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~L.V.~
“Could I get your name, miss?” A pathetic fool asked from behind the front desk at the ministry. I opted not to think about how the term, ‘miss’, made me feel lighter than anything else ever had.
“Eudora Gaunt.” My practice from Hogwarts came in handy to keep my wits about me when I’d much rather hex the building and all its occupants.
“Oh! Well, in that case, Ms Gaunt , I’ll take your wand to measure before sending you on your way to where you need to go.” He emphasised my last name, indicating he knew just how important it really was. “Pine, Phoenix Feather, 12 and ¾ inches?” He asked while inspecting my new wand, bought for this purpose.
“That is correct.” There was no reason to drag this out any further, honestly.
“Well, in that case, I’ll let you be on your way, Ms Gaunt.” If I was a lesser… being, I’d probably have wiped my hands on my dress after my wand was handed back to me. I, however, am not.
While getting to the Hall of Prophecies was trickier than actually finding the specific prophecy that I was looking for, both still ended up being childishly easy.
Checking to make sure my immediate area was devoid of all other life, I allowed the prophetic orb to play right there, within the ministry.
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…” Sybill Trelawny’s shrill voice filled my ears, causing a frown to form on my face. Though, that wasn’t just because of how annoying she sounds.
“Hmm.” I hummed to myself in thought as I put the prophecy back where it belonged. So, it was self-fulfilling then? Clicking my tongue in frustration, I turned on my heel in order to leave the hall. True, the prophecy was technically still in effect, but all I had to do from here on out is ignore the Potter boy.
I’m going to need an entirely new plan going forward.
Multiple years later…
~H.J.P.~
“Are you sure you want to be something as dull as an assistant, Harry?” Ron asked me for what felt like the billionth time.
“Yes, Ron. I’m sick of being in the spotlight– oof!” I was cut off as I collided right into someone else. “Oh, I am so sorry!” Looking up at the sheer beauty of a woman, my words caught in my throat. She had long, dark, rich brown locks and captivating blue eyes. She almost seemed to stare right through me, but I could barely form a coherent enough thought. “I didn’t mean to bump into you… your grace!” The more I spoke, the deeper of a hole I dug myself.
“It’s alright, young man.” Her voice sounded like calm ocean waves on a warm, summer morning.
“Are you sure? Because it really was my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going and–“ Oh my Merlin, Harry, shut up! I yelled at myself in my head.
“C’mon, mate, you’re embarrassing yourself and us .” Ron half whispered, half shouted in my ear.
“Right, yeah, no. Of course it’s alright. These sorts of things happen all the time. It’s a fairly packed building. People are probably running all over the place all of the time.” I left her with the most awkward , nervous chuckle ever invented before departing with, “Anyways, I’m sure we both have places to be. I’d love to bump into you again at a later date.”
I’ve never bolted from anywhere else quicker in my entire life. By the time I looked back, Ron and Hermione were several yards behind me and trying to catch up.
“What the bloody hell was that, mate?!” Ron interrogated me while he tried to catch his breath.
“I don’t know! She was just so gorgeous and I let myself look like a complete idiot .”
“I’m sure she won’t even remember it by tomorrow.” Hermione tried to comfort me.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I agreed with her, mostly just so we could move past the moment.
“I mean, what’s the chance you’ll even run into her again so soon anyways?” Was Ron’s well-meaning contribution.
“That’s also a very good point.”
If only he had been right…
“You’re my new assistant?” The woman from earlier raised her eyebrow at me while giving me a look-over.
“Apparently so.” I gave a nervous laugh, nearly forgetting to introduce myself. “Harry Potter, at your service ma’am.”
“Oh, please ,” her reply was seeped in exasperation, “never call me ‘ma’am’ again. It makes me feel like I’m at death’s door.” She shuddered lightly.
“Oh, my apologies, miss. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Eudora Gaunt,” our hands met briefly as hers shook mine.
“That’s a pretty name – uh, what does it mean?” I just need something to think about other than how perfect her hand seemed to fit into mine.
“Good gift.” She wasted no time walking around to the other side of her desk. “I suppose we should go over what your basic duties will be.”
Moving towards that side of the room, I easily slid into the seat opposite hers. “Great, yeah. I know what my job essentially is but I’m also aware that not everyone needs the exact same things from their assistants.” Shut up, shut up, shut up.
“Quite,” was her vague agreement to what I had said. “Truthfully, I really only require an assistant to get signed paperwork to its destination.”
