Thanks to the combined efforts of everyone in the lab, and especially thanks to the quick work of the man who felt very possessive of the lab, the bubbling sample started to spread. It looked like it needed to be split into a few more test tubes... like say, at least a dozen test tubes... or however many infected employees there were....

What?? NO! NO. MORE. PEOPLE. UUUUURGH!!!

Derek took a few imperceptible deep breaths when an old man walked into his the lab. Who was he anyway?? The young man had never seen him before. Huh? The old bloke was leaning over to... smell the experiment??? Get. Away! Uuurgh! The former Gryffindor glared at the old person a bit from the corner of his eye and frowned.

Since he had no idea who that person was, it made Derek VERY suspicious. How did he even manage to get in there?? Who had let him in?? WHO?? No. That was not right. Get away from HIS THINGS, OLD MAN!! Hnnnngh!

The 25 year-old used his body to kind of protect the analysis he was working on, turning his back to the unknown man. Get away. AWAY! Derek was very suspicious. He silently hoped the other people would do something about this, since he was clearly busy with the mixture there. Group work, yes? That would make some sense now.

Derek forgot about the people around him for a fraction of a second when his inside flipped in excitement. The thing was spreading! That was a good sign! He quickly conjured several vials and filled each of them up to the top with the... cure???

"I... I think..." Was that it??? Was that the cure??? "I think this is..." The young man turned around as his face lit up, holding up one of the vials. He felt warm inside and almost gave a genuine smile to the too many people in the lab. "I believe this is it!"

Elinor wasn't happy, either, by the arrival of another person, but she could tell that Derek was going to have a panic attack or something. She stepped up to him and gingerly rubbed his shoulder. That was about all the fellow scientist could do.

She stepped up to where he ad filled several vials with the... substance, and looked over to him "May I...?" before hesitantly picking one up herself and holding it up to the light. She wanted to analyze this, but wondered if--

AH, SCIENCE! She wanted answers!

Elinor popped open the vial briefly and, finding a sterile dropper, took a very tiny sample of the substance, re-plugged the vial, and moved over to place a tiny drop on a slide.

She loved these muggle machines. They were so much better to use, in her opinion.

"Sweet Merlin," she breathed as she stared forward at the screen of the machine she put the tiny glass slide into. "The Potassium levels are through the roof..." Did that mean her previous theory about the nutrients held water? Maybe?

She looked over to the quiet, nervous, paranoid fellow and nodded once. "I think... I think it might be," she said, swiftly looking over the screen again. There wasn't a second to spare, but there was neither a second to be sloppy...

By Merlin, it WAS a cure!

Quick, to the quarantine room! Before the bubbling bubbles all bubble away!!!!

Derek hadn't felt this happy in a very long time. If you knew him a bit, you could see it in his face; not that he was grinning widely, he was not. But his face was definitely lit up.

Though... he was not going to the Quarantine Room. Actually, he would go if he had to, but he didn't, since there were a lot of other people there that could do it instead. "Um, so... one of you should take these to the... infected people." Because he was staying right there. There were even MORE people in the Quarantine Room than there were in the lab.

But take them! Hurry! There was no time to lose, really. Who knew what could be happening to the '''''zombies''''' right now. They could be killing each other or something! Hitting themselves against walls or... whatever. Someone should take the vials there fast!

Okay...so maaaaaaybe he was getting a little caught up in the whole plant aspect of this situation. It couldn't be help, he was a Herbologist after all.

When Derek went all mad scientist on them all, he sort of just stood back with his giant vial of liquefied wand woods, swirling it like it was a cocktail of some sort - shaken, not stirred - and then glanced at Elinor as she did something else and the leaf and all its spore goodness continued to bubble away.

Wait, they did it?!

Wood juice in hand - maybe as something to wash down the after taste of this cure and supply some extra nutrients later? - Aron reached for the vials containing the cure and smirked at the other two especially Derek who was having a nervous break down. "I'm on it," he said with a firm nod while he put everything in a cooler. After all, he had been the one running all over the Ministry ever since this rubbish started.

No more collecting drool and vomit!!

