Chapter Three
Severus was a loner and he preferred it that way, nothing was more peaceful than the solitude of his now semi-impressive home. Whilst there was the occasional worker doing improvement jobs around the house, days could go by before he had social interaction. Most of his shopping was done via a prescription with the local greengrocer and if he felt the need for something special a quick trip into town and a polite nod to the cashier was all that was required. He found small talk irritating, besides apart from a select few no one seemed to enjoy conversing with him. After having misspent his youth worshiping a dark lord, he had since spent the rest of his life trying to make up for his error of judgment. Whilst his efforts to assist the light side to victory were common knowledge, he knew people felt uneasy in his presence and it didn't help matters that a vast majority of the younger generation in town had suffered under his teaching styles at Hogwarts.
Bronte an older confident witch had warmed to him almost instantly regardless of his past, and he had secretly treasured the friendship. Her passing had truly affected him and he could now count on one hand the number of witches and wizards he could name as genuine friends. Dumbledore being one of those, had kindly visited after spying him hiding at her funeral. Following him back to the manor Severus normally would hate such interference but it was actually a soothing distraction, enjoying the easy banter between them as they shared favourite memories of Bronte over glasses of whiskey. Prior to her death they had been engaged in a fierce chess game, both sides hating to lose due to their competitive natures, the pieces were now silent out of respect. Dumbledore had studied the board for a good few minutes and declared some valuable moves to be made but Severus couldn't bring himself to finish it, he was simply not ready to lose a reminder of her.
Eventually shooing him out the door with a promise of a future chess match, Severus had meandered for a few days lacking direction. Receiving a summons to Brontes will reading, he found himself attending out of respect. Bronte had honoured him by leaving him another special brightly coloured feathered quill the brashness almost causing an elusive smile, a large collection of first edition texts that he would certainly treasure and finally a rather rough looking black long haired cat. The animals name was Oscar and Severus found himself taking the feline home, his first real familiar. Bronte had teased him for months mentioning this new friend she'd made and what a great dinner companion he was, pondering if she should introduce the two of them. A simple glare in return from him had silenced the notion, but it now made a lot more sense that the person in question was actually a cat.
Oscar largely did his own thing, he had already found a favourite spot to enjoy the warmth of the days sunshine and expelled energy at night chasing lizards. Severus was yet to find some food the cat would enjoy and was almost ready to abandon the animal at Dumbledore's doorstep. It was most tiresome to have it meow and rub against his legs before circling its bowl demanding attention. The estate lawyer had been no help with what diet the cat required, so he was trailing yet another type of biscuit tonight. He would be lying to himself if he didn't admit it was the most exciting part of his week so far to see if the cat would take to the new meal. Tomorrow all that would change, as he was set to meet his new editor.
He had not made it easy for the publishing house but he felt some loyalty towards them, sending in a list of demands he thought it best to weed out any incompetent fools so not to waste his valuable time. Bronte had played an essential part in guiding his work so that the books were sultry and not vulgar. It would be hard to find another person to work and feel comfortable with, disregarding his reputation and general demeanour. Adding in a nondisclosure agreement to protect his identity the publishing house had just confirmed they had a new senior editor that was up for the challenge, and a port key was set up for midday to arrive at his library. He was more than confident in his protection charms and ability to look after himself so felt he could handle whomever would arrive. Bronte had always come to see him at the Manor and he wished to keep the same routine. He had no desire to go galavanting across the country side nor risk the chance of running into anyone he knew by attending the publishing office.
Since Brontes passing he had yet to write anything of great significance and as he sorted through his notes for his current novel he realised he was not going to get any work done today. His mind was too distracted by the sound of the cat meowing through his hallways and the uncomfortable notion of meeting someone new. He would most likely hate them and find them of no help and have to repeat the process over and over again. Maybe one of them would like a cat he wondered, abandoning his work to go look for said creature. Settling into the library he put his energy into sorting out his new additions and occasionally mentioning a title or something of interest to Oscar who promptly ignored him.
Pacing up and down her new office Ginny found the activity a welcome distraction. She was well over a week into her promotion and loving the challenges it provided however she had yet to meet the elusive Ms Bloom. Her boss had informed her they were waiting for her to agree to a meeting, as she had provided a rather large list of demands. Ginny was used to authors been a touch eccentric so she was sure she could handle it and had signed the appropriate forms, after all who didn't like privacy. After simply devouring five more books she knew she wanted to work with Ms Bloom, if only to get her hands on another juicy sensual novel.
Just before breaking for lunch one of her bosses visited her office, carrying a package. They had finally ironed out all the important details and a meeting time was established with Ms Bloom, a port key would enable Ginny to visit her home which would activate at precisely twelve o'clock tomorrow. Miss Bronte had kept quite encrypted notes about her clients and Ginny felt she was no closer to knowing her new client apart from the brief jacket description she'd read in each novel. Belladonna Bloom listed herself as a widowed witch in her late sixties who enjoyed writing by the seaside. Ginny thought that she was likely a worldly woman who had a beautiful marriage going by her ability to write such sensual material and now spent her time travelling and enjoying the finer things in life. She began to feel slightly nervous, she wanted so badly to make a good impression and be an asset to the authors.
Later that night she chatted about her nerves with Harry as they cooked together. Sitting down to eat the simple pasta dish, Harry was complementary as ever and helped set her mind at ease. She would simply go in projecting as much confidence as she could muster, and who knows it could be the beginning of a great working relationship. Her boyfriends gentle encouragements and interest in her work was endearing and she felt a rush of warmth for him. Thanks to all her recent reading of somewhat erotic literature Ginny had the naughty idea to show him her thanks, turning around in the guise of cleaning the dishes she undid a couple of buttons on her blouse and debated on undoing her skirt and sashaying over towards him. Before she could enact her daring plan, Harry interrupted her thoughts leaning in to kiss her cheek and mention that he was off for the rest of the evening. She had completely forgotten that he had signed up to play Quidditch for the local team as a way of keeping up his fitness.
'Well you could always be a few minutes late and start a warmup with me' she teased.
Harry obtuse as ever simply smiled and headed out to grab his broom. Sighing Ginny returned to the boring task of actually cleaning up before doing more light reading for work. She had found one promising draft from an unpublished novice and was keen to get out her quill to see if she could do it some justice. However she struggle to concentrate, instead deciding on an early night as it was best to get a goods night rest and be sharp for tomorrow. Running through all her wardrobe options in her mind, she was aiming for a chić elegant look her eyelids ran heavy and she was soon fast asleep.
A/N: Sorry for delay in updates, more on the way soon!