Memories and New Beginnings (SHAH & WADE)

Lucy was still an Auror in Training, but that didn't matter much at the moment. She was more worried about how worried Phoenix would be when she told him she was moving out. She wanted some independence, a small place of her own to care for and keep her safe. It was mostly a dream right now, but she had found a nice flat in London that fit her needs, the only problem was that she needed help with the payments. If she went in by herself, she would die of starvation, so her plan was to get herself a roommate. She didn't care who wanted to share a flat with her, as long as they were responsible enough to pay their share and keep up with their own mess. So far, though, she hadn't found anyone good enough. Taking a break from her training, Lucy went into the showers to take a quick one and get rid of all the sweat from exercising and trying to lift weights. She hadn't thought about the physical training until she started it.

Putting on some clean clothes, the obviously hated yoga pants and a random t-shirt she found in her bag, she made her way to the Auror office to take a seat on one of the small tables and rest a little. In her mind, she was going to wrote and advertisement for the roommate situation, but when she arrived at the offices, she wondered if Mr. Greco was around. He would probably be able to suggest someone from the Auror Department. Taking a seat, she reached inside her bag for a quill and something to write on, which in today's case was actually a napkin she had forgotten about.

"Looking For Roommate..." Lucy began, speaking the words as she wrote them down. What else should I put? She wondered as she thought about the things she liked and didn't like about people. "Definitely not someone messy, someone who likes to read would be nice, but is that too specific?" She was beginning to put the quill down when she saw a flash of red hair from the corner of her eye. Realizing it was Shah, Wade's first and only girlfriend, the one he had broken up with for the stupidest reasons, the one he seemed to love, she yelled to get her attention. "Shah! Hey!" Lucy smiled when the girl turned around. Maybe she could try to fix any bad image her old friend had of her cousin.

Hugging Shah back, Lucy glanced apologetically at the people around her. "Oops." she said as she took her seat back. "I'm so glad you're here, are you working for the Ministry?" Lucy said as she offered the spot next to her for Shah to take. "I'm sure you're a great addition!" she hadn't heard of any other trainees, but if the girl was in the Auror department Lucy was even more excited about work than ever. She put her napkins aside and looked at Shah, waiting for any exciting stories from the girl's time after graduation.

"Me too!" Lucy beamed, feeling better already knowing that someone like Shah was to be eventually working with her. If there was anything she didn't like about working in the Ministry it was the lack of people she knew. Really, she only knew Jen and Andrew, but Jen was an Unspeakable so they rarely saw each other. Andrew was her boss, so she couldn't exactly talk to him the way she did outside of work. Wade was supposed to be looking at Ministry jobs, if she'd heard right from Phoenix, but nobody ever knew what was going through that boy's brain so she didn't believe much of what she heard about him.

"I've been training, mostly." she admitted, instinctively running a hand over her upper arm. "I've put on some weight, but it's mostly muscle mass so that should be okay." Lucy had always been small, in height and in weight. She was only five feet and three inches tall, and she now weighed about 120 pounds, which was ten pounds heavier than her usual self. She didn't know how she felt about it yet, but she liked how she looked more like a woman in front of the mirror. She had a bit of a curve in her waist now, and her cheeks looked fuller and her knees weren't as bony. Despite the weight gain, she was happy with it. "I just recently moved out, though. I'm rooming with a Hogwarts professor, can you imagine? He just goes there for summer and vacations, because traveling from London to the school is too much. I like it though, he's cool." she said as she thought about how Luca would be home making some strange potion and seeing it's effect. "What about you? Any fun adventures?" she asked in return.

Squeezing back Shah's hand, Lucy smiled. "Total badasses." she agreed with a laugh. It'd been quite a rough time for all of them, because even though Shah wasn't saying it, Lucy knew something was up and it wasn't exactly good. Then it hit her. She was an auror, she was to be trained on catching Death Eaters and maybe even killing them. Though Shah and Lucy were different in many things, they had one very good reason to worry about their job: Wade. Wade was family for Lucy, but he was a lover for Shah. Lucy hadn't thought about having to confront Wade sometime in the future, but the possibility was there. What did Shah think of this? Was that why she became and Auror? To hunt Wade down? No, that couldn't be the reason. Shah wasn't the kind to turn bitter over a break up. Lucy thought on that for a second before Shah brought her back to the conversation.

"Ha, yeah, right." Lucy laughed again when Shah said she was beautiful. "Hey, I should have roomed with one ages ago. He's only there for the summer but sends his share of the rent every time." It was good to have Luca around, regardless of how awkward it must look for a former student and current professor to room together. It might even give the wrong idea, but Luca's gay! If anything, it was like having someone like Shah or Ella around. Luca was cooler, though. He wasn't so serious all the time.

