Moving Hermione's obviously secondhand furniture into the luxurious Warwick sitting room had felt weird, but Hope was so excited by the change that Hermione did it anyway. With the gaming table and harpsichord in the attic, replaced by her well-loved sofa and wireless, it was swiftly becoming her favorite room in the house. Cold days were especially nice. After a long Monday, Hermione went home to find a full teapot and her latest book waiting for her. She curled up while Hope made dinner, absentmindedly petting Crookshanks and losing herself in reading.

Hermione immediately stopped petting when Crookshanks's tail twitched, but it wasn't his usual "I am done being petted right this second" twitch. He turned toward the fireplace just as the flames turned green and a head appeared, blurred by the fire screen.

"Hello?" Seph's voice asked.

"Oh, hi, Seph." Hermione laid her book aside, got a good grip on Crookshanks, and used her wand to move the screen out of the way.

"I'm not interrupting you, am I?" Seph asked. He jerked his head toward the fire screen. "It looks like you wanted some privacy."

"Oh no, that's just because Crookshanks got lost in the Floo Network once at my old house. He made it all the way to Diagon Alley. Luckily, he was clever enough to go to the Magical Menagerie and wait for me. The witch there recognized him and sent me an owl."

"Bright cat."

"Very. Aren't you, Crooksie?" She scratched between his ears, and he purred, half-closing his eyes. "How are you, Seph?"

"Actually, I…" His voice caught, and all semblance of cheerfulness vanished from his face. "I really need to talk to someone. Can I come over?"

"Of course! Come right in."

Seph's head disappeared, and a moment later he stepped out of her fireplace. She moved the fire screen back into place and moved to the end of the couch to make room, then let go of Crookshanks. The cat settled into her lap as though to say "nope, you picked me up, now you're stuck with me."

"What happened?" Hermione asked as Seph sat down.

"Sir!" Rupert interrupted. "However much your emotions may be disarrayed, surely you do not intend to visit the home of a lady of independent magic without bringing a chaperone."

"It's fine, Rupert."

"No, it is not 'fine', Miss Hermione. You know I am a bit rough around the edges, but even I realize this is simply not done."

"Charlotte, little help?" Hermione called toward the dining room.

Charlotte and her lover swept into the frame, each catching Rupert by an elbow and dragging him out the other side. "We've got him, Hermione. Have a nice chat with your gentleman friend."

"This is absolutely scandalous!" Rupert protested.

Hermione quickly conjured a cloth to cover Rupert's frame and did the same to the landscape over the mantel, just in case. "Sorry about that. The house takes a little getting used to."

"I should say so," Seph said.

"So what happened?"

"I got sacked."

"What?" Hermione asked. "Why?"

"Because of Saturday night. My boss said I 'overstepped the authority of my office' by speaking up."

"But what you said was right, wasn't it?"

"Yes. I think that's the problem. They can't just blow it off."

"That's terrible!"

"I can't say I'm surprised. I should have seen it coming. I did see it coming; as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew I would pay for it at work. I was just expecting to have my pay docked, or at worst, get suspended for a week. I didn't expect to get the boot completely."

"I'm still glad you said it," Hermione said.

"I am too. If I'm really honest, if I had it to do over again, I'd still stand up and say that. Except I wouldn't introduce myself this time."

He chuckled wryly, and Hermione joined him despite herself. "Do you have any idea what you're going to do next?"

"I don't know yet. It's still sinking in that I won't be going into the office tomorrow."

"I can imagine." She thought for a moment. "Oh! Sniffers will probably have a job opening if Greg's leaving for the Harpies! I could give Roma a ring."

"You don't need to do that."

"It's no trouble." She tried to shift Crookshanks off her lap, but he was absolutely not moving. How was it that a cat seemed to increase the force of gravity and simultaneously turn into a liquid when they didn't want to move?

"No, Hermione, really," Seph said seriously. "I don't know anything about Private Inquiries. Honestly, if I just wanted any job, I could have turned around and applied at another Ministry division."

"You can do that?"

"Oh, sure. People do it all the time. The divisions don't talk to each other very well, and they can't really keep track of other departments' transfers and terminations. As often as not, by the time they realize you were sacked, well, you've been doing fine in their group, so what's the worry?"

