Waiting for Love (cont.)

[George Miller]

George felt the familiar feeling of claustrophobia as he apparated. He still had a firm grip on Emily and was holding Maria's hand. He felt confident about his apparition abilities, and so he wasn't in the least bit concerned about them showing up in one piece. His vision cleared suddenly and he was standing in the foyer of his house with Maria beside him, and Emily still sleeping in his arms. It seemed that the young girl hadn't even budged since they had left Diagon Alley. George could feel her tiny breaths hitting his neck as she breathed in and out in her sleep. Glancing at Maria for a moment he stepped forward and glanced sideways at her.

"I'm going to put Emily down for bed, you make yourself comfortable. The living room is over there..." George tilted his head in the direction of the door to the left and then walked out of the foyer and down a long looking hallway directly ahead of him. As he walked, he shifted Emily carefully so that he wouldn't wake her up. He doubted that anything would wake her up, as she was a heavy sleeper. George hummed a lullaby softly and opened the door to her bedroom.

It was decorated in soft pink tones and stuffed animals and toys littered the floor. Apparently the maid hadn't bothered to pick them up. He shrugged at this and laid Emily down carefully in her crib before pushing the railing down so that he could change her. George then rummaged around in her dresser and found some of her pajamas. It only took him a few minutes to change her into her night clothes and cover her with a blanket. Reaching for the switch to the night light, he turned it on and observed her for a few minutes.

Suddenly the door bell rang and he sighed with some annoyance. Who could be interrupting him at this time of the day? Most of his employees knew to send him an owl, rather than come to his house. George walked out of Emily's darkened room and left the door open a crack so he could listen for her cries if she happened to wake up. As he was walking down the hall he called out to Maria hoping she wouldn't mind answering the door. "Maria! Can you get that please, I'm on my way..."

[Maria Sanchez]

Oh, how she hated the feeling of apparition. She could feel a heavy pressure upon her body and only imagined what it looked like through the eyes of an onlooker: squished and extremely distorted. Did she look long and thin? Short and fat? Was her appearance during apparition like that of her reflection in a fun house mirror where her body was distorted and odd-looking according to the mirror in front of which she stood? After a few moments, the feeling was lifted, and Maria stood beside George in a large foyer with a high, domed ceiling. She looked around in awe and blinked a few times, amazed at the things around her. She turned to look at the minister has he spoke and nodded as he walked off and put Emily to bed.

The minister had invited her to sit in the living room just down a narrow hallway. She did not take him up on the offer, for she was quite interested in the foyer where she stood. It was extremely tall and brightly lit. There was a door not far from where she stood. It was taller than most average doors, and it had a unique handle upon it with a translucent glass window in the center. It had an interesting design upon it that Maria found extremely complicated to decipher. She blinked a few times and thought she saw movements but shrugged it off as if it was some sort of hallucination she was having. She then allowed her eyes to take in the colors of the walls and the chandelier on the high ceiling. How was someone able to afford such a luxury? Well, George had money, of course. She recalled one time when she had that much money—years and years ago.

There was a sudden knock at the door, and Maria jumped when she heard it. She looked at the door and saw the blurred figured of someone standing there just outside the door. She heard George’s voice from down the hall. He had asked her to answer the door as he was busy but would be out in a moment. She looked around, her eyes wide and confused. “I…okay,” she called back to him, her voice barely louder than it usually was when she was talking. Hesitantly, she made her way over to the door and twisted the unique handle and opened the door. There, standing in front of her, was Mildred Sweggard, the Deputy Mistress of Magic. What did the deputy mistress want with George that evening? Had they had something planned for the night?

[Mildred Sweggard]

Mildred Sweggard, tired and extremely weary and wearing Muggle clothes made her way to the house of the Minister of Magic. She had something that she had been trying to tell him for the past few weeks. It seemed that he was too busy to respond to her owls or come see her in her office at the Ministry like he said he would, so she took time during her day off to arrange a surprise visit to his house where he would hopefully be able to talk to him about it then. In her hand, she carried a small folder with papers in it; the papers were of great important to the subject of which she needed to talk to her boss about. Hopefully he was not too busy, for this was really important and could not wait any longer.

She approached the door to the minister’s large home and knocked a few times loudly. She stood there for a few minutes, uncomfortably trying to warm herself from the coldness of the outside air. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other and finally stopped when someone opened the door. She had expected to see the maid, or even George, but that was not who she saw. Standing in front of her was a woman she had met a few weeks ago: Maria Sanchez. The redhead tilted her head as she looked down at the dark-haired woman and widened her eyes a bit in surprise.

