That question had been the reason they had broken up.

If she trusted him? More than anyone else she knew. She had to trust people, no matter what, because not everybody was going to hurt her or disppoint her. It was a very recent lesson, but she thought she could do it. Correction: she was sure she could do it. One thing was feeling alone in a new job, new people and having to deal with an ex-husband and a new boyfriend with a family. A very different thing was having your best friend and your family and new friends supporting you.

The whole situation with Ryan had opened up her eyes. Luce would be lying if she said it hadn't. It was different when Jake had all the responsabilities towards Rachel... but now she had her own responsabilities too... towards Ryan. Now, she understood Jake's responsabilities.

So, looking straight at him, Luce gave him the only answer she could give:
"Yes." no doubts, no hesitations. She could have added a lot of other sentences: 'I always trusted you' or 'There's no one else I trust more than you' but she would afraid Jake thought it wasn't true. His opinion there was what mattered.

She said yes. Yes - and she wasn't lying; that he could tell.

Erm, what now? Jake blinked once as he processed the answer and was just about to respond with something - he wasn't really sure what - when he suddenly stopped himself and grinned mischievously. He had an idea; but for it to actually happen Lucy would need to leave the office.

ASAP.

"Luce - do you mind if we continue this some other time? I just realised I have this super important report I have to finish in a few hours," he lied believably, the whole intense mood he had been in seconds ago gone completely. Standing up and pulling her with him, they walked over to the door - or rather, Jake half dragged her there without waiting for a response. He pulled it open and didn't even blink as a paper aeroplane zoomed in and landed on his desk - he had other, happier things on his mind.

He'd read memos later. "Ok, I'll see you later right?" Jake added, pecking her lightly on the cheek before shoving gently pushing her out and firmly closing the door behind her. Phew - now, WHERE was his darn owl? Letters needed to be sent and fast.

What the heck...? Lucy blinked twice, confused at his actions. So... They were good? Everything was okay between them, work-wise?
"I.... Later? Okay.. Hang on, you just called me Luce. That's a good thing, right?" she half protested her as Jake lead her to the door without giving her any other option. And that peck on the cheeck did not help at all to clear her mind.

With no other choice, the woman left Jake's office, as confused as she had entered.

Erik was happy to arrive at the Department of Magical Education. It was something he looked forward to. He needed to know what his division were about and what was the current investigation, so he decided to head to the Head's office. He knocked and waited.
Knock! Knock!

Scribble scribble, write write...

Knock.

Jake looked up, startled as he heard the knock coming from the door. He had almost forgotten he was at work... "Come in!" he called out, blowing over the wet ink and stuffing all the dry parchments into the always messy top drawer of his desk. He glanced at the paper aeroplane and had a sudden urge to open it but instead put it to one side.

If it had been urgent, the person who had sent it would have made it either a howler or put some sort of sign on it. As it were, it looked like some harmless piece of parchment, waiting to be opened.

Ack. Fine. Opening it up, he took in the title and skimmed to the bottom to see who had sent it. . . Oh. Briony.

Later.

Looking back up, he put the rest of his now dry letters into the drawer and waiting for whoever it was to come in.

Erik heard the reply "Come in!" and opened the door. He looked inside and saw his new boss. Erik walked in, closed the door, and cleared his throat.
"Uh, Mr. Rider?" Erik said, slightly nervous. "I'm Erik Depown, and I was just transferred into this department, and into the division of Education Investigaiton." He glanced at the office.

Ahh, new employee. AND, as Jake had recalled correctly, he was of the male variety. Excellent.

Standing up carefully so as not to knock over anything, Jake smiled and held out his hand across the table. "Please, call me Jake, Mr. Depown," he said, nodding pleasantly at him as his new employee continued talking, as was the norm, nervously.

"Oh, you mean the Inspection Committee? Yes, indeed, you were placed there," Jake corrected as he sat back down and motioned for Depown to do so to. "Let's see," he mumbled as he rummaged through his filing cabinet, in search for Erik Depown's files. "Ok, so it looks like you're good," Jake added moments later as he retrieved said papers and proceeded to put them back in.

