“I hope ye can duel well, Frizzy.” The blonde auror muttered to his new opponent as he quickly shrugged off his long scarlet robes and tossed them on the floor in the corner. Wand shoved in his back pocket, he began to undo the buttons on his shirt sleeves and roll them up to the elbows, eyes on Malone as he did so. A cheeky grin pulled at the corners of Eddie’s lips and lit up his bright green eyes. “It’s a bit pointless if I go easy on ye.”

The couple of strangely matched aurors were stood in the law enforcement department’s practice room. The room was large, bare with walls panelled in dark wood and golden rimming. Ed however paid the scenery no mind. Instead he withdrew his wand from the back pocket of his black trousers, continuing to grin at his work partner.

It was evening. Past work hours. Quincy was taking the kids to see her parents and as ever Ed had made an excuse to get out of it. Spending time with the in-laws was plain unpleasant, expecially when they still believed he’d cheated on their precious daughter. No, Ed was much happier staying behind at work and hiding out. Dueling could be fun anyway.

Pratt was looking forward to seeing how much he’d have his partner out of breath, if at all. She was excellent at paperwork, beatable by only one other woman in his life when it came to nagging and just plain amazing at irritating. Could she put her wand where her mouth was now?

Ed raised his wand, the grin still pulling at his lips. “Ready, Frizz?”

Since becoming an Auror, Charlene had never spent much time in the practice room.  Dueling was, of course, an integral part of Magical Law Enforcement - there was something about being a wizard that seemed to encourage criminals to fight rather than simply surrender - but even so, as her days of training had drifted into the distant past and more responsibilities had been added to her parchment, dueling practice had been the easiest thing to let slide.  It had been months since she'd faced off against Fox, let alone anyone else on Level Two, and if Pratt hadn't suggested it tonight, it would likely have been months again before she made time for it.

But Charlene knew that keeping her dueling skills up to par was essential.  Tensions were rising in the magical world, and Raynor herself had recently ended up on the wrong side of a duel.  Firing off hexes at a fleeing criminal was one thing; going toe to toe with a dark wizard intent on finishing her off was quite something else, especially if she were out of practice.

"I hope you don't mind if I say the same," she replied, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she eyed her partner, attempted to judge his stance.  She'd never paid much attention to Pratt on the practice court, so she had no idea what sort of style of dueling he favored.  It put her at a disadvantage now, but that was for the best - if she went up against a criminal for real, she'd hardly have the opportunity to gauge their preferences in advance.  Better to get used to being surprised.

Pratt already looked like he was enjoying this far too much.  Charlene didn't hesitate when he began to ask if she were ready.  This, the anticipation, was the part of a duel she loved best.  The opportunity to get things down to business, to get something done, without having to worry about regulations or paperwork.  At least, she wouldn't until she managed to land her overconfident partner in St. Mungo's.

Rising up on her toes, she swung her wand directly at the man before the nickname had even finished leaving his mouth and fired off a spell.  "Deprimo!"

Duelling, Edward had recently informed his son, was an art that only few gifted wizards and occasionally witches could master or even hope to master. The best duellers were quick on their feet, quick with their lips and quick at using their wands. They thrived in a competitive environment, were devilishly handsome and remarkably intelligent and brave. This, Edward had informed his oldest offspring, was why he himself was a remarkable dueller. Why else was his (not thinning) blonde hair always dishevelled? It was from the thrill of the duel!

Before the auror had been given a chance to finish his question, his partner had trampled upon the sacred etiquette of duelling and commenced prematurely. The curse left her lips as quickly as an overweight witch could eat a chocolate frog smothered in whipped cream and a blast of vicious wind exploded from the female’s wand. It was as if she’s eaten a bowl of sprouts!

The blond auror was thrown off his feet and hurled backwards towards the far wall. As he was soaring through the air, he yelled, wand pointing in the direction of his cheating opponent. “Furnunculus! Levicorpus!”

The wall couldn’t really have been hit any harder and Ed groaned in discomfort as his body hammered into the panelled wood and slumped to the ground. For a Frizzy whiney witch she had a relatively powerful wand. Relatively.

There was little point in staying on the ground anymore than a few seconds and this was the reason why Ed wasted no time in righting himself and pointing his wand in the direction of his opponent, hoping his spells had done their job to secure her if only for a moment. “Prematurity just shows incompetence to play by the rules, Frizz.”