Chapter 10: Choices

After much whizzing and twirling about, the witches were deposited in one of the fire places that led out to the Atrium. Rowan stumbled a bit, but Amelia stepped out with the confident strides of a woman who had been doing this all her life, making the transition from fire to floor extremely smoothly. It was about the time that everyone else was arriving too, so the black, marble floors were covered in people, all heading in different directions. Amelia was moving quickly, but she kept having to stop to grab Rowan, keeping her from getting lost in the crowd. The young woman was absolutely breath taken with the Ministry. Her eyes were wide, staring at the high ceilings and general chaos. She nearly fell over when they reached the fountain.

"Look at the House Elf!" she squealed, "Isn't he cute?"

"Extremely," Amelia said flatly, "But this isn't a guided tour. Try to keep up."

However she couldn't help but marvel at the way Rowan seemed to find joy in everything, even the tiniest, most insignificant detail. She was full of questions, delighting in any piece of knowledge that came her way. Amelia wondered why she couldn't feel like that. In all her time at the Ministry, she had not one stopped to appreciate the small things, or the big things if it really came to it. Manmade structures did not impress her, not after everything she had seen; death, disease, destruction. It was the people that got to her, the everyday, individual stories of life. They stepped into one of the lifts and Amelia found herself looking at Rowan, wondering about the story of her life. Rowan caught her and smiled.

"You're staring," she commented, "Why?"

"Sorry," Amelia said, "I was just wondering-"

"-about me?" Rowan predicted, "How I came to be doing what I am?"

Amelia nodded, feeling very impertinent, but Rowan didn't seem to mind. If anything, she was happy to have somebody showing an interest.

"When I was a kid," Rowan said, "I wanted to be a Herbologist. We had a little garden outside our house and I was an only child, so I used to spend hours tending to it. My dad was a Herbologist, you see. He died when I was about eleven. I was away at school when it happened; I can still remember the Headmaster pulling me aside and telling me. He was so kind, old Dumbledore."

"You went to Hogwarts?" Amelia said, more surprised than she perhaps should've been.

"Yeah, I was in Gryffindor," Rowan said proudly, "You?"

"Ravenclaw."

"Anyway," Rowan went on, "I finished school with a few NEWTs under my belt and my mum got sick. We had never been terribly well off, but her care cost everything we had and in the end she died despite it. I had to sell the house to pay off her medical bills. So I came to London, 'The Big Smoke' as it were. But I couldn't find any work. Catch-22: They'll only hire people with work experience, but you need to get work to get the experience. I ended up sleeping rough and that's when I met Darius. He told me that I could make easy money, working for him. I didn't like it, but he had such a sweet way of talking and I was all alone; at that point I would've sold him my soul."

She smiled bitterly, resentment swimming in her eyes.

"Only later did I realize that I actually had sold my soul. There was no way for me to get out. I had been trapped and I've been that way ever since."

Her expression was that of anger but also of something else; resignation. She had given up all hope of her situation changing. Here was a girl with spirit, but it had been beaten out of her until all that was left was a pretty mask of indifference and a quiet desperation she had to hide. Few things broke Amelia's heart, but this had to be one of them.

"I hope you catch that son of a bitch," Rowan whispered.

"Don't worry, I will," Amelia said resolutely, "One way or another, he's going to answer for what he did, to you, to Ches, to everyone else."

The lift stopped on the right floor and the pair stepped out. Amelia began to walk towards her cubicle, but she was intercepted by Vera, a small witch with bleach blonde hair and pointy face, who acted as the secretary for Bartimius or Barty Crouch, the now head of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Ms Bones," Vera squeaked in her high pitched voice, "Mr Crouch would like to see you in his office. Now, if the time is convenient."

Amelia nodded and turned to Rowan.

"I've got to do this," she said, "Just keep going down that way. Ask for Auror Unit B. That's the people who interviewed you at The Leaky Cauldron. Tell them what you told me. If none of them are in, ask for Dolores Umbridge. I'll meet you soon."

Rowan nodded her understanding and Amelia watched her for a bit to check she was heading in the right direction. Then the Auror went back to the lifts.

