Emily was getting bored with the whole... thing... that this thing was. Ugh. Why did she need to come to these things? Couldn't she just be anti-social in the office and doing work and stuff, or alternatively working on her combat techniques... or better yet, be huddled in a nice dark corner at Moribunds.

Meh...

And uuhh... what was going on here? Emily stood, arms crossed, staring -- and judging the people before her. It never ceased to amaze her how people had a way of grouping together and being all attention seeking.

Charles was staying quiet, no matter how odd things had been getting, and Dorian had to respect him for that. No questioning, no panic, just thoughtfulness. He was observant enough that he could tell the ambassador was thinking about what they should do, just as he'd been doing. But first, there was the women to deal with. Seeing as Ms. Whitworth seemed distracted or out of the picture for the moment, that left Isobel and Natasha. And it seemed one sister hadn't informed the other about certain meetings in Diagon Alley, as Isobel seemed curious as to how he'd known about the twins. Although she hadn't voiced that, only thanked him for his congratulations, and he nodded. She'd probably come to her own conclusions, and they'd likely be just as possible as the truth. Besides, the conversation had gone back to his comments about work invading the vacation he'd been forced to take.

Another semi-wry smile crossed his face at her musing, in any case. "Very true, although for the most part my work wasn't exactly Level Two cases," he replied. Not going further into detail. He didn't need the sympathy, and he didn't feel like pulling out his history in front of them all anyhow. He'd made allusions to it before now, to Natasha, but she hadn't questioned it then and didn't seem to be now, either. Instead, that conversation had stayed on the topic of rogue stationery, which oddly could be an MLE case. Not his department, however, as parchment and inkwells were hardly magical equipment, but he was involved merely through the connection. Although, the introduction of the Accidents and Catastrophes head wasn't expected. "I imagine she would have an answer or two," he replied vaguely. or several, if reports were accurate. He couldn't say one way or another, not having personally made the acquaintance of Althea Schirmer. The woman was Natasha's boss, though, so going to her made sense.

She'd seemed a bit disappointed by the interruption, as well, and he examined her for a few seconds as she'd shrugged. Either it was the interruption, or some oversight on his side, he couldn't tell which. Either way, he wanted to defuse a situation before it had begun, and if that meant appeasing Roxanne's request, that was what would happen. "This won't take long," he replied, honestly figuring it would be just a m essage being passed on and then that would be done with. Therefore he could return sooner than another day entirely. Of course, that depended on how the situation with Ms. Whitworth turned out, and he gave Natasha credit for at least noticing that. Roxanne certainly hadn't seemed to, but that was another reason to let her have her say.



Dorian cleared his throat as it seemed there was a staredown going on between the two women, although he was still keeping an eye on the shuffling figure of Ms. Whitworth. They both had been part of the request, after all, and making sure she didn't attack anyone else while in this state was advisable. And if Roxanne was going to be more focused on boring holes through Natasha's face, that task came down to himself. His disapproval of her rudeness was incidental, and he turned his attention to her as she'd apologized. "It isn't advisable to burn bridges before they're built," he replied with a shrug. She should definitely apologize to Natasha, for the interruption if not the death glare later on. "When aren't there bigger things to consider?," he continued. They worked on Level Two. The last stand between the wizarding world and mass chaos, most of the time, and now it seemed chaos was trying to infiltrate the Ministry again in the form of whatever strange illness Ms. Whitworth had contracted.

Although at least now Roxanne had acknowledged the redhead's condition. The message was a bit confused, however. He wasn't to blame for the news not having been passed on to Wes, as he hadn't entirely been privy to it until today either. Rumors weren't the same as actually witnessing it, and while Roxanne's attention had switched back to himself, he went back to watching the afflicted MLEer. "People in the department seem to have been good at keeping the information to themselves all around," he replied, hinting at the idea that he hadn't known either. Not that he was anywhere near as important as Wes, beyond mere seniority due to his years in the department, but he was also establishing that he wasn't one of those who had neglected to report to the department head. "Department-wide. Including Ms. Whitworth, I presume." Meaning, how would they get her there and coherent. Unless he went back to his thought of Stunning the poor girl, and she attended the meeting unconscious.

