Business, Briefs and Pants. [Adi]

’Ireland’ had been a blast for one Adrian Connery, if you considered being sent back to the closest place to physical Hell a blast. Instead of visiting relatives like he’d told to everyone and their mother he had been sent back to something that could only be described as Auror bootcamp. Before then he hadn’t wholly realised how slack his skills at being a dark wizard/humanoid creature hunter had gotten. Adrian had gotten his ass kicked the first few weeks but was better for it now. He felt like a much better Auror now than he had been when he’d sat in his cubicle for the first time out of training, though he wasn’t quite as bright eyed as that person had been.

Now he knew better how to tackle vampires as it was to be his specialisation so Harry Potter had told him. At least the vampire’s he’d be working with wouldn’t include one Dacian Love who was now deceased. That one had been nothing but a pain in the ass while he’d been alive and now even in death he was causing Adrian headaches. Collecting data and creating a file on Dacian had been Adrian’s first assignment. Information on the secretive vampire hadn’t been easy to come by but now, with one last scribbled note, the file was done. The man dumped his quill unceremoniously in an inkpot and stretched with a loud yawn thrown in for dramatic effect.

Unconsciously he ran a hand through his dark brown hair as he span around on his chair to look up at the pictures of other vampires pinned up on the walls of his cubicle. The one of a vamp by the name of Samuel Jacobs kept his attention for a moment; according to sources he’d been seen in Hogsmeade. Recon and surveillance was the only reason Adrian was returning to teach at Hogwarts in the new term. He could already tell juggling writing reports and grading students and their work was going to be a pain. Yay no social life for him... things wouldn’t be all that different really.

A knock at his cubicle snapped Adrian back to reality from musing about vampires on Hogsmeade streets. ”Morning Saeros, glad to be back. I’m not busy really, just finished something in fact. What is it that I can do for you?” the man greeted his superior nonchalantly. His stomach lurched at the smell of the coffee from the other man’s mug which made Adrian realise how much he could do with a cup.

Adrian eyed the folder Saeros was waving around as he spoke with something close to contempt. He didn’t want to be assigned to be a special vampire hunting Auror; he hated vampires. It wasn’t like he had a choice though. Harry Potter himself had sent him the owl saying he was to be dragged back into service, accident or no accident. Adrian sighed as he yet again regarded the folder and nodded at what Saeros was saying. ”Most of the information, that means I’ll have to gather the rest for myself right?”

Yeah I know, I can’t really cut down on either of my jobs or their duties,” Adrian shrugged when Saeros did. It wasn’t his fault, as long as they had tried to slim down his workload he was happy. He didn’t exactly have the two lightest jobs work wise and he knew that. If only he’d quit the Auror department completely though, then he wouldn’t have to be up to his neck in case reports and essays in the future.

”A partner? Wait did you say Christopher Sterling as in Topher Sterling?” the man asked wide-eyed. Not only did he know his new partner, said new partner had been at his house almost every day during school holidays when Adrian was a kid. Christopher Sterling had been his brother, Rickie’s, best friend all through Hogwarts. Every time Adrian had seen the guy he’d chatter away about how he wanted to be an Auror when he grew up, looked like he’d done it. That was a coincidence and a half, he found himself wondering if Tofu had heard from Rickie lately. ”A bit green? Looks like my jobs will be crossing over,” the Irishman snorted.

As soon as Saeros motioned for him to stand and follow, Adrian happily obliged. He took the folder and tucked it under one arm as they walked. Already his legs felt cramped from sitting for so long at a time. ”Hogsmeade, that makes things a bit simpler,” he commented, nodding his head to show he understood all the new information. He couldn’t help but snort at one point; he most certainly was on good terms with some of the locals, some of the key locals to be exact. ”Yep, right, got it,” he said, with another nod of his head, once Saeros had finished the bigger part of the brief.

”No, no questions that I can think of at the moment. You’ve explained everything pretty well,” the man said resolutely, still processing most of it. He still wasn’t sure about the whole partner thing. If Topher was anything like he’d been at school then he was excitable, loud and impatient; not the best traits to have while stalking vampires. ”Oh wait, what about Driscoll? Do I tell him I know who he really is or do I leave him in the dark for now?” Adrian asked curiously. Of course he knew about what Vinnie really did, it had been one of the first things he’d been informed of.

