Irene scrunched her nose – displeased at the lingering smell of dung, faeces and anything related to it. It has been her third day dealing with the case of regurgitating toilet. A prank made by a bunch of anti-muggle wizards which had been going on longer than her liking. The MLEP (Magical Law Enforcement Patrol) was being put in charge of this case as it was deemed to be too insignificant for the Aurors to handle (she’s not bitter – maybe just a little) They had managed to catch two wizards and one witch who was involved in this matter. The case was supposed to settle within a day but their patrol division, consisting of two witches and a wizard who was just accepted to the unit prior seven months after almost a year and a half of training, underestimated the case and there goes three days of cleaning up faeces and interrogating confused muggle plumbers before obliviating them. “Bad day, Irene?” The man who asked her was Dongjun from the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. They were all standing and waiting with a bunch of others for the lift ride back to their respective offices. “I hope you’re not offended but you still sort of smell. Is that case of yours not settled yet?” Irene sighed and the both of them entered one of the lifts that stood behind wrought golden grills. “Finally done with it today. We caught the last one after his own toilet seat backfired and blew up his bathroom.” The guy chuckled, “Served him right, huh. I can’t believe we still have anti-muggles people amongst the wizarding world. I mean, noticeably anti-muggles.” “Prejudice is quite a tough thing to remove from those conceited wizards.” Irene answered. With a great jingling, the lift descended in front of them. Several witches and wizards inside the lift were staring at her rather repulsively, thanks to the smell which she had tried several charms to get rid off but it seemed to be still ever so persistent. Oh she can’t wait to go back home and pour a good amount of detergent over her clothes. When magic fails, muggle items come to the rescue. A cool female voice rang ,“Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services.” The lift doors opened and the both of them stepped out, finding themselves in a corridor lined with doors on both sides and around the corner there were huge set of oak doors leading into the Auror Headquarters and at the right turn, towards another passage was the office for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. “Well, I guess I’ll get going. Don’t stay up too late writing the report. It’s Friday after all.” Dongjun paused for a second, his brows furrowed before a smile crept on his face. “Remember what the muggles said – TGIF!” Irene snorted, shooing away the man before she dragged her feet and entered one of the double doors on the left. She was met with a number of large, open cubicles that was shared within each of their division. Theirs were called BLOOM – since the Head of Magical Law Enforcement said their faces were the best visual their department ever had in 10 years. She spotted Jisoo, another member of Bloom Patrol, rearranging stacks of parchments and having an enchanted stamp stamping some of the piles of cases that they had settled. The girl looked up and probably saw her dreadful face before laughing behind her hand.   “It’s alright unnie. Today is the last day we dealt with this case. No more exploding toilets after this.” Jisoo snickered. She herself wasn’t smelling all that well.   “I wish.”   Irene settled down at her chair before proceeding to take a new parchment and write down the full report regarding their case. It took her an hour to finish doing so before she cleared up her desk and reviewed some cases that was bound to be handled to their unit with Jisoo.   “House raids, catching thefts and destroying some smuggler’s wand,” Irene murmured as she read the files of complaints and report, “I’d rather do house raids than dealing with these regurgitating toilet.”   “But people are going to hate us for raiding their houses.”   “I’d rather people hate me for that than having to smell foul stench of poop and not to mention cleaning them all – for three days!” Irene put down the files and pick up her own completed report, “Besides, it’s not like our department is the most likeable. We are like the police.”   “Police?”   “Yes, police?” Irene looked expectantly at Jisoo who was appearing rather clueless, “Dark blue uniform, shiny black shoes and – ”   “ – a donut.”   “A donut?”   “Yes, I saw one of them eating in the car.” Jisoo recalled, “Are they supposed to do that while on duty?”   “No, I don’t think so.” Irene smiled, noting how Jisoo met one of those stereotypical muggle police, eating donuts and all.   Irene had call it a day before she bid Jisoo farewell, grabbed her sling bag and walked ahead to her superior’s office and left the report neatly on top of another stack of parchments. She took a peek at the Auror Headquarters where she heard buzzing of people talking. She stepped inside and saw a few Aurors chatting at their own cubicles and her head turned to a certain vacant spot before another sigh escaped from her lips.                                             ***   Irene had soaked herself in the bath tub for half an hour. She got out from the bathroom to found out that it was raining outside their small house. She put on her bathrobe and brewed a cup of tea and sat by the window overlooking the streets and other terraces of houses resembling her own. It was dark outside and the streets were mostly deserted except for cars passing by once in a while. She was tilting the last remaining of her tea when she heard a buzzing sound coming from her drawer by the bed. Irene stood up and opened said drawer to see a phone, a device where muggles often used to communicate, buzzing and showing a notification from the calendar.   