Another knock and the door opened, this time it was the Auror, Williams, again.
"Hey. I'm back." Williams flopped gracelessly into a chair. "Shack, get out of here. I'm here until midday tomorrow, do what you need to and get some sleep." Williams turned from Kingsley to Harry. "Hi. I'm Wilbert Williams, just call me Will. Where are we at and what can I do to help?"
Hermione took a deep breath as she entered the floo. "The Hog's Head." She said as she tossed down floo-powder and waited for the world around her to go from green to a darkly lit and run-down pub, before she stepped from the fireplace.
"Granger, isn't it?" A half familiar voice called.
Hermione spun in that direction her wand at the ready, only to face the man that had helped them the night before.
"Mr Dumbledore." Hermione lowered her wand. "Is the passage to Hogwarts still available?"
"Nope, but the Floo's off the Great Hall are. Shacklebolt wanted me to tell you that he'll be up at the school for the night and you're to come and find him immediately." The old man held out a pot of floo powder and nodded to it. "He was quite adamant."
"Thank you, sir." Hermione took a handful and stepped back into the fireplace. A few seconds later and the battered doors of the Great Hall were in front of her.
"Hermione!" Ginny's voice reached her a split second before the redhead skidded to a stop in front of her.
"Ginny." Hermione replied tiredly.
"Where Harry?" Ginny asked frantically.
"Still at the Ministry." Hermione answered.
"He should be here with me. Go and get him. I need him." Ginny ranted.
"I need to speak to Kingsley." Hermione said and stepped to the side in preparation to go around Ginny.
"I don't care what you need, I need Harry."
Something inside Hermione snapped. "Well, you can't have him, he has to stay in the ministry. Wizengamot orders." Hermione snarled and Ginny took a frightened step back.
"But… why? He killed You-Know-Who, what more do they want? I need him." The last was said as a whine.
"Yeah, well, Voldemort had control of the Ministry for a year and had Harry declared undesirable number one. That doesn't just go away in five minutes, or even one day. Just because the bad guy died. That's more important than your needs." Hermione huffed.
Ginny went pale. "But… But…"
"Goats butt, Ginevra, get over it." Hermione spotted Neville sitting on the bottom step of the Grand Staircase and made her way in that direction. "Neville? I need to speak to Kingsley Shacklebolt. Do you know where he is?"
Neville lifted a tired head. "Think he's up in the hospital, Hermione. McGonagall's there, anyway, she should be able to tell you."
"Thanks." She ignored a gaping Ginny and a waving Ron and headed up the stairs.
The hospital wing doors were closed and refused to open for Hermione's unlocking charm, so after a few moments, she decided her best course of action was to send a patronus to McGonagall and Kingsley. That done, she leant against the wall opposite the door and waited. Less than a minute passed before the doors cracked open and Kingsley's head popped out.
"Hermione, you're here, good. Come in." Once she was through the doors, he held up a hand for her to wait while he resealed the entrance. "Come on. We need to talk to McGonagall and Pomfrey."
"Kingsley?"
"I'll explain, but some of it, you'll need to see for yourself." He led her into Pomfrey's office and pointed her to a chair beside McGonagall, before sitting beside the medi-witch.
"What's going on?" Hermione saw the look of barely held shock on McGonagall's face.
"There have been some survivors." Kingsley started.
"Survivors? Oh, that's good." Hermione sighed, only to tense when the expressions on the other faces said otherwise. "Isn't that good?"
"It is, but it creates a huge problem." Kingsley said.
"In what way?"
"That they survived is great, but what the Ministry will do to them if they're found, isn't." Kingsley said.
"I don't… I don't understand." Hermione tilted her head in confusion.
"Umbridge pushed the anti-creature laws through and that's where the problem is, at least for some of them." Hermione just looked at Kingsley, she wasn't following what he was trying to say. "Hermione they… some of them were attacked by Greyback. We don't know whether they've been turned or not."
"But it wasn't the full moon." Hermione objected.
