The Announcement--Chapter 2
Harry felt Hermione's breath on his neck. It was a comforting feeling to have her there. Through the open window the sights and sounds of midmorning welcomed them both. The birds sang, light breezed cooled them, and the sun made that foggy look as it passed through the natural dust of the screen.
"Hi," she said as she kissed his neck when his eyes opened.
"Hi," he replied wanting to roll back time three seconds to feel that again.
He squinted and rolled his eyes to try to focus.
"Ah, let me get those for you," she offered. She climbed across him to get his glasses. It was always nice to feel her weight on him. She sat on his stomach and put his glasses on the bridge of his nose very carefully while lightly guiding the bows behind his ears. "There. Is that better?" She smiled sweetly.
"Thanks," he beamed. "So what's the plan today, o' keeper of the schedule," said Harry.
"Are you making fun of me?" she quipped. "Because if you are you're in a real bad position."
He chuckled. "Well, since you put it that way, no. I was just wondering about the timing to pick up Harry. After that, I don't know what you have planned."
"Hmm, some exciting laundry after we pick up our clothes spread from here to the patio," she said. Harry looked around. His tee shirt was on the lamp and her panties hung from the bedpost. "Wow, we did that?"
"Your jeans are in the kitchen and unfortunately I think my bra is hanging on one of the limbs of an evergreen," she said.
"Yeah, who needs hangers and closets when you can just use the lamps and bedposts," said Harry facetiously.
Suddenly, Hermione became very serious and pensive. She sighed. "You have to teach me, Harry."
"Teach you what?" asked Harry.
"As much as you can about the Dark Arts, defense, everything…," she said.
"Whoa, where did this come from?" asked Harry.
"I fell in love with you all over again last night, Harry. I went from being lonely and broken hearted because missed you so much to happy and excited again," she said. "I love being little Harry's mum, but I want to be your partner when we make this move."
Harry was stunned at first. He had no problem believing she was capable of doing what she asked, but they had a child to raise and protect. "I don't quite know what to say," said Harry. "What is it that you want to do?"
"I don't want to simply hide, if someone comes. I want to shock the hell out of them and prove I can protect Harry," said Hermione. "I know. You're looking at me like I'm crazy."
Harry's expression was different and he knew it. "Hermione, you're not going to be a field agent like me if that's what you mean."
"And why not?" asked Hermione. She was bound and determined to tell Harry what she wanted. She burst into one of her longwinded explanations.
"If I knew more and had the same practice and training you do," she began, "I could have wiped you out yesterday instead of waiting for you to make a mistake. I'm not saying I want to go out looking for trouble and chasing dark wizards down alleyways. I just don't think that I'm good enough at anything but reciting potion mixtures and definitions from books to do save us in a crisis," she said in a flood of words and emotions. "I can't be this helpless housewife that I've become."
Finally, she said something that he could understand. "Hermione, you are not helpless. Short of taking the chance to blow us both to hell and back, I did everything at my disposal to find you and win. Yet you beat me. You did everything that an experienced Auror is supposed to do, Hermione. Yes granted, I would have won if it were life and death because I`d have destroyed the room and everything in it to get you, but you are not helpless."
"What if that were an intruder, Harry?" she posed. "He's not going to give me rules that the baby doesn't count. Sure, maybe if it's a Muggle come to steal the TV, but not a wizard that has murder on his mind. We both know that we are targets of the Death Eaters, baby Harry too. Harry Junior is brilliant for a baby, but he would have given me away if I hid with him. I need to be able to do more before they can get us. That's what I want to be able to do. I don't want to be relegated to standing over baby Harry and let someone kill me like what happened to your Mum. The odds of him surviving like you did are one in a million and you know it."
He brushed her hair from her face as she sat on him with a look of desperation. "Hermione, I hear you. I'm glad you feel alive again and that we've made our love stronger. I felt that too, but you have made a life for yourself at being brilliant as a caretaker--as a nurse. While you did that, I learned to fight better than I ever knew. I'm still learning. I don't know how to explain it, really."
"I'm not saying I can be as good as you or even as good as Neville has become, but I feel pretty useless in a real battle now," said Hermione.
Harry wanted to be careful about how much he said at this point. "Hermione, do you think I have taken even one chance with your life here? You know the protections on this house. There are very few places in all of England where you would be safer."
"I know, but each time I've had a new dream about something happening to Harry and I, you have to add another protection to the house. Pretty soon, we'll be as well protected as Hogwarts and you will have to either Apparate to the edge of the property and walk in the house or drive because Apparation will be impossible," said Hermione. "I heard about the kidnappings, Harry."
Harry wanted to have any other conversation, but this one. He couldn't tell her specifics. The Ministry in England only began to suspect what was happening all over the US, when they got limited access to mysterious and unsolved crimes there. Unlike here, American wizards and witches were found in grammar, middle schools and high schools by happenstance. Muggle-borns like Hermione were found by magical means contained in the Department of Mysteries. Child disappearances in the US had gone up by less than one-half of one percent in the US, since 1998 and the fall of Voldemort, but they spiked to that level. It had not been a gradual increase. It began in the fall of 2000.
