Chapter 26 - Goodbye, Minerva
September 6th, 1997
"Albus, I might have a problem." Minerva McGonagall looked up at the portrait of her long time friend and mentor. She tried to run the school as she saw fit and didn't like to ask for his advice but now she thought that his decades of experience might be of use.
"And what is the nature of this problem, Minerva?" asked Dumbledore. He also had run the school his way but his decades of experience had taught him to seek out other opinions, even if he didn't end up using them.
"Well, I'm not really even sure if I have a problem yet but if I do, it is easier to address sooner than later," she replied.
"I usually don't worry about problems until I am sure they exist, Minerva."
"Let me rephrase that, Albus. I am fairly sure of the situation but I am not sure it is a problem."
"OK," said Dumbledore. "I'll bite. What is the situation you are worried about?"
"I am concerned that Ron Weasley and my new Transfiguration professor, Honey Sweetwater, might have developed feelings for each other."
Dumbledore looked surprised. "Have they been seeing each other outside of class?"
"I believe the first time was last night. Harry and Hermione had asked our, that is Professor Sweetwater and my opinion on adapting the human limb replacement charm for a growing child. He had already invited the child's family to the Three Broomsticks for dinner so that he could perform the charm if it was feasible. He invited Professor Sweetwater and myself along, allowing us to each bring a guest so that we could observe. I invited Hagrid, in case you were wondering."
"I was," said Albus. "An excellent choice. Hagrid always livens up a party. Please continue."
"Well, after the charm was performed, perfectly, I might add, we had a very nice dinner followed by some very good conversations. After the celebration for the boy's recovery had progressed to the level of a party, the problem started to become a possibility. You see the Frints and McKluskys, that is the boy's parents and grandparents, are both married and therefore natural couples. The boy and his sister are both young children and played in the corner with each other; Harry and Hermione are married, of course. Remus and Tonks are engaged and Hagrid and I are very old friends and he was technically my "date", not that anybody would hold us to it. This left Ron and Honey as the unmatched young single members of the group. It should be noted that they had both recently become interested, at least in an abstract sense, in finding someone for themselves. As the couples started to pair off for smaller discussions, it was only natural that they would fill the role of a de facto couple, if only to even the odds. As the night wore on, and the conversations turned lively, interesting and enjoyable, they seemed to be more comfortable in their alliance. Professor Sweetwater is one of those people who are more comfortable calling people by their Christian names and so Ron was addressed as "Ron". Ron, being the youngest of six boys, one of which, Bill, is older than Professor Sweetwater and another, Charley, is the same age, had no inhibitions towards eventually calling her "Honey". By the end of the night, no one, including myself, was paying any attention to this familiarity at all. The example of Remus and Tonks, about a ten year age difference or so, made it even more difficult to see anything wrong in their seven year differential. When they parted at the entrance to the castle, I noticed that Ron had not let go of Professor Sweetwater's hand after he had helped her out of the carriage and she wasn't complaining. If fact, she had just about given him a good night kiss when she caught herself and chose to bid him "pleasant dreams" instead."
"So they had a pleasant evening in each other's company surrounded by old and new friends," summarized Dumbledore. "I guess I fail to see the problem."
"Well, normally, a professor/student relationship would be discouraged in the strongest possible terms," said Minerva. "This case is special for a number of reasons. They were both of age. She would not have any say over his final grades, it being his NEWT year. They don't seem to have entered into this relationship (if indeed they have) on purpose for any school related advantages and it seemed to be more of a friendship than courtship, at least for now. I guess I am asking if it is any of my business in the first place."
Dumbledore thought about this, as best he could as a painting. Finally he said, "I would tend to think that any relationship that develops between them, barring something that leads to favoritism in the classroom, is their business. She can not adjust his NEWT scores, as you have mentioned. He is, in fact, doing a man's work right now and, as such, deserves the right to make his own decisions, as does she. That is my opinion. You are free, as I would be if our roles were reversed, to take it or leave it."
"Thank you, Albus," said Minerva. "I will say nothing unless it develops further. In that case I will only suggest that they be discreet."
