fic: The CLO
Title: The CLO
Author: winters_empire
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Hermione Granger, Lavander Brown, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini
Rating: K+
Summary: The Centaur Liaison Office is a waste of department space as far as the Ministry of Magic is concerned. That shows how much they know. One-Shot.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It is the property of the great J.K. Rowling.
Authors Note: Might be a bit OOC.
***
She knew she was being followed. Walking in the late hours of the night, in a dodgy neighborhood with recent rumored disappearances, she had expected no less. However, whether she had lured in the correct prey or not, that was still to be determined.
She quickly turned in to the next alleyway, and drew out her wand. Casting an invisibility spell over her, she didn’t have to wait long before her pursuer appeared at the mouth of the alley.
Muggle, was what first came to mind but she needed to be sure. Not all vampires had the keen eyesight to look pass magic. As her pursuer took a few steps forward, and looked on curiously, she carefully undid the pin on her coat. She didn’t even make a sound when she pierced her skin, but at the first drop of blood she felt hands on her.
***
“Granger in yet?”
Pansy Parkinson barely chanced a glance at Blaise Zabini from her spot on the couch, and turned the page of the Witch Weekly magazine she was reading. “No, not yet.”
Lavender Brown, who was lying down at the other end, quickly sat up. “Are you worried?”
This time, Pansy lowered the magazine to look at him. “Are you?”
Blaise remained stoic under their gaze. “No. She’s running late.”
“Liar!” Lavender accused. “That’s twice you’ve asked.”
“Three,” Pansy corrected. “And Granger’s never late.”
“Besides, I can sense it. You can’t hide you emotions from me, especially not this close to the full moon.” Lavender reminded him.
Blaise narrowed his eyes, the only indication to his growing irritation. However, the feat, as of late, was becoming difficult to uphold. Never in his life had his patience been tested so harshly than in the past three months since the initial appointment of their team.
“You should have send me too,” Lavender continued. “I may still need to practice more but I do have my advantages.”
“Brown,” Blaise started but Pansy more acute to his change in temper, interrupted, “Your smell would have given Granger away, and the mission would have been aborted, again.”
Lavender let out a growl as she turned to Pansy. “Hey! Vampires don’t smell like bloody roses to me either, you know.”
“I hope that’s not the reason why werewolves and vampires can’t set aside their differences. Because after last night, I can’t help but think how helpful it would be to have a vampire on our side.”
The three of them snapped their heads towards the sound of the voice. There, Hermione stood near the elevator, looking a bit worse for wear. Due to their own dispute, they had failed to notice her entrance.
“Hermione!”
“Granger!”
Both Lavender and Pansy stood but Hermione held her hand. “It’s best if you all remained seated. I could use one myself, if you just give me a moment.”
All eyes were one her as they watched her slump into the nearest armchair.
“What happened?” Lavender demanded. “Don’t tell me that spineless, idiot, Maverick got the best of you.”
“Brown, enough!” Blaise ordered. “Let her speak. Granger, what happened?”
Hermione let out a sigh as she straightened out in her seat. “I’ll have a full report on you desk, by the end of the day Zabini. To be brief, it was Maverick, but he was stronger than before, a lot more. He caught me off guard. I think it’s safe to say he has had his first taste of wizarding blood.”
Pansy’s eyes widened, while Lavender let out another growl.
“Then, he was involved in the attack of the witch a couple nights ago,” Blaise deduced. “However, Maverick couldn’t have been working alone.”
“Even Pansy could have taken him on,” Lavender agreed.
Pansy scowled. “Is that really the issue here?”
“No,” Hermione said. “But you’re right. He isn’t working alone, but neither is he working for one of the elite covens.”
Blaise looked at her to elaborate.
“I was taken to an abandoned building after I was captured. There were at least three more vampires there. However, from what I could tell, they were all…inexperienced, you could say but not newborns.”
“In other words, stupid,” Lavender put in.
Hermione gave her a look but continued on, “We all know, that the only vampires who have knowledge of the repercussions of drinking wizarding blood, are the Old Ones. If they have withheld that knowledge from members of the elite covens, it is unlikely that they would have told…lowly vampires like Maverick.”
Blaise nodded. “No, they wouldn’t disclose such information. With enough intake of wizarding blood, a vampire could be up to par with an Old One.” He then became absorbed in his own thoughts.
It was a rare occasion that Hermione, Lavender, and Pansy, remained silent, and waited for Blaise to speak again.
“Right, well that’s enough for now,” Blaise said. “We’ll have a full disclosure after lunch. Granger, you could use a rest.” With that, he started walking back to his office. “And Granger, don’t be late again,” he called after him.
Hermione smiled in thanks, despite that he was already gone.
