11
THE Legilimens as he restlessly paced the hallways of Headquarters knew he'd never have love. It should have been painstakingly obvious after so many years alone that no one would ever dare to love the broken bastard that he knew himself to be, in a romantic way.
And not just because of the burn mark underneath his right eye that twisted and marred an otherwise handsome enough face into something truly grotesque and hideous, but because of the emotional scars as well, that which lay just underneath the surface of his skin, that he didn't want anyone, particularly the young blonde woman upstairs, to see for themselves.
My new partner. Not even a day into it yet, and already, that woman hates me for what I am, he thought bitterly, gnashing his teeth together in anger, reflecting how Jameson looked at him.
Ollie took a moment to recollect how afraid the girl had been when she had looked upon his face.
How when he had stared into her cold but pleading eyes, he felt the worst of his anger dissipate and when he'd looked at the celestial-like creature in front of him upstairs, he realized that Jameson believed that to be his design, that he would behave towards her no better than Rookwood had earlier tonight.
And when she had stood in the doorway of the bathroom, staring at Ollie in pure fear, he realized that this was not what he wanted of his new partner in the Order at all.
This strange woman, this werewolf, Norah Jameson, saw him just as he was.
A monster. A demon and it was clear, judging by the fear in those brilliant blue eyes of hers, that she saw nothing but a monster. And Jameson was right, of course.
Ollie Brennan was a man doomed to a life of physical hell on Merlin's green earth, no thanks in part to his father, hoping to live in the light after a life forever spent alone in the shadows, but never quite able to reach that light, no matter how hard he fought for that.
Ollie wanted what normal wizards had every day of their lives and took for granted: a family, a loving partner, maybe one day, kids. What he wanted was a normal want of life and yet, he knew he would never have it.
Normal life was not meant for the son of a well-known Death Eater living in Jack Brennan's shadow.
He heard low voices coming from inside the parlor, recognizing them as Lupin and Tonks's voices, talking in too low a tone for him to make out, though he caught the mention of his name in snippets of their conversation, and his curiosity intrigued, stepped forward through the doorway.
Ollie flinched, his mind still on thoughts of the girl upstairs, recollecting how the blonde had looked at him, that moment before their tempers collectively surged to the surface.
Seeing the flicker of fear that passed through her hauntingly eerie blue-grey orbs when her eyes landed on his burn mark, how he'd sworn she'd recoiled in disgust.
A monster. That's all I'll ever be is a monstrous wretch, Ollie thought bitterly to himself, feeling grateful the only other one among the Order beside himself who was a Legilimens was Snape, and that his former Head of House was not here to dip into his mind and read his thoughts.
If he had been, Snape probably would have told him to get a grip. At best and insulted him at the very worst.
He couldn't quite believe how he had managed to lose his control and fly off the handle when dealing with the young blonde witch's innate stubbornness to refuse his help. It was nonsensical, and not to mention, inexcusable and inappropriate.
Ollie was not soon to forget it, or how the blonde's own temper had risen, seeping its way unbidden to the surface and Jameson had dared to talk back to him, her words piercing his heart with the cold and harsh truth. There was no point in trying to deny it.
He was a man destined to be alone, and he was of half a mind to go to Dumbledore tonight following the dinner and demand that he works best alone. Without her.
Dumbledore's ludicrous and quite frankly, ridiculous plan to become her partner and attempt to befriend Jameson was absolutely, utterly insane.
Though he wondered if there was something the Hogwarts Headmaster and Order founder had seen that Ollie hadn't, however, even as his eyes widened in shock and surprise, he was quick to shrug that suggestion off.
He'd stopped trying to change peoples' perceptions of him years ago.
After living an entire life of suffering, people pointing at his burn scar, whispering about him and his entire family behind his back in the streets of Knockturn and Diagon Alley the few times he did happen to go out, he knew people would never change their opinions of him, and it was a fool's hope to hope that this girl, Jameson would do so.
Pained, he let out a growl of frustration and carded his fingers through his short black hair in agitation as he looked towards the doorway of the living room parlor, still hearing the faint voices of Lupin and Tonks coming from within the room.
For a fleeting moment, Ollie wondered what it would be like to have a partner who truly loved you like Dora doted and loved Remus these days.
To have a partner at all, really…
Ollie winced, thinking that at some point, he was going to have to face her again.
He doubted he could even work up the nerve to face that witch again, not after the way he'd behaved towards, letting his father's inherited temper get the better of him, as he had upstairs.
