We've a Rat in Our Midst [Frida]

Today had been a great day for Marcus Wentworth, right until yet nother shipment of brooms had come in with not a single normal broom. It had been an issue for a couple of months now, that this man who (no surprise) operated out of Knockturn Alley had been sending in cursed or faulty brooms and Marcus had finally decided to put a stop to it. Honestly he didn't even understand why people sent in faulty brooms anyway, the office always caught the illegalitys, but some bozo just didn't seem to get it.

Of course, Marcus couldn't go alone, especially in Knockturn Alley. That would be stupid. And dangerous. So he had asked none other than Frida Trickett to come with him. They made a good team, really. Marcus wasn't exactly the most . . . subtle, and he had a bit of a temper. Frida, on the other hand, was more . . . gentle, likeable even, and hopefully the two of them could sort this guy out.

Marcus had made plans with Frida to meet by the entrance of Knockturn Alley soon after lunch, but typical Marcus had gotten there early so that he could scope out the establishment. If it could be called that. The shop was a rundown, two-story, brick building whose leaning walls and boarded up windows looked shoddily built. It wasn't such a mystery that the brooms had come from there. Immediately after observing the place, Marcus had gone to the Leaky Cauldron for some food. Now Finished with his meal, the man made his way back to the meeting place. Frida still wasn't there, and it was only one minute until their appointed meeting time. Marcus hoped she wasn't late, tardiness was something Marcus absolutely despised, and besides, he still had loads of work left to do after this.

The working day had been very exciting for Frida so far, but then again, every day was exciting for Fri! Work had been going well for the Trickett in the Broom Regulation Office until things turned into a chaotic kind of exciting events. A new batch of brooms had come in where all of them had curses or faults that had occurred! It was alarming that someone would try to do such a thing, but the brunette reminded herself that she wouldn't have a job if the didn't.

Marcus had asked her to accompany him to Knockturn Alley, where they would seek out the 'offender' together. This meant an adventure was to be had! The sunshine had never been to Knockturn Alley before although she had tried to visit it several other times. She was always stopped by her brothers and was told it was dangerous. Danger was sometimes exciting! Besides, how did they know it was dangerous.... They claimed the had never been there before either.

As she ran down the cobbled streets towards the meeting place, Frida giggled full of mirth thinking about how much fun this little trip would be and the fact that Marcus had requested her! Spotting the Head of the Broom Regulation Office from afar, she skipped along yelling "Marcus! Hi!" Stopping in front of him, she started to bounce on her heels as the Hufflepuff alumna chattered in a rapid frenzy. "Where's the place? What are we doing? Have you been to Knockturn Alley before? I haven't! Its all very exciting! It will be another adventure to add to the books, so to speak! Will we be using magic? If so, I'll be ready!" And with that she pulled out her wand with a few sparks flying out the pocket of her coat before she held it tightly with her right hand. She was indeed ready for some (enthusiastic) action!

Well, at least she was on time. The goal was to be inconspicuous, but a woman in flowy robes skipping down the street shouting wasn't exactly discreet. As his coworker bounced to a halt in front of him, Marcus linked his arm through hers and said quietly, "Hello Frida. Will you stop bouncing please? You're drawing a lot more attention than I would have hoped. We aren't hoping for confrontation, we just want to slip past everybody and into the shop all the way at the bottom of the alleyway. Try to hold in your excitement, or at least walk normally, Knockturn Alley is where a lot of Dark Wizards go. We're trying to blend in."

Turning onto the dark street with arms still linked, Marcus began to answer her questions "The place is all the way down at the very end of the street. I went by it earlier and wasn't very impressed. It's not exactly the nicest shop so I'm just trying to prepare you. Ideally, we'll just see why he's sending in the faulty brooms and get him to stop." Avoiding a puddle of . . . something green, Marcus continued, "Hush Frida, not quite so loud. Yes, I’ve been in here several times before which is how I know not only where to find the establishment but also that Knockturn Alley can be very very dangerous. Now if you can just keep from looking like a child in a candy shop long enough for us to get into the shop then you can be as excited as you want.” At her last question . . . and sparks, he quickly finished with, “Hopefully, we won’t have to use any magic. We aren’t going to fight. We’re almost there Frida, you can shoot lots of sparks when we get inside, but don’t do it out here.” Just then they reached the end of the winding street and Marcus guided his coworker over to the shabby building.

Releasing her arm, the man held the door open for Frida to enter then closed it after himself. Not only was it rundown on the outside, but it was just as shabby, if not more so, on the inside. The Ministry workers were in the correct place, that much was obvious by the brooms and broom pieces lining every wall.  A big man, not only in height but also in width, shouted at them from across the room. Oi! What’re you two doin’ in ‘ere?” Marcus wasn’t quite sure about his decision of bringing Frida along with him but he figured now was as good a time as any to let her prove herself. “Would you like to tell him Frida?” He muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. The big man stopped whatever he had been doing in the back to approach them, stopping only a few feet away. “What are you whispering about?” He said suspiciously.

To say she was excited was an understatement. Frida could hardly concentrate on anything she was supposed to. When her co worker linked arms with her, she giggled before resting her hand calmly on Marcus's forearm. "How can I not bounce? This is far too exciting to even think about being calm! Attention? Are we not meant to draw attention? Oh. That sounds boring! What if there are friendly people here? They might get upset if we don't say hi to them! But I'll try my best Marcus! My wand might shoot sparks though..." Fri looked up at Marcus, eyes searching his face. "I'm sure they aren't all bad! They might even be really nice!"

Trying to walk in tune with the fellow Ministry worker, but also expend the extra energy, Frida half skipped along side him, listening intently to his answers. "Is it ugly? Run down?Maybe thats why the broom are so bad... They may be poor! Oh the poor dears! Could we help them somehow? Is that even part of our job?" As much as Frida liked the idea of the trip, she didn't want to tell anyone off! That'd be mean and the brunette had made a promise to herself to be as nice as possible to everyone! "Well, I think you worry too much Marcus! It doesn't look dangerous at all! In fact, look at all the new things to see!" She giggled, eyes sparkling at the sight of so many fascinating things. "I can? YAY! I am so, so, so excited! Thanks for bringing me, Marcus!"

