Monday 11th April 2005
"Urgh, of all the days..." she gulped down the pain relief potion and stared at herself in the mirror. Of all the times to have a period from hell, the day you are making a public announcement with your future husband was not one of them. So of course that's exactly what she had to deal with. Sighing at her drier-than-usual skin and hair, she cast a few well-aimed charms and carded her fingers through the tight coils with some oil to give them a bit of love and make them more shiny. It wasn't her forte but she cast a couple of helpful cosmetic charms to hide the dark circles under her eyes before applying a second layer of moisturiser, her skin soaking up the moisture like crazy.
There was no brief, no official guidelines or protocol for the First Wix that would be relevant to the 21st century, so she was going to rely on her own social intelligence to guide her. She ended up deciding on a wine red knee-length muggle dress that accented her trim waist and shapely legs without highlighting her slightly bloated belly or being too tight and revealing. She contemplated wizarding robes for a moment but decided against them. She oftentimes preferred this simple elegance of muggle clothing to robes, and decided to stick to her guns.
She strapped on her wrist watch, the ring on her finger momentarily making her pause. She was still getting used to the feel of it, and the metaphorical weight it carried, but it was given with great care and she thought it rather suited her, her burgundy manicure complimenting the polished pearls. Gods I'm standing about like a ninny , she admonished herself before picking up her elegant leather tote bag and slipping into some fairly comfortable black kitten heels. Feeling vaguely human and glad the pain potion was starting to kick in, she used the floo to arrive at the Ministry early, and was grateful when the lift was empty and she could make her way to Kingsley's office without curious onlookers.
He was already at his table, frowning at one of the early memos before he noticed her slip in and his features smoothed into a smile. "Hermione, thank you for coming in early," he got up and walked over to her, leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek.
That's new , she registered but accepted the gesture and tried to shake off her nerves. "I wanted to be here early, better than being stressed alone at home," she admitted and sat down on the sofa once more. She smiled appreciatively when a piping hot cup of the tea landed before her.
"Sorry, didn't know how you take it," he levitated the milk jug towards the table as well for her.
"Thank you, just a dash of milk for me," she admitted. She didn't even want to think about breakfast for fear it would make her queasy, but she couldn't wait to have another cup of tea this morning.
He handed over his speech to her to review. "My assistant will be in shortly to confirm the schedule for the day, the press arrangements and to do a briefing with you. I hope that's alright?" he listed off, seeing her slightly tense smile.
She nodded, looking over the prepared speech. "That's fine. I'll sort out things at my office in the afternoon. I also like the second paragraph where you technically support the new law without necessarily agreeing with the method," she offered, seeing the wording was carefully drafted. She had some experience with politics of course over the years at the Ministry but this was a whole new level so she took another sip of her tea to chase the nervous flutter.
"No regrets?" he asked, leaning against the armchair a few steps away from her, studying her composed features.
She looked at him and saw the earnest expression, knowing that if she were to change her mind at the very last minute, he would be a gentleman enough not to hold it against her. "None," she replied simply but honestly, knowing her course was set.
He was about to respond when a crisp knock interrupted them and after a quick beat a tall young man in a sharp navy muggle suit stepped in.
"Ah, Theo, thank you for coming in early," Kingsley greeted him.
The name jolted a memory for her and she recognised the man before her as Theodore Nott. Gone was the tall, lanky youth and in his place stood a handsome man with neatly trimmed chestnut curls and piercing blue eyes.
"Wouldn't miss this morning for the world," he offered with a quirk of his lips before walking around the table towards her. She stood and accepted his hand when it was offered. "Welcome aboard, Granger," he greeted
"If I'm going to see you regularly, you might as well call me Hermione," she offered.
"In that case, please call me Theo," he agreed, glad there were no hurt feelings from Hogwarts and they were starting over.
She returned to reading through the speech to finish the task before their briefing. It had a short paragraph about their match, as well as her accepting the role of the First Wix. It seemed somewhat…incomplete and she frowned. "Is this the final version?" she asked when Kingsley took the seat beside her and Theo faced them in the armchair, pulling out several sheets of parchment from his briefcase.
"Not quite, we hoped to make the final revision with you, especially as it pertains to your agenda as First Wix. Kingsley briefed me that it may be one of several topics so I wanted to check with you first," he explained, already making notes with his self-inking eagle quill.