“You hear that, ladies,” Lavender said, jumping up, “It’s lunch time!”
“It’s ten thirty,” Pansy told her, opening her magazine again. “And when Blaise said that Granger should take a rest, I doubt he meant us as well.”
Lavender gave her mischievous look.
Pansy stood, the Witch Weekly issue forgotten. “Well, let’s go then.”
Lavender squealed and pulled Hermione off the armchair, leading her towards the elevator.
“Lavender,” Hermione protested. “If Zabini finds out about this he’ll-”
“There’s not much he can do once we’re gone.”
“So hurry up, Granger, before he comes out of his office,” Pansy added, nudging her into the elevator.
Hermione let out a sigh, and gave in.
Inside his office, Blaise Zabini was rubbing his temples. Those girls spoke too loudly for their own good, and his own.
***
“Did I miss anything?” Hermione asked, once they were inside the elevator.
“Blaise, got an owl from his mum, earlier,” Pansy informed her. “He sent out word that a full staff meeting will be held the day after tomorrow. Meaning, we need to be present as well.”
Hermione furrowed her brow. “That’s strange. It must be serious. Who will be leading the meeting?”
“Mrs. Zabini,” Lavender said. “She’s cutting her trip short.”
“I hope nothing went wrong with the Sirens. With the mess the vampires are starting to create, the last thing we need is another group rebelling against us.”
“Don’t worry, Granger. The Sirens don’t wish to break their long-standing agreement with the Wizarding World. Over the years, their numbers have been dwindling. A full-out war with the Wizarding World won’t help them.” Pansy assured her. “Mrs. Zabini has even convinced one of their kind to return with her, to see it they would like to be part of the organization.”
“Really?” Hermione was unable to hide the excitement of the prospect of meeting a Siren. Sirens rarely made themselves known to Wizard kind. “How can you be sure?”
Pansy shrugged. “I have my sources.”
Lavender snorted. “She read over Blaise’s shoulder.”
Pansy looked indignant but before she could say anything, the elevator stopped. They were met with an empty hallway. As Hermione and Lavender exited, Pansy closed the gates behind them. “I’ll meet you guys up there.”
Hermione could only roll her eyes as the elevator disappeared. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered, walking down the hallway.
“True. But just imagined the excitement she would cause in the Ministry if they see her walking out of the Centaur Liaison Office,” Lavender giggled. “Or Blaise. Oh!”
Hermione simply shook her head. She was in agreement that it was crucial that some members of the CLO never made an appearance at the Ministry. Zabini was one of them, along with his mother. Pansy, however, wasn’t. After the war, many of the Slytherin’s had difficulty finding employment due to their parents’ involvement with Voldemort. Hermione believed that Pansy could set an example. Pansy had applied for different positions at the Ministry, only to be denied. She had only been admitted to the Centaur Liaison Office, and because of her lack public appearances, many assumed she rejected the job offer. Of course, they were wrong.
They reached the end of the hallway. Hermione took out her wand and tapped the stone wall at four different locations. When she was finished, the wall cracked as it took form of double door entrance. The doors then opened, revealing a broom closet. Hermione and Lavender stepped in. it was only after the wall re-formed itself, that they were able to open the door that led to the Centaur Liaison Office.
“What a bore!” Lavender announced into the office, receiving glares from few colleagues at their cubicles.
“Please, excuse her,” Hermione said, and this time, she pulled Lavender as she led her out. Hermione then gave her look.
“What?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be working down there, today?”
Lavender smirked. “Blaise hasn’t said anything. I think he was too worried about you to remember.”
Hermione snorted. “Zabini doesn’t worry. If anything, he was more concerned about the information I acquired.”
Lavender opened her mouth to argue but just then a group of auror trainees walked passed them.
“Watson really did it this time, didn’t he? I bet he’ll get sent to the Centaur Office, the stupid oaf.”
The group snickered and Lavender bristled at their remark. The Centaur Liaison Office was seen as a joke that “being sent to the Centaur Office,” was used to say when someone was about to get fired.
“Why you-”
“Well you can tell him, we’ll be happy to have him.”
The trainees and Lavender both looked at Hermione in surprised. A couple of them even shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.
Hermione then turned on her heel, and continued walking.
“Have a good day boys!” Lavender waved, as followed Hermione. “Wow. I’m impressed.”
“Lavender, we really are going to need all the help we can get,” Hermione told her seriously.
“Well, then, we best go find out who this Watson is. I think he’s going to be out of a job soon. I do hope he’s good looking,” Lavender giggled.
Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. It seemed it was going to be another long day for the CLO. If only the Ministry of Magic new just what great of an asset the Centaur Liaison Office. But of course, they didn’t.
The End.