Petra had spent all of a week back with the comments before being shunted out of the role by Miles (and by extension Veena). Not that she's complaining at all - if he wants to subject himself to the awful things being said he can be her guest. Fergus is still helping them out, as well as a couple of Hunters, so Petra doesn't feel too bad about abandoning them to the comment section while she instead opts to tackle the marketing side of things.

Her main focus at the moment is future planning - how can they maintain their message while also adjusting enough to regain the positive image they'd managed to build up before the holidays? She's sketched out a few possible campaign angles, but nothing is striking her as good enough or effective enough to actually achieve what they need, not to mention the fact that everyone right now is more inclined to assume the worst of them, which is always the worst-case scenario for marketers.

Petra sighs and closes the notebook she'd been trying to brainstorm in, laying her head down on her desk (the laptop has been taken over to Fergus' seat so she can work uninterrupted) and willing the cool wood on her forehead to somehow stimulate new ideas. She's been blocked for a week and it's starting to get to her, even though she knows she's doing everything she can and no one is expecting anything more.

But seeing everyone working hard - even Aruna is tolerating more people in her office these days, which is a major testament to how desperate things have gotten - is making Petra feel awful that her best isn't nearly good enough.

After a few minutes she turns her head to the side and stares at her notebook. Since this isn't working, she supposes she should probably go try to help Miles, Veena, and Fergus with the comments - at least she'd be accomplishing something doing that, even if the thought of dealing with internet trolls is already leaving a bad taste in and a knot in her stomach.

She flips through her notebook a few more times, hoping something will spark, and the delay is just long enough that when she closes it again it's lunch time. She decides to help with the comments after having some good food and better conversation and makes a beeline for Noah Thompson's desk.

He looks a bit haggard when she approaches, but his smile is warm. "Lunch already?" He asks, and she nods hopefully.

"You're not too busy?"

"Nah, we're pretty much at a standstill right now." He groans. "And with Rose and Landon being... not on good terms we might actually be backsliding a little. But let's not focus on that - how's Squishy?"

Petra tries to think of enough stories about her pet jellyfish that she hasn't already shared with Noah to fill the lift ride down to the cafeteria, but she only manages to get them halfway down before running out of material.

"He's a jellyfish. They don't do much." She shrugs awkwardly.

"Like a Platypus." Noah says solemnly, and Petra blinks.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Noah immediately turns bright red. "You didn't... I'm sorry! There's a cartoon I always watched as a kid and that was one of the catch phrases. The main characters had a pet platypus. I thought you were referencing it." He's obviously incredibly embarrassed by the mistake, and Petra gets that - she'd be mortified if it happened to her.

"A pet platypus? I wish I'd seen it then, I like platypi." She declares, feeling incredibly awkward but not wanting Noah to feel bad. They're still feeling out what exactly they are to each other, but Petra really likes him, and she wants him to like her too. Which means making sure he feels comfortable around her, not embarrassed.

He looks over, still blushing, and hesitates slightly. "Um, we could watch it? If you wanted, I mean. It's not on Netflix anymore but we can probably find it somewhere." He frowns. "Though, it's a cartoon so maybe not?"

"I like cartoons." Petra declares, blushing herself now but feeling relatively confident she's not about to be called a baby over her television preferences.

They end up talking TV shows throughout lunch, and make a not-date maybe-date at Noah's apartment to watch Phineas and Ferb, which honestly sounds a little odd based on Noah's explanation of the plot, but he insists it's a fantastic show for all ages and she's inclined to believe him considering they end up having quite a few favorite shows in common. And even if it's the worst show in the world, it got her their first kind-of date that isn't lunch at work, so she'll love it at least a little bit just for that.

She's definitely feeling a lot better when they take the lift back up to the seventh floor, though her nerves reintroduce themselves rather quickly once she and Noah have said their goodbyes and she finds herself facing Fergus's desk, where he, Veena, Miles, and their two Hunter helpers don't seem to have moved at all in the hour she'd taken to eat. She swallows, takes a deep breath, and turns back towards her own desk.

