If Life Gives You Lemons...Throw Them Back!

A/N: Hello readers! Let me introduce myself, I'm FuryOfMedea and I finally received authorship on Portkey! Yay! Just in case you've seen this story before on unknowableroom.org or ff.net…I'm the same author on all the sites.

Got that cleared up? Good! This is one of my favorite stories that I have written so far and I hope you enjoy it. Just as a quick note, it is based loosely on Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series in case that looks familiar. I don't own any of that.

I don't own Harry Potter either, JKR jumped on that train long before I could and if you decide to sue me then I will be pleased to give to you only my university tuition bills, thanks a bunch!

So sit back, relax and (hopefully) enjoy the story. If you guys really like it then PLEASE TELL ME. I want to know what you, as readers, like about the story (characters, a line or certain parts). Thanks! Oh and I don't use a beta so any grammar mistakes, spelling and bad jokes all belong to me.

Hugs and Kisses

FuryOfMedea

Have you ever heard the saying `if life gives you lemons, make lemonade', yeah easier said than done. If half your life was spent chasing down and helping to vanquish the most evil wizard, like ever, you would have a problem with this statement too. Oh and then a few years later, to get laid off from the job you spent years training for, only to have your department cut because of some stupid reason. Not needing you anymore is defiantly stupid right?

My name is Hermione Granger, I am twenty-three and I am a victim of the lemon bullshit. I'm sitting at the bar of the Leaky Cauldron, and have been for the past two hours, waiting to see if some drunk wizard is going to make an appearance so I can take down his sorry arse.

Yes I am aware that does not sound particularly glamorous, but being broke and unemployed is worse.

Why am I sitting here, drinking my third butterbeer waiting to take down a loser of a wizard instead of sitting in a nice corner office planning a secret and covert operation? Oh I guess I should start from the very beginning.

I don't remember much, just that I was cold and wet and unable to speak, only cry, and I wanted `my mommy', whoever that was…

Sorry just pulling your wand, okay now for real.

This whole thing started when I got my letter to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and I met two boys on the train. They saved me later on, from a giant troll that I decided to go after and attempt to kill. Hey, I was eleven and it sounded brilliant at the time, so please don't give me that look.

Anyways, the two aforementioned boys, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter became my best friends. As it turns out, Harry was destined to destroy Lord Voldemort, the really evil wizard I mentioned earlier. Actually Voldemort tried to kill Harry loads of times first and the kid fought back which had to be pretty embarrassing for Voldiekins, but I digress. Finally at the age of seventeen, Harry zapped the bastard (literally) with help from Ron and myself. We were free from school, an evil wizard out to get us and also we were legal. I learned a hundred ways not to drink Ogden's Firewhiskey back then. Oh and that you should never table dance at a wizard bar in Las Vegas but that is a whole other story…sorry I did it again, I used to be so focused!

Well due to the fact that we had spent much of our teen years fighting Voldemort or Tom Riddle, was his real name, we all decided there was only one profession for us, Aurors!

Auror training was the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done.(Next to getting rid of Tommy Boy of course.) Granted, due to the physical requirements of the training you can bounce a quarter off my beautiful abs, and I can run two miles before I am out of breath, both of which are nice for my current job.

It took Ron and myself three years to get through the Academy, which is normal. But Harry, well learning all those spells and advanced magic helped him get out in a year and a half.

Back to me, Ron comes later in my little tale.

So I graduated at the top of my class, no surprise there, and went to work for the Ministry.

I had an awesome job the moment I got out of the Academy; I was an Apprehension Auror. I would track down wizards and witches performing Dark Arts and would arrest their sorry asses. I was assigned on a team with two Head Aurors, Nymphadora Tonks and another Auror Abigail Gates. I was the junior member and boy they taught me a lot. We were an awesome team, we always got our wizard, or Death Eater as was usually the case. There was only one little problem, I am horrible at Stealth( aka being very quiet and sneaky, almost as bad as Tonks but in a different way), and I guess it is my one shortcoming. I can't be Little Miss Perfect about everything! I had a tendency to mumble about a spell and the counter curse and that had would kind of blow my cover. Tonks could charm a trashcan to turn on its side to explain away her stumbling where I would talk and you can't cover that up. We always got out okay, I could recover my slip up well and come up with some great defense tactic but I figured that being an Apprehension Auror just wasn't for me. Abigail and Tonks tried to talk me out of it but I had to go with my strengths.

