Chapter Thirteen: Things are not always as they seem
Maura was chatting with Bill and Janie at the kitchen table when the telephone rang early the next afternoon. They were all startled by it, because while Harry's cel phone seemed to be in constant use, the house phone seldom rang.
"Maura?" Molly called from the hall. "Phone for you, love."
Maura had given the number at Harry's house to three people: the super at her building, Stephen Lewis, and Naomi Baxter.
"Who is it, Molly?" she asked as she stepped into the hall.
"I'm sorry, love, I didn't get a name. It's a woman, though."
"Thanks," Maura smiled and took the phone from her, turning with her back towards the hallway as she spoke. "Maura Kennedy."
"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Naomi's voice wasn't raised. Naomi seldom raised her voice. But it was very obvious that she was blazingly angry.
"Naomi, how nice to hear from you," Maura said dryly.
"Maura, you've made yourself into a laughingstock. And subsequenly, you've made me look like a laughingstock, because I bloody hired you when no one else would."
"Naomi..."
"Look, you've tossed it, all of it, away. Your word, your credibility, it's all shot now. And for what, a payoff from that rag?"
"It wasn't about the money, Naomi."
"Then what the hell was it about, Maura? How do you throw a career away as you've done? For what reason?"
"For the truth, Naomi. The truth. That is the business that we're supposed to be in, right?"
"Truth? Have they bloody brainwashed you?"
"Who?"
"That damned cult that's gotten it's claws into you! The psychos that have you believing that Harry goddamned Potter is alive and well and living in SoHo!"
"Well, it's not Soho... but..." Maura looked up to see Harry looking out his den doorway at her. "But he is, Naomi. I'm looking at him as we speak."
"Maura, I'm begging you, get out of there, come here, I'll take you to the hospital... if they've drugged you..."
"Naomi, no one has drugged me, or brainwashed me," she smiled as she saw Harry grin. "I assure you, had you listened to me the day I came to you, you would have seen the proof for yourself. But, as it was, Stephen Lewis was the only one who cared to listen, so he ended up with the story."
"I assure you, Maura," Naomi's voice changed to steel. "If you don't write a retraction of everything you've said in that rag, the mainstream media is finished with you."
Maura was silent for a moment. She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "Are you threatening me? Are you threatening to blackball me?"
"It's not a threat, Maura. At least, not one of my making. You've thrown your career away, and you have no one to blame but yourself for that. We're finished with you."
Maura took a deep breath, "So be it, Naomi. If that's what you feel you need to do, do your worst."
Naomi said nothing more, only the click on the other end told Maura that she had disconnected the call. Silently, she replaced the receiver in the cradly and sighed.
"Marua?" Harry still stood, watching her. "Everything okay?"
"No. No, it's not, Harry," she smiled sadly, holding back the tears. "I've been officially fired and told that I might as well not bother to apply elsewhere. My name has been destroyed by the mainstream press, and I won't work there ever again."
With that, she walked tiredly up the stairs and on to her workroom, where she stood aimlessly in the middle of the mess of letters and ringing phones and computer printouts, and began to cry.
She didn't know how long she stood there before she felt strong arms go around her, but when they did, she turned and buried her face in the chest of the man holding her.
"Maura, honey, it's okay..."
"Oh, Ron! They fired me! I worked so hard and..."
"Shhh... I know, I know. It'll be okay, though...I promise. Shhh..."
"I don't know, Ron. I'm beginning to think that nothing will ever be okay again," she sobbed into his shirt.
"Trust me," he said, as he brushed the hair away from her tear-wet face. "Trust me, it will."
Ron seemed confident, and she smiled, then looked to the doorway where Janie and Amelia were hovering, wanting to get back to work, but unsure if they were interrupting anything.
"Well, come on, then," she smiled at them over her shoulder and through her tears. "It would appear that I've been fired from gainful employment, so I'm about to immerse myself completely in this, and I can't do it with those damned phones ringing."
Ron smiled and sighed with relief. She'd be okay. Maura would be just fine.
It seemed like Harry spent the next week on top of the world. Despite what was going on, he had finally gotten the woman he had loved since adolescence to agree to marry him, her three daughters as a bonus, and the movement they had begun was gaining momentum by the minute.
