Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

The Imperfect Art of Sacrifice	By : eyesuhkattspeleeng Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Het - Male/Female Views: 1212 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I have no rights to make any sort of money off of this. All due credit goes to J.K. Rowling for having imagined and brought the world of Harry Potter to life.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
This chapter does contain scenes of a sexual nature. So...yay!

I know it's kind of strange to dedicate fanfiction chapters to some one, but I on occasion do and will probably will do so with future chapters. The whole story is dedicated to my son because every bit of hard work I put in, no matter what it is, is always all for him. But I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my best friend who gave birth to her second child, a son she's named Elijah via c-section at 8:03 yesterday morning (11-11-11). I had the incredible honor of holding her hand through out the process and I love her to death and I'm incredibly touched that she allowed me the privilege to witness his birth. She's doing well. The doctors miscalculated her due date and scheduled the birth a month early. Elijah had a few problems as he inhaled fluid into his lungs and was diagnosed with pneumonia a few hours later. I had to leave but she called me a bit later and told me that he was responding to treatment well and that they were starting to wean him off the supplemental oxygen. He should be able to go home within a week.

As you well may have guessed, I'm extremely exhausted but I've decided to post another chapter before I go to bed. So with that being said, enjoy and as always, please review -- Eyesuhkattspeleeng

Chapter 3

Perion stared after the door as though she expected Severus to come back through and tell her he was joking. After a moment, the facts started to sink in. She felt the tears start to well up in her eyes and she fought to keep them back. She hadn’t done a single thing wrong. He wasn’t worth crying over.
“What was that about?” Paisley asked from behind her. Perion wasn’t in the mood for Paisley’s stupidity.
“Nothing. He just had somewhere he needed to be,” Perion told her with out turning around.
“You sound upset, sis. You can talk to me, you know. I’m a bit more experienced when it comes to men. I can help you.”
“Paisley, I’m going to say this as nicely as possible.” Perion finally turned to face her. Paisley had undressed herself and was in nothing but a bathrobe. Her hair was loose and falling in her face. This was her normal seduction attire. “I don’t need your help. I don’t want your help. Everything is perfectly fucking fine. So, please, go back to whatever it was you were doing and leave me alone.”
“Fine,” Paisley said as she straightened her neck. Watching her go into defensive mode was like watching a hen do the same thing. It would be comical but Perion had known her sister all her life and the cute, funny things she used to do were now just annoying. “I’ll be in my room. When my visitor shows up, please show him in.”
“Show him in yourself,” Perion snarled. “I’m going to have a nice long soak in the bathtub. And please try and keep it down. You sound like a mule when you’re having sex and I’ve got a headache.”
Paisley’s jaw dropped in surprise and anger. But Perion didn’t care. She stormed into her room and slammed the door behind her. She was beyond agitated for whatever reason. She’d pictured this day for years now. She thought it would be one of the happiest days of her life. Despite a few minor setbacks, the day hadn’t gone all that bad. That was until Severus stormed out suddenly with no rhyme or reason. God what had she done to chase him off like that? She pictured the last few minutes of his visit, right before he’d gone into the bathroom.
Something occurred to Perion at that point. Severus had been perfectly okay until he’d gone into the bathroom. Perion went into the bathroom and looked around. Sure it was a bit messy but nothing that shocking. She peered into the bin by the toilet. Perhaps Paisley had left a used sanitary napkin with out wrapping it up as she had a habit of doing. But there was nothing in it, aside from a few pieces of used tissue that had lipstick blotted on it.
Perion decided at that point that she was too tired to give a damn. She considered actually taking a bath like she’d told Paisley she was going to do but decided that she was much too exhausted to even do that. She went back into her room and sprawled out on her bed. She glanced at her alarm clock. It was four thirty in the afternoon. The time had gotten away from her yet she wished it was much later so that she could just curl up under her quilt and pass out. After a few moments she decided it wouldn’t do to nap. Besides that, she’d heard a knock at the door, then her sister’s flirty laughter and a male voice. She took Severus’ advice and placed a multitude of Silencing charms around the room. When she was satisfied that not even a nuclear explosion would be heard while she was in the confines of her room, she grabbed the book she was reading from her nightstand.
It was a book on English history, muggle history, about King Henry VIII. She wasn’t really into muggle history but for whatever reason, the Tudor Era fascinated her. She nursed a certain adoration for Henry the Eighth,but really it was Anne Boleyn who intrigued her the most. She had been executed for adultery but was suspected of being a witch. As far as Perion knew, there was no solid proof that she was but upon reading more and more about her, Perion started finding clues that pointed to the fact that maybe she was, though there was never any record of an Anne Boleyn ever attending Hogwarts. She’d checked that much.
Perhaps Anne had been schooled at home or maybe had even been mostly a squib. It was rare but not unheard of, but there were cases where a magical person went completely uneducated. Those were mostly Muggleborns, who upon exhibiting magical capabilities became frightened and suppressed the magic or channeled it differently in their ignorance. There had been several laws passed since Anne’s time that made it mandatory for a Hogwarts representative to go out to the homes of Muggleborn children if their Hogwarts letter went unanswered. Those laws had been debated for years and were still being fought to the day. Perion thought it was wrong to deny a person an educated solely based upon their parental background. She was one of the odd ones among her peers at school. Her mother had brought her up to have firm beliefs, though that had back fired on her because Perion had firm beliefs in the things that Sarah Graves didn’t approve of. Perion often times wondered if perhaps she had been sorted into the wrong house but when she thought about it, she couldn’t picture herself thriving as well in any other house but Slytherin. She wasn’t unhappy with Slytherin but she felt alone a good portion of the time because she didn’t have many of the same beliefs in politics that her fellow Slytherins did.
Perion was nearly finished reading the book when she looked up at the clock once more. It was now a quarter til ten. Perion was stunned for a moment, wondering how time had gotten away from her. It seemed like she’d only been reading an hour but there was little to distract her. She hadn’t had the opportunity to read the hours away in ages. Years! That was oddly satisfying but she soon discovered she was beyond exhausted. She undressed, leaving her clothes on the floor by her bed, and slipped under the quilt in only her undershirt and panties. Normally she would take the time to get ready for bed properly, like brushing her teeth and washing her face but she hadn’t eaten and she didn’t see any harm in sleeping in her make up just the once. Sure, she’d regret it in the morning the day had been a different sort of day, the sort of day where she did everything out of the ordinary. Perhaps it hadn’t been a perfect day but she was content and that was all that mattered.
Perion was about to close her eyes and allow herself to drift off completely when there was a soft knock on the door. It was Paisley. She was considerate enough to knock first but didn’t usually wait for Perion to allow her in the room. She was dressed in a proper night gown but her hair was a mess. She was holding a wooden brush.
“Are you still angry with me?” Paisley asked. Perion sighed and sat up in bed. She felt a little bad about how she’d treated Paisley earlier. She knew Paisley was coming to call a truce. She wouldn’t have brought the brush if she had come to argue with her.
“No, Pais, I’m not. I wasn’t really to begin with. I’m just exhausted. I’m sorry I was short with you.” Perion patted the quilt before her as an invitation for Paisley to come sit down. Paisley smiled and took her up on it enthusiastically.
Perion took the brush from Paisley and began to sort out Paisley’s hair as was ritual for the two sisters. Their parents were often times too busy to give them a proper kiss and tuck in at bedtime when the two had been children. Perion had felt a certain responsibility to making sure her little sister was completely comfortable before going to sleep, so every night since Paisley was four years old, Perion brushed her hair as a way to soothe her and to lull her into a sense of security that would allow her to sleep well. But when Perion had turned eleven and had gone off to Hogwarts, it had stopped. When Paisley entered Hogwarts, she had made her own set of friends and seemed far too busy for Perion though every once in a while, Paisley would come to her with the same brush she’d had since she was four years old and seek comfort in Perion brushing through her hair.
“I miss this,” Paisley said. “I miss the old days when we could play together for hours. We used to be best friends, remember?”