“Mrs. Sanchez, what a pleasant surprise to see you here. How are you?” she said, an obviously fake tone about her voice. The sight of Maria Sanchez in the place of the Minister of Magic was disapproved greatly by Mildred Sweggard, especially since the woman had been the one to answer the door. There was something odd about, something very strange. This sent thoughts of worry through the redhead woman’s head. Nonetheless, she stepped across the threshold and gave Maria a somewhat displeased glare with the same icy blue gaze she had had since birth. She looked around the foyer and then back at Maria. “Where is the minister?” she questioned, obviously not wanting to spend more time in there with Maria than she had to; it was obvious that the deputy mistress felt somewhat offended by the fact that Mrs. Maria Sanchez was in the home of the Minister of Magic.

Saying nothing else, Mildred walked across the threshold. Her heeled shoes clicked heavily against the marble floor as she peered into the living room and then the kitchen before walking along the hall and towards the room where George had turned with his daughter. She met George about halfway down the hall and stopped dead in front of him, a look of seriousness upon her face. She lifted her brows so they traveled higher upon her forehead and then cleared her throat before addressing him in a less-than-friendly way.

“What is she doing here?” By ‘she,’ Mildred meant Maria. The woman was obviously quite displeased with the fact that the other woman was in her boss’s house. She just hoped that she did not seem too jealous or too obvious. That had not been her intention, but she was an extremely nosey person at all times, and she had to know everything that was going on if she was a part of it somehow.

[George Miller]

As George walked down the hallway toward the foyer, he heard the familiar voice of Mildred Sweggard, the deputy mistress of magic. He sighed as he was irritated that she had come to his house. She knew that she was to first send him an owl and then at the last resort she was to come to his home. What if he hadn't been there? He had been busy most of the day and what if she had shown up and he had been gone? He supposed she would have waited for him, as one of the maids would have let her in. They were given orders to let her in if she ever showed up, only because he worked closely with her. She was his second-in-command. If anything happened to him she would take over.

George nearly ran into her before he managed to get back to the foyer and he stepped back and gasped slightly in surprise. Her cold blue eyes stared at him and he resisted the urge to look down at the floor. She was taller than him and he had always been semi-intimidated in her presence. He didn't know if it was her height or the way she commanded the attention of everyone who was in the room with her. George rubbed his forehead whens he asked him why Maria was there. Obviously she knew who Maria was or she wouldn't be asking. Better yet, why was it even her business why Maria was there?

"If you must know, Mildred, I invited her to dinner. Emily took a liking to her in the bookstore today at the book signing. It's just a simple dinner, as friends, that is it. Anyway, it really isn't your business why she is here, is it?" George glared at her and returned her gaze of coldness. It seemed their feelings for each other at the moment were mutual.

"Now, I have a question for you: why have you come into my house and treated my guest rudely? Did you even give her a chance to respond to your questions, or did you insist on walking right over the thresh hold without even a glance? Haven't I told you to send me an owl if you needed to contact me? This is my home, Mildred, and it is supposed to be a private place of dwelling." George glared at her, his voice was very low-pitched and he was staring at her with a deathly stare that would have surprised anyone. George was the only person brave enough to address the deputy mistress of magic in such a manner, because he knew that he could remove her from her position with one word.

[Maria Sanchez]

Maria was utterly confused. Everything seemed to happen so fast that she was having a hard time trying to keep up with it all. The deputy mistress of magic had stepped over the threshold of the minister’s home and spoken to her. Maria had never felt so unwanted in her life. The way in which the other woman had addressed and looked at her made Maria feel extremely uneasy. There was something about the deputy mistress of magic that made her feel uneasy as it was—perhaps her height or even those icy blue eyes that seemed to always give off the essence of death. Whatever the reason, Maria knew that there was nothing to rid herself of the nervousness dwelling within her chest, and she knew that her face probably showed how nervous she was even though she was trying her hardest to hide her inner emotions. She tried to dwell within other thoughts and hoped that George would come back and talk to her. In the meantime, Maria figured she should answer the question she was asked about how she was doing. Before she actually had a chance, though, the woman pushed passed her and made her way across the foyer and down the hall George had gone down only a few minutes previously.

