Apotheosis
Never Alone,
Book IV
Chapter Ten – The
Muggle-born Registration Commission
"There is the Amornex curse."
"And just what does that do?"
Libra looked upward toward Harry with a hardened look on her face. She wasn't being harsh or cruel. She was being solemn,
"Emotional death."
Harry awoke far too early the following morning with an annoyed groan. Pansy lay sleeping peacefully beside him, something she hadn't done for several days, especially since the incident at the Burrow.
The group, the Defense Association, that is, had all returned to Grimmauld Place for reasons of safety and security; because whilst the Burrow had its advantages, Grimmauld Place, even with Snape having full access, was the closest thing to a safe-haven they'd been afforded.
Harry spent several minutes lovingly stroking Pansy's cheek as she sighed contentedly in her sleep.
Giving his wife a soft kiss on her forehead, Harry detangled himself from her arms carefully and stood, stretching slightly as his eyes took in the first bits of the morning light.
Yawning as he stepped forward and out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him, Harry made his way toward the kitchen with the intent of making himself (and the rest of the group, of course, he wasn't selfish), breakfast.
His bare feet stepped mutedly against the oddly cold wooden steps leading downward into the living room; Harry took extra care not to make the slightest sound for fear of waking the great and terrible Mrs. Black (though, he was sure Pansy would do something with it if he upset it later...Harry made a mental note to do just that.)
Turning 'round the corner, he caught the slight of his adopted daughter laying languorously atop her boyfriend. Clearly, they'd fallen asleep cuddling last night (he much hoped it was just cuddling... despite the fact that he and Pansy had been younger when they first... pfft, details.)
He couldn't fight back the enormous grin that overtook his face when he saw that, even through their slumber, their hands were still clasped loosely together; Libra's distinctly blonde hair strewn out against the deep black of Nick's T-shirt as her cheek was pressed gently against his slowly rising chest.
Harry shook himself from his musing as Libra shifted, wrapping her right arm around Nick's neck to pull herself more closely to his warmth.
More out of instinct than actual cohesive thought, Harry took that very moment to Blink into the kitchen, rather than continue his journey on foot.
Harry stood about a metre from the table as he landed; when he caught his bearings, he frowned when he saw Kreacher walking from his nest, muttering what were almost certainly defamatory, derogative, and downright hurtful utterances. Harry watched as the Elf left the kitchen, and knew for certain the foul creature was swearing under its breath.
Harry sighed and shook his head, returning his attentions to his surroundings in the kitchen. He was looking for an obvious sign of where the pots and pans where in the bloody place when a particularly obnoxious owl decided to try to peck its way through the pane of glass in the window behind the sink.
Harry rushed over as quietly as he could and opened the window, fearing the incessant tapping would likely have already woken Libra (if she hadn't, in fact, woken earlier), he took the roll of parchment from the owl and deposited a coin in the satchel tied to its leg.
As the owl flew off, Harry slid the window closed and began to unravel the roll of paper as Libra's petite form jumped on top of him, wrapping her legs around his waist for support, she pecked his cheek affectionately and giggled when he kissed her nose.
"Keep this up," he said sweetly, gently kissing her forehead as he pulled her against him once again, "and Nick will get jealous."
"Daddy!" she half-sighed, half-squealed as she swatted him playfully, thwarting his half-hearted efforts to tickle her silly, then rested her head on his shoulder.
Harry smiled as he caught sight of Nick leaning against the entryway leading into the kitchen, his head resting against the door frame as he shook his head and smiled. He chuckled softly, walked toward Libra to pry her from her adopted father, then drew her into a passionate kiss.
Nick was quite lucky to be related to Hermione. Because Harry was quite certain that if any other boy (or girl, for that matter, remembering Nicki and Gabrielle's rather passionate relationship) had tried that, the kissing, that is, Harry would have gutted them alive, saving more merciful spells for the Death Eaters.
Harry had finally gotten the chance to actually sit down. Making breakfast for nearly twenty people was quite a lot of work. He certainly had a much deeper respect and gratitude for all the work Mrs. Weasley did after making breakfast.
