Petra had thought, when it was first announced, that maybe the hiatus would be a good thing - she'd get a break from work for a couple weeks, the world would get to calm the frick down, and when she got back things would be better.

By the second half of the hiatus she's fully realized she was very wrong in her assumptions. She's still stressed - now because she doesn't know what's happening rather than because she does - and the world is still careening at high speed towards hate and division, but now without the mediating hand of the Initiative to pull on the breaks.

She honestly can't believe she actually misses the chaos of her job, but she does. And she'd rather be back in the office, holding back tears caused by the comment section of their social media pages, than sitting in her room wondering if she'll even get to go back to her desk before war breaks out.

Eventually she cracks and sends out an owl to two other people who she thinks might be able to empathize with how she's feeling. And besides, they're overdue for a reunion lunch anyway.

And that's how Petra finds herself in the Three Broomsticks on a Monday afternoon, repeatedly glancing at the door like a girl being stood up by her date. She knows a few of the wait staff assume that is what she is based on the occasional pitying look she gets when they think she can't see them. She just rolls her eyes at the assumption - Noah would never stand her up, and she's about fifteen minutes early - she's not at all surprised to be the first one here.

The next person to arrive marches in like a hurricane, scanning the room with sharp eyes that soften dramatically when they land on Petra. Estelle Kuhara grins and waves as she strides over to Petra's table, causing most of the pity-glance-giving employees to do a double take.

"Hey, hope you weren't waiting long." She says with a smiles as she takes the seat across from Petra. "Rose not here yet?"

"Is that really surprising? It will be a cold day in hell when Rose gets anywhere on time." Petra jokes.

Although Rose had suggested this months ago, at the start of the Initiative, the former roommates haven't actually done any catching up in the intervening time. It's not that they hadn't gotten along in school - though there had been the inevitable ups and downs of having five girls crammed together for seven years, for the most part they had been friends, and Petra is, despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding it, looking forward to catching up with two of them.

She'd considered inviting Piper along as well, but had ultimately decided that she wanted this meeting to be more work-focused than friend-focused, and since Piper has nothing to do with the Initiative or Hunters (ignoring the fact her brother Isaac was a Hutner and was then a part of the Internal Investigation) she wouldn't have anything to contribute. Based on the fact Estelle has come alone instead of brining her best friend Wendy, Petra thinks she likely has the same idea.

Rose waltzes in three minutes late and floats right over to their table.

"You seem chipper." Estelle notes with amusement, and Rose beams as she plops down.

"I'm excited! I've been wanting a reunion since last year when we all showed up in the offices!" She looks around curiously. "Where are Piper and Wendy?"

Petra and Estelle exchange glances. "Um, they aren't coming." Petra offers after a moment.

"Petra wanted to talk work Rose." Estelle reminds the frowning woman. "Wendy and Piper don't know anything about what we've been doing."

Rose pouts. "Fine I suppose, but you both owe me a proper reunion then - all five Gryffindor girls, taking on Hogsmeade like we used to!"

Estelle chuckles. "The world may not be ready for that, but sure, I'm down. Maybe after all this has calmed down though." She adds with a sigh, and Petra is honestly surprised by how exhausted the other woman sounds - she didn't think Estelle was really doing much these days, at least not enough to sound that worn out.

Rose, being Rose, doesn't immediately notice (or does and decides that her usual bright bulldozing would be a good distraction - Petra had learned in school that both options are equally likely when it comes to her over-enthusiastic former roommate). "Awesome! I haven't seen Piper or Wendy in ages, how are they doing? Does Piper still hate me?"

"Piper never hated you." Petra defends immediately, though there is a string of guilt behind her words. Piper had just been really uncomfortable when Rose came out as bi to them in their fourth year, and things had always been a bit tense between the two since. Petra had never told Rose the truth about the tension, though despite Piper insisting otherwise Petra is pretty sure Rose knows exactly what was up with that. "She just... was very protective, is all. We were each other's best friend for years before all five of us starting talking more openly."

"Weren't we supposed to talk about work?" Estelle interrupts, obviously seeing where the conversation is heading and having no time for it (and Petra is grateful for the abrupt topic change). "We can reminisce on school time nonesense when the other two are here. You had another reason for calling this, right Petra?"

