Welcome to the Department of Mysteries, Second door to the left and down the hall.
By Jelly Beans.
The main foyer of the Ministry of Magic was a bustle of people going about their business, Aurors, Obliviator's, Ministers and clerks were making their way too their respective departments, the odd reporter trying to get passed the heavy security at the doors. A tall, black haired man in his late teens flashed a card to one of the less burly looking guards and made his way to the main desk. The mousy haired secretary failed to notice his presence at first and the man took to people spotting whilst she finished filling away her notes. With a start she looked up, the man flashed her a charming smile which made the poor woman turn a nice shade of pink.
"Good morning Mister Black." The woman stammered.
"It is isn't it Mary." Sirius winked.
"What can I do for you sir? Aren't you with Mister Potter?"
Sirius gave a fake sigh of melancholy. "Alas, James has left me for a red haired beauty." Mary laughed more confidently.
"There there sir, I'm sure he'll come crawling back in a few days." Mary smiled, she, like most of the ministry were aware of the impending marriage of James Potter and Lily Evens and in her eyes, a more perfect couple you couldn't find. Of course, most of the female employees were highly disappointed at this news.
"Yeah, anyway, can you point me in the direction of the Department of Mysteries? I have a meeting with Mr Jones."
Mary blinked in surprise, what was Sirius Black, a well know Auror doing meeting the Head of the DM?
"Of course sir." She smiled, hiding her confusion, "Take the stairs to the top, it's the second door on the left and Mr Jones' office is at the end of the hall."
"Thanks, Mary, what would I do without you?" He winked again and headed towards the stairs leaving a rather flustered, but highly adapt clerk in his wake. Following Mary's directions, Sirius came to a heavy set door. The words on the front informing him of his location.
Department of Mysteries.
Head: Julius Jones.
Deputy: Gilliana Moore.
Sirius pushed aside the door and was met by an incredible sight. The smooth marble hallways that made the Ministry famous vanished, replaced by shinny white walls and steel floors, the corridor stretched endlessly before him. Immediately to his sides were two locker rooms, male and female on each side. He stepped to the side as the left door opened and two female Unspeakables walked out. They were both wearing black uniforms, one with a ruby red trim, the other with a emerald green. Neither played him any attention and as Sirius followed them down the hall, they soon turned of into a room marked.
Briefing.
He continued down the hall, passing room after room, occasionally loud bangs erupted from inside. Finally, after what seemed an age, Sirius reached his destination.
Julius Jones. Head of Department.
Sirius knocked and seconds later a deep grunt delivered his admittance. Sirius ran an unconscious hand through his hair and opened the door feeling highly apprehensive behind a mask of practiced calm.
The room was laid out in typical Auror style; probable, Sirius reminded himself, because nine out of ten Unspeakables were Aurors at some point. The desk faced the door, with it's back to the window, casting imposing shadows on the door and causing instant intimidation to any who may enter the room. Several low bookshelves spanned the walls to the side of him and Sirius could name more than one Dark Wizard detector left from Jones' days as an Auror. The man himself sat behind his highly polished, yet completely disordered desk. Sirius had never met Jones before but he had to say, the head of the DM lived up to his expectations grandly. Julius Jones was in his late fifties, steely grey hair was slightly dishevelled and his eyes burned with determined fire. He eyed the young Auror carefully.
"Ah, Mister Black. Have a seat." he held out a hand and indicated the grey chair in front of the desk. Sirius had to remove the week old coffee cup and case files before taking his seat. If he had been at home or James house he would have undoubtedly made one of his famous wise cracks, however, he was at work and had long since learned the hard way to keep his mouth shut.
Jones began to flick through a thick folder, pausing here and there, nodding occasionally and on the whole ignoring the man seated in front of him. Sirius realised with a jolt, that the file was his own records. Alarm bells went of in his head- how the hell did Jones get that? All Auror files were kept under strict lock and key, the pressure of the war making it practically impossible for anyone other than the DMLE head to access them. This of course wasn't always practical, the number of times veterans Arabella Figg and Alastor Moody threw fits when they were denied access had reached triple figures. After a moment, Sirius had to stifle a laugh, of course Jones could get his file, the DM answered to no one, rules were meant for breaking as James often said.
