"Brooklyn! You never told me you would be going here." Nicholas smiled as he gazed at the face of his best friend. He hurriedly extended his arms and wrapped her in a tight hug, blushing quite a bit while doing so. He felt butterflies in his stomach, fluttering around and about. "Get a hold of yourself, Nicholas," he thought to himself. "You've known Brooklyn since childhood. No need to get all weird and nervous, especially in front of someone you just met."

Leanne reacted when someone walked up and talked to her. She smiled back at the woman. 'Hi, miss'? Oh so polite.

"Employment office?" she asked thinking for a while. "I'm not sure if there is any actually. I'm not working at the Ministry." she said. Oh, how she hated saying that. She wanted to work at the Ministryyyy.

"But if you two are really lost then I know my way around here pretty well." she said with a wink.

Brooke smiled at the two. She hoped they were only having a friendly conversation. Not that she really cared. *pfft* No, she cared about her friend's well-being. Yep, That's all. Clearing her throat she continued, "Veera. Pleasure." she smiled. "Yes, I do know Kent very very well." she grinned. It wasn't everyday you hear your best friend being called by his last name. Brooke managed to fight a giggle.

Anyhow, after that quite awkward embrace, she turned her whole attention to the boy of her dreams..erm.. she meant the boy of her dreams who kept haunting her in her dreams for the past few years. "So what brings you here today?" she asked. She knew that Nicholas wasn't a music lover. She knew that he never really was interested in all those times when they watched GLEE together or went to New York just to watch the broad way musical HAIRSPRAY. That's how much Brooke knew him.

Nicholas was aware that someone was calling his name, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. He was currently distracted by his best friend. She was, for once, wearing a dress! She looked so beautiful... He wondered if her skin felt as soft as it looked.

He hurriedly shook his head and forced himself to wake up from
his... er... highly inappropriate daydream, considering the circumstances. Nicholas then noticed the bewildered stares he was receiving from both Brooke and Veera. "Hmm... Why are they loo..." his thoughts trailed off in a panic. He must have accidentally revealed his... his opinions regarding his girl friend's -observe the spacing- dress!

Brooke managed to smile at her best friend. He always is easy to surprise. Ever since they were little. She guessed people don't change much at all even for a long time...
She snapped her fingers in front of his face when she noticed him staring dreamily at her. "I know I'm pretty but this is not the right time for you to be staring at me." she whispered through gritted teeth. She then smiled as if nothing happened and continued to listen to the music playing in the air. She had to fight from blushing at what she had just said.

"Oh. Yes, please show us the way. We have no idea where to go." Veera said in a hurry, but spoke clearly.

"Sorry. Please excuse me for a while!" She turned around and dug into her purse and took out an asthma inhaler. She took in a few deep breaths before returning it into her bag. "Sorry about that." She smiled weakly.

Aw... They are so cute together! Veera thought. How lucky for Brooke. She surely has a good future with Nicholas. \

She saw the panic in both her friends' eyes and decided to look neutral, as if nothing awkward happened. It would be best, yes.

"So, you both wanna join with me, Leanne and Lyra? We're looking for a Ministry office..." She said, pointing at two tall women behind her.

Brooke smiled at Veera. For a woman that she just met, she seemed to be a very kind person.
"Oh! So..you're all new here?" she asked as she looked from Veera to Nicholas (who she knew was new FYI) and to the other two ladies. She decided to do some good deed and as a welcoming gift. Nothing says better than a welcome to the ministry like a tour of the ministry herself.
"I'm quite new too but I'm guessing You and Nicholas aren't employed yet?" she added. "I could give you a tour after if you two would like?" she smiled aiming most of she said to Veera, she still couldn't look at Nicholas without slightly blushing.

"Yeah..." Veera smiled while she scrunched her nose. Another of her bad habits, her mum says. "If it isn't much trouble... then I suppose it's alright if you want to give us a tour..." Victoria wasn't the sort of person who liked depending on others. Only in desperate times.

"Okay then it's settled." she smiled. Tour while employment sounds great to her. She noticed that Nicholas has been silent for some time. She affectionately punched him on the arm before setting off.

OOC: Let's just pretend that I gave you the tour...

At the end of the mini tour, Victoria felt quite tired. She hadn't imagined that the ministry was so complicated and had many "secret" dungeons. But everything was worth it. The place itself was eerie, but very beautiful and magical.