“Oh, really?” That honestly sounded too good to be true. “I mean, I can definitely do that, no problem, but are you sure you don’t need anything else?”
“Like what?” Her deep, blue eyes looked genuinely confused.
“Well, I don’t know. Get you coffee, perhaps? Maybe you could use a hand in keeping your office clean or someone to pick up new paperwork to sign?”
“I don’t drink coffee, my office is never dirty, and any new documents that need my attention are sent to me by the assistants of other employees.”
“Right.” My throat became uncharacteristically dry, though I couldn’t say why. “Tea, then?”
She seemed deep in thought for a long moment before answering, “I’m very particular about my tea, but should you be able to figure it out, be my guest.”
“Uh, sure?” Well, that was strange to say the least.
“Now, I need this stack of papers to be taken to the minister and these need to be in the undersecretary’s hands by the end of work today.” The documents were immediately shoved into my hands.
“Which floors are their offices on?”
“McPee is on floor 3 and Clapman is on floor 2.”
“McPee…? Clapman…?” I whispered to myself in light confusion. “Don’t you mean Minister McPhee and Undersecretary Chapman?”
“That’s what I said.” She didn’t look back up at me from where she was now deep into paperwork again, just waved me away with a hand gesture.
“What exactly is your point, Lucius?” I heard Ms Gaunt ask the older Malfoy just as I rounded the corner, back towards her office.
“I just think that you should care more about–“ the blonde cut himself off when he noticed that they were no longer alone. “Nevermind,” he soured before turning to leave.
“What was that?” I couldn’t help but ask, always too nosy for my own good.
“Just take my advice and never willingly go into politics. It’s not worth the headache.” She rubbed her temple, possibly in dramatic fashion to emphasise her point or perhaps because she really was suffering from a headache.
“I hear you loud and clear.” The last thing I wanted was to be surrounded by that kind of drama.
Seeing as Ms Gaunt turned out to be much kinder than I ever expected, I made sure to observe where else she could use my help – even if she’d never directly ask me for it.
“Earl Grey with one cube of sugar.” I set the tea next to the paperwork she was looking over, right on the hour.
Looking up, a bit startled, she asked, “How did you get that already? You’ve only been here two days.”
“I’m just that used to waiting on other people, I suppose,” my reply came with a shrug. “Trust me, I’ve had to deal with much more picky requests from other people.”
“Is that so?” She actually sounded genuinely curious rather than sceptical.
“Oh, Ms Gaunt, there you are!” To my shock, it was Percy who had seemingly been looking for my boss – so to speak.
“I’m where I always am at this time, Weasley,” her words caused my head to whip around towards her. She can’t even remember the minister’s name but remembered Percy’s?! “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Amelia Bones would like to talk to you about Mr Malfoy’s new budget proposal for the Law Department.”
“Very well. Lead the way.” She turned to me momentarily to say, “Don’t touch anything,” before following Percy out.
“Well, that happened…” I whispered to myself before plopping down in my usual seat within the office.
“Don’t you find it, y’know, a little strange that your boss didn’t really react to you being, well, the boy-who-lived?” Hermione asked me over a pint at her new apartment during our weekend recap of the week. Ron was already quite wasted.
“I suppose, but it’s not a bad thing that she didn’t.” I just shrugged it off.
Hicc, “It’s more strange how,” hicc, “casual she acts around you than her lack of reaction,” Ron pointed out.
“Casual how?” I asked, not sure what he was getting at.
“Sort of like she’s known you for a while?” Hermione pondered aloud.
“I haven’t noticed anything like that.”
“Maybe,” hicc, “we’re overreacting just a bit,” Ron ‘helpfully’ added.
Our best friend hummed to herself before saying, “I don’t know.”
Ms Gaunt’s beautiful eyes nearly found their way behind her skull at the force she was rolling them. “You look positively bored out of your mind,” I noted. Not that I could truly blame her – I mean, I wasn’t fairing much better either and I didn’t even need to deal with all the political rot that she had to.
“I will never understand how or why anyone would want to stand around talking politics, at a ball, after a full day of doing the exact same thing.” She let out a frustrated sigh, which sounded more like a groan.
“We could take to the dance floor,” I offered, not really thinking before speaking.
“As lovely an offer that is, I’m sure, you’re much too young for me.”
“Yeah, no, I didn’t mean it that way. Just, we’re both bored and it gives us something else to do.” Yes, I was possibly backpedalling way too hard, but nothing I could do about that now.
