Chapter 7! I hope everyone likes this.
I haven't thanked my reviews in the Author's Note in a while so here you go:
Thank you to all my reviewers: Hufflepuff Dreamer17, Hamataroo, moonqueen, Misti D, Jewels812, .Five, sammy sosa the 13th, mumble hassnut, MiraMarie, and x-Live-love-life-x
So no more of these pesky author's notes…
On to the Chapter!
Disclaimer: Christmas has come and gone and I did not get Harry Potter… maybe next year?
Chapter 7: Romania
Once she arrived at the ministry, Hermione quickly made her way to the floor where her office was located. She, however, didn't go to her office. But stopped a few doors away. She stood there a minute to compose herself, before knocking on the door.
"Come in." She heard through the door.
Walking into the office, Hermione saw a middle-aged man sitting behind a large wood desk. He was slightly balding and wearing worn robes.
"Mr. Barlow?" Hermione questioned.
Looking up, the man smiled. "Miss Granger, if I remember correctly you have the day off today."
"I know, but I need to be transferred."
Mr. Barlow looked up at his best employee. "Transferred? To where?"
Hermione sighed and sat in one of the chairs across from her boss. "To anywhere. Just somewhere away from here. And before you ask why, I just need to get away from England. So I will take any job. I have had some personal issues come up, and I can't stay in England."
Her boss smiled and searched through some pieces of paper. "It looks like there is only one other available transfer for The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I must add that this transfer will derail all the work you have put in on the S.P.E.W. bill. And the new job will have nothing to do with house elves."
"I don't care. When can I leave?" Hermione asked.
Sighing, Mr. Barlow looked at some other papers. "It looks like the next portkey is leaving in 30 minutes, and after that you will have to wait another two days."
"I will see you in 30 minutes. I just have to go pack." With that, Hermione walked out of the office and apparated to her flat.
With a flick of her wand, everything of hers was packed. It took another flick to shrink everything down. She then put everything into a small bag. Hermione made sure to call her landlady, agreeing to pay the rent until she could find someone else to rent the place. Being a war hero had its perks, and money was one of them.
She checked the clock and saw she only had a few minutes to get back to the Ministry. With one final look around her flat, Hermione apparated directly to the Department of Magical Transportation.
When she arrived, she was met by two people. One was her boss, and the other was Mr. Marks, the head of the Portkey department.
"Miss Granger, are you sure about this?" Barlow asked.
Hermione nodded while placing her hand on the portkey. "I'm sure. And before this portkey activates in about a minute, do you mind telling me where it is I'm going?"
"You are going to Romania, to work with dragons." Mr. Barlow said, before Hermione felt that pull from her navel signaling she was leaving.
Hermione, now used to traveling by portkey, landed gracefully in a small office. She couldn't see much out the small windows, but what she did see she liked. It seemed like the type of place someone would go to relax or have a picnic outside.
"Miss Granger?"
Turning, Hermione found the source of the unfamiliar voice. It appeared to be a tall gangly, bald man. She nodded her head, as to answer his question.
"Good, my name is Douglas Hughes. I am the head of The Department for the Regulation for the Control of Magical Creatures, here in Romania. I want to welcome you to the country and show you around the offices quickly, before taking you to your temporary residence."
Smiling, Hermione extended her hand, "It's a pleasure to meat you, Mr. Hughes. I would love a tour." She said, still smiling.
With that the man walked away and started chatting about various parts of the office. Hermione couldn't keep her attention on the man. All she could think about was England, and the abrupt way she left. Deep down, Hermione knew it was the right decision. After Ron's reaction, she really didn't want to go through with that with the rest of the Weasley brother's. Sure, Molly and Arthur had been understanding, as had Harry and Ginny. However, Hermione wondered how George, Percy, or Bill would have taken the news. No one had known about her and Fred's relationship, how could they prove that it wasn't just a one night stand. How were they sure that it even was Fred's. Of course they had Hermione's word, but last time she checked, blood ran thicker than anything.
Sighing, she noticed Mr. Hughes stopping.
"And of course this is your office. You will be working with dragons, so some of the times you will have to be on the reserve. Your job will consist of monitoring the new proposals for dragon bills, as well as making sure the reserve is running smoothly. I would suggest that when we are done here that you stop by the reserve. That way you can meet the people and have a look around.
"Now I noticed in the paperwork sent over, that you have been primarily dealing with house elves in England?" After seeing her nod, Mr. Hughes continued, "I hope you don't have a problem with dragons. They are quite a bit different than house elves." He said with a chuckle.
Hermione nodded, "I am perfectly fine with dragons," she replied while reminiscing about escaping Gringotts on the back of one. "In England the bill I was working on, the one with the house elves, was my idea. Which is why I worked with house elves so much."
Mr. Hughes nodded, "That good. Now I will show you to your temporary housing. This is just a small place we could find for you. You have to pay rent and everything, however when you see fit you can move into a different place. That is unless you like this place."
By this time the duo had stopped in front of a small cottage. Hermione immediately fell in love with the small house as soon as she saw it. It had white wooden siding, blue shutters, a big red door, and a small pathway leading up to the house.
