A/N: Sigh…well, well, well…I'm back!!!!! Thank you all for your patience! This story was driving me nuts. I was honestly considering just saying screw it, because with the site being down, and me having a million and one things to do, obviously no one would know if I finished it or not. Then alas, a few people came through and made me realize that that really wouldn't be fair. For those people, this is for you. Thanks for the wonderful reviews and emails! I've read them all and I appreciate all of them. You all rock! As for some questions I've been getting about the characters….well you'll have to wait and see what happens! : ) Oh yeah, and on a side note, for those of you who have asked to put my stories on your websites, I would love if you could email me a link to your site. Just because I've lost all my emails, (which is why I haven't responded to some of them. Nothing personal! I just lost your address..!) and would love to see your sites. Thanks! On with the show!
"That little brat," Hermione said angrily. "I swear, you'd think with all the money that family has that they would be able to teach the kid some tact."
"So," James said. "I was about to punch him in the face, when Drew came over and pulled us apart. Dan's lucky that I actually like his brother."
"James," Ron said as he paced the room. "I don't know what to tell you. I mean I know Harry…" He paused and looked a Harry. "You can ask Harry! He wouldn't have just left you."
"So where did he go?" James asked unconvinced.
"I don't know," Ron said breathing deeply. "We'll find out one day. I hope."
"We'll find out very soon," Harry said standing up. "Herm, how long does it take to get to the Ministry."
"You're going to the Ministry?" James asked looking up. "Why?"
"To talk to Malfoy," Harry said.
"But he'll know you are who you….are!" James stammered out in a confused manner.
"I'm going to play pretend," Harry said grinning a little. "He was fooled yesterday, so I'm sure I'll be able to convince him today."
James just stared blankly. "What are you going to say?"
Harry looked lost in thought. "I'm not positive yet, but I know I'll figure it out when I'm there. Now, Hermione, how long does it take to get there?"
"Seconds by apparation." Hermione said.
"I can't apparate," James said. "I haven't taken the test yet."
"Oh right," Hermione said. "Floo Powder then?"
"You can't do that," Ron said. "You have to have a scheduled appointment to be able to Floo into the Ministry. They'll throw you out otherwise."
"He's right," Harry said.
"All right," Hermione said. "We'll just Floo Powder somewhere near by and then walk."
"All right," Harry said. "I'm ready when you are."
Hermione turned to Ron. "We'll be back later. Hopefully, we won't have to stay in Malfoy's presence too long."
"We'll be there until I feel he actually tells me something beneficial," Harry said sternly. "Ready then?"
"No more running about like a loony," Hermione said as she tousled James's hair. "And make sure you talk to Liz."
"I will," James said as he stood up.
"Good luck you two," Ron said as he watched Hermione pick up a handful of Floo Powder.
"Counsel Street Pub," Hermione said to Harry before she threw the powder into the fire and repeated the words.
"Here goes nothing," Harry said as he took one last look at Ron and James before stepping in. "Counsel Street Pub." Suddenly the all too familiar feeling of spinning came over Harry as Ron and Hermione's living room disappeared.
************************
Harry hit the ground with a thud. This hadn't been a smooth landing.
"Ok Harry?" Hermione said as she reached out to help him up.
"Yeah," Harry said as he dusted the ash off his clothes. "Rough one that one was."
"You're telling me," Hermione said. "I hardly ever travel by Floo unless I'm with one of the kids. Wait until you can apparate. It will change your life."
"I think I've had enough life changing events for awhile," Harry said with a smile as he looked around the room they were standing in. It reminded Harry quite a bit of the Leaky Cauldron, with its atmosphere and its patron's appearances. "What's this place?"
Hermione smiled. "It's just a little pub. You and I used to come here all the time on break from work. I assume many of the Ministry employees still do."
"So the Ministry is near by?" Harry asked.
"Across the street," Hermione said as she headed in the direction of the door. "Right there."
She opened the door and Harry saw the Ministry of Magic building standing before him. It was an enormously large gray building that seemed to have a strange, almost force field like mist surrounding it. The building itself really didn't look very old, and Harry bet that Hogwarts must have eons on it, however he could only assume that the building was ancient. There was something about this building that Harry really didn't like. All though it looked very normal to the naked eye, he felt a strange and uninviting vibe coming from it.
"See that over there," Hermione said pointing as they stood right outside the pub. "Top floor, third window down?"
"Yeah," Harry said.
"That used to be our office," Hermione said. "That whole part is the Ministry of Defense's wing."
