Everything was perfect. Audrey Robinson stood smiling on the arm of the Prime Minister, waving at the crowds and tilting her head at just the right angles for the camera to capture her. She was the latest of the man's arm candy, but damn if she hadn't worked hard to get up here. Meticulous caring of her hair, nails, and skin, as many trips to various spas she could manage, and hours upon hours spent perfecting her makeup. And it had all been worth it to get to this moment.
This wasn't to say that Audrey was shallow. On the contrary, Audrey had spent an even greater amount of time in her studies than in her appearance. She absorbed books like the very air she breathed. She had entered university and graduated a year early with a degree in political science and another in economics. She had decided to keep it to herself, telling her friends she was dropping out a year early to go and see the world before finding a job. The only people who knew the truth of that success were her parents.
She also had a reason for keeping her intelligence a secret. She wanted to be underestimated. And it was a hell of a lot easier to get to the top acting the part of a flirty bimbo than showing her truly headstrong self. She saw it all the time in the women she admired that had gone into politics. She heard it all the time in the media: headstrong, harpy, bitch, and worse. She kept herself from narrowing her eyes at the thought. Once she made it to the top, that would all change.
So yes, she was willing to make some sacrifices if it got her to a position of real power. She could deal with the insults then, but she would be damned if they stopped her before she even had a chance to truly get going. She would laugh at every inane joke some sleazy politician told her, and she would flirt and twirl her hair and send winks to gain access to the upper echelons. She would be seen as just a pretty face until she was ready to wipe the floor with them all.
The Prime Minister patted her arm and led her into the building, thankfully away from the cameras for now. In truth, he was probably the most tolerable man she had been with for awhile, but that didn't make him any less boring. At least the things happening around him were interesting enough.
"Dear, we've been together for a few months now. I suppose you could say we trust each other, correct?" He asked her lowly.
"Of course, darling. I feel as if we know each other's souls already. I trust you with my life," She simpered back and he beamed at her.
"Right then. I've got some exciting news for you, then. I've received permission to allow you to attend this next meeting with me. It's something I've been dying to share with someone for so long now, and I'm so lucky to have found such a trustworthy darling as yourself."
"I can't wait to share this with you too, dear," Audrey's eyes shone brightly, hoping the man would confuse her excitement at hitting something really big to be affection for him. This was a break she had been waiting for, and if she played it right, it would only spiral up from here.
They reached a set of double doors that had the Prime Minister's usual security standing outside as well as two others she had never seen before today. She wondered if they were new or if they were meeting with a foreign entity, and she decided it was most likely the latter. If today was as secretive as the Prime Minister was making it out to be, she doubted they would trust new security for the occasion.
He held open the door for her and let his hand on her back guide her inside, where three people were waiting. A woman with bright pink hair was laying with her feet up on one of the plushier chairs, popping gum into her mouth and chatting with the bald-headed black man to her right. A redhead with spectacles was sitting in one of the hard-backed chairs and looking at the pink-haired lady in equal parts distaste and fondness. Audrey wasn't sure what to make of that.
"Kingsley, so glad to see you again!" she took the Prime Minister's arm as he walked over to the man, who gave Audrey a look before smiling.
"William, it's always a pleasure to come back. I see you've brought company this time. The first of your girls you've brought into this, must be something serious this time."
He chortled back at the man and patted Audrey's arm yet again, "This old man can only hope the beautiful Audrey Robinson would stay with someone like me."
"A pleasure to meet you, sir. As dear William has already let slip, you can call me Audrey," she politely took the man's hand. He had a pleasantly firm grip and gave her a genuinely kind smile.
"And you can call me Kingsley. This child here is Nymphadora Tonks and over there would be Percy Weasley. Tonks is my personal bodyguard and Percy is currently serving as my Senior Undersecretary."
Audrey turned to introduce herself to the pink-haired lady, but gasped when she saw her hair change to a dark red almost instantly as she glared up at Kingsley, "I've told you not to even introduce me as Nymphadora, Kings. Just Tonks is perfectly fine. No one gives a rat's arse about security to know their full name."
William started chuckling and Audrey looked at him in disbelief. Had he not noticed the hair shift? Was he that oblivious?
"Since no one else seems fit to inform you, and because we do have a meeting to be going on with, the short answer is that Tonks' hair changed by magic. As difficult as it is to believe, magic does exist in our world. In our parts, Minister Shacklebolt is, obviously, our Minister for Magic. He and your Minister meet at least once yearly to discuss various problems that spill out from Magical Britain into Muggle - Non-Magical, that is - Britain," the spectacled redhead stood from his seat and walked over to a briefcase sitting against the wall, pulling out a few papers from it. The others looked at Audrey as if waiting for an explosion.
Inside, Audrey was indeed exploding. She didn't know if this was some elaborate prank on the Minister's part, whether he thought it was funny or to somehow test her trust. A weird part of her wondered if perhaps someone had spiked her drink or if she was dreaming. An even weirder part of her body screamed out that it was true. She had always had a good bullshit detector, as she liked to call it, and it was laying stone-cold silent on this one.
