Chapter Five
Confronting the Faceless 💀 CompleteOctober 3, 1997
"Think of the person who lives in disguise, who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies"
The Ministry takeover by the Deatheaters had, for the most part, been a very quiet affair. This was due in large part to the fact that the Dark Lord had several supporters already within the ranks of the Ministry, who were able to use bureaucracy rather than force to silently move the government in the direction they wanted.
Of course, those sympathetic allies didn't end up moving up the ranks by accident. No, that was the work of the Dark Lord's primary Ministry insider, who even after the takeover is keeping her ear to the ground and her eyes peeled for anyone who might be interested in helping her master - and who might be interested in trying to revolt.
Branwen Avery is easily the highest ranking Deatheater with no Dark Mark on her skin. She mingles amongst the general populace, analyzing her fellow Ministry workers and mentally categorizing how much of a threat they are. If not for her, the takeover might not have happened - and she's quite aware of that.
Indeed, to her mind she's the one who's keeping things running on the ground level, maintaining her role as just another poor employee, scared of the new regime but putting on a brave face to get through the work day.
In the two months since the takeover Branwen has maintained her old role of informant, mingling with the workers and pointing out the potential troublemakers to Yaxley, her new superior (and doesn't he love reminding her of that, the arrogant cad). The best part is that she doesn't have to maintain her old position anymore as a secretary in the Minister's offices - she can now wander freely listening to conversations and making polite small talk with her newly terrified coworkers.
Her favorite part is how absolutely no one has picked up on her allegiances, so people are a little more comfortable speaking openly to and around her, which helps her job tremendously.
The first Friday of October starts typically enough - she takes the new entrance into the Ministry, exchanges pleasantries with whichever coworkers happen to be nearby, and then heads up to the Minister's office in a pretense of her former employment.
She nods politely to the other secretaries in the office and heads straight into the Minster's office, shooting her usual teasing glance over at Weasley as she passes him.
The kid is ridiculous with how far backwards he's willing to bend to get people of authority to like him, and Branwen does find the look of annoyance he gets when he thinks no one is looking and there's someone of a higher secretarial rank than he is in the room quite funny. Still, Branwen can't fault his ambition or his organization so she's nice to him, especially as Yaxley has labelled him as someone to keep an eye on. Branwen disagrees - the kid is too far up his own arse to try anything, and it's very clear his family is uninterested in his situation or Arthur - who she has deemed a risk - would have tried some sort of communication by now.
"Good morning Ms. Avery. Mr. Yaxley has requested your presence at the advisory meeting this afternoon." Weasley greets her stiffly, clearly biting down on his annoyance at not also being invited into said meeting.
Branwen frowns - she usually briefs Yaxley after work hours, so as to not be associated with him to closely - it could damage her credibility and trustworthiness among their coworkers, destroying her ability to do her job in the process.
"Noted, though I do hope it doesn't take long, I have a full pile of paperwork I want to finish before the end of the day for once." She sighs, giving Weasley a knowing smile. "I don't suppose-"
"I say no every day Ms. Avery, and again today I'm saying no to your request for me to do some of your work. I do have my own." He cuts her off irritably, and she laughs and ruffles his hair.
"I know kid, but it's tradition now! See you around." She trots past him and into the Minister's office, mood lightened somewhat. It's always fun to mess with those people who think they know everything when they can't see past the end of their own noses.
Minister Thicknesse is mindlessly signing papers that are being placed in front of him by Dolores Umbridge, who looks annoyed at the intrusion until she sees who it is. "Ah, Ms. Avery, good morning dear." She smiles, an expression that Branwen is convinced her face wasn't built to make, but Branwen smiles back all the same.
"Good morning Madame Umbridge! So sorry if I'm interrupting, Minister Thicknesse told me last night he'd get a few files signed for me and I was hoping to pick them up and take them to the second floor - just a few new guidelines for the detaining of Undesirables. I wanted to make sure they're put into place as soon as possible." She puts on an expression of apology paired with an air of eagerness and as always Umbridge eats it right up. Really the woman is painfully simple - she was the first person Branwen had pegged as a potential ally for their cause.
