Professor Storm descended the stairs into the dungeons, his gait ever so slightly lumpy owing to the cold weather, and his leg which would often be a little stiff in such a climate. Consulting a pocketwatch from his waistcoat pocket beneath his academic robes, his pace quickened, as if the final few metres to the doorway would somehow count for long minutes past dealing with matters that had kept him from her.

A sharp knock upon the wood, he was relieved to hear a voice within allow him entry, and stepped inside briskly, closing the door behind him.
"Professor Di Luca," he addressed the younger professor, even though he knew her forename quite well, it did not seem apt to address her such while apologising, "my apologies for being later than I had hoped to come down to your chambers this evening." He inclined his head ever so politely to her, and then his eyes glanced about the place. It was not often he visited down here.

It was curious to see the place again at first hand, with the latest professor's take on surroundings and arrangement. Each of them had put their own mark on the place, just as he had to his classroom. There were many accounts and tales coming out of these rooms down here though, the Professor was only too well aware. He rather approved of it all, about time another member of the staff put a bit of stick about.

"Lucrezia, thank you for offering again to test these potions from the students. I am very interested to hear your opinion on the quality and potential of the creations, given the circumstances."

Over the weekend he had challenged the NEWT students studying Defence Against the Dark Arts to survive a night in the forest, protecting both themselves from each other, and also an enlarged egg as if they were an incapacitated colleague. They also had to assemble and brew a healing potion from what they could find. With no equipment, they had been purely reliant on what they could conjure - fire, cauldron, tools and more.

The wizard took steady steps across the room, not wishing to draw too close immediately as he had interrupted whatever matters Di Luca had been attending to at this later hour of the evening. His arms hung down by his sides, relaxing now he had reached her, and was not dealing with a prefect dispute with a peer. His eyes were slightly more shadowed than they might usually be, it had been both a long day and he had suffered broken sleep since the weekend challenge. Lethargy did not show in his posture beneath his dark robes. 

Lucrezia's day had been a full and exhausting one, having had classes all day long, essays to grade in between and batches to analyze, sparing her no moment to rest. And, as per usual, once dinner had been done and over with, her door was open to appointed private lessons and matters regarding the class. Currently she was dealing with a struggling third year that showed absolutely no innate predilection towards the subject, but had enough will and ambition that she decided to take him on.

When the knock to the door came, the Potions Mistress was in the middle of explaining why dragon hide gloves were specifically required and not any other sort of gloves, seeing as her student had just managed to burn a hole through his pair while handling a phial of Venomous Tentacula juice. "Enter" she said briskly, glaring at the little third year that was cowering in his seat across her desk.

"Professor Storm" she said in reply, inclining her head, but still eyeing the student with narrowed eyes. "You are not to return here or in class, until you acquire the mandated supplies as specified by the class curriculum and repeated absences will draw unpleasant consequences. Is that understood?" she said glacially, arching an expectant eyebrow until the Gryffindor nodded fervently. "Very well" she concluded in a more relaxed manner. "See that your hand is attended to at the Hospital Hut before returning to your dorms. You are dismissed" she waved her hand towards the door, as the student scurried away, not before greeting the Defense Professor with big, terrified eyes.

Getting to her feet and steeping around her chair, Ezia finally directed her gaze at Ignan Storm and offered him a tight polite smile. "I must also apologize, there was an incident and I'm afraid the lesson dragged a bit longer than usual" she explained with a an impassive face, shaking her head disbelievingly as she watched the door through which the student had just exited. "It's really not a bother at all" she dead-panned, blinking once. It was, of course, she was sure most of them would be absolutely dreadful, but it was her job. "Although I must say that circumstances do not excuse poor results" she jutted her chin forward and quirked an eyebrow, waiting to see if perhaps he had a different opinion.

"But we'll see about that, won't we. Please–" she gestured to a little tea table to the side of the office, where two arm chairs faced each other over the ornate table. While her colleague seated himself, Lucrezia waved her wand to a silver tray on top of the cupboard behind her desk, levitating in arm's reach before taking her seat opposite her colleague. "Coffee? Or tea? However I'm afraid the options are rather limited, since I can only offer Earl Grey" she inquired in a rather bored tone, tilting her chin to the tray. Tea was for washing down vile tasting potions and not much else.

