MINISTRY MEETING (open to all ministry employees)

[Andromeda Tonks]

Suddenly, the meeting, and the rest of the day, couldn't end fast enough. She just knew she was going to spend the day panicking about their date tonight, and trying to make sure she looked presentable. Since Le Repas Cher was a classy place, she wanted to make sure she looked like she belonged there. Of course, as a Black, she had more than her fair share of fancy, perfectly tailored robes. But she'd always looked out of place in them. She was still something of a tomboy at heart, and in recent years, she had found that she rather liked wearing muggle clothing. She didn't do it often--just on the weekends--but it was surprisingly comfortable, and it showed off more of her figure.

But she certainly couldn't wear anything like that tonight. Maybe a shopping trip would be necessary...

"I'll see you then," she replied simply, matching his smile.

[Vincent Corrigan]

Vincent looked around the room, noticing that the rest of the ministry officials had arrived. He cleared his throat and stood up, still holding his notecards.

"OK, everyone, if you'll all take your seats, I'd like to get started with the meeting. I promise this won't take too long, because I know you all have jobs to do. I don't want to keep you from them for very long."

[Bridget Harvey]

When Vincent Corrigan stood, Bridget once again got those nervous butterflies in her stomach. But, insisting upon herself that she would be calm, she gave Angelique on last look. "It was nice meeting you," she smiled. "I hope we can chat more in the future."

Everyone began to settle down and find seats. Bridget faced the Minister and tried to focus on his face and voice, not her stomach which was doing cartwheels.

[Ted Tonks]

Ted gave Andromeda one last smile before straightening himself in his seat ad turned his attention, though unwillingly, to Vincent. However short this meeting was, it would probably still be too long, he thought, since his mind was a million miles away.

It wasn't just Andromeda on his mind, though she, as of late, was a big part of it. But he had work and some family things to contend with as well, and he could pretty much guess exactly how this meeting was going to go anyway. Still, he tried to pay attention.

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi reluctantly snapped to attention and turned to face Vincent. But her mind was not on the meeting at all. Ted was all she could think about, sitting so close to her. If she had been a different kind of woman, she might have let her hands wander under the table during the meeting, but she knew better than to make such a display. Instead, she kept her hands folded neatly in front of her while she allowed herself to think ahead to that night, when she and Ted would go out.

[Vincent Corrigan]

Vincent waited a few more minutes while everyone scrambled to finish their conversations or hurried to find a seat. Butterflies were flutttering in his stomach and he had to resist the uncontrollable urge to reach up and check his hair with one hand.

Once everyone had settled down in their seats and the room had fallen silent enough to hear a pin drop, Vincent gathered up his notecards and began to read.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Vincent Corrigan, your new Minister of Magic. Some of the priorities...." he stopped. The heavily rehearsed and written speech sounded exactly that... heavily rehearsed and written. Setting down his notecards, he began to speak from his heart.

"Some of you may know me from my work in the auror office. Some of you may not. But I hope that, in the coming weeks and months, I can get to know each one of you and the important contribution you make to the ministry of magic. In the past, under Craven, we became an office divided. I want to heal those rifts and bring us back to being the team we were meant to be. We have a lot of things we need to worry about in this world right now. Though Death Eater attacks have been fairly few and far between, we should not take our safety for granted. Attacks may come directly, or indirectly. And we need to be ready for them. And the best way to do that is to work together as one."

[Greta Weiss]

Greta had of course had to enter the room just after Corrigan, she smiled thinly as she entered and said "Oh Do excuse me Minister! I just got in, there was another collision in the floo this morning! nasty traffic." she said stepping into the room with a roll of her hips in her step. she was pleased to seem that she had interrupted him during a speech, a very coarse speech, but a speech nonetheless. she forced her cheeks to flush and said "Oh dear! sorry!" and sat down into the next empty chair. she was sure there was no solid evidence to get her in any sort of trouble, she was safe for the time being, the dark lords asp among this flock of birds.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique twitched with anger at the sight of the woman. Though it was the first time she had set eyes on her, she knew exactly who the woman was. Greta Weiss. The woman who had tried to kill Wesley, and who had murdered her niece, Sabrina. Because of this woman, Angelique would never meet her niece. But of course, somehow the charges hadn't been able to stick. Nevermind that at least half a dozen people had witnessed the murder, the woman was like Teflon, the new invention that was so popular in America.

But Angelique had made a vow to herself. The woman would pay, somehow. She was going to find a way to prove what Weiss had done, and she was going to make her pay for it.

Really, the woman had a lot of gall showing up here. She had been the Minister's assistant when Craven had been in office. But Craven was dead, and Vincent was minister now... did she really think she even still had a job? And to walk into a room full of aurors... the nerve! Angelique was sorely tempted to run across the room and take her down.

[Ted Tonks]

Ted gave the woman a once over as she came, not liking the commotion she made about it. What, exactly, was the problem with coming in quietly and taking a seat in the back?

He instantly felt off about her, and remembered hearing some kind of trial or something she had been through, but he couldn't place the details off the top of his head.

He let it go, though, turning his attention back to Vincent, whom he thought was actually doing quite well up to this point.

[Vincent Corrigan]

Vincent's mouth drew into a tight-lipped smile. Weiss. He couldn't believe the woman had dared to show up. For a week, he'd been looking for her, trying to let her know that in no uncertain terms would she be continuing her job as assistant to the minister. His attempts to bring her up on charges may have been unsuccessful, but he was not going to work with her as an assistant. "So good of you to join us, Ms. Weiss," he said in a cool tone. "If you would be so kind as to stay behind after the meeting. We have a matter we need to discuss."

Looking away from her, he caught Angelique's eye. He knew what she was thinking, and he shook his head lightly at her, hoping she would get the message to leave Weiss to him. At least for now.