Down in the Fortress, Ron, Harry and Hermione had other things on their minds besides Ron's love life. They were discussing the preliminary Death Eater data with Remus and Tonks before planning their Sunday meeting with Slider and the elves. They figured that anyplace that Voldemort considered worth scheduling for reconnaissance once per week or more deserved to have a dedicated map. Besides the ones they already had in place, they would need one for the Ministry of Magic, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Number 10 Downing Street, Stonehenge, Dryburgh Abbey, and Souter lighthouse. All together, they would need to monitor 11 maps at all times.
"I guess the first question we need to ask Slider is how many elves can be permanently put on map duty," said Hermione. "I know they don't take days off but they must need to sleep sometime. Is a twelve hour shift too long or too short?"
"Dobby," said Harry. He figured that they didn't need to wait for some of their questions.
"Yes, Harry Potter," said Dobby. "What can Dobby be doing?"
"I just have a question or two for you, Dobby," said Harry. "Are you busy?"
"Dobby is preparing lunch for Harry Potter's prisoners, Harry Potter," said Dobby, "but there is plenty of time for that. What questions does Harry Potter need Dobby to be answering?"
"Well, the first question we had was what is the normal number of hours that an average house elf works in a normal day?" asked Harry.
"A house elf will work each day until all work that must be done is finished, Harry Potter."
"That doesn't help, Dobby. We have some jobs that will never be actually done. We just need to know how long each elf doing it can comfortably be at it before another needs to take over."
This was not the sort of question that Dobby, or any other house elf normally would have to consider. Winky, for example would make the meals for the house, clean the house by a schedule, do the dishes and laundry as needed and order supplies as they were required. When all this was done, she would sleep. How could he answer a question that had no answer, in his mind?
"Dobby does not know what to say, Harry Potter," he said sadly. "Perhaps you can be asking the question another way."
Harry thought for a moment but it was Hermione who came up with the answer. Or the question, to be specific.
"Dobby," she asked, "how many hours do you normally work in a day?"
"It changes from day to day, Mistress," said Dobby, starting to get upset at his inability to answer his master's questions.
Harry said, "Let's break it down, Dobby. How many hours did you work yesterday?" This would be a specific question with a specific answer. That should work.
"Yesterday Dobby is waking at five o'clock and preparing breakfast for Harry Potter's prisoners. This is taking Dobby until about seven-thirty to finish. Dobby is then emptying Harry Potter's prisoner's chamber pots. That is taking until eight o'clock. Then Dobby is cleaning the robes of Harry Potter's prisoners. That is..."
"Dobby!" said Ron. "We don't need to know everything you did. When did you get to sleep last night?"
"Dobby is getting to sleep at eleven o'clock last night, Master Ron," said Dobby.
Harry did the math. "An eighteen hour day. I think that twelve would seem like a vacation. Let's use that for a working number until we talk to Slider. Thanks, Dobby."
Dobby bowed and went back to preparing lunch.
Remus said, " So that's twenty-two elves just for the maps. Plus, we will need some for any assault squads that we may be able to form, help for Dobby and other reconnaissance. We might need to hire some additional help after all."
"I don't think so," said Ron. "Harry was right. Twelve hour days to a house elf is like a vacation. If we have twenty-two on map duty, they can rotate three a day to do meals. That wouldn't be much extra. Also, a strike would be a fairly quick operation. The regular Hogwarts elves might be able to just take time off for those. I think if we get twenty-two or so permanent elves, we will be alright."
"Harry," asked Tonks. "What sort of coordination did you have in mind with the Ministry?" Tonks had taken her leave of absence but Scrimgeur had agreed to let her have access to any records and personnel that they might need. That made her the de jure liaison with the Ministry.
"As we said before," said Harry, "if we find out anything that will take innocent lives or do irreparable damage to important sites, we will inform the Ministry and cooperate fully. Our primary purpose, though, is to find the horcruxes. We need to know where these Death Eaters are going and what they are doing or guarding. We will pick up a few at the less used sites for further intelligence but I don't want to tip our hand regarding our resources or motives."
"Fair enough," said Tonks.
"Remus," said Harry. "When can you and the twins have the additional maps ready and the sensor medallions in place?"
