Getting some answers, more Quidditch talk and a healing touch.

Short chapter but I still have to figure out the rest of Umbridge's dastardly plot and figure out how little Mafalda Hopkirk is going to fit into the story.

Amelia Thompson came back from lunch with a plan. She didn't know two of the marriage law perpetrators but she DID know Umbridge and Runcorn. She wasn't sure of the name of Runcorn's assistant but she knew Mafalda Hopkirk was assistant to Umbridge. The problem with that, though was Mafalda herself. After years of being browbeaten by Umbridge, she was a nervous, jumpy witch who might or might not consent to bringing her employer down. Personally, Amelia couldn't see how Mafalda had lasted so long already, without trying to kill Umbridge herself. The woman was MEAN to her employees. She had run off about five or more before being assigned Mafalda.

Amelia was engulfed in a wave of secretaries as soon as she walked in. They all wanted to know how Kingsley Shacklebolt was. 'Was he good to her, did she think he'd be a good husband, what were their plans for the wedding?' she laughed as she said they had only had their first lunch date and hadn't really discussed any plans yet. They were shocked and immediately began giving advice and ideas about the wedding and a bridal shower for her. She noticed Mafalda sitting off to one side, watching them wistfully. 'Maybe that was the key, she seemed rather lonely.' Amelia instantly decided that she and Mafalda were going to be friends before it was all said and done. She knew, somehow, this witch was the key she and Kingsley were looking for.

It wouldn't do to jump right into asking her about anything she might have overheard Umbridge and Runcorn discussing. She would gain Mafalda's trust, then ask her how she felt about the marriage law. Once she had the woman's own feelings about it, then she could decide if it would help or hurt their cause. Speaking of which, she could see a great many rings on hands that had been bare over a week ago. She thought it was a likely possibility that Mafalda had been matched with someone, as she knew the woman was single. She could, now that she thought about it, see a ring on her left hand. She wondered who her match was.

Just then, the door to Umbridge's office flew open and none other than Albert Runcorn strode out. Amelia's eyes widened. 'Why had he been in there? He had his own office across the way.' She narrowed her eyes in thought.

"Mafalda, come!" he commanded. She watched as Mafalda quickly gathered her notebook and quill and scurried after him. Amelia closed her eyes. 'Surely not, please tell her the Fates had not been that cruel, to pair Mafalda with HIM!' Even as she thought it, though, she knew instinctively that's what had happened. She was now more determined to make friends with the witch than ever. Mafalda would need a friend before this whole mess was cleaned up.

Back at Hogwarts, Draco and Marcus had gone in search of their needed Quidditch players. They found Scabior and McKeon in the Great Hall, sitting with Victoria and Hermione. "Oi, we need to walk to you two, are you up for playing Quidditch this year?" Marcus jumped right into the heart of the matter. Alex smiled and nodded. Mikey hesitated. Hermione looked at him and he was staring at his left hand. "Mikey?" she asked, laying her hand on his shoulder. Much as he and Alex talked about Quidditch, she knew he still loved the game. When he and Alex were still in school, Slytherin had pretty much ruled the pitch.

"I'll have to sit it out. I can't play anymore." Mikey said, sadly. They were stunned. He looked up and around. Then he removed the glove and showed them why he was refusing to play. Hermione had seen his hand briefly before she transfigured him a new glove but this time she took a closer look. As before his fingers were knotted and crooked from the knuckles down. Now she realized, watching his face then his hand, that he had little to no control of it. The hand just wouldn't move. He could twitch his fingertips but that was about the extent of it. She remembered now that he only ever used it to run his fingers through her hair.

She sighed and thought. Then she sat straight up and gasped. "Where's your mum, Mikey? I need to ask her something!"

"Oi, Mikey, Hermione has her thinking cap on, you might be in trouble!" Harry said, watching from across the table. Hermione whipped around and wrinkled her nose at Harry. She'd just remembered something from years ago that might help her boyfriend play Quidditch again. Much as the game bored her, she could see how distressing it was to him, having to step down from playing.

Having heard her unofficial title called, Pandora meandered down towards her son, noting the distressed look on his face. Mike watched from the teachers' table as he was talking Quidditch with McGonagall, Snape and HIS cousin, Alexander. 'Whatever it was, she'd let him know if it was important.'

Pandora stopped next to her boy. "Son, is everything alright?"

"Professor Scabior?" she heard Hermione address her hesitantly.

"Yes, Hermione dear?" she sat down beside the girl, looking at her curiously.

"Has anything ever been done to help Mikey regain the use of his left hand?" Hermione was a little intimidated by talking to her future mother in law. Pandora glanced at her son's hand. "No, by the time we got him back, his hand was beyond repair. Believe me, Miss Granger, my husband and I have tried every way possible in the last couple of months. Nothing has worked."

"Have, um, have you ever tried, um, de-boning his arm, say from mid forearm down and giving him Skele-Grow to regrow the bone?" Hermione asked.

Pandora's eyes flared open in surprise. "No, I must say we never thought of trying that. Why would you ask?"

"In our second year of school, Harry broke his arm, catching the Snitch during a match." Turning to Mikey, she told him. "You might remember that?" Mikey nodded, hiding a grin. "That total nincompoop Lockhart had completely de-boned Harry's right arm." He told his mum. He was starting to see where this was going.

"He used a spell on Harry and Harry had to spend the night in the infirmary, regrowing the bones of his right arm. I know it's been a few years since Mikey's hand got messed up but do you think it would work? I don't think it would have to be his entire arm, just the forearm down or maybe just from the wrist down?" her words trailed off as Pandora began examining her son's hand and range of motion.

