It wasn't often that Preston ever had occasion to visit the actual editorial office of the Daily Prophet, and he often avoided the place -- and the reporters -- now that his father had been elevated to Minster of Magic. It put him into an unwanted spotlight sometimes, and although Preston was as proud as anyone about serving in the Ministry again, he'd considered going back to a private job so there was no thought of 'nepotism' or 'favoritism' talked about. neither was true, of course, because Preston knew twenty friends whose parents worked for the Ministry and had gotten jobs there, but he'd always had a slightly independent streak. It occurred to him he ought to look at jobs in other countries, although he loved the present one he had.

So he decided to to speak to an old friend of his who worked at the Daily Prophet in the area of Job Listings, and make some discreet inquiries.

He wasn't there long when he noticed a tall young woman amidst a crowd of others, filling oout forms in the reception area of The Prophet Advertiser; a supplement to the newspaper that businesses in Diagon Alley and other Wizarding communities would place advertisements. Anything from "Hellhound Training -- Insured and Bonded" to "Tipswitches Fine Cigar Nippers: A proper nip is what guests expect."

He recognized her as Rosaline Carter, a former housemate a little younger than himself. She was furiously scribbling something when her quill snapped. She'd often done that in class. She owed him about 40 if his memory served. He stepped up and presented her with one of his own.

"Hello Rosaline, it's Preston. Good to see you."

It was one of those days. Rosaline was just not having a good one. She had only been back in town for a little over two weeks and things just weren't going right so far. Her shop was all set up and ready to go, but she had no customers. The only way to get customers was to advertise. There were advertisements in her windows already, but she needed more than that. She needed to reach the people. So why not post an add in the newspaper? It was the only logical decision, right?

If only it were that simple. First, Rosaline got caught by a wild group of teenagers who thought then was the right time to play a prank. They'd jinked her from behind, causing her to fall into a puddle of water and drenching her clothes. She'd dried herself off easily, of course. But that took a few minute and it put her behind. Then, when she actually arrived at the Daily Prophet the line had been extremely long. Finally she made it up to the counter and was handed a load of paperwork.

---

Snap!

That was the third one! Rosa looked down at her broken quill in disbelief. Why was she always breaking these bloody things? She didn't have anymore left in her bag, that she knew. So she looked up and was about to ask someone at the desk for one when someone else spoke her name. She looked around and was surprised to see someone that actually looked familiar. And when he said his name, everything clicked into place.

How ironic. She thought as she looked down at her broken quill and then back at Preston. I must have borrowed a couple of dozen quills from him over the years."

"Hi Preston. I can't believe you remember me. It's very good to see you, too." She stuck her hand out to shake his, but as she looked down at it, realized it was covered in ink. She pulled her hand back and apologized. "Sorry. My umm quill broke." Where was a very deep hole? Rosa needed one right this second, she was sure.

Always confident, Preston nevertheless had good instincts, and could tell if a friend was out-of-sorts, and the quills accident was an amusing one, but he didn't smile at it. She was a former Gryffindor, and not close, but he'd always admired her passion for things. So, he simply passed his wand over her hand, and then shook it firmly. Then he smiled. He also noted her hands: Strong, sure, if not soft as some women's were. Someone who used them at work perhaps?

"What are you up to these days? I haven't seen you since -- I visited the school a few years after graduation. My father was officiating at a dance. You were there with -- ah, I can't recall his name. But that's not to the purpose. Advertising something?"

"Thanks." Rosa said with an embarrassed smile. Why did she have to go and run into someone she'd known in school today of all days? Ah well. There wasn't much she could do about it now, was there? She'd just make the best of an awkward situation.

And Rosaline was very glad that Preston didn't press the matter of the last time they'd seen each other. She remembered that night very well and often wished she forget. Especially the boy she'd been with. She had thought Preston was very attractive back then. He was older than her, but he was always very kind. He was handsome now, even. But Rosa was not going to focus on that right now.

"Yes. I've come back to run my own quidditch broom shop. I make specialty brooms and sell anything quidditch related you can think of." She pulled out her wand and gave it a little flick. In her other hand a small card appeared and she promptly held it out for him. "Here you go. That has all my information on it."