They discussed this briefly on Saturday over dinner but she had given it some thought since and decided to keep it broad. "I would like for the key agenda to simply be on integration. I have experience with challenging laws preventing integration of magical beings into our society, and hope to bring that to my role. And as a muggleborn who lived without magic for many years, I cannot stress enough the disadvantage this places on children from non-magical families to integrate with their peers and learn magical customs. I would like to continue this work as First Wix and Deputy Head of DMLE," she summarised.
"A clear policy message with a personal touch, I like it," Theo offered and added it into the speech. "You will not be expected to make a statement at this time. We will be in the large briefing room on this floor. You may note that there is a cue in the margin after paragraph four. Until this point, you can stand with myself on the side by the wall. It isn't unusual for you to be on this floor and working with the Minister so hopefully it will go unnoticed. Once Kingsley highlights his own joy at being matched so well, he will extend his hand to you to invite you to stand beside him. It will be an excellent visual if we can have you take his hand and stand by him for the other half of the speech," he went through the process and Hermione once again felt the nerves kick in a bit but Kingsley took her hand in that moment with an encouraging smile.
"That part we can manage, I think?" he asked.
Hermione couldn't help herself and returned the smile. "I don't think we'll have a problem with that, no. Might be better to stand on the left side of the room initially, so they don't notice the ring until the right time," she suggested.
Theo inclined his head. "Good point, that can be arranged," he nodded. "Finally, there will be space for three questions for you both, no more, no less, and then if you could take Kingsley's offered arm and walk out of the room together, that will provide the final united visual. Happy with that?" he asked. They both nodded. "Excellent. Now, I have a list of likely questions, the ones about the Repopulation Act can be answered by both of you. What about personal questions, are we allowing any?" he asked.
"What kind of questions?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"For example, when is the wedding? Have you set a date?" he asked.
Hermione looked at Kingsley and nodded. "I think we discussed Saturday 30th April. Maybe a small ceremony with a reception, with limited press?" she suggested, knowing their wedding day couldn't be just their own anyway.
"Would you be happy with that?" Kingsley asked, not knowing what she would want but wondered whether she would be comfortable with it.
She nodded. "Three weeks is enough time to plan a small wedding and I'm sure I can get some help arranging the reception."
Theo nodded, making notes. "That is excellent, they will love that. Hermione, if you could answer that question, they will be absolutely delighted, especially Witch Weekly. Now, if they ask you about your…workplace love affair?" he asked, trying to predict some of the nasties, especially the Prophet. They always sent the most salacious gossips to these briefings.
Hermione grimaced at the phrasing. "That's rude," she muttered.
Kingsley squeezed her hand in sympathy. "We will highlight working side by side during the war effort, and continuing that through our joint work at the Ministry. The results of the compatibility test were a surprise for us, but we have great respect for each other and hope to build on our friendship to tackle the joys and challenges of marriage," he drawled smoothly, his deep voice reassuring.
Hermione realised it was one of the things she enjoyed about him, his voice could be very commanding but soothing as well, and right now it was helping soothe her nerves. Theo observed the couple before him and noticed the way they unconsciously began to gravitate towards each other. He could see some excellent chemistry growing between those two and just knew they would be the next Wizarding world power couple.
"Alright, I think we are ready. Here is a copy of the final version with cues in the margins for you to prepare from. We still have a half an hour to go so let me run you through the schedule for today and the week. Following the conference at nine, we will do a short debrief before your schedules diverge. Kingsley, you have a ten o'clock with Matthews about budgets and twelve o'clock with the visiting French minister for muggle relations. Hermione, I have prepared a list of possible staff for you to review and see if you would like to employ or consult as the First Wix, followed by a meeting with the Head of DMLE to discuss the current situation at twelve o'clock," he reeled off.
"And then we're having a lunch break at one thirty for half an hour," Hermione suggested in a light tone but her gaze held Theo's pointedly.
She will not be forced to skip lunch and eat reheated Chinese takeaway at six o'clock in the evening because of too many meetings, especially now when she was much more prone to get hangry around lunch time after the morning queasiness passed. She felt Kingsley squeeze her hand gently, remembering their conversation on Thursday. Theo made a quick note in the schedule, clearly moving things around. Hermione one, Minister's scheduling nil.
Theo continued almost seamlessly. "After your lunch break, at two, Kingsley, you will be taking a portkey up to Scotland to meet with the Hogwarts Board of Governors regarding the upcoming education reform plans, followed by an end of day meeting with the Head Auror regarding the tactical team priorities at five o'clock. Hermione, your afternoon is blocked out for the Azkaban reform revision, but you may wish to amend that depending on your morning meetings. I briefly spoke with-" he checked his notes, "yes, Alethea, and she suggested she might like to speak with you in the afternoon if possible," he summarised.
