Sophie walked into the large open space, the tattered brown box with all of her desk supplies situated inside. She was somewhat nervous to be here. The British Ministry, although being the place he grew up, was not the Ministry she knew. Australia was where she was most comfortable after working there for most of her life. Working under the Australian Ministry had a level of comfort to Sophie. She knew that she was important as she headed the International Educational Reform in Australia. The Minister of Magic there was on a first name basis with her. But now she was in uncharted territory. With Selina off at school and Jake in training Sophie had finally realized how much family time she had lost. Her daughter was twelve and now away at school. All of her time in Australia had removed Sophie from Selina's childhood. So here she was- in the Ministry making sure she was present for the rest of her child's childhood. No more precious moments would be missed if she had anything to say about it.

She weaved in and out of the different cubicles until she found her specific cubicle. When she had gotten her owl of her acceptance to the Ministry she had been informed she was an Ambassador to Australia- she knew that country inside and out. For an entry level position Sophie was pleased to say the least. Anyone who knew Sophie could attest to the fact that she was a hard worker and she would be sure to let everyone know that she was there to get the job done and get it done right.

With her name on the cubicle Sophie sat down her box and began to set up all of her personal items on the desk. Everything was in order of course... her anal eye would allow nothing less. She hung up all of her papers and added her light that was a cherry color of orange. Then, with a click of her wand, the gray walls of the cubicles turned to a light pattern of flowers or orange and muted green. Another wand wisp and A potted plant sat on the end of her cubicle. She sat back and admired her work. Now she felt more at home. Of course she was slightly confused as to why they supplied a Muggle computer that she had seen many times at her father's home in Muggle London. But from the times she had used the computer in her youth up until now she could attest to how much easier work was on the machines. Perhaps the witches and wizards in the Ministry knew how to use the computers. Her desk was almost done. The last touch was two pictures. One of her husband and herself and the second was of Selina in her first year. She was dressed in her Quidditch uniform and was beaming brightly.

Sophia Skylar was ready now. Bring on the work.

Everything looked so clean. Charlie was loving it. And he was only second in here as far as he knew anyway, he could only see one other head. He had to contain himself from skipping - yes Charlie has been known to skip when he is happy - because of the cleanliness, IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. It didn't take long for him to find his desk, which was also CLEAN. He put his bag down on his chair and set to work. HE WAS GONNA DO THIS.

He opened his bag, which he had of course put the undetectable extension charm on, and pulled out a picture of his sister, mother and grandmother all smiling around a Christmas tree - Yes, he is a ladies man - and set it on his desk before pulling out things such as sanitizers and tissues and setting them neatly in one corner the placing his bag under his desk, sitting down and just generally enjoying the cleanliness of it all.

BUT WAIT. His eagle-like eyes for germs spotted something. OH GOOD LORD. WHEN THINGS HAD SEEMED RIGHT IN THE WORLD, SOMEONE BROUGHT A PLANT. It didn't take him long to rush over and see WHO had infected his lovely clean work place with such a thing. It was the lady he had seen entering earlier, GREAT. He put on a smile and said aloud "um excuse me? I'm Charles Prewitt and not intrude or anything but I was just wondering" he started before pointing at the plant "is that real or fake?" he asked. Because if it was real, he would have to make sure she sanitized her hands or something.

Isla Merrygold, wearing extra smart clothes as opposed to usual, had already passed through every single level of the Ministry to find her correct one. But after a small elevator trip, she entered the level 5 cubicles for the first time, grin planted firmly on her face. Just as chipper as her last name described her to be! But that was almost the exact opposite of how she was feeling deep down. Isla couldn't tell you all fifty states in America. Actually, she couldn't tell you much at all about international countries at all. So, this department scared her. Quite a darn bit.

Upon entering, Isla noted that no one was there, so she grabbed the closest cubicle and sat down, pondering what to do for a few moments. Hearing a voice, her head poked up above the cubicle dividers and she studied the two others floating around the room, too.

OH.

She stood up from her seat so abruptly, that her knees thwacked the desk as she did so. "Ow." She tried to keep a lid on her outburst, but who was she kidding? It was loud enough for Australia to hear. Leaving her bag of necessities in the cubicle, claiming it as HERS, Isla made a very slow and casual appearance towards the other two's company. "Hey, er... good morning." That was definitely more formal, what if these people were posh!? "Heard some voices so I thought I'd come and say 'ello." Isla grinned. Looks like formality had left the building already.

