The tail end of February sees Veena attending a series of book signings due to the surge of popularity her series has received since her becoming one of the faces of the Initiative. Her publisher had set up the tour for her, which unfortunately means it had overlapped with some very important Initiative schedules thanks to his utter failure to actually communicate with Veena.

She had been ready to cancel the entire event, but Mrs. Weasley had said she should go, and that it would be a good thing to showcase her in a more  comfortable setting than interview chairs and conference rooms. So here Veena is, and honestly there are worse things. Cat and Nico are both with her, and the Aurors assigned a few Hunters still waiting for reassignment to act as security (Cat had identified them as Noah and Estelle), just in case something goes sideways - not that Veena thinks it will. Her fans have always been really wonderful; no, her biggest concern is the fact that Miles will be running their monthly press conference entirely alone at the end of the week.

He's better now than he was in September about blurting things out, but Veena isn't sure he's really ready to fly solo on this. Better doesn't mean he's completely outgrown talking before he thinks, and though things are easing from the holidays the monthly conferences are still very delicate operations.

"You look like you're trying to burn a hole through the wall." Cat informs her gently, and Veena startles. "I don't think your fans would find that expression very inviting."

Veena sighs and looks up. She's currently sitting inside Persephone Books, originally founded in 1998, which specializes in reprinting books by women that otherwise would have been abandoned to history. Veena's publisher had thought it was the ideal store for her to start her mini-tour in, and Veena is inclined to agree (begrudgingly - she's still very irritated that he coordinated everything without actually consulting her first). It's quaint, and while the staff isn't the friendliest she's ever met they certainly are a far cry from the rudest. All in all, it's a solid location, and, according to her security, "easily defensible," which is also good, not that Veena really thinks anything will need to be defended.

"Sorry, I'm just worried I guess." She admits to her wife. "This was all rather sudden, after all."

Cat hums, bouncing Nico when the infant begins squirming in his sleep. "True enough. I still can't believe Arnold did everything behind your back - honestly I would have told him to stuff it if he pulled that with me."

Veena laughs. "Oh trust me, I considered it. But the bosses think this could be really good for continued, positive exposure so here I am. Arnold got a very angry email though, and he knows if he tries anything like that again I'll be moving to a new publishing house - my books are definitely popular enough now that I could have my pick of other agents."

Cat hums as Nico officially decides it's time to be awake and starts crying. "I'll go feed him. We start in fifteen minutes, right?"

"Yep. You're not required to be here, you know, so don't worry too much if he's fussy and takes a while." Veena confirms, accepting a quick kiss before Cat vanishes to the staff room where there's a small refrigerator which currently houses three bottles of Nico's formula and a microwave in which to heat them up. Veena takes a few calming breaths and closes her eyes, re-centering. Cat is right that she needs to be on point for her fans - she knows she has more now, and first impressions are always important, even when you aren't the face of an extremely important political group that may be the only thing standing between the world and all-out war.

She grimaces and opens her eyes again. Maybe not the best way to phrase that if she trying to not be obviously stressed. So she decides to eschew the Initiative aspect of all this entirely from her mind. This is a book signing with fans of her writing, and there will just be more of them than normal. That's exciting - her books are reaching a wider audience, and that audience is enjoying them enough to want to meet her and get her signature.

The tactic actually works well, and Veena is feeling more than ready to start when one of the staff stops at the table to inform her they're about to open the doors.

She has only a moment to take a deep breath before the crowd begins streaming in, and then she's back in the thick of it, signing books while chatting with each person who walks up to the table. It has been some time since she'd last done this - nearly a year, in fact, when her last book was published - but it's an easy enough rhythm to fall back into. Noah and Estelle wrangle the fans into a haphazard line, and each person gets about a minute with Veena before they're politely ushered away. Cat and Nico reappear at some point and Nico ends up stealing the attention of many of the fans, who spend at least half of their minute making faces at him or asking about his age.

Honestly, it's a solid afternoon for the first hour and a bit - most people don't even bring up the Initiative, preferring to ask about her characters and gush about certain plot twists. The few who do talk about it are mostly curious to know how to get in contact with them, and one older woman asks if Veena is going to use the experience in her next book.

