January 23, 2004
8:55 AM
Ron looked around as he woke up and for a few moments, he didn't realize exactly where he was. Then, in the couple moments that he tried to sit up, and failed due to the overwhelming pain that wracked his body, he knew where he was, The Spell Damage Ward of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Finally, he started to absorb more of the room and realized that there was a small group of people staring directly at him.
"Ron! Oh thank goodness, you're awake!"
Suddenly, he felt a flash of pain as his little sister jumped on his, obviously excited that he was awake.
"Gin. Gin." Ron whispered, fighting to stay conscious amidst the pain. "Ginny, get off. GET OFF!"
Finally, Ginny realized that she was probably hurting her brother and fell back into her chair. Ron looked around and noticed that a large portion of his family was present. Percy and Penelope stood at the end of the bed with George and Angelina next to them. Gabrielle sat next to Ginny on his right while his father stood behind them.
"Hey guys." Ron whispered, fighting through an ever present level of pain.
"Don't talk, Ron." Percy ordered him sternly. "You're lucky to be alive."
"How long was I out?" Ron asked.
"Two days. Percy's right. Just relax." Arthur replied.
"Fine." Ron replied softly. "How's Mom?"
"She doesn't know yet." Ginny replied softly. "We didn't want to worry her."
"Plus, she keeps asking for Fred." George replied softly.
Nearly one year to the day after Harry went missing, things started getting both good and rough for the Weasley family. Just as Arthur was being rushed from promotion to promotion (making up for all the promotions he had been skipped over for all those years), Molly got sick. No one knew how or why but one day, Molly simply forgot how to make her legendary bread pudding. Then, it was tea. Within two years, she had forgotten that Harry had disappeared and that Fred was dead. However, it had been last year when it hit them worst, the day she forgot her own name.
That day, Arthur called the Healers at St. Mungo's and said that she needed to be admitted. Since then, the Healers had taken her case and done everything they could to discover the cause and had found nothing. Most of the time, she remember bits and pieces of what she had once remembered. However, the worst days weren't the days where she forgot everything. During that point, she wasn't even really their mother anymore.
No, her worst days were the days where she remembered everything. These were the days that she was distinctly aware of the fact that not only was she lucid, but that there were plenty of days that she wasn't. The Healers had told the Weasleys that pretty soon, those days would be gone entirely. As it is, they only happened every few weeks.
However, Molly wasn't the only Weasley who had had a rough go after The Battle of Hogwarts. George went through several severe bouts of depression after Fred's death and as a result, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes nearly went under. As it was, George was still in mounds of debt from the two years that he nearly destroyed himself.
Bill got into a fight with a goblin one day at Gringott's. While Bill usually got along with his diminutive colleagues, Bill lost it when Dershank tried to hold onto the gold collected and stole by Lord Voldemort over the years. The Ministry had asked that the money be released and go to the charity for families who had lost someone in the war. Dershank, the goblin in charge of Voldemort's vault, declined.
It was the refusal to release these funds that led to the lawsuit.
When Bill got into the argument with Dershank, he was let go. Bill, not wanting to work in the area anymore, moved back to Egypt where he and Fleur worked as a researchers for the Egyptian Ministry. Gabrielle, who had been living with the two after the Battle of Hogwarts, moved in with Ginny and began work at the Ministry once she finished at Beauxbatons.
Ginny, after her suicide attempt, had taken a year off of Quidditch and had nearly not been able to go back. Harpies captain Gwenog Jones banned the team from talking to Ginny, thinking that her suicide attempt was a sign of weakness that her team couldn't afford. Thankfully, the rest of the team didn't share her opinion and forced Jones to bring her back. Unfortunately, that didn't stop Jones. Ginny spend an entire season on the bench, despite having been a league All-Star in her last season before her hiatus.
Charlie was still working in Romania. However, a bad day at the office had caused a Chinese Fireball to bite his right leg off. Now, he used a magical prosthetic but it was still difficult for him to move.
