December 22, 1997
The article I had published with Semper Honestus did not end with my name in print the way people dream of, my anonymous moniker offered me too much protection to even chose a fake name. It would have to be enough. Naming the major offenses of known Death Eaters, the top creators and enforcers would make it harder for them to escape to foreign soil. I wanted people to know the names of orchestrators who were exceptionally dangerous for their ability to blend into the world for long periods of time.
If the Ministry fell into more capable hands, those men would never make it out of the country. I had given Elihu a full list of known, open conspirators. Movers, shakers and operators who could be hunted down under that scenario in what I would imagine would be the greatest international manhunt of all time. If every name went public, all of these people would immediately hide and we could lose the trails immediately. I trusted Elihu to be smart with the information I gave him. If anything happened to me, I trusted him to finish this part of my work.
Word of the publication had gotten out and put Yaxley in one of his foulest moods to date. He stormed through the Ministry waving a copy of the paper that someone had brought in to file a complaint over, the sight of Elihu's name in that print made me a target of Yaxley's rage. I had managed to hide with help from Jasmine, who had caught wind of Yaxley's temper with MACUSA and its diplomat, I could not escape being tortured as someone who was nearby and convenient- but it would have been far worse if Jasmine had not hidden me away in an obscure part of the Ministry for a couple of hours. While Yaxley's temper had not cooled, I imagined the experience was far less brutal than what he may have originally had in mind. I owed Jasmine a favor.
I spent the rest of that Friday evening and the weekend in the flat nursing my wounds and trying to calm my twitching muscles that erratically jumped under my skin. It meant I was unable to go and do lessons at Thornell and had to send Percy in my place, which did not make him happy as he was very insistent on staying with me. We had fight about it and I won solely on the virtue that Percy found it distasteful to argue with someone who was bedridden.
Word of my suffering at Yaxley's hands did prompt a letter from Elihu, telling me to floocall his office at the embassy at my earliest convenience. While Percy was away, I made the call with one of the portable floo lamps so I would not have to stick my head in the fireplace and risk Percy finding me on the floor when he came back. I was not prepared to lay on the floor for several hours. That sounded awful. And while I told Percy I had been tortured to get at Elihu for something he had published that had gotten back to the Ministry, I had not told Percy that I had anonymously published in the same issue of the publication – I didn't want to hear about how stupid an idea that was.
Elihu apologized profusely for what happened to me as a result of him using his own name in his commentary – I did not know for sure how he had found out about it, but I had to imagine he had other spies and connections in the Ministry or Yaxley had made sure the message was passed on in some manner. I had to remind Elihu that we had both agreed to the use of his name and I understood the risks to myself and had encouraged him to do so to lend legitimacy to what was being published. If I was going to be the Ministry's duelling dummy for MACUSA's transgressions anyway, I would rather have it be on my terms instead of sprung on me as a holiday surprise. Elihu did not laugh at my joke. Really, I thought I was funny.
Percy knew my torture had something to do with Elihu's general personality and known need to stir the cauldron, I was sure he knew more than he was going to voice to me due to his position in the Minister's Office. I needed Percy and Elihu to at least tolerate each other if we all survived this madness. I wanted Elihu to come to dinner at some point in the future, hopefully with Valencia in tow so we could have an awkward acknowledgement of our shared appreciation for redheads that we would never openly discuss again.
Dragging myself to work today and staying late for the Ministry Christmas Party was an act that involved an excessive amount of pain potion and spite. An act of hatred and willpower that dared anyone to say anything to me about it- like Percy who tried to talk me out of it, but we both knew far more about optics and appearances than anyone under twenty-five should. Not going would put some sort of target on my back, it might mark me as weak in some way that I would not be able to recover from and the optics of weakness were not allowed in any capacity.
The Atrium was done up with fairy lights in the scattered collection of Christmas trees, long tables clad in red, green and gold that held small plates of food and alcohol that motivated loose lips for the benefit of every rat and social climber. The pristine white marble floors and low light from the fireplaces gave the too large room an imposing, shadowy air when one wandered too far from the light of the party that was prominently centered around the Magic is Might statue that looked over the attendees, daring them to look too long and raise suspicions about their loyalty to the Ministry. The fountain was running quietly under the statue and the edges of the fountain had carefully placed Christmas trees with red and gold ornaments with small fairy lights in the branches and there was a small band of various string instruments who had set themselves up nearby to play music for the event, from various holiday songs to partnered dance numbers as the continued, quiet encouragement for pureblood marriages and children continued in an mostly unspoken way from the upper reaches of the Ministry.
