heading out (open)

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Lincoln Walker was not a morning person. Even as a student, he didn’t like the early mornings, but that was probably because he was always up late at night doing something or another. He wasn’t a party animal, like some he knew, but he wasn’t a goody two shoes either. He got up though, because he had to, and does still now that he is out of school and working a traditional nine to five job. He never thought he’d have one of those, sure he’d always be a Quidditch player until he was no longer fit to play, but that idea had been stripped of him when he lost his vision in one of his eyes, which killed his chances of really making it beyond what he had already accomplished.

Link enjoyed his job with the Ministry though. He still got to be around Quidditch, which is the only reason why he does the job in the first place. He could have easily gotten a job working for the British and Irish Quidditch Headquarters, but he took the job in the broader Magical Games and Sports department. He got to do a lot that he had done before, except for physically play the game he loved so much, but that also gave him more time to hang with his mates and not be away from his family for so long. He guessed there were pluses and minuses to playing Quidditch. He is just glad that he’s been able to understand and experience both sides of it.

He had been at work for a few hours now and was told that he could go to lunch if he wanted. He saw that it was only half past twelve and he nodded to his boss and got up from his desk. He grabbed his coat, not wanting to leave it and freeze in the late March weather, and left the office. He took the lift to the Atrium and then began to make his way towards one of the many grates so that he could floo to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. There were many places he could go, but there seemed like the easiest of places to go to. He had only just past the large fountain that was in the middle of the Atrium when he knocked into someone. “I am so sorry,” he said as he saw papers flying every which way.

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Only lunch and the day already seems like it has been twice as long as a normal day should be. Sighing, Amelia questioned herself about whether she was cut out for this job. She joined the Ministry almost straight out of Hogwarts. After some small enquires, Amelia was surprised to find she had been offered a summer internship after graduating Hogwarts which quickly became a full-time intern position. She had recently dropped the intern part of her job title but sometimes it didn’t feel like it. Still being one of the newest and youngest in the department Amelia was regularly sent for coffee, as well as getting stuck with quite a lot of paperwork. It was slowly starting to weight down on Amelia how much work she had.

No, Amelia suddenly snapped at herself with a minuscule shake of her head. That morning she had had an argument with her father. Again. Mostly it was the same thing, she was his daughter and as such she should be obedient and represent the Urquhart family by marrying someone she had never met before just to make ties with another Pureblood family, not waste her time in a job in the Ministry. Her father had hinted more than a few times that the only reason they kept her was that she was an Urquhart and her name meant something, not because she was actually good at it. Sometimes that thought haunted Amelia but she kept remind herself to ignore him. There were many other applicants from big families in the wizarding world and she was the hardest working member of her department for her age.

This was why she was hurrying through the Atrium with an armful of papers. She knew her colleagues probably took advantage of her with some of the paperwork they got her to do but she just smiled through it. One day she would be rewarded for her hard work and it wouldn’t be to her advantageous if she made enemies within the department. But for now she was swimming in the documents that were handed to her. So as everyone filed out for lunch Amelia gathered up all her work with the idea of doing some over a hot plate of food, if she had time to eat at all.

It was this urgency which caused her to be rushing through the Atrium and not pay any attention to those around her. Before she knew it she had collided with another soul heading out of the Ministry, scattering papers everywhere. “Oh no…” Amelia whispered almost to herself as she made a desperate grab for the papers before they spread everywhere. She hardly noticed the person she bumped in to until he spoke.

Recognising him caused Amelia to pause. He was someone who had been in her year during Hogwarts. As a Gryffindor they didn’t socialise that much which was why she was struggling to remember the name which matched the face. However, as she dredged her memory she did remember seeing him around the Ministry every now and then. “Please,” Amelia started with a smile, “Do not worry about it. It was my fault entirely.” It never hurt to be polite after all. Something her father said that Amelia did listen to.

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Lincoln walker wasn’t really much of a klutz. Well, at least he wasn’t most of the time. Even he had to admit that he had his moments, but he also liked to think that everyone had their moments from time to time. Sometimes, unfortunately, his moments come when he doesn’t want them to, and knocking into someone who had their hands full of papers, sending them all askew, was not one of those preferred moments. He felt like an ass now, and he felt bad for the person who he had bumped into. He had no idea what those papers were or how important they were, but now they were all over the place and he was probably making whoever it was that was carrying them late in getting wherever they were going.

