Ms. Bellanala walked down the creepy dark corriders leading towards the Department of Mysteries. She used to come down here much more often, but no so often anymore.

Finally, she reached the end and waited.

The receptionist looked to most people almost as scary as the hall: He was over six feet tall and pretty muscled and had dark skin. He was wearing an open vest which revealed his buylging chest.

Scary to most people, but not to Bellana Dawson, who was his---------that's right, girlfriend. She smiled at him.

He stood up, towering high over six feet. "How are you sweetheart?" She siddled over to him witha smile still on her face. "I'm fine except...well you know what." Her voice trembled a bit.

Wow.

That was all Derek had in mind right now. Just... wow.

This was a really interesting place. The corridors that led there were so brilliantly planned that Derek would have found it even more amusing if he weren't in a sort of quest. That he had created himself, of course. Yes, because he wanted to understand this whole drooling/vomiting business. AND, he had heard that many people from around the Ministry were having those symptoms.

So he was here to investigate.

The former Gryffindor arrived in that pretty much foreign area and looked around. He didn't see anyone but the receptionist, who he greeted with a nod. The young man decided to check out the furniture, objects and whatnot, in a very... unsuspicious way, obviously.

There was no need to call attention to himself, was there?

Demetrius exited the Death Chamber and walked throught the visitor area. He was in the mood for some nice food from the food court. He could not understand all these school rivalries. It was like everybody in the ministry was still in Hogwarts. Thank Merlin, Demetrius went to Durmstrung.

Wiping some more drool off his face he spots somebody who looks like a tourist. He seemed so lost it was funny. It appeared he was looking for some furniture. Which Demetrius knew was only in his bosses office.Demetrius hid is smile as he walked up to him to see why he was here in the Department of Mysteries

"Hey Buddy, What are you doing in the Department of Mysteries. You look lost."

If he said he was a tourist. Demetrius was going to wipe drool all over his face and put him in a state of near death. He did work in the Death Chamber after all.

Derek was still looking around when he heard footsteps. He quickly turned around to see a guy not much older than him asking him if what he was doing there. "I'm not lost." He said, looking at the stranger. "I'm looking for some othe-"

WAS THAT DROOL???

Derek stopped mid-sentence and STARED at the guy drooling. "You're- Are you having those symptoms that some people around the Ministry have been showing??" He asked to be polite, because it was obvious the other man had the same thing that had spread among the Ministry people! YES!! "I'm Derek Meriwether, Potion Identification and Recovery Specialist. I work in the Department of Accidents and Catastrophes and I'm studying this..." Unknown thing. "...I'm studying what has been happening to some people lately. You have the symptoms!" Derek spoke all of it really fast, but he didn't care. He wanted to collect the man's drool right now.

That is, if he couldn't have his vomit. But that would be weird to ask for.

Thank Merlin, This man was not a tourist. He even had a D name. Demetrius liked names tat started with D. Plus he worked in the ministry. So of course he was not a tourist. but he did seem a little to excited about a little drool. He wiped some more drool off his face before answering.

"Yeah I'm Demetrius. I would shake your hand right now. But it is covered in drool." When will he ever stop drooling. But one thing Derek said stuck in Demetrius's mind. "Wait!, so Derek are you saying that other people are having this drooling problem?" Well at least he was not the only one. Though he had no idea how he got it. He was in the Death Chamber for the past week or so.

The man was still wiping drool off his face. That was a LOT of drool! Just like that Kensi girl. Which was great! It meant Derek would have a lot of new working material. Because he was definitely collecting the man's drool somehow...

The former Gryffindor shook his head slightly, almost telling Demetrius that he didn't care about the drool. He was actually interested in it! But he still didn't have gloves on, so it might be a bad idea. "Yes." Derek answered his question, without taking his eyes off Demetrius' drool face. "I've heard that it was an infestation of some sort, or something like that. It spread among the Ministry a few days ago."

It was now or never! "Do you mind if I collect some of your drool?" He didn't even care if it was awkward anymore. He wanted SAMPLES!! And the guy wouldn't vomit just so he could have some of it... or... would he?

Stare.

