Abrasive Additions

It would never have been Jen’s idea to take on a student from Hogwarts. The whole idea was positively ridiculous and when that sodding woman had suggested it, Jen hadn’t even thought to say no. She had thought that her secretary would have known her well enough to understand that Jen wouldn’t take too kindly to having Hogwarts students in her offices. But sure enough, a few weeks later there was a letter with the Hogwarts seal informing her that she was going to be housing Amelia Lyons for the next Merlin knows how many months. Jen didn’t want to go through with this. The way she slapped around the offices that morning was enough evidence of that. She’d already hexed four people and there would be more jinxing to follow if everyone insisted on keeping up the caring routine. If she was lucky, maybe the secretary would warrant a hexing too. Merlin Jen hoped so.

It had been a lazy enough morning. She’d spent more time down in the record room than was considered healthy and filled up on tea and took apart a few crumpets before dealing with a couple of wizards that had been convicted of something that she would have rather not have been dealing with. Apparently, as Head of Department, she had to care. She just saddled them with a couple of years in her brother’s care and sent them on their merry way before going back to the record rom. She was only fetched when it became prudent for her to return to her office as apparently Lyons would be on her way soon.

Jen had, naturally, gone through the girl’s file – repeatedly. What she’d found had not been substantial and in fact, she’d found it all a bit boring. Brilliant grades, always towing the line...she was a perfect student. So why the bloody hell would she want to be an Auror. Jen had turned the whole thing on its head. She didn’t want just the smart ones. She wanted kids with aggression and a thirst for some Death Eater blood. It was a waste of time to have to deal with consciences. Brute force and ignorance would always see those kids through. She liked the big ones, the half-intelligent ones and the ones that knew how to use a goddamn wand. She didn’t doubt Amelia would be able to do that. The only problem was that she was probably more...soft. She was soft, there, she’d said it. The girl was soft and it was as if Jen had been saddled with the task of hardening her up.

If the file was proof enough, the girl was already as firm as she could be. She just needed to be less smooth and instead, jagged; that way she was more likely to catch someone on those spikes. If she turned out to be useless then Jen would soon send the girl off to Longbottom or Ransom to deal with. She didn’t care for this sort of thing. She doubted she ever would. As it was, it seemed to be a requirement.

Ditching the Ministry was turning into a better decision every day. Merlin knows Rob was feeling stuck under the Minister’s thumb. She hated it. She hated the pay, the people, the office and most importantly, everything the Ministry stood for. She would have quite happily skipped back off to the Death Eaters if it benefited her. It didn’t though and she certainly wasn’t going to join the Order as that would be an even bigger waste of her time. She wanted out and if this was what she was going to have to deal with for Merlin knows how long then Jen was going to speed up that process. Perhaps she’d see out this just as an experiment. Then, if the girl proved to be a disappointment, she could just drop off the face of the Earth whenever it suited.

Merlin knew that was much preferred.

Jen slid into her chair and watched with a bored expression on her face as a cup of tea and yet another pastry was set in front of her. She pursed her lips and turned her head to look out of the window. She heard the secretary huff and couldn’t help but smile when the woman stormed from the room. Good. Jen was glad that she felt inadequate. Shaking her head, Jen turned her eyes back to the door, waiting patiently for the moment it was opened by Ms. Lyons.

Amelia had been to the ministry many times over the years, but she had always come as an accessory to one of her parents. Whether it was with her mother to meet some other socialite and her husband for dinner, or with her father as he made his proposals to the Board of Magical Ethics on new spells he was inventing (the board served to be distracted by his “adorable daughter”, he always said). But this time, Amelia would be within the ministry walls by herself, and for her own purposes.

The Ravenclaw girl was exceedingly nervous as she stood outside the gates of Hogwarts castle, just beyond the boundary of the anti-apparation charm. She wrung her hands impatiently as she checked her watch over and over again. She was perpetually early, as usual, but she didn’t want to have to linger too long around the ministry. She would undoubtedly look out of place there – she was too young to be an employee, but recognizable enough that people might ask questions. So instead, she had deigned to wait outside the castle gates in the Spring air waiting for it to get acceptably late.

Five more minutes, and then I’ll go… Amelia thought to herself, shifting her weight from foot to foot with impatience.

Amelia was nervous for several reasons today, not the least of which being that her parents had no idea that she had signed up for this internship. If they did, Antoinette would have blown a gasket and Frederick would have scolded her for being secretive (after ducking for cover to avoid his wife’s rage, of course). Although for most teenagers, sneaking around behind their parents’ back is sort of a given, Amelia rarely did anything without the explicit permission and approval of her parents.

And what was more, she was nervous because she wasn’t sure she was cut out for this auror business. Raoul was the one who had suggested it, mostly because he knew the side of her that she didn’t readily show to the world. Yes, she was good with a wand and that automatically made her more employable in any magical profession, but she didn’t exactly scream auror to most people that met her. Amelia was reserved, thought things through carefully, and didn’t walk around announcing her viewpoints on dark magic and the people that practiced it. But Raoul, who still knew her better than anyone else (despite not having seen her in over a year), knew that she was quick on her feet, had a temper when it came to things she cared about, and could read people and situations better because of how quiet and observant she was.

But did those traits really make for a good auror? What was she doing? Did she even know? The answer to that was, it seemed, no. She did not know what she was doing. She had spent so many years trying to please her parents and her professors and her tutors and her music instructors and everyone else, that when it came down to choosing a career, Amelia didn’t even know what it is she wanted. She knew she didn’t want to be a concert pianist, like her mother wanted, and her father was too busy trying to defy magical law (“who says you can’t transfigure objects into food?”) to give any input on the matter. But beyond that… Amelia was stuck. She had spent so much time letting other people decide for her, that she seemed to have lost the ability to decide what was best for herself.

Time to go… Amelia thought after the allotted five minutes had passed. Squaring her shoulders, Amelia shook any thoughts of indecision out of her mind and clenched her jaw. With thoughts of the ministry firmly in mind, Amelia turned sharply on the spot and felt the sensation of being sucked through a very tiny hole before rematerializing in the midst of the entrance hall of the ministry of magic.

The guest procedure was a familiar one for Amelia, and after the weighing of her wand and the issuing of a guest pass, Amelia was able to make her way to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She had never before been to the auror’s office, so it took her a few extra minutes to find it, but she had given herself plenty of cushion to get lost. Amelia was nothing if not prepared.

When she finally got there, Amelia was greeted by the secretary and given directions. She paused in front of the door to the Department head’s office. The card in her hand listed the room number and the name of the woman she was to shadow for the next few months. When she was certain she was in the right place, Amelia tucked the card away and took a deep breath to steady herself before knocking and gaining entrance to the room.

Given the summons to come in, Amelia stepped into a large but sparsely decorated room. The room itself was not what interested Amelia, however, but rather the woman sitting behind the desk. She had been watching the door, so as soon as Amelia came in she had the woman’s attention. The woman had dark hair and a petite figure, and in spite of her beauty or perhaps because of it, the woman radiated intensity. Amelia had to mentally remind herself not to shy away from this woman (it would hardly give the right impression), and instead moved toward her on the most direct path and stopped behind one of the chairs that faced hers.

“You must be Ms. Dent,” Amelia said, having mentally rehearsed this line a thousand times while she was waiting outside, “I’m Amelia Lyons, as you have probably already deduced. It is a pleasure to meet you,” Amelia continued, gripping the back of the chair in front of her to steady herself and to disguise any nerves that might show if her hands were shaking.