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_greg]

Greg laughed then he raised an eyebrow. "Actually I always thought that any girl who knew how to cope with six older brothers would be more than a match for me. I'm an only child after all."

"Ah," he said in understanding. "Well, that probably describes a lot of Slytherins. A lot come from wealthy pureblood families and 'work' isn't something they're expected to do. I guess I could have ended up like that under different circumstances." He shrugged. "But I like working. Then again, I also have a job I love so that helps."

He actually had no idea what his legal standing was regarding the family house and money and he hadn't decided whether he really wanted to know; it was all tainted by his father in his eyes. But then again... he could use the money for the clinic.

Greg smiled a little uncertainly. Did that mean she wouldn't object if he asked her out? He pushed that thought aside to think about later as they walked into the shelter and were assailed by the noise.

He grinned. "I'm so used to it these days I hardly register it. It's mostly the smaller animals I think. Every now and then one of the big dogs must get annoyed and I'll hear three or four big deep barks and the whole place will go quiet for a little while. Doesn't last long though."

He led her over to where the cat enclosures were located, bypassing the kittens. "You'll probably want a cat rather than a kitten," he said in explanation. "Unless you don't mind coming home to find your things artfully shredded in a fit of kitten glee."

They came to the enclosure with the older cats and Greg opened the door, gesturing for Ginny to enter. "It's best to go in and see which ones like you and want to go home with you."

[shh_ginny]

Ginny chuckled. "You don't... You don't understand. I work with Incurables all day, day in and day out. Some days the only sound is me talking to myself. Merlin! And here I thought the Five Alarm was noisy."

They passed the kittens and Ginny couldn't help but look them over serendipitously as several were playing together and even she had to admit they were sinfully adorable. Through the mental fog of 'ahhh, how cute' sliced the artfully placed words of 'shredded' and 'kitten glee', sobering Ginny up in a heartbeat. She didn't have a stitch of new furniture but she had a pair of boots she was very fond of and stacks of research books - most of which were borrowed and she couldn't afford to replace them.

"Cat. Yes. A cat would be good - the more glee-lacking the better." She hesitated when he opened the door for her, the shadow playing along the interior of the enclosure drew a light shiver but then she stepped inside and looked around. He hadn't been kidding about the number of cats, there were all kinds either sleeping or eating or grooming themselves or each other. Some of them stopped what they were doing to look at her for a minute before going back to their business and Ginny looked back at Greg for a second before moving further into the enclosure. A soft tap on her shoulder made her jump in surprise, turning to see a lean, black cat lying on a perch watching her.

"Oi! Scared me half to death there, mate. Well, let's see you then, if you are going to make a fuss and all." She said softly, reaching out cautiously to give the cat a pat. It sniffed her hand, watching her closely for a second before nudging her hand with its nose. "Oh, is it going to be like that, then? All right, I'll pet you but don't be getting any idea, you hear? It's not like I'm going to just tell you all about the big sunbeams in my house or all the empty window ledges. Nope, not me. You'll have to drag that outta me." The cat was purring rather loudly and stood when she began moving her hand away, reaching out with its paw to tap her hand again. Ginny laughed and moved closer to see what it'd do and the lean animal leapt to her shoulder. "Well, you are something else. Let's see what Mr. Greg has to say about you, yeah?" She turned toward the door and chuckled. "What do you say, Mr. Greg? Anything I should know about this troublemaker?"

[shh_greg]

Greg watched with a small smile on face as Ginny walked into the enclosure. He nodded encouragingly to her when she looked back at him then had to stifle a laugh when the black cat reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

His smile grew as he watched her pet and talk to the cat. He did laugh when the cat jumped onto her shoulder then smiled broadly when she turned to him.

"I say that I think you've been chosen," he said as he walked over.

He held a hand out to the cat, scratching it behind the ears when it accepted his touch then gently picking it up off Ginny's shoulder. It gave him a jaundiced look but submitted to his attentions as he checked the cat over briefly.

"This young man is nice and healthy," he said, placing the cat back on its chosen perch. "He's already been desexed so you don't need to worry about that. He's had all of his immunisations and from the look on his face right now, I definitely think you now belong to him."