"Thank you, I will catch up with Alethea later," she nodded as Kingsley asked follow up questions about his schedule.
She wondered if she would be in charge of her schedule ever again, or if there would be many briefings like this ahead of her. She suspected the latter. And she didn't even think how this would impact Alethea! She was very competent but didn't like to work odd hours as her daughter was only three years old. The new office will be demanding and she didn't want to put pressure on her secretary and at the same time disadvantage her in the process. She would have to think about that one carefully.
Time flew by and they were soon getting ready to leave the office for the meeting, Hermione with Theo, and Kingsley to come in precisely at nine by himself. Theo looked at them for a moment before waving his wand and changing the colour of Kingsley's tie from blue to the same shade of red as her dress. "That's better, it will add to the visual. Kingsley, you should wear your grey over-robe, to have magical and muggle wardrobe elements both," he advised, making a note in his diary. Hermione would have been amused but she recognised the same detail-oriented drive in Theo that she suffered herself so she didn't comment.
Her presence in the press room turned a few heads but when she leaned against the wall with Theo casually and folded her arms over her chest to hide her ring, the reporters soon lost interest and waited for the Minister to arrive.
Cameras flashing announced his arrival and he stood before them all, greeting everyone as a chorus of 'Good morning' filtered back to him. "Thank you for coming to this briefing today. I will be making a short announcement following which three questions will be allowed," he saw the disgruntled looks mixed in with the keenly awaiting ones. "My schedule for today is quite busy, perhaps next time we will allow more time," he promised jovially as he always did, every person in the room hanging onto his next words.
"Last week, the Wizengamot resolutely passed the Magical Repopulation Act of 2005, aimed to address the worrying trend regarding the British Wizarding births. Over the past five year, research has been carried out to understand data from post-war census and birth levels, which highlighted alarming findings. The loss of excellent wizards and witches during the Second Wizarding War has been great, bringing our population to its lowest level since 1703. Contributing to the severity of these findings is the fact that less children are being born each year since 1998, and our community is producing more and more squibs due to lack of new bloodline integration. Without urgent repopulation, we may face near extinction in 150 years from now," he summarised.
"The Magical Repopulation Act aims to address this worrying trend. With the sense of urgency, the Wizengamot approved this Act to come into effect this Friday, 15th April. Under this Act, all wizards and witches aged 20 to 50 that are not yet married will do so by the end of the month of May to their current partner, or they will be assigned a choice of three potential spouses to choose from and marry by dedicated representatives at the Ministry. We hope this Act will encourage all newly married couples to produce at least two children within seven years of the wedding date, as a minimum indicated by the Act. Those who have already produced two or more children, or are unable to produce children will be exempt from both clauses of this act. Further information will be shared by my team shortly."
Hermione could see the reporters' reaction varying from stunned, to calculating, to downright impatient.
"I see you have many question. Yes Watson, you will get a chance as well," Kingsley offered charmingly, a few laughs at the eager young man in the front row sounding around the room. "To ensure a smooth spouse-matching process, I volunteered to be the first person to test for magical compatibility and am pleased to share that the witch I was matched with has accepted my offer of marriage," he turned to look at her and Hermione walked over with a pleasant smile, taking his outstretched hand with her left, her engagement ring glistening in the light of the conference room for all and sundry.
Perfect , Theo observed happily though his features remained neutral, unlike the reporters who were now near abuzz with excitement at this juicy news. He cleared his throat to remind everyone of etiquette and the cameras ceased taking photos to allow the Minister to speak further.
Hermione didn't register the rest of the speech, merely kept a polite smile on her face as she looked at a fixed point at the back of the room to avoid meeting anyone's eyes individually. She felt Kingsley gently squeeze her hand out of sight and she looked up at him with a true smile as he finished his last sentence.
These two really make my job easy today , Theo thought to himself as he watched the moment. Another camera went off and the moment was captured, sure to be plastered all over the newspapers in the evening edition. "Time for questions now," he announced and watched hands rise up in the air like mushrooms after rain. "We only have space for three so in order - Watson, Cottons and Willoughby," he announced, annoyed murmurs running through the crowd before they settled down again.
"Mr Watson," Kingsley nodded to the youngest reporter on the Digest's payroll.
"Thank you Minister. This Repopulation Act will inadvertently not be accepted by all members of our community. What will be the repercussions for those who refuse to obey its enforcement?" he asked.
Theo gathered the prepared pamphlets containing the research information as well as the details of the Act and with a flick of his wand distributed them to the awaiting journalist.
