Chapter Thirty-Seven
Confronting the Faceless 💀 CompleteApril 1-2, 1998
"Perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who never sought it"
Audrey had been leaning against Percy's desk making plans for their dinner date that night when Yurina had blown into the office like a vengeful wind. Following closely in her wake was a cackling Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman Audrey had only ever seen on Wanted posers until that moment.
She rather wished then that it were still the case - Lestrange manages to look even more terrifying and demented in person than she does in photos.
Percy had half-stood from his desk as the two women approached, already shifting modes from boyfriend to professional (and Audrey would be lying if she said she didn't find his work ethic incredibly attractive).
"Ms. Nakayashi, the Minister is in a meeting just now but if you need to see him-"
Bellatrix had cut him off with something resembling a cackle. "The Minister! How cute, why would we need to see him?" She sneers. "He's nothing but an ineffectual slob."
Audrey had bristled at the comment - Mr. Thicknesse was certainly not ineffectual or a slob, she'd have never worked for him so long if he was - but she'd kept shut, her teeth digging lightly into her tongue. Lestrange looked deranged and she had no interest in drawing any of that attention onto herself.
Unfortunately Nakayashi noticed Audrey despite the attempt to avoid precisely that.
"I'm afraid we need to speak with your boyfriend Ms. Blishwick." The Japanese woman had said with far too sweet a smile. "You understand, Ministry business and such."
"All due respect Ms. Nakayashi, Mrs. Lestrange," Percy replied, still all business, and if it wasn't for the fact that Audrey has had plenty of time to observe Percy these past few months she wouldn't have noticed the slight straightening of his posture indicating his discomfort with the situation, "But Mrs. Lestrange is not a member of the higher circle of the Ministry. Surely anything she's involved with could be addressed by another secretary? I'm rather busy with all the new legislation being passed through Wizengamot at the moment."
Yurina Nakayashi had nodded thoughtfully throughout the mini speech, eyes focused on Percy and seemingly fully engaged with his comments - which made her lunging for him shortly after he finished speaking an incredibly jarring moment.
It happened too fast for anyone to really react - one moment Yurina Nakayashi was jumping over Percy's desk and the next he was on the ground unconscious.
Bellatrix had instantly started pouting. "Nina, no fair! He's no fun if he can't squeal."
Yurina rolled her eyes as she levitated Percy's limp form off the floor. "He'll wake up and you can have your fun, but remember we need information." She turned back to Audrey, once again giving a charming smile the sets off all Audrey's internal alarms. "Sorry doll, we'll have him home eventually. Our Lord requires some information that he has you see."
Audrey had stood by and stared silently as Percy was taken away, and she knows that no matter how things pan out from this point forward that moment - assuming she lives through this - will always be one she looks back on with a deep regret.
She'd gone straight to his flat after work and had sent a Messenger to Lion to tell her what had happened. Then she'd settled in and started making dinner.
The food had gone long cold by the time Percy was finally returned home, as promised. It wasn't Yurina or Bellatrix, which Audrey had been relieved by at the time, but a few members of the Unit that she recognized but didn't bother to try and remember the names of because they'd hauled Percy into the flat and he'd been the only thing she could look at.
Percy had spent time teaching her how to lie effectively (the key is rooting things in the truth, which isn't so surprising) and it was an easy performance to play the distraught, angry girlfriend who's dinner date had been ruined. The men had had no idea how to handle her and had retreated from the flat to avoid having to watch her cry.
Which was good because she hadn't ever quite grasped how to fake tears. As it was she'd been left alone with Percy for at least a few minutes and she'd quickly set about checking him over.
He was a bit bruised and bloody, but his hands were shaking with a far too familiar twitch that gave away exactly what had been happening after he'd been dragged away.
Despite what had obviously been hours of torture, he'd been awake and lucid enough to assure her he was okay but under house arrest on suspicions of hiding vital information on the whereabouts of Undesirables.
"You need to take over." He'd said, voice rasping, and Audrey's heart stuttered in her chest.
