Applications {Cooper}

[Cooper Weasley]

Cooper was taking every opportunity to shift the focus off the application and himself. He really shouldn't be, considering how much more progress he was making, it was just Cooper being, well, Cooper. "Were you reminding yourself, or me?" he asked with a grin. Maybe, just maybe she did think on his "offer". That gave him a little light of hope. Of course, that hope would only come after he talked to James - which he had to remind himself, again. Otherwise if he wouldn't have, it would be likely he would just stand up, lean over, and kiss her right there.

"Hm," Cooper mumbled. References were going to be a bit tricky. You couldn't use family, and almost half of Cooper's closest friends were family. This part was probably going to be one of the easiest but also hardest. It took Cooper a few seconds to sort out non-family and family people. Eventually he wrote down three names, and needed one more. "My dear, dear, Katherine," he said looking at her with an innocent smile. "Care to be a reference for the next Minister?"

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[Katherine Finnigan]

Taken a bit off guard by his question, she raised her eyebrows and eyed him for a quick second before answering, "Reminding you, Weasley. You are, after all, the one who keeps trying to change the subject...unless I'm painfully mistaken." Yes, she'd noted his grin and that was exactly why she'd intended to shift the full focus back to him and the application. Nothing else. There was still that small thought in the very back of her mind but that was where she planned to keep it. What use was there in bothering with silly thoughts, that surely had no meaning behind them anyway, when he had an application that needed finishing.

Kat watched as Cooper thought about who to use as his references. She could only imagine just how many people he had to sort through and choose from so she merely sat there silently. After a moment, she leaned back in her chair and observed as he finally took to writing down those whom he'd picked. Again, though, she was a little surprised by his question. Setting all four feet of the chair back onto the ground, she eyed him as if to see whether he was being serious. The look on his face was innocent enough so she replied, "It'd be my pleasure, Minister Weasley."

[Cooper Weasley]

"I am not! I'm just .... just merely keeping the conversation flowing," he replied with a grin. It had started out as trying to change the subject but, he now had a very different objective. An objective he wanted to keep somewhat under wraps. Cooper knew that he needed to focus on his application and he finally just settled to do so.

"Thank you, love." he said as he wrote down her information. "There references are done." Coop took it upon himself to go over the next section himself. It was pretty self explanatory. Basically, he had to write in his schooling and attach his grades and letter from professors. That had previously been done ages ago so, that was all covered. Cooper even went a step further and went on to the next section by himself. It entailed what his goals were once in the Ministry and how much he knew about the Ministry and the Laws. That all was extremely easy from him to do. His goal was to become Minister and make a change. He wrote on to list the changes he wanted to make and other such things.

Cooper took a whole forty-five minutes to write down everything he knew. In that whole time, he never said a word to or even looked at Katherine. He hoped she wouldn't leave, Coop still wanted her there, he just wanted to do the rest himself. Looking at it now, he felt foolish for being afraid of something that was incredibly easy for him to fill out. Once he was finished, he set down his fancy pen, and let out a huge exaggerated sigh. "Finished," he said.

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[Katherine Finnigan]

"There's a difference between keeping conversation flowing and changing the subject, Minister Weasley," she laughed lightly, "But nice try all the same." Shaking her head in an amused manner, Katherine relaxed in her seat and watched him for a moment or two. As he thanked her, she pondered just what sorts of questions the Ministry would ask an applicant's references if they were to write or come to call. Kat wasn't worried about it since she had always been fond of Coop and he was really a good guy deep down behind all of that flirty stuff.

For the next few minutes she sat silently while he wrote down her information. Katherine was a little impressed that he'd had all of her contact information memorized so well but she didn't say anything since he seemed pretty focused. Even after he had completed that page, she watched in awe as he went on to the next one all by himself. It didn't even take any persuasion from her to get him working on following pages. Again, she kept herself quiet while he worked diligently at the application. There was no way in Merlin's name that she'd interrupt him now that he was on a roll with it. Talking would only interrupt or distract. Even so, Katherine did remain in her seat though she was sure he really didn't her to help him out any longer.

It didn't seem like very long before he set his pen down and let out a sigh. A bright smile on her face, Kat half teasingly asked, "See...now was that so bloody difficult?" The fact of the matter was that she was actually quite proud of him for finishing up the rest of it on his own and not trying to get out of doing it. Leaning back in her chair a little, she added, "Now to post it. Better now than later, right Coop? I'm sure there are owls just waiting for a proper fly to the Ministry tonight." Kat didn't want to come off as too eager for him to get his application sent off but she also didn't want him to be thinking about what he'd written all the rest of the night and then decide the next day that he didn't want to send it off.

