Chapter Nine
Author's note: Thanks for reading!
The following morning, Hermione woke up, still puzzled by hers and George's interaction at the stroke of New Year's. Sitting up in her bed with her lavender duvet pulled tightly around her, Hermione's mind drifted back to the previous night. After George had left her standing at the railing, she had quickly returned to his living room. On her way to the stairs, George had stopped her and hugged her goodbye and thanked her again for coming to his party, but neither attempted a recreation of their kiss. A quick survey of George's flat told Hermione that Harry, Ron, and Ginny must have already left, as they were nowhere to be found. Shuffling through the living room, Hermione thought she might be able to locate Holly. Holly, she knew, would have sage and frank advice regarding her incident with George. Glancing around the living room, Hermione easily spotted her friend. Holly had claimed a couch that was tucked against the wall. She and Oliver were monopolizing the couch, snogging very furiously and very publically on it. Hermione laughed despite her own concerns, glad that Holly had found a solution to her earlier dilemma.
Hermione oscillated several times regarding what the kiss had meant. For the most part, she concluded that it was merely a chaste kiss between friends; the type that was expected at midnight on New Year's Eve. A part of her, however, fixated the odd shimmer in George's eye and she wondered whether that, perhaps, it had meant something more. Hermione recalled the way that George had lingered his lips on hers a trifle longer and a bit harder than one would in a familiar peck. She placed two fingers against her lips. She could still feel George's mouth on hers.
A sharp tap on her window pulled Hermione out of her daydream. Gilbert, her owl, was bouncing on the ledge and furiously banging his beak on the window pane. Hermione crawled out of bed and opened the window to let him into her bedroom. The letter tied to his leg was not surprisingly addressed to her in Ginny's familiar printing. Hermione eagerly removed the letter and unsealed it, hoping to gain information as to Ginny's disappearance the previous night.
"Mione. I have the day off today. Are you free to get together?" It simply read. Hermione turned to letter over to jot down a brief acquiescence. Suggesting a time and a meeting place, she reattached the note to Gilbert's leg and sent him on his way.
-o-O-o-
As her meeting time with Ginny neared, Hermione pulled her newest favourite sweater – her violet Weasley jumper – over her pale blue tank top and jeans. Without intending to, she found herself thinking about George. "Pull it together, Mione," She muttered in a barely audible voice. On her way out to her front door, she snatched her beaded bag off the back of her couch and rummaged in it until she located her notepad. "Don't unnecessarily read into situations." She hastily wrote in her neat printing on the finely lined page. Stuffing the notepad back into the bag, she looped the bag's strap over her shoulder and hurried out her building and out onto Diagon Alley.
Diagon Alley was quieter than the last time Hermione had walked through the shopping area as many of the shops were closed in recognition of New Year's Day. She made a direct beeline to the quaint café she had suggested to Ginny and claimed a small circular table next to the large, bay window at the front. After only completing several pages of the book she had stowed in her bag incase Ginny wasn't able to make the suggested time, her concentration was broken when Ginny sat in the available seat at Hermione's table.
"Hey, you made it!" Hermione exclaimed, sliding her bookmark between the necessary pages and packing the book away in her bag.
"Of course I did," Ginny grinned. "So how was the rest of last night? Did you stay to ring in midnight?"
"Er…yah…it was fine…uneventful….just watched the fireworks over the Thames," Normally, Hermione would eagerly discuss any potential guy problems with Ginny, but she didn't feel comfortable with bringing up Ginny's older brother. Besides, she was sure that all her concerns about what had happed with George were merely speculative. "What happened to you though? I couldn't find you, Harry, or Ron most of the night."
"Well…I don't know about Ron" – Ginny grinned cheekily – "But I can tell you why Harry and I left."
"Oh and why's that?" Hermione asked. Ginny didn't say anything. Instead, she mysteriously lifted her left hand out of her lap and placed it on the surface of the table in front of Hermione. The diamond on her finger was immediately obvious.
"Oh sweet Merlin," Hermione shrieked so loudly that the other patrons in the sparsely populated café turned to look at the pair. She excitedly grabbed Ginny's hand to get a closer look at the gem. Ginny's ring consisted of a large, circular diamond surrounded by a wreath of smaller ones. The impressive centre diamond was stunning on the young woman's slender finger. It was perfectly clear and a crystal white. "Oh, Ginny…this is incredible." Hermione breathed, aware of the tears prickling behind her eyes. "Tell me everything."
