Overdue Meeting (Louis)

Guest

Paperwork had pooled on his desk from the past few days, when, instead of going through them like he was supposed to, he had obliged Kaitlin's request of visiting a Muggle zoo. This was followed by a trip to an aquarium, and then a safari. So, on the fourth day, Lawrence had unwillingly hired a nanny and left Kaitlin at home while he spent the day catching up on everything.

It was a recent report from his new Head of Magical Law Enforcement that caught his attention. Louis Clemens, if his memory served him right. No, Clement, he corrected a moment later, wordlessly summoning a file from the nearby cabinet. Thumbing through it, Law hummed softly to himself, eyes travelling across the words with speed. Interesting. Very, very interesting, he mused, sending the document back to its place without so much as blinking.

Pushing aside the stack of papers, he straightened his tie and called out, "Twix!" A few seconds later there was a loud crack and his house elf appeared, bowing low. "Please go and find Mister Louis Clement. He should be on the third floor, and he is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Tell him I wish to see him, if he is not too busy," Lawrence continued, and Twix gave another bow and apparated away.

Leaning back in his chair, he smiled a little, summoning a tray of cups and a teapot from the cabinet nearby. It was high time he had a chat with his newly appointed head; he had heard a lot about Louis and it was a long overdue meet. Lawrence, after all, was the Minister, and what use was a Minister who didn't know his employees?

Guest

As the weeks passed since both his marriage and his promotion, Louis got buried under work. Adelisa was patient with him, as she always had been and their friendship was steadily growing. So much so that Louis had found it in himself to kiss his wife's cheek as he came home and they'd taken to sharing a bed instead of sleeping apart. They still hadn't managed the ultimate intimacy, but Adelisa didn't complain once.

It had been a busy morning, Louis had just gotten back from a raid and was ready to sit and file the report on what they'd found in regards to dark magical items and inventory what they'd salvaged when a house elf appeared before him, insisting that the Minister of Magic wanted to see him. Blooming pencil pushers, Louis thought to himself, standing from his desk and following the creature to the Minister's office. And summoned by an elf no less.

Louis was not amused.

When he finally reached the Minister's office, Louis knocked, pausing for a short moment before letting himself in to the office.

"You wanted to see me, Minister." Louis spoke clearly, his French accent flickering across the words here and there, but understandable enough. He didn't speak more than that, not overly sure of why he was here, if he was honest.

Guest

A knock on his door a moment later signalled the arrival of what he hoped was Louis, and not someone after his signature for some document - there was a reason he had a secretary, although there were the few idiots who never seemed to realize why she was there. Still, Lawrence could never say that aloud, and harboured his annoyance. He very well couldn't allow anyone to hear him ranting. A moment later, before he could tell the person to come in, the door opened and Louis walked in. Nodding to Twix, Law waited till he left - to do what, Lawrence never questioned, because whenever he called for his house elf, he came, and that was all that mattered - before standing up to greet the man.

"I did." He paused. "I do hope you were not terribly busy? I asked Twix to ensure you weren't in the middle of something important, but I know he can be very insistent at times."

Moving out towards the couches and the coffee table to the right of the room, Lawrence motioned for the Frenchman to take a seat. The hard chairs opposite his desk were reserved for people he didn't like, or wanted to make uncomfortable. "Please, take a seat," he said with a smile, the tea tray following obediently behind him as he walked over.

Seating himself after Louis did so, he lowered the tray onto the table. "Coffee or tea?" he asked, waiting for an answer before pouring the requested drink. "I must admit, this is simply a social call. How are you finding your new job? Is the staff to your satisfaction? I do apologize for not doing this earlier; I have been busy with other important matters," he continued after a few moments, not stating that these 'important matters' were basically him tending to Kaitlin's wants.

Guest

The comment on being 'terribly busy' Louis ignored. They were doing a lot of raids recently and the Minister of Magic of all people would know that. But Louis didn't remind him of that, because he didn't wish to upset the man before him - not because he was worried about his job, he knew he was safe.

