“I am sorry Madam President.” you hurriedly closed the door behind you while all the heads were turned to you.
“Miss (Y/L/N), late once again.” Madam Picquery scolded you and you nodded apologetic once again, but she dismissed it for a later time to discuss.
Quickly you made your way to the table everyone was gathered around, ignoring the gaze of your colleagues. You only gave Tina Goldstein, a friend and colleague a reassuring smile when she sent you a worried look.
“As I said before…” Percival Graves started, sending you a glare for interrupting him in his speech before he pointed to a map that laid out on the table.
Carefully you listened to his words. You’ve worked with Percival Graves on multiple Cases and he deserved the position he was in more than anyone else. It made you only feel worse for interrupting him, again.
It wasn’t the first time you were late to a meeting because one of your family members talked you up for something you should do for them, especially after the engagement between your sister and your past lover. It made thinks extremely uncomfortable and awkward.
“Miss (Y/L/N)? Did you hear what I said?” brought Graves’ voice you back to reality. A few seconds long you only blinked at him.
“I am sorry Sir, I …” but you couldn’t finish your sentence when he sent you another glare while he straightened his back and looked down at you.
“In my office, Miss (Y/L/N), now.” he demanded and left the meeting with nod to the others. Tina gave you an encouraging look mouthing to you that everything is going to be fine.
And with a pounding heart in your chest you followed the man, watching his back. He was stressed you could tell by the stiffness in his shoulders and neck. The work did take a tall on him and you didn’t help him either, you made his work so much more difficult.
When you arrived in his office, the door closed behind you from itself and you watched as Graves took a seat at his desk, his eyes finally meeting yours.
“Mister Graves, I…” you tried but as he rose one hand you shut your mouth quickly and looked down to the ground.
“Miss (Y/L/N), it is a shame that I have to call you into my office every time but it seems you don’t learn it. The only reason why I haven’t you kicked out yet is your fantastic skills. Don’t ruin your career like that.” oh how many times did you heard that already?
“I know, Sir and I am more than grateful to be here.”
“Then why do you keep on disappointing me?” he asked. The words sent daggers to your body, making you flinch a bit.
You had always seen your job as a place where you can forget your family for a few hours and now it just felt like you were back home.
Percival who noticed the flinch in your body looked you up and down carefully. Only now he realized that your (Y/H/C) neatly curled like always but simply hanging around your face messily.
And he was almost sure that the clothes you were, were the same you wore the day before.
“What made you late?” he then asked and when his voice rang in the room your head shot up to look at him in the eye.
“I overslept.” was your simple replay but he got up and sighed.
“Alright, don’t let this happen again or have to take action.” he scolded and you nodded thank him for not kicking you out, for he had all reasons to, even with your skills he highly praised.
“We should go than, after all we have a mission.” with that he grabbed his dark blue coat and his scarf before opening the door for you like a gentleman.
And with a little smile on your face you left his office making your way out of the building.
-
Like always it didn’t went as planned.
Three groups of Aurors including, Mr. Graves, Tina and yourself, should surround a building that was used for meetings of Grindelwald followers.
Whatever, it turned out to be an ambush. As all the Aurors arrived it was a matter of seconds that curses and spells were yelled at each other.
You didn’t know how long you were fighting, but you were breathing heavily, but it looked like you were on the winning side.
After you sent another Grindelwald follower to the ground you looked around. Tina was fighting of another, she handled herself pretty good.
Your gaze roamed over the battlefield and stopped at your boss. While he fought of two opponents you could see another one behind him, ready to send an unforgiving curse.
Without thinking about it you raised your wand and stupefied him, letting his body hit the ground at the exact time Mr. Graves managed to get rid of the other two.
A bit surprised he turned to the man that tried to kill only moments ago, before his gaze turned to you, opening his mouth to thank you for saving his life but his widen as one of the dark wizards arose from his laying position pointing his wand right at you.
With horror filled (Y/E/C) eyes, you turned to the wizards, tightly grabbing your wand but before you could cast a spell a heavy force pushed you to the ground.
Opening your eyes you had closed during the impacted you saw Percival Graves shielding you, while he fought of the new opponent.
A groan left your lips as you slowly got up. Then you saw how the wand of your boss flew through the air, landing a few feet away out of your reach.
Even without anything to defend himself, he shielded you with his body not caring that he may get killed in this moment.
But before the dark wizard could do anything you disarmed him and shocked him letting his body fall to the ground.
Both of you sat there, breathing heavily and looking at each other with wide eyes, not really grasping the concept that you actually survived, that was until Tina came running together with a few others.
“(Y/N)! Mr. Graves!” she shouted, helping you stand up but you grounded, supporting yourself a bit on your friend.
Mr. Graves stood up on his own, brushing off any dirt from his coat. How can this man stand like this after such a situation?
“We should return back, before more of them show up.” Percival Graves announced and with that all of the Aurors appeared back to the Macusa.