Kensi continued her little walking...and she saw the man...the man she had wanted to BITE earlier...and followed him(DORIAN)...when she got close enough to him, she placed a hand on his shoulder and just STOOD there...drooling and clutching his shoulder weirdly hard.

And then....she snapped out of it. And she blinked a few times, wiped her mouth on her sleeve(she was beyond caring at the moment) and just looked around..wide eyed..and then the pain from her head hit her and she groaned...she noticed her hand on Dorian's shoulder and quickly retracted it to bury her head in her hands..."What's..did I do anything stupid?!" she asked frantically...she needed to know..had she bitten anyone again?!

And then this Roxanne girl..where had Natasha gone?! Kensi liked Natasha. This Roxanne character looked mean. And super stressed..the redhead just stared...she caught the end part of her sentence..Wes was mad? "Wes shouldn't be mad. I MADE an appointment with him before the holidays started to DISCUSS this and he pushed it off." She growled, VERY angry at her Bossman right now. "It's his own fault."

Yeah.

There.

Pull yourself together Saul! This was your Department Head, your boss. Don't freak out because he made a terrible first impression.
Nope, no good Saul tilted his head back and widened his eyes more when Wes placed a hand on his shoulder.
He couldn't take it anymore. "G-ghost?" Saul managed to speak in high pitched voice
*cough cough* He fixed his position and lowered his voice.
"I mean ghost, no I uh just remembered something was all."

Annalise was having a great time. There were so many smiling faces working at the ministry. Both MEN and women. Which was a first for Annalise. Mostly, men usually just smiled awkwardly at her as if she had the plague, or something.

Annalise had been off in her own little world, day dreaming when she was suddenly approached by a rather handsome looking man that appeared to be about her age. He also appeared to be either a bit tipsy, embarrassed. or just maybe a bit.... shy. Suddenly she realized that this was the same man that had introduced himself to her earlier. Of course, he then must have sensed her confusion and felt the need to reacquaint himself with her. "Ah yes, Manolo." She smiled, liking the way that his name just rolled off of her tongue.


But then things got a bit awkward.

Annalise felt her cheeks grow warm, smiling nervously as she listened to the man blurted out something about meeting her earlier. Oh yes, he was definitely nervous. About what, she could not be sure just yet.

And then BIIIIINGGGGO! Manolo seemed to have regained his composure as he cleared his throat and proceeded to ask her out. Now she understood what was up with all of the awkwardness. The man was actually asking her out!


"Erm.... ermm.... ermmm..." Annalise sputtered, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink with every passing stutter. She never had been too good with boys, even when she had been a teen at Hogwarts she had been shy. "Of course, I would love to!" She finally managed to blurt out, smiling warmly up at the man. Everyone deserved a chance, right? Even awkward men.


"Shall we set something up for this coming Friday afternoon during lunch?" She asked, flipping her hair back behind her shoulders. Despite him being shy and awkward at first, he really was attractive looking.

Manolo blinked a few times making sure he heard right. Yes??! Did she say yes?!

His thoughts were confirmed when she asked about lunch Friday.

A big smile formed on his face, "Yes! Of course! That sounds lovely!" He watched in a dazed manner as she flipped her hair. He flipped his in response in a joking manner. "I'll see you then."

Hmmm?

"Hello." Evelyn greeted hesitantly in return, glancing down to the extended hand. She wasn't expecting to have someone come up and 'mingle' so early on, but...alright. She supposed. The young woman shook the hand. "Evelyn."

After...all of that...Evelyn went back to scouting the crowd.

Perhaps it was just her luck to spot someone who didn't want to be here as much as she did. From the looks of it at least. Someone...who looked a bit familiar, though she was sure this someone wasn't in her department. No, everyone there seemed to have some perky attitude about them, whether it be noticeable or small.

