Once you graduated from Hogwarts and were forcefully made to join the adult world, you realised that there really weren't many options for what you could go on to do with your life. There were the conventional job opportunities like becoming a healer or working in the ministry. The more adventurous students went on to try to forge their own paths in this world. But, I was one of the more boring students, one of the ones that needed that bit of added stability and voluntarily chose to head into a bright and illustrious career in the ministry. Like hell, it was every bit as boring as I had thought it would be.
In fact, many of the students from my year had joined the ministry so really all it took was walking down the corridor to run into one of my schoolmates. Merlin's beard, the wizarding population was just too small if you could continue to run into the same people every bloody day. Especially when it was someone you did not like meeting regularly.
Percy bloody Weasley being one of them. Why was it that I had to see the infuriating man every day as I began the working day? Really, only I would have such misfortune to happen to see the twat every day.
For once, it would seem like luck was finally on my side. I'd boarded the lift to head up to the floor I worked on and there was no sign of Weasley anywhere. Maybe things were looking up for once, and that would mean that the rest of the day was bound to bring good news with it.
"Hold the lift," the sudden shout had me groaning in despair and I really almost let the lift go without making any attempts to 'hold' it.
But of course, he was there in a heartbeat. Weasley managed to duck into the lift just before it closed, and I eyed him with more than a little annoyance. Edging closer to the corner of the lift, I watched as Weasley began to straighten his clothes out until he looked presentable as if he hadn't just been running to catch it.
Perfect Percy, indeed.
Although I thought unable to stop a short huff of laughter that slipped past my lips, maybe he wasn't so perfect after all. He was controlled by his hormones, just as every other human out there. Hell, like every other teen out there – as he'd been in his seventh year. After all, what other reason did the Head Boy have for sneaking around with his girlfriend after curfew?
I'd stumbled upon them whilst they'd been locked in a very heated embrace. Salazar, the sight alone had made me contemplate gouging my own bloody eyes out. Except not doing so proved worth it when moments later I got to see the simply scandalised face of the esteem Head Boy himself. Merlin, that expression was still etched into my memory.
Naturally, the Slytherin in me had seen the opportunity for what it was; the chance to get my own back at the right ponce who just caused more and more trouble for the Prefects whenever he got the chance. It was ripe blackmail material so how could I have possibly let it slip up? Even now I still thought that I'd gone a bit too easy on him. Weasley had exchanged my protection of his title and reputation for a set number of favours to use up. And Merlin, I did use them to the best of my abilities.
Realising that he wasn't alone, Weasley turned towards me and I was quick to wipe the expression from my face. Angling his body towards my own, Weasley inclined his head slightly with a quiet, "Good morning."
"Morning," I greeted back with a nod.
Once the pleasantries had been exchanged, Weasley turned away from me again, looking to the front of the lift and waiting for his floor to arrive. My own eyes settled on the door, wondering why whenever I shared a lift with Weasley, it felt as if I was in it for hours, instead of the usual minutes – at most. Maybe it was just his naturally stifling presence? Or maybe –
"What is it, King?" he asked suddenly, taking me by surprise. "You just laughed; so, what was it about?"
The lift came to a stop on my floor and Weasley, likely knowing that his question would go unanswered, stepped aside to let me out. Straightening out my robes, I walked past Weasley with slow steps.
"I just remembered that I have some favours to call in," I explained over my shoulder as I stepped out of the lift.
I was tempted to walk straight away to my office. But I didn't. Instead, I turned to watch the doors of the lift slowly close, but not before I saw the instant understanding my words had brought to his face. He dropped his shoulders with a sigh and I watched with growing amusement as he rolled his eyes skyward.
Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad day, I thought as I turned to carry on my way towards my office. In fact, my mind was already focusing on what I could possibly use my last remaining favours for. If Weasley would even let me use them that is.
By the time I reached my office and shrugged out of my coat, my eyes focused on the paper aeroplane waiting for me. Salazar, how did the man manage to do it so quickly? Crossing the room with even steps, I picked up the plane and unfolded it, unsurprised to find Weasley's neat script written on it.
