Reunited and it Feels so Good [Jeremy]

Did he know or not? She wasn't sure as she hadn't told him she had gotten an internship at the ministry. Yet he worked in the mailroom so he might have an idea she just wasn't sure. Still, it would be nice to see him again after all this time. She had missed his obnoxious behavior and crazy antics. He brought a sense of chaos to her life and it made things fun. That's what she needed chaos. Honestly, she was surprised he hadn't burnt down the ministry already especially since she knew Danny was also working with him. Those two goofballs were always an unpredictable pair so who knows maybe they calmed down after graduating, but she doubted it.

She was running errands for her boss today and she would be sending some invoices to the departments about new regulations about some sort of new spell or curse someone made and how to handle it. The semantics she wasn't briefed on since she was just a lowly intern, but maybe she would get a full paid job so she would be privy to their objectives one day. For now, though she would slave away and who knows maybe in a short period she will be promoted. She just had to prove herself to them.

Magical Maintenance was on the first floor while her office area was on the third floor so it wasn't much of an elevator ride to the proper location. Once she made it to the mailroom she handed a stack of letters and invoices to their proper location before looking around for the mailcarts. Eventually, she found them and of course, it was easy to spot the redheaded male.

A smile painted her face to see her old friend again. It felt like a reunion that was very needed. She had lost so many people in her life already so it was nice to see such a familiar face again. She almost began to tear up seeing his mess of hair, but she shook her head and took a breath. Oighrig was a strong woman and she needed to stay that way. Wouldn't be a good reunion if she just ran towards him in tears now, wouldn't it? Besides they were at work they needed to be at least somewhat professional, or at least she needed to be, so she walked up calmly to him. "Been a while Jer," she said with a smile on her face.

Jeremy had gotten gum in his hair, for the third time this week, and he was desperately trying to remove it with his wand and some awful magic when he heard footsteps headed his way. Assuming it was Reg he quickly pretended to be hard at work sorting mail into his cart to get ready for a day of deliveries but a familiar voice had him smiling mischievously before he even looked up.

Jumping from where he was sitting he rushed forward to give her a big hug, Jeremy was a hugger but stopped short with his arms held open across from her. He wasn't sure if she was here to work, and they had just finished that sexual harassment seminar yesterday morning, so he waited for her to move forward if she was interested in the hug. Jeremy barely paid attention to work, but he'd caught some of that lecture in between refills of coffee and free donuts.

"Too long! Wait, are you coming to work in the mailroom?"

That was pleasant to know he hadn't forgotten her. She never was one to stand out unlike him and Danny. Then again he was very friendly so she doubted he would ever forget someone. Still, it was nice to know he remembered. It filled her heart with joy to feel like she found someone she got along with. Call it the missing piece she wishes she had in her final year at Hogwarts. It was just nice to see his smiling face again.

So it came as a shock when he stopped himself from giving her the hug he so obviously wanted. Had office work dulled his fun side so much? Was he losing his crazy over the top life of the party personality that she found so intriguing? No, it was too early to jump to conclusions. They were at work, after all, it wouldn't be too strange for people to act more professional than when they did at Hogwarts. He had graduated and was living in the world so things were bound to change with him. Oighrig could only hope he still kept some of his fun-loving energetic attitudes.

She smiled at him and gave him a quick hug in return at his question. "No I'm simply delivering some invoices that need to be sent to other offices," she showed him the small envelope she was to give to him which was filled with the papers to be sent to other offices. "Don't know why they don't just use the paper planes for it, but it seems they want them hand-delivered this time." She got another look at Jeremy and noticed the gum in his hair. She laughed before saying, "Here let me get that for you." She pulled out her wand and pointed at the gum and chanted, "Deletrius." This disintegrated the gum but also sadly took out a bit of Jere's hair to which she then quickly also cast the hair regrown charm to return the lost hair to normal.

"There that should fix your problem," she said putting her wand away again. This felt familiar. Like the first time, they met when she gave him a potion to stop himself from itching. Was she always there to clean up his mess? She could only imagine what kind of mess he had done while she was still in Hogwarts. Best not to ask. Instead, she decided to speak more about him, "So what have you been doing since you graduated?"

Jere would never understand, nor did he attempt to, the inner workings of the Ministry. A whole government built on magic and yet they still hand-delivered letters and packages. Sure there were owls and the pesky pointed paper airplane notes, but still, he had a job. And apparently so did she. Jeremy smiled brightly as he realized she was telling him she now worked at the Ministry too. Quickly he thought to himself about what all that meant: she could come to office mixers, he'd get her a half Christmas present, there was the fantasy quidditch league, and they could sit together at lunch! So many things now! It was exciting to the redhead.

When she moved to fix the gum in his hair he relaxed, he had always trusted Oih, ever since the first time she'd come to his rescue and even though he was pretty sure her magic had just chopped a little bit of his hair he kept silent and took a breath. He would freak out later, surely, but he was glad to have the gum out before it ruined any more curls. And then she fixed the missing hair too and his mouth fell to the floor. "Woah, thanks, gonna have to learn that one." He told her with another grin before turning to face her and shrugging.

