Clarice Faribault

Clarice smiled as she turned, revealing the person who had been approaching from the corner of her eye, “Oh, er—hi“ she smiled broadly as she recognised the woman, and graciously accepted the flute of champaign, “Thanks, Alecto, right?” She blushed at the comment on her dress, laughing it off, “Its a bit gaudy for my taste” Clarice looked down at herself, in the spirit of the solstice ball, she’d chosen to wear a yellow dress, something light they’d said. Pair that with her hair style— “Feels like I walked out of the 60s” she joked.

“You look gorgeous, by the way,” Clarice said, giving the woman a once over, hoping it came across as sincerely as she meant it. Alecto truly was a sight to behold. “Cheers” she held out her drink, flashing her most charming smile.

—

Alecto was feeling quite social tonight. It was a surprise really, considering how her evening had started. But she’d had a little cry, fixed her make up, and decided that she was determined to have a good time. She wasn’t going to let silly men change that. “Yep…. Alecto Carrow” She wasn’t used to people not knowing who she was, but she supposed it could be pretty useful. “Mmm…. That is pretty true….” She mused with a little laugh. “But at least it meets the dress code….” So really she could have done much worse. She thought lights was a pretty easy dress code, but clearly not.

“Oh thank you….” She mused with a smile. “I love this colour palette…” And she loved pastels, even if it was hard to match with her hair. “Cheer.” She murmured, clinking her drink against Clarice’s before taking a sip .

When: Around 9.30pm

Who: Alecto and @claribault​

Alecto was having a good evening. Her neves had settled a little after a while, mostly because she had decided that she really didn’t care what people thought of her wearing last years dress. At least she had followed the dress code. She looked pretty great too. Her dress was amazing, even if it wasn’t new. So what if people talked about her? At least they would remember her that way. She turned, ready to get a drink off of a passing waiter, when she spotted a familiar face. There meeting might have been brief, but she remembered the fact of the girl who’s drink she had knocked to the floor. She grinned, taking two glasses of champagne from the waiter, before heading over to Clarice

“For the split drink….” She mused, a grin on her face as she held the drink to the girl. “Also…. you look lovely”

“You look gorgeous, by the way,” Clarice said, giving the woman a once over, hoping it came across as sincerely as she meant it. Alecto truly was a sight to behold. “Cheers” she held out her drink, flashing her most charming smile.

@claribault​

@jamspctter​

Lily thought she felt something hit her bag, but she chalked it up to a gust of wind and a paranoid mind. “Oh, I’m the first one? Lucky you Clarice, I get to be the first one to gossip about you,” she joked. Only half a joke- half of her was dying for this to be over so she could be the first to tell everyone she’d met James’ mysterious new girlfriend (except Marlene- Merlin, hadn’t she just told Marlene she might have feelings for him? She wasn’t particularly prideful, but she’d be damned if she’d confess to having feelings for someone who preferred someone else over her). 

The mention of Benjy stopped that shallow and spiteful train of thought cold. “Were we talking about Benjy?” As she wracked her brain, she realized there was no convenient explanation for how both her and James would know Benjy without the Order. “Oh- er, no, definitely not an ex. I hardly know him,” Lily found herself tripping over her words under Clarice’s suddenly intense gaze. “Did you see in the Prophet? The man who got attacked the day of that rally in Carkitt Market? James and I just were both there when they found him, that’s all. I was just asking if he had any news. I know you probably see things like that all the time, Mr. Auror,” she addressed this to James, trying to lighten the mood again, “but it was all rather new for me.” All that blood.

@claribault​ @oh-evans​ 

James felt something inside that he could only describe as a slight protective rage over Lily when Clarice began to grill her about Benjy. Only to instantly put out that fire when he remembered Clarice was beyond a threat to Lily in any way. She was good. Clearing his throat, he hoped that it didn’t show up in his expression and instead brought his attention over to Lily as she talked about the event. Concern quickly etched into his face and he wanted nothing more than to take her hand, comfort her in any possible way.

