All I need to get by

ChapterEight: Love as a Stranger

Born on the wrong side of the manger

Love has always been a stranger

I was troubled by truth, now I'm out of danger

And I shake, I rattle and I roll

Taken from the song 'I shake' by Gregson and Collister from the album 'The Last Word'

This chapter is for the three children of Mad About Harry because they ate the chocolate frogs she promised me and they're successfully making her loose her grasp on reality; and for Mad About Harry because she's such a lovely reviewer!

The foyer of St Mungo's Hospital was almost hysterically calm. A small, stooped Wizard with a wand jammed up his nose was in the waiting area, but apart from that it was almost silent. The blonde receptionist was persuing the newest edition of Witch Weekly ('Getting your man in Five Simple Spells!') and absently tapping her wand against the desk. In the A&E office the Healer in charge put his feet up on the desk and allowed his trainee to examine the witch who had arrived with no legs. August summer sunlight drifted lazily in through the large windows and dust motes swirled slightly. Somewhere a singing greeting card sounded, and a lift whirled.

Even on the top floor of St Mungo's, in the attics, it was calm. Only two out of five beds were filled, and as they were his nurses' concern, Healer Malfoy was sitting in his overstuffed leather chair with his shirt sleeves around his elbows and watching the muggles scurry below instead of filling out a report on bed linen supplies. His feet, free from the leather shoes he prized, were propped up on the corner of his desk, next to a glass of iced Pumpkin cordial.

It was a completely different story in the bowls of the Ministry of Magic where the department of Mysteries was located. Although the same sunlight danced through the small windows in the offices, the vast majority of it was filled with gloom and whispering Unspeakables. Only the brains in the tanks drifted without a care in the world.

'But sir!' protested agent 433, her shirt sleeves rolled up around her forearms and a black leather satchel at her feet, 'I can't just up and leave!'

'You've never had any problem with field work before!' snapped the Head Unspeakable irately.

'I have commitments now!' she proclaimed hotly, 'And they're not just with aurors who understand these matters!'

'You're an Unspeakable agent!' snapped the Head back, 'He'll just have to get used to it! He's an Unspeakable anyway no doubt.'

'Sir, he's a mediwizard with a regular schedule – he doesn't know I tend to get hauled off at no notice. I have to tell him at least!'

'Good gracious Merlin, you're not seeing Malfoy are you? Sweet mother of Dumbeldore.'

'Just let me go to St. Mungo's sir!'

'No! You're going to Unseen Stonehenge University to visit your tutor Severus Snape, who is there attending a Potions conference - how many times do I have to say this?'

'But sir!'

'No buts! Apparate immediently before I'm forced to tandem apparate you!'

'Sir!'

'And don't even think about apparating to st Mungo's again – you'll be bound to the university for a week – so no owls or anything!'

'Please?'

The Head Unspeakable relented slightly, and motioned to one of the Unspeakable's standing in the gloom studying the wall intently.

'I'll send a message to Malfoy alright? Via Potter as usual.'

'Unseen Stonehenge University!' said Hermione rather moodily, and apparated silently.

She almost landed on her tutor as she apparated into the small room set apart for this purpose. Her satchel was flung haphazardly on her shoulder as he tutted disapprovingly at her. Dressed in his voluminous black robes charmed to stay cool, and with his lank hair falling around his face he didn't appear to be any substitute for the gorgeous, pale, pointed man who would be waiting in vain for her in the pub in ten minutes. She sighed petulantly and dropped a few milimetres in recognition for his superior intellect in the University, as custom demanded.

'Good evening miss Granger,' he said dryly.

'Good evening professor,' answered the girl broodily, scowling at her boots.

'I am glad to see you in black girl.'

'As if I had any option, going anywhere with you,' she elbowed him playfully in the ribs, 'You sniff in a terribly disapproving manner when I wear anything other than black or silver.'

'Black is servicable when dealing with potions,' he answered snidely. 'You may recollect that white shirt you wore in your first year of being tutored by me, the one that was dissolved away within seconds.'

'That wasn't because it was white!'

'Good evening professor Snape and miss Granger,' came an older, more velnerable voice from the doorway, and the two bowed and followed the Lecturer into the University.

'She's where?' exclaimed the disconcerted Draco Malfoy.

Harry Potter sighed a little bit and carefully moved the barstool he was leaning on closer to Malfoy, and then hopped up onto it, ordering another firewhisky to match Malfoy's, which he was nursing. The black haired, scrawny man had heard the news that Hermione was off again from an Unidentifable Unspeakable, who had not sent him the usual memo, but had materialised in his office looking distinctly shady and knocking over Kingsley Shacklebolt.