They were almost there? Great! Her wand fizzled a tiny amount more as she began searching for the shop. "We won't? Good! I don't wanna fight anyone! I couldn't hurt anyone! That would be so cruel! Oh. Oops... Sorry! My wand kind of does it on its own accord!" The Hufflepuff alumna watched him guide her to the place. It looks so.. so... pathetic. "Thats it? Is it even classed as a building? Poor dears! They really need some help on both exterior and presumably interior design!"

Walking through the open door, Fri gasped at what she saw. It was an... interesting sight. A very large man yelled at them and the Trickett turned to look at him with her sweetest smile. After all, perhaps he was slightly deaf? Hearing Marcus mutter to her, she turned her head with a grin and said "Leave it to me!"

Focusing her attention back the man, Frida started to rapidly babble. "Hi! We weren't whispering about anything important, honest! Oh! I'm rambling, sorry! I'm Frida Trickett and this is my partner Marcus, we represent the Broom Regulation Office at the Ministry of Magic! Anyway, we've received quite a few faulty brooms that we've traced back to your...uh... humble establishment, can we just look around your premises please? Just standard procedure!" Frida took a large gulp of air in after finishing her last sentence. She continued to confidently smile at the large man and she realised she'd just said all that she had said by herself! Excited to a maximum degree, her wand began to twitch in her pocket. Giggling, she pulled it out as a cascade of pretty yellow and white sparks fell down. Catching them in her hand, she laughed whilst saying "Sorry! That happens sometimes!"

Frida's excitement was contagious, even if it was just a little bit, and Marcus could feel enthusiasm building up in the pit of his stomach. Really, this only slightly interesting thing that he had done in months. The Slytherin alumnus had fallen prone to the monotony of office work, doing the same thing, following the same routine, for days, weeks, and going on months. It was ridiculous. But, then they had issues to break up the routine. Secretly, Marcus was grateful for the troubles, it gave him something other than paperwork and overseeing to do, but of course, he couldn't openly display his feelings, he had a reputation to uphold. "Well, you just have to plant your feet and keep the spring out of your step, and then you aren't bouncing anymore. Simple. Honestly though, please stop bouncing. It isn't even that exciting. At most, we will probably end up confiscating some supplies. Nothing at all really." After a moment of thought, Marcus continued, "Well, the excitement will be in the shop, yeah? And trust me, they won't be upset if we don't say hello. If anything, that would make them suspicious, and we wouldn't want that, would we?"


Now Marcus was starting to get annoyed. Frida was so . . . talkative. And inquisitive. And so happy. How on Earth was one woman so joyful all the time? It didn't even make sense! She was a grown woman and yet, she didn't have the maturity, or the experience, to be an adult, and sometimes she really got on the man's nerves. Over the years, Marcus found that it helped to think of her like a child. The trick was to avoid talking to her like she was a child. "It isn't necessarily ugly, and it isn't rundown as in poor, it's more like they have money, but the owners are stingy and greedy and would rather hoard their money, instead of repairing their shop. And no, we can't help them." Marcus resisted a snort as Frida basically called him a worry wart. "Things aren't always as they seem." He chided. Hopefully he could instill some caution in his friend. "And you're welcome."

Completely ignoring the first several sentences - and the sparkles - of her speech, and coughed out a laugh. Her reaction to the pathetic shack was absolutely priceless. "Yes," he said after a moment, "this is it. Fully classed as a building and everything. And trust me, if they wanted it to look differently, it would look differently. They don't need any help." Marcus listened carefully as Frida took the reins. Much to his surprise, she actually did very well, until the end that is, when sparks exploded from her wand. Typical Frida, at least she had caught them. The big man didn't look very happy, or impressed. In attempt to smooth things over, he hastily added, "Excuse my associate sir, she's very, er, excitable." However, instead of consoling the man, it only seemed to enrage him more. With a face beet red, the man belted at them.

"Ministry rats! I don't like no Ministry rats."

Before Marcus could say anything, he felt a sharp pain in his head and his legs crumple beneath him. "Frida!" He gasped in both surprise and pain. The man had obviously assaulted him "Do something." And the whole world went black. He had been knocked out, and he didn't even feel himself being slung over the man's shoulder as the man ran up the stairs. He was completely unaware of his wand being taken and being typed in a chair. Hopefully Frida could do something about this.

Why was Marcus asking her to curb her enthusiasm? Wasn't she supposed to enjoy work? He was making walking sound so easy, but for Frida, walking normally just wasn't an option. "How else am I meant to rid myself of extra energy? Besides, I normally walk like this. Have you never noticed? It is exciting! It might not be for you, Mister Head of office but it is for me!" Continuing her mini bouncy walk with ease, she looked up at Marcus with eyes sparkling as he continued to talk. "Yeah! Of course! People being suspicious because I say hello to them? That sounds silly, Marcus! Are you making this up?"

Hearing Marcus talk about the shop made the Hufflepuff alumna's mind wander in all sorts of directions. If a shop was run down, why would anyone who had the money to spare not do anything about it? It made no sense! What else were they meant to spend the money on? Some things that made her most happy in life needed no money at all and so she'd saved hers for more materialistic things such as making her home look pretty. "Oh? But why would anyone do that? Hoarding money wouldn't make me happy at all, especially if I couldn't fulfill basic needs because of it! That is just pointless!" The brunette raised an eyebrow at her co worker as he gave her a cryptic response. What was it supposed to mean? "Like... surprises? I love surprises, they make me so excited!"

As Marcus confirmed that it was, indeed, a building, the Trickett let out a snort. "Well, for the record I must say its a terrible building. I'm concerned the roof might cave in on our heads!" Despite it being a perfectly serious comment, Frida giggled, eyes aglow with mirth, as if a roof caving in would be good fun!

