It was the middle of the week and Fauna could not wait for it to be over. December had been insane for pretty much everyone at the Ministry. The holidays were coming up, and she was just really looking forward to a few days off with family and friends away from the chaos.

She'd survived this month's full moon ambush, the creepiness at Grimshaw's, yet another break-in investigation (but potential evidence for the ongoing Pilpher case), and the niceties at the Ministry mixer. Fauna settled in at her desk and stifled a yawn, prepared to dive into a towering stack of files. She opened the first file. A purple Ministry memo zoomed towards her and dropped on top of the parchment.

Fauna's eyes widened.

"No," she told the memo in her best stern-Auror voice.

Fauna made a shooing gesture at it. "Wrong desk. Go away. It's too early for surprises."

The memo fluttered insistently.

"Shh. Go bother Pratt," she leaned back in her chair, glancing around the cubicle. Yup, his office light was on.

The memo shuddered, then unfurled and played dead. Fauna scowled, about to rest her coffee mug on it when she glimpsed the lettering.

Level Four, Werewolf Wing.

Signed by Iona 'Bruce' Ballentyne. Huh? Oh shit! Fauna read it more carefully. What did the new Head of the Werewolf Wing want to see her for so early on a Wednesday? It had been a week and a half since the full moon. Fauna had been involved in Level Two debriefings and collaborated with Level Three and met again with Level Four. Otherwise, she'd stayed out of it like a good peon and let the higher-ups do their thing.

Her brow furrowed as she glanced around her cubicle in the direction of Pratt's office. Should she ask her boss?

No.

Well then. Iona Bruce had only recently returned to Level Four, this time as the Head of one of their divisions, and this time as a werewolf herself. Fauna rose from her chair, taking a few more desperate sips of coffee. Wake up. She wondered if she'd walk into a full office, and could just picture Bagnold looking grumpy and Fenneken spouting vampire conspiracy theories and Harris making jokes about the night being dark and full of Tawses.

Though nervous, she smiled slightly. She never thought she'd feel any sort of camaraderie with the WCU, but there it was.

On her way to the lifts, she told a group of trainees where she was going in case any of the Aurors questioned why she wasn't at her desk. She was here, physically, at the Ministry! She was not late! When was she ever late, Bailey!

It took Fauna a few minutes to find Ballentyne's office on Level Four. In the hallway, she smoothed the flyaway strands of her hair and straightened her black trainee jacket, and knocked.

She stepped inside and smiled shyly at the Division Head, surprised, for some reason, at the shock of red hair, though she made a mental note to tell Abby, Raine, and Trevelyan that they had an addition to the redhead club.

"Ms. Ballentyne? Good morning. I'm Fauna Blake," she extended a hand to shake.

Taking a quick glance around, she noticed a cane. A picture frame on the desk. No grumpy Bagnold lurking in the corner. Hmm.

"You wanted to see me?"

Fauna hesitated at the extra chair.

Fauna Blake found Bruce at her desk, pouring over files about various direwolf attacks throughout the past couple of years. The files had been piled up precariously on her desk along with a few journals written by academics on the crisis from 2009. From the Remus Lupin Library and Resource Center, Bruce had taken out just about anything that could be even remotely linked to her current focus. Her office therefore, after only a couple of days, was now starting to resemble her habitual workspace. Chaotic.

When the young auror trainee entered, Bruce rose to her feet and offered the girl a smile. She looked young. Really young. Skin to rival Bruce for paleness, and enormous blue eyes. But so young. She couldn’t have been much older than Waverly. Maybe Bruce was just getting old.

A firm grip greeted the auror trainee as they shook hands.
“Bruce, please.” No one called her Ballentyne. “I did. Thanks for being so prompt.” She waved at the spare chair before cautiously lowering herself back into her own.

Wanting to get a good head start on the job and the people involved in the current dilemma, Bruce had already done a touch of research on Fauna Blake; and what she’d found, she’d liked. Fauna Blake was an advocate for werewolf rights. She, and a group of her classmates had even partaken in a group calls SAWs that had campaigned against the segregation and prejudice of werewolves. The girl had a heart and a conscience. Why on earth she’d teamed up with Kurby, therefore, was quite beyond Bruce’s understanding.

“You were involved in the ambush on the 11th, yes?”

Had Bruce saved the office while it was in the process of becoming a storage room, or was this her chaotic way of moving in? Fauna glanced at the stacks of files on the desk, wishing she'd thought to peek at the writing before sitting down.

