Chapter 15 – Primus Strikes Back
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The plot ambles along in this chapter with a bold move by Primus.
A cool air blew through the streets of London but it didn't bother the Minister of Magic for he had thought ahead and placed a heating charm on his robes. It felt like a warm spring day for him. And he almost felt sorry for the Muggles that were all bundled up. A few of them looked really, really cold but that was not his concern. His priority was the attack at his own ball. The audacity of the dark wizards was unbelievable. No one stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack and there was no hard evidence to definitely state which dark wizard was behind the attack. In all likelihood it was probably Primus. He was the only one with the gumption and resources to make such a bold move against the Ministry. His personal security had doubled, reinforced with both Aurors and MLE's.
Today he had a very busy schedule filled with meetings. He just finished his first meeting with the Muggle Prime Minister. The man was expressing his concern about the increase in use of magic in the Muggle world. As the Minister of Magic, he was well aware of that fact and was doing his best to stop the misuse of magic. Did the Muggle think he did nothing all day? Just because there were more Muggles than wizards didn't mean that he had any less work than the British Prime Minister. The insinuation that he was not doing his job properly had been quite vexing and left him in a sour mood.
His mood was worsened by the fact that the nearest apparition point was two blocks away from Downing Street and he had to walk there. Magical use was not allowed near Downing Street and a previous Minister of Magic had set up many wards to protect the Muggle Prime Minister from any wizard wishing to harm the Muggle. The wards blocked apparition and port keys. He hated walking the streets of the Muggle world. They were clueless idiots that never paid any attention to what they were doing. They were even worse now that they had that square piece of metal thing that they always spoke into or played with. Three had already bumped into him. He could see the entrance to the building with the apparition point up ahead and he let out a sigh of relief. His burden of the day was almost finished with.
Suddenly, his security detail in front of him slumped to the ground. His Aurors went into action but he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder followed by two other sharp pains in his chest. His body lurched backwards from the impact of something and he fell on the ground not understanding what had happened. There were no other wizards around and there were no flashes of lights or spells that he had seen. His hand moved automatically to his chest and touched something wet and sticky. He pulled his hand away to see it was covered in blood. He was bleeding. He didn't understand what had happened but he was slowly losing strength. He felt an Auror pulling him somewhere and he looked up at the man's face. The wizard looked scared.
The Minister felt the darkness pulling at him. The wizard started saying something but he didn't understand what it was. The pain in his chest was immense and breathing was becoming a serious challenge. He couldn't concentrate on his surroundings anymore. The only thing he knew for sure was that there was no pain in the darkness. He closed his eyes and let the darkness take him.
Ginny stared at Marietta's empty desk. The Minister had been assassinated six hours ago but she wasn't here. Their editor had called in all of the staff of the Daily Prophet to work on that story. They were going to be publishing a special edition in the afternoon dedicated entirely to the former Minister. They had each been assigned a different facet of the story to work on. Ginny had been assigned to write the history of the Minister. Where he came from? What he studied? How he became Minister? It was long and boring especially since she couldn't publish any juicy details. She knew two of her co-workers were posted at the Ministry to keep track of the latest developments on the case. Marietta was supposed to be writing an analysis of his term as a Minister. Another colleague was trying to interview his widow and family.
The Order had assigned Ginny to find out who Marietta's informants were and she had zero information so far. She had lost herself in her grief over Neville but it was time to pick herself up and move on. He would want that. He wouldn't want her to keep living the way she had been. It was time to show her Gryffindor bravery and start the process of moving on. Neville will always hold a special place in her heart but there was nothing she could do for him now. The Order needed her help and she would complete the task that was assigned to her.
Her editor emerged from her office and with a sonorous spell her voice was heard on the entire floor, "I want all your articles on my desk in the next 10 minutes."
Ok, maybe she needed to focus on finishing her article first then start her trying to figure out Marietta.
Eight minutes later, Ginny was coming out of the editor's office after having submitted her article when she bumped into Marietta.
"You're here," Ginny said surprised.
"Yeah," Marietta responded. Ginny thought the witch looked strangely happy. She had heard from some of the other reporters that Marietta had a steady boyfriend and sometimes the witch would skive out of her duties to spend the day with him. Maybe she had done the same thing again.
"The boss wants our articles now," Ginny said trying to make conversation with her.
"I got it," she said waving some parchment in the air.