“Yes, I do,” Perion said as she struggled through a particularly nasty tangle in Paisley’s mahogany colored hair. Perion had the same sort of hair Paisley did only Perion’s hair was a duller shade. But that was the difference between the two sisters’ looks. Perion was a duller version of Paisley. It was as if her parents had Perion first and then decided that she just wasn’t quite what they wanted so they had Paisley who had baked in her mother’s womb to perfection. While Perion was by no means fat, she was plumper and softer looking than Paisley. While Paisley was beautiful, Perion barely managed to pass off as cute.
“I hate that we’ve grown apart. That’s why I wanted to stay with you over Holiday.”
“I could’ve sworn it was so you could see men with out Mum and Dad being none the wiser,” Perion replied. She wasn’t trying to be harsh, she was stating the truth. “No offense.”
“None taken. But no, that’s hardly the case. I tried spending time with you but you were so preoccupied with the Internship program that you hardly took notice. I just gave up.”
“I’m sorry Paisley,” Perion said, fully meaning it. She suddenly felt bad. All the time she thought her sister was treating her horribly when she had been doing the exact same thing to her in a different way. She had been just as self absorbed as Paisley was. She had thought that Paisley’s interest in Severus was completely shallow and self indulgent so she could give Perion hell about it but it was quite the opposite. It seemed as though Paisley was merely trying to take an interest in her older sister’s life. “So, I assume your friend went home?”
“No, he’s still here. And he isn’t just my friend. His name is Terrance Nott and you’d better get used to calling him that because he’ll be sticking around. ”
“He’s staying the night? That’s a first.”
“Isn’t it? I asked him and he agreed. He’s different, Perion.”
“How so?”
“Well for one, he isn’t married.”
“How old is he?” Perion said, feeling a bit skeptical. She wished that just once, her sister would find some one closer to her age.
“I’m not sure, actually. There’s a good twenty year difference, that much I know.” Paisley sighed dreamily. “I think I love him. For once, I’ve met some one who can give me his full attention with out having to worry about his wife finding out. He’s some one who can give me his love first and I’m not in second place to his wife. I hate being in second place!”
“So find some one your own age! I know you think boys our age are stupid and immature but they grow up eventually.”
“Yes but it takes most of them years to decide to settle down and have a family! I want that now!”
“You’re only sixteen, Paisley. You have a long life ahead of you. There’s time for that later. You should finish school first and maybe get a job. Be your own person for a few years before you even consider having a family.”
“I don’t want to get a stupid job, Perion. That’s for you. I want to stay home and be a mother. That’s all I want out of life. I’m not smart enough to have a brilliant career like you. I want to be happy and I’ll be happy to be just a wife and a mother.”
“Mum is going to love that,” Perion said as she rolled her eyes. “Especially since I fought with her to get into the Internship Program for years. She’s been telling me since Fifth year that I needed to focus on finding a husband and get pregnant as soon as I could. And she never told me to finish school first either.”
“Funny how she expects what you want out of life out of me and vice versa isn’t it? If only I had been born as you and you as me.” Perion nodded in agreement. She put the brush down. Paisley’s hair was completely brushed through and silky looking. Paisley turned and faced her sister. Her eyes were sincere and serious as she grabbed her sisters hands. “Just promise me that you’ll support my choices and accept me as I am. Mum and Dad can disown me for all I care. As long as I have you on my side, I won’t need them.”
“Of course I will. You don’t even have to ask me. I’d do it anyway.”
“That’s good,” Paisley said. “And you know I’ll always do the same for you. I’ll support your career woman lifestyle. Mum can jump off a cliff.”
Perion couldn’t help but laugh, even though she was a bit worried about Paisley. The way she was talking made Perion fearful that Paisley was going to do something incredibly stupid. Paisley would be turning seventeen in September, a couple of weeks after she returned to Hogwarts. Perhaps she was planning on not going back to school at all. That wouldn’t surprise Perion at all. While her sister wasn’t stupid, she just didn’t thrive as well academically as Perion had. It seemed like the only reason Paisley put in any effort in to her studies was just to please their mother.
“Why are you telling me all of this, Pais?” Perion asked after a moment.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not planning on doing anything stupid like I know you’re thinking I am.”
“If you say so,” Perion said, though her sister’s words didn’t comfort her any.
“So, we’re friends again, right?” Paisley asked.
“I suppose so,” Perion said, though she was reluctant to say so. She figured Paisley would go back to being her snooty self in the morning.
“Good because I need to tell you something. About your friend that was over today.”
Perion sat up straight. Paisley had caught her full attention now. By the way Paisley was biting her lip and had gone to great lengths to butter her up, she didn’t figure this was going to be something good.
“Severus,” Perion stated. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Perion had a feeling she was about to find out why Severus had left so quickly. “What about him? What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything and to be quite frank, the way you’re jumping to conclusions offends me.” Paisley was starting to look sour. Perion wouldn’t put it past her sister to suddenly clam up and bolt with out saying a word and Perion really needed to know what had happened, so she backtracked.
“Forgive me. Please, tell me what happened.”
“While I was getting ready for Terrance to come over earlier, I saw him peeking in at me from the bathroom while I was getting undressed.”
Perion’s breath caught in her throat. That was far worse than anything she could’ve imagined happening. But in a way she was glad it was something Severus had done and not something Paisley had done because that would only add tension to their living situation which Perion did not want to have to suffer through the rest of the month until Paisley was gone.
“That might explain a few things,” Perion said calmly.
“I’m sorry, Perion. I could tell by the way he was looking at me when I first came in that there was going to be trouble. It’s not your fault. Men are just instantly attracted to me. But don’t worry, I’m not going to go anywhere near him. He’s all yours.”
“Thank you, Paisley,” Perion said with a thin-lipped smile. Rage had began to swirl around in her head and not just at Severus but at Paisley as well. It wasn’t Paisley’s fault that she was prettier than Perion but did she have to rub it in? What was worse that she did it in such a way that it made it hard to call her out on. That was more frustrating than anything. But Perion took a few deep breaths as Paisley looked on, still looking some what frightened. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll be sure to take that up with him the next time I see him.”
“You aren’t angry at all?” Paisley was giving her a strange look now, a look that Perion knew all to well. It was the same look her mother got when ever she mentioned anything remotely intellectual, the look that clearly questioned her sanity.
“Not right now, no,” Perion answered honestly. “But right now, I’m extremely exhausted. I don’t give a damn right now about anything but going to sleep.”
“Well alright,” Paisley said warily as she got up and stretched. “I’m sleepy as well. So I guess I’ll leave you be and go to bed myself.”
“Good night, Paisley,” Perion told her sister curtly. Paisley didn’t seem to notice as she flounced away, to go be in the arms of her lover who was considerably older than her. At least he wasn’t married. That was a start. Perion just made a note to be gone by the time they woke up so she wouldn’t have to talk to him.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Paisley had stopped short of the door. “I ran into Narcissa Black while I was out getting my school things this afternoon. She mentioned the wedding.”
“Of course she did. She’s only been talking about it for the last two years,” Perion said as she rolled her eyes.
“Well, she said that she wanted the both of us to be in the wedding as bridesmaids! Isn’t that wonderful?”
“What?” Perion said. She wasn’t quite sure she’d heard Paisley right. “What on earth would she want us to be bridesmaids for? Doesn’t she have a million other friends she could ask?”
“I thought the same thing but I wasn’t going to turn her down. It’s the next best thing to actually being the bride. I told her I couldn’t speak for you but she insisted that I ask anyway.”
“Why?” It was really the only word Perion could think to say. Narcissa Black had made it quite obvious she wasn’t pleased at all with Perion’s attitude when she’d broken things off with Regulus. In fact, she’d begged Perion to reconsider. Unluckily for Narcissa, Perion wasn’t easily swayed.
“She told me not to mention this but Regulus is going to be in the wedding as an usher.”
