1:05 p.m.

Moira stood at the counter of a small, hole-in-the-wall style restaurant perusing the menu. The main lunch hour having passed the establishment was empty other than herself, the staff, and one other couple still eating at a corner table. From the window sunshine lit the tidy interior which maintained a cozy feeling while still providing enough space so its customers did not feel enclosed.

The young witch had never eaten here before. While working earlier that month Moira overheard some fellow employees discussing places to eat and this particular restaurant stayed in her mind.

Today was a good day to retreat away from the busyness at the ranch for a short reprieve. Preparations were already being made for the upcoming holidays, both at ranches and shops. Some employees were taking vacation time this month to get ready for all the people who succeeded in getting time off during December. Another ranch hand had warned her work would start getting tough time-wise. It was a good thing Moira enjoyed the work.

Finally making a decision Moira ordered her food and paid, waiting at one of the empty tables until it was ready, enjoying the rest. Days had been passing rapidly since Halloween, and not just because of work. Almost all of her free time had been taken up between the animals and getting her brand new cottage gift from a certain Schlagenweit prepared. The plumbing had finished being set up so there was running water. The only thing left was everything else; painting, furnishing, moving Casper's[1] habitat, decorating, and making it otherwise livable.

Who just gave away a full cottage like that? Some people had too much money.

1.	Moira's pet Niffler

Life was good. Fauna had the whole day off, the air outside was cold but fresh, and Pez had not chewed on her mittens or hat this morning. She hunched happily in her floppy cupcake-hat and matching mittens, her red peacoat the only dash of formality. Fauna had bought it a year ago, longing for actual red Auror robes.

On her day off, she thought she'd take a walk in one of the wizarding neighborhoods she didn't often get to frequent, and see what she felt like doing. Maybe surprise her gran with a visit. Maybe plan the next big Level Two prank (with help from Abby). Maybe stop by a certain history museum to see a certain witch.

Maybe coffee and a snack, first. Fauna walked in, glanced at the counter, and at the mostly empty seating area. Was that Moira McBoid at one of the small tables near the window? She raised her hand in a little half-wave.

"Moira, hi."

She smiled shyly and walked over. Fauna didn't know her very well, but she seemed like a steady, serious sort. Truly Hufflepuff. Uh oh. Fauna hoped Moira didn't hate her for dragging Figaro in for questioning very recently.

"How are you? Are you here on your lunch break?" She tilted her head, and lowered her voice in the quiet of the restaurant.

Relaxing into her natural slouchy state, she tugged on the strap of her purse as if it were a heavy school bag and adjusted it over her shoulder. Her eyes scanned the restaurant, looking over the two people finishing their lunch, and overhearing the staff cracking jokes in the back kitchen. All was well here, but constant vigilance!

All planning thoughts and ideas of what needed to be done slipped to the back of Moira's mind as Fauna, a former housemate greeted her. Seeing anyone she knew out and about was always a surprise.

When her fellow Hufflepuff asked if she was on her lunch break Moira nodded and gave the brilliant response of, "Aye." Maybe not so brilliant.

"Work's gotten busier this month. It's hard to find any free time now. How about you?" Moira didn't want the other witch to think she didn't want company. Back when they attended Hogwarts she had been particularly adamant on keeping to herself.

The last time the two of them had met had been at Sasha's halloween party a few eeks prior, where Fauna had looked disappointed every time someone mentioned her costume. Moira hadn't gotten the reference for the costume either of course, but Fauna had looked lovely.

"Have a seat if you like."

Moira greeted her with her usual brevity, and Fauna felt torn between wishing she could borrow some of that stoicism for her job, and wishing she knew what the Hufflepuff was thinking. Still, Moira did follow up with a question, and she seemed like the type of person who wouldn't ask any questions if she didn't actually want to know the answer.

"Right, you're at Xavier's menagerie. Er, Wentworth Menageries."

Something like that.

"I have the whole day off," she raised her eyebrows. Yes, it surprised her too. Yes, it was the most amazing thing. "I thought I'd wander, you know, aimlessly. Get out of the house for a bit."

Fauna smiled at Moira's invitation, and set her hat and mittens on the opposite chair. "Ok! If you're sure. I'm just going to grab a coffee." She shrugged off her red coat to reveal a giant yellow sweatshirt dress. "Did you want a coffee or anything?"

