Blue Christmas || Aloma + Julian
@littlegoldtaube
“What would it be like to work at Hogwarts?” Aloma mumbled quietly to herself as she sat at a small table in the Leaky Cauldron. The thought had crossed her mind several times, working as a Care of Magical Creatures professor, though she always found a reason to put it off. She sighed as she glanced over the Daily Prophet, scowling when she saw Rita Skeeter’s name on the front page. Didn’t she have anything better to do with her time than stir up panic and emotions that, publicly at least, had been dead nearly thirty years?
She rolled her eyes a bit and laid the paper down, taking a sip of her drink before glancing about. Her eyes were drawn to the view outside the window, several of the storefronts and small shops were covered in a thin layer of snow as if nature itself was trying to send the reminder “It’s almost Christmas, be happy!” Though Almoa knew happiness would be hard to find this year. Between the travel ban and her own crazy work schedule, visiting her parents for the holidays was out of the question, she knew that. Her thoughts wandered the longer she sat staring out the window, her focus not completely on her surroundings or the people in them as her mind continued to return to thinking of the upcoming holiday. “Wonder what Christmas will be like this year…”
“I don’t see why you keep waiting to work at Hogwarts…” Julian rolled his eyes playfully, his hand drumming against the back of the chair across Aloma. Truth be told, Julian didn’t expect that his career trajectory would revolve around making sure the school didn’t implode on itself – or at least having the students evacuate before all of that happened. “… I certainly didn’t wait very long.”
He had been under McGonagall’s wing since he consistently received top marks in Transfiguration since his fourth year. Whatever potential he had after finishing his NEWTs was something he didn’t think should be wasted on the Ministry, and having looked up to Professor McGonagall for so long he was more than floored that she had offered to keep him as teaching assistant after he voiced his concerns about the kind of work the Ministry had to offer.
“Now that Hagrid had passed, Care of Magical Creatures has been… well, it actually hasn’t been. It’s been a struggle to find a substitute on such short notice, especially dealing with the more temperamental animals.”
The two had been friends, though their busy schedules meant that they were typically unable to meet regularly. It just so happened that Julian was making his way through to do his own shopping, having stayed in London as he recovered from the attack. St. Mungo’s finally let him go – though it may have been his brother’s frightening demeanor that convinced them rather than his actual state of wellness.
“It would make a great gift for the school to have you on board.” He was being blunt about the matter now, though he expected her to decline again. This wouldn’t be the first time he had made this suggestion – though Julian never really made the prospect that enticing to begin with and he just wasn’t ever sure how to talk to Aloma anymore, having her as an ex and now as a friend he only saw occasionally. Now circumstances were different, more urgent, more serious than before.