Maria remained alone in the foyer near the door. She swallowed out of a slight relief and then sighed, looking down at her hands that she had, unnoticing, started to wring together in front of the deputy mistress. She allowed her chocolate gaze to travel upon the floor of the foyer before looking towards the hall down which both George and Mildred had gone. She could only see a few feet past the hall, so they were both out of her sight. She sighed at the thought of the deputy mistress being there. Would that mean she had to leave? The thought pushed in the front of Maria’s head and demanded an answer, yet no answer came. So, with an extremely heavy sigh, she started to slowly and silently pace the foyer out of desperation for the company of someone else—someone other than the deputy mistress of magic.

Mildred Sweggard seemed to continually push herself into Maria’s mind repetitively. She seemed to do that to everyone if they wanted her to or not. The only things Maria could actually think about were whether or not Mildred and George were an ‘item.’ Why else would the woman have sounded so displeased with Maria’s presence? The displeasure and agitation had been obvious in the redhead’s woman voice. Maria had done nothing to her. She had only gone to the deputy mistress of magic because of a serious problem she was having. The woman seemed okay once Maria spoke with her for a few moments; before that she had been extremely rude. Maria had forgotten about the start of their conversation because of the second half, but the woman’s attitude towards Maria was new, almost wicked, and Maria feared that the deputy mistress did not like her at all and would soon try to plot something….

But she couldn’t, could she? She was the deputy mistress of magic; if she were to kill someone, Maria, she would be sent to Azkaban. Well, at least if that happened, the truth would be on the front of the morning paper instead of the lies they usually tell to attract attention. Murder and the person who committed the crime were a famous front-cover attraction, and there was no way The Prophet would give up the chance to persecute someone such as Deputy Mistress of Magic Mildred Sweggard.

ooc: I’ll post with Mil when I get home from school.

[Mildred Sweggard]

As he mentioned that he had invited the older woman waiting in the foyer to dinner, the deputy mistress felt her heart drop from her chest and into her stomach. She blinked at him a few times and swallowed while maintaining a perfect posture that she always had. She had never once lost herself in front of anyone due to her emotions or anything else and she was not going to let this be the first time. She blinked a few times and lifted her brows as he mentioned that his daughter, Emily, had taken a liking to her in the bookstore where he had been signing copies of his famous book. He assured her that it was only a dinner, as friends, but that did not put her at ease. She had a feeling that he was lying to her, not like it mattered. She had been lied to most of her life as it was, so she had learned never to trust anyone, even if it was someone she loved…and she loved George….

“And you took a liking to her, too, then?” she questioned in regards to what he had said about Emily and the ‘just friends’ dinner. “Everyone knows that the Minister of Magic always agrees with his daughter….” She blinked a few times and then lifted a single brow and allowed a smirk to pass across her lips. When he questioned her about whether it was really her business, her smirk faded slowly, and her lips turned into a frown. The faint cracks in her face were now obviously present though she did not look much older than she had before; she was a woman that actually did look her age, if not older. Again, she swallowed but did not lose her posture. “I will make her presence my business if I wish to, George. I must admit, though, that it is surprising to know you invite ‘acquaintances’ to dinner before inviting your second-in-command. Really….”

She could see the obvious agitation and anger in his glare of sea blue. Her own icy glare was enough to overpower his; it always had been and always would be. She dared not blink as they stared each other directly in the face for a few moments, Mildred looking down at him as he looked up at her. After another moment or two, he spoke and broke the literally deadly silence between them and questioned Mildred as to why she had come to his home and then treated his ‘guest’ rudely. She straightened herself even though she was already straight. Anymore straightening and she might just split in two….

“I did not treat her rudely. I greeted her. I asked her how she was. She just did not answer me before I came to find you.” The woman gave a simple nod, her reddish hair brushing her pale cheeks lightly. She blinked once and then twice before opened her mouth as if about to say something, but instead, sighed. The man continued on about how he had asked her countless times to send an owl before coming and that his home was his private place—his personal sanctuary. She sighed inwardly out of agitation of his words and then persisted to speak.

“That is the thing, George. I have tried to get in contact with you before now. I have tried to talk to you at the Ministry. I have tried to send you owls. I have gotten no replies…from anything. I know you had the book signing today, so I did not try to contact you then. This was my last resort.” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair momentarily and lifted the folder she held in her hands to show George. “This cannot wait any longer.”

