A Plan and a Partner

Elsie Norton finally had a plan.

She had saved up all of her vacation time and had been running around Europe, trying to put distance between herself and the American Death Eaters that had, once again, tracked her down. It made sense - she had not stopped snooping into the Death Eater business, and she had been making her rounds, sleeping with any pureblooded man she could persuade into bed, doing whatever she could to make them feel like a neutered dog. It was surprisingly easy - give them what they thought was a perfect woman, and then drop them for the worst reasons. 'You're too old. Too boring. Too stiff. Too weak. Too married.'

Make them hate themselves.

But she had to lay low now. And, honestly, she needed some help. She needed some security, someone else who was working through towards the same goals she would. She was a very irresponsible person, typically, but this meant too much for her to just let the ball drop. There had to be consequences.

That was why the paperwork on the vaccine had been so nice. A lot of secrets came across her desk, and she had no reservations about snooping through the files, either. So now, she had a name. And now, she had a plan.

She knew the office, because it used to belong to her best friend. She moved briskly, no one bothering to look at the girl dressed so nicely, a folder pressed to her breast. She hurried quickly through the halls, and reached the door of one Tobias Acker. She paused, knocking the door, before dipping her head into the room. "Hello? Mr Acker?"

Tobias was... weak. That was all there was to it. He had been struggling, and the only place that he found himself able to focus on anything tangible was at work. There, he found that he could pay attention to detail, and he could notice things that he needed to. At home, on the other hand, things were in turmoil. He was boxing up and preparing to move into a smaller flat, if only because everything at his house reminded him of Colleen and Haleigh.

But for now, he was in his office and trying to get his work done. When the knock came at his door, Tobias wasn't exceptionally surprised. After all, he had been promoted after throwing himself so thoroughly into his work life. That, really, was all that mattered to the man as of late. So he looked up, pushing his reading glasses up his nose, and looked at the brunette as she entered.

He recognized her from around the Ministry, so he offered his best smile and leaned back in his chair. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," he admitted. "And, please, call me Tobias. What can I do for you?"

This whole, meek-secretary act did not feel comfortable on Elsie Norton's usually confident skin, and she felt the persona slip as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She was used to playing the innocent princess so her switch into the deviant she truly was remained much more effective, scared people into believing whatever it was she was trying to convince them of. This was someone who was going to easily be on her side - no manipulation necessary.

Well, not much manipulation.

She smiled as she stepped forward. "Tobias," she repeated. "I'm Elsie Norton. I think you know my flatmate, Claire Bishop. She was in this job before you." She paused, hoping to have piqued his interest a little, if not gained some respect. Claire Bishop was useful in that intelligent, hard-working people tended to appreciate her.

She stepped forward, wetting her lips, and slowly reached over to him, holding out the file, her expression much more somber now. "I, um... I found this. And it's not my place. But I was reading through and I was getting... very angry. And then I ran across your last name, and... I mean... You deserve to know."

This was dangerous. She was handing a stranger a loaded grenade.

"Right, Claire, of course." Tobias nodded, able to put a face to the name within his mind. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Elsie," he added as she moved towards the desk, feeling it was the proper thing to do after catching her name. Strange, he mused. He hadn't always been so awkward. In fact, Tobias had once been particularly smooth. Haleigh would have said as much - were she still around, that is. Of course, that was the problem: she wasn't around anymore. And neither was Colleen.

His eyebrows lifted as she passed him the file, wondering what could have irritated the woman so much that she wanted to bring it up to him. However, the thing that worried him more was the mention of his last name. That made him turn his gaze down immediately, anxiety racing through him. Giving the pages a quick skim - for, it probably wasn't wise to keep her waiting after she had discovered the thing - Tobias could feel the fact that he was visibly bristling. According to the pages in front of him, Haleigh was not the woman he thought she was. But it seemed impossible for her to be someone other than the person Tobias knew. He was not that oblivious, was he?

"Where did you find this?" he asked darkly, his eyes never leaving the pages. "This can't be true. She wasn't like this," he added, finally seeking out her gaze. "This says she was chosen for that vaccine trial... because she was a Death Eater who knew too much. That is absolutely mental. It's-" Tobias shook his head. "No, this can't be right."

Elsie had handed him the folder so it was all done, now. She knew that there was a part of her, a younger Elsie who would have been slightly uneasy at her sudden boldness in involving herself in this man's life for the sake of her own agenda. She had never really even had an agenda before. Had never had goals, either. But now she did, and she found that the selfishness she had been allowed to foster growing up was incredibly helpful in this situation. That's what made it all the more dangerous.

Ben would probably think she was crazy. Claire would be uncomfortable. But when was the last time they had been hurt by a Death Eater?

She could feel the energy shift, change, get electrified. It was done. She might have just ruined this man.

She cleared her throat. "I... A lot of paperwork comes across my desk. I probably wasn't supposed to look... But this wasn't the only one like that. It makes me wonder if this was... true or... if this was fabricated or... I'm sorry, not my place."