Edward is awoken on Monday not by his alarm, but by his phone buzzing off his nightstand. For a moment he flails blearily - he's supposed to have today off, so he'd stayed up a bit late with his team and intended to sleep in an extra hour to make up the difference.

He eventually finds the offending cell and begrudgingly unlocks it to answer when he sees the caller ID flashing across the screen.

"Jen, you better have a damn good reason for this." He grumbles.

Jennifer laughs on the other side, sounding giddy. "I think you'll appreciate the wake up call." She promises him brightly. "Turn on the TV - go to This Morning."

"Really? Breakfast television? You know that's all trash these days." Edward asks, still unimpressed but obediently making his way to the living room of his apartment so he can turn on the television as instructed, flipping through channels until he finds the long-running morning news show. He mutes Jen and turns up the volume to see what exactly has his teammate so worked up.

"....has had a neighbor like that!" The female host (Edward can't remember their names honestly) is saying while the male host chuckles in that annoyingly fake way that television talk show hosts do.

"Tell me about it! Who would have guessed magical people have to deal with terrible condo associations as well? That entire section reminded me of trying to find decent rent opportunities back in my university days." The male host continues as the woman titters.

Edward is still honestly half asleep, so it takes him a few minutes to realize what they're talking about. The Daily Telegraph had released a new front page story about what living as a magical person in Britain is actually like, and the television hosts seem to absolutely adore the piece. Edward recognizes the name of one of the authors - it's impossible to work on the seventh floor and not know Yang - but he's clueless as to the identity of the other, which he gathers from the show is a good thing. Apparently Yang has earned herself some mistrust amongst the public, which is fair enough.

When the show cuts to commercial he flicks Jennifer off of mute. "I don't know if 'appreciate' is the right word, but it's good to see people getting their heads out of their arses, at least a little bit." He tells her, and she laughs again.

"I've been watching from the start, and I'd say it's more than a little bit. They're going to be bringing in some celebrities and politicians to discuss whether or not they think the stories are legitimate in the next segment. I'm sure there will be plenty of idiots still, but I think we may actually have successfully reopened an actual dialogue with this."

"I hope so." Edward agrees, leaning back into his couch. "Wars happen when people refuse to talk to each other - if this can actually start a discussion again I'll feel a lot better about that meeting at the end of the month."

And isn't that the sticking point in all of this? Over the weekend, the British Parliament had formally announced that they would be conducting a formal hearing on the "magical integration question" at the end of July, after which they will formally vote on whether or not to impose sanctions on the magical community. Their decision there could very easily become the first domino falling, possibly determining once and for all how all of this is going to end.

Or, ideally, not end. Edward knows that, should things come down in their favor, the Initiative will most likely be turned into a full-time Department dedicated to continuing the long, arduous journey towards full and natural integration.

"Ooh, it's back on, I'm muting you." Jen exclaims, pulling Edward's focus out of his head and back onto the screen, where This Morning is indeed returning. He puts down his phone, mutes it, and unmutes the telly.

"And we're back! For those of you just tuning in now, this morning a very interesting article about the magical world was published by the Daily Telegraph! If you don't already subscribe to the paper you can read the article in question online for free right now! It's called The Daily Lives of the Magical World and while you may think it would discuss something strange and alien from your own experiences, these stories are mostly things you've likely experienced in your own life!"

Edward is already sick of the chipper presentation - there's a reason he doesn't watch this show - but he is intrigued by the list of guests they lay out for the debate: a few lower-level politicians, some news personalities from other BBC shows, as well as one of the currently popular British actors (Edward isn't a big cinephile so he can't remember what the guy's actually been in).

The debate is surprisingly nuanced considering the less-than-intellectually-inclined participants (The Morning hosts and politicians, namely). The actor is surprisingly well-spoken, and the guest news personalities offers some interesting thoughts (other than the one who's apparently already made up his mind about hating all things magic). It's not perfect, obviously - there are still people angry and lashing out - but the conversation is there.