"Well…Harry told me that we had to leave and that it was important. Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about or where we had to go," Ginny rushed, a large smile, dazzling enough to overshadow the ring, decorating her face. "So at this point I'm super confused," Ginny continued excitedly. "So he takes me directly to Number Twelve Grimmauld place and it's amazing, Hermione…like you wouldn't believe…flowers everywhere…roses, lilies…candles…all these little, white, tea light candles set up all around the living room. He must have spent so much time getting it ready. And then he asked me to be his wife." Ginny spoke wistfully and stared lovingly down at her ring. Hermione understood that there were parts of the story that were only for her and Harry to share so she didn't ask for more details.
"Ginny…that's just incredible. I'm so happy for you too,"
"Thanks Mione. I'm so excited."
"Do you have a date picked out?" Hermione asked eagerly, realizing that she now had the wedding of two of her best friends to look forward to.
"We're thinking sometime in the summer. Maybe around Harry's birthday," Ginny shrugged. "We haven't really discussed that yet. You'll be Maid of Honour, right. Please, say you will…I'd be devastated if you didn't…" Ginny gave Hermione a beseeching glance.
"Obviously!" Hermione declared incredulously, shocked that her friend may have even considered that she'd turn down the offer. "I'd love to."
"That's brilliant. I can't wait until we can get started on the wedding preparations," Ginny squealed, delightedly clasping her hands in front of her, displaying her extraordinary ring at the same time.
"Oh, I'd love to help," Hermione echoed Ginny's high pitched tone. "When are you going to get started on that?"
"Yah, I don't know that either. But we are having an engagement party at the Burrow in a bit. Mum's already started planning it. I guess Harry told her and Dad about the proposal before he told me."
"Oh that sounds great."
"Yah, it will just be pretty low key…mainly family…a few friends maybe."
"Oh yah," Hermione said, sounding interested. "So you're whole family will be there? Ron…Fred…George?"
"Ah, yah, they're part of my family, Mione…they'll be there."
"Oh that's great" – Hermione replied quickly, worried that she may have needlessly lingered George's name – "I'll be there too,"
"Of course you will,"
The two friends continued chatting until they realized that they were likely overstaying their welcome in the café. Most of the conversation consisted of Ginny describing how much she loved her ring and her proposal and what sort of details she was hoping her wedding would consist. Hermione was more than happy to listen and ask for clarification at times. Her smile was constant as she excitedly thought of the glorious wedding that would occur between two of her dearest friends during the upcoming summer. It was, Hermione was sure, the perfect start to a new year.
-o-O-o-
"Hermione, do you have a moment?" During the morning of her first day back at work, Hermione's editing was interrupted by a soft rap on her door. Glancing up she noticed her colleague, Klara Suzuki, standing in the doorway.
"Er…sure, of course, Klara. Come in, have a seat." Hermione motioned to the stool that stood on the other side of her desk. "How was your vacation?" She asked.
"Oh it was fabulous," Klara replied brightly as she folded her deep plum skirt underneath her and perched carefully on the stool. "Ah, I want to talk with you about something…do you have time? It's a wee bit sensitive."
"Ah, yah, what is it?" Hermione asked anxiously. Klara was her supervisor and did have the power to reprimand Hermione. Hermione suddenly worried about the state of her work.
"Er, well…this was on my desk when I came back to work today." Klara produced a file-folder from her oversized, dark brown, leather purse and placed it on Hermione's desk. She opened it and passed the contents – a thick stack of parchment – to Hermione. Glancing at the title page, Hermione read aloud the fancy calligraphy that adorned the parchment:
"An Act Pertaining to the Care and Control of Non-Human Magical Creatures: House Elves." She read quizzically. "What exactly is this Klara?"
"Well…I guess before the holiday, this legislation was drafted. I'm afraid it's not very progressive in regards to the treatment of House Elves…" She looked at Hermione with concern radiating from her almond-shaped eyes. "I know this is an important issue to you Hermione. I wanted you to have a chance to see it before it becomes a law."
"Er…thanks…" Hermione murmured. She was worried about the implications that the legislation might have for House Elves – an issue that she had cared about since she was in school – but was also touched that Klara had recalled how important the matter was to her. It had been a long time since Hermione had discussed her feelings about House Elves with her co-workers and hadn't even been aware that Klara had been listening that closely to what she had said. "Ah…what exactly would this mean…if it becomes law?"
"Well…it basically ensures that House Elves will have a slave-like status…and it will make it a near impossibility to bring about any sort of reform anytime soon."
"Oh that's not good."
"I didn't think you'd like it…"
"I don't get it" – Hermione muttered – "I thought this kind of law was no longer supported. I would have expected more from Minister Shacklebolt," She said, referring to the current Minister of Magic, former Order of the Phoenix member, Kingsley Shacklebolt."
"Ah, I doubt Minister Shackebolt would have seen this yet," Klara speculated.
