Ollivanders, etc…
Hermione felt a great deal of tension in the pit of her stomach as they opened the door to Ollivanders and heard the tinkling of the bell in its depths. "Do you really think we'll find anything out here?" she asked Harry nervously.
"I think…"
"Ah, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger. How may I be of assistance this morning? Not looking for new wands already, are you?" The sound of Mr. Ollivander's voice startled them and they looked up quickly to find him watching them. He looked as though he had been expecting them…
"Oh!" Hermione said with a nervous laugh. "Sorry, you scared me. I didn't see you there when we walked in."
"Well then, I must apologize. I had no intention of scaring you. Please, come in."
Holding tightly to each other's hands they stepped forward into the wand shop.
"So, how may I help you?" he asked them again.
"Oh, we're not looking for new wands," Harry said when he remembered his question. "We have something else we wanted to ask you about."
"Something else?" He replied. "All right, what can I help you with?"
"We were wondering if you might know the disposition of the wands that were likely found when the battle ended," Harry asked.
"The wands after the battle ended? What wands?" he asked, seemingly confused by the question.
"Sorry, sir, Harry means the wands of the witches and wizards who died during the battle. Do you know where they were taken when the battle ended?" Hermione asked anxiously.
His expression was unreadable as he looked at them. "Is there a reason you'd like to know this? It's not everyday someone comes asking for this type of information."
"Yes, sir, we have a reason but if it's all the same, we'd rather not discuss it at the moment. It's personal," Hermione answered.
"Very well, since the information isn't secret, I have no reason not to tell you," he answered. "If I'm not mistaken, the wands have been taken to the Ministry. I was told that Amos Diggory is the wizard in charge of that. You'll need to see him about their disposition."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other in surprise. "Amos Diggory?" Harry asked, unable to hide his shock. "Isn't he in the magical creatures department at the Ministry?"
"Ah, yes. Yes, he was. As it is, however, the Ministry is still working to fill the positions left by those lost during the battle. I'm afraid you'll find many changes within the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Potter," Mr. Ollivander answered. "Some of them for the betterment of our kind and some of them…well, never mind…that's neither here nor there at present." Hermione got the impression there was more he wanted to say but Harry spoke first.
"But…" Harry looked desperately at her, "…why? Amos Diggory?"
"Is there a problem Mr. Potter?" Mr. Ollivander asked curiously.
Harry snapped his head around. "What?" He said abruptly. "No…I mean…no sir, no problem. It's just…" He looked again at Hermione as though hoping she could explain it, "…nothing."
"Can we apparate into the Ministry now that Voldemort has been defeated?" Hermione asked Mr. Ollivander in an abrupt attempt to change the course of the conversation.
"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question, Miss Granger. Perhaps you can get clearance through someone who works for the Ministry. I'm sure the name Harry Potter will get you some form of special treatment," he said looking at Harry.
"I'm not looking for special treatment," Harry responded. "Only answers."
Mr. Ollivander looked at Hermione. "I must apologize once again Miss Granger, forgive me my manners. I read in the paper that you were in a coma. I don't recall reading that you'd awakened. Might I inquire as to how you are feeling?"
Hermione smiled through the nervous tension she still hadn't been able to shake. "Oh, yes sir. I'm doing…much better," she said quickly. "Thank you for asking."
"That is certainly good news. It is wonderful to see you moving about."
"Can we keep this meeting between us, sir?" Harry asked suddenly. "There's something that we really need to do and we'd prefer to get it done before word gets out that Hermione and I are out."
Mr. Ollivander nodded his head. "Yes, Mr. Potter, I believe that can be arranged. I'll not let any others know," he said. "But you may want to limit your contact within the Ministry or your secret will not be safe for long," he advised.
"Yes sir. We will, or…we'll try. Thanks for your help," Harry said as he looked at Hermione and cast his eyes toward the door. She nodded and together they turned to leave.
"You know, Mr. Potter," Mr. Ollivander said before they could leave, "I remember every wand I've ever sold, perhaps there is something I can do for you?"
Harry shook his head. "No, we need to see the wands, we'll just have to…" he paused as he struggled with the notion, "…to see Mr. Diggory. Thanks again," he said and he turned to walk toward the door still holding tightly to Hermione's hand.
