Abby sat in the sitting room, her legs crossed and her foot bobbing. The house seemed so quiet, she just wanted to chatter to fill up the space. Instead she pursed her lips, glancing around for phantom kittens, the itty bitty Krix, or even her cousin filling the doorway with his grumpy but lovable presence. Nope! It was just her and Mrs. Knight. So far, anyway.

She and Mrs. Knight had just arrived to Moonmoth Hall after a day at the Ministry. Abby came armed with her own extra-fluffy quill and parchment - a quill that produced ink much like a pen would. Even Abby would be mortified if she spilled anything on Mrs. Knight's furniture.

Grinning at the woman, she waited for her to settle in the seat across from her.

"So, as I said before, this is really just a silly little contest," Abby glanced at the cover of the latest Witch Weekly peeking out underneath the stack of parchment on her lap.

The official contest was simple. It asked its dear readers to interview someone who inspired them. Aisling Knight seemed perfect for this, and not just because she'd recently become Abby's immediate boss. Her life must be fascinating. Abby hoped to get to know her a little better beyond the person she knew now.

"I don't expect anything to come out of it, but I thought it would be fun. Turning the tables," she teased. "Now I'm interviewing you."

Merlin, an interview. Aisling was flattered of course, but also a bit concerned. Witch Weekly was prominent enough, and she'd have to watch her words in case the interview was published in some form or another.

With Tarron's position, such was not unlikely.

She took her own seat across from Abigail, then poured herself a cup of tea from the tray Krix had already brought. The gold cuff on her wrist glinted as she shifted within her thick crimson cloak. The house could be cold and drafty at times, and she was in no mood for a chill.

"Well, I think my life could use a bit of silly these days. Rowena's not about for it. So please, ask away." She set her tea back down. The cup had warmed her hands a bit, enough so that she could still feel the heat as she gently interlaced her fingers.

Abby grinned, a little too enthusiastically. Mrs. Knight didn't know what she was in for. Glancing over the outline she'd written, Abby decided to save the best part for last. Best to start simple.

Best to start at the beginning!

"Speaking of children and silliness," she looked at Aisling, reminded of how different Rowena and Sophia could be.

"What were you like as a kid? You grew up on a farm, right?" That was so hard to imagine, but Abby tried.

"Any early indications to awesomeness?" Poising her quill over the blank space of parchment, she let out a giggle. Asking questions with a straight face? Yeah, not going to happen.

It seemed that Abigail was starting at the beginning, or close enough to it. Aisling tilted her head to the side as she thought. "I was quiet, mostly. Lots of books, when I wasn't helping or studying. My little sister, Teagan, she would always pull me away from them when she wanted to show me something. A flower blooming in mum's garden, an insect with pretty wings, pretty patterned rocks. She'd always send me dried flowers while I was at Hogwarts, pressed into the letters and just starting to crumble."

At times, Teagan would still sneak flowers into the letters she sent, a touch of sisterly affection that made Aisling smile at the thought of it. "And no, nothing too awesome. My grades were good once I was past my first year, but I think I was even quieter at Hogwarts then I'd been at home."

She laughed softly, thinking of some of her adventures at that age. "I was too shy to talk to Tarron, then. He was so polite, handsome, but it didn't take me long to learn why he wasn't considered my type. Some of his housemates made sure to clarify the matter." She allowed herself a moment to pause and take another sip of tea. "I still bought him books, some rune tomes I thought he'd enjoy. Some days I could hear him talking with his housemates about the subject. But he never said anything, never responded to the little messages I'd coded into the books."

The laughter was soft and clear. "He'd never picked up on them. It took two decades for the both of us to figure that out."

Abby's face lit up. Already with the juicy details! This was going better than she'd ever hoped!

"You've had a crush on him for that long?" She hastily scribbled down notes: Tarron, the silent and handsome young gentleman with the questionable housemates! Aisling, the quiet, bookish farm girl harboring a secret love! She sent him scholarly books with hidden notes: the way to a man's heart. Yet Tarron was oblivious to her efforts! Aisling, the paragon of patience, waited entire decades for him to get a clue!

