hush. [tag; max]

It was cold enough outside to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

Pulling a face, the tall blonde scowled at the heavy snow-laden grey sky and grimaced. She'd rather forgotten the severity of a London winter. The winter in Paris seemed different, softer. Fragrant almost. It lacked the biting sting, the grumpiness, the general distain. In France, she often wandered through the snow but the snow here was wet and slushy and did nothing but slow her down and make her upset.

This cold was horrible. It seeped right down into her bones and chilled her from the inside outwards. Her slim fingers hastily tugged her frock coat further around her slender waist as she bowed her head against the frigid wind, her long blonde curls bobbing happily behind her as she grunted, cursing London with every single step she took. How the Hell was she ever even remotely homesick? There was nothing homely and lovely about the dull, grey and unfriendly city. Now that the Christmas decorations had started to come down, old London town had dulled its sparkle considerably.

Deftly dodging a puddle and lengthening her strides, Madeline practically jogged down the street, getting swept up in the hustle and bustle. No one ever waited around here. She knew her way to The Ministry well. She used to come and visit Ernie here a few times per week when they were dating and she hadn't been back since but times were changing. Plus, she was on a super secret mission that afternoon.

Spotting the old telephone box, Maddie slipped inside and closed the door. Getting settled, she used the key pad to dial 62442 and leaned against the plate glass as the box descended, opening to reveal the bustling atrium on level eight. She wasn't spared a second to get her bearings before she was swept up in a group of people and she hastily ducked around and took a breath. "Urgh," she grunted, shifting her  bag grumpily as she chewed on her lower lip. Was this illegal? She'd asked herself that question before now but it wasn't like she was stealing or causing harm. No, she was just…investigating someone.

Her bestie, Alice, had been dating the mysterious Max for, what? Almost a year now? More? And she was yet to meet him formally. Maddie wondered what the deal was. Was this Max weird? Was he a bit creepy? Did he dress like an angry gnome? What? Honestly, the baker was a bit miffed at her friend's seemingly unwillingness to introduce her to her boyfriend. Well! Bugger that. She was taking her fate into her own hands and finding this mysterious figure.

Turning, she heard the ding! of the elevator and she ran for it, flinging out her hand. "Hold the lift, please!" Maddie called, hurling herself into the metal box to be greeted by a sour faced, plump red headed older woman who eyed her beadily. She smiled at the woman brightly as she smoothed down her hair. "The third floor, please," she asked in a sugary sweet voice, much to the woman's annoyance who stabbed the button with a candy coloured talon and tutted loudly. Once her floor was announced, she gaily bounced out and strutted down the hallway, her honey coloured eyes wide and looking for any clues.

She slowed her pace, her heels echoing as she looked over her shoulder; coast was clear. Madeline wandered past various offices with name plaques stuck onto them. The tall blonde squinted, finding herself totally and utterly lost when she stopped suddenly; Maddox Stanton. Maddox? Could that be shortened to Max, maybe? It was logical and at the moment, it was the only lead she had. Hesitating, she back tracked to a desk she'd passed earlier. There was a pile of fairly non-descript papers neatly perched and she hastily scooped them up and hugged them to her chest. She looked like she was meant to be there. Good. Great. Super. Uh-oh.

Behind the door, she heard movement and she panicked. This was possibly the daftest thing she'd ever done but here went nothing! Maddie stepped back to hide around the corner wall, waiting until the man closed the door after him and she broke into a stride. Her big eyes were on her borrowed papers by way that she was busy reading them and she bumped straight into them, sending her papers up in the air in a rather beautifully dramatic way. "Ow!" Madeline squeaked, falling over onto her bum in a rather melodramatic way as she scrambled to pick the papers back up. "I am so sorry!" She wailed for emphasis, her hands on her face before she peeked up at him when a sudden thought struck her; he was smoking' hot. Way to go, Alice.

Glancing at the clock, Max sighed softly and began to pull together the things he would need for the days meetings. He had some time before lunch, but that didn’t mean he had an easy schedule till then. As he rose from his desk the blonde wizard absently ticked off his schedule for the day.

10:45 - Departmental meeting.
11: 00 - Meeting with father.
11:30 - Incident Debriefings.
12:00 - Lunch.