I put in for a transfer three months after starting and became an Intelligence Auror, which is actually higher than an Apprehension Auror. The Ministry decided they needed Aurors to specifically research and map out the dark magic and work with the Apprehension and Head Aurors who would actually catch them. Intelligence was a Level Three in access which means you can get into any department in the ministry or any place into the magical and muggle worlds any time and no questions asked, ever! You flash or insert your badge and it is Carte blanch for anything. It's also the same level of access that Head Aurors and Unspeakables have. Apprehension Aurors have a Level Two access, which is enough to do the job, but is still pretty restricted. Level One is general and every employee in the Ministry has that, it is just the basics. Level Three was very necessary for the amount of research and general figuring out I had to do. Some of the places I went to find books and people to question, whoa they were definitely interesting and kinda out there!

I broke through codes, spells, hexes, curses etc. and worked out the best way to catch the bad guys, basically more thinking, oodles of research and less danger than my previous position. I was planning great covert operations with defense tactics and spells a Death Eater could only dream about. I was in hog heaven. After chasing Voldemort for seven years I was ready for a break, but not those boys, they loved chasing danger! So I would mostly figure out what was going on and would tell Ron ( I wasn't really speaking to Harry, but more on that later) and the other Apprehension Aurors along with the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, how to get them. I became the go-to-girl of Intelligence. I was the most sought out Auror in my department; they wanted to make me Head Intelligence after Geoff Cambridge (the Head at the time) retired! And I really loved the position more than Apprehension, I got to use my brain, I did tons of research and reading and they ( Harry and Ron) concentrated on the defense mechanisms, well with my help there too. I never said I was bad at defense; actually I was the only one who could beat Harry, a few times at least. Damn wonder boy figured out my moves and style real quick! Opps got off topic again.

But that was back when Death Eater's ran rampant and we were nabbing them right and left. Harry and Ron escalated to Head Aurors in about six months and they had me beat. Head Auror is as high as you can go before Director of Aurors. It is even with Unspeakables, that's how big of a deal it is. I would figure it out and they would catch them, every Death Eater lived in fear of our names! But that was the good ole' days.

About three years, give or take, after I started my Intelligence position, my entire department was shut down. The big wigs in the Wizengamot figured that they didn't need anyone `specialized in Intelligence', the Head or Apprehension Auror assigned to the case could do all of it just fine. (Yeah maybe Harry could and Ron possibly but he might need help. Anyone else, forget it.) So I lost my awesome job, with the corner office that had a nice big magic window and it was always sunny. The availability of the Ministry Library was gone and I no longer got to read the new edition of any Numerology or Runes book I desired. I also lost my very nice paycheck. That was six months ago.

I finished off the last of my butterbeer and looked at my watch, it was 11:15 in the evening, I had been here for five hours and I was tired. I guess I got a bad tip. I should stick around just in case, they always come in right after you leave Back to my story though.

For the first three months of my unemployment I worked as a file clerk at a law firm of `Boot, Boot and Vaine', but magical law is not what I do best. Especially when the senior partner Donald Vaine, liked to squeeze my bum. He learned not to do that again but I doubt he will ever be able to walk without that limp. Then I succumbed to be a waitress at a muggle diner, with roller-skates; please don't get me started on that one.

Finally one day in February, I got a call from Alastor Moody. The ministry had started to let convicted witches and wizards pay their way out of Azkaban until their hearing that is. They would pay some set amount and sign a bond and they could stay at home until their court date to be with their families. The amount of the bond was determined by their crime.

This has been going on for about a year or so, it started while I was still an Intelligent Auror. Yes I know how redundant that is considering it's me. Please don't laugh, its Ron's favorite joke, the little twit.

