Franziska really had thought being twenty would feel different than being nineteen. After all, she officially is no longer a teenager and therefore is officially an adult.

Mind, she's been an adult for nearly two years at this point, complete with a job and a serious relationship, but she figured removing the 'teen' from the end of her age would feel a bit more... notable.

In reality she's still dealing with the same dismissive supervisors, the same piles of paperwork, the same long hours and endless coffee runs. She can't really complain though - it is the job she'd chosen to pursue.

And she does still get to come home to the same person, which is definitely a positive.

"Hey Lida, you're home early." Stephan grins as she sheds her raincoat and casts a drying charm on her shoes before placing them beside the door. "Is this a sign things went well with Fischer today?"

"Didn't even see him." Franziska replies with a groan, walking straight over to her boyfriend and burying her face in his back as he continues preparing dinner. "I did have a lovely chat with his secretary though. She's on our side now which could count for something depending on how much sway she really has in the department." She pulls back so she can peer at the stovetop. "Then I decided I'd earned a break and came home on time instead of three hours late."

"Well food won't be ready for a while yet." Stephan says regretfully. "Though Rudi did bring us some mail, so that might tide you over."

Franziska perks up and leaves Stephan with a quick peck on the cheek, hurrying to their living space to check the mail.

The two of them have been living together for nearly a year now, and had started dating mere days after Franziska had returned home from England for the last time. Her mother has been dropping incredibly unsubtle hints about marriage for about a month now, and Franziska can't even bring herself to be embarrassed.

She probably will end up marrying Stephan after all.

There's only one letter on the table beside Rudi's cage, where he's currently snoozing. She picks it up and is surprised to find that it looks quite official - and is addressed to both her and Stephan.

"Hey, your name is on this too, you could have opened it." She notes as she walks back over to the kitchen (their apartment is almost embarrassingly tiny, and Stephan keeps pushing for them to get a permit to expand it magically. Franziska keeps refusing - she rather likes doing some things the Muggle way, and she finds their home to be rather cozy).

Stephan shrugs slightly. "I didn't look." He says honestly. "I assume it's from Evie and Fitz - they usually only write you."

"Not always." Franziska protests slightly, though she knows he's right. "Still, it is for both of us. Can you stop cooking for a minute to read it with me?"

Stephan obliges, putting the stove on simmer and taking a seat beside her at their table.

Franziska tears open the envelope and finds two notes inside. She starts with the fancier-looking one.

"To Ms. Franziska Chalida Reinhardt and Mr. Stephan Brenning, you are cordially invited to-" Franziska cuts herself off with an excited squeal. "Oh my gosh! Steph, Evie and Fitz are getting married!"

Stephan laughs at her reaction. "I figured it might be something like that. When is it? We'll need to figure out vacation days, since it's a bit harder for us to get out to England."

Franziska nudges him lightly under the table. "It's next year, February eighteenth. Plenty of time to get time off. RSVP is in November." She grins. "I'm so happy for them. So hey, when are you planning on proposing to me?" It's an impulsive statement, but she doesn't try to take it back.

Stephan flushes slightly. "Next week?" He replies. At her look of surprise he laughs. "I'm serious. I don't have the ring yet - I thought we could pick them out together so we're both happy with them."

Franziska blinks, the wedding invitation sitting limply in her grasp before being dropped entirely so she can launch herself at her boyfriend - fiancé? She hasn't technically said yes and he hasn't technically asked yet though - and hug him.

"You better be serious because I was." She informs him, getting comfortable in his lap. "I guess we should set our wedding later next year though, so we don't overlap with Evie and Fitz."

Stephan laughs. "I haven't formally asked yet." He points out. Franziska pokes him lightly.

"Well I'm saying yes anyhow. Speak now or forever hold your peace." She then frowns. "Well, now we have to tell my mother. And the entire office is going to find out sooner or later so there's that to deal with as well."

Stephan groans. "I vote we worry about that in the morning." He declares.

Franziska agrees wholeheartedly.

The next morning she wakes up feeling quite content after a night of celebrating, though her mood is somewhat dulled when she remembers she has two meetings to attend during the day, both with Ministry Departments which are notoriously stuffy and cling to old school notions and principles. Which means there will likely be a lot of dissmissive patronization, which is always fun to sit though.

"Morning Lida." Stephan mumbles. "Can't you stay in bed a bit longer?"

She laughs and kisses him lightly. "Sorry love, some of us have seven day work weeks. I'll see you when I get home, okay?"

He half-grumbles something, already fading back into sleep - it's his day off after all.

Franziska gets ready as quietly as she can manage and grabs some toast to eat on her way to the ministry for her first meeting of the day.

Despite her long-time aspirations Franziska hadn't ended up joining the Muggle Liason office after graduation. She did have an interview with them, which she did quite well in, but when an equal rights group also offered her a paid position she ended up deciding that fighting for Squib and Creature rights was something she felt just a bit more passionate about.

Of course, that hasn't stopped her from still being involved with the Muggle world - her and Stephan live in a non-magical part of the city and she still sees Rosalinde regularly. Her friend is heading into her final year of university as a criminal justice major and is hell-bent on getting her law degree so she can begin fighting discriminatory laws in court. Franziska is incredibly proud of the other woman, even if Rosa's intensity does overwhelm her at times.

Distracted by thoughts of setting up a lunch date sometime soon with her friend, Franziska arrives at the Ministry without noticing the streets passing. Blinking to reorient herself in the moment, she straightens her dress robes and strides purposefully into the lobby.

As work has just begun for most of the Ministry workers the area is swarming with witches and wizards, and Franziska has to wait for two lifts before there's enough room for her to fit into one.

"They really ought to install stairs." The wizard crushed in next to her comments. "Goodness knows it would make things much more efficient."

Franziska luckily only needs to go to the third floor, so she hops off before she can get too claustrophobic and heads straight to the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

The Department's head secretary glances up as she walks in and gives a tired smile. "Oh, good morning Frannie." She greets. "You're Mr. Weber's nine thirty then?"

