This is the first chapter in a PercyxAudrey story. I hope you will enjoy it. :-)

Percy noticed her before Kingsley did. She was standing in a corner of the party with her two friends seemingly to be in a deep conversation with them. She was wearing a green cocktail dress that reached down to her knees and was walking in high heels. She had blond hair with a heart shaped face.

Audrey Fortescue, a person of interest. Percy and Kingsley had come to the party to question her about Dumbledore.

But that party was very wild in Percy's opinion. The guests were drinking and jumping around like animals. It was some sort of party where wizards got to try out the muggle way in a hotel in London. No magic – just the muggle stuff. It was the sort of party his father would have want to go to.

The sooner they finish this, the sooner they could get out of here.

"Miss Fortescue," called Kingsley out.

The woman that Percy had noticed turned her attention towards them and narrowed her eyes at them.

Or at him?

She turned back to her friends for moment and exchanged a few words before she made her way toward them.

"Miss Audrey Fortescue?" Kingsley asked politely.

"Yes, that's me. Who is asking?"

"I'm Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and this is Percy Weasley, junior assistant to the Minister of Magic. Can we ask you a couple of questions?"

The woman got a bored look in her eyes and looked down at her nails. "You're probably going to do it anyway," she said. "What is this all about?"

"It's about Albus Dumbledore," Percy answered.

That caught Audrey Fortescue's interest and she looked up from her nails. "Professor Dumbledore? What about him?"

"He has escaped an arrest a couple of weeks ago. Didn't you knew that?" Percy asked.

Audrey had her attention turn to Kingsley, as she answered. "I have heard about it." Then she smirked. "That was quit impressing. He wouldn't be Hogwarts' headmaster, if he didn't have a trick or two in his sleeves."

"Albus Dumbledore has been removed from his position," reminded Percy her.

For the first time in the questioning Audrey Fortescue turned her attention toward him.

"Professor Dumbledore once told me, that teachers will always remember their students as who they were, I guess that it's the same thing the other way around. For me he will always be the headmaster of Hogwarts. I hope that the curse will kick out the Toad."

Kingsley sensed the tension, and decided to begin the questioning.

"You send an owl to Dumbledore last month, right?"

Audrey's reply came quick. "Yes, I did. Shall I tell you what I wrote?"

"If you could, yes."
Audrey took a deep breath. "I wrote that, if Professor Charity was interested, she was welcome to take her class to this party. She does teach muggle studies, right? And this is party, where you don't use magic."

"And did he wrote back?" asked Kingsley.

Audrey nodded. "Yes. He thanked me for the offer, but wrote that a party might not the right thing for muggle studies. But maybe I should ask Professor McGonagall of her opinion."

"Why do you say so?" asked Percy.

"Isn't she the new head mistress at the school now?"

"Umbridge is the new head of Hogwarts," told Percy her. "Haven't you read the prophet?"

"Oh, yeah that's right. I stopped subscribing to the prophet almost a year ago. To save the money for something better than the garbage, they printing for the time being. As far as I remember, that's not illegal. Or is it? I haven't bother to read what these fools in the ministry write up of rules. Most of it is nonsense."

Her tone was harsh, and Percy felt like she was insulting the ministry.

No, she was insulting the ministry.

"You don't seem like to have high thoughts of the ministry," he said.

Audrey send him a narrowed look. "Geeze, did I just betray my thoughts? I'm so sorry, Mr. Edmund Pevensie."
"What? My name is…"

"Don't bother. I know what your name is. Save your breath to someone, who doesn't fell asleep to the sound of your voice."

Percy almost lost it. "Miss Forte…"

"Miss Fortescue," broke Kingsley in. "We are sorry to have bother you. Thanks of your time."

She send Kingsley a brilliant smile. "Don't worry. You are welcome to hang out at the party longer if you want to."

Then she send Percy another scorn look.

"But not you. The sight of you make me wanna puke." And with those words, she turned her back to them and went back to her friends.

Percy and Kingsley turn away too and began leaving the party.

"I have never met anyone who was so … insulting in my whole life," Percy hissed angrily. It was not like he wanted Kingsley to know what he thought of Audrey Fortescue. It was just that he needed to voice his thoughts. That woman – that girl seemed intimidated. Had she no respect at all?

Kingsley chuckled gently, but also with a hint of sadness. "It's no big surprise about her attitude, considering who her family is."

That caught Percy's attention. "Then who is her family?" Where they ignorant fools like his?

"Her father's brother is Cornelius Fudge, the minister."

Percy was shocked to hear it. He could hardly believe it. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Audrey Fortescue was getting herself a drink.

Was she a niece to the minister? Percy hadn't heard much of the minister's family other than he was married.

"The father passed away a few years ago, and her mother died two years ago."

"But if her father was Fudge's brother, shouldn't her surname be Fudge too?"

"It was, until she graduated and had her name legally changed from Fudge to Fortescue, which was her mother's maiden name."

"Why would she do that?" asked Percy.

"It's said that she doesn't want to be recognized as the minister's niece," Kingsley answered.

"Why?"

Kingsley sighted. "I don't know all the details, but it has been rumored that there for years have been bad blood between the minister and his brother's family. It had something to do with the war. Something happened in the family that caused troubles among them. Since then there has been open war between them. And it hadn't been better since Fudge became the minister of Magic."

Percy tried to understand what he had just been told. Was that why the woman was so hostile toward them? Because they were working for her uncle?

Percy wasn't convinced that it was just because of that.

It was as if his present was a personal insult to her.