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Tweak says, "Brian Kinney for President!"

Justin Finch-Fletchley (jeezjustin) wrote in intothefire_rpg,
@ 2011-06-01 21:15:00

Who: Justin Finch-Fletchley and Michael Corner
What: Michael shows up at the Ministry and needs rescuing.
Where: The Ministry of Magic
When: Wednesday afternoon.
Rating: Low

The Ministry was an ants nest of activity, throbbing with bodies, spells roping off areas, hitwizards holding back journalists, Aurors haunting around dangerously. Office memos filled the air like shoals of fish, narrowly avoiding each other and the people crowding around.
The Ministry was in turmoil, and Michael had walked right into the centre of it!

And now Justin was rushing down through the corridors, poking his head into side offices until he finally located the one he needed, the one where the Hitwizard was keeping Michael Corner.
"Hello, Justin Finch-Fletchley. I'm the under-secretary," He said quickly, "That guy, he's my friend, it's ok. You can let him go, he didn't have anything to do with this."

"We're questioning everyone, Mr Fletchley," The Hitwizard replied.
Justin rolled his eyes, "It's Finch-Fletchley, and I know that, but he's here to bring me some important documents, and I need him to come with me now."

The hitwizard was torn, but finally conceded to give Michael back his wand and released him into Justin's custody.
"I told you not to come," Justin sighed and leaned against the wall, pressing his hand to his forehead.

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jeezjustin
2011-06-02 12:56 pm UTC (link)

"It's ok," Justin replied, giving Michael a soft smile, "I'm actually quite glad someone gave me the chance to escape out of my office. Everytime I managed to get one person to leave another would show up along with sixty memos all fluttering about over my head. It's... well this whole thing is like some horrible nightmare..."

He tapped his fingers along the desk next to him four times and shook his head, "I keep expecting to wake up, you know? I keep expecting to see Kingsley sweep in dramatically. He was so good at managing insane crowds...people are talking as if this is the return of You-Know-Who..."
For the first time since that morning, Justin felt his eyes fill with tears. All the chaos and panic and people desperate to find a leader, Justin had yet to have a chance to grieve over his friend's premature demise.

He cleared his throat, trying to stop any tears actually falling, less someone from the Daily Prophet was floating around looking for a photo opportunity. Showing the hint of weakness was now out of the question, not if he wanted to become the Minister of Magic in Kinglsey's place...
"I'm glad you came," He said again, the barest sound of a crack in his voice.

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mecorner
2011-06-02 03:34 pm UTC (link)

Michael could only nod for the moment, listening to Justin speak, keeping his hand on his friend's arm as though offering him his own confidence to help him deal with everything.

"It can't be. It can't be You-Know-Who. He's gone. And we'd have known if there were any others strong enough to replace him so soon-" Michael said, wondering if this were actually the case and whether he could believe it himself.

"Here-" He reached into his bag (searched and found to be lacking in anything foul or risky) and offered Justin a bottle of water. "It's a whisky and coke. Secretly. Just to take the edge off." Michael knew already that there were people running around for the Prophet and other media, and that Justin needed to look professional right now. "What say I come and help you for an hour or so? Even if it's just replying to memos...distracting little buggers, they are."

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jeezjustin
2011-06-02 10:12 pm UTC (link)

"Michael, you know I can't drink that," Justin frowned and shook his head. But the sounds outside the office door were growing louder as memos and Ministry officials took to the corridors in search of order. Justin glanced at the door before snatching the bottle and taking a sip.

"You're going to get me fired.." He mumbled with a slight smile, which grew as Michael offered his assistance.
"Hey! Why don't you come up now? I really could use someone to sort stuff out, and you're an unfamiliar face, so no one will bother you, and I'd really appreciate it.."

The door burst open for a moment as someone shoved their head inside, "Sorry, looking for Murphy-Andrews. Seen him? No? Ok-" He vanished just as quickly as he'd come, leaving the door open to the outside pandemonium. Justin took hold of Michael's elbow and led him out toward the elevator, "You don't mind do you?"

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mecorner
2011-06-03 08:55 am UTC (link)

Michael appeared to be taking in the insane amount of bustle with a manner that said he'd seen it all before. Inside, though, he was actually quite nervous. But he had to stay calm for Justin. And in turn Justin's resulting organisation would keep him on track.

"I wouldn't let you get fired," he said, not really in time to be a reply to Justin's statement, just casually tagged onto the end as he was lead towards the lifts. "I don't mind. I offered, after all." Michael turned to give his friend a reassuring smile. He could organise and archive like the best of them, maybe not to Justin's obsessive standards, but good enough.

"But seriously, you, how are you holding up?"

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jeezjustin
2011-06-03 01:41 pm UTC (link)

Justin punched the number into the lift as another flock of memos swept into the cubical and set about drifting lazily above their heads as they waited to ascend to Justin's office.

"I don't have time to worry about me," He replied to Michael, running his fingers through his hair. He glanced at his friend and took another swig from the 'water bottle' before returning it, "As soon as the Ministry stops collapsing under its own weight, then I can worry about me. How do I look?"

