Maeve was pissed. She wanted to scream, hex something into next week. Maybe even cry a little. God-blessed-fucking-christ-on-a-fucking-popsicle-stick-damnit! How far did she have to run to get away from her past?
"Hi," His stupid face smiled like mingling and making small talk were not the nightmare-inducing event that they actually were. Stupid charismatic asshole. "Nice to meet you… Khloe, right?"
"Right." The woman in question flashed a pretty smile and took his outstretched hand. Both so confident in their conversation skills.
Maeve, on the other hand, pretended someone called her from the other side of the room. A pro at this particular maneuver, Maeve smiled warmly and waved at the wallpaper on the other side of the room and then tilted her head at the duo, like, "Oh, there's Robert a long lost friend whom I desperately need to talk to this very moment sooo…. toodles." and made her way towards that bit of wallpaper and further away from Blaise Zabini.
He was making his rounds, trying to schmooze his way into her coworker's good sides. Still such a Slytherin. Ugh. Maeve watched him breakaway from Khloe Stonepuddle and head towards her, from the corner of her eye. Had he already schmoozed all eleven of her coworkers? Damn it.
Cookies! She'd head towards the snack table and lose him in the throng of snacking folks. She was running out of wallpaper friends, eventually, he'd corner her and she'd have to talk to the pureblood bastard if the meeting didn't start soon.
Fuck.
She was halfway to the snack table when Coldwater finally called the meeting to order.
Gleefully, Maeve waited for Blaise to find a seat before she selected hers. Three behind and one to the left- closest to the only exit in the room. She'd disappear into the ether after the meeting.
And then just avoid him for the rest her time at Coldwater Retrievals Agency. Absolutely flawless plan. Right?
The sinking in her gut turned into full-on stomach cramps and cold sweats when the new hire was introduced to the room.
Despite the turmoil in mind, her face, as usual, was pleasantly blank of all emotion but the one emotion that wouldn't get her noticed or singled out- polite interest. Pleasant enough not to goad dislike but neutral enough not to be called upon to engage. It was an art form Maeve had cultivated early in life.
Blaise Zabini.
Shit. Shit. Fuck. Damn it!
This was not Hogwarts. She was not who she'd been then- at least confidence-wise. But looking at his stupid face transported her back ten years.
Damn it.
Past Maeve, pathetic Maeve, was not someone she wanted to be ever again.
Had Maeve been even remotely cool at Hogwarts, Blaise Zabini would not be an issue. Hell, if she even would have been just invisible or just a plain old loser he still wouldn't be a problem.
But Maeve had been and still was everything she'd been at Hogwarts: a mudblood Hufflepuff blood traitor.
It was tough to be both a mudblood and a blood traitor but Maeve was nothing if not multifaceted. Getting sorted into Hufflepuff wouldn't have been such a big sin if she didn't hail from the house of Rowle. It had been a pure Slytherin legacy, generations upon generations sorted into the noble house of Slytherin.
Until Maeve had muddied the waters with her birth and subsequent surviving to the ripe old age of eleven.
The Hufflepuffs hadn't known how to treat a snake in the burrow- and not just any snake but a Rowle. The loudest and most vile of mudblood haters in the wizarding community. They largely ignored and avoided her- as most of the Hufflepuff house were half-bloods and muggleborns themselves. Maeve couldn't blame them. She would have steered clear as well.
The Slytherins shared no such confusion as to what to do with her. The pureblood community was well aware of her status in the Rowle household, disinherited and disdained, and were not at all threatened by the weight of her surname. They had no compunctions about torturing her existence.
Maeve knew now in her adult life that she should be forgiving and understanding- little pitchers have big ears and all that. She knew they'd just been ignorant kids filled with a bunch of lies from day one and brainwashed into believing in the bullshit superiority of purebloods. But it was one thing to think and an entirely other thing to practice.
Blaise Zabini had been a Slytherin but he'd been one of those elite few who were all at once: super rich, pure-blooded (an official twenty-eight member), and handsome to boot. Which put him in a league above all the rest- even the loftiest of Slytherins couldn't touch him. He'd never been an ass to her. But Maeve figured it was mostly due to the vastly different circles they'd traveled.
The problem was that if he remembered her at all it would be as the mudblood Hufflepuff blood traitor and not the Rowle Hufflepuff imposter. A crucial distinction if she was expected to uphold her current reputation.
It was better to be feared than scorned. Maeve had learned that particular lesson well and made an effort to implement it in her everyday life. Maeve had spent years cultivating her badass-don't-fucking-mess-with-me reputation and Zabini could ruin everything.
At Coldwater Retrievals she was feared.
Not because of her surname or blood status but because she had built that reputation. Maeve Wren Rowle was the elitest of the elite. Where Zabini had been the cream of the crop at Hogwarts- Maeve Wren Rowle was a god amongst men when it came to her job. She was the best of the best and everyone knew it.
"Alright, thank you all so much for your hard work. Dismissed!" Coldwater clapped his hands and knocked Maeve back into the present. Damnit, she should have been out the door already. Maeve tried to melt into the small crown and followed them out.
"Rowle- stay behind for a second, please." Coldwater's voice rang above the crowd, so loud in fact, that she wouldn't be able to pretend she didn't hear him. He knew her too well, damn it.
Pleasantly neutral expression in place, Maeve turned back around and tried not to look like the pathetic girl she'd been in her teens.
Zabini was a former classmate, a pureblood, and represented everything that her father had desperately wanted her to be. He'd been popular and well-liked and hadn't tormented Maeve even once in their long history.
He probably- hopefully- please sweet baby Jesus- didn't even know she existed.
"Blaise this is Maeve Rowle." Coldwater gestured to her and then back at Zabini. "Maeve this is Blaise Zabini."
Blaise shook her hand and Maeve watched as recognition flashed in his eyes.
"Nice to meet you Maeve." He smiled and tilted his head, ever so slightly to the side, as if trying to place her face. Maeve wasn't going to help out on that bit. She smiled politely in return and nodded.
Oh goddamnit. Coldwater was going to make Zabini her partner. Jesus, Merlin, and Joseph. How in the fuck was she going to achieve her foolproof plan of avoiding him for the rest of all eternity if he was going to be her partner?
Maybe she was reading this wrong? Maybe Coldwater just wanted to introduce his best Retrieval Specialist for whatever reason. Maybe she was being too dramatic and reading too much into things.
"Maeve is our top Retrieval Specialist- best in the country actually. Blaise was an excellent Auror and I was lucky enough to poach him from the Ministry. Maeve, Blaise will be your new partner."
God fucking damn it.
"Welcome aboard Zabini. Rowle here will show you the ropes. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask." He clapped the taller man on the shoulder and turned towards the exit. Coldwater paused and leaned closer to Maeve to talk in a lower tone. "Please, Maeve just… go easy on this one."
Maeve wanted to protest and tell the man that long list of ex-partners and their sudden departures from the agency were not her fault. All of her previous partners had either been lacking in backbone or brains. Or both. Her job was a dangerous one if you were not prepared for those challenges then you lost the bones in the left side of your body (as was the case with her most recent partner). But arguing never worked so Maeve held her tongue and mentally rolled her eyes.
"Sure, Jack." She kept her features placid and turned to stare down her shiny new partner.
Blaise was a pureblood darling with a needle-thin spine. He'd probably last through one excursion (that Slytherin pride would demand it) and quit the moment they returned. Blaise Zabini wouldn't last- she would make sure of it.