Chapter 17

Hermione POV

"Thanks, everyone, for joining me for this impromptu meeting," Ms. Blake said as she walked into the room and took up a seat, hardly glancing at the rest of the team who were already seated. "As you all know, we presented the proposal to France's Minister for Magic early yesterday," she said as she sat back and now looked out among her team. "I just spoke with him and a number of higher up French officials and he said that the proposal is good to go-" Hermione lit up, "-if we can present enough evidence that proves these reforms are desired by the public. We're starting to receive some push-back and the Minister is unconvinced that these reforms will go over well. It appears as though when he initially signed off on this project he wasn't quite aware as to what the definition of 'reform' was," she finished dryly. "As such, he requires that we obtain written confirmation of support from at least 50% of all registered house-elf owners and 25% of that must be from families whose house-elf ownership dates back four generations or more." There were murmurs around the table, but were quickly snuffed out as Ms. Blake continued. "And we will need to secure funding from outside sources, totalling at least $100,000 galleons."

"That's outrageous," Hermione asserted, a look of total disbelief on her face. "How are we are ever going to get all that?" She looked wildly from Ms. Blake to the others and back.

"There's more," Ms. Blake informed her. "We need to secure all this by February 1."

Loud objections rang out across the room as everyone began talking over one another.

"But that's hardly 2 months," Hermione protested. "It's impossible. How can they justify these demands?"

Ms. Blake shook her head. "Well, the Ministry is well supported politically by a number of families that likely fall into this 25% range of four-generation owners, so the Minister was probably just recently advised that without their support these reforms could cause backlash. As for the funding, that would appease some of the less wealthy house-elf owners and also to encourage registration; the French Ministry intends to set up a fund for monetary support of qualified families who can't afford to pay their house-elves on their own."

Everyone at the table was shaking their heads, minus Percy.

"I told you your reforms were too radical," Percy shot as she stared down Hermione.

Normally, Hermione would've gladly gotten into a row with him over such a topic, but right now she refused to waste her energies on him.

"Would it help if we altered the proposal?" Hermione asked Ms. Blake, refusing to look at Percy.

"Perhaps," Ms. Blake shrugged. "But I think we all very well know that we're all wasting our time and might as well go home if we don't try for these changes."

"But, I just don't see how we can get that kind of support so quickly," Hermione admitted with reluctance.

"I thought you believed in this initiative," Ms. Blake said. Her voice was light, but her eyes hinted at the underlying challenge in her words. "I thought a Gryffindor, of all people, would try." Her eyes now twinkled.

Hermione swallowed in unease. "I'm just being logical."

"Look," Ms. Blake said with an ounce of impatience beginning to show through, "I've worked with the Minister before, we can lessen the reforms, but he now has it in his head that this project isn't going to work. He'll shut it down. If we can't prove that this is worth fighting for, he'll send us packing."

Hermione noted how nearly pleased Percy looked, but chose to ignore him. Mr. Higgit looked pale, and Mr. Noirent looked defeated.

"Scrimgeour will have my hide," Mr. Higgit said in daze as he stared absently at the table.

"No, he won't," Ms. Blake chided. "He'll be displeased, of course, we all know how much he expected this project to do for our diplomatic ties, never mind the resources that have already been invested into this, but he'll get over it."

Hermione frowned. She wasn't sure what to do or what to think. Everything had been going so well, and now this. She honestly couldn't see how they could meet the Minister's requests, but at the same time, she could not be content with herself if they gave up. She looked over at Ms. Blake who was watching her quietly.

"Hermione?" Ms. Blake asked.

"I think we should try," Hermione nodded, her voice filled with determination.

Ms. Blake smiled softly and turned to the others. "Gentlemen?"

Mr. Noirent and Mr. Higgit gave reluctant nods. Percy sat very straight in his chair, looking rather stern, before finally giving in under Ms. Blake's calm, but unyielding stare.

"Then it's settled. We'll carry on," Ms. Blake stated as she flicked her wand and a slew of parchment came out of her briefcase and settled into a neat pile before her. "I have a list here of all the registered house-elf owners. I, along with the French Department Head, will be splitting the list amongst you."

