Exceptional love

Chapter 19

Auror Andrew Charleston sat up with a gasp. He bolted up so fast he had to throw a hand against his dizzying head and close his eyes against the world around him spinning. "Bloody fuck!" he exclaimed, and then immediately wished he hadn't when his head started pounding.

Andrew looked around after that, blinking rapidly when he didn't recognize where he was, or when. After short silent pondering, in which he started to panic because the last thing he remembered was being in the Dark Lord's open parlor- did he get drunk in front of the Dark Lord?- Andrew spotted a folded piece of parchment upon the night stand beside the bed.

The Auror, who was still fully dressed, shifted and swung his legs over the side and carefully stood before grabbing the letter which had his name printed on the outside where he could see it. Opening it, Andrew's eyes moved back and forth rapidly as he read the rather abrupt letter. As the moments went by, he realized this was from the Dark Lord and his face paled as he read the chastisement underlining the words that were written. Apparently the twins had gotten to him and managed to drug him without anyone knowing. The Dark Lord complained he was a horrible Auror to have allowed that to happen.

Lord Voldemort then went on to explain why he had been drugged and that he was still within the Dark Lord's manor. When he read this part, Andrew's eyes shot away from the parchment to look around quickly, expecting to see his master in the shadows, ready to dish out punishment for his lax in observation. When Andrew was sure he was very much alone, he went back to the letter, and a smile curved his lips when the Dark Lord went on to tell him exactly why he was still there and what should be done immediately after reading this letter. Andrew had the distinct impression the Dark Lord had had to put up with a lot of nagging and was more than tired of it. And this was confirmed by the scribbling at the end by another's handwriting, telling him Hermione was becoming inpatient and downtrodden.

Andrew laughed when he realized the handwriting belonged to Harry Riddle. He really liked Harry and this was certainly an order he had no problem following since he'd become impatient as well in regards to Hermione. He'd had to be patient for nearly a year now, as he'd been watching Hermione since he first saw her in the cafeteria the first week she came to work at the Ministry. He'd already known who she was then. Her role as Harry Potter's best friend was well known and at that time she had already been declared a neutral along with her friend. It had been blasted all over the Prophet for weeks about the two turning their backs on the Light. That was one of the main reasons why Andrew hadn't automatically turned his back on his chances with her. He had been only watching though, worrying, because the Dark Lord hadn't at that time declared what his intentions were anymore about Potter, and therefore, Potter's friends.

Andrew turned from the bed, stashed the amusing letter into his pocket, and then strode for the door. He'd been ecstatic when Malfoy had given him a letter a few months ago to deliver to Hermione. Deliver personally. He'd watched her for a few minutes before approaching where her desk was located at the very back of the department. Watched her try to bite back remarks to her superior when she handed over work and tried to speak of other things only to be completely ignored. Her boss had simply ignored her words entirely and had dropped another load of files in front of her. She's stared at the files with something akin to loathing, and then it was definitely loathing she had in her eyes as she pinned her gaze upon the wizard's back as he walked away.

She was pretty; beautiful when her cheeks were flushed with rage, and her hair, usually tame, seemed to curl into a wild mass as if her anger had induced it. Andrew had given her another minute to calm down before finally approaching and he hadn't missed how she'd flushed in a different way as they spoke and tried patting down her hair in a subtle manner. He'd been delighted by her reactions to him.