RP: It’s Possible I’m Completely Barmy

[shh_greg]

Date: 28 June 2005
Character(s): Greg Goyle, Anyone
Location: The river near the Shelter
Status: Public
Summary: After his conversation with Mandy, Greg checks out the state of the river.
Completion: InComplete

Comments

[shh_romilda]

Romilda wanted to roll her eyes. "But would the grindylows have been here when it was a Muggle town? Or would they have started coming back once the wizards settled here? Didn't they say that would be the case?" Romilda couldn't remember, as she was starting to forget a few things.

"I honestly am not sure if I remember that right" she said apologetically. She hefted her basket of bread onto her other arm as she was getting a little uncomfortable just standing there. Seeing Ginny reminded her she should really go to the hospital. It would be just her luck that she would end up having Ginny tend to her.

At the mention of the animal being for the hospital, she nodded. "I think that would be really nice. Maybe you should rotate through a few different animals, have a different one every once in a while. I think they would like that. The patients, I mean." As soon as the word hospital got mentioned, Romilda freaked. If she remembered the muggle hospital correctly, they would have sterilised any animal coming within a few feet of the front door. The thought made her shudder.

She looked over as Ginny mentioned the man's name was Greg. "Oh, Greg the vet? You were the one who told Terry that his dog Bob was having puppies?" She still chuckled at the thought of that, a beaming smile on her face.

She saw he was still looking a little distressed at being half naked and looked back to Ginny. "Well, it seems you are heading off in a different direction. I just wanted to make sure you were all right, and all that splashing wasn't anyone drowning."

"Glad to know it wasn't."

[shh_slughorn]

Horace was walking along the river-bank, taking a quick constitutional after lunch, when he saw two women talking to a half-naked dripping man on the path ahead, and realised that they were talking about grindylows. At once his eyes lit up, and he said "Grindylows? Are there some here? Any chance of catching a couple?"

[shh_romilda]

As Romilda was turning away, she saw Professor Slughorn.

"Oh, hello, Professor," she gave him a warm smile. "Greg was looking for some, but he didn't seem to find any. I just stopped by as I guess I'm not used to seeing people voluntarily dive into the river." There was a hint of mirth in her voice as she saw that Greg was still standing there looking a little stunned.

She hefted her basket onto her other arm, as it was growing weary. She had to shuffle the weight on her hips so that she wasn't uncomfortable from standing still for too long.

"So how are you, Professor? I haven't seen you since the opening of your laboratory." She always had time to stop and chat to her favourite professor. "I haven't seen you in the apothecary lately, but then again, I'm usually out the back, so I don't get to know who comes in and out all the time."

[shh_greg]

Greg decided he'd had enough of this. He used the distraction of Slughorn's arrival and made a break for his clothes. In a few quick moves, he'd grabbed his wand, spelled himself dry and pulled on his jeans and shirt. He felt a hell of a lot better with the 'armour' of his clothes on. He figured he could deal with his shoes later.

"Hello, Professor," he said to Slughorn. He honestly didn't expect the man to remember him. The only think that had made him remarkable at school had been who he'd associated with. "No, no Grindylows in there, though there are some signs that there have been. I don't think they actually lived there. Just used it as a way point from one place to another. The current's not to bad down the bottom but they generally don't live permanently in rivers."

He felt a hell of a lot more comfortable now that he was dressed and he'd at least managed to stop blushing and stammering.

He smiled wryly at Romilda. "Um, yeah, I'm not quite sure how Terry missed that fact that his dog was a female but... he'll have a nice litter of puppies to look after fairly soon. And um... thanks... you know for checking to make sure I wasn't drowning or anything."

He sighed and gave Ginny a slightly embarrassed look. "Um, yes, I was planning on heading back up to the shelter. Were you looking for anything in particular in the way of animals?"

He turned back to Romilda and Slughorn. "Um, it was nice to meet you both."

