Seven months. Had it really been that long? Chalmers Holt made his way back into the Auror office early on a Monday morning.  It felt weird to be back, considering he’d been pretty much everywhere over the past few months.  He’d been selected for the honor of an intense training programme. The time was spent in a few different countries, learning from them on different ways of dueling, spells, and learning some of their cultures and languages. But while it had been interesting, Chalmers was ready to be back in his home office seeing his old friends again. There hadn’t been much time for letters while abroad. And it would be interesting seeing the new Head of the department at work.  Granted, he’d worked with her for a few years and it was a good promotion for her.  But it seemed kind of sudden.

After having spent so much time visiting other ministries and being in other offices, it was somewhat surreal being back in London. It was rather early at this time, and there were very few people in the office. Which was kind of nice.  Chalmers wasn’t sure what his reception would be. Surely people would remember him, but whether they’d be glad he was back or not would be the thing.  He was pretty sure most people liked him, but after a year who knows how it changed.

Chalmers walked through the hallway and found his way to his old desk.  It looked the same, except empty of course. He set down his box of “decorations” he’d brought from his travels to put on his desk. A few small portraits of the friends he made, a couple little trinkets. Once he got everything set up to his liking, he sighed. Yes it was nice to be back, but it was definitely a change of pace. No more intense classes or dueling practices. Just… paperwork.  Well, of course more than just paperwork.  Things happen and cases need to be investigated. But there was a lot of paperwork involved.
And speaking of paperwork, one of the few things that were on his desk when he got there was some reports to catch up on.  Admete Brown was definitely keeping good tabs and making sure he was informed when he came back.

“Might as well get started.” Chalmers said to himself, picking up the first report.

After the first, he moved onto the second. By then, there were other Aurors making their way into the office to start their day.  Chalmers set the report down and leaned back in his chair, taking in a deep breath. It was kind of nice to be back. Then, he heard some footsteps approaching his cubicle, and turned to see who was approaching.

It was the first Monday of the new year, and if the universe were as forgiving as it should be, it should have been Jonas's first day back at the office.  But no -- he'd taken a half day on New Year's Day, mostly to enjoy the morning with his family, and then very quickly launched back into the grind.  The past month had been a near non-stop rush of investigative work, and even with the holidays, it had felt as if he'd barely had time to catch his breath.

Now it was Monday morning, and he was back on Level Two once more.  Those first few hours at the start of the week were usually quiet ones, and Jonas had become accustomed to being one of the first in the office.  Today was no exception -- but as he scanned over the tops of the cubicles to see who had beat him in, he noticed the back of one head that he hadn't been accustomed to seeing recently.

Chalmers Holt had been gone for the past few months, gone on some sort of extended training.  If he'd been due to return today, Jonas hadn't heard it -- and judging by the fact that there were no flashing signs or explosions of confetti here to greet their fellow Auror, then chances were that Radley and Pratt hadn't heard it, either. 

Still, the lack of office-warming pranks didn't mean he had to be inhospitable.  Tucking his file folder under one arm, Jonas ambled over to the younger man's cubicle.

"Holt," he said, flashing the other Auror a warm smile.  The sight of any added hands to the office was welcome right now, especially since Brown's caseload was still getting ignominiously assigned out, and he had mostly forgiven the younger wizard for being the recipient of attention from his niece several months before.[1]  After all, Grace was an adult now, which meant he couldn't very well be policing her, and besides which, he'd been keeping watch over his niece's correspondences like a hawk.

"Welcome back."  He tapped meaningfully at the wall of the cubicle.  "We managed to keep anyone from moving into your space whilst you were gone, but between Bailey and the mess of new trainees, it was a bit of a close call at times.  Oh, and I think Pratt's been using your lower left drawer for storage of some sort," he added, his forehead creasing as he regarded Holt with near concern.  "Not sure what he's been keeping in there, so I'd be a might careful before you go about opening it."

1.	You've Got Mail

One of those people that Chalmers was unsure of their reaction towards him coming back was Jonas Trevelyan. Chalmers had been corresponding flirtatiously with Jonas’ niece (which he had no idea she was his niece), and of course the other auror had been a bit upset. But since Chalmers had been gone, he hadn’t had much time to owl with Grace, so perhaps Jonas was feeling better about him. At least it seemed that way, judging by the seemingly warm welcome.