"You are looking at it, living the dream." Jeremy laughed but really he didn't mind his job. It was easy enough, and Danny worked in the same office, and honestly, he lived for the weekend so none of it mattered. "What about you?"

Oighrig couldn't help and laughed a bit at Jere's comment about remembering the hair regrowth charm. "I had a feeling you would say that," she smiled at Jere before adding, "I learned it because I felt it might come in handy for you one day." She wasn't lying about this she was looking forward to working with her friend so much she studied a few things before coming to work for his benefit. Oighrig knew he wasn't the most studious of students so she didn't expect him to have developed that knowledge base outside of school either. Besides it was never bad to learn new things right even if it was just to help a friend out of trouble that was most likely going to happen right?

Living the dream? That was something Oighrig felt she wasn't doing. She thought her dreams revolved around potions and one day finding out who killed her parents, but she had made peace with never finding her parent's killers after Sorcha's death. As for the potions, she lost her love for it in her final year at Hogwarts. That's why she was here in the ministry just trying her best to keep herself from falling behind the rest of her peers. So when he asked about her she gave a half-smile. "Well I don't dabble in potion-making anymore," her left arm crossed in front of her and grabbed her right. Oighrig looked down and continued, "so I don't know where I'm going anymore." She then looked up at Jere and gave a sad smile and added, "but I'm here to see where I belong. Even if it's not in the ministry itself I'm sure the channels connected to it will get me somewhere." Her face then began to brighten up a lot more when she finished with, "Besides I get to see you now and then so that makes things better."

Jeremy beamed at her, hearing she'd learned the spell just to help him, and was reminded of how good of a friend Oighrig had really been all these years. He felt a bit sad that he had to leave her behind at Hogwarts when he graduated (Jeremy graduating was still a surprise, even to him!) but now that they were working together all of that was behind them. Jeremy didn't hate his ministry job but it wasn't actually a dream job. The dream was the fact that he was paid enough to make rent (when he didn't blow it all of pool toys instead) and the schedule was consistent. Weekends and evenings off, those were when he really lived the dream. "Well not here, but like after work. You should stop by sometime!" He told her quickly with a pointed nod, meaning it. "Danny and Greg won't mind a bit," Jeremy was still living with the same blokes he had bunked with back in Hogwarts. The three Gryffindors sharing the flat, but at least their beds weren't in the same room anymore, unlike in the dorm. Someone had a serious sleep-gas problem.

"Why not?" Jeremy asked before she had even finished the thought. "You love potions, what happened?" Jeremy had always admired how good she had been at crafting them. It always seemed so natural for her, like how he felt tending to his plants, but he wasn't studious like she had been. And there was no hope for him applying his skills at Herbology toward an actual career, well.. not a legitimate one. But for her, there was, so Jeremy was a little lost.

"Yeah the ministry ain't half bad, we get to wear jumpers on every other Friday in the winter," Jeremy told her, loving sweater days even though his uniform was never exactly up to par. He wore the tie, but it was always the same tie and usually the same button-up so as the week pushed on it was wrinkled and had a few stains on it. Who needed to magically wash their tie every day? Not Jeremy. And he wore his Christmas sweaters all through December, (and most of July, because of Half-Christmas). Once Reg had told him he couldn't wear it, he had to wear the button down, so Jeremy had stuffed the puffy red and green sweater under his button down for the day. It had been a swelteringly hot day though, and the cooling charms hadn't worked with the button down and tie over top, Jeremy ended up passing out in one of the hallways. Reg stopped telling him to wear the button-down over his Christmas sweater after that.

Oighrig couldn't help and feel touched that Jeremy would invite her to his place with Danny. It felt like they were at school sharing a castle again just in different living situations. Oighrig in the home left to her by her parent's and Jeremy and Danny in their place. So far yet so close to each other and a place they would congregate no longer being the grand hall, but rather the atrium of the ministry. Different location, but the same people under the same roof. It was like a blast to the past and Oighrig was happy to be here even if it was only temporary.

"If I had to place a reason its because I lost my favorite test subject," she said this with a wink to Jeremy. "Sure there were other students, but none were quite so willing as you were." She remembered the days of letting him try a potion or two to see how they affect the human body. Generally, they didn't do much maybe tinted a person's eye color slightly pink or had their toenails grow an inch longer, but it was still fun to experiment. "Though maybe I just lost my inspiration to continue potion-making so whose to say why," Oighrig shrugged after she said this. She spent the majority of her last year at Hogwarts trying to figure out the reason for not enjoying potions as much but never came to an answer so she gave up on trying anymore now.