"Those maps take a while. Let's see, if we have the materials, we should be able to have them all up and working by the middle of the month."
"You'd better get going on that, then," said Harry. "Do you want a lift to Diagon Alley?"
"No," replied Lupin. "I can get there in about an hour. I know most of the good apparition way-points by now." He grabbed the list of new maps that were needed and headed for the statue.
"I'll go with you," said Tonks, running after her man.
"OK," said Harry. "I'll set up the appointment with the elves with Slider. If they can make it, I'm thinking three o'clock tomorrow afternoon should be convenient. About halfway between lunch and dinner. They should have some time available."
Harry said, "I think I'll talk to Nott, again. I want to find out what makes the Death Eaters so loyal when there is very little in it for them. I want to ask Dougal about that, too." He got up to leave and Hermione started to follow.
"Hermione?" asked Ron. "Can I talk with you a bit?" He looked a little nervous.
"Sure, Ron," she replied. Harry waved and went on his way. "What is it?" she asked, although she thought she knew already. She didn't.
"It's about whether or not I have a chance with a certain woman," he began. He started to blush, his trademark.
"I haven't checked with Tonks or anyone yet on how muggle dating is regulated," she said. "I was hoping to do some of that this weekend."
"Actually," said Ron, "I think I might have someone even harder to date in mind. McGonagall would have my hide if she even suspected what I am thinking about."
Before Hermione could respond or think of a possibility, Grampa spoke up. "As it turns out, Ron, you are in luck. Minerva and I were just discussing your not-so-hidden affection for this young lady. She also believes that the girl feels about the same as you. We talked about the propriety of the situation and came to the conclusion that if no favoritism were evident, you had both of our blessings."
"You must be joking!" exclaimed Ron. "Minerva McGonagall allowing a professor to date a student?"
Hermione had caught up with the conversation just a second before but was still shocked. "You want to date that floozy?"
"She isn't a floozy," said Ron, firing up like Molly. "She is perfectly nice. I had a wonderful time last night and I think she did, too."
He seemed to have strong feelings for her after just the first "date", thought Hermione. Maybe there was something there.
"Minerva thought that she had a good time, as well," said Grampa. "In fact, she thought you only missed a kiss by about a second or so." Grampa's eyes twinkled as they did when love was in the air.
Ron seemed to be pretty shocked by this revelation. He sat there with a smile on his face for about two minutes before it faded quickly. "So what happens, now?" he asked to the room in general.
"Well," said Hermione, "I would start with something that would be innocent but allow the two of you to talk in private." He looked at her as if waiting for a clue. She continued. "It's a nice day. Why don't you meet her on the way to lunch and see if she would like to join you to eat in the courtyard? That would be perfectly acceptable."
Ron brightened up at the suggestion and, noticing it was already after eleven, headed off to find Professor Sweetwater.
Hermione and Grampa both smiled and Hermione went off to find her husband.
"Good news, Nott," said Harry. He had activated the cell sound and was standing just outside the wall.
"Have you come to your senses and decided to release me?" asked the disgruntled Slytherin.
"Not quite," replied Harry. "Your grades will be improving, though." He smiled, knowing this would confuse Nott even more.
"How can my grades improve if I'm not there to do the work?" he asked.
"Millicent is sending up your notes as promised and Hermione has been doing your homework for you. I might have to have Minerva tell the professors to ignore the rapid increase in intelligence."
"So you tell the Headmistress what to do, now, do you?" sneered Nott. His mood had not become more cooperative with time. Quite the opposite.
"Down here I do," answered Harry. "The sooner you realize that it is only me you should be trying to please, the better it will be for you."
"The Dark Lord will crush you and all you hold dear, Potter," said Nott. "I will not betray him."
"Why not, Nott," asked Harry. This was, after all, what he had come to find out. "Why do you maintain your allegiance when there is nothing in it for you?"
"The Dark Lord will reward all who are loyal. I will have riches and power beyond your wildest dreams," he said.
Harry was observing him closely. It looked a little like the effects of the imperious curse but it wasn't quite the same.
"How do you know this?" asked Harry. "There are hundreds of you. How can you all get riches and power?"
"The Dark Lord will take care of those who stand with him," said Nott. "I will not be faithless."
