20th May 1998 (Tuesday) Early Morning - Breakfast table

I had just sat down at the breakfast table in the kitchen and was making a start on my breakfast when there was a loud knocking coming from the scullery door.

"Molly? Arthur? Are you there?" We could hear a familiar voice calling out, "It's Sandra and Ivan here. We need to speak with you all urgently." She requested breathlessly.

With a look of puzzlement and interest, Arthur quickly crossed to the scullery door and opened it.

"Come in, come in." He said as he stepped back to allow them entry into the kitchen. He warmly embraced Sandra and shook hands with Ivan as he came in the door. A brief but warm set of greetings followed.

"What is the matter?" Molly asked Sandra as she registered the look of anger and frustration that was written plain on Sandra's face.

"Have any of you seen this morning's papers?" Sandra enquired with a worried expression.

"No, ours hasn't been delivered as yet." Molly replied, "Why what has happened." She asked.

"Many different things," Ivan also replied with a grim note in his voice.

"Let me guess. The Daily Prophet didn't print what Kingsley asked them to?" I enquired.

"If only it were that simple," Ivan replied as Sandra nodded in agreement.

"What did they print?" Molly asked the as her worry began to show.

"The politest way that I can describe it is a deliberate attack on Harry and an attempted smear campaign against Dave and his team, along with Kingsley also," Ivan said as he dropped four different editions of the Daily Prophet on the kitchen table.

"Why are there four different editions of the Daily Prophet?" Molly asked as she reached over and picked them up. As she unfolded them to look at the front pages, she went white. I could also see her start to become visibly angry. Arthur, Bill, Charlie and Fleur also became visibly enraged after reading the articles that Molly had just read.

"Just when you think that they can't sink any lower." Molly snapped, "They go and do something like this." She exclaimed as she threw the papers onto the table.

"I can see why they printed four different versions now." Arthur replied, "Lies that big can't be contained in a single edition of that rag." He stated as he went to embrace Molly.

I reached out to grab the copy of the Daily Prophet that Arthur had put on the table. As I turned it over, I was greeted by the following headline.

So-called 'Boy who lived' lies about the loss of his family.

'During the extraordinary events at the Ministry of Magic on Monday, it was revealed once and for all that the famous Harry Potter, the so-called 'boy who lived' had been misleading the entire wizarding world about the loss of his family. The photo below clearly shows that Harry Potter has a brother who is very much alive and well.

This naturally leads us to ask if Harry Potter has any other family members that he has been keeping hidden from the wizarding world.

What about his parents? Are James and Lilly Potter really dead?

If they are why did they abandon their son, forcing him to be raised on the far side of the world?

If they're not, then who is buried in their graves in Godric's Hollow?

Are they secretly managing Harry's life from the shadows?

Trying to use him to plump up the Potter family coffers?

What really happened that Halloween in 1981?

Why have Harry's parents decided to bring his older brother back into the public's eye?

Are they concerned that Harry may be losing his appeal in the wizarding world?

For more on the life of lies of the infamous Harry Potter turn to Page 3…'

Unfolding the paper, I could see that below that section of the article there was a photo that showed, Harry, Dave, Molly, Ginny and Fireball gathered around the body of the wizard that Ginny had knocked out. The photo looked to have been taken shortly before Dave was hit by the two killing curses.

The caption on the photo read:

'Harry Potter and his mysterious brother restrain an unknown wizard at the Ministry of Magic on Monday'

Looking at the photo, I was forced to admit, that if I didn't have access to the information that I now did, I would have been extremely tempted to make the same conclusion as the paper. Both Harry and Dave had almost identical expressions on their faces. Because of the way that they were crouched down over the body of the wizard, the differences in their builds and heights were mostly masked as well.

As the photo was in black and white, their eyes also looked to be remarkably similar also. Most telling of all was their hair and their faces. Even more than usual, in this photo, the similarities were on full display for all to see.

Just as Julian and Apolline joined us in the kitchen, I reached over and with a small amount of trepidation turned over the paper that Molly had been reading. This one had a large photo on the front page, showing Molly and Sandra greeting each other, both a close-up picture as well as one taken from further away. It also had a suggestive headline:

Molly Weasley's Hidden Secret.

'Now that Molly Weasley has managed to secure the future of her family through her dubious association with Harry Potter, she has decided to bring previously hidden members of her destitute family out of the woodwork. Is this all part of Molly's grand plan to milk Harry's fame for the financial benefit of her family.

The question needs to be asked if Molly and the rest of the Weasley family are the most suitable family to guide and nurture the famous Harry Potter, the 'boy who lived'.

Or is this sister of hers to fill another role?

It has been widely reported that young Ginevra Weasley viciously attacked Harry Potter after the Battle of Hogwarts. Why did she do that if she was supposedly in love with him?

Had she tired of playing her role as Harry's love interest while trying to entrap him into marriage?

Or was she as was reported by Miss Pansy Parkinson genuinely upset that Harry survived the final battle (reports are that she had hoped he would die in battle)?