Harry plopped the Daily Prophet unceremoniously to the right of his plate, allowing it to unroll itself, granting him a glance at the cover article,
"SEVERUS SNAPE APPOINTED NEW HOGWARTS HEADMASTER"
Harry's jaw dropped, earning a few curious and puzzled looks from people around the table; the most amusing of which happened to be Neville, whose toast remained half-bitten into, resting on the rim of his teeth as he stared at Harry interestedly.
Harry read the title aloud.
It didn't receive quite the reaction he thought it would. Ron, Hermione, Libra, and Pansy, of course, found it incredibly annoying that the man was appointed to a position of power when, quite clearly, McGonagall would have been a far better candidate (Not to mention the fact that he'd killed his predecessor). Yet, all the same, Snape had been appointed Headmaster, and this earned confused looks and short breathy laughs from the Aragons and Blaise.
"Headmaster?" laughed Blaise, quirking an eyebrow at Harry as if this were a dumb joke.
"What the – ?" Kent began, leaning over the table to catch a glimpse of the title page.
"Surely, McGonagall – ?" Ron and Kimberly said in complete unison, drawing a few laughs from Luna and Sarah.
"Snape wouldn't take that position if you threatened him with a cauldron full of Crabbe's potions..." Sarah cackled, dropping her fork on the table as she rested her head on her hand to steady her laughter.
"No kidding." Kimberly chimed in, turning to Harry expectantly.
"Severus Snape, longstanding potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was today appointed Headmaster of the first of several critical staffing changes taking place before the start of term this year. After the resignation of previous Muggle Studies professor, Charity Burbage, Alecto Carrow will take charge of the post whilst her brother, Amycus, will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Hermione shot up from her position at the table and raced out of the room muttering something that sounded quite like, "Oh, damn, why didn't I remember that!"
Ron rose more slowly to follow after her.
"You think he was forced into the position?" Harry said, looking back and forth between Sarah and Kimberly for an answer.
"I don't know," Sarah finally replied, glancing toward Nicki with a grimace, "It really wouldn't surprise me." she turned distractedly to focus on Harry.
"Hmm..." Pansy said suddenly, leaning cutely over Harry to point at the next article on the page, "What's this?"
"It says,
After the unfortunate and untimely death of Minister Rufus Scrimgeour, the previous head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Puis Thicknesse was today appointed the next Minister and will be sworn in on Monday."
"Thicknesse?" Nicki asked innocently from across the room."Who's he?"
"Don't know." several people mumbled at once. Hannah shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"I reckon he can't be worse than Scrimgeour," Harry laughed, grinning widely before his wife replied,
"Yeah," she said simply, "Save for the fact that he's almost certainly under Voldemort's control."
Harry watched as the emotions drained from several people around the room; earning rolling eyes from each member of the Quartet.
Hermione came rushing back into the room in a blur of brown and gold, carrying something rather large and framed in her hands, she reached into the kitchen cupboard for a towel and covered the picture before setting it down on the counter.
Ron Blinked in behind her and threw his arms around her into a forceful hug to stop her from moving any more,
"What in the name of Merlin's most..." he cleared his throat as she pulled back to glare at him, "Well, what was that all about?"
"I remembered that picture," she said matter-of-factly, pointing to the covered frame, then allowing herself to sink back willingly into Ron's embrace, "Phineas Nigellus." She then explained, "Snape could use that portrait to spy on us whilst we stay here. Having been a Hogwarts Headmaster, Phineas could easily have traveled from between his two portraits to gather information to use against us."
"He can still hear us, you know." Ron said plainly, trying not to irritate Hermione more than he already had,"Not being able to see doesn't make it impossible to hear."
"Muffliato!" she mumbled, her wand brandished forcefully in the direction of the portrait, "There, that should solve that problem." she grinned widely as Pansy tapped Harry's shoulder, causing him to look at her, then where she pointed at the article now opened up before them,
"MUGGLE-BORN REGISTER
The Ministry of Magic is undertaking a survey of so-called, "Muggle-borns" to better understand how they came about their magical abilities.
