If you take a swing, she swing back
She say, I'm not your punchin' bag

outfit - @thorfinn

Eleanor had been surprised when she got the post as head of department. While she had been hoping for a high ranking job, and was sure that she deserved it out of all the Death Eaters, considering her experience with education and her loyalty to the cause, but she'd still doubted she would get it. Wentzell was very particular who he gave which posts to, and as a lesbian Death Eater she figured she was pretty low down on the list. Maybe her personal contacts had helped her with that, she was related so a few people pretty close to him, after all. As things were, she had everything running smoothly. Well, mostly. As smoothly as possible, considering the way she could barely touch anything in the school while that damned Aurora was Headmistress and that Irons was still Dean at Lufkin. Now that Sebastian was at the school, she figured she could get some progress on the education that was provided, assuming he agreed to her plans. The University was a complication, but she knew how to work with that. All she needed now was to fine-iron her plans and proposals and show them to the Minister, and hope he would accept.

Most everyone in her department had gotten with the program, so far, which she was thankful for. She had enough to worry about and to manage without also having to discipline her own employees. While she was perfectly capable and willing to do so, there were other things she would rather be doing. Like her job, the one she was assigned to. There were a few incidents here and there which required her attention from time to time, and even more often now that the school was under lockdown. When will they get out? What do we tell the parents? How can we hold children hostage? It was the work of cruel savages. All right, that last one Eleanor had tortured where he stood. She didn't have time to deal with imbeciles who thought taunting Death Eaters to their face was a right idea. To all the other questions, she'd merely raised an eyebrow and told them to not bother her with nonsense and get out of her sight. Truly, she had no clue when the children would get out, since she wasn't the one calling the shots in that whole ordeal. She also did not care what was told to the parents of the remaining children, since she had handled the Death Eater and pureblood parents just fine. As for 'how' they could hold children hostage... it turned out to be quite an easy feat.

The fact remained that the department was more work than she expected, but not more work than she was prepared to do. Sometimes she still needed to breathe, however, and when that happened she looked to clear her head with some company. Of course, Roma was far from being available at all times, but she had various family members somewhere in the Ministry. Leda, for example, but lately Leda wasn't overly pleasant to be around. Not since that first husband of hers had died. He had been Eleanor's cousin. Well, second cousin. Leander and Thorfinn were her second cousins on her mother's side, and Leda was her first cousin on her father's. How... pureblood of her family. While she had never been very close to Leander, though he had been enough fun even if he had been two years younger than her. Thorfinn had never been much fun, always sour and somewhat too silent. On occasion, however, she felt like sharing a silent drink with him. So she left her office, took an elevator, and walked to his office. The assistant didn't try to stop her, knew better than to do that, since Eleanor was a familiar face here. Even if she hadn't been, her elbow length sleeves plainly showed the dark mark on her forearm.

Reaching the door, she figured it was polite to knock before barging in.

outfit

THERE WAS ONLY SO much paperwork a wizard could take without being tempted to set the whole world on fire. Thor was very close. But because he was a controlled, rational man, he only placed his quill on his desk very carefully and waved a hand to make sure the parchments spread about filed themselves properly. No matter how much he would have loved if something mysterious happened and destroyed all the blasted missives, letters and reports. However, they were sadly important. Thor was even fair enough to recognise that not all of it was terrible. Cousin Verena's husband Ragnar had brought a long, friendly letter that had contained mostly good news from his brother Kílian, who took care of the foreign affairs for Iceland - Thor's counterpart, technically. Jaehaerys Maenlarys had also stopped by for a quick chat, assuring him that his family's allies in Norway and Sweden were leaning towards a British alliance despite the outward neutrality. All in all, the progress being made almost made up for all the ridiculous posturing from France and outright hostility from Spain. Almost.

There were quite a few state visits to worry about as well, even though many had been cancelled after the coup. It made these visits that were still going to happen even more important, in his opinion. They needed allies, Britain needed more countries willing to stand by them in international matters. More than that, they needed trade options in case France and Spain did go through with their threats of cutting off the routes. It was...unlikely at this point but it was Thorfinn's job to be prepared. Well, it was now. With Bell out of the way and the department in his hands, Thor had been allowed to focus on building new bridges instead of trying mend the old ones. They didn't owe the French or the Spanish anything, after all. If they wanted to take up causes that weren't theirs, then it was too bed. He would not grovel at their feet, begging for scraps whilst they tried to manipulate internal affairs.