Umbridge titters lightly. "Such a wonderful work ethic you have! Of course dear, the signed papers are in the out bin, grab whatever you need." She goes back to the Minister then, who had been sitting dumbly with a blank smile on his face for the entire exchange.
Branwen flicks through the outbox, grabs a few files that will get her access to most of the Ministry, and then heads back out, ruffling Weasley's untamable hair as she passes him, just to tick him off and boost her own mood a bit more.
She does head down to the Auror offices first to hand over the documents addressing the new Undesirable approach - Umbridge is an idiot and power blind but she'd still notice if no new guidelines were put into practice, particularly after Branwen specifically brought her attention to it. Besides, she wants to check in with her favorite flight risks and determine if they're planning anything that should be mentioned to her boss.
The Auror team she was hoping to see is in the training room when Branwen arrives - she can tell because the younger secretaries are away from their desks and giggling together. She gives them a cheerful half wave and trots past, smiling to herself as the group scrambles to look like they're busy. Branwen honestly isn't sure what everyone thinks her job is, but obviously it's apparent she does have some sort of authority, which isn't a terrible thing (though she does make a mental note to get to know the Auror secretaries a bit better - can't have them associating her too closely with the current leadership).
She waits outside the door of the training room, tapping on it twice with her wand to let the supervisor inside know to wrap up their current session. She'd learned very early on in her job not to simply walk in on an ongoing session - most of the time it works out fine, but it only takes one near-miss to keep her cautious. She simply doesn't have the time to take a leave, medical or otherwise, especially in the current situation. The Dark Lord needs her eyes and ears in the Ministry, at least until every potential rebellion has been rubbed out. Then she imagines she'll get to take a nice early retirement and rub it in her father and brother's faces how much more useful she's been to the Dark Lord than either of them could ever hope to be.
She's smiling when the door swings open, so naturally the Auror trainer on the other side smiles in response.
"Good morning Branwen, got the daily updates for us then?" The stockily built dirty blonde questions as the team she'd been working with files out and head for the water cooler. "Hey, back in five ya lumps!" She shouts at them before looking back to Branwen expectantly.
"Got it in one Travers." Branwen confirms, handing Clary Travers - top trainer and sympathetic enough to the Dark Lord's cause that Branwen long ago wrote her off as not likely to cause any problems - the documents from Thicknesse's office, which the woman accepts and skims through before nodding.
"I can incorporate this into most of today's sessions no problem, with a full integration by Monday." She promises, then turns towards one of the secretaries. "Hey, Goldstein! Get this filed properly, would you? And make sure Department Head Yaxley is made aware of the changes."
One of the younger secretaries - she looks maybe nineteen at the most - scurries over and collects the files from Branwen, who eyes her curiously.
"New hire or transfer?" She asks the girl with a light, inviting smile. Why would Yaxley bring in someone new without telling me? Self-important cad is trying to trip me up - nice try. I'm the best for a reason.
Goldstein startles at being addressed, looking over at Travers uncertainly and then clearing when she gets a nod from the superior.
"New hire ma'am." She declares. "Just started yesterday."
"Well best of luck, this is a great department to build up from, but you've gotta make a good impression. First rule, never listen to Travers here about anything, she's lying."
"Hey!" Travers protests, but she's grinning. "Fair advice though, I do heckle newbies."
Goldstein gives a nervous half-smile, and Branwen pats her shoulder lightly.
"Hey, I started just downstairs back when I was fresh out of Hogwarts - if you have any questions or anyone gives you a hard time don't hesitate to come to me." She caps off the offer with a warm, open expression and she can see the moment Goldstein buys it.
"Thank you Ms. Avery." She clutches the files to her chest. "I, um, I should get back to work then."
"Best of luck!" Branwen says and then waves to Travers before heading towards the water cooler. She lost precious observation time on Goldstein but she's nothing if not fantastic at getting a lot out of a little and really Yaxley needs to stop basing hiring decisions on pissing her off because Goldstein is giving off major 'intent to rebel' vibes that she'll happily rub in Yaxley's face during the meeting later.
