August 1, 1997

It was an oddly sunny day, I stepped out of the alley a few blocks from the Ministry entrance. It was too nice of a morning to use the Floor Network, even for a walk of a few steps. My other choice was to use the entrance through the No-Maj subway network and even a few minutes outside could be a nice change of pace and invigorate a body. I slipped into the rundown building that was marked for repair next to the apparition point to find a line to the elevator that would drop us in the Ministry.

The main room of the building was Victorian in style, all high ceilings and fancy wallpaper that was peeling from the walls. I could see a few other people ahead of me in line for the lift that looked like a bird cage that sat near the stairwell. I pulled a book out of my purse to read as I moved up the fifteen people deep line of people.

I found myself squeezed into the lift and subjected to the stomach dropping shock of moving quickly underground. Someone sneezed behind me. An old lady gasped at something she read in the newspaper. An old man talked about his plan to leave the Ministry and convert his brother's old house to an apartment space for young people who needed a place to live. He seemed very passionate about the project.

The high ceiling of the atrium greeted me in its usual way as I stepped out of the lift. A low hum of noise and bustles of activity over an array of multicolored robes.

I winced and made my way over to the newsstand to pay a sickle for a morning paper wondering what kind of shenanigans Potter had gotten involved with in the last twenty-four hours, the paper had a spread about it being his seventeenth birthday yesterday, he had apparently gone missing from the Ministry's observation not even a week ago. The Ministry had gone into an uproar at the use of magic over this restricted area but they had not arrived in time to be useful. I was surprised Potter lived long enough to see his seventeenth birthday.

I imagined it was more shocking to Potter.

I thanked the newsstand operator, an old man named Giles Westover, and made my way to the elevator as I flipped through the headlines. I stopped on a section of book reviews and winced.

The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore

Really? The man is dead. Freshly dead! Biographies published within two weeks of a person's passing are not reliable or nuanced sources of information. I can't believe they're still talking about this in the paper.

I had gotten a copy from one of the women from the secretarial department, who shoved it into my hands and asked for my opinion. I wanted to tell her it was trite and hearsay, who cares if his fight with Grindelwald had elements of a lovers tiff. Grindelwald wanted to put the magical over the No-Majs and frankly, that's not how the world works. The tyrannical minority should not rule over a reasonable majority, but that would involve the majority seeing the threat and actively suppressing bad ideas and bad political actors.

Though, there were some interesting things I found in the book. I knew Aberforth was not a common name and it was odd to be sent to the Hogs Head pub to pick up the message from Thalia all those months ago. It did put some of my encounter with Dumbledore into context, he sent me to his brother to take the final steps in finding my own. I did not care for his past sins, in the years after his time with Grindelwald his actions spoke volumes. He grew past the easy hatred that power brought and tried to do good works.

There would be other biographies by more reputable authors than Rita Skeeter in the years to come and I would pick one of those up instead for a more nuanced view of one of the greatest wizards of the twentieth century. It was just a shame the Skeeter published first.

I went back to the paper. There was talk of advancements on the speed of Quidditch brooms. Alright. Tell me when they get approved for Quadpot games.

There was a convention of Aurologists having an annual meeting in South Korea only to unexpectedly end up investigating some very odd magical disturbance in a public bath house. At least it was keeping with the idea of the Aurologists getting together to compare notes. How funny.

There had been attacks in Bwlchgwyn and Porthgain, both towns in Wales. Okay. These attacks are truly patternless, the Death Eaters seemed to have a preference for assaulting in fully wizard communities these days, it amped up the fear they wanted to project.

The elevator closed behind me as I moved to happier news, bypassing the obituaries and heading towards the marriage announcements. There were little sparks of joy since Dumbledore was killed, people were running off to Gretna Green for quick weddings, the braver ones were announcing it in the paper. It was like the Daily Prophet was as tired of printing tragedies as I was of reading them.

I found an announcement in the paper for the wedding of Miss Fleur Delacour, former Triwizard Champion for Beauxbatons, to Mister William Weasley. No location was listed for privacy's sake because there were lunatic murderers afoot.