Even though she'd been very friendly to the big man, he didn't seem too happy... Maybe he'd had a bad day? As Marcus tried to appease him, Fri sent a quizzical look his way. "Is that a quip? Being excitable is a good thing! Right, sir?" Perhaps making personal conversation with the man would make him happier?

Frida frowned as the big man yelled at them. Apparently not. "We're not rats! And I'm not a rat animagi either! Although that would certainly be fun! Think of all the adventures you could have!" She clapped her hand quickly against her wand in excitement right before chaos became a reality.

As Marcus gasped Fri whirled to see him collapsing to the floor. Uh oh. What was she supposed to do? Why did the man attack? Would she have to continue... solo? Ooh, how exciting! ... "Marcus?" Frida was curious as to why his eyes were now closed. This was no time for sleeping! As the big man ran up with Marcus atop his shoulder, the Trickett did her best to sprint up the stairs in pursuit. When she caught up with them, he was tying her co worker to a chair. Why was the man attacking them? She didn't want to hurt him back... That would be unjustifiably cruel! Maybe, they could talk it out? Yes! That was a plan!

Bouncing on her heels, Frida piped up "Why did you attack my co worker, sir? That wasn't particularly nice... We're just doing our job! Besides, he didn't do anything to you! I'm... technically the one at fault. So, I should be the one you attack, not Marcus." Stepping closer to the man, and therefore to Marcus, Frida looked up at the large man with a mound of passion. "If you're worried that we'd close your premises, you shouldn't be! I've read the handbook several times and it says we can only take faulty items! And I know you wouldn't have all faulty items! And we could help you buy good materials, so that your brooms are viable to sell! Otherwise, you're losing out on a lot of galleons... and I'd hate to see a broom company go out of business!" The brunette giggled, youth and innocence being the only things conveyed in her tone of voice.

"If you don't mind sir, I'd like to untie my co worker and have his wand, ready to return it to him as soon as possible. Actually, if you could lift the... curse? I'd be very grateful! You have nothing to fear from me, I'd never hurt you!" Frida giggled again, still relaxed about the situation, but that would soon change.

Honestly, if Marcus hadn't liked Frida so much, he would have hexed her on the spot. People were glaring at them left and right and Marcus was beginning to feel increasingly uncomfortable. "Please Frida, isn't there any way you could walk a little more like the rest of us? People are starting and I don't like it. And don't you dare call hello to any of them. It's not silly, and I'm not making it up."

When his co-worker questioned the reasoning of a hoarder of gallons, Marcus resisted the urge to give up. No, Frida obviously needed to be taught, and if he could help then he would. "Have you ever heard of greed?" The man began slowly, choosing his words carefully, "The owner is very greedy and wants money just for the sake of having money. Of course, he can afford the bare necessities, but why would he? His goal is to obviously make his dump of a workplace look as uninviting as possible. That way, people like us are less likely to bother him. And no, not at all like surprises. Well, just a bit, but not in a happy kind of way. More in a disappointing kind of way." Hopefully she had understood.

The man was obviously very angry with them, and to Marcus, Frida wasn't helping much with her input. "No Frida, it wasn't a quip. I'm serious. Now is not the time for talk about animagi!"

The man, when Frida had caught up to him, (Marcus was still unconscious) was still fuming, but didn't see Frida as a threat, so he didn't have the urge to tie her up quite yet. She didn't seem like she could do anything harmful anyway. When questioned about his motives for tying the ministry worker up, the man merely grunted, not feeling a more elaborate response necessary."And I'm just doing my job." He said with a sickly smile when Frida attempted to justify their reasoning for intruding on the shop and take the blame upon herself. To the man, Frida didn't seem very smart and he vaguely wondered how she had ever gotten a job with the Ministry. "I already have good materials!" He began defensively, glancing back to where Marcus was tied up behind him, "It don't matter what you say anyway. Your kind don't help. They only hurt."

Once again the man was getting fired up. Frida was really starting to get on his nerves, and it didn't seem like the encounter was going to improve any time soon. In fact, it became worse as Frida tried to retrieve her co-worker. At first, the man had to laugh, deep and loud, at the fact that she thought that he had cursed Marcus. "Ha! I didn't curse the fool! I smacked him on the head with my hammer! He won't be waking up for a while, I can't do nothing about a hammer to the head, and when he does wake up, he'll have a nasty bruise." His glee was spirited away as he remembered her attempt to retrieve Marcus. No, this was not tolerable. "Of course you can't have him or his wand back." He answered with a hideous sneer, "And I think I'll have to capture you as well." Picking up Marcus' wand, the man pointed it at Frida, moving closer, almost within his arm's reach before bellowing a "Stupefy!"

Frida giggled at the desperation of her co-worker but then realised she didn't want Marcus to get angry at her and so she attempted to obey the request. Her gait began to slow a little and she did extremely well to suppress the big bounces, yet the brunette still had a chipper bob up and down going on. It was as close to normal as she was going to get. "Haha! How's this? Any better, mister grumpy-pants?" At her quip, she held her breath to contain her laughter for a few seconds before spluttering everywhere and giggling as shamelessly as a schoolgirl. "Fine, I won't then. I shall say it to each and everyone of them in my mind." For unnecessary dramatic effect, Fri raised her hands to her temples and closed her eyes. ...At least until her heels caught in a cobblestone causing her to wobble and flap her arms like a demented chicken.

Listening to Marcus' voice with amusement, the Hufflepuff alumna couldn't help but roll her eyes. Of course she'd heard of greed! She wasn't two! Sure, she didn't actually believe it even existed but it still counted, right? "Of course I have! But no one actually has it! Its just a silly story... Isn't it?" Frida didn't like where the Slytherin alumnus was heading with this. He was making the owner sound absolutely horrid! How did he know? Had Marcus met them? "You're not making him sound very nice, Marcus! Why would anyone do that? That's just... just horrifying!" Her ever smiling mouth struggled to maintain a happy expression as she gasped at the thought of a disappointing surprise. "But... but... disappointing surprises don't exist!"

