[December 4th, 2008]

It was his fourth day back and was the first day he got to leave the Ministry on time.  Kevin had been itching to leave moreso than usual, and his destination was not the pub (double unusual for a man like Kevin.)  Instead, he had a mission in mind, a mission to make someone else's day a little bit better.  He knew it was over a week before Analiza would be home, but he couldn't help but to want her to be happy when she did.  The Prophet had been particularly rough on her, and the last few days he had spent in the office showed him an even better view that her opinion was not necessarily that of the majority. 

He had sent her a chocolate bar two days ago as well as some sugar quills.  He knew the pressure she was under must be tremendous.  "Just yet another reason why you don't want to be in the public light, Kev...just do your job and you don't have to worry about anyone prying into your life and bothering you."

Walking into an alley, he apparated, landing in a bush secluded from the world by a small forest of trees. "OW!" he said, pulling a branch out of his robes as he stumbled out.  He had been given vague directions from a co-worker about her home, unable to ask for a straight address, lest he draw suspicions of his reasons for a visit to a home that was virtually empty at the moment.  Such a question was the last one he wanted to answer.

He made his way through the trees, picking twigs out of his hair.  He looked around, trying to gain a bearing on his location.  “Uhh…” he wondered aloud, seeing no houses that appeared to be anything like what Analiza Snark would live in.  Every drive had an automobile parked in it, giving Kevin a clear indication that he was in the midst of muggles.  Taking a few steps back into the small band of trees, he found a seat on a fallen log and pulled out a cigarette.  He lit it, momentarily wishing he was sitting in the pub, before regaining his drive to find his destination.  Standing back up, he looked out into the neighborhood.  Then, he saw it.  The house was about a half-mile off, sitting on a hill that somewhat overlooked the small community of muggles.  The house was far too elaborate to be a muggle’s.

It only took him ten minutes at a leisurely pace to reach the mansion—and mansion it was.  The closer he got, the more monstrous it seemed.  The house he lived in had been large, but it was much older and didn’t have quite the elegance that this home had.  Kevin walked around towards the back and sat down on a low wall that overlooked various shrubs.

He reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a piece of fine parchment, where he had written:


Folding it up neatly, he placed it in a small envelope and wet the seal.  Making sure it was sealed tight, Kevin paused to look over the lawns of the house, admiring the natural beauty of it.  Her home was on a gorgeous little piece of London. He turned back towards the house and chuckled, “You know, Kev, you could have just accepted her offer and stayed here.  It’s a helluva lot better than that old dumpy room at the Leaky Cauldron.”

Standing, he walked over to her back door.  Bending low, he slid the letter underneath the door, using a little magic to make the crack big enough to slip the letter in.  Smiling, knowing that she would appreciate the gesture, he turned and walked back towards the front of the house.  “Now, it’s time for the pub,” he apparated to the Leaky Cauldron before it hit him.

’You wrote her a poem?!  What the hell is wrong with you?’ his inner-male voice shouted at him like a woman during her time of the month.  Nevertheless, Kevin’s eyes widened and he apparated on the spot.  Again landing in the same god forsaken bush, Kevin cursed at himself.  Crawling out, he got his footing at took off at a run.

He reached the back door, halfway crashing into it, panting heavily.  “Merlin…I…I really need…to quit…smoking…”  He put his left hand on the door to support himself and shoved his right hand into his robes to grab his wand.  “Whew…okay…just need to…”

He could see the letter through the glass, pointing his wand, he said firmly, “Accio.”

The letter flew up and smacked the glass, falling right back down onto the floor.  “Damn.”  Kevin pointed his wand at the letter again, taking a deep breath to steady himself.  With more clarity, he said firmly, “Accio letter.”  The letter flopped over, hit the door, and fell back.

“Damn, oh damn…Merlin, why do you do this to me?” Kevin lamented to himself.  Pointing his wand back at the door, he pleaded, “Accio letter, accio letter, accio letter.”  Thump, thump, thump.  The letter thrice hit the door and fell back to the floor.

“Nooo…” Kevin complained, sounding more like a 6-year-old than a 36-year-old.  “Ass-ee-ohh,” he begged the letter to slip out the way it came.  Once again, it thumped against the door and fell back to the floor.  “She’s going to laugh and think you’re a nutcase.  A poem?  What were you thinking?”

For another hour, until long after the sun had fallen, Kevin had tried to coax the letter back out under the crack beneath the door.  He tried to grab it by slipping a twig under the door, but only managed to break the twig, leaving half of it in Ana’s home.  He contemplated breaking the door, but fear that she would likely have more than a fair share of hexes to anyone who breaks into her home kept him from it.  Trying one last time, but to no avail, he conceded defeat.  Kicking the door, hard, Kevin left the premises with a broken pride and perhaps a broken toe. 

“Stupid effing poem.  You’re a real piece of work, Hargrove.  What is it about this girl?” He asked himself, not knowing the precise answer to the question.


((Disclaimer:  I did not write the poem, I have to credit it to the interwebs and an author named, "Adrianne S"))