"No, it wasn't, unfortunately Greyback doesn't need a full moon to infect someone. But in most cases, that's not the onlyproblem for them. The muggleborn registry is still in effect. And a big chunk of them are muggleborns. Or at the very least, muggle-raised."
"Oh, no." Hermione whispered.
"And there's the real problem." Kingsley sighed. "Between the creature laws, some of them will be executed and the muggleborn registry will see others locked up with no medical treatment, we're in a tight spot."
"And what do you want me to do about it?" Hermione huffed.
"We want you to hide them." Pomfrey said.
"How? How am I supposed to hide… how many people? Five? Ten? Twenty? I'm not a bloody miracle worker, Kingsley, no matter what Harry says." Hermione ranted.
"No, but you're the one putting a trunk together for him to take with him. We now know, thanks to Moody and Crouch jnr, that people can be enclosed within an expanded trunk, even when it's locked. And add in a few pocket-spaces and they'd have everything they need."
"You want me to put people in a trunk and send them with Harry? He won't like that." Hermione spluttered.
"I wasn't planning on telling him until he gets wherever it is, he's going." Kingsley said.
"You can't do that!" Hermione screeched.
"One of them is Remus." McGonagall whispered.
Hermione froze in shock. "Remus?"
"Remus Lupin." Pomfrey nodded.
"He survived?"
"He did, but the creature laws… the ministry would be forced to execute him, whether most of them want to or not. Thanks to Umbridge, they have no choice and neither do we. Remus Lupin, Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, Natalie McDonald, Katie Bell and Parvati Patil were all savaged by either Greyback or one of his pack." Kingsley said coldly. "Then there's the muggleborns. Justin Finch-Fletchley, Dennis Creevey, Colin Creevey and Natalie McDonald. And the muggle-raised, Alicia Spinnet, Lee Jordan, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Euan Abercrombie. Out of both groups only four of them are registered and because they fought here, they broke the registry conditions, the punishment is wand snapping, magic binding and memory removal."
"Oh, god."
"And you know very well that Umbridge won't hesitate to act." McGonagall added.
"The rest of them? None of them are registered. You know what that means. The only reason they haven't gone after you, is because of Harry. But the moment he's through the veil, you're on borrowed time. They'll push your history of sedition, as cause to neutralise you, to either bind your core or force a marriage contract on you." Kingsley said. "It's happened in the past and I wouldn't put it passed the purebloods to try it again."
Hermione shook, she wasn't sure whether it was rage or fear, but whatever it was, it made her shake.
"And there's more…" McGonagall whispered.
Hermione couldn't speak, but she looked at her head of house and hoped that the other witch understood what she was asking.
"Severus Snape." McGonagall whispered.
"He survived." Pomfrey added. "He'd obviously taken some sort of antivenom, it's working but slowly."
"And Fred Weasley." Kingsley added.
Hermione blinked in shock. "What…? But…? I thought…?"
"Yes, so did we." Pomfrey agreed. "It wasn't until later, when I was preparing the bodies for removal, that I realised that some of them were still alive. Badly injured but alive. Fredrick regained consciousness long enough to beg me not to tell the family until I was certain he was going to survive. And I have to agree, given his injuries and her attitude, telling Molly would be a mistake."
"Oh, hell."
"Molly's already been at George, to get him to sign the shop over to Percy. I told him to not make any decisions until the Ministry makes a statement." Kingsley said. "I implied that they may try and undo anything done before then. I don't know whether to tell him or not."
"No." Hermione sat up straight, things suddenly falling into place in her mind.
"Hermione?" Kingsley blinked, he'd not seen her do this before, but McGonagall and Pomfrey had.
"What is it?" McGonagall asked.
"How did Fred die? I mean, what hit him?" Hermione was not quite sure, but the signs were pointing in one direction.
"It wasn't a curse or magic. A wall collapsed on him." Kingsley answered.
"And who was responsible? Do we know?"
Kingsley blinked in thought. "Percy said that Thickness, the Minister, did it, right before Percy blew him out of the window above the greenhouses."
"Oh." Hermione nodded, that cinched it. "Yes."
