He wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but he promised Whitman that he will spare some of his time to listen to what the elusive Miss Ó Móráin had to tell him. According to the files he briefly scanned through, Ó Móráin was never convicted of anything, however her name did pop up a couple of times. Rosier was usually the type who would do his homework before facing a problem, so he snooped around yesterday and even took some files to read at home. The young Miss Ó Móráin  however didn’t strike him as a petty criminal (like some notes and files suggested), but an ambitious and capable business woman. This was precisely why he grew more and more curious of what sort of information she had for him, especially because she was quite secretive and unwilling to schedule the meeting through his secretary.

Rosier still wasn’t well acquainted with his new staff, which was understandable considering he only started working here mere two weeks ago. Still, he was slowly developing clearer pictures of many faces and personalities of Level Two. The temperamental Aurors who enjoyed the feeling of almost complete liberty, the chaotic Improper Use of Magic office, the piles and piles of paperwork no one wanted to touch and the chance one might receive a death threat over lunch – were only a tiny fragment of Cameron Rosier’s daily problems. But even though he didn’t know his staff too well yet and even though it was unfair to make such assumptions, Rosier’s wild guess was that Liadán Ó Móráin had a problem with an Auror or a Hitwizard.

After getting back from a very short lunch break, Rosier sat at his desk to finish signing a small pile of documents and writing his daily amount of letters. The office still felt dark and intimidating – even though Rosier tried to make it feel more welcoming, filling it with as many stacks of folders, piles of old books and even some extra chairs. The place was as cold and grandiose and ever, but Rosier was slowly getting used to it, even if it was too lavish.

He decided to clear his spacious blackwood desk a bit before she comes. He put the books aside on a neat (albeit dusty) pile and the files and folders into separate stacks. The silver frames that were supposed to contain photographs of his family or loved ones were still empty and the antique, crystal ashtray was still very much filled with ashes. With a swish of his wand, he stacked the remaining parchments into the drawers. Then he neatly placed a very feminine-looking Wedgewood tea set on the side of his desk.

This brief “organization” of his office space probably took less than five minutes, but the place looked a lot more presentable. He kept on forgetting that here on Level Two he didn’t have his house elf to clean and organize things after him, so he would often find himself in a relative mess. However, even a horrendous mess looked glamorous in an office like Rosier’s.

Hearing a faint knock on the door, he straightened his elegant robes a bit and got up from his chair. “Come in,” he said, raising his voice a bit. One was certain – at least she knew how to knock, which seemed to be a subtle art none of his Aurors mastered yet.

Liadan had been pleased when Oscar had taken it upon himself to contact the head of Level Two about her problem with a particularly irritating auror. She was even more pleased that the head had taken the time to owl her and arrange a meeting for the two to discuss the matter in person. (And hopefully at length.) The time he had chosen was even convenient for her- which put Liadan in better spirits. She had gone to Gringotts as she always did, then had lunch in Diagon before finding her way to the ministry building.

She took the lift to the appropriate level, asking a passerby where Rosier's office was. She was pointed toward his secretary who led Liadan to the appropriate door. The secretary knocked and a voice called for them to come in. His secretary opened the door, and Liadan swept into the room- perfect posture, skirts rustling around her. She had intentionally chosen one of her more traditional dresses. Liadan preferred old fashioned wizard fashions truth be told, but they were less accepted in society these days. Still, they often got the point across in situations such as this- she was a traditional, no-nonsense pureblood who meant business.

"Good afternoon," she greeted, settling into a chair across from his desk without waiting for invitation. "I appreciate your swift attention to my concerns, Mr. Rosier. Shall we bother with pleasantries or would you prefer to get right down to business?"

A tiny smile appeared on Rosier’s face when the young witch entered his office and approached his desk. He didn’t expect her to look quite so…young, like a petite school girl. But it seemed she only resembled a school girl in looks; she seemed like an extremely well-mannered and mature young person. At least that was his first impression. Standing up to greet her, he smiled once again. “Good afternoon, Miss Ó Móráin. I hope finding my office wasn’t too much of a hassle.”

"I appreciate your swift attention to my concerns, Mr. Rosier. Shall we bother with pleasantries or would you prefer to get right down to business?"

