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Back to the Grind

Ophelia then stood and straightened her work robes, wishing she could go back to wearing denims and flannel every day. Far more comfortable than the work attire she normally wore.

Picking up the papers, she strode out of her office and over to Mr. Larkins', seeing his door open.

"Oi, Wood! Good to see you didn't get eaten by a dragon!" one of her co-workers, Miles Bletchley called out from where he stood near the tea trolley. She stopped and looked over at him, raising an eyebrow.

She had known him since school - they had been in the same year and he was in the same house as Daria - but he had also been one of Flint's cronies, so she hadn't been around him all that much. She still wasn't sure if she would like him or not, considering she had only come into the office to get everything for her trip before and had spent very little time there or talking to anyone outside of Leanne who helped organize the trip.

"Nearly got roasted savin' another tamer, though," she couldn't help but say.

She was the newest member of the team and felt she had something to prove, especially providing the rest of the team outside Leanne was made up of about 15 blokes. Bletchley's eyes widened slightly, almost as though he was impressed.

"By a Hebridean Black."

"Merlin," he said, a note of awe in his voice. "Seems you're more like your brother than I thought."

Ophelia rolled her eyes slightly at the mention of her twin and turned to go into Mr. Larkins' office. She figured there would be some mention of him at some point - she knew for a fact that at least half the office was made up of quidditch fans.

"Sir, I have my final report," she said.

He turned to look at her and motioned her over. Ophelia held out the papers to him, watching as he quickly browsed through them and waiting to be dismissed.

"Really good work," Mr. Larkins said, smiling at her. "Your reports were most excellent. Very thorough and the exact reason why I brought you onto the team and sent you to Romania."

"Thank ye, sir," Ophelia said, pride flooding through her. Merlin, this must be what Oliver feels when he wins a match - the rush and satisfaction over a job well done.

"And exactly why you'll be heading up the proposal team," he continued.

Her eyes widened slightly. While she had expected to be on the proposal team, she hadn't thought she would be leading it.

"But... sir... I'm still rather new to things," she said. "I thought one of the more senior members would be leading it."

Larkins put the papers down and smiled at her.

"We both know I did not bring you over to make you a junior member, not with your work record," he said, sitting at his desk. "You'll head up the team with Greene and Bletchley helping, though let me know if you need more. We present to the head of the magical creature department, the head of finance, and the Minister of Magic in two weeks."

"Are ye sure that's enough time?" Ophelia asked, her mind suddenly flooded with all the work it would entail. Maybe she should ask for more people. Larkins just chuckled.

"More than enough! You've already done most of the work. Just need to do a bit more research, I think, and then put it all together in a way that the others will understand. Make them see why we need to re-open Hebrides," he said. "Then once we've been approved, the entire department will be working on getting it up and running though we'll need to set up a separate team just for that. A team that will need a leader as well."