Ten Days and Ten Nights

Chapter 3:

Medicines and General Mayhem

Harry walked down the corridor of the Cloister on Wednesday morning with a purposeful stride. He had been there all night- he had just apparated back to his spacious flat to change clothes and have a shower, before making the announcement about Hermione.

'I'm going to make the announcement,' he said, to a very tired and irate Matilda.

'I'll be watching,' she said, and flicked on her television.

Harry walked along the corridor to the anteroom, where Linda was waiting for him.

'Hi,' she said, and handed him a folder. 'Good luck.'

'Thanks,' said Harry, as she opened the door.

Harry stepped out into the pressroom, and was hit by a wave of flashing cameras and an outburst of shouting. Everyone in the pressroom wanted his attention- they all knew he had big news.

'Good morning,' he said, taking his position behind the podium. He felt the cameras whir with magical energy, filming his face. He thought of all the people watching his face, of all the wizards and witches crowding around their televisions to look at him. Mr and Mrs Weasley, Hermione, Dumbledore, Matilda, everyone in the wizarding world was desperate to know what he was about to tell them.

'The Minister for Magic has asked me to make the following announcement:

'At seven o'clock this morning, the Minister accepted the resignation of Doctor Hermione Granger, the Liaison Officer to the seven Ministry Department and Foreign Legislative Bodies. Doctor Granger has worked with the Cloister for two and half years, and had done an excellent job.

'Doctor Granger made her decision to leave after discovering that she was pregnant. Everyone at the Ministry extends their warmest congratulations to her.

'She will be replaced by George Dimple, from the Institute of Advanced Magical Communications. Mr Dimple is extremely talented, and has the full support of the Minister. His contract is effective immediately.'

He paused, looking around the pressroom. Clearly, nobody had had a clue that this was the big news.

'Any questions?'

There was a calm pause, before everyone in the room leapt to their feet and shouted 'HARRY!'

'Florence,' replied the announcer, pointing towards the Evening Prophet reporter.

'What does Hermione Granger plan to do now?'

'I believe that she will attempt to fulfil her lifelong dream, and has decided to run a bookshop, with long time friend and confidant, Ginny Weasley. Also, I assume she will be taking some maternity leave.'

'HARRY!'

'Yes, Ron.'

Ron Weasley looked up at his old dorm-mate and best friend from Hogwarts, and asked his question.

'Why did the Minister choose George Dimple as the new Liaison Officer?'

'Because George Dimple is an exceptionally talented wizard, and the Minister thought his credentials and expertise speak for themselves. While at Durmstrang he served as Head Boy, and then went on to gain a diploma from the Silverstone Institute in Herbology and Applied Potions. He then moved on to Gringotts Wizarding Bank, while I was working there, as a manager, before being head hunted to work at the Institute of Advanced Magical Communications for the past five years. He has never been reprimanded in any way by the authorities.

'That's all for today, folks, I should be back tomorrow with more news.'

Another torrent of flashing and whirring, before Harry stepped out into the anteroom.

'Well done,' said Linda. 'Another excellent performance.'

'Thanks,' said Harry. 'What do I have now?'

'Well, there's the cabinet meeting- Matilda wants you to sit in on it. That's in half an hour. Meanwhile, you're also wanted in the Paracelsus Room- the Department of Magical Games and Sports are hosting a reception and they want a Cloister representative there.'

'What?' said Harry in disbelief.

'What, it gets better,' said Linda. 'George Dimple has requested that you meet with him to talk about the Advancements in Magical Medicine Bill after you've been to cabinet.'

Harry moaned. Cabinet, the meeting between the Minister and the seven department heads, was very tedious and very hard work. Receptions, of any nature, were dull, uninteresting and monotonous. And George Dimple- Harry couldn't bear to think about the man- he found him repellent to every single one of his senses (taste in both senses).

So Harry dragged himself along the corridor, through a doorway, along a corridor, up a staircase, along a corridor, until he found himself outside the Paracelsus Room. He opened the door, and stepped in.

The Paracelsus room was a large, ovular room, hideously decorated in the most ostentatious fashion. The floor was carpeted in grandiose patterns of gold, while huge ornamental jade parrots stood on plinths around the room. In one corner, a string ensemble was giving a classical concerto, while various sporting dignitaries were milling around. Through the massive French doors was a long verandah, where a large buffet was serving different kinds of bourgeois cuisine.

'Harry,' said a deep, gruff voice behind him, and Harry turned to see Roger Davies, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, standing behind him, with another tall man with greying hair.

'Harry, allow me to introduce Johnny Stairs. He's the Head of the Canadian Faculty of Magical Games and Sports.'

