Appointment Two: 10:00

Another meeting was upon them, one that was destined to be just as explosive, if not more so, than the last. Tempting fate was something that Elijah Krum had become used to doing and while he’d lost his fear of doing so, he wasn’t entirely sure if he was feeling brave enough to take on the particular fire that he was sure one half of the newest match would greet him with.

Elijah wasn’t going to be naive about it. If he didn’t think the last meeting was going to go well then he knew as sure as he knew he was breathing that this one would be a disaster. No amount of Azkaban threats would see this one cowed. He couldn’t, however, predict how the other one would take it. No, he was a little more difficult to read than his wife-to-be.

Stubbing out his cigarette, Elijah threw the ash out of the window through the slats in the blinds. Then, with the slight gesture of his hand, the blinds shot to the top of the window pane, bathing the room in the bright morning light that was a sumptuous golden yellow, reminding him that London, indeed, was the best place to live.

Brushing his hands through his hair, Elijah sighed. He cast a furtive look in Ana’s direction, wondering if he should continue drinking as he had done during the prior meeting. Perhaps that’d be better, he conceded mentally. He doubted it, though. He didn’t want to over-indulge this couple as he had done the other one.

There was less of a need to placate this time. If they wanted to play, he was more than ready to owl the warden at Azkaban and have him make room.

He just hoped not everyone would make trouble for him. Maybe a few people would actually accept it - or at the very least glare in a studious silence.

But he couldn’t expect it from this meeting - no chance. Unless Merlin started smiling down on them soon, Elijah had a feeling it’d be a very, very long day.

Jack had really outdone herself this time.

She had not been sure whether or not to laugh or scoff or scream at the letter that had been delivered. But she had taken a route she rarely did. She had retreated into herself and quietly, so quietly it was terrifying, Jack Dyllan had pondered. She had a very strange situation at hand here, and she planned on attending to it with a very special sort of attention. She immediately went about the preparations for her appointment, helped along with Sunny. She did not see her roommate or anyone in the time between her appointment and the arrival of her letter, for she was so focused and attentive on the case.

At ten o'clock, she arrived - if she was going to make a statement, she was going to make it promptly. Jack Dyllan wore a black tux, carried a bouquet of dead flowers, and a black lace veil was clipped to her hair, floating in front of her face. Music was erupting from a small device in her pocket, playing the traditional Funeral March as she slowly made her way towards Elijah's Krum's office. And if he thought this tux was constrictive and prevented her from jumping across the table and pounding his face in, he was sorely mistaken. She could easily shed her jacket and take someone on. The veil could be torn to shreds in the process - she did not care.

Jack Dyllan was not getting married.

The girl floated through the halls, almost appearing as a dementor. People snickered and laughed, called out her name jovially, and a few even put their fist up in an attempt at solidarity, it seemed. She said nothing. Her eyes remained straight ahead, fixed on the door as though staring at her grave. She finally reached it and threw the door open. For a moment, she stood in the door and stared straight at the Krum fiend. She held out her bouquet and dropped it to he ground like a microphone.

In a voice that cut like glass, she said, "I am going on the record now as someone non-compliant with this joke of a law."

Ana was still frustrated about the events of the last meeting. From what she had heard of the people in the next one, she was only slightly more hopeful. Not about the woman involved. But the man was said to be relatively well tempered. It would be quite an interesting match, if Ana had to guess.

Eli shot her a look, which she returned accompanied by a nearly audible sigh. She was half tempted to take away his drink entirely, to put it in the hall or some other such location. She was pretty certain, however, that it would do her little good in the end. There was no need to put him into a mood, when they both probably knew what to expect about the people coming in.

As though someone had heard her thoughts, the woman in question appeared in the doorway, and she was quite a sight. Ana had to keep herself from chuckling at the show Jaquellene was putting on. It was rather inventive, if she did say so herself. Deciding it would be better to instead just remain firm in her authority, Ana stood and gestured to one of the chairs in front of herself and Eli.

