To help combat her nerves about her interview a part of her quest to auror training, Grace had decided to wear the outfit that gave her the most confidence. Since her Uncle Jonas or her housemates or even George or Lou or anyone else who ever gave her a pep talk over the years could not be there with her during the interview, she knew she needed all the help she could get. She was walking into an unknown and she needed to get it started on the right foot.

On the positive, Grace had learned that the Auror who was to be interviewing her was none other than Nathaniel Whitman, who was once her former Head of House's fiance. Though she admitted to not knowing the details of their relationship, Grace liked to believe that Professor Levartian had good judgement when it came to a significant other. So if Professor Levartian was a good person, Grace wanted to believe this Whitman fellow was too.

But then again, the longer Grace considered her line of thinking as she entered the Ministry of Magic, she  also had to remind herself that Professor Levartian and Auror Whitman were not engaged anymore. And there had to be a reason for that, right? So maybe her former professor's judgement was not something could rely on in this instance. Auror Whitman was going to treat her the same as any other potential Auror Trainee that came his way for an interview.

Taking a deep breath outside of the door of Level Two, Grace did her best to put all her doubts to the background. She entered and inquired as to where she could find Whitman and some helpful soul pointed to a cubicle not too far away. Grace headed over and as she approached, she cleared her throat and asked, "Auror Whitman?" Her voice still had traces of her nervousness. "Umm...I'm Grace Eddy....I was told to meet with you for an interview...."

Nathan hadn't exactly been aware of the time he was suppose to have an interview with Grace Eddy, and instead chose to sit at his desk while drinking tea and eating a few cookies. The folder for the girl was sitting on his desk, in far corner, with its contents closed in an envelope. But Nathan had looked it over already; Miss Eddy was recent Gryffindor graduate and prefect, which was also meant she was previous classmate of Maeve, it seemed (hopefully that relationship didn't get anymore detailed than that.) But now she was applying to be an Auror-Trainee.

The younger Whitman brother didn't much contemplate the matter beyond that, but he suppose he'd have to once the witch arrived. Which she did.

The tall auror turned to the witch, still chewing on a cookie as he leaned back in his chair, with his legs sprawled out in front of him. His red robes were hanging on the back of his chair, as usual, and he was wearing some grey slacks with a grey vest over a light pink blouse with its sleeves rolled up his forearms.

He continued to chew as he looked the girl up and down, lazily swiveling in his chair until he finally swallowed his cookie and smiled. "Yes, that sounds right."

He pulled the folder over to himself and opened it in front of him as he gestured to some random chair at another cubicle, "Right go steal a chair and sit here for a minute."

Blue eyes scanned the contents of the folder once again as the witch sat down next to him. Nathan took a sip of his tea and then turned to drill Miss Eddy.

"So, Gryffindor, Prefect, lovely OWL's, and got busted by your head of house for misbehaving or some such," he took another lazy sip of his tea, then shook his head, furrowing his brows in contemplation, "So first question: Why are you wearing a skirt?"

Upon stepping closer inside Auror Whitman's little cubicle of a world, two thoughts crossed Grace's mind. The first was how in Godric's Hallow had such a logical and seemingly straight laced person such as Professor Levartian ever been engaged to the man before her seemed like such polar opposite? And second, was that why she had broken up with him? He wasn't lacking in the looks department, that was for sure.

Grace tried to immediately strike those thoughts from her mind, as they would do nothing to help her get through this interview. Instead, she fixated wide, brown eyes on his face and waited for him to confirm their appointment.

Oh gosh! What if I got the date and time wrong?

She released the breath she had been holding when he finally told her to literally take a seat. She swiped a chair from the nearby cubicle as instructed and settled herself before returning her expectant gaze to her interviewer.

As he began to rattle off some of her details, Grace started to relax, but as soon as he mentioned the incident with Professor Levartian, she sat up a little straighter and prepared to defend herself. "I--"

But then he changed the subject already.

Why are you wearing a skirt?

It took a moment for the question to register in Grace's brain. "What?" Her eyes went wide as she realized she had actually spoken aloud. Her gaze flew to the garment in question and then back to his face. "Uh....oh....well, because it's professional looking and I guess that's what I'm expected to wear on an interview?" Her response wasn't meant to be cheeky, but she recognized that it could be taken that way and could feel the heat rise to her face. She furrowed a brow and questioned, "Um...should I have worn something else?"

Nathan was ecstatic at the look at puzzlement on the other witch's face, but he keep his own expression withdrawn with a business-like curiosity as he let her respond. The older auror swiveled in his chair, letting it creek against his weight, before he finally stopped and gave a half-hearted nod.

He shrugged a hand towards the witch, "Well you've got to consider the job," he said with concern etching at his tone, "We've had werewolves run loose one one floor... politicians being arrested on another," Nathan pressed his lips together and shrugged, "We can't live in luxury in our own house, can we?"

After another pause he pointed at Grace again, "Smart shirts and skirts are all well and good, but could you still fulfill your duties as an auror?" Nathan furrowed his brows and crossed his arms as he stared the witch in the eye. In all seriousness it was a silly thing to respond to, and wasn't even on the little list of questions to ask them, but he liked to think his were better (and more amusing.) And, admittedly, Nathan knew women who were bold enough to crucio men in nothing but a towel, but he wondered if the witch before him was anywhere near as comfortable as that.

Grace's brown eyes had latched onto the Auror's face with rapt attention. And a little bit of apprehension. She was keenly aware that this meeting could make or break her future.

Her brow furrowed when he went on about making considerations for the job. Grace thought that's what she had been doing by dressing professionally for her interview. "Luxury?" she echoed dumbly. "I...uh...guess I wasn't even thinking about that, sir." She racked her brain for something else to say. "To be quite honest, I don't think I've ever connected Aurors with luxury before..."

She felt herself cringe a bit more as he seemed to continue chastizing her about the skirt. Enough already, she inwardly groaned. She clenched her jaw and returned, "I think I could do my job in as an auror no matter what I was wearing. Obviously dress shirts and skirts are not the most ideal for maneuverability and function. But, I can adapt. I make do with what I have in the moment. I was a Gryffindor, afterall. That's what we do by nature." Grace felt her house pride swell and she couldn't help but glare at Auror Whitman as she mirrored his posture of crossing her arms in front of her, only her actions were done defensively. "You were a Gryffindor once too. Surely you know what it means to be someone who does what they need to do in the moment."