Lower Level Lifts

It’s true, the rattle and clang of the lift as it goes frontways, backways, sideways, and the good old fashioned up and down may be annoying. It may make you grind your teeth in a way that will make your dentist recommend you wear a retainer at night. Just be glad that the lift music charm has finally worn off. Nobody wants it back again.

Those traveling though the Ministry of Magic via the lifts or stairwells have now found themselves somewhere in the midst of the lower levels. Choose a number--seven, eight, or nine, and you'll be dropped off on the level of your choice!

The lifts, however, will only carry you down to level nine. The only access to level ten is via a stairwell coming from the corridor on level nine. If that's what you're looking for, though, you'll find it here.

She may have smiled a little more as he wrapped his arm around her waist, though that smile turned into a smirk when he called her 'unspeakable'. Mmhmm, she'd grown to really, really really like that term over the past year and a half. Turning towards the lifts they both had come out of, Evelyn chuckled lightly as she clicked the button for the lift. She could hear the gears turning and the lift appeared in only just a few seconds.

Oh jeez, she hated this thing.

No matter though. She could just cling to Josh instead as it zoomed up in the odd angles and whatnot to the ground floor, couldn't she? "And you Mister big time auror." she said as she stepped onto the lift. Well, trainee. Close enough though. "How's everything going?"

He stared at her until the lift arrived and once the very familiar 'ding' voice was heard, announcing the opening doors of the lift, he turned and stepped into it with her.

The wild nature of the ministry lifts did not annoy him, quite the opposite, he tended to like the fun ride sometimes like those times when it made lots of those sudden turns and falls. To him that was a way to have a bit fun in the middle of work. But knowing it could be a bit agitating to most and nauseating to some people, he tightened his grip around Evelyn's waist to hold her better offering her safety during the ride.

He elbowed the button for Atrium level and grinned at the young woman when she called him that 'big time auror'. He was not a full auror yet but hearing this felt good. She knew that, too anyway. ''Everything is going fine. But i, lately, have started to find it hard to not die of boredom during paperwork days.''

Paperwork was boring and was just not his type of work.

'I would ask about yours but you are not allowed tell me anything, right? Not even if it goes well?''

Aaaand, there went the lift.

She wrapped her arms around Josh, trying to keep herself upright. Filing a complaint was not an uncommon thought of her whenever she was on one of these, however...she'd make an exception for now. She did noooot find any problems at the moment. Nope nope.

Evelyn laughed quietly. "Who doesn't?" she muttered, eying the numbers that would tell when they'd be at their floor. Taking a deep breath, she sighed as another jolt of lift made her tighten her grip on him. She was just going to keep her mouth shut on the fact that really, she didn't mind paperwork. It wasn't much different from doing homework in school anyhow.

Hmmm? She shook her head. "Not even if it goes well." She smirked a little, tilting her head up to look at him. "Besides, there are more fun things to talk about than my work."

Apparently she did not like the lift as her arms were wrapped around him. He couldn't -wouldn't- complain, though. He pretty much liked to be hugged, because of the lift or not. Actually, he thought he might try to get into this lift with her more frequently.

*ahem*

She was saying something.

Who did not? He supposed she was talking about not liking paperwork. ''There are many people in the offices who never seem to be complaining about the existence of papers and large files on their desks. I like my desk without them.'' He liked his desk with weird items of magic from the evidence room or laboratory and, of course, with food and beverage.

Not to mention that there was this empty frame on his desk in which he wanted to put a picture of her. He had to ask her first, though. He could so do now or, after what she said he decided to talk about it at the cafe. Simply because what she had said interested him pretty much: more fun things to talk about than her work.

Looking at her, he raised his eyebrows grinning. ''Are there? Let's talk about them, then''

...

The sudden curiosity to see what his desk looked like was hard to ignore. Not to mention wonder what the law enforcement level was like. Did they allow visitors there? And if so, would Josh mind if she swung by every now and then? Did they all have scowls on their faces?

She bet they did. Then again, her view of the aurors wasn't so great. "Oh, they're probably just keeping their tortured emotions on the inside." She snickered quietly. Either that or they were used to the fact that they just couldn't keep the papers and files away. She already accepted that fact herself.

Mmhmm. "Yup." she smiled and nodded her head. "Like...my birthday this year." Sure, it was still half a year away, but it was never to soon to start planning! Was going to be hard to beat last years.