Ginny watched the witch walk into the office and close the door behind her. Ginny was heading back to her desk when she heard Claudia, the witch that works on arranging all of the articles in the paper, talking about the new flat that Marietta help her find. A light bulb went off in Ginny's in head.
She waited by her desk for fifteen minutes before Marietta finally returned to her desk and Ginny walked over.
"Hi Marietta," Ginny said in a friendly tone.
The witch looked at her cautiously and Ginny continued talking.
"I heard you helped Claudia find a flat. I need to find one. I can't spend another minute with my brother. I need a place to myself but I have no idea about magical flats in London. Where are the good ones? What cons should I look out for? What are the rental agreements like?" she said.
Marietta sighed, "I'm sure your brother's can help you with that. Doesn't your brother Percy have that nice place in Westbrook?"
"My brothers will probably tell me to move in with them if I'm having trouble with Ron and Harry. They are an absolute waste of time. I need a place for a witch like me. Could you help me flat hunt?" she asked. "Please?" Ginny added using her best puppy dog face that always worked on her brothers.
Marietta rolled her eyes, "I feel like I'm going to regret this but ok. Clear out your schedule on Saturday. I know a few good places that are actually open at the moment."
"Great! Thank you so much Marietta," Ginny said jumping up and down with a sequel. "I owe you one."
Marietta smirked, "You certainly do."
Hermione was seated in between Harry and Seamus in the Auror conference room at the Ministry. The Deputy Minister of Magic, who had now been made the Minister of Magic after the death of the previous Minister, had called a meeting with all the Aurors to discuss the incident. Auror Mayweather was ordered to give her preliminary report on the assassination. She was able to determine that the Minister was killed with a Muggle high powered rifle, something that had never happened before. Even though they managed to apparate and get the Minister to St. Mungo's the damage caused by the bullets had been tremendous and he was already dead by the time the first healers saw him. Mayweather suspected that there was a leak of information on either the magical or Muggle side. The new Minister automatically assumed it was the idiot Muggles.
Harry leaned over and whispered in her ear, "It's our side."
Hermione nodded in agreement. A trained Muggle would have taken one clean head shot first not take out the two security guards and then the Minister. The placement of the wounds were also kind of sloppy for a professional. The location the sniper used would have been difficult for a normal person to access but easy for a wizard. For the moment, Ministry officials were band from going into the Muggle world until they could develop a protection ward against Muggle weapons.
At that point Harry leaned over and asked Hermione, "So a wizard can't bring a gun into the magical world?"
Hermione snorted and the whole room turned to look at her. She felt like she was back at Hogwarts and Harry was getting her into trouble again.
Auror Mayweather continued on with her presentation about the scene and the three Aurors and two MLE's they lost in the assassination.
The New Minister was understandably furious. He fired Kingsley on the spot which quite frankly was a stupid thing to do since Auror Potwinkle was placed in charge. Hermione had never liked him and the feeling was mutual. Ever since she showed him up on a few cases he had been out to make her job as difficult as possible. She suspected her job was about to become ten times worse.
After a gruelling four hour lecture by the new Minister they were dismissed to go back to work. On the way to their desks, Millicent Bulstrode pulled them aside.
"This isn't right," she insisted.
"I know," Hermione said. Millicent was an Auror and a good one at that. Hermione had never appreciated the Slytherin traits but Millicent was a great example of what happened when you put those traits to good use.
"That was all bullocks! Kingsley is much better than that bumbling idiot Potwinkle. He was a Hufflepuff. I don't know how he passed the Auror Test," she complained to them.
Seamus snorted in agreement. It was rare for him to agree with Millicent.
"The idiot actually believes we don't have a mole, when it's glaringly obvious there are moles on both sides. We need to find the mole," Millicent continued.
"How do we know the mole isn't you?" Seamus asked. Hermione rolled her eyes. This was how the fight always started. Either Millicent or Seamus accused the other of doing something wrong.
If Millicent's eyes could kill, Seamus would be toast at the moment. She stepped up close to him and in a deadly voice said, "Because if it was me, I'd be the Minister of Magic by now,"
Seamus opened his mouth to respond but Harry intervened, "Ok, no more arguments. Let's focus. How do we find the mole?"
A wicked smile crossed Millicent's face, "Simple, we set them up?"
"How?" Seamus asked.
"Must I do all the plotting?" Millicent asked in frustration.