This was going to bug her now.

Only one way to find out. "Hello." Evelyn smiled. Well, sorta. "Have we met before?"

"Well, I don't feel like sharing you right now, either." SMIRK BACK. Honestly, the new employees could wait forever as far as she was concerned. Except that she would probably have to work with them at some point. So it was probably best if she met them at some point today, learn their names at least. "Especially since, you never know, you might find one of the new Minister's Office employees prettier than me. We can't have that, now can we?" She was, of course, joking. But then again, who knew?


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Roxanne jumped a little when she heard Dorian clear his throat. And blushed slightly at having been caught acting like that. Not cool at all, nor was it particularly useful in this situation. And she obviously wasn't earning any favors with her coworker her favorite in the office either. Ugh, how did she keep getting herself into these positions? She was going to have to get that checked out. "Right." She took that to mean that she needed to apologize ASAP. Again, ugh. "When there isn't someone or something threatening the wizarding world?" she smiled, trying to get back onto more comfortable territory. 'Cause this disapproval was making her more and more tense and that tension was forming an uncomfortable knot in her stomach.

"What can I say? We're a department full of secrets and secretive people." It was true. All one had to do was close their eyes, spin around a few times and point, and there was someone with some kind of secret. It was just how their department operated. Not that she was suggesting that change any time soon. It worked, on both a professional and a personal level. Or it did most of the time, anyway. "Um, yeah. Could try Stunning and carrying her up there?" Because she obviously wasn't going to make it under her own power, not in the condition she was in. Roxanne took another look over at Kensi.......

........who surprised her by wandering over and gripping Dorian's shoulder seemingly hard enough to hurt. Roxanne's wand was out of her sleeve and aimed at the sick woman before she even realized what she was doing. But Kensi surprised her again by snapping out of it. And what she said ticked the blonde off. But not at her, no. At Wes, who it seemed was just as implicit in this whole not knowing thing as she and the others who had kept it secret. And they were the ones getting yelled at for it. Grr. "Really? And he wants to yell at the rest of us for not telling him?" Kind of hypocritical, depending on which way you looked at it.

Gabi beamed at him. Armen was so willing to help her and Tucker, and he'd hardly even spent any time with the boy! Well, now he'd probably see him quite a bit more, since his days at Hogwarts were definitely limited. "Beauxbatons is much too far, I think the best option for him is definitely homeschooling," she said with a head nod. "I can hardly stand him being away from me now!" she chuckled. And he was on the same island as her! She could hardly think how much she'd miss him if he were overseas.

She blushed when he admitted that she'd be the best charms teacher for him--she knew she had said that earlier, but it made her blush to get verification from him. "Mutter is also very good at Transfiguration, I'm positive that's where I get all my brains from," she chuckled. "And Vatter could whip up any potion you wanted in an instant. Hogwarts is really missing out by not employing the Schulz's," she joked with a grin.

And now they'd turned the conversation back to work. "Oh no, Thea is great!" she assured him, realizing how her comment had probably come off the wrong way when it came to her new boss. "With all the renovations and everything going on, she's just had more important things on her mind," she told him. It was really the Ministry's fault things had been so dull on level three. "And big things, eh? Secret things?" she asked coyly, teasing him.

Oh and would you look at that. There was always someone who had guts enough to poke the dragon in the eyes. But hey, this was a meet n greet thing... which was exactly the sort of thing that made her skin crawl.

The face was familiar, though she couldn't put a name to it. It was one she'd seen at Hogwarts, on and off the quidditch pitch. One, she wasn't likely to forget for some time, for that reason.
"Depends on your definition of met," she replied, still examining the social exchanges before turning her gaze to the woman. "We were at Hogwarts, but we haven't spoken." Therefore, been in each others presence, but never really acknowledged one another. So, does that classify as having met someone?

