Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters or anything from Harry Potter. The only thing that I own is plot and any characters that you don't recognize.
A/N: Thank you, AngelsAriel for reviewing. Enjoy!
Kayley gave Draco her notes after she had altered them, and only after he asked. He went to his study to 'work' after dinner. Kayley had no work to do and decided to explore. She ran into some maids, but they did not speak to her except for the occasional "good evening, miss." Kayley noticed that they used wands to clean. When she reached a back hall on the third floor, she heard voices behind a closed door at the end of the hall. One was a male voice, the other a female. Kayley could not keep from stopping to listen.
"Are you feeling better this evening?" The male voice was unmistakably Draco.
"Yes, much. How was your day?" The woman asked. Draco went into an account of his day with no details. He didn't mention any Death Eater business, or Kayley.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Draco said after some more small talk. There was a pause and Kayley heard by his footsteps he was getting closer to the door—and to discovering her. She glanced around like a scared deer, looking for a place to hide. She noticed a door almost directly behind her and slipped noiselessly into it. After she shut herself in she had a horrible thought—what if there was another woman in this room? Kayley heard Draco's footsteps passing and took out her wand. Summoning all of her courage, she whispered "Lumos." She looked around the room by the light of her wand. She was in a nice bedroom with a private bathroom. Thankfully, she was the only occupant. Kayley sighed her relief, and cautiously slipped back into the hall. She headed to her room, deciding
that she had had enough exploring for one night, and perhaps too much.
On Wednesday, Kayley only had two days left. Mrs. Weasley took Kayley to St. Mungo's. They entered through the glass. Kayley was given a tour and got to interview several patients—some of whom were Death Eater victims. She met a werewolf patient, a Fenrir Greyback victim. The Trainee Healer told them that due to the extent of his wounds he only had a fifty-fifty chance to live.
Kayley and Mrs. Weasley were on their way out when a Trainee Healer approached them. It was a woman who Kayley had noticed watching them on the fourth floor. "Hermione, it's nice to see you." The Trainee greeted.
"Laura!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, "I almost didn't recognize you. Miss Daniels, this is Mrs. Megan Kirke. Miss Daniels, Mr. Kirke works for us but he got hit by a nasty spell and may not be able to come back. How is he doing, by the way?" Kayley and Mrs. Kirke shook hands while Mrs. Weasley went on and Mrs. Kirke assured them that her husband was doing better. Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Kirke talked awhile longer while Kayley waited patiently. Then Kayley was surprised when the conversation turned to her.
"I was wondering," Mrs. Kirke paused, now addressing Kayley, "if you are the
foreign witch from the American Ministry?"
"I am," Kayley said simply.
"I was wondering if I might talk to you." She cast a glance at Mrs. Weasley that clearly said 'alone.'
"Of course." She looked back at Mrs. Weasley as she was being lead to a quiet corner of the room. "Excuse us," Kayley said to Mrs. Weasley.
"My husband, as you heard, was hit by a nasty spell. Andrew works for the Department of Mysteries." She paused and Kayley nodded, wondering where this was going. Mrs. Kirke looked around. "He says they've been here," she said lowering her voice.
"Who?" Kayley asked softly.
"The Death Eaters!" she whispered. "He says he sees them at night. I've heard them! We always manage to come at the right time and scare them off, but I'm afraid we'll be too slow next time, or there will be more of them." Kayley nodded sympathetically, waiting for her to go on. "He has information they want. Could you—would you relocate him?" Mrs. Kirke pleaded. Kayley wanted to believe her—and she almost did, but Death Eaters in St. Mungo's? She guessed they had been at the ministry, but she was still skeptical.
"Have you talked to Mrs. Weasley about it?" Kayley asked finally. Why was Mrs. Kirke asking her in the first place? She knew Mrs. Weasley better.
"Yes," she said sadly. "Hermione says she would like to help, but the Ministry doesn't offer a relocation problem."
"And you were hoping that the American Ministry did," Kayley stated, now understanding better. Mrs. Kirke nodded. "I'm sorry," Kayley said sadly. "We don't have a relocation program either." The woman across from her looked so sad she could not help adding, "I'll see what I can do," before heading back towards Mrs. Weasley. She waved at poor Mrs. Kirke, who looked like she was about to cry, before they left.
"So, what did she want?" Mrs. Weasley asked softly as they stepped out of St. Mungo's. They Apparated to the Ministry before Kayley answered her.
"She wanted me to relocate her husband." Kayley said. Mrs. Weasley nodded. After a few moments of silence Kayley asked, "Do you think there are Death Eaters in his room at night?"
Mrs. Weasley looked at her for a moment. "Yes. I believe her, but I can't do anything. I told her you couldn't do anything either, but I guess you can't blame her for trying. I tried; I talked to the Minister several times, but people are just too busy to start a relocation program."
Kayley nodded.
Kayley went to St. Mungo's on her lunch break the next day on her lunch break. Mrs. Kirke greeted her immediately on the fourth floor. "Mrs. Kirke," Kayley said as a greeting, leading her to a quiet corner of the waiting room.
