The Meeting

As Jen had predicted, Steven and Jack remained silent but the latter did not do so without a passing remark. Jen kept her hands firmly placed on the back of the chair, the desire to end his pitiful existence just a little too great for her control. Thankfully though, Frank and Brian were a good enough distraction for her. They’d been doing some reading. Good. It was a shame she couldn’t say the same for the other two layabouts. Jen tapped her nails against the chair and looked around the room, stopping purposely on Steven and Jack, as if daring them to say something. Silence was golden though and Jen took her seat once more, pleased with what she’d heard. Just because they knew, didn’t mean a thing though. They knew nothing as far as she was concerned.

“From this day forward, any organisations not sanctioned by the Ministry that you are part of...lose your loyalty. I don’t care whether it is the Minister’s personal band of hit-men. You’re my hit-men. You don’t like it? Well, you know where the door is. You’re all as inexperienced as you look and it pains me – as well as entertains me – to know that maybe some of you will die if I send you after...Ms. Archer perhaps. A blind, deaf ferret could do a better job. But frankly, I prefer something to work with. Ferrets aren’t exactly agreeable. You are Aurors first and foremost – before you are lovers or whatever else you are. Anything else you’re part of is no longer important. It is a direct order that you cut all ties. I don’t want anything or anyone influencing you. That’s my job – got it? I have no qualms about firing any of you. It’s less baggage for me to deal with. I want you in these offices all hours. I want these people dealt with. Archer, Ellis, Bittel, Smith and Diggory to name a few...guess what? I want their heads on my desk. You’ve had long enough to study them and compile profiles. Lucky for you...I have a secretary that needs a diversion. She compiled these. Start reading gentlemen before I turn you all into ladies. Frank, tell me about Bittel won’t you? Sing me a lullaby of Death Eater goodness. If I want her head on my desk say...by the end of this year...how would you go about it?”

Brian sat in very controlled silence while Jen went on her tirade. "With all due respect, Jen, I will not separate my allegiences from where they are, and you know very well where they are and why. That's in my dossier. It is not required by the Ministry employment rules that you own me around the clock. If you want to rethink that, I'll consider staying. If not, then I will most respectfully resign." Brian put his family first.. Always. Just like Jen put her family first. He was not going to let her personal vendettas dictate whether he jumped or not, who for, or how high. He was more than willing to put in the required hours his job demanded, but he wasn't giving her one ounce more. Not unless it was for a very good reason. And he knew she knew better.

The elevator.

Why was it always that particular elevator that decided to give Calvin trouble? The young, raggedy man had been on his way to an important meeting with a group of Aurors- he still wasn’t quite sure how he had managed to get mixed up in the bunch, but he had jumped at the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Muggles that he’d joined the Ministry to protect –when the elevator had come to a complete stop.

“Help!” Calvin yelped immediately upon realizing what had happened, springing from the carpeted floor on which had been sitting. “Please, I am being held captive by an elevator!” he continued to shout, his voice cracking at the end of every word he spoke. What was he to do? He certainly wouldn’t make it to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement if he couldn’t even escape the small, problematic elevator! He refused to disappoint the Aurors; he had agreed to join them that afternoon, and Calvin always kept his promises. What else were his pinky fingers good for?

“Typing… I hit Shift with my right Pinky,” he reminded himself, getting off-track.

This was not the first time Calvin had found himself in such a tricky situation- “The big, shiny red button! It rings the alarms!” he remembered, his eyes sparkling with excitement over having found a solution to his problem entirely on his own. His extended his trained trigger finger- trained in playing video games, that is – and quickly tapped the “Emergency” button with great force.

Immediately the alarms began to ring, their incredible volume sending Calvin to the elevator floor once more.

-

They had already begun; Calvin could hear them speaking of important matters as he neared the room....

He’d failed the Ministry of Magic, and he was deeply ashamed.

With a set of five, crumpled fingers in the form of a loose fist, Calvin knocked on the door, “I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so”- Calvin inhaled quickly to replenish his lungs- “so, so, very sorry.” He spoke at a rapid speed, as though he feared that he would only be permitted a few seconds to apologize, “I didn’t want to disappoint you, but I got stuck...”

It was clear that he was not defending himself; his apology was a sign of respect, and nothing less.

It was typical. A few restraints and someone was bound to start whining. Jen wanted loyalty, not a half-arsed attempt at nothing at all. She was only mildly surprised to find that it was Brian who was the first to voice his complaints. She didn’t care whether he had allegiances to the King and Queen themselves – he’d break them because this was one group, one faction if you’d like. She wasn’t at the beck and call of them. It didn’t work that way. They were her Aurors and she was their head of office. They took her word for whatever she said and that was it. No questions and certainly no answers. She wasn’t going to wait on his ‘considering’. Instead, she merely gestured towards the door.

“I thought it was obvious that I don’t tend to play by Ministry rules. Regardless, I said loyalty. I never mentioned anything about round-the-clock ownership. But then again, I suppose it does extend. Your jobs don’t just end when you walk out of the doors. If you are under the impression they do then perhaps you aren’t right for the job. Your last paycheque came through didn’t it? Off you go then. Do tell Khaat I said hello.” And there was another person that Jen didn’t have time for. She couldn’t understand why Rob still put up with her. She never understood her brother, though. She wasn’t going to start trying now.

