Make an impression.

Jude often stood at the Fountain of Magical Brethren after his day at the Ministry had ended and caught up with the high-ranking members of society, if only to remind everyone around him exactly how important he really was in this world. He had worked hard, and his work had paid off. Here he was, the secret spawn of a scumbag squib (say that five times fast) and he was basking in his own success, at the top of the ladder in pureblood social circles. He looked good, he made good money, and he had power.

Jude liked his kingdom. This Ministry was his kingdom. He felt change stirring in the air - Minister Lupin was on his way out anytime, and either he or his best mate Elijah Krum were sure to inherit the title. Everyone knew it too - the mere mention of his name spurred wizards and witches to adjust the attitude into one of respect and reverence. Even the ones who didn't agree with his policy did either because he was so damn likable or they were intelligent enough to know it simply was not worth it to cross him.

He did not stay alone at the fountain for long. His good friend Colin Cornell approached soon, and the two immediately launched into conversation. Even though Colin was known for his singing career, Jude happened to know the man was getting heavily invested in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. After losing some money on betting on the Chudley Cannons, Colin was working to get more involved in the investments of the Quidditch empire.

Jude felt comfortable with his friend and they exchanged pleasantries, smugly ignoring those who stopped to openly stare at two of the more famous wizards in society, who were happy to know the impression they were giving was an impressive one.

Charlotte was not a happy camper. She had been waiting at the Ministry for nearly an hour and a half just to get her paperwork in. She never really thought that her move from the states would have to require so much work. Nearly a year after and she was still getting paperwork in. Although she had to admit that was completely her fault, as she tended to procrastinate and honestly forgot about the papers until that morning. She thanked Merlin that it was her day off from work or she would have been screwed.

Although moving to the UK had been spur of the moment and turned out to be a lot of trouble, she honestly didn't regret it one bit. She felt as if she was more useful here than she ever was back home. It had been hard work but she felt that she had to prove herself, it was what drove her to be as successful as she was now. It was funny, people had different definitions of successful. Some viewed as having a good job and a nice place to live, others saw it as having money and power. Honestly, she felt that she was pretty lucky to be where she was now. She ran away from home at eighteen and began to make a name for herself and she still had a long way to go. She was pretty damn successful if you asked her.

As soon as she got the all clear from the Ministry official she felt a sense of euphoria. She had done it, she was officially a "British" witch. London was officially her home. She thanked the official profusely and gathered a few odd looks as she skipped out of the office. She knew she was being a bit childish about this whole thing, but her whole life she was always told by her parents that she wouldn't amount to anything but she got the last laugh now. She was a Healer in St. Mungo's, had her own apartment(or should she say flat now?), she made many new friends, and now England was her home. Nothing could spoil that moment.

Charlie approached the Fountain of Magical Brethren where she remembered her awe and confusion the first time she saw. It was a beautiful statue no doubt that explained her awe, but her confusion came from the smiling faces of everyone being portrayed. She could understand the witch and the wizard, and house elves were always smiling as long as you gave them something to do, but the last time she checked goblins rarely smiled, and when they did it was often because of a morbid joke. And the centaur was almost a joke. She had read somewhere that centaurs saw magical folk to be intrusive and they distrusted them immensely. Someone needed to get their facts straight.

As she soon reached the Fountain she saw two men talking as if the world around them didn't exist. She recognized both of them vaguely, one more than the other. And then it hit her where she recognized at least one of the men. It was Colin Cornell. Abigayle was obsessed with the singer to the point where Charlie was worried she would have to stage an intervention. She didn't realize that she got closer to the men until it was too late. She abruptly tripped, probably over her own foot, of course she would trip and make a huge fool of herself in front of two important men. She went down and went down hard, she let out a yelp and soon found herself lying at the men's feet. She rolled over and looked up at their faces with a sheepish grin, "Um, hello there..."

It seemed right that, as they spoke, a woman would trip and fall at their feet. Both men were chivalrous, sure, because Jude thought it looked good to the public and Colin was a hopeless romantic. Jude hesitated first, however, simply to gauge whether or not the woman really was worth their time or energy. As she turned her face up, however, it became apparent that she was a beautiful young woman - and, therefore, worthy of him.

Both men stooped to help her up, offering out their hands as they both said, "Let me help you up." Jude could see that Colin had brightened considerably - Colin was absolutely useless with women. He was much too sincere, and the poor man simply could not take the risk often enough. He could not date every woman that caught his eye, not with the way journalists love to make his relationships into hard-hitting stories. The problem was, most women caught Colin's eye.

It was much easier for Jude. He preferred the one-night stands to the typical dating routine, and he didn't have the restrictions Colin did. Journalists would love to get some dirt on him, but he had access to everyone's private records - they were not daring enough to risk going against him. Colin might be the gambler between them, but Jude would bet he had more of a chance with this woman than the singer did.

"Merlin, love, you may want to be more careful. The Ministry couldn't possibly afford a lawsuit," Jude said, smirking.

Charlie blushed brightly as both men stooped down to help her up and they both extended their hands. She grabbed both of their hands and hoisted herself up with their help of course. She brushed herself off and straightened herself up, hoping that she didn't look as frazzled as she felt. She turned and smiled at the two men who helped her up, "Thank you for that. I hope I didn't distract you too much." She said sheepishly.

It was then that she finally got a good look at the two men. She noticed that they were both very handsome. Of course, she knew what Colin looked like from the shrine Abigayle set up, although her best friend denied it was shrine and more of a monument to good music. Charlie still thought it was shrine. The second man she didn't recognize as much, but from his attire she could gather that he was wealthy and so he was either a successful business man or a Ministry official. She knew that she knew him from somewhere but she just couldn't figure out where.

