Regimentum ⪼ Sirius Black/OC

Aimus capiendi

A/N: Shorter chapter this week. I'm super busy right now with a work order, so I may or may not be updating next Sunday depending on whether my schedule gives me time to write. Just a heads up!

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Chapter Nineteen | Aimus capiendi

[With the intention of taking]

Life has a way of falling into place, and during the course of the next few weeks, Vivian finds herself almost surprised at how normal everything appears to be. With Sirius having landed his new position as an Auror-in-Training, him and James, who has also secured a spot in the program, are busy during the day operating under Moody's tutelage. Besides Mulciber's continuous stream of snide commentary at her own job, nothing seems amiss on that front. Best of all, as the last traces of summer well and truly fade into the coming chill of Autumn, Vivian's own social life becomes a bit more engaging.

She ends up meeting Mauve for lunch one afternoon about a week or so after stumbling into her at the Ministry, only to discover that she's already received word of having been accepted into the position she'd applied for. What's even better, though, is that, after tiptoeing around the subject for a while, Vivian ends up asking Mauve whether she'd be interested in joining the Order, and Mauve agrees to attend the next meeting.

Things are looking up, and not just because she has fallen back in with an old classmate in her own house, though the fact that she's got another Slytherin around does uplift her mood more than she can say. What's even better than all of that is simply the fact that Adrian Mulciber, snide commentary aside, seems to have warmed up to her a bit faster than she had been expecting.

By the end of October, they've fallen into a bit of a routine. Each morning, she goes over his daily schedule in his office. In the afternoons, she attends court hearings with him so as to take down the minutes. At five o'clock, he's even taken to muttering goodbyes to her should their paths cross on their way out the door. Sirius isn't overly happy about the fact that things seem to be smoothing out between them, but even he can't deny that it is good news. Getting on Mulciber's good side is the whole reason why she'd gotten this job to begin with, and she's clearly making progress.

If Vivian had thought that things would continue down the track they're currently on, though, without any delineation for better or worse, she's wrong.

The first of the changes comes the week of Halloween, in the form of a letter that Adrian hands her the moment she steps into his office that morning, ready to drone out his schedule as per usual. It's strange enough that Vivian promptly forgets said schedule in favor of opening the letter, and not even Mulciber's knowing stare dampens her curiosity.

"...You're kidding, right?" Vivian asks with an incredulous laugh, scanning the letter as she stands in front of his desk. The parchment is of expensive quality, with a linen finish that makes the ink stand out upon the page. After scanning its contents, Vivian realizes that it's not really a letter at all, but rather an invitation.

From his chair, Adrian shrugs casually and stands up. His voice is light and lacking any hint of its usual scorn when he replies, "It was your father's idea. He seemed to think you'd be pleased to attend."

The Halloween Night Gala is a dinner party that's usually held at one of the pureblood family's manors. It's a great honor to host it, and this year, it seems that this particular honor has been bestowed upon the Mulciber family itself, and subsequently, the man who is now moving to stand in front of the window that has been enchanted to show off the bustling streets of London.