Legislation and distractions // Open

Several conversations from the past few weeks replayed over and over in Remus' head as he made his way through the halls of the Ministry of Magic. He was heading back to the atrium, to Floo home after surprising his wife at work with a lunch date, but those darn conversations were as persistent as some of the flying memos he saw buzzing about Ministry worker's heads. He couldn't let them go. Many people had come to him recently with word of looming new legislation regarding creatures, not from the rightful Department of Magical Creatures that regulated and controlled them - but possibly from the Minister herself. Remus didn't trust Minister Bennett one bit. He couldn't let this go.

He was directly in front of a fireplace before his hesitations got the better of him. Remus took his foot off the hearth and walked back to the lift, punching the button for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He thought it useful to see what they had to say, if anything, about all this - to see who was on his side and who he could or could not trust. Surprisingly, Remus didn't know many people in this department. He'd suffered so much abuse under them long ago that he rather shied away from them now, though many things had changed for the better since then. He knew of the Head of the department, a Ms. Santel, but didn't know much about her. Most of what he knew of the Ministry workers came from his wife, and Dora had never really gotten close to this one. Remus hoped for a practical explanation for that - the woman was shy, maybe - rather than a sinister one.

When he reached the department, he began to feel a bit guilty. He didn't have an appointment, and certainly didn't want to interrupt anybody...but hell, he was already here. The receptionist allowed him back, and soon he found himself knocking on Ms. Santel's door. He walked into her office a moment later. Remus had experienced too much of the world to rely too much on first impressions, but the woman had a nice smile. That was usually a good sign. He put on his own gentle smile, bowing his head at Ms. Santel before walking up to her desk and sticking out his hand. "Hello, Ms. Santel. My name is Remus Lupin. If it's not too much of a bother, can I have a moment of your time? I'd just like to chat."

After so many years, Remus was used to the looks. Nearly everyone he met had to give him a look over; some more subtle than others, but he stayed open and patient while they did so all the same. He didn't mind it much anymore. His face was an interesting map of scars that was hard not to look at, not to mention the curious way so much age seemed to sit so heavily on a still relatively young body. Remus used to be very self-conscious about the way he looked (the threadbare clothing he wore back then helping none at all), but he learned to love those scars because Dora loved them, and loved him despite them. He would never go around parading with pride his scars and condition, but he no longer hid his face either.

"And you may call me Remus," he responded to her request with a smile. That was a good start; Lyall certainly wasn't pretentious, if a little stilted. More and more, Remus thought maybe she was just an introverted person, maybe intensely private. Neither of them bad qualities, compared to some of the things she could be. Remus took a seat and folded his hands in his lap, listening to the department head talk with that gentle smile still on his face. "That's a healthy philosophy," he commented. He reckoned he was much the same way. He shook his head when she frowned. "No, no, nothing like that. I've...reason to watch your department over the years, and I'm actually impressed with some of the improvements I've seen pushed through. Werewolf legislation is a particular interest of mine." Like he said, he didn't go parading it about, but he had nothing to hide. Remus didn't fear for his life nearly as much as he did in his twenties, but that could always change...he glanced around Lyall's office with the best nonchalant air he could muster, adding in a shrug for good measure. "My wife works here. In the DMLE, she's an Auror. Nymphadora Lupin, do you know her? Or Tonks, as she would probably pressure you into calling her if you did know her." Remus was rambling with purpose, smiling like he hadn't a care in the world. He didn't want to seem too suspicious, if Lyall was in fact on the Minister's side of these rumors. She looked trustworthy enough, but he needed to hear it, too.

"She likes the gossip. Always coming home with little rumors and tidbits. Something strange caught my ear the other day. If you would excuse my nosiness, Lyall - is there anything substantial behind this news of new werewolf legislation floating about?"

"Truly all I can ask," Remus said, with a slow smile and nod. They were all trying to make a difference, weren't they? That's what it was all about, in Remus' opinion - the differences. It always seemed the bad guys, the oppressors and the corrupted, wanted to keep things the same. Even when they were creating 'change', it was just a route back to the old ways. Remus thought what this world needed was some good, solid change, and he truly appreciated anyone trying to make it.

Lyall wasn't falling for his act, if the expression on her face was any evidence. This just made Remus grin more. He didn't need to her play along, really; actually, it was points in her favor that she didn't. Politicians liked to play along. Good, honest, hardworking people liked to get things done. Lyall definitely had to be one of those people, if she'd spent fifteen years straight without any office fraternizing. Remus couple appreciate that, sure. He could be quite chatty in the right context, but he also appreciated quiet and concentration just as much. Lyall didn't exactly look happy about it, though. Remus tilted his head just slightly at her, contemplative. "Maybe you two ought to lunch together sometime. I think she'd like you; and she has plenty to talk about." It was a gentle suggestion, no pressure (though, when he suggested the same to Dora later, he couldn't promise no pressure from that end). Certainly a grown woman didn't need any help at all from some stranger on making friends. That look on her face was just one Remus thought he might recognize.

Once they reached the meat of the conversation Remus came seeking, he forgot all thoughts of friends. Or rather, making other friends for Lyall, because he found he rather liked the woman himself. She was convincing in her convictions, leading Remus to truly believe that she was a good heart, fighting the good fight. "Thank you," he nodded once she paused to scowl. "Really, that's very reassuring. Like I said, all I can ask is that you try. And at least you, for one, seem to have your heart and head pointed in the right direction." Unlike other certain Ministry workers...

Remus raised his eyebrows in slight surprise as Lyall spoke up again, eyes drawn to her hand rubbing over a spot on her arm. A scar. He smiled gently and looked back up to meet her eyes. "I wasn't so lucky, I suppose." He ran a hand over his own scars, much more copious and obvious, not all inflicted by someone else. Once, Remus might have been bitter over meeting someone who got attacked by a wolf in human form. But he knew life still wasn't easy that way, and Remus was far beyond (mostly) his days of feeling sorry for himself at the expense of others. He sighed at Lyall's question of him, relaxing and feeling candid. He'd decided he did trust her after all, not afraid to speak his mind around her - but it was still a difficult question to answer. "I'm not quite sure, to be perfectly honest. Do I trust her? No. But as you see, I feel that way about anybody I haven't met yet. Haven't managed to sneak my way into her office yet." He winked at Lyall, and allowed his smile to fall a bit. "She's certainly not doing herself any favors at gaining that trust, at any rate."

A little bit to his surprise, Lyall seemed to accept his offer. Maybe she was just being polite, maybe something else. Either way, she showed Remus with her answer that she was a nice person - and nice people, he could usually trust. "Of course," he nodded, unable to hide his happy smile. "We can go now, if you're not busy. Or I can tell her to just stop by sometime." Still, no pressure. Remus just always got a bit excited at the prospect of another good soul in the world. Not to be put to any use of his necessarily, but just because the world needed more of them.

She had been quiet, but Lyall had a bit more to say on the topic of the Minister. In the true fashion of the nice kind of person she was revealing herself to be, she even gave Minister Bennett the benefit of the doubt. "True. We can't know until we see it for ourselves, right?" He conceded, nodding thoughtfully. "And they do have to come off a bit strong-handed at first, don't they, to show they mean business." In his gut, Remus didn't feel that this is what the Minister was doing - but jumping to conclusions was a dangerous business for anybody, and he reminded himself that his head was usually more accurate than his gut anyway.