Harry Potter reportedly had to spend several days in the hospital wing of Hogwarts after the attack by young Miss Weasley. By all reports, he still needs to visit the hospital regularly to deal with the wounds that he suffered. Be sure to check out our follow up story on the 'Price of Freedom'.

Is Molly's sister to be given the role of getting Ginevra 'back with the program'?

Or is she to take a more direct hand in managing the Harry problem?

To learn more about the Machiavellian schemes of the Weasley's turn to page 3.'

The next paper had a photo plastered on its front page showing a close up of Ivan greeting Kingsley. This picture also had a suggestive headline:

Assistance? INVASION? or Coup d'état?

Recent press releases from the Ministry of Magic have brought to light the fact that our nation had been subject to an armed invasion by foreign Aurors during the recent war.

What was the motive of these Aurors?

Why didn't they render assistance to the wizarding public during the war?

Were they too fearful to get involved or did they have an ulterior motive?

Our current Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt (previously an Auror of mediocre abilities) seems to be very friendly with these foreign agents. Did he have a hand in bringing them here to help him rise above his station and become Minister? Or is their actual role yet to be revealed to us all.

Turn to Page 5 to read more about Kingsley Shacklebolt's plans to install himself as the first dictator of the wizarding world.

The next headline on the front page was no better. It was screaming for the heads of all employees in the Ministry because they had failed the wizarding world in keeping the menace of Tom Riddle Jnr in check. They also couldn't keep members of the press safe, within the Ministry of Magic itself (it was the second point seemed to be the greater crime in the eyes of the reporter).

The last newspaper had a photo on its front page of Dave being hit by the first killing curse and then thrown back into the arms of Harry and Bill. The caption on the photo was incredibly insulting as it read:

'Harry Potter and Bill Weasley cower in fear behind Harry's brother as he is struck by a killing curse.'

Fleur was particularly angry when she read this, and her eyes flashed with a dangerous fire that I had never seen before. Bill was quick to move to try and calm her down, but I got a distinct feeling that he was only delaying the explosion not neutralising it.

The headline on this edition of the Daily Prophet read:

Potter brothers discover secret to avoiding death.

The events in the Ministry on Monday brought to light the possibility that Harry's remarkable escape from Tom Riddle Jnr at the age of 18 months might not have been so remarkable after all. Indeed, it would seem that both Harry and his mysterious brother have somehow acquired some form of natural immunity to the killing curse. The photo on the left of this article shows Harry's mysterious brother as he's struck by the first of two killing curses that hit him during the battle in the Ministry.

A short time later Harry's brother was seen to be leaving the Ministry under his power and showing no ill effects from being struck by not one, but two killing curses. See page 3 for more photos. From this, we can only conclude that the Potter brothers are either immune to the killing curse or that they have somehow learnt how to bring people back from the dead. In either case, it is in the interests of the entire wizarding world that they immediately disclose how they managed to carry out both of these feats of magic. If only to return to us all the many loved ones who were lost in the recent war…

I looked up from what I had been reading, only to realise that I had been reading all the headline stories out loud. The shock and outrage that showed on the faces of everyone in the Burrow's kitchen provided mute testimony to what their thoughts were about the article that I had just read out.

"'ow can zey be so cruel to 'arry." Apolline remarked while looking at Molly with a look of dismay on her face, "Kingsley and Dave as well 'ave done nozing to deserve such treatment by ze press." She added as she looked at Sandra.

"Newspapers have always been more interested in printing editions rather than the truth." Ivan replied with a note of disgust in his voice, "However, as bad as the stories on the front pages are they only get worse when you get to the dragon dung that is inside the paper itself." He advised us all.

"Worse?" Molly asked, "How can they get worse than those horrid headlines." She asked a little fearful.

"There are stories inside the paper that are supposedly from Harry's many love interests during his time on the run." Ivan exclaimed, "They are making demands that Harry own up and acknowledge their relationships or in some cases their engagements." Ivan explained as Molly turned white with rage.

My blood was boiling at this news also, but I could only think of the hurt that Harry and Ginny would be feeling at seeing such hurtful lies published in the paper.

"They didn't?" Molly asked.

"They did indeed." Ivan replied, "Each one of these editions carries such a story. They didn't even take the time to check their stories with each other." He added.

"As they place Harry in different corners of the country on not only the same date but also the same times of the day as well." Ivan explained, "It's like they didn't even care about the lies that they printed. Only that they had enough to fill the required space in the newspaper." He added with a frustrated note.

"They are also using those stories as one of many possible reasons as to why Ginny apparently attacked Harry at Hogwarts after the battle there," Ivan explained.

"What?" I exclaimed, "That is just absolute crap." I snapped before I could catch myself. I didn't even register the surprised look on Molly's face at my outburst.

"She was distraught at seeing his supposedly dead body and then finding out that he was alive, and then learning that he had walked passed her on the way to the forest without even saying goodbye." I blurted out.

"Hermione," Molly said a little firmly as she tried to get me to calm down, "We know that dear and more importantly Harry knows that." She explained.

