"Ní mhaireann solas na maidine don lá." // "No morning sun lasts all day."

The following morning, Leta was getting herself ready for work. As she grabbed her satchel, slinging the strap over her shoulders, she suddenly heard footsteps coming up from behind her.

Turning on her heels, she found Tara standing there, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She had thrown on the cleanest pair of trousers that she owned, and a simple white blouse. Her dark, black wool coat was slung over her arm, and her hair was braided fairly neatly down and over her left shoulder.

The older witch was purposefully not looking Leta in the eyes, knowing the smirk that she would be met with if she did.

“Let’s get this over with.” Tara grumbled.

Leta’s smile only grew as the witch bounced on her feet slightly. She offered her friend the crook of her arm to take, which she did only after a dramatic roll of her eyes.

And together, the two of them apparated out of their apartment. 

Tara sat awkwardly in a chair in the Department of the Auror Office. In front of her, was a small panel of men. Directors from all different departments throughout the Ministry. All of whom, were shooting her fake smiles.

“We are elated to finally be able to meet you, Miss Kelly.” one of them had said in greeting.

Tara pressed her lips together, nodding her head as politely as she could manage.

“I have to admit, gentlemen, I am still a bit apprehensive about taking this position.” she said carefully. “Believe me, it is an honor. And I understand that it’s a most- unprecedented motion to create a new position just to recruit one witch…I just don’t want to give off the impression that this is somehow me looking at the Auror role from a different angle.”

“We understand completely.” another member of the panel replied. “And I can assure you, we will not be pressuring you to change your title or job description as long as you fulfill your duties.”

Tara briefly glanced down at the parchment and quill that had been set in front of her at the start of the meeting, before slowly returning her attention to the group of men.

“Could I get that in writing as well?”

“Pardon me?”

Tara filled her lungs with air, squaring out her shoulders a bit more.

“Could we add a section that states I’m allowed to terminate my service should I get any indication that I am being forced into the Auror department?”

The directors exchanged brief looks amongst themselves before eventually conceding to her wishes with silent nods. One of them waved their wand, and the quill in front of her hovered above the parchment and quickly scribbled out the words she had just spoken at the bottom-most section of the document.

Once the paper floated down in front of her again, Tara gently collected it into her hands, carefully reading over each line. Taking her deepest breath yet, she then picked up the quill herself, penning her signature as best she could on the empty line.

An unsettled feeling quickly beginning to pool in her stomach.

Tara was given a tour of the Ministry by the Head of the Magical Department of Law Enforcement, Torquil Travers.

She already did not like the man. He had a very harsh aura about him, and the few sentences that he had spoken to her already confirmed her suspicions that he fancied himself better than everyone else.

On top of the tour, she had also been given a document including a list of the currently active Auror’s in the British office. The list included their names, photos, a short biography and any other reports of note about their person. 

Her blood pressure was only continuing to rise as she continued to walk down the halls and skim through the files.

“Since your first session is scheduled for tomorrow, I think it’s best you meet the Head of the Auror office, seeing as his personal squadron will be the first sect that you train.”

Tara nodded passively, tucking her wand behind her ear to keep from fiddling with it. Travers had eyed her actions strangely, but continued to lead her towards the doorway up ahead. The words “Auror Office” were carved high above their heads in a frame made of cold, dark wood. Another small detail that made Tara scoff bitterly to herself. 

Travers held the door open, allowing her to step inside first. Briefly glancing around the large room, Tara quickly found that there wasn’t much to it. A few tables scattered about here and there, maps splayed over the top of two of them, others holding up boxes of files and evidence. At the back most part of the office, was a single, lonely wooden desk. The seat of which was occupied by none other than the Head Auror himself.

“Travers-” a deep voice spoke up as Tara continued to psychoanalyze the space around her. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’m here to introduce the new Director of Lawman Training.” he said, causing Tara to drag her attention back to the center of the room. “Tara Kelly, meet Th-”

“Oh you got to be fucking joking.” she spat instinctively. 

Theseus Scamander stared straight back at her with wide eyes. His mouth couldn’t have fallen further open if he tried.

“Tara?”

The witch pinched the bridge of her nose, working extremely hard to keep her groan internal.

The Head of Magical Law Enforcement looked back and forth between the two younger wizards, clearly confused. 

“You…are already acquainted?” he asked awkwardly.

Theseus swallowed, straightening out his spine.

“Yes. From back in our school days.”

“Ah.” Travers coughed. “Well, I’ll let you catch up then.” he then said, taking a single step towards the door they had only just walked through. “Miss Kelly will begin her training tomorrow, so best to show her the ropes of your team, Scamander.”

