Chapter 3: the ministry of magic
Harry awoke early the next morning. Once dressed, he made his way down the stairs to the kitchen. He didn't think anyone else would be up but upon entering the kitchen he met Mrs. Weasley, who was sitting at the table with a cup of tea. She looked up at the sound of him approaching and Harry noticed that her eyes were red and swollen. She stood up hastily and bustled over to the stove in an attempt to hide the fact that she had been crying, dabbing her face with her apron.
"Are you hungry dear?" she asked over her shoulder. "I'll have breakfast ready in a moment."
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," said Harry. "Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked.
"Oh, no. You just sit down. Where's Ron and Hermione? Aren't you guys going into the Ministry to meet with Kingsley today?" she asked.
"I expect they'll be down soon. We don't have to be at the Ministry for another couple of hours," said Harry as he poured himself a cup of tea.
A few moments later, Hermione came into the kitchen followed by Ron, who still looked to be half asleep.
"Morning," said Harry.
"Morning," mumbled Ron as he flopped himself down at the table and began pulling piles of food onto his plate from the platter Molly had just sat down. Ginny came in next and when she saw Harry, her face split into a wide grin. She took her seat next to him and reached across the table for the jug of pumpkin juice.
"How long do you think it will take you guys at the Ministry today?" she asked Harry in a low voice.
"No idea. We don't even know what Kingsley wants to discuss with us," he answered. "Why?"
"Well, I was thinking that we could take a walk up to the stream when you get back. Just you and me," said Ginny. "Come and get me when you get back," she added, winking.
Harry could feel his face getting red. "Ok . . ." was all he could manage to say.
After breakfast, Harry, Ron and Hermione bid everyone goodbye and made their way out to the back garden to apparate to the Ministry.
"Seeing as you two never officially got your apparition license, I think it would be a good idea that I side-along you both," said Hermione once they reached the apparition point.
"Good idea," said Harry. "We don't want to be law breakers," he added with a sideways glance at Ron, who looked just as amused as he was.
"I just want to be safe," huffed Hermione, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I was just kidding Hermione," said Harry.
"I know. I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous about today," she said, wringing her hands.
"Well let's go then. We don't want to be late," said Ron.
Both Harry and Ron grasped Hermione's hands as she turned on the spot and apparated them to the visitors entrance of the Ministry. Hushed whispers followed them as they walked through the Atrium to the security desk.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione!," came Kingsley's booming voice. "It's great to see you all again," he said, shaking their hands. "I just have a few things to go over with you so if you will follow me, we'll go up to my office."
They quickly made their way through the Atrium to the lift that would take them to Level One. Harry immediately noticed that the horrible statue Voldemort had erected during his reign at the Ministry was now gone. There wasn't yet a replacement but he figured that anything had to be better then what was there before.
Harry noticed that the Ministry employees all seemed to be staring at the three of them as they followed Kingsley, and Harry could hear more of the same hushed whispers that met them when they first arrived. He glanced at Ron and Hermione. Both wore apprehensive expressions on their faces that he was sure mirrored his own. This was the first time they had entered the Ministry of Magic since they broke in impersonating Ministry workers to steal the horcrux.
"I'm sure you've been wondering why I asked you here this morning," said Kingsley once they were all seated in his office. "Firstly, I want to assure you that you will not be punished for breaking into the Ministry or Gringotts bank," he said. "Although the Goblins were quite hard to convince," he added with a grin.
Harry laughed nervously. "Sir, I do want to apologize about those things, and I'm more then willing to pay for any damages we caused', he said.
"You three have already repaid us," said Kingsley. "We can never thank you enough. What you did this past year saved our lives and our world." He paused and smiled at them before continuing. "Anyway, the real reason I asked you here today was to offer you three jobs here at the Ministry. After what you did this past year, we've decided that you will not be required to sit for your NEWT level examinations. Defeating a dark wizard is more than enough to compensate."
Harry was stunned. He never imagined that he would be offered a job today. "What kind of job, sir?" he asked.
"Well Harry, I hear from Professor McGonagall that you and Mr. Weasley here were working toward a career as an Auror. I would love to offer you both a job as full Aurors. We will not require you to go through the normal training. As I said before, the experience you had this past year is more then most of our most senior Auror's have had."
Harry turned to look at Ron. He had a dumbstruck look on his face as he also turned to look at Harry. "Can we think about it and get back to you?" asked Harry.
"Of course, of course. Just let me know what you decide," said Kingsley. He then turned to Hermione. "Now, Miss. Granger, I would like to offer you a position in the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. I heard about what you were attempting to do for the house elves from Professor McGonagall and we need someone with your visions on the team. What do you say?" he asked.
"I'd love to!" said Hermione. "What would I be doing?"
"We could use some help passing some new laws for the fair treatment of house elves along with several other magical creatures and I believe you have to the passion and drive to make that happen."
Hermione was absolutely beaming at this point. "Thank you Minister. You know, I have several ideas that I'm sure would work," she said.
"Great, great. Can you start next Monday?" asked Kingsley.
"Yes, of course," said Hermione. Harry was stunned. He had always imagined Hermione going back to Hogwarts to finish her education. Apparently he'd been wrong.
"Then it's settled. Here's the paperwork that you'll need when you come in next Monday," said Kingsley as he passed a thick packet to Hermione. "Boys, let me know what you decide as soon as possible. We could really use you on board. Not all of the Death Eaters were captured at Hogwarts last month."
"Yes sir. We'll let you know by the end of the week," said Harry as they all stood to leave. "It was great seeing you."
"And you as well. I'll be expecting your owl," said Kingsley as he also stood up to shake their hands. "I'll walk you out."
"Oh, one more thing, Minister. Ron and me never had the chance to pass our apparition exams but we have both been apparating for the last year," said Harry.
"Yes, I'm quite aware of that, thanks for reminding me," said Kingsley. He walked back behind his desk and pulled out two pieces of parchment and handed them to Ron and Harry. "These are your apparition licenses."
"Thank you sir," said Ron and Harry in unison.
"It's nothing. You two deserve it. Just don't go splinching yourselves," said Kingsley with a smile. "Now, let me walk you back to the Atrium."
The trio followed Kingsley back to the lifts and through to the Atrium. They bid him farewell and made their way back to the apparition point. The same stares and whispering met them on their way out.
"What's everyone staring at?" asked Harry, finally having enough.
"You," replied Hermione. "If you think you were famous before, you're even more so now."
"But you guys were with me too. They could be staring at the three of us," said Harry
"Yeah mate, but you are the one that killed Voldemort," said Ron.
"Well, lets just get out of here," said Harry. He was starting to feel uncomfortable.
Hermione made to grab their hands to apparate back to the burrow but Ron stopped her and waived his new apparition license in her face. "We don't need your help now Hermione," he said.
"Just don't splinch yourself Ronald," said Hermione in annoyance, rolling her eyes.
They all turned on the spot and apparated back to the Burrow.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading. I'll try to keep updating the chapters quickly! Please review!