Did this guy really just ask Demetrius for his drool. Demetrius blinked once and tried not to give this guy a look of death. He really wanted Demetrius's drool. He didn't have a witty comeback or response to that. It was just weird. Maybe He and Alex could combine there inteligence and solve why they were drooling so much. "You know. You should get to know Alexandria Hadley. She works here in Mysteries. You and her can maybe solve this mystery as to why people are drooling"


Now back to him blatantly asking for his drool.

"Ah, Okay I guess." He was not letting Derek anywhere near his mouth. "Just stay away from my mouth or i curse you" Plus he did not know if it was contagious or not. "You now my boss had it too. I hope it is not contagious."

"Alexandria Hadley?" Derek repeated, looking straight at Demetrius as he spoke. "Is she also drooling and vomiting?" Because he wanted to meet all the people that were.

'You and her could solve the mystery as to why people are drooling'. Demetrius meant like... as a team? Oh... working in a group wasn't really Derek's forte and he wasn't really expecting anyone to help him figure this out. But... well, if that person wanted to exchange some ideas or whatever.

OH! He had agreed to give Derek some of his drool!! That surprised the 24 year-old, but in a very good way. He quickly conjured a vial and handed it to Demetrius, being careful enough not to touch the other man's hand. While he waited, he conjured some rubber gloves as well. Just in case.

His boss? "Who's your boss? I want to meet them." Now?

Yeah, well, they would see whether it was contagious or not... "Could you also describe your symptoms, please?" Derek added, getting ready to take a lot of mental notes.

"No, because you the second person to ask for a sample of my drool and she was the first." Maybe he was a loner and wanted to solve this by himself. Which Demetrius could understand. But he had a feeling that this was not something one person could solve.

He picked the drool with his clean hand. and put it to his mouth. In no time the vial was filled with drool. Once it was full Demetrius put the stopper on it and levitated it back to Derek. "I hope this is enough".

Now he wanted to know about his boss. "Well you could go to her office and ask. Her name is Isobel Ferguson and she has been drooling to. But i don't know if she is vomiting for this or from being pregnant. And don't tell anybody she is pregnant or i will curse you!"

Demetrius had no idea why he was threatening Derek so much. Maybe it had something to do with his sickness or whatever it was.

So there was someone else going around trying to figure this out, hm? Good to know he wasn't the only one that wanted to understand this better. Maybe he should meet this Alexandria person.

Derek watched as Demetrius collected his own drool. If he wasn't so interested in the content, he would have found the whole scene to be quite disturbing. Watching someone pour their own drool into a vial wasn't a very pleasing sight. But welp, he needed that drool, so he didn't care. "It is, thank you." YES!

Before touching the vial, Derek got his wand and did some non-verbal spells to clean it and make sure it was safe to touch it without any risks. After that, he pocketed the vial as he listened to the other man speak. Ferguson? Wasn't that Kensington's boss' last name as well? Maybe they were married? And wha? What was up with this bloke? "I- Why would I tell anyone she's pregnant?" Derek was no gossiper. Though that did make him more alert. Would the disease - or whatever that was - affect the baby as well? He started wondering what the baby would look like and/or act after s/he was born.

Eye roll. Demetrius wanted to scare him or something? Weird thing, he didn't seem like a threatening kind of person; he had even given Derek a sample of his drool, for Merlin's sake.

Hm... Maybe that was something the whole drool-vomit-zombie thing did? "Can you tell me some other symptoms you've been having?" The 24 year-old asked cautiously, looking at Demetrius almost as if the man couldn't understand what he was saying. If the disease reacted the same way in everyone, Demestriu could freeze or stare blankly at nowhere any second now. And even mutter some random and pointless words, like the Kensi girl had done. "What are you feeling right now?" He inquired, still looking at the other man.

Demetrius had no idea why he was threatening Derek. He was beginning to like Derek and his directness. He was feeling really weird for the past couple days. Demetrius stood there with his glazed look thinking about how his behavior changed.

"Well as you just noticed i am threatening people for no reason, I feel like vomiting all the time, and of course the drool. I hate the drool."

He hoped Evelyn did not come over here. He could not handle anymore of his co workers seeing him in this position. He would probably just flick some drool on her or something. To make her go away.

Derek listened carefully as Demetrius spoke again. He was absorbing every word as if his life depended on them. Every bit of information was precious now.

