If he were to be completely honest, Miles prefers the press conferences to TV interviews. Sure, the interviews are a lot of fun, and he gets to ask questions during those (really the only downside of press conferences is that he only gets to answer questions), but all their interviews so far have either been one-on-one or only had a small audience that he couldn't really interact with. Press conferences, on the other hand, involve him interacting with a lot of Muggles! All kinds of Muggles! (Well, mostly reporter Muggles, but lots of different people become reporters!)

So he's very excited when October first rolls around, since it's their first ever monthly update press conference. He and Veena had been prepping with Mrs. Morgan all weekend, and he'd even been able to convince the two women to let him lead the discussion after promising repeatedly to stick to the script (or rather, the bullet points they'd assembled covering everything the Initiative has accomplished so far).

He's so excited he wakes up an hour before his alarm goes off and can't manage to get back to sleep, so he hops up and heads to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. Halfway through brushing his teeth the alarm goes off, and he scrambles to hit the 'power' button, hitting a few incorrect ones before finally clicking the right thing. The alarm clock was a gift from one of the interviews, and as excited as he was to get it, he's still figuring out how exactly to use it - Petra had been the one to initially set it up for him and he admittedly hadn't paid as much attention as he should have when she was explaining how it worked.

It certainly doesn't help that it's labelled with things like 'FM' and 'Al Mode'. One dial just has 'Set +/-' next to it which makes no sense at all - what's being set? A few make sense, but they don't seem to work - he'd played with the 'Volume' dial when he'd first gotten the alarm clock but it hadn't seemed to change how loud the alarm actually was - it's always stuck at painfully noisy.

Still, he loves it, and he hopes he'll get more interesting Muggle items in the future at other interviews and talk shows.

Alarm conquered for the day, he trots back to the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth, and then heads to the kitchen for milk and cereal. His flat is decidedly small, and his friend and former colleague at the Prophet Serene had once referred to it as cramped, but he personally likes it. After a childhood living mostly in isolation, in a house that felt too big for just him and his father, he finds the enclosed space cozy. Of course, Serene might have been referring to the massive collection of random objects he's hoarded over the years which take up every visible surface in the flat. But really, how can he throw those things away? Letters from his friends back in America, all the articles he'd gotten published in the Prophet, even letters from his father when they were living apart during Miles' last four years at Ilvermorny. They're all important memories from important people after all, so he can't just throw them out like so much trash. Besides, he can find his way around and that's what really matters.

His tawny owl Owl is snoozing inside his open cage when Miles walks in, obviously having returned from his nightly hunt, so Miles locks up the cage and closes the kitchen window before wandering over to his pantry and debating what cereal to have today. The sun is already high enough that it provides ample light in the room, and Miles takes his time eating, mentally rehearsing all the points he needs to make at the conference and getting more and more excited as he does, his movements speeding up alongside his thought process. In the end, he's ready for work about thirty minutes before he even needs to leave, but he decides to head out anyway. Maybe some of the others will be early too - Aruna is usually already present when he arrives, and with the day's press conference it wouldn't be unreasonable for the leaders to clock in a bit early as well.

He floos straight out of his apartment into the Ministry Atruim and joins the swarm of people crowding into the lifts, smiling brightly at anyone who happens to make eye contact. A few people recognize him and wish him luck for the press conference, and a few others inquire after the Initiative as a whole, but no real conversation can occur as people filter out on the lower floors, leaving only Miles and two people heading for the ninth floor on the lift, and they don't seem particularly inclined to talk.

"Have a nice day!" Miles says anyway when he steps off into the Initiative offices, and he's pleased to see the woman give a small smile in return.

The offices are mostly empty, with only a few Hunters present at their desks. Miles decides that since he's here anyway, and he hasn't anything else to do, it would be good for him to finally meet some of the people they're sharing the space with.

He walks up to a very attractive Japanese woman scribbling away at some files and leans against the side of her desk, slipping on a smile as he does.

"Hello! I'm Miles Taylor, I work over with the Initiative. Thought it was high time I met you guys!" He says brightly, and the woman looks up, amusement coloring her features.

"I think everyone knows who you are." She replies lightly. "I'm Estelle, it's nice to meet you Miles. Also I'm dating someone, just to clarify that."

Miles immediately feels his face heat up. Yes he finds her attractive but he hadn't meant to flirt! "I'm sorry! I didn't intend to imply anything!" He squeaks quickly, standing up and moving away from the desk slightly.

