Badger Politics

Rachel swallowed several times. She had just arrived at the 'scene of the crime' and the view in front of her was something she was sure she would never forget.

They were in a small alley near the back of the Ministry building. The walls that framed the alley had once been snow white; now they were covered with red patches of blood. The alley smelled of it, and Rachel had the sudden urge to vomit.

People stood around Rachel, talking, but she didn't hear them. Everything faded into the background except for the body in front of her. The once tall and lean man now lay on the ground with his hands covering his stomach. His legs were twisted as if he had made a desperate attempt to stay upright while already falling down. His head had rolled to his left side and his eyes were open, staring at the nothingness where his murderer had been.

The most obvious element of the crime scene, however, was the weapon with which he had been killed. The knife that had taken his life still stood out from his ribs, the blood pooled around it forming a sharp contrast to the white and light grey robes the victim wore.

Someone pushed Rachel out of the way from behind. Judging from their clothing and the way they behaved, the new arrivals were Aurors. They immediately began to scan the area with their wands.

Someone grabbed her shoulder and Rachel was jerked roughly from her trance.

"What the-"

"Shhh, it's just me, Percy." Percy took his hand off her shoulder and looked around. He swallowed like she had and closed his eyes for a brief second, but then he pulled himself together.

"We should go. Let the Aurors do their work," he suggested, already turning away.

"Okay." Rachel let herself be guided away from the little crowd that had by now gathered in the alley. Someone collided with her, nearly knocking her over, but it took her only a few seconds to regain her balance. Quickly, she followed Percy.

***

Rachel had never been to Percy's flat before, but it looked very similar to how she had imagined it. It was neither big nor small from what she could see. He led her into the living-room, which was clean and well-lighted, with several bookcases lining the light green walls. The shade immediately comforted Rachel a bit, as coincidentally, her parents house was painted in exactly the same shade.

Rachel absently ran a hand through her hair, only making it messier than it already was.

Percy motioned for her to sit in one of the chairs and, too tired to disobey, she did so. He then excused himself and disappeared through a door to Rachel's left. He was back in less than thirty seconds. With a mumbled "Just transfigured it," Percy handed Rachel a cup of coffee.

The warmth of the mug in her hand brought Rachel back to reality. She found herself clutching it desperately, nearly burning her fingers in the process.

"Oh my God," was all that she could manage before words failed her again. She didn't cry. She had never been the kind of person who cried easily, especially in front of other people, yet she sobbed then, violently.

After a few seconds, she felt a hand on her shoulder and another gently taking the coffee cup from her hands. Her sobs became more violent and, as the first tears began to fall, she found herself engaged in a hug. Why did this have to happen? Why now?

Percy's embrace was comforting and, after a while, Rachel's sobs subsided. They stayed in the embrace for a few seconds, but then Percy shifted a bit and Rachel broke free of his grasp.

"Thanks," she whispered. She wiped an arm across her eyes. "God, I must look like hell." She laughed, but the laugh broke after a few moments and would have turned into sobs again had it not been for Percy watching her.

"Only a bit."

"Only a bit like hell? Now that's an improvement."

"You can use the bath if you want to. It's behind the first door on the right side of the hall." Percy pointed in its direction.

"That would be nice, thank you."

Rachel stood up and followed his directions. The first sight that met her when she entered the bathroom was the mirror. She was definitely not prepared for the sight reflected there. Her hair stood up in all directions, and the rings beneath her bloodshot brown eyes were even more apparent from all her tears. Mascara was smeared across her skin.

Not daring to look at herself for more than a second, Rachel quickly averted her eyes and turned on the water. She put her whole head under the cold stream for a moment, just to clear her mind.

***

Her wet hair wrapped in a towel, Rachel returned to the living-room.

"I'm sorry I reacted like that," she told Percy, who was sitting in the chair next to the one she had chosen earlier.

Percy took off his glasses and began to clean them with his shirt. "No need to feel sorry. Brought up old memories, I guess."

Rachel just nodded. The blood, the smell of death... Yes, it had indeed brought up old memories.

She looked out of the window at the busy street in front of the building. People were hurrying about their business as if nothing had just happened. Of course the incident would be in the news this evening, but for now they were all blissfully oblivious to what had happened. Rachel gathered her last bit of courage. "Em, about before... Percy, I'm sorry. I was being an idiot. Again."

