This year was just off to an absolutely horrible…and great…start. Usually when that happened, Benjamin knew it was going to be a very long year, filled with more drama than he ever wanted to see. Durant told him to drop the case with Tia, leaving her to her stalker for no good reason whatsoever. He had some personal vendetta against purebloods, seeking to destroy them all as if they all were apparently evil. A family that had practically become his family had been murdered in cold blood because of their status, even if that story was still kind of vague in the papers and then Persephone had returned, married, stirring up a bit of trouble in that family. Now, the only daughter left from the family that had been murdered was receiving letters from a dead man…which he and Seph were looking into quietly because Durant had his head stuck so far up his arse that anything involving a pureblood would seem like a hoax to him, them seeking attention.



Now, it was late, way past when he had intended on leaving as he was cooped up inside, flipping through various paperwork. The Minister was dead set on setting people his way to make observations and he had to protect his employees from the corruptness of the leadership. Every day, it seemed like the Minister wanted his hand on something his employees were doing, sticking his nose where it certainly did no good and Benjamin seemed to be spending most of his time trying to keep everything running smoothly and sticking up for his employees than actually doing any work and it was really making him fall behind, needing to pull long nights just to catch up. Taking a sip of the water on his desk, he flipped the page, reading the information carefully, knowing it was going to be another long night.



@persephone

Persephone made her way down the quiet desolate floor of the auror department towards Ben’s office, her teaching robes billowing out behind her as she went. Normally she at least took off her outer teaching robes seeing as she always wore business attire under it before heading to the office, but she was so preoccupied with getting there that she hadn’t even bothered. It wasn’t like everyone didn’t know she was teaching while still doing auror work if she were to run into a straggler. It had been a long day at the school with her Slytherin's acting absolutely ridiculous which kept her later than usual.

The letter she had found that came from beyond the grave this time was far more disturbing than the others and she couldn't wait any longer to do more digging, comparisons, and add to the mile long list of notes she'd started when Bells first started receiving them. Whoever the scumbag was was messing with the wrong bloody family. She wasn't sure if Ben would be in, not that it particularly mattered. She had lost her office from her move and still had yet to have one of her own again. Thankfully Ben hadn't minded sharing his space with her, even if she had already 'moved in' before he gave the okay. Before she had left it wasn't uncommon for her to keep and work on bigger cases in his office seeing as she liked having him close by for them. So this little move hadn't seemed out of the ordinary to anyone who had worked with her previously.

It felt like an eternity before she reached the door seeing that a light was still on from under the door. She pushed it open gently closing it behind her before tossing her outer teaching robes on a chair in front of his desk along with her briefcase not really taking much notice of him. Her mind was on overdrive not wanting to stop her train of thought to exchange pleasantries. She moved swiftly behind his desk gently nudging him out of the way to get to one of the desk drawers to pull out everything she had thus far on their mystery writer before muttering in Russian under her breath as she stood up flipping through her notes. The muttering had become quite the bad habit though it was nice that no one outside of her husband could tell just how vulgar she was being, not that Ben hadn't heard her horrific language before.

Benjamin had been focused on reading the piece of parchment that he didn’t even look up when someone entered his office, figuring that whoever it was would make themselves known shortly. It wasn’t like many people were able to get into the Ministry to begin with and those that were a danger, would hardly see to the Head of Auror’s office. At the corner of his eye, he recognized Persephone immediately, still not taking the time to look away from his work. Benjamin felt rather behind in everything going on and he really just needed to stay focused at this point, knowing that if the auror needed something, she would get his attention. They really needed to get more office space for the aurors that they had, hiring more than they currently had space for just to keep up with the circles the Minister was setting them in.

He moved out of the way when she nudged him, slightly confused by the action. She normally wasn’t that rude, throwing him off by her not even acknowledging him. His eyes moved to see what she was obtaining, narrowing at the contents. He had thought they would put the ‘case’ aside for the moment while he looked into some lead oversees, but apparently she wasn’t sitting and waiting. He should have known that if family was involved, there was no way she’d suddenly discover patience as a useful trait. When she muttered in what sounded to be Russian, Benjamin narrowed his eyes, further, leaning back in his seat to watch her as she stood, flipping through notes of some sort. Benjamin cleared his throat loudly, attempting to get her attention.“Mind telling me what’s going on?” he asked her, trying to figure out what it was that made her come barging in at this time to review the case.

It was not normal for Persephone to get so wound up when it came to cases, but then again this one was personal. This wasn’t just a case with people she had no real ties to, this had to deal with the last remaining member of her brother’s family. This had to do with one of the most important people in her life, her niece. It was as if she had tunnel vision when she walked into the office as all she could think about was getting to that paperwork to start comparing the newest letter to what they had already. She knew it would have probably been a good idea to announce why she was so driven to get to that case without even greeting him the moment she walked behind the desk.

One hand held open the folder as the other trailed a finger along the lines she had written when she discovered the last letter. She had been so engrossed in it that it wasn’t until she heard him clear his throat that she glanced over at him. ”Our dead guy wrote again…” She said simply with her eyebrows raised. ”Don’t give me that look.” She added as an afterthought as she lay the folder down on top of the nearby filing cabinet before walking around the desk once again to start rummaging through her briefcase. ”You’ll understand in a second.” She said over her shoulder while she continued to search.