Then a few criminals decided not to go to their hearings and would hide out somewhere thinking the charges would just go away. Thankfully when they signed the bond it took away, Apparition, Portkey and Floo Network, basically all magical travel abilities. However the bonded magic folk are allowed magical travel with an Auror with Level Two access or higher. The only way they can possibly escape is by broom, and with weather conditions, you don't get far. Or to take a muggle form of transportation, but that is scary for most wizards and witches.

They also are unable to use any shape and identity altering spells, Polyjuice or anything like that. Sadly Invisibility Cloaks are left out since they are pretty rare and not many convicts have access to something like that. They have to wear a wig and funny glasses just like muggles. That is the reason most of them just hide out at a friend's or family member's flat. So there are all these wizards and witches, out on magic bail, skipping around the countryside when they should be in Azkaban.

So the Ministry came up with a new department, Recovery Aurors. They put Alastor Moody in charge to give him something to do and not blow up garbage cans all day. The only stipulation is that you must have been an Auror at some point. The Aurors enlisted would basically hunt down the wizard or witch and bring them back to the Ministry to await their hearing. Mostly it takes a strong, deductive mind and a lot of patience to nab the convict. You have to sit and wait and even follow them or their family so you are not their favorite person because of this.

When you get them in the charmed handcuffs, they instantly Portkey to the Ministry with you in tow, so they don't get a chance to run away and make you chase them. Chasing stinks. When you both arrive at the Ministry, you check them in and receive you pay of half the bond, the ministry keeps the rest, why give away free profits?

Yeah it sounds easy but it's not and it's also not highly respected since you only get paid if you bring someone in, so it's not lucrative either.

Moody called me and asked if I want to be on the team and I said yeah sure, I have nothing better to do right?

So for the last three months I have been an active Recovery Auror. Most of my cases are the typical `abuse of powers on muggles' and other misdemeanors, nothing really serious like an Unforgivable. The bail jumpers are occasionally drunk, sometimes horny and almost always claim `innocent'. Yeah sure.

My current case was Conworth Bullhed, with two counts of terrorizing muggles and one charge of improper use of magic. He was supposed to show up tonight according to his boyfriend( yes you heard right) Rocky Mills who I talked to earlier at the strip club where he worked( The Wiggling Wand). I lead a charmed life.

It was now 12:30 AM, and I was done. I got up and left the Leaky Cauldron via the London entrance. Once I was out in muggle London, I walked to my junk heap; uh I mean my car, parked across the street.

Okay so because of my lack of employment, I lost my beautiful new Cherry Bomb Red Audi convertible and had to accept my Grandpa's old Cadillac Deville, that was bubblegum pink with a white top. At least it was a convertible too. Yeah that Elvis would have owned! No, it was not great for surveillance(you can see and hear it coming a kilometer away) nor was it snazzy and sleek, but it was a good car for getting from point A to point B.

I turned over the engine and headed for my flat on Cambridge Lane. My flat complex was an old two-story building with outdoor hallways and a pool in the courtyard. It was mostly filled with old muggles and the occasional newlywed couple. It was not gorgeous but at least had covered parking and the rent wasn't too bad.

There were five apartments on each floor and mine was the last one in the row, on the second story.

I opened the door and Crookshanks almost knocked me over in greeting. My flat is modest, with the front door opening into a small hallway with the kitchen through the archway to the right, my living room straight ahead and my bedroom to the left.

I dropped my bag, keys and muggle mail on the hall table. I walked into my small kitchen and opened a tin of salmon for Crookshanks. I kind of spoil him since I don't have kids or anything. Then I looked in the fridge for me. The only thing in there was a few bottles of butterbeer, a loaf of bread and some carrots.

Mmm yes I really did need to catch Bullhed so I could go grocery shopping.

I gave up on the food search and walked over to the dining area to check for owl post. The window opened to a wide ally and provided good coverage for owls dropping off post. I had charmed my window to open for them and they could drop the letters on the dining table next to the window. It was a good system that many wizards used if they lived in a muggle area like I did.

