It was a strange feeling walking into Level Two after so long time away. It still felt like home, but different in a way. Eight months away from the Ministry and his desk was just enough to make the familiar feel somewhat strange. People were bustling about as normal - some were chatting by the large enchanted map; a witch was making coffee in the corner; interdepartmental memos were flying above people’s heads. Omari had missed the Auror Office.

In January his mother had given him a suggestion - she was travelling back to South Africa for work with the Ministry, and had asked Omari if he wanted to come along. It was a long trip, but it would give him some time to both see the country, and meet the Aurors working in the South African Ministry of Magic. Even though he was officially on holiday leave from work, he spent many days working alongside his South African brethren.

Whilst he had been in the country he had also made sure he’d visit the goblins who had made his leg. They had been reluctant to help him at first, and they had tried to outsmart him to get the leg back. But Omari, being who he is, had stood is ground, and the hesitant goblins had finally agreed to fix the part where the artificial leg met his stump. Hopefully it wouldn’t hurt anymore.

With a smile and a small sigh he walked over, towards his desk. The clank of his foot was heard clearly over the chatter of the people, his red coat was billowing behind him, and his skin an even darker shade from tanning. He felt content, and more than ready to get to work.

Auror Warrington was back.

"Did you think you could sneak back in without one of these?" A voice said in Omari's ear. Andromeda issued Auror Warrington with a sudden hug. She was on her boot tiptoes. She was really pleased he was back. Omari was one of the best aurors she worked with. He worked hard and played hard. He had a super laugh. His wand was quick. He was always brave. They had missed him loads. Andie had missed him more than that. "Spill!! How was your sabbatical? What the heck have you been up to? Thank you for the postcards."

As Fauna was making coffee in the corner, she stifled a yawn, hearing a strange noise underneath the fluttering of memos and mutterings of the Aurors on Level Two.

Thunk. Thunk.

Wait. She knew that noise! She turned, craned her neck, and almost burned her hand at the sight of Auror Warrington returned to his desk. How long had it been since he'd left for South Africa? Over half a year!

Fauna smiled. She supposed she could forgive him for leaving her with all the non-Hufflepuff alumni. As Auror Gamp tackled him with a hug, Fauna hesitated for just a moment. She didn't want to intrude on the aurors reuniting, yet he had always made her feel welcome on Level Two.

She walked on over, grinned shyly, and offered him a cup of coffee. "Yes, spill. Er, just not the cup."

Omari accepted Andromeda’s hug with a smile and warmth. She had missed the Auror - she was one of his closest friends at work and they had been through a lot together. As they let go from the hug, he playfully ruffled the witch’s hair.

“Spill! How was your sabbatical? What the heck have you been up to?”

“Well,” Omari started. “I’ve been up ter a lot. I guess yer know a little bit, since yer got me postcards!”

Just as he was about to ask where Andromeda would like him to start, Fauna arrived, carrying a steaming hot cup of coffee. Omari, happy to see her, accepted the cup, sat it down on the closest table and hauled her into a bear hug. She was only a trainee, and Omari knew some people might think that the trainee’s shouldn’t be as included until they were full-fledged aurors, but Omari thought differently. He had been in her shoes, and knowing that she was, just like him, a Hufflepuff alumni, he didn’t think she cared.

He set Fauna down, grabbed his cup of coffee, and took a swig, before he turned back to the two witches with a broad smile.

“I hope yer been givin’ Pratt hell whilst I’ve been gone,” he said. “What do yer want to hear aboot first?”

Raine was resigned to the fact that all the first year trainees were going to be given the most boring work, when they weren't actually training. In some ways she could understand the reasoning - if nothing else it helped acquaint her with all the other people who worked on level 2, such as its administrative staff. The grease on which the machinations of their department functioned. She was just getting back from filing a backlog of old investigations in the records room, when she noticed a small commotion in the Auror's bullpen.

At first Raine didn't recognise the face. It was only when she approached them that she spotted the one-leg, which jogged her memory. This was Omari Warrington! The others had told her about him; and shown her the postcards.

He'd gone a long way and back.