Veena grins. "You know, I probably will. I like to draw from my own experiences when I write." She says thoughtfully as she signs the book to 'Vanessa'. "And I'm definitely gaining a lot of new experiences with the Initiative."

Vanessa beams as she takes her book back. "Oh I can't wait then! I love the political intrigue parts of your stories - I mean, all of it is amazing of course, but whenever Countess Aurelia shows up and you just know she's about to throw wrenches into everyone's plans is just the best! I'm always so curious to see how the group is going to get out of it this time!"

Veena can't help but mentally make the connection to Yurina, and thinks that Vanessa may have just given her a very good starting point for her next story.

The next few people are just as friendly, and as the line is starting to slow down Veena takes a bit more time with each person, and a few people even hop back into line just so they can chat a bit more.

"I really do have the best fans." Veena observes to Cat during a small break that Noah had insisted on. The two have moved to the back room and are eating a light lunch while Nicco drains formula bottle number two. "No idea how I got so lucky."

"Your books have an overall theme of community and kindness." Her wife points out, gently tugging Nico's bottle away from his mouth so he remembers to take a breath between swallows. "It makes sense you would attract people who resonate with that message."

"My stories also have an ongoing war against and evil Countess who's a mix of Voldemort and Bellatrix, but I suppose that's fair enough." Veena jokes.

"And now Yurina, I'm sure." Cat replies dryly. "I saw your eyes light up while you were talking with that one girl - you have new plot ideas, don't you?"

Veena grins slyly. "I might. I'll need to wait and see how things play out though - Yurina isn't really taught at school, you remember that. I'll need a slightly better read before I can properly incorporate her into Aurelia's characterization and future plans."

"I guess it's a good thing you didn't kill her off in the trilogy's finale then." Cat muses. "Oh wait, you absolutely did. How exactly are you going to write a character who's dead? I remember you agonizing about making it clear why she couldn't be resurrected."

"That was the whole point of the final quest, yeah." Veena confirms. "I should never have introduced resurrection in the first place, but it worked out well enough, I think. But no, I won't be bringing her back, insofar as resurrecting her. I'm thinking of writing a prequel of sorts, examining how exactly Aurelia rose to power. That's always been the biggest critique of the series, you know, that Aurelia was too obviously evil to have ever successfully taken control of the Eastern kingdom. I think deconstructing that journey could be a really good story, and fill up that plot hole at the same time."

Cat snorts. "If people could actually be 'too evil' to get power, then the Second Wizarding War would have never happened, and America would have it's first female president." She says blithely, and Veena lets out a snort even as she glances at the door to make sure no one can hear them.

"You really shouldn't say stuff like that, you never know who's listening." She points out, still smiling.

Cat shrugs. "I'm a pretty white woman from privlege - if I don't say it, who will?"

They chat a bit longer before one of the staff members pops by to passive aggressively suggest that they should wrap things up so Veena can get back to her table and continue the signing event. With only two hours left, Veena is honestly feeling quite good about her day, so she's not too bothered by the snippiness from the young staffer.

Cat and Nico stay back in the staff room, as the infant has fallen fast asleep and neither of his mothers want to risk waking him up before he's ready - sweet as he usually is, Nico is a screamer when things aren't going the way he wants them to, and waking up early falls squarely into 'avoid if you value your eardrums' territory.

So Veena returns to the front alone, looking forward to more conversations with her fans and getting to talk about the world she'd built up and fallen in love with over the past few years.

She's in the middle of a rather in-depth conversation about her job at the Potions shop - prompted by a question concerning the medical system in her world - when a commotion at the front of the bookshop interrupts her mid-sentence.

"GET OUT OF OUR COUNTRY YOU GOD-FORSAKEN-" Whatever the man was planning to say is abruptly cut off as his limbs freeze and he falls over, stiff as a board.

Estelle Kuhara appears moments later, scowling, with her wand held up in front of her. "Apologies for that everyone, I don't know how he got past the door." She says brightly, her expression flipping to unnervingly cheerful, considering the body at her feet. "Don't worry, he's fine. Well, physically. I can't speak for his mental stability, but that one is all on him." She declares as she flicks her wand and floats the man back out of the shop and drops him unceremoniously onto the sidewalk before unfreezing him.

