So JOT that down

 Sun shining, James made his way along the cobbled path of Diagon Alley; the quiet street a vast contrast to the hustle and bustle of Charing Cross Road just on the other side of the Leaky Cauldron. A kitten tucked under his arm and his free hand clutching a carrying case full of various cat treats and toys, he thought he had everything. James had only popped into the Magical Menagerie to get some treats for his mother’s owl when the tabby kitten had caught his attention, and he had tried to walk past, he honestly had, but he was only human and in the end had decided she would be the perfect little addition to the flat he was moving into with his mates. Sirius was going to go barmy, he was sure of that. But his best friend was a big softy really and James was sure—or at least he hoped—he would warm to her. “Can’t disapparate with you, can we? The last thing we need is to bring an irate cat into the house if mum’s Owl is still loose, the poor bird will be done for,” he was saying to the kitten, and as he looked up he realised somebody had been addressing him. “Sorry I was miles away - did you say something?”

Jake had popped into the Menagerie to get some cat litter for Simon, his siamese cat and only had to wait a moment while the customer in front of him gathered together everything he had bought. Jake couldn’t help a smile at the sight of someone getting a new pet. He stepped up to the counter and put down the cat litter for the assistant to process. “I’ll take some catnip as well,” he said on a whim and the assistant nodded and turned to take it from the shelf. “And this?” she asked pointing to a box of owl treats on the counter. Jake shook his head slowly. “Not mine. I don’t have an owl.” They seemed to realise what had happened at the same time, and as she rang him up and sorted out his change she told him that the customer before him had only gone in for the owl treats and ended up leaving with a cat. “I’ll see if I can catch him,” Jake said, making sure he had his own purchases before he left with the owl treats in his free hand. It had been a pretty quick transaction and hopefully the man wouldn’t be going anywhere very quickly with a kitten.

“Excuse me!” he called, walking at pace to catch up. “Excuse me,” he repeated. Finally, he got his attention. “I think this is yours?” He held up the owl treats.

Bellatrix stared at him without answering his question, arms crossed in front of her chest and a scrowl on her face. Her eyes then were set in the invitation and she practically snached it from his hands. Using her wand, she whispered a simple spell and the paper quickly glowled a bright green color before going back to normal. There were many muggles and even other purebloods that would forge this invitations to go inside, trying to mingle with them but there was a simple spell to know if the invitation was a fake nor not. If the paper glowed green, you were safe. If it didn’t, you were in danger, but that wasn’t enough for Bellatrix. She moved and began to walk around the man, a beast circling her prey before attacking and delivering her final blow, but this was a night to party, not to fight. Satisfied with her observation, Bellatrix sighed and nodded at him.  

“Yes, I think I saw her inside,” she said, smiling when there was a loud laugh coming from inside the place. “You can come in, but we don’t know if yiu’re going to come out…alive.” Bella said to him. “Enter at your own risk.” 

Jacob would be lying if he said Bellatrix had never intimidated him to some extent. That intimidation had turned into apprehension and even fear as politics started to change within the country. If there was one person he would not be surprised to hear was a Death Eater, he supposed it would be her. He half-expected her to tear up the invitation but instead she examined it and his heart was in his throat the entire time, hoping the green light was a good sign. It probably was, wasn’t it? Green for go, except that him knowing what traffic lights were was a rarity amongst purebloods. Green for Slytherin, at least. Being circled by her, looked at like he was a mouse and she an eagle did nothing to ease his nerves but then she seemed to accept him as worthy. He just hoped her words were a joke and that the smile was genuine. “I don’t drink champagne anyway,” he said lightly, making out that he thought she was making a joke about the now infamous Ministry Fundraiser Ball. He would have made towards the door but it seemed impolite not to acknowledge her beyond how he already had. “Thank-you, Madam Lestrange. I hope you are well?”

LOCATION: Level Five, Ministry of Magic TAGGED: @jakeothomas​

There were days when Rabastan Lestrange was gravely disappointed to discover he didn’t have that much to do. He was a creature of the night with no constraint of routine. Having no solid employment seemed to be the foundation of all his instability, but rather than meaninglessly passing the time by indulging in his usual vices he decided to invest his efforts in something a little more fruitful instead. There was a particular wizard he had his sights set on for quite some time now. Jacob Thomas was practically a stranger to him—though the two were the same age, he was a Hufflepuff for Salazar’s sake. Not exactly Rabastan’s typical pedigree, but supposedly people could change and the wizard was willing to put that theory to the test. He had run into him on a handful of occasions since graduating Hogwarts and vaguely was aware the other man had some fancy Ministry job—all the stuck up gits did, his own brother included on that list—but Jake was perplexing and enigmatic nonetheless. A wild card in every sense of the word and, as far as gambling went, Rabastan Lestrange was a fan of wild cards. He preferred to have them dealt in his hand rather than someone else’s.