"Thank you, Theo. You now have a briefing pamphlet containing all the pertinent information, including the answer to your question, Mr Watson. We hope these are useful but if you have any queries regarding the Act, my team will be happy to point you to the relevant information," he specified, deflecting the topic easily. "Miss Cottons was next, I believe?" he smiled at the witch in a leather pencil skirt eyeing Hermione.
"Thank you Minister, and congratulations to you both on your upcoming marriage. Our readers would love to hear about this match and whether you have made any wedding plans yet," she asked excitedly.
Hermione noticed the Witch Weekly logo on her notepad and her smile widened for the benefit of the audience. "We have set the date for Saturday 30th April for a small family celebration followed by a reception. I maintain hope for some sunshine but sadly weather charms are not within my power," she offered, more of the reporters chuckling at her charming self-deprecating humour. "You will all be notified once the time is set and we have more details, of course," she promised, catching the reporter's pleased expression as her quill moved at lightning speed.
Definitely ask the First Wix to support on public speeches and outings, Theo made a mental note, seeing the way the reporters took to her.
"Final question, Mr Willoughby?" Theo encouraged, wanting to wrap up the meeting on a high note.
"Miss Granger, did you accept this match in order to further your career at the Ministry and gain support for your anti-pureblood campaign?" Willoughby asked with a snide smirk, the Prophet's finest clearly on form today.
Her blood boiled with fury at the ridiculous question, trying to stamp down on her temper. "You may note, Mr Willoughby, that my agenda as the Deputy Head of the DMLE and First Wix is centred on integration, which includes reviewing some of the current legislation and making policy changes to improve the living conditions and acceptance of muggleborns, magical beings and other minoritised communities in our society. That may include reviewing some of the laws set by the pureblood members of our society. What I will be including in the policy recommendations most definitely is a review of the impact of this kind of rhetoric by the press on magical integration," her tone so cold Theo wondered how Willoughby was still sweating.
Note to self, training on not threatening the press , Theo hid his grimace. "Thank you, that is all the questions we have time for today," he announced the cue for Kingsley who offered Hermione his arm and led her elegantly out of the room to more flashes of the camera.
The moment they were back in the Minister's office, she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples tiredly. "I'm sorry I lost it at the end," she sighed, disappointed in herself for sinking to their level.
Kingsley chuckled, guiding her to take a seat on the sofa. "We knew it was going to be tough, I thought you did rather admirably for your first conference. And it will save me the trouble threatening them," he pointed out teasingly.
Before she could respond, Theo came in and secured the door to avoid any of the leaving reporters catching a glimpse inside. "Well, that was fun," he raised a brow pointedly.
"I'm sorry, at least I answered verbally instead of hexing his sorry arse," she muttered.
Theo snickered. "To be fair, top marks for most of it. They were loving the show of unity and the way you spoke about the wedding. Willoughby is a cretin but we knew he was going to try something like this. Next time, you can just say you will not even dignify such misrepresentation of your agenda with an answer instead of threatening the press, they may all take it personally," he explained.
"Noted, thanks," she nodded and gathered her handbag. "I need to head down to my office, it's nearly ten o'clock. I'll see you for lunch?" she asked, hoping he was alright with her scheduling it.
Kingsley offered one of his half-smiles, the corner of his lips pulling up almost fondly. "I'll be here at one thirty," he promised. She waved to them both in farewell and slipped out of the room with her itinerary for the rest of the day.
Kingsley looked up and noted Theo observing him. "Do you think she's ready for this?" he asked, knowing his assistant was equally a good judge of character.
He nodded without hesitation. "I think she will be a much-needed breath of fresh air for the Office of the First Wix, and she has the makings of a great politician. Before Willoughby asked that question, they were all half in love with her. But she does have a righteous temper on certain topics, so we need to find out what her triggers are and coach her on responding correctly to questions relating to them before someone exploits them. Knowing her from school, she will be happy to take the task on and learn some new media handling skills," he offered. "And if you don't mind me saying on a personal note, I think you are well-matched. Congratulations, Kingsley," he added, picking up his portfolio.
"Thanks Theo," Kingsley said gratefully. "I'll let you fend off the press and get into my first meeting of the day," he headed for his table, shucking off the official robes to get more comfortable.
"Thank you Minister," Theo offered to the half-opened door, signalling to the secretaries that the Minister was ready for his first visitor.
Kingsley realised he was actually looking forward to not only having an actual lunch break but sharing it with Hermione. He just about managed to school his features before Roger Matthews came in carrying at least twenty scrolls…