Amelia had not been having the best of days. She forgot to do laundry and was forced to wear some pajama pants with pandas on them. It had unexpectedly rained on her way to work, and as a large gale of wind hit her, her umbrella was turned upside down. Sheets of rain drenched her and the ballet flats she had stupidly decided to wear that day were sopped through. She was about twenty minutes late to work and wasn't happy about letting anyone down.
Work was only a short two block walk, but today it seemed miles long. When she finally got there she discovered one of her assistants crying. In fact, everyone looked odd, and people were filling boxes and packing office quills that were not theirs to pack. Several people were crying, and cursing.
"Adalyn?" she asked the slight asian girl with large bangs. "What's going on? Are you ok?"
"No-ooo-oo," she let out in her high pitched voice. Amelia conjured up a handkerchief and gave it to her. The girl sobbed into it so loudly Amelia began to wonder if it would permanently alter her hearing. After a moment she took a heaving gasp and said, "It's over! We've folded. We've got no jobs!"
"We don't have jobs," Amelia automatically corrected, before giving a gasp herself. "We don't have jobs?"
"That's what I just said!" Adalyn whined, starting to sob into the handkerchief again.
"How? Where's Randy?"
Adalyn just pointed to his office door. A large crowd was gathered around his door, which was conspicuously shut.
Amelia pushed her way to the front of the crowd and banged on the door.
"Randy? Randy are you in there? It's Amelia! Please let me in."
"Amelia?" She heard from behind the door. She heard the locks unlocking and was quickly ushered inside. Randy had to push people out the door to re-close it. Randy was in his mid fifties, slightly overweight, and was currently flushed and covered in nervous sweat.
"Randy, what's going on?" Amelia asked. "Adalyn said 'we've got no jobs.'"
"She said that, huh?" he laughed nervously. She stared at him for a bit. He looked as panicked as all the people outside his door had been.
"It's true, isn't it?"
"Oh yeah, it's true," he said wiping a bit of sweat off his brow. "Look, I did what I could for our whole branch, but no one cares about this environmental crap. We've done the best we can, but people just don't care, and we haven't made any money."
"How could they not care? It's the environment! Everyone lives in it!" Amelia let out.
"I know, kid, I know. I knew we were in trouble, but I didn't think they'd pull the plug like this. No warning, no severance, we're just done."
No wonder Randy was sweating- he had two kids and a wife.
"What are you going to do?" Amelia asked him.
"I honestly don't know. You're the first person to ask me that. What about you?"
"I don't know either…" Amelia said. They had worked together for two years to try and change the world. She had always been one of his most dependable people in their group. They were a fringe group that campaigned for the environment, reported on it, petitioned people. It was a noble non-profit, which had sadly lived up to the name of non-profit perfectly.
"Want me to make an announcement for you?" She knew Randy was nervous about going into the details of something so negative. He was great when things were going well, but once things went South he would rather hole up and pretend nothing was wrong. Him being director probably was why they went under, really.
"Yeah, yeah that'd be amazing, really," he said, handing her the official documents.
"If you need a letter of recommendation or anything let me know," he said with a small smile.
Amelia nodded before going in to hug Randy. He awkwardly hugged her back.
"Keep in touch, kid. Let me know you're ok. I don't care much about those other hooligans, but you're ok," he said, cuffing her chin as he always did.
"You too, Randy," she said leaving the office.
Everyone was staring at her waiting for answers. It took a few minutes, but rather quickly everyone was fully informed of what this meant. The dream was over.
She was just tired now. It was only nine in the morning, but it might as well had been four in the morning, given how exhausted she felt.
She went to her favorite Muggle coffee bar and curled up into an overly large leather chair, knees up to her chest. How was it all over? She had worked so hard to get money and press to save the world, and it had all been for nothing. Besides that crushing disappointment, she was scared. She didn't have anything in savings. How was she supposed to pay rent?
She decided to read a book to sooth her, but quickly fell asleep.
Some time later she woke up to someone poking her.
"I need the chair you're drooling on."
She blearily looked around to see a very good looking woman, standing over Amelia giving her an angry look.
She was the most glamorous person Amelia had ever seen. Long perfectly manicured nails, long perfectly smooth legs in the highest heels she had ever seen. Her sleek hair, makeup, and tight dress made her look like someone from a magazine.
Amelia wiped a puddle of spittle from the corner of her mouth and sat up.
"Uh, sorry, what?" Amelia mumbled, adjusting her glasses.
"Steph, leave it," a man said The man was seated in a leather chair across from Amelia looking at some papers. Amelia could only make out a bit of dark red hair.
The woman, Steph, stomped her foot.
"If you're going to make me follow you to random rat holes, I at least want a good seat!"
"I get the good seat, you get whatever is left, and you can't go taking seats from homeless people," he said dismissively, straightening his paper.
"Uh, I'm not homeless," Amelia said, a bit affronted to be thought so.
