December 17, 1996

My return to work after my… illness was a quiet affair beset by my own anxiety. Thankfully this was not America and I had acquired far more sick time here then I was sure I would have ever attained as a full time employee back in the states. I was also paid for my truancy, which was a pleasant benefit to this whole affair and added an air of comedy to the whole thing.

Essentially, I had been paid to help Lucinda and the other Thornell residents take down the decorations. Lucinda, Tavish and I drank and complained in the aftermath, which I had to admit was therapeutic for my frayed nerves. I had told them everything about my encounter with Jack, which made Lucinda scoff and roll her eyes as she spoke of his domineering personality. Tavish looked at me with a furrowed brow, saying that he saw why Jack would want me home the way things were here, but he had gone about it in such a terrible way that he couldn't blame me for picking a fight and choosing to stay.

Tavish then asked about the English boy who he had seen coming out of the garden not long after me. I merely responded that he was my coworker and we had both gotten lost in the maze. Tavish then restated his opinion that I find a nice Scottish lad, not some poncy Englishman. I made the appropriate noises of agreement.

Lucinda told me she was proud of me for my political skullduggery, though I was wondering about the repercussions I would deal with now that I was back in the office.

I stepped inside. The office was exactly the same as when I left it last week. My nameplate was still on my desk. My quill pot and inkwells were full and well used, respectively. It looked like I still had a job and had not been fired or moved to another department in my absence. I sipped my coffee, wincing when I realized I forgot the sugar, then grateful that I had not added salt instead.

By the Twelve, that would be a fantastic start to the week. Salt in my coffee.

I think that should be the title of my memoir.

I sat down at my desk and began to go through the materials that had been left for me. Papers to file, to sort and items that were not urgent to send down to the other departments. It did not take me long to realize they had already been sorted.

Ah. That would be Percy's handiwork then.

I was starting to wonder if he left the office these days. Maybe it was selfish to hide at home for a week but I could not handle that discussion then, my plan was to claim that I did not remember a thing and go on about my life as normal. No muss no fuss.

It was easy to fall back into the routine, making early morning talk with Agatha as she pushed her tea cart into the support staff office to deliver a fresh morning cup and resupply what we kept in the break room. Watching the old woman's false smile become genuine when she realized Umbridge was in an early morning meeting. I realized that I was no longer Agatha's least favorite member of the Minister's staff.

The Minister walked in with a series of words to an already frazzled looking Percy who was following behind him while his head bobbed in agreement to whatever the Minister was saying. I was not paying attention to any of that. Percy had sent a stray glance towards my desk, locked eyes with me and almost tripped over the edge of the rug in the middle of the room.

Oh this was going to be a very long day.

And it was.

That long day turned into a long week where I was generally ignored and Percy was far too busy to have the conversation that I knew was inevitable. Even if I wanted to break the ice, he was never away from the office and if he was he was always with Umbridge or the Minister. The rush of Christmas on the horizon was truly no help in this as he stayed late to finish crucial matters while I did my best to leave on time, often slipping away at the end of my shift while Percy was dragged off to various meetings to act as a scribe.

Perhaps the long week was a blessing in disguise. Maybe it would be best if the two of us never discussed the matter and went on about our lives as we had before. I was sure Percy felt the same way. A momentary impulse that was best forgotten.

Yes. I could live with that.

Oo0Oo0

December 27, 1996

Diagon Alley was fairly quiet in the early evening. The only people who were out were people who were running errands after work like I was. The lights were coming on, bringing a pleasant glow to the street and allowing me to look at passersby who were trying to hide their faces under large hats and hoods. I had just had a very successful mission at a local food shop for girl's night and then went to a secondhand bookstore, adding several new books to my growing collection, some focused on occlumency, a new book of defensive spells that I was hoping would surprise Lucinda and secure me a victory at last after months of effort. The rest were various works of fiction in a long series about the various follies of humanity.

The important thing was defeating Lucinda.

"Audrey?"

I whipped around quickly, my hand resting on my wand expecting someone nefarious only to find Percy standing a few feet away from me. His hair caught the late afternoon lamp lights in a fascinating manner, but it was not quite as enticing as the look on his face. A combination of confusion and resolve that was far more pronounced than it had been during the course of this previous week.