Franziska grins. She knows the secretary - Eliza Lange - quite well after two years of continually pestering her bosses for improved regulations. "I am. No chance I could pop in a bit early?"

Eliza rolls her eyes. "Of course not, the man has never been on time a day in his life." She complains. "How he made Head of the Beings division is one of the great mysteries of the department."

"They should give you the job Liza, goodness knows you do everything around here anyway." Franziska laughs, taking a seat in the lobby area so she can get comfortable while she waits.

"Tell that to the Department Head would you? He's convinced I'm still some greenhorn fresh out of Durmstrang."

Franziska hums sympathetically, grinning despite it. "I'll be sure to put in a word." She promises.

The two women chat for another twenty minutes before Mr. Weber finally arrives, and Franziska follows him straight into his office, knowing he'll try to put her off if she doesn't stay on top of him for the entirety of the visit.

For all the trouble she has to go to to get him talking, once she's given her prepared pitch Mr. Weber is rather quick to agree with her proposals.

"Be sure to leave the files we created with Mrs. Lange so she can get them processed to be brough to the High Court." He says when they've finished outlining their new proposals on Being classifications.

Franziska feels like she could skip as she heads back over to Eliza's desk. The brunette raises an amused eyebrow at her expression.

"Went your way then?" She guesses.

Franziska beams. "Yep! I gotta say, Mr. Weber is quite progressive. Almost worth his always being late."

"Almost." Eliza fires back, accepting the files that Franziska hands her. "I'll get these to the Court Scribes by the end of the week at the latest." She promises. "And hey, I expect a wedding invitation after all the headaches you've put me through." She adds, playfully threatening.

Franziska laughs as she agrees and heads up in the lift, deciding to get a snack from the lunchroom as she has nearly an hour until her next meeting.

She's not surprised to find a few Ministry employees loitering around the room with various beverages and finger foods, and most of them greet her as she passes them. Despite not working there, Franziska is still a known face in the Ministry halls.

One man strides over as soon as he sees her, and Franziska allows herself to be sidetracked from the snack table to chat with him.

"Good morning Mr. Becker." She smiles at the Head of the Muggle Liaison Division.

"Good morning Ms. Reinhardt! There's still an opening in the department if you want it." Her mother's boss tells her, as he always does when they cross paths.

"I know, but I'm still currently content." She replies, as she always does. "How are things in the department? My mother always just says they're the same as ever but she's never told me when things are going sideways."

Mr. Becker booms out a laugh. "Ah, Penny does keep it close to the vest. All is going quite well though, no need to fret. We've had some concerns from the President about apparent Dark Lord sightings in Britain but it's been confirmed by the British Ministry they're merely rumors started by some first year Hogwarts students. Honestly that school."

"That's my alma mater you know." Franziska points out lightly, though she doesn't quite contradict him. Hogwarts certainly does produce rather quirky characters.

"Only proving my point my dear." He laughs again, and Franziska has to laugh as well. She'd definitely walked right into that one.

They talk a few minutes longer before Mr. Becker has to return to his office, and Franziska manages to grab a few pastries to munch on in the lift to her next meeting, this one with International Relations on the possible adoption of the new Squib rights laws that the Magical Congress of the United States of America had implemented earlier in the year.

As she has far fewer friends in that department she knows she'll need the extra energy to help her through it.

The meeting takes two hours and Franziska would equate it to smashing her head against a wall repeatedly. For two hours. She did get one of the board members to acknowledge a single new law as "possibly worth considering" which she's decided to count as a win for the moment. Better to be optimistic where possible, otherwise the job could tear you apart, as her supervisor is constantly reminding her.

She has a meeting with said supervisor at three in the afternoon, and it's her last official schedule for the day, though she will have to file her notes from her two Ministry meetings and put together a formal report for the rights group's CEO to review so he knows where they're at on the two movements.

The joys of working at a tiny company include knowing all your coworkers personally, and having to do all the grunt work yourself because they can't afford secretaries. Franziska sometimes wishes she'd asked Aidan how he'd functioned on so little sleep during their NEWTs - she figures whatever principles he was applying would work equally well with her late nights.

At least she knows the meeting with her supervisor won't be nearly as exhausting for frustrating as the one she'd just come out of.

She treats herself to lunch and starts organizing her notes while she eats in hopes of shaving an hour or so off of her duties for that night. Annoyingly she barely scratches the surface, and resigns herself to another late night at the office as she pays and heads for the co-op building from which their organization rents office space.

As expected, the next meeting is almost relaxing compared to the prior one, though her supervisor - Eric Dunkel - is less optimistic about her possible crack with the International Relations Board of Directors then she's trying to be.

"Those Squib rights laws aren't even that Earth-shattering, why would they be so adamant about refusing to even consider them?" He grumbles, pacing the length of his office. "Good job regardless Frannie, getting even a little out of those arschgeiges is a feat." He adds, though his tone doesn't really make Franziska feel any better about it.

"If that's all?" She prompts when Eric doesn't say anything else, simply stares moodily out the window.

He starts, and then nods. "Yeah, sorry Fran, that's all. Just get your reports filed for Max and you're good for the day. Oh, actually," He turns, waves her back into the seat, "Are you the one on point for the Squib's rights meeting tomorrow or is that Luisa?"

Franziska smiles patiently, though it's officially getting annoying that Eric regularly mixes up her and the one other female employee in the company. "That's Luisa, I'm getting petition signatures." She reminds him, and he nods.

"Yes right, good. See you tomorrow Frannie."

She shakes her head with a tired smile and heads for her desk. Just a few hours of filing and she can go back home to Stephan.

Really, she can't complain. Life so far is turning out just fine.

Rajani knows, of course, that her abrupt promotion is largely due in part to the two massive international events their department is stuck managing this year. She knows that it has little to do with her own merits as a notetaker, and that no one is seriously considering her for the Confederation just yet.