“Right.” She offered me an awkward, half-smile.
“Ms Gaunt,” some ministry official or other came over to us at that moment. Might as well strap in for a long night.
~L.V./E.G.~
“Did you even leave last night?” Potter’s words and overall presence came as a genuine shock to me.
“No, I don’t believe I did.” Really, it was hard to pull myself away from work on a good day. Not because I enjoyed it, not even in the slightest, but it was simply just something to do – to occupy my time.
“You should go home and get some sleep.”
I looked straight into the boy’s annoyingly avada green eyes, “Not a chance.”
“Forcing your body to continue working off fumes alone isn’t good for you.” Merlin, he sounded like a scolding mother – or so I presumed.
“What’s your point, Potter?” I challenged him.
“My point is that you need sleep and the wizarding world isn’t going to collapse in one day.”
“You seem very sure of that.”
“Well, yeah .” Walking over to my side of my desk, he tried forcing me out of my chair. “Come on, stop being stubborn for once.”
“No.” Embarrassingly, my voice had far less conviction than I had tried to go for.
“At least take a nap on the couch,” he was basically pleading now. How strange. Why does he care so much?
“Alright, fine.” I finally relented, only because I was far too exhausted to continue arguing. “Don’t let me sleep past any of my meetings.”
“Of course not, your highness,” his dramatic flair almost had me smiling. Almost.
When I came into work the next day, the brat was, surprisingly, in. My desk had the most crucial documents front and centre, there was a freshly brewed cup of tea waiting for me, and he had already taken the paperwork that I signed right before we left the night before, to its destinations. If I had been anyone else, I may have thought it sweet, but I am me. …It was appreciated, however.
“I didn’t take you for someone to come in early.” Potter’s eyes shot up towards me when he heard my voice.
“Yes, well, I noticed you’ve been practically working yourself to the bone recently–“ He began to explain himself.
“You don’t need to come in extra early for that.”
“But–“
“Coming in at the same time as me is still just as helpful.”
Chancing a look at his face, he looked how one might describe a happy puppy dog, or something of the sort. “It’s hard to tell whether you actually like me or not sometimes, but I think you really do.”
“That’s prosperous! I don’t like anyone.” Brushing my hair behind my back, I made myself appear busy.
“Of course not, Ms Gaunt,” Potter snickered to himself, but I paid him not a single glance.
“…So, I was thinking that British policy on Magick Carpets could be changed.” How dull. Lord Waxelby, or whatever his name was, had been trying to convince the Wizengamot of this proposal for weeks now. It’s obvious that he believes he’ll get what he wants at this informal meeting between lawmakers. However, I wouldn’t be quick to place my bets either way just yet considering the fact half of the Lords present were already unsteady on their feet.
“Is he ever going to give up?” I heard Potter whisper into my ear from beside me.
“Doubtful.” I answered, honestly. “While he may have a point that muggles don’t use carpets or rugs as transport, Magick Carpets are harder to enchant in a way that would keep them out of sight from muggles.”
He hummed, seemingly bored at the topic of conversation, before downing his drink in hand. “I know I’m technically required to stick with you, but what if we go somewhere else?”
“I think that would be a bit inappropriate, wouldn’t you?”
“It’s not like they’d even notice.”
“Except I’m your boss, not your friend.”
“Why can’t you be both?”
“I don’t really make friends .”
“Enemies then,” he flashed a mischievous smile at me.
“Hmm, that is quite fitting.” I briefly allowed a small curl of my lips to grace my face.
“Well, enemy , I don’t know about you but this bar ‘meeting’ is making me want to rip my hair out.”
“Where did you have in mind?”
He was silent for a moment before offering a shrug and saying, “It’s actually a crazy idea–“
“I’m the queen of crazy. Spill.”
“We could take a hop trip down to Egypt and visit a pyramid.”
“It would be more like breaking in–“
“Even better.” Potter got this slightly unhinged look on his face, but he was obviously drunk so it wasn’t that much of a worry.
“Okay.” I hadn’t felt such a rush of thrill in a long time – too long if you asked me – so I didn’t even think to consider it for longer than a second.
We shared a determined look before whisking ourselves away from the area.
~H.J.P.~
“Watch out!” I warned Ms Gaunt when I noticed a visible trip wire sticking out. However, she seemed to ignore me and gracefully moved through several of the traps as if they were nothing.
“This isn’t my first Hippogriff ride, kid.”