"Could I have a moment of your time?"

"Sure. What's up?"

Percy took a couple of steps closer as he shifted his bag of purchases on his arm, the distance was still respectable and appropriate for friendly coworkers.

The awkwardness had passed at work over the days before Christmas. Granted, I was sure Percy had worked through the holiday with Scrimgeour and the department heads. I was a low level staff member, so I got to eat a Christmas ham with Lucinda and Tavish without being bothered. Secretaries handled social things that made managers' lives easier, not high level meetings where secret things were discussed.

He glanced around, his eyes coming to rest on Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes down the street with narrowed eyes before turning his attention back to me. "It's dangerous to be out alone these days."

"Yeah, I had to get some food." I looked at the bags he was holding. "Why are you out here alone?"

"Potion ingredients."

"Really? Why not just go to an apothecary and have them make it for you?"

Percy made a face, "Why would I spend the money for that if I can make my own?"

"Did you just get off work?"

He did. I could see it on his face and the slightly loosened tie. I left the Ministry over an hour ago.

I was not going to press the question. Potions were difficult to make, but some people were capable of making small everyday potions if they could find the supplies and the time. Rarer ingredients were zealously guarded by apothecaries and potioneers to preserve their business. Learning how to brew potions in a school setting was really an exception to this rule, allowing children to explore things that they could do in a career setting was vital to economic growth and development.

I fumbled with the bag with my bread, jam and cheese as I balanced my heavier bag of second hand novels and books about occlumency and defensive spells on my arm. I tried not to think of the pile of books that I had bought a few months ago that I had yet to read piled in my bedroom that I was working through. The best time to read a book was right before bed after all.

"How was Christmas?"

Percy shrugged, a peculiar expression on his face as he changed the subject, "Do you want to get something to eat?"

I froze and turned my attention back to him, my eyes wide like dinner plates. That sounded like a date. My gaze moved over him slowly, taking in every aspect and detail of his expression. The tight lips, furrowed brow and the way he rocked slightly on the balls of his feet that countered the stiff straight back of his posture gave him an uncanny resemblance to my father, more from a combination of awkwardness and pride than the easy confidence of an older man.

"Hm? I thought there was some Ministry rule about fraternizing with coworkers?"

"There is," he said, his voice soft and slow.

"I don't want to get you into trouble."

"We would only hear about it if we were seen."

"How do you propose to avoid that?" I looked around at all the little shops, cafes and restaurants, while half convinced that Umbridge could pop out of any one of them with a little cough of displeasure while pulling termination papers from thin air.

"Well, there is a little muggle pub not far from here, if you're interested?"

I nodded slowly, my mouth dry and skin prickling. I had never been to a No-Maj pub or shop before. I lived solely in wizarding society. There was a daring sort of draw and attraction to something that was forbidden back in America. This added to the allure of rule-abiding Percy Weasley clearly looking for loopholes in the personnel management guidelines.

This was… intriguing.

I followed him into the empty Leaky Cauldron and out the door I had never taken before into the nonmagical part of London that smelled of smoke and rang with the noise of city living in contrast to the incredible silence of Diagon Alley I had learned to live in since July while running errands.

We walked for about ten minutes in a comfortable kind of silence. This felt odd and daring for the time period, I had not been out in the evening in months, only long enough to walk from the apparition points to whoever I was visiting, which was only thirty seconds tops.

We stopped in from of a pub called The Green Dragon, Percy held the door open for me and I was greeted by the dim light of the interior with the dark wood of the the bar that matched the customer tables and the various green dragons painted on the wall and the little matching glass ones that rested on the upper shelves in glass cases.

The customers seemed to be a mix of middle-age and a group of younger people about our own age in strange costumes (one dressed like no warlock I had ever seen, another with pointy ears like a house elf with delicate jewelry) heading into a backroom with books and materials for some kind of game. That being the case, I didn't think Percy and I would stand out very much. His robes were subdued and No-Majs would probably think he was just in an unusual coat, they would all probably assume I was wearing a dress. Honestly, we were not the oddest people here. We placed an order at the bar and made our way to a table in the back corner

"This is nice. I like the dragon collection."

"Oliver said the owner's cousin is a glassblower, it's how he got all of these dragons."