[Cooper Weasley]

"Yes I know, Ms. Finnigan. There is a difference. I was keeping a conversation going using my conversational skills," he said smartly. "Might I add," he said as he had finished writing for a moment, "future Ministers need to use the art of communication all the time. So, it was good practice." He grinned at her before diving back into the application.

It was difficult for Coop to keep his mind on his application completely. He still was wondering if he had Katherine wondering about a certain something. He could only hope he did. It was probably more confusing for her though. Cooper, well, he had it all planned out in his mind but, she was more than likely considering the whole friendship thing. That was a big hurdle if he ever was going to actually pursue her. Cooper would keep considering it and maybe instead of actually having a heart-to-heart with James, he'd just watch him and see how it went. It wouldn't help if they avoided each other though. Maybe Cooper would say screw it, and go for it. It would be James' lost for being stupid in the first place.

Coop momentarily sneered at Katherine. "Yes, that was bloody difficult. I mean, some of the things they ask you ... have you ever killed someone, do you know this, do you know that, blah, blah blah ...." He almost couldn't finish with a straight face and ended up chuckling at the end. Most of what he said was true though, they had asked if he had a record of any sort. Amazingly, Cooper didn't. "No. I can't do it now. It's late, it'll get to the Min - " he paused and sighed. He didn't win the last time, he probably wouldn't this time either. "OK, fine." Coop got up from his chair stretching, "Seriously, these chairs do a doosey on your back, I still don't get how someone can coup themselves in here for an entire day."

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[Katherine Finnigan]

"The art of communication? So that's what they're calling it now, eh?" she teased, shaking her head but keeping sure not to laugh so much since she could have sworn she'd just seen the librarian sweep by behind one of the shelves. Kat was sure the woman was just making sure the students weren't abusing library books or else using the solitude of her library for things other than revision, coursework or reading. Just the mere notion of doing something like that made Kat roll her eyes but a quiet thought in the back of her mind whispered, 'not in the library at least.'

Katherine was both surprised and horrified at herself for thinking such thing. She was, in fact, so surprised that her eyes went wide for a brief moment. After mentally chastising herself over and over, Kat directed her attention elsewhere. There had to be something to focus her attention on so that she wasn't still thinking over all of the things that had been mentioned since the dance. Yes, deep down, she wanted those things that he'd said to have meaning behind them but that didn't mean any of them did. To take her mind off of it all while he worked, she traced a random, and quite invisible, Quidditch play out on the table with her index finger.

Once brought back from her silent sketching, she glanced up at Cooper and nearly made a face at him for complaining. Luckily, though, he ended up chuckling...which only made Kat smile rather than scold him. She grinned even broader when he gave in without much of an arguement over posting his application. Scooting her chair back, she rose from the seat and was about to stretch out as well when she came to the realization that she was still wearing the yellow dress she'd had on at the dance only a couple of hours ago. This time, she did frown but just for a quick second before pushing her chair in and saying, "Dunno either Coop. Longest I've ever spent in here was about two or three hours and half the time I was looking for a ruddy book for History."

Taking a quick glance around, she rolled her eyes once more as the librarian came around the corner and eyed the two before wandering off in the other direction. Under her breath, Kat muttered, "Bloody spy. I swear that woman is paranoid sometimes." A quick shake of her head and she added, "Well then...off to the owlery then."

[Cooper Weasley]

"What were you doing the other half of the time? He asked with a raised brow, and smirk. Boy, did Cooper just love joking around with people. That could pose as a problem, as some of his friends didn't take him seriously when he said one day, he would be Minister of Magic. At least, his family and much closer friends took him seriously. Even now, while he was joking, he was still serious. That led to confusion, like with Katherine. Cooper had hoped not to confuse her too much but, he wanted to present to her the possibility. Besides, what girl doesn't wonder what it's like to date him?

"Does she always do that?" he whispered to Kat. That old bird was starting to creep Cooper out. It was bad enough to be in the library and now he was being watched by an old bird. It gave Cooper the creeps. Sure, she was probably making sure they weren't doing something they aren't suppose to but, it just really bothered him. Cooper stood up and corrected his chair. With a grin, he grabbed the folder, with the now complete application inside, and acted like a gentleman, and offered Katherine his arm again.