Luckily the Hit Wizard squad that had been training is still getting water (and flirting with the secretaries who were all suddenly thirsty as well). "Good morning Sylvester." She smiles teasingly at her new target. Kent Sylvester, twenty-seven year old former Gryffindor and exactly Branwen's type if she's honest, if not for the clear propensity towards defecting.
He raises an eyebrow, charm flipping on as soon as she approaches. A seven year hasn't yet stopped him from responding to her flirtations, which has worked well since people tend to give a lot more away when they think there's an attraction involved. "Ms. Avery, pleasure to see you again. You're in here a lot, aren't you?"
She grins at him coyly, coming to a stop in front of him and placing a hand on her hip, leaning just so and knowing it's worked when his eyes flick over her form. "Just doing my job. The Minister's office has me running all around most days, I'd complain more if it wasn't toning my calves so well." She bats her eyes for effect, studying his expression carefully for any flicker when the Minister is mentioned.
There's the usual annoyance and dislike that's quickly crushed, but otherwise nothing new, which means he won't be acting just yet. Content with that information Branwen lets the flirting go only a few minutes more before waving him off and giving him a good show on her way out. He's easier to read if she keeps him sweet after all.
She flicks through her nabbed files and decides to head down the hall to check in on her highest risk priority.
She strides through the door of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects with as much style as she can manage in her drab Ministry robes.
The secretary for the department (it's too small to warrant more than a single secretary, though it isn't the smallest office in the Department of Law Enforcement either) glances up at her entrance and rolls his eyes upon seeing her.
"More new legislation?" He asks dryly.
"This is standard for power shifts and you know it Jenson, you've been here almost as long as I have." Branwen drawls, dropping the required files on his desk. "Weasley in? Yaxley's been up in our office whining like a little about improper integration in this office and I'm sick of it."
"Out to lunch. I can send him up when he gets back if you want." Jenson offers, but Branwen grimaces and shakes her head.
"Your eminent Department Head is dragging me into a bull staff meeting today to take the minutes so don't bother. I'll come by again tomorrow." She sighs. It's less than ideal that Arthur Weasley is out, but it's an early lunch he's taken which is definitely suspect. She'll mention it to Yaxley at the meeting if he asks. Or if he doesn't - she's still pretty peeved over the Goldstein hiring and feels that giving him a return routine disruption is only appropriate.
Jensen does wince at that. "Good luck then. I'll still tell Mr. Weasley to maybe hold off on lunch tomorrow until you get here?" He offers, and Branwen rewards him with one of her rare, genuine smiles.
"Would you? That would be amazing. I'll see you tomorrow then." And get an updated reading on Weasley Sr. - the man is like a fish with how he's managed to slip away from me all week.
She at least knows the avoidance isn't intentional - between Jensen being content to follow the new regime with little more than an eyebrow raise (for a Ravenclaw, the man has very little in the way of intellectual curiosity) and the fact Weasley still shows her pictures of his kids (the wedding photographer was good, she has to admit) there's no way either has figured out she's with the Dark Lord. That doesn't stop the continued missing each other from being extremely irritating.
She heads up to the tenth floor next - she had been directly involved in selecting who was moved over to the Muggleborn Registration Commission but she still keeps her eyes open for revolt. The tenth floor secretaries are in an ideal position to cause sabotage that could stall the new regime for months.
She glares at the back of Runcorn's head as she walks in and then quickly corrects her expression into something neutral. She knows her coworker has managed to get himself rather thoroughly hated by his department so Branwen plays the roll of someone equally angered by his mere presence. In reality she finds Runcorn to be more amusingly pathetic than anything, but she's always liked him well enough to have placed him as one of her fellow insiders prior to the takeover.
"Lunch break." She tells Runcorn blandly, and he rolls his eyes but hits the bell nonetheless. He definitely knows lunch doesn't start for another thirty minutes. He also knows that Branwen doesn't care and can get him demoted quite easily.
The secretaries in the room all happily drop their paperwork and head past Branwen to the lifts. She waits patiently until she finds the person she's looking for and falls into step next to her.