TWO favours only, King.
Salazar, how had he managed to get to his office and send me the note so soon? Although, it seemed like Weasley was planning on letting me use the last remaining favours. But what could I possibly ask for? I wasn't that student who still had essays left to finish and a last-minute set of notes to write.
One of the most horrendous things about being a relatively new ministry employee – one that had graduated only two years ago Hogwarts at that, was that you often wound up having to do other people's work for them. Especially when that person was your direct superior. Said superior who decided to pop her head into my office, knocking on the door to get my attention.
Looking up at the sound, I barely managed to stifle the urge to groan at the sight of her hopeful face. Even without her telling me, I knew what she wanted from me. "Can I help you?"
"Remember the meeting I'm supposed to be going to?" Greene asked hopefully, and I sighed, straightening up in my seat. Running a hand through my hair, I nodded hesitantly. "Well my secretary called in sick at the last minute; do you mind coming in to take notes for me?"
"Notes," I repeated slowly, even as I gathered my things to prepare to leave. Salazar, if I wanted to take notes then I would have applied to be a secretary. "Sure, give me a few minutes; I'll come along."
"Thanks. You're a lifesaver." She threw me a large, relieved smile before hurrying away towards the meeting.
"Salazar's soul," I grumbled under my breath, grabbing a notepad and a Quick-Quotes quill before planning on heading out.
But I paused in the doorway. Turning back towards my desk, I eyed the pile of papers that I was supposed to be filing instead of going to this dumb meeting. With a wave of my wand, I made the stack of papers follow after me as I left the office and boarded the lift. Pressing the button to get to the right floor, I walked straight past the meeting room and headed directly to Weasley's office.
Knocking on his door, I didn't even bother to announce myself before opening the door. Weasley looked up in surprise, making a face at the sight of me.
"Good to see you too Weasley," I said, rolling my eyes and walking into the room. Settling into the chair across from his, I crossed one leg over the other and set the stack of papers on his desk. Weasley's eyes widened a little at the huge pile of papers, straightening up in his seat and leaning towards the stack.
He pointed towards the papers, "This is?"
"I'm calling in a favour," I announced calmly, watching as he sighed instantly. "File these for me."
Leaning back in his seat once again, he lifted the glasses from his face and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. When they were settled on his nose again, Weasley met eyes with an arched eyebrow. "I have my own work to do."
"Well so do I." Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms as I defended, "I wouldn't even be asking you to file these for me if I had no other choice. Greene marched into my office and asked me to sit in on a meeting with her. Salazar, I'd have done it myself if I could."
"But must you really call in a favour over something like this?" he demanded with an irritated frown. "Paperwork, really?"
"Like I said; I have no choice, Weasley."
"This means that you only have one favour left," he warned, a last-ditch attempt at making me decide against calling in a favour. Did the stubborn fool not understand that I wouldn't have asked him if I didn't need to?
"I know."
"Alright fine." He sighed, sitting up once again to pull the stack of papers towards him. "I'll have them dropped back at your office once the time I'm done."
"Thanks, Weasley," I said with an honest smile as I rose to my feet and turned to leave his office.
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled as I walked out of the room and down the corridor.
Turning the corridor, I headed straight for the meeting room where I hoped that the meeting wasn't underway. Walking into the room, I hurriedly sat down at the table and let the quill do its work. With the quill working on its own, I had the time to think and get lost in my own thoughts.
Why exactly was Weasley going along with this whole favour business? It wasn't as if there was any real reason for him to carry on with it; it wasn't as if I could reveal it to anyone here? And even if I did – which I wouldn't – who would possibly care? Everyone had their private moments and only the nosiest irritating middle-aged women cared about who was getting it on with who.
Salazar, it wasn't as if anyone would give a shit that the 'perfect' Percy Weasley wasn't as perfect as he seemed. He wasn't the immaculate Head Boy here, he was just another employee; albeit one that was rising quickly through the ranks. But I doubted his employers would care that he got caught making out with an ex-girlfriend of his. Merlin, the actual blackmail material was so weak that I was surprised that it still held any power over him. It just made no sense. Unless this was a Gryffindor honour thing that was forcing him to continue with it? If that was the case, then I really didn't understand it.