Estelle blinks, and then laughs. "Obviously not, but I always have to be careful." She grins, putting down her quill and tilting the chair so she's facing him head-on. "So what brings you in so early today? I've seen you and Veena prepping for days now, I can't imagine you have any last-minute paperwork to get through." Her eyes flickering to her own work as she says this, and Miles wonders if maybe he's interrupting and shouldn't have come over in the first place. But Estelle is obviously open to chatting with him, and he really doesn't want to just sit around for an hour and a half waiting for everyone else to arrive at work. So he grabs a nearby empty desk chair, drags it over, and sits so his arms cross over the back of it.

"I was just so excited! We've got our very first official monthly press conference today and I'm going to be leading it! We're just updating everyone on what the Initiative is doing, like how Gringotts is working to open up an electronic conversion machine for Muggles to get magical money, or how St Mungo's is doing some preliminary research into the differences between Magic and Muggle biology - they have some intel on it but they want to make sure it's legitimate since there apparently isn't much data actually recorded on the experiments-"

He ends up giving Estelle pretty much a full overview of what he'll be saying at the press conference, albeit a tad less formal than he's supposed to be during the actual presentation. As he's wrapping up, a few more Initiative members and Hunters come in, including a man Estelle says is her boss. She ends up politely shooing Miles away so she can get back to the paperwork she'd been procrastinating, and he goes to sit on Petra's desk, since his fellow PR team member had arrived at some point during his chat with Estelle.

"How are the social medias?" He asks curiously, watching the screen of her laptop intently, despite not really understanding what anything on it is. Since the first day with the laptop, Petra has been getting more and more irritable, which means she's a lot less inclinced towards explaining things to Miles when he asks about her work. It's a bit frustrating, but he figures she's just in a bad mood, and if he keeps asking he'll eventually catch her in a better one.

Today is not a better one. "Awful as ever. Don't you have a conference to prep for?" Petra asks, her tone sharp and tired, and Miles pouts but hops off the desk any how. His father always says not to push women when they're like that, and Serene had shown him exactly why that was excellent back in their first month working together at the Prophet.

Luckily, Mrs. Morgan is just arriving, so Miles bounces over to her to see if they can maybe go to the conference early.

She spots him coming and pauses on her way to her office with an amused smile. "No Miles, we can't leave now, we have to wait for Veena. She's dropping her son off at his grandparents' so she's going to be about fifteen minutes late today."

Miles pouts. "Then can I practice with you a bit?" He asks, and perks up considerably when Mrs. Morgan agrees that it's a good idea. Eventually Veena arrives, and the three of them head out to the conference area, which Miles has learned is just in front of Muggle Parliament (he's hoping one day they can take the tour through it that he's seen flyers for by the door, though he hasn't brought it up just yet. Maybe if he does a good job today they can go after the conference!). The reporters once again have beaten them there, and Miles waves at several of them but reins in the urge to ask them all about how their weeks have been going - he's leading the conference today, and if he wants a chance at the Parliament tour after this he'll need to be as professional as Veena during the next two hours.

He does give in and wave at a few reporters he distinctly recognizes, but that's okay because Veena smiled and waved at the Japanese reporter from the Telegraph and if she can do it, so can he.

Miles steps up to the center microphone and taps it lightly to get everyone's attention. He'd hit the mic too hard during one of their radio interviews and it had been incredibly unpleasant, but he thinks a light tap is more professional than shouting to get everyone's attention.

Luckily none of the 'feedback' that had happened last time he'd hit a microphone occurs, and everyone quiets down and turns to him. Miles beams.

"Good morning everyone!" He exclaims. "Welcome to the Muggle Integration Initiative's very first monthly press conference! We're happy to see so many people here, and hopefully you'll all be happy you came!"

A few laughs from the audience boosts his confidence even further. "I'm Miles Taylor, and this is my associate Veena Harris. We'll be the ones running these conferences and hopefully answering all your questions! But first, we'd like to give you all an update on everything the Initiative has already accomplished after only a month."

So far so good, and he looks over at Veena to find her smiling proudly, her own microphone left on its stand. She'll grab it later to help answer questions, but for now she's clearly acknowledging that the first part is all his.

He takes a quick breath and turns back to the reporters, smiles still straining his cheeks, and he launches into the points they had been rehearsing endlessly for the past several days.

