Bearings
Disclaimer/Author's Note: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me
Evanescence
My Immortal
Chapter Twenty: In Absentia
Thursday, January 2, 2003; 6:15 am
There is a familiarity associated with sleeping in the same bed as another person, something which the mind and the body grow accustomed to without conscious realization. For Hermione, it was the reassuring and strengthening presence of her first friend and lover, one Harry Potter. Whenever she was near him-as she was when they were sleeping-there was a faint tingle along her magic that she had always associated with their magic responding to each other. Therefore, without moving or opening her eyes or really using any of her senses, she knew Harry was not beside her. She just knew.
So it was with disappointment that she awoke to find herself alone in their master suite; Harry's side of the bed was already as cold as it was empty. She had known that he would have to leave very early for his trip to Rome because, after all, the Italian city was an hour ahead of the United Kingdom, but she had half expected and hoped that he would at least say goodbye. Granted, the trip was only to last about forty-eight hours, but they would be two days too long for her.
She sighed and stretched, rolling onto her back and staring at the high ceiling of their room. She threw her arms out, so that she was across most of the bed, and just laid there. Her relaxed breathing was the only sound in the room, and after awhile it had almost lulled her back to sleep. Just as she knew she was in danger of dozing off, she shook her head and sat up, pulling the sheet with her. It was chilly in their room and she usually slept in only her undergarments.
Hermione considered drawing the sheet around her and walking to her armoire like that, but then she rolled her eyes as Ron's voice echoed around her mind: Are you a witch or not? She summoned her wand with her hand and cast a low power heating charm over herself. The sheet fell away as she left the bed, revealing her lithe and, quite honestly, very attractive body. An objective part of her knew that she had certain assets many women would die for-namely, great legs, a killer bum, and a well-proportioned chest. Her hair, on the other hand, was always something that had bothered her, but she had learned to accept it along with everything else. Harry constantly said he loved her hair, which was adorable and eased her self-doubt a bit. There would always be that insecure eleven year old lurking in her somewhere, no matter how powerful or authoritative she could seem. Those that knew her best, that knew the real her, were aware of its presence.
As she glided forward, the framed pictures along the wall above her dresser caught her attention. Early morning light had just begun to leak in around the curtains, and the images were vaguely illuminated in the gray dawn.
When Harry and Hermione had permanently moved into The Manor, they'd both had a set of pictures stretching over the years of their Hogwarts careers. Harry had given his to Hermione-some of which were identical to hers-and said that she could hang them however she wanted. She smiled at that thought. Harry was many things, but interior decorator was not one of them.
In any case, she had decided to simply hang the best of them in chronological order from left to right, storing away the more mundane photos for whenever they might be needed. These were the photos she found herself viewing, having caught the flicker of the golden snitch in the leftmost one out of the corner of her eye. She was normally not very nostalgic and preferred to look forward both in theory and practice, but for some reason she now could not help herself from looking at each picture. Perhaps it was Harry's absence that prompted her to look at these doppelgangers.
The aforementioned first picture was of Harry just after winning his first Quidditch match in his first year. He held the Snitch in his right hand; Ron stood at his right side, grinning at his friend. Harry had his left arm over Hermione's shoulder, at his left. They were all grinning stupidly and enjoying the moment of pure bliss.
Merlin, they all looked so young in that first picture. Had Hermione actually been that small? She watched as her younger self kept sneaking glances at the charming young man to her right, and Hermione smirked as she realized something: even that early, during their first year, Harry had already held a special place within her heart.
The next picture was something of an oddity, in which she found herself sitting cross-legged next to a large cauldron. Harry and Ron were at either side, watching her intently as she added an ingredient to the simmering vessel. It was an acutely staged shot, which she had procured by borrowing Colin Creevey's magical camera and setting the timer. This image of course recorded their infamous brewing of the Polyjuice potion during their second year. That particular incident had landed her in the Hospital Wing with whiskers and a tail.
The third image contained only Harry and Hermione, though Buckbeak was standing in the background. She was never sure how Harry had received this picture, because it was a candid of them talking about something, and it must have been sometime after they'd rescued the hippogriff during their third year. She couldn't remember anyone being there, especially because at that point they had passed back into the time stream.