             "I hope yer been givin’ Pratt hell whilst I’ve been gone. What do yer want to hear aboot first?" the wizard was saying when Raine joined them at the desk and stood next to Fauna - a little uncertain.

"Start with the most dangerous thing that happened to you," she interrupted with a nervy smile before adding, much more politely: "Hello. Raine Almasy, trainee. I've heard a lot about you."

"You are the only one who sends me postcards Warrington. Still up in my cubicle." Andie said. She pointed. "Yeah Almasy is fresh out of Hogwarts. But do not underestimate her." Andromeda said. It sounded like she meant big praise. She winked. "She can quiver a quill like a Level One secretary." She slapped Raine on the arm. The newbies all did admin. "Better than making coffee." She said. "Blake knows." Andromeda laughed. She was happy because Omari was back. Back before his birthday. That meant drinks.

A hug! Fauna turned bright red, let out a startled squeal, and patted his back in a friendly gesture. She grinned, glancing around as he set her down. If any of her housemates had seen that...

Fauna remembered the day his postcard had arrived in the spring. He'd written her about a quidditch game he'd seen, and a muggle town, and had seemed to sense that Pratt was infuriating her from all the way over in Durban. Fauna did not care an iota about quidditch, and had little idea what he was talking about there, but she'd paraded the postcard around the Radford estate, waving it at Penny, Theta, and Grace with a girlish squeal. Omari Warrington inspired fangirling and girlish squealing, what could she say.

"And hex with the best of them," Fauna complimented Raine with a smile at Gamp, the refreshingly blunt auror.

"You traveled all over, right? What was your favorite town?"

Omari didn’t recognise the third witch to join the group, and after she spoke the first sentence he had a moment of being petrified that he had forgotten her name. That was something that usually always came natural to Omari - if he met them before and had a conversation with them he would remember them. But, as the witch introduced herself as being one of the new trainees he sighed internally.

With a broad smile he took Raine’s hand in both of his and shook them invitingly.

“Nice ter meet ye Raine,” he said, and as the other two Aurors complimented how well Raine was doing, he released her hand. “I hear yer settlin’ in alright. Welcome ter level two!”

He grabbed the cup of coffee on the desk and took a sip, peering around the office. It all looked the same to him. Yes, the wanted posters, the maps connected to current cases, and some of the pictures on people’s desks had changed, but all in all it looked like it had done when he left back in January.

He set the cup back at the desk and smiled excitedly at Fauna as she asked her question.

“Aye, I’ve been all over South Africa,” he said, his eyes glinting. “I even managed to see those bloody goblins who made me leg way back when. They finally agreed to fix it, after some persuasion.”

He grabbed the chair by the closest desk, sat down, and knocked on his knee with a wink. A metallic sound could clearly be heard over the bustle of the surrounding cubicles.

But ter answer yer question - me favourite part was probably in Namaqua. I got ter help the aurors down there on one of their cases. Very exitin’! But enough aboot me, how yer all been?”

            "...do not underestimate her. She can quiver a quill like a Level One secretary."

"Better than!" Raine interjected, rolling her eyes in mock pride at Auror Gamp's quip. She couldn't argue against it anyway: the trainees definitely got more than their fair share of paperwork to do, all those essays at Hogwarts paying off. Warrington seemed to understand this, and she smiled at his welcome to level two. It was strange to think it had only been a few months since she started here!

Warrington sat down as he told them about his trip. Oh... so it was a metal leg. That was interesting. Raine was curious to see what Omari was like, in action. It couldn't be easy for him but she doubted he was encumbered by it to a noticeable extent. Auror work was life and death so he couldn't afford to be. Not to mention, his travels abroad didn't exactly sound sedate.

            "But enough aboot me, how yer all been?"

"We've had Dementor troubles since that business in Keswick, mostly." Raine replied, perfunctory - her one track mind focused on level two news. "Shame, too. It was going to be a nice summer, remember?[1]" she glanced at Gamp and Fauna.

