Silver Ties

“That prick doesn’t have any influence, my mum did business with him and she would always have to dumb shit down for him.” Miles scoffed.

“Not a lot of influence, but enough to do something. And I, for one, don’t really want to see what would happen.” I sighed and tossed the ball back to Miles.

He caught it and looked back over Graham’s shoulder, scanning the guy's record again. “This guy, are you sure?”

“Uh huh,” I nodded, holding my hands up for the ball. “Yaxley was always doing more than was necessary. He was one of his favorites.”

I was sitting on Graham’s desk as he and Miles went through a list of imprisoned death eaters, asking for every piece of information I had on them.

“Like you?” Graham asked quietly.

My arm froze for a moment before I threw the ball again. “Yeah he loved me. I think that’s why he only tortured me for a couple days when I wouldn’t kill my mother.”

“See? If that’s not love I don’t know what is.”

Miles elbowed Graham from where he stood behind him. The latter swatted his arm away and leaned back in his chair.

I nodded. “Oh yeah, for sure.” I went to say more but the sound of heels clicking against the floor stopped me.

I looked up, past Miles and saw her walking our way. Ramona Montague. The girl of my dreams. Love of my life. Graham’s sister.

She was wearing a dark green, long sleeved dress. It reached just above her knees where it met her black tights, but the neckline was low enough so her signature silver necklace was on display. She had her hair down so her natural curls were on display.

I watched her walk by until she eventually disappeared from view. I glanced down at my watch as I hopped off the desk.

“How about a break, yeah?” Miles' expression turned dry and looked down at Graham then back at me, talking with his eyes.

I waved a hand, dismissing him. “Either of you want anything from the cafe? No? Are you sure? Okay.” I turned to leave but Graham caught my sleeve.

He glared up at me and I widened my eyes, faking innocents.

“I want a muffin.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Sure.” As soon as he released me I was off towards the lifts, the last thing I heard was Miles sighing dramatically.

I was able to catch up to her and get in the same lift. Once the door closed I let out a silent breath. “Oh, hey Ramona.”

She glanced sideways at me with an unimpressed expression. “Did you run here?”

“Huh? No, what a weird thing to say. I always go to the cafe around this time.” I shrugged.

She blinked at me. “My apologies.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

I gave her a charming smile which she paid no attention to, instead she flipped through the stack of papers in her arms.

“I like that dress.”

Without looking up she said, “Adrian got it for me.”

I grimaced, realizing my mistake. The last thing I wanted was for him to get brought up. They’d been together for a couple months now. It didn’t seem like anything serious but it still bothered me.

I nodded slowly. “I’ll have to thank him.” out of the corner of my eye I saw her look at me. My lips twitched as I stared straight ahead. She was quiet for a moment which only made me smile wider.

“He dislikes you.”

“Does he?” I try not to sound too happy about that. “Can’t imagine why.”

The lift stops on the main floor and the metal gate slides open.

“I think you could.” She steps out and I follow.

I shake my head watching her profile. “I’ve only met Aden once so, really I have no idea what I could’ve done.”

She gave me another one of her sideways glances. “Adrian.”

“Huh?”

“It’s Adrian, you know that.”

“Is it really? Hmm.” I shrugged as we stepped into line at the cafe. “How was your budget meeting?”

She looked a little surprised that I knew about it, but quickly recovered. “Good.” she nodded.

I grinned. “Yeah?”

She took a deep breath and then shook her head. “No.” She readjusted the papers in her arms. “They said that there were more important things for the money to go to.”

“Like?”

“The annual quidditch game for the aurors.”

My eyes widened. “They actually said that?”

“Not as directly, but yes, anything to boost office morale.”

“Fuck the war orphans I guess.” I scoffed. I swear I heard her laugh but when I turned to look at her she walked up to the counter to order.

“I’ll have a coffee, please.”

I stepped up next to her and nodded, sliding a few sickles across the counter. “Me too.”

The look on her face was one of slight annoyance but her manners couldn’t keep her from thanking me. “Thank you, Mattheo.”

I smile, picking up our warm cups and handing her one. “You’re welcome.” Hearing my name come from her was all the thanks I’ll ever need. She’s definitely ruined it for anyone else.

I opened my mouth to compliment her hair but stopped when I saw Adrian walking over.

“Hey ‘Mona,” He put his hand on her waist and kissed her cheek. “Can’t stay but Cassius changed his birthday plans for tonight to guys only. He’s treating it like a bachelor party I think.” He shrugged.

“..Oh alright.” She nodded.

He glanced over at me for the first time but didn’t say anything. “So just don’t wait up.” He kissed her cheek again and then took her coffee, tossing a quick ‘thank you’ over his shoulder.

I glared at him until I could no longer see him.

Her hand was still up, now holding an invisible cup. I slid mine into her hand and her eyes snapped up and she started to protest but I stopped her.

“I’m more of a tea guy.”

Her shoulders dropped and she pressed her lips together. Against my better judgment I looked down at them. “Thank you, again.”

“Since you don’t have plans anymore–”

“Mattheo..” She warned.

