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The Ministry of Magic, London
January 2011
Hermione Granger entered the ministry Building via the floo network. She exited the fireplace and taking a clean handkerchief from her bag began wiping her eyes. The people around her would have thought that she had gotten floo powder in her eyes and was trying to clean them out as it was so common, but the truth was that she had indeed been crying. She made her way to the security station but didn't have to relinquish her wand at the check point as she still had her freelance ministry Auror status. (This gave her the ability of being able to pick and choose an assignment, when and if she saw fit to take on a particular case. Which was very rare these days) She was headed to the Auror's Office to see her long time friend Harry Potter. She didn't have to go as far as that as she heard him calling to her from the other side of the fountain in the main hall where he had been eating his lunch.
"Harry, when did they put a food court in the ministry main hall."
"It's not a food court. Its just a few tables and chairs. The lunch room has been closed off because a gibbel-nurf exploded in there last night. Gibbel-nurf guts are extremely hard to scour off and the smell is worse than some sewers. Not a place one wants to eat."
"Did they catch the person who put it there?"
"No one did. It just slipped from its cage in the illegal magical creatures kennel and went for a walk. Probably smelled the food and when it got to the lunch room gorged itself till it burst."
Harry then took notice of his friend's condition and asked. "Hey, have you been crying?"
"Ho Harry, its Ron. He's being such a prat. No wait… He's actually been worse than that but I'm too much of a lady to speak like that. Ho Harry, he's not the man I fell in love with. He's changed so much; I don't think I know him anymore." Hermione sniffed.
"I know what you mean."
"Then you've seen it too… Hold on, when do you even get a chance to see Ron these days? Your work shifts are completely different." Hermione asked as she tried to figure it out.
"I'm not talking about Ron… but Ginny."
"Ho I'm sorry. What happened?"
"I didn't mind all the shopping for more dress robes it's always good to have more than one. I didn't mind the social functions she insisted we had to go to but she just became more and more controlling and I'm telling you Hermione
I've had enough of people controlling me. The Dursley did it, Dumbledore did it, and Voldemort tried it. I haven't been home in two days."
"I'm sorry Harry."
"The final straw came when she told me who I could and couldn't socialize with… you were one of the people I couldn't talk to."
"WHAT? Why?" Hermione questioned feeling scandalized?
"I'm not sure. But right then and there I put my foot down and told her what I thought. Her reaction was to tell me that I wouldn't be welcome in her bed…" Harry Paused for a moment as he had just realized something. "Wait! What am I doing? I'm so sorry Hermione. I made this about me and my problems. I guess I needed to vent as well, but I should have let you finish and I'm so sorry."
"Harry you're the most thoughtful and considerate person I know but sometimes you can be so stupid. You should have come to Ron and I days ago when this started." Hermione suggested.
"Actually it's been more like months and I thought Ron would have heard it through the family grape vine by now. But as far as me coming to the two of you with my problems I just wouldn't feel comfortable talking to another Weasley about a row I had with their sister. It's not like I can go to one of my family members."
"I see what you mean. I'm sorry Harry I shouldn't be bothering you when you have problems of your own."
"Don't be silly. I've vented, now it's your turn. Please if nothing else let me be your sounding board, as the Americans call it."
"My what?" Hermione questioned?
"It means, even If I can do nothing to help, you might feel better just by venting your frustrations to me."
"Okay… well I first noticed it when we brought my parents back from Australia a couple of years ago. After I put their memories back to normal they were quit cross with me. I told Ron that it would be better if I handled my parents myself for a wile and he let us be. It took some time but they forgave me however our relationship was very tenuous. I wanted to introduce Ron as my boyfriend, someone I had hoped to … grow old with. Oh Harry, I couldn't believe it was him making the comments he was. He was so… so… condescending against not only my parents but to muggles in general. I wanted to believe that it was because of what I told him about how angry they were at me. I thought maybe he was failing miserably at gallantry, or Maybe he didn't know how to act around muggles as I don't think he'd ever step foot out of the wizarding world before. I wasn't sure what it was before, but now I've found out that for all his kind words to me he doesn't … appreciate muggles to much at all. And with everything else falling apart…"
"I was afraid of that." A new voice injected from behind the two friends. A voice they both recognized as being Mr. Arthur Weasley.
"Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry we didn't know you were there." Hermione said uncomfortably.
"Precisely as I hoped, Harry here has been avoiding me for the past two days. And all I had wanted to say was. "I understand.""
"Pardon me?" He asked mystified.
