Foe fum

With his glasses perched on his head, his feet on one of the middle rungs of the ladder he was stood on and his fingers trailing along the crystal prophecy balls, James Potter looked hard at work.

Since the Department of Mysteries debacle of 1996, the Ministry had done well to rebuild their stocks of prophecies and James had the unfortunate job of sorting through them to find some of the dusty ones that had to be redone from memory after they had been destroyed. He needed to re-catalogue everything. It was going to most definitely be one of those days.

Picking one of the crystal balls off of the dusty, mahogany shelf, James lifted his feet and slid down the ladder until the base of his shoes planted him onto the floor. He looked up, please to find everything in order and dusted himself off.

James then made his way across the room to the work table he’d been sat at and returned to his stool, lighting the candles around him with a wave of his hand once more. He set the crystal ball down on the table and looked at it thoughtfully before reaching over to pick up his bottle of water. After unscrewing the cap, James took a gulp and continued to frown at the ball.

Setting it down, James reached for the ball again and as he did so, heard movement somewhere within the cavernous hall.

“Hello?” He called out, his voice echoing. “Is anyone there?”

Sitting the crystal ball back down onto the table, James slid off of his stool and at once his form melted away into the relative darkness of the room. In the place of James Potter stood a great black dog, something like a Grim. The dog moved off, its long nails tapping on the tiles, and, nose to the ground, endeavoured to seek out who was there and ascertain whether they were friend or foe.

Needless to say, James was hoping for friend.

Nym frowned when she get a handbill. She needed to do someone's else job, again, because that person did not show up at work. At least it's better then the last time when she needed to close envelopes on fan letters and then send it with muggle post. That was tiresome and it took whole day from her. This time, she just needed to carry two prophecies in Hall of the prophecies. It's easy, and she will have more than enough time to return in th Brain room and go through the paperwork before the lunch break.

According to handbill, prophecies are quite new, one was from last night, and the other was from four days ago. She thought the prophecies should be submitted here immediately after they are told, not few days after that. Nym shrugged, assuming she incorrectly read the rules, never mind, she doesn't work there anyway, and went to get prophecies.

After she convinced at least ten wizards she have no intent of destroying or stealing the prophecies, they reluctantly handed her two balls. One of them was warm, glowing with a dim white light, according by paper that was given to her with them, that was from the last night  bought by witch from Wales, two hours ago. The other one dull and dark, in which Nym could see distorted reflection of tiny figure who says something. After she carefully placed them back in the box, making sure it doesn't break, Nym hurried back to Department of Mysteries convinced that she had already lost too much time.

Hall of Prophecy was so dark she almost immediately regretted she forgot her wand on her table. Blue-flame candles on the shelves helped her to orientate herself in right direction, but their light wasn't good enough to move sure without knocking something out or falling and breaking her neck. Or both. Nym heard someone calling, and a minute later she found herself eye to eye with huge black dog. She blinked few times thinking she was hallucinating, dogs aren't allowed here, yet this one was still here, and it looks too material to be a hallucination. She no longer heard the invocation, maybe the dog ate him, and he's still hungry so he'll eat her too. Nym definitely knows to choose the moment for forgetting her wand.

It was only a girl. A woman, really, but still, in the dim light of the Prophecy Hall she looked like a girl to James Potter. He rose up out of the canine form he’d melted away into and found himself more than a handful of inches her higher. He smiled a little shook his head, finding that there was nothing to be worried about in the blonde witch. The Hall of Prophecies was still a place where many a witch or wizard wanted to go, often more out of curiosity than anything else. Another couple appeared to be joining the ranks on the shelves around them though and James reached into the box, taking out one of the crystal balls.

“James Potter,” he announced himself, turning the ball over in his hands. He pushed his glasses up onto his head to take a proper look at the contents of the prophecy. “Nice little addition,” he commented, bringing his glasses back down. “Are you down here to work for the evening?”

The sunshine had long since died unbeknownst to the Unspeakables buried deep within the Ministry. James had ordered a Chinese take away and was waiting on it, intent on diligently working through the night. He’d take the following morning off to catch a few hours rest, wash, change and all the rest of it. Aside from that though, he had a feeling about something deep within the Hall of Prophecies and while he wasn’t entirely sure what it was, he was determined to find out – and an Unspeakable was never denied chance to work on a hunch.

James popped the crystal ball back into the box and held out his hands to relieve her of it. He then turned, gesturing with one hand to the rest of the room, holding the box under the other.

“Have you listened to any of the prophecies yet?” He asked gently, stepping back over to his work bench where, with his wand he turned up the lights being emitted from the candles, the flames growing a bit bigger, before sending the candles into the air to give them that little bit more awareness of their surroundings. James knew he liked working in the dark, he didn’t know if he could say the same about the young woman.

