Jackie saw Maine talking to many people. Why didn't she see her? Came late, maybe. or maybe coz she was too busy talking to the head and Eliza, she didn't notice her.

'Maine!' Jackie half-shouted. 'Hey man! I didn't see you. Did ya come late or something?'

"No time for music?" Leo asked quizzically. "There's always time for music. Actually, just the other day I was thinking about developing a broom that had a radio in it. You know, like muggles have in thier cars? So while you fly, you can listen to music." Leo's mum had loved music, and as such, it was kind of a big part of his life. It was sad that Maine didn't think she had time for it anymore. Maybe it would be better eventually, after things had blown off.

Wait, he could ask? She was granting her co-worker permission to ask a personal question? Leo honestly hadn't expected to be told yes. "If he was so horrible," he began. "Why did you end up with him in the first place?" There had to be a reason. Maine was smart, and levelheaded from what Leo had seen. She wasn't one of those school-girls that would get married to their Hogwarts boyfriend at age 17, was she?

Anna was very pleased to hear the girl talking; she kinda looked very cute talking to her. Suddenly Anna was reminded about her first day of the job. It was a real excitement for her too as everybody else, except some odd ones who don't really care if it's the first or the last day of their job. Anyways, Anna wasn't that type.

She looked at the girl and said "Blabbering? You? No, it's alright. It's a natural thing to get excited on your first day of work especially when it’s your first real job. You know what i mean, right? I felt the same when i was in your place. So it's cool, No need to worry, dear."

She heard her asking something about her job and replied "Me? no not for a long time. It's just that i was the division head of the MLE department till Lord Borr, changed the ministry system and all that stuff. So then i got transferred to Magical Transportation as the Head of Floo Networks. I find this more comforting than was in the MLE." she said to the girl and smiled.



Anna was a bit surprised to hear what Victoria told. It was good that she married to her love, but it felt like it was too early. "Oh, that's good. Congratulations then. You're lucky to have got married to your love." she said and smiled. Anna heard her saying something about Hogwarts. "Hey, you were in Hogwarts? Me too." She said and smiled.

Maine looked up from the nearly finished report to face the loud voice. It sounded oddly familiar...

Oh, it was Jackie. "Hi, Jackie! No, actually I got here a while ago..."

Maine shook her head. "Not no time for music. No time to play. My piano's feeling rather abandoned..."

"Music on brooms? That's awesome, but a little dangerous, don't you think? Imagine the professional Quidditch players. Humming along to their favorite tune, then WHAM- Bludger."

Leo hadn't been expecting a yes. The shock was so blatantly obvious. After he composed himself, he asked her the one question she'd been dreading.

CRAP!

"I... Leo, I didn't have a choice. It was arranged almost as soon as I was born." Maine said quietly. "As soon as I left Beauxbatons, I found out that I was engaged to this guy -about 5 years older. No surprise really. You see, I have very pureblood-supremacist parents. They wanted to keep the line pure. "-scoff- "And so, barely 17, I was married to an abusive, alcoholic, pureblood husband."

"I had to stay with him until about a year ago, when I found out he was cheating on me. Took the case to the French Ministry, then moved to London. I was terrified of what would happen if he found me, but it seems that he's alright now..."

Maine shuddered, unconsciously rubbing her wrist, where there were once burn scars. "It took me 3 years to save up enough money to start over here, but everything's okay now, I guess..."

'Yea, I do. First day jitters.' Jackie smiled, feeling better. Anna was a real comforter. Well, she supposed she had to be, what with being the Head and all. 'You find Transportations better? Well, that's a relief.' Jackie grinned. 'I'm warming up to this atmosphere too. It's very light and extrememly friendly and comforting. Everybody's so friendly. We don't see that a lot nowadays, y'know. It's competition, competition, competition. At least in the Muggle world.' Jackie frowned. She didn't like the fact that everybody was so competitive they fail to realize that their priorities ought to be happiness, not financial success.