'She's gone to a potion's conference with professor Snape,' explained Harry again.

'I'm sorry – she just upped and left for a potion's conference?' Draco's voice was rising steadily.

'It's her job! The potion's conference'll be cover, as Severus Snape is generally her covering civilian.'

'She didn't tell me!'

'What, you didn't know she vanishes almost once a month? This is a long one, normally it's only a few days.'

From the angry silence Harry assumed Hermione hadn't told him; hadn't told the bloke sitting nursing a firewhisky and glaring at the bar table about her field work. He sat there for a moment until his own firewhisky was pushed towards him by Tom.

'Why didn't she tell me?' snarled Draco suddenly.

'She's probably not allowed. Her job, well, it's a little bit secretive. Potions and all that, you know.'

'For Chrissake Potter, I know what she is!'

Harry risked a glance at the blonde sitting next to him. Over at the back of the room Ron howled with mirth at Ginny, who had just told him about a witch who had popped into Tokyo via apparation, and splinched herslef in an odd way – apparantly she had lost her clothes and eyes in London, and the rest in Tokyo. A Japanese business man had dropped into a dead faint at the sight of the naked, wandless, eyeless witch in his front room. Harry awkwardly grinned at him.

'Look, Malfoy, she'll be back soon.'

'You don't get it, do you Potter? I haven't seen her for a week and a half. Hell, I'm going home.'

As Malfoy apparated in a furious fit of betryal, Harry wandered back over to his wife, who was beaming at him.

'Look Ron,' he said a little awkwardly, 'We have important news.'

The red head looked up from his splutterings into a butterbeer at Harry, who had wrapped his arms around his wife of three years. She was smiling adoringly up at him, and fleetingly Ron wondered if Hermione looked at Malfoy like that. Harry cleared his throat a little. He was hesitating.

'Oh Ron!' burst out Ginny, 'I'm pregnant !'

There was complete silence for all of three seconds while Ron processed this sentence. And then the butterbeer toppled off the floor and he was on his feet, slowly going purple.

'WHAT?' he bellowed, 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN PREGNANT?'

Ginny's smile faltered for a moment, and she smiled at Harry again.

'Oh come on Ron,' stuttered the slightly elder auror, 'It's not like it wasn't planned.'

Ron sat down rather heavily, and the noise in the bar rose to crescendo again.

'I'm disgusted,' he muttered at last, 'I'm going home.'

As Harry watched the spot where Ron had popped out of just a second ago, Ginny squeezed his arm.

'Well,' she said cheerfully, 'That went well! Oh, come on, he didn't try to kill you.'

'Agent 433!' came the cry of the Head Unspeakable when she apparated back into the Department of Mysteries and landed on another Unspeakable.

'Sir!' she managed woozily, and scrambled to her feet.

'Have you got the reports?'

'Yessir. Every inch of those blasted stones have been photographed, a week long night time watch was mounted by broom and foot, the habits of the muggles concerning the stones have been noted, and I couldn't find anything untoward in the actual University campus.'

Exhaustedly she turned out the contents of her satchel on the tabel. Sixteen rolls of wizarding camera film toppled out onto the polished oak, followed by neast notes and timetables, and a map of the University and Stones which resembled the Mauraders Map.

'Excellent!' the Head Unspeakable motioned an Unspeakable forward to collect the findings, and turned back to 433. 'A week off will be sufficent I believe; we need to annalyse these. Was your civilian happy?'

'Until I poured shrinking solution on his foot sir. And now I need a drink.'

The Leaky Cauldron was full of wizards and witches when Hermione walted in. In a table next to the fireplace sat Harry and Ginny, along with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Blaise Zabini, all arguing about Quidditch at the top of their voices. Hermione raised her eyebrows at the notable absence of Ron, but leaned over to her left and headed for the bar.

''Ello Hermione,' greeted Tom, grinning toothlessly, 'Whare 'ave you been?'

'Potion's Conference at Unseen Stonehenge University with professor Snape,' answered the girl, 'Hit me with a butterbeer please Tom. I need something comforting, the old bat kept me up all night making potions.'

'There you go poppet. On the house.'

'Cheers Tom.'

Tom watched indulgently as she swept gracefully towards her friends and the fireplace, before being called off to provide a Firewhisky for an auror. Ginny Potter was the first to notice her, grinning excitedly and leaping off Harry's lap to embrace her.

'Well?' she demanded breathlessly, 'How was the Potion's conference?'

'Interesting,' answered Hermione as Blaise pulled her down on the bench next to him and slung an affectionate arm around her shoulders, 'I managed to spill shrinking solution on professor Snape's foot.'

