A/N: This chapter is rather on the short side, since the place I cut it off at was simply perfect for a mini-cliffhanger. Enjoy.

Chapter may have one or two inconsistencies, since I changed it around a bit from the original text I wrote. If you do find some, please let me know.

Disclaimer: I'm out of clever ideas, so I shall simply point out that I'm not JKR, so I do not own anything related to Harry Potter and its world.

Chapter 5: Break-in at the Ministry!

Madam Pomfrey had declared Hermione's healing of George's shattered leg 'impeccable'. She had even insisted that Hermione train as a Healer under her this year, since she wouldn't be going to school. Always eager to learn something new, Hermione had gladly accepted. So now she had Healing training every day with Madam Pomfrey on top of flying and researching Horcruxes. The Order was glad, they only had one other qualified Healer apart from Madam Pomfrey and they usually made do with their own basic knowledge. Another Healer, even if she were not fully trained, would be a welcome addition.

The news Mundungus had delivered, however, had made them anything but glad. The locket was now in possession of one of Harry's worst nightmares: Dolores Umbridge. She had, according to Mundungus, accepted it as a bribe in exchange of letting him go his way for selling stuff without a license. Once she had taken it, the backstabbing hag had ordered Mundungus arrested for bribing a Ministry employee. That hadn't, of course, stopped her from taking said bribe home with her.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were huddled in Harry's room at number 12, Grimmauld Place, a silencing spell on the door. They had moved in after two weeks of living with Moody and since then, number 12 had reclaimed its place as Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. They still trained every day, but living with Moody was exhausting.

Harry was looking grave. "We'll have to break into the Ministry." Hermione nodded. There really wasn't anything else they could do. Umbridge's house was bound to be well protected and, according to Mr. Weasley, she had authorization to floo directly into the Ministry.

"I reckon the Order won't be too happy." Ron still hadn't apologized to Hermione because of what he had said and how he had acted, but they had both resolved to ignore their fight when talking about their mission. Of course, the fact that the twins had been using him as a guinea pig and he thought Hermione had asked them to torture him, made it all the more difficult for him to feel sorry. Only that morning he had woken up to find that any clothes he put on turned into flowery dresses. The screeching had been heard throughout the whole house.

"Neither am I, truth be told. Harry's wanted for questioning! That's the worst place for him to be at the moment!" She was about to continue her tirade when the door opened. Lupin stood there, hovering on the doorway. He and Harry had had a row a few days earlier and he was, apparently, a little bit unsure of his welcome. He need not have worried, though, because Harry welcomed him in brightly. Lupin however, just told them to meet him downstairs.

When they got to the kitchen, they saw that Arthur, Lupin and Moody were there. In the center of the table was that day's issue of the Daily Prophet, the headline read: MUGGLE-BORN REGISTRY ACT. Harry took one look at it and groaned. Loudly. Behind him, they could hear Ron banging his head against the wall.

"Great! This just keeps getting better and better!" Confused by their reaction to this piece of news, since they had expected them to be more outraged and less… whatever it is they were, they were asked to explain.

"With all the Muggle-borns there, security is bound to be tighter and we," Hermione pointed to all three of them. "Need to break into the Ministry." They had expected shouting, outrage, denial. Instead, they were faced with a silence so thick it could've been cut with a knife. Disbelief was written across all faces, some laced with concern as if wondering whether they should check the trio in an asylum.

In the end, Moody broke the silence. "And why exactly would you need to do that?"

"Well," Hermione looked at Harry briefly. He trusted she would tell only what was necessary and no more. "The mission Dumbledore left Harry—"

"—and us—"

"—yes Ronald, and us, concerns certain… artifacts that belong to Voldemort. We need to find them and destroy them. We've just found out one of them is currently in possession of Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic."

"And Head of the Muggle-Born Registry Commission," added Moody.

"And what exactly are these artifacts?" Lupin said from behind his hands. Tonks was tenderly brushing a hand through his graying hair, trying to calm him down.

Harry looked down. "We can't say. But it's imperative that we get them! Voldemort can't be beaten without them."