"I hear the NEWT lesson was quite an adventure" she started, pouring in his cup hen filling hers with black, strong coffee. "Now I know Kinsey is by no means a genius, but he's quite accomplished in my class. However did that happen?" On top of all her responsibilities she now had to brew a muscle restorative potion and a variety of other, more mundane potions for the little dimwit. The joy.

The third year student before Lucrezia was receiving an ear-bashing from what the Deputy Headmaster could tell. His arrival in the room seemed to conjure a personal hell for them as they fled from the room to the hospital hut as advised by the younger professor.

Ignan's eyes trailed after the student for a moment before his attention returned to the witch who got to her feet.

"As long as the potion does the job, when you're at death's door, I would be less concerned, but the highest standards in our students are of great importance to me." He assured her over the quality of the potions.

He was invited to take a seat to one side, and nodded politely to Lucrezia's assessment of her limited tea supplies.
"Coffee would do fine, only if you were indulging in one at this hour." He rubbed at the back of his neck a moment before returning his hands to his lap the other side of the table.

"From what we can tell from the accounts and what they could get out of him, it may have been his own doing." Ignan explained of Kinsey, it had been quite a mess, and he had been glad of Tulojow's wisdom and assurances on arriving with him.

"These students are old enough to be out on their own, some of them could be training as hitwizards, so to it them against each other in the dark and the cold, well, they should be ample prepared from my classroom. But one can never protect against pure idiots, of which a percentage of our students are." Perhaps a little unfair to Kinsey, he wasn't an entire idiot, just an unfortunate one.

"Undoubtedly he has concocted an elaborate and rather dashing explanation to tell the girls when he returns to his house." Ignan shrugged, and for that he wouldn't blame Kinsey, what man wasn't prone to a little exaggeration to attract a witch he had his eye on?

"So, did they return dishwater, or were there any credible potions in the batch?" He asked, coming to the point over the steaming coffee. "Or anything close?"

Lucrezia didn't agree with Professor Storm's assessment on a potion's use, but, regardless she nodded with a tight smile in response. Most people tended to forget that potionmaking was an exact art; if one made even the slightest alteration to the movements or spelling of a spell, said spell would fail. And it was exactly the same process with potions. The tiniest variation would produce a botched potion or an entirely different potion.

Crossing her legs, Ezia poured Storm's coffee and then filled her own. "However unhealthy, I find I imbibe more coffee than any other liquids on a daily basis" she offered in a musing voice. It was true... she had five cups a day, and that was on normal days. But with three to four hours of sleep a night, she supposed it made sense. The potions Professor listened to her colleague and nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes, Kinsey does have a way about him when it comes to waving his wand..." Now that she thought better, she did on a few occasions", witness his incompetence in action. And she did, more than agree, that quite a bit of them were ridiculously inept.

She raised a quizzical eyebrow at Professor Storm's deduction that Phillip would brag about his misfortunes. She neither cared nor had any interest in what the Gryffindor did on his own time, but she thought it was common knowledge by now that the bumbling idiot only had eyes for one girl and she was not in his house. Ah, well.

"Some are acceptable brews, but most range from mediocre to poor attempts" she declared with an imperceptible scowl. "And there is one spectacular failure" she narrowed her eyes at her cup, a small hmph escaping her lips. "I don't know whether to reprimand or congratulate whomever has managed the feat of turning a healing potion into quite the poison. Then again, it's not my class to grade" she raised her eyes at her colleague and smiled tightly. With a flick of her wand, a rolled up parchment made its way from her desk to the little table, settling in front of Storm. "A list with the potions and their grading, from T to O–however there isn't a single O in there" she offered as explanation, before taking a sip from her cup.

"I know they're quite a disappointment in Potions, but how did they fare in Defense?" she asked after a moment, curiosity in her features.

The corner of Ignan's mouth curled at Ezia's assessment. Someone else who matched his high standards (or perhaps exceeded them - hers was a far more exact art whereas his was strategy, strength and technique).

"I would have been remarkably surprised to hear if there was an outstanding amongst them, since they had no kitchen to hand, and were without sleep."

He gestured gently to indicate he was not permitting that as an excuse, just that it would explain that they could not be of laboratory standard, especially as some of his students had not elected to continue studying potions to NEWT, and might have had a poorer potions OWL result.

"… but how did they fare in Defense?"