The whole table exploded into laughter, and Ginny hiccuped along. Hermione grinned, basking in the love of her friends, and sipped her butterbeer. Her muscles relaxed and she cuddled into Blaise a little.

'Where's Ron?' she asked curiously, 'Working late?'

'Er, no,' said Harry, twiddling his thumb around the glass of firewhisky he was nursing, 'He's not actually speaking to me.'

'Oh,' Hermione rolled her eyes, 'What happened?'

'Oh Hermione!' shrieked Ginny excitedly, tugging her friend's arm, 'How would you feel about being a godmother?'

There was complete silence while Hermione blinked in surprise.

'Is that why Ron's not speaking to you?' she asked slyly, 'Because you asked him to be godmother?'

Blaise and Kingsley exploded into laughter, and Ginny beamed. Harry was still finding the rickoty table interesting.

'When?' asked Hermione complacently, so tired nothing could really bother her.

'In about five months,' Ginny beamed at Harry again.

'What?!' cried Hermione, dropping her butterbeer back on the table in surprise, 'Five months? How d'you manage to persuade Harry to keep his mouth shut?'

'The same way someday you'll keep Malfoy quiet,' Ginny winked.

Hermione exclaimed quickly and leapt to her feet, finishing the butterbeer in one long mouthful.

'Draco! Does anyone know where he is? Did you get a message to him? Is he angry?' the Unspeakable babbled, and Blaise grinned at her.

'He'll be at St. Mungo's – he's working late tonight which means he's furious, and yes, the message got to him.'

Hermione barelled out of the pub without a second glance at her friends, scooping the satchel up as she ran. Her butterbeer bottle gleamed in the candle light as the talk of Quidditch resummed. Outside the pub Hermione apparated into St Mungo's, panting for breath as she gasped the stitch in her side.

'How can I help you?' asked the receptionist, looking bored and playing with her fingernails.

'Department of Mysteries!' gasped the unspeakable, and belted towards the stairs.

Draco Malfoy was sitting at his desk filling in a report for the auror he had dismissed some days previously, his quill tip between his teeth and a slightly aching neck. His blond eyebrows were pinched together crossly as he jabbed the quill into the ink pot and began writing again. The evening sunlight was gloomy, but enough to write by, so his wand lay close to his hand.

'Draco?' said a rather quiet, shy voice from behind him, and he laid the quill down.

GossipGossipGossip:-

Vampy the chosen one:- I don't think it's ever been called cute before. I fell honoured. Did you gusy read that? I have a cute story ::happy smile:: Thanks for your review!

MadAboutHarry:- Do you really have to be insane to parent three children? ::waves at three children:: I am master of cliffhangers. Look, I've done it again! Heeeheeeheee. I don't think you heard the end of the conversation. Luckily there will be references to it later on as I hurridly adjust chapters for you! Thanks.

Tracey3:- Cliffhangers are evil aren't they. I dig them. Here, let me put you out of your misery with this chapter, and then fill you with misery again. Ta!

Sunflower18:- Here is your prize for shortest review ever. Thankyou for it! It made me giggle!

Sweet jane:- Delicous? Am I running a cookery fiction? Hehehe. Thanks for the idea. Hope you like this one as well! Sorry, your name should be at the top of the last chapter, but I have to repost it, and I haven't really got time right this moment, but I will sometime!

Gentileschi:- Funky name. Thanks. I shall seriously consider director as my future career move. My only problem is if I ever directed anything with various blokes in it, I would refuse to direct the kissy scenes. I would be too busy kissing them myself! I'm glad you think it has a plot, never mind a great one! Ta!

Paprika90:- ::grins:: we should start a mutual admiration society. Hope you managed to wait! Thanks.

Foxer:- ::round of applause:: you reviewed for every chapter! Now I have over 50 reviews! ::wild hugs:: I'm glad you liked my fiction, and I feel totally flattered that I'm on your fav. stories list. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the rest!

In case you haven't noticed, both this chapter and the last chapter have been dedicated to reviewers. I decided to make this a regular feature, because I think it's the nicest way to say thanks to the people who have helped me and supported me through their reviews. I feel important doing it as well. ::grins:: Obviously I can't dedicate every chapter to every reviewer, but I want you to know that I really appreciate all the reviews I get, even the people who don't review, but read anyway!

It's really great to get reviews, and it helps me manage my inbox as well so you have room in your folder! I just wanted to say thankyou to everyone, and if I missed you I'm sorry! I feel like I'm doing an Oscar speech, so I'll stop.

Oh my goodness me, we're now four pages long in size 10 font. I'll go away then. Thankyou very much! ::Elvis Presley style::