The Minister for Magic, Hermione Weasley, made her way through the Atrium, down the elevator, and through several long corridors until she'd reached the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Aurors straightened up and tucked in their shirts and tightened their ties as the Minister walked past, hurrying away from loitering clusters around desks, grabbing onto case files and rushing to appear occupied by official Ministry business.
Hermione found it all quite funny, though she kept her mouth a perfectly straight line - an expression she had learned and perfected over years of watching Minerva McGonagall.
She made her way to the office of the Head of Defense & Recovery, rapped her knuckles against the wood, and waited.
Harry Potter opened the door, his hair disheveled and his eyes tired behind his spectacles.
Hermione looked him over. "You don't look well. Are you sure you're alright to work?"
Harry said, "Gee, thanks, 'mione, glad to see you too."
Hermione shrugged. "I just know you're more likely to push yourself to get back here early than to rest and relax as long as you should at home when you're not feeling well. That's all."
Harry pointed to the stack of paperwork on his desk. "I'm staying in-office today, trying at catching up on all that."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "I swear. Why don't you just file it as you get it done?"
"Because there's always new cases coming in as fast as I do!" Harry said. He shook his head, "I know you hate I'm a slacker but what can I say? It isn't as though you'll fire me - being the Chosen One and all."
Hermione said, "Don't start that rubbish again." But she smiled as she said it because he was only joking and she knew that. Harry would catch up on his paperwork in time and meanwhile the Ministry's percentage for rate of capture on crime was higher than it had ever been.
Harry smirked, his lip catching up on his tooth on one side. "Now I know you didn't come all the way down here from your office with windows just to chide me on my paperwork and check my temperature. What's up?"
Hermione pushed past him and sat down in the seat opposite his desk, and Harry took a seat, moving his mountain of paperwork with a flick of his wand to be able to see her. "I wanted to talk to you personally about this," Hermione said, "And privately, which is why I didn't wait until dinner tonight... You and Ginny are still coming, I expect?"
"Yeah, the whole brood."
"Excellent. Ron will be thrilled." Hermione shifted, crossing one leg over the other. "Now, you know how I started that retired auror volunteer program to help us clear up some of the old files and records? There's so much still to sift through that Fudge and Crouch just let build up... it's a nightmare!"
"Yeah, I helped set it up 'mione," Harry said. "What about it?"
"Well, we set a group off down to clear out some of the old cellars and get rid of those awful holding rooms they used to use for the registered werewolves," she shuddered. "Well it seems Scrimgeour used them for holding some of the more questionable confiscated goods and surrendered portraits that were collected during the War and they've all just been collecting dust down there. So I asked some of the volunteer teams to clean it up and finally get rid of some of that old junk. I swear, it was like that room of hidden things back at Hogwarts for all the rubbish that was collected down there."
"So you hired some maids. Grand. What's this to do with me Hermione?"
"Don't use your sass on me, Mr. Potter," Hermione said and she shook her head.
Harry smirked again. "Yes, Madam Minister," he said. HIs eyes twinkled with mischief.
Hermione said, "Listen Harry, one of the voulnteers - his name is Underhill - he used to work as the Head Trainer of the Auror Training Center back in the 70s before switching into the head catcher in Retreival of Heinous Prisoner, and then eventually becoming the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement after Moody died."
"Ah Mad-Eye. Can you imagine what this Department was like being in back then? He probably stomped around yelling about vigilence... constantly," Harry chuckled.
Hermione plowed on, "I looked into Underhill a bit after he came to me with this and I found out something very interesting. Harry, he trained your father for a time."
Harry stopped chuckling and sat forward. "What? My dad wasn't an auror."
"He almost was," Hermione said. "He quit midway through his first year training, but Underhill knew your dad." She hesitated. "He was also the one who arrested Sirius, but that's not really his fault, following orders from higher-up, by the looks of that file, but anyway, listen. He was one of the volunteers who came in and was helping at clearing out the lycanthropy rooms and he found something very interesting."
Harry was honestly full of questions already, without her saying there was even more interesting things to be heard. "What's that?" he asked.
"He was taking out some of the rubbish collected from various homes - mostly dark artifacts and cursed stuff - you know, things that probably came from Borgiin and Burkes or some rubbish place like that --"
"Probably mostly confiscated from Lucious Malfoy," muttered Harry.
"Harry. He found a wood crate that was marked Especially Heinous and Most Dangerously Involved and he was just so curious, he had to check, and you know what he found?"
"Something especially heinous, I expect."
"A portrait. Sent to the Ministry for burning by Albus Dumbldore in 1995. Guess who of."
Harry sat forward.
"Cadmus Peverell."
Harry stared at her. Then asked, "Um. Who?"
Hermione sighed, "Honestly Harry!" she shook her head, "Cadmus Peverell... One of the three brothers of the Deathly Hallows? The one with the Resurrection Stone?"
"Oh him," Harry said, shrugging, "So? Why is he especially heinous and all that other stuff you said it was marked?"
"Well, the report said that he was being handed over for burning by Dumbledore because he was a known affiliate of Gellert Grindelwald, Tom Riddle, and --" Hermione paused dramatically, "-- of Regulus Black."
Harry froze.
"Really?" he said, interest creeping into his voice.
She nodded. "Dumbledore wanted the painting burned immediately, but they stashed it away instead and he got lost in all that rubbish down in the cellars and -- well, when Underhill opened him up and conducted some investigation, Harry, it turns out that Cadmus was directly involved in helping Regulus Black figure out the Horcruxes."
Harry's eye widened. "Really."
"Yes. And what's more -- he has the whole story about Regulus. It seems they got really close during the time that they spent together... and he wants to talk to you and the other heads of the department under oath... Harry, Cadmus Peverell wants to clear Regulus Black's name... and Harry? Wait until you hear the story..."