He looked up just as the man before him glanced around at his- well, unusually decorative - office. "Do you like it? Or are you one of the many who believe it to be too much?" he asked with a grin, trying to calm down Depown's nerves by chatting. "Would you like some coffee?" he pointed towards the plate with the drink and its various additions.

Erik shook Jake's hand and sat down after being motioned to. "Thank you, sir. Uh, it's welcoming and cozy. I like it. Coffee? Eh, sure." Erik could see that Jake was trying to calm him down a bit. Good start with the new boss/new employee relationship. "So what does the division typically do?"

Joe Jon Montcenaggio knocked on Jake's door. Since the liason's office closed, he was hoping to work for his old department. J.J. Starr worked for the Magical Inspection Committe under Samantha Rose.

"Here you go," Jake said, handing him a cup and pushing over the tray with all the various condiments that went with coffee. "And I'm glad you like it - at least someone has good taste," he said with a grin and a wink, glancing lovingly around at his office. Yes, it wasn't your everyday kind of Head's office... But that was all part of his its charm.

"Well, the division-" Jake began explaining when he heard a knock on the door. "Sorry - yes, come in!" he apologised to Erik and then called out to whoever it was by the door to come in. He secretly hoped it would be Oliver - the poor guy had obviously wanted to talk to him but with everything going on, he hadn't really managed to spare the guy some time.

"Jake, since the liasons department closed, I have been re-assigned to the Department of Magical Education Department" J.J. Starr told him. " I worked for the Inspection commitee so I was hoping to work there again" Joe Jon Montcenaggio said to Jake. " If not, where ever you want me to work is fine with me" he told his new boss.

Erik smiled as he accepted the coffee. He listened to Jake before the door knocked. Erik took a sip and was amazed by the hazelnut taste! "What type is this? It has a hazelnut hint and something else."

"Hi J.J," Jake greeted the man with a smile and nodded as he spoke. "Yes, I know, and I've placed you right back where you were - in the Inspection Committee," he replied, grinning up at his returning employee. Looking over at Erik, Jake suddenly had the BEST idea and quickly put his coffee down so that he could straighten up in his chair.


"Honestly? I have no idea - I charm the kettle every morning and each time it makes something slightly different," Jake replied truthfully, chuckling slightly as he glanced at the coffee pot. He was so addicted it shouldn't be even remotely funny to him -coffee is BAD BAD BAD- but he couldn't help it.

"Erik, I'd like you to meet J.J, one of the oldest employees here in the Department - he had a brief stint at the Minister's office but he's come back to us," Jake explained as he smiled up at J.J, grateful that all his liaisons had chosen to stick with the department after the Minister disbanded her office... It meant that he was doing the right thing, whatever it was.

"J.J works in the Inspection Committee - maybe he could show you around, show you how things work around here. You wouldn't mind, right J.J?" he carried on, raising his eyebrows at J.J while smiling kindly back at Erik. He really DID have to get to work - all the Lucy drama had caused his pile of unsigned and unread parchments to grow by at least a foot.

She didn't knock on the door. The woman was in a rush to talk to Jake Rider and she needed a good place to make a safe phone call, somewhere Gretta refused to be in.
"Good day, gentlemen. Mr. Rider, I need to discuss an urgent matter with you. Just allow me to make a phone call while you finish here." the blonde woman headed to the other side of the office. As she looked throught the window, she dialed a number on a muggle object that allowed her to talk to Nick or to leave him a voice mail.
"Nick?" the woman was whispereing. "Contact the dtective. Tell him to find out everything there is about Gretta J. Amerie." desperate times called for desperate mesures. If Gretta knew about her past with Jake when she wasn't even there, who could garantee her she didn't know other things related to her past? Before trusting her, Lucy had to be sure.