Summoning a brand new bottle of honey mead, Thor poured himself a glass just as someone knocked on his door. His eyebrows rose. Lady Zabini was a competent enough assistant and wouldn't often allow people into the inner office without announcing them. With one notable exception. Rolling his eyes, he summoned another wine glass and filled it with the golden, fragrant liquid. Then, he opened the door with a flick of his wrist, revealing his dearest cousin standing there, in all her pureblood glory. "If you're here to talk about work, El, it will have to wait. This is the alcohol break," he warned, voice mock grave. "Take a seat, if you will. The chair hasn't gotten any more comfortable in the week since your last visit, I'll have you know."

Things at work could be worse, she admitted it. At least her subordinates did their jobs, despite the fact that they mostly only did it out of fear, and she was surrounded by people she considered to be family. Thor indeed was her family, and she had an uncle and a cousin in the department of Mysteries and several others scattered about in the Ministry. Even her sons popped in and out of the place more often than not, Jules staying behind to hang around in her office at times and Ivan choosing to walk around and work on his proper job. The whole thing with Ivan's cousin was troublesome, but thankfully Thor had told her he would take a look at the international side of things. It wasn't as if it was all that complicated. Just a girl recently graduated from Beauxbatons who was coming to live with them, the only thing that changed the circumstances was that she was not a British national. Of course that was the result of her parents and grandparents' cowardice and the fact that they'd run from the war and its results. Pathetic. If it weren't for the fact that taking her in and finding her a husband would give Ivan the title of head of the Warrington family, she would've told Roma to keep the brat out of their house. She didn't want the girl influencing Jules or Loraine, she didn't want traitors or cowards around her children. Not much that could be done about that now, though.

"I was counting on it," she grumbled, closing the door behind her and walking to the bar that stood at the side of the office. From it she took a decanter filled with firewhiskey, which she poured into a crystal whiskey glass. She really needed something strong, right now, to keep her calm. How she hated dealing with difficult people. She didn't have the patience or the time to put up with everyone's nonsense, she did that enough at home, and it frankly took everything out of her to not just torture every single person that stepped into her office whining about homeschooling their kids. "I figure the only reason you keep these chairs is to torture your lovely guests. Really, I should do the same instead of trying to be pleasant. What a waste of time."

She drew her wand and transfigured the hard chair into an armchair, softer and far more comfortable, before taking a seat before her cousin. Truly, Thor was almost a decade older than her, but they got along just fine. Rather, they got along when they were both in foul moods and needed to complain about the world's idiocy. Otherwise she always did her best to taunt him into things. Not because she wanted to be a nuisance, but because she really think that some things were for his own good. Thorfinn had rather unhealthy habits, at times, and she liked looking our for him. Not that he was a child, but he tended to be wilfully blind on occasion. Still, family was family and she cared for him. It also didn't hurt that he had been one of the members of the family that had caught on to what she did to Thaddeus and actually congratulated her on it. Bless him.

"Killed anyone yet? I'm tempted to let Jules talk me into going snatching with him, just to blow off steam." She took a sip of her glass. If work wasn't enough, Thor also had to plan Amy's wedding. Dear, oh dear. The man had always been unreasonable when it came to her, because of Leander of course. Then again, she would admit that would be burning everything to the ground, had she had to plan Loraine's wedding as soon as the girl graduated.

"Bad day at work?" He asked, ironically, already knowing that his cousin was having, at least, as much problems as he was. Both of them were fighting uphill battles, in the end. Their territories had, for a long, long time, been dominated by mudblood lovers and light side imbeciles,. The policies in place went against everything they wanted to do and changing them was hard work. Especially when there were still people fighting them every step of the way. Thor watched as Eleanor poured herself a drink, only raising one eyebrow at her words. Really, now. Was it surprising? "Of course. Just because I can't torture them with spells because of diplomacy doesn't mean I have to be nice," he scoffed, taking a sip of his drink. "Pleasantries are for people who don't have power. I want people to be as efficient as possible and be out of my office as soon as business is concluded."

