bait_backup | War became a job, and love became a mystery, and heart and head were rent into two

*It's been a long day for Sirius. At least he's back on real Auror duty, and working hard despite being the greenest member of the squad still. He's taken initiative, even brought in this man--one Gilbert Kenniwick--on a variety of petty charges. Trafficking in restricted artifacts, trafficking in restricted creatures--kid stuff, enough to earn him a sentence but not really enough to interest the Auror office. It all could have been dealt through other channels if Sirius had not also been tracing a series of tenuous connections related to giant attacks. His confessed movements in and out of giant territory point right at him being involved somehow in attacks. Twice now, right after he has left giant territory, a major attack has gone down on a Muggle town. It's been more than a month since the last one and they caught Gilbert trying to catch a Portkey to Latvia this morning. Sirius'll be damned if he gets there.

But it's been five hours now and Gilbert isn't talking. His bag full of various treasures are his own, he says, and he's not taking orders from anyone. It's time, Sirius knows, to bring in someone who might just know what they're doing more than he does.

He approaches Alice's desk and drops the file on Gilbert in front of her, crossing his arms.*

Got a minute?

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*While she's hesitant to bring in another person in, Alice still doesn't understand what they are arguing over.*

I don't even know what this conversation is about yet.

It's fine. I'll take Kenniwick from here. Alice, you're right, he doesn't know anything, I was wrong about the connection to the giants. I'll turn him over to the right people in Improper Use of Magic, all right? This is just a regulatory offense at this point. It's not for us.

Sirius, what is wrong? You asked for my help, you know me and my methods, and you know how interrogation goes.

*Alice knows he's green, but that isn't much of an excuse anymore. He has been an Auror for almost a year now, and this behaviour isn't acceptable.*

*Gideon's gaze flickers again between the two of them--and he knows, now, what's been going on with Kenniwick. He's aware of Alice's methods (she and Frank both) and utterly opposed to them; he won't use them himself and never has. But they're good people, the two of them, good Aurors--great Aurors, his best friend and his wife besides--so, well, that is that. Some subjects they don't bring up. Some questions Gideon doesn't ask himself.

So it's easy enough for him to shrug, now, to smile, to try and defuse whatever Alice is trying to restart.*

If it's just Improper Use of Magic, Alice, it's not worth bothering with, is it?

I was just heading out, come with?

*Sirius rubs his forehead and tries to relax his tone, hoping to at least sound grateful.*

I'm going to fill out some paperwork, transfer him to the right people, get him patched up. Thanks for your help.

*He nods to Gideon, and starts off down the hall.*

*Watching him go, Alice is reminded of being back at Hogwarts - his behaviour is so frustratingly juvenile sometimes. Her annoyance at his professional actions grow too, when she realises he is leaving his person sitting in the interrogation room bound to a chair and with no clue about his fate.

She sighs, then looks up at Gideon.*

One second, yeah?

*Quickly she goes back into Kenniwick and heals his hand and nose, tells him he'll be transferred to the Improper Use of Magic Office, and loosens his ropes a little before she goes back to Gideon.*

Headed home, then?

*It's more than a second-- it's a few minutes actually, long enough for Gideon to shift from foot to foot a bit, to wonder uncomfortably what Alice is doing alone with Black's suspect after they've just had a dispute over methods. By the time she returns he's half-wishing he hadn't said anything at all, and hefts his armload of paperwork with obvious relief as he walks with her out of the office.*

Hestia's, actually.

Oh? How's that?

It's going. She's a great girl.

*It's said with a small shrug as they step into the elevator together. It's a bit crowded, and doesn't seem the place to chat about either Hestia or whatever Alice was at it with Sirius about, so as the smooth female voice announces each floor in turn he falls silent, holding his paperwork to his chest and trying to think about the former rather than the latter. Sirius was green, still, or greenish, and could be a jumble of nerves even on his best day--but what had she been doing in there--*

We're having dinner at her place, doing our respective homework. Exciting world of dating an Auror.

*It's no secret that the twins and the Longbottoms do not agree about what Aurors should and should not do, but it's a topic that neither set broaches. Alice can guess that Gideon's thoughts are still back in room three, but she knows better than to bring it up. Her tactics were not extraordinary, not even individual to herself. People in the office do far worse everyday, and for much less. But Sirius's reaction doesn't add up. As a trainee, he observed probably every Auror interrogate at some point, and Alice's brutality is not unheard of. She can't understand what triggered it.

As they step out of the elevator, Alice returns to the conversation.*

I remember those days...well, I'm sure you remember too.

Well, I'm in them, so. Remembering is easy.

Say hello to Frank for me, will you?

*The Atrium is noisy, filled with witches and wizards heading doggedly for Floos, so he has to raise his voice to be heard above it. With a little attempt at a wave, Gideon hefts his armload of files and sets off for a fireplace of his own.*

So long, Alice.

War became a job, and love became a mystery, and heart and head were rent into two

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