Snakes and Ladders (Fem!HPxLM) (DISCONTINUED)

Orphic

After tea and a pleasant conversation, Amelia walked with Hyacinth back to the elevators and then to the lobby. They drew many stares. Most likely for two reasons. One that they had never seen Madame Amelia Bones smile so much. The girl walking with her brought out a sunniness in the usually stoic woman. The other reason being that the girl was undoubtedly Severus Snape's daughter. 

One stare felt off, however, and it had Hyacinth pausing in discomfort. Amelia walked a few paces ahead before she realised that Hyacinth was no longer in stride with her and so she turned back to look at her, the happy smile fading into a confused one at the look on her young companion's face.

Amelia followed Hyacinth's gaze, the smile melting from her face at the person at the end of Hyacinth's glare. Albus Dumbledore stood there, in all of his outrageous, velvet robe glory, a look on his face not much different to the look one would get after sucking on a particularly sour lemon drop.

There was no chance that Dumbledore didn't know who she was. She was the perfect blend of her parents. Hyacinth schooled her features to an unreadable mask before dipping into an ever so slight polite curtsy towards the Headmaster. He reluctantly bowed back, not wanting to cause a scene in such a public place before she promptly turned from him, looping arms with Amelia and briskly walking with Amelia to the sign-in and sign-out book.

Amelia hurriedly signed her name to sign out for a few hours before she whisked Hyacinth out through the employee door, something not usually allowed but due to her position in the ministry she had clearance to do. 

Amelia side-along apparated with Hyacinth into Hogsmeade where they got brunch at Brews and Stews Café. After her brief but remarkably unpleasant encounter with her old headmaster, Hyacinth had little appetite and settled on a simple chicken sandwich while Amelia chose a pumpkin soup. Hyacinth wrinkled her nose up in dislike of pumpkin.

Once their food had arrived Amelia threw up strong privacy charms and a few notice-me-not's for good measure. She leaned in towards Hyacinth over the table. 

"Are you ok, Hyacinth?" she asked, concern laced in her words and Hyacinth felt her heart warm slightly at the display. She nodded slightly, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"I'm alright," she replied after swallowing, " a little shaken up but I'll be ok". Amelia stared at her for a moment, looking for any signs that the young girl was lying before she acquiesced.

Amelia sipped at her soup for a few moments, and Hyacinth had almost finished half of her sandwich before her company spoke again. 

"I mean no ill intent and please don't hesitate to put me in my place should you feel I am overstepping. But why did you react that way to him? I know he had been stealing from you, but you looked at him as if you were terrified of him while simultaneously looking like you wanted to kill him there and then" Amelia asked, concern and curiosity bleeding through her words.

Hyacinth sighed, using a napkin to wipe at her mouth, resigned to the fact that she will have to re-apply her lipstick before she left, before folding her napkin between her hands. She chose her words carefully, not wanting to say too much.

"The attack was orchestrated by Dumbledore" she replied, voice low and words slow. Amelia's eyes widened in shock. "I didn't include that information in the file as I did not want my identity leaked to the public. It's one thing to accuse the man of stealing from The Girl Who Lived, it's a whole different can of worms to then explain Hyacinth Riddle-Snape to the wizarding world." She explained and Amelia nodded, her soup now forgotten.

Hyacinth thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to word her next statement. 

"I'm not sure I will ever tell the wizarding world my story" at Amelia's confused expression, Hyacinth elaborated. "Part of me just wants to leave the past me dead, presumed dead in a robbery gone wrong. Another part of me wants to expose everything Albus Dumbledore did to me and send those that put Hazel Potter on a pedestal into a mental breakdown. But for now, neither want outweighs the other, so I guess only time will tell" she finished and Amelia nodded in understanding. 

There was a comfortable silence between the two as they both returned to their brunche's. It seemed, however, that Amelia couldn't stand long lapses of silence unless she had work in front of her because she soon piped up with another question.

"So," she started drawing Hyacinth's attention to her as she was mid bite of her sandwich, "Has Lucius started courting you yet?" 

A sly grin took over the usually serious woman's face and Hyacinth choked on her sandwich, her face going beet red as Amelia practically cackled across from her. She was as bad as Bella.

________

A/N another quick one for you lovelies.

Still not 100% back to writing. I'm trying to ease myself back into it but I hope you enjoyed and I shall see you all again soon.

Love you always.