[shh_ginny]

Wincing at the interaction between the three, Ginny had easily edged another five feet along the path and the only thing that had kept her from fleeing entirely was the look of desperation on Greg's face. She felt some sympathy there as well as feeling a bit guilty if she'd inadvertently added to his discomfort.

Looking back, she realized he was speaking to her and looking at her rather a bit more desperately. "You were? Oh, would you mind terribly if I walked with you? I've only been out this way once and I'm a bit turned around when I can't apparate somewhere."

Shifting her notes under her arm, Ginny waved to Romilda and Professor Slughorn and answered Greg. "Well, I'm fond of cats but I don't want to get my heart set on something, you know?"

[shh_slughorn]

Horace guessed that Ginny didn't want to stop and talk, and raised his hat to her politely. They'd talk another time, perhaps.

[shh_greg]

Greg nodded a goodbye to Professor Slughorn and Romilda, grabbed his boots and hurriedly joined Ginny.

"No, not a problem," he said with a relieved smile. "Really not a problem. It's just up here." He pointed up towards the buildings that could just be seen from where they were.

He started to relax as they walked away from the river. "Bloody hell," he muttered, more to himself than Ginny. "I'm putting up wards to keep people away next time I go into the water."

He gave a puffing sigh then turned his head to look at Ginny. "Well, we do have a few older cats that are pretty docile, which I guess you'd need if you were taking one into the hospital. Though you might want to consider a kneazle or a crup. They're not bothered by magic and they're usually smart enough to know when to behave themselves."

[shh_ginny]

She stifled a chuckle as the large vet jogged up beside her holding his boots but didn't slow her step. Glancing sideways, she found she had to tilt her head to see the smile on his face. "Thanks for walking back with me. I wasn't kidding, I think I'd get lost in a paper sack."

"You can't do that, silly. Aren't you the one who told me you were trying to get out more? Be more sociable?" Ginny did laugh then, shaking her head in bemusement. "Merlin, you've turned out to be a puzzle. You're like a big bear who doesn't know where he lives."

"A crup? Is that the one that looks sortof like a dog? Are they like dogs?" She asked quickly, trying to remember what Hagrid had said about them and coming up with nothing. She'd been a horrible Care of Magical Creatures student, spending most of her time reading Quidditch pamphlets tucked inside her Monsters book.

[shh_greg]

Greg chuckled. "Well, not too difficult here. We've only got the two buildings so far. Hopefully we'll end up with more if everything goes well."

He ducked his head and smiled ruefully. "Well, yeah, but I was thinking more of doing that after work at the pub, not when I'm half-naked, climbing out of the river or the pond. That's twice now, you know." He gave her a bemused look. "I don't think I'm that much of a puzzle. And... a bear? I know I'm big but I'm really not that hairy."

He nodded. "A crup looks a bit like a Jack Russell terrier except it has a forked tail. It's a legal requirement to have the tail cropped when the pup is about six to eight weeks so that Muggles don't get startled. They're intensely loyal to wizards though and will eat just about anything. They're not too keen on Muggles though."

[shh_ginny]

"Twice? Really? Well, the river cuts through town so there's bound to be people about most of the time. Maybe you just have some hidden desire to be oogled." Ginny chuckled in amusement. "Not bear as in big, silly. I mean, you try to be gruff sometimes and underneath it, you're really a softie and Merlin, but aren't you a shy one with the ladies. Really, Greg, you were practically turning fire engine red back there... though... I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in any way. I didn't, err, look."

She wrinkled her nose up at his explanation. "Oh no, no. I wouldn't want anything like that. I'm not gone from home as much as I was when I was studying abroad but I still don't want to come home to find my slippers shredded because I wasn't there all day." Ginny paused. "Do you have other pets? Besides Shadow, that is. How is Shadow doing anyway?"

[shh_greg]

"Well, both times I've been on shelter land," Greg protested then he shrugged. "But I guess people have been used to using it as a public thoroughfare and I don't really want to change that." He grimaced. "I may have to at some point if we end up using the pond and put an enclosure in the river for the aquatic animals. Or at least ward them properly so that people can't spook the animals."

