"Well, that's the memories and all your fabric and wool. What's next?" Draco asked.
"There's only one thing left before the veiling and that's Ron."
"Urgh… You're on your own for that one." Draco still had no fondness for the young Weasley, and he was praying that the redhead wouldn't ask to join them. He wasn't sure he could cope with that.
"Yeah, I've got this." Hermione smiled at him and stood. "Let's get this into the hospital, so I can get this meeting over with."
"Hello, Hermione." Ron gave Hermione a hesitant smile as she entered the parlour he'd reserved at the Leaky Cauldron.
"Hello, Ron." Hermione ignored her nerves and settled in an armchair that sat in front of the small grated fireplace.
"How are you?" Ron asked, his fingers twitching.
"I'm well, nervous about tomorrow and Harry's sentence being carried out but… I'm well, otherwise."
"Is everything ready for that? I mean… I read in the Prophet that you've been getting a trunk ready for him?"
"I have." She nodded. "It's ready to go. Kingsley suggested I keep it with me, to avoid someone like Umbitch getting their hands on it." Ron nodded rapidly. "Yeah, that wouldn't have been good. And she's browned off that she can't attend the… um… the veiling, we're calling it. Only those that were present when he was sentenced get to be there."
"Bugger. I was hoping to say goodbye." Ron slumped back in his seat. "I know I haven't been a good friend, but I was hoping to part on good terms."
"You will." Hermione said but didn't explain more than that as Ron kept talking.
"I've been seeing a mind healer, you know. Losing Fred, that… it shook me. It also made me realise what Harry meant, he might have had some gold, but I was truly rich. The twins might have pranked us into insensibility, but if we needed them, they were right there. I called Harry my brother, but I didn't treat him like one. When he needed me, I walked away."
"But you came back. You always did."
"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that I abandoned him when he needed me most. Like I said, I've been seeing a mind healer and he's helping me to deal with it. It's a work in progress, he calls it, I'll be seeing him for a year or two. But eventually, I'll get better. He thinks I should have been seeing someone since first year, that McGonagall's chess set knocked something loose that shouldn't have been loose, and the brains in the DoM in fifth year didn't help."
"Ah…" Hermione exclaimed silently.
"Yeah." Ron shrugged. "But it didn't happen, and I have to deal with it now. One reason I haven't asked to see you or Harry until now, I wasn't sure I could sit here and not blame him for Fred. Healer Staunton had to give me a slow-release version of a calming draught before you arrived, otherwise I'd probably be a right mess about now."
"I did think you were handling this a bit better than I'd expected." Hermione allowed.
"Oh, yeah." Ron laughed quietly. "Just a bit." He picked up a bottle of butterbeer and sipped at it. "Do you think there's any chance I can see Harry before he… goes into the veil? Or could you give him something for me? I've some letters for him, from me, Ginny, mum and dad. I know they have to be tested by the DMLE, there's nothing on them. Plus, I got him a gift, it's only a desk set, but I made it myself. It's holly and bog oak with silver trim. Uncle Geraint walked me through making each piece, he's a cabinet maker, and he's offered me an apprenticeship, he'll teach me how to pick the woods and inlay decorations and everything." Ron was quietly excited, the calming potion subduing him slightly.
"Tell me about it?" Hermione wasn't used to seeing Ron interested in anything but quidditch or food.
