1. Thanks a lot to ORCA47, freyja-luna for helping beta this chapter. I am sure it will be far better with that valuable advice. Also thanks to Ana-DaughterOfHades who helped me years ago on the initial version of this.

3. Any error here is mine and not from my reviewer.

4. Enjoy.

The sun was shining bright all over Ottery St Catchpole and the nearby hills, covering every inch of the countryside with a lively warmth only the summer could bring. The landscape was stunning, orchards and green fields spread as far as the eye could see, with only a few farm roads dividing them. It was so peaceful that the low babble of a distant stream could be heard from a mile away.

A young couple came treading down one of these roads. There was no sign of a car and the distance from town made it quite unlikely that they had come walking from there.

The man was tall and had short red hair. His long nose was surrounded by freckles, something which made his bright blue eyes stand out. He was a wizard named Ronald Weasley, and the bushy-haired woman by his side was his wife.

"They shouldn't be questioning either one of you. It doesn't feel right," the woman said, carefully holding a bowl covered with a white cloth.

"They had to do it with everyone. Redfern insisted," Ron replied. He was carrying three boxes wrapped in colourful patterned paper.

"I know they had to do it. All I'm saying is that it feels wrong. And as for the attack on Azkaban, I can't put my finger on it yet but something just doesn't add up. Do we even know who these people are?"

Ron tried to shrug it off while carrying the pile of gifts. "You're reading too much into it, Hermione. They're just rogue Death Eaters. It's only a matter of time before we get them."

He made his best attempt to sound reassuring, but he still frowned.

The Death Eaters were dark wizards who had fought in the last wizarding war. They believed that the only people who should be allowed to study magic were those who came from long lines of magical families, as they didn't consider magical children born from muggles to be worthy of the magical community. Ron and the entire Weasley family couldn't disagree more. Hermione was a muggleborn, and also one of the most talented and renowned young witches in the whole of Britain.

"But it doesn't make sense. If they only wanted to free those two, why was the first explosion so far away from their cells?"

The whole thing was rather dodgy, Ron had to admit. However, maybe there was no mystery to solve this time. "I dunno. Maybe their intel was sketchy. Grim and the other researchers are looking into it."

Hermione peered around to make sure they were alone, which of course was the case, as they were right in the middle of the countryside. When it seemed like no one could be earwigging, she leaned closer to Ron and spoke in a murmur.

"What if they know of that thing? The one I told you about?" She paused and lowered her voice even more, her brow furrowed in concern. "The one at the Ministry."

"Blimey, Hermione, you worry too much! You said no one knew."

"I know I did, but... what if they do?" Hermione looked quite frazzled, as if her mind had spun over all that could go wrong. "It's a huge coincidence that just now—"

"We can handle it, alright? There weren't that many, and we caught some of them. They won't last much longer. Everyone at the office wants a piece of them."

However, Ron wasn't entirely convinced. Harry and Redfern suspected that the break-out was only the beginning of a much larger plan. Harry said that whoever had done it risked too much, and he had a bad feeling too. Ron would have loved to disagree with them but he couldn't, he knew that Harry and the Head Auror were onto something.

That didn't mean he was going to tell that to Hermione.

They reached the bottom of the hill where a large field extended in all directions. Ron glanced around at their surroundings for anything out of place, a habit he had picked up from auror training. It was green and sunny wherever he looked, nothing dodgy at all. Only a small grey creature scurrying through the grass caught his attention: a wild raccoon. An American creature, he knew, yet one that had become more common to see in recent years. Ron made a mental note to warn his father. Those pesky animals might appear to be minor business, but could get out of hand soon enough, not unlike Death Eaters.

Ron forced a smile and turned to his wife. "You know what? Let's just forget all of it and enjoy the party. We're sort of late. Harry may be there already."

"We wouldn't have been running this late in the first place if you had bought Floo powder, like you were supposed to," Hermiome complained.

"Oi! I said I was sorry. I'll get it tomorrow. 'Sides, I'm sure I can find a way to make it up to you," Ron answered with a teasing smile.