But still, it's a job as a scribe for the International Confederation of Wizards, and that's one step closer to her goal of being the leader of that precise group. And besides, she'd done a beyond phenomenal job as Mr. Crouch's secretary (try and top that whoever comes after her!) so she knows she'll blow this position out of the water as well.

They wouldn't have given her this job if they didn't honestly think she could handle it after all. The Ministry is a mess, but they're not that broken. Not yet (though she can see the Minister cracking under pressure, just a little bit, and maybe that should concern her but really, the man was never going to be reelected in the first place. Whoever comes next will be fine).

Still, rushed or not, unearned or not, Rajani got the promotion over a lot of people who have been with the department longer, which is a decided win in her books.

She's got a celebratory dinner with Eugene already planned for that night - she'd owled him as soon as she'd been told - but first she needs to pack up her old desk and say goodbye to her coworkers (and she's certainly not going to miss the lazy bunch, and wishes them luck finding anyone who could possibly take her place in practically running the damned Department).

She'll also have to bid farewell to Mr. Crouch, which she's admittedly already feeling a bit nostalgic over. The man was an excellent first boss - demanding but fair, in a way that pushed Rajani to do her best. Admittedly he's been a bit off recently (hasn't everyone though, the MInistry is in chaos with the World Cup approaching so quickly) but not enough that Rajani won't somewhat miss working for him.

It takes her the better part of her last day to pack up - she hadn't realized how much crap had accumulated in her work space. Most of it is junk, but a few letters from and photos of her friends are placed into her magically enlarged bag to come with her to her new desk.

"It's going to be weird without you here Raj." One of her coworkers - Allen? She's going to call him Allen - says as she walks past his desk on her way out.

"It will be a bit strange going down the hall instead of coming in here I suppose, but we still work on the same floor, I'm sure I'll see you around." She points out, slowing but not pausing. She doesn't really want to get caught up talking with anyone right now.

Thankfully Allen-or-whoever lets her leave, and she heads straight to Mr. Crouch's office.

She taps twice on the door, pauses to let her boss process the sound (he never tells her to come in but three years has taught her that so long as she announces her presence she can simply walk in), and then pushes the door open.

"I'm heading out sir. Is there anything you need me to put in order before I go?" She asks politely. She of course has already completed everything she needs to - she wouldn't have packed up her office otherwise - but it's standard procedure, and Mr. Crouch likes his procedures.

He looks up, blinks a few times, and then waves her off. "No no, quite alright. Congratulations again Misra."

Rajani smirks slightly - it had taken the better part of a year to get her boss to remember her name properly so every time he gets it correct still feels like a victory, especially considering that there are people in the office he still refers to incorrectly, years after they'd started with him.

"Thank you sir, it's been an honor working for you." She replies primly, and then turns and heads for the lifts. She has one more stop before she can head back to her and Eugene's apartment.

"Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Rajani is off the lift and halfway down the hall before she has to listen to the list of offices present on the floor. She waves to the secretary as she strides past, making her way towards the Auror training rooms.

Kingsley is, as expected, running several new recruits through an obstacle course, though Rajani is surprised to see that the Auror working with him - taking times and shouting advice - is Clary.

She doesn't interrupt the session, instead waiting by the door, dropping her bag by her feet and observing the session.

Clary notices her first, and she grins brightly in greeting, her hands too busy with her quill and clipboard to wave properly.

"Hey Shacklebolt, you've got a visitor." She shouts to the senior officer, and Kingsley looks at the door. Rajani gives him a slight wave and he nods back.

"Alright, take five, get some water. Officer Travers will give you your times and suggestions for improvement." He instructs briskly, and a little over half the trainees collapse in relief, though Clary is quick to start shouting insults at them to get them back up.

Kingsley leaves her to it, striding over to Rajani and giving her a brief one-armed hug. "I hear congratulations are in order." He observes, eyeing Rajani's bag.

She grins proudly. "They wouldn't be misplaced, no." She confirms. "It's just a scribe position, but Eugene and I are having a celebratory dinner tonight. You should stop by if you're free."

He hums. "Not sure. These training sessions can go pretty late, and it's exhausting for the trainers as well."

Rajani grins knowingly. "And certain trainers want to get dinner together afterwards?" She teases, glancing over to where Clary is making one of the recruits cry. "She's gotten intense." She notes.

"She was bottom of her class at graduation." Kingsley says with a low chuckle. "But she's one of our best trainers now. If you can't handle Clary, you're not cut out to be an Auror."

Rajani nudges him lightly. "So you going to comment on the dinner thing or are you just letting your silence confirm it?" She asks pointedly.

"I don't tease you about your strange relationship with Peasegood." Is his reply, and Rajani laughs.

"Alright alright, fair enough. If you want to come tonight feel free to bring Clary, I haven't seen her since Alas and Nia's wedding last year."

And hadn't that been a surprising invitation to receive. Still, they'd looked happy enough exchanging their vows, and she's heard that Alasdair has become a journalist for the Daily Prophet recently, as a sports writer - specifically specializing in following the duelling competitions around the world. Rajani figures if he swapped jobs so he can travel with his wife to her duels then there must be some genuine love in there somewhere.

Regardless, she's happy for them, and it had been nice to catch up with her old yearmates at the lavish reception.

Kingsley glances over at the other Auror and grins faintly. "I'll see if she's busy." He says after a moment. "I'll swing by regardless though." He adds. "I'd like to see Eugene, it's been a while."

Humming in acknowledgement Rajani heads back out of the training room, waving to Clary as she goes and getting a wink in return.

Kingsley may have acted like a snarky older brother (she's not really annoyed by that though) but he'd reminded her that she probably does have one more invitation to offer.

Luckily, her current kind-of boyfriend is in the Obliviator Headquarters when she arrives on the Third Level of the Ministry. He's fully engrossed in the reports that he's reading and as such doesn't notice her approaching his desk until she's hopped on top of it, knocking some of his files onto the floor.

