chapter two: Late!
Christine was running for the lift when Kingsley Shacklebolt caught up to her. They entered the lift together.
"Christine is something bothering you?" he asked when she started pacing.
"Only that I am late for a meeting that is starting in five minutes and I am really nervous because I have nothing to report. I don't even know the fake date the Order is moving Harry," she replied stopping in her tracks.
"Well, the only date I will tell you is July 30th."
"I still don't get why Snape hasn't betrayed me, yet."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, he knows what I really do for the Order and he hasn't told my father yet."
"Well, maybe he happens to like you too much, see you tomorrow."
"Yes, see you then," she answered as the lift got to floor 8.
She ran to the designated Apparation area and disapparated.
She appeared on an empty lane in Wiltshire, just outside of the Malfoy's gate. She put her hand up in a salute, ran through the gate, and ran to the house. She opened the door, ran down the hall to the drawing room. She paused, took a deep breath, grabbed the handle, and walked into the room.
"- from the source we discussed," Snape's voice said.
"Christine you're late!" a very angry voice hissed inside her head.
"My Lord, I am sorry, there's no excuse," she said in her thoughts back while bowing.
"Where have you been?" the Dark Lord asked again in her head.
"I was at the Ministry because Scrimgeour wanted to talk to me and then I was being followed by Shacklebolt, and I had to give him the slip," she explained in her thoughts.
"Well, don't just stand there take your place beside Ride," he answered gesturing to the seat to the right of Nick Ride.
She rushed quickly to the seat and sat down.
"My lord," Yaxley said from down the table from us. All faces looked toward him.
"My Lord, I have heard differently," Yaxley paused and waited and when Voldemort did not speak he continued, "Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the 30th, the night before the boy turns 17."
"My lord, that is what I heard also," Christine stated.
Snape started to smile and said, "My source told me that there were plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt, a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It wouldn't be the first time; he is known to be susceptible."
"I assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain," stated Yaxley.
"If he has been confounded, naturally he is certain," retorted Snape, "I assure you, Yaxley, the Auror Office will play no farther part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the ministry."
Great way to steal my report on the Order, Snape, Christine thought.
"The Order's got one thing right, then, eh?" asked a squat man sitting a short distance down from Yaxley, and he gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there along the table.
The Dark Lord didn't laugh. He looked upward to the person suspended from the ceiling, and he seemed deep in thought. Christine looked up for the first time and saw the person. How long has that person been there? She thought.
"My Lord," Yaxley started, "Dawlish believes an entire part of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy..."
The Dark Lord stopped him and then turned to Snape, "Where are they going to hide the boy next,"
"At the home of one of the Order. The place, according to my source, has been given every protection that the Order and the Ministry together could provide. I think that there is little chance of taking him once he is there, my Lord, unless, of course, the ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest," Snape stated.
"Well, Yaxley? Will the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?"
"My Lord, I have great news on that score. I have- with some difficulty and after great effort- succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse."
The Death Eaters around him looked impressed. Now that is boring, she thought
"It is a start, but Thicknesse is only one man. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way."
"Yes, - my Lord, that is true- but you know, as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the heads of other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down."
"As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted the rest," the Dark Lord said.