Hermione's cheeks turned slightly red. "Oh, shut up, we're here already."

"Yes ma'am," Ron said with a grin as Hermione rolled her eyes.

The air around them rippled with their next step, like a huge piece of transparent fabric. Before they could blink twice, a rickety-looking house seemed to blossom out of the ground. It was several stories tall, with each one balanced precariously on top of the other, looking as if it could all fall apart at any moment. Everyone called that house the Burrow, it had been Ron's childhood home, but now only his parents lived there.

Odd sounds came from the garage, which could only mean Ron's father was trying to tinker with some muggle object. Their hands were full, so they didn't stop until they reached the front door. A woman with short brown hair answered the door. She was drying her hands on a dishcloth, not minding the floating potato being grated behind her back.

"Oh, Ron, Hermione! It's been a while, come on in."

"Thanks Audrey, is Harry here yet?" asked Hermione.

"No, we're only waiting for him now. Just a warning, Ginny's not happy."

"Shocking," Ron said in his best sarcastic voice, earning a look from his wife.

Ginny was usually a fairly easy-going person, but when her temper got the best of her, everyone had to steer clear. Ron knew it first hand from growing up with her, so he was always cautious around his little sister. Especially now that she was pregnant.

It was a bit over a year since Harry and Ron's sister got married, so she was Ginny Potter now. Still, sometimes even Harry could get on the wrong side of her temper, making Ron feel torn between being amused or worried about his best mate.

As they went inside, Ron frowned. He had expected Harry to be there; it was taking too bloody long already. What the hell were they even asking him?

The familiar cosiness of the Burrow was soon all around them. The furniture was quite old but still quite comfortable. It was almost the same as when Ron had lived there, the only difference being that most of the portraits of Ron and his siblings were behind pictures of grandchildren now.

At the kitchen, Andromeda Tonks, an old family friend, was chopping carrots. Fleur Weasley was helping her; she was the wife of Ron's eldest brother, Bill. The younger woman had given birth to a couple of the Weasley grandkids already, and had a third one on the way. Ron couldn't remember when the new Weasley was due, but to him, it looked as if it could pop out any moment now.

The Weasleys were a large family, and it was only going to grow even larger in the upcoming years. It was a given that family reunions and gatherings would only become increasingly chaotic, but Ron knew his mother couldn't be happier about it. Hermione and Ron had been thinking of having a child themselves; however, they were going to wait a year or so for that. Hermione had just moved to her new job at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and she was putting all of her energy into finding her right footing there. Ron had asked if she would be able to handle the new job and a pregnancy when the time came, but Hermione had seemed quite confident about it, even thrilled.

"Hello, Mum."

"Ron? Weren't you two supposed to come by Floo?" asked Ron's mother, barely looking away from the stove.

"Err, yeah. We're kind of short on powder though. Need to get some," answered Ron while Hermione sighed.

"Oh, hello dear, you brought the trifle," said Ron's mother as soon as she noticed Hermione.

"Of course. I just hope it's enough," Hermione said with a smile, putting the dessert on the table. She was quite proud of that trifle, and rightly so. The Granger recipe included muggle butter cookies, and it was always a smashing hit at every Weasley reunion.

At the young couple's home, cookery was an interesting affair. Ron had found an unexpected talent in making creative dinners by following mostly his gut, and somehow always managed to surprise his wife. Nevertheless, it was Hermione who took care of most of the day-to-day meals. She was great at following recipes and never allowed a single ingredient to be added without being measured first. In comparison, Ron had a tendency to be careless with them. Hermione would also freak out if he dared taste anything before it was done, but Ron knew he could usually turn that into playful banter with brilliant outcomes.

No matter the situation, food always had a way of making a day better.

"Need an extra hand?" Hermione asked, noticing how rushed things were at the kitchen.

Ron's mother accepted the help gratefully since she and Audrey seemed to have their hands full. Fleur would usually be by the stove as well, but Ron's mother wasn't allowing any effort from her so far into her pregnancy, much to the French woman's complaints.