Oh. Percy got the invitation a few days ago. I thought back to the beautiful wedding invitation he had received, the cream paper and blue ink, the elaborate fancy writing.

I had a passing thought or two of my own wedding, Lucinda would want a say in my wedding robes, she had been sitting on her wedding opinions since my mother eloped in New York. Depending on which one I was less angry with at the time, my father or Alex could give me away, I couldn't slight them that way unless things had gone very wrong. Tavish could sit with Lucinda, he was more a grandparent figure and would deeply enjoy shit talking about my other relatives with Lucinda, particularly my father. I could hear him whispering 'numpty' in his heavy Scottish brogue just out of Jack's hearing.

I burned with excitement to hear Lucinda's thoughts on Vanessa. She had never really said anything in my presence but I yearned to hear Lucinda's opinions, her attempt to shield them in a polite, subtle way that would absolutely baffle my stepmother. I did not care to hear Lucinda say things in a similar vein about Annette and Aldridge, I knew Annette was weird, I was sure she knew it too, and sometimes that did not lead to confidence when one was becoming an awkward teenager.

Maybe a spring wedding, new life, new beginnings. No, there is too much pollen, Annette had some spring allergies.

I would deal with the logistics later, there was a more interesting part of this fantasy and I wanted to see some part of it.

The groom seemed less faceless than he had in previous imaginings. His red hair was meticulously combed and set in place, his glasses were as always polished and he looked at me the way he always did, with a bright happy look that I did not think graced his face enough.

Of course, this was the fantasy version of what I wanted. I knew Percy and my father probably should never meet, my memory of his meeting Alex reentered my thoughts as I stepped off the elevator to the Minister's floor. That would not go well at all. My father would probably call Percy a stupid tit too.

By the Twelve, Aud, get a grip!

I wondered if Percy had changed his mind on not attending his brother's wedding? I didn't think he would. It was not the time or the place to do so in any case, in that notion, I felt he was correct. Apologies on both sides were not the kind of thing to be done at a wedding, it would put a shadow over the whole affair on both sides.

The figure of Percy sitting at his desk told me that he had not changed his mind on the matter. His mouth was set in a stubborn expression as he went through the piles of paperwork that had accrued over the last forty eight hours. He told me he was staying late at the office tonight to catch up on everything. I was half thinking I should stay and help him. I had no plans tonight until Misty and Zara came over for drinks.

Elihu had told me he would have word for me about the position at the Embassy in a few days. I fully expected to quit quickly so Percy and I could end some of this sneaking around and I could give him his chance to end this relationship after I came clean. Isolt's panties, this could go in a lot of different directions.

Percy muttered a brusque good morning to me, which I returned as I got comfortable at my desk.

It was so easy for the pair of us to fall into our roles. Stiff and passionless, friendly but not overly, all of that was for a different world where things were warmer and the touch of a hand in Percy's flat could lead to several minutes of what he referred to as snogging (what a word!) frantically on his couch.

I thought back to our encounter a two weeks ago and suppressed a shiver as I sat down at my desk.

It was a normal day.

Scrimgeour came out of his office. An odd thing after spending every free moment he had going through Dumbledore's will. I guessed his trip to see Harry Potter at Percy's parents house yesterday did not provide him with any concrete answers.

This job was so strange.

Scrimgeour leaned on his cane and examined the room, "There's a lot to do today."

When wasn't there a lot to do these days? I didn't mind the work, but it all felt so monotonous and I wondered why Percy found it all so fascinating. Maybe it was because he had an unspoken love for finding very strange, useless laws much like Lucinda and my father. Oh, Merlin. I did not want to make that comparison again.

There was a knock at the door, Percy answered it before I could, and stepped back to welcome Pius Thicknesse to the Minister's Office. I checked my schedule, Thicknesse was not on it. It must be important if he's bypassing the usual channels of memos and floo calls to the Minister.

My wand gave a low hum from the holster at my waist, hidden under the outermost layer of my work robes.

Strange. It had been making a lot of noise these days, normally it was very quiet like a normal piece of very special wood.

