Just giving Gid a disbelieving nod and sighing, she looked around the room. If he heard about her dreams, they'd end up moving back to Italy and he'd give up the job he loved. Either way, one of them was going to suffer, and when it came to suffering, Becca was always the one who was first in line to take the pain for everyone else.

"I do ruin evenings. I've ruined a lot of them and you know it." Her eyes wandered back to her husband. "I just... want you to have fun. I'm here, I'm dressed up, you've made sure I'm doing my part, now just go and enjoy yourself."

Laila, Sarah, Kat, Roro!
 

Angelina beamed, because he said she worked good! "Thank you," she said and wanted to tell him HOW she made his dress in detail, but he'd be bored. Bummer. So, instead...

More bummer, because his real co-workers were losers and didn't attend cool -

"Oh, sure," she breathed in new excitement. His job was so breath-taking, especially compared to her boring one, so she wanted to meet as many people as possible.

...

How elegant and professional they both looked! Bet they were also really talented wizards. Angelina never questioned her job or the path she'd chosen, but that didn't mean she couldn't be awed by others.

She kept silent while the boys talked. Oh, the woman wasn't Simon's co-worker, only the man. Angelina smiled at them both politely.

...she was his 'lovely' girlfriend? Angelina mentally swooned. Heh. She was! She loved the title.

And another man joined them! Angelina was loving this place. She knew she probably wouldn't see any of them again, but it was still nice to meet them. This was her sole fun in her boring life.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bones, Pennifold and... William." Whose surname she didn't know, sadly. She also couldn't do a curtsy like January, but she could smile politely.

"It's nice to meet

Nathan strode swiftly amongst the fanciful display of food. His crystal blue eyes darting across the various puddings and deliciousness. He smiled briefly as he scooped a bit of Russian pudding onto his plate before heading to eat by himself. It was business as normal for Nathaniel, ever since Scarlet had died, there was not much keeping him here in England. As such he had mostly spent the last year on the optional deployment to the Ukraine to counter his old coworkers in the Russian Ministry. Magic was one heck of a weapon, and he had fought hard to see it not misused. But now he was home. At least for the moment.

With tugging baby in up-reached arms, Tiffany let out a HUGE sigh of relief when that man confirmed it was, did he say, Aron's, son? Aron or not, She was just glad to hand this thing off. Babies are actually a lot heavier than you'd think. Especially after having to lug this guy around the whole time.

Who taught her how to hold a child? Uhuuum, heeeellloooo, who taught YOU how to watch over a child, sir. Hmph. Tiffany was so ready to reply with a sassy remark, but ugh. She didn't want to prolong this handing off process. Clearly, this man was out of his mind. He LOST his baby for Merlin's sake. So she'd let that one slide. Besides, Tiffany really needed to make a few friends around here. Even those that... dressed... in school robes? Ew. Why.

"Yeah... He's quite the.... explorer," she replied with a smile. Though it was COMPLETELY FAKE AND FORCED. But yeah, a smile nonetheless. At least she didn't have to watch over it anymore. So that was one reason to be happy, yeah? AH, nice lady. And that's how you properly thank a woman for finding your devil of a child. Hmph, who taught you how to hold a child hmphm. She was not going to let that one go. Hmph.

Then, her eyes fell upon the, matching outfits. "Cute, costumes," she said with a more cheerful tone than before. Cough ABSOLUTELY EW COSTUMES ACTUALLY Cough. At least she hoped they were costumes. Because Merlin save them, if they actually wore those on a daily basis. Coco would be so disappointed if she saw that sorry excuse of gala wear. But shhhhh... She's trying to play nice!

Cynthia nodded and shook the woman's hand. Jasmine, she said? The name reminded Cynthia of the little, fragrant, white flowers that grew in abundance where she lived. A pleasant moniker.

"It is nice to meet you, too," the IMC worker said. And the food topic? Drat, Cynthia had been trying carefully to avoid that. In fact, she'd almost not come to the banquet. "I'm very allergic to peanuts. I can't even get too near them. If I were to come into physical contact with the food, I could die of anaphylaxis." Not meaning to creep Jasmine out, but...yeah, she couldn't risk eating food. Cross-contamination was quite possible.

Cynthia immediately ceased the topic of death. Another person had arrived and began to speak.

"Hello. How are you?" Cynthia said, as she was pretty sure she'd seen Elizabeth around IMC.

Jasmine smiled at Cynthia. It was nice to meet a new friend. But now once she explained her allergies it all made sense. "Oh wow I didn't know it was that severe. I am sorry, I will be more cautious around you.." she grinned and joked a little bit. She even used a huge word Jazz didn't understand and went with the flow.

