the dilemma [Asher]

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

17 May 2026

Working weekends wasn’t only a possibility but an expectation at such a senior level in the Ministry. Bianca had spent many Sundays at the office, sitting through tedious meetings or poring over incident reports. But she’d never had a Sunday like this one. Her whole world had become a living nightmare overnight, and Bianca struggled to separate the chaos of the day with the bad dreams and fears that plagued her at night. Hogwarts had fallen. That was a fact – Elaine had attacked the school, and students had gotten caught in the crossfire between the Purifiers and the Ministry. Now the Department of Education was overseeing final exams and the future reconstruction of the school, and Law Enforcement? Well, they were facing everything else.

Details of the operation and what had gone down at Hogwarts were finally starting to leak to the public, as well as news of Elaine’s death. That alone was enough to keep the department working overtime, struggling to explain such difficult questions. Why had Hogwarts burned? Why hadn’t the Ministry acted earlier? Why were there dead children? The Ministry’s internal inquiry was already underway to investigate how the first response had been handled, and where they could have done better. Bianca had no control over that process, or over what the public was saying about Hogwarts. There was nothing she could do except dream about everything that had happened that day, from assembling the team on the bridge to running through the Grounds with James to entering the burning castle alone. And wake up gasping, soaked in sweat as she struggled through the nightmares alone. So she threw herself into the only thing she could do. So many Purifiers had been captured and arrested on that fateful day, and the Department of Law Enforcement had since begun to process them all. Some were easy – either because they confessed quickly to receive a lighter sentence, or because they were implicated in other confessions that had been checked and cross-referenced by the Ministry. Those were usually lower-level Purifiers who had been quickly tried and sent to Azkaban. There were some Purifiers that were harder to indict, because they claimed magical coercion or blackmail. That was harder to verify, and those investigations were underway and would take time to complete. They were still hunting for other Purifiers that had gotten away too, but would be more easily caught now that the central structure of their organization had crumbled so completely.

Asher Burke. Now that was a special case. There was no question of his guilt – Bianca had arrested him herself after observing the last minute of the epic duel between Burke and Blaise Zabini. But Asher Burke must be no normal Purifier, because he had weaseled himself into becoming the Head of the Ministry’s most mysterious department, one of the most important yet elusive and opaque areas of the Ministry. She could put him in Azkaban right now – the trial would only be a formality, and the feeling of watching him carted away to rot in a cell for the rest of his life? After the misery he had caused her in their rival positions as Department Heads always at odds, it would be a satisfying feeling. And after all the shit of the last week – seeing Hogwarts burn around her while she desperately evacuated students and downed Purifiers with quick slashes of her wand, watching Cade walk away and knowing that it was her fault she found herself so alone now, and bearing the brunt of everybody’s hatred for Law Enforcement for allowing the chaos of Elaine’s last stand to happen…Bianca was at her breaking point. She needed a win.

She watched with a stony expression from the other side of the glass as Asher sat in the interrogation room. It was an important advantage to study him while he couldn’t see her, although he’d been embedded in the Ministry for so long that he likely knew she was watching. But research was a key component of interrogations, and she needed to see how he was processing captivity and the knowledge that his life would never be the same. Bianca had handled interrogations for a decade, ever since her first as an Auror trainee trying in vain to separate three wrestling goblins away from each other. She’d since become much more adept at learning how to control the room, if only because that control started with oneself and she’d always had flawless form. Not to mention strong Legilimency and an authoritative tone that compelled people to follow orders. But there would be no Legilimency today -- no, only good old Muggle techniques that many wizards often forgot about. After a few more minutes, she briskly walked to the door and opened it abruptly. Bianca didn’t say anything as she strode across the room and took a seat at the table across from her old rival, neatly placing his file on the table in front of her and eyeing the magical restraints on his wrists. She steepled her fingers and rest them against her pursed lips, studying Asher intently for a moment.

Finally, she made her first judgment call. She wouldn’t be asking for a confession. No, that would be giving him the power and Bianca needed to make it clear who held the cards here. That it was in his best interest to cooperate. Instead, she observed, “The duel wasn’t your first mistake. Do you want to know what was?” Bianca waited a beat, neutral expression on her face and eyes resting heavily on Asher. Finally, she continued. “Well, your first mistake was showing up at Hogwarts. Out of duty to Elaine, I'm sure, but you were probably concerned about your sisters.” She opened the file and withdrew a piece of paper, turning it around so Asher could read through it at his own pace. Ivy Burke’s confession, written and signed in her own handwriting. “It just goes to show…can’t trust anyone, can you?”

asher rowan burke

[asher rowan burke]

my end

it justifies my means

all I have to do is delay

i'm given time to evade

May 17, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

Asher could still hear the ringing in his ears when he recalled that night. He kept his eyes closed, focusing his mind on pushing out the smell of smoke that still seemed to linger in his nostrils. Bianca had him placed in this small and dimply lit interrogation room, shackles around his wrists so Asher couldn’t perform magic. Not that he had his wand, but not a lot of wandless magic was needed as long as the door was open. Two days later, Asher was still furious, but he focused on calming his mind to maintain control. There wasn’t much he could hide in terms of his involvement or affiliation. That cover was blown, obviously, as Blaise had successfully taken him down the Castle Entrance Hall.

But, anything more than that—Asher was determined to keep quiet. Why would they get a word out of him if he would be sent to Azkaban anyway? Plus, he needed to protect his sisters. While a Burke in Azkaban did nothing for their family reputation, his sisters could still salvage that. Plus, there was hope that Ivy was not in custody—but Asher had been isolated in terms of his arrest and holding, so he didn’t know the aftermath of Elaine’s last big plan. But, he was reasonably sure that she was gone. Diana would not have disobeyed as she had if that weren’t the case. What did that mean for the cause now?

The mirror on the room wall was one that Asher had stood behind in the rare case his opinion was needed. It hadn’t happened often, but a two-way mirror was not some novel invention by the Ministry of Magic. Asher took a breath. He was determined to keep his mind closed, mainly because he expected Bianca in this room soon. She was also a talented Legilimens and no doubt had used it during her career. The door opened, and Asher’s eyes opened, they were the same piercing blue they always were, but he stared ahead nonetheless. Finally, she spoke.

Bianca had a point. He’d gone out of necessity to help ensure Elaine’s plan, but Blaise Zabini had ensured that he was stopped in his tracks. The memory made him angry, but he pushed it out of his mind. But his sisters—he hadn’t even been able to ensure their safety. Ivy would have known of Elaine’s plan, and she was close to Hazel, her safety would have been paramount. Asher kept his gaze forward even as she slid a lone piece of paper in front of him. The sound of that paper slide across the table was loud in this room. Asher was tempted to completely ignore the gesture, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. What did a mudblood witch-like Bianca think she could do to him? What did she think she had that could hurt him?

