Lunch was a bustling affair of silverware clashing against porcelain.

Pulling the chair back at the table he’d been led to, Harry was almost relieved to find he had arrived before his guest; it gave him time to have a glass of wine, calm his nerves and fully awaken his senses before he was forced to dive into the power play he’d set up this meeting for. As settled down into the chair, he smiled at the waitress and requested the wine list, before letting his green eyes trail towards the window. Somehow, in a mess of forgotten requests and insomnia driven mistakes, he’d forgotten to add that he wished for a table far from any street windows when he’d phoned in the reservation, but his fingers nervously trudged towards his knife and began tapping against the silver, he forced himself to remain optimistic: the entire reason he’d asked Admete Brown to meet him in a muggle restaurant was for the lack of likelihood that anyone from the Ministry would be present. Still, his heart beat a tediously unsteady rhythm against his ribcage, as his digits ran up and down the blade, and he nervously tapped his tongue against his bottom teeth.

It wasn’t quite like him to use connections to get what he wanted, but he reminded himself that the cause here was a worthy one: a man had possibly been murdered, yet the Corps were about to toss it up to an accident. It was possible he should have went straight to Raynor, his direct superior, but Harry had simply not been entirely certain she’d listen to his request –at times, he felt as if the woman did not like him, though he tried to chalk that up to her own hard to break personality. Therefore, he had instead decided to jump the chain of command, and go straight to the top of the MLE: Admete Brown had been an Auror by the time Harry began his training, but the two had forged a comradeship –if not a friendship-, before she’d been promoted, and he had decided to make good use of that now. Even though it made him feel uneasy.

With a smile, the waitress returned with what he’d requested, and the Auror set to examining the list as if he had any idea what made one wine better than another. Given, it wasn’t hard to notice when tasting, but a name was nothing to the man. As he read, his finger continued to nervously caress the knife, almost as if he expected to have to put use to it in any way other than what it was intended for. He’d sent an owl to Admete just the night before, inviting her to lunch, stating that he simply missed talking with her. It’d been some time since they met, and he was aware the excuse would seem plausible enough. Lying didn’t bother him, but using people did leave a sour taste in his mouth.


And so, he waited –one eye on the busy London street, the other on the menu, his finger quite entertained with the sharp edge of the knife- for his company to arrive.

It had to be Muggle London. Admete hadn't gotten lost, she had navigated through Muggle spaces before for work reasons, or because Luthas had dragged her into something, but they were hardly her favorite. Everything was just a bit off out here, the clothes, the way they spoke, and the cars. Cars.

But it was for Auror Potter, and in Admete's view, you went to certain lengths for another Auror. Ones that extended far beyond an awkward location for lunch.

Particularly since it hadn't been too hard to find. She double-checked the sign on the outside of the building, then stepped inside. The place was full of noise and Muggles eating, and it took her a few glances around to find the distinctive figure she was looking for.

And there he was. She walked quickly over to his booth, her boots clacking on the floor, and then sat down across from him. "It's good to see you. Was starting to think I'd never escape my office." At least without being attacked by flying memos and the occasional voice from the fireplace.

The sound of heels clapping against the ground made Harry glance up, the hand holding his knife actually tensing as if prepared to throw it straight at an enemy’s forehead –which might not be the most brilliant of ideas, considering he wasn’t actually an expert in the art of blade throwing. A soft sigh of relief pressed past his lips, however, as his green eyes fell on Admete, and a smile crossed along his face as he swiftly pushed back his chair and stood to welcome her. “And you,” He greeted, sitting back down as she did and glancing down at the wine list once again. “Meanwhile, I was beginning to think I’d never get to see you again without a desk in between us,” Although, in essence, there could easily be a desk between them today, considering his ulterior motives for the lunch date. But he rather push that thought from his mind for an instant, and spend a few calm moments with a friend before jumping into uneasy business.

“I’ll be honest,” He admitted, as he nudged the wine menu towards her, giving a resigned shrug. “I have no idea how to choose wine, so I hope you do,” Sitting up, he felt his fingers tensing in desire to be against the blade again, but he forced himself not to. “How’s the office, Admete? Settling into the position well?” He decided there was no need for official titles today –after all, they were supposedly here as friends, not coworkers and even less as Auror and Head of the MLE. Or at least that’s what he needed her to believe.

"Hate to always be behind a desk with you around. Not good for my dueling." She picked up the wine menu and eyed it, an expression accompanied by the quizzical raise of an eyebrow. "Guess I'll take a look."

The menu was soon splayed out on the table before her and Admete leaned back, half-reading the menu while keeping her attention on the Auror in front of her. "It's busy, but manageable so far. Haven't gotten much painting in, or many nights out." She shrugged a bit. "Bit of an adjustment, not too bad. More charity events." Wasn't all bad, that, but she wasn't used to dueling for show.

She tapped at one of the wines on the list, then turned to grab herself a proper menu. "You doing alright? How's Ginny been? Seems like I've been a bit out of things with friends, being this busy."