Harry could tell that some of these responses seemed to be built in. Nott hadn't really answered the question. It was just a standard Death Eater loyalty slogan. Maybe there was some sort of mind control. He would have to ask Hermione or Grampa. He then noticed Hermione approaching. He turned off the sound to the cell.
"I think that I might be right," he said as she arrived. "He seems to be a little too loyal for it to be entirely natural. I think that maybe you get a little forced indoctrination when you join."
"Possibly," agreed Hermione. "It must be at least a little voluntary or else Voldemort would just make everyone love him and be done with it."
"Didn't seem to stick with Draco, though," said Harry. "I think I'll...oops!" he said, with a panicked look on his face. "We forgot! Yesterday, we were supposed to stop and see Martha." He pulled his hand over his face.
"We must have forgotten when we met the Frints," said Hermione. "I hope we haven't insulted her too much. We were sort of counting on her help."
"Let's check out with McGonagall and head right over to her house," said Harry and he apparated both of them to her office waiting area.
Harry knocked on the door.
"Come in," said McGonagall.
They opened the door and found she was talking with Professor Sweetwater.
"We were just discussing last night," said McGonagall, indicating they should take a chair. "It was quite unusual, to say the least."
Hermione said, "I realize that, Headmistress. However, Gramp...er, Professor Dumbledore's portrait already told Ron and me of your discussion and I'm afraid Ron is looking for Professor Sweetwater right now."
There was a pregnant pause before McGonagall said, "Actually, Hermione, we were discussing the leg Harry conjured, not...ah, the other subject." She glanced nervously at Sweetwater.
"Great," said Hermione in disgust. "I seem to be in permanent bugger-everything-up mode. We just came to let you know we had to leave for a while to meet someone we were supposed to meet yesterday. We completely forgot until just a few minutes ago."
McGonagall glanced at Sweetwater again and asked, "I assume this is in regards to your other activities?" She didn't want to give too many clues.
"It is at the center of it," said Harry. "We were distracted when we met the Frints and forgot all about seeing Martha."
"I see," said McGonagall. With Sweetwater in the room she decided not to pursue it further. "Well, you had best be off."
"Before you go," asked Sweetwater, "exactly why is Ron looking for me and what do you mean that Professor Dumbledore's portrait told you about some sort of conversation that seems to concern me?"
Well, this is awkward, thought Hermione. She stared at the young professor sitting before her and finally turned to the older one behind her desk for help.
"Albus," said McGonagall to the empty portrait above her desk. Within a few seconds, he peeked around the frame. He seemed to be as embarrassed as the rest of them. "Did you wind yourself running to your other portrait to play matchmaker?"
"It just came up, Minerva," said Dumbledore. "Ron was asking Hermione for advice on how you might react and I had the information he needed and provided it."
Hermione spoke up and said, to Sweetwater, "Ron had a very good time last night. He wasn't sure how or if to proceed and apparently Professor McGonagall had noticed that you seemed to have a good time, too. She had asked for advice from Dumbledore about the same time that Ron was asking for advice from me." Hermione was starting to blush from the personal nature of this conversation. Flustered, she finally said, "The end of the story is that if you found Ron half as interesting as he found you, nobody will get too upset about it."
"Providing discretion is maintained," added McGonagall.
Professor Sweetwater didn't know whether to be embarrassed, insulted or pleased. She finally decided on logical. "You said Ron is looking for me, now?" Hermione nodded. "What, exactly, is he going to do when he finds me?" She tried to remain calm, for now.
"I expect he will summon every last ounce of courage within him to invite you to join him for lunch in the courtyard. He plans on trying to find out if you are interested in pursuing a relationship outside of class."
Sweetwater remained silent for a moment before getting up. "I suppose I had better go find him then, unless the three, or I should say, four of you," she looked at the portrait, "have already picked out the ring." She excused herself and left.
"I don't know what's going on but we have to go, too, Minerva," said Harry. He got up and, taking Hermione's hand, they apparated away.
Hermione, expecting to find herself outside of Martha's house was surprised to be standing in front of Honeydukes.
"Harry," she asked, "what are we doing here?"