"A considerable number went to ground and stayed out of the other's way. Which was a shame all in all, as they're far too happy to knock seven bells out of each other when they're in my classroom." Ignan explained, raising his eyebrows and giving a small shrug. "I suspect that in the real conditions, away from my guiding eye they were too wary of getting hurt. Pity, I had hoped they'd go rogue. There were scuffles, there and abouts, but I think many of them suffered the cold as it was a heavy frost."

He wasn't overly pleased to be admitting that the overnight hadn't been quite as bloodthirsty as he had been prepared for. Then again, the students were following the line of looking after themselves and staying out of trouble being the best survival route. Perhaps he'd not put them in enough peril after all, but the Tetra-wizard had been doing that, and he could never truly prepare them for everything life would throw at them.

"Nothing that won't get them through their examinations come summer, though. Anyone I suspect otherwise will be brought up to standard, however much they protest." He held out his hand for the list to examine.

"What poison did they manage to create, out of interest?" He asked as his pale eyes ran down the results.

"That sounds rather disappointing, indeed" Ezia agreed with a little sigh. They practically had a go at severely incapacitating each other, but she could see how the spineless little teenagers would leave aside petty grievances in a place such as the Dark Forest. She might even say it was a wise move. "Well, I trust you will instill all the knowledge they require whether they like it or not" she smiled tightly, inclining her head as a sign of respect. That was, after all their job.

"It was a mistake, I assume. And not a very uncommon one at that.... The flowers and leaves of Daucus carota or wild carrot can be used in the treatment of apparent endocrine disorders, especially beneficial to respiration and metabolism. In combination with other plants, it can ease and speed the absorption of a potion containing more powerful healing herbs. In theory, using wild carrot in such a way was actually a commendable effort" she acquiesced and gave credit where it was due, despite the complete failure it had proven in the end.

"On the other hand Anthriscus sylvestris or cow parsley can be used to treat water retention, gastrointestinal disorders, some forms of skin eruption and it also promotes wound healing in combination with more potent herbs. Again, it would've been a fine choice for a healing brew. However—" she stopped to sigh deeply and shake her head sightly.

"Wild carrot and cow parsley also have the misfortune of very closely resembling Conium maculatum" she raised her sight to Storm, staring intently. "Otherwise known as poison hemlock. Surely, you can see how that wouldn't bode well for any concoction" she raised an eyebrow and gave a soft snicker. After a couple of moments, she took another quick sip of her cup and settle it back down on the table, while clearing her throat. "What I did find rather odd, is that normally all these plants produce flowers in late spring and it is the flower that leads to confusion" she said poignantly, watching the Defense Professor intensely.

She could only draw two conclusions: one, that the students were awfully unprepared in Herbology or two, that there was something remiss with the plants in the Forbidden Forest.

Ignan listened politely to Lucrezia's explanation of the plants that looked very similar to each other. Herbology had never been his strongest suit, or his keenest interest, so he had a working knowledge that was probably less detailed than he'd prefer to admit.

He did however recognise hemlock, and nodded in agreement at it being a bad combination for the students to include in their hurry.

"Not all of the students study herbology, or to my knowledge necessary achieved a particularly strong grade at OWL before they stopped." He explained, "though perhaps it is worth a little compulsory herbology for a lesson or two to revise those common poisons, given this has highlighted some patchy knowledge." He tapped a finger to his chin in thought a moment and looked away from Ezia.

"I was less preoccupied with the flora and fauna, and more preoccupied with trying to catch up with them all to see what they were up to. If you have the full breakdown of each of the potions still, I can challenge the students to correct them in a lesson, narrow down if it is theory or practical that is the root of the mistakes."

He sipped his drink a moment and his face creased around the eyes a moment in sudden thought,
"I imagine those of them that study with you also will rue their inaccuracies within your own classroom however. I have heard that some students believe you are now the harder taskmaster of the two of us? While part of me is competitively dismayed, the majority of me admires the fact you uphold the same high standards of these teenagers."

"Identifying common toxic plants, as far as I remember from my own Hogwarts education, is a first and second year Herbology lesson" she said, not entirely pleased with Storm's attempt at excusing what was an inexcusable failure on the students' part. "And I don't know how my predecessors handled their classes, but an antidote for common poisons is on my first years' curriculum, with the compulsory two feet parchment on common poisons and common ingredients found in poisons" she said a little briskly, minutely sketching a scowl.