"No need to feel sorry," Percy repeated. "We were both upset. This conference meant much to us both."

Rachel turned and looked at him. "It did. And I still can't comprehend who would," she swallowed, "kill Marcus."

Percy shrugged. "Many people might have. There are those who don't like him cooperating with the Muggle governments. If he'd have become Minister, it certainly wouldn't have been in their best interests. And there are those who just plain disliked him."

"You didn't like him, did you?" Rachel asked. It struck here as odd to be talking about Marcus in the past tense.

"He was a good politician, I don't doubt that. But yes, I didn't like him too much. I think he lacked integrity."

Rachel nodded. Percy was right, in some way. Integrity was something Percy valued very much. Rachel had always cared more about personality.

"Well, as long as you weren't the one that-"

"Me? No, I was still in the building when the news reached us," Percy said indignantly.

"I was joking."

"Oh."

"But who could have killed him there? With a knife, no less," Rachel murmured, deep in thought.

"Well, Muggles are not allowed into Diagon Alley, so some wizard wanted to make it look as if a Muggle had done it," Percy added, already one step ahead of her.

"Yes, but still, why use a knife? Of course they were trying to make it look like a Muggle was capable of having done it, but some kind of spell or a gun would have been far more secure. A knife is not a very subtle weapon." Rachel took the towel off her head and used her fingers to comb through her hair.

"We shouldn't worry about that, Rachel. The Aurors surely have the situation under control."

"Yes," Rachel sighed. "At least I hope so."

***

The ringing of the phone woke Rachel from her restless sleep. With a groan she sat up to look at the clock by her bed, but it wasn't there. Then she remembered: She had obviously fallen asleep on Percy's couch. It was not quite dark yet, and there was no sign of Percy anywhere near.

Still half asleep, Rachel stumbled in the general direction of the rings that had dared to wake her. On the way, she passed a small clock; it was nearly eight p.m.

"Rachel Scott."

"Oh, I'm sorry; I must've dialed the wrong number. I wanted to talk to Percy Weasley..." a woman stammered.

Hastily, Rachel answered. "Actually, you have dialed the right number, Mrs.?"

"Weasley."

"Oh, so you're Percy's mother? I'm Percy's co-worker at the Ministry and it seems that I have fallen asleep on the couch this afternoon after talking to him."

"Oh, well then... But he is alright, isn't he? I just heard about the murder and I was worried about him." Mrs. Weasley sounded anxious and Rachel could just imagine what she was going through. She made a mental note to call her father.

"Yes, yes, he's alright. He's probably just gone out to buy something to eat, I don't know. But he's most definitely alright," Rachel answered.

"Thank you, my dear. Will you tell him to call me when he's back?"

"Of course I will. Bye."

"Bye."

Rachel hung up the phone. So that had been Percy's mother? She sounded much friendlier than Percy.

Then it hit her: Had she just told Mrs. Weasley that she had been sleeping in her son's flat? And had she responded, 'Oh, well then...'? Rachel could imagine what Mrs. Weasley had to be thinking at the moment, and she groaned. The last thing she needed was someone thinking of her as a future daughter-in-law.

Still, it somehow made her smile. Percy's next conversation with his mother would surely be an... interesting one.

"Hi."

Rachel spun around. She had not been expecting someone to sneak up on her; fortunately, it was just Percy.

Who else would it be, girl, a little voice in her head whispered, but Rachel chose to ignore it.

"Hi, Percy."

"I'm sorry, did I startle you?"

"No, you didn't," Rachel answered, looking away from him.

Percy only nodded. He held a small bag in his left hand and the key to the door of his flat in his right.

"Where were you?" Rachel asked bluntly, realising too late that she sounded like a nagging wife. Her previous thoughts seemed to have had an unconscious impact on her that she didn't even want to consider.

"I was getting us something to eat. You fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you." Percy explained. He placed the bag on the table in front of him and unpacked it. He had bought two small pizzas.

"Oh, your mother called. She wanted to make sure that you were fine," Rachel informed him.

"When did she call?"

"Just a few minutes ago."

"Then I'll call her. The pizzas should stay warm that long." Percy picked up the phone and began to dial.

Rachel, meanwhile, decided that she could make herself at home a bit and turned on the small TV that stood in one corner of the room. Muggle television sets and stereos were by now standard equipment in nearly every wizard flat.