"You are the Slytherin among us!" Seamus pointed out.
"Does that mean Gryffindors are incapable of using their brain and before you point at Hermione we all know she should have been in Ravenclaw! The only reason she wasn't put there was because she doesn't hide behind her books," Millicent lectured Seamus.
"Can we drop the whole house thing please?" Hermione asked tiredly. "We're grownups now. Millicent and I will work on a plan and you two will execute it," she instructed.
"Hey! How come I have to do the dangerous work?" Seamus protested.
"Because we said so," Millicent replied crossing her hands in front of her chest.
Seamus reluctantly backed down muttering about being stuck with bossy witches under his breath.
"What are the four of your conspiring about over here?" Potwinkle asked appearing next to them. He surveyed each of them critically and it was like this that Hermione suspected that Potwinkle was much smarter than he led on.
"Just reminding Finnigan who the better Auror is," Millicent lied smoothly. It was a believable lie. There had been many shouting matches between Millicent and Seamus about who the better Auror was. Every time there was a training session the two went out of their ways to show the other up.
"I think it's time to end this silly rivalry between the two of you," Potwinkle said with a wicked gleam in his eye. "Bulstrode, you're Finnigan's new partner!"
"I already have a partner sir," Seamus replied quickly.
"Auror Granger is being reassigned," Potwinkle indicated to them.
"I am?" Hermione asked confused.
"Norway has requested some assistance with some training to bring their Aurors up to par. You're the lucky Auror assigned to the task," he said with a very wide smile that showed a perfect set of white teeth. Teeth that Hermione wanted to hex out of his mouth.
"Sir don't you think sending me to Norway is a bad idea at this time?" she questioned.
"Nonsense, I think Kingsley has encouraged you to overvalue yourself. There are plenty of competent Aurors besides yourself that can keep our country safe. Potter is a great example of that. You'll receive the details and your portkey this afternoon now get back to work."
"Yes sir," the four of them said and they scattered in various directions.
When Ginny arrived at the Manor, she found Draco sitting on the grand staircase staring blankly across the room. He looked like he had been spelled into that condition but Ginny suspected otherwise. She didn't know what possessed her but she sat next to him on the stairs.
"I don't see what's so captivating about this view?" she quipped.
"Then find another space to stare at," he drawled in his usual tone.
Ginny snorted. "I'm the one that had her boyfriend murdered and you're the one getting a baby but yet you look like it's the end of the world?"
"I never wanted a child," Draco spat. "I was supposed to be the last Malfoy. I was the end of this cursed line."
Ginny was surprised at his sentiments. She didn't realise how much he hated what he had. "What would happen to all of this?" she asked waving her hand around the room.
"I was going to leave it to the order," he admitted still staring at the opposite side of the room.
"And now that has changed?" Ginny questioned curiously.
"The general consensus is you leave your assets to your child so yeah the plan changed. It will all go to my child now," he said with a heavy exhale.
"That's not so bad," Ginny pointed out.
Draco turned to look at her for the first time, "Are you serious? Have you not seen the row of my ancestors upstairs?"
"Oh I have. Quite a few interesting characters. Just the other day I caught Hermione in a long debate with I think it's your Great, Great Grandfather, Nocturnis, about her being born to non-magical parents," Ginny said with a wry smile.
"You need an extra Great in there and they've been having that discussion for years," Draco said with a slight shake of his head.
"But he agreed with a few of her points," Ginny said.
Draco smirked, "Didn't you know, Hermione is a Malfoy Whisperer!"
Ginny giggled at the reference. It still surprised her how much Draco actually knew about Muggle life.
"Seriously, Hermione's been able to charm most of them with her magical prowess. They actually respect her ability to do magic so well even though she came from a Muggle family. It took her years to get there with them. I think she has everyone under her spell but my father," Draco further explained.
"That's surprising. Oh I should probably let you know. I'm moving out. I'm looking for a flat with Marietta on Saturday. I think it's a good way to get close to her and find out who her sources are," Ginny explained to him.
"Be careful. We don't know if her sources are the type that are willing to kill to remain anonymous. The apartment next to Natalie is available. I'll tell the landlord to expect you on Saturday. He's a huge fan of Harry Potter and I think you'll like it there very much. It's very you," Draco said.
"Very me?" Ginny questioned.
Draco gave her a tight smile and stood, "I better start getting everything prepared for the Order meeting. The last time something was missing, Victoria threw a huge fit."