Giving everyone one last nod - and the old man a raised eyebrow (was he even allowed to be in here?!) - Aron turned around and made his way out of the lab and to towards Level 2.

Jade took a step back and let the three scientists of the team work on the bubbling/stewing fern. She watched in fascination how they all worked together. This was one aspect of the process that she, personally, had never witnessed first hand.

And she was so caught up in what was happening that she never even noticed the old man who wandered into the lab.

And then they FINALLY achieved it--the cure to the zombie sickness! Jade felt so giddy at the prospect that she didn't say a word as Aron left to administer it to the infected.

But then she realized that she also needed to be on hand to help out so she called out "Wait!" and rushed out of the lab after him.

Derek walked into his ...his lab and went straight to the cauldron that was fuming to check on the Potion he had been working on for the last few days.

Staring down at the bubbling orange substance, the 26 year-old watched it for a moment before deciding what to do next. He walked over to his supply cabinet and retrieved a few recipients with odd looking, thick goo in them. Each one of a different colour.

Brilliant. Now all he needed was to wait until the Potion spread to take samples and start testing them out individually.

".....I would." Althea agreed, continuing an in-progress conversation as she made her way into the lab with Aron.

"You're familiar with the lab obviously." A twinkle in her eye as she said this. Honestly a big part of why he was perfect for the job, his contribution to the department already was notable, and he got along well with the employees, and Althea respected his work ethic so she'd had plenty of reason to recommend him to Alexander.

Oh Derek was here and hard at work, Althea offered a smile and a wave but didn't want to interrupt him.

"I'm sure you won't have any trouble getting a grasp on current operational processes."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

".....I would." Althea agreed, continuing an in-progress conversation as she made her way into the lab with Aron.

"You're familiar with the lab obviously." A twinkle in her eye as she said this. Honestly a big part of why he was perfect for the job, his contribution to the department already was notable, and he got along well with the employees, and Althea respected his work ethic so she'd had plenty of reason to recommend him to Alexander.

Oh Derek was here and hard at work, Althea offered a smile and a wave but didn't want to interrupt him.

"I'm sure you won't have any trouble getting a grasp on current operational processes."

Familiar was an understatement to be sure. He had practically lived here during the whole drooling-zombies-whatever the politically correct term was for what had happened to the Ministry's employees. He was just glad that was over and he did not have to collect more drool and vomit samples.

Which hopefully Derek wasn't mulling over at the moment. Had seen more than enough of that stuff for a long while. He did nod his head in the man's direction before turning his attention back to Althea

Her next comment that took him off guard a bit. It wasn't that he lacked the confidence to run the place - the man practically had that in spades - but he would be the first to admit that Althea somewhat intimidated him.

She was no honking daffodil that was for sure.

"Seems to be straightforward enough," he agreed with a nod. He had worked in this sort of field before at STATUS. "Anything else I should be aware of?"

The blonde woman, always working, used the opportunity to casually (or not so casually but with the appearance of casual so as not to alarm Derek overmuch) began inspecting the lab. Not that she touched anything, just eyeballed everything, having stopped to apply protective charms to herself just in case something exploded or the like.

"Its as straightforward as I've been able to make it." She agreed with a small smile, reflecting inwardly on all the changes she'd made in order to get the department working efficiently. Part of her was reluctant to leave since she very much liked running a tight ship, but it was just time. Besides, she was looking forward to embarking on the next chapter of her life with Dash.

"Anything else regarding the lab you can chat with Derek about. And of course there are stacks of files with the Health and Safety guidelines and processes in the office." Which he'd have to read ALL of, so have fun with that Aron. "And if you're not familiar with the magical analysis machines, there are manuals with each of them here." She indicated the machines themselves, "And on the shelves in the conference room, which doubles as a library for relevant Department reference material."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

The blonde woman, always working, used the opportunity to casually (or not so casually but with the appearance of casual so as not to alarm Derek overmuch) began inspecting the lab. Not that she touched anything, just eyeballed everything, having stopped to apply protective charms to herself just in case something exploded or the like.