[George Miller]

George gritted his teeth together so that he wouldn't say anything in response to her comments. She really was being irritating right now. She was usually not this bad to deal with; but then maybe she had never shown her true colors. George stood behind his desk and put the tips of his fingers on the wood and sort of leaned forward to stare at her. She was taller than him by several inches, and so he couldn't really look her into the eyes at eye-level like he wanted to. "Leave my daughter out of this, Mildred. She's two years old and already deals with a father that is extremely busy. She doesn't need someone like you making snide remarks about her. I don't always agree with my daughter, however I do like Mrs. Sanchez. She's a kind woman and anyone would be insane not to like her." George narrowed his eyes and stood to his full height, not that it helped much.

The Minister of Magic straightened his suit jacket and a glimmer of annoyance flickered in his eyes when Mildred mentioned that he had yet to invite her over to dinner but didn't mind inviting mere 'acquaintances'. George growled under his breath. Mildred could probably hear him but he didn't care. The woman was getting on his nerves. It was like she was competing for his attention and he didn't like that feeling. She was a colleague, he saw her all the time at the Ministry. He didn't think they needed to spend all that much time outside of the Ministry. "It doesn't matter, Mildred. I'm tired of this discussion. It seems you're intent on winning no matter what I say, so let's drop it and get down to the important things."

George walked back around and sat in the chair behind his desk. He couldn't decide whether he felt like standing in her presence or sitting. If he sat, it would make him seem more relaxed, if he stood it may make her think he felt uncomfortable; or so he assumed. When Mildred started to explain that she had tried to contact him in more ways than one, George frowned and the concern on his face was apparent. He had received no owls from her in a while. He hadn't received anything at all that he would consider 'important'. He had read everything he had received but nothing had come from her.

George looked up at her and said in a voice that was very close to a whisper, "I haven't received anything from you Mildred....not for quite some time, which is why I thought things were running smoothly. You sent it by owl?" George hoped that their owl hadn't gotten intercepted. If it had then some very important information may have leaked into the wrong hands. "You're sure you sent them to me?" George's voice was steady, and it was obvious he was telling the truth. He wouldn't lie to Mildred about something; especially something as important as this.

[Mildred Sweggard]

“I did not really bring your daughter into it. I was simply stating that she has you wrapped around one of those little fingers of hers and that you would do anything to please her, even if it meant getting along with someone such as Mrs. Sanchez.” The woman’s brows crept upwards on her forehead as she said this. She was being serious. It seemed that George did anything and everything his daughter wanted him to do. It seemed that George had taken the liberty of inviting Maria Sanchez over for dinner, just as friends, because his daughter had taken a liking to her while they were in Diagon Alley. Where was his daughter now? She was in bed sleeping soundly…. If the baby had taken a liking to Maria, why was she not the one spending time with the guest? The entire thing seemed extremely odd to Mildred, but she tried to say nothing more about it.

The minister stood to his full height, and Mildred had it in her mind to laugh at his actions. He was a few inches shorter than she was, and it would be impossible for him to ever reach her height unless he used some sort of potion to increase his height. As far as Mildred knew, there was none. The fact that she was also wearing slightly heeled shoes also added to her height. She was pleased to know that she was taller than him. Now, if only she could get a higher position….

“I am glad you finally realized that,” she told him when he surrendered to her and said that he no longer wished to discuss things they had been discussing since she would win anyway. It was true. George carried a higher position and title than her, but she could probably outsmart him in any way possible. She was starting to wonder why they had not allowed her to take the position as mistress when the other minister resigned. Perhaps they did not think the power would have been good in her hands. Now that she thought about it, George had come in quickly, shortly, after the resignation of the minister prior to him. Maybe he had planned it and made sure Mildred could not move up a position?

At the mention of having not received her owls, the deputy’s eyes widened slightly as her mouth opened slightly in complete surprise. She had a hard time trying to believe that he had not received her letters, for she made sure to use her own owl, and her owl knew the Minister of Magic very well. Mildred swallowed tilted her head slightly. “How can everything be running smoothly if you have received nothing from me? I always send you a weekly owl to let you know if everything is running smoothly. You know that as well as I do, George. What made you think that things were running smoothly if you received no letter from me on the final day of our work week?” She blinked in utter surprise at what she was hearing. How could he have thought things were going well if he received nothing from her? She was having trouble believing this….

“Of course I sent them to you! Who else would I sent them to? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his clan of Death Eaters? I think not, George Miller! I think that my owl knows you well by now, and she is capable of delivering the letters I write to you in a timely and urgent fashion whether time and urgency are of the essence or not.” Mildred breathed outwards and then shook her head, trying to take it all in. She then sighed a very extroverted sigh and shook scratched her head lightly before covering her face with the document that held all the information George had yet to receive or hear about. She then reached out her hand and offered him the file. “Here...just read it....”