She'd known exactly what he meant, and she didn't bother pretending she didn't - they don't have time. "I can't." She said instead. "Lion could-"
"Lion is needed elsewhere, and doesn't have your access. Meet with Python, she'll fill you in on what to do." He'd been so insistent, and he'd looked so desperate... she hadn't been able to say no twice.
So here she is, two days later, on April Fool's Day which she thinks is appropriate. She certainly feels like taking over Percy's role in the Underground is a massive joke at her expense.
It had taken a couple days to work out the details of the meeting with Python, and if she's honest with herself Audrey is a little nervous about meeting the younger woman. She's heard plenty about Audrey Caldwell from her older sister, and frankly even as a child in Hogwarts Python had sounded like she could be bad news, which is only increasing Audrey's nerves about finally meeting her face to face.
She'd arrived in the Hog's Head nearly twenty minutes early to give herself a chance to recenter herself and mentally prepare. She knows, logically, that she's being irrational, and that Python is very clearly a good person considering she's one of the founders of the Underground and had been Head Girl alongside Percy.
She startles slightly when the tell-tale crack of Apparation admits Python into the room, and Audrey automatically moves to smooth her robes.
Python admittedly isn't what she was expecting. The slim (bordering on skinny, really) woman with dirty blonde hair that's been tossed hastily into a low ponytail and pale gray eyes highlighted by dark bags doesn't really match any of her preconceptions about the younger woman.
Python sees her immediately and quickly clears . "Apologies, I hope you weren't waiting long." She says, her voice better matching the control and cleverness Audrey had expected. "Goat warned me that there's a gathering of Snatchers here today, so I had to go home after work to pick something up. We'll need to be careful and quiet."
Audrey frowns. "Isn't this place protected? Would it be that easy to find us?" She questions, slightly disturbed by the notion. Her own flat is protected by similar spells and she'd been working under the impression that she was safe because of it.
Python waves a hand vaguely through the air. "We should be fine - our places can only be found if someone is actively looking for them - but I find it's generally better safe than sorry." She lightly taps her robe, and Audrey realizes that there's something in the inner pocket. She decides pretty quickly she doesn't want to know what it is.
"So we should do this quickly then." She says instead. "Rat asked me to take over from him."
Python nods. "You're best positioned for it, yes. I'll explain everything Percy was doing in a bit, but first we have to switch your Messenger from Wolf to Rat."
Audrey blinks, frowning. Despite being on the fence about it to start, she's grown fond of her 'Wolf' code name and doesn't really feel like swapping it out for a plauge beast. "Why?"
Python raises an eyebrow. "We can't have the ranks knowing that our original Rat was compromised, especially not this soon after Bat's safehouse was raided. It would cause fear and potentially chaos. So you're going to be Rat, and no one but myself and Lion will know that you aren't the same person who's held the title the entire time."
It doesn't sit quite right with Audrey, but she can see the logic - the raid had shaken a lot of people, including Lucas, and losing one of the founding members right after would be terrible for morale. So she offers no further resistance as Python takes her wand and reassigns her messenger form.
"Test it - send a message to Lion telling her... well, whatever you like, I suppose." She instructs once she finishes, handing Audrey's Underground wand back to her.
Audrey thinks for a moment, and then summons the messenger. A small rat appears out of the tip of her wand and leaps nimbly to the floor, then sits up on its hind legs and tilts its head, clearly waiting for instructions. It's kind of cute, but she still misses her wolf.
"Message for Lion." She says, then waits for the messenger to start glowing, indicating it's waiting for the message. "Rat reestablished, things will go on as normal. End message."
The rat messenger promptly darts through the wall.
"We'll see if she replies. In the meantime I'll explain your new duties." Python says, sitting on the bed, then making a face and shifting - she'd obviously sat on whatever is in her pocket. "I'd get comfortable, Rat does a lot."
Python wasn't kidding - Audrey is a bit blown away by how much Percy was doing with the information she's been gathering the past few months. He's in charge of knowing where all the rescued Fugitives are being housed, including after they've escaped to one of the external safehouses, and he uses the information collected from the Ministry to coordinate Field Agent patrol paths each week to maximize the chances of successfully finding and rescuing the people still on the run.