The only two that appeared to have been spared of the Weasley luck was Percy and Arthur. However, both of them had to watch as their family fell apart. That may have been torture enough.
"Don't worry her then." Ron replied. "Anyone else come visit?"
"Kingsley was here when you came in." Arthur replied. "Tried to interrogate you while you were unconscious."
"Anyone else?" Ron asked again, chuckling as he thought of Kingsley yelling at his unconscious form.
"She came for a little bit." George answered, obviously understanding what he was asking. "She seemed terrified. Told us she couldn't deal with this and that she would be back later."
"Never came back?"
A shake of the head gave him his answer. Ron sat there for a few moments, lost in his thoughts when a voice spoke up.
"I did come back."
Ron looked to the other end of the room where he saw Hermione, standing in the doorway. She looked both terrible and amazing at the same time. Terrible, because she looked liked she had spent the last two days crying. Amazing, because, well, she always looked amazing.
"Hermione." Ron whispered softly.
"We will give you guys some time alone." Ginny said as she stood up.
"You don't have to." Hermione said.
"No, we really do." Ginny replied earnestly as she escorted her family out of the door.
Ron watched as they left. Once they were gone, Ron became immediately aware of the fact that he was alone with his wife again. His eyes shifted on to her. The look on her face was one that Ron couldn't remember seeing before. It looked like she wanted to kill him, but couldn't so she was secretly contemplating a whole list of things that she could do to him.
Suddenly, Hermione fell down onto the chair next to him, sobbing as her head fell onto Ron's chest. Ron, despite the pain he felt, couldn't help but immediately sit up and hold her head in his arms.
"Shhh, Hermione, it's okay. Everything is okay." Ron whispered as he ran his hands through her hair, trying to calm her down.
Then, just as quickly as she fell, she sat back up and slapped him in the face.
"NO! Everything is not okay! I thought you were going to die! Two days ago, I was working in my office, waiting for you to return when Arthur came running into my office, saying that you had just Floo'd back to the Burrow and that you were nearly dead. I came here and I was here when you got here. Despite all of the crazy things we've done over the years, I've never seen anyone who had been so injured."
"Even Harry?"
"Harry wasn't even close to this injured. That's why you still hurt. The Healers can't heal everything at the same time. So, they've been healing you bit by bit over the last few days."
"Wow." Ron replied, not truly realizing how badly he had been beaten. "No offense, Hermione, but I didn't figure that you would be this upset."
Hermione looked at Ron with a mixture of love and hatred, a look that Ron had gotten quite used to over the years.
"Ron, I still love you." Hermione admitted. "That's why I was so upset. For the last five months, I've wanted to try and make things work again, but I didn't know how. I keep egging you on and you keep egging me on..."
"I wasn't egging you on." Ron muttered softly.
"You were! We both were! I was just so angry at you for never being there, but then I realized that I was as much to blame as you were." Hermione bellowed.
"Hermione Weasley admitting she was wrong? I must really be sick. At least I'm in the right place." Ron said jokingly.
"This is not funny, Ronald! I thought you were dead! I thought that I wasn't going to see you again! I realized that all of the time that I spent being too angry or too afraid to fix things was just a waste."
"What are you saying, Hermione?"
Hermione took a second to look everywhere in the room other than Ron's face. She began examining the tiles on the floor and the fans on the ceiling.
"Come home." Ron said softly as he took her hand in his. "Please. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there. I promise I'll change that. I've been an Auror for nearly ten years. Maybe once all of this is over, I can go back and work with George."
"Why would you do that? You love being an Auror." Hermione asked in shock.
"I do. And I would definitely miss it. But, I love being the husband of Hermione Weasley more."
"Really?"
"Of course, Hermione. There's only one problem."
Hermione's face reflected the shock of being thought of as a problem. Instantly, Ron realized his mistake and corrected himself.
