Chapter Three - Dinner, Revelations, and Treacle Tart.
Dinner at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was a fairly somber affair, far more somber than could be accounted for by the company or the décor. The house had been rehabilitated under the capable hands of Kreacher and the inspiration of Hermione so that it no longer resembled the dark, gloomy, house of horrors it had been when the Order moved in.
Since six weeks after the ending of the war, the `Golden Trio' plus Ginny had taken up residence in the rambling mansion. Joined, off and on, by friends and relatives, the four had formed an easy camaraderie and sense of family that had done as much to transform the house into a home as Kreacher's abilities.
The intervening year had seen the romance between Harry and Ginny, along with the one between Hermione and Ron, gently decay back into friendship. Dubbed `The Uncouples' by the Daily Prophet, gossipmongers throughout wizarding Britain and the rest of the world shook their heads at the easy relationship the four had fallen into.
While all four had been seen with other witches and wizards, only Luna Lovegood had become a regular fixture at the house, almost always in the company of Ron. Ginny's budding career with the Holyhead Harpies placed her in the company of quidditch players from around the world, but she was most frequently seen in her off hours and on Hogsmead weekends, when she wasn't with the other three, enjoying the company of a certain amateur sports photographer named Dennis Creevey.
Harry and Hermione were, well, Harry and Hermione. The least public of the four, when they were seen in public, it was invariably together. Their public personas were much as they had always been, inseparable, together, and mildly affectionate. Both seemed perpetually amused by the attention being paid them.
None of their friends would ever comment on the state of their relationship, the only speculations came from those individuals around them from the Ministry who only knew them from their public lives. The closest thing to an inside revelation came when a writer for Witch Weekly asked Luna if she thought the relationship between the Harry and Hermione was changing. Shaking her head, Luna merely smiled and replied, "Their relationship hadn't changed since the day they met, other than it had finally become less cluttered."
Seated at a table in front of the drawing room fireplace were three of the young permanent residents at dinner while the fourth sat cross-legged in the green flames of the fireplace joining them from a fireplace at Holyhead. Hermione kept exchanging glances with Ginny trying to decide which one was going to break the silence around Harry first.
"Harry?" Ron spoke up, oblivious to the byplay between Hermione and his sister. "Can I ask you a question mate?" Looking perplexed, Ron laid down the fork he had been using on the shepherd's pie in front of him and waited for Harry to look up from his meal. Ignoring the warning glances from Hermione, he gazed guilelessly at his best mate.
Looking up and seeing the look in Ron's face, Harry guessed where this was going since he was certain Luna had filled him in on the testimony from today's session. Shaking his head a bit, he answered in a tired voice. "Ron, this is the first time I can remember you asking first since our second year. You know you can ask, any of you."
Looking around he smiled at Hermione and Ginny, noting the worried looks they had. "Before you ask, let me say that any of you lot have the right to know anything I know. Or think." Glancing at Hermione and feeling the connection between them across the table, he smiled. "Or feel." Looking back at Ron, he held out his hand. "The floor's yours Ron. Ask away."
Smiling, Ron nodded at Hermione before continuing. "Harry, everything I've heard about your mum and dad has been wonderful. I would have been proud to have met them and I hope they would have approved of the two of us being friends. But every time we turn around, someone comes out of the woodwork with this mysterious connection to your mum."
Holding up his hand to cut off Hermione's interruption, he continued. "First it's Snape who was hopelessly in love with your mum all of these years. I wouldn't have bet a knut he could have loved anyone, but it seems he loved you mum almost as much as your dad did. Then Thickness drops that bombshell about Umbridge hating your mum when she was in school. How'd that happen? She wasn't in school with them. She graduated before their first year. She overlapped with Lucius by a year or two, but she was well gone by the time the Marauders and Lily arrived. Is there anyone else waiting in the wings who either hated or loved her?"
Sitting back, he nodded to Hermione. "'Mione, now you can tell me what an insensitive prat I am. But I just thought that someone should ask before the atmosphere around her gets too tense. If a guy with `the emotional range of a teaspoon' can feel something's wrong, it needs to be talked about."
Looking back at Harry, he smiled apologetically. "Sorry mate, but you have a habit of wrapping yourself up in things and then one or more of us have to break in and haul you back. I just thought this time we'd try to get a head start and I'd ask you about it before you thought about it too much."
