It had really been too long, Benjamin noted as he plopped down onto a stool, putting an order into the bartender. Years had passed since he’s really spoken to one of the aurors he had trained many years ago. Merlin, he hadn’t realized it had been that long, but he supposed he was getting old, after all. The young talented woman had ventured off to Russia to complete some work for…well, he wasn’t really certain the nature of her visit all that well, but he trusted that if she felt the need to go, then she should have gone. He had fully supported her in her venture, knowing that it was hard on her since she was very much a part of a close-knit family.

Then, he heard about her family perishing at the hands of radicals. It was the true story, though Benjamin watched as the story was messily covered up, raising questions in his own mind about what they were trying to hide, whoever ‘they’ was. However, he had noticed, after attending the funeral, that she hadn’t been there. That was rather odd to him, worrying him slightly about her own safety. If there were people out trying to kill purebloods, and had already attacked her family, he really wondered how long it would take before she was personally attacked. Despite this, he knew she was trained well and would be able to handle most situations, unless she were ambushed. He smiled slightly, thanking the bartender for his drink, before taking a slow sip. Now that she was back in his department, he was thankful for the opportunity to keep somewhat of an eye, even if she were on work at the school. Figuring this was the perfect opportunity to see how things were going, he requested to meet up for casual drinks with an employee. Taking another slow sip, his eyes casually glanced about the small pub, having chosen this location for having the most privacy they’d hope to find anymore.

@persephone

Persephone was happy to be back to her original department, even if her detail was at the school. Though she equally enjoyed teaching. That was one thing that she had learned over in Russia. She had grown to really love teaching and training new recruits. It had been one of her favorite things when she wasn’t helping her husband with his business whenever he needed her. She would miss the look on the male recruits’ faces when she stepped up for them to spar against. It was a strange mix between hesitation to hit a woman, and a subtle cockiness that it would be an easy match. They learned quickly that if they held back with her she would lay them out in a heartbeat. Even with all of that aside she missed home, and apparently it had been a horrible decision for her to had left for as long as she did.

There was no point in getting upset about it now. She was just looking forward to having a drink and a chat with the man that taught her damn near everything she knew. She had only seen him in passing at the office seeing as she popped in on occasion to look over some paperwork before going about her usual schedule. She walked into the pub and glanced around. It didn’t take long for her to find her old friend. She approached the bar with a look of indifference. ”You look awfully familiar. Have we met before?” She asked him with a quirked eyebrow. She had missed her friend terribly and couldn’t help but fall back into old habits.

Even if Benjamin had a full force, he still would have made room to have his once-trainee to join his team again. She was a natural at what she did and often, he really wondered if she had even needed a trainer to begin with. Then, shortly after he had guided her, she had left, moving to Russia, or something, to help out. To him, it had been honorable why she had desired to become an auror, wanting to desperately protect her family however she possibly could. Though, Benjamin understood the sacrifice that came with this, especially when one’s family didn’t fully understand the requirements of being an auror. Now, Benjamin had eyes he could trust around here while shit was seemingly falling apart. There really weren’t many people he trusted anymore, but she certainly was on that list of people he COULD trust.

As soon as Benjamin heard the voice, he rose an eyebrow, turning towards the owner of it. “No, can’t say we have. Think I’d remember a head as big as yours,” he stated before a smirk fell across his features. Benjamin stood from his seat, opening his arms to embrace his old trainee. “Good to see the kids haven’t torn you apart just yet,” Benjamin chuckled, shaking his head lightly. “How are things there?”

Persephone wasn’t sure how the hell she had survived Russia without her old boss, well now current boss again. She had been on friendly terms with all but one supervisor she had in Russia, but none of them ever really compared. To her Ben wasn’t just someone she worked with or for, he was family. He was someone very near and dear to her heart. Whoever stepped on his toes was also stepping on hers, and that wasn’t a bright idea. She had always been cocky to an extent, though it was said in a more playful manner to others. It would be nice to be back with someone who didn’t doubt any of her abilities. Then again he would probably know better than anyone else how she operated on the job.

”I’d watch what you say, Duncanson. I’ve spent the last six years laying out Russian men bigger than you. Don’t make me kick your arse already.” She laughed before wrapping her arms around his middle and giving him a tight hug. ”I’m pretty sure the bulk of them are scared of me. Not sure why…” She added with a smirk and shrug before pulling away from her friend. Persephone paused for a moment as she thought over his question about how things were at the school. ”So far so good, some minor occurrences have started surfacing, but nothing too alarming as of yet.” She said quietly before waving down the bartender and ordering a drink.