“I’m not– a couple of us are getting drinks tonight, just down the street. You should come.”

She raised her eyebrows at me but eventually said, “I’ll think about it.”

I smiled. “See you tonight then.”

She tilted her head. “I said I’d think about it.”

“Right.” I nodded, backing up. I held her gaze until I turned around, heading back to the lifts, a smile on my face the whole way back to Miles and Graham who then cussed me out for not having his muffin.

____________________________________

I should have known that she wasn’t going to come. I had a little bit of hope though, a tiny part of me thought she might. It’s not as if I had asked her to get dinner or something, just the two of us like she thought I was.

She was right in assuming that because that was in fact my plan but as soon as she cut me off I made the whole thing about “a couple of us are getting drinks” up and went with it. It wasn’t hard getting Miles, Graham, and a few other coworkers to the pub, but it was hard to stay longer than twenty minutes. After I realized she wasn’t coming I downed a couple more shots than necessary and left, going back to my small flat. After a quick shower I crashed on my bed.

My father never really had a use for money, everything he had was either given to him or he took it. So when I got out of Azkaban to help identify and profile former and existing death eaters, I didn’t really have anything. Not even my possessions from Hogwarts.

I crashed at Mile’s place for a bit but Annie, his girlfriend, didn’t want me there long, which was fair. But with both their help, she was more than happy to help if it meant she’d have her couch back, we found out that I was the sole heir to the Gaunt family vault. It was nothing crazy but enough to get me on my feet.

I had to sell all the jewelry, which was just a couple old rings that had no sentimental value to me so I was fine parting with it. I could imagine it wounding a couple ancestors but I didn’t care at all. I knew nothing about them. Father wasn’t the nostalgic type so I never got stories about his upbringing and his family.

All my knowledge of him came from books and news articles. There are people out there who know a lot more than I do. And that’s fine. I’d like nothing more than to forget all about my family and remove myself from the name.

Annie also discovered that I was technically as entitled to the Black family vault as Malfoy was. But there was no way I was going to try and get it.

We’re technically not supposed to talk to each other.

______________________________________

The next day at work I found myself once again tossing the little ball back and forth with Miles. Our desks were right by Graham’s so the three of us were always around each other.

We had a bit of a streak going before Graham came back and smacked the ball down mid air.

I roll my eyes and lean back in my chair.

“What the fuck?” Miles scoffs and levitates the ball back to him, slamming it down on his desk dramatically.

“Cut it out, you both have plenty of work to do.” He said with a tone that was meant for children.

“Shouldn’t you be with Warrington?”

Graham looked up with wide eyes. “What?”

“... You said you were going to be working with him on a case for the rest of the day.” Miles said slowly, giving the brunette a weird look.

“Oh, yeah I just came back for a few files…” He averted his gaze and Miles looked over at me, a silent question on his face. I shrugged. He knows him better than I do, why would I know a damn thing?

He found the files he was looking for and didn’t say another word to us before heading back the way he came.

“I wonder what they’re really doing in the archives.” Miles laughed.

A smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. “You think?”

He shrugged. “Probably.”

I glanced down at my watch and smiled, any minute now. She went down there everyday around one. Whether she was getting coffee, tea, or just doing her work at one of the tables in the cafe for a change of scenery. But it was everyday she walked by and ignored my existence, making the rest of my day more bearable.

As usual I hear her coming first. We don’t get a lot of traffic this way so I always know when it’s her. I look up with a grin and see her. And then my grin falls onto the floor with a loud plop. Next to her is Adrian. I furrow my brows as they get closer. He says something funny apparently because she laughs quietly and nudges him with her shoulder. He’s holding her bag and papers and walking her to the cafe and making her laugh. I roll my eyes and slide down in my chair.

Miles laughs and stands up. He walks over to my desk and leans against it, crossing his ankles. I look up at him and he’s smirking. “You don’t get to be upset about that.”

My nose scrunches. “Sure I do.”

“She’s happy–”

“–debatable–”

“–so you should be happy."

I pause, thinking for a moment. For a second I think he might be right but then shake my head. “I’m incapable of feeling happiness when I think about the two of them.”

He laughs. “Look man, based on her track record… you don’t have a shot.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I leaned further back in my chair.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but all the guys she’s been with are… intellectually challenging for her.”

“She likes smart guys.” Which I’m not. I barely got by in school and definitely wouldn’t have this job without the whole probation deal thing.

“Yes. And I’m not saying she wouldn’t go for something different, but it doesn’t help that it’s… you.” He said after hesitating.

“Me? I’m amazing.” I said sarcastically.

“Oh I know.” He stood up and patted my shoulder, leaving me with all his stupid opinions that make too much sense.

It’s no secret who my parents are so a lot of people dislike me and the worst part is I can’t even blame them. My one saving grace is that I’m not too recognizable. Luckily I don’t look like a fucking lizard. I do have my mothers curls but that’s a lot more common than red eyes.

I think that a lot of people don’t know how to act around me. Whether they should be scared that I might turn into my father, quite literally, like he might spawn out of me, or be nice to me for the exact same reason. I’ve had a handful of supposedly ‘ex’ death eaters reach out to me about ‘what I’m going to do’. I even had one guy stop me outside of the ministry and ask, and I quote “What’s the plan?”.

