December 28th, 1890 - MGAS Offices

Arthur's head pounded, but there was no better cure for a hangover than more drinking, and so - he was off to find Fitz. Art didn't think it would matter that it was the middle of the workday - it was a fake workday, almost New Year's Eve. It would be easy to oust Fitz from the Ministry. As long as Art could find him.

It was easy enough to get to the Magical Games & Sports floor - the security for it was a bit lacking, and Arthur was famously a Quidditch player. The issue was - Fitz was definitely not in his office, which looked dark and empty even from the outside. Art walked back over to the secretary's desk and placed his hand on the front corner of it.

"Have you seen Mr. Prewett lately?" Arthur asked the secretary with a genial smile. He did not look good; pale, circles under his eyes, perhaps a faint smell of hard liquor and cologne.

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Josie Jones

  

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set by MJ <3

It was perhaps unsurprising that Josie Jones found herself working in a quiet office. It was still the Christmas season, and multiple people were not in work (or at least, were elsewhere in the ministry at the moment) - including Mr Prewett. Josie liked the quiet days. It meant she could get on with her work with little to no distractions.

No distractions that was, until Arthur Pettigrew - Josie unfortunately seemed to know the names of most of the quidditch players, particularly those who associated with Mr Prewett regularly - came through the office, clearly looking for his friend.

"I have not seen him, no." Josie replied. Normally her tone with visitors and guests in the office was friendly and helpful, however she was very distracted as she studied the quidditch player in front of her. "Are you alright Mr Pettigrew?" she asked, quite concerned for his wellbeing.

  

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

"Oh, I'm thriving," Arthur said, in the tone of someone who was demonstrably not thriving - namely, distracted and tired. "And yourself, Miss -- Jones?" He ought to be better at remembering her name - he was usually better at remembering her name - it was difficult to be confident that he had actually remembered her name.

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set by MJ <3

It was not uncommon for guests to the offices to not remember her name - or having even bothered to ever learn her name in the first place - and Josie had long stopped taking offence. He had gotten there eventually, and she didn't give it a second thought.

"I'm well." Josie replied as she quickly scanned the room. Mr Pettigrew looked like he needed a sit down. She contemplated conjuring a nice big comfy chair for him, but she would most likely mess it up and make a fool of herself. No, that would be a good idea.

Instead she stood up and grabbed a chair and pulled it out for ease of accessibility. "Do you want to have a sit down?" Josie asked, "I can make you some tea, grab you some biscuits, take care of you while we wait to see if Mr Prewett arrives soon?"

A second after finishing she quickly added. "If you want. If you would rather not that's perfectly fine."

  

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Six months ago, Arthur would have probably waved off Miss Jones' suggestion; six months ago he also would not have been trying to find a drinking buddy in the middle of a weekday afternoon, either. Besides, there was something appealing about her offer - they could sit and drink tea. And for a little while, Arthur could be in a room where no one wanted or expected or needed anything from him and he did not have to make any decisions.

"I would love to stay with you for a little while," Arthur said agreeable, with a smile to the secretary. He dropped into the seat she had pulled out. "As long as you can chat with me a bit while we have tea. Just for fun."

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set by MJ <3

"I think I can do that," Josie replied as she went to go sort the teas. "It's three days after Christmas. No one is playing any sports or hosting games tournaments are they? I can spare some time." In fact, to fill her time Josie had reorganised multiple filing systems, and had been having to find jobs to complete. Spending some time just having a chat would not harm anyone.

Josie weighed up her next question for a minute in her mind. She was terrified of sounding rude, but knew it was the right question to ask - even if it was perhaps prying, given Mr Pettigrew's state. "So... how are you?" she asked meekly as she poured hot water into the teapot.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Miss Jones was right; things were notably and nationally quiet, in this weird little gap between Christmas and New Year's. As long as Hogwarts students didn't have a pick up game of Quidditch gone wrong, Miss Jones could get away with wasting a little time.

He hadn't expected her question, and his eyebrows quirked up. A beat passed before Arthur answered, "Just feeling a little ill. Nothing to worry about, Miss Jones." It was dishonest, but what was he supposed to say?

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set by MJ <3

"I'm glad to hear that." Was Josie's response. She got the impression that Mr Pettigrew was not entirely telling the truth, but she was not going to challenge him. Josie remained silent as she finished making their drinks, and once they were done she took them over and placed them both down.

She sat down back in her chair. Not quite sure what to say next, she decided on, "Have you seen that Mr Prewett has been featured in the last two issues of Witch Weekly? I don't think he will approve of that? Do you?" Was Josie not utterly terrified of saying the wrong thing at work, she perhaps would have ragged her boss. Instead, she had (of course) said nothing. Perhaps though, as she had found this fact utterly hilarious, surely Mr Pettigrew would also find it amusing.

In fact, Josie found this fact so amusing, she had to cough and move her cup to her face to hide her smirk.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Art grinned; he maintained a secret Witch Weekly subscription because he liked to know when he was in there, and was always amused when Fitz popped up. "Sometimes," Art said in an undertone, like it was a secret, "I think that Mr. Prewett likes to be in the news."

He would say as much to Fitz, and probably had, but he couldn't say so as blatantly to Fitz's employees. He had to keep up the appearance of being a real adult to his managees, after all.

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set by MJ <3

Josie gave a restrained giggle. Part of her mind was extremely worried that she had been unprofessional to bring up such a topic. However, she had not openly mocked her boss. Merely stated he had appeared in a gossip rag, and that he may not enjoy that fact.

"I would not know anything about that." Josie replied, her tone ever so slightly sarcastic, but just serious enough to give herself some plausible deniability. In reality, Josie could see where Mr Pettigrew was coming from. She found sometimes that Mr Prewett could be ever so slightly vain, or perhaps over-confident. Although, she would take that, and him being a pleasant manager and actually a nice person, over some of the department heads who filled her heart with fear and dread.

"Do you know if he ever did have any issues with mistletoe?" she asked, with a deadpan look on her face.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

"Not that I can remember," Arthur said, "But I wouldn't be surprised." The truth was, Fitz didn't need mistletoe to get kissed - the ladies were generally willing already, and if they claimed mistletoe later, that was their prerogative.

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set by MJ <3

Josie nodded. "Maybe I should keep an eye on Witch Weekly," she replied, "Maybe next week's issue will have my answer. Obviously only out of professional concern - of course."

Josie bit in the inside of her cheek to stop her smirk. Almost twenty years of living with her snarky mother had left her with a penchant for ragging people. Almost twenty years of living with constant worrying what others thought of her squashed any idea of her so openly doing so. Particularly Mr Prewett. At the very least, Josie had to pretend like this was all very serious and she would never dream of mocking her manager.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

"Professional concern is very important," Arthur said agreeably. He took a sip of his tea. "Particularly since one cannot believe everything Witch Weekly prints." Well. They were often somewhere in the neighborhood of the truth.

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set by MJ <3

Josie laughed. "I think part of the fun of Witch Weekly is their ability to stretch the truth, or just make things up." Although she said this, Josie definitely believed what she read in Witch Weekly far more than she cared to admit.

She went to take a drink from her cup, only for an owl with a message to come flying into the office. "I should go grab that." Josie stated, standing up to go check the letter attached to the owl.

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   Arthur Pettigrew

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the beauty is of course, MJ's