Magical Maintenance and Security Breakroom
 

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Do you feel like all the floors are so clean that they squeak on their own? Or do you just need a short coffee break after a long shift of working the check-in desk?

Either way, the Magical Maintenance Breakroom is the place to be. With a self-filling coffee pot in the corner and a couple large couches placed variously in the room, this is a great place to spend any free time you may have. One wall of the room is lined with cupboards; a few of them are stocked with some basic food items that are available for anyone's eating. Go ahead and add to the supply if you wish!

Use the breakroom to eat your lunch, take a quick nap (when you're not on duty, of course!), or get to know your fellow maintenance-people.

A small radio is placed beside the pot of hot coffee. The music of WWN (Wizard Wireless Network) can be heard softly in the background.

As they walked through the door of the breakroom, Edward headed for the coffee pot and poured a cup. "You want some?" he asked.

"Well, youth has it own matters of problems. For instance, the girls sometimes want guys who make more money than I, or a more prestigious job. It's a bit frustrating sometimes. Personality sometimes only takes you so far. Sometimes it takes the nice robes and shoes."

"Well, the responsibility is worth it, right? Being able to have the ear of the minister and such? He barely even acknowledges us as he passes by."

"Surely.." he accepted the offer. Actually he needed that since he woke up so early and been the first person in the office made him bit tired.
"You may be right, there are always exceptions, Edward. We'll see that soon or less" he nodded and took a sip of coffee. "mhmmm..tasty..so fresh, where did you get this? I hope it's not from our Cafeteria.." he leaned in and spoke in a low tone while he said that.

"Absolutely, He's such a nice Person, and much busy to recognize all the ministry peopel and even for aknowldement.." he leaned back at the chair relaxingly, streched his legs.

Edward enjoyed the flavor of the turkish coffee. "I brought some with me. I don't mind the cafeteria coffee, but I prefer the stronger flavors of the eastern style."

As he sat down close to Brian he listened as Brian described the Minister. "It sounds like you enjoy the business and serving along with the minister."

"I thought so, I know the difference.." he nodded and takes another sip, relishing, "man..it's so refreshing..take some more for me daily, could you?" he grinned. "As you know I fond of coffee" he added.

"Yeah, I'm enjoying my work eventhough it's hectic..what about yours" he asked as he tilted his head and running his hand through his hair.

Edward smiled and laughed. "Of course I can, though I imagine the coffee in the minister's office would be much better than I could afford." He too, enjoyed coffee.

"My job could hardly be called hectic. There's only just the occasional spat between wizards that we've got to control. Other than that, it's quite mundane. I like it though. Not much responsibility for me, and perhaps I'll move into something different later, when I am totally bored with this."

Edward saw a memo make it's way into the room and checked it out.

Turning to Brian, he explained. "Sorry, mate. I've got to go. See you later then?" With that, he headed to the meeting room, hoping it wouldn't be something awful.

Brian smiled back, "thanks Edward, I'll be visit you during the break times..expect me..." he listened his work nature, although he already knew some of that.
"I understand, I'll inform you if I see any openings for any post.." when they were talking Edward had a ciruclar to attend the meeting.

"It's okay, I'll see you later" he patted on his lap, as he got up and walked out of the room, slightly whistling.

Scorpius sat in the breakroom his hair perfect, he was wearing a nice and very expensive suit. His wand tucked neatly in the inside of the jacket in its holder. He looked around the room, he was waiting for his shift to begin so he could begin working. He had not seen his boss to find out his post for the day. He glanced down at his pocket watch which hung neatly from the front pocket on his jacket. He still had some time before he was on. He had seen Ryder's girlfriend pass by and wondered what she was doing at the Ministry.

Attica L'Agneau entered the break room of the Magical Maintenance department. Her bright green eyes took a quick survey of the room and she nodded her approval with a bob of her flaming red head. Her long wavy ponytail bounced as she walked over to one of the cupboards and opened it to investigate the contents. The cupboard itself was mostly bare, but Attica smiled at the tidiness of the interior. Colourful shelf paper hide a less than new wooden interior, and the shelves were completely free of any dust or dirt, just what she would expect from the department of Magical Maintenance.

