"Wanting help, miss?"

Daphne nodded. "Thanks, Wooky. I'd use my wand, but they're all in my fingers. I don't fancy gripping much right about now." The house-elf responded with a quick wave of his knobby hands and the splinters poofed into non-existence. Immediate relief relaxed Daphne's face and posture, and she stumbled over to sit at a small table littered with papers. Her head slowly fell forward to rest on her elbows. Exhausted, she let her eyes wander slowly over the woodgrain, tracing and retracing until the lines blurred into nothingness. After a few minutes, a loud grumble reminded her that she hadn't eaten yet. She wondered vaguely what time it was, and just which meal she ought to be eating.

"Miss is hungry?"

She mumbled affirmatively into the crook of her arm, unwilling to waste any energy by lifting her head. Moments later, a fat sandwich loaded with vegetables settled onto the table in front of her, followed by a tall glass of milk. Lunch, then. She tore into the food happily, desperate to replenish some of the energy she'd spent over the last week or so. She'd finished working on her latest project for the Ministry just yesterday, and she'd spent the remainder of the time bottling it. Unfortunately, one spilled bottle and one misplaced wooden spoon had ended rather disastrously.

Anxious to be rid of the semi-hazardous solutions, she rubbed the still-tingling fingers of her right hand on her pants and pulled her wand out of her robe pocket. She Summoned a bit of parchment and scrawled  out a quick request for a Ministry courier, while finishing off the second half of her sandwich in her left hand. No sense in wasting any more time transporting the stuff herself. A few stray drips of tomato juice dripped onto the parchment and she huffed in irritation. Still munching on her sandwich, she wiped at the parchment with her sleeve, leaving a long, pink smudge along the bottom. She rolled her eyes and gave up.

"Hey, Jeezie." The second elf whisked up beside her, whisper-quiet. "Post this for me, will you?" The elf nodded quickly, retrieving the bit of parchment, and popped out of the room.

Shoving the last bit of lunch into her mouth, she reached into another robe pocket, pulling out a slim cigarette case and a Muggle lighter. She opened the case and extracted a single cigarette. Swallowing quickly, she lit up and took one long, slow drag. She exhaled with satisfaction. She rolled her head around a bit to loosen the muscles in her neck and shoulders, then began picking through the week's worth of newspapers, magazines, and parchments on the table in front of her. She groped for a copy of the Daily Prophet, pulling one out at random. She scanned for the date...October 1st. She shrugged lightly to herself and started scanning through the classifieds looking for new projects. Preferably something non-governmental.

She noticed another potions maker had placed an ad, and wondered if she ought to do the same. She recoiled inwardly from the idea, but another quick scan showed no open appointments for someone in her field. However...

"Snape's looking for help..." She smirked slightly at the idea of anybody voluntarily interviewing with the man. Several possible scenarios ran through her mind and a small shudder barely escaped her. "There's a death wish if I ever heard one."

But upon further consideration, she found herself slightly intrigued by the idea of working with her old potions professor. It would probably be tedious and dull, but...she'd have plenty of time to work on her her own little projects, not to mention the availability of certain ingredients that Snape would surely have on hand... Certain ingredients that the namby-pamby Ministry had deemed "inappropriate for properly-sanctioned potions".

She decided to think over the possibilities. Perhaps she'd send her old potions professor an owl...




{SUMMARY} Daphne considers new employment.