RP: To the victors belong the spoils

[shh_arabella]

Date: 7 July 2005
Characters: Arabella Figg, many others (will add later)
Location: Stoatshead Hill Quidditch pitch
Status: Semi-private (open to all pairs from the end of the BBBB race)
Summary: The racers and the people whose bonnet they captured have their own picnics around the Quidditch pitch (or elsewhere if they wish)
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[shh_greg]

"You get used to them after a while," Greg said with a shrug. "I grew up with them." He nodded thoughtfully at the idea of using a house elf or two around the shelter. It probably would help. He grimaced. "I could probably use some of the house elves from home but... I'm not actually sure of the legalities of whether its mine or not. The head house elf came to me when Father died but I'm not sure if the Ministry made any decrees about the property of Death Eaters."

He nodded. "Jalo was... more of a father to me than my own really." he hesitated for a moment then continued. "When I went to Finland, it was under an assumed name because I didn't want my father to track me down. After I got to know Jalo, I... really hated lying to him. I eventually confessed to him and told him why I'd lied. He understood and actually took further steps to protect me." He looked down at his bottle for a moment then back up at Ginny. "I owe him a lot."

"It was a bit like that at the Shelter in Finland," he said thoughtfully after taking a drink of his beer. "Even after Hogwarts I wasn't used to having so many people around all the time. It was a little uncomfortable at first but after a while I kind of got to like it. I still liked being on my own on occasion but the group common room we had was always pretty rowdy." He paused and grinned. "Jalo's wife ruled us all with a lethal wooden spoon though. And she could throw that thing with frightening accuracy if we got a little too smart for her liking." He sighed. "Unfortunately life goes on and well, most of us in my group are gone now. All off to our own jobs."

He stretched out on the blanket then turned slightly and dug into the basket, pulling out another container since they had nearly finished the gravlax. He opened it and placed it between them.

"These are cabbage rolls," he said. "The ones on this side are filled with minced beef, the ones on this side with vegetables and the ones in the middle with mushrooms. They're all seasoned with onion, tomato paste, pepper and spices."

He tipped his head back and laughed then eyed her with a mischievous look. "No, it's not. It's a method of getting oral drugs into a cow. Usually it's for worming and stuff like that. I don't know why it's called drenching but it's definitely a multi-person operation. It also guarantees a long and very tiring day."

[shh_ginny]

"My brother, Percy, works for the Ministry. You could owl him about the property but I did't think that elves could be reassigned by anyone but their Master. I mean, I'm sure you know more about them than I do but I, err..." She was thinking of Grimmauld Place and that awful little elf, Kreacher. "thought they had to do what the next in the blood line wanted."

"At least he was understanding about it, could have made things a lot harder for you if he didn't. He sounds like he is a good teacher and friend. He must be very proud of what you've accomplished here so far, getting the shelter up and running properly, taking on all the farms and whatnot." Ginny said quietly.

She laughed the mental picture of a little Finnish woman hurtling spoons at Greg. "Mum, too! Merlin, that's funny. I thought only my Mum did things like that. She'd have half the kitchen utensils chasing us around the kitchen if we got out of hand, which, you can imagine, was pretty often. But, yes, life goes on. My family all live here and we rarely see each other anymore."

"Mmm, they sound delicious." Ginny peaked into the container he drew out of the basket, turning on her side to playfully peer over the top with a smirk before selecting one of the ones he said had mushrooms in it.

'Oh. dear.' She thought, keeping her features neutral when he flashed her a mischievous look, feeling a light flush rise in her cheeks. 'That's just not even fair.'

"How, exactly, does one... give a cow oral drugs?" Ginny asked before taking another sip of her beer and taking a bite of her roll. "I mean, I know what it's like to do that with a human but... Merlin, I guess you might be thankful but I'm thinking you'll just have to do it another day, yeah? Our jobs don't just go away when someone wants to go shopping for the day."

