Disclaimer: Monty Python and Fawlty Towers alert. :-p

Buying Time

Chapter 20

Ron was nervous. There was no point in hiding it, for too much was at stake. He kept tugging at the collar of his dress robes nervously.

"Take deep breaths!" Gudrun, who had been taking deep drags from her cigarette, said.

"How do you deal with the pressure?"

"Are you kidding?" Gudrun laughed. "Or haven't you noticed that I'm smoking like a chimney!"

Ron forced a grin onto his face and turned to look out of the window and into the garden where he saw Mayumi and Gavin…who kept moving away from Mayumi whenever she came too close. "What is going on between those two?"

"Haven't got a clue," Gudrun replied tersely. "They've been that way ever since they got back from Japan."

"Gudrun…you're not going to believe this!" Doc screamed as he came clambering down the stairs. "The focussing crystal in the amulet detector is busted."

Gudrun nearly swallowed her cigarette. "What?"

"You heard me!"

"Why didn't you check it yesterday?" Gudrun yelled

"I thought you would check it!"

"No, you nit-wit! I specifically asked you to do it, right before dinner!"

"Doc's brow furrowed as he seemed to dig into his memory. "Whoops!"

"Whoops…what do you mean whoops?"

Doc heaved an annoyed sigh. "So I made a mistake." He stuck out his short arm. "Here, open my wrist!"

"I would, but there's no point in doing so, since goblins don't have major arteries in their wrists." Gudrun scowled.

"Of course not…do you think I'm stupid?" Doc smirked.

"Wait a minute…so we won't be able to catch Malfoy?" Ron groaned, feeling his breakfast rising up out of his stomach.

"Doc… get your goblin butt to the Citadel and get me that part… now!"

"I'm going." The half-goblin nodded and bolted up the stairs.

"Will he be back in time?" Ron asked worriedly.

Gudrun rubbed her forehead. "You'd better get Hermione down here."

"Hermione!" Ron bellowed.

"Don't yell my name like that…you'll wear it out! What is it?" Hermione yelled back.

"Get down here!" Ron answered, and Hermione came stumbling down the stairs about thirty seconds later.

"What?"

"The detector thing is broken, and Doc went to Concordia to get a spare part," Ron said.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Hermione burst out angrily. "Are you brainless? Why didn't you think of this yesterday?"

"What're you yelling at me for?" Ron screamed back. "It's not my fault!"

"I wasn't yelling at you!"

"But you were looking at me!"

Gudrun cleared her throat. "Stop behaving like a married couple and listen up! This is an unfortunate result of miscommunication between Doc and me, and arguing about it right now is a waste of breath. I know this isn't a good excuse, but I don't normally do the mission planning. Gavin's the planner, and he usually keeps track of these things…but it seems he's preoccupied with something."

"Don't you dare blame him for this!" Hermione admonished. Then she took a deep breath. "Okay…will Doc make it back in time?"

"I don't think he'll make it before the ceremony." Gudrun said. "It'll take him four hours, at least."

"And we've got three hours…" Hermione ran her hands through her now sleek hair nervously. "We have to stall the process at every possible opportunity to buy him time. Get Mayumi and Gavin in here."

Gudrun walked over to the kitchen door and called the other two Rangers in.

"What's wrong?" Mayumi asked.

"In a nutshell, the amulet detector doesn't work, and Doc went to Concordia for the replacement part. He won't make it back in time…and we need to stall for at least two hours." Gudrun said quickly.

"So what do we do?" Mayumi asked.

"Hermione…is Ginny wearing her wedding dress yet?"

"No…Narcissa Malfoy was taking care of the dress. It'll arrive in about an hour." Hermione answered.

"How?"

"She'll take it over by Floo. The Ministry has unblocked the two fireplace connections for the transport."

"So we block the fireplace," Gavin said. "Not now…but in about fifty minutes or so."

"How do we do that?" Ron shook his head. "Did you want to board up the fireplace?"

"Bad Floo powder!" Gavin said, with a mischievous smile lighting up his face.

Ron slapped his forehead. "Brilliant!" One of the primary causes of the Floo network's occasional collapse was the usage of bad Floo. They'd use bad Floo in this fireplace, and effectively block it off for an hour.