"Your right about Ron Hermione, There have been times I'd caught him being condescending when referring to muggles through the years. I'm sorry. Maybe if I took him into the muggle world when he was a child to see what it was like, maybe he'd be different. As for Ginny I believe she is suffering from the same affliction most of my family has, Including Ron, That of being a celebrity. We all had a hand in Voldemort's demise after all. Only with Ginny she wants to give the appearance that she lives in a perfect little world with Harry, lovingly devoted to her every whim. We three and George seem to be the only ones not affected by our press. Well Harry never was, were you Harry?"
No sir. But Ron was. Harry said thoughtfully. From our first year at Hogwarts, when he looked into the mirror of Araset he said he saw himself as captain of the Quidditch team and head boy, and we had a bit of a row during the triwizards tournament as well. He was mad because he thought I had found a way to get past the wards to put my name in the goblet of fire so I could compete."
"Yes, well my son has never been accused of being a genius. I believe he had hoped to marry one." He said looking at Hermione ashamed of what his son had become.
"Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry. If Ronald can't get over his Muggle bigotry I don't see how I could possibly marry him."
Don't be sorry. I can't blame or fault you there, and it is I who should be sorry for not bringing him up right. Besides that's not the only reason to not marry him."
"What do you mean? Hermione asked surprise at his announcement and not liking where this discussion might be headed."
"Well, you see, it's that celebrity thing I mentioned. I'm sorry Hermione but…well …you see. Ron possession in the world Quidditch association doesn't have weekly overnight meeting. He has been lying to you. He's been going out getting drunk with his so called friends celebrating his accomplishments from the war. I had thought at first that it was going to be a "passing faze" but it has only escalated over the years."
Tears formed in Hermione eyes as she asks. "What do you mean escalated?"
"I'm so sorry Hermione. But he has been attending some of the out of the way brothels."
Hermione was too stunned, too sad, and too angry that she was going into emotional overload and so didn't feel anything at all for a moment until she settled upon crying."
"At least you were smart enough to not marry right out of school." Harry replied trying to comfort his friend.
"He's probably been laughing at me all the wile he'd been going out to his so called meetings. She sobbed. How many others knew of this? Just how humiliated should I be?"
"He's been discreet about his roaming. Probably so you wouldn't find out. He's been celebrating with his mates Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. The rest of the Weasley family knows of course."
"Wait a minute, you mean Ginny knew?" Harry Asked.
"Well yes, I suppose that's why she didn't want you talking to Hermione. She didn't want the fall out to mare her perfect little world."
"Mr. Weasley, pardon me for asking but wont your Family be furious with you for getting involved this way?" Hermione asked.
"Ho yes, I imagine so. But I'm so ashamed of them that I real don't care. Even Molly has succumbed to her own celebrity. She wants to live beyond our means. She believes the gossip from her fans that she is a model for motherhood.
Wile she's been a good mother she's far from great. She's only been able to keep our children in line through fear and humiliation."
"Humiliation?" Harry Asked.
"Howlers." Arthur Replied.
"Of course." Harry Realized.
"I've tried everything to turn my family around, but it needed to be a united front with Molly. She should be helping not hindering what needs to be squashed. I don't even see our marriage lasting beyond the end of the year." He said with unshed tears in his eyes.
"Ho I'm so sorry Mr. Weasley." Hermione Comforted.
"No need to be sorry." he replied
"Hermione," Harry began remembering a statement she made earlier. "You said something about everything else falling apart. Is there something more?"
Hermione looked to her friends then around the main hall as if looking for someone that might be listening in on their conversation before turning to Mr. Weasley and asked. "Is there someplace we can talk in private?"
Mr. Weasley looked into her eyes and realized there was something extremely urgent and secret she needed to talk about.
"Umm, yes there is a briefing room that isn't scheduled to be used for an hour we can barrow on the next floor. Follow me."
Mr. Weasley led them to the elevators and down one floor. Once they got off they went to the end of the hall and into one of the medium sized briefing rooms. Overstuffed lather chairs surrounded a large oak table, tapestry's lined the wall depicting times of old, and a small table against the wall held quills and parchment. Once the door was shut it became very quiet as the privacy charms had activated. Hermione took the chair at the head of the table wile Mr. Weasley and Harry sat at ether side of her.
"What's this about Hermione?" Harry Asked.
"Yes, I should like to know to. You make it seem very cloak and dagger." Mr. Weasley curiously agreed.
"Harry, Mr. Weasley, What I'm about to tell you can not leave this room. It's Bigger than all the wizard wars put together. It's so big It's hard to believe and theirs nothing anyone can do to stop it. If this ever got out I shudder to think what will happen. So I need your help but we must be discreet."
"What ever it is we're behind you one hundred percent Hermione we give you our word don't we Mr. Weasley."
"Of course, if it's important to you it's important to us. We won't tell a soul."