Currently, I had placed myself in a corner of the Atrium caressing a glass of wine and hoping the combination of pain potion and alcohol would let me puke in a nearby tiny Christmas tree and leave. The other option was to wait until everyone was too drunk to notice if I left or not, the problem with that plan was that Dolores Umbridge was apparently a teetotaller, being sober allowed Umbridge to file away the many offenses of lesser staff and I could see her little froggy eyes taking notes on a group of young clerks before they shifted in my direction. Oh, by the Twelve, she's coming over and I've never been closer to becoming a homicidal lunatic who lives alone in the woods.
"Miss Graves!" Umbridge's voice was high and girlish, friendly and tinged with an air of politeness that we both understood to be false.
I sipped my wine and smiled politely at this pink-clad monstrosity with her little festive, pink bow in her greying hair that seemed to have some kind of fabric Christmas bells instead of traditional ribbons.
"Madam Umbridge, it's been a long time."
Not long enough.
"Yes, I've missed your company, but we all are called to serve the Ministry in new ways in times such as these."
Yeah, some of us do more service under the desk. Oh, that was terrible, you're better than that Audrey, keep your grip.
"Yes, we are. I quite enjoy my new position actually. It's peaceful."
Ah, there was the way under Umbridge's skin. Joy in what she saw a demotion. Perfect.
"Everyone is just so nice. I get to work in silence." I allowed myself a smile. "I truly could not be more grateful for the opportunity to do meaningful work in that sort of environment."
This was fun! The rising hatred in her eyes despite the appearance of a contented middle-aged woman with a perpetual smile and air of pleasantness that was fading quickly. It was almost enough to take away the twinging pains in my body and my fantasies of shoving Umbridge in a boiling cauldron.
"I never understood the particular brew of politics anyway." I was going to hate myself for what I would say next, "I don't have the understanding for such matters that you possess, Madam Umbridge."
I felt like I had struck gold in the desert. Umbridge smiled her froggish smile and I half expected her to croak as a sign of joy.
"Well, that's a lovely thing to hear."
It was a desperate ploy to be moved upstairs on a more regular basis, but perhaps it could work.
"Perhaps we could work to remedy this lack of understanding. Though I'm not sure how that would be the case for you regarding your... illustrious heritage."
Ah, she would know about that.
"Oh, yes," I heaved a sad sort of sigh. "My father has a very low opinion of my general intelligence- he thinks I'm a disappointment to the family and reminds me on a regular basis."
The sting instrument group had changed the song they were playing from regular Christmas music, to something that sounded like a waltz and the dance floor was immediately flooded with the older married couples who both worked at the Ministry. They were probably taking a few minutes to compare notes with their spouses about how insane it all was under the watchful eyes of the terrible statue. I saw a few younger people being shoved out by their superiors and encouraged to join the fray.
I could not imagine Percy and I being put in that position, it would be horrible and disruptive to our general need for privacy, even if we were not nursing anti-government sentiment.
We were finally interrupted by the arrival of another despised menace to my life – Harrow Avery? Merlin's cloak, he doesn't even work here!
"Madam Umbridge," Harrow's voice cut through the sound of the musicians as he dipped his head to her in a polite greeting before doing the same to me. "Miss Graves. Always a pleasure to see you both."
When this political farce is over, I cannot wait to tell Harrow exactly what I think. It will be glorious.
"Mr. Avery, how are you this evening?" Umbridge simpered and smiled and I immediately thought it might be best if Harrow turned his attempts at romantic attentions in Umbridge's direction, she would appreciate it so much more.
"Well enough, thought my evening has vastly improved with the present company."
Umbridge laughed and I managed an attempt at a smile that I prayed was not betraying my disgust.
"I thought this was a party for Ministry employees?" I asked, looking at Harrow in his finely cut, festive dark green robes and the understanding that Harrow did not work for a living.
Harrow smiled at me, "I've been extended an invitation due to my family's sizable donations to the Ministry and its causes of late. The Malfoy's losing all of their influence left room for others to step in a fill the gap left behind in regards to donations to worthy causes."
The flash of red hair across the room told me where Percy was in all of this and I steeled myself to hold out at this party a little bit longer.
"Oh yes," Umbridge stepped in quickly, "Mr. Avery has been so helpful in his charity towards worthy Ministry causes."
Hm, money talks indeed. No wonder Harrow's been wandering around the Ministry in the last few weeks.
"Giving is the true spirit of the holiday season."
Gross, I made them both laugh, the croaking little giggle from Umbridge and the birdish noise from Harrow made me feel even deeper in the swamp than I had ever been to date.