“You’re joking.” Perion said hollowly, a bit horrified at the thought. “Is she really still going on about that mess? I told her specifically that I didn’t want to date Regulus anymore and to leave me alone about it. You’d think she’d get the hint.”
“He’s not that bad, Perion,” Paisley told her. Once more, Paisley was trying to patronize her and act like she knew best because she was smarter in that sort of matter than Perion was.
“How can you say that? You don’t even like guys your own age and you’re telling me he’s not that bad? How would you know that?”
“I know that he loves you and still cares about you. The way he harps on about you dumping him and how Mum was so horrible to him. It’s obvious to everyone.”
“He doesn’t talk to anyone! I hardly doubt he harps on about me.”
“Well, every time I talk to him, as rare as it is, your name always comes up in conversation.”
“Even if he is in love with me Paisley, it doesn’t matter. I don’t like him that way. We’ve still managed to sort of stay friends. Besides that, I sort of like some one else anyway.”
“And might I add that Regulus was never caught peeping at me in the nude either!”
“Tell Narcissa I’ll think about it. I’m obviously not going to do it but don’t tell her that,” Perion said coldly. Paisley took the hint and left Perion alone, thankfully. She knew that her sister was only looking out for her but Perion didn’t want, let alone need her little sister to protect her. Perion was an adult now and Paisley wasn’t. There was only a year between the two but Perion felt centuries older than Paisley.
It’s not that Perion liked keeping secrets from her sister but she hadn’t told any one the real reason she and Regulus had broken up. She had sworn to Regulus that she wouldn’t tell a soul and she intended to keep her word. In truth it had been him that had chucked her and not the other way around like Regulus played it out to be. And he did harbor a legitimate loathing for Perion’s mother. She had been absolutely terrible to Regulus so Perion couldn’t really blame him, even if he did antagonize Sarah quite a bit. But Sarah, Perion’s mother, hadn’t been the prime reason for the break up. Paisley was that reason.
It had been on a Hogsmeade trip the first part of her seventh year that they’d broken up. They’d dated the last part of her sixth year and through the summer. He came over to their house quite a bit even though Sarah had forbidden him to step foot in their house. Luckily, Sarah worked most of the time and the only time Perion ever saw her mother was at night, at dinner, and then the both of her parent’s would retreat upstairs. They had shagged once because Perion really wanted to get losing her virginity over and done with so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later. It was after they’d shagged that things started to get awkward between the two of them. After the went back to school, he kept his distance from her and at first it hurt her feelings until she realized that she wasn’t really all that bothered to begin with. After months of limited communication, he asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him and she knew he was going to break up with her. That didn’t matter because she was going to let him. There was no reason to continue on the relationship if he wasn’t that into it. She was just caught completely off guard when he told her why.
Regulus told her it wasn’t anything against her because he liked her well enough. And she in a way liked him well enough too even though he could be a pompous snot. But after spending all that time at her house, Paisley had caught his attention. He told her at first that it seemed like Paisley was flirting with him because when ever Perion left the room even for a moment, Paisley was always right there, talking to him. It annoyed Regulus at first but the more he talked to her the more he started to fancy her and when he tried to show a little interest back, Paisley had completely snubbed him. He told Perion it was stupid to go on liking Paisley even though she obviously didn’t feel the same way but he didn’t think it was fair to Perion. He was probably right. Had he continued on with the relationship, it wouldn’t have changed his feelings for Paisley and would probably make him resentful of Perion because he was settling for second best. While that didn’t make her feel very good, she accepted it and was glad he’d told her the truth. He let her keep her dignity and tell people it was her that had broken things off. It was the least he could do, he told her. She didn’t want to be with someone who was only with her because he couldn’t have her sister.And now it seemed that Severus was going the same direction as Regulus.
In all truth, Perion had decided she liked Severus before she’d even started dating Regulus but didn’t figure he was interested in her at all. But when the opportunity rose, she snapped it up and asked him out even though she hadn’t been expecting him to say yes. She’d told him the truth that day. She wasn’t looking for a new relationship but when he’d shown up to Orientation that morning, something had clicked together. It was fate. She had been given a second chance and she wasn’t going to ignore it. She’d just completely ruined it by bringing him home while Paisley was there. She vowed that the next boy she met, she wasn’t going to bring home to meet her family until Paisley had been married a while and went to fat after all the children she wanted to pop out, when no man but her future husband would want to touch her.
Perion couldn’t stay awake any longer. She put all thought out of her mind to face tomorrow, when she was well rested. Things seemed a lot less worse when she wasn’t tired. Perhaps she’d get the nerve to talk to Severus but she doubted it. He wouldn’t be as easy to get over as Regulus had been. Severus’ name and face drifted once more through her mind. It was the last thing she saw before she finally gave into the Sandman.
--
Severus woke up the next morning, vaguley aware of where he was. He didn’t remember even going to sleep. He remembered reading a book before dozing off. He hadn’t even changed out of his clothes from the day before. For some reason he couldn’t quite figure out, he’d woken up annoyed. Perhaps it had been a dream but he couldn’t remember. Tobias was pounding on the door, which is why Severus woke up to begin with. He felt heavy as he climbed out of bed and opened the door.
“Bout time you woke up,” Tobias grunted. “I’ve been knocking since six o clock.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s nearly eight thirty.”
“Shit,” Severus said. He felt frantic for a moment, fearing he would be late but then he remembered he was already dressed though his work robes were disgraceful looking with their wrinkles.
“I’ve got the coffee going,” Tobias told him. “Your mother insisted that I make enough for you.”
“Thanks for the thought, but I’m going to pass. I’ve got to get to the Ministry.”
“Too good to sit down with your parents for breakfast now that you’ve got some fancy government job?” Tobias asked sourly.
“No, Dad, I don’t want to be late. I was nearly late yesterday. Besides they’ve got coffee up there anyway.”
“Not as good as mine, I don’t expect. I’ll make your mother fix you up a thermos to take with you.”
“Thanks,” Severus said and shut the door on Tobias. He searched frantically for his shoes and found them along with yesterdays socks near his closet. He pulled it all on quickly and began the search for his wand. He’d fallen asleep twirling it between his fingers when he was reading, which was a habit of his he had. When he’d nodded off, it had fell from his fingers and rolled beneath the bed. Luckily, that had happened more times than he could count so he knew exactly where to look for it. Once he had it in his hand, he rushed out, giving no thought to say goodbye to his parents or take take the thermos from his mother, who was holding it out for him to take.
Severus didn’t slow down to take breath until he got to the Ministry. Now that he was confident he wasn’t going to be late, he now took his time getting down to Courtroom Ten as a sense of dread started to swell in his chest. Perion would be there and he was sure Paisley had told her what had happened. He wouldn’t know how to even begin to explain himself. He knew what it looked like and he doubted that Perion would believe that it had been some what of an accident.
Perion was at the same desk she had sat the day before, drinking a cup of coffee and reviewing her notes from the previous day. She looked a little more relaxed than she had the day before and the dark circles under her eyes had disappeared. But she some how looked different. It took him a moment to realize that she’d let her hair go loose and that she was wearing very minimal make up.
“Good morning,” he said as he sat down in the desk next to her. He half expected her to just ignore him and was surprised when she looked up and gave him a smile.
“Good morning,” she answered back. “Ready for today?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Why? What’s happening today?”
“We’re meeting our supervisors today. Isn’t it exciting?” Perion asked, looking fully ecstatic which was the opposite of what Severus felt. He was surprised he’d made it this far and now he was going to meet the person who was going to be his boss.
“Listen, I’m sorry about yesterday...I got to looking at the time and realized Lucius was expecting me...”
“Lucius huh?” Perion said. “That’s interesting. I was sure it had every bit to do with the fact that my sister caught you being a peeping tom while she was getting dressed.”
Severus felt his heart skip a beat and fear rush into his bloodstream. For a moment he had gotten his hopes up that Paisley hadn’t said anything to Perion. He was perfectly willing to ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen. But Perion had turned on him, like a cat who was one moment purring in his lap and the next attacking him.