"I see," Harry said as he followed Hermione across the busy street. "Are those guards over there?"
"Appears that way," Hermione said as they walked through a stone entrance and past the two guard posts. "Come on, we'll need to talk to someone."
They both walked up to the front of the building and entered through the main entrance into an extremely large foyer area. In the very center of the room was an extremely large painting of Draco Malfoy. He looked particularly rat faced, Harry noticed, but he looked away and tried to avoid all eye contact with the painting.. He continued to look around and saw people scurrying about and looking very busy. He noticed one man in the far corner screaming at a woman behind a desk. He seemed to be demanding to talk to someone about some magical accident. Harry stopped turned to see a large line forming for reasons he couldn't figure out.
"Oh the Department of Muggle control are going to have their hands full with that one," Harry heard a passing woman say to another woman.
"There are a lot of people in here," Harry said.
"Well," Hermione said as she searched the room for something in particular. "It is the Ministry of Magic. See that line? That's where I'll have to come with James and Liz soon. Apparation tests."
"Oh is that was that's for?" Harry said as he glanced at the line and noticed one boy reading from a study pamphlet. He seemed to be extremely nervous.
"Over here," Hermione said as she stood behind a very tall and frightening looking woman. "They should be able to tell us where to go."
Harry enjoyed the fact that this happened to be one of the shorter lines in the room. Before he had finished that thought, they were being called up.
"May I help you?" asked an elderly woman with an extremely pointy face. Harry felt really uneasy standing near her, and he noticed that Hermione must have as well.
"Yes," Hermione said. "I need to know who I would talk to in order to be able to speak with the Minister."
"Minister Malfoy himself?" the lady asked half laughing. "No one speaks to Mr. Malfoy without a specially arranged appointment."
"Fine," Hermione said aggravated. "Who do I speak to in order to get one of those?"
"Well," the woman said. "There are quite a few people you would have to go to if he's not expecting you or hasn't scheduled the appointment himself. I don't want you to get your hopes up dear. No one speaks to Mr. Malfoy unless he wants to speak to you."
"Well," Hermione said sternly. "He'll want to speak to us. If you could please give us the names of these people I'll need to talk to."
The woman started at Hermione with a look of 'take a hint.' She breathed deeply and reached into a file cabinet. "Here," the woman began. "The top number is the number of the Minister's secretary, followed by the Deputy Minister's secretary and so on." She paused. "You probably won't get through to either of them, so you might want to start down here with that number."
"What's that number?" Hermione asked.
"The Public Relations Department," the woman said. "They deal with most of the complaints and opinions that the magical world has."
"Fine," Hermione said forcing a smile. "Thank you."
"Next," the woman said not playing anymore attention to Hermione.
"Uggg," Hermione said glancing at Harry. "I hate it here."
"Why?" Harry asked sarcastically. "It all seems so pleasant."
Hermione walked over to a nearby interoffice communication station. Harry noticed that it almost looked like a muggle telephone, besides the fact that it was hovering in the center of the room. Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at the device. "Who should I try first?"
"Try his secretary," Harry said pointing to the top number.
"All right," Hermione said as she pointed her wand and said the three digit number at the top of the page. They waited while it buzzed…and buzzed…and buzzed.
"Hello?" said a voice.
"Yes, hello," Hermione began to say before she was cut off.
"Thank you for connecting to the Office of the Minister of Magic. We regret to inform you that all circuits are busy, but please do not break magical concentration. Your voice and opinion is important to us."
"Oh please," Hermione said as she lowered her wand and the device suddenly went black.
"Maybe we should try the bottom?" Harry suggested.
Hermione seemed to be one step ahead of him. She pointed her wand and said, "145."
"Ministry of Magic Public Relations Department," came the voice of what sounded like a young woman. "This is Linda. How can I be of service to your magical concern today?"
"Do they always have to say that?" Harry asked. Hermione ignored him.
"Yes Linda," Hermione said pleasantly. "I was wondering what I would need to do in order to speak to Mr. Malfoy?"
"Our prestigious Minister of Magic is a very busy man," the girl said in her best, trained textbook speech. "He has many things to deal with on a daily basis, and sometimes, to his regret, cannot be at the disposal of the many people who wish to talk to him."
"How much is he paying you?!" Harry asked in an astonished voice.
"Harry," Hermione said throwing a look at him.
"Well come on," Harry mumbled. "You know he wrote that himself!"
"I understand that he is a very busy man," Hermione said. "But he obviously deals with people on a daily basis. My question is, how can I become one of those people?"
