Jadephoenixdt- thanks, I'll be updating more frequently now that I've rewritten my lost chapters. : )
El Permanente- thanks for the encouragement, I hope you enjoy this story as much as the last
Quiddich7- yes, Hermione and Ron are in this story and you'll see a lot of development in their relationship. You'll see what will happen to the Burrow later and the mess it involves. (thanks also to the reviews in my Molly/Arthur story. : ) )
Music213- thanks, happy reading
Kupchoi- I'm happy you like my story. : )
A/N: I revised chapter 2 and corrected the birthdays and ages after I looked up the characters' real birthdays.
Chapter 6- Trouble at Diagon Alley
"Arthur Weasley!" Ludo Bagman shook hands enthusiastically with Mr. Weasley, who returned his smile nervously. "Heard of your generous contribution, this does make things easier without trying to find spare land and then putting charms all over it."
"Well, Ludo, I'm actually here to speak with the head of the department, Mr. Rugourd."
"Of course, of course! Must have lots of plans, I say!" Ludo Bagman rushed off to a secretary. "Get Rugourd! Quickly!"
A portly wizard appeared shortly and laughing in good humor, shook Arthur's hand. "Weasley! Weasley, Weasley!" He said, indicating Bill and Ron. "You do have done such a favor to the Ministry!"
"Er…" Arthur began, but Rugourd clapped a hand on Arthur's back and laughed again.
"I dare say, it's time to give you a raise!"
"Er…Mr. Rugourd, sir, I am just here to regrettably inform you…" But Arthur's voice trailed off as Mr. Rugourd hurried forward towards Lucius Malfoy.
"Lucius! Come meet here! Arthur Weasley has just come by!"
"Ah, good afternoon," Lucius spoke, his eyes wore a glint of superiority. "Heard of your generous contribution to the Ministry, I must say, Arthur, it's such a refreshing air for me. So much to do, can't stay long. Must go and see to the plans for the Quiddich field."
"Now, wait a minute!" Arthur said.
Lucius stopped and then looked at Arthur again. "Yes?" Before Arthur could speak, Lucius went on. "Let's see, now that three sons working for the Ministry, Arthur and I'm sure you contribution will led them to greater opportunities." Lucius gave Arthur a strange look.
"Well, I…"
"Of course!" Rugourd spoke up. "Weasley, Weasley!" He gestured towards Bill and Ron.
"You work for our department, don't you?" Rugourd said to Ron. "How would you like to assist me to oversee this project?"
"Assist you, sir?" Ron repeated and then in a very polite voice, said, "Sir, we're here to discuss the matter of our residence."
"Yes," Bill spoke up. "You see, the Burrow is our home and has been for as long as I can remember. It's not very easy to give up something like that."
"Ah, yes, yes, I know." Rugourd said slowly with a dawning of comprehension. "Five thousand not enough, of course! Let's make it seven thousand, eh?"
"Well, no, Mr. Rugourd," said Arthur. "That's not what we meant, we don't want more money---"
"What is it that you want?"
"We…well, we just want to say that…the Burrow, we…we don't really want to sell it, Mr. Rugourd, sir." Arthur finished.
There was a small silence.
"B-but, the plans!" Ludo Bagman spoke up, having been eavesdropping. "The plans! The other teams already been notified! Lucius here told us you had already agreed!"
Arthur turned to look at Lucius. Lucius was quite cool and strolled up to Bagman, "Well now, Ludo, I suppose if Arthur does not feel that he wants to contribute to our upcoming event, it's his choice. However, if I may ask," he bowed slightly to Rugourd. "what does he need with all that land? The children are grown and gone…"
"Lucius, it's not the amount of space, it's our home." Bill spoke. "And mind I ask you what you need with your considerable sized manor?"
Lucius seemed to be waiting for this. "I have volunteered to give up my manor, however, Arthur's land has more grass area while mine is merely building."
"Hem, hem." A small, fake cough interrupted them. Bill turned around to meet a toad-like woman wearing an elaborate set of jewels on her hand and a frilly suit.
"Ms. Umbridge, I presume?" Bill asked with a knowing glance at Ron. Ron was looking at Umbridge with a look of disgust on his face.
"Yes," Umbridge giggled at Bill and then spoke in a sugary voice, "I know who you are, Mr. Weasley. Your brothers Fred and George left a considerable impression when they flew out of Hogwarts their seventh year."
"Ah," Bill replied with a knowing nod. There might have been a slight grin, but when Ron looked at his brother again, Bill was looking very serious.
"What I was saying, hem, hem, is that there must have been a teeny misunderstanding. Mr. Weasley here just stated he did not wish to sell his home when we thought he was ready to give it to the Ministry for several thousand Galleons…" she looked at Mr. Weasley and gave a smile. "doing both the Ministry a huge favor as well as enabling him to buy a nice new home for him and Mrs. Weasley. And since our building plans have already started, builders already hired…well, it would be a true loss."
Mr. Weasley turned a faint shade of pink. He turned back to Rugourd and said, "I'm sorry for this confusion, Mr. Rugourd, but I know that my wife and children will never agree to the selling of the Burrow. We've lived in it----"
"Hem, hem."
"Yes?" Arthur turned to look at Umbridge, a note of impatience in his voice.
"Well, if I may say so, I may be mistaken, but wasn't it one of your children who assisted Rugourd for the new plans of the World Cup Quiddich Practice Field? Percy Weasley, am I correct?"
Arthur's ears reddened. "Be as it may, but I'm quite sure that everyone else in the family opposes the removal of our home."