Harry had been an Auror for a month and he honestly did not know how Hermione had done it for the last five years. He was constantly on the go. Harry estimated that he spent at most five hours a day sleeping and the other 19 working. He had zero social life. Ron was glad he had decided not to become an Auror. He actually got to enjoy life.
In an effort to make some progress on Primus's identity, Harry poured over Hermione's dream diary every night before he went to sleep. His dream of her dying had thankfully ended but the premonition of his death now hung over them. According to Hermione's records, the confrontation always happened in the Room of Requirement. They were always asked to meet Primus in that specific room so he concluded that the Room of Requirement held some form of significance between Primus and them. That led Harry to suspect that Primus was a former member of the DA. He asked Hermione for the list of members of the DA. He was going to quietly investigate each one. He already knew that one of the Creevey brother's had landed on the wrong side of the law. He would start with them and then work his way through the list.
Harry was worried about Hermione being sent so far away. He didn't know what Potwinkle was thinking. It was an awful decision to send one of your best Aurors away at a time when you needed every Auror on duty. Seamus had filled him in on the history between Potwinkle and Hermione and Harry wondered if Potwinkle was using his position to exact revenge or if it was something else. His gut told him it was something else. His gut told him this was part of a much larger scheme and he needed to figure out what the scheme was.
Mrs. Weasley called an Order meeting as soon as the news of the Minister's assassination broke. He had to lie to Potwinkle about investigating a possible lead to get out of the office. The man had a knack for appearing every time that day they were discussing something related to the Order or Primus and Harry didn't like it one bit.
Ron joined the other members of the Order in the ballroom for the meeting. It was extremely crowded. Every member had made an effort to attend. The entire room was set up classroom style with a small desk and chair in front and rows of chairs facing the table in front. Ron somehow got stuck in the middle of the back row seated in between Draco and Millicent. On the other side of Draco were Hermione and Harry. Ron tried to convince Draco to move but the Slytherin wasn't budging.
"I call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order," Molly said firmly.
Fawkes appeared in a blaze of flames and landed in the middle of the table. His eyes scanned each member carefully before he turned to Molly.
"Everyone is aware what happened this morning. We'll observe a minute of silence in honour of the departed Minister of Magic. Please stand," she ordered.
Ron always hated these minutes of silence. Who determined when the minute was up? Was it really a full minute or did they just finish the moment when they felt like it? He would always stand and close his eyes but in five seconds he would end up opening them and scanning the room to see what the other people were doing. Most of the time, they were observing the minute. On the rare occasion he caught a few people doing other things, mostly it was children though.
The same thing happened again and at five seconds he opened his eyes and started scanning the room. Most of the wizards had their head bowed in respect but when he turned to look at Draco he found the man's grey eyes staring right back at him. Draco arched his eyebrow challengingly. Ron was thinking about a way to retaliate when Hermione hit both of them at the back of their heads. How she knew what they were up to when her head was bowed and her eyes were close was beyond him.
"On to business now," Molly said ending the minute of silence and moving onto the purpose of the meeting. "We need to step up investigating Primus. Kingsley you have the floor," she said to him.
Kingsley stood straightening his black robes. It was so odd to see him in something that wasn't the bright red Auror robes.
"I have been temporarily removed from the Auror's office but that could be an unexpected boost. It means I have time to personally investigate Primus rather than spend three quarters of the day doing paperwork. Obviously this means that I'm going to spearhead the Order's efforts to retrieve Primus. I'm looking for volunteers who are not Aurors to assist me," Kingsley stated.
Fred and George immediately put up their hands, "We're in," they said at the same time.
"I have something else in mind for you two," Kingsley revealed.
"Oooooooo, secret mission?" the twins both postulated together.
"No," Kingsley said shutting them down. "Auror Potwinkle is currently in charge of the Auror office and the first task he set about was settling a score with Hermione. In an hour she has to take a portkey to Norway to run a three month training course training the Aurors there. I want one of you with her at all times just in case Primus sees this as an opportunity to neutralise her."
"I don't need an au pair," Hermione spoke up.
"I didn't say you did. This is non-negotiable," Kingsley said.
"It's a waste of man power," Hermione retorted not giving up the fight yet.
"I don't view it as such. You will have one of the twins there with you at all times!" Kingsley repeated.
