With a dark wizard's rise to power, the International Confederation has assigned two aurors from the British Ministry to apprehend Gellert Grindelwald. The responsibility to protect the wizarding world and to stop an outbreak of war lay on their sho...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Ariadne sat in the drawing room of their house, finishing up some holiday homework as the fire crackled. The holidays dragged on and the house was quiet. It was late in the afternoon and with boredom filling her mind, the only thing left was to complete her long list of schoolwork. Her mother sat on the other side of the room, reading a magazine filled with gossip about other wizarding families. It wasn't long until angry footsteps wandered into the room. Silas Nott came in holding pieces of paper and Ariadne quickly looked away as his gaze travelled to her.
"Why is Theseus Scamander writing to you?" he wondered coolly. She froze as she looked back at him, dread filled in her eyes. Cressida's head peaked up at the sound of her enraged husband.
"It's probably something about school," she played it off, not wanting any punishment to arrive on her. Ariadne glanced at her mother who stared boredly into her eyes.
"Doesn't look like it," he muttered to himself, skimming through the pages. He looked back up at his daughter who downcasted her eyes immediately, "Guess we'll never know," and he threw the letters into the fire. Ariadne's shoulders slumped down as she watched her friend's handwriting burn away. "Don't talk to him."
"What? That's so unfair," Ariadne blurted out, he stopped walking and turned to her.
"What was that?" His tone was poisonous, dripping with venom.
"No, I-, sorry sir," she stammered.
"Don't even think about defying me," she kept her tears in until he walked out of the room. Her eyes stared at the paper as it burned away. Oh, what she would do once she was of age, once she could legally cast spells outside of school. She stood up quietly and walked to her room.
'One more year,' Ariadne told herself, 'One more until they will never touch me again.'
☆
"Who was that?" Theseus sat in the same chair Cressida had occupied a moment ago.
"No one. I got a proper date," she handed Theseus the letter and watched as his eyes scanned the page, "We should debrief everyone. He's not coming today," she stood up, her eyes scanning the cafe. There were aurors placed carefully around, Ariadne could spot them out - all of them trying to fit in with the crowd. She wondered how many of them would have survived if Grindelwald had come today. She wondered how many would give their life to capture him. But now was not the time to overthink. She needed to be strong, her task was not done yet. Not when the aurors stared questioningly at her. Not when Theseus wanted more information. Not when her mother had just walked away with a newfound question in her mind.
The auror office was buzzing as everyone had arrived back. Barracus and Melinda had both bombarded Ariadne and Theseus with worried questions, the team of aurors needed approval that their plan would still be put forth next week and Melinda had made the unnerving realisation that Grindelwald could be in London right now. Seeing her mother for the first time in a decade was Ariadne's tipping point.
While this was all happening, Ariadne slipped outside. The quietness of the large hallways was oddly refreshing. How she got away when half of the attention was on her? It was unbeknownst to her too. She took a few twists and turns, hoping to hide away from her troubles for a moment. An elf pushing a cleaning trolley came through and Ariadne watched as every speck of dust vanished as the marble floors were made spotless.
"Excuse me," Ariadne turned to find another woman staring at her. She was a head shorter than Ariadne, her brown hair curled in waves and ended at her chin. There was an elegance in her that almost intimidated Ariadne, "I was looking for the Law Enforcement Patrol department. I seem to be a little lost," she smiled politely.
"You're not far off," Ariadne returned her smile, "It's just a left here then the second door on your right."
"Oh, thank you, Miss?"
"Nott, Ariadne Nott," she responded.
"Leta Lestrange," the shorter woman said with a smile.
"Ariadne," she turned to find Theseus slowing down his pace as he stalked towards her. He looked out of breath and a little bit disoriented. Ariadne couldn't lie, she felt a pang of guilt for leaving him alone in that room full of chaos.
"Theseus," she replied politely.
"Scamander?" Leta let out under her breath.
"Yes?" His eyes glisten with confusion as he glanced at Ariadne who stared nonchalantly back at him.
"I knew your brother," Leta replied with little emotion on her face. Ariadne didn't know much of Theseus's younger brother. All she knew was that he was a first-year student at Hogwarts two years after Theseus and her graduated. Here and there, she also picked up snippets of his life. Sensing everyone's unease, Leta nodded at Ariadne, "Have a good day, Miss Nott, Mr Scamander," she gave Theseus a look that both Ariadne and Theseus recognised, making Ariadne awkwardly look away and Theseus shift uncomfortably in his shoes.
"I'm sorry, I lost my pen. I thought I dropped it here," she lied easily when they were left alone. He didn't seem to pick up on her lie, his mind focused on other important matters.
"Barracus wants us back," he cleared his throat. The awkward air was back. They hadn't talked properly since their outbursts. This was an ongoing cycle. One of them would take things too far while the other fought back with as much strength as the other. Words would be shared with irreversible anger and then they would be paired together, having to work with one another civilly. Ariadne couldn't remember the last time she received an apology from him and vice versa. They had been friends once, what happened to that?
