Badger Politics

Badger Politics
by Eilan

Chapter Three: One False Step

The tables in the conference room formed a U around the walls, and now Rachel and Percy were sitting next to a very relieved Lydia at the end of the longest table. Rachel could barely see anything from her position, but at least she could hear everything that was being said.

"To continue where I had to stop," McEwan began, unable to conceal his displeasure at having been interrupted.

Rachel could just imagine that in a similar situation she would have thrown the intruders out. Then again, Rachel didn't think she was a very polite person.

"I would conclude that, even now, the elections have to be our priority - the seventeenth of July is the last possible date on which we may hold them. If the wizarding population is without a leader for even a few more weeks, we'll have a serious situation on our hands." A chair scratched over the floor; McEwan was obviously finished with what he wanted to say.

"But what about the murderer? Shouldn't he be our top priority?" Rachel couldn't help but voice her opinion.

"As you would have noticed if you had been on time, Miss Scott, we have discussed the matter. And we have decided to hand the case over to the appropriate authorities: the Aurors and the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. If you have another suggestion, Miss Scott, feel free to share it with us."

For the second time that day, Rachel wanted to find a nice, comfortable hole to crawl into. It was a very good thing she wasn't prone to blushing, otherwise Percy's hair would have looked pale against her face.

"No, I don't," she said, just loud enough so that everyone could hear her. Rachel then leaned back in her seat. The man opposite her, who she didn't know, stared at her with disapproval and she stared back. He was probably one of the older wizards with a long family history in the Ministry who thought she was too young to even be there listening to the discussion, much less speaking.

"Thank you then, Miss Scott."

Rachel chose to ignore McEwan for once. She simply pulled a face and left it at that.

Percy, sitting on her left, didn't seem to notice. When Rachel followed his gaze, she could see why. Two seats beside the man she had just glared at was seated a middle-aged man with red hair.. It was Arthur Weasley, Head of the Department of Accidental Magic Reversal.

Rachel smiled at him for a moment. She didn't really know him, but from what she had heard, he was a nice person - perhaps a tad mad - with an odd liking for everything Muggle. Arthur Weasley was one of the few Department Heads who hadn't at least tried to get into the election. Maybe after the death of two of his sons - or had it been a son and a daughter? -- during the war, he wasn't keen on the position of Minister. Rachel couldn't for the life of her remember the names of the two siblings Percy had lost in the war. He didn't speak about it much. Not that Rachel minded.

"Another issue we have to address is-" Someone had begun to speak, but was interrupted when the door flew open. Rachel and Percy, who were seated with their backs to the door, turned abruptly in their chairs. In came the very same girl that had earlier delivered the news of the murder to Rachel, followed by three other people. Rachel had no problem recognising them, but could not believe her eyes. They were Julia Kirnan, Steven Hudson and Stanford Reiley. The first two had been in the Diagon Alley negotiations, while Stanford Reiley, like Julia Kirnan, was a member of the British government. Rachel could already sense the trouble they would be causing.

"They demanded to be let in," the girl said breathlessly, and the three Muggles stared at her with disapproval.

McEwan now stood in front of the delegation, his back to Rachel so that she couldn't see the look on his face. But through his body language Rachel could tell that he was not pleased. He had always been against Muggle-Wizard cooperation.

"How did you get in here?" McEwan's tone couldn't have been angrier. Rachel flinched. How this person had risen so high without any diplomatic skills was beyond her.

"We were let in," Hudson, the representative of the Muggle Civil Union, answered. He was taller than McEwan and had light blond hair which gave him an aura of friendliness. But as Rachel had learned, appearances could be deceiving.

"By whom?"

"I don't think this is any of your business, Mister McEwan," Julia Kirnan said. Her voice was icy.

Something else caught Rachel's eye. Someone had left the table and was walking towards the group in the middle of the room. A woman with long blond hair: Anna Turner, the third candidate.

"Maybe not, but you could still tell us why you are here," the woman said. She was much more diplomatic than McEwan, but despite that the chances that she would become Minister of Magic were small. She simply wasn't popular enough.

"There is a conference going on here that also affects us, yet we have not been invited. That's why we are here," Julia Kirnan said once again, her voice raised.

"I can assure you that this conference will not affect you and therefore does not concern you." McEwan now took over again. Rachel wondered how this would end. If they stayed, it would make the wizards at the Ministry who didn't like Muggles hate them even more; and if they left, the Muggles who hated wizards would have yet more support for their feelings.

"But this conference does concern the recent death of the main negotiator on your side, doesn't it? Therefore, it does indeed concern us." Steven Hudson was very close to shouting. Or at least, what counted as shouting in a political context. His hands underlined every one of his words.

"I beg to differ, Mister Hudson. It happened on our territory and therefore falls under our jurisdiction. We will do everything to-" Anna Turner 's response was quickly cut off by Stanford Reiley.