I eyeballed a little fat green dragon in a case behind the register. It was very cute.

"Oliver?" I put my coat on the back of the chair over my purse, where I had put my secondhand books and food before leaving the alley so I would not have to fumble with the bags.

"You've met him," Percy put the beer on the table and took the seat across from me while trying not to laugh but doing a very poor job of it. His voice dropped so we would not be overheard by No-Majs nearby. "You turned his foot into a flipper."

I blushed. "Right, that guy! How does he know the owner?"

"He doesn't, Oliver is just good at talking to strangers."

"He does have a very trusting face. How long have you known each other?"

"About nine years now. We were the only two boys in Gryffindor for our year so we spent a lot of time together. I visited the family a lot over the summer, Oliver has two older brothers but they were getting ready to leave home at that point."

I did the math quickly. Their early years were under the shadow of Voldemort's first war, that there were only two boys in their house and year made sense, I couldn't imagine having children under those horrifying conditions, and Percy had a bundle of younger siblings too.

"How many girls were in Gryffindor when you started?"

"Four. What about yours?"

"My graduating class was fifty-six. It was myself and two other girls for Horned Serpent and five boys. Pukwudgie had the biggest group overall."

Our conversation drifted from the size of our classes to our shared favored topic of international law and current Ministry policies related to the war, our voices low to keep ourselves from No-Maj attention. We continued on as our food arrived, our conversation moving towards Percy doing his best to explain a very silly Quidditch rule to me that was being discussed by the Department of Magical Games and Sports, while I brought up a counter argument with Quadpot as a basis stating that Quadpot only had a hundred silly rules as opposed to the seven hundred of Quidditch and was therefore a superior sport. As we finished our meals the conversation shifted again to complex matters that were more personal in nature by my own prodding and curiosity.

"What brought this on?" I moved my empty plate to the edge of the table next to Percy's.

"What do you mean?"

"You're very…" I paused and ran through a variety of ways to describe Percy in a polite way. "Conscientious about appearances and taking the office secretary out on something that has the appearance of a date runs counter to that."

"What if it's more than just the appearance of it?" There was an intense earnestness in his expression that held my attention, he seemed to say more with his eyes than he did with his mouth for once in his life.

"Then we need to talk about it because this whole idea is the adult equivalent of playing with your mother's wand." The practical part of me was swimming in every consequence to myself if we followed through with this. Which, admittedly was minimal, I was a valuable political asset. My real concern was Percy's career. "This could cost one or both of us our jobs! Is that something you want to risk?"

Percy winced and glanced around before taking a sip of beer, the mug returning to the wood table with a clink and a sigh, before looking into my eyes over the rim of his glasses with a faint smile. "I'm just going to say it." That seemed to be more directed at himself than me. "I think you're worth the risk."

I blinked, feeling a lot of things but mostly… confusion. I was not worth time to my family. I was not worth attention unless something was needed of me, like my smiling face to look adoringly at my father for the press. This felt radically different than any of that.

Or he was diseased, perhaps my fake cold was contagious and fried his brain.

"I never pegged you as willing to risk your job for a date."

"That's…" The tips of his ears were as red as his hair which made me smile. "I would not ask if I thought this would be a casual thing. I've thought a lot about this over the last couple of weeks, we don't have to say anything about it to anyone unless we think it's becoming serious."

There was a moment where I could break all of this apart or encourage it. Though, I could not deny that I had been toying with the same ideas that he had over the last couple of weeks, perhaps more as a form of dread, ready to turn him down but I could not utter the words to do so. A little voice inside of me wanted and wondered.

"What if it does? Become serious I mean? I mean, I don't think I want to stay with the Ministry forever and I'm willing to transfer out to another department or Elihu could help me find a job with the embassy if one of us has to leave."

I imagined quitting the Ministry or transferring to another department and it tasted like sugar on my tongue, but the threat of Jack held me in that office. As odd as it was to talk in hypotheticals, if this went forward we needed to have this talk now.

"You treat this like a business transaction."

"It kind of is. We're in a… very unusual position. We don't get to make impulsive decisions like this without thinking it over and knowing how it could shake out later."

Percy nodded slowly. "You're right. I've been thinking about it, and about you, for a long time."