Thor disliked idle chitchat, especially with people he didn't like. Which was almost everyone he wasn't directly related with. There were his mates, of course, and he tolerated Parkinson for the sake of El but, in general, Thorfinn believed that the less of people he saw, the better. But El, she was an exception. Didn't try to engage him on stupid gossip, knew which buttons not to push and tried to mother him even though he was much older than she was. They got along just fine, especially when they were drinking and irritated. More importantly, Thor respected her for her power. She had killed her husband and few had been the wiser but he had known. Whilst spouse murder wasn't something he was very keen on, Thaddeus had been a bastard of a man - never mind the bloke had been a half decent Death Eater. And El had raised Loraine and Jules to be decently well-behaved children, which counted a lot in her favour. Parenting was hard, as he had good cause to know.

"Not for lack of want, I must say," he admitted quietly, mind wandering to the meetings he still had that day. And the upcoming state visits. And the last preparations for Amy's wedding. So many things to do, so little time and will. There was a reason why Thor kept to his work as much as he could. This way, he didn't have to think about his personal life and the changes occurring in it. He didn't have to acknowledge that Amy would be leaving, like Leander left. Amalthea had never been his, she was always going to leave home to marry - the same way Leander had never been his to keep. It was...better not to think of it. "Jules walked by the office one of these days dripping blood. None of it his, he assured me. I miss the days I was actively encouraged to maul people like that."

"Very," she responded. Oh, Monroe wasn't useless, even if her head was in the clouds more often than Eleanor would have liked. Same age as Ivan, that girl, but she hadn't finished her education and was working as an assistant. Not that she had an issue with it, in her opinion Ivan pushed himself too hard. Studied too many hours and worked too many hours. A diligent and intelligent boy, of course, but with little sense of his own limits. It was a good thing he was working in Fernando's apartment, she knew her friend would not take advantage of the boy's perfectionism by trying to make him do more work than he ought to. No, the problem today had not lain in her assistant or her fellow Death Eaters or her children. It had been caused by that blasted board of directors of the school. Oh, sure, most had been replaced by proper people now, but they couldn't very well push out two purebloods no matter how light they might be. Wood and Theroux, both thorns in her side. They'd delayed the improvement of the Hogwarts curriculum for ages, and even then refused to accept most things. It was a good thing that there was only two of them, and there were two other governors with proper heads on their shoulders. In the event of a tie, it was for the head of the department to cast the last vote. Still, it had been more trouble than it was worth.

"You lucky man, you." She took a sip of her whiskey and sat back down, crossing her legs and rubbing her temple with a few fingers. "Most of the people that come into my office seem to think I will be perfectly pleasant and easy going. One would think that me being the only female head of department would make then question why exactly that was. Instead I get fools who think that because my department handles education they seem to think I will be compassionate and maternal. The nerve of it." It was true that Eleanor cared a lot about the younger generations of their society and their proper upbringing, but that was because she believed that the quality of a country's education dictated the quality of life they would all later have. It had nothing to do with her caring about the children specifically. She cared about her children, and children in an abstract sense. That was why she had enforced a conduct regimen for the Death Eater professors at the school. Children getting hurt was bad and senseless, most people would know that. It didn't mean she would go melting into a puddle at every sob story she was presented with.

It was a good thing she and her cousin shared a floor, so she could just up and visit him whenever she had a few minutes' break. Like this. At least Thorfinn's disgruntled and sour nature was good for something. That was, for allowing her to express her own bitterness and bad mood. Few people liked hanging around her cousin constantly, and she would admit that she sometimes despaired as his constant 'woe is me' state. Still, she loved and appreciated him greatly. He'd been a lot of help during the war, guiding hand and a watchful eye when her father and husband weren't around to provide it. She had only been twenty or twenty one at the time, after all. "He's a good boy, and quite skilled. A bit overzealous at times, but Ivan is mostly with him to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. At least he's also studying on the side and doing his job at the Wizengamot. Not that he does it alone, you and father and various other family members are mostly around to guide him. He'll have to find a proper job soon enough, however."