"Oh?" Oighrig said with intrigue at the jumper comment. She could easily see Jeremy coming into work in nothing but his skivvies if he had the opportunity to, so him jumping on the chance to be in something more relaxing, was expected. "So anything fun and exciting happens in the mailroom then?" Oighrig asked Jeremy with sincerity. She had a few minutes she could spare before her boss would wonder where she was so she was going to take the time she could to converse with her Hogwarts friend as much as she could.

Test subject. Jeremy took the title with a proud smile and beamed back at her. "Well, you know where to find me, if you get the inclination back." He tried to sound fancy like he thought she was and ended up chuckling at his own words. Jeremy was so far from fancy, he was in no way sophisticated, and they both knew that truth. He shrugged his shoulders at her a little and hoped she'd find the muse to create potions again. If it was what she wanted to do, of course, because he'd never pressure her into doing something she didn't. Jeremy was a firm believer in letting the wind be your guide, he had no rudder, if the breeze went north, he went north. Never planning, never deciding on anything, and so far it had worked out mediocrely well for the young wizard. He had no complaints.

Moving with her he led her around the mail room and starting telling her about all of the recent events and escapades of the mail room staff. So obviously leaving out anything actually work related, naturally. "So in April we play pranks," He started, "Okay actually we play pranks all year long but April is when things get real serious. Feelings are hurt, trips to St. Mungos are not uncommon, its wild." Jeremy told her with a truthful smile on his face. He brought her toward the little stools they all rolled around on while organizing their carts for the morning. "Be careful which stool you sit in, someone in here really fancies messing with the wheels." Smirking he led her to the next stop on the tour but stopped short. "What, it's not me, Promise." It was. But Jeremy held his hand over his heart with a grin, the other hand hidden behind him with fingers crossed.

"Every one of the mail clerks is a joker, but Danny and I hold the titles." He rounded the room to their little cubbys and to the one that was so obviously Jeremy's. It was full of half eaten chocolate wrappers, a bright colored flower lei from last years unsanctioned luau, and a shiny trophy. "See?" He pointed at the trophy that matched Danny's in the next cubby. It claimed them as the 'Senior Pranksters' and Jeremy was proud of the title.

Sure they ordered, awarded, and presented the trophies to themselves, but who was counting.

"I might hold you to that promise are you sure you can handle it?" Oighrig said coyly with a wink. Even if she did get the inclination to do it to him again it would be immensely difficult to do that here in the ministry. At least at school, she could get away with it a tad, but in the ministry, she would probably get in much more trouble than simple detention. Still, even if she never took advantage of the opportunity she was given from him the fact he was willing to say a lot about his character. He was such a good person and Oighrig appreciated him more than she could ever express. He was certainly a man among man if not a fool at times too. She was happy to call him a friend either way though.

As the unofficial tour began Jeremy would tell Oighrig all about the things they did in the mailroom that wasn't related to work. So it could be classified as a personal tour and an inside scoop into how the staff did things to occupy their time. If she was a journalist this would be a great article to write for the paper, but since she was another worker it was like talking with a family member whom you hadn't seen in a while. While she was a bit surprised to find people were sent to the hospital during some of the pranks she began to feel this was almost no different from when they were in school. Students would end up in the hospital wing after some of the pranks she even helped provide ammunition for. How she never got linked to the deeds and get in trouble was beyond her, but whatever the past was the past so it didn't matter anymore.

Oighrig had to suppress a laugh when Jeremy defended himself saying he wasn't the one who tampered with the wheels of the stools. "While I could bet money on it being you who does do that I will take your word on it for now," She smiled at Jeremy and shook her head in bemusement. Then she was brought to their cubicle where it was a mess. Trash everywhere and Oighrig couldn't help herself and immediately began picking up the wrappers. "Why am I not surprised your cubicle is a mess?" She placed them in a nearby trash bin and looked at the trophy he had pointed out to her. Should doubt this was an official award of the ministry, but even so, it was nice to see something of interest in his cubicle. She turned back to Jeremy after examining the trophy and asked, "So where is Danny then? I assumed you two would be attached at the hips much like you were at Hogwarts."

Jeremy shook his head at her playfully, wiry red curls bouncy across his shoulders. "Not. Even. A little. Bit." Jeremy wasn't sure he could handle any more of her experiments, but he'd do it anyway. She'd never hurt him, not really, and it was an adventure! Who didn't want to be a part of an experience? His Gryffindor was shining through. Moving al.ong in the tour, Jeremy showed her all of his favorite places and shrugged when she didn't believe his story about the wheels until they finally reached the cubby. Of course, it was a mess. Of course. It was Jeremy's kind of a mess though, everything had a place. There was an organization in the chaos, Jeremy could find anything he needed under the layers of nonsense, not that anyone else could.

"Oh bet he's around somewhere," Jeremy said, craning his head over the little walls of the cubby and half expecting to see Danny drinking straight out of the water cooler, head tipped back and everything. They were always doing fun things at work, and sometimes they even actually got the job done. Of course not nearly as much as their boss would probably prefer.

"So where to next? Have you been to the lunchroom?"