Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor do I make any money from the writing of this fanfiction.

As always, thank you to beatlechicksteph for beta-ing this chapter, and an ADDITIONAL thank you for helping me figure out how to write part of this chapter so it sounded plausible!

Chapter Seventeen

"Miss Granger, I need you and Mr. Malfoy to come to my office. I would like to begin to try to figure out what, if anything happened to your reports. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask the Minister for Magic to sit in on this. As a former Auror himself, he may have some insight."

Hermione nodded, and tensed a little. Something happened every time she tried to press charges against Ron. She doubted Harry would have helped Ron avoid charges, since Harry was much too open for that level of deceit. Taking a deep breath, she started to follow Amelia to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"I need everyone who has responded to an assault call in the last year in my office immediately," Amelia announced, storming into the Department.

"What's going on, Director? We assumed you would still be at the Wizengamot," one of the Aurors said, getting up and following her to the Director's office.

"I'll explain once everyone is here. Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, please take a seat while we wait for the others."

Hermione sat down in the nearest chair, still tense from the hearing. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves. Surely someone knew why there were no reports in the file. And she also knew that although she was a sweetheart in disposition, Amelia Bones took no nonsense when it came to her job. If anyone could locate the reports, it would be Amelia.

After the office filled with ten Aurors, Amelia went to her desk, placing the file on the smooth surface of the desk blotter.

"This," Amelia began, looking each of them in the eye, "is the file I had prepared for the case currently being heard in front of the Wizengamot. During testimony, Miss Granger brought up that she had made several assault reports to this office over the last year and a half. So I have to ask myself why, in front of the Wizengamot no less, I was unable to find a single report Miss Granger filed in the file. I suggest you all start explaining why, because I know for a bloody fact that all reports are filed by category of offense, and then by the name of the person filing the report, meaning the victim, and then by the name of the person the report is against, meaning the person who committed the offense. Yet there are no copies in the file. Ladies and gentlemen, start talking."

One of the Aurors began looking around the room, at the faces of his colleagues. Unfortunately for him, the nervous gesture didn't go unnoticed. Placing her hands on the file and leaning forward slightly, Amelia pinned him with a gimlet stare.

"Something to say, Auror Macintosh?"

"Only that I never responded to a call involving Miss Granger, Madam Bones."

After looking at the Auror for a moment, Amelia took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Feeling herself calm, she nodded, and waved her hand toward the door.

"If you've never had to take a report involving Miss Granger, Macintosh, you can go back to your duties. If, however, you are able to locate any of those reports, I'm sure Miss Granger would be appreciative, not to mention myself and your supervisor. You're dismissed for now."

Nodding respectfully, the Auror left the room. After closing the door, Amelia again looked around the room at the assembled Aurors.

"Madam Bones, I recognize at least four of the Aurors here as ones I've spoken to. Does that help?" Hermione spoke up, still uneasy about the hearing.

"It does help, in fact. Those Aurors will stay here; the rest of you can go back to your duties."

oOoOoOo

Pulling a piece of parchment and quill across the desk, the young Auror began a letter. To anyone who might accidentally see it, it appeared to be a simple letter catching up with people he knew.

Dear Aunt Molly,

Sorry I haven't written in a while, but you know how work can keep me busy. I hope you, my uncle, and cousins are well. Really miss your cooking, especially around the hols. Mum just can't match your skill in the kitchen. Hard to believe the two of you are sisters because of that sometimes.

It gets to be a bit interesting at work sometimes, however. Actually got called into Madam Bones' office today, and MERLIN, was she mad. Good thing I was able to tell her I wasn't involved in what she was mad about, or I don't think I'd have been able to leave her office for a while. I think I might actually get an earache from how loud she was yelling.

I almost forgot, did you get the new recipes I sent you? I try to get the new recipes any time I see them when I read a new magazine or the Daily Prophet, but these weren't where you'd expect to find them, so I sent them along to you. You should have gotten them within the last couple of weeks. Thanks for letting me know you collect them. I'll be sure to send you any others I find.

Your nephew,

Calum

Folding the parchment, he slipped it into a pocket to wait until he could go to the Owl Post Office while on break. Smiling a bit, he continued with the paperwork on his desk, thinking of a rare evening in the Leaky Cauldron for a few drinks and the special for dinner before going home to his flat. He may even send an additional owl later to see if his aunt would allow him to treat her to dinner. Circe knew she spent most of her time in a kitchen, and she deserved a break every so often.

oOoOoOo

Molly Weasley was furious. She had actually been removed from her son's hearing, all because she had voiced her opinion. She had always spoken her mind, everyone who knew her family knew that. Everyone was also aware how quickly she would leap to the defense of one of her children. She was still talked about as one of the lesser known heroines of the war for the way she dueled-and killed-Bellatrix Lestrange in the Final Battle when the insane witch had threatened her daughter Ginny. Why wouldn't she speak up when Hermione Granger was outright lying about how her Ron supposedly mistreated and hit her? She had raised her boys better than that. And all because that little Muggleborn tart had led Ron on, then decided to make up lies when she didn't get enough attention. She had seen this coming for more than a year. It wasn't until Ron explained what his solicitor told him that she could think of a way to help Ron, as well as finally put Hermione Granger in her place, once and for all.

oOoOoOo

"Do you really think you can locate the reports?" Hermione asked Amelia, holding back tears.

"Absolutely. Even if they've been removed from the DMLE offices, I will locate them. It would just take longer to find them if they were removed from the DMLE. Not to mention it would put someone in more trouble than they want to deal with right now. I want the both of you to come to my office in the morning. I want to try to reconstruct with you everything that's happened between you and Ronald Weasley, Miss Granger. Not only will it refresh your memory for when the hearing resumes on Tuesday, it will give me a better understanding of the case, so I can make a suitable recommendation for sentencing to the Wizengamot if Mr. Weasley is convicted."

Standing, Draco nodded once, looked at Hermione, then back at Amelia.

"I'll see to it she's here, Madam Bones. If you'll excuse us, I'd like to take Miss Granger back now. I'm sure you understand why I can't mention where that is, as dealing with the Weasley twins in the past has taught me that sometimes, the walls do have ears."

Amelia nodded, and saw them out of her office. After sitting behind her desk, she briefly rubbed her hand over her eyes in weariness. She knew those reports existed, and parchments like that didn't just disappear, since the office had been warded against the Vanishing Charm being used. She pulled in a sharp breath as the realization struck her. If the reports existed and hadn't been Vanished, that meant they had been lost-which her charm to gather all materials related to a case negated, or they had been taken. Which left her with three questions to answer, in addition to finding the reports.

Who would have taken the reports, why did the person take them, and was Ronald Weasley somehow involved? Because if he was involved, she'd be asking for the maximum sentence possible.