"But not everyone there had Harry's best interests in mind did they?" She reminded me, "Ms Parkinson is always looking for a way to get her name in the paper. I wouldn't put it past her to be the sole source of this trash." She stated as she angrily swatted the papers on the table. Arthur came up and put his arms around her to try and calm her down.

"What did zey say about Dave?" Fleur asked as I prepared to look at the rest of the paper.

"They are claiming that he is Harry's older brother who has been hiding in Australia to enable Harry to gain fame and fortune," Sandra replied with disgust clear in her voice. "There is also an interview in there supposedly from his fiancée Justine who goes on to make all sorts of lewd claims about him." She further explained with tears starting to show in her eyes.

"His fiancée?" Molly asked, "Where do they get this rubbish from." She asked.

"Who knows," Sandra exclaimed, "Unfortunately, if this Justine is who we think it is, she is in a position to cause Dave a great deal of pain," Sandra explained sadly.

"How?" Most of us asked at the same time.

"Her sister Renee used to date Jimmy until she betrayed his trust in her. All in an attempt at trying to make a 'name' for herself. As what exactly I never figured out" Sandra explained, "Given that they had been dating through the final two years of school she had learnt quite a bit about our family."

"Renee told the Australian papers all she knew about Jimmy's remarkable abilities as well as some aspects of our family's past," Sandra reported. "We can safely assume that she told her sister Justine what she had learnt as well."

"Both of those cows regard my boys as their personal property. They seem to believe that they can do anything they want to, regarding them." She spat in anger, "I know what they both did to Jimmy when he tried to move on with his life and began to see other women."

"I do not intend to see a repeat of that happen to Dave," Sandra stated with conviction and some real heat in her voice.

"Didn't Dave's relationship wiz Emma register on zem at all?" Fleur asked her.

Sandra laughed, "They both seemed to regard Dave's engagement and later marriage to Emma as his way of playing 'hard to get'."

"They both turned up uninvited to Jimmy's funeral, Renee tried to play the grieving fiancée for the press. But just about every Auror there all turned on her and chased her off." She reported.

"Justine, however, had somehow managed to locate Dave and was seen to be trying to 'comfort' him. Solely for the purpose of the photographers that she always seems to have following her around. But even in the state that he was in, he didn't want anything to do with her. All that was on his mind was getting back to Emma."

"Emma's brothers and Dave's cousins went to help him get away from her. They reported back to us that Justine had apparently asked him 'So are you single yet? Or is that hag still alive?'"

"She said what?" I had to ask, as I couldn't believe that someone would ask something like that. The looks on the faces of Julian, Apolline and Fleur showed that they would tolerate none of that sort of attitude from anyone toward their Gabrielle. Or 'their' Dave for that matter.

"Yes, she has no sense of common decency at all," Sandra reported. "She even tried to show up at Emma's funeral…"

"Ze nerve," Fleur remarked in shock.

"That's close to what I was thinking myself at the time." Sandra chuckled, an evil light in her eyes. "Although I think I used fewer words." She said with a smile to Fleur who smiled in return.

"Apparently she had come to tell Dave that she was willing to 'take him back' now that his charade with that 'other woman' was over," Sandra stated with a dangerous look in her eyes.

"What 'appened to 'er?" Fleur asked.

"Emma's Grandmothers caught her trying to sneak in." Sandra chuckled, "I'm not sure what exactly it was that they did to her, but she hasn't been seen in public since." She said with a laugh.

"For someone who spent just about every moment trying to get herself noticed by the press, to disappear and go underground like that suddenly." Sandra said with a smile, "Emma's Grandmothers must have pulled off something extraordinary indeed." She said with an evil little laugh.

We all had to agree with Sandra's assessment of that particular situation.

"Did any of these editions of the Daily Prophet publish Kingsley's announcement at all?" I asked as I was looking through the papers.

"They did." Ivan replied, "But you have to get to page 12 to find it. Even then they broke it up and spread it over several pages of the paper."

"They also didn't publish the form that family members can use to structure and submit information on missing family members."

"Nor did they publish any of the details we gave them about the families we have managed to identify."

"Kingsley isn't going to be happy with that," Arthur reported.

"He isn't." Ivan agreed, "He rang me to apologise for the paper's actions and told me that he was heading straight there to get things sorted out for the afternoon edition." Ivan advised us.

"I told him he does not need to apologise as no one can truly control a 'free press'. But Kingsley seems to have taken it almost as a personal affront that the Daily Prophet would publish crap like this, rather than inform the wizarding world about missing members of the wizarding public." Ivan explained.

It was now that two owls arrived. One was carrying the Weasley's copy of the Daily Prophet (they got the version with the photo of Molly and Sandra on the cover). The other owl was from Luna. She had sent a copy of the Quibbler, along with a note saying that her father had published the requested information. Luna added that after seeing what she called the 'Daily Profit' had done she was happy that the wizarding public had at least now got visibility of the information.