Another set of nods began in a wave around the table, one eager, a couple tentative, and one displeased.

"I'm counting on you," Ms. Blake said as she rose from the table. With another flick of her wand all her papers were back in her briefcase and she was walking out of the room. As she walked out of the room, Ms. Blake caught Hermione's eye briefly and gave her a single nod.

Hermione's eyes followed Ms. Blake until she was out of sight. Eventually she noticed Percy's gaze upon her, she looked over and he was staring at her darkly. She stared back at him, unflinching, both of them refusing to speak until Mr. Higgit and Mr. Noirent had left the room. The second they had left, Percy gave an abrupt wave of his wand and the door closed, locking them into this heavy silence. A moment later, Percy spoke.

"Now look what you've done," he accused.

"I didn't write it single-handedly, you know," Hermione retorted. "And you heard Ms. Blake, she thinks we can do it. And even if we can't, we need to try."

Percy scoffed. "How idealistic. I must have missed the potions class where they taught us how to brew naivety in a bottle."

Hermione scowled indignantly at the boy. "Why are you even here, Percy? If you hate this cause so much, why did you sign on?"

"I don't hate the cause," Percy remarked. "We never had a house-elf, you know that. Regardless, Mr. Scrimgeour personally requested that I be here, so, here I am."

"Does he know that you have such a poor attitude?" Hermione asked defiantly.

"Does he know that Ms. Blake has apparently lost her better judgement because she's so taken with you and your little crusade?" He challenged.

"What?" Hermione asked slowly, her eyes narrowing dangerously at him as she crossed her arms.

"It's so obvious, you're her little pet," he replied lightly.

"Ms. Blake respects my work, and that's the only reason she ever talks to me. She's just as quick to criticize me as everyone else," Hermione asserted.

"Yes, 'Hermione'," he drew out her name. "She never calls anyone else by their first name. I don't know what you've done, but she's playing favourites and you're it."

"I haven't done anything!" Hermione protested. "You're just jealous. You can't stand that someone else might actually be capable or get some level of recognition."

"Oh, you can have this recognition," Percy scoffed. "I don't want my name tied to this disaster."

Hermione was about to retaliate when she caught herself. She was too furious, she had to cool down. She let out a heavy sigh, momentarily closing her eyes in an attempt to put a cap on her indignation. When she opened her eyes she checked her watch. It was late, time to go home.

"Fighting isn't going to do us any good," Hermione reasoned. She half expected a retort from Percy, but he eventually gave a reluctant nod of agreement. "We can talk more about this later if you want. But, right now, it's late and I think we both have a lot to think about. I'm going home. Have a good evening."

Hermione stood without waiting for a response, though she heard Percy grunt out a scoff. Though it would've normally irked her, right now, she frankly didn't really care. She made a quick stop off at her office to gather her things and went downstairs to the floo network.

The second she stepped out of the fireplace, and into her living room, Hermione hurriedly took off her necklace and set it on the floor. She stood and waited, feeling far too agitated to even sit down. She tapped her foot impatiently.

"Ginny," she growled under her breath as she tapped her foot with increasing frustration.

A relieved sigh escaped Hermione's lips as an image of Ginny popped up. If she weren't in such a foul mood she might've laughed at the image of Ginny, as she appeared to be huddled in a corner of some kind.

"Hey, what's up?" Ginny whispered. "Whoa, what's wrong?" Ginny asked as her eyes widened momentarily, apparently after assessing Hermione's demeanour.

"The French Ministry, your brother, lots of things," Hermione rattled off, her arms folded against her chest.

"Oh," Ginny said. "Tell me what happened."

Numerous minutes later, Hermione wrapped up her retelling of the recent events to Ginny. The brunette was nearly out of breath because she barely took a second to breathe as she hurriedly jumped from one point to the next.

"Wow, I can see why you're upset," Ginny said slowly, seeming to ponder everything just said. "If I kill Percy in his sleep, do you think anyone will miss him?"

"Gin," Hermione laughed despite trying not to. "Please, I'm not in the mood for jokes."

"Okay," Ginny said as she gave her an apologetic smirk. "Well, do you think you guys can do it? Meet all those requests?"

