AN- Big, big thanks to everyone who reviewed. Oh, and a special note to Maya-Hek, who is one of my loyal reviewers. You mentioned that Mr. Kaploffe really reminded you of Brom, from Eragon- well, that's exactly what I had in mind when I wrote about him. Bravo!
CHAPTER 10
Hermione and Ginny stepped out of the Lift into the Level Fifteen corridor. It was awkward, moving under the Cloak together, but both managed it well given the high-heels they were wearing. As the grilled doors behind them closed, and the lift zoomed upwards, Ginny turned to Hermione.
'Which way?' she asked.
'There,' Hermione replied, pointing. 'We go carefully, now. There's a girl on duty at all times- might be Carla, might be Jenny- might be someone we've never even heard of.'
'Got you,' Ginny whispered. They crept down the corridor to the open door, behind which Hermione could see the familiar looking Office. A new red-head girl was sitting behind the desk. Her shoes- which looked suspiciously like Jimmy Choos- were lying discarded on the floor beside her, and she was painting her nails. Ginny fidgeted until her mouth was hovering beside Hermione's ear, and whispered, 'Bimbo!'
Hermione grinned. Under the cloak, she tipped a finger to her lips, and pointed. 'That way.'
They slid across the room towards the inconspicuous doorway. Red-head didn't even notice then. She had finished with her nails, and was flipping through a copy of Witches Weekly, humming to herself. As they neared the closet, Hermione turned to Ginny.
'We need a distraction,' she mouthed.
Ginny nodded, a determined look on hr face. She rummaged in her bright red handbag, and came out with a tube of lipstick. As Hermione stared, she took careful aim and lobbed the lipstick right at the pair of Jimmy's on the floor. They fell over with a clatter, and Red-Head turned, a look of most abject horror on her face.
Without giving Hermione time to think, Ginny yanked out her wand, whispered a spell to open the closet and pushed her in. She followed, and carefully closed the door after her. She pulled the Cloak off the both of them and smiled triumphantly.
'Well?' she whispered.
'Great job,' Hermione whispered back. 'She's busy crying over her shoes, I think we have some time to look around. And by the way- that was an amazing unlocking spell at the spur of the moment.' Ginny grinned. 'Now- this shelf- is where the certificates are kept. Oh, by the way, do you know Hannah Abbot got married yesterday?'
'You don't say?' Ginny's fingers had already dipped into the certificate file. 'These are definitely authentic right?'
'I'm pretty sure,' Hermione replied.'
'So then we ignore it. We need to look for something strange- confidential documents, secret stuff, something like that,'
'Okay, let me check this shelf,' Hermione said. She pulled out a drawer, and then yanked out a random leaf of paper. 'Birth certificate,' she muttered.
'I just found Death,' Ginny murmured. 'There's just this one shelf left, maybe it-'
Hermione dug in and pulled out a bunch of papers. She sifted through them.
'Well?' Ginny asked, in an excited whisper.
Hermione looked dully at her.
'Apparating Licenses. We're out of luck.'
oOo
'Remus! Remus, where the hell are you?'
'Right here, Sirius, my friend,' Remus said, striding into the kitchen. He saw Sirius pacing up and down the tiled floor. He was dressed in rumpled clothes and looked distraught.
'What's the matter, you look like hell.'
'You are never going to believe what happened,' Sirius said, looking to be on the verge of hysteria.
'First night of marital bliss not perfect?'
Sirius poured death from his eyes as he stared at his best friend. Remus's happy grin dropped off his face.
'Oh,' he said, gulping. 'Something bad. What happened?'
'I think Hermione knows,' Sirius said, urgently.
Remus stared at him. 'Knows wha- oh,' he said, 'Oh,'
'Oh is right,' Sirius snapped.
'But how- how did she?'
'It's partly my fault,' Sirius admitted. He quickly told him about their lunch time conversation. Remus watched him intently.
'Well, the girl's pretty quick, Sirius,' he said, 'She was bound to figure out some time.'
'It's not just that,' Sirius continued. 'She got this note from Ginny last night- something to do about a plan.'
Remus looked skeptical. 'You've been reading her mail?'
'That's not the point!'
'Sorry- wrong timing…' he held up his hands. 'Look, Sirius, to be frank, I think we should have told the kids a long time ago.'
Sirius gritted his teeth. 'Remus, they-do-not-need-to-know.'
'You're acting like Molly now,' Remus protested. 'I thought you were all for them knowing stuff!'
