Counseling (Attempt #4)

A new day of appointments had come around, and Keiran found himself leading the way to the Guidance Office, followed closely behind by his wife. As expected, they were still a bit unsettled, and neither had quite gotten the hang of their roles as counselors yet. However, they were both interested in keeping their position and keeping from upsetting the Ministry. What would happen if they refused, after all? They hadn't wanted the job to begin with, according to Millie, but they hadn't been given much of a choice. So it had to be done.

They were to meet with a Hufflepuff named Milena that morning, between her classes, to discuss the Marriage Law, according to the form she had filled out to request an appointment with the Hayes couple. Sinking onto the couch he had transfigured the day before, he set down the form on the low desk between his seat and the other couch designated for the girl in question. A hand reached out to take up Millie's, his thumb running over the back of her hand. "This might be a long year," he joked lightly, glancing towards the door.

Realizing that he should have left it open, Keiran picked up his wand and unlocked it, letting the door swing open on its own so that Milena could simply walk in when she arrived. The meetings were likely to be dull, yes, but at least he had something to do besides meet with professors or sit around in his office waiting for something to happen. Sitting was certainly preferred, as one might guess when they saw his cane, but it was impossibly dull. He certainly couldn't complain about the change of pace, that was for sure.

Although she was determined to find a hole in that whole marriage process at the time she filled her request, as time passed and the agreed time for counseling was closer and closer she became insecure. She even felt stomach ache. At the beginning everything seemed so simple to her – she didn't want to get marry, so she wouldn't get marry. Milena was sure she's the one who need to tell „I do.“ on the ceremony, and if she refused to tell that, how will they force her?

But as she was walking to the guidance room she realized there are much more ways to force her into marriage then she liked to admit. She's just usual soon to be 16 years old girl, how is she supposed to fight against the whole Ministry? Only imagining that scene caused bitter laugh. No, that would be the battle she would lose. That knowledge made her even more determined to find a way out rather than stop looking.

Milena warily entered the room in which she had her counseling and met gazes of the Hayes couple. "Hello?" She said more like a question then a statement shifting from foot to foot unsure what she needs to do next. The Hufflepuff girl already made the whole plan and she even had written down all the things she wanted to say or ask but now while looking at their faces she forgot all that.

Keiran looked up at the greeting, finding the Hufflepuff standing in front of them. He ended up offering a gentle smile, even as he tried to register just how young she really was. Only a fifth year, Milena already had to worry about who she would be marrying, and whether or not it would work out. Even for Keiran, things were looking poor. The couple couldn't exactly show how badly their relationship was working - or, perhaps, not working. So he kept the front of getting along, having only half been faking his attempt to get along with her before in the form of his joke.

"Hello," he returned, giving a nod in her direction as an additional show of greeting and good will. "Why don't you have a seat? We can get started from there."

Looking over to Millie, he let the corners of his mouth shift downward for a moment, clearly concerned about what the meeting would bring up - for them, as well as for the student. But Keiran could only hope that the girl hadn't caught his almost nervous expression. After a moment, though, he turned his gaze back to Milena, and the form she had filled out when signing up for the counseling session.

"So, you said you wanted to find holes in the law, right? Are we talking ways out of it? Or were you looking for things regarding the formation of the law?"

He was being tactile. With a start, Millie realised how much she’d missed it and slowly reached to lace her fingers in his. She smiled a little, nodding in agreement at his words and reached with her other hand to push her glasses up on top of her head. She leaned into him, pressing her lips briefly to his shoulder before turning back to the work spread out over her knees – an essay by one of her fourth years which was a complete and utter mess. She was usually quite lenient and especially didn’t mind headings and bullet points and all the rest. Exam technique was a different thing altogether so as far as she was concerned until the time came, so long as they understood the content it didn’t matter what went on with their early essays. However, even for what she let slide by, this was particularly bad.

Thankfully, the entrance of the young Hufflepuff was enough to divert the ex-Gryffindor’s attention and Millie released Keiran’s hand briefly to shuffle away her papers. She offered a smile to Milena once her things were tucked away and Millie glanced in Keiran’s direction, taking in his questions. She glanced at Milena and wondered to herself whether this was right or not. Millie was all for rocking the Ministry and seeing how far she could push them. It wasn’t something she was afraid of, really. That said, she had no idea whether this was something she wanted the poor girl to have to deal with. Azkaban wasn’t worth it.

Nevertheless, Millie was willing to listen to the girl’s point of view however much it disconcerted her and as she reached back for Keiran’s hand, nudging her fingers against his, she wondered whether this would reflect on them much more than on the Hufflepuff. In fact, it worried her that it would so Millie studiously decided to keep herself out of it as much as possible – though she doubted it would last that long. After all, she did have a few opinions about this subject. It wasn’t something she was going to treat lightly.

Milena sat at the corner of the chair not quite sure why she did so. Maybe to run away easier if she founds them treating? No, that's absurd, she doubted they had a reason to hurt her, and besides that they simply didn't look like that. She smoothed her cape trying to find words to say what she wanted. It's pretty complicated even if you don't need to translate each word you want to say in your head, and with translating it's confusing.

"I'm trying to find…" She stopped choosing the other words she found more appropriate for this conversation "Do I need to marry someone if I'm foreigner?" She didn't mention that she had no intense to permanently live in Minsk again, she needed to play this well to achieve what she wants, and mentioning that she's planning to live in UK after finishing Hogwarts could only inspire someone to force her to took British citizenship. Maybe not these two professors in front of her, but someone in the Ministry certainly would.

At Milena's questions, Keiran's mind immediately jumped to his friends who hadn't been involved in the marriage law, despite their attending Hogwarts or living in the United Kingdom. There weren't many, but he certainly knew of them. Tilting his head to either side as he considered it, Keiran glanced over at Millie as she split her focus between the essay and the Hufflepuff in front of them.

Keiran didn't want to give the girl any false hope, but he also wasn't interested in worrying her any further. She seemed like she was already quite adverse to what might happen to her, and telling her she had no chance would not instill a sense of acceptance. Instead, he knew it would be far more likely to simply make her all the more upset. So the corners of his lips lifted into a smile that was a mix between apologetic and hopeful.

"I do know some people with dual citizenship who were not asked to return forms to the Ministry. But that number is quite small. If they send you a form, I believe you're entitled to question them, but I would suggest that you be as cautious as you can. The last thing you want is to make them angry - I'm sure you've noticed how badly that goes for people these days." A frown grew on his face as he admitted what they all seemed to be learning recently. The Ministry just wasn't open to the needs of the people anymore.

"The thing you can't get away with is refusing to fill the form. Stating your case... that you could get away with. But not ignoring them or making them angry."