She shrugged, continuing along the line of pictures. The next two were action shots. The first was off Harry out-flying the Norwegian Ridgeback during the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament; the second was Harry, Hermione, and Ron having a three-way duel sometime during their fifth year. The entire DA was assembled in the background, watching, in some cases, with awe. In the picture, Ron was incapacitated fairly quickly, leaving Harry and Hermione to fight each other. They were nearly evenly matched, so the duel was intense and prolonged. The image reset just as Hermione was in the process of blocking a strong Stunner.
There was no image from their sixth year-or at least no image that Hermione wanted to hang on their wall-so the images skipped to the summer between sixth and seventh year. It was also an action shot, but it had been taken by a Muggle camera. Harry was in the process of Side-Along Apparating Ron, Neville, Luna, and Ginny; Hermione saw that she was Disapparating herself. The odd thing about this picture, and ultimately why Hermione had hung it on the wall, was the splash of color between their six bodies. If one stared at the picture for long enough, it almost seemed as if there were rainbow bands of lights running from person to person.
It could have been a trick of the midday sun on the lens of the camera, but Hermione thought it might have been Harry's magic. Obviously, her rational side told her that was impossible because no Muggle or Muggle device could see any kind of magic, but Harry had been known to do some very strange and unexpected things. So perhaps those weird bands of light really were Harry's magic preparing everyone for the Apparition.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, she quickly dressed and left the master suite. She had a full day ahead of her, and she wanted to get an early start at the Ministry. It wouldn't do to dwell on memories of the past when there was so much to do, here and now, to accomplish the goals Harry had set forth for everyone in their world. Hermione knew that Harry did not realize it-could not realize it, truthfully-but the Wizarding world was going to be a very different place after he had finished with it. He was so ignorant of many old customs and traditions, most of which were reprehensible, at best, and repulsive, at worst, that he would have no problem simply eliminating them.
Their world had better be ready for a wake-up call, because if it wasn't, Harry would splash cold water over everything and force witches and wizards everywhere to pay attention. He was one of the nicest human beings that Hermione had ever encountered, but he could also be one of the most inspired and imposing. That leader persona was always hovering just underneath the surface; it would take only a spark of injustice or a whisper of discrimination to set it free.
These thoughts carried her down the grand staircase toward the foyer. When she reached the final landing and turned toward expansive foyer, she stopped as she felt magic tingle along her arms. She reached for her wand, unsure of what was happening for a moment, but relaxed as two familiar forms materialized in the middle of the foyer. She rushed down the rest of the stairs, opening her arms and heading for the first person.
"Erin!" she called. The brunette looked toward Hermione and grinned, receiving her friend in a welcoming hug. Hermione turned to the other person after a moment.
"John!" she said, and hugged him as well. The arrivals were bundled in their winter clothing and had some luggage with them, which they had dropped to the floor upon landing in the Manor.
"Harry's Portkeys give you any problems?" Hermione asked, stepping back and looking at her friends. They looked well-rested and refreshed, and that was a good thing.
"Of course not!" Erin responded, laughing. "The trip was quick and painless."
"That's good," Hermione said, smiling along with them. "Why don't you two put your things away? I'll be in the kitchen putting together some breakfast for us."
"Sure thing," John said, picking up their luggage. Hermione watched them briefly as they ascended the stairs, then turning toward the kitchen. When she pushed open the door, she saw that Dobby was already hard at work making them breakfast.
"Good morning, Hermione," the House Elf said, not taking his eyes off the food in front of him.
"Morning, Dobby," Hermione replied. "Anything I can do to help?"
He looked at her. "Thank you, but I'm almost done," he said, smirking at her. Since when had Dobby smirked?
"Sure you don't want me to burn the toast?"
Dobby actually laughed. "I'm sure."
Winky and Libby came in shortly thereafter; Winky went to assist Dobby and Libby took a seat at the table, next to Hermione.
"Where's Harry?" Libby squeaked.
"Yes, where is Harry?" Erin asked, entering the kitchen. John was right behind her.
"Business trip to Rome," Hermione said.
"Oh?" John wondered.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, he'll be back on Saturday." John nodded, leaning back in his chair and slipping an arm around Erin. "So how was your trip home?" Hermione asked.
John and Erin looked at each other, smiling, and Hermione felt a warm glow spreading through her heart and soul as she watched her friends. They clearly loved each other deeply; she and Harry looked at each other like that every day they were together.
"Amazing," Erin said. "My parents have only met John once, so they enjoyed spending more time with him."
"And I can say the same thing," John added. "We spent some quality time with our families, though they were naturally curious about what we've been doing."
