Gina Smythe (glass_onion) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-05-25 16:38:00 |
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Gina spun the ends of her hair between her fingers as she looked at herself, trying to psyche herself up for this. She liked the fact that this was basically playing dress-up. She could handle the fact that she was blonde (and that she scarcely recognised herself in the mirror, since that was the point of the glamour charms). There was always that lingering fear that something could go wrong, though -- that the glamour charms wouldn't hold up despite their careful application, and that the makeup alone wouldn't be enough to keep Kate and herself unrecognisable from the pictures on the posters. But then, they weren't dealing with government officials who had spent years learning how to recognise disguises, and she and Kate had years of practice in concealment. Besides, these weren't Death Eaters they were going up against today. They were facing their untrained and life-repressed wives. This would be a cakewalk. "Ready?" Gina asked Kate with a sideways glance, beginning to move toward the door to head outside. Kate gave Gina a saucy grin and then quickly tempered it. After all, she was supposed to be a refined lady. She had decided to not fight her skin too much, simply changing her features to hopefully look more like someone from the Mediterranean. Her glasses were gone, her eyes a darker black colour than normal, and her hair quite a bit shorter and curly - this certainly was the charm that had taken her the most time to fight, but it had been well worth the time it took, she thought. She was pretty certain even Gawain wouldn't recognise her walking down the street. "I think so," she gave herself a final glance in the mirror taking a moment to see if she could somehow duplicate the expression that Lavinia Travers had on her face - that is when she wasn't wimpering, whining, or behaving otherwise like a spoiled child. It wasn't quite right, she thought to herself, but surely there were at least a few ladies that were not so terrified of their shadows as Lavinia Travers had been. "Yes, I definitely am," she said, turning and following Gina towards the door. "I suppose we should just Apparate into the Apparation point and then move towards the Foundation from there?" "I'll see you there," Gina smirked back, smoothing down the creases in her dress as she rose to her feet and stepped into her high heeled shoes. Pulling her wand from her pocket and saluting Kate farewell, Gina apparated herself straight out of the room in the bunkers to the apparation point in Diagon Alley, glad that it was still early enough to not have to worry about the curfew patrol getting in their way. She waited for Kate to arrive, stepping out of the way so that an exhausted looking father toting three side-along apparated children could move off the apparation point and towards the shops. "Alright," she said, tossing her wavy blonde hair over her shoulder (Gina hadn't had hair long enough to do that in ages). "Let's go check this place out. They torched one of my favourite bakeries to build this thing; I want to see if it was worth it." Kate followed Gina's lead and apparated herself to the apparation point in Diagon Alley, stepping away at the same time and patting her curls with a hand. It was kind of fun to have them, actually, and she gave Gina a smile. "I somehow sincerely doubt that," she said archly, trying to make her language a bit more proper than she normally would use. "But, at least we will know for certain whether it is the case or not." The Foundation centre ahead of her, Kate went over her practised position in her head. Nothing too independent minded, or unladylike. She could play a lady of non-independent means for at least an hour, couldn't she then? Oh right, the talking proper thing. It always took a quick moment for Gina to turn off the regional dialect she'd picked up from living in Liverpool for so long. She took a moment to clear her throat and lifted the hem of her dress as she walked, as Gina was certain that getting her skirt all muddy wouldn't reflect the portrait of a properly bred lady. "Indeed we shall!" Moving across the street and onto the property of the Foundation building, Gina threw the door open as if she already belonged there, holding the door open so that Kate could slip inside behind her. "..Goodness this is larger than it looks from the outside..." she noted, a little startled considering how small the bakery that had once stood in the spot had been. "Do you suppose we should begin toward the back and work our way forward?" Kate glanced around and thought that it did actually look welcoming, but she supposed that was the idea. It wasn't as if they were going to be attempting to put people off of the Foundation simply from the look of the building. They would want to draw them in, let them feel welcome, and then trap them with all of the pureblood rubbish at the same time. She put a proper sort of look on her face, but not so proper that it was snobby, and stepped up so she was next to Gina. "I think that seems good," she said. Aloysius had suggested a large room either in a restroom, or near a restroom, few windows, some place they could keep the women, clearly. "It would be good to see as much of it as possible," she added in a more low tone. Her shoulders back, she stepped further into the entrance. If they weren't stopped, then that would make it quite a bit easier, but Kate doubted that they would be allowed to wander about the building on their own. Unfortunately, plans or not, it didn't seem as though it would be that easy to get around the building. Another woman had entered the building just ahead of Gina and Kate, and she noticed her stop at the front area for the security to check her ID card. "Bollocks," Gina cursed under her breath, quietly enough to where she doubted even Kate would have heard her. She noted a restroom down the hall past the