Closed Lucky Break

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander really wasn't sure how he had managed to get here, as his eyes apprehensively wandered over the front door to Rupert Cresswell's home. Not here physically - he'd apparated most of the way - here as in this point in his life. Expelled, cursed, and now at the doorstep to the home of the Deputy Minister. The dude who was second-in-charge of the country's entire magical community. That Deputy Minister. A guy who probably had a small army of aurors at his beck and call, running errands and doing his grocery shopping or whatever they did when they weren't out arresting teenagers for tiny itty bitty little mistakes. Yet here he was, Dangerous-Criminal-Lysander, Almost Azkaban's Finest, someone who was unsure if he was still legally allowed to vote, let alone be in the vicinity of one of the government's most important figures. How had he gotten to this point? Who could have predicted this?

A small part of him still held onto the irrational thought that this was all some big elaborate sting operation to see if he was still hatching basilisks. It was a thought he brushed away as he raised his hand to knock. He'd learned his lesson the hard way. Besides, he was here to learn about curse-breaking. That was a good thing, right? Breaking curses was the total opposite of dark magic. He was turning over a new leaf, doing some good for the community. It just happened to be under the wing of Big Government. He took a breath and knocked. "Mr. Cresswell? It's me." He yelled out. Was he allowed to call him that? "Mr. Deputy Minister" sounded ridiculous. "Uh...Lysander." He added to clarify. He didn't know why he felt this nervous - his conspiracy theories about this being a sting operation aside. He'd met the man before, but being outside his home made it all feel that much more real. With everything that had happened, the stupid mistakes he'd made, he hadn't imagined he'd be able to get more from his life than working in the Menagerie. It was equal parts exciting and terrifying to start on a new chapter.​

 

[Rupert Cresswell]

With his workload at the Ministry, Rupert's curse-breaking career had more or less ended. Gone on hiatus, certainly. He loved the work he had dedicated his life to - the adventurous years, the above board independent work, and his... less legitimate under the table dealings all the same. He thought back on the work fondly, and more than once had spent a forlorn night just wandering around his workshop, picking up various things and fidgeting with them, or digging into old books, refreshing his memory. He wouldn't be in politics forever, that was for certain, and Rupert was absolutely sure that the moment his time at the Ministry ended he would be right back here, where he belonged.

Not having the time to practice himself didn't mean his time in the lab was completely finished, though. He had taken on a small handful of interns over the years, but today's meeting was with certainly the most interesting candidate he had ever been contacted by. Lysander's.... incident had been around the time of the election, and Rupert had become quite familiar with the situation throughout the course of the debates, one question about safety at Hogwarts after another doing a good job of filling him in. He had jumped at the chance to work with Lysander when it came up, to see what this young man was like for himself. It was with a broad grin that he opened the door, appraising Lysander's nervous demeanour curiously. It was no wonder he was nervous - all first day interns were, and he couldn't imagine how many layers being a former criminal at the house of the deputy minister must add. "Lysander! Come on in, my boy." Rupert greeted him jovially, stepping aside to welcome Lysander in to his house. "Can I offer you a tea, or would you rather get right to the lab?"

 

[Lysander Summers]

Standing at the doorstep of the Deputy Ministers home felt to Lysander as if an eternity had passed, every second crawling by at a snail's pace, and when the door finally opened (less than a minute after he'd knocked, at most), he felt himself briefly tense, his fight or flight response cautiously lifting its head on the off-chance a handful of aurors did come pouring out through the doorway. It was ridiculous, and he knew as much, but he couldn't help his imagination running wild at the idea. He almost felt disappointed when it was simply Cresswell who answered, with how much his mind had hyped up the endless dramatic scenarios, but he relaxed quickly, returning the older man's pleasant demeanor with a friendly smile of his own. "Thank you." He greeted with a quick bow of his head. He stepped past the man, taking in the home he lived in, curious to see what kind of things a deputy minister - and a curse-breaker - kept in their residence. "Yeah!" He said distractedly. It took a beat to realise he hadn't actually answered either question, and he chuckled sheepishly. "I mean, yeah, I'd love to jump right into it, if that's alright."​