"That is perfectly fine Miss Dyllan." Ana said lightly, before waving a hand in Eli's direction. "When your match arrives, Eli will handle your concerns."

Karma? Oh, indeed. If they had to go back and forth each meeting, she could deal with it. But Ana was having none of his shenanigans when it came to this woman. Ana was hardly an expert on handling her, after all.

As someone loyal to the Ministry, Carth was unlikely to reject their laws. Aurors weren't exactly the first person to find out the reasons behind new laws, but they were meant to enforce them. If this was something required of him, it would be accepted.

It wasn't as though Carth had someone in mind for marriage, after all. He tended to put the needs of others ahead of the feelings or thoughts of his own. It felt like part of his job assignment, though it likely wasn't. He was from the Gryffindor house, after all. Ridiculous need to be noble? Probably a good name for it. That said, he only hoped that the letter he had received was correct in saying that the person he was to meet today would be someone he could get on with.

The door to the office was open when he arrived. The first thing he saw was someone who looked extremely familiar. He was certain it was Jack Dyllan, from the Order. "Jack?" He asked, looking her over. She was wearing some sort of tuxedo, which he found rather entertaining.

Turning to the two behind the desk, Carth gave them a small wave. "Mr. Krum," he offered in greeting, "Mrs. Levski." He took a seat in one of the chairs, determined to have the meeting run as smoothly as possible, and get done quickly.

Jack glared at the woman, who must have thought she was very clever for having worked herself into this neat little position of power ruining everyone's lives around her. Or perhaps she had worked this out to get back at an ex, or get back together with an ex. All Jack knew was that this woman would be getting her just desserts, and when this law was proven to be a sham, there would be a public humiliation in store, at the hands of Jack herself, if she could work it out nicely enough for it to be so.

"Will Elijah handle my concerns?" Jack quipped, her eyes sharply turning on Elijah as she slowly withdrew the black veil. Her eyes screamed murder as she glared at him. "I had rather hoped he would be the one to handle my concerns. I'm sure you're qualified to do so? I hope so."

She could hear footsteps. She turned. Was the man actually arriving? She suddenly felt a flutter inside her, hoping for... what? Hoping for someone she could stand? What did it matter, she would be overthrowing this law and the Ministry that allowed it as soon as she could. Perhaps it would be Max, and nothing would change at all. She could deal with that. Something inside of her warmed at the very possibility, and she thought perhaps... perhaps this would not be the struggle she had been prepared for.

But in walked someone who was very much not Maximus Morrison. Jack reverted back to her state of complete refusal to take part in this. Her face turned to stone as she looked at him - poor guy, she had nothing against him per se - and she turned back to Elijah. "Alright. Here are my concerns. They are only a few, so pay attention. I will comply with the new law. Except the part where I marry him, or marry anyone else, or the part where you look into my lady parts, or the part where you try to get me to have a kid, or the part where you force me out of my home, or the part where you force him into my home, or the part where you force my roommates out of my home, or the part where I leave this office with the two of you not missing a limb. I won't let these things happen. Otherwise, I'll comply perfectly."

If Elijah was going to be recorded saying he loved Jaquellene Dyllan then he’d have a hole in his head and it would be said in total jest. She was worth a pound or so in comedy value but beyond that all he could really afford to put up with was a measure of her temper. He’d already had an awful morning with the spare of Thaddeus Rookwood’s household and a baby Auror. The last thing he needed was a thrice jaded redhead who really forgot her place at times. And to think, he’d always really rather liked redheads.

“Good Morning Carth!” Elijah enthused happily. “I trust Auror training is going well. I have an offer to put to you, if you will, once we get all of this compliance business out of the way.” He smiled brightly and sat himself down in his desk chair. With a flick of his wand he conjured another, matching one, and gestured for Ana to sit also. It wouldn’t do for her to stand all day. Certainly not in those heels - no!

