The rest of the morning went by surprisingly fast, as Ron was supposed to review the Auror handbook with Olivia. She seemed to have many questions, however, and Ron was not overly confident that Olivia had actually passed her theory courses. She had asked several questions about exactly what it was that the Auror position encompassed, such as "What kind of work do we do on a daily basis?" and "When do I get to work on real cases?" Ron was glad once twelve-thirty came, and hurriedly packed his things back inside his desk to leave for lunch.
"Ron, how long do we have for lunch?" Olivia asked.
"One hour," he replied.
"Where do we eat?" she asked, smiling.
"Well, you can, um, go to the Ministry café, which is on the third floor, or head over to Diagon Alley," he said exasperated.
"Could I eat with you?" she asked, batting her eyes.
"Er-" he paused, spotting Harry walking out of his office, "Harry, we're going to The Leaky, okay?"
"Sorry, but Harry and I have some paperwork we need to go over, you know, Auror to Auror," Ron rejected.
"Oh, well, work comes first, I suppose?" she winked at him. "I'll see you after lunch."
Ron swiftly jogged over to Harry and patted his shoulder. "Afternoon, mate."
"Who's the blond?" Harry inquired suggestively. Olivia was still watching the pair as they walked to the fireplace.
"That would be Olivia. My new trainee," groaned Ron.
"Ah," Harry smiled. "Must be nice to have some variety for a change."
"Well, she certainly seems to be a bit of a card, eh?" Harry joked. Seeing Ron's annoyance, he must have thought it better not to humor himself anymore.
They reached the fireplace and both stepped into the floo, calling, "The Leaky Cauldron!"
Both returned to the Ministry stuffed from a lunch of fish and chips, butterbeer and trifle pudding. Ron left Harry at his office and was startled to see Kingsley at his door yet again.
"Hello, Kingsley," Ron wondered what his boss might want.
"Hello, Ron. Did you have a good lunch?" Kingsley inquired.
"Yes, sir. And yours?" Ron politely returned the question.
"Mine was good as well. Now, I have a matter to discuss with you, Ron," Kingsley remarked.
"We have a mission near County Cork. The suspect is known to have been behind some recent thievery in the British Isles, and may or may not be accompanied by a troll," Kingsley announced. "Now, Auror trainees are not usually assigned to cases like these, but I believe you have enough experience to lead Olivia on this case."
Ron appeared to be slightly nervous.
"How long do you expect this mission to last?" Ron deliberated.
"Well, hoping that you are able to successfully locate him, capture should be all but easy. We have prepared for you a guidebook on trolls as well, for Olivia's sake, of course. I expect you back in two days."
"Thanks, Kingsley," Ron said, as Kingsley left Ron's office. Ron put his head down on his desk. "Lovely," he thought. "A mission alone with this woman? She will not make it easy for me to catch these criminals. The scent of her hair alone...Stop it, Ron! She's ugly, horribly putrid!" Someone entering his office made Ron jump.
"I am quite thrilled that we are going out on our first case together, Ron," Olivia giggled. "I only hope that it will not take too long to catch the perpetrators. I've got an engagement this weekend that would be rather dreadful to miss." Ron paused, thinking of what to tell Hermione.
"Hmm, oh, Kingsley left this book for you," he said, handing Olivia the guide on trolls. "It'd be best if you at least skimmed through it before we leave tonight." Ron hoped to buy some time alone from his trainee.
"Of course, Ron," Olivia smiled. "If I have any questions?" she drifted off.
"Madam Bobsey is quite competent in research," he replied. "I've got a few things to prepare before we leave."
Olivia left the office, waving. Ron already knew that Hermione would not be overly thrilled with this assignment. However, he was on par for the new Head Auror position, and did not want to strain relations with the Ministry. "She'll just have to accept this," Ron thought. Sadly, it would likely not be that easily, as Olivia looked quite similar to Lavender Brown, with a personality quite comparable as well.