Edward lets out a slow breath when they cut to commercial again and turns off the telly. He waits a moment before picking up his phone again.

"-ward?" Jen's voice comes through, sounding a little worried.

"Here. Just needed to process." He replies, and hears the whoosh of breath on the other end that clearly indicates Jen is making her annoyed face on the other side of the line.

"Thanks for the heart attack. That could have gone worse, yeah?" She asks, and Edward hums.

"I think that article was perfectly timed - we've got our foot back in the door, I think. Taking Mrs. Morgan's information into account, we may just have enough to even the playing field at the end of the month. I just hope it's enough to tilt things in our favor."

It takes a moment for Jen to respond, and Edward is about to check if the call had dropped when she finally pipes up again. "I don't think I've said this yet, but it's really nice to hear you talking about integration as our goal." She says, voice warm in a way that has Edward making a face. He's not a fan of sap, thank you very much. "For the longest time I was worried you were going to blast forward blindly into the end of the world."

"Still insulted by that, by the way. But yeah, whatever, this is obviously the right direction and vengance isn't justice yada yada. I got it Jen, we don't need to linger on it." He says, possibly snapping slightly but really not wanting to have this conversation. The past is past, he's come to terms with his own blindness and how disappointed his parents would have actually been if they'd seen what he'd been doing in their names, and he has no real interest in lingering on any of it.

Jen, thankfully, knows him well enough to pick up on all of that and roll right into the next topic. "Fair enough. Do you know what the Initiative is doing in response to the Parliament meeting yet? Or are they still planning?"

"Planning right now, though I think that Alex and Petra might be working on something considering how often they're down in the Archives? I'll keep you guys in the loop - I imagine you're a bit bored now that our secret Ministry stakeouts are over."

And that's an entirely different complicated situation that Edward is, if he's honest with himself, still trying to wrap his head around. For all his mistrust of Finn in the early days of being a Hunter, once he'd gotten over himself Edward had never really expected the man to be capable of what he'd done. But the logic is sound, and after days of interrogation Finn has pretty much confessed, if not in so many words, so there's no question now that he really was the insider the entire time. According to Mrs. Weston the working theory is that he'd met Yurina all the way back in 1998 and had been working with her ever since.

Obviously the man who'd gotten closer than anyone else had been even closer than that. It does beg the question of what could have possibly caused Finn to switch sides, especially considering the fact he'd apparently been part of the Underground in the last war, but Edward gets the feeling that if they ever do find out the details on that it won't be for some time - Finn obviously is good at keeping his secrets close to the chest.

He sighs and leans back against his couch, cell still pressed to his ear. "Though bored might be better than the alternative."

"Fair enough. Here's hoping things are super boring in August, then." Jen laughs tiredly. "Alright, I'll let you go, I know it's supposed to be your day off today."

Edward hums and they hang up soon after, but he's awake now anyways so he decides to go ahead and start his day. He has no idea what he's going to do, though - he's never been a fan of the mandatory days off, but at least before he could use them to consult with his team. Now that they have nothing to do either, Mondays are the longest days of his week.

It's about an hour later that he decides to say 'screw it' and puts on his work clothes. They're paid for off days the same as days they're on the clock anyway, so he may as well try to alleviate his boredom.

He arrives at the Ministry at half past ten and nods to the new greeter (the old one hasn't been present since Finn's arrest, and Edward has heard from Demelza that he's on the run from the Aurors under suspicion of working with Finn and Yurina) who confusedly smiles back. He takes the lift to the seventh floor, and pointedly ignores the confused looks he garners from the Hunters' side of the offices.

He starts towards his desk, only to be intercepted by one Petra Clark, who looks up at him with large, hopeful eyes.

"Edward! I didn't think you worked on Mondays, but if you're here we could actually use some help." She says, all in one breath, and he raises an eyebrow but turns fully towards her to indicate that he's listening.

"You know about the upcoming Parliamentary meeting, of course, and we're trying to find some things in the Archives that might be able to bolster our case." She explains. "You've been down there a ton, right? Could you help us search for stuff?"

