A meeting of ministers

Thanks to Roland's crafty work, Kingsley reached the ministers office without disturbance, and without even any need of a disillusionment charm. Kingsley decided he liked Roland, he was a knowledgable fellow with a good sense of humor. Why was Kingsley with him? well he had needed to contact the ministry somehow and Roland was someone he could trust, having met him before when Voldemort was at his height. He remmebered that Roland had sacrificed his job for honor, and now he wanted it back, as he had told him often in their short meeting

As they arrived at the office Kingsley considered blowing the door up to make a big entrance, but that might give Robert a heart attack. So instead he entered the painfully normal way, by opening the door. Roland entered first, then kingsley. His beard had grown a bit, and he looked much older, but he was still recognizable. "Good morning Minister," Kingsley said. "It is a pleasure to meet you." He walked over and shook hands, before sitting down and taking a candy from the jar infront of him. "Lemon drop, mhm, thats my favirote. But enough about candy, I fear we have more important stuff to talk about..." he announced solemnly.

"Well, well," Robert said, laying his quill aside. "I wondered when I would be seeing you. I heard a great deal about you from my brother and from my daughter. She quite values your friendship, you know. Hello, Roland. Good to see you again. What brings both of you to this office? I was just brewing some tea. Anyone want to join me? Its only Earl Grey. I confess I ran out of the more interesting flavors yesterday and neglected to bring some more in with me this morning."

He flicked his wand at the kettle that hung over the fire in the fireplace, brewing tea. The kettle floated over, and Robert got out large serviceable mugs from his credenza. He despised the frilliness of Royal Dalton, so he had resorted to something that he deemed worthwhile. Large, handthrown stoneware made by his wife. It was serviceable, artistic, and kept the tea warm for hours.

He flicked his wand at a small tray that held milk, sugar and spoons and the other tea accessories and summoned them to his desk. "Shall I pour and then we can get down to business?" he asked them.

Kingsley was surprised at Roberts lack of surprise at his arrival. Didn't everyone think he was dead? And a dead man walking into your office would make most people scared to death. The only explanation was that Khaat had told Robert that he was alive, Kingsley guessed analytically. he was not quite sure that he liked that. Khaat trusted her father but Kingsley never trusted anyone he didn't know, or any politician for that matter. People in positions of power were always suspect to doubt, because they usually lied and manipulated to get into those positions. Usually, but not always; which was why Kingsley wanted to meet this new minister. He needed allies, and the first one was the ministry. Originally, Shacklebolt had hoped that Wilson and Khaat would be able to sort things out, but Wilson was burdened with Hogwarts work and Khaat had apparently befriended Vincent Majere, which made her an uncertain ally at best.

"Yes please," Kingsley replied. "Two of my students have been sneaking me food at my hiding place, but hot tea was hard to come by." The two students were James Wake and Miseria Lupin, but he wasn't going to tell Robert their names, or where he was hiding.

"So of course you know why I'm here minister," Kingsley started.

"No," Robert said. "As a matter of fact, I don't. What I know about you,Mr. Shacklebolt, could be put in a couple of sentences. Former Order member and former headmaster. Friend to members of my family. And, obviously, as the saying goes, the reports of your death are greatly exaggerated. But that's about all. But what I've found is that somehow, powerful people make their way to the Ministry for one reason or another eventually. And the name Kingsley Shacklebolt still commands a great deal of respect. I'm glad you have found people that have helped you at least minimally get what you need, but tell me, how can I help you?"

Khaat had told him, when she joined the staff all that time back, that she had been working for Shacklebolt, and Robert had known how strongly devoted to him she was. She had confided in him how upset she was at the overthrow of Hogwarts and how she had been willing to do whatever it took to try to help Shacklebolt protect himself. As her father, Robert couldnt' exactly say he supported her being willing to die for a man who had apparently now only pretended to be dead. Personally, he questioned what kind of a friend Shacklebolt really was to her if he were willing to do that.

But then again, he also knew his daughter. She could make all sorts of friends with all sorts of people--from her warm and devoted new partner Brian, to cold and ruthless men like Vincent Majere seemed to be--at least in Robert's book. And he respected her for the ability she had to keep all those relationships separate and not compromise any of them. Khaat never believed in sacrificing one friendship for another, and she valued every one of them. Her friendship with Shacklebolt sort of fell into that "I-don't-understand-what-keeps-these-two-together" catagory, but who was he to judge?

"Former Minister as well, Minister," Kingsley added calmly, not missing that Robert had deliberately left out that part of his short summary. Why he would do that? Kingsley had no idea, but he wasn't inclined to believing it was a simple mistake. "But besides that, I'd say that is quite an accurate summary of my career. But what about you? You know, of course, that I was a great friend of Remus Lupin, your brother. But I have never seen you, or heard of you for that matter. Surely a wizard of greatness such as you should have been present at the battle where he lost his life? I don't mean any offense Minister, but I'm just wondering..." He wanted to know more about the man. Personally, Shacklebolt was inclined to not trusting him. How did he come to power so quickly? And why were there still so many Death Eaters like Vincent Majere, the Dents and Narcissa Malfoy in the ministry. And in high positions nonetheless.