Of course, now he was being called all sorts of names in the muggle press, everything from a neo-nazi to a cult guru, but for some reason, that only increased the number of inquiries they were getting. As had been said many times before, any publicity is good publicity.
He already had enough "alternative students" as they were being called to create a summer program at Hogwarts. The Order had met and agreed on a six-week intensive basic course to begin with, and any students showing any talent were to have their stay extended by an additional four weeks.
Minerva reported that the response at the school had been overwhelming. Senior students and staff were all helping to open up sections of the castle that had been closed for years to make room for the new students and instructors.
It had also been decided that, instead of integrating these new "students" into the general school population and existing houses, they would be brought into two new houses. Harry nearly cried when he heard the suggested names of the new houses.
Dumbledore and Granger.
The school had also experienced a flood of offers by senior witches and wizards to act as instructors to these new students. Harry was shocked by the response.
And Maura worked like a demon. She had turned out four new articles, much to Stephen Lewis' delight, and walked around looking exhausted. Harry thought she simply wasn't sleeping until one night she cornered him in his office to speak to him.
She wanted to discuss the ramifications of having been fired and blackballed in the mainstream press. He had failed to see the problem, but Maura seemed concerned about maintaining her apartment and car payments.
He had offered to make the payments for her, or to replace the income she was losing, which for some reason, had only served to make her so angry her short curls had crackled and snapped with the excess energy she was putting out.
Eventually, she had managed to ask him if she could continue to stay at Potter Manor for the foreseeable future, allowing her to sell both flat and car. He had readily agreed, wondering at her feeling the need to ask. It had been assumed by everyone there that Maura was there for good.
And after that, all was well, until the morning that the courier arrived, bringing with him a very official looking letter, addressed to Ms Maura Kennedy.
"The bloody military intelligence wants to question me, Harry!" she fumed. "What part of that do you not understand?"
"Maura, they just want to interview you..."
"...you are encouraged to retain legal counsel to accompany you..." she read from the paper in her hand. "Harry, that's not an invitation to bloody tea!"
"Maura, calm down," Ron said. "It's okay, Harry has about the best lawyers in Britian, and you're not going alone."
"Of course I am bloody going alone, Ron! Do you see 'Mr Ronald Weasley' written anywhere on these papers?"
"Maura," Harry said, leaning on his desk. "I promise you, you will not be attending this meeting alone. They may want to question you in private, but Ron and I will be there, and so will our counsel."
"Harry, this is the military police. The bloody MPs. These guys don't fool around."
"Neither do we, Maura," Ron said quietly. "They'll hurt you over my dead body."
Maura turned sad eyes on him. "There isn't much you can do from a military prison, Ron."
"You forget," he grinned as he touched her chin playfully. "I can apparate."
Maura smiled. She knew she was reacting unreasonably, but it wasn't every day that you received an offical letter telling you the most powerful people in Britain, in the muggle world, at least, wanted you to justify and prove what you were saying. Or shut you up.
The day of the interview arrived without further surprises. Maura dressed carefully in her beige silk suit and Italian heels, and headed down for breakfast.
"I'll have eggs on in a minute, Maura," said Ginny from the stove as Maura entered. She wondered where Molly was.
"No eggs, thanks, Ginny. I wouldn't want to toss eggs all over the interviewers, now would I?"
Ginny laughed. "Perhaps not. How about tea and toast, then? That'll calm your tummy."
"Thanks," she accepted as she sat down at the table.
Harry and Ron were already seated. Harry was sipping at a mug of coffee as he read the paper, and Ron was busy with what looked like half a dozen eggs. Maura watched him in shock.
"Why is it that I have yet to see a fat witch or wizard?" she asked suddenly. "You all eat like it's going out of style."
Harry grinned as he looked over his paper. "It's a little known secret, actually. Spell casting takes a lot of energy. Energy is calories."
Maura's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me?"
"Nope," Ron said through a mouthful of egg. "Simple in/out equation, actually."
"But..." Maura thought for a moment. "So you people have the best-kept weight loss secret in the world, and no one has ever said anything?"