"Oh, bless Luna and Xenophilius," Molly said smiling at the note. "Her father might be a little odd, but his heart is certainly in the right place." She added as she opened the paper.

The headline on the front page read:

Thank Merlin they're safe!

Underneath this headline, Xenophilius had written a small editorial praising the efforts of the Australasian Auror Service Aurors as well as those who had worked with them. He also made mention that this information was to be distributed by all wizarding publications at the request of Kingsley and the Ministry. He added that the Quibbler was proud to assist in the dissemination of this sort of news from the Ministry.

Then below that was the announcement from Kingsley, published as requested.

"It's almost like he knew that the Daily Prophet wouldn't have complied with the request from the Ministry isn't it," Arthur said with an enthusiastic grin on his face. "I'm sure that the readership of the Quibbler will grow significantly after this." He chuckled.

"I hope it does." Ivan replied with a smile, "I'd certainly be happy to have this Xenophilius over for dinner at the embassy to say thank you." He offered.

"I'm sure he would be delighted." I told Ivan and Sandra, "Just be prepared for some of the most 'original' conversation that you have ever had." I added chuckling. Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie and George were all chuckling along with me.

"Sounds like it could be an educational and memorable event." He added with a grin.

While we were discussing this, another owl arrived. This time it was carrying a letter addressed to Molly. She collected the letter and thanked the owl. It took only one look at the writing on the envelope for her to tell who had sent it.

"It's a letter from Great Aunt Muriel." She told us with a little hesitation in her voice. The looks on the faces of Ivan and Sandra said all that needed to be said at this point. Even Arthur was looking a little grim.

Molly broke open the envelope and extracted the note inside. It looked to be only short, but whatever was written on it almost caused her to fly into a rage. If Arthur hadn't been on hand to calm her down, I'm not sure what would have happened.

"What does it say?" Sandra asked a little fearful.

Arthur picked up the note and read it aloud.

'My Dear Molly,

I hope this finds you and your poor but dear little family in good health.

I'm writing to you about a troublesome article I happened to see in today's paper.

It was about a woman that you met at the Ministry on Monday.

I would like to take a moment to warn you about her.

Do not believe a word that comes out of that woman's mouth.

She is a well-known con-artist and has plagued our family before.

I know that as a good daughter of the Prewitt family you will follow this advice.

Especially if you wish to remain in my current will.

Love Muriel.

"She is still a tiresome old windbag, isn't she?" Ivan remarked to his wife, with a crooked half smile.

"That's a polite way of putting it," Molly replied with an angry note in her voice.

"Do not let her get to you." Arthur advised Molly, "If you let her get back under your skin the old bat will stay there forever."

"Good advice Arthur." Ivan agreed as he also checked on Sandra to see that she was getting herself under control. She looked to be struggling with it, but her control was gradually getting the upper hand. "We have more important matters at hand right now than notes from that old bat," Ivan advised his wife.

"We need to let Harry and Dave along with the rest of them know what has been printed in the papers this morning." He reminded us all, "When do you expect them to be back from their morning run?" He asked us.

"The first group should be along very soon actually," Molly replied as we all looked out the window and could see some people moving along the late.

"First group?" Ivan asked. We then let him know that since Ron, Harry, Ginny and Gabrielle had joined in on the morning run, they often split into three groups during it.

"I see." He replied, "Ok then I will go and grab the first group and ask them to collect the stragglers and bring them back here straight away." With that, he exited the Burrow and made for the gate to the lane.

We saw him greet Shelly and the first group as they arrived at the gate. Soon after this they all Apparated away and were soon back with the two groups of stragglers. Ivan then brought everyone over to the tables that had been set up in the yard.

Here he explained to them all what had appeared in the morning's newspapers. After he had described the situation, he showed them the different editions of the paper.

Dave's reaction to the interview with his 'fiancée' looked to be one of an icy rage. Watching him while he read the article you could not only see him getting angry but feel it also. It wasn't anger that caused him to jump up and start to scream and yell; it was the sort of rage that seemed to lead to detailed plans to turn the tables on both the reporter and their source. Sandra was watching Dave with a look of concern on her face as she wasn't entirely sure how he would respond.

Looking around I could see both of Dave's sisters and Cassy reading over his shoulder. They were visibly becoming furious as well about what they were reading.

"It was Justine that they interviewed, wasn't it?" Sandra asked Dave when he finished reading the article. His only reply was to nod his head slightly. Gabrielle looked to be full of curiosity as to who this Justine was. But she caught Fleur's look and a slight shake of her head and decided not to pursue that line of questioning just now.

"Are you sure?" Sandra asked. Again, Dave only nodded in reply.

"It's her mum." Shelly said with a steely look in her eyes, "Only someone who was there would know about that particular scar she mentioned."

"You mean it's real?" Sandra asked in shock.

"It's real mum," Shelly explained. "She's the one who gave it to him."

"She WHAT!" Sandra almost exploded. Ivan also looked about ready to explode as well. "When did this happen?" She demanded. Several others from Dave's team looked to be very interested in Dave's answer to this question also.