“Hey, Trevelyan. Thanks.” Then Chalmers eyed the lower drawer in question. “I’ll… probably hold off on opening that til I feel like dealing with whatever Pratt might have done.”

It wouldn’t surprise him if there was some kind of semi-dangerous or smelly plant, creation, or otherwise inside that drawer.  Not exactly the kind of welcome-back surprise he’d have preferred. But Chalmers wasn’t expecting much from Pratt, or Radley, the other prankster of the group. In fact, he’d neglected to inform his two friends of his return because he wanted to avoid a bit of a surprise from them two. Because those types of surprises were often a little over the top.

“Thanks for the warning.” Chalmers turned a bit in his chair to better face Jonas. “So how have things been in the office lately? I’ve heard there’ve been some interesting cases. Been a bit hard to keep track over the past few months, but I tried.”

And he had. Trying to read some foreign newspapers on any news around London and in the domain of his home Ministry had been difficult. Though, thankfully, in some places he’d been able to find some English newspapers. News of murders and burglary had reached the other countries, and Chalmers’ ear. It had been difficult being away from the Ministry with all that, and not being able to do much to help. But the training had been important, so he couldn’t just drop it. Another reason it was good to be back.

How have things been in the office lately?  In the Auror Corps, that was the eternal question.  The answer was usually 'Not as bad as it could be' -- the current Aurors who had survived the Second War knew that even the most hectic, overwhelming months were still not as bad as the time when they'd had to fight a war without and within.

Still, he also had to tack on 'Not as good as it could be, either.'  Matters had improved drastically on Level Two in the past few months.  When Holt had left, they'd been in the middle of dealing with the Macduff crisis.  Since that had been resolved, everything else had seemed relatively mild by comparison.  Jonas hadn't received a death threat since May, and although his caseload was certainly overwhelming, it was not to the point where it felt like everything was about to crash to pieces around him.  So the answer had to be 'Bad, but not that bad.'  Or possibly 'Alright, but could be better.'

He decided that for the morning, he'd be an optimist.

"It's been alright," he said with a shrug.  "Rosier's moved on -- there's a new Department Head that replaced him -- but otherwise, most of this mess has been running without too many interruptions."  Tawse's merry band had been quiet for nearly a year now.  They'd gone over six months since last discovering a traitor inside the Ministry.  All in all, things could certainly be worse.

Although they could also be slightly better.  "Been a lot going on with cases, though," he admitted, rubbing a hand over his forehead as he cocked an eyebrow at Holt.  "Murders, kidnappings, cursed necklaces, you name it.  You gotten your new assignments from Raynor yet?  I reckon any of us'd be happy to have you back to lend a hand."

“I’d heard about Rosier. Good for him. And good that it’s been a somewhat smooth transition. From what I remember of Brown, she would be an appropriate choice. Not necessarily whom we would have thought, but good.”

Chalmers wasn’t too surprised that there were a lot of cases going on. He’d been reading a couple of them from what was left on his desk this morning.  And there were still some to go through. So hearing that his help would most likely be needed wasn’t too much of a surprise. The Aurors had normally been stretched somewhat thin.  Granted there were a few new recruits, he’d heard, but they can only do so much after just starting. 

“I’ve been going through some of the recent reports. Copies were left on my desk. There’s an unfortunate amount of things going on. I’d be happy to help out.  And it’ll be kind of nice to get back into the field. As interesting as the training was, it’s good to be back.”

And he meant it. Chalmers was also glad that it seemed, for now, that he and Jonas were getting along. Over the past few months, he realized how much a good department needs to get along.  While everyone has their differences, work should come first, as well as work relations. Especially when who knows what was coming up next. A lot was going on, and it seemed it might get worse in time.

Today Pratt was in better spirits than the last couple of days. His underperforming son had been sent back to Hogwarts with a rocket up his bum to actually work harder with threats of what would be happening to him, his quidditch figurine collection and his pet toad Kevin if he failed anymore classes again. He’d been giving Noah a hard time since receiving his first term grades. Several Ps, a couple of As and a D in Defence Against the Dark Arts which had set Eddie temper off like a Weasley’s firework. How in Merlin’s name had the son of an auror managed to get a D in that subject? It was a question Eddie had been asking the boy for over a week.

