An Early Morning Arrival

[Catalina Chalmette]

Beep. Beep. Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!

Slam.

Catalina's dark skinned hand came down on the alarm clock snooze button hard- so hard, in fact, that she sent the little thing tumbling off her nightstand. It landed with a loud thud on the wooden floor, followed by three shorter thuds as the batteries popped out. 'Oh my..' She thought to herself, rolling over onto her stomach and pulling the covers up over her body. I hope the hotel doesn't charge me for that. The thought of actually getting up like the alarm clock had dictated didn't even cross her mind. After all, that was the best part about alarm clocks. You could set them for a half hour earlier than when you actually had to get up, which left you with a bit of time to loll around in bed.

And so the black-haired girl went back to sleep, drifting off for another twenty minutes until she felt like she absolutely needed to get up. Throwing back the covers, she then bounded out of bed and scampered into the bathroom. Ohhh, this was the big day! Grinning, she proceeded to apply more than the normal amout of eyeliner to her brown-black eyes, in addition to a rather dark shade of lipstick. After braiding her hair into just one braid and gelling it down flat, she literally ran over to the closet in her hotel room and flung open the doors. What to wear... there were just too many options.

Upon trying on and rejecting at least ten different outfits, she finally settled on a black jacket with a matching skirt that went down to her knees. It was incredibly conservative compared to the rest of her wardrobe, but she really wanted to make an impression. Though she still left some sign of her heritage showing- a small pentagon hung from her neck. Her mama had given it to her when she was but a child, telling her it would ward off the voodoo and other spirits. While she didn't believe in such things, she still considered it to be a bit of a good luck charm. She'd been wearing it when landed her first position at the Ministry of Magic in the United States, so maybe it could give her an extra boost now.

After squeezing her tiny feet into a pair of three-inch black heels and taking one last glance in the mirror, she exited the room and carefully locked it. She buzzed the elevator while putting the room key in her purse and checking to make sure her wand was in there- perfect. The subway ride over to where she could enter the Ministry was a brief one, since she'd made sure to get a hotel near to where it was. The owl had been sent to her more than a week ago as a reply to her inquiry about a potential opening in one of the Ministry's departments.

Miss Catalina Chalmette
Small House on the Bayou
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America

Dear Miss Chalmette,
We are pleased to inform you that we have a number of openings at the Ministry at this time. Based off of past credentials, we would be delighted if you were to come for an interview. Please be at the Ministry entrance no later than ten AM.
Sincerely,
Kiki Micheals
Ministress of Magic.

Humming softly, she creased and uncreased the letter as she sat in the lobby. From what she could tell, it seemed like a nice place to work. Probably not half as many magical troublemakers as in New Orleanes, where every witch and wizard seemed to find it fun to raise the dead and play tricks on the muggles living near them. Downright rude, she found it, and had performed more memory wipes in her past six months than some had performed in an entire lifetime. Every month there seemed to be a new trend- fake voodoo dolls that stuck to the buyer's skin, man-eating toliets, and an odd rice dish that gave the person who ingested it the odd desire to eat fire.

Yes, things certainly had been interesting. Her eyes suddenly chanced to look over at the clock, and she could hardly believe what she saw. No wonder the Ministry was near-deserted and the receptionist had given her such a weird look- it was six o'clock in the morning. Sighing out of pure frustration, she hoped that Kiki was the kind of girl who enjoyed getting to work extra early.

[Nicol]

{ I hope you do not mind me joining. If you do please just say so and I will remove my post. }

A tremendously high-pitched shriek tore down the staircase of the tenth floor, echoing throughout the ninth floor and just skimming the walls of the lobby down further stairs. It had come from the courtrooms. On the ninth floor a woman gasped in her sleep, raising her head with her ebony and griffin wand directed at the handle of her door in the space of a second. Her eyes flashed open and she tightened her grip on her wand, before realising it was only the tormented souls upstairs that had woken her.

Her head dropped on her extended arm and she moaned tiredly. Flicking her wand back inside her sleeve she yawned, running her hands over her eyes to rid them of sleep and whatnot. Rising from the black-wood chair she was settled on, she made her way over to a floor-length mirror that stood by the other side of her room, facing the door. Grabbing a brush by a shelf near the mirror, Nicol gently began to run it down her fawn-brown locks, untangling whatever evidence of sleep there was in them.

Yawning again, she lightly placed the brush back on the shelf and wandered over to her desk, rummaging through the paperwork to find what she was looking for. At that moment, a miniature bluebird, the size of a robin only with royal-blue plumage jumped up under the paperwork and bounced up the almond-brown sleeve of her robe to sit on her shoulder. The Jobberknoll nibbled her ear affectionately, and she reached her hand up to scratch his neck gently. He was a good companion, a lovely gift from another persona at the Ministry, and even a help in her job. Jobberknoll feathers were extremely useful in memory potions, and as the Head of Department of Mysteries, Nicol would often have a need for a feather or two from him.