“I...” Severus wasn’t sure what to say. He took a deep breath and tried to think of a way to talk himself out of this. “I can’t deny it but you have to understand it wasn’t what it looked like.”
“Well I think it’s pretty cut and dry.”
“Look, I went to the bathroom because I had to...and I saw the door opened. I wasn’t thinking and just looked. I could see her mirror perfectly and saw her getting undressed. I wasn’t trying to see her naked.”
“Relax, Severus” Perion said. “I know. Her bathroom door doesn’t shut all the way. I should’ve told you. But I got to looking through the crack and happened to see her getting dressed this morning myself. What I don’t understand is why you were looking long enough for her to catch you.”
“I couldn’t really tell you,” Severus said, feeling uncomfortable. That was a valid point and he couldn’t dash it down with some twisted logic.
“I know why. And after thinking on it, I decided not to completely hate you for it either. She’s pretty and you’re a heterosexual male. But I don’t think it’s a good idea that you come see me until after she’s gone back to Hogwarts.”
“I suppose that’s reasonable,” Severus said as a wave of relief engulfed him. “After I told Lucius what happened, he didn’t even expect that you’d talk to me.”
“You told Lucius?” Perion said as she quirked an eyebrow up at him. “I didn’t realize the two of you were friends.”
“Yes. He’s sort of my mentor.In fact, he’s asked me to be the best man in his wedding.”
“Really? You know, that’s strange. Paisley told me that she ran into Narcissa yesterday while she was at shopping. Funny thing is that she wants Paisley and me to be bridesmaids. Small world, eh?”
“That is a coincidence. I’m actually going to look forward to it if you’re going to be in it as well.”
Perion shook her head vigorously. “Oh no. She said she wanted me to be in it. I never agreed. I can think of a million better things to do with my time than squeeze myself into some ugly taffeta monstrosity and parade myself in front of a bunch of strangers. No thank you.”
“Lucius actually showed me a sketch of one of the gowns Narcissa is designing for the wedding. Specifically the bridesmaids’ dress. I don’t think it was all that bad actually. Narcissa has quite a talent.”
“I’m sure she does but the only reason she wants me in it is because Regulus is an usher. She’s still trying to shove the two of us together and I’m not interested.”
“You may not be, but I think he is,” Severus said, suddenly remembering back a few months ago to the morning when Perion had approached him about going out with her. He still felt a sense of shame that had come from that so-called date. “That morning at breakfast, do you remember? When you came and sat with us?”
“Of course I remember,” Perion said, looking a bit haughty, like her memory was so superior it was an insult to question it.
“After you’d gone off to class, I talked a little bit with him about you. I got the impression that he was still a bit stuck on you.”
“Look, I know what it seems like,” Perion told him. “But you don’t know Regulus as well as I do. I know for a fact that he isn’t in love with me or anything.”
“You don’t think he’d tell you if he was in love with you, do you? Because he wouldn’t. He’s not that type of person. I think if you approached him and told him you were giving him a second chance, he’d snatch you up in a heart beat.”
“Trust me on this one, Severus. He wouldn’t. I know he wouldn’t because he’s in love with some one else,” Perion said with a hint of sadness.
“Who?” Severus asked.
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” Perion gave him a wink and turned back to her notes. While Severus was dying to be let in on this juicy secret, he knew he’d have to pry it out of her and it wouldn’t be painless at all. He figured he’d give it time. She’d tell him eventually.
“So if you’re not interested in him, what exactly are you interested in?”
Perion looked up at him and tilted her head sideways, squinting at him suspiciously. Her lips had just parted when the courtroom door opened and the Wilburt came marching in. Five or so people filed in behind him and took a seat in the chairs that had been set up behind the podium. Perion’s attention was lost and Severus cursed inwardly but felt a bit of relief. He’d been on the brink of asking her out once more and making a complete fool out of himself.
“Good morning, everyone!” Wilburt said loudly and cheerily. “As most of you may as well know, today is the day you get to meet your supervisors! Now, in a moment, you’re supervisor will be leading you to your department. They’re all wearing Identification Badges to cut the confusion factor out of this wonderful day. There are normally three or more to a department except for one, who has only chosen two. Hiram Wyatt will be supervising two interns who have been assigned to the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad. If those two would please stand and leave with Wyatt...”
Severus stood and gathered his bag. There was another boy who was some what close to his age that had stood up as well. He was tall, blond and walked as though he knew he were good looking. Severus automatically took a disliking to him. It figured that when he had just felt relieved enough to get comfortable, something like this happened. He gave Perion a look as he walked away and he could’ve sworn she was smiling with mirthless pleasure at his misfortune. Perhaps she really did hate him.
The wizard called Hiram Wyatt didn’t speak to either of them until they were out in the corridor. He was an older gentleman with greying hair but his features were soft, that gave the impression that perhaps he was nicer than what he’d want them to think. Severus knew better before he even opened his mouth. You couldn’t be deceived by the way some one looked. His father had taught him that much.
“Now, I know what the both of you are thinking,” Hiram Wyatt told the two boys. “This is going to be easy, right? That because there’s only two of you, things will be easier, right?”
“No, sir,” Severus said quietly.
“How do you figure that, boy?” Hiram asked with a suspicious glance.
“With only two of us, there’s less people to do grunt work and as such, the work load gets dispersed between the two of us.”
Wyatt was quiet for a moment and Severus was afraid he’d gone and said something stupid but Wyatt nodded at him.
“Good thinking. But you ought to take a lesson from your mate there and learn to keep your mouth shut and your ears open. Let’s go.”
Severus didn’t say anything back but he couldn’t help but think dark thoughts to himself. Perhaps the reason his “mate” had been so quiet wasn’t because he was listening. It was probably because he was too stupid to think of a reply. He didn’t look as though he were the sharpest tool in the shed anyway.
“Now, we rely heavily on word getting round to us that somethings up,” Wyatt said once they were in the actual department it’s self. It looked nothing like Severus had expected it to look. He expected it to look a lot like a police station that he’d seen many times on the television programs that his father watched. This place just looked like a normal office with cubicles and people walking around looking too hurried to pay much attention, with either their arms laden with paperwork or bustling about the place with a cup of coffee. “But we have patrolmen out on the streets, all over the country, disguised and ready to go when there’s action.”
“I thought that’s what Aurors do,” Severus replied.
“Aurors!” Wyatt said with a nasty smile. “Don’t get me wrong, boy, they know how to do their job but their job isn’t anything like ours. They’re out there patrolling for criminals and other such things. We’re the first on the scene and the last to leave. It’s up to us to smooth things over. It’s their job to catch the perpetrators. Lots of you young people come in thinking this will be investigative work and most of them are sorely disappointed and if you’re one of them, I suggest you go to the Department of Law Enforcement and tell them you want to fill out an application.”
“No, sir. I intend to stay here.”
“According to my notes, one of you has a special interest in Memory Charms,” Wyatt said, completely ignoring Severus now. Severus felt foolish for having smarted off to his boss within the first hour of staring the job. “Which one of you is Lockhart?”
“That would be myself,” the other boy said with a slight chuckle. He flashed Wyatt a charming smile but Wyatt remained oblivious to it. “You can call me Gilderoy if you’d like.”
“I’ll call you Lockhart,” Wyatt said gruffly with out skipping a beat. Lockhart’s charming smile vanished at Wyatt’s snub. “I’m putting you with the Obliviators. You won’t report to me.”
“But sir-” Lockhart started to protest.
“Would you rather not work with them? I could always put you on the Invisibility Task force. It’s not nearly as exciting.”
“It’s just I thought I’d be doing something a little more high profile.”
“Son, this is thankless work. Just feel lucky you’re not on the clean up force, like your friend here will be doing for most of his internship.” Severus wanted to say something right then and there. He didn’t want to be on clean up. That sounded utterly horrifying. He didn’t take this internship so he could scrape intestines and other such things off the ground. He wanted to be sick just thinking about it. But he knew better and kept his mouth shut. “So what will it be, son? Obliviator or Invisibility Task Force? It’s up to you.”
