Just The Paperwork

Mairen's day had been busy and somewhat disappointing thus far. Some git with a lot of money had come to talk to the woman she was interning with and had basically spent a good while doing his best to piss her off and it had worked. Her mood was extremely low for someone so generally optimistic and pleasant. Now she was being sent off to collect some paperwork from another lawyer a few offices down. She wasn't entirely sure what they were for, but her employer had made it sound important.

Ms. Cabot had made him sound both interesting and yet slightly scary. Mairen was fairly sure we could handle it. She had sat through the sneers and rudeness of that grumpy businessman all morning as well as people treating her like she was nothing but her father's daughter her whole life. Surely she could get on with this man for long enough to get her papers and go back to her assigned office.

With a quiet huff, Mai gathered herself up and walked down the hallway, clipboard in hand. Ms. Cabot had a thing about keeping her papers from being rumpled, and thus always kept them on a clipboard. As much as Mairen understood it, it more annoyed her that she was seen all over the place with the ruddy clipboard like she was due to take notes on everything or write down anything her employer said. She shook her head to toss the hair over her shoulder before she reached the man's door, knocking thrice and bouncing back and forth between the heels of her feet and her toes.

Scorpius heard someone knocking on his door and was rather tempted to ignore it. He was working on Henry Yewbeam's case and it was driving him insane. Honestly, the man was an idiot. What had his fellow Death Eater been thinking? Of course, as soon as it was found out that Henry would be going to trial, all the Death Eaters had turned expectantly to him.

He'd offered his services at a discounted price, because he did feel a little bit bad for the git, but the case was going to kill him one of these days. The other wizard was so obviously guilty that Scorpius seriously had his work set out for him. Not only was Henry's freedom at sake, but his reputation was too! He very seldom lost a trial, and he would be damned if he lost this one.

Picking up his wand, the man reluctantly flicked it in the general direction of the door, before refocusing his attention on the papers covering the entire surface of his desk. Scorpius was multi-tasking, working on the Yewbeam and Romano cases simultaneously. Whenever he got the slightest bit stuck on one, he'd work on the other. Due to the fact that he'd switched back and forth so many times in the last few hours, the man had just left the notes for both cases upon his desk, too lazy to put them away.

The blonde hadn't had time to stop by Honeydukes in over a week, something that had happened only a few times since his purchase of the store. Despite the fact that it was a complete spur-of-the-moment decision, the wizard was quite glad that he'd hired his younger sister to work for him part-time. With how busy he was, the business would have needed to go searching for a new employee. Since Ces was already on board, Scorpius didn't need to worry about finding someone without any notice.

Not having heard anyone enter the room, Scorpius released a small sigh. "Come in then," he said dryly, still not looking up from his work.

To say she was surprised at the door opening was the state the obvious. She had expected the man to at least open the door himself. How arrogant did someone have to be to use magic for something so simple? Mairen had made a point to learn to do things on her own rather than rely on her magical abilities. It wasn't that she wasn't particularly skilled, but rather that someone who used magic for everything essentially did nothing. And she was not at all the time to sit about doing nothing.

Mai's gaze fell on the man sitting behind his desk, deep in his work. He hadn't looked up, making her wonder if he indeed wanted her to speak or not. For once, she held her tongue. Perhaps it was because he was so striking, with his white-blonde hair, regardless of how stressed he seemed to be. She was sure she'd seen him around the office before. But where he spoke rarely if ever, she spoke often. Just not to him.

His words caught her off guard, and she nearly jumped. Recovering her tall posture, Mairen stepped into the office and ignored the fact that he wasn't, apparently, intending on stopping what he was doing for the minute it would take her to request the papers. She hadn't even been told what they were for, unfortunately. How little she seemed to be trusted by that woman.

She cleared her throat quietly before blinking down at him. “Mr. Malfoy, I'm supposed to pick up some papers for Ms. Cabot.”

What else could she say but that? She didn't know if it was a case, or just papers in general. So instead she watched him, wondering how long, in fact, it would take for him to glance at her and pass the papers her way so she could leave and pretend she hadn't been thinking about how good-looking he was.

Scorpius looked up as a female voice broke the silence he'd been working in. The wizard had seen the woman around, she was an intern in Law Office after all, but they'd never spoken. The blonde had a tendency, well, it was more like a rather impressive streak, of sleeping with all the attractive secretaries and interns his office hired. Finally, his boss had approached him on the matter and told him off. Apparently, the witches kept quitting their jobs, either out of embarrassment or something else.

Therefore, Scorpius had spent the last two months resolutely not talking to any unnecessary female colleagues in an attempt to show his boss that he was capable of behaving. That didn't mean that the man hadn't noticed this particular redhead, however. Her looks were stunning, to say the least.

