Author's note: One more time: Just fluff, because you know what? Fluff. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the canon, world, and characters portrayed below and you can tell I'm not J.K. Rowling because #transrights

Hogwarts: Assignment #2, Archaeology Task 4, Write about a large group or organisation

Warnings: Mentions past injustice and abuse of authority

Because of a Forgotten Lunch

Remus had thought that having Teddy with him would make this feel better, but he was still so incredibly nervous as he and his son appeared in the Ministry of Magic. The place did not look much different than it had before the war, other than the Fountain of Magical Brethren's removal. It had been replaced by a new art installation made by Dean Thomas—who had been chosen from a pool of Muggleborn artists to create a monument. Dean's work, revealed after Voldemort's fall, was a monument to the Muggleborns and Muggles who had vanished or been killed during the Second Wizarding War and to those who had fallen at Hogwarts or through work at the Order. It appeared to be a tall pillar on which rested a pile of wands and Muggle objects that wizards wouldn't have ordinarily looked twice at. The names of those victims that were known rained down from the tips of the wands above and fluttered to the ground before being replaced by more. Remus had known Dean to be an artist when he'd been his student, always drawing impeccable diagrams and schematics, but this monument took Remus' breath away every time he saw it.

Although sightseeing wasn't why they had come to the Ministry, he and Teddy. The latter was sitting in his stroller and chewing on the ear of a stuffed giraffe happily. He looked up with his big crystal blue eyes, as if sensing that Remus was watching him. Today, the baby's hair was a bright and popping cherry red colour.

"Yes, yes," Remus said. "We're going."

Months after the war, the Ministry was still throbbing with activity. People came here to try and track down lost loved ones, recover confiscated wands, offer testimonies, and a flood of new employees were working on rebuilding the world that had been broken. Remus had been to the Ministry multiple times over the years, mostly to deal with the Department for the Care and Regulation of Magical Creatures (which was never fun). Despite all the loss and the destruction that the wizarding world was dealing with, Remus couldn't recall ever seeing the building alive with such energy and so much activity.

Again: they weren't here for sightseeing.

Remus chewed on his lip and finally gave the stroller a push, heading towards the elevators. He might have been recognized if the people fluttering about weren't quite so busy, but he wound up in the elevator with three exhausted workers he didn't recognize and who were busy chattering amongst themselves in what he thought might be Gobbledegook, though they did spare Teddy a look. That happened when you had a baby with you. That pause gave Remus time to hesitate and wonder if he should just turn around and go home, before pressing the button to the second level, where the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was housed.

The elevator ride was short, which was probably good. A flurry of purple airplanes glided around the floor and it didn't take long for Remus to find a sign that explained where the Auror Office could be found. He swallowed and pushed Teddy forwards, pausing more often than strictly necessary to readjust the blanket over his son's lap. Teddy didn't seem to mind; the giraffe seemed to continue to be delicious.

The Auror Office was behind a wall of glass windows; it was a wide open space with clusters of desks throughout and doors in the back leading to the Head Auror's office and more private meeting rooms. Corkboards on the walls showed pictures, Daily Prophet clippings, maps, and other leads related to the bureau's current activities. One chalkboard had been completely taken over by the names and photographs of ex-Death Eaters still on the loose and believed to be in Britain. The Aurors milling around the office or sitting at their desks reading files, taking notes, or arguing with one another about this and that were an odd mix of characters, and Dora still managed to stand out with her spiky pink hair, sharp grey eyes, and the mustard yellow sweater she'd paired with today's black skirt. She was sitting at what he assumed was her desk, flipping through a binder and showing something to a colleague on a map. Her wand was tucked behind her ear like a cigarette.

Remus took a deep breath.

Other than Dora, there were a handful of Aurors in the office right now.

