Madison tilted her head to the side as Armen spoke of when he started Hogwarts. How funny! "I graduated in 2051. My brother, Caleum graduated 2054." It was strange to meet people that were in school the same time she was, but yet, she never really got to know them. "Now I know I would have seen you in the library. My father was a muggle librarian for Cambridge University so my brother and I were always comfortable in libraries."

She then turned towards the new person that walked into the room. It was getting a little crowded which was hard on someone who was slightly claustrophobic. "Hello," she chimed in as her brown eyes turned towards Bella as if to wait on something else to answer.

Armen smiled at Madison. 'So they did go to Hogwarts together.' "Really well its a small world." he said with a chuckle. After hereing her talk about her brother and them always being in th library he ask. "Madison......What was you maiden name?" he said thinking hard to remember both her name and her face at Hogwarts.

He also turned to see who the new person was to enter the office.

Craig was holding as basket filled with the finest fruit and cheese danishes, baguettes, croissants and sticky buns. He felt like introducing himself was the proper thing to do was introduce himself to the apartment head.

As he appraoched the door her gave two knocks, before realizing she was talking with someone. Oh no, he thought, I really hope I didn't interrupt anything. That would be a horrible first impression. He leaned against the wall be the door and waited. Maybe she didn't hear and he would just wait.

"Oh, my...," Bella exclaimed. "This office is as busy as King's Cross Station." She shot the three employees in her office a little friendly smile, then stood to go and see just who had decided to pop in now. It was nice to know her employees were being very welcoming and making a nice effort to get to know her. One of her hopes was that each and every employee on this level would get to know their co-workers to the point where they all easily worked quite well together. For all she knew, though, they may have already done so.

"If you'll excuse me...," she said, then headed in the direction of the door. When it was opened, she caught sight of, oddly enough, a familiar face. She'd just hired this man, Mr. Craig Wickham, not even a week ago. "Mr. Wickham, how lovely to see you. Please do come in." She noted that he was carrying a basket full of goodies. Had he brought along a gift for her? Oh, how thoughtful!

"G'day Miss Greingoth," Craig said in his Australian accent as he walked into the office. He saw that some of his fellow employees were there as well. He noticed as he walked in that she was eying his basket. "Oh yes of course," he said as he handed over the basket. "This is for you. Fresh from Kensington's bodgiest little bakery shop bizzo, if it's not too bold to say. My father and I just made a few lollies I hope you enjoy."

"I suppose you already know I'm your new jackaroo in the Floo Network apartment," he said. It was comforting that his new boss already knew his name. Gave him a bit more confidence. He looked at the other employees and held out his hand. "G'day, I'm Craig Wickham."

Bella closed the door and returned to her spot behind her desk. Armen and Madison were still chatting away about one thing or another, so she turned her attention back to Craig. She smiled as she accepted the basket from him. How very thoughtful! "Oh, Craig! This is much appreciated," she said, digging through the contents to see what wonders lied inside. "I'm sure I will enjoy this. That was very kind of you." She placed the basket onto an empty area of her desk then returned to the conversation.

"Yes, yes, Floo Network department, indeed. I don't doubt that you'll do really well there. We have a lot of exciting assignments headed that, as well," she said, eyeing Armen and Madison as she spoke. "The details aren't quite set in stone yet, but we'll meet on that soon." She just knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that her employees would be absolutely thrilled over the big events that were to come. Merlin, even Alexander and Anna might be quite thrilled, as well.

Craig saw that Bella wasn't alone in her office. There were two other people there. His cheeks kind of flushed, being a little embarrassed about the gift. He didn't want to come across as a suck up on the first day. He was just accustomed to good manners.

"Right," Craig said with a wide smile. "I'm looking forward to getting down to bizzo!" Craig looked over to his fellow employees, they seemed like nice people to work with. He turned his attention back to Bella. "I don't suppose you could divulge some information of what we might be getting into? Please don't think I'm a stickybeak or anything for asking."

Madison looked to see who entered the office and stepped off to the side to speak to Armen. "My maiden name was Myers when I was in school," she spoke softly so that she would not bother the other employee that entered. "And yes it is a small world. I just wish I knew more people. Faces seem familiar but I just didn't talk to that many people in school. I was very shy." Well, except for bugging Neo of course and for some reason, she was NEVER shy around him. In fact, she was the total opposite.

