AN: Thank you to those who have read, favorited, and reviewed. I really appreciate it. I don't want a beta, but I appreciate the offers. If you happen to see mistakes in grammar and want to point them out to me, feel free. I will not take offense. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy. I own nothing, but if I did, I'd choose Severus Snape.
Until You See Me
Chapter 2
"Miss Parkinson, Mr. Skinner will see you now." Pansy glanced away from her copy of the Daily Prophet, meeting the kind, sparking eyes of the receptionist. It wasn't often anyone showed her kindness, so she returned the favor with a sincere smile of her own. She followed the woman through the double doors and into the large office. She was nervous, but hopeful this would turn into the opportunity she needed.
She had replied to the ad in the Prophet for the Research Assistant in the Ministry's Unspeakable division, even though she thought it strange they'd hire from the outside. It was a widely known fact that the Unspeakables hired from within, and only after proving yourself. What "proving" oneself entitled, no one knew, other than the ones who were hired. She didn't care about all that, as she just needed a job.
A tall Wizard, Mr. Skinner she presumed, with blonde curly hair stood from his desk. He appeared middle-aged, and had a kindness about him that made Pansy relax somewhat. She wasn't expecting to be greeted so nicely, but when he spoke, she didn't feel like vomiting her lunch all over his shiny shoes.
"Thank you for coming in, Miss Parkinson. It is a pleasure to meet you." He stuck his hand out to shake hers before motioning to the chair in front of his desk. As she sat, she noticed how soft it felt, and it made her relax further.
"I really appreciate the opportunity to meet with you today, Mr. Skinner." She shifted into a pose her mother had taught her, making her appear submissive yet in control all at once, and tried to turn on all her Slytherin charm. It was all an illusion.
"We haven't had many applications, although, I can understand why. It's not every day that the Unspeakable department hires from the outside. I think everyone is a bit scared of us." He chuckled, mirroring her thoughts from earlier.
"Yes, I must admit, I was rather surprised to see the ad, but the work seemed to suit me. I like to do research." She desperately hoped she wasn't sounding too enthusiastic. Pansy hated having to plaster a fake smile on her face when she felt like doing anything but.
He picked up her application and scanned it, making comments about her N.E.W.T.s, previous work experience, and what they were looking for. Basically, from what Pansy gathered, the position was for a librarian of sorts with research projects to conduct from time to time. It wasn't top secret work, but the Library alone required a certain level of clearance. She could handle that.
"It's a new position, one we haven't hired for before, so this is a kind of trial for us as well." She caught herself from cringing at the word trial, remembering all too well how her last "trial" job had worked out. Mr. Skinner didn't seem anything like her last boss, however, which gave her a tremendous amount of hope..
"I understand. I'm rather flexible with my time, and I am a quick learner. I'll do my best to accommodate the position in any way I can if you decide to hire me." She smiled her fake smile again, hating the way she sounded. She refused to let her desperation show.
She needed this job. Every interview she had been on in the last week had resulted in a resounding "no" or the expected "we'll owl you". This was the last decent option she had left before she would have to start looking at babysitting jobs. She wasn't above such things, and she loved kids, but being a single witch with no family support, a position as a nanny just wasn't going to cut it. She couldn't afford housing and feed herself on such a low paycheck.
"Well, Miss Parkinson," Mr. Skinner said, smiling and leaning over his desk to extend his hand, "welcome to the Ministry."
Trying to contain her grin as she entered the lift, she basked in the relief she felt for the first time that week. She finally had an interesting job that could lead to amazing opportunities, and the pay wasn't too shabby either. Now that she had income again, she could focus on getting herself moved from the Leaky. She didn't start her new position for a few days, so she planned to start looking for somewhere to live immediately.
The Lift was empty as she traveled to the entrance of the Ministry. When her destination was announced, she was still lost in her own thoughts, and didn't see the man hurrying to enter as she exited.
They collided, Pansy nearly falling before crashing into the door. She clenched her teeth to keep from yelping, and knew she'd have a bruise before the end of the day. She felt foolish for not keeping a better eye on her surroundings.
"I'm so sorry. Are you alr... Pansy?"
She wanted to laugh when she saw who she'd run into; his green eyes large with concern as he pulled her away from the wall. She could feel the heat from his strong hands penetrate the sleeve of her robes; goose bumps sprang up along her skin.
"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," she said, trying to fight the feelings he always seemed to cause in her.
"Excuse me," a portly witch with a large nose said as she waited from them to move out of the way.
They both startled, and Harry pulled her gently away from the lifts and towards a set of benches in the Atrium.
"Are you alright? You'd think with me being an Auror I would pay better attention."
She blushed, as she usually did when in his presence.
"It's alright," she waved him off and stretched her back slightly. She didn't want to let on how badly it hurt.
"What are you doing here?" His question wasn't accusing, just curious.
"Oh, I had an interview with Mr. Skinner," she said excitedly. It was nice to be able to share her good news with someone. She tried not to think about how depressing it was she had so few people in her life.
"From the Unspeakable Division?" She nodded at his question, her eyes lighting up. "How did it go?"
"I start next Monday."
"That's great, Pansy. Congratulations." While Pansy was excited to share her news with someone, she had not been prepared for his delight upon hearing it. He seemed genuinely happy for her, which confused her.