Giving her a huff at the term of address, I did my best to follow in her footsteps to avoid setting anything off as well.
“I’m not a kid.” Apparently my grumbling wasn’t low enough to stop her from hearing, though.
“You are to me.” It’s always so strange how she could be equally admitting to being arguably very old yet also exude such young energy – and I don’t mean because she doesn't look much older than me. Unless, perhaps, she just feels old.
“Yeah, well, I don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you want,” she momentarily turned ‘round in order to tease, “ kid .”
Whatever I may have responded with was cut off because, like the idiot I am, my foot caught on a trip wire. Luckily, Ms Gaunt thought quickly on her feet and grabbed my hand to pull me from the falling rock. My heart had jumped up, leaving it pounding in my ears.
“Thanks.” My throat shrivelled at our mere proximity to each other. Talk about sharing air.
“Think nothing of it.” She was quick to brush it off, ready to continue on in the chamber we were in.
Oh boy, I’m really in it now. No one’s boss should be that irresistible.
“Woohoo!” I shouted into the air like a child in the candy store while we used magic to slide down the side of the pyramid. As we hit the bottom, I heard the other’s laugh for the first time.
It was as magical as her voice – a calm night under the stars with no worries on the mind; nothing but you and the music of nature.
“We should do something like this again.” I dared to suggest, knowing full well how inappropriate other people would think of it and how disapproving many of my loved ones would be. Yet, I didn’t want to let this go anytime soon – whatever this was.
Ms Gaunt hummed in thought before finally admitting, “It was a much more tolerable night than I had hoped for, but I get to choose where and what we do next.”
“Deal.” There seemed to be no reason for me to think about it.
“ Dumbledore ?” I was no stranger to seeing the headmaster at the ministry, but typically that was at the same time as major Wizengamot meetings or trials – neither of which were scheduled for today.
“Ah, Harry! Just the man I was coming to see.”
“Me?” I asked, a bit unsure of the situation.
“Yes, well, I didn’t come to the ministry just to see you of course. I was summoned for a school board meeting and thought I’d drop in on you while on my way there.”
“Oh, alright. What’s on your mind?”
“I wanted to get your opinion of Ms Gaunt. You know how much I trust and value your judgement, I’m sure.”
“Really?” The more the headmaster spoke, the less I understood what was going on – though that tended to be the case with him. “I mean, she’s polite, intelligent, seemingly has way more patience for the other purebloods than they deserve, and she spends most of her time working.”
“Hmm,” Dumbledore hummed, seemingly a bit unsure, himself. “Is that all?”
Leaning in closer so I could lower my voice a bit, I admitted, “Well, Ms Gaunt has been nothing but kind towards me but I think she might have trouble connecting with people – I fear she might be lonely but too proud to admit it.”
He mimicked my closeness to him and encouraged, “That is a shame, Harry, but if anyone could make her feel welcome and offer a genuine friendship, it’s you.” With a cheeky wink, Dumbledore turned away from me to saunter off – not offering any answer to what that had all been about in the first place.
Shrugging, I decided it was probably best to leave for the time being.
“And done,” Ms Gaunt groaned in exasperation as she finished signing the final document in her pile. Despite this, we weren’t technically done for the day but I personally had enough!
“The fact that we’re here on a weekend is absolutely criminal!”
“What else would we be doing?” She drawled, obviously just as thrilled as me to be doing the same old thing again .
“Honestly, I’d rather get shit-faced than stay here. What about you?”
Scrunching her nose in distaste, she took a moment to consider what other options we may have, before suggesting, “I’ve always wanted to visit the sight of King Arthur’s birth and Merlin’s cave in Tintagel.” The mischievous glint in her eyes was practically criminal.
“Let’s do it then. The paperwork will be here on Monday.”
That’s how we ended up in South-West England…
“What exactly is the circle for?”
“To commune with the dead.” Ms Gaunt’s matter-of-fact voice didn’t make the idea sound anymore flattering.
“Excuse me?! Why would we want to do that?”
“Haven’t you ever wanted to confirm pieces of history for yourself?” She rolled her eyes.
“Not particularly.” The look I received at that could kill. “History classes just never interested me all that much.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t expect so with Binns as the professor…” I had to strain to hear her speaking under her breath. “Stand over here for me.” She practically manhandled me to the spot in the circle which was opposite where she had been standing.
“Does a ritual like this take two people?” My question was a bit unsure from worry.