"Heya Val, got time to talk?" She asks sweetly, already knowing the answer.
Valerie Phipps is a year younger than Kent Sylvester and thus eight years Branwen's junior, but she's still the insider's favorite person to get lunch with. In the five years that they've been friends, Valerie has never once suspected Branwen's loyalties, and it's a nice ego boost to spend part of each day with Val.
"Of course. The usual tea shop?" She suggests. "I'm about ready to pass out, I need some caffeine."
"Rough morning?" Branwen asks sympathetically. If she's honest, maintaining a friendship with Valerie had stopped being useful once Yaxley had secured his Imperius on Pius Thicknesse; however, Valerie is the sort of Ravenclaw who prides herself on her observant nature and ability to understand people and situations in their entirety before engaging with them. As such it is particularly satisfying to so completely deceive her.
The two women head down to the atrium and take the wizarding exit before Apparating to Diagon Alley a few streets over. Rosa Lee Teabag is usually pretty quiet around lunchtime as they don't serve full meals, but that's never stopped Valerie and Branwen from having their lunch breaks there almost everyday.
During the trip Valerie explains (she never rants, which Branwen does find a rather impressive trait and is part of the reason Valerie is so tolerable) her frustration over the continued failure of the filing system. Apparently her deskmate had fixed it for a short while before someone went in and purposefully messed with it a week before.
Branwen frowns and files the information away as she expresses her sympathy. Clearly she'll need to arrange a visit to records in the coming days to determine if anyone there could be the culprit. She admittedly hasn't gone down there quite as much as she, apparently, should have been due to the dark and damp atmosphere always lingering around the place.
In turn she shares carefully selected truths with Valerie about her own day so far, including an eye roll over the meeting.
"Honestly, Yaxley acts like he runs the Minister's Department sometimes. Last week he had Weasley running half a dozen errands for him and put the entire office behind by two days." She states irritably.
Valerie snorts. "What does that say about your office that a teenager being busy put you all behind?" She points out with a wry grin, and Branwen laughs and concedes the point.
"He's twenty-one, but fair."
Branwen lets herself run on autopilot as she chats with Valerie over their tea (and mini sandwiches), mentally running through each person she's seen so far today and trying to narrow her list of who else she needs to chat with before heading home for the day (Branwen never stays past five, it wouldn't do for her cover). Stupid Yaxley and his stupid meeting eating up most of her afternoon - she'll have to select her targets based on necessity for her image over actual need at this point, which is always frustrating.
Lunch with Valerie goes a little over an hour and then they head back to the Ministry.
"Good luck in the meeting." Valerie offers as they part on the lift, and Branwen makes a face that gets the other woman laughing before the doors close, separating them. Branwen promptly drops her expression and strides into the boardroom where all the most important tactical meetings take place.
"The is your problem Corban?" She demands as soon as she's through the doors and has confirmed that only loyal followers of her Lord are present.
"Ah Ms. Avery, good of you to join us. Shall we begin?" The older blond man at the end of the conference table completely ignores the question as he leers over the assembled Deatheaters.
Branwen sighs and takes the only available seat, which is next to Albert Runcorn. Also present are Lucius Malfoy (only here to serve as a messenger for dear Bellatrix and their Dark Master back in the Malfoy estate - his family has fallen embarrassingly far), Augustus Rookwood (Currently leading the team trying to hunt down the Potter boy and the Order of the Phoenix who have been weirdly quiet since they moved Potter back in July), her cousin Keaton Avery and his wife Sahana (High ranking Ministry officials in Transportation and Law Enforcement respectively, and two of Branwen's recruits from before the takeover), and of course Yurina Nakayashi (foreign, recruited by the Dark Lord himself, currently puppeting the Head of the Department of International Cooperation and supposedly planning for their expansion beyond England, but the other woman spends more time scaring Ministry workers than actually being useful).
"Now that we're all here, I'd like everyone to provide an update on their tasks, and then I have a few additional tasks to establish before we leave. Runcorn, if you please?"