"Not with you, Hermione. No, with me retiring as an Auror."
"What is it?"
"The Jester and The Frenchman. Until they're captured, I can't quit." Ron said softly. "Also, since I can't quit until they're capture or killed, I can't quit until Harry comes home."
"What does Harry have to do with this?" Hermione asked him.
"Harry is the best duelist in the world. His perfection combination of attack and defense makes him nearly unbeatable. Even if just for that fact, we need him. The Jester fires spells at a rate that you can't even imagine. The only person I know that wouldn't be overwhelmed by the sheer number of spells is Harry."
"So, in order to get our life back in order, we need to find Harry?"
"Yes, but not even for us. We need to find Harry for Harry." Ron replied "I know that he still blames himself for everything that happened to us. We need to convince him otherwise. Unfortunately, with my injuries, I'm not going to be able to go to America to find him."
"I'm staying here with you. We'll send Cho to find him. If she can't convince him to come back, then I'll come."
"What makes you think that Cho will be successful?" Ron asked.
"Cho being who she was in Harry's life, for one. I imagine that she probably still has a special place in his heart without being as close as we are." Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"Special place in his heart? You mean you think Harry still cares for Cho in some way and that someone like her would be able to convince him more easily?" Ron replied quickly.
"Yes."
"Hermione, how do we really know what Harry is like now? He may hate all of us, he may be married with a bunch of kids, we have no idea what he's like. It's a 1 in 1 million chance that he returns even if he doesn't hate us. It's been 4 years, 'Mione."
"I know, Ron." Hermione shot back. "But as you said, if The Jester is as powerful as you say she is, we need Harry. My thought was that he obviously blames himself for what happened to all of us after the war."
"Probably because we told him that." Ron said. "Do you remember the investigation? The one that you worked on. Against him."
"I didn't work against him, Ronald." Hermione snapped. "I was doing my job. I told Harry over and over again that I didn't believe that it was his fault."
"But this is Harry we're talking about. The single most important to Harry is loyalty. Loyalty to your friends and family should be more important than simply doing your job. To him, you betrayed him."
"I know." Hermione replied softly. "I know, Ron. I know that I was the one person he always trusted. Especially after he broke up with Ginny, you and I were his only real friends. So many people gave up on him after he broke up with her."
"I did for a little bit." Ron admitted. "I couldn't imagine why he wanted to break up with her when she was the only thing he talked about the whole year we were searching for the Horcruxes."
"She worshipped him."
"And he hated it. I know that now." Ron replied quickly. "Anyway, that doesn't matter anymore. We just need to get Harry back."
"Agreed."
January 24, 2004
11:14 AM
The Office of the Minister of Magic
The next morning, Hermione came into work and knew exactly what she had to do. So, she called Kingsley and Arthur and told them she needed to have a meeting with them. Not surprisingly, neither of them declined and they set the time for 11 AM.
Hermione spent the rest of the day at St. Mungo's talking with Ron about a number of things including Harry, Cho Chang, and The Jester's attack on him. Unfortunately for Hermione, she had fallen asleep next to Ron at St. Mungo's the night before and hadn't gotten some of her work done. Therefore, she walked into her meeting with the Minister and Minister-elect nearly fifteen minutes late.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she apologized repeatedly as she took her seat in Kingsley's office.
"It's fine, Hermione." Arthur replied with a smile as Hermione got her things in order. "What did you need?"
"I talked to Ron yesterday. He said that The Jester is, in fact, a woman. She also caused all of Ron's injuries."
"How?" Kingsley asked in shock.
"Ron said that she snuck up on him. He attacked once and she dodged it. Once she dodged, she fired off a succession of spells and curses that Ron couldn't defend. Once she hit him, she threw him about the room, blasting him with curses and slamming him into the walls, ceiling and furniture of the room."
"Oh my dear..." Arthur said softly.
"Ron said that he believes that Harry is officially the only person that could stand a chance against her." Hermione added.