"What did you tell them?" Hermione wondered.
Erin shrugged. "What we had planned to say, that I work for an engineering firm and John works for an investment bank."
"They were fine with you two being so far away?"
"Sure, Hermione," John said, smiling appreciatively as Dobby brought breakfast to the table. "Thank you, Dobby. It smells and looks delicious."
"Yes it does, Dobby," Erin agreed.
"You're welcome," Dobby returned, smiling graciously and sitting with Winky in the remaining chairs. They all tucked into their meals.
"But yeah, they were happy for us. And like you said when we first came over, there are ways for us to travel back and forth that are much faster than flying…"
Hermione nodded. "I just want to make sure that we're not stealing you away from your families."
Erin put her fork on the table and leaned forward, taking Hermione's hand in hers. "Hermione, you know that we both made a conscious decision to help you and Harry. It was an added benefit that we were getting good, high-paying jobs as well, but when we decided to stay here, it wasn't something we would take back."
"Well, thank you," Hermione said, powerfully moved by her friend. She squeezed Erin's hand.
"Thank you," John said, wiping the corners of his mouth with his napkin. "You and Harry gave us the opportunity of a lifetime-of several lifetimes-when you decided to introduce us to your world. There are so many things that Erin and I have encountered that are just so… overwhelming… and enlightening… we really don't know how express our gratitude."
"There's no need," Hermione said. "And if Harry were here, he'd say the same thing." John inclined his head, and they all continued eating in silence as their thoughts consumed them. The Elves had contented themselves to listening to the conversation between the humans.
"So you had a good holiday, then?" Hermione wondered, finishing off her juice and putting her silverware down. The breakfast had been scrumptious. Dobby really was an amazing chef.
"Oh, absolutely," Erin answered. "We saw our families and received some nice gifts."
"It was good," John said, "but Erin's mum wouldn't stop pestering me about when I'd make an honest woman out of her daughter!"
Hermione laughed. "Did she give you grief about your Britishisms as well?" John just gave her a blank look. "You said mum instead of mom."
"Oh," John said, looking surprised. "Didn't even notice."
"I think we might slowly be becoming English, John…" Erin said, looking sideways at her boyfriend.
John looked suitably horrified. "Anything but that! If I ever have a cuppa or put all my shite in a boot or drive a lorry, I might die."
"Give it enough time and you might," Hermione retorted, sticking her tongue out at her American friends.
Conversation moved on from there. They talked a little more about the holidays, but their banter soon sobered as the discussion turned toward work. Hermione was always busy as the Director of Muggle Liaisons, and John and Erin were no slouches either. Erin was the provisional head of security for the new Hogsmeade Branch that was to open tomorrow, so she would have many full days ahead of her. John had been given more and more responsibilities as most of his initial investments had proved fiscally sound; he was now handling several top tier accounts and advised the upper level financial management on a daily basis.
Truth be told, John was one of the most sought after investors at the moment, even though he may not have known it. Hermione had heard through the grapevine that his advanced knowledge of Muggle, Wizarding, and goblin monetary systems made him an invaluable asset for cross-world investing. Not to be left out, however, was Erin: Hermione had heard that she had earned the trust of her goblin counterparts because she treated them as equals. She never referred to them as anything other than friends or colleagues. To Erin, they were not goblins. They were coworkers.
Hermione allowed herself the brief indulgence of wondering where John and Erin would be in twenty or thirty years. At the rate they were going, they would probably be somewhere in upper management, probably as senior administrators. But Hermione let those thoughts slip away, because that was a long time into the future. As she had reminded herself earlier that morning, the present was what mattered for now. If they could all make the necessary changes in the here and now, the future would work itself out.
After a time, they went their respective ways, thanking Dobby effusively of course. Hermione returned to the master suite to dress for work, stopping only for a moment to stare at the empty bed. She wondered what Harry was doing in Rome at this moment, and how he was faring with his double-sided mission of diplomacy (as the Vice Minister) and quasi-solicitation (as a Gringotts Director). She did not dwell on it for too long. She knew that Harry was more than capable of handling himself. She wouldn't be surprised if the Italian Ministry came crawling to her Ministry on its hands and knees by the time Harry had finished with them. He was just a magnetic personality, no matter what he did our where he went. He didn't even have to try. She smiled to herself as his shockingly ebony hair and his green eyes flashed through her mind's eye.