Still supported by Tina, you entered the Woolworth building, totally exhausted by the current events.
“You saved Mr. Graves, (Y/N).” Tina said in astonishment like she only realized that now and you smiled a little, feeling proud about your accomplishment.
This was soon shuttered into pieces as you saw your sister, mother and soon to be brother-in-law that was your ex-fiancé as well.
“(Y/N), there you are. We need your help.” your mother declared without missing a beat. Tina rose an eyebrow at that, still holding tightly onto you.
“I am sorry Ma’am but (Y/N) needs to see a healer immediately.” she said, trying to get you away from this woman after she had noticed how stiff you have become.
Your mother, like always, ignored what was said to her and looked you up and down.
“Dear Merlin, if I had now they make you look even more beaten than you already look I would’ve never let you get this Job. You’ll never find a husband like that.”
You only rolled your (Y/E/C) eyes while Tina stood there totally shocked about those words.
“Tina, can you please leave me and my mother alone for a moment?” you asked your friend, she wanted to protest but you stopped her with a simple pleading glance after she opened her mouth and with a nod she left you after she made sure you could stand probably.
After Tina was gone you looked at your mother, than Dorothy and Johnathan you came to you two after Tina had left.
“Well, what do you need my help for?” you asked right away, wanting desperately to get it over with.
“First of all, be a little nicer, we are your family.” Dorothy pointed out as she linked her arm with Johnathan who tried his best to avoid eye contact with you.
“And second we need money.” you only rose an eyebrow at that. This was the reason they came to you while you were at work? Because of money?
“Can’t this wait ‘til I get home?” you asked back, feeling a little dizzy already. Probably you took a blow to the head.
Again your mother scoffed.
“We don’t have time for that. Your sister is in desperate need of a dress. This is an urgent matter.” now some of the passerby’s stopped and looked at your group, some started to whispered among themselves.
“You know what?” you said taking a deep, shaky breath closing your eyes for a moment. “Take mine. I won’t need it anyway.” a glare was sent to the man who still kept quiet, not looking at you for a second.
“Oh (Y/N), please I won’t fit in there, I mean look at you.” Dorothy pointed out.
“I know, she would look much better without all the blood and dirt on her face.” came a voice from behind her and your eyes widen lightly while your family turned around to the man that stood behind them, just as ragged as you were.
“Who is this? Your boyfriend, wait no probably he is not.” Dorothy eyed your boys closely before she turned back to you.
“And why no, Miss…?” he asked with a risen dark eyebrow of his. From behind your family you to stop him from talking any further, but he simply ignored you as he stared down at your sister.
Stepping away a little she gulped, her head shot up to try to make eye contact with him.
“Well, she…ehm…” she couldn’t form any proper words at the man and for him the conversation was simply over.
He pulled your mother aside who scoffed at his rudeness but Graves just grabbed your arm gently and dragged you away from your shouting family.
When he was sure that you both were out of earshot he turned around with a risen eyebrow.
“Miss (Y/L/N), I didn’t know your family was so…” immediately you interrupted him.
“Caring? Supportive? Loveable?” you tried finish his sentence and you could’ve sworn that you saw the tiniest of smile at the corners of bruised lip, which reminded you of the mission that had accrued just minutes ago.
With no Adrenaline left in your body, the pain only grew, so did the dizziness.
Percival caught up on it quickly and swung his arm around your waist making sure you wouldn’t trip or fall.
Arriving at the medical wing of the Macusa he immediately lay you down on of the many beds that were located on each side of the room.
“I’m fine, just a little dizzy.” you tried to get up again but he only pushed you back down gently.
“You saved my life Miss (Y/L/N). This is the least I can do.” without waiting for an answer he searched for a healer that could check up on you.
“Well, Sir, you were the one that pushed me to the ground afterwards and saved me, so I think we can call this even.” you said after he returned, a healer coming right up behind him to check up on your wounds.
And once again you were most certain you saw a hint of a smile on his face, maybe your head just played tricks on you.
-
“…and then he reacted quickly and pushed her to the ground.” Tina explained everything to her sister, while you shook your head a sighed with a tiny smile on your face.
after the healer had dismissed you, your boss called you off of work for the day telling you to rest, but you knew there wouldn’t be any rest at home, so you decided to stay with the Goldstein sisters who took you in for the night with big smiles on their faces.
Queenie looked at you totally stunned and with curiosity in her eyes while she waved her wand around to make dinner for the three of you.
“This sounds like it was straight from a fairy tale.” she hummed and looked at you with a charming smile.
You only shook your head at her words.
“It really wasn’t. This is our job; I would’ve done the same when Tina was in my situation and I am sure Tina as well would’ve reacted that way.” Tina gave her sister a glance and Queenie looked directly into your (Y/E/C) eyes.
“You like him.” she teased you making you blush heavily. Tina muffled a laughter and turned away to get away from your glare you sent her.