The Trickett just couldn't understand what she'd done wrong to make this big man so angry. She was positive she'd followed procedure and was even at her friendliest! Although the situation was indeed becoming more serious, Frida still beamed and produced a little giggle as Marcus told her it wasn't 'the time for talk about animagi'. "Oh? Why not? We've got plenty of time before we need to be back at the office and the procedure won't take that long, so we have lots of time for chit-chat!"

Trying her hardest not to puff and pant from the physical exertion, the sunny woman still managed to have a ghost of a smile on her face. She was utterly determined to be positive about the situation and no amount of intimidation from this silly person would change that! "Really? I thought a broom maker's job was to make brooms, not attack Ministry personnel." The man smiled at her! Maybe he wasn't so bad after all? Fri returned the smile tenfold, with a grin that could only be described as 'what would happen if Frida's mouth had a million gigawatts passed through it.' The brunette put a hand over her mouth as she giggled whilst glancing around the so-called 'good materials'. "Oh... well... we could get you... higher quality materials? Personally, I don't find a broomstick that snapped before I could even examine it as being made from good materials." Frida gasped in shock before smacking both her hands (and wand) over her mouth. Had she really just said that? Did that come out of her mouth? It made her sound rude! "This just isn't true! I'm trying to help! I'm not hurting you either! I'm sorry if you've had a bad experience with Ministry workers before but I promise you we aren't all nasty! Most are like me! Very, very friendly!"

As the man laughed Fri hesitated. It was a very loud laugh and (for once) it didn't sound very encouraging. Fri wasn't to be intimidated though and the Trickett stood her ground, still wearing the ever present smile. "Oh! I'm sorry... that was quite rude of me to assume so! But... even so, that still wasn't nice. What if he has a concussion? I don't want him to have a bruise! He'll be cranky! ...How big was the hammer? It must have been awfully big to have made Marcus collapse. He always seems so strong!" She giggled full of mirth, momentarily forgetting the current state of affairs. She couldn't have his wand? Spoilsport. her smile became a thing of the past at the suggestion of being captured. What was she doing wrong with this negotiation and diplomacy? Why did this man want to attack them so badly? Her mind quickly registered what was about to happen as soon as he began to lift his arm. It was safe to assume Frida was lacking in many things such as common sense and ... common sense but it was dangerous to underestimate her intelligence or wand skill. A mistake this man had just made.

Almost like a ninja, the Trickett positioned herself defensively yelling out a simple but very effective "Protego!" before the man had even finished his incantation. Rightly confident in her ability to hold the strong protection charm for a long period of time, Frida began to babble. "Why are you doing this? What do you want from me? I told you already, we're not here to harm anyone! We just want to help everyone we can! Please, just let me grab Marcus and then we'll apparate out of here and you'll never hear from us again!" Well, half of that true. As much as it was going to pain her to do it, Fri knew that the first thing she was doing was heading straight to the Aurors so that they could deal with this monstrous man. Casting a nervous glance Marcus' way, Frida paled at the state he was in. On second thought, she'd go with Marcus to St. Mungos first.

The gravity of the situation hit upon her hard and the strength of her emotions made her magic falter and her shield spell begin to fail. In a rare moment of her true intelligence showing, the Hufflepuff realised she'd have to go on the offense if she wanted to defend herself. Despite this, her mind foolishly recast a weak shield charm in order to buy her a few more seconds as the sunny woman decided to first focus on the welfare of her co-worker. If only he was actually conscious... then Frida could actually focus on the more pressing situation at hand. Lowering her shield charm, the happy-go-lucky Frida seemed to be no more transforming into a furious and genuinely frightening woman, as she screamed at the top of lungs "MARCUS!" before waving her wand and slaughtering the big horrid man in a torrent of spells, all of which were highly advanced and therefore rather unexpected. "Sternuo! Incarcerous! Levicorpus!" The Trickett managed a wisp of a smile as she considered the fact that she hadn't cast a spell that would cause damage to the man. No matter how much suffering the man would cause her, she just couldn't bring herself to hurt anyone.

Thank Merlin that Frida started to walk normal. Or, more normal anyway. She was still bouncing a little bit, but it was much less noticeable. Oh well, it would have to do. "Yes, it's loads better." He replied, and as she burst out laughing, added, "And I'm not grumpy Frida, I just take my work seriously." In Marcus' opinion, walking with one's eyes closed wasn't a good idea, but that was what Frida was doing. Until she stumbled. Marcus fought the urge to laugh as Frida's arms pinwheeled, a smile forming on his face and a snort escaping from his nose.

The ignorance of his coworker was astonishing. Greed was just a silly story? How dense could one get? "Of course people have it. What makes you think that it is a silly story? Yes, greed is real and the owner of this, fine establishment," he said with a hefty amount of sarcasm, "is quite greedy." When Frida accused him of making the owner sound unkind, Marcus made an odd, strangled sort of sound. "That's because he isn't a nice man. Not at all! I don't know his reasoning, honestly, and I don't really care." When Frida's disbelief became apparent, Marcus ignored her. She would find out eventually, he was sure of that.

The big man was furious when Frida insulted his materials. "I don't. Need. No. Materials. If you snapped one, then that ain't my fault, it's yours!" Oh, how he wished he had his hammer, so he could wallop her in the head. "It is true!" He said with renewed ferocity, "You idiots came her to steal my supplies and close down my shop, and I won't stand for it! I won't! And if them Ministry Rats is like you say they are, then they must all be really annoying. Just. Like. You."

Everything was black. There was nothing, anywhere. No smells, no sight, no feeling, no sounds, no thoughts, until suddenly, a piercing scream cut through the nothingness, "MARCUS!" Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow owwww! there was a splitting pain in his skull as Marcus was brought back to consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry and he couldn't remember where he was or why. As his vision cleared, the events of the past half hour came rushing back. Knockturn Alley, shabby building, large man, and horrible pain.