Coward. She scolds herself, even as she tries to pretend she's just going to look at her notes one more time now that she's fresh from lunch.

She sits down in her chair and does flip through a few pages of her notes, not particularly optimistic that anything will be different from an hour ago, but wanting to look busy nonetheless.

However, her notebook falls open to the very first page, and she blinks as she reads a sentence she hasn't really thought about since she first began focusing in on marketing.

When Mrs. Weasley had formally asked her to peruse this line of thought, one of Petra's given objectives had been to "think of responses to other possible accusations or discoveries before they occur."

Petra had been so focused in on her other job of creating ways of improving their image she hadn't even thought about advanced response preparation until now, and it actually gives her an idea.

She closes up her notebook and slides it into her bag, which she slings over one shoulder as she hurries to the leaders' office, knocking rapidly a few times before waiting to be let in. She worries a little that her rush made the knock sound rather rude, but she's more worried that she'll lose her nerve if she doesn't act immediately.

The door swings open, and Petra glances in to find Mrs. Morgan is alone.

"Yes Petra? Is everything alright?" The older Initiative leader inquires, and Petra quickly nods.

"Um, yes ma'am everything's going fine. Actually, I was hoping I could get permission to go down to the Archives today? And possibly tomorrow as well? I want to research when and why our worlds overlapped in the past, that way we can start preparing statements about other incidents like the Whiddy Island Disaster, and release them before Yurina has the chance to."

Mrs. Morgan is smiling by the time Petra finishes her sentence (and takes a deep breath since she'd forgotten to do that when talking) and she nods briskly. "Of course. I'll inform Audrey when she returns from her meeting and we'll see about setting you up with open access to the Archives at least through February. For now, let me write you a note explaining the situation - I unfortunately can't just send a message down to Eloise like Audrey and Finn can."

Petra waits a bit anxiously as Mrs. Morgan pens out a rather lengthy letter. Eventually she finishes writing and hands Petra the rolled up Parchment.

"You know Eloise, right? Or Ms. Taylor, the Head of the Archives?" Petra nods, and Mrs. Morgan smiles. "Excellent. If she's not at the main desk, just tell whoever is to give this to her whenever she gets back. Have a good rest of your day if I don't see you, Petra."

Petra thanks her and heads back towards the lifts, gripping the letter tightly so as not to lose it. She presses the button for the appropriate sub-level and hums slightly to herself as she descends to try and ease her still-frayed nerves.

Stepping off the lift, she's struck by how much creepier the room is when she's not with other people (specifically Noah, but even Edward would be appreciated just now). The small desk at the front of the room is occupied by a woman with sharp features and thin black hair, whom Petra immediately recognizes as Eloise Taylor from their brief encounter the last time she was down here. The woman is memorable the way Slenderman is memorable.

Ms. Taylor's eyes flick up to her before Petra has even said anything, and she feels like she's being stared through rather than at, and she really wishes she wasn't by herself right now.

"Can I help you?" The woman asks, her tone a shade of irritated that has Petra thinking that maybe the comment section wouldn't be so bad.

"Um... I have a note?" She offers nervously, but doesn't actually move to hand it to Ms. Taylor, still pinned by the woman's sharp gaze.

Ms. Taylor gestures impatiently, and Petra's legs jerk to life as she hurries to hand over the parchment, shoving it out in front of her and forcing her fingers to uncurl from around it.

Ms. Taylor skims through it quickly, and then nods, rolling it back up. "You know your way around the Archives?" She asks, and Petra nods even though that's a filthy lie. She'll figure it out though - there had been some signage last time if she remembers correctly, and she really doesn't want to bother Ms. Taylor any more than she needs to.

Ms. Taylor eyes her critically. "I'll show you to the most recent files anyhow." She says bluntly, obviously not buying Petra's claim at all. "As I recall, you were on the other side of the Archives when you were last here, Ms. Clark."