"I think the lowest we can go, in order for him to regain the full use of his hand, is, like you said, mid forearm. Come, let's go to the infirmary. I'm confident of my work but I would like Madame Pomfrey's opinion as well." She stood and walked to the teacher's table to let Mike know what they were doing. He excused himself and followed her back down.

As the group made its way to the infirmary, they laughed and joked, remembering how Harry had been able to contort his arm all the way behind him before being given the Skele-Grow. Once there, they presented their idea to Madame Pomfrey. She did her own examine of Mikey's hand and agreed.

"Mr. Scabior, it's up to you now. It's your hand we're talking about, after all." Madame Pomfrey looked at the young man. He thought how much it was going to hurt regrowing a hand but then he thought of how much he loved playing Quidditch. Then he thought of how much he loved running this hand through Hermione's hair, how much more enjoyable it would be to actually FEEL her hair as opposed to just watching it wind around his fingers. He looked at the nurse, nodded and held out his arm.

The others watched as the spell was performed. As she went to get the Skele-Grow, Madame Pomfrey could hear him laughing as his arm flapped around uselessly. She turned and he, Marcus, Draco, Harry and Ron were having a mock sword fight with his arm AS his sword. She chuckled at the sight and shook her head. 'Oh, boys will be boys!'

"All right, once you take this, I'm also going to give you a Sleeping Draught. That will promote faster healing, Mr. Scabior. By tomorrow morning, your hand should be as good as new. Of course, this won't take away any scars or anything like that, you understand." She warned him as he protested the second potion.

He drank the Skele-Grow, gagging as it went down, then swilled down the Sleeping Draught right behind it. He began to feel the effects of the second potion immediately as his eyes drooped. He dropped onto the infirmary bed and pulled Hermione down with him. She sat there, stroking his head talking about their classes. Finally he was in a deep sleep. They left as Madame Pomfrey, once again, assured them that Mikey's hand would be as good as new in the morning.

After leaving the infirmary, Hermione decided to go to the library and work in some upcoming assignments. She figured this way, she could get her work done today and have all day tomorrow with Mikey.

Her friends, knowing it was almost impossible to keep Hermione Granger away from homework, left her to it and went outside to sit by the Black Lake. Draco and Marcus went to find the rest of the Quiiditch team and decide a day to start team practices.

Amelia was hard at work when she heard the other ladies start tittering. She looked up and smiled as Kingsley walked toward her. She gathered her belongings together, glancing at Mafalda's desk as she did. She still hadn't returned from wherever Runcorn had gone. Determined to befriend her as soon as possible, she scribbled a quick note and dropped it on her desk as she passed it.

As she and Kingsley walked to the Floo line to leave, she told him her suspicions regarding Runcorn, Umbridge and Mafalda. Knowing what a sweet, nervous young woman Mafalda was, Kingsley grimaced, not liking the idea of her pairing any more then Amelia did. They discussed the possibility that it was only Umbridge and Runcorn behind the law, even though there were four names on the document Kingsley had.

"Kings, there has to be at least four names on any kind of document presented to the lawmakers, right? What if Travers and Alden don't even realize their names were used? The two of them rarely ever show up at the ministry anymore. They might not even realize what happened! The people behind the law aren't revealed to the general public. If you hadn't investigated and found that document, we might not have known who to start looking at." Amelia wrapped her hand around his arm.

"I think I need to pay a visit to both Travers and Alden tomorrow morning. If your suspicions pan out, we might have that law overturned fairly soon. But that doesn't tell us WHY they had the law started in the first place." Kingsley mused.

"Leave that to me, dear. I think Mafalda might be our key to that particular mystery. Also, did you know that Albert Runcorn apparently has free rein to use Umbridge's office? He came out today as if it was his own." Amelia tipped her head up to peer at Kingsley.

"That is curious. Alright, you work on Mafalda and I'll work on Travers and Alden. Between the two of us, we'll get this whole thing straightened out." Kingsley squeezed her gently as they went to get ready to dine out.

The next morning, in the Hogwarts infirmary, Mikey woke up. He blinked in confusion. 'Why was he in the infirmary? Had he gotten in a fight and didn't remember it?' He stretched and flexed his hands. He froze. 'Hands?!' he jerked his hands down and held them out. He flexed them again. It wasn't a dream! His left hand was working as good as his right hand again! He remembered now. They had de-boned part of his arm. It worked! He let out a long howl of delight, waking a few first years who were at the other end of the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey came running in alarm. Once she realized what he was so delighted about, she had to laugh with him. After examining his hands and taking him through some range of motion tests, she showed him some simple exercises to help strengthen his hand.

"You're free to go, Mr. Scabior. Take care of that hand. Give my regards to your parents." She sent him out, knowing he'd want to show them or Hermione right away. He ran out, whopping in delight. Outside the portrait guarding the Head room, he banged on the door. It took only a moment for Hermione to open the door. Before she could even greet him, he grabbed her into a tight hug and kissed her soundly. As she was gasping for breath, he released her and held up his hands. She squealed as she finally saw what he was so excited about. His left hand was better! They hurried down to the Great Hall to show his parents.

As they came bursting in, everyone stopped to watch them. He had his left hand in his pocket, as usual. After making sure that Hermione was seated, he walked on up to the Head Table and stopped short in front of his parents. He slowly raised his arms up and propped them on the table as he grinned madly and began wagging the fingers of both hands. Both parents jumped up, came around the table and hugged him tightly as they looked at his hand.