Outfit!

Adjusting her sunglass, Claudia crossed the street with the rest of the crowd towards the Muggle coffee shop.  She was able to sneak away for an hour, despite all of the last minute preparations, while Marcus was having lunch with a Mediwitch he seemed to be quite fascinated with lately.  She had already made a note to keep her eyes open for any articles in the papers regarding the woman and her boss.

She ignored the eyes that followed her as she approached the shop, being used to the attention.  Entering, her eyes searched the tables of the shop looking for the familiar face of an other friend.  The ten year anniversary of the night he might have very well saved her life was approaching and she had agreed to meet him for coffee.  It was a moment of peace before the flurry of activity would start that night.

She didn't see him, so she picked a spot at one of the tables, seating herself to wait.  She closed her eyes for a moment, taking the sunglasses off of her face and tucking them into the collar of her shirt.  The next few days would be a whirlwind, she knew that.  At least she could have a moments peace before it started.

The 'Blue Hill' was, in fact, a coffee shop - despite its name.  While it didn't look like much from the outside, its interior was rather lavish.  It was renovated nearly a year ago, and ever since, its sales had been on the rise.  Because of this, those who worked there were paid slightly above the average minimum wage level, which sparked an increase in applicants looking for a job there.  He would have applied there, though there were two reasons why he didn't; one reason was because it was being renovated during his unemployment, and the second reason was that he didn't want to be around teenagers - those who worked there were fairly young - day in, and day out.

Cadeous entered through the main entrance, wearing his brown leather jacket, black jeans, and his sneakers.  He was also wearing his sunglasses, which he took off after closing the door behind him.  He folded the arms and stuck it onto the neck of his shirt.

He looked around, immediately seeing Claudia sitting at a table by herself.  The woman was three years older than him, though she looked a bit younger.  She was Italian, with long, black hair, a pretty face, and quite an attractive figure.  He was surprised; he had expected at least one or two men standing over her, querying for her number.

He buttoned the top button of his polo shirt, and started to make his way over to her table, wondering if she would look his way before he got there.

As if sensing him, Claudia looked up as Cadeous crossed the shop making his way towards her table.  She stood offering him a smile that usually stopped the men around her in their tracks.  She hadn't seen him recently, her job keeping her busy, and their work schedules hadn't matched up.  It was a stroke of luck Marcus has decided to take lunch with that Mediwitch today.  If he hasn't she'd probably still be at her desk, assisting him with various last minute details.

"Buongiorno, my friend," she greeted, her Italian accent certainly standing out in the shop, another thing she was fairly used to.  "How are you?"

It was an easy sort of friendship with Cadeous.  She hoped to push him into a ministry position as an Auror soon.  He was capable of much more then he was doing right now, but getting him to decide to make the move hadn't been possible yet.  Part of her desire to see him in the position was selfish as she would be able to see her friend more often.

Cadeous returned Claudia's smile before pulling out a chair for himself.  He pulled it off and set it on the back of it, then made his way around the table to pull his friend into a full embrace, glad to see her again.

"I'm fine," he said, after parting from her.  He waved a hand towards her chair, as if to ask her to sit down with him.  He went around to his side of the table again and sat down, pulling his chair into the table.

"I am glad to hear it," she said, seating herself after returning his hug.

Claudia took a moment to take in his general appearance as he sat, his brown jacket bringing out the brown of his eyes.  Last she had heard he was working at a fish market, and he seemed happy with the job.  She of course hadn't entirely approved, knowing of the long standing offer from the Ministry, but it was his life to lead and she couldn't push too hard.  She knew he was torn between the two  worlds.

"You are looking quite well," she said after they were settled.  "I am glad to see this world at least appears to be making you happy."

She was sure he knew what she meant by 'this world.'  She was referring to the Muggle world, the one she rarely ventured into any more.  During her seventh year when it had come time to decide the choice had been easy for her.  She had fallen in love with the Wizarding world the moment she entered it when she was eleven years old.

She noticed a waiter making his way around the tables, and caught his eyes easily.  She smiled as the man nearly tripped over his own feet to get to their table, enjoying the little game she was starting for a moment.  She leaned forward on the table as he came over requesting their drink orders.