Branwen already knows most of what the others will be reporting - Runcorn will talk about the filing system for the Muggleborn Registration Commission being continually messed with, Rookwood will try to make "we still haven't found anything" sound like it's important, Keaton will give an update on the Floo tracking system (no real progress, the best engineers were deemed by Branwen to not be usable - they won't do anything unless pushed, but a move to know exactly who's going where every time a fireplace is activated would probably be the thing), and his wife will only share that prisoner transfers to Azkaban have continued to be successful. It's only Yurina who Branwen properly tunes in for - she's never in the International Cooperation offices since they can't really do anything from there so she isn't up to date with what the young Japanese woman has been up to.
"I managed to make contact with Sigrid Eriksen earlier this week but she has no interest in helping our cause. Losing Karkaroff lost us Durmstrang support, this new Headmistress is annoyingly holier-than-thou with her backwards ideas of morals." Yurina declares. "I've got a few other people I can contact in the region, but it will take time and without Durmstrang a lot of northern Europe just became harder to take."
"And southern Europe?" Yaxley asks, sounding exactly as unimpressed as Branwen is. Honestly, what good is this woman if she can't even do her job correctly?
"Haven't started yet, but they were always going to be more difficult. I have secured a route in Asia once we reach it though." Yurina leans back in her chair smugly and Branwen resists the urge to roll her eyes. No need to piss off the Dark Lord's (inexplicable) favorite before Branwen's own plans are secure.
"Very well then. Branwen, anything to report?" Yaxley turns to her, and she sits straight and easily recites her findings from the week.
"Thank you Corban." She says smoothly. "As Runcorn mentioned someone has been messing with the files down in Records. I'll be paying them a visit tomorrow to ascertain if it's one of the workers there but based on my previous information I'm doubtful that's the case. The Auror office just hired a new secretary who should be watched closely in the coming weeks - if she does something it will be sooner rather than later. The Aurors themselves are twitchy but as the trainers and superiors are all loyal to us there are major limits to what they can actually accomplish before being taken out. The biggest concern there is the Hit-Wizard team six - a lot of Gryffindors in that group and while we're keeping them sweet it's definitely a ticking time bomb."
"My nephew is in that group, I'll be sure to put him on alert as well." Yaxley nods. "If that is all?"
Branwen gestures for him to proceed. There are more details of course, but Yaxley gets daily written reports from her so she doesn't need to elaborate here, especially when she has better places to be and the faster this meeting is over the sooner she can get to those places.
Yaxley nods slightly in acknowledgement before sitting straight and clearing his throat.
"As mentioned twice there has been difficulty with the Commission filing system recently, but this is not the first time the system has been tampered with. Ms. Avery, I expect a thorough review of every Records worker sent to me in the next few days as we believe that there may in fact be someone working from within the Ministry with the intent of sabotage."
"With all due respect no one is currently-" Branwen starts, but Yaxley keeps talking over her.
"Because of these acts, intentional or not, several Muggleborns have either gone into hiding or successful forged papers and vanished. As such we will be establishing a two-fold approach to correct this oversight." He looks pointedly at Branwen on the last word and she gives him a distinctly unimpressed look.
"If you'll allow me to speak?" She drawls, and Yaxley proceeds to make leaning back in his chair appear mocking. Branwen smiles flatly. "As I said before I will be looking over each Records employee in the coming days, but my previous findings in that department would indicate that most likely it's someone outside of the Ministry running the interference. The employees are terrified, and I helped personally select each secretary on the commission. None of them has the emotional wherewithal to rebel."
Runcorn clears his throat and Yaxley nods at him to proceed. "I would agree with Ms. Avery on that front. Maybe there's somebody outside the Ministry with connections that could get them in?"
"There are plenty of ways to get past security." Keaton Avery agrees. "If we are to properly investigate this matter perhaps there should be a team focused on external parties with ties to the Ministry as well as one on internal?"
Yaxley sighs. "Of course, I had already considered all of that." He says irritably.
