Amelia walked through the halls of the Ministry confidently, like a second home. She’d known the halls better than she knew the back of her hand, she’d worked there for eight years now. The Ministry was home, where she had come to know success and hardship, and she knew each and every face that entered and left regularly, but she’d been so wrapped up in her work that the outside world seemed… foreign. She wasn’t sure how she’d ended up in the small shop, perhaps it was so many people on the street that she ended up scurrying to hiding in the shop. “What’s a couple minutes…” She whispered to herself as she turned. When she did, however, her eyes met ones she hadn’t seen in… well, ages. Her heart seemed to stop and skip all at once, something impossible for it to do, and yet it did. Her face heated up with guilt and embarrassment as she plastered a fake smile on her face. “Eris Zabini,” She said trying to sound friendly, knowing that they’d both locked eyes and there was no way to avoid conversation without making things more awkward. “Or is it Aubrey now…?” She asked as she stepped inside the story and busied herself with the first thing she saw on the counter. Out of all the people she could run into… Eris Zabini was the last person she expected, and even now after so many years, she couldn’t avoid the trickle of hurt at her own actions when young. Ones she still held. A lapse of judgement. Nothing more.
It had been years since Eris had stepped foot near the Ministry. Before, it had been under the careful and dangerous eyes of her parents, both watchful for any flaws she presented in the public eye. Now she walked as a free woman, with friends in the auror department keeping an eye out for her. Walking into a small shop, she found herself looking at trinkets and toys for her son. She’d turned her head only to look into the eyes of someone she’d called a friend many years ago. There was a slight sting of hurt, remembering how Amelia had cut ties with her. A younger Eris might have been petty and mean, but she’d been dealt so much pain she only had room in her heart for soft and good things now. Eris had seen the face of true cruelty and Amelia didn’t look like it. She gave the other girl a small smile. “Amelia Bones.” she greeted “Actually it’s Zaubrey. Neither of us wanted to keep our surnames so we combined them.” she explained with a light sheepish chuckle. “How have you been?”