There's muffled shouting from outside, but obviously Estelle has placed a muffling spell over the doorway so Veena can't make out exactly what's being said. Still, she's heard enough of the same to know roughly what he's going on about, and a pit forms in her stomach. Whether he's racist, homophobic, or just anti-magic, this man is far from unique in his anger, and his presence rudely slams Veena back into her earlier worrying.

The man she'd been speaking to before the interruption looks horrified. "My goodness, I can't imagine... what on God's green Earth was he thinking? Barging in like a barbarian."

Veena sighs. "It's less uncommon than you may think." She says wryly. "I do draw a large majority of my book from real experiences - and that includes some of the less savory characters and encounters." She tells him. "Aurelia is actually based on some very real and very awful people."

He purses his lips. "You know, I always hoped that villains becoming more complex in media was an indication that we as a society were becoming more aware of the fact all people are individuals and ought to be treated as such. I suppose it was too much to hope for."

Veena shrugs and gives him a half-smile. "I think it's a good indication that we're at the very least moving towards that. But you know, culture changes slowly. I think the key is to keep making those kinds of characters, those kinds of villains. I'm actually planning to explore where Aurelia came from in a future book, since I feel she was a bit of a flat character in some aspects." Never mind that she'd only just decided to do that, of course. Her point still stands.

The man's expression clears up quite a bit at that little tidbit. "Oh really? Can you tell me more, or would that be spoilers?"

Although his mood seems to be salvaged, Veena can feel a cloud hanging over her table for the rest of the signing, and she's glad when the final fans are ushered out the door and she gets to pack up.

"Let's go home." She says to Cat, who takes one look at doesn't ask, just grabs Veena's hand and leads her out of the shop.

It's a long, cold walk home.

Rose is so beyond done. She's being better for the Minister, she really is, and it's absolutely grating on her nerves to do so. The endless meetings with ancient white guys who have been given way more power over people than they have any right to have honestly, who she has to be nice to and pretend she's a good straight white girl instead of a mixed race biual, are enough to make anyone exhausted. Add to the fact the literal fate of the world is involved (though try getting that through their thick skulls) and Rose is pretty sure she's just halved her life expectancy thanks to stress alone.

Minister Granger has obviously noticed, because when Rose reports to her office on the last day of February the older woman gives her a smile and says, "Why don't you spend today in the Initiative? I'm mostly just running paperwork today, and I imagine you'd like to see some of your friends."

And Rose appreciates the thought, but she's not sure the Initiative offices are going to be much better, considering she and Landon are still on the outs with one another. Though perhaps she'll be lucky and he'll be away for whatever reason? She hasn't really been back in the offices since things settled so she has no real idea what anyone is up to anymore.

The thought is depressing. Still, she tells herself on the lift ride up that it will be good to see her colleagues again, maybe chat with Petra or Veena, or maybe Miles will have some time? Kylee and Desmond were always pretty busy, as was Fergus, but perhaps they could be good to speak with as well, to see how things are going.

She manages to get herself psyched up successfully, and is almost feeling anticipatory when the lift slides open on the seventh floor.

The offices are practically empty. Rose steps uncertainly into the room and looks around, genuinely wondering if she'd somehow pressed the wrong button. But no, there's the cluster of desks for the four specialists, here is Petra's laptop closed and plugged in to charge, and Aruna's office door is closed which means she is in there. But the only people present are a few older Hunters, a slightly harried looking Fergus who's striding towards the leaders' office, and Landon.

Of course Landon. Well, they managed to survive the past few months, no reason one day is going to be too difficult to get through. Rose takes a deep breath, slaps on a smile, and strides over to her desk with as much false confidence as she can muster.

"Hey you, long time no see." She declares brightly, tossing herself into her seat and pretending she still feels comfortable there. "I've got the day free, so I'm at your service. What have you been up to while I've been fighting The Man?" She says it as jokingly as she can, but Landon's expression doesn't even twitch.

Well, maybe he's just extra stressed with whatever he's doing. She waits a moment, and then tries again when he doesn't acknowledge her. "Hey, grumpy. I know we're not friends right now, but I'm serious, I'm here for the whole day. Don't you have any need for an extra set of hands? There's a reason they hired two of us for this job you know."