The sudden resurgence of pain through my body forced me to exhale slowly and do my best to remain stone-faced and resolute as I endured my suffering in all of its forms.
I needed to leave before Harrow got the brilliant idea to try and be social with me.
"I'm so sorry, this has been lovely, but I think I've just seen a friend of mine."
It became easy to escape after that, I managed to ignore Harrow's protest as I quickly waved down an acquaintance from the Magical Catastrophes Office.
It took me another hour to escape from the Ministry Christmas Party, despite my unspoken status as a persona non grata, but it was an hour of me covertly stealing several small cakes to put in the lunch box I had brought from home today. Fascists did not deserve cake; Percy and I deserved nice things at their expense for once.
The lights in the Atrium dimmed, leaving the horrible Magic is Might statue as the vile centerpiece to the surrounding Christmas trees with gold and red ornaments that shimmered and sparkled from the fairy light jars in the branches. The band began to play more music, I was sure this was a rendition of God Bless ye Merry Hippogriffs and some of the drunker party attendees had begun to sing along.
It was in that moment, when the other workers were distracted by the change in atmosphere, I managed to slip out a nearby door that would take me to the cloak room where many employees had opted to store their cloaks when they were forced to attend the party, it seemed easier than navigating the Ministry at night and running the risk of having to make more small talk with Death Eaters.
Once I was in the cloak room, I turned on one set of lights with a wave of my wand as I heaved a sigh of relief and cursed quietly over the aching pains in my limbs from being tortured and the pin prickling in my feet from having to wear heeled shoes in these conditions. I kicked the shoes off, landing them against the opposing wall for a few minutes of relief while I got my cloak and the walking shoes I had stored nearby.
"Hello?"
I froze, the voice sounded familiar and the lights in the cloak room suddenly became much brighter as the other lights came on.
I turned around slowly, the voice sounded like Percy, but it was older and had a less underlying seriousness to its nature.
Arthur Weasley looked remarkably like Percy, the same lanky build, their eyes were different shapes, but the color was the same shade of blue and I was certain that the two men had the same hairline, even if Percy's was still in full. They even wore the same style of glasses, really, I wondered why Percy had never seemed to change his frames if he was so committed to estrangement?
"If you're leaving too, I didn't see you." My voice was low as I found my walking shoes and slipped my feet into them before summoning my heels from where they rested near the door Arthur was standing in.
I struggled with how to view Arthur, my prospective was very skewed by Percy's memories, my own relationship with my own father and how he handled Alex and I flying the nest. I was not fair of me to judge him as I had previously, I felt like I had grown past that. It was a safe thing to paint similar situations with the brush of my complicated family, but Percy got his headstrong nature and warm disposition from somewhere and I had found myself curious about his own family.
Arthur did me a kindness by stepping aside to let me out of the room with a quiet nod as I slipped my cloak on only to see Percy in the corridor looking as ready to leave this place as I was. I put my finger to my lips and Percy nodded quickly.
"Miss Graves."
"I thought I told you call me Audrey?"
Percy scoffed and it felt like our relationship had not progressed from the first four months in the Minister's Office. That our dynamic had not taken that dramatic shift from co-workers, to friends and lovers. The last couple of years seemed so long ago and so short in regards to time.
"I don't believe that would be appropriate," he moved towards the cloak room
I felt my eyes roll and before I could say anything or try to warn Percy about the presence of his father, Arthur Weasley emerged from the cloak room adjusting his tattered cloak, almost running into Percy as he did so and both men were silent when they fully realized who else was in the corridor.
This reminded me of the night Alex left, there was a similar chill and prickling undercurrent of rage and discontent. I looked between the two, the hard set to Arthur's jaw and the furrowed brow, the near identical expression on Percy's face mixed in with something I was not sure I could read properly... I suddenly decided that comparing the pairs of fathers and sons in conflict I knew was not a stupid thing and all stubborn men must be exactly the same.
Arthur walked past the pair of us without another word and the tension immediately dissipated from the corridor.
"Let's go home," Percy said quietly as he summoned his cloak from the doorway. "I've seen enough tonight."
I nodded in agreement.
This was going to be a long holiday season.
Oo0Oo0
Author's Note: Surprise! I was struggling with the layout for the full chapter, went ahead and cut a section to be it's own chapter. Also, the Trump guilty verdict came down so here's a celebration.
Audrey is also in her unhinged era and I love that for her.
Going back to the two week posting schedule moving forward. So chapter 70 (OMG) should come up on June 16.