Chapter 26
Water And Air
(Harry's PoV)
The next morning, when Harry went down to the Burrow's kitchen, he could immediately feel that something was wrong. While Mrs. Weasley could usually be found in the kitchen at this hour of the morning, she was not there. Kreacher, who had been residing in the house, and had been helping Mrs. Weasley with the cooking and cleaning ever since he had arrived, was nowhere to be seen either.
"Kreacher?" Harry said, out loud.
The aged house-elf immediately Apparated just a few feet in front of him. He was carrying a tea tray that held a tea pot on it.
"Master Harry calls for Kreacher?" Kreacher asked.
"Kreacher," Harry said, "Where is Mrs. Weasley?"
"Madam Weasley is currently outside," Kreacher said, "She is pacing back and forth and looking off in the distance. Kreacher was just giving the Madam a cup of tea to calm the Madam's nerves."
"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry said.
"Would Master Harry like some breakfast?" Kreacher asked, "Perhaps the bacon and eggs to which Master is so partial?"
"Please make breakfast for the whole household," Harry said.
Kreacher bowed slightly. Harry walked outside and immediately saw Mrs. Weasley. She was standing at the end of the driveway, clutching a cup of tea in her hands.
"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked, walking toward her.
Mrs. Weasley turned toward Harry. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying.
"Oh, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Is something wrong?" Harry asked.
"Arthur didn't return home last night," Mrs. Weasley said. "He usually sends me an owl or communicates with me through the Floo Network if he is going to be late. I'm so worried about him. What if something happened at the Ministry?"
Harry's insides froze. He knew exactly what had happened at the Ministry. But he couldn't say anything to Mrs. Weasley in fear of looking suspicious. Neither he, Ron or Hermione could allow anyone to know they were in the same room as Scrimgeour and Umbridge at the time of the Minister's death. Before he could say anything, he heard a loud crack in the distance. Mr. Weasley appeared at the start of the driveway.
"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley yelled, "Thank goodness!"
She ran toward him and met him half-way down the driveway. As they got closer, he was clutching a Daily Prophet in his hands.
"I was so worried!" Mrs. Weasley asked, "You didn't send a note or anything!"
"I couldn't Molly," Mrs. Weasley said, "The Ministry was on total lock-down. Nobody, no owls, nothing allowed in or out for the whole night. I only found out why myself a few minutes ago. I couldn't believe the news, but it is all over the Daily Prophet. We were only allowed to leave just a few minutes ago. The Atrium was filled with Ministry workers trying to get out of the Ministry. It was a nigh-on riot. I am sure there were a few workers who were trampled on."
A lock-down? Harry wondered if he, Ron and Hermione were some of the last to leave before the lock-down had taken place.
"What?" Mrs. Weasley asked, "Was there an attack?"
"No, but for most of the night," Mr. Weasley said, "that is all everyone thought. Nobody but those who worked in the first floor of the Ministry, and the Auror Department, knew what was going on."
Harry followed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen.
"What happened?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
Mr. Weasley dropped the Daily Prophet onto the table, and the front page landed face-up. Mrs. Weasley gasped when she saw the title of the front page article, in large black words, which read:
Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour
Murdered! Senior Undersecretary Dolores
Umbridge Arrested In Suspicion Of Murder!
While Mr. and Mrs. Weasley chatted animatedly about what had gone on in the Ministry, Harry sat down and read the article:
Sometime between the hours of ten-o-clock and eleven-o-clock
in the morning on Friday, Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour
was found in his office dead of apparent forced strangulation.
But from what the Daily Prophet has learned, it does look like
the Minister did not go out of this world without a fight. His
alleged murderer, the Minister's Senior Undersecretary Dolores
Jane Umbridge was apparently found feet from him, a victim of|
what appears to be the Minister's last offensive attack, the Stunning
Spell. Umbridge was taken into custody, and apparently has not
said anything to the Auror Department.
