The more time Sasha spent integrated within the wizarding world, the more he was coming to appreciate Google.  Simply put, Google made life better.  Wanted to find a special ingredient for a soup but didn't know where?  Google it.  (Not that Sasha could cook anything more complicated than ramen.)  Wanted to figure out which office to go to to change the title of a vehicle over to another person's name?  Google it.  Wanted to know which office to call to complain about garbage pick up?  Google it. 

And, now that the iPhone 4S had come out, it was even easier!  You just had to ask your phone! 

But, when one wanted to figure out where to go to get help with magical weeds invading from your neighbors garden or how to get a magical map edited?  See.  There was no magical equivalent of Google.  No magical Siri.  All Sasha knew was that his current errand required changing important, magical government records and so the Ministry had to be involved.  Beyond that, as he waited for the lift to rattle its way to pick him up, he knew he was wandering blindly. 

So, he opted for the place that both contained the largest number of friendly faces and where he'd conducted similar registration-y type business before.  It was where he'd registered as an animagus so maybe they handled all the various registries.  Either he was on the right track or he'd bump into someone who'd point him in the right direction without too much trouble. 

He stepped off the elevator and started towards the Auror offices and cubicles, weaving his way through what was now familiar turf,  thanks to Abby's employment.  He spotted a familiar red head and quickly crossed the room towards Jonas Trevelyan, resisting the urge to peek into another certain red head's cubicle. 

He made eye contact with the man and waited until it looked like he'd finished with his current task.  "Allo," Sasha offered with an awkward grin, chancing a quick glance around, just in case.  He turned back towards the Auror.  "I'm trying to find the right office for a personal task and I'm not entirely sure I know which one it is.  I think I just confused the witch at the visitor's entrance but she eventually just sent me here.  Maybe you could help?"  He tagged on, adding another sheepish grin.

He'd been buried deep in paperwork, tracing the story of the Hunt siblings and looking for any other possible connections to other missing persons, when he'd spotted a familiar face across the office.  Sasha Schlagenweit was far from a familiar face on Level Two, and judging by the way he was carefully scanning the room, he didn't seem to be here to visit his girlfriend.

Sasha took that as an invitation and came over, polite as ever despite the interruption.

Jonas considered the request for a moment, and then flashed the young man a smile.  The grim work of trying to establish the murderous siblings' grim steps would always be there when he got back.  Sometimes, it was nice to step away and not get sucked too far into the madness. 

"Not sure I'm the best expert on the inner workings of the Ministry, but I'd be happy to try," he said cheerfully, as he closed the folder and set it aside.  Carefully, he eased himself to his feet.

"Come to think of it, you might be in a better position to tell me about some of the mysteries here."  Jonas arched an eyebrow at Sasha, not doing a very good job of hiding his grin as he exited his cubicle to join the young man in the broader office.  "At least, that is, if the rumors I hear about unicorn fart glitter are true."

Sasha was very conscientious of the fact that he was interrupting Jonas during his work day so, when the man turned his attention away from his work, Sasha was prepared to present the question, find an answer and let the man get back to his work.  "I'm sure you're in a better position then I am," Sasha had started to explain.  "Even pointing me to the right Level would help." 

That was, after all, what he was expecting.  Either, he'd guessed right and Jonas would point him towards the right desk or he had guessed wrong and Jonas would point him towards the right level and some person at a desk there would point him further towards his goal. 

With a guilty grimace, Sasha watched as Jonas got to his feet and opened his mouth to quickly divulge his task when Jonas got to it first.

"Come to think of it, you might be in a better position to tell me about some of the mysteries here.  At least, that is, if the rumors I hear about unicorn fart glitter are true."

A brilliant blush spread across Sasha's cheeks as he dropped his gaze, briefly.  "Ah - you ... heard about that?" he asked, glancing back up at Jonas with a grin.  "Please tell me you heard that on facebook and not, you know, from the Ministry rumor mill."  Last thing he needed was that rumor to have already spread through the Ministry before Sasha had even started working.  But, a quick glance over Jonas' shoulders at a meme that had once had been restricted to the land of Facebook confirmed there were certain risks involved with dating Abby. 