security as she attempted to formulate a plan. Digging through her purse as if she was moving to take out an ID card as she approached the front desk, Gina stopped short, quietly zipping her bag and dropping it shamefully to her side, trying to will herself to blush. Gina dropped back and moved to whisper to Kate, blocking her mouth with her hand. "Look in your purse and pretend you're trying to find a menstrual pad for me, then shake your head no after a second. Hopefully we'll be able to excuse ourselves right to the restroom." Kate had noticed the security at the same time Gina had, and looked half alarmed at Gina's curse. That was hardly something that was quite lady like, but at Gina's next sentence she nodded, and immediately opened up her bag to begin to search for the required object. She hoped fervently that this would work, because if it didn't she was pretty certain Gawain would not be pleased, and she didn't fancy finding herself in the rehabilitation centre like Jo had been. She shook her head as she dropped her own purse back to her side. "They'll have them in the restroom though," she added helpfully. "And we should take care of it right away." Gina nodded, brushing her hand through her hair distraughtly before she moved to the front desk to speak with the security guard. "Hii..." she began sheepishly, avoiding making actual full eye-contact with the guard. "This is rather embarrassing... I, well... I got my... I wasn't expecting this..." She dropped her tone to a hushed whisper, leaning closer to the guard (who looked highly uncomfortable). "Do you have any, er, feminine hygene products?" Gina immediately covered her face with both her hands, shaking her head slightly as if it was absolutely humiliating to have to ask such a thing. The guard seemed nearly as embarrassed as Gina was pretending to be, and after a short, wide-eyed nod fished a pad out of the desk drawer and handed it to her as if they were exchanging something dirty and illegal. Gina immediately clenched the package in her hand and mouthed a silent "thank you" to the guard before scurrying around the desk, waving for Kate to follow her. "We can probably hang here for a few minutes and then take the back staircase up to get to everything else." Kate nodded giving the guard a very grateful look as she moved quickly to follow Gina towards the toilets. She did hope that the guard would be so embarrassed by the idea of the feminine products, that she wouldn't realise that the two had never shown their ID cards at the desk, or remember it for later, as that could be equally problematic. It was something for her to remember for the future, she thought, and possibly to see if anyone knew someone who had the ID cards, because if they were going to do any new missions like this in broad daylight, they would need them. "That works for me," Kate said. Her heart was beating way too quickly and she resisted the urge to glance over her shoulder to see if they were being watched or followed. "If we can pass up the back staircase then hopefully we can wander around getting the information we need, and if we get caught we can always say that we got lost," she suggested quietly, waiting for a moment or two so that hopefully they would be able to move on without further questions. Gina spent the few minutes waiting in the rest room surveying the area -- it was possible that they'd even be able to use this as a place to keep the women, if they didn't find anything else opportune on another floor. No windows, there were toilets in case any one honestly DID have a bathroom emergency, there was a ridiculously nice lobby area just inside the door with couches and a vanity... Gina was sure that they would all feel completely at home, as long as the fact that they had essentially been kidnapped was ignored. "I think it's been long enough," Gina realised after a short while, opening the door and moving back outside, relieved to see that the guard seemed to be distracted by some poofy-haired blonde bimbo at the desk. She waved for Kate to follow her to the back staircase, noting the extravagant fireplace in the middle of the lobby that likely connected to the Floo Network, trying to ignore that at that very moment in time she herself didn't look too different from the woman whose appearance she'd been mocking. Up the stairs, down the halls, peaking into rooms... it was unfortunate that Gina and Kate would have looked highly out of place toting around a journal to take notes on what the layout of the building was like. "What do you think is in this one?" she pondered, turning the handle of one of the closed doors in the aisleway. Lucinda had been just returned from her lunch with Marius Lestrange concerning the proposition of a bill to the Wizengamot concerning the standards that must be met for orphanages in this country, and was currently in her office overlooking the notes she had taken when she noticed the handle of her door turning. Her eyes glared at the bronze knob, watching it move from horizontal to vertical completely displeased. Honestly, did these women not have the etiquette to even knock before entering the office of the Head of Orphan Affairs? Surely the employees of the Foundation were not the brightest girls out of Hogwarts, but they could not be completely idiotic. However, as the door opened, Lucinda's eyes fell upon two ladies she had never seen before. Certainly she would never claim to know every Foundation employee, but she had always had a great attention for detail and never forgot a face, and she had never seen either of these girls at the Foundation. Something about them seemed vaguely familiar, but she could not place it. Instead, she placed her parchment down on her desk and looked at the girls questioningly. After all, there was always the possibility they had been refereed to her for some reason or another. "Good afternoon. Is there something I can help you with?" Oh bother, Kate thought to herself as the door opened to reveal a very