Chapter 12: News spreads quickly

Sally walked into the office concerned for Luke. He looked stressed and it was unimaginable why a man who'd handled one of the biggest murder cases since the war without so much as a headache would look so stressed on his birthday.

"Luke, what's wrong? Not enjoying forty?" She asked bouncing in.

"If only that were the least of my problems!" He said looking up. "What's that?" He said looking at the small box in her hands.

"This is for you," she said handing over the box. He opened it and saw a small cupcake inside.

"Thanks!" he said smiling at the four that was crookedly drawn on the cupcake in a bright blue.

"Did you draw this with magic?" He asked.

"Yeah! Molly was showing me how to use my wand to decorate cakes, hers looked like small masterpieces. That was my best." She said laughing, "I just can't get comfortable with that…stick."

"I know what you mean, I feel like a bad magician at a kid's birthday party."

"If it isn't your birthday what's wrong?" Sally asked seriously.

"It's just this case I have with Mr. Malfoy it's impossible." He said.

"Draco Malfoy?" Sally remembered being told a few stories about him from Harry.

"Yes, the Ministry is investigating him for mistreatment of House-Elves."

"What's so impossible about that?"

"Well, the House-Elves say they've been paid, he says he's paid them but the records cannot be found! You know they never believe it when House-Elves defend their employers and the Ministry wants to fine him an extravagant amount!" He said ending quite loudly. "These laws have no loopholes! I think I've got it memorized, I've referenced, cross-referenced and there just doesn't seem a way out of it!"

"Could he be lying?" She asked.

"No. I don't think so, he's a good chap." He said. "It's just his word against the ministry and you know that Weasley woman cares more about those beasts than people."

"Well, Hermione cares about anything that can't defend itself and I've met a few House-Elves and they're people… of a sort."

Ginny let herself into the house and walked around looking for Hermione after failing to find her in any of the front rooms she walked into the library only to find Ron at his desk reading and eating a pumpkin pastie nearby she saw a half empty plate and walked over and grabbed one. Next to the plate was the Cannons cup Hermione had thrown a fit over three weeks ago.

"What are you doing?" He asked annoyed.

"Just helping myself," she said, "where's your annoying wife?"

"Upstairs in the baby's room," he said and returned to his book.

"What is that?" She said moving behind him. "Is that a muggle book?"

"Yeah, it's a muggle book and bloody difficult too!"

"What's leukaemia?" She asked taking a bite of her pastie.

"Blood cancer," he said distractedly returning to his book.

"Don't we have spells for that?" She asked.

"Yes, but they didn't work, neither did any of the other treatments." He said angrily. "Unfortunately we don't know anything about the nature of the body, I don't think we've ever really had a need to, but maybe we should start! These muggles really get in there they know every little molecule, it's mad really, but hopefully I'll be able to figure something out."

"Good luck," she said softly and made her way across the room, it was strange sometimes seeing how dedicated Ron was to being a Healer. It sort of put a different perspective on his obsessive nature.

Sure enough Hermione was in the nursery sitting in a rocking chair, knitting.

"You've finally done it, you've gone entirely barmy!" Ginny says as she walked in.

"Because I'm knitting clothes for my baby?" She asked Ginny.

"The muggle way!" Ginny said, "that'll take forever! Was this the emergency? I had to snap you out of this spell Ron's obviously put you under so you'd leave him be?"

"No! And lower your voice he's working, you'll disturb him." She said putting down the needles and standing up. She walked across the room to the chest near which Ginny noticed a blanket was knitting itself and she rolled her eyes. "I called you over to read something." She said picking up a pile of parchments from the top and handed them over to Ginny who'd walked up to her.

Ginny browsed through them and was astounded by what she was reading; I thought he'd changed. "I do see an emergency; does Ron know you are sneaking around here working?"

"Ginny! Don't you care that your boyfriend is stealing from House-Elves?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"First of all, he's not my boyfriend, second of all what he does is his own business, his affairs have nothing do with me." She said tersely.

"But, Ginny, haven't you thought this through? If your little plan goes accordingly you'll be the wife of Draco Malfoy, a conniving, lying thief!" Hermione said raising her voice. "Doesn't that matter to you?"

"Like I said, it's none of my business. If that was all, I have a date I need to get ready for." She said and walked angrily out of the room.

A/N: Tuesday, May 4th, 2004/Wednesday, May 5th, 2004