“Finally.” Annie muttered under her breath as she closed the last case report she had to file for the day….well…night at this point. Five o’clock had passed her by hours ago, though she hadn’t noticed until around six fortyfive when she had looked up to ask her coworker if she had the correct spelling of a wizard's name, only to realize she was the only one left in the office. When had they all gone home? She could vaguely recall nodding a good bye, or mumbling a “Have a lovely weekend”, but it hadn’t registered that maybe it was time for her to pack up and head home as well. Even with her realization, Anastasia had still stayed behind for another hour and a half to complete the small mountain of paperwork that had been unceremoniously plopped on her desk. She didn’t mind, she’d rather enjoy the next two days knowing that she wouldn’t have to catch up on Monday. Besides, her house elf would ensure Tootsie, her hyacinth macaw, was sufficiently fed before turning in for the night.

Standing from her desk, Annie tugged down the sleeves of her blue buttoned top and smoothed out the front of her tweed skirt. Slinging her leather bag over her shoulder, she made her way towards the lift, the “bik bok bik bok” of her high heels echoed against the hard floor, reminding her of the glorious sensation she’d feel once she got home and kicked them off. Punching the button to call the elevator with her thumb, Annie’s thoughts of home were briefly interrupted as she watched the orange glow of the button flicker wildly for a few seconds…odd…it didn’t normally do that…..oh well.

As the elevator doors slowly pulled open, Annie adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder, flipping some of her raven hair out from under it as glossy thick locks poured down her shoulders. Behind her the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall, and turning, Annie reached out to hold the door for Edward Pratt as she saw him approaching.

“Good evening Mr. Pratt.” she said warmly. “Another late night?”

A hazard of the job had been late nights spent slaving over paperwork since Eddie Pratt had entered auror training twenty years ago. Back then, it had been reports being filled in for the fully fledged aurors as well as painful amounts of reading around Wizarding Law. Even with a young family, Ed had spent night after night at the desk in his little cubicle or in the ministry library. As the years went on, and his job increased in importance and seniority, Pratt found the parchment piles only grew and the nights became just that little bit more lonely. When the kids were with their mother, he had little reason other than Winston the dog, to rush home.

He’d dismissed his assistant hours ago and it was only when Pratt realised that he’d read the same sentence 4 times that it was time to call it a night. He needed to pick up some easy food on his way home, grab a beer and rest up. Tomorrow would be Saturday, and, should there be no dire emergency, Ed fully intended to spend the weekend with his oldest son, Noah, and youngest daughter, Brooke, the only two out of the four of his offspring that weren’t away at Hogwarts.

Ed had long since undone his collar button and his tie was hanging loosely. The smart robes he tended to wear around the ministry had been left in his office, so he merely had his dark tweed waistcoat on and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. The holster that he still used to carry his wand was clearly visible.

“Ta, lass.” The yorkshireman thanked the witch as he did that little half jog half walk that you only did to not hold someone up who was holding a door open for you. “Not sure I remember the last time I got out of ‘ere’ before six.” his response as he stepped into the lift wasn’t a ‘woe is me’, it was merely factual.

As the lift doors closed, Ed shoved his hands in his pockets and raised his eyebrows at Dupont. Unlike the rather dishevelled former auror with his scruffy hair and five o’clock shadow, Dupont was always so well put together.

“I hope Hollingbury’s not makin’ ye stay late on a Friday.”

“Ah, so you’re right on schedule then.” Annie quipped lightly in response to his explanation of his late work hours. It made sense, what with him being the head of the department and all. With such titles came certain sacrifices she imagined. She had been around to witness Edward Pratt rise through the ranks of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Back in the early days their paths had crossed quite often, but that had been back when she was just a clerk, essentially running errands all day long. Even when she herself had risen up to be the Administrative Coordinator, their paths had still intersected occasionally, Annie needing to call in Aurors every now and then and what not. He seemed like a nice, intelligent man who worked hard and was dedicated to his job, though with their work related duties made their run-ins less and less frequent now that he was head, and strictly professional when they did encounter one another, Annie couldn’t say she knew him much deeper than that.

“Oh certainly not. Truthfully, I’m not sure Mr. Hollingbury even knows I stayed behind. I simply lost track of the time.” Annie explained.

A silence fell between them for a moment, though it wasn’t uncomfortable, at least not for Anastasia. It was just the nature of office chit chat it seemed. A few polite questions, vague and equally polite answers. Just enough to kill the time so the quiet that followed seemed less awkward.