"But there are other ways to get to the Burrow!" Hermione pointed out. "The wards allow relatives to Apparate. She'll just get one of your brothers to Apparate here with the dress, Ron!"

"Not if the relatives are all conveniently indisposed," Gavin said, his smile positively diabolical now. "Ron…can you arrange it?"

"It won't be a problem!" Ron said, as he glanced at his watch. "George and Charlie both have roles in the ceremony. They'll be at Hogwarts already when it's time for Narcissa to bring the dress here. Narcissa would have to go to Hogsmeade first, and then up to Hogwarts. By the time she finds someone who can come here, an hour will have passed."

"What about your other brothers and the in-laws?" Gavin asked.

"I'll drop by Percy's to tell him to make up some excuse in case Narcissa calls him. Bill and Fleur are staying at the Warren. I'll tell them the same thing… though I think they'd be too busy with the children anyway to run errands for Narcissa."

"So that gives us one hour," Hermione noted. "We still need one more hour."

"We could always sabotage things at Hogwarts." Gudrun shrugged.

"With nine Aurors watching things?" Ron shook his head. "We'll get caught for sure…and then we'd have some explaining to do."

"Not if we distract the Aurors," Gavin said.

"What are you taking about?"

"We mobilise the Hogwarts staff to help us out."

Ron had a mental image of McGonagall sneaking around and transfiguring the wedding cake into a pile of dung, and laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked crossly.

"I'll tell you later," Ron said. "And I think you ought to be the one to drop this dungbomb on McGonagall. After all, you used to be her favourite pet."

"Honestly…just because I was good at everything doesn't mean…"

"Don't rise to the bait, Hermione." Gudrun laughed, and as Hermione looked at Ron, she saw that twinkle that his eyes held every time he was deliberately winding her up.

"But what'll I tell Minerva? I can't just walk up to her and ask her to help us sabotage Ginny's wedding. And as far as she and everybody else knows, Malfoy really is a changed man."

"Then you'll have to explain to her why we suspect Malfoy," Gavin interjected.

"But that'll take ages."

"You'd better get going then."

"All right, I'll go. Just let me finish up!" Hermione nodded and walked back upstairs.

Ron got ready to Apparate to the Warren, when something occurred to him. "Hey, Gavin…we don't have any bad Floo powder."

"Don't worry about it. Floo powder is easy to corrupt," Gudrun said, and Gavin nodded.

"I'll go by George's house then," he said, before Disapparating.

*

Ron re-appeared inside the foyer of the Warren. "George…Angelina…it's Ron!"

The telltale patter of small feet told announced the imminent arrival of his welcoming committee in the form of his twin nieces, and seconds later the two girls clung to his legs like a pair of frustrated Crups.

"Hello, girls!" Ron said as he tried to shake them off. Where's your mum and dad?"

"Why?" the girls chorused.

"I have to tell them something."

"Why?"

"Because it's really important."

"Why?"

Ron took a deep breath and tried not to lose his patience. Fortunately, George came to the rescue. "Let your uncle go, girls! Amelie's looking for you…she wants to play."

The girls let go of Ron and scampered off just as Arthur rounded the corner, clutching his pet rat Basil. The boy staunchly believed that the rat was actually a Siberian hamster, because George had told him so. "Daddy, something's wrong with Basil."

"He looks fine to me," George said, as he took the rat from his son and examined it.

"Daddy…Basil can talk."

As if on cue, the rat squeaked, "Que?"

George frowned, but then he smiled as understanding crossed his features, and he examined Basil's teeth. Ron looked over his shoulder to see what was happening, and saw that a bluish substance clung to the rat's teeth. "It looks like Basil's been nibbling on a Spanish Language Lollipop." He handed the rat back to Arthur and turned to Ron. "So what brings you here?"

"Bill needs to know about this too."

"He's in the library," George said, and they made their way through several corridors in the manor house, until they reached the library.

"Ron!" Bill smiled. "All dressed up already? Come to tell us to hurry up?"

"On the contrary," Ron said, and explained about the arrival of the four Rangers, and that they had brought a device that would expose Malfoy. "But it turns out the thing is broken, and one of the Rangers went to Nomad Island to get a replacement part. The problem is that he'll be back at least an hour after the start of the ceremony, and it'll be too late by then. We've already got on hour's worth of delay covered. We'll shut down the possibility of travel to the Burrow by Floo powder."