"Alright we have to proceed with caution to figure out what to do with this knowledge but…"
It was then that Hermione saw something move on the tapestry behind Harry. Without another word Hermione pulled out her wand and with an unspoken spell she sent her magic flying at the tapestry. As everyone watched the spot on the tapestry grew and changed into a person.
"Reeta you loathsome foul creature!" She spat.
But the strain of forcibly being sifted from her Animagi beetle form caused her to loose consciousness.
"Rita Skeeter, as I live and breath, we wondered how the daily prophet was getting access to the information of our private meeting." Mr. Weasley said astonished.
"Yes, it all makes sense now. She's been ghostwriting under a different byline." Harry Added.
"Holy cricket, how stupid could we be? Hermione Wondered. "She did the same thing Tom Riddle did and used her own name in an anagram for her byline. She's Kit Seartree."
"But how did she know to follow us here?" Harry Asked.
"She didn't. I'll bet my wages that she was waiting for the meeting between the minister and the head of the Diagon alley merchants' society that's scheduled an hour from now in this very briefing room." Mr. Weasley Said confidently.
"Well it's a trip to Azkaban for her now. And her Animagi will be registered and announced in all wizard news media." Harry Replied.
"Actually Harry, could we not send her to Azkaban?"
"What? Why?" He asked in disbelief.
"It's because of what I was about to tell you."
She looked back at Rita's sleeping form.
"Could we lock her in here and find someplace else to talk?"
"Yes, there another briefing room a couple of doors down the hall." Mr. Weasley said.
They proceeded to lock the room in such a way that even in her beetle form Rita wouldn't be able to get out and they made there way down the hall to the other briefing room. Once there Hermione began to explain.
"Rita isn't all that evil compared to the prisoners in Azkaban and with what's to come I don't think she should be trapped there."
"Trapped?" Harry Asked.
"What I'm about to tell you is the topic that Ron and I had our last argument about. As you know I've taken a job in the muggle world At the G.L.E. as a librarian. Well this Man showed up looking for rare old books that pertained to ether Demons or prophecy. I thought it a little strange as I knew the man wasn't a student. If anything he could have been a professor and he did seem to be very knowledgeable about the subjects already. He knew his way around a library that's for sure. Anyway one day he had me look for a book down in the archives I found it and brought it to him. An hour later he seemed to be in a frightful state and had me help him pull other book to cross-reference what he all ready found. It was a very old prophecy about … about…It was about the end of the world and they all indicated the same time. December 2012."
"Hermione, forgive me for asking, but are muggle prophecies accurate?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"No. Not all the time, but there were too many references from different scriptures about the same event. I got scared and thought that I might do some research of my own in the wizarding world and so far I've found three. Now those books came from the used book store and were pretty old. What I really want to do is look through the library at Hogwarts."
"Well if there were three references in the wizarding world that recorded it I don't see how we can ignore the possibility that it might be true."
"I'm so glad to hear you say that Mr. Weasley. Your son believes that since I first got the information in the muggle world that everything else is rubbish including the wizard references. Had it been the other way around he'd probably swear up and down that it were true."
"The simpering idiot, He may be my son but he's also a right arse. To throw evidence out the window because of prejudice just shows what a fool I've raised."
"What did the prophecies say was going to happen?" Harry Asked.
"That's just it. None of the prophecies are specific enough. They keep it shrouded in misery. I think that the ones I've read so far know the world will be destroyed but not how. I really need to get to Hogwarts but there's another rout you two could take care of for me. The prophecies vault may lead us to the answers if one of us or someone we know has a prophecies dew to be heard. It may tell us what will happen and how we might survive."
"Did any of the scriptures suggest there might be a way to survive?"
"Yes actually, Mr. Giles (That's the chap who started me looking for the prophecies.) is looking into it on his end. And he'll be coming back from the states by the end of the week. He'll need my help to get back into the archives so I'll have to be back by then."
"Is that enough time for researching in Hogwarts?"
"Please, I know that library better than Madam Pince. I should have enough to go on from there and be back in time to meet with Mr. Giles."
"I think I'd like to meet this man as well Hermione, if it's alright with you."
"I suppose. Just please try not to get in the way. We will need to concentrate. But why do you want to meet him?"
"Because I what to know what kind of a muggle researches demons and prophecy. I swear. I'll just pop in and out. He'll hardly realize the intrusion."
"Ho and Harry, as for Rita Skeeter don't keep her locked up in Azkaban wile the world dies. She has as much right to fight for her life or meet her end as the rest of us."
"Yes of course your right, Hermione. I guess outing her Animagi ability and form will have to be punishment enough. I'll tell Xenophilius Lovegood to print the announcement in the Quibbler first as I believe the Prophet would go to any lengths to try and keep her secret."
"Hmmm, you're probably right. I'll see you both the day after tomorrow then."
"Stay safe."
"Both of you as well."