Her confusion seemed to vanish and Preston did his best to help her past the awkward manner of their meeting up again. He only had pleasant memories of the Gryffindor girl with the very cheerful, enthusiastic manner. It seemed she'd parlayed that into a whole new career. It was also very timely. He accepted the card, and studied the smiling picture and address. He looked back at her.

"Rosaline, this is a timely meeting. Listen, I'm part of a fairly new organization at the Ministry. It's call the International Magical Mystery Force. We go on special missions to recover magic, artifacts, and sometimes even get involved in minor criminal cases like smuggling. Nothing too dangerous, though. My chief is a fellow named Hugh Kenrick, and he runs the day-to-day, although he reports to some other directors and higher-ups. You'll have to meet him sometime."

He looked at the woman again, and smiled.

"The point is this: My responsibility is transport and logistics and getting the research teams from place to place. It's tricky sometimes because the new zeppelin routes aren't all in place yet, and there are many places floo travel won't work. I've had my R&D people produce a few prototype brooms designed for travel, but it's been a slow process. The commercial companies are fine, and Comet produces some good general purpose brooms, but we need some special capabilities. We don't have time to build it ourselves."

He paused again. Preston had a tendency to run on forever if he didn't consciously stop once in a while.

"Are you going to your broom shop right now?"

Edward Roston. Former headmaster at Hogwarts and now Minister of Magic. That was Preston’s father. Rosaline remembered this now. She had never let it bother her in school as she usually didn’t treat anyone different because of who their family was, but she was reminded of this as she listened to Preston talk. He didn’t…act…like her normal group of friends always had. He’d always been slightly more proper and classy than everyone Rosaline had known. Perhaps that was she had always been interested in him. He was different, in a good way.

It appeared that Preston had followed in his father’s footsteps. He worked for the Ministry, too. Really, Rosaline wasn’t surprised. He was always a hard worker, if she remembered correctly. She was impressed. Rosa had always been interested in the Ministry an all the work they did, but it just wasn’t her field of work. Even with the millions of jobs they seemed to have.

Hugh Kendrick. Rosaline was sure that she had heard that name before. It was from school, she was sure. But she hadn’t heard his name since she graduated Hogwarts. It was interesting to know what he was doing now. She hoped they might run into each other again soon.

“Oh yes. Just let me finish this really quickly.” Rosaline said as she turned back to the paperwork she had been working on. It only took half a minute to finish what she was doing. She dropped the paper off in its proper place and she turned back to Preston with a vibrant smile.

“So, would you like a tour of my shop?” She was hoping that he was going to allow her to do all of this work that he needed, but she figured he’d want to see some of her work before such a decision. “I assure you, I can do anything necessary for any person. And I won’t take months to finish it like most of the other shops.” She smiled wittingly at Preston.

Now he remembered her better as the voice and characteristic manner came to the fore, and he could recall some of the more antic episodes that she'd been involved in. If she could indeed provide them with some custom brooms, they'd have them in time for the next project team jump-off in three weeks time. That team was covering the recovery of some Zaranite ore in the Krahissar region, and it was important for the Ministry of Magical Research. Meanwhile he waited politely while Rosaline finished her paperwork there at the Daily Prophet, and he left a note for his friend to send him an owl about a business matter. When she was finished, she came bustling up.

"I certainly would love to see the shop, please lead on!"

Preston followed Rosaline out of the newspaper office, and back into the shopping crowds of Diagon Alley as she headed towards the shop. It was a little cool and cloudy, but no rain threatened yet.

"I knew you were into magical inventions, but I didn't know you had chosen brooms as a career; although now that I think about it, some of your detentions were about broom flying in the corridors," he said, with a brilliant smile. "Never dared do anything so rash myself. I never took up Quidditch either. Did you ever consider it?"

Rosa was definitely getting more confident now. The conversation stayed on quidditch and brooms as they walked out of The Daily Prohpet and towards her new shop. This was a subject she was very comfortable with, even if she had never played the sport.

