Little flakes of white drifted down into Sofia’s hair. Snow. Really it wasn’t even time for it to be falling, even if it was melting as soon as it hit the ground. Snow implied Christmas, her immediate family and their spouses (or current fling in the case of Edward) all sitting down for dinner at the family manor house that was nicely tucked away in some god forsaken corner of Cornwall. Basically snow implied the promise of a slow and painful torture session. Even criminals seemed to know to take a break during the holiday season, just so that she would be forced to spend an unforgivable amount of time locked away with her family.

Wanted men did always seem to have a cruel sense of humor.

For example, the one she was currently stalking was number seven on the most dangerous wizards in England charts, Gabriel Nutcombe , with his number being significantly lower on the charts for Europe and the World, and she was not enjoying it one bit. She was not dressed for the snow, she did not want to be in the snow, and they were getting precariously close to the Robards family manner if her sense of direction wasn’t off. Which it couldn’t be, that was most definitely the monkey sanctuary – an oddity that she still didn’t quite understand. Sofia knew parts of Cornwall better than others, and her memory while not the best when it came to recalling her childhood, could at least place odd things. Said sanctuary was one of them.

Either Nutcombe was getting a new pet monkey or he was waiting for her inside. She really had made just sort of stumbled onto him during undercover work in the alley. Sure she was supposed to be looking for clues but seeing as she had come across a brick wall there was nothing more she could do but make good use of her time. Hence being at a monkey sanctuary in Cornwall and waiting for Julie to arrive, hopefully with a thermos of tea.

She had sent the backup request directly to Julie (and not Dillan since she felt that while they were not yet public nipping away to Cornwall wasn’t exactly the best thing for a budding covert office romance) and was expecting her friend to arrive soon. If she was going to be on a stake out she wanted, no needed someone she could talk with. Though in all honesty it would be easier and better if Nutcombe just openly did something nefarious and illegal so she could just arrest him. They both knew he was going to do something, it was just a matter of being patient. In the meantime she could wait for Julie from the comfort of the abandoned flat she had located after she had realized that Nutcombe wasn’t going to be leaving the general area anytime soon.

OCC: No joke, there is a monkey sanctuary in Cornwall – I just couldn’t help myself… Moll Flanders made me do it! * glares at largely unwritten essay*

Mary-Ann do anything you want/see with Nutcombe at any time. I didn’t even give him a crime…

Meanwhile, Julie was outside, trying to balance the requirement of moving imperceptibly (since the area didn't seem particularly welcoming nor heartwarming and there was a dangerous criminal in the underpopulated vicinity) and moving speedily (since it was hardly a leisure trip to the countryside that Sophia would be just as happy taking on her own). Thank god for the snow – if Julie stepped on a very particular part of her foot, it managed to muffle the clicking her boots would have made otherwise.

It wasn't office hours. Of course, on Level 2 all hours were actually office hours. But receiving Sophia's note Julie hadn't even bothered to stop and conjure some footwear more befitting the situation. It was Nutcombe, after all.

She paused by the door of the abandoned building that Sophia had indicated as the get together. An instinct stamped into her guts in the first months of her training impelled Julie to take a proper look around before entering - and there, a little way off, she noticed for a moment a faint glow. It flickered and went out. Julie decided to disregard it for the time being, at least until she'd heard the particulars from Sophia.

Nutcombe, Nutcombe, Nutcombe. He was a slick one, like an eel in a bucket of olive oil, and if they'd get him... Well, Julie wasn't ambitious, but she was dedicated, and seeing how the Ministry was a mess (or rather, piled the mess on the Auror department), it wasn't an unwanted prospect at all.

The building had little architectural merit, but squatting in old, ugly, abandoned and dirty places was merely part of the job. She reached the top floor landing and quietly walked into the room. Strangely enough, it was more freezing inside than out and even in the relative dark she could see a big cloud of vapour rise when she spoke.

"Sophia," she said in a half-whisper to draw attention. "Where is he?"

I hope we're not staying here all night, she thought as a gust of wind blew in through the half-open window, hurling snow. Of course at the moment, it seemed the most likely prospect and so Julie had to rather hope that they'd have at least something to show when they'd appear at work the next morning, most probably still frozen.

[OOC: Dunno how I jumped to the conclusion that it was night-time, but I hope it's alright :D]

As soon as the little clouds of frosted air began to leave Julie's mouth Sofia began to feel a tad bit stupid. She hadn't really noticed the cold, the snow hadn't really been that terrible before she entered that and she had been to focused on Nutcombe to take into account that the building she had been lurking in had grown to became equivalent to a walk in freezer. Thankfully Julie would understand.

She always understood. She understood when Sofia withdrew and didn't tell her about oh the fact that she was dating a coworker and had yet to tell anyone, she understood that Sofia would not talk about Wendell Darrow and her relationship with him unless specifically asked or presented with to much liquor in either of their flats, she understood Sofia could never invite her to tea her mother and her puritan bias, she understood that Sofia was Sofia. Just as Sofia was able to accept Julie for being her. They had gone through to much together to not.

