As snow blankets London, the lingering tensions from the October bar fight seem to finally cool completely, and Veena is glad for it. They're heading rapidly for a new year, and she's hopeful that they can jump into it with their own new beginning. She no longer feels the need to monitor Miles as closely during interviews now, as he seems to have successfully re-endeared himself to the Muggle public with his extroverted antics and willingness to try just about any magical spell, regardless of whether it's real or not.

Veena herself has also seen an uptick in popularity since their shift in focus. In her own attempt to humanize herself, she's been talking more about her family and her books (which are seeing a new surge of sales in the past month) and has found that people actually enjoy hearing her process on how she used her Hogwarts experiences to shape the magical world of her novels.

"No, the main character isn't me." She explains one morning at a pre-recording for a BBC 4 Radio interview. "Trust me, she wouldn't be dating Eric if she was, she'd be all over Heather!" She jokes, and the interviewer laughs brightly along with her. "I actually based her on one of my best friends from school, who's also named Calliope!"

The interviewer, Harriet, nods along curiously. "That explains how she leaps off the page - all your characters do." She adds with a smile. "Are they all based on people you know, if I can ask?"

Veena smiles warmly - they've worked with Harriet before and she's definitely one of Veena's preferred interviewers - she does her best to give both Miles and Veena equal time to talk. Most others tend to focus on Miles (not that Veena blames them - he is quite entertaining).

"Most of the primary cast are." She confirms.

"Ooh, can you make one based on me in your next book?" Miles butts in, and Veena laughs, honestly impressed he'd managed to stop himself from interrupting earlier than this.

"Sure Miles, I'll see what I can do." She promises, and he whoops in victory.

The interview wraps up about twenty minutes later, and Harriet thanks them and tells them it will likely be aired the next day as part of their morning segment.

"It was our pleasure as always." Veena insists, and she's still smiling as she and Miles Apparate back to the Ministry. Certainly an excellent start to the day.

They're accosted by Rose almost the instant they step out of the lift and onto the seventh floor. The brunette is sporting a massive smile and looks like she's about ready to vibrate out of her skin (a look Veena has become very familiar with thanks to her months partnered with Miles).

"Yes Rose?" She asks, tugging Miles along to their desks so that they aren't blocking the lifts. "Is everything alright?"

"Some stuff happened while you were at your interview, and it's kind of totally awesome." Rose declares breathlessly as she trots after them across the office. "We've gotten a ton of letters this week, and I got to go through them because Petra is down in the Archives again to find something for comment replies or whatever, doesn't matter, we got mail! And a bunch of LGBT rights organizations want to partner with us thanks to you talking about your family Veena!"

Veena blinks, honestly surprised to hear it. "That is pretty awesome." She agrees as they reach her and Miles' desks. "Did they specify how exactly that partnership would work?"

Rose summons several letters from her desk and scatters them onto Veena's, still grinning broadly enough that her face is probably going to be sore for a few days. "There are a few different suggestions, but I figure we can pitch the best ones to the bosses and see what will fit best with our new direction."

Veena hums, sifting through the letters and skimming them, her own lips quirking upwards as she does and her mind whirling a mile a minute.

"What if we made this bigger than just these organizations?" She asks abruptly, the idea slamming into her and seeming incredibly obvious now that it's occurred to her. The other two look over at her curiously, and she sits back in her chair and grabs a quill as she explains.

"One of the biggest pushbacks we've gotten so far, aside from the bar fight," Miles winces but Veena plows on, "Is the fact that a lot of certain entitled folk are classifying magical people as second-class humans. So why don't we embrace that a bit? Reach out to other Muggle groups fighting to be recognized as people and team up with them." She grins, spinning in her seat. "Despite what they want to think, the entitled majority are actually in the minority - if we throw in with rights groups we'll almost certainly gain a massive wave of support."

They spend what remains of the morning making plans and using Petra's laptop to look up other groups to potentially reach out to, assuming they gain the leader's permission. About an hour in Veena realizes that they've been hogging Rose's time, and she checks that it's not going to be a problem with her usual duties.

Rose waves her off. "Things are actually pretty light right now - Christmas is coming and the crazies are all emerging, so Landon and I don't have much time to talk to politicians at the moment."