"Why should we?" Ron asked. "We all know it."
Maura turned to her tea and toast as Ginny placed them before her, not noticing the identical grins of devilment that Harry and Ron were sharing over her head, wondering how long it would be before she figured out that they were having her on.
The doorbell rang, and Harry rose. "That'll be Luna."
"Luna?" Maura's stomach lurched.
"Luna Davis," Ron confirmed, finishing his breakfast and taking a sip of coffee as he pushed the plate away. "You know her as Luna..."
"Lovegood. Why, exactly, is Luna Lovegood here?"
"She's our lawyer."
Maura paled, "Please tell me you're kidding?"
Ron glanced up at her from where he was reading the front page of the Sun. Stephen Lewis had had a complementary subscription delivered as soon as her articles were published. Ron turned to page three and smiled appreciatively.
"We're not like we were in the books, remember Maura?"
Maura watched him, practically drooling over the... assets... of the page three girl, and snorted.
"Much," she muttered.
At that moment, Harry entered the kitchen, a woman in a suit similar to Maura's but fire-engine red, behind him. Maura looked up at her in near awe. She was, quite possibly, the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
"Maura, this is Luna..."
"Lovegood." Maura finished, smiling hesitantly. Luna seemd to read her expression instantly.
"Those damned books," she said dryly, without losing her smile. "I ought to sue that woman. But it was cheaper to just change my name. I go by Luna Davis now."
"Yes. Ron said."
"And I assure you," her grey-blue eyes snapped, "that I am not the vacant blonde I've been portrayed as."
"We always figured that that was because you mooned over Harry, Luna," Ron teased, still not looking up from the paper.
"Really? That doesn't explain why I wasted my time on you in sixth year then, does it, Weasley?" She said this in the same teasing tone, so Maura assumed that there was no anger behind it.
"You dated Ron?" Maura gasped.
"Yes, to my eternal shame," Luna turned her eyes on Maura. "Many of us fell into that particular... trap. What can I say? We were young, and hormonal."
Maura sputtered with laughter. She would never have expected dry wit from Luna Lovegood!
"Hey! I'm right here, you!" Ron said, finally looking up to them, tearing his eyes away from the rather well-endowed model in the paper.
"Relax, Ron, we're joking," Maura soothed him.
"Yes," Luna confirmed, but in a tone that made it seem almost a token remark. "Now, this is how we're going to deal with this..."
Half an hour later, they all four piled into Harry's car. Harry and Ron were both dressed in Saville Row-quality suits, and Maura would have felt a thrill of excitement in being out with the two of them, looking as they did, if it weren't for the fact of the situation.
Luna had confirmed Maura's feelings that this was unlikely to be a pleasant interview. Maura, however, had all of her ducks in the proverbial row. Every piece of research was neatly filed in her attache case, which was firmly in her lap.
"So, what was with the bottle-cap necklace?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Ron shouted with laughter, Harry's ears went red, and Luna turned long-suffering eyes on her.
"You had to bring that up in front of them, didn't you?"
"I... assumed..." Maura swallowed, fully aware that she had just put her foot in it, but not quite sure what 'it' was. "I assumed that it was another one of those things that weren't exactly accurate..."
"No. Although the author of those books certainly blew it all out of proportion," Luna sighed. "I wore a single bottle cap on a chain around my neck, under my clothes, for a short while in second year."
"Tell her why, Luna," Ron was laughing uncontrollably.
"Ron, shut up," Harry growled at him.
"Oh, not a chance, mate. This is just too, too good!"
Maura, uncertain of why this was getting the response that it was, turned back to Luna.
"I'm sorry?" she offered hesitantly.
"You couldn't have known," Luna dismissed, then continued. "When my father took me to Diagon Alley in August before my second year to get my school books, we stopped at a cafe for lunch. At the next table were Harry and Ron and the twins. Molly had apparently felt comfortable letting them out on their own without their leashes."
This last was thrown at Ron. He giggled harder.
"I had... we were all very affected with the thought of going to school with Harry Potter. We'd all grown up with stories of him. After my first year, well, we were all silly little girls, and I had a crush on him.