"It would have been late on the Saturday of the Easter long weekend," Dave answered after a moment's thought.

"I see" Sandra replied with her eyes blazing, "I wondered why you looked so uncomfortable while helping out with the Easter egg hunt and other games." She remarked.

"Yes, I was still a little tender from it," Dave replied.

"Why didn't you say anything?" She almost pleaded with him.

"Several reasons." Dave replied, "Most importantly I didn't want to spoil Easter for the 'munchkins'..." He began to explain.

"No, I mean officially," Sandra demanded of her son. Dave just looked at her for a few moments before he answered.

"She was trying to get a reaction of some sort, from me," Dave answered in a voice that while it was quiet, it was also clearly heard by all of us. His voice also very clearly conveyed his thoughts about the person under discussion. I can remember thinking at that time that I hoped that I never got to experience Dave talking about me in a voice like that, as it terrified me.

"When I didn't give her what she wanted. She drew that knife she always has with her and cut me." He explained. "She was obviously hoping that I would fall to the ground so that she could 'comfort' me and give her hidden photographer something interesting to capture on film."

"Either I was extremely fortunate, or she is utterly useless with a blade. As she missed all the tendons and major blood vessels in that area." Dave told us "Because of that I was able to stop the bleeding and just walk away while ignoring her. As I wasn't going to give her a reaction of any sort."

Sandra looked to have gone almost white with rage at hearing this.

"Was her hidden photographer the reason you wouldn't let us 'deal' with her?" Shelly asked Dave.

"Partly." He replied, "She also isn't worth the time it would take to fill out the paperwork for an incident of that sort." He explained to her (and the rest of us).

"You mean to say that you let her get away with stabbing you?" Ivan asked incredulously. The rest of us were in a similar state of disbelief.

"Yes, I guess I did." Dave replied with a thoughtful look, "You need to remember dad that she is doing everything that she can to cause of spectacle of some sort. She is almost desperate in her attempts to do so."

"If I had put in a report on that event, she would have been charged. That would mean that she would have been arrested. That would then give her the opportunity to contest the charges in court."

"A public stage like a courtroom would be the perfect platform for the media circus that she so desperately wants to cause," Dave explained.

"You sound like you have thought it all through." Fireball remarked with an evil glint in her eye, "I was worried that you had let her get away with it out of your 'love' for her." She said with an evil chuckle as she teased her 'little' brother in a way that only 'loving' sisters can.

"I think that I would prefer to kiss a Dementor before I allowed myself to entertain ANY possibility of any feelings for her," Dave replied in a cold voice.

"Sounds like an acceptable plan of action." Ginny chuckled at Dave. "Considering the alternative." She added. This caused some nervous laughter at the table until Dave slowly started to show traces of a smile at the corners of his mouth. Gabrielle flashed Ginny a very grateful smile as she maneuvered her way into Dave's lap and enfolded him in a hug, which he gratefully returned.

After a few moments, Gabrielle released Dave and delivered a few kisses to him as well. Dave then looked across to Harry whose mood seemed to be just as dark as Dave's was a few moments ago.

Harry's face visibly showed the hurt that he felt, from the articles that insinuated that he was 'running around' with numerous women when he had in fact been working very hard to both stay alive and solve the puzzle that Professor Dumbledore had left him. His face also showed some anger that people would believe these stories. When he looked to Ginny his concerns for her feelings were plain to see.

Ginny wasn't showing any hurt for her feelings, as she knew her Harry. She was, however, trying to hide her anger at what had been written about Harry. When she registered Harry's hurt as he looked at her, she quickly pushed her anger to one side as she offered her love and support to him.

The effect on Harry was immediate and clear to see. Ginny evidently had a powerful hold on Harry, and she wasn't about to let go anytime soon. As she took him into her arms and gave him some hugs of her own. I could see her resolve surface, and it showed that she wasn't interested in allowing those who wrote these stories to escape her unique brand of direct justice.

Dave had been watching this scene approvingly with a small smile on his face. As Ginny was releasing Harry from her hug, Dave caught his attention.

"Harry, you should know by now that the press never lets the facts get in the way of a good story," Dave remarked with a slightly forced chuckle.

"I think it's more likely that he has been frightened by the thought that people will now think you're his brother." Fireball remarked with a sly smile at Ron and Ginny, "Speaking from experience, I can relate as to how upset that can make you feel." She added while grinning at Harry.

Fireball's statement looked to have done the trick as Harry had a startled look on his face for a few moments before he had to smile at the impish look on Fireball's face. I could see the grateful look that both Ginny and Ron returned to her. Then Ron had a look of mischief on his face as well.

"That makes sense I suppose." He said with a smile, "Finding out he is your cousin is scary enough. I can't imagine how much worse it would be to have him as your brother." He said before laughing at the thought.

This pushed Harry over the edge, as he too began to laugh at Ron's comment. It wasn't long before we were all laughing. Poor Dave was struggling trying to look hurt, but at the same time trying (and failing) not to laugh at the look on his sister's face.