Jibbler fluffed himself up fondly and pecked at her finger whenever she threatened to take it away, bumping his head against her neck when he wanted more of a scratch. His beady black eyes were closed in bliss as she rubbed around his little neck, before she pulled out her wand and pointed it to the pile of paperwork. Pieces of parchment slid into place and bound themselves with a peacock-green ribbon, then she reached down with both hands and picked them up.

As Jibbler nestled himself in her hair, she walked over to the door, unlocking it, stepping outside, then locking it again and turning to the misty abyss of the ninth floor. It did not seem to bother the woman at all, the fog that surrounded her, in fact, she found it quite comforting. Heading over to the staircase she descended it and in time she appeared in the lobby, heading over to the fancy desk of the secretary.

Before she got there however, a woman clad in a black outfit caught her eyes, and she stopped midway across the room, turning to face her. Nicol's eyes were a strange colour. Although they were forest-green in a majority, they were coated over with a haze of slate grey, making her eyes take on a shadowed look. Her features did not contort into a smile, she merely studied the woman, before continuing on her way and placing the papers on the secretary's desk. She explained what and whom they were for, then turned to make her way back to the staircase.

Stopping midway across the room again, Jibbler poked his head out of her hair and also set his beady eyes on the woman, as Nicol did for a second time. She glanced over at the golden clock above the secretary's head and her brow quirked slightly, before she looked back at the woman. Tilting her head faintly, she stole another glance at the hands that read a quarter past six, then she returned her gaze on the woman. Although Nicol did not say anything - as she was often as silent as the Jobberknoll on her shoulder - her expression clearly wondered why the woman was here so early.

[Catalina Chalmette]

Faintly, she heard a scream coming from one of the many upper floors. This caused her to raise an eyebrow in wonderment- what could be going on up there? She had no idea and simply hoped that it wasn't anything too awful. Then again... it was London. What kind of things could be going on here? Pshhh. Probably not half as bad as the things she'd already experienced. After the interesting and diverse culture of the Louisiana swamp area, she figured that she'd have no problem adjusting to the tame enviroment of the city. There would maybe be the occasional out of control witch who decided to hex everyone in sight, but nothing as downright creepy as she she'd seen in the past. Already at the age of 25, she felt like she'd experienced everything she needed to see about the magical world.

Shortly after the shriek, she observed the woman coming down the stairs.. holding a strange kind of creature that she'd never seen before. Quirking an eyebrow, she stared right back at her. Was she some sort of object of curiosity now? How odd. Where she came from, at least people were polite enough not to stare. After a few minutes of looking at the woman while she conducted some kind of buisness with the receptionist, Catalina put the letter back in her purse and crossed her arms over her chest. Well, it wasn't her fault that she was here so early. She never was a good judge of time, and after breaking her alarm clock she'd been unable to reset it.

Plus, it was always better to be early than to be late. She was making a good impression... wasn't she? Suddenly, she began to wonder if the woman who had just walked by her was Kiki. She didn't know what the sender of the letter looked like, so then again she might be wrong. Sighing with utter confusion, she tapped her heels on the hard floor and continued to wait. Maybe, even if the woman wasn't the person who was going to interview, at least she 'd come over and keep her company for a while. Sitting by herself was so boring, and she wasn't the kind of girl who liked to keep to herself.

She'd always been lectured back when she was in school that she talked too much. Before she'd gone away to one of the less prestigous American Magical Academies, she'd attended a muggle elementary school. Her parents had always been most displeased with her less than satisfactory grades, always lecturing her about how she'd never get into college with terrible grades. But they later realized that she wasn't meant for the muggle world- her destiny lay in the magical one. She excelled at all of her magic classes, getting top marks especially in Defense Against the Dark Arts. However, she had the downfall of occasionally being overconfident, which brought about many near-fatal mistakes.

But it didn't really matter much for her. Today, she was here to make an impression and to, maybe, land a job.

[Kiki]

Kiki awoke that morning with a start. She had been dreaming about people she shouldn't have been dreaming about - assorted Vampires, wizards and muggles alike. Rubbing her violet coloured eyes she glanced at the dragon-shaped clock ticking on her wall and groaned as the ungodly hour registered in her mind. Her calendar coughed at her and as she threw off the covers and disentangled herself from her bed, she commanded the calendar to read her the days events.

After a list of hardly exciting things that Kiki had to do that day, Kiki realised that in there was the announcement that she was going to be interviewing several people for a blank position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. There had been a fair few people with past experience and knowledge who Kiki felt could easily be an asset to the Ministry and Kiki knew - from a list of tips she had been given by past Minister Bob Rainbow - that the ones most eager would be there early: whether eager for the money or the opportunity. Usually for the opportunity which also supported the dedication they had for the job they were applying for. Stumbling toward her bathroom, Kiki stepped into the shower, wanting to wake herself up and put herself into the right frame of mind to give an adequate impression to inspire some sort of respect for a nineteen year-old Ministeress.