He thinks it goes smoothly, and a look over at Veena confirms that she seems to agree with his assesment. So he turns back to the crowd, buzzing with confidence, and opens the floor to questions.

"What do you know about the Greek Gods?" One young man shouts when Miles points to him (Veena always calls on the people in the front - she says they're from bigger papers so they reach more people - but he thinks the people in the back should get some attention too).

Miles shrugs. "Not much really, they died a while ago." He says. It's an honest response, but it also gets a laugh out of the crowd and he flashes what Veena has started calling his 'signature grin'. "No really, we don't learn much about them in school, our history teacher is a ghost who died while working on a lecture about goblins. So ask me about them - we had that lesson every year for seven years!"

More laughter, and more hands go up. Miles' foot is tapping lightly on the bottom of the mic stand, his enthusiasm no longer content with being trapped beneath his skin.

"Um, yes, the young lady with the awesome purple hair!" He says, and he sees Veena shift slightly next to him but doesn't worry about it too much. She's just not used to letting him be in charge - but after how great he's doing today she'll probably need to get used to it more often!

The woman he'd called on grins. "Thanks! Do y'all not have different hair colors in the magical world?"

Miles scoffs. "Of course we do! Ooh, I bet we could find a way to make our magical hair-color changing spells for Muggles! Then you could make your hair any color you want whenever you want!"

The woman's eyes light up. "Oh man, that would be so cool!"

Veena had known this was coming - Miles had hit what she privately calls 'the ego point' and had stopped worrying about being professional. She's just glad he'd waited until after the key part of the conference to do it. Quickly she raises her microphone before the two can start chatitng too much and further irritate the big-name papers being ignored in the front row. "Ma'am, I'm very sorry to interrupt, but did you have a question? We do have limited time here." She says pointedly, though she keeps her tone bright and personable. Cat calls it her "book sale" voice.

The woman startles, and Miles looks a bit put out, but purple-hair quickly recovers composure. "Right, sorry. I'm Debbie Bing, I run the More You Know blog. Miles - um, Mr. Taylor rather - mentioned Goblins? Would you be able to tell us more about them?"

Veena slaps on her camera smile and steps forward so she's sharing center stage with Miles. "Unfortunately I can't say more on that at the moment - the Goblins are their own unique and intelligent species, and while we are working with them to determine how far they wish to integrate with non-magical society, I don't feel it's our place to make decisions about what to share about them. After all, we aren't Goblins - we can't speak for them."

The blogger looks pleased by the response, though a few of the older male reporters look slightly irritated by Veena's comments. She decides to call on one of them next.

"Peter Blake." The man introduces himself. "Daily Herald. Earlier you talked about some medical advancements being disucussed by your magical hospital - did I understand correctly that witches and wizards aren't the same biologically as humans?" It's phrased innocuously enough, but Veena is all too familiar with the tone that conveys "I'm not racist, but..."

Veena presses her lips together briefly. She'd anticipated someone would ask this, but she'd really hoped he just wouldn't get called on. She is bad at picking people.

She's going to call on Celine Yang next. Celine never asks dumb, biased questions.

Unfortunately, her brief pause to center her thoughts to come up with an answer that didn't boil down to "shove your racism up your arsehole you arrogant piece of " means that Miles has decided to answer the question.

"Well we don't really know? But we can do magic and you can't so that's one thing people think might be happening!" He says brightly, and Veena swallows and audible groan. Miles is a dear, but his white male privledge and general naïveity really shines in moments like this. He doesn't even realize the man is trying to be racist and essentially implying magical people aren't people.

"It isn't something that has been extensively researched. However, the fact many witches and wizards are born into non-magical families, and vice versa, suggests that any differences there are are likely negligible." She hastily adds. Not phrased brilliantly, but should cover for Miles in most of the publications.

Afterwards, Veena decides to allow Miles to go mingle with the bloggers from the back so she can do her best to try and convince the big papers to look kindly on the conference. Really, other than the racist from the Herald, who left shortly after asking his question, it had gone decently. They'd gotten their update out, Miles had cracked several jokes that went over well (thank God), and they were able to answer most of the questions asked.

She ends up finding Celine after speaking with a few men from BBC, and she eagerly walks over to the young woman, who as always had had the best questions. Or at least the ones that didn't make Veena want to rip her hair out from stress trying to figure out the perfect way to word her answers.

"Hey, great first conference! Or, third, but... you know what I mean."

