Who: Isobel Egg and Arcturus MacMillan
What: He needs to speak to her and she will have none of that
Where: Isobel's Yoga Studio



Though she loved all of her students equally, Isobel loved her advanced class the most.

That did not make much logical sense, but it she wasn't one to be logical. It was simply easier to get things done with her advanced students than to have to sit and wait while the newest ones struggled with their stretches and toppled over to the wooden floor of her studio.

"The tree pose," she said smoothly, almost sounding as if she was singing to the low, calming music playing throughout the studio. A few simple spells created quite the euphoric feeling, and the muggles that she taught always had something wonderful to say about her atmosphere, "develops awareness, balance, concentration, and poise."

Isobel took in a deep breath, hands pressed into a prayer like motion as the soul of her right foot dug into the inner thigh of her left. This was one of her favorite poses, as it was quite amusing to hold conversations in it as others grew wary of your own balance. Her eyes shut even as the door jingled, announcing that someone new had entered. They would have to wait to be placed; it was quite rude to interrupt.

Well, this was awkward, to say the least.

With each passing day, Arcturus MacMillan only found his job more and more tedious. It was painfully obvious that magic in the presence of Muggles was simply not allowed. There were extreme exceptions, of course, but really, there were quite few of those. Which is why when Isobel Egg's yoga studio had been reported as clearly violating the Improper Use of Magic clause, Archie was quite surprised. Of all the places that might be benefited from a little magical boost, this didn't seem like the first place he would choose.

The door had a blasted little bell that seemed to jangle brashly as he sheepishly stood in a darkened room with a lot of people bent in funny positions.

He cleared his throat loudly.

Her jaw did not tighten at the noise, but the rude man did manage to open one of her eyes. She would only give him half of her attention, and Izzie really did not think he deserved any more. From what her one eye could tell (her left eye, it had a more keen sense she liked to believe), he was not a straggling student. This was verified as she examined his attire, and knew for a fact that he was not prepared to move into any sort of position or form in that very stuffy looking suit.

"And...breath out...bring your foot down," she moved gracefully as she spoke, "and return to your beginning position." Isobel watched with a smile as the class moved in one fluid motion. She was so very good at her job. "One moment please."

She stepped off her mat and her barefeet padded across the wooden floor over to where the rude man (or should she call him Rude Man?) stood, and Isobel tied her hair into a rather large, frizzy bun on the top of her head as she approached him. He was a bit taller than her, so her chin was tilted rather high, but she her expression did not waver from its slightly annoyed state, "Yes?"

He crossed his arms and frowned at her. Well, it was all very well for her to act huffy, but he was the one who actually had to come down from the Ministry and give her her official reprimand.

Clearing his throat, he prepared the standard official oral reprimand and fished around in his bag for the piece of parchment. "Miss Isobel Egg, I am here on behalf of the Ministry of Magic, Improper Use of Magic division, with reports that you have openly been using witchcraft," his eyes darted around slightly nervously and Archie softened his voice, "in an area heavily inhabited by Muggles. It is therefore my duty to present you with this Official Reprimand and demand that you indiciate all unlawful practices and upon this meeting, that they be immediately abandoned..."

He continued speaking as he looked around helplessly in his bag. Where was that blasted piece of parchment? He hated not having robe pockets to put things in, these Muggle briefcases were useless.

Was there something wrong with this man? Izzie's already large, round eyes widened even more as he began to run his mouth about magic and witchcraft and wow. Wow. He was coming here from the Improper Use of Magic division, and was talking, right in front of muggles, about magic.

"I--excuse me, Mister--" she didn't know his name, Rude Man would have to suffice in her head right now, "This is not the time or place for business, and as I have very strict rules for my studio," lies, all lies, she just needed more time to think about how on earth she was going to get out of a mess she hadn't actually thought was a mess, "You--you are going to have to follow them."

Isobel nodded almost snootily, eyebrows high as if waiting for Rude Man to respond. "No one is allowed in the studio while a class is in session unless they are participating in the lesson, it messes up the chakra," she waved a hand toward a rolled up purple mat in the corner. "You can set up in the front near me."

Now, either he would leave, or she'd be given at least fifteen more minutes to think things through. Hmph.

His eyes widened.

"Ex-excuse me!" he sputtered. "But I don't do this, this, abnormal stretching business. I happen to like both my feet on the ground, not twisted into any funny shapes, thank you very much!"

Rules! Rules! She was talking to him about rules, and he was the one who came to her in the first place because of rules that weren't followed! This was rich, this was absolutely rich.

"No, I'm sorry Miss Egg, but I simply must talk to you now. This matter is of the utmost importance."

Firm. He had to be firm and obstinate. Archie was from the Ministry, after all. Pigheaded was in the job training. And no amount of persuasion was getting him on that mat next to her, and no rules were keeping him outside that door.

