Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

A Waiting Game (Newt Scamander)

Newt, the precious cinnamon bun that he is, is the main star for this one shot.  I'm not sure if I've characterised him properly with this one so feel free to leave a comment about that.

Also, the timeline for this one is a bit messy because the official wiki page never specifies how long he went travelling for ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

The old, pompous men who worked for and run the ministry were the bane of my existence. Angrily reorganising the papers that had been placed on my desk, I let out a deep breath to steady myself. This was only a setback. I'd overcome their prejudices and climb up the ranks and then I'd fire them all. Yes, that was what I'd do.

They had given me a secretarial position – because I was a woman and I quote 'women aren't meant to deal with the important things' – bloody imbeciles. I had applied for a more senior position in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and on paper, my application had been impressive enough for them to want to offer me the job straight away. The owl they sent me had said as much. It had gone on to state that they needed to organise a meeting with me – one that would purely be a formality but upon realising that I was a woman, one that had just left Hogwarts at that, they had made me a secretary.

I was stuck behind a desk, acting as the secretary for one of the more senior employees within the Department of International Magical Cooperation. And, to rub it in even more, the man I was working for had been the one to dismiss me simply because of the fact that I didn't have a penis – like that meant anything. The man they eventually offered my rightful job to was a real fool and the injustice of it all made me want to pull at my own hair.

"Erm, excuse me?" a voice called out cautiously, bringing me from my rapidly darkening thoughts.

I cleared my throat, straightening myself out, looking over the man who was standing in front of my desk. He glanced down towards the ground as he shuffled on his feet. Tilting my head curiously, I looked over the man whose behaviour screamed that he wanted to run away. Most of the ministry employees seemed to think that they were entitled to my attention – professional or otherwise – simply because I was a secretary and they were of a higher rank.

"I'm sorry you had to see me in that state," I apologised, waiting for the man to raise his eyes to mine but he didn't. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I've been told to speak to Mr Donavon about being granted a travel visa? For work?" He looked up at me then and still didn't meet my eyes. Merlin, if that wasn't endearing.

"Mr Donavon is in a meeting right now." I gave the man an apologetic smile, "Perhaps you'd like to wait for the meeting to come to an end? He shouldn't be long." He looked away from me and I paused, "Unless, you've got some work that requires your attention."

"I have time," he assured me before hurrying towards the seats that had been set out for the visitors waiting to meet Mr Donavon.

"So, you're work's taking you abroad?" I said after a few moments of awkward silence. Laughing gently, I tried to inject some lightness into the room. "I find myself rather jealous – I'd give anything to be able to get out from behind this desk."

He smiled rather shyly, ducking his head down a little. "I've been commissioned to write a book – on magical creatures."

He said the words as if they meant nothing. But to me, they were something else and I wondered whether this was what people who met their heroes felt like.

"Merlin," I exclaimed, the word coming out like a gasp and it caught the man who just I'd identified by surprise. His eyes went wide, scanning the room as if he thought something else held by excitement. "You're Newton Scamander."