“Yes, but I don’t need you to recite any words.” Her head shot up to look me in the eye when she noticed me nervously kicking my foot. “Don’t worry about a thing – just focus on sending your magic into the surrounding ground when you hear me start the ritual.
“Alright.” I was still unsure about this whole thing, but it would be cool to talk to King Arthur or Merlin. Even if it’s just their spirits.
“O maiores preces nostras audi cum antiquis et nobilibus animabus quae hic vitam amiserunt!” As her chanting began, I started to pool my magic downwards and out – as far as it could reasonably reach. Almost immediately, the sky turned a dark purple – with rolling gold clouds circling closer to our location. Thunder began to clap soon after but I couldn’t see a single bolt of lightning in sight. Ms Gaunt’s words were lost to the surrounding noise, but I could vaguely tell that she was still speaking.
The air around us was thick, like wading through a pool of soup, and there was an intense coppery scent. Then, all at once, several bolts struck around us and with that came a shaking of the ground.
Except, it wasn’t spirits who came to visit us.
All around were these moving skeletons! Some had bits of flesh, others didn’t. Half of them couldn’t even stand upright and were forced to crawl around.
“Uhm, Ms Gaunt?” I tried very hard not to let my voice crack, I really did.
“I see.” Her mouth was set into a concentrated frown.
“What are those things?”
“Inferi, but that shouldn’t be possible.” She glared at them, as if their existence was an inconvenience for her – though, to be fair, it could be. “I followed the instructions to the letter.”
“Maybe you misread…” Now her anger was directed towards me, “…something?”
“I’m not some child playing around. I know how these branches of magic work.”
Deciding it was best to let her stew without chewing me out, I put my hands up in surrender of any argument.
Ms Gaunt paced for a long time, while I was left to inspect these ‘Inferi’ from a safe distance. To be fair, some of them had items that could indicate they were part of King Arthur’s court. They just didn’t seem to have a way to speak to us.
Eventually, though, she figured out what was wrong. “It looks like you erased part of this symbol.” She dragged me back over to the circle in order to show me.
“Are you sure–“
“Do not finish that sentence, Potter.”
“It’s a perfectly reasonable question.” I defended myself, albeit slightly. “What are we going to do with them now?”
She shrugged, “They make good guard dogs.”
“No way! I live in the city!”
“Fine, then I’ll take them as my guard dogs. Your loss.” Ms Gaunt said nothing more, walking off towards the largest group of Inferi. I’m not sure why, but I had the urge to laugh fondly at her antics.
Get it together, Harry! That’s your boss!
~E.G./L.V.~
“Let me just see if I heard right,” I gave Potter a look of no-nonsense, “you want us to break into Hogwarts?”
“Is it really breaking in if the castle lets us in and no one is really going to be there?” He batted his eyes, feigning innocence.
“Yes.”
“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun! I could show you all the passages that you never found when you were a student. In fact, I bet I could still get into the Gryffindor common room and show you around!”
“Why would I want to see the Gryffindor common room?”
“It’s some place that you’ve never been to.” Merlin, was he determined.
“You seem to have a thing about breaking into places,” I noted, still not sure if I wanted to go along with this particular crazy idea.
“Yeah, well, I got acclimated to having an adventure every year while at school, but those suddenly stopped after my fourth year so I needed something else to do.”
“I can imagine .” I drawled out, refusing to acknowledge why his ‘adventures’ stopped after June 1995.
“So?” He pressed; his bottom lip was sticking out in a feeble attempt at a pout.
“Alright, but only this once.”
“Yes!” Opting to ignore his solo celebration, I got back to the paperwork on my desk which needed signing; since it wasn’t as if we’d sneak into the school during the day.
“This passageway is a bit cramped…” I pointed out while we tried to squeeze sideways to the end of the hall – if you could even use that term to describe it.
Potter gave a nervous chuckle, “Yeah, sorry about that. We’re almost to the end though.”
“Thank Merlin.” The last thing I wanted was to be squashed up against him for any longer than necessary.
“You know, since you keep insisting I’m practically a child compared to you–“
“You are.” It was no lie either.
“Has Hogwarts seemingly changed much since you were here?”
“Other than there being less class options? No, not really.”
“Seriously?” He looked positively surprised at that.
“Seriously.” I confirmed, not offering an elaboration since he didn’t ask for it.
“Such as?”
“Alchemy, Household Charms, Healing 101, and Magical Etiquette have all been dropped. Defence became Defence Against the Dark Arts, while Muggle History became Muggle Studies. However, that’s nothing compared to the number of classes that used to be offered at its inception.”