Jameson wouldn't want to see him again, not after that despicable display.
He deserved to dig his own grave and bury himself alive if that was how he went around treating women that weren't Tonks.
Ollie knew he was in the wrong for the things he had said to the young blonde in anger, but he had no idea what to do in order to fix his damn mistake.
What Jameson would even say to him if he tried. Ollie shuddered as a cold chill wafted down his spine, thinking what a disaster tonight had been.
As he stepped into the entryway of Sirius's living room parlor to announce his presence to Lupin and Tonks, hoping maybe those two would offer suggestions for how to go about fixing this godforsaken mess he'd gotten himself into, the one thought that seeped into his mind and spread throughout his entire body like a plague, infecting him until Ollie could think of nothing else, was a simple but poignant one.
That Jameson deserved better than him.
Tonks nervously eyed the entryway from the living room parlor that led out into the hallway with no small amount of trepidation in her eyes.
She bit her lip and glanced towards the doorway, half expecting to see Ollie materialize out of thin air.
Tonks nervously twisted her hands together all the while Lupin sat in his chair by the fire, watching her with no small measure of worry in his light brown eyes, flecked with a hint of gold at the edges of his irises, a side effect of the latest full moon.
"Do you want me to tell him, Dora?" he asked, at last, unable to bear the tension in Sirius's living room parlor any further, hating the suffocating, weighted feeling that was growing worse the longer Tonks restlessly paced in front of the mantlepiece.
"No, I Remus, I can tell him myself but I—I don't think I can do…" Tonks started to say but was immediately interrupted by the sound of none other than Ollie himself, coughing once to clear his throat, lingering in the doorway, his back resting against the wall of the frame, his arms folded across his chest as he was looking thoroughly put off by something.
Tonks cringed, her face crestfallen. Clearly, Ollie's meeting with the young blonde werewolf had not gone so well, judging by the smoldering, fathomless pits in his icy-blue eyes.
"Tell me what, Tonks?" Ollie barked in a rough, coarse sounding voice, his face pale and the burnt flesh of his scar pulled tautly.
Tonks winced, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and staring wearily at her best friend, whose arms remained folded across his chest and the man seemed to be attempting to shrink into his black woolen sweater as much as possible for warmth.
The young witch swallowed nervously past the lump in her throat as her best mate took two swift strides into the living parlor and pointedly took the armchair just across from Remus and stared into the fire as though he were ashamed to look into Tonks's eyes.
She furrowed her brows in a frown. Tonks had sworn she'd heard shouting from the two of them coming from upstairs, but it had been distorted and faint, muffled.
It had been more than enough for her to know that whatever had transpired in that spare bedroom, had not been good if judging by the forlorn and sulking expression on her best mate's face was anything for Tonks and Lupin to go off of and assess the situation.
Desperate to steer the topic of conversation away from the unpleasant topic of announcing his father's death so soon after such a tense first meeting with his new partner, Tonks decided a change in tactic was in order and nervously began to speak, wringing her hands together as she moved to stand in the middle of the front of the mantlepiece, so she could look into Lupin's and Ollie's eyes while she spoke to Ollie.
As much as she didn't want to broach such a sensitive subject with her best friend, given how sour of a mood Brennan looked to be in, Tonks knew it wasn't good for him to keep it bottled up.
The sooner he talked about it (hopefully) the better he would feel if she allowed him to just get it off his chest and out into the open to talk about this.
"I don't know what happened upstairs, Ollie, but I could hear the shouting from down here. We both could," Tonks began slowly and cautiously, choosing her words carefully as she noticed Ollie's head sanguinely and slowly lift to regard her in silence.
She swallowed, feeling a sheen of sweat start to break out on her browbone, but forced herself to continue speaking. Tonks looked towards Remus for confirmation, who somberly nodded.
"What happened? Did she say something to you that upset you? What the bloody hell is going on?" Tonks demanded, almost sounding angry with Ollie.
"You shouldn't have yelled at her, Ollie, and don't bother trying to deny it," Remus spoke up in a condescending tone, sensing how uncomfortable his partner was becoming at broaching such a sensitive topic around the man. "You owe it to your new partner and to the rest of the Order to make amends to the girl. What are you going to do about this to fix it, Mr. Brennan?" he asked, staring at Ollie and fixing the younger man with a rather pointed look. "This was your fault…"
"That's…that's not any of your concern, either one of you! My business with my new partner is my own! Stay the hell out of this!" Ollie snapped back angrily by way of retort, before turning his head and ducking his head in shame, staring into the depths of the fire, not wanting Tonks or Lupin to look at him right now the way that he currently was, an utter mess.
