5th January, 1891 - Ministry Hallway Somewhere
Dorian Fisk

She had tried her best. She really had. Josie always tried her best, but it never seemed to be good enough. When her mother finally woke her up, she only had a few minutes to get ready and make her way to work.

On the whole, it had little impact on her day. As Josie scurried about the ministry, her neat hair stayed in place, and her clothes had been put on correctly. While the department of magical games and sports were all fully aware of her stressful morning (there had been no hiding it as she rushed in with only a minute to spare before the start of the day), others in the ministry would perhaps miss her trauma. Looking so composed, it was almost undetectable.

The secretary had been tasked with taking some files and documents to another part of the ministry. Quite a few files and documents. Normally, Josie would have managed to charm them to follow her (or asked someone to do it for her). However, she had managed to leave her wand at home. No one else had been about to help her, and she was far too embarrassed to bother Mr Prewett, so instead she carried all of them, pretending not to struggle as she walked.

It was all going well. That was until she managed to trip, falling over, and sending all of the papers flying.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

The year was off to a lackluster start for Dorian. He thought that after his fortunate Christmas morning run in with Miss Skovgaard that the tide would finally turn in favor of a relationship with her, but the continuing silence (and lack of necessary visits from him) proved otherwise. Not that Dory genuinely believed anything fruitful would ever come from his age old crush, not genuinely anyway. How could he? Miss Skovgaard was nearing spinsterhood, and once that realization settled upon her she would marry someone far more eligible than he. Her marrying would be for the better, anyway. Dory certainly wasn't ready to settle down just yet.

No, he would much rather continue on as the rake he was.

He was heading back towards his squadron's office when the young witch (who's backside he certainly wasn't wondering about) tripped, sending her papers flying all about the otherwise empty hall. "Are you alright?" Dory asked instinctively as he moved to help her back to her feet. The papers could wait a moment before being collected.

  

Josie lay there for a few seconds while she got to grips with what had just happened. Upon hearing the man's voice however, her torso shot up. She could feel the blood rush to her face; she knew she had gone bright red. "I'm fine." she lied, looking up to him as she sat on the floor. The man looked familiar, Josie had seen him about the ministry before, but she did not know him. Josie couldn't work out whether that made this more or less embarrassing.

She rubbed her hurting elbow as she looked around her, the files everywhere. Thankfully, most had stayed closed and the papers within remained intact - however others had scattered throughout the hallway. If Josie had her wand, she could have gotten them to reorganise themselves with magic - but it looked like she was going to have to do it by hand.

She was such an idiot.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Dorian was too familiar with the pain of embarrassment to accept her answer. How many times had he given a similar response only.to wind up in the hospital hours later from one injury or another? (Countless, the answer was countless for the injury prone man.) "That was a nasty fall," he commented as he extended his hand to help lift her from the floor. "Bang your elbow, then?"

Determined not to humiliate the pretty lady, Dory quietly flicked his wand then to collect the papers into a neat stack hovering besides him. "Can I walk you back to your office Miss ...?"

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   Josie Jones

Silently, Josie gave him an embarrassed affirmative look. Yes, her elbow hurt. It did not feel broken or permanently damaged, just banged up.

"Thank you," she replied quietly, as she pulled herself up, "For helping me up, and for sorting all those papers. I forgot my wand at home today - that would have taken me ages. I've got to take these to [insert place], before I return back to games and sports."

The pit in Josie stomach eased as he was kind to her. She was so worried that he would have been nasty, and it was all for nothing.

"And it's Jones," she added, "Josie Jones."

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Josie Jones. Dory made a mental note to ask Hatchitt later if he had any knowledge of her. Surprisingly, Hatchitt had even more connections within the ministry than Dory did, which considering his brother-in-law was the Minister was saying something. If Kons didn't have such rigid morals he might've asked him, or Nemo maybe. Dory despised not knowing all he could about even the most basic of his acquaintances, a hatred that grew especially nagging when the acquaintances were beautiful blond women.

"Any gentleman would've done the same," he replied with a charming smile. Helping a damsel in distress was the moat basic act of chivalry, was it not? "I was just heading that way myself. Dorian Fisk, Accidental Magic." He gestured towards the direction they were meant to be heading, though it was quite a detour from his own offices. "Shall we?"

  

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beautiful set by lady

Josie nodded and headed off in the direction of her destination. "Still - thank you Mr Fisk." she replied. Josie indeed knew the name Fisk - it was hard not to know the surname Fisk. There were plenty of them in the ministry, and they were all the brothers (and was there a sister?) of the minister's wife.