'Hey there,' said Johnny Stairs, and extended his hand to Harry.

'Nice to meet you,' said Harry back, inwardly cursing himself for sounding so British.

'I'll leave you two to it,' said Roger, and walked off in the direction of another person.

'How do you like England?' asked Harry, desperately racking his brains for conversation points. He went to so many of these damned receptions- they were ten a penny at the Ministry.

'Oh, well, y'know, England's nice, but it sure is cold!' Johnny Stairs laughed the most annoying laugh Harry had ever heard.

'You get used to that after a while,' he said. 'So what do you do in Canada.'

'I run the Faculty of Magical Games and Sports.'

'Do you enjoy your job?' asked Harry.

'Sure I do.'

'Good.' Harry was so bored; suicide was beginning to look like a viable option.

'Well, see ya later,' said Johnny Stairs finally. Harry praised all the deities he knew of inwardly, and walked out onto the veranda.

'Uh,' he sighed, as he lit his cigarette with the tip of his wand, and took a deep draw. His body relaxed as the intoxicating toxins swept through his body.

Around him, some people looked at him as if he were a slug. Maybe this isn't the place, thought Harry, as he looked around at all the sports and fitness enthusiasts. Oh well, what the hell, he considered. You only live once.

Harry was leaning against the balustrade, looking at the parkland that surrounded the Ministry Headquarters, enjoying his cigarette, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

'Hi, Harry,' said a female voice.

Harry turned around, to be confronted with a tall, graceful, redheaded woman attired in a strapless short purple velvet dress, with a diaphanous purple veil hung loosely around her arms. A necklace of diamonds and amethysts sparked on her neck like the most elegant of jewels.

'Ginny,' he said. 'Nice to see you again.'

'Ditto,' she said, taking a carton of cigarettes out of her handbag. 'It's been a long time,' she said, as Harry lit her cigarette with his wand.

'Too long,' he said. 'Congratulations, by the way. About you and Hermione working together.'

'Thank you,' she said. 'I was tired of being a chic socialite with nothing to do except attend parties at night, and Hermione was tired of being a stressed-out executive. When she realised she was pregnant, she decided to just pack it all in.'

'I realised,' said Harry. 'So you're giving up the cycle of parties for a more demure lifestyle?'

'Hardly,' she said elegantly. Ginny Weasley had come a long way from being the giggle, bumbling teenager with a crush that Harry had first met. 'I'm not up for trading in the stilettos for a beige cardigan quite yet.'

'I always thought you would look nice in a twin set and pearls,' said Harry. He felt his heart beat violently in his chest just talking to this woman.

'Yes, well, it's better to be looked over than to be overlooked,' she quipped. Harry laughed.

'Are you still living with Colin?' asked Harry. Ginny had been co-habiting a flat in Diagon Alley for some time now with her fellow Hogwarts Graduate Colin Creevy.

'No, I finally found a place of my own; it's still in the Alley. Finally, a place to take my "gentlemen friends"!'

'Whom I'm sure are few and far between,' said Harry.

'Well, you know me, Harry,' she said. 'I only go for two types of men- domestic and foreign.'

'You're so child-like, Ginny,' said Harry sarcastically.

'I used to be Snow White, but I drifted,' she shot back wittily. Harry loved having conversations with Ginny. Not only was she stunningly attractive, but also she was very witty and sharp.

'I better go,' she said. 'I'm meeting Hermione for our first business meeting.'

'Ginny Weasley- Entrepreneur Extraordinaire,' said Harry. 'Good Luck.'

'Ginny, leaving so soon?' asked Roger Davies, swaggering up to her.

'Sorry Roger darling,' she said. 'Got to dash.'

'Will you be at the Horticultural Show in Hogsmeade next week?' he asked. 'We could do lunch?'

'Well, you know what they say,' she replied dryly. 'You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think. Goodbye boys!'

She walked off through the Paracelsus Room, and out the door, leaving Harry and Roger marvelling after her.

***

Harry Potter and George Dimple had first crossed swords seven years ago, when they were both working at Gringotts. After leaving Hogwarts, Harry had taken the first job offered to him, which happened to be at the bank. In wizarding society, everyone entered at the bottom, and worked their way to the top. George and Harry had argued and squabbled over many issues as deputy managers, and when push came to shove, George had been promoted over Harry, mainly because his father was on the hiring panel. Two weeks later, Harry left the bank "through mutual consent".

'Harry, Dittany is a very powerful plant,' said George Dimple. He and Harry were discussing the new Advancements in Magical Medicine Bill, which was due to be added to the Lexicon in two months. The Lexicon was the vast store where all laws passed by the Ministry were kept.