Approaching the cold haughty Gryffindor had been one of the bravest things Julie had ever done in Sofia's opinion - the first year of their friendship had been resisted by her whole heartily but by second year Julie had been able to worm her way into the core group of Ravenclaw 'nerds' and pureblood 'socialites' Sofia hung out with.

"Nutcombe has been on the second floor of that building there for going on three hours. If he doesn't do anything by midnight we are leaving and I'm treating you to a drink of your choice... and let me fix this"

She pulled out her wand and did a quick warming spell on the room, one eye still on the window where the silhouette of a tall narrow man with an overly large nose and a top hat stood framed in the rays of his luminos spell.

"Anyway till he does something against the law - how have you been? Its been ages since we talked, which is rather terrible since we do work in the same office. If we don't get Nutcombe we can at least arrange a lunch date."

The room became less hostile by a fair fraction after some warming up. A pair of deftly woolly knitted gloves unexpectedly surfaced in her jacket pockets the very same moment. Of course, that's the way things go. She glanced out of the window. Nutcombe was probably putting on a show of ridiculous ingenuity that was to be rolled out during the course of the evening to mask his misdemeanors in a truly psychotic play. In some different universe, it would be quite worth watching. But in this one he was a mad bastard that had to be caught and the fact that he managed to hide his crimes with skill wasn't all that amusing.

"Well, I think I'll have to start thinking about all the outrageously expensive drinks you are now bound to treat me to. Unless... I dunno..." Julie cast a look around for some inspiration. "Let's just hope the fact that he's here - I mean, a monkey sanctuary? - means he's up for serious business."

She stood back near the window, preparing herself for a long evening of lingering in the building. Generally, sitting around was the worst thing to do, but Sophia's presence turned it around. The woman was quite right - despite the fact that they worked together it was basically always running by each other in the corridors, exchanging quick hello's and must-talk-someday's. This night might actually set this straight and prove to be quite fascinating.

Sophia was an exception in herself to Julie's general rule of trying to keep work and personal life apart. That was just the way it was, it would be an impossible endeavor trying to extract Sophia from the latter part of her school time and quite obviously from her Auror training as well. Somehow, this blurred area never felt compromising or unacceptable. Perhaps it did its fair share towards keeping Julie sane in her work hours as well. She was eager to hear what Sophia had to say, since there was something quite definitely up with her.

"Anyway till he does something against the law - how have you been?"

Julie frowned. "Well, I can hardly tell. I mean, there's not much to tell and I can't really figure it out. What with half the department disappearing, one might expect personal life to be more exciting. But it's not... Except for mum being a thousandfold frettier about everything than I can take at the moment." Mrs Richmond had never been the most nervous or overbearing of mothers and her worrying was mostly quite manageable. But now that disturbing news were leaking (oh, and she couldn't help trying to fish more out of her daughter), she was jumpier than ever, symptoms of her agitation appearing at the strangest of times and in the weirdest mediums. For example, sending her detailed overviews of what all of her relations were doing and how perfectly normal their business was, actually, going. That was, of course, the case when Julie was in London - when she visited... well, she tried to put it out of her head.

"Tell me about yourself, though. I'm ready to hear anything and everything that doesn't involve families fearful for their poor offspring's lives. You'd suppose... well, it's the cliche of our job, isn't it. And I am going to take you up on that lunch-thing - although the way it's looking these days, I'd rather opt for something a little later in the day. I think I haven't been out, properly out, for ages."

The snow was falling ever more fiercely outside and Julie felt a faint thought go through her mind that in some different situation, she would love to have a snowball fight.

Sofia tried to hide a smile at the sight of Julie’s frown – years of friendship had taught her that what Julie found tiresome often meant it was something utterly delightful and normal coming from the family front. Sofia had never really met Mrs. Richmond, just as Julie hadn’t exactly met Mrs. Robards but from what her imagining often presented her with the elder Richmond was a sweet little woman (with Julies features naturally) and a penchant for jumping at every sudden gust of wind. True to form Julie made some mention of her mother.

Mothers – how little those creatures knew how much strife they caused their daughters at times. Julie of course had a much more loving relationship with her mother that Sofia could even imagining having with the matriarch of the family, but somehow thoughts of their mothers brought about identical frowns no matter how dramatically different their family dynamics were. It was a bit odd actually. Maybe that was why they had yet to meet the other’s parents. Julie might have seen her mother as some ministry function or another, or at graduation, but Sofia herself had never made introductions. She always got the oddest sensation that her mother would do or say something that would wreck Julie’s opinion of her and she would be up a creek and without her oldest and dearest female friend.

"Tell me about yourself, though. I'm ready to hear anything and everything that doesn't involve families fearful for their poor offspring's lives. You'd suppose... well, it's the cliche of our job, isn't it. And I am going to take you up on that lunch-thing - although the way it's looking these days, I'd rather opt for something a little later in the day. I think I haven't been out, properly out, for ages."