Edward has already decided that of course he's going to help, but he decides he needs a little more information than 'stuff' before he properly commits. "I could, though what exactly you're looking for would certainly be helpful information."

Petra giggles nervously. "Oh, um, yeah, it would be, wouldn't it? I guess just... things that show magic wants to help? Alex and I have been looking for that on-and-off the past couple months, but with everything going on we haven't made much headway." She shrugs awkwardly. "We aren't even sure what we're looking for, really, sort of assuming we'll know it when we see it?"

Edward hums. "I suppose that's fair enough. Of course I'm happy to lend my services - allow me to put my bags down and I'll join you at the lifts."

Petra beams and trots away towards the lifts, where Estelle seems to be waiting for her. Edward turns back to his desk, and idly wonders if maybe he should 'find' a few files from the last time he'd worked with Petra while they're down there. Who knows - they might just be of use.

Diana manages to get her hands on both the Prophet and the Daily Telegraph before work on Monday morning, and she posts them both prominently over her desk as soon as she's in the Relocation offices. She makes sure to magically enlarge a few key sentences so that even those sitting at the far end of the room will still be able to read them.

"Morning boss." One of the former Obliviators greets, his eyes straying quickly from her to the articles behind her and flicking over the phrases she's highlighted. "I'm guessing you're a fan of the article?"

"Beaux is a master of words." Diana replies primly, "And besides, I thought some of our coworkers could benefit from rereading these sections, in light of recent... discussions, I've overheard in these offices."

'Discussions' is definitely a polite way to put it - several members of Relocation have straight-up called for continued separation, and even war on one memorable occasion (though thankfully everyone else had attacked that as an awful idea before Diana had needed to step in, so at least most of her coworkers aren't idiots, just arseholes).

The man - Diana really ought to know his name, but it's one of those incredibly common ones that's easy to forget if you aren't routinely reminded of it - sighs slightly.

"I know what you mean. It's disheartening - of everyone, we really should understand Muggles the best considering our former jobs, and yet to still hear some of the close-minded things spat around the halls..."

Diana snorts. "We're still people, and trust me, no matter how much we like to think that simply knowing things is enough for people to drop biases that's far from the reality of being human."

"Well put." A new voice chimes in, laced with amusement, and Diana very nearly jumps.

She turns to face her boyfriend, eyebrow raised slightly. "When and how did you get in here without my noticing?" She asks pointedly, and he laughs.

"When you were putting up the articles. Also good morning Mr. Corner, how's the husband?"

"Still bored out of his mind." Corner (Nathan Corner, right, he was a relatively new member of the Obliviation department before it closed last year - Diana feels vindicated in not recalling who he was right away) says with a laugh. "Though he's lobbying to create a team for hunting down the rest of the British Dark Magic network now that Finn is imprisoned, says it's best to strike now before they can recover from their head being cut off. We'll see if it ends up going anywhere or not, but a decent number of his coworkers are onboard which is a good sign."

Noah laughs. "Any chance they'll need an Auror? Now that Estelle's secret mission is wrapped up I'm bored again too."

"Honestly? They probably will ask you and the other two for help - you're the ones that unmasked Finn after all." Corner says with a grin. "Anyway, I'll get out of your hair, and see if I can't nudge some of these bozos into an actual intellectual conversation about the articles."

Diana snorts. "Good luck." She offers as Corner spins on his heel and trots off into the offices. Once he's out of earshot she looks over at Noah again.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" She asks. "Considering Finn still isn't talking I'd have thought you'd be busy today."

Noah hums. "I've done my part with that - I'm not an interrogator. But let's not talk about me - I find your comments to Mr. Corner rather interesting, considering your own unchecked biases."

Diana glares at him. "Excuse me? What exactly are you talking about?" She demands, actually irritated by the sudden change in topic. Here she'd thought they were going to have a nice conversation, maybe flirt a bit, and then she'd get back to work, but apparently Noah wants to accuse her of something.