Ok, so perhaps that last one was a touch harsh, but she could edit later.

"That's so romantic!" Abby sighed.

With great, great difficulty, she resisted jumping ahead to all her questions about relationships. Instead, she focused on the other part of Aisling's story that had caught her attention.

"His housemates were jerks?" She assumed with a rueful grin. "What were other people like? Was it difficult adjusting to school back then, finding out you were a witch, all of that?"

It seemed easier now, from what she'd heard. She meant no offense by 'back then', but was truly interested in hearing about her experience.

Aisling smiled. Abigail's enthusiasm was rather infectious, and the topic of Tarron didn't hurt matters at all. She really would have to invite the young woman over more often; it was good to have noise and life in Moonmoth once again. "I suppose that I did have the crush for that long, though I never expected anything to come of it after he failed to respond to the books."

She turned her head to glance at the door leading into the rest of the house. "He still has those books. They're in the library at the moment." Presuming that they hadn't been hauled off to his office or somewhere else for a bit of reading.

But Abigail was off to the topic of classmates, and so Aisling folded her hands in her lap and allowed herself just a few seconds of thought before answering. "Most of his housemates were perfectly civil. Edwin Glass was a few years ahead of him, your parents as well. But there were some who were a bit more hostile, and a few who became infamous Death Eaters later on."

Merlin, was Abigail even old enough to remember Bellatrix Lestrange? Perhaps it was best if she wasn't. If the world had changed just that much. "Most people were decent enough, but it was hard at first with how little I knew. Other students, even some of the Professors didn't realize that I'd never heard of a particular story or creature before, and there weren't the same resources that they have now." She shook her head. "I was very quiet for my first few years at school, trying to pick everything up as much as I could."

Abby followed her glance toward the library, still smiling. She could only hope the same for her bookish sister and adorably geeky Professor Tappy one day.

"Mr. Glass was there? Cool!"

And Merlin, her parents! She'd forgotten her parents had actually been young once and had classes and teenage drama. Aisling seemed so much younger than her mother and father. Eternally chic. Her knowledge of muggle things, her dedication to work, and her lack of yelling about petty matters contributed to this impression.

At Death Eaters, Abby's nose wrinkled slightly. But Aisling continued, and Abby wasn't one to dwell on the icky.

"I have a hard time imagining you as quiet, but it makes sense," she admitted. "Like, you're not loud now. But you're confident and you make people feel at ease. I guess it took time for that to happen!"

Abby wrote a few more things down, then glanced up with another grin. "Anything else I should know about you at Hogwarts?"

Abby thought she'd covered the basics about Aisling's early life, but didn't want to miss any other juicy details!

"Hogwarts? Nothing of great note. I would lose hours in the library, I contradicted the Muggle Studies Professor enough to earn disfavor, and spent my share of time in broom closets." Aisling chuckled at herself, then shook her head. "You'd best not write that last one down." It didn't quite agree with that proper, diplomatic persona she put on, but then no such persona was ever the entirety of someone's being.

She poured herself a bit more tea and held the cup beneath her nose for a moment. "And I hated to read tea leaves, it always made me wish for another cup." A long sip, a pause to punctuate the words. "But I suppose that that is enough for now. Did you wish to hear of my years at the Ministry, next?"

There was a particular glint in her eye, something of ease and amusement. Today, there were some secrets she would be glad to tell. "You're already familiar with the work of an intern, I'm certain."

Abby clapped a hand over her mouth, dissolving into giggles. No way! Mrs. Knight in broom closets? Her esteem for her just grew tenfold.

“But that’s the best part!” With much regret and twitchy fingers, Abby resisted writing that last detail down.

