CHAPTER 36

'Why did you leave the kitchen earlier on?' Hermione asked idly, as she stroked the sensitive skin on the inside of Sirius's upper arm.

They were curled up in bed, the rose-printed eiderdown pulled snugly between both of them. Hermione had wanted to stay naked with him, to feel the warmth of his skin press against hers and the imprint of his ribs against her stomach, but the radiator in her building had broken down and it was much too cold. So, unromantic though it was, she was wearing a thick sweater and leggings under her pajamas and fluffy yellow socks. Sirius was similarly attired in a gray sweatshirt. He had pulled her into his arms right after they had got their woolens on, and was running the tip of his nose up and down the back of her neck.

'You squeezed White's hand,' he murmured in reply. Her hair smelled nice, he thought. Like freesias.

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned around in bed so that she was facing him. 'Jealous? I wouldn't have thought it.'

'More like sick,' Sirius admitted, 'I have a lot of alcohol in my system right now, despite a rather disgusting sobering charm.'

Hermione cocked an eyebrow. 'Where exactly did you go?'

He kissed her cheek before replying.

'A motel. With an adjoining bar. With lots of whiskey. You know the drill.'

She sighed. 'Of course. Angered and betrayed, the young man went with throbbing heart to the nearest liquor joint and drowned his sorrows. I get the drift. Who brought you back?'

Sirius made a face. 'Remus,' he said, 'I got quite the lecture.'

'Well, I'm glad. At least you came back home.' she said, quietly. She shifted in his arms and snuggled a bit closer under the blanket. It was only after a few minutes that she spoke again.

'Where did you go after you left the kitchen?'

Sirius made a non-committal noise. 'My old room, and then I popped in on Prattle.'

Hermione brightened. 'Oh! How is she?'

Sirius grinned. 'Acerbic as ever. She called me a hoodlum again. She seems to be doing just fine, though. She's brought a whole bunch of her stuff from home. Hey- did you know she used to be a teacher?'

Hermione blinked. 'Really?'

'Yup. She taught kindergarten finger-painting. She had an ashtray on her mantelpiece that one of her students gifted her.'

Sirius voice sobered down as he continued, 'She said he was one of her favorite students. His name was Gerry. He died when he was younger.'

Hermione's eyes widened. 'That's awful. What happened?'

'Went missing. He was an orphan, apparently. She told me he lived with his aunt. She had some sort of wispy name. Sounded like lemonade.'

Hermione snorted with laughter and then punched him. 'Stop being an idiot,' she muttered, kissing his cheek. 'She must have been devastated.'

'Couldn't have been too bad, she died soon after. What was that name?'

'Never mind,' Hermione said, untangling one arm from around him and putting her hand over his mouth. 'I'm exhausted. Let's get some sleep.'

She had rolled over and was about to settle down when a loud pop informed them that someone had apparated into their dining room.

Quick as a flash, both Sirius and Hermione were out of bed and had grabbed their wands off her bedside table. Sirius motioned for her to be quiet, and she rolled her eyes as he inched towards the door. He hesitated for a moment, and then clicked it open and stepped out, wand held at ready.

'It's just me!' Hermione lowered her wand as she heard Remus's voice, and groaned, thanking her lucky stars that she was at least clothed this time. Sirius dropped his wand and both of them headed out to see him dressed in his day robes and looking indignant.

'Don't point that thing at me, Sirius Black! Where the hell did you two disappear?'

Hermione pushed past Sirius. 'We were tired,' she informed him.

Remus ran his eyes over both of them as if he knew exactly what they had come to do.

'Clothed,' he said, thankfully, 'Makes for a nice change. Next time your hormones get the better of you, at least pop back to Grimmauld Place when you're done?'

'Why?' Sirius demanded. He looked intensely annoyed, and Hermione knew that he was as tired as she felt. 'What's going on?'

Remus glanced around. 'Any chance I could get a cup of coffee or something? No? Oh, okay. I just popped in to tell you that we're going in to enable to cameras tomorrow.'

Hermione's eyes widened. 'So soon?'

'Yep. We figured that waiting doesn't make any sense. Besides, we're going to have to hang on another three weeks after this. They're just getting stronger all the while,' Remus said.

Sirius looked concerned. 'Are we splitting up?' he asked.