'That was before- you know…' Sirius said. 'I think they've had enough to deal with, they're young.'
'All of us have had enough to deal with,' Remus said, calmly. 'And I think you'll have to resign yourself to the fact that they'll find out sooner or later, what with half the Order working on this project.'
Sirius growled. 'There's another problem!' he snarled. 'Ten of us working on this project, and we haven't been able to find out anything. Anything!'
Remus placed a hand on his shoulder. 'Calm down for a moment,' he said, 'Something will turn up.'
Sirius growled, and flung himself down on a chair. 'Could I at least have some coffee?' he asked, irately.
Remus smiled, and pulled out a flask. He poured two mugs, and handed one to Sirius. He took a deep draught, and then said, 'Look, Sirius, I know you're not happy with this. It's tough- and it's tiring- so soon after the war. But there's nothing we can do but cope. And the kids are brilliant at that.'
'They've had enough of coping to do,' Sirius said, stubbornly.
'Sirius,' Remus said, patiently. 'When we first found out about this fiasco, we thought it was something small. We were obviously wrong. I mean, there's an army out there! I really think the kids should be let in on this one.'
He leaned forward, and touched Sirius's arm.
'I'm not forcing you to do anything,' he said, 'But I think when Hermione comes back, you should tell her.'
Sirius raised his eyes. 'Are you serious?'
'Yes.' Said Remus, resisting the temptation to crack a lame Sirius-serious joke. 'If you're okay with this, I'll tell Harry and Ron as well.'
Sirius stared at him long and hard.
'I'll have to think about it,' he said, finally.
oOo
'Apparating Licenses,' Ginny said, glumly, 'Authentic ones, at that. We've hit a dead end.'
'It doesn't make sense,' Hermione said, frustrated. She ran a hand through her hair. They were both sitting cross-legged on the floor, and Ginny was leaning against the Death Certificate shelf. 'Why would they put an Anti-Apparition jinx on a boring old cupboard.'
Ginny's eyes narrowed. 'It isn't normal, obviously,' she said, 'There's something up with this place.'
'We've been through all the shelves, Gin,' Hermione pointed out. She wiggled a bit to get more comfortable.
'There's obviously still something,' Ginny said, firmly. 'Come on, Hermione, common-sense! We just need to find it.'
Hermione sighed, and got up. 'Can you put a Silencing Charm on this?'
'Sure. Silencio. Now what?'
'I'm going to climb up the shelves and check out the ceiling,' Hermione said.
Ginny stared at her.
'What?' Hermione asked, aggravated. 'We need to check everything, don't we?'
Ginny smiled and nodded. 'You're right,' she said, 'Climb up and be careful. I'll scout around the floor.'
Hermione slipped out of her shoes, and put one foot against the first shelf. It creaked ominously, but she thought it would be able to take her weight. Gingerly, she put her other foot onto it, and advanced a little. More creaking- she was silently grateful that Ginny had silenced the room.
She moved slowly, climbing higher as Ginny crawled around the floor. 'Found anything down there?' she asked.
'Several dust bunnies,' Ginny replied. 'But nothing spectacular. No hidden drawer full of secret documents.'
'Keep looking,' Hermione called down. 'I'm just climbing the- the- oh, my god.'
'What?' Ginny asked, instinctively shooting out from under a shelf and staring up. 'What happened?'
'I think…this shelf is about to-'
Hermione broke off, as with a loud crack a bolt snapped, and the shelf began teetering ominously. It swung backwards and forwards dangerously, and then with a finally crack, its centre of gravity shifted, and Hermione plummeted to the floor with a crash and several hundred official files.
The shelf hit the floor with a metallic clang- files were strewn everywhere. Hermione's first worry was that someone would hear, but then she remembered the Silencing Charm. She gingerly tried moving a leg.
'Are you all right?' Ginny asked, in a whisper.
'Think so. The charm's still up, right? Nobody can hear us?'
'They would have come in by now if they could. Sit up- you better check to see if you've sprained anything.'
Hermione sat up. Her back was a little sore, but she felt all right, given that she had just tumbled down to the floor with an entire Ministry shelf. She stood, and tested both ankles.
'Seems fine,' she said, 'What a miracle. Ginny, what's up?'
Ginny had also stood up. She was staring at a spot behind Hermione's shoulder, her mouth wide open.
Hermione wheeled around. 'Ginny, what-' she broke off. 'Oh,'
Built into the wall, hidden once by the shelf that was now lying in pieces all over the floor, was a door.