“I suppose I should utilize my talents in a place where they’ll be useful,” Lockhart said, sounding obviously disappointed by this turn of events. Even though Severus was just as upset as his counterpart, he still felt a glow of self satisfaction at Lockhart’s unhappiness. At least he wasn’t the only one.
“Good. You’ll be reporting to Janet. Her cubical is the last one on this row. Hop to. Lots of work to be done.” Lockhart turned and left, leaving Severus at Wyatt’s mercy. Suddenly, Severus wanted nothing more than to call Lockhart back so Wyatt could continue to bark at him. But Severus felt helpless as Wyatt looked him over. “What’s your name?”
“Snape, sir. Severus Snape.”
“I wasn’t really being serious about being on clean up. I was just trying to make that idiot see the light. Bit of a prick if you ask me.”
“I couldn’t tell you, sir. I don’t really know him.”
“Though, clean-up gets paid time and a half and if you’re willing, I’d be glad to show you the ropes.” Wyatt caught the horrified look on Severus’ face and chuckled a bit. “No? Suit yourself. How handy are you with defensive spells?”
“I suppose I can hold my own.”
“No need to be modest. You’ll be dealing a lot with criminals who’ll shoot spells at anything that even remotely resembles authority. It’s important that you know how to defend yourself.”
“I know what I’m doing, sir,” Severus told him. “But if I may, could I ask a question?”
“If it’s relevant to work, go ahead.”
“I know I’m repeating myself a bit but how is this different from being an Auror? I mean besides the investigation aspect.”
“For one, we’re there to correct and rectify any situation especially if it takes place in front of a muggle person. And we take care of the aftermath, which means modifying memories, which is what your friend will be doing and any other sort of damage control. Say some one shoots a curse at a muggle and turns their skin into a different color. What do suppose the next plan of action should be?”
“Well,” Severus said as he pondered upon it. “I suppose you’d turn their skin back to normal.”
“Okay, say we don’t erase some one’s memory or there’s a lot of witnesses around and one wonders off before we can catch up to them. What do you think that person is going to do, keeping in mind that they’re muggle and the idea of magic is completel beyond them?”
“They’d tell everyone who’d listen what happened.”
“Exactly. So it’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen and if by some chance that it does, which happens more than you’d think it does, it’s our job to feed people false stories and explanations.”
“And that’s effective? Do people really buy into it?” An astonished Severus asked. “Nobody could possibly be that stupid.”
“You’d be surprised,” Wyatt said. “I think that’s what we’ll be working on first. Working on getting your creative juices flowing, so to speak. You’ve got to learn to think of good lies. I’m pretty sure that once you’ve finished your internship, you’ll be working with Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee. I don’t imagine they’d put you here to be a lowly patrolman.”
“Is that what you are?”
“No, I’m the head of the Department. I had to start from the bottom. You’ll get a pretty luxurious position within the Department but don’t think you’re getting off easy. I fully intend to school you in every aspect. If you make it, you’ll more than likely take over for me.”
“I don’t intend to usurp your position,” Severus said, feeling a bit flattered.
“You won’t be usurping it. It’ll be years before that happens. All I’m saying is that you’d be next in line for my job. If you last. Most don’t. Most of the interns that come through here don’t even last a year before they give up. That’s why we never choose more than two.It’s not easy work.”
“I wasn’t expecting it to be anything of the sort,” Severus told him.
“You remind me a lot of me when I was younger. You’re not too eager which is a good thing. Wouldn’t want you to set yourself up for disappointment. I’m warning you to not screw this up,” Wyatt said sternly. Severus nodded. “Now let’s see what we can do about getting you a cubical set up. It’ll be your home away from home.”
Severus wanted to tell him this couldn’t possibly any worse than living with his parents.
--
Perion had just barely managed to get her shoes off when some one knocked at her door. It had been an extremely long day at the Ministry, which wasn’t saying much because every day she went to work was an extremely long day for her. It had been three weeks since she’d started at the Ministry and as each day went by, the more unsettled she became.
It wasn’t as though Perion didn’t enjoy the work because she took on each task with enthusiasm and hopes for the future. But the department was small and understaffed which left her to do a lot of work that she felt she really had no business doing, like writing memos and delivering them by hand to other departments because her boss felt that every single memo was too important to just send by itself. She found herself getting coffee and lunch for the other workers which she didn’t mind at first but now she felt as though that should’ve been a shared responsibility.
“I told you that would wouldn’t be happy there,” Perion’s mother had told her the week before when Perion had been on her weekly visit. Perion had made the mistake of slightly complaining. She’d hoped her mother would at least sympathize with her because she herself was a working witch but Perion had been wrong. She should’ve expected that answer especially after she’d told Sarah which department she’d be working in and that she fully intended to stay there. Sarah hadn’t argued much with her but after an initial temper fit, she rarely spoke of her distaste with Perion’s choice. “That Chad Hardwicke is one piece of work too. I can’t stand the sight of him. I wouldn’t trust him further than I could throw him which wouldn’t be very hard considering he is on the fat side.”
Mr. Hardwicke was the head of the department and Perion’s boss. Perion hated that her mother was right about him but Perion didn’t really trust him either. There were hardly any other females in the office and the rare few were quite a bit older than her. Perion had been the only girl in her group and now she felt as though she were paying for it. The other interns were cut slack and Perion had been left out. Mr. Hardwicke was especially hard on her in front of the other interns, as though he were trying to make an example out of her but when he called her into his office alone, he was so incredibly nice to her that it bordered on creepy. Perion didn’t like the vibes she got from him during those times. There had also been incidents where she’d caught him staring at her chest and not to mention the time he dropped a piece of parchment in front of her and when she looked back, she caught him staring at her backside with something like a hungry glint in his eye. It had scared her but she did her best to put it out of her mind.
Today, Mr. Hardwicke had called her into his office once more and asked that she shut the door behind her. There was a file opened up before him on his desk and he had his reading glasses on. When she closed the door behind her, he closed the file and pushed it toward her. Perion didn’t dare to take it. She was sick of delivering heavy files. They were a pain to lug around and if there was one file, there was a good chance he’d produce another to take with her just as she was about to leave.
“This case is going before the Wizengamot next week,” Hardwicke told her. “There’s a wizard being charged with murder and conspiracy to murder the Minister. He’s a suspected Death Eater but it’s a very closed and private case because the accused is a Ministry employee. But I’ve been given exclusive permission to let an intern tag a long and observe the trial.”
Perion felt a sudden spike of excitement. She hadn’t felt it since the day she’d started working in the department but it had long since gone away. This was what she had been waiting for. This is what she day-dreamed about during a particularly boring lecture by Professor Binns. But just as soon as the excitement had rose, it quickly dissipated. There was no way he was going to invite her. He’d choose one of the other interns. She hadn’t exactly made it a point to hide her less than enthusiastic attitude. Hardwicke had no doubt picked up on it and had called her into rub in her face.
“What do you need me to do?” Perion asked, trying not to sigh heavily. More likely than not, he’d probably want her to gather resources and information.
“It’s come to my attention that maybe I’ve been neglecting you. I thought I’d invite you to come a long with me. But on one condition,” Hardwicke told her. Perion was so astonished, it took her a few moments for what he’d said to sink in.
“Anything,” Perion said.
“Have a drink with me this weekend,” Hardwicke said. Perion froze, unsure of what to say to him. This was an accomplishment, there was no doubt about that, but she didn’t want to spend any more time with Hardwicke than she had to. “We can meet up at the Leaky Cauldron Friday night. I’ve got a private room booked so we can discuss the case with out any one listening in on us.”
“I suppose I could,” Perion said. Warning bells were going off in her head but yet she couldn’t bring herself to tell Hardwicke that he was a pig. She knew what he was after but he was her boss. If she made him angry, he could take everything she’d worked so hard to get away from her.
