Teen Idle

[His Majesty Merlin Huxley]

Working for the Museum of Magical Miscellany was perhaps not quite as prestigious as working as the Minister of Magic was, but Merl had decided that he liked it. He had spent his morning logging the wizarding artifacts from the Glorious Revolution and after that he had been told by the museum's curator to go check on the exhibit on the 1877 Incident.

Looking at a life-sized statue of Queen Victoria was not a soothing experience.

This was actually the only room in the whole museum that made him uncomfortable, because the statue's eyes seemed to be following him even though it was not enchanted to move.

Merl was decidedly nervous as he marked things down on the clipboard. He turned to go check on the list of magical nobility - a list that made him decidedly uneasy - when he spotted a girl that he knew.

"Miss Swift!" Merlin called.

  

[Ismene Swift]

Had her mother not been in Bath working, Ismene likely could have gotten out of this ordeal. Her father, however, was only in town for a month—having him all the way in Bulgaria was so dreadful!—and so, as unenthusiastic as the Hufflepuff might have been to accompany her father and brother to, of all places, the museum, she supposed she could not refuse him in good conscience.

And it was, the seventeen-year-old had to admit, a more enjoyable experience than she had expected. Her father had thoughtfully taken them to a fashion exhibit partway through the tour, and while Myles had plainly wanted to be elsewhere, Ixion had indulged his daughter when she asked to stay a bit longer. However, the Gryffindor would not be placated, and it was with some hesitation that the boys left Ismene behind—under the assumption that the Museum was busy enough that she could not be accosted, and they were going only down the hall. Though she at first enjoyed the freedom, Issie quickly became anxious about her solitude, and set off to find her father and brother.

It was a familiar voice that led the girl to pause her quest, and Issie felt her heart skip a beat as her former housemate’s tongue glided over her name. Miss Swift. She blushed furiously at the thought of what else his tongue might glide over

With a breath to steel herself (and hopefully get the pink tinge to leave her face), the Hufflepuff turned around, a genuine smile on her face as she greeted the speaker. “Good afternoon, Mr. Huxley! Taking in the museum today, are you?”

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[His Majesty Merlin Huxley]

Merl smiled back at her. He was getting better at that, even if he still didn't often smile with teeth - the election had made actually smiling a necessity, and the habit had stuck.

"I've actually started working here," Merl said cheerfully, "They haven't quite gotten around to outfitting me with an employee badge, though." Seeing as he spent quite a lot of time in the basement of the museum logging artifacts and coming up with floor plans for new exhibitions, he wasn't sure that he would ever end up getting one.

"I suppose that you've come to visit, though?" he said with a half-smile. Miss Swift was actually the first former classmate he'd seen here - maybe because he really wasn't out and about frequently, though it also could have been because of the Summer Solstice Festival. (He hadn't been - it was too mainstream - but his brother had!)

  

[Ismene Swift]

Of course Mr. Huxley had a job during daytime hours—he was a grown man now and a handsome one at that! Issie, of course, did not mind that his birth order necessitated an occupation; if anything, she found the notion of a working husband, regardless of his social standing, oddly thrilling. He would, after all, have stories to tell each day across the dinner table, and would no doubt pine feverishly for her throughout the day.

But that, for now was pure conjecture. Ismene promptly refocused her attentions on Mr. Huxley.

“My father is in town,” the Hufflepuff explained, “and so he thought my brother and I might fancy a tour of the museum. I seem to have lost them entirely though,” she added as an afterthought, pleased by her cleverness. Mr. Huxley was such a chivalrous fellow; he would surely be compelled to help her if he thought her in need!

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[His Majesty Merlin Huxley]

"Oh!" Merl said, "Well, if you would like, I can certainly try to help you find them." That wasn't technically one of his duties, but he couldn't just leave her alone! And besides, he wasn't due back in the basement at his post for quite a while yet; he certainly had the time to help Miss Swift out.

It wouldn't be good for the museum's reputation to have unchaperoned teenagers getting lost in the place, and he technically owed her for her help during the election. Besides, she was a very nice girl, and he was maybe a gentleman.

  

[Ismene Swift]

As she had hoped known, Mr. Huxley was truly gallant indeed. She wondered briefly if it was wholly proper to allow him to squire her about—but reasoned that he was a representative of the museum assisting her in a highly public area. No one could possibly see any wrong in that, not even Loretta, who knew of her affections. Her mother saw wrong in everything, so Letitia’s opinions did not count in the slightest.

“Oh, I should not wish to be a bother,” the Hufflepuff replied in half-protest, “but if you are absolutely certain, Mr. Huxley—only, I think I should get only more lost if I tried to look for them myself!”

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[His Majesty Merlin Huxley]

"Oh, it's no trouble at all, I assure you," Merl said with a slight smile, "I think I got lost at least twice in my first week of working here - I can hardly abandon you to navigate our halls yourself!" It was, he thought, quite polite of her to try to say no - of course, she was the daughter of Mrs. Letitia Swift, so perhaps he should have expected that one!

(She was also much nicer than he would have expected from a child of Mrs. Swift, Merl thought.)

  

[Ismene Swift]

Ismene felt as if she was walking on air. Not only had Mr. Huxley offered her his heroic aid, but he seemed genuinely pleased to be giving it to her—plainly, the Hufflepuff thought, this would be a precursor to their future, in which he squired her about Padmore Park, or pointed out all sorts of interesting (well, it would be interesting if he said them) things about his family’s undoubtedly extensive collection of art. In ten years, it could be their three sons—Valour, Tristan, and Ixion Huxley—he was showing around the museum, whilst Ismene stayed home with their infant daughter!