Straight to the point! Fauna inched her chair to the side to see her better between the file stacks, offering her a smile of understanding.

Her stomach felt caught between a grumble and an anxious flip.

"Yes. Along with Bagnold, Laz, Fenneken, and Harris. Er, Laz the vampire."

Yup, Laz in the same string of names as the other allies. She hoped Bruce wouldn't freak out about it or lecture her the way a few of the Aurors had.

"Bagnold and Laz and I were there for the actual ambush, and Fenneken and Harris came to the rescue once we were able to shoot up red sparks."

Bruce knew all this, right? She just wanted to hear it in-person? Fauna glanced over her shoulder at the door, wondering if the others would be here to explain as well.

Fauna shouldn't have been so prompt!

Auror Blake donated more information than Bruce had asked for, and she couldn’t help but consider that this girl was certainly not your average auror. Not that Bruce herself had worked with many. She’d never been big on the old collaboration idea between departments. She got her job done, and if anyone else wanted to disturb the manner in which she’d done it, she’d not been happy. Now, circumstances dictated that she would need to rethink that attitude. She’d had to rethink a lot of attitude in the past 3 and a half years.

Unsure of what to really think of Bagnold & Co teaming up with a werewolf, Bruce knew she was in no position to question it as a werewolf now controversially heading up the Werewolf Wing. Asking her old colleague why he’d thought that to be working with a vampire was a good idea would be further damaging a relationship already full of tension. This was one of those moments when she would need to trust his judgement and deal with the situation if it went awry. It did, however, only serve to remind Bruce quite harshly that she would have no control of say when things went south on a full moon because she’d be locked up her in own cell dosed up on wolfsbane and howling at the moon.

Rather oddly, Blake glanced over her shoulder, causing Bruce to frown”
“Expecting someone?” Bagnold maybe? To come and stand behind her glaring at Bruce as he listening to the conversation? Not likely, but effortless to visualise.

Shaking her head, the witch shut the folder she’d been scouring through and tidied it away. Her idea of tidying? It landed on the floor on the pile of more folders.

“Why were you there? Is this part of Level 2’s collaboration with the WCU? You’re a trainee, right?”

Fauna glanced back just in time to see Bruce frown at her. Well shit! Apparently not, no, she wasn't expecting anyone. She had expected this to be a group meeting, but like her hopes and dreams of getting through her morning without interruption, her expectation crashed to the floor with the folder files.

Bruce shook her head and Fauna straightened self-consciously in her seat. Was she in trouble? The Division Head skipped right over the vampire aspect and focused on her, the trainee.

Her brow furrowed for a moment, then smoothed.

Alright, she'd just explain, and it would be fine.

"Uh, yes, it was part of the collaboration effort. The WCU brought in Level Two, er, volunteers for patrol," was that the right word? Sounded ridiculous to her. "because they'd faced a direwolf in November and wanted to be prepared for something like it in greater numbers in December. At least that's my understanding. Um, yes, I'm a trainee. I'm in my third year."

Fauna shifted her posture but made a great effort not to adjust her Trainee. Jacket. It didn't occur to her to offer any personal motivation for volunteering.

"Bagnold or someone else from the WCU might be better at explaining why they brought in Level Two," she said earnestly, the corners of her mouth softening into an almost-smile.

"I didn't realize this would be a one-on-one meeting, is all."

Third year trainee out on patrol due to a direwolf attack in November. Level 2 certainly had confidence in their trainees. While the WCU threw their rookies in at the deep end, it was always as part of a team on an easier case. An immature werewolf spotted in a wooded inhabited area, probably. To send a rookie to a direwolf? It wasn’t a field trip, and Bruce knew better than most just how risky a normal werewolf could be.

Direwolves were a foreign idea to Bruce. She had, of course, read the papers during the original appearances. She’d asked Zora anything that she thought her wife could answer. But the whole situation, she remembered, had been a huge straight on the aurors as they’d been personally targeted.

Blake hadn’t anticipated a one on one with her. Fair enough. Bruce nodded with a small smile. “That’s fine. You’ve clearly faced down worse than me.” A wink. “I only bite once a month, after all. Claws retracted the rest of the time.”

With her brow creased, Bruce leaned forward and rested her elbows on the desk, interlinking her fingers.
“Tell me, Fauna, have you seen a direwolf before? Or even a fully transformed werewolf before this?” Her bright blue eyes studied the girl carefully. “What is the difference, physically, do you feel?”