"Everyone, Mr. Weasley? Well, if everyone loves your home so much, why is it that no one lives there except for you and Mrs. Weasley?" Umbridge asked, her lips stretched in a toad-like grin.
"Just because we've grown and moved out does not mean we do not visit our parents regularly!" Ron spoke in anger. "How many families do you know of which their children live at home when they have graduated from Hogwarts and got jobs?"
Umbridge gave a little giggle. "If I have heard correctly, you stated that you visit your parents and not your house. But of course," she turned slightly to Rugourd, Malfoy and Bagman. "if it is Arthur Weasley's wish to keep his land and home to himself after all the troubles of building and planning, I suppose we can just fire all the hired builders."
"W-well, yes, I suppose." Rugourd said, his face fallen.
"What a pity so many Galleons were wasted! Since it is Mr. Weasley who caused this great confusion, I can only act as necessary to take the money from his wages." Umbridge continued.
"What!" Arthur Weasley said. "I caused this great confusion? I didn't even know of it until this morning! And how can you take the money from my wages when clearly, I never agreed to sell my home and ask you to hire all those builders in the first place!"
"Calm down, Weasley." Lucius spoke up. He turned to Umbridge and asked with a smile on his face, "How many Galleons were used?"
"Oh, I must say around two thousand for the workers and the equipment so far." Umbridge turned to Arthur and said sweetly, "Be glad it's not more, Mr. Weasley as Mr. Rugourd can stop the ordering of future shipments early."
"Two thousand Galleons?" Bill asked sharply.
"This is a bloody joke!" Ron said, his ears reddening like his father.
"Now, now Dolores, I suppose if Mr. Weasley did not know of this, we can cancel the payment." Mr. Rugourd spoke, thinking of where to move the Quiddich Field.
"More money gone from the Ministry, I suppose." Lucius said with a small sigh of disappointment, yet the gleam from his eyes was still there. Then he raised his eyebrows as if an idea suddenly came to him. "Mr. Rugourd, what if Arthur was to donate his home for the Quiddich Field for the period until the World Cup and we give it back to him afterwards?"
Mr. Rugourd thought of it as the words sank into his mind. Then he gave a small shout, "Brilliant, Malfoy!"
"Donate…? I'll have to discuss it with my wif----" Arthur Weasley stopped as a sudden boom seemed to come from nowhere, shaking the floors and knocking several paintings off the walls. The walls shook and papers flew from the desks; several staff members screamed as if an earthquake had erupted.
"What's going on?" Rugourd demanded, holding on to a desk for support. "What's this?"
"I need to speak with the Minister! Where is the Minister?" a young man rushed by and then spotted them.
"Mr. Weasley! Mr. Rugourd!" he shook Mr. Weasley's shoulders. "Attack! Attack at Diagon Alley!"
Several surrounding staff members gasped. A witch dropped a glass paperweight and it smashed on the floor.
"Reparo" Rugourd pointed his wand at the glass pieces. "When did this happen?"
"Just a few minutes ago. Several shops have been blasted completely!"
"I'm going to alert the Aurors. Umbridge, send an owl to the Minister immediately."
He headed to the lifts.
"Calm down, I'm sure it's nothing," Malfoy said coldly, his face suddenly a little paler. "Excuse me, must head back to my office." He strolled away.
"The Minister of Magic is currently away on business." Umbridge said in a sugary voice to the young man. "If you have any thing to report, you can talk to me."
The young man looked at Umbridge, his eyes narrowed. "I know who you are, Umbridge. And I know you will not do anything!" He turned back to Arthur again, "Mr. Weasley, please!" He leaned closer and whispered urgently in Arthur's ear, "The Order is meeting straightaway."
Arthur's eyes widened and he raised his eyebrows.
"Who are you?" He asked in a suspicious voice.
The young man leaned to Arthur's ear again and said, "It's me, Tonks. And if you don't believe me, I'll meet you and Bill and Ron at Order location in a few minutes. I need to go alert the other Order members at the Ministry."
"What are you two whispering about?" Umbridge asked, her smile suddenly fading.
"Nothing, nothing," Arthur replied back distractedly. "Boys? Let's go home and discuss the idea with your mother." He spoke the last part rather loudly and looked directly at Umbridge.
"But Dad---" Ron said.
"Come, now." Arthur said urgently.
Bill and Ron followed Arthur into one of the lifts. They were alone.
"Order, meeting." Arthur said very quietly.
His sons looked at him, startled at the unexpected announcement.
"Now?" Bill asked, his hand immediately flew to the wand tucked in his robes.
"Yes, best we leave separately. I'll Apparate first and one of you go to the loos and Apparate there. The other one can exit the Ministry and Apparate outside. Do not floo there! They're watching the networks. Remember the Disillusionment Charm. You must not be seen!"
Arthur nodded to Bill and Ron and then briskly got off at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.
"Weasley, you're still here?" Kingsley asked in a calm voice, but his eyes panicked. "Why aren't you leaving for the Order?" he asked in an undertone.
"Right soon, going to pretend to head to my office first. Aren't all Aurors supposed to be at Diagon Alley?"
"Yeah, well, I told them I'd forgotten my wand. I'm going to make a detour heading out and then Apparate."
"Good luck at Diagon Alley," Arthur said loudly. "I'm going to head back to my office now."
Arthur walked into his office, made sure no one was around and closed the door. Tapping his head with his wand, he felt cold trickles down his body. He then Disapparated.
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A/N: Predictions? Expections? Review, review!