Say Anything

Kallie sighed and turned to the lake as her "meeting" came to an end. It hadn't been a formal meeting to say the least - she had barely been able to get the man to come speak to her at all.

To get him to the ministry?

Would have been a feat even she couldn't manage. And Kallie liked to think that she could manage almost anything with enough effort.

Still, the meeting hadn't gone quite how she had hoped. Sure she had gotten information. He had been forth coming, however, she had no idea what she could do with this news.

Sighing, and fiddling absentmindedly with the necklace around her neck - the only slip in her composure she neglected to watch - she settled herself on a large rock near the water, and turned to look at it. Taking the moment to organize herself, and figure out what to do next.

Iris wondered to herself why the hell she even chose to come here in the first place. She had been to this lake so many times, yet still couldn't notice anything special about it. Though, she did visit all the common places since she came back from Russia for summer. She had owled her foster parents, letting them know that she'd come back to the States only after a few weeks.

She took out a bottle of vodka from her jacket and drank a long sip. Kicking some rocks into the lake, she thought about the meeting with her brother and her situation with Kait. Everything seemed to be so shitty and a part of her wished she could stay in Russia.

As she walking, she saw someone else on the opposite side. As she walked closer, she noticed that it was the Minister. "Hey there!" She called out and walked next to the rock. "Kallie, is it? Nice to meet you, I'm Grayson." She introduced herself and grinned.

Kallie looked up with a start, having neglected to even notice the approaching footsteps. She was loosing her touch, letting her guard down. Being far too trusting for a person of her position in a time like this.

Yet, as she turned she saw only a young girl.

A slight frown coloured her face before it was replaced by a bemused grin.

"Hello Grayson," she spoke softly, "What brings you out to a place like this."

"Were you expecting some sort of terrorist?" Iris asked with an amused smile, at Kallie's startled expression. She put the bottle in her jacket and said, "Just the drink, really. For stressful days like these."

She sat on the other rock and began to throw stones into the water. "Guess you could say that I was bored. I don't have any specific plans for the summer and chose to roam around for the day," she shrugged. "So what are you doing here?"

Kallie frowned. Not at the comment but of the beverage, "You do know Grayson that underaged drinking is not allowed? Besides, drink does not solve problems. It merely makes more."

"Roaming I suppose can always bring up some interesting results. Though one must be careful where they roam. Some waters aren't as friendly as others."

"Oh, just... out for a chat," she said simply. "Once my companion had to leave, I decided to stay behind."

Iris merely shrugged at the woman's comment. "I know that and I'm kind of trying to cut down on that, though it's not going very well at the moment." She gave a small smile. "It may not solve problems, but it sure as hell helps me forget them for a while."

"That is so true," she said and nodded her head in agreement, remembering the time she was kidnapped, not to mention the other fights she had been involved in. "But it's also a lot of fun because you get to meet interesting people."

"So how are things at the Ministry?" She asked.

Kallie continued to frown slightly, "Yes... it does do that; but problems are there for a reason... it does not do well to forget them, just because its easier than dealing with them."

"Hmm, yes, interesting people," Kallie gave a slight smile and a shrug, "I was always hesitant of interesting people... I was hesitant of many things."

"The ministry is good; you know... as good as a ministry can be I think."

"It's not as though I try to escape from the forever," Iris pointed out. "Just when I feel I can't handle too much shit at once, I start drinking or being by myself just to take a break. I know it's not the best way, but I can't help it."

"Hesitant of interesting people? Why?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "We're not that bad you know...most of the time," she smirked.

She was almost disappointed by the woman's response. "Just good? Nothing out of the ordinary? Not that I want anything bad to happen, but I'd figured it'd be different," she mused.

"Being by yourself has merrit," she nodded with a inclide of her head, "But drinking... often times we become to dependant on this option. We never mean for it to be the response all the time... but then one day we wake up and find that that's what its become."

She gave a kind smile, "I'm merely hesitant of many things... its nothing to people in general."

"Things are always happening at the ministry, though I'm not always at liberaty to announce them."

"Sometimes drinking is my only choice because I don't really trust that many people enough to share all of my life's shitty problems with," she admitted bluntly. "And if something happens...well, it's not like anyone's going to give a damn."

She shook her head at the Minister's answer. "But you shouldn't be hesitant!" She exclaimed. "I mean, it makes life so boring, you'll miss out on all the fun, you know."

"Yeah, I knew that but just wanted to know if it's really a mysterious and dangerous place," she whispered as though it was a big secret and smirked lightly.

Kallie just pursed her lips. She did not believe that drinking should be and was anyone's only choice. It had been her fathers "Only choice" and look what it had gotten her. Gotten them all.

However, this child seemed rather insistent on her current way of life, and short of taking the booze bottle from her hand, there was nothing she could say to stop.

Even then, she knew the determination people had - the girl could always go get more.