[shh_greg]

"I might do that," Greg said thoughtfully. "I hate the place but if it's mine, I guess I should take responsibility for it."

He nodded. "Well, since I was essentially running away from the Dark Lord, he understood," he said ruefully then he smiled softly. "Yeah, he is. He keeps telling me to pace myself though. Not to work myself into the ground. He's right so I'm trying."

He laughed. "Seija was very proprietary when it came to her kitchen but she's also the one who taught us all to cook so I can't complain. She mothered us all indiscriminately."

He saw the flush on her face and wandered briefly what he'd said or done to cause it. He liked it more than he was willing to admit and he grinned at her smirk. He took one of the beef rolls for himself.

"Using a drenching gun," he said promptly. "It's sort of a glorified syringe but with a squeeze handle and long enough to get a short way down a cow's throat and made of metal because they chew on it a bit. You load it up with the dose then work it past the back of the cow's tongue then fire away." He nodded. "Yeah, it has to be done so it's only been postponed. It's not dangerous work, just hard, manhandling all the cows. Even for someone like me, it's tiring."

[shh_ginny]

"If you hate the place, you could always sell it or donate it to the Ministry. Unless you have, you know, other family that might want to take if over. Sometimes memories just... well, hurt, even if they are good ones." Ginny answered absently, her thoughts very far from the picnic in that moment.

Giving her head a minute shake, she gave him a wry look. "I was just about to say you weren't trying awfully hard but you are here, aren't you? It's a beautiful day and hopefully you are enjoying yourself."

"Sejia. Pretty name." Ginny laughed. "Mum tried to teach the boys how to cook but that was like trying to catch a wet cat. By the time she got to me, I don't know if she tried to make up for lost time or what but she did manage to teach me enough so I don't starve. I'll admit that I'm not a gourmet chief, though. Not me, nope. I'm happy with a nice beef stew or a pan of lasagna."

The roll was quite good and she picked out a beef one to try next, finding herself hungrier than she realized from the race and all the excitement after.

"They chew on it? Oh!" Her eyes widened. "They don't bite, do they? I mean, they're cows. It's bad enough when my patients bite me but they aren't that big, thank Merlin. Then again, getting bit is probably half your day isn't it? Ever since I changed over to the internship, I don't see regular patients anymore so the occasional bite is a thing of the past for me."

[shh_greg]

Greg shrugged. "I haven't even read Mum and Father's wills or any of the family stuff. I'll have to do that before I can do anything with the hulk." He snorted and looked slightly amused. "I have a pretty good idea Mum will want me to keep it, make it into something worthwhile. Change the bad memories to good ones. All that sort of thing."

He looked over at Ginny and smiled shyly. "Yeah, I'm enjoying myself," he said, knowing he was talking more about the picnic than the rest of the day.

"I mostly do the basics when it comes to cooking," he said as he took one of the vegetable rolls. "I can cook more fancy food but it takes a time and energy that I usually don't have after work."

He laughed. "Well, I think anybody would chew on something being shoved down their throat," he said with a laugh. "And cows do bite if they're annoyed enough though they kick more than they bite. Horses will bite more readily. And yeah, bites and scratches and pretty much par for the course. That and getting peed on."

[shh_ginny]

"I'm glad you are," She said, returning his smile and vainly willing the color in her cheeks not to rise even as she felt her cheeks warm.

You are flirting... with the vet! With Greg Goyle! And blushing!

'I am not flirting. Not even a little.'

Blushing...

'Hush.'

She shook her head, replying. "I've a friend who fancy cooks, sends me left-overs. That's about the extent of it for me. Even if I had time, I just don't have the inclination. I mean, it's just me so why bother, right? And no, the cat doesn't count in that."

"Ah yes, the good ol' days of... well... Friday. Bites, scratches..." She sighed and laughed. "At least you have the novelty of having patients that can't hex you. My first week in Incurables, polka dots. All. Over. And I do mean... All over. Big. Pink. Polka. Dots."

