WHO: Luna Lovegood and Marcus Flint WHEN: Wednesday, 4th May, afternoon WHERE: Ministry of Magic WHAT: Could two more unlikely people get stuck together in a lift? RATING: PG-13, maybe, Marcus?
Luna's meeting with the Portkey Office seemed to have gone quite well, really. The wizard who had asked her to fill out the forms had been rather pleasant, even after he'd looked her up on a list, realised she was an ST. He'd not so much as glanced up at her before handing her the stack of parchments that she was required to fill in to request permission for an international portkey. He had been quite old though, stiffly peering through glasses so thick, his eyes had appeared bug-like, and weakly lifting the stack with bony, shaky arms to pass to her. He'd waved her over to an empty desk which she sat at and carefully answered all the questions.
She only wanted to Portkey to France, to just across the English Channel, like she'd mentioned to Padma. It was close enough to Apparate, really, and a few years ago, she wouldn't have hesitated from making the leap from the cliffs of Dover. But there was a lot more red tape now, and this seemed like the safest option. It would be disappointing if she was denied, but it couldn't hurt to try. The forms took the better part of an hour to complete (she made sure to include Padma's name in the 'Name of accompanying wizard/witch'), and she handed them back with a smile, but the elderly wizard still didn't look up from his work and she was left to wander out of the office.
The lift she entered was almost empty, only one tall wizard occupying it, and Luna cheerily greeted him before pressing the button for the Atrium and standing back from the doors as they closed, a few flying airplane memos slipping in at the last second. She watched the numbers count down from Level Six, away from the Atrium, but she supposed the wizard's button was being prioritised, which was only fair because he had been there first.
But the lift never quite reached a floor and shuddered to an awkward stop. Luna didn't react at first, neverendingly patient, and she waited for something to happen.