Chapter 2: Groundhog Day

Luna hugged her father goodbye, re-tied her hair into a messy bun and tucked her kitten, Alcyone, under her arm. She was apprehensive about coming back to Hogwarts. She'd never really cared about how she had been teased growing up: she'd never known any different. But during the war she was a hero and she'd been accepted, even liked. It was going to be hard going back. But at least it was only for two years. Plus her father had bought her Alcyone who would be wonderful company, and Dumbledore had donated thousands of his personal collection of books to the Hogwarts library, so she would have plenty to do. She straightened her back and walked towards the barrier on platform 9 and ¾.

The Hogwarts Express always took her breath away and today was no exception. She made her way to the front of the train, fewer people came that way so she was more likely to be left alone. She wished she had her iPod with her, but it wouldn't be able to handle all the magic and would only make garbled sounds. She would do her special spell for music that only she could hear once she found her seat. Her thoughts were interrupted by a first year smiling and waving "hi Luna!" the little blonde girl said excitedly.

Luna smiled back "hello, what's your name?"

"Eva, my mummy told me all about you, she said you were one of the students who helped with the war, she said you were tortured! You are so brave."

Luna blushed "your mother is very kind, but I just did what anyone else would. My friends, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville were much braver than me. Do you have siblings, Eva?"

"Yes, a sister and a brother, but they are too young to come to Hogwarts."

Luna smiled "well you will have to write to them to let them know all about it, good luck for your sorting, Eva."

Luna continued her walk to the front of the train and noticed that people smiled at her and waved and there were several people who called out greetings. Eventually she reached the front of the train and found a compartment with Ginny and two other girls from their year, a Ravenclaw called Janvi Singh and a Hufflepuff called Adelaide Morrison. Ginny stood and hugged her friend tightly.

"It's so good to see you, Luna."

Luna hugged her friend and kissed her on the cheek. Ginny had been her first real friend.

"It's been a weird day" Luna commented.

Ginny raised an eyebrow "why's that?" expecting Luna to announce a discovery of a new creature or theory.

"People kept talking to me on the station. It was almost as if they liked me."

Ginny sighed "of course they like you, Luna! You're a hero."

"I am?"

Ginny resisted the urge to shake her friend. "Yes, Luna" she said barely concealing a sigh.

"Well, how nice" Luna commented absentmindedly as a warm feeling rose in her chest. Perhaps she wouldn't be teased this year she thought to herself as she packed her trunk away and put Alcyone on her lap.

XXX

Neville and Hermione were summonsed by McGonagall as soon as the start of year feast had ended. The prefects rose to direct the first years to their dormitories and Hermione and Neville followed their headmistress up a staircase they had never seen before. Hermione's jaw dropped as McGonagall opened the door to reveal the Head Boy's and Head Girl's lounge. There were plush chairs which surrounded a very healthy fireplace, there were about a hundred books. Hermione could see they had been selected to match hers and Neville's tastes. There was a small greenhouse on an adjoining room and a desk where Hermione could work on her runes.

"This is your home for the next academic year. Its use is a privilege and not a right. You each are allowed five guests who may know the whereabouts of the suite, the password is currently daffodil, you will need to choose a new one every four weeks. I suggest you make yourselves at home, your trunks have been brought up. Neville your study, bedroom and bathroom are to the left, Hermione, yours are to the right. Should you need anything else in your chambers, please let me know."

Hermione and Neville looked at each other and grinned.

"I know, it is an exceptional set of rooms, but trust me, you will need this privacy. You will be more than figureheads, the head girl and head boy participate in the board meetings and policy decisions made at Hogwarts. In addition you are to mentor the prefects and junior members of the school, speak on behalf of the school when requested to and assist me with miscellaneous duties. My year as head girl was one of the best of my life, but it is extremely busy and, at times, very stressful. If you have things you want to do, trips you may want to take, these will need to be planned well in advance. I know you are both of age but should you need me for anything, here is the password for my office" McGonagall handed them each a piece of parchment.

Hermione smiled at her mentor who nodded briskly. Hermione knew that McGonagall was referring to Hermione's plan to return to Australia to see her parents when she mentioned trips. After McGonagall left, she and Neville went to their respective rooms to unpack and consider the year ahead. Hermione pulled out her timetable and began planning the year, for the first time in months she felt excited about the future, looking around at her textbooks and the other books McGonagall had selected for her bedroom. It was nice to be a kid again. She knew the year would be stressful, but it would be good stressful, not trying to save the world from Voldemort stressful.

XXX

Rita Skeeter's desk was her pride and joy. She had bought it after her third year working. She'd seen her rich pureblood friends' parents' desks in their mansions. Her parents had grown up in a two bedroom semi-detached council flat. Their daughter had a love of reading and writing stories, which they had encouraged, but it was hard for them to accept her when she'd gone to Hogwarts, although they'd kept in touch until they'd died. No one knew she was muggle born, perhaps it would work in her favour with the new regime. She sat at her mahogany desk with the finest quills and parchment and reached into her locked bottom desk drawer. It opened to reveal thousands of files. She reached to the very front file which had a list of all the important people in the wizarding world, and many in the muggle world. Rita had devised a spell where she could speak and the files would automatically update. The writing would be in different colours depending on the source: red for gossip, blue for sources she could trust, and green for cold hard fact, with a myriad of colours for in between.

"I want someone corruptible, power hungry and malleable to help me get what I want" Rita said into the air. There was a flurry of paper, forming a miniature tornado around her head as the spell worked. Suddenly the papers fell down perfectly into the drawer once again, with three files falling onto her desk, on top of each other in alphabetical order. Rita smiled at her own spell. People knew she was manipulative and cunning, but she hid her raw intelligence and penchant for spell making from the world. She eagerly read the three files and smiled when she got to the third. She had just the person for the job. She summonsed a piece of her best parchment and began to write a letter.

