Only A Check-In

Rivah was, well, to say she was a little obsessive in her need to control things would be something of an understatement. Upon becoming the Head of the Creatures Department at the Ministry, Rivah had completely revamped the way the entire department was organized. She created new protocols for completing and filing paperwork, and was the last person to leave the department practically everyday.

She'd been told by multiple of her employees that the changes the woman had made were great improvements. It wasn't that those who'd had her job previously were bad at it, they were just woefully unprepared. Jack Dyllan, whom she had taken the job from, hadn't worked in the department prior to taking over it. The man who had been in charge before Jack, was more interested in the creatures than regulations, and had run off to some far away country to play with dragons there.

Rivah, who had been working in the department since graduating Hogwarts, knew exactly how the department needed to be run for maximum efficacy. The witch had loved her department, more than almost anything. Her time, blood, sweat, and tears had gone into making it the well-oiled machine that it was. However, it had been the blonde's dream to one day serve as a member of the Wizengamot. Never had Rivah imagined that it would happen before she turned thirty. Still, as much as she loved her department, there was no way Rivah would turn down such an opportunity.

However, the woman was very attached to the section of the Ministry she had once lead, and wasn't quite ready to let it go completely. A few days prior, Rivah had sent a letter to James. James had been in her year at Hogwarts, and while they hadn't been friends, they had gotten along pretty well. James was a Dragon Keeper, and had been one of her favorite employees due to his efficacy and how he really cared about the creatures he dealt with. If anyone would be able to tell her how the Ministry Department was doing in her absence, it would be him. Settling into a booth on the far side of the Leaky Caldron, Rivah waited for James to arrive.

James wore a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt with his leather jacket instead of his usual work clothes. He had recieved a letter from Rivah and was surprised that she sent one to him. He knew though that she was no longer running the department and she probably wanted to see how it was doing. Smiling James finished getting ready then left a note on the kitchen table for Soph in case she came back to the house. Making sure that he wasn't forgetting anything he apparated in an alley near the Leaky.

Walking out the alley and right into the Leaky a few seconds later. James looked around until he saw Rivah in a booth on the far side of the pub. He walked over to where she was sitting shurugging out of his coat before sliding into the booth across from her. "Hey, it's good to see you Rivah but I'm kinda surprised to get your letter. I understand though as to why you sent it thoug. How have you been?" James said smiling as he ordered a drink for himself. "How's the other part of the ministry working for you?" James was curious as to what everything was like away from the department of Magical Creatures. Though he would never leave his position he was curious about what she thought about her new position.

"Hi," Rivah said with a smile, eyes trailing over the familiar face. "I've been pretty good," the witch admitted, "you'd think that the Wizengamot would be more stressful than the Creatures Department, but it really isn't. I have shorter working hours now, certainly. It's a little strange. I'd gotten so used to the department, you know, but it's good."

"How have you been, then?" Rivah asked after a short moment of hesitation, "Taking good care of the dragons?" The blonde had no doubt that the winged creatures were very well taken care of, as James had always been very good with the fire-breathing creatures. The ex-Ravenclaw could only hope that James never left the department as she had. The dragons would be sure to miss him.

Turning to the petit waitress who had just approached their table, Rivah offered the young girl a warm smile. Taking the Leaky Caldron's menu from the outstretched hand of the waitress, Rivah placed it down upon the table. "I'll take a McSpratts water to drink, if you please, but you'll need to give me a few minutes with the menu before I can tell you what I'd like to eat," Rivah informed the wait staff, before looking over at James so that he could inform the waitress what he would like to drink.

"I'm glad that your doing good over there. Sonya misses you though, she keeps looking towards the door to see if you'll come through. You should visit her some time, she'll love it." James said mentioning the injured dragon he brought in not so long ago. He grew attached to her and was constantly there to check on her as well as the others. "I bet you still end up staying later though, or do actually leave when your supposed to. I remember in the department you were almost always the last to leave." He laughed remembering a time when that happened, "I remember the time I said it was time to leave you told me five more minutes."

"I've been great actually, I was given another dragon but this one is just a baby still. It's a lot smaller than it should be and it seems that it hasn't gotten the proper nutrition. I took it to Ariela and she immediately took over. She just hatched some babies of her own, as soon as the babies are able I'm gonna take her to Romania." James said grinning as he talked about his dragons. "I can't seem to keep myself away from them and the people at the ministry have me on call in case something happens. I'm constantly jumping between my home as well as the ministry. Also you were right about Phoenix, he finally ended up landing me on my back. He was playing of course but it hurt like hell."

"I'll have McSpratts water as well please. I'll wait for her to decide what she will like to eat before I say what I want. Thank you madam," James said smiling at the waitress before returning his attention to Rivah. "So what questions do you have about the department?" He asked once the waitress moved off to grab their waters.

"I should pop by and visit Sonia," the woman agreed, grin splitting her face. "How is she healing up?" The inured creature had been a bit testy at first, not that they blamed the poor thing. She'd immediately lashed out at a few of their less experienced workers, leaving her in the care of James. Rivah, despite having been leading the department at the time, something that was supposed to have been an office job, couldn't help but to also go in occasionally to care for the creature. Before her high-ranking job, the blond had been both a Beast and Spirit Specialist, occasionally covering the odd Being Specialist job when it was needed. A few of her co-workers had joked that the witch could pull off any job in the department, if need be, something that had only gotten funnier when Rivah took over the entire section of the Ministry herself.