"Its as straightforward as I've been able to make it." She agreed with a small smile, reflecting inwardly on all the changes she'd made in order to get the department working efficiently. Part of her was reluctant to leave since she very much liked running a tight ship, but it was just time. Besides, she was looking forward to embarking on the next chapter of her life with Dash.

"Anything else regarding the lab you can chat with Derek about. And of course there are stacks of files with the Health and Safety guidelines and processes in the office." Which he'd have to read ALL of, so have fun with that Aron. "And if you're not familiar with the magical analysis machines, there are manuals with each of them here." She indicated the machines themselves, "And on the shelves in the conference room, which doubles as a library for relevant Department reference material."

Aron chuckled softly and nodded his head. Not that he really knew how things had been prior to her appointment. He had only ever worked at the Ministry when Althea had been Head of the Department. Which is why he was still a bit surprised that she had asked him to fill her pointy shoes. He was still relatively new to the British Ministry compared to some of the other employees. Then again, why NOT him? He was obviously qualified and had done most of the required research from his own department with recent Ministry happenings.

Should he be writing this all down? Nah. If he needed something and didn't know where it was he could always ask someone to fetch it for him. Proper wording wouldn't make him look like he didn't know what he was doing.

"I think I'll be spending some time in the conference room then," he nodded. Sorry Seren, looked as though he would be having a long work weekend to make sure he was up to speed on things before orientation. He didn't need an orientation on how to use lab equipment. He knew that stuff like the underside of a palm leaf.

"The Ministry will sure miss your presence," he said said as he shoved both hands in his pockets and sort of rocked back on his heels. He really meant that too. She was one of the few women here he could put up with. "What made you decide to do this? If you don't mind me asking that is."

As soon as the Potion started to spread, Derek skilfully collected various samples in different tubes. When he put the mixture into the last testing tube, though, the door opening and people's voices startled him. Good thing he didn't drop anything, otherwise he would have gotten quite upset.

Hm.

The former Gryffindor glanced behind him and saw his Head of Department talking to that Aron bloke. He acknowledged the both of them with a short nod, and turned around to face his experiment before any of them could see in his face that he wasn't pleased with the... visit.

Derek couldn't help to overhear what they were saying, of course. Not that he wanted to, but well, they were in his lab, which was a rather quiet place, especially when Derek was there alone. Just how he liked it. Alone. A.l.o.n.e.

But now that he wasn't alone anymore, he couldn't focus. What was he doing, even? The young man eyed the tubes he was holding and blinked. Oh. Right. He tried to concentrate again, but people. Really, Derek was trying his best not to pay attention to the conversation, but it was almost like they were doing it on purpose. They knew he could hear them, right?? Ugh.

Finally managing to get back to work, Derek started to pour a little bit of goo in one of the tubes. He watched as the substance changed colours when his name was mentioned and he froze. Was he supposed to look back and... do something? Talk to them? About... his lab or something? What? What??

The 26 year-old was suddenly really nervous and couldn't keep working on the experiment. So he just held the goo recipient and the testing tube, standing still with his back to both people.

'The ministry will sure miss your presence.' What?? Althea was leaving?? Ugh, no! Derek would have to get used to a new boss and new rules and new EVERYTHING. He did not appreciate that! He slowly put the glass tube and recipient he was holding as his palms became sweaty.

Still facing the cauldron in front of him, Derek could not help it anymore but pay full attention to their conversation.

"I don't blame you, there's a lot of interesting things in the books and scrolls there." She said with a touch of Ravenclaw enthusiasm. Because... well, she did that sort of thing for interest's sake too.

"I'm sure it will, but I'll stay on as a consultant for the Experimental Charms Committee, so you'll still see me around, I assure you." She smiled at him. Not that she'd be doing any more than that, which would be actually quite nice, not having to shoulder the responsibility of the entire department.

Hmmmm. She eyed up one of the machines and checked the maintenance schedule. Tomorrow that one needed to be tested.

Oh what made her decide... to leave?

She looked back at Aron.

