24 September 1891 — Ministry of Magic
Juliana had only just started her new job working for the Minister of Magic, but she thought she'd made the right decision in leaving. The work was engaging, and more interesting than anything she'd done at the House of Lytton, and while she'd had to rearrange her usual Tuesday trips to the Hogsmeade Street Market it was rather nice to have weekends off. And the emotional burden was significantly less than having to share a space with Camilla every day. She did feel terribly guilty about leaving her alone, but the positive impact on her own mentality was undeniable. This had been the right choice for her. Maybe someday Camilla would forgive her for it.
She was finishing up her work for that Friday afternoon, delivering missives to the various Ministry departments. She could have sent them magically, but after being stuck at her desk for several hours already she wanted to stretch her legs, and it would be nice to have a bit of face-time with her counterparts in the other departments as well, just to set a good foundation for the relationship. When she went down to the Department of Mysteries, however, the secretary was already engaged in what appeared to be a heated discussion with a gentleman. Juliana couldn't help but eavesdrop a bit as she dropped the papers off on the desk, and part of her was hoping that her interruption would scare the man away so that she could try and get the full story from the secretary once he was gone.
This didn't happen, and she ended up simply feeling very conspicuous as she interrupted the argument and then retreated back through the middle of it. It was awkward, but it probably wouldn't have made much of an impact on her if the lift hadn't taken so long to reach the floor so that she could leave — now she was standing right next to the visitor, who was apparently on his way out. She could have said nothing, but that would have meant just standing there in awkward silence while they waited for the lift, and through the whole ride back to the Atrium (quite far, since they were on one of the lowest floors). And besides, she was still curious.
"Well," she said, tone pleasant. "You don't sound particularly popular down here."
She was finishing up her work for that Friday afternoon, delivering missives to the various Ministry departments. She could have sent them magically, but after being stuck at her desk for several hours already she wanted to stretch her legs, and it would be nice to have a bit of face-time with her counterparts in the other departments as well, just to set a good foundation for the relationship. When she went down to the Department of Mysteries, however, the secretary was already engaged in what appeared to be a heated discussion with a gentleman. Juliana couldn't help but eavesdrop a bit as she dropped the papers off on the desk, and part of her was hoping that her interruption would scare the man away so that she could try and get the full story from the secretary once he was gone.
This didn't happen, and she ended up simply feeling very conspicuous as she interrupted the argument and then retreated back through the middle of it. It was awkward, but it probably wouldn't have made much of an impact on her if the lift hadn't taken so long to reach the floor so that she could leave — now she was standing right next to the visitor, who was apparently on his way out. She could have said nothing, but that would have meant just standing there in awkward silence while they waited for the lift, and through the whole ride back to the Atrium (quite far, since they were on one of the lowest floors). And besides, she was still curious.
"Well," she said, tone pleasant. "You don't sound particularly popular down here."
Prof. Marlowe Forfang
Jules