Khaat's Birthday Party (Everyone) (And I mean EVERYONE)

Claudia was not sure whether she had been invited to this do because of her attachment to the auror squad, or because of her surname. The Lupins liked to act as though names and blood meant nothing to them, but there was no way Robert Lupin had become Minister for Magic without knowing how to play politics like a violin and so, there was her conundrum.

On balance, she decided it didn't matter. This was only a birthday party and although at this birthday party there would still probably be a mire of political sentiment to navigate, it was still a celebration and Claudia intended to enjoy herself as much as she could.

The only problem, she noticed as she gave her name to the half-giant bouncer and he allowed her inside, was that everyone else here seemed to know each other so intimately. Khaat Lupin had quite the reputation for both inciting loyalty and accumulating strays but surely she couldn't have built up this large a fan base. Claudia was reluctantly impressed.

She snagged a drink as a waiter passed with a tray (she hadn't expected something held at the Leaky Cauldron to be this well catered) and made her way over to someone who wasn't caught up in deep conversation yet.

"Hi, I'm Claudia."

In an effort to move on with his life, Rob had tried to forget everything he knew about Khaat. As luck would have it, he remembered her birthday.

He'd left her rather abruptly the last time they'd met. The anger and frustration was still there but he couldn't bring himself to hate her. He decided that it was probably best to at least show his face. Jen was bound to do the same at some point and it was only a matter of time before Eli poked his head around the door with his flock of offspring in tow.

So, with his gift for Khaat under his arm, Rob walked down the pavement towards the shabby looking building that looked just as shadowy in the daytime as it did the night time. He passed the bloke on the door without fail and was let into the pub.

What Rob found wasn't what he'd been expecting. A fair few people were there but less than he'd been expecting. Rob shuffled his feet awkwardly and looked around for Khaat, hoping to avoid her long enough to place the present with the rest and leave. It didn't seem as if he was going to be able to do that though. He'd be noticed, sure enough.

Raking his eyes across the room, Rob let his eyes fall on the two children that must have been just shy of a year old. He picked Abbey out of the two almost instantly. She had a dogged look about her. It wasn't a bad thing at all. Then again, they both looked dogged in their own ways. Abbey was the daughter of an Animagus and Dakota was the daughter of a werewolf. Oh the irony.

Upon finding her though, Rob couldn't help but smile. He wandered over to the bar and set the neatly wrapped gift down on the mahogany. He sat himself on one of the bar stools and motioned for the barkeep to come over.

"Just a pint of the good stuff please, mate," Rob ordered with a half smile, digging his wallet out of his back pocket as he did so.

Any normal Ministry worker would free up their afternoon via some sort of diary. Jenifer on the other hand, just left the building. She'd been sorting through reports of werewolf-related incidents all morning and quite frankly, she'd had enough. If she could have had her way, they'd have all been in her office being interrogated and sent off to Azkaban regardless of their innocence.

She'd also had to deal with Azkaban reports. Apparently the inmates were getting uppity and the Dementors were responding appropriately. According to the human guards, it was getting quite grim. As far as Jen was concerned, it was a good thing someone was taking charge -- even if they were flying curtains.

But, getting back on track, at eleven that day, Jen had left the Ministry and gone into London in search of a gift for her sister-in-law. She couldn't help but smirk at that thought. Yes, despite everything...Rob and Khaat were still technically married. Jen just wished they'd kiss and make up so she could actively start seeing her niece again. She refused to go on principle. If Rob avoided them, so would she.

It was backwards logic but it made her brother feel better that way.

Jen appeared at the door of the Leaky Cauldron five minutes after Rob. She strode in with her head held high and a gentle enough smile on her lips. You wouldn't believe the woman had four wands and an array of knives strapped to her. It was paranoia on overdrive but Jen believed you could never be too careful. Besides, she liked carrying wands.

Spotting her brother at the bar, Jen decided to ignore him. She had her own gift for Khaat under her arm and she wanted to present it to the woman. She spotted Jess sat to the table and everyone else seemed to have followed. Jen strode over and managed a stronger smile for everyone's benefit.