He holds up his hands. "I'm just saying, you have a meeting with Landon and Rose this week, don't you? Have you done anything to address that particular situation?"

Diana purses her lips, and her boyfriend smiles at her knowingly, the jerk. She'd mostly just... not been thinking about that, if she's honest with herself. With how busy things had gotten, Diana hasn't really done any work with the Initiative in the past several months, at least not directly, which means she hasn't been dealing with the Rose situation head-on like she knows she should be.

Still, it's uncomfortable to even think about - who can blame her for focusing on her job instead of a woman having a romantic interest in her? Diana grimaces again.

"I'll work on it." She says with a sigh.

Noah hums. "Just treat her normally - we both know you're fine with non-straight people conceptually, now you just have to put that into action."

"It would be easier if she didn't like me." Diana grumbles, but nods at the same time. "But obviously I will be endeavoring to check my discomfort. It's not fair to Rose either way, seeing as she has little control over the situation. I can control my own actions or reactions more than she can her hormones."

She means it, too, but it's easier said than done. When her meeting rolls around a few days later, Diana is feeling rather uneasy about the situation still. At least she knows that whatever falling out Landon and Rose had been in the middle of the last time she'd worked with them has been smoothed out, otherwise she's not sure she'd be able to last through the entire meeting. With them talking to each other again, she can hopefully keep the conversation open to all three of them, instead of having to spend too much time one-on-one with Rose.

She lucks out even further when she enters the room and realizes that Rose is absolutely frantic, and thus far too busy to really pay any attention to the details of Diana's words or actions during their meeting.

"Sorry if this ends up being rushed," Landon says while Rose scratches out something on a parchment that she then folds up into a paper airplane and tosses out the door, "We're both primary presenters for the Parliament meeting in a few weeks, so that's our top priority at the moment."

Diana nods. "That is entirely understandable - if there's anything I or Relocation can do to help ease your burdens on that front we'll be more than happy to do so."

Rose beams at her tiredly. "Thanks Diana, but I think so far we're doing as much as can be done." She says. "But this isn't about that, so let's get to work - what did you want to talk about?"

Diana puts forth her newest idea - a full retraining program that could be co-created by both the Ministry and Parliament.

"Obviously we couldn't detail this out until next month, when we know where things stand on integration for the Muggles," She allows, "But I believe by having both worlds involved we'd be showing a lot of goodwill and willingness to work together."

Landon hums. "I think that's a great idea, but it will really depend on the July decisions." He says carefully. "If they land on heavy sanctions and halted integration then that sort of program would be entirely unviable."

"On the bright side, I actually think that the magical side will be down for it if the rulings are more in our favor." Rose offers. "One of the Council members has actually been less of an since that double conference we had a while back - apparently he was impressed by something that was said and is now pro-integration. Makes my life about twenty times easier, let me tell you."

"Well that's a relief I suppose." Diana hums. "I do wonder what was said that got through to him - I didn't attend those myself, it was a rather busy time in Relocation."

They end up just talking for a while after that, all three of them needing a moment to think about someting beyond their work - important as it all is, even Diana (who would happily consider herself a workaholic) recognizes that she needs to step away for at least a few minutes to recenter. And it's nice to not have to be worrying about the end of the world for five minutes.

Then reality crashes back down and Diana has to bid the two farewell so she can move to her next meeting, which is luckily on the same floor - Rose and Landon aren't the only people she needs to speak with about her retraining ideas, and honestly she mostly just needed to hear from them that it could be possible before brining it up with the people who can actually make it happen.

She knocks twice on the Initiative leaders' office door and waits a solid minute before tentatively pushing it open. She knows she has a meeting scheduled with them right now, but she also doesn't want to be rude and interrupt something if they're working.

To her surprise, the office is empty. She blinks and checks the time, but this is when she's supposed to be here - had the leaders forgotten their meeting?

