Eve laughed at his apologetic expression.She hadnt spoken to Jake in a fair while and she was partly to blame for that she had to admit to him."Oh right..yes of corse!"she said,giggling."Teenager?"she asked,"Oh?"she said,wondering if he would share this new information.She shrugged,"Im sorry,Im partly to blame..I should have come down to see you.."she said,smiling also in an apologetic manor.She smiled at his propposal.She nodded with a sweet smile on her face."Well that would be nice..I havnt been down your neck of the woods in a while"she said,nodding and shrugging once more."I shall definatley come down and see how you all are..I may even bring cookies and coffee"she said,giggling.

"Yeah, she's my niece. We didn't know the other existed until a year ago, and ever since then she's been living with me at Hogsmeade," he explained, recognizing the curious expression on Eve's face. He waved her apologies off and made a face as if to say, 'You needn't apologise.' "Yep, you certainly haven't. In fact, no one has recently," he said with a slight dejected look, then brightened up considerably at the mention of cookies. "Yes, bring cookies. Don't bother to bring coffee, I always have a fully stocked jar and some boiling hot water stacked away in one of my many drawers," he said excitedly. He hadn't had cookies since the summer, since whenever he went shopping he always bought just necessary food and nothing else. But when Rachel was at home...

Eve nodded and smiled.She felt slightly sorry for Jake as him being a male and now having a teenage girl in his house also,all those hormones..must be hard for him."Ohh .. well I can see that that must be a challenge for you"she said to him,pulling a guilty expression.She smiled as he waved her apologetic expression off.She felt even worse when he said no-one had come to visit him.She sighed and shook her head."Well dont worry,I will come and visit with cookie muffins and coffee..just in case "she said,giggling.

"I'm good, nothing new, really." Izzy said picking up a cup of Butterbeer. "Sorry, I haven't really talked to Lucy recently." She smiled apologetically at Jake as she said this. "How are you?"

"Hey Alice," Izzy smiled at the girl who was a new worker in her Division. "Like the party so far?" She asked/

Izzy grinned as Eve came into the room. "Hey Eve." She said to her, Izzy had worked with her when she was in the Inspection Committee before she had moved to the Examinations Authority. It felt like a long time since she had talked to Eve though.

Eve turned to her side at the sound of a very familiar voice."Hi Izzy!!"she yelled as she threw her arms around her."How are you stranger?"she asked her,they hadnt spoken in ages.Actually a bit too long for Eves liking."How have you been?"she asked her."You look well"she said to her with a soft smile on her face.

"I've been really good, I've missed you heaps!" Izzy said with a smile at Eve, "how about you? You look good as well." Izzy said to Eve, she really had missed her and wanted to make sure that she saw Eve more often.

"You too." Alice replied politely, giving her a little smile. Alice was thankful the party had been held close to when she had joined them here... Samantha had been right. It was a good opportunity to meet new people she was to work with...and they were all being pretty welcoming too.

"It's okay so far." Alice answered honestly. She hadn't exactly gotten a chance to do her 'job', but she was enjoying herself here and she'd gotten settled in pretty well too.

"Yeah, it's a good place to meet people." Alice answered absentmindedly, voicing her thoughts from earlier out loud. She normally wasn't to big on partys, but this wasn't a 'dance until you can't move any longer and gossip about other people' school party. It was a work party...Needless to say she preferred it to this type.

"That's good," Izzy said smiling softly at Alice. Izzy always liked parties but generally she would just talk to her friends and work colleagues. They were still fun though, and the last time she had probably been to a party was at Christmas. It seemed like a very long time ago to Izzy now.

Samantha had been busy working on Reagan's campaign, besides the fact that she wanted to give all the employees a bit of time to socialize together, but now decided that it might be all right if she stopped in to the party to see how things were going. She dressed carefully, wearing a nice black dress and the ruby necklace she had mysteriously been given by someone this past Christmas, brushing her hair and fashioning it into a bun then making sure her makeup looked decent before hurrying off to pay a visit to the party. This was something she always did, as appearances were important to her.

Samantha smiled to see that everyone seemed to be getting along well. "Hello, everyone, I'm glad to see you are enjoying yourselves," she called out to the group. "I decided I needed a little break, too!"

Lana smiled as she walked into the party to see all of the commotion.

Izzy grinned as she saw Samantha come in. "Hey Samantha, good to see you here." She said with a smile as she looked at the other person who had just come in as well (Lana). "Hello, I'm Izzy." She said with a friendly as she hadn't talked to her before but Izzy guessed she worked in the Inspection Committee.

"Hi Izzy, I'm Lana," she said smiling. "How are you?" she asked.

Miley walked into the room where there party was at. She knew she was running a little bit late, but she just got done filing all her papers that were stacked on her desk. It honestly felt good to have a paper-free desk now. She hated when papers started getting piled up. It was just annoying.

Miley brushed some of her hair behind her ear as she looked around the room at all the people. She wandered over to the table that held the food. She picked up a brownie and began to nibble on it. Yummy, yummy brownie!

Excusing himself from all his current conversations, he made his way over to the food table yet again, grinning at Samantha as he passed her. "Good for you - you work yourself too hard, woman!" he called out and winked mischievously as he neared the table. Now... What shall we have today? he thought to himself as he studies the various foods on offer.