A somewhat devilish smirk crossed Rosaline's lips when Preston brought up the detentions from flying in the corridors. She had been experimenting with her own broom and wanted to test it out. There had been a horrible storm outside, so she'd tried to do it inside. It was late and there wasn't anyone - or only a few people - in the corridors. But alas, she had been caught every time and received detention yet again.

"Oh, I never had time for playing quidditch." Rosa said with a smirk. "I was too busy getting into trouble." She laughed and said, "No, seriously. I just didn't have time for it. It was enough work doing all the lessons and the extra credit stuff I did for Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology." True, some of it didn't count as extra credit work, but that had never mattered to Rosaline.

Finally they reached Rosa's shop. The miniature broomstick with a hanging sign over the door read, Rosa's 'Everything Quidditch' Shop. It wasn't anything spectacular, but she figured it would do the job.

"Ah, here we are." Rosa said happily as she pulled out her wand and flicked it towards the door which opened easily and delicately. She stepped inside and then to the side so that Preston could follow her in and have a look at the new place.

:ooc: Description :ooc:

Rosa’s ‘Everything Quidditch’ Shop

From the outside, the shop is very clearly made for quidditch fans and players. The hanging sign over the door is a broom holding up the swinging sign with the shop’s name on it. Rosa’s ‘Everything Quidditch’ Shop. In the window is a model broom, the Rosabroom 3500. A sign under states: Any broom made to fit you. Along with the broom is an array of quidditch supplies from house uniforms to famous team memorabilia.

Once you walk into the shop, you are surrounded by quidditch merchandise. Everything and anything you could ever dream of. One wall is dedicated to Hogwarts required uniforms and gear for every house. Another two walls are covered in every professional team gear imaginable. There are small figurines of each player on each team, any kind of trinket a fan could ever want, along with gear that the professionals use. Not the fake stuff that is meant to be a souvenir. The real stuff that the actual players use. Anyone is allowed to buy it and it is there for those professional players should they ever seek out Rosa’s little shop.

In the middle of the store, about ten different brooms float for display. They are the actual size, but they are merely models. Rosaline makes every new broom upon request and makes each on unique to the buyer. She takes the time to hear what the flyer needs and makes it specific to that player’s needs. The Rosabroom 3500 is the only broom that is made for general flying purposes. Rosa does have a few of those in stock and that broom is perfect for any student or child just learning how to fly.

The counter and workshop are to the right as you enter the shop. The workshop can be seen as you wander around the shop for Rosaline usually works on her brooms between customers and this way she can keep an eye out for new ones. She is the only worker of the shop and so it is only open when she is there. She can be open at any time day or night, if there is an emergency or the flyer just needs to do their shopping at night, Rosaline will do whatever is needed to suit her guests.

Recalling old stories from school put Preston in a good mood, and they soon arrived at the storefront in Diagon Alley. Once a Jewelry Exchange, it had interesting displays in the windows of various Quidditch accessories. it was smaller than the other Quidditch stores Preston knew, but it had a more personal touch to it, from the sign to the way the displays were done.

As soon as he entered the shop, he noted the organized layout, the many types of merchandise, and the interesting broom display. He saw the signs under the ten brooms that read:

Model: For display purposes only:

The lines and workmanship on her brooms were quite different from the commercial models that were turned out in the hundreds. It reminded him or the Twigger line that had been popular for a few years, but even more specialized. One area that he noted was devoted to beginner's brooms, which Preston had always felt was a neglected area in broom manufacture. His face was carefully scrutinizing everything, but he was very pleased by what he saw. Definitely a labor of love.

"Have you got any team contracts yet?" asked Preston. Sometimes teams would sponsor a broom line, or have a slightly customized model made for the Regional and World Cup Chamionships. Preston knew a few players, so he'd be sure to let them know about the place.

Rosaline watched Preston as he scrutinized her shop. She was suddenly nervous about it. Would he like what he saw? Or would he think she was running a junk shop rather than a true quidditch store? He was the first person to see her shop, besides her brother, that could be a potential customer. Preston’s opinion suddenly mattered very much.

