Who: Damon Harper When: Friday Where: Wizarding Wireless Network Summary: [SOLO] There's breaking news and Damon is the only one available to cover it. Rating: High
When Damon heard that Tilden Toots had the day off on Friday, he rejoiced. It wasn't that he particularly hated the man. Damon had a healthy respect for any grown man who had the guts to talk about gardening on the radio for a dozen or so years. It was something Damon knew he would never be able to do. Yet, the man was also annoying. Yesterday, Toots had him write a ridiculous song about gardening (since Damon's specialty was songwriting), and that was difficult enough for Damon. He couldn't imagine having a radio show that talked only about gardening all the time.
Damon was sitting in Tilden's office putting the finishing touches on the jingle for Tilden's gardening show when he heard a commotion. He tried to ignore it, as he felt that the dealings of the WWN had little to nothing to do with him. They'd stuck him with the most boring program ever, so he hoped they didn't expect him to go above and beyond when it came to anything else. He was drawing in some music notes when Anastasia Stone burst into the office. She was breathing heavy and holding a stack of papers. Owls were flying all around her head, and she looked positively insane.
"Tilden," she shrieked suddenly. "Where's Tilden?"
"It's his day off," said Damon. "Why?"
Anastasia huffed loudly and waved off some of the owls in vain. "I can't believe it," she said. "Something's happened. Breaking news. I need someone to cover it, but there's no one around."
"What?" Damon frowned and put his quill down. "How could no on be around? What's happened?"
Anastasia froze for a moment, slowly looking him over through her thin, librarian-esque glasses. "Damon, right?"
Damon nodded, and Anastasia grinned. "Come with me, Damon," she said and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him over to the recording room. Along the way, she briefly explained to Damon what was happening. "Walden MacNair's trial was today with Tobias Longfellow testifying. MacNair somehow got away from the Hit Wizards, stole one of their wands and went after Longfellow. He killed him, Damon. MacNair killed Longfellow."
Damon's eyes went wide as he listened to this news. She was suddenly handing him papers that had come from owls and nudging him into the room. She prepared what looked to be a microphone and stuck a giant headset on Damon's head. "Walden MacNair," Damon whispered incredulously.
"Yes," said Anastasia, "and we're going to need to go live with the news right now. So get ready."
"Wait... what?" Damon looked around and only just realized what was happening. "What? No! Anastasia, I can't! I can't do breaking news. I don't even talk. I don't even like talking. I wouldn't know what to say."
"Yes you do," she said and pulled some curtains down over a window, throwing the room into total darkness. "You can do this."
"NO! I can't!" Damon was flailing. "I'm just an intern! I can't do this! Please! Anastasia!"
"We're going live," she said, completely ignoring him. She threw up a hand and began the countdown. "In five... four..."
"ANASTASIA!"
"Three... two..." The one was silent, and suddenly, the room lit up in a dreary red color. Directly in front of Damon was this red glowing orb where the microphone stood. This was the magic of the WWN. He had seen it happen all throughout the week while he was interning there. When the orb appeared and sent the room into a deep red color, that meant that they were going live. As if to further confirm this, Anastasia held up a sign that said LIVE.
Damon was completely petrified on the spot. He had no clue what to say or do. He just kept looking at Anastasia through a glass window where she stood in the control room. She silently urged him on with a quick nod. Damon stared at the glowing red orb and tried to think back on the summer days when he would spend hours listening to the WWN programming. He closed his eyes, took a breath and just set his brain to autopilot. He pretended he was a newscaster and spoke.
"We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news developing as we speak. The accused murderer and Death Eater Walden MacNair has reportedly evaded Hit Wizard custody, stolen himself a wand and killed Tobias Longfellow. Again, Walden MacNair has killed Tobias Longfellow."
Damon took a breath. He was glad to have been working at the WWN this week, having passed by countless fliers detailing Walden MacNair and Tobias Longfellow. He knew their stories almost as well as he knew himself. "Longfellow testified today in front of the Wizengamot against MacNair, and after the trial, MacNair went after Longfellow, eventually killing him." He flipped through some of the papers that Anastasia had given him. "Sources say that various people inside the Ministry including one of our correspondents from the WWN have been stunned or injured. It is said that MacNair is not attempting to flee the Ministry, but rather word has spread that he is waiting for a group of dispatched Aurors to arrive on the scene.
As we know, the trial for MacNair began nearly two weeks ago when--" An owl suddenly flew in and dropped a letter in Damon's hands. He ripped it open quickly and read it even faster.
"This just in," he said loudly, "Aurors are reportedly on the scene and engaging Walden MacNair in combat. I repeat, Aurors are on the scene. We are urging everyone to please keep away from the Ministry of Magic building as it has been deemed an incredibly unsafe area for the time being."
A slew of about four more owls swooped in and dropped some more letters on Damon. He tried his best to open them all and get the news out as quickly as possible. At one point, there were unconfirmed reports that Auror Interns Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were on the scene as well. Owls continued to swoop in for the entire hour as Damon sorted through the news and delivered it as it came in. Finally, one of the letters came in with an Express Owl. Damon hurriedly opened it and read,
"This just in! Walden MacNair has been killed. I repeat, Walden MacNair is dead. It is said that Auror Patrick Proudfoot has taken him down. The standoff which has lasted for almost an hour is finally over. Our reports say that no one was seriously injured and that the only two deceased are Walden MacNair and Tobias Longfellow. Again, the standoff with Walden MacNair and the Aurors is finally over, ending with the death of accused murderer and Death Eater Walden MacNair and the only witness to the case, Tobias Longfellow.
We thank you for staying with us throughout this broadcast and pray that everyone has managed to remain safe during this standoff at the Ministry. Reporting for the WWN, this is Damon Harper." He grinned over at Anastasia who grinned back at him from the other side of the glass.
"We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming."
"Aaaaaaand we're out!" Anastasia came running into the room as Damon pulled off his headset and sighed loudly. He couldn't believe what he had just done. Anastasia threw her arms around him in a tight hug. "That was brilliant, Damon!"
Damon hugged her back and laughed. He was still on a high from having done that newscast. It was such a rush. "That felt amazing," he said.
She pulled back from him and looked into his eyes before planting a long, deep kiss on his lips, which Damon eagerly returned. By the time they pulled away, they were both ridiculously out of breath. "I think there's a broom closet over there," Damon said nodding in the direction of the hallway. Anastasia needed no further hints. She took his hand and dragged him into the closet, slamming the door shut with the two of them inside.
About a half hour later, Damon reemerged from the closet looking rather disheveled and trying to get his tie back on straight. His head was spinning, but he couldn't keep the big, stupid grin off his face.
"Damon! Damon!"
Damon turned at the sound of his name to find (much to his horror) his mother and father approaching him. He hurriedly tried to fix his hair, though his parents seemed entirely too distracted by his recent news broadcast to be worried about the state of his hair.
"We heard you! That was brilliant, son!" His mother said.
"You did? It was?" Damon was still a bit dizzy from everything that had just happened.
"Yes," his father said, "And we're very proud of you."
"You are?" This was about as shocking as having to do the news live with absolutely no training whatsoever.
"Of course we are," his mother said. "Come, son. We're going to take you out for lunch."
And Damon nodded, allowing his mother and father to take him off. Before they turned the corner though, Damon glanced back and saw Anastasia standing at the doorway of the closet. She winked at him, and he smiled and waved before being dragged off by his parents.