''That might be.''

The young man said while eyeing the numbers as what she had said seemed very reasonable to him. They had to be feeling bored over many files and tons of papers they had but they were probably just unable to express it. ''Bad for them.'' But, on the other hand, paper work was not avoidable. Even the YATI and Aurors had to deal with it from time to time although their job frequently wanted them outside. ''You know what? I don't want to talk about people on my level, either.''

And yes! Her next birthday was a good enough topic to talk about. Everything about her, he could eagerly talk about. ''20th birthday huh?'' he said smiling down at her. Wow! Time was a fast runner as he could very well remember her and himself in the long corridors of Hogwarts. Now they were in a lift in the British Ministry of Magic. ''It should be epic. You deserve the best. But i need to know; do you want a big party or something small and special?''

The lift came to a halt and there was the 'ding' voice as the doors opened for them again.

Twentieth birthday. She felt old.

Time went by too fast when you got out of school. Then again, she would denying that fact forever for as long as she lived. Though she hadn't really thought about what she wanted to do for it yet. Her birthday that is. Didn't people usually just want to forget about them when they got older? She wanted hers to be epic!

Like Josh said.

When she heard the ding, Evelyn looked towards the lift doors as they opened, feeling relieved that they finally stopped. "Why?" she asked, de-tangling herself from him and taking the few steps off the lift, eyes twinkling mischievously. "You gunna plan something?"

Isobel had come into work rather early today. Wesley hadn't even been awake when she had left the house. She considered now that might have been a bad mood, him waking up to find that his wife was not around. This was why Isobel was now making her way towards the lifts. She was gonna go see him. Make sure that he knew she was okay. She had left him a note, telling him where she was going. But it probably hadn't been that nice, waking up to find her not there. She was also going to pop out and get herself some coffee. She did miss being able to make the YATI's do that for her. But she could do with the exercise.

Coming up to the lifts, Isobel glanced in their reflection, adjusting her skirt, before pressing the button.

The thing Furmy didn't like about this place were these strange rooms that moved in all these different directions. They moved around so much he decided to simply land on the floor and ride along with it than try to hover and move around in the air without hitting the walls. Landing gave his wonky little wings a chance to rest though so it wasn't all bad. He was glad when the room finally stopped though and the door things opened...

...and there was the human lady he was looking for!

With a flap of his wings, he half flew, half leapt forward so that he stood there in front of her, at her feet, staring up at her with an envelope clamped in his beak.

Adam was usually one to use the stairs. Lifts were weird, had floaty memos zooming around, and were usually crowded. However, ever since the Super Nova in the Space room had damaged his sight (which was slowly, ever so slowly getting better) he had been forced to use the lifts. A mostly-blind man on the stairs was not a good idea. Most likely, he’d trip and fall down the stairs. Death by broken neck was not the way Adam wanted to go. Besides, he always assumed he’d die in a grand explosion of some sort. He blamed the potioneer in him.

So Adam shuffled towards the lift, black and white stick clacking and smacking things (and probably people) as he went. His over-sized purple sunglasses were still perched on his nose. He wore them mostly to hide the odd glow in his eyes that was the side effect of the site restoration potion he was taking. The fact that his sight had improved was evidenced by the fact that his clothes [i[matched[/i] for the first time in weeks. Well, expect for his socks; one was red and blue checks, the other green and yellow.

He heard a lift coming and hurried forward making sure he caught it. He didn’t want to be stuck up here waiting for the next one. He had stuff to do in the Ever Locked Room that was time sensitive. ”Excuse! mich!” he called loudly in his heavily accented German in case someone was around that he didn’t see. And just as he stepped into the doorframe of the lift, he froze.

The doors became to shut, hit his arm which had been outstretched, then bounced open again. Adam didn’t move.

Sophie left the food court to take the lifts back to Level 4. She needed to go to the ladies room and inspect her hair. She had seen unusual white strands in her otherwise bushy and full black hair. And to top it off it felt like she was growing a second layer of warm skin which was insane. It was weird. Sophie was perplexed and she didn't know who to talk to. Even her usual diet had started to change towards just meat.