Hermione turned around to say goodbye when she caught a glimpse of something or someone just out of her line-of-sight. "Hmm," she muttered curiously. She tried to take a step to the side so she could get a better look when Harry pulled her back and redirected her toward the door.
"Come on Hermione. Somehow I don't think we'll have any trouble getting into the Ministry. It's getting the information from Mr. Diggory that concerns me at the moment."
"Safe journey then," Mr. Ollivander called out to them as they reached the door.
"Thank you," Hermione said quickly as Harry pulled her out the door and back toward the streets of Diagon Alley. She turned to look at him the moment the door closed. "Harry, I swear I saw someone else in there. Do you think we should go check?"
"Do you have a clue as to who it was?" he asked distractedly. It didn't take much for Harry Potter to draw attention and he was searching the streets for any sign of an unwelcome intrusion. Luckily for them school was not starting any time soon and just as it was at the Three Broomsticks, it was early enough in the morning that the crowds had not yet gathered.
"No," she replied. "I didn't get a good look. Maybe it was nothing."
"Yeah, let's go with that and get out of here. I really don't want to be here when people start paying attention to who's lurking about the streets," he said quickly.
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"Have they gone?" The mysterious figure asked quietly as he heard the sound of the door closing.
"Yes, they're gone," Mr. Ollivander answered as he turned to look at his guest. "Will they be all right?"
"They are well on their way to being, thanks in no small part to you." Mr. Ollivander felt a light pat on his shoulder just before his guest apparated silently away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You want to apparate into the Ministry?" she asked somewhat worried about his answer.
"No," he answered. "Do you remember that old dumpster not far from the phone booth?"
Hermione had to think about it for a minute before she answered. "I think so, yeah. You want to apparate there?"
"Yeah, we'll just go in the proper way. I don't want to find out what happens if we try to apparate right in and find out we can't."
"Oh thank goodness," she answered breathily. "I was worried about that. So, I'll meet you at the dumpster then. Are you ready?"
Harry nodded. "Ready."
Upon apparating, Harry found himself nearer to the old pub than to the dumpster but he heard the soft `pop' when Hermione apparated right where she should have. She landed so close to the dumpster that she almost fell on top of it. Thankfully it was overflowing much as it was the last time he'd seen it or she may have fallen in. "Yuck!" she was muttering as she walked toward him. "Thank goodness I was a little off or I might have landed in the middle of it," she said disgustedly. She was still checking her clothing as they walked to phone booth.
Harry was smiling at her. "You're fine Hermione," he said as he leaned a little closer to smell her. He crinkled up his nose and said, "Well, for the most part anyway. Nothing that a scourgify spell can't fix."
"Harry," she cried, "do I really smell that bad?" She started trying to smell herself and stopped short when she heard his laughter. She reached out to smack him once again. "Why do you insist on doing things like that to me?" she said in exasperation.
"Because you're so cute when you get all panicked like that," he replied. Upon seeing the look on her face he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close. "I'll tell you what," he said lightly, "from this point forward I'll try to quit picking on you like that. But…" he looked directly into her eyes, "once we're out of this mess, you're mine Granger."
She smiled at him and moved in for a kiss, "You got it Potter. But just remember…" she looked pointedly at him, "you play with fire you're bound to get burned." Harry's eyes opened wide and she immediately kissed him before he could say anything else. She pulled away from him and started laughing. Secretly she hoped he'd forget all about what he'd said because it did take her mind off the task at hand and for that she was grateful.
They walked quickly to the phone booth and Harry dialed the number for the Ministry 6-2-4-4-2 (MAGIC) and waited for the voice to come through the phone, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger to see Amos Diggory. Personal business," Harry replied.
"Thank you," said the voice. "Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes."
When the badges came through the coin return Harry reached for them quickly. "Here you go, Hermione," he said as he handed her hers. They each pinned their badge to the front of their shirts as the voice spoke again.
"Visitor to the Ministry; you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, with is located at the far end of the Atrium."
Harry felt the familiar drop of the phone booth and patiently waited for it to open up to the bright lights of the Ministry. "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day."
Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and took her past the spot where the `Fountain of Magical Brethren' had been and straight over to the security desk. The wizard behind the desk looked up slowly as if he had all day to process the new visitors. The moment he recognized Harry he jumped up and reached for his free hand. "Harry Potter, sir, it's so great to finally meet you," the man said as pumped Harry's arm up and down enthusiastically. Harry let go of Hermione's hand so he could use his hand to stop the man.
"Thanks," Harry said with a note of desperation. "Can you please keep it down?" he asked frantically.
Hermione reached out and touched the man's arm and startled him out of his reverie. All around them witches and wizards had begun to stare at them curiously and Harry tried hard to keep his head down. While the man was distracted by Hermione's touch Harry was finally able to wrench his hand free. "Aren't you just supposed to do a search and check our wands or something?" Harry asked irritably.
The man looked at him like he was crazy. "For you? No way," he answered incredulously. "You can go wherever you need to go. Free access." Then he looked more closely at Hermione and remembered that she and Harry had been holding hands when they walked up to the desk. "Hey aren't you…" he started to say. Harry quickly grabbed her hand and rushed off, not caring where they were going as long as it was away from the security desk.
"Where are we going Harry," Hermione asked when it appeared as though they were a safe distance from the security guard.
"Anywhere," he replied. "The last thing we need right now is speculation about our relationship and the way that guard was looking at you, I could almost picture him calling the nearest reporter."
"Thanks," Hermione said with a note of relief. "I noticed that too, but I wasn't sure what to do. The last time I was here we didn't exactly have time to stop anywhere so I didn't know which way to go."
Harry looked at her and smiled. "Maybe you should have taken that wand out and done a quick memory charm on him. It's not going to be long before this hits the Daily Prophet you know," he said. "Hopefully we'll have enough time to finish this before the reporters start hunting us down."
"Yeah, I hope so too," she replied. "Hey, where does Mr. Weasley work? Do you remember what floor it is? Maybe we could see him, I'm sure he could tell us where Mr. Diggory works."
Harry nodded. "Good idea," he said. "Let's go find the lifts. I think they were this way," he said as he pulled her along until she finally got in step with him. "Let's just follow the crowd."
Neither of them said another word as they made their way through the crowd and found themselves standing before the numerous lifts. "Wow!" said Hermione obviously impressed by the sheer number of them in what appeared to be a rather small amount of space.
"Come on," Harry said softly, tugging on her arm once more. They made their way to one of the lifts and felt it descend into the depths of the Ministry. Harry got closer to her and tried hide as much of his face and his scar as possible behind her hair. "I think Mr. Weasley's on the second floor, but we'll hear what's on each floor as we go down. I should recognize it when I hear it," he said softly in her ear.
The lift stopped at level four, "Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and pest Advisory Bureau," said the same voice they'd heard through phone.
It felt like forever when they finally they reached level two, "Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services," said the voice again.
Hermione looked at him and when he nodded they quickly made their way out of the lift. Harry looked around trying desperately to remember which way it was to Mr. Weasley's office. "I think it's this way," he said with a great deal of uncertainty. "He works on the other side of the floor and we have to pass Auror Headquarters on the way there."
Hermione looked around worriedly. She'd certainly never been there and from the way Harry sounded, she wasn't entirely convinced he had even the slightest idea of where he was going.
"This is the way, Hermione," Harry said breathing a sigh of relief. "I recognize those doors. Auror Headquarters should be just on the other side."
He quickened his pace and pushed through the doors. He was relieved to see the cubicles set up just as they'd been when he walked through there before his hearing the summer of his fifth year. Now that Harry was a little more confident they started to pick up their pace.
"Wotcher, Harry." Tonks' voice startled them from behind, causing them both to jump.
"Hey Tonks," Harry said before he turned around.
"Watcha doin' here?" she asked curiously.
Harry and Hermione both turned around and Tonks' face lit up at the sight of Hermione. "Hermione, welcome back," she said as she moved forward to give her a hug.
Without realizing it Hermione braced herself for Tonks' imminent fall into her arms. With the exception of Neville, Hermione had never met anyone quite so clumsy, and Tonks didn't disappoint as she tripped over some unknown `thing' on the floor. "Whoa," she said as she fought not to fall.