If you asked any of the ministry employees what their most favourite part of the working day was, they'd tell you, without hesitation, that it was lunch time. Lunch time meant the chance to get off of ministry property for just a little while and Salazar knew I needed that. I could only stand seeing Greene's face so many times without a break. Salazar, if that woman asked me to do one more favour, then I was going to hex her. And that was not going to get me anywhere.
Heading out for lunch, I grabbed my coat and quickly slid it over my shoulders wanting to hurry to the lift. Since most people wanted to get out of the building for lunch, the lift was always packed, and I was not being squished into the corner again next to that bloke from the top floor who farted every few seconds. You only needed to make that mistake once to know otherwise.
Boarding the lift, I stifled a groan when I realised that it was already packed. Forcing myself into one of the corners to avoid the incoming groups of people, I rationalised that it was only a few minutes at most. The more levels we stopped at, the more people boarded the lift and the further I had to shuffle, almost staggering over my heels. An arm was wrapped around my waist in an instant, keeping me upright.
Glancing in surprise to the man standing beside me, the person that had saved me from simultaneously embarrassing myself and being crushed by the other people in this lift, I straightened up when I realised that it was Weasley. He wasn't even looking at me; eyes straight ahead, he glanced impatiently at his watch and removed his arm from around me. Clearing my throat, I decided against needing to thank him; if he wasn't going to make a big deal about it, then I didn't see the need to either.
Once the lift reached the bottom floor, the people started to slowly file out and I breathed a little easier, no long squished against Weasley. Straightening my coat sleeves, I walked out of the lift on my way to my favourite little restaurant.
Quite when Weasley dropped into step beside me, I didn't know. In fact, I only noticed his presence when he decided to speak up. "Those files of yours; were they filed alright?"
"The files?" I asked quietly, glancing towards him.
"I'm not in your department," he explained, turning his head to meet my eyes. "So, I don't know if there's a specific way you file them. Or something like that."
"They were immaculate," I assured him, smiling slightly at the blatant relief that flittered over his features.
"That's good," he said, seeming to share a smile with me as if that wasn't abnormal.
Planning to leave him behind, I continued to walk down the road as I headed straight for the restaurant that became my little safe haven in the middle of my working day. I reached for the door, stopping when it was opened for me. Looking towards Weasley in surprise, I felt my eyes widen a little when I realised he was holding it open for me.
"Thanks."
"No problem, King," he said plainly, gesturing for me to go ahead. Walking past him without a word, I stopped a little when he asked, "This is your go to place too?"
Nodding without a word, I walked past him and towards the nearest empty table. Sitting down and taking my coat off to drape it over the back of my chair. Picking up the menu that was already waiting on the table, I cast a glance around the room to where Weasley stood, looking around. With a reluctant sigh, Weasley realised that there were no empty tables and approached where I was sat. He gestured silently to the seat across from me.
"Help yourself," I said, reaching up to tuck some hair behind my ear.
"Thanks."
And that was all we said until it was time to order. Once our orders had been taken and our menus handed over to the waitress, I looked awkwardly towards Weasley who was already rifling through his briefcase, clearly in search of something. Even during his lunch break he couldn't but his work down. Closing his briefcase and tossing it aside, he paid no heed to the way my eyebrows rose in surprise at how unlike him the single gesture was. Shrugging out of the outer layer of his suit, Weasley undid the tie around his neck before rolling it up and shoving it into his coat pocket.
Salazar, that was very not like perfect Percy. Realising my appraising eyes, he raised his eyebrows in a silent question.
"Look Weasley," I said with a sigh, "seeing as we're both here why don't we talk?"
"Alright," he said easily, undoing the top button of his shirt. "There's something that's always made me curious."
"That doesn't sound good," I muttered, smiling in thanks at the waitress who brought our food to the table.