There were just the usual ads from broom companies and some junk mail.

There was an announcement from Agatha Edgecombe-Martin, Marietta's second cousin; she was two years under me at Hogwarts. She never liked her cousin so she didn't care that I was the reason she had SNEAK in pimples across her face in my fifth year. Anyway she had married some wizard from Durmstrang about a year ago and the announcement was that she was pregnant with a girl. The shower was two Thursday's from today and asking to R.S.V.P. Great another shower, half the girls I knew from Hogwarts or Beauxbaton's were married and starting families or at least engaged. By this time I had been to about fifty, (stupid) bridal and baby showers.

I sighed knowing that Molly Weasley would mention it at the next dinner at the Burrow and remind me of my `biological clock' and that I should really think about `settling down'. My own mother never even nagged me about that, but this is Molly so it is a different set of Gobstones.

It's not like I don't want to be married or anything I am just waiting for the right wizard to come along. I date, I have a boyfriend, sort of, and he's umm he's great, we are just uhh `testing the waters concerning commitment'. Yeah that sounds good.

I was distracted from my inner moping when I saw my message machine blinking on the kitchen counter. Since I live in a muggle neighborhood, I have an almost all muggle apartment and that means a phone and answering machine. Mostly so my parents and muggle friends can contact me easily.

First message, “Hermione darling, it's Mom, call me back!” Hmm okay I'll call her tomorrow.

Second message, “Hermione, hello, it's Luna, does this thing work? Well owl me about lunch next week. Oh and watch out for Blimpfort Horshanks, they like to nibble on wands, Dad just found out about them. Bye” Oh I love Luna! She's so; so `special' is the best word.

Next message, “Hey Hermione, it's Ginny. I have some news, well not really but there is this guy I met at an interview and he would be totally great for you, call me back!” I just talked to her this morning. Why does she feel the need to set me up, I do have a boyfriend! Must be channeling her mother in that department.

Hmm okay so boyfriend is not the best description I would give to Anthony Goldstein; `guy I let buy me dinner occasionally' fits better. From his point of view, we're practically engaged. (Rolls eyes and sighs in agitation)

The last message was not unfamiliar, it was blank but I swore I could hear breathing. No it was just my imagination. It was probably a wrong number, it happened a lot; I got the `blanks' as I called them, all the time.

I decided to call everyone back in the morning; I was tired from my so-called stake out. I walked into my bedroom and got into bed. I was trying to figure out how I would catch Bullhed and handle everything else.

As I fell asleep I hoped my life would take a turn for the better. Mom always told me to be careful what you wish for.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That night Harry sat in his Auror office dictating a report to a charmed typewriter. He had been catching up on paperwork for the better part of three hours and was ready to go home.

“The suspect was detained in Kitbanger Alley by Aurors, Harry Potter, Nymphadora Tonks and Brandon Gates. He was put in handcuffs and turned over to the Magical Law Enforcement Squad who proceeded to Headquarters with said suspect.”

“God if that didn't take just forever.”

“Sometimes I wonder if it wasn't just easier to be The-Boy-Who-Lived rather than the Head-Auror-With-Unspeakable-Privliages-And-Who-Always-Gets-His-Wizard.”

Harry looked over at an old and faded picture of the three friends taken long ago, in their sixth year.

“When I was still just a person, not some `career driven maniac, according to some people, some witches to be exact…” He sighed and slipped the report into its appropriate folder that was zapped to the Head of Department's office with a flick of his wand.

He sat back and took off his glasses closing his eyes when his cellular phone jingled.

A few years before, Arthur Weasley teamed up with his twins and they started to make some muggle devices magical. The phones were the first. They were all flip phones to hide any signs of magic, then taken apart and charmed. They were set to work anywhere on the globe, were completely undetectable by muggle phone companies, and would never lose the signal or the battery power. And since they operated on magic, there were no minutes to charge.