*facepalm*

Sophie was fixing her hair that was out of order in the small mirror from her bag when she heard shuffling of feet on the floors. It was like nails on a chalk board to Sophia. Why could people just not pick up their feet? Was it that difficult? She was always telling Selina not yo drag her feet, but she was twelve. The foot dragger looked at least twenty.

When he finally spoke up Sophia was caught off guard, her plant? What was wrong with het plant? It added color to her neat work place. And Sophie loved nature, as long it was in perfect order. She was silently thankful that she was not a germaphobic OCD case. Of course her issues were not on public display. Just everything had to be in order... everything had a place.

As he prepared to reply she looked at his hand, slight tremors of anxiety.

He was OCD.

"Hello Charles, I'm Sophia Skylar. And yes it is real, but don't worry I keep things in order. You won't even know that it is here, soil and all."

"Hello Everyone!" Gina said passing by with a tray of sweets. "Is everything alright? My husband baked these for today. Please take one." She said and curtsied.

Esteban made his way into the office. It looked so much different then after the Ministry remodel. He sighed, there was so much different in his life already. He shouldn't be this upset by it, but at the same time...he couldn't shake the feeling.

He walked into the office ready to meet the new employees in the department. He had been here before the change and was still here after the change. All though every one he had worked with before wasn't here anymore.

"Good Morning Gina." Esteban said smiling at looking around to see who was in the office. He after all had already worked with Gina before. "Is the new crowd up to your expectations?" Esteban teased, he after all was still loved his department. He took at seat in a new cubicle and looked up at his Department Head.

GOOD LORD IT WAS REAL?! Charlie kind of stared at it for a moment. That thing could be carrying diseases for all he knew, and it was just sitting there. MOCKING HIM. Since it wasn't his, Sophia would probably be creeped out if he started spraying it with disinfectants left, right and centre. Which if it had been his own wouldn't have even been a problem because it wouldn't exist at all.

He wouldn't even know it was there? Well he knew it was there all the way over from his own cubicle. CLEARLY he was gonna know it was there, also because he now knew it was real he wouldn't be able to forget it was there. He simply nodded, because he didn't at all know this women and if he said anything he would probably insult her and her infested plant loving ways.

"Well nice to meet you Sophia." was all he could think of. He was never rude, unless people made fun of his OCD and germaphobia then he sprayed disinfectant in their faces. WAIT HE THOUGHT OF SOMETHING ELSE "By the way your desk looks lovely" well it did, apart from the gross plant.

He was about to leave when SHABAM! someone else was there. He was all for meeting people, but he just discovered there was a real and possibly diseased plant within 2 metres of himself, he didn't want to stay here long. But if these were they people he'd have to work with he might as well get to know them, even if they did have disgusting plants infiltrating what he used to call his lovely clean workplace.

"Hello, I'm Charles Prewitt" Charlie said in a nice tone with a smile. The girl looked younger than himself, but not by too much. Maybe three or four years, Hopefully she didn't have any plans to bring dirty plants to work.

Sophie noticed from her cubicle a cheery looking older woman approach the floor. She seemed to have a caring-type glow about her as she looked over all the new employees. This person she could only guess was Gina Latorta, her new boss. When she worked under the Australian Branch of the Ministry she had heard about the kindly older woman who was a fiend for passing out cookies. It reminded her somewhat of her daughter's friend Kurumi who came to her house often and always, without fail, with a new cookie.

She stood up from her chair and walked over to Ms. Latorta. Taking a cookie she said, "Thank you, ma'am. I'm Sophie Skylar by the way. I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for my position here. I hope I do this position justice."



She could tell that the plant still was irritating this Charles character. He would learn to ignore it, she hoped. The last thing she wanted was for him to raise any kind of problems with their department head over a plotted plant. Then again who was she to say? If he really did have an issue he would no doubt bring it up with higher ranking officials. It was his right. She just hoped it did not need to resort to such extremes.