Veena shrugs and doesn't press further - there's a lot of research and prep to do if they want to pitch the idea at lunch, and any extra help they can get is appreciated.

They just make their deadline, and Rose happily hops after them as Veena gathers their proposal and heads for the main office, where Mrs. Morgan is just heading out for her lunch.

"Oh, can I help you with anything?" The leader asks.

"Actually we were planning on speaking with Mrs. Weasley, but if you could stay just a few minutes longer it certainly wouldn't be a bother." Veena says politely, and Mrs. Morgan shrugs.

"Certainly I can. Is everything alright?" She asks as she turns back into the office. "Audrey, we have guests."

The Undersecretary glances up, looking a tad harried. "I'm afraid they'll have to be quick." She replies briskly, but does put down her quill and focuses fully on the three employees filing in behind Mrs. Morgan. "If this will take more than a few minutes, then we should probably reschedule it for tomorrow."

"It'll be quick!" Rose pipes up, still vibrating excitedly. Mrs. Weasley raises an eyebrow at her, though whether it's due to her hyperactivity or her presence with Miles and Veena is unclear.

Veena clears , but Miles speaks up next. "We had an idea for a new approach! We should reach out to Muggle rights groups and work with them!" He waves their proposal in the air proudly, and Veena quickly grabs it from him before it rips and presents it to Mrs. Weasley for perusal.

She skims it rapidly, and then tilts her head. "Some of these organizations have already reached out?" She asks, and Veena quickly gives an affirmative. Mrs. Weasley nods. "Well then, we'll begin there and expand naturally from there-"

"Yes ma'am! I can start replying to them right away-" Rose starts, partially speaking over Mrs. Weasley in her excitement, and Veena cringes at the glare she gets in response.

"No." Mrs. Weasley says firmly. "Rose, you're only on break from your extra duties with the Minister, and Veena and Miles have their own work. You will take this proposal to Alex Zhang - he'll proceed on this front. The rest of you don't have time to focus on this properly."

Veena frowns. "With all due respect-" She starts, but is interrupted by Mrs. Morgan.

"That's an excellent idea. Alex recently began working with the Squib Rights Foundation, so this will fit perfectly into his specialization. Why don't you all take lunch and then meet with him afterwards to walk him through what you've already accomplished?" She smiles at the trio, and Veena offers a reluctant one in return, wondering what expressions Miles and Rose are making but not wanting to check, worried their obvious disappointment will cause her own to shine through.

Mrs. Morgan chuckles. "Don't look so down, Alex has been doing an excellent job with his new specialization - I'm certain he'll do good work with this as well." She assures them as they're led back out of the office and Mrs. Weasley turns back to her work. "Go have lunch and don't worry about it too much. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Veena hopes she's right - she had noticed that Alex has been in the office less frequently lately, but she hadn't realized it was because he'd finally picked up a specialty. And if Mrs. Weasley, who's notorious for expecting high quality work amongst the Initiative Specialists, is recommending him to take on this project, then he probably is doing well, or at least taking it seriously.

She's actually feeling a lot better about things when she returns from lunch, and she reorganizes their files as she waits for Miles and Rose to get back as well. Alex is already back and scribbling away at something, his face set in a look of determination quite different from the scowl Veena is used to seeing him wearing.

"Alright, let's go talk to Alex." Rose groans in lieu of a greeting when she walks over to Veena. "Miles is talking to Estelle again by the way - he said we could go on ahead without him."

Veena frowns, humming. Estelle and Miles have been spending a lot of time together as of late, and she's not sure how she feels about it. Estelle seems nice enough, but Miles already has plenty of things distracting him - one more probably isn't ideal. Still, he's been pretty good about balancing his new social life with work so far, so Veena hasn't brought it up.

Alex barely glances up at their approach, only pausing his work when Veena clears . He looks up, clearly annoyed. "What?"

That tone is a lot more familiar, as is the growing frown. Veena holds out the files on the rights groups to him.

"We recently received quite a bit of communication from LGBT groups looking to work with us in the coming months, and we thought it would be worthwhile to expand to several other Muggle rights groups as well. We've compiled the start of our research here, but the leaders suggested this would be a project best suited to your current focus."