"Dash left Hogwarts this term." For starters. "We bought a house together and he's acquired Obscurus Books - the publishing house, do you know it?" She paused and tilted her head to one side. "I have more of a business mind than he does, shall we say, so I'm going to work with him and make sure he doesn't drive all the potential customers away." Essentially. She smiled widely and... well, fondly. Dash wasn't exactly a people person. Not that she was but... well she was MUCH better at faking it, and he tended to tell people to bugger off and that he wouldn't publish their books because he didn't get along with them, which was no way to run a business.

Especially because Everett Scabior barely got along with anyone.

"We've missed working together, and to be honest the long hours here, plus my work with the Hogwarts Board of Governors and the Fawley-Schirmer Foundation -which is a charity I head- it leaves our time together a little more limited than we'd like, and we want to spend time together as a family, rather than having Kyroh mostly spend time with just one or the other of us." So 'personal reasons' might have summed it up, but as someone in a relationship with a Hogwarts Professor... well, she expected Aron might understand where she was coming from. It was fine to be busy when the person you loved was busy, but it was time to cut back when they did too. Speaking of which...

"I think you'll find its pretty easy to reduce your workload over the summer. I spent most summer months taking a more on call approach, since I pushed to get my work done in less time so that I'd have time freed up to spend with Dash when he off work." Paaaaaaaaaaause. "And I believe the floo is still set up from my office to Hogwarts, its just currently inactive on the other end, and would need to be switched to the appropriate fireplace."

Just to be helpful.

Good thing he enjoyed reading then, yeah?

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said with a small wink. He was going to ask her to be on the Board anyway, so it was nice knowing that she had already accepted said spot without him having to even ask. Very efficient when two people were photosynthesizing on the same molecular level.

But now that all the logistics were talked about and business was turning more towards casual conversation, Aron glanced over at Derek whose ears seemed to have doubled in size in the span of a few minutes. Eavesdropping much? Only the Australian hardly saw the harm in it. Wasn't as though they were discussing the man's paycheck or anything.

They had done that earlier. Heh.

"I am familiar with it, yes," he nodded. "Send my congratulations to him." And then she struck a cord with him when she mentioned the word family. It was partly why he had accepted the position as Department Head when she had offered it to him since he had already been considering speaking to Wes about receiving a promotion in his former department. With a baby on the way and Seren working at Hogwarts - which was now in the poor house - he knew he had to step it up and really REALLY bring home the bacon. Long and potentially strenuous hours were ahead he was sure...but it was all for the sake of a family.

"Ah."

That was really all he managed to utter since his own thoughts were very much preoccupied at the moment.

Oh. She was offering some helpful advice now. He better refocus. "I'll ask Seren about getting that situated," he nodded. "That will be especially useful when she gets closer to her due date." He had this sinking fear that she would start going into labor while in the middle of a lesson or something to that regard and he wanted to make sure he had the quickest route to her side when it happened. Although it would be nice if their baby would wait until they were together before it decided to come.

"Lucky for you I know what I'm doing." She answered, returning the wink. Althea was more than confident that she was a benefit to the Committee, and she enjoyed it. She could contribute a lot of insight into the magical metallurgy side of experimental charms, which was a specialist area after all.

Althea had no particular worry about Derek eavesdropping or not, there was nothing she was saying that was confidential and he'd find out eventually anyway. Wasn't as if she didn't trust him.

She nodded. She'd congratulate Dash... he wouldn't care but she would anyway, and then put up with him being all smug for a while. Not that that was unusual.

It wasn't that.... she wasn't happy for Seren and Aron, but the reminder that his wife was pregnant made her a little ...sad. She gave him a wistful little smile. "I do hope she's not overworking herself, given the situation at Hogwarts at the moment."

She paused and then, head tilting to one side she mused out loud, "I wonder if Truebridge would accept Ministry sponsorship for lessons? Even some secondhand equipment, or perhaps loaned equipment..." It really just came down to the Headmistress's usual reluctance to accept Ministry help. Althea was mostly aware that the redheaded woman had good reason to mistrust the Ministry of Magic, given how her husband had unfairly ended up in Azkaban and such, and she'd heard that at some point in the past the woman had had run ins with that Borr... but still. Pride might be her downfall if she wasn't willing to accept help gracefully. Shrug. All the same Aron could autonomously offer assistance from DMAC if he wished, they were well and truly in the green and below budget after all.