"When the four of them left their table, I took the bottle cap from Harry's drink, and later, I put it on a chain. I told my dorm mates when I got to school that year. Big mistake. It was all over the school in days that I wore a bottle cap necklace."
"Ah," Maura said. Ron was giggling hysterically, Harry's ears were the color of Luna's suit, and Luna was shaking her head.
"As you can see, I got over it enough to get myself through law school, and even managed to date the Weasel for a short while."
"Date? Was that what that was?" Ron muttered good-naturedly.
"Amazing how hard it is to tell sometimes, isn't it?" cracked Luna dryly.
Maura met Harry's eyes in the rearview mirror. Although his ears were still red with embarrassment, she could see the laughter there.
Half an hour later, the four were escorted to a desk where they were given security passes by a uniformed cadet. When this was done, they were escorted further into the huge concrete building by another uniformed man.
"If you'll wait here, the major will be with you in a moment," were the only words he said as he showed them into a small room with a long table with eight chairs grouped around it.
The walls were blank, the uncarpeted floor cold... the entire room was impersonal and grey. Maura felt mildly depressed.
Two minutes later, the door opened to admit two officers and two guards. Harry was the first to react, his eyebrows moving up. Ron remained expressionless, but Maura could tell he was having difficulty maintaining this. Luna gave a small smile, her lawyer-face firmly in place.
Maura turned, and met deep blue eyes.
"Well, hello," the man smiled down at her. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Major Creavey!" Maura smiled, recognizing the man. They had run into each other repeatedly during her time as a correspondent. Although she'd never interviewed him directly, those who worked in war zones inevitably became part of a community that interacted and got to know each other. Major Creavey and Maura had sat near each other in many an embassy bar, and ex-patriot dining room.
"Maura Kennedy. What on earth have you been up to now?"
Maura grinned irreverently, "Getting to the truth, Major. Mainstreamers don't like to hear that over their Wheaties, but hey, someone's got to do it, right?"
He shook his head at her, still smiling, then indicated to one of the guards, who disappeared through the door.
He turned to the others. "I do believe that we have more visitors than we invited."
Harry nodded, "We're friends. Concerned friends."
"I know who you are, and don't pretend I don't, Harry Potter." Major Creavey grinned suddenly, holding his hand out to shake. "How are you, Harry? Ron? It's been a lot of years."
Harry smiled, Ron relaxed, they both shook his hand.
"Yes, it has, Colin. Too many."
"You know each other?" Maura asked, stunned. "Wait a minute... Colin? Colin Creavey?"
Colin smiled at her. "It's not difficult to dispose of first names in the military. No one really asks."
"You're... you're not...?"
"Yes, I am," he sat down. "But that discussion is for another time. This is Lieutenant Howell."
They greeted the other officer, and Harry's eyes seemed to ask a question. Colin nodded, almost imperceptibly, and Harry relaxed.
"So, we're here to discuss these articles of yours, Maura. You're causing quite a stir."
"It's a stir that needs to be caused, Major."
"Yes, we agree."
There was a moment of stunned silence.
"You're surprised at that?" he asked.
"Quite," Harry said.
"Well, the British military has known for some time that what we are dealing with is... more... than we originally thought, The name Philip Mahood came up in a few meetings. I recognized it... damned history of magic classes."
"So, why are we here, then?" Luna asked. "If you agree with us that this must be done, why interfere?"
"Oh, we're not interfering, Luna." Colin turned to her. "We have no intention at all of interfering. We would, however, like to share the information you have... perhaps add a bit of our own... and make an offer."
"An offer?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"Relax, Ron. We understand that you've decided to extend Hogwarts education to more than just the magical community. Correct?"
"For self-defense, yes." Harry confirmed.
"Well, we'd like to offer some basic military tactical and observation training to that."
"What on earth for?" Maura asked.
"Because," Colin said, "having a population trained to observe the world around them will increase the information and quality of information we are getting. Having trained people out there on the streets would be invaluable right now. Not to mention, observant people tend to get into fewer situations that can turn nasty, simply by being aware of things before they go too far.
