Tam Time Episode One: Registration Renewal

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Tam took the Floo Network down to the Ministry. He wasn't too happy about having to come down that day to renew his Animagus registration. Yes he enjoyed being a hawk sometimes, but he had two autograph sessions that day, intense Quidditch practice with the other Tornadoes, and a date with... whatever her name was. Some witchwear model. However, this was something he couldn't send someone to do for him. The Beast Division needed his signature.

As he walked about, employees in the Ministry recognized him and a few asked him for autographs, claiming it was for their kids.

"Hey hey!" he chuckled. "It's even Tam Time in the Ministry! I like that." He signed the autographs. "Make sure to tell your kids to drink their pumpkin juice and stay in school. That way they'll grow up to be as awesome as me. Well that's not completely true, but hey it gives them encouragement." Ronny winked at the "parents of his fans" and kept on moving.

He stepped into the elevator and a lovely lady joined him. He winked and smiled at her and she returned the smile. Later when she got off the elevator, there were lipstick marks on Ronny's cheeks and his own lips. The woman walked away beaming.

"Nice meeting you, miss," he said. "And tell your boyfriend I said hello too." The elevator then kept going on to Ronny's floor.

Once Ronny arrived at his floor, he went to a washroom to clean off his face. He had to look professional just in case they took his photo for the renewal. He managed to get it all off and straighten the shirt that was part of a black suit that cost him quite a few galleons. He didn't mind. He just signed on for another two seasons with the Tutshill Tornadoes.

He stepped out of the washroom and extended his arms as Draco Malfoy walked by with some other officials.

"Draco, my man!" he said. "Give me a hug, bro!" Draco barely looked at Ronny as he passed. Ronny quickly moved his arms to pretend to fix his suit. "Of course, you're busy now. I'll see you on the green some time."

Ronny then moved on, finally arriving at the place he was supposed to go to. He entered at leaned against the front desk. The lady working there had to have been in her early sixties at the youngest.

"Why hello," said Ronny. "I'm here to renew my Animagus registration if your pretty little hands could direct me where I need to go." The elderly woman almost fainted at this.

"Um... you're to see Ms. Tchaikovsky... sweetie," said the lady, blushing.

"Of course I am," he said. "Thank you, pretty lady. I'll see you when I get out." Then the elderly woman did faint. "Or maybe not."

Ronny then whistled as he heard to the right office.

"Ms. Tchaikovsky," he said. "Get ready because the highlight of your work day is just about to walk in!"

@merida

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Merida was frustrated. Her job had gotten more complicated in the last couple of weeks, as the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had shifted the Animagi registry over to the Beast Division, because they were apparently 'too overworked'. Rubbish. Merida's division had so much work to do already, and now they were getting stuck with the mundane task of having to renew people's Animagi registrations. It was pointless, wasn't it? Surely once they were registered, they would stay an animagi, and there should be no need for renewal. Still, they were the rules - classic Ministry.

It was a standard procedure really - the person comes in, she finds their name on the registry, checks the animal, asks them to transform for her, then updates the renewal date and they sign, and that's it. Menial, boring. Not what she wanted to be doing in this job. She wanted to be working with dragons, obviously, but her job didn't entail that. What she really was pushing for was the loosening of laws binding dragon training - and it was a long process, with each small step forward being a victory for her.

She was broken out of her thoughts by someone coming in to her room, acting as though there should be some sort of fanfare for his arrival. She just raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I can't see 5pm walking anywhere," she replied snippily. People with overinflated egos drove her up the wall. "What can I do for you?" she asked, because she had to.

@tan

[Deleted]

When the woman made the mark about five pm, Ronn'y s ego cooled a little bit... but just a little. So the pretty lady was all about business. He supposed he could deal with that. Ronny didn't want to be there either. But still, she was an attractive lady and the man couldn't help but flirt.

"What can you do for me?" he said. "Well I can think of a number of things..." He looked at the name on the desk. "Merida... but for now I suppose I need to renew my Animagus license. Merida, that's a really classy name if I might say so. Bet you're a classy lady. I always have a soft spot for the classy ones. Name's Ronny Tam... you know, THE Ronny Tam... Tutshill Tornadoes." He then smiled. "Well alright then. Let's get down to business. I suppose I have to change in front of you, don't I? Think you can handle me changing in front of you? It does get pretty intense."

When he was finally down flirting, he stood back and transformed into a hawk. He flew over and landed on the desk. The hawk gave her what looked like a little wink.

@merida

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Oh dear, he really was one of those people. Where their ego filled the room. Ugh.