Hermione leaned back in her chair angrily and crossed her hands over her chest. It reminded Ron of their Hogwarts days. Ron heard Harry advise Hermione to just accept it and Draco seconded Harry's thought.
"I volunteer," Luna said getting the conversation back on track.
A bunch of the shop keepers, Bill, Charlie, Samantha, Alice, Katie, Neville, Snape and a host of wizards he didn't know volunteered quickly. Ron was busy setting up his Muggle adventure business. He had already decided to start with one tour to Australia. Doing it in London made no sense since any wizard could just walk out into Muggle London but going to Australia up the excitement factor. Having lived in Australia he knew exactly where he wanted to take his clients and he made several trips to Australia to sort out the paperwork with the magical authorities in Australia. That leg of the planning was complete but he had to work on marketing. He decided that he could do that and volunteer at the same time so he raised his hand.
"Anyone else?" Kingsley questioned. When no one else raised their hand he continued on revealing his plans, "All the volunteers will be assigned criminal targets to observe and report on. There will be a meeting after this meeting has concluded to draw up schedules of who is on duty when."
As soon as Kingsley sat down, Percy was on his feet. He was brimming with excitement which was quite a contrast to everyone else's sombre state.
"I have some good news," he said. "I've been promoted to Deputy Minister of Magic!" he revealed excitedly looking around the room. When everyone remained quiet, he frowned, "No congratulations?" he asked.
Hermione was the one to answer him, "Percy it's not that we aren't happy that you were promoted. There's no question about you deserving it, it's just the circumstances under which you earned the promotion. It hasn't even been 24 hours since the previous Minister was assassinated. These are very dangerous times."
Percy reluctantly sat down and Penelope linked her hands through his to comfort him. The next wizard on his feet was Snape.
"I too have some good news. Victoria is pregnant," there was a round of applause and congratulations and Ron swore he heard Draco mutter bitterly under his breath about Snape reverse engineering the potion that Natalie used to get Victoria pregnant. When the chatter died down, Snape continued, "As such she will not be duelling on behalf of the Order but she is available for strategy and planning meetings," Snape stated with that air of superiority.
Victoria who was seated next to him just rolled her eyes, "Kingsley, I can keep an eye on the Hogwarts students and professors for you. If I see anything suspicious, I'll let you know," she said.
Molly continued the meeting updating the members on the various items on the agenda.
After the meeting Ron met with Kingsley and the rest of the group. He noted that Hermione and one of the twins had already left the room. Harry joined them before Kingsley started their briefing about their targets.
"I know you have your list sir," Harry stated, "But I would like you to consider adding Cole to the list."
"Cole as in our Muggle contact?" Kingsley queried curiously.
"Yes, I think Ron would be the perfect person to tail him. He's lived as a Muggle and wouldn't stand out as a wizard in London," Harry suggested.
"What makes you suspect Cole?" Kingsley asked.
"He was the one that led me to that warehouse. I have this gut feeling that he's involved somehow," Harry explained.
"Ok, an Auror should always trust that gut feeling," Kingsley agreed and turned to Ron, "I'm assigning you to follow Cole. Harry can brief you about Cole but I have a two wizard policy when it comes to active surveillance, Luna will be working with you too," he instructed.
Kingsley then turned to the various shopkeepers from Daigon Alley, "I want you to keep a close eye on the wizards that enter Knockturn Alley and I want you to record, the dates and times that people enter, even if you don't know who it is, just record it as a wizard or a witch."
He went on to create a detailed list that covered the first month of surveillance. When the meeting finally ended, Ron made his way to the kitchen. Planning always made him hungry.
Ginny met Marietta early Saturday morning. Marietta had supplied her with a list of six flats to look at with viewing times already set up.
"Thank you for helping me," Ginny said.
"No problem, you're a fellow reporter," Marietta answered.
Ginny found she actually enjoyed flat hunting with Marietta. The witch had good suggestions about what she should want in a flat in a magical community. Things like asking about what wards were used to safeguard the flat and where is the apparition point for guests was, were things Ginny hadn't even thought to ask. Her questions consisted of was the fireplace connected to the floo network and if pets were allowed.
They got lunch in Daigon Alley after they looked at the fourth flat of the day that was located in said Alley. Marietta had planned it that way. They ordered their meals with two butterbeers and spoke about the latest fashions at Madame Malkin's Robes. Ginny then turned the conversation towards the Minister's assassination.