When asked who was the last visitor of the Minister's, prior to
Dolores Umbridge, Scrimgeour's personal secretary commented
that one Harry Potter had a meeting with him, though it is unknown
what this meeting is about. The Wizengamot, however, immediately
cleared Harry Potter's name from any list of suspects, saying that
Scrimgeour had apparently finished his meeting with Potter some
twenty minutes prior to the discovery of Scrimgeour's death, thus
allowing enough time for Potter to leave the area and Umbridge
time to do the dirty deed she has been arrested for.
Other evidence, including ash in the Minister's fireplace, and an
unknown use of the Floo Network shows the possible entrance,
and therefore a way for Umbridge to have surprised the Minister,
allowing time for her to attack him. While the Minister's fireplace
usually does not allow entrants into the office via the Floo Network,
Umbridge had somehow found a way to get past this security, thus
indicating that the Senior Undersecretary had been planning this
attack for some time now. Further interrogation should reveal more.
Cornelius Fudge, who Rufus Scrimgeour replaced as Minister of Magic
was quoted as saying "A terrible loss for the Ministry and wizarding
world. I trusted Dolores Umbridge with my own life and worked with
her for quite a while. It surprises me that my own judgment can not
be trusted. I would have never guessed this could happen." When
asked if he would fill in as interim Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge
said he had other plans for the future, and they were more important
to the future of the wizarding world. He did not comment any further.
The Wizengamot is allowing what is referred to as a 10-day grace period
to mourn the late Rufus Scrimgeour. In the following days, the
Wizengamot will work together, in a combined manner, to lead the
wizarding world until a new interim or permanent Minister of Magic can
be found. The Wizengamot also said that Scrimgeour's last great decision
will be remembered, especially to those students and parents of students
who attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Scrimgeour's
last decision as Minister and as a man was to allow the school to re-open.
Harry was surprised he could finish the entire article. His insides had gone numb by the end of the second paragraph. While Umbridge did not commit the murder, and it was technically the locket Horcrux, the object in question had been given to Scrimgeour by Umbridge. So she was a guilty party, thanks to, in part, by Harry, Ron and Hermione. He knew this, and still it felt wrong. One day, if he survived the Second War, destroyed Voldemort's Horcruxes and Voldemort himself, he would put the story right. He would say that it was Voldemort who had killed Scrimgeour, by use of the locket Horcrux. But for now, he had to keep that part a secret from the world.
"Master Harry?" Kreacher asked, breaking Harry from his thoughts, "Your breakfast is ready."
Harry looked up. His plate of bacon and eggs, which looked as good as ever, was sitting in front of him. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley also had plates in front of them.
"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry said.
"Quite the story, isn't it?" Mr. Weasley asked, nodding to the paper.
"You read it?" Harry asked.
"Didn't have to," Mr. Weasley said, "The gossip around the Ministry this morning revealed it all. Your name was mentioned too."
"That's right!" Mrs. Weasley, "You had a meeting with the Minister, Harry!"
"Apparently Harry was the last to see Scrimgeour alive, besides Umbridge herself," Mr. Weasley said.
"Oh my," Mrs. Weasley said, "If I had known, I would not have allowed you – or Ron or Hermione – to go yesterday. You could have been there when that evil hag decided she wanted to attack the Minister. But I must ask... why did she pick yesterday? She's been in that office for years!"
"That's easy, Molly," Mr. Weasley said, "Yesterday was when Scrimgeour was going to either allow Hogwarts to re-open or not. It is no secret Umbridge had a bad experience while she was at Hogwarts. She would do anything to close the school down forever."
"She didn't know he had already sent down the orders to the Wizengamot to re-open the school," Harry said.
"Could you imagine?" Mrs. Weasley asked, "I couldn't imagine if you kids didn't get to go back to Hogwarts this term. You love that school."
"Yeah," Harry said.
"Oh, Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley said, "In all this excitement, I almost forgot! Ron and Hermione made Head Boy and Head Girl! And Ginny is prefect and Gryffindor's Team Captain to boot!"