She was quite blunt, but in an amusing way. Rosier certainly didn’t expect this, but he decided to play along. She could however thank their mutual friend Whitman for this “swift attention”; it certainly wasn’t Rosier’s style to schedule such meetings on a daily basis. But he, as a political figure knew that favours such as this one will not be forgotten and that soon enough there might come a day when he will be the one to seek assistance from Oscar Whitman. This is how things behind the curtain in the Ministry of Magic worked and always have.

“I am quite fond of pleasantries,” he said with a smirk. “Incidentally, may I offer you some tea?” He glanced over the fine China tea set he was so fond of. It was one of the few things he owned that blended in so well in his new office. Maybe he will have to buy more pretentious things to make this place look more pleasant...

“But before we get down to business, as you said, I’d really like to know more about your business. I hear that you own a farm in Ireland.” He wouldn’t go so far and say that she looked like the most unlikely person to own a farm he ever met, but he sort of left that to hover in the air. She certainly looked like her job was a lot more…glamorous. But he didn’t ask this only out of sheer curiosity and courtesy, he also wanted some more information about her to build onto the little he found from some of his Aurors’ scribbles.

Liadan was surprised when he seemed to prefer pleasantries over business- and part of her wondered if he was doing it specifically to grate her nerves. But, instead of allowing her agitation to show, Liadan simply offered a sweet smile at his offer of tea. She would play his game. "Thank you, Mr. Rosier, tea would be splendid." Though she doubted the tea would be of the quality and taste that she was accustomed to.

Then he proceeded to ask about her own business- inquiring after her farm. Liadan wasn't sure what her business had to do with anything, but she would patronize the department head. It was, after all, in her best interests to do so. (Which he was likely well aware of.)

"Yes, I do." Liadan stated simply. "It is a family business which I inherited upon my mother's death a few years ago. We breed magical creatures. They are then harvested for potions ingredients and occasionally for wandcores. As I am sure you heard we took quite a blow this year from the potions recall, but we are slowly recovering. I am in the process of replenishing the creatures I lost. Naturally it can take quite some time, as the paperwork to import some creatures is quite tedious. But I strive to adhere closely to the regulations for the breeding and import of creatures after what happened to my father. I should hate to find myself in trouble over something incredibly trivial."

"I can assure you it is not a particularly glamorous job, and as such there is not much to tell. To be quite honest I fully intend to hand it off to a hired hand after I get married. But until then, it keeps me occupied and gives me some sense of purpose."

With a slight swish of his wand, the teacups filled with warm, Earl Grey tea. It was good tea, from Cameron’s favourite department store in muggle London – Fortnum & Mason, however his secretary who made it wasn’t quite as good at it as Puck the house elf. Smiling back at the young witch across the table, Rosier passed her a cup carefully.

He listened to her with interest, his eyebrow slightly raised. All he knew about the Ó Móráins was that they were an old, pureblood family who weren’t strangers to the staff of Level Two…and Level Ten. Despite the fact that he knew almost next to nothing about Liadán, he couldn’t help but sympathize a bit – growing up with a family who preferred the other side of the law was not something he was unfamiliar with. He said nothing about it however, at least she seemed to be leading a successful career out of the old family business, preferably not in the way her late father was leading it. Rosier however, was the last person who would judge a person based on their family members, when his own parents both found their demise in Azkaban.

Upon mentioning how she would hand her job to someone else after she marries, he couldn’t help but think of her as quite old-fashioned. Almost as if she looked upon marriage as something that would be her new career. It was interesting how she sounded almost passionate and interested while she talked about her work, but also ready to give it all away for something…or rather someone else. “Well, it sounds like a lot of responsibility, managing such a farm. I am sure you are doing an admirable job.”

But although he was sure they could chat about farms and magical creatures for longer while sipping tea, Rosier was also sure the lady was quite eager to talk to him about her problem. And he would be lying if he said he wasn’t even a bit curious. “Speaking of sense of purpose, I would very much like to know how I can be of assistance,” he said, his tone ceasing the light, conversational note, and becoming more stern and business-like, just like it was when he addressed a colleague. It was a completely unintentional thing.  “Also, I would appreciate if you could give me as many details as possible,” he added shortly, taking a sip of his tea and then leaving the half-empty cup on the side, focusing on the woman in front of him.