Armen nodded his head as Madison's voice dropped lower so they didn't disrupt Mrs. Greingoth's conversation with the other employee. He did the same with his response. "Myers? Well I think I actually knew about you but I don't think we ever met though. But still." he laughed almost a giggle. He hadn't had a whispering conversation like this since he was younger. "Well Im sure you knew enough people for your liking at the time." he said reassingly. "Besides Im sure you didn't miss out on much, teens can be quiet annoying really." he joked.

As soon as he had finished his little joke he heard the Deptment Head mention something big was coming up. He turned his head slowly towards her to see if she meant for this to be heard by Madison and himself and was delighted to see she was eyeing them. He raised his eyebrows at her and grinned. He then looked at Madison excitedly. He hoped he got to work with his new friend.

He waited to see if Miss. Bella would elaborate on the subject before he asked. Oops the new employee who she was talking to, just did. He suppresed a laugh.

"Actually, Craig, I'm afraid I can't," she said, giving him an apologetic look. "You'll know in all good time, though. Trust me." She flashed him a friendly smile, happy to hear that he was so eager to get down to business. She felt good about the hiring of Craig Wickham. She had no doubt that he'd prove himself to a loyal, hard-working employee. "I'm glad to have you onboard, though, Craig, and I can't wait to discuss upcoming matters with you and the rest of the team."

She turned back to Armen and Madison, who were still deep into conversation, and cleared her throat. "Armen, Madison, Winter, if you'll excuse me for interrupting. Are there any other matters of business you hoped to attend to today? If not, I'm afraid I'm going to have to close our meeting now," she told them. "I have a few matters to attend to myself, and then I'd like to schedule a level-wide meeting. I'll send around a memo shortly."

Armen looked up from talking to Madison, and turned his attention to Mrs. Greingoth. "Oh yes ma'am of course we will step out. It was nice meeting you and I look forward to getting together again." he said rasing his hand across her desk to shake her's.

He then turned to Madison as he began to leave. "Madison, if you want to continue our conversation we can head to the Breakroom if you have time." he said pleasantly.

"Well, I think we should..." then his alarm on his watch went off to a happy little tune. "Oh, bullocks!" He quickly reached to turn off his watch. "I am so sorry that was incredibly rude of me. Please forgive me." He gave a sympathtic look, he really felt bad and could feel his cheeks turn slightly red of embarassment. "If it's alright with you Miss Greingoth, I have an engagement to attend to. Got to be off like prawns in the sun!" He shook her hand. "Thank you very much, I greatly look forward to working with you." He turned to his co-workers. "G'day to you all, have a wonderful arvo."

Madison was about to answer Armen when her Department Head spoke of business she needed to attend. "Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized for taking up office space as that was very rude of her to do. She'd done her duty by welcoming Bella to the floor and along the way she met another person who was also on the floor.

She turned to Armen and smiled sweetly. "Sure! I'd love too. It's about time for a snack anyway," she laughed softly as she rubbed her growing tummy. "I will see you at the meeting, Mrs. Greingoth and once again, welcome to the office." She was going to love Bella, well, she already did. The woman was upbeat and seemed to be full of fun. And with that, she headed out of the office with a wave of her hand.

Armen smiled as Madison agreed to hang out with him in the Breakroom. "Well that's great, I'm up for a snack too. Ooh I think they just made a fresh pot of coffee too, at least I smelled it on the way here." he chuckled.

As he reached the door he opened it for his pregnant co-worker and turned back to his Dept. Head. "Again Mrs. Greingoth, it was a pleasure meeting you and I can't wait to get to work on the upcoming events. Looking forward to the next meeting as well." And with another smile he left her to herself.

Out with the old and in with the new or rather out with Lorraine and in with who?

Time flied fast at the ministry and Angelica had just grown into the routine of having Lorraine as her boss when she left her job without leaving any notice. Sighing the blond soon to turn a year closer to 30 entered level 6 and steered her clickety clack heels towards the office of the new department head who was none other then her old friend Bella.. Angelica sveered right for a moment to check her desk. During the night it seemed that many people had decided to drop her memos of matters that needed to be delt with. Many of which she knew just by a quick glance were urgent. Groaning inwardly Angelica closed her office door again and headed towards Bella's office. Straightening out her navy blue dress she raised her left hand and knocked on the door.

