Dirk loved his job, he did, but he loved Fridays even more. He still got to go in and work with the goblins (when they let him!), but he got to look forward to a nice quiet weekend of doing whatever he pleased. Lately it had been trying to get Derek to hang out with him, even though that usually just involved watching telly. It was something! Dirk was worried about his big cousin, especially now with the war getting so intense and--

He blinked curiously, as the shelves of his cubicle began to shake. Dirk's eyes twitched back and forth as he watched the pictures he had hanging drop to the floor, and the bust of Gorgak the Terrible started to inch forward and forward. And his desk was shaking, and now his chair, and Dirk was startled to his feet at the sound of someone screaming, "EARTHQUAKE!"

An earthquake! Oh hell, Dirk had just been thinking that some erumpents had escaped again! Earthquake! What was the first rule of an earthquake? These were NOT the things they taught you in Hogwarts! How was he supposed to survive an earthquake if he didn't have the proper training?! DEREK WOULD KNOW WHAT TO DO, THAT IS WHY DIRK WANTED TO REMAIN CLOSE TO HIM AND----

The bust of Gorgak the Terrible teetered off the shelf and smacked Dirk straight in the forehead, making him drop to the ground, and thankfully roll under his desk.

He really did love his job, he did.

ooc: http://www.scribbld.net/users/valesco_mods/32698.html

For a birthday, it sure didn't feel like it.

Normally, birthdays for the Bones children were a big event. The whole family got together and had a party and cake, and they talked and laughed and ate until any of them could barely Apparate home. That was something that her parents had always done for their kids, even though all of them were grown up and married and had families of their own to do that for them now. It was nice, it brought the family together away from their busy and individual lives for a rare moment to revisit their childhood. It was something Amelia had loved, despite that she was now nearly 30 years old and had far outgrown her mum's annual pink-and-yellow princess cakes and fuzzy birthday crown.

On the up side, though, at least it was her birthday she'd ruined first. If it had been Ed's or Jonathan's---well, she didn't need to give either one of her brothers any more reason to hate her than she already had. Not that they would admit to any animosity they were feeling towards her, of course. Merlin, she would have been relieved for either of them to lash out at her for even a second. Amelia knew that they had to blame her, at least a little. Just acting like none of this had happened due to her own actions only made the whole situation that much more painful. That---and the sympathy she had coming from Megan wasn't doing much either. Her sister-in-law, who had been weepy and pregnant and hormonal and doing just about everything she could to try and make things better, had even offered to throw her a party. A party she neither needed nor deserved, and the guilt was driving Amelia up the bloody wall.

That was why she was now sitting home, laying back on the couch and very adamantly refusing to answer any of her family's owls pecking at the kitchen window. Mara, who was sitting supported on her stomach, watched the birds curiously, occasionally giggling and reaching out as if she could touch one. Amelia ran her fingers through the baby's soft curls and sighed in response to the smile on her face. "Oy, at least someone's happy today."

Marnie didn't spend all of her time being a self-absorbed ballerina despite popular opinion. She'd heard that Amelia was in the hospital, and while she was fairly certain that the woman didn't like her much, she was still a bit unsure about Berk. Which meant, of course, that bringing him cookies would be the perfect opportunity to sway him over to the 'support Rosemarne' side of things and convince his wife of the same.

Thus it was that she wandered into the Ministry, a round Halloween-themed cookie tin clutched firmly in her hands. She peered around the unit she imagined Berk was working in (since it was where Mycroft worked, too), hoping to spot him.

Harder than it looked, apparently! She huffed, steeling her determination to find Berk and deliver his cookies.

Damnit.

Who: Berkeley & Amelia Doge
What: Late night hospital stays and big name decisions
Where: St. Mungo's
When: Tonight

( Along with...Honoria Nutcombe...that's...that name is quite...honorable? )

Characters: Rosalie Diserafino and Berkeley Doge
Setting: The Auror Department offices, Thursday afternoon
Summary: Rosalie discusses with Berk the unpleasant bit of correspondence left on her desk.
Rating: G

( Oh my... )

She pulled the invisibility cloak tighter over herself, taking in deep, steady breaths. The streets of Godric's Hollow were calm, still, not a person in sight as it was rather late; in the houses of the muggles in the area, you could see the telly flickering through the windows. Alice couldn't see the Order members hidden about the town, but she had a rough idea of where they were all located. It was strange to have the upper hand for once, but she knew it wouldn't last for long, no matter how pessimistic a thought. The tip to Dumbledore had arrived with a good amount of time before nightfall and had given the Order a lot of time to prepare for whatever was going to strike the small village.

James had been adamant about being one of those to go and find Sirius, but it was obvious that with his past relations with the death eaters that they couldn't risk it. Alice knew that Frank was eager to help as well, but it was finally decided on who was to stay and who was to go, and things would just have to deal.

Alice slowly made her way through a garden of one of the small cottages. She couldn't help but peer through the kitchen window, eyes softening at the sight of a daughter helping her mother was the dishes. These people were completely innocent; why had Voldemort decided to attack this village? Surely it couldn't be because wizards and muggles were living together, Hogsmeade was the only all-wizarding village and he'd already attacked there twice.

Quickly, she put up a ward on the houses' windows, feeling a guilt rise up in her at not being able to warn the family about what was to happen. She saw the flare of a spell before she heard it erupt, and Alice gripped her wand tighter, sending one last look toward the window before heading out into the starts of the fray.


( OOC )

Who: The Doges!
What: News!
Where: Amelia's office!
When: Monday at Lunch!

( Pregnant with...concern? )

Who: Amelia Bones-Doge (:]) and Berkeley Doge
What: Late night after party musings
Where: Their bedroom (totally G, you pervs)

( For an auror, he had a lot of small, awkward tendencies )

"Oh, good, my case died in a suspicious bout of food poisoning," Berkeley Doge said with a peppy voice. Tomas Booth laughed loudly and snatched the folder away, waving it in his fellow aurors face, "This does mean I have the afternoon off, yes?"

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here," Booth said with another laugh, slapping Berk's shoulder with the folder before disappearing through the cubicles. He could've done a jig--it was incredibly rare to simply be dismissed for the day, and even though he knew Amelia was off being the 'saving the world one court battle at a time' wizengamot member, Berkeley still made his way toward the law offices, knowing that his brother Mycroft was coming back from a hearing. It seemed that being married with a dog, along with the busy schedules aurors and wizengamot members had normally led to very little time between brothers, especially when said brother was also an auror.

He spotted Mycroft heading down the corridor, back to him, and Berkeley snuck up on him quickly, using his top rated sneaky maneuvers to surprise him.

"Bro, bro, bro," Berk yammered, capturing Mycroft in a headlock from behind, pulling him around a corner "Let's get out of here, come onnnnnn."