Liadan perched deftly on the edge of the seat, minding her posture as she daintily sipped the tea. It wasn't bad tea.... but it was not particularly good, either. Then again, Liadan was particular about tea and her house elves had learned by this point how to make it exactly to her liking. No one else has been able to master the art of brewing tea for Liadan O Morain- and it was likely that nobody else ever wood. The elves did have a lifetime of experience catering to the ever picky O Morain family.

"Somebody has to take the responsibility, otherwise what my family worked so hard for all of those generations would have gone to waste, which would be a great disappointment to my parents. I try, even though they have passed, to ensure that everything I do would make them proud and to take into consideration their hypothetical opinions. It has served me well so far, and I have yet to make any grand mistakes."

It seemed, though, that Rosier was satisfied and he said that he would like to know how he could be of assistance. Liadan rested the cup of tea and the saucer on the edge of Rosier's desk, folding her hands carefully in her lap as she considered the best way to approach this problem. It was his job to keep the aurors in line, but it was also his job to give them leeway to pursue any leads that he might think are reasonable.

"I am certain that you are familiar with a particular auror under your employment by the name of Jonas Trevelyan. The simplest way to put it is that he has made it his personal mission to continuously harass me without reason."

"I keep very detailed journals, Mr. Rosier. And I took it upon myself to look back on the history so that I could provide you with details. It began on September twenty-fourth. He arrived at my private home, and proceeded to impersonate an auror to gain entry and to question me about some sort of missing dagger. I found it incredibly insulting that he would assume that I would have such a thing in my possession. As you are no doubt aware, I have always been in full compliance with the aurors and after my father's arrest my estate was turned upside down in search of dark items and numerous ones were removed. Since his arrest I have been a victim of regular inspections from the RCMC and others to make sure that my business runs smoothly and that I am following the law. Which is inexcusable in and of itself, as I am not a criminal and I have given no reason to believe that I am. But I simply agreed and allowed such inspections to continue in the hopes of gaining the good faith of the ministry..."

"But I digress. I later discovered that at the time, Mr. Trevelyan was indeed not an auror. I even owled the ministry about his impersonating an auror and nothing was ever done about it. After this initial questioning, he later began to bother my relatives... Which has turned out to be a worthwhile endeavor, as Lothario was imprisoned and was indeed guilty."

Liadan took another sip of tea. "You'll have to excuse how long this is going to take, Mr. Rosier," she said- interrupting herself. "It has been a very prominent issue in my life."

"My next run in with one of your employees was not with Mr. Trevelyan- but with a hitwizard named Jacob Clayton in late October. He was questioning about my business relationship with Cinaed Tawse- and last I checked it was not illegal to sell my goods to a person with a past criminal record. He was not wanted at that time- so it is not as though I was fraternizing with a fugitive. After that first meeting, I had quite a problem with him continuously following me about and badgering me. I suppose he eventually gave up..."[1]

"The fifteenth of November I had another rather unpleasant meeting with Mr. Trevelyan. The man had the audacity to follow me into a dress shop when I was picking up an order. He was provoking me, literally inviting me to hex him. Naturally I knew it to be some sort of set up or trap. I was not going to be tricked into turning my wand on him just to fuel his ridiculous notions that I was up to something nefarious! And accused me of withholding information from him that was not his legal right to know. I have no obligation to tell a private investigator my business- and one has no right to follow me about and make a fool of me in public. It might also interest you to know, Mr. Rosier, that at this point he offered to give me amnesty for providing him with information- claiming he could keep them from looking my direction."

"Then, at the end of February, he was spying on me in the dress shop again. He was obviously eavesdropping on myself and Mr. Prideaux- we were having a perfectly pleasant interaction until Mr. Trevelyan inserted himself into the conversation. During this meeting, he claimed to be clueless as to why I would be so frustrated, making to look like a fool and a liar to Mr. Prideaux. I do not know how you would feel if someone attempted to ruin your reputation and good standing to a very important acquaintance, but I do not take kindly to it."

"Then, throughout April, I heard word through many of my business associates that Mr. Trevelyan was asking them about me. I never learned any specifics, but an auror sniffing around my business associates is hardly good for a business which is already having a hard time rebounding from such a terrible tragedy as what happened to my farm. I do not appreciate him slandering me to my clients. Especially when it is entirely uncalled for!"