He blushed when Ginny spoke about his shyness and he ducked his head. "Haven't had a lot of luck with women," he mumbled. "I can never figure out what they want and I usually guess wrong when I try." He gave her a wry look and a small smile. "You know, you women could make it easier on us men."

"No, you definiteoly don't want a crup then," he said with a small laugh. "A cat or a kneazle would probably suit you better. They're more independent and don't get too annoyed if you don't come home until late." He grinned. "No, only Shadow. And she's enjoying herself. She likes to tease the cats in the shelter though she's smart enough to stay away from the ones in the clinic. It's funny watching her with the cats though."

[shh_ginny]

"Merlin, you are a serious one. I was joking, Greg. I do that rather a lot. We Weasley's like to have fun, you know." Ginny smirked, then sobered. "If you use the pond for the shelter, maybe the Ministry could give you a hand putting up the wards and maybe some little signs." She gestured toward the ground. "That way people wouldn't think some nutter just warded off the pond, you know?"

She gave him a sideways glance and said wryly. "Oh, don't look at me. I've given up on men. Right pain in my arse, they are. No offense, of course. I dunno... I can't speak for other women - we've all got different ideas there. I thought it all just 'happened', you know. Like my folks. That you'd just meet someone and it'd work itself out but I guess that's not the case. Me? If I was going to date again, I guess I'd just like someone who was easy to talk to, comfortable to be around, who actually stuck around... that sort of thing." Ginny shrugged helplessly.

"Smart girl, your Shadow. One of a kind though. A feline sounds about right. I do like them. We'll see if one of them likes me, then." She smiled warmly.

[shh_greg]

Greg chuckled. "Yeah, I know. How are the twins anyway?" he said dryly then he shrugged. "Well, it has been public land and people are used to walking along there. But yeah, I'll speak to someone from the Ministry though it'l probably be pretty obvious why they're warded off. We're planning on using the pond and maybe the river for enclosures for kelpies and hippocampus." He paused for a moment then ran a hand through his hair. "Actually I must get up to Loch Ness at some point and see if Nessie's still around. I'm sure she is... she's lasted through a lot worse than this latest war."

"Darn and none taken," he said mildly. He liked talking with Ginny; she didn't make him feel like an idiot and she didn't trigger the stammering that usually marked any social interaction with women. He briefly wondered why but eventually decided to leave it alone unless he ruined it. "Though how am I supposed to figure it out if nobody will help me?"

He grimaced. "Who knows? Maybe it does and we just haven't met the right people. Or maybe you really do have to work at it. I wouldn't know. My parents' marriage was an arranged one... because there's no way in hell my mother would have married my father by choice." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice at that but he moved on quickly, not wanting to dwell on it. "I've never really dated much. Most women aren't that thrilled when I choose to spend a night looking after a sick animal instead of going out with them. Tends to end things fairly quickly. Maybe I'm just going out with the wrong women. Mind you, I can never figure out when they're actually interested. I never see it coming. Used to amuse the hell out of the other apprentices."

He paused and chuckled ruefully. "There was this one girl... I didn't know she was interested until she sat down in my lap and kissed me. She told me later that it was either do that or hit me over the head with a frying pan and she thought what she did was a lot more fun." He grinned. "She was right."

He gave a sad smile at the mention of Shadow. "Yes, she is." He shook the mood away. "But we have plenty of cats. Too many really. Cats breed entirely too well when they're left to their own devices. I've desexed most of the ones who have come into the shelter and I'll do the rest when they're old enough."

[shh_ginny]

"The twins are fine. They own an apothecary in town, in fact." Ginny answered evenly. She liked the tall, ex-Slytherin well enough and found him easy to talk to but nobody took the mickey out of her brothers except her. "Loch Ness? I was up to Loch Coruisk not too long ago, class work when I was studying at the Academy... the Dusseldorf Academy, that is."

"Darn?" She laughed. "I think most women just want a bloke to be straight with her. I mean, we all figure it's mainly getting in our knickers which isn't a bad thing but I know I could do without the games. Most folks know what they want in life, so really putting on like you want more when you don't, that's off-putting."