She waited a moment for her answer, and then went up to the empty counter. The employees were still in the kitchen. Fauna cleared her throat. Nope, nothing.

"Hello?" Fauna called softly, leaning to the side and peering across the counter into the window of the kitchen door. She waited a moment. Then waved. Waved again. Someone noticed her just as she was starting to blush, and out came the barista to take her order.

Fauna ordered a caramel latte and a cinnamon muffin for herself, and as she waited for her coffee, she brought the muffin to Moira's table.

"Halloween feels like it just happened days ago," she rested her chin in one hand, picking at a bit of the muffin and popping it in her mouth. "Yet so much has happened since then," she mused aloud. "That was a fun party though. Creative. And everyone was there."

She couldn't help but sound a bit surprised. Who would have thought? Sasha the party host, bringing together dozens of friends from all walks of life.

Moira nodded in confirmation about where she worked. It was still difficult to think of Xavier as her boss. Especially since she never saw him. The managers who had been working the business for so long were the ones who ran everything.

When asked about a coffee Moira declined, explaining she already ordered and was just waiting on the delivery.

As Fauna waved her hands trying to get someone's attention Moira watched in amusement. When she arrived she had stared at the back of the staff's heads and willed someone to notice her. The tactic had worked for her and might have for Fauna, but then again not everyone could stare with the same intensity as she. Years of practice had gone into its development.

"Feels like more than a couple weeks to me."

Holidays, she was quickly learning, were not a time for relaxation. Several times already she had been pulled to help at one of the breeding facilities because someone couldn't make it. Until after the new year things were only going to get worse, she was told.

Excusing herself for a moment Moira went to get her food when her name was called. When she sat back down she added, "It was a fun evening though. Sasha outdid himself as usual."

"Mmhmm," Fauna nodded, and finished her bite of cinnamon muffin. "I hope he does it again next year."

Her expression turned a touch wistful. She hoped she was invited. She didn't expect or even necessarily want the close friendship that he and Moira had, but it was nice just to be in the periphery of the group without the resentment and anger she'd felt towards Sasha a few years ago.

Shortly after Moira fetched her food, the barista called out another name.

"Flaca?"

Fauna blinked, making eye contact with Moira.

"Flanna?"

She widened her eyes slightly and whispered, "It's Flora," as she rose from the table, smiling, then looking awkward as she realized that Moira might not be aware of the thousands of nicknames that Level Two had given her, Flora the favorite out of all of them.

Fauna-Flora took her coffee from the barista without comment, and snagged another napkin before settling back at table.

Moira agreed by nodding. Another Halloween party by Sasha the following year would be nice and maybe she wouldn't have to work the day after next time. In such an instance she could stay longer, drink more, and watch the people around her.

Frowning slightly as the barista kept calling her housemate's name wrong she glanced over. Fauna wasn't that difficult of a name to pronounce. It certainly wasn't any more difficult than her own, at any rate, and few had this much trouble.

Moira blinked and stared at Fauna's back after hearing her comment as she retrieved the coffee. That was certainly an interesting response. Her curiosity got the better of her while Fauna settled back into her seat. "Flora?" There was no way a story didn't go along with that nickname.

"Oh, uh, the Aurors call me that." She gave a self deprecating shrug and smile., "Well, Pratt, my boss, calls me that and some of the other Aurors do too, as a joke. I'm pretty sure he knows my real name," she frowned. "I mean, fairly certain. Hm."

She sipped her coffee contemplatively. Yum, caramel!

"He's not the best with names, so who knows," she added wryly. He got Blake right, at least. Maybe she ought to sneak a peak at one of his reports to Carstairs and check if he called her Flora or Fauna or Always-a-Trainee-Never-an-Auror-Blake.

Fauna tilted her head at Moira. "Has there been time at your job yet, for your coworkers to find ways to poke fun at you?"

She offered an amused, even sympathetic smile, and wondered to herself if Moira's coworkers dared! She seemed the sort to not appreciate teasing, from what Fauna knew of her so far.

Moira nodded slowly at Fauna's explanation. Teasing or not, when someone continually got another's name wrong, especially if on purpose and by one's boss, seemed a rather rude offense to her.