"I beg to differ in turn, Miss Turner. While I think that your... Aurors certainly are superior to our police, I can remember a time when you didn't have enough of them to even defend Diagon Alley by yourselves. Instead you turned to us for help. We have every reason to believe that our help will be required again on this occasion."

"Mister Reiley, are you sure that the true reason you are here to is to offer us 'help'?" Paul McEwan more demanded an answer than asked for one, while Anna Turner replied: "We do have enough resources to find the murderer."

Rachel sighed. This was not proceeding well. For the second time in a single day, the fragile peace between the two groups seemed in danger - and the current stand-off was much graver than the morning's incident. She averted her eyes from the arguing group just in time to see Arthur Weasley stand up.

"Silence!" he shouted. Immediately, everyone stopped talking. "There is no reason to behave like children. We can deal with the situation without this petty arguing. Please, Miss Kirnan, Mister Hudson, Mister Reiley -- do sit down. You also, Miss Turner, Mister McEwan."

Mister Weasley wasn't a very important person in the Ministry and so Rachel was surprised to see the others obey him. Certainly, Arthur Weasley was a Department Head but one would say that the Department of Accidental Magic Reversal was the core of the Ministry. Yet Rachel could at least tell that having had seven children had at least given him the voice to make himself heard.

"Miss Kirnan, Mister Hudson, Mister Reiley -- I can assure you that nothing that would directly concern you has so far been agreed upon."

Rachel had to admit that Arthur Weasley was a good speaker. He continued to calm the Muggle delegation down with his well-chosen words and she could finally concentrate on the discussion once more.

"So you are saying you don't want our policemen to investigate the murder of Marcus O'Reiley?" Julia Kirnan flipped back her long brown hair. Her voice was low, but there was a harsh undertone to it that Rachel did not like. It had now been ten minutes since the Muggles had arrived and so far things had been going considerably well.

Before Anna Turner could respond, Paul McEwan answered. "We are indeed saying this, Miss Kirnan. So far there has been no decision made on the access of Muggles to Diagon Alley and this includes your policemen. Apart from that, our Aurors are perfectly capable of doing the work and policemen in Diagon Alley would do nothing to help Muggle-Wizard relations."

Rachel inwardly shook her head. Again she wondered how McEwan had succeeded with such an abominable sense of diplomacy? Judging from his appearance, he hadn't slept his way to the top...

The Muggles looked less than pleased, but after a glance from Anna Turner - which Rachel could only describe as a mix between sympathetic and apologetic - they remained silent.

At length Steven Hudson nodded. "We will be contented with that - if only for the time being." Stanford Riley indicated his agreement. He was a rather nice man, Rachel thought. At least better than Hudson and Kirnan. Which, considering her view of those two, wasn't all that much of a compliment.

*

Rachel was one of the first to leave the conference room. She had had enough for one day. All she wanted now was to lie down and sleep for at least twelve hours. So much had happened and she wasn't sure how to proceed.

"So, are you going home now?" Percy was behind her.

"Yes, I am. My tub is waiting for me." Rachel didn't look at him while speaking, only wanting to get out of the building and Diagon Alley as quickly as possible. It was really a pity that she - like Percy - didn't have a fireplace. Stupid Muggle regulations.

"Percy!" a voice from behind shouted. It was, Rachel recognised, Percy's father. Instead of continuing on her way, she stopped and turned. Percy did the same next to her and weakly smiled at his father.

"Hey dad."

"Hello Percy. Do you want to come home with me? I have no doubt that your mother has cooked enough for one additional person."

Percy didn't reply at first. Rachel guessed that because of the telephone call earlier, he wasn't too keen to see his mother quite so soon.

Now Mister Weasley's eyes met hers. "Rachel Scott, isn't it?" He smiled and offered his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you."

Rachel took the offered hand and, despite her mood, managed a smile. "Nice to meet you, Mister Weasley. I've heard much about you."

"Oh, don't listen to Percy, Miss Scott." The man smiled in what Rachel could only describe as a boyish way. He seemed very different from Percy.

"You can call me Rachel, Mister Weasley. And I only heard good things about you, to be honest." She recalled talking about him with one of the workers at the Department of Accidental Magic Reversal once. According to him, Mister Weasley was always good-natured -- except for when he came near a Malfoy. And judging by the few occasions Rachel had seen Arthur Weasley that seemed to be true.

"Oh, I highly doubt that." He smiled again. "Perhaps you would both like to come over for dinner? I am sure the day has been tiring for both of you and my wife won't mind guests, it makes the house seem much more alive."

Rachel could understand that. She was pretty sure that none of Percy's siblings still lived at home, or if any did, just one or two. Still, she had to decline the offer. "I am very sorry, but at the moment all I need is sleep. The day has been very... straining for me." Hastily, she added, "But it's very nice of you to ask."

The man nodded. "I can understand that. I am very sorry about what happened to your mentor."

