July 28, 1998
Percy passed through the reception area to the Minister's suite just before eight o'clock on Tuesday morning, nodding to the two Aurors already on duty even though Pius Thicknesse would not show up to work for at least another hour.
He recognized both. Dawlish, the veteran Auror who had questioned Ginny as a suspect in Rodolphus Lestrange's death, gave him a dour nod in return. The younger Auror, Brian Selwyn, stepped away from his post with a grin and gave Percy what was probably meant to be a friendly punch to the shoulder. Audrey's brother was a new recruit, part of Voldemort's efforts to strengthen his control over the population by infiltrating Death Eaters into what used to be legitimate law enforcement.
"Weasley! When are we going to see you in Wales? Our owl is molting after all the letters you and my sister exchanged over the last fortnight!"
"I'll have to consult with Audrey," Percy said with a wince, rubbing his shoulder.
Audrey had taken two weeks off from work while her aunt was visiting from Italy, ostensibly to spend time with her but really to assist Magda Zabini in searching the Selwyns' extensive properties for a Horcrux. Percy and Audrey had corresponded extensively during her absence, and met on a few dates in Diagon Alley, but he had shied away from visiting her family's home. Neither of them were ready to take their relationship to that next level.
"She has you so whipped!" Brian chortled, before turning serious. "I've told you both she could do worse, and I mean it. You're not her only suitor, and I don't want an arse like Runcorn or Avery as my brother-in-law. You need to have that awkward conversation in my dad's study sooner rather than later, Weasley."
"I know," Percy acknowledged, feeling pressured. The Dark Lord's desire to increase birth rates among his followers had made Audrey's father increasingly vocal in his desire to see her married off. "I'll speak to Audrey."
"You're on duty, Selwyn," Dawlish reminded him. "Stop gossiping."
Brian rolled his eyes but returned to his position flanking the senior Auror, allowing Percy to proceed to his own small office just off the reception area.
As he entered, the first thing Percy noticed was that the papers in his inbox were askew. He straightened them with a flick of his wand. His desk chair, charmed to be ergonomic, also sat a fraction to the right, not centered as he had left it the night before. He pulled it out and sat down with a frown. The cleaning staff might have moved the chair in order to vacuum, but never would have dared to touch his paperwork.
Growing up at the Burrow, Percy's brothers - especially the twin terrors - had often made fun of his penchant for neatness. Fred and George had never realized that short of a charm - which their mum never would have allowed with the Trace - keeping his things tidy and organized was the best way for Percy to detect if someone had been rifling through them.
Now, working as a special assistant to a Minister of Magic whose policies he was trying to undermine, Percy had no wish to draw suspicion by warding his office or magically locking his desk drawers. He wanted to appear open and aboveboard, with all of his paperwork in neat piles for anyone to see, precisely because he had so much to hide. It also made it easy to detect if someone had searched his office, and it was clear to him that someone had. The only questions were who and why. Percy knew there was nothing incriminating to find, but the scrutiny itself was disturbing.
"Hem-hem."
Percy snapped his head up at the distinctive sound, forcing a smile. "Madam Undersecretary! Good morning."
"Good morning, Percy," Umbridge simpered, walking into her office and settling into his visitor's chair without waiting for an invitation. "I brought you some tea."
He accepted the paper carrier cup from the Ministry cafeteria, feeling his facial muscles stretch further as he faked his pleasure at the offering from his unwelcome guest. Percy was more of a coffee drinker in the morning, but far too savvy to refuse a powerful politician like Umbridge. He wondered if she had been the one snooping through his office last night - certainly she had made herself quite at home this morning.
"You're too kind, Madam Umbridge. Shall we review today's docket?" he asked, pulling the proper pile in front of him, striving to keep things on a professional footing. He forced a tiny sip of the tea, unsurprised that it tasted saccharine-sweet.
"How many times do I need to remind you to call me Dolores?" Umbridge wagged a playful finger at him.
"My apologies, Madam," Percy dissembled. "I'm accustomed to referring to you by your title during MRC hearings, so it's difficult for me to address you more informally outside the courtroom."
"While we're in private, I insist that you call me Dolores."