"I can think of a number of things, too. You wouldn't enjoy them, trust me," she responded drily. He seemed to think that he should recognise his name just from him saying it - but she didn't care for Quidditch. "I don't have a record of 'The Ronny Tam' here," she replied with a smirk. "I suppose Ronny Tam will have to do. The picture does seem to match up," she said, comparing the picture with his face. Just as she was about to ask him to transform, he just went right ahead and offered to do it. "I'm sure I can handle it - it's my job." His ego was frustrating her. Then, he went and transformed. Right, the hawk he turned into looked like the one in the picture, too. "Right, that's all fine, Mr. Tam. If you'll change back, all I need you to do is sign, and you're done here," she said civilly.

@tan

[Deleted]

The girl was obviously not interested in Ronny. First the Minister practically ignoring him, and now a pretty lady not wowed by his charm. It seemed like Tam Time had run out today. Ronny guessed it was best to just go about the business now.

He felt the same way in hawk form when the wink didn't work on her. Usually the hawk wink made the ladies giggle at how cute it was. But... not today. When she asked him to change back, Ronny did so, and with a look of disappointment on his face. He signed and sighed what he had to sign.

"Gonna sign... right on the dotted line," he said. "There we go, Merida." He was about to go on when he realized the ego trip was making things worse for him and this woman. He had an ego, but he wasn't stupid. She had no interest in him. A lovely, intelligent lady like her probably had a good guy in the her life. So, in the last few moments of the meeting, Ronny decided to make things right, even if the two would never meet again.

"Look, Mer... Ms. Tchaikovsky," he said in a more mature voice. "If the ego thing bothered you, I want to beg your pardon. It's my image and... well some times I get caught up in it. I know this job's got to be tedious and boring for you, and I shouldn't be that person that makes it more unpleasant. So I'd like to make it up to you." He then pulled out two tickets. "I assume you probably have a nice guy in your life, so here's some tickets to the next Tornadoes game if you want them. If not, give them to some friends. No biggie." He then gave her a genuine smile showing he wasn't BSing her again.

@merida

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Merida had to admit that she was surprised by his change of tact. She was glad that he was seemingly off his ego trip, though. She wondered how anyone could actually enjoy being subjected to that. "Well, it was a bit obnoxious," she said bluntly. "But that's okay. Just realise that I see people's transformations pretty much all day at the moment - and so seeing a hawk wink at me is hardly news." She shook her head slightly when she mentioned a nice guy in her life - that was a complicated area. She kind of felt unattached, but was in a forced engagement to Brian Flint, who had actually ended up to be quite reasonable overall. It still didn't sit very well with her, though. "Thankyou for the tickets. Tell me, though, does the ego show actually work on people? That kind of thing personally drives me up the wall, but does it actually charm other people?" she asked curiously, her demeanour softened somewhat now that he had stopped doing it.

@tan

[Deleted]

Ronny knew not everyone went for the charm, and accepted Merida's criticism that it was a bit obnoxious.

"I can imagine you get some people who change into things a lot more interesting than a hawk," he said with a chuckle. "Met a guy once who could turn into a bull elephant. I'd hate to know that he showed up at your office."

Ronny then sighed a bit when Merida asked if the ego worked on other people.

"I think the fans go for it, but other than that... to be honest not really," he said. "You see at the games I'm known for showboating as I play- the poses, the smiles, the winks at the fans- and when I'm off the Pitch, they expect that same attitude. It's all an act, of course, but it's become second nature over time, hence why I bring it to the Ministry with me when I'm supposed to be conducting business." He then smiled at the girl. "So turn abouts fair play, if you don't mind me asking is there another side of you besides the woman who has to endure ego-crazed animaguses like myself all day? You certainly come off to me like a woman who appreciates simple things in life such as... well ending a work day."

@merida

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Merida had to have a laugh at that. "Yes, some of the larger ones we definitely take outside before they transform. But generally people prefer their Animagus forms to be, well, a little more subtle or mobile than that," she replied. Of course, there were exceptions to every generalisation.

She actually found it somewhat interesting to hear him talk like a normal person. "Well, to be honest you're much more pleasant this way. It's actually possible to hold a conversation with you," she pointed out. But it was interesting to hear how he had to find a balance between what the crowds were used to seeing, and what he was actually supposedly like. "Another side of me? Well, whether you would expect it or not, my favourite thing in the world is dragon training," she answered simply. "The next question might be why I am in a desk job - a question I'm always asking myself." Family female prejudices.

@tan

[Deleted]

Ronny laughed about the larger animaguses being taken out. It was definitely a simple solution to what could be a big problem.

"Well that's a way to go," he joked.

Ronny smiled and nodded at the compliment. He actually felt better being himself around her. It seemed he didn't get to be the real Ronny Tam these days.

