What I Always Wanted
Chapter 19: How To Flush Out A Dead Witch
Agamennous Melbourne sat back with a look of stunned incredulousness on his face. He could hardly believe what all he'd just heard. The things his own children had done, under the very roof in which he now sat, and all without his ever having one clue as to what had gone on. Closing his eyes, he bowed his head and shook it dejectedly. Seeing the distressed motion Hermione cut off what she had been saying and laying a comforting hand to Melbourne's shoulder asked.
"Minister Melbourne, are you alright?"
At the feel of Hermione's hand Agamennous opened his eyes and lifted his head. He offered her a weak smile as he replied.
"Thank you for your concern, but I assure you I am quite alright."
Unconvinced Hermione inquired further.
"Are you certain sir? You seem a bit…er…overwhelmed."
Agamennous smiled in earnest at the persistence of Hermione Potter. Something about her carriage and deportment had always reminded him of his own dear Hecuba. He now knew that it was not just an aging man's wistfulness that saw these characteristics in the younger woman but a true likeness in spirit. When he spoke his tone was somewhat lighter.
"Let us disregard the formality shall we, no more of this sir or minister this and deputy minister that…please call me Agamennous…"
Pausing for a moment, Melbourne glanced in Harry's direction and added.
"That goes for the pair of you."
Harry stared after his boss with a look of shock on his face at being included in Melbourne's offer. Hermione generally got on well with most people with only the odd tosser here and there who found her too much to take. She was usually very well thought of by persons in authority and for that reason Harry had always guessed that Melbourne rather liked her. He'd reasoned that their close relationship had put Melbourne off her some. Harry's thoughts must have shown on his face as Melbourne's next words seemed to be reading them.
"Don't look so surprised Potter its not as if I dislike you. I just disagree with some of your more reckless methods."
Hermione chimed in.
"You're not the only one."
Harry rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.
"Bloody fabulous, that's the last thing I need, my wife and my boss getting chummy."
Hermione frowned slightly and was about to ask Harry what he'd said when Harry sensing the impending question changed the subject.
"Now that we've gotten Minis…er…umm…Agamennous up to speed…what's next…how do we go about stopping Isolde?"
Hermione looked between Harry and Agamennous and said.
"I been thinking about that and I believe that the answer is really rather simple."
Hermione paused to make sure that she had both men's full attention before continuing.
"We've got the advantage. We know what Isolde is up to, we know that the spell she's looking for doesn't exist and we know that because we have the second book. And I'm absolutely certain that if Isolde knew there was a second Book of Spells she'd make a grab for it. So all we have to do is make it known that there is another book of spells and be ready when Isolde tries for it."
Agamennous interjected with a question.
"And exactly how do we just as you say make it known that we have the second book of spells?"
Harry added his thoughts.
"And how do we even know that there are two books?"
Hermione smiled knowingly. It seemed that all aurors were hardwired for action and prone to overlooking the finer points of things to some degree. With a shake of her head Hermione replied.
"The Onyx Knights Books of Spells is one of the wizarding world's greatest legends. It's like the sorcerer's stone…so finding it would naturally be big news. As it's not your everyday item most wizards wouldn't know what it was if they happened to stumble across it in a bookshop but if the Department of Mysteries foremost authority on antediluvian magic just happened to stumble across it that would be another matter entirely."
Harry chuckled.
"The truth as a ruse how novel!"
Hermione's smiled brightened.
"More often than not simplicity is the best course of action."
Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement of Hermione's words before plodding on.
"So we spell the news about the Book of Spells and when Isolde comes to grab it we grab her."
Melbourne frowned as he interjected.
"It won't be as simple as all that Harry."
Again Harry nodded.
"Of course it won't. Isolde is a smart woman and the daughter of one of the finest aurors to ever don the auror's robes, so I doubt that she'd just blindly walk into the Ministry of Magic with the intention to nick some newly discovered priceless wizarding artifact."
Agamennous offered his assessment of the situation.
"No she wouldn't. Whereas Priam was the smarter of the two, Isolde was always more resourceful, more wily. She'll be able to suss out a setup quickly. She hasn't managed to remain hidden all this time by being slow on the uptake. We'll have to be very careful."
"I imagined as much, so I've worked out that bit as well."
Both men turned to look at Hermione a slightly smug look covering her face. Before either could speak Hermione said.
"Allow me to elaborate. Dalton and I will hold a press conference announcing the discovery of the `fabled' Book of Spells. We'll tell them the story of how I found the book at Berlinker's and spent the next few weeks deciphering its meaning. That's how we'll explain there being two books and that we are now conducting a thorough search to find the other half of the volume so that we can begin deciphering all the spells contained in the book."
Agamennous cut in.
"That will certainly get Isolde's attention but she's still not going to just come waltzing through the front doors of the Ministry."
Hermione agreed.