"Well, Mr Black," Jones looked up and fixed Sirius with a penetrating gaze not unlike Headmaster Dumbledore's . "Impressive, very impressive." He closed the folder and placed his hands atop, arching his fingers into a tent , drumming them together quietly. "Excellent reports from your trainers, a perfect field record, but," And Jones' eyes seemed to light up, "a certain disregard for rules." Sirius shifted uneasily in his seat but forced himself to meet the mans eyes. "Tell me Sirius, have you ever considered a career with the DM?"
"Not really Sir, I don't really know what that would entail."
"I see. Well then. Mr Black, we at the DM deal with all the unpleasant aspects of the world, things that the DMLE cannot deal with for, say, sake of public opinion, or the mere technicalities would take to long to process. In short, we do all the dirty work and get none of the recognition that Aurors do." Jones laughed a cold titter before turning back to Sirius. "We recruit the best and turn them into something even better. Usually, we require a great deal more experience than someone your age, with the occasional acceptance of course. However, with this war," Sirius didn't know if he imagined it, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees, "we are recruiting the best and the brightest we can find. Your last stunt in Cumbria caught the eye of one of our operatives, she recommended you to me."
Sirius felt his mouth drop open and swiftly closed it. Jones chuckled mirthlessly. "To put it frankly Black, we are offering you a chance to rise above the DMLE, and work for us, the pay is better, the hours are better and the paper work is a lot less. We look after our own Black"
"And what's the catch?" Sirius asked warily.
"The catch? You do not discus your work with anyone, not even your pet. You will be on call at all hours, however unlikely it is that we will call upon you. You will have to become a shadow, and you will have to work your arse of to pass the recruitment test. Other than that, there is no catch." Jones didn't wait for Sirius to reply. "Come on, let me introduce you to your potential Unit." Without waiting for a response, Jones beckoned Sirius to follow him. The young man walked behind the respected head and watched as random people gave Jones a respectful nod or a dignified salute. Eventually they stopped in front of a room Sirius had seen earlier. Briefing. Pushing the door aside, Jones motioned Sirius through. The room was sparsely decorated, large white boards dotted here and their with information writing in varying degrees of neatness on them. This itself struck Sirius as odd. "Don't worry Black, you say no and we'll wipe your memory squeaky clean." Jones whispered in his ear. Sirius nodded and continued to look around the room. Several tables were dotted here and there some with groups of people around them. One group in particular caught Sirius' eye, and it was this one that Jones lead him to.
"Say Hello to Sirius Black. " Six people eyed him suspiciously before nodding, smiling or muttering a quick hello.
"Black," Jones said, "Meet the Red Squad. Naomi Hall, Ricx god-alone-knows-what-his-last-name-is, Lin Wayne, Scotty Beeson, Ata Moore and finally Noel, Ricx's sister." Each nodded at his or her respected names. Sirius had to marvel at the genius behind the group, by sight alone they were the most motley crew he had ever seen. Naomi looked out of place in her uniform, her dark red hair cut to the style of the day and delicate frame hiding any power whatsoever. Ricx, now here was an odd character; Ricx had buzz cut hair and black eyes, this would have looked fine, until one took in his whiter than white complexion and the seven scars that ran in parallel down his square jaw. His sister too shared similar features, she was stare less but her eyes were just as menacing. Both Ata and Lin were very pretty, but in both cases Sirius suspected that looks were deceiving. Ata held herself talk and proud but the slight quirk in her cheek gave away a lot more, she had all the features of a beautiful woman, sparkling blue eyes, sleek hair and flawless skin however Sirius knew she was not a person to have as an enemy and the cold, indifferent gaze she held him in did nothing to quell those thoughts. Lin too was striking, a pretty Chinese girl with long hair and deep eyes like pools of onyx. Sirius didn't need to look at the hem of her robs to tell she was the leader, the slight angling of the others heads and the posture she held gave that away. Lastly, Scotty reminded Sirius of Remus, there were bags under his eyes and an almost wan look to his skin, his eyes however were alert and thoughtful.
All in all, not what Sirius expected from a group of Unspeakables.
"Oh, for pity sake Julius, not another recruit." Ricx groaned and glared at the young Auror.
"Play nice Ricky." Naomi drawled smoothly.
"Don't call me that!" Ricx snarled at the red head.
"Fine, and show your commanding officer some respect." Naomi smiled. Ricx snorted but said nothing.
"So Kid, you gonna join the rabble of thugs and low lives?" Naomi giggled, several of her Unit cast annoyed looks in her direction.
"Not sure yet." Sirius smiled back
"Take our advice kid, leave now."