"Of course, Dolores," Percy stumbled over the odious woman's given name, looking down at his files to avoid her greedy gaze and taking another sip. "Now, today's first detainee is Heledd Jones from Caerphilly. As you know, your Selwyn cousins have their ancestral home in the area, at Morgraig Castle, so I took the liberty of asking Audrey to pull some genealogical records from their library. It appears that Miss Jones . . . "
Umbridge held up a plump hand, causing Percy to pause in his narrative.
"Percy, did you share confidential information with Miss Selwyn about our proceedings to obtain these records?"
"Of course not, ma'am!" Percy was affronted. "I requested and obtained access to the Selwyn records - and records from several other members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight - without divulging any confidential details of MRC proceedings. Charlus Nott has been most helpful in this respect. He's very concerned about the possibility of anyone with magical antecedents being misclassified as a Muggleborn."
Umbridge waved a dismissive hand at Nott's interest in her work. "I'm not concerned about him. But what about Miss Selwyn? Have you shared any confidential information with her? At all?" she persisted.
"Yes," Percy admitted, to his horror.
"What did you share?" Umbridge interrogated.
"Family trees, age, magical ability, prior testimony," Percy listed unwillingly.
"Percy, why would you do that?" Umbridge shook her head sorrowfully.
"Because I trust Audrey. And I love her," he blurted out, verbalizing a truth he had not yet admitted to himself.
He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm and keep his head. The tea had been spiked with Veritaserum, which would force him to tell the truth - but not necessarily the whole truth. He had not yet admitted that he and Audrey were working together to do what little they could to subvert Voldemort's - and, by extension, the Ministry's - most abhorrent policies.
"Oh, dear." Umbridge looked stricken. She reached across the desk and patted his hand. "Percy, I'm afraid that just won't do. Audrey has done very bad things."
Percy tamped down his resentment at being spoken to as though he were a small and perhaps simple-minded child. At least there was no question pending for him to answer and incriminate himself. He had to find out what Umbridge knew and who she had shared that information with, to protect Audrey. "What has she done, Dolores?"
She clutched his hand more tightly, eyes shining with malice. "Madam Edgecombe told me that someone in their department altered and approved travel permits to allow Mudbloods and other undesirables to leave the country, and three Portkeys have gone missing. Now it also seems that Audrey may have attempted to interfere with MRC proceedings, pulling wool over your eyes."
Percy hummed an equivocal response, trying not to flinch as Umbridge ran her stubby fingers along the inside of his wrist. He couldn't help but notice that her wand was drawn and held tightly in her other hand, while his own wand was useless in his pocket. He could easily free his right hand from Umbridge's clammy grip, but she would be able to cast a spell on him before he could reach his own wand or physically overpower her.
"You didn't know, Percy. Or did you?" she asked, looking soulfully into his eyes.
"I knew," he admitted, compelled to tell the truth by the Veritaserum.
Umbridge moved her hand up to pat his cheek. "Poor Percy. You've been led astray by that blood traitor."
"I'll protect you. A witch can't be made to testify against her husband, so you needn't worry I'll ever tell a soul once we're married," she continued, caressing his face. "You'll need to denounce that conniving little trollop, but I'll make sure the consequences fall on her rather than you. You shan't go to Azkaban, and Pius won't even demote you, not with the favors he owes me."
Percy drew in a deep breath. "Absolutely not, Madam Umbridge. I have not been led astray by Audrey in any respect. I am working to bring down He Who Must Not Be Named and this travesty of a government. If that makes me a blood traitor, then I am proud to be so. But the consequences of my actions should fall on me, rather than Audrey. And I would rather go to Azkaban and kiss a Dementor than marry you!"
Umbridge pulled away with a frown and leveled her wand at him. "I hoped you wouldn't be so difficult. Imper- "
"Stupefy!"
To Percy's shock, a jet of red light shot from the corner of his office and Umbridge slumped over his desk.
Harry Potter dropped his invisibility cloak and gave Percy an intent look from eyes that now were indigo rather than emerald. "Is it true? What you just said?"
"Quite," said Percy. "I am still under the influence of Veritaserum. And I should have thought my allegiances were made obvious when I helped you regain a body."
"Nothing makes sense anymore!" Harry cried, looking rather frantic. "I don't know who is on what side. Hermione's in bed with Malfoy, Neville's got a Dark Mark, and Ginny's married to a Death Eater and won't talk to me!"
Unsure what to say or do with this second interloper in his office, Percy made what he hoped was a sympathetic-sounding murmur.