"No she's not going to come strolling in through the front door but you're forgetting that Isolde's operating under several false assumptions. You see the stories surrounding the Book of Spells and the Knights have those who believe them under the erroneous impression that there is a spell in it that can reverse death. There is also the matter of the ancient Celtic and Druid system of magic. Everything they did had to be done when the alignments of the planets were just right otherwise the spell wouldn't. I'm positive that the necessary planetary alignment for the spell Isolde hopes to use is close at hand. I'm also betting that she knows she's got two very tenacious aurors out to get her albeit for different reasons but the point in she's desperate. It has to be now or never. Once she finds out there are two books she'll have to make a move."
Hermione paused and took a deep breath. She leveled her gaze with Melbourne's and said.
"And while she won't come charging into the Ministry to take the book I don't think she'd have much of a problem going after someone who knows everything there is to know about the second book."
Silence descended upon the room as Hermione finished off. She took another breath and started to count the seconds before the calm was shattered. She had only made it to three when Harry's voice bellowed throughout the room.
"YOU'RE INTENDING TO OFFER YOURSELF UP AS BAIT TO SOME NUTTER WHOSE HELL BENT ON RESURRECTING THE DEAD!!!"
"Harry that's out of order…you've just called Agamennous' daughter a nutter!"
"OUT OF ORDER I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S OUT OF ORDER…"
Hermione raised her voice by a decibel or two to be heard and said.
"Harry will you just calm down a moment and listen to me…"
Harry's booming baritone overrode Hermione's voice as he continued.
"NO ABSOLUTELY NOT!! ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN DO YOU HEAR ME HERMIONE…I FORBID IT…THERE'S NO WAY IN BLOODY HELL I'M LETTING YOU ENDANGER YOUR LIFE AND THAT OF OUR BABY!!!!"
At the sound of the word `forbid' Hermione's own stubbornness rose to the fore. Leveraging herself out of her seat and rising as gracefully as is possible for someone so far gone in a pregnancy Hermione glared at her husband and matched his bellows with a few of her own.
"YOU FORBID IT…I'LL HAVE YOU TO KNOW HARRY JAMES POTTER THAT JUST BECAUSE I HAPPEN TO BE YOUR WIFE DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE AUTHORITY TO SAY WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO…"
Suddenly Hermione found herself unable to speak. She quickly surmised that she'd been hit with a silencing spell. Her gazed drifted to Agamennous Melbourne who was quite calmly summoning three chairs. The look on her face told her that she had been right in her guess as to who had hexed her. Her suspicions were confirmed when the older wizard spoke.
"The both of you will please take a seat and collect yourselves so that we can discuss this in a more civilized manner. I will remove the silencing spell when I feel you both had sufficient time to cool down a bit. In the meantime I suggest a spot of lunch while we wait."
Agamennous smiled a genuinely amused smile as he said.
"That's the beauty of silencing spells they prevent a person from speaking without depriving them of certain other oral pleasures…"
The implied implications of the statement were not lost on either of the Potters. Agamennous added.
"Ippy, my house elf, has the weekend off. As such it's down to me to come up with a suitable lunch; I'll just be a moment.
With that said Agamennous exited the room and left Harry and Hermione to sit seething for the next twenty minutes as he prepared a hodgepodge of a meal that included chicken casserole, salad, mash, runner beans, baked ham and roasted chicken with strawberry banana ice cream for afters. Lunch was a silent affair, save for Agamennous' prattling about one thing or another as they ate. It was only after he'd trotted out a tray complete with tea, coffee and rather nice aged meade that Agamennous lifted the spell that had rendered Harry and Hermione silent the past hour and a half.
"You are both at liberty to speak now. But be aware that I have no compunctions about hexed you again."
Agamennous briefly halted his words and eyeing Harry none to surreptitiously said.
"I believe that an apology would get things off to a congenial enough start."
Harry stared back at Melbourne with an all too familiar blazing look. The two men's gazes locked and held for a few intense moments before the hard glint that had clouded Harry's eyes receded. Directing his gaze towards his wife Harry spoke quietly.
"You were right I was wrong for yelling at you and for saying what I said about Isolde."
Harry spared another glance at Melbourne and simultaneously apologized for calling his superior's daughter a nutter. Agamennous nodded his acceptance and Harry returned his attentions to his wife.
"But Hermione I can't let you put yourself in harm's way like this…I just can't!"
Hermione heaved a sigh.
"Oh Harry I know you only want to protect me but do you honestly think I'd be doing this if I thought there was the slightest chance that I was jeopardizing myself or our baby."
Harry was about to further attempt to plead his case when Agamennous spoke.
"Hermione, what makes you so sure that you wouldn't be jeopardizing yourself and your unborn child?"
Hermione's reply slipped past her lips without the slightest hesitation.
"Isolde isn't trying to hurt anyone. Everything that she's done…all the dark magic that she's been connected to has never put one single soul in danger. By all accounts, including your own she was a gentle soul…never even lifting a hand to squash an insect…I think that person still exists. In fact I'm sure she does."
Melbourne nodded then said.
"You're sure that person exists but I'm not as sure as you are."
Hermione's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"But…she's your daughter…"
Melbourne cut across her words.