He glances at them briefly before turning his full focus to her, a wry grin on his face. "Hello love, did you need something?"

Arnold Peasegood is a former Ravenclaw, five years older than Rajani, and her longest relationship since Ed (a fact which her little of an ex has told Arnold, and really Rajani is slightly concerned how quickly those two have become friends). They haven't officially labelled themselves as exclusive, but Rajani has turned down quite a few coffee dates from potential suitors in the past year, so she knows they'll probably need to have that talk sooner rather than later.

"Promotion party at my place tonight. If you aren't too busy feel free to come around." She gives him a suggestive grin. "There may be an after party if you're up to it."

Arnold laughs, finally setting his files down so he can turn to face her properly. "Well, that does sweeten the deal then, doesn't it?" He flirts back, and yeah, this is why Rajani keeps him around. He may be working a decent amount of the time, but when he focuses on her it's always fun.

They flirt a bit longer before Arnold's advisor comes around to ask if Rajani needs anything, rather pointedly (it's not the first time she's distracted one of his best Obliviators. She isn't sorry, he's always so petty about asking her to leave).

She makes up some official-sounding nonsense about a recent international incident resulting in possible new procedures when dealing with Muggle obliviations, efficiently shutting up Arnold's boss and sending him back to his office with his tail between his legs.

"You probably should go though. I'll see you tonight." Arnold promises, and she gives him a quick kiss before heading back to the lifts, letting her hips sway a bit more than normal since she knows Arnold is watching.

From there it's a quick Apparition from the lowest level of the Ministry to the hall outside her apartment, located quite close as she and Eugene opted to live in the pricier Wizarding London rather than deal with the inconveniences of Muggle London. They had both agreed it was better to pay more than have to learn how to take public transportation so as to not arouse suspicion from their non-magical neighbors.

Eugene isn't home yet when she walks in, which isn't surprising as he tends to get caught up flirting with his coworkers after the workday is done, so Rajani figures he'll probably be another twenty minutes or so.

"Did you hear Queenie? I'm one step closer." She taps the photo of her best friend that they keep by the door as she passes it, smiling slightly. "And your brother and Clary are still flirting, so that's weird." She adds with a laugh.

Talking to her best friend is probably the most illogical thing she lets herself do, but it makes her feel better at times, to pretend that somewhere Queenie is laughing along with her.

As expected Eugene shows up about half and hour later, after Rajani has finished going through her bag and selecting what she wants to bring to her new office the next day.

"Raj, I'm home! And I brought company!" He calls cheerfully. Rajani could have guessed as much - Eugene is noisy but the shuffling coming from the entryway is a bit too much for him to be making on his own.

"Hey Raj!" A familiar voice calls, and she grins, putting her bag away and hurrying into the main sitting area so she can give Ed a hug in greeting.

"Hey loser. No Rosie today?" She asks, referencing Ed's fiancée, who's also a friend of theirs.

He shakes his head regretfully. "Nah, she's got a major defense coming up tomorrow, she needs to prep tonight. She says congratulations though." He adds.

Rajani hums. "Well wish her luck from me. Who's the prosecutor? Anyone good?"

Ed snorts. "If it was anyone bad Rosie wouldn't need to prep." He points out. "Problem is her client probably did it, so she's doing overtime to earn her pay."

Ed's fiancée is a private defense lawyer, having recently started her own practice after years of working for the Wizengamot, which is how she and Ed met.

"Boo. I require drinks sometime this week then, I haven't seen her in ages." Rajani declares. "And goodness knows I need more women in my life, I'm going to lose my intellect if I keep spending all my time with men."

"I'd be insulted, but I know you're talking about Arnold." Ed declares with a -eating grin, making himself comfortable on their couch and flicking his wand to turn on the radio. Rajani turns it up slightly when she hears the latest Weird Sisters song blaring through the speakers.

Eugene makes a face. "I have no idea why you two like this group so much, it all sounds like random noise to me." He grumbles, but doesn't change the channel. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

While Eugene works on dinner Rajani gets comfortable on the loveseat, chatting with Ed and letting her brain turn off for a while as the music continues playing in the background and she catches up with her old friend.

Kingsley arrives with Clary shortly after dinner is ready and Rajani happily drags her old friend into a seat next to her so they can catch up.

"Make any more kids cry after I left?" Rajani jokes, and Clary rolls her eyes with a grin.

"If they can't handle me, they definitely can't handle Dark Wizards. Those guys have ways of learning your darkest secrets and using them against you." She declares. "And yes, three more. Really, this group is pathetic, I fear for the future of our department."

Rajani continues swapping work stories with Clary for a while after that, and both conclude that they're the only things keeping their departments running.

"Well, Kingsley does help, I suppose." Clary acknowledges, shooting a grin at her partner.

Kingsley raises an eyebrow suspiciously. "I do hope you're not spreading lies and slander." He says delicately, and Clary laughs.

"Nah, I've got Phillipa for that now." She declares airily. "She's the department's personal gossip rag." She adds cheerfully to Rajani. "If you've heard any sort of rumor about Magical Law Enforcement, she probably started it."

It's honestly a rather low-key celebration - even when Arnold arrives later with a bottle of wine that quickly is turned into several the group is content to simply sit and chat with each other. By the end of the night Rajani is pleasantly buzzed and snuggled comfortably on Arnold's lap. She doesn't bother getting up when their other guests leave, merely waving sleepily in acknowledgement of their farewells.

Arnold nudges her lightly. "Hey, I hear beds are all the rage right now." He teases in a low voice.

Rajani refuses to admit that she whines as she allows herself to be maneuvered from the loveseat and into her room. She shakes off Arnold so she can change into her nightclothes, and then tugs him down onto the bed next to her for further cuddles.

"Ready to kick tomorrow?" He asks as they settle down, and she smiles sleepily.

"They won't know what hit them." She agrees with a yawn. "I'm going to turn the whole Ministry on its head, just wait and see."