Asher’s eyes looked down at the paper, and he extended his hand ever so slightly so that the fingertips of a few fingers could slide it over for him to read. The magical chains clinked loudly with the movement. The first thing he noted was the signature. Ivy’s signature. Asher read the words, confessing her part as a Purifier and the Hogwarts plan as a whole. Asher scoffed as his eyes moved from the paper to Bianca in front of him. ”That’s where you’re wrong, Bianca.” Asher slid the paper back to the other side of the table. ”Using my sister against me—a foolish move.” Asher’s face was stoic as ever. ”But I wouldn’t expect much from a mudblood like yourself. You probably don’t know any better.” Now, he looked a little more pleased. He was already arrested and didn’t have to play in the office politics that forced him in the same room as her.

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

There was something deeply satisfying about seeing Asher Burke in chains. It kept Bianca focused, cut through the noise and clutter of her brain to remind her exactly why she was here. In the interrogation room, nothing outside mattered unless it was a tool to use. There were no other responsibilities, no other influences, no other distractions. It was the law enforcement official and the criminal, Bianca and Asher, and the power struggle that had started between them the moment she’d walked into the room. They were both experienced Legilimens, and they knew how to clear their minds. Bianca let go of the distracting emotions that had been plaguing her for a week, and the deep-seated concern about how the public would eat the Ministry alive after the downfall of the Purifiers. And Asher? His piercing blue eyes were intent and focused, the same steely glint as every time he would question the viability of her new task force or hint to the Minister of Magic that she was incompetent at her job. Asher was in this one hundred percent, and she would be too.

And Ivy Burke’s confession? Only the tip of the iceberg. Bianca was a visual person, and she’d already mapped out a hundred different ways this interrogation could go. There was the added advantage of having so much personal experience with the target, but the natural disadvantage of Asher’s background. He thrived on secrecy and playing games, and Bianca had always been the much more straightforward type. She was determined not to have to resort to Legilimency, because then it would surely turn into a battle of wills and Bianca couldn’t say with complete certainty that she would win. But there was an added element to Legilimency too, an underlying ability that never completely went away. It made it easier to know when someone was lying, or the state of their mind. Even from the other side of the table, as their eyes locked, she could feel the calm and orderly nature of his mind. He wasn’t concerned – at least, not enough that it was ingrained into his way of being. It was Bianca’s job to change that fact.

She’d wondered if he would even engage at all, because silence was something she couldn’t quite work with. But the low din of his voice, which came at a stark contrast to the deathly quiet room, meant her pursed lips curved into an echo of a smirk. Insults? She could do something with that. He threw the word mudblood at her in spite, and the faint smirk on her face grew a little wider. The irony of that word was that it offended everyone except its intended audience. Purebloods, halfbloods, they had grown up with the implied filth of that word. Muggleborns? Many of them didn’t hear it for the first time until school, or even later. It didn’t hurt as much as what they’d grown up with. “Ah, I see,” she said finally, “It must chafe to know that a mudblood has suddenly become the most important person in your life.” Bianca broke eye contact so she could slide Ivy’s confession back over and pick it up to study it silently for a moment. Then she shrugged. “Because it was a pureblood who gave you up, and a pureblood who brought you to your knees when I found you. And it was even a pureblood Minister who signed your arrest warrant. And now?” She laughed slightly, but it was dry and devoid of any real humor. “And now, where are all the purebloods? Krum wanted you in Azkaban yesterday. Unspeakables have been coming forward to raise red flags about your time as Department Head all day. But, I told him to wait, because I know your story. I know how to explain what happened.”

Bianca let Ivy’s confession fall back onto the rest of the file, and returned to steepling her fingers. “So all you’re left with is me, the last person in the Ministry willing to advocate for you, and a mudblood to boot. How’s that feel?”

asher rowan burke

[asher rowan burke]

my end

it justifies my means

all I have to do is delay

i'm given time to evade

May 17, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

Gone was the man who could stand tall, his usual stoic expression and icy blue eyes and immaculate robes complete with cuff links on his shirt containing the Burke family crest. It was quite the fall but not one that he was ready to concede yet. After all, this was just a setback, and in no way, shape, or form would he ever wave that white flag for Bianca Rivera. He felt his anger begin to rise at the confession he’d just been handed. Using his own sister against him. What kind of a ploy was that? Perhaps that would work on low-level criminals. Plus, the idea that his own family would betray the cause and betray him was far more unimaginable than anything.

But Bianca persisted. His eyes were cold, and they followed her. ”Krum is a fool.” Asher spoke. The man hardly read the documents he put his signature or stamp on, and any power he had was merely a formality compared to the Department Heads in the Ministry of Magic. There was nothing in any Pureblood family that taught disloyalty. That taught betrayal. The family was everything, and so was the name. Ivy would have never betrayed him, but he held back that denial because he was still unsure where she was. Where was Hazel? If his sisters had safely escaped the Castle but avoided capture, Asher wasn’t about to give them up.

”Blood traitors.” He muttered. The world was upside down in his eyes. In another time, Zabini would have been at his side and not striking him down. Bianca would have been on her knees, begging for their mercy. It was beginning to infuriate him, but he couldn’t do anything with these shackles around his wrists. But he had to scoff. How could Bianca ever be of service to him in Merlin's name? A laughable thought. ”My story?” Now, he was even a bit amused. What story would Bianca spin? At this point, he was resolved to not say anything of importance to her or anyone else. He’d take his sentence and the information to the grave if it hurt the Order’s cause and especially if it hurt those like Bianca in power.

She continued her insistence that she was his only hope. It was a point he’d already grown tired of. Asher’s eyes bore into her. ”These blood traitors will never let me live as a free man again.” He paused. ”I know what my fate is.” There was a certain confidence as he spoke. He didn’t need Bianca River’s help, he was beyond help, and while he didn’t enjoy the thought of being a prisoner, there was that part of him that reminded him that this was the risk he had taken years ago when allying himself to the Purifiers. This was the risk they all took. And now it was over, but at least they had taken many down with them. A means to an end.

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

There was something deeply unsettling about watching the slow unraveling of a man she’d worked alongside (and often against) for months. Asher Burke had always been in firm control of himself, nothing less than the collected and mysterious head of the Ministry’s most secretive department. He hadn’t been popular with the other Department Heads, who’d had to endure his sly suggestions and subtle maneuvering of the Minister whenever it was time to make a decision. And that attitude? Bianca had always assumed it was a byproduct of his pureblood upbringing. They were raised to learn how to control people, how to ensure that the outcome they wanted was the end result when it came time to lock horns with an opponent. But now, in light of everything that had been revealed about Burke in the last two days…his actions took on a new and sinister meaning. Merlin, Asher was dangerous. He had been a threat to the Ministry in so many ways, ways that would have stayed undiscovered if he hadn’t run into Blaise Zabini at Hogwarts.