“I could understand dropping etiquette classes and maybe Household Charms, but the other two sound really interesting and even useful.”
My eyes bore into green. “Evidently the ministry didn’t think so.”
“That’s such bullcrap.” He complained in earnest.
“Go in front of the school board then.”
“What?”
“Bring it to them and request they expand the curriculum again. It’s the main reason why so many magical families have been considering Durmstrang and Beauxbatons over Hogwarts in recent years.”
“Yeah, maybe I will!” He stated it so confidently that I almost believed in him, but the moment was quickly over when he tripped while exiting the passageway. “I’m alright!”
“Obviously. It was only a face plant into the stone floor.”
“Rude!”
Drawing out a breath, I then responded with, “It is my specialty.”
“Hey! If you keep being mean to me then I won’t show you the Gryffindor common room.”
“Oh, no, however will I cope.” I couldn’t even draw out a little faux emotion for the dramatics of it.
“Fine, then it’s the only place we’re going!” Turning in a similar fashion to Severus, Potter went for the nearest stairs. I begrudgingly followed along.
“Up that way are the boy’s dorms and the opposite side has the girl’s dorms.”
The Gryffindor common room was surprisingly more homely than I’d ever dare admit.
“You better not do anything inappropriate up the girl’s side then.” I warned him.
“Oh, I’m not able to go up there.” At my raised eyebrow, he explained, “The stairs turn into a slide when a guy tries to go up them.”
“I see.” Note to self then, don’t even attempt going up those steps with Potter around.
“Is it not like that in Slytherin?”
“No. All the dorms are on the same floor level and some dorms are co-ed.”
“What?!”
“Mostly between siblings or, if the students are older, significant others. Sometimes friends, though, as well.”
“Who did you share with when you were a student?” He had plopped himself comfortably on the couch in front of the fireplace.
“For my first four years, I just shared with a couple random students in my year – I never cared enough to remember their names really. After that, I was a prefect and then Head B– Girl, so I had a room all to myself.” I’m not even sure why I shared any of the information with him.
“I shared it with the four other boys in my year.”
“Only four? When I was a student, there were always at least a hundred new students every year.”
Potter hummed in thought for a long moment before replying, “You know, now that you bring it up, it did seem a little odd. I suppose I’m so used to it now that I don’t think about it, but I definitely did at the time.”
Neither of us voiced any of the likely reasons for the lower numbers of students in most recent years.
“You know, there’s a lot about you that I don’t understand.” He decided to change the conversation towards something, arguably, even more annoying.
“Good. It means that I’m mostly a mystery.”
“In a way…” The way he looked at me then was as if he could see into my very, mangled soul and read everything there was to know about me. “Mostly, I can’t understand why you’re always saying things that make you out to be the villain in everything you do.”
“Is that all?” I drawled, feigning boredom. “Me being the villain has been etched in stone since the day I was born. Might as well own it.”
“If that’s what you choose.”
I scoffed, “Do you have a better idea?”
Potter offered me a shrug, “Make your own destiny.”
“Some days, it feels like that’s all I’m doing – trying to make a destiny all my own against the behest of the universe.” It was meant to be a dramatic response, but ended up being all too real.
“I feel like that too, more frequently than I’d like,” he was staring into the flickering flames in front of him, “Eventually, doing what others expect of you gets old. Trying to go completely against the grain out of spite becomes too difficult to keep up with. At a certain stage, you just have to give yourself the slack and opportunity to be yourself without any regard to what other people might think – even you.”
“That’s a surprisingly deep outlook.” It was probably the first time in my whole life that I didn’t have a perfect reply or quip handy.
“I’ve had a really long time to think about it and two really great friends beside me.” Potter turned his head back to look at me once more; a smile framing his face like it was meant to be there.
We ended up talking for hours, about everything and nothing all at once. It was probably the most carefree I had ever been. The later it got, though, the more tired Potter became and he eventually fell asleep. For once, I’d let my curiosity get the better of me in regards to something I’d normally deem ‘silly.’
Putting one foot in front of me, I stepped onto the stairs leading up to the girls’ dorms. With each step forward, my heart beat kicked up in my chest – skipping with anticipation. It felt as if it took me ages to reach the top, overtaken by a feeling that I wasn’t well equipped for. But, then, as I stood in front of the door, likely leading to the hall of dorms, my senses became flooded by such a pure joy that I’ve never dreamt of before.