well dressed woman that could only be a pureblood. That meant they would have to make up something that would make sense and hopefully not cast too much suspicion upon them. Was it a better tactic to pretend that they were lost and ask for directions to something - perhaps where the counseling was as Kate knew that they did counseling from the reports in the papers - or should she pretend that they were here to see this person? As Kate had no idea what the lady did, she decided it was infinitely better to go with the former idea. With any luck, the lady would not feel the need to see them to the location, but simply provide them with directions and they would be able to continue. If they weren't that lucky, hopefully the counselling would be happening quite a ways from where they currently were so they would still get a good overview of the building. "Is this where the marriage counselling takes place? It's our first visit," she explained truthfully. "And I'm afraid we may have gotten ever so turned around." Gina's hand flew to cover her mouth as she forced a quick gasp of surprise and embarrassment, backing away and dropping her other hand away from the door knob. "Oh goodness, I certainly hope that we're not disrupting you." A pause. "I didn't even knock; oh Merlin, I am so incredibly embarrassed. I feel as though I should go home and back to bed and start the day over again." Eyes flickered between the girls as Lucinda felt herself grow annoyed. Wasn't this was reception and security were for? This was what The Foundation paid those idiots to do, and yet somehow, this was far too difficult for them. It wasn't surprising, truly, it was merely an annoyance. And perhaps it was not fully the fault of the employees, neither of these girls seemed especially bright. After the blonde one had stopped her blubbering, Lucinda offered the girls a brief smile. "No, I'm afraid you've come to Orphan Affairs. Marriage Counselling is two floors up and three doors to the left." Looking between the girls and then down to her desk, Lucinda picked up the folder with her notes before returning her gaze to them, "I was on my way up to see someone a few floors higher, I can show you where the counselling office is on my way if you like." It'd be better not to have them get lost and bother someone else, and it was not that much of an inconvenience to stop and lead them to where they'd like to go on her way to Narcissa. Well, on the bright side, she seemed to have at least accepted their statements as truth without any suspicion behind them, Kate thought. On the less bright side, they would now have someone showing them about the building. "Oh, well, we wouldn't want to inconvenience you," Kate said, hoping that it was the sort of thing ladies would say to each other. It felt right anyway. "You said two floors up and three doors to the left? I'm sure we could find it, if it's any bother." She glanced at Gina, as if uncertain whether or not they'd be able to find it on their own, but in truth she wondered if maybe this could be helpful. They wouldn't be able to stop and linger, but she had no doubt that they could ask questions - questions under the guise of being interested in helping the Foundation out, giving back something to the community, that would help them determine what was there as the lady walked them to the counselling. Gina was very much of the same line of thought. Actually having a "tour guide" of sorts could provide them with an inside look of the building which they might not have been able to obtain simply walking around on their own. It also provided a bit of security for them (as long as Lucinda continued to believe that they were simply lost and slightly daft) as it was unlikely security would come hunting them down should they be seen with someone important enough to have an office. "Only if it wouldn't be too much trouble. Thank you so much for the assistance you've already provided. You are doing such wonderful things here, Ms..." she looked at the nameplate on the desk, "Greengrass. This is such a wonderful cause." "It's Mrs." Lucinda replied with a forced smile, a bit more icy than perhaps she probably should have. Even after three years of marriage, she was still slightly bitter about her married name. A Yaxley marrying a Greengrass; it was despicable really; at least to her and Ben at any rate. "Please, feel free to call me Lucinda." She hated her last name enough as it was, there was no need to hear it more than she had to. "It's a pleasure to meet you both, and really, it's no inconvenience at all, I was leaving the office any way to go some floors up. Clutching her folders to bring to Narcissa, Lucinda made her way out of the office. "If you'll follow me." The breezy air of a socialite had come upon her once more as she began leading the two girls through the halls. Simple and pleasant conversation was what she had been bred to do, and so this was no trouble at all. "You said this was your first time at the Foundation, correct?" She asked, looking between the two girls for some sort of confirmation. "Welcome. This floor, as I may have mentioned before is dedicated to Orphan and Animal affairs." She paused about to make a remark concerning something the curly haired one had said when she realised she did not know the ladies' names. "I just realised I did not inquire after your names, how rude of me. I deeply apologise." "Katherine Jones," Kate said without missing a beat. The Katherine was so close to her given name, Catalina, only unmistakably British, where her own name was most certainly not. It was close enough as well to keep her from being utterly unlikely to respond to it, while not making it likely that it would ring any bells to Mrs Greengrass. It was thankfully also a rather common name all the way around, which certainly worked in her favour on this front. "And truly, no harm done, Mrs Gre- sorry, Lucinda," Kate's voice felt odd to her, rather proper and completely unlike her normal way of