April 31st ~ 7 pm

The Timmins home - single storey dwelling, barn conversion

While his wife was waiting in the front room for their guest, Ben was temporarily occupied. He was kneeling on the floor at the side of his daughter's bed and othersized, well read, book lay open on the covers and the little girl was sitting her eyes wide, watching her father. Her bedroom door stood ajar, a bright line of light helping him read. 

"The dragon roared, flames shooting wide."

He told her, doing his best with the sound effects, showing her the colourful pictures on the page, though she already knew them well. This was Sally's favourite book and despite various efforts by both his wife and himself, it was the only book she wanted before bed. Once she had left it at her godmother's in Hogsmeade. She wouldn't go to sleep until they'd managed to retrieve it back.

" But the little witch wasn't scared and with wand held up high, she cried..."

Here he paused and glanced down at his daughter who looked up at him expectantly. He cleared his throat and then raised his voice to the higher pitch of a women's for the next line. 
 

With a grimace and a ‘crack’ Tamis Raynor apparated outside of The Timmins Home and waited for the nausea to pass. Apparition was an uncomfortable experience for every witch and wizard, though allegedly it was suppose to become easier with use. Due to some odd personal quirk it was even more bothersome for her than the average wizard. In the first few years of practice it had made her physically sick, now it only made her wish she was. Once the pressure in her skull eased the Head Auror proceeded up the path to the quaint country home.

From within the smell of a promising meal permeated, wafting under the petite woman’s nose invitingly. While not surprising, Mrs. Timmins was a fantastic cook, it was rather torturous tease. It was not uncommon for Tamis to have dinner with the family and she took advantage whenever the offer was made. She would claim every time that it was Mrs. Timmins command of the culinary arts that drew her in (Raynor, after all, lacked the necessary domestic skill), but she always enjoyed her husband’s company.

A seasoned Auror, Tamis held a great deal of respect for Benjamin Timmins. He had already had a number of years under his belt, even when Tam had just entered training. The man had always been there for her in a way and over the years the two had developed a vastly unknown friendship. He was the kind of man she had expected MacDonell would promote when he retired, the kind of man that should have been when she had risen in the ranks instead.

Her fist made it halfway to the wooden door before it froze. Odd noises were coming from within, occasionally punctuated by a child’s gleeful laugh. Roars and similar simulations were just audiable – followed by a woman’s voice. Tamis blinked several times, Mrs. Timmins must be feeling slightly under the weather, Raynor could not recall her voice being that husky.

Letting her quirked eyebrow fall back into a more natural position, her hand completed its journey, and she knocked politely.

"And then they lived happily ever after." Ben finished, unaware of Tamis' arrival at first. He kissed his daughter on the forehead and bid her goodnight.

"Ben! Can you get that! I can't do everything around here!"

Came a rather disgruntled voice from the kitchen, his wife caught in the middle of a critical culinary preparation.

Ben wasn't a lazy person. He had offered to help with the cooking that evening which, following startled moment and an expression of pure horror, had been gently refused by his wife. It wasn't a lack of enthusiasm that limited his skills in the kitchen, more his limited ability to combine ingredients into anything that was remotely edible. He had been in charge of the family cooking only a month a go when Penny had gone down with Snitchen flu easter time. She had soon made a speedy recovery.

He strode across the corridor to the front door and pulled it open towards him. He peered through a small hole on the door frame, saw Tamis standing waiting and pulled it open towards him with a smile. He didn't smile extravagantly, when he did he meant it.

"Tamis, glad you could make it." He said.

His voice, for now at least, was back to its normal low and rather gruff tone.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Come in." He continued, standing aside to let her enter.

A muffled shout acknowledged her knock, accompanied by the clanking of pots and other household noises. For the briefest of moments, Tamis Raynor reconsidered her agenda for tonight. Benjamin Timmins was one of the best Aurors she had at the moment. He did his job and he did it well. But he had also managed to something that Tamis doubted she would ever accomplish; he had found a balance. The man was happily married with a daughter that the Head Auror secretly absolutely adored. He was not just a highly skilled and seasoned Auror; he was also a proud father and an adoring husband. For that, Raynor envied him.

The door opened, revealing the man of the hour.

Tamis returned the smile, not perturbed by the gruff welcome. Some might call Timmins rough-around-the-edges, Raynor preferred to think of him as only as expressional as he needed to be. He had been that way ever since the younger woman could remember. But she also remembered that, despite that, he had also always been one of the few that had supported her in her early years, when many others had scoffed. She might not have made it through her Auror Training without him.

“Thank you for the invitation,” she responded, somewhat innocently. The man had offered after she pointedly asked after his family and commented specifically on Mrs. Timmins wonderful culinary abilities.

“I only just arrived,” she said, brushing off the apology as she stepped through the vacated threshold. Removing her cloak, she breathed in the aroma inside the house. Her nose twitched and she grinned at the man, a mischievous and warmhearted glint reflecting in her eyes that very few ever got to see.

“Is that duck?”