"Goodbye! It was nice meeting with you!" Bella called out, waving as Armen, Craig, and Madison headed out the door. She turned towards the other young man, the one she hadn't heard much from since he'd joined them in her office. He was likely holding off on all his ideas until the meeting started. She couldn't wait to hear from him. As she watched her employees make way down the hallway, she heard another knock on her office door. Peering through the open doorway, she noticed the presence of a fourth employee, one she had yet to properly introduce herself to. But wait...

"Well, why don't you look at this!" she exclaimed, recognizing one of her longtime friends, Angelica Goldbloom. She smiled and leaned back against the doorframe, wondering if Angelica would remember her, as well. "I'd forgotten you worked in Magical Transportation until I saw your name and photo in my filing cabinet." She motioned towards her nearly-empty office. "I'd invite you in, but I've just called a meeting that we're all meant to be attending. We can walk and talk, though."

OOC: For clarification, the meeting hasn't started yet, but it will soon. Also, didn't we once roleplay Bella and Angelica being good friends (with Anna and the male charrie you once played)? I think so. hee hee

Angelica face lit up into a bright smile and she walked over and gave her old friend a hug. A moment later she took a step back and nodded "Yes, I've worked in the magical transportation department for little over a year now." Looking her friend over Angelica said "I thought that you liked running the ice cream parlor, Bella? What on earth made you decide to start working in this dusty old building with the rest of us?" As Bella mentioned the meeting that had been called Angelica nodded "Sure, I'd like that!" Leaning against the corridor wall while she waited for Bella to close and lock her door. When she had gotten the memo from the human resource department signed by the minister of magic himself Angelica hadn't believed her eyes. She had read the memo several times before she had believed that what she was reading was true and that her old friend bella indeed was going to become her boss.


OCC: Yes we did rp Bella and Angelica as good friends and I would like to continue on that line.. I had forgotten about it while I was away...

Her smile even wider than it was before, Bella happily returned the hug from Angelica. Between her good friends Madison and Angelica working here, Bella was bound to have an amazing time! Of course she'd have an amazing time anyway, though, as all her employees seemed friendly and ready to work. Magical Transportation seemed like the place to be!

"Oh, I loved owning Florean Fortescue's, and I miss it terribly. This is a better opportunity for me, though. I feel as if I can better lend myself to a Ministry of Magic job, rather than a job owning an ice cream parlor," she explained. A sort of melancholy look flickered across her face as she talked about her former place of employment. She'd probably always miss it, but she was growing to love the Ministry more and more, too. She motioned for Angelica to follow her, as she led the way down the hallway towards the conference room.

A snowy white owl suddenly flies into the room, heading for the Department Head's desk and dropping off the following message -

Some time later, Bella returned to her office to finalize some last minute paperwork before heading out for the day. She imagined that the department, as well as the Ministry of Magic as a whole, was about to get extremely busy, so she wanted to make sure she stayed on top of things. Just as she sat down at her desk, though, she noticed a piece of parchment that must have been delivered by an owl while she was out.

She read through the message quickly, noting that it was an official elections results announcement straight from level one. She'd need to go pin this to her department's bulletin board as soon as possible. Finishing her paperwork as quickly and as efficiently as possible, Bella once again left her office in pursuit of the bulletin she'd use to post the announcement.

Darla Lala Puff was a slow woman--in both metaphorical and literal terms, how could she not know there was a new Department Head?! And she'd heard it was that ice cream woman. UGH. PREPOSTEROUS! She just couldn't believe how SHE could become her boss. No, she didn't even believe how a woman who only worked with ice cream could rank up as Department Head. Had the world gone mad? She needed to see this for herself and she was still outraged, at how an amateur who made small doors could--could ...

She knocked on the door, knocking for about 10 times, showing her impatience for this situation. Nope. Darla still couldn't believe it, how she for now, was going to take orders from this FILTHY hag. Although she had nice hair... Not going to allow it, nope she was NOT going to allow it AT ALL.

Knocking 5 more times, she stood still and put her hands on her hips, waiting for a response from that woman.