Cooper was anxious to just get this whole ordeal done with. Plus, he wanted to see how many girls he could find that were just waiting to see if he was with someone or not. He was sure someone would see them walking to the owlry, and he just knew that the rumors would begin tonight. The way he was acting toward her at the dance, and even now, would definitely stir up some sort of rumors. He felt sort of bad about it though, he didn't like rumors at all. He especially didn't like the fact that they would be about Katherine too. "Um, I should probably warn you ... " he started off, "Come tomorrow morning, there will probably be rumors circulated about um, well, us."

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[Katherine Finnigan]

Eyeing him, she crossed her arms and scoffed, "For your information, Cooper Weasley, I spent the other half of the time working on that ruddy History essay...and reading Quidditch Weekly..." Very childishly, she stuck her tongue out at him before letting her arms fall loosely at her sides again. Kat hoped that he hadn't assumed she'd been getting up to anything naughty in the library. First off, she surely wouldn't find herself doing anything of the sort. Secondly, it would be practically impossible to anyway with a nosey librarian constantly stalking the students to make sure they were all on their best behaviour.

In answer to his question, Katherine nodded her head slightly and waited until she was sure the woman had gotten far enough away. Leaning a little closer to Coop, she softly whispered, "She's got to be one of the most paranoid and nosey people I've ever seen really. Woman's always snooping about and spying on people." Her chocolate brown eyes checked once more to make sure the librarian hadn't happened to sneak up on them again. Luckily, the coast was completely clear. Without much hesitation or a second thought otherwise, she took his offered arm and gave Cooper a warm smile.

As they started for the door, she heard the next things to come out of his mouth. Scrunching her nose a little, Kat thought about what sorts of rumours were sure to start. It wasn't so much that she cared what other people thought or that they'd be talking about her and Cooper though. The bit that caused her to frown a little was that she didn't know what to think about this whole thing anymore. She needed something solid...some sort of closure on things so that she wasn't left feeling lost and confused. As mortified as she was about all of the possible outcomes to this situation and as hard as the question would be, she took in a deep breath and gathered up the courage she needed.

Just as her mouth opened to ask the dreaded question, Katherine felt the words sticking in the back of her throat. She wanted desperately to ask him if he'd meant anything that he'd said earlier and if there really was any possibility of their friendship being something more but the words wouldn't come. Instead, she forced a light laugh and attempted at jokingly asking, "Rumours? About us? What in Merlin's name could they possibly make up about US?" Looking down at her feet, she tried to restore herself to the same comfort level she'd felt before but it was much easier thought than done. As she glanced back over at him, she forced a sort of half-hearted smile.

[Cooper Weasley]

Cooper laughed at Katherine's reaction, "Oh, calm down, love. I know you wouldn't be doing anything but work." Coop knew that Katherine wasn't that sort of girl. Besides, he knew it was nearly impossible to use the library as a place for snogging. The last time he tried, he got hit on the top of his with a ruler. He momentarily scratched his head remembering how that hurt.

"Oh. See, that gives me another reason to not ever come here - again." Cooper replied to Katherine. He didn't attempt to whisper, as he didn't really care. He didn't plan on ever using the library for anything much. Coop always did his homework, the night before it was due, and normally in his own four poster bed or, in the common room.

"Uhuh, rumors. Oh, they'll be about you know, us - as in together. They all think that because of - " Coop paused to open the door for Kat when they reached it. " - because of how we danced, and because we left together. Everyone knows just about every time I leave with a girl, it means I'll be with her for the next few weeks." Cooper waited for Katherine to pass through the door first, before going out in the corridor himself. The corridor seemed empty. The noise from the ball still echoed through the castle. "But," he said with a shrug, "It's not like we really are together or anything so, it'll be a quick stop to those silly rumors. Unless," Cooper sighed a little and mumbled quickly, "you-want-some-of-those-rumors-to-be-true." He flashed a grin after he said that and wondered if she did indeed catch it all.

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[Katherine Finnigan]

"Do well to remember that too," said Katherine with an attempted stern look upon her face. Giving up on her futile attempt at being serious and scolding, she shook her head a little and allowed him to lead her toward the door. It wasn't very shocking, though, that he didn't care to keep his voice down when mentioning that he wouldn't really come to the library again. Not that there was much need to mask that fact in the first place considering all he'd have to do was send someone else to pick up his books, if he needed any, and do all of his revision in his common room. Nodding in understanding, she added, "It's our last year anyway so it isn't like you'll be missing much. Too crowded to do any N.E.W.T revision in here when it gets closer to exam time anyway."