“Yeah,” he remained silent for a moment as he thought. “Just because I see it a lot doesn’t make it any better,” he gave Lily a small smile choosing to comfort her through words. “It’s not something you can get out of your mind, so you’re not alone,” he gave her a nod as he turned his attention to Clarice again and then back to Lily. “I don’t think I can get in trouble for telling you guys considering I honestly don’t have any news to give. I am still an Auror in training, I try to help but I’m mostly doing desk jobs so the others can focus on everything,” tapping the table with his finger he realized how somber that sounded. “But in true me fashion, I have been trying to do a bit of digging on my own,” James smirked sitting up straighter.

“Wait,” Clarice paused, “You’re an Auror?” She turned to James, eyes wide, now that was something she could use.

Clarice pouted, “I was going to ask you the same question.” It figured that nobody had any clue what was going on, everything was so cloak and dagger these days, “I don’t normally get involved with these kinds of meetings until much later on,“ she sighed, “Guess representing the Ministry has its downfalls”, she grumbled.

At the mention of vampires, Clarices eyes hardened. “They’re not normally the sort of creatures I like to associate with” she said slowly, words dripping like tar, but then again, talking to her own contacts would be useful, “I’ll make sure to ask Griffis if he can talk to his contacts” the lie slipped off her tongue easily. She breathed deep, “You’re sure it was a vampire?”, Clarice wondered aloud, after alI, there was no use talking to the vampires—Georgine— if they’d gotten it wrong, “I mean, people make mistakes,“ the Crump case, for example, her mind spat, “Do we have anything solid?”

.

Alastor grumpily folded his arms across his chest as he surveyed the room. The meeting hadn’t started but he couldn’t wait for it to be over. “Yes, we’re sure.” He simply answered, “St Mungo’s confirmed that the bite was indeed a vampire bite.” He confirmed, although there was something about her words, her language, her insinuation that a mistake had been made that made Alastor raise an eyebrow. “Do you think a mistake has been made? Do you think a mistake was made before?” His tone smooth and neutral. If Clarice Faribault suspected foul play, perhaps the idea that Booker Bagnold’s death being caused by something else than a werewolf wasn’t such a stretch. 

“And why would a vampire attack someone who was leading a march which stood for more rights in their favour? It doesn’t make sense.” He grumbled. “Booker’s death, Rosalie’s disappearance, the attack on Benjy. Something is afoot.” || @claribault​

“Theres something wrong here. Very wrong.” Clarice knew it, and it seemed Alastor knew it too. The question was, could he be trusted?

“Ah, sorry. I don’t normally eat in the cafeteria.” She smirked, nodding her head to the food, “For obvious reasons.” Clarice smiled awkwardly at the woman. “Department of Mysteries huh?” An Unspeakable? She looked at Rowena appraisingly. On first glance, Clarice had her pegged as a sweet girl, fresh faced and new to the work that awaited her. Clearly, that wasn’t the case. She was an Unspeakable. “I’m in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, been here for a few years,” She blurted, there were reasons why the Law Enforcement and the Mysteries department tended to stay separate, specifically in the fact the DoM was known to have conducted work in, what could be regarded as, morally grey areas, “A prosecutor.” 

Suddenly the salad didn’t seem all that unappealing and Clarice was almost at a loss for where she should take the conversation next. Almost. “So” she coughed, “You went to Hogwarts? What house were you in?” She decided on the generic Hogwarts questions, “Wait…let me guess.” Clarice made a show of looking the girl over, from what she could tell, Rowena could have been in any house, but the fact she was an unspeakable meant she had to be smart and ambitious. That meant either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, but Clarice was put into Slytherin once upon a time. She knew the stereotypes associated with that house, and Clarice didn’t want to dump her in with Slytherin based solely on what she was. She arched a brow, “Ravenclaw?”