Setting her cloth bag on the counter under the cupboard, Attica proceeded to place a few food staples onto the bare shelves. A container of popcorn kernels, a small jug of oil, and a salt shaker found themselves situated on the bottom right hand side of the cupboard along with a stainless steel pot with a lid. Shortly after, a box of Twinings Earl Grey tea joined the party, along with a couple of mugs and a bowl. Attica grinned happily. This seemed like a great place to work already!

Unsure of where she was supposed to check in, Attica decided to do a bit of dusting in the break room. Hopefully someone would be along shortly to tell her where to go. She shoved her hands into her coverall pockets and produced a handkerchief which she proceeded to tie around her head, covering her hair. She grabbed a soft flannel cloth from the seat of her coveralls which she dampened at the sink in the corner of the room. Starting at the furthest corner of the room, she began to dust the room's surfaces. Taking no notice of any of the room's other occupants, she sang along to the radio as she worked, rapidly making her way around the room.

Edward walked through the door of the breakeroom and decided to freshen up his coffee. After his cup was filled he took a seat and waited for the mingling games to begin.

Lost in her own little world, Attica jumped a little when a pleasant alto voice joined her radioke. "Oh," breathed Attica softly to her partner in dust. "I'm so sorry. Was I disturbing you? I'm afraid I do it unconsciously. I can stop if you like."

Attica was a bit flustered when Delilah introduced herself. She had had no idea that this was her boss. She blushed bright red as she wiped a slightly grimy hand on her coveralls before reaching over and shaking her boss's hand.

"Hello. I'm Attica L'Agneau, dirt minion." she joked, trying to hide her embarrassment. She reached up and tucked a strand of stray hair back under her kerchief. "I must say that I was quite pleased to get this job offer from the Ministry." she continued, "I've been hard pressed to find work after leaving Hogwarts, so this came at a most opportune time. How long have you been here at the Ministry, Delilah, if you don't mind me asking?"

Edward smiled and nodded. "well, I didn't think that things were to difficult to follow through with. I mean how often do we get the chance to enjoy the company of our fellow employees away from the security desk." He smiled as he watched Delilah help the new person.

Richard walked swiftly to the breakroom. He opened the door to see several people already there including Ms Carter. He walked in with his hands in his trouser pockets smiling at the already assembled staff and nodding at his head before getting a cup of tea. Once he had went and joined them. Some he recognised but one he assumed was quite new.

Attica nodded in response to Delilah's statement about the merger of the two departments. She agreed wholeheartedly about the importance of the staff mingling, but was a bit curious as to whether the two jobs would overlap at all. Attica shrugged. She guessed she would just have to see.

Just as Delilah finished speaking, it seemed like a large number of people entered the break room. Attica smiled at them all sweetly before putting her dusting cloth back in her pocket and walking over to the sink to wash her hands. Having tidied herself, she made a cup of tea from the supplies she had put in the cupboard earlier, and then went over to her colleagues to introduce herself.

"Greetings, all." she said pleasantly. "I'm glad to see I'm not the only tea granny here."

Richard took a sip of tea and then introduced himself to Attica. "Hello, Im Richard" he said holding out his hand to shake hers. "Yes, nothing wrong with a cup of the old earl grey is there?" he said with a small chuckle.

Attica shook Richard's hand. "No, no there isn't." she replied with a grin. "It's my favourite kind of tea, although I have been known to drink others when necessary." Attica paused to sip her tea before continuing. "So what do you do here, Richard? You are far too nicely dressed to be a maintenance man, I assume."

"Thanks very much" Richard said smiling at the compliment, "No, no I'm in security. Good thing about working on this floor is that you get to run round all the other floors. So this is your first day then is it?" he finished pleasantly.

"Indeed it is. I must say that I have been quite enjoying it so far. Excuse me for my ignorance, but what exactly does the security department do, other than run the front desk?"

"Well we basically do the desk job of letting visitors and new comers to the ministry through. Besides that we alert the people at the top if theres danger in the atrium that we can't prevent" replied Richard, he had worked there for a year and it was still a bit vague.
Richard tried to recollect what he had done in over a year here and continued "also if theres something within the ministry that needs extra security we get stationed there and we're on hand to come and collect any unwanted people from offices and escort them out. Thats it really, not as much glamour as beast division or mysterious as the unspeakables but its not bad"."Get to meet a variety people if nothing else" Richard added. Then he asked "So you're a hands on worker are you?"