She will too. She knows it.

Honestly when he'd asked for his old job back after graduating Myr had expected it to be temporary - that in a few years he'd be applying to something in the Ministry, or have properly decided to apply to Muggle universities, or even to Wizarding Institutions of Higher Learning.

Instead he finds himself still organizing the musty shelves four years later, finding space for the 'new' stock and sending confused Muggle families to the Kiddell shop for their wands.

It isn't what he expected, but he really can't complain when he can't picture being happier anywhere else.

This particular day is making him especially nostalgic though, as in a way he feels like it's cementing the fact that he really does intend to stay with the second-hand bookshop for the foreseeable future.

He opens the shop a bit earlier than normal - one of the summer part-timers is taking the entire afternoon shift and Myr wants to finish inventory before she shows up. Padma Patil isn't bad at taking stock, but she often gets caught up reading the books rather than organizing them and Myr usually has to finish her inventory the next day. Not to mention the time she actually walked out with one of their new books.

She'd returned it of course, and had been incredibly ashamed and embarrassed about the entire fiasco, but Myr has generally not trusted her quite as much with the stock since (though he did give her the book in the end, she'd been so excited about the story).

He busies himself in the back, keeping his ears peeled for the bell on the front door and quickly coming out front when he hears it chime a few minutes after the official opening time of the store.

"Good morning, how can I-" He cuts himself off with a sympathetic grin when he sees the familiar customer. "Percy, hey. How are you holding up?" He reaches to hand the third Weasley a cup of tea from the dispenser he had brought in the year before to make the store seem more homey.

Percy looks exhausted, but he always does these days - discovering your boss is secretly dead and getting blamed for it tends to have such an effect. The red head accepts the tea with a grateful noise and leans against the counter.

"As well as it could I think. Scrimgeour is losing some ground in the hearings so most likely I'll still be allowed to apply for another Ministry position when all this is over."  He sighs. "I think I'm dreading the twins getting home more than the verdict if I'm honest."

Myr chuckles slightly. He hasn't spoken to the Weasley twins since graduating, unlike their older brother who's practically a fixture of the store, but he remembers how riled up they used to get Percy.

"I'm sure it won't be as bad as you're imagining. Any idea which department you're going to look at now?" He prompts lightly as Percy takes a few sips of the tea.

It's a nice way to start the day honestly, and after about half an hour of conversation Percy heads out, promsing to purchase something the next time he comes around.

Honestly Myr doesn't mind that the younger man doesn't often buy anything when he comes around - the friendly conversation is more than enough to justify his visits in Myr's mind.

Myr spends the rest of his morning sorting through the new stock, only needing to attend to a few customers.

Padma arrives fifteen minutes early as usual and eagerly tells Myr all about the new spells she's been studying in preparation for her OWLs, mixing the chatter with quite a few nervous questions about how difficult his own exams had been.

Myr patiently answers all of Padma's inquiries until the door bursts open and a flurry of energy in the shape of a person flies through, closely followed by a much calmer presence.

Padma turns her attention to the newcomers, her customer service face slipping on before she realizes the two figures aren't customers.

Myr laughs as the first figure drags him into an enthusiastic hug. "Hello to you as well Holly. Emery." He nods to his friend's husband, who smiles in return.

"Come on you, Padma's great at watching the shop and I did warn you you'd owe me lunch." Holly Kiddell beams at him as she releases her hold. "On us today of course. Big celebrations should be paid for by other people!"

"So don't be surprised when she makes you pay on her birthday." Emery laughs as the three of them head out of the bookstore. "Congratulations, by the way." He adds.

"How does it feels to join us in the ranks of small business owner?" Holly adds with a grin.

Myr shrugs with a faint smile. "It's not official yet you two, we're finishing the paperwork tomorrow."

But they're not technically wrong. By Monday Myr will officially be the owner of Diagon Alley's Second-Hand Bookshop - he and Zachary Hale have been working out the details for a while, but Myr honestly wasn't completely sold on the idea until recently.

"Still, we need more young people on the board." Holly declares, and promptly launches into a tirade against the "old coots" who own the other stores in the area and how their antiquated notions are preventing Diagon Alley from moving into the twentieth century.

"I mean really, in five years we'll be in the twenty-first century, but these guys are still living in the twelfth!" She wraps up as they reach the Leaky Cauldron, a common destination for their weekly lunches. Unlike Myr, Holly and Emery have to go back to work after their lunch break, so they can't go too far.

"Was Diagon Alley even established in the twelfth century?" Emery questions as they pick one of the corner booths and get comfortable.

Holly nudges him. "Um, yeah. It was created even before Hogwarts. Ollivanders opened in the fourth century and it's been steadily growing since. Obviously Hogwarts opening in the tenth century really... juvenated? Is that even a word? I'm thinking rejuvenated but that implies it faded which I don't think it had-" Holly continues musing aloud as Myr and Emery share and amused look before turning to their menus.

Holly calms down after they've given their orders and refocuses the conversation on Myr's latest life decision. "So I recall Mr. Hale's been trying to give you the store for the better part of a year now. What changed to make you say yes? You were still going on about going to the Ministry eventually at New Years." The wandmaker prompts him curiously.

Myr shrugs slightly in response. If he's honest, he isn't completely sure what changed. He just realized one day that he didn't really want to leave the bookshop, especially not to start a life in politics. "I guess I mostly focused on that since Cadi is doing so well on her end? I dunno, I like the bookshop. I'm comfortable there."

"And there are cute girls." Emery adds with a faint smile, and Myr resists balling up a napkin and throwing it at the other man's face. He's more mature than that.

Still, he'd mentioned the cute girl to Emery in private.

Holly's eyes light up. "Cute girl? Myr! How did I not know my best friend has another crush? You haven't been interested in anyone since Amanda and you two broke up ages ago! Dish." She commands, leaning forward over the table and nearly spilling her water in her excitement.

