Challenge 041: Day One
Title: Day One
Rating/Warnings: PG
Characters/Pairing: Pansy Parkinson
Summary: Pansy's first day at work.
Word Count: 1259
Purchases: N/A
Day One
Pansy stepped out of her bathroom and padded silently back towards her bedroom, tightly wrapping her dressing gown around her body. The cold hardwood floor burned her warm feet, causing her to tip toe quickly inside her room and onto a plush fur rug that covered the entire room. Slowing her pace, she sat down at her vanity mirror, staring at her pale face in the mirror. She leaned forward and inspected her face, brushing her fingers across the planes of her cheeks. She’d lost quite a bit of weight in the stress of the war’s aftermath. There had many so trials, so many funerals - many of her former classmates, people she’d considered friends at some time or another. It had had been wretched and very, very lonely.
At the sound of her door opening, she sat back and caught the reflection of her mother in the mirror. Pansy gave the older woman a half-grin.
“Checking to see if I was up yet?” teased Pansy, turning on her seat towards her mother. Felicity Parkinson gave her daughter a somewhat rueful smile.
“I see my waking services aren’t exactly needed,” she answered. Felicity walked into the room as Pansy turned back and began her daily routine.
“I’m almost out of my eye shadows,” said Pansy offhandedly, swiping a bit of brown powder across her eyelid. “We’ll have to go to the Alley and pick some up.” Felicity leaned against on of the bed posts and crossed her arms as she watched Pansy in the mirror.
“Don’t overdo your face today,” she said quietly. “I don’t want them thinking you’re some kind of harlot.” Pansy made a face at herself in the mirror.
“That would be the icing on the cake,” she muttered angrily. “It’s bad enough I had to deal with that bastard who interviewed me, asking all sorts of nasty questions about - everyone and their mother. Literally.” She closed a compact and tossed inside a small bag sitting beside a myriad of bottles and perfumes.
“And yet here you are, the Department’s newest Unspeakable,” said Felicity calmly. “It doesn’t matter what those others thought of you at the time. Their expectations will most likely be ridiculously low due to their prejudice against your background. That will work in your favor, Pansy. You must go in and exceed their expectations.”
“I know, Mother,” said Pansy quietly, feeling her nerves turn her stomach in knots. “I know.” She picked up her wand and waved it over her hair, casting a quick drying charm. Felicity moved behind her and placed a quick kiss on her cheek.
“Good luck, my dear,” whispered Felicity. “I’m so proud of you, love.” She turned and walked out of the room, not seeing her daughter’s eyes fill with tears.
~*~~*~
She arrived at the ministry nearly 15 minutes early and was shocked at the sheer mass of people in the Atrium. A man jostled past her as he came quickly through the floo entrance behind her. Sighing, Pansy straightened her robes and with her head held high, began making her way towards the lifts. As she got closer, she saw it would be ages before she could catch one going down - most of the people were going to the upper levels. She looked around and spotted a sign above the door leading to the stairwell. Plastering a fake smile on her face, she began the tedious snaking through the mass of morning shift arrivals. She managed to work her way across rather quickly for someone as petite and slight as she was, but just as she made it to the edge of the crowd, she tripped over a young man’s foot.
“Oh, excuse me,” she said, turning back towards the man. “I’m so -“ her voice caught in her throat as she caught a glimpse of silvery platinum hair and grey eyes. There was a moment of awkward silence - she hadn’t seen him in nearly two years, since he’d fled in the dead of night with Professor Snape. The rumors that had sped through the school body had ranged from horrific to down right ridiculous.
Yet here he stood - healthy, unscathed, and dressed as impeccably as ever. He didn’t say anything; he just stood there, staring at her. There was so much to say, yet no way to say it. Pansy turned and continued towards the stairwell, not looking back at him when he called her name.
She pushed open the door and quickly made her way down several flights of stairs. The sounds of the busy Atrium were muffled, then completely silenced as she pulled open the door to the Department of Mysteries. Stepping over the threshold, she looked up and down the dark corridor for her supervisor, whom she was supposed to meet at exactly 8am. Pansy glanced at her watch and saw she was still early, so she walked back towards the lifts at the end of the hallway and waited.
