Chapter 1
Todd was bored but beyond bored he was frustrated, neither of which usually worked well for humanity. Deities were fussy drama queens.
Here he was, sitting lofty on clouds as white as an Abraxan's coat, with nothing to do. He was caught up on his tasks for the next millennium-- okay mostly. He was mostly caught up on his tasks.
He was proud to say he was at least caught up on all his favorite television shows. He refused to peek through time and space to catch spoilers, a somewhat-all-knowing deity has to look forward to something. Although he was sorely tempted after finding out Rachel was pregnant. He hoped Ross was the father. Those two were made for each other.
He should know! That's part of his purpose, watching and pairing up those 'made for each other' couples. He was basically speed dating all of humanity. With very little gratitude.
Which brings him to why he's frustrated. There were two idiots who refused to cooperate. Whether he concocted causal meet ups, delicious heartfelt moments, or had them literally colliding into one another, nothing triggered their Moment.
For him, the collisions were satisfying in their own way. He doesn't regularly enjoy when his assignments get hurt but these two... Well it was satisfying. All the effort and very little pay off, yes it was very satisfying.
One idiot even bloodied her nose once. Did the other idiot show tender loving care? No. No she did not. A wave of a wand, a desolee, and off she went for an oh-so-important meeting that couldn't wait five minutes for that connection to her soulmate to spark.
So here he was. Bored. Frustrated. With two idiots tempting his patience.
He tapped his fingers on the side of the Pool, the same one he used to watch all of humanity and television shows with. Surely there was a way to get the fools together. Surely there was a way to at least make it easier on him.
Then a sly sly grin formed on Todd's face. His life would soon become infinitely more entertaining.
₩
Hermione was on the ground, fresh grass in her mouth like she'd been tossed and skidded to where she lay. Despite being sore her war-honed instincts kicked in. Patting her side, yes she had her wand, checking for injury, no just the taste of dirt and grass, easily rectified with an unladylike spit.
Hearing a delicate feminine snicker churned her stomach. She knew that snicker. Very well in fact. She heard it often enough whenever she was around Fleur to know the exact meaning behind each of her passive aggressive gestures, noises and expressions. Here, she meant disgust. She usually meant disgust.
But at least the snicker meant she wasn't alone, even if it was with one Fleur Delacour.
Picking herself up from the grass had her seeing Fleur dusting off her own grass-stained pants. Now it was Hermione's turn to snicker at the sight of a less-than-perfect Fleur. There was even a twig in her hair which Hermione was not mentioning in hopes of ruining Fleur's image obsession for as long as possible. It's the little things that make life worth living.
Hermione sighed and gathered herself to determine what the hell had gone on. One moment she had fallen asleep in her office, again, the next, she woke on a grassy knoll with the bluest skies above and the greenest grass for miles around.
"Where are we? What have you done this time 'ermione, to have me waking up in dirt?" Fleur not too politely asked.
"What makes you think I did this?!" Hermione replied, gritting her grass stained teeth.
"Because clearly I did not."
Hermione was incensed. "Yes but why would you think I brought us to this completely," flailing gesture, "random field."
"Because you do these things," Fleur waved her hand dismissively, "these experiments, this research, oui? Something has likely gone wrong. Tell me what you were doing.I will get us out of here. I have plans tonight. And you," another dismissive wave startlingly similar to the first, "have books to read, oui?"
Frustration was nothing new in Hermione's dealings with Fleur but this was a special moment for the two of them. The moment where Hermione contemplated strangling Fleur in the middle of this field and finding her own way home.
Pinching her nose between her forefinger and thumb, Hermione closed her eyes and inhaled. Held. Exhaled. She did it again too. Inhaled. Held. Exhaled. Thrice would surely be the moment it worked. Nope. It was on the fourth breathing exercise she was calm enough to ignore rather than maim the blasted Veela. Of all the fools to be stuck with in nothing but grass and sky, it'd have to be this fool.
A polite cough came from behind her. Turning around she saw a man in a blue dress shirt tugged into neatly pressed khaki pants. He was slim, neither tall nor short with mousy brown hair. He was old enough to have smile lines, with crinkles in the corner of his eyes. He was just that happy of a fellow to have eye-crinkles. A refreshing sign in Hermione's book, she had her fill of nose-less, sneering, cackling adversaries.
"Hi," the man said with an awkward wave. "My name is Todd."