Petra nods awkwardly. "Honestly I'm feeling really restless about not having anything to do right now - I'm really worried about how unprepared we'll be when we get back next week."

Rose grimaces. "If." She corrects, almost muttering, and Petra looks at her, wide-eyed.

"What? What do you mean if? It's two weeks, right?"

"Two weeks to start." Rose sighs. "Depending on whether things calm down or not it may be extended a bit longer."

Petra just stares at her for a long moment before finally squeaking out a "what?" that sounds pathetic even to her own ears.

Rose winces. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I just... figured it's better to brace? Trust me, I'm not exactly thrilled either, especially since it does seem like there will be at least one more week on the hiatus - I think the leaders are trying to coordinate something so we can start in again strong?" She shrugs. "Sorry."

Estelle sighs. "That isn't your fault Rose, quit apologizing for it. It is stupid, though. If they want to be ready, they'll need their entire team ready." She observes dryly.

"So any ideas on how we can do that?" Petra asks quietly after a full minute of silence has occupied the space between them. Rose frowns heavily at her hands, but Estelle is shifting slightly in her seat, eyes flickering around the pub suspiciously, and Petra finds herself watching the other woman cautiously. First the exhaustion and now this fidgeting seem to point towards Estelle doing a lot more recently than Petra had expected her to have been. But if she is busy then why agree to come hang out with her and Rose at all?

Petra ultimately decides to not push immediately - maybe if she decided to come out here with them, then Estelle is maybe already planning to tell them about... whatever it is she has going on. In her own time. Meanwhile Petra will try to stay on target for why she actually called this little gathering.

So she clears and tries again. "Seriously, there must be a way for us to keep preparing even though we aren't allowed on the social media pages while we're on hiatus - it's about ten times more stressful not reading the trolls than reading them, which isn't something I ever expected to admit out loud but here we are."

Rose hums. "Honestly same, only about the stupid Council. Who knows what BS they're pulling now that they aren't being checked in on every week? Even with the one guy not being so awful right now, it's still just the two of us against the six of them." She sighs. "How about you Estelle? Miss paperwork?" She jokes, and Petra can't help cracking a smile as well. Estelle has never liked writing essays, so she doesn't doubt that paperwork is the bane of the other worman's existence as an Auror.

But Estelle doesn't laugh. Instead, she sighs and seems to come to a decision. "Hey girls, how would you like to see my new apartment after lunch?" She asks, seemingly completely at random.

Petra and Rose exchange a look that tells Petra her friend definitely noticed Estelle's odd behavior as well, and after a moment she nods.

"Sure, sounds fun. You in Rose?"

Rose grins. "Absolutely! Is Wendy going to be there?"

That gets Estelle to cheer up some as well. "Nah, she's at work right now, but we are roommates! For now anyway - don't tell, but I'm hoping to ask Des to move in together before the end of the summer."

Lunch passes amicably after that - the storm around Estelle is gone so she happily engages in idle chatter about their lives and plans (Rose demands to be invited to Estelle's wedding that the former insists will obviously be happening sooner rather than later and Estelle laughs while Petra blushes for her). It's just like back in school, and it's exactly the distraction that Petra needed from her fretting. Once they've paid for their meals they head out into the nostalgically familiar streets of Hogsmeade, wandering towards the train station as they continue their general catching up.

"I'll go through first then." Estelle decides once they reach the public Floo point. "Just follow me through and I can give you the grand tour! Next time we can check out your places." She adds with a grin, and Petra winces at the thought of so many people in her tiny London flat.

"I'd need to clean." She says noncommittally as Estelle vanishes into the flames, and Rose grins and elbows her lightly.

"Aw, I doubt it's that bad. But we can check out my awesome apartment first then!" She offers brightly before grabbing a handful of Floo Powder and following Estelle through the fireplace.

Petra just laughs, tilting her head up to look at the clear blue sky over them before grabbing her own handful of powder and stepping through green flames into a surprisingly spacious flat.

Estelle immediately waves them both over to her ridiculously cushy couch, and they all sprawl out and get comfortable. Petra ends up flat on her back and snuggled into one of the large corners. She's honestly half-expecting them to just keep making small talk for the next however long, though her other half knows that Estelle definitely had a reason for the abrupt invite, and it definitely has something to do with her odd twitchiness around the topic of work.