"Hermione?" McGonagall asked. "What is it?"
"All the pieces of the puzzle. The twins have always been on the outside of the family. Ron resents them, Ginevra's no better. Percy can't stand them. And Molly? Seven years I've known them, seven years and not once have I seen Molly hug either of the twins. Ron, yes. Ginevra, yes. Percy, yes. Bill, yes. Charlie, yes. But not the twins. She didn't approve of them leaving school, she didn't approve of them starting the shop, she didn't approve of them playing quidditch, she didn't approve of their friends. If it involved the twins, she didn't approve." Hermione spoke quickly. "I think it's safe to say that Molly doesn't approve of the twins, in general. And there's one very simple reason why."
McGonagall took a deep breath in and let it out as a huge sigh. "She can't control them."
"Exactly." Hermione snapped her fingers and pointed at McGonagall.
"So, how do we keep this under wraps and George's assets out of Molly's hand, it's more than six weeks until Harry's sentencing?"
"We don't. Not completely." Hermione said. "We play the… 'the Ministry' monitoring Harry's assets, due to his not having had a legal magical guardian because Dumbledore had the Potters Wills sealed', thing. He's one of the twins' backers, so their shop is included in that monitoring."
"Excuse me?" Pomfrey asked. "Isn't that lying?"
"Nope, Harry's going to have an Auror escort from now until the veil, they're to monitor him and make sure that he does nothing to try and get out of his sentence. That includes watching where and how he spends his money. Right?" Hermione asked Kingsley.
"Right." The Auror nodded.
"Right." Hermione nodded with him.
"But… How does that… what does that mean for George?" McGonagall said.
"Bring him in as far as the other students are concerned. Don't tell him about Remus, Fred or Snape. Do tell him about the suspicions about Molly and Percy. Emphasize Ron and Ginevra's opinions of him. See if we can get him to ask to go with them."
"And if he doesn't?" Pomfrey asked.
"If, by ten days before Harry's sentence is carried out, he hasn't approached one of us to ask, then… I'll tell him and tell him why we withheld the information." Hermione said.
"As you sure that's wise?" McGonagall asked.
"Nope, but if we tell him now? He's not going to present the right image to Molly and if she finds out? She'll do anything she can to control them and bluntly, I wouldn't put it passed her, to use potions on them." Hermione grimaced.
"Yes, and that would cause a problem." McGonagall shook her head.
"It would." Hermione nodded.
"And what about the others?" Pomfrey asked.
"Separate the muggleborns, say you're hiding them because of the registry. I can approach the muggle-raised and quietly ask them. Publicly, we can say that they're helping get stuff together for Harry to take with him. That gives them, and me the opportunity to buy things in the muggle world, as well as here in the wizarding world." Hermione explained.
"Should we be asking the muggleborns, too, do you think?" McGonagall suggested. "Instead of just making the choice for them?"
"It might be a good idea." Hermione nodded. "And as I'm the one tasked with getting the trunk together, I guess I should be the one to ask them."
"I agree. They all look up to you and Harry, you doing the asking, will reassure them of your involvement." Pomfrey nodded.
"But it would also be a good idea to have Kingsley there, just to verify and back me up." Hermione suggested.
"I'm fine with doing that." Kingsley nodded.
"And the purebloods?" McGonagall asked.
"Are there any involved?"
"Miss Brown is a pureblood, as is Mr Wood. And if you're going to involve the Weasley twins, I would recommend talking to William and Charles." Pomfrey replied.
McGonagall hummed. "And probably a wise idea to speak to Mr Jordan, Miss Johnson and Miss Spinnet, too."
"And probably Padma, Luna and Neville should be warned." Hermione huffed.
"Well, that's for later, right now you should speak to Miss Brown, both Creevey boys, Miss Patil, Miss Bell, Mr Lupin and Professor Snape." Pomfrey said. "I'll be sedating them all, shortly, to tend their injuries. Best get it done as quickly as possible."
"Remus first, then Snape, then Fred. And the students last." Hermione said.