"Yes Isolde is my daughter but she's not the child she was when I thought I buried all those years ago. She hasn't been in a rational frame of mind for Merlin knows how long. And with all the dark magic she's exposed herself to and the unmentionable things she has no doubt done and seen we have no idea how unstable her mental state may be. None of that is even taking into account the level of her desperation. No…Harry is right. There is no way of knowing whether Isolde is dangerous or not and I'd never be able to live with knowing I'd allowed you to endanger yourself and your baby. It simply cannot be done."
Hermione was taken aback by Agamennous Melbourne's heartfelt plea. Finding herself completely unable to argue to the contrary she slumped back in her seat dejectedly and said.
"Well this is a right fine mess. The news conference is all set up for first thing in the morning."
Harry reinserted himself into the conversation.
"Well we'll just have to call it off."
Hermione shook her head.
"We can't…Dalton's even seen to it that it'll be broadcast on the wireless. There's no backing out of it."
Harry stood up and began pacing back and forth running his hand through his hair as he went. Agamennous placed a hand to his chin and silently stroked his jaw-line as the other hand drummed the arm of the chair he was seated in. Hermione sat quietly a small frown marring her face as she mulled things over. The threesome sat that way for several minutes before Harry exclaimed.
"I've got it!"
Agamennous and Hermione gave up their own fruitless pondering and gave Harry their full attention.
"Hermione's right this plan of hers is near perfect and our best chance of flushing out Isolde. Only problem is we can't risk her getting hurt if Isolde proves to be more unstable than we think…all we need is a substitute Hermione."
Agamennous Melbourne smacked his hands together and leapt off his chair.
"Of course it's so bloody simple we almost missed it! A simple dose of polyjuice potion and we're laughing…"
Harry smiled as he cut across Melbourne and said excitedly.
"Even better we can bring on Tonks that way we wouldn't have to worry about refreshing the potion every hour."
"Excellent idea!"
Agamennous clapped Harry on the back and the two aurors shared a smile. Hermione cleared her throat a bit and inquired.
"And exactly where am I to be while Tonks is off impersonating me?"
Harry's reply was quick.
"Safely tucked away in the confines of Grimmauld Place being watched over by Ron."
Hermione stared back at her husband in shock.
"You can't be serious!"
Harry stared back sternly and answered back with.
"I am absolutely, one hundred percent serious."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry had indeed been serious. The day following their meeting with Agamennous Hermione had stood with Dalton Moore and revealed the discovery of the famed Book of Spells. After having spent the morning getting interviewed and photographed for every wizarding publication available Hermione had spent the afternoon briefing Tonks on the finer points of her duties within the Department of Mysteries while not actually revealing what her work entailed. Hermione was in fact carrying on with all her work from her study at home. No one other than Dalton Moore, her boss and Daphne Greenfendle, her assistant knew of the plan to catch Isolde. And even they didn't know who the aurors were after and why. That information had only been divulged to those deemed pertinent to the operation. Which meant no one outside of Harry, Hermione, Agamennous, Ron, Tonks, Kingsley and Caiaphas Artaxerxes, the Chief Minister of Magical Law Enforcement knew that bit of truth.
It turned out that Artaxerxes and Melbourne had been best mates for ages. They godfather to each other's children. Needless to say Caiaphas had been hurt by Agamennous' secrecy but he'd put his own feelings aside to help the girl he loved as much as he loved any of his own children.
It had been two weeks since Harry's covert operation had gone into play and no one had seen the slightest sign of anything amiss. And while everyone was going on with their lives in a business as usual fashion Hermione was trapped in her own home about to go mad from boredom. She and Ron had fallen into their childhood pattern of sniping at each other over the smallest of things. It had gotten so bad that for the past two days he taken to hanging about downstairs and popping up every half hour or so to see that things were alright. Harry'd taken to popping in whenever he could sneak away unnoticed to check and see that she was alright but as he had to keep up appearances he was presently off on a three day excursion to Molien. Thus, Hermione was anxiously awaiting her daily visit from Daphne. Everyday just after lunch Daphne would pop in and bring Hermione the day's cache of work. The two would usually spend an hour or so talking. As this was the time that the two usually went over reports no one found it add that Daphne was away from her desk for so long or that Hermione's office was inaccessible.
Hermione was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of footfalls coming up the stairs. Just as she looked up Ron's head appeared around the door.
"Daphne's here."
Hermione smiled and nodded as the younger witch entered the room. As Daphne entered the room Ron spoke again.
"Will you two be alright on your own for a bit? I've just gotten an owl from George, there's a bit of situation down at the shop that he needs my help with."
Hermione answered.
"Of course we'll be alright Ron. You go and take care of things we'll be just fine here."
Ron looked back and forth between the two women and asked.
"You're sure?"
"Yes I'm sure Ron, we'll be quite alright, take as long as you need."
Hermione's reply was accompanied by a reassuring smile from Daphne. With a nod of his head and a promise to be no more than a half hour Ron disapparated with a sizzling crackle. Hermione shook her head indulgently.
"I don't know what's worse his being over protective or his trying my patience."
The two women shared a brief smile before Hermione said.
"Well I reckon we best get started. You go ahead and lay out today's pile and I'll just get what's finished from yesterday."
Hermione turned around to grab a stack of files from her desk when suddenly she was seized by what she vaguely recognized as an immobilization spell before the world went black.
-->