Eeylops was a drafty, shabby building what with all the space for the owls to roost in the upper levels, the ones going through training to be exemplarly post owls someday, to travel far and wide with letters.

"PECK AT ME AGAIN, FUZZFACE! GO ON, HAVE A GO!"

Several owls flew out to land on top of their cousins in cages (the show floor model) outside, hooting in bewildered fright. The squirrel stupid enough to crawl into the sight of the larger predators had suddenly turned into an indignant person.

"KEEP YOUR TALONS TO YOURSELF! FROCKING FEATHERED DUV-ETTS!" Dotty[1] paused mid rant, trying to figure out what were those cake roll shaped pillows owls were shaped like, and not being French enough to pronounce 'duvet' even if that meant something else in actuality.

Now that the knockturnal birds of skewed sleep cycle were no longer going to bother her, Dotty set to her single task of looking for vermin bodies. Not the owl pellets kicked aside but the waiting treats of mice, voles, and the aged rats that were never bought as pets down the block. The plan, more of a whim really, was getting more subjects because her zombie pets from over the summer were de-reanimated and she wanted new ones. Ones that wouldn't crack inside-out popcorn style like a party popper at a failed attempt.

"Would show those stinking owls," said Anadotti Squiggs, self-styled Squirrel Queen of all rodents smaller than her at an attempt of misguided vengeance of being low on the food chain during her Pteromyini years.

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Walking through Diagon Alley, Vivian shivered with the cool breeze that came with the transition from summer into winter. That dreadful time people liked to call Fall. Or Autumn, whatever suited their fancy. It was the Auror's day off and she decided to walk around, see what was happening in the alley. 

Having been in Eeylops all of maybe one time, she decided to have another go and see what it was like. It wasn't the best structure in the world, drafty and a few breezes blowing through the crack under the door. The squacking of disturbed owls got her attention as she headed towards the main part where the owl's were held.

"KEEP YOUR TALONS TO YOURSELF! FROCKING FEATHERED DUV-ETTS!" She heard a woman yell. Honestly, Vivian had never heard someone call an owl a frocking feathered duv-ett. It sure didn't sound too endearing.

She poked her head in to see a slightly disheveled woman searching the floor for something. Ah, Andotti. Vivian had seen her around before. Not a super crazy criminal or anything, but the kind that got on your nerves after spending more than five minutes with her. 

"Lose somethin' Dotty?" Vivian asked, strolling into the large room. She didn't have her red robes on thankfully, so maybe Dotty wouldn't remember her as an Auror.

Although, she did have her shiny badge pinned to her belt behind her coat... it wasn't that noticable though.

Something dead a fuzzy fell from Dotty's hands when she spun around to see the tall form of lady with a redcoat without a redcoat. Though that must still make her British. Ever since she had come to the UK Dotty had seen nothing but British people.

"My mail got lost," she said, fist tightening around a gunny sack of owl treats. Not that she expected Callen would understand. Or anybody that stayed to their rational mind would be able to explain why she was doing this.

"How'd you get up here?" For Dotty it had been a window and she hadn't heard anything creak on the stairs.

"I've got my ways of getting up here, it's a magical thing called a staircase." Callen said sarcastically, peering around Dotty to look at whatever she had dropped.

"You know, that sure doesn't look like mail to me." She said, pointing to what seemed to be the dead rodent she had dropped. "Don't tell me! You're an animagus with a thing for eating dead rats." She grinned, "I don't think the mice and such up here would taste too well. But that's just me." She said with a shrug.

Dotty's head spun to face the stairs again. She was sure she would have heard the creaking of the stairs. Groaning wood was audible. It was. Her mother said the kids had selective hearing but she never remembered hearing her mother say that.

Callen made a joke. It should have been a joke, right? "HA-HA-HA-no." Dotty's laugh was rather loud. The last thing she wanted was to have a cop found out she was an animagus but not one that that ate dead rats. Admittedly she had eaten a dead rat kebob on a stick (ratsicle) before. If it was really charred and you had enough BBQ sauce it was good eating.

"Right, fancy meeting you up here. I'll be off."

Vivian crossed her arms at the sight of Dotty's fake laugh, it's not like she was trying to be that funny so she shouldn't feel offended. It was entertaining though, watching the other woman get antsy and glance at the staircase. Dotty had probably been too caught up in "losing her mail" to hear anything that she didn't want to.

"You sure you're going to leave already? The party's just gettin' started." She said, okay this time she was just joking around. Wasn't expecting Dotty to find that funny though.

"C'mon, I'll help you find your mail if you really lost it." She offered, already knowing what the reply would be.

"Party? What party?" Dotty spun in place, boots clomping and bag swinging, as if she expected loud music, a bubble machine and a tiki bar with a case of Blue Toad to materialize out of the walls. "Don't joke about parties like that! You got my hops up." There probably needed to be an extra 'e' in that last sentence.

Shoot, she didn't actually have any mail. Or 'post' as they called it over here which was just the stupidest thing she'd ever heard. Had the mailbox never been invented across the pond so they had to literally staple letters to a post, then bash someone with the post when they had late fees on rental movies?

"I've got a shipment for a large order of harvested dragon jerky I haven't gotten yet. And I'm expecting proofs from my photo shoot any day now." Which had been weird but totally legit, even if she forgot to swipe the lady's purse afterwards.[1]

"So if any of these featherbrains have used it to nest with or something, I'm holding something of theirs hostage until I get whats mine." Yeah, that made perfect plausible sense. If your mind happened to be the same as Anadotti Squiggs.

1.	Paper Kitten Nightmare