"So how long have you both been working in the ministry for?" she asked to strike up some conversation between all of them.

"Are criminals allowed to eat here?" Criminals such as Sirius Black. Hollis smiled at him indulgently. She felt that he looked ridiculous but she forgave him for it she supposed. It was just a real pity not to have him all dressed up in one of his nice tuxes for this event. It wasn't Halloween, wearing a silly costume wasn't necessary at all, no matter the theme.

"Yes, My Love, fetch me a plate?" Just an assortment of whatever there was, Hollis wasn't fussy. She patted her husband's arm and looked around. "Where shall we sit?" Who did he need to avoid?

"Pleasure to meet you, Angelina." Vic took the young lady's hand and placed a Knighty kiss. "If Simon messes with you, give me a call and we'll arrest him for you." He gave his colleague a playful grin. He was kidding, the girl would know he was kidding, right? He was a funny man, everybody knew that.

He fondly looked at his date and was about to explain what they both were when Jan waved enthusiastically at someone. He followed her gaze and dreading to see a Fuller. Nope, Fuller wasn't around, he was on the other side of the hall chatting with someone. "Who-" He started to say when William, a.k.a January's best guy friend, joined their small circle. Aha! About time they had met.

"It's good to finally meet you, William. January told me all about you... and your darkest secrets." He added with a wolfish grin. Look at that plate in his hand though. Vic was reminded by the reason he'd approached this part of the hall!

"Dear Girlfriend? Would you like me to get you anything while I pile me some food?" Even though, she should be the one serving the knight, if they wanted to role play this well. Just saying. Vic was too scared to 'just saying' it out loud, though.

"Sirius Black was a framed Criminal." Ashby reminded his wife, shaking his head. He would not have dressed up as a criminal, even if Black had spent time in Azkaban. But he wasn't really supposed to be there. So that was that. He was thinking maybe he should have worn one of his tuxes. He probably would have looked more like a department head if he had, but he did like pretending to be Sirius Black.

"Lazy." He teased, leaning over to peck her cheek. He didn't mind fetching her food. She was putting up with his outfit, so he had to give her that. "Umm..." There didn't seem to be anyone needed to avoid. Apart from that annoying man that had kept coming onto his ship. "Over here." He murmured, moving his wife away from the direction of that man.

...and the other people standing there. Simon, Angelina, Vic and January, hello. :3
 

It really was nice to be back in London for the christmas break. While there was hardly anything noteworthy going on at Hogwarts, Alysson still enjoyed it there. Even though of course it was work and everything but it was definitely a change of scenery.

As was this though. What a nice place. And the decorations were incredible. As were the costumes some of the guests had chosen to wear. She herself wasn't really one for wearing costumes, maybe occasionally. For fun. But seeing as William hadn't exactly been thrilled by the idea, Alysson had chosen a simple attire as well. Nice and appropriate for the occasion of course. Just not a costume.

After being held up chatting to some of her co-workers, Alysson briefly wandered around in search for William. Though, to be honest, he wasn't THAT hard to find. Somewhere close to the buffet was definitely a good place to look. And voilà! there he was. Talking to a group of people, some of which (most really) she knew.

"...found you!" Alysson announced with a small grin as she moved to stand next to William, leaning against his side slightly. "Hello." She took a moment to smile at everyone. Ah. This person she certainly didn't know. "I'm Alysson." She offered her hand for the woman (Angelina) to shake.

Food. She should have brought some. Or at least a drink.

Cynthia's allergies could sometimes ward people off, so the witch was glad when Jasmine grinned. "It's okay." Because she was used to it. She had an explanation memorized which she used for any occasion where she was required to provide information.

"I've only worked here for a year. Last year I was the Magical Product Tester and Excise Personnel, but I've been promoted. I still don't know what exactly I'll be doing, though. How about you?" Cynthia munched on her turkey and lettuce sandwich, eyeing the food around her.

Elizabeth smiled and took a seat down. "I bet it is quite interesting though." She giggled, "Thank you for letting me sit with you guys." Eliza glanced over at the other girl, Cynthia, and smiled. "I am good and you? You work with me right? I feel like I seen you around a lot but I never got the chance to actually talk to you it seems..." A frown appeared but a smile quickly returned.

Jasmine's eyebrows rose to her forehead. Maybe past her bangs. She only worked here a year and got a promotion. That was impressive. She was a tester which is not really a fun job but hey she gave her credit. "That is good for you on the promotion!" she told her sincerely. Oh back to her now? "Well I am in the Permitting Officer position. So i give people notices if they have illegal plants and what not." she shrugged. Not too big of a job.