Alani Marie was looking for her boss. Or the woman who was almost her former boss. It was saaaad, wasn't it? Her first boss at her not-really-that-big-but-still-a-big-deal government job, and she was quitting. It was sad. Alani had a moment of gum popping silence for her almost former boss when she found out.

It had been so much more important than rushing back to finish the assignment she'd been working on. So much more.

Now she had a different assignment. She had parchments that her boss lady still needed to sign. Also, she'd knew that Schirmer was showing the level to soon-to-be current boss, and so why not get her to sign the papers now so she could check out this new person who'd she be assisting?

The young woman sauntered into the lab and let her green eyes settle on current boss after the two men in the room got there share of appropriate looks. A little wave and smile for Derek, and a... this is who she'd be working for? Hi. Hello.

She waved. And smiled.

Hot.

This job was getting so much better.

"I still have some papers for you to sign, Althea." She motioned to the parchments in her hand. Her other hand holding a fancy quill.

He wasn't entirely sure if that was her version of dry humor or not - considering that it was rather obvious that she knew what she was doing or else she would not have been appointed Department Head in the first place.

"You know how strong women are," he said with a soft chuckle. "You tell them to take it easy and they give you the stink eye." Which was how Seren typically was. She was being a bit more reasonable lately, however. Must be those mother hormones or whatever kicking in. Her mood swings were hard to keep up with - as were those late night cravings for Bertie Bott's...and she only wanted certain flavors of them too. Like sardine and peanut butter. "That isn't a bad idea," he nodded while scratching his stubbly chin. "You're on the Board of Governors, maybe you could bring it up in a meeting? I can get the Department to back that movement and perhaps get some assistance from other departments as well." Short pause. "Unless you think going through Seren may be better. I hear that battle ax of a Headmistress isn't accepting donations."

He found their conversation momentarily interrupted by the appearance of Althea's personal assistant. Or, well, his personal assistant now it seemed. Weird. He had never had one of those before. Hopefully she knew how to make good coffee because he heard that Level 3's coffee was much better than Level 2's and he intended to keep it that way. Of course she wouldn't JUST be fetching him coffee - he wasn't THAT sexist - but wasn't that the sort of thing you asked personal assistants to do from time to time?

Giving her a gentleman's nod, he found himself distracted by some chewing action going on in her mouth. So, before even giving her a proper greeting, he leaned forwards a bit and stared. "Are you...chewing gum?"

Hmmm did she know how strong women were? Did she? Althea just raised one eyebrow, not quite the stink eye from her, but perhaps an indicator that she herself was more than capable of hard, gut bunching looks.

"Mention it to Seren, and if she's amenable, I'll happily bring it up at the next meeting." It'd be interesting, she reflected, to see if Truebridge trusted her more once she was no longer employed by the Ministry of Magic. She'd find out soon enough she supposed.

Just then her Personal Assistant arrived and Althea looked up as she was addressed.

"Oh of course, Alani." Althea nodded at the younger woman and took the indicated parchment sheets, not the quill right away, instead she began skimming over the papers in question. She'd read them already but always reread things before signing her name to them.

That was just common sense.

She smiled to herself slightly as Aron brought the gum thing up. Not her favourite either, but lately she'd been... just a little more mellow with such things, as long as Alani didn't pop it in her damned ear.

Thea held her hand out for the quill.

"Alani, this is Aron Ashburry-Hawthorne, he's joining us from level 2 and he'll be replacing me when I leave." So yes, he'd be her new boss.

Okay, okay. He needed to focus and try to pull himself together. Both people behind him had probably realised he was just standing there listening to them. But Merlin, he was so nervous now. He wished people would stick to their jobs permanently until they retired. That would make his life way easier.

Right, his experiment needed attention. Taking a deep, silent breath, Derek stared at another testing tube before picking it up and slowly adding some greenish-yellow goo in it. Then the lab door opened again.

Derek glanced at the newcomer and simply eyed her as she smiled and waved at him. Alani. More people to crow his lab.

...

Deep breath. Fine, he could do it. Focus, Derek.