Elijah listened semi-attentively to Jack’s concerns but at the point where she mentioned her ‘lady parts’, Elijah couldn’t help but bark out a laugh.

“I have never had nor will I ever have a desire to look at you in any way that suggests I have an interest in said womanly areas which belong to you. To put your mind at rest it is merely a simple fertility spell. It’s nothing complicated. You can keep your trousers on. I would point out you don’t know this young gentleman very well and therefore to make a sweeping statement like that might well hurt his feelings. He might not want you either might I remind you. We do have certain perks that come with the compliance to the law and obvious downsides if you don’t. If you would be kind enough to supply the names of your roommates I would be happy to help you when it comes to housing them and yourselves under the same roof which will need to be big enough, obviously, to accommodate your burgeoning families as well. As it stands, everything is under your own steam unless something changes. We would like children provided as soon as possible but of course fertility or lack thereof can change everything. I would very much like to keep my limbs. Ana is far too pretty to lose hers and I do believe Carth doesn’t leave his underpants around the house so I shan’t force him into your home but marriage could be difficult if he is elsewhere. Hm?”

Jack would not budge. Elijah Krum thought he could charm his way out of anything but Jack would not hear of it, and she would refuse. She did not care what he wanted to do to hear. She would move to America if she had too. She would not put up with these people, and she would not be controlled like this. The entire country was spiraling into a dictatorship, and she did not care what role this Ana woman or Elijah had in it - if they were the ones delivering the news, they were going to be the ones that got an earful.

She crossed her arms firmly and stared right at Elijah. "I will not have children against my will," she said. "I am not having a child within the next year, I swear to you. I am not leaving my home. It is mine. It is my property. You cannot turn me out. These two things I are given rights that I refuse to allow you to murder before my eyes." She raised her arm to point at Carth. "I'm saying this all in defense of him. Do you know what happens to the male black widow when he deflowers the female? Do you wish this fate on this young, useful man? If your worried about a dwindling population, the last thing you'd want to do is begin killing off young men by setting them on me, like a stallion on a really pissed off mare with a mean right hoof."

When you worked in the Department of Fluffies, the lingo never really left.

Ana practically smirked at Jack's response to her turning the issue over to Elijah. It wasn't as though she hadn't anticipated someone acting like this, but if Eli thought he could get away with what happened last meeting again, he would end up with something worse than a messed up nose. Ana didn't doubt that Jaquellene would agree to help her inflict the pain, either.

The list of concerns the girl listed were rather like Ana figured some people would react. The woman nearly felt bad for Mr. Brownlowe, who couldn't have known he would end up with someone so violently opposed to this whole thing. He seemed surprisingly okay with the whole scenario compared to the people Ana had met that morning. Then again, the man was supposedly known for being extremely loyal to the Ministry because of his job as a trainee Auror.

Ana had a feeling Eli was going to offer Carth the same promotion ladder that had been offered to Hallie in the last meeting.

“I'm nearly finished,” Carth was saying, apparently trying to keep the conversation light and avoid getting involved in the drama that was sure to be coming from the woman next to him on the opposite side of the desk from Ana and Elijah.

Allowing herself to drift off into thought for a moment, she was jerked back to the present when Elijah let out a loud laugh before answering the Quidditch player. It was something of a speech, but Ana tossed Eli a warning glance when he commented on her looks. She knew him well enough by now to know that he was quite the type to make comments like that, but there was no need to allow any sort of implication of their less-than-professional relationship.

Jack tossed back another comment that she wouldn't be having children any time soon, and Ana nearly laughed to herself at Carth's face. The poor man looked embarrassed at the very idea. He was very clearly one of the more reserved men in their day and age. Ana couldn't say she knew many like that.