There were still quite a few holes in his memory, like why on earth was Frida looking threatening? Why was he tied to a chair? What the heck did the man hit him with? It hurt like nothing he had ever felt before. "Where is that little weasel?" Marcus muttered as he struggled against his bonds, boy was the large man going to be in trouble for assaulting a Ministry worker. Marcus glanced around the room, looking for a sign of the other man. And he was found. Twisting as much as his bindings would allow him he saw the big man in the corner behind him, hanging upside down in the air, tied up with thick cords, and holding Marcus' stolen wand. Marcus was rather confused, and his face clearly showed it. Had some other witch or wizard come while he was unconscious? No, that didn't make any sense, almost no one knew that they were there. But the only other person in the room was . . . Frida?

There was no way in Marcus' mind that kind, good tempered Frida, who never believed anything to be wrong with anybody, had done this. And yet, the determination in her eyes testified otherwise. Understanding dawned on him as he realized that it had, in fact, been Frida who had done this to the man. Several questions came to mind, most prominently if she would kindly untie him from the chair. "Frida," he began slowly, not wanting to upset her with her frightening expression, "what exactly did that man hit me with?" It hadn't even been one of his original questions, but had burst out as soon as his mouth was open. Now that he had said it, he wasn't even sure he wanted to know, but at the same time it would be nice to know what had happened.

Frida rolled her eyes with a smile as Marcus claimed her walking was much better. She still didn't see the issue with her normal walk but if it made Marcus happy then it made her happy too. Chuckling at 'Mr.Grumpy Pants' reply, Frida blurted out "Oh? Are you trying to say I don't take my work seriously? Because I do! Annnnnd... I'm not grumpy either!" She giggled, mentally picturing a grumpy version of herself with amusement. Rebalancing herself quickly Fri bounced along decreasing the distance between herself and Marcus and elbowing the man as he clearly snorted. She raised her eyebrows at him but still laughed contentedly to show she was not offended at all.

The sunny woman couldn't believe her ears. Did Marcus really think greed existed? She couldn't even begin to fathom what it would be like if such a horrible, horrible trait ever existed. "I will never believe it. My father always told me stories about it as the main focus and how we should never be like them... and to date I have never, ever, ever met a person who even comes remotely close to the characters in the stories. And since I know a lot of people, I firmly believe that it must not exist." Frida turned her head so that she was looking directly at the man with a quizzical expression on her face. Now she really was confused. The sarcasm used had completely flown over her head and she took Marcus's statement very seriously. "But... I thought you said it was a horrible place? Now you're saying its a fine establishment? I'm confused!" The Trickett couldn't understand how Marcus could just judge someone if they hadn't even met! What if the person just really misunderstood? What if the person was a really kind person who was just very unfortunate in life? "How...how can you know that if you've never met? I don't understand!"

The broom shop owner was so very and utterly confusing to the Hufflepuff alumna. Surely it was obvious that the materials weren't good enough and yet he still refused help? Why? "I'm so sorry but I have to disagree. I'm offering you help, why don't you accept it! I assure you sir, I took every precaution possible and it was near on impossible for me to break it and yet it still snapped. Perhaps if the broom was actually well made with good materials it would have never of happened, hmm?" Frida didn't like being so forceful with the man and it clearly showed on her face as she looked uncomfortable and worried, particularly as the man was already being so erratic. Did this big man have to make everything so difficult? Why would he not accept her kindness? "I told you we aren't here to 'steal' your supplies and certainly not close your shop down. It says in my handbook that you have to have Ministry personnel investigate the premises three times before we can close it down and as far as I'm aware this is your first inspection, yes?" Truthfully, Frida'd never really read the handbook in her life so she was making stuff up from the top of her head at that moment in time. After all, the man didn't know and anything to appease him was a blessing at that point. As the man called her annoying Fri stepped back in alarm, very genuinely shocked at his comment. She was annoying? Did other people think she was annoying too? Did her family think she was annoying? "I... I don't think they are annoying at all! And I'm... not..." She trailed her sentence off unsure whether she wanted to finish it. The big man's comment had really thrown her into a loop and Frida found it difficult to let go of it.

Watching with wide eyes at the final product of her spells made the brunette witch realise just what she had done. She had actually attacked the man. With spells. Using her wand (which half the time was used only to make sparks and sparkles). What had she done? The Trickett went slightly into shock, panicking internally at her frightening aggressiveness even if it was only for a second. Frida began shaking quite visibly all over her body and her steps were feeble as she weakly made her way over to man not realising Marcus was now conscious. Gently kneeling down she pried Marcus's wand out of his hand before hanging her head low and softly saying "I'm so sorry."

Now that the threat of the big scary man was out of the way with permanently, Fri stumbled over her own steps as she made her way to Marcus to untie his bonds. As she stopped in front of him the sound of her name made her leap in the air in fear, dropping both her own and Marcus's wands onto the the floor by his feet in shock. As Marcus asked her what happened her eyes kept flitting to the wands on the floor and the man suspended in the air in the corner, whilst holding her violently shaking hands. She still couldn't believe that she had attacked that man. She'd never attacked anyone before! The grief of what she had done was too much for the sunny woman to continue to hold onto her sunshine and the very rare tears of Frida began to pool in her eyes as she finally whispered the answer to his question. "A... a ... ha-hammer." She sniffed as her chin wobbled and the tears began to roll down her face. Dropping down to her knees beside Marcus she began to untie the bonds that he was held in, though the work was slow and messy since she couldn't see very well due to her tears and her hands were still shaking in shock. Eventually, she had finished her task and she began to rise again only to take one more look at her spells' handiwork and be overwhelmed with dysphoria. She collapsed down onto the floor sobbing loudly as she cried into Marcus's lap repeating the same two words of "I'm sorry!" over and over again.

He gave up! If she refused to believe in greed, so be it! "But how do you think he found out about it? Surely he must have known somebody. Of course you know lots of people, but those people are all nice and good. I, however, know a much more diverse range of people. Let's just agree to disagree, yes?" How had he forgotten? Marcus had learned long ago not to use sarcasm around Frida. It always went about a mile over her head, and this was no exception, she actually thought his comment about the dump was serious. "Of course you are" He mumbled before turning to explain, "You see, I was using sarcasm, which means that I meant the exact opposite of what I said. So when I said that it was a fine establishment, I really meant that the place is a dump, see?"