"I'll have a cappuccino," she told the man before looking to Cadeous so he might place his order.

"You are looking quite well.  I am glad to see this world at least appears to be making you happy."

"I don't think that 'happy' is the proper term," he said, setting his hands onto the table.  "I would say 'content'."

He offered her a warm smile, before looking down at the menu that lay in front of him to decide what it was he wanted to order. 

After Claudia ordered her drink, he looked up at their waiter, who cast not-so-subtle glances over at her.  She was quite an attractive woman, so he wasn't surprised that this man was ogling her.

"I'll have the same," he said, his statement drawing the man's eyes away from Claudia's chest.  He looked back down at his notebook and, rather sheepishly, wrote down what they had both ordered.

"Y-Yes.  I'll be right back with that," he said, stumbling over his words a bit as he spoke.  He stuck his pen into the spiral binding of his notebook before turning around on his heel and walking away from their table.

Cadeous knew that Claudia probably knew that the man was staring at her bust, though he said nothing of it.  Instead, he interlaced his fingers together and looked up at her, smiling as he asked her:

"So, what have you been up to lately, Claudia?"

Claudia smirked as Cadeous called the man's attention away from her cleavage.  She had been toying with the waiter a bit, making sure he had a clear view of her, and when he stumbled over his words she sat back in her seat again.  Sometimes it was just too easy...the waiter hadn't been much of a challenge.

"Remember Day planning," she answered.

That had been the bulk of what was taking up her time at work lately.  Of course, she was still fulfilling her other duties as the Minister's aide, but with everyone so focused on the festivities she hadn't needed to worry too much about some of the other duties that usually made up her day.  She felt a bit of relief that it would soon be over for another year.

"It will be quite an event this year," she said, her smile a bit proud.  They had all worked so hard with the planning, she couldn't be anything but proud.  "Are you going to be attending any of the ceremonies?"

She would have to be at as many of the events as she could manage, beginning with the Welcoming Ceremony.  She would be watching carefully, making sure Marcus got where he needed to be, and that the schedule was adhered to.   If the unexpected could be avoided, she would do her best to see to it.

He nodded.

"Yes," he said.  "Though I still have to go out and find a suit to wear for it."

His wadrobe consisted of polo shirts, t-shirts, jeans, and a few pairs of khakis.
He didn't think that showing up to Hogwarts on one of the days of the ceremony would be very good, nor would it show his respect to the school and its students.  He was, after all, a part of the Battle of Hogwarts, so he would pay his respects to those who lost their lives that day by both coming to the ceremony, and wearing a nice outfit to it, as well.

"I may window-shop after we've had our coffee here," he said.  "I want to purchase a suit as soon as possible so I'm not shopping around for one right at the last minute.

"What else did you have planned for today?"

Claudia nearly laughed, but simply nodded instead at the idea of the 'last minute.'  The ceremonies would be starting about 6 o'clock that night....One could consider this the last minute.  She thought perhaps it was the difference between men and women, she had purchased a new dress as well as shoes and jewelry for this evening weeks ago.

"Well..." she said, thinking over her schedule for a moment, "the Minister will be expecting me back at my desk in about an hour.  He should be back from his lunch then and I know he'll have last minute details to go over."

Everything was planned, but there seemed to always be something more.  She thought perhaps a few days off after the festivities might be nice, but doubted she would actually follow through on that thought.  She hadn't taken a day off since starting as Marcus' aide.  Too much needed to be done on a daily basis.

"The Welcoming Ceremony starts at six, so I will have to manage to get ready before then.  Then we have the Memorial Service starting at ten, which includes a pyrotechnic display of certain events at the corresponding times... for the next few days I doubt I will be getting much sleep."

She had lowered her voice a bit as she spoke, leaning a bit towards him again.  There weren't many people who would be able to clearly hear them, but she didn't want to risk it.  Even though to a Muggle their conversation would make absolutely no sense.

"Does the Minister ever give you a day off?" he asked her, though quickly dismissed his own question.  The Minister was avery busy man, and would surely want Claudia there to help him out with whatever it was that he needed.