I dragged him in with me.

And that had been a tiny part of the plan in taking me out of Azkaban and making me work with the aurors. That people would be as stupid as we’d wanted them to be. And they were.

Goes to show that there’s nothing I can do to get away from my past. Maybe if I married Potter? I’d definitely take his last name.

____________________________

Arthur tosses a copy of last week's Daily Prophet onto his desk. I grimace and lean forward to get a better look.

“Hostile death eater turned businessman?”

There’s a picture of me aggressively crossing the street on my way to work, and they even caught me violently side stepping a puddle. What an animal.

I scoffed and fell back in my chair. “I can’t even breathe without people accusing me of murder.”

His gaze is soft as he stares over the frames of his half moon glasses right into my soul. He doesn’t speak.

“I swear I’m not doing anything wrong– I’m following all the rules and I’m not even looking at people that I don’t have to.” I ran a hand through my hair and squeezed the roots.

It’s honestly a little comforting that they didn’t just toss me back out into the world completely. It’s easier to fall back into society when I have rules. I have a curfew, like back in school. I have to be in my flat by eight pm, and it lifts at five am, so no more early morning walk for me.

Who the fuck is waking up a five am?

I’m also not allowed to contact anyone for whatever reason. Which is fine, I don’t have a lot of friends, and I wasn’t really the friendly type in school so I don’t think anyone’s expecting an owl from me. I don’t even have one, I never did, always thought my father would feed it to his slimy snake.

He blinks at me, and summons two cups of tea and a glass of water.

My lip curls as one of them floats over to me. I glance over at him and enter a silent and entirely one sided argument.

I lost.

I grab the tea and take it like a shot. It’s as vile as one. It burns on the way down and leaves a revolting after taste in my mouth. I grabbed the water and drank half of it.

I feel the effects wash over me from head to toe. I take a deep breath and flex my hands, feeling calmer already. “I’m trying…” I sighed.

“I know,” He smiles, finally saying something. “I’ve seen your efforts these past months, but it appears it’s not enough for some people.”

Arthur is my court mandated therapist. I’ve seen him twice a week for the couple months I’ve been out of Azkaban. I was in for a little over a year.

He’s nice.

“Does that matter?” I ask genuinely.

“Unfortunately.” He sips at his tea with a small smile, like he thinks it’s not the worst thing he’s ever tasted.

“Alright so what’s the plan?” I cross my arms and lean in.

He sets his cup down into its matching saucer and nods. “I want you to keep an open mind, Mattheo.”

“There isn’t much I’m not willing to do.”

“I know, but it might impede upon some progress you’ve made in another area.”

“...what do you want me to do?” I whisper. The way he phrased that had me a little nervous, but I still stand by my previous statement.

“I think you should find a nice girl, someone who is well liked by society, or maybe a muggle, and be seen in public with her.”

I stare back at him for a moment, processing his words even though I know exactly what they mean. But maybe if I think about them hard enough, then every word he’d said would change meaning, and instead he would’ve said, “Hey buddy, I know you really like Ramona and I think that’s amazing. You two are perfect for each other.”

But that’s not what he said, surprising.

“You want me to get a girlfriend.”

He must have seen something in my expression, or heard something in my voice because he gave me a sympathetic smile. “I know you care deeply for Miss Ramona, but she's still in a relationship, yes?”

My shoulders dropped and I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. “Yes.”

________________________________________

I braced myself before I pushed open the door. Barlowe sighed before he even looked up and when he did he sighed again. “What?” He draws.

I give him a smile to which he frowns at. “Is that a new tie? It’s lovely.”

“..gods what do you want?” He muttered.

I nod. “Sir, could I have next Wednesday off?”

He narrows his eyes at me and just holds it for a while. Eventually he glances over to his calendar. “Why?”

“It’s my birthday.”

“Oh, want to celebrate with all your friends? I didn’t think you’d go back to Azkaban so willingly.” He titled his head at me, waiting for me to snap. Wanting me to give him a reason to fire me for creating a ‘hostile work environment’ so he’d have an answer when the wizengamot asked “what was it this time, Corban?”

I just continued smiling and laughed a little. “Funny guy, so… yes?”

He gave me another long and hard stare down before sighing. “Yes.”

I was actually really surprised, but I didn’t let it show. “Thank you, sir.” I turned to leave before he could change his mind but he stopped me.

“Send a memo to Montague about the meeting rescheduled for three.”

“I don’t have a wand–”

“If that’ll be all?” He asked, sounding annoyed.

I have to personally deliver the news when I’m told to send memos. Most days this wouldn’t be a problem, but he’s working in the archive with Warrington again and I don’t have the clearance to go in there. I’ll have to get Miles to do it for me and who knows what he’ll have me do in return.

He looks back up at me and blinks. Probably wondering why I’m still here when we both want me to be elsewhere. “You do know where her office is?”

Her.

Her.

I don’t hesitate. “Yes sir.” With that I finally leave his office with a big grin on my face.