Chapter Five
Bad news
Draco entered the Space Chamber, one of the rooms in the Department of Mysteries. Blaise was there most of the time, trying to create a new type of portkey that you could activate and deactivate at will.
"We have a problem."
Blaise looked up at the sound of his friend's voice. Draco was approaching him, the tip of his wand illuminating the area. The room was pitch black and all that could be seen were hundreds of planets floating and spinning in the air.
"What happened? You're distracting me, I think I'm close to making it," Blaise protested, looking down at the small table he had filled with strange objects.
"The World Cup final is going to be the day of the third anniversary of the Dark Lord's death."
Blaise's dark eyes widened more than ever.
"What? That's the day a new war is going to start, according to your prophecy."
"I know," Draco growled through his teeth.
Blaise sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
"Shit... we need to catch the culprits before that day. There are less than seven months left, and we have no fucking idea what's going to happen."
"We do know one thing. Someone's going to attack the purebloods, there's no doubt about it. We have to be on our guard, and as soon as there's an attack, it's our turn to act. Hermione will be the first to know if anything happens, so I'll know right away too," Draco said, pointing his wand at one of the planets and making it spin faster.
"Don't touch it! You know space works differently here, it could turn giant and crush us at any moment," Blaise growled, pulling the wand away from his friend.
Draco rolled his eyes, putting his wand in one of his pockets.
"This room scares you too much... the Time Room is much worse."
"Which one are you in now?"
"I've been in the Room of Thoughts for a few weeks now," Draco muttered under his breath.
"The one with the brains? And what are you investigating there?"
"It's a secret."
Blaise mumbled a curse, turning around again.
"Then go with your secrets and leave me alone. If there's an attack, let me know."
Draco snorted and turned, heading back out the way he came in. He reached the Hall of Prophecy and turned right, going through another door.
He entered a very long, rectangular room, lit by low lamps. There was a huge tank filled with a green liquid to the right, where dozens of brains swam as if alive. Six dark-coloured tentacles were coming out of each of them, writhing in the water.
Draco kept his distance and walked to a table, sitting down on the only chair there. He pulled a small vial from the inside pocket of his robes and held it carefully. Inside was a glowing thread, a memory.
He sighed and pulled out his wand, activating a silver-coloured circular device on the table. It began to spin and a brain emerged from the tank, completely paralysed. It flew over the room and landed on the table, inches away from Draco. He opened the vial and dropped the memory onto the brain, which absorbed it instantly.
Draco touched his wand to one of its tentacles, which began to glow brightly. He closed his eyes and concentrated on that brain, trying to invade the memories inside it.
He was almost there. Then, he would just have to test it on someone alive... and he had already thought of the perfect victim.
"I've decided that you're coming with me to the meeting, Hermione."
She blinked several times in confusion.
"But... the Minister of Magic and the Muggle Minister have always met alone, Arthur. There have never been secretaries or other people around."
Mr. Weasley waved his hand.
"It's quite clear to me that you are the future Minister for Magic. It will do you good to learn how to deal with Muggle politicians, they change every so often and never react well the first time they find out we wizards exist."
"I can imagine," Hermione murmured, smiling.
She still remembered the day she came home from school with her mother and saw an owl by the front door. It had a letter in its beak and it didn't move away, no matter how hard Jean Granger tried to scare it away. The owl dropped the letter at Hermione's feet when they were both close and flew away.
Hermione picked up the green lettered envelope, which had her full name and address on it. She and her mother entered the house and read it twice. Jean thought it was a joke and showed it to her husband when he came home from the clinic.
They decided to throw it away and ignore it, but Hermione spent that night thinking that maybe it was true. Strange things happened around her sometimes, ever since she was five years old, and magic was a good way to explain it.
Three days later, another owl arrived with the exact same letter. Hermione's parents decided it would be best to go to the place described in the letter, they were due to meet at a pub in London a week later. That day, the three of them were amazed when only Hermione could see the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.
Once inside, they met Professor McGonagall, who was in charge of welcoming all the Muggle-borns that year. The place was soon full of Muggles with their children. Hermione met some of her future schoolmates, but was unable to make friends. She had never been any good at it.
They spent the afternoon touring Diagon Alley with McGonagall, who showed them all the shops and explained that they should allow their children to open an account at Gringotts, so that they could use the money from the magical world.
That night, when they returned home, her parents were in shock and barely spoke. Hermione went to bed very excited, she couldn't wait to go to that castle called Hogwarts and start using the wand they had bought her.