"You do realize that the Ministry is full of Death Eaters, right? That Hermione is muggle-born and already high on the Ministry's wanted list?" Arthur shook his head when he saw them nod. "This will take a lot of planning."

"What! Mr. Weasley, no! We can't possibly ask you to—"

Arthur stopped him with a raised hand. "This will still be your mission, but you will do this with the support of the Order. So both of your teams will be involved, and all of us will help with the planning. This is not open for discussion. Merlin only knows what you would do if left on your own devices. Probably end up escaping with half the Ministry on your heels. Not sure we can stop that from happening anyways." They smiled at that. They did have a flair for the dramatic.

Planning the break-in, even with the help of the Order, took nearly a month. They took turns watching the public entrance of the Ministry, either under the Invisibility Cloak or using Disguise Shots and sitting on a quaint little muggle café Tonks had recommended that had a perfect view of the public toilets that dubbed as the Ministry's entrance.

The first of September caught Hermione and Fred, disguised as an American couple, having breakfast while watching the entrance. Hermione had a muggle agenda out and took notes anytime she saw something of interest. She looked at the time and saw it was barely nine thirty.

"It's weird, you know, thinking that the Hogwarts Express will leave in less than two hours and I'm not going to be on it."

"It is. Even though we left school early the year before, and even if we hadn't we wouldn't have been on it, George and I still felt as if we were supposed to be on the Platform that day. It was the weirdest feeling."

She smiled and sipped her latte. When she looked up she saw him looking at her, a small smile on his face. "You've got some cream here," he said pointing to his upper lip. Her tongue darted out but she missed it. He leaned in and brushed his thumb across her lip. "Right… there…" His voice was husky and his thumb remained on her lip a moment too long. They were startled out of their little world by two witches walking towards the Ministry entrance.

"Have you heard who the new Headmaster is? It was on the Prophet this morning."

"Oh, yes. How dreadful, don't you think?"

Blushing, they both jumped back from where they had been leaning in. Fred excused himself for a moment and went to buy the Daily Prophet around the corner. What the hell was that, Hermione! Get a grip!

When he returned, Hermione could see his eyes flashing. He had the prophet clutched tightly on one hand and very nearly upset their cups of coffee when he threw it on the table.

"Just look at it," he said in response to her raised eyebrow. They had gotten very good at reading each other's gestures and, disguise or not, they almost always knew what the other wanted to say. He saw her face change from puzzlement to surprise to rage as she read the article confirming Snape's place as the new Hogwarts Headmaster.

"What are they playing at? Snape Headmaster? Snape in Dumbledore's study, after what he—Fred! We need to get back to Headquarters right now!"

"What? Why?"

"No time to explain! Come on!" She rummaged in the satchel she had taken to carrying whenever they were out on missions, trying hard to not make it obvious she could easily fit her whole body in there. She threw a couple of pounds on the table and took Fred's hand. They were posing as a couple, after all. They made their way into an alley and quickly Disapparated.

When they got there, she dashed to the third floor, Fred being hounded by questions from Mrs. Weasley and Tonks, the only Order members that were there that morning. They weren't supposed to be back for at least another hour. He just told them that Hermione had read the article on Snape making Headmaster and rushed out of there. They all turned towards her when she came down patting her rucksack.

"Phineas Nigellus," she said in lieu of an explanation. Seeing their confused faces, she ran her hand through her short blonde locks. "Phineas Nigellus Black? He was Headmaster at Hogwarts and one of his portraits hangs in this house. Well, hanged. It is now resting here." She finished, patting her satchel.

Fred put his arms around her middle and twirled her around. "Hermione, that's brilliant!" Mrs. Weasley and Tonks no longer thought there was anything odd with these displays, they were far too common. Mrs. Weasley wondered when they would realize they fancied each other. Tonks was wondering the same thing, but she was hoping it came about soon. She'd loose her bet with Remus if it took them longer than Halloween.

That night found Hermione curled in one of the chairs in the library with a book on Healing Potions. Madam Pomfrey would be testing her on those the next day. Her reading was interrupted, however, by the floo roaring. She was surprised to see Bill Weasley coming through. He and Fleur had gotten back from Athens the week before but she still hadn't spoken to him.