" Hi, nice to meet you Erik" J.J. Starr told him. " Yes at 27, I am the graybeard in the education department" Joe Jon Montcenaggio laughed.
" Thank you for putting me back to work at the Inspection Commitee"
J.J Starr shook Jake's hand. "Eric, I will show you around and introduce you to the others" he told them. " Well, I am glad you are working in the Inspection committee because I had been the only man there" Joe Jon Montcenaggio explained to Erik. " Now that I have got married, I do not want my wife jealous" J.J. Starr told him.

Eirk looked up at J.J. Starr. Erik stood and held out his hand. "Erik Depown; pleasure to meet you. I'm 27 as well, and this is already great." He turned back to Jake. "Thank you for the coffee and everything, Jake. If I need anything else, I'll come to your or J.J." A big smile drew across Erik's face.

A paper airplane flew into Mr.Rider's office swiftly soaring past the individuals in the room and landing softly perfectly on his desk. It unfolded quickly and laid there waiting to be read.

Once Jacob reads the letter, the document will shrivel to ash as if burnt and act is if it never existed.

Lucy finished the call and waved at the other department works.
"Jake Rider: I don't care what you're doing or what you thought you were about to do. I'm going to drag you to Law Ebforcement office and from then to Reagan Taylor's. Now!" Lucy's tone was extremely firm and confident. She was not going to be flexible on that and Jake would better notice it fast.
The woman headed towards the door and waited for Jake to join her. "Don't even argue. Believe me, you want to know this." she warned him.

"Oh, and you might get a litte note... from Gretta Amerie. I just left her office. Now, shall we?"

" I will see you in the Magical Education Inspection Department" Joe Jon Montcenaggio told Erik. " nice to have a man my age around the department" J.J. Starr said to Erik.

... WHY was SHE here?! Jake had a sudden urge to -nicely of course- kick her out of the room and fimrly close the door behind her. But that, dear people, would be something way too rude even for him to get away with.

Bleh.

Wait - what?! "Erm - wha? Uh, yeah. . ." Jake stared blankly at Lucy, having NO idea what it was she was so fussed about. Ahh well - maybe she'd leave soon... He wasn't ready yet.


"My pleasure," Jake turned back to the two men - HA! men in Education - and shook J.J's extended hand. He smiled as he and Erik began talking... It always warmed Jake's heart to see his employees talking and being nice to one another without any sort of drama - unlike HIS relationship with a few of them...


"You're welcome - and I'm going to hold you to that," Jake laughed as he nodded to Erik. "I get occasionally very lonely here in my office," he added with a wink and was about to turn back to Lucy when something landed on his desk.

But I already have that other memo to read. . .

Hmm. By the time Jake had finished with the letter - and put it down mere seconds before it almost burnt his hands - his eyebrows had reached his hairline. Was she serious? He knew perfectly well how to run his department and if he thought something had occurred which was serious enough to talk about, he WOULD hold a meeting between them.

Meh.

"You're being terribly rude," Jake pointed out before what she was implying had begun to sink in. "Wait - Lucy, what happened?" he began as he unwillingly stood up, reluctant to go until he had some information.

Letter? That was LUCY'S idea?! o_O Maybe it was her idea of making his life better - but the more he saw of Gretta Amerie, the less bright the sun seemed. "Gee, thanks," he mumbled under his breath before looking at her expectantly, waiting for some sort of explanation.

"Jake! Hurry up! Believe it or not, we do not have all day." she exclaimed with a slight smirk. He likes her the same I do, she realized when she overheard Jake's last expression. But then her expression turned serious:
"This year, two students were murdered at Hogwarts. One during an Halloween Paty, the other one about a week ago or so." she told him, as smoothly as possible. "I reported the situation to Gretta, but I refused to tell her that Eva was the one writing me to tell me that. I don't trust that woman." she paused, to give him time to assimilate that. "Now, shall we?" she asked him, opening the door.

Erik thanked Jake, told him that he would stop by for coffee when he gets a chance, and left.