“Great,” Hardwicke said with a bright smile. Perion wanted to vomit more than anything. The thought of being cooped up with no one else around with Hardwicke with his pudgy gut and half bald head made her ill. But she soon reassured herself that she would just have to be on her guard with him. “Now, I won’t be in for the rest of the week. My wife and I are going to a funeral but I’ll be back on Friday. Meet me at the bar at seven at night.”
“Alright,” Perion said quietly. So he was married. She hadn’t been aware of that. She couldn’t imagine any one putting up with him long enough to decide that it was a good idea to marry the fat wanker. This was completely out of her element. Paisley would snatch the chance up to suck up to her boss by sucking him off.
“You may leave,” Hardwicke said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Perion backed out of the room quietly with extra care to not turn around so he could stare at her bum some more. That would only encourage him.
Perion replayed the horrifying scene over and over as she contemplated not getting the door. Last week, Paisley’s boyfriend, Terrance, had shown up looking for her, completely unaware of the fact that Paisley had gone off to school at the beginning of September. Perion quickly explained this to him and shut the door quickly because she didn’t want to have to see him more than what she had to. It wasn’t because he was ugly or anything because he was some what handsome. He was tall with a long, light brown speckled with grey ponytail snaking down his back. His eyes were a soulful shade of brown but yet he still seemed to excrete an air of absolute creepiness. Of course, any man his age willing to take up with a seventeen year old wouldn’t exactly put out a pleasant, well meaning vibe.
At the last second, Perion decided to open the door. Much to her surprise, Severus was standing there, waiting for her. She relaxed immediately after she’d managed to register his face.
“Have I come at a bad time?” Severus asked, looking confused. Perion realized how stupid she must’ve looked, standing there gaping at him.
“Oh, no, not at all. I just wasn’t expecting it to be...you.”
“Who else are you expecting?”
Perion smiled at him. “No one. No one at all. Come in.”
She welcomed him inside and he still looked about the place in wonder as he had that first time he had visited. She wasn’t sure what was so special about her flat. It was considerably nicer than anything she could afford on her own, she’d give him that. It just wasn’t anything awe inspiring.
“I still can’t believe you’ve got a place of your own,” he said after a moment. “I still have to live at home with my parents. I’m going to have to save for a good while to get out on my own.”
“Well, it was either this or traveling around the world. I chose this because it seemed more practical,” Perion said with a shrug. She wanted to be modest but it was hard to be with Severus. The house she’d grown up in was ten times the size of her little flat. “Mind you, I’m still saving, just like you, for something better.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Severus asked as he sat down on the couch. Perion chuckled a bit. She’d been brought up to think that such a gesture was quite rude, that one should always wait to be invited to sit down. But there Severus was, in his social ignorance, making himself at home, with out a care in the world. She liked that about him. He didn’t seem to care what people thought of him.
“There’s nothing majorly wrong with it,” Perion said as she sat down next to him. She’d lived there for a while now and never really used the sofa. Now, there she was sitting on it, with her legs tucked underneath her as though it were her favorite place to sit and relax. “It’s sort of old and run down, though that has it’s charm, don’t get me wrong. But it’s also incredibly drafty and sometimes it gets downright cold during the night. Tell me, have you ever sat on an ice cold toilet first thing in the morning? It’s not pleasant and if you aren’t fully awake before sitting, you will be afterwards.”
“Still is loads better than getting a wake up call from my father.” Severus puffed out his chest and took on a stern, mean look. “‘Oi! Lazy there in the bed! Get your arse up or I’ll come in there with a bucket of water!’”
Perion giggled at his crude impersonation, though she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Had she had to put up with another morning with her own mother, she would’ve been in an insane asylum.
“That sounds dreadful,” Perion said, still smiling at him.
“Oh no, it gets better. Every morning, he always makes my mother make me up a thermos of his famous coffee and every morning I tell him I’m busy and that they have coffee up at the Ministry. But no, their coffee isn’t good enough. He grinds his own beans by hand especially and it’s the hard work put into it that’s makes it so much more superior.”
“He’s one of those wizards, eh?” Perion asked lightheartedly. “One of those that always insists that just because we can do magic doesn’t mean we have to use our wands for everything.”
“No,” Severus said. His brows were furrowed and suddenly he wouldn’t look her in the eye. “He’s not.”
Perion was confused for a moment but then it clicked in her mind and she suddenly wanted to eat her words.
“He’s not a wizard is he?” Perion asked. Severus shook his head quickly. Perion was some what stunned by this revelation. She honestly had no clue and she realized that it must’ve been something of a shame for him, especially since he’d been sorted into Slytherin, where purity was everything. Perion wanted to comfort him and tell him it was okay, but she couldn’t find the right words.
“My mum is a witch though,” he said after a moment. “And she came from a very old and distinct magical family.”
“It’s alright, Severus.” Perion reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “So what, your father is a muggle. Big deal.”
“You don’t think it is?” Severus asked, still looking quite troubled.
“Not at all,” Perion said. She was only half lying. Her parents did tend to look down on muggle-borns and people with muggle in their family. They didn’t treat them the same or with as much respect as people who came from a pureblood family. But Perion thought that was just the way it was and she liked Severus. Just because she knew his father was a muggle now didn’t change who he was. She could over look it. “It’s not like it’s your fault or anything.”
“Just don’t tell anyone, please. It’s not like it’s a big secret but I would prefer it if you kept it quiet. You’re sort of the only person who knows.”
“Of course I won’t,” Perion told him. “But you should’ve told me!”
“I thought you would’ve figured it out by now,” Severus said. “Considering you and just about everyone else knows how poor I am.”
“Not everyone at Hogwarts comes from money, you know.”
“No, just about everyone in Slytherin. And I couldn’t stand how people treated me like being poor is some sort of handicap.”
“I never heard anyone ever making fun of you for it.”
“No but they pitied me. That’s ten times worse.” Severus suddenly looked angry. “You don’t know how horrid it was to have you buy drinks for me that day. And it wasn’t just you. My friends paid for everything for me too. If we went for lunch or something in Hogsmeade, they paid. When it came time to pay the tab, they’d look at me and then at each other like they were all thinking, ‘Poor Severus can’t pay for one lousy meal. How awful that must be!’”
“Money isn’t everything,” Perion told him in a calm voice.
“That’s easy for you to say. You’ve had money all your life. You couldn’t possibly know what it’s like to struggle. When you’re poor like my family, money is everything. It’s the only thing my parents talk about. It’s what they fight about. And it’s funny how something you don’t have can completely control your life.”
Severus’ words were biting and harsh but Perion tried her best to not take it to heart. But it was hard to not get a little annoyed with him.
“I’m sorry, Severus,” Perion said. “I’m sorry that you had to grow up that way. But you have to realize that the grass isn’t always greener. Sure, we never had to worry about money but you don’t think Paisley and I suffered? We did. Maybe not the same way you did, but we did. I hardly saw my parents because they were always working or going to some stupid dinner party with their snobby friends. And when my mum does talk to me, it’s usually something completely negative about how I’m living my life or the way I look. I could never satisfy her and her opinion of what she thinks I ought to be. And do you know what I want more than anything from her? Not money. Just her approval and her being happy with what ever makes me happy.”
Severus’ expression went completely blank while she was speaking. And when she was done, she felt out of breath. Her heart was racing and she felt angry. Not with Severus but with her self because she realized how stupid and shallow she had sounded. She breathed through her nose for a moment until she could feel herself physically calm down.
“I guess what I’m really trying to say is that’s all in the past,” Perion continued. “We’re both adults now and we both have the power to change things. We shouldn’t let how we grew up determine how we’re going to spend the rest of our lives.”
“You don’t have to live with them, I do,” Severus said in a near whisper. “I have to live with it. You don’t.”
“So, stay here,” Perion said. Severus looked up at her, clearly confused. “I mean stay here. With me.”
“I couldn’t do that,” Severus muttered and shook his head.
“Why not? Paisley’s gone off to school. I’ve got an extra room.”