"Wonderful!" Mr. Weasley said, "We'll have to do something for them."
"Which reminds me," Mrs. Weasley said, "I better wake everyone up, if we're going to go to Diagon Alley today!"
The visit to Diagon Alley was Harry's least cheerful one to date. Every store-owner and clerk was not in the best of moods. Because of rumors that the lock-down in the Ministry had apparently been caused by an attack, Diagon Alley had been part of the lock-down as well. Since the day after the arrival of the Hogwarts School lists was the busiest day of the year for Diagon Alley, the stores were crowded with students and parents, and the stocks were running thin by the time Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys had arrived. Mrs. Weasley had said she considered them very lucky to be able to get everything on the list by the time they were finished.
It was so busy, Mrs. Weasley couldn't even get any congratulatory gifts for Ron, Ginny and Hermione on their prestigious school titles. Harry couldn't find a good birthday gift for Ginny either, so he knew his idea would have to be extra special. And as he packed his trunk, he figured out exactly what he wanted to do for her birthday, and it was going to have to take a bit of planning to do so if he was going to do it perfectly.
Harry also noticed that Hermione was still avoiding Ron. She would not sit next to him during mealtimes at the Burrow, and the only time she would talk to him would be if it had to do with the Horcrux research they did with Harry. And even then, she would mostly be talking to Harry, and allowing Harry to answer most of Ron's questions... most of which Harry did not know, and he felt Hermione did. The night before Ginny's sixteenth birthday, when Harry was envisioning what he hoped would be his perfect birthday gift to Ginny, Ron had admitted to Harry that he thought Hermione might even break up with him. Harry was almost sure this was not the case because Hermione herself had said she wasn't really mad with Ron, and he wanted to say this to Ron, so as his best mate wouldn't worry. Instead, he was going to blame this on Hermione, and make sure she knew it too.
On Ginny's birthday, Harry woke up early, while Ron was asleep, and crept out of the bedroom and down the stairs. He lightly tapped on Ginny's bedroom door. The door opened a few moments later, and Hermione was standing in the doorway.
"What?" Hermione whispered, "Ginny's still asleep. It is her birthday! Let her sleep in!"
"Relax," Harry whispered, "I wanted to talk to you."
"Oh," Hermione said, "Well, let me get dressed and I'll meet you downstairs."
Harry nodded and walked down the stairs. He went into the kitchen, where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting. Kreacher was up and working on breakfast.
"Would Master Harry like some breakfast?" Kreacher asked, when Kreacher saw him.
"I'm not hungry right now, Kreacher," Harry said.
Kreacher bowed and returned to his work.
"Anything interesting?" Harry asked Mr. Weasley, who was reading the Daily Prophet.
"New development concerning Scrimgeour's death," Mr. Weasley said. "It turns out that there was an added weapon involved in his death. His bottle of brandy, which was found on his desk, was apparently laced with a slow-acting poison. While strangulation was the cause of death, the brandy weakened his air passage. It killed him quicker. Dolores Umbridge apparently mentioned in interrogation that she had given a gift to Scrimgeour recently. It is thought the brandy was the gift. Also, the Auror Department has no idea how the Minister was able to stun Dolores Umbridge because the Minister's wand was on his desk across the room from his body."
"That is very odd," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Yes," Harry said, "Very odd."
Something crossed Harry's mind, and he felt his stomach in his throat. The brandy had been laced with poison. Scrimgeour had offered him a cup, and he had almost drank some of it.
"What about the portraits of the former Ministers?" Mrs. Weasley asked, "They must have seen something?"
Harry's eyes widened. He remembered seeing all of the frightened inhabitants of the portraits cowering when the locket strangled the Minister.
"If they saw anything, it wouldn't be held accountable in front of the Wizengamot," Mr. Weasley said, "So the Aurors would not question them. It would be considered a waste of time to them."
"That's rubbish if you ask me," Mrs. Weasley said.
