January felt like a breath of fresh air; December always felt so heavy these days, trying to enjoy the holidays with family when too many of them were missing. Thank Merlin Elsie kept popping out kids, it gave them all something good to focus on. It was hard to be too melancholy when Bentley was running around making everyone laugh and Maisie was being passed around for snuggles.

Getting back into the routine of work was good for him. His ministry career was keeping him busy and sane. Harvey hadn't ever thought he'd be one to take on something so steady after enjoying his position with Pettigrew, but he needed something a bit more predictable. It was a good move, kept him adjacent to the sport, but not solely reliant on it.

Take today for example, somehow he'd been tasked with going to the local apothecary to see about reverse-engineering a potion. What did this have to do with quidditch? Well apparently players were coating their gloves with it to make them extra sticky? Harvey couldn't fathom feeling such a strong need to cheat, and it had taken them a while to figure it out, but once somebody's glove got so stuck to a quaffle that the game had to be stopped, it was pretty obvious.

Potions had never been his strongest subject, but still, he was curious, so didn't think much about taking on the task. Making his way into the shop front, he was immediately overwhelmed by the smell— not bad, but certainly nothing fresh either. It was a little dark, but he supposed ingredients in jars couldn't be exposed to too much light. He didn't see anyone at first glace, so meandered up to the counter to ring the bell. "Hello?" He ventured, thinking somebody had to be around.