They were standard issue for all Ministry workers and still worked like a normal phone, except that you didn't have to dial, you could just speak the name and you phone would call. However to call a muggle phone, then you had to dial. Many wizards only called one another so they ignored the buttons all together. The screens were no longer plasma but liquid crystal from a crystal ball that made all this possible. They were also much easier to carry around than an owl.

Harry looked at the caller screen; it read `Unknown Caller, Knockturn Alley and 5^th' and the longitude and latitude to be more specific.

The other advantage was it gave the location of the caller and the ability to track them if need be.

The fact that the caller was unknown meant that the phone was not being tracked by the ministry and meant it was of dubious owner and origin.

“ Potter speaking.”

“I have some interesting information if you can meet me immediately.” The voice said.

“Only if it will pan out this time, your last tip was bogus. I have a mind to arrest you from that alone.”

“No, I promise, this time it's real. It leads straight to the originator of all of this. I just want out of this, NOW.”

“I'll be there in ten minutes, where?”

“The Spider's Lair Motel on the corner of 5^th and Knockturn and come alone.”

“ Don't worry I will. ” Harry disconnected and walked down to the atrium of the Ministry and apparated to Diagon Ally. He walked down the road seeing the occasional smiling faces coming out of pubs and staggering off with friends. He made a right onto Knockturn Ally and walked down the dark street, wand drawn until he cam to the Motel. He saw a figure standing on the corner approach him.

“We better get inside to discuss this,” the man led Harry to a room on the second floor.

When they got in the room Harry saw a woman was there as well, he motioned to speak but the figure reassured him all was well.

“This is my wife, she sat in on the meeting and will tell you what was talked about.” The woman sat at the rickety table nursing some butterbeer and seemed ready to jump out of her skin when Harry entered.

“You heard how to get to the originator, and how they are doing it?” Harry asked, his voice harder than he intended since this area made him nervous still.

“Yes,” she breathed and set down the bottle, “ I heard everything! They are horrible, I never thought…oh I found out later this week there is going to be a delivery…it's the final one. There is going to be a crate sent to…” but the woman was cut off.

At that moment the door was blown off its hinges and before Harry could even register what just happened the world went black.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

My alarm clock went off at nine that next morning, until I hexed the thing into oblivion. I usually have to repair it on a daily basis.

I shuffled into the kitchen and put the kettle on for tea, I am still a slave to the muggle way since that is how I was raised. It also came to an advantage since I could skip the muggle classes required in Auror training. Usually muggleborns made slightly better Aurors since they are familiar with and feel comfortable in both worlds.

As the water heated up I heard the dining room window open to let in the owl with the Daily Prophet and he dropped it on the table.

The kettle whistled as I was pulling a cheese Danish out of the refrigerator and popped it into that toaster oven so it would get nice and crispy, warming charms just couldn't do that.

I fed Crookshanks and plopped down with my Earl Gray and Danish and took a sip of tea as I opened the paper.

I immediately regretted this since my next action was to spit it out after reading the headline, “Harry Potter arrested for Murder” by Rita Skeeter.

I scanned the article,

“Last night around twelve thirty, Auror Harry Potter, 23, was found at the scene of a murder with a smoking wand so to speak. Witnesses claimed to see Potter enter room number 10 of the Spider's Lair Motel, last night and then later heard an explosion only to see him hunched over the victim, Mr. Lawrence Cadburn,age 45. Mr. Cadburn checked in with his wife, Leta, age 26, earlier in the evening . Mrs. Cadburn has not been located and Potter is now suspected of abduction as well. Magical Enforcement officers arrived on the scene moments after Mr. Cadburn was killed. Tests show it was indeed Mr. Potter's wand that performed the Killing Curse. Potter is also suspected in the strange deaths of witched and wizards….”

Next to the article were pictures of the Cadburns, mostly casual shots of the couple at parties. Lawrence was not the prettiest flower of them all. He was short, fat and bald with liver spots on his head and a very bad complexion. Leta however was a striking young woman with long, shiny blond hair, huge boobs and great legs. I would kill for those legs. She had a perfect smile and she looked like she had a seductive voice too. I wondered why a girl like that was with Larry Cadburn in the Spider's Lair. Then the reality of the article hit me as to who it was about.

