ENCHANTRESS | Harry Potter

SIX

The office was covered in silence, even though Harry, Ron, Draco and Theodore were all present. They had exchanged nothing more than their usual pleasantries that bordered on simply polite and not friendly some days, and then, when the time for their shift to start had come, they had quietly started to read through their reports. The office in the back of their space remained empty.

Harry seemed to count the minutes since their shift had started. Bada was late five minutes already. In all the time she had worked with them she had always arrived in the office early, sometimes even visiting the training grounds before she were to come to work. To see her being late had worried him.

Ten minutes into their shift, she appeared.

She was dressed as she usually was, clothes ironed, shoes polished, hair pulled into a bun in the back of her head, but there was something about her expression that made it seem like she was tired. She muttered a good morning as she passed by the two rows of desks and moved to sit down in her own seat. She took out her coat, placed it to the side, and Harry noticed the necklace she always wore tucked beneath her shirt had escaped during her haste and was now visible, the pearl easily noticeable.

"Good morning to you too," Theodore told her as he rolled back in his seat to face her, and almost at once, the rest of them did the same as they turned to face her.

"No one is going to tell the boss you were late, if you were worried about that," Harry said as she looked over at them.

"I appreciate it," she assured him as Ron beside him cleared his throat.

"So, late night?"

She nodded with a sigh, "Yeah."

"I see," Ron mused and Theodore smirked.

"Did you have fun?"

"I wouldn't say I so."

At that, all four of her colleagues seemed to grow serious. Draco leaned forward in his seat. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, of course," she waved them off as she attempted to turn her attention on her reports. "I was exhausted by the end of the night, though. I didn't get to sleep much either and I slept through my alarm."

Their expressions showed some kind of realization and sympathy. Just as they were about to turn away, Harry spoke up once more. "How was your visit to your grandparents?"

"The visit was fine," she said with a huff as she turned to face him. "Somehow, though, I ended up adopting two kittens."

Their expressions showed confusion before Draco softly cleared his throat. "Are they the reason you didn't get to sleep, by any chance?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, paying no heed to the small collective sigh her colleagues let out at the news. "They never stop moving, honestly. I couldn't keep up with them, they wanted to explore and went everywhere. And when it was time to go to sleep I tried to ensure they stayed away from the bed but they always climbed up. How do they even climb up? They are tiny, how can they jump that far?"

Ron and Theodore didn't bother stifling their chuckles as Draco raised a brow at her. "Did you by any chance think of closing the door so they wouldn't come in?"

"I wanted to sleep with my door open."

He let out a sound of realization as Harry took over. "So, did the kittens win?"

Bada gestured to her face, "Obviously."

Ron's and Theodore's laughter could no longer be contained. Bada's expression turned into a scowl as Harry rushed to appease her.