Hermione sighed heavily. "I...I honestly don't think so."

"Well, do you think Ms. Blake would set you guys up for failure?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," Hermione shook her head. "I don't think so...I don't think she's someone who fails at anything. She's very capable and knows what she's doing."

Ginny shrugged. "So, then I guess you're good to go."

"I wish it was that easy," Hermione smirked ruefully.

"Well, it sounds like this Ms. Blake likes you, and according to Harry and Ron, she doesn't like much of anyone, so she must know that you're special. I would think that she trusts that you'll get what you need."

"Maybe," Hermione sighed.

"Just take it easy for now," Ginny said. "You can only do so much, so do your best, and that's that."

"Thanks, Gin. Sorry to unload all of that on you," Hermione said as she moved over to the couch and sat down.

"You got it," Ginny responded nonchalantly.

"Where are you?" Hermione asked as she arched an eyebrow.

"Hiding in Babbling's classroom," the redhead replied as she looked around. "I was coming back from dinner when you messaged me."

"Sorry," Hermione said, wincing in apology.

"It's fine, I'm happy to talk," Ginny nodded. "Or listen," she added with a laugh.

"Thank you," Hermione smiled.

Ginny winked, and despite Hermione's residual foul mood, the action still sent her heart a flutter. "Anytime."

Hermione stirred, and slowly blinked her eyes as she woke. She let out an exhausted groan as she dragged her body upright. With a slight shake of her head, a feeble attempt to rid herself of her lethargy, she turned her head to check the time.

"9:52,"Hermione mumbled in disbelief. She never slept this late. "Ugh, Crookshanks," Hermione complained as he kept nudging up against her. "What's wrong?" She asked exasperatedly as she looked at him. He meowed at her and nudged her again.

Shaking out her head once more, she slowly slid out of her bed and went into the kitchen to fetch him some food.

"Here you go," she said as she bent down to give him his bowl. He just pushed right passed it and meowed at her again.

"What is it?" She asked. "Water?" She went over and grabbed him some more water and he ignored it as well. "Crookshanks," she whined, "I don't know what you want. Are you not well?" She knelt down to examine him and he purred, rubbing his face against hers. "Aww, you're just lonely, aren't you? No other students to bother, or my parents. I'm sorry, little Crookshanks. I'll try to be better," she said softly as she stood up and stretched.

With a yawn she padded to the bathroom for her shower.

As she got ready, she thanked her lucky stars that it was Saturday. Even after her shower, she still felt groggy. She put a hand to her forehead, feeling for a temperature. It felt about normal to her, maybe all the stress from work was just finally catching up.

A short while later, Hermione was settled at the dining table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. As she was draining the last of her coffee, a light tapping at the window caught her attention. She looked up to see Pig hopping up and down outside on the ledge. With a smile, Hermione crossed the room and pushed the thin curtains aside to open the window. She had hardly opened the window when Pig squeezed through and did an erratic loop around her living room to eventually settle on her shoulder hooting happily.

"Well it's good to see you too," Hermione laughed as she took the scroll from his outreached leg. "Hold on a second, I'll get you a treat," she said as he hopped off her shoulder and flew over to the mantle above the fireplace to seemingly examine the moving photos on the wall.

"Okay, here you go," Hermione said as she reached her hand out to Pig and offered a small treat. "You don't have to go back right away," she said. "Rest, you've had a long journey." With a subdued noise, Pig flew to the other side of the room and got comfortable on a small ledge before closing his eyes.

Hermione smiled at the small animal before sitting back down at the table and opening the letter. Crookshanks circled her feet as she began to read.

Hi Love,

I just got back from practice and I have to say that the Planner was amazing as usual. Everyone's still amazed by how brilliant it is. It's a good thing I'm so adept at hexing or else I'm sure someone from an opposing team would've stolen it from me by now.

So how are the efforts to get support for your project going? If anyone can talk some sense into the house-elf owners it's you. Are you sure Percy has to speak with people too? If anything, he's just going to create opposition for you guys. Perhaps not intentionally, but he's wretched at hiding his displeasure with things.