"Can you take me to see Ginny?" Harry asked, no less frantic.
"Yes, I have a safe conduct to visit her," Percy answered. "But first I need to deal with this situation." He gestured to the unconscious Umbridge.
"Just leave her," Harry snapped. "I need to see Ginny."
"Are you daft?" Percy inquired. "There are two Aurors in the anteroom and Umbridge will be denouncing Audrey as soon as she wakes. I'm not leaving until I know Audrey is safe."
Harry sighed in resignation. "Do you have any Polyjuice? I could disguise myself as Umbridge and we could leave together, then get Audrey out," he suggested.
"And what would we do with her left behind in my office?" Percy asked about the authentic Umbridge.
"Kill her and vanish the body?" Harry suggested. "You're a Death Eater, after all."
"You have a Dark Mark, too," Percy pointed out. "Unfortunately, I still balk at cold-blooded murder. I also don't have any Polyjuice."
He paused for a moment's thought, taking inventory. Charlus Nott had mentioned he always carried a small stock of useful potions and antidotes on his person, and Percy had decided it would be prudent to emulate a Death Eater who had survived more than five decades in the Dark Lord's service. "I do have the antidote to Veritaserum." He removed the phial from an interior pocket of his robe and measured out three drops into the tea Umbridge had brought for him. "Let's try this again, shall we?"
Percy pointed to the corner. "I need you to get back under your invisibility cloak and reenervate Umbridge. Then stay quiet in the corner."
"Then you'll bring me to see Ginny?" Harry persisted.
"Yes, yes, of course, once I've spoken with Audrey," Percy agreed distractedly, arranging Umbridge in the visitor's chair and kneeling by her side. He held his wand to her temple, focusing on the last few minutes. "Obliviate."
"Reenervate!" Harry cast, once again invisible beneath his cloak.
Percy chafed Umbridge's hands as her eyes opened, hiding his distaste under a veneer of concern. "Dolores, are you quite all right? You brought me some tea - quite thoughtful of you - then said something about feeling light-headed."
To his revulsion, her hands tightened on his. "I'm quite fine, Percy. You just made me swoon!" she added with an inappropriate, girlish giggle.
"Er, yes," he agreed awkwardly, making his escape behind his desk and using his files as a shield. He took a drink of the tea under Umbridge's satisfied gaze, knowing the antidote would negate the Veritaserum she had added.
"Today's first hearing involves a Heledd Jones from Caerphilly," he began. "Of course you know your Selwyn cousins live nearby at Morgraig Castle, so I took the liberty of asking Audrey to pull some records from the family library. It appears that Miss Jones may be an illegitimate connection on her mother's side, but we'll review her genealogy with her once she's under oath."
Umbridge looked rather bored as Percy continued his narrative after pausing for another sip of tea.
"Your cousin - and several other members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight - have been very helpful to the MRC. Charlus Nott in particular is concerned that about the possibility of anyone with magical antecedents, no matter how remote or on the wrong side of the blanket, being misclassified as a Muggleborn."
Umbridge waved a dismissive hand at Nott's interest in her work. "I'll speak to him, set his mind at ease. But what about Audrey Selwyn? Has she expressed any concern about the MRC's work?" she asked, getting down to business.
"No, Audrey hasn't said anything to me about the MRC," Percy lied. In reality, they had spoken at length about how to best subvert Umbridge's despicable pet project.
"Have you shared any confidential information with her?"
"Of course I haven't shared any confidential information with her," he lied again. "I try my best to keep from boring her with any discussion of my work when we're together."
"Percy, how do you feel about Miss Selwyn?" Umbridge asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I rather like her. We share quite a few common interests and she comes from an excellent family. I think she would be a suitable match," he said, dry and understated.
Umbridge's face still fell. "Oh, dear." She reached across the desk and patted his hand. "Percy, I'm afraid that just won't do. Audrey is a blood traitor. She has done very bad things."
Percy pulled his hand away. "I doubt that, Dolores. I can assure you that I've had extensive discussions with her, and her values are perfectly aligned with mine."
"Audrey's father and brother are colleagues of mine. Given her connections, it would be a foolish for any witch or wizard to accuse her of wrongdoing with ironclad proof." He flicked an imaginary bit of lint off his left sleeve, right above his Dark Mark, underscoring his message. "Who claims that she has done 'very bad things' and on what evidence?"
