, I believe? Do you find that work enjoyable?"

[shh_irma]

Irma sniffed. "You would be right about that," she said. "Especially considering that I served as the librarian at Hogwarts for nearly 30 years. You've been popping up in conversations these past days, though, so you're a bit fresher in my memory than others."

She picked up a menu. "I'd have to echo your statement. I've been more fortunate than most. I lost no husband during this war, and my son is safe…" at least from the war. "… Aside from the fact that two of the libraries I've worked in are in ruins, I feel most fortunate."

Irma pursed her lips. "I would have to say that you've been slightly misinformed, Miss Granger. Although, I suppose I am somewhat indirectly employed by the Ministry, my area is the files at the Aurors' Office. And…" she sighed, recalling Auror McLaggen's handling of the files. "I feel as if though I am needed there."

She looked at the other woman. "I noticed your work at the library," she said bluntly. "Very nicely done, Miss Granger."

[shh_hermione]

"Yes, he's in Stoatshead Hill. I've actually been working with him on a new syllabus for History of Magic," she explained. "He's taken the library as on his personal project, though, in a similar way to Cedric Diggory, who is working on a new museum

[shh_irma]

"Men with cultural interests," Irma noted. "More well-rounded than those who just care about Quidditch and alcohol. A museum you say?" Now, her time in Stoatshead Hill was looking up. "You wouldn't happen to know if he's planning any interesting exhibits?"

She looked at Hermione's red cheeks and wondered what had prompted it. "I suppose I could," she said slowly. "It's just so much more practical to have it up. It doesn't get caught on things, or get tangled up this way."

Irma sighed. "I'll have to see about what to do about it, I suppose."

"Ah, it was just a suggestion," she smiled at Hermione's reaction. "Be careful when you drink. No good in you having survived the war, if you choke to death on water afterwards."

[shh_hermione]

"I tend to be drawn to making friends with those who have interests outside of Quidditch or drinking," she said. "As for the museum, he's been able to salvage exhibits from the former museum, but quite a bit was destroyed if it wasn't protected or in the vault. I believe Cedric is also working towards bringing in new exhibits, of course."

"There's a time and place for practical, Irma. When you're wishing to find the right sort of trouble, it might be best to think impractically, even if just briefly," she mused, smiling slightly before she took a drink of her water.

She nodded. "That would be rather embarrassing, I must admit. Death by choking so soon after winning the war would definitely not be pleasant," she said. "If such a time and, uh, person arrive, I'll definitely heed your suggestion."

[shh_irma]

"I know what you mean," Irma nodded. Well, sharing a mutual interest in detentions was more than alcohol and Quidditch. "It's a pity about all the destruction, of course, but what can one do but rebuild? I'll certainly be anticipating the opening of the museum. A museum, a bookshop, a printer and a library, this is beginning to turn into quite the cultural place. Are you planning on holding literary evenings at your bookshop? Reading by authors, perhaps?"

Irma smiled a wry smile. "I've often been told so. My sister Gertrude has always been… how shall I put it, the opposite of myself. She never fails to lecture on what she likes to call my prissy appearance." Hermione's words gave food for thought. Her hair had been loose when she'd met Lysander. Irma would have to consider this carefully. Of course, she'd also been eleven back then and not approaching 60.

She took another spoonful of soup and savoured it. "Let me know if it works for you?" Fixing her up with Andy would be embarrassing if the girl already was attached.