[shh_greg]

Greg blushed a little himself at her response then he abruptly cleared his throat and turned to rummage in the basket again. Was she flirting with him? Was he flirting with her? Actually he thought he might be... and he was fairly sure he liked it.

Well... that was interesting. And good... he thought... as long as she thought it was good. And she seemed to. Okay... he really needed to stop that or he was going to start stammering.

He pulled out a larger container this time then fished into the basket for a couple of plates, fork and knives and a sharp knife.

"Okay, this is an interesting one," he said with a grin. He opened the container to reveal a largish oval-shaped loaf of bread. "This is called kalakukko. It's a traditional dish and it's bsically a rye loaf with fish, pork and bacon cooked inside. It even has a traditional way of eating it."

He sliced off the top of the bread then cut it in two and spread it with butter before offering one half to Ginny.

"You cut off the top and eat it with butter then slice the rest of the bread, eating it with the filling. Don't worry about the bones in the fish. The way this is cooked, they'll be so soft you probably won't even notice them."

He took a bit of the bread, chewed and swallowed it. "That's why I often don't go to these kind of measures," he said with a laugh. "If it's just me, I don't need to make a fuss. But this is definitely worth it."

He laughed at the idea of Ginny with pink polka dots. Not meanly but just at the mental image. "I don't think pink polka dots would go with your hair," he said with a grin. "Green maybe but not pink." He chuckled. "True, my patients can't do that but some of them can be dangerous."

He paused and looked thoughtful as he remembered the almost surreal incident with the runespoor and Harry Potter.

"Shadow found a runespoor down near the river a few days ago. She was quite seriously hurt. She had a bad gash down her side. She didn't want to let me near her and I wasn't going to push the issue since runespoors are very venomous. I had to get help from Potter, which was... interesting."

[shh_ginny]

She watched him, listening attentively as he prepared the next part of the lunch, and took the offered bread. "Rye? Oh, I love rye. There is this little bakery right outside the Academy and they make the best rye bread. It was such a treat on a cold morning, with snow up to my knees, to have a few slices hot out of the oven with butter as I walked to class."

"This is quite good." Ginny sighed wistfully before taking a bite of the bread, letting the flavors sink in before taking another bite. "You're going to make some witch very happy someday, Mr. Greg." She teased comfortably.

She chuckled with him, remembering the incident. "No, no, you don't understand. All over. Even my hair! I had polka dots on the bottom of my feet! Pink! I don't even bloody well like pink. It was… oh, sod on, it was funny as hell but it took two senior Healers an hour to get them off me. Talk about embarrassing."

"See, this is where I mentally kick myself for not paying more attention in 'Care of Magical Creatures' classes since I've no idea what a runespoor is except, well, if you needed Harry's help, it had to be a snake." Ginny said with a wry grin. "How did that go, if you don't mind me asking?"

[shh_greg]

"They eat a lot of rye bread in Finland," Greg said. "Rye bread and barley bread. I was surprised to find that I liked it. And you're right. Hot out of the oven on a cold day and it's just the best thing ever. Seija used to have to chase us out of the kitchen when she was baking bread."

He blushed and ducked his head. "I don't know," he said wryly. "I don't cook like this too often."

He paused then broke out in a grin. "I don't know if I can match pink polka dots. The worst I ever got was a stampede of about a dozen sheep upending me into a pig sty. It was muddy, smelly and cold but at least it all washed off pretty quickly."

"Yeah, runespoors are snakes," he said with a nod. Then he warmed up to his subject. "They're actually native to Burkina Faso and they're a protected species there. So Merlin only knows how this one got here. Possibly a private collector. Anyway... runespoors are orange with black stripes and have three heads. Each head has a different personality. One is the dreamer, one is the planner and one is the critic."