Edward smiled up at his boss with a twinkle in his eye and stood. "It would be my pleasure. Do you take anything with it?" He asked

"Oh, no. Nothing, please," Delilah said.

Then, as Edward went away, the Department Head slipped her wand out of her pocket again. She pointed it towards the radio in the corner again. Earlier, when talking to Attica, Delilah had turned the volume down a bit. But now, she realized that she couldn't even hear the music. After a light flick of her wand, the radio's volume returned to a hearable level.

Delilah tapped her toe quietly on the carpeted floor as she waited for her coffee.

Attica nodded her head as Richard spoke, then laughed, a pleasant tinkling sound that filled the room. "Well, you could say that." she said glancing down at her rather sloppy appearance. "I don't mind getting my hands dirty, and I absolutely love tinkering with things. One of my hobbies is working on Muggle car engines. It's quite fun, although it does get pretty messy sometimes. Do you have any hobbies outside of work?"

"Ah, you know about muggles aswell do you? Amazing achievements, always interest me" said Richard deeply interested. He had alot of experience with the muggle world and understood most of it but they were fascinating. "Well I sort of enjoy tinkering myself though not with as big a machine as a car but magical gadgets that sort of thing. Travelling used to take a large part of my time up but I'm here to have a break from that. Thing is I think if I messed about with a car the travelling could've been easier"he said thoughtfully then added with a small laugh "... or not. Oh, cricket and music are always something I love. Did you grow up in a hands on sort of family then?"

Edward returned to Delilah and handed her the steaming cup. "Be careful with that. It's just brewed, so it might be quite warm."

As he sipped his own, now full cup he asked her. "How did you find yourself as the head of 2 departments?" He thought that she was a little young to be the head of one, much less two ministry of magic divisions.

"Thank you," Delilah said, smiling as she took the cup. She waited a bit to take a drink. The woman didn't need Edward's warning to realize that it was hot; she could feel the heat seeping through the cup.

"I've always been heading Maintenance," Delilah started to explain. "And I acted as an assistant head to ol' Maxwell Wood before he decided to quit last week." She laughed quietly. "The man had been working in Ministry Security for thirty years. And then one day, he came in and decided that he was tired of it. Quit and moved to some island somewhere." Finally, Delilah took a sip of her coffee. It was still hot, but bearable.

"So instead of hiring someone new, I just got promoted. And, now I'm running two Departments."

Richard could hear Delilah and Edward's conversation.
He had thought since he had been hired by Wood a year ago that he hadn't seemed that enthusastic though still an amirable head. Delilah however brought a feeling of casualness coupled with discipline. He cleared his throat and adressed his boss "errm, Ms Carter do you know if Mr Wood got another job, I mean when he left it wasn't clear whether he was quitting or retiring" he enquired curiously, then added "Well considering how long he had worked for."

Edward nodded as he listened. "I suppose it would help if I actually paid attention to those who are much higher level than I. At the security desk, weighing wands, I didn't get much opportunity to interact with Mr. Wood. He wasn't very approachable, at least for me. I appreciate your desire to be more so."

"I'm not sure, actually," Delilah said, shrugging. "We were never real close; he didn't share many details when he went.

"The monetary aspect of simply quitting wouldn't be a problem for him, though," the department head said. "Not many people knew how wealthy his family was. Hard to understand why he was working here..." Delilah trailed off, taking a sip of her still-hot coffee.

"No," Delilah agreed. "He never seemed too interested in getting to know anyone. Maxwell didn't really start talking to me until I became his assistant."

The woman blushed a bit; she took another drink of her coffee before answering. "I like to think I'm at least slightly approachable," Delilah joked.

"Well, let me offer you congratulations on becoming the Boss of the Security Department. Certainly I don't know much about you, but I am pleased to have the opportunity."

He noticed her blush a little and smiled without thinking of it. "How does being a Department head impact your family life? If I'm not being too personal. I couldn't imagine the responsibility. I feel pressed enough to keep everything straight with what little I have to do."

Edward listened intently as she continued to talk. It was good to know that she hadn't mentioned either a boyfriend or a husband and he smiled. That meant she would be here more often. He knew what was appropriate for office ettiquete and so would just enjoy her company.

"Sounds like you've got a full schedule. I've many brothers who work in private industry, quietly rising in their jobs. I just felt like this was the place for me. I like the work and I've wonderful people to work with and so overall, it's been good. The occasional trip to the pub with my mates for a little dart action and some lively chats and my life is pretty good right now."