She decides, since she's here and has to wait anyway, to go over to the Hunter's half of the room and speak with Hugo Longbottom - he's experienced with political maneuvering and may be able to offer his own insight into her ideas.

Longbottom, luckily, is present in his office, though he looks rather harried, and Diana very nearly walks away without announcing her presence at all - she hates being interrupted when focused on an important task, and that seems to be what Longbottom is doing. However, the Dark Magic expert spots her before she can turn and pauses what he's doing to face her fully.

"Good morning Ms. Shafiq - you have a meeting with Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Morgan right now, correct?" He asks, and she blinks. He chuckles. "They actually asked me to keep an eye out for you, sorry about that. You know how work gets."

Diana hums. "I do. What exactly is going on?"

"Pre-Parliamentary preparation meeting - Minister Granger called it a few days ago but originally Mrs. Morgan didn't have to go. Something came up this morning though, so they asked me to sit down with you until they got back, if you're able to stay. Otherwise they can reschedule for later today or tomorrow if that works better for you."

Diana hums, wondering if she'll be able to learn anything about that particular meeting when the leaders get back (and slightly insulted she hadn't been invited to it) before realizing she needs to answer Longbottom.

"Yes, that's fine. I actually came over in hopes of asking you a few questions, so it works out well." She explains, and then immediately launches into an explanation of her ideas without further prompting - he'd already offered to listen, so there's no point wasting any more time on needless formalities. Longbottom listens intently, humming occasionally but otherwise not speaking until she's finished laying out every detail she's come up with so far.

When she's done, she lets Longbottom muse for a few moments, assuming he'll need some time to think through her proposal. However, it only takes about ten seconds before he's speaking.

"I'd say this certainly has merit, but honestly your biggest challenge is going to be getting the funding." He declares. "Retraining isn't easy, especially considering most training programs we have are geared towards Squibs rather than magical people - this would not only be a massive undertaking, but one that would require new developments to make happen. Add to that the fact you'd need cooperation between both worlds, and you're looking at a massively ambitious project."

Diana frowns. "Well it's a good thing I'm a Slytherin then." She points out, "But I do see what you mean. Funding hadn't even occured to me - I'm still at the point of confirming it would even be considered should I propose it to the Wizengamot. At this point I just don't know what else to do with the people I have left."

She normally wouldn't admit something like that, but she's tired, and stressed, and if this doesn't work then she, for once in her life, won't know what to do next and the entire situation is stressing her out. And apparently that translates to sloppiness that she normally would never allow from herself.

Longbottom at least is nodding in understanding. "It's been a long year, and honestly I always thought it was a bit mad that the Minister expected you to handle all of Relocation alone - you should have at least had a partner like Weasley and Morgan do for the Initiative. I do think the retraining is what's necessary, I'm just warning you of the resistances you may come up against as you push for it."

Diana bristles slightly at the comment - despite knowing that Longbottom isn't implying she can't handle things alone (probably), it still irritates her to hear the suggestion that, well, she can't handle things alone. "I understand the potential resistances. Again, I'm still in the early stages or planning and was intending to get the Initiative leaders' thoughts for exactly that reason." She says primly, and Longbottom's eyebrow rasies slightly.

"I'm not saying you didn't, but you did ask for my input as well. Now you have it." He points out easily. "I didn't intend any insult."

Diana clears . "Right. Um, apologies."

Longbottom laughs easily. "No worries, I know everyone is wound a bit tight around here right now, and that's perfectly fair. You said yourself you're not sure what else to do, which I'm sure isn't a very pleasant situation to find yourself in - I recall in the years after the war how miserable everyone in International Cooperation was. We prided ourselves on always knowing exactly what to do, and there we were utterly blindsided and frantic again after swearing the Crouch situation was just one unusual blip on the radar." He chuckles.

Diana frowns. "I apologize if this is common knowledge, but am I to take it that you were in International Cooperation? Why did you make the jump to Law Enforcement from there? It's not the standard career path." It's not relevant to her work, but the leaders still aren't back, and Diana is curious. Plus it means the conversation won't be focused on her and her failings anymore, which is an added bonus.

