1225 hours, Central London
Ministry of Magic: Level Two


There were few things that pestered Raine Almasy more than filling out parchments. It was enough that she was consistently buried underneath the heap of homework scrolls from Hogwarts but recent events at the Tournament[1] had forced the Gryffindor to register her Animagus status with the Ministry over Winter Break.

Admittedly, it was lucky that she managed her two years of secrecy. The ability would have been listed when applying for auror training after graduation. Still: paperwork.

The chore had taken up the better part of her morning. Details were requested, papers signed, her animagus form performed and then recorded with painstaking accuracy. Funny way of recognising diligence in the field. It was well past noon by the time she found herself leaving the offices on the second level and trying to remember her way back to the elevators.

On the other hand, Raine was in no hurry. Her pace was deliberate and eyes quietly observant as she passed by the entrances to various work spaces; nothing exciting, as the auror offices weren't close to the room she was coming from. Every so often she would catch the flitting edge of a red robe turning into another corridor. If pressed she would freely admit that being here was very a compelling experience, considering her ambitions.

Too soon, she was at the Foyer where several others were waiting for the lifts. Witches and wizards. One or two rather bored looking aurors and a handful of desk workers. Raine came to a halt and, comfortable that nobody was watching, sighed wistfully.

1.	Second Task, Glory

Admete had worn her dress robes that day, finding some solace amid them and the routine of picking up a bit of paperwork that no one else wished to deal with for the moment. Which, given her current predicament, was proving a bit more intimidating.

And her head was becoming harder and harder to pull out of the concept of that promotion. Even her coworkers had become to notice a touch of distraction tugging away her usual down-to-earth focus.

Which made the prospect of a new face in the Ministry seem the perfect escape from beginning on said paperwork. Especially such a young woman. Trainee age, though she didn't seem familiar enough for that. "You new here?"

She slipped the papers into the leather case she was carrying, then leaned against the wall and looked the young woman over. "Don't think I've seen you about. Admete Brown." She stuck her hand out, only to realize that she'd picked up a few ink stains on the tips of her fingers. Merlin, but she needed new quills.

The elevators were taking a while and Raine was beginning to suspect that something had gone on one of the levels- Merlin knew what sort of mischief experiments went on downstairs. She was contemplating the possibilities when the witch caught her off guard.

"Oh, no." Raine answered on instinct as she repressed the urge to curtsy (because obviously normal people don't do that), and shook the woman's hand politely. Presumably she worked here. "I'm... no, I'm not new. I'm only visiting."

Visiting! That didn't sound right either! She cleared her throat self-consciously, eyes shifting away from the stranger's ink-stained finger tips to her face. Admete Brown. That didn't sound particularly familiar.

"Raine Almasy," she returned the courtesy with a fleeting smile. "I'm a student at Hogwarts, I've just come to register." Raine realized that her Animagus status was essentially public knowledge now but it hardly seemed appropriate to bring it up with a new acquaintance. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Brown."

Almasy, Almasy, why did that name...oh yes, the Tournament. Which made the young woman here a champion. Child must have had fun with the press, from the way she was acting.

"Just call me Admete. Or Auror Brown if you have to. Stopped answering to Miss Brown decades back." Merlin, but that made her feel old. Had a good twenty years before she was there proper, yet.

She shot a glare at the lift. "I saw Bailey in that thing earlier. Swear he's the kind of man who just walks in and everything shatters. It'll be back eventually." The sigh she followed the words with wasn't the most reassuring, but she was still waiting there.  "That was good work you did at the Tournament, you know. Wish I'd gotten to hear the entire thing."

A mercurial, childish aspect of Raine's mind was buzzing with the excitement of speaking to an auror. It seemed more glamorous now in the Ministry than it did when she was interviewed for her sister's murder- or when the MLE staff had trotted into Hogwarts for the careers fair.

For the most part however, the prefect was graciously composed and smiled in good humour at the remark about the elevators. She probably knew a few fourth years who were reminiscent of this Bailey character.

"Thank you," Raine felt her ears burn at the compliment. "We completed last but I suppose it was an honour to compete at all."

The Task had been so important at the time but with Arthur Lemon's release and the entire Schlawkward debacle, she'd rather forgotten that it was still an event for others. Auror Brown had a rather relatable manner though, and it put Raine at ease.

"You didn't miss much," she explained with a wry tug of the lips. "It was all riddle solving after I transfigured. We must have been the most boring task before the Knight charged us." There was only so much the WWN could say about Fig and her staring into a mirror after all.

