A month later, Harry and Ron arrived in France with Kingsley. All their travel arrangements had been made by their security team and had been done so with the aid of the French Ministry and their security team. Their initial arrival brought them to the French Ministry of Magic, and although there was a witch from the Minister of Magic's department there to greet them, they took a second port key to their hotel in the heart of Wizarding Paris, to get settled in.
Check-in was handled swiftly, and they were soon on the top floor of the hotel, where all the best suites were located. As they tended to do on overseas trips, they were booked into a large suite with two bedrooms. Kingsley would take one of the rooms, while Harry and Ron would share the other. It also meant they were within easy reach for Kingsley if something should happen.
"Will you want to be heading back to the French Ministry, today?" Harry asked Kingsley as Ron completed the security check to confirm their suite was completely safe.
"Yes, I've got my first meeting with the Minister for International relations this afternoon," Kingsley answered. In the British Ministry the heads of department were literally referred to as just that, but over in France the top witches and wizards were all referred to as Ministers of whatever department they headed. "I'm also meeting some of the other witches and wizards I'll be dealing with this week. I also thought it was a good opportunity for you and Ron to get to know the French security team. And won't you need to check out the location for the dinner on Saturday evening?"
"Yes, we'll need to go over security with the French side," Harry confirmed.
Once Ron was satisfied that the suite was perfectly safe, he and Harry added a few of their own protective measures. While they were doing that, Kingsley freshened himself up and less than an hour after checking into the hotel, they were back at the French Ministry to begin a weeks' worth of vital work which would hopefully end with Wizarding Britain and Wizarding France having a much stronger relationship.
The Minster for International relations had offices on the fifth floor of the French Ministry, and unlike the British Ministry it wasn't located underground so the views from the windows were genuine. And the views from the fifth floor were particularly stunning as the Eiffel Tower, and several other landmarks, were in view. The officed itself was a large open plan space, although there were doors at the far end of the room, which Harry and Ron suspected were the private offices of the senior members of staff for the department.
The trio were met on the fifth floor by a handsome dark haired wizard, who looked to be around the same age as Harry and Ron. The wizard introduced himself as Pierre, the Minster's personal security officer. There was a second fair haired wizard with him, whom he introduced as Jake, another member of the French security team.
"Madam Minister is in the conference room, along with some of her team," Pierre said to Kingsley, pointing him towards a closed door at the far end of the open plan office they were standing in. "Jake here will take you over plans for the week," he said, addressing Harry and Ron. "And I'm guessing you want to see the location for Saturday's dinner."
"Yes, we do, but one of us should really stay with the Minister," Ron said brusquely. There was something about the handsome French wizard that rubbed him up the wrong way and he wasn't liking the tone he was taking with them.
"Nothing will happen to Minister Shacklebolt on my watch," Pierre assured the two British Aurors. "I will be in the same room as him and Madam Minister. He will be perfectly safe."
"Of course I will be," Kingsley agreed with a nod of his head. "Go and do your job, Ron. I will be here when you and Harry get back."
With orders coming from Kingsley himself, Ron was left with no choice but to leave Kingsley in the hands of the French wizard while he and Harry headed off with the second Frenchman to get a look at the security arrangements for Saturday evening. The dinner was being held at a hotel outside of Paris, and Jake spent almost an hour going over security for the two British wizards. Both Harry and Ron were impressed with the security plans, but they'd also made it clear they would be adding their own protections come Saturday.
"We would also like a copy of the guest list," Harry said. "I take it, that the event is invitation only?"
"It is," Jake confirmed with a nod of his head. "I can get you a copy of the guest list from the Ministry. I think it's just the high flying officials and a few movers and shakers in the wizarding community."
Harry and Ron nodded, knowing exactly what sort of guest list they would be receiving. It sounded very much like the sort of dinners the British Ministry hosted when it was playing host to foreign guests. Aside from high flying Ministry employees, the Ministry tended to wheel out the celebrities and the rich and influential high society set to make an impression, and it seemed that the French Ministry followed the same path.
With their trip to the hotel at an end, the trio returned to the Ministry where they briefly covered security for the rest of the week. Although since Kingsley would simply be attending meetings at the Ministry all week, security was pretty much sorted. And so they spent a bit of time quizzing their French colleague about the set-up at the French Ministry. Not that he was great deal of help as he was new to the job and couldn't tell them much. He'd never even met the Minister for International Relations, although he did tell them that Pierre had worked for her for a few years and Madam Minister was his pet name for her. He also confirmed that Pierre was their best security officer, and that as long as Kingsley was in his presence he was entirely safe.
"Something tells me this is going to be a long, boring week," Ron muttered when Jake left them alone to wait for Kingsley's meeting to finish. Rather than interrupt the meeting, they had chosen to wait on a couple of comfortable chairs located not far from the set of doors on the fifth floor.
"Yep," Harry agreed. Aside from when Kingsley was outside of the French Ministry of Magic, he foresaw a lot of sitting around twiddling their thumbs.
Although luck seemed to be on their side as they hadn't been waiting long before the door to the conference room swung open and a tall, fierce looking witch strode out with three younger witches and one younger wizard trailing after her. The witch had her jet black hair pinned into a bun so tight it pulled the skin of her face taught, making her age hard to determine, but Harry and Ron both guessed she was at least twenty years their senior. Flying from the room, she barked orders out in rapid French and the youngsters scurrying along behind her hung on her every word and looked terrified of her.
"Do you think that is Madam Minister?" Ron hissed to Ron as the witch marched into one of the private offices, the door slamming behind her, and the young witches and wizard scattered to do her bidding.