He paused for a moment, trying to work out the best way of wording his dealings with Potter. "It was... a little weird. He acted kind of strange at first but he seemed to loosen up a bit after we got to the runespoor. He seemed to kind of enjoy speaking to her. He said she had a sense of humour." He looked a little thoughtful. "You know... I wouldn't mind being able to speak to animals. It'd be pretty useful."

[shh_ginny]

"One of the first phrases I learned in German was how to ask for rye bread. Ich mochte Roggenbrot, bitte. The little old lady who baked didn't speak a word of English and my translation charm couldn't leave school grounds. And yes, before you ask, asking for beer was the second phrase. Ein Heifeweissen, bitte." Ginny laughed. "Oh, have you ever had mulled Apple cider?"

Smiling innocently at the rise in color in his cheeks, she said. "What makes you think I was talking about your cooking?"

A young couple strolled by, arms around each other's waist, oblivious to anything but each other as they bent their heads together to talk in low murmurs and for a moment, Ginny thought of her brother and his girlfriend, wondering where they might have taken themselves off to after the race.

"Stampeding sheep. Now that's a mental picture I never thought I'd have. I hope you weren't hurt." She replied easily. "I don't know if that beats polka dots but it's better then the time a nutter turned me into a hummingbird."

Ginny shifted to lean back on her elbows, taking a drink of her beer. "Three heads? It's amazing to think about, isn't it? I wonder how they ever agree on what to do or where to go. Do they all sleep at the same time, do you think? If they are a protected species, what will you do with the one you have? I mean, you can't let it loose here if it's venomous, right?"

"She must have been ironic, then." She said neutrally, her gaze dropping to his hands for a moment before she looked away, tapping down thoughts that had no place at a picnic. "Dad used to say, 'Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it'. Somehow I think you might regret having that ability. I'm surprised no one has bothered to make a charm to translate though."

[shh_greg]

Greg laughed. "I would have been lost without the translation charm when I first got to Finland. I picked up a fair bit of the language over the years." He nodded enthusiastically. "Seija used to make it in winter. It was heaven to come in after a day in the snow to mulled cider. Made the place smell great as well."

His blush deepened and he was a bit lost for words for a moment. "You're not?" he blurted out then he closed his eyes, feeling just a touch mortified. One of these days he was going to learn not to disconnect his brain from his mouth when he was surprised.

He swallowed hard then chuckled a little weakly. "Nah, stampeding sheep are just very noisy and woolly. I just ended up getting wet, muddy and smelly." He relaxed a little more. "Now that is one risk you don't have with animals."

"They're very unusual," he agreed. "She seems very intelligent from what Potter was translating. As for what I'll do with her, well... I don't actually know. I suppose she should go back to Burkina Faso but if Potter doesn't mind and she agrees, she could always stay with him or at the shelter. I'd be happy to have her stay. She's very beautiful."

He chuckled again. "Yeah, he's got that right. I'd probably get annoyed at the constant chatter. It'd just be useful in those cases where the cause of the animal's illness isn't easy to find." He sighed. "A lot of times in those cases you don't figure out what's wrong until the necropsy."

[shh_ginny]

"I was and my classmates took the mickey out of me every chance they could, mucking about with the words too quickly for me to remember. It didn't help that my classload was insane so I spent a lot of time with the little German/English dictionary out." She laughed. "In Dusseldorf, for the holiday, they had little stands out on the streets so you just bought a mug at one end and then left the mug at another stand later on. I've no idea how they worked that but it was great at Christmas time when a friend took my out shopping."

Ginny frowned, tilting her head to the side in confusion, not quite understanding why he was blushing until he spoke and then feeling awkward to have made him uncomfortable. "I'm not but feel free to ignore me. I spoke without thinking and I don't want to muck up your lovely picnic."

"It might be nice to look at but with three heads all thinking different things and being poisonous, wouldn't it be dangerous to have around if you couldn't understand it?" She asked, curious and a little concerned. "I wouldn't want to see you in a professonal capacity, Greg."