"I always heard that when you stand up a girl, you should take her candy and maybe flowers to make it up to her," he said with a shrug.
"That might be a good idea," agreed Hermione. "I think that there is a flower shop around here somewhere." She looked around.
They walked into the store and Hermione picked out a nice box of assorted chocolates. Harry paid the owner and they walked outside to look for the florist.
"Out of bounds, are we, Potter," said a gleefully nasty voice from nearby. It was Filtch. "I don't believe this is a scheduled weekend for students to be off the school grounds."
Six years of being pursued, and sometimes caught, by the grizzled squib had left it's mark. Harry was a little unnerved and tried to think of a suitable excuse. Fortunately, Hermione was nearby.
"We have the permission of the Headmistress to be out of the school, Mr. Filtch," she said. "We have important business to take care of."
Filtch looked at the candy and said, "Oh, yes. Very important, I'm sure. I'll just check with her when I return and you had better be telling the truth." He walked off as if to head to the castle immediately.
"I don't think flowers are that important," said Hermione. "Let's go."
Harry took her hand again and they headed to the East Side of London.
"You're forgiven," said Martha. "Give me the candy." They all laughed and she led them to the sitting room. "I thought something must have come up. You do have that sort of a life."
"I suppose we do," said Harry. "We were planning to come here all along and then we ran into someone at the hospital. It sort of buggered up the rest of the day, but in a good way."
"That's not a problem," said Martha. "Would you like to join me for lunch? You might not have noticed but it is nearly noon."
The truth was, they both knew it was nearing noon but neither had associated that with food. The whole Ron/Honey situation revolved around how their prospective private dinner together went. The fact that eating would be a part of that was entirely secondary.
"We don't want to be a bother," said Hermione.
"No bother at all," said Martha. "I've been earning my keep here by preparing the meals. I have enough extra for a couple of drop-ins."
She escorted them to the kitchen. "I hope you don't mind eating at the kitchen table. It will just be the five of us, today. My nephew is over at his friend's house." She went to the stove and checked on the pots on top.
"We used to always eat in the kitchen at my house," said Harry, remembering the times that he, Sirius, Hermione and whatever Weasleys and other Order members that happened to be there chatted and joked around that table.
"That's good," she said. "It looks like another ten minutes or so. What was it you wanted to talk to me about, anyway."
"We were hoping you might be available to help out at our office," said Harry. "Things are picking up and I was hoping you might have recovered enough to start thinking about a job."
Martha looked at them both. "You need a secretary?" she asked. "I thought you were in the business of destroying He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"We are," said Hermione, "and we don't need a secretary per se. We should have about two dozen or so house elves that will be doing that. What we need is someone to supervise them and decide what information is urgent and what can wait."
"Why can't the house elves or one of you do that?" she asked. She was watching the pots and trying to keep up with the conversation at the same time.
"We need to be doing other things," said Harry. "We have a couple of other people that can also come into the office but they are also busy. We decided to try to get the elves to do the time consuming part and just have you or someone like you make decisions. We have found that elves are not always good at deciding what's important and what's not."
"I see," said Martha. She started to set the table. Harry, after years of training at the Dursley's, jumped up to help.
"I would like to see exactly what I am supposed to be doing but I think I could handle it," she said. "Where would this be? The same place we were before?"
"Yes," said Hermione. "We would arrange to have a house elf pick you up and drop you off every day."
"I was sort of hoping to get on my own soon," said Martha. "Where is your office, anyway?"
"It's exact location is a secret but it is within apparating distance from Hogsmead," said Harry, arranging the silverware.
"We are also building some flats for use in an emergency but I think you could use one of those," suggested Hermione.
"Underground?" asked Martha. "I don't know if that would be so nice."
"I am having Dobby put in some windows like they have at the Ministry," said Harry. "It will look like it is outside. A few plants and nice decorations and it should be pretty nice. Of course, you can take a place in Hogsmead if you want."
"I suppose I can take a look at your flats," said Martha. She set the potatoes and corn on the table while Harry pulled the roast from the oven. She walked to the door and shouted, "Dinner is ready!"
Harry took a pitcher of milk out of the icebox while Martha set the rolls on the table. Harry was pouring milk into the glasses when Martha's brother and sister-in-law came in.