"I was talking to Aunt Maisy and Uncle Hector, while I was waiting to see how mum was, and I said I wanted something for Harry, something for him to take with him, because I knew that I couldn't go with him. But I didn't know whatI wanted. He had money and you were doing the shopping, so I knew it had to be something really different. It was Uncle Hector that suggested I approach Uncle Geraint, ask him to help me make something for Harry. Uncle Geraint suggested the desk set, he makes desks and stasis cabinets for a living, so a desk set isn't his specialty, it's more like a hobby, for when he wanted something small to work on. He walked me through each step, choosing the woods, designing the look, making each component, setting the inlays and how to do the finishing polishes. He sent me to Aunt Muriel to get help with cutting the crystal for the inkwell, she's brilliant at it and agreed to teach me enough to make the inkwells, myself. Then I went to his friend Geoffrey to make the silver work for the inkwell and the knobs and anywhere else it was needed. He also taught me how to add the ink charms, the inkwell itself is small but it's expanded inside and holds over a gallon of ink and the ink will never dry out, you can change the colour of the ink by tapping one of the jewelled flowers on the inkwell's silver inlay. I chose blue, green, dark red and black for Harry, and Geoffrey helped me with the spellwork." Ron pulled out a box, roughly the size and shape of a shoebox but upside down, and laid it on the coffee table between them, tapping the box with his wand to release the sticking charm that held it closed.
He lifted the main section to reveal an elegant pale wooden box, the main body being a single drawer with a silver owl feather as the drawer handle and an inlaid trim in rich black timber. In the top of the box there were a series of indentations that were outlined in the same black wood, and when Ron opened the drawer and began to place various items, each indentation had an item that clearly fitted it. Across the rear of the lid was space for a two-toned timber blotter and in front of that were, from left to right, a silver holder for pencils or oddments, a silver quill holder and a crystal inkwell with a silver filigree sleeve/holder. Each piece was simple but well-made and carefully polished.
"Wow…" Hermione whispered. "That's beautiful." A part of her was lusting after it and she really didn't want to give it to Harry.
"Thanks." Ron beamed. "I loved making it, it was great, I could see the pieces coming together with every visit. Uncle Geraint has offered me an apprenticeship." He said again. "He thinks I could be as good as Uncle Tristan who was commissioned to make a desk set for the queen's coronation."
"Wow…" Hermione said again, her eyebrows almost reaching her hairline.
"I know…" Ron seemed as stunned as Hermione was. "Percy was in shock when we told him. Mind you, he's already put in an order for a set, he wants one made from the remnants of the old Burrow, he managed to salvage some pieces of our old writing desk and its hutch and a piece from the fireplace lintel. Mum only bought the desk because Percy asked for it."
"Talking of Percy… how did the signing go? Do you know?" Hermione was fairly sure Ron would know.
"Not what mum and Perce were hoping for, but pretty much how I expected it to go. George… without Fred he's… lost. He signed the whole shop over, said that without Fred, it meant nothing, he left Perce his notebooks, ledgers and keys. Said he was going to stay with Lee for a while and was gone before mum could object. Mum started to rant, but the healer from St. Mungo's pulled her up and reminded her, how she'd felt when Fabian and Gideon had died? That was pretty much how George felt, now. That shut her up and she didn't speak for the rest of the meeting. I think she's going to try and speak to George about it later, it won't do her any good, though, George was the stubborn one, she'd got no chance." Ron prattled.
The rest of their evening consisted of light-hearted conversation, mostly about Harry and what they hoped he would find, wherever it was he was going. But there was no regret in Hermione's mind that Ron hadn't been told, even though he was getting help, he was a long way from being accepting of some things. Werewolves weren't so bad, but he wouldn't understand Harry welcoming Dudley, or Headley as he was now called, as a member of Harry's family, nor would he welcome the Malfoys or Snape. No, Ron not knowing, wasn't such a bad thing.
As she was about to leave, Hermione remembered Harry's request.
"Ron?"
"Yeah?" Ron paused halfway through putting his jacket on, one arm pointing almost straight up and the other holding the jacket's shoulder over his head.
"Harry's sentence is being carried out at five passed two. He would like you to be there." She said.
"But…? You said only those that were at the trial can go?" Ron frowned.
"Yeah, it's not open to the public, but Harry was allowed to invite two guests. He's for asked you and Hagrid to be there. Hagrid was the one to bring him into the wizarding world, he should be there when Harry leaves it. And you were his best friend, you were there in the beginning and you should be there at the end." She whispered.
