The Headmaster's Office, like the rest of the school, had barely changed. The Headmaster, Tony Britch, lounged in his own swivel chair, with his back against the door, facing the beautiful Hogwarts grounds outside the window. His fingers tapped the table nervously and he only swung around upon hearing the creak of the door opening. A young slender woman slid in and approached the table cautiously.
"Hello, dearie."
At such an old age, it was hard for the Headmaster to look away from the scantily-clad body that presented itself to him. Gretel Borovic was well-endowed in every sense of the word. Her full breasts dangled tantalizingly in front of the Headmaster as she deliberately bent far over to deposit few sheets of paper, sliding it seductively in front of him. Britch deliberately turned away, clasping his fingers together nervously. She had worked her charms before but now they would not work against him. He wondered why he had hired her as Professor in the first place. She was definitely too young. Her credentials, Tony reminded himself harshly, she had good credentials, a good magical family background, played Quidditch for Slytherin etcetera. The excuses even though oft-repeated were already beginning to sound tiresome.
"What is it?" He asked tartly, refusing to look her way.
Gretel seemed to lean further over the table. On closer inspection, she looked even younger than initially perceived, her face covered with thick rouge and a dark maroon lipstick. She was about the same age as Jamie and Hector.
"A new Professor applicant, Headmaster." Her voice was silky smooth and in spite of himself, Britch still turned to look at the sheets of paper which were in all actuality, application papers. He studied them, then almost burst out into uproarious laughter.
"Hector Hanover?" Britch laughed, running a hand over his semi-bald head. "You cannot be serious, Miss Borovic. I have only accepted two professors of your age and already it has been such a hassle getting the others to approve and accept."
"You could always do it again." Gretel replied promptly. "Now you have me to add to the persuasion."
Britch shook his head. "You do not understand. Hanover does not have the credentials nor the reputation to back him up."
Gretel remained silent but reached over to turn the application to the subsequent page with a list of Hector's excellent scores in Charms. Britch nodded, "Yes I am aware but that was only because he was most adept at using charms for pranks…"
"What matters is that he is good at it, isn't it? With the Atkinham girl gone for at least a month, you're in desperate need of a replacement…"
"But you are talking about Hector Hanover here…"
"His family has a fortune rival to the Borovics and at this point in time, it would be an excellent idea to have them on your team, don't you think?" Gretel said curtly, her manner was now more business-like than before and her voice raised a little. Britch frowned. It was wrong but Gretel had made a valid point. His position at the tip of Hogwarts was not as before, there were strong pureblood families out there who believed his genealogy had a mix of Muggle blood in it.
Gretel folded her arms, watching the Headmaster's face change slowly from incredulity to understanding. She knew as well as Britch did that she had made a valid point, like she always did. If Hector Hanover was in her reach, she mused, the Borovics and the Hanovers could together monopolize power in the magical world. She looked upon the moving photograph attached to the front of the application. Hector moved in from the frames and displayed an excellent smile. He might have eluded her before, but not now.
The wedding went ahead smoothly, at least insofar as Jamie could tell. She was unfamiliar with the Indian wedding traditions and thus was ignorant on most parts, only for a moment glancing up from smoothing her dress, which was honestly rather uncomfortable, when the jasmine flowers were being strewn. Her only distinct memory was of her sister, decked out in the sari, looking more the jewel than ever. Jamie knew that she had a right to be jealous at that point, watching her younger sister in her full glory, undergoing the rites that she, as the elder sister, should have undertaken earlier. But for a minute, she could only glow with pride.
Jamie slid into the bride's room just before the reception was about to begin, watching as her sister slipped out of the sari into a stately dress, another gift from the Dugbras.
"My younger sister's all grown up." She mused almost nostalgically.
Alicia laughed. "You can't expect me to forever stay young can you?" She ran a comb through her long dark hair. "How is Hogwarts?"
"Fine. I survived the first term at least." Jamie smiled, playing with her fingers. "I'm probably good enough for them to miss me terribly for a month. I hear they are getting a replacement."
"Hopefully not some old fogey."
"They don't really like young Professors anyway. There's only two of us in the entire school."
"Who's the other one?"
"Gretel Borovic."
"Oh, I remember that slut." Alicia crossed her arms. "She convinced Benjy that I wasn't good enough for him."
Jamie laughed and wrapped her arms around Alicia from behind. "Well at least you proved her wrong now. She'd probably be green with envy if she saw Jarrod."
"She's a Slytherin pureblood. Muggles are out of the question."
"Let's talk about other things." Jamie changed the subject adeptly. She never mixed with Gretel too much and did not want to either. Ignorance was bliss. "How is your job at the Hospital?"
There was a strange unexpected silence as Alicia stopped the act of brushing her hair, placing the brush down carefully by her side. "I quit my job."
Jamie could not hide her shock, which Alicia could see clearly through the reflection in the mirror. "But, Ally, I always thought you wanted to become a Healer!"
Alicia steeled herself. It had never occurred to her that the truth would be so hard to tell. "I did, but…its all over now."
Jamie opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out and Alicia took the cue to continue. "Jarrod, he's a religious man."
Jamie stared into the wells of Alicia's eyes, desperately trying to dig out even one small scrap of truth. Her eyes were welling up yet they told nothing. He's a religious man. She knew about religion. And more than ever, she knew that religion and magic did not necessarily go hand-in-hand. "Al, you can't mean…"
"I love him, Jamie." Alicia reached out to clasp Jamie's hands, hoping, praying that she would understand. "I would do anything to be the perfect wife. Anything. And if it takes this, I'd do it."
"You can't just…" Jamie spread her arms wide in pure helplessness. "…quit magic! You can't quit being a witch! It's in your blood!"
"It's not!" Alicia flared up. She would be the perfect wife, just as Jarrod was her perfect husband. She had to be. "I can leave it all behind! I'll never return to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Mom and Dad will never speak of it! I…"
There were tears streaming down Alicia's face. She had been through this conversation once before with Mom and Dad. They had told her it was the best way to go. One or the other. If she couldn't let him go, she had to compromise. She would. Without knowing it, she was in Jamie's arms, crying into her shoulder. The mascara was smearing into a colourful mess on Jamie's cream white gown but it did not matter to her. Jamie only knew that she needed to hold onto Alicia tight enough so she would not lose her only sister to Jarrod Dugbra.