Chapter 93: Ch93. Meeting the Minister
The walk towards the Minister's office was completely quiet, Kingsley no longer interested in participating in a small talk with Tom and Natasha, preferring to grumpily sulk as he led them through the halls of the Ministry.
Under the curious gazes of other workers, the trio arrived in front of the Minister's office and Kingsley stopped for a moment, definitely intent on giving Tom and Natasha some advice on do's and don'ts.
Unfortunately for him, the second Tom realized what the man wanted to do, he pushed forward, opening the door to the Minister's office before Kingsley could even start speaking, and exclaimed, "Hello, Minister! I am glad we can finally meet."
As he said that, with the corner of his eye, Tom watched the rising surprise of Kingsley and his lips curled into a small smile, 'Heh. As if I let you take the initiative and somehow worm yourself into this meeting.'
When Fudge heard Tom's voice, he flinched and his eyes went wide, frantically looking left and right... thankfully his spooked behavior lasted only a few seconds before he recollected himself.
"A-Ah, ye-yeah. Y-You are a bit early." He said with a forced smile and Tom had to mentally applaud the man that his fear didn't show up in said smile.
Of course, his eyes betrayed his feelings anyway. Especially when he noticed Natasha standing next to Tom and froze like a rabbit in front of a fox. It was obvious to anyone who paid even a bit of attention that the man wanted nothing but to run away.
Natasha only gave him a placating smile, one an adult would aim at an anxious child.
"Now then, let's make this meeting private, shall we?" Tom pressed, gesturing with his head to Kingsley who was about to protest...
But Fudge nodded. He turned towards Kingsley and gave him a nonplussed look, one that held a clear meaning and the black-skinned Auror frowned. Still, he slowly nodded at Fudge and left the room, closing the door behind him.
It wasn't as if he could demand being present during one of the Minister's private meetings anyway. Not even his boss, Amelia Bones, could do that.
Tom walked towards the Minister's table and without being prompted to, he sat down on the guest chair in front of it while Natasha took her position behind him, her hands gently finding their place on his shoulders.
"Well, then, Cornelius. Let's talk business." Tom said before Fudge could haphazardly blurt out something about the last night.
That really wouldn't do. Not when the DMLE was clearly more competent and bolder than Tom would have ever imagined. Fudge was obviously clueless but both Tom and Natasha could feel it.
And despite his lack of knowledge, this was as good a way to gain the upper hand in this discussion as any. Tom really could not resist using it to his advantage.
"What about we start with the fact that this entire office has heaps of listening charms in it?" Tom's eyes gleamed and his easy-going smile turned into a grin as Fudge became white as snow.
...
With a groan, Natasha flopped onto the bed, uncaringly using only her feet to take off her shoes before kicking them away before she turned on her belly and looked at Tom.
"And we still need to have a few more meetings with other people this week. God, I forgot how I hate these." She pouted before dropping her head into the pillow and starting to rub her face into it.
She was acting spoiled and she would have never complained in front of anyone else... but now she was alone with Tom so she decided to be a bit childish.
Tom looked at her, his eyes appreciating her state of dress. Her white shirt was wrinkled in multiple places with the uppermost three buttons unfastened to generously show her cleavage, and the black trousers she previously wore were already taken off, her lower body barely covered in her black panties and the end of her white shirt.
Tom might or might not have stared at her enticing naked legs for a little bit longer than normal, but in the end, he resisted the temptation the devious woman was definitely portraying on purpose.
"You became spoiled." He jokingly quipped as he loosened the tie of his suit and lay next to Natasha on their bed, his hand gently landing on her back, affectionately rubbing it.
"Mhm~. I sure did." Natasha almost coyly purred under Tom's touch, enjoying the back rubs.
As he saw that, Tom's smile turned devious, "Well, you are free not to attend these meeti-"
"Rejected!" Natasha's reply was fast and firm, not even an inkling of her previous coy tone left in it, "I need to be present to protect you in case-"
"In case someone attacked me. I know." Tom rolled his eyes. They both knew her reason was utter bullshit since he was pretty strong and she would have been right in the next room anyway.
A companionable silence spread between them for a few moments before Tom eventually sighed.
"Will you tell me what is bothering you?" He softly asked. She was good at hiding it but Tom would like to think he learned a bit about her during the previous months. She clearly had something to say since their meeting with Fudge ended but kept it bottled inside.
Natasha glanced at Tom and whinily sighed, "It doesn't matter. It's not important." She tried to play it off but Tom wouldn't have that.
Tom's fingers strayed from her back towards her sides and without any warning he started to mercilessly tickle her, eliciting a lot of abrupt laughter and squirming before she started fighting back and the bed became their wrestling ring as they tried to tickle each other to surrender.
Tom might have won only because of his boundless stamina but he took pride in this kind of victory anyway. As he was straddling the 'conquered', wheezing, and laughing Natasha whose face was now as red as her hair, her hands pinned above her head by one of Tom's hands while the other was still ruthlessly tickling her side, Tom suddenly stopped, giving his victim a small reprieve.
"Come on, Natalia. If you don't tell me what's bothering you, I will unleash more of this tickling hell on you." Tom teased with a smug smile, causing her to weakly try to get out of the hold he had on her but she was too weak due to his previous tickling so it failed spectacularly.
Tom only meaningfully raised his eyebrow at her and Natasha decided to give him an exasperated look.
That was why he initiated this battle? Seriously?
"I just don't understand why you decided to pay the Minister so much money on a monthly basis when he was already in your pocket anyway." She huffed.
Tom indeed out-paid Malfoy in terms of bribes to Fudge and the Minister himself was utterly flabbergasted that he was actually going to be paid for doing Tom favors... but it clearly made the man more receptive to Tom's cause.
Fudge was a very simple man but also one who knew his limits. He was surprisingly aware of his flaws and that defined his 'ambitions'. Or to be more precise, the lack of them.
His only goal in his position as a Minister was to keep it for long enough to get so rich that once he gets out of the office, his life will be easy and fulfilling. That was it. He would become very vicious if someone endangered it in some way, but other than that, Fudge knew his place and didn't have some grand visions or stubborn opinions, and that was probably why Malfoy liked to bribe him so much.
Now that he was shown the consequences of being unruly when it came to Tom, as long as he kept him happy, in other words, as long as he paid him well, the man would never even think of 'rebelling'. That's how simple he was.
"That's it?" Tom blinked, not expecting something so... irrelevant.
"Well, I told you it is not important." Natasha rolled her eyes, not bothered in the least that Tom was still pinning her down on the bed. "If I thought it important, I would obviously share it with you."
"A-Ah. Er... you are right." Tom sheepishly smiled, really wanting to scratch his head right about now but his hands were kinda preoccupied with his significant other. "Well, okay, then, my little Padawan." He dramatically started before he put his lips near her ear and playfully whispered, "Let me explain to you the mysteries of keeping your abused servants happy!"
Needless to say, the ensuing roleplay night was long, a completely new experience, but also very enjoyable for both of them.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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