Tempus Magia

Part Four

Chapter 37:

Hermione Granger made a grave error during the final battle that resulted in Remus' death. Working as an unspeakable she spends two years working on a spell using powder from time turners to go back to Remus's greatest hour of need. What if Remus's greatest time of need wasn't in *this* war?

Saul groaned as he woke up. Rubbing his eyes, he stretched under his dark blue duvet. His spine ached from an old fieldwork injury and his stomach was a raging mess. He pulled back the covers and searched for his slippers. Why had he skipped dinner again?

Wearily, he trudged into the kitchen and began cracking eggs into a bowl. He whisked tiredly before setting the bowl of eggs aside and beginning to chop and fry the appropriate vegetables. For breakfast, he was usually was an oatmeal and coffee wizard but he wanted the extra boost for today. Entertaining an entire group of excited Hogwarts students required proper breakfast and a larger cuppa than he was used to.

He set the coffee grounds to slow roast and then tossed the egg pie into the oven. He returned to his room, setting a timer on his wand as he walked. He showered quickly and dressed a bit smarter than he usually would have. The students were impressionable and he wanted to leave a good one.

These days, everyone wanted to be an Auror. There was an all-time low for applications to the Department of Mysteries, which was the reason losing two employees was a very big deal. They were already understaffed and Fauna and Shauna's antics weren't helping the department. He didn't regret their dismissal but there was going to be a dire need to replace both witches.

Saul had just finished clipping his tie when his wand timer vibrated in his pocket. He ate while reading the Prophet and then grabbed his morning mail from the table. Hurrying downstairs to the Floo, he wondered how much progress Hermione was making in her time travel studies. He knew it was going to be soon, but he wasn't sure how soon

He greeted several of his neighbors waiting in line for the Floo. When it was his turn he shouted, "Ministry of Magic" into the flames. Emerging in the atrium, he went through general security smiling and greeting everyone he met. Once he was past security and had managed to avoid the witch from the Filing office he practically jumped into the first lift he could get into.

The lift was crowded, more so than usual. One firm hand on the overhead hook, he steadied himself before looking through some of his memos for the morning and a few he hadn't looked at from last night. He was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't notice who else was in the crowded lift with him.

"Director Unspeakable Croaker, good morning." Saul turned to see Travis smiling from the back of the square squishy lift.

"Following me now, Unspeakable Scott?" he asked as he pocketed his memos. Travis smirked devilishly and winked. Saul rolled his eyes. Travis was good looking, objectively speaking of course. He was also as straight as an arrow but an irritable tease nonetheless.

Travis pushed back a lock of his carefully styled dirty blonde hair. His hazel eyes were bright as he laughed and pushed through two admiring witches with visitor passes to be standing next to his boss. "No, just wanted to remind you that I'll be meeting with Unspeakable Granger today. Just in case she wants a change of scenery from having to look at your ugly mug every day."

Saul chuckled more at the idea of Travis trying to lecture Hermione about his own department than his joke. "You realize she probably knows more about your department than you do, right?" Thinking of Shauna, he quickly added. "Oh, and I want a quick word in your office before Mary bombards me with stuff for today."

The lift stopped at level nine, and the two wizards got out and headed toward their department's security line. Saul could see the two witches craning their necks as the lift doors closed. He rolled his eyes and turned to greet the security wizards, "Good morning Cadmus, Bernie. How's everything looking?"

"Good sir," replied Cadmus stiffly. He was performing security charms as well as a physical check through of Travis's bag. It was uncommon for anyone to ever do anything the 'muggle' way, but he had heard that Cadmus's paternal grandmother was a muggle.

"All ready for the students!" Bernie beamed as he handed Saul's wand back to him. He smiled to Bernie who was, in his opinion, more excitable than a puppy in a bath filled with bubbles.

"Glad to hear it, have a good day." He nodded to each of the guards before following Travis into his office.

Travis sat behind his desk looking at his old friend with tired eyes. Saul noticed that the handsome younger wizard's eyes were dull and puffy. For the first time since they had been acquainted the wizard's clothes were rumpled and there was a coffee stain on his usually crisp cuff. He looked like Hermione had before Saul had intervened.

"Are you okay?"