"The Auror office still hasn't released any information about who did it," Ginny said as she took a sip of her butterbeer.
"No they haven't," Marietta agreed.
"Do your sources have any idea who did it?" Ginny asked.
"Is it you asking or your Auror friends?" Marietta asked her candidly.
"Me, they don't tell me anything. They aren't allowed to," Ginny responded.
Marietta looked like she didn't believe a word Ginny said and she wondered if she was pushing too fast. She decided to back off.
"Look I am just curious. If it's going to be a problem forget I even asked," Ginny replied evenly.
She pulled out the list and focused on that instead, "We have three more flats to go shall we continue."
"We shall," Marietta responded.
Ginny realised she was going to have to work on gaining Marietta's trust. After the last flat, Ginny told her about the one Draco had recommended and asked Marietta to come with her to see it. She was relieved when Marietta agreed.
Ginny was completely blown away by how perfect the flat was for her. It was bright, with windows that overlooked a magical fountain in the courtyard. The fountain had little figurines that were charmed to play Quidditch. The fountain kept track of the score. It was amazing. She tried not to think about the fact that Draco had been 100% right. The only obstacle was that it cost most of her salary to pay the rent. When Draco said the landlord was a fan of Harry Potter he was not understating it. The may only wanted to know about Harry and she used her friendship with Harry to knock down the rental price. She just had to make sure Harry visited once a month.
As they were heading out into the gardens with the landlord so Ginny could take a better look at the fountain, she saw Natalie entering the building through the front entrance. Ginny wasn't supposed to know her so she ignored her. She was extremely surprised when the witch came over to talk to them.
She had a bunch of shopping bags floating behind her but it was only when she came to a stop right in front of her that Ginny realised it was really a house elf holding the bags. The poor creature was practically buried beneath them. Based on that scene alone, Ginny decided she didn't like her. She didn't understand what Draco saw in her. She seemed to represent everything he was trying to leave behind. Her robes alone probably cost three times Ginny's monthly salary.
"You're reporters from the prophet," she said. Ginny found it hard not to stare at the pregnant belly. Draco's son was inside there. "You need to write an expose about me," she said arrogantly.
"Excuse me?" Ginny asked confused.
"A feature length article on the front page should do," she continued.
"Who are you?" Ginny asked keeping up the pretence that she had no idea who the witch was.
Natalie's face started to turn red and the landlord intervened.
"This is Natalie Spellfire, she lives in the flat next to the one you looked at," he revealed.
"You're thinking of getting a flat here?" she asked aghast.
"I don't see anything wrong with living here?" Ginny replied ignoring her attitude.
"I'm going to be the next Mrs. Draco Malfoy. A Weasley can't live next to me," she stated hautily.
"Wait," Ginny said turning to Marietta in surprise, "Malfoy's gone through one wife already?" she asked confused.
Marietta laughed. "I think she means she's going to be the next Mrs. Malfoy as a general term since Narcissa Malfoy was Mrs. Malfoy as well. She is going to be the first Mrs. Draco Malfoy."
Ginny scrunched up her face, "Why would that be an achievement?"
"Since you're from a Muggle-loving family I'll have to explain it to you. The Malfoys are the epitome of wizarding society. You probably can't even understand how refined he is," she started to explain.
"Refined that doesn't even sound like the Malfoy I remember. I mean he can't be that refined if he knocked you up and didn't marry your right away," Ginny commented snidely.
"He did not want to stress me out. A wedding like ours will take months to plan. Madame Malkin told me the robe I ordered for the wedding will take three months to make. The material is rare and it costs 1,000 Galleons per metre," the blonde witch boasted.
Ginny rolled her eyes and turned to Marietta, "Seems to me like Malfoy's still a coward. She isn't even wearing an engagement ring."
Marietta giggled and Natalie looked most affronted.
Ginny turned to the landlord, "This poor witch will take the flat. I'll have to make sure my poor family comes to visit regularly."
Natalie turned up her nose, "I'll probably be fully moved into Malfoy Manor by then so I won't have to watch the standard of this place drop."
Ginny ignored her and followed the landlord back to his office to sign the agreement and make a deposit. She could see the fountain later. She would be living there soon anyway.
"Thanks for the help," she told Marietta when she was finished.