"Oh, god…" Ron let a tear slide down his cheek, before taking a deep breath. "Where do I have to be and at what time?"
"Meet me at the phone box at… um… midnight?"
Ron took a deep breath. "I can do that. Dad can't come in all the way with me, but can he come to the Ministry?"
"Of course, he can, Ron. From what I gather, only the DoM is restricted." Hermione had her 'thinking look' on her face. "I might even be able to swing a few minutes with Harry for him, I'm not sure. You? Yes, but I'm not sure about your dad, it depends on who's the Auror on duty."
"Cool."
"But…" She had to warn him. "There's no chance of getting anyone else in to see him."
"No." Ron shook his head. "I wouldn't expect it and well… mum and Ginny are still staying at St. Mungo's during the week. There's only dad and me staying with Uncle Gareth. Or rather, he's staying with us at the new Burrow."
"Good. If you're bringing your father, meet me at the public entrance to the DMLE, midnight still."
"Do you want to take the box? Or should I bring it?" Ron looked at the box that held the desk set.
"You bring it. You made it, you should give it to him." Hermione said.
"Okay." Ron gently gathered it up and re-applied the sticking charm to seal the box closed, before shrinking it and placing it in his pocket. "Alright. I'll see you in a few hours." He nodded and hurried out the door.
Hermione too a few minutes to contemplate what was coming. Then she took a deep breath and like Ron, left the room. She was heading back to Hogwarts to meet McGonagall, who was the only person to not have moved into the trunk, to date. The transfiguration Professor was going to accompany Hagrid to the DMLE before meeting with Croaker and entering the trunk, and then the Nest, before Harry got to see the finished trunk.
Kingsley greeted her as she arrived at the DMLE, his smile tight and strained.
"Hello, Hermione." He said.
"Good evening, Kingsley. How's Harry?"
"Still asleep. Hagrid arrived a few minutes ago with McGonagall." Kingsley answered. "I've put him in the DMLE waiting room. Croaker is providing office space for you to use as a time turning destination."
"Oh, excellent, I was going to ask for the use of your office." Hermione sighed in relief.
"No, you can't risk that, I'm under surveillance in there. You head down now and leave enough time for your 'turned' self to get settled."
"I'll do that but…? Ron's coming, if he arrives before I get back, can you take him in to sit with Hagrid?" Hermione asked.
"Of course." Kingsley nodded and watched as Hermione headed for the DoM.
On reaching Croaker's office she knocked on the door and waited for him to open it.
"Good timing." The Unspeakable opened the door but stood in it. "Trunk please."
Hermione pulled the shrunken trunk from her bag and handed it over. "I'm in there?" She lifted her head as though to look over his shoulder.
"Yes. Word of warning?" He passed the trunk behind him and a barely seen hand took it and retreated from sight. "Once Potter's gone but before you leave the veil chamber, Umbridge is going to try and arrest you. Use the turner. It's almost reached its limit so it's going to be fractionally delayed. Use that, let her think that you're not the one in control. Let her think it's a portkey or something like it, wrap it around your wrist, not over your head, it will affect the vision of you that we see but not the actual process. Three turns will put you back in the chamber approximately half an hour ago. I brought you to my office immediately, no-one saw you. You said that Harry wanted to have a look at the trunk and show Weasley and Hagrid, so, McGonagall has suggested, and I agreed, that the entrance to the Nest be glamoured to look like an empty space at night. Tell Potter that it's connected to the day/night cycle of the location that the trunk is in, he'll have to wait until daylight to see it. However, the glamour will only be in effect until the trunk is sealed, you can lift it when he closes and seals the trunk. You also said that the trunk won't be examined prior to Potter entering the veil, as he'll have two Aurors, Shacklebolt and Robards, inspect the trunk while you're showing him, neither of them will comment on the Nest's glamour, even though both of them will recognise that it is a glamour."
"Croaker?" McGonagall called from inside the office. "We're ready."