Blink

What in the name of Merlin's pants was going on out there?!?! Hearing a good fifteen to twenty knocks on her door, Bella promptly put away the copy of Witch Weekly she'd been reading and pushed her chair away from her desk. She stood and headed quickly over to the door. Her first thought was that a seriously accident had occured. Had the Minister herself splinched? Gotten lost in the floo network? Portkeyed herself into lake full of grindylows? These scenarios were just a few of the dangerous situations Bella was tossing around in her mind as a list of possiblities that could have caused someone to literally be beating her door down.

In her panic, she flung the door open and found none other than Darla Puff standing there, hands on her hips. This had definitely been one employee she'd been dreading meeting up with. The woman had caused a huge scene (over what she saw as a small door) in Florean Fortescue's back when Bella was a shopkeeper there. When Bella had seen the woman's name and face in her filing cabinet, she'd literally cringed. No doubt the woman was here today to cause yet another scene. Ahh, well. Perhaps now they could make a new start...have a new beginning. "Darla, dear. How lovely to see you. Do come in," she said, moving out of the way and motioning for the woman to come inside.

Chad whistled a happy HAPPY tune as he moved his way to Level Six. His new home! With a 'knockity-knock' on the head of the department's door, he stood a good distance away. He could only hope that this one would be the best head he'd ever had.

LOVELY? Oh this woman could suck up good. Because Department Heads WERE suppose to be nice to their employees. Talking to her as if she was her employee? Darla was not going to take this--she was a woman with pride and as that, she didn't like how... that ice cream woman treated her like she was her friend! NO. They were enemies, no matter how good her hair was! Enemies for life. Even if she did make her the loveliest ice cream ever she refused to be friends with Mrs. Greingoth.

'Do come in'? GASP. The woman was ORDERING her to come into her office! No, she was not her boss. She wasn't going to take orders from her. "I'm coming in, but of my own accord!" she said in a harsh tone. Darla glanced at the doors. Small but not THAT small. Good.

Coming into the office with prideful steps, and still with hands on hips, leaned closer to the woman. "Listen here, you little muppet, I don't know WHY or HOW you were promoted to this spot but I disapprove of it! So why don't you just go back to your little ice cream shop, missy, because you CERTAINLY don't deserve to be a Department Head," she said, glaring at the woman, her voice growing deeper and deeper every second--she almost sounded like a man now.

She was PREPARED to hex this woman, her wand tucked neatly in her hair, but... there was a knock on the door. Ooh. Witness. She couldn't do it now. She put her hands off her hips and folded them across her chest instead. "You and your... small doors," she muttered, tapping her foot while at it.

Oh, thank Merlin! One of her other loyal employees---bless their heart---needed something from her at this precise moment, saving her from the insanity known as Darla Puff. Bella edged towards, the door, all the while keeping a watching eye on Miss Puff. Bella was a rather small woman, and Miss Puff, well, we'll just say she could probably easily trample poor Bella. On that note, Bella hurried over towards the door, opening it much faster than she normally would.

"Oh, hello there! Please, do come in!" she exclaimed, standing aside to let the man through. Oh, thank Merlin! Little did this man know, but he'd literally saved her life. Darla LaLa Puff had gone completely insane and was currently directing all her anger right at Bella! She shot the man an apologetic look for the insanity he was about to be subjected to. She'd have to explain in detail later on.

"Yes, yes, of your own accord, Miss Puff," Bella said, not wanting to argue with the woman over such a trivial matter. Bella leaned against her desk and crossed her arms over her chest, a position that hopefully let Puff know she meant business and would not stand for any of her employees disrespecting her. She'd thought that she and Puff would be able to get along, but ever since that whole incident over the Florean Fortescue's door being 'too small', she'd had little hope.

Bella's jaw dropped at the next choice of words out of Miss Puff's mouth. As the woman yelled, Bella scribbled a quick message to Mr. Brian Lee, then sent it flying off paper airplane style. "Miss Puff, you are completely out of line and will need to settle down immediately. The Ministry of Magic is a place of professional employment, and we will all need to conduct ourselves accordingly," Bella replied. "Now if you wish to settle a disagreement with me, you are free to take a seat, and we'll speak in a calm, mature manner. Otherwise, I'm afraid we'll have to discuss your employment status with the Minister of Magic herself!"