Sure enough, Estelle takes a deep breath, and almost immediately the light atmosphere dampens. "Alright, so. Now that we're not in public we can talk about work again. Specifically the fact that I've been doing work."

Rose frowns. "Really? How? No offense, but I didn't think there was actually enough work for the Aurors right now."

Estelle nods. "That's actually what I was initially set up to look into - where all the Dark Magic users had gone. But things have kind of changed in recent weeks, and I want you two to help out - if you're okay with that."

Petra glances at Rose, but the other woman is already nodding, looking far more serious than Petra honestly thought that she could. "This is about the mole, right?"

Estelle blinks, and Petra frowns. Mole?

"I'm sorry, what do small mammals have to do with this?" She pipes up awkwardly, and both Estelle and Rose laugh, breaking the tension but also making Petra feel like an idiot.

"No, mole like insider. Yurina has at least one person working within the Ministry helping her keep tabs on things and even manipulating reports to hide what she's doing." Estelle says, some of her seriousness returning. "I've been looking into figuring out who that person - or people - could be, which means I can't really talk to anyone higher up the ranks right now." She turns a frown onto Rose. "How did you know about that?"

Rose shrugs. "Seemed kind of obvious based on everything that's been going on - at least the fact there is an insider. It was sort of an educated guess that you were looking into them, but the fact you want us to help rather than, say, the leaders or Council members points that way too."

Petra can only blink rapidly while Estelle just laughs.

"I forget sometimes that you're actually really astute about this sort of stuff!" She grins. "But yeah, fair enough. Just glad there isn't a leak in the ranks. I'm trying to keep our group as small as possible while also having access to as much information as possible. And I think we might be able to help each other out." She grins, and Petra sits up a bit so she doesn't have to strain so much to look directly at Estelle.

"How so?" Rose asks curiously. "I mean, obviously I can keep you informed about international goings-on and help point to who might be sticking their fingers where they don't belong, but no offense, how would you help me?"

It's surprisingly blunt coming from Rose, and Petra can tell that Estelle is a bit caught off guard as well. "Oh, well, I can keep you updated on who to look out for?" She suggests. "Also I if find this person, your job becomes a lot easier."

Rose hums. "Fair enough." She allows, and Petra takes the moment to clear and get the other two's attention.

"I'm certainly open to helping, but I'm not sure what I can actually do?" She asks, and Estelle grins.

"Are you kidding? You already practically live in the Archives - you can snoop around there without raising any eyebrows at all, which makes you the team MVP without question." She exclaims. "Think you could do some research into Jack the Ripper? The new stories are tying him to magic as well, so getting the scoop on that - and figuring out if it's been altered or not - would be a great step for us."

Petra can feel herself blushing. "Maybe I could bring Noah in? Pup. My boyfriend." She clarifies quickly. "He has a lot of international contacts who might be able to help?" She shrinks a bit at Estelle's expression. "Or not, sorry that's probably a bad idea-"

"No, no it's good." Estelle says quickly. "But they'd need to be vetted. I'm serious about keeping this as small as possible. I trust you two because we literally grew up together, but I don't know Pup that well, and I definitely don't know his international contacts. If you trust him then you can bring him in, but it'll be on you, yeah?"

Petra takes a deep breath as she nods. She does trust Noah, and considering he's the only one who can actually get down to the Archives right now she'll bank on bringing him in as a good move. Hopefully that doesn't backfire too spectacularly.

They spend the next few hours planning, and although when they leave Petra still doesn't have a job to go back to, at least she feels like she has a solid game plan. So, all in all, it was a successful lunch.

If he's honest, Alex had expected the two week hiatus to be a welcome break from the misery and anger that is his job with the Initiative, and at first it absolutely is. He spends more time with his two best friends, shooting the and complaining about life in general like they used to before Alex's life was tossed into a scheduled chaos by the Initiative.

Lincoln, being Alex's roommate, had of course known he'd gotten a new job, and Alex doesn't doubt the other man has guessed what it is by now, but their other friend, Logan, needles Alex a bit about his absence. Honestly Alex is just surprised it's taken over a week before Logan got impatient enough to bring it up on his own.

