Aisha wanted to question why she was at the Ministry of Magic, a set of her formal robes in her arms. But every time she so much as had a puzzled expression on her face Harry would shake his head. His teasing smirk and refusal to tell her what was going on was starting to irritate her. Now she was waiting for Harry in his office, unsure of what to do.
"Aisha! Oh, I'm so glad you came!" Hermione came up and gave her an awkward hug.
"Hermione? Can you tell me why I'm here?" She asked. Hermione gave a smile, rubbing her stomach.
"Maybe I needed some company." Aisha knew that the bushy haired witch was included into Harry's plans and could tell her exactly why she was there, but her focus was glued to the size of the witch's stomach.
"Oh bones Hermione, you look about to pop. Are you sure you should be here?"
"Nonsense, I still have another month to go. I'll be perfectly fine." Harry followed by a tall redheaded fellow walked up behind Hermione.
"This is Ron, my best mate and Hermione's husband." Harry introduced the redhead. Aisha shook his hand and gave a polite nod of greeting. Harry grabbed the robes from Aisha's arms, handing them to Ron.
"What?" Aisha puzzled, arms now empty.
"Oh!" Harry reached and plucked a hair from her head. Her hand slapped down on the stinging area.
"Harry Potter! You better not be doing what I think you are." Hermione took the hair and placed it in a waiting thermos, also handing it to Ron. She kissed his cheek.
"Just remember to change clothes before you drink that." Hermione gave him a hard pinch where she had just kissed. Harry laid a hand on Ron's shoulder, giving him a look that clearly said that he agreed with Hermione's statement whole-heartedly.
Aisha tried to snatch the thermos from Ron' hand, but he ducked away.
"Best do what my wife says." He said with a mischievous grin. She turned toward Harry and Hermione, brows furrowed and her lips in a grim line.
"Don't be mad." Harry started, reaching out to pull her into a hug. She swatted his hand and pointed a finger.
"Too late, Potter. Explain, now!" Hermione laughed, but let Harry explain.
"We need you to be seen, to speak. But I didn't want it to be the real you, so Ron is going to be you. He has a script, so he knows what to say."
"Harry if you would have just explained it to me I would have willingly done this for you."
"We decided it would be best if you stayed behind the scenes with me." Hermione inputted.
"When pictures are released, we thought it would be best if you were in them. The Hunters know that you are really a werewolf, so even if we don't outright say it, they will know."
"Harry doesn't want the real you involved because what we are doing is setting a trap for those monsters, and he's afraid to get you too involved in it. Says it's an Auror problem now."
"So I'm the bait, but the real me doesn't get to be the bait?"
"You are not bait!" Harry grabbed her shoulders.
"Harry, don't lie to the woman, she is smarter than that." Hermione crossed her arms over her swollen stomach. Aisha raised an eyebrow at Harry.
"She's not meant as bait. She never was. I need someone to support my story, and Aisha was the perfect candidate."
"But it's not really me." Aisha sighed.
"No more arguing. You, dear will stay with me and keep me company while the two boys play with the press. I need to sit down anyway." Hermione looped an arm through Aisha's and steered her to sit beside each other in chairs. Aisha was going to protest, but bit her tongue instead. Ron came back into the room, an exact image of Aisha.
"Ready?" He asked Harry. Harry nodded and gave Aisha a quick kiss on the cheek before following Ron from the room.
"I don't feel so good about this." Aisha groaned, suddenly feeling much more nervous than she had when she arrived.
"They are more than capable of handling this." Hermione grabbed Aisha's hand and placed it on her belly. "The baby's kicking. So enjoy this and stop worrying."
A moon phase had never passed so quickly for Aisha before. She was extremely nervous to see what the papers said about Harry, and it seemed to make to time pass twice as fast. As soon as the owl dropped the post in front of her she snapped open the paper. The front page has a large picture of Harry standing in front of a crowd of people, with Ron standing a little behind him, polyjuiced to look like her. Her heart started beating faster, nervous about what the reporters had said.