Benjamin wasn’t certain why he even signed off to have Persephone leave her division in England when she had been such a wonderful asset to the team. Benjamin liked to hand select his Aurors, fully prepared to take responsibility for their failures, if there were any. He liked to train them even more than necessary, making sure that they were prepared for any and every situation .With his background as a Death Eater, he had known quite a bit of how wicked people could think, and how they would react. Dark witches and wizards did not play by any kind of rules, taking out any and every individual that crossed their path just for the heck of it. There was no care for life and care for what was fair. Dangerous times called for increased training and Benjamin had thoroughly believed that these were dangerous times…despite the Minister calling for peace, or whatever the hell he thought it was.

“They must have been slower too, then,” Benjamin joked. Usually, when men got big, if they weren’t careful, they had terribly slow reflexes. Too much muscle, not enough speed. People falsely believed that the bigger, the better. Clearly, that just wasn’t the case. “Perhaps they’ve learned the meaning of a DiTraverso woman,” the bloke laughed, shaking his head in amusement. “You may look sweet and innocent…or at least…nope, you look neither,” Benjamin stated, grinning at her. He had really missed his good friend, especially when he went to her family dinners when she wasn’t around for years on end. “How are YOU doing with being back?” he asked, now settling into his serious demeanor as he truly hoped his friend was dealing with the move alright.

Persephone nodded her head with a chuckle at his comment on the blokes she was training with back in Russia being slow. ”The bigger they are the harder they fall right?” She asked her old friend with a smile. It was always fun to get a large man in the department that thought he was invincible only to be taken out by blokes and other women not much bigger than her. ”I promise I put my training to good use over there. There are many aurors nursing bruised egos thank to you, Duncanson. They actually had me training recruits the last few years in between cases.” She had been completely swamped the whole time she was out of the country. She was fairly certain she hadn’t even celebrated many holidays while away working.

She shoved her elbow into his side at his next comment with a brief laugh. ”I’m plenty sweet and innocent.” It was a fair observation. Unless someone knew her on a more personal level she didn’t typically come off as an exceptionally friendly person though her new post at the school was helping with it. When she was in strictly ‘auror mode’ she knew she was intimidating and that was how she felt it was supposed to be.

She smiled at the bartender as he brought her a glass of red wine and thanked him with a gentle bow of her head. ”Put it on his tab. She said sweetly giving her old friend a big exaggerated smile. She missed home terribly. She rolled her eyes at Benjamin when he asked how she was doing. This was another thing she would have to get used to again. It had been awhile since she had so many people ask her questions on how she was. In all honesty it was kind of nice and irritating at the same time. ”I’m FINE. But it looks the department wasn’t doing so fine with me gone.” She paused taking a sip of her wine before a stern expression came over her face. ”I certainly got a fun greeting this past week.” Her eyes shined with humor despite her facial expression as a whole. She had already had a bit of fun with one of the new trainees. It seemed like one of the blokes she worked with before she left was still a bit of a ‘prankster’ and had conned a new trainee to make a pass at her saying she was the secretary.

A part of him worried having her working as both an Auror and a professor, but not because he felt her incapable of doing such. It was dangerous times being a pureblood. He was certain that if anyone really did want to take over the school, as it had happened so easily before, they would go after those they felt were the greater challenge. That would certainly include at least the Headmistress and the Auror that was doubling as a professor. People weren’t bloody stupid. They would understand fully why Persephone was there, knowing that someone somewhere was preparing for a showdown of sorts. However, he knew that Persephone knew precisely how to get in touch with him quickly in the case of an emergency so he had to trust her training…since he bloody gave it to her.

“That’s my girl,” he joked, proud of his former trainee and the accomplishments she had made throughout the years, even if he couldn’t witness many of them. “Training recruits, eh? Don’t know who was demented enough to give that job to you,” Benjamin stated seriously, though there was laughter in his eyes. “They must have been desperate,” he stated before finally smiling. “Good for you, Seph. Someone has to train them properly.”

Benjamin laughed heartedly as she told the bartender to put her wine on his tab, shaking his head in amusement. “Some things never change, do they?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow in her direction. Benjamin’s smirk grew at her words, having witnessed the transaction of one of his employees making a move on her. “Can’t blame a bloke for trying, can you?” he asked, laughing lightly. “Just like old times with the family, right?” he asked, recalling the many times he had been with her cousins and they would convince blokes to hit on her or one of the other DiTraverso women to see how she would react. Benjamin knew that the woman wasn’t fine, but he would gently press that issue throughout the conversation…at least, what they could talk about in public, anyways. Her brother and his family died, leaving her with the custody of the niece that she loved, but the niece seemed to harbor so much hatred towards the professor…he was quite certain she wasn’t bloody fine.