Recent research by the Department of Mysteries shows that magic can only be passed biologically by two persons of magical heritage. Where no proven Wizarding ancestry exists, the so-called Muggle-borns are almost certainly likely to have acquired their magical powers by theft or force.
The Minstry is determined to root-out such usurpers of magical power and as such extends an invitation to all those who call themselves "Muggle-borns" to an interview by the newly-appointed Muggle-born Registration Commission."
"People won't let this happen," breathed Ron, casting an intensely worried look at Hermione as Harry and Neville cast looks of equal concern toward Hannah.
"But, it is happening, Ron." said Sirius, who, until this point, had been quiet all breakfast. He sighed and set his knife down to further explain, "Muggle-borns are being rounded up, even as we speak."
"But how are they supposed to have stolen magic, if that were possible there definitely wouldn't be any Squibs, would there?"
"That is, of course, true." Sirius agreed, shaking his head, "But, nonetheless, if you can't prove you've at least one close Wizarding relative you're deemed to have obtained your powers illegally and thus are detained and questioned."
Ron pulled Hermione closer to him protectively, "What if purebloods and half-bloods swear a Muggle-born's part of their family? I'll tell everyone Hermione's my cousin – !"
"Thanks, Ron." she said sweetly, kissing his cheek, "But, unfortunately, us being engaged tends to give me away." she grimaced and Ron swallowed hard again.
"Our parents." all of the Aragons breathed at once, their heads sinking low as Hannah did the same.
"What about them?" Ron asked curiously.
"They're both Muggle-born." Kimberly replied, shaking slightly as she started to cry, Blaise instantly wrapped his arms around her lovingly. Sarah sniffed loudly and wiped away tears. Next to her, Hannah kindly pulled her into a hug and allowed her to cry her heart out.
The Aragons were in enough danger being in the Order of the Phoenix; now they, their parents, at least, were in additional danger being Muggle-born, and space at Grimmauld Place was already slim, so them staying was not a likely option.
Hermione sat beside Ron on the couch in the living room as she wearily sought some meaning in the heavily rune-laden edition of Tales of the Beetle Bard. So far, she was failing miserably, constantly being unable to identify a repeating runic symbol that was beginning to get on her nerves.
Ron was absentmindedly flipping through the day's issue of the Daily Prophet as he came across a picture of his old Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. She was still fat as ever; her enormous sausage-like fingers where rock-solid evidence of that.
She smirked back at him from the photograph beside the article entitled, "Muggle-born Register", captioned as being the new head to the department overseeing its workings. Ron felt a new surge of hate for the woman, who, clutching an ugly locket her her hand as she continued to sneer back at him, fondly rubbed its dull golden chain.
Ron dropped the newspaper when his fiancée slammed the book she was reading and let out an annoyed grunt.
He was less than a second away from asking what he'd done wrong when she threw herself onto him, only to begin kissing him as sensuously as she could muster, intense passion flooding through her every touch. Ron caught on immediately; she was extremely stressed.
She straddled him as she wrapped her arms tightly around her neck, pressing her thighs against his hips for support as he stood, holding her protectively and possessively against him as they made for the stairs.
She kissed each of his cheeks, his forehead, then his nose before resettling for his lips again, pulling her wand from behind her ear (where she found she was increasingly keeping the darned thing, thanks to Luna's influence; any day now and she'd be believing in Snorkacks, too.), she put her left hand behind her and pushed the door open, allowing Ron to shut the door behind them as she cast a spell on it.
"Silencio!" she whispered.
"Muffliato!" he said soon afterward, his wand dropping to the ground as he released it from his grasp to graciously throw Hermione onto the bed beneath him.
"Protego Propinquum!"
A/N: Quite sorry that I failed to update yesterday, but, between a severe cold and a severe case of writer's block, there wasn't anything coming to me.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
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