Theseus nodded his head.

“Yes sir.”

Travers eyed the two wizards once more before quickly disappearing out into the hallway, stomping away from the office with an apparent increased amount of purpose. 

The silence that followed the closing of the door was suffocating. Tara all but refused to look Theseus in the eyes, her entire body hot with anger and an odd form of embarrassment.

Eventually, the Auror had managed to clear his throat, thus shattering the quiet.

“You- ah…you look well.”

At that, Tara shot him a pointed glare, opening her mouth to retort with something snappy when the door behind them suddenly opened again, a light knock against the wood carrying out into the wide space of the office.

“Mr. Scamander-” a high-pitched voice called out.

Both heads turned towards the doorway, watching as a red-headed witch in a lavender blouse and black skirt floated into the office. In her hands, she was holding what looked to be a rather full manila envelope. She had gone to speak again, when she finally appeared to notice that there was a second body standing inside the room.

“Oh- my apologies. I was unaware you had a meeting scheduled.” the woman said spritely.

In response, Tara had raised a single eyebrow in contention. The way that the witch was staring at her, or rather not at all, made her feel slightly agitated. It was just how she remembered catching some Gryffindor girls pretending not to look at Leta from across the room before inevitably performing one of their classic verbal assaults.

“It’s alright Marjorie.” Theseus said kindly. “What is it?”

“I have those documents you requested.” she said, shuffling past Tara as she did so. She handed him the folder, a bright smile still painting her face. And for the moment, the two of them fell into quiet small talk that Tara couldn’t quite hear from her distance. She did however manage to roll her eyes pointedly when she saw Theseus let out a small, clearly forced laugh in response to something she had said.

Eventually, Marjorie was dismissed, and the witch all but scampered out of the room, glancing back only once before closing the door behind her.

The moment that she was gone, Tara had let out a puff of air from her nose, shaking her head.

Theseus once again had to clear his throat.

“I have to say, of all the places in the world…I would have never imagined seeing you here.” he stated, obviously attempting to create a lighter mood than the one that was currently blanketing his office.

Tara rolled her eyes again.

“I just can’t believe I actually signed up to work with Auror’s every day.” she muttered.

Theseus laughed coldly, placing one hand on his hip, while the other remained flat on the surface of his desk.

“What do you have against Aurors?” he asked. “Even back at Hogwarts I remember you-”

“They’re all the same.” she spat, cutting him off before he could finish. 

Theseus blinked in surprise, staring back at her with slowly narrowing eyes.

“They’re loud, bone-headed bullies who think that the entire world somehow revolves around them. They’re the kind of people that crave power over other people so much, that they applied to the only profession in the world that legally allows them to hold a wand to everyone’s throat.”

Theseus immediately grunted in disapproval.

“Oh come on, that’s quite the generalization. Not every Auror is like that.”

Tara took a single step towards his desk, much in the same way she would whenever she was anticipating a fight.

“Oh yeah? Why don’t we go over the list of your lovely colleagues, huh?” she said, holding up the folder she had been given by Travers, all of her anger that had been slowly building up over the day finally reaching a boiling point. “William Morris? He used to bully your brother at school. Frank Gohl? His wife just reported him for domestic abuse. Marjorie Row? Your little secretary, girlfriend, whatever the hell- who was just in here? She was on a board that helped ban wizard involvement in the Muggle’s Great War. Raymond Firske? He’s got three sexual assault allegations against him right now! And I’m sure they’re just sitting on some Ministry desk, collecting dust while he gets to continue about his normal life. I could go on, would you like me to?”

Theseus flushed angrily.

He didn’t know all that.

“How is that my problem, exactly?” he fired back. “The people on my team aren’t like that. I’m not like that-”

Tara let out a bitter laugh, taking another challenging step forward.

“Oh yes, how could I forget about the great Theseus Scamander?” she said, waving her hands across the air in front of her. “The war hero of our generation. Who stands idly by, doing absolutely nothing while his order decays around him. How dare I not fall at your feet every time you open a fucking door!”

Theseus suddenly slammed his other hand down on top of his desk, the loud sound easily silencing the conversation without the use of his voice. 

Tara had jumped slightly in spite of herself as the boom echoed against the office walls. The man in front of her was fuming now, she could see it in his face and in the trembling of his shoulders.

She let out an exhale of something that felt akin to disgust.

“I can’t wait to lay your ass out in front of your precious co-workers.”

Theseus didn’t respond. Didn’t even so much as look up at her.

“Good day, Mr. Scamander.” she said with finality before turning to storm out of the office.

The door slammed shut behind her with so much force that the file Marjorie had brought in for him fell completely off of his desk and onto the floor.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───