"How?" Bill frowned.

"Bad Floo," Ron replied. "But I think Narcissa would come to one of you and ask you to Apparate to the Burrow with the dress, since you and your wives can Apparate to there. So I came here to tell you to make up an excuse when she calls you."

"No problem." Bill grinned. "We've got three infants here…and the house-elves are at Hogwarts to attend the wedding of the one who enabled free house-elves to marry! So we won't be able to leave here."

"Wait, I didn't know the elves would take the day off," George said. "I'm their employer…I can't believe they didn't tell me about this."

'They're not taking the day off, you idiot. I just made it up as an excuse."

"Ah!" George grinned. "Good one!"

"So you'll tell the girls?" Ron asked.

"Yeah…we'll tell the girls to play along." George nodded.

"Great!" Ron said. "Now he'd just have to tell Percy about it. And George…Hermione's on her way to Hogwarts. She's going to try and talk the teachers into sabotaging the wedding preparations. Maybe you could give the teachers some ideas?"

"Excellent!" George whooped. "Are you serious?"

"I've never been this serious in my life. If we fail, Ginny's going to be with that git for a long time."

George's face turned serious. "Right."

"Why stall it, though?" Bill asked. "If we prove that Malfoy was wearing the amulet, the marriage will be annulled."

"But how would we prove it?" Ron pointed out. "No…it's best that we nab him at the start of the ceremony. Then we can pour some Veritaserum down his throat and find out exactly how he's controlling Ginny, and what other illegal activities he's been up to."

"Sounds like a plan," Bill said.

"Good…I'm off to Percy's!" Ron said, and Disapparated.

**

Hermione Apparated to Hogsmeade after she finished dressing, and left Mrs Weasley to do Ginny's hair alone. Mrs Weasley hadn't needed her presence anyway, since Hermione didn't know the first thing about makeovers, with or without magic.

"All right, Hermione?" an unfamiliar tenor voice said.

Hermione turned around and saw a group of older students looking at her. A boy, or rather young man, walked up to her. He seemed familiar…but she couldn't quite place him. "I'm sorry…."

"Dennis…Dennis Creevey!"

"Little Dennis Creevey, look at you!" Hermione gasped. "You've grown up!" It was true. He was by no means tall, but this five-foot-ten Dennis Creevey was far removed from the scrawny Dennis she'd known.

Dennis beamed. "So I've been told."

"And you're Head Boy?"

"Yeah…but my reign is nearing its end," he smiled. "I had my last N.E.W.T. yesterday. You're going to Hogwarts for the wedding, right? A bit early, aren't you?"

"I need to discuss some things with Professor McGonagall."

"Ah, well…you can ride in the carriage with us…you remember Natalie and Ameera?"

Hermione nodded and shook hands with the two girls. Natalie was a seventh year and Ameera a sixth year Gryffindor. "Ameera…Khan, right? Are you by any chance related to a Ranger of Illumination?" she asked, remembering the tough Combat Ranger.

The girl smiled and nodded proudly. "My uncle."

"I thought so," Hermione said, as they walked over to the carriages and stepped in. The carriage started moving by itself, and soon they were approaching the gates of Hogwarts. "Dennis, Ginny told me that you and Gabrielle Delacour are an item. Where is she?"

Dennis winced. "We're not together anymore."

"What happened?"

"I broke up with her a couple of weeks ago. She's still got three years in school… at Beauxbatons. I'll be here…she'll be in France." Dennis had a wistful look on his face. "I had to set her free, you know. If we still feel the same way about each other when she finishes school, we can build on that."

'That's very mature of you, Dennis."

"Gabrielle didn't quite see things that way," Dennis said, shuddering as his hand went up to touch his eye. "She's got a nasty left hook… hasn't talked to me since."

"I'm sure she'll realise you had her best interests at heart," Hermione said.

Dennis shrugged. "Maybe. I've got other things to think about anyway. I'm going to be an Auror soon. I got my letter of acceptance today."

"Congratulations. I'm sure Colin's proud."

"He is!" Dennis said, his face falling a little. "He's fading, though."

"How so?"

