Hermione did enjoy any day that she had to venture into the Muggle world for her work, which was obviously often. It was for that reason that she couldn’t complain too much about working at the Muggle Liaison Office, even if it had only been because the Ministry had cleared out the Beast Division a few years back. She still thought on that nearly daily, wondering just what that venomous snake was up to—of course, he wasn’t even a Slytherin, that was far too obvious. He was a Ravenclaw, from what she’d heard, which meant that he was smart enough to know that the previous Beast Division wouldn’t do his biding. Hermione could only hope that they weren’t doing anything too awful there, as really, they hadn’t done much publicly except for buckling down on the registry and completely getting rid of Werewolf Support Services…

She shook her head as she entered the Leaky Cauldron from the Muggle side, knowing that these thoughts weren’t ones to focus on at the current time. After her and Harry’s talk with Minerva last week, Hermione was even more concerned than she had been, wondering what the Ministry had planned next. But for now, she had to stop in at Gringotts before heading back to Grimmauld Place, so she allowed her mind to wander back to the less stressful thoughts of her work day. As per usual, she found herself posing as a Muggle in a company. She did wish that her work was less one-sided, but it all went a lot smoother this way.

Just as she was about to head past the main bar and out to enter Diagon Alley, she recognized a familiar face, and immediately paused, switching directions. Hermione hadn’t necessarily been close to Parvati at school, but she’d been roommates with her for six years for Merlin’s sake. Certainly that warranted a greeting, she told herself, and it would be interesting to see what she’d been up to, “Parvati,” she said, smiling warmly, “It’s been ages—how have you been?”

@parvati

Outfit

Parvati had left the ministry after another lacklustre meeting about something which definitely didn’t concern her department but she had attended to show that the Spirit division would be on hand should their assistance be needed. Really what did having a census on centaurs have to do with spirits she didn’t know. She had been trying to piece the two together but for the life of her couldn’t come up with any common link. And she wasn’t prepared to waste any more of her time on that.

The witch supposed she could go home straight away but Ernie was working late that day and it was still school term and Anaya as still up in Scotland at Hogwarts. She wasn’t really up to going home to an empty house, not just yet anyway. Instead she made her way to the Leaky cauldron to kill some time and she did have things to prepare for her two day work trip to Manchester next week. Not that she really wanted to travel there for only two days, she was hoping to made the trip longer but the people she was due to meet apparently had ‘tight schedules’ and as such that’s all they could spare her.

She had just settled into her seat at the bar, ordered her drink and pulled out her diary to look over a few things when she heard her name being called. Looking up she saw Hermione and a smile automatically appeared on her features. Sure she and Harry had been at her and Ernie’s wedding and they saw each other in passing but never had there been enough time to catch up. “Hello Hermione, won’t you join me?” she said tilting her head to a spare stool next to her. “It’s been far too long, I’m doing well thanks and you?” she asked the other witch as she closed her diary to give her former dorm mate her full attention.



Outfit

It was surreal to Hermione how quickly time seemed to go by, realizing that she hadn’t really even spoken to the woman in years. She and Harry had been in attendance for her wedding to Ernie—something she’d never seen coming, and Parvati had come to their wedding as well. But, obviously, they would have both been quite busy speaking to everyone to really catch up then. And that had been fifteen years ago. Of course, it was just London, and she’d run into the woman on a few occasions but only enough for a simple greeting and nothing more. Hermione knew that she worked at the Ministry as well, in the Spirit Division, though she only knew that from when she worked in the Beast Division—clearly they had crossed paths there a few times. But since Hermione had switched jobs, she was unsure that she’d even seen her former roommate, “Of course,” she replied, taking the seat next to Parvati and setting her purse on the stool next to her.

All of the thoughts she had been ruminating over about the Minister and his schemes fell to the back of her mind, knowing that it certainly wasn’t the time to focus on them any longer. Hermione knew that Harry didn’t trust the man either, and she would be able to discuss it more with him later—as they always did. It was clear to them, or in her opinion anyone with eyes, that this situation very possibly could lead to another war. “I’m doing fine—house is quite without the kids, and I’ll complain about that now but once they’re back raising hell and testing out George’s new products, I’ll wish they were right back at Hogwarts,” she joked, though she really needed to figure out a way to get it through to George to stop giving her children his ridiculous wares, “How’s Ernie?” she paused momentarily, knowing that the pair had a daughter near in years to her own. After all, she’d heard about her from Adaline, “and how’s Anaya?”

It was a shame that Parvati didn’t get up to catch up with Hermione more often but of course their conflicting work schedules and other commitments was the reason behind that. It seemed that everyone was busy these days so it was no one’s fault for failing to catch up before now. Parvati of course had attended Hermione and Harry’s wedding with Ernie since they were still dating at the time. Of course it had been a surprise that Hermione had married Harry when throughout their school life it was quite obvious that something was there between her and Ron but then again she supposed things change, no one had certainly seen her being married to Ernie all these years later. Her twin of course had been the most shocked of them all. Sure she had dated Dean for a brief period but they came realise that they worked better as friends very soon and ended it amicably. Just as Hermione took a seat the bartender served Parvati her Butterbeer, it would always been perennial favourite with the witch. “Would you like a drink?” She asked the other woman as the Bartender was still standing nearby.