"Not that those are mutually exclusive," he admitted, with a slight grin before turning back to Jonas. 

"I haven't fully joined the Wizarding Stonecutters, quite yet, so the mysteries are still hidden.  But, I'm wanting to officially change my name.  And, oddly, it's not clear where such civic offices are located."

The chagrined look on the young man's face was worth any interruption.  Jonas broke into a lopsided grin, chuckling back at Sasha.  When Abby had first sent him a friend request on Facebook, he hadn't felt entirely comfortable with letting the magical into the decidedly Muggle part of his life, but at least so far, it had been worth it.  Facebook gave him a passive window into the social lives of the younger members of the Ministry's circle, complete with plenty of ammunition for teasing.

Whatever favor he might have expected Sasha to ask, the request that the teen made hadn't been it.  Jonas blinked, his eyebrows raising in surprise as he regarded him.

He didn't know the young man's whole story, but he knew bits and pieces of it.  A few years before, Sasha's parents and younger sister had been murdered by one of Tawse's flunkies.  Sasha had murdered the murderer, using a horrific spell that he had learned from Kronos Malvivicus, the career criminal with creepy hairless cats who had "adopted" the teen.  Since then, the boy's older sister -- Adon Eleor's former girlfriend -- had also passed away.

It was a weighty legacy, that family name.  But then again, he couldn't necessarily assume that Sasha was intending to change his surname.  Perhaps he'd decided he'd had it with Brits mispronouncing his proper name.

"Yeah, a bit convoluted, our Ministry, innit?"  He kept his tone light, but his forehead creased as he turned to face Sasha more fully.  "If you don't mind me asking, why are you thinking of changing your name?"

"Convoluted is one word for it," Sasha offered, with a slight grin.  "But, I guess that makes it feel like an honest, real government.  I'd question whether they were real if they ran efficiently." 

In an odd way, Sasha held a degree of trust and respect for Jonas Trevelyan that was not entirely proportional to how well he actually knew the man.  They had only crossed paths a handful of times over the years.  But, while most of those incidents had been under trying or outright horrific circumstances, Jonas' relative steadfast calm had been of paramount importance.   

So, he didn't feel any compulsion to provide a short, vague answer that would avoid or conceal any of the underlying motivations. 

"I don't mind you asking but, how much time do you have?" he asked, with a broad grin paired with a slight shrug.  It was a complicated question and there were multiple complicated motivations behind it and, though Sasha didn't feel a need to conceal any of them, he suspected Jonas wasn't actually looking for a full, detailed explanation.  Especially not in the middle of his work day. 

"Family has a way of being complicated, doesn't it?" he asked, with a slight shrug.  "The short of it, I suppose, is Gerhard Schlagenweit wasn't actually my father.  He was neither a kind man nor could he accept my being a wizard.  So, I don't feel as though I owe him any loyalty."  His sister had been the last Schlagenweit, even though her father had disowned her and tried to deny her that.  Sasha didn't feel comfortable continuing to help him do that.  "I'm just ready to close that chapter, I guess."

The red-headed Auror listened silently to the teenager's explanation.  He'd known a bit about the Schlagenweit family dynamics simply due to knowing Jacoba; that had been one reason that Adon had felt so protective of his former girlfriend. 

Hearing Sasha explain the interrelationships so cleanly and succinctly gave him a renewed appreciation for the young man.  Families were certainly complicated, and fatherhood and motherhood weren't necessarily synonymous with blood, or even who raised whom.   It didn't sound like Sasha had reached the decision to change his surname on a whim. 

He paused, considering how best to approach this.  Changing one's name wasn't the typical sort of business that an Auror usually dealt with, but he didn't want to leave Sasha to fumble about on his own.  Where would one start for a name change?  Level Two handled many of the Ministry's registries, but those were mostly for regulated magic users like Animagi.  Perhaps with the record office on Level One?

"Well, can't say I know for sure where to go, but we'll see if we can sort it out," he said, flashing Sasha a smile.  Nodding for the teenager to follow, he started for the door of the Auror office; the lifts were just outside in the hallway.  "What've you decided on for the name of your next chapter?"