"He and Myrtle are really happy together. Professor McGonagall reckons they will be moving on soon. I got used to having him around, but I guess it's all for the best."

Hermione smiled. She remembered how Colin had come back as a ghost, and got on famously with Myrtle. "He'll always be with you…Dennis."

"I know. He told me," Dennis said, forcing a brave smile onto his face. "So…what's wrong with Ginny anyway? She doesn't believe that he's actually changed, does she? I mean, if I were marrying Malfoy I'd be worried."

Natalie and Ameera laughed. "Dennis…if you were marrying Malfoy we'd all be worried." Ameera added.

Dennis blushed. "Right…bad choice of words."

Hermione chuckled too. Then she got an idea. Maybe she could use these three later on. "Hey Dennis, what's the password to Gryffindor Tower?"

"Oh…Slytherins Ite domum," Dennis recited. "You coming to visit us?"

She nodded. "I'll come by."

"Brilliant." Dennis beamed.

The carriage stopped in front of the entrance to the castle, and they got out.

"See you later!" Natalie waved, and the three Gryffindors headed towards Hagrid's old hut, which still functioned as the office for the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, while Hermione walked into the castle. She felt a slight ache in her heart as she remembered the fierce-looking, yet kind-hearted, half-giant, and she wondered who had replaced him. She hadn't asked anyone about it the last time she'd been at Hogwarts, but her mind had been on other things back then.

Mrs Norris walked up to her and gave her a disdainful look, Filch not being far behind. "How may I help you?

"Hello, Mr Filch. I'm Hermione Granger…I'm here for the wedding," She said, surprised that Filch hadn't recognised her. She'd imagined him to be just the sort of cranky old coot that never forgot a face.

"Ah, yes…the wedding." Filch nodded. "We're a bit behind schedule, but I reckon everything will be done in time."

Hermione fought to suppress a smile. She almost felt sorry for having to ruin Filch's work. "I trust that it will be. I'm a bit early, as you can see. I'd like to speak to Professor McGonagall."

Filch nodded and lead Hermione to the Headmistress' office. She knew the way, but she didn't know the password, so it was just as well that Filch was accompanying her.

"How are things in Concordia?" Filch asked all of the sudden.

"Fine. I assume you've been there?" Hermione asked, since it sounded like he was familiar with the place.

The caretaker nodded. "When I was a young man…I've already got something lined up there for my retirement. The weather's better than it is here…and people like me aren't discriminated against as badly."

Hermione saw his point. In Concordia, being a squib, dormant wizard being the politically correct term, wasn't as bad as in the rest of the wizarding world. There were about thirty dormants in Concordia, and like Filch, they all had jobs that didn't require magic per se. "I know!"

On their way up, they encountered Professor Lupin, who seemed to be headed in the same direction.

"Well, if it isn't Hermione Granger." He pulled her into a brief hug. "You're early."

"I know. But I have to talk to Professor McGonagall."

"Me too!" Lupin looked at Filch. "I'll take her off your hands, Argus!"

Filch gave a brief nod before disappearing into the corridors, no doubt looking for students who were out of bounds.

"Hermione…" Lupin began. "Harry…is it true?"

"We know it was him…but no one can say why he did it, or if he did it out of his own volition." Hermione said quickly.

"Harry can resist the Imperius Curse." Lupin said.

"There are countless other ways to control people, Professor Lupin," Hermione said irritably. "Surely you don't think…"

"I know how hardship can shape a person's soul…but no, I don't believe he'd do something like this of his own free will," Lupin said, taking her hand and patting it reassuringly. "Come on, let's go to Minerva."

"How is she?"

"Busy with the preparations for the wedding."

"Ah!" Hermione grimaced as her insides squirmed guiltily.

"Something wrong?" Lupin asked, noticing her troubled expression as they reached the gargoyle.

"Only the reason for my visit," Hermione said.

"Is it about Harry?"

Hermione shook her head.

Lupin shrugged and addressed the statue. "Golden rule!" he said, and the statue jumped aside as the entrance revealed itself.

They stepped onto the stairs, and like an escalator it carried them up towards the door to the office. Lupin knocked.

"Enter," Hermione heard McGonagall say in her usual crisp voice.

Lupin pushed the door open and allowed Hermione to precede him.