Anyway, I should go. I promised Colin I'd help him with our Transfiguration assignment. Take care of yourself. I can't wait to see you (3 weeks to go!).

All my love,

Ginny

Hermione's quiet smile grew as she finished reading Ginny's letter. Three weeks - Hermione sighed at the thought, that felt like a long time. Though, she imagined those three weeks would absolutely fly by. Starting Monday, they were supposed to begin speaking with the prospects for garnering testimonials of support for the project. In fact, today Hermione had committed herself to begin researching those on her list to see what the best angle would be when she approached them.

On top of this whole 'establishing official support' task, Hermione had holiday festivities to cope with. The French Ministry's Christmas party was coming up, and Hermione had to admit she never particularly liked these sorts of networking celebrations. She anticipated that this would be like the Slug Club, intensified. She'd obviously never attended a work holiday function, but she couldn't foresee it being an enjoyable event. Everyone in her team was bringing a significant other, even Percy, which was odd because she had no idea he was seeing anyone. The only person not bringing someone was her. However, she quickly cut that thought short by reminding herself that she did have someone to bring, unfortunately Ginny was unable to attend due to her schooling, plus, well...nobody knew about them. Other than Percy, of course.

With a tired sigh, Hermione walked over to her briefcase and pulled out her stacks of documentation. Her eyes scanned the profile that lay at the top of the pile. She shook her head wearily; there was no bloody way he'd sign in support of their cause. Tossing the paper onto the table, she leaned back in her chair and assessed the paperwork before her. She picked up her wand and gave it a quick wave. A few seconds later she could hear more coffee brewing - she'd need it. It was going to be a long day.

Hermione sat in Mr. Noirent's office at the end of the afternoon and gave him her latest prospecting report. The team had been speaking with the people on the lists provided by Ms. Blake for the past two weeks and Hermione was absolutely stunned by how well it was going. From all of the profiles that at least Hermione had been provided, nearly all of them should've been slamming doors in their faces. Amazingly though, that hadn't been the case.

"Great response rate," Mr. Noirent glowed. "Everyone else's came back with similar results," he said, clearly still in awe. "This is such excellent news. I have to admit, I was really worried originally. And even after last week's positive results came in, I thought maybe it was just 'beginner's luck' or some other such rubbish. But," he gestured to Hermione's list of signatures, "I'm starting to believe that we might actually reach the quota."

Hermione shook her head in pleasant disbelief, a smile on her face. "I know exactly what you mean. I felt, feel, the same way," she laughed.

Mr. Noirent nodded and added Hermione's list to a pre-existing stack of signatures. "Ms. Blake will be very pleased, as will Mr. Scrimgeour." He gave a small light-hearted chuckle. "You know, I couldn't believe how optimistic Ms. Blake was when she announced the French Ministry's requests, but it appears as though her confidence in the project was well-placed."

"Nothing gets past her," Hermione laughed lightly. "She just always seems to know."

He smiled at her and handed her next week's list of prospects.

"We have a meeting booked with Beauxbatons late next week. They have a huge amount of house-elves residing there, similar to Hogwarts. We're hoping not only to get their written support, but we're hoping to secure the majority of our funding from them."

Hermione nodded in agreement, knowing that Beauxbatons was their best bet, but even then, gaining the school's support could be a real challenge.

"Well," Mr. Noirent said as he sat back in his chair. "You should go home. We have a big night tomorrow," he said with apparent displeasure in reference to their Christmas party, "so rest up. You look very tired. Are you feeling well?"

Hermione smiled embarrassedly. "Oh yes, I'm fine. I'll just be sure to get more sleep tonight. Well, I'll see you tomorrow night. Have a good evening," she said as she rose from her seat.

"Good night."

A short while later, Hermione arrived in her flat. She yawned as she set her things down. She truly was exhausted. A weary sigh escaped her mouth tailed by a light laugh. At the end, this would all be worth it - it had to be.

AN: I apologize for the lack of Ginny/Hermione time in this chapter. They'll get more quality time soon enough. Hopefully everyone is enjoying their weekend and has an extra day or two off from whatever it is they're doing. Thanks for reading!