"She certainly seemed like she was in charge," Harry agreed, rather pleased that he didn't have a boss like that. The Head Auror was a pleasant, approachable wizard, whom everyone in the department liked and respected.
The answer to their question was not forthcoming as Kingsley chose that moment to appear from the conference room. Once the Minister confirmed he was done for the day, the trio headed back to the hotel where Harry and Ron spent the rest of their afternoon hovering by his side as he enjoyed some time basking in the French sun. They then all had dinner together, before Kingsley retired to his room to do some work for the week ahead, which he promised would be full of meetings with the French witches and wizards.
As Harry and Ron predicted the following few days were pretty boring as once they had accompanied Kingsley to the French Ministry, there wasn't really a lot for them to do. Since Pierre was constantly with his Madam Minister in the conference rooms, Kingsley had deemed there was no reason for Harry and Ron to be present. And so once Kingsley was settled for the day, Harry and Ron found themselves at a loose end. Even though Kingsley could reach them via a charm connecting their wands, they weren't comfortable leaving the Ministry as it felt too much like abandoning their duty, so they spent their days wandering the French Ministry and comparing it to their own. Of course, they were also keeping their eyes open for Hermione, but by the Wednesday afternoon they still hadn't seen hide nor hair of their old friend.
By then they had also decided that the fierce looking bossy witch they'd seen on their first day was indeed the Minister for International Relations. They'd seen her entering and leaving the conference room several times, and every time she was barking out her orders to the young witches and wizards who scurried along after her.
"She seems like a right piece of work," Ron muttered to Harry as the Minster swept past them without giving them a second glance.
"I'm glad I'm not Kingsley, having to deal with her all day," Harry agreed, rising to his feet in preparation for Kingsley's return. Usually once the Minister swept from the room, Kingsley was close behind her, ready to call it a day and head back to the hotel.
However, when ten minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Kingsley, Harry and Ron approached the conference room door, which was open slightly, and tapped on it. Pushing the door open, they both relaxed slightly when they spotted Kingsley standing beside a large table. Clearly he'd just been held up chatting to someone, and there was no cause for alarm.
"Sorry," Harry apologised when Kingsley glanced towards the door. "We were just checking, you're normally finished by now."
"That would be my fault, I'm afraid, I was keeping him talking," a soft feminine voice said.
Harry and Ron both froze momentarily at the sound of the very familiar voice, but Ron quickly recovered and pushing the conference room door further open, he took a step inside the large room. Instantly his eyes fell to the witch still sitting at the table.
"Hermione," he whispered, unable to look away from his ex-fiancée. She was looking lovelier than ever with her chocolate brown hair curling around her face, and she certainly didn't seem to have aged ten years.
"Hello Ron," Hermione returned with a smile. "Harry," she added, including him in her greeting and giving him a smile. "It's so nice to see you both."
"You too," Harry returned, smiling back at Hermione. Even though he hadn't spoken to Hermione since she'd moved to France, there had been no falling out and he didn't hold any grudges towards her simply because her relationship with Ron hadn't worked out.
"You look amazing," Ron said softly.
"I'm not sure I feel it at the moment," Hermione said with a chuckle as she rose to her feet.
She was dressed in a smart dark grey skirt paired with a silky emerald green shirt, but what instantly drew both Harry and Ron's attention was the small protrusion in her middle. She was pregnant. Not heavily pregnant, but pregnant, nonetheless.
"You're pregnant," Ron choked out.
"Yes," Hermione said, her hand automatically falling to her small but visible bump. "Nearly four and a half months."
"Congratulations," Harry offered, genuinely happy for Hermione. However, he did glance towards his best friend as he wasn't sure how Ron would react to the revelation.
"I'm sorry you found out like this, Ron," Hermione said softly. "I have been wanting to speak with you. In fact, that was just what Kingsley and I were talking about. I was asking him if he thought he might be able to spare the pair of you sometime on Saturday so we could talk. The trouble is, I've just been so busy this week."
"We understand," Ron interjected, not wanting Hermione to apologise for being busy. "Although I'm not sure we'd be free on Saturday. We're only really free when Kingsley is here, and when he's here, so are you."
"That is a bit of a quandary," Hermione admitted with a chuckle. "Although there's always Saturday night. You'll both be at the dinner, won't you? And before you say it, I know you'll be on duty, but there will be other security staff present. I'm sure we could have a drink together."
"I'm sure you could," Kingsley said, his tone of voice letting Harry and Ron know that he wasn't going to take them using their security duties as an excuse to avoid talking to Hermione.
"We're looking forward to it," Ron said quietly.
"Definitely," Harry agreed.
"As much as I hate to break up this happy reunion, we really should be going," Kingsley said. "I've got some preparation to do for tomorrow's meetings."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Kingsley," Hermione said, smiling warmly at the older wizard. "Bye," she said, turning to Harry and Ron.
"Goodbye Hermione," Ron said, as Harry also said his goodbyes before they headed off with Kingsley, neither of them noticing Pierre had been lurking in the background the entire time they'd been talking to Hermione.
"Are you okay?" Harry whispered to Ron as they took the lift down to the ground floor so they could leave.
"I guess it's what I wanted," Ron said with a wry smile. "I wanted to see she'd moved on, so I could do the same. I guess I just didn't think she would be pregnant."
Harry had to admit, it had been a shock for him as well to discover that Hermione was only months away from becoming a mother. However, he guessed that was what happened when you didn't know what was going on in someone's life. Even the smallest thing could take you by surprise. Although what he and Ron didn't know was that the surprises hadn't finished yet and there was still a couple more shocks heading their way.