The wizard discreetly lied in wait right outside of the lift on the fifth floor. He appeared completely unfaltering down to his heavy-leaded facial expression carefully contoured by dim shadows. He was no stranger to these corridors—his brother’s office was located just a few floors away and the wizard often found creative ways to keep himself entertained while waiting for him. Their family name could also be found engraved on more statues and other structures than he could keep track of commemorating generations of their insane generosity. These large charitable donations made in the past were never about the wizarding community itself, especially now as its state was rapidly deteriorating before their eyes, but rather a reminder of who was really pulling the strings. The Lestranges were part of a select upper class in the wizarding community; they were rich, power, and their influence cast an ever-growing net. Rabastan saw this as nothing less than privilege, smugly wearing it in many forms for all to see. He hoped this net would extend to Jake—especially now as he saw the wizard approaching the lift. “ Jacob Thomas, is that you? Fancy running into you, ” he greeted with a carefully rehearsed smile. Having an ally like him within the Ministry could be very beneficial from a business standpoint and he didn’t want to scare him off.

His mind was distracted with work as he made his way to the lifts but his name soon dragged Jacob from his thoughts. He turned, a quip on his tongue as he expected to see one of his colleagues but it turned into more bemusement than joking when he replied, “Well, I do work here.” Of course he knew who Rabastan Lestrange was and not because of his surname. Their paths had moved in parallel most of their lives, from back when the Thomas family had still been a family and attending the same sorts of social events as the likes of the Lestranges, to starting Hogwarts at the same time. Now, with Jacob in the Ministry and being surrounded by reminders of someone he had never really known despite their proximity.

There was little point in asking why Rabastan was there, he knew. Certain families had a habit of walking around the Ministry like they owned the place and Jacob had long passed the point of questioning if their security was tight enough. Anybody else casually wandering around the Ministry when they didn’t work there would be kicked out immediately. Even as a senior worker in his department, his opinion would never hold enough weight to change centuries of the Ministry pandering to the rich. “Were you looking for somebody in particular?” he asked, instead, his voice more how can I help you today than what are you doing here. Then, gesturing at the lift he added, “Are you going down?”

A park somewhere in Wizarding London

Gwenog was glad to be out of the Daily Prophet offices. The worst part of her day job, which was on the whole pretty spectacular, was doing press. The idea of inviting people into her life still a little uncomfortable. She liked to think she was a genuine person, but there was something about interviews that always made her feel more like an actress, out of those muggle movies her dad still liked to watch.

She’d taken herself straight to Fortescue’s ice cream parlour, rewarded herself with an obnoxiously large mango and chocolate concoction and settled down in the sun to relax and reset her mind. There were no shortage of friendly faces of course, and from behind her sunglasses she smiled at almost everyone passing by until she saw a more familiar face. “Oh it’s you!” she greeted, “Long time, no see.”

Jake had always preferred to walk home from work instead of apparating if the weather was nice. It had been his main reason for choosing a flat in the city, the chance for a bit of air and exercise without going out especially for it. He smiled at people as he passed them, offering nods or the occasional ‘hello’ as he took a detour through the park. The evening was warm and sunny and he had no rush to be home.

He almost didn’t recognise Gwenog behind the sunglasses and the gigantic ice cream, already offering up a polite smile when she spoke and his eyes widened in recognition. “Gwenog! Hi! It really has been too long. I’d ask how you’re getting on, but I keep seeing your name in the sports section of the papers so I imagine pretty well.” He took a seat next to her.

Ministry Atrium - Open Starter

The feeling of anxiety spent the majority of his workday spiraling in the back of his mind. One of the cases that needed a muggle explanation for a magical catastrophe hadn’t been far from the town his parents lived in. A cursed object had fallen into the hands of an elderly couple and neither of them survived the experience. He felt sick to his stomach reading about it and couldn’t stop questioning what would have happened if his mother or one of his brothers had brought the cursed item home.

The end of the day came as a relief and Ted was happy to leave to go home to his wife and daughter. He got as far as the atrium before his anxiety spiked, leaving him frozen in place as he struggled to regain control of his breathing. “S-Sorry,” He whispered, eyes wide once the feeling passed, face to face with another employee. “I didn’t catch what you said.”

There was a little bit of a queue for the Floo channels, just as there often was at the end of the working day like this but Jacob still preferred Floo to Apparition any day of the week. The queue at least gave him chance to catch a few more people on their way out of work and wish them a good evening. When Ted came into view, Jake’s hand started to lift in a wave but his friend didn’t seem to see him. In fact, the look on his face had Jake leaving his place in the queue and approaching him with worry. “Ted? Are you okay?” Ted didn’t answer, didn’t even seem to hear him until a few minutes later when his breathing was closer to steay. “I asked if you were okay,” Jake said with a concerned frown. He stepped forwards and put a hand on Ted’s shoulder. “Ted, what happened?”

Bella laughed and pushed away the young wizard who dared to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her against him. “Now, dear. I don’t think you want me as your partner for tonight,” she smirked. “But I think she’s very interested,” she pointed to a brunette witch and the man quickly lost interest in her but not before kissing her cheek in the process, making her roll her eyes and shaker her head. This wasn’t a pary for everyone and even some purebloods could not tolerate the kind of games that sometimes wizards and witches liked to play. You could only go inside with an invitation or being someone’s date. Bellatrix came here because of who she was and of course, she went straight to the bar to get something to drink. “I’m going outside to take some air. I’ll be back soon,” she said to one of her friends and stepped outside. It was too hot in the small room and she needed to breath something else that cigarette smoke. “I think you want to keep walking that way,” she told the person who had stopped walking to stare at the couples outside, drinking and laughing outside the big house. “There’s nothing here for you unless you want to have some fun, so I suggest you continue your way.”