She didn't want to share him either? Well, two could play that game. He was glad to hear that, though. See? What was there not to love about her, when she always had something to say back to him? Konrad ADORED that, among other things.

And when she joked about finding prettier employees in his department... "Ah," he playfully raised an eyebrow, "already getting jealous, are you?" Juuust teasing. Even if she were, he'd only find it adorable. "Don't worry, my eyes are for you only." Heheee.

Melissa smiled when she heard that Mariel had played at Hogwarts, before she remembered what had recently happened. "Only my youngest daughter, Alyssa played at Hogwarts. But she's now back home with my family in Salem. She loved playing as a Beater." Melissa sadly smiled as she recalled how excited her daughter was when she wrote back and told them that she had been picked to play in her very first game.

Then Melissa turned to Tyler. "My youngest played for Hufflepuff House and her twin plays for the Salem Institute team. Adrian is your brother? I will remember to ask my husband whether he's met when I next speak with him" Melissa smiled at him. 'It's amazing how small this world can be. Imagine me meeting somebody here that James might know.Melissa thought to herself.

She blushed when she heard Victoria's question. "No it's okay you can ask. I loved being in Magical Transportation but I feel more at home at the MLE." Melissa had to stop there. She couldn't tell Victoria or anyone what had happened in the past. The real reason why she had resigned from the U.S. Branch.

Melissa then noticed that the woman she had waved to, had waved back to her. She was about to make her way to say hello, when another woman caught her eye. She had just joined the rest of the people in the room, but somehow Melissa seemed to recognize her. She couldn't recall where though. So she slowly approached the woman and smiled at her.

"I'm sorry if this sounds stupid, but have we met before?" Melissa asked the younger woman.

In the split second he'd taken his eyes off of Ms. Kensington, it seems Dorian had gained her attention again. At least, the hand clamped on his shoulder seemed to say that, and he'd glanced over to verify that it in fact was the redhead even as Roxanne was responding to his diapproval of her interruption. They wouldn't have to worry about rounding her up that way, although the focus was strangely disturbing. Just given the knowledge of the last time she'd had her focus on someone, as Charles' melted shoes proved. There wasn't anything other than drooling, though, and the pressure of her grip wasn't going to bother him for a while, so he returned his attention to the Wizengamot worker. She seemed to have gotten the point of his comment about apologizing, so he let that rest. And raised an eyebrow in amusement at her crack. "Let me know if that ever happens," he replied drily. It certainly seemed like something was always threatening, in one way or another.

"I'd guess that could be true about most everyone in the Ministry," he continued, as she'd spoken about secrets. He certainly had them, when it came to most of the people who knew him. There were a few who knew what he rarely talked about, or at the very least bits and pieces of the story, but for the most part it was his secret. Personal lives didn't need to interfere with work anyhow, and he'd nodded again as she'd commented on his suggestion of Stunning their coworker. At the same time apparently the redhead had snapped out of it again, as he turned to look at her once the grip on his shoulder abruptly eased. She seemed distressed. "Not particularly," he assured her. Just shuffling around, drooling, and then the grip on his shoulder. None of that was exactly stupid. Nobody other than those in the group who had been talking had apparently even noticed. The discussion had turned back to Wes and the meeting by then, in any case, and new information was coming out that seemed to put Roxanne on edge again.

He resisted rolling his eyes, even as he'd wished he hadn't had to leave the company of Isobel and Natasha. At least they weren't being half as dramatic.How did I manage to end up with both a distressed woman and a near-irate woman as comany?, he wondered. "Perhaps everything isn't as it seems? History certainly proves that point," he suggested. Things were never as they seemed, which he knew from experience. Not to mention it was possible Wes was just as angry at himself for not having thought any of it was serious as he was at those who had neglected to inform him. Hypocrisy was a jump that really didn't need to be taken until they understood all the facts, and MLE was about facts.

Uh huuuh...

Evelyn stared for a moment, trying to jog a name from her memory, not at all caring really if it was uncomfortable for the woman or not. Alas, she could not think of one. Obviously the woman was a few years older than her, otherwise she'd have remembered, but...this was a toughie.