"Welcome to the club, El," raising his glass in a mock salute, he knocked it all back and waved his hand to get himself a refill. Some days, alcohol was the only way he had of going through the day, so much that drinking a few doses wouldn't disrupt his work day. Thor had built an impressive tolerance to liquor. "Working in the Ministry is hell, except we are all here voluntarily," he couldn't wait until the days things were stable and he could finally leave these headaches to someone else and focus only on the Wizengamot. At least there the field was known and he didn't have to deal with the haughtiness of foreign idiots who thought they could dictate internal policy. He supposed El didn't think the same, though. The woman had done much, worked too hard to be recognised in such way to give up power so easily. Especially since Jules could take his seat on the House for himself, instead of needing his mother to stand as his Lady Regent until he was of age. His cousin would make a terrifying presence in the House, Thor was sure of it. Pity she couldn't have inherited her father's seat.

"It's the whole soft, motherly energy you give out in the distance," he himself had never been fooled but he wouldn't judge too harshly a man that had been. Mostly, he had learnt that his fellow purebloods had been taught that women were weak, flowery things that could not handle true power. He, himself, had never thought much of women at all until he had been faced with Leda - then, Leander's wife. Thor had found her lacking, at the time, not worthy of his brother. She had made him happy, though, and Thor was loathe to deny his baby brother anything that gave him joy. After...after...Thor had realised that most women had more strength than many of the men he knew put together. El and her late mother had been those sort, witches that would have ruled the world had it not been controlled by wizards. "You shouldn't be so mad about it, honestly. Makes it easier to murder them when you need it. Then, after a good number of them have been eviscerated, they'll learn not to underestimate you, cousin. I wouldn't worry overly much," then again, Thor himself had never gone through that. Even those who didn't respect him feared him. His power and ability were never in question, much less because of his gender. What did he know of El's plight?

"He has decent insights, though he lacks the subtlety to bring people around his point of view most of the time," Jules would be a good Lord, soon. The lad just needed to cast off the cloak of boy and become a man. Whilst Thor would never say so - since he didn't fancy getting cursed, he wasn't stupid -, El was partially to blame by the fact the lad wasn't fully ready for his responsibilities. She had coddled him much, allowed him to do as he wished for too long. "I'll talk to Rod about an apprenticeship for him, when he's done with university. Or maybe a job in the Department. It would do him good, to learn what diplomacy actually is. But he's got time, El. Let the boy hunt down mudbloods as long as he's still doing reasonably well in his studies and the House."

Eleanor's household was a busy one. Between her being the head of a department at the Ministry, Roma being the editor of the Prophet, Loraine being a surgeon, Jules being a student and a snatcher, and Ivan being a student, a snatcher and working at the Ministry, they all their very busy schedules. It made for hectic mornings and days in which no one knew who would be home and at what hour. It was mostly fine, they managed to coordinate at least a few dinners a week in which they were all together, but it was difficult. The over time she was having to put in because people couldn't get over the fact that Death Eaters were running their children's education was...well, it would be hilarious if it weren't for the fact that it made her feel like going on a killing spree. If she went on one,however, there was no way she would ever be able to look her son in the eye and tell him that he couldn't solve all his problems with violence. Sometimes there were things people had to do even if they didn't like it, and Lords and Ladies simply did not go out on a rampage. Not with so little reason as people gave me more work because that was unreasonable. She'd specifically pulled strings to get herself the job. With Thorfinn, with Sebastian, with her father, with Roma's cousin Julius. She'd worked hard to get this position, and she wasn't going to squander it because people were making her do her job.

"Oh, yes. That. Do you know how many requests for homeschooling we got this summer? Hundreds. It was ridiculous. I understand that these fools seem to think that the harming of a mudblood means their children are also in danger, which is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while. Of course, Ares said there was to be no homeschooling anymore but that didn't stop people from trying to appeal to my motherly sympathies by bringing pictures of their snot nosed little brats to shove at me." Her nose curled in disgust as she downed the rest of her glass. She set it aside, making it clear she didn't want a refill. There was work she needed to finish, and while there was time for that she knew it would take longer to finish if she'd had more to drink. She'd promised Roma they could go out for dinner tonight, so she really didn't want to stay here too late. "That's true. It's a chore, however. I don't think it's too much to expect for people to just remember who they're talking to. It's not worrying, it's annoying."