This was definitely what she needed. She felt extremely lucky that her supervisor also happened to be one of her closest friends as it made it much easier on her to discuss more personal matters as a few had already started popping up. While she knew she needed to consult him on the issue with the mysterious letters her niece was receiving this wasn’t the place. She had also found her mind constantly going back to who was responsible for Gio and his family’s death. It was driving her to the brink of insanity. Of course no one ever saw her few little breakdowns she had since coming home. She was typically able to hold them in until she was completely alone.

”No one said the Russians were very bright.” She joked with a light laugh before waving her hands in front of her to gesture she was just having a bit of fun. ”Honestly they were good people with some bloody good skills. I can’t even remember how many times they took me out before I got the hand of how they did things over there.” She said honestly. It did feel rather rewarding to be able to take down some of the large blokes she came across there who had initially handed her her arse in the beginning.

It was exactly like old times, and that made her smile widen. ”They certainly don’t. I’m sure your tabs have been reasonable the past five years. I need to make up for lost time.” She laughed lifting her glass to toast her old friend. She took a long sip before shaking her head in amusement. It seemed like no matter where she was she would have to deal with the fun little game Ben and her family had invented to aggravate her and the other women in the family. ”I’m telling you Duncanson, one day a guy is going to get a little too fresh with me and you’re going to lose one of your best aurors.” She took a sip of her drink quirking an eyebrow at him. He had seen her hex enough blokes in the bits for going overboard with her. She had absolutely no patience for that nonsense. So how have YOU been?” She asked. She knew he would slowly circle back around to her, but she did genuinely want to know what was going on in his life.

It really was nice to just catch up with an old friend and his employee, though this wasn’t always all about work. She was someone that he cared deeply about and someone he was glad to have back on the force. Despite their friendship, she never seemed to use that against him when it came to work matters, which was a relief. Benjamin liked to keep his work life and his personal life separate as much as possible. If she had decided to disrespect his authority in work, that would certainly cause issues, obviously. Fortunately, none of that had occurred. “Well, like I’ve told you before, anyone can make anyone fall to their knees if they know their weaknesses and know how to use them,” he shrugged. It was true. A petite 5’0 woman could most certainly find a way to knock a large, 6’7 bloke to the ground if she knew where to hit and how hard. Though, that of course wasn’t to say that that would always be the case. Blokes were just built differently than women, as it were.

“Reasonable…that’s a way to put it,” he chuckled, shaking his head lightly. “And here I was liking the fact that I didn’t have to work my arse off to pay for your drinking habits,” he joked. He was from Scotland; his drinking habits were already strong, building up a large tolerance which helped him quite often. He could grab a drink on the job, not that he would, and still be fine in the end. “You, walk away from being an auror? I’ll believe that when I see it,” Benjamin laughed. Merlin, if any bloke got a little too fresh, he’d have his arse out of there so quickly. “I’ve been good. You haven’t met Tia yet, my girlfriend, so there’s that,” he stated casually, knowing that he couldn’t tell her of his frustrations with Durant and with things going on in general. People were always listening and Isaiah certainly seemed to have ears everywhere.

She smiled at her friend’s assessment thankful that he had been the first to train her. He had always been a tough teacher, and she probably couldn’t even count on two hands how many times he had magically and physically taken her out during training. She eventually caught up and couldn’t but smile a bit wider as she remembered dancing around the room as her boss lay on the ground the first time she had ever successfully won against him. That had been well over a decade ago and she briefly wondered if she had even more of an advantage after training in Russia for so long.

”Hey I’ve got to give you some kind of incentive to work.” She laughed lightly taking another sip of her drink. Her tolerance had built up quite a bit since she left England, but as they say ‘when in Rome’.. well ‘when in Russia’. She would of course sneakily pay off his tabs on occasion, not being able to let her friend always be the one to treat. ”Me walk away from being an auror? Oh absolutely not, you’d have to give me the boot. And I know you won’t do that since no one else is going to willingly deal with your mess and feed you every Sunday.” She said giving him a playful shove just feeling grateful to be back home with her best friend. It didn’t even feel like she had really left in that moment. Well not entirely, but that was probably a good thing.

She quirked an eyebrow at Benjamin when he said he was dating. Unfortunately he had trained her far too well, that and the fact that they shared an office space temporarily for her to not know about the woman. She really needed to remind him that he should stop leaving cases open on his desk. ”Oh I’ve already done some homework on your lady friend.” She started before crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a stern look. ”You know, the family is going to have a fit if you don’t bring her around soon. Then again her lot are absolutely bonkers. Honestly I’ve been to two different countries and everyone I’ve met that held the same title were either nutters, or self-important asshats.” She laughed. It wasn’t that she had an issue with the woman personally, but this was her best friend and as far as she was concerned no one would ever be good enough for him.