'I got tied up, I didn't see you, so sorry.' Jackie smiled apologetically. Then, seeing the others Maine was having conversation with, she said. 'Mind introducing me? The more people I know, the better I'll feel.' Not that she felt uncomfortable or anything. She was so very comfortable here. She just liked knowing everybody she was going to work with, that's all

Holli laughed. 'OK, you can be that bad!' she grinned. 'How many siblings do you have?' Holli asked curiously. She only had Allie. Which she was happy with. Perfectly happy with a twin to help her through life.

"I was in Ravenclaw and my husband was in Gryffindor" Victoria told Anna as she sipped her coffee.

Melissa couldn't believe her eyes. Was she seeing double?

"Hi there my name is Melissa. Do you happen to have an identical twin working here too?", she asked Holli.

She played piano? That was a new and interesting tidbit about her that leo hadn't known, or even really suspected. Leo laughed just a little at her worry of bludgers because of music. "Not for the professional brooms. For the slower, safer kinds. The kinds families take kids on, and travel to school with. Muggles do it all the time."

Then the subject turned darker. Leo had known she'd gone to Beaubatons. Because they were the same age, and would have been same year at Hogwarts, but he'd never seen her, so he'd asked someone during his first week working with her. He didn't, however, know about her family situation. She had gotten married right out of school, but it wasn't her choice. Leo instantly felt bad for asking the question. He'd heard how horrible that man was, but the look on Maine's face terrified him. He'd never seen anyone look so hurt. Not that Leo hadn't seen his fair share of hurt, but this went beyond that. Years of her life had been taken away, and wasted on a man who probably wouldn't care if he'd killed her. That had to be worse than anything Leo had ever experienced.

She was rubbing her wrist, and Leo wondered idly if it was a nerous tick. Presley dug her fingernails into her palms until they bled, no matter how nervous it made him, she wuld probably do it forever. Maybe this was something like that. Or maybe she'd fallen down the stairs earlier and sprained it. "Are you okay?" He asked, just in case, staring pointedly at the wrist she was rubbing raw. The question, however, held double meaning. As in "will you be okay with dealing with this situation this weekend, and probably for a long time afterward?" Leo liked Maine, and sincerely hoped she would be okay, sooner rather than later. She definitely deserved better than that slime she was in the process of divorcing.

"It's okay!" Maine smiled back. "This," she said, gesturing to the figure behind the enormous pile of paperwork, "Is Leo. And there's Holli and Allie, the twins. Just so that you don't get them too messed up, Holli's a bit more hillariois and Allie's a little more clumsy."



Maine's laughter finally stilled wnough for her to string a full sentence together.

"Just the one sister, her name's Gabrielle." she said. "She married too, but she's happy... I think..."



"Oh... Okay, that's good. Yeah, it's a great idea. But unlike muggle devices, they can't be powered on electricity. They wouldn't work in certain areas." Like Beauxbatons.

Maine watched as Leo's face darkened, and his steely eyes narrowed. He was certainly attractive, Maine couldn't deny it. Why he was still single, Maine had no idea.

She noticed his concerned stare at her wrist and realized that she was rubbing it again. She stopped immediately when he asked if she was okay. Double question indeed.

"It's just... I started rubbing my wrist when he burned them with the flaming rope spell."

She wrote a couple more sentences out, nearly ending the last paragraph. Then, she pulled herself together. Of course she'll be okay.

"I... Leo, I'll be fine. I never needed him, anyway." she smiled weakly, finishing the report in her elegant script and handing it to Leo, then pulling the next file off the top of his pile.

"Do you have any siblings, Leo?" she asked, starting on another report. She needed a change of topic anyway.

'Oh right. Hey guys!' Jackie smiled. 'I'm Jackie. You really wouldn't wanna hear my whole name; it's too long. I'm new here. Brooming Games Liasion. Though I have absolutely no idea as to what that means.' Jackie grinned. 'It's really nice to meet you all.'