"Very well." Pomfrey stood and touched her wand to what appeared to be a decorative carving on the panelling that covered the stone walls. "This way, Miss Granger."
"The three rooms to the right are Professor Snape, Mr Lupin and Mr Weasley. To the left, the first room are the ladies and the boys are the second room." Pomfrey pointed from her place at the hidden door in her office. "There is another exit in the Deputy Head's office, and I would suggest that you use that more than this one. You'll have more cause to access that office than you will here, on account of flooing to the Ministry and not wanting to disturb Professor Flitwick, who is the new Headmaster, by using his office." The Medi-witch suggested.
"True. Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." Hermione gave the witch a smile and turned to Kingsley. "Ready?"
"No, but I'm not the one doing the talking, you are. I'm only back up." He replied.
"Right." She took a deep breath and stepped forward. A few more steps and she'd reached Remus' room. "Does he know that Tonks is…?"
"Yes, he's been told."
"Right." She pushed the door open and stepped into the doorway. Spying the werewolf staring at the ceiling, she spoke. "Remus…? May we come in?"
Remus grunted, but said nothing. Hermione entered the room and crossed to sit in a chair beside the bed.
"Remus, we've got a problem." There was no reaction. "Harry's been sentenced to the veil." The werewolf turned to look at her and growled, low and viciously. "Oh, stop that. Harry's got a plan and we're going to see that it happens. Are you in?"
"Ted…dy…?" The wizard whispered.
"I'll go and see Andromeda, myself, and collect him." Kingsley spoke up.
"Wha's… pl…an?"
"Harry's going through the veil, we can't stop that. But… he's found documentation that suggests that the veil won't kill him, but send him somewhere else, a different world. And the Unspeakables have confirmed it. We're going to put together a trunk with pocket-spaces in it and maybe some tents or some of those ready-built houses. The reason being is that Hogwarts is hiding a number of students. Some were attacked by Greyback and with the Ministry as it is, they'll be executed if found. Others are muggleborn or raised and are either not on the registry or have broken their registry conditions." Remus growled again. "We're going to give them the option of going with Harry. Most of them are now orphans and muggleborn orphans are not good as far as the Ministry and Umbridge are concerned. You're in much the same situation as them, and Teddy's worse, he's the son of a werewolf. He's never going to get away from that." Remus drew his lips back from his teeth. "You know damn well, Harry couldn't care less about that. Right?" Remus gave a tiny nod. "The question is… do you want to go too? Teddy's not registered yet, hiding him for a few weeks is nothing. Are you in?"
A few seconds passed, but the werewolf nodded.
"Good. You concentrate on getting better and we'll see to the rest." Hermione patted Remus knee and stood up.
"I'll go fetch Teddy when we finish here." Kingsley said. "I'll talk to Mrs Tonks about what to tell people, not many knew about Teddy. We might do a few memory charms, I'm not sure yet. Leave it with me, I'll work it out."
Remus just dipped his chin and closed his eyes.
Outside the next door, Hermione took a few more deep breaths and sighed. "Here goes nothing." She lifted a hand and knocked gently on the door.
"Come." The voice was cracked but clearly still that of the potions Professor.
Hermione opened the door and walked in, stopping at the foot of the bed.
"Gran-ger." Snape whispered.
