A quick thanks to Tabari Avaren, whohas hopefully found this. Thanks so much for the review! The first feedback for the first chapter of my first story and it's so lovely. It really brightened up my day!

Please, all readers, leave some comment - you don't know how much I'll appreciate even just "good" or "bad". Lots and lots of love, DS x

"Hermione!"

"Ginny!"

"How are you? I'm so glad you're finally here – I am so sick of boys!"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Look, if you're going to have a girly chat, we're off to play quidditch. Harry?"

"Yup, see you later, Hermione." And with that, they were off, Ginny staring bemused after them.

"That was easy, I thought I was going to have to fight them for you."

Hermione smiled serenely, and blessed Ron's foresight. After he and Harry had met her at the station, he had insisted that they take a long walk around Ottery St. Catchpole before heading home, so that the three of them could catch up properly in private.

Ginny grinned in sudden understanding. "Anyway, come on up and put your stuff in my room, then we can talk!" She grabbed one of Hermione's bags and they set off, passing several red heads in the kitchen as they passed.

"How many of the boys are here, Ginny?"

"All of them."

"All of them! And me and Harry? And Mundungus?" Hermione frowned. "I thought Charlie was still in Romania."

"He came back just before Percy did. And…hang on, didn't Ron tell you about Charlie? He came over with the Romanians."

Hermione shook her head, inwardly cursing Ron. "Romanians?"

Ginny looked incredulous. "Please tell me he mentioned the Romanians. Even Ron isn't that…" A quick glance at Hermione's face told the whole story. Ginny sighed and pushed open the door of her room. "Come in, sit down. The great thing about being a girl in this house is that you don't have to share with so many people. It's just the two of us in here. For now."

"How many people are staying?"

"I haven't actually counted. Family. You and Harry. The Romanians…"

"Hang on, I think you'd better explain these Romanians."

Ginny settled herself down on a beanbag and gestured at Hermione to do the same. "Ok. Well, Charlie was back working on the reservation. There are witches and wizards from all over the world there, and Dumbledore thought it would be useful to make contacts. These people all have links with their own Ministries, you know, through working with endangered species and the environment. You need government help to deal with dragons, they're so dangerous.

"Well, obviously Charlie couldn't go in there screaming about You-Know-Who being back. Fudge would have had him sacked, brought home, maybe even arrested. And of course no-one's going to believe one wizard shooting his mouth off when the Ministry were denying the whole thing. But he could prepare the ground, drop hints, make the idea seem not so incredible. There were whispers anyway, you know, because even with Fudge trying to discredit him and suppress the story, Dumbledore was kicking up one hell of a fuss. Anyway, the idea was that when everything did come out, which of course it had to, there would be people from all over the world ready to act."

"Like these Romanians?"

"Like these Romanians. Exactly. The whole wizarding world is preparing for war now, but of course everyone is hoping that You-Know-Who can be defeated in this country, so he doesn't get the chance to try anywhere else. Delegations of Aurors keep arriving from all over the place, and they've got to stay somewhere. The Romanians are with us."

"Because of Charlie?"

"Him and Emily are the only ones who speak the language, though Percy's trying to learn." She sniggered. "The other day he thought he was talking to one of them, who just kept nodding politely back. But then afterwards…"

"Emily? Who's Emily?"

"A mate of Charlie's from the reservation. She's staying here too, with her sister"

"In the Order?"

"Not really. The Order doesn't need loads of new members now that everyone knows about You-Know-Who, and the professionals are involved. Dumbledore says there's no point endangering civilians when we've got fully trained Aurors on our side."

Hermione nodded. "That makes sense. Too many people who aren't really useful don't help the Cause. We need the experts, not just everyone who hates Voldemort."

"Exactly. Emily is pretty useful, though. Speaks a lot of languages – she's helping the Ministry organise the foreign Aurors."

"And her sister?"

Ginny looked up with the air of a mischievous sprite. "Lulu. She's doing a bit of admin work, but basically she's just here because Charlie fancies her rotten."

"You're joking."

"Nope."

"Honestly…boys."

Ginny grinned. "I couldn't agree more. Lulu's alright, though. Quiet. But Bill likes her." That was that, then. Hermione knew that for Ginny the Word of Bill was sacrosanct. Her other brothers she treated with an affectionate disrespect, him with unquestioning adulation.

"Where has your mum put all these people?"

"Ah. Well. The house got a bit bigger."

"What?"

"Look out the window."

Hermione did, then rubbed her eyes and looked again. When she had been here last, Ginny's second-floor bedroom had overlooked Mrs Weasley's vegetable garden; now she could see a slate roof below, presumably not levitating there of its own accord but resting atop an extension to the building large enough to house any number of Romanians.

"It's temporary."

"Oh."

"It's only fallen down once so far, after about a week – building charms aren't Dad's speciality. Kingsley put it right, though; it's far more stable now."

"Oh." It was hard to think what else to say, except that she would have hated to see the state of the annexe before the repair job. From what she could see of it now, the structure was still ready to collapse.

"So, erm, that's where the Romanian delegation is?"

"Yup, and.." Ginny swallowed back a gulp of laughter. "And…" She was shaking helplessly now, and Hermione was starting to giggle as well, even without understanding the joke. "And…the Romanian Ambassador!"

That was it. The thought of the Romanian Ambassador, used to being received in plush embassies and lodged in comfortable accommodation at Ministry expense, having to stay in this ramshackle, makeshift shelter and suffer Percy's small-talk, sent both girls into uncontrollable hysterics for several minutes.

Finally regaining composure, Hermione remembered a snippet of conversation from her last meeting with Ginny. "How're things going with Dean?"

"Dean?"

"Dean Thomas?"

"Oh. Him."

"Yes, him. Well?"