Alex's expression has smoothed out, and he accepts the files and immediately starts flicking through them. "Yeah, I think I can start reaching out to some of these." He agrees. "I'll do a bit more research into their backgrounds to make sure - you'd be amazed how many people try to take advantage of the already oppressed."

Veena smiles wryly. "I'm a gay black woman in England, Alex. I may mostly live in the magical world now, but I did grow up Muggle. I'd be less surprised than you'd think."

He startles slightly and looks up at her again, and Veena can almost see the moment he starts thinking of her differently. She can't help but smirk a bit bitterly - it's probably the first time being a gay black woman has made a straight (well, presumably) man think better of her. Which is a sad reflection on the state of the world so she pushes it aside for now - that sort of negativity isn't going to be helpful.

"If you need anything else don't hesitate to talk to me or Miles, we're both happy to work with these organizations as well." She says.

"Me too!" Rose adds. "I have, like, no bi friends to talk with, I'd love to get involved in the community!"

Alex looks vaguely bemused, but he doesn't retort with any of his usual snark. "Sure," He says instead, "A few of these groups are specifically asking for you anyway, Veena, and I'm sure others would prefer having at least one LGBT person to speak with so I'll keep you in mind Rose."

It's almost jarringly professional coming from Alex, but Veena just smiles and tips her head in acknowledgement.

"Sounds good, thanks Alex. We'll see you around."

"I'm sure." He agrees distractedly, turning back to flip through their files again, and Veena leaves him too it. She thinks this project is in the right hands.

Edward thinks that things are getting a little too chummy around the offices lately, but really, that works well with his and his team's plan. If everyone lets their guard down, the next shock will be that much more effective.

But it also means that the team is working together well, and that could spell trouble. Well-oiled machines can hide flaws for years if kept in decent working order otherwise, and Edward only has one year to expose the magical world for what he knows it to be. That means he needs to poke the hornets' nest just enough to keep the group off-balance enough that they topple whenever Jennifer releases their first round of information to the press. He's been pushing to drop it sometime around Christmas, but she's been reluctant to ruin the holidays which is fair enough. Annoying, but fair.

He invites Alex out to lunch, knowing the boy is already a weak point. In the past weeks Alex has actually been almost chipper about work, which is rather jarring, and it's honestly been that change more than anything that raised Edward's mental alarms. If the weakest link is starting to fall in line, then the rest actually have a chance at continuing to hide the hate and violence ingrained into the magical world.

"It's been a while since we've gone out." Alex observes as they walk through London toward their usual pub. "I know I've been busier recently, but you seemed occupied too?"

Edward hums. "There were reports of Yurina sightings in Asia Minor that we were trying to follow up on - it involved a lot of those Floo calls and turned out to be a false alarm. Honestly why magical people still use Floo calls when they've figured out how to get cell service into the Ministry building is beyond me."

Alex laughs. "Tell me about it - technology is way more convenient in a lot of ways, magical people are honestly missing out."

"I'm sure they're fine with that though." Edward sighs. "They don't seem all that open to really trying anything Muggle."

Alex's gait slows slightly, his smile flickering, and Edward interally cheers. He won't let the magical brainwashing get to the one sane person in the Initiative if he can help it.

"Yeah, that's kind of true, isn't it?" Alex observes glumly. "Well... the Initiative is trying at least. Veena and Rose actually brought me a new project yesterday. You know how I'm working with the Squib Rights Foundation?"

Edward nods - how could he forget? Alex barely talks about anything else these days, which is unfortunate since he used to provide good starting points for Edward's Archive research. "Of course." He replies out loud.

Alex hums, some of the bounce returning to his step. "Well Veena and Rose suggested I expand that work to Muggle rights groups, which I obviously already intended to do, but it was kind of surprising that they put together the beginnings of the research for it. I mean, it makes sense that it was Veena and Rose, they're both LGBT women so duh, but it was still pretty nice of them. A few of the organizations want Veena to host a book signing and I think we could organize it into a whole event promoting magic and equality. I'm trying to come up with a catchy name for it." He offers Edward a lopsided grin, and Edward does his best to return it as honestly as he can.