speaking. "We rather did inconvenience you. I certainly do appreciate you being willing to give us a bit of a tour on such short notice. I have been reading so many good things in the Prophet, and I finally decided that it was time to come in and see things for myself. You said this floor is Orphan and Animal affairs? Are there very many orphans you are able to assist?" "Truly it is no trouble." Though wasn't this what reception was for? Didn't the Foundation hire people to do exactly what she was doing at this moment? She probably should not complain though, it was a nice change from paperwork and pictures of sad children. At least with the new orphanage in the future, she could look at interior design plans and things that actually interested her. "Currently, The Foundation tends to oversee the orphanages around country, and take care of those who seem to be misplaced or mistreated. Do you remember a few weeks back when Fenrir Greyback saved that newborn from a vicious werewolf? We handled that situation." With the orphanage plans so uncertain, there was no way Lucinda would share that information with girls she hardly knew. "I confess it is a small department, but should there be a tragic attack on a village as there tends to be every so often, that is when we are most beneficial to the community. Thankfully, it is a rare occurrence." Walking up the marble stairs, Lucinda continued their tour, "This floor is our medical station. With future parent counselling, we keep two healers on standby in case anything should happen to pregnant women while they are here. Also on this floor we have the daycare centre. So many devoted mothers wish to take classes and workshops here, but are unable to leave their children, so we opened a daycare centre for their convenience. We have three nannies at all times and the children play in this large room here." She gestured towards the door where happy yells of children could clearly be heard. "There is also a nursery three doors down for the newborns and infants. Do either of you ladies have children?" "Oh not yet," Kate allowed a note of wistfulness to enter her voice. In point of fact she didn't actually want children at the moment, but she did someday want children, so it was easy enough to allow herself to pretend that it was right around the corner instead years and years away. "But that's such a good service to the community," she said peering at the door. "And so helpful for mothers who can't afford daycare elsewhere. Do you have very many children that are in the daycare at any one time?" That would be something that they would need to know, because children and mothers would probably need to be released - possibly even regardless of the status of the women involved. Kate was certain they wouldn't want to keep children for any length of time. "I believe the most we had at one time was thirty, but it was during our Wives and Mothers luncheon. On a daily basis, there seem to be between ten and fifteen children in our daycare, but they do not stay all day. Most are children of ladies visiting the Foundation, so when they are done with their errands here, their children go with them." With that, Lucinda led the two ladies up the final staircase to the counselling floor, pointing down the hall with a smile. "You'll find marriage counselling at that second door. It was a pleasure to meet you both, I wish you the best of luck." Gina had remained quiet throughout most of the ordeal, trying to take note of the layout of the facility so that she could draw up a diagram for the others once they returned to camp. Kate was doing a much better job than she was anyway at playing the role of the Interested Lady. It was difficult for Gina to wrap her head around women worrying about childcare and tea parties when she'd been raised by women whose focus was the DMLE first and family second. She was awful at small talk anyway. Lucinda pointed them to the marriage counseling office and said her goodbyes, and Gina smiled in return. "It was lovely meeting you as well. Thank you so much for your help," she thanked her, reaching to shake the woman's hand (and making sure to remember not to have too strong of a handshake; she was sure that Society would rather their women be dainty). Looking to the woman's hand, Lucinda hesitated before shaking it in a dainty yet professional manner. She also made a mental note to wash her hands thoroughly before visiting Narcissa, because Merlin only knew what sort of germs she might have contacted or what kind of blood those woman were. She could only hope they were not mudbloods, but there was nothing to be done about it now. With nothing more than a brief smile after dropping the handshake, she turned on her heels and made her way to the stairway once more. Kate watched Lucinda disappear and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that the other woman was now gone and she and Gina were left alone again. Still, they had gotten a full tour of the facility and that would hopefully come in very useful. And thankfully Lucinda had dropped them at the door and not taken them in to find out that they had no appointments and were not expected. She hesitated for a moment at the door before turning to Gina. "Now what?" She said softly. Gina waited until she was positive that Lucinda would be out of earshot (just in case the woman had stopped just beyond where they could see to try to eavesdrop on their conversation), then turned back to Kate. "I think we're good to go. Maybe we should stop off in the restroom up here to take down notes before heading back," Gina suggested quietly, continuing to scan the area for any more Foundation Workers that might pop up trying to be "helpful." "That way if we run into Lucy again, it'll buy us some time so that she doesn't start wondering why our appointment went so quickly." If nothing else, they were going to have a marvelous idea of what the Foundation Centre's bathroom facilities looked like before heading back to Gairloch. |