"Finally, he and Adon Eleor crashed a dinner party that I was invited to at Hassard Hall. Though my personal life should not enter into the discussion, I have been regularly seeing Mr. Prideaux. I rather enjoy his company, and do not appreciate Mr. Trevelyan possibly ruining it. He has no clue how to behave in public."

"I must admit, Mr. Rosier, what frustrates me most is the fact that my owls to the ministry have been continuously ignored." Liadan made it a point to sound like she had made multiple complaints to no avail. In reality, Liadan was unsure how many owls she had sent- but it certainly wasn't a continuous stream of them. "I would like to know, Mr. Rosier, if you are going to continue to ignore the problem. But the question I would like answered first is why it took the voice of a member of the wizengamot for your department to care enough to investigate my complaints. Do you not care about the ordinary witch or wizard?"

1.	This person has since left Absit Omen, but it is a plot we had worked out which never happened.

When Ó Móráin rested her cup on the desk and, like Rosier, suddenly became more formal and business-like, he concentrated on her story. It was essential he takes up every detail in order to solve this problem. But before the story even properly started, Liadán’s first sentence already made Rosier’s head hurt. Trevelyan. Jonas Trevelyan – of course, who else would it be? At first Rosier thought Trevelyan was just a strong personality, a man with a temper as fiery as his ginger hair. But the problem was deeper – this seemed to be a man who did what he wanted, who wasn’t bending the law, but snapping it in half.

Despite feeling deeply disappointed, Rosier continued listening carefully. He was grateful she seemed to be taking his request to go into as much detail as possible seriously. It looked like she took some time thinking about how to present her problem in a retrospective and logical manner. He was aware of the times when Jonas Trevelyan wasn’t an Auror, but a self-employed investigator (At first Rosier thought this might a reason why he had such issues with authority), but no one had the right to inspect the homes of civilians without a proper warrant issued by the Ministry.

Rosier agreed that her estate had to be searched in the aftermath of the arrest of her father and the illegal activities on her farm – it was certainly something the RCMC should have made their business. He also agreed that there should have been some regular check-ups, as a formality and as a guarantee that things which happened in the past do not happen again.

However, these were formalities. What Trevelyan seemed to be doing was not a formality – it was harassment.

“No, go on,” he encouraged her when she needlessly apologized for the length of her tale. “I assure you, I’m all ears.” He knew more was coming and was ready to hear the worst. The tea lay forgotten on the side.

As she continued with the story, he realized it was getting worse and worse. Why was Ó Móráin an apparent target of Aurors with stalker tendencies? He understood where this Hitwizard Clayton could be coming from – if she indeed was in Tawse’s company it could seem suspicious. But Hitwizards were not detectives, so why did he take it upon himself to follow her around? Deciding to look into Clayton’s files, he focused on Liadán again.

And there was Trevelyan again…What Rosier didn’t understand was why did the man take so much time following her and pestering her, then announced his presence (instead of just following her quietly, if he wanted to find out what she was up to) and then apparently verbally harassed her. “He followed you into a dress shop?” Rosier couldn’t help but accidentally interrupt her there. This sounded preposterous! What kind of sick games was Trevelyan playing?

So it seemed Eleor was in this as well. Of course…the two of them worked closely together and seemed to agree on such ridiculous things. What Rosier couldn’t grasp right was how these two Aurors had the audacity to complain to him about “wasting time” when he asked for paperwork, while they both wasted their own time on this. Being suspicious of someone was one thing – following ladies to a dress shop and crashing their dinner dates was another.

“Jonas Trevelyan has no clue how to behave, period.” He said with a scoff. “I feel embarrassed a member of my staff would ruin an evening of a lady such as yourself and your companion.  I know this won’t mean a lot – but please accept my apologies. This is not how a member of Level Two should behave.” This was right – Aurors were not supposed to be brutes who harass people – they were supposed to keep things in order.

“I am certainly not going to ignore this problem. And to answer your question – I think you were a bit lucky that I’m acquainted with Mr. Whitman and that I was recently appointed as the Head of this Department. Not every letter of complaint reaches this office – and no, it is not that I don’t care about an ordinary witch or wizard – I just unfortunately spend all my time caring about the unordinary witches and wizards…criminals, dark wizards.” He sighed,  he wasn’t able to provide her with a better answer, he was just saying it how it was. “After Mr. Robards was assassinated, this office stayed empty and things certainly got out of hand -especially as you were unfortunate to witness yourself – the Auror office. I’m here to make amends, Miss Ó Móráin.” He offered the lady a warm smile, as much as he could possibly smile after this.