Crouch's office was one floor up from the Auror office. The door was big and black, with a gold plaque that advertised his name and position. Amelia knocked twice and the door was opened by Vera. The room was small with bland, mint green coloured walls, reminding Amelia a little of a hospital. Vera had a desk, which she sat back down behind and instructed Amelia to go through another door. This room was much bigger, the walls made of a dark, mahogany wood. The carpet was a deep, dark blue. A large desk with a high back chair was situated in front of two large windows. Staring out of one of those windows was Barty Crouch. He was a tall man, with greying hair, a moustache and an oval shaped head. His suit was crisp and wrinkle free, a fact that made Amelia wonder if it was enchanted. He turned as she entered.

"Ah, Ms Bones," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "won't you have a seat?"

"I'll stand, if it's all the same, Sir," Amelia replied, "I've got a lot of work to do."

"I really think you'd be much more comfortable if you sat down," Crouch said.

It was a power play, Amelia could see that, Crouch asserting his position over hers. She took the seat and waited for him to make the next move.

"How's your current case going?" he said conversationally.

"Fine, thank you, Sir," Amelia said, "Though things are more complicated than we first thought."

"I feared it might be too easy for your capable team," Crouch said, "but Mr Williams requested it be given to you especially."

"Did he?" Amelia said in surprise.

This was news to her.

"He wrote a letter," Crouch nodded, "saying that if anything should happen to him he wanted some case files delivered to you. Said he knew you were the best."

Amelia smiled inwardly.

"But other people are also aware of your talents, Ms Bones, I can assure you," Crouch added.

He moved away from the window and sat down in the high backed chair, facing Amelia.

"You do, of course, know that I still need somebody to take my place as head of the Auror Office?" Crouch asked, "Perhaps you remember our little discussion on the subject, not so long ago?"

Amelia nodded but decided it was best to say nothing.

"The Minister for Magic and I have been assessing all of the possible candidates." Crouch said, "And we have decided that, if you should wish to take it, the position is yours. Like I said, Ms Bones, your talents have not gone unnoticed."

Amelia sat still for a moment, considering what had been placed before her. This was one of the bigger jobs at the Ministry, something that was generally a stepping stone for further greatness. But did Amelia really want further greatness?

"Thank you for your offer," Amelia said in a business like manner, "also for your appraisal of my abilities. May I have some time to think about it?"

Crouch inclined his head forward.

"Of course."

Amelia stood up and turned to leave.

"Remember one thing, Ms Bones," Crouch said as she went, "This hand has been dealt in your favour. But the next round has to be played and the same cards won't be on the table forever."

"I'll keep that in mind, Sir," Amelia said.

And she closed the door behind her.

Waiting for the lift, Amelia was having a battle inside her head. Why didn't she say yes to the job right there and then? It was a coveted position, one that meant she had the power to make a real difference. Crouch believed she was up to it, hell, so did the Minister! So why was she so reluctant to accept? As she debated, another person came up beside her. Yaxley, always known by his last name, held some job that Amelia wasn't too sure about, something to do with the regulation of new spells. He was big, solid as well as tall, with dirty blonde hair and a rugged jawline. The two sorcerers weren't particularly close; he'd taken her out to dinner a few times and he an eloquent way with words that she enjoyed, but nothing had really come of it. He gave her a smile.

"So did you get the job?" he asked.

"Have you seriously been waiting up here all this time just to find out?" Amelia laughed.

"What?" Yaxley grinned, "Can't a man make an innocent, friendly comment to his colleague?"

"No," Amelia said decisively, "Not you. You're far too driven for conversational platitudes."

Yaxley shrugged and let her go in first as the lift doors dinged open.

"So?" he said, "Since you've seen through my disguise, I might as well get an answer."

Amelia sighed, "I don't know. I've got things on a lower level to deal with first."

Yaxley looked incredulous.

"You can't be serious?" he exclaimed, "You're actually considering not taking it?"

"I don't know!" Amelia repeated, "Things are a bit up in the air at the moment."

Yaxley nodded. The lift stopped on Amelia's floor and the doors slowly glided open. Amelia played with the strap of her bag as she waited for them to open fully, all the while wishing she could just press the ground button, head back through the Atrium and go home. But she couldn't.

"For what it's worth," Yaxley said as she exited, "I think you'd be very good at it."