"I had to fire one of my employees this week. The department barely has enough employees as it is and… Well, she has a lot of personal issues going on right now and I feel like a right bastard, even though it was the right thing to do." Saul raised an inquisitive eyebrow not wanting to push the matter but intrigued nonetheless. Travis rubbed his neck and sighed. "She approached me two weeks ago, about signed documentation for court. Apparently, she is in the middle of a very messy divorce and has three kids. It was… it wasn't easy letting her go."

Travis leaned back in his chair.

"What happened?"

"She cried and begged for her job. She's scared she might lose custody of her children without a job. Her husband wasn't home and neither were the kids. Honestly, it looked like she had been drinking when I showed up."

"Poor Fauna," he murmured. "She's not overly affectionate with them but she's not a bad mother."

"No," Travis leaned back in his chair. "She's not a bad mother. It's just sad what she's going through."

"Is there anything we can do? Discreetly, of course."

"I spoke to a female solicitor last night. I'm going to pay for the initial hearings and such confidentially. She is going over today."

Saul nodded. Travis, while hardened looking on the outside was actually a very kind and caring person on the inside. Unbeknownst to most of his colleagues, he was actually supposed to be sorted into Hufflepuff. He drunkenly confessed years ago that he had begged the hat to put him in Gryffindor because his five older sisters were all in the same house and he didn't want to be apart from them.

Anyone who actually knew him beyond the occasional shag would know that he was the furthest thing from a Gryffindor. He was neither brash nor brave. As a colleague, he's always been hard-working, determined, and dependable. Over the years, he became a close friend he is known to be compassionate, loyal, honest, and always a Floo call away. Not that Gryffindors aren't honest or loyal, but Travis Scott was the embodiment of a Hufflepuff if there ever was one.

Houses didn't really come into play at the Ministry. Though, it was common knowledge that most Unknowns came, predictably, from Ravenclaw. The rest were usually from Slytherin as their cunning and intellect made them rise quickly in the Ministry. Gryffindors tended to end up in the DMLE or the Wizengamot.

Saul only knew the houses of employees because he was the head of the Department of Mysteries and applications had to go through him first. Thinking of applications and the miserable look on Travis's face, he changed the subject. "We need to do something to boost applications this year."

"Isn't that why we're hosting the Hogwarts students?"

"Yes, but I don't think it's enough. There are plenty of adults without jobs that got NEWTs high enough to work here."

"You're thinking of taking out an ad in the Prophet?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, but an article could give us some good exposure and fuel this year's graduates to apply here. Professor McGonagall wrote to me that last year eight of her top students went to work for foreign Ministries. You do realize how bad it looks that we can't even keep our own students?"

Travis tapped his chin. "I dated a witch from the Prophet a couple of years back," Saul groaned. "Not Skeeter, she'd trash the entire Ministry and then set it on fire. I think the witch's name was Melinda. Nope, Belinda something."

Saul stood and brushed out the wrinkles in his robes. "Do us all a favor and figure out what her name is before you call her for a favor, yeah? Also, you look like a mess. Freshen up and clean your sleeve. You look like the product of me attempting to bake something."

He left the office with Travis's loud boisterous laughter behind him. He felt lighter and happier that he was able to help someone when they were having a rough time. Sometimes all a person needs is someone to stop and say hello or ask how their day was going. He understood how hard life could be on a person.

There was a long time when he had no one and nothing and he didn't want anyone to ever go through what he did. As the head of the Department of Mysteries Saul had a lot of responsibilities and often not a lot of time to breathe. He always made time to notice if someone needed help, and always asked about people's lives with the intent of getting an answer. Saul walked across the floor, stopping and saying good morning to his early staff members. Most people had families, who came early but also left early.

"Mary, good morning." His bustling secretary smiled at him when he walked in. Travis had tried hitting on her multiple times but the secretary was not interested in doing anything at work that didn't involve work. She was one of his hardest workers and the reason he was able to be as lax as he was. Saul admired her work ethic and depended on her heavily.

Mary stood, looking smart in her bronze robes that were draped elegantly over a black lace pencil skirt and a nude colored silk blouse. Her simple and nondescript heels clicked on the floor as she walked towards him holding his schedule for the day. The ensemble was simple and chic, something the director's assistant would wear. She pointed his wand at his tie and then cufflinks changing them to a matching bronze.