"Your predecessor had every name memorized so he knew exactly how many people we were still looking for, so you've got a bit of a disadvantage there." Python says apologetically.
Audrey allows herself a frown and a question. "You don't know?"
Python shrugs. "We all only know what we need to for our roles, nothing more and nothing less. That way if someone is caught they genuinely don't have enough information to take out the entire movement, even if they give under torture."
It's rather gruesome, but Audrey can admit it's a clever move on the Underground's part (unsurprising, she supposes, given that it was likely Python's idea and she's a Slytherin). So she nods for Python to continue.
In addition to tracking Fugitive and Field Agent movements, Percy had also been selecting people to recruit as the Underground continues to expand as well as flagging people who are suspicious.
"He's the one who discovered Branwen Avery is a Deatheater?" She guesses when Python reveals this particular bit of information.
Python smiles ruefully. "Yeah, technically, though he'd be the first to tell you it was a fluke - nothing but dumb luck. She was called into a Deatheaters-only meeting that Percy happened to be aware of back in October. If it wasn't for that we would have never known - that woman is terrifying."
Audrey isn't sure she agrees - Yurina Nakayashi strikes her as far more terrifying - but she also hasn't had much interaction with Branwen Avery so she doesn't voice her opinions on the subject.
They're wrapping up when a sound from the hallway causes Python to tense up.
"The Snatchers?" Audrey guesses lowly, and Python tilts her head slightly in acknowledgement, her focus on the door moreso than on Audrey. Her hand strays into her inner pocket and returns gripping something metallic that looks entirely foreign to Audrey.
After a few minutes the noise dies down, and Python exhales slowly and returns the object to its pocket.
"Can I ask?" Audrey says, knowing if she doesn't the question of what exactly the odd thing was will linger in her mind distractingly for days.
Python sighs. "It's a Muggle weapon - a pistol. It fires metal balls called bullets at insanely high speeds - fast enough to penetrate skin and bone. It's very effective, though it was tough to get my hands on, the Muggles are not fans of letting just anyone walk around with one of these."
Audrey frowns. "You're using a Muggle weapon in a wizard's war?" She asks, not bothering to hide her confusion. Sure she's all for equality, but the simple fact is that witches and wizards are more powerful due to their affinity for magic.
Python snorts. "That's right, you're a pureblood aren't you? Or your family claims to be anyhow." She pulls out the pistol again, and does something that causes part of it to fall out. From within the part she pulls out a small metal shape, which Audrey assumes must be the bullets.
"You see this? See how small it is? There's no spell created that would be fast enough or precise enough to deflect this once it was fired. Magic may be exotic and scary to Muggles, but the facts is that any random fool with a gun could best a wizard."
Audrey frowns as she studies the bullet. She doesn't know if she believes Python, but the woman certainly has conviction so she doesn't ask anything else. Later that night, after she's gone home and is lying in bed, kept grounded in the world of the waking by the weight of her new role, she thinks that maybe it's a security thing. They're in a war, after all, so anything that makes you feel just a bit safer would be welcomed with open arms.
Audrey doesn't sleep very well that night, her mind whirling with the enormity of all she need to do now that Percy has been compromised. When she gets up in the morning she looks awful, and no amount of attempting to wrangle her appearance into submission seems to help. She's certain that she'll be caught within minutes of stepping into the Ministry, that they'll notice her holding herself differently.
Percy had taught her to lie, but he hadn't taught her how to not be terrified. Perhaps it's just a Gryffindor thing, not falling apart entirely under the pressure to perform. And in the case of the Underground, to do it perfectly because the slightest slip-up will lead to death for you and for others.
"Blishwick, good you're here." Umbridge looks absolutely infuriated when Audrey reaches her desk, and Audrey would be lying if she said the image didn't improve her mood slightly. "You've been requested by the Minister's office."
