It was nearing lunch time and Axton Everette was getting restless. He usually ate lunch with the other staffers from the secretarial pool, but today was slightly special. He looked nervously at his watch and then into the empty corridor through the doors of the office suite. He tried to listen for any footsteps or noises. Satisfied that no one was nearby, he settled into his chair and returned to his thoughts. He had, after considerable time spent in self doubt and coaching, recently mustered up the courage to ask Daisy Grover out for lunch. The last two weeks had been spent in deliberating what exactly he should wear so as to appear fiercely intelligent, but handsome enough at the smae time. He absent mindedly signed some letters and moved some files from one spot on his desk to another.
She had caught his eye the moment she had walked past his desk to the Ministers office to deliver a memo, nearly two months ago. I went completely still, Axton thought dreamily. But then, Daisy had that effect on most men in the office. Her lively dark eyes complimented her shiny black hair, and made her petite frame, always smartly dressed, look even more alluring. He spent a few happy moments thinking about the way her hips moved when she walked by.
Axton shifted in his seat, as if hoping the gesture would suddenly transport him to the Ministry cafeteria where Daisy would surely be waiting for him in about- he looked at his watch- two minutes. He looked up and surveyed his surroundings once more. Overall, he considered, he had been quite lucky to land a job directly under the Minister of Magic, after only five years at the ministry. Even though it was only a secretarial post, knowing the Minister of Magic and seeing him everyday couldn't hurt his future prospects. At least, that had been his reasoning behind taking up the post. He didn't mind that he wasn't reporting to the Minister directly yet, only to his Undersecretary. He didn't even mind his relatively shabby work post. The small desk, squeezed into a tight corner of the office along with a potted plant, was a small price to pay for daily interaction with a Man Who Could Take You Places.
Although these days, it was probably better not to mention the Minister in conversation, Axton thought gloomily. The last year in office had been hectic to say the least. The Minister was a man on a mission. A mission to discredit Dumbledore and the Potter boy and bring Hogwarts under his control. The Wizengamot trial for the Potter boy, all the articles in the Daily Prophet, all had a singular purpose; to make people understand that the Ministry would not stand people out to stir up trouble. And for a while, their efforts seemed to be fruitful, that Umbridge woman has created waves in the press with her new post of High Inquisitor and the Minister had been in a particularly gleeful mood that week. And all things considered, Axton thought, it was what any sensible person would have done. Who would've thought that Dumbledore was actually telling the truth about You-Know-Who? It was preposterous to suggest that after almost thirteen years of absence, he had suddenly cropped up out of nowhere. I mean, Axton thought angrily, who would ever be willing to accept that? He looked balefully around the empty room, as if it were to blame for his current difficulties. It was a small suite which connected the main corridor to the Ministers office, which was considerably larger in size. The office suite was home to Axton, and his superior, the Undersecretary. The Undersecretary's desk was placed right in the middle of the room, directly facing the large swinging doors which connected the office to the main corridor. His own desk in the corner had been added almost as an afterthought, as if no one wanted Axton to forget that his role in this particular office was minor, and most of all, dispensable. The room had been decorated luxuriously, as was the style of the Minister himself, with lush carpets and ample seats for guest. Many paintings of famous witches and wizards hung on the walls, and were shown off to great advantage by a large crystal chandelier, which hung the middle of the room.
Axton glanced at his watch again. It was two past one. Happily, he cleared up his desk with a swish of his wand; all the letters arranged themselves neatly in a pile in a corner of his desk and unread memos stacked themselves into his in tray. A copy of the days Daily Prophet rolled itself up neatly and tucked itself behind a framed picture of him and his mum on graduation day. Axton brushed off the remaining residue into the waste bin under his desk. His mum would really like Daisy, Axton thought. She was just her type; nice, respectable family. Educated and a working girl, but thankfully not too ambitious. She would fit in well as the Everette dinner table at Christmas in a few months time. Axton pushed away from his desk and got up and stretched his legs. He quickly checked his reflection in the glass of the picture frame on his desk and hastily rubbed off some ink which had dared to splatter itself on his cheek. He adjusted his robes and checked his reflection once more. Satisfied that he looked presentable enough for lunch with Daisy, he started walking towards the swinging doors. He had reached no further than the Undersecretary's desk when he heard hurried steps and loud voices.
'How the dickens was I supposed to know that he was telling the truth, I say!' A voice said shrilly. 'He kept going on about graveyards and what not -'
An equally angry voice interrupted the first. 'It doesn't matter anymore, Fudge! No one cares what your reasoning was or what Dumbledore didn't tell you! All they remember is YOU telling them not to pay a moments attention and publicly disgracing them for over a year!'
