Arthur Weasley was not having a good morning. Every morning he work with a strong worry built up in his chest. He didn't like have his son and his friends running about like his. He understood they had an important job to do, but he worried. Anything could happen to them.
His worry only mounted when he learned that Fred and George had started working with Charlie and Christine to help Muggle-borns escape the country and go into hiding. Why did he have to teach his children to stand up for what was right? Why did they all have to be so brave.
He rubbed his face tiredly. With the recent Muggle hatred, he knew it was just a matter of time before he lost his job. It was inevitable. Arthur wasn't ignorant. He knew the Ministry was only keeping him around in case Harry tried to contact him. He was only valuable because he treated Harry as a son.
If he was honest, Harry was a part of his family.
He spent the morning trying to explain to Wakanda why he didn't agree with the Ministry's new legislation against Muggle-borns. She, like so many others, thought the Ministry was acting justly. "I quite understand what you're saying, Wakanda," he said as they stepped into the elevator. "I'm afraid I just can't be party-"
His eyes fell on Albert Runcorn, causing him to stop talking. There were few people that Arthur was unwilling to be civil with and Runcorn was one of them. At the sight of the pathetic excuse for a man, anger courses through him.
He was thinking of confronting him, but turned to Reginald Cattermole at the sound of something dripping. "Oh, hello, Reg," he greeted. "Isn't your wife in for questioning today? Eh-what's happened to you? Why are you so wet?"
"Yaxley's office is raining," Reg answered. Reg wasn't looking Arthur in the eye, which confused Arthur. Reg had been a good friend for years, never afraid to talk to him. Perhaps, he was just worried for his wife. Arthur had tried to convince Reg to take his family far away from England, but Reg insisted that the Ministry would be just and see that his wife is in fact a witch. "I couldn't get it to stop, so they've sent me to get Bernie Pillsworth-"
"Yes, a lot of offices have been raining recently," Arthur had a theorthwr Fred and George had started this. "Did you try Meteolojinx Recanto? It worked for Bletchley."
"Meteolojinx Recanto? No, I didn't. Thanks Da-I mean, thanks, Arthur."
The elevator doors opened, and Wakanda and Reginald exited the lift. Before the doors closed Percy entered, his eyes trained on the papers in his hands. Arthur had seen Percy around the Ministry numerous times. He had wanted to speak to his son, but Percy refused. He was stubborn and driven.
Percy glanced up at his father, before quickly returning to the papers in his hands. Arthur wanted desperately to show Percy what he had done to their family. He wanted Percy to know of all the nights Molly had stayed awake worrying or crying over their son. Or the numerous nights that Arthur just wanted to remind his son that he loved him no matter what. Arthur was determined to hold out hope that his son would see sense and come home. That he would sacrifice his pride to fight for what was right.
But as Percy stared at the papers in front of him, blatantly ignoring his father, Arthur's heart broke inside of him. His son was too proud. Perhaps, his son would never know how much he loved him.
The doors to the lift opened and Percy dashed out quickly, hoping to get away from the awkward situation. Runcorn moved towards the lift doors, exiting the lift. If Arthur was going to say what was playing on his conscious, he had to do so now, when it was just the two of them. "One moment, Runcorn." The doors of the lift close loudly and they started moving down another floor. "I hear you laid information about Dirk Cresswell."
"Sorry?" Runcorn answered stupidly. The man was a coward.
"Don't pretend, Runcorn," Arthur said fiercely, determined to say this. "You tracked down the wizard who faked his family tree, didn't you?"
"I-so what if I did?" Runcorn said. Runcorn looked nervous. That nervousness made Arthur feel bold and courageous.
"So, Dirk Cresswell is ten times the wizard you are," Arthur said. "And if he survives Azkaban, you'll have to answer to him, not to mention his wife, his sons, and his friends-"
"Arthur," interrupted Runcorn, "you know you're being tracked, don't you?"
"Is that a threat, Runcorn?" Arthur returned. Of course, he knew that. He didn't need the scum of the earth to tell him that.
"No," Runcorn hastily. "It's a fact! They're watching your every move-"
The doors to the lift opened. They reached the Atrium. Arthur sent his best glare at Runcorn and exited the lift, happily leaving the man alone.
The rest of the day, Arthur worked at his desk, tiredly. He had heard a murmur that someone had freed all of the Muggle-borns being held in the courtrooms. Arthur wasn't sure who that was, he had a lot of respect for whoever it was. They had done something amazing for the Muggle-born population.
Fred and George were lounging about in the kitchen when Arthur finally returned home. Molly was hastily getting dinner ready for them. He would certainly not tell his wife about seeing Percy in the lift. It would only make he worry and cause her to be sad. He rarely told her if he did see his son. Periodically, she would ask if he had seen Percy. Arthur would lie every time. "Hello, Molly," he greeted.
"Oh, Arthur," she sighed. "I'm glad you're home!" He sighed. How many times did he tell her to verify if it was him or not. Seeing the look on his face. She looked embarrassed and glanced at their sons.
"Molly," he persisted.