"Well that's problematic." Arthur replied.
"Yes. It is" Kingsley replied before turning back to Hermione. "Do we have any idea who she is?"
"No. Ron said that she spoke with little to no accent of any kind. Normally, I would believe that would mean she was American. However, I don't think it's going to be quite that simple." Hermione replied.
"What makes you say that?" Kingsley asked.
"Well, she's obviously got a strong knowledge of us, something not typical for Americans. Also, she knew by calling Ron out, he would come personally."
"So what's your thought?"
"Well, she sent her message in Russian. Personally, I think she's Russian. I know that's too simple but it's at the very least the first place we can look."
"Smart. Can we send someone to Moscow?" Arthur asked.
"Better to simply send an owl to my Russian equivalent." Hermione replied. "The Russians are always fairly suspicious of the rest of the world and running in there and accusing some random Russian woman of attacking the Czechs and Ron won't make us any more friends."
"We can't always think of the politics, Hermione." Kingsley returned. "We need answers. Quickly. If they don't reply quickly, we need to send someone to them."
"Then we can worry about that when the time comes." Hermione shot back. "However, simply sending someone without consulting them first would be seen as an insult, one that they would not quickly forgive. All of the work we've done getting back on good terms with them would be lost."
"Fine." Kingsley said shortly after thinking things over for a few seconds. "You're right. Send them an owl. Tell them they have three days and then we send someone to discover the identity of The Jester."
"It will be done the moment I return to my office." Hermione replied.
Kingsley smiled before putting all the papers that he had back in the folder they came from and then setting it to the side. Hermione stood up to leave before Kingsley spoke again.
"A few more things, Hermione." she said with a chuckle as Hermione hastily fell in her seat again.
"As you know, Arthur takes over as Minister in two days."
"I do." Hermione said with a smile towards the elder Weasley.
"When he takes over, Percy will retain his job as Senior Undersecretary. However, Arthur would like to ask you something."
"Arthur?"
"Hermione, with the events of the past few weeks, we must always be prepared for the worst." Arthur started. "If something should happen to me, would you take the Minister's post?"
Hermione was shocked. Unlike other places around the world, the Minister of Magic in Britain was allowed to choose his or her's successor. This person didn't have to work for the Ministry or been a Ministry employee at any time. Now, Arthur had asked her to succeed him.
"No." Hermione replied shortly. "I couldn't imagine leaping over Percy to take that job. Personally, I think that he is better fit for the job at this point."
"Are you sure, Hermione?" Arthur asked. "Once I am in office, I must name my replacement. You still have some time to think."
"I'm sure." Hermione replied with a smile. "I would suggest Percy to take over for you. However, I really don't think we're going to have to worry about that. Arthur Weasley survives everything!"
"Yes, he does." Kingsley replied with a smile. "I have one other request for you."
"What?"
"Talk to Christoph."
"Why me?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"Well, Robards is rather upset with Christoph's treatment of Ron and he is refusing to allow Aurors to speak with him. They're also keeping him in isolation. I don't want to directly order Robards to stand down but I think we need to get another shot at him."
"Hermione, if you wait two days, I will order Robards to stand down." Arthur added. "In the end, it's your choice how these things go down."
"I can talk to him." Hermione said firmly.
"Great!" Kingsley replied as he stood up. "How does 9:00 tomorrow morning sound?"
"Wonderful." Hermione replied. "Why am I talking to him?"
"The Jester. We need to know if there is anyone else. If the Jester is pulling the strings then we can move forward. If there's someone else we don't know about, then we need to be able to work towards finding this person."
"Sounds reasonable. What are the odds of getting him to talk to me?"
"Small."
"Great." Hermione said as she turned to walk out the door.
"Tell Ron to get better."
"I will." Hermione and Arthur replied in unison.
January 25, 2004
9:00 AM
After an evening of watching nurses tend to her grouchy husband, who was still working his way through healing from all of his injuries, and then sleeping at her flat for what was hopefully the last time, she showed up for work, ready to interrogate The Frenchman.