Something in her freezes. Well that was faster than she'd expected - she hadn't even been in the building more than five minutes and the jig is already up.
She simply nods to Umbridge, focused more on keeping her breathing steady than faking proper respect towards her superior (former superior? She's getting sacked probably, or arrested or- breathe Audrey). Umbridge obviously isn't pleased with that but Audrey is already striding away, somehow remaining steady on her feet despite the fact she's pretty sure the world is being pulled out from under her.
Making her way to the Minister's offices is muscle memory after making the trip every morning for over six months now. She doesn't stumble until she actually arrives and sees the empty desk where Percy would normally be. It's already been cleaned out - hopefully nothing incriminating had been found inside it - and it's an uncomfortable sight.
She quickly clears and keeps moving when she sees a few of the secretaries in the room giving her sympathetic glances.
She knocks smartly on the Minister's door, and it isn't until it's swinging open when she realizes the irony of her situation. Not weeks ago she would have been thrilled at an invite into the Minister's office, at the chance to see her old boss and maybe try to snap him out of whatever curse he's under (because she knows Mr. Thicknesse and this isn't him). But now that she finally is getting the chance she's utterly terrified.
Inside the room her old boss is flanked by Corban Yaxley and Albert Runcorn. She nods to both men uncertainly before turning to Thicknesse. She knows he's not the one in charge, but so long as she isn't sure that her cover has been blown she needs to play the part of the clueless secretary and that means addressing Thicknesse as if he's the Minister.
"Minister Thicknesse, you requested an audience?" She asks, and it's almost painfully familiar. The number of times she'd said nearly the same thing (though it was 'mister' before) while serving as his personal secretary for over five years is uncountable, and for the briefest moment she feels almost normal again. Then Yaxley replies instead of Thicknesse and the illusion quickly shatters.
"He did. As I'm sure you're aware, recent events have rendered Mr. Weasley unable to continue his post as the Junior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic.
Audrey nods slowly, wondering if it would be too suspicious to push for information. She hasn't been allowed back to see Percy, and their relationship is far from a secret within the Ministry, so it surely wouldn't look suspicious for her to ask after his condition? But at the same time if they suspect he's a traitor, her being too concerned about him would turn their scrutiny onto her, and she can't think of anyone else who could take on the role of Rat.
Ultimately she takes too long to make a decision and Yaxley moves on.
"Since this is a rather vital position we need it filled immediately. As Mr. Weasley's significant other, as well as someone who has worked with the Minister for Magic in the past, you will be serving as a temporary stand in while we conduct interviews for a permanent hire."
Audrey tilts her head mutely, but internally her thoughts are a whirlwind. She's being given the job? Just like that? Temporarily, yes, but it will give her access to everything Percy had has access to which means she might be able to fill in some of the blanks that Python hadn't been able to the day before.
Yaxley takes her silence for consent. "You begin immediately, your previous supervisor has already been informed." That explains Umbridge's foul mood then - she likely hadn't been given a replacement for Audrey. Good. Serves the toad right. "Your assignments for the day are on your desk, you may not leave until they're completed."
Audrey nods again silently and quickly takes her leave from the room. She hesitates at Percy's desk, her instinct telling her to lean against the edge of it, but she shakes that off and takes the seat behind it instead.
It feels wrong. This is Percy's desk and he earned it far more than she had. But it's advantageous, and Audrey decides to focus on that instead of the ading sense of wrongness. She grabs her tasks for the day and is immediately reminded of why she'd never been jealous of her younger boyfriend having a higher position in the Ministry than her.
Audrey will be the first to admit that she got has a job because she needs to pay the rent, though she'll also more reluctantly be willing to say that she doesn't mind secretarial work so long as she likes her boss. But the sheer amount of items on the to-do list in front of her is bordering on ridiculous.
Audrey knows that usually the Junior Undersecretary wouldn't have nearly this much to do, but as Umbridge is the Senior Undersecretary, and she's decided she's too important for such menial work, all of her work has fallen to Percy to finish.