"Hmm" – Hermione said, thinking aloud more than actually addressing her companion – "Will this even get voted by the Ministers to become a law?" Hermione asked. The proposed legislation would only become a law if enough of the Ministers voted in favour of establishing it as law.
"I wouldn't be surprised…Hermoine…there's a lot in power who still have very old-fashioned views on this sort of thing…not a lot of people will be caring about the House Elves' situation…they'll just be thinking about who's going to do their laundry and prepare their meals…"
"Hey Klara?" – Hermione asked apprehensively after some deliberation – "Would it be alright if I copied this? So I could have a closer look later?"
"Well…" Klara hesitated. "That's not exactly protocol." She was right. The Ministry had very strict rules regarding what the employees could do with the proposed legislation with which they worked. Reproducing it and removing it from the Ministry of Magic building definitely fell well outside of what was considered appropriate. "So you have to be very careful. Don't tell anyone and, if you get caught, I had nothing to do with this." Klara spoke slowly and adamantly, but a determined smile was on her lips.
"You're amazing Klara," Hermione whistled appreciatively. She dug a stack of blank parchment out of her largest desk drawer. After tapping her wand on the proposed legislation, she immediately pressed her wand against the blank parchment. Slowly, ink spread from the tip of her wand, working its way in tiny droplets across the blank pieces of parchment. Gradually, the black ink adopted the same pattern that had been on the originals. Once it was done, Hermione leafed through the second stack of parchment, pleased to see that the text and been perfectly reproduced. She slipped her copy into an empty file folder and stowed it in her beaded bag. She knew that her colleague had already done her a significant favour, but she turned to Klara with another request.
"Ah…Klara…" Hermione feebly questioned. "I know it's a lot to ask, but do you think you'd be able to delay this for a bit. I need to do some more research and stuff…it's really important." Hermione smiled beseechingly, unsure if Klara would be willing to undermine the mechanisms of the government for the sake of her own pet project, even if only in a passive manner. The plight of House Elves was – as she had learnt during her fifth year – hardly a cause that was important to most people.
"A filibuster!" Klara exclaimed, a flash of excitement in her deep brown eyes. Her friend's love of the political process never failed to both perplex and impress Hermione. Klara, however, always found entertainment in the workings of the Government. Hermione was sure that her colleague would continue to work her way up through the Ministry and wouldn't be surprised if she was one day the Minister of Magic. "I can do that for you." Klara leaned across the desk and lowered her voice to a faint whisper. "And Hermione, I agree with you on your views on House Elves…I think that stuff like this" – Klara continued, her voice soft but her tone was forceful as she violently jabbed the offending document with a slender forefinger – "I think it's just rubbish. If you need any help…an extra set of eyes or anything…let me know. I'm more than happy to get involved." Hermione didn't get a chance to reply, but she smiled gratefully while her friend continued. "I have to get back to work…but I'll see you around."
-o-O-o-
Hermione rushed home, eager to read the legislative draft she had obtained earlier. Forgoing her usual hot beverage and without changing out of her work slacks, Hermione collapsed onto her couch and pulled the file out of her beaded bag. She opened it across her lap and started reading the parchment hastily, concerned about what she would find in its contents. The proposed legislation was as alarming as Klara had indicated. Hermione shuddered as she read; the document demonstrated a complete lack of respect for House Elves and no concern about improving their conditions. Admittedly, if the Act was to become law it wouldn't necessarily change the status quo. House Elves were already treated with the same prejudices as displayed by the proposed Act. The law wouldn't alter that House Elves would receive freedom if they were given an article of clothing; that rule was based on a magic that Ministry decrees had no power over. The main problem with the Act, Hermione immediately saw, was that it would limit the possibility of House Elves' treatment approving in the future. Klara was right; the Act would make any reform a near impossibility. For that reason, Hermione was determined that the proposed Act could not become law.
Hermione stayed up late, scouring the writing on the parchment, hoping to find a loophole. She regretfully noted that there were few mistakes in the text, meaning that it would be harder for Klara to delay the editing process. She knew that if she was to find away to combat the Act, she'd have to do it soon. During her third read through of the fifty-seven page document, Hermione finally had to lay it on her coffee table, knowing that if she didn't get some sleep, she would struggle to function the following day.
Author's note: I know that Hermione's House Elves campaign and SPEW is a part of the books that a lot of people don't like, but I always liked the way she had something that she believed in so much. Don't worry, it's not going to be a major part of this story and hopefully I'll be able to write this story line without it being insufferable...Thanks to my very clever friend Butterfliesflyaway123 for helping me with the way a government might work [I couldn't find any info on how the Ministry of Magic works, so most is just made up] I hope the way I've written the government parts makes sense…
Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my big sister, cutiemcqueen86!