"Rave...enclaw?"

She didn't acknowledge them the most.

Oh, she was certainly becoming popular today wasn't she? Two unknown people, talking to her. Hasn't happened since her first day down in level nine. However, she did not have the answer this woman was probably hoping for.

Evelyn took a moment to really think of she met this lady. Honestly, she kinda looked like Destiny's mother, but other than that... "I'm sorry." She shook her head slowly. "Not that I know of."

It was a strange and yet very satisfying sensation watching people think. It was like a rat turning a wheel in a desperate attempt to get somewhere... and failing. But alas, this one, was onto something.
"Good guess," she mused, the corner of her mouth lifted a bit. Did she want a gold star or brownie points? Meh.

"And you were a Slytherin," she added, going along with the Guess Who game.

Wearing high heels had the big perk of making every woman’s legs look nicer but unfortunately that perk didn’t balance the pain your feet or toes had to endure. Smiling Tasha nodded "That’s sensible."

"I just gave up on wearing heels a long time ago." She commented with a gesture to her low yet elegant blue shoes.

Her face broke up into a broad smile as she shook the woman's outstretched hand. "It’s a pleasure to meet you Lulu. I'm Natasha Warrington, Tasha for short. I work in Accidents & Catastrophes." under Althea Schrimer her boss and good friend.



Natasha weren’t in the habit usually to judge people from the first impression since they were almost always deceiving or inaccurate but this woman it was very tempting to put in the rude and bossy category next to a few other people she really didn’t like. The woman would maybe rise out of the rude category if she took the time to apologize fully like any normal person would do before the mingle extravaganza was over. Tasha doubted she’d get an apology though considering that the other woman seemed to have so much fun arching her eyebrows and smirking in her direction over Dorian’s shoulder.

Not everyone in MLE was polite it seemed but that was necessarily not a bad thing considering the work they had to deal with.



"I’ll speak to Miss Schrimer after this mingle extravaganza is over." She assured Dorian. Tasha was most probably blowing things out of proportion anyway and Althea could make her see things more clearly. A Little butterfly stirred in the pit of her stomach before it disappeared just as quickly when Dorian told her that he’d be back in a few minutes.

Tasha watched him shuffle some paces away to talk to Kensi and Roxanne. It was his job to see to that Kensi got the proper help she needed and that seemed to involve working with miss rude.

Pulling a few blond locks out of her hair she left for the food area to appease her grumbling stomach. She back moments later with her plate.



Putting her teeth into some grapes Tasha watched and heard from a distance how Kensi seemingly got a lot better as she started to hotly share her views and spread bile on her brother in law for not seeing the seriousness of her sickness before the vacation. Tasha wanted to cut in and say 'he probably had a lot on his mind with babies on the way' but it wouldn’t help and besides it wouldn’t hold as an excuse now.

Looking over at her sister Tasha admitted that was the reason why she had neglected to tell Izzy about her meeting with Dorian in Diagon Alley.

Jade grimaced. "Sorry, I sort of forgot that you said that you're new." She let out a laugh.

"Well the story is that before the holidays or during the holidays- I don't know exactly when but there was a case of zombies on the rampage."

"Actually, there's one of them now." Jade said as she pointed in the general direction towards Kensi.

"I'm not a 100 percent sure that she is a zombie at the moment but she definitely has got the symptoms so it is very likely. Although this is pretty much par for the course at the MoM. You'll get used to it in no time." She said to Hershey hoping that it would put the girl somewhat at ease about working at the MoM- sure the start was rough but once you got the hang of how crazy things got around here-nothing really surprised you.

"What, me jealous? Pfffftt." Roxanne knew she had nothing to be jealous of. After all, it was her he'd asked marry him. That had to stand for something, right? "Well, that's good to hear." Even though she hadn't truly been worried about Konrad having wandering eyes. Nope, he was one of the good guys, and she loved that. She could actually let her guard down around him.

