Of Creepy Eavesdroppers and Bow tie Collections

I fidgeted. Checked my pocket to make sure my wand was still there. Brushed a small (three millimeters in diameter) piece of lint from the sleeve of my pressed black blazer (I'd returned home and changed, flinging the dust-streaked clothes into the farthest corner of my flat).

Right. Enough was enough. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the heavy oak door leading to Black's office, my mouth opening to spill out whatever apologies Numberita could come up with for my unexplained absence in the middle of a crucial case-

"OI, BLACK, ERM I'M VERY SORR-" I faltered, stumbling to a stop as my disbelieving eyes took in the scene in front of me. Black's back (he. He. That had a nice ring to i-Adela, stop getting distracted!) was turned to me, the expensive-looking fabric shifting slightly as he bent forward over his desk, fiercely snogging a slim, feminine figure below.

Holy Merlin's beard. I had never even thought of Black as a - well, a human being capable of saying anything other than "young 'uns" and "you crazy kids" and working his arse off in the court. Wait. That sounded bad. I didn't mean it (exactly) that way, but you got the picture.

I needed to scour my eyes out or something. Black was not supposed to be...snogging someone. He was supposed to be a crotchety old boss! (Okay, that also sounded bad)

He hadn't even noticed my entrance. His eyes had fluttered closed, and he pressed a surprisingly tender kiss against the woman's pale throat before whispering hoarsely, "I love you."

!

Okay, wow. The situation had just gotten much worse (if at all possible). I'd gone from accidental intruder to creepy eavesdropper. Maybe I ought to return at a later time. Yes, I decided. I didn't feel up to being in mortal danger for the second time in only eight hours. I carefully began to inch my way backwards, only to bang my hip loudly against the ornate coffee table Black had purchased six months and twenty-two days ago. I let out a squeak of pain and tripped over a bump in the plush carpet.

I was utterly and completely screwed.

Black whipped around, a furious glower already set on his face. His blue-grey eyes were narrowed almost to slits, and his arm had automatically shifted to hide the woman behind him.

Then he was the one to falter, his mouth dropping open slightly.

"Adela?"

I forced a grin, blinking away the tears of pain (what? I cry easily. No shame in that).

I lifted a hand and gave a brief wave that I soon transformed into a salute.

"Um. Hello, Sir Black the Back!"

Silence.

Merlin's beard, sometimes Numberita astounded even me. Why did I not have a filter between Numberita and my mouth?

"I mean - hello, Black. Adela Lancaster, reporting for duty! I really did not see anything or hear anything compromising I swear please don't take me off the Daisy case! I did get a phone number for a possible lead!" the words tumbled from my lips, and Black's furious expression was slowly replaced by one of utter confusion.

Eh. Confusion was better than fury any day. Hey, perhaps my strategy was working!

Finally a polite cough sounded from behind Black. Black immediately flushed, his tanned cheeks turning faintly pink, as he turned to look at his companion.

A pretty woman with wide brown eyes stepped from behind Black, tucking a strand of inky black hair behind her ear.

"Hello, Adela," she said softly.

Holy fudgesicle it was Healer Par - er, Elise. My eyes darted between the two sheepish looking people, Numberita working furiously.

"Um. Hi, Elise," I managed. She smiled, then carefully stepped away from Black.

"I really must be going. I have patients waiting," she said quietly, looking a bit conflicted. I nodded slowly, noting that she was avoiding Black's eyes. Huh. That was oddly...impersonal, especially considering the fairly passionate snog I'd caught them in just two minutes and forty-three seconds before. She grabbed her black coat from the leather armchair and left without a backward glance. A flash of something - longing? - flitted through Black's eyes as he watched her leave.

Then his eyes narrowed on me, and all traces of affection or even sympathy were gone.

"So, why were you gone?" he barked sharply. I winced.

"Um, insane w-werewolf." He blinked.

"First the Bulgarians, now this?" he asked, his voice softening. I nodded jerkily. He whistled, leaning against his wooden desk.

"Merlin, you really do attract them," he said. Then his tone grew brisk. "Now, what's this about a possible lead?"

I told him about Grey and the phone number. He grinned.

"Brilliant! Have you called Violet yet?"

I shook my head. "No, I haven't had a chance to."

"Well, now you do! Go!" he ordered. I nodded before turning, giving the evil coffee table a wide berth as I passed it.

