Disclaimer: Harry Potter world belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Rating T for language.

Chapter 4

Percy carefully folded the memo (containing the latest information on exactly why so many offices appeared to be raining), tapped it and watched with a frown as it zoomed out of the room. He sighed. He wasn't very fond of the new owl-free interdepartmental communication system. He rather liked having Hermes in the office with him, and knew that the bird hated not being able to deliver any of Percy's work mail. It left him with very little to do.

Percy checked his watch for the umpteenth time that morning, feeling a thrill of anticipation as he saw the time. 10:30. He licked his lips, suddenly finding his mouth quite dry. It was now time for him to officially start work for the Underground Wizard Railroad (as it was so fondly called by Audrey and Ayden), now time for him to break the law and risk life in Azkaban… or death. Percy honestly wasn't sure which he would prefer.

He swept several papers off of his desk and hurried out of his office and down the hall, running over the procedure in his head. Okay, go down to the bottom floor, by the department of Mysteries. Don't attract attention. Umbridge will be interrogating muggle-borns there with one other witch or wizard, most likely someone from Traver's team. I'll have to Confund them, and then perform rudimentary memory charms. Get the muggle-borns out of the interrogation room, somewhere where they can disapparate from. Contact Audrey with the 'cellular phone'. She'll take it from there. Do this all under ten minutes and get back to my normal routine. Be sure to be seen right after, by someone of means to throw off suspicion. Thicknesse, if possible.

Percy strode off down the hall and buried his nose in his papers, pretending to be engrossed and thus seem nonchalant. He heard the lift doors clang open and hurried inside, still putting up a masquerade of reading.

He felt a strange tension in the room, and glanced up, looking at the other occupants of the lift. Runcorn, Percy noted with distaste, before focusing on the face of the other man… and immediately snapping his gaze on his notes again. He felt his face begin the burn with embarrassment. His father. He was standing in a lift with his father! They were both occupying the same few meters of space. So close they could be touching. Percy could see the way his father's jaw was set, muscles stiff and unmoving. All the indicators of a very angry person. Oh, Merlin…

As soon as the doors clanged open again, Percy fled the lift. He swung around and stabbed the button on another lift, very aware of the time he had lost with that little stunt. Hurry up, hurry up… The doors opened again and, just before leaping inside, Percy remembered he had to appear calm. Quickly collecting himself, Percy strode inside, checking his watch and stuffing his papers in his pocket. He had a bit over eight minutes left.

And it was down to seven by the time he hurried down the hall down past the Department of Mysteries. Percy shivered, remembering the events that had taken place beyond that door only two years ago. You-Know-Who, back from the dead. Ron and Ginny nearly killed on Dumbledore's watch.

Percy froze, hearing voices screaming desperately and sobbing. Coldness began to grip his chest, a feeling he remembered well from his seventh year. Dementors. Percy glanced up, seeing the tall, black-hooded figures gliding around the hallway. The hopelessness he had been feeling for months was rising to the surface…

No. You're doing something, fighting back. Fight now! Quickly, he cast a Disillusionment Charm over himself, becoming invisible. He hurried past the groups of muggle-borns huddled on wooden benches, and approached the door to the courtroom.

Only to have it swing open, and a bright silver object burst forth. Percy leapt to the side, pressing his back against the wall, trying to avoid detection. He watched as two Patronuses glided around the waiting room, sending the Dementors into the shadows. Following them were Runcorn and Mafalda Hopkirk. Umbridge was nowhere in sight. What…?

"It's been decided that you should all go home and go into hiding with your families," Runcorn stated, much to the confusion of the muggle-borns and Percy. "Go abroad if you can. Just get well away from the Ministry. That's the—er—new official position. Now if you'll just follow the Patronuses, you'll be able to leave from the Atrium."

