Sneaking Around Afterhours.

The corridors were darkened, put to bed while everyone else stayed up late in the ballroom. Cerelia felt the chill prick across her skin and the soft blonde hairs launched to attention. Her blood vessels contracted, desperate to draw in and contain her body heat, and Cerelia brought her hands to her arms, dismayed at the way the gloves she wore provided no heat what so ever.

Cerelia could feel Jude’s presence behind her but regardless of that she lit the end of her wand and lifted it aloft, spreading a pale light over them. She turned and looked at the man patiently, admiring for the swiftest of seconds the way he had dressed himself for the event. He certainly took his appearance seriously and for that Cerelia was quite bad but it was appearance that was hampering her. Her dress was not something designed for movement, clearly, and a few quick spells brought the length up to the knee, making it easier for her to manoeuvre herself.

Clicking her heels against the marble floors, Cerelia looked at Jude with a slight impatience. She pursed her lips and gestured down the darkened corridor.

“Lead the way, will you?”

Finally away from it all, he continued down the labyrinth of corridors. He could hear Cerelia behind him, but he did nothing to wait for her - not yet. He opened a door, tapping his wand in the proper pattern, and it led to a room full of lifts. He turned and approached one of them, typing the appropriate code into a small panel.

Cerelia caught up with him and he smiled. "About time." He smiled, saying, "Of course. This will lead directly into it."

The left opened, and he ushered her in. He entered, hit the button, and the lift shuddered down. "You look wonderful, by the way. Exquisite." The lift shuddered to a stop and opened, revealing the door that led to the Department of Mysteries.

It was a disaster, to have short legs. But thankfully, Cerelia didn't - though that didn't make catching up with Jude any easier. The girl's patience was wearing thin.

She was palpably aware that what she was doing was wrong; but it was necessary, she reassured herself.

She did feel somewhat better, knowing Jude was there, who had a lot more to lose. But still.

"Fashionably late, darling." Cerelia drawled back at him with a smirk. "I didn't expect to be cornered by Ashcroft. Thank you for that by the way. I do hope Penny doesn't have a bruise."

Cerelia smirked and stepped into the lift after him. She eyed Jude carefully upon his compliment and she smiled despite herself. It was an improvement on what her father had told her - that she'd do.

"Thank you." She murmured gently, her smile small but her elation clear.

The girl lifted her wand a little higher when the doors to the lift opened and she bit her lip.

Now where?

"Where do they keep the written texts?" She asked.

He grinned at her. "She'll thank me, I'm sure. She looks like the type to be awkward around the fellows. I just helped her break the ice, being the great, handsome person I am." She thanked him for the compliment, and his gaze darted towards her, trying to see the effect. It seemed positive, and he smiled comfortably.

He took a step out, listening to her. He searched his own mind and said, "I think I remember." He approached the door and, again, tapped his wand at the appropriate space. He opened the door and assured Cerelia inside. He left the door open, as he looked about. He finally picked a door. "There." He approached, opening it, and ushered Cerelia in. he stepped inside and then pointed his wand at the open door. He slashed his wand and a small blue light circled around the knob of the door. Another wave of the wand and the door closed, causing the room to spin. He closed his own door and turned forward.

They were, indeed, in the Document Room. He turned to Cerelia. "Now begins the search, I presume."

“Modest too,” Cerelia quipped with a faux-withering look. “You clean up well though, I must say. What is the suit, your father’s?”

The blonde smirked a little and ambled down the corridor after Jude. Cerelia slipped through the door he directed towards and she grabbed for his arm when the room spun. Once Cerelia’s vision righted itself, the blonde lifted her wand higher and bit her lip. The place was a mess – reminding her of the Room of Requirement. Cerelia brushed her hand down the front of her dress, already feeling the dust begin to stick and she nibbled on her bottom lip, wondering where to begin.

“We’re looking for a book bound in stone with an imprint of another book in it.” Cerelia murmured, beginning to walk the shelves, her eyes scanning every book, hoping it might be the one. “Looking for a wife?” she inquired idly, tugging a book out momentarily before pressing it back onto the shelf. “Any luck so far? On both searches?”

She would never know how much that comment about the suit belonging to his father would bother him. He paused, staring at her a moment, and then smiled, his mile confident in an almost aggressive manner. "Big boys buy their own suits."

He continued on, allowing himself some time to calm down by looking intent on the work before them. His scoundrel of a father was supposed to be out of his life completely, but he managed to work his way in. Jude forced himself to let it go, allowing himself time to seethe over it later. He would not let the words of a student bother him.

Speaking of her... Cerelia gripped his arm in surprise over the spinning room, and he smiled ever so slightly. "Easy, doll."

They separated as the search began, and he looked about. He knew where the stone bound books were, mostly because that period had published plenty of stone bound documents. At her words he looked up at her and, spotting something behind her, smirked slowly approaching.

"Funny you should mention it. You know, in matters of so delicate a subject, it is wise to make thorough, careful searches. But sometimes, there is this strange urgency," he stepped closer, allowing her no room to move. He place a hand upon the shelf above her, staring her in the face, and continued, "This urgency can be brought on by everyone around you, an it makes it so easy to overlook the perfect option, which could be right in front of you."

He leaned forward, and grabbed the book above her, pulling it out and handing it to her. It was the book she had spoken of. "So, yes. I did find the book."

The twinge of irritation did break the calm waters between them and Cerelia turned to look at Jude, her confusion bubbling beneath the surface of her neutral expression. She did not think her father’s emotions could reach her in the bowel of the Ministry and there was no one else around. The air had an absent chill about the place. No one had been there since the afternoon. No, it had to be Jude. Yet, Cerelia could not ascertain as to why. She didn’t understand what she’d said to make him turn and she could feel the sudden twist, the change in his temperament.

