Chapter 31: Much needed dialogue

A/N: As the title says I've been thinking that this story needs a bit more interaction. The explanation for my absence is explained in my profile and can be found there.

She peered at him more closely through the glass window. Head director, middle-aged and despite all odds handsome at a certain angle; without a doubt he was the type that was headed for success- the greedy, blinding and selfish kind if one didn't watch his step.

'Quite successful too for a drilling company.' She mused, one corner of her lips turned upwards in a taunting smirk. She quickly remembered about the burning cigarette in her hand and decided to pay it some attention.

Yes- he was quite the interesting muggle. Or better yet- quite the interesting man. Despite the mustache and the beady eyes, she couldn't deny that he wasn't a catch. Yes, and the female workers bustling around him agreed with her. 'Such a shame this glass is separating us.' She thought as she blowed out a perfect circle. 'At times I wish I was born a muggle- such few attracting wizards these days...'

"Having an eyeful, aren't we?" A deep voice rumbled in the darkness.

Startled, she almost dropped her cigarette before looking to her left and recognizing the intruder. She huffed, and relaxed her stance as she once again turned her attention to her cigarette and her view to the work office in front. "Must make a sneaky entrance, don't you?" She hissed back at him, her eyes glued in front.

Her words only made him chuckle as he stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself, perfectly calm as always. "I wouldn't say it was sneaky- you're just easy to startle." He replied thoughtfully as he came to join her in her watching. "Jones." He nodded his head a bit, his eyes taking in the busy scenery in front of them curiously.

"Percival." She nodded calmly back.

"So." He began softly after a moment of silence of simple observation. "What particular victim has caught your undivided attention?"

She grinned at the question, blowing out a puff of smoke. "I think you know the answer to that question already." She stated lazily, and took out some cigarette rolls out of her pocket. "Want some?" She inquired, her hand outstretched.

He glimpsed at her hand, then simply turned back to the view. "Tobacco, I presume? No thank you, dear- I still prefer the pipe." She shrugged lightly and pushed them back in her pocket as her eyes found the muggle in question again. He was currently helping a female secretary who "accidentally" bumped into him.

"Well, if I were to guess then that blond haired man at the right corner seems suspicious enough for you to be taken in personally." He presumed curiously and she quickly found the very handsome man in question. She had no idea how on earth she missed him- now she knew exactly why all the female muggle workers were inside here.

"You don't have such a bad eye, Perce." She mumbled amusedly, as her gaze once again landed on her "victim". "Quite afraid to disappoint but I wouldn't call you over here just for that handsome piece of candy."She sighed as she quickly looked the young man over again. "No it's about our favorite muggle male." She clarified to which she actually earned a raised eyebrow.

"Dursley?" He mumbled and he quickly found the middle-aged man. "Was stalking him at his home not enough for you?" He replied good-naturedly to which he earned a blow of pure tobacco smoke. "Ha ha ha; hilarious." She added dryly. "As much as that sounds tempting, I'm afraid that's not the case." She mumbled as the finished cigarette disappeared from her hand with a simple snap of her fingers. "He's breaking."

" And how exactly?"

" Frankly speaking? He's ready to spill the metaphorical beans- aka. break the statute of secrecy." There was a hint of seriousness in her tone, as the silence stretched between them. After an assistant spilled coffee all over some paperwork did he decide to grace her with an answer.

" No- I don't think he was in that type of stage." He mumbled to himself and then added more loudly. "Certainly not. I beg your pardon, but what made you come to that conclusion?" He inquired her politely, his words honest but sharp.

"He's at his breaking point. He might act completely independent in his office, but he isn't so self-assured when faced with his family." She answered bluntly. "It's becoming a threat."

" Dursley? A threat? No- I believe I can argue against that. Although he isn't as confident when faced with his current family back home, he isn't as desperate either. Why, I might go as far to say that he is dealing with it all better than expected." He proclaimed, satisfied with his answer.

" Leave it to you to find the good in everybody." She mumbled and rolled her eyes. Must all men protect their dignity and pride at all costs? No room for mistakes concerning the opposite gender. (A/N: I actually like boys just the way they are. Ya know if they're nice- not jerks. But this is a character's point of view. Anyways- no offence to any male audience out there...presuming they even exist.)

"Besides, it's not him that's the threat." She finished, her announcement actually suprising him.

"Excuse me for being blunt- but I must say you have lost me, my dear."

She grinned like a cheshire cat at his words. "I think I just managed a true feat." She smirked up at him. "Anyways- he's not the threat. His psychiatrist is."