"Good morning sir, you really should wear more siena bronze. It works well with your coloring." Handing him his schedule for the day, she continued. "You had a night meeting with the Department of Research of Death, but I reorganized it for tomorrow morning so you can make your weekly meeting."

Mary knew exactly where he went once a week and why he went there, but she was discreet and never pushed the issue. He even noticed that she penciled in reminders for Auggie's birthday, not that he would ever forget. Her oldest brother had been one of Auggie's mates. He died in Azkaban ten years ago.

"Thank you, Mary. When do the students arrive?"

"The general tour is from nine to eleven. They will be arriving in our department after lunch at one." Saul nodded and began to walk towards his office, Mary at his side.

"Perfect, what else do I have on my agenda for the morning?"

"Two meetings and an observation. Also, I rearranged the five o'clock meeting with the French Ministry for the day after tomorrow."

"They're still withholding the paperwork?" He asked as he settled into his chair, noticing there was a chocolate croissant on a plate and a cup of black tea.

"Yes, they don't believe our investigation is enough of a basis for the requisition of their records."

"Is Gawain aware of this?"

"I sent him a copy of the response this morning. He was, naturally, infuriated. He's threatening to start a DMLE investigation. The Minister is insisting we resolve it internally. He doesn't want an international incident."

"No, I wouldn't either but if they have a copy of Harry Potter's prophecy, they have to hand it over. It isn't their property to be had. I wonder, can Sybil Trelawney make a claim since she was the Seer?"

Mary dutifully wrote down his query. "I will have a solicitor look into it. I will have an answer by noon. Hopefully, we can ask the chaperone of the students to speak to Sybil for us. She's not known to be… cooperative."

Saul chuckled. "That's definitely one way to put it."

Mary nodded and made her way to leave the office. "I'm going to head straight to level two, send a memo to find me if you have an urgent need."

"I think I'll survive for an hour or two on my own. Thank you, Mary."

Saul just finished going through all of his memos and issuing responses when Belby and Duncan came in for their meeting.

"So, how is our mission to move Duncan's storage to space going?" he asked once they were settled. This was an exciting, if not potentially dangerous project.

"Well, I believe we will be able to send the first of our deep space storage by the end of this calendar year," Belby announced. He puffed his chest proudly, as he should be. "We are working on a version of the vanishing cabinet that will allow us to summon documents at will through the door on our end. Would like to send a prototype at the end of the month."

Duncan dutifully handed him a parchment with the projected costs and outcome for the department. It was extremely detailed and a report worthy of the Minister's desk.

He flipped through the report while Belby droned on about the risks but also the potential infinite growth for the Ministry. When he started talking about 'storing' prisoners in space, Saul put a stop to his enthusiasm about the project.

"While I admire your creativity and tenacity, sending prisoners to outer space is not only unethical but would be very hard on the families they left behind." Imagining Auggie in such a cold and dark space made him shiver. "The Ministry has been working very hard to rehabilitate the prisoners sending them to another place of isolation will undo all of the hard work the DMLE has done. I shall, however, bring up your thought to the Minister."

He would mention it in passing in the letter he was attaching the memo too. He would mention it as he strongly advised against it. Saul had been alongside Harry Potter when they fought to remove the Dementors from Azkaban.

"Saul, removing the Dementors and setting up libraries for prisoners is one thing, but even you must agree that paroling these… criminals are unethical." Belby said pompously.

Of course, he would think that. Belby fled to his extended family in Morocco as soon as Cedric Diggory was killed. Saul was about to respond when Ducan spoke up.

"That's extremely narrow-minded of you, Unspeakable Barnes. There were plenty of people that were sent to Azkaban because they were coerced or they were under the imperius. We cannot grow as a society if we remain anchored in the past. You do well to remember that, especially since Amalaya is one of the people backing the parole program."

Belby's lip curled in disgust, "Yes, well she was good friends with Rookwood before he betrayed us all."

As if they forgot their boss was there at all, Duncan turned fully to his colleague. "Actually, it's been proven that Rookwood was protecting a loved one that was a member of the Order. He also lied about whether or not we had access to Potter's prophecy."