"Room for one more?" she queried, lifting up her gift. "I, um, didn't come empty handed."

"Hello, Claudia," Angus spoke, as the bartender filled his glass with a pint. "I'm Angus. Nice to meet you. Are you new here? I don't get out all the much anymore, but I dont' remember seeing you here before." He looked out over the gathering bunch. "It looks like it will be a decent evening. Are you a friend of Khaat's?"

Angus was not trying to divorce himself from things, but this seemed to be a night for family and for some reason he felt more like having a pint at the bar before jumping into "the pool" with the rest of them.

"Angus," the barkeeper said, "Look. My nephew brought me some really good cigarettes from Paris. Wanna try one?" He offered him one. Angus only smoked once in a blue moon. He took one of the cigarettes, though and smelled the tobacco blend. These looked handmade. The tobacco smelled like fine brandy. They would smell like a really good pipe tobacco. It made his mind flash to Michael. Michael would really love this blend. The bartender offered him a light. "Thanks, but I'm going to save it to smoke it outside where pub air doesn't distract away from the good flavor this thing is bound to have," Angus smiled.

"Let me know what you think," the bartender smiled.

"I will," Angus smiled. He turned his attention back to Claudia. "So tell me about yourself."

Khaat was in her office pouring over employee schedules, annual performance evaluations, and other things that truly, while she did them well, they did not hold her interest. She was triple checking their finances to see if St. Mungos could expand and develop a full services dental clinic. At the moment, though, it was creating a huge headache for her in designing it.

"Hey!" a voice hailed her. She looked up and saw her father calling her from the doorway. "Do you realize what time it is?"

"Um...yeah," she replied.

"Its dinner time, and I'm starving. Let's take a break. Let's go out for a quick bite and then come back."

"The usual?" she asked.

"I thought we might."

"You're just hungry for fish and chips."

"I'm that predictable?"

"You are to me,"

"Then you dont' want this, I take it." He drew his hand from behind his back, stepping over to her desk, and handed her a bundle wrapped in colored tissue paper. "Happy Birthday, my dear."

"Daddy!" she was totally surprised. "You remembered?"

"You are the joy of my life. How could I forget?" he smiled. "Open it. We'll celebrate on a night when we dont' have to work late." She opened the package and found a beautiful oversized lavender shawl that was embellished with silver threads woven into it. It sparkled ever so slightly in the light, and it was a perfect weight for summer.

"It's gorgeous," she said, stunned. "And it will be perfect with my dress." She had chosen a vanilla colored dress that was printed with lavender spring flowers.

"Now, that, I did not plan," he laughed, "but I'm glad you like it." She wrapped the shawl around her shoulders and he nodded, approving. "Shall we, then?"

"Sure," she smiled. They made the walk, leisurely down Diagon Alley and he opened the door to the Leaky and let her go in ahead of him.

Angus. Just Angus, she noticed. No surname meant either not important enough to bother with or something so noteworthy telling it to her would be a giveaway. Looking at his weather-beaten face, Claudia decided it was the former.

"Actually, this is rather down-market for me," she replied airily, easing into the role of the spoiled socialite.

Irritatingly, it wasn't that difficult. It wasn't so long ago that Claudia had been a spoiled socialite.

"But no, I wouldn't call myself a friend," she went on. "I'm not actually sure whether I was invited because of my job or because Khaat wants to keep my father on side."

"Well, since I don't know what you do for a living, I can't respond to the former," Angus smiled, "But as to the latter, that doesn't sound like Khaat, really. If she had something to say to your father, she'd just come out and say it. She tends to be very candid and direct. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself very well, did I? I work for Khaat and Brian. I'm a bit of a jack of all trades for them."

"You're selling yourself a bit short to the lady," one of Angus's friends mumbled into his ear as he passed by Angus through some of the mingling guests. Angus just rolled his eyes at his friend.

"What he means is that sometimes I provide some personal security for Khaat," Angus said to Claudia. "When the situation merits it. Among a whole list of other duties. I think they chose the Leaky Cauldron to surprise her because Khaat and Robert come here for the fish and chips every so often--especially if they work a double shift.

"So what do you do for a living?" he asked her.