Veena laughs. Having not really gotten to speak to Celine after the last two conferences, she's actually a bit surprised to find the woman is rather awkward when not pre-armed with an inquiry. "Thanks. I was definitely worried, but Miles did great, and I think I didn't ruin his charm too much."

Celine smiles. "Don't worry, he was cute as ever." She confirms, then immediately turns bright red. "I mean, not that I... I dont' - you guys did well!" She says, blushing profusely the whole way through.

Veena is definitely glad she managed to finally talk to Celine. "Hey, no worries, I get what you mean. I'm gayer than a rainbow unicorn and married to the best woman ever and I can still get that Miles is super cute. Aesthetic attraction is a thing after all."

Celine's face slowly return to normal color as she offers a still-embarrased grin. "Yeah, like that. Though I'm pretty sure I like guys. Haven't really tested it one way or the other."

Veena decides right then that she wants to see more of Celine. "Hey, random idea, you're doing exclusive coverage on all this for the Telegraph, right?"

Celine blinks, tilting her head questioningly even as she nods. "That's correct." She confirms.

"Why don't you come by the office some time? I can ask our supervisor and she could probably arrange a tour so you can actually meet some of the other people working on all this."

Celine's jaw drops ever so slightly. "That would be amazing! Are you sure that would be okay?"

"Of course!" Veena says, mentally praying she didn't just lie through her teeth. Mrs. Morgan will probably clear it - she's reasonable, and Veena has never asked for anything (sure it's only been a month so it's not like she's had time to, but the point stands).

She goes to find Miles shortly after that and Apparates them both back to the Ministry, ignoring her partner's pouting about not getting to take a Muggle taxi service. He recovers quickly enough and trots off to bother Petra, while Veena goes to report to Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Morgan.

"It sounds like overall it went well." Mrs. Morgan says. "Obviously unfortunate about the Daily Herald, but I'll put in a note to Petra to keep a careful watch on their online articles. Was there anything else?"

Veena clears slightly. "Actually, I thought it might be a good idea to let some of the... less biased reporters come in and take a more first-hand look at what we're doing here? The woman from the Telegraph for example always asks good, balanced quesitons. I think she might be able to put the whole Initiative in a better light if we let her see some of the inner workings?"

Mrs. Morgan looks over to Mrs. Weasley, who has stopped writing and is looking at Veena contemplatively.

"I think you may be correct." She says after a long, tense moment. "Go help Petra and Miles clock the most sympathetic news outlets and we'll arrange to have invitations sent out to them for personal tours and a chance to meet the other employees. Generally it's harder to be angry at people when you have to look them in the eye, so the more people we get at least partially into the spotlight, the less likely we'll have people try to attack the other Initiative members."

Veena smiles. "That sounds like an excellent idea. Shall we get started now?"

Mrs. Weasley has returned to her work, her piece said, so Mrs. Morgan is the one to reply. "I think that would be good. Get us the list by the end of the day if possible."

"Yes ma'am." Veena says, not able to help smiling as she excuses herself from the room and hurries over to grab Miles away from chatting with Fergus Bell and pull him over to Petra's desk. She already has the list in her mind - she just needs to confirm their articles are solid.

It will be a fun afternoon.

Landon has quickly come to accept that Rose in crush mode is not the most helpful person on the planet.

She's still Rose, which means she still spots clever work arounds and loopholes they can implement as they try to work up arguments to present to the Wizengamot, but she spots a lot less of them when Diana is in the room.

And today they're spending all morning with Diana. Which is fine, Landon likes Diana well enough. But it's just... weird how Rose gets around her. Landon has brought it up several times, but Rose always laughs him off, saying she's still getting work done so does it really matter? So far it hasn't, but Landon doubts they'll remain so lucky over the next eleven months.

As it is, Diana doesn't seem to notice, not that she's seen Rose in proper working form as of yet, so their consultations run smoothly enough.

Today they're sitting in Aruna's office doing some comparisons of the law enforcement policies of both governments alongside Diana and the law specialist when Rose has one of her rare good ideas (around Diana. She has plenty when it's just the two of them).

"Hey, why don't we see if we can borrow Edward and one of the Aurors from the Hunters for a bit? They actually live this stuff." She suggests. "What's written in the books and how justice is actually executed can be really different."

