It was not standard procedure for the Minister of Magic to make an appearance at one of his staff meetings on a Monday morning.  He could barely manage to make appointments to see her, so to say he was caught a bit off guard when she waltzed into the meeting room was a bit of an understatement.  It also caused his suspicions to be aroused.  A fool would believe that this was merely a 'pep talk' meant to rally the troops around some sort of spectacular project...a smart fellow would suspect someone had drawn the Minister's attention to his department.

It was true, he had gotten used to being ignored.  The previous Minister of Magic had not exactly been completely interested in what it was they did in the DoM.  But why was there now suddenly an interest?  What had sparked it?  He intended to find out if he needed to be watching his back.

He had sent a cryptic note to the one person who might be able to illuminate that morning's incident a bit, and he hoped it was clear enough to result in his contact showing up at the little Muggle coffee shop after work.  It was far enough away from the Ministry that he doubted anyone who knew them would come poking around.  Inside the Ministry all of the walls had ears, and it wouldn't take much for the gossipers to run a muck.

Ordering a coffee he found a table in a secluded corner of the shop.  It was tucked away among the shelves of teas and coffees that tended to just sit on the shelves completely ignored.  He would be able to see the entire shop from this position, and would know if anyone was listening aside from his contact.  This was a matter to be handled delicately and he would indulge a bit of paranoia this once.

[1]Maurice was never late and if he were, he wasn't. A Holmes never kept company waiting and if they did, they would apologise extensively for their actions. This would be one of the days for the apologising and Maurice knew it. The various meetings, the different write ups, not to mention the fact that he still yet needed to go find an outfit for the Yule Ball was becoming irksome. Luckily for him, Fortune found favour in him when the cryptic message found its way to him. A simpleton would look at it and simply scratch their head in dumbfoundedness. However, Maurice had his hunches who his writer was and so, he dismissed himself ten minutes early for lunch to head to the location determined in the note.

The shop had the evident scents of tea, coffee, sweets, delis, and various other confections that went with it. He ordered the corned beef panini and a pot of earl grey, specificially ensuring that the temperature was to be hot on the tea otherwise he would be sending it promptly back. Maurice then retreated towards the back, grinning briefly when his eyes met Dante's face. His bottom slid into the other side of the department head. "Hello again, dear boy. Good to see your face, even if it looks like you could do with a holiday."

1.	I am so sorry you've had to wait almost two months for this, hon. SO SORRY.