Landon finally looks up at her, and thankfully he doesn't look angry. Instead he looks absolutely bone tired, and Rose really isn't sure that that's any better. "There is indeed a reason." He says dryly, "Though frankly with your work ethic they may as well have only hired me."

Well okay then. Rose supposes they're finally going to talk about it.

"Apologies for having a different skillset that's better used talking to people." She says bitterly, knowing full well that that's not exactly why he's mad, and also knowing full well that Landon is absolutely in the right here. Rose had been slacking off and having fun because that's what she does. At the end of the day, Rose isn't much good at anything outside of putting up a facade of someone fun to hide the fact that in reality? She's not a very good person.

Landon's exhaustion shifts slightly into a glare. "And what is that supposed to mean?" He challenges. "Are you just too good to do your work like the rest of us? Well excuse me for being willing to do the boring foundational work to actually get things done. If your job is so dang important why did you get booted up  here only weeks after going back on duty?"

And okay, Rose already knew that, but ouch. She was willing to admit her own screw ups, but if he wants to play below the belt then fine. They'll play by his rules.

"Maybe because my job is absolutely exhausting - endlessly talking, managing different, oftentimes difficult people and having to cater to their particular sensibilities so that they'll maintain alliances with us and generally not doom the world to destruction, but you know. I'm sure you sitting and listening to a bunch of other people talk and then writing about it is super ing important." She snaps back. "I'm sure you're changing the ing world one report at a time."

That was too far. That was way too far, but she's so angry she can feel the rage clawing through her guts and up and she doesn't have any control over what's coming out of anymore.

Landon is tense, and his voice has a sharp undercurrent she's never heard before. He's mad, really mad and he has every right to be. "Well obviously you wouldn't know the worth of paperwork considering you're always squirming out of it." He growls in return, "Too high and mighty to do the dirty work? You only deign to partake if it'll make you look good, right? I've had a lot of time to think it over, and frankly you act like a textbook attention-seeker. You only do things if they make you look good, or if you get something out of it."

Rose just stares at him, the rage in now clogging her vocal chords and rendering her utterly speechless. "Fine." She finally chokes out. "I'll sit here and not help despite the fact I literally just offered to. Whatever. Have fun doing everything alone."

And that seems to be the end of it. Rose gets the next couple days off from her work with the Minister as well, and she ends up mostly sitting in the Initiative offices feeling completely useless with a chorus in her head politely informing her how awful she is on repeat.

Eventually, it become too much. She needs something to distract herself from her own thoughts, and with everyone else apparently too busy to just sit and chat with her, Landon and his workload is all she has.

So she grabs one of the piles of parchment off of his desk and begins reading through them.

"Hey!" Landon says angrily, but she ignores him. If he's not going to play nice, she's not going to play nice. He'd set the damn rules, he doesn't get to change them because he doesn't like how she's using them. "Do you even know what those are?"

"I can read, I'm sure I can work it out." She says flatly, not looking at him. "And as it didn't seem like you were planning to allowing me to assist, I decided to allow myself. Did you ever think that maybe the reason I wasn't doing paperwork recently is because you didn't let me?"

"Not like you were doing it anyway!" He responds heatedly. "When you were here and I did trust you to actually help me you constantly added those forms onto my to do pile! Excuse me for wanting to be fully aware of how much work I'm going to be doing on any given day. Put those back."

"Well I'm literally offering to help right now! If not these, then pick one of your stupid piles! It's not like it's particularly hard." Rose flings in return, and the anger is back, using her tongue without input from her brain.

"Excuse me? Not hard? I'm having to try and delicately handle these Muggle politicians who are practically allergic to change - I'm talking to them, I'm filling out their forms and having to learn how that even works as I go! Don't act like trailing around behind the Minister flashing smiles and pulling your manipulative bull is so much harder!"

"Well ladida for you white boy, maybe that sounds like a walk in the park for your privledged , but newsflash, my 'manipulative bull' is required because otherwise they woudn't even see me as a damned human being! So yeah, I'd say I'm doing a ton more than just trailing behind the Minister!"

They've started shouting. Rose doesn't quite know who raised their voice first, but they're definitely full-on raging at each other now and this has been building up for so long that she can't stop it, can only watch in horror, slightly disconnected from her body, as the venom spews forth.