After showering and donning her Ministry robes, she Disapparated from the Manor. Her destination was the Atrium of the Ministry; when she arrived, there were only a few other witches and wizards present at this early hour. As they did every single time Hermione found herself in the Atrium, her eyes cut to the left toward the statues of Harry, Ron, and her. After eyeing them, she made a mental note to talk to Harry upon his return. Several additions to those statues were long overdue, as much as Ginny, Neville, and Luna might disagree.
After taking the lift to her level, she stepped off and headed to her office. The letters on the frosted glass of her door always gave her pause: Director Hermione Granger, Department Chair, Muggle Liaisons. She had earned the position through hard work and applied effort, so the title meant more to her than she would admit to anyone except Harry. She was a Muggleborn and, even in today's Wizarding world, disadvantaged as far as advancement was concerned. Yet, somehow, she had become an administrator.
She sat at her desk and began her work for the day; she first reviewed some provisional changes to policies regarding Notice Me Not charms; then she signed off on several Muggle Repelling charms for some Wizarding businesses within metro London; and finally she turned to her pet project, which she had been working on for some time now. With Harry's help (and Harry's money), she was thinking about setting up some kind of renewable scholarship or trust fund for Muggleborn students that could not pay for magical education. It was still in the early stages as she could only work on it when she wasn't otherwise occupied, but it was just one thing on a long list of items she and Harry wanted to do.
Then there came a knock on her door.
"Yes, come in," Hermione said, without looking up. She was in the middle of figuring inflation rates for tuition and how that would affect a baseline, one year scholarship to Hogwarts.
"Director Granger?" a voice asked, one that she recognized. Her pen (for quills and inkpots were too much of nuisance for her) paused in its trek across the paper on her desk. She looked up and closed her eyes briefly at what she saw. Conrad Murther, the Chair of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, stood in her doorway. The last time she had spoken to him was when he'd called her a twat before the Wizengamot and assembled administrators.
"Director Murther?" she returned, keeping things as formal as he had.
He appeared to hesitate. "May I come in?" he asked, after a moment. One of Hermione's eyebrows curled upward as she considered his attitude.
"Of course, please," she responded. She waved her arm at one of the chairs before her desk. "What can I do for you today, Director?" she asked, leaning back and crossing her legs.
He smiled painfully at her. "I imagine it must be hard for you to act civilly toward me."
Hermione shrugged, waiting for whatever he was going to say.
"Which is actually why I wanted to come by your office today," he continued, taking her silence as a sign that she was listening. "I wanted to…well, to apologize for my behavior back in November." He distractedly ran a hand over his balding head.
Hermione was nonplussed. "Why now?" she asked.
"Well," Conrad started, shifting in his seat. "It's long overdue, for one, and I've felt bloody badly about what I said."
"I suppose I may have overreacted as well…" Hermione started. Conrad held up his hand.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Hermione. May I call you that?" Hermione nodded. "You were provoked and were simply responding in kind. We were all under a lot of stress at that point, which is not an excuse but rather the truth, so anything you might have said is excused."
"Um…thank you?" Hermione was somewhat flabbergasted, really. She had not even remotely considered that this would be a part of her day.
"Contrary to what people might think," Conrad continued, smiling rather ironically, "I'm not always such a hardass. I do actually appreciate what you kids did during the Second War, and I do recognize your talents."
"Then why such a hostile reaction before?" Hermione asked, unable to stop herself.
"Because you did my job that day better than I ever could have," Conrad answered, as openly as Hermione had ever heard the man speak. "True, you did destroy what little evidence we might have gathered, but you responded faster and more efficiently than even our most seasoned veterans would have. Our Aurors and Hit Wizards are well-trained, but most of them do not have as much practical experience as you or your friends.
"Honestly, if I had Apparated into the midst of a dozen Dementors, I probably would have been too terrified to do much of anything. I can hold one or two off, but twelve? I think not. So however shocking it was at first to find out that you had used one of the Doomsday spells, I quickly realized that nothing else could have been done. If the Dementors hadn't been neutralized so quickly, they could have run roughshod over the Alley."
"Not that it means much now," Hermione said, having listened to Murther's speech, "but you're welcome. I was acting on instinct alone and expended a ridiculous amount of magical energy. It might even be said that I briefly lost control, which I try not to do very often."
"You saved countless lives and the Vice Minister," Conrad said, shrugging. "I think that can be overlooked."
