Light in the Darkness

Chapter Sixteen

Within minutes, Lucius's utter disgust and animosity toward his son had evaporated when Draco came back home the morning after his engagement with Pansy crashed in flames.

"And where exactly have you been --" his father hissed, but Draco had tossed him a stack of very important looking papers. Lucius caught them, annoyance flaring in his snarling lips, but quickly paused, then receded, once he caught sight of the heading.

'Department of Magical Law Enforcement'

He quieted whatever he was going to say, and scanned the page. Draco was already walking back up the stairs to his room when his father called from below, "How? What does this --"

"I got a job." He said it with about as much enthusiasm as though he was talking about a pet flobberworm.

Before his father could ask or comment any further, Draco had already shut his bedroom door behind him.

He flopped on his bed, sinking his face into the pillow.

Did he want to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, having to clean up the Augury's messes everyday? No.

But, he was on a train headed straight for a Ministry job anyway -- it was what his father had wanted for him since before he could talk, and the change in world order didn't modify this in the slightest.

And, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was where the Augury went to with their qualms and complications -- though, the Augury did what they wanted to anyway. Magical Law Enforcement was just a nice title for Dark Lord cronies, dealing with the actual implications of their ravenous tyranny.

But still, this was the pull, the influence, he needed. The input that could perhaps persuade the Augury to forgive the Greengrasses, if need be. The influence he needed to protect her.

A faint smile, relief and the lulling of a fraction of worry, fluttered over him and he dozed off, the restless night of heel tapping and teeth gnashing catching up to him.

* * *

They entered the Flint's without uttering a word to one another. However, Daphne was holding Astoria's hand.

She'd gripped it after they received the first of many sideways glances. To one of the many onlookers, it might have seemed like the eldest sister was comforting her little sister. However, it was Daphne who was trying to reap strength from Astoria, not the other way around.

If Astoria had been put-out to be there, it'd been nothing compared to Daphne's reaction. Daphne was a noticeable few shades paler, her fingers shaking, her eyes glassy. She was horrified to show her face. And so Astoria gripped her hand all the tighter.

All the eyes that scrutinized them were either full of surprise, disgust, or humor. Astoria was beginning to think her mother was wrong, and just staying home would've been much better for the family image.

They settled themselves at a corner table, the room quieting slightly upon their arrival. They did not greet their hosts. They did not chat with other families. They did not even speak to each other. There they sat in silence amongst themselves. Astoria could only imagine how pathetic it must've looked, and the shame only surfaced in her when her gaze locked with Pansy's.

There was sheer hatred brimming in those beady eyes. Sheer loathing. But then, glimmering atop it all, was arrogance. Triumph. Pansy had won at a game Astoria wasn't even aware they were playing.

But Astoria shot a determined stare back. For, though Pansy might have succeeded in a grand way, exposing Astoria and taking tenfold revenge, Astoria was still the reason there was no longer an engagement ring on Pansy's finger. And petty as it might've been, it felt damn good.