Jake had stopped going to these sorts of parties a long time ago. Ever since he found out the real reason his parents had separated he had tried to make sure he was with his dad if there was one coming up and once he was of age he didn’t even have to do that. It wasn’t the parties themselves that were an issue, it was what they had come to mean in Jacob’s head. His mother’s affair. Her work with the Death Eaters. Not that he was the sort of person to stand up against them, but he was perfectly happy being neutral, thank-you very much, and he didn’t approve of any breaking of the law or killing. Yet, when Leah had sent him an invitation he hadn’t immediately thrown it away. The truth was, though he knew perfectly well the sorts of clients his sister’s law firm had, knew that she had followed in their mother’s footsteps in terms of allegiances, Jake missed her. She was family and family was important.

It was much later than the start time on the invitation, mostly because Jake worried he would be making people think he had picked a side by showing up. A side that was not kind to people like Ted and Dirk, both of whom were good friends of Jacob’s. But, desire to see Leah and maybe to try and talk some sense into her had won out. “Who says I’m not here to have some fun?” he asked when he was almost immediately questioned after showing up. He held the invitation up. “Have you seen Leah Thomas?”

Ministry cafeteria - open starter

Millie sat hunched over and pushed her glasses back against the bridge of her nose while she read, ignoring the tray of food in front of her. She had to take a later lunch that day. That meant accepting the unfortunate fate of not being able to eat with her husband. Days where their schedules didn’t match up always left her at a loss for what to do since she preferred Caradoc’s company over anyone else’s.

Diving right in to a muggle novel she picked up seemed like the best idea. It was a bit risky given the politics that we’re going on in the Ministry but she didn’t exactly care — how could she when the novel involved a muggle author’s view on time travel and kids trying to rescue their father? Millie looked up when a shadow cast over the page she was on and wrinkled her nose. “Do you mind?” She asked and placed the bookmark back in place so she wouldn’t lose her spot then glanced up at the person. “You’re interrupting my lunch.”

It had been a long morning, hefty negotiations with the UAE that they were determined to wrap up before the Arab International Liaison Ministers called it a day which meant Jacob was late going to lunch and by the time he did, his head was feeling a little light both from an intense need for a cup of tea and because there was another country expressing their concerns about trading with the UK while the war was still an issue. He laden his tray with whatever food was still available without really paying attention to his options and turned to find a table. It was unsurprising to find a couple of others from the Department of International Magical Cooperation in the cafeteria so Jacob made his way over to Millie, mostly because old Mr Jenkins had a habit of moaning all through his breaks about everything work-related. Millie, meanwhile, was his age, the same year at Hogwarts (even if that now felt like a lifetime ago) and the both of them had been in the same department ever since. She was also on the Wizengamot, and Jacob’s aspirations in getting onto the International Confederation of Wizards was dependent on Wizengamot approval so she would be a good person to have in his corner. 

He raised an eyebrow at her words. “So sorry. I was going to ask if I could sit here, but if you’d rather be alone...” He couldn’t help shooting her book a curious look, not recognising the title or the author. “I wasn’t going to talk about work, though, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s my break as well. Or if you wanted to read, I’m happy not talking at all.” He’d rather sit with her in silence than listen to Mr Jenkins.

“Shhh,it’s alright.” She said, lightly bushing on his shoulders so that he would move back to a horizontal positions. Doris wished that this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but unfortunately too many people were afraid to seek medical help in fear of being found. “Do you think you’re my first patient who doesn’t want to be found?” She asked, her brow raised. “Nobody knows you’re here, and I didn’t put your name on the paperwork. Now please, you need to rest.”

Once she deemed his position suitable she busied herself with preparing fresh antidotes for his injuries. “You’re lucky, this could have been worse, you’ll heal quickly.” She gave him a small smile, hoping that it would be a comfort. “Why don’t you tell me what happened, it will help know how to best treat you. I promise it will stay between us.”

He sighed as he let her push him back into a lying position but his heart was still beating fast. As long as he was in Wizarding Britain there was a chance they would find him again. The last thing he wanted to do was to lead them to Lisa and Dean. So far, he had done pretty well at keeping their existence a secret just as his being a wizard was still a secret to them. Now they were so much closer to catching him and with that came endangering the family he had built. “Not even my sisters, okay?” he pressed. The elder would want him on the Death Eaters’ side as much as any of the others and would happily sell him out to get him there. The younger would turn his life into a chaotic mess of Auror activity and make running impossible.

His eyes followed her to the Healing potions. “I don’t know exactly. Not every spell, anyway. We duelled some. He used Cruciatus.” Everything else had pretty much faded into insignificance after that. Why remember other curses and hexes when he was feeling torturous pain deep in his bones? “And then it’s probably a miracle I didn’t splinch.”