"I don't suppose any magical people will actually attend this event?" He prompts as they finally reach the pub. "If it's to promote magic and equality, one would think you'd need someone magical there. Obviously Veena and her wife, but they're being paid to do things like that through the Initiative." He says it idly, more like he's thinking out loud than talking to Alex, though he's pleased when he sees the boy frowning thoughtfully. At his age it's easy to get caught up in new ideas and lose sight of the concrete - Edward has honestly come to like Alex in the past months, so he's happy to keep the boy's head on straight when he can.

"We... might be able to arrange something?" But Alex sounds doubtful. "Ugh, I hate when you're right." He grumbles, and Edward pats his shoulder comfortingly.

They don't talk about much of substance over lunch, but Edward can tell that Alex's general mood has dropped dramatically. He feels a bit bad, but long-term this is a much better situation for Alex: he's already been burned by the magical world once (not that Edward has managed to get any details on that yet, but it's clear that something happened in Alex's life that goes past him just being a Squib) and Edward would hate to see the Initiative's inevitable crash get him caught in its flame.

"Thanks for lunch." Alex says as Edward pays. "So if that false lead has cleared up, does that mean we can have lunch again tomorrow?"

He doesn't say it, but Edward knows that he's noticed his own softening as well and appreciates Edward keeping him sharp.

Edward gives him an honest smile. "Of course kid. I've missed our lunch-time chats."

Alex gives him a half wave as Edward heads back to the Hunter's side of the office before turning back to his own desk, something ugly churning in his stomach. Edward was right - he needs to remember that just because he's found a specialty he actually really enjoys doesn't mean that things are suddenly going to change overnight. Magical people are still close-minded and biased (his meetings with Braylon only confirm that, really) and just because Alex has felt like he's doing something doesn't mean anything will get better. Heck, if they actually wanted to change why is he the only person working on this angle?

He's feeling distinctly worse now than he had earlier when he'd first headed out for lunch, but really that's his own fault. He nearly let himself fall back into the trap of the magical world, the false promise that they cared about everyone even as they threw away anyone who wasn't deemed good enough for their elite community. Heck, it's only been twenty years since a huge group rose up and tried to kill or subjugate anyone without magic - that isn't going to just vanish because more people know about magic now. Obviously he'd let Kylee's simpering naivety affect him more than he'd thought.

He huffs out a heavy breath as he arrives at his desk, a bit glad that he doesn't have any meetings this afternoon. Maybe he'll take the rest of the day off and do research on the rights groups at home, where he isn't surrounded by hypocrites.

But no, that would look bad. And also feel a lot like running away, which Alex doesn't do, thank you very much. Wizards can cower all they want, Alex is proud to stand up and stare down his problems head-on.

At least no one else seems to be back from lunch yet, so he's not going to be bothered by the other three specialists for now.

He gets himself as lost in his work as he can manage, the nagging sense that nothing he's doing actually matters stopping him from becoming as fully immersed as he has been these past few days.

It's disappointing, really, but he supposes it's better to be disappointed than hurt later on. Braylon had actually said something similar in their meeting that morning, but Alex was still riding high from his research on the Muggle groups that he hadn't paid the older man proper mind.

He won't be making that mistake again.

The other three specialists return one by one over the course of the afternoon, and Alex for the most part is able to successfully ignore them (Kylee gives him a concerned look which is annoying, but she doesn't say anything so Alex returns the favor). There's only an hour left in the day when Desmond and Kylee begin chatting about their work and some of the struggles they're having with moving their specialities forward.

"We're still trying to make contact with the public school systems in England - I can't imagine it will be any easier globally." Desmond sighs. "Honestly you'd think they'd be jumping at the chance to get involved and improve their curriculum, but it's solid resistance from almost all fronts."

Alex snorts but doesn't comment, and the other two ignore him.

"It's not too different in the medical and financial fields." Kylee responds, not quite as morose. "It's a big change, things are naturally going to move slowly."

"Doesn't help that magical people want nothing to do with Muggles." Alex grumbles, mostly to himself but intentionally loud enough to be heard. He can't let anyone think he's going soft, or falling for their false concerns.