And now it's Audrey's job. Lovely. The world is clearly not on her side at this moment, between Rat and now this she's probably going to start looking like Lucas - sleep-deprived and on her last legs - pretty soon.
Still, it's a good opportunity, she reminds herself as she begins mentally calculating what order she should do things in, and what information she can gather as she does so. Anything not time-sensitive and relatively easy to complete is placed at the end of the day while more time-consuming tasks are included before lunch. It takes about thirty minutes to put together the schedule but when it's finished Audrey is feeling a little better about the work load. She'll probably have to stay until seven, but now that it's all laid out it doesn't feel quite so daunting.
She's scheduled each item with about ten more minutes than she'd normally need in case something goes sideways or useful Underground information pops up, so she might be done even earlier which would be nice. But for the time being she sets her mental clock to seven in the evening and gets started.
Two hours in she realizes she'd gotten very accustomed to traversing the Ministry multiple times throughout the day without realizing it - sitting still behind a desk for hours on end isn't nearly as comfortable as she remembers it being, and her legs are officially going numb. So after finishing item three on her list (she's ahead at the moment - nothing has come up Underground or otherwise) she makes the decision to stretch her legs and get herself some coffee from the staff room on the fifth floor.
And if she drops in on a few former contacts to "catch up" and tell them about her new job, well, that's no one's business but hers. And if she walks away from those meetings with a few extra files stowed away in her work bag, well, that's no one's business either.
She gets her coffee from the machine in the break room - subpar bean water Percy's voice says in her mind and she can't help smiling - and stuffs it full of sugar and milk to try and fix the taste. She sips it slowly, leaning against the counter and looking around at the few people lingering in the room.
Once upon a time the break room was always bustling with people avoiding work and spreading gossip. Now there are maybe half a dozen exhausted individuals hunkered down in the corners and silently eyeing the door, avoiding their superiors and the other monsters haunting the halls instead of the unfinished paperwork on their desks. Audrey had never liked the break room before, but now she thinks that was better than this.
She takes about twenty minutes to finish the cup, which she sets in the sink before heading out again, nodding to a few people who she recognizes and then pausing when she registers who exactly one of them is.
"Phillipa?" She asks, honestly surprised. She'd thought the woman had been sacked after not hearing from her for months - she's an infamous gossip so the abrupt radio silence was more than cause enough to assume she was no longer working for the Ministry.
The woman looks up, and Audrey nearly takes a step back. She looks haggard and thin, nothing at all like the artificially put-together woman Audrey had unfortunately gotten to know all to well during her time under Thicknesse. She's still pretty, of course - exhaustion and less makeup doesn't change bone structure - but in a hollowed out and cracked way that doesn't suit her at all.
"Oh Blishwick." She says, and it's tired and flat. For a fleeting moment Audrey wonders if she would have ended up like this if she hadn't met Percy, or Lucas, or even Lion and Python. If she'd never started helping, would she have eventually crumbled under the weight of her own indifference? "Didn't see you there. Heard you've got a boyfriend?"
Audrey is honestly a little perturbed now - surely Phillipa would have been one of the first people to know that? "I... had one, yes, but recent events have rather soured the relationship." She says diplomatically, knowing that if anyone in the room reports back to the Deatheaters she needs to come across as unsympathetic and thus not likely to be a traitor.
"Sorry to hear it." The woman mumbles, but doesn't press for any further information, and Audrey soon excuses herself from the conversation, thoroughly disturbed by the entire event. She's actually relieved to return to the Minister's offices to read through horrid legislation to give to Thicknesse to sign into law.
At least here she feels like she's doing something - with each line edited she feels herself pulling away from the shadowy husk that Phillipa became, that now she suddenly fears becoming. It isn't something she'd have ever thought about before, and she's certain Phillipa doesn't even realize fully how worn she's gotten.
