Pre-Gaming

[Jonathan Webster]

The event started soon and Jon was already halfway through a cup of coffee. He suspected that he would be bouncing off the (perhaps literal) walls for the rest of the day at this rate; it was just so exciting, and he was energetic most of the time!

"What am I definitely not supposed to mention, again?" he asked Ed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. At least they had a good place to host this thing; the support of Mr. Wesley Cavanagh was proving invaluable, especially since neither Jon nor Ed really had the proper space for hosting a real event, and Padmore Park didn't really support the amount of conversational intimacy he was hoping to be able to have. Also, you couldn't play pool there.

  

[Edmund Grimm]

Ed really should not have been surprised. Somehow he's been expecting a nervous Jon, not one ready for this. He let Jon bounce all he wanted... as long as he didn't continue to do it once they left this little room. Instead he materialized a ball, similar to one he'd once given to Dog... until she tore it a part and ate it, and tossed it to Jon to keep his hands busy.

"Only talk about Dog if someone asks about her. Which they probably will. Keep with the thing about saving her from the circus and away from the having a novelty pet thing." Ed eyed the coffee cup and wondered if he should confiscate the rest of it.

  

[Jonathan Webster]

"If I wanted a novelty pet, I would have gotten a kneazle," Jon argued, even though he knew that they both knew that that wasn't entirely true. Owning a bear was fun - okay, so it was also complicated and difficult and she was probably going to maul a cabinet or something when he was out. But! He was also having a lot of fun with it.

He bounced the ball on the floor with one hand and took another sip of coffee with the other one. "What if they ask me why I'm running? What do I say then? How noble can I be without obviously lying? What if they're reading my mail?"

  

[Edmund Grimm]

"Carmichael probably has a kneazle." Jon was not short on competition for the job of minister and Ed couldn't honestly say he knew much about them. His vote had been decided the moment Jon decided to take his dare seriously but one of them probably had a typical pet like a kneazle and why not Carmichael?.

"You know why you are running. That bit is easy." He coached. His tactics were blatantly stolen from the pep talks he'd been audience to when he'd played Quidditch. Play like you already know you are going to win. "You are uniquely qualified and can offer a perspective few people are privileged to. You are the minister... just convince them of it." Ed held his hands up for Jon to toss it to him. Nothing like two grown men, idly tossing a ball back and forth before one of them goes out to convince a room full of people to vote for him. Completely normal.

"And if they are reading your mail then we are in trouble because that means they've been doing all kinds of snooping." He grinned widely, intentionally redirecting the conversation. "Like if they had a chat with our friends in Cornwall..."

  

[Jonathan Webster]

"I am the Minister," Jon echoed, "They just need to do me the courtesy of voting me in." He would be a great Minister, really.

Jon set down his coffee and flung the ball at Ed's face, figuring that Ed's Quidditch reflexes or whatever would help him out of that one. Also he didn't really feel bad about throwing things at his best friend. Ed probably deserved it.

"Speak not of that godforsaken place," Jon said, "I was more worried about them figuring out how much Ministry letterhead we waste a day but, you know, Cornwall would be terrible too."

  

[Edmund Grimm]

Ed caught the ball just inches from his face, painted with amused surprise. "Your campaign manager says it's ill advised to break your campaign manager's nose right before an event" he muttered, chucking the ball back at him with a vengeance, though he was nice enough not to aim for his face.

"A news story about you overusing ministry letterhead would be terrible and boring. But an article on Cornwall would be an excellent read."

  

[Jonathan Webster]

"But how else will I tell them all about saving you from a robber?" Jon said, making a face at Ed.

"Cornwall happened years ago. We were young. They can't still hold us responsible for Cornwall," Jon said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Talking about Cornwall was actually pretty empowering.

  

[Edmund Grimm]

"Save me? I wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't provoked him!." Ed too the opportunity to swipe Jon's coffee out of reach. "And I think if they could solidly pin Cornwall on us they would certainly try."

  

[Jonathan Webster]

"The muggle authorities, though," Jon said, "I don't think that wizards really care. I mean -" he reached after the coffee but could not retrieve it "- I'm pretty sure they have better things to care about. Right?"

  

[Edmund Grimm]

Ed took a drink of the coffee just because he could and fought back a grimace. Who could possibly drink coffee like that? "I'd rather not find out."

"So, no insulting blood purists. You know that one. And obviously things like Cornwall... and most of what we did while I was with the Arrows. What else?"

  

[Jonathan Webster]

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh," Jon said, "No mention of my shiny one-passing-NEWT test." The event started in, like, a minute. They had to get all of this planning stuff out of the way now - and he suddenly wasn't sure that he had drunk enough coffee, but Ed was freakishly large so there was no getting that back now, oops.

"Oh. And Eden. No Eden."

  

[Edmund Grimm]

"Your nonexistent NEWTs are like Cornwall; Ancient history and people have other things to do than worry about them." he affirmed. While it wasn't exactly a positive thing that Jon had slept through at least one of his exams and might as well have in others Ed felt that they had graduated so long ago that grades weren't exactly at the forefront of people's minds.

Ed made a face that Jon would even mention Eden out loud. In his mind, all other things aside, this was the pressure point he was afraid of. The one thing that needed to stay swept under the rug. Forever. Part of Ed thought Jon might actually be... but it didn't matter. What mattered is that the whole thing got left alone. "Right."

  

[Jonathan Webster]

"All right," Jon said, "That's it. We're good. Time to go." And then they WOULD have high-fived but high-fives weren't invented until the year 1977 which is STUPID and DUMB and STUPID.

"Shake on it," Jon said, holding out his hand for his best friend and campaign manager and making a frankly ridiculous face. In a second he was going to walk out that door and be a Real Adult and make a Good Impression on the press and on the voters; for now, he could afford to make a super ridiculous face because hey, they were in private.

  

[Edmund Grimm]

Ed took the proffered hand and shook it firmly, clapping his friend on the shoulder. Maybe it was confidence. Maybe it was bravado. Probably they were just down right crazy... But somehow Ed had started to believe that Jon might have a shot at being Minister. He wouldn't even mind loosing the bet because the pep talk had worked and it felt more like an adventure, a conquest, than a life and history altering escapade.

He stepped towards the door, glanced at Jon with his hand on the doorknob, and gave him a nod. Pulling the door open he bowed with a grin. "After you Mr. Minister."