Eleanor smiled politely as she passed the Minister in the hallway as he was talking to a young man in a business suit. She met the man's eyes and felt her smile widen. He was a very attractive man, stood a few inches taller than her, with cropped dark hair and gray eyes. Something about the way he looked at her made her heart flutter. She looked forward again, continuing on her way down the hall. Before she'd even made it to the main entrance, he'd stopped her.

"Hey." She felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned about and met his eyes. He smiled, taking a step back to give her space. She laughed quietly. "Hi."

"Are you going to lunch?"

She nodded, motioning toward the front entrance. "Uh, yeah. I am."

"Okay." He nodded also, looking toward the doors. He looked like a puppy, eager and ready to play. "So am I."

"Alright." She tried to keep from laughing in his face. For a moment in time, she felt like she was fifteen again. "Do you want to come with me?"

He smiled appreciatively. "I'd like that."

"Sure, come on…"

She led the way outside and down the sidewalk. He walked beside her, his hands in the pockets of his gray trousers.

"So, where are you from?" She asked, looking sideways at him. "Your accent…"

He laughed, looking down. "I'm American. I work over at the Federal Bureau of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"That's fantastic! What do you do over there?"

"Oh, well… mostly financial business. Nothing too important."

Eleanor shrugged with a laugh. "Money makes the world go round, right?"

"Seems so." He looked over at her with a laugh, holding out his hand. "I'm sorry. I'm Daniel Clarke."

She took his hand and shook it gently. "Eleanor Black."

"Pleasure, Eleanor. So, what is it that you do?"

"Ah… me, I'm a secretary." She shrugged.

She went to open the door to the café she ate lunch at every so often but he beat her to it, motioning for her to enter. She smiled and walked past him, leading the way to the counter. The young, female clerk behind it greeted her with a smile.

"Hello, Miss Black. Your usual?"

"Yes, please." She looked up at Daniel.

Daniel smiled. "I'll have the tuna salad sandwich, please."

"Of course." The clerk eyed Eleanor curiously, smirking.

Eleanor just smiled, shaking her head slightly.

"You guys go and have a sit. I'll bring it out in a few minutes."

Daniel turned and walked over to a table, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Eleanor followed and sat across from him with a sigh.

"A secretary, huh?" He smiled.

She nodded. "Yeah, nothing spectacular."

"How long have you been doing that?"

She thought for a moment, biting her lip. "Almost four years." She felt like a bit of a failure saying those words and it must have shown.

Daniel waved it off. "Oh, it's not a big deal. A job's a job."

"The people with the good ones always say that." She smirked teasingly.

He laughed. "You've never had the opportunity for a promotion?"

Eleanor almost laughed. "No, never. It's one of those dead end jobs that simply pays the rent."

"But you seem very sharp to me. You're good with people, too. Confident… even the Minister said some nice things about you."

"Oh, did he? Like what?"

Daniel shook his head, thinking a moment. "Just that you were a great student at Hogwarts. One of the top in your class."

Eleanor nodded. That she was and while she was brilliant, no one allowed her to put her skills to good use.

"It's complicated…"

"You not able to get a job?" He raised a brow.

"Yeah…"

"Well… why can't you, if you don't mind my asking?"

Eleanor sighed, tapping her fingers on the table. She looked up at him and spoke calmly.

"My boyfriend's a werewolf."

Daniel just stared at her. She didn't know what she was expecting. Was he supposed to get up and walk away after stammering some sort of apology? Scream in terror and run from the café? He nodded, seeming to consider the fact for the moment.

"Well… I could see how that would be an issue… with Voldemort's alliance with the werewolves lately. But, it's no reason not to give you a job. It's just… prejudice. In the US, you could sue our asses for that." He chuckled.

She smiled. She liked this guy a lot. He was sweet and something about him made her very comfortable with him as if they'd been friends for years before today.

"Well, maybe I should come and work for you, then."

"You should… you'd probably get paid a hell of a lot more."

Eleanor laughed, looking down. But Daniel didn't.

"I'm serious… I could definitely find you a job."

Eleanor's eyes widened slightly as she looked up at him. Did he just offer to give her a job in another country? "Oh, no. I couldn't. Thank you, though, Daniel."

"Well… if you change your mind at all, I'll be here for a week." He laughed. "There are plenty of career opportunities in the US. Jobs better than the one you've got now."

"Oh, I don't doubt that." She looked down, resting her chin on her fist. "It's just the idea of leaving… I have to be perfectly sure I want to."

Daniel just nodded but didn't ask anything further. She was thankful for that, though she thought she might have just recited her entire life history to this stranger. It was nice to just have someone to sit and talk to. Ever since she lost Lily, James, and Sirius, she'd pretty much become a hermit. And Remus wasn't much for conversation anymore. The only time they bothered exchanging words was when one was angry at the other for one reason or another. Both were stressed and still grieving the loss of their friends. Sometimes she wanted to just run away and start over. Making new friends was next to impossible when everyone knew she was living with a werewolf. She was alone, overworked, stressed, and depressed. And she felt herself being sucked deeper into everything the longer she stayed.

Daniel offered a smile, noticing the light behind her eyes extinguish. "Everything alright?"

She looked up at him, smiling. "Yeah… just so much going on lately. I'm kind of stressed."

He nodded, his eyes widening slightly. "Yeah, I know what that's like."

The girl from behind the counter came walking up, placing their meals down in front of them.

"Here you go. Enjoy."

"Thanks." Eleanor smiled sweetly, picking up a fork and poking around at her salad.

She watched the girl as she walked away, inwardly wishing to be normal like her. When she turned to look at Daniel, she realized that he had been watching her. They both laughed, turning their attention to their food. Once they were satisfied and full, they stood up and Eleanor reached for her wallet.

"Oh, no." Daniel put a hand on hers, shaking his head. "Please… this one's on me."

Before Eleanor could protest, he strode over to the counter to take care of her bill. She felt herself redden slightly. He was positively one of the sweetest men she'd ever met in her life. She met him by the door, leading the way back toward the Ministry.

"That sandwich was awesome. I've got to remember that place for when I come back here on business."

"Oh? Think you'll be coming often?" She raised a brow, hoping it hadn't sounded too flirty. She'd already told him she was seeing someone.

"I hope so."

She met his eyes before smiling and walking back inside of the Ministry building, checking her wand and ID at the desk.

"Well, Daniel, I've got to get back to work. Thank you so much for lunch."

"Oh, of course, Eleanor. It was a pleasure meeting you. We should sit down again sometime."

She nodded. "Sure."

"Alright, well… I'll definitely see you around here."

"Yeah, see you."

She turned and walked back toward Mr. Wellington's office, laughing quietly to herself.