"Good afternoon," said Merehammer when he saw the guests. Hermione rose and Harry set down the pitcher and offered his hand.
"Good afternoon, sir," said Harry. "Nice to meet you again." They had met for a hour or so when Harry and Hermione had delivered Martha to them when she was released from the hospital.
"Nice to see you, too, Harry," said Merehammer. "I didn't recognize you at first. Good afternoon, Mrs. Potter." He had read the papers, of course.
"Told you that he was your man," Martha said to Hermione. Hermione blushed and smiled.
"Of course he is," said Sarah. She was the wife of Merehammer and had finished the setting of the table by adding a small vase of flowers.
They sat down to eat.
"It seems that you have recovered from your injuries, Harry," said Sarah. "I don't think I've ever read the papers more thoroughly than I did this week. How on earth did you know that the bridge was being destroyed?"
"I'm afraid that I can't tell you that, Sarah," said Harry. "If Voldemort found...:
Sarah screamed.
"What?" said Harry in alarm. He had his wand out and was looking around.
Hermione said, "You said He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's name in polite company. I'm sorry, everyone. We use his name among ourselves. It is sometimes hard to remember that most people are not used to it."
Everyone was silent for a moment before starting to eat again. Sarah took a moment longer than the rest.
"I suppose that you will want me to do the same, then?" asked Martha. She didn't look like it was the sort of thing she wanted to do.
"I would like it if you did," agreed Harry. "You could also call him Tom, if that made it any easier."
"Tom?" asked Merehammer.
"His real name is Tom Riddle," said Hermione. "He changed it after he left Hogwarts."
"Actually, he was using it in secret even while he was in school," corrected Harry. "His full name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Marvolo is his grandfather's name. He rearranged the letters to form I am Lord you-know-who."
"Could we change the subject until after dinner, please?" asked Sarah. She was not happy about this conversation at all.
They ate in silence for a minute. Martha came up with another topic. "Why don't you tell me what caused you to forget about me yesterday? I mean, the candy is nice but an explanation is also in order, I believe."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. It would get out eventually, they thought so Harry went ahead. "Again, this should remain just between us, but we ran into a little boy at the hospital. He lost his leg at the attack at Hogsmead a few weeks ago. We invited his family out for dinner and I put on a new leg. He gets around pretty good, now."
"You gave him a new leg?" asked Martha. She, along with the rest of her family, had stopped eating and were looking at him.
"Sure," said Harry. "I saw Vol...I mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named do it for Peter Pettigrew and I found out how to do it a month or so ago. It's not a big deal. He left Peter's hand silver, though. I think it looks better when it is close to skin colored."
Martha ate on in silence. She was trying not to cry. She had been upset when Harry had not shown up when scheduled. Naturally, she wasn't really mad but it did annoy her. To hear the reason for it and the casual way he brushed off the importance shocked her. She came to her decision and decided to tell him.
"I will take the job you offered me, Harry. When do you want me to start?" she asked.
"We're talking with the elves tomorrow and the equipment won't be completely ready for another week or so but we can use your help as soon as you want to start," said Harry. He then had another thought and said, "I don't want to make the same mistake twice so we should set your salary now, if that is OK. Is a thousand galleons a month be enough?"
Again, everyone stopped and stared at him. "Why do you keep doing that?" he asked.
"You keep saying things that stun us, I guess," said Martha. "At my last job, I made three hundred and fifty galleons a month and was glad to get it."
"Well, what I want you to do is more important, and maybe more dangerous, if it got out," said Harry. "I take it that the salary is OK?"
Martha nodded and went back to eating.
After dinner, Harry said, "I'm sorry to ask this in your own house, but could we have a few minutes alone with Martha to tie up some loose ends?"
Merehammer said, "Of course, Harry. I understand that you will be allowing Martha to help you in your work and I am proud of her. We will say nothing about this to anyone, until He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is finally defeated." With that, he and his wife left the room.
After they had left, Harry said, "When will you be ready to start your training, Martha?"
"It might take a day or two to pack but I can start whenever you want," she said.