"Hermione…"

"Early…I know," Hermione said and spared a glance to take in her surroundings. Her breath caught in throat. "Is that…Fawkes?"

McGonagall smiled. "Yes it is. He came back at Easter. I was ever so surprised to see him, after all, he was Dumbledore's friend, not mine," she said, as she walked around her desk and gave Hermione a brief yet motherly hug. "So to what do we owe this early visit? I assume it couldn't wait until the wedding?"

"It couldn't." Hermione nodded. "Can anybody overhear us in here?"

McGonagall shook her head. "Albus and Filius came up with some Charms that detect and corrupt any listening devices and charms back when Fudge tried to spy on us, remember?"

Hermione smiled. "Then I'd like you to call Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape up here. Who is teaching Care Of Magical Creatures?"

"Lara MacFusty," Lupin said.

Hermione frowned. Why did that name sound familiar? She knew the MacFusty family had been charged with looking after the Hebridean Blacks, but that wasn't where she knew the name from. "Was she in Gryffindor?"

"Six years ahead of you, I believe." McGonagall confirmed.

"She'll become the Head of Gryffindor House next year," Lupin said.

"Why? Are you leaving? Is the Ministry giving you trouble again?" Hermione asked worriedly. After all, being a teacher provided Lupin with housing and a steady income…something he'd had to do without for the better part of his life.

Lupin laughed. "No, it isn't like that at all. Diggory is much better than Fudge was, and Percy and Charlie are pressing for some major reforms for werewolves. It's just that I can't be there for my students on full moons. If something were to happen, they'll need someone who can be there for them at all times."

"Well, I guess she has to hear this too… but can she be trusted like the others can?"

"Yes," McGonagall said, with so much conviction that Hermione found it hard to doubt her. "She was one of our best people in the war."

"That's good enough for me." Hermione said.

McGonagall called Flitwick's office first, and soon the diminutive wizard stepped out of McGonagall's fireplace. While he greeted Hermione warmly, a young woman dressed completely in dragon hides stepped out next. She hadn't changed much since Hermione had last seen her. Her features were unlovely, as sharp an unsheathed dagger and she had a cool and calculating look in her eyes. Lara had been a most severe prefect in Hermione's first year… Lara's seventh.

"What's the emergency, Professor McGonagall?" she asked, but the headmistress raised her hand to ward of anymore questions while she tried to contact Snape.

"He's not in his office," McGonagall announced. "Remus…could you please find him?"

Lupin smiled and pulled out an old piece of parchment.

"Is that what I think it is?" Hermione asked, unable to hide her astonishment.

Lupin nodded and muttered the words that awakened the enchanted piece of parchment, and soon Hermione saw several lines appear on the parchment. Lots of dots were moving about since it was day time, and the last exams had taken place the day before. "Find Severus Snape."

Hermione saw the lines on the parchment changing again and the map seemed to zoom in. Snape's dot became more defined, and…

"Severus…you sly old…!" Lupin started laughing. "Ahem…I thinks we should give him a minute…he's with Megan, in her room."

"Megan Stewart?" Hermione asked, reading the name. "I don't know her. What does she teach?"

"Muggle studies," Lupin said. "She was two or three years behind me, at Hogwarts…Slytherin. She joined the teaching staff this year," he chuckled. "Oooh, Severus is going to be hopping mad when he finds out I've been spying on him!"

"A Slytherin teaching Muggle studies?" Hermione shook her head. "That's, err, unexpected."

"She's a half and half." Lupin said. "And her mother's good friends with mine…they were both in Hufflepuff. She isn't a bad woman, just very ambitious. I'm sure she'll send Severus on his way if he ever gets in the way of her career." He grinned.

"What about you…Professor Lupin? Aren't you seeing anyone?"

Lupin's blush emerged under the ever present stubble on his face…one of the marks of being a werewolf. Hermione knew that Professor Lupin would have to shave twice a day to keep his face smooth. "That's none of you're business!"

"Madam Rosemerta," Lara MacFusty said, flashing them an unlovely smile.

Hermione managed to hold back a giggle. "Madam Rosemerta?" The barmaid was a curvy sort of woman with a pretty face, but Hermione couldn't imagine her with Professor Lupin. "Isn't she a bit too old?"