No one seemed to notice this, as Steph took this moment to start berating the man.
"You keep making me act like a slave or something and I'm tired of it! 'Pick up my things, Steph.' 'Come to the doctor with me, Steph!' 'Go over the paperwork with me in a rat hole, Steph!' It's STEPHANIE! STEPHANIE! Not STEPH."
The man slowly lowered the papers. He was almost as glamourous as the woman, with high cheek bones, a broad build, designer clothes and an impeccably styled coiffe. He was one of those odd people who looked casual, but cool and stylish all at once.
"Hey, the reason we're going over this paperwork is because you messed up and I have my lawyer and accountant saying there's two hundred thousand missing. Is it paying for your dress or your new boobs, Steph?"
"How dare you!" she said, offended.
"You took it though, yeah?"
"That was part of the discretionary fund," she let out stiffly.
"Yeah well discretion this- you're fired," he said quietly.
"You can't do that!"
"And you're a really sodding terrible lay," he said with relish.
She let out a guttural scream before pouring a hot latte in his lap and stomping out of the store.
He let out a string of curses and started fumbling for what looked like a wand. Amelia looked around and saw a slew of Muggles around them. She quickly sprung to action and retrieved a load of paper napkins for him before he could get it out.
"Don't raise your wand," she whispered so only he could hear it.
He stopped and started patting himself dry.
"Thanks, yeah, nearly forgot. I'm glad Steph didn't- that's why I chose to confront her here. Less likely to get my balls hexed off, or so I thought," he said patting his crotch with more towels.
Amelia blushed and looked away. Sitting back in her chair to read again. She didn't have anything else to do, really. She needed to save every penny for rent, not lattes. It wasn't even a very good book.
"So what's your story?" she heard the man ask someone.
She wondered how a man like that came to be so confident, starting conversations with Muggles while covered in latte.
"Panda girl, what's your story?" he asked again.
Panda girl? Could he have meant Amelia? She was wearing panda pants...
"Me?" Amelia looked up, puzzled that the man was still talking to her of all people. He blatantly dried himself with his wand when no one was looking and stared at her expectantly.
"Oh! Uh, the book's about environmental law between the different countries in Europe and how they correlate with the Muggle laws happening at this time and how the crossover can be addressed by canvassers."
"Sounds boring," he said bluntly.
"It is, truthfully, but it's for my job. Or was for my job. Lost it today," she said sheepishly. "But it looks like you might be having a day almost as bad as mine."
"Not really, I'm super rich and hated my assistant. Plus my balls are basically made of lead."
"Oh," Amelia said, not knowing how she was supposed to respond.
"Plus she was a terrible lay. Bloody awful. Never worked hard after that. Not that she worked hard to begin with."
"I had thought she was your girlfriend."
"She was," he said with a shrug. "Best not dip the quill in the office ink, but it seems to keep happening. Never works out well. So, what's your story? Your story, not the boring book."
"Me... Well, I worked for an environmental non-profit to try and coincide Muggle and Wizard movements to protect our planet from annihilation. Our president didn't tell anyone we were folding, though, so now we're all out of the job with no severance. I was vice-regional director of the-"
"Sounds very smart," he said, cutting her off. "It also sounds like it made you poor and unable to dress nice. Want me to hire you? I'll pay you in money, not shrubs. You can get pants."
"That was a very rude way to ask," she said, taken aback that anyone could be so forward.
"Oh, sorry," he said, "Uh, I'll pay you well, you'll be able to donate hundred of thousands to charities to save things, and even have nice stuff for you too. I'll even let you know if your job security is going to the shitter. Plus you get to work with a super famous Quidditch star."
"Who?" Amelia asked, not that she would know who they were as she never followed sports.
"Me, of course," he said looking at her incredulously. "You honestly don't know who I am?"
"Sorry, no."
"Potter. James Potter. On the front of Witch Weekly. Kind of a big deal."
Amelia didn't know how to respond. She had honestly never heard of him, but guessed he must be a big deal to be that confident.
"Wait, Potter… Like Harry-"
"Yeah- that's my dad. But I'm famous on my own. God, I can't believe I've met a girl who hasn't heard of me," James said more to himself than her, giving a chuckle.
She had no idea what line of work she could turn to at this time, but the idea of being able to donate money to any charity she saw, and maybe even inform important higher ups as influential as the Potters or Weasleys on these pressing environmental issues... It was hard to resist. Plus she really didn't know how she would pay for rent.
She looked up to see him still staring at her. He was blunt, but completely transparent. There was an earnest look about him that made her feel he could be trusted, at least as far as paying her well.
"I'm in."
"What really?" James said smiling.
"Yes, but you- you need to know I don't... approve of office romances so you can't...try anything," she let out awkwardly.
"I'll really try. I think you're the first assistant I've had that I don't want to sleep with, if that makes you feel better."
It did not. Amelia would just do this a few months, then she'd be out of there and no longer associating with the handsome, but quite mad, James Potter.