At exactly 8, a tall, stern looking woman apparated into the corridor, startling Pansy out of her thoughts.
“Good, you’re already here,” said the woman without preamble. “Punctuality is, obvious, something our section is most concerned with in new hires.” The woman looked Pansy up and down, and signaled her approval with a sharp nod.
“My name is Eva Mallory and I will be your immediate supervisor,” said the woman. “Though really, this will be more akin to a mentorship compared to some of the more structured departments in the Ministry. We are in charge of handling the most dangerous, the most untested objects and subjects known to wizardkind. I will be working very closely to ensure that you are trained to both respect and enhance our knowledge of the unknown mysteries that we research down here.” She pulled a small folder out of her pocket and tapped it with her wand to return it to its original size.
“I will give this to you now but we’ll be going over it here shortly,” said Eva. “It contains all of our disclosures, policies, procedures and confidentiality contracts. Each contract will require both your signature and a small drop of your blood in order to become magically binding.”
“My blood?” asked Pansy, her face paling a bit.
“It’s the only way we’ve figured out how to ensure we aren’t getting polyjuiced imposters,” said Eve regretfully. “There’s a nice, painless charm for it - I’ll show you in just a bit. Today, we will be just be going over the general scheme of things - it will most likely be quite overwhelming as far as information goes, but you Hogwarts grads seem to be a bit better with information dumps than the other kids we recruit from the continent and the States. Once we get back to our section, I’ll be conducting all of our entry level tests and identity verifications - your wand verification, physical markers, blood sampling, and your confidentiality wand oath, which is required of all Unspeakables upon hiring.”
“Okay,” said Pansy, trying to remain calm in spite of already feeling out of her depth. Eva smiled at her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I promise things will get more fun once you’ve settled in,” said Eve quietly. “Just keep your wits about you and for Merlin’s sake, don’t touch anything until you’ve been briefed completely. The last chap we had made the mistake of touching a rare artifact from Egypt and lost his marbles a bit.” Pansy laughed nervously, but followed Eva towards the door at the end of the corridor.
~ Lexa || Slytherin
Rating/Warnings: PG
Characters/Pairing: Pansy Parkinson
Summary: Pansy's first day at work.
Word Count: 1259
Purchases: N/A
Day One
Pansy stepped out of her bathroom and padded silently back towards her bedroom, tightly wrapping her dressing gown around her body. The cold hardwood floor burned her warm feet, causing her to tip toe quickly inside her room and onto a plush fur rug that covered the entire room. Slowing her pace, she sat down at her vanity mirror, staring at her pale face in the mirror. She leaned forward and inspected her face, brushing her fingers across the planes of her cheeks. She’d lost quite a bit of weight in the stress of the war’s aftermath. There had many so trials, so many funerals - many of her former classmates, people she’d considered friends at some time or another. It had had been wretched and very, very lonely.
At the sound of her door opening, she sat back and caught the reflection of her mother in the mirror. Pansy gave the older woman a half-grin.
“Checking to see if I was up yet?” teased Pansy, turning on her seat towards her mother. Felicity Parkinson gave her daughter a somewhat rueful smile.
“I see my waking services aren’t exactly needed,” she answered. Felicity walked into the room as Pansy turned back and began her daily routine.
“I’m almost out of my eye shadows,” said Pansy offhandedly, swiping a bit of brown powder across her eyelid. “We’ll have to go to the Alley and pick some up.” Felicity leaned against on of the bed posts and crossed her arms as she watched Pansy in the mirror.
“Don’t overdo your face today,” she said quietly. “I don’t want them thinking you’re some kind of harlot.” Pansy made a face at herself in the mirror.
“That would be the icing on the cake,” she muttered angrily. “It’s bad enough I had to deal with that bastard who interviewed me, asking all sorts of nasty questions about - everyone and their mother. Literally.” She closed a compact and tossed inside a small bag sitting beside a myriad of bottles and perfumes.
“And yet here you are, the Department’s newest Unspeakable,” said Felicity calmly. “It doesn’t matter what those others thought of you at the time. Their expectations will most likely be ridiculously low due to their prejudice against your background. That will work in your favor, Pansy. You must go in and exceed their expectations.”