…

“Me either,” she admitted, poking at the sad chips in the sad little boat.  “but I’m quite happy that we both did today.  It’s always nice to have a cafeteria friend for those days that it’s simply unavoidable.”  She nodded at Clarice’s clarification, popping one of the soggy chips into her mouth.  “Yes, I’m an Unspeakable.  I don’t always lead with that because it sounds a bit more intense than it actually is.”  She couldn’t talk about her job, sure.  But they could have come up with a less dramatic name for it. 

She raised her brows, impressed by Clarice’s job title.  “Wow.  I would be a terrible prosecutor, so I can definitely appreciate that skillset in others.  I’ll be you’re amazing at it.  And it’s such an important job too.”  The sad chips and lukewarm soup didn’t seem so bad with good conversation.

“I did!  I was a…” but she trailed off as Clarice tried to guess.  “Close, I think?  I’d have loved to have been sorted into Ravenclaw, but I was a Hufflepuff.  What about you?”  She didn’t think the girl could have been anything but a Gryffindor, but she wanted to give some thought to it.  Perhaps a Ravenclaw as well, but they were close enough in age that she doubted she would have guessed Ravenclaw if that had been her own house.  “Maybe a Gryffindor?”

It had been a long and taxing day. Then again, if Clarice were honest, most days seemed long and taxing. But Clarice was a lawyer; she never had the luxury of being honest. She snorted, earning a look of distain from the barista behind the counter, reminding her that as funny as she found herself, not everyone was privy to her inner monologue. A sheepish look appeared on her face as she grimaced, paying the boy and muttering a small apology and turning on her heels. She’d made it approximately two foot from the cafe entrance before she collided with something. She scrambled to stay standing. Her awkward footfalls and stumbling forcing an apology to come tumbling out of her mouth, as she watched her cup clatter to the floor. She sighed as the something she’d walked into murmured her own apology, “No, no, it’s my fault, I was-“ she was what? Clumsy? An idiot? Incredibly thirsty? She looked forlornly to where the cup had fallen on the ground, “It’s just one of those days.”

—

Alecto was usually more aware of her surroundings. That had both come from her days of creating chaos, and liking to know what was going on around her, and from more recently with her bartending. It helped to have skills that included knowing everything that was going on around her. But right now, those skills were not helping. She frowned, watching as the other woman’s cup fell to fall. In another world she might have been better at magic, and might have been able to help. But sadly, she was not, and that was not good.

“I…uh….. sorry about your drink….” She murmured, as she looked up at the other woman. That was sad. “I can relate….” She really did have days like that too. “I’m heading in to get something for myself… I can get you another?”

@claribault​ @jamspctter​

“I’m sorry?” Lily’s eyebrows flew up at what she thought she heard the other woman say before she corrected herself. “Oh- er- of course. Retirement is just so important to start thinking about at our age, always good to stay on top of your finances.” Clarice’s rambling had caught, and now Lily was tripping over her own words. 

Dandy? Sure, she guessed. “James is a great guy.” She meant that. “He’s…. so smart, and fun to be around, and kind, and brave. He’ll always have your back, and he’ll always be there for you. You got pretty lucky with that one- but don’t tell him I said that, it’ll go right to his head,” she snorted. Was that too much to say to his girlfriend?

She was lucky she wasn’t drinking anything- she would have spat it out. Suddenly what she had taken as awkwardness started to seem (through her lens of paranoia) like purposeful coldness- did Clarice know? Had James told her about whatever had happened between them (not much, of course, but it just seemed wrong that he would tell Clarice about it, like a final ending, like the decision was no longer in her hands). She also suppressed a little indignation that the story was she rejected him. “Oh wow. That sounds awful.” It looked like Clarice had a poker face on, so Lily wouldn’t drop hers. “Sounds like you two met at just the right time.” Taking a deep exhale, she recentered her aggression- it was no one’s fault but hers. And if she had missed her window of opportunity to to feel out whatever could have been with them, at least the two of them were making each other happy. “I really am so happy for you.” She didn’t know what Clarice knew, and it wasn’t her place to tell her, but she wouldn’t be an obstacle to James’ happiness any longer. So she pushed all the negative emotion down and mustered all her sincerity and went ahead full throttle with Mission Welcome-Clarice. “Have you met Remus and Peter and Sirius yet? I’m sure you will soon if you haven’t, the four of them are pretty much attached at the hip.” 