"Here are the keys. And I don't expect you in the office until tomorrow morning at nine. It was nice meeting you Miss Granger, have a good day." With that, Mr. Hughes apparated away.
Hermione let herself into her new home. Walking in she was met with a moderate sized living room, complete with a fire place. The next room was a small kitchen and dining room combination. As she walked down the short hallway, she was faced with three doors. One led to a small bathroom, which only had the necessities. The other two doors were bedrooms. She figured the smaller one would be for the baby, once it arrived.
Remembering that she had another human in her stomach, Hermione figured it would be a good idea to get checked out. After all, a lot has happened within the last twenty-four hours. She waved her wand and the boxes and items she had shrunken previously, returned to their normal size. Another wave unpacked everything and placed them all in the best place in the house. It was times like these that Hermione loved magic. Something that should have taken her days, ended up only taking 10 minutes.
Grabbing her wand and purse, Hermione left the small house. Eventually she found the small clinic, which happened to be near the dragon reserve. Hermione was sure it was to keep the dragon wranglers safe. Making a mental note to go to the reserve when she got done, the witch walked into the clinic.
Hermione was once again sitting on a small cot, waiting for a healer. This time, however, it wasn't at St. Mungo's. Looking around the room, Hermione saw almost a dozen other beds pushed up against the walls. There were also a few doors around the room, which probably led to various other hospital like rooms.
"Miss Granger," a tall woman with deep black hair said as she walked up to Hermione's cot. "My name is Healer Jill Campbell. And I must say I am surprised to see you here. One third of the Golden Trio in Romania."
"I got transferred here, I work in The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Hermione answered.
Jill nodded, "Well what can I do for you today?"
"I'm pregnant," Hermione ignored the surprise look from Healer Campbell, and continued. "With the transfer and the move, things have been stressful. So I just want a check up and make sure everything is okay."
"Let me just run a couple tests, then we can look at the baby. Do you happen to know how far along you are?"
"Thirteen weeks," Hermione answered proudly.
The two women fell into a comfortable silence. Jill kept running her wand over Hermione's abdomen, while muttering a few spells.
"Everything seems fine, wonderful even. You are nearing fourteen weeks, and the baby is progressing normally. Now it's time for the fun part." She said with a smile.
Almost instantly after Jill waved her wand, a small picture appeared over Hermione's stomach.
Hermione could feel the tears start to pool in her eyes. The baby had grown so much in the past few weeks.
She was just about to ask Healer Campbell if she could get a copy of the sonogram, when the door burst open.
"Hey, Jill! I need some help. Marlene is a little feisty today, and I got a slight burn on my shoulder."
Hermione gasped as she saw the source of the new manly voice. Her gasp unfortunately, brought his attention to her.
Charlie Weasley looked at the young witch on the cot. He would recognize her bushy hair anywhere. "Hermione?" He questioned. Then he saw the image above her stomach. "Er- Sorry to interrupt, I'll just wait over there."
"Sorry to cut this short, but duty calls." The healer said trying to ignore the strange interaction between her two patients. "Here's a copy, I figured you would want one. And if you could stop back tomorrow, once you get off work of course, so I can talk to you about the pregnancy."
All Hermione could do was nod and take the picture from Jill. She gathered her things and left the infirmary quickly. Walking down the street, she found a bench that was set in a small clearing. Sitting down, Hermione looked at the picture that was still clutched in her hands. The same thought kept running through her head, 'why was Charlie here?'
"I must say, it's a surprise to see you here."
Turning around, Hermione became face to face with Charlie Weasley.
"Charlie, I didn't realize that you went back to Romania." She said while looking anywhere but up at him.
Sighing, Charlie joined her on the bench. "Yeah, well mum and the family seem to be doing better, and I couldn't keep taking off time. No matter how much vacation I had saved up. But what about you? Why are you in Romania?" He asked.
Shrugging, Hermione seemed to find her finger nails intriguing. "I got transferred. I am now working with The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures here in Romania, instead of England."
An awkward silence fell over the two.
"So, do you want to talk about it?" Charlie asked while gesturing towards the sonogram photo that was still in Hermione's grasp.
Hermione sighed. She knew she would have to tell him sooner or later. She would have to explain the whole thing. This was a conversation she would rather not get into sitting on a bench in a small garden.
"Do you mind if we go somewhere else?" She questioned. "I feel this is going to be a long conversation."
Charlie nodded. Hermione got off the bench and started to walk towards her house, hoping Charlie would follow.
When they got there, Hermione unlocked the door and let him inside.
"Would you like a cup of tea, or something?" She asked, hoping to stall.
Shrugging, Charlie accepted the tea.
While waiting for the water to boil, the two sat across from each other at the kitchen table. Charlie looked at her as if he was waiting an explanation. Which, honestly, he was.
"I don't know where to start." Hermione said, looking down at her hands.
"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Charlie suggested as Hermione got up to fetch the whistling kettle.
Once she poured the tea, Hermione took a deep breath, "I guess I will start at the beginning then."
So, this had become the longest chapter, I think so anyways.
Just so you know, Hermione's office isn't at the Romanian Ministry. It's in a smaller town that is next to the biggest Dragon reserve.
Now Charlie knows?
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