Sasha cast a quick glance around the office, hoping to catch a glimpse of another particular red-head that worked on Level 2 before following Jonas through the doors towards the elevator.  Maybe if, on their trek through the Ministry, they passed a suggestion box, Sasha would put forward the idea of cataloguing the various offices into a mini-card catalogue system. 

Or, even, a website with a searchable index and map.  "I appreciate your help," he offered, apologetically.  "Hopefully, I'm not keeping you from anything too important."  The lift gates rattled open and he stepped inside.  "A magically-enhanced website would be crazy," he mused aloud as his mind continued down the previous thought-path.  "It'd probably be like Avatar." 

"What've you decided on for the name of your next chapter?"

Sasha grinned, slightly, shrugging slightly as he glanced at the man standing next to him.  "I kept debating over various possibilities - everything seemed either mundane or pretentious."  He didn't quite want to admit that it had been a late-night, study-break induced reddit quiz session that had influenced his decision making - especially since Jonas was among the few in the wizarding community that would understand that explanation.  Which was precisely why the reddit-quiz-induced suggestion had grown on him; it had meaning but that meaning would be largely lost on the wizarding world.  The mundane world would get the reference, but wasn't privy to the reasoning behind it.  It was a nod to both worlds without it making sense to either. 

"I figured I'd go with Sasha Snow.  It's simple, straightforward and keeps the same initials.  So, I don't have to change my personalized tack."

“Nah, it’s always nice to take a break,” Jonas said cheerfully as they entered the lift.  The doors rattled shut, and he pressed the button for Level 1.  “Stretch me legs, get a bit of a walk — good to remind meself that we don’t have to be chained to our desk.”

It was a bit odd to hear the references to Muggle media in the middle of the Ministry.  It wasn’t as if the magical government was dominated in a stranglehold by pure-blooded wixes — there were plenty of other Muggle-borns or half-bloods that worked there.  Still, aside from when he passed by Abby’s desk and the new kid from the Werewolf Capture Unit happened to be lurking, it was rare to overhear Muggle-ish conversations.  Talk about Avatar and websites was usually best left to home.

But however prepared he might have been for Muggle conversations with Sasha, the teenager’s new choice in names made him stop short.

Jonas looked over at the kid, an incredibly bemused expression on his face as the lift jolted to a sudden halt and the door slowly creaked open.  “Snow, is it?” he echoed, chuckling as he stepped off the lift.  “Is Level Nine going to have to compete with the Night’s Watch for your alliegence?”

The reference had not been lost Jonas.

A brilliant blush crept up Sasha's cheeks as the Auror stopped short and looked at him.  In any other context, the name 'Snow' was about as innocuous and non-noteworthy as they came - which had been Sasha's hope.  Maybe it would have sparked some conversation about favorite seasons or ... skiing.  Holidays.  Nothing so profound that it made walking and thinking mutually exclusive activities. 

Which meant Jonas knew the series. 

Sasha grinned broadly before casting a furtive glance around, checking for any nearby familiar faces.  "I am a bastard from a prominent pureblood family.  They're from northern Germany.  And, I've been advised it's best I don't take their name.  So-"  He shrugged, awkwardly.  It connected him to his place in the world in a way that still allowed Ignan Storm the anonymity he'd requested. 

The average wizard would blissfully assume Sasha loved skiing.  Which, he did.

“Is Level Nine going to have to compete with the Night’s Watch for your alliegence?”

Sasha laughed and followed Jonas off the lift, nodding his head before quickly changing his mind and shaking his head.  "Scheiß, no.  Level Nine is the Night's Watch."  It was an analogy that Sasha was making up on the spot - but the deeper he went, the better it fit. 

"Who but the sworn brothers venture beyond the Black Door?  Lord Commander Morgenthau has already told me I'll be pledging my allegiance with my blood."  Morgenthau had also told Sasha that, if he betrayed Level Nine, he'd lose his head ... or memories, at least.  But, Sasha decided against sharing that part with Jonas. 