Percy jaw dropped, and he nearly overbalanced. What? Runcorn, notorious muggle-born hater, telling them all to run? This makes no sense…

And then Percy looked at one of the Patronuses, really looked at it, and felt a chill run down his spine. It was a stag, unmistakably, it was a stag. Percy closed his eyes momentarily, remembering the hearing he had taken notes on. Harry Potter, on trial for performing underage magic. For casting a Patronus in the shape of a stag. Merlin. Harry Potter, showing up here? Where he's 'Undesirable Number One'? No one's that stupid… But then again, Percy thought, a grim smile twisting his lips, maybe he is. Percy could well recall all the idiotic stunts Harry had pulled in school, putting himself and Percy's own siblings in danger.

Percy watched silently as Harry and Mafalda—who, at this point, Percy could only assume was Hermione under the effect of Polyjuice Potion—mobilized the muggle-borns and marched them off to the lift, where they could travel to the Atrium and then escape.

He's doing my job for me, Percy realized as he slipped inside one of lifts, still invisible. He couldn't help feeling a bit annoyed.

When the lift doors clanged open and they all spilled out into the Atrium, Percy felt a wave of dread. The huge room was stuffed with witches and wizards, hurrying around the fireplaces, sealing them off. Oh, no…

Percy began to thread his way between the muggle-borns, carefully avoiding making physical contact. They all need to find a working fireplace. Now. Charming one open, Percy grabbed the shoulder of one of the muggle-borns, hissing: "Get in the fireplace, now! Say 'Audrey White's residence'!" The man whipped around, frightened, looking for who had spoken. "Just go!" Percy said, and watched the man disappear in a shower of green flames. He repeated the same destination to the other muggle-borns, all who seemed too scared to refuse, as they stumbled into the fireplace.

When they had all disappeared to what Percy knew was safety, he looked up, just in time to see Runcorn, Mafalda and what appeared to be one of two present Reginald Cattermoles disapparate. That must be Ron. Percy thought, realizing how close he had been to his youngest brother.

Panic was breaking out in the Atrium. Yaxley was bellowing orders to "FIND THEM! SEAL THE FIRES!" Ministry officials, with no idea how to obey but to scared to refuse, ran around in wild circles, shouting and waving their wands.

Percy leapt to his feet and began pushing through the crowd; in all the pandemonium no one noticed they were being jostled aside by an invisible figure. He hurried down the hall and into the washroom. Finding it empty, leaned over one of the sinks and let his Disillusionment Charm fall, panting and trying to get his heart rate under control.

He did it. Not exactly how he had planned it, but he did it. Percy joy rising in his chest. He'd fought back, and successfully so. For the first time in what felt like years, Percy let out a genuine, happy laugh.

Ding, ding! Percy turned off the alarm on his watch. Ten minutes up. Time to go back to work. Percy burst out of the washroom and sauntered down the hallway, doing his best to look disapproving at all the hubbub. As a balding wizard scurried down the hallway, Percy demanded:

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here?" The wizard's mouth opened and closed soundlessly, apparently unable to speak.

"Ah, Weasley!" Percy turned his gaze to the man who had spoken, finding himself face-to-face with the intimidating form of Pius Thicknesse.

"Yes, sir?" he asked politely, barely suppressing a smug smile as he stared up at the man who believed him to be harmless, the man he has defied. Breaking the rules cam with quite the adrenaline rush.

"There appears to have been a security breach," Thicknesse explained, looking at him with an expression completely free of suspicion. Fool, thought Percy happily.

"Where, sir? How may I help?" he asked urgently.

"Walk with me. Forget nothing that happens . Take notes, if you must." Percy immediately pulled out fresh parchment and a quill, following Thicknesse as the Minister swept away down the hall.

Nearly twelve hours later, Percy trudged down into the Atrium. The seals on the fireplaces had been removed and now, late at night, the Atrium was deserted. As he approached one of the fireplaces and picked up a hand full of Floo powder, Percy felt sick. The joy he had felt after helping the muggle-borns had dissipated after hours of rejecting family trees submitted by suspected muggle-borns to prove their blood status, setting good people up for lives in prison. After a day spent destroying lives, Percy thought miserably. He was seriously wondering if staying at the Ministry was worth it.