“Is it not possible, Miss Dyllan, that in time you could grow to love him?” Ana suggested, though she doubted it was the right choice of words right then. Someone had to try and remain less volatile about this whole thing. She had started this and she wasn't very well going to let someone like Jaquellene to ruin her plans.

It wasn't that Ana disrespected the woman – no, indeed she thought her strength was something to be desired – but she needed to stand her ground. Judging by Carth's reaction to this suggestion – weak nodding and raised eyebrows – he was rather hoping that something good could come of the mess as well.

Ana could only hope that the woman would somehow allow this to be settled peacefully and then go and seethe in her own time. Not really expecting that it would happen, she added, “The best thing to do, I think, is to get to know him before you so furiously refuse him. If nothing else, it would be best to get to know him so you don't make him dislike you so much that your lives are horrible.”

Leveling her gaze on the two in front of her, Ana regarded them carefully as she wondered what would happen when she tried to perform the fertility spell.

((OOC: I don't know why I am writing so much today. I didn't want to write a separate one for Carth I guess.))

Jack turned to Ana and stared at the woman, before saying, "No." She turned towards Carth and shrugged. "Sorry, mate, I'm sure you're smashing, but you're not my cup of tea. You seem to put together." She looked back at Ana. "That's not the question. I could leave this office and fall madly in love with somebody. But I do not want to marry them, and I do not want to bear that person's children. It's not a question of love, it's a question of my body belonging to me and not to you or this bloke or to anyone."

She looked between Elijah and Ana, seeing they were dead set on engaging her to this man. But... Jack was a ballsy woman. She did not do what she did not want to do. She was not told what to do. And if she was, she talked her way out of it. So she sat up a little straighter and put her hands on the desk. "Let me honest with you. I think Carth is a nice guy. But I have a very legitimate reason for not marrying him." She took a pause. "I am already married. I kept my surname here, but in America I am known as Ms Nemo Omara. And until his death is confirmed (though I believe he is still out there, even if I don't know where) I cannot annul the marriage or divorce him."

She paused. It was bold. An engagement had been speculated about herself and Nemo, but never confirmed. And it would take some time to find out that no American marriage license bonded herself and her old roommate for life. It was a bluff, but she told it without hesitation, and without shame. In her eyes was the look of a woman bound to love, a woman set on fidelity. Jack, for all intents and purposes, had left her heart in America with Nemo. The Ministry could not give it away - it was still missing.

"It's pretty hard to get me to hate someone," Carth supplied, "Unless they do something pretty horrible. I don't think rejecting me would cause that."

He didn't know either of the women in the room well enough to really understand them, but he didn't really appreciate the awkwardness of the situation. Ana and Jack seemed to be having a bit of a fit.

Carth wasn't quite sure what to do with this scenario. Granted, he had been trained, essentially, since birth to accept that the Ministry was looking out for his best interest. He didn't have anyone else he was after - he wasn't really the type to have crushes - so what did it matter if he would marry before falling? He tended to grow to appreciate everyone he met, aside from folks like Death Eaters.

So when Jack said she would have none of it, he wasn't sure what to say. He looked to Ana with a raised eyebrow, his relatively quiet nature getting the better of him. His actions today weren't exactly telling of his usually friendly nature - but today wasn't a usual day.

"Even if that were true, you would have to bring in proof." Ana mused, regarding Jack warily. "It is possible to petition the law with sufficient proof." She glanced at Eli for any sort of reaction to all of this before continuing. "If you're lying, however, I cannot promise you that you won't be sent to Azkaban. That isn't specifically in my power - though I have no problem with suggesting it."

Ana knew her threats were rather snarky, but she was tired, already, of people acting like this. At least Carth was accepting of it all. Hoping Elijah would jump in and intervene before Ana's temper got the better of her, she crossed her arms over her chest and watched Jack closely for any tells. Most people had one, and Ana liked to figure them out. As an Unspeakable, she felt it was part of her job to know things others perhaps couldn't see or figure out.