When he changed the subject to her desk she smiled back at him. He was a sweet boy, somewhat childish but sweet. He reminded her of Selina actually- her twelve year old who was always bouncing about the house. "Right, well thank you. I wanted to bring something colorful to the office. My previous experiences in work settings is that things are typically gray and cream colored. I love color... as long as it is all symmetrical and coordinates. Nothing too tacky and out of place."

Sophie then noticed the new character that had peaked her head over the cubicles. When she introduced herself Sophie outstretched her hand and said, "Pleasure, Sophie Skylar."

Unfortunately, Charlie's immaturity couldn't help but form a small idea in his head, something along the lines of SHE MUST BE ANCIENT FOr this was the first proper job he'd had, before that it was just working in restaurants so he could pay for his uni fees.

But he nodded anyway. He agreed, he liked colour mainly rainbows, not dull plain things but he hadn't been sure whether he was allowed to decorate as much as this lady had because all he had in his own cubicle was a single photo and all the necessities, such as disinfectant. "It's done very nicely, got quite an autumn-y feel about it" he said with a pleasant smile. He loved autumn, it was probably his favourite season as long as he didn't have to walk around in the leaves and whatnot, that would be gross.

"Thank you," Sophie smiled, "It is my favorite season. All of the bright colors that are hanging from the trees and such," Of course Sophie hated when the leaves fell. Everything was out of place and it was just too much work for one person to do. So toward the end of autumn Sophie would go out to her yard and do every spell she knew to clean up the mess. It was like children had painted the ground and nothing was orderly about that scenario.

"So Charles, what exactly do you do in this department?"

Charlie smiled. Okay, maybe he would forgive her for having a plant in her office. Maybe. He couldn't help but think it would be so much nicer if they stayed ATTACHED to the tree. Because he didn't want to touch them at all, if they could just stay on the trees it would be so much nicer. Then he could enjoy the colours more, but no, they had to fall and make everything messy.

What did he do? Well that was a question easy enough to answer he got paranoid about plants, DUH. He was a Magical Trade Personnel, from what he had gathered it had something to do with Magical Trading. "I'm a Magical Trade Personnel" he said with a small nod and a quick side glance at the plant. "What about you?" this was like the conversation he had with Katerina a week ago.

Sophie did not feel nearly as tense as she had moments ago at the young man's paranoia toward the plant. He finally was seeming to loosen up and he was generally pleasant enough. She could not judge him for his issues, she struggled with her own everyday. Who was she to pass judgement on someone who was just living in the only way he knew how?

"Trading? That's fascinating. I always was interested in goods and such."

When he asked about her she replied, "Oh I'm the Ministry's Magical Ambassador to Australia." How she missed her job out there for the Australian Ministry, but she had an obligation to be present in her child's life. Her passion was second to her love for her daughter.

Aria walked into the office for her first day of work. She placed her bag down at her new desk and sighed. She was so excited to start working and was full of enthusiasm. After saying a quick hi to Gina and trying one of the sweets her husband made, which were amazing, she sat down ready to get to work.

Dimitri Vladameer had his papers clipped together and all held in one arm, while the other held a mug of dark coffee. He took a sip and sat down in a secluded corner, away from most. He set his papers and mugs down and started to examine them. As he started organizing the papers into their appropriate category, he let his mind wander. So much to do, yes, so much. Dimitri never took a break. He heartily disliked his "days off" and continued to work even then. He always had to be working. Dimitri shifted though the papers as his eyes scanned them. He made a mark here, made a mark there, all while sipping his bitter drink.

"Good Morning Esteban! Oh I am sure everyone will be, the new comers are hungry for knowledge," She said biting the cookie, "And people suck as yourself enjoy imparting that knowledge..." She smiled.

"Yes, Charlie, May I call you Charlie?" She said "I'm the head of this department, and you may call me Gina... Cookie?"

"Hi Sophie, I'm Gina, please, call me Gina." She said with a smile, "and don't worry, I have every confidence you know what you are doing.

"You must be Aria. I'm Gina, Head of the Department. Cookie?" She said.

"Dimitri. how wonderful to see you!" She said with a smile.

Dimitri put down the coffee he was sipping to look up at the kind face of Gina. He inclined his head slightly in hello. "Gina," said Dimitri politely. "How are you doing today?"