"Are you looking for employment opportunities?" the girl asked.
"No," Hermione said very frustrated. "I would just like to speak to Mr. Malfoy."
"If you have an issue or a concern," the girl continued. "I would be more than happy to be of any assistance."
"You won't be," Hermione said forgetting the politeness. "All I want is to talk to Draco Malfoy. If I need to make an appointment, so be it."
The girl was quiet for a moment. "All right. Well, I'll have to forward you to the Minister's appointment secretary. She handles all of his affairs."
"How come her number's not on this?" Harry said searching the list.
"Thank you!" Hermione said loudly. "Finally," she mumbled to Harry as she listened to the buzzing of the device.
"Ministry of Magic, Minister Malfoy's Office," came the voice of another woman.
"Yes," Hermione said quickly. "I would like to know…"
"Your call is eleventh in place to be answered," the voice continued. "Please hold."
Harry watched as Hermione's face went from bad to worse. "I never had to deal with this crap when I worked here. What is this? Music?"
Harry listened as strange and cheezy music that came from the communication device, only to be interrupted by the occasional message of, "You are ninth in line. Thank you for your patience, please hold." Finally, after about a half hour, in which Harry and Hermione had started playing 'name that hair piece,' a human voice spoke.
"Thank you for patience, Calindra Hobart speaking."
"Hello," Hermione said. "Yes Ms. Hobart, I was wondering if I could make an appointment to speak to the Minister of Magic?"
"Concerning?" Ms. Hobart said.
"I just have someone who would like to speak to him?" Hermione said looking at Harry for help.
"Well," Ms. Hobart said. "I'm sorry, Miss..?"
"Mrs. Granger-Weasley," Hermione said.
"Mrs. Granger-Weasley," Ms. Hobart continued. "Many people would like to speak to him, and of course we can't have everyone who wanted to do so. The Minister has special public events in which he addresses the public…"
"I'm aware of these event," Hermione said. "I just have someone with me who I know that he would be extremely interested in talking to."
"I'm sure," Ms. Hobart said unconvincingly. "Well, his next available appointment is…" She paused. "In July."
"July?" Hermione asked. "That's over a month away."
"July of 2022," Ms. Hobart continued. "So actually it's a month and two years."
"Oh this is ridiculous," Hermione said yelling. "Can I just leave a message with him. I'm telling you, if he knew who wanted to speak to him, he would make time."
"Well, I'll have to forward you to his personal secretary," Ms. Hobart said.
"Why!?" Hermione said. "I'll bet any money that your desk is less than five yards away from hers! Couldn't you just stand up and hand it to her!?"
"No, I'm sorry," she answered.
"Fine," Hermione said. "FINE!"
"Would you still like the appointment?" she asked.
"Yes, fine, whatever," Hermione said angrily. Harry took a step back.
The phone began to buzz again, and soon enough they found themselves twenty-first in line to connect. They were on hold listening to the music once again, and after a half hour they finally got an answer.
"Minister's office," the woman said. "How can I help you."
"I want to leave Malfoy a message," Hermione said straight to the point.
"Ok," the woman said. "In regards to?"
"Something," Hermione said not caring about being polite anymore.
"Ok…?" the woman said. "Your name?"
"Please just tell Mr. Malfoy," Hermione began. "That Hermione Granger and Har…James Potter would like to speak to him in person. We do have an appointment set for two years from now, but we'd like to shorten that."
"James Potter?" the woman asked. "Did I hear you correctly?"
"Yes," Hermione said.
"Well Ms. Granger," the woman said. "I'm sure he'll be pleased to receive this message."
"Will he?" Hermione asked. "And why's that?"
"I'll be sure to let him know," she said ignoring her. "He's currently not in his office."
"Thank you," Hermione said.
"Can I have a number or some sort of connection where I can have him contact you?" the woman asked.
"Tell you what," Hermione said as a grin appeared across her face. "He's a very powerful man, and I'm well aware of how much he would like to speak to James. So let him find it."
Harry's mouth dropped, as Hermione lowered her wand. "What are you doing?"
"He'll find it," Hermione said. "And he will call. Don't worry."
"So that's it?" Harry asked. "We're done here?"
"We're done today," Hermione said smiling. "But something tells me, we'll be back here a lot sooner than we think." She paused as she looked up at the portrait of Malfoy hanging in the center of the room, it was glaring at her and Harry. "You know, more than ever I think he has something to do with what happened to Harry."
"I couldn't be more positive," Harry said as painting suddenly smiled somewhat eerily at the two of them.