"Your welcome. In answer to your questions earlier, my source told me a dark wizard called Primus is responsible for the attack. In fact, he wants to meet with me. He wants me to publish his story since the Aurors refuse to release any information about him," she told her excitedly.
Ginny's forehead creased, "That sounds dangerous."
"My sources will keep me safe. After all I can't publish the story if I'm dead," Marietta naively pointed out.
"When is this to happen?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know," Marietta said with a shrug.
"Be careful," Ginny said.
"I will," Marietta said with a small smile.
Ginny reported the info to Kingsley as soon as she returned to the manor. He then went about excitedly barking orders at the volunteers present to watch Marietta.
Afterwards she ran into Draco again on the grand staircase of the manor, his face was flushed and his grey eyes were angry. Ginny thought he looked quite attractive.
"Is there a reason you told my baby mama I need to put a ring on her finger? You know I don't want to," he said angrily.
"I did not tell her that," Ginny replied calmly. She really disliked that woman.
Draco arched an eyebrow telling her he didn't believe her.
"I didn't. I may have made an offhanded comment about her not wearing an engagement ring to Marietta but I never told Natalie anything," Ginny insisted.
"Ginerva Weasley!" he said sternly and Ginny was surprised at the thrill of excitement that shot through her. She liked an assertive Draco. He was much better than the mopey Draco.
"Is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked.
"No reason," she said looking away quickly. When she glanced back at him he had a sly smile on his face.
"You took the apartment," he said cockily.
She had the strangest urge to kiss him. She glared at him, shoved passed him and fled to her room. She closed the door to her bedroom and then leaned against it. She should not want to kiss Draco! When she vowed to move on, she hadn't meant so soon!
Oslo, Norway
Hermione frustratingly prepared her lesson for the next day. Any other time she would have appreciated the break she was getting but not when the wizarding community needed her the most. The citizens in Norway followed the law to a tee. It was why the Aurors here needed training from an experienced Auror who had actually battled dark wizards before. The most experienced Auror that she was teaching, who had been an Auror for fifty years, had only battled two drunks, who wanted to take a walk on the wild side, in his entire career. She was fairly sure, that the average criminal that she had been dealing with in London recently, could take out their entire Auror department singlehandedly.
To keep herself entertained, she played a game of figuring out which twin was with her and where they were watching her from. She had found George once in the bathroom and after the hex she put on him, they never did that again. Today she found Fred in her closet. This assignment was a complete waste of their time. There was no danger here. She hadn't seen anything that could even pass for illegal.
From what she heard from the twins, the Order was making remarkable progress in figuring out how the wizarding criminal underworld was working. Kingsley was going through the shop owners report every day and was able to pull out patterns of comings and goings of wizards and witches entering Knockturn Alley. He was so pleased with the results he wondered why he never had the Aurors do that before.
There was a knock at the door and Hermione stared at it. No one had knocked on her door for the entire month that she had been there, not even the twins, who had the habit of apparating straight into her Muggle flat when they wanted to talk to her. She drew her wand and cautiously approached the door. There wasn't even a peephole in the door because no one ever did anything wrong.
She opened the door and was met with a very large bouquet of sunflowers. The bouquet was so large if blocked the entire upper body of the person holding it. She wondered if perhaps this was one of the twins testing out a new joke product on her but the hand that held the bouquet had a slightly darker complexion than the twins milk white one.
"You're supposed to say something," Harry's voice said.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked.
"I came to see you," he said as if there was nothing more obvious in the world.
The flowers extended towards her and she took it from him. She transfigured a stack of newspaper in the corner into a vase and then levitated it to the kitchen sink. A flick of her wand turned on the water and when she was satisfied that it was full enough, she flicked her wand again and turned it off. She levitated the vase to the only table in the flat. She turned around to find Harry still standing awkwardly by the door.
"What are you still doing there?" she asked
"You didn't invite me in," he replied cheekily.
"Honestly Harry, you're not a vampire," she remarked.
Harry's eyes flashed with mischief.
"Don't answer that, just get inside," Hermione said thinking it was better to head off whatever Harry was going to reply with.
He walked in and she noticed the picnic basket in his hands.
"Are we going on a picnic?" she asked. "Because its night time and cold outside."
"No Dobby sent this. He was worried about you. He says you can't cook very well. When he heard I was thinking about visiting you this morning, mind you that was after I found out that Draco has visited you every week over the last month, I was forced to come with it," Harry explained.