Fauna didn't seem to mind being called by the wrong name, though, or maybe she was just used to it. Being able to joke about such things certainly helped keep matters light.

At Fauna's question Moira shook her head some. "No, not really. I stay focused on the job." After taking a bite of food and swallowing she added, "Most don't know what to think of me. A few are possibly intimidated."

There was also the consideration that playing around in an office building of people was much different than on a ranch where one was surrounded by creatures both magical and non that could kill a person. Staying aware of the surroundings was important. Moira still preferred the ranch to an office. Creatures in general were honest and incapable of lying unlike people who had their own goals and agendas.

Not all people were bad, of course, but learning who to trust could sometimes be quite the headache. Fauna seemed okay at the moment.

"Oh," Fauna raised her eyebrows, surprised. She thought that all jobs involved some amount of teasing, at least from what she'd seen at the Ministry. She'd been prepared to launch into a rant about how Xavier had better be behaving himself, unable to separate her experiences at school from the nicer side she'd seen at Spellpunk with Raine.

"I mean, I can't see why they'd be intimidated. You're not rude to anyone."

She was polite, just not incredibly friendly, and that was okay. Moira seemed content more than most people to just sit and be. Fauna took a bite of her muffin, and dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, and ventured another question.

"Do you like it so far? Do you like the quiet, or do you sorta wish they'd distract you more?"

She smiled hesitantly, then took a sip of her coffee, hoping she wasn't prying.

Fauna's sentiment was appreciated though Moira didn't show it. Judging by how others interacted, her body language telling people to stay away and leave her alone could be interpreted as rude. It was certainly unsocial and the young witch made no apologies. There were few people she would stop and take extra time for.

Moira glanced up at her next question, "I like being able to focus on the job, especially with sensitive creatures like winged horses." Accidents could happen with even the most trusted of pets, the differences being the size of the animal and their natural defensive and offensive tools. A small house cat could seriously hurt a person if their claws or teeth hit a vital spot though the chances of that were low. A horse just had to rear up on its hind legs and a person could be hospitalized or worse.

"Does that mean you like distractions or would you prefer to have fewer? You deal with more people than I do."

"It seems safer that way," Fauna nodded in understanding. Moira gave every indication of being a focused sort of person. A Hufflepuff dedicated to the job.

Sipping at her coffee, she glanced to the side for a moment, thinking that people could be just as sensitive to perceived threats as winged horses were. A different type of creature, a different type of dangerous. Still, it must be refreshing to work with animals and learn their habits and better understand them. It was a good thing that Moira's fellow magizoologists let her handle her responsibilities in relative peace and quiet, as Fauna could imagine that Moira would learn a lot if given the time.

"It depends on the distraction, you know?" Fauna chuckled at Moira's phrasing, surprised but glad she was making conversation. "Um, I mostly like distractions. I'm more shy than quiet."

She demonstrated by cradling her coffee cup close to her face, peeking over it and widening her eyes a bit. Moira might remember how awkward she'd been at Hogwarts, stammering and doubting herself and ducking behind her more outgoing friends. Some things never changed, but Fauna had grown up a lot since then.

"There's a hierarchy to Level Two that took some getting used to," Fauna admitted. Pratt still had to remind her to call him sir, though honestly, she had no problem remembering with the other Aurors. "But from what I understand, it's much more relaxed than it was years ago. Trainees and Aurors all go out in a group for drinks - er, recently, anyway," she smiled, remembering her evening at the pub with Raine and Roh. "We all prank each other, I just don't always own up to the pranks," Fauna sipped at her coffee and adopted a neutral expression. "So it's a good thing, overall. I think we sort of have to be tight knit to deal with the stress."

She smiled at Moira again, an apologetic twist to it. She didn't mean to be that person who always talked about work.

"I don't know what I'd do without my friends outside of work though, and my family," she paused. When she wasn't hauling in her friends for questioning. When she wasn't lying to her step-family about her career. She shook her head slightly, and focused on Moira.

"You're close to yours? Uh, your family," she tried to remember exactly what she'd once overheard in the common room and from Fig and Sasha and Abby. Moira had grown up on a farm with her father and anther relative, she thought.

