Chapter 63

May 1, 2002

*

The morning's Prophet was full of news that made Hermione chuckle. Everyone had been busy the last few days. There was more to do certainly, but tearing down the Ministry and salting the earth where it stood (metaphorically speaking that was) was coming along beautifully.

She started making brunch carefully, adding a few nutrition potions here and a weight-gain potion there. Before the boys even rose to see her efforts, a variety of food, smoothies, and coffee were prepared on the counter.

Draco and Theo's eyes were wide when they entered the room, the smell of Hermione's cooking drawing them to the kitchen. She hated the way that they both still looked tired and too thin. They were wearing hoodies today that disguised some of their frailty, but she could see it in the dark circles that lingered around their eyes and their prominent cheekbones.

"What's the occasion," Draco asked, looking over all the food.

"It's Beltane, thought we'd celebrate the old fashioned way with excess and pleasure?" Hermione smiled.

"We've been here that long now?" Draco shook his head. "Still feels like a dream."

Hermione kissed him on the throat and then shoved him gently towards the food. "Go eat."

The large bouquet of white roses and white and pink peonies was almost bridal in its crisp cleanness and elegance. Theo looked them over with interest.

"Do we need to worry about someone else stealing you away from us?" He asked, his expression soft and not at all worried.

Hermione waved the printed card at him, "No my love, they are from Luna, celebrating a bit of success at work. Another project she was working on had a wee delay she says, but she's quite happy with how things are coming along."

Theo slid on a pair of glasses to peer at the little note card, but Draco was too interested in making himself tea to attend to the note from his cousin.

A knock at the door and a warble of her wards surprised her enough that she jumped, so Hermione went to see who it was. They weren't expecting anyone this morning, in fact it was a Wizarding holiday, so it should have been quiet enough.

She opened the door without looking through the peephole.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked when faced with the Chosen One in his full Auror uniform robes. She sighed, expecting a surprise inspection. However, Harry just looked at her in confusion.

He stepped backwards from her as though he was lost, as though he wasn't sure who she was.

"Harry?" Hermione tried to keep her voice calm, soothing, reaching out towards him with her hand.

And yet he shook his head at her and disapparated away. She stood there staring at the spot he had disappeared from for a long time before going back inside.

He did not return.

May 5, 2002

Hermione was thrilled to receive an invitation to Angelina and George's engagement dinner and even more thrilled that it was at a restaurant in Diagon Alley and not at the Burrow, so she wouldn't have to pretend to eat for hours, which became quite exhausting.

She greeted Angelina with a kiss on the cheek and congratulated her on making an honest man out of George which earned guffaws from those in hearing distance.

"I'm surprised the ring doesn't have a prank to it," Hermione held Angelina's hand looking at the diamond with appropriate oohs and awws.

"I considered making it a poison ring, but Angie said no," George sighed in mock sorrow.

"Glad you are learning early on that what Angelina says goes," Hermione responded with a smile, even as she considered how useful a poison ring or two would be.

Angelina laughed deeply and George looked clean-cut and sober which was a nice change from how he had been on his birthday, barely over a month ago.

"Glad you could make it. Hate to drag you away from your work at home gig," he joked, giving her a side hug. "No Ginny tonight though, she didn't want to draw the focus away from Angelina," he whispered.

Hermione nodded, whispering back, "Unfortunate, but not unexpected." She left him to greet Bill and Fleur who had come up behind her.

"What happened to Clementine?" Hermione asked, taking her seat next to Ron whose new flame, a younger version of Cho Chang who absolutely could not be mistaken for the girl he'd brought last time.

"Didn't work out," Ron said, once he was sure Cho 2.0 wasn't listening. "She wanted to be more serious."

Hermione hummed thoughtfully. "When did you break it off?" She asked.

"Oh um…about three days ago." He ran a hand through his red hair in an awkward way that reminded her of Harry.

Hermione swallowed her laughter, giving him a solemn expression that was more false than a three galleon coin. "I'm so glad to see nothing keeps you down, Ron."

"Thanks, Hermione," he smiled, her sarcasm lost on him. It had been exactly a month since she'd used the fertility hex on him, if the timeline held up he should start to get notices from his affairs about pregnancies in the next couple of months. Hermione knew that Ron was hardly capable of fidelity, so she couldn't wait for the chaos to unfold.

"Do you have an Albariño?" Hermione asked the server as they came by, pleased by their nod. "Can I get a glass? Thank you."

"Fancy taste there," Ron joked with her.

"It reminds me of holidays in Spain by the sea," she offered with a shrug, wanting to be a hundred miles away from him.

He was about to respond when the new fling turned her attention back to him with a clearly false high pitched voice that made Hermione want to stab herself in the ears. She turned to speak with Percy who had just sat on her other side to try to drown the "Ronnie-Poohs" out.

"I hear congratulations are in order, Percy." Hermione smiled. "Interim Minister. Will you be running in the snap elections?"

"I haven't yet decided," Percy said with a blank look that disappeared as quickly as it had come. He sipped the tea in front of him. "We live in unprecedented times and I need to focus on the task at hand."

"Of course," Hermione said carefully. "That's clearly all anyone could ask of you. So sudden, isn't it, Kingsley's illness?"

"Working as an Auror is dangerous work," Percy said as though repeating someone. "Complications from being repeatedly cursed often come up. Ministers who worked in the DMLE rarely lasted more than a year or two in the position."

Hermione nodded. "So true, I mean look at Scrimgeour." She watched Percy carefully for his reaction, but he merely nodded his agreement.

"Exactly," Percy stated. As though Scrimgeour hadn't been killed by Death Eaters. Well it was very clear to her now, someone had put Percy Weasley under the Imperius curse and she had a very good idea who that could have been.

She hoped that she was right. If she wasn't correct in her conjecture then that would be a complication.

That would be unfortunate.

For whoever thought they could work against her.