As he mentioned the rumours, she eyed Cooper curiously. Kat knew what sorts of rumours went around the school and she was positive that the younger students, particuarly girls, would just die to start talking about who was with who after the dance. It wasn't surprising since she'd heard just about every single one that had anything to do with any of her friends. Walking through the open door, she uttered a soft and appreciative, "Thanks," and continuted into the empty corridor to wait for Cooper.

Everything was still pretty abandoned so Kat could only assume that the dance was still going strong. If the music and lack of snogging couples lining the corridors meant anything, the dance wasn't even half over yet. Just as she was about to agree with him about them not doing anything, she could have sworn she heard him add something else. The grin on his face only reinforced what she'd thought. Her soft brown eyes remained locked on his face as her mind tried to make out exactly what he'd said. She knew she'd caught the word "unless" and then she could have sworn her ears picked up the words "some" and "true" but Katherine didn't want to jump to conclusions. Despite that, though, she could already sense a nervous feeling starting to build up in her stomach. Clearing her throat a little, she kept her eyes locked on his and asked, "Could you repeat that please? I don't think I caught exactly what you said."

[Cooper Weasley]

"Oh, yes, right." Cooper said, mocking a salute. "Crowded? Ugh, remind me never to come in here again, especially when it's crowded." He had a bad enough time earlier in an empty library. He planned never stepping into the library again. The only exception was if he was searching for someone he would know it in the library to begin with.

"What?" he asked, noticing her curious eying. "You know as well as I do, as soon as the ruddy dance is over, all those girls are going to start talking before they go to bed. I'm always one of the ones they talk about. Those girls that I looked at - they will definitely be the first ones to talk. I'm sure their will be stuff about us in there, we did leave the dance together and you are the only girl I danced with tonight."

Cooper Weasley actually blushed when she asked him to repeat. Well, his ears went pink, he didn't exactly have blushing cheeks. He desperately wanted to look away from her but, her gaze was just so locked on him, he couldn't tear his eyes away from hers. "Well, I can put a quick stop to those rumors pretty quickly, unless ...." he trailed off, losing a bit of confidence. Silently, he scolded himself to just repeat it. '..unless, you wanted any of those rumors to be true." Coop flashed her a quick witty smile, feeling nervous about her response and hid it from her.

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[Katherine Finnigan]

Laughing softly, she replied, "Alright, I'll remind you not to then." Kat could admit that, bar the stalking librarian, the library wasn't so bad sometimes but even she avoided it around exam time. It was practically impossible to find an open seat...especially with the fifth and seventh year Ravenclaws taking up at least half the tables and a couple of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors trying to pick up extra knowledge from the Ravenclaws.

Katherine Finnigan had to agree that she knew, just as well as Cooper, that half the school would be buzzing with rumours about who danced with who and which people left with someone else. Naturally, their names would pop up a fair few times...especially considering how early they'd left together. Sighing softly to herself, Kat nodded in agreement and wondered just what was going to be said over the next week or two. Again, it wasn't as though she minded her name being used in the same sentence as Coop's or people thinking that they were together. If that bothered her, she wouldn't have joked along with him when they were talking about her being his Quidditch girlfriend and him being her Minister boyfriend.

As Cooper's voice trailed off, Kat tried to keep herself calm. If his lack of charm and confidence meant anything, she'd been right in her guess. With his last words out, she was left speechless for a second. This didn't feel like another joke. Glancing down at the ground, she could feel her cheeks starting to warm a little. Even despite her blush, she had to look back at him and give an answer. After reminding herself that this was just Coop, one of her absolute best friends, she finally allowed her eyes to meet his again as she said, "I wouldn't mind if they were...I just don't want to be a week or two fling." Again, she sighed lightly but her gaze remained on his face. "You know...all that stuff you said before...the bit about how I'd have the better end of the deal...it sounds nice," admitted the Hufflepuff finally before she broke eye contact. Maybe she was just hoping for a little too much...

[Cooper Weasley]

Nope, never going in there again Cooper thought to himself. The library wasn't a place for Cooper Weasley. It would only get him in trouble, or rather, he would probably end up stirring trouble. He shook his head slightly at his own thoughts. No, the only way he would ever go into the library again was if he just happened to see Lizzie in there or Katherine. Those were his only motivations for being in such a horrible place.

Most of the time, Cooper didn't mind rumors that went out around about him. Half the time they end being true. However, this time it did bother him, though he wasn't prepared to show it. In a way, he felt guilty about it. He was positive there would be rumors about him and Katherine, he felt guilty for her name getting in the muck of things. Cooper suppose that she didn't mind by her reaction to whole thing. No matter, he could clear things up in a day or two. Still, deep in his mind and heart, he really did wish that some of those possible rumors could one day be a good possibility.