"Honestly with friends and family like this, who needs enemies…" Dave remarked as he looked at the group before him. As he looked to Gabrielle, he found her failing badly to contain a giant smile that wanted to take over her face. The look of resignation on Dave's face as he regarded her was very entertaining.

He pulled her to him and gave her a quick kiss then said. "It's ok, go ahead and laugh, you're going to do yourself an injury if you keep on struggling like that."

"Merci," Gabrielle replied before she burst into joyous laughter. Dave could only smile at the sight.

While we were all enjoying ourselves by laughing at Dave and Harry, Kingsley arrived carrying some sacks that looked to contain letters.

"It seems that I have missed out on something here." He asked with an amused smile while he took in the group.

Arthur quickly explained to him about the exchange that had just occurred and Kingsley was also soon struggling to keep the smile off of his face.

"Is the whole wizarding world laughing at me this morning?" Dave enquired of no one in particular.

"Not everyone." Kingsley replied, "That group we captured last night are most definitely not fans of yours. But they're co-operative least we turn them over to you for further questioning." He added with a Cheshire Grin of his own at Dave.

"Glad to be of help," Dave replied while he rolled his eyes in resignation and Gabrielle enfolded him in another hug.

"How did it go at the Daily Prophet?" Ivan asked Kingsley while trying (unsuccessfully) to hide his own grin.

"Frustrating." Kingsley replied, "They claim to have followed my instructions to the letter, as they had planned to release the form and details on the families in the afternoon edition." He explained with an air of annoyance.

"That is a pretty thin excuse," Ivan replied as he agreed with Kingsley. Arthur also looked to be in full agreement with them both.

"Will they be replicating the Quibbler for their afternoon edition?" Arthur asked as he held up a copy for Kingsley to see.

"I should hope so as I left them a few copies of it as 'inspiration'." He chuckled, "Along with a bit of a warning." He added with a grin.

"What sort of warning?" Ivan asked.

"I told them that if they didn't comply with my requests this time, the Quibbler would receive exclusive access to the Ministry along with any further announcements." He advised with a sly grin on his face.

"That should have gotten their attention," Arthur said happily. "What's with the sacks?" He enquired.

"Ah… Yes. These. Well, the Ministry has been flooded with quite a bit of mail this morning." Kingsley explained, "By the time I got back from the Daily Prophet offices the mail room was already passed the point of overflowing."

"Quite a good portion of the mail is about missing friends and family members." He advised, "The next largest chunk of mail is people demanding answers for the events in the Ministry on Monday as well as to why your Aurors were operating here uninvited." He told Ivan with a slightly sheepish grin.

"The next most common topic of the mail we have been receiving are marriage proposals for Harry. Now that he is apparently 'free' to date again." Kingsley said as poor Harry received some good-natured ribbing from his family. Dave and his team were also poking gentle fun at him while Ginny wrapped him in her arms to assure him of his 'proper' place (in her view).

"You must be slipping in your popularity, Harry." George chuckled, "Only two sacks of mail by morning? The girls of the wizarding world must think that you are getting too old or something."

The look Harry directed at him could have cut a hole in solid stone. But George only grinned impishly back in reply. So much so, that eventually Harry had to give in and begin to laugh about it.

"Actually George" Kingsley stated, "The sacks are magically expanded with featherweight charms on them, and only the first one is really for Harry." He explained.

"Oh REALLY?" George asked in delight, "Who is the other sack of mail for?"

"Well the other sack is also magically expanded, and it is letters from infatuated women asking Harry if he can introduce them to his brother (if Harry himself isn't interested in them that is), along with all sorts of questions about him." Kingsley explained with a grin, "There is apparently quite a bit of interest among the female magical population here. Mostly around the 'official status' of Harry's brother as well as his age." He said as Dave's family and fellow team members all fell about in near hysterical laughter. Dave was giving Kingsley a near identical look to the one that Harry had just given to George. While Gabrielle apparently saw the funny side of the situation, she did, however, have a secure and slightly possessive grip on 'her' Dave.

Harry was looking quizzically at Kingsley, while Ginny was struggling to hold back her own laughter at the expression on Harry's face. After a few moments, Harry also saw the funny side with the situation along with Ginny's grin.

"There are also a few marriage proposals addressed to some members of Dave's team also." Kingsley chuckled. This seemed to restore some of Dave's good humour and make a few of the others look slightly worried.

"Why would women propose marriage to someone they don't even know?" Fireball asked Kingsley.

"It's not just the women sending marriage proposals, Fireball." Kingsley explained, "There are one or two proposals addressed to you as well." He advised her.

This caused Fireball to be immediately offered several sets of suggestions as to what to do with her mail. She also freely offered her own advice in reply.

"So, is it safe to assume that you do not want to read over your 'fan' mail?" Kingsley asked Harry with an amused grin. He also directed a sly look at Dave to see what his reaction was as well.

"I have no desire, or need to read any of it," Dave replied, much to Gabrielle's great pleasure.

"Good answer." She told him softly, but several others still heard it and smiled in response.