"Minister," Thicknesse smiled politely, his eyes glittering under his heavy brow as if he were looking out from under a rock. "I'm sorry for the interruption, but I was hoping to discuss something with you of some urgency."

There was something in his face I did not like. I had met Thicknesse before, he was generally a quiet guest, very calm for a man running a very active department. Likable for not being a pest and for being a rare guest. It was odd to see him up here without an appointment.

"What is it, Thicknesse?"

He looked around the room for a moment, seemingly distracted before returning his focus to Scrimgeour.

"I trust everyone in this room," Scrimgeour's voice was low and Percy, visibly flushed at the notion of being so trusted, put silencing charms on the door.

"We believe there is going to be a meeting of supporters this afternoon. With your permission, I would like to send two teams of Aurors and Enforcers, one to go into the Undercroft to arrest them or flush them out. The second team is to watch the exits for the ones that scatter."

The Undercroft?

"After the last Undercroft raid, you have it. How many do you need?"

"As many as can be spared. There seems to be a sizable number of suspects."

I had been to the Undercroft, it is massive. I did not know how many exits it had, I was not sure those who frequented it knew either, and if the locals did not know for sure, then I doubted the Ministry had a clear number.

"All yours. I'll stay late for your report. If this works, this will be a real blow to You-Know-Who." There was a glimmer of pride and ferocity in Scrimgeour that I was unaccustomed to. It was different from his usual hard expressions. He was seeing the potential for a breakthrough. A chance to end this war without relying on one he viewed as an insolent child. To finally pull a success over the corpse of Albus Dumbledore.

"Perhaps even the final one," Thicknesse allowed himself a smile, one that looked unnatural on his face in the way smiles did on solemn individuals. "I'll make the arrangements."

Thicknesse left as suddenly as he arrived and I hoped my brother would not be in the Undercroft today. No, Alex was remarkably intelligent and clever, he would not be caught in a ploy like this. If he had to fight one of these Ministry Aurors, Alex had it in him to escape or win a straight duel. If there was arrogance at the top, it would flow down through the ranks as if it were moving through a gutter and these Aurors were both arrogant and frightened, both conditions that would ruin them in wartime conditions.

The day continued on with a tense kind of monotony, Scrimgeour's mood was high and anticipatory, he went down to the Law Enforcement Office with Percy to sit in on the plan for the raid and offer input. I was left to handle general affairs while indulging in my usual imaginings of clawing my ears off every time Umbridge coughed or reaffirmed her existence with some kind of feminine noise. She reminded me of Vanessa, something I tried not to dwell on too much. To Vanessa's credit, she was able and willing to love her children and had a soft spot for chickens, but there was nothing of that sort of nature in Umbridge.

MACUSA President's Daughter Strangles Senior Undersecretary of Ministry of Magic for Existing, would be a very awkward news headline and cause an international incident.

I did not want to be broken up with in a jail cell.

Two more days. Two more days and I can put everything into motion to leave this job and tell Percy exactly who I am before this relationship goes any further. Even if it ends, even if it comes apart, I can trust him with the knowledge of myself before the rest of the world figures it out. I doubted any deals struck with the Minister would be honored after I left my position or transferred out to a new department. I was a valuable political pawn, my continued, confirmed, safety would keep Jack from beating down the Ministry's doors and ruining hundreds of years of amicable trade and international alliances.

Jack Graves loved the status quo except on the few issues he cared about. I was sure I was one of those issues. I was not entirely sure about the others.

I did not want to find out.

I glanced around to make sure Umbridge had retreated to her office before charming my newspaper to take the shape of a bird to fly across the room to Percy's desk to get his attention. He looked up when it landed on the corner and gave a feeble, soundless effort to squawk before falling backwards into his trash can as a crumpled up newspaper.

"Are you staying late to work?"

Percy nodded, "I have a lot of work to do. The Minister's staying too, he's got a late meeting with Thicknesse, he wants a full immediate report on the Undercroft situation."

"Oh." I wanted to say that if I stayed late with him we could go look for food when we were finished, but that was too much to say publicly. "Do you want some help? I don't have any plans until after seven."