The lack of information on the subject was not only dangerous to the individuals in cause and anyone involved in the brewing process, but it was also an obvious indignity towards the professors that had done their duty and attempted to instill said knowledge in their thick little heads. Hogwarts had grown complacent and rather lenient from her time as a student. "That won't be necessary, Professor Storm" she said with a rather grim expression. "After this... incident, I've decided a thorough revision lesson is needed for the NEWT classes.

"I can, however, give you a detailed analysis for those that I do not have a responsibility for. NEWT Potions isn't quite for everybody" Lucrezia said with a twitch of her nose, lips set in a tight line. Morgana forbid... There were enough dunderheads in her classes, as it was, she didn't need more. On second thought, she thought a culling was due, seeing as midterms were rapidly approaching. "You imagine rather correctly" Ezia answered with a pleased little smile. Those that had truly failed spectacularly in their task with Professor Storm, were in for a public calling in the next class, and six feet of parchment on the entire healing branch of Potions. Due in a week.

She blinked in confusion at her colleague's next words, only to find herself laughing wholeheartedly, hand coming to cover her face. "Yes, I'd heard a thing or two on the matter. I am thankful for your admiration, which is returned wholeheartedly" she smiled and inclined her head again, raising her cup in salute. "And I'm still'something of a novelty. I'm sure you'll regain your position as hardest taskmaster soon enough" Ezia offered with a serious nod. "Who knows, maybe more will follow the new trend" she mused with an arch of her eyebrow. "There's a lot that could be said on leniency at Hogwarts at the current moment." And it didn't do any good to the students.

Professor Storm received her nod and tone with a nod of his own and the narrowing of the eyes in concentration and consideration of her words.

"A lot that could be said, indeed." He agreed with her observations. "Regrettably with Analiza Snark's disappearance, we were led into this academic year by an unexpected appointment. While he received my wholehearted respect, and support in my appointment as his Deputy, the instability and the unusual arrangement for this year in the castle has led to those cracks widening. All the better for having the likes of Lucrezia Di Luca as a colleague." He afforded the hint of a smirk.

"I imagine come September the faces will have all changed again, by choice, or if I have anything to do with it, a word in the ear of the Governors. Some of them are as scared as the students you know? Remarkably easy to bend to a will." He shook his head slightly and looked back to Di Luca sharply,
"Not that you heard that from me now, Professor."

He glanced back down at the lists between them.
"Have you taught many like Hogwarts students?" He asked her, curiosity getting the better of him. Notes and curriculum vitaes aside, most of his colleagues would vouch some experience one way or another while crowing in the staff room. Di Luca had done less crowing (other than any fine results in discipline and the length of her detention list perhaps, if he listened to others) and more effortless slicing of other Professors in minutely dissecting their arguments in the public domain. It saved him the effort some meetings...

The Potions Mistress arched a curious eyebrow at the compliment, tho the corner of her lips raised a little in acknowledging it as such. She listened attentively, only to sketch a little eye roll at the mention of the board of governors. "My lips are sealed. You can rest assured, Professor Storm" she responded with only the hint of an amused huff.

"I can't say I've been keeping up with the... politics of Hogwarts" she replied matter of factly. She hadn't and she never would. "Personally, I am of the opinion that politics and education shouldn't mix. Quite on the contrary, I think it's rather dangerous to do so" she mused absently, shaking her head a little. "Politics are a popularity contest, I'd even go as far as to say a pageant" she snorted a little, before her face grew closed and tight as she turned her face back towards her colleague. "But it sure does explain how Hogwarts has gotten here" she smiled tightly and took another sip of her cup.

"Quite honestly, no" she responded with a long sigh. "I've had apprenticeships all over the world, wanting to keep my knowledge exact and accurate and diverse. It's why my studies have lasted for 3 decades" she started explaining, eyes scanning the bookcases lining the walls of her office. "Seeing as I was more trained than most other apprentices, my masters often passed the responsibility of the younger or newest apprentices to me" Ezia said with a little shrug. "So, no, I haven't. I'm used to teaching students of a higher caliber, but most importantly, I'm used to teaching students that truly want to learn and have sought the opportunity of being taught out of their own volition and at great effort" she said airily, smiling a little sadly at Storm. Landing an apprenticeship with the master potioneers she had studied under and with, was not, by all means, an easy task.

