The beeping of the alarm was an unwelcome distraction to my sleep. I had been having another dream where I was flying again, but the harsh beeping couldn't be ignored.

It was the first time I had been up before eleven in the morning in months, but today was the first day of my new job. I didn't have much of choice; I was supposed to be at the Ministry of Magic in an hour and a half.

I took a moment to reflect upon how I got here. Six months ago, I'd been a star Quidditch keeper. After a career ending and hip shattering fall, I was left washed up. Three months had been spent learning to walk again. Moving back into my parent's house, at twenty four, hadn't been fun. The rest of the time had been spent moping about.

But two weeks ago, my bank account had dwindled down to next to nothing. I needed a paycheck before rent was due, and unfortunately I had to ask my brother for help.

Andrew had always been the successful one. Now, he was running the Auror department at the age of thirty three. He may have been nine years older than me, but everyone knew he would accomplish more than me. He had the perfect life. He'd worked hard and received top marks in school, graduated top of his class in Auror training, and always excelled. He was married now, to a woman named Audrey and they already had two children with another on the way. In our parents' eyes, he was the ultimate perfect child.

My other brother, Cooper, was Andrew's opposite in a few ways. He had never been particularly interested in school until his sixth year when he'd met Ethan. Their relationship wasn't easy at Hogwarts, but they were still together ten years after graduating. Together they ran a Magical and Muggle law firm and were waiting to adopt a baby. Mum and Dad had struggled with having a gay son, but now it wasn't really an issue. He might not have been their perfect child, but he was successful and in a steady relationship.

And then there was me. School had never been for me. My grades hovered above passing, just enough to let me continue playing Quidditch. I'd been on the Hufflepuff team since my second year. Hufflepuff wasn't known for their Quidditch team, definitely not, but it improved a lot when I was Captain. Although we didn't win, competing for the Quidditch Cup during my seventh year had been a step in the right direction. I'd been signed as a reserve player to the Tutshill Tornadoes right out of Hogwarts. I'd played for them for awhile before spending the last year on the Holyhead Harpies. I'd excelled on the Harpies. I'd gained product endorsements and magazine photo shoots. It was like being on top of the world. I was brought down by stupid, cocky move coupled with a hit by a bludger that sent me soaring sixty feet to the ground. My mother didn't understand Quidditch very much and was always on my case to settle down. As a Harpy, the rules for relationships were pretty strict and I'd just enjoyed going out with my friends. Both of my brothers had been settled by my age and I was constantly being compared to them.

But Mum was happy I was working at the Ministry now. Andrew had been able to get me a job as a secretary. I didn't have a lot of skills, but I could file some papers and make coffee decently.

I looked at the outfit I'd purchased for my first day. I didn't love it, but I didn't love anything I was wearing right now. I'd gone from training five to six days a week to sitting in a bed for a month healing. Twenty pounds had found their way on to my frame and I was not happy.

But I got up, knowing if I didn't I would be late and Andrew would be angry. I made a cup of coffee and took out the potions I would need to get through the day. As I stirred another spoonful of sugar into my cup, the front door opened.

A familiar head of blonde hair was the first thing I saw.

After moving out of an apartment I'd shared with three other Harpies, and out of my parent's house, I'd needed somewhere to live. Luckily, I'd run into a friend from Hogwarts. I hadn't talked to Shelley Hopkinton since seventh year, but she and her boyfriend Cameron were looking for a roommate for their two-bedroom flat in Diagon Alley. I'd said yes immediately and moved in three days later. It wasn't the ideal situation but pretty much anything would beat living with my mother.

Then, about a month after I'd moved in, Shelley decided that she was breaking up with Cam and moving to Scotland. He was completely crushed when she left, but couldn't do much about it because Shelley wasn't changing her mind.

Initially he had wanted to move out, but our lease didn't expire for a few more months. We'd become pretty good friends over the last two months. He was a Healer at St. Mungo's and incredibly handsome. The worst part about the situation was that I'd completely fallen for him.

And he had no idea. I'd hinted at it a few times, but he hadn't picked up on any of it. The first month or so after Shelley had left he'd been getting over her. And now I just had no idea how to go about it. But he was so lovely.

"You're up early," he said, coming in and shrugging off his work robe.

"First day of work," I told him. He walked over to the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Oh," he said, nodding. "Wow, I'm sorry I forgot. We just talked about this yesterday. You'll do great." He flashed me a smile and I could feel my heart race a little.

I smiled back, hoping he was right. "Thank you," I said. I got dressed and readied myself for a long day.

I double checked twice that I had everything I needed before Flooing to the Ministry. I had my wand and the ID they had given me at Orientation last week. I had money to buy lunch at the cafeteria. I would be okay.

Andrew was waiting for me outside the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I hated having to depend on him for a job but I would hate being homeless even more. "Hello, Gwen," he said.

"Andrew," I acknowledged.

"You're looking well, how are you feeling?" he asked. Andrew was very polite.

"All right," I told him. "My Healer says that all the healing is complete. It will probably always bother me a little and I'm supposed to keep taking supplements to keep my bones strong."

He nodded. "Glad to hear you're feeling better," he said, as we walked into the Department. "From what Mum says, you're lucky that was all that happened to you."

"Yeah," I said, noncommittally. He led me to a desk in the back. I would be helping out six Aurors and their offices were all behind me. It didn't seem like it would be too hard.

"Please work hard, Gwen," Andrew begged me. "You know I had to pull some strings to get you in here and don't make me regret it."

"I'll be fine!" I snapped at him. "I'm not incompetent."

