InsaneJournal

RP: Calling the pied piper...
Who: Ruby & Harry
When: 11/29/09; (tomorrow) morning
Where: Ministry of Magic; DMLE
What: Ruby meets with Auror Potter.
Warnings: None.

She took a deep breath and introduced herself to his assistant. After a moment, she was lead into his office and shook hands with Harry Potter, Head Auror and the man she'd been dreading meeting for months now.

"Ruby, it's good to finally meet you, you're a difficult witch to get ahold of," he said, indicating she could seat as he did the same behind his desk. Ruby swallowed thickly, "It's good to meet you, too, Auror Potter, I'm sorry you've had a hard time. I've only been in London less than a year, and have spent a good amount of that time traveling back and forth between seeing my son in Cairo and working. Though I'm surprised I haven't seen you into Honeydukes, Zahara says you're one of her testers. And a friend." She gave him a small smile, still clearly nervous, though.

Harry cleared his throat, "ZJ is a friend, though it's been a while since I've been in to the shop. I didn't know you'd been hired there," he'd have to ask Hyperion about that one... Surely Hype knew Ruby, if she was working for his fiance, though Harry had kept his investigation very close to the chest.

Nodding, Ruby said, "Yes, I'm the Assistant Manager. It's nice to have something to occupy my time. My parents still live in Paris, and with Bobby in Egypt, I don't have many connections here. Zahara's been a good friend." Harry seemed to take down a note on something she said and then asked, "Your parents are in France and your son - Bobby - is in Egypt." He nodded and she explained. "Yes, my father was the Ministry's Ambassador to the French Ministry of Magic for many years before being moved to Cairo. I attended Beauxbatons and then joined my parents in Africa before becoming a solicitor's assistant here in London. But I'm sure you know all of that already," her smile this time was knowing, mysterious and honestly gave Harry the willies.

He nodded. "I do. I traced you until just last year, I'll admit. But you seemed to know that considering you asked for this meeting." He tried to steer the conversation, but had the odd feeling he was out of his depths with this witch.

"I kept a low profile when I left, and I only visit to see Bobby - his father won't allow him to join me here. My son is my life. I save every sickle I make to hopefully be able to fight within the court systems in Cairo to gain custody, but they don't exactly favor women there, so it's going to be quite difficult. Bobby's father doesn't know where I've moved to, and it's for the best. He didn't take my leaving well, and even threatened to take it out on poor Bobby but luckily has never followed through and when I visit I stay with friends who make sure to stay with me at all times. I don't know if you know much about the society there... I don't mean religious, or even political, but the wizarding people of Cairo are very traditional, my ex among them."

"Yes, of course, so you fled and hope to bring your child here as well." He made another note and then looked up her. "Of course none of this is why I wanted to meet you. I've had word that you've been harassing a family in the UK and we need to resolve this."

Ruby had the audacity to blush. "You've spoken with my ex-husband, haven't you?" Harry nodded, his look grim. "I haven't contacted him - and certainly not his wife - in many years, Mr. Potter. After he tried to ruin me in the press, and of course in London society, after our divorce, I got the message loud and clear, I promise. I've kept my head down for years, focusing on raising my son and doing what is best by Bobby, something none of the men in my life have ever seemed to give a damn about, by the way. Why would I jeopardize that by reaching out to someone who...?"

"Someone who...? What, Miss McNamera?"

Immediately, her eyes waters and her calm, cool exterior seemed to vanished as if by magic. Harry hadn't even blinked and he'd missed the change in her. She was suddenly small, seeming to have collapsed into herself, as if she was an entirely different witch. "I married him in 2000. I was 25 years old, and stupid, and an idealist, and I thought I was in love." Her voice broke slightly on the last word. He made promises, when we married, and he didn't keep them. He was..." She halted on the word but finally let herself say it, "he was emotionally abusive, manipulative, a very different person in private than he was in public. And the divorce was a nightmare. He had cheated on me for ages, and used it against me, saying it was my fault... I admit I made mistakes, I found comfort with my childhood best friend, and cheated, once. When Finbar found out that my son wasn't his..." the tears fell now, though silently, thinking of Bobby. "He left me, and Bobby, and dragged us through the press, left me with nothing - I'd left my career to be his wife - he wanted a trophy, I tried to give him one." She shook her head, her breathing shaky and she was unable to look Harry in the face anymore. She finally looked back up, "I'm not proud of how things went, of things that I did, but I got my Bobby out of it, and I made a life for us the best I could. I don't know why he's trying to sabotage me now."

Harry knew that she'd set Fin's home on fire during the divorce, and trusted Cho and Finbar when they said the mysterious packages must be coming from Ruby; but he had no proof on the current accusations, and it occurred to him that she was an incredibly convincing storyteller. He couldn't see any truth in Finbar ever being cruel or manipulative and certainly not abusive, especially knowing how wonderfully happy the man made Cho... But people could change. And perhaps the happiness he shared with Cho was not present in Finbar's relationship to Ruby. It was very much a case of he-said/she-said, and Harry feared that's what it would remain.

He stood having decided, "Miss McNamera, I'm sorry to have dragged you down here and made you relive such painful memories. I just wanted to finally put a face to the name when I heard that you'd contact my office. Thank you, though, for your time, and I am sorry if this has caused you any distress. We're all on the same page now," he said, nodding his head and leading her from the room. She gave him a closed-lip smile and quietly thanked him for making the time. "I hope this awful misunderstanding is all cleared up, then," she said lastly, before turning and walking resolutely -
more so than he would have thought possible concerning her break down just moments ago - out of the DMLE.