Fortunately Hermione had entered the kitchen at that time, so Harry didn't have to comment.
"We're going for a walk," Harry said. "We'll be back soon."
Mrs. Weasley looked up at them, and she seemed to be frowning as she looked between Harry and Hermione.
"Okay, dears," she said, slowly.
Harry followed Hermione outside.
"Did you notice something odd with Mrs. Weasley just now?" Harry asked, "What do you think is going on?"
"Er... I'd rather not say," Hermione said, blushing.
"Oh, come on," Harry said, "You can trust me."
"Let me give you a clue," Hermione said, "I've been on plenty of these walks with Ron since we've gotten together, and Mrs. Weasley has noticed."
"So?" Harry said.
"They're very private walks," Hermione said.
"Okay?" Harry said, shaking his head.
"Harry, do I have to spell it out for you?" Hermione asked, sighing, "Ron and I, have more than once, ended up on the dock very close to each other when we go on these walks."
"You mean you and Ron snog more than you do walk," Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Thank you for being blunt, Harry," Hermione muttered. "Yes, it is true. But not since Friday."
She frowned and looked away from Harry.
"And what does this have to do with us?" Harry asked.
"Oh, come now," Hermione said, "That is obvious. Harry, she obviously can see that Ron and I have been avoiding each other. And now, all of a sudden, you and I are walking together."
Harry suddenly realized what Hermione meant.
"Oh bloody hell," he said, "She thinks that – me and – and -"
"And me, yes," Hermione said, scoffing.
"Hermione, I swear," Harry said, "If you do not make up with Ron today, I will make Ginny hex you, and I don't have to tell you what hex she will use. Just what I need for Ginny to think I'm going on these walks around the lot to snog you."
"Don't worry, Harry," Hermione said, "I have it all planned out."
"What planned out?" Harry asked.
"Let's just say," Hermione said, "you are not the only one who is planning something special for their significant other today."
"What have you done?" Harry asked.
"Er... it's a secret," Hermione said.
"Hermione," Harry said, "The last time you said that to me, you almost wound up under the mistletoe with Cormac McLaggen."
"Do you honestly see Cormac anywhere around here?" Hermione asked.
"I'm just saying," Harry said, "When you keep secrets, they don't end up well for you."
"I know what I'm doing," Hermione said, "I hope."
"Very reassuring," Harry said.
-
"Harry James Potter!" Ginny said, "You tell me what we are doing right now or you will be on the wrong end of a Bat Bogey Hex!"
"The word 'surprise' has no meaning to you, does it?" Harry asked.
"Not when you forced me to wear a blindfold," Ginny said, "Hey... I-I smell water. Are we near the lake?"
"I should have plugged your nose too," Harry said, sighing.
"Harry!" Ginny said, "I swear to Merlin if I end up wet involuntarily, I am not allowing you on the Quidditch team this year, I –"
Harry sighed and pointed his wand at Ginny and the blindfold fell away. She gasped as she found Harry's surprise. Indeed they were at the family lake on the edge of the lot, but that was not the surprise. Over the past few days, Harry had collected a number of tree logs usually used for cutting up into logs for the fireplace, and using half-dozen of the rather large ones with rope and a bit of magic he read in the Charms book he had gotten for the term that year, he bound them into a makeshift log raft that, he hoped, would float around the lake with him and Ginny on it.
"Oh, Harry!" Ginny said, chuckling, "This is brilliant."
"That's not all," Harry said.
He nodded behind Ginny, and she turned around. Long lawn torches, currently unlit, surrounded a small picnic blanket and a basket that was filled with goodies Kreacher had made for a picnic dinner.
"Lake or dinner first?" Harry asked.
Ginny smiled and walked over to the raft on the shore of the lake. Harry watched as she put one leg on it, testing it.
"Do you not trust my construction and charm skills?" Harry asked, grinning.
"You may have given me a wonderful surprise," Ginny said, "But what I said about being involuntarily wet still stands. Especially since I am in one of my favorite outfits that I wanted to wear on this occasion."