The steps were coming closer to the door. A hand pushed open the large doors to the suite. All thoughts of Daisy and a possible future Mrs. Everette flew out of Axton's mind as he practically ran back to his desk, sat down and ruffled papers importantly as if he'd thought of nothing else all morning. The doors swung open to admit a harried looking Cornelius Fudge in emerald green robes rush in with a sheaf of papers in hand. Rufus Scrimgeour strode in after him, looking tense, but not as much as the man in front of him. His robes of deep blue billowed behind him as he purposefully overtook Fudge and stopped him from opening the door to his private suite. Axton peered over the file in his hands. Even though Scrimgeour and Fudge were roughly the same height, the look which the Head of Aurors gave the Minister, seemed to make Fudge shrink. He nevertheless looked Scrimgeour straight in the face, as if daring him to defy him. Scrimgeour unfazed, glared right back.
'Cornelius' he paused, as if to make sure that Fudge truly understood the weight of his words. 'You're done.'
Fudge opened his mouth to angrily retort, but Scrimgeour cut him off;
'It doesn't matter at this point how many allies you make or how many favours you call in. In the eyes of this countries wizarding populace, you are a man who lied to them straight in the eyes for almost a year. You publicly stripped away the awards and accolades of one of the most celebrated wizards of our time and humiliated one of the most famous. And even if,' he said, as Fudge again tried to speak. 'you weren't lying deliberately, you were either incompetent or arrogant enough to deny what Dumbledore was forcing down our throats since last June. And because of that, your regime, as Minister of Magic, is over.'
It was as if Scrimgeour's last few words destroyed any hope the Minister of Magic may have had in one fell swoop. His shoulders slumped as he peered into Scrimgeour's face.
Taking this to be a sign he should continue, Scrimgeour did just that; 'For the last two weeks, ever since the Battle of the Fountain of the Magical Brethren, this office has been inundated with owls screaming for your resignation. But that is something that can be handled. What concerns me most, and what we're going to do from here on out' He looked carefully at Fudge and lowered his voice slightly. Axton leaned forward in his chair, straining to hear every single word through his file of papers.
'Don't be a fool,' Scrimgeour said quietly. 'Apologise for your mistakes and resign with as much face as you can muster. Don't, and the Wizengamot will have you up in a full scale hearing on charges of misconduct, abuse of power, wilful slandering and whatever else Madam Bones can think of.'
'So I'm expected to just step aside for you to take the reins, am I,' said Fudge in an angry whisper.
Scrimgeour looked at him, the way a parent stares at a rather simple minded child and said curtly, 'Yes. You are.'
Fudge stepped away from him with an angry glare, and made to walk away from him. Scrimgeour grabbed his shoulder and looked at him square in the eyes. Axton gasped quietly with wide eyes as he saw the impertinence of the Head of Aurors.
'Our worlds and those of the Muggles are slowly becoming entwined in more ways than you can imagine, Fudge,' he said in almost a whisper. 'You are welcome to stay by my side as I become Minister, as an advisor. Help me bring the wizarding race into the new future. If not-' here he stepped back and drew himself up to his full height. He stared down at the Minister of Magic imperiously.
'Things shall be arranged accordingly.' he finished quietly.
Fudge stood, rooted to his spot, as Scrimgeour swept away from the suite. The doors swung shut behind him with a resounding clang, which seemed to break Fudge out of his trance. He suddenly realised he had company and his eyes snapped to Axton's desk, where his most junior secretary was trying, and failing, to look absorbed in his work.
'Lunch hour, Everette,' Fudge snapped, and without another glance opened the door to his private office, walked in and slammed the door shut behind him.
Axton let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, and stared in amazement at the now empty office. Well, Axton thought, I'm going to have a lot to tell Daisy over lunch! Without wasting another moment, the Minister of Magic's most junior of secretaries, got up and practically ran out through the double doors in his haste to get to the cafeteria.
Had his thoughts not been filled with the absorbing conversation he had heard, as well as his thoughts on how Daisy might react to it, Axton Everette might have noticed a small, red envelope, fly through the letter slot of the doors he was walking briskly away from.
The letter flew straight to the Undersecretary's in tray where it settled down between an old copy of Wizard's Political Gazette and an unfinished letter to the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. The cover of the envelope, was stamped with the words MEMO for the eyes of the Minister of Magic ONLY. In smaller print, the following words were written in a spidery script;
Department : Muggle Relations
CC: Magical Law Enforcement, Auror Department, Department of Mysteries
Subject: Magical Resistance i.e.
The Immunes