“I don’t need your charity!”
“Who says I’m giving you my charity?” Perion asked, giving him a cold look, although she meant it in jest. She then gave him a gentle shove, to try and rattle him out of his bad mood. He relaxed and even braved a small smile. “If you want, I could charge you an outrageous amount of rent and give you rude wake up calls, like your father does. And grind my coffee beans by hand, like he does. You’ll feel right at home.”
“I still couldn’t possibly intrude.”
“You wouldn’t be. Trust me, you’d be doing me a favor.”
“Some how I don’t think your mother would approve,” Severus said with a pronounced frown. “And what about your sister? Won’t she want to come stay with you when she’s not in school?”
“It’s my flat,” Perion said with an air of authority. She stood and walked to the mantle, where she kept her bigger books that wouldn’t fit on the shelf in her room. She picked up the largest book, where she kept all of her personal files and presented the deed to the flat to Severus. “See? That’s my name. Perion Anita Graves.”
“I get the point,” Severus said.
“Don’t make me beg,” Perion said. “I’m not very good at it.”
“Let me think about it, at least, would you?”
“Well alright,” Perion said “But vacancies at Hotel Perion don’t last very long.”
“Right,” Severus said as he rolled his eyes. Perion gently placed the deed back inside the book, right next to her birth certificate and employment contract from the Ministry. Even though her back was turned, she could feel him watching her. She knew that asking him to move in with her was a bit forward but since Paisley had left, the place had been so quiet. At first she relished it but then after a few days, the silence began to depress her. She’d never felt so lonely in her life. She contemplated getting some sort of pet, like a dog but she wouldn’t know how to take care of it. Her mother had been firmly against having any sort of pet, even an owl to take with her to Hogwarts. They were messy, she said. Perion had seriously considered stopping into a muggle pet shop that she’d seen so many times while she was doing a lunch run for her co-workers. They had all sorts of animals in there. From ferrets to fish. A gold fish wouldn’t be too terribly hard to take care of. But a fish wouldn’t cuddle at her feet at night and keep her warm. A fish wouldn’t greet her when she came in from work. But she made up her mind right then. If Severus didn’t agree to move in with her within a week, she’d go in and buy a dog or perhaps a kitten. She was on her own. Her mother had no say anymore.
“So, I guess I really came by to see how work was going for you. I haven’t really talked to you in forever.”
Perion turned to him and gave him a smile, albeit a false one.
“It’s great. Really. I’m learning loads. What about you?”
“It’s not really as bad as I thought it would be, considering I didn’t want to do the internship to begin with. Wyatt, my boss, is really good about letting me tag along to the scene of the incident, as he calls it.”
“Anything interesting?”
“No grisly murders, if that’s what you’re thinking, no. Mostly domestic squabbles. The other day, we were called to this muggle restaurant where this wizard had taken his girlfriend for dinner. Apparently he insulted her cooking by making some off color joke about how it was nice to have a decent meal for a change. So she shrunk his head. Right there at the table.”
Perion clapped a hand to her mouth, trying to stifle a giggle but it wasn’t an easy task because of the way Severus was smiling about it. She kept picturing this man with his head puckered into his shoulders. She imagined it was Mr. Hardwicke. She thought perhaps that if Mr. Hardwicke said or did anything suggestive, she’d do the same to him.
“I actually saw you on the way out today,” Severus said. His smile was gone now. “You looked upset. So I thought I’d come by to see what was going on.”
“It was nothing,” Perion muttered.
“It didn’t look like it was nothing,” Severus said. “Did some one say something to you?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s just that my boss is kind of a...” Perion was at a loss. She didn’t want to tell Severus what was going on. She didn’t want him to think she was cheap or easy. “He’s just odd, is all.”
“Odd how?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Perion told him sharply. “Just drop it. It was nothing. Nothing I can’t handle anyway.”
“If that’s the way you want it,” Severus said as he stood up. “But I’ve got to go. Thank you for having me in.”
Perion nodded in agreement. She didn’t want him there any more than he wanted to be there at the moment. She didn’t want him prying into her business, especially about what was going on at work. She was ashamed of it, pure and simple. She should’ve handled the situation better than she had. She knew she had been on the verge of tears when she was leaving the Ministry. She didn’t think anyone had noticed her. Everyone was seemed so busy.
“Right, well, thanks for stopping in,” Perion told him. “Just think about my offer. I think the both of us would benefit from it.”
Severus was just a step short from stepping out of the door when he turned around. He must’ve thought she was completely batty.
“I will. Let me talk to my parents at the very least. I can’t just leave with out giving them any sort of warning. Since I’m making money now, I’ve been trying to help them out a little.”
“That’s very sweet of you.” Perion smiled at him warmly, feeling a rush of affection toward her friend as he left. In a way, she was glad he felt comfortable enough to trust her to confide a rather large secret to her, even though she didn’t feel comfortable enough to confide a rather big secret of her own, even though her secret hadn’t exactly happened yet. She told herself it might not which put her more at ease. There was no use in worrying over something that might not happen.
Even so, the fact that she was considering sleeping with her boss in order to gain a little recognition in the office still left her feeling more than a bit unsettled. It was too bad Paisley wasn’t around anymore. She would know what to do.
--
The days flew by and sooner than she liked, Friday night hit Perion like a ton of bricks. Hardwicke hadn’t shown up in the office but an owl arrived that afternoon to reassure her that they were still on for drinks that night and to meet him in room four. It had been his wife’s brother that had died and she had opted to stay behind with the family for the rest of the weekend. Perion wondered if Mrs. Hardwicke trusted her husband or if she was going to spend the rest of the weekend worrying about him and what he was up to. It was extremely tempting to write her a little note, telling her exactly what dear old Chad had planned but Perion wouldn’t know where to find her. She didn’t have the guts either.
As soon as Perion got home, she quickly hopped into the tub and soaked in rose petal scented water for a good half hour. It was so relaxing she had to force herself to get out. If she didn’t, she feared she would’ve stayed the whole night there reading until she fell asleep. But she had to face the music and find something to wear. She argued with herself as she picked an outfit out over whether or not she should go with sexy or modest. In the end, modest won out. She didn’t want to give Hardwicke the wrong idea about her, though she figured he already had the wrong idea.
After another hour of carefully applying make-up to her face, Perion headed to the Leaky Cauldron. A sense of dread started to overwhelm her as she mounted the rickety stairs. It took her nearly a full two minutes before she got the nerve to knock on Door Number Four and when she managed to do so, her knocks were very timid and light. She hoped he wouldn’t hear them and as soon as she thought that perhaps he hadn’t, the door opened and her boss was waiting for her, sitting at a low table in a rather worn armchair in front of a lit fireplace.
“Have a seat, love,” Mr. Hardwicke told her in a smooth voice. Several bottles of liquor sat before him on the table. Perion eyed them, knowing full well she shouldn’t over indulge and let her guard down. The moment she did, he would swoop in on her. “What would you like to drink?”
“Er..no thank you.” Perion said quietly. She felt very awkward just standing there but she was too scared to sit down.
“Nonsense! I paid for all of this in advance. You should help me drink them because I tend to get a bit out of hand if I drink too much.”
“Alright, I’ll have a gin and tonic,” Perion said stiffly.
“Atta girl! Now come sit. Tell me about your week.”
Perion reluctantly sat down and tried to scoot herself as far away as she could from him with out him noticing what she was doing. He swiftly made her drink, which she noted he’d done in front of her and unless he had a very nimble hand and light touch, there was no way he had slipped anything in it with out her noticing.
“There’s not much to tell, really. Just another week. Nothing exceptional about it,” Perion said after she took an obligatory sip of her drink.
“You know, I thought an awful lot about you while I was away.”
“Oh?” Perion said, with an eyebrow raised.
“I couldn’t get your face out of my mind at all. Of course, being around my in-laws, it was a welcome distraction.” Mr. Hardwicke chuckled jovially. “But I kept thinking about those eyes of yours. How startling they are. That shade of blue is quite unique.”