"Why Mr. Potter you almost sound jealous?" Hermione teased.
Harry snorted, "Hardly Ms. Granger."
"So your visit isn't the direct result of finding out that Draco visits regularly?" she inquired with a mischievous smirk.
Harry shook his head in denial.
Hermione chewed on her bottom lip a moment in thought before continuing, "And what if I told you Luna's been here twice and even Ron visited with George once. Heck even Snape was here."
"Snape was here!" Harry exclaimed. "Seriously, am I really the last person to visit you?"
"Pretty much but you're an Auror Harry. If anyone understands it's me. It's a very bad time to be an Auror. Seamus sends me an owl every day complaining about Potwinkle and Millicent though I'm beginning to wonder if he's half in love with Millicent. The Gryffindor and The Slytherin, a love story," Hermione said picturing the headlines.
Harry chuckled, "They have a special type of partnership."
Hermione burst into giggles.
"Speaking of Millicent, I heard that she's in contact with you via e-mail. Pretty hard to imagine a Slytherin using a computer," Harry admitted.
"She's a half-blood," Hermione reminded him. "She is quite familiar with the Muggle world. Besides I doubt any wizard watching us would know how to hack our e-mails."
"True," Harry agreed. "How is the plan coming along?"
"Great. The intel from Kingsley has really helped refine it. The best deception is based in truth," Hermione explained to him.
"I think you're spending too much time with Slytherins," Harry joked light heartedly.
"Maybe you should try it. They are not all bad. There are quite a few things you can learn from them," Hermione replied reasonably.
"Who says I haven't already started. Draco and I seem to inhabit the kitchen at the same time every day," Harry told her.
"Wait you mean there is actually a time when Ron is not in the kitchen?" Hermione teased with faux shocked face.
A deep belly laugh left Harry and Hermione joined him, laughing until tears started to form in her eyes. She couldn't remember when the last time she had such a good laugh was.
"As soon as I get back, we're implementing it so you and Seamus better be ready," Hermione instructed him.
"We are," Harry assured him. "But let's stop talking about work. What is there to do around here?"
Hermione chewed on her bottom lip again. She was ashamed to admit that she spent all of her time either at the training facility or this small flat. She didn't want to admit it out loud but from the expression on Harry's face, he knew.
"Put on your coat, we're going to find the nearest pub and have some fun," he ordered.
Three hours later, after eating and having a few drinks at the pub, they stood in front of the door to her flat facing each other.
"That was the most fun I've had in a long time Harry," she reluctantly admitted.
She was looking up at him. His green irises looked happier than she had ever seen them. His eyes flicked down to her lips and her heart rate ticked up. She wasn't sure if she leaned closer, or he leaned closer, or they both leaned at the same time but suddenly his lips were on hers. Her brain stopped working at that moment, all her thoughts coming to a halt. The first thing she registered when her brain rebooted was Harry's lips were soft and she was actually kissing Harry back; her traitorous body moving on its own accord. She felt Harry's hands come up and cup her face as they kissed. When things started getting a bit more intense, Harry pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.
"Hermione," he said breathlessly, "I missed you."
"I missed you too Harry," she admitted as well.
Hermione got the impression that they were talking about a lot more than just the month she had spent in Norway.
Harry stepped away putting a little more distance between them. "I'm sorry but I have to go back, there's this raid…" Harry was explaining when Hermione put her index finger to his lip to silence him.
"I already told you I understand. I'll be back in two months Harry. Two months that's all we have to wait. We survived seven years. Just concentrate on staying alive. I will be back."
Harry nodded and then in one large stride stepped towards her again and pulled her against him to kiss her passionately. Just as quick as it started, it stopped. He stepped back and with a sad smile, he apparated away.
Hermione immediately felt lonely but she pushed it away choosing instead to focus on the fact that Harry had actually kissed her! She hadn't expected that. She knew that she had a crush on Harry before he left. Since he came back she hadn't had a chance to figure out how she felt about him but after that kiss there was doubt that she still liked him.
She opened the door to her flat and found Fred and George on her couch, watching TV and eating the food that Dobby had sent for her!
"How was the date?" George had the gall to ask while Fred made some disgusting kissing sounds.
Hermione drew her wand angrily and hexed them both back to England. The next day she received a call from the landlord informing her that the police had come about that day asking about weird flashes of light from her flat. She feigned ignorance while smiling like a Cheshire cat.