Looking from the poleaxed looks on Hermione's and Ginny's faces to the hopeful grin on Ron's, Harry began to chuckle. "Hermione, he's right. I do keep myself locked up when it comes to feelings and the past, and it's not fair to any of you." Casting a sheepish grin in her direction he nodded. "Especially you, luv."
Sitting back and sighing, he idly began to play with the water goblet in front of him. "I haven't got the foggiest what Pius was talking about today. From what he was saying, Umbridge disliked my mum and Hermione enough to warrant special attention. I went through everything I could find that they had written or that anyone had written to them and I couldn't even find a mention of her. I couldn't tell you that they had ever met, so why she hated my mum is a mystery. As for Hermione…"
Grinning, Harry pointed at his other half who was staring at him as if he'd just sprouted a dark mark. "Let's see, she's muggle born, the smartest witch in several generations, one of the organizers of Dumbledore's Army, she fought Umbridge and her Inquisition Squad to a standstill, and then outsmarted the old battleaxe by getting her to take us to the forest so Toady could get abducted by centaurs. For the life of me I'm not certain why she's not knitting you tea cozies and sending you flowers twice a week."
Laughing, the four friends couldn't control themselves and spent the next several minutes trying to compose themselves while Ron would sputter "Educational decree number Thirty Three" or "Filch's hero" and they'd all start again. A silvery swan shot through the door of the drawing room and said "Percy Weasley and Pius Thickness inbound" just as they heard a loud knock on the front door. The patronus, belonging to the auror watching the front door of the house, ducked its head beneath its wing and disappeared as Kreacher passed by the open door and headed for the front entranceway.
"This should be interesting." Hermione chuckled as she wiped tears from her eyes and leaned over to kiss Ron on his cheek. "Ronald, why is it you can recite with perfect recall anything I ever said about you when I was angry or exasperated but you couldn't remember a simple list of goblin chieftains for a test in Magical History?"
"Because Binns couldn't teach water to run downhill? Because anything you have to say is exceedingly more important to me than almost anything anyone else has to say? Because I know exactly how painful not paying attention to you can be? Take your pick." Smiling at her, he didn't see the sharp glance between Harry and Ginny at Ron's support for Hermione. A far cry from the past, when the two of them were trying to come to grips with their relationship, Ron was genuinely supportive of Hermione, her staunchest defender after Harry these days.
"Gin, can you stay for this or are you imposing on the team's hospitality by tying up the floo connection?" Looking over at his friend, Harry knew that the Harpies made allowances for their newest chaser and her family relationship with the trio and they were able to dine "together" once a week via floo.
"Harry, I wouldn't miss this for the world. Though, I did get an owl from Minerva today. The Headmistress wants me to remind you three that you still have parchments due for your makeup work to get your final NEWTS. Well you two boys do. Hermione's so far ahead that she wants you to come and get you tests over with. Said something about the record being eleven NEWTS and she'd appreciate it if you didn't kill yourself and her by trying to get an O on all eleven. `One Dawlish is quite enough' as she put it. And if you want a twelfth one, you'd have to choose Divination, because even Hagrid agrees that you'd need to be on campus for the hands-on parts of his class, so you're stuck with eleven. I've got less to make up than you guys because I actually went for half my seventh year so I'm going to take my tests during the Christmas break." Laughing at the indignant look on Hermione's face, she shook her head at her chronically overachieving friend. "Everyone behave, I think we've got company."
Laughing as Ginny vainly tried to enforce a sense of decorum; they all looked towards the open doorway. Kreacher was standing at attention in the open door, the house-elf clearing his throat. "Master Percy Weasley and Master Pius Thickness to see you."
"Kreacher, show them in. Percy's family and if he's bringing a guest, they're more than welcome in this house." Grinning over at Ron, Harry saw that Ron's acceptance of Percy back into the family's good graces was still intact. Pulling out his wand, he conjured a couple of chairs around the table so that they could remain here and Ginny could be a part of the conversation. Standing, the three of them moved towards to the door.
"Hello Percy, what brings you out so late on a Ministry night?" Laughing Ron grabbed his older brother and gave him a big hug. "Mum says you haven't been by the Burrow since this trial started."