"Seriously man, we've barely seen hide or hair of you since, like, last summer." Logan complains one afternoon when they're all lounging in Alex and Lincoln's sitting room, drinking beer that's long gone warm with the television on silent in the background. It's set to the news almost out of habit - despite himself, Alex has been keeping tabs on the magic situation even though he's allowed not to right now.

"Isn't it obvious? Our dear Alex finally got himself a real job, abandoning us loser dropouts to our failure." Lincoln says dramatically, because for all Alex loves the guy he's never been one to make things easier.

Alex scoffs. "Oh please, don't start with that. Yeah I got a new job, and yeah it's a little tighter scheduled, but it's a temp gig - I'll be done by summer's end. Maybe even earlier, if things keep going to like they are right now." He says. "It's a favor for my brother." He adds, barely loud enough for Lincoln, who's sprawled out next to him, to hear.

Said roommate startles, sitting up to face Alex properly. "Wait what? That's the first I'm hearing of it. I thought you disavowed your family for being utter rich- heads."

"I did, but Alden's pushy." Alex insists. "Besides, he paid for my new bike as part of the deal so. Seemed fair enough - steady paycheck, he leaves me alone forever, and I get a free bike."

Logan whistles. "I did wonder how you afforded that. Here I assumed you'd picked up a job as a star on the side." He jokes, and Alex nearly chokes mid-swig.

"Do not." He coughs, but Lincoln is laughing too, the , and after a moment Alex can't help grinning. "Guys are payed less in you know, it's really not such a great option for us."

"Counter point: money to get off." Logan declares, and all three of them are laughing. "I don't care if we make less, still totally worth it."

"You know what kind of they're probably making now? Magic ." Lincoln declares, and Alex is still laughing even as he shakes his head.

"Why is this our conversation?" He asks helplessly.

"Ew, no. No magic in this discussion." Logan adds in agreement, faking a gag.

That gets Alex's attention. "Wait, do you have a problem with magic? Not to immediately start talking about it again, but honestly magic in could seriously spice things up."

"This is my thinking." Lincoln starts, but Alex smacks him before he can start in on it again.

"No, we're done talking about , you two are awful. Seriously though Logan, you have an issue with magic?"

Logan makes a face. "Don't tell me you don't Alex, you're the most rational guy I've met. The things these people are capable of? What they've been doing behind our backs? If it wasn't for the Incident we'd have no clue they were even here - it's freaky. They obviously have something to hide, you know?'

Alex shifts uncertainly. A few months ago he would have whole-heartedly agreed. Now though? Now he thinks about Petra racing off to the Archives to find more information to help Miles and Veena - and even him at one point - do their work. He thinks about Fergus laughing tiredly, reworking the Floo Network reboot plans yet again as more people pull out. He thinks about Landon and Rose whispering furiously together as they desperately fight to stave off a world war that would kill everyone, magic or Muggle.

He thinks about Alden, and how he flinched away from Alex as though guilty.

Alex heaves out a breath. "They're just people Logan." He points out. "People are stupid. But they're also not cohesive wholes, so saying that everyone with magic is hiding some dark secret is kind of the same as saying every gay person is out to 'convert' all the children." He raises his hands defensively at the glare he recieves. "Don't look at me like that, you know I'm right."

"He is. Seriously Logan, what's your beef? You're usually the logical one here." Lincoln observes, sitting up to eye their friend, who crosses his arms defensively.

"Yeah, 'cause I'm the one guy who always asks questions to make sure everything is on the level. I just don't trust that magic is giving us all the answers, and I don't like that I literally can't know, since they're the ones controlling all the information!"

Alex blinks. That's... actually a really good point, though it's a thought he doesn't give voice to. If there's one thing he's certain of after this conversation, it's that he definitely doesn't want Logan knowing what his new job is.

"I mean, fine, that's fair I suppose. But in this case the Initiative strikes me as pretty honest - every time anything has happened they haven't just responded to that, they've gone ahead and revealed everything even tangentially related to it, which seems to be a level of above and beyond that they don't need to be doing." Lincoln says, thankfully taking up the defensive position so Alex won't accidentally give anything away.

"So we're less suspicious about what they don't share." Logan counters.

