InsaneJournal

In truth, William hadn't expected to be invited out to Batheaston. Usually tea, business lunch, or office interviews were more the norm but he wasn't going to suggest a change. It was best to let her set the time and place, and besides...he liked visiting old wizarding manors. They were motivating, a good reminder of what the Rosier family once had and what he was planning on getting back. The Doges weren't sacred twenty eight pure, no, but they were old and clearly had amassed a respectable estate and their family home was still interesting.

William had arrived a bit early, apparating outside the grounds to let himself have a look for a moment, before apparating closer so his arrival was known and he'd be let in. Of course he came about five minutes early, a nice sweet spot that showed thoughtful punctuality but wasn't so early it was an inconvenience. He was sharply dressed in business attire, pleasant professional face on and ready. Dulcinea Doge was someone it was important to make a good first impression with, and he knew his last name was a handicap here. Still, he was going to make every effort.

The door to the house was opened by a house-elf, who escorted Will in and took his cloak before escorting him to the study of the lady of the house. Will could see that the bones of the house were old, but there had been some changes to bring the house into a more current style. Not surprising, since Bina's maternal grandfather was a noted wizarding architect, though mostly retired now.

Dulci was behind the heavy wooden desk in her study, and she waited for Will to come in before politely acknowledging him. "Tea, please," she said to the house-elf, who popped off as if by apparation more than walking speed. "So you're Mr Rosier with the Prophet, come to speak about the WICCA project to feed the DMLE. And, also, a friend of my daughter's, as I understand matters. Welcome to my home. Please, sit down."

She was, despite her age and recent illness, a striking woman: hair long and brown, youthful looks despite by definition her age (by definition; she was after all Bina's mother), and well-tailored robes in plain colours. Her jewelry was spare as well, and handsome. It all said money and restraint in a language Will had no trouble understanding. Also I do what I want.

As he was led to the office, Will let himself glance around discreetly. It was more than nice, clearly redone since it was first built but retained the old respectability manors of a certain age had despite it all. He didn't need Dulcinea's appearance to tell him money after a brief exposure to the house, but her bearing and everything about her told him that at least they still had money.

Approaching the desk, he smiled politely and offered his hand, silently taking in her appearance and the way she held herself. Of course before coming he'd spent an evening in the Prophet archives looking up everything they had on her, but articles and pictures only did so much for getting an impression of the person. There were things that weren't picked up quite so well unless you met. "William is fine, it's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Doge." Normally he might have left things on last names, but he thought it best practice not to have a former leader in the DMLE constantly reminded of his family's associations in the last war through repeating his last name. "And thank you for having me ma'am, you have a lovely home," William added as he took the offered seat. He kept his tone and demeanour the picture of polite approachable respectability. This was a meeting in professional capacity, after all.

Though he had to admit to himself he was mildly surprised that she both knew and connected his name as a friend of her daughter's. But then again he had little idea of what conversations Bina had with her mother, and perhaps she'd only heard of him as the friend she'd spoken to her uncle about for a ministry job. He couldn't be sure really, for all he knew she told her mother wild party stories, but sitting there right now everything about William would've contrasted that image. He was in his professional mode mixed in with polite young society man. He'd adjust that depending on how the interview went, but in his experience, with respectable women in this setting it was the safe bet to start off with.

He certainly knew how to present himself, though he was a bit younger than Dulci had expected. "Thank you, Will. So I've been interviewed several times by the Prophet and the over the years for different purposes: with the DMLE, for Wizengamot cases, and for WICCA. Every time I've interviewed, the reporter has wanted something different depending on the angle of the story. So perhaps we should start by you telling me the story you're interested in writing, and I'll see what I can do about answering your questions in the way that will be the most productive for you and the most helpful for WICCA."

At about this point, the house-elf returned with a tray with a pot of tea with all the accoutrements for two and a plate of little sandwiches and scones, which were placed on the desk with great care. "Thank you," Dulci said by way of dismissal, and the house-elf vanished again. "And how do you take your tea?"

It was an odd question, but nothing about his face suggested he thought so. Generally people had an angle they wanted written and they'd make it clear, being asked what he wanted was a bit novel. "I imagine you have, ma'am, but I would say the intended angle is quite straightforward here. The WICCA is an admirable and respected organization that has always done good work, and it goes that it should have those accomplishments made known to the public more often." As he spoke, he pulled out a pocket-sized roll of parchment and a compact dict-a-quill, but laid both on his lap closed to indicate that nothing had started or was on the record yet. "As such, I was hoping to get an idea of what you would like to see included in such an article. It's a positive awareness piece, and I'm sure we can agree that the papers could always use more of those."

"As it is usually," he answered with the slightest of shrugs at the tea question, to indicate he wasn't picky on this point. "Thank you."