Hermione stared at Conrad for several seconds. She bit her lip, considering her next words carefully. He could be a very powerful ally within the Ministry if she played this right.
"You surprise me, Conrad. May I call you that? I don't really know what to think about you anymore."
"I'm on your side, Hermione," he told her, nodding.
"What do you mean?"
"I know what the Minister and Vice Minister are trying to accomplish," he answered. "And I think that change is long past due in our world."
"I'm sure Arthur and Harry will be glad to hear it."
"They already know," Conrad said. "After Harry took office, I met with both of them and told them that the DMLE was at their disposal. Voldemort only existed in the first place because our world had decayed enough for him to feed on its weaknesses."
Now both of Hermione's eyebrows crept up her forehead. "You continue to surprise me, Conrad. I had no idea you were this…articulate."
"Some of my extended family were casualties of both the First and Second wars," Conrad provided.
"I'm sorry."
He waved it off. "I just thought it might partly explain my position. Anyway, I am sorry for how I acted. It was unprofessional and unfortunately out of character."
"Apology accepted. I look forward to working with you," Hermione said.
"As do I," he responded. "But that's not the only reason why I came here."
"Oh?"
"Arthur called a meeting for-" he looked at the watch on his wrist-"now, actually, for all of the Chairs and other senior administrators."
"Where?" Hermione wondered, shuffling some papers on her desk and putting her pen into her pocket.
"Executive boardroom," he answered, standing as she stood from her chair. "Shall we?"
"Yes, I suppose so," she replied, following him out of her office after dousing the lights and shutting the door behind her. They guessed at what this meeting might be about on their way to the administrative level. By the time they arrived at the large, posh boardroom, it was nearly full to capacity. Most of the other senior administrators were already there, though the Minister was nowhere in sight.
Hermione found a seat, greeting the others as they all waited for the man of the hour to make an appearance. Hermione smiled to herself as she supposed that being the Minister allowed one to make an entrance when one pleased, rather than the punctuality she had normally associated with Arthur Weasley. He may have been tied up with something on his way, but she somehow thought he wanted everyone to be comfortable before he came in and started things.
After the last person to arrive had been seated for two or three minutes, the Minister of Magic strolled into the boardroom. When everyone began to rise from their seats, he waved them off and headed for his own chair.
"Please, please, no need for that kind of formality," Arthur said, sitting and watching as everyone settled back into their chairs. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and an exciting New Year. Now that we are all back to work once again, I think it is high time that we talk about this administration."
"Where is the Vice Minister?" someone asked.
Arthur nodded. "That is actually the first order of business. Some of you may know this already, but Vice Minister Potter left for Rome early this morning."
"Why?" another voice called.
"He's travelling abroad on a joint diplomatic mission for our Ministry and for Gringotts. His agenda includes speaking with the Italian Ministry about ambassadors, study abroad possibilities, and, on behalf of the goblins, their financial system. We would like to formally extend our hand in friendship to the Italians, as would Gringotts, and the Vice Minister is in the unique position to serve both parties."
"When is he due back?"
"Saturday. You can expect a full report from him by Tuesday; I expect full cooperation from your various departments on whatever he may have lined up."
"But…"
"Yes?" Arthur asked, looking down the long table at the witch who had started to say something. Hermione did not recognize her, but she could not be expected to personally know everyone at the Ministry.
"What is our purpose? What are our goals?" she asked. All eyes turned back to the Minister.
He nodded, pursing his lips and regarding the ceiling. "A valid question, one that I would have answered anyway. You see, this administration will not and cannot be content to sit within our national borders. For too long, we have allowed the rest of the world-both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds-to accelerate past us in terms of interspecies cooperation, magical-Muggle relations, and diplomacy.
"Britain has been hindered by a long string of very conservative administrations. By itself, conservatism is not necessarily a bad thing, but combined with the entrenched aristocracy and the pureblood traditions that have held sway for centuries, our world was stagnating. As I told the Vice Minister before he agreed to run with me, real and lasting change needs to be injected into our society for it to survive the next fifty years.
"With that in mind, our primary goal is to inject new life and new attitudes into our world. Conservatism and liberalism do not have to be at odds; in fact, they can be almost entirely ignored. These issues are not about bipartisanship or fights for political power. These issues are about human and nonhuman rights; they are about the freedom for and acceptance of each magical species as it is, not as what we want it to be. Working together, we can make Britain a better place to live.