"Wait here." Croaker told Hermione and retreated back into the office, he emerged in a few seconds. "By the time you get back to Potter, your 'turned' self and McGonagall will be inside the Nest and you did say that nothing other than Umbridge happens and that's not until after Potter enters the veil, and you got back here in once piece." He handed her back the trunk and then assured that, "I'll be in the veil chamber, Shacklebolt will stay with you, Weasley and Hagrid for the duration."
"Thank you. Thank you for everything you've done for us." Hermione let a single tear run down her cheek.
"My dear, I'm an old man, I'm glad I could do something that doesn't have to be a secret, forever."
"Just until morning?"
"Just until morning." He agreed.
Hermione tucked the trunk back into her bag and gave the old unspeakable a smile before turning and leaving, she could show him the respect he deserved, by not breaking down in tears in his hallway. It took her only a few minutes to retrace her steps to the DMLE entrance.
Kristen Timberly met her at the door and gave her a sad smile.
"Morning, Miss Granger. Mr Potter's awake, but his guests haven't joined him, they wanted to wait until you arrived. Mr Arthur Weasley has been given permission to stay, but he still won't be permitted to attend the DoM."
"Thank you, Kristen." Hermione smiled back, a tired and slightly wobbly smile, but still a smile. "I'll collect them as I go passed the waiting area."
Down the hall and around the corner, Hermione reached the door to the DMLE's waiting area. "Hi." Hermione nodded to a second trainee, Trainee Laurence, whose given name she had never been told.
"Good morning, Miss Granger." The young witch nodded to her and opened the door.
"Hello, Ron, Arthur. Hi, Hagrid. Sorry I'm late, I had to speak to the Unspeakables about Harry's trunk for a moment. Come on, Harry's up and about, let's go and annoy him." She gave them tight smiles.
"Sure." Ron was the only to speak. Arthur's jaw was tightly clenched, and Hagrid was almost in tears.
"This way." Hermione led them out the door and down the hall to another door and when she knocked on it, Kingsley opened it.
"You're here, good, he's getting antsy." The black Auror warned and stepped back, holding the door for them to enter.
"We'll keep him occupied, don't fret." Hermione threw him a subtle wink. "Harry Potter you better be dressed, you've got guests." She called out but stayed standing in the doorway.
"Mione?" Harry stuck his head out of the adjoining bathroom. "Guests? Me? Why?"
"Well, I thought you'd like to have breakfast with friends, but if I'm wrong, I can send them away?"
"NO!" Harry yelled quickly, causing Ron and Arthur to smother a chuckle. "No." He said again in a normal voice. "No, I'll have guests." He quickly stepped from the bathroom.
"I thought you were going to have a shower and get dressed?" Hermione huffed.
"I was, but Kingsley figured I should leave that until the last moment. So, I just got dressed in my old clothes." Harry answered.
"Oh, okay. Have you eaten, yet?"
"Nope, I was hoping you would join me?"
"Harry, you know I will." Hermione answered, meaning more than just for breakfast, but he wasn't to know that, yet. "Are you ready for visitors?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Harry sighed.
"Come on in, guys." Hermione entered the room and held the door open.
Ron burst through the door in much the same way he had when he'd turned up at Privet Drive, the night the Order had last collected Harry.
"Harry!" The redhead engulfed him in a typical 'Weasley hug™'.
"Ron!" Harry beamed at his friend.
"Hey, mate. Sorry I haven't been round, I've been working with a mind healer, St. Mungo's said I shook something loose playing McGonagall's chess set in first year. I'm working on it, but it's going to take a while." Ron told him.
"Oh, wow." Harry gasped.
"Yeah, I'll get there, but like I told Hermione, it's a work in progress." Rod shrugged.
"Hullo, Harry." Hagrid's booming voice dragged Harry's attention from Ron.
"Hagrid." Harry's smile just grew as he was swamped in the half-giant's arms.