She knows logically there are other people in the office, but they don't matter, are floaty, distant concerns that she'll probably fret over later, but right now? Right now she's trapped in this moment, all but screaming ever more personal and underhanded insults at the man she'd honestly still consider a friend. A friend she'd been on rough terms with, sure, but a friend nonetheless.

Somehow she doubts that will be the case when this is finally over.

She doesn't know how long it goes - it feels like an instant and an eternity, but she's suddenly being grabbed by the bicep, and the contact abruptly, jarringly, drags her back into her own body and she suddenly finds herself at the controls again. All the rage and built-up frustration that had been fueling her drains, and she's left feeling exhausted and utterly, thoroughly humiliated.

Mrs. Weasley is standing between them, and she has a firm grip on Landon as well, who looks as shame-faced as Rose feels.

"What. Is going on here." Their boss says, voice low and irritated in a way that Rose has never heard. She knows of course that Mrs. Weasley is well respected and border-line feared among the older Ministry workers, and while she always understood the former, it's only now that she's really getting the latter. The woman's gaze is steel and her grip is steady. Rose wonders if she learned that in the war.

"I... I'm sorry. It's my fault." Rose says quietly, ignoring the startled look she gets from Landon. "I shouldn't have pushed him, I knew he was stressed."

"We're all stressed, and you're both adults." Mrs. Weasley says harshly, and Rose tries to flinch away even as the hand on her arm keeps her firmly in place. "I expect better from you both. Take the weekend off. Rose, I will inform the Minister you won't be rejoining her until Monday. Cool off and figure out what just happened. If you can't handle this job, then we'll find people who can." She finally lets them go physically, but her gaze keeps them rooted. "This is not a job that can be taken lightly, or one that allows for slip ups like that. The future of the world is at stake here - no one will think less of you if that's too heavy a burden, but you need to be honest with yourselves if it is or not." She sighs, some of the sharpness falling away, and Rose shifts back a few steps. "Think it over. Tell me your conclusions on Monday."

She walks away then, leaving the two of them to stand on either side of the gaping chasm of awkwardness and uncertainty that's left in her wake.

"Um." Rose starts, but Landon turns away and starts packing up his bag. Rose hesitates a moment before following suit. Cool off is what Mrs. Weasley had ordered, and it's probably best to not try and clear things up right now, when Landon is probably still, rightfully, furious with her. For her part, Rose just sort of feels hollowed out, wondering if maybe she should have left for Relocation back when she was considering it in January. At the very least, they could have avoided all this, found someone new for Landon to work with who was actually worth something.

Rose sighs quietly, finishes packing up her workspace, and heads for the lift. A whole weekend off. A whole weekend to sit at home with nothing but her thoughts reminding her how awful she is.

It's halfway through the Atrium that she has the thought - maybe she doesn't have to be alone. It is the weekend after all - maybe her friends Zoe and William will be available? They've always been good to talk to when she starts feeling like this, and maybe they can give her advice on the best way to genuinely apologize to Landon.

She can't say she feels any better as she Floos back home, but at the very least she has a plan. Hopefully it's enough.

Miles is honestly excited about handling his very first solo Press Conference. Sure, the last one had been pretty stressful, but so much bad stuff was happening then! Now things are much better, and he's excited to get to answer all the questions and give all the new information without having to defer to Veena to do half of the talking. Plus, he thinks she deserves a nice break with her family and her fans - they've all been stressed, and she'd probably prefer that to running a Press Conference anyway. Miles, on the other had, definitely sees getting to talk to a bunch of people as very exciting, and a great reward for getting through the past two months.

He's being extra thorough in his preparations, though, that way Veena won't have to be concerned about anything - she'll come in next week and see all his parchments and notes and realize she never needed to worry at all about him. He certainly isn't worried - he's pretty sure half the things he has notes on here won't even tangentially come up, but he wants to prove he's ready for this, and his friend Serene from the Prophet always says it's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.

All to say he's feeling very confident when he takes a cab (all by himself! He even has Muggle money for the fare!) to the hotel they rent for their Press Conferences, since it's still cold, and heads inside. The crowd inside is back to its usual size, and Miles waves at several familiar faces, giving his brightest smile as he walks over to the stage. He's a few minutes early, so he doesn't go up just yet, instead chatting with a few people who are near the stage.