As she moves through the draft before her she focuses more intently than before on finding areas within the legal jargon where she could slip in some fine print that will make it easy to unravel this law once someone decent is back in power. It's something Percy had told her about a few times - loopholes he'd hidden in fancily-worded asides that will make reversing the horrors of this new Ministry the work of a few months rather than years. If she's honest, Audrey almost prefers this sort of sabotage to the smuggling of Muggleborns, terrible as that makes her feel. With this, the only person hurt if she's caught is her, not dozens of innocents who had put their trust in her and the organization. The weight of that is something she's always vaguely been aware of, but it's been thrown into sharp relief these past few days.
She finishes the law later than she would have liked, too often going into her own head, so she speeds through the next few tasks. She does ultimately finish her to do list at her aimed-for time, and she clocks out just after seven, not bothering to say goodbye to Minister Thicknesse. She doesn't think she could take seeing him again with his blank stare and vacant smile, so unlike the man she worked for and respected mere months before.
But he was like this before, you just chose not to notice. Her brain whispers traitorously, and she hisses out a sharp breath and apparates back to her flat, as if she could flee from the truth.
She needs a smoke.
It's warm out now, so the balcony is almost pleasant, if one ignores the mosquitos. Audrey stares out over her street and lets the smoke drift from between her fingers. Percy has told her time and again that he hates the habit, and that no spell fully removes the scent or taste of the nicotine, but he's on house arrest and she's stressed so Audrey thinks she deserves this one. She'll go back to quitting tomorrow. Or after the war. Whichever is better for her nerves.
She's distracted by a silver Python slithering up the side of the building to perch on her railing. She sighs. "Go ahead." She tells it.
"Just checking in on how things went today. Chickadee mentioned you weren't on your usual patrol route." The messenger says, and that... Audrey didn't expect that.
She puts the half-finished cigarette out on the railing and drops the unfinished bit into the pail she has on the balcony that serves as a makeshift garbage before heading into the flat to reply.
She fills Python in on her new job, and then sends another messenger out to Lion with the same information a minute later when she realizes she should probably keep both of the other leaders in the loop.
Then she realizes what she'd just thought and has to take a seat. She's Rat now. One of the leaders. Everything she does from here on out impacts more than just her - or at least, she can't keep pretending that what she does isn't having a broader impact than what she'd willingly realized.
She huffs out a breath and stares around her flat. The home of a resistance leader. Jesus.
How did she get here? In January she'd been happy to keep her head down and just do what Umbridge said, pass files around and not think about what was in them. In January she'd nearly walked away from all this entirely - if it hadn't been for Percy she probably would have. Now she's supposed to become one of the leaders and it feels like a joke. Just a series of unfortunate events leading up to the one person in the organization who hadn't joined for the right reasons becoming one of the key players.
If Percy were here he'd probably have read her expression or body language or whatever it is he does that lets him know her so well and come over and said something like "it doesn't matter why you do the right thing as long as the right thing gets done" or some other such nonsense. Audrey has always disagreed with him on that front - long term the reasons someone does something do matter, and who knows how long this war will last? Last time it took eleven years, and that was with the Ministry on the right side. Now? Now they could be locked into this for decades and Audrey doesn't think she can do this for that long. Doesn't think she wants to and maybe that makes her a bad person.
She sighs and finally forces herself back up and over to her desk. Maybe she should think short term for now, and worry about the long term when it comes. Maybe she'll be less stressed that way. So she picks up her bag and pulls out the files she'd copied and started copying down the information the Underground could use, falling into the old trap of not thinking about what she's doing.
Maybe if she does it long enough she'll actually believe she's doing this for the right reasons.
Author's Note: Aw Audrey :( She's not having a fun time right now. But yeah, this is another one of those personal headcannons I wanted to address in this story - there's no way that the whole Weasley clan could just up and vanish and Percy wouldn't at least be questioned, if not put under strict watch. He says himself that leaving the Ministry wasn't easy - despite his known-Order father having no trouble. But I digress - the point is that Audrey is Rat now! I'm sure it's fine.
Next Time: Change is easy right up until you realize that it's change
So I'm thinking I might do a final 'afterwords' chapter to share my thoughts and feelings on writing this story, if that's something people would be interested in? I'm also open to answering any lingering questions people might have there as well!
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