"Doesn't help that the Muggles are equally resistant to the magical world." Someone snaps back, but it isn't Kylee or Desmond and all three of them look up in shock at the fourth person at their collection of desks.

Fergus already looks like he regrets what he said. "Apologies, I didn't sleep well last night." He says, but they all keep staring at him. For all Alex knows that magical people definitely have points where they stop pretending to be nice, he honestly is still surprised that Fergus has apparently hit his. The man seemed unshakable in his easy-going-ness - him snapping actually makes Alex wonder if he pushed too far.

Or, more likely, everyone was getting used to him bowing down and not asking questions, so his return to form just startled Fergus. That must be it.

Still, Alex bites his tongue for the rest of the afternoon, not wanting to push anyone else past their limits. He gets a bit more work done on the Muggle rights side of things, but he really needs a computer if he wants to move forward on this front. Or at least an owl.

Which actually gives him an idea. An hour before the end of the workday he gets up from his desk and heads directly over to the leaders' office, knocking twice sharply and waiting to be let in.

The door swings open magically, which means Mrs. Morgan may not be present, and Alex wrinkles his nose and braces himself to deal with his far-and-away least favorite of the two Initiative leaders.

Mrs. Weasley steals a half-glance up when he enters before turning back to her work. "Good afternoon Alex, what can I help you with?"

He huffs lightly. "I would like to request access to the Ministry owls in order to facilitate more ease of access to the multitude of groups I'm currently working with." He declares, mentally daring the woman to contradict his need or ability to use a magical owl.

Weasley doesn't look up. "Of course. Would you like a general pass or a specific owl assigned to you for the rest of the Initiative's run?" She asks, not missing a beat even as she keeps reading the files in front of her. It actually startles Alex enough to make him uncross his arms.

"Oh, um, right then. I guess a personal owl might be best?" He hasn't felt this off-kilter in... well, since he didn't get his Hogwarts letter, really. He doesn't actually know anything about the Ministry owls or how using them works, and he's realizing now that he'd stormed in here without an actual game plan.

Weasley finally looks up from her work, eyeing him with clear amusement. "I agree." She says. "It would be good for the groups to always see the same owl when you write. Why don't we arrange a meeting at the owlery tomorrow so you can meet the birds and decide which would be best suited for your workload?"

Alex hesitates - he still doesn't like Weasley, and he knows she doesn't like him - but it's not like he really has a choice considering his grand total of zero knowledge on temporary owl acquisition.

"Sure." He agrees, and Weasley nods.

"I'll set something up and give you the time before you leave today. Oh, and Alex?" She adds as he turns to leave. He reluctantly looks back. "Excellent initiative. I look forward to seeing what you produce with your current project."

Alex knows he's not supposed to let the magical world trick him again, but he can't help the glow of pride the words create. He decides not to feel bad about it - of everyone Weasley seems the most upfront about her bull, so she's more likely to offer genuine praise.

He's definitely feeling a bit better now.

Miles is hyped for the shopping trip. He, Estelle, and now Pup have all been planning it for weeks, but they kept having to put it off until  they all have a day off, and that doesn't happen until December fifteenth, when everyone is let out early because Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Morgan have to go pick up their kids from King's Cross.

Miles immediately launches himself across the room, waving haphazardly to Veena and Petra, once the leaders have formally dismissed them.

Estelle and Pup are chatting at the Hunter's main desk when he arrives and hops up onto it, scattering a few files as he does.

"Hi Miles, we still need ten minutes to wrap things up here." Estelle says with a quirk of her lips, while Pup scrambles to collect the scattered files, looking vaguely dismayed.

"Okay, cool, I can wait." He says, swinging his feet under the desk and tapping his fingers along the top of it.

Pup gives him a baleful look. "Can you though? I fear boredom will make your head explode, and then I'll have to clean that up too."

Miles laughs brightly. "I like when you say stuff like that, it doesn't match your face at all." He declares.

"You, sir, are adrenaline drunk already." Estelle declares. She looks at the pile of files Pup had just replaced on the desk, then at Miles, and then at the clock. When she looks back at Miles, she's grinning dangerously. "You know what, this won't spoil overnight. Let's clock out Pup!"