In order to become a high-ranking official in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, you had to be trained in certain interrogation techniques. Hermione had taken the training three years ago, just a few months after Harry left. Since then, she had only had to use these skills twice, both of them on Aurors who had committed egregious errors during missions.
This was the first time that she had been asked to interrogate someone who wasn't a member of the British Ministry.
Hermione walked into the ready room and set her things down. Kingsley and Arthur were already there as was Gawain Robards, Head of the Aurors. He looked particularly unhappy and was involved in a very rough conversation with Kingsley.
"Minister Shacklebolt, you are deliberately working around me. This man was brought to the Ministry by one of my finest Aurors and interrogated by him as well! If you think that just because his wife is some high ranking hot shot, that she's going to do better, then you need to get your mind checked at St. Mungo's!"
"The Minister was just with me at St. Mungo's a few days ago." Hermione interjected smoothly, stopping Robards from continuing his rant. "They assured me that his mind is quite alright."
Robards looked at Hermione with a mix of shock, outrage and contempt.
"Granger." Robards said with a sneer.
"The name is Hermione Weasley, Gawain. It has been for several years and I would kindly ask you to remember that." Hermione replied coldly.
"Who do you think you are?" Robards fired back.
"As Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I believe that I am your direct superior."
"How dare you throw rank around here like a child? I'm the expert here!"
"Actually, Gawain, I still believe that lies with me." Kingsley replied sharply. "You will watch your tongue or you will be removed from your office and this room immediately. You are here to observe and to ensure that Mrs. Weasley does exactly as she has been trained to do."
Finally, Gawain seemed to cool off and took a seat on the far wall of the room. Kingsley seemed pleased by this and turned back to Hermione.
"Christoph is enroute. Check your wand here and step in."
Hermione withdrew her wand from her cloak and placed it on one of the desk inside the ready room. She nodded to the guard who opened the door to let her in. Once she was in, the door on the other side of the room opened and Bruno Christoph was led in the room. They sat him down calmly and walked out of the room. Once both doors were shut, the room went live. Hermione hated the buzz that she could feel from the interrogation rooms. She remembered how much Harry had loved that feeling.
With that thought, she began.
"Bruno, we need your help." she said softly. While many other people starting off attacking, Hermione felt more comfortable starting the other way. She often lulled her targets to sleep and then pounced. She hadn't failed with it yet.
"Why me?" he said innocently. The perfectly manicured man that Hermione had seen the day after he had been brought it was gone. Now, he sat with wild hair and smelled slightly. It was amazing what 5 days of solitary confinement could do.
"The Jester attacked the Czech Ministry a few days ago. We need your help in finding her."
"Why would I help you find her?" he fired back.
"I know that a few days ago, my husband was in here. Now, my husband is a little slow and a lot arrogant. He probably came in here and told you that I would be able to destroy you in the trial and that you would get the first death penalty since it was established three years ago."
"You would be correct, Weasley."
"That's what I thought. Ron tends to get a little too confident and doesn't think very much. Now, that's not to say that I can't do that."
"What do you mean?" The Frenchman asked.
Hermione walked to the far side of the room and grabbed a chair, setting it down directly behind her adversary and answered him.
"With little to no effort at all, I could walk into that courtroom, convince everyone that you had done everything you're accused of doing and watch the Aurors kill you and still make it home for dinner. However, that would mean that I hadn't done my job."
"Well, Mrs. Weasley, what is your job?"
"In this situation? My job to catch the bigger fish. That's not to say that you aren't good. You are obviously very good at what you do. She is just a little better."
"She's been trained longer. She's not better."
"Trained by who?"
"Everyone." The Frenchman answered hastily. "She's just older than I am."
"That doesn't make her better?" Hermione asked, starting to lay the bait.
"No." he replied shortly.