The mask that Bianca had become familiar with, that Asher Burke constantly wore around her…it was gone now. There was only a cold anger in his eyes, and a sneer that he didn’t bother to disguise. It was unsettling, but every little piece of evidence that Asher was unraveling…well, it was good news for Bianca. She gave a slight shrug at Asher’s observation that Krum was a fool, as if she couldn’t quite disagree with the statement. As Department Heads, Bianca and Asher had both seen from a close distance that Krum hadn’t been the right man for the job. He didn’t know how to manage the Ministry. She didn’t contradict the fact, but instead observed, “So are you. Pureblood families are supposed to share the same values, aren’t they? How did you never realize you were so close to a blood traitor?” She could see he didn’t believe her about Ivy – a natural reaction, from what she had understood from Ana Karkaroff as Bianca did her research. It was a problem she would have to contemplate further, because understanding Ivy’s betrayal was a key element of breaking Asher Burke. He needed to realize how alone he truly was, and for now…well, he still believed in his family. But there was a second Burke sister, and she hadn’t yet been arrested or implicated in any Purifier schemes. That meant she was a tool that could be used, and Bianca had to think more about how to use her. Until then…Bianca gave a pleased little smirk as Asher echoed her words. His story. This was the part she had been looking forward to.

“Mm, that’s right. Your story. As you’re too clever to give me a confession, that gives me quite a bit of leeway to work with. The Prophet’s already called about your profile too.” Maybe they had or hadn’t – Bianca had made quite clear to her secretary that she didn’t want to be bothered by reporters until her Aurors and Hit Wizards had had more time to work. To gather confessions, to put the story together, to decide what the consequences were of Asher Burke’s existence. But the truth? That didn’t matter so much in an interrogation. Bianca continued, “It’s quite sad, really. I can even sympathize. Asher Burke, oldest son of a respected family. Desperately doing his best to keep the family together while his ambitious younger sister tears it apart.” She idly rifled through her papers as she wove the story together. “You didn’t want this, but she didn’t give you a choice, did she? Involvement with the Purifiers, well, you could control that. But then it escalated, and people started to get hurt. King’s Cross, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, dragons over Hogsmeade. And there was nothing you could do to make her stop. You could only go along with it to protect the family. Eventually it all just spiraled out of control, and now Ivy Burke is out there, free, and the only price for that was giving you to us. Shame, really. That’s the story I’m giving to the Prophet, anyway.”

His final words were decisive, no doubt one of the ways he kept such tight control over himself and his thoughts too. Asher Burke had resigned himself to life in Azkaban, had maybe been considering the fact since the moment Blaise Zabini had brought him to his knees. Bianca had a different vision in mind, but she kept her expression cool and indifferent now. Like she didn’t care how it all went, one way or the other. She rifled through the papers in the file she had brought. Besides Ivy’s confession, there was only blank parchment. But no, Bianca thought, they hadn’t quite gotten there yet. She shut the file crisply and shrugged. “I suppose you’re right. You know best, don’t you?” With that, she stood up and left the room without another word. She’d never thought that this would be resolved in a day, but she was prepared to take each step slowly. Interrogations like this were an art, and Bianca didn’t trust this particular assignment to belong to anyone else but herself. It was too sensitive, there was too much at stake, and Asher Burke was too skilled at what he did. But she knew what she was doing too.

asher rowan burke
[Time jump!]

[asher rowan burke]

my end

it justifies my means

all I have to do is delay

i'm given time to evade

May 17, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

Despite the shackles around his wrist Asher felt free. There was no need to be polite and hold back every opinion he had for every stupid thing said at every single Department Head meeting. He didn’t even have to hold back his true feelings toward Bianca, though he’d barely held them back before. As Bianca proceeded to call him a fool, Asher clenched his jaw as he stared at the surface of the table. Every blemish and scratch he’d memorized by now. Again she pushed Ivy's point and involvement, but Asher refused to speak on that topic. Any answer he gave only implicated her and possibly Hazel. If there was one thing he’d always noted about Bianca was her determination to win, and he was sure this was no different.

Asher closed his eyes, pushing down the anger that was bubbling in his stomach. While his reputation had taken a significant hit due to Blaise and his current situation, the story she spun would only make it worse for him and his family. He wouldn’t admit that it pained him a bit. Unfortunately, Elaine had never infiltrated the Prophet as well as she had the Ministry or Hogwarts, which was working against him now. But it was a bit of a cheap tactic to threaten the remaining reputation of a Pureblood heir. It bothered him more that the story also heavily pointed fingers at Ivy as if she hadn’t had enough to contend with from a cruel world. While he could come off as cold and “exceedingly frustrating” as Hazel might put it, those who wanted to feel his wrath need only threaten his family. Again he clenched his jaw as his hands shifted slightly, and the shackles hit the table loudly.

His eyes still examined the table. ”I don’t need your sympathy.” Asher spat, finally looking up to glare at his warden. ”I don’t know why you haven’t sent me off to Azkaban yet, but whatever you’re trying to do here won’t work.” Asher leaned back in his chair. Surely it was her dream to ship him off to the prison, but he had decided he wouldn't say anything that would actually help the Ministry. While he still felt foolish for being caught, keeping his mouth shut protected more than the organization, but it protected his family. His sisters would never turn on him, even if Hazel had pulled away from the cause. Knowing that to be a fact let him say what he had said with confidence, but Bianca didn’t seem fazed. There was a pause, a moment of silence, and Bianca shifted papers around while Asher watched.

Again his eyes narrowed, however, as her tone suddenly became condescending. That did anger him. Who did she think she was speaking to him like that? But she left the room, and Asher took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out. He needed to focus and keep his mind closed. Bianca would jump on any sign of weakness or opening in his armor if given a chance.

[ time jump ]

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

21 May 2026

Bianca would have been ready to let Asher stew for another week or two before she went back to see him again, but she was aware that there was a ticking clock against her just as much as there was for him. Hazel Burke had tried for the first time to see her brother yesterday, and while she hadn’t gotten any farther than the first layer of interns – well, she’d been pushy and dismissive. That tended to open doors at the Ministry. And the Burkes were still a powerful family, even with the disgrace surrounding Asher’s arrest and Ivy’s disappearance as other purebloods began to realize what had happened. There was potential there, an opportunity to exploit if she was clever enough to find one, but Bianca needed more time to think about it. So Hazel Burke had been sent away and, in the meantime, the department's analysts had been hard at work producing enough material for days of interrogations. Bianca, meanwhile, had found no shortage of work herself this past week. Purifiers to be arrested, reporters to be turned away, and druids to meet with and reassure that the Ministry hadn’t forgotten about that blasted cursed island. For now, at least, they seemed to understand that the destruction of Hogwarts had become a more urgent issue than Yrisle.

