11:45am

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Gabrielle had apparated into Diagon Alley about fifteen minutes prior, gone through a lengthy hassle to get back into the Ministry, even as she more than once reassured she was indeed who she said she was. Eventually, the woman had arrived to her department's floor, only to find that her office door had been sealed. This was not the warm return she was expecting after being gone on work and a small sabbatical. She aimed the wand directly at the door knob and flicked it. -SNAP!- The hinges moved off, causing the small snap to be followed by a resounding boom. "Better. Much better," she responded shortly after levitating the door, which clearly took some time before resting it upon the stony wall as she reentered the office space.

Clearly no one had tried to enter here while she was away, so it left the question who... "DEAR GOD!" Gabrielle turned to find Hamilton and Graves standing there with mouths wide open at her craftsmanship before turning to see their boss in their midst. "Hello again, boys. I take it someone took it upon themselves to keep others out of here?" she remarked, smirking as the mouths still stayed open. "Close the mouths before a fly chokes you - I'll make sure the door is repaired before I leave today." She turned her back to the men and began to approach her desk - clean, yes, but there were some files there. No doubt the files of what she had been working on before she disappeared on the Ministry.

Pointing the wand again, she aimed it towards the wireless radio and turned it on, moving the dial to one of the classical stations before sitting down in her seat. Eleven forty-five. Fifteen minutes prior to the meeting. A make or break session... Gabrielle could only hope for the best; until then, she began to organise her thoughts and such for a few minutes alone.

At the hubbub and rumors of his bosses re-arrival, Azize was quite curious, but of course he curiosity was somewhat dampened after a meeting was called by Miss Murray-Harper herself right around lunch time. In his slacks and a slim-fitting vest Azize strolled up to Gabrielle's office and then halted at the doorway. The tall burly man raised a thick eyebrow and inspected the doorway before he finally laid eyes on his boss with a hint of smile.

"Done marching 'round the world on discreet negotiations?" he asked in his thick voice, before he walked into the office and took a seat and laced his large fingers together before leaning on the arm of a chair, "Or were you just finding a good drink to bring back and share?" After the summer he had had, he was much more pleased at dwelling on jests and jokes rather than dwelling on Gabby's absence--they seemed to have faired well enough without her anyway--no burning offices or other crises to report.

Gabrielle was back? About time, Johann couldn't help but think. The Tetra Wizard tournament had them all flat out, and it was about time that she was about to sign those forms to increase his hours and wages.

Appearing in the doorway of her office, he saw Azize had already arrived, and gave them both a grin.
"Not dead then? Excellent, Hamilton will be so dismayed." He landed his backside into one of Gabie's visitor chairs and continued his boyish grin.

"So, what's the news, boss?" Johann asked, still unable to wipe the smile from his face.

Azize was the first to arrive and it was /so/ good to hear that man's voice. She grinned, in fact, at his inquiry. "Yes to the latter; I found an interesting vintage when I went back to Jamaica. Seems the situation is stablising for the most part. For this reason, Madame Afamdi-Steele gave a small bottle of that coconut rum liquer we enjoyed? I'm sorry that I--"

"Not dead then? Excellent, Hamilton will be so dismayed..."

Gabrielle watched that curly mess of hair which belonged to that wiry body frame flop into the other chair. God, she really had missed them both; she clearly could see where perhaps her actions towards Johann had been a bit too harsh prior to the sabbatical.

"The main headline is that your boss is alive and back in one piece. Not to mention mentally back together and for that, she is QUITE grateful. I'll be apologising to everyone else but since I have you both in here, I want to say I'm so sorry for abandoning you when I was really needed."

A grin appeared on her face. "And because you two are two of my best, along with a few others, I'm planning on giving raises." Gabie's eyes fell on Johann. "So may I /officially/ now welcome you full time, Johann Storm, to the Department of International Magical Cooperation?"

"Ha, only because its cheaper than paying my overtime." Johann chuckled, "all hands on deck for the Tournament."

This would of course put a spanner in the works slightly about how much time he had to dedicate to Vedir's work, but now he had become far more familiar with the way Vedir worked, he was able to manage it. Even if he still felt strangely warm to the face and perhaps even a little flustered in the man's presence. That one was still puzzling him.

"So what's the plan?" Johann asked, leaning forward and placing an elbow on the front of Gabie's desk from where he was seated the other side.

"Raises?" Azize leaned forward in his seat, but he was clearly more interested in the Jamaican rum. He had enough money to spend as it was, "As in raising our glasses?" his deep voice swung richly.

He smiled at Johann and then back to Gabby, "No better way than start a plan and celebrate than with a drink..." he leaned back in his chair as he bobbed his foot up and down before he bowed his head towards his comrades. "In my humble opinion."

"A small raise then for you, Mulogo, since it's apparent you're only interested in the drink. You outta be ashamed," she teased sure enough, but nodded her head towards Johann's comments. "Yes, it's cheaper but you know I'm very grateful for what you did, well, what everyone did in this department when I was gone. Now, as for the so aptly mentioned plan, what do we have going on minus the Tournament that our department needs to be working on? Or are we all so happy with just working on that?"

Raising her own glass, she smiled to the two men. "Sláinte, boys. You've earned it."