Umbridge gave him an assessing look before replying. "Madam Edgecombe told me that someone in her department has been altering travel permits to allow Mudbloods and other undesirables to leave the country."
"I don't see what that has to do with Audrey," Percy lied. "It's a sizable department, and there are several others who review and approve permits."
"Oh, but Madam Edgecombe's dear daughter Marietta told me that the activity ceased these past couple weeks when Audrey was away from the office. Don't you think that's suspicious?"
Percy snorted. "Not at all. If someone were trying to cover their tracks and put blame on Audrey, of course they would do nothing while she was out. Who signed the permits?"
"Madam Edgecombe, as head of the department," Umbridge admitted.
"Indeed." Percy raised an eyebrow. "You do remember that Marietta Edgecombe was a member of Dumbledore's Army?"
"No, I had quite forgotten that." Umbridge pursed her lips.
Percy shook his head, sighing. "The Edgecombes are half-bloods, too, and Marietta's a spiteful sort. I doubt anyone would take the word of someone with such questionable motives and antecedents over a daughter of the Sacred Twenty-Eight."
"Perhaps I should speak with Audrey," Umbridge suggested, a sly gleam in her eyes.
"Yes, indeed. No time like the present!" Percy's agreement was a calculated gamble that Umbridge had no more Veritaserum to use. He reached for an interoffice memo, thinking quickly about what he could write to warn Audrey.
Umbridge batted his hand away. "No need for that, Percy! I'll have one of the Aurors bring her up."
She sprang up from the visitor's chair and pointed imperiously at Brian as the more junior Auror, clearly having no idea who he was. "You! Go and fetch Audrey Selwyn from Magical Transportation."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied, but Umbridge ignored him, already prancing away to the Minister's conference room, larger and with more seats than Percy's office. Brian raised a questioning eyebrow at Percy, who grimaced and raised the carrier cup of tea, hoping Audrey's brother would understand the message he needed to convey.
Apparently Brian did. When he and Audrey entered the conference room ten minutes later, the siblings were accompanied by their father in his plum Wizengamot robes and a grey-haired wizard carrying a briefcase.
"Mandrake Brocklehurst," the latter introduced himself, setting the briefcase down to shake hands with Umbridge and then Percy. "I'm the Selwyns' solicitor."
"Oh, surely that's not necessary," Umbridge simpered. "I just had a few informal questions for Audrey."
"Go ahead and ask them," Martin Selwyn invited. "But if my daughter is the subject of any inquiry, no matter how informal, she'll have her solicitor present."
"Oh, it's not really an inquiry," Umbridge back-pedaled. "Just a malicious bit of gossip that I wanted to warn her about."
"Tell us, then," Audrey said, a hard note in her voice that Percy had never heard before.
"Madam Edgecombe discovered that someone in Magical Transportation has been altering travel permits to allow undesirables to leave the country. I'm afraid you've come under suspicion, my dear," Umbridge cooed. "No permits were altered while you were out this past fortnight. Do you know anything about that?"
"Of course not," Audrey scoffed. "How could I possibly know about something that didn't happen while I was out of the office?"
"Do you know how many permits were previously altered? When they were altered? And how were they altered, if at all? Or is it possible some undesirables slipped out due to mere error?" Audrey continued, turning the tables on Umbridge, much to Percy's admiration.
"I'm afraid Madam Edgecombe doesn't have those details," Umbridge admitted. "But there's more! Someone stole three unregistered Portkeys. Anyone could be using them to go anywhere within wizarding Britain!"
"That sounds like careless management to me, not theft. I certainly know nothing of it," Audrey lied. One of those Portkeys was in Percy's own pocket, and he suspected Audrey's father and brother had the other two.
"If that's all, then I believe we are done here," Brocklehurst said, steepling his fingers. "As you said, it's just a malicious bit of gossip, with nothing to substantiate it. Of course you know better than to spread such rumors, Madam Umbridge, and I'll have a word with Madam Edgecombe. Perhaps you and I could go and speak with her now?"
"I think that is an excellent idea," Martin Selwyn seconded. "Don't you agree, cousin Dolores?"
Somehow, the older Death Eater made the acknowledgement of Umbridge's desired connection sound like a threat, at least to Percy's ears.