And she’d also done her research on purebloods. The only way to break a criminal was to understand them completely, and it became more necessary as Bianca was still reluctant to examine Legilimency as an option. For now, Asher Burke still wore his chains with an aura of cool power, and he hadn’t been worn down enough to force him into any situation he didn’t want to be in. But she was ready to chip away at the façade, piece by piece, until it crumbled away completely. And at that point, she couldn't promise what would or wouldn't happen. Bianca held the next step to breaking Asher Burke in her hands as she coolly opened the door to the stiflingly cramped interrogation room and neatly sat herself across from the prisoner. As a Department Head (an ex Department Head), Asher wasn’t a stranger to interrogations. It meant she couldn’t rely on any of her tried-and-true methods, because his last words to her before she’d left also indicated that he suspected she had a plan. Even if he hadn’t put his finger on it quite yet.

“You made page seven,” Bianca began without preamble, tossing the newspaper onto the table so he could slide it over and scan it if he wanted. It wasn’t a real edition of the Daily Prophet – no, Bianca wasn’t ready to release any details yet that could derail the investigation and interrogation process. Asher was still cut off from the outside world, but there were purebloods that hadn't (yet) been implicated in the Purifier scheme and she didn't want to tell them anything of what she was doing. The Prophet was doing its own investigation as well, but she took a little satisfaction from the thought that they’d only found breadcrumbs. Anyway, it wasn’t a real newspaper, but a fake one her analysts had created especially for this interrogation. Most of it was true, taken from this morning’s actual edition, except for page seven. There’d been a little competition among the Auror trainees to write the most sensationalist article about the newly disgraced purebloods, and the winner had gotten theirs printed on the page now as if it had actually been publicly released. Bianca let him scan the page in silence before she observed, “They’re still focused on Hogwarts, but it’ll only be a matter of time before they start on your lot. Captured Purifiers, fallen families. With the most well-known first, I expect. Where do you think they’ll put you? The society column? Front-page news even, once Ivy Burke’s confession is leaked?”

Merlin, Bianca didn’t understand the pureblood obsession with family and image. But every pureblood she had spoken to – starting with Anastasia Karkaroff and later on to all the other pureblood members of the Order – had assured her that this was the starting point for finding and exploiting any family’s weakness. They might survive the loss of status and prestige, over the course of decades and with careful public work. That was the fundamental lesson that the aftermath of the Second Wizarding War had taught them, and some old pureblood families had certainly weathered the storm. But there were others that had fallen from grace and never recovered, and certainly never in the eyes of respectable magical society. And Bianca’s job now? To show Asher the consequences of his continued loyalty – even if those were only theoretical for now – and convince him that he had no other options but to save himself. After all, how could he save his family from ruin all the way from Azkaban? And did he really trust his sisters – one disgraced and with one foot out the door, and the other quite helpless to do anything about it – to fix it themselves?

asher rowan burke

[asher rowan burke]

my end

it justifies my means

all I have to do is delay

i'm given time to evade

May 21, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

Six days. Asher was a patient man, and he didn’t mind the isolation per se, but he was bored. There didn’t appear to be an obvious way forward in terms of what the Ministry would do with him, but he also wasn’t sure why he wasn’t in Azkaban already. Before the last war, a tactic would be to let someone sit in a cell long enough for the Dementors to get near, and they might crack within minutes. The Ministry didn’t have that anymore though Asher wondered if his training would be enough to keep a strong mind in such a situation. He thought about many things during his time in chains, though the only thing that made him nervous was not knowing what had happened to his family. Where were they?

Asher was brought into a small room. It was warm and stuffy. His blue eyes watched her as she entered the room as he wondered what her next step was. Asher liked to think of himself as pretty observant, and it had helped him during his time as a Department Head when gathering information for Elaine or even other projects. A newspaper was thrown at him, and he moved his fingers to pull it toward him, the shackles hitting the surface of the table lightly. The front page spoke about the school as the world seemed to be reeling from the loss of such an institution, and out of boredom, really he did slowly flip the large pages until he reached page seven to the article that Bianca referenced.

”Maybe I’ll stay on page seven.” Asher spoke in a bored tone, pushing the open paperback to her as he sat back, keeping his wrists on the table. He still hated that he didn’t have a wand and was cut off from magic. It was something he was taking personally. At least one Auror thought it was funny to mock him from behind a locked door as if he felt confident Asher would never see the light of day and make him pay. And of course, the confession. The one that Asher doubted was real. Ivy was a smart girl, and so was Hazel. They were likely on whatever tropical island they’d vacationed to instead of going home for Christmas—they were too smart to stick around after Purifier activity such as this.

But, he’d had a lot of time to think. Bianca was head of Law Enforcement, but if he was charged with crimes relating to Purifier activity, that took the case from local to International. Would she still be the one in the room with him if that were the case? At the end of the day, the Pureblood names were cursed and in a perpetual situation of damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Last he heard, Ivy had gotten closer to the youngest Karkaroff, not that Ivy had shared many details with him. In the entirety of their overlapping time at the Ministry, he’d heard the whispers, and it wouldn’t matter if she’d brought in Elaine herself because her name would always bring doubt. While the Burke reputation was taking a significant hit because of his failures, there was always that chance.

”It must be difficult.” Asher spoke. His tone hadn’t changed much as he was actually bored, but he dropped the act of being polite long ago since it wasn’t a matter of being at work. ”But, I can’t say I’m surprised…nor is it the first time I’ve seen it.” He brought his hands together and laced the fingers, so they sat on the table in front of him. ”Its none of my business what you did to get out from behind that desk and be promoted to one of the youngest Department Heads the Ministry has ever seen. And I’ve been sitting in that poor excuse for a cell you have me in wondering why I’m not in a cell in Azkaban, and then I thought to myself—you’d simply have to resign if you get nothing from me.” Asher was still determined not to crack so easily, and he’d accepted his fate just as he’d told her just days ago. A false confession might have worked on some other fool, but he was Asher Burke, and Bianca would not outsmart him.

Looking at the paper he’d pushed away, he kept speaking. ”You see, Bianca, unlike me, your many failures will end up on the front page.” Asher scoffed. ”Well, I suppose they already have.” He pulled one hand to the newspaper, and he flipped the open pages, so the front page was visible again. A moving picture of the former Hogwarts. The attack that she had failed to prevent despite the presence there that had tried to stop it. Again one young girl had outsmarted a government and a famed school and its staff. But Asher didn’t see the young Bianca as someone of the same caliber, and the scandals she had on her plate would soon become too heavy to carry much longer, he figured.