He accidentally gets a bit caught up with the conversation, so it's a few minutes past ten when he hops up onto the stage to get things started. Maybe not the best beginning, but he's got nothing but good news today, so the small delay probably won't affect anything - he can't imagine the conference will really go more than an hour, if that.

"Hello everyone! Sorry for the small delay." He grins cheerfully out at the gathering of reporters. "So you may notice that Veena isn't here with me today, but don't worry! I'll be running things just the same as always even if it's just me this month. Before we open for questions, I have a few announcements about what we at the Initiative have accomplished this month, and what we're working towards furthering in the coming month."

Miles has practiced this part in the mirror every night since he was told he was going to be running this conference on his own, so he hops into the recap with an ease that he's immensely proud of.

"As many of you know, we began a weekly meetup program in collaboration with Westfield and other Ministry Departments." He starts, "It's been a massive success so far, as I'm sure many of you know! The magical people available to meet and chat with change every weekend, and everyone has been having a wonderful time so far getting to meet new people and learn about each other's worlds! I've been a few times and it's always a lot of fun, so if you haven't had a chance to go out yet, I highly recommend it! It's a chance to meet magical people who aren't me." He grins and winks. "Though I am pretty awesome, so I understand if I'm still your favorite afterwards!"

That gets a smattering of laughter, and Miles beams. "In other Initiative-related news, our bank specialist is hard at work to make the magic-to-Muggle exchange rate a little easier for everyone to work with - we unfortunately discovered that our bank hasn't been keeping up with modern exchange rates, so ours is insanely out of date. I'm sure some of you have noticed some of the strange conversion rates if you've come by Diagon Alley! We're also intending to streamline the conversion process by creating conversion machines! Those will probably take some time though - magic and technology have a hard time playing nice with each other." He pauses for a quick breath, keeping up his smile. "Our Education specialist is also hard at work building up a new curriculum for both magic and Muggle schools so that all students under the age of eleven receive identical training, that way anyone who's going to Hogwarts will be at the same starting point! And finally, the expansion of the Floo system is being started up again after we briefly paused the endeavor a couple months ago, so if anyone is interested in connecting their homes or businesses to the system make sure to tell the Initiative as soon as possible! Currently we're working off our original list of people who expressed interest, so if you weren't on that but want to hop in tell us soon!"

He takes another pause to breath and smile, before concluding, "And that's the update for this month! It's been pretty low-key compared to last time, huh? So, we're - or rather, I'm now opening the floor for questions!"

Several hands fly up - more, honestly, that Miles would have thought considering how little new information there is this month but he's always happy to see people getting excited and involved - and he scans the faces to try and find someone who isn't often called on. One older man catches his eye, and he smiles and points to him.

"Um, yes, you with the very nice red tie!" He says brightly, and the man looks slightly startled before clearing his throat and regaining his previous expression of neutral distaste (Miles thinks that it's probably why the man doesn't get called on more often - he should smile!).

"You mentioned that people can add their addresses and businesses to the Floo Network Connection list, if I recall the name correctly," He begins, rather importantly, "Is is possible for people to remove themselves from the list as well? Things have changed in the past months, and some may no longer be comfortable."

Miles feels his smile start to strain a bit, but the question isn't so bad. And it's not like anyone would really want to get off the list. Right?

"I'd imagine you can put in a request for removal the same way you would request to join." He says after thinking it over for a moment. "Though being connected to the Network is a huge time saver! Literal instant travel from one place to the next!" He grins, though the man doesn't return the expression, and Miles clears his throat and moves on.

"Yes, the lady near the back with the very nice pantsuit."

She gives him a quick smile before nodding firmly. "Yes, I wanted to ask about the monetary conversion project you mentioned? Is there a reason the magical world didn't already have the conversion rate set? Muggles have been sending their children to Hogwarts for years, correct?" She asks, mostly curious but there's a layer of accusation underneath that sort of startles Miles. He wouldn't have expected that from the woman, though he also probably shouldn't have made that sort of judgement based only on her outfit.