"Well thank you, Mer... Ms. Tchaikovsky," he said. "Actually, may I call you Merida? I'd like to think that we could possibly become friends after this.... and I do mean just friends. The shameless flirting is over with, I promise."

He then listened as she spoke about the other side of her.

"Dragon training?" he said. "And here I was thinking I was doing something amazing as a Quidditch Player. But I shouldn't be surprised. You deflated my ego, so a dragon can't be hard to deal with." He smirked a little at the joke. "But that is really impressive." She then spoke of the desk job and not knowing why she had taken it on. "Hey, there's no shame in having a boring job while you plan to do something you enjoy with your life. You want to know how I started out on the Professional Quidditch Pitch? Handing out water and towels to the players as they returned from a game."

@merida

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When he asked if he could call her Merida, after a moment she nodded. "I suppose that would be alright. Just be sure not to upset my fiancé too much," she commented, a little drily. She still wasn't on board with the idea of the arranged marriage, but Tam didn't have to know anything about that. Not yet, anyway.

The impressed tone in his voice was affirming to her. She knew that what she wanted to do was something impressive, even though it was something quite standard in her family. For the males at least. It would be even more impressive to be able to do it as a female. "Thankyou. And you're right about having to work your way up into a position. I'm glad you were able to make it as a player after your hard work. I assume you played during your school years?"

@tan

[Deleted]

Ronny was glad to hear that she was cool with him calling her Merida. The fact was that he didn't have a lot of actual female friends. He had female admirers and female dates, but friends of the gender... well the only other one he could name was Athena.

"Hey thanks," he said. "And don't worry, I am definitely not into the 'stealing other people's ladies' thing. Trust me, I like the fact that my face isn't bruised and my ribs are still unbroken." He gave her a smile at that. "But, you know as friends, if I ever seen you around town, maybe we can pop in somewhere and get a cup of tea or something. For once, it would be nice to talk to a girl without her going gaga all over me."

Ronny then nodded when Merida asked if he played Quidditch in school.

"Yep," he said. "Gryffindor House. Those were fun times. I mean Pro Quidditch is fun too, but I kind of miss those days. Back then you just played for fun and to support your House. Now it's all about money to a lot of the players. I'd like to think I'm not one of them."

@merida

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She was pleased to hear that he wasn't into the idea of stealing other people's ladies. "That sounds like a wise life choice," she replied with an amused smile. "That does sound reasonable, should we see each other around." She at least wouldn't be going out of her way to avoid him, if he continued showing this side to his personality rather than the egomaniac she had first encountered.

"Ahh, Gryffindor house. In fact I do seem to vaguely recall you playing for them, now that I think back to it. You must have been a seventh year in my third year, or so, I think," she mused. "I imagine it would be a hard balance to keep, playing professional Quidditch. As well as trying to keep the fame from going to your head," she commented, in veiled reference to his egotistic front.

@tan

[Deleted]

Ronny smiled when Merida accepted his offer. She was warming up to him and at the same time, he was seeing more to her than the annoyed Ministry worker he originally encountered.

"Excellent," he said. "I look forward to learning more about you."

Ronny then chuckled when Merida spoke of her recalling him playing his seventh year while she was just a third year.

"Making me feel old now?" he asked jokingly. "I see how it is."

Ronny then sighed and shrugged when she spoke of him keeping balance and avoiding his ego being overblown.

"I do my best," he said. "Fortunately I have a great family to help bring me back down to Earth. About the fame thing though, I feel a lot of my act is me just trying to make the fans happy. You know, kind of like an actor who wants to do a really good job in a play. When they cheer, I know I've done a good job, and unfortunately some times knowing I've done a good job inflates the old ego, same with when the female fans mob I get the delusion that I'm Merlin's gift to women. I do appreciate your patience with me earlier, and I am glad I'm leaving here having made a new friend."

He then extended his hand to her.

"I don't know how often someone tells you this, but this Animagus appreciates what you do for us," he said. "I'm glad to have met you, Merida."

(Wrapping up on my end here.)

@tan

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She laughed a little when he talked about her making him feel old. "If that's what you want to take out of it... you could just say that it makes me seem young," she commented with a smile.

She still wasn't sure how much of this was an act to make her like him or not - it seemed that overall he had a thing about wanting to be liked by people, and changing himself to try and do that. At least, that was her impression of him. Still, that wasn't her problem. "Well, I guess that's something you can keep thinking about. It's up to you how you deal with all of those different pressures," she commented, as she shook his hand. "And I don't do a lot - mostly signing papers - but I appreciate the sentiment," she replied, actually genuinely. "Have a nice day."

**END THREAD**, I'll sort out house points for it