*casually updates twice in a row after not for months*

Enjoy the story.

It wasn't Lee's ideal situation. The Ministry would have still been out of You-Know-Who's hands in Lee's ideal situation. George would have been able to walk without near constant vertigo spells in Lee's ideal situation. Their living situation would have been set up in Lee's ideal situation. This...this was something else.

He could feel Fred and George breathing. They were huddled for warmth. Lee was convinced that his toes were going to fall off, though Fred had just rolled his eyes and told him to put tomorrow's socks on. It was clear that the twins had done this before. Lee didn't want to mention it, though. He knew they grew up poor, and it made him feel all the worse about his own upbringing. He knew their world was very different from his own.

The beeping of George's watch pulled Lee from his musings. "Hey," he whispered, shaking one of the twins. Without a view of their faces, he couldn't tell which.

"Fuck off, you dick," he groaned.

"Get up."

"It's literally been an hour."

"I've got drugs?"

Fred, evidently the one he hadn't shaken, sat up and rubbed his eyes. "This can't be healthy."

"Don't be a grump. Get up, George."

"Absolutely not."

"People are going to be here in like an hour. We need to get ready."

"With all due respect, Jordan, nobody likes you and you can go to hell," George grumbled.

Eventually, Lee was able to drag the twins out of their confines and into the Ministry proper. George took a potion to help with the vertigo with shockingly little protest. As he climbed out of the vent that led to their shelter, Lee was relieved that the hall was empty. He had forgotten to check before crawling out.

"Clear?" Fred whispered.

"Clear." Lee grabbed one of George's arms and helped pull him up and out of the vent. George grabbed Lee with his other hand and hoisted himself up.

When George was out of the way, Lee offered his hand to Fred, who swatted it away. "I don't need help, you dick."

"What can I say? I'm a classy lady."

"Are you though?" George muttered.

"We're still figuring it out." All three boys had to suppress a laugh. "What's the plan, boss?"

"The plan is for you to not call me boss if you value your life, first off." Lee wasn't sure if George was being sarcastic or not. "Second, we're going to start the day at the coffee stand on floor 5. They should be beginning to set up now."

Lee swallowed. Attacking teenagers during the last few days of their summer job was not what he wanted to be doing at five in the morning. It wasn't their fault they worked for You-Know-Who. It had just sort of...happened that way. Nonetheless, he couldn't argue with Remus' logic. From the map of the Ministry they had (none of them had spent a significant amount of time there), it was perfect. Easy to get lost around. Secluded. Near the offices of the higher-ups. Best of all, they had set up sensors tracking the traffic in different areas two nights ago, and no more than two people tended to walk by the stand at a time.

Fred cast a Disillusionment Charm on George and then himself, prompting Lee to do the same to himself. Knowing that George would be leaning on his twin for support, Lee walked slowly, making sure that he could hear their footsteps along with his own.

In the elevator to the fifth floor, Fred cast a more complicated charm to make sure they could see each other through the Disillusionment. True to Lee's assumptions, Fred was supporting George, who was far too pale for his own good. His bandages needed to be changed, Lee noted. He'd change them after the stand closed at noon.

"Deep breaths," George reminded. Fred must have been nervous. "We're not going to get caught. They're just kids."

"Yeah, they're just kids. That's the whole thing," Lee responded.

"Quick sleeping charm. We'll Obliviate them. They won't feel a thing," Fred sighed. It was something Remus had said to combat the same protest dozens of times.

"You're doing this for the greater good," George finished, almost mindlessly.

Getting the hair was easy. It was getting out of his clothes that was difficult. George, who had been turned into a much larger man, was stuck. It was infuriating, and it was painful. Eventually, Fred got fed up and cut George's shirt.

"Hey!"

"What the hell else do you suggest?"

"Well nothing now that you've already fucking done it!"

"It's my shirt anyway, don't be such a baby."

"Is not!"

"Boys! Behave!" Lee said sternly. "Hurry up, people could be here any minute."

George changed in record time, finally able to move. Fred removed his bandages. Though the wound was disguised, the area was still tender. George knew that, when he changed back, it would be a mess of oozing blisters that he would have to rush to cover. He couldn't leave any trace of DNA. That could jeopardize the whole operation, not to mention the chance that they could mistake his DNA for Fred's.

The first three hours were pretty damn uneventful. George liked it that way. He wasn't excited by the idea of violating people's thoughts, however evil some of those people might be. George knew his faith in Ministry workers, especially on floor 5, was wildly misplaced and even dangerous.

When the first person came around, a woman that would have most certainly been taller than George had he not taken the Polyjuice, he dreaded the inevitable. She ordered her coffee, and while Fred turned to make it, Lee, who hadn't taken Polyjuice, jumped her from behind. Her eyes widened. She couldn't see him, only Fred and George could. Fred quickly sealed off the area with a magic barrier, the very same that protected their house from Muggles, but more powerful. This spell, which Fred and Alicia had trained for weeks to be able to cast, would repel any person who tried to enter the hall. They would go back to their office to fetch the money that they supposedly forgot. By the time they realized they hadn't, George would be finished with his last victim and ready for them.

This woman, Carla Dodds, was Imperiused. George had suspected to encounter many victims of the Imperius Curse, but not one so soon. He backed off immediately, allowing Lee to Obliviate her quickly before whoever was controlling her noticed what had happened. If he was stronger, he could have dug and found out who had cast the curse, but he was injured. Magic that powerful took a hell of a lot of physical strength that George didn't possess. He would be detected. He couldn't protect himself like that at the moment.

When Fred lifted the protective shield, they collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Fred handed the woman her coffee and smiled. George faced the coffee counter, away from any onlookers, and closed his eyes. He could sense Fred looking at him, which made him want to scream. He preferred to do this part alone, even though nobody could tell what was happening in his brain. He narrowed his focus for just a moment and brought his second mind, the closed mind, into focus.

He never spoke or interacted with anyone when this mind was in place. It was darker, more focused, and lacking personality. He almost lost touch with reality in a way, the Order becoming everything he knew. He knew that Mad-Eye had wanted him to exclusively have this mind in place while spying, but George had refused. It was dark in there. George transferred the little bit of information he had on that woman into his mind before switching back as quickly as possible. George turned back to face any passerbys.

Fred grabbed his hand and squeezed four times. It was their silent way of asking "are you okay?" George just shrugged in response.

"I don't know, it seems pretty sexist to me."

"You'd rather be out there right now?"

"Oh no, absolutely not, just like, why did the guys get to go first?"

"Because Fred wanted to supervise George and Lee drew the short straw, that's why."

Angelina shook her head. "I'm worried about George. He didn't look too great." She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her sweatpants. "I'd rather he had a medical professional with him."

"Oh, he'll be fine." Alicia looked up from her notes for just a moment, making eye contact with Angelina and shoving an entire formerly frozen waffle in her mouth.

Angelina burst out laughing. "How the hell?"

"What can I say? I've a big mouth."

"Damn right you do."

"Yeah, the guys appreciate it, too."

Angelina's eyes widened. "Alicia!" She rested a hand over her heart, pretending to be scandalized. "I was trying to insult you! You have a big mouth!"

"It's not the only part of me that's big."

"Oh. My. Lord. Get your stupid work done, you improper woman."

"Nah, this is much more fun. Haven't got much shit to do, anyway. Can't submit an analysis of data that doesn't exist yet, no matter what Remus says."

Angelina glanced over Alicia's paper. "'Percent Imperiused'? We're measuring that?"

"We need to get a picture of how many people we're up against."

"It's not a good sample, though."

"It's what we've got."