Disclaimer—I don't own Harry Potter, the books, the intellectual property or anything else about it—all belongs to JK Rowling. I made up Hermione's parent's first names because I couldn't find any reference to their actual names. If anyone knows them, let me know, and I'll make the necessary changes.
Tonks had had the weekend off, and she had thought about the Arthur situation during most of it. She had gone partying with her friends, and lounged around the apartment and even visited her mother, but the Inquiry had been in the back of her mind the whole time. Sunday afternoon she hatched a brilliant plan, which she would execute on Monday.
That particular Monday was supposed to be for in-office business. She would catch up on her paperwork and attend meetings. At least, that was what was on her agenda. But Tonks had an agenda of her own.
She woke up early, changed her hair from key-lime to a brilliant yellow, which was supposed to pass for normal blond, and put on her best business outfit. The type of clothing upper management wore. She arrived at work early, did her most pressing paperwork and found out from the secretary that the Inquiry was scheduled for 10:30. At a quarter after 10, she screwed up her courage, put on her best professional manner and walked to the room where the Inquiry would take place.
She had reasoned that it was easier to get forgiveness than permission, and walked into the room as though she belonged there. To her surprise, nobody challenged her. She proceeded to a back corner where she would be as inconspicuous as a person with neon-yellow hair could possibly be.
She watched as Arthur and Uncle Lucius and the investigators and the other suits filed in. Arthur was invited to sit down facing the committee. Then the questions started to fly.
"Did you obtain a muggle car?"
"Yes."
"Did you enchant it so it would fly?"
"Yes."
"Was the car seen flying by muggles?"
"Yes."
The questioning went on like this for quite some time. Just as Tonks had feared, the questioning was intended to make Arthur look bad. Once, Arthur happened to look over and see Tonks. She gave him a smile and a thumbs-up. He didn't react, but he looked at her long enough for her to know that he had seen her before turning his attention back to the committee.
At last, Arthur was given permission to explain his actions. He stood up and cleared his throat. "Everybody knows I have an especial interest in muggle artifacts. Not only is it my job, but it's also a hobby of mine. I won't try to defend my actions, with all the weight of evidence against me, but I hope I can explain a little. Many of us live side-by-side with muggles, and we exercise discretion to hide our abilities from them. I have seen from years of observation that most muggles are decent people. Just like most wizards are decent people. Not all, of course," Here he flicked his eyes over the crowd, pausing for the briefest instant at Lucius. "What I want to say was that I wanted to study muggle ways up close. I never intended for the car to be flown by underage wizards, or to be seen by muggles. I admit to an error in judgment. That is all. I would never willingly jeopardize our way of life. Furthermore, I would like to point out that we aren't entirely hidden from muggles even now. Many of them know about us already. Muggles have children who go to Hogwarts, or sometimes they marry into our families. I will abide by the decision of the committee, of course, but enchanting a car is not the worst thing that any wizard has ever done. Thank you."
"That was quite an enlightening speech, Mr. Weasley," Lucius said, sarcastically. "We will be sure to take it into account when we render our decision. We will meet again tomorrow, 10:30."
By this time tomorrow Arthur might be out of a job. As she watched everybody file out, Tonks hatched another brilliant plan.
LATER AT DIAGON ALLEY…
Even though it had been only a few days since they had seen each other, Molly and Karen were meeting for lunch. Hermione had owled Karen that there were a few more things she needed for school, and could Karen send them to her? Molly had been kind enough to meet Karen at Diagon Alley because Karen did not want to be in the wizarding world as a lone muggle among wizard strangers.
As they were eating lunch, Molly mentioned that Karen seemed a little down.
"It's nothing major, really," Karen insisted. "It's just Hermione's owl--you know what she told me? She got her period. First time." She shrugged. "I just always thought I would be there for her when it happened, you know?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't know, not yet, anyway. But give Hermione my congratulations in either case." Molly looked at Karen sympathetically. "But look at it this way. Hermione will be able to advise Ginny when her time comes. I told you she was Sorted into Gryffindor, didn't I?"
Later, as they were going through Hermione's list, Karen heard Molly sniff, then mutter, "Must be nice to be able to leave work anytime during the day."
Karen swung her head around to see Lucius Malfoy in the next aisle. She had to agree, Molly had a valid point. After all, Karen couldn't just leave her patients any old time she felt like. However, that didn't stop Karen from winking at him when Molly was looking the other way.