"You had about a dozen favours you could have used," he started and somehow, I wasn't surprised that this was what he wanted to talk about. "You always used them on the sort of things I never expected; like spell checking and editing your essays for Snape."
Picking up my knife and fork, I rolled my eyes as I asked dryly, "What? Did you expect me to ask for your first born or something?"
"Something like that," he agreed, cutting into one of his salmon steak.
I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering whether he meant it or not. But, as he looked down at his plate, I saw the corner of his mouth twice upwards as if he was suppressing a smile. Merlin, was that his style of joke or something?
"Be glad I didn't ask you to do anything worse."
"And we both know you're capable of much worse." This time he was definitely smiling.
"Are we both going to pretend that I didn't catch you mid duel when some arsehole decided to say something about your brothers?"
"And are we going to pretend you didn't hex that arsehole on your way out?"
"I just have an issue with people picking on people who can't defend themselves," I muttered, lowering my eyes when he looked up towards me.
The next morning found me running a little late which meant that the bloody lift was practically full by the time I reached it. With an irritated frown, I actually contemplated waiting until the lift came back down again, but a quick glance at my watch told me otherwise. Sighing quietly, I forced myself to board the bloody lift and was promptly squished against one of my male colleagues who worked on the floor below mine.
"Hold the lift!"
The voice, easily recognised, had me stepping forward without a word to stop the doors from closing before Weasley could board it. Realising that the lift wasn't going to go off without him, Weasley let his steps slow as he crossed the last few metres to the lift. With a thankful smile, Weasley straightened himself up as I found myself pressed against the same co-worker who looked down at me with interest. Giving him a strained smile, I shifted awkwardly on my feet. Why the hell did I have all of the bad luck?
From beside me, Weasley cleared his throat to make me look at him. He outstretched an arm to wrap around my waist. My spine straightened at the contact, eyes widening slightly. But before I could ask Weasley what he thought he was doing, he started to pull closer towards him. Blinking up at him in surprise, I raised an eyebrow. Really what was he doing?
"Stay away from Tuga," Weasley warned, dropping his head to mutter in my ear so no one else could hear what he was saying.
"Why?" I asked, leaning towards him as I dirtily eyed the man beside me. There must have been some reason for his warning, right? "What's wrong with Tuga?"
"He's being investigated for workplace harassment."
Weasley's abrupt confession had me gasping, inching further and further away from Tuga. If Weasley realised that I was now pressed fully against him, he didn't utter a single word of complaint and instead seemed to smile slightly.
"Do you think he's guilty?" I asked conspiratorially.
"As guilty as a Gryffindor caught sneaking out of the common room by Snape." Clearing his throat, Weasley gestured to the takeaway coffee cup in his hand.
I reached out towards the cup with a thankful grin, "I missed my morning coffee."
"Well this one is mine," he said with a smile that had me making a face.
Turning away from him with a frown, I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited for my floor to arrive. Weasley reached out to tap my shoulder and I cast him a look, "What?"
"Here." Outstretching the cup towards me, he gestured for me to take it.
"What did you put in it?" I demanded, even as I reached out to take the cup from him. Raising it towards my nose, I took a sniff as if I'd be able to smell some form foul play.
"Nothing," he insisted sincerely. "I haven't even touched it, let alone drank from it."
"Well thanks then," I said, taking a grateful sip. And really, he hadn't done anything to it.
I guess Gryffindors didn't think about things in the same way that Slytherins did. Merlin knows that I would never have given him a perfectly good cup of coffee. The lift finally finally cleared out a little as the majority of the people on the lift got off on a single floor. Thankful for the extra space, I stepped away from Weasley and straightened myself out.
"Is this your way of buttering me up so that I don't use that last favour?" I asked, raising the cup to my lips again as the lift continued towards my floor.
"Think whatever you want," he said with a roll of his eyes, as we got to my floor. "You're going to think whatever, anyway."
"Well thanks anyway for the coffee," I said as the lift came to a stop and I walked out of the lift. Lifting the cup in another silent thanks, I turned away from Weasley and headed towards my office to begin the day.