Longbottom chuckles, a bit sadly. "Necessity. Most of the people actively involved in the war - on both sides - were from the Law Enforcement Department, so a majority of the casualties were Aurors and Hit-Wizards. I had some experience from working with the Underground as a Field Agent so I initially was just filling in as a favor to Kingsley. In the end I ended up making it a permanent change once it was clear I'd be allowed to focus on Dark Magic studies, which were my main area of interest."

Diana hums. "I hope this doesn't overstep boundaries, but were you always interested in that area, or did the war push you in that direction?" She probes, and Longbottom hesitates, clearly thinking through his answer.

"I suppose it was always fascinating, to some degree," He finally decides, "But it was my little brother who solidified it. Remi Longbottom - you may have heard of some of the things he gets up to with his Monster Hunting. I wanted to see if I could help him in some way. Then the war came and my side project slowly turned into my full time job." He shrugs. "I can't say I'm happier than I would have been if I stayed in International Cooperation, but I can't say I'm not either - I have no idea. I do know I am overall content with how my life has turned out, regardless of why I actually ended up here."

Diana hums, considering that. "I think I'd go mad if I approached life in such as... blasé manner," She says after a moment, "But I can see where you're coming from, I suppose. I will say that International Cooperation sounds like the sort of place I'd enjoy spending time though."

Lonbottom laughs, deep and warm. "I'd be inclined to agree. I can always put in a word for you there, if you like - it may have been twenty years, but I still have friends in high places in that department."

"You seem to have them in more departments than just that one - how did Kingsley know to ask you to fill in back then? Was it common knowledge you had field agent skills?"

Longbottom's smile carries the weight of a thousand secrets, and Diana already knows that whatever response he gives will be a half-truth at best. "He saw me fighting during the war - perhaps he was just that desperate and hoped I was consistently as good as I seemed." The man offers, and Diana leaves him his privacy despite wanting to push farther.

They talk about nothing in particular for a few more minutes before the lift slides open again and the two Initiative leaders finally return. Diana bids Longbottom farewell before hurrying to intercept the two women, who invite her into their offices where she once again goes through her ideas. One positive of the endless repetition is that she's becoming very good at highlighting the key points of her plans as well as the strengths, weaknesses, and external needs.

Undersecretary Weasley points out the same funding issue that Longbottom had, and they end up discussing that complication for a few minutes before moving to actually considering whether or not a full retraining program would even be viable. Much to Diana's dismay, Weasley isn't optimistic.

"I agree that it's the best option we have right now, especially as you've clearly demonstrated an exhaustion of all other possible relocations," She admits, "But a project this big, with how fragile integration currently is? Even if things go well at the end of the month, and the Parliament doesn't shut down all integration attempts entirely, this will still be an extremely difficult sell. I assume you've already consulted with Rose and Landon on this?"

Diana nods. "Of course. They say it's reliant on the decisions made at the end of the month."

Mrs. Morgan coughs. "Would it be possible - well, assuming things go well, this group will likely become a bit more permanent, so perhaps the people left could be hired on here? It might go over smoother to attach a retraining program like this to something that will already likely need to happen."

The Undersecretary grimaces. "We don't know for sure things will play out in our favor though." She sighs. "Nice as it would be to simply hope for the best, we need to plan for the worst. Even if things go well at the end of the month - which is far from a sure thing - the Initiative may still be fully shut down, possibly even a month earlier than intended depending on the ruling. We need a proper alternative for these unemployed people."

The meeting goes far longer than Diana had planned, even factoring in the unexpected delay, so she's rather glad that she hadn't had anything else planned for that day.

Unfortunately, they don't really accomplish anything else, and she heads home that day feeling rather put out at her lack of progress.

Still, there's always tomorrow. She'll just have to keep telling herself that until it actually makes things better.

Author's Note: Welp. ... I really don't have anything more to say than that xD See you Saturday!