"Hesitant keeps you safe - one must think before they do things, otherwise problems evolve."

Kallie couldn't help but laugh, "Its really not - for the most part I imagine it would be terribly dull for someone of your age."

On seeing the woman's face, Iris knew what she was thinking. It was the same look nearly every person gave her whenever she mentioned about alcohol, except for couple of her friends.

"I get scared because I feel alone, even though I'm sure I'm not and the first option that always comes to mind is this," she admitted and looked pointedly at the bottle in her hand.

"Think before act? Wish I knew what that was like," she chuckled, though there was no humour in it. "Because Kallie, for me, instinct was the way to live, there was no time to think. If I had 'thought' about most of my actions, I'd be dead," she muttered.

She nodded her head. "Yes, I'd suppose it would be dull but hey, on the bright side, you don't seem to be too much of a boring person," she remarked.

"I understand," she said softly, "Or well... I don't but, I do at the same time. Its hard - I just worry... one does not want it to become a habit. A little is okay, everyday is... is a problem."

She nodded her head, "Instinct is different then... thinking gets you in trouble too, I know. I merely am no good at turning thinking off."

"Me, not dull?" she let out a little laugh, "I must be more interesting in short spurts."

Iris shook her head at the woman. "Nah, I don't drink everyday, it's usually during the weekend. I don't like depending much on the stuff either, and I do plan to stop completely at least for a while, once school reopens."

"And I am no good at turning thinking on," she supplied and grinned lightly. "But so far it's got me going okay in life, so I guess it's fine," she shrugged. "Kind of hard to learn those kinds of things when you don't have proper parents."

"I've met much worse boring people, so you're good," she smiled slyly. "Besides, you seem...nice. That's something I'm not used to."

"Well, I suppose that is good then," she admitted rather grudgingly.

Kallie snorted, "It does make it more difficult. My improper parents, however, seemed to need me to think to keep anything together."

She shrugged, and rolled her eyes. She'd had enough of her parents, she didn't need to bring them up now.

"Well as long as I'm nice who cares about boring," she gave a soft laugh.

"Oh compared to the old days when I used to drink like a maniac, this is good," Iris nodded her head.

"I wish I knew what it was like to have parents," she mused. "I mean, I'm living with foster parents now, but I don't think it's the same," she shrugged. "Luckily for me, they're not as bad as my previous ones," she said.

"True that, Kallie. Didn't think adults could be nice and not boring," she grinned.

"I do not think I truely know what it is like," she spoke softly, "My parents checked out mentally when my sister passed. I held the peices together, since it seemed no one else was going to."

Kallie shook her head and laughed, "You'll be a grown up soon enough, and then you'll find out that all our secrets... aren't that secret."

"Sorry to hear that," Iris muttered, being reminded of her own situation, which indeed did make her feel sorry for the Minister. "I found out last year I have a twin sister, Kaitlen and then this year I found out I have an elder brother, Agamemnon. How nice," she said wryly.

She shook her head. "Nah, I'm sure you have plenty of secrets to deal with, Kallie. Especially being the Minister and all."

She shrugged her shoulders, "It made me the person I am today, I suppose I can not be completely sorry."

"And what do you think of this family you discovered. To find family you did not know you had seems like a most miraculous feat."

She gave the girl a knowing smile, shaking her head.

"Ah, but as minister for magic should I not have less secrets? Think of the scandel of Ministers with secrets."

"Honestly? I don't know," the Gryffindor answered. "When I first met Kait, I fought with her, but now I think we're alright. As for Game, I yelled at him real bad and even now, things aren't so great between us," she admitted. "Truth is, I'm scared to trust people because I am convinced that we live alone and we die alone."

"Being the Minister of Magic is the reason you'd have more secrets!" Iris stated as though it was the most obvious thing. "Especially since the Mafia are running around these days."

"Well... family is a difficult thing to get along with even when you've known them your entire life; when you suddenly expect to have this bond... but realize that you have nothing to base it upon, there is sure to be a struggle."

She shook her head and laughed, "No, secrets can only get me into trouble when one decides they need to come to light. I promise you, I'm far to a cautious and boring person to have secrets. I have a private life, but I don't have secrets."

"I guess it's kind of my fault Kallie, since I don't really believe in family bond and shit," Iris muttered with a sigh. "I wasn't raised that way, since I was living with people who thought torturing children was fun. So the sudden show up by siblings is keeping me on my guard," she admitted.

She grinned at the Minister's comment. "No worries, I didn't mean to pry or anything. I could be least bothered about what are people's secrets, but you being the Minister and shit has just made me curious. I doubt that you are as boring all the regular adults, though."

Kallie sighed, a thought lingering in the back of her head, "Its not... who we were born to, but who were raised with. Family is an... odd bond. When severed it can take... a long time to heal. But when you can fix it..."

She hummed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh trust me... I'm more boring than regular adults."