"I understand the parent topic. My parents were hoping I would do more than inspect wands for a living. As if my brothers were somehow better than I. The one perk they think is that whenever they pop in from Scotland, that I can somehow get them some meeting with the minister."

Richard decided to try and see if he could get a group conversation going. He decided that the best way to start was to start with what people did before they started. "So, is the ministry people's first job then?" he asked politely trying not to interupt.

Delilah took another drink from her coffee cup; it was cooling down nicely now.

"I enjoy working here, too," the woman mused. "Sometimes, though, I wish I had a job with a little less responsibility. I've never been an overly... organized person," Delilah laughed quietly. "So Department Headship is a bit of challenge. Especially when running two departments."

"Parents always seem to want different things for their children than their kids do." Delilah had experienced this when she was a bit younger. Right after graduating Hogwarts, when she decided to go to a muggle college, the woman's parents didn't seem to supportive of her goals. But now that she had a good, rather high-paying job, they seemed much more cognizant of what she wanted.


Delilah glanced around the room. Almost everyone seemed to be getting along well with their co-workers. They were making conversation, at least.
But the young woman noticed one person sitting alone, just watching, and decided to get her involved.

"Louisa!" she called across the room. "Have you met Edward?" Delilah knew they were from different departments, so most likely, they weren't acquainted yet. The young woman sipped her coffee again.

"Really well it is a good place to start. Not working has its benefits though, free and easy you know?" Richard replied in an offhanded voice.He set down his empty mug and putting his hands in his pockets pulled out a note book. "So how are you liking the job" he asked looking up at Jack and then adding in an even voice "I suppose you like to get on with it rather than all this chit chat?". He opened the book and pointed his wand at it and some dates and names rotated round to different spots on the page.

Edward took the extended hand and smiled. "I too have noticed you as you go about your day. I suppose it would have been better if I had at least been cordial before today. That being said, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I should have done so also." Louisa replied smiling. She drank the last of her tea from her cup and put it down on a nearby table. She would throw it away later.

"So Delilah, how will the integration work then? Are we just going to stay two departments with one head?" She asked, curious as to how everything would work.

Jack shrugged. "I suppose. If you wanted to look at it that way." A good place to start had been Janet's choice of words as well. Apparently this was some type of common fact. Free and easy? Oh yes. He knew that. "At the moment, I think I actually prefer not working." He cracked a slight grin.

"Uh... I'm not really sure I can say whether I like it or not, actually. I haven't done any work yet." He shrugged again. "I guess I don't mind the chit chat. As long as I'm not stuck at home doing nothing." He stared down at the notebook. The figures were moving around, shuffling their places. "What are you doing?"

The department head sipped her coffee slowly as she listened to the two workers mingle a bit. She smiled then as the conversation returned to her. "Actually, I'd like to talk to the two of you about that," Delilah said, smiling slightly, as if she had some kind of secret.

Then, the woman began to walk slowly towards a more isolated corner of the breakroom. She beckoned Edward and Louisa to follow her, the mysterious smile still gracing her features.

Richard looked up, "Oh well I just think I arranged my notes in a rather inconvenient order. Great little spell, saves me having to write it all out again. Plus I dont waste as many pages. But these are all intruders, rioters and criminals that have been to the ministry. Some of them we were lucky to stop, others not so lucky" he explained.
"Yes I quite enjoy getting on with the job rather than just sitting at home. Good thing about this department really is you get to visit all the others".
Richard spotted his department head walking away from the throng for an intimate chat with Edward and Louisa, he looked over curiously, pocketed his notebook and put his hands in his pockets and walked over to his head.
"Umm, excuse me. Ms Carter, I dont wish to be rude at all but is it necessary to stay here much longer only I think it would be a good idea if I did get back to work? " he asked prudently.

Attica had finished her cup of tea by now and chose to take this time to size up the other occupants of the room. Most were far younger than her, including her department head. Attica sighed a bit, a small frown crinkling the features of her angular face. She hoped that these kids had good heads on their shoulders. The last thing she wanted was to work with a bunch of immature babes.