Being motioned to the seats, Louis took one, sitting perfectly straight and watching the younger man like a hawk, though subtly enough not to make it look like he was analysing. Louis trusted very few people and it was better that way.

"Nothing for me, thank you." Louis replied to the offer of drinks, he wasn't much in the mood for coffee or tea at the moment, and it was much too early in the day to suggest a cognac might have better place in that moment. The conversation quickly shifted to the notion of what the Minister of Magic really wanted, and Louis raised an eyebrow marginally.

"I am satisfied, yes. There are a few too many idiots at my disposal, but I put them to where they are better suited and use those of much more use where I need to. It's nothing a firmer hand won't sort out, I can assure you of that much." Louis explained, because he was already making the Auror division work much more to his standards than the old ones. The apology Louis waved away without a second thought, he knew what it was like to be busy and he was most certainly not going to pull up other people for being busy. "I'm just waiting for some of my better agents to finish their final year of training to strengthen my team."

Guest

"Nothing for me, thank you."

Raising his eyebrow slightly in a questioning motion, Lawrence nodded once. "Anything you would like?" he asked, maintaining the polite thing to do; it was personally something he hated. If this had been one of his friends he wouldn't have bothered asking, instead bringing out the beers - or fire whiskey, depending on which friend it was. But he wasn't sure as to what drink the man before him would like, be it alcoholic or not.

As the man continued, Lawrence chuckled at the mention of idiots. "Personally, I agree. We have far too many of those running around creating messes, but if I fired every idiot that worked under me, I doubt I would have more than a handful of people left," he commented lightly. Louis seemed like a man after his own mindset, and despite the man being older than himself, Lawrence didn't find the whole thing awkward.

"It's nothing a firmer hand won't sort out, I can assure you of that much."

"I've heard good reports, so I am assuming you have it under control, but if you ever need anything, my door is open to those who can tell the difference between idiocy and normality," he told Louis, a small smile on his face.

At the mention of good agents, Law raised his eyebrow again. "Are you saying that some of our better Aurors are still in training?" He let out a low whistle. "Well, that says a lot about the qualification standards we had previously. What would you suggest we do to lower the rate of idiots entering?" In all this, Lawrence was being completely sincere; he really did want the opinion of his new Head of Magical Law Enforcement.

Guest

The notion of something else made Louis shake his head once more. "I'm fine, thank you, Minister." Louis assured the man. Fuss was not Louis' style and today would be absolutely no different.

The notion of firing every idiot under the man brought a very small touch of a smile to Louis' lips. He was a hard man to make smile, but firing idiots did have some worth to him. "I can assure you, if you fired them, you'd probably have a smoother running Ministry. But, that is not my decision. Idiots in my department are becoming extinct though." Louis explained.

And the compliment, however it was phrased to be, Louis nodded, murmuring a soft thank you in response. "I only need more promising candidates to come through the training system, and I think the force will be at it's strongest." Louis explained, because he most certainly wasn't going to pass idiots through his training regime. He'd already shown that through old students being pushed from the course before they'd even started.

"Are you saying that some of our better Aurors are still in training?"

"Yes, I am, Minister. You'll have heard of Miss Marilyn Caldwell, I assume?" He asked, pausing only to allow a short answer. "She's about to start her final year of training at the university. She won't have a problem with this year's syllabus, I can assure you that much. But Miss Caldwell... I think she's going to make history." Louis explained, a small, prideful smile on her lips. "There are a few others, but Miss Caldwell is where I'd place my money for big things."

But riding themselves of idiots in the future. "That, Minister, you most certainly don't have to worry about. I'm not afraid of failing people who aren't capable. I'm not interested in the University's Bonus for high pass rates. I'm interested in making sure the candidates are capable in this field, and not endangering my team's life." Louis told the man, quite firmly because he didn't want there to be any doubt that Louis was doing a very, very good job.

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