"Harry, the news here contained a feature on the two most prominent cases in England. In one case, it was a mother my age and her two and a half year old child that ended up missing. The news interviewed neighbors and it turns out they had noticed strange things going on in that family. I don`t need to tell you what it`s like having been born into that kind of situation. I just mentioned it in passing to Tonks one day and her face went pale. I knew then that it had something to do with the Ministry," said Hermione.
For the moment, he could not tell her anything of a sensitive nature. It was definitely the work of a either a deranged wizard or witch or a Death Eater. The bodies of unmolested young mothers were found without their children in both cases. Civilian authorities found them with the same expressions that had been reported on the faces of the Riddle family more than fifty years before. The children were being kidnapped for reasons unknown, but it was believed that the mothers were killed to ensure that they had no more children like them. What had not yet been reported was the apparent suicides, accidents and occasionally murders involving the fathers of the children within weeks of the disappearance of the mother. Civilian authorities were baffled. The U.K. cases turned the heads of the Ministry because of the network of information between Scotland Yard and Harry's office.
"Harry, are you going to pretend you didn't hear me?" she said testily.
His problem was much more complicated than that. It made him question whether Tonks was trustworthy enough to become part of his staff. "Hermione, when you are happy and safe why would I share something so terrifying with you? What possible purpose would it serve to give you details of crimes that you could do nothing about?"
"I know I can`t do anything about them, but I`m not a child. Will you answer one question? Would your mother or I have been at risk? Are these families a mixed family of muggle-born and `pure' bloods or were they the rarest type like me?" asked Hermione.
"At the moment, they are all like your family. I can't say anymore," said Harry.
"So, baby Harry is safe from that standpoint," said Hermione. "That's all I wanted to know."
Harry had to break this conversation up. It made him uneasy for a number of reasons. She had not begun to ask the questions that bothered Harry most. And, he would not let her do that this morning. "Okay, it's shower time. Want to join me?" he flirted.
She smiled. "Hmm, well that's one way we can make sure there is enough hot water," she said sexily reaching for and stirring him again.
"Ah that's my girl," he said rolling her off him in one quick move that left her beneath him. "The shower it is."
That was the final ritual for them when they had the chance. It left them clean and satisfied. "Harry, what did you do that for…oops…never mind…" she giggled lustily.
Hours later, as the day wound to a close, there was the familiar sound of the Owl Post at the backdoor. "Hermione, can you get that bloody owl," said Harry as he played with baby Harry in his crib.
"Sure, sweetheart," said Hermione. "The envelope is addressed The Potter Family, Sunset Lane Oxfordshire."
"Well, that's you, Hermione. Open it," he said laughing. He appreciated the fact that even as inquisitive as she was, she would never open his mail or anything addressed to him without telling him first.
"There is another in here addressed only to you," said Hermione. "I'll bring it up."
Hermione was funny about where baby Harry slept. When she was alone in the house, she slept with him in his room on the first floor. It was the security of knowing she could get out without worrying about being trapped upstairs in a fire or any other life threatening situation. When Harry was home, baby Harry slept in a crib in their room. He knew someday she'd grow out of the paranoia, but it definitely meant that their love life required nights like the night before to stay healthy.
"Harry, did you expect the announcement of the Deployment Orientation so soon? They are asking for RSVPs by 20th July for the gathering during final weekend of the month. It will be at Hogwarts," said Hermione. "By the way, there is no mention of your promotion unless you look at … this," she said excitedly.
The second and smaller envelope was addressed, "Mr. Harry Potter, Head of Station Chicago, Illinois USA."
"Wow, that does look and sound cool, doesn't it?" he felt Hermione's excitement as she held his arm and looked over his shoulder.
They read it together. It was as he expected. It was the official announcement of his promotion and gave instructions for selecting his staff before the Deployment Orientation. All family members of the many Ministry people involved were going to attend. "I don't think this changes the time table," said Harry. "These dates for the submission of staffers stretch into the spring of next year. They want us to pick ten now and then from those, we will select their actual job titles or release people based on how well they do in the training."
"Ah, I see. I wondered how on one hand they could say everyone needed to be selected for this orientation, but another orientation would be held next year. So, they expect that they will have to replace people, right?" asked Hermione.
"Exactly," acknowledged Harry. "They realized early on that some people might turn out to be ill-suited for the secrecy we will need to accomplish our mission…well, that and other factors as well."
"What other factors?" asked Hermione.
"Well, some Aurors and administrative people may not have what it takes magically and only time will tell," said Harry. "The Ministry is trying not to show bias, so they have made a list of everyone who is eligible for the move. I choose them from the list and then the next eight or nine months becomes a long process of elimination--a nine-month interview of sorts. Ten people is what they want, but they don't want us to take someone incapable or untrustworthy."
"Ah, okay," said Hermione. "Gotcha. Do you mean to tell me that the Ministry is doing something smart for a change?"