“If even you get lost, Mr. Huxley, I should surely have been wandering through for decades, as if Moses in the desert!” Ismene replied with feeling. Really, Mr. Huxley was so very gallant. She thought her father would be very pleased indeed when the younger wizard delivered her.

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[His Majesty Merlin Huxley]

Merl smiled, quite genuinely. "I'm glad that I found you, then," he said, and he was. He did not mind the prospect of spending time helping Miss Swift,

"Do you know which way they were headed?" Merl asked, already mentally calculating routes through the museum. It could be a bit complicated - most magically expanded buildings were - but he had confidence that he could get her to her father reasonably quickly. And until then - well - she was easy enough to talk to, so it was not as though time he spent with her would be at all taxing.

  

[Ismene Swift]

The badger was torn.

If she did not know which way her father and brother had gone, then it would take much longer for she and Mr. Huxley to ‘find’ them. That would, of course, translate to more time spent together—more time to impress him with her knowledge of history*! With her obvious womanly virtues!—and ultimately bring them one step closer to their inevitable matrimony. Oh how they would laugh later about how she contrived to bring them together! Alternatively, though, if she did not know where the male Swifts had gone, then Mr. Huxley would think her unobservant, self-centered, and entirely daft, and he would never want her then!

If she did know, then Mr. Huxley would surely think of her as helpful and on the ball. This would, however, make the task of finding them much simpler—much quicker—and so all the sooner would she lose Mr. Huxley’s companionship.

Being a woman was so dreadfully difficult!

A bit more slowly than it might have on some of her peers (Ismene was not stupid, but she was not particularly clever), she realized that she could have her cake and eat it too.

“I think Myles—that is, my brother, Mr. Swift—did say something about wanting to visit the Egyptian exhibit,” Ismene replied sweetly. “It really is so kind of you to help, Mr. Huxley!” she thanked her former housemate again, lightly touching his arm on the word ‘is’ for added emphasis.

Conveniently, the Swifts had already visited the Egyptian exhibit—and it was in the precise opposite direction that the wizards had gone.

*Given Professor Rutledge was the instructor, she had resolved since her third year to do extra well in her history lessons.

[His Majesty Merlin Huxley]

"The Egyptian exhibit!" Merl echoed, blushing quite faintly at the tough to his arm, "Follow me, then." Careful to match her stride, he led her out of the 1877 exhibit and into one on the middle ages - a quicker way to the Egyptian exhibit.

"I acquired a new artifact for the Egyptian exhibit this morning," Merl said, "The Gringotts cursebreakers found it on one of their exhibitions - a Saqqara bird, enchanted to fly and attack intruders, I hear that it caused quite a bit of trouble for the man who found it. I haven't put it up yet, though, it's still in the basement."

Of course, he needed the head curator's permission. Merl thought that it would be fun to incorporate the wooden birds into their tours, but it wasn't his call. Regardless, it was a very interesting find.

"I'm sorry," he said rather sheepishly, "Don't hesitate to tell me if I'm boring you." He hoped that he wasn't. He did like Miss Swift, after all.

  

[Ismene Swift]

Mr. Huxley had been working for the museum for so short a time, but was already making acquisitions himself?! Ismene considered this immensely impressive…almost enough so to curtail any disappointment she felt that he had never played quidditch professionally. No, working at the museum was interesting enough to be exciting, but safe enough to stop any wife (or potential wife) from worry. She did not know how her sister could tolerate Mr. Donovan’s work as a hit wizard!

“I assure you, Mr. Huxley,” she replied softly, relieved that walking saved her from any need to meet his eye, “that you could never bore me. Now this Saqqara bird,” Ismene added more brightly, “what does it look like? I think I might recall the name, but cannot quite place it,” she encouraged.

[His Majesty Merlin Huxley]

Merl smiled brightly. He was thrilled that she was interested - he hadn't expected that, though perhaps he should have, seeing as Miss Swift was in the museum with him!

"It's a small wooden bird," he said cheerfully, "Looks rather like a finch, I think. Egyptian wizards made them, and historians at the Wizarding Museum of Cairo think they were toys - this one's interesting in that it's been modified for security purposes."

"Cursebreakers took a look at it, but it's mostly harmless unless you knock something over near it," he said, smile turning half-mischievous.

  

[Ismene Swift]

“Security?” she probed, wanting to hear him speak more—Mr. Huxley was so good to listen to when plainly interested in the subject of discussion; it was one reason she had followed his Ministerial campaign so closely. His speeches, however unsuccessful his bid had been, had always been full of spirit.

[His Majesty Merlin Huxley]

"It reacts to -" Merl considered for a moment. "Motion. Since they found it in a tomb, we think that it was enchanted to attack intruders - the pyramids have a big problem with that happening, and the ancients tried to do things about it."

He grinned. "This one's less nasty than some of the stories I've heard, though."

Anything was less nasty than a hex that made you grow a second head.

  

[Ismene Swift]

Not even a desire to get closer to Mr. Huxley was quite enough to get Ismene to probe deeper into the matter of ‘nasty’ deterrents—both because it would be unladylike and because she was too squeamish to be keen to know. Instead, she elected flattery over curiosity—for this round, at least.

“It’s so impressive of you to know all these things, Mr. Huxley,” the brunette replied almost wistfully. “I can scarcely retain what we’re taught in class, never mind learn things on my own. It must be terribly nice to be a gentleman, to be able to fill your head with knowledge instead of needlework patterns!”