No you didn't. Branwen thinks smugly, pleased with Runcorn and Keaton backing her up. "If I may make a suggestion? I can handle the internal investigation easily in the next few days, but perhaps you could set young Mr. Weasley to assist whoever handles the externals? He's quite good at catching details sir - it was his suggestions after Cresswell escaped custody that made the prisoner transfers more efficient and harder to escape from."
Yaxley narrows his eyes at her, clearly ready to argue but thinking the better of it at the last moment. "Yes, excellent idea Ms. Avery. Sahana, I'm placing you in charge of that, please speak with Mr. Weasley before the work day is over."
Sahana nods quietly and immediately begins writing on the parchment she'd brought into the meeting. Already planning her attack strategy, Branwen knows. Her cousin had scored well above his league with his wife.
"Well then, there is the other situation of the escaped Muggleborns. They are fugitives of the law but they're staying well out of our police force's usual patrol routes. As such I proposed to our Lord to create a specialized team focused particularly on hunting down these fugitives from the law. He agreed and stipulated that Ms. Nakayashi should have time enough to put together such a task force?"
Yurina raises an eyebrow. During the discussion she's leaned back in her chair and observed the entire affair with her usual detached amusement. Now she leans forward again. "Well if it's the Dark Lord's request I of course will begin arranging such a group right away." She agrees in that smooth voice Branwen absolutely hates. "Were there any specific guidelines given or am I getting free reign?" Her grin wouldn't be out of place on a starved wolf staring down a wounded deer.
Yaxley shakes his head. "You have full access to our resources as needed, just bring them in."
Yurina hums and leans back, her eyes narrowed but bright, a cruel smile twisting the corner of .
Branwen would feel sorry for the other woman's targets if she cared about them at all, but as things stand she's ready to wrap up the meeting and get back to work, especially that now she has an internal investigation to run (that she knows will turn up empty - mostly she'll be looking for people who could be the connection being used by the true saboteur).
They talk for a few more minutes, and then Sahana wants to consult briefly on the external investigation before Branwen can finally make her escape. In those minutes she's decided to just go back up to the desk reserved for her in the Minster's office (all part of her cover) and actually outline a plan of attack. She can chat with her coworkers a bit and see if there's anything suspicious on their level - not likely considering there was a heavy purge among the ranks after Scrimgeour was deposed and disposed of but still worth scanning just so her reports are thorough when she hands them in to Yaxley. She only has an hour and a half left in her work day anyhow, which isn't nearly enough time to do anything else of use.
She rides the lift down to the first floor, arranges her expression into one of vague exhaustion and annoyance, and then steps out into the office.
She greets a few coworkers distractedly as she hurries to her desk and promptly makes herself look busy, organizing notes from the meeting and scratching out a few new ones for herself. She doesn't worry about hiding her work - her handwriting is intentionally illegible to anyone but herself so no one will realize what she's up to, even if they walk over.
She does engage in some small talk, mostly complaining about having to keep meeting notes like she's some sort of lower-level secretary with the other thirty-somethings in the office while continuing to outline a plan of attack for Records in the morning. When the clock hits five she promptly drops her quill, rolls up her parchments, and tosses them into one of her drawers save one (the 'meeting minutes' that are actually a quick report to Yaxley with more detail on her morning escapades) that she tosses onto Weasley's desk instead.
"You're staying late again right? Can you just send that to Yaxley before you go? I've got a hot date tonight." She grins and winks at him.
Weasley barely looks up. "Fine, good. See you tomorrow."
Branwen hums and heads out of the office. All in all not her best day on the job, but at least she has a clear target for the next few days, which should be a fun change of pace.
In the meantime, her flat and a nice long bubble bath are waiting for her.
Author's Note: Meet the first of our evil lady trio~ Can you guys tell this chapter was written during the holiday rush? ^^'' As you can see things are starting to pick up a bit - while there's definitely still some set up going on the stuff from previous chapters is beginning to have an impact and that will continue as the story progresses! Also there are a few H:aH cameos in this one so hopefully those were well integrated and not jarring or confusing for anybody ^^'' And with that, I'll see you all in 2020! :D
Next Week: Being on the run just got a lot harder
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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