Petra figures Ms. Taylor learned her name from the note, but it's still unnerving to realize the woman apparently remembers her from a brief glimpse that happened months ago. She swallows nervously as Ms. Taylor stands from the desk.

Upright she's less scary than when she's seated, which is maybe why Petra hadn't registered her as a threat on her first excursion down here. Ms. Taylor is of average height and rather round - not overweight, but not necessarily healthy-looking either - which creates an odd contrast with her incredibly angular face. She moves briskly though, despite being supported on three-inch heels, and Petra has to scramble slightly to keep up.

"I assume you'll want to start with the wars - all material pertaining to them is located here." Ms. Taylor stops rather abruptly, and Petra nearly trips into her. "Nothing from this section can be checked out as a lot of it is sensitive or related to classified information in some way. I will be at the front desk if you need anything else."

Petra nods and stutters out a thanks that she isn't sure is actually heard by the older woman. Once she's alone in the storage room, she turns to regard the towering filing cabinets surrounding her in neatly organized rows.

"Well, I guess let's start in nineteen seventy." She decides. She'll go from there through the first war, and then look at the second war.

She pulls out her wand and her notebook and gets to work, handling each parchment carefully. Much of what she reads is horrifying - they don't really talk much about the wars in History of Magic outside of just mentioning that they happened (though she suspects that's mostly because Professor Binns is unable to change the curriculum from when he'd died - they really should hire a new professor for that class) so many of the details are new to her.

Eleven years of darkness is a phrase often used by older witches and wizards when referring to the first war, and now Petra knows why. She's only just reached files concerning the second year of the first war when Ms. Taylor reappears at the door to the room.

"I'm afraid the Archives are closing for the day." She informs Petra briskly, not sounding sorry at all. "I can magically bookmark this file for you so you can pick up where you left off in the morning."

Petra nods and thanks her quietly, honestly a little surprised to realize how much time must have passed - the Archives close at eight at night. She takes the lift to the Atrium, then leaves out the Muggle entrance to try and catch a cab back to her apartment.

She practically collapses into bed once she arrives, grinning into her comforter. Today was definitely a good day, and now that she has a solid idea of what to focus on she thinks she might just start consistently enjoying this job for the next few months.

Alex's specialization is one of the few that hasn't been directly impacted by the drama of the holidays, though that doesn't mean his work is exactly the same as before, either. Most notably, a number of the Muggle rights groups he'd been working with have slowed down communication, or stopped altogether in some more extreme cases. It's rather frustrating to see the massive, instantaneous drop in trust, especially when he's been very honest with most of his contacts that he himself isn't magical in any way, shape, or form.

He's just glad he doesn't have to deal with the general population's response - Petra had nearly gone full panic-attack a while back, resulting in her being pulled off social media entirely to focus on reworking their marketing, and the comments even now, weeks later, are still enough to leave an air of despondency hanging over Veena, Fergus, and even Miles, who have all helped to take up Petra's role in her absence.

Alex has thus been trying to spend as much time out of the office as possible, which means a lot of time is being spent down at the Squib Rights Foundation, chatting with Braylon about what their next moves should be. At least the older Squib can see a silver lining in all this misery.

"You should emphasize how bad Squibs have had it too." He tells Alex sagely as the latter uses Braylon's private office to write a letter to one of the rights groups he hasn't heard from since before the holidays in a bid to reignite the relationship. "Oh! Maybe they could partner up with the Foundation? We've been dealing with ty magical people for our entire lives, we know how to handle it."

Alex hums. It's a good point, and he tries to figure out how to work it into the letter. Idly he wishes that Fergus was around - the older man is always willing to magically move the ink around on Alex's letters when he wants to add something earlier in the note. Now he'll probably need to rewrite the entire letter to include Braylon's suggestion.

"Actually I really like this idea!" Braylon declares as Alex tediously begins redoing his letter, copying it by hand onto a fresh sheet of parchment (which feels rather like a waste of parchment. He'll see if someone will charm the old one clean when he gets back to the offices) and honestly only semi-listening to Braylon's chatter. The man can go on for a while when he's excited about something, and he definitely seems pumped up right now.