Raine considered the elder witch. "I imagine it's much more exciting here," she commented a little wistfully. "Or in the field, I mean, as an auror."

"There's not many about who've competed in the tournament. You don't give yourself nearly enough credit." Admete shook her head and laughed. "Riddles? Wish I'd heard it. Merlin knows I'm shit at riddles. Could use the lesson." She tended more towards straightforward and energetic.

And yes, excitement. That particular flavor tended to be the land of the young. "It is, sometimes. Not out there as much as I used to be. Got my share of scars already. Some days you wish it were quieter." She got a bit immune to the cases at times, sure. Or at least some of them. Never completely.

"Sure I could dig up a few stories if you wanted. Got them knocking around in here somewhere." It was kind of nice not being yelled at, let alone getting that sort of flattering interest. Maybe the stress of that potential promotion was hitting the nerves a bit.

Raine smiled modestly at the compliment and then at the woman's vernacular, although she doubted that Auror Brown was 'shit' at riddles. Not all aurors were sharp but there was nothing obtuse or gruff about the one standing across from her. If anything, her mannerisms seemed quite... practical.

While not immune to the glamour of scars and excitement, Raine managed to contain the urge to ask pesky questions at the mention of either. At least not immediately- that wasn't proper.

"Can't say I envy the scars," she admitted with a wry turn of her lips. "Although it does sound like very satisfying work. At least, I rather hope it is. I'm looking to train as one when I graduate."

Hopefully that wouldn't scare the witch away; they must receive loads of applications and irksome graduates. Raine stepped forward slightly as the foyer space filled up with more witches and wizards waiting for the elevator.

"Stories?" her eyes lit up intelligently- passing up this offer wouldn't have been proper, it would have been stupid. "That would be rea-- I mean, If you have the time, I wouldn't want to get in the way of any work..." she halted, apologetic.

Kid was interested in the Aurors? That was exciting, they could always use more Tournament sorts, and it would look good on her application. Considering who the last one to join the office was. Course, meant that Admete shouldn't frighten her off either. Nothing too bad, then.

"Nah, it's no trouble. 'Specially not if you're interested in the Aurors. Been busy enough recently to earn a few minutes for a chat." Lift wasn't there yet, either. Or she'd missed it talking. Oh well. No evaluations to run off to, so might as well enjoy.

"And I've got a few stories. Let me see if I can dig up a good one." There were a few rolling around in there, funny ones, scary ones, oh yeah and then I almost died ones. One that was just perfect, even.

She cracked her knuckles a bit before starting on it. "So, back when  I was a trainee, it still was just a few years off the first war. Dark Wizard sorts running we needed to clean up, and no shortage of their supporters who hadn't quite done enough to get nailed. One of the latter got sloppy, sold some cursed things that led back to his ass." Those were the sorts of messes that kept St. Mungo's analyzing for months.

Memory made her shake her head. "Office was abuzz about it after hexed up a couple officers pretty badly trying to bring him in." Not Aurors, but still. Mean hexes were mean hexes. "Course, was a trainee. Not my case. And it didn't get interesting til I stopped at the pub that evening." She paused for a breath. Hopefully wasn't boring the poor girl.

Raine was a solid listener when she put her mind to it and from the moment Auror Brown mentioned the story being a few years off the first war, she was all ears and attention. It seemed like such a long time ago.

The way the Prophet reported it, the DMLE was not exactly the more efficient of departments in the Ministry- and so it was somewhat gratifying to be able to hear something genuine from an auror's point of view. No political blemishes or journalistic bias but an honest and historical account.

"The pub?" Raine raised a quizzical eyebrow, not even bothering to hide her sense of curiousity. Another aspect of the profession she rarely explored; the casual side of affairs. "Were you there on a job or off duty hours?"

It was a bit frightening to remember that the story was probably older than the young Ms. Almasy standing in front of her. No wonder Admete's mother kept fussing at her. The new batches of trainees kept the memories of those days fresh, though. The sound of one getting chewed out over an unsatisfactory cup of tea wasn't unknown.

"Off duty, yeah. Got sent there once or twice on, trainees get all the odd jobs. But I'd survived that day, and didn't want to head back home just yet. Was a cramped little place then anyways." Which hadn't actually changed that much. Room to paint and not much more. "So I sit down, seems that my mates aren't there that night, and then I realize that someone's staring at me."