So he was vomiting as well! Derek resisted the urge to wait around until the guy vomited so her could collect some of it as well. Maybe... if they just kept talking it would happen eventually? Hmm.....

"Did you happen to lose consciousness recently?" The former Gryffindor asked. "Anyone told you that you had frozen and made some random noises, stared blankly at nothing or something like that?" He started thinking about all of the symptoms he had observed in Kensington and suddenly he wondered if it was a good idea to put on some rubber gloves again. Just to be safe if Demetrius decided to bite him like the redhead had done.

Once again Derek was completely alert. He should be like that whenever he spoke to people that were infected by the... whatever that was.

Hmm.. Demetrius had to think about Derek's question. Had he lost consciousnesses. He could not remember. He has been working long than usual the past week. So maybe.

"Maybe. I have been working later than usual. This past week. I don't know for sure."

To Derek's second question. Demetrius has been working alone and only when Nero was in the room. So he could not really know if he was been frozen or making random noises.

"Well, am I making weird noises now? because i have been working alone for the past week" Right when Nigel finished talking he turned to his left and vomited all over the floor. Well at least he felt that he did not have to vomit again.

The lift door opened on to the confusing corridors of the department. Jade led the two women through this maze to the reception area.

"Well, this is the receiving area of the department of mysteries. To be honest, I have never had a need to visit here so I don't know much and for obvious reasons much of the information is confidential and mysterious."

"Questions?" Jade hoped that they didn't have any questions because she wanted to move on to the relevant departments that they really spent a lot of time working with like the MLE.

Ooooooo, this was neat! No need to visit here though? That was a shame. It seemed so cool! Cora couldn't help wondering what it was like in the rest of the department where the people worked and stuff. It was probably really cool and fun too.

"Wonder why it's so mysterious," she said aloud in a curious voice. It wasn't really a question, but at the same time it kinda was. What sorta things did they work on that they had to be so hush-hush about? She'd definitely like to know, but obviously she probably wouldn't unless she worked in that department. But she hadn't even gotten to really work in her own department yet, so she certainly wasn't planning on switching. She liked it too much already anyway, even if she hadn't done much yet.

At Cora's question, Jade smiled at the younger woman and said. "Well, what little I do know is that they research the various mysteries of the universe such as love, death, space and time. If there is no more questions then the next level we will be moving on to is Level 7--the Games and Sports department."

She led them back to the lifts and pressed the button for level 7

As soon as Beijing set foot on the floor of this department, she immediatly felt as if she were intruding. But, she was here to do a task; not to socialize. And somehow she thought this department might approve of that. She took a seat and stared down the dark, blueish hallways which all looked very similar, and hard to find the doors.

This would have been way easier if she had come here with her tour, but her group had mysteriously dissappeared. Beijing's plan was to do her assessments at the same time as her ministry tour. She often liked to kill two doxy's with one curse.

What a bright little corner of the Department of Mysteries THIS was! Heh. The observation put a smile on Wes' face as he wandered down the corridor toward his wife's office. He wondered if he should just go on in there and make himself comfortable or if he should bust in on her little meeting going on in the conference room....

Butttt upon seeing the number of people in there, especially ones that weren't even FROM the Department of Mysteries, Wes decided to just wait in reception. He wouldn't wait too long though. The food court was calling.

Coming out of the conference room, and heading back towards her office, Isobel was surprised to see her husband standing there. Very interesting. A little smile came to her lips, and she changed her course of direction, heading towards him. Well this was a nice surprise. She did like seeing her husband. Of course she did. And it was very nice for him to have comem down here. She wondered why though. She would have to ask him in a moment.

"Hello dear." She murmured, leaning up to kiss his cheek softly. "Nice to see you down here." She usually came up to him. So this was a nice change.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

Coming out of the conference room, and heading back towards her office, Isobel was surprised to see her husband standing there. Very interesting. A little smile came to her lips, and she changed her course of direction, heading towards him. Well this was a nice surprise. She did like seeing her husband. Of course she did. And it was very nice for him to have comem down here. She wondered why though. She would have to ask him in a moment.

"Hello dear." She murmured, leaning up to kiss his cheek softly. "Nice to see you down here." She usually came up to him. So this was a nice change.