Landon grimaces, thinking about some of the things he's heard about police brutality from his best friend Wallace back in the states, and has to concur. "I think that's a good idea." He says. "If you two agree, I can go see if they're busy now, or if we can schedule something soon."

"Definitely." Diana confirms, and Rose beams. "We'll keep sorting through this."

Aruna just ducks her head in a half-nod, which Landon knows is probably the best he'll get. Aruna really isn't much for verbally sharing her thoughts on anything.

So he stands up and heads out of the office, scanning the Hunter's side for Edward. He doesn't really know any of the Aurors, so he figures he'll start with the No-Maj (Muggle, whatever, he uses the British term out loud, he can use the American one he's used to in his own head) and hope Edward knows someone.

To be fair he doesn't really know Edward either, but as the only No-Maj among the Hunters he's a known face to everyone regardless of whether they've actually talked to him or not.

Luckily for him, Edward is not only easy to spot, but he has one of the younger Hunters with him. Landon can just ask them both if they could help at the same time.

He strides overly confidently, and the younger Hunter notices him first.

"Hey! All good in the Initiative?" He asks curiously, the question catching Edward's attention and turning the No-Maj's eyes onto Landon as well.

Landon offers them both his best professional-but-friendly smile. "Actually, we're doing some work on law enforcment comparisons right now and wondered if you guys would have thirty minutes or so to offer your thoughts? None of us are actually active in law enforcement after all, so your thoughts as people who have actually worked within both systems would be really helpful."

The younger Hunter looks over at Edward hopefully, and the man tilts his head in aquiescence. "We can spare a half hour for that." He agrees, and the other Hunter grins and shoves away the book he'd been perusing.

"Great! Where are y'all meeting?" He asks. He has a heavy Welsh accent that reminds Landon of Mrs. Morgan, which suggests this is probably her son Tristan. Rose has mentioned him a few times - they'd been in the same year at Hogwarts - but had never pointed him out before.

Landon leads them back to Aruna's office, where Tristan's identity is confirmed by an enthusiastic greeting from Rose and the two new helpers quickly begin tearing apart their work so far. Edward in particular rather thouroughly berates the british rank-and-file law enforcment.

"I mean don't get me wrong, they aren't American cops." He offers after a particularly long rant about the ual coersion scandal of 2016 and the general abuse of power within the system which had been sparked by an off-hand comment by Diana about accoutability laws. "But I'm pretty sure that's only because we don't actually let them have guns. Anyway, my point is you can't rely on those accountability laws to actually hold people in check. I'm sure Aurors have caused problems in the past as well."

Tristan hums. "We had infiltration during both wars." He confirms. "We've done our best to make the entry requirements even more rigorous, but it's the trouble of balancing safety with, you know, not discriminating against people of certain backgrounds. Clary Shacklebolt's family was partially on Voldemort's side, but she's obviously not, nor is her cousin who runs the ice cream shoppe in Diagon Alley. So it's not like we can even look at recent family history as a real tell on what someone is going to be like."

"So there's a human element - there always is." Diana counters, pursing her lips. "Trust me, I know all about how ugly and awful people are. But having the laws is still better than not having them, and we're not here to rework the accountability system in Muggle law enforcment, we're just trying to see if it should be adjusted in light of magic. And I think I have people in Relocation who can help with that."

Landon tries to swap a tire glance with Rose - Edward and Diana rather quickly began grating against each other and Landon is quite glad they hadn't brought him and Tristan in earlier - but she's too busy agreeing vehemently with Diana to notice.

He checks the clock - ten minutes to lunch. Ten minutes to getting his partner back. He's going to mock her mercilessly for this during their break.

They are a slow ten minutes, but they pass and Diana and Edward both leave the office fuming slightly. Tristan ends up following Landon and Rose out, and Aruna closes the door firmly behind them. Landon gets it - she has another meeting that afternoon and probably needs to get ready for it.

Mrs. Morgan is standing by their desks flipping through some files, and Tristan looks torn about whether to keep following them or to run back to the other side of the offices. In the end he opts to continue the journey.

"Hey mum, what's up?"

Mrs. Morgan startles slightly, clearly not having expected her son to come over. "Oh, Tristan! I was just coming to ask Landon and Rose if they would mind taking their lunch hour here in the offices. We have a reporter coming around to meet some of the Initiative members in order to give the group a bit more positive exposure."

"Sure, we can hang." Rose agrees, already sliding back out of crush-mode. "Who's the reporter? Anyone we know?"