Flaming rope spell? If this guy wasn't already getting in big ministry trouble, Leo would have liked to try that spell on him. There was no reason to harm someone smaller than you, someone you were charged with the protection of, or someone who hadn't harmed you first. Maine had had a rough time, Leo was just beginning to realize the extent of it.

Leo finished his file, and began on the next one. A broom gone haywire? Not jinxed? How come he hadn't heard of this, yet the paperwork was sitting in front of him? That would have to be checked out later. For the time being, he set it aside, and moved on to the next one.

He smiled as she informed him that she'd never needed that guy anyway. She hadn't, but would she be able to move past the fact that a guy had abused her for over four years? That had been the real question.

"I have a little sister," he replied to her question. "She's twelve. What about you?"

Holli chuckled.'Nice to meet you, Melissa. Yeah, Allie, over there!' she smiled, pointing at her twin. 'Yeah, we're identical!' she grinned mischieviously. Identical pranksters...
Holli nodded. 'I, of course, have Allie. Prankster extraordinares at Hogwarts!' he beamed proudly. 'More hilarious, am I?' she chuckled. She had never thought of her being the more hilarious one. Though she couldn't disagree with Allie being the more clumsy one. Allie was very clumsy.

Holli smiled at the girl. 'Nice to meet you, Jackie! I'm Holli! The more "hilarious" twin, as Maine put it!' she beamed. 'I'm the Portkey Recovery Witch!' Holli nodded.

Furmgoat hadn't been in the MoM in awhile. After taking his time exploring a bit he decided he should go deliver the letter he was supposed to so he could go take a nap. Flying down to the 6th floor he avoided some people who looked rather mean on his way not forgetting the last one he'd given at the school, and found the man he was supposed to talking to other people. Why were they always talking? He never found one that was just by itself.

Hooting he landed on the man's shoulder and shook his foot until the letter fell free and with a nudge against the man's head and a hoot flew off again.

Andie strolled into the BreakRoom as she thought to herself 'chocolate chocolate! oh this rooms nice!'She saw some CHOCOLATE muffins and went and got one then went and sat at a gleaming empty table and sat eating it slowly.

"Leo, have you been on a date with my cousin yet?" Victoria asked Leo as she helped herself to another cup of coffee.

Leo looked up in surprise as he was nudged by an owl. They didn't typically have those in the ministry. Memos, sure, but not owls. He looked at it fr a full second before registering that it was delivering a letter for him. It dropped a letter, and flew off. Odd. They usually stuck around for treats. "Hey little guy!" Leo called it back, looking around for something to give to it. his eyes fell upon his uneaten bagel. Leo ripped it in half, and offered the larger half to the cute little owl. "D you want some of this?"
OOC: you didn't post the letter...

''Hello''He sat down on a seat next to a person.He grabbed a muffin and said''I'm Tim,Lovely to meet you''He felt nice introducing himself to everyone.

[QUOTE=Fred is awesome;10692469]Holli chuckled.'Nice to meet you, Melissa. Yeah, Allie, over there!' she smiled, pointing at her twin. 'Yeah, we're identical!' she grinned mischieviously. Identical pranksters...

"That explains why I thought I was seeing double there. You ladies wouldn't be any chance related to the Weasleys would you? I know that they have a history of having identical twins in their family line. Most of them are practical jokers too....not saying that you would be of course. I'm just saying that from experience being married into that family line," Melissa laughed.

Maine stared at Leo for a while, studying his reaction. She mentally slapped herself. What was she thinking! Leo was a co-worker. And one of her friends. Nononononono! Stop it Maine!

Shaking herself a little, she opened the file. Splinching? What was one of her files doing in Leo's stack?!

Sighing, she started working on that one. Splinching! Seriously!