"Don't worry. I haven't gotten out much, either." She said, "Remember how Phoenix used to take us on trips? Well, it stopped once we graduated. At least for me." Ryland had gone on one last trip, all by himself, to France again. Why he kept going back to his home country was strange to Lucy, as England was more home to him than France ever was. At least that's what Lucy thought, she wasn't so sure anymore. Lucy's trip had stopped once she moved out, with her father saying that it was her turn to discover things on her own instead of being dragged to other places by him. "I couldn't either!" Lucy beamed suddenly coming back to earth. "I've wanted this since I was young, and it's actually much harder than  I expected."

When Shah asked how everyone was, which Lucy thought meant 'Who's Wade doing now that he's a dark wizard and stupid enough to move in with his father?', Lucy became uncomfortable. Yes, what happened with Wade was a long time ago, but it didn't matter to her because he was still the one she played with in the backyard when she was young. "Ryland's a wolf." Lucy admitted, a small smile on her face, thinking back to the many jokes they'd had about it. "He's single, graduated, and currently working at the Three Broomsticks. He says he doesn't know what to do, even though he was sure he wanted to teach a few years ago, but I guess we'll see." She left out the part about Ryland moving out, mainly because she didn't even know where her brother was. "Wade's...around, I suppose. I don't see him much. We sort of stopped talking a while ago." Her voice got too quiet, and it sounded more like a whisper, as if she was afraid of anyone else hearing in case they decided to go after him. "Father's much more content now. He's healthy, but he no longer wants to be in England. Maybe he'll move back to New York but I'm not sure, yet."

Wade was being forced into getting a job, which was not the worst thing to happen to him, but it was close enough. He was a Malfoy, he shouldn't have to be working. The Hog's Head didn't count, that barely got him enough to live by, so he was going to try the Ministry now, as ironic as it may seem. He had to thank his father, as it had been his idea to force Wade into finishing school and not letting people doubt about his morals. Had he dropped out, like he planned to, people who actually mattered would have wondered why and their conclusion would have most likely been right.

He made his way to the Ministry, to the Unspeakable department, and arranged and appointment to meet the Head sometime later in the week. As he walked back, he saw that the Auror Department was close. Lucy was an Auror now. He stood staring towards the hallway, thinking about walking in and looking for his cousin. He moved out of the way as soon as he realized how creepy he must look.

So he walked in, looking around in every open room and finally found them in the Auror Office. THEM, being Lucy and Shah. He looked at both of the girls for a second, then walked out of their view and thought about what he'd just seen. Shah was there, and he wanted to talk to her and hold her hand, but he couldn't. Because he'd been a piece of shit broken up with her for all the wrong reasons. But he'd also been crying about it like a girl. Wade stood outside for a minute or two, debating whether to go up to them or run away like the coward he was.

Eventually, he said "Oh, I'm sorry." as he walked in and acted like he had done it by accident. I'm an idiot.

Well, now what. Wade seriously didn't know why in the world he had done it. Just walked in and pretended nothing was planned. What had started out as a job search was now a full panic attack as he realized Shah still looked as beautiful as ever. Ironic as it may seem, Wade really had to try and get into the Ministry, not only was it a good cover up to anyone who didn't know him, but it would get him money and that's what he wanted. Naturally, he lied.

"Hey, Shah." He said casually, though it took every ounce of strength in him to not kiss her and act exactly the way his father had told him not to. "Oh, Lucy. I was going to ask you this by owl but Phoenix sad you moved out." His gaze turned quickly towards his cousin, but his mind was somewhere else. "Before you can jinx me or whatever the hell you wanna do to injure me, I just wanted to say that I am no longer one of them." his voice lowered, afraid of anyone hearing anything. Of course that was a lie, but he'd figured he would encounter good people in the Ministry, some who knew about him and some who did not. For those who did, he'd quickly prepared a lie. Holding up his hands in front of him, he said, "I swear. I'm completely darkness-free." he thought about how he really just wanted to hug Shah, to tell her he was an idiot and apologize, but there were just so many things to think about. Without even about his actions, he glanced at Shah, anxious to see of she was looking at him too. "I just...I wanted to apply as an Unspeakable, lend my knowledge to Rufford." he said, almost as if he was explaining Shah why he was there. "Think maybe we could move on and forget the past?" Wade wasn't even sure who he was talking to anymore.