"We will have some time tomorrow night, just to go over the specifics," said Harry. "Could I have you brought over around seven o'clock for an hour or so?"
"I think I could manage that," agreed Martha.
Harry then said, "Winky."
"Yes, Master," said the elf when she appeared a moment later.
"I just found out how hard Dobby is working so I will give this job to you," began Harry. "This is Martha Murphy. She will be working in the Fortress of Solitude. Could you come here tomorrow night at seven o'clock and take her to our office?"
"Yes, Master," said Winky, looking at Martha.
"Thank you, Winky," said Harry. "That's all we needed for now."
Winky left. Harry said, "Thanks for joining us, Martha. We'll see you tomorrow night."
"I'll be there," said Martha.
Harry and Hermione apparated back to their room in the Head's Suite.
They changed back to their regular weekend clothes and went to look for Ron. They both were curious how this totally unexpected development would conclude. After finding the dorm empty, they started to check out Ron's usual haunts.
"I didn't think that Sweetwater was too pleased when she left McGonagall's office," said Hermione. "I don't blame her, myself. She has only been teaching for two days, after all. It would be easy to have just enjoyed the dinner last night, gotten used to teaming up with Ron and almost slip up and give him a kiss goodnight. We all are probably reading more into this than there is. She's going to set him straight and he will be asking about Julie before we know it."
"Or they might be picking out their china pattern," said Harry. He had stopped at a window that looked out on the courtyard and saw Ron and Honey sitting next to each other, chatting away. If he didn't know better, Harry would have thought that Professor Sweetwater was a gushing sixth year, ecstatic over receiving the attention of the star quidditch player.
"I don't believe it," said Hermione. "She's almost sitting in his lap." As she spoke, Sweetwater put her arm around Ron and he reciprocated.
"I'm watching it and I don't believe it either," agreed Harry. "Should I offer them my invisibility cloak?" He was only half kidding. It would only be a matter of time before other students or professors noticed them. They weren't exactly following McGonagall's definition of "discreet".
"I think we should join them," said Hermione. "I'd rather let them use our spare room than get caught out here. I can't believe I just said that." She hung her head as she walked towards a door to the courtyard.
"She has her own suite anyway," said Harry, chuckling.
Hermione glared at him as they approached the new couple. She softened her features as she said, "Hi, Ron; Professor Sweetwater. Did you know that discreet means being careful not to bring attention to yourself?"
Both Ron and Honey blushed at this. "I suppose that is good information to have," said Honey. "How did your trip turn out?"
"You guys went on a trip?" asked Ron. "Why didn't you ask me to come?"
"You were looking for someone when we remembered it," said Harry. "It was Martha." He didn't want to say any more since Honey was there.
"Oh, that's right," said Ron. "I thought you were going to see her yesterday after you finished at the hospital."
"We forgot, alright?" asked Hermione. She normally had a pretty good memory and didn't like being reminded of such an obvious slip up. "She said she would do it."
"That's great," said Ron. "So, what are the specifics? Do we talk to Slider now or what?'
"Excuse us, Professor," said Hermione. "I'm afraid that this is really supposed to be secret. It's not that we don't trust you but even the Headmistress doesn't know much more that you have just heard."
Hermione got up and Harry followed. Ron, however, was very comfortable where he was. It took him a second, but he finally said, "They're right, Honey. We have to do some other things for awhile." Thinking about another subject he said, "Actually, they're right about our lack of discretion, too. We have to do some thinking about how this will move forward."
"Let me do some thinking on that, Ron," said Honey. She looked around guiltily. Harry walked to the back of them and stood nonchalantly with his hands on his hips. This caused him to block a fairly wide area. Hermione caught on and stood the same way in front. Ron and Honey both blushed but got the hint. A quick kiss later and Ron was ready to go.
After a few steps, Hermione said, "Are we going to need a tether?"
Harry asked, "What for?"
"For Ron," she answered. "He seems to be floating on air."
It was true. Ron had not heard or thought anything since his first kiss from Honey.
"I wonder if our record will hold up," asked Harry.
It took Hermione a second to figure this out and she giggled. "I think as long as Ron has to do the asking, it will naturally be a while. If she asked him, he'd say yes in a heartbeat."
