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Astoria ran through the ministry with her luggage in hand, she was running late for her portkey to her new job in America. She wasn’t told exactly where she was headed and that intrigued her more than anything else.
She had put in for the exchange program over a year ago and hadn’t expected to be accepted. But her and one of her colleagues had been, and now the time for them to leave for three years was finally upon her.
Running through the main atrium; she wondered who exactly was going to be the lucky soul that got to go with her. They weren’t told who it was just that there were two of them.
Hitting the button for the ninth floor, she calmed herself and waited until the robotic voice called, “Ninth Floor; Department of Mysteries.”
Speeding out of the lift she wasn’t paying attention to anything just wanting to get to the office before she missed the biggest opportunity she would ever get. So when she smashed into a hard body she was shocked.
Quickly catching her balance before she fell, she looked into the crystal blue eyes of Colin Creevy, she had worked with him on tasks before and they had built quite the friendship. He was going to be someone she would miss for the three years that she was gone.
“Hey Tori, you seem to be in a rush?” Colin said, smiling. His smile lit her insides on fire. She had been harbouring a crush for him since they had met at Hogwarts. Then they had become work colleagues and every feeling heightened.
“Yeah, I’m running late for a portkey.” She responded.
“Always late,” He chuckled. “Don’t worry though it’s been delayed. Leaving at nine-thirty now.”
Astoria breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh thank Salazar. I can’t miss this one.”
“I’ll let you get going so that you can get settled and calm. I hope to see you around,” Colin added with a secretive smile.
“I won’t be back for a while. Maybe we can meet up when I get back.” She said sadly.
“Most definitely, see you Astoria!” He said giving her a hug. Astoria held on a little tighter than normal trying to soak up all his calming energy and his love before she wouldn’t see him.
“Bye, Col.” Sadly walking down the corridor. Not in a rush to leave him knowing they wouldn’t see each other for so long.
oOo
Waiting in the office with her boss and the ambassador from America, Astoria wondered who was the other unspeakable and why they were running late. It wasn’t normal for anyone else to be late. Just before nine-thirty the door opened, and Colin walked in with a bag slung over his shoulder.
“Didn’t think you were getting rid of me that easily did you, Astoria?” He questioned at her with a smirk covering his features.
“Wha...what? You? You’re the other one? Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked in shock.
“I loved that hug,” He said laughing.
“Okay you two, let’s get going. Lots to do to set you up over there.” The ambassador said before Astoria could respond to Colin.
Grabbing onto the brown paper bag that sat on the table, they felt the pull behind their navel before being tugged into the darkness. It lasted for a few minutes and then they landed on their feet, bracing themselves for the impact.
Astoria looked around at where they landed, the walls were a dreary grey colour and there were three, large black metal desks around the room. Not much else could be said about the place except it had that top secret atmosphere around it.
“Welcome to Area 51, Mr Creevey, Miss Greengrass you are now in one of the most top secret establishments ever built.” He said gesturing around the room. “Not many people can claim to know what goes on here so you being here, especially, being from a different country is huge.”
Colin gasped beside her, “I’ve only dreamt of standing anywhere near here. It’s in all of my old favourite shows.”
Astoria frowned at him, her being Pureblood has its disadvantages sometimes and this was one of those times.
“Okay, let’s continue. I’ll give you the tour and then show you the project we will have you guys working on.”
Astoria and Colin followed behind the ambassador as he walked through the massive facility, both quiet taking in the sights. Knowing they wouldn’t want to miss anything important.
The tour took an hour before ending at a lab that had the essence of magic hanging around it.
“Now this will be your main lab and the office we were in before will be your office. What we want from you is to make the pineapple something that will pick up on any ailment that may hit you and heal it.” He said with a smile.
“A pineapple? Why a pineapple?” Colin asked the very question that was on Astoria’s mind.
“It’s in high demand at the moment and we see that as heaps of individuals that will have access to this free medical treatment.” He explained.
“Okay. We will get started straight away. When’s the deadline for this project?” Astoria asked.
“Summer. We want it by the time Summer starts.”
“That’s only three months away!” Colin exclaimed.
“We have high hopes in your work. You’ve shown you can do the impossible back in England. Now show it here.” Astoria stood there staring at the man. How could they think they could do that in three months?
“I guess we better get to work then. Bye, Mr Masters.” Astoria said dismissively. “Come on, Col. We can do it as a team. We work well together on demand.”
Quickly moving into action the two started to discuss spells that could help them and maybe combine them together to create a new spell.
oOo
Astoria growled at the data in front of her, nothing they did seemed to work to get the pineapples to what the Americans wanted it to. Colin and Astoria had been working on the project around the clock for a month now and still hadn’t gotten any closer.
“Come on Tori, take a break. Let’s go get some dinner and come back to it. There’s no use us starving ourselves to meet the deadline. If we don’t meet it they can go eat slugs.” Colin said, pulling her by her hand and back to their office.
When they entered there were candles floating around the room and one of the desks had been transfigured into a table for two, silverware and dishes sitting there waiting. Astoria was astonished and met Colin’s eye, “What? I mean… when did you have time to set this up?”
“I asked one of the techs to do it. Tori, I kind of… want this to be a date?” He said, Astoria wondered if he realised he had made it a question with the way he said it.
“I thought you only wanted to be friends?” She said flashing back to their moment back at Hogwarts; when the war was in full swing.
“That was only because we were in impending danger. We could of been killed.” Colin stated.
“But why wait this long now?” Astoria asked, confused on why he would wait seven years to ask her out. Why not when the war ended?
“Because everytime I tried, Malfoy was hanging around and I assumed there was something there.” Colin said, coming closer; he begged her with the eyes she couldn’t resist to say yes.
“Of course, I only wished we had longer together. We’ve wasted so much time skirting our feelings.” She said.
“I know. That’s why I’m doing this now. I don’t want there to be anymore regrets of what could be.” Colin explained.
“Okay, let’s sit down and enjoy this meal you so thoughtfully prepared.” Astoria said walking over to the table and waiting for him to pull her chair out.
They sat talking after they had finished eating, Astoria grinning like a fool. No more wasted hours fighting her feelings; thinking he didn’t feel the same.
oOo
Another month had passed, Astoria and Colin had made progress in both their relationship and their project. They were running their last test on the fruit and spell they had created, when the ambassador wandered in and observed the pair.
The two not realising he was there, didn’t hold back when the spell worked and Colin picked Astoria up by the waist and spun her around, “We did it! It works!” He shouted as the rat they tested on it started to breathe normally again.
Astoria leant down, still not noticing the ambassador, and kissed Colin. Both laughing and crying at the success.
“Hehem.” Mr Masters coughed to alert them to his presence before asking, “Did I hear correct? You got it to work?”
Colin placed Astoria back on the ground, sheepishly putting his hands behind his back. “Yes sir. It works.”
“We tested it on ourselves as well as the rats.” Astoria said grinning.
“Thank you so much for all the hard work you have put into this project, take a month off and when you come back we can get started on the next project.” Mr Masters said, shaking both their hands. He left the two alone, an extra bounce in his step.
“Where would you like to go, love?” Astoria questioned.
“Anywhere as long as it’s with you,” Colin said pulling her into an embrace, as she pulled back to smile up at him; he moved in to kiss her soft lips.
Finally together and all it took was a pineapple and a move to the other side of the world.