"Cormac, dear boy," she said as the reached his table. "The hostess said you were here alone. You don't mind if I join you, do you?"

Cormac smiled and immediately rose to his feet, pulling out a chair for Maria. "I'd love the company, thank you," he replied, surprised to be approached by Maria outside of the Ministry, but happy nonetheless. "It's nice to see you again, Madam Minister. I trust that things are going well for you?"

"Things are going splendidly, thank you. I just heard about Sparks. Horrid man, yes, but I never would have imagined him stealing items from the Department of Mysteries. Not when he could have easily requisitioned the time turner. And his claim that he had the paperwork for it. Absolute drivel, that. I know full well that all requisitions go through you and you would never lose such important paperwork."

"Exactly. The thought of me misplacing something as important as that is laughable," Cormac agreed with a knowing look in his eye. "It's quite unfortunate as I hear his wife was recently let go from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Quite the family there; the Ministry will be better off without them."

"Much better off, though not everyone shares our view." She took a sip of her water and carefully thought of how to phrase her next statement. It was time for Cormac to know who some of his peers were. "Should you ever come across someone else of that ilk that you need help dealing with, Lorelai Carfax is an excellent resource. I believe that Miles Bletchley and Malcom Braddock could also prove to be of help. There are others,of course, thought now is not the time to list their names. Feel free to contact me if you need some advice on who to deal with." She pulled her necklace from her blouse and fiddled with it, making sure that he noticed the silver pendent.

Cormac did his best not to stare and let his jaw drop open. Bloody friggin' hell. Maria's Liberi? For some reason, it made the internal debate he'd been having since Pansy had asked him to reconsider his allegiance to the Liberi fade into the background. Certainly if Maria were a member, everything would bode well for him. He hoped.

"Thank you for that information. I'm sure it will prove useful to me in the future." He took a drink of scotch, welcoming the burn that chased it down his throat.

"I do hope it will, my dear. Now, on to a more pleasant topic, yes? I've just come from Charles Senft's office. It seems that the calculations of what the Parkinson family owed in reparations was grossly inaccurate. So much so, in fact, that the entire debt was paid in full as of last year. The accountant that produced the original figure has been fired for incompetence as you can imagine. Miss Parkinson will be getting an official letter any day now, but I thought that you might like to give her the good news beforehand."

He could feel his eyebrows disappear into his fringe. "Well, that's certainly some welcome news." Cormac paused to assess the situation, wondering if he could really talk to Maria about what was on his mind. "And Azkaban? Is the threat of Azkaban forever removed for the Unforgiveables she was forced to cast by her father? Is she truly free and clear?"

"It is awful that her past is being held over her head in such a way," she said, shaking her head. "And I truly wish there was something I could do to change that particular policy, but for right now I'm afraid that patience and loyalty is the correct course of action. Perhaps as the political climate changes and the old guard retires something can be done and the old noble houses can come to the forefront of society again."

She checked to see that he understood her hint. Remain loyal to the Liberi. Have patience.

"Well then I shall be patient," Cormac said carefully, his voice soft. "And loyal." For Pansy.





[Summary: Maria has lunch with Cormac, passes along some good news, and gives him encouragement for the future.]