𝙒𝙤𝙡𝙛𝙨𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙚 || 𝙍. 𝙇𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙣

Two Years Later

"Nott," Moody growled, "your coworker is here."

Asteria stopped writing and looked up. Her desk was piled sky-high with work. Her hair was frizzy and her dark circles had taken residence underneath her eyes.

"What?" Ast asked, her tone harsh.

"Don't speak to me like that, I said that your new coworker is here."

"But I'm doing fine on my own!"

"Have you seen the number of tasks you've taken on? A newbie will definitely crack under all this pressure."

"Well, I haven't."

"Yet."

Asteria glared at him. She liked Moody, she really did. He helped train her up to become an auror, making her quickly fly up the ranks, but he was incredibly hard on her. Sometimes, she felt as if he was doing it deliberately since no one else had it that bad. Being the youngest person on the team at the age of eighteen didn't help either.

Ast had only been working at the auror office for five months after graduating from Durmstrang in June. She immediately applied to become an auror and due to her outstanding academic achievements, she was given an interview a month later. It was a three-year-long training program, but was up to the challenge. She moved back to England with the rest of her family but was now living alone.

She hadn't heard anything from her old Hogwarts friends and only assumed that they didn't want to speak to her anymore. It was a shame, but she didn't let it get to her. She had more important things to worry about now instead of her friends from when she was a teenager.

"I'm not working with anyone," Ast said stubbornly.

"You will work with your coworker, and you're going to like it."

Moody moved out of the way to reveal a person standing behind him. Ast's eyes nearly popped out of their socket in shock.

"Ben?" She asked, hardly able to contain her excitement.

"It's good to see you too, Ast." He smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"How did I not know you were here?"

"I've been working at the French Ministry of Magic but was called back here due to "urgent demand". I prefer being back in England though."

"You know what? Thank you Moody for giving me a coworker."

"Remember that this is still work, so no chitter-chatter, am I clear?" Moody barked.

Ben and Ast quickly nodded their heads. Moody left Ast's office while the two sat down and began finishing Ast's paperwork, taking long breaks to chat in between.

At around four in the afternoon, Moody came back with a mission for the two.

"We have inside information that a Death Eater is going to meet someone at the Leaky Cauldron in twenty minutes. Since nobody is free to take on the task, I'm putting all my faith in you two, don't mess this up." He warned.

Ast saluted him. "We will bring him back without any struggle, I promise."

"Yeah well, don't salute me. Now get ready, you're leaving in five."

Ast and Ben halted their paperwork and began prepping for Ast's first ever mission. For the past five months, all she had been doing was paperwork and training, she had never been out in the field before. Now, this was all going to change and she couldn't wait to prove herself to Moody.

They disapparated and arrived just outside of the Leaky Cauldron. Since it was December, they quickly rushed inside to warm up. They ordered two Butterbeers and waited for any suspects to arrive. Around fifteen minutes later, a hooded figure arrived and sat down just behind Ben and Ast where a man was already sitting. Ben and Ast instantly fell silent and tried to listen in on their conversation but couldn't seem to hear anything.