I felt myself blush, but my brain kept working. "I still don't think you've answered my question about what brought this on. You live a very safe life."

"It's a lot of things."

"What's the easy one?"

Percy leaned back in his seat for a moment, adjusting his glasses and glancing around at the No-Majs nearby before he leaned forward to resume talking. "Scrimgeour is… underhanded."

"He's a politician, Percy, were you expecting anything different?"

"No, but I didn't expect it to turn in my direction."

"What do you mean?"

He fiddled with the napkin dispenser straightening it to a precise angle before speaking again.

"He used me as an excuse to go to my parents' home to speak with Harry Potter on Christmas."

My mouth fell open. I guess I was not the only one with connections that the Minister would exploit. It was hard to use me that way, nothing could be sprung on me like that because of the problems of international travel. Scrimgeour had to tell me in advance, but it gave me room to plan and sabotage his plans. Percy was so desperate for approval that applying pressure was really more of a matter of how much and when.

I guess Scrimgeour had learned something from screwing up with me.

Oops.

"So, what happened? I doubt Scrimgeour was subtle."

"He wasn't."

Oh, it's bad when Percy can tell.

"He said I wanted to see them, I didn't and still don't. Then he left me alone with my family, getting Potter to give him a tour of the garden or some such nonsense." Percy rolled his eyes, his glasses sliding down his nose slightly.

"From what I understand of the matter, I don't imagine this was a warm reception."

My thoughts drifted to my meeting with Jack and I wrung my hands under the table out of Percy's sight before playing with my bracelets, the slight clinks audible more in my mind than in my ears.

"No. The twins and my sister flung parsnips at me like a bunch of hooligans and I didn't stay after that." He was turning a vivid pink with anger at the memory.

Throwing food. How childish.

Though it seemed preferable to the literal screaming matches I grew up with. At least a person could avoid parsnips, unlike a child trying to get away from the noise. I could still hear my parents' voices echoing up the staircase if I really thought about it. In all honesty, I would have rather avoided flying vegetables than the snide comments from Vanessa.

I decided not to press the matter. My understanding of familial love was more focused on sibling dynamics. Even if I was not speaking with Jack, I wanted Annette to know I cared about her. She's a child, I had no care to turn her into a pawn or used as one against me. I would not do what Alex had done, just left me without a word in the years that followed nor could I imagine doing that to my siblings, isolating them in cold circumstances of politics and filial piety.

Though, Annette had never written back to me. She's twelve though, I don't expect her to, I just want her to know I'm someone she can reach out to if it's ever needed, that my problems with our family have nothing to do with her. I'm sure after I left Byrgen House, a lot of mud was slung and I don't expect a child to pick through it when they still looked at their parents as right in all things.

"I'm sorry that happened. You haven't said much about your family to me, but it doesn't sound too different from mine. Granted, my family doesn't throw perfectly good vegetables at each other."

I did not think this incident alone would be enough to force a radical change in his views of the personnel handbook.

"What else happened?"

"The Minister finished his meeting with Potter, I can only imagine it went as well as mine, proceeds to thank me for my time before inviting me to his home for Christmas dinner."

"Are you kidding?"

Percy shook his head. "I'm not."

"What happened there?"

"I surprised myself. I was sitting in a room where people wanted to hear what I had to say and all I could think about was everything that transpired over the last hour to get me to that table and realized that I was only there because the Minister wanted to speak with Potter and my mother would open the door for me so he could make an alliance with the supposed chosen one." He glanced around, leaning closer to me. I moved my mug of beer aside and he mirrored the action. "I don't like being used that way, but we both know that's an inevitability."

"Do you think that Potter is some sort of chosen one?" I asked, my voice low. "It seems very… I don't know. Burdensome for a child."

"Which is why I don't believe it," Percy stated pointedly, his attention focused on me. "The Daily Prophet is just trying to sell papers. Do you believe it?"

I paused, something tugging at my memories of something I read many years ago about famous heroes and the seers who made them. Another memory overtook it quickly of a strange man in tattered garb who would come into the MACUSA atrium with a sign about the end times while screaming about the rise of a dark wix of terrible power in the years to come whose end would come only by one born of death.

'The end is nigh! Soon he will come! Clad in power bought by sacrifice! Their wicked souls purge the land in fear and blood! One born of death brings the final grace!'