Tell her something about herself? Dillan popped to mind instantly. Julie would be happy to know she was seeing someone finally, and yet it was secret office romance, secret still being the optimal word there. But then again Julie was her only friend and Artemis already knew about him even though she had only known the woman for a matter of months.

“Something about myself that doesn’t involve my mother? Lets see… well then I suppose you wouldn’t want to hear about the perfectly acceptable man I’m seeing then - After all that involves my mother who is more than fearful for her offspring and their future offspring’s lives.” Sofia gave the other woman a mischievous smile.

“I guess I’ll have to tell you about it over a late lunch… or a proper night out. Now if you want I could ask Edward for some help in that area, he’s become quite the gentleman of the night if the train of models is anything to go by.” Sofia continued, delicately jumping topics, not yet sure how much she wanted to tell Julie while also taking advantage of the opportunity to tease her.

((occ: soo sorry about the tardy response - I've been away and sick and maybe a wee bit lazy))

“Something about myself that doesn’t involve my mother? Lets see… well then I suppose you wouldn’t want to hear about the perfectly acceptable man I’m seeing then."

Ah, yes, Julie too was aware that mothers were not, in Sophia's case, the favored topic. That is, especially in Sophia's case. In the least, it wasn't something to be touched upon to lighten the mood. The mention of a perfectly acceptable man, however, complicated things rather, because as far as Julie could tell, Mrs. Robards' criteria for a future son in law were not exactly identical with those Sophia had. Over the years, Julie had more than once felt like a diversionist, conscious that this or that man whom Sophia was dating and she actively supporting did not exactly suit Mrs. Robards' mould of the perfect husband for her daughter.

“I guess I’ll have to tell you about it over a late lunch… or a proper night out. Now if you want I could ask Edward for some help in that area, he’s become quite the gentleman of the night if the train of models is anything to go by.”

From Julie's experience, however, a change of topic like that meant there was something more to the matter than just trying to avoid delving into Sophia's and Mrs Robards' mother-daughter dynamic. Julie was perfectly intrigued and although pushing bluntly on was never the best tactic, she decidedly wanted to know more of this.

"Why yes, thank you for the generous offer," she replied in a tone that matched Sophia's, for a moment tearing her eyes away from their distant target. Her lips curved in a clear expression of amusement. "It's always so nice how helpful you are in trying to finding me the real Mr. Right."

She paused for a moment, turning back to the window. "You really have to work on your evasions, though. I mean - you managed to find a perfectly acceptable man? Those are rare these days, so that rather gripped my attention. It's not like Nutcombe's all that fascinating, and anyway, we only need to watch him, not listen to him."

Julie sent Sophia another look, inquiring and this time almost serious. Something strange was up and Julie thought there had to be a very particular reason why Sophia wasn't altogether keen to talk about this new man with her oldest friend.

((OOC: Nah, that's perfectly alright - it took me ages to get the last one up. And this one's kind of... crap. Anyway, if I'm out of line with anything (like Sophia and her mother or any assumptions I'm making along the way) - I hope you'll tell me!))

"Why yes, thank you for the generous offer. It's always so nice how helpful you are in trying to finding me the real Mr. Right."

Sofia found herself giving a little smile at that. So maybe a model wasn't the ideal partner for Julie but they were a good deal of fun to date. She would know, always went to Edward when she needed someone totally unacceptable for her mother to scream about after one of her teas that were more like blind dates. Yet now she had Dillan. Acceptable, pure, and wealthy - that also shared her interests. It was an odd twist of fate that she hadn't though possible.

"Now Julie I am sure there is some very deep and understanding model out there who does more than drugs and parties - whether my brother knows them of course is a completely different story."

"You really have to work on your evasions, though. I mean - you managed to find a perfectly acceptable man? Those are rare these days, so that rather gripped my attention. It's not like Nutcombe's all that fascinating, and anyway, we only need to watch him, not listen to him."

She knew Julie wasn't going to let her off easy... which was the main reason Sofia had brought up the subject. Only the things was she couldn't be or seem to eager to share since there were some rather uncomfortable gaps in the story she wasn't quite sure if she would be able to share. Dating a coworker, while not forbidden wasn't exactly smiled upon either. There would also be post breakup residue if things were to turn out badly, not that she though they would but there was always that to consider to. To put matters bluntly no man was going to affect her position in the ministry - the only one that might have had a chance was sadly dead with a body that had yet to be located.

"Well he is in a monkey sanctuary you can't get more exciting of a location than that." She remarked dryly, stealing a quick peak out the window. He was in the same spot doing the same thing he had been doing. Boring criminal. Wendell would have at least wrote an innuendo in the window for her.

"By acceptable I mean he is tall, dark, handsome, wealthy, a pureblood, and the real kicker - we actually have common interests and he doesn't have the alpha male complex most of them have." She gave an little happy smile. "I don't know what more you would want to know about him though, but if Nutcombe keeps up at this rate we might end up talking about him all night."

((occ: back from holiday part one - don't give up on me yet!))