Attica was seriously dedicated to providing quality work, no matter what profession she was occupying, even if it was a lowly job as a member of the Magical Maintenance department. Sure, she had dreams like everyone else, and she didn't plan on being a maintenance engineer for the rest of her life, but a job was a job, and sadly, she had been a little lacking in the job front since graduating from Hogwarts. At first she had travelled the world for a bit, seeing famous places both magical and mundane. Eventually, her inheritance had ran out putting an end to further travels, at least for the time being. A frantic job search had begun, and now, after a couple years of disappointing failure, Attica found herself here, at the Ministry.

It was not that she regretted having spent all of her funds, but she had been a tad young and foolish herself at that time, and had had no thoughts of saving for the future. A few gallons and a small, yet cheerful apartment was all that remained of Attica's once substantial fortune.

Lost in her thoughts, Attica merely stared blankly out of the window at the enchanted scenery projected there. She took a futile sip at her empty cup, and started back to reality.

Edward listened and then with just a hint of trepidation, he followed. It was sometimes nerve racking when your boss asked to speak to you away from others. He took comfort from the fact that he wasn't going to be alone. It couldn't be too bad.

He sipped at his coffee as he waited for Delilah to tell them what she wanted to talk about. All sorts of horrible scenarios went through his head.

Louisa had a curious look on her face as she followed Delilah to a corner of the room. She wondered what she could want - it wasn't often that your boss would like to talk to one to one, unless it was for an appraisal.

As she got to the corner, she stood next to Edward, and waited for Delilah to tell them what was going on.

As Delilah Carter smiled at her employees, she wondered if they were aware of the looks on their faces. Both of them looked quite scared, but that wasn't necessary, for they were about to get promoted. "No need to worry," the Department Head said quietly. She knew that this kind of thing should probably take place in a office, but in almost a year of working at the Ministry, Delilah still hadn't managed to get her office organized. For the time being, she was doing most of her work at home, carrying it back and forth each day.

"I'm sure the two of you are aware that most of the Ministry's departments have Division Heads to help out the Head of the department." She paused, glancing at the faces of both Edward and Louisa to make sure they were following. "I've been thinking about this, and I would like to offer you both promotions." She smiled widely now. "You would be like an Assistant Head to me, helping out with your department." Delilah went on the explain some of the duties that would come with the job, as well as the pay raise that would come with the job.

Edward's jaw dropped as she spoke. "A promotion?" he thought to himself. Tentatively, he spoke. "Me? You want to give me a promotion?" He was beside himself. It was totally unexpected and he was shocked.

Recovering a bit as he had a moment to process it, he spoke. "I'm not sure I'm the best man for the job, but if you've got that level of faith in me, then I would be happy to accept." He beamed for the first time as she continued her explanation of what would be involved and a pay raise.

Louisa stood stunned. It was certainly not something she was expecting at all. Slowly she smiled, and waited for Edward to stop talking.

"I'd love to accept the position. Thank you so much for considering me. Thanks. I promise I'll do the best I can. Anything you need me to do, I'll do it..." She rambled before stopping herself, realising what she was doing. Smiling apologetically Louisa looked at both Edward and Delilah. "I have a tendancy to babble on when I'm nervous. Sorry.." She mentally smacked herself in the head for acting like such an idiot when she had been offered a promotion to a much better job than she's ever had before.

ooc: another time frame

Edward walked into the breakroom with Brian and headed for his cubby with the coffee and put on a new pot.

"So, Brian. Tell me what is going on with you, outside of being a wedding gopher?"

Brian shook his head, "Nothing ..particular.." he trailed off but thinking of Sasha. "But..there's something in it" he chuckled.

Edward smiled at his friend. "What do you mean?" He asked curiously, though with the way Brian had said it, it seemed that there was someone involved.

He chuckled and turned away from him a bit to hide his blushing. Was he blushed? OMG!! Something new to him!

He turned to him now and said, "Yeah, I've met a girl in the Cafeteria a few days ago.." he smiled as he drummed his fingers on the table slightly.
"Seems..we both have something.." he chuckled and looked up.

Edward smiled a great smile and slapped his mate on the shoulder. "You old dog. Well....tell me about her. You must think her kind of special since you turned that great tomato shade of red."

He laughed nervously this time, "yeah" he cleared his throat, "Well..she's in the Games Department and we met recently" he looked at him, "So sweet and nice, kinda shy too" he chuckled again. "Her name is Sasha..and I think she too feels the same as I do" he nodded.