"My folks were made for each other. They both wanted the same things, a big family, didn't care about money or status, just wanted a lot of love and laughter." She stopped when her voice caught, blinking as she turned her head away from him. After a moment, Ginny continued. "I hear you there. The last bloke I was seeing, well, I stopped it because he couldn't deal with my being at the hospital so much, didn't like the time I spent on research, didn't want to have anything to do with that part of my life and my work is my life. If a bloke isn't comfortable spending time reading with me, it's not going to work. What's wrong with just having a quiet night at home, researching, you know?"

"If you can figure out if they are interested, you could just ask, you know. It's not the end of the world if you don't leave things to chance." Ginny shrugged. "Cats are pretty independant, aren't they?"

[shh_greg]

"Really?" Greg said with surprise then he continued hurriedly. "Not that I don't think they'd be more than capable but they were so good at the joke stuff. Huh, you know... I think I'll actually miss all that. They were really good at it." He laughed. "Even if I did tend to fall for the Canary Creams a bit too much. I've got a bit of a sweet tooth and I didn't always look too carefully before grabbing when I was a kid."

He gave her a curious look as she spoke about people putting on a show. It sounded like there might be a story there but he wasn't going to push. If she wanted to tell, she would. If she didn't, well, that was fine too.

He couldn't help but feel a bit envious as she spoke about her parents. He wasn't sure his parents had even liked each other, let alone loved; they certainly hadn't liked being in the same room with each other. Not that he was overly surprised. His mother had been a funny, vivacious, intelligent woman and his father had been a stupid, violent thug with delusions of grandeur. Not exactly a match made in heaven.

"You were lucky," he said a little wistfully. He was silent for a moment then shook the mood away. Dwelling on it didn't help.

"I think you're preaching to the dedicated," Greg said with a grin. "I occasionally go out to the pub for a drink or two after work but even then, that drink is rarely alcoholic and I don't stay late. I'm the only vet in town so I'm pretty much on call twenty-four seven. And if you've done any obstetrics work, you'll already know this... but babies like coming at the most ridiculous hours of the night. There's nothing quite like being called out at 2am to a freezing, windswept hillside to kneel in the rain and mud to help a sheep or a cow give birth while the farmer watches impassively to see whether you're going to screw up or not."

He snorted. "The last girl I dated for any length of time used to hate it when I came back in on nights like that. I wasn't interested in doing anything other than going back to bed but she'd get pissy at me for having cold feet and hands." He gave Ginny a droll look. "Needless to say, that one didn't last long."

He shrugged diffidently. "I used to ask. But I was usually wrong and a bloke can only take being shot down so many times."

He grinned and nodded. "Cats kind of embody the term independent. But once they decide that you belong to them, they can be incredibly loyal. Most people don't expect that."

[shh_ginny]

"Oh, I've coughed up my fair share of yellow feathers." Ginny smirked wryly. "There was never a dull moment at the Burrow. Heck, I thought Hogwarts was creepy because it could get so quiet." She gave him a long look when he said she had been lucky but said nothing more about it.

"Or being on call for 48 hours and trying to deliver a baby whilst being chastised for not being married and having children of my own by a witch screaming this information out on the top of her lungs every single bloody contraction. Or the bloke who thinks I'm a mediwitch because 'I'm too cute to be a Healer' and uses the opportunity when I'm bent over their broken leg to pinch me arse!" Ginny laughed, feeling an odd sense of exhilaration at having someone actually understand.

They were approaching a building now and Ginny thought she heard barking but Greg made her laugh and she rolled her eyes. "The last bloke I dated, one of your buddies, in fact, used to hate that I came home late and thought it was a game that I needed to study. He thought it was amusing to try to 'distract' me."

"Pity." Ginny smiled softly as he stopped in front of the door and bent to pull his boots on. "Are they okay being alone or do they need company? I heard dogs don't get on well alone all day and someone told me it was better to have two. Is that the same for cats?"