1. Awkward Corridors

It does no good to anyone to live a life full of bitterness. Those words – spoken fifteen years ago by Albus Dumbledore- continued to play as an annoying jingle in Iluma's head. Just like a snippet of a song, it always felt like there was a forgotten part that was determined to plague her mind. Iluma tried to avoid being consumed by the negativity, but it was at times like this when she resented her feeble attempts at feigned optimism.

Being granted a job in the Auror Office had been such a brilliant achievement for her a year ago that Iluma had done all she could to prove her worth. She had kept her head down and worked to complete all her assignments on time. Hell, she even held her tongue when much younger colleagues felt the need to remind her of their superiority in the workplace. It was bound to happen considering she only joined the aurors in her thirties, whereas many of them had joined straight from school. Nevertheless it clashed with the ever-present chip on her shoulder about her muggleborn status. The year had been tough, but with her 'work-appropriate', pleasing countenance and steady voice, Iluma finally managed to get herself approved for solo-assignments.

When she'd first been called in to Scrimgeour's Office and offered the new position, Iluma had been so happy at the mention of solo work that she'd not paid much attention to the rest. As she continued down the second-floor corridor, Iluma conceded (albeit months too late) that working as Ministry-appointed Junior Auror to Hogwarts for the duration of the Triwizard Tournament wasn't a great proposition after all. Her services had yet to be needed for anything 'serious'. On the day of the first task, Iluma had been placed on perimeter duty, a point which still angered her; she sincerely doubted that Voldemort's magnificent return would have included a casual saunter up through the school gates. And she definitely doubted that upon seeing Iluma there Voldemort would have made small talk about the weather as he asked the way to the Boy who Lived. Of course, upon relaying her opinion to the powers that be, she had been quickly hushed after only the first syllable of Voldemort's name and weakly reassured that no such threat existed.

So, Iluma had resigned herself to a year of night-patrol in Hogwarts, wherein the biggest challenge was figuring out creative ways to detach love-sick students from one another, but she despaired at just how far she still had to go. And castle life did not agree with her health much; her sun-deprived skin was dry and her dark hair had given up on trying to look like it gave a damn. Stodgy meals eaten on her own in the kitchens were taking their toll on both her waistline and her energy levels, but it was very difficult to turn down an eager-to-please house elf on a mission.

It didn't help that the rest of the staff were wary of her presence. Professor Dumbledore was pleasant enough, but ever since the events following the infamous Halloween years ago, Iluma was never able to shake the feeling that it was done out of pity more than anything else. The Heads of House seemed to be slowly getting used to her, but still abruptly ended all conversations whenever she entered the room, for fear that knowledge of their opinion as to the rising costs of parchment would be relayed to the Ministry and used against them. It meant that staff meetings for Iluma resulted in a lot of time spent trying to look busy whilst standing very still in the corner.

Iluma had hoped she would at least find some common ground with Alastor Moody. He was already an Order member when Iluma joined straight after her graduation from Hogwarts, but there had been little interaction at the time due to her junior position and his intimidating persona. The one time their paths crossed was under terrible circumstances. Seeing as Moody left the Aurors before Iluma started, there hadn't been another chance to mend any remaining hard feelings between them. Moody was careful with what he said around her and made sure to avoid situations wherein they would be forced to interact one-to-one. And so, being the lowest rung on the ladder, Iluma spent her evenings walking around the vast castle and her days perfecting her imitation of brickwork. Keeping such unsociable hours meant that some days her only stimulation came from listening to the gossip of the elves as they busied themselves with their tasks.

About to call it a night, Iluma made her way down to the end of the corridor towards the end staircase. She was about to go back to her rooms, when a slight hint of movement caught her eye. Coming towards her with a grace Disney princesses could only dream about (not a mental image Iluma would wish on her worst enemy) was the imposing figure of Severus Snape.

"Auror Knight." With a clean nod of acknowledgment, Snape addressed her in a matter-of-fact way but made it seem a terrible chore. Snape was still firmly in the camp that believed Iluma's presence to be unnecessary and inconvenient.

"Professor."

"It appears that we have yet again been assigned the same patrol, or rather you are encroaching on mine."

Mentally rolling her eyes, Iluma once more informed him of her assigned shift timetable. "I had no say in it, I merely do as I'm told. If you have an issue with it, please direct it to Professor Dumbledore."

In any normal person, Iluma imagined her response would at most be met with a sigh at her perceived incompetence but the person would be too polite to proceed further. However, having known of Severus Snape since she was in the year below him at this very school, Iluma knew he was not the type of person to ever stoop to such a level.

Snape stepped closer to Iluma, the milky glow from her wand bouncing off his severe features and creating a sinister shadow puppet show on the wall behind. "Miss Knight, I really shouldn't have to make it clearer. This is my assigned patrol route. You are not to patrol here. Go find something equally monotonous to occupy your valuable time with."

With a slight edge creeping in to her voice, Iluma stood her ground. "That may be, but in all honesty considering this is the most I've had to do today, why are you so hung up on keeping it all to yourself? In fact, why don't I just take over this patrol from you for the next few weeks and give you a break?"

There was a slight pause. "Oh, do you think that by doing me a favour we'll bond over our mutual experience of the wild goings-on in the western corridors? Perhaps it would be best if you just find a nice permanent little corner to eavesdrop on the staff. Run along." And with that dismissive tone, Snape swiftly turned on his heel and headed down the way Iluma had just come from.

Watching his retreating form, Iluma once again felt the familiar rise of frustration bubble up. At least in the Auror offices she had paperwork to do, and that thought alone- that even paperwork was preferable- told her all she needed to know. Not only was standing in a dark school corridor in the middle of the night doing nothing for her career progression, it was definitely not how Iluma was going to help fight Voldemort.

Disclaimer: I don't own it, don't sue me.

Introducing my new fic which is actually going to be a rather long multi-chapter story (gasp!).

The main OC's name is the same as my pen name simply because I originally joined with the intention to post this story alone, but since then I have adopted it as an online alias.

The grammar won't be perfect and I have an issue jumping between tenses for some reason, but I'm working on it. All mistakes are mine unless proven otherwise.

I have the chapter plans etc. already figured out and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you all.

Any constructive feedback would be much appreciated! Enjoy.