"I dont know what it's Ed. Is it...is it just an infatuation or..something else?" he asked curiously.

"Of course," Delilah said to Louisa and Edward. "I've considered this for quite a while, and I chose the two of you." She smiled. "Soon, I should get our office set up. I haven't really felt the need for one yet... that, or I just never got around to setting mine up. But now that the three of us will be working together, I think it's time for a private office. I'll let you know when I get that done."

After one last smile, the woman turned and walked towards the breakroom door. She'd been in the breakroom for too long; Delilah needed to get back to work.

Edward smiled and nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. If you need my help in getting in set up, please let me know." He smiled as Delilah walked out and turned to congratulate Loiusa.

ooc: and to the other time
Edward listened as Brian filled him in. "Well. I'm glad for you Brian. It's good that you've met someone. It will make you happier, I think."

As Brian asked the deeper questions, he thought for a moment before answering. "Good question. When you find out, you want to let me know."

Edward smiled and then laughed as Brian ruffled his hair. "Hey there, mate! We've got to act like the professionals we are." As he finished this statement, he executed a proper tackle into one of the couches.

"Act like a professional?" he laughed again. "Ed, I feel like a kindergarten student here about this issue.." he scrtached his forhead thoughtfully.

"Do you have any previous experience?" asked and remembered, "Hey, where's my coffee?"

"well, you have to start somewhere, mate." Edward told him. "why don't you ask your mum? I 'm sure she'll tell you bunches about this." Edward laughed as he thought of Brian trying to tell his mum about a lady friend.

"Nope. Not a bit." Smiling, Edward got up, went to the pot and got 2 cups for them.

"Yes Indeed.." he nodded, "I dont want to lose her too.." he ruffled his hair again in both nervous and confusion about the whole issue. Whew!! He could handle the Minister so easily instead of this, he thought. What a situation!!

"what?? mom??" he laughed and patted Ed's hands, "Come on, How can I tell this to my mom" he went slight red , "No way" titlting his head slightly as he excalimed, "Really? I thought you could have known something about this"

"well. I'm sure you will figure things out with her." He smiled at Brian and when he began to speak of his mother he chuckled.

"I was only joking mate. I know that it's too early for you to tell her." He sipped his coffee as he listened to his buddy troubled by these thoughts. "I say just relax and enjoy."

"I hope so..If so you'll be the first person to know apart from two of us" he winked and bit relieved as he got a good company to discuss about this delicate issue.

""Oh! I thought you suggested that acutally" grinned again but admitted his out of mind. "Sorry..I'm acting bit insane..Brian is not the usual right now.." he laughed and enjoying the coffee.

Edward could only laugh as Brian spoke. He was glad he wasn't in the same sort of situation.

He glanced out the door to make sure the security desk was ok.

"Do you think, you're escaped Ed?" he grinned, "I hexed you to get the same situation soon" he palyfully swish the wand at him.

Sipping the coffee silently for not wanting to lose the new flavour of his fav. thing too. "So when will we go for a treat lunch?" he asked, leaned in a bit towards Ed. "Tell me, when you're free from your work. Umm..Approx. we need two hours to enjoy mate" he informed.

"Well. If it affects me the same way it has you, I hope your hex doesn't work." Edward smiled at his friend.

He shrugged. "I don't know. How about we hit the pub after work tonight? I mean it would probably be the best time. Unless of course, you've got someone else planned for tonight." Edward said with a slight smirk.

Brian laughed, "Ed, man you're brilliant" he took another sip of his coffee.

He slighly pulled back his sleeves as leaned forward again, "Best Idea" he agreed but punched on his shoulder before spoke, "Nah..no one yet. I know where you come, mate" he winked, but getting a nice idea of taking out Sasha in near future without affecting their promotion treat.

Edward grinned and laughed at Brian. "I don't know about brilliant. But I'll take the credit."

He nodded. "It's agreed. We'll meet at the security desk and then head to the pub."

Edward glanced out at the desk. "well, mate, I've got to go check on the things. It's been great chatting with you."

"You deserves my every compliment, Ed" he grinned, "I cant wait to go for the treat" he winked and got up, ruffling his hair again.

"Okay. See ya later" he gave him a quick hug and walked out, Sasha was back on his thoughts.

As Brian headed out, Edward called out to him. "We'll meet at the fountain and head to the pub!"

