July 8th, 1895 — Ministry of Magic, Lobby

Barnabas was all packed and ready to board the ship back to New York, but he had one thing he needed to do first. MACUSA had given him the unexpected time off if he agreed to deliver some overdue files to the Ministry on their behalf. It wasn't as if he had any control over when his cousin Mason would get squashed by a greenhouse, but at least they'd let him go.

After flooing in from Hogsmeade, he straightened his coat (pristine, as always), and marched toward his destination. Someone he recognized caught his eye, and he leaned over to catch theirs as well, a nostalgic grin on his face, "Macmillan?"

Charles Macmillan Ursula Black

  

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Barnabas walks with a cane. Set by Lady.

Ever since we met I've got just one regret to live through and that one regret is you

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Charles had been on his way to Floo out of the building and somewhere else for a spot of lunch when the sound of his name yanked his attention back to his immediate surroundings. What was more surprising was who had called his name. They'd been friends at school but he couldn't really say the man stood before him resembled much of the boy he had been, then again maybe he was giving the missing leg too much significance, it wasn't like his face had changed all that much. Skeeter?! I thought you were abroad! They might have lost contact after their school years but he'd inevitably heard things, especially as Skeeter used to work for the Ministry.

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Outfit | Tag: Barnabas Skeeter | Notes:

  

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"I am–I was!" Barnabas replied cheerfully, using his free hand to shake Macmillan's in greeting, "I'm in town for a bit for my cousin's funeral services. Just have this last errand to run for MACUSA." He made sure to annunciate the acronoym fully so that Charles could very clearly hear him and be impressed. "Are you still in the department of magical co-operation?"

  

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Barnabas walks with a cane. Set by Lady.

Ever since we met I've got just one regret to live through and that one regret is you

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Ah. Yes. The Hogwarts greenhouse incident. He should've realized. Skeeter didn't seem overly glum about it at least. I'm sorry about your cousin, awful business that. He gave his condolences a beat before moving swiftly on. Not anymore, I'm an assistant in the Minister's office now. He subconsciously puffed his chest out slightly as he consciously avoided saying Junior Assistant. MACUSA though? That was an interesting choice, he must've properly settled down in America. Charles couldn't see the appeal himself.

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Outfit | Tag: Barnabas Skeeter | Notes:

  

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Barnabas received the condolences with a gracious nod, wiping the grin from his face for a moment to accept them properly. He couldn't very well be grinning when talking about his dead cousin. Charles was an assistant to the Minister?! He'd moved up the rungs quite a bit and likely rubbed shoulders with the most powerful man in their community on the daily. A streak of envy tore through him before he shoved it away. Barnabas was doing important things too. He wasn't around the higher ups at MACUSA very often but still. They'd given him an errand to run. That's something!

"Impressive! What did you have to do to get that position?" He meant for it to sound like a joke, but that didn't stop his fingers from tensing around his cane.

  

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Barnabas walks with a cane. Set by Lady.

Ever since we met I've got just one regret to live through and that one regret is you

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Charles chuckled, rather enjoying the attention. Sometimes he did wonder if he'd made the right decision, after all he'd now spent eight years of his career and counting blocked from promotion by a Crouch. Bloody Crouches. He didn't actually have a problem with them personally, but it was hard not to resent Roman Crouch but that wasn't really personal, if the man would just get out of his way and work elsewhere he'd find him perfectly tolerable again. The last Minister realized I was better utilized in his office than working under Crouch for the next twenty years. That was absolutely not the case but it sounded better than saying he'd bootlicked his way into the job. So what is it you do with MACUSA? He was reasonably familiar with how the American government worked seeing as it'd literally been his job to know prior to his current position.

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Outfit | Tag: Barnabas Skeeter | Notes:

  

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Lucky bastard. Barnabas couldn't help but wonder if he'd stayed here, would that have been his position instead? Had he given up too soon? He cleared this throat, "Surveillance Wizarding Resources Department." It was a pretty quiet job, much more calm than any other occupation he'd had. He certainly wasn't getting threatened by women or losing limbs. It was mostly watching for an alert to come through and then relaying that to the proper departments. He kept it vague, hoping it sounded like he was one of the top employees in the department. He wasn't going to lie, but he also wasn't going to correct Macmillan if he made assumptions. Instead, he said, "How's the new Minister? Seems he must be fairly decent?"

  

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Barnabas walks with a cane. Set by Lady.

Ever since we met I've got just one regret to live through and that one regret is you

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He'd had experience liaising with the Surveillance Department, but the Wizarding Resources branch of it seeing as he wasn't an American wizard - thank Merlin. He's... Tolerable, he concluded. He thought Dempsey might like him better than he suspected Ross had, not that he cared, but it did make him less resentful at work. It was a shame he was so... himself. Odd family though.

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Outfit | Tag: Barnabas Skeeter | Notes:

  

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Tolerable wasn't the most shining review the Minister could have received, but Barnabas had heard much worse. The only thing he really knew about Dempsey was that he had been two years ahead of him at Hogwarts–and that had been ages ago. What did pique his interest was the comment about Dempsey's family. "That so?" He asked, unable to help the amused smirk that quirked his lips. There wasn't a polite way to ask for more information–it sounded juicy, whatever it was–but the raised eyebrows and expectant look made it clear enough that he wished for Macmillan to continue.

  

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Barnabas walks with a cane. Set by Lady.

Ever since we met I've got just one regret to live through and that one regret is you

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Irish eccentrics. He didn't think he needed to say any more than that, although he probably could if he thought deeply enough on the subject. The man is a champion of women's suffrage, you know. If he remembered correctly that ought to elicit a response - unless he already knew, but he thought the odds were in his favor of Skeeter not knowing that particular detail.

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Outfit | Tag: Barnabas Skeeter | Notes:

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   Barnabas Skeeter

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Ah, the Irish. That made sense. But the next thing that came out of his mouth had been so unexpected that Barnabas let out an unseemly gasp. He swallowed and adjusted his collar to recover, his eyes darting around to make sure no passerby had noticed. He swiped a hand over his hair to settle it back and place. Then, he returned his attention to Macmillan. In a low voice that was nearly a whisper, he replied, "A misguided notion, at the very least." How could a progressive wizard been elected as Minister? It was an outrage! No wonder why all–well, not all, but most–of the women he'd run into the last few days had been abhorrent.

  

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Barnabas walks with a cane. Set by Lady.