@oh-evans @claribault​

James had taken a while longer to come back to the table, both because he couldn’t bear the embarrassment he held and because he had written some kind of secretive note on a napkin in the scone he bought Lily. Coordinates with a time accompanied by a quick, almost illegible scrawl of his initials J.P. Taking a deep breath he finally got his bearings together and figured he shouldn’t just leave Clarice by herself anymore and walked straight over to their table. As Lily talked he secretly slipped the scone into her bag and swooped down beside Clarice catching the tail end of the conversation.

“No,” James thought quickly of a better way to put it. “I told her I only really introduce my other significant others to people I really care about,” he looked at Lily quickly, enough to really push that point across. James then looked over to Clarice. “I did the thing – you know place and time, made a reservation,” he didn’t want to give it away to Lily, but nudged Clarice’s foot – or hoped it was hers – hoping she understood what he meant.

Oh, so this was how the she was going to play it, Clarice lent against Georgina’s desk, pulling her glasses off, “Fine,” she glared, flashing her card quickly so the woman wouldn’t be able to read the name properly, “I’m from the DMLE” she pocketed the card, she did not need anyone to know she was a Faribault, “I’ve got reason to believe,” that reason being of the sharp and pointy teeth variety, “That Georgina has information I need”

The girl remained impassive, and Clarice was tempted to give her more information. To explain that neither her nor Georgina were in trouble, but this was a sensitive case. If word got out that Clarice went to Georgine and people connected the dots, it would only take a few misplaced rumours and unfortunate circumstances to thrust the sisters into the spotlight. Something Clarice had avoided for years. “Now, tell me where she is,” She spoke, her voice laced with sweet venom, “Or find me someone who can.” 

.

The speed with which she flashed her card told Constance so much. The woman didn’t want her to know her name. It was an official Ministry card, at least. Whether it belonged to the woman before her or not was another matter entirely. Blind faith that someone was telling her the truth had never sit well with her so Constance weighed her options: she could ask to see her card up close to confirm her identity, play along with the ruse until she knew why she was here, or– It hit her then. Recognition. There was one photo Georgina used to have on her desk that Constance had seen hundreds of times, studied even, during long meetings. She was much younger in the photos but the resemblance was too strong to deny. 

“What information are you looking for, exactly?“ She asked, holding the power of her realization to herself for a moment longer. “I don’t keep tabs on Georgina, unfortunately. She’s my boss so it’s more the other way around for pretty much everyone here right now.” She tilted her head back toward the door to indicate the premises as a whole. “I’d think her sister would know better than her employees, no?” She asked the question with a saccharine tone, hoping she’d caught her off guard.

jamspctter​:

@oh-evans @claribault​

James was ready to answer both of Lily’s questions when Clarice had shown up – and kissed him – and he had instantly forgotten absolutely everything he was going to say. He had mindlessly taken the coffee handed to him and tried to compose himself to the best of his ability. It wasn’t like he could tell Clarice to bugger off, or break off their fake relationship. She told him to trust the process and that was what James was going to do – trust the process. Taking a deep breath he shook his head figuring right now wasn’t the best time to tell Lily about Benjy but bookmarking that for later.

It’s all fake. This is all a ploy for me to figure out if you like me back or not. Because Clarice thinks so, so we came up with this insane plan. Is what James wanted to say. Merlins beard, and the look Lily gave him that he could clearly read as he was used to the looks she had given him after all these years. She could shake her head at him and James would crumple, do what ever it is she wanted him to do – which is something the Marauders made of him for a lot of the time.

“I um – it’s something new, clearly. Adairia she um – yeah,” James lamely smiled watching Lily closely and knowing just how much Clarice was judging him for how he answered. Pushing his glasses nervously, James soon realized he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer. “I was avoiding you Lily but not because of this,” James pointed at Clarice and noticed how that came across.

