February 3rd, 1891 — Ministry of Magic
Josie Jones

There was a reason Dorian visited the hospital as frequently as he did: children (and some strange adults) had a habit of having serious displays of emotional magic. He didn't mind it so much when it was children, as they hadn't yet received the education on how to control such magic. However, when he was walking back towards his office with half his body invisible and the assurance that "it will fade with time" he was less inclined to be tolerant of such bursts from adults.

Already, he had received several odd stares for walking through the hallways with most his legs and his fingers on his left hand missing. If not for the sensation of walking, Dory would believe the questions of whether or not he was floating. Some bold healer at the hospital had gone as far as to pinch where his bottom was just to see if it would elict some kind of reaction. (Spoiler: it did.)

He was nearing the Games department when an opening door stubbed his invisible toes. "Bloody hell," he hissed beneath his breath. They might've been invisible, but they still hurt like a bitch. "My apologies," he then quickly added to whomever opened the door. "Wasn't expecting that."

  

As was the case most days, Josie's day had been entirely uneventful. She sat quietly at her desk and cracked on with what she had to do. Writing out various letters to send to various people about various sporting events was - perhaps unsurprisingly - not the most exciting thing one could do. However, Josie stayed cheerful enough, dutifully getting her job done with a smile upon her face.

As was a day in the life of Josie Jones.

After several hours of monotonous work Josie was glad to be able to head over to another part of the ministry for some errand. Yes, she did crack on with a smile on her face, but staring at words all day was hurting her brain. Josie needed a walk.

Josie had suspected her errand to be just as uneventful as the rest of her day. However instead she bumped into an acquaintance - quite literally. First Josie felt the resistance and she tried to open the door, then she heard the voice, a voice she recognised.

She popped her head round the door, with an expression that made it clear how bad she felt. "Mr Fisk, I am so sorry!" she exclaimed.

Then she noticed his legs - or lack thereof. "Mr Fisk!" she repeated, "What happened?"

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

If he had to have his toe stubbed by anyone, Miss Jones wasn't the worst option of them all. Dory wiggled his toe in his boot to reassure himself that nothing was broken or bleeding. Once they moved without squelching, he quickly changed gears from his irritation to polite. "It's alright, Miss Jones." He reassured her as best he could, both for his foot and his legs. "And my apologies for my, er, colorful language."

He glanced down towards his missing legs. "A magic mishap, I'm afraid." Such was the nature of his job, after all. "A debutante was horrifically embarrassed and turned everyone in the shop invisible. Believe it or not, it's not the strangest thing to have happened in the field." A barn full of children turned piglets, that certainly stuck with Dory through the years. "It'll wear off in a few hours, so they say."

  

Colourful language? Josie herself would never ever swear, but she had heard a lot worse on the streets of Cardiff. And Hogsmeade. And within her own home. Of all the things that were bothering her, that did not even make the list.

Josie squeezed through the door as he spoke, not daring to open it any wider. She wanted to take up as little space as was physically possible. As she listened, her concern was plastered all over her face.

"I am so sorry Mr Fisk," she replied, "You do not seem to be having a good day at all. First this-" Josie motioned to the lower half of his body (extremely carefully as to not accidentally touch him - Josie thought she would actually die of shame would she to accidentally touch the lower half of his body) "- and now me opening the door on you! Are you sure your foot is alright?"

Josie had an image of his lower half of his body reappearing and her having done serious damage to his foot.

She was such an idiot.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

"Quite sure," he insisted with the same charming smile he used on her during their initial mishap of a meeting. A bad day was nearly a guarantee in his line of work, but at least the invisibility mishap got him out of being on call that night. He couldn't show up to reassure someone things would be alright with half his body missing, now. "My day improved remarkably when it was you who opened the door and not some old grump." He added.

As if to prove a point, Dory leant heavily on the foot she injuried, not that she could see it. "It was more of a surprise than an injury. Please, don't fret." His toes still hurt, but they could be tended to easily enough. "Where were you headed?"