She nodded when the woman mentioned the Ministry, happy to continue peppering her with questions, especially when she seemed to be having fun with it. Abby knew that if she’d asked Aileen, Aileen would have never told her anything interesting. Then again, her sister did have a grudge against Witch Weekly ever since the magazine had called her a heartbreaker (or something to that effect).

“Yup, I’ve got the intern part,” she grinned, scanning the questions she’d prepared. “Ok, so who was in that department with you? You don’t have to list everyone, but just tell me about the ones who have helped you out the most, impacted you, that kind of thing. You’ve been working there since 1974?”

Abby tried to keep the wonder out of her tone, but failed somewhat. So many years! Oodles of time!

"It really was the best part." Aisling couldn't help giggling back, and she set her cup down for the moment to avoid spilling. "I think Tarron worries that the girls will take after me in that respect. When he's willing to admit I did so, at least."

Work was rather a safer affair to speak of. "1974, yes. It seems such a long time ago now. I was still rather quiet then, not the most sociable member at first. Glass had joined a few years before I did, he was an Obliviator at that point. The first war was still ongoing, so there wasn't much time for socializing at first. We could barely keep up with everything until it was all over."

And it was mere history, now. "There was a great deal of going out for drinks at that point, compensating for not having the time to do it before, I suppose. Years of being too busy to do much with my coworkers except work."

Abby was not about to tell Mrs. Knight that her girls (or one of them) were already harboring crushes, and it wouldn't be long before they locked boys in broom closets, then ran away giggling. Abby could see it.

She nodded, "I can understand what drew you to the department. It would have been a good fit."

She tried to imagine how hectic it would have been during the first war, how stressful. And then the second war, too.

"What's kept your interest in it? Is it the people you work with? The challenges? The chance to make change and influence things?"

Abby paused, surprised at her own intense curiosity. Then she grinned, all carefree again.

"The exploding toilets? Be honest."

"Certainly not the exploding toilets." Aisling managed a disapproving raise of an eyebrow for a second before breaking into laughter. "But a bit of all the rest, I suppose. There's always a new challenge, or several at once if we're unlucky. Never stop learning."

She coughed slightly and then took a sip of tea to calm her throat. "The proliferation of Muggle recording devices has been a particular challenge to deal with recently. As their cameras can record incidents and then pass such recordings about to thousands of others we've had to find new ways to deal with the situations. I think you've seen a bit of that already."

Tabloids, Merlin. "And while it isn't the most influential role, I am glad to have some say over how involved Muggles are treated. It's hardly their fault if someone goes gallivanting about in public on a broomstick, after all." There was a bit of darkness in her tone, in the way she glanced away for the briefest moment. She had no wish to dwell on wars, but they were hard to divorce from her life at times.

"Once it's on the Internet, it's there forever," Abby said solemnly, in an after-school-special kind of voice. But it was true! She heard it all the time, as if she was going to destroy the Statute of Secrecy with just one tweet about how her butterbeer needed more foam.

Her mood sobered more genuinely as Mrs. Knight mentioned that she was glad to influence the way muggles were treated. "Right. Or if they're naturally curious."

"Do you think that's one of the bigger challenges?" Abby paused to gather her thoughts. "It seems like some witches and wizards see Muggles as just a pair of eyes or ears that could get them into trouble. Do you think a better understanding of muggles, overall, could help minimize the tendency to," she gestured, "go gallivanting on a broom without a thought to consequences?"

"So long as it is also on Snopes we'll manage." Aisling's voice was a bit teasing, though her expression turned a bit more serious once they'd returned to Muggles. The reality of Tarron's position left so many little constraints on just what she could, or should say.

She rested her chin on her hand in thought. "It is a challenge, yes. One can hardly blame them for having eyes and ears, after all. Or for their technological adeptness."

A deep sigh. "A further understanding of Muggles certainly helps us with working with them, to assume they're foolish just creates more issues to resolve. But we've never been quite as capable as I would have hoped at persuading certain witches and wizards to see others as people. Though I'm not certain you wish to hear much of that. It seems rather heavy for Witch Weekly."