"Well, you certainly seem concerned about her, Ollie," Remus replied kindly as he looked at the man who he considered something of a friend, who was beginning to look a lot less composed than before.
Ollie gave him a truly withering look before replying in a clipped and hardened, icy-cold tone.
"I didn't mean for things to…to escalate as they had, but neither of you saw the way that girl looked at me! The witch thinks of me as a monster, Dora, and Remus, so why should I try to pretend otherwise? Why?" he growled, wallowing in his self-pity.
Tonks, sensing imminent danger upon seeing Ollie's pale blue eyes flash and darken, almost cerulean in color, stepped forward with the intent of intervening and hoping to calm things down.
"Ollie, you know that isn't true, so don't talk about yourself like that," she snapped, feeling her own temper begin to churn as a single fire-seed in the pit of her swooping stomach, though she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before continuing again. "Do us both a favor, if not for your new partner then do it for us, Ollie. For me, if no one else. I'm your best friend, and you know I only want you to be happy. I think that this new arrangement of Dumbledore's could be a good thing for you, but you have to give her a chance. Please?" she begged, biting her bottom lip. "Do it for me, Ol, if not for her."
Stunned, Ollie blinked owlishly in response to Tonks's plea, though before he could part his lips open to speak, to begrudgingly tell his best friend that he would think about it when in actuality he had no intentions of going anywhere near her again.
Miss Jameson was just going to have to get someone else to be his partner when there came the sound of someone gruffly clearing their throat in the doorway of the parlor.
All three of them swiveled their heads in the direction of the new arrival, and Ollie felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach upon seeing Professor Dumbledore's grim, somber expression etched upon his lined and weathered features as his arms remained folded across his chest as he scowled, no small measure of disdain in his eyes as he fixated his gaze on Ollie.
"Well, I do hope you are quite pleased with yourself, Oliver Brennan, the girl upstairs is quite distraught, no small part in thanks to your despicable treatment towards her this evening," Professor Dumbledore grumbled irritably from his spot lingering in the doorway, though the Headmaster made no move to approach to join the trio in sitting down inside.
Ollie's own expression quickly turned from pensive to irritable, his sour mood only worsening as a scowl rose upon his features and he winced as a muscle behind his right eyelid gave a little twitch as he pursed his lips into a thin, rigid line as he rose from his chair angrily.
"And what," the dark-haired former Slytherin growled, his voice reverberating in the small living room parlor as he glowered at Dumbledore, "Merlin pray tell me, Albus, is that I did tonight, besides save her life?" he emphasized through gritted teeth, and for a moment, he wondered if Jameson even knew it was him who had saved her life tonight.
Probably not, or she wouldn't have reacted in such a volatile way, he surmised.
Not bothering to wait for a response to his first question, Ollie pressed on, not in the mood for yet another lecture, from Albus, of all people.
"What of the werewolf? What about Jameson?" Ollie barked in a rough, grating voice. "Will she be all right, Albus? How are her wounds? Will she be recovered enough and able to do night duty with me?"
Professor Dumbledore responded in kind by gazing down the bridge of his slender, albeit slightly crooked and hooked nose at Brennan, his blue eyes alight and dim with severe disapproval at the course of action Ollie had taken earlier upstairs by losing his temper.
"Miss Jameson is beside herself with confusion and is in a great deal of fear and emotional turmoil, Mr. Brennan, which, considering the physical state of her injuries, I don't blame her for in the slightest. She is in no condition to be approached by you or any other Order member at the present moment, and as such, the girl will not be joining you all for dinner momentarily in the kitchens," Dumbledore finished explaining, a grim expression on his withered face.
Lupin and Tonks took a cautious moment to shoot one another deep looks of concern for their friend.
They were becoming increasingly wary of the impending argument between the two wizards, and it was this that caused the two partners to remain silent.
It appeared that in their minds, neither wizard was going to give in to the other one.
They'd continue to butt heads like this until one or the other was forced to see the others' reasoning, and both Remus and Dora knew this would only drive a wedge and creature further discourse within the organization itself, if the blonde werewolf and Legilimens could not at least attempt to come to an agreement, and fast, at that…
Tonks watched in dawning horror as Ollie narrowed his burning bright blue eyes at Dumbledore and then proceeded to turn his gaze downward and back towards the roaring fire in the hearth, a glimpse of frustration, resignation, and a hint of guilt in his face.
