Maeve Macmillan still loves to write.
This time around, she's evolved from writing notes and short stories to articles and eulogies. Darkness has seeped in like a heavy shroud. War, death and decay have become as common as brown eyes. But it is more...
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------------------------> SPOTTING MAEVE ENTERING their shared office in the building belonging to the Quibbler, Xenophilius grinned, standing up and waving her over. "Hey, you. Slept well?"
"Yep," replied Maeve, placing her belongings on her desk. "Looking forward to sleeping now that I'm here?"
"My eyes will be shut until the sun sets," he told her bluntly, moving around his desk and crossing the room to approach hers, carrying a few files. "Like, Pandora could cause a potion explosion that would end the world as we know it, and I still wouldn't wake up."
"I'm telling Pandora you think she'll explode potions."
Xenophilius' smile slipped from his face. "Please don't."
Maeve winked at him. "Only because I'm nice."
Xenophilius snorted but handed her the files. "I double-checked the half-yearly accounts report, it's all right. I've marked the places you need to sign with little x's, it's mostly beside mine, but you can triple check the reports. After you're done, we'll submit it to the Ministry well in time for the deadline."
"Wonderful," intoned Maeve, accepting the documents. "At least we won't be locked up for missing a deadline."
"Well, you can't blame the Ministry. They do need money to do—well, whatever it is the Ministry does with our money."
"The things they do seem to be mostly invisible," agreed Maeve. "Or else, I'd have hoped to see Knockturn Alley a little more sanitary."
"Forget about Knockturn, some of the buildings in Diagon are in such bad condition, I doubt even magic can hold them up." Xenophilius paused. "Actually, that's a very serious concern. Can you—"
"On it." Maeve scribbled down a bullet point in her diary, drawing rough grapevines around it to highlight the note. "I'll assign it to Team Three."
"Aren't they already covering a lot though?"
"Um, yes, but not as much as the others." Maeve scanned the pages of her diary, circling and underlining a few writings. "However, a few of them just wrapped up the Mckinnon's robbery case, so I think they can take this on."
"They're still covering a lot of stuff additionally." Xenophilius scratched his head. "We might need another team, just to balance out duties more evenly."
Maeve looked up at that and smiled with shining eyes. "Yes, yes we do. We'll put out ads for job hiring next week onwards?"
"That'd be great." Xenophilius mirrored her happiness at their business venture welcoming more people into their little family. "Oh, also, I reviewed the article you sent about the Minister's new bill and I like it. I really do. But maybe, just maybe, we should take a more neutral perspective, yeah? Right now it sounds a little...scolding. And biting? And rhetorical? The tone sorta reminds me of my mum when she's mad, to be honest. We can criticise the Minister all we like, but perhaps scolding is not exactly a good idea. Best for her not to focus on 'revolutionalising' and reforming the press."