[George Miller]

George ignored her rants as he was very concerned about something more important then the argument that had sprung up between them. Had her owl been intercepted? He knew it was quite possible. The Wizengamot had been discussing things that had happened recently; things that were very unusual. Two muggle girls were found dead near Diagon Alley, and the Muggle police had no leads. A witness had claimed that men wearing dark cloaks had been the ones responsible. The Wizengamot suspected that it was a band of dark wizards called the Death Eaters that supported He-Who -Must-Not-Be-Named. Mildred's sarcastic supposition might be true.

George lifted his hand to his chin and tapped his index finger on it has he thought. It was all very worrying to him and he would have to investigate what had happened to the owls that Mildred had sent. He sighed and realized that she was right; she always sent him a weekly report even if everything was running smoothly. He had assumed that everything was going well and she had just had nothing to say. He knew now that assuming things wasn't the way to go; and he looked at her apologetically as she handed him the file of information she carried with her.

Taking the file, George fished his black rimmed reading glasses out of his jacket and put them on. He worse them on rare occasions for reading only. Not many people knew he used them, perhaps Mildred hadn't seen him wearing them until now. George sighed and opened the folder. The first thing he saw were several photos of a young girl. It surprised him, because the girl had a striking resemblance to Maria. So close, that George thought that it was Maria the younger, and not her daughter. The name on the file read: Emily Sanchez, 12 years of age. Currently Missing. Whereabouts unknown.

George's eyes widened as he continued to flip through the pages of information. He read silently and didn't even look up at Mildred while he was reading, as he was too focused on the report. The report summarized how the girl had gone missing. He read that Maria had taken her shopping with her, and as she was looking at some clothing her daughter had wandered off to look at something else. He could almost hear Maria's account of what happened by reading the report. It then said that Maria had gone to locate her daughter only to find that she had been taken. George's stomach dropped and closed the file. The comment that Maria had made earlier in the bookstore now made sense to him. He could still hear what she had said, “You should keep a close eye on her. She’s so cute…someone could come up and take her. I was very tempted myself…”

The Minister blinked and re-stacked the folder so the papers were neatly organized within it. He was silent for several moments before he finally spoke. "What you said earlier, may be true Mildred. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named may be involved....and of course, his Death Eaters. I have a bad feeling that your owl is no longer safe to use; and that all of your letters to me about this case were intercepted." George paused and took off his glasses as he no longer needed them. "I'll talk to Maria...and I give you permission to send out a team of Aurors to search for Emily..." George stumbled hesitantly over the name, as it was hitting him close to home. His daughter's name was Emily, and he had been stupid enough to think she had been safe at the bookstore for those few moments that she had wandered off.

He should have paid more attention to the things that were going on at the Ministry. Mildred was partly right; he did want to please his daughter, but maybe it was time he started focusing on his job as Minister of Magic. Emily would be fine with a nanny while he was working. The two year old distracted him, even though he was used to taking her everywhere. That distraction could have easily just caused the security of the Ministry. "Have them search until they find her....dead or alive...we must know who has taken her."

[Mildred Sweggard]

The deputy watched her employer as he took a pair of rimmed glasses from the pocket of his jacket. She blinked a few times as he put them on his face so they were resting on the brim of his nose. She silently studied him but did not appear to be doing so. Her eyes remained as cold as they ever were, but there was a slightly obvious shine to them that said she was not surveying him rudely or trying to glare at him as she would usually do to people. Oh, no, Mildred Sweggard was staring in hidden admiration and hoped that he had not learned to read the very depths of her eyes and her soul where she kept all of her true thoughts and feelings. That was one good thing about her: she hid her emotions well, and it was nearly impossible for anyone else to read what she was feeling. This saved her a lot of trouble and a lot of emotional breakdowns as well as a lot of arguments that could have been sprouted due to a simple question that could have been asked: Is everything okay?

As he opened the file, Mildred lifted her chin a bit so she could see it a little bit. She saw that several of the pictures had started to come from the paperclip holding them to the rest of those papers. Mildred decided that it would be best to warn George about those pictures. If they got lost or were damaged in any way, shape, or form, she would be in quite a bit of trouble. It would not be by anyone of great importance, but instead, by the owner of the pictures, Maria Sanchez. So, speaking in an informative and somewhat low voice, she said, “George, be careful with those pictures. If anything happens to them, Mrs. Sanchez will not be pleased. She was reluctant to give me the pictures as it was. She told me that they were some of the only recent ones she has.”