I slowly put down the paper, there was no way in hell… it just wasn't feasible for Harry, my Harry.

But that was where my train of thought stopped. He hadn't been “My Harry” in years. That was why we stopped talking, why I only talk to Ron now and not him.

A while the defeat of Voldemort, Harry and I hooked up a few times. Nothing serious, just some casual and fantastic shagging.

Okay so that is a lie, I do that as a defense mechanism sometimes when it comes to Harry. I usually tell people that if and only if they ask and are being very nosy.

In reality we carried on for about nine months and it was serious, physically anyways. The shagging was pretty fantastic. I wasn't in love with him though, nor he with me, I think anyway.

The problems came one day after nine months of dating. We had gone to dinner the night before but Harry ad to get up early for something, he never told me what. Anyway we made it a short night, meaning fast food by candlelight and then some shagging until the wee hours of the morning. Harry left really early and I slept in till noon. I didn't hear from him that day or the next. It would have been nice for a girl to get a phone call the morning after right, after dating for nine months; you get the idea? But no, he disappeared for a few months, finally surfacing when Auror training started. We got into a fight about it and I ended up hexing him with something. That was about four years ago and we haven't spoken since. He changed after that, I don't know what happened while he was gone.

The Harry I used to know, the one that was my best friend (and temporary shag buddy) disappeared and some strange man with in Harry's body fought with me about it and then went off to Auror training.

I turned the page and read the update about the bizarre cases of wizards and witches. They were dying unexplainably the only link was that they were all muggleborn. There were five dead so far and the only hint was it might be an attacker that hides in shadows, there is suspicion of forced entry. It's not concrete evidence though; just suspicion there is another party. The cause of death is always heart failure and it looks completely natural, except that all of the victims were in perfect health.

I decided I should go into the office today and maybe I could pick up another case until I caught Bullhed. And not think about Harry at all.

I took a quick shower and sprayed Sleekeazy's into my hair before applying a drying charm. That way it would be in nice soft curls and waves instead of frizz. Another charm put some make-up on and I was ready to go.

Okay I'm not exceptionally gorgeous but I'm no troll either. Hey a little make-up doesn't hurt though. But don't take me for a girlie girl. I have brown wavy, curly hair that can be damned near impossible unless I use a hair potion and a drying charm. I'm defiantly not fat but my 5'3 height and small frame does not make look very intimidating.

My typical work uniform is boot cut jeans and stretchy t-shirts (I do resemble an hourglass after all that training thank you) and sneakers. I throw a wizard robe over that, shove my wand in my pocket and I'm ready to go hunt down scumbags.

I go down to may car and drive for about five minutes to a desolate looking parking garage and insert my wand in a hole in a post at the entrance. The bar lifts and I can drive through. The ministry established these parking structures all over London so it can appear that I am a muggle going to work in my car. Once I park it in the garage, I apparate to the ministry and then back again when I leave and drive out. There are a lot of ministry employees that do this; it helps avoid suspicion from the muggles. And hey it's covered parking.

I step into a lift in the atrium and go to the second level where the Auror offices are located. I walk down the hall and pass the doors that lead to the different departments until I reach Recovery.

The office is small with a front desk and a few low walled cubicles behind it. Padma Patil sat at the front desk. She handed out the assignments and smiled when I came in. She was pretty in an exotic way, tall and slim with dark hair, dark eyes and lots of cleavage. Her twin, Pavarati owned a dress shop in Diagon Ally, “Roving Robes”.

“Hey Hermione, how's your day been?” She smiled. Padma was the nicer of the twins and I had always gotten along with her. She worked as a file clerk in Intelligence and came over with me after she was laid off.

“Oh my day has been, well interesting.”

“Uh-huh. It's that thing in that paper huh?” She knew why it bothered me, exactly why.

“Yeah, who'd of thought huh? It's weird.”