"I don't need to tell you that our military is grossly underfunded for the kind of conflict that we're facing, Those who make the decisions on funding are in large part unaware of what we're about to deal with. To increase the manpower without having to fund it... I can't tell you how much of a benefit that would be.
"Prince William has given us..."
"Prince William?"
"The ruling monarch has always been our commander in chief, if only in an honorary capacity. With the death of the Prime Minister and the majority of the House of Lords, his role became much more. He's willing to listen to us. He has seen more... well, he's not completely doubting of your work, either, Maura."
Colin gave them a moment to digest this as the guard who had left earlier returned with coffee and cool drinks on a tray. He then proceeded to offer it around. Maura took a coffee, more to have something to occupy herself with than anything else.
"What we would like to propose," Colin continued, "is in addition to the supplementary classes you are going to be offering, you allow us to send some instructors of our own. We'd like to add to your classes two more. One on military intelligence tactics and observation, and one on basic hand to hand combat."
"Colin, hand to hand combat training is useless against a wizard," Ron commented.
"In most cases, I agree, Ron. However, the self confidence that comes from it is invaluable. It also teaches you to think under pressure, and that could just save some lives."
The four thought for a moment, and Harry was the first to speak. "Your offer has merit, Colin. But I don't have the authority..."
Colin snorted. "Come off it, Harry. I was there, remember? You may not be Minister of Magic, but you're like a son to Arthur Weasley, and I know damned well what is planned for you when he retires next year. Minerva McGonagall would happily hand over the running of Hogwarts to you tomorrow and be thrilled to go back to teaching. You have more influence than any other wizard alive. Use it."
Harry nodded once, "Very well. I will have to speak to several people... why don't you plan on coming to my home tomorrow evening? It will give me a chance to talk to the people I need to, and we can discuss it further then."
Colin nodded, then turned to Maura.
"Now, I'm supposed to tell you to cool it, to stop writing things that may incite more violence, but I think I'd probably be wasting my breath."
"Major, you know me too well."
"Better than you think, Miss Kennedy. You're a terrier, Maura. You never do give up and go home."
"Darned right."
"So I'll just say that I would appreciate it if you would share any information that comes your way with us first, so that we can act before they do, agreed?"
"Agreed," she nodded.
He took up his portfolio and nodded to the group, "I won't keep you any longer, but I will see you tomorrow."
And my wonderful, wonderful reviewers – you guys keep me writing, so keep them coming (my ego can use all the stroking it can get!)
azntgr01: Yes – I thought so!
Saerry Snape: You didn't think I could go the entire story without some good fluff, did you?
James Milamber: How do you do it? I hit a block, I feel like I've been written completely out, and you review a chapter, and I'm off again! I'm glad you're finding my rather unique sense of humor pleasing... I've been accused of being too caustic at times... ah well, to each their own, right? Again, thanks so much for your encouragement, you've no idea of how much it has meant to me!
Pirate grlEe: Yes... it is H/G. I thought so in the beginning, then I wondered, then I realized, it had to be. Watch out for more featuring Maura... I'm already considering a sequel...
GiGiFanFic: Ah, yes... that biological clock! We'll see, shall we? As for the magic in the world... I have a secret: it's there, you just need to know where to look. And we can certainly use all of it we can find.
Larna Mandrea: Thanks! You know, the picture thing just kind of happened... it wasn't planned, it just kind of popped out, and it was like I could see the photo in my head. It really summed up to me the relationship they had (in my mind) when they were together in school. Sometimes, when I'm writing, something will just happen like that, unplanned, but fits so well!
Shotgunn: Yes, I've been to London. I can't say that it's my FAVORITE British city (I think that honor goes to York, I loved it there). My husband is from Liverpool, and we love visiting. And yes, it does rain quite a lot, doesn't it (grin)? I know you're not supposed to be able to apparate into Hogwarts, but Harry is special ;-} Besides, I had to get them there for the picture scene, call it artistic license!
Merlindamage: Thanks, I wasn't quite sure how the pure fluff was going to go over, but... hey, we can all use the warm fuzzies sometimes, right? And I think that Ron is less of a git than he's made out to be sometimes, he's just SUPER protective of his family. Use what you like, with blessings (and thanks for the compliment), I play well with others!
CQ