"Bill! How are you! How is Fleur? Is everything all right?" She had started excited but by the end the tone of worry was stronger.

"Hey, Hermione! I'm fine, Fleur's fine. We're, in fact, more than fine! We," here he paused for dramatic effect. "Are having a baby!"

"Oh, Bill, that's wonderful! I suppose you'll want to tell your mother right away, wait a moment, I'll go look for her."

"No, Hermione, wait! I'll tell Mum later, there was something I wanted to ask you first." He took a seat across from her, motioning for her to sit down. "You see, Fleur and I talked to Madam Pomfrey about pre-natal care and she told us that with Snape as Headmaster it'd be very difficult for her to check on Fleur as often as she'd like. She also told us that she's been training you as a Healer, and suggested that we ask you for help. She did say you still hadn't covered pregnancies but that she could recommend a couple of good books on it and really, you just need to be able to identify any problems. I could probably do it myself, but I'd much rather have your help with this."

Hermione was shocked. Sure, she knew she was more than capable, but this was his child he was talking about. "Wouldn't you rather have a fully qualified Healer? I mean, I'm honored, but…" she trailed off, not really knowing how to explain.

"You're the smartest person I know, Hermione. And let's face it, with the way things are going at the moment, the Healers at St. Mungo's are more likely to be reporting on our whereabouts to the Death Eaters than taking care of my wife. Fleur quite agrees, by the way."

"Oh, that's… Alright, then. I'll do it!"

"Excellent! I knew I could count on you. Speaking of… how've you been? I heard things between you and Ron still haven't cleared up."

She snorted. "Ron will never apologize, and frankly, I'm not sure I want him to. It's just the same every time. Even now that we only talk when it's something related to our mission I catch him sending me dark looks at meals or really, whenever we cross paths. He seems genuinely convinced that I abandoned him and Harry! And not only that, he is convinced I'm having a torrid love affair with one of the twins. Which I'm not."

"Really? That's not what my source told me. He said you've been getting really cozy with one of them."

"Your source is wrong. There is nothing going on between Fred and—"

He grinned like the cat that caught the canary. "I never specified which twin, Hermione."

She blushed. "I—I was going to say that there was nothing going on between George and me either!"

"Of course you were."

"I was! It is not my fault, Bill Weasley, that you interrupted me."

He raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine, have it your way! And don't worry about Ron, he's just jealous, he'll come around when he finds someone else."

"Fat chance of that happening while we're all locked up in here. Besides, there's nothing to be jealous of. The twins and I are just friends." She missed his amused smirk at her comment.

"Just give him time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find my mother. I recommend a Silencing Charm on the door if you don't want to be interrupted by her excited screeching. Good night, Hermione."

"Night, Bill! And congratulations again. Send my regards to Fleur, will you?" He nodded as he left. Hermione shot a Silencing Charm at the door.

"Tomorrow is the perfect opportunity for you six to break into the Ministry." Lupin, Moody, Arthur, Hestia, the twins, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting around the kitchen table, discussing their plan to break into the Ministry. "They are holding mass interviews for new interns, so you should be able to camouflage yourselves with the rest of the applicants. You'll be able to blend in, so it should give you further freedom of movement."

Harry's head snapped up. "That's great! That solves who Fred, Hermione and George can be. Do you know if the toad has any trials programmed for tomorrow?"

Hestia, who worked for the DMLE, nodded. "There always is, these days, but I don't know who. She should be down at the courtrooms in any case."

"So we'll send Mafalda back home sick so that Hestia can take her place as court scribe for the morning. Ron will be taking Reggie's place and Harry will be Jackson, the courtroom's security guard. George, Fred and Hermione will pose as interns."

Arthur took it up when Lupin paused. "Ron, you'll be hovering around the courtrooms as additional support for Hestia and Harry. If anyone asks, you were called down there by the Department of Mysteries to deal with a leak. There have been enough of those around for it to be believable with no one confirming it. George, Hermione and Fred, you'll have to ditch the interns and make your way to Umbridge's office. You get in, search it, and get out.