"Thanks so much, Brook. It was very inspiring. I envy you for your vast knowledge of the ministry." She smiled and giggled. Then came the coughs.

"Excuse me, please." Her voice sounding quite hoarse. She turned her back from her friends, opened her purse, produced an asthma inhaler and took a few deep breaths with it. She put it back and faced Brooke and Nicholas.

"Sorry about that..." Veera smiled weakly.

Leanne tilted her head with a soft smile at the young woman. "Oh don't worry there's no rush. I happen to know that they're not hiring at the moment." Because if they were her and Kyle would be the first ones to know.

"Are you alright there?" she asked a bit worried when the girl took something out of her bag. Since she had grown up with muggle things as well as magical things she knew what it was the woman had picked up. That wasn't good.

Brooke was pleased at herself and at what Veera has complimented. She was tired too but did not show it. Keeping her pride and smile was one of the things she was good at.

"Oh..you have that thing.. um.. the inhaler..yeah.." she said as she pointed at the thing. She knew that was a muggle object, to help people in breathing more properly. Oh, Merlin knows what else it does.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. My asthma's just mild. It won't hurt me as long as I take enough rests and deep breaths. I'm terribly sorry for having cause you to worry. Pleaes, forget this happened." She smiled reassuringly, but her eyes looked weary. Continuing with their conversation, Veera chatted like nothing serious happened. "Oh... well that's too bad. I've always waited to be part of the Ministry! Ever since I learned about this world." She spread her hands and made some signals as she was talking about this wizard world.


"Hn? Oh, you saw my inhaler. Sorry." She scrunched her nose again. "Don't worry, it's just mild so it won't hurt me unless I stress myself out badly and overdo something." She smiled but her eyes showed that Veera was really weary and tired. "Please just forget about what you saw, and everything will be back to normal." She sighed.

Victoria took the tie around her neck away, sighing in relief. Putting it back into her purse, she put her head down, so as not to let anybody see, and shut her eyes tightly for a few seconds, getting a hold of herself. "Oh, that feels much more comfortable." Murmuring to herself. When she felt better, Veera looked up and gave her friends a big smile. "So, tell me, Brooke, Nicholas, more about yourself. It would be interesting." She grinned at them.

"No. It's okay." Brooke smiled. She felt a mix of pity and amusement at the Veera and her inhaler. She never really see much of those in the wizarding world.

She noticed Veera look a little weary. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked. She seemed perky at one moment and then weak the next. Brooke hoped she won't faint especially here right now.

She seemed to wave her question and instead asked to tell more about herself. "Um..alright. I have a dog." she started off. She hoped she didn't have a problem with dogs since she has an inhaler.

Before Nicholas knew it, his two friends were already gone.

"Huh? I wonder where they went..."

He was utterly confused and humiliated. "What a way to impress the girls, Nicholas," he muttered to himself. He refused to admit the fact that he was mostly thinking about her as made that declaration.

He searched around the room again, trying to spot Brooke and Veera. Suddenly, two lovely ladies entered the room. Whispers of admiration immediately erupted from the men, and envious insults from the witches. He heaved a sigh of relief. He finally found them.

As he slowly approached the pair, he noticed that they seemed to be deep in conversation. Brooke was blushing a bright shade of red, while Veera was simply laughing, obviously enjoying her discomfort. What could they be talking about?

"Hey you!" Brooke smiled at Nicholas as she and Veera walked towards him. She felt really (REALLY) bad in ditching him, but hey he had a choice to come with them too. Now she felt bad, although she had enough pride to keep on smiling.
She punched Nicholas on the arm for no apparent reason at all. She then turned a shade of pink and turned away before she completely turns red. Ugh, this is not going well.

Veera saw the worry and concern in Brooke's face. She frowned a little and said, "Hey, Brooke.. I'm fine, really. No worries!" She giggled. "But, thanks. If I use this every so often," taking out a mini and portable machine with a tube from her purse, "I'll be alright! I just used the nebulizer this morning before I took off for the Ministry." She smiled, reassuring Brooke.

"A dog! That's nice. I never had one since I never really had the time to play or take care of it." Veera sighed. She shook the hard memories away and smiled beautifully at her friends.

Victoria was conversing with Brooke, having fun, when she spotted Nicholas. She whispered something to her friend and Brooke spun around, smiling her best smile.