He did not look like he was disappointed by anything he saw, but Rosa knew that he had to have a poker face in his line of work. She was very proud of her little shop and thought she had done a smashing job, but not everyone had always agreed with her growing up. Some of her friends had even made fun of her before for little things she’d made. She’d been insanely proud of them and her friends would not think quite the same.

“No, not yet. But I am very hopeful that once they get word of my work, they’ll come calling.” She smiled up at Preston, hoping that this was a sign that he liked what he saw. But she had to ask anyways.

“So, what do you think?” She looked around her own shop and smiled. She was very proud and would only be a little down if Preston was not impressed as well. She knew others would be. Her brother had been, but he was partial to her stuff anyways. He’d had the second ever made broom by Rosaline. The first being for herself, of course.

"This is wonderful," he said. "You certainly have put a lot of work into this, and I can certainly see that you enjoy it."

He fell to examining the various little team replicas.

"Arrows for our family, always followed them<' he said suddenly. "But as I said, never wanted to play the game. Much prefer the strategy of it. Maybe when I'm old and rich, I'll start up a new team of some kind."

He smiled as he looked at the tiny figurines.

"Ever think of finding someone to make historical ones? My father played for Caerphilly for about, one game. It would be funny to see a miniature of him. But I'm just thinking out loud."

He straightened up his 6'1" frame and came over to Rosaline.

"I have a special design back at the IMMF offices that I'm ready to send for bid to Comet and Cleansweep. But now that I know you're in the business...I'd be happy to show you the design, and include you on the bid. If we decide not to go with your design for this one project, we'll still buy it for IMMF inventory. We can always use a few spare brooms. So you can't lose. It would be just one to start, but if it works out, it could lead to more."

Rosaline smiled widely when Preston approved of her work. She had put a lot of work into it and was happy to see that someone who didn’t know her so well could obviously see that. “I did and I do. Thank you very much.” She said happily, bouncing on the balls of her feet a little bit.

“We have that in common.” Rosa said. “As far as never playing and enjoying the strategy. I love to watch and learn, but I don’t fancy getting up there and getting my arm broken by one of those bludgers. Can’t say that I have a favorite team. It wouldn’t do me good to pick favorites in this line of business. Unless of course one signs a contract with me. Then I’ll proclaim them from the roof tops.” She grinned and winked at Preston with that comment.

She just smiled at his comment about being old and rich. Something told Rosa that he wouldn’t have to wait long to be rich. She, on the other hand, would wait all her life because she would never be rich…not with money.

Rosaline grinned again and said, “I’ll have to look into that.” And she would. If she could find anyone to make historic relics, Preston’s father would be the first on her list. And Preston and his father would be the first to receive it.

Rosaline couldn’t believe her luck. Today had started out rough, but now she was getting in on a big bid like this? It was more than she had imagined when her day had started. She smiled and said, “I would love to be a part of that, whether you choose me or not. I love a challenge, and an opportunity like this. Thank you very much, Preston.”

Rosaline was obviously excited at the prospect of working on a project; and she had one of those faces that reflected her emotions pretty plainly. Not that he minded; Preston was as passionate about his work as she was about hers.

"Well, I've always favored the Appleby Arrows, just a little," he said. "Meanwhile, you're very welcome. I'll get those plans over to you, and you can make an appointment with Janessa in our office and bring by the prototype when its done. You can also message us by owl if you have questions."

Preston handed her a card with the IMMF Office address, in case she hadn't much experience in visting the Ministry. He fell to examining the uniforms of the various teams, and had a sudden thought on something further she could help with.

"Listen, I know something you could help with right now. We have these teams of explorers. That's what the broom is for, sort of a long-distance transport. But there's one other thing you might be able to help with. We need a kind of all-weather suit for flying. Lightweight, like these, but with some protections built in. Do you get into working with flying gear, or just brooms?"

Rosa nodded at the instructions. She had planted Janessa’s name in her mind. She would get the prototype to her as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of the next week. Sooner if possible. She took the card that he handed her and examined it before sticking it in her pocket. She would definitely keep that. She had never been to the Ministry of Magic, so would get lost as soon as she entered, she was certain.