Jasmine smiled and said, "Oh not a problem. I like to meet new people from all departments.." It was true though. It was better to get out of her office and meet new people than be stuck in her cubicle. "So how are you liking the theme of this gala so far?" she asked her curiously.

He looked up as he heard a few familiar voices, and smiled over towards Elizabeth and Cynthia as he saw them take a few seats nearby. It was nice seeing a few of his employees there at the gala.

He really wished he could do everything she wanted to and made sure all her dreams came true. "We'll talk more at home tonight." he said quietly, "I want to do what I can to make those dreams happen. I'll do whatever it takes. You name it and I'll do it." he said softly. She meant the world to him, and he'd do anything if it meant she was happy.

He shook his head "I'm having fun right now, being right beside you." Wait...well...was she trying to tell him to leave because she didn't want to be near him in this costume? "If you want me to leave I'll go." he said softly. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me."

Surely she didn't have a baby and shouldn't be thinking of having one. At least Aron found his son, "Be careful, don't lose sight of him again" luckily someone found "Harry Potter" before he could go any farther. The woman seemed to be...mmm...how to put into words? Brandon raised an eyebrow once she commented on Aron and his son's costumes. Somehow the voice tone she used annoyed him, don't know if it had to do with the fact that he was starving and his food was waiting for him. He had to do something about it. "Well, thank you for finding Harry Potter" and turned to face Aron "Do you want to go and find a table so we can eat?" he sounded a bit hurry, but I mean, he hadn't had lunch.

Brandon took a step in the direction of the tables but stopped quickly. Though he could feel that the woman whom he just met could turn out to be a bit annoying or talk about things he probably wasn't interesting, he had to be a gentleman. He turned around, "Sorry, we haven't met. I'm Brandon Knox, Department of Mysteries" he introduced himself. "Do you want to join us?" Aron didn't have a problem with it, right? He wouldn't mind otherwise.

This keeps getting bigger and bigger.
 

"Kay." she agreed, but didn't look at him. She knew that he wanted this job and Becca was going to stick it out for as long as she could. "Doesn't seem like it." she looked over at him, but when he said he could go, she shook her head. "No... it's... okay. I'm okay. Plus you won't know what happens to the first person who tries to call me 'Headmistress Truebridge' if you leave."

"Why's that?" he asked curiously. He didn't look like he was enjoying himself? There was food here! And he was really thinking on getting a plate! He had his beautiful wife beside him, what more could he ask for? Snorting he lifted an eyebrow "Well that makes me just want to stay longer. What is it you are planning on doing the next time someone calls you that? I heard what you did to the librarian."

"You look miserable." That's why. When he snorted, she looked back at him. "What do you mean? I only asked him about Hogwarts." Sighing, Becca leant back. "You're acting like I embarrassed him and he can never go out in public again. It's not my fault he was shy. In fact, that's the whole reason I started on him. The shy ones always give in with a bit of a push." she shrugged. "I don't know what I"m going to do, though. I'm sure I'll think of something."

Laila, Sarah, Kat, Roro, Lisa!
 

*kept writing Bic instead of Vic* *cracks herself up*
 

The people. *tries to put them in logical order* *probably fails*
 

Hello. Yes she was here.

There was an arm around her shoulders now. Alysson liked it. A lot. "It wasn't too hard. The buffet was the first place I looked." She offered him a grin while leaning against his side some more. And January was there too. "So nice to see you again too." She hadn't seen her since...well, a while back. Of course she'd occasionally caught a glimpse of her around the Ministry but they'd never really spoken. They should remedy that some time.

Simon was talking now though so Alysson looked to her co-worker instead. His girlfriend, wow. "Lovely to meet you, Angelina." Alysson smiled at the other woman, giving her a once over. "I like your dress." It was very...festive. They'd clearly dressed up. Because her costume matched Simon's. How sweet. Did she work at the Ministry too? Before Alysson got the chance to ask, however, the woman announced that they were leaving to check out the buffet.

Alright then.

Vic seemed to be leaving them too it seemed but he had found the time to greet her. "Good to see you." Yes. Not that she knew him very well. Or at all to be honest. He was one of those people she worked with but had never gotten a chance to actually get to know. It was unfortunate really. Maybe this even would bring them all closer together.

Everyone seemed to be talking about food. Which was hardly surprising, seeing as they were right next to the buffet. Alysson glanced at it over her shoulder briefly, only to look back up at William a second later, a smile on her lips. "You did?" Did he actually think of her while filling his plate?

Or had he accidentally got a second fork instead of a knife?