XXX

Kinglsey's first meeting with his Inner Council or IC as it was colloquially known was held in the Minister's office. There were four members elected by the wizarding population, the head of the Wizengamot and was a member automatically, as were the heads of the departments of trade, mysteries, home affairs and justice. Kingsley, as minister was then permitted to choose up to six members. He had chosen Mr and Mrs Weasley who sat next to each other in the seats closest to the door, Mrs Weasley looking nervous, Mr Weasley apparently calm, Minerva McGonagall, Firenze, Kreacher, and James McKenzie, a prominent lawyer. They had filled the seats nearest the Weasleys, all of them but McGonagall and McKenzie looking apprehensive, as if they didn't quite belong. Kingsley despised inequality and knew the only way to promote the wellbeing of other magical creatures was to lead from the front. He had tried to recruit Delphin Fasthook, a goblin to join the ranks but he'd turned the IC down, in very frank terms. Kingsley added building rapport with the goblins to his massive to do list. Poor Aaron, he looked at his senior undersecretary, the younger man sat to one side, away from the oval table, quill in hand and owl on shoulder. He had bags under his eyes but still appeared focused. Kingsley made another mental note to give Aaron a day off.

Kingsley turned his eyes to the compulsory members of the IC. They were the most powerful people in England, more powerful than him in a way. The most powerful of them all: Jacob Hayworth noticed Kingsley looking at him and nodded. The chief of the Wizengamot was in his sixties with piercing eyes which were so dark blue they appeared black, his white hair was cropped short and he wore plain black robes which were clearly expensive. He was from an old, powerful wizarding family and commanded the attention of every room he entered. Kingsley knew he would have to work hard to earn this man's respect. The head of the Department of Mysteries sat next to him, a slight man named Vesuvius Rota, Kingsley thought it fitting that he knew next to nothing about him. Vesuvius sat next to Hestia Jones, who had been elected to the IC, she smiled and waved at Kingsley who felt instantly more comfortable knowing he had a close friend and ally amongst the elected members. The other three elected members: Centuri Cyreene, Michael Moriarty, and Peter Lewis sat quietly, watching the heads of department.

The head of the Department of Trade was seated to Kingsley's right. Silvias Kwan was Eurasian with striking features, set off by a deep emerald set of dress robes. He was a career diplomat with perfect people skills and was one of the sharpest people Kingsley had ever met. Jack Sutherland sat next to him, the head of the home department was slight with blue eyes and auburn hair. She was known as one of the most dedicated and hard working people at the Ministry. She was fiercely loyal to those who worked for her and her quiet dedication had made her extremely popular. John Smith, head of the department of mysteries sat with his fingertips touching and his chin resting on his fingertips. He scanned the room behind his horn rimmed spectacles. He was dressed in unobtrusive clothes and seldom spoke. He was good at making people forget he was in the room. Kingsley knew hardly anything about him, which he supposed was fitting for the person who was head of the department of mysteries. The head of the justice department was Patrick Attle a chubby, dark haired man who had ignored Kingsley, and anyone else he thought was inferior to him at Hogwarts. He was formerly head of the lawyers' guild and was extremely powerful. He'd left England during the war – wanting to seem neutral. Of all the people in the IC, Attle was the only one Kingsley neither trusted nor liked. Still, one out of fifteen wasn't too bad, he supposed.

He nodded to Aaron who waved his wand, bolting the door. The room fell silent and looked to him. It was reasonably terrifying having the attention of such a collection of people, even more terrifying was that the people in this room more or less were responsible for building the country he loved. He straightened his robe and poured himself a glass of water.

"Welcome everyone. Thank you for coming today and for agreeing to be part of the Inner Council. I look forward to working with, and learning from, all of you." He took a deep breath and continued. "You will have read the agenda for this morning and the reports from each of you and from the other departments not listed here, and from Professor McGonagall. I wish to focus on three main issues: our debt, our international relations, and ensuring we do not have another war, Secretary Sutherland, please outline the country's financial position. As you will all be aware the war has left the country's economy in an uh unsatisfactory condition."

Aaron resisted the urge to rub his eyes. This was going to be a long meeting, the people at the table did not yet know each other well enough to express their opinions openly, so there was next to no chance of any conflict and therefore there would be unlikely to be any ground made. But he was learning that building relationships was important. He sat back in his chair and pretended to look interested.

XXX

Delores Umbridge had been hit hard in the aftermath of the war. She was not being watched by the Ministry as she wasn't a death eater, but everyone was in their stupid idealistic, moralistic, post-war nonsense. So no one wanted to hire someone who was known for being ruthlessly diligent in pursuing her company's aims without any scruples. She'd had to downgrade to a tiny flat in a poorer area of London, but she wasn't worried. Before long Kingsley, or one of his less morally sound underlings would come crying to her. They always did. Idealism didn't run a country, kindness didn't create wealth. No, soon they would be willing to overlook her disagreement with Potter.

She was distracted from her thoughts by a tapping at her window. She looked up to see a small brown owl at her window which looked familiar. She waved her wand, causing her window to open quickly and the owl to fall inside from surprise. Once the owl composed itself Umbridge took the letter off its leg.

Delores,

I trust this finds you well, although my sources indicate otherwise.

I have a suggestion that could restore your power.

If you are interested, meet me next Monday at 2pm at the Obese Tapdancer. If you are not interested, this letter will evaporate and you will have no recollection of it.

R.S.

Umbridge smiled. There was only one person who would have been able to know her schedule and that she would be free next Monday at 2pm and who could perform a spell as intricate as to erase a tiny part of memory from a distance. Her week was about to get a lot more interesting.