"Same here." Harry also replied.

"Smart answer," Ginny told him cheekily not caring who heard it as she fixed Harry with a wicked little grin. Harry smiled slightly nervously in return, while the rest of the Weasleys had a good laugh.

"So, you are all happy to have these burnt?" Kingsley asked showing only slight disappointment. He was presented with a chorus of "Yes!" from all four of them. When they all realised that they had spoken in unison, it caused them all to begin to laugh at the situation. The rest of us also joined in as well.

"Before you do that Kingsley, the letters that have curses on them should be carefully removed and studied. As whoever sent them, clearly had inflicting harm in mind." Sandra stated as she looked thoughtfully at the sacks.

"Cursed?" Kingsley asked in disbelief. "Are you sure?" He asked.

"Extremely." Sandra replied confidently, "I can feel four letters in those sacks which are cursed. In fact, there is something similar between all of them that leads me to believe that it is possible that the same person most likely sent all of them."

"I will ensure that they're thoroughly investigated before being destroyed," Kingsley answered with genuine appreciation. "Is there anything else of note in there that you can see or detect?" He enquired.

"Nothing out of the ordinary considering that it is a bunch of mail from mostly infatuated teenage girls. Or rather worryingly, their mothers." She chuckled, "Just about everything edible in there is laced with some pretty potent love potions. So, it would be wise to make sure whoever handles this mail is made aware of that." She added with an evil smile at Dave.

Ginny definitely caught this look, and she quickly asked, "What's the story behind that look Aunty?" with her 'sweet and innocent' face on full display. She didn't fool anyone but considering it was Dave's family she was asking I don't think that they really cared. They were just looking for an opening to use to try and embarrass Dave.

"It's not much of a story really." She replied with her own innocent look, "There was just a 'small' allergic reaction, I guess is the best way to explain it." She chuckled.

"Small?" Fireball, Shelly and Cassy remarked in almost perfect unison.

"It went on for the best part of a day. I wouldn't call that small." Fireball chuckled.

"We don't need to discuss that just now, do we?" Dave asked his sisters and mother with an almost pleading look on his face.

Sandra looked at Dave with a somewhat amused expression on her face for several moments before she replied.

"No, I guess we can leave that story for your Grandmother." She replied with an evil glint in her eyes. Dave accepted this answer while trying not to show his relief. Ginny and Gabrielle looked for all the world like they were storing this information away for use another day, however.

Kingsley too appeared to have a curious look on his face at this news. But he also quickly put it aside, as he had just noticed Pepper sitting at the table next to Guz. When she saw Kingsley's gaze on her, she looked slightly guilty and had a small blush on her cheeks. Kingsley gave her a cheeky smile and continued.

"Given how unreliable the papers have been in getting accurate information out to the wizarding public. I would like to call a press conference so that we can answer the many questions that people are asking about recent events." He advised us.

"Press conference?" Harry snorted with heavy contempt. "How is that going to help us get accurate information out?" He asked Kingsley.

"The press will only print what they want to print. Not to mention the way that they carry on during the actual press conference, it's almost like they are answering your questions for you." He remarked.

"What he said," Dave said with a grin at Harry that was returned.

"We could broadcast it live?" George offered 'helpfully'. "Lee Jordan has got his own radio show now, and I'm very sure he would be happy to assist." George offered.

"If the press knew that the wizarding public was listening in on the conference it might make them behave with some more decorum." He suggested.

"I think you're giving them more credit than they deserve George," Harry replied while Dave and Ron nodded in agreement with him.

"We could do a one on one interview," Ginny suggested as her eyes came alight with the idea. "Just like Hermione organised so that Harry could tell everyone about Tom Riddle Jnr being back. Where you did that interview with Rita Skeeta and Mr Lovegood published it in the Quibbler."

"That's a great idea, Ginny." I told her happily, "Although we should probably pick a different reporter this time." I added after looking at Harry's face. Ginny followed my gaze, and after taking in Harry's expression, she quickly agreed.

"You and Luna should do the interviews," Ginny suggested after a moment's thought. "That way the questions will be the ones we want them to be?"

"That's actually an excellent idea Ginny," Kingsley replied. "Hermione could interview Harry and Luna could interview Dave." He suggested with a slightly smug look on his face.

"I'm afraid that won't work," Dave replied while returning Kingsley's smug look. "As an active duty Auror, I'm not authorised to give interviews covering active operations." He explained with a smile and a grin at his father.

"Luna would be better off interviewing my boss." He suggested as he grinned madly at his father. "As he is authorised to give interviews on just about anything." He explained very smugly.

"I had forgotten about that," Ivan admitted with a sheepish look while Dave and his team all grinned broadly at him.

"It does make sense dear," Sandra replied while trying to hide her own amusement. "We should probably get Hermione to interview Kingsley instead of Harry as well." She suggested as Harry's face split into a broad grin. I'm sure that she had just scored some serious 'brownie points' with Harry for getting him out of being interviewed for a newspaper once again.