Walking over to where the older wizard was standing in the door, Harry extended his hand to the visitor. "Hello, Mr. Thickness. It's a pleasure to see you in a less stressful situation." Shaking the older man's hand, he grinned trying to defuse the situation. "I must say that I had been thinking about contacting you after today's session. You mentioned some things that have the four of us very intrigued."
Waiving his hand to include the others, Harry gestured to the chairs around the table. "I hope you and Percy don't mind joining us at table. Ginny's at Holyhead with the Harpies and this is as close as we can get to dining together on a regular basis since she's tied to the floo in the evenings at the moment." Looking over at the redheaded chaser who was waving madly at her older brother, he nodded in her direction. "Please join us and I'll have Kreacher put together coffee and dessert for us."
Looking at Kreacher, he nodded. "And Kreacher, could you ask Winky to provide something to drink and a bit of dessert for Ginny in Holyhead so she's not the only one without." Kreacher nodded and disappeared with a distinctive `pop'.
Seated around the tables, the six chatted quietly as Kreacher served the coffee. Looking over at Ginny, Harry smiled as she nodded her thanks as she hoisted a butterbeer and grinned at the plate of pastries that were on the low table beside her. Clearing his throat, Harry got everyone's attention again. "I want to thank you for your testimony today, sir. I know that it wasn't easy for you to sit in front of your peers and remember what happened."
Nodding to the others, he continued. "I know we all deeply appreciate this and I for one would be proud to work with you in the future if we ever get the chance." Noting the look in the older wizard's eyes, he became embarrassed at the gratitude and genuine relief that he saw there.
"Mr. Potter, I'm forever in your debt, and anything I can do to try to make amends for what happened that year is the very least I can do. I know from speaking to Mad-Eye before his death that you had experienced the Imperius Curse so you do understand, but I'm still haunted by the things that I observed and participated in, no matter how unwillingly."
"First of all, it's Harry. And I'm certain that Ron, Hermione and Ginny feel the same way. Secondly, I understand that you were not yourself and that anything that happened was because of the control that Voldemort exercised over you. Your reputation at Magical Law Enforcement was a good one, and I'm certain that when the time is right, Minister Shacklebolt will find a place for you to return to service. "
Percy interrupted to give the older man a chance to compose himself. "Harry, I brought Pius by with Kingsley's permission since his participation in the hearings is essentially over. There are some things he can tell you, but from what he's told me, there are a few things that he doesn't feel are his to divulge. However, I have a feeling that there are more revelations in store before this particular trial ends."
"Percy, you can stop being the mysterious Ministry prat any time now." Ginny chimed in from the fireplace looking severely annoyed with her older brother. "Tell us what you know or stop trying to make us ask you. It was annoying when I was seven and it's annoying now." Glaring at him, Percy recoiled just a bit until he remembered that even Ginny couldn't cast a hex through a floo connection.
"Actually, I'm not the one with all the secrets here. Hermione's the one with the hidden plan for tomorrow. I just brought Pius by so he could tell you what he knows about Harry's mum and Umbridge." Watching Ron and Ginny glare at Hermione, he noted Harry's sheepish grin.
"Hermione's running this show. That was part of the deal she and I made to get her support for not bogging this hearing down with all of the offences that Umbridge committed at Hogwarts." Rubbing the back of his hand idly, Harry looked from Ron to Ginny. "I trust her, you guys trust her. I'm certain whatever she's got cooked up will be sufficient for even our feelings about Umbridge."
Flashing Hermione a smile and a look of support he grinned as she began to blush. "Besides, who better to make certain Umbridge gets everything she deserves than the brains of this mob. If we wanted her blasted into splinters, we'll send Ginny. If I want her out thought and out flanked, we'll send Ron."
"And if we want her life systematically, categorically, and alphabetically dismantled, we send Hermione" Laughing from the floo, Ginny held up her hands in mock surrender. "I'm good with whatever you two have cooked up. Though I don't think Kingsley's partial to either canaries or bluebirds, so she's going to have to be subtle."
Grinning at Ron's wince of pain as he remembered the flock of murderous avians Hermione had hexed on him once upon a time, Ginny continued. "But my manners are slipping and we're keeping our guests waiting. Pius, I hope you forgive us, and could you please tell us what you know about Harry's mum and that woman."
"It's not a problem. I'm just glad to be able to be in the same room as you four without having wands drawn on me." Chuckling, he looked at Percy. "Though I really shouldn't count you out either. I've still got a scar from your `resignation' from Ministry service. I'm glad to see that you decided that the new management style is more in keeping with your sensibilities than the old."