Wow, great work James. Admit to the girl you love you’ve been avoiding her, that’ll go down a treat. Clarice gave a swift kick to hire back of James’ shins, hoping the pain would get the message across, that he was a complete and utter moron. “What he means to say, is we were about to get lunch, you should join us.” She said, gripping the girls hand and pulling her towards an empty table. Sure, Clarice was going off script here, but with James not playing ball, it seemed she was going to enjoy taking this into her own hands. Besides, Clarice had a few of her own questions.

“James, sweetheart,” she emphasised, “Why don’t you go grab us some food?” They really should have come up with signals for this. What was ‘go away so I can make you look good without making this awkward’ in sign language? Or…well, Clarice glanced at Lilys still carefully blank face, more awkward. “So Lily, you and James have known each other for what? A decade now?”

@claribault​ @jamspctter​

“Oh. Well. Congratulations,” she offered weakly. “To both of you.” Merlin, she wanted nothing more than to come up with some kind of excuse and get out, but she couldn’t be that transparent. “I never thought people actually got together from those set ups. Maybe I should talk to Adaira too,” she smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

She didn’t at least deserve a heads-up? Maybe she was right the whole time- it was all a joke to him, a sick drunken joke, and he hadn’t thought twice about taking up with someone new so soon after she said she’d think about it- she had told him she’d think about it, right? That she just needed time? Guess that time had run out. Or maybe, just maybe- she’d thought James would just always be around and hadn’t felt any urgency to figure out what she wanted from him. “Oh, I’m really so swamped, and I wouldn’t want to be a third wheel,” she protested weakly yet allowed Clarice to lead her away. Sweetheart? She could gag. “Er, I guess. Makes me feel old when you put it like that. We actually used to fight all the time. Us being friends is still rather new,” she snorted.

“So James, The Date” she smiled, “Yeah those types of setups never normally work, but James is just” Clarice fumbled for words, trying to think what would make her feel jealous of someone, “Dandy?”

…

Sometimes she hated herself.

Taking a deep breath, Clarice flicked the switch, back to her cool and calm composure, “I mean, he’s stunning, intelligent...funny” she tried again, trying to remind herself she was meant to make him look good “I’d just come out of a serious relationship, he’d just been rejected by the girl of his dreams,” she sighed wistfully, resisting the urge to look at Lilys face “So we thought, hey, lets give it a go, and what do you know-“ Clarice’s grin was all teeth as she finally met Lilys eyes, “He’s just too good a catch.”

Clarice followed Rowena’s head tilt, “Huh…” The man was glaring at his sandwich as though it had mortally offended him, although to be fair, quality of the food in the cafeteria, it probably had. She smiled at the girl, “I’ll make sure to try the soup, can’t be worse than this.” Clarice pouted. She contemplated just going back to her food, ignoring her surroundings before she can get back to the safety of her office. But since the incident with her sister, she’d been finding it difficult to get back into the swing of things. “So,” Clarice dropped her fork into the salad bowl, she could always pick something up on the way home. 

“You’re new?” She asked, studying Rowena’s face, Clarice was sure she’d talked to this woman before, but then again, Clarice had only ever spoken to those in her department. The only place the entirety of the building would ever congregate in one room was in the cafeteria at lunchtime, which wasn’t Clarice’s usual haunt. Just something she’d resorted to in trying to keep to her ‘vegetarian’ diet, “Or better question,” she amended, “What department are you in?”

…

The longer she practiced legilimancy the more interesting she found it.  It would be easy, to nonverbally cast the spell, to look into his mind, but why would she?  Negative energy and mediocrity practically radiated from him, and she highly doubted it started and ended with the sad looking chicken sandwich in his hands.  She didn’t need to immerse herself in that.  “I’m sure he’s perfectly lovely, but he seems very focused on his food.  I thought you seemed like a better lunch companion, if I’m being honest.”