I also have to admit that the thought of getting to interview Kingsley had gotten me rather excited, and I was indeed looking forward to the challenge.

"Sounds to me like they have gotten this one all worked out between them," Dave said a little smugly to Harry.

"Indeed, it does," Harry replied just as smugly. "Time to hit the showers?" he suggested.

"Not just yet," Ivan replied with a devious look in his eyes. "You may have gotten out of the interview, but you can still help by supplying some of the information needed for it."

"I guess so," Dave replied as he quickly drew out his mirror phone and dialled Drunkmouse in one smooth motion.

"Good morning all," Drunkmouse answered as the connection was made.

"Good evening to you mate," Dave replied with a chuckle. "I need you to call up some key bits of information on our time here." Dave requested, "As the Minister is going to give an interview around our operations in the UK." Dave explained.

"Oh, is he taking Jimmy's place in the plan, then is he?" Drunkmouse asked.

"What plan is this?" Ivan asked a moment before Dave could.

"The plan we worked out to hoist the press by their own petard," Drunkmouse replied. "Jimmy, Dave, Mick, Shelly, Izzy and Jean-Luc came up with it. Right after that hack, Rita Skeeter published that story, 'exposing' the elderly couple who had been hiding Muggle-Born wizards and their families from the Ministry." He explained.

"We did?" Dave asked as he looked at Mick, Shelly and Izzy with a question on his face. They also were looking equally perplexed about it.

"When did we do that?" Dave asked Drunkmouse.

"The plan was mostly finalised the day before Jimmy was killed," Drunkmouse replied, and you could instantly see the grief register on Dave's face, as he recalled those events. Gabrielle quickly grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. This seemed to be enough to distract Dave from his thoughts.

"Sorry mate." Dave replied, "My memory of that time isn't too clear." He said a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, I figured that might have been that case," Drunkmouse replied kindly. "But luckily for you all, we here at HQ didn't forget, and we have been diligently gathering information, newspaper records and cross-referencing them to either your operations or the many deaths and disappearances of people." He explained.

"It has turned into quite an impressive set of records." He chuckled.

"Just how were you going to use this information?" Ivan asked Drunkmouse.

"The original plan was for there to be a press conference where Jimmy would present this information that showed just how poorly the wizarding world had been served by the mainstream press. As well as the Ministry." Drunkmouse explained.

"I think I like that idea," Kingsley replied with a certain evil light coming into his eyes. "If we could find a way to present that information just right, it could inflict some serious damage to the opposition and their claims that things have been exaggerated in the official reports." He almost chuckled.

"You know that could just work." Ivan agreed. "We would need someone else to do the press conference though." He suggested with a grin at Dave.

"My thoughts exactly." Kingsley agreed as he too turned and grinned at Dave.

"It's a conspiracy." Dave shot back at the two ministers. "You're just trying to get even with me for suggesting that you two be the ones doing the interviews. Aren't you." He enquired.

"Yes." They both replied in unison. This caused several sets of laughter around the table, mostly because of the look of exasperation on Dave's face.

"You seem to forget Minister, that I'm not authorised to give interviews of any sort, which are connected to active operations." Dave replied smugly to his father, "A press conference would fall under that category." He said with the look of someone who had just escaped the hangman's noose.

"Unless the press conference is part of an active operation," Ivan replied with his own VERY smug look back at Dave. "Your little plan that Drunkmouse just described to us makes this press conference fall into that category." He added with a look of extreme satisfaction on his face.

Kingsley also looked to be smiling in a very smug and self-satisfied manner too. Dave, however, looked like someone who had escaped the frying pan only to fall into the fire.

"Don't worry Dave." I told him, "I have some ideas on how we can make this press conference much more enjoyable for you." I told him with an evil grin of my own as I thought about getting even with Rita Skeeter. Not only would I be playing her own game against her, but I would also be doing it in public.

"How?" Dave asked a little suspiciously.

After gathering everyone around, I began to explain my plan. I could see the looks on their faces indicating that they were in full agreement with me. Not only for what I was trying to achieve but for how it was to be executed as well. More on that later.

As I finished explaining my plan to everyone, Drunkmouse was the first to offer his complete support. Kingsley, Ivan, Dave and Harry were quick to follow. Ginny was also very keen to help, and she dashed off to send an owl to Luna to invite her and her father over to the Burrow for lunch so that things could be coordinated with them as well.

Dave's team and family were very willing accomplice's as well. It almost made me feel sorry for the members of the press who would be attending the press conference.

George raced off to see Lee Jordan (Guz and Rowdy were quickly sent along with him by Dave), to secure his support as well. We were to find out that Lee Jordan was an enthusiastic supporter of my plan also.

When George returned and announced Lee's support for the idea as well as the time and place, Kingsley left to go to the Ministry (Goose and Jono accompanied him) to get an announcement about the press conference the following day put out. The statement would also let everyone know that it would be broadcast on the WWN.

With that done we could all finally head off to get cleaned up and changed for breakfast. Along with readying ourselves for our trip to Gringotts later in the morning.