"You help them out on their farm too, right?" In addition to working! During the Halloween party, Fauna recalled that someone, maybe Abby, had kept encouraging Moira to move in with friends. That did sound like Abby.

Fauna preferring distractions only made sense. Law enforcement, from what she had heard and the little she had seen, was extremely stressful and taxing. Going out for drinks and pranking each other sounded like a good way to de-stress. Such a life wouldn't suit Moira - she had never cared for either causing or being on the receiving end of a prank - but for people like Blake, Almasy, and Abby it probably worked out very well. Though she had to wonder, who would dare prank Almasy?

While Blake was talking Moira focused on eating her lunch, still listening. Because she stayed past the end of her shift almost every day she had the feeling her supervisor wouldn't mind her being late in getting back. Except doing so was something she couldn't allow to happen in good conscious. The main reason for working so late had to deal with her dislike on leaving a task unfinished for someone else to take care of.

When asked about her closeness to her family and helping with the farm Moira nodded, "Aye. I still live there so it's kind of natural. To the closeness and helping out, I mean." She knew for someone her age it was slightly odd. Moving away wasn't an option, though, with her self-imposed responsibilities to the farm. Sasha knew that, so he had gifted her the cottage. Ridiculous a gift as it was.

Moira's life consisted of work, possibly an addiction, with a few forced outings by her friends that usually ended up being fun and enjoyable. Today's lunch break was spontaneous. Most days she found a quiet corner to eat in peace while she read. Usually the books she read retained to magizoology and different creatures.

"Any big plans for the rest of your day off besides aimless wandering and shop browsing?" Moira's days off consisted of, unsurprisingly, more work albeit at a slower pace. Considering what others did on their days off hadn't crossed her mind before.

"I'm sure your family appreciates it," Fauna nodded, not surprised that Moira lived at home. If Fauna didn't have a dozen flatmates to split the rent with in London, she might still be living in the cozy little home in the cozy little village she'd grown up in, with her mum worrying every time she got home late, and her gran full of excited questions about the Ministry. She loved her family, but thank Merlin that wasn't the case!

She finished the last of the cinnamon muffin and was considering something more substantial when Moira wondered what else she had planned.

"Hmm," Fauna sipped at her coffee. "I might pick up some takeout later and stop at my sister's, if she's not busy. She lives in London. Her name is also Moira," she smiled at the girl.

"Or I could apparate to Devon and surprise my mum," she shrugged one shoulder. Moira mentioning family had reminded her just how long it had been since she'd visited. "She's always working. I could convince her to take a break. Though the last time I did that," Fauna hesitated, unsure how much Moira wanted to know, "my mum's fiancé, who doesn't know about magic yet, was surprised and confused by how I could just zip over from London so easily. He offered to drive me to the train station on my way back, and you know, I didn't want to be rude. And then he waited, considerately, as I uh, boarded the train."

Fauna widened her eyes, "I tried apparating from the tiny loo compartment and nearly splinched myself when the train started moving."

She chuckled, face flushing. How did she get into these things?

"What about you? Do you have any big plans for the weekend? I think Abby's planning a birthday party."[1]

1.	Fakebook plotting

Life on the McBoid farm was routine. Appreciation for each person's efforts came as a continuation on the ease of how everything was run. Most days, however, Moira only saw her family at supper time, and sometimes not even then. Business and any concerns were discussed and after which came any personal conversation. Moira didn't have much to contribute during those.

If Moira didn't live with her family, visiting them for a time on a day off would have been very appealing. There was even the chance she would have more to discuss with them if she lived separately. Then again, her time working and studying would just increase so maybe not.

Eating more of her lunch, Moira listened to Fauna's story about her last visit to see her mum. Her mum's fiance at least sounded like a decent bloke, seeing Blake to the train as he had. Not everyone could be bothered to see an unannounced visitor, soon-to-be family or not, safely to their destination. Too bad he was in the dark about the magical world though. It would have made apparating back home and future visits much easier for the witch sitting across the table.

The birthday party was news to Moira, possibly because Abby knew she would be uncomfortable. Large social gatherings were tedious and awkward.

"Nothing big. Work my shift then give the animals at home a thorough examination. Maybe give a few of the horses a bath." An event not all of the horses enjoyed. Her young colt seemed to like them though.

"Whose birthday would it be for?"