Lucius Malfoy looked distinctly uncomfortable in the shabby hotel room. The dilapidated décor (high ceilings with detailed carvings, the gold paint chipped away) gave the impression of grandeur now lost, much like Malfoy himself. The years after the war had not treated him well, his family's once enviable fortune thoroughly drained by the costs of freedom; bribes and legal fees. Unlike the room however, Malfoy was all about keeping up appearances. He was impeccably turned out in a splendid forest green cloak, perfectly tailored, coupled with expensive leather shoes. He believed appearance was the measure of a man.
He sniffed disdainfully and stepped further into the room, taking a seat in dusty old chair, coming into as little possible contact with it as possible. He folded his hands neatly in his lap and looked towards the woman opposite. She sat there like she owned the place, effortlessly at ease with her surroundings, a smirk on her face at what Malfoy could only assume was his discomfort. She leant forward.
"I won't beat around the bush Mr Malfoy." she told him "You know what I want. Can you deliver?"
Malfoy shifted in his chair, put on edge by the lack of polite formalities, his comfort zone. He'd hoped to string this conversation out, charm his way into her confidence and form a better deal for himself.
"You demand a lot."
"Do you forget what I offer in return? I demand only your loyalty and your support."
Malfoy couldn't contain a harsh laugh.
"You ask for significantly more than that. You ask me to put myself at risk… to put my family at risk. You ask me to put my wealth at risk, my reputation! I need a guarantee of your results."
The woman sneered at him.
"Your wealth? What wealth? You know as well as I do that you have frittered your money away over the years for power. That is not what I ask for. I want your influence and access to the ministry, the one thing you have in abundance. Give me this and you can have my guarantee, whatever that's worth. Remember, you need me as much as I need you."
Malfoy looked taken aback. He'd known coming in here what it was she wanted from him but had expected some power in the haggling process. She knew he needed this and would not let him off easily. He sighed, recognising defeat.
"Fine. My influence is yours. The ministry is yours. But remember who I am. What I can do! Betray me and I'll… I'll have you arrested!"
The woman laughed openly at him then, standing up and walking towards the door.
"You do that Mr Malfoy. I'll be in touch."
She left him, angry and humiliated in the shabby hotel room.
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"For the last time, watch your bloody feet Tonks! Do you think dark wizards will wait for you to get up?! CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
Alastor Moody stormed off muttering about incompetent trainees and the state of the wizard world, leaving Auror-in-training Nymphadora Tonks sat red faced on the floor. She clambered to her feet, brushing dirt off her trousers, silently fuming.
"Are you coming or not girl?" He called gruffly behind him. "It's high time you did a bit of useful work around here."
The useful work as it transpired was a mountain of paperwork Moody hadn't filled in. Moody was bureaucrat's nightmare, always pushing at the very boundaries of legality and refusing to fill in any of the resulting paperwork on time, leaving it instead to trainee aurors he was teaching a lesson to.
"This girl, is what you'll be spending your life doing if you don't learn a bit of coordination."
"This is what I'll spend my life doing anyway." she muttered under her breath. As Kingsley was so fond of reminding her, paperwork was 70% of being an auror. Unless you were Mad Eye that is. She huffed angrily.
Two hours later, and she was beginning to make a dent, turning the mountain into a large hill. The paper she was currently surveying was on a werewolf the ministry suspected of being allied to the death eater Sirius Black. Tonks sprang out of her semi-comatose state. Anything to do with Sirius Black immediately grasped her attention. He was her obsession, her reason for entering the aurors and her nemesis, even if he didn't know it. Tonks had adored him as a child as had her mother and it had broken her heart when she realised what he'd done. Tonks had sworn that she would never let something like that happen again and it had been an uphill battle. As the second cousin of Sirius Black, getting accepted into the auror training programme had not been easy and it was only due to Mad Eye's support that she'd got as far as she had.
Her eyes scanned the report, brows furrowing. This werewolf had not been properly investigated. He hadn't been interviewed at all! It was as if Moody only filed the report rather than doing a real investigation of the man. A werewolf too! A dark creature and a friend of Sirius Black! She picked up the report and set off in search of Moody.
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Remus Lupin had spent the last ten years going through the motions of life. He woke up at seven o'clock (nine on weekends), showered, dressed, breakfasted and went to work. He rarely had the same job for more than six months, employers quickly growing tired of his monthly absences even in the muggle world where he worked to minimise chances of exposure. He'd done many, many jobs. He'd stacked shelves, worked tills, walked dogs, made car parts, packaged ice, dug graves, driven lorries, served food, cooked food, grown food, shovelled shit on farms. If you could name a minimum wage job, he'd done it.
It had been ten years since Remus had essentially died. Yes, he went through the motions of life but that was all it really was; day to day survival with very little to interrupt the monotony of his life. He dreamt every night of his past be it dancing with Lily at her James' wedding as the other marauders catcalled, or sharing a joke with Peter as they spied on deatheaters, or playing with little Harry, or watching the trust in Sirius' eyes turn to suspicion. His life ended the day Dumbledore told him what had happened to all his friends. He retreated into the small cottage his parents had left him and survived. He was just grateful the ministry hadn't come knocking, something he was convinced Mad Eye was responsible for, one of the few people form the order he remained in touch with.
The transformations had got worse with time too. Without Sirius, James and Peter, the wolf was furious and confused, taking its frustrations out on Remus' body. Looking in the mirror, he was a different man than he had once been. Large scars tore his face and neck, his hair was going grey and he often had a limp. He couldn't quite bring himself to care though. He was free, alive, able to work and therefore able to survive, however dull and painful that was.
He'd never been a man predisposed to self pity but over the past few years, he'd clearly developed something of a skill for it. He missed who he used to be.