"I don't know what I would have done without you," she told him, "I would have been picking up paper for hours!" - Josie gave a weak laugh, trying very hard to laugh at her own expense.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Dory chuckled. It was rare nowadays that he got to play the role of knight in shining armor. Most women were at least vaguely aware of his intentions (or lack thereof) and steered clear to more eligible bachelors. And those that didn't...well, they most certainly weren't seeking after a knight. A scoundrel, perhaps, but not a chivalrous gentleman.

"Days, I'd imagine, if the papers tucked into the envelopes were to slip free, too." He added jokingly. "Or at least until another gentleman walked by to help."

  

Josie gave a weak laugh. "You're not wrong. I'd have been on my hands and knees for hours! Having to sort it all by hand. I honestly can't believe I left my wand at home." Who did that? What witch actually left their wand at home? Thankfully the kind Mr Fisk had helped her. He was such a good man.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

"Does Mr. Prewett run his department with such a firm hand that you couldn't return home to retrieve it quickly?" If her house was connected to the floo it would surely be a short trip both ways. The longest stretch of the journey would have to be the walk to and from her desk. "Going without your wand all day seems like a herculean task. I certainly couldn't." Then again, Dory's job centered around disenchanting objects.

  

Go home? To collect her wand? Absolutely not. "I couldn't!" she exclaimed, "Oh no, I wouldn't even dare to ask. It is not Mr Prewett, I'm sure he wouldn't mind - I just couldn't bring myself to ask him if I could!" No, Josie was far too timid for that.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

"What harm could come from asking?" Dory prodded gently, surprised by her adamant refusal. Punishing herself to a day without magic surely had to be worse than any possible grumble from Prewett. "At the worst, he says no. At the best, you don't risk having to spend hours collecting a fallen stack of papers."

  

"Oh no no no," Josie replied, as she waved her hands in front of her. Her tone of voice conveying her opinions on asking for stuff - which was she would perhaps rather pull out her own eyelashes than put herself out there. "I'm happy to make do. I..." she trailed off while she tried to find the right words. "I'm not very good at asking for things. I just want to do what I'm told, keep my head down, and just get on with it." she admitted, looking to him with a meek smile.

"I'm sorry." she continued, internally scolding herself. "Because I couldn't ask Mr Prewett if I could go back to get my wand, means you have to go out of your way to help me. That's not fair. I can carry them all from now on if you want to go back to whatever you were doing." She looked down to her hands while she was talking, rubbing them together awkwardly, she only looked to him after she had finished speaking.

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Oh, Merlin.

Dory felt instantly guilty for inspiring such an adamant reaction. Really, what she did was her business and he could only quietly comment inside his head. He raised his brow as she continued on but made no other response. She was a curious woman, no doubt. Entirely unlike Marie Louise, though.

"As I said, Miss Jones," Dory quickly recovered, "I was heading that way anyway. I couldn't possibly leave you. No gentleman would." Lest she trip again. "It's no trouble. But, if you are truly concerned, how about we make a pact? See, I'm terribly clumsy myself. Should you ever see me fall as I witnessed you, promise me you'll just duck your head and keep on walking." He finished with a chuckle.

  

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beautiful set by lady

Josie gave him a meek smile as he clearly tried to cheer her up. She did feel some relief. He clearly did not hate her or think she was a terrible person for roping him into this task. She managed a weak laugh when he himself chuckled.

"I could not do that Mr Fisk," she replied, "If I was to see you fall I couldn't just leave you there. I would help you, just like you have helped me." Her tone was earnest, and genuine. She looked to him afterwards, still awkward, but with a small smile through it.

It wasn't in Josie's nature to leave people when they were in need. Her overwhelming urge would be to rush over. Mostly because she wanted to help them, and partially because she didn't want to be the person that didn't help people. What would people say?

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Dory grinned. It was rather enjoyable making her blush, and her eyes were rather pretty. (He didn't dare glance down towards her chest when she was staring up at him, but Merlin was he kicking himself for not doing so earliet.) That she was a reserved sort didn't speak well to his chances with her, but that was no bother either. A few more charming smiles and maybe there could be a glimmer of hope.

"You're too kind, Miss Jones." Already, Dory was contemplating ways to force himself to fall into her path when they next crossed. "And I do believe we've arrived." He pointed towards the door to the office she was heading to. "Where shall I leave the stack of papers?"