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Bianca had spent more than enough time studying the other Department Heads whenever the opportunity arose – at their weekly meetings with the Minister, or the occasional one-on-one when an issue arose that required two or more departments to coordinate together. She’d had a lifetime of experience reading criminals, learning how they think and what they were afraid of. It was the only way to make the arrest, the only way to get the confession, the only way to properly do her job. So she’d spent enough time watching Asher Burke (even if everything he did and stood for pulled her features into a permanent look of disgust around him) even before forcing his hands into magical restraints and shoving him into the fireplace to be taken into Ministry custody. And now, when she was the only person he saw anymore and Bianca took her time to plan the next stage of her strategy…

Well, she was gaining new insights into how his mind worked, and the thought was equally satisfying and repelling. Asher spoke lazily as he suggested that he might just stay on page seven, leaning back in his chair and sweeping his gaze around the room as if waiting for something better to do. Bianca had started to notice the small signs that he was tense, starting to crack – the way his eyes lingered on her wand, an indescribable flicker of something there, or the slight tension in his shoulders whenever Ivy’s name was brought up. But he was still much too solid, standing too tall to suggest he was at risk of falling anytime soon. He still believed he had his family’s support. He still believed there was something, or someone, out there worth protecting. Bianca only scoffed slightly at his idle suggestion. “Is that wishful thinking, or are you just that ignorant of how the world works?”

Her eyes flashed dangerously as he began his next train of thought, and a hard expression settled on her face as he steepled his fingers and wondered about her background. She’d heard it before, a million times in a million different contexts. Subtle stings in front of the Minister asking about her credentials, making sly comments about what she must’ve done to get her promotion. As if it was impossible to imagine that she might have gotten to where she was because she'd earned it. It was sexist, and old-fashioned thinking, but it had never bothered her before. No, she’d only ever responded with her own pointed remark – ‘we can’t all buy our spots with our dear mum’s gold, can we’ – and move on. But he was taking it in a new direction today, and Bianca could feel the tense set of her jaw and the way her fingers involuntarily tightened around the file in her hands. “Don’t overestimate your importance in my life,” she growled as Asher continued to ponder what she might want from him.

Resignation. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard the word, and Asher Burke certainly wouldn’t be the last to say the word. The idea always cropped up after a tragedy, or a scandal, or anything that might rock the boat. It was an easy solution for other officials or for the public to reach after something that had gone wrong – the problem was with the person, not the system. Replace the person and that would fix the problem. It was a shortsighted perspective, and only rarely the right one, but it was easy and Bianca had already begun to hear the whispers wondering if she would resign for being unable to prevent what had happened at Hogwarts. Bianca had already told Krum she had no intention of resigning, though. Tragedy would always happen, one way or another, and the true grit of a leader shone through in the aftermath. By being strong and decisive, or by being weak and letting the tide wash you away. She was determined to push her way through to some semblance of victory – the dismantlement of the Purifiers, seeing justice be done in the name of the victims and the public that been held hostage by the group’s reign of terror for years already.

She was ready to restore quiet and safety, and Asher Burke was only the latest obstacle to overcome. But ‘resignation’ had become a sensitive word in Magical Law Enforcement. Most people were still too afraid to say it to her, but she’d seen it in a news article or two, and soon they would become emboldened and lose that fear completely. She needed a win here if she wanted to be more than just a footnote in law enforcement history. “My failures?” Bianca echoed, anger making her voice rise in pitch and volume. She seethed as she demanded, “Merlin, have you completely lost your mind?!” She slammed the file on the desk as her gaze turned steely. “Look at yourself. Do you even see the situation you’re in? You are completely alone and you haven’t even realized it yet. Your sister betrayed you. She chose to save her own skin over family loyalty. And you chose a cause over your family. Fuck, forget your family! You went to support Elaine while she murdered children! How can you justify that? How can you sit here in front of me and act like you haven’t done a single goddamned thing wrong?” The silence of the room echoed loudly in her ears after Bianca finished shouting, and she felt her breathing grow heavy with frustration and indignation. Life was unfair, so so unfair. She’d known it for years already, but the injustice of the situation she found herself in now – needling Asher Burke towards a confession while the Ministry roiled in the aftermath of all the damage he and his lot had done to British magical society – well, it weighed heavily in her chest. Her eyes narrowed as she stared down Asher and felt something inside her go cold. Merlin, she needed to up her game if she was ever going to get anything from him. She needed to hit him where it would hurt most. And she already knew exactly how.

asher rowan burke
[Time jump?]

[asher rowan burke]

my end

it justifies my means

all I have to do is delay

i'm given time to evade

May 21, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

Asher supposed it was a bit of wishful thinking. Hoping that he or his name didn’t end up on the front page, though when he did finally stand that formality of a trial and end up forever in Azkaban—that would certainly be headline news. Had Asher not been a department head, he would have just been another Pureblood deemed to be on the wrong side of things by the Ministry and the Prophet. But he was not ignorant in the ways of this world. He scoffed instantly at the statement. How could a muggle-born girl ever tell Asher that he was ignorant of the way the world worked when it was who he was down to the purity of his blood.

But quickly, despite his own wavering confidence, he realized he’d found a nerve to follow. ”Much like you overestimate your own abilities.” He retorted. If Asher was overthinking his role in this scheme, Bianca needed to take a more introspective approach. She had been there by chance, he’d learned not to underestimate Blaise Zabini, but Bianca hadn’t shown him anything except that she could intake a prisoner like some Auror-in-training and shove papers in his face. But Asher knew he was working in the right direction, deflecting from why they were here. She hadn’t asked him any questions directly—which he found odd. Surely there was much Bianca wanted to know about Asher’s alleged life in the Purifiers and alleged connections to Elaine. Why hadn’t she asked?

But there was that fiery side, the one Asher had seen in department meetings and exchanges around the Ministry. Interns were typically too fearful of such a response to knock on her door, but Asher had a knack for just pissing her off. She raised her voice, but Asher kept his usual stare. Naturally ’murdered children’ was not a good look next to anyone’s name. ”I feel sorry for you Bianca. You have nobody do you? Nobody to be loyal to and nobody that is loyal to you.” Asher shook his head dismissively. Again she hung Ivy’s name in front of him, but Asher was still adamant. All Purebloods knew exactly one thing. Loyalty. It didn’t matter how much you cared about the rest. That was a given. Muggle-borns were separated from who they were before ever picking up a wand that Asher couldn’t see how that same type of unwavering loyalty was possible.

[ time jump ]

June 8, 2026
The room felt colder, or at least his hands did against the same table he’d been retaken to time and time. Hazel’s words still bounced around his mind, and he didn’t think he’d slept even an hour over the past two days. Ivy. There had been an almost permanent expression of incredulity on Asher’s face since that conversation. Though what stunned him more was Hazel’s demeanor. Like the glittering gold that was Hazel’s personality was like it had turned to ash, just like the Castle. Ivy was the one that had recruited Asher. She was the one that pushed the cause even stronger than he did—why had she done this to the Purifiers but more importantly…why had Ivy done this to him?