Percy stepped into the fireplace, dropping the powder and saying in a quiet, clear voice: "Audrey White's residence." The green flames licked up around him, and a second later he was stumbling out onto a blue and silver soot-stained rug in Audrey's flat. "Audrey?" Percy wandered into the kitchen, where a disheveled-looking Audrey White was sitting at a table, eating out of what appeared to a muggle take-out container with chop sticks.

"Hello Percy." She put down her chop sticks, folding her arms on the table and gazing up at him, a sweet smile on her face. Recognizing the seemingly benign face as a sign of danger, Percy braced himself. "May I be so bold as to inquire why about twenty muggle-borns spilled out of my fireplace this morning, when I specifically told you to send them outside St. Peter's Village for pick-up?"

Percy sighed and scratched the back of his head. He started to plunge into a monologue he had been preparing all afternoon. "Well, obviously things didn't go as planned—"

Audrey waved her hand dismissively, cutting him off. "It's okay. Jonathan, one of the muggle-borns, explained. Beaten to the punch, then?" Her eyes sparkled with amusement, and Percy felt immediately at ease. He sat down across from her at the table. "Anyway, it's okay. You did the right thing, sending them directly here. You weren't seen, right?" Percy nodded, feeling relieved. He had been worried Audrey would be regretting her decision to depend on him.

"Did everything go all right, after that? Are they all on the way to new homes aboard?"

Audrey sighed, hunching her shoulders. She looked very tired and worn out. Old beyond her years. Percy wondered if he looked anywhere as weary as she did. "For the most part, yes. There are some children and spouses that need to be tracked down and reunited, but nothing we can't handle." Audrey smiled tiredly. "Are you hungry, Percy?" She pushed one of her food containers towards him.

"Er…" Percy glanced hesitantly at the brown and white mush inside the container.

"It's chicken and rice, Percy. I promise." Audrey laughed, brushing a curl of hair out of her big hazel eyes. She's really beautiful when she laughs, Percy mused, and then blinked in surprise. Wait, what? "It won't kill you, I swear. I've been living off it for months." Audrey added at his silence. "Here I'll grab you a fork." She pushed her chair away from the table, tugged open a drawer and pulled out a fork. She handed it to him.

Percy carefully speared a little piece of meat with the fork and put it in his mouth, acutely aware of Audrey's gaze on his face as he did so. "It's good." Percy said, chewing thoughtfully. "It's really good, actually," he added, glancing back up at her with wide eyes. Audrey laughed again. "You really should do that more often," he said, almost to himself.

"I'm sorry?" Audrey sat up a little straighter in her chair.

"Nothing," Percy whispered immediately, averting his gaze and feeling his face warm up considerably. Why did I say that? Merlin!

"No, it was something," Audrey said, a mock pout forming on her face. "You're one to talk, anyway. I don't think I've ever seen you laugh."

"I just have very high comedic standards, is all," Percy said, faking a haughty expression. Audrey laughed again, and then they settled into a slightly awkward silence. Percy continued to eat from the container, ears still bright red, eyes focused on the table.

Audrey cleared her throat. "Um… anyway, I've been working on the shield impairing Legilimency. I've come up with a perfect spell, but I've no way to keep it suspended between the eyes of the Legilimens and yours. And without that, it's virtually useless."

Percy dropped his fork abruptly, causing Audrey to jump. "But I've figured it out, Audrey! I've thought of the perfect place to cast the spell." He said excitedly. And it was true. He had been planning to tell her immediately, but with all the uproar at the Ministry he had forgotten. Audrey stared at him, eyes bright with interest. "Last night, I was reading some books, trying to figure out a good way to suspend your spell. I had been working for hours and when I took my glasses off to clean them I realized the answer had been literally right in front of my nose the whole time!"

"What?" Audrey asked, shifting in her chair and blinking.