Before she could open her mouth, she felt Jude’s presence behind her. Cerelia turned, her back pressing up against the bookshelf, and she looked at him like a deer caught in headlights and she felt her heart quicken in her chest. She blinked rapidly as she digested the words which were laden with innuendo and enough to make her feel dizzy and confused. But then suddenly, that feeling dissolved and the intensity was gone. Cerelia felt rather foolish all of a sudden and she took the book from Jude, pursing her lips at him to display her disapproval.

“Thank you, Mr Undersecretary, for being so thorough.” She smirked at him and turned the book over in her hands. “God, you’re a genius. I think they should promote you. I had visions of this taking forever. Luckily, I have the book. My father’s rifling through ancestral homes actually proved useful. It’s poems, do you see? A specific copy. Obviously back to front.” Cerelia held up the book and smiled brightly before taking her wand from her bag. She shrunk the book down and put her wand back in her bag before reaching for the front of her dress.

Her purse was too open and the book would have been too far away. Into her bra, Cerelia had sewn a little pouch with a brass clasp. It was into this that she put the book before righting her clothing; modesty having gone out of the window momentarily for the sake of business.

“Back to the ball, she asked? Or is there anything else worth taking from here?”

She seemed a bit upset with his tactics of finding the book. "Smile, love, jokes are fun. And they all have a seed of truth." He briefly resumed his serious expression of intensity, before his face, once again, cracked into a wide smile, full of devious mirth. He really, simply, could not help himself.

"You're right. I do deserve a promotion. I would not disapprove of you spreading that sentiment." He smiled. "I like to stroll about the Department of Mysteries to clear my head. It's not technically allowed, but technicalities are best ignored." She spoke of the book and he looked with interest, nodding. "I'm glad to see you're pleased with out results."

He did not turn away as she stowed the book away - it was her duty to protect her modesty, not his. She asked of their next move and he smiled. "We'd be best to return. We need to find you a suitable husband, after all."

Cerelia was far too serious to make jokes. She was a droll, sarcastic bitch but she did not make jokes intend for guffaws – more like the customary snort, a signal that the person at the butt of the joke was in fact a fool. Her humour was much like her father’s in that sense. Cerelia narrowed her eyes at Jude playfully and stuck her tongue out. Childish though it might have been she was put out by the implications and did not like to be made a fool of.

The blonde raised an aweless eyebrow and scoffed. “Take the compliment, don’t agree you arse.” She told him, nudging him with her elbow. “I’m glad your befuddled head makes for good exploring.” She added. “This would’ve taken forever otherwise.”

Cerelia paused as Jude finished, not even allowing him a glare. A sound that was almost like a bark met her ears and she turned, glancing down towards the bottom of the corridor only to see a puppy emerge from under a collapsed pile of documents, looking thoroughly unimpressed with itself. Another followed, and another, and another and another until ten dogs – husky pups – had slid out on the polished floor, out into the open.

“Look!” Cerelia murmured before striding past Jude to meet one of the pups that seemed particularly interested in her. Cerelia knelt down to greet the animal and the pup reached up to lick at her fingers enthusiastically. Another slid past Cerelia on unsteady feet towards Jude, stopping only because his shoes provided a rather good support for the pup.

“Oh, gosh. They’re beautiful!” Cerelia lifted the pup nearest her up into her arms and she stood back up onto her feet. The animal licked at her face and she laughed, cringing back as it became overly excitable. “Where have you come from?” She asked the pup indulgently, as if it could answer her. “Jude can we keep them? Look, there are so many.”

The pups began to race about them as quickly as their little legs could carry them. Another one found Cerelia and she scooped him up too. The pup seemed thoroughly pleased to be back with what Cerelia could only assume to be his sibling and she cuddled the dogs close to her chest.

“One for you.” She nodded towards the pup Jude had gotten. “One for me. One for Kat. One for Cecilia. One for Aurelia. One for – oh!” One of the dogs ran into her feet and she quickly stepped back, giving him a nudge up the bum to get him moving again. “One for Kendall. One for Athena.” Cerelia smirked a little at the pup following warily the dog that had no control of himself what so ever. “And their twins!” She looked towards the smallest dogs. “Can we keep them, Jude?” Cerelia asked, looking towards him hopefully.

"My agreement is taking the compliment!" Jude argued, smiling despite himself. It was not to be helped - he had been raised by his mother and his late grandmother, and he had been spoiled rotten. He was accustomed to being fawned over and sort of expected it out of those around him, so humility and modesty had always been the least of these in his arsenal of social graces.

He had opened his mouth to suggest they leave, when a noise met his ears. He turned and stared as a swarm of husky pups rushed to them. Cerelia, showing her age, was quick to dissolve into womanly affection for the creatures, while Jude's mind was set whirling. It did not make sense to see Husky puppies freely roaming the halls of the most protected department in the wizarding Ministry.

And then it did.

Had Luca Storwood not just told Jude of a new security measure being introduced? Jude had not been given specifics, but had remembered something about the new head of the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures not liking the project.

Cerelia had pushed a puppy into his arms and he stared at the wriggling creature, holding it out at arm's length. He locked eyes with it and it stopped moving, staring straight back. And Jude could see a small flicker of red in the creature's eye.

He dropped the puppy and grabbed for Cerelia's arm. As the dog landed on the ground, it hunched over and veins of red began to cut across it's blue skin, fangs growing from it's mouth. It let out a resounding bark, one more of demonic proportions than anything else.

"Run," he commanded the younger girl, still holding her arm. He thrust her before him and began sprinting towards the exit.