Fauna smiled back, relaxing more in her seat. If Bruce could crack jokes about full moon transformations, Fauna would take that in stride! Though she wasn't thrilled about it, she could understand why someone new to the position would want to talk to those involved one by one, to get a sense of how they perceived the event without distraction or influence from the others. Bruce was probably doing the best she could weeks after the fact. This was only, what, her second day on the job?

She nodded, and thought for a moment.

"Physically? I don't know if there is a difference. At the zoo, I didn't fully realize that there were two types of wolves attacking us until after the ambush had already happened."

She took another moment to collect her thoughts, hoping Bruce wouldn't think she was an idiot for saying that. When she'd been in the thick of it, she had just seen wolf(s). Wolves. Plural.

"Direwolves do seem larger than werewolves," she went on. "I don't know if that's a trait, or if maybe larger or, uh, physically stronger people are chosen to become direwolves? They have more awareness in their eyes. And the way they move. The direwolf that walked right by me in the courtyard wasn't trying to be quiet, you know? It was just listening to Tawse. I don't know if that's important," she opened her hands and gave a small shrug, and remembered her other question.

Oh what a can of flobberworms!

"I've uh, seen a few transformed werewolves before this," she gave Bruce a small, rueful smile. "The first was at Hogwarts. She'd taken wolfsbane, everything was, uh, as calm as it could be.[1] The second time was when I was walking back to school from Hogsmeade. A werewolf attacked us, but Headmaster Greyfriar protected us."[2]

He'd taken the brunt of the attack for them, and been turned. And then...

"Third time was at the Ministry. During the Ides of March, when the wolfsbane potions were tainted."[3]

She met her eyes, prepared to expand on any of those instances if asked. It was only then that she realized she'd seen an example of a 'tamed' werewolf, a werewolf on the loose[4], a werewolf who'd been riled by the wrong potion, and a direwolf. It was a range of experiences she didn't want to have, but a miracle she hadn't been turned herself.

1.	Please take care of this werewolf
2.	Encounter
3.	These Dog Days Aren't Over
4.	FYI, Fauna does not know that the werewolf that attacked Greyfriar was likely a direwolf

It was interesting, the differences mentioned by different people. She’d heard descriptions of direwolves from a few people. Most said they were enormous, clearly bigger than a regular wolf. But Fauna Blake, quite intriguingly, mentioned the awareness in their eyes. Had that meant that she’d seen the human behind the monster there?

The mention of Greyfriar sparked a raised eyebrow. Bruce had read the Headmaster’s name often in the Prophet, often associated with another werewolf who used to work at the Ministry on Level 2. If people could now accept a werewolf as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, surely, they could accept her in this position as the Head of the Werewolf Wing.

“Are you sure you’re in the right job? That’s a fair few werewolf experiences for someone not in the WCU.” Bruce had, like Fauna, seen a similar variety in her time. She’d dealt with unregistered werewolves who hadn’t taken a drop of wolfsbane, those who’d taken poorly brewed and considered themselves safe to be out, those who’d ganged up to form a pack. 22 years had meant that Bruce had seen a lot of things she wished that she hadn’t. It sounded like Fauna had seen a concentrated amount which she would have no doubt been better off not seeing. It surprised her, Bruce having thought that this auror trainee was all wide eyed, bushy tailed and naïve.

“I’ve read a bit about you, Fauna.” Sitting back in her seat, Bruce folded her arms, fixing Fauna with a critical but friendly gaze. “Founding member of a Hogwarts group against Werewolf segregation. Some big political statements to make as a 17-year-old.”

Fauna's eyebrows inched up and disappeared into her hair. She'd read about her? Huh? Oh wow, why was she asking about SAWS? Fauna thought for sure that Bruce would ask more questions about the ambush. Unless this was a tangential conversation. Or unless this was an informal interview. It felt strangely like it! As much as she appreciated the earlier compliment, Fauna was very happy with her job.

"I guess so?" Fauna tilted her head, looking at her quizzically. "Yeah, I guess it turned out that way. It didn't start political. I just wanted my, er, best friend allowed back at school."

Now was really not the time to delve into the, er, exact relationship with her school friend. She could just picture Bagnold smirking about 'types' and felt suddenly glad he wasn't here for this.