Alex somewhat tunes out at this point as the two devolve into semi-personal mocking that isn't helping anything but is just how they are. The entire discussion has put him somewhat on edge - he can hope, of course, that Lincoln represents the majority opinion of the public, but it's just as possible that Logan's views are more popular - and both make perfectly good points to defend their own positions. Maybe he should text Petra and see if they can set something up to address Logan's worries via her Archive diving - surely there's something there to help ease the concerns of people wanting (even more) transparency? Or at least something to assure them that they're getting everything the Initiative actually has.

It's out of this thought that, a few days later, Alex finds himself in front of the Ministry Muggle Entrance, shifting uncertainly in place and mentally informing himself that this is a terrible idea. Still, he steps into the phone booth and pushes in the code for the Atrium, and leans awkwardly against the side panel as he begins his descent.

This is a terrible idea.

He nods to the greeter (probably should learn his name, he's seen the guy every day for months now) and heads straight for the large doors at the opposite end of the room.

He's actually a bit surprised by how busy the office beyond the door actually is - he honestly had always figured that working for the Minister mostly entailed puttering around an office writing reports and maybe having to talk to one or two people. This? This is pure chaos, with people literally flinging paper airplanes across the room as they rush from one corner to another.

At the back of the madness lies another door, which is flanked by two large wooden desks. At the rightmost one lies the person he's stupidly decided to come talk to. He sighs and begins the trek towards the desk, resigning himself to finally, formally admitting to himself that yes, he does want this to work and not just because of war anymore. He genuinely, honestly wants to see the two worlds come together in peaceful cooperation and eventual full integration because he thinks it's what's best for everyone involved.

He feels ill just thinking anything that sappy, but he can't really think anything against it considering he's currently making his way over to his boss's desk in hopes of finding out when he gets to come back to work, so.

Mrs. Weasley doesn't even glance up at his approach. "Whatever it is this time Dalton, I still am not giving your reports to the Minister unless you have them properly notarized with the Secretariat." She says tersely, and Alex nearly smiles. At least she's this y to everyone - he wasn't, apparently, special.

"Mum, that's not Mr. Dalton." A voice giggles, and it's at this moment that Alex notices there are two figures sitting behind the desk - on the floor for some reason - which are now looking up at him. One he instantly recognizes, and he gives an awkward half wave as she hops up with a bright grin.

"Hi Alex!" Mai Weasley exclaims, finally getting her mother to look up with no small amount of exasperation - though whether it's due to Mai or Alex isn't quite clear.

"Hey Mai." He offers. "And this is?" He looks at the smaller girl politely - he can guess, but always better to ask.

"'M Lucy." She replies primly. "Mummy doesn't like you, but Mai does, so I don't know what I think of you yet." She informs him bluntly, and Alex can't help snorting a bit.

"That's a very smart way of approaching people." He replies as politely as he can manage, privately thinking Lucy seems way too young to be saying things like that.

Mrs. Weasley is watching him closely. "Is there a reason you're here, Mr. Zhang?" She asks pointedly. "As you can see, we're rather busy right now."

Alex takes a deep breath. "I apologize - I wanted to know what the situation was with the Initiative - do we report back on Monday? And what's our strategy to begin reintroducing ourselves to the public? And is there anything I can do in the meantime to help make that process smoother?"

He's staring more at Mrs. Weasley's desk than her face, so he's startled when he risks a glance up to find that she's actually smiling. It's a sad smile, which is not a good sign, but a smile nonetheless.

"I'm afraid we've been pushed back another week - the owls on that will be sent out in a few days." She responds tiredly. "I did try to dissuade the Minister, but she and Auror Shacklebolt remain firm on this decision for the moment. If you want to keep up to date on what the news is saying, that's about all I can suggest at the moment."

"You can talk to people too!" Mai pipes up brightly. "You live in the Muggle world, right? So you've got easy access right there!" She beams, and Alex gives a small smile in return. For someone who's apparently almost seventeen (or is seventeen? He can't remember) Mai acts a lot younger sometimes.

As if to immediately contrast her sister, Lucy pipes up to add her own two cents to the pot. "He probably already did sis, that's why he's here. More interestingly would be for him to assess how the magical world is feeling - you're a Squib, correct?"