-------------------------------------------------



Relaxing a bit now that Dorian's disapproval seemed to have disappeared, Roxanne was actually able think better. And to appreciate the dry humor in his return volley. "You'll be first I'll tell. Who knows, it might mean the world actually is ending this time." Making a joke at her own expense. She knew her tendency to freak out at the slightest thing could and did get irritating. But, at least she could joke about it. That was good, right?

"Mmm, I don't think it's the whole Ministry that's secretive. Much too happy for that." Nope, definitely a MLE trait. One that was downright critical, she would say. One that had also served her very well over the years. Until now, that was. She eyed Kensi again as she thought of how sour this particular little secret had gone. Of how she would do it now, if she could redo it. But then, hindsight's always 20/20. Here in the present, the whole thing had gone pear-shaped surprisingly quick. "If she was acting then anything like she is now..... I just don't know. That would have to be a pretty big case of nothing being as it seemed." Not to mention that there were quite few that were showing the same symptoms that Kensi was showing.

Looking around, she noticed that things seemed to be wrapping up around them. "Guess we'd better start moving upstairs for that meeting." she commented to them both, waving an arm towards Kensi to indicate that she should go first, since she seemed coherent enough right then to move under her own power. And someone would be behind her if she lost coherentness on the way.

Was he alright?

Who was saying that? With his bloodshot eyes Dartanian looked at all the people to see who had just spoken, when he noticed a young lady's lips moving. It must have been her then. He scruitnized her and then shook his head trying to shake off the dizziness he had from hitting yet another wall earlier.

"I em not fine, I em ze Le King." he said not understanding the true meaning of her question. He was really silly like this at times. He just nodded at her as she introduced herself too. He wasn't too interested, the only thing he wanted right now was FOOD! Like he had growled earlier, even his drooling would show anyone that.

Did nobody understand him? "GRRRRR!!!" This time he growled directly at the woman, Victoria in hope she would give him what he wanted.

He'd chosen to ignore the rudeness until it seemed that Natasha had taken offence to it and the woman had returned the disapproving glare with a smirk. Charles narrowed his eyes at the other woman and stared, unfaltering as she carried on her conversations. Uncalled for rudeness was one of his pet peeves. Thankfully, Dorian had given the woman a look of disapproval which Charles could see had put her in her place once more.

Languages? Ooh, second time he'd been asked that! "I speak English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Latin, German, Mermish, Gobbledegook, British Sign Language and American Sign Language. I'm also in the process of learning Troll and Fairy." There, straight to the point and simple. Now, was she going to ask him to demonstrate Troll? 'Cause he wouldn't be impressed if she did. "Do you speak any other languages?"

"I can see where things may go wrong. I suppose things like the Quidditch World Cup are up on the high stress list." It certainly would be for him, trying to work out where he needed to be, probably ending up breaking up some language barrier arguments and making sure everyone knew what they needed to be doing.

Gabriel had been stood, absentmindedly twiddling his wedding ring, watching and observing everything in front of him. He was usually quite chatty, but his brain was working on getting back into work mode after the month they'd had off, and it did that better if it was left to it's own devices.

So he just stood, finally putting his hands in his pockets and contemplating whether to go outside on to the balcony or not.

Someone did agree with Lulu? Finally. Her friends always loved going against Lulu's opinions. And when it comes to this, they'd be like ew look at that woman who can't walk? or something that goes like hey you should know what you make a limp look waaaaaaay better. Her 'friends' were practical bullies, and Lulu really hated them for trying to make her life more miserable than how it seems to be.

Aw, pity the woman. Took off her heels. "I'd do the same but I have no other pair of shoes," Lulu nodded in agreement. She'd die to get her shoes changed to flats. And she does know the spell, just not comfortable conjuring shoes out of thin air in front of the whole Ministry.