"Oh, and Adela?" I paused, my hand resting on his door. Was he going to say he was happy to see me again? Perhaps this was the part where the crotchety boss admits gruffly that he appreciated his poor, underappreciated employee. Maybe I'd get a rai-

"Dominique's on the prowl. Good luck," he said offhandedly, flipping through the stacks of paperwork on his desk.

Shi-shitake mushrooms. Dominique. Who knew where she was roaming, just waiting to pounce from a hidden hallway. I practically flew down the hallway in my haste to get to my office unscathed. But, of course, the strawberry-blonde had already made herself at home at my desk.

"Hi, Dominique," I offered weakly, closing the door behind me. She glared at me for seven long seconds before sighing, her slim shoulders slumping.

"Merlin, I can't stay mad at you," she muttered. Then she leaped to her feet, running forward to hug me tightly.

"Don't you ever put yourself in danger like that again! If you die, who will be my partner in crime here? I'll have to rely on Henry, and we all know that boy can't keep a secret if his precious bow tie collection depended on it," she complained loudly, but I could see a glimmer of a tear shining from her eyes. I grinned.

"I missed you, too, Dominique," I said honestly. She huffed, flipping her hair over the shoulder of her white blouse.

"Of course you did," she said matter of factly. She hopped on to my desk, gesturing at the mound of papers and case files heaped on the poor wooden surface.

"I don't envy you, though," she said, wrinkling her nose at the mess. "It'll take ages to catch up. It's mad that they expect you to do it, considering all that happened…" her voice trailed off. I shrugged, avoiding her eyes. I really didn't want to talk about what had happened in the Department of Mysteries. Not when Al was down there at this very second. Not when he could be in mortal danger and I was safe in my office.

I swallowed around the sudden lump that had appeared in my throat, blinking back a fresh wave of tears that threatened to stream from my eyes. Dominique clapped her hands briskly.

"So, can you believe the rubbish that's being printed nowadays?" she said hurriedly, her concerned eyes catching mine. My lips twitched at her obvious attempt to distract me, but I said, "What has the Daily Prophet done now?"

She rolled her eyes, fishing in her bright red bag for five seconds before retrieving a crumpled newspaper with a victorious, "Ha!"

She shoved it at me, pointing indignantly at the front page. A large, gorgeous (well, every photo of hers was gorgeous, but this one was particularly so) photo of Victoire was printed. She was as willowy and graceful as ever, her long legs draped over a plush leather armchair and her head tilted back, her short, silky hair catching the intermittent sunlight.

"VICTOIRE WEASLEY CUTS IT ALL OFF - "IT WAS TIME FOR A CHANGE" EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE #1 SUPERMODEL IN THE WIZARDING WORLD: HER LOVE LIFE, HAIR TIPS, AND MORE!"

Dominique scowled down at the picture. "Liar," she spits. "She only cut her hair because some weirdo tore a good chunk of it out a few days ago."

I frowned. Some guy had seized Victoire's hair? That was a bit odd - or at least odder than usual.

"Besides, why is this front page news? Where's the article on Teddy? On Ragnuk and Greyback?" she continued angrily.

"Have they found Teddy yet?" I asked. She paused.

"Well, he did send us a weird note. Sent it to Uncle Harry, actually, which made Victoire furious. She reckons she ought to be the only one he talks to or something. Anyway, apparently he needs some time to think. Utter rubbish, if you ask me. I still think something fishy's going on. He can be irresponsible, yeah, but it's not like him to just up and leave with only a note to explain himself. But everyone's been too busy with all this werewolf stuff to really pay attention."

I flinched slightly at her repeated mention of Greyback, a rapid barrage of images (glistening teethclawseyes and terror) searing through Numberita. Dominique noticed and snapped her mouth shut, a stricken look on her face.

She leaned forward hesitantly, touching my arm. "Er, sorry, Adela. I didn't think - Mum always says I'll get into huge trouble someday because I can't keep my mouth shut," she said hurriedly.

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. I'm sure it'll be all over the papers by tomorrow, so I might as well get used to it."

I shook my shoulders back and raised my head. "Besides, I'm not going to let a lit-small werewolf obstruct me from a win." Dominique arched a questioning brow, and I held up the small slip of paper with Violet's phone number in answer.

"Is - is that…?"

I nodded, grinning widely. "Yup."

