RP: a Window into the Past

[shh_cedric]

Date: 9 June, 2005
Characters: Cedric Diggory, Bill Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Su Li, Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Katie Bell, Caradoc Dearborn, Fleur Delacour, Ernie MacMillan, Horace Slughorn, Ollivander, Kenneth Towler .... [come one, come all]
Location: museum
Status: very public!
Summary: The museum is open!

Comments

[shh_hermione]

After getting paperwork caught up and making sure that the shop was open, Hermione Apparated to the museum. She didn't have a lot of time to spend there, but she could always go back later and explore it more thoroughly. For now, she wanted to attend the opening even briefly as a show of support for the project as well as for Cedric, who had attended her shop grand opening

[shh_cedric]

Ginny and Hermione were among the first to arrive, one through the Floo, one through the door. Cedric let Bill greet his sister while he went over to welcome Hermione.

Approaching her, he grinned and held out a hand. "Hey there. Glad you could drop by. Come in and take a look around, although you saw some of this when we went after it."

[shh_hermione]

"Good morning, Cedric," she said, shaking his hand briefly before letting go. "The place looks lovely; much different than the old warehouse you original found. Very good job on the tranfirmation to you and whomever all helped."

"I'll be back some other time to look around more thoroughly, but I wanted to stop by this morning to support the venture," she explained. "How are you? I'll not keep you if you've got business to attend to, of course. I'll just take a quick look around once I pay and then be out of your hair."

[shh_cedric]

"Thanks," he said, "And you are one of those who helped, especially at the beginning. I'd never even have ventured on this without your prodding. I'm grateful."

He stepped back to let her pay Peggy, then ushered her in. "My only business today is meeting people, so no you're not keeping me. And it's not even too busy yet." He winked at her, knowing her dislike of crowds. "Then again, I doubt a museum is going to get quite the traffic that other places might.

"And as for me, I'm fine. A bit on edge, hoping everything goes well, but fine, really. It's been a lovely, quiet few weeks, even if busy getting this ready. There's good busy and bad busy, you know? What about you?" he asked as they moseyed among the ground floor displays. It was good to talk to her again for more than few minutes.

[shh_hermione]

"My nagging, you mean," she said with a slight smile. "I'm glad that habit paid off in this case. The museum's lovely."

After she paid the entry fee, she followed Cedric inside. "One reason I wanted to arrive early was to avoid a rush of people," she admitted. "It's far more enjoyable to be able to walk around with being surrounded by people."

"It'll go well. How could it not? It's organized, clean, and open for business," she pointed out. "There's very little chance of failure in a venture like this because, as you said, it's not something that will get heavy traffic, and it's mostly funded by outside sources versus revenue. Regardless, it'll be a success because there are people out there who know how important our past is and will want to appreciate it in such a setting."

"I've been fine. Busy, but that good sort of busy you mentioned."

[shh_cedric]

"Ron and I had lunch yesterday, and he said you're keeping him busy with the printing press, so I assume business is going well in that respect, and it seems like about any time I'm in the shoppe, there's somebody else there too."

He glanced down at her. "Any special plans for the summer? Holidays or anything?" Abruptly he smiled. "Isn't it something to be talking about such mundane things as holidays? Lately, it's really starting to feel as if this place is recovering, you know? Not just surviving, but recovering. Businesses opening all the time, the Minister's news last night about the goblins possibly bringing back a bank in the future."

[shh_hermione]

"Business is going well for both the press and the shop. Ron's still enjoying the printing, though he does enjoy referring to my bossing him about, if only to annoy me."

She shook her head. "No plans for the summer. I rarely plan more than a week or two ahead, though, so that's little surprise," she told him. "I think there might be a weekend away at some point, but nothing's planned."

"It is nice, though I hope that people aren't just moving on without remembering the past and remaining somewhat cautious," she said with a slight frown. "It's wonderful that there are advances in recovery and there's rebuilding, of course. I just worry that people, as a whole, will find it easier to focus on the now without thinking about how things were, even before the war. That sort of thinking can be dangerous, as look where we ended up after the first Voldemort war by having that 'it's over so no more thoughts of it' attitude."

[shh_cedric]

Cedric snorted softly. "History teaches that we learn nothing from history? I reckon it's like anything, and there's a middle path to walk. I tend to be an optimist and future-oriented, but that's nothing new. I've always been like that -- which probably makes it odd that I'm running a museum of all things, but I don't think so. I really do see the past and the present as being interwoven together. And no, I don't want to forget, either. You might find the exhibit of art on the top floor interesting, in that regard. I don't believe that remembering is necessarily morbid, although I'm well aware that some would disagree."

[shh_hermione]

"Sadly, that's a lesson that one would learn if they looked back on it," she said, making a face. "It's rather frustrating, in a way, but this isn't the time nor the place for such talk."

"I'll be sure to look at that exhibit," she promised. "Remembering will allow us to progress and hopefully not make the same mistakes. I don't see how that could be morbid at all."

[shh_cedric]

Cedric just nodded, then paused where they stood in one of the main aisles. "I should probably get back to the front and let you have a look around, even if it's brief." He took her hand briefly again, and said, sincerely, "I'm glad you came. We should do something sometime, besides say 'hullo' in the morning."

Smiling, he released her hand, nodded, and then headed back towards the front doors.