When Preston started talking again, Rosa looked at him with raised eyebrows and a smile. He was all about business, wasn’t he? Her smile turned into a bit of a smirk at that thought, but she listened very seriously. “I don’t make the uniforms, but I can modify them just like I can the brooms. I’ll be happy to make any special adjustments you might need.” She didn’t know if Preston preferred her to actually make the uniforms, but that was not her line of work. She was better at making brooms. Uniforms would probably fall apart as soon as they were put on, were they made by her wand.

It turned out that uniforms weren't her specialty, but she was a craftsperson, so he decided to show her some of the ideas that he had. he pulled out a drawing of the special suits, which looked more like slightly armored jumpsuits. For some operations, helmets and goggles were optional.

"It's pretty simple. Deflecting charms embedded here to protect the torso. We'd need a female version. I'm asking because there's no one that makes anything like what we need. The Quidditch armors aren't really suit for the types of places our teams go."

He paused, and smiled again.

"We ought to talk about this over lunch, Rosaline, unless you have to keep the shop open for the afternoon. I could walk over to Jenkins Teas and get us some sandwiches. That way you can keep the place open, and you can tell me what else you've been up to."

Rosaline moved just a little closer to Preston so that she could see the drawings that he had pulled out better. He was rather good at drawing, she had to admit. She wondered if he'd done this by hand or by wand. Not that it mattered either way, of course. She was merely a curious woman.

Rosa nodded thoughtfully. It was a shame that she couldn't build the uniforms for him. That did look like it would have been fun. She opened her mouth to respond, but Preston spoke again. Rosaline nearly laughed out loud when he offered lunch. Not because the idea was silly, but because it was as if he'd read her mind. Hadn't she just been thinking that he was all business? And then here he was asking her to lunch so they could actually catch up.

She smiled and glanced around at her shop. "Oh no. I don't have to keep the shop open just yet. Really I run it for any hours that it's needed. I have no set hours, though I usually do stay here just in case someone decides to stop in." She looked back at Preston.

"I believe I'll be safe today. My ad won't even start running for another few days." Her smile brightened just a little as she turned towards the door. "Shall we, then?" She was honestly eager now to talk of something other than work. She loved her work and she could see that Preston loved his, but she did not care only about work. She needed a social life too.

"All right, then," he said, "let's take a walk." Preston waited so that Rosaline could close up the shop safely. He continued to gaze at some of the merchandise she stocked. The uniform idea was still spinning in his head, as he exited the door and waited on the sidewalk. Jenkins Teas was a more of a tea and coffee supplier to the public other establishments, but they had a small cafe area, and it was open at the same time as the retail part of it.

There was a row of stools and a shelf that had been built so that people could watch out the windows of the tea shop while they drank, or read the paper, or chatted with their friends and business colleagues. These windows were open today, to let in the fresh air. There was usually a big crowd of Ministry people that arrived at 11 and 4 PM for tea and biscuits. They were just ahead of the rush.

As they waited to order, Preston asked her about where she was living these days.

"Are you here in Diagon Alley, or do you live in London at large?" he asked. "Oh, and do you prefer Oolong or Jasmine?" he said, looking up at the chalkboard that contained the choices. There were many, of course.

Rosa smiled and as soon as they were both out of her shop, she locked it the muggle way and then added a few enchantments on top of that. No way was she taking any chances in having her store broken into. Once she was done, she turned and walked along with Preston. She could see that he was still thinking, so kept quiet and let him have his thoughts. She was disappointed that she couldn't help him, but there was nothing she could do about that.

The tea shop looked like a nice play to be. Rosa smiled as she looked around it. "Nice place." She commented just before he asked her about where she was staying.

"Oh, I'm living just outside London. I found a nice flat at a nice price. And Jasmine." She added to his second question. She looked over at the chalkboard, but nothing else looked appealing today, so she stuck with the Jasmine. "How about you? Do Ministry Officials have a town their own to live in?" She asked with a smirk. Of course they didn't. Rosa was just being a little silly. She liked to joke around and be casual. If she could get Preston to not be so proper, then maybe they could have a little fun. But some people only had one side to them. She would see how Preston was.