"Oh, don't get carried away. It took several of us to convince them to do this. We saw how difficult life would be with the trip we took four months ago. There is a lot more to it than sending people to classes to get Americanized and say, `Go to it', Hermione. You will get more training in defense because you will be going as both my wife and as a staffer. I told you that right," he said nonchalantly.
She looked at him with gleaming eyes. "Harry, what are you talking about? You said they might offer me a job."
"Well, they would be me, but I couldn't do that until it was official. You will be the Lead Research Analyst in my office, if you want the position," said Harry.
"So eventually, you can't stonewall me on questions like I asked today," said Hermione. "Of course, I do you rotten prat." She teased him with a wide grin.
"Look, besides not scaring the very life out of you, there are other reasons not to tell you things. One is that I knew sometime in the near future, you would get access to all the information I have. Well, almost all of it anyway," he said correcting himself. He was going to hold the position of Head of Station so that would require some secrecy even from his wife. "If I were tell you what we are only guessing at now, then I don't benefit from an unbiased analysis of the situation. That's why I want you to get raw interviews, evidence, background information and things like that. If someone else gives you their opinion without you asking for it, then it might change what you see. We are trying to do things professionally. We`re learning from our experiences with the Americans, even if they too are rather delusional at times."
"It seems so cut and dried, Harry. Death Eaters are trying to start the terror again and keep mixed families from marrying or having babies outside of their race, if that's what it is, or culture," said Hermione. "I get that from just what you said."
"Fine, keep up the good work, but what if I told you there is a filing cabinet of other information right next to my desk at the Ministry that would make that seem like saying that is dark out because the sun went down," said Harry.
Hermione was stunned at the realization that there was that much information for just those two cases. "How can you have that much information?" she asked.
"Yes, Hermione these cases were being investigated long before they made the news and there are reams of Muggle reports that give us a much larger picture," said Harry. "It's so large that we can't spend the time reading them and doing what we do at the same time."
"So, I'm like one of the most important people in an investigation then," she said proudly.
"Yes, Sweetheart and you can continue your studies when possible because the more you learn about the medical side in the Muggle world, the better you will be at helping us understand their world and how they do business," said Harry.
The only times Harry had seen her happier were at the wedding and the day she found out she was pregnant. He was glad to share it with her.
"So when do I start?" asked Hermione. "You can't bring that stuff home, I know."
His face grew a little longer giving Hermione the bad news before he spoke. "This means I have to go to the office more often than I planned while I'm on holiday. I might as well face it. My holiday is more like a series of half-workdays than anything else. That will be one of the first things I work on though so that we can spend that time together too."
"You're not worried that we'll get sick of one another with so much time together?" asked Hermione.
"I'm sure we'll find that interesting at some point, but only because it's being together that much is new. I think the work itself will take care of it though. I'll be absorbed in different things than you are. So even though we might see each other a lot more, go to lunch, or business meeting, we'll just be too busy. Baby Harry will be in daycare there too, so we`ll have that distraction too," said Harry.
"You have all this sorted out already, that's nice," she said kissing him on the forehead. "Oh well, I knew yesterday that it was too good to be true to think you'd be here for a week without any serious interruptions. We`ll see about that daycare thing though."
"I knew you would have something to say about that," said Harry. "You will be the judge as to whether you can deal with the workload and Harry at the same time. Don't forget that I have to do what's best for you and him as a family man and as the boss. You will have to trust me on that."
"You'll have to trust me too, you know. This is an opportunity of a lifetime," said Hermione. "I get to do what I do best--love my guys and use my brain for something other than figuring out how much soap goes into the washing machine." She giggled.
"You know that's another thing, right? You need to go back to doing things with magic. I know you stopped mostly to keep from being bored with nothing to do, but you won't have time once we start," explained Harry.
"I know I`ve been acting more and more like my parents every day," acknowledged Hermione.
"I didn't mean it like it was a horrible thing," said Harry.
"Oh, I know what you mean though," said Hermione. "I'm doing things like a Muggle now that I would never have done without magic a year ago or so. I was just saying."
"Well, the cooking is nice. I think that's why Mrs. Weasley did it all those years. Half the fun of it is smelling it on the stove," said Harry. "She could have done it easier if she'd wanted."
Harry knew there were a few more obstacles ahead, but they were in sight now. He hoped he had not given Hermione the idea that the transition to working in the Ministry was going to be very soon. "Hermione, I just realized you might be thinking all this is going to happen overnight. It will probably be a while before you're working with the Ministry."
"Really? Well, as long as you don't leave me wondering, I'll be fine. Don't make me crazy having to ask you again, okay?" she requested.
Ha ha," laughed Harry. "That's reasonable and I do owe you that."
"Dada," said baby Harry. Then a moment latter, he said, "Mama." He opened and closed his little hands toward Hermione.
Hermione almost jumped through the ceiling. "Did you hear that Harry?" she beamed. She picked him up and hugged him.
"I'm sitting right here, Hermione," he said playfully. "That's brilliant. Come on, Harry. Call Mama again."
Neither of them was sure if he would do it again soon. Yet it was a fitting end to a wonderful weekend. He hugged Hermione and his son. Now he had seen Hermione at her happiest.
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