Words finally registering, Scorpius bit back a curse, careful to keep his face from reflecting what he was thinking. The Death Eater knew exactly what the intern was talking about, a giant packet of paperwork that he hadn't exactly gotten around to yet. What he needed to do was stall. Or flirt his way out of it. The latter would hardly be a hardship on his part.

"Damn, I don't even know where those are right now, I'll probably have to dig around for a few minutes," Scorpius lied, gesturing meaningfully to the papers all over his desk, and the stacks on top of his filing cabinet. "I know I should have complained more when they made my office summoning-proof," the blonde stated wryly. It made sense of course, so that strangers couldn't accio classified or private files with the flick of a wand, but the the man had always found it frustrating when he lost things. Now, it was just a very convenient excuse.

"Come on," the ex-Slytherin said to the witch, smiling charmingly, "sit down, let me pour you a cuppa, it's the least I can do for making you wait on me."

She eyed Malfoy cautiously as he looked up, seeming surprised to see her. Who was he expecting? And Merlin did he have a desk load of papers. She clenched the clipboard a little tighter, somehow thankful for the comfort it brought her. It was like a weight that kept her floating despite the gaze the blonde-haired man sent her which threatened to drag her under and distract her from her purpose. He really was too distracting, this man.

Mairen wasn't often finding herself unfocused at work, but something about him left her on edge. What, she couldn't say. Maybe it was the way his answers and comments seemed derisive. Or the way he didn't at all need to use such a smooth tone but did so anyways. He didn't look much older than her, but she couldn't bring herself to use his first name.

“You know, Mr. Malfoy, I don't see why – if you knew they were needed – you wouldn't have the papers set apart for me to take.” Mai pointed out, tempted to ignore his suggestion that sit in the chair he gestured to. “You have about a boat load of papers. Don't you have an intern?” She asked, finally taking the seat and watching him carefully as she pushed her hair over her shoulder.

Of all days to be trapped in an office with this man. Ms. Cabot was in a bad mood, Mairen hadn't had time to do anything decent with her hair – leaving it straight and plain – yet here she was face to face with the supposed flirt of the Law Office. She hadn't seen anything of it, though. Rumors? Possibly. She was knew enough, only having been around a little over a month. After University, her days had been spent with her family until the time when she had chosen the line of work she felt suited for. Thus, she'd been flitting between firms, finally settling on the Ministry.

Only, she wasn't quite sure that the Ministry didn't quite seem to know what they were talking about these days. All of the decrees and the Marriage Law. Thank Merlin she hadn't gotten her letter yet. If she did, Mai wasn't sure what would happen. But then, it would come eventually and she wouldn't be able to get out of it.

Merlin's pants but she was tempted to ask for something stronger than tea. It wasn't – pun intended – her cup of tea. The thought nearly made her smile before she recalled where she was. Forcing the smile even from her eyes, which she knew had lit up at the joke, Mairen settled him with a decently curious but not overly entertained gaze. “I think I'll pass on the tea, thanks.” She said cooly. Her head tilted to the side a bit to study him for a reaction and she set the clipboard in her lap and wrapping her fingers over the front of it, arms stretched out and one leg crossed over the other.

She'd... said no. Scorpius certainly hadn't been expecting that. If anyone thought that her words were going to make him back off, they'd be very wrong. See, this new girl had caught his interest now. The man would be damned before he'd let her run off without learning anything about her. Hell, the blonde didn't even know the witch's name. That certainly wouldn't do.

"I'm sorry," the man said, allowing his tone to reflect some of the stress he was under, "I knew Ms. Cabot would need them, but she never told me exactly when. I'm sure you know how she can be, considering." Scorpius shrugged, slightly surprised at himself. None of that had been a lie, he hadn't needed to. Hell, he hadn't even manipulated his expression or anything. Odd.

Leaning back in his chair, the male let out a dramatic sigh, outward emotions tightly controlled once more. "No intern," the Death Eater admitted, "this isn't my only job, so at first I just wasn't around enough, working part time and all. I only just started picking up more hours, so I guess they haven't gotten around to it." Admittedly, that second part was a completely lie. At first he didn't clock in enough hours per week to have an intern, but now his boss had simply refused to give him one. Apparently they were worried he'd scare the intern off or something. He'd even told his boss that he would be more than happy with a male intern, because he just really bloody needed one, but he'd just gotten a raised eyebrow. Apparently his boss thought he was bisexual or something, which was wonderful, because now he was never getting an intern.

With a look of feigned concentration on his face, Scorpius began to shuffle through a pile of papers that he knew contained only information on the Yewbeam case. Releasing a slight sigh when he reached the bottom of the pile, the blonde looked up at the intern through his lashes. His lips were about to form some sort of flirtatious comment when he realized that the witch's face looked oddly familiar.

