Disclaimer: I don't own Severus Snape, or anything related to Harry Potter.
I do, however, own Riona and Orion. So don't steal them, and please don't
sue me.
This continues right where the last chapter left off. (At the Ministry)
Severus accompanied Lucius outside the headquarters to meet this 'mystery woman' and saw no one. "Lucius, what the hell are you talking about?" he said as he glimpsed a woman running towards to phone booth. He noted that the woman looked familiar, but he couldn't really place her face (or the back of her head, really) to a name.
Lucius smirked in disgust as he watched Riona run away. "Oh, it was nothing. I suppose she was busy today."
"You might've mentioned that in my office and spared me the trouble." Severus cheeked.
Lucius couldn't come up with a witty retort for that one so he simply stormed off to his own office. God, how she annoyed him sometimes.
Severus sank into his chair once more and buried himself in the case file. There wasn't much there, but he didn't want to totally botch his first case. After a few more seconds he carelessly tossed it aside and stepped outside again. There was always so much to see in inside the Ministry. There were secretaries running around frantically trying to find lost papers and funny looking people coming in with complaints, and there were always of course, the officials who strode about like the owned the place.
Today, however, it was pretty bare. There were only a few people that walked through the Atrium every few minutes and there was hardly anyone on his floor. He decided to go to the library. The Ministry library was totally different from what he'd been accustomed to at Hogwarts. There were many, many more books and there was no 'restricted' section or a Madame Pince to breathe down your neck.
He grabbed a book on Mythical Orbs and started poring over the pages. It was going pretty well until he got to the sixth or seventh paragraph of the Orb of Soul. The Orb had been created by Romine Castasera, and his only living descendent was a young girl named Riona Castasera. That was Riona's maiden name. He checked the publishing date in the cover. Riona had been four years old when the book was printed. That meant that the author had to have known something about her. . . perhaps he still knew her. He quickly penned a letter to a Mr. Richard Fillagustus and dashed up to the owlrey.
* * *
Riona panted heavily when she got out into the streets again. "Damn!" she exclaimed at no one in particular. She took a seat on a rickety bench to catch her breath.
"So," she thought, "he works there now. Well, I suppose that does complicate things a bit." She stopped as she remembered something. Cautiously, she slipped back into the phone booth and returned to the Ministry. When the guard stopped her this time, she gave him a jab in the groin and shoved her pass in his face before moving on. She slowed down once she neared the cubicles again. She stood on her toes to see over the tops. Remus was dozing at his desk and everyone else seemed to busy to notice anything.
Silently, she slipped into the headquarters and into Severus' office. It was new; she could tell by the way everything smelled. She paced around, taking everything in. Then she sat down in his chair and put her feet up on his desk. Oh, how she would kill to do what he was doing right now. Her eyes fell on a picture he had on the corner of his desk. It was Orion, only he looked much older than she remembered. He was getting some more hair, and his teeth were starting to come in. She gently kissed the frame and set it back down.
The next thing to catch her eye was the case file that was thrown on the floor. She could only have guessed what it would be about and chuckled when she saw that there were no suspects. "Ha, well of course not." Just then, she heard footsteps less than three feet from the door. She threw the Invisibility Cloak over her head and stood against the wall. Severus hustled in with a very disgruntled look on his face and was crazily throwing open drawers and slamming them again. "Bloody hell!" he cursed to himself.
Riona looked down and saw that she was still carrying the case file under one arm and waited patiently for Severus to start looking on bookshelves before she shuffled over to the desk and placed it gently on the top. Severus turned around just as she withdrew her arm from view and breathed a sigh of relief as he picked up the case file once more and left again.
Riona decided that there was nothing left for her to do in his office, so she decided to stroll about the Ministry in covert fashion. She circled the Atrium a few times and eavesdropped on a couple of conversations before she walked past the day care center. There he was. Orion. He was less than ten feet from the edge of the play area. He spied a toy on the floor and began crawling closer to Riona. When he reached the edge, she stuck a finger out of her cloak when no one was looking so she could tuck a few strands of hair behind his ear. He stopped and looked puzzled for a few seconds before he grabbed the toy and moved on. "I miss him so much," she sighed under her breath as she turned to leave once more.