Merlin, not only was that something I had never expected to happen but maybe it was a sign that the rest of the day was going to be a good one. Taking another sip of the coffee, I listened to the clack of my heels against the marble floors and, very unlike myself, began to hum to myself.
I really needed to find out where Weasley got his morning coffee from.
It wasn't unusual to overhear an argument whilst walking through one of the many ministry hallways. Hell, it was a downright daily occurrence. But, hearing an argument between two members of family was a very different thing. Really, I had been minding my own business as I headed up to Weasley's floor to deliver a set of notes to the man. I hadn't expected to see Weasley in the middle of the corridor, arguing outright with what looked like his older brother. Before either Weasley could see me, I ducked to hide behind the corner.
I did not need them to see me. Although, I really didn't think that any brother of Weasley would ever have an earring. A fang shaped one at that. The argument grew louder and louder until a deadly still silence followed it. I held my breath, wondering whether or not it was the right time to approach Weasley.
I got my answer anyway when the older Weasley walked away from his younger brother's office and brushed right past me without a second glance. Clearing my throat, I bade my time to give Weasley the chance to gather himself before having to deal with anything work-related. From what I'd overheard, and the types of words exchanged, it hadn't been a very pleasant conversation between two brothers.
Stilling outside his office door for an extra second or two, I knocked on the door before pushing it open. Weasley who'd been sitting with his head pressed against the desk, bolted upright straightaway as if expecting a visit from the minister himself.
"It's just me," I assured him with a smile. "Did you get that note I sent you? About having business to discuss?"
"Yeah, I got it," he assured me with a weary sigh. "You wanted to talk over lunch, right?"
"If you're still up for it?" I asked tentatively.
"Yeah, yeah. Just give me a minute."
Pushing his chair out from under the desk, Weasley rose to his feet and rubbed tiredly at his temple. Taking pity on him, I stepped inside to get his coat from the hook and held it out towards him. With a grateful smile, he shrugged into it and fixed the scarf around his neck.
We walked silently to the little restaurant that had quickly become a place we went to together, and I waited for him to say something. Anything. It wasn't like I expected him to confide his deepest worries to me, but even if he just wanted to talk to me about work it would give me the sign that he was alright to discuss other things. But no, he just remained silent.
And even when we were seated to eat, Weasley rarely spoke a word. Even as we talked about work, he only added a few words to put in his thoughts. Salazar, there was something really wrong and I didn't want to prod. That was why I said nothing as he rose to pay – despite my very very ardent protests – and thought of a way to make him speak.
Weasley walked out of the restaurant, holding the door open for me. I hesitated for a moment before reaching out to catch his arm. The man started at the contact, looking at me in surprise.
"Do you want to go for some coffee?"
Absentmindedly he admitted quietly, "I don't drink coffee."
I thought briefly back to the coffee he'd taken to offering me before dismissing it with a shake of my head. "What about tea then?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah of course. Tea, tea sounds good."
And so, we did go for tea. I managed to wait until the teacups had been set in front of us before reaching out for the teapot. Pouring some into both cups, I eyed him carefully from under my eyelashes. Weasley stared absentmindedly down at the table, tapping his fingers against the surface in an odd rhythm.
"You should probably sort things out with your family," I started quietly, lowering my eyes quickly when Weasley stilled.
Forcing myself to raise my eyes, I hesitantly pushed his cup towards him before stirring some sugar into my own tea. "That's none of your business, King."
"I know that, but –" Hesitating for a moment, I bit my bottom lip before reminding him, "I have one more favour left."
He narrowed his eyes at me, demanding harshly, "Where are you going with this?"
"Just – use the favour for that? Talk to your parents and sort out whatever's gone wrong?"
He didn't speak another word, the tension easing back into his shoulders. Weasley was back to his deep contemplations, not realising that he'd added five spoonful's of sugar to the teacup he had no intention of drinking from. Raising my cup to my lips, I eyed the silent Gryffindor. It was such a shame really but seeing Weasley outside of school – especially in the last few months – I'd begun to see what Penny had seen in him in the first place. What any of his ex-girlfriends had seen in him. Rowena, I'd even begun to see the appeal myself.