He was quickly escorted out. Just another crazy New Yorker.

"I don't. The ability to see the future with such clarity is a rare gift and most who claim it tend to be charlatans… Or in desperate need of help. Though, historically there were a few shamans who were able to open their inner eye without the inborn gift of prophecy, what they had were personal visions of a potential future, not the spoken word of a trueborn seer."

"Scrimgeour does believe the Potter rumor to some extent, but only enough for politics. I just find it a desperate action to ensure he continues to have support."

"Scrimgeour is blatant in his intentions if you know how to look for it."

"Like you do."

"I'm sorry?"

Play dumb, Audrey.

Percy raised an eyebrow and I wondered where exactly this conversation was going. "The Minister wanted to use you as a proxy to meet the MACUSA President, a cousin you interned for."

I nodded, praying that Percy was stuck on that path and not open to more flexible, plausible ideas as to why I specifically was singled out for that and not the formal channel of Elihu Weathers.

"And you managed to avoid it."

"Yes. Is that why you wanted to talk?"

"Yes and no."

"You still haven't explained why this discussion required dinner."

"Right, we've wandered off the topic now haven't we." Percy smiled at me and the world seemed to stop for a moment. Some part of me already knew the reason, but I wanted to hear it from him if we were going to do something so against his nature and our shared better judgment. "I realized that if I'm going to be used that way, then maybe the man's not worth the respect I thought he was. That we could have targets on our backs merely for working where we do and if anything happens, I don't want to dwell on my regrets about not exploring this thing between us. You're sensible, kind and one of the best sources of intelligent conversation I have on a regular basis. If you think it's a bad idea and we shouldn't do anything, we can go back to how things were between us with no hard feelings and I'll never mention it to you again."

I might be insane. I have every reason to say that this should not go forward, that we need to turn back the clock and forget all of this. I'll only make the target on you bigger if word gets out. This is against every bit of good judgment I have ever exercised! My father has a file on you!

"I…" My stomach spun and my mouth was moving without much input from my brain. "I think I would like to see where this goes too."

His smile lit up his face in a way that reminded me of the sun and somewhere under the fear of potential futures, something seemed to click into place.

Oo0Oo0

Percy bid me farewell half an hour later in a dank, smelly alley that was one of the apparition points for Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron. It was not a romantic location, but a sensible one to leave quickly before whatever forces stalked the night and shadows of the world these days could come and snatch away whatever new thing was growing between the two of us with a curse that could rip away all promises and potential.

I stepped into the alleyway next to my apartment with light steps as if I were floating on a cloud, though that could have just been the post apparition high of fresh oxygen. The risk of entanglement with my coworker was still frightening but my stomach was fluttering about out of a combination of joy and anxiety. Were we playing with fire by engaging in a relationship outside of work? Absolutely. Were we both smart enough to keep it quiet until we got to the point where we would have to report it and one of us changed jobs? I believed so. Percy and I were both very motivated to keep anything between us very quiet, both as individuals and as a team.

Though the threat of being outed as the daughter of a prominent MACUSA figure was still heavy on my mind. I could go work at the embassy, make the shift to the private sector or work from home as an editor for a time if need be. Valencia had made me an intriguing offer to edit for her paper if I was ever in need or even just to freelance while I was still at the Ministry.

"Miss Graves," A deep voice said from behind me as a faint pop echoed through the alley, making my blood run cold.

I turned quickly, my hand on my wand as stories of murder I had read in the paper over previous months flashed through my mind as quickly as spells Lucinda had been teaching me. I was five steps away from the mouth of the alley! Could I run? Should I fight?

Two men stood before me, one was a grizzled middle age, a scar on his cheek just under his left eye that looked like a fish hook. The second was a young man with blonde hair and a stubborn, confident expression.

They wore the crossed wand pin of the MACUSA Aurors on their lapels.

My wand lowered slightly, my previous joy disintegrating to a simmering rage.

"What do you want?"

"Your father wants you to return home." The older man said firmly. I was sure I knew this man from somewhere, a picture in the paper maybe? That scar was distinctive… Kaz Kacmar! He was the Auror who tracked down a religious cult in Texas about ten years ago, implemented No-Maj cult deprogramming techniques into law enforcement and saved the previous president from an assassination attempt at a political speech about five years ago. The cult incident was where he got the scar.