"Hence, why I push the children so far. They have the opportunity to study under some of the most accomplished witches and wizards-" she said with a little frown, knowing that was highly debatable "-in the entirety of UK and most of them don't even realize it until it's too late or simply don't have the capacity to understand how this is the chance of a lifetime" she shrugged, placing her empty cup on its saucer. "There is such an impressive amount of knowledge in the world and so little time to learn it all" she exhaled loudly and rearranged her position.

"And you, Professor? Had a lot of the likes of Hogwarts students?" she asked with a soft chuckle.

It was curious to hear that Ezia had not done a huge amount of teaching large numbers of students before now. It went some way to explaining her methods, and also the reaction from the students.

Earlier that month, Cyhirae Trishna had sought him out[1], not entirely unusual considering Ignan's relations with the Trishna family as a whole.

She had been most curious to try and find out why Ezia had joined the Hogwarts staff, claiming the witch didn't want to teach. Ignan had lightly defended her, though at the time he knew only a limited amount about his colleague. This information linked a few pieces of the jigsaw together well.

"And you, Professor? Had a lot of the likes of Hogwarts students?" Di Luca asked with a chuckle.

"Hmph," Ignan replied, mirroring her humour in the question without consciously aiming to.

"Just short of a decade, as it happens. I cam to teaching late in my years in comparison to many of our colleagues. Inevitable though, my father was a teacher also.

"I was awful first few years at Durmstrang, but I think you'd probably prefer to teach there. They encourage Professors to mentor particular students who show merit in their subjects, for private study. The ethic of study for professional gain is a lot more acute. You may have even noticed it amongst those in your lessons." 

He gestured towards her as he explained, and then relaxed his shoulders back gently,
"and then I moved here, just after the start of the last academic year." He nodded to himself as he recalled the time, and then softened his voice a little, though he didn't mean for his words to come across as patronising, rather more sympathetic to a common cause instead.

"It will get easier, you know, teaching. You'll find a mutual ground eventually, bend their will to improve things, deal with the lost causes as necessary. It takes some time to rebuild those foundations and get them used to your methods."

1.	Through the Looking Glass

Lucrezia's smile grew a fraction bigger at Storm's response. It was good to know she was not alone in her views on Hogwarts and its students. "Running in the family, does it?" she said with the hint of a smile and eyebrows arched in question. That must've been nice. Surely, there had  been a measure of support from his family in his chosen career. As opposed to hers. She frowned momentarily, but soon waved it off in deference to paying attention to her colleague's words.

She nodded her agreement, nose twitching a little. "Hogwarts wouldn't have been my first choice, but my research has been keeping me in England for the past four years. And seems like it will still have a hold on my location for a bit more" she said with a long sigh, one gloved hand rubbing at her temple. She'd hit a bump with her research and had been stuck for close to half a year now. There was also the issue of her manuscript reaching close to 2000 pages right now, which was nowhere near acceptable for publishing. With the growing responsibilities at Hogwarts it didn't seem to be getting any easier, either.

"I certainly hope so. I'm still in the... weeding stage" the professor said with a small smile, congratulating herself for the choice of words. "That seems to be the main issue, however. There's not much foundation to build from. I heard there's been quite... a few changes in the Potions position in recent years. It's only normal for the students to be as they are" she sketched a small scowl. "Routine is just as important as diligence and resolve are to the learning process.

"That's why I'm pushing the younger ones so hard. There's still hope for them. As for the NEWTs" she let out a loud breath and raised her shoulders a little. "I suppose there's not much more I can do for them, but attempt to fill in some blanks and work more closely with those that appear truly interested in the matter."

Ezia remained silent for a few moments, refilling her cup with a wave of her wand and inquiring whether to do the same for her colleague, with a questioning nod of her head. "Do you enjoy it? Teaching?" she asked after a few moments, note of something... different in her tone.

Ignan nodded at her explanations of what she was attempting to do with the students in the state she found them.

"No one gets left behind, well, in an ideal world. We know the reality is that the buggers decide whether they put the effort in on the day. Can lead a horse to water…" Yes, he and Lucrezia seemed to be on the same page, which was very good to hear indeed. Since Hildegard's departure from the History of Magic post, he'd begun to wonder if the younger faces and their more sympathetic 'touchy-feely' approaches to teaching would drive him out. There was hope yet.