"Most people, they only change their views when they really have to. When something changes completely for them or someone they're close to. It starts out personal, then turns political," she smiled ruefully.

Though she hoped she wasn't hitting too close to home, Fauna had not had time to read up on the Division Head. She'd heard several rumors about Bruce's previous role on Level Four, but couldn't be certain if she'd worked in the WCU or another wing.
What she knew was that Bruce had left the Ministry sometime in 2008, before Fauna had joined its ranks.

The young auror trainee had some well thought out opinions, it seemed. Bruce knew more than most people how views changed with circumstances. What Blake said was perfectly correct with it came to Bruce and her own wife. Both had had very set views on werewolves and other downtrodden groups, but those thoughts had changed when Bruce herself had experienced the change. Everyone treated her differently, everyone judged her. For a long time, Iona had been quite convinced that she would not be once more joining the working witches and wizard of Great Britain.

“I think the aurors might very well be lucky to have you, Fauna.” She smiled kindly before smirking with a sort of sadistic amusement. “Merlin knows why you’ve volunteered to work with Bagnold, mind.”

“Anyway, I think it would be good for you to volunteer more often.” They needed people who understood the person behind the wolf. If Iona’s experiences had taught her anything, it was how necessary that was. She’d never thought of the person that the wolf became at the end of the long night. She’d struggled to see past the monster. “But you’re a trainee. Think you can handle it? I’m not down for having your bosses in my ear about accepting a trainee auror in the field. But Bagnold clearly likes you.” The wonders would never cease. “Not just helping the WCU. How do you feel about getting involved in a touch of wolf politics?” As she spoke, Bruce started searching through a pile of paperwork and it suddenly began to collapse, bashing into the photo frame on the desk and spreading over the already cluttered surface. “Bugger!”

Fauna sat back and blinked in surprise. Comp...li...ments?

Respect? An open dialogue? Holy shit, this was new and different.

She smiled back a beat later, and managed to mutter a "Well-" in protest that Bagnold wasn't so bad, and then she remembered that she was talking to a werewolf who may have seen his not-so-nice side, and then Bruce suggested that she should volunteer with the WCU more often.

Oh! So this meeting wasn't quite a debriefing, or a lecture, but an offer to help out again.

She opened her mouth, torn between dismay and pride. Had Bagnold complimented her as well? To his new boss? Already? At all? Really!

"Well, um-"

Clearing her throat, Fauna was just about to explain that she didn't normally volunteer on a full moon for so many reasons, but Bruce went on, and said the magic words.

“Bugger!”

No, not that. Leaning forward, Fauna caught the picture frame just as it fell off the desk, and then stood from her chair, glancing around at the scattered papers. She drew her wand and glanced at Bruce in case she wanted a hand gathering them.

Despite the toppled tower of parchment, a slow smile inched up Fauna's face. The SAWS questions made sense now. Fauna barely knew Bruce, but if the new Division Head was looking for support well gosh, she'd reached out to the right bleeding heart.

"Well," she started happily, picking the easier question to answer first. "I would be happy to help with the, er, wolf politics. If you have something in mind, I can bring it up with my boss."

Fauna actually didn't mind talking to Pratt about this. He hated vampires but didn't seem to have a problem with werewolves.

"I mean, I hope I have enough time. I still care even though I'm not a stu-"

Her gaze happened to fall on the photo frame she held in her hand. For the hundredth time that morning, Fauna slow-blinked.

"Um."

Was that The. Zoh?

Zora Roh?!

WHAT.

"Uh."

Her brow furrowed. Bruce and Roh were standing together, looking chummy. Roh was looking happy. A younger girl stood between them, looking like a teenager.

Could it be?

Roh had a wife! Fauna knew that. But who was she? No one knew! A Level Two classified mystery!

"Are you...?" Fauna widened her eyes and held out the picture for her to take.

"Are you and Roh...?"

To...geth...er?

And that was that, Bruce’s ineffective filing system now rendered further ineffective as reports, accounts and statements found their way onto the floor and sprawled over the desk. The photoframe was gone and Bruce was on her feet, wand in hand, to gather it all back up again. With Blake’s help, it wasn’t long before the papers were back in some semblance of order as a once more disorganised pile on the desk. Bruce smiled in thanks just as the younger witch mentioned bringing it up with her boss.