"Oh fine, what do I like you to call me when we're alone."
"Mollywobbles." Fred and George made gagging noises. "Oh, hush."
"Hello, Fred. Hello, George."
"You're right, Freddie," George said. "Your name does always come first. Why is that, d'you reckon?"
"It's like counting down. Two ears, one ear," Fred answered before turning to his dad excitedly. "Did you see them, Dad?"
"See who?" Arthur returned, taking the seat beside them at the table. George handed him the night edition of The Daily Prophet. It detailed how Harry Potter had been spotted inside the Ministry of Magic. The article held many different theories as to why he would have been there. Though, what caught Arthur's eye was the photo of Harry, Reginald Cattermole, and Mafalda Hopkirk leading the Muggle-borns from Ministry.
Before he could help himself, Arthur burst into laughter. "What did we do with all of that extra Polyjuice Potion, Alastor had?"
"Hermione took it," Fred answered. "Said they might need it." This caused Arthur to bark out another loud laugh.
"Honestly, Arthur! What is so funny?" Molly wanted to know.
"I wasted a perfectly good speech on Harry Potter!" he exclaimed. "And I was in the lift with Reginald Cattermole, I thought he was acting strange, he nearly called me dad! My own son was in the lift with me and I didn't know!" He showed the picture to Molly.
"Why would Reginald Cattermole be with Harry Potter? I bet you anything it Ron. Hermione must have been impersonating Mafalda, she's too timidly to try and help Harry. And look at what Harry's wearing! He must have been Albert Runcorn the whole time!"
"What do you mean you wasted a speech on Harry?" Molly asked pointedly.
"I gave Runcorn a piece of my mind, that's what," Arthur stated. "Must've been Harry the whole time!" Arthur started laughing again and this time Fred and George joined in. Molly allowed herself smile a little.
"Well, I'm glad you find this so funny. They could have been seriously injured!" Arthur shook his head, rereading the article. Harry must have been the one who sent the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes products into Umbridge's office. The more Arthur read the article, the funnier he found it.
He was glad Harry, Ron, and Hermione had infiltrated the Ministry. He hadn't laughed this hard in quite some time.
-----
Neville was glad the D.A. had started again. They were actually working on important things, and learning important things. They weren't taking the Carrows' torture sitting down. They were fighting back for what was right. Harry, Ron, and Hermione would be so proud of them.
After one of the meetings, Hannah Abbott stayed back to talk to Neville. He had talked to her a few times, mostly during Herbology. Herbology was one subject he knew completely and could help others in. "I'm really glad we're doing this again," Hannah told him. "I missed the D.A. last year."
"Me, too," Neville replied. His eyes were trained on the room he was trying to organize. They really made a mess in the Room of Requirement during their meetings. Granted, this night was not was bad as it could have been. Seamus spent half of the night murmuring about his detention and how he managed to land himself detention. It was nearly curfew when they finally started talking about the important things.
Hannah seemed to hesitate a moment before she continued. "I-well, I- thought it was really brave what you said in Muggle Studies last week." Neville's cheeks reddened. He wasn't sure anyone had ever told him he was brave before.
"Thanks, Hannah," Neville answered, his eyes till trained on the floor.
"Erm, wouldn't the room just clean itself?" she asked. He realized she was right and left the room be. He gave her his full attention. "Do you think you could help me with something?" Neville raised his eyebrows curiously.
"What do you need?" he inquired.
"I want to prank Amycus Carrow." He stared at her. Hannah had always been a kind girl, who followed the rules. Neville wasn't sure the girl had broken many rules in her time at Hogwarts. She was just a sweet Hufflepuff.
"You want to prank a professor?" She nodded. "What for?"
"My brother's a first year this year," she explained. She sat down "Amycus has been bullying him because he refuses to learn the dark curses. He told Professor Carrow that my mother wouldn't be too pleased if he did. Amycus gave him detention." Neville didn't need her to continue. He knew much too well what happened in detention with the Carrows.
"You sure you don't want to talk to Ginny?" Neville clarified. "I don't know much about pranking people, and she's related Fred and George Weasley."
"I actually already asked her," Hannah stated. "She said she too busy and to ask you." That made more sense to Neville. He shrugged and said that he would help her.
-----
Draco Malfoy had lost his standing in the Slytherin social hierarchy. He knew it the minute he stepped onto the Hogwarts Express on September 1st. Crabbe and Goyle had heard of the disgrace the Malfoys now held. They were just the Dark Lord's prolonged joke. All the work Draco had done the year before was worth next to nothing in Voldemort's eyes.
Draco constantly felt the loneliness he had first encountered during his sixth year. He wanted nothing more than to tell Hermione he was sorry for what he had done. He felt he owed her an explanation. He just wanted to talk to her. Or anyone for that matter. The only Slytherin willing to talk to him was Pansy Parkinson.