“I know, Mother,” said Pansy quietly, feeling her nerves turn her stomach in knots. “I know.” She picked up her wand and waved it over her hair, casting a quick drying charm. Felicity moved behind her and placed a quick kiss on her cheek.
“Good luck, my dear,” whispered Felicity. “I’m so proud of you, love.” She turned and walked out of the room, not seeing her daughter’s eyes fill with tears.
~*~~*~
She arrived at the ministry nearly 15 minutes early and was shocked at the sheer mass of people in the Atrium. A man jostled past her as he came quickly through the floo entrance behind her. Sighing, Pansy straightened her robes and with her head held high, began making her way towards the lifts. As she got closer, she saw it would be ages before she could catch one going down - most of the people were going to the upper levels. She looked around and spotted a sign above the door leading to the stairwell. Plastering a fake smile on her face, she began the tedious snaking through the mass of morning shift arrivals. She managed to work her way across rather quickly for someone as petite and slight as she was, but just as she made it to the edge of the crowd, she tripped over a young man’s foot.
“Oh, excuse me,” she said, turning back towards the man. “I’m so -“ her voice caught in her throat as she caught a glimpse of silvery platinum hair and grey eyes. There was a moment of awkward silence - she hadn’t seen him in nearly two years, since he’d fled in the dead of night with Professor Snape. The rumors that had sped through the school body had ranged from horrific to down right ridiculous.
Yet here he stood - healthy, unscathed, and dressed as impeccably as ever. He didn’t say anything; he just stood there, staring at her. There was so much to say, yet no way to say it. Pansy turned and continued towards the stairwell, not looking back at him when he called her name.
She pushed open the door and quickly made her way down several flights of stairs. The sounds of the busy Atrium were muffled, then completely silenced as she pulled open the door to the Department of Mysteries. Stepping over the threshold, she looked up and down the dark corridor for her supervisor, whom she was supposed to meet at exactly 8am. Pansy glanced at her watch and saw she was still early, so she walked back towards the lifts at the end of the hallway and waited.
At exactly 8, a tall, stern looking woman apparated into the corridor, startling Pansy out of her thoughts.
“Good, you’re already here,” said the woman without preamble. “Punctuality is, obvious, something our section is most concerned with in new hires.” The woman looked Pansy up and down, and signaled her approval with a sharp nod.
“My name is Eva Mallory and I will be your immediate supervisor,” said the woman. “Though really, this will be more akin to a mentorship compared to some of the more structured departments in the Ministry. We are in charge of handling the most dangerous, the most untested objects and subjects known to wizardkind. I will be working very closely to ensure that you are trained to both respect and enhance our knowledge of the unknown mysteries that we research down here.” She pulled a small folder out of her pocket and tapped it with her wand to return it to its original size.
“I will give this to you now but we’ll be going over it here shortly,” said Eva. “It contains all of our disclosures, policies, procedures and confidentiality contracts. Each contract will require both your signature and a small drop of your blood in order to become magically binding.”
“My blood?” asked Pansy, her face paling a bit.
“It’s the only way we’ve figured out how to ensure we aren’t getting polyjuiced imposters,” said Eve regretfully. “There’s a nice, painless charm for it - I’ll show you in just a bit. Today, we will be just be going over the general scheme of things - it will most likely be quite overwhelming as far as information goes, but you Hogwarts grads seem to be a bit better with information dumps than the other kids we recruit from the continent and the States. Once we get back to our section, I’ll be conducting all of our entry level tests and identity verifications - your wand verification, physical markers, blood sampling, and your confidentiality wand oath, which is required of all Unspeakables upon hiring.”
“Okay,” said Pansy, trying to remain calm in spite of already feeling out of her depth. Eva smiled at her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I promise things will get more fun once you’ve settled in,” said Eve quietly. “Just keep your wits about you and for Merlin’s sake, don’t touch anything until you’ve been briefed completely. The last chap we had made the mistake of touching a rare artifact from Egypt and lost his marbles a bit.” Pansy laughed nervously, but followed Eva towards the door at the end of the corridor.
~ Lexa || Slytherin