"I mean, the entire Muggle world is justifiably pissed at magic right now, we can totally use this to ally ourselves with them! After all, magic is against all of us, and if we little guys stick together then think of all the things we can accomplish!"

Alex just gives a small hum as he keeps meticulously copying each word before reaching the point where he wants to insert Braylon's suggestion. He pauses, chewing on the end of his pen pensively, trying to find a more professional way to phrase "little guys should stick together."

Braylon is still talking, his chatter quickly morphing into one of his usual "rants against the machine" (as Alex refers to them) where he berates an audience of judgmental magical s who aren't actually present. Alex decides to tune in - maybe he can get some ideas for this next part of his letter from some of the points Braylon makes in his fabricated argument. The man is actually rather eloquent, especially when riled up, so if nothing else this will be an entertaining break from his ongoing Initiative-based headache.

"All I'm saying is that magic is hiding things from all of us! We're stronger when we stand together, and really the biggest struggle for Squibs this whole time is that we're a derided minority in the magical community. Now that magic can't hide behind it's walls of isolation and superiority they're going to be forced to admit that they're capable of a lot less than Squibs and other magical people!"

Alex frowns. Braylon has said similar things before, but as he glances at his half-rewritten letter he's not sure how much he agrees with the sentiment.

"And really, with Muggles finally being allowed to see past the curtain of lies and mental manipulation - or really now that magic can't maintain it's bull hiding - it's only a matter of time now. We'll just be helping the process along by teaming up. Heck, we can be the bridge between minority and majority!" Braylon shoots Alex a grin that he returns somewhat hesitantly. "After all, we understand what it's like to be oppressed and maligned by the awful machinations of a majority that thinks itself superior for no reason other than surface-level bull, but now that magic is out we're the majority! Most people aren't magical you know, they're really just an elitist minority that created its own insular little world so it could feel better about its own worthlessness. Well no more!" He scoffs. "Honestly, they know it, too. Did you read the initial conference transcripts? 'May be overdue to be phased out' my . They're just scrambling to cover up the fact they liked feeling superior to everyone else and never would have changed anything without being forced to. Honestly I'm kind of Team Nina in all this."

Alex's brain actually stutters and stalls for a moment as it tries to process that comment. "That... Braylon, you know she's actually-"

"Yurina Nakayashi, I know, I know. It's everywhere in the Ministry." He says it almost dismissively. "Obviously I'm not saying she's a good person Alex, she's a witch, but you know, I'm glad she's calling out the magical world and helping Muggles see the realities that the witches and wizards would rather keep hidden away. They need someone keeping them honest, and right now that's Nina. I don't think anyone else could do it, either. Magical people think they're so untouchable, but Nina has them scared." He shrugs. "I admire her gumption."

Alex swallows. He completely understands what Braylon means - Yurina (he won't call her Nina, it distances her from what she did and he refuses to let her get away with things that easily) is charismatic and forcing Initiatives around the world to be more honest.

But... Alex frowns. He thinks they really are being honest. It's not a backtrack or a scramble to cover their tracks. The effort he's seen being put in at the Initiative since the start of the year has been intense, but also focused heavily on being genuine.

And Braylon's declarations sound a lot like some of the worst comments the social media team has been dealing with.

"I... understand what you mean." He offers slowly, but knows Braylon definitely heard the hesitation in his tone.

"But?" He asks. "Come on Alex, don't tell me you're going soft? These are the people who have treated you like your entire life!"

Alex shrugs slightly. Braylon again isn't wrong, but at the same time - "I work with the Initiative every day." He points out. "I just think they really are doing their best, based on what I see daily. Petra is down in the Archives for hours every day now trying to find every instance of when magic hurt Muggle so we can release those instances to the public with an explanation and an apology. It just doesn't feel like they need any external pressure keeping them honest, especially not one who's a mass murderer."