'Yeah. We want to get in done on one day. There's less of a chance of alerting them that way. Fred and George have the powder ready, so we're good to go. Hermione, we figured you and Sirius should take the parlor. You can book an appointment and actually go as a customer.'

Hermione nodded. 'Wouldn't it make more sense for us to take the portal at the Marriage Registrar, though?' she asked. 'I've been there before, I'm more familiar with it.'

Remus shook his head regretfully. 'It doesn't make sense for you to go down there again. You're too much of a familiar face. Besides, you work in the Ministry, Hermione. That's not a risk you want to take.'

'I see. What about the others?'

'The twins are going to the Ministry, and Tonks and I are going to the library. Kingsley and Charlie will take care of the theater.'

Hermione nodded, slowly. She could feel tension, hot and anticipatory, curling in the pit of her stomach.

'Okay,' she said, 'So how are we dealing with this tomorrow?'

'You don't have to work, do you?'

'It's Friday, Remus. Of course I have work.'

'Well, can you call a day off?'

Hermione thought about this for a moment.

'Yes,' she said, finally, 'I'll go in and tell them my husband is going to Mungo's, or something. Where do we meet?'

'Grimmauld Place, at ten,' said Remus, 'We'll distribute the powder then and head out.'

Sirius stepped forward, and took Hermione's hand tightly with his own.

'Okay,' he said, 'We'll be there.'

Predictably, Hermione woke the next day with a piercing headache.

She moaned and shifted in bed, feeling the cold sheets slip between her legs. Sirius's arm was tucked possessively around her stomach, and she had to work a bit to get it off her. He grumbled something in his sleep as he shifted, and she was reminded powerfully of the moment, just seconds before she fell asleep, when he had leaned into her and whispered feverishly in her ear, 'Harry must never know.'

She hadn't replied.

Now, she sat up in bed and then leaned over and kissed his cheek. He mumbled something and turned over.

'You need to wake up,' she whispered, 'We have to be at Grimmauld Place at ten. I'm checking in at the Ministry before that and telling them I won't be in today.'

Sirius turned over. 'Five minutes,' he muttered.

Hermione rolled her eyes and set the alarm to it's highest volume, placing it carefully on her chest of drawers so he would have to get out of bed to put it off. She showered quickly, letting the warm water soothe her knotted muscles, and then popped a couple of aspirins while drying her hair. She dressed comfortably in black woolen pants and a warm white sweater, and drained a cup of coffee before stepping out of the house. She felt better the minute she was on the street: the air invigorated her, and the pills were already kicking in and lessening the ache in her temples. When she got to the Ministry, she found Rachel perched behind her desk.

'Is Kaploffe in?' she asked.

Rachel shook her head, draining the last of her coffee. 'He'll be in late today. He left a message for you.'

Hermione groaned. 'Please don't tell me he's given me another assignment. I wanted to ask if I could take the day off!'

'No, he just said that he left a binder of notes on the Insanity Pledge in his office for you. He needs the report next week, so you really can skip if you want to. Got any big plans for today?"

'Sirius got some bug, so I'm just taking him to Mungo's. I'll pick up the binder and leave than, shall I?'

Rachel nodded, so she went to Kaploffe's office and cautiously pushed the door open. It was dark and slightly musty, and she fumbled about on the wall till she flicked a switch. Soft, yellow light filled the room, and she caught sight of an orange binder on his desk.

Hermione picked up the binder, marveling at how heavy it was. She was about to leave, when something caught her eye. On the tack boars behind his desk, hidden among lists and record papers, was a small hint of color. Frowning, Hermione walked forward and nudged a few papers out of the way, before she saw that it was a small picture.

It appeared to be a group picture as some department party. She recognized Kaploffe, looking much younger with a less lined face and jet-black hair. He was standing with a tall, sandy-haired man who she recognized at the ex-Chief of the Auror Department, and a small, skinny girl. The girl had a pale face, an upturned nose, and somewhat sad brown eyes. She had mousy brown hair, curly, but lankier than Hermione's. There was something awkward in the way she stood. Kaploffe's face was turned to the camera but his eyes had sidled towards her, and he had his arm around her thin shoulders in a way that indicated familiarity.

Underneath the picture was a small caption: Evans Underwood, Dragomir Kaploffe and Faye Melloney.

For an instant, Hermione thought someone had kicked her in the gut.