"However, it does not help that so many witches and wizards are completely removed from the zeitgeist. Some barely know what electricity is. These kinds of gaps cannot stand for very long with what the Vice Minister and I have in mind, and we want your help in ensuring that we achieve some of our goals. We do realize, of course, that most of these changes are only attainable in the long term; it is unlikely that we will see the progeny of centaurs attending Hogwarts in the next twenty years, though some day it is certainly a possibility.
"In short, everyone assembled here has a duty, both to me and the Vice Minister and to the world at large. Britain has long been the laughing stock of the Wizarding world-how many other cultures regularly have so-called Dark Lords on their hands?-and we aim to change that."
Silence hit the boardroom as Arthur stopped talking. Hermione had listened with rapt ears to his speech, agreeing with each of his points as they rolled off his practiced tongue. He had assumed the role of Minister, however reluctantly, with ease, and his comfort was evident in the way he controlled this room.
"Let me just add one more thing," Arthur said, and his voice had dropped into a slightly deeper register. His words were slower and more forceful. "Vice Minister Potter and I are not fooling around. This is not your mother's or your grandmother's or even your older sibling's government. If you do not do your job effectively and efficiently-and absolutely without corruption-no amount of money or posturing will save you.
"Any questions?"
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10:15 pm
Hermione blew her hair out of her face as she materialized in the foyer of the Manor, having just finished one of her longest days of work in recent memory. After the meeting with the administrators, which had gone about as smoothly as could be expected, her day was filled with more paperwork and meetings. She had only had a little more time to work on that scholarship project, but it would be waiting for her tomorrow, and the next day, and many days after that. As the Chair of Muggle Liaisons, many of the changes Arthur and Harry might implement would affect her department directly, and that meant more work for her. She wasn't complaining, because she loved being busy and being in the thick of things, but long days meant very little time to herself.
She shrugged out of her robes as she started up the staircase, skipping a trip to the kitchen because she had snagged a bite to eat in Diagon earlier that evening. She was tired, so she just wanted to crawl into bed and close her eyes. After reaching the master suite and hanging up her robes, she quickly changed out of the rest of her clothing and slipped between the sheets. She doused the lights with a wave of her hand and finally had a chance to relax and unwind as the darkness and the silence settled in all around her.
But…thoughts of her empty bed crept into her mind after only a few minutes. The busy day had done a good job taking her mind off of Harry's absence. Now that she was alone, however, and in a prime position to feel that very absence, it settled into her bones like an unwanted chill.
She missed Harry. She missed his smile, his laugh, his affectionate and subconscious touches, and his joyful attitude. He had only been gone for one day and she missed him so much that it ached. She didn't know how she could go more than two or three days without him by her side.
Unexpectedly, she felt emotion welling up inside her. The bed just didn't feel right without Harry's form lying next to her, and she couldn't hold up against the tears that wanted to come. She knew it was stupid, she knew that he would be back after only one more day, but she wanted him now. She wanted him to hold her and tell her that he loved her. And she wanted to do those things for him, too.
As the first fat tears began leaking from her eyes, tears she was powerless to control, a familiar and most welcome sensation shot along her body. She sniffled and strained her eyes against the darkness as the feeling grew and grew, eventually making the hairs on her arm stand on end. It could only mean one thing…
"Hermione?" a voice asked, as if out of a dream.
"Harry?" she breathed, hearing the emotion in her own voice.
"What's the matter?" he asked, rather sharply, and lighting the room with his hand. She squinted against the white light emanating from his palm, trying to make her eyes adjust to the sudden brightness. Harry was blurry due to some of her unshed tears.
"Oh nothing," she said, sitting up and receiving him in her arms. He felt so good and so real. Merlin, she loved him so much. "Just missed you, is all."
He chuckled lightly against her as they held each other, nodding as well. She breathed deeply and held him tighter, not wanting him to ever leave again. Eventually they parted; Hermione wiped the back of her hand across her face; Harry extinguished the ball of light in his palm. She felt more than heard or saw him moving around toward the other side of their bed.
"I thought you were in Rome until Saturday," Hermione said, slipping beneath the covers once again as Harry settled in next to her. She rolled on her side and he moved against her back, spooning her. One of his strong arms came over her body, finding one of her hands and resting in it.
"I am," he answered, whispering in the darkness. "But I missed you too. And I figured since I can Apparate vast distances, well, you know…"
"But I didn't even hear you come in," she said. "It was completely silent."