Lupin, for his part, his sharp eyes noticed the subtle shift in his partner's best friend's countenance, and surprisingly, Remus could not help but feel a small stab of pity for Ollie Brennan, thinking that, given everything that had happened to them tonight while on night watch, he had not asked for this.
It did not appear to him that Ollie had gone out of his way to frighten the young blonde werewolf, yet he'd done so regardless, on accident, and made things worse for himself.
The poor girl upstairs would surely be beside herself with worry, alone in an otherwise strange environment, knowing no one else.
He knew what that was like, and if there was one thing Lupin could relate to and understand, it was how to navigate in a world that did not understand them.
Carefully, Lupin rose from his chair and exchanged a brief nod with Tonks, with Ollie and Dumbledore so engrossed in Albus's findings of the young werewolf upstairs that none of them took notice of Remus managing to slip quietly into the kitchen and out of the parlor. He wasn't exactly sure what was possessing him to do this.
For he knew, the young blonde werewolf upstairs that was close to Ollie's age was extremely dangerous in her present state.
Yet, his curiosity compelled him to meet this werewolf for himself, now that the young witch was awake and conscious, to learn what he could about her.
Besides, Lupin told himself as he bustled about the kitchen, muttering a half-hearted 'excuse me' to Mrs. Weasley as he accidentally jostled her shoulder as Molly was finishing up the last of the meatballs, what sort of host would he be if he did not provide a proper sort of welcome, considering Albus and Ollie certainly had not thought to do this for her.
She could probably do with a nice of hot herbal tea and perhaps something to settle her stomach if the girl's full moon post-transformations were anything like this the few days following after, barely able to keep much food down.
Though by the time the tea was finished, and Mrs. Weasley had helped him locate a tin jar of a plate of biscuits he could take up to the girl and was just about to set the items on a heavy metal breakfast try to take upstairs to see if she were interested in chatting, a muffled tiny squeak came from just outside the doorway.
Both Lupin and Mrs. Weasley looked up, startled at the noise, and Remus felt his facial muscles relax into a soft, welcoming smile as the petite figure of the blonde werewolf stood nervously in the doorway, nervously poking her head through the door with wide, brimming bright blue eyes, seemingly skittish.
Lupin opened his mouth to speak, though his ears perked up at the sound of raised voices, Ollie and Tonks's, coming from the living room parlor just down the hall adjacent to the kitchen.
His already peaky face drained of color, as did the young woman's at the outburst, and without so much as a second thought, he set the tray down that he had prepared for the young woman and darted down the hall, accidentally jostling the blonde witch's shoulder in the process, though she did not seem to take offense with it and followed closely at Remus's heels.
"Wh—what was that?" their newest Order member breathed in a hoarse, faint voice, though she pointedly fell silent and let out a gasp as Remus politely shushed her, the werewolf's eyes darkened upon recognizing the voice of Ollie Brennan speaking in raised voices to Tonks.
"Stay here," commanded Remus, flinging out his arm in front of the young blonde witch, effectively preventing her from taking another step forward into the threshold that separated the hallway into the living room parlor, fumbling with a slightly shaking hand for his wand, squeezing his eyes shut, sending a silent prayer to Merlin Above that he'd not have to hex Brennan where he stood.
It sounded as though Tonks had tried—or was trying—to tell Brennan about the letter she had received earlier tonight informing Ollie of his father's passing only hours ago.
Lupin's facial muscles hardened as he steeled himself as he lingered for a moment outside the entryway to the living room.
Carefully, he poked his head through the open doorway. Albus had gone, though Remus thought it odd he couldn't stick around. He typically stayed for dinner following the conclusion of Order meetings, though perhaps urgent business elsewhere had summoned his attention away from Headquarters for the night.
Just as well, Remus thought bitterly to himself, closing his eyes and forcing his breathing to regulate back to normal, praying Ollie wasn't making a scene. I doubt dinner is going to be a pleasant affair tonight, anyway, he thought.
Lupin slowly opened his eyes and stepped inside the living room parlor gingerly, with his wand held out defensively in front of him, ready to protect himself and Tonks in case Brennan's temper got out of hand a second time.
"…there's something you aren't telling me, T! I don't like riddles, just tell me what's going on! What are you hiding from me?!"