There was something so painstakingly innocent and naive about the girl that she immediately felt her heart go out to her. She was looking vaguely uncomfortable with Kaploffe's arm around her shoulder, but her face was angled ever so slightly towards him and Hermione could detect the hero-worship in her eyes. There was no mistaking the expression on her boss's face either: there was definitely something there. She sighed and hugged the binder closer to her, wishing, for the first time about something so unrelated to her, that such terrible things did not happen.

She left the office with a slightly despondent air, and Rachel noticed. She clucked her tongue in Hermione's direction.

'You okay? You look bugged about something.'

Hermione shook her head absently. 'Just worried about- Sirius...' she said, after a slight pause.

Rachel looked sympathetic. 'I'm sure he'll be fine,' she said, soothingly. 'There's a lot of the 'flu going around. Mungo's will fix him up in no time.'

Hermione sighed. 'I hope so,' she said. She waved a last, cheerless goodbye, and then left the office.

'What's in the binder?' Remus asked, the moment she entered the kitchen.

Hermione glanced down at it and shrugged. She couldn't shake off the despondency that she felt settling down on her.

'Just some stuff Kaploffe wanted me to go through,' she said, vaguely. 'Is everyone here?'

Remus nodded at the table. Sirius was sitting with Molly, a cup of coffee cradled in his hands. Kingsley, Charlie and the twins were all pouring themselves copious amounts of tea from an enamel flask, and Tonks stood behind Remus with her hands on his shoulders. There was a palpable tension in the air, a sort of tight, crackling electricity that Hermione associated with collective nervousness. She leaned against the counter, putting her binder down on it, and said, 'So, is the powder ready?'

George nodded and indicated a set of small tubs on the counter. They were pale gray, and had twisting lids that looked like they had been poked into a pattern with a needle.

'It's all in there,' he said, 'When you get in, the first thing you do is shake it into the air, and anyone who breathes it in will get sucked into the hallucination. It works for a hundred feet radius, so you should be fine. You can finish your work and get out off there: the stuff wears off in about fifteen minutes.'

Hermione nodded, looking concerned. 'What about us?' she asked. 'How do we avoid the hallucination?'

Fred took a deep breath. 'We've made an antidote. It has to be injected, so we'll take care of that right before we leave. Dad's got the cameras- there they are.'

He nodded towards a pile of shiny, black cameras. Each had a little stand on which to fix them, and were about the size of half of Hermione's palm.

'Getting them on is pretty easy,' George said, 'All you have to use is a sticking charm. Then press the red button on the side- that's what puts them on. We've charmed them to give us a direct feed to the television Dad brought home from the Dep. He's rigging it up here so someone can keep watch at all times. When you're done, just Disillusion them and that should be it.'

Hermione bit her lip and nodded. It sounded simple, but she knew it wasn't.

'Hermione, I've book an appointment for you at Deborah's at eleven,' Remus said, suddenly. 'That'll get you in easy enough. If you leave now, you'll have to wait a good forty five minutes, which gives you time to poke around.'

'Of course,' Hermione said, quietly. She glanced at Sirius. 'Should we go then?'

They lined up in front of the table, and Fred produced a small bottle of antidote and six disposable syringes. Hermione felt a familiar, childhood panic as she saw him loading them up; she had always hated shots. She closed her eyes and extended her forearm, wincing as she felt Fred grasp it and swab it with spirit. Her mouth tightened slightly as she felt the prick and then she gasped as she felt the ice-cold antidote pushing into her and soaring through her vein. She tightened her hand, wishing the sensation would pass.

'Hermione, it's over. You can open your eyes now.'

She blinked twice and exhaled. Fred was grinning half-heartedly at her, massaging the spot he had injected.

'Thanks,' she said, weakly. She stepped back and let the others get their shots.

When Sirius was done, he came up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He had dressed in loose jeans and a thick black jacket which felt warm against her arm. She leaned into him and sighed.

'We'll get through this, won't we?' she murmured.

He nodded, looking determined. 'Of course we will. Calm down, you're full of knots.'

She sighed, as Fred injected Kingsley and then himself, and then looked up.

'All done,' he said, bracingly. 'Time to go.'

Author's Note: Not very long, I know. Sigh. I seem to be hitting some sort of mild form of writer's block.

I PROMISE, though, the next one will be quicker. In fact, I'll get to work on it right now.

Cheers. =D