When the morning of Mariya's first day of her internship arrived, she couldn't help but feel immensely nervous; they hadn't been told who was in each group yet and she didn't even know which country she would be travelling to. The only proper information she had been given was that she was meant to apparate to the Ministry of Magic for seven in the morning with all of the clothing and money she would need for her trip.
Mariya had packed her case the night before, carefully enlarging the bag so that it would hold more items than apparent and then charming it to ensure she wouldn't have to deal with the full weight of it. Taking a shower and curling her hair so it fell in spiralling ringlets against her skin, she quickly made sure there weren't any smudges on her glasses before putting them on. They had been told to dress down seeing as how there would be a fair amount of travelling for most of them once they reached their placement countries, and so Mariya found a more casual black and white shirt looser sleeves than the blouses she would usually wear, alongside a pleated red skirt her mother had given her for Christmas but she had never had occasion to wear when at Hogwarts. Pulling on her smart black ankle boots, Mariya made sure her waist holster was clean and placed her wand inside it, checking that her spare was still in her case.
Grabbing some churros and croissants as a quick breakfast, Mariya said goodbye to her parents before apparating - as her mother was one of the supervising Aurors, she didn't have to be there until half an hour later and she was taking advantage of the situation to enjoy a morning crossword from the newspaper before heading to work.
When Mariya appeared in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, she was glad to spot the group of other interns and was even more happy to see James already standing with the other young adults. Walking over to him, she dropped her bag onto the ground beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. This feat was more difficult than it sounds as Mariya was rather shorter than him - even with the short heel on her boots - and so was virtually standing on the tips of her toes in order to reach. James seemed to appreciate the gesture though as he pulled her into a hug before drawing back and smiling down at her.
"Are you ready?" He asked.
"Not in the slightest," Mariya shook her head. "I just hope they have given me a country with a language I already speak or which I can pick up easily."
"I'm sure you will do great wherever you end up. Besides," His grin brightened considerably. "You will have plenty of contact with me."
"Great," Mariya pulled away from him and screwed up her nose as though disgusted by the very thought. "Just what I wanted from this holiday, more time with you."
"How rude!" James exclaimed, though his tone made it clear he was not really hurt by her statement. "I'll have you know that there are plenty of people who would give a lot to spend time with me. You don't realise how blessed you are."
Mariya nodded her head sympathetically in the way one might with a small child, "I think I do."
At this further insult, James gave a huff before catching the small woman in his arms and beginning to tickle her sides. The people around them cast the two confused looks for a few moments before many of them realised that this was James Potter; the notorious prankster who had been well known at Hogwarts for his strange sense of humour and entertaining group of friends.
"Stop it, James." Mariya managed to get out between bouts of laughter and the man frowned and shook his head at her.
"Not until you apologise for you hurtful comments, I think it very rude of you to say such things to your wonderful boyfriend." Mariya gave a snort of laughter at his theatrical tone and was about to claim she would never regret her word, when she saw movement in the corner of her vision and realised that the Aurors that were meant to be debriefing them had already arrived.
"Mr Potter," Mariya heard Emmeline Vance's sharp voice cut cleanly through the rest of the noise in the Atrium. "I hope you are not causing too many problems for our dear Miss Seratova."
James seemed to freeze in place for a moment before releasing Mariya and spluttering a reply. "No-no-no, I would never."
"Hmmm." Emmeline looked none too impressed by his claim and her piercing gaze remained on him for a few moments before she turned to rest of the group. "My advice would be that you listen carefully, I have no desire to repeat myself and I believe it would be good if you all knew who was in your group and where exactly you were going."
All of the men and women in the group immediately - and most likely unconsciously - corrected their posture so as to look more professional, intent looks of concentration crossing the faces of many as they observed the pristine woman.
"Good," Her tone was cool as she made sure everyone was paying proper attention before continuing. "The lists will be read once each and then I expect you to form groups in front of your respective leaders accordingly."
At Emmeline's gesture, Fabian Prewett stepped forward and unravelled an official looking scroll, he began to read the first list, though neither Mariya nor James's names were on it and they both breathed a sigh of relief - one down, that improved their chances of being together.
"Group 2," He continued, unfurling the parchment a bit further. "The supervisor will be Jacinta Rivera Sánchez and will consist of: Wolfgang Schneider, Pierre Dubois, Sarah White, Isabella Harding, and James Potter."
Mariya waited for a moment, expecting him to continue and finish the list with her name. He said nothing more and she turned to James in confusion; she had been so sure that they would be placed on the same team, especially seeing as how her mother had been part of the group assigning each person their team. It had barely even occurred to her that they would end up in different groups, never mind the high potential of them ending up placed in different continents. Based on the look of shock on James's face, he hadn't anticipated this either and he cast her a worried frown as Fabian moved on to the next group. Mariya heard him mention her name but she was too busy thinking about the results of the grouping to pay proper attention to the names of any of her teammates.
Once Fabian had finished the remaining two lists, they were given a moment to wish their friends and acquaintances farewell before heading to their stations. Mariya buried her face in James's chest and breathed in deeply in an attempt to remember his scent whilst he picked her up and spun her around once.
"Well, at least we will be able to send each other letters." James attempted to console her, though his voice was hollow in a way Mariya had almost never heard.
"I suppose, and it is only for just over a month. We can count down the days." Mariya smiled weakly at him before she drew him into a gentle kiss. "You had better remember to report back on everything, no matter how mundane, that way it will be like I am there with you."
"Same to you," James nodded. "If anything happens you can send me a Patronus - that way you can be sure I will get the message as soon as possible."
"Yeah, that works." Mariya agreed, pulling the man back into another embrace.
"Right!" Emmeline Vance's voice called above the noise and the crowd of adults quickly fell into silence. "If you can report to your Supervisors now please." Despite the 'Please' on the end of her sentence, her tone made it clear that it was less of a request than a demand and the interns hurried to follow her order.
Finding her way to Matias Garcia Hernandez, Mariya dragged her trunk alongside her in a more lacklustre way than she had at the beginning. She found herself surrounded by a group of people who all seemed to have different accents. She was glad of this as it would make their job easier if they had a wide range of languages covered. Standing next to a girl with platinum blonde hair and baby-blue eyes, Mariya smiled at her and offered a hand to shake.
"Mariya Seratova." She introduced herself and the woman responded with a smile.
"Valeria Torres Cruz." She offered and pulled her into a hug. "¿Hablas español también, no? ¿Tu madre es la Señora Rivera Sánchez? (You speak Spanish too, no? Isn't you mother Mrs Rivera Sánchez?"
"Sí, es mi lengua segunda y lo hablo en casa con mi madre, pero con mi madre hablo ucraniano normalmente. (Yes, it is my second language and I speak it at home with my mother, but with my father I normally speak Ukrainian."
"¡Qué interesante! Solamente hablo español y inglés pero quiero aprender francés también. (How interesting! I only speak Spanish and English but I want to learn French too.)"
Mariya was glad of Valeria's enthusiasm as it almost let her forget about not being with James. Falling into conversation with the girl, Mariya was suddenly glad that she had signed up even if she didn't get to work with James. After all, she might make a new friend or two from the venture, especially if they were all as enthusiastic as Valeria.