He fiddled with his hair a little, but there was very little that could stop him looking tired, bedraggled and over-worked. The doors to the lift dinged open, and the memos zipped away, straight into Justin's office at the end of the corridor. He sighed and signalled for Michael to follow.
"If anyone asks, you're my personal assistant, and we're not giving any comments at the moment ok?" He whispered, as a few people looked out of other offices to see who'd arrived, "Ok... ok let's get into my office!"

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mecorner
2011-06-03 03:58 pm UTC (link)

"You look dapper and not at all like you're about to crack under pressure," Michael said, patting Justin on the back.

Personal Assistant sounded so much better than retail assistant, and Michael straightened up a little as he walked, wanting to give off the air of someone who could be trusted with such a role.

The memo's flying around Justin's office were making the most irritating noise, some crashing into each other, some into the walls, others flapping, damaged and helpless, on the carpet and desk.

He picked one up and scrutinised it. Block capitals. OFFICIAL SEARCH WARRANT OBTAINED. For what it didn't say, but he put it in a pile of things-that-couldn't-really-be-dealt-with, mentally devising other piles of 'New news' 'Stuff Justin has to do' and 'Other crap for me'. He figured unless it required Justin's signature, he was more than capable of dishing out an abundance of 'No Comment's and making sure no information leaked.

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jeezjustin
2011-06-03 10:28 pm UTC (link)

As they stepped into his office, Justin froze for a moment, his eyes wide, barely able to breathe. It felt like his throat was closing up!
The mess!

He caught himself and quickly brushed it off, racing to his chair so he could begin to tackle the mounting piles of papers.
"Anything that doesn't look important, just... just shove it straight in the bin ok?" He said, dragging a quill and ink towards himself so he could start tackling the memos.

"I'm sorry about this Michael. I know you didn't come here with the plan to read through boring inter-departmental chatter-" He apologised, though he didn't lift his eyes from the papers he was reading, "It.. it'll only be for a little while. Just till we can make a bit of a dent in this mess-"

He swallowed heavily and scribbled something shakily on a memo before sending it off back down the corridor. And then another. And another.
Yes. Small steps.
It would be peaceful again soon.

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mecorner
2011-06-04 08:34 am UTC (link)

"I came here to help-" Michael said distractedly as he wrestled a memo into the bin that had far too many kisses on the end of it to be serious. He glanced in Justin's direction, keeping a vigilant eye on him. "Make sure you're breathing, Just. I can't forge your signature, God knows I've tried-"

It was a feeble attempt at being funny. Why would he ever need to forge Justin's signature? Michael rolled his eyes at himself and shoved another excessively kissy memo into the bin.

"Bit of a heartthrob," he said, mainly to himself because Justin had no time for such small talk.

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jeezjustin
2011-06-04 05:39 pm UTC (link)

Justin groaned and shook his head, "If I have one more memo from the girls down in Wizarding Resources asking me out to lunch or for drinks after work I'm actually going to scream."

He dropped his quill back into the inkpot and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to attempt to rub the ink from his stained fingers, but it was determined to stay put.

"I think we're getting through the bulk of it," Justin murmured, eyeing the pile building up in his bin. He reached forward and started organising the remaining papers on his desk into a neat pile, organised by size, smaller parchment on top of larger.
"It's days like this I don't think I'd actually be cut out for Minister. I don't know what I would've done if you weren't here..." He paused and looked up at Michael.
"Would you like a job?" He asked seriously, before realising he might offend his companion, "Oh, no, I mean, I know you already possess one, but, well I mean, I could probably double your salary-" Hell he could probably triple the salary of a bookshop boy, "-and I thought it might be nice to get away from the books.. possibly?"

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mecorner
2011-06-04 08:25 pm UTC (link)

Michael laughed softly, lifting his eyes to look at Justin. "When was the last time you dated, Just?" Again, maybe this wasn't the right time for this, but then again perhaps a little distraction would be better. Help Justin organise himself.

He'd gone back to sorting through the notes and rolled his eyes to himself when Justin put himself down. Again and again. He froze, though, when his friend spoke again.

For a moment Michael was offended. Double his salary, yeah, he was eating noodles every night. Seriously. But he loved the books. He did- here- well- But-

Lifting his eyes once more, Michael looked at Justin as though seeing him for the first time. "You want to employ me? Mr. Finch-Fletchley-"

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jeezjustin
2011-06-05 10:51 am UTC (link)

A smile played at the edge of Justin's lips. He linked his fingers and placed his hands on his desk seriously and gave Michael his most serious of looks.
"I am, indeed, offering you a job. It has come to my attention that I will require a personal assistant in the coming months. I shall double your current pay per annum, though that can be negotiated if you should see fit. You'll be required to wear a suit or neat, black, robes, and your hours will be nine til five thirty, unless required to remain further into the night. How does that sound?" He grinned, because he couldn't help himself.

Part of him wasn't sure if he was offending Michael or not. But he was deadly serious about needing a personal assistant. Without Kingsley, and without an immediate plan to replace him, all Minister decisions would probably end up falling onto a committee made up of those directly below him. Which meant even more of Justin's time would be disappearing. Michael would definitely be the breath of fresh air he needed in his life, and he seemed pretty adept at dealing with masses of paperwork.
Though, what had his father always warned him? Never hire your friends...

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