Regimentum ⪼ Sirius Black/OC

Ambigendi locus

Chapter Five | Ambigendi locus

[Room for Doubt]

Vivian doesn't much believe in providence. She finds the term rather archaic; a product of a bygone age, when life was modeled upon themes of right and wrong with no shades between to mark the passage of human existence. Providence, they say, came to those deserving of it. Providence was a gift from God who pushes forward the world. Concerning her own life thus far, Vivian doesn't believe in any force greater than her own, and therefore doesn't think much of it when she happens upon the grace of superintendence, whether divinely extended or not. But that is often the way of things. Rarely do we see beyond the superficial until much later, when hindsight gives us clarity enough to look behind the curtain that shrouds the deeper meanings from view. As for Vivian's own clarity, hindsight will not come to her for some years yet.

"...See anyone?" Sirius murmurs to her as they walk through the main lobby of the Ministry. Swarms of employees bustle past them; latecomers to work, or those with varying hours as compared to their fellows. It's after rush hour at this point, but the Ministry of Magic is always busy, it seems. In addition to those wearing the standard Ministry robes, others, like Sirius and Vivian, are a part of the bustle. Filing information, registering with various departments, attending court hearings – there are innumerous reasons.

Vivian shakes her head and responds, "Not yet, but it's bound to happen at some point."

What, exactly, is bound to happen is this: Vivian, who had not been out in the open like this for some months now, is taking something of a risk by walking into the Ministry of Magic like this. After all, the Ministry is filled with purebloods who share the same circle as her father, who she hasn't heard from since before graduating Hogwarts in the spring. The one letter her mother had sent her since then had informed her that her father was hoping to find her and speak with her. Vivian translates this to mean that he wishes to knock some sense into her by reminding her that stepping away from her family equates to losing her inheritance and smearing the Blair name beyond recognition, at least in his eyes. In any case, the thought of running into her father's colleagues doesn't entirely appeal to her for a variety of reasons, but neither does the thought of staying put in the cottage. When Sirius had informed her that he meant to go to the Ministry to speak with Moody about working in the Auror department, she had decided to go with him. He had, naturally, pointed out the likelihood of her running into an old acquaintance of her father's, but hadn't tried to bar her from coming. Sirius Black is much too daring to be bothered with all that. In fact, though he hasn't outright said so, Vivian suspects that he wants to run into a pureblood while they're here, if only to make his day a little brighter with some proper Death Eater harassment.

"Well, stay close," Sirius responds, though he doesn't sound very concerned. They are, after all, in a large crowd, and even if they do run into someone they know, it isn't as if said someone can do anything about their presence. They can't very well start firing stunning spells at them in the middle of the Ministry of Magic – not unless they want to expose themselves for the Death Eaters they are. This is probably why Sirius hadn't tried stopping her; he's half hoping that this is exactly what will happen, even though he knows that the likelihood isn't very high. Slytherins don't operate with that sort of recklessness, usually. He would know. He's become a bit of an expert.

"James owled me this morning, by the way," he tells her as they head to the lift that will take them deeper into the Ministry. "He wants to take a rain check for tonight."

Vivian shoots him a raised brow. "He's the one who wanted to get us all together, and now he's backing out?"

They were supposed to meet the other Marauders at a muggle pub that night. Vivian had done her utmost to pretend not to be excited about it for the survival of her reputation, but in truth, she had been looking forward to venturing out into the muggle world. The last few Order meetings had brought them to the heart of muggle London, but they hadn't had the time nor the inclination to go exploring. Besides that, she does have to admit that she had grudgingly been looking forward to seeing the Marauders too, though she had made certain to pretend otherwise. Reputations are very important, you know, especially when dealing with pests like James Potter.