Well, she had a point, he never had met the owner, but Frida didn't know that. Besides, he had done some research on the shack and it's owner, and there was reputation to go off of. "How do you know I haven't met him?" He retorted, quite unconvincing, oh well, maybe Frida wouldn't notice "I don't live at the ministry, I do things after work." At least it wasn't a complete lie, Marcus had his own apartment that he lived in, but he really didn't do much other than work, eat, sleep, and organize his house.

The large man bristled. Either this ministry lady was an imbecile or she just didn't have a clue. Or both. He had already told her a number of times (he couldn't remember how many but it was probably higher than she could count) that he didn't need their help. He had his own materials and tools that worked perfectly, and if it weren't for these two dumb ministry rats he'd have a whole lot of money. "Oho!" He began, eyes narrowed into slits, "The kitty has claws! But," he continued, noting her expression, you don't look like you enjoy usin' 'em  much. Now, like I said before, I don't need no help lady!" The big man wished she would leave, talking to the woman was incredibly draining. There was a handbook? Well this was news to him, he hadn't known that before. The Big Man watched Frida with beady eyes as she stated exactly what her handbook said. So it took three investigations before they could close down the premises? Well, this certainly wasn't his first inspection, but the man didn't think it was his third either so he decided to count. "Hmm," He thought, trying to remember, "there was that time a year and a half ago, that was the first time, and then the second time nine months later, and now today . . ." Hey! This was the third time! The man's face turned a nasty shade of purpley-red as he bellowed, "YOU IDIOT WOMAN! THIS IS ME THIRD TIME BEING INSPECTED!" The corners of his mouth turned upwards into a hideous sneer. Ah, he had hit a nerve calling her annoying. He watched with satisfaction as she spluttered, trying to say that she wasn't irritating. "Oh yes you are, always sticking your nose where you don't belong. Now why don't you just leave your friend," he said, jerking his head to where Marcus was tied up, "and crawl back to your little broom cupboard where you can be annoying in peace."

"A HAMMER?!" He exclaimed, fighting against his bonds. At worst, Marcus had suspected being nailed by some homemade spell that had knocked him flat onto his back and he'd hit his head on the way down. The reality was much worse to him. No wonder it that hurt so much, a chunk of iron to the head could easily do more damage than a knock-out spell. What if his skull was cracked? What if he was bleeding? How much blood, if any, had he lost?  Marcus returned to his senses. Although his head was throbbing, it didn't feel quite broken, that was good. It was possible that he was bleeding, but it was unlikely that it was enough to be life threatening, that was also good. Great, no serious injury that he could detect. Now he could focus on other things. The man was still hanging unconscious in the corner, Frida was crying, and he was being unt- what? Frida was crying? Uh-oh, what had happened?

"Frida, are you . . ." He began, but stopped himself. Of course she wasn't okay, what kind of stupid question was that? However, the man had no idea what to say to her, so he patiently waited until he was untied. Even though it only took a few minutes, it felt to Marcus as if it took centuries. "Thank you." He said once the task was finished, rubbing his wrists where the ropes had cut into them. Barely a moment after he was free from the chair, Frida collapsed, crying harder than ever into his lap. "Frida!" He exclaimed, appalled at her behaviour, "What the . . . What are you . . ." Marcus sputtered for a moment before finally taking in what she was saying: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry over and over again. "It's okay Frida," he started, hoping that he could cheer his co-worker up, "I'm not injured, you don't have to be sorry for anything. If anything, I owe you my apologies. I should have done better research and been more aware so I wouldn't have been assaulted. And," he added, "if it hadn't been for your amazing wand work, Merlin only knows what and where I'd be, probably dead in a cellar somewhere." Perhaps he was exaggerating quite a bit, but Frida probably didn't know that. Hopefully it would cheer her up,  Marcus was rather uncomfortable with people crying, and the fact that it was Frida who was always in a bright and sunny mood made it even more awkward. "Now tell me what happened after I was hit."

She could not believe in greed! "Well, they are stories. They're completely made up, silly!" She giggled lightly before continuing, "They certainly all are nice! ... You mean you know some not nice people? Are they dangerous? Are they hurting you? If you need help, talk to Otto! You know, my really nice brother Auror? The one who is always talking to me in my breaks? You have met him before, haven't you? I'm sure you have! Anyway, my point is I want you to be happy and safe and for you to know lots of lovely people!" Marcus mumbled something but Frida thought that since it was mumbled it was clearly something he didn't wish for her to hear, (which was awfully sweet of him) and so she ignored it entirely. Sarcasm? She'd heard of sarcasm before, especially since a few family members tried to explain it to her, but she still didn't really get its purpose and value. "Why would you do that? It is really confusing! What is sarcasm for anyway? Please say what you mean! It saves time!"

Well... he did have a point there. The Trickett didn't know at all. So, Marcus had actually met him? "You mean you have met him?" Frida completely believed Marcus, missing his unconvincing air entirely. "Is he really that horrible? I'm sure he can't be! Are you just exaggerating?" Frida quickly raised an eyebrow at Marcus's follow up in shock. Was he angry at her for some reason? Why would that be? "I, I wasn't trying to mean that at all! I'd never assume that, Marcus! I'm sure you have lots of friends you spend your free time with! I mean you're very likeable, so you must have millions of friends!" Frida beamed brightly at her coworker, showing she was completely in earnest with her words.

Frida rarely, if ever, got irritated by anyone, she was naturally loving, gentle and extremely patient but this man was just taking the cake. Why was he so negative towards her? Would it really kill him to just smile at her and be at least semi-cooperative for 30 seconds? Besides, what was he talking about? The last time she checked she was not a cat and she didn't have claws! "I'm not a cat animagus either! I most certainly do not have claws!" Oh, she gave up. If he didn't want her help, she wouldn't give it. "Alright, if it'll make you happy." The man's beady eyes were beginning to unnerve her, though she tried her best not to let that show. Fri was beginning to second guess her decision to bring up the handbook (that she'd never really read) and the big man's next sentence only confirmed that. That backfired. Whoops! His face was turning purple! His face was actually turning purple! Oh Merlin, it was so funny! Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh... A loud giggle bubbled from her lips and she had to quickly hold her stomach to stop herself from rolling around on the floor. "I'm sorry! But.... Hahahahaha!"