Isla wasn't feeling too amazing right now, to say the least. Maybe she was intruding a little bit, but she was eager to meet her future colleagues sooooooo... a bit of intrusion was bound to happen! Turning as she heard a friendly voice from behind, Isla smiled and supposed that due to the welcoming manner, it was the department head. "Good morning." She said brightly, whilst her eyes travelled to her tray of treats. She was offering them, so Isla took one, obviously. "Oh, thank you."

Yum.

"They're delicious." She said after swallowing a cookie. Isla only wished that she had a husband to cook lovely things for her. *sadface* She looked around, wondering why she was the only one eating the cookies. "I'm Isla, by the way. I can't wait to start working with you." With everyone! She smiled, but suddenly felt aware of her cookie-fied breath.



Isla smiled but her eyebrow raised as well. The man looked a bit uneasy, which was odd because he looked fine a few minutes ago when she first spotted him. Maybe he didn't want to speak to her... or just needed the loo. hehe. "Hey there, good to meet you!" Okay, he looked a bit more friendly and comfortable now, so Isla wouldn't comment on his previous uneasiness.

The other person had clearly noticed her by this point and introduced herself. Isla smiled, and shook her hand as it was offered. "Nice to meet you, Sophie -" She looked to both of them, "I'm Isla Merrygold." Finally introducing herself.

"That's a nice plant you have there." Isla commented to Sophie. Personally, she actually thought that it was too big. She imagined it would thwack her in the back of the head whilst working or something, causing her to flip out and attack the plant. It's true, the cubicles were too small for an almost-tree to be perched.

"I am well, I must say, a little tired re-organizing things, but well nevertheless." She told the man.

"I'm glad you are enjoying them Isla, I hope we'll get things started very soon." She said. "Well, I'll leave these here." she told the gang putting down her plate. "Enjoy them!" And she left for her office.

Esteban looked at all the people in the office. It hadn't been this crowded in a long time. He had to admit that the noise would probally get to him eventually, but right now it seemed to fit the new office. He gave Gina once last fleeting smile and sat down at his desk.

He needed to draft a letter to the Wizards in Germany, they were upset over a tiny mishap, something about the British Wizards taunting them? He was sure, but he would write them none the less. He looked around the office to see if he recognized anyone, maybe some he he had met before when they didn't work in this office.

But he didn't recognize anyone. He should probally introduce himself, but his Spanish would probally kick in and he didn't like it when it did.

"Thank you." I said as I bit into the cookie. "Oh my gosh! These are amazing." I told her as a finished the cookie. I had a feeling that I was really going to like working here.

[COLOR="Indigo"]"Gina, right. Well I'll make sure that I get that right next time, ma'am." Sophie was pleasantly surprised by the friendly atmosphere of her new department. When she worked in Australia with the Minister the two took years to get on a first name basis. Gina seemed liked she wanted everyone to be comfortable and calm. Maybe the reason was people worked more clearly in a relaxed atmosphere.

"I'll do my best Gina. Don't ever hesitate to ask me to do anything. I will be on top of it."

Sophie was starting to get increasingly irritated at everyone's comments toward her plant. The gray office needed some orderly and clean color. This small plant had big leaves, but it was in her cubicle. If people had such a problem with the plant they should just omit a plant from their work space. But Sophie was an adult and a mother so her patience reached very far. With a smile she returned, "Hello Isla. And thank you. I much rather prefer an actual air freshner than some kind of spray or candle. It keeps me focused."

Dimitri nodded again. "I'm glad to hear you are doing well." He gave the kind woman one of his rare smiles before turning back to his work. So much to do, so much to get done...

Aria thought she should start to make friends and get to know more of the people she worked with. She walked up to a man sitting at his desk and smiled
"Hi, my name is Aria. It's nice to meet you." She said and held out her hand for him to shake.

Esteban smiled at the girl. She looked friendly enough. "Hola, Aria." Esteban blushed, ugh...really, now was not the time for his Spanish to come back out. He really wished he wouldn't do that when he was meetin new people. "Esteban Rivera." He taking her hand in his and shaking.

"Welcome to Level 5. I was here before the remodel. So feel free to ask me anything you want to know." He added thinking of all the people he would have to get to know now that they had all new employees.