Seph sighed. "Actually, I have a confession to make. You're not the first person I've told. My brother and I have always been close, so I talked to him when I got the news. Care to guess what he said?"

"'I'm sorry'?" Hermione said.

"Nope. He said, 'Congratulations. It's about time you got out of there.'"

"That's terrible!"

"Not the way he was looking at it. Werewolf Support Services has a reputation as a dead-end job. It's almost a second Centaur Office. If you tick off a higher-up in the Beasts Division, that's where you end up. As far as he was concerned, this was my chance to shake the dust off my broomstick and fly to something better. Thing is, I really liked the job. I felt like I was helping people who really needed it. Maybe I'm just deluding myself."

"No, you did help people," Hermione said.

Seph sighed. "I hate to think how the next person will change the office. It's a lot more work than it seems to do it well. You have to keep up with the charities and the job market, and a lot of that has to be done on your own time."

"Maybe the next person will be as dedicated as you were."

"Maybe," Seph said. His tone carried an unspoken 'but probably not'.

"What about you?" Hermione asked. "If you don't want just any job, have you thought about what you do want?"

"A little." He tilted his hand back and forth. "Maybe I'll see if the Family Services Division needs anyone. Or I might apply to St. Mungo's as a patient advocate. You know, help people understand confusing medical options and advise people with chronic conditions on how to adjust their lives."

"I bet the Ulrika Farcas ward could use one of those," Hermione said. "It'd be almost like your old job."

"Yeah, that would be a good one. I'll send them an owl in the morning." Seph chuckled. "You know where I'd really like to work?"

"Where?"

"W.A.G."

"The Werewolf Advocacy Group?"

Seph nodded, a sheepish grin sneaking across his face. "All the stuff the Support Services Office ought to do, he already does. And those first few days after a full moon are probably the busiest for him, when he's exhausted himself. I'd like to help with something like that."

"Why don't you send him an owl and see if he has a spot?"

"It's just a non-profit, though."

"There are non-profits that hire employees. Look at Tritonis."

"It's just a little non-profit, though. I think it's basically a guy in his basement."

"The British branch, maybe, but it's an international group. Maybe the bigger organization is looking for someone, or maybe Mr. Milburn wants to expand. I know it's a long shot, but you'll never know if you don't ask."

"I suppose it won't hurt anything. I can send a letter of inquiry to him along with everyone else." He slapped his knee. "I think I'll do that."

"Good luck."

"Thanks. Well, I know you were in the middle of something."

"Oh, you don't have to leave right away," Hermione said as he pushed himself up. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"I'd love to. Are you sure it won't be any trouble?"

"In this house? Just the opposite.—Hope!"

Hope apparated into the room with a soft 'pop'. "Yes, Mistress? Oh, hello, Mr. Blaine. How are you this evening?"

"Better than I was half an hour ago," he said. "Thank you for asking, Hope."

"Seph's going to stay for dinner," Hermione said.

Hope clapped her hands together and asked, "Really?" as though Hermione had said that Seph was going to give her a pony. "Can I set out the good china?"

"Not from the attic, but you can do whatever you like with the dishes I brought."

She clapped again. "This is so exciting! Let me get you some more tea before dinner." She picked up the teapot, then paused and said, "oh, that's odd."

"What's odd?"

"Rupert said you'd finished your tea and I should bring some more for your guest, but the pot's almost full. He must have been mistaken." Hope shrugged and put it back down. "I was going to check earlier, but Charlotte said you wanted privacy, and I wasn't sure which one to listen to."

"Well, you chose exactly right by listening to Charlotte," Hermione said.

Hope's smile widened seemingly larger than her face could hold. "I'll go set the formal dining room!"

Seph managed to hold back his chuckles until Hope was out of the room, and Hermione said, "Sounds like Rupert didn't give up that chaperone idea."

"Hope really hates to call me 'Seph', doesn't she?"

"It's not that she doesn't like you. She's just very excited to be a 'proper' house-elf." Hermione made quotes with her fingers. "I'm hoping that calms down once the novelty wears off, but let her have her fun."

"You're sure this won't cause you any trouble?" Seph smiled at her, his hair falling into his eyes in a way that made her want to melt. "I mean, I wouldn't want to scandalize Rupert."

"Oh, Rupert's already scandalized," she said. "Let's make it worth it."