The woman seemed to allow a sense of compassion to shine through her icy blue eyes. She blinked it away as quickly as it came through when she watched George fixing the papers inside the folder before closing it. The woman outstretched her hand to take it from him, making sure none of the pictures fell out of the file. She held it in one of her slender hands and looked at the shorter man standing before her, blinking her eyes slowly and occasionally. When he spoke, the woman straightened a bit and listened as he explained that her owl was no longer safe to use on account of You-Know-Who and his supposed-to-be faithful band of Death Eaters. Mildred nodded in understand and swallowed lightly.

He then gave her permission to set up search parties of aurors to search for the young girl. Mildred nodded as if accepting her duties and stood there to stare at him for a moment. She swallowed once again, this time harder, when he spoke of finding the young girl irregardless of whether or not she was dead or alive. At the sound of the word ‘dead,’ Mildred could not help but lose her straightened posture as her body slouched slightly. She did not want to think about the little girl in the pictures, lying somewhere on the ground, dead. The thought of it really hit her hard. She nodded, yet again accepting her responsibility as she always did, and stood so her shoulders were back.

“I will send out the aurors immediately and then I will join them in the search. We will need as many people as we can get,” she said, her voice slightly lower and less forceful than it had been through the rest of their conversation. “In the meantime, you…just entertain your guest. She is still waiting in the foyer for you, I assume.” And, with that, Mildred disapparated with a pop from the Minister’s home and off to the Ministry.

[George Miller]

George heard the loud pop of the disapparation and stood there in the silence of his office. He was feeling guilty for not going on the search, even though he wanted too. He needed to talk to Maria but he didn't know how to approach the subject of her daughter without upsetting her. George sighed and paced his office, his hands in pockets and his eyes following his feet instead of looking straight ahead like they normally did. The house was quiet now and it was helping him work things out in his head.

It was worrying the the Death Eater's had intercepted Mildred's owl somehow. He had thought that the Ministry was pretty secure when it came to owl deliveries. If Voldemort and the Death Eaters had been able to infiltrate them so easily then he needed to make sure the Ministry was sure. He just didn't know how he was supposed to do that. How could he possibly keep something safe if Voldemort was able to sneak in without him knowing about it for an entire month?

George sighed and thought about what Mildred had said before she left. It was odd, how her voice seemed disappointed in a way, and before when she had looked at him after he had put on his glasses. He had seen her eyes when she thought he wasn't looking. Her look hadn't been the same coldness as usual, as a matter of fact he would almost describe it as interest. George sighed and put two and two together. Did she like him? Did she have some sort of secret crush on him? It would explain why she had been concerned about Maria being in his house.

The Minister of Magic stopped pacing and looked up at the ceiling as if he was asking for some sort of heavenly help. He really had no clue what he was doing and now he was wishing that he wasn't in such an important position. How in the world was he going to put things back to rights? How was he supposed to trust anyone now that the security of the ministry had been ruined? The expression on George's face was one of deep concentration as he thought about all of his options. The first thing that he needed to do was go and talk to Maria. George walked slowly to the door of his office and leaned up against the frame. He really did not want to do this, but he had to.

[Maria Sanchez]

All was quiet. The entire house seemed to stand still, abandoned. She could hear her footsteps as she paced across the marble tiled floor; she could hear her breaths escaping the vague part between her thin lips; she could even hear her heartbeats pounding within her chest wildly, racing with what she assumed to be anxiety and nervousness. Was there something about the older woman’s presence in the house that made this happen? Maria felt like a single ant in a hoard of millions, lost and being stepped upon, even though she was the only one standing there in the beautiful, spacious foyer. Her eyes looked around somewhat wildly and took in each detail of the area. She could not believe that this was where the Minister of Magic lived. She could not believe that she was standing there within his home. It almost seemed like a crime to her, oddly enough.

Though there was no reason to be, Maria felt nervous about being there in the minister’s house. The silence did not help her, nor did the fact that the evening hours were starting to fade into night as the sun set somewhere off in the distance. What were those people that The Prophet thinking? What were they writing? Had they even decided to mention the minister’s private on the front page as they usually did? She swallowed heavily as she continued to pace the foyer. Her footsteps seemed to grow louder as she moved around the room slowly, taking in more and more detail of the walls, ceiling, and floor. She sighed inwardly and finally stopped pacing. It had become a tedious and seemingly arduous task.

