I own nothing except the plot. Please R&R. I really thought Cormac was a bit underappreciated in canon.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Cormac McLaggen sometimes wondered how he ended up where he was in life. Usually it was philosophical wanderings, mentally of course, through his past accomplishments as he sipped whiskey with the minister. Gods, the minister could talk for days. He had a thick accent that slurred and thickened as he got more inebriated and sometimes they would even sing together, when times got especially tough. That was his life. He was Kingsley's right hand man and confidant. Some days he felt like a secretary or stooge, and others, he felt like the best friend Kingsley had ever gotten.

They had a strange relationship really. Minister Shacklebolt was bred be in control, so it seemed to outsiders due to his calm demeanor and quiet restraint. He could stop a riot, just by asking them politely. He was everything right with the government. And yet he was pants at being Kingsley. Lost his wife due to his inattention, drank like a sailor behind closed doors, and had zero control over his clutter. He had hired Cormac as his personal assistant. Cormac's family was bred for that sort of thing too, like they were destined to be in politics. Or in a politician's pocket, as his father had been.

So when the minister asked for him personally, he had jumped on board. A few good words from his relatives put him in sights -an uncle here, second cousin there. They came in use once in a while. All McLaggens knew how to network. Cormac had been working for the minister for three and a half years, when he started to wonder a little more about Kingsley's past. It had opened some interesting quandaries which were also pondered during weekly whisky night.

It all started out when Arthur Weasley stopped by the minister's office in February to ask to jot him down on the calendar for December-the third week specifically. Cormac had disinterestedly penciled him in for an appointment-some grandbaby was being born or something. But Weasley said they were chums and Kingsley would want to be there. That's what started this whole mess really.

Firstly, when did Arthur and Kingsley even talk to each other? Secondly, who was Arthur to demand the minister's attention? Thirdly, why should Cormac even put up with the man that bore his teenage nemesis, Ron Weasley?

The odd thing was that Kingsley did agree with Arthur, when Cormac had lightly brought it up, as if assessing the absurdity. He did want to be there, and blocked off an entire week for potentially cancellable or reschedulable obligations. Which was honestly unheard of. Kingsley hadn't even taken time to meet his ex-wife for bi-weekly couple's therapy sessions before things went to shit for them.

He felt like a bloody creep. It took him six weeks before he finally uncovered most of the dirty laundry. It was all cloak-and-dagger sort of stuff. The ol' minister was mucking it up with a secret organization back when Potter was Undesirable Number One. That all made fine sense and slowly once the pieces got together, they didn't seem too terrible. Kingsley had singlehandedly lied to the Auror Corps and redirected an entire search effort that costed tax payers hundreds of galleons as they scoured through Tibet on a lost cause for Sirius Black. There was even a large amount of espionage and treason involved as he worked as a double agent. Kingsley pretended to be a bloody muggle protector for a muggle minister, for heaven's sake!

It just all felt like enough to impeach the minister, if word got out. He understood the general consensus was that 'they did what they had to do to get things done' while Voldemort was around, but things just didn't sit right with him.

Then came the worst part of the discovery.

A storybook.

Cormac couldn't let the man write his barmy book. It was in manuscript form, written scrappily and scrawled in the margins of liquor-soaked blotchy parchment. Kingsley sometimes cried over that damned book, wailing as he furiously scribbled the night away. It was like he was purging his soul of every deed done during the dark war.

And frankly, while Cormac thought the things he did weren't that awful, Kingsley sure did.

And so would the general public.

The stack of papers were tightly bound and wrapped with leather, worn from tender touches and mindless fidgeting fraying the edges. It reeked to high heavens like ash, as if he'd thrown it in fire during a fit of anger and hastily cast it back out. The pages sometimes grew grey-black mold, foul enough for Cormac's house elf to personally clean it as if doing a great service to the entire wizarding world.

Kingsley never let it out his sights. He slept with it under his pillow with his wand. It was normally hidden in the depths of his robes. It was even used as a plate, quite frequently. No one thought it was odd, because no one ever saw it.

But it was Cormac's job to look after the minister. So he kept quiet as Minister Shacklebolt slowly lost his wits as he developed an unhealthy obsession with categorically retelling the story of the Second Wizarding War. There was even a glossary of everyone who perished directly at the hands of the dark movement and a wordy apologetic epitaph for the ones who were affected indirectly or unrecorded.

That was the only time Cormac had seen the book up close without snooping. The minister had entrusted him with the gathering of the names. It was a strenuous process and Cormac found himself having tremors in the washroom sometimes, where it felt like he was once again in the midst of the Battle of Hogwarts and it took hours to calm his heart enough to go back to the names of the dead.

It just felt like there was no need to bring such agony back up. Let the past lay buried. So, there was a personal reason really. Nothing so selfish like complete personal gain-more of a greater good, for the commonwealth. Cormac always found himself feeling guilty over his feelings towards the damned book. He wanted to rip it to shreds or flush it down the loo. He wanted to smear it in acid or leave it for hounds to chew. He mostly just wanted to not get the minister impeached because that meant he would lose his cushy job and fat paycheck. But it was also because there was just no need for the bloody book to be published. He would have been dandy if it was a simple diary.

But it wasn't.

The publisher had met with Kingsley thrice in the last month alone which meant it was nearly complete. The secret appointments popped up under the name "speech writing consultation", which meant little considering there were no speeches planned or rallies or anything.

Cormac was always watching the minister's calender like a hawk, always poised to shift or remove an appointment since it was nearing the third week of December.

In fact, it was on the day of Weasley's grandkid's birth that Cormac finally got to touch the blasted thing. Well, do more than touch it.

That was the day that Kingsley Shacklebolt entrusted him with the entirely completed diary.