Summary: Three years after the war and Draco Malfoy is seen as a pariah in the wizarding world along with his friends for their association with the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort himself. Adele Kang works in the highly secret Department of Mysteries and once held an affection for Draco during their school days. When their paths cross at a reunion party for their class of Slytherins, their lives become more intertwined.
A/N: It's been a while since I last wrote something and posted it on here. Consider this my first official fic for the Potterverse. It's rated M for all that spicy things (but I'm not good at writing those so forgive me). The plot is mainly mine, as are some of the characters, but most is not.
There was some kind of exclusivity that comes with working for the highly independent Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic, at least that was what Adele Kang thought so. The pay was more than what she hoped for even after things unraveled in the Second Wizarding War, she was provided with a nice apartment in a building that even had a swimming pool, and the usual ministry regulations were a little more flexible for employees under the department.
But even with the perks that came as an Unspeakable, Adele, or Addie as she preferred being called, she realized that with the nature of her work, it was a life where she was on her own a lot. Loneliness seemed to be an occupational hazard, one that Addie tried to fix every so often with some people she never expected to become friends with: The Golden Trio themselves and their friends.
Addie wasn't sure if she could belong in their circle, being the lone Slytherin from all the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws in the form of Luna Lovegood. Yet, Addie knew they often butted heads with her own fellow Slytherins, most especially Draco Malfoy and his little group. The thought of Draco, before and after the war, still seemed to bring butterflies to her stomach.
She once confessed to him during a little truth or dare game during their fifth year in the common rooms. Addie was dragged into the game by Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, and some other group of girls she never bothered to be close friends with. Draco hardly responded and instead brushed her off. Addie never expected him to feel the same way about her anyway.
But to this day, as she apparated to the Burrow one morning, seeing the sleepy faces of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, while Hermione Granger was helping Ginny and Mrs. Weasley with breakfast, she still thought of what might have happened to him. Harry and Ron were both Aurors while Hermione worked at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
"It's been a while since we last saw you, Ms. Unspeakable," Ginny said with a smile as she greeted everyone else a good morning.
"Ooh! Addie's here?" came the voice of Mr. Weasley, who still worked at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, but was since promoted to lead the office.
"Yes, yes I am, and because I didn't want to come in empty-handed," Addie reached into her bag and took out a tall insulated tumbler. "Hot chocolate!" She said, and with a whip of her wand, she conjured up a bag of marshmallows.
"Still can't tell us what you do in there, huh?" Ron teased.
Addie smiled as she sat down at the end of the table, allowing Hermione and Ginny to sit across from their respective partners. Even when they all lived elsewhere with each other, they still thought of having breakfast together at the Burrow every now and then. This was one of those times, and Ginny sent her an owl in advance to let her to know whenever they would have a meal there, partly to keep Mr. and Mrs. Weasley from feeling what muggles would refer to as "empty nest syndrome" as George and Percy also moved into their own homes.
"There is nothing in there that the four of you, especially the four of you, haven't seen," Addie said, while Mrs. Weasley told them to tuck in. "Besides, since that little skirmish, my superiors put memory and disclosure enchantments at the thresholds of those rooms. I can't tell you anything even if I wanted to."
"That seems illegal, doesn't it?" Ginny looked intrigued.
"Not really, but if it was, we don't exactly answer to the ministry, do we?" Addie grinned as she bit into her toast and sausages.
"Well, you are the only Unspeakable we know," Mrs. Weasley said. "It must be quite fascinating working there."
"It's a day that ends in 'y' when it comes to learning about things in there," Addie chuckled, conjuring a few cups to pour the drink in, Ginny passing them around the table. As she was about to help herself to some more toast, an owl that none of them could recognize suddenly flew inside and dropping a letter in front of her. It was a dark green envelope with a silver wax seal bearing a familiar family logo. "It's from Blaise..." She muttered, making them look over at her.
"Blaise? Blaise Zabini? What's he been up to?" Ron asked, watching her take out what was inside the envelope.
"I don't know, I never bothered to ask him. He's never really spoken to me," Addie replied, eyes widening when she realized what it was.
It was an invitation. Their class of Slytherins would be having a little reunion party at the Zabini residence as it was written in very fancy handwriting. Addie felt a tinge of anxiety. She hadn't gotten in touch with anyone from her house since leaving Hogwarts after finishing her final year. Then again, she didn't really befriended anyone from her house.
"Well, what was it?" Hermione was curious.
"An invitation to a party," Addie replied. "At his house. Slytherins only, I'm afraid, I guess he wants to see everyone again after this time."
"I'm surprised he's so willing to show himself to other people, let alone other Slytherins," Ron said. "Especially after what's happened."
Addie shrugged. They were all still trying to cope from the trauma that the war caused in their own way, and spending as much time talking about it together seemed to be a way to do it. "Well, at least they've been shunned by most of wizardkind," She said, and they nodded slightly while they ate.
"Many people under your house have become such," Mr. Weasley said. "Well, not every Slytherin was bad, you've become an example of one of them."
Addie glanced at Harry, who gave her a knowing nod.
Addie went to the ministry with Ron, Hermione, and Harry later that morning, each of them peering at each other whenever they got off their respective levels. Her bag was considerably heavy, given the lunch Mrs. Weasley insisted that she bring. Well, it was better than having to cook for now, Addie felt burned out from having been in the brain room for so long.
As she worked in the Department of Mysteries, Addie already knew the ins and outs of the place like the back of her hand, and she wasn't subject to any redirection like the place would to those who didn't work here. There was a different air to the department since the ambush years ago, and the head of their department, someone who only referred to himself as Newman - out of wanting a very common sounding name so as not to attract attention to the nature of their work - has since weeded out those who turned out to be associated with Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
Addie got up from her desk and looked at all the brains that were in the tank, checking to see if it was touched in some form or another. It wouldn't be long before she had to move about the other rooms in the department, including the one room she knew Harry and his friends never got to enter.