25th May – Lunch at the Kang’s Manor (12pm)   The lunch. She wouldn’t have forgotten about it since the lunch was one of the things that has been on her mind for the past few weeks. But one thing that she was worried was if Seulgi was going to make it for the lunch this weekend. The girl had not been in contact with her for a week due to her undercover work. The only thing Seulgi told her before leaving is that she is off to Japan with another Auror. The Aurors have high level of secrecy when it comes to their job; some cases were rather obvious but often they are not. Afraid if words and information fell on the wrong hands therefore they would mostly keep their work related issue amongst themselves. Although Seulgi does spill some beans once in a while, but for this case, the girl had kept a tight seal. Irene unlocked the phone and saw the background photo of her and Seulgi with the view of the sea behind their back. It was a week after they graduated from Hogwarts and went on a short three day trip together, somewhere at the outskirts. A nostalgic smile graced on her lips. Oh, how she craved for another vacation. It’s been training and work ever since that day. She also saw Seulgi less and less and this doesn’t really settle that well for her. It must have been somewhat 3 in the morning when Irene jolted up from sleep after hearing the sound of feet shuffling outside of her bedroom. A chair was being pulled and there was a thud. Were there intruders inside her house? She slipped herself off from the quilt and took her wand, pointing it at the door. There was silence for a couple of minutes and Irene tiptoed her way to the door before said door suddenly burst open and making her disarmed the intruder in an instance.   “Ack!”   The intruder flew backwards and crashed onto the couch at the living room. Irene gaped before realising who the intruder was and run to her side. “Seulgi!”   Seulgi lay sprawled on top of the couch with her robes skirting upwards revealing her black knee socks underneath. Her hair – which was now dark brown, a part of her disguise identity, now sprawled all over her face due to the spell impact.   “You just attack an Auror…” Seulgi groaned, hoisting herself up with her elbows, “What does the law said of a witch attacking a harmless Auror?”   “I thought you were some burglar!”    Irene helped the girl sit up properly before she went for a tight hug, propelling Seulgi to lie down once more at the couch. After a few moments, only then she realised Seulgi’s front robes were rather soaked because of the rain still falling outside.   “I miss you…” Seulgi muttered first as they pulled away from their embrace.   Irene tucked away couple strands of hair sticking at Seulgi’s fluffy cheeks, “I miss you more.”   Seulgi hummed, looking happy at the confession before she leaned and capture her lips in a soft yet firm kiss. They were like that for a few minutes except that her grip on Seulgi tightened and their kiss deepened until the both of them were out of breath and had to be apart.   Irene caressed the girl’s cheek, “I’m glad you’re alive and in one piece.”   Seulgi peppered a few kisses at her cheeks, making it red. “This is Kang Seulgi. The fastest Auror to finish training after two decades. I won’t die that easily.”   “You’re so cocky.” Irene rolled her eyes, before grasping locks of Seulgi’s hair. “I have to admit you look quite good in dark brown hair. It fits you.”   “Really?” Seulgi treaded her own hair through her fingers, “Should I have this hair colour in the meantime then? Though this concealment charm is only going to last till tomorrow before my hair turns back to blonde.”   “I don’t mind,” Irene shrugged, “But I don’t think your family would agree. We do have a lunch to attend at your manor this Sunday.”   Seulgi’s face fell into a realization and Irene squinted her eyes at the girl. “You forgot about it didn’t you?”   “I…did not.”   “Sure.”   Irene stood up from the couch and was about to walk back to the bedroom when Seulgi voiced out, “Where are you going?”   “To sleep?” Irene pointed out at the clock hanging on the wall, “It’s half past three in the morning in case you didn’t  noticed.”   Seulgi’s lips jutted out a little. She always does that whenever she’s slightly upset. It was a habit that the girl recently developed. “But I just got back…”   “And…?”   Seulgi stared at her for a few seconds before shaking her head. “You’re right… it’s 3am. I should probably get going – ”   “Going where?”   “Back to my manor?”   Irene stood perplexed for a few seconds, before she walks over to Seulgi, grabbed her hand and dragged her back inside the bedroom. Shutting and locking the door good.                                               ***   They had almost decided to travel to the Kang’s Manor using the Floo Network but thinking of her dress that she had put quite some effort in, she and Seulgi thought its best for them to just apparate, though it will take them some walking till they reach the iron gates of the manor. It wasn’t just any lunch. It was also a lunch to celebrate Seulgi’s father being the prime candidate to replace the Minister for Magic. So it was like a mini party with the Kang families from all around the city, gathered at the manor. And it was also not her first time visiting said manor, it was in fact her third but she still kept feeling agitated whenever they were about to visit the household. “You look lovely. You don’t have to fret about anything.” Seulgi gazed at her with those gentle pair of eyes. She then held an arm for Irene to hold and the both of them disapparated. The Kang’s Manor came to view as soon as her feet touched the ground. It was handsome, big and grandeur. The high hedge stood tall on their left and right, leading them straight to another forbidden looking iron wrought gates. Irene heard swooshing sound above her heads to see a group of people on their broomsticks flying passed her, and hovering in front of the gate before the group were led in. “We should’ve taken my broomstick.” Seulgi suggested as they were still a hundred metres away from the gate. “But then it’ll ruin your hair.” Irene nudged the girl and they reached the gate where Seulgi did some sort of gesture to no one and the gate opened. The silver marquee was evident at the garden and she could already listened to strums of violin playing by itself amongst the crowd. “I have a feeling this isn’t just a family lunch Seulgi.” “I have a feeling so too.” They immediately caught sight of Minhyuk, Seulgi’s uncle the Quidditch player, whom she had quite grown fond of as he was the most chattiest member within the family and the one who doesn’t give her some weird looks nor interrogate her much when they first met. The other members of the Kang’s, from the aunts and uncles, the nieces and nephews, great aunts and uncles had all looked slightly apprehensive when Seulgi brought her to meet them for the first time back then – Seulgi’s parents included. “Looking ever so sharp our infamous little Auror,” Minhyuk tackled Seulgi in a hug before nodding to her, “and you, Bae, looking great as always. Love the dress. Mother Kang would approve.” “Uncle…” Seulgi shook her head before they went inside the marquee. Inside the marquee were dozens of golden chairs arranged on rounded tables and draped in dark shades of green table cloth. The supporting poles of