if these walls could talk

Severus was tucking into a well deserved dinner. Well, it was actually the lunch he had packed for himself, but he had been too busy to eat until now, which was dinner time. Mr. Nott was gone and all the potions that needed to be done by the end of the day were in the waiting stage. 

Severus took a bite of his sandwich when he heard the back door open. Mr. Nott shouldn’t be back yet. He ran over to the door and saw that it wasn’t Mr. Nott.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Severus declared, the hallway closing up to block the lab. His wand was drawn, hidden behind his back.

witnessing -- especially listening -- people eating digusted rita to no end. not only was her relationship with food complicated ( one ought to stay in shape for the pictures in the tabloids ), but any kind of slurrping, chewing sound unexplicably caused her to gag. who knew why that happened. 

    unluckily for her, the man in the room was doing exactly that. this time, she’d let it slide -- she was somewhere she wasn’t supposed to, and going on about the man’s food & eating habits would only make things worse. 

     “ oops. what if this is where i want to be ? ” rita added with a smirk, glittering eyes scanning that around her. “ what’s an elegant face like yours doing here ? that’s the bigger question. ” 

“Parchment prices up again?,” muttered Alice, a sigh slipping past her lips. She was making more money than she was used to now that she was a fully fledged Auror, but she was still as easily stressed by economic problems as she had been when she was younger. Growing up poor left its traces, even when you were steadily becoming part of the middle class, and Alice couldn’t help but feel agitated. “This is ridiculous.”

“ truly shocking, ” rita said, this time, putting a bit more effort onto her ‘ surprised ’ act. nonetheless, her eyes remained glued on the notes she was taking, but she let out a somewhat distressed sigh. “ prices keep going up -- ink, quills. books and clothing prices are unbelievable as well. it’s a bit surprising, really -- i would’ve figured that, given the low demand nowadays, prices would’ve lowered too. who knows, really. ”

“And I said ‘I’m not your personal assistant, file your own paperwork’. They weren’t very pleased with me but I’d had enough being pushed around.”

“ wow, lovely story, ” rita commented, not bothering to hide her boredom. her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose at once as she inspected her perfectly manicured nails. “ i doubt anyone would be pleased. did they get you fired ? ”

“You’re joking, right?” Amelia asked, her expression changing from soft to annoyed, “This is a book store and you are asking questions like that?”

“No no no, that book is not worth your time!” Sam said and stopped the person from grabbing it. In reality, it was a book he had been looking for. It felt like forever but he finally found it only to see someone else on their way to grab it. “It’s not good, I promise”

“ i know -- ” the woman said, eyeing the other as she shot him a puzzled, lightly mad way ; she, after all, had no time for childish nonsense -- “ this book is pure rubbish, i was just looking for something to use to keep my table from moving. if i wanted to buy some good crap i’d be getting my own book. ”

Amelia passed over the books on the shelf again, she was looking for a book she needed for her study. It wasn’t easy to study and play professional quidditch but she loved the challenge. She sighed and moved to another shelf in the store and began looking at that one. “How hard is it to find one book” Amelia sighed in defeat.

rita shrugged, not even bothering to lift her gaze from the notes she was taking. as much as she loved having her quill follow her around and do all the job, getting to jot down the most appealing interviews gave her a sense of pleasure. “ hmm, i wouldn’t know. how hard is it to get a job without your mum’s help & influence, right, amelia ? ”

Marlene nodded and was ready to ask the other what she wants to drink when she asked her if she’d drink with her and managed to laugh at that- appreciating the effort though. ‘ maybe.’ her response was vague as she nodded and turned around to get the gillywatter for the other. ‘ i was kidding, by the way.’ she stated, not continuing.

“ you’re cruel. that ‘maybe’ leaves me on the edge between feeling cheerful to have some company or breaking down crying about drinking alone. words can be powerful, you know, ” although somewhat serious, rita’s comment was meant as a joke more than anything. 