Alex frowns at her. "What's it to you?" He challenges, then immediately glances over at Mrs. Weasley, realizing she may not appreciate her daughter being spoken to that way. To his surprise she's turned back to her work, apparently content to let her offspring chat with him which is... insulting, he thinks, though she's also probably busy and he is an unannounced interruption, so maybe it isn't? He shakes his head slightly so he can focus as Lucy responds.

"Nothing much, but it is something to some people. You're more likely to hear negative opinions than mum or dad would be, since they're so highly respected." She says bluntly. Alex can't help raising an eyebrow - how old is this kid again?

Mrs. Weasley glances briefly over at her youngest daughter, a mix of pride and concern on her features. "That is an excellent point Lucy - Alex, would you be interested in doing some undercover snooping, in that case? It would certainly help when we're back up and running in a few weeks to have a clearer idea of what we're up against in both the magic and Muggle worlds."

Alex hums. "I suppose I could, but I can't say I ever hang out in magical areas enough to know where to go or who to talk to."

"You're not stupid, Mr. Zhang. I'm sure you know people who would be happy to help you out on that front." Mrs. Weasley replies, still going through her reports instead of actually looking at him, but Alex thinks she might have actually just complimented him (if a bit underhandedly).

"Right, well, I guess I'll do that then." He says awkwardly. "Have a good day, apologies for the interruption."

Mrs. Wealey just nods, and the girls wave as he retreats from the Minster's office and back into the Atrium, mind buzzing. He could reach out to some of the Initiative members, he supposes, but most of them are known faces and would probably illicit more cautious comments from magical people. Alex has mostly been involved on the non-magical end of things so he's less likely to be recognized, though he supposes he can't entirely count out his own minor notoriety affecting people's comments either.

It's on the ride back up to street level that he's hit by a thought, though not one he really wants to entertain. However, he knows he won't be able to come up with a better option.

Alden.

He'll absolutely be down to help, and the twin thing means that even if people think they recognize him they're a lot more likely to write it off - twins means you're twice as likely to see someone, plus twins are more noticable in general, so most people will write off recognition as surprise. And Alden can definitely get him around the magical world without any issues.

He puts the idea on the back burner, but he knows that if he can't come up with anything else, he'll make the call - apparently this stupid job has become more important than his familial frustrations. He's not sure how he feels about that, but he supposes he can worry about it some other time. First they have a war to stop.

Jennifer had been worried when Edward had first told her about Desmond's request and his subsequent agreeing to help with the Ministry Mole Hunt (as he and his team have taken to calling it). Edward had been a bit insulted at first, until she pointed out that usually he'd take this sort of opportunity to open a new avenue of research into the magical world on his quest to tear it down from the inside.

Edward has to give her that one, but he'd also pointed out he'd made his decision on which side of the argument he was one some time ago, and if he's honest he's a bit hurt Jen was apparently still doubtful of him even after weeks of them using the maintenance tunnels to observe the Hunters and Initiative without their knowledge. Now their team is also on alert for the mole.

Mrs. Weston has of course been kept up-to-date on everything going on and also has her people keeping an ear to the ground, which Edward is pretty sure will be what helps break the case - the woman knows everything that goes on in the Ministry. Desmond doesn't know about the extra help Edward roped in, and the extra help doesn't know who other than Edward and his team are involved, though he also doesn't doubt that they'll figure it out soon, if they haven't already.

For his part, he only knows about Desmond and Estelle, though he's certain there are probably others involved as well, considering how big a project this actually is. He can only focus on the Hunters, after all, but they'll need eyes everywhere (which they have via maintenance - not that they know that).

In terms of who Edward himself is watching, he's most suspicious of Minerva Seo and Jack Abbott, who are high enough to have effected this mess, but also new enough that they would have been easily influenced by Yurina into siding with her and then been set up as a Hit-Wizard to give them proper reach. Of course, Longbottom and Lopatkina-Paluch aren't clear of suspicion either, but Edward is less inclined to think they'd have been targeted, considering convincing them to switch sides would have been far more complicated, and Yurina seems like the type to not waste energy if she doesn't have to.

Of course, on top of all of that Edward thinks it's far more likely the mole is somewhere else in the Ministry entirely, in a Department that doesn't attract people with a high sense of justice the way the Auror department does. He knows the Archives are the other area under high scrutiny, and he's of the opinion the rat is far more likely to be there.