Braylon looks at him tiredly. "Oh man, you are going soft. Alex, why exactly do you think they're doing all that? It's because of the pressure from Nina. If she wasn't out there preaching the truth, Petra would be... I don't know, ignoring good points on your Facebook page like she used to. Open your eyes kid, or you're going to get hurt."

Alex is still frowning, because it still feels wrong. The first conference had been before Nina - Yurina - even appeared, and they'd laid out some pretty raw points, things they didn't have to say but said anyway. Like the fact Yurina was still at large, or that the victory in both wars was in large part due to dumb luck and Voldemort essentially sabatoging himself. If they were trying to push an agenda, why say things like that which will make them look weak? Logically he can't understand what the angle would be.

Braylon could probably tell him. But for the first time since meeting him, Alex isn't sure he wants any more of Braylon's thoughts on things - they seem to be on different pages for the first time in their aquaintanceship, and it's almost scaring Alex.

So he just hums and goes back to his letter, and leaves Braylon to his ongoing monologue, which lasts another twenty minutes before running out of steam.

"Letter almost done?" The older man asks after a few minutes of silence, and Alex hums.

"Just about I think. Here, read it over, see what you think."

Braylon grabs it cheerfully, apparently already past their earlier disagreement. Alex wishes it were that easy for him - he finds himself mentally going back through all of his past interactions with Braylon and slowly realizing that Braylon has rather always sounded like the comment section on their Facebook page.

It's not a pleasant realization in the least, and Alex ends up excusing himself shortly after Braylon gives the "all good" on the letter's content, heading back up to the seventh floor to get Veena's thoughts as well since this is one of the organizations that had specifically requested to work with her. As he rides the lift up, his mind swirls with a mix of emotions he can't quite put a label onto. Whatever they are, they're clogging up his guts in a major way and he's less than thrilled. Hopefully this won't last too long - despite everything he really had been feeling good lately, and the fact it's Braylon who made him this uncomfortable in the first place only makes the feeling worse - Braylon usually is one of the best parts of his day.

When he gets back to the Initiative offices, he spots Veena hunched over the laptop, one hand tangled in her hair and the other scrolling, looking utterly drained, and Alex thinks that maybe he'll ask her about the letter tomorrow instead. It won't spoil if it's sent a day later after all.

He scans around the office but eventually gives up and just goes to his desk to sit and stew for a while. If nothing else it will help him organize his thoughts and make sense of the world again, since it's a bit tipped on its side at the moment.

If he can pinpoint why exactly Braylon had made him so uncomfortable today, that would be a good starting point. The man is a constant, never faltering from his convictions for a moment and it's why he's been so successful with the Squib Rights Foundation. So logically, Braylon's declarations today are no different than they were two weeks ago. Why then are they so upsetting now? Alex can definitely see Braylon's logic, and a part of him actually agrees with his points. He gets why people, especially Squibs, might think Yurina's tactics are necessary right now, but despite that he's still feeling a bit wary of Braylon's words. After all, Yurina is a mass murderer - surely someone else could do what she's doing without being an actual evil villain?

It takes another moment before it clicks in his mind - Braylon hadn't actually said he had a problem with Yurina's criminal past. Alex had, but Braylon-

Braylon had said she was a bad person because she was a witch.

Alex lets out a shaky breath and glances around the office. Veena has been joined by Fergus, and she's smiling wearily now, presumably at the snarky commentary he always gives to try and keep the social media team's spirits up. Miles is across the room with the Hunters, talking to one of his many friends, apparently taking a break from the laptop and the comments behind the screen. Aruna's door is open for once, and one of the older Hunters is leaning in the door frame, expression tense as she reads something off to the lawyer inside. Rose and Landon are silent, as they usually are these days, but both have their heads down and are scribbling away at piles of parchment at a near frantic pace.

The atmosphere of the office isn't panic or desperation, though. It's determination.