Harry rushed forward quickly to keep her from taking Hermione down with her. "Thanks Harry," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Some things never change, do they?" she laughed. Quickly deciding it was in her own best interest, Hermione took the couple steps forward to give Tonks a hug. "It's great to see you Hermione. How are you feeling?"
Hermione backed away. "I'm all right. Still a little tired I guess but not too bad," she answered. "How about you?"
"Ah. I'm all right," she said. "They'll have a hard time keeping me down for long. So what brings you here?"
"We're looking for Mr. Weasley's office," Harry answered.
"Oh, yeah. You mean that closet next to the broom cupboard, you'd think after all this time they'd get him a better place, you know?" she began to fuss.
"Um…yeah, Tonks," Harry said hesitantly not wanting to get into a conversation about Mr. Weasley's office.
"Don't even have a window in there. Imagine being stuck…"
"Ahem."
"Oh right, sorry. That happens sometimes," she said as she rolled her eyes once again. "Anyway, you just go straight down that way, through the set of doors, down another passage, turn left and walk down another corridor, and then turn right into another corridor. You can't miss it."
Hermione shook her head as she tried to grasp the instructions. "What?" she asked once her mind gave up the task.
Tonks looked at her and laughed. "Sorry," she said. "Go straight through the set of doors, turn left, and then turn right. You'll come to the end of the hall and his office is right next to the broom cupboard."
"Oh," Hermione said as the instructions finally became clear. "Straight, left, right, and then the end of the hall," she repeated much more clearly.
"Yeah, that's what I said," Tonks replied. "Only it took me a few more words," she mumbled as an afterthought.
Harry and Hermione laughed with her. Harry moved closer and put his arm around her shoulders. "Thanks Tonks, we need to get going though. We still have a lot to do today," he said just before the idea to ask her came to mind. "Wait a minute, maybe you can tell us," he said hopefully. He looked at Hermione and saw her reluctance.
"What's that Harry?" Tonks asked curiously. "Whatcha need to know?"
Harry was still watching Hermione when he answered, "Nothing. It's nothing," he said as he lowered his arm from her shoulders. He turned to look at her. "Never mind."
"You sure?" she asked looking from him to Hermione and back again. "I've got time for questions Harry."
"Yeah, I'm sure. Thanks though." He looked to Hermione. "You ready?"
She nodded. "Thanks Tonks. By the way, can you keep this quiet for us?" she asked hesitantly.
"Sure, anytime Hermione," she said with a questioning look on her face. "I can keep it quiet. You don't want people knowing you're here?"
Harry and Hermione both nodded. "Honestly," Hermione sighed, "we don't want people to know we're anywhere. I know it won't stay quiet for long but the longer it does, the better off we'll be. As long as very few people are actually volunteering information, then for the most part we'll just be speculation."
Tonks nodded. "Okay, sure. I can do that," she promised. "Just remember though, I'm here if you need anything, anything at all, all right?"
"Yeah, we know. Thanks again, Tonks," Harry said as he grabbed Hermione's hand. "We'll see you soon and hopefully then we can tell you a little more."
Tonks nodded. "All right Harry, soon," she replied. "It's good to see you both doing better," she called out as they began to make their way down the hall.
Hermione turned around and waved before she felt Harry pulling on her once more. "I'm coming Harry," she said as he began moving faster. "Wait up or let go," she cried as she tried unsuccessfully to wrench her hand away from his.
It took him a minute to realize what she was doing and that he was practically dragging her along behind him. He stopped abruptly and Hermione nearly knocked him over as her momentum continued to carry her forward. "What's wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't mean to drag you off like that," he replied. "I was just thinking about stuff and I didn't know you weren't right next to me until you started trying to pull away."
"What in the world were thinking about?"
He grinned slyly at her. "How great it would be to have you run into me like that?" he said smoothly. "Although, in my version of events you actually knock me down and land on top of me. Think we should try again?"
Hermione tried to keep a straight face when she spoke, "What did we just talk about, Mr. Potter?"
"All right. All right," he conceded. "I wasn't really thinking about anything…just everything, you know? It's all sort of mixed up." He looked at her closely and asked, "What's the real reason you didn't want me to ask Tonks about Diggory?"
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought the fewer people who knew the better," she replied.
"But we have to talk to Mr. Weasley what would've been the difference between him and Tonks?"