So far, it seemed like it was going to be a reunion like any other, yet Ron knew things were far from normal. As he made his way to the garden, he met Hermione's gaze. He knew she was still worried, probably still thinking about that bloody thing at the Ministry. Ron wished he could take all her nerves away with a spell or the like, but things were rarely as simple as he would like them to be.

o0o0o

Outside, Ron found his siblings. A large tent was being raised by George and Bill, while Percy showed the nearby garden to the little girl in his arms. His daughter Molly was still a few months shy from her first birthday and wasn't able to walk by herself yet. Under the tent, Angelina and Ginny were levitating the last pieces of cutlery into place. Both women were pregnant but nowhere near Fleur's condition. His brother Charlie wasn't there, but Ron hadn't expected him to be. The second to eldest Weasley brother was working in Romania and he couldn't be around often, still, he came by every season with his hands full of presents.

Ron dropped the wrapped boxes by the gift table, noticing how packed it was this time. It made sense, as they were celebrating not only Ginny, but Percy and one of Bill's daughters as well.

"Didn't you have a hearing as well? Or was that over early?" asked Bill once Ron had finished greeting everybody.

"No, mine was yesterday. Guess they wanted to leave Harry for the very end. They're not mad enough to think he had something to do with it."

"They didn't have to do it. It's stupid," complained Ginny, her arms crossed over her chest.

"It isn't. They had to do it. It's the procedure," tried Percy, but all he earned from that was a nasty glare from their sister.

"How's the questioning? Found anything useful yet?" Angelina, George's wife, asked. The dark-skinned woman was sporting a hair-style way shorter than Ron ever remembered her having during her Hogwarts years.

"Oh, do tell. We're all ears," George said, leaning on his right side with a smirk. He had lost his left ear in the war.

Ron ignored the overused ear joke, "No new information, as far as I can tell. Everything is strung up at the office though. Even Redfern is being questioned."

"The Head Auror?"

Bill nodded. "An escape from Azkaban is no small matter, especially when former Death Eaters were released. People might start arguing about defences, they might even mention dementors."

"Rubbish! People escaped with dementors too," George argued.

"No one wants them back, I reckon. It's just a political play on Kingsley," said Percy, as the little girl in his arms looked at a flying butterfly that passed by,

"But dementors? Are they off their trolleys?"

George put an arm around Angelina. "Of course they are, my dearest. It's politics."

"Oi!" protested Percy, who aimed to pursue a political career.

It didn't take long for Ron's father to arrive. Little Teddy Lupin was there, sporting bright blue hair. As a metamorphmagus he could change his appearance at will. Bill's daughter, Victoire, came to the garden running after him. At her young age, she already moved with the grace of her mother. Victoire's sister, Dominique, was enjoying the ride in her grandfather's arms.

Teddy was asking about the garden gnomes, which made Ron remember the raccoon. His father was just wondering who could know good repelling charms when George chipped in. Apparently he was using animal hair for one of his current projects and took the kids on a raccoon-searching mission, which they saw as the greatest of adventures.

George owned a very successful joke shop, which made it impossible to beat him as the funny uncle. Ron used to help him up on weekends but the job at the office had kept him rather busy lately. A few weeks ago, George even offered him a full-time job, which Ron had thought about taking more than once. It would certainly lessen Hermione's worries, and had the perk of being the least boring gig in the world. Maybe he could use the career change.

It wasn't until an hour later, once everyone was at the table, that Harry arrived. Teddy, who had been sitting by his grandmother Andromeda, rushed to him at once. As the boy's godfather, Harry kept a very close relationship with Teddy. The boy always looked up to him and asked him about his adventures as an Auror.

"I promise, I'll make the Patronus later. Now, I'm starving!" Harry was telling Teddy as they approached the table.

Ginny reached them and, after mussing Teddy's hair up, gave Harry a quick kiss. She seemed more relaxed now. "Then you should've brought your arse here sooner, Mister."

"Would have done that if I could, believe me." Harry smiled widely and went to greet everybody. He couldn't hide his serious look though. Ron would surely hear more about it later.