It happened slowly, with me exhaling a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. With that came such hysterical laughter that I could never hope to explain.
Afterwards, the relief hit and I probably stood on that landing for over ten minutes with a silly grin on my face.
I never wanted the feeling – the raw emotion – to go away. A large part of me wanted to cling onto it, to always keep it around. The smaller part of me, however, knew it couldn’t last.
Words would probably not even come close, if I was asked to verbally explain the feeling to someone else. The fact that Hogwarts knew me deep down even when I still didn’t truly understand it myself only proved why she was home to me. How she always had been.
~H.J.P.~
“I’m not sure why I expected this party to be any different to the Malfoy Yule Ball.” I openly complained to Ms Gaunt; glass of scotch in my hand. “Yes, it’s the Malfoys, but this is a party ! It’s not supposed to be just like their stuffy balls.”
“Welcome to the land of purebloods. They’re constantly far too worried about looking the part, seeming immovable, and letting no one witness their imperfections that they all turn out to be the most boring members of our society.” My party companion drawled from beside me; campagne in one hand while she inspected the nails on her other one.
“Isn’t there somewhere else we could go? Do we seriously need to be present to watch Mr Malfoy suck up to yet another minister while everyone else has the same conversations they’ve been having for weeks?” I was perhaps being a bit whiny, but this is not what I had in mind for my Friday night.
“I promised the minister that I would give a speech endorsing the bill he’s proposing next week at half past ten.” Ms Gaunt sighed, obviously not enjoying this anymore than I.
Leaning into her personal space, I suggested, “Well, I’m sure we could make it back in time.”
“I’ll make a snake of you yet,” she gave me one of her rare smiles, “In that case, I have missed real dancing and I just so happen to know of a great place to do it.”
“Where to, Ms Gaunt?” Extending my elbow out for her to take, I had to mentally prepare myself for the feeling of side-apparition. She, of course, didn’t explain where we’d be going – she never does – but I soon found ourselves outside of a dance club.
“Come along.” She beckoned me along a moment later and I duly followed.
Inside, there were currently people on the dancefloor doing the Tango. It was something I’d only seen in movies up until then.
“There should be a line dance coming up soon. I’m sure that’s beginner enough for you.” I’m not sure what was more insulting – that it was said to me at all or that Ms Gaunt had so little confidence in me.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head – I’m a quick enough learner.” Why did I say it like that?
“ Sure . In that case, let’s find out if you have two right feet.” She brushed her hair behind her in a flourish of pure arrogance and beauty.
“Care to be my partner?” That is highly inappropriate, Harry, why would I ask that?! That. Is. Your. Boss!
“We’ll see.” I barely had enough time to follow her movements, never mind responding to her words.
Before I knew it, we were both on the dance floor and being thrusted right into it.
~E.G.~
Her silver hues
A beautiful song
Oh, how they long
For dawn
Giving my previous partner a courtesy bow at the end of that song, everyone shuffled around once more.
“Looks like we got partnered up, after all.” If only his smile had been a smug one, then I could be irritated by it, but instead it was just a goofy and awkward one. How am I meant to be upset with that?
“It would appear so.” Grabbing Potter’s hand, I took the lead – our body’s flush against each other’s. “You’re following, got it?”
With an annoyingly cute chuckle, he replied, “I wouldn’t expect anything else.”
You’re a sunset
As green leaves turn red
You’re a lingering smile
After all has been said
As I looked into his frustratingly green eyes, the rest of the world seemed to fall away – our steps became background noise, practically done as if by habit. The lyrics were surprisingly beautiful and took up almost as much of my attention as Potter did.
You’re a book that’s not yet finished
But I think I’ll stay
And watch you fill the page
Though the previous song had also been one of romance, it wasn’t quite the same as this; dancing, as I was, with someone that I didn’t know. And yet, I’m not sure I really know much more about the famous Harry Potter than that of a stranger.
Can’t your heart find its home in me?
Longing for a finished melody
Oh, I know I shouldn’t say
Everything out loud this autumn’s day
If I were to assess it truthfully, however, I’d find that we know more about each other than is appropriate – with me knowing more about him than the reverse. Yes, we had once been mortal enemies, but we definitely held no understanding of one another then.
You’re the sweetness
In a warm cup of tea
When the world around us quiets
And it’s just you and me
You’re like autumn, my dear
So simple and divine
How could we have been so lucky
To exist and find each other at this time?