Umbridge, recognizing defeat, merely nodded. Once the Pink Menace and dignified solicitor had left the room, Brian closed the conference room door and leaned up against it, his face grim as he regarded his sister. "Muffliato."
Her father turned to Audrey, his face equally grim. "You're resigning, my dear. Put in your notice today," Martin ordered.
"And that won't look the slightest bit suspicious?" she questioned with sarcasm.
"No, because you'll be busy planning your wedding."
"I didn't realize I was engaged. Who is the lucky groom?" Audrey asked her father.
"That depends." Martin's dark blue eyes, inherited by his daughter, flicked to meet Percy's. "I have offers from Avery and Runcorn."
"If you marry me off to either of them, I'll be sure to ask Aunt Magda for a special set of Italian wine goblets as a wedding present," Audrey threatened.
Brian's lips quirked up in a smile. "Surely there's a suitor you don't feel tempted to poison." He, too, looked at Percy.
Percy only had eyes for Audrey. She looked cornered, much more so than when Umbridge had been in the room and so neatly handled. He cleared his throat. "Perhaps you would not be opposed to me?"
Her face softened. "I am rarely in opposition to you, Percy."
Percy turned to the elder Selwyn, stealing himself. "Sir, may I have your permission to court Audrey?"
"No," Martin gave a blunt refusal. "It's a bit late for that, with how you two have been gallivanting around Diagon Alley, like you were no better than Muggles."
"Papa!" Audrey protested.
"Sir - " Percy began, determined to make her hard-headed father reconsider.
Martin held up a hand to forestall them both. "However, you do have my permission to marry her, as soon as the banns can be posted. If not, it will be Avery."
Percy looked to Audrey for guidance, but she was staring down at the table, biting her lip in anxiety.
Her parent regarded her with as much fondness as a Death Eater was capable of. "You're a good girl, soft-hearted like your mother. That could get you in trouble at the Ministry these days, but you'll settle down once you have a home and babies of your own, like your mother did."
Selwyn gave Percy a much harder look. "I know Avery only wants my precious girl for her dowry, but there'll be no risk of Audrey endangering herself with any Muggle-loving nonsense as his wife. But you come from a family of blood traitors, so I want your wand oath you'll keep her in line."
"I swear on my magic that I'll keep her safe," Percy promised before the silence stretched too long. "I would be pleased to marry your daughter," he added.
"Good!" Martin clapped his hands and rose from the conference room table. "I'll see you in my study this evening to discuss her dowry. I expect you won't be so difficult to negotiate with as Avery." With that, he left them, Brian following behind with an apologetic look at his sister.
Percy and Audrey sat in awkward silence until she raised her dark blue eyes from the tabletop to glare at him.
"How could you?" she hissed, her expression making her look very much like her lethal Aunt Magda. "I'm not a child or a pet to be kept in line."
"That's not what I said," Percy protested. "I promised to keep you safe."
"Sometimes risk is rational," Audrey argued with a Ravenclaw's logic. "And that is my calculation to make, not yours."
Percy looked at her helplessly, wondering how he could make this better. After a moment of deliberation, he crossed to her side of the table and dropped to one knee. "Audrey, I don't this isn't what either of us want right now, but will you marry me? Please?"
She looked down at him coldly. "You already have my father's permission. What I want is irrelevant." With that, she shoved back her chair and stormed out of the conference room, slamming the door behind her.
Percy made to go after her, but smacked into an invisible barrier.
With a snicker, Harry Potter dropped his Invisibility Cloak. "Congratulations, Percy. That may possibly have been the least romantic proposal ever. You could have at least tried some sweet talk about the thickness of her cauldron bottom."
"Sod off," Percy muttered, staring at the closed door Audrey had slammed in his face.
"Now that Umbridge is sorted and you're engaged, can you take me to see Ginny?" Harry demanded impatiently.
"Fine," Percy snapped. Annoyed as he was by Harry's single-minded selfishness, he hoped that the Chosen One could bring Ginny back from the dark place she was lost in.
A/N: Thanks to all of you who were kind enough to read and review the last couple of chapters after a year-plus hiatus! I especially enjoyed the comments from bionically (because breaking tropes is fun), tt76 (who reminded me I've been working on TLLH for YEARS), and WitchyXander728 (sorry about the many times you checked for an update and were disappointed).