Parvati of course had seen Hermione more often when she worked in the Beast department but since she had changed departments it was perhaps occasions like this where they ran into each other. Given that Parvati was still grasping various aspects of Muggle life, she figured that Hermione would of course be the best person to ask any questions she had, but now she’d just catch up with the other witch. She chuckled at the mention of a peaceful house, it was something she could relate to. Somehow even with being the only child Anaya seemed to make enough noise to make it seem like she had siblings. “I’m in the same boat as you” Parvati commented with a smile. “Ernie is fine, he’s working late tonight” she answered, he would be meeting her here later tonight once he finished his work and they would go home together. “Anaya is great, her birthday is soon but we’ll celebrate properly once she’s home from Hogwarts” Parvati smiled, she couldn’t believe her baby girl was nearly 13 already, where had the time gone? “How’s Harry and the kids doing?” she asked in return.

Hermione knew that Harry had a late night ahead of him at work, as the Minister was really pushing this ridiculous interrogations now more than ever. It was because of that that she didn’t see the harm in joining her old roommate for a few drinks, though it did seem that she and Harry had been missing each other with their schedules the past couple days. But she still had plenty of time to kill before she wanted to head home to make sure she caught him before he passed out. She knew that he had been low on sleep the past week or so, and would inevitably be crashing soon after returning home. The damn minister really needed to stop with these interrogations, but Hermione knew he wouldn’t. More than likely, he wouldn’t stop until he had stuck every major pureblood family with some kind of fine or punishment for some alleged crime. That was why, now more than ever, he really needed to be stopped. However, frustratingly enough, he did have supporters and allies, or he’d be out of his position by now. Hermione pushed the thoughts from her mind, not wanting to focus on them when she should be catching up with Parvati, “I could certainly use a drink,” she said in response, before turning her gaze to the bartender, “A glass of elderflower wine, please,” Hermione stated, with a small smile. For a moment she had been toying with the idea of getting firewhiskey, something she rarely, if ever, ordered, simply because she was so frustrated with everything going on. However, wine sounded a lot more appetizing than that fiery liquor, though perhaps she’d pick some up to keep at home.

Her smile widened at Parvati’s response, nodding. It was almost unreal how much quieter the house was without the kids around, and it was odd missing them and enjoying the break at the same time. But they’d be back for the summer soon enough, and getting into trouble at every turn. She was certain that George would be sure to supply them with enough of his products to drive her absolutely batty, as it seemed he got far too much enjoyment out of irritating her, “Harry works late tonight too. The Auror office has been swamped recently. What does Ernie do?” She asked, as she hadn’t recalled knowing that information, even if she probably should have. After a moment’s pause, she spoke again, “And how’s the Spirit Division?” She certainly hoped that the Minister hadn’t cleared that office out as well, though she wouldn’t be surprised. He seemed to have questionable plans in just about every office, “Time certainly flies, doesn’t it?” Hermione said, shaking her head. Every time one of her children’s birthdays came around, she found herself asking that same question, “Harry’s fine—like I mentioned, completely swamped at work. The kids are fine too, not that Liam and Deacon ever write,” she said, jokingly, “But Adaline writes enough for both of them, and keeps us updated on everything the boys are getting into—which is seemingly everything, breaking a new rule every other week.”

She knew her former housemate was probably swamped with work, more so than her department, working with Muggles would certainly be more rewarding, there was no doubt about that in Parvati’s mind however she loved ghosts and spirits too much. However with all the work that Ernie did at the ministry too it was like he was being pushed around too. And she hated that, they barely saw each other save for weekends. Hopefully once summer rolled around and Anaya was home, things would slow down and they would actually be somewhat normal for a change. However there weekends were a treasure nowadays since they actually stayed home and did homely stuff like cooking and cleaning, it was a normal home. However when Monday morning came around that all flew out the door.

Parvati hadn’t had much reaction with the minister of late at least not since just after Christmas and for that she was thankful, for all that she heard from her husband, Durant was hell bent on sticking his nose in every department, even those not concerned with his numerous interrogations. She smiled as Hermione ordered herself a drink. Parvati couldn’t even remember if they had ever been drinking out together, probably at an engagement party, possibly but that was years ago now. “Good choice” she smirked at the other woman before she took a small sip of her own drink.