James put the box down and took the crystal balls out, setting them on their stands. He then sat back down in his chair, pushing out one of the others for the woman, and he picked up the first, the one by the Welsh witch. He looked at the label, curiosity piquing him as he recognised the Seer.

“Who brought this one in?” He asked.

Nym was scared at first, thinking that the dog is ready to jump, but she relaxed as soon as she figured out that the dog isn't really a dog at least not completely. I guess I won't be eaten after all, she thought with relief. Animagi always fascinated her, she wanted to learn it since she first saw animagus  morphing herself into an animal when she was 13, her astronomy teacher suddenly became beautiful jay, but she never had anyone to teach her, since her teacher refused her.

Tall man is now standing in front of her on the same place where dog was just a few seconds before. At least she thought he's tall, but there are all tall according to her barely 160 centimeters. Potter? She arched her eyebrows in surprise but he couldn't notice it because he studied the prophecies. He didn't look like his father, although, she only saw pictures and never met Harry, and she never will.
"It depends, if you think 'down here' like on ninth floor then no, I work here, but if you think on Properties hall, then unfortunately yes, they told me that there are too few people.",  she cautiously leaned against a nearby shelf, "They told me my work is less important than bunch of balls. Oh and I'm Nymeria Evanesco, by the way."

She was looking around them hating the fact the Ministry refused to set normal lights down here, they explained that is because they want to preserve the original appearance on the floor but she suspected that it has more to do with their reluctance to spend galleons on the department in which only a few people are allowed to enter. And why spend the money if you can't boast with pictures  before the next elections?
"Listened?" Nymeria arched her eyebrows again, "Doesn't properties need to be broken for that?"

Nym hated this room because the lack of light, and she been here only once when they were showing her around after she got the job, and she hoped she will never need come here again. Well, you can't refuse to do your job, after all, or at least you can't refuse it and still have one She followed him to his desk wondering what she have to do here, they didn't told her anything.
"Don't know. I didn't been there and they and were not in the mood for sharing information. All I know is on that paper. Anyway what do we need to do?" she asked curiously watching at prophecy in his hand.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” James asked distractedly as he rolled the prophecy ball between his hands. He’d caught the twinge of accent and of all things decided to comment upon that rather than the work at hand or her words exactly. “From the prophecy hall, that is?” He smirked a little, calling upon her earlier commentary.

“Nymeria,” James went on, sitting back in his chair, continuing to play with the ball. “Prophecies will always trump whatever work anyone else is doing. Unless there’s a mass murderer on the loose or a disaster going on, these win. Every time. This one looks particularly interesting too.”

James arched an eyebrow curiously at the other witch when she spoke of breaking them and his brows then furrowed as he set himself forward once more. He put the ball down on a little stand and picked up a stethoscope, waggling it at her with a faint smile before putting the buds in his ears. He placed the other end on the ball and listened for a few moments, listening intently, his brows continuing to work down over his eyes as the prophecy met his ears.

The dark in the light will bring back the dead robbed of their life. Too soon gone, they will reappear to stand judgement on those who have passed judgement on them. To write the wrongs on the world the necromancer will rise and serve to extinguish from the lives of others those who are poison. To be the almighty jury and executioner….HAH! Ah!

The Welsh woman’s voice drifted off and James took the stethoscope away, pulling it away from him before taking up the crystal ball. He bit his lip and thought twice before taking up one of the small boxes. He sprinkled some hay in there and sawdust and then planted the box tightly in before closing the flaps of the box, sealing it with a spell. He then put the boxed prophecy in his bag, determined to do more on it later but not in the presence of another person. Instead he picked up another one.

“That one’s useless,” he lied. “Inconsequential. I’ll get rid of it later. They need to be listened to and tagged, that’s the plan. And then I want to go out and stretch my legs. Maybe get a kebab.”

Nymeria sighed, "No, I don't live here," she waved a hand at the rows of shelves, "I need a little bit more space than one of the balls has to offer." She thought he was asking her does she lives here. What a strange man.

She went to the second table, it was cluttered with papers and broken feathers. Nym moved the stack of paper from the chair with wheels and put it on the table, after she shook off all the crumbs from the chair, she sat down on it. Nym spun in a circle on a chair, she justify it by trying mechanism but she did it because it was fun, and then she concentrated back on what James was saying.

Nymeria has never been much interested in prophecies. She thought it was too unsafe. Only one event could trigger a chain of events that would result in a complete change of condition and the prophecy would no longer happen. It would be one more useless ball that collects dust on a high shelf.

But since this is her new job until the boss says otherwise she would be better to adjust. Nym regretfully thought the Brain room she left behind. Anew was not satisfied with it, but she would have given anything to get out of here, now, this is too dark, and kind of creepy.

"Stethoscope, really?" She started laughing but her laugh died when she realized he's serious. Really? He's going to play Muggle doctor now? She raised eyebrows when he putted the buds in his ears and started listening. Nymeria waited in silence trying to read his face. Nothing, she frowned.

