Disclaimer: This story is provided by the author 'as is' and does not contain or represent any expressed or implied ownership of any fictional characters and/or creatures created by J.K.Rowling.

"Time to wake up, honey."

Harry groggily sat up in bed.  This was unusual – Ginny almost never woke up before him.  He looked at her, and realized why she had woken him.  "You want to know what's going on."

Ginny grinned sheepishly and nodded.

Harry smiled and kissed her.  "I'll take a break and come over to the Misuse Office as soon as I find out what's going on.  But…"

"But I can't tell anyone," Ginny finished.

"Simply unspeakable," Harry shot back, grinning.

"19 years, Harry.  19 years!" Ginny groaned.

"As much as you love my jokes," Harry said, "I have to go talk with Dumbledore.  He's probably waiting in the lobby under armed guard already.  I thought Renard was grim, but his daughter Nora Joss is twice as bad."

"Nora?" Ginny asked, "Was she the one who accused you of being a Death Eater?"

"Yeah," Harry laughed, "and she still looks at my forearm for the dark mark."

Ginny shook her head and asked, "Breakfast here or at the cafeteria?"

"Cafeteria," Harry shot back, "They've got Oxford Marmalade today.  I'll be ready in fifteen minutes."

Harry quickly showered, threw on some robes, and grabbed Ginny's hand by the fireplace.  "Ministry Cafeteria," Ginny called, and Harry quickly tucked his elbows in as the floo network whisked him away to breakfast.

"Harry, Ginny!" someone greeted as they emerged from the fireplace.

The pair smiled.  "Hermione," Ginny called back, smiling.

"How's the ministry library coming?" Harry asked.

Hermione grimaced.  "Not well.  It seems so small, having gone to Hogwarts.  We've only got 5,000 books, and we've only been able to order another 1,000 within the month."

"Why, that's only a few weeks' worth of reading!" Harry joked.

Hermione exasperatingly said, "You shouldn't have hung around Ron so much.  He's rubbed off on you."

"How is Ron?" Harry asked, "I haven't seen him since the last reunion.  Is he…"

Hermione's grin faded a little.  "He's getting better.  St. Mungos said that he can remove the brace within a few months."

Ginny frowned.  "Do they know yet whether he'll still be able to play?"

Hermione answered, "They don't know yet.  But still, he can manage the team practices without flying."

"I don't know," Harry replied, "The practice coach is supposed to be able to show the players what they're supposed to do.  It'll be hard to do that without flying."

Ginny and Hermione both glowered at Harry, who shrunk a little under the glares.

Ginny quickly changed the subject and said, "Did you hear about the airplane?  With the cue ball?"

"Don't tell me," Hermione grinned, "it was Arthur."

Harry gave his goodbyes, leaving the two to talk about enchanted muggle objects – he had to rescue Dumbledore from security.  However, he had to stop within a few minutes later at a large metal door.  "Submit for inspection," the guard at the door listlessly ordered.

Harry sighed and let the guard sweep over him with several magical devices.  "You know, back 20 years ago, we could get in with just a code phrase."

The guard nodded sullenly, and said, "Passcard please."

Harry handed his small identification wafer, and said, "What's Nora coming up with next to over-identify us?"

"That's secret," came an authoritarian voice from behind him.  Harry turned around, and saw the unfortunately familiar figure of a squat, blond-haired wizard glaring at him.

"Hello, Nora," Harry greeted in a monotone voice, while the guard tried not to smile at the situation.

"You seem to take the need for security in this department for granted, Mr. Potter," Nora primly stated, "You seem to forget this department demands absolute secrecy.  We cannot afford to have any unauthorized intruders!"

Harry couldn't resist asking, "What about authorized intruders?"

The guard lost his battle to hide a smile, but Nora Joss was too busy glaring at Harry to notice.  "Double check him," she ordered to the guard, and Harry could swear she had a hint of a vindictive smile on her face.

The guard hid a sigh and repeated the measurements with the security tools.  "He's clear."

Harry grinned and said, "Too bad, Nora.  One of these days you'll catch me.  I'll talk to you later – I've got some spying to do for the death eaters."  He entered through the doors, escorted all the way down the hall by Nora's glare.  Finally, he entered his office and saw he wasn't alone.

"Albus!" Harry greeted.

"Hello, Harry," Dumbledore responded.  The ex-headmaster was far frailer than when he was at Hogwarts, but he still had the twinkle in his eyes.

"I don't believe this," Harry laughed, "How did you get past all the security?  I can't imagine they let you in easily!"

Dumbledore smiled and asked, "Security?"

Harry laughed harder, wondering how Dumbledore managed to get more eccentric each year.  Albus knew that Nora had given the guards kill-on-sight orders for anyone not authorized in the department, yet he was calmly sitting in an office almost directly in the center of the building.

"As I told you before," Dumbledore started, "There's a problem with the Sphere of Madness.  It's been opened."

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