"Alright, there?"
"Yeah…" Harry had three of his most favourite people with him, how could he not be alright? Or as alright as he was going to get, anyway.
"Hello, Harry." Arthur greeted him from the doorway.
"Hi, Mr Weasley." Harry threw the man a smile.
"Breakfast, Harry. You need something to eat." Kingsley told him. "Then Hermione will show you your trunk and I'll show you how to lock it behind your belt buckle."
"Cool." Harry led them to the table as food began to appear.
"It's a little plainer than you might like, but we don't know how you're going to react going into the veil." Kingsley warned.
"It's fine, Kingsley, plain's easy. I don't want to be sick on the other side." Harry just smiled, he wasn't very hungry, nerves were getting the better of him. He'd pretty much accepted that this was the last time he was going to see these people. And while it hurt, he knew that they'd be fine, be alive and well. He'd have his memories and his photos. Asking for anything more was… an exercise in disappointment. He'd miss them, but the veil was really his only option for keeping his memories. Losing them wasn't an option. It was the thought of walking into the arch, willingly, that was making his stomach act like it was holding a herd of hippogriffs.
Half an hour later they stood in the main room of Harry's trunk, Kingsley and Robards unobtrusive, behind them.
"Talk me through it, Mione." Harry directed.
"Clockwise from the entrance is a potions' store cupboard and ingredient storage, next is a potions lab. Then a vault with all your gold and stuff from Gringotts, followed by a storage space, it's got some brooms and quidditch stuff as well as all sorts of odd things, furniture, paintings, garden stuff, blankets etc. If it doesn't come under clothes, food or things you can buy in a grocery store, that's where it is. Then next few are food stores, the first one is all ready-made meals, the others are… pretty much your own supermarket." As she described each one, she tapped a symbol burnt into the doorframe and the interior lit with balls of bluebell flames.
"Anti-clockwise from the door? There's a bathroom, a laundry and a kitchen." Each was lit and shown inspected by the Aurors. "This is a bedroom, it has a walk-in wardrobe and an en-suite bathroom." She waited while the Aurors inspected it and stepped back out. "This is a library. Ron? You have something for Harry?" She led them into a spacious library/office.
"Yep." He pulled out the box and laid it on the huge desk once the room was lit. "One of the Aurors needs to check it out first." Kingsley nodded Robards, who stepped forward and cast complicated charm that sent up a series of blue sparks.
"Clear." Robards nodded and Ron opened the box to reveal the desk set he'd shown Hermione some hours earlier.
"Oh, wow… Ron that's amazing." Harry ran his fingers along the edges of the box.
"I got sommit to go wif it." Hagrid pulled out a carefully wrapped box and handed it to Robards, who scanned it. When it showed only blue sparks, he handed it to Harry, who unwound the parchment to reveal a simple carboard box that when opened, held two stunning white feather quills and a series of interchangeable nibs. "They's from your 'Edwig, a pair o' her tail feathers, they are. I had Scribulus put a quill grip on 'em, so's you can change the nibs."
Harry reverently ran his fingers along the spine of the feather and let a tear slide down his cheek.
"You'll have a part of her forever, mate." Ron whispered.
"Yeah…" Harry smiled sadly.
"The next two frames, Miss Granger?" Robards asked.
"This one is for clothes and shoes, if he can wear it, it's in here. We went primarily with wizarding stuff, that was muggle styled. Mostly because muggle stuff doesn't take charms well and we wanted everything to have auto-sizing charms and be wear resistant." She showed a massive wardrobe that had aisle upon aisle of racks holding clothes. "We discovered that a wizard shirt can be permanently transfigured into a muggle styled shirt as long as we left it the same type of fabric and left the magic applied to it alone. Which is what we were aiming for."
"And that one, Mione?" Harry nodded toward the darkened frame.
"That is the… let's call it your flying space. It's linked to the day/night cycle of the trunk's location. We're in London, it's just after one in the morning, it dark outside, it's dark in there."
