How The Hammer Falls

When the subject of Taryn's robes for Hogwarts had first come up, Bathilde had been in a bubble bath and after her daughter had wasted nine minutes yelling at her through the door... had gone and found Geoffrey. He'd promised three sets of school robes and an additional dress set for special occasions. That was why, four weeks later, she was standing in front of the well-known robe shop with her pouting daughter in tow.
"Can't we get a puppy instead?" the girl whined, tugging on her mother's arm.
Bathilde sighed and moved forward, ignoring the request. Honestly, she didn't understand what went through her daughter's head half the time. That morning, when she'd cleared her busy schedule, flooed to her brother's house and then apparated all the way to Diagon Alley, she'd assumed Taryn would be happy. She had assumed poorly. "I don't want new robes..."
Time seventeen... she tallied. Surely her daughter remembered that school uniforms were needed. And as for the wish for a puppy; that just confused her. Her daughter was preparing to go to school, the last thing she needed was a pet.
"Ah, Headmistress Mochrie!" one of Madame Malkin's assistants hurried over. "I see you look lovely in the robes we cut for you last season. How are you holding up?"
"Well enough, thank you." Bathilde ignored the twinge in her chest and motioned for her daughter to step forward. "My daughter will be attending Hogwarts in the fall and requires two sets of school robes."
"Oh such a lovely creature." The assistant purred, circling the glaring Taryn. "She'll be easy to fit with such a lovely figure." Having fitted enough unwilling students through out the years, she'd picked up a few tricks apparently. Bathilde felt her daughter relax ever so slightly as she was fawned over.
"You think?" Taryn asked, voice ever so hopeful.
"Think? Oh, love. I know. Now come along. Your mother probably has other shopping to finish."
Bathilde didn't, so after the voices had faded into the fitting room, she settled down in the waiting room and hoped to not hear screaming any time soon.

It had been years since Julian had purchased any new robes -- not due to lack of gold, but due to lack of interest. After being screamed at by his employer for looking scruffy one to many times, Julian resentfully headed over to Diagon Alley to buy some new robes for work, just to get the man off his back. Not that he won't immediately find something new to complain about, he grumbled to himself, pushing open the door to the shop and looking around.

"Not a worker in sight....brilliant," he muttered in discontent. He'd rather been hoping to come in, tell someone what he wanted, and let them pick the clothes out for him. Now he'd have to have a look around for himself. Shouldnt be hard to find some plain black robes he reasoned, heading over to a likely-looking rack. On the way over he spotted a witch who appeared nearly as pleased to be there as Julian was. He grinned at her and realised upon closer inspection that she appeared to be blind -- no wonder she seemed so displeased to be here.

A proximity alert spell came to life about the same time that Bathilde heard a male voice mutter something intelligible. Obviously it wasn't anyone she knew as no name came to mind. As complex as it sounded; her spells were linked to her, in a similar way that one drew memories for others to see. Images, unseen by her eyes, could form within her mind... but only through familiarity.

Her hand reached out to check and be sure there was still space for the man to sit, if he was waiting for someone or something. Thankfully it was a full length sofa, making plenty of room.
"Getting new robes?" she asked, trying not to dwell on what her daughter might be doing to the shop assistant.

"Yes, unfortunately," Julian sighed, giving up his search fairly quickly. The fact that he'd accidentally been browsing the witches rack convinced him there was nothing to do but take a seat and wait his turn. "My boss didn't think my robes were quite smart enough now that he's looking to improve his standing in the world. My look doesn't 'fit the brand,' or some such nonsense," he explained frowning. "Whatever that means."

"Are you in line, or are you waiting?" he asked curiously, not wanting to be rude but also wondering just how a blind person went about choosing their clothes. Although with hs lack of fashion sense, she could probably teach him a thing or four hundred about what to wear, anyway.

Bathilde nodded.
"Sorry to hear that." She doubted whatever his normal robes happened to be were too unfashionable. Not really a fashionista by any definition, she had always found that dressing by a code to please others usually didn't amount to anything but an emptier vault.

"Oh, I'm waiting for my daughter..." she waved a hand toward the fitting room, wondering if it had been as long as it felt like. "She's starting Hogwarts this fall, so robes were needed. No screams yet, so I'm guessing all's well." She chuckled lightly with her last statement.

Offering him her hand, she smiled in his direction.
"Bathilde Mochrie. Nice to meet you."

The name clicked instantly in Julian's mind; he had certainly read the name enough times because of his job to know who she was. "Headmistress Mochrie! It's a pleasure to meet you," he replied, shaking the proffered hand. "I'm Julian Kaiser, with the Auror's Office. I've not yet had the pleasure of visiting Hogwarts yet. I went to Durmstrang, myself," he explained.

"I had no idea you had a daughter of school age. It must be the first time in a very long number of years -- youngest Head of Hogwarts since Severus Snape, and of course, he didn't have any children. How very exciting!" he said genuinely. "It must be very exciting for the school to have someone with children of their own in charge -- true insight, I would imagine. That parental knowledge." Here he stopped, thinking of his own Violet, who was not yet of school age. She would be going to Hogwarts in just a few years if not for the divorce -- might have even been friends with Headmistress Mochrie's daughter.