"Do you enjoy it? Teaching?"

"Heh," Ignan replied, not meeting her eyes. This was a question he considered many a time himself.

"I never thought I would, no, but there is a certain satisfaction, yes. It is a vocation, for sure, but it's one that I am more open to at this point in my life than I ever was as a young man." He glanced up and about himself.

"There are days i curse it, but I know that I'd miss it if I moved on, in one form or another." His gaze finally returned to Lucrezia and he gave her a wistful smile for the briefest of moments.

"I don't let the little idiots know this, nor do you, I understand. Don't care too much, that's our strength. Instil the values and the expectations of life in these youngsters, and they'll thank you in years to come, and realise when they reflect. Those that don't, well, can't win them all, they were probably lost causes."

However futile enforcing curfews and quiet and polite behaviour could seem some days, the discipline, the structure for these spotty, confused children was an investment for the future, and he couldn't deny he delighted in the odd opportunity to hex the buttocks of those who misbehaved and chase them down the corridor as they shrieked.

"What gets you out of bed and to your classroom every morning then? Or is it wearing out the longer you're here?" He asked in return nearing the end of his cup, and wondering if he should bid her goodnight soon, so she could finish her evening work that he'd interrupted.

Lucrezia nodded her acknowledgement at his words. It was true that, in the end, their ability to teach depended solely on their students' willingness to learn. It was a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless. Instructors of Storm's and her own methods didn't seem to be quite getting through to the younger generations nowadays. Most everyone was of the opinion children should be coddled and professors caring - be a friend to them. But Ezia never saw that as a proper environment for learning.

The Defense professor appeared to think the subject of his enjoyment of teaching one that was rather complex, and upon further listening, Lucrezia found herself, yet again, in agreement with his words. "I find myself more frustrated than content with it most of the time" she said with a little scowl, followed by a sigh. "I've had precisely one student, back in Sicily, that went out of his way to thank me for my instruction. He went on to do great things in the field of healing potions" she said musingly, as if back in that moment. "But for that one single student to succeed in such a way following my teachings... it was rather fulfilling" the Potions Professor said in a strange voice, as if just now realizing the fact for herself.

Raising her eyes to him, she chuckled softly, wholeheartedly agreeing on the lost causes. And so many of them, at that. But she had always strongly believed that brewing was not for everybody. Quite on the contrary, potions were only for those select few that had both the intrinsic capability to put together things that were useless on their own and create brews with as many applications that one could possibly muster to imagine, as well as the diligence, control and willingness to always learn new things required to succeed in the field.

Her colleague's question came rather abruptly and for a moment she debated whether she hadn't bared enough of herself for the moment or not...Sooner or later, she supposed, word would get out anyway. "Truthfully, I didn't take the position here out of a passionate calling for teaching" she started, looking away absently. As if anybody could say otherwise. She didn't particularly dislike it, but neither did she take great pleasure in it. "I suppose you could say I ran away from some... familial matters" she scowled minutely. "And being here, both allows me to keep away from that matter and continue my research undisturbed" she admitted with a little shrug. Which was all she really wanted, honestly.

"But, as tedious as it can be, you could say it's growing on me. It's certainly something to be here again on the other side of the barricade" Lucrezia smirked playfully. Hogwarts hadn't been a very pleasing experience for her as a child. Aside from the opportunity to learn new things, she had never seen it as a home or a place of comfort. But it seemed different now, and things were looking up.

"I'm afraid our discussion has kept you past the proper hour" she finally realized, eyes passing over the mantle clock in the corner of the room. "I enjoyed our conversation, Hogwarts is still quite the mystery to me and having some inside knowledge can only work to my benefit" Lucrezia smiled politely.

Each to their own with reasons for running away to teaching. It wasn't always a light decision, certainly not once faced with a room full of disengaged students to inspire and capture the attention of.

"To tell you a secret," The white-haired professor replied softly, drawing himself up as if to leave "Hogwarts is a mystery to us all."

Straightening the cup on his saucer to a pleasing angle to the teaspoon, he inclined his head to her in acknowledgement.

"Thank you for the impeccable analysis of the potions, Lucrezia, and for your time this evening. Should I be of assistance to you in return, you know where to find me."

Drawing the chair away, he stood and carefully scooped up the paperwork between them, before bidding one of his favourite colleagues goodnight.


End