"A young woman from the Telegraph." Mrs. Morgan says, checking her files again. "And thank you. She'll be escorted by Veena, who will be making sure no invasive or rude questions are asked. We know being in the public eye isn't your job, so we're going to try and making these visits as unintrusive as possible for everyone."

"So mum, are you taking lunch here too?" Tristan ends up following his mother, leaving Rose and Landon alone at their desks, which means it's prime time to make fun of her for her crush before the reporter arrives.

"I'm impressed you got your brain working long enough to suggest bringing in Edward and Tristan, considering how utterly fuzzed your mental faculties get around Diana." He kicks Rose's chair lightly, and she lets it spin slowly once before planting her feet and sticking her tongue out at him. "She's obviously got a thing going on with Travers you know. Everyone can tell by how they're always together. Why are you so hung up on her?"

Rose whines. "Just because she's taken doesn't mean I can't recognize that she's freaking gorgeous and smart and perfect Landon." She points out. "And as you so rudely just pointed out, my brain is still working when she's aroud so bleh." She sticked out her tongue again, and Landon is ready to do the same as he fights off a smile when the lift dings and he's distracted by Veena practically vaulting across the room at the sound.

Rose watches the slightly older woman as well, obviously amused. "Must be the reporter." She comments, and Landon opens his mouth to agree when he actually catches sight of the woman with Veena, and his vocal chords decide to stop functioning.

Rose waits a moment before glancing over at him, frowning slightly. "Hey, are you-" She stops, squints at him for a moment, and then grins dangerously. "Oh, you never get to make fun of me about Diana ever again."

That manages to shake his vocal chords loose again, though only enough for a slight whine to slip out. He immediately blushes and clears his throat. "Untrue, I can still make fun of you plenty. Me finding the reporter attractive in entirely different since we don't work with her."

Rose sticks her tongue out, but doesn't get to retort because Veena and the reporter are walking towards them. Veena is gesturing around the room as they walk, but their trajectory is pretty obvious, and Rose is polite enough not to continue her teasing when the source of said teasing is rapidly approaching hearing range.

"Landon, Rose, this is Celine Yang from the Daily Telegraph." Veena calls once she's close enough that they can hear without her needing to shout. The young woman smiles, and Landon has to clear his throat before he can reply.

Luckily Rose is already out of her seat and offering an enthusiastic handshake, effectively covering his awkwardness. Intentional or not, Landon is once again thankful for his partner.

"Rose Evans, one half of the political team." Rose is saying as Landon rises from his own desk to offer a hand as Rose releases Celine. "Good to meet you!"

"Landon Colvin." He introduces himself as Celine accepts the handshake. "Rose's partner."

Celine turns that smile on him and Landon is praying to a God he doesn't totally believe in that he isn't blushing horridly. He sees Rose grinning in his periphery and he knows he definitely has forfieted all rights on teasing her over Diana.

In the end, Rose has to do a majority of the talking, explaining their role and the actions they've been taking so far, though Landon does get his tongue in working order long enough to throw in a few observations of his own, which he's proud to announce come across as totally cool and unflustered despite how his heart is still moving faster than it ought to be.

Once Celine and Veena have moved on, stepping into Aruna's office and out of earshot, Rose rounds on him with a Cheshire grin.

"Don't." He groans, but he can't help smiling.

He probably deserves a little ribbing. And anyway, he can always bring up Diana again later to get her back.

Petra is rapidly discovering that her new job . Sure, she hadn't been unaware of how toxic and angry social media could get, but she hadn't ever really experienced that until now. In her new job, she doesn't get to scroll through the safety of her FaceBook feed, only seeing posts from her friends - no, now she has to see posts from people she doesn't know, who hate magic and are attacking her since she's the one handling the social media accounts.

It's absolutely draining, and by the end of the first week of October she's honestly debating quitting. Maybe Miles could take over - he's stared over her shoulder more than enough to probably know how to handle her job at this point, and he seems oblivious to negativity, so he could probably handle it.

It's just before lunch break, and Veena is sitting with her by the laptop - Miles is oddly nowhere in sight, but Petra would put money on him bothering the Hunters if he doesn't have actual work.

"You should probably reply to this one - he did ask a legitimate question, even if it was rudely phrased." Veena observes, pointing towards one of the comments on Petra's most recent FaceBook status update, which addressed the Press Conference from a few days before and also shared a few additional insights on the work being done that week.