"Then you won't mind if I listen it myself." She was bluffing. Even if Nym hasn't forgotten her wand in the Brain room, it would be useless to her because she didn't know that with wich curse he sealed the box, and no matter how much her curiosity was nevertheless didn't want to take the plunge and pick up a curse.

„I expected some joke about eating hot dogs or something.“

At her words, James couldn’t help but smirk and he leaned forward cheekily, observing her face with warm, hazel eyes.

“I don’t mean what department, love,” he chuckled. “I mean, you’re not from the UK, are ya?”

James’ voice slid into a somewhat west country accent at that point and he stifled himself, clearing his throat before reaching for the bottle of water he’d left on the desk. He took a couple of swigs before replacing the lid and setting it back down again. It was then that he sat back a little bit more comfortably against the back of the chair, watching Nymeria idly and he couldn’t help but quip:

“My balls have plenty of space, don’t you worry.” James smirked at her again and shook his head, picking up another prophecy.

He arched an eyebrow at the other woman and smiled at her. She was laughing, at least. So long as he didn’t have a moody partner in crime who detested being plopped down into the prophecy hall, he didn’t mind. He’d gone through more than his fair share – having expelled a handful of Unspeakables from the archives because they were so darned difficult to deal with. She, however, seemed a little calmer – easy to talk to, too.

“Speaking of dogs,” James added. “I’m sorry if I scared you – before. I sometimes forget that I’m, literally, this big mutt of a canine. I didn’t mean to give you a fright – if I did, that is.”

Nymeria glanced away so he can't see her redden cheeks. Nym hated language barriers, she wanted to understand every single word they say, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't make it. French was still her first language and she suspected she'll ever learn to speak English as well as French.

"I am, well sort of. At least I was born here."
It was euphemism of the year. She left England when she only had a few months, and came back a month ago. Although her mom was English she died long time ago, Nym didn't remember her, so she started to learn English when she attended to Beauxbatons. They believed their students should know a few languages, at least, so they offered them optional courses. Nymeria took only two, English, because of her mom, and Czech because she spent half of her summer holidays at her aunt's in Prague every year.

She glanced at him noticing a little change of his accent. True, she couldn't place it anywhere but at least she noticed and that's enough for the start.

“My balls have plenty of space, don’t you worry.”

Nym thought she heard it incorrectly, it wouldn't be the first time, she mixed english words and replacing them with some french words that sounds similar, she did that before too.When he arched an eyebrow she realized she understand it well. Abrupt laugh left her lips, and soon became real laugh.
"You're insane." She said when she came up for air. Nym also noticed he ignored her request to listen the prophecy. Weird.

"Next time you should barkor maybe wave with a tail. I thought you're going to eat me." Nymeria laughed silently.  "What's the feeling? Being an animal, I mean. Do you want to do all the things that dogs do, like chasing cats or something like that?"

Sitting back in his chair, James picked up a quill and began to dribble the end between his fingers. He watched Nymeria carefully over the top of his glasses and wondered to himself what the woman was getting at. What it felt like? He wasn’t really sure, in truth. It had been such a long time since he’d thought of it any other way than just an extension of himself. There wasn’t much of a novelty in it anymore. But there was something different, something easier about being the dog rather than the human.

“It feels like I’m free,” James answered gradually. “I don’t have to worry about all of the stupid human crap that makes me angry and sad and all the rest. Even if I don’t do anything – if I just lay on the rug by a fireplace and sleep – I feel better. You’re simpler as a dog. Some of the stuff that bothers you as a human just goes away. Everyone’s different, though.”

James dropped the quill and picked up his bottle of water again, taking a swig before setting it down and moving over to the left of him. He took up another crystal ball and moved it between his palms as he lifted his gaze back to Nymeria curiously.

“You want to learn?” He asked.

Nymeria thought about what he said. You need to be in a deep crap to think that. Of course that animals must be simpler than humans but although Nym went through pretty much she still liked every aspect of living. Yet she has never been animal so she couldn't say anything about his way.
She thought about saying something but she changed her mind, Nym didn't want to play psychiatrist to person she just met. James could find that insulting and get angry. The blonde didn't like angry atmosphere while working so she dropped it.

"That would be great, but don't we need to be in the Ministry for that?" She forgot they are already in there, technically. Nym always forgets it, she considered this place her workspace, often neglecting its location.

Nym seen an animagus just free times in her life. Okay, now four times. First when she was a little and wanted to play with some cat, the cat suddenly transformed into his father business partner. Second and third time in school when their transfiguration teacher called two of them when they learned about them. One of them, tiny womam named Daisy became pinguin, and the other one, man, became lion. And fourth time – today.
She was fascinated with them, they became animals, Nym wanted to be like them, but she was poor in transfiguration with a wand, how will she do something without her wand then?