Where did he know this girl from? It struck him a few moments later, and he couldn't help but feel like a bit of an idiot. She looked somewhere around his age, they'd probably been within a few years of each other at Hogwarts. "What house were you in, at school?" he asked, completely unable to help himself. "I recognize your face but your name, escapes me," Scorpius admitted, tone bordering upon apologetic.

Mairen frowned slightly at his apology. Looking around his office she could practically feel the tension he was under. Papers were scattered, and he seemed ruffled by her entrance. She let herself laugh a bit at his comment about her employer. Goodness knows she was a bit abrasive and worrisome. At the same time, though, the woman was hardly good at setting or remembering deadlines unless they were for her own cases.

His explanation was fairly vague, but made sense. Perhaps she would see a new intern about the office soon. She wondered for a moment what his other job was, but supposed it wasn't really her place. She'd only just met the man, technically. As if he recognized the fact that she's left off her name, he was asking her about school. Mairen noted that he did look rather familiar, even outside the office. On her first day she'd thought as much when she saw him.

"My name is Mairen," she began, "And I graduated two years ago. I was in Gryffindor." Her pride kicked in a bit at the mention of her house. She had always been proud to be sorted into Gryffindor, if only because of everything her house-mates had accomplished in their years. She silently hoped she would be one of those people. "I don't think we knew each other. But, um, you may have heard who my father is." She tucked her hair behind her ear, glancing down at the clipboard for a moment. "Most people only know me because they know him. He played Cello for the Weird Sisters."

Mairen shrugged it off, pretending it didn't affect her that people passed her over for her father. She very nearly asked about his house, in turn, but it was painfully obvious due to the family name. She wasn't the type to hold names against someone, though. She knew that pain well. Scorpius seemed nice enough, if not a bit stressed. Surely Mairen wasn't seeing him on his best day.

"Should-" she looked up and met his gaze, the eye contact making her nervous though she couldn't say why. Usually her nerves only made her talk more, but meeting his eyes seemed to make words hard to find. "Should I wait for you to find them? Or come back later, maybe?"

There was no point to her sitting about in his office while he worked, of course. And Ms. Cabot would start to wonder where the redhead had gotten off to after a while. Mairen found herself rather curious about the man sitting across from her, though, so she made no move to leave, instead watching him for a reply.

"Mairen," the wizard said softly, rolling the name on his tongue before setting it free into the room. He liked it. Scorpius couldn't help but feel that the name fit her. Unique, without being one of those horrifically long names purebloods sometimes gave their children in an attempt to stand out. He had never met a Mairen before. A small part of the man wondered what her middle name was. Would it be as unusual as her first name, or more ordinary to balance things out? The blonde promised himself that he would ask, someday.
 
"No, we wouldn't have known each other," the man admitted with a wry twist of his lips. They hardly would have interacted if she'd been a Gryffindor. While Scorpious had indeed had his fair share of conversations with member of the red and golden house over the span of his school years, none of them had been friendly. He’d disliked most Gryffindor’s on sight, back then.
 
The blonde knew better than that now. Not all Gryffindor's were courageous idiots, not all Ravenclaw's were spineless bookworms, and not all Hufflepuff's were mumbling pansies. Scorpius's sister had taught him that. Her Sorting had been somewhat of a surprise to the wizard. He had accepted her, of course, but hadn't exactly understood how a Malfoy could be a Hufflepuff. Cesca had, under no uncertain terms, informed him that she was just as cunning and smart and ambitious as she always had been, and that it was hardly her fault if Scorpius hadn't noticed how loyal she could be. Yes, he knew much better now.
 
"Ah, the Weird Sisters," the lawyer echoed hesitantly, "that's nice." Scorpius had never really been one for music. Sure, it was nice to have a decent beat to dance to at clubs, and it was important to hire a knowledgeable DJ when throwing large parties, but other than that the blonde knew and cared very little about music. His youngest sister had never quite been able to understand that particular trait of his.
 
"No, no, do sit down," Scorpius said, carefully keeping the urgency out of his voice, "I could stumble across it at any moment, and Ms. Cabot will hardly be pleased with either of us if you go back empty handed." Not looking towards the beautiful redhead all alone with him in his office, the Death Eater went back to shuffling through piles of papers, a slight smile upon his lips.

Why was it that everything she said seemed to amuse this man? Mairen had to actively keep from lifting an eyebrow in response. At the same time, something about him made her curious. She couldn't say what, exactly, had her wanting to stay regardless of his clearly not having the papers ready for her. Maybe it was that she couldn't quite figure him out, where she so often was able to judge others. She'd spent most of her life observing rather than participating, so it wouldn't be the first time she had learned about someone through some observance.

“You're not a fan?” She asked, sitting forward and failing to keep the hope from her voice. “You've no idea how annoying it is when people befriend you because of your dad.” She crossed her arms, leaving the clipboard to attempt to balance on her leg. Mairen left out the part about it being why she hardly ever had or made friends. Trusting people wasn't something she did easily. Sure, she would admit to rather liking people, but trust? No, that took effort on their part as much as hers. She couldn't help but pout for a second before shaking it off.