"Now, then, where was I...?"

[Greta Weiss]

She smiled back at him, serenly as if nothing were amiss. She knew she most likely wouldn't be assistant anymore. She had made certain that there was no evidance of what Erasmus did or what she had done. the right spell on the right people and she was off with little or no real damage. She was going to remain at the post the dark lord assigned her, even if it be came to be misery.

[Vincent Corrigan]

Vincent cleared his throat. "Oh, yes, I remember. Togetherness. Teamwork. These are the things we need to have if we're to succeed in balancing out the threats in the wizarding world. I believe, for the most part, we have a good team here, and that we can do this. We can help keep order against the threat of chaos. That is what I would like to aim for in my administration."

Bowing his head, he said, "Now there will be some reorganization in some of the departments. Don't worry, it won't be anything bad. Most of you have been toiling unrecognized for too long, and are due for promotions. I'll be talking to most of you individually. But first, I need to name my replacement for the head of the auror department."

[Amelia Bones]

Amelia turned to scowl as Greta entered the room noisily. For having worked in a professional environment for many years, the woman certainly did not know anything about manners. She was glad to see, however, that her loud entrance did not go unnoticed by Vincent, even if he was busy with his speech. She smiled to herself and turned her attention back on the minister.

She perked up slightly at the mention of promotions. Amelia wanted nothing more than to one day head her department. She had nothing against it's current head Felicia, but the woman couldn't possibly stay in that position for the rest of her life. At some point, and Amelia knew it wouldn't be anytime soon, the position would become available. She could only hope that she would rise in the ranks so that she would be an appropriate option when the time came.

[Vincent Corrigan]

Vincent looked around the room, allowing the buzz that had started when he mentioned the word "promotions" to slowly settle down. He paused to give a quick smile to Emily. He'd have to ask her later how she thought he had done in his first official speech.

Finally, when the room had fallen silent in anticipation, Vincent nodded. "While I believe all of our aurors are doing a great job and are perfectly qualified, I have decided to give the job of head auror to Angelique St. Clare. She's tough and she takes no nonsense from everyone, and I can think of no one better for the job. So please, give her a round of applause."

[Greta Weiss]

Greta inwardly cringed, Mr. Corrigan gave speeches the way kindergarten teachers gave speeches, she imagined a overly sweet voice saying 'now everyone give blahblahblah a round of applause!', it was degrading really to hear the phrase come out of a handsome young buffoon. It also seemed to her that he was being overly kind to a peer of his. St. Clare, she didn't have enough years in the profession really, but he was making sure to put his people in the right places. She may of been many things, but blindly stupid wasn't one of them. She'd have to put the assignments in her report to the dark lord, she would owl it later. meanwhile she jotted down the appointments in her ledger, as she had always done for her Erasmus, how she missed him sometimes.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique smiled broadly and got to her feet. This was her opportunity, which had been denied her so long in America. Here, she felt, she could finally make a real difference. "Thank you, Minister Corrigan. It is a real honor to step into your shoes as head of the auror office." Looking around at her fellow aurors, she said, "I will be meeting with all of you, both as a group and individually, to discuss assignments and things like that. I also want to reiterate what the Minister has already stated about teamwork. We definitely need to work together as a united front if we are going to eliminate the forces of darkness."

At this last line, she abruptly turned and looked directly at Greta Weiss, her eyes narrowed fiercely. Although Angelique was normally a very beautiful woman, at that moment, the cold, unrelenting hatred in her eyes made her look truly frightening.

But as quickly as it had come, the look vanished, leaving a serene, beautiful smile as she turned back towards the rest of the room. "Minister Corrigan, I again thank you for the opportunity."

With that, she sat down, a look of flushed satisfaction on her face.

[Amelia Bones]

Amelia was pleased when Vincent announced the new Head Auror. Angelique was going to be fantastic in the position. Looking around the room as Angelique made her way up to the front to speak, Amelia tried to gauge the expressions of the other aurors who were not as lucky. She couldn't see everyone's face, but most of them were clapping no matter how they truly felt. Amelia clapped along with them, and stopped when the sound slowly faded away. Angelique began to speak. It was short and direct, just like the speaker herself. Down to business.

[Vincent Corrigan]

Vincent smiled with satisfaction. "Thanks again, Miss St. Clare. I know you'll do an excellent job." He looked around the room at the rest of the ministry workers. "Now, then, I think that should about cover it for now. However, I would like to open up the floor for questions; if anyone has anything they'd like to ask, please step forward."

[Felicia Campbell]

Felicia raised her hand. "Yes, Minister, I have a question," she began, standing up. "I'm sure you have read the latest article in the Daily Prophet by Bambi Ackart. She questions the validity of the so-called Death Eater movement, and the existence of the mysterious Lord Voldemort. What can you say to these critics? Do you have any proof of his existence, or is it really all a bunch of smoke and mirrors?"

[Ted Tonks]

Ted had applauded for Angelique, and leaned over to Andi. "Well, that was a complete surprise," he joked. He was glad she had been given the position more than he would have been had anyone else gotten it. She was a good leader, and would get things accomplished. And when idiots (in his opinion) in the Ministry like Felicia asked stupid questions like that, they would need a good head of department just to keep them functional. That, and a Minister from the auror department helped.

He bristled at Felicia's question and sat up a bit straighter. What kind of a question was that, anyway? He was actually offended by it. He had just gotten back from chasing a lead on Death Eaters. They were killing Aurors every chance they got. There was a whole Department in the Ministry for it, for Merlin's sake! What answer did she expect? Why yes, it's all a load of bull and we spend countless amounts of money training aurors to pretend like they're doing something on occassion, just because we want the general public to live in fear.