Alex takes a deep breath. What exactly is the alternative? Mai's point has stayed with him these past few weeks, and while he'd tried to ignore it at first, now he's starting to understand.

There isn't an alternative - this needs to work. And it won't if everyone keeps judging everyone else as part of a group.

He looks over at Veena again, purses his lips, and then resolutely stands up. He has an idea of how they can start breaking up the group think, but he's going to need help if he wants to pull it off.

Diana has maybe been avoiding the Initiative for the past month, but in her defense she really has been busy with Relocation. Specifically, with extending the program because most of the people under her charge still have no clear prospects for future jobs, which is increasingly frustrating. Add to that the drama of the holidays and Diana just hasn't had time to stop in with Rose and Landon, and if she's been quietly thankful to avoid the two after her last visit, well, there's nothing wrong with that. At the very least, her friends assure her it's perfectly natural.

But now she's been summoned to the Initiative offices directly by Mrs. Audrey Weasley, so saying 'no' or 'I'm too busy' isn't really an option. One simply does not turn down an invite by the Senior Undersecretary, especially when she probably knows full well what Diana's schedule looks like and that she definitely can carve time out of it for a fourty minute meeting.

She ends up arriving a little early, intentionally so, and heads directly over to Noah's desk so she can brace herself before facing Rose.

To her surprise, he looks rather busy, which is odd considering she knows the Hunters are still in a bit of a deadlock as to what to do now that Yurina has made herself pretty much untouchable. She honestly had figured her visit would be a welcome distraction from boredom.

"Um hi. You seem frazzled." She says after a long moment of Noah not even noticing her presence. She gives him an amused smile when he startles and looks up.

He grins sheepishly in return. "Sorry, I guess I got caught up here. I'm helping Petra out today, which is definitely fun but pretty exhausting - you really need full focus for this."

Diana tilts her head. "Can I ask what it is exactly?" She prompts. She still has ten minutes until she has to go see Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Morgan, and this definitely seems like a solid enough distraction.

Noah gives her a knowing grin, and Diana doesn't blush. It's perfectly natural to come check in with her friend since she happens to be in the area, so there's nothing for her to be embarrassed about. "Sure, I can walk you through it. Basically every morning Petra gives us notes one what she found in the Archives the day before, and we're in charge of organizing it and preparing it to be released, at which point we hand it off to the social media team and they take things from there. It's delicate - we want to be honest, but we also don't want to give certain hate groups easy ammunition."

Diana thinks about Braylon Addams down in Squib Rights and winces sympathetically. "I understand that." She agrees. "I was summoned in today - any idea what that could be about?"

Noah hums. "No idea, I didn't think Rose and Landon were really getting anywhere honestly? Even ignoring their own tense relationship right now, neither the Wizengamot nor the Muggle Parliament is really willing to budge on anything until they see which way the public ultimately falls on all this. The media is still fear-mongering on both sides through, which isn't very helpful."

"The media is rarely very helpful." Diana says dismissively, and Noah laughs. "I should probably get going though, I'd hate to be late for a meeting with the Senior Undersecretary."

Noah waves her off with an easy smile and returns his full focus to the files as Diana makes her way leisurely across the room to the office of the Initiative leaders, pretending she isn't internally bracing to face Rose. She is feeling better though - she knew talking to Noah, even for only a few minutes, would do wonders for her nerves and confidence. His presence is naturally calming.

She knocks twice, smartly, on the office door, and pushes it open without waiting for the response. She's exactly on time, after all, and they should be expecting her.

Sure enough, Mrs. Weasley is seated at her desk, Mrs. Morgan standing beside her, clearly ready for their meeting. What surprises Diana is the two other people in the room. Rather than the expected presence of Rose and Landon, two young Chinese people, one male and one female, are standing next to Mrs. Morgan's unoccupied desk.

Diana raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment on the unexpected faces. "Good afternoon Mrs. Weasley, Mrs. Morgan."