"Please, call me Laura," Mrs. Kirke said.
"Laura, is your husband better?"
Laura looked terribly nervous. "Yes, they are letting him go tomorrow. I know they'll be here tonight and I don't work then." Kayley nodded.
"Meet me in the back alley at five." Kayley whispered, and then she said louder,
"I hope your husband gets to feeling better." Laura looked stunned as Kayley shook her hand.
Work passed slowly for the rest of the day. Kayley had no idea how she was going to get Mr. Kirke out of the country, but she had to do it. By the end of the day, her notes were filled with doodles of small animals and a flock of butterflies that used to be paperclips swirled above her head.
Kayley was at the appointed spot on time, and so was Laura, with a tall man
who looked very thin. "Miss Daniels, this is Andrew, Andrew, Miss Daniels."
"Oh, Kayley, please," she said as she shook his hand. Kayley stood back, and thought. They were all there, now what?
"Mr. Kirke, how do you feel about sparrows?" Kayley asked, a new thought just dawning on her.
"Err… sparrows?" he asked, puzzled.
"Yes, sparrows." Kayley said, having mentally gone over her plan she had less faith in it. "My plan is to turn you into a sparrow, and then banish you to my house." Mr. and Mrs. Kirke looked as skeptical as Kayley felt. She didn't blame them, she had never done transfiguration on a human before, and had never heard of any one doing it. She wasn't sure she could do it herself. Luckily, she had banished live animals before.
"Are you sure that's the only way?" Laura asked.
Kayley nodded solemnly. "There are carriages that go cross-continental, but they'll be watching those. You could go by broomstick, but it would be a long trip and it would be easy to track you. The same problem goes for all Muggle transportation, and my security makes it so that you cannot Apparate or Floo to my house. It's the only way I see." Laura nodded. Kayley took out her wand, but didn't point at anything except the ground. "Are you sure about this, Mr. Kirke?" Kayley asked. He nodded looking sick. "When you get to my house, my house elf will take care of you. I'll send word to her. Wait for me there; I'll be there tomorrow night." Kayley paused summoning up all of her courage and more, if possible, power than she used to cross-continental Apparate.
"Relax," she said more to herself than anyone else, "I won't screw this up." Kayley closed her eyes and said the spell in a commanding voice. When she opened her eyes, a little brown sparrow looked up at her on the snow-covered ground. Kayley sighed in relief. She banished the sparrow and hoped it would reach its destination safely. She took out a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled a note to Lucky. She banished that to her house too. She and Laura shook hands and then Kayley Apparated to Malfoy Manor's front gates.
When she went through one of the sitting rooms on the way to her room, she met Mr. Malfoy and a guest. They were talking and Kayley did not stop to talk. She had missed dinner and her stomach growled painfully. She had not realized that her mission would take so long. She was also tired. She had not realized that human transfiguration could take so much out of a person. Thankfully, she was not even close to as tired as she would be after cross-continental Apparation. After a little while and some freshening up, Kayley went downstairs to see if she could sneak into the kitchen.
To get to the kitchens she would have to go through the room Draco and his guest had been in. She hoped the guest was no longer there and Draco would ignore her like he had earlier, but when she got to the room he was alone.
"Where have you been?" he asked as he made his way to the liquor cabinet.
"I…Mrs. Weasley invited me to dinner." Kayley lied. "I'm sorry." she added as and after thought. She felt uneasy. She should have told him she had to work late. That would have been closer than the truth anyway.
He shrugged off her apology as he poured a glass of wine. "I didn't know there was a Mrs. Weasley, not one who worked anyway. Mrs. Weasley's getting a bit old." he said evenly.
"She's not much older than me," Kayley said as Draco handed her a glass.
"The youngest—what was her name? Oh, Ginny, I thought she'd married Harry Potter. Perhaps she's taken her maiden name back," Draco said calmly. Kayley was amazed that he could talk about Harry Potter so calmly. Had he helped kill him? It took Kayley a minute to get her thoughts under control.
"I—I believe her name was Hermione," Kayley said.
Draco nodded and took a sip of his wine. "Of course, she would have married a weasel," Draco said softly.
"Did—do you know her?" Kayley asked cautiously, she could tell he wasn't in a good mood, but she wasn't sure he was in a bad mood either.
"We went to school together," he said simply.
Kayley couldn't think of anything else to say. She drained he glass and set it down on the cabinet. "Good night, Mr. Malfoy," she said and started to leave.
"Your notes," he called after her.
Kayley stopped and turned around. "Right, I'll go get them," she said softly.
Kayley went to work the next day. She would go home that afternoon when she got off. She worried all day. Had the Death Eaters been at St. Mungo's last night? If they had, she imagined they would be livid. Would Draco ask her about it?
At five o'clock she Apparated to Malfoy Manor, after the long trek to the door she went to her room. She had packed everything she hadn't used this morning last night, and didn't have much to pack. She finished packing and banished her trunk to her house.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs and was surprised to see Draco. He usually went to 'work' before she did, and was never home until at least an hour before she got there. To her surprise he didn't say anything to her about Mr. Kirke or anything else. He asked for her notes and for the first time ever she gave him the original and kept the copy, nothing had happened today. Then he surprised her again by walking her to the gate.