It was easy to take his mind away from things once the food arrived. Ron's mother had made a wide variety of dishes, ranging from potatoes and roast to kidney pie. Audrey's cookery knowledge was limited to very few recipes; still, she made an outstanding beef stew . Ron was eager to taste at least a little of every dish. The decoration on the table looked proper posh as well, courtesy of Fleur, who kept complaining that it was the only thing they let her help with.

All in all, it did seem like a typical Weasley meeting, with upbeat stories from Ginny and Ron's father for the kids' sake. Ron was enjoying the party, he took a break from his heated quidditch discussion with Angelina to put a tender kiss on Hermione's hand, who rewarded him with a warm smile.

"Let's open presents!" Teddy said.

Victoire was staring at the gift table in awe. Having inherited the golden hair from her mother, the little girl was the first non-red haired Weasley in generations, but the several freckles on her face were undeniably from this side of the family.

"How many are there, Teddy?" she asked.

"I don't know, hundreds! Like thirty-seven or thirty-nine!"

There were not that many, but still quite a lot, and that considering the Azkaban affair had made the reunion a family-only event.

Dominique was beaming as her mother helped her open her presents, little Molly as well since her father was carrying her as he opened his. Molly didn't know what a magical razor or a schedule book were but she enjoyed moving the wrapping around in any case. Dominique was just discovering her love for animals, so she was excited to receive a book from Hermione about a monkey visiting a muggle zoo. On the other hand, Bill gave Percy an amulet made of Brazilian snake fangs and it was a great opportunity for one of his stories. After all, who didn't want to hear about the travels of a curse-breaker in the jungle?

"Hey, is that a colour-changing tie? Nice touch, Ron."

"It was actually Hermione's idea. I was this close of getting Percy a talking suit, can you believe it?" Next to Ron, Hermione was slightly amused.

"A talking suit? That doesn't sound very useful," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.

"What did it say?" asked Mrs Tonks, intrigued.

"All kinds of greetings. It even recognized the time of the day and weather! It was brilliant!"

Hermione was holding back a laugh. "It also called you Mrs Redhead."

As laughter erupted, Ron argued back. "Oi! It was a cracking suit, not a mind reader!"

Ron's father couldn't hide his fascination though, "Hmm I think I might get one of those. You'll need to tell me where they sell them, son."

Ginny had her fair share of gifts as well, more baby things than quidditch equipment this time but she looked happy all the same. Besides, she didn't need as much quidditch stuff now that she had decided to leave it for good.

Dessert was announced soon enough and, of all people, George was the one who volunteered to fetch Hermione's trifle. He even served each slice himself.

"You didn't put anything in this, did you?" Hermione asked, cautiously.

Harry and Bill, who already had their forks in mid-air, stopped dead in their tracks. Audrey and Mrs Tonks put theirs down.

"You hurt me, Hermione. I would never do something like that to you," replied George. Angelina's eyes switched between her husband and the trifle, suspicion written all over her face.

At previous parties, George had always found a way to play a trick on someone, usually Ron. One time he even made him blow confetti out of his mouth for a whole night. Ron was troubled. One part of him wanted to eat his wife's trifle, which he knew was delicious, but another side doubted.

Suddenly, Hermione grabbed her plate and swapped it with Ron's. "So, is it okay if I take Ron's? It's a smaller portion and I ate a lot already," she said, her brown eyes on George. Everyone knew George didn't have a problem pulling one on Ron but he would have to be mental to try anything on Hermione.

George looked surprised by those words, but he smiled just the same. "As you please, my dear sister-in-law."

Hermione took a bite, everyone staring. Even Percy looked nervy. A whole minute passed and when nothing seemed to happen, the Weasleys relaxed and started eating. The trifle was harmless, or at least that was what Ron thought.

As soon as Ron grabbed a bite from what was supposed to be Hermione's slice, he got a weird feeling in his mouth, then an itch. When he tried scratching his cheek he noticed something, hair, shedloads of it.