Myr sighs and gives Emery a rather baleful glance before giving in. "It probably isn't going to go anywhere, but there's a new semi-regular customer who's been coming in for a few months now. A muggle, actually." He adds with a small smile.

Holly snorts. "Of course. Both your mom and Cadi marry wizards, but the only actual magical person in their family likes a muggle. Sorry, go on." She adds when Myr gives her a look.

"She's my age and she just got back from doing her Masters degree in anthropology at Brown - it's a muggle university in the States." He explains at the matching looks of confusion from Holly and Emery. "Her little sister is apparently a witch and she's studying up to learn about our culture."

"And her name?" Holly prompts, and Myr blushes.

"I... haven't learned it." He admits. "We talk a lot about Hogwarts and her sister and our studies, but names never came up and it feels weird to ask now? I mean, she definitely knows mine because of the name tags but I never asked hers."

Holly huffs. "That's it, you message me the second she comes by again and I'll get her name. Honestly, how you boys would survive without me."

Myr raises an eyebrow in amusement. "Are you going to finish that thought?"

"Nope, that's the thought." Holly states  briskly. The waiter comes over to their table with their food and they begin to eat before falling back into their usual chatter about interesting clients and their lives in general.

"Oh! Tori is getting ready to start preschool this year!" Holly exclaims after Myr finishes a story about a frazzled young woman trying to find a specific book while managing a screaming baby (she'd tipped very well, though Myr honestly just felt bad for her rather than annoyed).

Victoria Hobbes is Holly's three-year-old niece, and the young wandmaker spends every moment not at the shop spoiling the little girl silly. Most of the time otherwise is spent sharing stories and pictures of Tori with everyone else.

Myr doesn't mind so much - with Cadi seven months pregnant he knows he'll probably soon be rivaling Holly for number of niece stories he wants to share.

"So Eric convinced her to put Tori though muggle schooling until Hogwarts?" He asks, knowing it had been a point of contention between the couple for a while. Myr suspects that after two miscarriages prior to successfully having Victoria, Laurel wants to keep her daughter as close as possible for as long as possible, and he can't really blame her.

Not to mention how Tori has become something of a mascot for the Appleby Arrows, and one the papers absolutely adore. It's getting Laurel a lot of sponsorships, which is uncommon for players coming back off maternity leave.

"She realized she can't keep bringing Tori to practices and games once the season starts, and Eric definitely can't have a toddler in the trauma ward of Mungo's." Holly says. "I said she could stay in the shop but both of them said no." She pouts, and Myr can't help laughing slightly.

"Tori has started grabbing everything she can and putting it in love, and you tend to leave your tools all over the backroom." Emery points out soothingly. "You get to pick her up three times a week."

That cheers Holly up quite quickly. "True! We'll swing by the shop sometime, maybe find some good kids books for when she starts reading!"

Myr grins. "I'll be working the front a lot less often once we finalize the transfer of ownership, but I'll probably be in the back sorting most days." He promises. "And if I see anything interesting I'll put a hold on it."

"You don't have to do that Myr." Emery says quickly but Holly elbows him.

"Thank you Myr, Tori will be very happy with that." She grins sweetly.

Emery shakes his head with a chuckle but doesn't comment further.

They continue to converse as they finish their food, and as promised Holly pays the entire bill when she and Emery leave.

"See you next week." She grins at him. "First board meeting is on the twentieth, I'm sure Mr. Hale will fill you in."

Myr just shakes his head ruefully and waves his friends off. He himself has the afternoon off and he's not entirely sure what to do with himself. He could visit Cadi - she's officially started her maternity leave so she's home most days - but he's been over at her and Rhys' home four times already this week and he'd feel bad eating even more of their food than he already has.

Thinking about food does remind him that he needs to restock his own kitchen, so he heads for the local market. Normally he would go to a Muggle grocers, but he doesn't have any pounds on him.

As usual the wizard's market is a bustling mass of chaos as witches and wizards attempt to haggle prices and shout their orders at the frazzled sellers. Myr braces himself before diving into the fray.

Having grown up Muggle Myr's first visit to the wizarding equivalent of the grocery store had been overwhelming and incredibly confusing. Most stalls have cashiers who fetch your groceries for you rather than the customer picking them out themselves, rather like how grocers used to be decades before, and Myr had been utterly lost until Rhys, who had come with him, taught him the basics.

Myr can now handle the market on his own, but it's rarely enjoyable and he's glad when he finishes his shopping and can apparate back home.

Owen greets him as soon as the door opens, squeaking emphatically and weaving around his ankles. If Myr wasn't used to it he likely would have dropped some of the food in order to keep his balance.

"Yes buddy, hi to you too." He laughs, kicking the door shut carefully and carrying the food into his kitchen. "No new treats today, sorry. They don't have cat food at the wizarding market."

Owen continues to bounce along behind him, mewling every so often and headbutting the back of Myr's legs as the wizards levitates everything to its proper place.

"Well then that's done." He hums. "What should we do this afternoon Owen? It's my last day as a free man you know, we should celebrate somehow."

Owen meows and flips over, demanding belly rubs.

"Helpful, thanks." Myr grins and oblidges. "Movie day then? I wonder if they're showing anything good on BBC."

The afternoon is spent lazily, playing with Owen and watching whatever is on the telly. He calls his mother and Uncle Cyril (four years after their marriage and he's still unable to think of the man as anything else) in the evening and they both congratulate him on the promotion.

He falls asleep that night with Owen pressed up to his side and his mind alight with a mess of thoughts.

Tomorrow the next step of his life begins. He's definitely a little scared, but he's looking forward to seeing what it brings.

"You cut your hair!"

Ana sighs as her best friend drags her into a hug as he steps away from the Portkey. "Hello to you too Jerome." She says pointedly. "I haven't seen you in a year and a half, it's not unthinkable that I would change my hairstyle in that time."

Jerome pulls away grinning. "Well yeah, most people maybe, but you've had those braids as long as we've known each other! It's super cute though." He adds.