"Well, I couldn't have asked you to worn a bikini!" Harry said, "it would have ruined the surprise."
"Uh-huh, I'm sure you'd love to see me in my bikini," Ginny said.
"Just sit down, birthday girl," Harry said, walking over to the raft.
Ginny did so, and Harry sat beside her. He pointed his wand toward the back of the boat and the same spell that caused the Hogwarts boats to move across the lake began to move the raft into the lake.
"Where did you learn how to do that?" Ginny asked.
"I read, you know," Harry said.
"Just how much time have you spent with Hermione while I'm at work," Ginny said, narrowing her eyes.
Harry looked at Ginny and immediately knew what she was thinking. He groaned, cursing Hermione and Ron.
"You talked to your mother, didn't you?" he asked.
"She was curious," Ginny said. "She really loves Hermione, you know. She was incredibly happy when she caught Ron kissing Hermione at Bill and Fleur's wedding. So she asked me if there was something going on, and asked me why you and Hermione were going on walks early in the morning, when it was usually Hermione and Ron."
"Hermione's sorta mad at Ron," Harry said, "And they haven't talked much since Friday afternoon. So we were talking today and I was trying to convince her to talk to him again."
"What?" Ginny asked, "But – oh, I should have known – I wondered why it has been a few days since I've walked in on the two of them snogging. Uh-oh. Did they break up?"
"No," Harry said. "Ron thinks so, though. Hermione's supposed to be mending their relationship tonight."
"Exactly what do you mean by that?" Ginny asked.
"She didn't tell me," Harry said. "She said it was a surprise. But why are we talking about the two of them? This is meant to be about you tonight. I feel like I'm not doing enough."
Ginny smiled and leaned toward him and kissed him briefly on the lips.
"You've done quite a lot, thank you," she said. "This is perfect."
"Happy Birthday, Ginny," Harry said.
"Mmm, thank you," Ginny said, grinning.
Harry leaned toward Ginny and kissed her once again.
-
(Hermione's PoV)
Hermione rapped her knuckles on Ron's bedroom door. There was no response, so she did it again. A moment later, the door opened and Ron stood there looking at her.
"Harry's with Ginny doing something for her birthday," Ron said.
"I know that, silly," Hermione said, "I wanted to talk to you."
"Really?" Ron asked.
"Yes, really," Hermione said, "Can we go outside?"
"We can't talk up here?" Ron asked.
"Please?" Hermione replied.
She pouted, knowing Ron couldn't resist that.
"Fine," Ron said.
He walked out the door, and they headed down the stairs. Ron didn't say a word until they were outside.
"We're outside now, Hermione," Ron said, "What do you want?"
Hermione took her wand from her pocket and Ron raised his eyebrows.
"Accio Cleansweep!" she said, pointing her wand toward the driveway.
Ron's Cleansweep Eleven levitated into the air a short distance away and zoomed toward them. Hermione caught it in her hand. She set it on the ground.
"Up!" she said.
The broom rose into the air and Ron stared, his mouth agape.
"How did you do that?" Ron asked, "Only those of us who can fly a broomstick can do that. Broomsticks don't answer to those who -"
"Get on," Hermione cut him off.
Ron raised his eyebrows, but he obeyed, and sat in his usual position on the broom.
"Back up a bit," Hermione said.
"Er... what?" Ron asked.
"Just do it," Hermione said rolling her eyes.
Once again, Ron obeyed. Hermione straddled the broom, sitting in front of Ron.
"Hold on," she said.
"Hermione," Ron said, "What are you – this is not a good idea!"
Hermione ignored him and grabbed his arms, putting them around her waist. She then bent forward and the broom rose into the air. She allowed the broomstick to raise higher into the air until it was a good fifty feet off the ground, the mandatory height around the Burrow so that Muggles couldn't see them.
"Hermione," Ron said, "I really think I should do this."
"Shut up," Hermione said.