Ah, lovely, she thought, glad to hear his response was positive to realizing who she was.
"Oh, I see." she nodded, settling her hands back over her cane handle. It amused her to no end at how fast he could speak; leaving her nodding at the appropriate points. So far he hadn't said anything the press hadn't bashed her with when she'd first taken the position; something she didn't hold against him. "It is exciting." she agreed. "Probably more for me than the school though. I'm just glad my daughter doesn't mind that I'm going to be her headmistress."

There was the thump sound from the fitting room followed by a short burst of laughter.
Bathilde nervously bit her lip, hoping whatever was going on didn't entail grounding.
"So, how long have you worked as an auror?" She was curious, interested in how old the man might be... although he gathered from his voice that he was younger than her. Curiosity linked with getting off the subject of her own occupation.

"Ahh, well! Training does take a couple of years, and I started in my native Germany. I worked there for....six years, I think, and then transferred here about eight years ago," Julian replied, amazed at how fast the time had flown by. Had it really been that long? It felt like just yesterday. He scratched his head, thinking.

"There were better job opportunities here at the time," he explained, nearly laughing at the irony of it all. Once he started working for Zolnerowich, it all changed. It was nearly impossible to believe that he'd once been the brother who had it all together, that Bastian had been the one crashing on his couch and asking for advice.

"But now I hear interesting rumours -- that the Tri-Wizard Tournament might be held again this year? If it's true, you know...what happened the last the last time...you'll have Aurors again, of course. I'd love a position up at Hogwarts, if I'm not being too forward," he finished in a whisper, not wanting to be overheard.

Since her brother was an auror, Bathilde understood the arduous training process cadets undertook before gaining acceptance. That was after all, all Wilbur could speak about when he had finally passed after three poor attempts. The memories of his pacing and uncharacteristic rambling came flooding back as Julian spoke. So he was of average age... over thirty she'd guess, linking his voice to the number of years he'd been at his job. But she would vouch to that guess; she'd been off before.

"Ah, yes, I believe that rumour has been floating around." she lifted a slim eyebrow, wondering why he was interested in a Hogwarts position even though he hadn't been a student there. Maybe he was just an explorer at heart. "Well, anything is possible." she assured him, smiling softly. "If it comes up about your stationing, Hogwarts is open to you." If her mirror, Muncel was there, he'd be shrieking about that trusting nature of hers... but he wasn't and she didn't care. He seemed nice and she'd receive his record before his stationing anyway.

Julian's face lit up at the prospect of being free of Zolnerowich. "That's the best thing I've heard all day," he told Bathilde. "I hope it pans out...work has been pretty brutal lately. With the elections coming up, I've been working double shifts. Haven't had a day off in weeks. All those campaign events and press conferences. Believe me, Hogwarts would be a breath of fresh air. Maybe literally," he joked, chuckling.

And although he didn't say it out loud, he thought Bathilde would be a much more agreeable boss; anyone would be, really, but she did see, especially kind and trusting. Probably that whole parenting thing, although Zolnerowich didn't seem to have enjoyed any of those benefits.

Not one to listen to rumours, Bathilde had no real idea of how bad a boss Julian had. But she was sympathetic all the same.
"I'm sorry to hear that." she smiled. The joke passed over her head without her catching it; no surprise there to anyone who knew her.

"Mother!" A tomato-red Taryn stomped out of the fitting room at that moment, dressed in a half-pinned uniform robe. "She keeps poking me with those stinkin pins!" she howled, trying to keep herself from crying. At the last moment, she noticed the man and blushed, going amazing quiet. "Oh sorry." she muttered. "I didn't know anyone else was here." This was followed by a weak, "Hi..."

Bathilde chuckled, reaching out to take her daughter's hands.
"Julian this is my daughter, Taryn. Taryn this is Julian. He's waiting for you to finish."

Julian made a conscious effort not to laugh, remembering how children so disliked it. He contented himself with an amused smile instead and waved at the young girl.

"Hello, Taryn. Don't worry about me, waiting here is a break from work for me, so take as much time as you like. Although your mum would probably prefer that you don't take all day," he added, glancing at Bathilde.

"Speaking of which, have you gone round to all the shops yet?" he asked her, hoping he wouldn't be getting her into trouble with her daughter, who was clearly quite a handful. "I remember I quite liked getting all of my school things when I was of age, because I got to see friends I hadn't seen all summer. A nice little refresher before the school year began, you could say."

Taryn waved back, still subdued. She hated for people to see her upset; mainly because she'd inherited her father's reddening.
"I should go back." she mumbled, mainly to her mother.
"You shouldn't have left." Bathilde pointed out, lightly pushing the girl back toward the fitting room. Taryn slipped back into the room and the curtain slid loudly back into place.

"No, I haven't." she was content that Taryn had had an amazing change in attitude, silently thanking Julian for being there. Otherwise a muggle world war would have been reenacted in the waiting area. "Yes, I'm sure she enjoys it more than she shows. She'd been out of mood lately." Carefully she fiddled with the hem of her robe sleeve, the unnatural urge to be sure everything was properly in place colliding with the fact that her spells, despite their sensitivity were not made for that purpose. She smiled.
"Maybe I will just get her a puppy."