"He's right." Finnigan Marley supplies from behind Jerome. "About the braids. I have no opinion on female fashion."

Ana smiles at him lightly in greeting. "Hello Finnigan, I hope the trip wasn't too nauseating."

Jerome's partner gives a half shrug. "It is what it is. We travel enough now that I'm almost used to it."

"We're in Peru for a few months though." Jerome interjects excitedly. "Both of us managed to get work out here which means settling in for a while!"

Ana is amused to see how relieved that fact clearly makes Finnigan, who had told her once during an earlier visit that he rather abhors moving around a lot. "Well there are worse places to settle." She observes as Finnigan levitates his and Jerome's bags and Ana leads them out of the Peruvian Portkey offices to where their transportation is waiting.

Jerome squeaks happily when he sees the alpacas tied to one of the posts outside the office, and Ana rolls her eyes. Honestly, he's twenty-four and has ridden the animals before. She really doesn't understand how he still gets excited whenever he so much as sees one.

"Fluff horses!" He says happily. "Best welcome wagon ever!"

"We've moved camp since your last visit, we're higher up the mountain now." Ana explains. "One of the teams is finishing up our last excavation site."

"Hey, congrats! You were there for what, four years now?" Jerome exclaims cheerfully as they climb onto the alpacas and start the long trek towards the mountains. "How does it feel having cleared out your first ruins?"

"It wasn't anything that hasn't been seen before." Ana says dismissively. She may love her job, but it had been a bit disappointing when she and Alec reached the final chamber of the area they had started on right after their honeymoon and found nothing of much import.

"So no celebration party? I was going to wear my dress and everything." Jerome pouts dramatically, and Ana can't help but laugh. Five years on and she's not sure she'll ever fully get over Jerome buying a dress to wear to her wedding.

He'd insisted it was because he didn't want to break any further traditions - Ana having a male Maid of Honor was scandalous enough - but Ana's mother had nearly had a heart attack when he'd shown up to the practice honestly looking better than Hannah, Sarah, or Amelia in their bridesmaid dresses.

Ana keeps the photo they'd all taken in her purse at all times, and honestly she's a bit disappointed her mother had nixed the dress. It would have made the event a bit more exciting than it had turned out to be.

Yes, it had been wonderful finally marrying Alec after being engaged for over a year and a half, but the attendees were mostly her mother's social acquaintances and quite a few of them had made some unnecessary comments about Ana's friends, particularly Shaun and Aidan who as Muggleborns had been unfamiliar with the pureblood marriage customs, though even Amelia as a half-blood had been a bit lost at points.

It overall had been fine for what it was, but it was definitely the honeymoon that shines from that part of her life. They'd decided to travel to Argentina, so they could get used to the time zone difference before starting their work as a Curse-Breaking team and also to enjoy the rich culture of the country. They'd considered stopping by Castelobruxo until they'd remembered how much larger South America is compared to Europe and decided the trip wasn't worth it. After their trip was over they immediately Portkeyed to Peru and have been there since. Both the Vulchanovas and the Macmillans have tried to get them to come back to England regularly, but the only time they made the trip was for Alasdair's wedding, and even then they'd left shortly after. Their work isn't the kind that can be put on pause for very long after all.

Jerome fills the time it takes to travel to their camp with stories about his travels around the world with Finnigan, who occasionally corrects details or adds the snide commentary that Ana has come to appreciate in the years since graduation.

Two hours later they arrive, and Ana helps them dismount but leaves them to set up their own tent.

"Alec is checking a few symbols we found yesterday, I'll go tell him that we're back." She says once she's certain the two aren't going to break anything in their camp. It's a modest, mobile thing but it's home and she prefers it in one piece, even if it is rather small. Ana honestly likes that she spends every night now underneath the stars, though, even if it means forfeiting certain luxuries.

She finds her husband almost exactly where she'd left him that morning, hunched over a book of runes and surrounded by discarded scrolls with half-scribbled translation attempts.

Ana spells the scrolls into a neat pile to be disposed of before sitting next to Alec and leaning on his shoulder to get a better look at the book. "Any luck?"

He startles slightly, and then sighs, leaning back against her. "Unfortunately not, and it's incredibly irritating. I know what each rune should be, but it's unclear in which direction they're drawn from since they're so faded, and there are multiple translations that could potentially make sense. It all depends on the context of the ruins, and we haven't gotten the dating expert out here yet."

"There's only one in the area dear, and she's overworked as it is. Perhaps when we finish here we should take a holiday and I can get my certification in dating so we don't have to wait for her in the future." Ana suggests.

Alec huffs out a laugh. "You would think a break would involve more schooling." He sighs and sits straight, and Ana follows suit, standing shortly after he does.

"One can never stop improving." She points out. "Anyway, mother has been making noise about something big happening at home, it surely wouldn't hurt to check it out."

Alec hums noncommittally as they walk back towards the camp. "Let's focus on surviving your friends' visit first, shall we?" He gives her a grin that makes her want to both kiss him and slap him.

"Finnigan at least is your friend as well, but I know you enjoy talking to Jerome, don't pretend otherwise." She snipes back primly.

Their guests have finished setting up when they arrive, and Jerome waves eagerly in greeting upon seeing Alec.

"Hey man, long time! Is that stubble I spy?" He teases, punching Alec's arm lightly. "And here I thought you couldn't grow any."

Ana leaves them to banter out the strange argument they've had for years about facial hair (and honestly she wants Alec to shave soon, she doesn't really find it attractive) and takes a seat beside Finnigan, who's moved a few meters away to break free of the tree cover and sit overlooking the valley below their camp.

"Views are a lot better here." He observes without looking over.

Ana hums in agreement. "It's been a nice change of pace. But enough about me, you'll hear plenty in the next few days. How are things with you? You mentioned you managed to find a steady job here?"