He ordered them a pot of jasmine tea, and a plate of sandwiches. The tea shop was still a little quiet, although the buzz of conversation already came from different corners, and Diagon Alley outside was already busy with the approaching lunch crowd. He could see Fortescue's filling up across the way. Her idea about the Ministry officials having a whole town of their own was funny, but in some ways it was almost true.

"Maybe they do. There's several new wizard housing developments around, and there's Sunken London now, but I never looked at houses there."

Preston was referring to a large section of several city blocks that had sunk beneath the streets after an alleged gas explosion in 1891. The actual explanation was magical, but had never been made public. Now, the Ministry and the enterprising witch and wizard merchant council had reclaimed the area and fixed it up. With a new tunnel connecting it to Diagon Alley, it had become another fashionable district for witches and wizards to live in. It was, of course, underground, and obfuscation charms hid the old city from the occasional muggle public works project.

"I live over in Greenwich," he said. "Although I'm originally from Nottinghamshire.I like walking in the park there, it reminds me of my old home, and it's a little quieter. But I'm not home much these days. My job takes me all over, but I do envy those that have a good trade that keeps them grounded."

He raised a teacup full as an impromptu toast.

"To success," he said.

Ooc: sorry for the delay! HPH took over me there for a few days. :/

Ic: Rosaline had been kidding about the Ministry living in their own little towns, but Preston said that it could be. She shook her head and said, “I don’t know why I’m surprised. It seems that the Ministry officials usually stick together.” She glanced at Preston and quickly added, “Not all of you, of course. Obviously you aren’t just by speaking with me.”

Rosaline knew Greenwich. She had looked there too, but it was out of her price range. “That is a nice place.” She said with a smile.

Preston lifted his teacup in a toast and so Rosa raised hers as well, repeating him. “To success.” She took a sip of her tea and examined it for a minute before speaking again.

“I traveled from the time I left school until now. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I did some traveling and saw some wonderful places. Has your work taken you anywhere that you particularly like? Somewhere you’d want to go back to one day?” Rosaline was simply curious about his travels. She had really enjoyed her time travelling and there were a few places that she would like to return to, but she had ultimately returned to London where she settled in and planned to live the rest of her life.

It was very pleasant to be chatting about events and interesting places, and he gave his full attention to Rosaline's recounting of her own life and times. The toast was duly administered, too, and when he'd finished downing his cupful, she asked some interesting questions about his own travels.

"Lord, I've been quite a few places. My job takes me there, you see. But I like these shores the best. Then again, maybe I'll find a reason to visit the United States some time. I hear they ahve good Quidditch teams there, and I thought of going back to school at one of the advanced magical universities. That really depends on the job. I grew up in the country, but I'm more of a city fellow, though. So if I was to settle somewhere, it would probably be in a place with lots of bright lights and things going on. Thanks for asking. What about yourself? Obviously you have the shop, but ...?"

Rosaline listened just as intently as Preston had. She was curious or she wouldn't have asked about his travels. It was nice to learn more about the lives of old friends. She and Preston hadn't been friends, per-say in Hogwarts, but they had gotten along well enough. Besides, he was the first person, besides a couple of Gringotts workers, that she had been able to hold a true conversation with. It was very nice indeed.

"Wow. Sounds like you have put a bit of thought into it." Rosa said with a grin. She sipped on her tea before answering the question that had been posed on her. She shrugged and said, "I don't know. I think I might stay here for a while. If I find what I'm looking for, then I'll stay. If not, then I'll pack up my shop and move it elsewhere." She thought that her comment about what she was looking for might draw a curious question, so she decided to answer it before it was asked.

"Even though all my traveling was fun, I found it rather lonely. I missed my friends and family. I hardly kept up with anyone, other than my family, while I was away and I feel that I've missed out on a lot of things." She gave another shrug and added, "Hopefully I'll find what I've been missing."

"Ah, yes, family is best, and I agree, travel is a lonely journey unless you've got a real mission or someone to share it with. I don't get to see my girlfriend much lately as we both travel, but luckily, when we do meet up, it's in great places, but we both miss being home."