"Well, yes." He agrees, thankful that Kylee had walked him through all this and even more thankful that he'd thought to ask her - his preparations are proving very useful. "In fact, it was the increasing number of Muggleborns coming in that caused the magical world to initially create the conversion rate to begin with! But that rate hasn't really changed since that, and that was hundreds of years ago! I think it mostly stems from the fact that the magical world was so disconnected from the Muggle one? So early magical bankers wouldn't even know that conversion rates can change, you know? So they set it once and then called it a day, and obviously that was never going to work long-term. It's probably something the bank was already working on internally, but now we're working to streamline the process, so now they have Ministry support! The goal is to try and get at least an updated conversion rate in place in time for summer shopping, and from there we'll see about adjusting to stay up-to-date with the markets!" He smiles hopefully at the woman. "Does that answer your question?"

She scribbles a few more things down, before looking up and nodding. "It does, though I also have a follow up, if that's possible?"

Miles hesitates - technically he shouldn't, but he also wants the reporters to think he's doing a good job even without Veena, so he nods. "If it's quick, then I don't see why not."

She clears and flips back a page in her notebook. "Right, I'll be brief then. Why was the rate originally set the way it was?"

Miles blinks, and then laughs. "Honestly? You'd have to ask the people who set it back then - I honestly have no idea."

And isn't that just a massive lie. Kylee had filled him in fully on the conversion rate and it's horrid, racist reasons, but Miles can't say that here. Hopefully his laugh had sounded playful and not terrified, and a scan of the faces in front of him says it was most likely the former. Which is good.

Still, he's a bit more cautious about the next few questions that he answers, and he doesn't allow any more follow ups. He definitely understands now why that rule is in place, and he just hopes no one can tell that there's a pit in his stomach over the lie that grows steadily through the rest of the questions asked. Most are harmless, a few, like the first two, surprisingly sharp, and Miles is thinking now that maybe he had less good news than he'd thought. He'd really been hoping everyone would be as excited as he was, but as another person asks whether or not the new curriculum will leave room for Muggle education he knows that he was probably hoping for too much.

He ends the conference by calling on Celine - he'd intended to call on her earlier, but when he'd realized people were less enthused than he had hoped he decided to save her for last, since she always has something nice to say.

She smiles as he points to her (and compliments her hat - it's super cute!). "Thank you. I wanted to inquire about the meetups, actually. With spring coming this month and warmer weather already on the rader, will the location be shifted at any point, and if yes how will that be communicated?"

Miles can feel some of his stress melting at the question. Yes, saving Celine for last was an excellent idea. Time to end this on a high note. "We do hope to move somewhere outside as the weather allows!" He says brightly. "The coordinators of the meetups are in talks with other possible host sites as we speak, and the information on that will go up on our Facebook and Instagram pages as new information become available, and of course Veena and I will provide everything at the next press conference as well!" He takes a moment to let everyone finish writing before clapping his hands in front of him (careful to not hit the microphone - he learned the hard way that doing so is not pleasant). "Well, I think that's all the time we have for today! Thanks for an awesome conference as always, and we'll see you next time! Any questions I didn't get to can be sent to our Facebook or Instagram private messages! Thank you!"

He hurries off the stage and decides to not stick around to mingle like he normally would - he's honestly exhausted. But he thinks he did well at least? The pit of lies eating through his guts probably mean he did well - Veena always says he needs to be careful about what he reveals at these conferences, and he was definitely careful.

He Apparates back to the Ministry Atrium and takes the lift to the seventh floor so he can get started on the rest of his day. With Veena still out for another day and Petra always in the Archives, he's going to be the person watching the comments for the next week (Mrs. Morgan had been kind enough to cover that while all three of them were busy this past week). So maybe that will be something to look forward to! It's a chance to interact with people, and while he knows not all of them are nice, things really aren't as bad as they were last time he helped with the comments, so he'll probably get to meet some very nice people as well as the meaner ones that Petra always calls 'trolls' for some reason.

By the time the laptop has booted up he's feeling much more optimistic about the future - he's probably just a bit tired because running a whole press conference alone is stressful, and looking back on it none of the questions were really that bad. So things are better, and surely they'll keep getting better from here.

Author's Note: So... some good, some not so good, some explosions. You know, about standard for this group ^^'' Just a reminder to anyone who missed it last time, I do have a new apply story open! If you like Avatar the Last Airbender, and have gotten this far into this story, then it might be something that interests you~