Once she had come to a very subtle halt, she looked around the foyer. How long had she been pacing around the small area of the large house? She thought for a moment and sighed aloud before turned towards the hallway and the doorway that George had informed her was the living room. She looked down the hall and then peeked into the living room. It was then that she realized she was still there alone where George had left her moments ago as well as the deputy mistress who had come in and indirectly pushed her off to the side. She blinked a few times and then curiously ventured into the living room. He told her to make herself at home. It wasn’t that she was going to abuse such the opportunity, but she just wanted to see the room. The foyer had looked simply amazing, and she wanted to know what the rest of the house looked like.

As she stepped into the living room, she looked around through the vague light peering in through the large curtained windows about the room. She could see various pieces of furniture scattered about the room in what seemed to be equal intervals as well as decorations of various kinds hanging on the walls. She stepped a bit farther into the room and bit her lower lip as she searched for her wand in the pocket of her robes. Finding it, she pulled it out and flicked it so the tip illuminated. She then started to walk slowly around the room with her wand held up so she could see things easily. When she did, she realized that the furniture all matched, and the coffee table was made of a nice, sturdy wood and glass with matching end tables. Maria admired the furniture and wished that hers was just as nice. Her furniture was not as seemingly complex as that, but rather, quite simple.

As she advanced around the room, she turned and saw a mantle with a fireplace. There were still small pieces of burning wood within it from where a warm fire had been going earlier but had since extinguished. She tilted her head and looked at the glistening pieces of wood before flicking her wand gently at them. A small fire erupted in the fireplace and filled the room with a fairly large amount of light. She grinned to herself but lifted her wand, still illuminated, to the area above the mantle. She ran it along the length of the mantle and looked at the pictures in the frames. There were pictures of people who Maria assumed to be the minister’s family and friends from years passed.

There was a picture of a newborn baby Emily and another of George holding her when she was probably a few months old. There was one of people who Maria assumed were George and his parents. Maria then came across another picture of a beautiful blonde woman; Maria had no idea who she might be. She then took a few sideways steps and looked at more pictures. Her wand ran slowly across one that caught her eye, however. She tilted her head as she looked at it silently. It was a picture of the same blonde woman and George. Maria lifted her left hand and ran her fingertips gently along the frame in admiration. It was a picture of the day they wed. Quietly and carefully, Maria lifted the frame from its place on the mantle and brought it down so she could see it better. She looked at the woman wearing the white gown and then at George. They were both smiling. It reminded Maria of her own wedding and of what a happy day it had been. She thought about the pictures she had of her wedding day nearly thirty years ago; she had few, and most of them were not in the best condition.

Maria continued to look at the picture, taking in the details of both George and the woman beside him. They were holding each other in a warm and loving embrace just as Emilio and Maria had done on their wedding day. She blinked, and the memory of her wedding day filtered into her brain and started to replay itself vividly within her head. She saw herself walking down the aisle, the exchanging of vows and rings, then their kiss, the ride home. The honeymoon. The everything. It wasn’t until another person entered the room and made their presence known that she actually snapped out of her thoughts.

[George Miller]

George took a deep breath and finally convinced himself that he had to go and talk to Maria. He couldn't hide out in his office all evening; it wouldn't be fair to her. She had already been waiting for him since Mildred had shown up and it would be rude for him to keep putting it off. He sighed heavily and walked down the hall with his head down, his hands in his pockets. This was one of those times that he regretted being Minister of Magic. Why hadn't she said anything to him about Emily earlier? Maybe she assumed that he already knew? Or maybe she hadn't wanted to bother him with it?

Was Mildred right? Was he too busy to handle the important task of Minister of Magic? Sighing inwardly, he stepped back into the foyer and turned down the hall to the massive living room. He wished his house wasn't so huge; he much preferred a smaller home. The house was provided by the Ministry specifically for the Minister of Magic. It was customary to take the house while he was in office, which could be for a very long time; or if all of this turned out badly then it may be a shorter time in office then he thought.

George's face was full of concern as he made his way into the dimly lit living room. It seemed that Maria had started a fire in the fire place. She was also holding a picture of he and his wife, and he recognized which one it was from where he stood. He would recognize that picture from anywhere as he often stood where Maria was right then looking at it with the same gaze that she was looking at it. It was perhaps his favorite picture. It was of he and his wife on their wedding day. He could still remember how beautiful she had been, how good she as smelled--of lilacs and roses--her smile toward him as she walked down the isle holding the bouquet of white and pink roses he had bought for her.