"I'm improving," he told her, and she heard the smirk in his voice. She sighed contentedly. "I couldn't sleep," he continued, shifting slightly. "I found myself unable to cope with my empty bed in that hotel."
"I was having the same problem."
"I think we've both had this problem before," he said.
"I think you're right," Hermione replied. "But with you able to Apparate to the moon and back, I don't really ever see that being a problem."
"Unless I'm somewhere with a time difference of more than just an hour."
"Mmm," Hermione intoned, feeling sleep coming upon her quickly. It was a most welcome feeling, especially in the arms of Harry.
"Have you heard anything about Viola?"
"If she's magical or not?" Hermione questioned. She felt Harry nod against her back. "No, not today."
"Oh," he breathed.
"What time do you have to leave tomorrow?"
"I should Disapparate by 5:15 at the latest."
"Wake me and kiss me goodbye this time, please," she told him. "I was a little disappointed this morning when I woke up and you were already gone."
"I'm sorry," he said, squeezing her. "You looked too cute to wake up."
"Nice save, Potter," she mumbled, snuggling further into him. "Just don't forget…"
"I won't," he said. "Good night, my love," he whispered. She never answered, having already succumbed to the darkness.
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Saturday, January 4, 2003; 11:25 am
True to his word, on Friday morning Harry had woken Hermione and kissed her goodbye. Rather than falling back to sleep for another hour, she had started her day as he had Disapparated from their bedroom. After having breakfast by herself and leaving a little note wishing Erin best of luck for the grand opening of the Hogsmeade branch, she dressed and left for the Ministry. As it had been before six in the morning, she nearly had the entire place to herself. Her productivity that morning was enormous because there were so few distractions; only Arthur dropped in at one point to briefly discuss some zoning issues they were having with Diagon Alley.
The rest of Friday passed smoothly; she worked well into the evening again, returning the manor around ten that night. After eating and checking in with John and Erin-apparently the grand opening had gone off successfully-she headed for her bedroom. When she arrived, Harry was already waiting for. She smirked at him as she let her Ministry robes fall to the floor.
"You do know that international Apparition is actually illegal, right?"
"Of course," he responded, and she could feel his eyes on her as she continued undressing.
"So if I were an Auror I could arrest you on the spot for illegally crossing international borders."
"But you aren't."
"True, but don't you think you should be setting a good example? You are the Vice Minister, after all."
She had gone to their bed dressed in nothing more than some rather scanty undergarments, lying across the end and staring at Harry. There was desire radiating from his eyes.
"How many people in the world can do it?" he wondered.
"Other than you? Probably not many."
"Then I don't really think it's an issue," Harry said. "I don't plan on abusing the ability-in fact, with this ability I've been able to come home the last two nights. I thought you would have liked that," he said, pouting.
She eyed him, licking her lips and rubbing one of her hands along her thigh. His eyes followed her every move.
"Hmm…" she considered. "I do like men with power…"
Harry leaned forward, crawling across the bed toward her. "Harry Potter, Vice Minister, wizard extraordinaire, at your service." Her laughter was cut off by their lips crashing together.
That had been the story of the previous night. Currently, Hermione was daydreaming in her office about what mischief they had found themselves in after that heated kiss; just thinking about it made her want to find Harry and do it all over again. She did not have to work on Saturdays, but with Harry still out of the country, she had nothing better to do. He was expected back sometime within the next several hours, so she passed the time accomplishing more items on her long list of things to do.
Just as she was readying herself to leave for lunch, a braying klaxon alerted her to some kind of impending danger. That noise meant only one thing: the DMLE was expecting trouble, so she grabbed her wand and ran from her office. Her robes trailed behind her as she ran like the wind through the corridors. She was half-tempted to just Apparate into the DMLE, but she did not want to cause unnecessary trouble, since Apparating from anywhere in the Ministry except for designated Apparition points was technically impossible.
She tapped her foot impatiently as the lift ground its merry way toward the floor with the DMLE. The klaxon was still sounding bracingly throughout the Ministry. During her flight from her office, she had seen some rather startled witches and wizards, but not nearly as many as she might on a weekday. There was only a skeleton crew here at the moment.
Finally arriving at her destination, she slipped from the lift as the doors were still opening and sprinted down another corridor. She burst into the DMLE, expecting at least some commotion due to the blaring alarm, but she discovered that there were only four people present. One of them was Conrad Murther.