[shh_ginny]

Ginny blushed lightly as Greg walked over, conscious of his height and the warmth in his voice as she waited for him to pronounce judgement on the feline who seemed a little disgruntled that her shoulders weren't wider.

"Is he... a familiar, do you think? Seems a bit bright, if not a little pushy." The cat settled back onto her shoulders and Ginny glanced up at Greg as the feline rubbed its head against her ear, making her laugh. "Are there any papers I need to fill out before I get back to work? Is there a fee or something?" She walked out of the enclosure and waited for him to follow.

[shh_greg]

"He could be," Greg said, following Ginny out of the enclosure, making a deft movement with one foot to stop one of their serial escape artists from getting out. "But it's often hard to tell with cats. They can be pushy by nature, especially when they decided that you're their human."

He grinned at both the cat's antics and Ginny's laugh.

"There's a bit of paperwork," he said. "Basically just a few things, letting you know that he's been neutered and immunized and so on. Stuff for our records so that we know where he's gone. And the fee... well, the fee is variable. I'm just pleased to get the animals into good homes and I know that the financial situation isn't great these days. So we do either a monetary fee if people can afford it or we accept donations of food, blankets or other useful things for the animals."

He led her back into the clinic and ducked behind the desk there. He opened the filing cabinet and found the listing of the cats they had and the paperwork that would need to be done and brought it back out.

"So what are you going to call him?" he asked as he sorted out what Ginny would need to fill out and sign.

[shh_ginny]

Ginny noted his deft movement despite his size and caught herself looking just a little too long, smiling innocently up at him as he turned back to her. "It'll take a little getting used to, the whole being owned thing."

"A fee is fine, Greg. I get paid enough not to worry about the cost of a cat or I'd not have thought of getting one. No sense in that, is there?" She dug into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a handful of coins, flipping them over to check the currency before setting down five galleons. "I'll stop by Familiar Ground after work to pick up the 'cat essentials'. The witch who works there joins me for tea at lunch sometimes… Domi… Dominique! That's it."

Sitting on the corner of the desk, Ginny chuckled when the cat planted both paws on her head and looked over to what Greg was doing. "Call him? Why, I hadn't thought of that. I guess 'Cat' is pretty mundane, yeah. Let's see… a name… a name… Hmm, I'll have to think about that."

[shh_greg]

"Thank you," Greg said, taking the money and putting it in the lockbox in the bottom drawer. "A lot of people work on barter these days so we work it both ways."

He chuckled. "It can take some time to get the personality of your cat. Though I did have a friend in Finland who named her new cat inadvertently. He was getting up to mischief and she just turned and yelled 'Stop it, Cedric!' at him. And so he was named." He grinned. "She always blamed me for his name. I'd been telling her about the Triwizard Tournament so I guess he could just as easily have been named Harry or Viktor all things considered."

He filled out the forms with the needed details then signed them himself to confirm that the cat had been desexed, immunised and was in good health. He then turned the papers around and offered the quill to Ginny. "Just sign here and here and you have a new cat," he said, pointing to the appropriate places. "Do you want a carrier to take him home or is he happy enough where he is?"

[shh_ginny]

"Yeah, we get a lot of barters at the hospital. I expect that'll change if the goblins ever get something set up again but I've gotten used to it, although, I do still see some odd ones when I wander down to reception." She smirked. "Cedric? That must be one lucky cat. All things considered, it's a good name."

Taking the offered quill, Ginny signed where he pointed and, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, handed the quill back. Lifting the cat down from her shoulder, she held it up to her eye level and said. "Do you want to be caged up like a criminal or will you behave and not run off? You are too big for my pocket so those are your only options." The cat regarded her with what she could swear was an arched eyebrow before it gave a soft 'meow'. "That'd better be cat for 'I'll tow the line', mister." Ginny laughed, letting the cat scramble back up to her shoulder. "I'm pretty quick with a stunner if he decides to make a break for it so I'll forgo the carrier."

Holding her hand out to him, she smiled. "Thank you for your help. I've got to get back to work but umm, don't be a stranger."

[shh_greg]

Greg took the quill back then separated the papers into those for Ginny and those for the clinic. He watched with a grin as she spoke with her new cat.

"He must have been taking lessons from Shadow," he said. "She prefers to sit on my shoulder. And here is your copy of his papers."

"Not a problem," he said, shaking her hand. "I won't."