As the two settled into an easy conversation, Harry felt his nerves begin to dissipate –although he still felt sick at what he was here to do. It wasn’t in his nature to use people, and he didn’t at all feel comfortable going behind Raynor’s back. But the end often justified the means, and this was one such case. “We’ll just have to get you into the training arena soon, for some practice dueling,” His fingers lazily trailed along the tablecloth. “You might be the big bad boss, but you shouldn’t get rusty,” His voice was half teasing, half serious, as he was certainly aware there was truth to his words.

He mimicked her and grabbed a menu of his own, eyes absentmindedly trailing down the list of plates he could get. “Ginny’s good –pregnant and therefore quite a task, but good over all,” Despite his exhaustion, Harry found himself beaming as he spoke about his wife and his soon-to-be born third child. “James is getting excited for Hogwarts, even if he is still a ways off, and Albus has taken to sucking his thumb,” Harry shrugged, trailing a finger down the menu. “You should come over for dinner whenever you have a free evening.”

"Can't be too big and bad of a boss if I'm rusty, hmm?" Admete grinned, but her voice was serious. MLE head wasn't the safest job in the Ministry, even with someone watching her back. "You'll have to tell me when works, so I can get out of the office before the paperwork traps me again."

Sometimes she wondered if someone'd managed to sneak a multiplying charm onto it, with how much it seemed she had to sign in triplicate. Or just with how much she had to sign. Merlin.

She tapped a hand on the menu, considering. "That goes for the dinner, too. Don't usually have anything besides working late. Too much of it, really." Usually she was pretty good about making time for herself, but these days it was a lot harder. "Be good to see everyone. Children grow so fast, still can't believe how old Blair's have gotten now." Or how many years she'd been pestered about finding someone, by this point. As if she didn't have enough to manage.

As his green eyes settled on what he desired to order –something light, for his stomach still felt rather queasy-, he reminded himself that there was no need to rush this; as a matter of fact, it would be best if he waited to state the true purpose of this meeting until after the food was gone. And if he could, he should definitely add it in almost as an after thought. These games might not be up his alley, but he was aware how to play them and he had hope he could play them well. Over the years, many had questioned why he’d decided for a street job instead of something behind a desk, something more revolving around politics; and it had taken time to notice he wasn’t lacking in talent for such matters –although he certainly wasn’t the best-, but he simply wasn’t certain all the power plays were up his alley.

“They do, too quickly,” He replied, keeping his voice calm and his tone carefree. He wasn’t certain whether he was happy with the growing spurt of his children or not, as with each new year came further issues and it seemed as if things only got further and further complicated; although, perhaps that was more related to the fact that he kept getting Ginny pregnant. He would really have to talk with his wife about no more babies, because this third one was simply wearing him out. “They’re all lovely, and you learn you can’t live without them,” It was honesty, but rising children wasn’t simply about sunshine and happiness: it had his dark side, and Harry leant towards Admete to almost conspiratorially before imparting his secret. “But sometimes you actually wish you’d never had to.” Horrible as it might sound, he knew every parent had thought the same at some point of child bearing when the exhaustion and the frustration had became too much.

"Sounds like you need a night away. And drinks. Sure you could find someone from the office to join you." Admete's smile was a faint, thin thing. She didn't mind not having children, but it did make it a bit harder to consider the impact they brought.

There were still her nieces and nephews, but she could buy them presents from Weasley's and be gone before they got loud. Lots of presents. And sugar.

"You can spare a night, at least. You haven't been out of coffee?" Never helped, that. But seemed to be her job now, coffee maintenance maintaining.

Or at least yelling at people to yell at people to caffeine.

Harry found himself actually chuckling softly, despite his weariness at the situation he had found himself in. “Here, here!” He exclaimed: the idea of a night away, with a copious amount of alcohol and no children anywhere to be seen, was so tempting the Auror thought he might just cry if it ever became a reality. But, then, he sighed and shook his head. “But I can’t –not with Ginny as pregnant as she is, y’know,” He shrugged, as if to say there was really no way around it. “It’ll have to wait.”

The waiter appeared, and he ordered, before glancing at Admete again through weary eyes. “Why are woman so mental when they’re pregnant?” Then again, they were always mental, but it wouldn’t do to say that to another woman.

"Later, then. Soon as you can manage." Admete knocked her hand on the table to punctuate her point, then raised an eyebrow at the Auror's quip. Brought a few about men to mind, but she bit her tongue on those.

"Think most people'd feel a little mental, going through that. Specially if she's not sleeping." She leaned in on her elbows, and her expression slipped back to a more neutral interest.

Had to wonder a bit about the meeting, but maybe Potter had just missed the chats. Plenty more unlikely things happened daily. "My life hasn't been too interesting these days. Work, sleep. Not even time for painting." Not really. Mentioning it made her miss that, though. Needed something besides work.

Might be that she needed to poke Luthas. Couldn't just do the family thing over Christmas.