She urged the broom forward and sped up a bit as they flew over the Burrow and toward the lake.
"H-Hermione!" Ron said, "You – you're – flying a broomstick!"
Hermione allowed the broom to stop and they floated above the lake.
"Don't act so surprised," Hermione said, "If you hadn't been avoiding me this past weekend, you would have known I could do this."
"You avoided me!" Ron said, "And what do you mean?"
"I've been practicing flying a broom over the past couple of days," Hermione said, "to prepare for this."
"Why?" Ron asked.
"Because it was the only way I knew I could convince you," Hermione said.
"Convince me of what?" Ron asked.
"How much I still love you no matter what you ask me to do," Hermione said.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.
"I was mad at you for asking me to use that memory modification spell on Umbridge," Hermione said. "But it does not mean I wanted to end our relationship over it."
"What?" Ron asked, "Why would you think -"
"Harry told me you thought I wanted to break up with you," Hermione said.
"What was I supposed to think, Hermione?" Ron asked, "We haven't exactly had moments like this with each other since before everything happened at the Ministry."
"I know," Hermione said, "And I'm sorry. To be honest, I wanted to talk to you on Friday night. But then I realized that it wouldn't mean anything if I did that."
"What?" Ron asked, "Hermione, it would have meant everything to me. I wouldn't have had to spend these countless hours wondering if everything we've had these past weeks here at the Burrow was over in an instant."
"I know," Hermione said, "And I'm sorry. But I wanted this to be special. Because I wanted to show you how proud of you that you are Head Boy. Just to tell you that while sitting on your bed with you in your room wouldn't have meant very much."
Ron scoffed.
"Okay, maybe it would have meant enough," Hermione said, "But you can't admit this isn't better, can you?"
"This is pretty brilliant," Ron said, chuckling. "Never would I have thought you'd fly a broom without having to hold onto me in fright."
Hermione grinned. She looked below them toward the lake, and she saw something out in the middle of the lake. She laughed when she realized what it was.
"Ron," Hermione said, "You were wondering what Harry did for Ginny for her birthday?"
"Yeah," Ron said.
"Look on the lake," Hermione said.
Ron looked down toward the lake.
"Is that a – what is that?" Ron asked.
"A log raft," Hermione said.
"I'm going to hex him," Ron said.
"Ron!" Hermione said, "Behave. They're only snogging."
"I didn't mean that," Ron said, "I only wish I would have thought of that first."
"So you don't think this is romantic?" Hermione asked, looking over her shoulder at Ron.
"Did I say it wasn't?" Ron asked.
"Congratulations on becoming Head Boy," Hermione said.
"I'm only accepting the role because you're Head Girl," Ron said, "I would have filed a complaint with ol' McGonagall herself if you weren't Head Girl."
Hermione smiled. She steadied herself on the broom and leaned back toward him kissing him softly. Ron returned the kiss, and Hermione backed away a few moments later. She looked forward and saw that the sun was beginning to set below the horizon. She felt tears in her eyes because the whole thought of being up in the sky with Ron at sunset was so beautiful.
"Since when did you get so brave?" Ron asked, "I mean – okay, you've always been brave. But like I said, I never would have bet in my life that you'd be the one flying me on a broom."
"Hmm," Hermione said, grinning, "I guess I've just changed a lot in the past three weeks."
Ron raised his eyebrows, and a smile crossed his lips.
"Admitting you loved me was a pretty brave thing to do," he said.
"The bravest thing I've ever done in my life," Hermione said.
Ron chuckled and he kissed her once again. She returned the kiss and laid back against his chest, as they watched the sun set under the horizon.
-
D'aww, I love this chapter! Especially the last half. As I said in the previous chapter, these two latest chapters were semi-innocent chapters before it got back into the storyline. Next chapter, I'm going to start with a description leading to the end of August, and then finally it is time to get back on the Hogwarts Express! And yes, for those wondering, Hermione and Ron, and Ginny, will all be attending the mandatory Head and Prefect meeting on the train.