“Can you tell me this though – what do you think, why is Mr. Trevelyan so determined to catch you doing something inappropriate? Why is there such bad blood between the two of you?”

Liadan was pleased to see that Rosier had already been acquainted with Jonas Trevelyan, and that his opinion of him already seemed to be rather low. "I agree. It is certianly not how a member of Level Two should behave. I have had rather pleasant experiences with aurors in the past," she said. "So you can at least rest assured that your entire staff is not a hopeless cause. Just Trevelyan."

But he was willing to make it up to her, which she was glad to hear. "If you resolve the issue, and see to it that I am no longer harrassed, that will be amends enough, Mr. Rosier. I should like to be able to go buy a dress or have dinner with friends and not have to worry about an auror poking his nose into my business."

And then he had to ask why she thought there was bad blood. Liadan paused for a moment- unsure of how to answer the question. "I am not entirely sure how or why it escalated to such a point. I assume he took it personally when I refused to cooperate with his investigation in reference to that silly dagger he was attempting to find. Apart from that, I can't think of anything I have done to personally offend Mr. Trevelyan. Unless..." Liadan trailed off.

"Is he particularly good friends with Christian Colburn?" Liadan asked. "He is an auror trainee. He and I dated briefly- but I realized in February that he was simply not the wizard for me and started pursuing other romantic interests. I can certainly understand why the aurors would feel betrayed because of this. Though it is a bit petty and immature if that has something to do with it," Liadan said.

"But- to be perfectly blunt- it is not my duty to understand why an auror is harrassing me. I believe if there are some suspicions or investigations relating to me, that you should know about it. It certainly would do the auror office no good to let me know if they were attempting to out skeletons from my closet. I was hoping that you might have an answer of the exact question, Mr. Rosier. Are there any official investigations that I should consult a lawyer about?" Liadan asked. "I have no qualms about retaining legal representation if need be. Though I cannot imagine what the aurors would be attempting to arrest me for, considering I have done nothing wrong." Nothing recently, anyway.

He was glad she saw this wasn’t the fault of the entire Department, but of an impulsive individual. Rosier’s head hurt thinking he will now have to talk to Trevelyan about this and he could only guess how the conversation will go. Maybe he could wait until everyone leaves and then go through the ginger Auror’s files to see what was being hidden from him. Rosier wasn’t a fan of such an approach, but he saw no other way at this very moment.

But then she mentioned another Auror, or rather a trainee, Christian Colburn. He knew there must be something more to this story and this was probably it – as much as he didn’t want to listen to Liadan O Morain’s seemingly complicated love life and romantic interests. It would be so preposterous that this was the reason for this farce – and yet, so believable as well. “I’ll look into this,” he said curtly, not wanting his annoyance to show. How many employees of the Auror office were involved in this?

Her answer to his final question, however made him feel a little uneasy, if not wary. But he maintained his usual expression. There she was wrong – it wasn’t his job to answer these questions, especially if she was under some sort of a secret investigation. But this is not what made Rosier’s warning bells go off – it was that it seemed like she was trying to manipulate an answer out of him. Was she not so innocent after all? Again, he will need to dig deeper into Trevelyan’s files. Like always though, Rosier played along.

“Don’t worry, Miss O Morain. The only person in trouble here is Mr. Trevelyan, I assure you,” he said with a smirk. This was true (maybe half-true, but still true), Trevelyan will get a lengthy lecture from his boss first thing tomorrow. “If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about. Simple as that. I certainly have no idea why Trevelyan puts so much effort into ruining your afternoon or dinner party – but may I also be perfectly blunt with you and have an educated guess?” He paused for a bit and smiled faintly, despite himself.

“You said he has interrupted you in the company of another gentleman – could it be that maybe Trevelyan or Colburn are jealous?” It was a bit far-fetched and it certainly wasn’t Rosier’s business to act like her counsellor, but it was an amusing idea. Silly men did silly things when there was a lady like Liadan involved.