He apologized quickly to the person, who turned out to be a girl that eh actually knew. Her name was Amelia Urquhart and she had been a Slytherin when he had been a Gryffindor. He remembered her from school, though they were never really that good of friends, if even at all. They were different in many ways, though more than likely similar in ways as well, though he wasn’t sure what those ways were or if he’d ever have the opportunity to learn what they were. He wasn’t an ass though, so he wasn’t going to just dismiss her and act like he hadn’t just knocked her papers every which way. He was a gentleman, at the very least, so he wasn’t going to just walk away from her and not help her pick up the papers he had caused her to drop.

“Of course I will. It’s as much my fault as yours,” he told her dismissively, not wanting her to feel as if it was all her fault. He hadn’t seen her and he had been the one to bump into her, so how it was her fault, he had no idea. “Please, let me help you,” he said as he picked up a couple of papers and handed them over to her. “It’s the least I can do for making you drop them in the first place,” he added with a smile. He wasn’t sure if she would remember him, though she hadn’t made any indication that she did. He picked up a few more papers and handed them to her. “I only hope I haven’t gotten you in trouble for being late to wherever it is that you were headed,” he told her genuinely.

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As he spoke to her, Amelia was recognising him more and more in personality. Although the two had never really socialised directly by their choice they obviously spent some time together through classes and other events where their classes converged. If there was one thing that Amelia remembered was that this man was a gentleman. His words and actions brought back these memories and confirmed them. This was probably the only reason why some ordinary Gryffindor was filed away deep in her memories. Amelia was usually very good at remembering people but only those that she deemed were important, people that would be beneficial to know in the future. The fact that this man showed gentleman qualities probably impressed Amelia in her youth, being raised by her family in an environment where manners and politics were everything. It was then when she could finally place a name. Lincoln Walker.

Amelia smiled kindly at his words. She didn’t question the fact that he was at least partly responsible for the scattering of her paperwork. But it wouldn’t do for her to stand there and shout blame at him. How would her employers think upon her if they saw? What would her mother say? Amelia internally shuddered at the thought of her mother’s strict teachings growing up and her crushing face of disappointment. She might have separated herself from some of her parents’ teachings through her years of freedom at Hogwarts but she could never shake her mother’s haunting voice constantly correcting her in her head. “Please, I was not watching where I was going,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand and a smile.

Her smile widened as he stooped to help her gather up her papers and folders. Luckily, she had the sense to file some of the papers away in some folders so at least there were only a few loose sheets. “Oh, thank you, I appreciate it,” Amelia responded when he handed her some of the papers he had gathered up for her. Grabbing the last couple of scattered papers, Amelia straightened as she cradled the papers in one arm and quickly tucked a strand of black hair that had escaped her bun behind her ear with the other. “Oh, no no. I was only going out to lunch. I hope you helping me has not delayed you for anything important,” Amelia said and then, with a slight tilt of her head, she continued, “Lincoln Walker, isn’t it?”

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It was when one was no longer at Hogwarts and had come across an old schoolmate did they realize just how little they actually knew about them. As far as Link and Amelia were concerned, he never really got much of a chance to get to know her. Now, however, with them no longer being surrounded by their house rivalry or those who put so much faith in their differences, there was a chance that they could. It wasn’t as if Link had ever thought about it before, or at least not in the sense of there being something there that shouldn’t be, but now there was a chance that they could become friends when there really hadn’t been one before.

Bumping into Amelia now, and causing her to droop all of her papers, had given him a reason and chance to talk to her, something he never really expected to happen before this moment. He had apologized before he even knew it had been her he knocked into, but he’d have apologized to anyone. He felt he was at fault, just as she seemed to think that it was her fault. He could argue with her about it all day, but he was sure that neither would change their stance on the idea. He offered to help her pick up her papers and she didn’t stop him, though he wouldn’t have allowed her to as he had already started to pick them up.

As he helped her, he told her that he hoped he hadn’t kept her from anything important or got her into trouble and she dismissed that idea almost immediately. He breathed a sigh of relief to her words, glad that he hadn’t caused even more trouble. She said she was heading out for lunch and he raised an eyebrow as he found that very coincidental. “Not at all. I was on my way out to lunch as well,” he said with a half-smile. His smile widened when she said his name and he nodded his head at her. “Yes, and you’re Amelia Urquhart,” he said. he didn’t ask if that was her name because he was certain of it, though he did find it surprising that she remembered his.

He then had an idea and decided to go with it and see what she thought. “Well, since we’re both heading out to lunch, would you care to join me?” he asked politely. “My treat. It’s the least I can do since I knocked you over and spilled all of your papers,” he told her. He wasn’t sure if she’d agree or not, but at least he was nice enough to offer. “I don’t know where you were heading, but I was going to the Leaky Cauldron, but I can go somewhere else if you’d prefer,” he told her. He didn’t care where he ate, to be perfectly honest, just as long as he got to eat. company of any kind would be good compared to eating alone.

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