But now Noah was hopefully buckling down, the rest of his kids were with Quincy’s parents and Viv, his hot French girlfriend was being as gorgeous and French as ever. He’d woken up with her that morning in the cold cottage. It had been coffee, toast, more coffee and lots of kissing before he’d donned his work robes and hopped into the fireplace to be flooed into the ministry.

So the wizard was making his way through the auror office when he saw the Paddy the ginger auror with a dodgy, unintelligible accent hanging around a cubicle that should have been vacant. Blond brow twitching a little higher in curiosity and mild concern, Eddie took a detour from the direction of the coffee pot and towards the former cubicle of Chalmers Holt.

“… it’s good to be back.”

Holt was back! Eddie sped up his pace and rounded the corner to the entrance of Holt’s cubicle. For a moment he didn’t say a word. Instead his bright green eyed gaze shot from the lower drawer of the desk to Holt’s head, checking both eyes were in fact before finally landing on his fingers. He seemed to have ten. Good. All digits accounted for.

“Who let you back in?” The blond auror asked with a grin.

As long as he could remember, Bertie had always enjoyed the holidays. While many people viewed holidays as an obligation to see their family, the Hughes clan viewed it as an opportunity, as another excuse to eat good food, tease each other, and of course, gossip. He loved seeing the Peppers just as much as he loved seeing the Hughes, and it was a shame that the holidays were now over. He’d still make any excuse he could to pester his relatives, but his job was demanding and he had other responsibilities, as did they.

Adelebert entered the office, a pastel-colored teapot in one hand and a dainty flowered teacup in the other. Even if there were plenty of reports and files waiting on his desk, his day couldn’t be ruined as long as he had tea. He would have focused on those files too (or at least, that’s what he told himself!) if there wasn’t such a commotion around Chalmers Holt’s desk. Jonas and Pratt counted as a commotion, right?

Wait.

Around Chalmers Holt’s desk. The young’un was apparently back!

“I thought you were gone for good!” Bertie exclaimed, raising his arms in the air. A few drops of tea dripped out of the spout of the teapot. He rushed to Holt’s area, droplets of tea dripping on the carpet with every clumsy movement.

“Do you have a teacup? A coffee mug? I have tea if you want some. My uncle grew the plant the leaves came from himself.” No, he didn’t ask about his trip. No, he didn’t ask about Holt’s training.  “This is a new teapot too! A gift from cousin Audrey. She may be cruel, but she has taste.” He peeked over the cubicle wall in an attempt to be suave, “And she’s single, if you like older women.” He winked twice, “Hint. Hint.” Adelebert had no idea what Holt's current relationship status was, but it couldn't hurt to play matchmaker, could it?

He was wondering what would happen when Pratt realized he was back.  They’d been part of the troublemakers of the department (never too bad, of course). And Chalmers had missed him being around. And seeing his friend come nearly running over to his desk made him smile. When Eddie looked from the desk drawer to him and back again, his suspicions of something dangerous was pretty much confirmed.

“They couldn’t keep me out if they tried!” Chalmers laughed. “And what’s this about you keeping something dangerous in my desk? Would I be missing fingers if Jonas here hadn’t warned me?”

Then another familiar face found its way over to Chalmers’ desk.  And carrying a teapot (dripping tea) and a teacup, it was a sort of funny scene. Adelebert was an interesting fellow, but a nice guy. Chalmers hadn’t worked with him too much prior to leaving, but they’d always been friendly. 

“No, not for good, just a brief training stint.” Chalmers responded, before being offered tea and apparently a girlfriend. “Unfortunately I haven’t a cup. Thanks for the offer though, perhaps another time. And… as lovely as I’m sure your cousin is, I think I’ll have to decline.”

That was not something Chalmers had expected. Granted, he also wasn’t quite looking for much in the way of romance at the current time. He’d just gotten back and probably was going to have a lot of casework coming in the next few days. If anything, he’d just hope he’d run into Grace for coffee or tea sometime, since she was one of the new trainees. But that was it.