"I'ts a pleasure to meet you too, Tasha," Wiiiw. Lulu's met a number of people today. Department? Meh, Lulu would like to hide in a cave. But... she needed this woman to know. "I'll be down in Level Seven, Magical Games & Sports... as the new Department Head..." Now Tasha knew...

Victoria smiled thinking about her time at Hogwarts, it felt so long ago. "Oh yes, I would have graduated your first term. I was a Hufflepuff. Those were some great times. My ex was a Slytherin." She thought for a moment about the memories she had and how much easier it was then. "What house were you in?" She always liked hearing other peoples Hogwarts stories.

"Well at least in this job your still close to Quidditch even if your not playing anymore." She gave her a smile, that's what she was hoping for anyway. Then she have a small grin, there were plenty of ladies that had come close seventh year to falling for the first guy who asked.. She was the only one that seemed to jump. "Well be lucky for things that change I guess. Your life could be very different now." Whether that was a good thing or bad thing, Victoria wasn't sure.



Victoria decided that Lulu seemed like a very nice person, which made her very excited to work for her. She hoped they all would get along nicely and could make things run smoothly at work. She listened as Lulu said the other department head had gone. "Well congratulations on your new position. I guess we will learn our positions together. I am very excited to begin working. Just moving here from Australia has made things a bit crazy." She smiled, thinking about how quickly things went once she had applied for a position at the ministry.



Victoria shook her head in agreement, "Well it's always nice for a change, even if you liked your old position. I think change is good for everyone. It keeps us on our toes. I try to tell my seven year old that all the time, but since the move he hasn't been very pleased with me. Leaving his friends and father in Australia has been hard for him." She wasn't sure what that had to do with changing work positions, but it was close, right.. Still change at least.



Victoria gasped a bit at the manners of the man and took a step back. He was very..umm.. what was the best word, crazy maybe. Was there something wrong with him or did he always act like that. Maybe the hit on the head was harder then it seemed. "Sir, maybe you should be looked at for hitting the wall. I think you might have hurt yourself." She then noticed his drooling and he growled at her.. Growled? A grown man growling was very odd. "Can I help you find something?" She wasn't sure whether to walk away or try to help.



Victoria was walking back into the room after a short trip out to freshen up when she noticed a man standing alone. She put a smile back on her face and walked over. "Hello, I'm Victoria Maroon, it's my first day and I'm just trying to meet new people, so I hope you don't mind my introduction." She was always so brave until she started talking, then it kind of got all meshed together. "Are you new or just like to come and meet new people?"She hoped he wouldn't think she was just very odd. She glanced to his hands to see about maybe a wedding ring, that could be a spot to talk about for people who didn't know each other, but his hands were hidden, so that topic was out for now.

"Yes sometimes change is good. It must have been hard for your 7 year old to leave his home but the young ones, they always seem to adapt better than we do." Melissa smiled at Victoria. "We had to switch my youngest from Salem to Hogwarts after her first term. We thought that she wouldn't have problems adapting, but we were wrong.Melissa said sadly.

"Sometimes you think you're doing what you think is best for your child. But in Alyssa's case we made a horrible mistake."Melissa sighed. She didn't even know why she was telling Victoria this.



"Then I'm sorry for asking. Must have been somebody else. I just have this vague memory of seeing your face in a picture."Melissa apologized to the lady.

"Anyway, it is nice to meet you. My name is Melissa Potter" Melissa stuck out her hand to shake the other woman's.

Gabriel had decided to stay indoors. Better for observing and there was more people to get to know if he so chose to start talking. Although it seemed someone else wanted to talk to him first. Raising an eyebrow in surprise, he took his hands out of his pockets and thrust one forward to the woman in front of him. "Very nice to meet you, Miss Maroon, I'm Gabriel Vartann, Head of Security. And I don't mind at all," he smiled, nodding his head.

New? Right that second he felt like it, but... "No, I've been here a while. Just getting back in to the swing of things after the winter break. How are you finding this get together so far?" She seemed like the sort of person who would make friends easily. She was certainly chatty.