People were laughing. Angelina almost snorted juice out of her nostrils.

"Woah! Wicked!" said Teddy.

The boy's grandmother had her eyes open wide, unable to look away from Ron, "Oh my..."

"What? What is it?" Ron was getting worried.

"George!" yelled their mother.

Fleur took pity on Ron then. She transfigured a tray into a proper mirror and handed it to him. That's when Ron saw the fur.

He panicked. Every spot on his face was covered with either grey or black fur, raccoon patterned. He knew what George's current project was now.

"You git! It isn't funny," Ron protested. Ginny didn't seem to agree as she was having a hard time holding back laughter. Not even Ron's frown could make her stop.

Hermione was gobsmacked. "But, how did you—? When?"

George had a massive grin, as if he had just won the Quidditch World Cup. Not far away, Bill was pointing between them, "You— but what if she hadn't— She would've— Oh Merlin, that was bold!"

Hermione took out her wand and pointed it at George. The man raised his arms in defeat. "It was Percy's idea!" he said at once.

"What? No!"

"It was, don't lie. You said she would totally switch slices."

"I didn't know that part! I barely helped you with adding the reaction with water and—" Percy was panicking, then turned around. "It was him, I swear. I—"

Hermione flicked her wand at both of them as they closed their eyes. At first, it appeared as if she hadn't done anything. George and Percy looked confused.

"What? I don't feel any different," said George, but he did so with a high-pitched voice, almost as if he was some muggle cartoon talking. "Oi!" he said once he listened to himself.

Laughs returned to the table, including from Dominique who was now on Audrey's lap. Percy did too but in a high pitched tone. Even Harry, who surely had tons of things to deal with, was cheering loudly, barely able to contain himself.

"You know, I think it sounds better," said Audrey, just before turning to Angelina. "What do you think?"

Angelina's brow was furrowed, as in deep thought. Eventually, she sighed, faking frustration, "Nope, I give up. I don't know what you lot are going on about. I just don't see a difference."

"Angelina!" George complained in a high-pitched voice.

The two women then broke in laughs as well. Audrey and Angelina hadn't been that close back at Hogwarts, considering they had been in different Houses, but that had changed after they'd married into the Weasley family.

Eventually, Ron gave up and joined them when Teddy grew some grey fur himself, trying to match Ron's. Victoire was amused at Teddy's display and everyone else looked happy, as if nothing bad had ever happened to them. Among all the joyful faces, Ron was glad to see Hermione smiling as well. He didn't care that he had as much fur as Crookshanks at the moment.

Looking at George and Percy mocking their voices joyfully made Ron remember his deceased brother as well. Fred had been George's twin, and they had always done these sorts of things together. At least his spirit remained with them in some way, Fred would be proud of those two. Even so, Ron had to admit he would do almost anything to have the real Fred back at the table with them. A part of him even felt guilty for enjoying this without him.

George yielded soon enough, giving Ron an antidote. All the raccoon fur was reduced into nothingness as Ron released a relief sigh. Even then, Hermione didn't lift the voice spell on Ron's brothers.

"Hey! I can't go to work like this," George protested.

Percy squeaked, scandalized, and his glasses almost fell. "What are you talking about?! You work in a joke shop! I'm the one with the problem!"

As the party continued, people got used to Percy and George's voices. Teddy went to Harry and asked him for the Patronus, to which his godfather agreed joyfully. When the night came, George took the kids to prepare the fireworks. It was time for a serious talk.

It was a bloody shame to see the happy mood leave the table.

Harry talked about his hearing, how the investigations were now heading outside of the Auror Office so it was likely the questioning could reach Hermione, Percy, or even Ron's father.

"Are you sure they're Death Eaters?"

Harry shrugged, "The surviving Aurors are too injured to answer questions and we haven't got much out of the captured attackers. Most of them don't even speak English. We'll get information eventually, but we can't really tell for sure what's going on just yet."

"But this is not like before, is it?"

"We don't think so. It's believed they're only a handful of them left. There weren't that many."