Mai had nearly snatched up her clipboard to leave the office when his words stopped her. She sighed quietly, relaxing into her chair and tilting her head to the side as she watched him not-as-subtly as she intended. Whatever he was smiling about, she had a feeling it wasn't something she wanted to ask after.  Probably one of those inside or personal jokes one remembers at the worst times.

He's not half bad.. A voice pointed out quietly.

She nearly frowned. Awkward. At least she wasn't one of those people whose thoughts accidentally became actual, audible words. But stranger, even, than the fact that she'd thought it was that it wasn't even sarcastic. She'd only seen him around a couple times, then been in his office for no more than five minutes. It was times like this when Mai wished she had a sister. Strange, perhaps, but true. She could go home after work and rant on about the blonde who was far too interesting and the sister would have then been able to tell her she was mental.

Then again, Mairen was doing it anyways. Telling herself she was mad, that is. Being interested in a guy was never a good idea, she had found, because it just never worked out. Hence her having strange male friends who, like Cael, weren't strange as individuals. No, they were more strange because they put up with all of her sass and talking too much. Instead, she decided that she would just try and get on with people, see if the friends thing worked, and if he was stupid enough to make a move she might consider it.

The only problem with that, though, was that she couldn't seem to get the right words around, nonetheless as many as usual around the lawyer sitting in front of her. Besides the obvious reasons for his thinking she was strange, she was but an intern. Oh. That reminded her.

“Speaking of Ms. Cabot,” she began almost timidly, “I suppose you know how she is with cases?” Mairen attempted. How much trouble would she get in if he decided to rat her out for talking bad about her employer – especially in the office? She'd already started, though, and if she was stupid enough or liked him well enough to have already said something, it was too late. “Always has to pick them herself. Won't take suggestions. Well I've stumbled across one that could be desperately important. And now I've no chance of working on it.”

She eyed him warily for a minute before deciding. Yes. She usually managed to badger people into things. Why would it be any different this time? “It's a shame you can't keep track of paperwork, Mr. Malfoy,” she teased lightly, lifting her chin challengingly, “otherwise I'd suggest you help me with it.” She shrugged off-handedly, as though brushing it off. If she had read him wrong, her chance at figuring this out would be lost. No chance for promotion, no- She stopped herself, but the thought came anyways.

No more spending time with Mr. Malfoy.

"I've never really been a music person," the blonde admitted with a smirk. Scorpius was infinitely glad that he hadn't feigned enthusiasm for the band or anything idiotic like that. His response had only warmed Marien to him further. While her response to his words had been unexpected, they were far from unwelcome.

Scorpius could even relate with the feeling, to a point. There were plenty of Slytherins whom had tried to befriend him because of his last name. To be fair, it might have been more than the name that drew them. It could have been his wealth, or his family's prestige, or even the fact that it was obvious that he would be the next Slytherin Prince the moment that he'd walked through the double doors of the Great Hall. The point was; he knew a lot about difficult paternal relationships.

While his father was far from a famous cello player, Draco Malfoy was hardly a name that anyone forgot. Scorpius had always known that his father had enemies, how could he not, with a personality like his? But it hadn't hit home, properly hit home, until he had reached Hogwarts. Fellow students had taken one glance at him and written him off as a miniature carbon-copy of his father. Few students even bothered to get to know him, and all the adult purebloods just called him "the Malfoy heir" as if he was nothing more than another male Malfoy. As if he didn't have his own personality, or mind. So yes, Scorpius knew what it was like to live in the shadow of a parent.

That wasn't to say that he wasn't proud to be a Malfoy. He was. His family had hundreds of years of history and blood, as well as priceless collections that had only been added to every generation. That being said, Scorpius didn't always see eye to eye with his father, especially where his youngest sister was concerned.

"I can relate," the wizard admitted before he could prevent himself, "sometimes fathers leave shadows a little too large for the children to ever fully escape." His voice was quiet, but soft and clear. There was an undertone of bitterness to it, but acceptance as well. Scorpius knew full-well that he would never escape the negative connotations that were attached to his last name. To be fair, his life choices hadn't exactly proved many of the wrong either.

"Yes, I know how she is," Scorpius admitted suddenly, wanting to change the topic of conversation as quickly as possible. The blonde wasn't exactly the type to open up to people. Well, there had been Albus, but he couldn't afford to think about him right then. It was a rare occurrence for Scorpius to open up to anyone other than Francesca, let alone to a stranger.

"As tempting as that sounds," he drawled, and it did sound terribly tempting, spending lots of time with Mairen, "I'm a little too busy to be taking on any more cases right now. I do wish you the best of luck, however."