It certainly changed things. Bianca hadn’t been lying about the confession, but it made him wonder what else she knew. Still, was he the only one in chains? Hazel clearly wasn’t, and ashamedly Asher wondered if he could still trust her too. Staring at his hands, he saw they were pale. Asher was sure his face was as well, even against his icy eyes. And it was hard to come up with a plan—the next steps when he didn’t know what was going on in the world around him. But, the door opened, and it just became another round of Bianca versus Asher. He sat up a little straighter as what was expected of him. But he didn’t speak, he didn’t know where he stood yet.

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

8 June 2026

Bianca was still fuming from her last session with Asher, and his last damn words continued to echo in her head even weeks after he had spoken them. He had the nerve to feel sorry for her, to accuse her of being completely alone? She had always known that purebloods were disconnected from reality – they continued to live as if they were the best and brightest of magical society, when it had long since been proven that there was nothing particularly special about most of that community and what they could offer. Blood purity had nothing to do with magical ability, after all, and the world had largely moved on without the purebloods as magical society slowly inched towards a better future. But they continued to cling to the last remnants of an old and largely forgotten way of life, and it was pitiful to watch as an outsider. But Merlin, Asher had truly become separated from reality, likely made all the worse by his involvement with the Purifiers, and Bianca was furious at how easily he could still manipulate her into getting angry. She itched to prove him wrong, to shove into his face all the connections she valued most. Because...she wasn't alone, and she reminded herself of it constantly after all the heartbreak from May. She wasn't alone, there were people out there who loved her and deserved her loyalty in return. But it wasn’t the right play here, to make this interrogation about her or to refute any of his statements, and she growled at the exertion of controlling herself. She had a bigger goal here, a more important one, and she forced herself to remember her old Occlumency techniques and focus her mind.

And, as she watched him from the other side of the glass, she knew that the dynamic had shifted. Something was different now. It had been a risky move to allow Hazel Burke to visit her brother – because there just was no way to know what she would say to him, or what she might give away that could potentially ruin the interrogation. Bianca knew very little about the youngest Burke, and she hadn’t been mentioned at all in Ivy Burke’s confession, which raised its own questions. Was Hazel truly innocent and uninvolved in Purifier activities, or was Ivy only trying to protect her younger sister? Ultimately, it didn’t matter much to Bianca. Hazel Burke was a small fish, and one that she was willing to cut loose if it meant gaining a much bigger prize. And allowing this conversation to happen had been the right move. Watching Asher Burke now, it confirmed the fact that this interrogation was starting to get somewhere, and Bianca had the opportunity to make a new move now.

Asher Burke looked shell-shocked at the confirmation that Ivy had indeed given him, and the rest of the Purifiers, to the Ministry in exchange for intervention at Hogwarts and her own freedom. His hands shook slightly and the magical chains clinked softly in the small room as he considered the thought, face pale from the realization and his own extended time in captivity. Bianca felt her shoulders relax as she studied Asher. He hadn’t broken completely yet, but he was fragile. His whole world had just been turned upside down, and those pureblood values of his – loyalty to family, loyalty to the cause – were working against him now. Bianca tapped the file against her lips as she thought for a moment, then turned to stride across the small observation room and enter the interrogation. She was ready now, loose in a way that she hadn't been since he had riled her up so completely during their last talk. “Which do you think is worse,” she began conversationally as she neatly seated herself at the same table as always, “Having no one to be loyal to, or being betrayed by someone you trusted? Someone you loved?” It gave her an immense amount of pleasure to throw his words back in his face, even if she didn’t believe in them at all. Merlin, he didn’t know a single damn thing about her life, and all his assumptions were based on outdated and disproven theories. But she couldn’t resist the small victory that Hazel Burke’s visit had given her. It seemed even a disgraced Purifier had emotions, and values, and something to lose. And Asher Burke’s trust had been violated so thoroughly that Bianca saw a further opportunity to play with it later.

For now, she placed the file on the table and tapped her fingers over it. “It’s time to discuss your options,” she said, her tone returning to her usual style of being curt and straightforward and professional. This interrogation was more personal than any of her previous ones, but she was still focused on getting the job done...and she was quite good at it when all her abilities were completely dedicated to the task. Bianca opened the file slowly, letting her eyes linger on the top page. Nothing had changed from before, and Ivy Burke’s confession was still the first document they could see. But it held a new meaning now that Asher’s worst nightmare had been confirmed, and Bianca’s leverage had been strengthened by Hazel Burke confirming that Ivy had crossed her family…and worse, other purebloods were starting to hear about it. Then Bianca set aside the confession so Asher could see the rest of the file – blank parchment, and an enchanted quill ready to take down notes at a moment’s notice. But Bianca didn’t speak, didn’t articulate the truth that hung heavily between the pair of them. Asher could let Ivy’s confession sink him, and spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. He could let her control his future. Or…he could talk. “You were a high-level Purifier,” Bianca observed quietly, letting the acknowledgment of that truth sink in. She’d never said that to him, had always let it remained an unspoken assumption that his trial was only a formality and he would undoubtedly be going to Azkaban. “And now, for the first time…you get to decide what happens next. No one else. Not Ivy, not Blaise, not me.”

asher rowan burke

[asher rowan burke]

my end

it justifies my means

all I have to do is delay

i'm given time to evade

June 8, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

Bianca walked in with her head held high like aways, but that confidence was back. Asher knew he had pushed buttons in their last conversation, and he’d been escorted back to his cell with a rather smug air about him. People like Bianca were always alone. They were too driven to worry about who was keeping up and too forceful to find meaningful relationships. Their work was their life, and Asher saw it time and time again, especially from Law Enforcement. How many of those old men who refused to retire did so out of a basic fear of being alone?

The words that came out of her mouth echoed his own before, though they stung as soon as they hit his ears. Asher was a stubborn man. Hazel would call him arrogant even. Ivy had thrown away years of work and their reputation, and for what? The idea angered him, and his hands clenched into fists for a moment before he opened them again. Again, he was also angered by his shackles' limitations; maybe someone, as experienced as Blaise, could take him down, but Bianca certainly couldn’t. Or maybe she’d get desperate enough to try to probe his mind, but Asher could easily fight that back.

He kept quiet, refusing to meet her gaze, but she took the seat in front of him as he remained unmoving otherwise. ’Options’ What did that even mean for a man in his position? They were going to send him to Azkaban, and Ivy was Merlin knew where and Hazel left to her own devices. The club was still there if she chose to participate in its management, but everything felt up in the air—there was no control. The confession was placed back in front of him, and only his eyes moved to stare at it again. Ivy’s signature was plain as day. Anger surged through him. That ungrateful brat. Asher’s parents had taken her in as their own, and the family had never treated her as if she wasn’t actually a Burke. When the world decided that she was different and persecuted her, her parents, Asher and Hazel, had her back.

