The door to Alohomocha burst open as a medium sized blonde witch rushed inside and pulled off the hat that had been shielding her from the rain hammering down in Diagon Alley. The oversized hat was placed upon the cloak stand by the entrance and joined by her jacket before eyes scanned the room for her lunch date. There was only a momentary delay before blue eyes found the head of red hair she’d been seeking and she made her quick way through the maze of tables dotted throughout the busy coffee shop.

Already on the table were two drinks including a steaming hot chocolate for the blonde. There were no thrills upon it, no cream or marshmallows, just nice simple hot chocolate. years ago, Eva’s hot drink of choice had been various varieties of fruit tea, but after the war, she’d found a regular dose of liquid chocolate certainly served its purpose.

“Merlin I’m sorry, Harper.” She apologised, sitting down. “Just as I went to leave my office, Holmes accosted me for something of, what he labelled, extreme urgency. His timing is impeccable.” Time wasn’t wasted as Eva picked up the large mug and brought it to her lips. “I swear he thinks he’s my boss. Wizard needs dragging down to reality.” A large gulp was taken before she finally took in her friend properly. They’d not met in a while, Eva had been quite determined to distance herself from the friend who’d become the lawyer for the man who’d ruined her life. They’d not discussed her meeting with Musgrave and Eva had purposefully stayed away so as to not to feel tempted to ask questions of her friend. Pointlessly sharing opinions about Musgrave could only ruin a friendship they’d established long before her arrest. She’d made a real effort to keep professional about the whole situation, distancing herself from anything to do with dementors or Lawrence Musgrave. Unfortunately, that had meant excuses to miss arranged dinners and meets with Harper.

It was, however, hard to keep away from such an old and close friend when they’d always met so regularly. In truth, Eva missed her.
“You look well, Haich.”

Harper had been enjoying her steaming mocha and leafing through a copy of Witch Weekly when her friend finally arrived. It had been some time since she and Eva had met up - the Minister's assistant being as busy as she was, and level two being swamped with their new intake of student attorneys. Nobody could avoid this time of the year; new blood kept the Ministry on its toes.

       "You look well, Haich."
"Aw, thanks." Harper grinned, putting down her drink. "It was all desk work today."

Which was her way of saying she didn't have to get dressed up for court. As much as she enjoyed that particular thrill, rainy summer days were better spent curled up in the office with legal tomes and visiting her nicer clients with mugs of hot tea or chocolate. And there was the weekend to look forward to.

"You're looking sharp. I take it Holmes didn't really have a matter of extreme urgency?" she drew out the words with a laugh at the end, "I don't think I could stand him any more than I can stand Glass. But what do I know about character?" Harper's eyes gleamed amusedly. "I spend my days with criminals and convicts."

“Oh, I can’t stand him. If he could climb any higher up Glass’s arse, it would be a feat that only Merlin could assist with.” And it felt bloody good to voice it after having just having worked hard to maintain her cool and handle the wizard quickly to be able to get out of the office. Eva had always perhaps had a higher tolerance for such men than Harper did, but then her friend had stuck it out as a lawyer on Level 2, decades after they’d originally started together. Upon her return to England, Eva had wanted nothing to do with her old job’ yet after a few months for working for Glass, she was sorely tempted by a return to it.

Fingers cradled the hot chocolate as she sat forward, elbows resting on the small table between them. “Your judgement is spot on. I’m trying desperately to give our minister the benefit of the doubt.” It was a strange one where Eva agree with her friend’s judgement, having spent years in the past questioning the professional relationships Harper had always built with her clients. They’re methods of getting the job done had been at polar opposites.