“Who said I had to dress up for anyone?” she bit back with a snarky grin. “Or should I ask you who you’re all pretty and kilted up for in return? Showing all that leg like a right harlot.” Emmeline had always had a special bond with Alastor ––– one that she held dear to her heart. In certain ways, he was almost like the father figure she’d always wanted and needed in her life. Well, a scar-addled father figure that grumped and grumbled like a disgruntled grizzly bear, but cared immensely, nevertheless. “I know a number of us that would do a far better job than that joke.” Not herself, of course, Merlin fucking forbid.
“Aw. Was that a compliment? Just wait until I tell the other two, they’ll be tickled pink over that.” Though, really, she knew exactly what her boss was saying. He, more than anyone, knew what a cohesive unit could achieve, especially in matters such as their current operation.
The coded mention of Snape had her raising her brow, however. “When you say words, do you really mean it, or did you toss the sod around a bit?” Biting at her bottom lip for a spell, she turned her gaze back toward Alastor. “Should we even be trusting Dumbledore at this point?” It was a bold claim to make, both in public and in front of her fellow auror. He and Dumbledore were friends, after all. Good ones, at that.
Emmeline gripped her drink tighter in her fingers, let out another short sigh, and gave a swift nod of agreement after a beat. Truthfully, she didn’t trust Snape either. It was a good call, and she knew it. “Yeah, ‘course. You got it. I’ll watch him like a hawk. Anything else?”
The snarky grin Emmeline gave Alastor in return made him chuckle. Throughout the years, Moody had seen and caught on to a lot more than he let others know - even before the magical eye. And while he held back on outright acting on his admiration and care for others out of preservation, the truth was, he cared quite deeply. And Emmeline was no exception. Before Tonks, Emmeline was one of the first he took under his wing as though a family member, “Harlot?” he laughed outright, “Nothing wrong with a bit o’ Scotts pride now, eh?” the Auror let the giddiness pass as quick as it came, folding his arms across his chest as he looked over to her, “Lucky for us, things can be different this go ‘round.”
“Tickled pink!” the joy in Moody’s voice returned, laughing a bit more at that. This new reality pushed him back into not only familiar territory with all of his prior pupils, but as well as a second chance to live that life a little more happily than before. And, for once, Moody thought it would be good to let those war-trodden walls fall for better moments such as these, “As if they’d believe it.”
As Emmeline caught onto his coded mention of Severus and ow quickly she saw through his meaning, Alastor shrugged with a hint of a smirk, “Might’ve given him a good toss or two - and it may not be the only time I do,” his eyes then went to meet hers, sighing slightly. Emmeline wasn’t wrong; and many were thinking just as she was. And while the Headmaster was his friend, there was also a bit of doubt in himself, “We can trust the goal he’s always aiming towards...but maybe not the path he has in mind to get there...”
Moody was proud of Emmeline for taking on the task, shaking his head, “Not unless there’s anything else on your mind. You can come to me about anything, eh?”