Delilah slipped into the Breakroom, a few identical pieces of bright green parchment in her left hand. Slipping her wand out with her other hand, the Department Head magically sealed one of them to the wall, so her Security Workers were sure to see it.

Once she was satisfied that the note was securely positioned so everyone would see it, Delilah headed off to put up more of these announcements.

Richard walked in to the break room and made himself a cup of tea. He poured the tea in to his mug with the union jack on the front while reading the front cover of the daily prophet. He saw a story about the minister's wedding. He wanted to read about something else for a change so instead he flipped a few pages and began reading in disbelief that they had split the girls from the boys at Hogwarts. He sighed as he read that Lord Borr was at Cooper's school. The man was one of the most pompous people around. He hoped that his nephew Roland was keeping his head down and not messing around with the new rules though it was unlikely.

Then Patrick Hill walked into the break room with a great flourish

Egypt had to mentally stop herself from from walking toward the lifts to head toward level two. She let a nervous smirk play at her lips as she turned around and headed toward her department. Her department. It felt good to say that again. She was a good follower and did whatever was asked of her, but she enjoyed being in the drivers seat sometimes.

She didn't head toward the office she was still a little early for work so she went to the break room to grab some coffee. She had a memo in her hand that she needed to place up. She went over to the bulletin to post it up

A note flew into the office and attached itself to the bulletin board.

Louisa came into the breakroom and spotted a memo attached to the board. Reading it swiftly, she noted her floors and went off to get the job done.

Lily-Anne walked into the breakroom and walked over to the notice board. She scaned it and found what she wanted, she read the notice through a few time before turning around and walking out, wondering if their is anything she could do to help.

Nathan, loaded down with a bouquet of roses, peeked in on Egypt in her office on his way past the security offices. Seemed like there was a small party going on in there with no room to swing a cat, so he decided to head towards the break room and wait for her.

He helped himself to a coffee thinking that it would be better than that supplied on level two. WRONG! It was equally vile. He pulled a face but thought he better drink it now that he'd nicked it. Perhaps the new security boss lady could change the coffee for the poor employees on this level. He stole a digestive out of the tin someone had left lying there. 'What a silly place to leave your biscuits.' He thought before helping himself to another.

He took his coffee and flowers and went to sit down. This wasn't nearly as nice as the level two break room - no comfortable nooks to fall asleep in. He took a seat and placed his feet and flowers on the coffee table in front of him. Egypt, if not too run off her feet, had to come in here sooner or later.

After changing all the weather in the Ministry Egypt wanted to swing by the break room and grab some water. She had tried the coffee earlier and it was horrible. She was going to bring in her special blend tomorrow. She pushed open the door to the break room. She looked in and her eyes fell on her husband. She squealed and ran over to him throwing her arms around his neck as she bent down to kiss him on the cheek. "Nathan," She breathed simply. She had been missing him terribly. "I've missed you." She told him sitting down in his lap.

“Woah!” Nathan was nearly sent flying by the little woman running towards him at top speed. She reminded him of Taz in the Taz-Mania cartoon he and Paris sometimes watched and had to smirk.

He leaned up and pecked her lips in return for the kiss on the cheek. “Hello love.” he said brightly wrapping his arms around her as she sat on his lap. “I've missed you too. I tell you, level two is a lonely place without you around.” He reached over and picked up the bouquet of scarlet red roses. “These are for you. A congratulations, if you were, on the new job.” he said. They were both so busy with their own jobs this was the first time Nathan had seen his wife in ages.

She giggled as she nearly tipped him over in his chair. She hadn't seem him since they left home this morning and that was a few hours ago. She had been getting anxious about that. "Sorry," She said.

She closed her eyes when he kissed her lips. "Hello my lover," She said opening her eyes to snuggle up to him just for a little while. "Level 8 is really lonely without you." She told him with a smirk. She looked around at the flowers on the table. "Nathan you didn't have to." She said bringing the flowers up to her nose and smell them. She inhaled their delicate scent. "They are lovely though. Thank you so much." She leaned down and gave him a proper wife kiss. After a few second she pulled out of it and stood up before any of her employees walked in. She moved and sat down in the chair opposite of Nathan.

He laughed and straightened up. “Don't worry about it.” he said wrapping his arms around her.

“No problem.” he replied. "I'm making us a romantic meal tonight to celebrate. Just the two of us. Tommy's agreed to take the kids."