With his answer, Hermione stood up and wheeled around to the front of him, taking her chair with her. She threw the chair down in front of Christoph and sat down roughly.
"Do you know the names of the Aurors that brought you in?"
"Ron Weasley and John Dawlish. Robards' guard dogs." The Frenchman replied with a grim smile.
"Well, you'll be glad to know that Dawlish is dead and Weasley is gravely injured in St. Mungo's." Hermione said softly as she leaned back in her chair.
"I am glad. They deserved it."
"The Jester did it to them."
The look on Christoph's face was one of the best Hermione had ever seen. Usually when she had one piece of information that she knew that her target wouldn't know, she would use it as the kicker, the last fact just before she left the room. This time, she chose to wait with him in the room and watch as he was tortured by the fact that was inferior to his ally.
"How?"
"One of the most elaborate traps I've ever seen. Killed everyone in the Czech Ministry without letting them call for help. Then, she sent a letter telling Ron to return you to her. Instead, Ron and his team went to the Czech Ministry. They waited until they split up and attacked them individually. Ron was the only one who survived."
"They walked into a trap." The Frenchman said dismissively.
"The best trap I've ever seen."
"A trap, nonetheless."
Hermione stood up and made her way to the door. Just as she reached the door, she turned around.
"Who is she?"
"I'm only talking to Potter."
Suddenly, inspiration took hold.
"She doesn't love you." Hermione said bluntly.
She wasn't sure what had prevented her from seeing it before. It was the same thing that Ron occasionally dealt with being related or married or friends with so many prodigiously talented witches and wizards.
"What did you say to me?"
"She doesn't love you." Hermione reiterated. "Not like you love her. She wants you to help her rule. Once she has that power, she won't need you anymore."
"She loves me. I know it."
"I know she doesn't. She hasn't asked for you again after she nearly killed Ron. Must not be in too big a hurry to have you back home."
"She loves me!" The Frenchman screamed. "She loves me and she will prove it!"
"She will not!" Hermione yelled back in reply. She knew that she was closing to losing control of the situation but maybe that was exactly what they needed. "She doesn't love me!"
"Azoli loves me and she will prove it to you! She's going to come and break me out of here and kill all of you!"
Control was overrated, wasn't it?
"Who's Azoli?"
"No one."
"Who is she?" Hermione pressed again.
"She isn't anyone." he repeated with chagrin.
"That must be why she's letting you rot in jail." Hermione joked.
Suddenly, Christoph jumped out his seat and screamed with a fury.
"Azoli Vinogradoff is my lover and she will come for me! It doesn't matter that you know who she is! She will kill you all! ALL OF YOU!"
Hermione watched as madness took over the imprisoned Frenchman. Guards came pouring into the room, trying to calm him down. Eventually, a stunner caught him in the middle of the chest and he collapsed. Several guards picked him up and tore out of the room, trying to get him back to his cell before he woke up.
Hermione turned and opened the door to go back to the ready room. She opened it swiftly and grabbed her wand off the desk.
"Robards, Azoli Vinogradoff is now the assignment of every Auror not on a specific case. When Ron is healed, he takes command of the mission."
"Every Auror? Do you realize what kind of manpower you would be wasted by doing that?" Robards yelled at her.
"Do it, Gawain." Kingsley said softly next to the Auror Head. "This is a top priority. Take care of it."
Kingsley turned to Hermione.
"Good job, Hermione." he said with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"My father-in-law takes the top job tomorrow. Of course I'll be there."
January 26, 2004
12:00 Noon
The Atrium
Wizards from all over the nation poured into the Ministry for the first publicly elected Minister to be installed. Ron, as part of his father's selected group, sat on the stage with the rest of his family as Kingsley approached the podium.
"On May 2, 1998, I was named Interim Minister by an emergency session of the newly reinstated Wizengamot." Kingsley said as he began his final speech as Minister. "For six months, I remained in the top job on an interim basis. Finally, I was named the official Minister on December 8, 1998."
