A Strange Day

There's an infuriatingly obnoxious pair twins across from her on the underground. It's eight in the morning. She's going to be late for the first day of her Auror internship if she doesn't make it to the Ministry in approximately seven minutes. (She woke up early and she's still late). Long story short, she doesn't have time to deal with annoying people, especially two brothers who argue loudly in Italian. That being said, there isn't much she can do besides glare at them and stick her tongue out when she thinks no one's looking. They're interrupting her peace time, damn it. The train ride was supposed to be for reading the news quietly, not getting a headache from some obnoxious tourists.

But after a while, she gives up on the Prophet and concentrates on the brothers. They're obviously foreign, that much is clear by the way they're arguing over a map of London. It's an odd time of year for tourists, even Muggles. Who visits London in January? It's cold, it's rainy, Christmas has already passed. But on second glance, perhaps they're not tourists, because who wears suits while on vacation? (And she has to admit, those are some pretty snazzy suits. That tie really makes his green eyes stand out.) Maybe it's a business thing.

One of them grabs the map and giggles- which she thinks is an odd thing to do when reading a map- as he runs his fingers over the road names, tapping out a pattern over Downing Street. The other brother smacks his hand and curses loudly at him; at least, she thinks he's cursing, she doesn't speak fucking Italian.

It becomes amusing after a while; her previous headache is gone, and she leans forward in her seat, entranced by their presence. They seem so odd compared to everyone else on the train, and not because they're foreign, no, it's something else that she can't quite put her finger on. It's hard to look away. She ogles at them, giggles to herself when they yell at each other and wave their hands around. Italian wizards are stereotypically known for having a hard time casting spells which require speaking and keeping your hands still at the same time. She always thought it was just a stereotype, but all stereotypes have some truth to them, don't they? These two fit the bill for stereotypical, even if they are only Muggles.

It's a bit disappointing when the train finally arrives at her stop, but then she remembers that she's late on her first day, so she forgets about the Italian brothers (Mario and Luigi, she has affectionately dubbed them; never let it be said that she doesn't appreciate Muggle culture) and dashes off the underground in a desperate bid to get to work on time.

It's a miracle, but she makes it and receives a warm welcome from the Minister of Magic himself (which, albeit, is a little too much, even for her) and then finds herself spending most of the morning waiting her brother and her boyfriend to return from whatever mission they spent the whole night on. She gets bored, sitting in Harry's office staring at the ceiling, so she makes it a point to visit each family member of hers who is currently employed at the ministry.

She's on her way to Percy's office when she bumps into someone in the hallway.

"Sorry," she says, looking up. "I wasn't- Mr. Kirkland!"

The blonde haired, bushy eye-browed man only glances at her. He's something of a legend around the ministry, even throughout the wizarding world. Rumor has it that he was one of the first students to be enroll in Hogwarts almost a thousand years ago, and has barely aged since! Ginny didn't believe that for awhile, but it seems that it must be true. She'd first met him when she was just a kid. It was Take Your Daughter to Work Day at the ministry, and her dad never missed an opportunity to show of his spunky little witch. Her dad's coworkers had introduced her to Mr. Kirkland as he walked by, and she's been so scared of his enormous eyebrows that she'd accidentally turned them into a pair of flying teacups. Never had she imagined that someone could get so upset over eyebrows as ugly as those.

But she saw him again only two years ago, at the Battle of Hogwarts. She hadn't recognized him at first. He looked so young that he blended in with the students. It wasn't until members of the Order began to bombard him with pertinent questions about the protection of the castle that she remembered him and his eyebrows. He hadn't aged a bit. So who is he, really? Immortality can only be achieved at great costs, and she's not sure that even a powerful potion could slow down the process of aging for a thousand years.

She begins to apologize again (she isn't very good at it, she rarely feels the need to apologize to people; but he is some sort of timeless mystery, so this seems appropriate), but she stops- the look on his face, in his eyes. No, it's just him. There's just something about him that's off… It's like he's a Muggle but… he isn't. It reminds her of the brothers on the train. They had the same strange sort of aura. She can't quite say what it is, but she sees his exasperated expression and it makes her think of the Italian who yelled at his brother for touching the map and, unconsciously, she giggles.

"Something funny?" Mr. Kirkland asks coolly, giving her the stink eye. Bollocks, does he remember the eyebrow-flying-teacup incident?

Ginny snaps back to attention. "No, no, sir, it's just, your face, it reminded me of these Italian brothers I saw on the underground…"

Mr. Kirkland's expression curls into something highly reminiscent of Snape. He sneers at her. "Bloody humans."

Ginny is about to agree, yes, Muggles are annoying sometimes, aren't they, but then-

"Wait- what?"

Grumbling, Mr. Kirkland sets off down an empty corridor and Ginny is left staring after him.

What a strange day.

Disclaimer: FUCK CANON GINNY'S AN AUROR.