Just as she felt her blush begin to fade away, it came back when the second man opened his mouth and spoke. " Nah, I don't think I would sue the Ministry...Too much trouble." She half-joked and shrugged. Any way, it was her fault she was so damn clumsy. She wasn't even half this clumsy inside the hospital, although she guessed that was probably a blessing. She extended a hand to Colin first, and introduced herself, "I'm Charlotte Blair, nice to meet you" She then turned to the second man with a smile and again, extended her hand.

She seemed grateful to accept their help, and both men were happy to oblige a fallen damsel, especially one with the figure this woman happened to have. At her words, Jude smiled, thinking snarkily to himself. No, madam, it is our pleasure to be distracted by you today. One look at Colin's face, and the traces of desire that so obviously resided in his gaze was enough for Jude to feel rightful in his thoughts, no matter how improper of devilish they may be.

Once she was on her feet, the two released her and Jude was left to his own thoughts, sparing only enough attention to Colin to see the younger man happily attending to the woman, by brushing off her arms for her, his eyes lingering on her features. Jude was trying to see where he could place her, but had no way of knowing whether or not he had ever seen her before. Her voice indicated she was not from the area, and he placed the accent as being American, if he were correct. Few Americans found their way over to their part of the world, so Jude found his interested naturally piqued by this beautiful, foreign woman.

The two smiled as she stated a lawsuit against the Ministry would be too much grief. She seemed to recognize Colin, for most of her attention was saved for him. Jude never minded, always patient to see their tone change when they realized who he actually was. Colin shook her hand, saying, "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Colin." Jude flicked his eyes upwards, always laughing at his friend for not fully introducing himself (as though he really needed to.) Jude took her hand warmly, and brushed his lips against it, always one for formality. "I'm Jude Shaw, Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic."

Charlie smiled brightly at Colin as he brushed her arms off for her. She wasn't really used to such gentlemen. All the guys she knew she grew up with and so they tended to see her as either a sister or an annoyance. But then, she never really did have much luck in the romance department. Sure, she went out with some really nice guys, but she never really felt anything special when she was with them. Then he came along. She swore that she would never speak up him again. 'Him' being her steady ex-boyfriend of nearly two years. She thought that everything was bliss until she saw a girl with the same exact charm bracelet that she had. At first she shrugged it off as a coincidence. Then she went and saw the idiot sucking face with the girl. She had been heart broken. She told herself that it was stupid to be so depressed because of a guy, but she thought that they really had something special. Turns out that she was very wrong.

She thanked Colin for his help and shook his hand and laughed, "Yeah, I know who you are Mr. Rockstar" she joked, her bright smile still in place. She then noticed his intense gaze. She colored slightly and self consciously fixed her blouse. She turned away from Colin and fixed her attention onto the second man who so generously helped her up. As she offered her hand to shake, she surprised her slightly by bringing up her hand to his warm lips. She raised an eyebrow at the suave move and was about to say something about it when he introduced himself as the Undersecretary to the Minister. She closed her mouth immediately, as it was a habit instilled in her from a young age. Since she was a little girl her father always had important American Ministry officials coming and going. They had even hosted the Minister himself for a dinner. She was always told to not say a word to these important individuals so as to not embarrass her parents.

Maybe it was for the best because Charlie always had the misfortune of saying the stupidest things at the worst time. This was one of them, "Oh, that's nice." She began to mentally beat herself up into a pulp. The many introduces himself as the Undersecretary to the freaking Minister and you say 'That's nice'. What was wrong with her? She immediately colored(it hadn't been even ten minutes and she had blushed more than her whole life!) and stammered out an apology, "I meant that's impressive, Mr. Shaw. You look too young to hold such a remarkable position" Nice save Charlie she thought. That was probably one of best saves ever. She just hoped that she didn't end up saying something more embarrassing. Charlie realized that her hand was still in his, and she subtly took it back and pushed her brown hair away from her face. She looked at the two men before her, "So what are two young men like yourselves doing here anyway?" She looked at Jude, "I mean I understand why you would be here, but if you were really doing anything you'd probably be in an office wouldn't you?" She questioned. She then realized how nosy she sounded, she shrugged "I mean, not that it's any of my business, but I figured that since I made you two help me up I might as well make some polite conversation"

She answered Colin with a confidence and spirit so devoid of real displaced self importance that Jude found his interest increasing. Jude loved confidence and spirit in women, of course, but he couldn't stand a woman who thought herself more important than she really was. He could forgive a woman who thought herself somehow special as an individual, but he hated a woman who compared herself to the success stories around her and found something lacking in the others. She seemed to be aware of Colin's fame, and respectful.

He was more pleased, however, with her reaction to him. She seemed impressed and even pleased by his formality of introduction, but she was even more shocked and impressed by his title. This was what Jude liked to see - people who understood the importance of his job. He could make life very easy of very difficult for people. And a woman who seemed to understand that he was not just another paper pusher was a nice breath of fresh air.

And she, unlike his current conquest, seemed a bit closer to his own age.

She stuttered out a sentence, and, though it could have been a sign of ignorance or insolence, he could tell by her expression that she was struggling to respond. He smiled roguishly, pleased with her compliment. He did not need compliments, but he sure as hell liked to receive them. "It's no real matter of age; just one of talent and effort."

"And modesty?" Colin teased. Jude shot him a scathing look and the singer let out a boyish giggle, considered so charming by others.

She queried as to there presence and Jude and Colin shared a look, deciding who would answer. Colin seemed a bit distracted, still, so Jude said, "I'm off work for the day, but I like to unwind and catch up with others. Colin here works with the Department of Magical Games and Sports on a regular basis. He's a bit of a private investor, really. So we just like to unwind after a long day of politics. And you? I think I would have recognized one of my colleagues, and I did not recognize you. What brought you here today, if you don't mind me being inquisitive?"