Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft Wizardry (Challenges Assignments)
Assignment #5; Careers Advice: Unspeakables; Task #1
Word Count: 1612
Warnings: Pre-slash
Rolf quietly slips into the mess hall, his foot steps making no sound. Most of the staff were all there, talking and laughing. It was break time for a lot of the staff in the Ministry, and they all decided to congregate down here in the relatively cramped space, filling the hall with a steady murmur of noise.
Rolf grimaced as he quickly side-stepped an overworked intern with her hands full of coffee and sandwiches, hurrying to get back to the office. He rarely came down to the mess hall, always just foregoing lunch or bringing in his own. Today though, he had been experimenting with the effects of Amortentia against certain spells in the Love Chamber and it had taken a lot out of him. If he didn't eat now, he would eventually collapse, seeing as he didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning, or dinner the previous night.
Rolf made it over to the counter where they sold the food. None of the food was actually made in the Ministry, but imported from randomly selected shops every week. The Ministry technically didn't have any house elves to work under them, but many of the high-profile people who worked at the Ministry, like Lucius Malfoy, quite liberally used their house elves to do grunt work for them.
After surveying the options in a quick glance, Rolf pointed to the most appealing option, which was the roast beef sandwich that came along with a bottle of water and a cookie. Most of the food served in the mess hall was a concoction of sweets and plastic-looking sandwiches. The roast beef looked barely edible, but it would sustain him for a bit longer until he can eat a proper meal.
The attendant manning the counter, unfazed by Rolf's lack of words, grabbed the items and placed them in a paper bag. "Your total will be two galleons and four sickles." The attendant stated politely.
Rolf nodded and took out the appropriate amount from the pocket of his slacks, just beneath his simple, black robe. Just as he was about to place the money on the counter, a familiar voice behind him said, "Just put it on my tab, Morty. I'll take care of it."
Rolf turned around to come face-to-face with Miles Wesley, who worked in the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad, which was apart of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Miles was Rolf's senior by two years, but they both graduated from Hogwarts at the same time.
Rolf graduated in his fifth year, taking his OWLS and NEWTS at the Ministry early. The Department of Mysteries had quickly scooped him up and he had worked there, officially, since he was seventeen, but unofficially, he had worked there ever since he was fifteen. The pair never interacted much during Hogwarts, Rolf being a Hufflepuff and Miles a Slytherin.
Miles had joined the Ministry straight out of Hogwarts, just like Rolf. Being in different departments and having never talked before, Rolf never expected them to cross paths, much less interact. Miles lived to surprise though, as whenever he saw Rolf, he would call out to greet him and always hung around him whenever they were in the same room, acting as if he and Rolf were the greatest of friends.
Morty, the attendant behind the counter, stared at Miles for a second before saying, "Miles, you have yet to pay off what you already owe."
Miles smiled, looking sheepish, before exclaiming, "I'm set to get my paycheck at the end of the week. I'll pay it back in full then, okay?"
Morty gazed at Miles with a critical eye before nodding. He handed the bag over to Rolf, already preparing to serve the next customer. Rolf accepted the bag from Morty, hesitantly putting away his own money. He walked away quickly, hoping that Miles would leave him be.
"Hey! Wait up, Rolf." Miles exclaimed, jogging toward where Rolf was walking.
Rolf bit back a sigh and turned around to face Miles. "Miles, what can I do for you?" Rolf asked, his voice bland and dull.
"Come, sit with me. You're hardly ever down here. It's the least you could do after I paid for your lunch." Miles said, smiling widely.
"I'd rather not. I didn't ask you to pat for my lunch. You did that willingly, and I thank you for that, but I have to get back to work." Rolf stated.
"Oh, come on. Ten minutes down here couldn't hurt. It's your lunch break, isn't it? Why are you working during it? Relax and come sit with me." Miles said, putting his hand on the small of Rolf's back, steering him towards a small, empty table hiding in the corner of the room.
Rolf glared at him, before conceding and sitting down on the chair Miles had pulled out for him. The man had paid for his lunch and it couldn't hurt to sit down for 10 minutes and eat his lunch.
"So, how's being an Unspeakable? Have you discovered something new yet? What are you working? Anything top-secret?" Miles asked eagerly, questioning him.
Rolf bit back another sigh as he took his sandwich out of the bag and unwrapped it. One of the most annoying things about Miles was that no matter how many times he's told him that he cannot speak about his job as an Unspeakable, Miles kept on asking.
"As I've told you before, I can't tell you anything." Rolf said, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Ah, come on. I won't tell anyone. What part of the Department of Mysteries do you work at? Do you work with the time-turners? Or no, do you deal with the brains? I've heard rumors of jars of brains being held there." Miles whispered excitedly.
"Classified." Rolf said placidly, watching as Miles grew annoyed with his lack of answers. Miles shook his head though and smiled back at him again, relaxing once more.
"Is the Veil of Death really the limbo between life and death?" Miles questioned.
Rolf just stared impassively back at him, taking another bite of his sandwich.
"What's your Unspeakable name?" Miles asked.
"That's not of importance." Rolf replied.
"What's your full name, then? I only know you as Rolf. I've tried looking for the name Rolf in the Ministry's registry of people who work here, but no one has the name Rolf." Miles asked, trying to get at least some answers out of Rolf.
"While I'm flattered and a little bit wary of you researching me, it is, like all things about me, unimportant." Rolf stated, unscrewing the cap off his water bottle.
Miles went a bit pink before whining out in agitation, "Why must you be so difficult, Rolf?"
"Why must you be so persistent? Why do you need to know anyway?" Rolf asked, taking a sip of his water.
"Is it a crime to want to know more about you?" Miles asked.
"Technically, yes. You could be a spy trying to gain information. I'm going to head back now. Thank you again for paying for my meal." Rolf said, packing up his remaining food. Rolf stood up and went to walk away.
"Wait-" Miles tried to say, grabbing Rolf's arm. Rolf stopped, turning to face Miles.
"Look. I really like you, okay? I'm trying to find out more about you since I practically know nothing about. Your always here at work, so I thought trying to find out more about what you're working on would aide me in courting you. I'm sorry for pushing and being annoying." Miles said, his head tilted down with his hair hooding his face. Still, Rolf could see the bright red blush creeping out from Miles' neck.
Rolf was silent for a moment before saying, "Well, you should have just said so."
While Rolf's mind was still reeling from the revelation that Miles liked him romantically, it wasn't all that surprising. He'd considered that as one of the possible reasons why Miles hung around him so much, but discarded the idea since Miles had done nothing to show interest in Rolf romantically in the four years they had been working at the Ministry.
Miles looked up quickly, surprise and a little bit of hope evident in his face. Rolf gently shook his arm out of Miles' grasp and sat back down in his seat once more.
"If you were trying to court me, you've been going at it the entirely wrong way. First, you have to make your intentions clear. You should've told me you liked me and wanted to court me. I thought you were just trying to be a pest looking for information. It turns out I was correct, but you were being a pest to romantically pursue me, not just to be a little shit. Secondly-" Rolf started out, but was cut off by Miles laughing.
"Oh, thank Merlin! You're- you're not weirded out or- or repulsed!" Miles cried out softly, taking Rolf's hands into his own. Rolf stared at him for a second before he continued talking as if he was never cut off, but he didn't take back his hands, which were being held tightly by another, smaller, pair of hands.
"Secondly..."