"The last thing I want is to understand what Godric is saying. That sodding prat's looks are more than enough to get the point across, especially when he clearly thinks I've done something daft - which is often, or worse - like the other day, when he fell into the tub when I was in the shower. Merlin! You'd think I'd made up a devious plan to get him wet." Ginny shook her head in exasperation, then sighed. "Sometimes I don't even get those answers. If one of the patients... most of the time, the family doesn't want any intrusive procedures and even when they do, it's not always clear."

[shh_greg]

Greg laughed. "The first time I did farm visits I found that the translation charm had a bit of trouble with some of the thicker accents out in the sticks. It was just as well that by then I'd picked up enough of the language to figure out what they wanted. We did do a bit of pantomime though."

He ducked his head and chewed on his lip for a moment before coming to a decision. "No, I'm the one who should apologise," he said sheepishly, looking over at Ginny. "You know what I was like at school. I started acting like that when I was about seven or eight, I guess. I wanted to annoy my Mum and acting like my father was a good way to do it. I did it at a party and for the first time nobody asked me questions about what I was going to do, whether I was looking forward to Hogwarts or anything. They just patted me on the head, gave me some sweets and told my father I was a chip off the old block. I kind of liked not getting the questions and as I got older, my Mum sort of encouraged me to keep doing it."

He hesitated for a moment and gave her a sober look. "The Dark Lord fought harder for intelligent followers than the stupid ones and Mum knew that. I didn't and thought it was just a game at first. By the time I got to Hogwarts it was just... second nature and then with Draco and everything with the Dark Lord, I just... was stupid and decided that keeping up the ruse and following Draco's orders was... easier."

He shook his head. "But anyway... the reason I mentioned all of that is, well, for a long time my Mum was the only one who thought I was worth anything or thought I was handsome and funny." He shrugged. "Get told your a stupid lump enough times and you start to believe it." He swallowed hard then smiled shyly again. "I wasn't... offended or anything by what you said. It just surprised me. I liked it. I like that you think that. I... like you."

He ducked his head and hoped like hell he hadn't just put his foot in it in a major way. He cleared his throat and took a swallow of his beer.

"Oh, I'm going to be careful with her," he said wryly. "That's why I got Potter to come down and talk to her before I did anything. I won't do anything that she's unhappy about."

He slowly smiled. "Godric, eh? Nice name. Should I suggest getting another cat and naming him Salazar? Or maybe I should do that since I'm the Slytherin here?" He paused for a moment. "Hmm, might have to get Shadow's approval on that one. She might not want to share me."

[shh_ginny]

"You'll have to demonstrate that for me sometime, the pantomine." Ginny laughed, trying to imagine the tall wizard doing that.

She listened quietly, simply absorbing what he was saying, how he sounded, without thinking of what she could say to make the situation lighter. Ginny couldn't help the shivering bristle that came hearing him refer to Voldemort as the Dark Lord, trying to supress the slight queasing of her stomach at the term. When he finally paused, she wanted to talk about the dozen or so things that she'd grown up with as well, wanted to relate some type of similiarity to make him feel more comfortable but the words died on her lips. There wasn't enough similiarity. Her family had fought against Voldemort and people like his father for longer than she'd been alive and her parents never encouraged her to be anything less than what she wanted.

"I think sometimes I give the wrong impression when I call him Tom. Most folks think it's because of what he did to me but it isn't. I remember when I was little, really little, like 5 or 6 and I asked my Da why they called him 'He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named' and Da said names can be powerful. But then, after he wrote to me in his diary, I realized - names do have power. So I've called him Tom. Because Tom is like Greg or Ginny, you know. It's power but it's not fear. I'm using the power of his name to keep him right where he belongs - no stronger than anyone else, even in memory." Ginny said quietly, unsure why she was confiding this to him, shifting to sit and folded her legs out before her, drawing them up and wrapping her arm around her knees.