"Any more news?" Percy asked in his high pitched voice, a few smirks lightened the mood. "Oh, come on, Hermione!"

A few seconds before Hermione had been properly sober, but that made her struggle to contain a laugh. She lifted the spell and Percy's voice returned to normal.

"Thanks."

Harry sighed, "As you all know, these men freed Dolohov and Rowle. It doesn't seem like they wanted anyone else, they went straight to their cells once inside."

Hermione still looked troubled, Ron knew she had her doubts. The massive explosion had taken place at the warden's office, precisely at the time people from the Department of Magical Transportation were carrying on an inspection. It was too strange to be a coincidence. But no reason had been found for Dolohov's buddies to attack the transportation workers.

"Poor child," Ron's mother muttered.

She and Mrs Tonks turned to look at Teddy in the distance. Dolohov had killed Teddy's father and the kid was left without knowing his parents. Harry looked unsettled.

No one said anything more about the topic since not even Harry had much more information he could share.

Ron held his wife's hand, trying to reassure her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Ron saw Harry putting an arm over his sister's shoulder as well, and they were whispering to one another.

George eventually returned and the fireworks started. Soon everyone was in a better mood, or at least it appeared so. The fireworks were fantastic and not only the kids were in awe. George always found a way to best himself and a colourful figure of a flying quidditch player in the sky was a way to do it.

"What about me?" George asked when he noticed Percy talking with his normal voice.

"You could use the voice a little longer," Angelina said, smirking.

"Awww! Angelina!"

o0o0o

Later on, as they were cleaning and picking up the remains of the party, George gave away some free samples of his products. Ron took a few classic Ton-Tongue Toffees and also some Party Blasters, which were those little purple sweets that made you barf confetti. He didn't want to say it yet but if he was going to consider that job offer he might as well start giving a closer look at the goods.

He honestly had to give that offer a serious thought. It was a good opportunity but he didn't want to let Harry down at the job either, his friend was counting on him.

Once the night fell, everyone headed back to the house, with Ginny, Audrey and Angelina arguing loudly about the upcoming Quidditch League games as they did so. However, when Hermione found herself alone with Ron and Harry, she dragged them all the way to the other side of the tent, near the broom shed. It appeared as if it was only Bill who noticed, but he continued talking with his father and George.

"Do you know?" Hermione asked Harry in a low voice, not giving him a chance to even ask what all of that was about.

"Know what?" he asked startled.

Hermione turned to her husband, "Have you told him?"

Ron was equally bemused, so it took him a moment to understand what she meant. He shook his head.

After releasing a heavy breath, Hermione turned back to their friend. "Look, Harry, what I'm about to tell you is very sensitive information. It shouldn't be passed around and I didn't want to worry Ginny or the others."

"Hermione, you're scaring me. What is it?" Harry asked cautiously, looking at Ron.

At her usual fast pace, Hermione let the whole thing out at once.

"There's something at the Ministry right now. Not even Kingsley knows about it, but I'm afraid that whoever attacked Azkaban might. You see, I've been working with some Unspeakables, they looked for me after my speech on the Time-Turners and—"

"Wait, Time-Turners?"

"Saul Croaker was the one who looked for me. It's an old project of his. He made it to understand time itself, or so it seems. There was a breakthrough, unexpected. After using my theories on it, Croaker noticed different capabilities on the device."

Harry adjusted his glasses. "I don't think I'm following you, Hermione. What's this device? Why is it so important?"

"Don't look at me, I asked the same questions," Ron said, answering the stares his best mate was throwing at him. He knew where this was going. Ron found his feet suddenly interesting. He wasn't sure how his friend would react to Hermione's words.

"A window," Hermione said at last. "I haven't seen it but that's how Unspeakable Croaker refers to it. I have made a few calculations, wild guesses. Hypothetically speaking, this window could allow a person to time travel years into the future, or into the past, I'm not entirely sure."

Harry moved a few steps away, thinking Hermione's words through. His reaction was of concern and certainly quieter than what Ron's had been. He remembered almost toppling over once he made sure Hermione wasn't taking the mickey out of him.