“They were a gift from my grandmother,” Perion said, being half way serious and half way sarcastic. Once more, Mr. Hardwicke laughed. She hadn’t ever seen him like this. He wasn’t so bad when it was just the two of them in a relaxed atmosphere. In a way he was sort of charming.
“That’s what I like about you. That sense of humor of yours. You’ll be going places in the department.”
Perion paused for a moment, wondering if she should say what was on her mind or just keep quiet and keep him in his pleasant mood. But she couldn’t resist. This seemed like an opportune moment to get answers out of him.
“If that’s so, how come you treat the other interns better than me?”
“What do you mean?” Mr. Hardwicke asked. He suddenly looked quite concerned and quite troubled.
“Well you always make me do what I call menial bullshit, pardon the expression, like getting coffee and lunch for everyone. The other interns are always holed away, studying law journals, which is what I would like to do more of.”
“I’m giving you the biggest case we’ve had since you started working for me.”
“I know but it really seems like you’re showing favoritism toward them and it seems like it’s only because they’re male and I’m not.”
“That was never my intention, darling,” Mr. Hardwicke said apologetically. “They just showed more initiative than you did. You just kept quiet. It seemed to be that they wanted it more than you did.”
“But that’s not true!” Perion cried, completely outraged.
“Well, I know that now,” Mr. Hardwicke said. “It takes a lot of courage for some one like you to say all of what you just said to me. And if it makes you feel better, I’ll make more of an effort to equally distribute the menial bullshit between all of you interns.”
“That’s fair,” Perion said. But she still felt heated about it. She had shown much more enthusiasm than the others had. At first, she took on all of her tasks and was damn grateful for it until it was apparent her efforts were for nothing. It wasn’t her fault the other two interns blocked her out completely. She tried to break through them but it never seemed to work. But now that she spoke her mind to Mr. Hardwicke, she felt better about herself. It felt wonderful to stand up and speak out for herself. The best part was that it had actually worked!
“However,’ Mr. Hardwicke continued on. “No one gets a free ride.”
“Nor am I asking for one,” Perion said quickly. “I’ll work harder than anyone. You’ll see.”
“While I’m pleased to hear that, you aren’t exactly grasping what I mean.”
Perion stared blankly at him, completely confused. The fireplace crackled behind her as she slowly pieced together his meaning. And it hit her so suddenly for a moment she could hear nothing but the dull roar of her fears coming true. She was stupid to think for even one moment that his intentions for this little meeting weren’t at all innocent. She felt foolish and scared, like a little girl who was completely lost in a dark forest, completely out of her element.
“I couldn’t possibly...” Perion heard herself saying. She felt herself begin to tremble slightly.
“All I’m asking is that you make yourself available to me. You can manage that can you not?”
“You’ve got me pegged all wrong, sir,” Perion said in a hushed voice. “I’m not that type of girl.”
“Oh, but I think you are,” Mr. Hardwicke said with a wicked smile. “You just don’t know it yet.”
“You’re wrong.”
“If you aren’t willing, I can always give your position to some one who is.”
Perion felt bile rising in her throat. She wanted nothing more than to vomit at that moment. Anything to make herself less appealing. How could he possibly suggest such a thing? She felt like taking a page out of her mother’s book and shouting, “How DARE you!” at him but she couldn’t manage to speak. How was she going to get herself out of this mess? Luckily, her auto-pilot went into action and with a quick tongue and that Slytherin wit and cunning would help her.
“It’s not that I’m not willing,” Perion blurted out. “I’m just not experienced in those matters.”
“All the better!” Mr. Hardwicke said as he took a sip of his drink. “I thought there was a certain virginal quality about you.”
Perion squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, grimacing because she just kept digging herself deeper in to this hole. Of course a man like Hardwicke would like some one who wasn’t a complete whore. He was from the same mold as Paisley’s gentlemen callers. They liked Paisley because she was so young and looked so innocent. If only she and Paisley could trade places.
“I didn’t mean I was a...” Perion said after a moment. “I mean I have before. Just not very often. Only the once actually.”
“That’s quite alright, love. I won’t move too fast. There’s no need to be frightened. You’ll find me to be a very gentle and caring lover,” Hardwicke told her in a soft, calm reassuring voice. But it had the opposite effect on her. She was about ready to jump out of her skin should he make any sudden movement. “So why don’t you stand up for me. Let me look at you.”
Perion had come to terms with the fact that she was not going to get out of this. There wasn’t much else she could do. She’d worked so hard to get where she was and she wanted nothing to destroy it for her, not even this. What had to be done was clear to her. So she stood up just as he asked her to.
“Let’s get rid of the blouse. You shouldn’t hide your beautiful body.”
Perion slowly unbuttoned her blouse with trembling fingers and shaking hands. Her knees felt wobbly underneath her, as though they would give out at any moment. She shrugged the blouse off and let it fall to the floor at her feet. She knew he would ask her to take the bra off next so she saved herself the embarrassment and undid it herself, willingly. Her breast fell free and the warmth radiating from the fireplace tickled at her bare flesh. Hardwicke stood with out a word and stood before her. He took her hands and held them out slightly as he inspected her breasts with a perverted smile. If he were to ogle any more intensely, he would’ve burned holes where her nipples were.
“Lovely,” he muttered as he began to stroke them lightly. Her nipples defied her and stood erect. Of course they weren’t used to being handled so tenderly. “Let’s take this a step further, shall we?”
Perion suppressed a sob in the back of her throat as his hands snaked downward to the waist band of her skirt. He stuck his thumbs into the elastic band of her panties and in one swoop pulled down both the skirt and the panties. He made quick business of exploring her. First he started out by stroking the mound of soft hair but soon moved on to rubbing into the sensitive areas with his thumb and inserting a finger inside of her. Perion tried not to fight him much as he pumped his hand in and out but with his thumb pressing into her clitoris, it was hard to not buck her hips. She kept her eyes shut tightly and tried to concentrate on the bursts of light amidst the darkness of her eyelids. She could hear Hardwicke’s breathing growing rapid and turning into grunts. He increased his intensity with every up stroke which caused Perion to take small steps backward until she felt the cold brick wall press into her back. The shock of it made her open her eyes. She grabbed Hardwicke’s wrist in an attempt to get him to stop but he didn’t notice or mistook it as a sign of pleasure.
“Please,” Perion whimpered as she tried to pry his hand from her. “Stop. Please.”
Just as suddenly as it had began, it stopped. Hardwicke was sweating bullets and his massive erection was unmistakable as well as the dark stain that bloomed across it. Perion took the opportunity to make a dash for her clothes. Hardwicke didn’t protest as she threw them back on, not caring if she had anything on backward or inside out. There was only one thought in her head and that was telling her to get the fuck out of there as soon as possible.
“It was wonderful, love,” Hardwicke told her as he began to make himself another drink. “We’ll have to do it again soon.”
Perion didn’t utter a word in response. She kept herself numb as long as possible. The numb feeling lasted an hour after she’d arrived home. It was then that she cried. She cried because of what happened. She cried because she was ashamed of herself. But mostly she cried because she had no one to comfort her.

It is currently 1:30 AM and I've had a total of 30 minutes worth of sleep in the past 24 hours. There are probably going to be a few mistakes in this chapter. The computer I'm currently holding hostage from my mother is being a complete fuck wit and keeps freezing every time I go to try and correct a mistake. So please hang in there with me. I'll re-read over the chapter when I've had a bit of sleep and can steal my husband's computer for a few minutes to correct any mistakes that I've found. So if you find any glaring ones that I've been completely oblivious to, please let me know.

Also, I realized that the word "Muggle" should be capitalized and I think I did capitalize a few of them but there's a good majority that I didn't. I probably won't go in and change it unless I get really bored but I'm making a mental note to do so from now on. I use the word too much to go back and change it. I'm lazy. I'm not going to make excuses. Thanks for sticking in there with me.
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The Imperfect Art of Sacrifice