She surely wasn't annoying, was she? Perhaps she'd ask one or all of the Tricketts that question when she next saw them. "i'm not sticking it in where I don't belong! I was ordered to accompany my partner on behalf of the Ministry. If you feel that is... unwarranted, you should make a complaint to the appropriate department. And I'm not part of that department, so please don't complain to me." Frida spluttered in complete and utter shock, leave Marcus? Why would she ever do that? That was preposterous! Who knew what would happen to him? Besides, she wasn't a chicken. "No! I'm not going to leave Marcus! And the Broom Regulation Office is quite an expansive space! Certainly not a cupboard!"

"Yes." She choked it out, gasping every so often at the intensity of this unfamiliar sad feeling. What did Marcus think of her now? She supposed she'd have to prepare for him yelling at her for her clearly failed diplomacy, which of course may have severely injured him. Also, the worst case scenario would be that Marcus would sack her and then where would she go? It wouldn't help to ponder those things at that moment but she could not stop the salty tears from rolling down her face. "You're wel-welcome." Crying into his lap was sort of comforting to Frida. It was like hugging but allowed her to hide her face from Marcus at the same time and all with no effort on her partner's part. It was okay? He isn't mad? The Trickett tentatively lifted her head from his lap, though her hands remained, and she lightly sniffed as a few more tears rolled down her cheeks. Fri looked up into Marcus's eyes with an air of childish curiosity and took in what he had to say. "Are you sure you're not? I want you to go to St. Mungo's anyway, just in case you have a concussion! I'm still sorry!" The twenty-four year old looked up at her coworker incredulously, why was he apologising?! "If I'm not meant to be sorry, then I forbid you to be so! I doubt neither of us could have known that... this would have happened." Frida smiled with pride at his compliments but she then frowned again as she realised she could not accept them. "It wasn't amazing at all! It was horrible and used for cruel purposes! I could have hurt him and caused suffering! I've never wanted to do that." She gasped at the mention of a dead Marcus. That would have been horrible! She turned away from him and contemplated his words. Perhaps he is right, I did what was necessary. But... surely there could have been a better solution? "I doubt that, Marcus. You are a brilliant wizard! Besides, I forbid you to die, so you wouldn't have been able to anyway!" She giggled, slightly cheering up enough to become the recognisable Frida, though still a little out of sorts.

Facing him again, the Hufflepuff alumna crossed her legs on the floor and took a deep breath in before speaking. "Well, the man picked you up and took off up the stairs. I followed in time to find you being tied to the chair. I asked why he attacked you and what he attacked with... He was very obliging and eloquent in that regard. Then I asked if he needed help with supplies which he didn't want for some reason! And then I discovered it was his third inspection and then he said..." She stopped herself in favour of going over what the man had said about her in mind only. "And then he tried to cast stupefy on me! So I retaliated with a few spells of my own. You know the rest."

She smiled in relief of successfully getting the recount of the events off her chest, but one thing still bugged her. "Marcus... Am I... Am I annoying?"

Marcus groaned inwardly when Frida asked if these 'mean people' were hurting him. Of course her mind just had to jump to the worst possible scenario. "I suppose they could be dangerous, just like anyone else. After all, I could be considered dangerous, especially if I had the right reasons. No, they aren't hurting me, and I don't need an Auror. I've seen him around, yes, but I don't think I've actually met Otto before." In truth, Marcus was certain that Frida had at least attempted to introduce her to her siblings at least once, but Marcus had the tendency to avoid all Tricketts (except Frida of course) like the plague. It was pretty difficult, considering there were so very many of them. "Because I jus-" Nope, Marcus was not going to take the time to explain to Frida the uses of sarcasm "you know what, nevermind actually, it doesn't matter. Yes Frida, I'll not use sarcasm in your presence anymore."

She . . . actually believed him? Marcus hadn't even been able to convince himself. Oh well, there was no going back now. "We're going to commit to that." he replied cryptically, "I guess we'll have to see when me meet him won't we?" Frida's faith in him was heartening. Oh to be so naïve! In all honesty, work was when the majority of his socialization occurred. Still, it had been a nice thing of her to say. "Thank you Frida, very kind."

Ha! Oh, this woman was by far the most hilarious person the large man had ever toyed with. Granted, she was the only woman that the man had messed with, but that was beside the point. The woman almost got a laugh out of him when she exclaimed that she was not, in fact, a cat animagus. No, really? He stopped himself just in time though, who knows, the woman might take that as a sign that he was friendly. And that just wouldn't do at all. How dare she laugh at him! What was so funny anyway? The big man's face turned an even darker shade of purple as he decided that maybe he had hammered the wrong person. Oh well, he couldn't change the past, he would just have to deal with the obnoxious woman.

The fact that the woman expected him to go to the Ministry and file an official complaint was comical. "Of course I think this is unwarranted!" he bellowed, "I've not done anything wrong!" Also hilarious was the fire with which the woman defended her little broom cupboard. Once again it was difficult for the man to withhold his laughter. Well, he had given the woman a chance to leave, and if she was too stupid to take it, then it didn't really affect him.