Ollie was shouting in a hoarse voice that sounded on the brink of losing its last vestiges of patience with Remus's partner, a fact which set Lupin's blood aflame in his veins, though he forced himself to remain calm.
Tension met Remus upon entering Sirius's parents' living room. Lupin stood dazed at the entryway, unaware of the young blonde werewolf hovering nervously outside, afraid to enter for fear of being on the receiving end of Brennan's temper.
In this instance, Remus decided he didn't blame the witch for how she was acting.
There was nothing he wanted more than to take Dora somewhere, back to his cottage in Wales, and try again with the new girl tomorrow.
One glance back over his shoulder was more than enough to confirm Ollie's new partner was frozen, rooted to her spot, her lips agape as if devoid of words, her already peaky appearance almost gaunt, and there was a look of shock and horror on her pallid features at hearing how raised Ollie and Tonks's argument was becoming, that Remus briefly believed Ollie's temper would drive the injured young woman away.
She would be anywhere but here in a closed space with Brennan, Remus could tell by the way the girl gritted her teeth in anger and pursed her lips.
Shaking his head to clear his mind, Lupin swiveled his head back around to try to learn what he could and how to help Tonks diffuse the situation. Remus sighed tiredly and calmly approached the mantelpiece, where Ollie had bolted from his armchair and was restlessly pacing in front of the roaring fire in the hearth like a restless caged beast.
"Ollie, please. Hear Tonks out before you decide to do anything," Lupin spoke up in what he hoped was a calm and collected tone, though just underneath the surface, his own wolfish temper was threatening to implode at the way Ollie yelled at her.
Ollie angrily turned his head in the direction of Remus's voice and seethed, grinding his teeth in anger.
"Was I talking to you? Not really for your ears now, Remus, is it? Tonks and I are having a discussion that does not pertain to you," he growled, hissing his words in a low, hushed whisper through his clenched teeth.
Lupin closed his eyes in utter exhaustion, his breath catching in his throat. He willed himself to inhale slowly, fighting for the last vestiges of his calm and patience.
To forget how sometimes Brennan could make him feel uneasy, and it was clear by the pheromones of fear that the blonde werewolf standing just outside the entryway was exhibiting, that Remus could practically smell her pores emitting, that Ollie scared her too, and the two of them had not exactly gotten off on the best foot in terms of their less-than-a-day-old partnership here in the Order, which spelled trouble for everyone.
That was nothing compared to this now. Lupin exasperatedly opened his eyes and pinched at his temples with his thumb and forefinger, just in time for Ollie to eye him suspiciously with a twisted look of irritation upon his hard features, the skin around his burn mark under his right eye pulled rather taut.
Remus thickly swallowed an angry retort and merely inclined his head.
Don't say anything rash. It wouldn't do to start a fight when tensions are already high. Just cope with this, help Dora calm Ollie down.
"My apologies, Ollie," Remus offered solemnly and with genuine consideration. "I meant no offense."
"You never do, Lupin," Ollie retorted angrily, and Lupin was quick to catch both the scalding expressions of displeasure from Tonks and from behind him as his peripherals caught sight of the young blonde slowly inching her way into the room, though careful to stay shrouded amongst the shadows to avoid Ollie seeing her, which, he clearly had not.
Lupin froze, stunned at the anger and biting tone in the man who had, up until tonight, been his partner, and yet, Remus could not entirely bring himself to deny the man his say. Ollie was right.
"Ollie…" Tonks gingerly stepped forward, placing a calming hand on her best mate's shoulder, but the older wizard shook her off with a glowering scowl. "Your father is…h—he's dead, Ollie. I'm so sorry…."
There was silence. For a moment, no one spoke, and then Tonks' best friend made a horrible noise like a wounded animal.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Ollie roared, lunging forward towards Tonks, who immediately backtracked and stepped behind Lupin for cover.
"He's dead," Tonks repeated, squeezing her eyes shut, not wanting to look into her friend's blue orbs that were strikingly cold and almost quite inhuman. "I'm sorry..."
Oh, Merlin's pants! She hadn't meant to have announced the news in such a blunt way, but the way Brennan was behaving was intimidating her to such a degree that Tonks had no other choice.
Seven hells, Merlin be damned. Ollie wished he could think of something stronger to say, though nothing came to mind as he staggered backward. His breaths were coming short, his chest felt tight, and black spots dancing at the edges of his vision, and for a moment, Ollie thought he might actually faint.