"Yes, why don't we give him an Order of Merlin?" Belby sneered. "Honestly, the Ministry is going to the dumps."

"If you two are done," Saul said slowly, in an attempt to reign in his temper. "I have another meeting scheduled. Belby I would suggest you keep unpopular opinions to yourself. Do you not have a Rowle in your department?"

"Yes, she's married to a Nott. Her kid looks like a troll, to be honest. She doesn't like to talk about the war. Seeing as she was on the losing side-"

"Enough! My next meeting is waiting. Out, both of you." The two wizards shuffled out of his office bickering amongst themselves. Saul drafted a quick letter to Wendy in HR to look into the situation. Talulla Nott was a shy, soft-spoken witch and would likely not say anything if she was being made uncomfortable in her workspace.

No sooner had he sent off the letter, Amalaya walked in. "Sorry, I'm late I overheard Belby and Duncan arguing and I got involved. We had this argument over breakfast and he's clearly not over it."

"Involved?"

"I don't think our relationship is going to last if he doesn't grow up. I genuinely think he's just jealous of Auggie. I reckon he's the only one in the damn department who doesn't know Auggie is as gay as the sun is yellow."

Saul chuckled and took the parchment she was handing him. He read over the paperwork and paled for a minute before reading to the end and breathing out calmly. "I didn't know your son wanted to be a Dragon Tamer."

"I was hoping it was something he would grow out of, to be honest. It should only take a week to help him get settled, two tops. I know I'm one person short right now but he doesn't really get to choose when he starts. Head Tamer Charlie Weasley says they have to train in new recruits when the dragons aren't in heat."

"Of course, they're not in heat right after we lose two employees and Gretchen and Sara are going on maternity leave."

"Isn't Michael leaving for three weeks to help his mother settle into a retirement home and Matteo is planning on asking you for a two week leave to go visit one of his sons. They're expecting twins within the next couple of weeks."

"Matteo's going to be a grandfather?"

"Yeah," she smiled warmly. "He's kinda peeved because they didn't say anything to him or his wife. His wife is Spanish and very superstitious. Some nonsense about not saying anything about the baby until the baby is actually born."

Saul snorted. "That's ridiculous. It's not as if you can't tell if you see a pregnant woman in the street. What do they think she's keeping in there, Quidditch balls?"

Amalaya chuckled. "Yeah, apparently people pretend they don't notice. It's ridiculous."

Saul leaned back into his chair, "Well, Isobel should be back from maternity leave so we'll be sufficiently staffed. Also, Mary's friend, Bernadette does floating secretarial work in the DMLE. I'll have her transferred here permanently. We could use the extra hands."

"She's okay with the vows? Most secretaries are not okay with the secrecy and the target on their back that comes with working in the DOM."

"She's been asking for a while. She applied several times, but her N.E. aren't high enough. I was thinking of doing a verbal exam. Gawain says she's too intelligent to be pushing parchment."

Amalaya tugged on her braid. "I would agree. I knew plenty of classmates that were shit at written tests but knew more than our whole year combined. We had one boy in our year, I forgot his name, who couldn't read the letters on parchment properly. He said the letters would swim and rearrange themselves on the parchment. Professor Slughorn used to read the potion instructions out for him. He's got a mastery and an apothecary now."

"So, maybe we give her a shot? Apparently, her maternal grandmother worked in your department back when it was barely a closet."

Amalaya's face paled then turned bright pink at a startling alarming rate. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Amalaya was rarely speechless and in the times she was it was usually due to extreme shock or anger like when she found out Voldemort had been in a duel in their department and a group of teenagers was present. Saul wracked his brain for any misstep in their conversation but came up with none.

"Helena Inkwood?!" she finally shrieked. Amalaya's hands flew to her reddened cheeks. "Are you telling me that we have Helena Inkwood'sgranddaughter working in the Ministry and no one told me ?!"

"Ah, I forgot she was your hero."

"Hero," Amalaya spluttered. "Hero? She's not my hero. She's… she's… The witch literally created my department and two others. I didn't know she was married ! I… Oh god, is she still alive?"

Amalaya rose out of her chair excitedly. "Where does Bernadette work? Does she come in today? Forget it, I'm going..." Her voice trailed off as she rushed through the door leaving an amused and chuckling Saul behind her.