A Few Drinks

Aaron strolled into the restaurant and walked up to the hostess. He looked around the place, and he had to admit, he was impressed. He used to go out all of the time and just be alone with his thoughts in places like these. He loved fine dining experiences, but with his new responsibilities, he had not found much time to go out. For Diagon Alley, the place was very classy, and Aaron took a mental note to visit the place more often.

"Table for two please." To his surprise, there was not much of a wait. They were lead to their table and Aaron sat down across from Sofie at a smaller two booth table. "Order anything you like." Gold was not much of a problem for Aaron. Now that he had the backing of Lorcan, all of the money he made from the wand shop was basically profit. Making the wands was cheap, it was the magic that made them expensive.

"Your parents, tell me about them." Aaron liked to know as much as possible about the people who would be doing tasks for him. He had used legilimacy on both Silvyr and Whight to gain as much information, and blackmail, as possible. He could not be so straight forward now. Well, he could, but it would not be great for morale.

Sofie followed him in and waited patiently for their table, taking her first look around the room. If she had to any sort of undercover espionage, she would definitely prefer this location over the other places she could choose from. This fit her natural taste and elegance. Though a killer, Sofie did have a taste for anything refined or genteel, in any sort of manner.

Aaron directed her to order whatever she wished and she consulted a menu. "Seared snapper and an ice tea." The waitress asked for the side and Sofie added, "A garden salad." She handed the menu back to the waiter and smiled politely. "Thank you." She carefully folded her hands.

Aaron wanted information, and Sofie was in a position to give it. She was far from all who knew her- disclosing information was of no consequence to her. "My father was an excellent leader. Ruthless to enemies, beloved by men. They fought over trying to please him. My mother was a troubled youth who moved to Russia because she had always been fascinated by Durmstrang. She met my father, they fell in love, and she became the wife of a major Death Eater. My father's family taught me lessons they found pertinent, and my mother taught me her own."

Aaron had lost most of his appetite once he had contracted the sickness. It was one of the worst parts for him, not being able to eat. When he did eat, he had to force food down his throat, and often times it did not bode well and it would come back up soon after. He had been reduced to his potions and water. It was only by sheer willpower that he found himself standing and promoting as much confidence as he did.

"I'll have any soup and a water." He said to the waiter and then he returned his attention to Sofie. She seemed to have a somewhat interesting upbringing, depending on who you asked. He had a similar upbringing, both of his parents were Death Eater supporters, but neither ever joined. For a long time Aaron's main goal in life was to please his father, but that had long since passed. He was foolish for feeling that way and he realized now that he had his own goals to accomplish other than feeding an old mans ego.

"Dumrstrang, Russia, a big time Death Eater father... what brought you here?": Their drinks arrived and Aaron took a big gulp from his. It was hard to not just down the entire thing right then and there. He was always thirsty and he could never seem to satisfy the thirst. He could drink himself until he was bloated but he would still want more. "Seems like you had a nice life back home."

He only ordered a small meal and her eyes flicked up to investigate his face for any possible reasons, always curious about small things like this/. However, she had been one of the children always reminded that it was rude to stare, so she averted her eyes and allowed them to search the room they currently occupied.

He asked what had brought her here and she smiled at his compliment. "Thank you, it was a very nice life." She sipped from her iced tea and said, "But there's always one thing that seems to uproot people. Murder. My father was killed by Aurors here and my dislike for the British Ministry became more along the lines of a hatred, though I don't like that word."

"With my father gone, the Death Eaters disbanded. I'd never even been to a meeting- my father had been grooming me at home, but hadn't finished. I decided I had two things to do- avenge my father's death, as he asked me to do in his will, and prepare for the time when I took his place." She smiled at Aaron. "So, here I am."

So she was groomed by the Russian equivalent of the Death Eaters. It was all starting to make sense as to why she was the way she was. Aaron knew she would be a force to be reckoned with as long as she embraced the chances she was given. She could be, if she wanted, one of the most powerful people in the Death Eaters if she kept doing what she was doing. If they did not respect her personally, they would respect her because of the repercussions of what came with not respecting her.

"Do you know exactly who murdered your father?" He reached for his glass of water and he took a sip. "If we find out, I am sure we can get a little bit of revenge. If that is something you would be interested in?"

He asked about her father's murderer and she shook her head with a sad smile, as though she unfortunately had to deny him such information. "No name was given. He was murdered in London by Aurors, having been on their wanted list. We requested a detailed report and were denied. They were protecting their men against any such repercussions."

Sofie met Aaron's gaze. "I don't tend to go after foot soldiers. They are just above the messenger, and I've never been one to kill him either. No I believe the fish rots from the head, so we must cut off the head. I am not after an Auror. I'm after the Ministry."

"Do not be so quick to write off a foot soldier," Aaron said, sitting back in his chair and clasping his hands together. He usually did this while he was thinking, and he was currently thinking of a way to help her exact her revenge. Going after the Ministry was always on Aaron's mind, and having someone with the desire to get there would help more than she knew. "A pawn can be just as deadly as a queen if they are used properly."

"So what is the head? Do we go after the Minister or do we go after the head of Magical Law Enforcement? Both are dangerous, but which one would bring you satisfaction?"

"Well put," Sofie responded. She was young; she often said something without realizing the full weight of her implication. She knew that an army was nothing without soldiers- why had she been working so long and so carefully on the Higurashi girl? She amended her statement, "I just couldn't find satisfaction from the death of someone following orders. He was not my father's real enemy."

He asked the difference between Minister and Head and she immediately responded, "Minister. If we get rid of the Head, the Minister will supply a new one just like it. Even if one of us," she said us, insinuating the Death Eaters, "became Head of anything, any actual policies we make can easily be cancelled by the Minister." She paused. "Besides. My father was Most Wanted Number Four. The Minister compiles the most wanted list."

Aaron nodded his head and he did not respond as the waiter made his appearance and put their food on the table. Aaron thanked him and waited for him to get out of earshot before he did anything else. He unfolded a napkin and carefully put it on his lap before taking a quick bite from his soup.

"So the most logical course of action seems to be to get into the Ministry. We already have a spy in the Order, so now we need to infiltrate the Ministry." He paused to take another bite from his soup, it would have been delicious if his stomach was not so upset all of the time, the damn sickness was merciless. "We can either corrupt the current Minister, or even better, kill him and put in someone who could run things the way we want them." He smiled and sat back in his chair.

"Aaron Marcheti, Minister of Magic.... has a ring to it, no?"

Their food arrived and Sofie smiled up at the waiter. "Thank you." She pulled her own napkin into her lap and picked up her utensils, beginning to cut her fish into pieces. There was a moment of silence as they both tucked in- Aaron into his soup, and Sofie sampled her snapper. Finding the bit satisfactory, she moved her fork's attention to her salad, beginning with that first.

Sofie listened with interest, careful to chew slowly and was almost unnoticeable. Etiquette had been stressed in her early lessons, and it showed. She had not known about their spy, and she casually commented, "I was not aware we had already achieved that. Marvelous." He spoke of the current Minister and she said, "I've done my homework on the Lupins. I don't think Robert would be corrupted. He's classic. Broken, however, I wouldn't doubt. He's a family man, and even politicians leave positions if there family is at stake."

He tried on the title for himself and she smiled sincerely. "It's very becoming of you."