The young man turned to face his work again and frowned as the three people kept yapping behind him. He couldn't concentrate anymor--- what was that about loaned equipments?? Not HIS equipments, he hoped! Not equipments from that lab. Right? Because that would be mental. And kids at Hogwarts most certainly wouldn't appreciate and take proper care of those. Ugh, just the thought sent shivers down Derek's spine.

Hm... other Departments. Derek eased a little at the sound of that, because that meant the equipment wouldn't necessarily come from his lab. Besides, it wasn't like the Ministry was going through financial problems like Hogwarts, so they could send new equipments even. And none of his. None.

'Alani, this is Aron Ashburry-Hawthorne, he's joining us from level 2 and he'll be replacing me when I leave.' And Derek's palms resumed sweating.

He was staring AND he was leaning. This made it so much easier for Alani to stare back at his pretty face and not seem rude for not giving her current boss her undivided attention. "Yes, it's peppermint flavored. I have more if you'd like a piece after your done with Althea." She was so generous, offering to share with her future boss. He should accept, since sharing didn't often happen with her, especially not her gum.

But she did have to give her boss some attention when she spoke to her, it would be rude not to. She handed over the quill, still unconcerned with the gum issue, and more concerned with the eyes Derek was making at her, and meeting her new boss.

"Nice to meet you Mister Ashburry-Hawthorne," She offered him a hand now that hers were free. "You're making a good move up from level two." Figuratively speaking. Did he want that gum?

The offer had an expiration date.

Jade had a sample that she needed testing and thought that now was a good time as any to go and annoy Derek to get it done for her. It was one of Life's little pleasures for her.

As she stepped into the lab she noticed that Derek wasn't alone. 'Thea and Alani were there alongside...McHottie Beefcake himself, Aron Ashburry-Hawthorne aka her ultimate crush.

Jade was slyly watching him so she almost missed what 'Thea was saying to Alani

"...he's joining us from level 2 and he'll be replacing me when I leave."

Um WHAT?! Jade's eyes became wide. Aron was going to be her BOSS??! OMG!!! a tiny voice in her head asked, but what about 'Thea? Aren't you sad about her leaving?

*BOOM*

The explosion could be heard all through level 3 and even some of the other nearby levels. Equipment is broken and in pieces. The brewing stations are all but destroyed. Several vials that once contained various potions lay shattered on the ground. The storage cupboard are on their hinges if not blown off completely.

Enter if you dare, but be sure to cover your mouth and nose as there are some nasty smelling fumes about.

Natasha had been sitting in her cubicle working her way through the huge piles of files in her inbox tray that had stacked up during vacation. She was thinking of going to the break room to fetch a snack when a loud exploision went off somewhere close by. Her whole desk rocked and she almost fell off her chair.

It couldn't be? Quickly sprinting out of her cubicle she raced to the toxicology lab coughing as she tried to see through the smoke. Raising her voice she called out "Derek, are you in there?" Eyes getting red by the fumes Natasha wondered idly if she should brave going into the lab or fetch help first.

Surprisingly enough, for the first time ever Derek had decided to go to the break room instead of going straight to his lab. Even he himself thought that was odd, but went along with it. For some reason coffee sounded brilliant that da---

The explosion sound was so loud that it made Derek literally jump and spill the coffee all over the break room floor. "Holy..." Was it just him or had the whole level shaken as well??? Merlin, no time to ponder about things.

Leaving the coffee cup and the coffee itself all over the floor, the 26 year-old rushed towards his most beloved place in the entire universe. Deep down he was being optimist enough and didn't really think it had come from there, but it would definitely be the first place he'd che--

Natasha? There? Why? The young man quickly ran pass her and walked into the lab.

....

...

.....

...

Air. Air. What. Air, what was. Air.

Derek stood petrified at the entrance, right between Natasha and his precious lab that was now........ completely........ destroyed. "...W-- W---" His eyes drifted from one side to the other, absorbing the truth he did not want to believe. "Whatthehell----" He could feel himself shaking from head to toe. Shaking. All over. And were his legs failing him? Was that it? "Whatthe... bloodyhell..."