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

[shh_greg]

Greg snorted with amusement. "At least you've got half a chance of being thanked. The last time I helped a cow having trouble calving, she kicked me in the thigh for my troubles. I got a nice hoof-shaped bruise out of it." He stopped and gave Ginny a wicked grin. "Mind you, it was a very cold day and my hands were freezing and... well, I'm sure you know where I had to stick one of them to help with calving. Maybe she was making a protest about that

[shh_ginny]

Ginny gave him a look of horror when she made the connection between his cold hands and where they were, glancing down at his hands and noticing then how big they were as well. "I bloody hell would! Poor cow

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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."

[shh_slughorn]

"No grindylows, Mister Goyle?" said Horace. "What a shame. As I was just saying, their spleens are getting really expensive, if they were breeding here maybe it would be possible to start selling our own. It could be a nice source of income for the town."

He smiled benignly at Greg as he finished dressing, and said "And nice to meet you again, Mister Goyle. If you do find any Grindylows eventually do please let me know."

[shh_slughorn]

"That's a shame," said Horace, "the Canadians have started charging a fortune for grindylow spleen, if we could get them breeding here it could be quite a lucrative business." He turned his attention to Greg for a moment and added "Aren't you rather cold, Mister Goyle?"

"I'm well enough," He said to Romilda, "not getting any younger of course, but there's not much I can do about that. And how about yourself?"

[shh_romilda]

Romilda tried to hide her giggle when the professor asked Greg if he was a little cold. Of course, Romilda thought grindylows were only good as potions ingredients, and made a note of the fact that they were now expensive. She would have to tell Fred and George, if they didn't know that already.

She nodded and smiled when he spoke of his health. At his enquiry, she gave him a genuine smile. "Oh, I can't complain," she said, patting her hand over her belly. "Just when I thought I was busy enough, I am going to be run off my feet in a few months with another baby."

The opportunity to talk to the professor came around so rarely, and she missed listening to his conversations. "You will have to come around for tea one day, professor - preferably before the baby is born." She was hopeful that he would accept her offer.

[shh_slughorn]

"Congratulations," said Horace, wracking his brains for the name of her husband? boyfriend? and failing miserably. "Any idea yet if it'll be a girl or a boy?"

"That's very kind of you, if you're feeling up to it," said Horace. "Or you could come to my house, of course, I'm sure that Retcon would be delighted to make something special. He must get bored with just me in the house."