She cheered, shoving the standard black Muggle phone towards me (Black made sure that all the offices in his division had phones. He didn't trust the "newfangled" coin system Ms. Granger used...despite the fact that the Protean charm had been around for centuries).

Okay. This was it. I glanced at the picture of Daisy clipped to the case file. She was grinning widely, her luminous eyes shining in the sun. Right. I could do this.

I dialed the numbers carefully, holding my breath as the phone rang.

Please pick up. Please pick up. Ple-

"Hello?"

Success! Sure, the voice sounded a little tired and annoyed, but at least I'd finally reached Violet!

"Hello, is this Violet?" I asked, keeping my voice carefully cheerful.

"Yes, who is speaking?"

"My name is Adela Lancaster. I represent a...um, girl in a case regarding unlawful slavery and abuse. We are interested in getting in contact with your father, ol- erm, Ben. We believe that his testimony could be pivotal in the case," I said.

Silence. I fidgeted, crossing my fingers.

"Sorry, I really can't h-" she began. No. No. I had not gone through this much trouble so that Vince could go free.

"Look, Violet. My client has been mentally and physically tortured for her whole life by some bigots who think they are above the law. This would be a major step towards ending slavery of this kind - and it does exist, especially in isolated, large manors such as the one involved in the case. I would really appreciate your help," I interrupted.

Another long, long silence.

Then she sighed. "Which manor is this?" she asked curiously.

"Erm, I'm sorry, I can't say due to a confidentiality act," I said slowly. Well, it was kind of true.

She sighed again. "Fine, but my father is very old. I don't want you - or anyone, for that matter - causing him undue stress. I'm worried enough about his heart as it is," she said.

"Of course! He just has to appear for a day, two at most, at court in Wiz-er, London. Do you have a phone number and address at which I can reach him?"

"His phone is out, but you might be able to catch him at his work. He works as a dishwasher at Effie's - that's a French restaurant owned by a family friend in downtown London. You've just missed him, though. He won't be back to work for another two days."

She rattled off the restaurant's address and I wrote it down carefully, beaming down at the crisp letters. With Old Ben's testimony, we had a decent chance at winning this case.

I thanked Violet before hanging up the phone carefully. Then I jumped in the air, pumping my fists.

"YES!" I shrieked. Dominique grinned, jumping up as well.

"Brilliant, Adela!" she exclaimed. Merlin. This almost made up for all of the Greyback troubles that had come up. We danced around the room for the next four minutes and thirty-eight seconds, kicking off our shoes to slide across the slippery wooden floor (well, at least that was one part of the office that was relatively clean).

The door banged open, revealing an irate Cain Black.

"What in the bloody hell is happening in here?" he snapped, taking in our shoeless states. Dominique and I exchanged a look.

"We've got Old Ben's work address!" I explained. He blinked, his lips curving slightly.

"Good work," he said gruffly, clearing his throat. He nodded toward the mess on my desk.

"Now, back to work, young 'un," he ordered. I groaned but nodded slowly, trudging my way back to my rolling chair.

He saluted me mockingly, smiling slightly to offset the jab.

"Come, Dominique," he called. "Don't think I forgot about the six hours of research you still owe me." Dominique scowled.

"One day," she muttered, "I will slap that man." Then she sighed heavily before giving me another quick hug.

"Good luck," she said dryly, looking pointedly at the mounds of paperwork.

"You too."

She left, shutting the frosted glass door behind her.

I looked at the pile of paper (approximately a meter and a half tall) and gritted my teeth.

Odd, really. One hour you're in some crazed underground cave, the next you're filling out paperwork.

I flipped the first file open, pulling my opal quill towards me as I scanned its contents.

Mr. J. BUNDREN of London, England vs. Mr. A. BUNDREN. Civil suit for the possession of one deceased…

Author Note: Thanks for reading! Thumbs up if you catch the reference to a certain American book in there. As always, all reviewers will get a teaser of the next chapter! :)

Guest Review Replies

vroom vroom - Ah, thank you so much for your incredibly thoughtful review! I'm so glad you liked the movie references and Option B (I kind of want to see her doing that one, too). && YES I JUST WANT VANE AND ADELA TO BE THE PERFECT BROTP WITH ROSE AND JUST UGH. Also, thank you so much for catching that typo/the concrit! I really appreciate it :D

Jenn - AHHH I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT THANK YOU!