Cases that involved a personal relationship was highly frowned upon, like Benjamin taking the case of his girlfriend. Unfortunately, that case was cancelled, which he had seen coming before it happened. That was why he hadn’t made this an official case, knowing that Durant would simply say that Persephone were over reacting and that it was some childish joke. Purebloods were never up to any good in Durant’s eyes. Besides, all they had were letters that were not all that threatening to her niece so it couldn’t be an active case when they were too busy making fools of themselves questioning other purebloods for whatever reason Durant came up with. However, Benjamin knew that it was impossible to drop cases that were personal which is why he didn’t even request that to his worker.

Benjamin quirked an eyebrow at her response, sitting a littler straighter in his seat. “And where is the letter?” he asked, though he knew she was going to show it to him soon. He wasn’t sure what exactly she was looking for, but he started to push the parchments on top of his desk into a pile, clearing it for this case. Whatever was on that letter must have been concerning enough to Persephone to make her leave the castle as she were.

She really needed to dial it back a bit. She really did not like feeling this antsy. There had been cases far more disturbing and stressful than this that she took on with poise and professionalism that could quite possibly rival many seasoned aurors, but this was a completely different story entirely. She wasn't there to protect Gio and the rest of the family and she'd be damned for that to happen again. She had already failed them once while she was in Russia but now she was home and she would not fail them again. Sometimes she wondered if they all would have still been alive if she never left granted she never spoke about that to anyone. It was selfish and unimportant to bring up. This wasn't about her. It was about keeping her family safe.

Persephone pulled a large envelope from her briefcase and turned to face him just in time to see him clear a spot on his desk to lay everything out. She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders feeling the tension there becoming uncomfortable as her body had reacted so aggressively to her concerns over her newest discovery. "As per the norm it isn't cursed, there seems to have been nothing else sent with it. This one didn't have any form of odor or residue on it but I still went ahead and did a quick screening of it on my lunch break for common poisons in the old potions lab." She walked back over to him placing the envelop in front of him before standing straight with her arms crossed over her chest, finally able to pull herself back into her work persona. "The results of that screening are in there as well as a routine work up of the letter as a whole." She added standing beside him waiting for him to look over its contents.

When Benjamin had heard that Isabella was receiving letters from an unknown source, he hadn’t been worried. When it was discovered that the unknown source was from someone who supposedly died, Benjamin did find himself getting worried now, though. He wondered if Seph had ever talked to Isabella yet, or if Isabella even knew her letters had disappeared. A part of him figured that even if Seph had talked to Isabella, the girl would still be upset that her privacy was compromised. Ditraverso women seemed to be absolutely ridiculous at times he had noted throughout the years, especially when they wanted their way. So, he supposed it was better that they investigated slowly and quietly so to avoid any unnecessary fighting.

He waited for her to continue, listening carefully to her words, making his own notes in his head at them. Benjamin really didn’t like people touching his family either, so yes, this case was rather personal. The lad watched as she put the folder onto his desk, nodding once when she saw what it was in reference to. Holding a piece of fabric, he carefully opened the folder, disposing it of its contents. “Are you going to tell me what you found?” he asked even as he was readying himself for the information it contained. His eyes scanned the paperwork, waiting for her to continue. “Have you talked to your niece yet are is there any consistency in the delivery of the letters?” he shot off, his eyes rereading the parchment.

She had had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach from the moment she discovered the first letter. Bells had written quite a bit before her family’s death as her sister-in-law had always encouraged her daughter to do so. Persephone’s sister-in-law had seemed to be the only one that tried to understand just why she couldn’t be around when she was working in Russia, and now she was gone. She loved the woman as the sister she never had, and even the case on the murders had stagnated with no new leads or evidence. It was excruciatingly painful to know that unless something remarkable happened that it would go cold. The department had been swamped with cases as of late, and the professional side of her knew it wouldn’t be in the best interest of the department as a whole to focus solely on that. Her job was to protect everyone and she couldn’t do that by letting her emotions dictate how she did that job.

As much as she cared and respected Ben as both her best friend and boss, she had seen what could happen when one got too emotionally invested in a case. She had told him her professional and personal opinion on it, but it was ultimately his call. She wasn’t going to fault him on it as she found herself getting caught up in her own personal cases. It was clear that this case was also personal for him seeing as he was essentially part of her family. They had known each other for fifteen years, it was bound to happen.

She brought her attention back to the case watching as he removed her reports and the letter in question from the envelope. ”No, I’m going to make you actually read case work for once.” She stated before raising her eyebrows slightly. ”I don’t get paid to read you bedtime stories.” She added with a very subtle hint of humor in her voice that most others probably wouldn’t have been able to detect. This was one of the reasons she liked working with him one-on-one. It made things a bit easier to review more difficult cases with less formality though she never spoke to him in that way when colleagues were around as she felt that would show a great disrespect towards him. "The fact that the school is still intact I believe to be proof enough that I haven't spoken to Bells yet." She began, running a hand through her hair before getting back to business.