Remus didn't like Aurors. Sometimes, Department for the Care and Regulation of Magical Creatures employees would drag Aurors into their meetings. Sometimes, Aurors showed up to enforce the werewolf registry's nonsense or to conduct useless wellness and compliance checks. Sirius had told him stories of being brutalized in Azkaban. During the first war they had been just about useless and during the second war, they had just about been Death Eaters themselves. Remus knew that a purge of sort had taken place once Voldemort had fallen and he knew that many of the traitorous Aurors were now in Azkaban.

But still. Remus Lupin did not like Aurors. He liked one Auror who had been dissatisfied with her department, joined an insurgency movement, and demanded his attention very early on in her career, yes. Kingsley he also trusted, though he was Minister now. But Aurors as a whole and Aurors he did not know and Aurors in their home base…

He also didn't know any of the Aurors that hadn't been in the Order of the Phoenix. Dora had invited him to Christmas parties and happy hours with her colleagues before, but Remus had historically refused on the grounds of shyness and unconfidence. Most of the faces he saw at the moment were new.

But there was Dora. And he had Teddy with him.

He approached the office's entrance and spoke to the receptionist who was stationed by the door.

"Excuse me," Remus said. "Hello, I'm looking for Auror Tonks."

The receptionist looked at him for a moment and then recognized his face and, most likely, the baby he was ferrying about.

"You must be Remus," she said with a smile splitting her face. "And this must be Teddy…"

Remus blushed at the attention and when he looked back, sure enough the Aurors milling about had stopped what they were doing or hushed their conversations to see him. Superb. He had only been planning to drop off what he'd brought and then go immediately.

"Hey, you," Dora said in a soft and pleased voice. She put her binder down and rolled up her sleeves as she crossed the room, the heels of her dragonhide boots clicking against the floor. She put one hand on Remus' arm and leaned up to kiss him—a quick peck, as if it were nothing. "And you too, lovebug…"

She reached down just as Teddy relinquished the giraffe and waved his little hands about, trying to take hers. He latched onto her left hand and she leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"What are you doing here?" Dora asked, a smile on her lips though she seemed genuinely surprised to see him.

"You, ah, you forgot your lunch," Remus said. He reached down to the basket under Teddy's stroller and fished out her hot pink lunchbox.

"I hadn't even noticed," Dora said, wide-eyed.

"I figured you would," Remus said. "What, with you having leftover curry in here and it being fish stick day in the cafeteria…"

Dora detested fish sticks. He had heard her complain about the atrocity of fish stick day enough times to have known, when he'd opened the fridge and seen her lunchbox still there, that something had to be done—even if that something was Remus personally bringing her curry.

"You came to save me from fish stick day?" Dora asked, smiling.

"Of course," Remus said. "I've saved you from much worse."

Dora laughed.

"Thank you," she said, hugging the lunchbox to herself with the hand Teddy wasn't holding. She looked over her shoulder quickly. "While you're here, do you want to meet everybody?"

"I didn't mean to disturb," Remus said, probably blushing some more. "We were just going to stop by…"

"You're Remus, then," one of the Aurors in the back spoke up. Remus had no idea who he was; he sported shaggy blond hair, green eyes, and an American accent.

"Yes," Remus answered, inclining his head. "Pleased to meet you. Really, we didn't mean to intrude…"

"Nonsense!" Hestia Jones said, strolling out of the Head Auror's office. "We want to see the baby while you're here!"

"Tonks never shuts up about the two of you," another Auror said.

Remus turned to look at Dora.

"I really don't," she admitted. She took her hand away from Teddy and wrapped an arm around Remus' arm. She lowered her voice. "Everyone who's here right now I really like. They're cool; they're the right kinds of Aurors. They just want to meet you and Teddy because you're my family and they know how much I love you."

Remus swallowed and nodded.

"We can stay for a bit," he said. Dora smiled and reached to pick up Teddy from the stroller, putting down her lunchbox. She kissed his forehead as she adjusted the baby in her arms.

"You are going to be our most popular visitor, sir," she said. "I can tell."

She did wink at Remus before bringing the baby over to her colleagues who gathered in awe.

Remus followed.

WC: 1575