A feeling of overwhelming sadness suddenly compelled him to look away from where Maria stood. A single tear managed to escape his eye but he blinked it back. She still had not noticed his presence, and he knew he would probably startle her if he said anything. He didn't mind that she was looking at his pictures. The people in them were a part of his past and of him and they would always be special to him. George thought it best that he make himself known before she sensed that he was there, and so he did by softly clearing his throat and speaking. "Beautiful, wasn't she? That's my favorite picture of her...I find myself looking at it all the time. I really should put it away...but it's one of the few things that I've kept out of us together..."

[Maria Sanchez]

Maria jumped slightly at the sound of the minister’s voice. She turned to look at him, her eyes wide with surprise but also quite apologetic that she had gone wandering and then started to look at his pictures. She blinked a few times and nodded in response to his question. She glanced back at the picture and admired the younger woman with her blonde hair, blue eyes, and apparently flawless smile. She studied the picture one last time and then lifted the picture and placed it in its place upon the mantle. She straightened it and made sure it was setting how it had been before she touched it. She then turned back to the minister. “S-sorry,” she said, a faint stutter in her voice. “But yes, she was very beautiful.”

The woman glanced back at the picture once more as the minister spoke to her about how he really should put it away but that it was one of the few things he kept out in the open to remind him of her. She swallowed out of slight nervousness and sighed inwardly before deciding to speak. “Sometimes it’s the littlest things that help us keep our sanity,” she told him in an understanding way. She, too, still kept many pictures of Emilio out so she could look at them at leisure. She could oftentimes find herself gazing through the photo albums they had built through the years of their marriage. He was gone now, and there would be no more building, no more happy pictures, no more anything. She sighed, a bit outwardly this time, and turned back to the mantle and looked at more of the pictures.

As her chocolate gaze perused the pictures of his family and friends, her mind wandered off to think of memories the pictures had reminded her of. As she changed pictures falling within her gaze, her mind changed memories. She felt her own eyes swelling with faint tears as she looked at the pictures and relived the memories, but she brushed them away with the back of her hand and then turned to the minister, feeling that looking at the pictures was more than she could really handle. She blinked a few times, feeling the warmth of the fire upon her backside.

“What did your deputy want?” She knew that the minister could probably not tell her what Mildred had wanted, so she slowly added, “If you can tell me….” She blinked a few times more and then looked at an area of the room behind him and allowed herself to get lost momentarily as she waited for his response to her question, if he chose to answer it, of course….

[[ ooc; sorry it sucks. ]]

[George Miller]

George looked at Maria and was sorry he had scared her, but he didn't feel the need to apologize. She seemed to be okay and she had asked him a question. It was the question he didn't really want to answer, yet he had to. George walked further into the living room and he watched his feet as he walked. He was having trouble looking into her eyes, because he was afraid she would see the own worry and concern in his. George sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands for a few moments before looking up at her again. The fire's light made shadows dance across his face, but his blue eyes could be seen from across the room.

"She...told me something I was unaware of. She's been trying to get in touch with me for the past month or so about something and her owls never made it through. She told me that your daughter has been missing and was kidnapped Maria." George's voice was just barely above a whisper, but he had managed to say what he had said loud enough, or so he hoped. "I read your report..saw the photos...why didn't you tell me earlier that your daughter had been taken?" George knew it wasn't really important why she hadn't told him. The reason as quite obvious to him. It was because she had assumed that he already knew about it.

George sighed inwardly and continued telling her his concerns, even though it probably wasn't wise for him to let her know any more details. He felt that she was a trustworthy person, and that she wouldn't go and blab everything he told her to the very first person she saw next. "I would have started looking for your daughter sooner, but the security of the Ministry has been compromised. It seems that the Mistress' owl has been intercepted by You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters.

"Maria, do you have any ideas or possible reasons why the Death Eaters would be interested in your daughter? Mildred's owls were primarily information regarding your daughter's kidnapping. Is there some reason why the Death Eaters would want your daughter? Does she have something of importance...or do you have something that the Death Eaters would want? I wouldn't put it past them to kidnap your daughter in hopes of getting that "something" that they want from you. Think hard, Maria, because any information you can give me may be of help."

George paused for a moment and continued to speak, hoping she was listening. He didn't know if he could repeat everything he was saying. He had to get it out before he no longer had the courage to do so. "I've given Mildred permission to start a search. She'll be heading it and will have our best team of aurors with her. We'll find your daughter, Maria. She's got to be out there, somewhere." George massaged his forehead hoping that one of his headache's wouldn't flare up again. He generally got them when he was stressed or working too hard. He could feel one forming now.