The next morning, the two of them were waiting for her with a huge breakfast on the table. They both apologised to her for not having taken the news in properly, and celebrated together that Hermione had been accepted into Britain's only school for wizards. Patrick and Jean promised to support her in everything, and that week was Hermione's last week at a Muggle school.
They spent the summer visiting Diagon Alley to buy anything she needed. After each visit, Hermione returned with a Flourish and Blotts book, which she would then devour at night. She still had the first one she bought, 'History of Hogwarts', in her room.
Hermione grimaced at the thought of her parents now being called Wendell and Monica Wilkins, and not remembering they had a daughter.
"Hermione? Are you alright?"
She cleared her throat and nodded.
"I'm sorry. I was thinking about my parents."
Mr. Weasley smiled sadly.
"I remember them, I used to love talking to them... Are they still in Australia?"
"I suppose so, I haven't seen them since I went there after the war and I wasn't able to get them to remember me," Hermione admitted quietly.
Arthur rose from his chair and rounded the table so he could hug her.
"I'm sure they're fine and happy, all thanks to you. You saved their lives, Hermione."
She nodded, holding back tears.
"Will you come with me to the meeting on Wednesday, then?"
"Of course, Arthur. Count me in," Hermione replied, trying to smile.
Mr. Weasley gave her a kiss on the cheek and returned to his desk.
"It's late, go home and get some rest. See you tomorrow at the Burrow."
Hermione nodded and left his office, closing the door. She tidied her desk and put her wand in her coat pocket. Then, she spotted a small package on the table and took it, opening the door to the Minister's office again.
"I almost forgot, Arthur. This is an MP3 player, we Muggles use it to listen to music. I'll answer any questions you have about it on Saturday."
Mr. Weasley's eyes lit up and he opened the package quickly, picking up the small rectangular device and looking at its buttons.
Hermione smiled and walked out into the central corridor that led to the lifts. She entered the first one that arrived, which was quite full, and grabbed one of the few unoccupied golden ropes.
Shortly after, she was on the eighth floor, walking towards the huge fireplaces.
"Diagon Alley," she said, stepping into one of the small ones.
Green flames engulfed her and Hermione appeared in the Leaky Cauldron, just like the day before with Draco.
She waved to several people who were there eating dinner and made her way to the small back courtyard, where the secret entrance to Diagon Alley was.
It didn't take her long to cross it and walk through the streets filled with wizards of all ages. The restaurants were open and some of the shops were already closed. Hermione continued walking to the small building that housed the headquarters of 'The Quibbler'. She smiled when she saw Luna behind the reception desk, opening the door.
Her blonde friend looked up and her face lit up.
"Hermione!"
The two melted into an embrace.
"Do you want to come home? I want you to join us for dinner."
Luna pulled away from Hermione, smiling.
"Of course I want to! I was just about to close the office, give me a moment."
Hermione waited while Luna checked that everything was shut down and that there was no one left in any of the offices. They walked back to the Leaky Cauldron together and took turns passing through the fireplace, appearing in the Granger's living room.
"You know that last year I activated the Floo Network at home when Draco moved in, but we've recently changed the wards. Now Harry, Ron, Ginny, you... and some of Draco's friends are allowed in. You can come and visit whenever you like," Hermione explained, bending down to pet Crookshanks who had come over when he saw them arrive.
"Draco's friends are so much fun," Luna said, giggling.
"If you say so..." Hermione added, laughing as well.
She walked into the kitchen and her friend followed her. With a few flicks of her wand, dinner began to prepare itself.
"Would you like something to drink, Luna?"
"Do you have any butterbeer?"
"I think there's some left."
Hermione opened the fridge and took out a couple of bottles, pouring the contents into two glasses. She handed one to Luna and they both went back to the living room, sitting down on the white sofa.
"Every time I come here, I'm surprised Draco hasn't changed the colour of all the furniture to green or black," Luna commented, taking a sip of beer.
Hermione chuckled.
"He tried, but we came to an agreement in the end. I didn't fancy living in something so similar to the Slytherin common room."
They both looked at each other, laughing again.
"Hey, Luna... Molly's invited us all to lunch at the Burrow tomorrow, you included. I should have let you know earlier with an owl, but I've been so busy all day. I'm sorry," Hermione apologised, catching one of her curls between her fingers.
"Ginny wrote to me three days ago saying that she's coming back this weekend, and that she hates being away from us."