“Do you have any-” Annie was about to ask if he had anything interesting planned for the weekend when the lift gave a sharp and aggressive lurch. Stepping out to one side to catch her footing, Annie reached out and placed a hand on the wall to steady herself, her green eyes catching Edward’s searching for a sign that he felt that was as unusual as she did. The lift slowed bumped to a stop.

“That was odd-OH!” Just as she was stating the obvious the elevator jerked back in the opposite direction too fast for Annie to keep her balance and sent her toppling into Edward, her hands instinctively grasping onto the lapels of his waistcoat as she fell into him.

The small talk was over and they fell silent. It was for the best, really. Ed was feeling mentally exhausted and thinking of nothing more than an easy dinner and a pint of ale.

When the slightly younger witch started to ask a question, seemingly about his plans, the lift suddenly jerked. Pratt grabbed the handlebar behind him and looked to Dupont who was looking a little more perturbed. The lifts, Pratt had always believed, had minds of their own. He’d been thrown around a few times before by lifts a little too quick and frantic. Magical maintenance could only do so much.

Another lurch sent the witch falling into Ed, grabbing his waistcoat to keep her balance. Instinctively, Pratt put a hand around her waist as they started to plummet far quicker than was safe. The lift was showing no sign of slowing so Pratt used his spare left hand to pull out his wand.

“Arresto momentum!” He yelled, and the lift ceased in the downfall, stopping abruptly. The force caused the pair to fall to the floor, Ed’s wand still in his hand. He disentangled his legs from Anastasia’s, and sat back against the lift wall. “Ye, alrigh’?”

Annie hadn’t been one to ever really say she had any legitimate fears in life. A few magical creatures were unsettling to her, but there was nothing she could usually call to mind that she felt warranted the title of being her biggest fear.

Well…

That had certainly changed, as “Plummeting to your death in an uncontrollable lift while clinging to your boss’s boss like a scared child” now seemed like a very real and legitimate fear to have. She hadn’t thought twice about tucking closer into Edward as his arm wrapped around her waist, Annie squeezing her eyes shut as her stomach did flips while they sped downward. In those few seconds she cursed herself for ever thinking those wand holsters look absolutely ridiculous, as hers was tucked away in her bag. How stupid she felt for not having slipped it into her skirt pocket instead where it would have been easy to reach.

As the two wix hit the floor from the abrupt stop of the lift, Annie felt like her heart was trying to pound through her chest. On autopilot, she pulled her legs from Edward’s and tucked them to one side of her as she leaned back against the opposite wall. Never. Again. She never wanted to take the damned lift again. Did The Ministry even have stairs she could take?

“I’m alright. Are you?” she returned the question, her breathing a little uneven. She had been bumped around by the magical lifts before, but never that severely.

“Fine.” Was Pratt’s single word response as he gave the witch a cursory glance over. No broken bones or blood. He, like every auror, had been given basic training in simple medical issues caused in the field, but he rarely had opportunity to use any of it at his cushy desk. Glad that she wasn’t howling in pain or bleeding to death, the former auror pushed himself to his feet and looked around the lift.

On the surface, no damage seemed apparent. The lift was shiny and clean and nothing was flashing or sparking. Everything was eerily silent. With his spare hand, Ed pulled a red lever, the lever that called for magical maintenance.

“Ye know, I left the office thinking how much I’d really love spending the rest o’me evening sitting in a dodgy lift with no food. What a treat we’re in for, Miss Dupont.” Ed could only presume she knew that magical maintenance weren’t well known for their speedy arrivals.

Annie nodded along as Edward pointed out what was bound to be quite a long stay inside The Ministry’s magical box they claimed to be a functioning lift. With a soft sigh she slipped her bag off her shoulder and set it on the ground beside her. It had already been a long day, and now it appeared it’d also be a long night.

Silence lingered between the pair for a moment before Annie spoke.

“I don’t suppose this would count towards overtime, would it?” she jokingly asked with a sweet smile, trying to lighten the dismal fact that it could be hours before they’d be getting out of here and headed home. Annie could already imagine the displeased squawks from Tootsie, her hyacinth macaw, when she’d arrive much too late for the bird’s liking. Her house elf had probably already fed the blue bird dinner, but Annie knew the creature preferred her home on time. Reaching over she dug with one hand in her bag, pulling out an apple she hadn’t eaten during lunch.

“Apple?” she offered, holding it out for him. It was well past dinner time at this point, and if she hadn’t eaten, she figured there was a decent chance he hadn’t either.