Pup looks slightly put out, but he doens't protest either as he follows Estelle to the Hunters' head office. Miles hops off the desk and shifts impatiently from foot to foot as he waits for them to get permission to leave. He's been waiting for this forever and the closer it gets the more excited he is for it to start.

It takes about three minutes for his fellow conspirators to return, but they're both smiling which can only mean one thing.

"We can go?" He asks hopefully, and Estelle flashes a thumbs up.

"Operation RomCom Nonsense is cleared for takeoff!" She declares brightly. "I vote we start in the Alley and expand outwards from there."

"I know some good Muggle shopping malls we can hit." Pup suggests as they head to the lifts together. "We could go there afterward."

Miles grins hopefully at Estelle. "That would be good right? You can find Desmond some Muggle stuff he likes! And we can take a cab!"

"We could technically apparate too." Estelle muses. "There isn't a law against that, though there isn't much at all in the way of new transportation rules - hey Miles, do you know where Fergus is with that?"

Miles pouts a bit - he wants to focus on Muggle stuff and shopping, not work! - but he wracks his brain to see if he actually knows anything or not. He wants to be helpful, after all.

"I have no idea." He finally declares as the lift arrives in the Atrium and they head for the Diagon Alley Floo Connection. "I can talk to Fergus tomorrow if you want though! I bet he'll be able to tell me right away what's going on with that, he's super on top of his work."

"That would be great! Thanks Miles." Estelle grins at him just before she steps through the Floo, and Miles beams at the green flames. He definitely likes helping, he's glad Veena suggested it.

He steps into the Floo after Estelle and Pup hops through last, and then they head out into the Alley with their scarfs pulled high and their eyes peeled for good gift ideas.

They're far from the only ones present in the alley - it's snowy and slippery but the sun is out and it's a Saturday, so shoppers are bustling past each other with little regard for personal space. Miles absolutely loves it.

"Okay, so we need stuff for Desmond and for Petra - I can totally help with Petra's gift! I don't know Desmond that well though so I probably can't help much there." He says, frowning slightly at the realization.

Estelle elbows him lightly, and when he looks at her she's grinning. "Hey no worries, I've been dating the guy for a year and known him for two - I'll know what to get him when I see it. I think it's better if you help Pup with Petra, since he doesn't know her as well!"

Miles beams again, and the three of them meander down the Alley, peering into every window and stopping several time to debate the merits of going into one shop or another. In addition to Desmond, Estelle is looking for presents for her parents and best friend slash roommate Wendy, and Noah reluctantly says he should probably gets something for his brother as well.

This makes Desmond think that he should get some presents too, so he writes up a list of names as they walk. His father, obviously, but he also wants to find things for Benjamin, Daniel, and Francesa back in the States. He'll need to find things for them today if he wants the owl post to get the presents to the US in time, but luckily he already has some solid ideas.

He debates mentally as they walk whether to get anything for Serene and Brandon as well - they got along well when they were all editors together at the Prophet, but since Miles doesn't work there anymore, and hasn't really talked with them since the summer, he's not sure if they're still close enough for presents. He decides that if he sees something he'll get it, but otherwise not worry too much.

"So Petra works in marketing, and she seems to like it a lot, and she likes going into the Archives too, and she doesn't like when you sneak up on her." He lists off cheerfully as they walk, hoping to spark some ideas for Pup's gift.

"I think it's more likely that she just doesn't like being disturbed - I've seen her putting muffling charms around her desk every morning lately." Estelle reports, and Pup perks up.

"Huh, that actually gives me an idea - I'll get her something from the Muggle mall." Pup decides. "Let's focus on Desmond for now - is there anything here he might like?"

"What about Flourish and Blotts?" Miles suggets. "He's a teacher, right? I bet he likes books!"

Estelle laughs, shaking her head slightly. "Well you aren't wrong, but I'm not sure..." She trails off suddenly, pursing her lips in thought. "Actually, maybe there is something he'd like there. He's a massive science nerd, I bet he'd love to learn about how magic works within the universal laws." She nods firmly and spins on her heet. "It's definitely not going to be his main present, but I like that idea - thanks Miles!"