She opened her mouth and quickly shut it, realizing they were still waiting on her response. Well, she hadn't learned to lock down her emotions for nothing. She decided to just play along at this point and see where it went. She still needed to work out exactly what she believed. So she drew in another breath and let out a dazzling smile, " Well, that sure does explain some of the stranger things going on around London the last few years, doesn't it?"
The other Minister and Tonks started laughing as William pouted and said, "Well, your reaction wasn't nearly as funny as I thought it was going to be."
"If you've been out in London past 1 A.M. absolutely nothing surprises you anymore," Audrey shook her head at him and went to sit beside the Percy boy, who was currently working on some kind of paperwork. She barely stifled another gasp when she saw him pull out a quill, and when that quill started to move on its own accord.
"So, shall we begin," Kingsley gestured towards two more of the plush chairs as he and William sat down and started their meeting. As it wore on, Audrey felt her mask slip further and further away from her, her stomach tying in knots as she quickly came to the conclusion that magic was very, very real.
She tried to discreetly pull out a piece of paper and started writing her own notes and questions about the topics brought up in the meeting. She felt every researching bone in her body scream out to her. It was likely she wouldn't get sleep for many days after tonight, as she would be searching for odd cases surrounding the time period of this "Second Wizarding War" that had ended three years prior. She was practically salivating as a whole new branch of knowledge was opening up to her. She wondered if the Prime Minister ever went into Wizarding territory. She wondered if she would be able to convince him to take her with him. That would probably put her staying with him a lot longer than she had originally intended, but, hell, who knew what kind of doors this would open for her and what kind of opportunities it would present.
As the meeting wound down and the Ministers began to just chat about casual topics, Audrey stuffed her now filled paper into her purse when she saw Percy putting his papers away. It wouldn't do for him to so blatantly catch her in the act. She did have an image to maintain after all. She only hoped that he had been as engrossed in the meeting as she had been, and hadn't noticed her behavior.
"So, if I had to wager a guess, I'd say you'll be scouring books and news articles the next couple of days. You have this look in your eyes that I recognize quite clearly. You're someone who loves to research," she looked at the man in disbelief. Percy was peering at her through his glasses, his eyes seeming to dare her to dispute him.
"I don't know how you could possibly think something like that. I thoroughly plan on spending my next few days getting treated at the spa and binge-watching my favorite drama," Audrey weakly replied. She cursed internally. She just wasn't on her game today, though, to be fair, she figured even masters at deception would have trouble keeping a straight face in light of all the information she had just received.
"Is that what this is all about?" now it was Percy's turn to look at her in disbelief, "You're pretending to not be intelligent for...what? Is it because he'd be intimidated by you? Do you care for him that much?"
Audrey scoffed, though she was thankful they were keeping voices low. Luckily, the three others were having a rousing debate about the football game from the previous night, "When I find a man I truly love and want to be with, he'll be someone I won't be hiding anything from. No, this is about prejudice against women in this kind of field. I got here by looking pretty and using my knowledge on the side. I plan on dropping the act soon enough, when I feel comfortable enough in my position."
"And you really expect that to work?"
"I made it into this top-secret meeting, didn't I?" She challenged. She didn't know what was possessing her to tell this Percy all of her carefully-hidden plans, though she supposed just the novelty of saying them out loud was enough to keep her going.
"Touche," he paused for a minute, staring at her intently, and for the first time in a long time Audrey felt a genuine blush on her cheeks, "You know, you're not going to find any actual details about the Magical world in the Muggle parts of London. If you'd like, I could supply you with a few books I have on hand. I would just need an address to deliver them."
Audrey could have kissed the man directly on the mouth for a gift like that, and still felt herself smiling so hard she thought her face would break before thanking him profusely for his offer. She scribbled her address down before it registered in her mind that she was giving almost a complete stranger her living address. In a weird way, though, she trusted Percy. There was something about the way he looked at her and the way he spoke to her that showed he appreciated her more for her intelligence than for her beauty, something she had never really experienced before today. She found herself already wanting to meet him again.
The two Ministers stood and shook hands yet again, Tonks climbing up from the chair in the most ungraceful way possible. Audrey and Percy stood and shook hands as well, Audrey secretly hoping that Percy would deliver the books personally to her door. As she was leaving the room with William, she saw the walls light up green. She turned her head and this time did let out a shriek as she saw Kingsley step into the fireplace and whisk away in green flames. She turned back around and found herself blushing a second time as she heard a bright male laugh, and she tried to ignore that the sound sent goosebumps over her body.
AN: Hi, this is a world where Remus and Tonks don't die because they deserve to live, thank you.
Assignment #12: Gardening Task 7 -Write about someone or something that is only known for their/its beauty
Ferris Wheel: (First Line) Everything was perfect