Polite applause scattered the room as they listened to Kingsley speak.
"Over the past three years, I have pushed strongly for the creation of publicly elected positions within the Ministry. This resulted in the first public election ever held in Great Britain, solely for my position, last year on my position. Numerous Ministry members were selected as candidates. However, it was Amos Diggory and Arthur Weasley that stood out above the rest. Both have near perfect records with the Ministry and had incredibly long service records."
Another small smattering of applause rang out as Arthur and Amos, who was seated in the front row, were recognized.
"While many expected public elections to turn into a year round mudslinging festival, it did not end up being the case. Both candidates refused to sink to the suggested low standards and kept the entire process in an incredibly positive light. In the end, Arthur won 79% of the vote and has been elected to become the first nationally elected Minister of Magic in our history."
Ron watched as his father smiled brightly at the mention of his victory. Years before, Ron could have never imagined his father taking this job. Now, he couldn't believe that he had never thought of it before.
"Before I pass the wand to Arthur, a few words on him. Arthur started as a file clerk in the Office for Wizengamot Administrative Services in 1969, just months before his eldest son, Bill, was born. From there, he worked his way up until he was named the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in 1988. He remained at this position until 1996 when he was named by Rufus Scrimgeour as the Head of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. In this role, Arthur stood out, helping the Auror Office stop hundreds from feeling the effects of faked defensive spells during Lord Voldemort's reign of terror."
At this point, Kingsley was whipping the crowd into a political fervor. They were either very excited or incredibly bored.
"Again, in 2001, Arthur was promoted. This time, he took the role as Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Over the past two years in this role, Britain has regained its place at the top of the wizarding world. But, you've probably heard enough from me." he said, as he waved Arthur up to the podium next to him.
Kingsley reached down beside him and picked up a large wand. Slowly, he turned back to the crowd and lifted the wand in the air.
"I, Kingsley Wendell Shacklebolt, hereby step down as Minister of Magic. In accordance with the law, Arthur Frederick Weasley is proclaimed Minister of Magic for a term of no more than five years." Kingsley said as he turned and handed the wand to Arthur.
"Thank you." Arthur said softly so only those on the stage could hear him.
"Go get 'em, Arthur." Kingsley said with a wink as he took his seat behind Arthur. Arthur turned and, after taking a moment, addressed the crowd as Minister of Magic for the first time. Ron couldn't have been prouder of his father, even fighting through the painkillers that were fading the longer this ceremony went on. Regardless, Ron couldn't have missed this day for anything.
"Thank you all for coming." Arthur said to cheers from the crowd. "I know you are all busy so I will keep this moving. I would like to thank those of you that have supported me for all of these years. I would like to thank my family and especially my wife. If you don't know, my wife is permanently admitted into St. Mungo's due to a brain illness. Last year, when her health started to fade, I question whether continuing to run for Minister was the right thing to do. Then, the next day which was one of her only cognizant ones, she simply told me: Just like our family needs you, they need you. It was then and there that I decided to continue with my campaign to become your Minister. Still, never would I have believed myself standing here. Again, I thank you for your support of my campaign and I know that the next five years will be wonderful ones of the wizards of Great Britain!"
A great roar echoed out of the Atrium as the crowd exploded at the end of Arthur's speech. Ron even managed to clap a bit, although even that hurt him some. Suddenly, everyone noticed that Arthur had his hand up, signalling that he wasn't quite done.
"Thanks. Thank you. Thank you all. Now, I have one more thing. I would like to thank Harry."
Instantly, the air was sucked out of the room. No one talked about Harry Potter in public anymore.
"Without you, Harry, none of us would be here." he said as he raised his wand. "I don't know how you are feeling or where you are. But, wherever you are, this is for you, son."
In unison, everyone in the Atrium lifted their wands, greatly increasing the amount of light shown in the room.
"Thank you all. Have a wonderful day!"