“You should do that.” The girl mentioned having enough time but she stopped. Iona, attempting to straighten the pile in vain, glanced up from the impressive mess that she’d managed to form in just a few days to see Blake stuttering over the picture. It was of her, Zo and Wav on a quick trip to Europe a few years ago. No walking cane featured in the picture. That picture was prewolf. They were in Milan, and Wav was dressed all chic because that was apparently how the Italians turned out. She’d only brought ridiculous heels on the trip and complained all day on the first day about her feet hurting. The picture showed her stood proudly, therefore, in a lovely chic dress and a pair of Iona’s dragonhide boots. They were all linking arms and grinning at the camera.

 “Hm?” Fauna was staring between her and the picture, eyes wide. It only took a moment to realise why. Of course, she worked with Zo! There’d be no escaping it, really. Not now that she was back and actually having to work with other departments.
“Are we what, Fauna? Spit it out.”

"Are you," she hesitated just a moment, her voice lowering to an excited hush. "Married?"

Don't get ahead of yourself, Fauna! Just because they were posing together like a family for a family vacation photo and looking quite adorable and married, didn't mean that they were married! Her glance shot to Bruce's ring finger and then back to her face.

"I mean, together, even? Are you two together? I thought - I might be wrong. Roh doesn't really talk about her family, you know. Not that that's bad! She never has anything bad to say. I know she has a daughter and I'm guessing, well-" she gestured at the fashionable teenager in the photo. "I could have sworn she said wife at one point. And if that's you," Fauna gestured again, a smile flickering on her face.

"You're only a few levels away at the Ministry now, and..."

Fauna trailed off, trying to shut up the romantic side of her.

"Oh shite, I mean oh Merlin, are you friends? You're friends, aren't you," her face started to fall. "I've just put my foot in my mouth."

She kept holding out the photo. Please, take it away before she said anything else!

This girl needed to pick a theory and stick to it. When Bruce had told her to spit it out, she expected a simple single question of if they were married or together or whatever. Instead, she had an entire diatribe about why she thought they were until she decided she’d been too forward and switched it to just friends. Iona watched with mild amusement as the auror puppy flapped and floundered as if she were learning to swim for the first time.

“I should hope she has nothing bad to say.” The witch laughed, taking the photo back and placing it upright on the desk once more. Zora could probably say a lot about Iona. She was messy, had spent the last few years grumpy and irritable, her dress sense was terrible, once a month she turned furry and howled at the moon. “We’re friends.” She paused. “Never marry someone you’re not friends with first.”

“Zo might tell you to go with your first instinct, Fauna. Tends to be right.” Iona had never minded her wife’s disconnection between work and their private life. Being an auror was very different to her own job. People were out to get you and you needed to disassociate yourself with who you were away from the red robes. She got it. But while she wasn’t about to march down to Level 2 and snog her wife to make sure everyone knew, neither was she going to keep it a secret.

Bruce sat back, still smiling. “A few levels away at the ministry? Hoping you’re going to see my wife turn into a blubbery romantic on the clock? You’ll be waiting a lifetime, pup.”

Fauna smiled in relief, taking a seat again and holding back a dorky relieved sigh. Well then! Bruce and Roh were friends and married. Also, Bruce was laughing at her, which was just fine, really, much better than being offended.

"She mostly says Blake, best not to think out loud," she offered with a chuckle. Sometimes, Fauna went off on random tangents and made 5,000 incorrect assumptions all in one breath only punctuated by er's and um's and there was only so much an Auror could take of that.

A grin tugged at her mouth, not yet deterred by the odd nickname of 'pup'. Oh well! Better than hearing Flora!

"No," she widened her eyes. "I wouldn't expect that. I mean, I'd be worried if Roh did."

Really truly. No, Fauna was just overjoyed that she was sitting here in this moment, fangirling over these simple facts:

   1. A division head werewolf on Level Four, married to a (should be senior) Auror on Level Two.
   2. Level Four and Level Two, getting. along. Werewolf and Auror, together!
   3. Two women. To. geth. er!
   4. Attainable level of romanticism.

"I've just spent the past few years watching Spectre and Storm be adorable in the atrium and um, it's not very attainable, you know?"

Fauna laughed, a blush rising on her face. Wow! The things she spilled when a new coworker was nice to her! She straightened, cleared her throat, and attempted to look professional.

Her eyes strayed to the photo in the frame. The corner of her mouth twitched. She focused on Bruce again. Hadn't Bruce asked her something earlier that she'd forgotten to answer? Crap, what was it?