"There's nothing going on there. I was just winding Ron up. He did ask me out, and he's nice I guess, but…well, anyway, nothing's happening."

"Oh."

"Ron's desperate for me to get together with Harry, have you noticed?"

"Hmm, yes. He's not exactly subtle, is he? It was pretty obvious what he was thinking when we were last on the Hogwarts Express."

"Exactly. And now he keeps pushing us together. It's annoying. And embarrassing."

"He means well…"

"I can sort out my own love life, Hermione."

"I know! You're practically fighting them off at Hogwarts. But Harry's out of the question, then?"

"Well, I dunno. I mean, I didn't know him before. And now I do. We're friends, I think. Why mess that up? Of course I like him, but... if I'm not sure it's what I want, it would hardly be fair on Harry, would it? Everything would be bound to go wrong, and then where would we be? Messed up friendship, messed up relationship, Harry even more stressed out… It's all irrelevant really, because I know he just doesn't see me like that. I mean…well, what do you think?"

"I think…I think you're right. And I think a girlfriend is a complication that Harry really doesn't need right now. He's kind of got other things to think about. Like Voldemort. The war. Avoiding getting killed."

"All very important matters."

"Yes."

"Hermione, do you think you can get Ron to just lay off a bit? Harry hasn't noticed yet, but he will, and that would be really awkward."

"Sure, Ron usually sees sense eventually. After you've beaten it into his skull. Believe me, I'm an expert at beating things into Ron's skull."

Ginny laughed. "Brilliant, thanks. Do you want to go forage for some food?"

"That would be great."

As they headed to the kitchen, Hermione tripped over a figure, sleeping soundly on the stairs, which looked like a bundle of clothes and smelt of strong pipe tobacco.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mundungus…"

"Eurghnurgh," he muttered, pulling himself up and seeming to sleepwalk heavily away.

Hermione looked after him in concern. "Is he alright?"

"Oh, I should think so," replied Ginny cheerfully, rummaging through a cupboard. "How about cheese on toast? I can just about manage that."

"Fine. You know, he really didn't look well…"

"Well, he's not, exactly. He bought some dodgy potions ingredients to sell on, but some of the stuff got mixed up and formed something nasty. And of course, being unregulated, everything was a few times stronger than it should have been, and he was handling it without safety gear. He's just stopped throwing up. Now he keeps falling asleep. Bill reckons he'll turn green next."

"Can't anyone do anything? Can't he see someone at St Mungo's?"

"Not without explaining what happened. Anyway, Snape said the effects wouldn't be dangerous, just "unpleasant". With that horrible sneer on his face, you know, like other people's problems are beneath him."

"You've seen Snape, then?"

"Nah, but I got the whole story from Bill and 'Dung. 'Dung says the antidote Snape gave him tasted so awful he preferred the throwing up, and he was sure the slimy git did it on purpose."

Hermione smiled. Typical Mundungus. And typical Snape. She wouldn't put it past him to make the potion deliberately disgusting.

"Mum's furious, of course. 'Dung isn't her favourite person anyway, and she's only letting him stay because Bill sweet-talked her into it."

"Why does he need to stay here?"

"Got chucked out of his last place for storing stolen goods."

"Ah."

"Exactly."

After they had finished eating and were just starting to discuss Dean Thomas' suitability as potential boyfriend, the kitchen door creaked and a girl's head popped around it. Spotting them, the newcomer entered and Hermione immediately noticed shining chestnut hair, rosy cheeks and glasses with angular black frames. Pretty and smiling, the twentysomething stranger also radiated freshness and energy.

"Hiya Ginny. You must be Hermione! I've been hearing about you all summer. I'm Emily Appleby, how do you do?" She had the sort of cut-glass English accent that Hermione had never heard in anyone except the royal family, and was now balancing a heap of files, paper and clipboard in one arm whilst affably holding out the other hand. Hermione shook it, replying that she was very well, thank you and pleased to meet you.

"Likewise. I must dash, I'm afraid. Have you seen the Romanian Ambassador? No? Oh dear. Never mind, I'm sure he can't have gone far, except he was really supposed to be in a meeting ten minutes ago. I do hope he hasn't forgotten; it's with the Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation and several other Ambassadors… I should be there to interpret and as I'm not I suppose they're all sitting in silence – none of them speak a word of the others' languages… Well no, that's unfair. I suppose they might manage hello, but in a key diplomatic meeting one generally needs more than 'hello'… Oh, Mr Smith!" Apparently having spotted the errant Ambassador out of the window, she sprinted elegantly out, switching effortlessly into a stream of explanatory-sounding Romanian as she left. Hermione watched with interest as Emily caught up with a confused looking man on the lawn and politely but firmly steered him towards the house, all the while talking deferentially and balancing her mountain of paperwork in the crook of one elbow. She smiled brightly to the girls on her way past the kitchen and guided the Ambassador into the living room and into the Floo-connected fireplace. In a roar of green flame they were gone, leaving a stunned silence behind.

Hermione met Ginny's eyes. "Well."

"That was Emily."

"I guessed. Is she always like that?"

"She's always that efficient, yeah. And that calm. She never gets flustered or anything. Charlie says it's 'cos her parents are both diplomats, which is where the languages come from as well. She doesn't usually burble on like that though, only when she's thinking hard about something completely different."

"Completely different to what?"

"To what she's talking about."

"Oh. She seems nice."

"She is. And she's cleverer than she looks."

"What was she doing at the reservation?"

"Running it, basically. She was in charge of everything: the organisation, the money, liaising with the Ministry. But she's a fully trained dragon handler as well. You can imagine it, can't you? She probably just tells the dragons what to do and they don't dare disobey."

Hermione gave a small sideways smile. "Like the Romanian Ambassador?"

Ginny nodded impishly. "Exactly like the Romanian Ambassador."