She was not new, but it didn’t surprise her that Clarice didn’t recognize her.  She didn’t often eat in the cafeteria, but rather took her picks back down into her office or outside.  There was far too much she couldn’t talk about at work, and it was easier to just sit with her own thoughts for a bit after spending a morning investigating the thoughts of others.  “I’m in the Department of Mysteries.”  She was glad that she phrased it that way.  The term Unspeakable was so intimidating.  “I’m not new, but I haven’t been around all that long either.  I’m not surprised you don’t recognize me.  What about you?”

Suddenly the salad didn’t seem all that unappealing and Clarice was almost at a loss for where she should take the conversation next. Almost. “So” she coughed, “You went to Hogwarts? What house were you in?” She decided on the generic Hogwarts questions, “Wait…let me guess.” Clarice made a show of looking the girl over, from what she could tell, Rowena could have been in any house, but the fact she was an unspeakable meant she had to be smart and ambitious. That meant either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, but Clarice was put into Slytherin once upon a time. She knew the stereotypes associated with that house, and Clarice didn’t want to dump her in with Slytherin based solely on what she was. She arched a brow, “Ravenclaw?”

She probably should have been paying attention to where she was going, but before she really realised it, she had bumped into someone. “Oh. Sorry!” The murmured, a smile on her lips. “Daydreaming away. Sorry about that”

Affronted, she hissed, “That’s my business,” five seconds into the conversation and this girl was already getting on her nerves, she pinched the bridge of her nose underneath her sunglasses, “Alright.” She breathed, looking around the room. The staff had turned their bodies towards the pair, looking as though they were preparing themselves to intervene if the need should arise. Damnit. Well done Clarice, she scolded herself, how could she be so stupid? This is hardly the first time a man or woman scorned would have come into a place like this. It was only a moment in time before someone got security involved, and more importantly, only a matter of time before someone recognised her. 

She turned back to the girl, “Alright, you.” Clarice jabbed a finger into the woman’s arm, “You’re going to come with me, and then you’re going to tell me where the hell Georgina is.” She turned on her heels, marching back into her sisters office. This was bad. The first time Clarice actually needs to talk to her sister after the incident and she’s not even here. Over her shoulder, she couldn’t see if the woman was following her. Whatever. It didn’t matter, either she followed, or Clarice would have to get her information the old fashioned way.

.

Constance’s eyes went wide once more but in an expression that now read as more yikes than anything else. What was this woman’s problem? And why did she look so familiar? The simplest explanation was that she was the wife of a client or a client herself, even. She was unhappy with her service for some reason, maybe? Still, she was marching around like she owned the place, helping herself to Georgina’s office and all. She knew if the woman tried anything dangerous she’d have allies behind her if she couldn’t defend herself for some reason. The energy she was giving off wasn’t that of someone who wanted to bring her any harm, though. Maybe that was why she decided to follow her to the office. 

A friend stopped her before she got to the door to make sure she knew what she was doing but Constance waved them off. There was no need to make something out of nothing and right now this was nothing. Once the office door was closed behind her, Constance met the woman’s eyes. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Your reasons are your business but I can keep my information to myself for my own reasons, too.” Constance didn’t know what was going on or what information she actually had but it never hurt to play up your hand. 

The girl remained impassive, and Clarice was tempted to give her more information. To explain that neither her nor Georgina were in trouble, but this was a sensitive case. If word got out that Clarice went to Georgine and people connected the dots, it would only take a few misplaced rumours and unfortunate circumstances to thrust the sisters into the spotlight. Something Clarice had avoided for years. “Now, tell me where she is,” She spoke, her voice laced with sweet venom, “Or find me someone who can.” 

Where: Fair Faribaults

Who: @constance-song

A boy was lying. Cold and still in a hospital bed. An oxygen mask acting as that thin line between life and death. The Doctors were desperately trying to keep him breathing because even though he’s stable right now theres nothing they can do.