"Director Granger?" he queried, turning toward her upon her entrance. The other three people with him were dressed in Auror's robes, though she did not personally recognize their faces.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, twirling her wand in her fingers as she approached them. The nameless Aurors were looking at her with something akin to awe, which made her uncomfortable.
"Well-Hermione-quite frankly we're unsure at the moment. That siren can be activated externally, and our sensors indicate that Vice Minister Potter was the one to sound the alarm."
"Harry?" Hermione yelped, looking at Conrad with shocked eyes. "Is he alright?" she asked, clenching her wand in her hand. She would charge the gates of hell once again for him if she had to.
"Relax, relax," Conrad placated, raising his hands, palm outward. "There has been nothing to indicate that the Vice Minister is in harm's way. Something must have happened, though, to warrant his activation of the alarm." He then looked at her strangely. "What are you doing here on a Saturday?"
"Had some work I needed to finish," she shrugged. "So what do we do now?"
"We wait," he said. "There's nothing else we can do for the moment."
Hermione hated it, but she understood that Conrad was right. They simply did not have enough information to act. She couldn't bear not knowing what was happening to Harry and why he might have tripped the alarm, but she resigned herself to waiting anyway. During the next several minutes, when the Ministry was filled with the eerie noise of the braying alarm, several more employees trickled into the DMLE, all looking as bewildered as Hermione felt.
She knew that Harry could handle just about anything, so for him to cause a ruckus like this, one of two or three things must have happened: there could have been some kind of diplomatic incident or perhaps he did not have the authority to handle the situation, not wanting to cause an international incident.
Suddenly, noise drew her attention toward the far end of the DMLE. She ran over there with Conrad and the three Aurors behind her; when she rounded the final corner, she stopped and put her hands to her mouth. There was Harry, looking perfectly fine, except for the stony expression on his face. He looked furious.
"Harry?" she called. Instead of responding to her, however, he looked at Conrad, who was standing next to her.
"Were there any detainees brought here in the past ten minutes?"
"Detainees, Vice Minister?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, you know, prisoners? They might have been accompanied by a goblin named Kregg?" he clarified, gesticulating wildly.
"Um…no," Conrad answered, at a loss for words. Hermione thought all of this was very strange. She stepped forward and Harry finally focused on her.
"Harry, what happened?"
He passed a very distracted hand over his face, staring at the floor for a moment. When he looked back into her eyes, he had regained some of his focus.
"We ran into some trouble as we were preparing to leave Rome," he explained, coming forward. "It seems as if Narcissa-" he spat her name out-"followed us to Rome with some of her chums. They ambushed us about twenty or twenty-five minutes ago," he continued, looking at his watch.
"Narcissa was in Rome?" Hermione questioned, shocked. Conrad was also listening intently.
"Yes," Harry nodded. "The goblins and I dueled with them for a bit, eventually capturing them. I told Kregg and the others to bring them here and wait for me, as I had some last-second business to attend to, but it seems as if they might have gone elsewhere." He sounded very frustrated.
Hermione remembered what Ragnok had told her about the goblins wanting justice brought to Harry's attacker. Perhaps Kregg and the other goblins had transported their prisoners to Gringotts.
"What about Gringotts?" Conrad asked, following Hermione's train of thought.
"It's a possibility," Harry agreed, "though I hope they didn't."
Conrad looked confused. "Why not?"
"Because most Wizarding laws don't apply within Gringotts," Hermione explained. "Goblins do not have any kind of due process."
"Oh…" Conrad said, cottoning on to the problem.
"Well, I need to get to Gringotts then," Harry said, rather darkly. "I hope Ragnok has not taken any liberties with our prisoners."
"I'm coming with you," Hermione said. "And I think you should send your Patronus to Arthur, to let him know what's happening."
Harry nodded. "Expecto patronum!" he yelled, without the aid of a wand, and Prongs burst forth from his palm. The Patronus stared at Harry momentarily, and then it blinked out of existence.
"I'm coming too," Conrad said, stepping forward. His eyes were still on where Prongs had disappeared.
Harry sighed. "Very well. Both of you hold on," he instructed, holding out his arms.
"You, you, and you," Conrad commanded, turning to the three Aurors. "Meet us outside Gringotts in Diagon." They nodded and turned, hurrying away from them.
Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and watched as Conrad reached for the other. She met Harry's eyes and they nodded at each other.
"Let's go," Harry said, and they were gone.
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