Their waiter came back with two cappuccinos on a round black tray.  He kept his eyes glued to the floor, which made Cadeous fight the urge to snicker.  He had half a mind to hex him right then and there, though of course, he couldn't.  He'd not only be in trouble with the Ministry, but also the Muggle authorities - the 'police', as they were known by most Muggles.

He didn't say anything, even after their waiter had set his mug down in front of him.  Instead, he simply smiled at Claudia again, before starting on his cappuccino.

Even if Marcus did tell her to take a day off, she probably wouldn't.  Work was one of those things Claudia took more seriously then she probably needed to.   Yet the thought of something important slipping past her attention and causing some sort of mess to be cleaned up kept her at her desk and made her an extremely reliable worker.  She held herself to the higher standard, not her boss.

Their drinks came before she could reply, and she noted that the waiter didn't dare look at her.  She quirked an eyebrow slightly at Cadeous, sure he had noticed it to.  He smiled before taking a sip of his drink and she picked up her own mug and did the same.  She could feel it warm her from her tongue down to her stomach.

"Much better then the energy potion I'm saving for later," she said with a slight sigh.  It was going to be a long night, of that much she was certain.

"How's your family?" she asked, wanting to turn the conversation away from Wizarding topics.

"Much better then the energy potion I'm saving for later."

He chuckled.

"Just add a bit of sugar to the potion," he said.  "That always worked for me in Profesor Snape's class."

The Potions professor who he had for five years, Severus Snape, died during his sixth year.  The man had been absolutely despised by a large majority of the students at Hogwarts, basically because he had come off to them as cold and heartless.  However, rumor had it that he had given his own life to protect Harry Potter, Cadeous's fellow Gryffindor at the time - 'The Boy Who Lived', as he was most commonly known as. 

"How's your family?"

"Oh, they're fine," he said; he was an only child.  "Greying, but fine.

"How's yours?"

"Just add a bit of sugar to the potion.  That always worked for me in Professor Snape's class."

"Thanks," she said taking another sip of her drink.

She gave a bit of a knowing smile as he mentioned his family.  She understood completely what he meant.  They were both only children.  Of course Claudia's extended family often seemed more involved then any group of aunts, uncles, and cousins should be, but such was being part of a large Italian family.  It did mean, however, that they had to be a bit creative with descriptions of her job.

They knew she worked for someone in politics, but the subject was always changed when details were required.  She had gotten quite good over the years and being able to do so without seeming obvious.  It was a good skill for her job on occasion as well, especially when she was dealing with those who were a bit to nosey for their own good.

"They're doing well," she answered.  "My mother's considering going back to work part time now that my father's retired.  I believe they might be spending a bit too much time together."  Love was never an issue in the marriage, but having two fiery personalities confined to one house was.

Cadeous remembered how she had said how large her family was.  He knew that it was fairly common for somebody of Italian descent to have a large number of relatives.  The only relative who he had was his mother's father, who died when he was nineteen.  The man was also a wizard, though he'd lived out the remainder of his years in America.

"That's good to hear," he said, gripping his mug with both hands as he took another sip of his cappuccino.  He let the steam rising from his drink warm his face, since it was still fairly cold outside.  He wanted to savor not only the drink, but also the warmth it provided before venturing back out into the cold.

"Have you done anything else away from the Ministry lately?" he asked, knowing that Claudia barely ever got the chance to do anything in her own time.

Well, Claudia thought but didn't say it, I did manage to find time to have a quick fling with a ridiculous rich, and very married wizard.  In my limited time off, he wined and dined me, and we even managed to catch a performance of a Puccini opera in Rome.  Other then that, it's been all work and no play.

She doubted Cadeous needed to know that part of her life.  She hadn't started out looking to add to her reputation.  With any luck it wouldn't even register in The Prophet and no one would be any the wise.  She had been attempting to show the man the sights of London and the Wizarding world and it had just sort of progressed from there.

"You know me, all work and no play," she finally said with a wink.  "And what about you...how's the new job going?"