"I wouldn't say that I was afraid of you in school, but I wouldn't have wanted to be in the dungeons and run into you then, at least not without my wand. But things change. People change." Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she looked up to meet his stare. "You are funny, in a smart way and I like it. I like talking to you." Ginny smiled sheepishly, feeling the color rise in her cheeks. "I'm glad you do. I... ummm, I rather like you, too."

Taking a drink of her beer, she gave him a curious look. "Does she usually mind sharing you?"

[shh_greg]

Greg nodded thoughtfully at Ginny's words about names. "I know I shouldn't call him the Dark Lord," he said quietly. "You're right. It gives him a power he shouldn't have, especially since he's dead. It's habit, I suppose. Father enforced that name, usually by threats, occasionally with his fists."

He settled down on his side, resting his bottle on the blanket and turning round and round with his hand. He stared down at the bottle for a long moment then looked back up at Ginny. He wasn't quite sure how they'd ended up in these confessions but he didn't feel as self-conscious as he thought he might have telling Ginny this.

"I was terrified of him... of Voldemort," he said soberly. "My father promised me to him. That was what was meant to happen in the summer after my Sixth Year. I was meant to become a Death Eater. It was the last thing I wanted. Father sent me an owl in that April, telling me it would happen within a couple of weeks of me getting home. He said I should be proud, that the Da... Voldemort didn't accept many so young. That he'd vouched for me."

He laughed mirthlessly. "I didn't know what to do or who to turn to. I didn't know who I could trust. But the day after my father's letter, I got one from my Mum. She said she knew what was happening and she'd find a way to keep me safe. She did everything. Got some money together, organised false papers for me, the apprenticeship, passage to Europe... everything. About a week after I got home, I was gone again. I don't think I ever relaxed though... not until I heard he was dead. I was always looking over my shoulder, wondering if he'd come for me."

He gave Ginny a wry smile. "I don't know... you were pretty good with that Bat Bogey Hex and I wasn't that quick with a spell back then. Still aren't but I'm better than I used to be." He watched as she blushed and couldn't help but think she looked beautiful like that. Hell, she looked beautiful without the blush too. He slowly smiled. "Jalo was right. He said I needed to go back and face my past. Guess I'm doing that right now. Kind of like it... quite a lot actually."

He chuckled. "Depends on the person actually. She's a pretty good judge of character. If she doesn't like someone, there's probably a reason. If I remember correctly, she liked you." He decided that maybe this was the time to be a little cheeky and grinned at her. "I'd ask her if she'd share me with you but she doesn't like flying very much and when I pulled my broom out this morning, she gave me a very grouchy look and curled up on my bed again."

[shh_ginny]

Watching him shift and stretch out, she had a sense of instinct, that subconscious tickle in her thoughts that made her feel as if he were actually speaking of his father, not Voldemort. She very nearly reached out to put her hand on his arm when he spoke of his mom, knowing that tiny crinkle in the corner of a person's eye that came from thinking of a painful memory. Ginny'd seen that a great deal in the time she'd begun her Healer training and it took her that thought-filled millisecond to halt her movement, unsure of whether or not he'd welcome it.

"You miss her." It wasn't a question and once the words were off her lips, Ginny blinked, not quite understanding why she'd said it but she continued, keeping her tone normal. "I miss my Dad. Mum, she's... different now."

Ginny chuckled, joking lightly. "Still am but I think you are pretty safe with me. All that Healer care mumbo jumbo, you know. Thou shall not unleash tickling feathers upon others no matter how much they deserve it. It went something like that, I think."

"Yeah, she did seem to like me, didn't she?" She arched an eyebrow at his teasing, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. "I don't know if you should ask her though. Wouldn't that be something I'd have to ask her?" Ginny glanced over at his broom. "Did you fly over here?"