They turn around since they'd already passed the bookstore and move with new purpose. Estelle purchases the first year transfiguration textbook and a few Arithmancy ones, after which they decide it's time to leave the Alley.

"It's too crowded here anyway." Pup says with a relieved sigh as they walk through the brick entry, now permanently charmed open since it no longer needs to be hidden from the Muggles. "Hay's Galleria is only a twenty minute walk from here - how about we go there first and then get a cab to Westfield?"

Miles is fine with that - he gets to ride in a cab later, and even if it's cold walking through Muggle London also sounds like fun - and Estelle agrees as well.

"I haven't been out there since October." She observes. "I got dinner with a few of my old Auror teammates and we went out for drinks afterwards. It's a really nice open-air shopping mall, you'll enjoy it." She tells Miles, though her smile looks a bit strained now.

Miles doesn't worry about that too much - she surely won't be able to stay gloomy for too long when there's more Christmas shopping to do!

The walk to Hay's Galleria is cold, but as it's started snowing it isn't too terrible, resting a few degrees above freezing. Miles ends up turning the twenty minute walk into a thirty minute one when he gets overly excited about crossing the London Bridge and ends up getting recognized by a few holiday tourists.

Luckily they're excited to see him, and he happily does some magic for their entertainment until Estelle and Pup remind him that they have an actual mission to focus on and pull him away from the enchanted couple he was talking to.

"I'm honestly surprised they were the only people to stop us - you and Veena just did that Christmas special with BBC right?" Pup asks as they finally reach the Galleria. "You'd think that would make you guys celebrities right now."

"Oh, that airs tomorrow." Miles says cheerfully. "Though I bet you're right! Maybe we can organize something with Alex soon? That way everyone will remember us and help his work!" He's quite pleased to have thought of it - he'll talk to Alex at work tomorrow for sure and see what he thinks.

"Is he doing something now?" Estelle asks curiously. "My impression of Alex was that he mostly was getting paid to grumble and generally not contribute anything but a asive air of negativity."

Miles snorts because she's really not wrong, but he decides to verbally defend Alex anyway. "He's working with a bunch of human rights groups now! It's pretty awesome, and he seems to really enjoy it."

Estelle hums. "Well that's good then. Now the whole Initiative is pulling their weight, so maybe things will start moving more quickly."

They continue the idle chit-chat as they wander the Galleria, popping in and out of stores here and there - Miles finds a Muggle magic set for Francesa and a big book of apparently all the animals in the (Muggle) world for Daniel - but doing a lot more loitering than actual shopping. It starts snowing as they walk, and Miles cheerfully tries to catch snowflakes on his tongue as they reach the end of the mall and u-turn to walk down the other side of it.

"This is a lot like Diagon Alley!" Miles declares as they head back up. "All these little stores, and the closed off street - we should say something about that! It fits the new messaging, right?"

"I think it could? It sounds right, anyway." Pup agrees, and Estelle shrugs.

"You can ask Petra - she's the one who did a lot of the reorganizing on that, right?" She comments, and Pup perks up.

"Ooh, could I ask her Miles? I know it's your idea but-"

Miles cuts him off with the most flamboyant gesture he can manage. "But of course! Let me not come between lovers!" He declares dramatically. "But do mention it was my idea, yeah?" He adds as an afterthought. "I want Petra to know I'm trying to help!"

Pup agrees cheerfully as Estelle lets out a happy sound and drags them both into the store they'd been walking past. She purchases an old radio and cradles the bag close when they leave.

"Des used to be in Broadcasting Club when he was in school." She explains. "I'm going to charm this one so he can get every channel in England, both magic and Muggle. Maybe I can get in contact with someone at the Wizarding Wireless Network and they can teach him about magical broadcasting techniques!"

Miles lights up. "Well my esteemed friend, I might just have a possibility for you to do exactly that." He grins. "When we're done at the mall, let's go back to Diagon Alley and hit up the Prophet offices."

The cab ride from the Galleria to the indoor mall - Pup calls it Westfield - is rather quick, and their driver is quite friendly. Miles tips him a full Galleon and takes time to explain what it is and how to exchange it for Muggle money - Veena had mentioned he should start doing that - and the man thanks him profusely which only makes Miles' already sky-high mood even better.