On the other side of the garden, Ron's father had noticed them. In a way, it felt familiar to be having hidden conversations just the three of them, and in another it felt completely different. They had done this before to save their lives. Now Ron was in this because it was his job, and he was going to keep doing it for as long as he was an Auror. Did he really want to do this for the rest of his life?

"You're talking about actual time travel. For years," Harry finally said, "That's— Are you sure?"

Hermione nodded. "Positive. Croaker has it under control now, or so he says. However, it poses a great danger. You know what this means, right? This could alter the very outcome of the war!"

"I understand as much, yes. Yet I'm still not sure how this could reach the wrong ears." Silence fell on the three of them. Harry looked troubled as he moved his eyes between his oldest friends. "If I get this correctly, you are implying an Unspeakable could be giving away information?" Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

"If you think there's a rat at the Auror Office, they could get an Unspeakable as well. It doesn't even have to be Saul Croaker, since he doesn't work alone."

"It's not the same, Hermione. Since the war the Department of Mysteries has been more secretive, you know that. Most people don't even know the identities of the Unspeakables anymore. This would need at least as much inside knowledge as Voldemort had and that's— If it were true, then... I can't even measure the impact on the Ministry."

"It's possible."

"Do you have any proof?"

Ron threw Hermione a sad look. He knew all she had were merely guesses. Above them a cloud was passing by, and for a while it blocked the moon and they were covered in the total silence of the dark.

"No, but, we didn't have this— this window at the Department of Mysteries during the previous attacks. Previous attacks weren't even as successful for them as this was. Then there's the whole explosion, the first one, a rather blurry situation if you ask me. I have a bad feeling. It's not about if this is probable or not, it's about the damage it could cause!"

It was obvious she had lost Harry at "no."

Harry exchanged some weird looks with Ron. "I understand, I really do, but..." He let out a tired sigh; he looked knackered, "I don't know Hermione."

Ron's eyes were set on his concerned wife, all he wanted to do was to be able to put all of her worries and problems away. Instead, the situation was growing as fast as that raccoon prank George had put in the trifle.

"Harry, mate, why don't we keep an eye open? Just in case. Maybe check if this Croaker has been talking to anyone lately?" he offered.

Harry didn't look sure, still, he nodded. "I guess it wouldn't hurt, especially with the new arrangements."

"What new arrangements?"

"Redfern is setting up regular night guards for at least a month or so. He wants the two of us to start at the Ministry, a week from now, once the emergency teams go back to their regular schedules. Someone convinced him that St Mungo's and Diagon Alley already have too many wands. He says he needed his best men on the place with the fewer Aurors."

Whatever Hermione planned to get from that conversation, it was surely not this. "Fewer Aurors?"

Harry nodded. "Don't worry, they would be mad if they thought of attacking the Ministry. We might have fewer wands but the defences on that place are impenetrable. I would have personally preferred to be at St Mungo's. It would be very bad if they hit there." He didn't look happy with the decision.

"But the rat?"

"If he exists, he doesn't know about those defences, don't think so. Everything was reinforced after the attack and very few people know. Besides, it would require a lot of strength to go fast through those defences. They don't have those numbers from what I've heard."

Hermione looked gutted and for some reason Ron was getting a very bad feeling as well. He wasn't very excited about having the night shift either.

Nothing more was said about it. Harry was Redfern's right hand and had a lot on his head, maybe he was right and things were under control. However, when Ron saw Hermione more concerned than ever, he couldn't keep from worrying himself.

He hugged her as he placed a small kiss on her forehead. "It's alright. I know how to take care of myself and, if he's with me, Harry has nothing to fear."

Hermione gave him a weak smile, which didn't reach her eyes.

Everything was going well, Ron had to believe that. Life was perfect. They had beaten Voldemort and there was no way that they could face something worse at the Ministry. Soon they would be laughing about it and thinking of having a new Weasley kid themselves. Harry and Ron were trained Aurors, experienced, two of the best in the whole damned country. Everything was going well.