They went to sleep content with the plan. How they would get the locket form Umbridge if she had it with her was not quite clear, but it was open to improvisation. The next morning, however put a damper on their plans. More than half of those who had stayed for dinner the night before, including Hestia and George, had woken up with upset stomachs. The shrimp, apparently, had gone bad. There was no way they would be joining the mission today.

"We can't postpone it, Umbridge leaves tomorrow for a month, remember? We heard her secretary say so last week. What if she loses the locket? We can't risk it. We'll have to adjust. I'll take Hestia's place, Fred can be Jackson. Harry, you take the intern post with Ron as back-up."

"Why switch? Why can't Harry and I be Jackson and Hestia?"

"So you want to polyjuice into a woman, brother? Never knew you swung that way, but if that's what floats your boat…" Fred let the sentence trail off, open to interpretation.

"It's nothing like that, you git!"

Everything was going fine. Hermione-as-Hestia had been called down to the courtrooms once Mafalda was sent home with a dreadful nosebleed. Fred-as-Jackson ushered her in, giving her a wink for encouragement. She was forced to endure trial after trial of the most absurd things. Hermione was glad she hadn't been asked to provide a Patronus against the occasional Dementor escorting the accused; if anyone knew Hestia's Patronus they'd know right away someone was impersonating her. Umbridge's cat Patronus did that. She was somewhat pleased to see that so far, none of the sentences had been more than fines, outrageously larges fines, but fines nonetheless. She kept checking her watch and when she saw the hour mark approaching she took a small vial of more Hestia-polyjuice and downed it. She saw Fred do the same. "Upset stomach," she said when Umbridge looked at her oddly.

Not really expecting it, she was surprised to see Slytherin's locket hanging off the hag's neck when she took off her scarf during a small break between cases.

"That's a wonderfully beautiful locket, Dolores. Wherever did you get it?" She did her best to imitate Hestia's colorful way of talking. She must have done alright because Umbridge simply dangled the locket off to show it off better.

"Oh, this is a family heirloom. It was my mother's, Eloise Selwyn." Yeah, right, you lying toad! Hermione wished she could say that to her face, but as she wanted Hestia to keep her job, she had to hold her tongue.

Their conversation was interrupted when "Jackson" opened the door and a heavily built, very tall man walked in.

"Runcorn? What do you want?" Yaxley, a rather slender blond-haired Death Eater asked from Umbridge's other side.

"Ah, Yaxley! I was wondering if I could sit in. I find myself rather unoccupied this morning." Hermione inwardly groaned. Another Ministry official to fight in case something broke out.

Umbridge's sickly sweet voice rang through the courtroom. "Wonderful, Runcorn. Sit here, beside Hestia." He made his way and took a sit beside Hermione. Once Umbridge's attention was back on her papers, Runcorn leaned over to Hermione.

"It's me, Harry! I ran into a bit of trouble with this guy and had to Stun him. Ron is outside. The locket wasn't in her office, any luck here?" Hermione had to work hard not to gasp.

"Merlin, you scared me! And yes, I found it, she's wearing it. What bit of trouble? And how do you want to play this?"

"Never mind that, I'll explain back at headquarters. Let her finish the trials and we'll ambush her on her way out."

"Hem, hem." Hermione had to fight the urge to be sick at her 'hem-hemming'. By the looks on the other's faces, she wasn't the only one. "Let us resume. The next trial… Ah, yes! The spawn of traitors. It'll be the Kiss for this one, Hestia, mark my words." She gestured to the other guard who opened a side door. Hermione gasped and she could see Harry and Fred do the same.

Long, dirty blonde hair flowing behind her, head held high, in had walked none other than Lavender Brown.

* A/N

There was once a young author who wrote a story. It had over 20k words. When she went to look at the reviews her readers had left, she found that only TWO PEOPLE took the time to leave a commentary (and I'm immensely thankful to those two people, Harriettlovesbooks and 93 Diagon Alley, you both rock!). She was sad. When she's sad, she doesn't get inspiration. No inspiration, the story stays at 20k words, so please, please, please, review! I need to know if you like it, love it or—god forbid—hate it! Comments, reviews! They are food for the soul! Without food, the soul starves and so does the story, so review! I'll still upload, but please make me happy and review :D )

I hope you liked it! Cheers,

C.