Pity and Potstickers

Claire Bishop rarely had days like this.

Most of her days were full of chasing down bad guys or sorting through their paper trail. The job at the Ministry mostly felt like busy work, and it was for that reason that she had begun taking on overflow work from the Aurors and from the Unspeakables. Claire had to be challenged, and she was much too overqualified to truly enjoy the position she was in. That said, to keep herself sane, she had to take on three times the workload else she die of boredom. Her squad was close to keeling over with exhaustion by now, but she kept them working. She was actually beginning to see some potential in some of them.

And when that work was slow, she was busy with other work. The woman, after all, was doing top secret work for the Minister and Had of Magical Law Enforcement back in America. Day in and day out, she combed over the files of Britian's top citizens, looking for the certain signs of treachery and deceit. She had to look everywhere from small time criminals to the Deputy Minister - the actual Minister did not seem to exist, currently. There was that mystery she had to solve as well : who was actually in power at the moment? It was something the people back home simply had to know if they were to do anything to help recover Robert.

Being a spy had seemed easy for Claire, and it was not becoming too hard... yet. She was finding it harder and harder to tell her men to rely on each other and to trust in her training, when she knew she was looking for any sign that they may be the people she was looking for. She could not make a friend with ease, for anyone who came across her path had to be considered a suspect at one point or another. She was finding that, especially when Elsie was gone, life was becoming very empty and very lonely. She did not have a family to fill her heart, and with her best friend stuck in the home she sho missed, Claire was starting to wonder when working this hard would be worth it.

Finally, a day without work came. Saturday night,Elsie was gone, and she had no plans - the way she preferred. She had just gotten back from the last errand of the day and had changed into comfy clothes with her Chinese takeout. She could hear people walking down the hall of her apartment building, and she could hear small explosions coming from the room next door - part of ther perks of living in a building with both a magical and muggle population. Claire sat cross legged on her couch, her hair frizzy around her face as she surfed channels on television. She landed on a channel that played old movies and she lolled her head against the cushions of the couch.

It was a romance movie - Claire could not help but linger on the channel. Cool or not, she did enjoy warmth. In fact, she was certain that her cool exterior not only longed for warmth, but somewhat needed it. It had been a long time since she had felt warm towards anyone but her bosses and her best friend. Elsie's party-going friends meant little to her. Her co-workers inspired little out of her. Her acquaintance with the Dyllan-Morrison family was polite but still nothing more than an acquaintance. Her parents were distant. Those old Durmstrang friends still wanted little to do with her. Avery was Avery. Robin was Robin. And Fred Weasley... well... he... He just got on her nerves.

Claire had always liked big cities, but London was feeling bigger than she had ever thought it could be. She was so small and big London was going to swallow her up one of these days. And it wouldn't be until Elsie got back from visiting her parents that anyone would realize that Claire Bishop had ceased to exist. Her parents would cry, Avery would sigh and find the strength to move on, Elsie would hurt until someone healed her, and Robin would probably hear about it long after she was nothing but That One Girl in Durmstrang.

Claire had never been bested, but London was getting pretty close to it.

She popped a potsticker in her mouth and changed the channel.