"I know... she wrote to me this week, too. It looks like she's going to be able to live here from now on, the Ireland league is finished."
Luna sighed, leaning her back against the sofa.
"I was going to go to lunch with my dad tomorrow, but I guess I can change it to Sunday so I can come with you."
"Yes, please. It's Draco's first time at the Burrow, and I'm sure it'll help him if you're there too. He's going to be overwhelmed when he's surrounded by so many Weasleys," Hermione commented, snorting.
"Probably," Luna said, grinning.
"And the best part is that he doesn't know it yet."
The two girls laughed again, but stopped when they saw the flames in the fireplace grow larger, turning green. Draco emerged between them, shaking out his black cloak before stepping onto the carpet.
His eyes met Luna's blue ones and he raised his eyebrows.
"I didn't know you were dining with us today, Luna. It's good to see you."
She and Hermione stood up. Draco gave Luna a small smile and then walked over to Hermione, kissing her on the forehead.
"I'm making risotto," Hermione said, looking into his eyes.
"Hmm... Italian food is the best," he replied, taking the glass from her hands.
Hermione frowned as Draco finished her butterbeer in two gulps, hearing Luna laugh.
"I know I keep telling you this, but I love you two together," she said with a chuckle.
Hermione stroked Luna's long braid affectionately and went to the kitchen, she had to check that dinner was being prepared properly. Draco folded his arms, staring at the blonde girl.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine, really. You two have to stop worrying about me," she replied, taking another sip of her beer.
"I've never been through one, but I know break-ups are complicated," Draco added, clearing his throat.
Luna shrugged, sitting back down on the couch.
"Neville and I weren't meant to be together, it's better this way."
Draco wrinkled his nose. Neville had broken up with Luna three months before and had gone to Greece. He'd been offered a job at the school there as a Herbology teacher.
"You'll find someone better, I don't think it will be too difficult," he growled through his teeth, frowning.
Luna laughed softly.
"You're always so nice to me, Draco. I haven't seen you be like that with Harry or Ron."
"You're the only one I like, maybe it's because you're not a Gryffindor," Draco muttered, raising an eyebrow in her direction.
Hermione came out of the kitchen, three plates levitating behind her. Draco waved his wand and three glasses came out of a piece of furniture near the table, landing on it.
"What would you girls like to drink?" he asked, standing up.
"Is there any white wine left?" Hermione said.
He nodded and went into the kitchen, coming back out a minute later. The two girls were already seated at the table, so Draco sat down next to Hermione and poured wine for them both.
Hermione frowned when she saw the bottle of Firewhiskey in his other hand.
"It's been a rough day," Draco commented, pouring himself a glass and conjuring a couple of ice cubes inside it.
"Then I guess you won't be looking forward to tomorrow's plan," Luna said, smiling.
Hermione swallowed and Draco arched his eyebrows.
"Going to Potter's house? Well, it could be worse... Are you going too?"
Luna and Hermione exchanged a glance and the latter bit her lower lip nervously.
"There's been a little change of plans," Hermione confessed quietly.
Draco turned his head and stared at her, frowning.
"What change? You're nervous and that's not a good sign."
"Mr. We... I mean, Arthur has invited us all to the Burrow."
Draco paled and Luna tried to stifle her laughter by drinking wine.
"Do-do you want me to go to a house full of redheads?" Draco stammered.
"You've been there before, the Christmas you came to bring me this," Hermione replied, pulling out the silver pendant of a rune she wore around her neck.
"I was at the bloody door, Granger. Going inside is very different," he protested in a deep voice.
"I'll be there too, Draco. You'll be able to talk to me," Luna assured him.
He snorted, shooting Hermione a hateful glare, and she rolled her eyes.
"You're overreacting, it's not like they're going to torture you. They're like my family and it's about time you go with me. We've been living together for over a year."
"It can be dangerous with so many Weasleys around. I'll use you two as a shield if I'm attacked," Draco warned, pointing at them with his glass of whisky before taking a stiff drink.
Hermione sighed, shaking her head, and Luna chuckled.
They continued eating and Luna told them about the article she was writing for her magazine about Thestrals and how misunderstood they were. After dessert, Hermione walked her to the fireplace and gave her a hug before she disappeared into the green flames.
When she turned around, Draco was leaning against the wall, stirring his glass of whisky as he looked sideways at her.
"A drama king, as always," she whispered, moving closer to him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Draco smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know what you're surprised about."
They both laughed and melted into a firewhiskey-flavoured kiss.