Asher’s jaw clenched a moment, and then the paper moved to reveal only blank pages. Finally, the questions. But Bianca spoke again. ’You were a high-level Purifier’, and immediately, he blinked once, and his eyes shot up to meet her own. Things were different when it was merely allegations and hearsay. What Blaise thought he heard come out of Asher’s mouth during their duel, what anyone around thought they had heard or whoever suspected him because of his name and blood. Ivy had opened a box that could not be closed. ”It isn’t much of a decision if I get sent to Azkaban to die there.” Asher responded, his voice low and even. ”I can’t even trust my own sister, how can I trust the Ministry of Magic—or did you round up all the Purebloods here? How many cells have you filled?” He spat back. The betrayal had made it difficult to control his rage and settle his mind. There was the momentary mental image of Anastasia Karkaroff in shackles, knowing very well how angry she would be in a situation. But he wasn’t alone, though in this case, he could hardly keep denying his connection to Elaine further.

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Bianca’s eyes flicked down as Asher’s hands momentarily curled into fists at her brief mention of Ivy. He was finally starting to show the cracks in his composure, and Bianca suspected that she could only see the barest bit of how deep those scars would run. Oh, love and loyalty were universal concepts. Every human being, to some extent, sought the comfort of having people in their life that loved and cared for them. That would do anything for them when all the cards were on the table. And loyalty – well, loyalties were made and broken and fought over just as much in magical society as in the Muggle one. But these topics gained a new and deeper meaning in pureblood circles, and even with all her research Bianca knew she would never come close to understanding it completely. These families were raised in an endless masquerade of competition and subtle games, and young purebloods were taught that they could only ever trust their family. Everyone else was ultimately against them. It forged strong bonds, but taught them to never fully trust another human being outside of their family. It sounded like a lonely life, and it strengthened Bianca's understanding of her pureblood coworkers. Why Ana Karkaroff didn't hesitate to put some daylight between her and the rest of her family.

So the betrayal of a sister? Bianca could see even on the surface-level just how much it shook Asher to consider that possibility, how hard it had been for him to believe that such a thing could ever happen. And hadn’t he only truly begun to believe it when the rumor had been confirmed by none other than his own blood? The bond between pureblood siblings was made of iron, and the fact that one could break it so thoroughly and irreparably…there was no doubt that he was questioning every relationship in his life now. Every certainty in his life had suddenly lost value and become a weak and open-ended question. Bianca could see it in his face, although she and the rest of the Aurors knew one thing from their work – a cornered criminal could be dangerous if they saw no way out. They could become animalistic, gain an insane and fractured look in their eyes. Asher was fragile, but that was dangerous. Bianca had to maneuver carefully. The biggest mistake would be to assume that because Asher was in chains, he was neutralized. She could easily send him to Azkaban today, win the battle and never have to see him again. But that would be losing the war, and there was still a war to be fought as the Ministry worked to finish off the Purifiers and send their group crumbling to the dust. Bianca didn't want the immediate victory -- no, she wouldn't take anything less than the best she could get.

The weight of her words settled between them, the accusation finally out in the open as she spoke the fundamental truth that defined this whole encounter. Asher had been an important Purifier, which meant he knew secrets. Key information and knowledge and things that the low-level scum they had already sent to Azkaban wouldn’t have had access to, or would only have heard whispers about. That knowledge could sink him, send him to Azkaban for the rest of his life in a cell where everybody would forget about him and the Burke family. It would be the end of that entire branch of the Burke family tree, with no other male heirs to ensure the continuity of the line and the name. That was a heavy burden for Asher to carry, and it no doubt weighed on him now. But Bianca knew that that same information that tied Asher to the highest levels of the Purifiers was what made him so valuable. It gave him a way out of this impossible situation, if he chose to leverage it. He was clever enough to negotiate a deal if he set his mind to it, but that move would require violating some of the values his sister had already broken. And for a pureblood, going down that road wasn’t so easy, and there was certainly no going back. But then again, he found himself down an almost completely set path now. There was really only one thing he could do to change it. Bianca shook her head slightly at his first observation. “Going to Azkaban is a decision too,” she countered, matching his low tone with her own authoritative style to it as she tapped her fingers on the table. He didn’t see the options in front of him, or he at least chose not to see them.

Bianca ignored his first question, and instead chose to shrug and answer his second one. “Dozens, I suspect. We might cross the threshold into the hundreds by the end of it all. Purifiers who didn’t know how to save themselves. Purebloods who weren’t clever enough to see the way out.” Bianca let her hand wander over the thin pile of blank parchment, spreading out the pages slowly and counting them as she leafed through the stack. “Your family owns quite a bit of property,” Bianca observed, bringing to mind the documents her analysts had turned up and read through on the Burke family. Anything they could find on their history, their assets, anything that could tie Asher to the Purifiers or give her information to work with in the interrogation. It was only one of the many steps Bianca had taken to prepare for this negotiation, and certainly one she intended to leverage now. “You must have helped manage some of it. Must have met hundreds of people and reached hundreds of agreements over the years.” Her eyes bored into Asher’s, and she stared stonily at him as she continued, “So you must know that you don’t need trust to strike a deal. You just need to write it down. Set the terms. Find the balance between what both sides need.” Bianca paused to study his expression intently. "You seem to know already what I need. But...can you see it for yourself?"

asher rowan burke

[asher rowan burke]

my end

it justifies my means

all I have to do is delay

i'm given time to evade

June 8, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

It wasn’t so much a matter of was Asher useful. Asher knew he was, and Bianca had hit that nail on the head. Asher had been part of the inner circle for Elaine and for a long time as well. The Ministry insight had been incredibly valuable, and Asher’s knowledge of magic and everything he learned and touched in the Department of Mysteries. On the other side of that coin, his life with his business helped further his connections and wealth. The pitiful Ministry salary was pennies in comparison. The Burke’s had been united on that front, at least he thought they were.

Asher wondered what his mother and father thought of all this. Surely they knew by now. Even if the world itself was slow to receive information, the rumor mill in pureblood circles was an active and well-oiled machine. If he hadn’t been locked in a cage for a month now, he would have been able to gain information and navigate all of this better. Most of all, he wanted a face-to-face with Ivy. An impossible request at this point, she’d never walk in here willingly but also, if she was that much of a coward to flip on him and Elaine, she’d never see him face to face either. ’Going to Azkaban is a decision too.’ Asher didn’t blink as he thought about her words. She was dangling the idea of choice in front of him like one taunted an animal with food.

There was no doubt in his mind that Bianca had filled many cells in Azkaban by now, but the inner circle had been far and few. Recognizable names but also surprising ones. One’s that if Asher said out loud, would never be believed, but again, there wasn’t anything in it for him except expediting his journey to the prison. The walls he had erected earlier were to protect his family, but they weren’t protecting him, so why keep them up? Well, to protect himself now. Asher may have been the one in chains, but Ivy had disgraced the name far more than he ever did. But his attention was back when Bianca mentioned properties. That wasn’t a surprise. These things were a matter of public record if one bothered to look.