"I'm always anxious to see positive publicity for WICCA, and I'm happy to work with the press to see the organisation presented in a favourable light." Dulci smiled as she passed Will his tea. "Specifically, in this effort, we're working toward finding catering for late evening meals for the DMLE. As you may know, the DMLE, and particularly the Auror Office, is running longer hours than usual because of vigilante threats. This is keeping members of the DMLE in all services at the Ministry later than usual. Since the Ministry cafeteria closes after tea-time, WICCA will be bringing in healthy food for late-working Aurors and Hit Wizards so they don't have to choose between running out for takeaway--which often means staying later--or no food at all.

"Of course there are concerns about security, though those are details that the public doesn't need to hear. So there will be parts of the scheme where I can't describe specific details. But I'll be happy to talk about how readers can contribute to the effort."

Will took the tea with a smile and gently placed it down before putting his roll of parchment on the desk and unrolling it some. He'd have liked to have gotten what she'd just said about the initiative down via dict-a-quill, it was a good quick summary of what the whole thing was about, but it'd have been rude to start the quill without permission there. He could jot down extra notes later.

"Of course, but those sorts of details aren't needed, and it's in the best interest to leave them out. The point of the project is to help the DMLE in its work, we can't be jeopardizing that by putting needlessly details, now can we?" Will gave her a light smile there and raised the dict-a-quill he was holding up slightly. "May I?" It was always best to get explicit permission before going on record.

Dulci nodded.

"Given recent vigilante threats, the DMLE as a whole has been putting in later hours and as such often has to work with little food or the limited late night options available. You're looking to bring in healthy catering to cover that issue." He said all that more for the quill's sake than hers, just to have things down in writing. "Perhaps we could start at the beginning, could you tell me a bit about what brought the idea to mind, and maybe the importance of such an initiative to our security?" It was the opportunity for her to put in a slightly personal angle if she wanted, Will knew very well that she'd been in the DMLE in the last war and had first hand experience here, after all...those late nights looking her up in the archives had to help somehow.

Her voice was steady, as if she'd prepared this speech, or was reading it from notes on her desk: not entirely out of the question, since Will couldn't see everything in the in- and out-boxes of parchments she had one one side of it. "As you know, my daughter is an Auror, and recently I noticed some patterns that reminded me a lot of my own experiences during the war twenty years ago. We frequently served time-and-a-half shifts or double shifts, and only went home to sleep." That they had sometimes slept in the training rooms was not a secret Dulci meant to reveal. It hadn't been very dignified. "In particular, I noticed that she was short on sleep and short on dinner. I was lucky enough to have someone to prepare food for me and send it with me when I left the house when I was in the wars, but my daughter, and many of her generation, don't have that luxury. I can't go so far as to say feeding the DMLE is a crucial part of the war effort," which Dulci said with a smile that was reflected in her tone, "but it is one way we can support them. Particularly since many of them are coming early and staying late, when it's more difficult to find something to eat. And long shifts mean fewer chances to go to the market to buy your own food."

Will listened carefully, mostly watching her but occasionally glancing down to the parchment to monitor the quill's progress. Obviously he'd have to reword to take out the Bina specificness about the answer, and it amused him somewhat to think of what she'd think of her mother putting things that way, but it hit all the points he'd wanted. Will smiled back on cue when Dulci hit the lighter bit of her answer and let a smaller understanding version stay on his face until the end. "A thing doesn't need to be crucial to be worth doing," he remarked with a small smile before glancing down to see where the quill was at.

"How does WICCA plan on fixing this issue?" He paused after and made a slight face and dismissive wave. "Not the logistics, naturally, I wouldn't want to compromise their security, but perhaps a bit more detail on the plan you mentioned briefly before we started?" His questions were broad, but he had promised the interview would be brief and he wouldn't take up too much of her time. This was just trying to maximize the information she gave him to work with without seeming like he'd asked far too much. Plus, he wanted things on record, rather than just going off the summary she'd said before the quill had started.

"I'm presently vetting several catering firms to find one that can meet the requirements Kingsley Shacklebolt and I have agreed to for hours of service, variety and quality of food, and, of course, security of provisions." Smiling was a key part of keeping one's voice steady and even for even these dictated quotes. "WICCA volunteers will bring the prepared meals down to the DMLE in the evening after Ministry working hours. We'll have rotating shifts for our volunteers." She did not add that changing shifts up regularly was part of the security implementation. "Menus will vary daily to provide for diverse tastes." And, of course, to make it more difficult to tamper with the food. "I anticipate having a provider in place and beginning to serve meals by the end of June."