So the Muggles were already discussing both: the assassination and the conference.

"Do you want Pizza Tonno or Pizza Quattro Staggioni?" Percy had obviously ended his phone call.

"Tonno sounds great. Em, would you mind if I used your phone? I left my mobile in the office and I'd like to call my father."

"No problem."

"Thanks."

While Percy went to get some plates, Rachel picked up the phone and dialed her father's number. He lived on the outskirts of London, so the call would not cost Percy too much.

"Kevin Scott." Her father answered the phone after only a few seconds.

"Hi Dad. It's me, Rachel."

"Rachel? Where have you been? I tried to call you about a hundred times! I was so worried."

Rachel sighed inwardly. Since her mother's death when Rachel had been thirteen, he had fussed over her at every opportunity.

"I'm sorry, I left my mobile in my office when I heard about the... incident, and I haven't been home since." Rachel was vaguely aware of Percy coming back into the room.

"Where are you?" her father asked.

"At a friend's."

"Do you want to come home tonight? You know there's always a place here for you." Kevin Scott's voice practically begged her to come over, and Rachel felt sorry for having to refuse.

"I can't, I've got things to do. The Ministry surely needs every helping hand at the moment. Maybe I can come over next week, okay?"

Her father sighed. "Okay. Take care of yourself, will you?"

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."

Rachel stared at the receiver for a few seconds, than laid it down. She and Percy had to go back to the Ministry after dinner, she decided. There was a lot that needed to be done and she wanted to help. Personal grief was not something that the Ministry understood or granted time for.

"So, what exactly did you tell my mother?" Percy asked neutrally. He had by now put the pizzas on plates and arranged everything for a quick dinner. All in all, it looked a lot more inviting than the meals Rachel prepared in her flat. She wasn't one for nice, long dinners. Eating was a necessity which took precious time.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Sit down, please. I asked you what you told my mother."

Rachel sat down and wrinkled her nose. Why was he asking? "I told her you were okay." She began to eat.

"Well, she seems to be under the assumption that you are my girlfriend and she told me that she would be happy to meet you soon."

Rachel nearly choked on her first bite. She had known Mrs Weasley had misunderstood her, but that she had told Percy she wanted to meet his 'girlfriend'...

"Oops..."

"Indeed. So, what did you tell her?" Percy still didn't show any sign of emotion.

"I told her I had fallen asleep on the couch," Rachel answered. Percy briefly closed his eyes. "Hey, I was just telling the truth," she added

Percy took another bite and swallowed it before answering. "Why did you decide that during a phone call from my mother was the best time to start telling the truth?"

"Wait, I'm not a liar," she defended herself.

Percy only smirked a bit. "You work at the Ministry."

"As do you. We just bend the truth, we don't lie." Rachel was by now nearly finished with her pizza, whereas Percy hadn't even finished half of it. She found herself wondering if he was a particularly slow eater or she a very fast one. Then she wondered if it even mattered.

Percy only shook his head slightly and the rest of the dinner passed in silence.

***

The walls of the main Ministry building were lit with magic, causing them to appear] slightly green. It was an odd sight for people who saw it for the first time, but not for Rachel. She didn't visit the main building frequently, but she had been there often enough for important debates to become immune to its appearance.

With fast steps, she nearly ran into the building. There had been no more information on the investigation in the Muggle news, and the Wizarding Wireless Network was useless as ever.

Rachel could sense more than see Percy following behind her as she took two steps at a time on the stairs leading to the entrance. As always, she was stopped at the door.

"Name?" the guard asked. He was a middle-aged man with very short brown hair and Rachel smiled at him.

"Rachel Scott, and that's Percy Weasley. We work at the Department of Muggle/Wizard Cooperation."

"Could I see your identification card?"

"Yes, one moment." Rachel searched through her pockets. Percy had already found his card and showed it to the guard. Finally, Rachel too, found what she was looking for in the back pocket of her jeans.

"Here."

"Good, you can go inside. But be careful - there's a hell of a lot of chaos going on in there," the man informed them.

In the main hall, Rachel could immediately see what the guard had meant. Normally at that time of the evening, only a few workers were left in the building. But now the hall was full of people, all chatting with at least three others at once, or so it seemed.

