This is in response to Kyota-Chan's Aboard the Love Boat Challenge. I'll warn people now, I've got MAJOR stress coming up with A-Levels, so updates wil be rare. Although saying that, I do write better in stressed moments, so you never know...

Very short first chapter. The next one will be longer, I promise.

Learning to Fly

Chapter One: Exclusive

Summer 1995

Percy Weasley was not a happy man. First of all, his family had refused to be happy for him when he got promoted, which was quite ridiculous since nobody else in the family had done that well when they were his age, nor were the younger ones likely to. Then his girlfriend dumped him to go and live a new life working with Winged Horses and Hippogriffs in New Zealand, and now that stupid girl from the Pest Board, Ruth, had tripped over and sent all of his neatly stacked papers flying all over the office, knocking them out of alphabetical order. Her silly, high-pitched giggle and pathetic apology rang through his ears as she tiptoed through the mess to the Minister's door, only to forget what she wanted and skip off again.

He got down on his hands and knees and began to pile the papers up again. Five hours straight he'd spent on filing them. If she came past again, he might have to kill her. He spotted a sheet sticking out from under a bookshelf, and crawled quickly over to it. As he did so, his glasses slipped off the end of his nose. He groaned as there was a knock on the door, "Come in!" he growled, shuffling backwards. There was a crunch and he grimaced, "Perfect," he bent over and scooped up the two pieces of cracked glass.

"Don't, you'll cut yourself. Let me," a woman's voice said. She bent down and tapped the broken glasses with the tip of her wand, making them jump back into the frame, "There we go."

"Thank you, miss," he muttered, pushing them onto his nose and looking across at the woman. He started. She wasn't quite what he'd expected. She was young and had short, black hair with pink streaks through it, and a purple quill stuck behind her ear, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if I could speak to the Minister?" she said, standing up. Percy picked up the piece of parchment and scrambled to his feet as well, "I was told to ask you. Mr Weasley, yes?"

"Er, yes. Can I take your name?" he shuffled to the desk.

"Audrey Ablett."

"Right. Well, the Minister is rather busy today. Which department are you from?"

"No department, I'm from Witch Weekly. We'd like to do an exclusive with Mr Fudge."

"No way," Percy snapped, "No interviews," Audrey's face fell and his tone softened, "I'm sorry. I've been under strict instruction. Ernie shouldn't even have let you down here. What's the interview going to be about?"

"It's not to do with what happened with Dumbledore and Harry Potter, honestly. It's about the possibility of a competition for our readers, and to discuss a few other rumours that are abound. You know, Mr Fudge has quite a lot of fans from our magazine," Audrey explained with a smirk. Percy thought about for a second. This girl looked honest enough, and certainly the type of girl that would work for Witch Weekly, he added, looking at the high wedges she had on her feet. He nodded.

"Right, well, he's free for twenty minutes, but that's all. Then I want you to leave and not come back, and tell your colleagues that too. It's a busy time at the moment, we can't have all these reporters in here."

"Thank you. You're a star," she smiled broadly and walked to the door, "Through here?" she pointed with a purple talon. He stood up and nodded again.

"Let me," he knocked abruptly and at the shout from inside, opened the door, "Minister, there's a reporter here to see you from Witch Weekly."

"I don't want interviews, I've told you Weasley," Fudge said, not even lifting his head from the mountain of work on his desk.

"Sir, this has been booked for weeks. Way before Potter's idiotic rumours came about," Percy lied as he sensed Audrey's disappointment behind him, "I can tell her to leave, if you like." The Minister's head rose slightly, looking at his assistant from over his glasses.

"Very well. Twenty minutes only, mind. I've got that meeting with the Swiss Minister at quarter to, and you know what he's like for punctuality, Weasley," Fudge conceded, "In you come, girl," Audrey smiled and whispered a thank you to Percy as she sidled past him to sit in one of the comfy leather sears opposite the Minister's hard oak desk. Percy watched the back of her head as she pulled the quill out from behind her ear and only the soft 'ahem' of his boss alerted him to the fact that he was leaning on the door frame, in serious danger of dribbling all down his best work robes. He apologised swiftly, stepping back out of the room and closing the door. As he fell back onto his knees to pick up a piece of paper that had been crushed into a corner, he smiled. Maybe this day wouldn't be as bad as he'd thought after all.

Hm...still not keen on this chapter. I'll probably go back to it one day and lengthen it a bit.
The next two are much, much better I think.

x