"Thank you," Rachel replied in a very low voice. Somehow these words seemed to make everything come back to her. "If you would excuse me now..." Without waiting for a reply, she turned and left with long strides.

*

In Rachel's opinion, whoever had invented the alarm clock deserved to be transported from the past into the present before he did so and officially shot.

Especially when said alarm clock went off at six in the morning and she hadn't slept very well. Even more so when a stressful day lay ahead of her. The hot tub the day before hadn't relaxed her at all and sleep hadn't come very early, either.

She grabbed the nearest and cleanest clothes she could find -- white trousers and a blue shirt -- got dressed and decided to grab a quick breakfast on her way to work. She could always eat it while working her way through folders full of regulations and protocols. As always, Rachel didn't really know what lay ahead of her; for the last days and weeks she had been busy preparing conferences. Today, there would probably be a new project on her desk.

Arriving in her office at the Ministry, she was surprised to be there earlier than Percy. Even though she was on time, she had never expected to beat Percy to work. She took a sip of the coffee she was carrying and looked at the file that lay on her desk.

'Re: The events in Dover; 1^st June 2000'

Rachel groaned. So the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and the Werewolf Registry had finally found a way to burden her with the work of their department by declaring it an issue affecting her's.

Lovely, just lovely.

On the 1^st of June, a werewolf had bitten a Muggle who had then been transported to St. Mungo's. This, of course, hadn't gone unnoticed and now they had to make regulations regarding werewolves. Rachel hated this, as it would mean further restrictions for them.

For fifteen minutes she browsed through endless protocols and regulations before beginning to worry about Percy. He was never late.

Rachel was thinking about checking at the main information desk when a note came in through the half-opened door. She caught and unfolded it.

Dear Rachel,

if you have a few spare minutes, I would like to talk to you about a few things. You can fin me in my office when you have the time. I am sure you know where it is.

Sincerely,

Arthur Weasley

Rachel took one look at the papers that were lying on her desk and decided that she did indeed have a few spare minutes. It was probably about Percy, so she had a perfect excuse to stretch her legs for a few minutes. Not that anyone cared when she did her work, just as long as it was done by the end of the day. Throwing the note into the bin, she left her office.

Three minutes later, she reached Mister Weasley's office and knocked.

"Come in," a voice belonging to the Department Head answered.

The office was very small considering the fact that Arthur Weasley was a Department Head. It was bigger than Rachel's, of course, and also had two large windows, but other than that it wasn't very outstanding. The walls were covered with pictures of what had to be his family, considering that they all showed red-haired children or himself and his wife. On either side of the room stood wooden bookshelves filled to the top with folders.

Arthur Weasley sat at his desk and Rachel had to admit he didn't look well at all. There were shadows under his eyes that hadn't been there the day before and his red hair was untidy.

"Good morning, Mister Weasley."

"Arthur," he corrected her and Rachel wondered for a moment why this man she barely knew was asking her to call him by his first name. However, she quickly shoved this question aside, as much more serious matters seemed to lay ahead. "Please sit down."

She did as told, looking at him expectantly.

"I am sure you are wondering why Percy hasn't shown up yet," Arthur said. When Rachel nodded, he continued. "Have you ever heard of Penelope Clearwater?"

Rachel was taken aback by this question. "Er, yes, I have heard of her. I think she was one year below me, a Ravenclaw."

Mister Weasley nodded. "She was also Percy's girlfriend when they were at school. They broke up, but she still is a friend of our family's. She is currently being trained as an Auror. Percy was at home when the news reached us that she had been attacked early this morning. She was stabbed."

Rachel gasped. While she had never had any contact with Penelope, this shocked her. "Is there any connection..." Rachel trailed off and wanted to kick herself. She hadn't even asked whether Penelope was okay.

"We don't know. Penelope hasn't yet woken from her coma. She's at St. Mungo's, and as her family is far away at the moment, Percy is with her. As soon as she wakes up the Magical Law Enforcement Squad will question her. So far they have found nothing to identify the attacker." He rubbed his eyes. Rachel never would have expected it the other day, but in this moment Mister Weasley looked old. Old and very tired.

"This is... unbelievable," Rachel said, still in shock. Two attacks in less than two days. One an applicant for the Minister of Magic position, and the other soon to be an Auror.

"It is. Anyway, this whole mess doesn't concern you directly. I just wanted to tell you that Percy will be away this morning. George will take his turn at staying with Penelope then, so Percy should be here by noon. I hope this doesn't leave you with too much work?"

"No, no, I'm fine," Rachel assured him. Her mind, however, was somewhere completely different. What was it with those attacks? Rachel was sure they were connected in some way she just didn't see yet. But she was determined to find out.

"I'll try to get my work done, then," she excused herself and didn't even hear Mister Weasley's reply. "I hope Penelope will get better soon," she added as an afterthought, to which he just nodded and tried to smile. Lost in thought, she left the room and wandered back to her office.