It was then that Calvin came in, throwing out apologies like a burst dam. Jen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She picked up a folder and held it out for him to take. “In future, take the stairs.” She replied calmly, giving him a half smirk before gesturing for him to sit down.

Calvin ducked underneath the doorway, entering the large office.

“The stairs? The Ministry has st…?” he asked, his voice trailing off. He was an intelligent fellow, but his childish thought-process often got in the way of said brainpower. Calvin had never considered the fact that perhaps the elevators weren’t the only method of traveling from one floor to the next...

Flabbergasted, he shuffled forward and took the manila folder that Jenifer Dent had offered him, and quickly made his way over to an empty seat on the far end of the room. “Thank you,” he replied with a wide smile, hoping that it would make up for his tardiness.

From where Calvin sat, he began to read through the information within the file he had been given, tapping the toes of each of his sneakers against the polished floor as his eyes quickly flicked over each word. There were pictures included, as well as relivant dates, locations, and… alliances…

“Death Eaters?” he squeaked, his shrill voice echoing off of the walls. The portfolio was made up of information on every Death Eater that had ever made a mark on the Wizarding World.

His young, brown eyes widened. This was official Auror business, and he had walked right in and put his foot in it.

"One moment," Brian said, standing to his feet, "I will be more than happy to leave this meeting, but let me remind you of one small crimp in your plans. First, the Minister hired me, and by my contract, you can't fire me, He can. Read it again.

"As for the burr you have up your bum, none of us need it. I don't work here because I need the money. I work here because I choose to. Oh, and by the way, I give loyalty to those who have earned it. Titles don't mean squat. I've seen how you work. You're more loyal to the Dent family than this office or any faction and surely more than you think I've noticed. Don't think for one minute that the rest of us don't have similar allegiances and loyalties to the ones we love. Did you not just say 'cut all ties'? 'I want you in these offices all hours'? I am not your hit man, I'm not anybody's hit man. I don't work that way. You want to orchestrate a vendetta, go right ahead and start one. See how far it gets you.

"In the meantime, I'll go see Robert about a transfer to a different department. And don't forget--no one is impossible to replace. That includes you." He picked up his paper cup of tea, threw the file back in her face and left, deciding he was heading straight to Robert to fill out the paperwork for a departmental transfer.

OOC: oops! my bad! my american is showing! ROFL! Edited.

Claudia had seen enough blood and guts in her life, even before she joined the Aurors, that the suggestion of beheading oughtn't have made her feel sick, but she knew Caelani Bittel better than anyone else in this room. Well enough to be on speaking terms.

So she fought against the rising bile and was relieved when Ransom finally stumbled in. With all his fumbling around and Jennifer's reaction to the interruption, she had time to compose herself. Then to flick to the pages of the folio where Calli's smiling face adorned what must have been a fantasy list of offences. Nobody who knew her would believe she'd do half of these things. Claudia kept quiet and continued leafing through the pages, feigning deep interest in each Death Eater and their crimes.





((Rob, in Britain, fanny means vagina))

An argument had broken out; an argument between a man to whom Calvin had never been introduced, and Ms. Dent- but Calvin had walked in far too late for him to understand what they were truly bickering about. That did not, however, prevent him from speaking, “You’re leaving? Why? The more friends you have the easier things are to accomplish, and if you leave, that is one less friend!”

Calvin was joining in on a conversation where neither he nor his words of friendship belonged- but he was not aware of that.

Re-straightening his back- he had been hunched over for quite some time- Calvin began to look around the room with curious eyes. Having decided that the women to his left looked like a kind soul, Calvin leaned to towards her to speak, nearly falling out of his fold-up chair in the process, “Hi, I’m Cal- why are we studying the Death Eaters? There hasn’t been any recent trouble, has there? I read the papers and I spend a lot of time on the Internet, but there hasn't been any news, really... I am not an Auror - you don't think they will make me fight, do you!? I… I don’t know how!” he whispered, or attempted to whisper as he spoke to the fair-haired women.

Frank had opened his mouth to answer Jen's request when he had been cut across, which was very expected. He was the rookie, the new kid, the one that did paperwork and stayed late, who got coffee and who made all the copies, who sent memos and who got forgotten. It was not surprising that they were cutting over him now.

And then there were late people. Frank dropped his gaze to the ground, too embarrassed for the latecomers that to actually look them in the eye. When he finally had his opportunity, he said, "She was the leader of the Death Eaters for a time, in which she started several things, but nothing really happened under her regime. She's clever, brutally honest, but not lusty for blood. Pureblood mindset."

At her other question, he cleared his throat. "I think she is someone who has to be one over intellectually. If she realized the benefits of the light sight outweighed the others, she may abandon them. That sort of loyalty is not strong though. She is someone to be handled by professionals. I think I would learn her routine and then bring a small group of people after her."

Claudia looked at the bumbling fool - Cal - as though he were mad. Why were they studying the Death Eaters? This was the Aurors' Office!

"Because they're Death Eaters?" she suggested. "Why are you in here if you're not an Auror?"

Meanwhile, Longbottom was answering Jen's original question and Claudia didn't know what to think of what he'd said.