* * *
This continues right where the last chapter left off. (At the Ministry)
Severus accompanied Lucius outside the headquarters to meet this 'mystery woman' and saw no one. "Lucius, what the hell are you talking about?" he said as he glimpsed a woman running towards to phone booth. He noted that the woman looked familiar, but he couldn't really place her face (or the back of her head, really) to a name.
Lucius smirked in disgust as he watched Riona run away. "Oh, it was nothing. I suppose she was busy today."
"You might've mentioned that in my office and spared me the trouble." Severus cheeked.
Lucius couldn't come up with a witty retort for that one so he simply stormed off to his own office. God, how she annoyed him sometimes.
Severus sank into his chair once more and buried himself in the case file. There wasn't much there, but he didn't want to totally botch his first case. After a few more seconds he carelessly tossed it aside and stepped outside again. There was always so much to see in inside the Ministry. There were secretaries running around frantically trying to find lost papers and funny looking people coming in with complaints, and there were always of course, the officials who strode about like the owned the place.
Today, however, it was pretty bare. There were only a few people that walked through the Atrium every few minutes and there was hardly anyone on his floor. He decided to go to the library. The Ministry library was totally different from what he'd been accustomed to at Hogwarts. There were many, many more books and there was no 'restricted' section or a Madame Pince to breathe down your neck.
He grabbed a book on Mythical Orbs and started poring over the pages. It was going pretty well until he got to the sixth or seventh paragraph of the Orb of Soul. The Orb had been created by Romine Castasera, and his only living descendent was a young girl named Riona Castasera. That was Riona's maiden name. He checked the publishing date in the cover. Riona had been four years old when the book was printed. That meant that the author had to have known something about her. . . perhaps he still knew her. He quickly penned a letter to a Mr. Richard Fillagustus and dashed up to the owlrey.
* * *
Riona panted heavily when she got out into the streets again. "Damn!" she exclaimed at no one in particular. She took a seat on a rickety bench to catch her breath.
"So," she thought, "he works there now. Well, I suppose that does complicate things a bit." She stopped as she remembered something. Cautiously, she slipped back into the phone booth and returned to the Ministry. When the guard stopped her this time, she gave him a jab in the groin and shoved her pass in his face before moving on. She slowed down once she neared the cubicles again. She stood on her toes to see over the tops. Remus was dozing at his desk and everyone else seemed to busy to notice anything.
Silently, she slipped into the headquarters and into Severus' office. It was new; she could tell by the way everything smelled. She paced around, taking everything in. Then she sat down in his chair and put her feet up on his desk. Oh, how she would kill to do what he was doing right now. Her eyes fell on a picture he had on the corner of his desk. It was Orion, only he looked much older than she remembered. He was getting some more hair, and his teeth were starting to come in. She gently kissed the frame and set it back down.
The next thing to catch her eye was the case file that was thrown on the floor. She could only have guessed what it would be about and chuckled when she saw that there were no suspects. "Ha, well of course not." Just then, she heard footsteps less than three feet from the door. She threw the Invisibility Cloak over her head and stood against the wall. Severus hustled in with a very disgruntled look on his face and was crazily throwing open drawers and slamming them again. "Bloody hell!" he cursed to himself.
Riona looked down and saw that she was still carrying the case file under one arm and waited patiently for Severus to start looking on bookshelves before she shuffled over to the desk and placed it gently on the top. Severus turned around just as she withdrew her arm from view and breathed a sigh of relief as he picked up the case file once more and left again.
Riona decided that there was nothing left for her to do in his office, so she decided to stroll about the Ministry in covert fashion. She circled the Atrium a few times and eavesdropped on a couple of conversations before she walked past the day care center. There he was. Orion. He was less than ten feet from the edge of the play area. He spied a toy on the floor and began crawling closer to Riona. When he reached the edge, she stuck a finger out of her cloak when no one was looking so she could tuck a few strands of hair behind his ear. He stopped and looked puzzled for a few seconds before he grabbed the toy and moved on. "I miss him so much," she sighed under her breath as she turned to leave once more.
* * *