The two had known each other their entire lives. He didn't need her to tell him that she was in love with Ron Weasley, he already knew it. Knowing someone as long as he knew Pansy gave him an intuition about his friend. He had seen the hidden glances she sent the redhead's way. And her constant flirting with him disappeared at the end of the term, too. But what made him really suspect her feelings for the Weasel was seeing her kissing Weasley in an empty corridor. It was one of the most disgusting sights he had ever beheld.
Malfoy never did tell her what he had seen. He suspected she would deny it and he really didn't care. Sure, when they were younger, he might have been mortified to the point that he would never speak to her again. But it was different now. He decided that Pansy was keeping it a secret for a reason. Draco believed that no one could help who they had feelings for and if anyone could fix the Weasel, it was Pansy.
Pansy and Draco were walking down a corridor when they heard Longbottom clambering about. He was crouched down to the floor, his back to them, with Hannah Abbott of all people. "He's not quiet about it, is he?" Pansy stated as they watched them work.
For Longbottom, the plan was rather genius. Longbottom had set up one of the Weasley twins' portable swamps. But he had rigged it so that it would appear when someone stepped on it. It was a good plan, Draco decided.
Finally, Abbott turned around and saw Draco and Pansy watching them. She didn't say anything, just lightly tapped Longbottom's shoulder. Draco opened his mouth to tell Longbottom that his plan wasn't as terrible as most of them were, when they heard footsteps coming towards them. Immediately, Longbottom and Abbott raced into a classroom.
Draco hesitated a moment before realizing that he and Pansy should run too. But by the time he realized this, Amycus had already seen them. "Malfoy! Parkinson! What are you two doing here?" he demanded.
"We were snogging," Pansy said without hesitation. Amycus was getting closer to the swamp. Draco was actually kind of excited to see what was going to happen. "We heard a noise, but there was no one here."
"Like I said, you were hearing things," Draco stated, his eyes trained on Amycus' steps.
"I don't buy-AHHH!" The swamp exploded before them. And Amycus was stuck in the middle of it. Mossy greens had even begun growing around Amycus, too. Draco and Pansy burst into laughter. "THIS IS NOT FUNNY MALFOY! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" bellowed the professor.
Unable to contain his laughter, Draco walked over and tried to pull him out of the swamp, but it was stuck into it. "Shall I get Professor McGonagall?" Pansy suggested.
"WELL, WHY ARE YOU STANDING ABOUT. GET THE OLD LADY!" Pansy scampered off to get Professor McGonagall while Draco tried to pull Amycus from the swamp again. "It's no use! We'll just have to wait for McGonagall."
"Whatever you say, Professor." Amycus glared at him.
"I know you know who did this," seethed Amycus You're not as good a liar as you think. Who are you protecting."
"You got me," Draco said. "I don't have to protect them. It was Crabbe and Goyle. They were trying to trap your sister. Hey, worked out for her, didn't it? Now, she knows where not to go." Amycus glared at Malfoy.
Behind the stranded professor, Malfoy saw Longbottom peak out of the classroom at him. He had a confused expression on his face, though Longbottom always had a confused expression. Longbottom smiled kindly at Malfoy before retreating back inside of the classroom. Draco hoped he would keep this to himself. He couldn't have it getting around the school that he helped a Gryffindor and a Hufflepuff. He did have a reputation to uphold, after all.
-----
"Can you believe that they're saying about Harry?" Lee said as he was reading the Daily Prophet at breakfast one morning. Lee had started taking the liberty of inviting himself over to Fred and George's flat to eat their food. It was a habit he had started when Remus was staying with them. After Harry, Ron, and Hermione had infiltrated the Ministry, Remus went crawling back to Nymphadora. She made him spend half the night banging on her door before she was willing to talk to him. But it all worked out in the end.
"They've always said things that aren't true about him," George pointed out. Fred thought back to the articles that were printed about him during the Triwizard Tournament.
"Yeah, anyone with sense knows not to read that garbage," Fred added.
"And what can people read? The Quibbler? No one is going to be able to read that much longer. You-Know-Who is going to try and stop Mr. Lovegood from printing those articles." Fred watched his friend carefully. He had a feeling Lee already had an idea in mind, he was just trying to justify the craziness of the plan.
"Lee?" Fred said.
"I got an idea," Lee stated quickly. "It might be crazy, but I think it could work."
"We're in," said George.
"It could help a lot of people, but it might be danger," Lee continued.
"We've already agreed to do this," Fred replied. But Lee's eyes were trained on the wall as he thought through his crazy plan.
"We'd have to keep moving, so they couldn't find us."
"WE ARE IN," Fred and George said together. Lee looked over at them in surprise.
"Well, there's no need to yell it," he told them. Lee took a rather large bite out of the pancakes that George had made.
"What is your plan?" Fred inquired.
"Well, I found this old radio that my uncle used to use during the war against Grindelwald. He would talk about the things the government wasn't saying, how they could stay safe. That sort of thing."
"We'll help you, Lee. What are you going to call the show?"
"Oh, that's the easy part. I've already thought of a name: Potterwatch." Fred smiled happily that the name. It was perfect. Harry inspired hope in people and they needed to know the truth about Harry. It was time that the Wizarding World started hearing the truth.