“ i don’t care about the news, but let me assure you, i take it to myself to know of what’s essential. “ he replied in a nonchalant tone. “ thanks for your concern. if we were near a dumpster, i’d throw it there right where it belongs. shame. “

“ you really want to help ? “ evan wasn’t falling for her tricks. while others might find her alluring — charming even, he wasn’t just a people person in general. that included basically everyone, save for like, three people in the history of mankind. one is an ancient roman figure; so that makes two. “ stop trying to get me talk things i don’t want to discuss. surely you have something better to do than to pry at my own affairs, or who am i kidding? “

“ you should, it’s the only thing worth listening to nowadays. the rest is just as lame as it comes, ” the woman looked down at her hands, her fingers playing a little bit. “ you could use it as toilet paper for all i care, your bill’s already been written as we spoke. happy reading. ” a fake, purposely annoying tone was glittered onto the her words. 

    “ i want to get involved. ” perhaps it wasn’t the answer he’d been looking for, but it was an answer after all. her nerves would act up whenever someone brought up he-who-must-not-be-named, which collided against her limits. people, especially co-workers, constantly adviced her not to stick her nose where it didn’t belong, for one day it’d get her killed. “ don’t want and can’t are different things, evan. did you make the right choice of words ? there’s loads of matters in my schedule, don’t worry about me relying solely on yours. ”

“ no, i don’t know a dipper —- unfortunately. i bet his name isn’t exactly a family dinner conversation starter. i’ll take note if i ever hear his name be brought up in a conversation. “ he shrugged. evan couldn’t care less, but he had to at least pretend he was interested in knowing the guy. “ that’s kind of you, skeeter. nice to know you have a heart. “

“ the former…. and the latter. i see no reason to waste too many words when i can cut it short. “ especially with topics he wasn’t interested in, that is. “ no, i don’t have any story to share. you must have gotten the wrong guy if a scoop is what you’re after, because i can assure you, i have nothing to say nor offer.  “ he smirked. “ you might want to be more specific on that one. there’s far too many things going lately. “

“ hm. shame, ” she simply replied. why fight stubborness with more stubborness ? to anyone with an actual brain, it was obvious that he did not care in the slightest. “ a cold, black and rotten one, but i do. ” rita flashed him a brittle grin. comments like those were just muffled whispers, nothing that deserved her attention. plus, it was practically a truth at this point even rita herself couldn’t argue against. “ how sad that you think that’s what i was after. trust me, evan dear, if i wanted something good you’d be the last person i’d come to, ” agreeing meant giving up, and rita was everything but a quitter. “ how about the openly-carried ‘things’ against muggles ? the ‘things’ the ministry is trying to hide ? any comment on that ? ”

Daniel narrowed an eyebrow as the other continued to speak, he surely was one to speak much and sometimes someone with a big mouth as his was nice to have around. he popped the sweet into his mouth and loved the icy feeling he felt in a second. ‘ oh, of course it’s the first one.’ he chuckled at her reaction. ‘ well, i think both of them could be arranged.’ he turned around to the counter and orderd a cup of jasmine tea for Rita. he turned around back to her quickly. ‘ mind to grab a table, miss…’ he trailled off, waiting for an answer.

He migth already know it, but he wasn’t actually stupid to show it.

for one thing that she was happy when she was out of hogwarts besides getting married, was that she’ll be away from rita skeeter- as far as possible. some seven years of sharing a dorm with the witch had been. years that she didn’t really enjoy.the other always seemed to find her way back to bellatrix in a way though. ‘ yeah, because you miss me? isn’t it better to live alone now? or with whoever you’re living.’ she narrowed an eyebrow. ‘ but, it’s good to see you didn’t change a tad.’

delicate hands cupped the mug on the table, allowing her palms to soak up the heat. she watched cautiously as the woman took the seat opposite her, not saying a thing. lily had a feeling any protests would fall on deaf ears. for the time being it might be better to go along with whatever rita was up to, while being careful not to give anything away. not that lily really knew anything. she spent most of her days locked up in st. mungo’s, staring at the same four walls and tending to the same elderly patients. and though she loved her job, and her patients, dearly it had started to become somewhat of a bore recently. she longed for something more exciting. 