"I know, I'm getting there." Petra snaps angrily, the simmering frustration that had been building with each new comment read boiling over and lashing out at the first physical target it saw. Immediately, she slaps a hand over , feeling awful. "Sorry, sorry." She mumbles behind her palm, starting hard at the keyboard and trying to will away the tears that had decided to take up residence in her eyes all of a sudden. She knows she's been snippy all week, but usually it's the ever unflappable Miles on the other end, not the infinitely understanding and patient Veena. Petra doesn't know how Veena will react to the slip.

Beside her, Veena shifts in her seat, and Petra doesn't doubt the woman will probably leave now. No one wants to deal with a snippy brat after all - Petra doesn't blame her.

But Veena doesn't leave. Veena instead leans closer and rests a hand very lightly on Petra's shoulder, clearly ready to pull away if Petra doesn't want the contact. Petra does startle, having not expected the gesture, but ends up leaning into it after a moment.

"Hey, maybe you should take a half day today." Veena suggets, her voice quiet and calm, and Petra knows she's being talked down too right now but honestly going home after lunch instead of having to read even more hateful and accusatory comments sounds like heaven. "I can drag Miles back over here and we can cover - we don't have anything else planned for today."

Petra just nods mutely, and Veena's hand vanishes as the other woman leaves - probably to talk to the leaders. Petra just keeps staring at the keyboard through her fingers, her brain flitting through every possible negative outcome of this - what if she's fired? Sure, she's already considering quitting, but she doesn't want to be fired because she's seen as incompetent or overemotional - that would look awful on her resumé, and her last supervisor isn't exactly handing out reccomendation letters.

She's so lost in her own panic she almost misses Veena coming back over.

"Hey, they said you can take the afternoon off, and tomorrow too. Miles and I have you covered." The woman says kindly, gently, as if to a startled animal. Petra flushes, her relief at not having to look at any more comments mingling with her shame at needing the break and resulting in an ugly knot settling into her gut. But she stands up without complaint, mumbles something she hopes is a thank you, and collects her bag and coat.

Halfway down the lift she pulls out her cellphone and fires off a text to her best friend on a whim, thinking that having lunch with Piper is probably preferable to sitting alone in her house with her head still stuffed full of the vitriol she'd been reading all morning.

Piper's reply takes about twenty minutes, which makes sense - she probably had a rush of customers. The reply is just a confirmation, which is good because Petra is just arriving at Piper's Herbology shop as the text notification pings.

Piper looks up from the counter as Petra pushes the door open, her customer service smile quickly slipping to something warm but concerned when she sees Petra's face.

"Hey girl, what's going on? I'll close up for lunch in a couple minutes, I'm waiting on one last pre-order to come pick up his ingredients." She says, waving Petra towards the staff room (really just a small alcove behind the counter because Piper is the only employee of her small shop and doesn't need anything bigger).

Petra drops her bag but keeps her coat on despite the warmth of the room - it's a pain to undo the buttons, especially if they really will be leaving soon.

"So what's up? You said in your text you're not going back to work again today, but I thought your mental health day was on Tuesdays?"

Petra sighs. "Long day is all." She mutters. "Should I text Lucas to join us? He'd probably be available." She adds, knowing it's a blatant topic change but not really having the creative energy to be more sublte about it.

Piper sighs. "We're still talking later." She warns, "But yeah, see if he's around. You two should have the same lunch hour anyway, right? Or do different Ministry Departments break at different times?"

They chat idly about nothing in particular for a few minutes before Piper's customer finally rushes in, obviously embarasses about his tardiness and giving a hefty tip in apology that Piper doesn't even pretend to try and turn down. Once he's left with his parcel, Piper magically flips over her sign and the two girls head out towards Muggle London to find a place for lunch.

"Lucas is in. He says just text him the address and he'll Apparate over." Petra reports as her other best friend replies to her earlier text. "He just got on break - something about his boss holding everyone late to finish up some Being translations."

"I'm sure we'll hear all about it over food." Piper says dismissively, "Which is what I care about right now. I vote Italian personally."

Petra shrugs. "Fine by me. I think there's a pizzeria nearby? It has pasta too if I'm thinking of the right place."

As it turns out she is, and after sending a picture of the area to Lucas the two girls go in to grab a table.

"So. Work. Dish." Piper declares pointedly as soon as their fall jackets are off and they're settled in a corner booth.