Kayley landed on her front porch after Apparating. She was instantly overcome by fatigue. She tossed her cloak on a chair in the first sitting room and was greeted by a small sparrow that sat on the back of the couch looking at her.
"I'll change you back when I wake up." she promised. "It may be awhile." She hated to make him wait, but she knew she was useless at transfiguration while she was this tired.
Kayley got up Sunday and showered and got dressed. She made her way to the dinning room, seeing no signs of the little sparrow. She stepped into the dinning room and was surprised to see him perched on a plate eating a piece of toast. Kayley set down across from him and started on a piece of toast herself. "I'm sorry I slept so long." Of course, the sparrow didn't answer.
After breakfast Kayley got up and took out her wand. The sparrow, who had now taken up his perch on the back of one of the dining room chairs, cocked his head at her. "On the floor, please." Kayley said, trying to mentally get herself ready to turn him back. He left the chair and landed on the burgundy carpet at her feet. She raised her wand and concentrated. She closed her eyes and clearly said the spell and when she opened her eyes a man stood before her instead of a bird. Kayley lowered her wand and put it back into her pocket.
"Mr. Kirke," she said in acknowledgement, before she led him to the sitting room. She sat down in the second sitting room, which was smaller, and he took a seat opposite of her.
"What am I going to do about my job?" he asked. Kayley could hear a tone of regret in his voice. Kayley thought for a minute.
"I'll have a word with my Minister, and then I'll contact Mrs. Weasley about my plan for the relocation program that I will lead. She can talk to the Minister over there."
Mr. Kirke sighed "And what about my salary?" he asked, still not sounding sure that Kayley's plan would work.
"One of the Ministries, or myself, will pay your usual salary. I'll help you find a new job, with a different name, here and if it doesn't make as much as your other job, someone will make up the difference."
"What other job could I get here?"
Kayley thought awhile. "What was your best subject in school?"
"Charms," he said. "Why?"
"How would you feel about teaching?"
"I've thought about that, is there a position open?"
Kayley stood up. "I don't know, I'll go find out."
He followed her into the next sitting room. She picked up her cloak and wrapped it around her. "What? Now?"
"Yeah, I'll be right back." Mr. Kirke stared after her as she walked out the door and Apparated. She had to get him out of her house, before she had certain company. Things would not go well on either side if Draco came over and her and Mr. Kikre saw each other. With any luck, he could start the middle of this week, although Kayley doubted it. It was the middle of the school year. There was no reason for a position to be open. Maybe he could live there until next year and then teach there, but every idea Kayley suggested to herself was quickly eaten by doubt.
Kayley entered the little cave and walked up the drawbridge again. She didn't stop to talk to anyone, but went straight to Professor Jarvis' office. She raised her fist and knocked timidly on his giant oak door. She entered after hearing a muffled come in on the other side of the door.
She opened the door and went. Professor Jarvis stood up in surprise. "Kayley," he said in a surprised voice, by way of greeting. "What can I do for you?" he asked sitting back down at the same time as Kayley.
Kayley sighed realizing how foolish this was going to sound. "Well," she started slowly, "I was wondering if there might be an opening in the charms department."
He smiled "Lose your job?" he teased.
"No!" she said defensively. "I have a…um…friend that needs a job."
"A friend?" he asked suggestively.
Kayley gave him a dirty look. "It has to do with work." Kayley said. "I can't give you the details, because I haven't gotten it cleared yet." Kayley said.
"Well, Professor Reynolds went into retirement last year and I am getting tired of running the transfiguration classes, the charms classes, and my advanced classes. I would be happy to have someone else take on the charms classes, but you'd have to check with the principal." Professor Jarvis said.
"I was hoping to find out if the position was open first." Kayley said, explaining why she went to him first. Professor Jarvis nodded. "Is Mr. Milton in?"
"I believe so," Professor Jarvis said. "Is that all? You wouldn't like to ask me anything else?"
Kayley smiled. "No, Professor, I'm still to busy." She said standing and starting for the door. "See you later."
Kayley made her way back down to the first floor, where the principal's office was. She knocked on his door and entered after beckoned.
"Miss Daniels!" Mr. Milton greeted. "Have a seat." Kayley settled herself into the chair across from him. "What can I do for you?" he asked, writing something down and then looking at her.
"Well, I have a friend who would like to take up your charms position," Kayley said.
Mr. Milton went back to his papers. "And your friend's name is?"
"And—yeah," Kayley ran her hand through her hair. "About that, this kind of has something to do with the Ministry, and I haven't it cleared yet, and so I'm afraid I can't supply you with a name."
"Well," he said heavily allowing his gaze to fall back upon her. "Then I'm afraid he can't have the job. No name, no job."
"How soon after I get it cleared could he start?" Kayley asked.
"Oh, the day of, I imagine. He just needs to fill out the paper work. I daresay Professor Jarvis will be happy for the break."
Kayley smiled and stood. "Thank you, Mr. Milton," she said before she showed herself to the door.