'But George,' said Harry stubbornly. 'The Ministry has to do something about the influx of illegal and unchecked dittany flooding through the community.'

'Legalising it isn't going to help. What purpose does that serve?'

'It allows us to impose restrictions and regulate it's use. Better that than having some teenagers mess around and totally screw up their bodies.' Harry wasn't giving an inch.

'It sends all the wrong signals to parents,' said George. Harry was imagining knocking George out with the paper weight on the desk.

'Well, George, we decided on this bill ages ago. People are going to use dittany for medicinal use if we let them or if we don't It's better that we know what they're doing, and hopefully we can take the sting out of the high dittany-related fatality numbers we've had over the past few years.'

'I'll speak to Mrs Greymalkin about it, then,' said George.

'I have to go,' said Harry, and rose from his seat. He turned and left the room without saying anything.

'God, I really hate that man,' he said to Linda when he entered his office.

'Who?' asked Linda.

'George bloody Dimple, who else,' said Harry. He sat down at his desk and began to read the papers that had been laid out on it. Every day, it was Harry's job to scan the newspapers to see if there was anything suitably bad or good that it merited Cloister action.

'Linda,' he said. 'There's a story here about the Floo Regulation Panel. Can you get John Taschentuffel to check it out and get back to me on it at the end of the day?'

That was the only story that was sufficiently interesting to concern the Press Officer to the Minister for Magic that day- the afternoon papers were all full of Hermione's resignation. There were a few profiles of Matilda and George Dimple, but nothing to worry Harry.

He sat at his desk for a few hours working- he always spent two or three hours per day working diligently through the piles of scrolls that needed his attention. It was the only time when he was left undisturbed. So when Hermione's worried face appeared in the small, thin fireplace in the corner of the room mere moments after the clock struck six o'clock, Harry was slightly surprised.

'Hey, Hermione,' he said, glancing up.

'Harry,' said Hermione. She looked vexed and upset. 'Turn on the news.'

Her head vanished, and Harry withdrew his wand from its holster in his belt before flicking it at the television.

The picture flicked on, and Ron's face appeared.

'... Dark Arts involvement,' was all Harry heard as his ears attuned to the sound.

'Good evening,' said Ron, to the camera. 'If you're just joining us, we're live on the air with news of the startling past of new Liaison Officer to the Cloister, George Dimple.

'Mr Dimple was hired by Minister Greymalkin this morning, following the shock announcement that Doctor Hermione Granger had reigned. It is unknown whether Cloister officials were aware of Mr Dimple's past when they hired him.

'Dimple was a close friend of many Death Eaters throughout the Second Rising of The Dark Lord, a period when the magical community was run by vicious Death Eaters. It seems that Mr Dimple was very influential in certain circles, and although he never became a Death Eater, it has emerged that he attended several meetings.

'This news will surely bring into question Mr Dimple's reliability in the job, and his position entirely. We'll be bringing you live updates later in the hour, as well as a feature programme 'George Dimple: Death Eater Unofficial.

'This is Ron Weasley on Wizarding News.'

Harry didn't wait to see the credits, but instead barged through the door of his office, which led to the Cloister.

Officials, lesser aides and the five executive staff filled the room. Owls were flying through the window in both directions, and people were dashing in and out the doors with messages.

'What the hell happened?' asked Harry calmly. Everyone in the room stopped dead- they knew Harry was at his most dangerous when he was calm and controlled.

'Harry!' said Matilda. 'You heard?'

'Yes, Minister,' said Harry. 'I heard. I'm just confirming if it's true.'

'Yes, it is,' replied the Minister. As the only person in the room with more seniority than Harry, it was up to her to deal with him.

'And why did I have to find out from the television?' asked Harry, 'rather than from the background checks we ran on Dimple?'

'They didn't show up on the background checks,' said Matilda. 'We didn't know.'

'And what are we doing?' asked Harry. 'How are we dealing with this problem?'

'Dimple resigned ten minutes ago,' said the official standing next to Matilda. 'It's up to the Executive Staff to decide upon a replacement.'

'Well, they can do it on their own,' said Harry. 'I'm going.'

'Where are you going?' shouted Matilda. She was obviously worried and anxious. 'You can't leave!'

'I'm going to find out why,' said Harry calmly, 'my best friend didn't even owl me before he screwed up my job!' Harry turned, and barged through the double doors. The entire room of thirty five was silent as he strode past them.

***

Lachesis House had been inaccessible by Apparition and off the Floo network ever since Ron and his wife Antigone had received anonymous death threats and poison pen letters when Ron took up his job at the television studios.