"Yes, I was considering talking to Rodolphus too. I suppose Carlisle Rosier is skilled also, but he's constantly at Hogwarts and I don't hold much admiration for the man. On the other hand, he's much less likely to discipline Jules as thoroughly as Rod is. Not that it wouldn't be worth it, an apprenticeship with the best is nothing to sneeze at." She sighed, it was something she'd considered for a while. Eleanor herself was not one for corporeal punishment, and her father hadn't been either, but that didn't mean she hadn't been subjected to the cruciatus curse at least once. She didn't recall exactly who did it. It had been painful, sure, but at the end of the day that had passed. She didn't think there was a single Death Eater around who hadn't felt it at least once, and in those days it wasn't shameful. It was just something that happened if you were in the ranks. Nothing to laugh about, but also not something particularly terrible. No doubt that if it happened to Jules... well, she herself would want to know the reason behind such an action, but if it was Rodolphus she knew there would be occasions in which there was no reason. The man was as formidable as ever, but he had his moments in which he went too quiet for anyone's liking. That was dangerous. Uncontrolled people without anything to limit them are dangerous. That was why Lancelot Carrow wasn't a threat, Amalthea had him right where she wanted him. Rodolphus Lestrange, however, was unpredictable. As much as she would support him over probably any other faction in the Death Eaters, she was a realistic person. "There is time for that, though I know Loraine is already trying to get him to make up his mind. She always had her plans in order, her and Ivan both. Jules is a freer spirit, but he'll need to mature eventually. Actually, sooner would be preferable over later."

In the end, no matter how annoyed they got at their jobs - or rather, at the people that made their jobs difficult -, Thor knew that El would agree with him in the fact that what they did was necessary and there were few people as qualified for that as they were. The number of Death Eaters in general was nothing to scoff at but, among those, one would be hard pressed to find someone even remotely competent, much less qualified for Ministry work. All of those who were had been drafted by Wentzell to put the country back in its tracks. Him, El, his uncle, Parkinson - no matter that he would never say so to the wizard in question -, Rodolphus, Julius... All of them, the deadliest of the lot. Of course, there were others but they were all similarly busy in strategic positions. Like Roma, controlling the news outlet. It was just a genius play, putting people you could trust to further your agenda in charge. And no halfbloods, as far as Thor was aware. Just because they could earn their Mark it didn't mean they would get to be on the top. Leadership, one had to be born to it. And it involved names and families and blood. It wasn't as easy as getting Marked.

"They are bringing you pictures?" he snorted, mirth gleaming in his eyes. Mordred, the idea of anyone thinking El had motherly sympathies was ridiculous enough to merit a good laugh but for them to actually bring over pictures... Some people just didn't know how to quit. Or who to appeal to, actually. Of all people in the entire Ministry, Eleanor was the last one a parent should assume to be soft enough to be persuaded. No, Thor was the last. El came just after him. "I frankly think that homeschooling should have never been allowed. Then again, Hogwarts hadn't been the sort of place I liked sending my children to until recently, so I suppose I can see where they are coming from. Maybe," had he had a choice, he'd have kept both Amalthea and Diodorus to be taught at home instead of sending them to that castle. However, there had been several reasons that rendered that plan impossible. For one, he had been a convicted Death Eater and no one would grant him permission to dictate whatever was being taught to them. And even if by a miracle he managed to get leave for that, there had barely been gold to feed all of them, much less hiring a tutor. Between the work in the camp and the workings of a revolution, he'd have had no time to do it himself. In the end, Hogwarts was the only option.

"Not only it would be worth it but I also hold the thought that it's better that he learn how to deal with pain under a friendly wand than an enemy's," he said, firmly, ignoring the fact that he had neglected to put Amy through that. Dio was too young still, the curse would do much damage. But Amy was a married woman already and he should have trained her in this a long time ago. Mayhap a word with that husband of hers would have been a possibility, if Thor had trusted the lad not to get too carried away. Killing the Carrow heir would be a hassle that he didn't need. El, he knew, wouldn't have considered it, wasn't the sort to teach her children these things. He respected her position whilst politely disagreeing. It was just...parenting divergences. "Rod's the best at what he does, El. Talk to Jules. Or rather, leave it to Loraine. He loves you but he's terrified of Lori. It breeds character, to be beholden to one's sibling."