Maybe after lunch he’d pop by and surprise Alice with some flowers, or a cute flying memo. He wasn’t sure he’d have time, but he’d try.  Maddox was so caught up in trying to figure out whether or not he’d have time to spare for himself, he hadn’t even bothered to watch where he was going. Bullocks. Shock and surprise clearly written on his face, the ex Slytherin glanced down to look at whom he’d so impolitely bowled over. Flashing her a smile, Max made short work of bending down to simultaneously scoop up the papers, along with offering her a hand up. Furrowing his brow slightly the man realized he had yet to say anything. Apologizing hastily Max held the papers out to her “Oh! I’m terribly sorry, Miss. Are you alright?..”

He didn’t recognize her, but that didn’t mean much around the ministry. There were always new faces. It didn’t seem like she was injured, thankfully, or he would have had a not so cute reason to go to see Alice. To bring her a patient. Smoothing the lapels on his suit, Max waited to make sure she really was okay before moving on “Where are you headed? I can help you get there. It’s the least I can do to make up for all but flattening you.” Absently Max had the wherewithal to ask one more question before letting the poor woman be “What  department are you from? I don’t recognize you.” With that the Obliviator offered the woman across from him his hand “I’m Maddox Stanton, by the way..” It wasn’t something he’d been planning on, but the wizard was feeling guilty enough that he wouldn’t think twice about being polite. He tried to treat the women he met like he would Alice, as he found that it helped him seem less like a cold hearted ministry official, so much like his father, and more like a human being.

Madeline blinked. Nah, he was hot. No offence to her bestie but Alice was the shy and retiring type and how she'd managed to bag that little fittie was a wonder. Then again, she supposed he must have fallen for her beautiful soul and pretty face. Realising this was a terrible idea, Madeline hastily scrambled to collect the stolen papers, shoving them back into the Ministry regulation black paper folder that she'd swiped from a random desk.

Soon a large hand came looming into view and she hesitated; was she even allowed to touch her friend's secret boyfriend or nah? Biting her lip, she took his hand and allowed him to haul her back up. "Thank you," she said, red faced as she shoved the papers back into the folder. She had no idea what they were or whom they were for. Were they important? Goodness, she hoped they weren't. What if someone got into trouble because they'd gone missing? Gah. She was a terrible, awful spy. She was really bad at it all.

"Oooh I'm fine," she said breezily, offering him a dazzling smile. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm a little bit lost," she added with a sheepish smile, hugging the folder close to her chest in case she dropped everything again. "I'm sorry," she sad hastily, reaching out to delicately touch his forearm. "I'm so clumsy. I'm forever in a rush and I never seem to wake up earlier even though I should," she said with a roll of her eyes and shaking her head, sending rose-scented girls bobbing cheerfully around her pretty face as she smiled again. He looked good in a suit, she noted. How could Alice keep this from her and for so long?

Where was she headed? Away from here and fast. Maddie instantly regretted trying to snoop. She was crap at it. "Just on my way out," she said cheerfully, pointing to the elevator again as she pressed the button. Would the stairs be faster? She was wearing heels but she could still run. Her ability to do that came from habitually breaking curfew and having to sprint home before her parents realised she wasn't tucked up safe in bed. Whoops.

Ah, crap.

Madeline's eyes widened. Uh oh. She was about to get busted. He looked all tall and serious, was he in a position of authority? She swallowed and her mind struggled to play catch up. "Fourth floor," she said airily, flapping her hands. She had no idea what was on the fourth floor and if Hottie McSexy pressed her for more information, she could just say she was someone's secretary. She was dressed for the job. As the hand came out again, Madeline paused before relenting. Maddox? Ah. It was him! "Hi," she said with a shy smile, half debating on using an alias. How did Henrietta Winterbottom sound? Fancy!

"Maddie Fletcher," she said, giving his hand a business-like pump before letting it go and slipping her hand back into her pocket. She also needed to tell Alice that she was sort of dating a famous Quidditch player. If she suggested a double date, she'd just die. Flat out die.

"And I'm really sorry," she said swiftly. "For denting your suit," she joked. Her shoulder was still throbbing from where she'd caught the side of his body. Maddie bruised like a peach despite playing Beater for the Hufflepuff house team for two years. "At least let me buy you a coffee to make up for the inconvenience," she said quickly, her honey coloured eyes wide and sincere. This sort of puppy dog look usually worked on her dad and she hoped it'd work on Maddox, too. Madeline wanted to know all about him before Alice got wind of what she was doing and told her off.