Finally ready, dressed in a set of emerald green robes, Kiki tapped her calendar with her wand and it spat out the list of things she needed to do that day on a piece of parchment and she glanced over it as she Apparated into the Atrium. There was no-one there yet, but she hadn't expected there to be. Murmuring to herself as she read over the list, she knew that she still had at least an hour before any possible future employee would show up, she slipped into her office, conjured up a cup of tea and began to get stuck into the paperwork that was first and foremost on her list.

She was broken out of her rhythm of work by Cornelius Fudge clearing his throat to grab her attention. Glancing at the clock hung crookedly on her wall, she saw that it was five past six. Blinking in surprise, she realised that almost a quarter of the things on her list had been crossed off in almost half an hour. Maybe she didn't have so much to do at all. Fudge cleared his throat again and Kiki turned around - Fudge was not among her list of most respected Ministers that hung on her walls. Although he had done a great many things for the Ministry and magical world, it was a refusal to look past his own nose and see the big picture for fear of damaging himself that ruined his reputation. She assumed that Fudge's attempt to claim her attention meant that someone was waiting outside in the lobby to see her.

Kiki stood behind her desk and sipped at the rest of her tea, finishing the mug. Straightening her hair in the mirror, the raven mass cascading easily in a wavy river down her back, she left her office and walked to the elevator that took her to the lobby. Nodding warmly to Nichol who walked past her as Kiki entered the lobby, her purple eyes soon fell onto the person who was waiting for her. There was a black-haired woman sitting down, looking a trifle apprehensive. Kiki walked over to the secretary who had appeared whilst Kiki had been working and greeted her good morning, instructing her that she may not be in her office for the next hour or so and to please file any memos or paperwork in chronological order on her desk so she could tackle it when she returned.

Kiki then walked over to the woman and smiled at her.

"Ms Chalmette?" Kiki's mind ran through every possible room that she could take Catalina to, so that she could test her knowledge. Settling on one, Kiki made a sweeping gesture with her arm and said,

"Follow me." Kiki wound her way through the depths of the Ministry, down one flight of stairs, up another, around a corner, over and over until she reached an unmarked oak door that swung open when Kiki put her hand against it. It was one of the Auror examination rooms and was fairly safe to test ones magical power. Not that Kiki had any doubts as to Ms Chalmette's abilities, however it was better to be safe then sorry.

[Catalina Chalmette]

Ohhh, you'd better not screw this one up...

She nervously wrung her hands while she watched the other woman walk away, obviously having nothing to say to her. Darn, everyone seemed so unfriendly here! Now, if she'd been back in her old position back in America, she would have greeted the day with a fine day of black coffee, followed by hearty hellos to her fellow co-workers. She'd never had to interview anyone before, but she still managed to flash the hopeful few who'd wanted a job there a quick smile. Jeez. This place felt more like a funeral than anything else. She was incredibly hopeful that, if she actually did begin working here, people would warm up to her. Maybe she could throw a party...

Her little mental ramblings came to a halt when a black haired woman- no, girl, came up beside her. She raised an eyebrow to this, thinking that she might be Kiki's secretary or something of the sort. She was so young. Younger than Catalina, in fact. Could she really be the ministress? Well... to each his (or her) own. For all she knew, Kiki had battled a whole hoard of vampires or hinkypinks to get the job. It wasn't any of her buisness, really. Her job was to do well on whatever task she was given, just so that she could prove that she was eligible for the job. Of course... the poor ministress probably had no idea what she was getting into. Catalina had been described in many ways before, though probably the best word would be 'spicy'.

She wasn't too shy for pretty much anything. Muggle bars? She could fend off the redneck men with one hand and use the other to drink enough tequila to tranquilize a horse. Decorating her office? It was usually done out in bright colors, such as a screaming neon purple with pink polka dots. Yes, she sure did have some taste- even if people thought she was a little bit messed up in the head. Pah. Normal people were just to boring to stand her.

"Please, call me Catalina. Or Cat. Anything but Miss Chalmette, 'cause only my landlord calls me that." Formor landlord... She reminded herself as she stood up to follow Kiki. Don't forget, you've been away from that dreadfully polite man for at least a week now. Stupid Mr. Bennet Tannerbaun. No matter how many times I told him... it was always Miss Chalmette this, or Miss Chalmette that...

She suddenly realized that, in the midst of her thoughts, she'd fallen behind a bit. And her high heels weren't making the trip any easier. She nearly lost one while going through a doorway, and almost fell down a set of stairs at least three times. While she had been expecting some kind of practical test, she had been hoping that she'd have a chance to change first. But, when they finally reached the examination room, she was just about ready to collapse. Hoping not to seem rude, she decided to kick off her shoes and stand there in just her stocking feet.

"I'm ready for whatever you'd like to throw at me." She said with a faint grin, reaching into her pocketbook to withdraw her wand. Eleven inches, lycan hair and phoenix feather. An interesting combination, she'd always been told. But now she'd have to see how good she was; if her wand would hold true through whatever test she might have to pass.