He shrugs. "It's still technically freelance work, but most likely will keep us in place for a few months. One of the excavation sites on the other side of the mountains uncovered what they believe are ancient alchemical formulas. I was hired to analyze them and ascertain if they're genuine and what they do if they are."

"Sounds like fun." Ana says honestly. "You'll have to keep me informed as to your findings, new formulas could be massive in both our lines of work."

"With Flamel and his wife finally passed on the rest of us are finally getting steady gigs like this." Finnigan observes idly. "Before it was always 'oh hey, I need this done quickly and Flamel is far too busy and important for such things so you do it'. Got really annoying after a while."

Ana laughs. "I can only imagine. I suppose Curse-Breakers are lucky that there isn't one major name in the field, so we aren't always being compared to someone."

"It's a good challenge though." Finnigan observes after a moment of silence. "But I am glad that we'll be here for a while."

Ana lets it sit there for a while, and Finnigan allows it, just sitting next to her and staring out over the valley below them as the sun slowly lowers and begins to stain the tops of the neighboring peaks gold.

"I get why you stay here." Finnigan says some time later, his voice even softer than normal. Ana gets it - her and Alec usually don't talk much during this time either, there's something naturally magical in the atmosphere.

"You should tell Jerome that you want to settle. You know he'd do it in a heartbeat." She responds, equally low, without turning her eyes away from the vista.

There's a whisper of noise that could be a hum but could be the wind. Finnigan shifts in his seat. "I don't... really want to. I don't love traveling all over the place constantly, but I like seeing new things at the same time. I was homeless as a kid, did you know?"

Ana actually hadn't, which surprises her. Finnigan isn't exactly a quiet drunk and they've gone drinking together every time he and Jerome are in the area. She says nothing in response though, letting Finnigan control the flow of the information.

"I just like knowing there's somewhere to go home to. Travelling, seeing new places, learning new things, I love it. I mean, I love Jerome and I'd do this for him even if I didn't love it, but I do. We just don't have a real... home base I guess." He shifts, now looking embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm not normally like this. Must be tired."

Ana hums. "Still, you should talk to Jerome. He'd understand. You guys could get a little place in London, or wherever, just to have. With the payout from the textbook he's helping write you two should have enough money for it."

Finnigan makes a face. "Yeah, you haven't been to England in a while, it's not the best place to set up shop right now. But you're right, I'll talk to him."

Ana thinks that after six years together the two really ought to be better at talking, but what they have seems to work for them so she doesn't question it.

"Come on, let's go see if our respective partners are done arguing over aesthetic nonsense." Ana decides, standing and stretching. The sun has almost completely dropped over the horizon, coloring everything blood red in warning. "If we don't walk back it'll be too dark to see much, even with lumos. No maximas are allowed here since we're pretty close to Muggle settlements."

Finnigan squints at the valley as if trying to see what she's talking about. "If you say so. Jer and I should probably get to sleep, I imagine the time zone will start catching up with us soon."

They find their partners starting a fire in the camp.

"Wecome back." Alec calls. "Finn, please take Jerry away from the food, he's convinced he can cook."

"He hasn't burned down any houses recently." Finnigan observes mildly, smiling slightly at the wounded look Jerome shoots him.

"Alec is very particular about his cooking set." Ana soothes her friend with her own amused smirk. "Don't take it personally, he doesn't let me touch it either."

Alec makes an offended noise. "Oh please, don't make me look like the bad guy here." He complains. "Honestly, ganging up like this."

Jerome gives him a wicked smirk. "You're right Alec, we should be nicer to our elders." He teases.

"I'm barely thirty you brat." He grumbles.

"Thirty-one in June." Ana can't help correcting, smiling when her husband turns his not-a-pout on her. "You aren't old Alec, calm down."

"My parents had two kids by my age and they won't quit reminding me." He grumbles.

Jerome sighs wistfully. "I always wanted kids. It's tough to adopt for... for people like us." He stumbles, and Alec makes a face. Technically Jerome and Finnigan aren't out to him, but he's figured it out and has been increasingly impatient for them to bring it up properly so he can announce that he knows. Ana has resisted pointing out that it's a stupid plan, and that it had taken him five years to wise up regardless so he hadn't exactly been the sharpest tool on that front.

"Well worst case you can spoil ours rotten." Ana offers. "You will be godfather after all."

Jerome squeals excitedly as Alec raises an eyebrow at her. "Was I going to be informed of that decision?" He asks, clearly amused. "What if I want Alas to be godfather?"

"You don't. Besides, isn't his wife pregnant right now? They're going to have their hands full with their own brats."

Alec huffs. "Yeah, she is. Which my mother will never let me forget."

"Not to push, but when are you guys planning on kids? It seems like it could be dangerous for them considering your line of work." Jerome points out, some of his godfather-based enthusiasm waning.

Ana shrugs. "That is why we haven't had any yet, yes. But I do want a family." She looks over at Alec. "I was thinking, once we finished here we could take over as supervisors for the ongoing excavations in the area. Settle down, have a house rather than a camp. And when the kids are old enough we can take them with us to less dangerous digs."

Alec looks surprised, while Jerome looks thrilled.

Her husband shrugs. "Sounds like a plan to me. I didn't realize you'd put so much thought into it already, though I'm not surprised." He adds with a smile.

"I'm going to be an uncle! Oh man I hope I can find more work here so I can be close by for the babies!" Jerome cuts off any further excitement with a yawn, and Finnigan gently convinces him to head to bed.

"Goodnight, and thank you again for letting us stay with you for a few days."

"Of course Finn, you're family." Ana replies automatically, and after a moment of looking startled Finnigan smiles.

"Thanks."

"Family huh?" Alec says after the two men have vanished into their tent. "It was kind of weird to think about growing our own for a minute there, but I guess we've sort of already collected a couple of strays."

Ana sighs. "Indeed. Still, it isn't so bad." She leans back to gaze up at the stars overhead. No, she definitely can't complain.

Her life is exactly how she wants it to be.