It was a Friday, I was hosting tonight's get together with Misty and Zara.

"If you like." He picked up his schedule book and rose from his desk to bring it to me, wordlessly asking me to go through and double check the times to make sure there was no overlap and pull the appropriate records for each meeting. Our fingers brushed as he passed me the book and it felt intentional, making me look down at him and smile as the corner of his mouth pulled up in pleasure at the contact between us.

Percy looks at me sometimes and everything just goes so quiet, like we're the only two people in a crowded room.

And then I remember my lies and hidden truths and it all falls down around me in a cacophony of noise.

The rest of the day passes in a kind of comfortable silence. Percy and I had our slightly overlapping lunch break to exchange some conversation in privacy as Umbridge kissed Scrimgeour's ass about something.

I waved to Umbridge, who was stepping out the door, she had an appointment of some sort and was leaving early. That seemed reasonable, I didn't think she had any friends or people who willingly spent time in her company.

It took restraint to not visibly shudder at the idea of Umbridge having friends. What would they even talk about? Cat plates? A shared hatred of half-breeds or horses? That sounded like a hate group meeting back in America. That would be where Umbridge would find her people. It would probably be a group based in suburbia, a middle class community with carefully manicured lawns, snobby stay at home parents with some stereotypically weird homeschool kids. Umbridge would probably only be invited for living on the block and having a government job. Yeah, I could see that.

I noted the scheduled arrival of Thicknesse that was on the schedule. My eyes took in the notation pinned next to it. Thicknesse expected to have results on the Undercroft raid by then, or at least a lead from the event. Percy was a meticulous notetaker in regards to scheduling.

I wondered if anyone had been caught? How secret could this stay if it was required? The Daily Prophet never seemed to give a full story, a lot of it read like propaganda pieces. Elihu and I had a lot of discussions about that over the last several months. We knew the Ministry really ran the Daily Prophet, but still, this level of control was excessive and worrying.

There was that low hum from my wand again.

Horned Serpent cores tended to bouts of occasional chattiness, intelligently warning their owners of danger through low hums. I was in danger all the time these days by working for Ministry of Magic, danger of boredom, danger of a nap, danger of being kidnapped and ransomed by MACUSA's enemies, really I could run a whole gauntlet of things that could threaten my life or my job and none of it would be too to far out of reach. Though nothing in the Ministry was physically threatening. That would be ridiculous.

Really, this was far safer than my own apartment building at this point.

Another hour passed, I had grown quite bored of backlogged paperwork. Thicknesse was going to report back by six, wanting to hit the group in daylight, probably hoping the sudden change from darkness to light on the supposed offenders would give the Aurors an advantage.

I knew it was beginning to grow dark outside.

A crisp knock at the door woke me in time to stop my head from hitting the desk over this report. Percy rose from his desk on the other side of the room to get the door.

"I got it, Percy," I straightened my robes as I walked over, motioning for him to sit back down. Which he did with a warm smile at me as I touched the doorknob, turning it as a low musical note emitted from my wand. Strange, but my wand made noise all the time these days. I would take it to Ollivander's but he had been missing for a very long time.

The door opened and a cold chill fell over me like a fever that had finally broken.

A pale figure clad in black robes stood next to Thicknesse. The figure was tall with crimson eyes that gleamed within a skeletal face. There were two slits where the nose should have been that made this creature look more snake than human.

The pale monster stepped forward slightly, smiling in a way that was like someone mimicking the expression without ever having seen it done before. I stepped back, my legs feeling as if they were attached to lead weights.

The voice that spoke was high and whispery, sending cold shivers down my spine and an implacable horror I had never felt before.

"I'm here to see the Minister."

Oo0Oo0

Author's Note: Putting this up early for reasons, namely my bags are being packed and the likelihood of me forgetting is pretty high.

Audrey's wand is Cedar and Horned Serpent Horn, the horned serpent part vibrates when parseltongue is spoken near it, and emits a low tone if danger is nearby.

Nice to put this image to paper at last. Let the trauma begin.

See you all in two weeks!