"Yesterday afternoon Harry Potter, Second Wizarding War Hero, had an announcement regarding his leave from his post as an Auror. According to Mr. Potter, his 4 month leave from work all happened after a horrible attack that left him in the hospital. How disappointing that we only hear about it now. Mr. Potter said the attack was from a suspect that he was heroically in pursuit of; who was in fact a werewolf. While Mr. Potter wasn't affected by the curse, he has taken these four months to recover and seek the help for a supposed support group for others who have been attacked by werewolves. Mr. Potter spun a wonderful story about the support that himself and several similar victims receive from this group. Mr. Potter has brought along the founder of the support group, Ms. Aisha Winter to comment about her organization. Ms. Winter made statements about the organization in question, quoted as saying 'It is a wonderful home that I have created for people, who like Mr. Potter have experienced traumatic attacks at the hands of werewolves. At this home, I welcome all victims that have been attacked, especially the ones who have contracted the curse. I provide a safe place for victims to learn to live with their new conditions. My program house currently holds half a dozen victims with the curse and two, like Harry, who managed to avoid infection.' The crowd was certainly full of questions regarding Ms. Winter's werewolf house, but Mr. Potter had even more disturbing news. 'This house was vital for my recovery, however there was sadness within the house. One of the women that was there with me during my recovery was brutally murdered in her own home because of the fact that she was a werewolf. I have learned that there is a group out there that call themselves The Hunters. They violently persecute and hunt down human beings because they are werewolves.' Mr. Potter wasn't finished there. He reminded us all of something very important and made a promise. ' I remember the last time someone decided they were better than others based on their blood alone. Now that I am back I work, I will be starting a special division that will focus on stopping this group as soon as possible. Nobody deserves to be treated as less of a person because of their blood status, something I had hoped we all learned by now.' Let us reassure you Mr. Potter that we do remember, and wish you the best of luck in your newest adventure in bettering and protecting the wizarding world and ALL it's people.
Aisha wasn't sure if she wanted to roll her eyes or give a sigh of relief. The details were convincing enough, if they had falsified enough record to support it. But Harry was still so loved that they just seemed to eat up whatever he told them. Which of course is why Hermione had concocted this whole plan.
Three members came up to her table. She looked up from the paper, knowing that they were there to inform her of the fate of her pack.
"Some might not like that you kept this from us, but it's not enough to make them leave. It will take a lot more than that to get rid of all of us." They all smiled at her. Aisha felt her heart swell, and her face split into a huge grin.
"But don't go and try nothing else either!" One of them teased.
"Wouldn't dream of it. Thank you; all of you." She got a nod in response and then they left.
Harry came up, placing a mug of tea and a plate of toast and sausage in front of her.
"Well?" He took the seat next to her.
"I still have a pack." She beamed. "But they are still upset that I kept it secret."
"Yeah, they get upset cause they didn't know, but they would have been upset if they did know. Its one of those situations where you just can't win." Remus and the rest of the Lupin crowded the table as well.
"Did you tell her Harry?" Tonks asked. Harry brightened up.
"Aisha, may I introduce to you, the newest member of my team. I asked her last night, seeing as she has had Auror training and a stake in this fight as well."
"Well it was you ask me or I tag along anyway." Tonks smirked. Aisha's breath caught in her throat. Emotion welled up behind her eyes; happy tears threatening to spill over. She had been so afraid that everyone would not only hate her, but risk their own safety to leave her. But everything had ended up a lot better than she had expected. Harry rubbed a hand down her arm.
"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned. She nodded, hiding behind her mug.
"You ready to go Harry?" Tonks asked.
"You're leaving?" Aisha's brow furrowed. Tonks pulled Harry up, ruffling his hair.
"Have to get to work. He made a big promise to the public and now we've got to fulfill it."
Harry gave her a crooked grin.
"Sorry, today's my first day back, I can't be late." He leaned down and gave her a kiss on her cheek.
"Be safe." It was the only thing she could think of to say before the he left.