1.	Last Stretch of Summer - 1st August

"'Nice' summer." Andie said. She made air quotes. "You chose a good time to go sabbatical." She said to Omari. It was little sarcastic. She could not be mad at Omari. "Dementors. Kids missing but appeared. Vampires drank some Muggles. New Minister. Musgrave been in cells 4 months..." She was going to say about Ira Almasy. She remembered herself. Raine would not bring up Mortimer. She would not bring up Ira. "Spare you details now." Andie gripped Omari's shoulder. "Need a drink. Eventful. But we are all alive. You are back. World is good again." She let go of Omari. "Tell me you learned some new wandless stuff. I am working on mine."

Fauna glanced sympathetically at his knee, glad the goblins had fixed it. She could only imagine the amount of haggling that must have required.

At Gamp's question about wandless magic, Fauna nodded. "Reveal your secrets to us trainees? I need all the help I can get the next time Pratt starts an impromptu duel."

She raised her eyebrows at Raine, her comrade in that particular adventure[1].

"Or did you learn any new Quidditch moves watching the game in Kroonstad?" Fauna smiled, glancing again at Raine, who might actually want to know about the Quidditch match. Fauna still didn't care one iota, but she wanted to acknowledge the postcard Warrington had sent her and enjoyed catching up now that he was back.

1.

Readiness

“Aye,” Omari replied as Andromeda squeezed his shoulder. “Ah’ve been practicin’, but it ain’t easy. Find it harder ter focus without me wand.”

He waved his hands in the air, as if pretending to do magic. Andromeda was right to ask though - he had seen a lot of wandless magic in South Africa, and he had asked to be tutored in it. He had never really given it much thought when it was discussed during his time at Hogwarts, but seeing the witches and wizards and what they were able to do without their wands had encouraged him to try.

But it was harder than it looked, and Omari had been struggling quite a bit.

“Not sure I’m cut out fer wandless magic, mind you,” he said with a smile towards Fauna. “So I’m not sure if I’m the right teacher for ya lot.”

“As fer the Quidditch,” he continued. “It was something I haven’t seen before. And in broad daylight! Don’t ask me what the moves were called, Ah don’t know. But ya should see it for yerself. I’ll see if I can get a recording of it from somewhere.”

He shifted on the desk and took a sip of his coffee.

“How’s Ed been with ya?” he looked firstly to Fauna, then to Raine. Milly could handle herself, he knew that, but in the case of the other two he wasn’t so sure.

Wandless magic, from what her aunt Ira had ever mentioned, was extremely difficult to learn. Raine was impressed that Omari had even tried his hand at it - he was clearly very adventurous. South Africa was a part of the world she knew little about, save for its turbulent history. She'd only ever been around Europe, so it was easy to look interested in the conversation. And he was nice! A reprieve from the grumpier, older Aurors.

             “How’s Ed been with ya?”

Speaking of grumpy old Aurors. Raine exchanged a look with Fauna, one corner of her lips turning up into a wry smile.

"Alright, I suppose, if what I've seen of his temper is the norm..." she glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the bullpen to make sure the devil in question wasn't around to overhear. "He's really fond of Vertigio. And looking irate. I think he actually likes being annoyed."

"I wouldn't know what the quidditch moves are, either," Fauna smiled at Warrington. "Back in school, the Hufflepuff team lost a few players once and needed me to stand in. Helga help them! I only know moves like duck, cringe, and hit bludger but lose bat."

Fauna caught Raine's look and nodded in sympathy. "I hate that spell so much. And the annoyance goes both ways."

She angry-sipped at her coffee, then her face softened.

"Still, in a way, he's helpful. I compare how annoyed I am at him to how annoyed I am at a prisoner. Usually he wins out. Which helps me remain calm, because if I can deal with Pratt, I can deal with anyone," Fauna half-joked, remembering how she'd handled her talk with Musgrave.

Andromeda let the trainees answer.
"Pratt has put them through their paces." She said to Omari. "He still makes out he hates being Head Auror. He loves it. He should stop pretending." Andie laughed. Pratt just wanted to order people around. But do no paperwork. Like every auror!
Fauna was nearly qualified. "Until it is personal huh?" Andie said. Family was the hardest in this job. "Keep the optimism." She slapped Blake's arm. It was harder than she meant.