"No she isn't. She's only ten years older than I am." A broad and dreamy grin slashed Lupin's face in two. "I remember the first time I went to Hogsmeade. There she was…"

"Yes…a vibrant young lass!" Flitwick agreed. "Half the boys at Hogwarts had a crush on her in those years."

McGonagall clearing her throat snapped the two men out of their musings. "Well, is Severus available now?"

Lupin glanced at the Marauder's Map. "Yes, he's on his way to the Great Hall."

McGonagall held up a small note. "Could you please summon Severus, Fawkes?"

The Phoenix nodded and took the note in his beak, before disappearing in a shower of sparks.

A short while later, Severus Snape swept into the office. He raised his eyebrow as his gaze fell across Hermione. "Aren't you a bit early?"

"Good to see you too, Professor," Hermione replied coolly.

"Very well, now that we're all here, what is it that you wanted to tell us?" McGonagall asked.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Professor Snape, your Sneakoscope failed to register whether or not Draco Malfoy was trustworthy, didn't it?"

"Miss Granger," Snape said irritably. "You never ask a leading question if you don't already know the answer. Why don't you save us all some time and cut to the chase?"

"Okay. We've discovered, or rather drawn the conclusion that the Sneakoscope never reacted, even in a situation where we knew Malfoy was lying. Like a mirror that doesn't reflect a vampire. After joining the Order of Illumination, I have also discovered that it is very much possible to baffle a wide range of magical detectors with some special magical artefacts. Tetsuo Yamato is a brilliant and evil magical artefact inventor who has been known to build such artefacts, and I also know for a fact that Lucius Malfoy had had dealings with Tetsuo Yamato. We're positive that Draco owns this thing now."

"I know Yamato…" Snape began slowly. "But I never knew that Lucius Malfoy had had any dealings with him. I guess the Order of Illumination has some very good sources." He eyed Hermione speculatively.

"Yes, we do. Now, a small number of Rangers will attend the wedding, and they'll try to sniff out the device that Draco uses to baffle detectors. Unfortunately, the specialised detector required to accomplish this needs to be brought over from Concordia," she lied, deeming it unnecessary to tell the teachers that the Rangers had blundered. "The estimated time of arrival for this detector is one hour after the start of ceremony. But we need to stall the wedding for two hours, just to be safe. We've already got one hour covered, but we need one more."

McGonagall was clearly having trouble with this. "Sabotage the wedding…oh dear!"

Lupin seemed delighted by the idea. "I have just the thing…but it won't be easy to do this unnoticed. With the Aurors and all the guests, it's going to be tough. Can I ask George Weasley to help?"

"Ron's Apparated to the Warren to execute his part of the plan. We'll make sure that the bride is one hour late. When she gets here, we have to execute the second part of the plan to further delay the wedding…if we have to. The Ranger might make it back in time for this to be unnecessary. Will you help me?"

"Sure." Lupin grinned.

"I've always liked Ginny very much. I wouldn't want her to end up with a criminal," Flitwick piped, and nodded. "I'll help."

"Why not." MacFusty shrugged.

"I won't be outwitted by Draco. If he is indeed in possession of such an artefact, he must be stopped." Snape nodded. "I have a question, though. Why did you summon the four of us?"

"I need MacFusty's knowledge of magical creatures. I was thinking about using pixies, lots of them, to disrupt the wedding when the time is right."

"I can summon a swarm of them. I just need an hour to whip up a batch of pheromone potion that will attract the little blighters," MacFusty said.

"And Professor Lupin, Professor Flitwick, and I?"

"I didn't want to do this without the knowledge of the heads of houses. I should've asked Professor Sprout too!" Hermione said, suddenly remembering the dumpy little witch that taught Herbology.

"She's not here today. Had to go to the Netherlands to pick up some special seeds she wants to use next year, so don't worry." McGonagall clapped her hands. "Well, let's get on with it!"

***

A/N: Thank you, oh noble readers, for the reviews. I'll post chapter 21 after reaching the 290 review mark. You might not think this chapter is worth so many reviews, but believe me, chapter 21 is done, and I think it is the chapter you've been waiting for. So the sooner you help me reach 290, the quicker you'll get to read the chapter.

A special thanks to the people who've reviewed.