The Ministry.

Nicolas was walking through the newly-renovated atrium of the Ministry of Magic with his head held high. Not only because his spirits were lifted as this was his first job, but because he was trying to make up the extra height. He hadn't noticed until now how bad it would be to work at a place with mostly adults, and kids his age working at the coffee shop. Except for Nicolas, who was shooting to be an Auror. Not like he didn't have the qualifications or anything. Besides, he had to feed a new, growing family, and he'd always wanted to be one.

Nonetheless, he tightened his black traveling cloak, crossed the atrium, and joined a couple of other wizards in the elevator. Each one of them pressed a different floor number. Great, Nicolas thought, they'll be making plenty of stops. Just another thing to build the anticipation.

He went over the description of his boss in his head. His boss' boss did the hiring, and so Nicolas had been warned--he was tall, Asian, and had a smirk on his face all of the time. Quite the contrast to Nicolas, who was small, blond, and had a nervous half-smile. This would be fun, wouldn't it?

By the second stop, all the people in the elevator were gone, except for a really really REALLY tall bald man who had a mustache and looked extremely bulky and such. He turned to look down at Nicolas. "... What floor?" He had a low, full voice that seemed to rumble in his throat.

Nicolas stared up at this bulky man. He froze at the sight--and sound--of him. He was just quite intimidated of how huge this man was. Thus, he forgot what floor he was going to, and gestured to the keypad. Come on, Nick, if you're going to let THIS scare you, you'll never make it through your first day! He forced himself to speak to this man, though shifted his eyes towards the door of the elevator. "I'm Nicolas Sawyer. Today's my first day, I don't really know my way around here quite yet."

"NICOLAS SAWYER?!" The man boomed out. "YOU'RE THE NEWCOMER! OHHHHH, HOW I AM HONORED TO SEE SUCH A YOUNG MAN HERE IN THE ELEVATOR!" he burst out into a laugh, and the elevator shook a bit. "Do you know who I am? I am Harold, an auror, and I am on the same floor as you!"

Well, shit. "O-oh, really? That's nice!!" He forced out a stiff laugh. With any luck, him and Harold would never have to work together. Ever. "Nice to meet you, Harold. Uhm, would you know where I'm supposed to go on my first day, by any chance? Where my--our--boss is? Do I need to talk to him?"

Harold beamed happily. "Oh, yes! We're in the same office, Mr. Sawyer! IT'S GOING TO BE BEAUTIFUL WORKING WITH YOU!" Harold's left eye shed a tear. Yes, it did. He whipped out a hankerchief from his robes pocket and began to dab it.

Nicolas looked both terrified and worried. "A-are you okay?" he stuttered. Great, he was going to have to work with an emotional basketcase. Maybe it wasn't too late to go back home.

"No! I'm ecstatic! This is a beautiful moment for me! WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER TO THE TEAM! This calls for a celebration. Brace yourself- only the closest friends of mine can bare seeing this! And I have a feeling that we'll have a long way to go- the two of us!" And then, he pulled his robes off, and his shirt ripped revealing beautiful muscles that glittered in the dim elevator light. "FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS, SON!" He yelled, and he flexed them. The elevator opened, revealing an old man with some paperwork.
"I'll take the next evelator." the man whispered and simpered away.
The doors closed again.

"It's against dress code to be shirtless in the Ministry, isn't it?" Nicolas squeaked out, prying his eyes away from the glittery muscles and focusing on the floor. Nick, what the HELL have you gotten yourself into?!

"Yes, but I have a few extra shirts in my suitcase. Oh, it's our stop. COME!" He draped his robes over his arm and entered with Nicolas. "Come, don't look so scared! It's not bad!"

Nicolas followed him in a daze, looking all around him. There were several offices sectioned off, in their own rooms, not cubicles, and they were soundproof in case one was discussing important information and didn't want to be disturbed. The main area was a large meeting room, with water coolers and people milling about, chatting, and exchanging loads of paperwork. If there was one thing to notice about the place, it was that papers were everywhere, some in the form of airplanes and floating magically towards someone across the room, or towards the elevator.

"So... Harold... do you know where I can find"--he thought for a moment, trying to remember the name--"Bradford? Blaine Bradford? Our boss? I think I have to meet him so I know what I'll be working on."

"Ah, the wonderful boss! This way, Mr. Sawyer!" And he took Nicolas's hand and trailed him to an office door that was closed. He opened it with a knock, and smiled. "Blaine, the newcomer is here." And he threw Nicolas in and closed the door.

The room was slightly dark, and piles of paperwork were around a tall office. There was just enough face for the face of an Asian man with black hair could rest his elbows on, and have his hands fold together in front of his face. He had a smirk on his face, and raised his eyebrows at Nicolas. The smirk faltered a bit.
"Fuck, of all the newcomers, I get stuck with the smallest one. Alright, sit down." He moved away a large hand, and waved at a small stool in front of the desk. "Oh- wait, don't sit down." Blaine stood up, standing at a stumbling 6 foot four, and took some dictionaries and thick books from a corner and set them on the stool. He added a huge stack of paperwork, and smiled. "Alright, you can sit now."

Nicolas took a few steps forward, and stood next to the huge pile on the stool. "Sir, I doubt that I can sit now that you've made it almost as tall as I am. And, I'm not small, sir, you're just a bit... tall." He tried to phrase this as tactfully as possible, and reached his hand out to shake Blaine's. "But yes, I am the newcomer. Nicolas Sawyer. Nice to meet you, sir."

"Hmm... this will lower your trust and skills, this height problem of yours. Most of my female aurors are taller than you." he said, looking unimpressed. "I'll be expecting twice as much from you. Since you're half smaller." He smirked once again. "Now, welcome to the Supreme Defense Auror Branch of the Ministry of Magic, here's your workload!" He lifted up a huge pile of paperwork for Nicolas, and winked.

Nicolas took the papers, straightening up. "Then, I'll do my best, sir. But, will you please direct me to my office?" He smiled weakly.

Blaine laughed. "Ever since we've gotten more recruits, we've run out of offices, so we're keeping those for the extra special Aurors, like myself." He chuckled. "You'll be with one of the side desks. Next to Harold. You've met him!"

Nicolas forced a smile through gritted teeth. Oh, how this was going to be just great. "Of course. Thank you, it was nice to meet you. I suppose I'll be back once I'm finished with this load." he turned on his heel, and walked out of the office, heading over to the empty desk next to Harold, sitting down and dutifully starting to sort through the papers.

Harold boomed out a loud laugh. "We're together!" he said, and raised his arms in a Hallelujah-like way. "HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS IS. Life is just so lucky for us two, huh?!"

Nicolas didn't raise his eyes. He was afraid to look at Harold. "Yes. Quite lucky." He tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Hey, Nicolas?" Harold asked. He suddenly was closer to Nicolas. "Are you married?"

Nicolas still avoided eye contact. "N-no, I'm not."

Harold shrugged. "That's disappointing. Have a girlfriend?"

"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"I love young love!" Harold grinned, and his pearly whites glittered in the light.

"... That's nice." Nicolas didn't look up, but he could tell how happy Harold was by his tone. Great. He'd have to come in to work every day for God knows how long and listen to this idiot.