After a few seconds of total disorientation, Rachel spotted a familiar face a few metres away. "Mark, hello!"

The short, balding man turned and saw her. He motioned for her and Percy to come over, but didn't seem very happy. It took Rachel and Percy quite a bit of time to get through the crowd, but eventually they managed it.

"Hi Rachel." He hugged her, and then offered his hand to Percy. "Percy, it's good to see you."

"Likewise, Mister Lewis."

"You can call me Mark." Mark smiled, but it was a weak expression. "So, anyway, where were you two? We tried to call you."

"You tried to call us?" Percy asked. "Sorry, we didn't know that. We were at my flat and, well..." Percy trailed off, obviously not knowing what to say.

"We've had so little sleep during the last days that we fell asleep until the phone rang," Rachel continued. On their way to the Ministry, Percy had told her that he had also fallen asleep, but on one of the chairs. Rachel guessed that was why he was rubbing his neck constantly.

"Okay, but still, we could have used you here. Your whole Department is going crazy, as is the media and the rest of the Ministry. We have a serious situation on our hands."

"We noticed. I saw his corpse, thank you very much," Rachel snapped. Politicians really did have a talent for stating the obvious.

"I'm not only talking about Marcus, Rachel. I'm more worried about the reaction of the Muggles. They have idealised and trusted Marcus because he was our main negotiator with them. Now that he's not here..."

"You fear that there are going to be problems?" Percy seemed surprised.

"No, we don't fear it. We know it," Mark replied.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Surely the situation is not that grave?"

"Percy, how many Muggles do you know personally?" Rachel, despite having a Muggle father, was on Mark's side in this matter.

Percy lowered his eyes. It was reply enough for Rachel.

"Exactly," she said. "Do you remember how they reacted when we exposed ourselves to them? People are reasonable, but not if they are confronted with something they don't understand."

"Still, our first priority should be catching the murderer," Percy changed the topic.

"The Aurors and the Magical Law Enforcement Squad are taking care of that. They may not be as many in number as they once were, but they know how to handle the situation," Mark reassured them. His hands were always restless while speaking. At that moment, however, Rachel noticed their total lack of movement.

Maybe he was afraid. And maybe he was not as confident as he wanted to seem.

Mark cleared his throat. "The Department Heads are having a meeting right now upstairs and I daresay you can join it if you want to. Lydia Miller is representing your department right now, but I think she will be happy to find a reason to stay away from further discussions."

Lydia was a very nice woman in her forties - too nice to work in the Ministry, as far as Rachel was concerned. It was no place for someone so gentle and shy.

"Percy?" Rachel asked, checking if they would be attending.

"I think she needs a rescuer. And who else to save her than our resident do-gooder."

Rachel nearly choked. "Was that sarcasm I heard there?"

"Not intentionally."

How Percy managed to keep a straight face saying this, Rachel didn't know.

***

Ten minutes and various checkpoints later, they stood in front of a massive wooden door. Rachel could practically feel the charms that lay upon it, as well as the importance of the room behind it. This was the Ministry's central conference room, where the Minister and the emergency staff traditionally met. This was also where new ministers were officially given their position and where crucial treaties were signed. In fact, Rachel remembered that the very first Muggle-Wizard treaty had been signed in that room.

Percy, who stood in front of her, knocked curtly and then entered the room. It was huge, with wooden walls adorned with paintings of the most important events and individuals in wizarding history. Rachel could see portraits of the four Hogwarts founders, and of Barberus Bragge, Chief of the first Wizarding Council, among others. The first Triwizard champion, whose name she couldn't remember, smiled proudly from one, while in another Nicholas Flamel stood alongside his wife, Perenelle. In another large painting, Merlin was shown holding Excalibur. They all looked at Rachel as she entered the room behind Percy, which had fallen silent.

There were only about twenty people in the room, which was intended for about one hundred. With only one fifth of the seats taken, the room looked even more impressive than it would have had it been full.

"Mister Weasley and Miss Scott, I believe?" someone addressed them, before she had the chance to see who exactly was present. The person speaking, however was, as Rachel recognised, was Paul McEwan, one of the other applicants for the Minister of Magic position. He was a tall, raven-haired man in his late sixties.

"Yes, sir," Percy replied. "We are here to..."

He was cut off. "Just sit down; we're in the middle of an important conference."

Quietly Rachel and Percy obeyed.