"Thank you," she said, rather breathlessly. She wasn't sure what to make of Harry Potter. She'd never been friends with a Gryffindor before, and had to remind herself of that fact.
"I think I'm going to like it here." She hadn't had time to let it all sink in, but she had allowed herself to be happy over her new line of work. Getting a job at the Ministry was not an easy thing to do. There were so few positions for such a large population. She felt rather accomplished at doing so.
"I'm sure you will. The Ministry can be a bit hectic at times, but regardless of what most wizards think, this place isn't so bad." He smiled brightly and pushed his glasses further up his nose. She tried to calm the frantic beating of her heart.
"I hope I'm not keeping you. You seemed like you were in a hurry before." She frowned, not wanting to hold him up, but not wanting to say goodbye either.
"I should probably get going. I have some information for Kingsley. I wanted to make sure you were alright, though."
"I'm fine, Harry, really, no harm done. I'm a little tougher than I look." She stood, trying to hide the disappointment she felt for having so little time with him. This was only their third meeting since he'd saved her life, but every encounter left her wanting more time with him. It frustrated her.
"Good. I would have felt bad for the rest of the day if I had hurt you permanently."
"Only the rest of the day?" She wasn't sure why she was teasing him. It wasn't often Pansy flirted, but she was quickly learning she didn't have control over how she acted most of the time in his presence. Merlin, Pansy, you're pathetic, flirting with anyone who will show you the least bit of attention.
"Well, maybe tomorrow, too," he said, laughing with her.
"Alright, Mr. Auror, off with you. Go do your job before you find yourself in my shoes," she teased again.
He gave her a cocky smirk, one that could rival Draco's any day, and started walking backwards towards the lifts. "Not anymore, Miss Parkinson. You're now the newest employee for the Ministry of Magic."
"This is true," she said with a shrug. "Bye, Harry."
After returning his wave goodbye, she picked up her bag from the bench, and made her way towards the floos, and on to the Leaky.
She was in a much better mood than she had been for the past week. She had even decided to take Neville and Hannah, who she had come to like during her stay, up on their invitation to eat dinner with them. Her acceptance was a shock to them all, but well received.
She was surprised at how much she enjoyed their company, even though she was anything but comfortable with trying to make new friends. The war had left a lasting, and rather nasty, mark on her being, much like the rest of wizarding Britain, but she was finally starting to feel like her old self again.
Well, maybe not her old self. The younger version was a spoiled, scared chit of a girl with loyalties only to herself and ambitions that rivaled the Dark Lord. The older, wiser Pansy, however, was learning that change wasn't such a bad thing and was a little more open with others; something she'd been hesitant of in the past.
"You must be so excited for your new job, Pansy. It sounds like you're really going to enjoy it." Hannah, who was heavily pregnant, placed a piece of chocolate cake with raspberry cream in front of her. Pansy smiled gratefully.
"I hope so. It sounds interesting enough." Pansy took a bite of her cake, trying not to feel too uncomfortable. While the Longbottoms were nice enough, she still wasn't used to socializing with others. Hannah, it seemed, had no problems with talking for her husband and guest.
"Practically living in a massive library with mounds of research opportunities? I bet when Hermione hears about that, she'll be green with envy." Both the Longbottoms laughed, and Pansy managed a small smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She knew they were speaking about Granger, because really, how many people name their child Hermione anyways, and she didn't want to think about her.
The last time she'd seen Granger she'd been staring down her wand at the angry witch who was frantically trying to save Weasley's life. It was that awful night at Hogwarts when Harry had killed the Dark Lord and Pansy was just trying to get out of the castle; everyone had been. She'd run across the pair on the edge of the forest as she tried to get outside of the castle's wards. Weasley was lying in a pool of blood on the forest floor with Granger kneeling over him chanting healing spells and pouring potions down his throat.
When Granger had heard her approaching she'd had her wand out, Pansy disarmed and bound on the ground with a binding curse before either could properly blink. She wasn't even sure Granger had fully seen who she was as she went back to work on the Weasley boy, and all Pansy could do is watch as the boy's life drifted away leaving Granger in a sobbing mess over his too still body and wide unseeing eyes.
Pansy had eventually worked her way out of her bindings and left without Granger noticing. It had been a royal pain in the arse to get her wand back from the Ministry a week later. There had been mountains of paperwork to fill out, but Pansy never did say it was her who watched Granger fall apart on the forest floor as the Weasley boy died. At the time, and even now, the memory seemed too private for her to have been there.
Ever since that night, Pansy tried her best not to even think about the girl. She wouldn't admit, even hardly to herself, that it was that moment, watching the one girl she had hated for no reason sob over her love done dying, that had changed Pansy. She saw others, and life, in a new light, all because of the tears in Granger's eyes and the sobs that still haunted her nightmares.
After dessert, she thanked the Longbottoms for their hospitality and promised to eat with them again in the next few days. As she got ready for bed, she was surprised at how much she had enjoyed herself, not realizing that she missed human interaction. Dinner had been fun, full of laughter and not as awkward as she'd thought it might be. The hardest part, however, had been trying not to blush every time one of them mentioned Harry's name.
END NOTE: Thank you again for reading. :)