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Of course, the drama department had been brought in by London James. Dorian couldn’t help but smirk. Her sister would have been proud, he thought, remembering Paris’ stories about her own wild adventures. Then there were the adventures that she always tried to get Dorian to join on, though rarely did so successfully. She wanted dancing and movies, Dorian wanted home cooked meals and sitting under the moonlight watching the stars. They had been an odd couple looking from the outside in; the quiet, controlled Auror and the wild, party-loving Astronomy professor. He still missed her. “No. I just brought a watermelon. Perhaps I should check in on it, though, see if its brawling with the cantaloupe.” He flipped the meat onto the other side and gave her a look that, if she couldn’t tell already, meant he’d been joking. A rare sight. “When was the last time you saw her?” he asked quietly, eyes trained on the grill. He would never forget his last moments with Paris. He hoped London’s had been better.

Dorian turned to watch as the commotion in the pool grew louder, more vulgar words being spewed by the brunette who seemed to have come out of nowhere to cause chaos at the barbecue. He vaguely recognized her as the reception witch from this Ministry atrium, but other than that he knew nothing of her or what slight the blonde in the pool had made against her. Dorian watched in disgust at the display before turning back to the grill, shaking his head. “Where Leo meets these people...” he complained, mostly to himself, not realizing it was the young healer beside him who had inadvertently introduced the pair at last year’s barbecue.

Roux stepped out of the fireplace and instantly began dusting himself off. Dorian found himself watching the lad with hawk-like attention, wondering if that was what he himself looked like when fussing over soot on his jacket, or their shared father for that matter. Dorian straightened himself up and turned toward the door, pushing thoughts of his complicated family history firmly out of his mind. “Just keep a low profile,” he offered to Roux as he headed out of the deserted building and into the street. The sun shone brightly but there was a cool breeze that brought with it the smell of fresh sea water and rotting fish. Dorian disliked the smell and often tried to avoid the ocean when he could, but work sometimes beckoned him to places such as this, as did Ariel’s desire to play on the beach from time to time.

Pedestrians walked in the opposite direction and Dorian moved off the pavement to allow them space as they passed, talking excitedly about whatever plans they had made for their day. There were enough people about that Dorian and Roux would not look out of place on the docks, but regardless he took measured steps as they neared their destination, taking care to not draw any unwanted attention their way. They passed a series of billboards which were torn and graffitied, then an empty lot with construction fencing around it but no further sign of improvement attempts. “There,” he said discretely, his eyes gazing across the road at a series of container docks behind a high brick wall and an open gate. Men in hardhats were walking through the gates toward a coffee truck that had set up at the intersection. A large blue sign read “Gerald’s Coffee” in hand painted, white letters on the side of the truck. From where he stood, Dorian could see a ship in port and cranes working to move large containers to shipping carts on the nearby railway line. They needed a closer vantage point.

The girl with the spatula extended her clean hand to meet his as she introduced herself and Dorian’s grip may have tightened absentmindedly. London James was the younger sister of his former flame, and the only one of the James family Paris had ever spoken fondly of to him. Paris hadn’t often talked of her family, but she had mentioned that she was happy for her post as the school’s Astronomy professor so that she could keep an eye on her little sister. A sister who had apparently grown up and somehow gotten herself entangled in Leo’s social group. And the cad hadn’t even bothered to warn Dorian about her presence. Leo had plenty of explaining to do later, but Dorian’s thoughts were only with his mate for the briefest of moments before being pulled back to the present and the young witch shaking his hand. “Pleasure to meet you,” he said through an inadvertently clenched jaw.

To Dorian’s knowledge, London would have had no idea who he was, nor that Jasper’s offer to let Dorian wander off to find Geralina was a clever ruse to break up what might have been a very awkward encounter. “Well, Leo had asked that I look after the barbecue, but it seems you have that all taken care of,” he said to the pair, planning on taking up Jasper’s offer the second he could get out of there without making a scene. “I could play server to Geralina, if you’re not in need of any assistance here."

Taking advantage pf the fact that neither husband nor wife seemed to notice his presence any longer, Dorian sneaked out of the room and into the hallway. Even after having shut the door behind him, Rodolphus' booming voice was easily overheard, but it faded as Dorian's feet moved him further away from the quarreling couple and in the direction of someone who might have been able to point him in the direction of Dorcas' missing wand.

"One of our best Aurors was just attacked and nearly killed, so no, I am not going to pull another Auror off whatever case he's working just to play delivery boy." There was a ruckus in the hallway and Dorian wondered if maybe the secretary had caused a scene, but he heard a man's voice and decided otherwise. "I'll track down your wand. You're welcome by the way," he added with as much sarcasm as the normally dry wizard could muster. Dorian's hand moved to the doorknob but before he could reach it, the door burst open and Dorcas' husband filled the doorframe.