With her head down and in her own thoughts Sophie didn't see who else was around until it felt like someone shouted right in her ear when they had just called loudly in heavily scented German. Shaking her head, she looked up as a guy who worked in another department got his arm squeezed in the doorframe of the lift. Ouch! That had to hurt! Rushing forward she pulled the guy backwards and then asked hurriedly "Are you all right? That lift door got you good on the arm didn't it?"

Adam hadn’t felt the lift doors close on him, nor did he feel the lady pulling him backwards. He didn’t respond to her question and if you looked closely, he didn’t really blink or breathe much (if at all) for at least a minute. It was like he had been hit with a freezing charm. He had no clue the young lady had pulled him out of the doors, nor that she had asked him anything.

And just as suddenly as he had froze, Adam started moving again. But instead of forward into the lift, he was falling sideways. ”Gargh!” Using his cane and his feet, Adam caught himself before he could topple over, although he moved left a bit. “Vhat vas that for?!” he barked the lifts, not realizing someone had pulled him out of the lift’s doorways. Perhaps he had been wrong and the doors hadn’t been open? Maybe his cane had struck the doorframe and knocked him off balance?

And then the pain came. Pain in his right forearm. He shifted his black and white cane to his left hand resisting the urge to scream bloody murder as a throbbing started sneaking up to his shoulder. While he was able to keep his mouth shut, he certainly couldn’t keep the pain off his face. His mouth and nose scrunched up as he silently cursed in German in his head. He pulled the arm and his cane into his chest trying not to cry like a baby.

Sophie stood where she stood with a hold on the other guy's arm in front of the lifts waiting for an answer to her question that the guy didn't respond to or acknowledged to have heard in the first place. In fact he wasn't blinking or appearing to breathe either, it was like he had froze up. Weird!!

Next minute though Sophie was glad to have taken a step back and let go of the guy when he started to move and fall sideways but by some miracle with the use of a cane and his feet he didn't fully topple over. "Are you all right? The lift's close if you aren't quick enough to get in." Sophie repeated her earlier question.

She chose to ignore the guy's barking at the lift since it made her want to growl too and that'd be right embarrassing. Studying the guy's face and posture Sophie stated since the pain the guy was feeling was notably visible. "The lift got you good. Do you want me try a healing charm or something on your arm?"

Somewhere in his pain fogged brain, Adam heard the lady tell him that the lifts had closed on him. Well, good. At least he wasn’t the problem, well, for a change. Not for the first time, Adam wished the sight-restoration potion would hurry up and fix his sight. "I zzziiinnnkkk Iiiii bbrroookeeee ittttt.” he replied slowly unwilling to move it in case he had. No, Adam wasn’t speaking German, in fact, he hadn’t a clue that his words came out as anything but his typical German-accented English.

Did he want the lady to fix his arm? Well, he wasn’t sure. How good was she with healing charms? Would he end up without any bones at all in his arm? He’d seen that happen to a schoolmate once, but at least in that case, the pain had gone away…until the bones had to be grown back. He groaned inwardly. What do to do? What to do?

It was the fact that Adam had spent more than enough time in a hospital/healing ward in the last year that made him decide to give the lady a chance. ”Goooooo aaaa-hhheeeeaddd…” He said, suddenly moving in slow motion as he pulled his arm away from his chest. Was there someone in the hallway hitting Adam with freezing spells?

What was up with this guy? He didn’t seem to be hearing what she was saying, was he deaf or one of those people that had lost their hearing after one too many explosive experiments in a lab? Sophie shrugged and gave a surprised stare when the guy finally responded to her, but not in any language that she understood. Blinking she asked feeling dumb "What did you say? I don’t understand." Feeling an angry roar building up in her throat she quickly turned away from the guy, hid her mouth behind her hands as best as she could as she let out a weak. "Rooooar!" hopefully the other guy hadn’t heard that.

What was going on with her? Why did it feel like she was growing a second warm skin and now she even roared like a creature? Sophie was not liking what these things could mean. She did not want to even think about that. Forcing herself to focus her full attention on the weird guy again, she slipped her left hand into her robe to feel that she had her wand with her in case they actually was going to let her to try healing his arm.

"Gooooooooo aaaaa-hhhhhhhheeeeeeeeaddd?" Um what??? Blinking again Sophie asked really unsure what the guy was saying okay to as he began moving his arm weirdly. "You wan’t me to try healing your arm?"