Cooper scratched the side of his head, feeling like a complete arse. Her moments of silence was nerve wrecking for him. He didn't know if he was more nervous about her saying something positive about his wishes or negative. Coop watched her face like a hawk, trying to catch any sort of sign. He felt his heart even skip a few beats as he waited. He was anxious, his stomach was turning, he felt like he'd just fall over and die if she didn't say anything soon.

It felt like she was looking down for the longest time, but finally she did meet his face again. What Katherine said, brought him to a halt. Since he didn't' know what to expect, he didn't expect her to be positive. In fact, he was quite shocked and it took him a few moments to recollect things. "You do?" he asked her and quickly amended, "I swear upon my head that you would most definitely get a better deal....and I swear, it would be more that week or two - or even a fling." He couldn't keep his lips from pursing up into a broad grin.

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[Katherine Finnigan]

Katherine nodded, still just a tad unsure, when he asked if she really did want some of the rumours to be true. Again, she noted how it didn't feel like a joke or the sort of teasing they'd done countless times before. This was different. It felt sincere and even slightly awkward. As he went on to add that he swore it wouldn't be a fling, she couldn't help smiling rather brightly at him. For as much as she'd established that she was done with guys for a very long time, she honestly felt sincerely happy about this all.

After a second or two, she relized that she hadn't said anything else. Thinking quickly, she finally said, "Well then...it looks like they won't be able to come up with any decent rumours to pass around now, will they?" Shaking her head in an amused manner, she let out a soft laugh. The more she thought about it, the whole scenario wasn't nearly as uncomfortable and awkward as it could have been...which was reassuring, to say the least. Looking down at the floor, she smiled just a little more before laughing lightly again. As she glanced back up at him, Kat rhetorically asked, "Who'd have thought?"

Remembering what they had been on their way to do, she half jokingly questioned, "Oye! You've just been trying to change the subject again, haven't you Weasley?" She eyed him a moment or two before nudging him gently. Katherine let out a light laugh and went on, "I think we should probably go get that application sent off before the dance lets out. Don't want to bump into a bunch of snogging couples in the owlery, right?" The idea of people actually snogging in the stuffy and smelly owlery was funny in its own right but Kat hardly questioned whether some Hogwarts students would be desperate enough to actually try it.

The sound of music could still be heard through the corridor but Kat expected that it would be for most of the night. Dances at Hogwarts tended to last well into the early morning...and that wasn't counting what half the school did afterwards. Some had their own little "after parties" while others were off snogging each other senseless. At least there was still plenty of time before any of that got started.

[Cooper Weasley]

The nod he got as an answer made Cooper feel a little uneasy. Maybe she really wasn't comfortable with the whole idea. Maybe, she was just joking but, he took her seriously? Questions zoomed around in Cooper's mind, and he tried to just sort them out. He figured that Katherine probably felt a little awkward about the whole thing so, he just thought maybe she needed a little time.

Coop chuckled with her, feeling a bit better now that she said something more. A huge grin was on his face and it wasn't coming off anytime soon. "Oh," he said with a sigh, "They'll come up with something some point in time." Some girls at Hogwarts always got a bit jealous, and often times rumors about the girl Cooper happened to be dating flared up after a few days. He however tracked down the source and put a stop to the rubbish. That was a skill he planned on using as Minister. Squashing silly rumors about Dark Wizards. He knew they were circulating within the Ministry, thanks to his father. "Hm, yeah, who'd have though." I did, he thought.

"No, no I was not. I'm only providing conversation for the trip," Cooper defended, picking up on the joke. "People snog in the owlery? Hm, I didn't think feathers and poo could be so romantic," he laughed at the idea. If anyone decided to go snogging in the owlry well, that was just disgusting. Not romantic at all. Cooper chuckled and shook his head. There probably were some people who went there, probably just desperate to snog. He knew what that was like - on the guys end. He learned from his early mistakes in that department.

Coop wasn't surprised to hear music from the dance still. For a moment, he wondered if Lizzie turned up. He highly doubted it, she was never late. Still, he thought it would be terrible if she showed up and he was gone. At least he didn't have to worry about her getting hurt by some arse again. He never wanted to see his dear sister so upset ever again. His eyes diverted their attention from the sight of the stairs ahead of them and onto Katherine. Coop was still a bit surprised that she even actually wanted him. Maybe she's it... he thought but scolded himself for thinking so far ahead. "So, after we get this blasted thing off, what should we do, love?" he asked her.

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