Taken a bit longer than she liked to admit to realize that, but she'd been paying more attention to her drinks at the time. Admete gave a non-committal shrug. "You've probably seen the sort, in the corner with nothing but a slur in the voice and empty glasses for company. Had a cloak on, but from the way he kept turning he had an eye on my chest. Was wishing I had someone there to bet on how long it was til he'd stagger over."

Bar fights had seemed a lot more exciting of a prospect when she was eighteen or so.

Trainees got all the odd jobs. Raine's wrinkled her nose, though in good humour, at this statement. They all had to, she supposed- perhaps the general lunacy of Hogwarts was adequate preparation for Auror Brown's odd jobs. The younger witch felt her cheeks colour slightly as she continued to listened.

"I... I think I know the sort you mean," she could imagine at any rate. The pubs in Woodstock were family friendly and it wasn't like she often visited the ones in London. Not yet anyway; her seventeenth loomed in the horizon after all.

Personally she would have liked to hex such a cretin from the get go! The auror was of a presumably more tolerant disposition.

"Did it take him very long?" Raine asked with a frown. "What did he want?"

"Didn't take him very long after that. Pretty soon he was stomping his way over, hood still up, nearly tripped on a couple chairs on his way over." It had been a bit of an intimidating sight, this big man looming over her, face mostly shaded by that hood. And the slowly building sense of familiarity hadn't helped, either.

She lifted one of her hands to provide an indication of his height. "So he's looking down at me, and he starts...well, can't say I speak drunk that well. Never figured out if he was trying to buy me a drink or telling me to get my ass out. All I heard was mumble mumble mumble." A shake of the head, half amused by the memory, half disapproving.

"So, tell him that I'm waiting for a friend. And he just goes off like I'd kicked his crup. Pulls his wand on me and everything." Her hands spread apart, unconsciously, as if she were pushing a wand away from her body. Time for another pause to breathe. Storytelling wasn't as rushed an affair as most of the meetings she got stuck in.

Raine's eyes glazed over with the imaginings of the auror's story. It was easy to envision. The smokey pub, sour with the stench of liquor and sweat. A strange man with less than honest intent, all shadows and obscurity- well perhaps it was a little more glamorous the way she pictured it. But interesting nonetheless.

It was almost enough to make her want to hop on a pub crawl, come the twenty-seventh.

"He pulled his wand?" Raine's eyebrows went up in surprise; she would have reacted instinctively to that... although not necessarily wisely.

Ever since Arthur Lemon and her sister, she had given up on waiting. Act or risk assault.

"Did he try to cast anything?" she asked anyway. Perhaps Auror Brown had given this drunk the benefit of the doubt. Drunken brawls weren't exactly life-threatening, one read about them in the gossip papers all the time. "Did you?"

Admete casually balled her hand into a fist, thumb tapping against the other bent fingers. "Well, he got Avada out before I broke his nose. Sort that can't handle rejection, seems. Then it was mostly gurgling and the sound of glass hitting the floor. Apparently that half-baked spell got knocked into a bottle of something old, expensive, and smelly. Never figured out quite what it was, but apparently the pub's owner raised quite a fuss about it at the trial."

She shook her head, ponytail swaying a bit. "That one hit put him down gurgling, though I kicked and hexed him to make sure before I bound him up. I've just bent down to make sure I've got his wand and anything else he might have hiding on him when I realize I recognize the bastard."

It had been a bit of a shock for a young trainee, even given all the backdrop to her joining the Aurors. "Wanted Dark Wizard decided to go off and get plastered after evading arrest. Can't say he was the sharpest twig, especially not with choosing to eye me up and down in the process."

Raine had forgotten where she was, for a moment, and did little to check the laughter- head tossed back animatedly.

"Seriously?" she managed at last, speaking with a grin that took off the last two very serious years of her life. It made her look the right age. "I suppose they can't all be criminal masterminds..." the redhead tried to imagine the taunting such a wizard would have gotten from his inmates in Azkaban.

The idea of it threatened to tickle another laugh but she had cackled her quota for today. They were in the Ministry after all and she was already getting an odd glance or two from the passersby. It was one thing to see Aurors fooling about; visitors, perhaps not as expected.

"They must have been very impressed." Raine commented- not just out of politeness either. "The Department, I mean. And the other trainees," she added wistfully. A whole other year of Hogwarts before she was remotely close to anything like that.