Petra groans, resting her forehead on her palms. "Can we wait until Lucas gets here?" She asks hopefully, only to hear a crack from somewhere behind them and the hostess yelp, indicating that Lucas has almost definitely arrived. Meaning her plan to stall definitely won't work.

Piper grins. "Sure thing. Hey Lucas, back here!" She shouts, waving for Petra's old Ilvermorny friend.

Lucas sits next to Petra and only needs one look before he's frowning. "What happened? I thought this was just lunch, is this a 'Petra's stressed' intervention?"

Petra whines into her palm. "It's not, it was just a rough day today. Veena got me the rest of today and tomorrow off."

Lucas looks worried. "I've heard bits and pieces about the Initiative from Director Jarvis, since he's giving our results to the Department consultant and they're apparently friends, but it sounded like things are generally going smoothly up there. Is that wrong?"

"No!" Petra quickly assures him, finally looking up and over at the young man. "No, the team is amazing, everyone-" She stumbles slightly when she remembers that Alex is part of the team too, "Okay, almost everyone is really nice and supportive. I just, you know, read comments as a major part of my job. And it can be a lot sometimes. Today was one of those 'a lot' days and since Veena and Miles are clear for the weekend they decided to let me have some time off. That's all."

Piper frowns. "Pets, I love you, and no offense but I also know you. If you're already burning out a month in, maybe this isn't such a great idea? There are other jobs out there you know - I could hire you part time at Piper's Plants while you're looking! OOH we could room together!" She's bouncing slightly at the idea, though Petra makes a face.

"Pipes, I love you too, but you were a nightmare of a mess in Hogwarts. I like my one-room flat perfectly well. But thanks." She adds. "Honestly I was kind of already debating leaving, but it feels too much like quitting. And this isn't like the insurance company - this is immportant, you know? And the team is already so small it would feel way too selfish if I just-" She can hear herself getting a bit frantic but the flow of words refuse to stop until Lucas reaches over and drops a grounding hand onto her shoulder.

"So definitely a 'Petra's stressed' intervention." He observes after a moment, when she's gotten her breathing back under control but her face is still stubbornly bright red. "Look, Petra, just because this job is big doesn't mean you have to kill your mental health over it. No one would want that - the fact your bosses gave you the next couple days off clearly shows that."

Piper nods. "I've heard of Mrs. Weasley, and she was one of the biggest proponents of the Ministry mental health laws that were passed after the last war - no one would think less of you for not being able to handle endless vitriol day in and day out for an entire year, least of all her. If anything she probably would get more than anyone that it's a lot stronger to walk away than to stay in a bad environment."

Petra sighs. "That's easier to think when the bad environment is your boss - I really like the team, I'd feel awful letting them down." She reburies her face in her hands and lets Lucas pat her shoulder awkwardly. "Why can't things just be easy?"

"Because life's a and then you die." Piper sing-songs. "But seriously Petra, you can't ignore this. You tried in your last job and drained yourself for no reason - don't let this be a repeat of that please, it was not pleasant to watch on this end."

Petra sighs and looks up at her two concerned friends. "I know. I know." She tries to say it with a little more force. "But this wouldn't be for no reason - it wouldn't Piper, let me finish - and I've got a good team this time. Maybe I should wait another month. See if things get better. Maybe I'll come up with some coping techniques - that would be good right? Stuff for the future." She sees that Piper is still ready to argue, and blushes as she pulls out what she knows will be her trump card. "And besides, there's a really cute guy who works with us and we're getting along really well so. Yeah."

Petra can visibly see Piper's brain swinging a full one eighty with the new information, and just like that she's dropped the idea of quitting and is pestering Petra for more information. Lucas looks less impressed, but obviously is more willing to let her feel things out on her own and also drops the topic.

As they talk though, Petra does come up with a resolution, just for herself. If a month from now she's still feeling like this, then she'll have to accept that this isn't worth it.

One month, and then she'll decide if she wants to quit.

Author's Note: Well this is super late OTL Sorry guys, I think I'm back on track - the joys of having an internet addiction in a quarantine enviroment means a lot of my usual coping techniques are not accessible at the moment, which meant just shutting off the internet entirely if I wasn't in Zoom classes or else papers wouldn't get written or graded OTL I've worked out new techniques though, so we ought to be back on schedule from here on out! And again, I will absolutely be making up the missed week later on down the line - I just need to build up a buffer first!