31 December 1890 — Podmore NYE Festival

The fairy lights that danced around Tilda as she strolled through the gardens made her smile. Attending the New Years Eve festival with her family was quite an event. Though not the most notorious of families, her father still cut a rather prominent figure that was hard to miss in a crowd. That and Lachlan's part in her near-death earlier that summer was still a common thread in the whispers when the two of them were in the same group. With this knowledge, Tilda kissed her family before hurrying off to get something to eat, as well as perhaps gain a respite from the lingering glances. She'd had a long day at the hospital and was at full health, though some still acted like she was to be treated with kid-gloves.

If they knew what she could do to a target with knives in her hands, they wouldn't be too confident in their assumptions. The redhead was preoccupied with thoughts of her family and work situation, so she didn't see the figure beside her until she turned and spilled her punch — all over both of them. "Oh goodness, I'm so sorry!" she started apologizing, though she stopped (both out of shock from the drink and surprise at the figure) when she saw who it was. "Mr. Scamander!"

@"Elsie Beauregard" / Eugene Scamander

  

---

Nanny, fresh off her week off for Christmas was more than happy to take Theseus for the night so Eugene could accompany his mother to the event at the Zoo. Eugene was quite fond of the zoo itself, he and Theseus came often and Ginger ran free pestering other creatures without a problem. It was an easy outing for the pair. His son was safe at home tonight however and he was free to enjoy the evening.

He'd visited the bar and gotten himself a nice scotch before wandering toward the food. He didn't make it too far, mesmerized by the spread before him. There were so many interesting things to try that he had a small plate piled high. Had he stopped to think about it, he might have gotten a smaller sample and come back again, but after a long day at the office, he was simply famished.

Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to enjoy it as the plate tumbled from his hands, though he managed to save the drink from the same fate, as he crashed into another body. Fortunately when disaster struck him, it was often in the form of a pretty redhead@mdash; which was again the case this evening. Eugene couldn't think of any one else he'd rather have spill a drink on him. "Miss MacFusty," He chuckled, reaching first for his handkerchief to offer her, before thinking his wand might be a better solution to do the cleanup. "We must stop meeting like this." He chuckled as he vanished the mess quickly; a well-practiced spell from chasing around a toddler. "Are you alright?"

---

  

---

Before she could even rectify her mistake, he'd vanished it away in an instant. "I quite agree, otherwise I might just get the chance to ruin all of your wardrobe!" she responded, laughing nervously as she brushed away any remianing debris she might have knocked loose.

"I'm quite alright," she replied, feeling sheepish at her clumsiness. Really, she was a very accomplished healer however Tilda feared should she continue on this track with Mr. Scamander, he would begin to think her rather incompetent. "If not feeling rather silly with my lack of awareness for my surroundings!"

  

---

"Alas, we cannot even blame Ginger this time." No the little hellion was curled up quite comfortably in her stash under his bed. He'd sort of gated and magically protected it so she was stuck under there when he needed her to be. She was usually good about it as long as she had her shinies to occupy her.

Eugene cleaned himself up quickly, the punch vanishing easily as he stowed his wand back inside his jacket once more. "It's only me," He assured her. If anything, Eugene found the habit rather endearing. It did seem to lead to a lot of run-ins, actual physical ones, between them, which he couldn't complain about. She'd always proven to be good company, which he was appreciative of. "I think our record stands fairly evenly, certainly nothing to be concerned about." He assured her with a wide smile.

"Shall we refill your glass and maybe I can join you?" He wasn't sure if she'd been about to sit and eat or something else, but he wouldn't mind either way.

---

  

---

Tilda smiled; it was a pity the little creature wasn't at this event. What with the sparkling lights and everything, it was an amusing thought of Ginger being here. She looked up at Mr. Scamander and smiled. "I should be concerned if I'm to ruin every bit of your clothing, Mr. Scamander!"

As it stood, she wasn't too preoccupied, and she figured her mother and father wouldn't mind if she spent some of the evening with the man; after all, despite being a working woman she was still out, and they wouldn't be too far away. "And please, do, mother and father are probably dancing already and Lachlan has likely found some Quidditch mates already." she smiled knowingly, spying her father twirling her mother around the dance floor. "And so I'm to mind my own for a while!"

  

---

Eugene waved off any worries about his clothes easily enough. That was the least of his concerns. Forgotten already. Smiling easily, he nodded and made a return trip to the bar. Judging by the color in which his clothes had previously been stained, he assumed she'd been having punch. Eugene had his scotch refilled before turning tail back to where he'd left Miss MacFusty.

Taking an open seat, he passed her drink along before making himself comfortable. "And how is your brother doing?" During his admittedly amateur quidditch career, Eugene had played chaser and only at school, but the carnage of the World Cup was not soon to be forgotten. He couldn't imagine what Lachlan was going through.

---

  

---

Lach was a different matter entirely. He hadn't been extremely frank about how the events at the Quidditch World Cup had taken a toll on him, but Tilda could see his shoulders carry a bit more weight nowadays. "He's doing alright," she settled on, as she led them to a table. "Though I know it's going to take some time for him to work thorugh what happened." A woman had died and his actions had caused it. That sort of thing wasn't something that one could get rid of easily.

  

---

Settling completely into his chair, attention fixed on Miss MacFusty, Eugene took a sip of his drink, nodding along to her answer. He couldn't even imagine being in her brother's place. He dealt with a lot of sensitive and often heartbreaking situations at the ministry, but rarely anything of that caliber.

"Of course, it's only natural." He summed up, wracking his brain for a more cheerful topic of conversation. "And how is the hospital treating you these days?" He hadn't been in to see her recently, but he knew of a coworker or two who could easily keep her busy solely from their office, let alone the rest of the department.

---

  

---

She shrugged, allowing herself to shift further back into her chair as she clutched at her cup. Somewhere in the back of her mind it registered how natural this felt, and though she normally didn't have much to throw up walls for, talking with Mr. Scamander seemed to be rather second nature. "It's the same old, I suppose," she replied, placing her cup down. "It can be tiring at times, but I think I would take a cranky patient over an angry new dragon mother any day."

She giggled slightly, despite the very real fact that new mother dragons were nothing to fool around with. No one in their right mind would want to face down an almost 10,000kg hormonal monster.

  

---

Something about her tone suggested to Eugene that Miss MacFusty did not do idleness well, something they certainly had in common. Thankfully between work and Theseus, Eugene was never sitting for long.

"Ah yes, I avoid the Dragon Restraint Bureau too," Which, it must have been one of her cousins, headed. "I prefer the smaller creatures myself." Though Eugene had dealt with everything from billywigs to erumpets, if he had his choice, he'd stick to anything smaller than a horse for certain. "I cannot say I blame you there." She had patched him up herself after one of his dealings with creatures. At least the smaller ones were less likely to kill you.

"It suits you." He said with a smile. Having been her patient more than once, he knew first-hand just how good she was at her chose profession.

---

  

---

"I try to as much as possible, though when one's entire family deals in dragons it's a hard rule to live by." She'd had an encouter with a few of the dragons on her family's property a few times; knew how to tame them and handle herself around them, however it wasn't entirely something Tilda knew she wanted to dedicate her life to.

His compliment didn't go unnoticed, and Tilda felt herself flush slightly under his gaze, offering him an involuntary but genuine smile. She'd been looking forward to the evening nonetheless, but sitting here chatting with him had her enjoying New Year's Eve for an entirely different reason.

  

---