"As for how you can help me... Well it is more of a matter of how I can help you. But there is still something you can do for me," he said, realizing something. "I was convicted of several crimes that I never committed a while ago by your great Wizengamot. I'd like these charges to be lifted and the aurors to get off my trail."

OOC: Robert's deletion was my mistake, not his. LOL. That may have been before my time on PA.

"My apologies for leaving out your tenure as Minister. No offense intended, I assure you," Robert said. "And you posed a very good question about where I was during all that time while Remus was here battling Voldemort...."

Khaat lifted her hand to stop her father and looked at Shacklebolt, "If I may," Khaat said to him. "Remus was protecting me. He knew my potential to most likely undermine his work to try to stop Voldemort by being so protective of Remus that it would have been stifling and most likely fatal to both of us. Remus forced my father to remain behind and to keep me blind to the upcoming battle at Hogwarts so that, first, I should not be risked. And second, to increase Remus's likelihood of coming back alive. It seems as only half of my uncle's plan worked. I guess we'll never know if my being there would have been a help or a hinderance, but I do know that was Remus's intentions. Remus had my father right where he intended him to be. And you should know I have great potential to try to shield those I care about, no matter the cost. Remus and my father were more aware of that than anyone, and they saw it as a huge liability."

Khaat was clearly more dismayed by the fact that there were still charges on Shacklebolt's record and that the aurors were still on his trail for those. She hadn't really looked at that, and she believed that had been her mistake in not doing so the moment she knew he had returned. "I can fix that matter of your criminal record," Khaat said. "That falls under my perview. I will expunge your record. Consider it done. And I will send a court order for the aurors to stop pursuing you immediately."

"Then do so," Robert agreed. He believed that if Khaat trusted Shacklebolt enough to go that far out on the limb for him that it was good enough ffor him. He would support her with it. He watched Khaat go to his file cabinets, get out the appropriate forms, a clipboard, and a quill and sit back down and begin to complete the necessary court orders to expunge completely Shacklebolts records and to rescind the orders for the aurors to pursue him.

Shacklebolt looked surprised when Khaat suddenly answered his question, he hadn't even noticed her presence in the room. He was getting far too old. What she told him definately suited Remus, and she had no reason to lie either, so Kingsley nodded. He didn't want to talk any more about his old friend, these things made him quite sad. And angry.

"Thank you Khaat," he said graciously. "Its good we have such good allies in the ministry. Do everyone a favor and try to keep yourselves in these positions. Although, with the people you two surround yourselves with I honestly doubt you will last too long..." He didn't know what Khaat and Robert were thinking when they promoted these people into their positions, but it didn't make much sense to Kingsley. "Tell me, why is Vincent Majere a part of the Wizengamot? So he can pass more sentences to people who are not guilty? Like Mr. Emof for example? Or the Dents, why are they in control of the law enforcement? It makes no sense."

"Valid questions," Robert agreed. "And I'll try to answer them. First, Majere was part of the Wizengamot for a long while. Almost since Dae left the Minister's job. And as for the Dents, their Azkaban records have been expunged. They are not Death Eaters any longer, and I don't believe they ever really did do much more there than hide out. Its just not in them to be truly Dark Arts followers. As to why Jen is the head of law enforcement, she's one of the finest aurors in England. I've fought alongside her, and I know where her loyalties lie. And I trust her. One learns a lot about their comrades in active battle, as you well know. As for Rob, well, it was my intention to stop Azkaban from being such a joke. Its been a joke and a revolving door for far too long. I needed someone who was neutral and who had the skills I needed to restore the reputation of Azkaban being a worthy deterrent. I do know where his loyalties lie as well, and I know his skills. And, frankly, the fact that he looks so questionable is a large factor in why his appointment works so well. People on the outside do not know what to expect of him. I do. I have his loyalty, and he's done well."

Robert had not mentioned that Rob and Jen were still technically related to him through Khaat's marriage to Rob. But that was more of technicality than any practical reality. Except for one thing--Rob still loved Khaat. That alone made Rob loyal to Robert even when they didnt agree. Robert was a strategist if nothing else, and he could be icy cold about it when he had to be. He was surrounding people who could do the job, despite what pressure anyone else exerted on them. And the Dents were very capable of that.

Khaat finished completing the forms for Shacklebolt and signed them with her quill. She flicked her wand at them to make a copy of them for Shacklebolt and laid the originals on her father's desk. "Done," she told Shacklebolt. "Record expunged, Aurors ordered off your tail. Life should be perhaps a bit easier now."

"Well done," Robert told her, looking over the papers. "Its all in order. I'll have them filed at once."