So when Harry apparated to the nearest point, at Birnam Woods, he had to walk the mile and a half up to the front doors.

Ron had married Antigone three years after he graduated from Hogwarts. They had first met at a Chudley Cannons game (of course; the Cannons lost 650-110 to Pride of Portree). Much to Mrs Weasley's displeasure they married six months hence. A few years later, Ron became fabulously wealthy with his income from Wizarding News, and they bought Lachesis House. It was a large, Victorian manor home, with over a hundred rooms and many long corridors for their children, Lucia and Luke, to stampede around with their friends.

'Harry!' said Antigone, as she pulled the massive oak doors open. 'How nice to see you! Come in, come in!' She pulled the door further open, and allowed Harry into the large hallway, with stained glass windows and magnificent wooden staircase.

'Hi, Ant,' said Harry. 'Is Ron around?'

'No,' said Antigone, 'but he should be here in about ten minutes. Do you want to wait?'

'If you don't mind,' said Harry, and followed her through to the kitchen.

'Where are Lucia and Luke?' asked Harry, as they walked into the large kitchen. Through the windows, he could see the large gardens, and the massive pond.

'I'm just making dinner,' said Antigone. 'Do you want some?'

'No, thanks,' said Harry. 'I'll just see Ron and then I'll head.'

'Okay, then.' Antigone leaned over the stove, and stirred a pot. She had long blonde hair and her lilac silk robes hung perfectly over her magnificent figure. Harry couldn't help but feel slightly envious of Ron, when all Harry had was a cold bed waiting for him at home.

'So, how are things at the museum?' asked Harry. Antigone was deputy curator at the Museum of Quidditch.

'Oh, well,' she said. 'We had a huge problem with the Zirconium Quaffles today,' she said, stirring a large pot of blue pasta. Antigone was not renowned for her philosophical and intelligent conversations, something that Ginny was.

Harry spent the next twenty minutes chatting to Antigone about Quidditch. Although he was desperately keen on Quidditch- he had been ever since he was first introduced to the game during his first year at Hogwarts, he found that in his current job he never got the time to play matches or even go to games, unless it was for political reasons. Often, he was sent to the home of a wealthy wizard or witch to play Quidditch, only to have a long conversation afterwards about politics and the Ministry. Actually, he had one in two days.

'Anyway, Harry,' said Antigone, flicking her blonde hair back, 'tell me about your day.'

'Oh, well, nothing interesting happened at all today at my work,' said Harry. 'Nothing desperately interesting ever does.'

'Oh, that's not true,' said Antigone. Just at that moment, the front door slammed.

'That's my man!' said Antigone, rushing into the hall. Harry followed her.

'Ant!' cried Ron. He had a bunch of red roses in his hand, which he handed to her. Then he spotted Harry.

'Harry! How are you?' he said, trying to sound cheery.

'Hello Ron,' said Harry coldly.

'Why don't you two guys go into the sitting room,' said Antigone, patting Ron on the chest, 'and I'll bring you both in a drink?'

Harry followed Ron through the door into the living room. Ron positioned himself in an armchair, while Harry remained standing.

'So...' said Ron awkwardly. 'I suppose I know why you're...'

'What the bloody hell did you think you think you were playing at?' asked Harry. 'I would have expected at least a bit of forewarning from my best friend.' Harry's jaw was clenched with rage- Ron could see the muscles at the side of his mouth tighten.

'I tried to owl you...' said Ron weakly.

'I give you so much information- you get more leads than all the other reporters put together!' Harry fumed. He and Ron rarely fell out- and not about work. 'I only give you that information on the basis that you help me out when I need it. Thanks to you and your arrogance and inconsideration, we now have a major scandal and problem on our hands. At least Hermione gave us the night to think about it, before broadcasting it to the world!'

'Sorry, Harry,' said Ron. 'I'm really sorry.'

'I just don't like being screwed up by my best friend,' said Harry, 'but thank you.'

'Anyway,' said Ron, changing the subject. 'We're going out for a meal tonight- all of us- to celebrate Hermione and Ginny's new adventure.'

'All of us?' said Harry. 'I can't, I've got to get this sorted out.'

'No, you don't,' said Ron, waving his hands. 'I refuse to accept 'no' for an answer! You're coming with me! I've booked a parlour at the Leaky Cauldron- it's only three blocks away from their 'premises'.'

'But...'

'NO!' said Ron defiantly, smiling merrily. 'There's a party tonight, Harry Potter, and you and I are going to be there!!!'

End of Chapter

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