"My glasses. A completely detectable yet undetectable shield between my eyes and anyone else's. Who would think to remove them? You can just put the spell on my glasses and there! You have the perfect way to protect against intrusive Legilimency! I mean—" Percy broke off, embarrassed, realizing that his voice was practically shaking with excitement, whereas Audrey was just sitting there, face blank. "I'm sorry, I—this stuff just really interests me, is all. You know, solving puzzles and problems and—"

Audrey cut cleanly through his babbling. "That. Is. Brilliant." A huge grin broke out across her face. "Why couldn't I think of that? It's so simple!" Audrey leapt to her feet and, without, further ado, snatched his glasses off his face and dashed out of the room. Percy sat there, blinking stupidly, the world around him profoundly blurry. Shrugging, he attempted to continue eating, very glad he had a fork instead of chop sticks.

Several minutes later, Audrey swept back into the room, handing him his glasses. Percy slipped them back on, feeling their slight warmth and seeing the blue sparks playing around the frames. Frames, he noticed, that were completely intact.

"I was half-expected you to change them to wire-frames or something. That's what Lynn always said she would do if she got her hands on them." Percy commented.

"No, I like the horn-rimmed glasses," Audrey said, sounding very sincere.

Percy snorted. "You'd be the first. I've received nothing but ridicule since the day I chose them."

"Well, that's everyone else's loss, isn't it?" Audrey said, a slight smile pulling on the corners of her lips.

Percy was suddenly very aware that, when Audrey had sat back down at the table, she had chose the seat right next to him. They were very close. Far too close for two business partners discussing operations. Percy could see Audrey's hand moving, sliding across the table, drawing closer and closer to his—

Crash! They both leapt to their feet and pulled out there wands at the sound of glass breaking and furniture toppling over. As they hurried into the adjacent room, they heard the sound of a low growl and suddenly Audrey's curtains burst into flames. Percy yelped and fell over as a small, dark figure shot past his feet, running on four legs like an animal. He struggled to stand up.

"Ooooh!" Audrey cried suddenly, shoving her wand back in her pocket, instead grabbing a thick blanket from the overturned sofa. "Titus! Get back here!" Percy watched in amazement as a dragon, a small but very much threatening looking dragon scuttled out from behind the sofa. Audrey immediately flung herself down on top of it, spreading the blanket out between her and the creature. She flipped over into a sitting position, holding the squirming dragon her lap. "Titus, stay still!" she hissed. "Percy, can you put those out?" she asked, pointing at the burning curtains. They were billowing alarming amounts of smoke in the flat.

Unable to speak, Percy raised his wand performed a nonverbal, water-conjuring spell, dousing the curtains. They hung there, tattered and soaking, for a few seconds before dropping to the floor in a pathetic heap. Titus let out a desperate whimper, and smoke curled around his jaws. Audrey quickly covered his head with the blanket.

"Uhh… Audrey? Is that a dragon?" he asked slowly, backing away across the destroyed room.

"How'd you know?" Audrey deadpanned, struggling to keep her hold on Titus as he bucked and snarled. "Um, Percy, maybe you should go now. I—I'll explain later."

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Percy asked, as he righted a table that Titus had knocked into on his rampage.

"I'm sure!" Audrey yelled, and, sure enough, Titus's struggles appeared to be subsiding. She let out a relieved sigh. "Talk to you later, okay?" She asked pointedly. "I need to deal with this."

"Right. I'll, uh, see you later. G'night." Percy stumbled back to the fireplace, and was scooping up a handful of floo powder when he heard Audrey call out his name. "Yes?"

She lumbered into the room, clutching the dragon. "Come back tomorrow, okay? Titus'll be some place more, er, suitable." She was gazing at him imploringly.

"Uh… sure," Percy responded, his mouth inexplicably becoming very dry again. He was about to add more when Titus suddenly twisted in Audrey's arms, whimpering. She hurried out of the room, murmuring to him in soft tones. Shaking his head in disbelief, Percy flooed back to his own flat and collapsed on his bed.

He rolled over, burying his face in his pillow and groaned. Couldn't that dragon have waited five more minutes before coming out?