"Professor. I'm not going to beat around the bush." Hermione said, bluntly. "I'm glad you're alive, but it creates a problem. Everyone thinks you're dead and if the Ministry or the public find that you're not? They're going to want to lynch you." Snape nodded, resignedly. "Has anyone told you what has happened since the boathouse?" Snape nodded again. "Have they told you what has happened today, at the Ministry?" He shook his head fractionally. "Right. Harry was trialled under Mordred's Law and convicted. They gave him three choices as far as his sentencing goes. Life Imprisonment, under House Arrest. Life in Exile and Death, via execution or the Veil." A tear ran down Snape's cheek. "This is Harry we're talking about, his luck is just… During our search for the horcruxes he found a refence in some books in the Black library in Grimmauld Place, it said that the veil isn't the veil of death, it won't kill him." Snape began to shake his head, again. "And the Unspeakables confirmed it." Snape's eyes widened. "The veil will transport him somewhere else, likely somewhere not on this world. The Unspeakables believe it to be a gateway between dimensions, the dimension being chosen by the magic and belief of the person entering it. Harry believes it will take him somewhere he can live in peace. The Unspeakables' research indicates that if his belief is strong enough, that's what will happen." Snape gave a twitch of the lips, that a person who knew him really well, would call the beginnings of a smile. "And that's great for him. But… what do we do about those that survived, you included? Well, for most they will just go on with their lives, but for some? That won't happen. Some of the students were attacked by Greyback and with the Umbridge's creature laws, they'll be executed the moment the Ministry finds out about them." Snape bared his teeth in a silent growl. "That's exactly the same response that Professor Lupin had." Snape blinked. "Everyone thinks Remus Lupin is dead. Including him, there's at least five students that Umbridge will demand be put down. Then there's the muggleborns, only a few of them were registered and they all broke the conditions of the registry. You know what that means, not just for them, but for the unregistered." Snape nodded. "There's roughly twenty people, most of them students, that Kingsley and McGonagall want me to hide."
"How…?" The cracked voice was quiet, little more than an audible breath.
"The Wizengamot had no choice about convicting Harry, but they did on his sentencing. Before Harry chose his sentence, they allowed him to choose five things per sentence, things to take with him or to have done before or after he left. But even then, he knew he was choosing the veil. His requests were wands, Battle robes, the contents of his vault, his mokeskin pouch and a trunk containing anything that I think he should take." Snape's eyes widened at Hermione's smirk. "That's right. Anything that I think he should take. Kingsley was the one to suggest that we send some of the survivors with him, particularly those that would be executed if they stayed. And to protect Harry, he won't know about those in the trunk, until he gets to wherever he's going. So far we've spoken to Remus and he's in." All that wasn't quite true but it was fairly close and saved Hermione from having to go into too much detail, just yet.
"Wife…? Son…?"
"Tonks didn't survive, and Kingsley's going to go and get Teddy, he can stay with Remus until we're ready to act." Hermione answered. "You're the next on the list, Professor. We can send you with Harry, we can just let you walk out the door or we can hand you over to the Ministry. It's your choice. But I need to know, and soon, I can give you a day or so to think about it, but any longer may cause delays or risk someone finding out about you and taking the choice out of our hands." Hermione said, trying to be as clear and a concise as she could, even though she badly wanted to give him all the details. She knew that could happen later.
"Yes…" Snape nodded. "I shall go…"
"Excellent. The corridor that this room is on is a Hogwarts secret, known only to the medi-witch, the Headmaster and Deputy Head. The only access points are in the Deputy Head's private office and the medi-witch's private office. If you see anyone or anyone knocks on the door, you can safely assume that they know about our plan, as Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall are so far the only ones outside this corridor that know of this plan."
"Good…"
"Once you're on your feet, we'll get your help in planning and stocking a potions lab and apothecary. But for now, you concentrate on getting better, we need you at your best, sir." Snape nodded. "Good. We'll leave you to rest, if you need someone, that bell-pull will alert Madam Pomfrey." Hermione turned and left the room, Kingsley following her, never having said a word.
"Fred next." Hermione knocked on the next door. "Fred? I'm coming in, you better be decent."
A choked snort answered her, followed by a whimper of pain. "Easy now." Hermione was across the room and holding Fred's hand before Kingsley could even react. "Easy…"
Fred looked up at her and mouthed a word. "George?"
"Bad, he thinks you're dead, so do the rest of the family and Molly's already at him to sign the shop over to Percy." Fred gave a silent snarl. "Don't worry about that, Kingsley got that under control. Have Pomfrey and McGonagall kept you in the loop? Do you know what's happening?" Fred shook his head. "Alright, I'll explain. Kingsley found Ron, Harry and I out on…" for the next ten minutes Hermione told Fred what had happened that day, who had survived and what Kingsley had suggested for them. How Remus and Snape had both agreed. What they planned to do as far as getting George to go to. And who else they were going to approach. "… and that's where we're at, right now, Fred. If I can get George and the girls on board, are you coming with us?"