It was working at the department that she was reminded that with the nature of her work, there was a reason to all the benefits. Her identity needed to be a secret. No one should know what she does for a living, at least no one else should.
Especially those who were once associated with the dark side of the war. Employees only knew each other by code names that they have decided the first day they started working in the department.
Her mind drifted back to the invitation. It was for tomorrow night, possibly marking the end of the working week as she was off-duty for the weekend. Did Blaise even need to work? Did everyone else in her house actually needed to work? Addie didn't know. Yet, her mind drifted to another person, making her wonder: Would Draco come?
As far as Addie remembered, parties in Slytherin house had that intoxicatingly addictive air about them. The green lights that bathed the dark common room only added to what she could only describe was...sultry, like an underground speakeasy from decades ago. The music was also quite different, bass-heavy and slowed down just a little, definitely evoking the feeling that something sensual was about to happen with people who decided to dance.
"Hey, Vega!"
Addie turned around at the mention of her codename. Her colleague, who referred to herself as Riko, sprinted towards her. "Yeah?"
"Your turn in the Prophecy Hall," She said. "Newman's orders."
Addie sighed and nodded. "Thanks, your turn here."
The Hall of Prophecy always seemed to make her anxious, more than the Time Chamber and the Death Chamber. There weren't many orbs of prophecies left intact in the first room, while the orbs in the other part of the hall were. Whenever Addie was in the hall, it made her anxious to know if there was some sort of prophecy about her. There couldn't have been, right?
But what if there was one about Draco? Addie mused as she walked along the shelves full of glowing orbs that might as well have lit up the entire hall if it glowed any brighter. She shook off the thought, realizing how she was suddenly thinking of him again. It was the invitation and the party, she reminded herself. It was the fact that it was their class of Slytherins that were invited, she continued to remind herself.
The party was all she could think about the whole day, even throughout lunch at her desk at the brain room. She needed to look good, better than what her classmates used to remember her for, with long dark hair that was always up in a ponytail. During Hogsmeade trips, Addie didn't wear expensive clothes like them, but rather a simple white t-shirt, capri jeans, and a black jacket.
Addie liked to think her sense of style has since changed not long after she finished studying in Hogwarts. Ginny and Hermione had complimented her outfits a few times, calling it sophisticated enough but not attracting too much attention.
On the night of the party, Addie looked through her wardrobe, taking out a black corset she had custom made from Madam Malkin's - the corset could fit perfectly no matter how many layers of clothing she wore underneath. She shook her head, putting it back. Addie had a feeling she was going to need to wear something that was easy enough to take off.
She heard the sound of a whip cracking, followed by familiar voices. "Addie! Addie!" Ginny was calling out.
"I'm in my room!" She replied, stepping back in surprise when the woman apparated in front of her, followed by Hermione.
"We thought we'd check in to see if you needed any help," Ginny grinned as she looked into her wardrobe as well.
"And your boyfriends are where?" Addie raised a brow at them, taking out a black double-breasted coat dress with half sleeves and gold buttons.
"Harry and Ron are at the Leaky Cauldron with Dean and Seamus so we thought of going here," Hermione smiled. "That's a nice choice for a dress."
"Yeah, I thought I'd look sophisticated for once," Addie joked, walking to the partition at the other end of the room to change and pull on a pair of black tights to go with the dress. The neckline of the dress showed a little of her chest, not before her cleavage would start showing. "So..what do you think?" She said as she walked out, turning around.
Hermione and Ginny nodded in approval. "If you're not turning heads with that outfit I don't know what would," Ginny commented.
"For someone who works at the Department of Mysteries, are you sure you should be attracting that much attention?" Hermione teased.
Addie laughed, approaching her vanity to put on a tube of a pinky coral lipstick she once got with Hermione's help at a department store. It seemed enough to brighten her face. She kept her hair down in waves with a thin sparkling headband. "Well, I guess I'm off," She glanced at the clock.
"Well, in case you've had a little too much to drink, you can always apparate to Grimmauld Place," Ginny advised. She and Harry started living together shortly after finishing her studies. "We'll have some tonic at the ready to cure a possible hangover."
"It's alright, you need your sleep since you've got Harpies training," Addie said.
"Well if you're sure. But all the same, you know where you can go if you need someone to stand by and make sure you don't throw up all over," Ginny said.
"Don't you have sister who's a quidditch player too? I remember Ron going on about a girl whose last name was Kang in one match," Hermione asked.
Addie nodded, her velvet Slytherin green peacoat floating out of her wardrobe and into her hand with a wave of her wand. "Yeah, Alexandra. She plays for the Magpies."
Hermione and Ginny looked impressed. "And you never told Ron about this?" Ginny asked, and she shook her head. "I don't think I'd be surprised if he's put two and two together, but if he hasn't, he'll be so surprised."
Addie conjured up a bottle of firewhiskey as she slipped on her coat, pocketing her wand, and the two women took it as a sign to get up. "I think I'm good to go. I'll see you later or tomorrow," She took a deep breath, her thoughts immediately coming back to the question that still nagged at her, of whether Draco would be coming.
The three of them went out into the living room standing in front of the fireplace. "I'll be sure to get Alex to give Ron a signed photo or something," Addie called out as she took a handful of floo powder.
"Don't do anything you might regret while you're there!" Hermione said.
"And tell us everything that happened tomorrow!" Ginny called out.
The two girls waved at her as she took another breath. "Zabini Manor," and she vanished.