Reaching into his robes, Pius removed a small notebook and flipped it open, looking down to consult his notes. "Anyway, the reasons why aren't readily apparent, but Umbridge developed a significant dislike for one Lily Evans during her fourth year. Even though it wasn't her department, she kept almost a daily log of everything she could find out about the girl and reported it to anyone who would listen. Most of it consisted of minor infractions of school rules and magic use policies, usually involving your dad and his lot. Other times she was hanging around with one Severus Snape. You would think that would have made Umbridge happy seeing as she and Snape shared a house connection, but she was almost as petty about that as she was about your mum and James. Once Crouch realized that she had problems with the Muggle-born, they moved her out of the department she was in and into the general Ministry hierarchy so someone could keep an eye on her. With the first war and what, that got lost sight of."
Hermione interrupted with a gleam in her eye. "What was her original assignment?"
"Wand Registration and Trace." Noting the looks on the face of the four younger ones, he explained. "When a baby is born to wizarding parents, the Trace is placed on the child right after birth, when they're formally named. You three," nodding towards Harry, Ron, and Ginny, "all had that done when you were named. It's painless and it allows the Ministry to track underage magic use until you turn seventeen."
Looking at Hermione, he nodded. "You, on the other hand, being muggle born didn't have that opportunity, so Ollivander and the other licensed wand makers do the trace when they find the right wand for Muggle-borns heading for school. Since you don't know anything about magic, you don't think it odd that he asks you your birth date while he's fitting you for a wand. Umbridge was in the office that tracks the trace, so she had access to information on all of the muggle born. Bad choice that turned out to be."
Shaking his head at the vagaries that life sometimes takes, he looked up sheepishly. "We still haven't wrinkled out the origin of her problem with the muggle born, but we've been able to trace it back being noticeable going back to her second year at school. What set her off is anyone's guess at this point. But she exhibited great persistence in her quiet vendettas against various muggle-born witches over the years. Only when the Ministry fell was she able to bring her beliefs to the forefront."
"But Harry wasn't muggle-born, though he was raised by muggles. What was her problem with him?" Ron looked puzzled trying to reconcile Umbridge's treatment of Harry.
"Ay, well that's a bit easier to understand. Harry was in conflict with Fudge, Dolores thought that the sun rose and set with Cornelius so she was determined to prevent Harry from derailing Fudge's policies. Fudge decided that Voldemort hadn't returned so anyone who said differently was a danger to the Ministry and the status quo as far as she was concerned."
Looking at the four of them, he nodded. "I know no one here is a fan of Cornelius', but I honestly believe that he didn't have any idea of the extremes Dolores was going to at Hogwarts. He was holding on to things with his fingernails then and if she promised him she could keep Hogwarts in line and neutralize Dumbledore and Harry as a threat to him, then Cornelius would close his eyes and let her go. He was more enamoured with the job than doing the job, which made him a very bad choice for Minister."
Shaking his head, he sipped his coffee and sighed. "He never should have been in the running for the job, but with Barty Crouch self destructing and Dumbledore turning it down for the seventh or eighth time, he was a compromise candidate that everyone thought could be trusted to hold on for a time without doing too much damage. Of course, that's exactly when Voldemort decided to raise his reptilian head. I wish Millicent had held on for another few years. She would have packed Dolores off to a pixie observation shelter in Cornwall rather than give her any real responsibility. She also would have done something before all of this began to get out of hand." Shaking his head he looked at Percy. "You're supposed to brief the young lady on what she needs to know for tomorrow."
Looking at Hermione, Percy smiled wanly. "Of course, you were correct about the Concords and their provisions regarding hearings and trials. As a member in good standing of your office, you had the right to register with the Wizengamot regarding this hearing. Most of the divisions do as a matter of course, so in case an expert is required, there's someone on the hook to be called. Most people have forgotten, or never knew that the reverse is always true. So you'll be able to assert your credentials without a hitch."
Mopping his brow with a monogrammed cloth that bore the crest of the Ministry on it, he sighed. "Merlin knows that this will stir up a puka's nest for every case that follows, but you'll be fine for tomorrow. Is there anything you're going to need help with?"