She often told stupid people that they should be grateful that she was a yoga instructor, because her temper without the patience her exercises provided would be quite hazardous to their health. Rude Man, it seemed, would be getting one of those lectures, had they not been standing in front of a group of her students.

"I don't go into your office and interrupt your very important paperwork, Mister...." again, she didn't know his name, and that was frustrating, "Mister. So would you please respect the rules of my office of abnormal stretching?"

Those words were nearly gritted out through her teeth, and Izzie tensed slightly as her students began to mutter behind her. This was definitely ruining the good rhythm she had gotten them into, and that only made her more annoyed at this Ministry official.

Archie was torn between sheepish and annoyed. And he did notice her repeated "Mister" which he didn't necessarily feel the need to fix, because if she on the off-chance reported him to the other superiors in the office, there'd be an absolute stack of paperwork to get through to file the official complaint, and then the official interview, and the the official dismissal of the complaint, and a lot of official business that really didn't need to take place.

So he kept his mouth shut about that bit in particular.

"Well, yes, I understand that this is somewhat inopportune, but this is really the only time we had in the week where we knew you'd be at your place of business and that I would be able to give you the proper appointment time, and I understand that this interferes with the way you run your business, but I really have to insist upon seeing you now, because this is official Ministry business, and it does take precedence."

Archie tried to take a inconspicuous deep breath, because when he tried to squeeze that many words into one sentence, it did funny things to his lungs.

Isobel was not one to take no for an answer, whether it was the fact that an ice cream vendor told her they didn't have chocolate sprinkles or whether it was that the construction workers said they simply couldn't put in the floor to ceiling windows in the front of her studio. And, look---her studio had the windows, and her sundae from yesterday was mightily covered in chocolate sprinkles.

She took a step forward, turning her head slightly to keep her words from hitting the ears of her students. Her small frame looked almost threatening, but she pushed up on her toes to merely whisper in his ear.

"Get the mat, do the exercises, and I will be all yours for as long as you need me," she said, dropping down to her feet. Izzie blinked slowly up at the official a few times before returning to her spot in the front of the classroom, motioning for her students to get back into the starting position. She looked as if she didn't care what the official did, but she was watching him quite carefully out of the corner of her eye.

Well, this was rubbish! She was shorter than him, for heaven's sake!

"Excuse me!" he shouted to her from the back of the room. "But we're not finished yet, Miss Egg! I'm afraid that you'll have to delay your class for the time being or end it early and make up for the lost time elsewhere, because I really must talk to you!"

Oh, but this woman was infuriating! There were laws to be upheld! Miscreant behavior to be attended to, and this woman wanted him to trot up to the head of the class and twist himself like a balloon animal! Fat chance of that happening!

Archie crossed his arms and glared at her.

This man was an absolute nitwit.

Izzie really did try to not be mean to people, they usually brought it upon themselves. And Rude Man was definitely bringing it upon himself. She told him she'd give him all the attention he wanted after class, all he had to do was not mess up the chakra. Fine. Fine. Nothing irritated Isobel more than her class being interrupted (and it happened far too often for her liking), so. She was simply going to ignore him. She'd given him a chance, there was nothing more that she could do.

Karma would take care of him justly.

With a quick purse of her lips, Isobel turned around to face the wall. Mostly she was moving on to this position to force herself to stop glaring at the man, but also because---well. He was a bit twitchy.

"The standing wide forward bend," her voice carried throughout the room as her arms circled at her sides before she slowly bent herself in half, legs stretched far apart. Her hands pressed against her feet, and by now, she was basically speaking to her students through the triangle her legs had created. Ah--she could spot Mr. Twitchy (he'd moved on to a new nickname, now), and she smiled upside-down at him.

"This pose is a wonderful balance between restorative relaxation and energy building."

This was a bit useless.

Well, as long as he wasn't on the mat doing that ridiculous bend (now really, it was a bit gratuitous the way she was looking at him right now. Or rather, from where she was looking at him now). Archie tightened his arms and scowled as deeply as he could.

This woman was ridiculous. She had to be have been raving mad. What kind of self-respecting witch did yoga any--oh, that was an inappropriate position, gods, that was an inappropriate position.

Useless, that's what this was. Absolutely useless. And he didn't know how much more of this torment he'd have to endure. The door was right behind him, he could, theoretically, just walk out of the place and come back late-- but what if he walked in on another session! What if it had just started? What if she made him do ridiculous stretches?

Miscreant behavior or not, this woman was deadly with her ability to fold herself into smaller shapes.

He backed slightly into the door. Well, he would have to wait. Wait with his eyes glued to outside the overly large (gratuitous, why was everything gratuitous here?) windows, that is.