Oh, Marcus was so very uncomfortable. Not only at the fact that Frida was crying, but also that she was crying right into his lap. Honestly, under normal circumstances, Marcus would have been frustrated at the way Frida had handled things, but still, she had done much better than Marcus had, so he really had no argument. Going to St. Mungos was probably the smartest thing to do. Marcus could get checked out, and if Frida insisted on going, she surely had some cousin or something that worked there who could offer her emotional support. At least she had stopped crying. While she did have a point about neither of them being responsible, Marcus couldn't understand her reasoning for thinking that being defensive with her magic had been a bad thing. "Alright then, neither of us are responsible." he began with a slight tone of finality. Now it was time to convince her that defending herself was completely okay. "Are you saying that if you could do it over again, you wouldn't have fired the spells? You would have just let him attack you? Then where would we be? You would probably be in his place, tied up in the corner, and I'd be here still tied up. How would we get out of that situation?" Her compliments were nice, and Marcus did have to admit that he was a decent wizard, and he even laughed when he was forbidden to die. "I suppose I wouldn't have been able to die anyway if I've been forbidden."

Hmm, the events of the visit weren't nearly as dramatic as Marcus has suspected. Though there was one thing he found interesting "What does it being his third inspection have to do with anything? I've been to places that have been inspected far more times than three." Her question caught him completely off guard. Did she just really ask if he thought she was annoying? Sometimes, she could be, but it wasn't all the time. Even if it was, there was no way that Marcus would tell her that to her face, she was already obviously in a state of distress. "Did that man call you annoying?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer, "How dare he. Clearly he was wrong, you aren't annoying Frida, just optimistic." There, now that was over with. Now to address their current situation. "Now, What should we do with that?" he said, pointing to the man in the corner, "We should do something with him before we leave. I'd also like to confiscate his hammer."

Her boss was now very much confusing her. How could he ever be dangerous? Frida's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to figure out what Marcus meant. She soon decided it was taking too long to understand and she was getting bored so she just smiled enthusiastically and nodded as if she knew what he meant perfectly. "Well, even so called dangerous people can be very, very lovely!" The brunette widened her eyes in astonishment as Marcus claimed to have not met her brother before. "You've not met Otto! That's terrible! You have to meet him, you'd get along amazingly!" The Trickett clapped her hands in excitement for the introduction that would take place, when she suddenly came up with a brilliant idea. Her eyes brightened and her face lit up as she almost shouted out "Oooh! I know! Whenever we're all free after work, we should go out for a dinner or something!" Frida decided that one day she would have the patience to listen to what sarcasm was for, but apparently both she and Marcus had realised that today was not that day. "Thanks Marcus!"

Marcus had clearly met the man before in Fri's mind, so she reasoned that her boss must have been a guessing game with her! Ooo! How exciting! The sunshine reasoned that meeting the man would be like opening a surprise gift and with that thought, she bounced merrily.

Never in her life had Fri ever met someone so... so... disagreeable. Though, she didn't think she'd actually met anyone who wasn't absolutely lovely. What had happened to this poor man to make him so awful to her? The Hufflepuff alumna tried her hardest to contain her laughter at the man's purple face, but it was getting darker and darker and therefore, funnier and funnier!

Oh, she really was going to give up at this point and ignore the fact that the man had said anything at all. Even she could tell that they were just going to go round and round in circles on this issue and Frida decided she'd rather use her energy on more cheerful and pleasant things than pointless arguing. All the Trickett offered to the man in reply was a small smile and a curt nod of the head.

Why, oh why, did this have to happen? The brunette witch grimaced as she flashed back to the beginning of the little trip to Knockturn Alley, when Marcus warned her about that gentleman. She was adamant that he was wrong back then, but now? Now, I wish I had listened to him! She wiped tears from her face as she realised that some of this could have been avoided, had she listened. Some employee she was! Then again, she smiled weakly at Marcus as he stated neither of them were to blame. There was no questioning it, when the Slytherin alumnus stated it so finally. However, the barrage of questions that came after confused her greatly. She turned away from her boss, clutching her elbow in order to truly think about her answer. "Well... I...I, um, refrained from attacking for as long as possible. I wouldn't just let him treat you so cruelly without a fight! I guess... I wouldn't have done anything differently at all." Frida smiled genuinely, feeling much happier at the resolution that she had done everything she could have done in the situation, and also in her new found offensive spell casting ability. Perhaps, she'd tell Otto about it! Frida had a feeling he'd be super proud of her, with him being an auror. Fri was becoming more and more like herself again and she was even happier when Marcus laughed. Laughter of any kind was music to her ears and she grinned with joy at him. "Of course! I hereby declare that you are never allowed to die ever, ever, ever!" The sunshine giggled, waving jazz hands as if it made her declaration more official.

...Uh oh. I really did not pay attention when I flicked through the book. Frida's surprise was obvious as her mouth opened and closed several times whilst she blinked quickly. "I don't know. It was just that I wanted... uh, small talk! Yes, small talk to appease the situation so that I wouldn't have had to fight. Uh-huh." Her head nodded up and down rapidly with a mega-watt smile plastered over her face. That was such a barefaced lie! Wrapping her arms around herself, she silently nodded in reply to Marcus' question. The Trickett spun round to face him once he went against the horrid man's criticism, beaming from ear to ear. "Really? You mean it? Thank you, thank you! and I am certainly am optimistic! All the time! And I'm proud to be!" She began bouncing round the chair that Marcus had been previously tied to, back to her fully cheerful and upbeat self.

following her eyes to where her boss was pointing, Fri rocked back and forth on her heels and toes, as she began to think of what they could do. She knew the man was in more trouble than he would've been previously because he attacked Marcus. Therefore, she reasoned the department of Magical Law Enforcement should him. "Well... He'll be in a trouble now, won't he? He obstructed an investigation and attacked you! Maybe, we should contact the department of Magical Law Enforcement for them to handle it! I'm sure they'd enjoy an easy task where the culprit is already incapacitated for once! Ooo! Ooo! I know! I'll get Otto! He's in that department! And while we wait for him to arrive I can strength the spells, so that they won't have any chance of wearing off!" Frida certainly couldn't help but laugh loudly when Marcus brought up the hammer. "Do you have a personal vendetta against it now?" Still grinning, she playfully winked at Marcus before adding, "Actually, I think he left it downstairs..." Bending down to pick her wand up off the floor, she gingerly picked up Marcus' as well, before jumping up and flourishing his wand in front of him. Fri waited for him to take it before spinning towards the door and saying "Accio hammer!"