Smiling the smile that usually meant someone was about to wish that Hermione had chosen to skive off rather than rain on their parade; she looked over at Percy and nodded. "I'll need to talk to Ollivander before I'm ready to take control. If I'm not back by the start of her testimony, can you orchestrate a delay or recall a witness? It shouldn't take me too long if I get to Ollivander's right when he opens in the morning. The hearing resumes at thirteen?"
"Yes, yes. Thirteen on the dot. Why Ollivander?" Looking perplexed, Percy was obviously uncomfortable with not knowing all of the details.
"Nothing major, just that he'll be the sort of expert that can't be argued with. Besides, I've always liked the old dear, ever since he told me that my wand was singing and waiting on me. You don't know how much that meant to an eleven year old muggle who wasn't certain that this whole magic thing wasn't an elaborate practical joke someone was pranking me with."
Smiling as she thought back to the first time she'd held her wand and how she suddenly knew what it was that had been missing from her life up to that point, she blushed a bit as she remembered how her first kiss with Harry resulted in the very same feeling. "And with his help, I think we can put Umbridge in a box that she can't wiggle out of."
Looking closely at Percy, she suddenly sobered. "Percy, I know you've said you're fine with what I've got planned, but I really don't want to cause you any grief or discomfort. I can feed you what you need to know and you can handle the whole cross tomorrow."
Leaning back in his chair and laughing, Percy smiled at her. "Hermione, I appreciate you thinking of me, especially after all the things I said and did over a couple of years. I can truly appreciate what Harry here sees in you. For that matter, what our entire family sees in you."
Smiling at the blush, which began to colour her cheeks, Percy nodded. "But you're going to lose your billing as the genius witch of your generation if you honestly believe that I could do even an adequate job with what you're planning for tomorrow, much less live up to the standard that you're likely to set. I know you're doing something that you feel is important with the house-elf work, and I've seen the first drafts of the rewrites on departmental procedures and Ministry policies that you've been churning out and everything is top shelf. You need to seriously think about starting training for a position with Magical Law Enforcement in the next couple of years."
Watching as Harry nodded encouragingly to her, Percy chuckled. "If Harry here doesn't mention to you that you're brilliant at least once a day, let me know and I'll set him straight for you. Once you've laid the groundwork for your reforms, you really should give some thought to being in a position where you have the ability to make things happen."
Stopping himself when he saw Hermione's face beginning to resemble some sort of warning beacon, he chuckled again. "Though I'm still not certain what Kingsley meant when I told him that you should be shanghaied into MLE whether you thought you were ready or not."
Interrupting to give Hermione time to recover herself, Harry asked "What did the Minister say Percy?"
"Something about Hermione being his resource of last resort when he needed something done with a bit of flair and subtlety and he'd thank me very much for not messing up one of his better plans." Shaking his head, he grinned. "I know I'm mucking around way above my pay grade, but Kingsley thinks the world of you lot, especially you."
Nodding towards Hermione he watched her start to colour again. "I know everyone in the family believes that I'm angling for the position of Minister someday, but I'd be very proud and very content to be doing what I'm doing now if you were running the show. I know what my limitations are and what my strengths are. And I'd like to think that as I've gotten a bit older and, hopefully, a bit wiser, that I could recognize those who have the abilities that I lack. Which would be you four."
Nodding towards Pius, he continued. "Or you. Even under the effects of an Imperius Curse, you still managed to do the day-to-day work that was necessary to keep things running. Not that that was a good thing, considering who was pulling your strings, but Voldemort didn't know the first thing about leading and managing. His idea of motivation is to Crucio everyone who fails until he finds someone who can do what he wants, or he runs out of victims. Immensely evil and not too bright on the practical side is not a good mix, thankfully."
Laughing, the four friends were totally taken off guard by Percy's droll assessment of the limitations of the Dark Lord.
"Stars Percy," Ginny gasped between peals of laughter. "Don't make it sound as if the only reason Voldemort was defeated was because he skived off lessons in management. "
"I didn't say that. All I said was that he would have wrecked the entire system if he'd stayed in power much longer. It was bad enough the intentional damage and destruction he was causing. Add to that the damage and destruction being caused by the fact that with the exception of a few competent people under an imperious curse, the majority of them were all self-centered types that didn't think any further than what would amuse them." Shaking his head, he marveled at the lunacy of evil.
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