Alright. Maybe Clarice was being dramatic, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true. There was a boy in hospital. Benjy Fenwick, just some kid that had gotten on the wrong side of a vampire and while she wasn’t as involved in that side of things anymore, she still had contacts. Sort of.

The door slammed shut behind her as she stormed her way though the lobby of Fair Faribaults, ignoring the sideways glances of both the staff and the patrons. “Georgina?” She hissed, slamming open the door of her sisters office, but it was empty, “George!” Fuck. Where the hell was she? Clarice made a u-turn, hightailing it out of Georginas office, tapping on the shoulder of the first person she saw, “Hey!” She growled, “Where’s Georgine?”

Constance was so used to seeing unfamiliar faces in Fair Faribault’s that she rarely paid much attention to the faces around her. She took note of them, of course. She wouldn’t let someone she knew had bad intentions simply run amok in the walls of her work but if they didn’t seem to pose a threat she simply let them go about their business without her prying eyes. 

The woman storming through the doors and slamming doors hadn’t looked threatening when she’d walked past her at first but clearly that first impression had been deceiving. Her eyes lost focus as she avoided looking at the woman head-on but made sure her figure was still in in her periphery. When the tap on her shoulder came, Constance looked up as though she’d just noticed her and hadn’t been keeping tabs on her from the moment she walked inside. 

“Whoa,” Constance took a small step back and held her palms out to stop the woman from advancing on her. She looked familiar but Constance couldn’t put her finger on why that was. It didn’t matter, she didn’t like being addressed so crudely regardless of who was addressing her. “Take it down a notch, maybe? I haven’t seen her in today, why do you need her?”

She turned back to the girl, “Alright, you.” Clarice jabbed a finger into the woman’s arm, “You’re going to come with me, and then you’re going to tell me where the hell Georgina is.” She turned on her heels, marching back into her sisters office. This was bad. The first time Clarice actually needs to talk to her sister after the incident and she’s not even here. Over her shoulder, she couldn’t see if the woman was following her. Whatever. It didn’t matter, either she followed, or Clarice would have to get her information the old fashioned way.

Clarice tucked into her generously-so-called ‘meal’, plate filled with wilted leaves, wet vegetables and a rather sad looking lot of tomatoes. She was almost tempted to leave it; wait until she got home to make herself something that at least resembled food, but then she’d be hungry— or at least more hungry than she was used to these days. Slowly, she gingerly shovelled another bite into her mouth, grimacing when the salad seemed to dissolve in her mouth. Clarice swallowed as a woman approached, it was someone who she’d seen around the Ministry on occasion, but not someone who she herself had ever spoken to.

She found herself smiling in response, the woman’s smile was infectious, “Sure,” she nodded towards the other seat, “Be my guest” then, as the woman took her seat, “I’m Clarice,” she greeted, taking another forkful of her food.

…

She bit back a laugh at the look on the other woman’s face, understanding the displeasure.  “It makes you miss Hogwarts, doesn’t it?  It’s only place I’ve ever been fully satisfied in a cafeteria type setting.  More often it’s wilted and disappointing.”  She put her tray in front of her, unwrapping the napkin that bundled her utensils.  “The soup is usually inoffensive enough.  If the vegetables are wilted it’s a bit harder to tell when they’re drowning in cream.”

She dipped the soup and took a quick bite before offering her own name.  “I’m Rowena.”  She didn’t immediately offer her surname.  She was working on building connections on all sides of this war.  You never knew when someone could be a fountain of information or a potential recruit.  “Thanks for letting me sit with you.  You were a bit less than my other option,” she gestured with her head to the grumpy look bloke in the corner.

“You’re new?” She asked, studying Rowena’s face, Clarice was sure she’d talked to this woman before, but then again, Clarice had only ever spoken to those in her department. The only place the entirety of the building would ever congregate in one room was in the cafeteria at lunchtime, which wasn’t Clarice’s usual haunt. Just something she’d resorted to in trying to keep to her ‘vegetarian’ diet, “Or better question,” she amended, “What department are you in?”