Shots to a "Merry" Christmas

Percival Graves x Reader: Farewell Gift

—And now is the part where we say goodbye.—

The soft crackling of the fireplace filled the air as you struggled to finish up the stack of papers you had. Paperwork, what a dreadful task it was. Left alone to your own devices for the night and had expected it to remain as such, you were surprised when a sudden crack sounded in the otherwise silent area.

"(Y/n.)" A familiar voice called out.
"I wish there was another way around this and that I don't have enough to do this but trust me..." A flurry of robes entered your vision as a familiar face stood before you. Percival. He seemed rather worn out, as he always was these few days. Although he'd never tell you the reason behind it.

"It's for your own safety. Please understand that this is for the best." He held his hands up, in an attempt to placate you when he dropped the bomb. "We'll have to stop seeing each other, this is goodbye."
You looked up at him from the paperwork you had been burning through with wide eyes, unable to process what he had just told you. Or rather, your brain had refused to cooperate with you when faced with emotional turmoil as it came.
"I'll leave for both our sakes and you'll never breathe or hear a word of me ever again." You heard the plea in his voice as it shook ever so slightly, hoping that you'd listen to him and let him go without a fight.
Your eyes snapped upwards to meet his brown ones and you could see the storm of emotions he was fighting to keep under wraps. He was trying...Trying to keep things professional. You could tell that much at least.

Percival Graves was a man who could take things as seriously as they came, dealing with them with professionalism, no matter how hard they were on him as a person. He'd just have to deal with the aftermath later when he was alone with no eyes watching his every move as someone of a higher standing. And judging from his clenched fists and the way he had firmly set his jaw, it seemed that the matter on hand at this current moment was something out of his field.
"They've caught wind of us. No one can run from the MACUSA..." He looked tired, almost torn that he was being forced to do this when he clearly didn't want to. Wizard-Muggle relationships were prohibited and he was clearly running a great risk by being in one despite his position as the head of MACUSA's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He moved to draw his wand. No use in prolonging the inevitable, after all.

"Percival— Wait! Can't you do anything about this? Bend the rules, anything?" Dropping the paperwork, you reached out to grasp him but he had already edged backwards, indeed expecting that you'd move to make a grab for him. A sad smile laid upon his lips as he slowly shook his head. "You know I can't do that, (y/n)." A dry lump formed in your throat as the reality of his words sunk in. "Is it...Really over for us now?" Your voice started wavering as you trembled.
You knew that you had to let go of him before the MACUSA sent people to erase your memories now that they knew. Of magic. Of their world. Of him.
You stifle a sob at the thought of forgetting, despite knowing that it was something you couldn't do anything against.

Strong arms wrapped around you as you were pulled flush into his warm embrace, a soft blue scarf winding around your shoulders. "This will be the last. I'm sorry." He nuzzled his nose into the crook of your neck, breathing in your scent for a final time, committing it to memory. You had a few moments more before you felt the cold tip of a wand touching your temple. A choked sob ripped itself from your lips and he breathed. "Shh... It'll all be over in a moment." Sounding equally pained, he quietly muttered the spell before apparating away with a muted crack and a faint whisper of his last words.

"I love you (y/n). And here now, is where we part..."
"Obliviate."

It took a while before your eyelids fluttered open once more to face the world.
A flash of white light was all you remembered, along with a scarf that fell neatly around your shoulders. Blue...you found it to be a nostalgic color for some reason. You didn't really have any preferences when it came to colors...But why...Why did it bring with it such a feeling of emptiness? Something tugged faintly at the back of your mind, nagging at you but a white haze blocked it off before you could react.
You reached up to touch the scarf, it was soft and smooth, almost finery. Must have been expensive...You couldn't possibly have afforded something so exquisite. And it smelled like sandalwood, something that unexpectedly brought tears springing to your eyes, leaving you confused for a moment.

Why? Why were you shedding tears? And why were you feeling as if a part of you had been ripped away?

What was this feeling of loss? This deep, dark empty hole that ached and groaned?

A tear slid down your cheek before you quietly shook your head, dismissing it all as a mere delusion and returning back to your work. Perhaps it was an emotional day at work, you never knew.

...For ignorance was bliss...