Which is why he's pushed a lot of his Hunter duties onto Desmond and begun going down to the Archives semi-regularly again, to see if he can find anything suspicious. Estelle had taught him what to look for in terms of alterations, though she'd warned him they were pretty easy to miss. He's confident he'll catch things, but he supposes the added element of magic might make it a bit more complicated than what he's used to in his other job.

He's rarely alone in the Archives, though. Demelza has been hanging around there semi-regularly lately, apparently running jobs for whatever Auror teams need it while she waits for a new placement. It's surprisingly nice to talk with her, and he's considered bringing her into the group on more than one occasion. Jen keeps teasing that it sounds like he has a crush, and he's stopped contradicting her since realizing that he actually wouldn't be opposed to seeing Demelza outside of work. He actually plans to ask her to coffee once the threat of the end of the world has passed - assuming there's still a world left to get coffee in, of course.

Until then, though, he contents himself to idle chatter about life while they both peruse the filing cabinets on their individual hunts for reports.

This steady routine is upended somewhat one morning when Noah "Pup" Thompson asks to come along with Edward to the Archives to, apparently, double-check something he'd gotten from one of his international contacts. Edward pushes down the urge to frown and argue against it - what reason does he have to say no? - and instead smiles professionally and agrees to allow the boy to accompany him down.

"So, um, maybe I can help you out too?" Pup offers awkwardly on the lift ride down to the Archives. "I know you probably didn't want me tagging along, but-"

"It's fine. You do what you need to and I'll do what I need to." Edward replies, maintaining the same smile the entire time. Pup bites his lip but nods, looking down at his feet. Edward doesn't really feel bad - Pup can't really help anyway, and he ought to focus on his own work regardless. "Your work is more important at the moment anyway." He adds, somewhat reluctantly but being honest. Pup is running international relations, which means he's the person making sure no one else is starting the war while the rest of them focus exclusively on Britain.

Pup blinks, eyes wide. "Oh, um. Thanks." He offers after a moment, cheeks slightly tinged.

Edward is glad the lift doors slide open soon after because he really doesn't have the time to deal with a flustered teenager (or young twenty something, whatever, they're all the same at his age). He gives the young man a nod and strides into the Archives, nodding again to the person on duty at the front in greeting. He has places to be and files to analyze (and pass off to maintenance if he finds anything suspect - Estelle and Desmond don't know about that angle of his operation, but it's a lot easier to smuggle reports in and out this way, and they always end up back where they belong by the next morning, so it's really no harm no foul. And considering the entire process was suggested by Mrs. Weston herself he somehow doubts anyone can get him in trouble for it should he be caught).

He keeps an eye out for Demelza as he walks through the rows of cabinets, but it seems she's not around today, which is unfortunate but it happens. He'll just have to focus in. Today he has a specific set of reports he's looking for, that Estelle says she wants examined but she can't grab herself because it would invite scrutiny. Edward, however, has no clue about wizarding politics, so he can pick up any files he pleases and people will just assume he's confused, which pisses him off but has also worked wonders for him both now and in the past so he's not exactly complaining either.

His phone is in the inside pocket of his jacket, and he'll be taking photos of the files in question to be texted to Estelle later when he's on a secure network. He also plans to pass them over to Weston and her team to get them actually checked over, but he's not sharing that just yet - if Estelle is able to come up with the same results from just photos then that may be the safer option long-term than continuously stealing and replacing files would be.

He idles through the Archives, ears peeled for anyone following while he pretends to flip through a number of different reports before coming upon the cabinet he knows will house the ones he's looking for.

However, when he pulls it open and rifles through it, he finds that the files aren't there. Frowning, he double checks, and then looks in the cabinets above and below on the way off chance they were misfiled (he doubts it - Taylor runs a ridiculously tight ship) but they're nowhere to be found. He pauses, unsure of what to do now - if he asks about it, the Archive employees may grow suspicious of his motives for always being down here, and given his own suspicions about said Archive employees and their possible true alignment the last thing he wants is to draw any attention to himself.