  

Josie smiled. Mr Fisk was truly so charming. Despite being utterly charmed, Josie couldn't help still being a little bit awkward. Her cheeks flushed and she looked to her feet.

"Well I'm glad that I didn't do any lasting damage." Josie replied sheepishly, only looking up about halfway through her sentence. She topped it off with small self-conscious smile.

She then held up whatever it was she was transporting. "I need to take this to [insert part of ministry here]."

Then she added with a joking tone, "Why, were you wanting to escort me again?" In reality, she had enjoyed her previous walk with Mr Fisk, and would not have been opposed to repeat it.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

He held out his still visible hand for her to pass over her documents, because no gentleman would allow a lady to carry anything when he had two functioning hands. "It turns out I was just heading over that way myself," he teased. Hatchitt and the rest could wait for him a few more minutes. Hell, it was a miracle he hadn't wound up staying in the hospital for the rest of the day.

"Mind if I walk with you, Miss Jones?" He asked, though his intention was already clear to do just that.

  

Josie passed over the documents. "You're too kind, Mr Fisk." she told him with a small smile.

"And no, I would not mind. It would be nice to have some company." As she added this statement she felt her cheeks get ever so slightly warmer. Somehow Josie managed to be simultaneously utterly charmed by Mr Fisk, and so utterly embarrassed and awkward at the same time.

She avoided eye contact as she motioned down the corridor. "Shall we?" she asked awkwardly.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

"Can I let you in on a secret?" Dory asked in a joking whisper as they began their walk to the next floor. "It's a selfish want to escort you. I'm rather dreading the mocking of my colleagues." Selfish because he thought it might be fun to bed her, too but she had offered no signs as of yet that he could persuade her.

  

Josie laughed. “Unfortunately Mr Fisk, I think you are only delaying the inevitable.” She replied, also in a whisper.

When things like this happened, people were quick to mock. To be honest, if this had happened to a friend of hers, Josie would be first in line to take the mick. It was quite funny to be fair.

After she had made sure they were fine. Obviously. Josie would never mock someone if they were not fine. Never!

“Either that or you hide under my desk for the rest of the day.” She added light heartedly with a laugh. Josie didn’t think twice about what she had just said.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Although she likely didn't intend to imply what Dory's mind immediately leapt to, he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it. He could think of a great many ways to bide his time beneath her desk — especially when so much of him was invisible. He needn't worry about Prewett or anyone else discovering him so long as Miss Jones had a decent poker face. (Which, considering how flustered their interactions usually left her, was likely not the case.) Hm.

"Is that an option?" He teased lightly. "I won't make a peep if you don't."

  

Josie laughed. "Unfortunately, I don't think that would be possible," she replied, "While I would... like that-" Josie said this part of her reply quite awkwardly, once again looking to the floor, "I don't think Mr Prewett would approve. Or Mr Umbridge either."

She looked up to him with a small smile. As much as she felt terribly awkward, she found herself utterly drawn towards Mr Fisk. He spoke to her like she was special. And Josie never felt special.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

He grinned at her laughter. No, it most certinly wouldn't be appreciated by either of their superiors. Hatchitt would have his head for causing such a ruckus so soon into his tenure as squad leader, too. Still, the idea was a pleasant one at least, and Dory would most certainly keep it in mind as he dealt with the eventual laughter of his colleagues.

"Perhaps you'll indulge me in another walk sometime then." He said with a charming grin. "And I'll be able to share my tale of woe after suffering such mockery."

  

Josie gave a sheepish smile. "I would like that." she replied simply. "And if you ever need to hide from the mockery, you know where to find me." she added, gesturing back towards the department of magical games and sports.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

He nodded. "Well, I suppose it's time to face the music then, huh? I shall leave you to your desk." If Hatchitt didn't laugh Umbridge definitely would. "I hope the rest of your day goes smoothly, Miss Jones."

  

"You too Mr Fisk," she replied, "Hopefully this-" Josie gestured up and down his invisible parts of his body, "Will sort itself out eventually. See you later."

And with that she headed off down the corridor, turning around halfway to give him a small wave, before heading back towards her desk.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's