Some of the conversation trickled through to Ron's consciousness and he sort of came out of his trance. "I don't have any long term plans, yet," he said. "She is a nice girl that thinks I'm a nice boy and we want to get to know each other a little better. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, Ron," said Hermione. "Just don't rush into anything more serious."
"So we should wait at least nine days before we get married?" asked Ron, poking a little fun at both of his best friends.
"At least," said Harry. They finally made it to the Head's Suite. Harry closed and locked the door.
"Slider," he said, "please come to..."
"Yes, Harry Potter," said Slider. "What can Slider be doing for you?" The elf was just as efficient as Dobby at arriving in a timely manner.
"Good afternoon, Slider," said Harry. "I would like to schedule that meeting with the other elves we talked about in Headmistress McGonagall's office for whenever would be convenient, hopefully before tomorrow evening, if that would be OK with you."
Slider was having a hard time with this. McGonagall, and even Dumbledore, when he was their master, usually treated them well but they never checked to see if their orders were convenient for the house elves. "What time is Harry Potter wishing to be meeting with us elves?" asked Slider.
"I was thinking that around three in the afternoon would be the best for you since it is halfway between lunch and supper. Another time would work just as well if that doesn't work out for you." replied Harry. He wasn't trying to be hard on Slider, quite the contrary. He knew from his conversation with Dobby that his schedule was far more flexible than any house elf's.
"We will be meeting with Harry Potter and his friends at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon," said Slider. "Where is we to be meeting you?" he asked. He was glad to be moving on to a more concrete discussion. Harry Potter had only to name the place he wanted. Slider would not have to make a decision.
"One moment, please," said Harry. "Dobby."
Dobby appeared instantly and, like Slider, said, "What can Dobby be doing for Harry Potter?"
"I would like you to tell Slider where the Fortress of Solitude is or take him there, if necessary," said Harry. "We will be having a meeting there tomorrow afternoon at three and I need Slider and the other elves to know where it is."
"Slider," said Harry, "The place we are talking about is secret. Only you and the other elves are to know where it is. You cannot tell anyone else about it without permission from me or someone I say is authorized. Do you understand?"
"Slider understands, Harry Potter," said Slider.
"Thank you, Slider," said Harry. "I look forward to our meeting tomorrow."
Slider vanished and Dobby, with a look of permission from Harry, also popped off.
"We need a plan to have Potter leave the castle for at least a few hours, at a time we will know about in advance."
"I understand, my lord. Our spy tells us that he is known to leave from time to time but he has not been able to determine how. There are several entrances into and out of the castle but all that he is aware of are being watched or are blocked. Apparently, there is at least one other."
"I am aware of that. I am not so concerned with how he is making his little journeys as to when. We cannot obtain our target while he is her bodyguard. We also will not be making the same mistake that Lucius made with the mudblood in actually informing Potter of where she is being held. He is much too powerful for that. Without his mistress doing his thinking for him, Potter will collapse like a house of cards. Then, I will deal with what is left."
"Perhaps we should have some of our men waiting for the opportunity to strike. Then, when he leaves, we can act."
"I do not think that would work. My information indicates that he was visiting the Minister recently and walked right up to all three of our operatives and had them arrested. I think that he can sense us, somehow, when we are close to him. We will have to stand clear until we know he is gone."
"The problem is that even when we know he is supposed to be gone for an extended time, such as yesterday, he changes his plans and comes back. He left again last night but she was with him the entire time. He was gone again today but for only fr an hour."
"We need something that will keep him occupied and out of touch for several hours so she will reveal all of her secrets. That is your new assignment, Severus. Find a way."
"Yes, my lord."
"Then, the power behind Harry Potter, maybe even the power behind Dumbledore, will be mine. Very soon we will be saying goodbye to Minerva."
Author's Note: I am not advocating Professor/Student dating. It happens. In this case, neither was looking for it but they were thrown together and liked it. In a normal school, it would be inappropriate but as I explained in the story, Honey doesn't have any control over his final grades and it's not likely he could be tutored any better than the last six years anyway.
Might be a week or so until the next update. I will be on overtime on one of my jobs until next Sunday.
Let's see a review or two.
Dad