"Okay, what's in there?" Ron asked.
"Besides space for Harry to fly?" Hermione asked rhetorically. "A quidditch pitch, a pavilion for barbeques, a ready-built house if he wants it."
"So why didn't you put Beaky in there?" Harry asked.
"There's nothing for them to live on, prey-wise and they're not used to fending for themselves without a little help from Hagrid." Hermione replied.
"I've had Beaky since 'e were a foal." Hagrid said. "He never had to hunt, I's always 'ad sommit for him."
"Okay." Harry nodded.
"Harry? It's getting on towards time for you to get ready." Kingsley ended the tour.
"Indeed, it is. Miss Granger? I understand that you have Mr Potter's clothes and bag?" Robards asked, casting a sidelong look at the Nest's entrance, but made no comment on the glamoured frame.
"Yes, sir, I do. While Harry's in the shower, I'll put them out for him and pack up everything from his... from the interview room and place it in here. Most of it will go in the laundry, but some can go in the bedroom's wardrobe. Plus, I still need to show you the other compartment."
"Other compartment?" Robards asked.
"Yes, sir. Let me grab the bag and Harry's clothes and head out and I'll show you." Hermione went to the armchair in the middle of the trunk and picked up a box that sat on the seat and a rucksack that sat on the floor.
Outside the trunk, Hermione closed the door-like lid of the trunk and tapped it with her wand. "We didn't activate any security on the trunk, primarily because there were a number of us working in it at any given time. What it does have are active muggle repellent and notice-me-not charms." The trunk shrank to the size of a standard travel trunk and Hermione flipped the lock from the image of a vertical door to an image of an open trunk. "Inside here, we have a slightly expanded compartment. As you can see, we divided it up into sections. Clothes, a week's worth, plus one set of dragonhide battle robes. A first aid kit, it has a few potions, but is predominantly muggle. A broom, not the firebolt from Sirius, that's in the library with a few things from Grimmauld Place, but it is the latest that Nimbus has put out, a 2005. This box here is a traveller's pantry, a kitchen cupboard under stasis, that holds three meals a day for twenty days. A chess set that Hagrid made Harry, with four sets of pieces, many muggles take their own chess sets when they travel. And couple of extra blankets."
Robards studied them and nodded a few times, then stepped back, letting Hermione close the trunk and revert it back to be a door.
"And the bag?" Hermione laid it on the table. "A traveller's lunch box, that holds five meals. A wizarding tent, empty but ready to use when you need it. A blanket. A change of clothes. A journal and a robe that's a cross between a day robe and a trench coat." Robards nodded again. "There's also the weapons that he got from Gringotts, Harry won't be wearing all of them, the ulak knives will be left in the trunk."
"Good idea." Robards agreed. "Wear the dagger and the shrunken sword."
"And a wand on each arm." Harry added.
"If something happens to them does that leave you without a backup?" Robards asked.
"No, there's backup wands in the trunk, Hermione said she was going to put them on in the library, on a stand on the desk." Harry replied.
"And I did."
"Alight." Robards hummed. "I'll sign off on having inspected the trunk and its contents. Time you got showered and dressed, Mr Potter." He ordered.
"Yes, sir."
In the ten minutes that Harry took to shower and dress, Hermione packed the last of his things from the interview room and placed them where they needed to go, in the trunk. After Harry dressed the two Aurors showed Harry how to stow the trunk in the tiny mokeskin pocket behind his belt buckle.
Then it was time to go. Kingsley and Robards took Harry away and Timberly and Laurence came to escort Hermione, Ron and Hagrid down to the DoM. Arthur was permitted to follow them as far as the DoM's waiting room and there he had to stay. But Hermione, Ron and Hagrid were ushered in and sat down in a viewing area. Hagrid sat to the far left on a heavily reinforced chair that had obviously been enlarged to cater to his size. Then Croaker, Kingsley and then Ron and Hermione.