"Shall we what," Gretta asked kindly with a smile on her face holding her right hand towards the door as if she were about to knock. Letting her fist fall to her side, Gretta allowed herself inside noticing Lucille and nodding graciously toward her. "I was sure we'd stumble across each other --- rather soon," she pressed her lips together and continued her stride pass her. "Thank you for the door, you must have knew I was coming," she chuckled softly stopping herself half-way between Jacob and his guest keeping her back towards Lucille.

"How are you Mr.Rider," she asked keeping her voice soft. "I hope I'm not interrupting," she lied knowingly seeing as she'd overheard the last sentence. "I don't mean to stall your adventure with Ms.Stedman to the Law Enforcement Department or Minister Reagan's Office," she offered her information that Lucille had already given her. "But I'd like to set a time, date, or arrangements to have a chat with you. I've come across a few things that concern me and I wanted your opinion on them. We could have the meeting whenever," she kept her tone polite the entire occasion. She had taken enough of her stresses out on Lucille which allowed to be cordial with the man she usually loathed.

Lucille Stedman could tolerate a lot of things. Melrin, she had lived with Ted! If that wasn't preparation enough, she didn't know what would be. But she did not tolerate that kind of disrespect and assumption. Closing the door behing her back, Luce calmed herself down. Two people can play this game...
"Adventure? Ms. Amerie, I didn't know you were so badly informed. Poor woman. I should have told you, I'm sorry. I never thought you had such idea." walked until she was face to face with Gretta to start stalking life if she was truly and naivly surprised.
"Gosh, that owl! So, I assume you never got the invitation?" Lucy was careful there. Jake still did not know she was getting married and she wanted to keep things like that. "Please, stop by my house later for me to give you the invitation. I can not trust my poor sweet Gretchen.. She's getting a bit old. Please come by later. 51 Arle Road." she picked up a small piece of parchement and wrote Nick's her adress down.

She pulled one of the chairs a bit and invited Gretta to sit down, as she gestured Jake to sit behind his desk. Then, she sat down.
"Now, onto to business. I shall forget that insult you just made me, Ms. Amerie. I assume if you want to know what Mr. Rider already knows." she paused and looked deeply at Gretta. There was a little challenging shine in her eyes that her boss would easily notice - that was her point. "I just informed Mr. Rider about the deaths of the students. I also informed him of who my source was so he can conclude how truthful and trustworthy it is." she paused again. "We were about go and request a meeting with Reagan Taylor as well as to Law Enforcement." she looked down and muttered loudly.
"Merlin, I should have guessed you'd like to come."

Jake blinked.

WHAAAAAT?!?!?!!? HOW?! "Bu- Wha- You said- MURDERED - Gretta - TOLD HER FIRST - Hogwa- Eva- DEAD STUDENTS..." Jake splutted, in such a state of shock and slightly anger that he was finding it extremely hard to form a coherent sentence.

... Breathe, Jake, breathe.

"Ok - but we go to the Minister directly; this is probably classified information and I don't need any more people knowing about it," Jake finally said, after several seconds of structured breathing.

And just when things seemed like they COULDN'T get any worse - all of a sudden, they did. Because SHE walked into the room.

Dangnabbit.

"I read your letter, Ms. Amerie - you did not specify that a reply was necessary," Jake commented, trying to keep his cool while his brain worked a mile a minute trying to comprehend DEAD STUDENTS.

EEEEP! RACHEL WAS THERE - HE'LL PULL HER OUT NOW.

Or... Not.

He didn't have TIME for Gretta's stupidities at the moment - his daughter's niece's life was at stake. And she was a PREFECT too!!

"Look, could we just save this for later? You two," he finally said, nodding towards Lucy too as his demeanor changed into one of a serious boss faced with a crisis, "can either stay here and banter all day long or agree to my terms and come with me SILENTLY to the Minister's office. Lucy - you're coming because of Eva's letter; if you could summon it that'd be great. Amerie - looks like I'm stuck with you. Let's go," he said sternly. His tone suggested NO arguing so if either of them even TRIED...

Breathe, Jake.