"A younger sister too," Maine smiled. "Gabrielle LeBlanc. She'll be leaving Beauxbatons this winter."



"Allie's awesome. Wish I had a twin..." she smiled dreamily. "You are more hillarious! You're the only one who'd make me laugh like... like that!"

If Alan Descateaux found out she'd laughed, he'd have hit her. Because pureblooded trophy wives don't laugh. They sit around like princesses and do nothing. But noo... Maine wouldn't say that...

Leo shut the file. He just couldn't concentrate on it today. no, paperwork would have to be put off for another day. At least he'd gotten three files done, and Maine had done a few for him as well. Maybe it was the fact that a unbelievably gorgeous girl stressed out co-worker was sitting next to him. That was it. He was just so worried about Maine and her court thing coming up that it was hard to focus on brooms.

"This winter?" Leo asked quizically. Term didn't end until May, right? Leo didn't kow much about Beaubatons, but he had been fairly certain that their graduation date was similar to that of Hogwarts. Leo stared briefly at Maine's hand, avoiding staring at her face. It glided so gracefully across the letters. It was just as beautiful. Why he thought this could distract him from her, he had no idea. He shook his head, and looked back at her face. It was getting late. Almost noon. Why was he still working on files in the break room? It wasn't that he was avoiding work, he was doing work. But it was definitely time for a real break. "Do you want to go grab lunch with me?" He asked impulsively. "I mean, I would hate to end our conversation right in the middle s we could separately go do the same thing." That was logical. Sounded pretty non-creepy. Just something friends did. Right?

Maine looked up from the incredibly boring report to meet Leo's quizzical gaze. "Winter. Seventh years end their term mid-February. Our trial A.N.S. would be in November, the Avancé Niveaux pour Sorcières in early February."

Ending the report with a flourish, added it to the finished pile and in an attempt to distract herself from Leo, she looked out the window. And being the romantic fool she was, the clouds reminded her of Leo's eyes.

Mentally slapping herself again, she looked back at Leo. And stared into his eyes. The silvery-blue seemed to draw Maine in, and she felt like falling into is gorgeous eyes. And of course, it took her a while to look away.

Wait, he said something... Lunch? "Lunch'd be nice." Maine nodded. "Where to?"

You're friends, Maine. Friends. Nothing more. She told herself.

But there was this nagging voice inside her that told her that she wanted to mean more to him than that.

Holli saw a girl walking in, and she looked quite excited. She beamed and ran forward to the girl, pulling her over to the others. Yeah, she could be a BIT hands on. 'Sorry about that, but you need to meet everyone!' she explained, smiling cheekily. 'I'm Holli. One of the twins here.' she smiled, holding her hand out.
Holli laughed. 'Seeing double? Ooh, no, we're not... Got the ginger hair though!' she chuckled, holding up a strip of her ginger hair. 'Ah, we are VERY much practical pranksters... Weasley twins? Our heroes.' Holli whispered, laughing all the same. 'Yeah, we were the pranksters in our school. We were also on the Quidditch team, twin Beaters!' Holli nodded, grinning as she remembered her times.
'Oh, I know Allie's awesome!' Holli chuckled. Of course she knew! They were twins! 'Yeah, being a twin is awesome. Always got someone to talk to.' Holli nodded.

'So, if you're French, I'm assuming you went to Beauxbatons?' Holli asked curiously.

"Of course you'd know, Holli!" Maine laughed. "You've been stuck with her you whole life!"

"Beauxbatons, oui." she nodded and pulled out a ring that hung around her neck on a chain.

"It's our graduation ring." she said, handing it to Holli. It was a plain silver ring with the words 'La beauté dans magie' engraved into it.

'Holli! Nice name.' Jackie laughed. 'It's amazing how both of you ended up in the same department. Pretty sure they did it to confuse us.' Jackie winked. 'I just love twins. Always wanted one. You know, to play pranks and all. You have more siblings?'