*Lotte, what? Enjoying her discomfort? That's not Victoria at all. Read her description on my "About Me" to know more about her *

"You owe me an explanation." He raises his eyebrows questioningly. He continued staring at her for a few moments, then burst out laughing.

"You should've seen your face! It was like telling a child that Santa doesn't exist!" Nicholas was practically hysterical, tears streaming down his cheeks. He tried his best to regain his composure. He coughed and hastily cleared his throat. He tried his best to muffle a
chuckle, but to no avail.

Nicholas also made his way to Veera. "Hey, where have the two of you been? I've been trying to find you both. It took me ages. He smiled knowingly, not really bothered about their mysterious disappearance.

*Rose, sorry! I just meant it in a fun and friendly way.

"Alright then." Brooke smiled at Veera. She was quite glad that her friend had a lot of confidence. Anyways she didn't want to push any further for she had no idea what a nebulizer is.

Brooke smiled. "Well it's really no worries. I mean, my dog isn't just any muggle dog." she said with a laugh. Her dog was a crup and not a pure bred muggle doggie.

When Nicholas suddenly had a serious face, Brooke kind of tensed there. She knew that even if her friend is on the the optimistic side he can get serious if he wants to. She was about to explain when he started bursting out laughing. Ugh, seriously?! Can this guy not joke around for like two seconds?
"Hey! Not funny Nicholas!" she said but she herself couldn't help but smile a bit. It was just their usual bickering anyways..

She shook her head a few times, giggled and explained, "You see, Nicholas, we thought you were just right behind us, keeping silent. Forgive us. But at least, we're here now... Right?"


"You mean a crup, Brooke?" Veera said as she was trying to remember what a crup looked like from her lessons at Hogwarts. "Oh! Yes. I've seen them before. Cute creatures. You're lucky." She smiled.

As she watched Brooke and Nicholas sharing nervous and quite intimate actions, feelings and words, she couldn't help but sigh silently, wishing for something exciting to happen to her. When can I ever meet a perfect guy for me?, she asked herself. Victoria didn't want to feel awkward around those two, so she just backed a way a few steps and smiled prettily.

Brooke nervously smiled and nodded at what Veera said. She was still quite guilty for leaving her friend.

"Yeah. Exactly." Brooke smiled at Veera. Although her little Ollie had to be taken from his forked tail when he was younger and so now looks like a muggle dog.. Not that she minded..No.
"Did you ever have a pet?" she asked. Most wizarding families she knew had at least one.

"Lighten up, grumpyhead." he smiled at his long-time friend and another laugh escaped from his mouth. He brushed his thick, dark hair away from his eyes and turned to Veera. "Isn't she cute when she gets all flustered and embar... " Nicholas suddenly trailed off, realizing what he just said. He blushes furiously and immediately turned his attention to his shoes.


Nicholas was desperate to change the subject. Oh, no... What in the world have I gotten myself into? In a panic, he blurted out the first thing that popped into his head. "I like bananas."

A few awkward seconds pass. He wished for a giant hole to open up and swallow him from the ground.

"Oh yes, two cats, male and female." Veera nodded quickly, showing how much she adored cats. Dodge, the tomcat was so fierce and protective of Alyss, the female cat. Sometimes, they would tease and play with each other, which reminded her of Dianna and Nicholas.

Sometimes, she wished she had a crup, but since she was of muggle-born, there was no such thing in the mundane earth. Everyone would criticize her family for adopting such a weird creature.

Veera turned to Nicholas, and he immediately said something cute and flattering about Brooke. She put her hand over her mouth but couldn't stifle a laugh. They were so cute together, Kent and Brooklyn. After an awkward moment, she heard Nicholas say something about liking bananas. Wow, so random, Victoria said in her mind.

Seeing that the guy needed help from changing the subject, she added, "Oh, I love them too. Apples, grapes, and almost every kind of fruit there is. I just don't see why I dislike tomatoes so much..."

Nicholas desperately wished he had the power to turn back time. Wasn't he a wizard? Wasn't there some sort of spell that would allow him to do just that? Just as he was about to make another lousy excuse, he suddenly heard Veera also mention her favorite fruit. He heaved a huge sigh of relief, and threw her a grateful smile. He swore he would do whatever it takes to make it up to her. "Tomatoes are fine... especially when used in a sauce with pasta. I personally hate the taste of pears. I'm not really sure why... but I just can't stand them."