But Queenie only clapped her hands together, laying down her wand.
“Oh, sweetie, you do. This is so wonderful.” she chimed like a little schoolgirl, jumping up and down a little.
“No, Queenie, stop.” you begged her still blushing. “He is my boss.”
Tina shrugged her shoulders at that.
“So what? Many of our collogues who are married met their partner at work.”
“Stop it you two. Maybe I feel something, but my job is more important than that.” you pointed out and Queenie have you a sad look.
“Is it because what happened with Johnathan and Dorothy?” immediately after she said those words she regretted it and wanted to apologize but you only stood up from the dinner table that was prepared.
“I am tired. Eat without me. See you tomorrow.” with that you marched to the guest bedroom not waiting for any response from the sisters.
“Poor girl. She thinks she is not good enough.” Queenie said into the silence and Tina looked at the closed door worriedly.
“She needs to get away from her family. They are not good for her.” Queenie nodded in agreement and sat down, eating in silence.
-
Finally punctually arriving at work you said goodbye to Queenie and stepped into the Elevator together with Tina.
Arriving at your destination you both stepped out and you made your way to your office, greeting some of your colleagues on the way.
When you thought your mood couldn’t get any lower you were more than wrong as note flew right up at you as soon as you opened your door.
Expecting a wedding invitation, you were greeted not with an invitation but a bill. For the wedding, that was supposed to be yours.
“Lovely.” you only muttered enlighten the paper with a quick swift of your wand.
“Take my man, I can deal with that. Take my dream wedding, that’s okay, but don’t let me pay for that.” angry tears started to pool in your eyes, your hands clenched into fists.
Not so kindly you bang your door close, surprising some passerby’s, while you sank down to the ground, ignoring the pain that you still feel from the day before.
Only loved by the money you make, not seen as their own flesh and blood. Never a supporting word from them.
Sitting there leant on your door and crying silently into your knees you and pressed against your chest you didn’t make out the knock on your door first.
Just as someone called your name did you look up. Again, there was a knock followed by your name. Quickly you got up from the ground and whipped the tears from your eyes.
The door opened and Percival stepped in, holding a folder in his hand. He looked up from it and rose an eyebrow. He could tell immediately that you had been crying. The tear stains on your cheeks, red puffy eyes. It was easy to conclude.
“Miss (Y/L/N), is everything alright?” he asked, closing the door behind him and laying down the folder at your desk.
You simply nodded at his question.
“Yes, Sir. Just a bit of pain from yesterday, nothing more.” you assured him. He leant on your desk; his arms crossed around his chest making the white dress shirt he wore stretch to the point of almost ripping.
“Are you sure? Miss Goldstein told me that some tension between you and your family occupied your mind lately.” of course Tina would tell him. You needed to talk to her later.
“Just a little stress about my sister’s wedding, Sir. Nothing else.” again you tried to tell him that everything was ok, knowing fully well that nothing was ok in this moment.
“I need any of my Aurors focused on the work at hand, Miss (Y/L/N) and clearly you’re not focused enough.” you gulped, was he going to fire you now?
“Sir, I…”
“No, enough of your words.” he commanded but you only huffed at that.
“Why won’t you let me proof myself?!” you didn’t know from the anger came, or the courage to speak up to your boss like that, but you had enough of people pushing you around like they pleased.
“I can control my emotions! Didn’t I proof it yesterday?! Of course not, this wasn’t probably enough. It is never enough because I am good but not perfect!” you ranted on, your voice getting louder and louder with any word you spoke. It felt like a dam breaking and Percival, he simply listened to your angered little speech, still leaning on the desk with his arms crossed. His brown eyes never left your body for a second.
“I can’t lose you.” he said after you finished your rant, making you look up in surprise.
“Excuse me, Sir, I didn’t catch that.” you excused not sure if you had heard him correctly.
“I said, that I can’t lose you.” he repeated, looking directly into your eyes.
“Wha…Why?” was the only thing that you could stutter out in that moment.
His hands laid on your shoulder, the distance you two had almost completely gone, while you looked into each other’s eyes.
“(Y/N),…” his hands wandered up from your shoulders, to your neck and rested on your cheeks.
The warmth of his palms was soothing despite the roughness of his skin against yours. Slowly your eyes closed and before you could think about your next move his lips brushed against yours lightly.
When you opened your eyes again, he leant his forehead against yours, still holding your face in his hands, this thumps lightly brushing of your still tears stained face.
“You proofed yourself a long time ago.” he said lowly. “And you are more than perfect and this is why I can’t let anything happen to you.”
The look if honesty in his eyes melted your heart. Never had you seen him so vulnerable before, it only empathizes with his honesty.
While he waited for a verbal answer from you, you simply stood on your tip toes and kissed him, this time not just a light touch.
Your arms wrapped around his neck, while his hands drifted to your waist to hold you closer, closing his eyes.