"Good afternoon Ms. Shafiq. I don't believe you've met Mr. Zhang or Ms. Clark." Mrs. Weasley says, briskly moving past the opening niceties. "Mr. Zhang came to us yesterday with a new proposal to address the recent tension that has arisen between the magic and Muggle worlds."

Diana looks over at the young man expectantly. He's quite tall, and Diana automatically straightens her spine even more than it already had been to try and meet his eye. This is clearly a man who's used to being the most intimidating person in the room, and Diana always tries to out-intimidate these types on principle alone.

The man doesn't seem to notice the challenge as he clears his throat and nods. "I was thinking recently that it's rather easy to put people into a block when you don't know anyone, or only know a few people from it and then apply your knowledge of those people to everyone in the group. And considering right now we're being looked at with suspicion, we really shouldn't be the Muggle world's only contact and understanding of magical people. So I was thinking that we could put together a series of... meetings, I guess? Sort of casual get-togethers at Muggle-friendly places, where Muggles can come meet magical people and get to know them one-on-one."

"We were hoping to train some of your Relocation people to help out." The woman - Ms. Clark - adds hopefully. "That way it's not just us and our friends, but genuine magical folk from all over the British Isles. If we offer more diversity, then more people are likely to come. We want the first meeting to be attended by the whole Initiative, but after that it would just be a half dozen or so people each week. Does that sound feasible to you?"

Diana runs the idea through her head, flipping through names and faces of people who might be best suited to something like that. There are quite a few, and she could probably get a training program up and running easily enough in the next few weeks to get a few more people involved. It isn't a long-term solution to anything she's handling, of course, but it would be good for morale to actually have a goal in place for the short-term.

Eventually, she nods. "I think it's certainly doable. I'd like a bit more detail on what the event would look like, if possible, so I can arrange a sort of training program for anyone interested in getting involved. Not to teach them Muggle things, of course." She adds at a look she gets from Zhang, "But rather to make sure they're going to be polite. A lot of these people didn't regularly interact with other humans as part of their jobs."

Clark smiles faintly and Zhang gives her a nod. Weasley dismisses the three of them shortly after and Diana follows the two over to one of the desks.

"If you have those details now." She prompts lightly, and Clark nods hurriedly and begins rifling through the drawers, so this must her her workspace.

Zhang leans against the desk and eyes her carefully. "I'm Alex." He says after a moment, raising one arm towards her. "Squib."

Diana raises and eyebrow and takes the offered handshake. "Diana Shafiq, Muslim." She replies, since apparently they're defining themselves by their minority status and even though she's wearing hers on her head she's hoping he'll hear her comment and realize how stupid his own introduction had been. Her message doesn't seem to land, as he merely releases his grip with a nod.

"Petranella Clark, but I usually go by Petra." Clark interrupts, holding a file up triumphantly. "Um, I think this has everything we've got so far - I can copy it and you can look over the proposal tonight? And we can maybe set up another meeting for this weekend?"

Diana gives her assent and watches Clark - or rather, Petra - magically double the folder and all of the files enclosed before binding it and handing it over to Diana.

"I'll send an owl with any additions or alterations I come up with in the next two days." Diana tells them briskly, accepting the folder and placing it into her bottomless purse. "We'll try to aim to meet again on Sunday? We can work out what the meetings will look like as well as what sort of training should be given to anyone from Relocation who's sent to help out."

"Sounds good." Alex confirms, and Diana bids them farewell, glances at the clock, and decides it's close enough to lunch to go interrupt Noah and ask him out for food. She thinks she's earned some relaxing time with her best friend, and he'll be an excellent sounding board for any new ideas that crop up as she goes through the file during the meal.

For as hesitant as she was when she first arrived, she's feeling really good  now. Things are moving forward, and she'll be at the front of the charge.

Author's Note: I'm officially so used to longer chapters that 6k feels criminally short to me xD But we've got some forward momentum? Hopefully? Only time will tell if this works out or spirals into just another crisis OTL The Initiative doesn't seem to have much luck with those ^^''