The novelty well and truly hadn’t worn off. Topher had his own desk; his own desk in the Auror’s Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Ministry of Magic. Fuck yeah! This was his dream come true, the culmination of everything he’d been working for since the first time his father had told him tales of Harry Potter when he was a boy. Sure the space wasn’t perfect... In fact he couldn’t even fit his knees under the desk and he could touch both sides of the cubicle with his elbows at the same time, not to mention when he stood up his chair usually crashed into the all too flimsy wall of the cubicle behind him, but it was what the desk stood for that mattered.

Considering Topher had been expecting excitement and adventure from the get go, his first few weeks had been deceptively mundane. He didn’t really have any work to do, apart from a growing pile of semi-complete reports that somebody had asked him to look over and which Topher had begun to dutifully ignore. He’d quickly learned that doing the work just meant they gave him more, but if he took his time he had more of a chance to find alternative ways to amuse himself. First he’d delved into the archives and read firsthand accounts of the Great War, then he’d set himself the task of discovering who kept blocking up the water cooler with Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum and finally he’d explored the Ministry more fully and met up with a few old school chums who were now working in the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

All of those were just distractions though; Topher was biding his time until the real work began. He knew it would because Saeros (his boss and a super cool dude) had told him he was being partnered with Adrian Connery for a mission of utmost importance. However, he never had been very good at playing the waiting game so he was quite pleased when the interdepartmental memos came zooming in from the lift and there was one for him from the aforementioned friends from Magical Games and Sports. He was less pleased when he realised that the picture was of a woman, not that he had any problems with women, but when they were so scantily clad...

Topher looked furtively over his shoulder and saw to his horror that Saeros and Connery were approaching his desk. Which was, of course, the moment that the memo chose to start moaning, her voice loud, breathy and completely scandalous. He jumped as Saeros greeted him (how had they got over here so fast, had they sprinted past the last few cubicles?) and quickly crumpled the memo into a ball, tossing it into the waste paper basket by his knee and casting a silencing charm on it with a blush colouring his cheeks. ”Hey boss, hey Adrian, coffee would be great!” He said scrambling to his feet and remembering too late that he didn’t even really like coffee. Not unless it had about six sugars in it.

Any embarrassment he might have felt at being caught looking at porn during office hours quickly evaporated as excitement at the prospect of finally having a proper case to work on rushed over him. ”Is this about the vampire thing?” He asked hopefully, grin firmly in place. ”Because I’m so ready to stake some creepy, undead mofos.” Topher grabbed the muggle biro Saeros had given him on his first day, twirling it to demonstrate and fumbling the catch so he had to scramble to pick the plastic pen up off the floor. ”Fuck, oops.” He said, straightening and rubbing a hand across the back of his neck sheepishly. ”Guess I still need a little practice.”

  Saeros didn’t need telling twice about what was in Topher’s hand. Right on cue Adrian’s palm resolutely met with his forehead in exasperation. At least Topher had the sense to try and dispose of the porn, but unfortunately for him Saeros was already wearing the official Displeased Boss look.

  “Yes I presume this is about the vampire cases, yes. Am I right Saeros?”

  “Yeah, it is,” Saeros replied, his tone the type of calm you only got when it was masking something less than pleasant. “We’ll talk about it on the way over. And Topher?” His voice suddenly took on a harsh bark. “Have that at work again and I’ll bump you down to cleaner.”

  Ordinarily Saeros liked to think he was fairly patient, but that really only lasted until people started doing things they weren’t supposed to. It wasn’t the porn that was the problem – any man who claimed not to have looked at the stuff even once was probably a liar – but there was a time and place for such things and work was definitely not one of them.

  Topher seemed to slip ahead as they walked and Adrian took the opportunity to voice some of his concerns. “I know, but this was the recommendation we were given,” he replied quietly. “I trust it was in good faith.” Honestly, Adrian was completely correct and he suspected some executive meddling may have been involved somewhere. After all, Christopher’s father was a very important man. Not that he’d ever say such a thing out loud – his first loyalty was for the department and he couldn’t go around making negative implications about its integrity.

  “Topher, did you get around to reading all of the folder you got sent earlier in the week?” he asked so the younger man could hear him. “You two boys ship out by next week so I hope everything’s prepared.”