He showed Rosaline a picture of Jennifer Sloane-Underwood standing with him on a beach somewhere in shorts and hats and sunglasses.

"Both her family and mine have big holiday celebrations, so we try not to miss those. Now, however, I have a complication there, since my Dad's the Minister of Magic. He's content to let me do what I want, of course, but other people have high expectations of me sometimes."

He smiled. "But that's all one, unless you still have the wanderlust, you won't miss what you don't know. How do you like to travel? Short hops where you just meander, or a big, planned trip?"

Ah, so he had a girlfriend. Rosaline wasn't surprised. She smiled as he showed her the picture, realizing that the woman in the picture looked familiar to her. She would remember the girl later when she spotted her outside the prestigious quidditch club. "She's very pretty." Rosaline commented as she admired the beach they were standing on. She was sure she had been there before, but she couldn't remember where it was located. She tended to forget beaches when she was visiting them alone.

"I could see how that would be a problem." Rosa said with a smirk. "I think I'm happy my family is rather small." She gave a small laugh. She would never complain about the size of her family. And she was very happy that she was not required to make special appearances because of her status. Hopefully that was one thing that would never change.

"Oh, I like both. Sometimes it is hard to plan a trip and sometimes when I do plan a trip I'm pulled off track and end up doing something that I didn't even plan on. I don't mind either of them, though." She paused and took a sip of her tea, finishing it off.

:ooc: bah...sorry

"I think that's the best way to travel, though. If you start off with a broad goal, and then get pulled off into some side trip that broadens your experience, it's more fun that way."

Preston related some surprises that he'd had on a recent trip to the South Pacific.

"New Caledonia is well positioned for a stopover for the new airship lines, you see, so I had to go there. But while I was there, I had to wait around a long time for the wizards council to meet and talk about where the airship would dock, and so forth. So I got to explore the reef areas. In the process, I discovered something about a local legend about a giant Sea Snail or a Nautlius that's supposed to live off shore. Never found it while diving, but it was an interesting story I brought back. Some of my cohorts in the IMMF thought it might be fun to hunt for the big monster when they take a vacation, nothing official. It was rather fun to discover something new like that."

He also recalled how wet it was, but the variety of plants and animals on the island was pretty astounding. They also had a wizarding community with interesting traditions.

"Did you know that the Melanesians also build their brooms in a sort of tandem variety, side-by-side; like an outrigger? Very unusual."

Rosaline smiled and nodded in agreement. "Oh, definitely. I have always found things that I never dreamed of finding when I've been pulled of on my travels."

Rosa listened to the story with a grin, even laughing at the mention of going and hunting. "That sounds like a lot of fun. I can imagine a lot of IMMF workers going on a hunting spree for a monster that could eat them all in one swipe most likely."

Rosaline had wondered, when she'd found out that Preston was working for he Ministry, how they would get along. She had never thought of herself as the type to befriend Ministry workers. She was too different from them. However she was having a very nice time with Preston. He did not fit the stereotype of most ministry workers. She found herself wondering now if perhaps that sterotype was completely incorrect.

At his next piece of information, Rosaline was surprised. She did not hear much about that part of the world and so had not known how they built their brooms. "No, I did not know that." She said thoughfully. "I presume it works well for them. I might have to do a little research later on." She said with a smile.

Preston laughed at the mention of monsters discovered during expeditions. He explained that the IMMF was usually after something like a magical item when it would run across a guardian of some kind.

"Oh, I leave them to those that can handle those situations. We've run into a few, such as when we were dealing with the Ghost Train, but the team came off rather well on that. That's the closest I've been to the action, though. We were building out the route for the M-O-E, or Magical Orient Express. Curious problem of a ghostly train that had to be dispelled. Turns out that it was a train that had been wrecked and the gold it was carrying had been lost since World War II. But we got rid of the problem of the train itself, laid it's ghosts aboard to rest, and recovered the gold."

His smile stayed put, but he asked Rosaline earnestly.

"Ever consider doing special missions?" he asked. "Hugh's always looking for specialists, and you already work with specialty brooms. What other forms of magic are you good at?"