Maybe it was time to think like a Slytherin instead of a Gryffindor. Merlin, I'd spent months of my last school year manipulating Weasley into doing what I wanted so would it really be so hard to do it again? Especially when this was in his best interest?
"You know," I started, kicking his shoe with my own to get his attention. It worked as he blinked out of his daze, lifting his eyes to meet mine. I watched without a word as he lifted his cup to his lips only to grimace and set it aside with a clatter. Frowning deeply, he reached out to push the cup away from him.
"What is it, King?"
"I just thought that you were Gryffindor through and through; hell, you even have the red hair for it," I said casually, dropping my chin on my palm. "Maybe you're not so Gryffindor after all."
The next morning found me stuck in my office for the majority of the day as I was stuck sorting through a sudden influx of paperwork which all needed to be sorted. But as if I hadn't had enough work to deal with, the paper aeroplanes were doing their rounds around the entire ministry and I realised, more than a little annoyed, that multiple aeroplanes had flown into the room to land neatly on the top of the papers.
Rising to my feet with a sigh, I decided to deal with the notes which were bound to be important. Picking up the first plane and instantly recognising Weasley's handwriting, I set his aside to deal with it at the end. Working my way through the rest of the planes and responding to the ones that needed an answer, I turned back to my sorting. Only once all the paperwork had been filed away and dealt with, did I remember the paper plane that I'd set aside.
Settling into my seat with a sigh, I reclined as far as I could and reached out for the note. Unfolding it quickly, the first sentence of the short message had me straightening up once again.
You've got no favours left.
No favours left, meaning that he'd actually spoken to his family like I had asked. When I'd attempted to goad Weasley into speaking to his parents, I didn't actually think that the stubborn man was going to actually do it. But there it was, written in black ink; he'd gone and done it. All because I'd insulted his Gryffindor honour.
Turning back to the short note, I frowned as he continued to ask whether or not I had noticed the flowers. Flowers? I looked around the room, what flowers? Except, there they were; a bunch of tulips sitting innocently in a vase on top of my filing cupboard. Pushing to myself to my feet, I crossed the room with quick strides and took the note that was stuck on the vase.
Thanks for helping me gain the courage to speak to my family. I owe you, King. What about dinner?
"I don't quite see why you need to thank me for this," I muttered aloud, folding the note up and putting it back into the envelope.
Dinner? What about dinner? I sighed, wondering what to do as I brushed a gentle finger over one of the petals. Picking up the vase, I returned to the desk and placed it on the corner. I walked back to my seat with a contemplative frown. Dinner. What was I supposed to do about dinner?
Crossing one leg over the other, I stared at the flowers with narrowed eyes. Dinner. Dinner.
Straightening up again, I reached for the nearest piece of clean parchment only to hesitate again. I was going to write a response back to Weasley, but what exactly was I going to say to him? Picking up my quill, I trailed my fingers over the feathered end with a sigh. Salazar, what was I supposed to say?
A knock sounded on the door and I looked up in surprise. Weasley, always knowing the most inopportune moments to arrive, was standing at the door of my office. He didn't walk into the room, stopping in the open doorway.
"I was just walking past," he explained, adjusting the glasses a little awkwardly on his nose. "Just thought I'd stop by."
"And here you are," I murmured, clearing my throat as I crossed my arms. "Did you need anything?"
"Did you see the letter? And – and the note?" At my nod, he shuffled a little on his feet. "So?"
"So?"
He arched an eyebrow. "Dinner?"
"Sounds good," I said before I could stop myself, smiling and biting my lip to stop it from growing any more.
"Great," he agreed, beginning to beam. "Maybe we –"
"Mr Weasley!" the call came from further down the corridor and Weasley sighed, dropping his head for a moment.
"I should probably go," he said with a disappointed sigh. "But, I'll owl you and we can sort everything out?"
"I'll be waiting," I promised, watching him go with a smile.
Salazar's soul, what the hell had I just agreed to? And why, for the life of me did I not regret it even a little?