"What was the difference between Dumbledore and Ollivander?" she asked a little more irritably than she'd intended. "I just know that Ron's going to talk to his dad anyway and I just didn't want to talk to anyone else right now."
"You're right. Sorry, I guess I need to remember that we're both in this and the decisions aren't only mine to make. Forgive me?" he asked sticking his lower lip out in a pretend pout.
"Yes, of course," she said shaking her head and laughing at him.
"Good. We're almost there."
"Then let's go," she said pulling on his arm.
He looked at her and smiled. "What?" she asked innocently as she pulled harder.
"All right, I get it. I'll stop pulling you around," he said as he finally started to walk with her.
"You do realize that the longer we stand here and talk about this the more likely it'll be that someone else will come up to us. You are the…" she hesitated and looked at him questioningly, "…who are you now? You're not the Boy-Who-Lived anymore are you? What's your new title?"
"I'm The-Man-in-Love-With-His-Best-Friend-Who's-Trying-to-Start-a-Life," he said laughing. "How's that work for you?"
"I think it needs a little work…you have two best friends, remember? Go around saying that and people will start to wonder if you're in love with Ron."
"Shut it Granger," he said grinning. "Here, this is it."
She hadn't even realized they'd come to the end of the hall. It appeared to be deserted. "Was it like this the last time you were here?" she asked as she looked around for any sign of life.
"I don't think so," he replied as he too looked around. The door to Mr. Weasley's office was open but there was no sign that anyone had been there recently. Mr. Weasley's jacket wasn't on the back of his chair and it didn't appear as though Perkins had been there either.
"Where do you suppose they've gone?" she asked in wonder as she continued to scan the entire area from the hallway to the office. She even opened the broom cupboard and it didn't appear as though anything had been moved from there for ages. "Don't you suppose Tonks would have known if his office wasn't here anymore?" she asked; the uneasiness she'd been feeling all day had now suddenly worsened.
Harry stopped and looked at her and she could see that he was just as confused and uneasy as she was. Yes, they were early, but Mr. Weasley had always been here by this time of day when they were staying at Grimmauld Place and Harry remembered that Perkins had been there even earlier the day of his hearing. Harry shook his head, as he spoke, "I have no idea, Hermione."
Harry slowly entered the office to look for some of the personal affects of Mr. Weasley. He remembered seeing a photograph somewhere near his in-tray and he carefully moved forward to look for it. He'd forgotten how small the office was and it was tight trying to get around everything in there. He found the picture right where he'd seen it the last time and he smiled when he saw that Percy had returned; there was a time when they weren't sure he would.
"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly. "Is everything all right?"
Harry shook his head to clear the thoughts that had suddenly taken over. "Huh? What? Did you say something?" he asked looking up at her in surprise.
"I asked you if everything was all right," she said examining him closely.
"Oh, yeah. I was just looking at this old picture of the Weasleys. Last time I was here Percy was gone from it. He's back now."
"Oh," Hermione said as she nodded. "I see. Well, what do we do now? It doesn't look like anyone's been in here for a while."
"Let's just go back and look for Tonks. Maybe she can tell us what's going on."
"Good idea," Hermione said as she began to back up toward door with Harry not far behind.
"What are you doing here?" A voice called out from just around the other side of the door. Hermione stopped moving and Harry bumped into her having not heard the man's question.
"What's wrong Hermione?" he asked. "I thought we were leaving."
Her voice was shaky as she whispered, "There's someone out there Harry. He just asked what we were doing here."
"What? I didn't hear anything. Move over and let me go first."
Hermione flattened herself as much against the wall as she could and Harry squeezed past, smiling at her as he pressed her against the wall. Her eyes widened and he laughed. "What? It's a tight squeeze. I'm not doing it on purpose."
"Just get out there Harry," she said obviously getting flustered.
Harry imagined the popping sound as he finally made it past her. He turned to look at her again and smiled. "See? Tight fit. Did you hear that pop?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Just go," she whispered fiercely, pointing toward the door.
Harry walked to the entrance of the door and was surprised to see the man standing just on the other side.
"About time you came out of there, where's the other one?" he asked patiently.
Harry reached for Hermione's hand and gently pulled her to stand next to him, both of them looking at the man before them.
"Oh," Hermione said in surprise.
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