“ i think you’ll be alright in here. ” lily was a regular at the coffee shop, it was her haunt of choice on lunch breaks. it was safe to say the canteen at st. mungo’s didn’t have the most exciting choice of food. at least one thing was constant across both the worlds she lived in, the hospital food left something to be desired. “ i don’t think old mrs blake, ” she nodded towards an elderly witch sat a stones throw away from them reading a issue of witch weekly, “ is likely to go hexing anyone anytime soon. ” 

she took a sip of her tea, thankfully now cooler, eyeing the woman over the rim of her cup. this was where she had to be careful, she could end up quoted in the newspaper before she knew it. “ yeah, it’s awful. ” she placed the cup back down on the wooden table with a dull thud. “ but i’m sure the ministry has it all in hand. ” lies.

rita almost burst into ( fake ) laughter right there. at first, she eyed the lady pointed out by the redhead, her cheeks turning pink. “ you’re right, you’re right. mrs blake doesn’t fit the description they put in those signs. ” this, certainly, was a reference to the multiple ‘HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WIZARD?’ signs that lately plagued every existing wall in the wizarding neighborhoods. for one, rita admired the other’s efforst and resistance. on the other, she found them annoying. so much time wasted with a stubborn healer that could be well spent questioning someone else. the brunette then let out a short sigh, allowing her gaze to comfortably rest on the other witch’s marble features. 

     “ indeed, ” her fingers bent downwards, wrists pressed together to form a sort of cup ontop of which rita’s chin rested. again, she took a couple seconds to eye the room, dark eyes becoming gently humid, as if such peaceful sight gave her a feeling of nostalgia. “ sure. the ministry, ” a somber tone dragged behind the words, an eyebrow raised as she let out a huff. “ they claim to have it all under control, but anyone would be able to see through them. i wonder what the minister plans to do once it all becomes too strong for him to handle. ”

She knew she ought to be more careful. Alice usually placed charms on her paperwork that disallowed strangers to read them when she was working in public, but she was more sloppy than usual that day. She didn’t wonder why; there was a plethora of reasons and she didn’t want to waste time picking one of them. Still, she couldn’t help but be more than annoyed with her own sloppiness, especially when anyone could peek over her shoulder here.

“Cheers,” she said, recognising the other as Rita Skeeter. A polite smile curled her lips, but that was all she gave her, Alice tired and focused and far from looking for pleasantries. She was sure Frank would talk her into relaxing soon and she wanted to take any minute she would work a little more she could get. “Just some paperwork; ‘tis hardly interesting. Probably the most boring part of any job.” Which Alice hardly agreed with: she found paperwork – unlike some of her colleagues – a soothing thing to do, but she wasn’t going to share that quirk with just anyone.

“ pssst, i’m sure it’s not that bad ! ” the ex-slytherin insisted, waving her hand nonchalantly. she couldn’t complain about having to do paperwork, for she loved every bit of her job. besides, when you thought about it, everything was paperwork, wasn’t it ? “ you’re right, it is dreadful ” she exclaimed, in an attempt to to sympathize. it was, after all, one of the keys of persuasion: the public was more likely to agree with a speaker if they saw themselves reflected or related in any way. “ if you don’t mind me sayin’, it looks like you’ve been working very hard -- too hard. how about we get ourselves some chamomille tea ? or, if you want something that kicks in quicker, some firewhiskey -- ” rita giggled, sending a fake, obviously playful wink -- “ i’m pulling your leg. the first offer still stands. ”

  rita skeeter was charm wrapped up in a person, and athena admired that. she, too, was made to be charming and bubbly and appealing, but her edges were often too sharp — perhaps that was why she was a financial reporter, and rita was not. she didn’t doubt the other had edges too, though.

  she looked at her colleage with the brightest of smiles, looking at the sugary treats with a playful curiosity. how long had it been since she had treated herself to those? she wondered for a moment, reminiscing days spent eating sweets and hiding it from teachers.

  “too kind of you,” she said, taking one either way. “you’re too lucky that you get these a gift. tell me, rita, how do you do it?”

he’d expected a dismissal and could only be amused by it; if she’d said yes, he would’ve been at a loss as to what he should say. while he had some feelings on the topic of sales, he doubted that he could talk about for much longer. “oh, i try not to shop too much. bad impulse control, y’know,” said ted, shrugging slightly. “but it seems that there’s more, which is never a good sign, right? kinda makes sense, i s’pose. don’t think many people feel like going shopping these days.” a bit confused at her next question, he eyed the other for a moment before answering. “i cook. at the three broomsticks, that is.”