”There is nothing remarkable about this letter at first glance when it comes to what we’ve already discussed with the other two. Once again this letter was delivered by a different owl than the previous ones, though this one was sent through the post in Hogsmeade. This guy is good, but he’s starting to get a little sloppy.” She hinged forward thumbing through the paperwork from over his shoulder before pulling out the letter already sheathed in clear plastic to prevent further contamination. She gently tapped the paper with her wand ”Aparecium.” She watched as the line ” And I would certainly enjoy making that their last breaths, so really, we all win.” appeared in the middle of the text, slowly glancing over at him to gage his reaction.

Benjamin knew that his friend was worried about the letters that her niece was receiving as they had discussed the details earlier. The letters coming from her deceased father’s deceased co-worker had been alarming, to say the least, but they had to step back and not look at it personally. Not wanting to worry Isabella, or stress her out more than necessary, they hadn’t said anything to her, but wanted to see just how many letters she would receive, hoping at least one of them the individual would slip up. Apparently, he had. There were only so many things that Benjamin could think about for the reasoning that Isabella was being written, the top of the list being that she just lost her family to radicals and was young, having a mind that was easily corruptible.

He smirked slightly at her light attempt at humor, reviewing her reports. He still really didn’t like that someone was imitating a close family friend of hers, a man he had met a few times before. From what he could read, the writing was nearly perfect, not really giving away too much. Of course, this was equally frustrating. “Right, I should have known. Think she’ll react that poorly?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow in her direction before shaking his head as if that were a ridiculous question. “No need to answer that,” he nodded, putting the papers back on the desk. He listened as she continued, keeping his facial expression neutral. “Post in Hogsmeade…great…so that limits it to everyone that’s ever been,” he stated, slightly irritated that the delivery didn’t give them much at all. Hogsmeade was a popular magical village, after all. His eyes moved towards the paper as she tapped it, watching as writing that had been taken off reappeared lightly.

Benjamin picked up the letter again, rereading it with the added line. “Evan and Cecilia…do you know them?” he asked curiously before continuing. “What’s their blood status, if you know?” They had been going off the assumption that anyone writing to the young Slytherin was doing so to corrupt her in some way. “Do you know if Isabella has ever written letters to Mark? Have you found any other letters in her room or wherever girls hide things?” he asked, dropping the letter back onto the table and sighing lightly. A part of him hoped this meant that the next letter would contain something even more revealing, though a part of him wanted to just tell Isabella to stop writing to this man.

Persephone was finally feeling herself level off since she had been so stressed all day. The letter had been very upsetting along with her ridiculous snakes. It wasn’t a damn secret what her other job was. Why they thought they could get away with their nonsensical little antics when their Head of House was an auror was beyond her. For the love of Merlin her job was to know and discover everything about the school. Now that she was actually able to give her undivided attention to the letter and case as a whole she was able to step away from the personal aspect of it, though it was never easy to do so. If something happened to Bells she would never forgive herself.

She returned his quirked eyebrow with one of her own at his first question. He had been around them all enough that, no matter how much Bells hated it, that she was frighteningly similar to Persephone, and Persephone was not always the easiest person to deal with on a personal level. Though she did briefly think about just how different she was at work than at home and found it somewhat amusing. ”There won’t be any need to talk to her just yet. For every letter I take I leave a duplicate. She hasn’t noticed a thing.” She said with a very slight smirk. The sorting hat had definitely been right to sort her as a snake. She sighed loudly knowing that the letter coming from Hogsmeade gave them absolutely nothing as the other two letters had been sent from other highly frequented places. ”Unfortunately he hasn’t slipped when it comes to delivery as of yet.” She said quietly as if talking to herself.

When he asked about Evan and Cecilia she took out her wand and summoned the chair with the briefcase over to her as it was getting slightly uncomfortable to continue leaning over his shoulder to go over paperwork. She moved the chair beside him and picked up her briefcase setting it on the floor before sitting down. She leaned over pulling the paperwork over so that it was between them. She flipped through a few pages before pulling out two separate parchments, one with a picture of Cecilia and the other with a picture of Evan paper clipped to them. ”Evan Hurst; 17 years old, 6th year Slytherin, father was a muggle, mother was a witch, both died when he was five, raised by his maternal aunt.” She slid the paper closer to him before bringing Cecilia’s in the middle of them. ”This one is far more interesting and even more perplexing as to what Mark wants given her parentage. Cecilia Hill; 16 years old, 6th year Gryffindor, mother is Oriana Hill—halfblood, biological father Gregory Goyle… and we already know who he is.” She leaned back in her chair crossing one leg over the other shaking her head. ”I have never found any letters she’s written but I know she is. I haven’t intervened. I could try to send Mark a dupe, but if he’s as good as I fear he may be he might be able to tell. We need to keep him talking. The longer he talks, the more he thinks he’s getting one over on us, and you know what happens when someone like Mark gets too cocky—they start making mistakes.” She said confidently with a slight smile.