Theme: Leadership - Write about someone in charge
Main Prompt: [Quote] "Sometimes you get so close to someone you end up on the other side of them."
Additional Prompt: [First line/last line] I bet you could find all of the mysteries of the universe in his hand.
WC: 1250
TW: None
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"Is this hell finally over?" Moody growls, a slumped shadow next to Kingsley's elbow. He seems out of place beneath the sterile lights of the Ministry auditorium, all grime and gritted teeth. The slight click of his magical eye as it rolls in his skull still sets Kingsley's teeth on edge as the other man leans forward, the tilt of his head almost predatory.
Kingsley turns to look as well, sheer habit guiding his actions at the merest twitch from Moody. It was easy to follow where he led until it had become second nature.
Beyond them, the crowd stretches out into a huddled shadowy mass which is only broken by the occasional tilted head pressed together to whisper before they part, wary of the roaming gazes of senior management. At the edge, lit by a single spotlight, the third speaker slowly picks her way towards the podium, her many scarves trailing behind her like smoke crawling across the ground.
"It isn't looking like it," Kingsley murmurs and Moody snarls in response, a wordless animalistic sound that echoes in the sudden silence.
A ripple passes through the featureless crowd in front of them, heads half-turning to look and then thinking better of it when they catch a glimpse of Moody's carved scowl. One person wasn't deterred, turning around in her chair beneath one of the few lights that dotted the audience, her frown clear and offset from the olive pallor of her skin by her dark lipstick.
Amelia Bones raises her eyebrow in a clear warning, her gaze piercing Moody before she turns towards Kingsley. He holds himself still as she studies him before she, after what feels like a lifetime, turns back to the stage.
Moody laughs, low and smoky, and he curls his free hand into the fabric of his trousers to draw his prosthetic leg out, settling it in a wider stance. "Amelia isn't going to be happy with me after this."
"Doesn't that worry you?" Kingsley murmurs. He ducks his head to minimise the impact of his voice and it is a blessing to be able to move. In a previous set of talks that had been held before the trainee Aurors had been paired with the seniors, they had all filled the front rows. Kingsley had sat, almost motionless and aware, with a thousand gazes burning into the back of his skull for every inadvertent twitch.
"What? Amelia being cross at me?"
Kingsley nods, hearing the click as Moody's eye rolls in the other man's skull to study him.
"Lad, I will start worrying when she isn't cross with me." Moody tipped his head to one side, the gesture almost predatory as if he was sizing up his next target. "The criminals we chase have already taken so many pieces out of me so I'll be damned if I let the job make me go grey as well."
A grin twisted across Kingsley's face, gone almost as soon as it emerged out of habit, but Moody chuckles, lightly tapping Kingsley's side with his elbow. It strikes a chord somewhere in the back of Kingsley's mind and he settles back into his chair as the speaker finally orientates herself and begins her lecture.
At the beginning of their partnership, Kingsley had been of a mind with his fellow Aurors: a mix of fear and awe at Moody and his turbulent, ever-changing ways. It had seemed completely random but their lasting partnership had had an unexpected benefit. Kingsley could read Moody's silent language of head-tilts and sideways glances, frowns and bared teeth as easily as Moody read the paperback romance novels he favoured.
"Shouldn't you be paying attention to these lectures?" Kingsley asks as Moody opens his book once more, thumbing through the worn pages to locate his spot once more.
"Why?" Another set of clicks emanates as Moody's eye swivels to the podium then back to study Kingsley through his skull. The orb is off-white, carefully absent of the fine red veins that would have been expected on a non-magical prosthetic. "Tell me, lad. Why do you think I need to be paying attention to this lecture?"
Kingsley caught himself before his immediate thoughts ran away with him, preoccupied by the lingering weight of Madam Bones' gaze upon him. She was in charge of Moody and so she was also in charge of him in the same way that she oversaw the entirety of the Auror Department. But Moody had said, on that first day, that he would trust Kingsley if he trusted him and that had held true so far.
There is always a test to look out for in everything. Every interaction and every mission always had something else behind it. Moody is plain-spoken and blunt but there is complexity lingering beneath the surface like the shadow of an unknown behemoth. It had been unexpected to Kingsley at first and, he suspected, still unknown to most of the department.
"This is a series of talks on leadership," Kingsley began, his gaze settling on the speaker once more. She is a wisp of a thing, more fabric than flesh, but her voice is strong and it carries easily with the Sonorous charm she had applied.
Moody nods, his gaze both never leaving Kingsley and never shifting from his book, one blunt finger trailing down the page.
"In the department, you are going to be expected to take on another trainee Auror after I graduate." Kingsley's partnership had been a surprise as Moody had been renowned as managing to slip by that requirement every year. "And they likely aren't going to be like me. So learning about different styles of leadership will reduce any future clashes between you and them. If you also show willing, Madam Bones will stop watching you so intently for a time."
"That is a fair assessment." There is pride in Moody's voice, rumbling beneath his words like an aftershock. He pauses, turning to face Kingsley properly, his magical eye shockingly blue against his worn and weathered face. He reminds Kingsley of a sculpture, roughly hewn into the impression of a person, and that is only solidified when Moody grins, his teeth bared.
"But I don't need to learn how to lead other people. I picked you. You are my trainee."
There is a spark of pride brewing in Kingsley's chest, small and banked but there. He keeps the grin that threatens to burst free from his face but can't stop himself from ducking his head, his cheeks burning.
Moody doesn't speak, merely taps Kingsley's side with his elbow once more, but he shifts to hold his book between them. Kingsley glances towards the speaker, still lost in her flowing words, then the turned back of Madam Bones, and lowers his head to study Moody's book. It had been a surprise at first, just like everything else he had slowly learned about the other man, but it made sense.
It slotted easily amongst the unbelievably sweet coffee Moody favours and his penchant for snarling his spells into a wordless slurry of words in the tapestry that made up the other man and left Kingsley wondering how he had never seen it before. Familiarity didn't always breed contempt.
Leaning closer, Kingsley begins to read, breathing in the smoky-sweet scent that clings to Moody like a second skin, letting the words flow into his mind and sink in. 'I bet you could find all of the mysteries of the universe in his hand.'