"Psychiatrist? He has a psychiatrist?" He questioned, truly stunned. She was actually stunned that he knew what that meant- it took her an hour and an encyclopedia book to figure it out. "He's actually undergoing therapy?"

"Bet you don't mind my stalking now, do you?" She joked and nodded. "Yes; he has a psychiatrist. A beautiful 37 year old, compassionate and understanding woman, at that." She added.

"How did we not notice this before? Ms. Figg always follows him when he leaves the house when he isn't working. How-"

"He sees her after his job ends." She cut him off, effectively ending his tirade. "That's why we never noticed. We just assumed that he works longer. Besides." She noticed the frantic glint in his eye. "He hasn't told her anything yet."

He was relieved, but his stance was still stiff as he carefully formulated his question. "What has he told her so far?"

"Oh, the usual. His feelings, his situation, family and blah, blah, blah." She counted the reasons on her fingers before her voice turned sharp. "But- he has mentioned Holly and the abuse she went through." Her words were laced with venom as she remembered everything that poor girl had suffered at the hands of these horrible muggles- she never truly understood why Dumbledore put her under their roof in the first place. Well, nobody really understood Dumbledore's mind.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye; noticing the worried expression disguised as a thoughtful one. 'I wonder why he hides it...' She thought, truly curious at his actions. Did he consider it a weakness for actually holding sympathy and care for the girl? Did he believe that someone would misuse him for that? God only knew his line of thought.

"Well... We have a problem." He fully turned towards her and gave her his undivided attention. "Tell me Ms. Jones, would it be wise to redirect him from his... therapy sessions?"

She thought about that as she stared at the pointy shoes which were sticking out from his robes. "To tell the truth, I'm against that. They've known each other for a while now. Although It would be dangerous to let him continue seeing her- she's even gone so far as to start inviting him for lunch- but if he stops seeing her, won't he crack one day or another? In this way, he's releasing all the stress." She narrowed her eyes up at him. "But why are you even asking for my opinion? You'll just do what you think is best anyway."

"That may be true." He carefully weighed her words. "In most cases. But for this one I do admit I am in need of your help. After all, two heads work better than one." His expression turned fond for a moment. "Perhaps we can persuade her to move away or move her line of business in another city? We could tell her she's been given a promotion or a reward and a better location for her job."

"Tempting; but doubtful. I've been through her files- she's very successful, actually. She's been given some form of awards. And plenty chances of relocation but refused each one; she was born her and she will die here- was her statement. And I don't believe you can promote them..."

"Obliviation then?"

She snorted. " Percival you can change someone's memory, but not their feelings. Her office is pretty close- what if they meet again? And go to lunch and talk? And trust me- they definitely have feelings for each other, in one way or another."

He sighed- a very long, suffering sigh. "You leave me with no options. Perhaps I should have done this without consulting with you." He raised a hand as he continued, not giving her a chance to argue. "But I would have come to the same conclusions eventually. So..." He looked her in the eyes which reflected his fear and agitation. "Do you think this is for the best?"

She bit her lip, sharing his panic. Honestly? She had no idea what seemed to be the right choice anymore. "We knew that it would come to this point one day..." She struggled to find the right words. They knew that Vernon Dursley would one day, eventually, leave his family convinced that they were the ones slowing him down in his path for perfection- after his company bloomed he would, they were speculating, start to look for a "normal" family. They weren't judging him- it was just his type of charachter. He just strived for a simple and boring life; something which his wife and niece wouldn't be able to give him.

Thing is they were expecting this sort of change to happen later. Perhaps years later. But it was evident if they didn't do something now, the consequences would be bigger later on.

"What do we do?" She was against it of course. But this wasn't her choice to make...

" You deal with the therapist- I'll deal with Dursley." He stated gravely as he turned to apparate himself away. She raised an eyebrow, her question lost in the darkness as they both disappeared with a loud crack.

A/N: I apologize that my comeback begins with this overly lame chapter. I admit- it sucks. I suck. Why do I even write? *the wondering rant of why I must torture you all with my sucky chapters- aka. The self hating/pitying period*

Anyways.

I'm asking all those readers who still put up with me if they can identify the characters in this chapter. I think I've been more than obvious with the male, not so sure about the female. :/

Q: Which characters do you think are in this chapter?

The person that answers first AND correctly will get a reward- a One-shot written by me about any theme or pairing they want (EXCEPT for M- rated fics. Only T- rated that's as high as I go). Although if no one answers until the next chapter that's fine too- my writing skills are suckish so I understand if you refuse to answer. *cries for dramatic effect and crawls into a hole/bed*