Pup buys noise-cancelling headphones for Petra, and Miles finds a nice scrapbook for his dad that he decides to fill with pictures from the Initiative so as to keep his father up-to-date on what he's been doing lately. It's a pretty short trip - now that they've all checked off their lists there's no real reason to wander aimlessly, and Miles is excited about his surprise for Estelle. Hopefully Trish is working the front desk today.

They end up apparating back to the Alley - Estelle takes one look at traffic and declares the drive not worth it. Miles doesn't argue too much - they already had a cab ride after all, and the quicker they get to the Prophet offices the quicker he can help!

They appear just in front of the Prophet, and Miles proudly leads the way inside, grinning victoriously when Trish looks up from the desk and blushes. She really is shy - why they put her out front is sometimes beyond him, but then she gives that super cute welcome smile and he remembers why she is, in fact, the best choice to be the face of the Prophet.

"Hi Trish!" He says brightly. "How's my favorite Prophet secretary?"

"Don't butter her up on my behalf." Estelle says with no small amount of amusement.

Trish pulls on her smile and turns to Estelle and Pup. "Hello! Are you friends of Miles'?" She asks curiously, and Miles is pleased when they both nod. He knows he sometimes jumps the gun on calling people friends, so he's glad Estelle and Pup agree with his interpretation of their relationship. "Well any friend of his is a friend of mine - how can we at the Prophet help you today?" She glances back towards Miles as she goes through the standard greeting.

Miles grins at her hopefully. "Actually I was kind of hoping you could do something for me?" He asks, batting his eyes for effect. "We're on a mission to help Estelle make up with her boyfriend and I was hoping your aunt might be able to arrange something for them at the WWN?"

Trish tilts her head curiously, glancing over at Estelle. "What's the story?"

Estelle frowns. "Excuse me?" She asks, clearly not expecting the question and ready to get offended.

Trish holds up her hands placatingly. "Like, what's your story with him? Aunt Leona is very particular about what she gets involved with, since she's such a public figure." She sounds appropriately apologetic, and Miles winces slightly. He definitely understands that concern - Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Weasley had had a very long sit-down with him to explain how he'd need to start changing his behavior as the primary public face of the Initiative.

He thinks he's been doing better on that front at least. No one has gotten upset with him in any case, so he's counting it as a win.

Estelle hums. "Fair enough. I promise Des and  I aren't scandalous - I work for the Hunters and he's a Muggle high school teacher who's working with the Initiative. He kind of found out I was a witch through work before I had time to tell him myself, and it's caused some... strain." She sighs. "He enjoys broadcasting, so I thought it would be cool to get him an inside look at the WWN and how it operates as part of his Christmas gift. I'm not great at romantic gestures, but I figure this was as good a time as any to learn how they work."

Miles looks over at Trish, hoping she'll be willing to help them out. To his relief, she's grinning. 

"Oh yeah, Aunt Leona will adore that." She confirms. "She might want to interview you two for her morning talk show - be warned. Oh and Miles, she wants you and Veena to come on at some point too - have your people reach out to hers." She puts air quotes around the end of the sentence. "Anyway, I'll see if I can set up a meeting for you Estelle - what times work best for you?"

"Weekends." Estelle says immediately. "Seriously though, thanks. To both of you." She adds to Miles, and he puffs up slightly.

"Of course! I'm happy to help!" He declares brightly.

They say farewell to Trish, who encourages them to stop by again if they ever need anything else, and then head for the front of the Alley.

"Well, I dare say that was a very successful phase one!" Miles decides, and grins when the other two smile.

"I'd say so." Estelle agrees. "Thanks for your help you guys - we can start planning phase two at work tomorrow?"

Miles practically starts skipping. "Heck yeah!"

This has definitely been the best day he's had all year.

Author's Note: Wow, a chapter with both Edward and Alex that managed an overall optimistic tone? It's a Christmas miracle xD I actually really like this chapter though - it's not super important for anything outside of continuing storylines we're already in the middle of, but I think it's a nice little spark of positivity~