He nodded and walked away quickly. I examined my desk, it was nice. I'd never worked at a desk before. Judging by the desks I'd passed on my way into the department, I could decorate my desk a little. Other people had pictures of their husbands or children. I wondered what I could do.

I made coffee and waited for the Aurors to show up. Andrew had told me to be fifteen minutes early, probably expecting me to be late. I knew a few of the Aurors I was in charge of today were out in the field. I looked at the plaques on the office doors.

The first one had two women's names, Sophie Dale and Verna Advint. I vaguely remembered Verna as being a few years ahead of me in Hogwarts.

The rest were all men: Tommy Staples, Jeff Gerber, Mason Court, and Michael Penny were the names on the door.

Verna was the first one there, a few minutes after me. She had changed a lot from how I remembered her but seemed really nice. I made a point to remember who was who. Jeff was wearing a blue tie today; Mason had cut himself shaving this morning.

I got paperwork to file for a bit and scheduled meetings with their supervisors for them. I felt like Andrew was watching me all day, he came by at least once an hour. It was really annoying and actually kind of insulting. I might not have gotten seven N.E.W.T.s, but I wasn't exactly running the department like he was. I was fine.

"You can go to lunch now," Andrew said, walking past my desk. I was so happy. I'd been sitting at the desk now for almost four hours and needed to get up and stretch my legs. I walked to the cafeteria and got a salad. I held the tray of food in my hands and looked around. I needed to find somewhere to sit.

I didn't know anyone here, really, I recognized a few people from Hogwarts, but I hadn't maintained many friendships from back then. The tables were mostly full, so I just headed for the first empty seat I saw. A man was sitting at the table, reading a newspaper and eating some soup.

When I was about five feet away from the table, I recognized who was sitting there and wished I could turn back. However, he had already seen me and I couldn't.

"May I?" I asked, gesturing to the empty seat across from him.

"Oh, sure," he said, moving his paper. I took a seat across from Harry Potter.

I looked down at my salad and stabbed a piece of lettuce with my fork. I could tell that he was watching me. I looked up and saw him examining me.

I cocked my head to the side. "What?" I asked, curious. Did I have ink on my face or something?

"You look familiar," he said.

I sighed. I'd run into a few people and had not been recognized. Before the accident, I'd had long blonde hair. One of the first things I had done as I struggled to find my new identity was chop it all off and dye it all a rich brown color.

"Gwen Pierce," I said, extending my hand. He shook it and introduced himself.

"The Quidditch player?" he asked. "Oh, god, you're the one that fell aren't you?"

I nodded, and looked back down at the salad. "Yes, I am."

"I was at that game," he told me. "It was against the Cannons, yeah? We all thought you'd died and then the Harpies went on to win anyways."

There were many times right after the accident that I wished I had died, but at least the Harpies had gone on to win. If we- they, actually, lost to the Cannons it would have been terribly embarrassing. "They're good like that," I said. "Luckily since then there's been a cushioning charm mandated on the fields."

He nodded. "So what are you doing here?" he asked. "I mean, you're working here now? You're wearing Ministry robes, aren't you?"

"Yes," I said. "Actually, we're coworkers now, I guess. I'm a secretary in the Magical Law Enforcement department. Andrew got me the job."

"Andrew Pierce?" he asked.

"My brother..." I trailed off.

"I had no idea you two were related," he admitted. "I mean, now that I think about it you two do look similar."

It didn't surprise me that Andrew had never talked about me. He happened to side with my mother on the matter of Quidditch. To them, it wasn't a job but a silly past time that I had let take over my life. I wasn't anything spectacular in his eyes and he liked to separate work and personal stuff.

"He is a very private bloke," Harry said. "I mean, no one knew his wife was pregnant until she was seven months along."

That was typical Andrew. I knew it was killing him a little to have someone in his family encroaching upon his workspace. It just blurred the line between family and work.

"Yes, he is," I said.

"But he's a good boss," Harry said. "He's helped me through some rough spots..."

I nodded. I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not. After all, it probably wasn't a good idea to badmouth the boss to his sister. "He got me a job," I shrugged. "He's decent."

He chuckled. "Quidditch career's over?" he asked.

"Unfortunately..." I trailed off. "Breaking my hip in three spots isn't so conducive to the sport."

He hissed. "Ouch. That's terrible," he said. "But you're better now? I mean, you walked over here..."

"Yeah, I'm all right now. I'll always have some problems but I'm fine," I told him. He looked really interested in what I was saying and it was nice to have someone to talk to about this. I was used to people not even bringing it up because they didn't know what to say.

He looked down at his watch. "Oh," he said. "My lunch has been over for fifteen minutes now."

I scooped a last bite of salad into my mouth before standing up too. "I should get back too," I said.

"Do you normally eat lunch by yourself?" I asked as we waited for the lift.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "But my partner's out of town for a few weeks and my trainee is driving me barmy. I needed to get out of there."

We walked back into the department together. People were just starting to get back from lunch and the department was starting to get loud again. That was something I had learned today, that working in an office could be just as loud as the field.

"Nice meeting you," I said, saying goodbye as I walked towards my desk. His office was at the front, close to Andrew's office.

I walked back to my desk. Maybe working here wouldn't be too bad.

Author's Note: Well, here's chapter one of the new story! Please let me know what you think, it's a bit different than the other stories. Thanks goes out to potter-reading-coastie for betaing the chapter. My website has been updated with the summary of this story. Also, I wanted to give you guys a heads up. I made a because I know a lot of you are on there. If you want a more current update on the status of the newest chapter, follow emilywritesff on .ter. So, thank you! Let me know what you think! The epilogue for Mindless should be up soon!