His blood was pounding, roaring in his eardrums until all he could hear was a horrible, fatigued ringing.
Jack was dead. But how?
Tonks swallowed and stepped forward. "Please don't do anything stupid, Ollie," she begged quietly.
"Why did you tell me this, Tonks, if not for me to do something about it?" Ollie bellowed, seizing on tufts of his short black hair, and tugging on them. Anger swept over the man in a blackening tempest, and Ollie let out a roar of frustration that he swore almost made the walls shake as he kicked aside the very chair that he had overturned in ire.
In his blind rage, Ollie almost flung himself at Tonks and Lupin. He picked up the chair he'd overturned and threw it.
Ollie was making a horrible noise that belonged to neither man nor animal, a noise of pain, betrayal, and utter agony at the news. He sank to his knees as the strength left his legs, pounding the floor, wishing he could tear the room apart, wishing he could tear his own heart out of his chest, anything to make the pain stop, make it stop.
Lupin was cautiously kneeling beside him, trying to put an arm over the man's shoulders, but Ollie violently ripped away. He flung himself against the wall of the parlor, screaming.
Presently, given his current mood, Tonks and Lupin made no attempt to go anywhere near the man until his rage had run its course. The pair of them stood silent, saying nothing.
At last, when Ollie knelt on his knees, motionless, gasping and heaving for breath raggedly, Tonks gingerly moved closer, speaking slowly.
"Ollie, I—I'm sorry for your loss," she whispered in a trembling voice, her cheeks flushing high with color as she tried to ignore the horrifying stare of the young blonde witch whose life Ollie and Remus had saved was giving them, her hand over her mouth.
When Ollie did not answer her, Tonks let out a sigh of relief. "A funeral will have to be arranged for your father, Ollie, and his body brought back to—"
"No." Ollie interrupted her, his voice now flat. He meant to shout it at Tonks and Lupin, but his voice was strangled in his chest. It sounded rather hoarse.
Shattered. Broken. Utterly betrayed, all of those. Tonks's eyes widened in astonishment. She'd always known her best friend had harbored at least some disdain towards his father growing up, but she'd never imagined it was to this degree.
This was pure cold-heartedness, skipping his own funeral!
"Ollie!" she couldn't help but exclaim, horrified. "Why won't you!" Tonks swallowed, hardly daring to believe what she was hearing.
But judging by the look on her best mate's face, the man was dead serious, and it showed by the burning look in his bright blue eyes. Her obvious shock only seemed to goad Ollie into responding further.
"My father's…colleagues," he growled, his blue eyes darkening. Tonks knew he was thinking of the other Death Eater's in Voldemort's ranks, "don't dare oppose me. They know all too damned bloody well how much Father and I hated each other, T. Who knows, perhaps the bastard would be happy to know I plan to stay well the hell away from their kind. Merlin knows Jack was glad I stayed away from him when he was alive."
Ollie shakily rose to his feet, throttling his urge to roar like an enraged Hungarian Horntail, though his temper still surged and flared, hotter than any dragon fire could flame.
He gnashed his teeth together and turned on the heels of his black boots with the intent of storming out of Headquarters and Disapparating from this accursed, wretched hovel that Black dared to call his home, when the sight of the young blonde werewolf standing hesitantly in the door rendered him frozen, rooted to his spot.
Ollie's blush seared through his cheeks and for a minute, he thought that his face was utterly on fire. He suddenly felt awkward, demure, and coy, and even going as far as attempting to hide his reddening features behind his slim fingers.
Ollie knew without a shadow of a doubt, without having to use his skills as a natural Legilimens that Tonks, Lupin, and now Jameson, were looking at him, waiting for a reaction. They all thought him a monster.
His blush intensified as his lips parted open to speak to Norah Jameson and address the truly horrific scene the young blonde witch had just walked in on, though the only thing that came out was a strangled attempt at speech.
"I, ah, didn't know that you would be here, J—Jameson," Ollie stammered.
As far as awkward situations go, Ollie thought as he forced himself reluctantly to meet the young blonde's horrified gaze stricken with abject horror and fear, tonight could not possibly get any worse for himself.
Or so Ollie had thought.
Poor Ollie (and Norah!) Both of them are not off to the best of starts in their new partnership, but hopefully, they can begin to make amends!
Coming up in Ch. 12, Norah apologizes (a shocker!) and hopefully begins to make amends with her new partner before things escalate even worse.