Liadan could not help the look of disgust that crossed her features when Rosier suggested that perhaps Trevelyan might be jealous of her gentleman friends. If the red haired auror had decided he was secretly in love with her- that was his problem. She certainly would never consider giving the time of day to a man such as Jonas Trevelyan. She required a certain level of personal wealth, appropriate behavior, and of course- the correct lineage. (Christian, admittedly, was lacking the last requirement.)

"The idea of Trevelyan being jealous is laughable. And I highly doubt Christian even knows how to be jealous. He doesn't seem to have many emotions at all. I put my reputation at great risk by dismissing logic to associate with a halfblood- and I certainly will not do it again." She had no qualms about her purist views- and since Rosier was a pureblood himself, she had a feeling he could understand where she was coming from, even if he disagreed with it.

"Though I suppose it is possible. My relationship with Mr. Prideaux has become more public as of late, and at the risk of sounding particularly vain, more than one gentleman has found this as reason to make their affections known to me or attempt to win me over. Christian and I never properly... broke up, so to speak. I simply stopped seeing him as I found a more befitting and appropriate match given my purity and status in life... So I suppose he could be jealous, though I would be surprised if he would stoop so low as to send Trevelyan out to ruin my life. Then again, jealousy does make a person do things they otherwise would not."

"But my love life is certainly not the subject of discussion here- and I do apologize for it becoming the topic of conversation. I am certainly satisfied that you intend to put a stop to it. I trust you will handle this swiftly?" she asked. "It will be quite a relief to be able to go out in public or to dinner parties without the constant worry of Mr. Trevelyan popping up where he is not wanted and not invited."

It was amusing how her expression changed at the suggestion of Trevelyan being jealous. She looked like she has suddenly seen a pile of rotting fish or something like that. However, it was interesting how not only she thought she was so above everyone who wasn’t a pureblood, but also she thought it was preposterous that a halfblood or a muggleborn would even lay their eyes upon her. But Rosier wasn’t surprised, he even understood. This is how he was brought up as well, but thankfully learned quickly enough this philosophy will not get him far in life. It certainly didn’t get his parents far in life.

Rosier didn’t dislike the witch across his desk because of her views though – he already established she was very old-fashioned. Also she was certainly lovely enough to have the right to choose anyone she wanted – and if she preferred pureblood wizards, so be it. But it was a bit bizarre how she spoke about halfbloods as if they were…not people.

She went on and on about these men, and in usual circumstances Rosier would have been deeply interested in this story. However, he didn’t know O Morain well enough and he certainly didn’t know any of these so-called suitors of hers (incidentally, he decided to look up this Mr. Prideaux among all other things), so all this information swam around his head as he attempted to listen to her. “There is no such thing as ‘stooping too low’ when men are jealous, bitter or angry…Well, at least some men.” Personally, Rosier would never even consider stooping that low for some woman…but a lesser man surely would.

“Don’t apologize, Miss O Morain. All this information will hopefully help me in addressing this problem.” Hopefully. He would have never thought this meeting would end up being this – him listening to a young woman telling stories about her jealous suitors…and an unlikely ginger Auror.

“Yes, I will summon Trevelyan here first thing in the morning, so all this will hopefully be over.” He thought for a second, raising only one eyebrow again. “Is there something else you wish to tell me?” Rosier deliberately made this question sound as if he knew she was hiding something from him, even though he didn’t have a clue. He looked right into her eyes and smirked rather deviously.

"I do trust that you will have a discussion with Mr. Trevelyan and ensure that my life continues to go uninterrupted. It is a sad day when a lady cannot even go get fitted for her clothes without being harassed by law enforcement."

Liadan wondered why he asked if there was something else that she wanted to tell him. Liadan made a distinct sound of disgust, and stood from her seat. "I did not come here to be interrogated, Mr. Rosier. I came here in the hopes of getting an ongoing problem resolved, glad that someone finally found my complaints worth listening to. I have said all that I desired to say. The only thing I have any desire to tell you is that if this does not stop, I do have friends in high places and I am not above pulling strings if need to be to gain myself peace and quiet. I should hate to bring that down upon your head, as you seem to be a perfectly pleasant man."

"Thank you for making time to speak with me about this. But I really must be going. I am a busy woman and I have clients to meet with in Hogsmeade before the end of the day."

"I hope you have a good day, Mr. Rosier. And if there is nothing else, I should like to be on my way."