"Hermione?" Kingsley asked.
"What? You think I'm going to let my brothers travel off gods-know-where, without me? Get your head out of the sand, Kingsley. They're the only family I have left, of course I'm going with them." Hermione snapped.
Fred gave this funny almost silent noise in his throat that was a cross between a chuckle and a cough, that put no pressure on his injuries.
"Oh, hush you." Hermione smacked at his fingers, without actually coming in contact with them, as they lay on the bed bedside her hand. "Are you coming or not?"
Fred gave a tired smirk and a minute twitch of the head in a 'yes' motion.
"Great. Like I told Professor Snape, the only people that can access this corridor are the ones that know about our plan and are either coming or helping us get ready. So, don't worry about them. I need to talk to the students, now. You rest and get better, we need your help in planning, think of it as a prank on everyone."
Fred made that funny noise again and dipped his head.
"Later." Hermione left the room and closed the door behind her. "This is where it could get difficult…" She tapped on another door. "Guys? It's Hermione. Can I come in?"
There was no verbal answer, but the door was opened. Dennis Creevey stood there, tear tracks down his face. His chin wobbled and Hermione's heart broke for him, she opened her arms and the little fourth year buried himself in them.
"Come on, Dennis, let's sit down, I need to talk to you and Colin."
"He won't say anything. He hasn't, not since he was told." Dennis whispered.
"That's alright, I've a way around that. Guys, I need your help." Both boys looked at her like she was crazy. "Harry's in trouble and…" she explained to them what had been planned and finished with, "… so Remus is going, he's a werewolf, he was bitten years ago, by the same wolf that bit Colin, Lavender, Katie, Parvati and Natalie. He can teach you how to be a good wolf and he's always said that having a pack meant the wolf was less aggressive. So, how about it? Are you going to come with Harry and us?"
"But you're not telling him?" Dennis asked.
"No, not until we get to the other side."
"What if he doesn't open the trunk?"
"I can always send him a patronus message." Hermione answered.
"We have nothing but our school stuff." Dennis said.
"We've got that covered. Harry's been left a huge amount of money and he doesn't really want it, he said he was going to leave it to me, but I'm going too, so I figure that we'll use it to get everything we need, everything we might want to take with us. Replace everything that was destroyed." Hermione explained.
"I'm going." Colin whispered. "I'm not staying here."
"Great. I'll see if I can get Madam Pomfrey to let you spend some time with Remus. The next full moon is only a week away, if anyone's not well enough to cope, we might have to knock them out for the night. But that's up to Madam Pomfrey. For now, you rest and get better. The only people that can get into this corridor are those that know about the plan so don't worry about letting something slip. Okay?" Hermione patted Dennis' hand and gave both boys hugs. "I'll be back to see you as soon as I can. Don't push yourselves and do try and listen to Madam Pomfrey." She left the room and paused beside the door to the girls' room.
"You might want to wait out here, this is going to be rough." She entered the room without knocking or calling out and closed the door behind her.
Kingsley waited patiently but it was almost half an hour before a red-eyed Hermione emerged from the room. As the closed behind her, her shoulders slumped, her head fell forward and sobs shook her body. The wizard stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her and let her cry. Eventually, the sobs died and after a shuddering breath, Hermione stepped back.
"Better now?" King asked.
"No, but I don't have time to cry, not yet."
"No, you don't. Minerva came through, the Ministry have announced Harry sentence and what's involved in it. She's asking us, you and me, to tell everyone here about it and maybe answer some questions."
"The Great Hall?"
"Yes." Kingsley nodded.
"When?"
"As soon as we can. Dinner is in an hour, if we can get it over with by then, that would be good."
"Alright. Let's go tell the masses what their saviour is going to do." Hermione sneered.
"We're not mentioning those going in the trunk, are we?"
"No, the public doesn't need to know." Hermione agreed.