"Well, yes," the witch admitted, a slight blush appearing high on her cheeks, "the system for Wizengamot paperwork is sorely out of date. I keep trying to convince the record-keepers to let it be changed, but they seem rather set in their ways." It didn't make any sense, honestly, the system she suggested would only make filing easier, something Rivah had thought the record-keepers would be excited about. It would seem not.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Rivah exclaimed, "how many babies did Ariela have, then? Did all of them make it through the hatching?" The witch knew it was pretty rare for every dragon egg to grow up healthy and strong. It wasn't uncommon for an egg or two out of every nest to be too weak to survive more than a day or so after breaking out of its shell. "I knew that phoenix would be a troublemaker, he's a real beauty though," Rivah laughed.

"I just, well, I wanted to know everything is going. Is my system for paperwork still in tact? And how do the creatures feel about their new environments, after the attack on the Ministry that destroyed their old habitats? And how's the new department head? Decent, I hope?" Coming to the sudden realization that she was barraging her ex-employee with questions, Rivah fell silent for a moment. "I just want to know how everyone is doing, really," she admitted.

James smiled as her say that she should visit Sonya. "She's healing wonderfully except one spot up on her left wing. It was the spot that was severally injured and needed serious healing." His smiled faded as he thought about the damage that was done to her and wondered if she would ever fly again. "I've been there everyday to make sure that she get as much treatment on the wing as possible but I don't know. It seems like it's never going to heal, I've tried everything to get try and get it to heal properly. I'm running out of options." He sighed as he rubbed his face and wondered if there was anything that she could do to help.

"Sometimes old habits are hard to let go of and tends to be one of the things that people hold on to. Remember when you tried to get us to change a few things?" James said smiling softly as he teased her remembering some things she wanted us to change.

"Yeah she's one happy girl but she won't let anyone but me near her." He said grinning remembering how happy she got. "She had eight eggs and they all made it through the hatching which is very good considering everything. One of them takes to following me around the habitat. So I named him shadow since that's what he feels like." He said remembering what he did when walked around the habitat. Shadow simply followed him watching his every move and sometimes tried to mimic him in some of the things he did. "He's a real trouble maker and he tends to want to try and pounce on me. I swear he acts like he's still in his adolescent stage with some of the things he does."

"The paperwork is still in the same system I don't know if that's going to change but we'll see soon enough." James said as he listened carefully to her questions and smiled. "The dragons are still getting used to them, Sonya kinda likes to irritate the others by sometimes knocking over a tree. I haven't met the new department head yet and I have a feeling I will soon since I'm there a lot." He grinned as he looked at her, "Trust me if anything goes the wrong way in that department I'll let you know. So far nothing is out of the ordinary and the others seem like they are doing fine."

"Give it a little more time," Rivah said reassuringly. The anatomy for dragons could not be more different than that of humans. Over the last few decades, wizards and witches had learned much about the majestic creatures, but there was still a lot that remained unknown to them. It was quite possible that the dragon's wing would just take more time to heal, or that the dragon keeper simply hadn't found the proper solution yet. Either way, Rivah still had hope for the fire-breather. If worst came to worst, the woman was sure they would find some way to replace the missing tissue with something artificial. It wouldn't be ideal, but it would work.

"Oh, do I remember," the blonde said wryly, when Jack Dyllan had been in charge she had allowed her employees to travel around the department using any method they wished. It hadn't been uncommon to spot wizards and witches using brooms to fly from one end of the floor to another. As fun as it may have been, that had been one of the first things Rivah had fixed. The new rule had certainly decreased the number of accidents.

"They all made it?" the witch queried, "That's wonderful. I have to say, I wasn't expecting that. I suppose I should offer you congratulations, I bet all of them wouldn't have made it without your care. Shadow sounds funny, just be careful not to socialize him too much, or he won't settle in well once you bring him to Romania. Then again, I'm sure you know that."

"Thanks," Rivah said with a smile, "I know I have no real connection to the department anymore, but after so many years it's a little difficult stepping away completely. If I could do both jobs, you know I would."

"Healing takes time," the witch said soothingly. It was difficult, the woman knew, to watch a creature in your care do anything less than well. Even more so when it was literally in your job description to ensure that the creatures you interacted with were as healthy and happy as possible. Still, there was hope for the dragon. Rivah could only hope that the man didn't take it too hard if things went south.

"Oh, I remember. People were complaining for weeks after I announced that brooms were banned. Still, majorly decreased the number of Damaged Ministry Property Reports we needed to fill out, and that was the goal," Rivah reminisced with an upward twist of her lips.

"Well that little dragon certainly seems like quite the troublemaker. Perhaps he's just lonely? I remember when the Department's griffin kept trying to break out after we separated him from that hippogriff he'd become fond of," the witch stated wistfully. It made sense after all, animals could get lonely too. Especially young ones.

"I know but sometimes It's hard not being able to do most things." James said softly rubbing his face feeling more exhausted than anything. "I'm just hoping that she heals up fast and that she doesn't go down hill from here."

"Yeah I thought it was the funniest thing and I'm glad I wasn't one of them who was on a broom. I'd rather walk along the corridors than fly in such a small area. I almost got knocked out a few times and I actually ended up getting ran into." James said remembering that someone ended up crashing into him and he was the one who ended up in St Mungos for it.

"Oh he is, so what I did was rearrange them which none of them minded. Then made took the wall down between the two habitats. They are getting along very well and they seem a lot more happier. Yeah I remember that happening," He said smiling at the memory. "When they finally put them together after he came extremely close to breaking the door."