"So, are you a ... casual Martin consumer?" Sasha asked, oddly feeling more at ease with the notion of working for Level Nine than he had since his meeting with Morgenthau.  "Or a legitimate fan?"

The Auror laughed, flashing the teenager a lopsided grin.  "You mean, did I become a fan when the show started back in April or did I read the books before that?" he countered cheerfully.  "I started reading them back after A Clash of Kings came out back in, oh, 1999?  2000?"

Back then, he'd been spending too much of his time waiting: first while tailing disgruntled husbands or submitters of suspect insurance claims as a fledgling private investigator, and then alongside his girlfriend-turned-wife in endless waiting rooms and doctor appointments.  Returning to the science fiction and fantasy novels of his youth had given him something to do when he'd still been making the difficult transition from the exciting life of a wartime Auror to the much-less-flashy existence of a Muggle professional and husband. 

It didn't exactly surprise him that Sasha was a fan, either.  He knew that the young man walked a tentative line between the magical world and the mundane, much as he did most of the time, and if he'd come from a Muggle background, Jonas would have pegged him as the slightly nerdy, almost D&D sort.  Judging by what he'd observed of their interactions on Facebook, the younger set coming up now at the Ministry seemed to appreciate Muggle pop culture that he didn't remember amongst his own peers back in the day.

"It turned into quite the Long Night while we were waiting for Dance,  but I feel like we're a bit more back on track now that the show has started."  Jonas gave Sasha a wink as he paused to read over what appeared to be a directory of functions and office numbers, written in bright green script that hovered next to the wall.  "Let's just hope that the next book doesn't take him another six years to write, yeah?"

Sasha grinned, good-naturedly, when Jonas spoke about embarking upon the Song of Ice and Fire books in 1999 but also coulnd't resist shaking his head, slightly, with a chuckle.  "Well, I was six then," he offered, with a sheepish grin.  There was a general shortage of (real, not actually still teenagers) adults in his life which meant that he had fewer opportunities than most to make people feel old.  He had to capitalize on the opportunities when they arose. 

"And, just starting school. Needless to say, books of that nature weren't on the approved reading list at Catholic boarding school."  As a general rule, one had to possess a degree of social stealth that Sasha couldn't claim to have fun at Catholic school.  If it hadn't been for having Anton as a roommate, his pre-Hogwarts days would have been downright dull. 

It had been Anton who'd finally convinced Sasha to pick up the series.   I only got into the series when a friend of mine gave me Thrones as a going away gift when I started Hogwarts.  So, I had the first four to work through while waiting for Dance - and that was around a full schedule of NEWTs and A-Levels.  I have yet to fully experience the Martin-drought, as Anton puts it." 

"But, if it's anything like the wait between Return of the Jedi and Phantom Menace, I can guess." 

Sasha mirrored Jonas' stance, staring up at the sea of green script for the second time that day.  "They need sorting charms," he mused aloud as he scanned the text, again, for his target.  "Or a search charm.  I swear I looked before but I know you'll find it right away.  Murphy's Law, right?"

I was six then.  Jonas winced.  He was all in favor of embracing the younger generation and welcoming them into the working world, but not when they went and made hurtful statements like that without thinking.  Mentioning the prequel trilogy in the same breath as Return of the Jedi was nearly as grimace-inducing.

It was something he was going to have to get used to, though.  Artie was nearly at Hogwarts age, and Gwenna was already a third year.  Before he knew it, they'd both be graduating from Hogwarts too, just like Sasha, and would have to make a decision about which world they wanted to live their lives in. 

"Always is, innit?" he replied cheerfully, as he scanned over the floating green text.  There had to be something here.  He couldn't imagine that many came here to change their names in accordance with their favorite fandom like Sasha was, but even witches and wizards got married or adopted children.  If it wasn't outwardly listed as something obviously like 'Name Records,' then it had to be something more obscure like...

He pointed directly at one of the hovering lines, which read Codex of Cognomina.

"Not that, is it?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at Sasha.  "If I'm remembering my directions correctly, looks like it's down the hall and around to the left."