For the first time since they’d been sitting face to face, she spoke something that made sense. Did Asher trust everybody he worked with? Absolutely not. But apparently, trust was a rarity now. Even Hazel’s visit sowed doubt in his mind. She was there to figure out how to survive without her older sister and not because her older brother was in trouble. As much as Asher tried to suppress his anger and pain, it kept popping into his mind, and he stared at the table while he gathered his thoughts. If nobody else was going to look out for him, he would do it himself. ”I’m not blind, Bianca.” He finally spoke, his eyes moving up to look at her. ”I was wondering when you’d get around to asking.” But he paused once more, frowning slightly, and he moved his hands together.

”Now that I know Ivy sold me out, I suppose that does change things.” The things he knew about Elaine, the things he knew about the Purifiers, the things he knew about Ivy—but he hesitated. Even after all that, he stopped himself from speaking too much about Ivy. But the path wasn’t clear forward. ”Elaine had nothing to do with my family’s business arrangements.” He simply spoke. It was true, though he would not go into further detail. It wasn’t to say there was never overlap, but not enough where Asher considered it significant. Asher glanced down at the file again. He felt bitter and angry but mostly empty. ”You seem to have all the information you need. Why would I help you when my fate is still sealed. A ‘High-Level Purifier’ and former Ministry of Magic Department Head? You know how these things work more than anybody.” Asher was the perfect face to prove a point, to make an example of. His fate was sealed as far as he was concerned.

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

They were finally starting to talk for real now, and had abandoned the pretense of only being there to exchange final insults before his one-way trip to Azkaban. The first weeks of the interrogation had been a slow game (with an extraordinary and uncharacteristic amount of patience from Bianca), as a chance to show Asher where he stood and everything that had been taken away from him since his arrest. To act as a reminder that he wasn’t in control anymore, as the Department Head of the Ministry’s most mysterious and least accountable branch. Even the Minister couldn’t demand to know what Asher had his Unspeakables working on, or to what end. But that stage of his life was over, and he wasn’t untouchable anymore. He hadn’t seen it at first, knowing as an almost certainty that he was headed to Azkaban on a one-way ticket and with his family’s unequivocal support on the outside to keep the family together in the meantime. But that wasn’t true, hadn’t been true since May, and he was finally starting to realize it.

So it was time to stop beating around the bush and lay out the facts. Asher had been a Purifier, and one with access to high-level secrets and knowledge. That much had been well-established from everything the Ministry had been given access to – Ivy’s confession, Blaise’s testimony, and Asher’s personal arrest by the Head of Magical Law Enforcement herself. It would have been enough to send him away immediately and for the rest of his life, but they both knew that he was more valuable than just another wizard filling just another cell in the magical prison. So Bianca had finally acknowledged that she wanted something from him, and Asher had finally admitted that Ivy’s betrayal had changed his calculus. And he was more talkative now than he had ever been before, except for the mudblood insults he had been freely tossing around since their first session together. He wasn't an end in and of itself, only a means to accomplish Law Enforcement's true goal. Because Bianca was almost certain that there were still Purifiers walking free, and undiscovered secrets that could end the group for good if the Ministry could find them. She didn't just want to put one more Dark wizard away, if it meant leaving the bones of the group still standing. She wanted to end them, eradicate the threat completely.

After everything Bianca had learned about pureblood dynamics since Asher’s arrest, it didn’t surprise her that his first move was to separate his family’s interests from Elaine. Asher was in full damage control mode, after all, and regardless of what Ivy had done he still seemed to want to protect the rest of the Burkes from any further Ministry scrutiny. Elaine was dead, at the end of the day, and that meant that Asher had to focus on what he could still save. The Purifier cause was all but dead, and it was only a matter of time until the Ministry finished off the last of the group. The question here was how much time it would take, and how much information the Ministry could gain about it beforehand. Bianca shook her head slightly at his mention of the Burke family property. Even if they weren’t involved with the Purifiers, she was sure she could still find dozens of broken laws and regulations if she investigated closely enough. That was how purebloods did business, after all. “I don’t need to look into the rest of your family,” she said dismissively, “As long as you tell me where I should be looking.” Bianca had spent some time brainstorming with the senior personnel of her department, speculating what information Asher might have to share and how much of it he’d be willing to give for his own benefit. The Head Hit Wizard had informed Bianca that a reduced sentence might not be enough incentive, and had asked if she was prepared to let him walk. It was a possibility that Bianca didn’t want to have to confront yet.

She did know how these things worked, probably better than Asher did. The Department of Mysteries required talented and inspired individuals, that was true, but they were all academics and theorists. None of them knew how to get their hands dirty, how to become involved with their work and face the consequences of their own actions. Asher came from that world, ultimately, and as a pureblood from a good family he'd never really had to face the idea of consequences before. Not with his parents' wide web of influence and extensive Gringotts vault. Bianca was an Auror, however, and that meant she’d seen the world exactly as it was in all its shades of gray and black. She wasn’t naïve, or the idealist she’d been when first arriving to the UK. How could she be after a full decade of finding and condemning the worst of magical society, and making all sorts of arrangements to let the little fish live in order to reel in a much larger haul? “I have enough to send you to Azkaban right now,” she confirmed frankly. It seemed only fair to allow Asher to contemplate and confront that fact, since they had now fully moved into negotiations and she wanted him to see exactly what she had over him, and exactly what he could avoid. “But nothing’s set in stone. I’m the Department Head and Krum doesn’t give two knuts about what I do as long as I give him results at the end of the day.” They had both been in close proximity to the ex-Minister for months, and knew exactly how he worked (and more relevantly, didn't work). He delegated responsibilities to his Department Heads, which meant he also gave them the ability to drive Ministry policy. Magical Law Enforcement was one of the Ministry’s biggest and most important departments, and under an apathetic Minister that gave Bianca an inordinate amount of power and independence. He wasn't in office anymore, having been replaced only a few days ago. But Asher wouldn't have heard about that yet, and while Bianca knew that she could bring Root around to whatever she judged to be the best move -- that was only theoretical to the ex-Department Head. But Krum's incompetence? They'd both seen it first-hand.

Bianca steepled her fingers and leaned forward in her chair. “You know how these things work,” she echoed his earlier words, eyes fixated on Asher and all his potential that might be gained or lost in these next few minutes. She didn't have any illusions that she would walk away from this session with everything she wanted, but laying the groundwork for a deal would be more than enough. They were reaching a critical moment, a crossroads moment, and it was Asher's next words that would decide what happened to him. Shipped off to Azkaban, under what conditions, or if at all. Bianca exhaled slightly through her nose before she finally got to the point. “You were an important Purifier, and I’m writing your sentence. Tell me what you can give me, and I’ll tell you what you can get.”

asher rowan burke