chapter 2

Contrary to her colleagues, who rushed away, each trying to be the first to enter the elevator, Lin did not hurry to speak with Mr Snape. She knew who he was, although she had not taken any part in his trial. The Daily Prophet had informed the public fully, so only an adventurer coming home from a two-year Arctic expedition might have been unaware. Additionally, Lin did not want this specific assignment. She would have begun the investigation by tracking Inwood's files. That was precisely why Shacklebolt had ordered her to check the least probable lead, since dismissing even vague suspicions was not professional. If there was nothing incriminating, Lin would document the case and let it rest on the shelf, thus the investigation would focus elsewhere.

Lin decided that she would ponder the newly received information and compile a list of questions during her lunch. Conveniently, her friend Jenni usually had her lunch around twelve. Lin stopped by her office to get her jacket and then went two floors up to the archives and correspondence department.

Jenni's door was wide open. Nearly her entire office was visible from the corridor. Lin drew attention to herself with a moderately loud greeting.

"Hi, Lin," Jenni greeted her. The concentrated wrinkle at the corner of her mouth disappeared, replaced by a smile. "Are we going out to the café, or you are expecting a letter and about to leave?" she asked, noticing the jacket.

"The former," Lin answered.

"Ah, good, just give me a minute to finish this letter." The wrinkle appeared again.

Lin read the letter over Jenni's shoulder. It was a request, addressed to the Artefacts department, to loan the updated equipment to another department in London, except at an earlier date. Jenni was unsure about the tone of the final request, which was essentially a favour, but it was urgent.

"Make it a command," Lin suggested. "The head of that department is highly indecisive. He will hesitate past all due lines if you give him a chance."

Gladly, Jenni followed the advice. The letter took the shape of a paper airplane and flew out the door. Jenni grabbed her own coat with a sparkling-white scarf, and both witches followed in the wake of the paper messenger.

"Wait a moment, please!"

Lin put her foot in the closing elevator door and instantly regretted it. A handsome wizard in a brilliant blue cloak and a matching hat jumped nimbly into the elevator. The door closed and they went up.

"Good afternoon, beautiful witches, you look absolutely lovely today," he greeted, adjusting the cloak folds on his broad shoulders.

"The usual," Lin inserted dryly.

Jenni, who accepted the invasion a lot more favourably, chimed in, "Oh, don't be so strict, Lin, and allow the handsome wizard to pay us a compliment."

Lin noticed that Jenni had a habit of smiling at almost anyone.

"You are most kind, Jenni," he added quickly, finding an opening for conversation. "Yet, we all are entitled to our opinions. Dear Lin is a witch of action and thus prefers actions to words. Perhaps, I can redeem myself and offer to be your escort. Surely, the two young witches are in need of someone to look after them."

"Not you," Lin cut in and kicked Jenni's foot, just in case the witch had any inclination to accept the offer on behalf of her friend. To Jenni, who has been happily married since she was twenty, being single at thirty-two was clearly a crime against nature, and she kept attempting to find a match for Lin.

The elevator stopped and the door slid open.

"Thank you, Mr Etchingham." Jenni tried to say more, but she was interrupted.

"This is your stop," Lin added unhelpfully.

Without losing his smile, the wizard retreated.

"Ouch, Snow, you could have been kinder," Jenni exclaimed, perturbed. "I think he likes you."

"Just like he does Amanda from the Third Office and Vera from the Muggle Affairs Office and..." They reached the ground floor and followed down the corridor, which led outside.

"All right, you made your point. But, if you are nicer to him, better candidates might notice that you are interested in a relationship in general."

"Or think I am his girl, as he will no doubt tell everyone, thus scaring them all away. If I ever become interested in bragging peacocks, you will be the first to know."

"In any case, you need to give them a sign."

The witches stepped out onto a Muggle street. It was located in a business area. Moderately tall office buildings were neatly arranged along the narrow street. Various shops, mostly snack oriented, were located along the first floors. The street sparkled with Christmas decorations.

"I have not seen anyone yet to whom I would want to give a sign," Lin mentioned and rapidly went ahead.

Jenni opened her mouth to argue, but caught a cold blast of wind and coughed. She wrapped the scarf tighter around her neck and ran, slipping occasionally, to catch up with Lin's fast strides. "Hey, wait up! All right, I will not talk about Etchingham again, but I can't help picture the right pair for you. He should be extremely serious and eloquent, kind and romantic, and able to read love sonnets in a clear, ringing voice. He would have long, blond curls and a silver cloak with stars."