I was struggling to recognize the apprentice Auror, but he looked young, young enough for me to have perhaps crossed paths with him at Ilvermorny. He couldn't be much older than me. Wait a second. Gerald Hodges. He is only about four years older than me, he used to play Quadpot for our house team and was considered a star player who could have gone to the minor leagues. I guess he wanted to serve the country instead.

"I've already given Jack my views on that and informed the Embassy." My body was shaking with barely suppressed rage, remaining mindful that we were in public and attention was the last thing wanted at this point as my memory of the formal refusal of service of Auror protection rattled around my head. "I decline. I decline! I decline!"

The Aurors looked thunderstruck, Kacmar raising his hand to protest before I swiftly cut him off.

"No, you listen to me! I have the right to refuse protection, so go back to the States, go back to MACUSA, I want nothing more to do with Jack Graves and his political ambitions!" With every refusal, I felt my spine straightening and melding itself like steel. "I will not be returning home and there is no reason for you to stay!"

The younger Auror stepped forward, one hand reaching out towards me while his other hand rested on his wand.

I stepped back and raised my wand in turn, imitating the stance that Lucinda had taught me over the last several months of lessons. "I've been polite Hodges, you put a hand on me that will change very quickly."

Hodges stepped back, his hands up in an effort to pacify me.

Being angry was an easy thing, it centered me. Focused me. The words were in my mind, resting on my tongue. I knew the words. I had learned them during my time at home, recited them in anger and desperation for a life I knew I wanted.

"I, Audrey Constance Graves, being of sound mind and body, decline the service offered by the Magical Congress." The tip of my wand glowed as I spoke, smells of a fresh running river assaulted my senses as the rings of light emerged like wisps of smoke. "I invoke my rights to privacy and independent life under the laws enshrined within the constitution and amendments therein, demanding the rights ordained and promised to me by birth and governing law." The mist took the color of sun bleached bone. "I vow to do no harm to MACUSA or the Statute of Secrecy, to decline positions of leadership for foreign powers as long as I remain a citizen of the United States." The bones rattled, clanking together in a hollow symphony of promises and old magic. "I release you from your bond, your duty and obligation to me as a First Daughter." The bones clinked together so loudly it made my teeth ache to finish. "Solve vincula, quae nos vetusto iureiurando ligant. So mote it be."

Hodges was tightlipped while his senior partner nodded slowly.

"We accept your declaration and will trouble you no further." Kacmar inclined his head, his blond hair falling in front of his face before he straightened himself. "Best of luck to you Miss Graves."

"We'll give your regards to your father," Hodges made an effort to smile and make this whole encounter less awkward. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter. "I was asked to deliver this when we found you."

I wanted to tell him not to bother with my father, but the magic I had invoked had sent tingling up my arm and through the rest of my body like sparks of lightning as my hair stood on end. Instead I nodded my head as I took the envelope and watched them leave as I wrung it in my hands.

The last ghost of my father's influence disappeared from my sight at last and a weight I had not known I was carrying finally disappeared.

I could only hope that my desperate snatching at independence would not bite me in the ass.

I opened the envelope slowly, if it was important I would have to excuse myself to handle it and would need every valuable second to come up with a good excuse as much as it would pain me to do so.

Audrey,

Please come home. I'm worried about you.

Annie

P.S.

I loved the Fever Fudge.

I froze, my hands shaking as I reread this short missive from my sister.

"Oh, Annette."

She couldn't exactly fling parsnips at me from across the ocean, so instead she decided to nudge the door open a little further than I had left it.

Oo0Oo0

Author's Note: The Hedgehog's Dilemma is a metaphor for the human inability to break down all of one's inner walls towards others. I think the armor is beginning to chip. Though, there were a few things Percy did not tell Audrey in his reasoning and a whole host of issues she has not mentioned to him in turn.

'Solve vincula, quae nos vetusto iureiurando ligant' - roughly means 'Loose the bonds that bind us by an ancient oath.'

I like to give little hints of live and liveliness to magical America through Audrey's musings. America is a very weird country and I like to poke at that periodically.