ENCHANTRESS | Harry Potter

SEVENTEEN

The hearing went well. In under twenty minutes, Goyle was found guilty, no mention of what Bada and her colleagues had done or any indication that she was a siren seen. She watched him go with a blank face, almost impassive in the way she perceived him. Just before he were to leave, Goyle turned to send her a seething look. Harry beside her brushed a hand against her own, a reassurance he was still present. She sent him a tiny smile in return and then turned around, starting to leave the court along with most other people. Harry lingered for a moment longer and as she walked forward, she was easily accepted between Theodore and Draco.

"Blaise's been asking about you," Theodore spoke up as they got down the stairs to the door leading to the outside corridor. "You haven't joined us in our lunch breaks for a couple of days in a row."

"Yeah?" she asked, tilted her chin up to face him. "I was with Harry and Ron."

"We know," Draco intervened, "Blaise was still asking."

"So what, you are booking my company during lunchbreak?"

Theodore sent her a charming smile. "Yes, if that's how you want to call this."

She chuckled, briefly shook her head. After a moment of silence, she turned back to face Ron and Harry standing a few ways behind. "We should meet up one of these days, have dinner together. I have no issue cooking."

"You quite like that, don't you?" Theodore quipped. "You've told us to come to your house a few times now, you quite like cooking."

"That's true," she admitted, "I find it rather calming to cook after coming home from work."

"That's why that black cat of yours is so huge," Harry teased.

"Geomeun is fluffy and he was bigger than Jakda from the moment I took him from Grannie," she defended her cat with a small pout. "Besides, he is adorable."

Theodore grinned, "Are you really favouring one of your children over the other?"

"Of course not," she sent him a short glare, "I love them both for different reasons."

"Merlin's beard, Bada, they are just cats," Draco grumbled although his gaze was fond.

"Just cats," she scoffed as she turned to face him, eyes narrowed in an almost playful manner. "Should I bring you a cat as a birthday present?"

"Do what you want," he waved her off, hardly able to hide his smile as Theodore chuckled, "who said anything about presents anyway."

"It's customary to give presents to the one who has his birthday, did you not know?" she shot back just as they got in the lift, and conversation ceased as they got close to one another so that everyone could ride the lift at the same time. Bada didn't quite like that part of her journey to work and if there had been a staircase she was sure she would have taken it even though the descent would have been rather tiring. As always, when it was time, she was relieved to leave the lift.

"What is it we have lost?" Ron asked as they headed to their office, appearing to be lost in thought. "We have examined all clues again and again and there's nothing there that hasn't been revealed already. There is no clue as to where Hae may be finding shelter."

"I thought about that last night," Theodore admitted, his gaze on Ron. "For how much longer are we going to be examining the same things?"

"About that," Harry piped in, clearing his throat quietly, his input enough to have them all turning his way, one way or another, even though he had hardly talked yet and they were still walking to their office. Harry looked around him once, then turned to Bada to sent her a slightly apologetic smile and turned to Theodore. "Vance said yesterday she is going to give us a new case tomorrow. There are many that have been left untended and she says we used enough time in one case already. She says some cases perhaps cannot be solved."