“Very. Oh have you caught Bulhed yet? He's a tricky one.”

I grimaced, “Not yet. Do you have anything easy, I need to pay my rent and stock my fridge.”

Padma flipped though some files and handed me one, “Here we go, this should be easy. Cathy Milton uhh says bond is 375 Galleons and umm oh charge is apparition without license.”

“Hmm she sounds familiar…oh she was in Hufflepuff, a year or two ahead of us.” Hermione giggled.

“Oh yeah Cathy, I remember, she was not the brightest wand in the bunch.”

“Uh no. Wasn't she the one that got stuck in a suit of armor trying to pull a Halloween prank, and the armor got offended and locked her in!” Hermione wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.

Padma almost fell off her chair she was laughing so hard, “And then the armor started coming on to her while she was inside! It took three professors hours to get him to let her out. She's an odd duck she is.””

“Ok well she seems like an easy one and hey I need the Galleons.”

“Honey, don't we all!”

I walked out of the office and back to the lift. I stared at the Head Department as I went by. Those were the elite Aurors, a special team that was very low key about their high priority investigations. I wondered how they felt about arresting one of their own. In the lift curiosity got the better of me and I headed to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

I walked through the door and up to the receptionist.

“Hello, how can I help you...Oh, Hermione hi! Here to see Chief Weasley?”

“If he isn't too busy that is.” I smiled.

“No, his meeting just got over with. Go right on in.”

“Okay, thanks Adele!” I smiled and walked behind her to Ron's office. The door read, Auror Ronald Weasley, Chief of Magical Law Enforcement.

Ron had been a Head Auror until a year or so ago but was hit with a nasty spell on a mission with Harry and it almost killed him. He came out all right after a few weeks in St. Mungo's but the Healers said that if he was hit with another severe spell like the Cruciatus or Imperius, it would kill him.

Ron decided, well it was actually Luna that decided, that he needed to do something less dangerous. The now Mrs. Ronald Weasley was one of my closest friends and even helped me out from time to time with a case. It took Ron forever to propose, they dated for three years before he could work up the nerve. Then he got hit on the mission and Luna put her foot down.

So Ron became the Chief of the Magical Enforcement Squad, a position that could only be held by a Head Auror. He seemed perfectly happy in his position and it allowed him to keep decent hours, especially now that Luna was three months pregnant. Molly loved to remind me about that.

I walked in and found Ron playing with something Fred and George had sent over for him to try out. He was now a shareholder in the joke shop empire and they like his input and to pull pranks on him.

“Hermione! How are you, I haven't seen you in ages.” He hugged me and I sighed, he was hopeless.

“Ron, what about dinner at your parent's house last week?”

“Oh that right, now I remember.” He tapped his chin.

“So… how are you today Ron,” I asked watching my tone.

Ron sighed and drooped his shoulders, “You mean how do I feel about this whole Harry getting arrested thing?”

I only nodded in response.

Ron sat down and indicated for me to do the same. I sank into the comfy leather chair and leaned back. I loved his chairs.

“Ahh well I'm not sure what to make of it, Harry says he can't remember a thing, but it was his wand that did it and no one witnessed anyone else going into the room.” Ron rubbed his temples, “I want to believe that he really has nothing to do with this since he's my best mate and all, but the evidence is so blasted against him.”

“Yeah it seemed that way to me too.”

“Honestly I didn't think you would care much if he were locked away in Azkaban, for what happened between you two.”

“Ronald! That is horrible, I still care about what happens to Harry!” Ron winced as I yelled at him.

“Just for that I should tell Luna...” Ron looked pained,

“No don't you dare, she'll bloody rip my head off about it, being pregnant has made her pretty moody. Ruddy hormones.” He sulked.

Ummm hmm”, I was unconvinced. Anytime Luna yelled at Ron for doing something stupid he claimed she was moody from being pregnant.

I talked to Ron for another hour or so about nothing and everything. Just like always. When I left I planned to catch Bullhed the next day at least, the rat was going down!