There was a split second where my breath hitched and I could have sworn that Harry’s did the same. Our dancing slowed to simple swaying, just taking in the music as it was.
Can’t your heart find its home in me?
Longing for a finished melody
Oh, I know I shouldn’t say
Everything out loud this autumn’s day
Regardless how fleeting,
My heart keeps on beating
Pulling away before the song had even finished, I whispered to him, “Excuse me for a moment,” before making a swift exit out to the parking lot.
My mind was an absolute mess; jumbled and disoriented in a way I’d never experienced before.
There’s no way I could be attracted to… Pah! Attraction, such a silly sentiment. Ex-enemies aside, there’s not a chance of it working, even if…
“Are you alright, Ms Gaunt?” My assistant’s startling words were immediately met with my wand.
Upon taking a short, calming breath, I reassured him, “Yes, I’m fine. It was just getting a bit cramped in there, is all.” I then added, with a glare, “Never sneak up on me.”
“My apologies.” He put his hands up in a mimicked surrender. “Although, and correct me if I’m wrong, but it doesn’t seem like it’s just the crowd that caused you to run out.” Despite wanting to leave his assumptions hanging, I raised an eyebrow to coax him to continue. “Did I, perhaps, do something wrong?”
“Not at all.” Wow, that was quick.
“Then, whatever it is, just know that I’m more than willing to offer a listening ear.”
“Thank you.” I had no intents to actually utilise his offer, but I didn’t want to come across as blatantly rude. For once.
“You’re welcome.”
Neither of us said anything else for a long time – I took to staring up at the sky while my companion chose to watch the ground. It was an awkward, sort of longing silence. Both of us had too much to voice aloud but refused to.
It wasn’t until half an hour before my speech that he decided he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Look, if this means that I get fired tomorrow then so be it,” his sudden words caused me to look back at him finally, “but we had a moment back there, didn’t we?”
“I don’t know, did we–“
“Oh, don’t be all nonchalant about it just to seem cool and detached.”
“You know, it’s fair that you think that’s how I meant it, but I honestly don’t know. You would have a far better gauge on this sort of thing than me.”
“ Oh . Have you never, well you know, liked anyone before or had an accidental moment with someone who liked you?”
I’m not sure why, but the way he phrased his question really set me off. “No, in fact I’ve never met a single person who liked me beyond what they think I could do for them. People tend to hate me – whether for my name or because I’m strange and they don’t understand me. So, no , this isn’t a topic I’m at all versed in.”
“Well that’s not true.”
“Of course it is.”
“It may have been before but… I…” his sigh was shaky and unsure. “I like you and not because I think you have something to offer me.”
“Well, then welcome to the club. Party of one.” My mouth instinctively clamped shut as soon as I said it. I’m not good with most social cues, but even I knew that’s not at all the right thing to say. “That’s not at all what I meant to say.” Running an agitated hand through my hair, I paced back and forth in high heels, which had started to be painful over an hour previous. “I am not good at this.” The comment was meant to be more for me, but it was still heard.
“Talking about other people’s emotions.”
“Yeah.” It was probably the most honest I had ever been with anyone before, even myself. “Merlin, I’m not even good with my own emotions, never mind other people’s.”
“Well…” Harry stood up and came over to me. “What do you want to do – at your very core? Forget what your mind wants to rationalise or conflicts within your heart.”
This was something I really had to think about. For so long I was chasing power and tangibility in this world – to mean more to it than just some forgotten orphan. I don’t think I’ve ever considered my own happiness in those plans. Even puppeteering the minister behind the scenes with limited interactions with other people never felt quite right.
So, it was in the most spontaneous moment of my life that I forcibly grabbed the collar of Harry Potter and brought our mouths together in a heated embrace.
His lips were cracked and dried, but that could be fixed with a bit of chapstick. As far as firsts go, I had expected much worse.
When we finally pulled away, Harry was completely out of breath, with me only a fair bit behind. “What I really want to do is go on an indefinite vacation. The paperwork can be signed from anywhere.” He could only nod, with cheeks full of a bright pink hue. “However, I will still need my assistant, of course.” I added a wink to him, not wanting to say anything embarrassing aloud.
“You’re asking me to go with you?” He seemed sincerely shocked at that turn of events.
“I’m pretty sure that I didn’t stutter.” Returning to a cool façade, I turned my back to him. “Come along. We have a dull Malfoy party to get back to.”
“Right behind you, Ms Gaunt.”
Perhaps eternity doesn’t have to be so lonely.
Fin.