RP: Lies of Omission Date: May 14th 2006 Characters: Susan Bones Location: Auror Headquarters Private/Public: Private Rating: PG Warnings: - Summary: Susan considers the consequences of completing a report with full disclosure
Things had been hectic, to say the least, since the news that Umbridge had climbed out of her slimy hole and had started to claw her way to the top of the pile.Now, just as a second course, there was the owl registration.
It seemed now, more than ever, more and more of her colleagues were at their desks, filling out paperwork and dotting their i's and crossing their t's with more precision than normal. Her first 'decree' was enough to send everyone into a flurry of work, and the second one was making her reconsider ever single piece of correspondence she was writing.
She wasn't doing letters at the moment, just completing some reports (much to Percy's constant state of pleasure. Did anyone else seriously get so turned on by completed, fully filed and indexed reports? Git.)
All but one report was finished, and this was one Susan had been putting off for a couple of weeks. It wasn't that she was procrastinating - although - she was. This one was causing her something of a dilemma. Ever since the battle, Susan had been working so hard, she'd barely had time to keep her paperwork up. Coming now to complete her report on the battle, she wrote an account of assisting Cass and their attempt to thwart Bellatrix Lestrange. Something stayed her hand, however, as she was about to write up the report on the other Death Eaters she engaged. Was it fair for her to put Cass' cousin's name into the report? It wasn't as if they could go and arrest him, although there was probably still a size nine boot mark on his nether regions that would match perfectly with her own boots.
But something stopped her from actually naming him. Cass had seemed... tense, and stressed ever since Umbridge announced she was going to be assessing ministry employees. She didn't need to guess why he was concerned, as Umbridge had a way of ferreting out the truth if she thought someone was lying. Could they protect Cass' mother from her? A report like this that named his 'cousin' outright was only going to make Umbridge want to delve further into his background.
She couldn't bring herself to do that to Cass. It wasn't right. She couldn't begin to imagine what would happen if Umbridge uncovered that news, and it was her place to keep Cass' secrets - she had promised him - just as he had kept hers.
Filling out false reports and providing misrepresentations was not something Susan ever did, but writing down unknown blonde wizard, approximately early 20's was not a lie. A lie by omission... now that was something she could live with, especially if it helped Cass stay away from Umbridge's radar.
Still, Susan wasn't going to forget this Gulian Montague, If she saw his face again, he might just be getting her other boot imprinted somewhere just so he could have the matching set.