Oh, there was Izzy now! Wes stood up and stretched out his long legs, smiling as his wife came up to him. He was glad she'd noticed him. "Hi hun." He gave her a kiss back. "How's it going? I thought I'd come down here and see if you wanted a break..."

Also, he was dreadfully curious to hear how this love potion testing was going.

It was going quite good actually. Isobel was rather looking forward to the testing. Though a break would be good too. "A break would be good...." She had been working all morning, and so lunch would be nice. Though not lunch in the ministry's food court. She was not going back there. Sure it had all been cleared up, but she was not risking it. She really did not want to turn into a Zombie again. Oh no not at all. That had not been fun.

"Hows level 2?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

It was going quite good actually. Isobel was rather looking forward to the testing. Though a break would be good too. "A break would be good...." She had been working all morning, and so lunch would be nice. Though not lunch in the ministry's food court. She was not going back there. Sure it had all been cleared up, but she was not risking it. She really did not want to turn into a Zombie again. Oh no not at all. That had not been fun.

"Hows level 2?"

"Want to go get some food?" Wes was ready to lead the way up to the Ministry Food Court unless she directed him elsewhere. Food was food, to him, but then he hadn't been turned into a zombie.

"Level Two's good," he replied as they started out of the reception area. "Gonna have to kick some Auror butt here soon... and Hit Wizard butt. They're taking their sweet time with the Gringotts investigation." Eh but he wasn't too upset with it. Hogwarts' Headmistress could wait a little longer. Impatient woman.

Laura was getting the hang of this whole surveying thing. Hopefully, the process would continue smoothly today. Roxanne had assigned the Environment employees to go forth out and about the Ministry to survey anyone they could get their hands on, if they had the time and were gracious enough to answer just a few simple questions. Well, perhaps to a witch or wizard outside of the Environmental department wouldn't think them so simple. Laura had to remind herself that although it was her job to know about all that stuff about being "green," most everyone else was busy being the cream of the crop of their own fields and much too busy to think extensively about how they were impacting the environment.

With the clipboard she had tucked under her arm, a click-pen peeking out from behind her ear, and a stack of 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' fliers bulging from her work bag, Laura stepped out of the elevator and into the visitor's receiving area of Level 9. She scanned the room silently with her blue eyes. It seemed it was rather slow in the room at the moment, but she wasn't about to parade through the cubicles, waving her clipboard of survey questions under everyone's noses. Not with all the security she'd heard about on this particular level. And the receptionist didn't seem to be much of a conversationalist.

So instead, Laura took a seat, happy to be off her feet for a bit. She figured someone would be out shortly to see to her, and then she could grab a handful of unsuspecting employees to survey.

Level 10 had been searched high and low by a flood of law enforcement right after the trial and the fiasco afterwards. That much both Simon remembered and confirmed by the notes he found in the security office. That left the auror to start on Level 9 and work his way back to where he had started and beyond. The Minister's office should probably be included in his search at some point. If there was anything insecure about that level there was bound to be heads rolling if the minister ever found out.

Taking the lift down from the atrium to Level 9, Simon was deposited within the visitor's receieving area. It was probably a good thing that he was at least a little familiar with the level given his search for the court cushionsa couple of years before during his YATI years. Else what he was greeted with might be a little dishearting. Though he supposed hoping for friendly help if he ever truly got lost wasn't too much to hope for. With that thought in mind, the auror moved to head off into the corridor that lead further inside.

In the silence of the corridor Jasper could hear the footsteps of another. Sounded confident. Like they knew where they were going, but all of the other Unspeakables were in their work-spaces so who then? Perhaps, Mr. Summers? He'd tell him he was only up for a glass of water if he should ask what he was doing out of his workstation, but actually he felt like caffeine would've been more useful. He'd recently discovered a disquieting drawing in his prophecy journal which made it difficult to sleep at night, and he was unwilling to take sleep-aiding potions.

Jasper poked his head out of an archway and saw a lone Auror traveling. Was he...lost? Looking for someone or something? Why Mysteries? He stepped out of the archway completely revealing his quite tired-looking appearance and broke the silence, "Does Mr. Summers know you're here?". The Unspeakable's tone somewhere between curious and territorial. They had secrets to protect.