He returned her kiss with much gusto. He had really missed his wife! He smirked and leaned forward in his seat as she moved away from him. “What's this? Mrs Boss Lady's ashamed of her husband eh?” he teased. He picked up his foul coffee and took a sip. "You know you really should do something about the coffee around here." He took a bite of his stolen digestive in an attempt to dull the taste of the coffee a little.

She smiled. "Oh a romantic dinner. You spoil me much Lord Greenwood. Tomasina is going to have her hands full then." She said with a smirk. "But I am glad we can be alone." She wiggled her eyebrows at him.

She looked at him and smiled. "That would never ever happen. If I do recall we have visited some of the dark places around here." She said. "I just have to set an example thats all my love." She reached across the table and stroked his hand. She had to hide her giggle. Nathan and his bad coffee. "Oh I am brining some of my special blend in tomorrow." She told him.

“Well my queen deserves it.” he replied. “How does chicken sound. All the way from Kentucky with a special tasty coating and a side of fries.” he teased her. “Nah, just kidding. I'm going to try my hand at a curry.” Nathan had taken a real shine to being in the kitchen since his family came along. His dabbling with bacon and sausage had turned into something a lot more serious. He loved getting home from work, sticking a record on, pouring himself a glass of wine and making a meal for his family. “Tommy doesn't mind. She loves those kids.” he chuckled. Poor girl was unlikely to get any sleep tonight. “It's been a while since we had some alone time.” he smiled. “It'll do us both good.”

He laughed and looked around. “I think one of them was on this level before you started working here. But nothing quite beats the Department of Mysteries for dark places.” he said with a suggestive wink.

“Thank god. You could drop some off at level two while you're at it.”

She smiled at him. "Thank you my king for thinking of me." She pulled a face when he mentioned that KFC chicken. "Oh no Nathan," She said and then she saw his face and she started laughing. "Oh you were kidding." She said thankfully. "Oh a curry is nice," She said brightly. She was glad that Nathan had taken a liking to the kitchen. No one liked her cooking and she had tried to learn and had gotten good at something, but Nathan was the the king in there and she was happy to let him reign over his kingdom. He was turning into a right chef anyways. "Yes being alone with my husband is always good for me. Tommy had been begging to take the children to some muggle movie. So I am glad she wants to take them out tonight."

"Well we will have to put that on our list then." She giggled with a wink. "But how are things on level two. Is Warren and Alex alright. He looked really sick that last time I saw him," She inquired.

"I will drop some coffee off for you my love," She told him as she gazed into his eyes.

He had to laugh. Egypt hated that KFC – he and the kids couldn't get enough of it. But his health overall had improved since he became the resident chef, trying to make a balanced meal for his kids. “A nice spicy curry with coconut milk washed down with a bottle of that nice red we had the other day.” he suggested.

“Tommy's a goodun. She's always willing to take them.”

He smirked. “It's a date. Next time you're on a break I'll meet you there.” He shrugged at the mention of Warren and Alexa. “They're worse than ever, They're avoiding each other like the plague. They need their heads knocking together if you ask me.”

He smiled over at her as she gazed into his eyes. Oh how he missed having those deep brown eyes being just down the corridor. “Thank you love. The other staff will be most grateful too.”

He propped his feet back up on the coffee table, making himself comfortable. “So hows it going up here? Your staff treating you ok?"

"Well Lord Greenwood you have certainly thought this out. I look forward to get it." She was really glad that Nathan was in the kitchen now. The children weren't as nice with their comments about her food as Nathan was. She was a little sad that they wouldn't know about Ghanaian food, but that was the trade off to marrying someone who wasn't from the same place. "She loves them as much as we do, and I am happy about it."

She grinned wickedly. "It is a date then." She told him. "Those two are terrible. They are fighting their love for each other." She said wondering why love would make someone act like that. She never wanted to be away from Nathan. Their love pushed them together.

"I think I need to bring in enough coffee for the whole ministry. Everyone complains about the coffee." She said with a smirk. She held his gaze. It was weird not being on the same level with her husband. To nip into the break room and find him sleeping on the couch. Or walk down the hall and see him at his desk. She missed that more than she wanted to admit.

She thought about his question. "Not a whole lot to do really." She told him honestly. "Oh that staff is fine. Really nice, I think I will get along great with them."