Lin, without looking back, knew that there were small, impish lights twinkling in Jenni's eyes. She was getting even with her for that kick.

"And he would be riding a white Hippogryph," Lin inserted, matching Jenni's dreamy tone.

"I was going to say a white dragon," Jenni finally caught up to Lin, "to melt your heart, the heart of a Snow Queen."

They both laughed. Lin pulled the door of a small café, fighting the wind and let Jenni slide in first. They have entered a neat, cozy place with six tables and a counter along the wall. This was not the first time they came here. Lin hung her jacket on a chair at a table by the window and further from the counter. Jenni was piling her items onto a free chair. She glanced sceptically at Lin's thin jacket.

"How can you wear that when it's freezing?"

"Will power and I wouldn't be able to chase after criminals in your attire."

"Bah, Lin!" Jenni launched into a passionate tirade, clearly sceptical of the practicality of Lin's philosophy, only briefly interrupted by their order.

Lin got a grilled egg croissant sandwich and a cup of espresso. She sipped the hot liquid with pleasure. The fact that Jenni used the name meant she was no longer exasperated. Lin's nickname, Snow, she used in annoyance, a habit Jenni never noticed. Lin received it due to her appearance. She had bright blue eyes and a very light shade of hair, similar to color of snow. Jenni was excited to learn that Lin's last name was also appropriate. Sneg, in Russian, meant snow, and Snedjnaya was an adjective of snow, with ya indicating a female gender. In English translation it read as, she-snowy. Lin accepted the nickname as inevitable, but inwardly she did not entirely agree with it.

Lin believed that every person had an aura surrounding them. The color of the aura underlined personality traits. Lin associated snow with a white color, which represented friendliness, niceness, but also indecisiveness and self-doubt. In other words, this was not Lin at all. Lin's aura was deep purple. It identified her as proud, mistrustful and also determined, with a streak of perfectionism which manifested positively, to be oriented to achieve her needs. Lin was nearly the opposite of Jenni's emerald green. The witch was vibrant, life loving and wore her heart on her sleeve. These kinds of friends Lin used to have when she was younger and her aura, which changed over the years, used to be burgundy. Burgundy was the color of intellectual curiosity, openness to new experience and dedicated passion to personal interests. This color gradually began to change to purple when at the age of ten Lin's mother received a contract offer in America, which promised her nearly triple of her regular pay. Anastasia accepted the offer and took Lin with her.

The experience in American school was not a good one. At the age of ten, kids were developing their personality, separate from their parents, but they were heavily relying on peer opinion. Anything that oddly stuck out of the mainstream was treated with ridicule, such as the girl who temporarily did not speak the language. Language learning was a process which entailed first being able to understand the conversation and only afterwards being able to form your own sentences. The kids, safely assuming that Lin did not understand because she did not speak, said unflattering things about her when she was right beside them. This is when Lin learned that people have multiple layers and multiple masks. Depending on the situation, they could alter behaviour, but underneath there were always key traits that stuck to them no matter what, some traits clearly visible and other traits that came out in unguarded moments. Lin began to learn how to see past the surface of masks to the core of those key traits, even when people were guarded. More hurtful than petty insults of her peers was the feeling of defencelessness, when she could not answer back. At first, Lin was angry and then became determined to eliminate the possibilities of becoming so vulnerable ever again. In the following years, she solidly learned not just Russian and English but also French and Japanese, and actively practiced them. At the age of eleven, Lin received two letters, one to English and the other to a Russian school of wizardry. Her mother's contract came to an end, and her father was calling them back to Russia.

Lin chose to go back with her mother. She went to a new school already cautious, studied not perfectly yet solidly and then signed up into Russian militia, the magic investigation department. There, she was disappointed by a wide scale corruption and bribery. She might have left the profession all together, if it were not for a long term assignment to England where she met Kingsley Shacklebolt. He offered her a place at the ministry, and Lin stayed in England. The burgundy had disappeared, replaced by dark purple. She thought it was gone, but friendship with Jenni reminded her of a distant echo.

Jenni finished her story and lapsed into silence. Lin's coffee cup was empty. It was time to go and speak with Mr Snape.