He examines the drawer for a while longer before finally coming up with a plan. It's rudimentary, but it ought to work - whoever Yurina's insider is likely doesn't think all that highly of Muggle reasoning skills, so him looking clueless could actually help him keep a low profile down here. Or could backfire horribly, but he figures he'll deal with that if it happens.

He wanders the Archives a bit more, looks at a few more things, and then heads back for the front when his watch informs him it's just past the usual lunch hour.

To his surprise Pup is already at the front desk, frowning and arguing a bit with the guy sitting there.

"What do you mean they're checked out?" Edward hears once he's close enough. "Why would anyone need to check those out? Can I see who it was?"

The man at the desk is fidgeting, all wide-eyes and obvious discomfort. "I can't show you that! I don't, it's not allowed!" He insists.

Edward walks over. "Is everything alright?" He asks with a frown. "What seems to be the issue?"

"The files I needed to check are gone." Pup says, and the frustration pouring off him actually startles Edward - Pup has always seemed nervous, or cheerful, or some other subdued emotion - Edward honestly didn't think the kid had this level of fire in him. "And this guy won't tell me who has them so I can go check with them. If I don't get this cleared the world could literally end." He directs the last part to the desk worker pointedly, and the guy slips down in his seat. Edward almost feels bad for him.

"Is Archive Head Taylor present? Perhaps she could do something here?" Edward suggests. "I imagine this young man is just doing his job, and revealing that sort of information is above his pay grade."

The worker nods rapidly. "She, uh, should be in her office. I'll send for her." He says quickly, yanking out his wand so quickly he nearly drops it and then summoning a silvery blue bird that flits off into the depths of the Archives.

While they wait Edward studies the Archive worker. The twitchiness is a bit suspicious, and could suggest that he's hiding something or is otherwise involved with the missing files. Or he could just be an insanely awkward and nervous person - Edward doubts extroverts are the ones clamoring for Archive jobs, after all. Still, Edward commits the face to memory, just in case.

Ms. Taylor arrives some minutes later, looking less than pleased. "Gordie, what is going on?"

Pup talks right over the kid - Gordie, apparently, which really is an unfortunate name - to explain the situation, and Ms. Taylor frowns.

"Gordie, go ahead and show Mr. Thompson the check out register. It's good you asked me first, but he's cleared for this." She says briskly. "Mr. Clark I'm afraid you aren't-"

"It's okay, he's helping me with this anyway so he'll find out when we go to see them." Pup cuts in, and Edward barely keeps up a blank face. What is Pup doing? They weren't working together, so why the young man would say otherwise is-

Unless... Edward spares a glance towards the other. Perhaps he's with Ms. Kuhara and her team? Is this a clue towards that? He doesn't say anything though, simply allows the conversation to play out as it will.

Ms. Taylor eyes him, and then nods briskly. "Very well. Gordie, it's fine this time." With that she turns and heads back into the Archives. Edward watches her go, running the short conversation around in his mind in search of any clues that she might be the mole. Nothing concrete jumps out, but he'll consider it again later.

Gordie clears his throat and pulls out a leger, flipping to the back and scanning the text rapidly. "Alright, um, it looks like it was checked out by a Ms. Estelle Kuhara from the Auror Department." He says after a moment, then glances up nervously. "Is that all?"

Pup is still frowning, but he nods. "Yeah, I know her. Thanks, and sorry for the trouble. This is just really important."

Gordie nods solemnly. "I can't imagine, but good luck." He offers, and Edward follows Pup into the lift.

Pup fidgets with his wand as the doors close, and after a moment Edward realizes the lift isn't moving like it's supposed to, despite him having pressed the call button for the second floor. He looks sharply over at Pup, who's watching him with that same serious expression.

"Estelle doesn't have those files." He says after a moment. "I can't get that reliably to her without raising suspicion. Can you?"

Edward blinks. "How do you-"

"Trust me. She doesn't have them." He repeats firmly. "We might already have a leak in our ranks. Can you tell her?"

Edward blinks, and then nods slowly. "Yes, I can."

Pup nods, and the lift starts moving. Edward stares mutely at the doors as the floors count up.

We might already have a leak.

.

Author's Note: :D So this little hiatus at least means we get some more subplot movement, and the small group once again gets even bigger xD Though maybe it's too big now...? We'll have to wait and see!