"Ooh sorry," he said, bumping into the woman as he proceeded to examine the food up and down the table, grabbing a muffin as he turned to see who was his victim. "Hello, I don't believe I've seen you around. Are you new?" he asked, careful not to spray the woman with bits of chocolate from his mouth. Pulling out his wand, he quickly summoned his cup over to him and filled it with water, sipping slowly as he waited for her to respond.

Miley finished off her brownie and looked back at the table. What should she eat now? She was about to pick up some grapes until someone bumped right into her. She stumbled over a little bit, but caught her step before she fell over. "Oh- it's okay," she told the guy that ran into her. She looked up at him and smiled. "Hello, there. Ummm- no, I'm not new. I've been working here for a few years, but I did quit for a year. Then, I got my job back," she explained.

"Oh, really? That seems to be quite a common occurance here for some reason," he replied with a smile of his own, wondering if he would also take a year off when his time comes. I should hope not - Rachel and I will starve! he thought, slightly alarmed, as he glanced back to J.J for a second then turned to face the woman again.

"Sorry for the slip up, I've only been working here for a year myself. Jake Rider," he introduced himself with a bright smile, sticking out his hand for her to shake. The speed at which you hop from one subject to another never fails to astound me, he grinned as his niece's voice floated into his head, referring to his apparently abnormal social behaviours.

Samantha laughed at Jake's comment that she worked too hard. It seemed that she hadn't been working that hard lately, most of her time had been spent on Reagan's campaign lately and she was worried that she might be neglecting business here in the department. This party had been a great suggestion, though, and she vowed to keep this kind of thing going on a regular basis, it provided an excellent environment for all the employees, new and old alike, to socialize in a more comfortable way and get to know each other without stress. That should make for a better work environment in the end, she knew.

"Yeah...it is." she agreed, glancing around the room as if looking for something else to say. Alice was...a bit shy to say the least.

"Sooo...How bout' you?" she asked, a friendly smile on her face. Alice couldn't help but be happy she'd said something instead of letting the conversation turn into an awkward silence.

"Hey." Alice said softly, with a friendly grin and a tiny wave, as Samantha entered the room greeted everyone. She'd decided she liked her and she seemed to have a sort of confidence about her that was a bit contagious. Plus Alice had been brought up well and greeting someone back was the polite thing to do anyway.

J. J. Starr comes back to the party. He looks for Samantha. He has something to eat."Samantha and Ronald, I would like to bury myself in my work as I feel depressed about my freinf Jason and his problems" J. J. Starr told them.

"Really? I didn't know that. I haven't heard of people quiting then getting rehired," Miley said. "But, I'm usually the one that gets the short end of the stick in my department, so yeah- people are probably quitting and I don't know anything about it."

"Oh, it's fine. There's no need to be sorry," Miley reassured to man. "Oh, it's nice to meet you, Jake. I'm Miley Carter." She shook his hand and smiled. "Or, you can call me Miles. I doesn't matter to me," she added.

"Speaking of departments; which one are you in?" Jake asked as he popped another chip into his mouth, chewing slowly as he waited for her to answer. He wondered if she was in his previous department - not that it mattered, but it would just be cool to meet someone new from there. He kind of missed the place, even though he did enjoy his office rather a lot.

"I think I'll stick with Miley," he replied with a grin and sipped his fou- no fift- no... He'd lost count of how many butterbeers he had drunk. Miles sounds too much like a guy's name - it would be odd to have a 'Miles' as a girl... Especially when he would talk to Rachel, as she would think he was trying to hid some romantic interest. Which could not be farther from the truth.

"Oh, I'm with the Examination Authority," Miley answered. "What department are you in?" She looked back at the table where the food was at and picked up a chocolate muffin. She took a bite out of it and looked back at Jake, waiting for him to talk.

"Okay. That's cool," Miley told Jake. She took another bite of her muffin and looked around the room. She spotted Samantha and gave her a little smile before looking back at Jake. "So, Jake, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

" Hi, Samantha told me your name is Alice and I like to meet new employess, I am Joe Jon Montcenaggio, my friends call me J. J. Starr" J.J. told Alice. "How long have you been working here?" J. J. Starr asked Alice.

Lucy was trying to convince herself she wasn't late, not even close. She had been dressing up. Anyone that had already seen her in a couple social parties could tell she liked black clothes for any social event. But this she had decided to go with somethingf different: a long dark blue dress that matched perfectly with her carefully brushed hair and her beautiful blue-greyish eyes.

The first person she approached to talk was her boss:
"Hello, Samantha. I hope I'm not too late. Am I?" she looked around with an aproval look. One more time, Lucy had the proove that Samantha could definetely organize a party. "This looks great." she complimented.

Looking around the room, she spotted some people she also had to stop by a talk to, but she also noticed a couple new faces around. It's good. This Department needs young people that can also understand the people who we work for: the youth in Hogwarts. Someone that could year her thoughts would say she was older that she, in fact, was.

Lana walked over to Alice, "hi, I'm Lana," she said rather sheepishly, holding her tiny, tanned hand out. She was shy, but not to the point that she would pass up the chance to meet new people.