"Are you planning on things officially starting next month then?" Will smiled and glanced down to some notes of his own. "And funding, ma'am? How has the WICCA planned on funding this venture? Fundraising events, donations..." He let that question dangle for her to fill in. If they did have an event in the works, well it'd be a good follow up article. Yes, he already had plans in motion for moving into the Ministry, but he didn't plan on cruising by in the Prophet until then, things might not go as planned. He wasn't going to go out on a whimper though, if things worked out and he did get the new job, Will planned on having a stack of potential leads and stories to leave with Mr. Mulciber. It was the best way to leave and keep that connection, he had no plans on leaving on anything less than excellent terms.

Dulci nodded, for Will's benefit since it wasn't as though the quill could see and note it. "Next month is the plan. We'll initially be working from WICCA general charitable funds, although I expect we'll be planning a fundraiser for this particular effort later this year. Should your readers be inclined to donate, which generosity WICCA always appreciates, they can owl me at--" and Dulci rattled off the address "--or through Gringotts, who will transfer funds to the WICCA vault at an account-holder's request. Just be sure to note that it's for the DMLE Support Fund so we can direct it properly."

Will smiled with a touch of amusement. She was certainly living up to the impression her appearance and desk gave, neat, orderly and very prepared. This didn't seem like a woman easily thrown by things, if anything she seemed rather unflappable to him. "Well ma'am, you actually beat me to my question there. I was going to ask how the public can help the project, I suppose in non-monetary ways now. And how long is it planned to run?" He glanced down to double check the quill had gotten the address right, that was an important detail he didn't want messed up, and back to her. He was noting the décor and set up of her office, yes, but only out of the corner of his eye for now. Polite glancing around was reserved for before the interview and after. It didn't mean he'd missed all those portraits she had around, and there were a few in particular he noted the location of so he could spare them a proper glance later. But professionalism first.

"I don't have definite answers for you just yet," Dulci confessed, without seeming particularly fussed by the confession. "We're meeting on Thursday and I ought to have a better idea of the non-monetary options after that, if you're not planning to publish before Friday. The duration of the project will be at-need, which need I hope will end quickly." There was no elaboration on the need, which Dulci thought was self-explanatory.

"Of course ma'am," Will nodded politely. "And you're more than welcome to send along any new information you feel might be relevant. I do believe I have what I need for now, but was there anything you wanted to add that perhaps didn't get touched on?"

"I think that's it for the moment, thanks, though I will definitely ward or owl with anything I think of between now and the meeting." It had certainly gone easily, but that was how things went when one did a minimum of preparation. And this had been a fairly last-minute decision, or fundraising plans would already have been in the works. The focus on security and the discussions she'd had with Kingsley on the subject had simply eaten up more of her time than usual. "It's going to be a good programme. I'm confident it fills an existing need, though, again, I hope the need is short-term."

Will had certainly tried to make this go easy, he hadn't known what to expect going in but she was professional and prepared and that did make things simpler. "I have no doubt it will be," he smiled kindly and plucked the dict-a-quill from the paper to signal the interview was over.

He didn't say his goodbyes and wrap up just yet though. Scribbling a final note about information to come, and dating the interview, Will's tone was just slightly more casual as he spoke without looking up from his parchment. "I must thank you ma'am for taking the time, I fear this might have been rather short notice." He paused now, silently debating the bringing up the connection but reasoning that she had done so first in one of the first things she'd said to him. It'd be odd if he didn't once actually acknowledge or confirm knowing her daughter during the meeting when she'd made a reference to the woman multiple times. "And I should say your daughter was quite right about you," he glanced up straight to the picture of a young girl in a frilly pink dress as if he'd known where it was all along though he hadn't once actually looked at it during the interview, then to Dulci, "you're very thoroughly prepared ma'am."

"Thank you. I do my best to be ready for these things." It was hard to miss where the young man was looking, and Dulci scored one for Bina on that point. If Bina was embarrassed by it, she ought to get over herself. The smocked dress had been adorable and most every girl went through that phase, though Dulci's own had centred round dreams of Abraxan riding. "Bina speaks highly of you, so I'm sure she'll be pleased this went so well." Which, Dulci thought, was the right sort of message for this occasion.

Rolling up his parchment neatly, he tucked it and the dictaquill away into his robes. "Well I'm quite glad it did. It's not often I get to interview someone who makes my job so easy," Will smiled. Though her words had him wonder just how much he came up, clearly more than he'd expected. But then again, he didn't tell his mother anywhere near as much as Bina told hers.

Dulci's smile was serenely pleasant. "I find relationships with the press work best when they're mutually beneficial. Don't you?" She came to her feet. "It's been a real pleasure, Will. I look forward to continuing to work with you so long as you're at the Prophet."

"Of course." Will stood up and offered his hand again, his own pleasant professional smile on. "As do I, Ms. Doge. It was a pleasure meeting you, thank you again for your time. And please don't hesitate to write if you had anything else you'd like added in."

The handshake Dulci gave him was firm and pleasant. "I certainly will."