As she had assumed, Harry was working late and that made her a little uneasy. Sure she knew he was an Auror now and a good one at that but the minister like probably make that department work harder than others given what they did. She offered her friend a sympathetic smile before replying. “He works in the magical education department, I only hope the minister is thinking of getting involved there” she said shaking her head. The witch only hoped his intentions, whatever they may be didn’t extent onto Hogwarts. Their children didn’t need to be exposed to this. “My work is a little quiet right now. However I did have a meeting today which I had to attend even if it had nothing to do with my department.” She said as she pursed her lips together. Her smiled widened as the conversation moved onto a happier topic. “Too fast for my liking” she chuckled in response to Hermione’s comment about time going too quickly. “The boys getting into a fair bit of trouble are they? Must be hereditary” she smirked at Hermione. “Anaya wrote us a letter last week and stated it may be the last one she sends us before term ends” she laughed, though it wouldn’t stop Parvati from ‘grilling’ her daughter for all the details when she picked her up from King’s Cross in June.

Hermione really didn’t know what to do as far as the Minister was involved. As was per usual, it seemed that both she and Harry felt as though they had to do something, even if they were at a loss of what. Talking to Minerva had helped to sort that out a bit, and they knew that if they did nothing, it would only be a matter of time until this situation escalated—after all, it wasn’t as if Death Eaters were known for rational thinking and not resorting to violence. She smiled in thanks when the bartender passed her the glass of wine, pulling out some money to pay for it before glancing at Parvati with an amused look, “Thought firewhiskey would be a bit much this early,” she said, jokingly, before taking a sip of her wine.

She nodded in recognition as she mentioned the department Ernie worked in, though she hadn’t known him well enough at Hogwarts to have any idea of where he would have ended up. However, she found herself scowling as Parvati mentioned the minister, though she was glad her former roommate seemingly had similar opinions of the man, “There isn’t a department he won’t attempt to get involved in,” she replied, as it seemed as though there were no limits to his questionable plans. The magical education department could be one that ended up quite badly, as Hermione knew that there were very few parents that wanted him involving himself at Hogwarts, “Minerva will fight tooth and nail if he tries to interfere at Hogwarts, though I suppose there’s only so much she can do,” Hermione stated, recalling when Umbridge had come to Hogwarts. Although clearly Dumbledore hadn’t wanted that, there was little he could do about it. If Durant really had any serious plans, she was unsure if anything in the world could stop him. They could all only hope that it didn’t come to that, but she had a feeling it would before too long. Hermione let those dark thoughts leave her mind momentarily, smiling in amusement as Parvati mentioned the meeting she had attended that day, “That always did seem to happen, didn’t it?” She shook her head, recalling that she’d been to many unnecessary meetings while working in the Beast Division, simply because they occasionally wanted outside opinions that really weren’t all that necessary. Of course, the Beast Division had been a fair bit busier than the Spirit Division, so she could only assume Parvati got stuck in several of those types of meetings.

Hermione never would have imagined back in Hogwarts that she would have married Harry and ended up with three kids. She had always been so held up over Ron, which seemed so silly now, and all the time that had quickly passed had further proved to her that she had made the right decision in ending things with Ron all those years ago. They still found themselves in fights whenever they were together for any amount of time, and although she loved him like a brother, Hermione was sure she would have been going crazy married to him, “Oh, it’s those Potter genes all right,” she replied, laughing, “Doesn’t help that George supplies them with enough of his ridiculous products to prank a small country,” Hermione continued, though she luckily hadn’t heard of anything too ridiculous having occurred since they had returned to the castle, “Well that’s coming up rather quickly, luckily. Though our letters from Adaline will only be amplifying as exams approach,” she said, as her daughter had certainly gotten more Granger genes when it came to studying and her classes—though she wouldn’t be surprised if the girl also got into a fair bit of trouble and just didn’t tell her. After all, that troublemaking Potter gene seemed to be quite dominant.

Though she didn’t drink often Parvati did enjoy the occasional tipple now and then, this included both Muggle and Magical alcoholic drinks, she wasn’t fussed either way. Ernie was much the same, when they had been dating, they had visited so many muggle places and since both of them were purebloods they had enjoyed learning about the muggle world together, though they clearly had so much more to learn. If their daughter ever wanted to take the class, they would both happily encourage her. She watched as Hermione paid the bartender for her drink and laughed at her comment about it being too early for Firewhiskey. “Yes, we can move onto that on the next round” Parvati joked in return. Back in their school days she would never imagined herself all these years later sitting at a bar joking about firewhiskey of all things. They had both been very different people at Hogwarts.


She hated that her other half had to go through so much stress because of the minister. Unfortunately Durant had his own agenda and though she didn’t know what it was, Parvati hoped he wasn’t going to meddle for much longer in the Magical education department. Seeing her husband coming home completely knackered every night made Parvati very upset since she knew she couldn’t do anything to change it. “I agree, its like he has a secret agenda or something” she sighed before taking a sip of her butterbeer. Sometimes her Divination capabilities shone through at the most unexpected of times. Though she could imagine the minister putting on a façade for the magical community compared to what he really had planned, whatever the hell that was. She put those thoughts out of her mind and tried to enjoy the present. “Oh I have no doubt in the headmistress’s ability to do that but you and I have both experienced what happens when the ministry interferes at the school before and I would rather not have our children go through that” she said with another sigh before she offered the other witch a small smile. It seemed like most of the meetings she attended nowadays at the ministry were unnecessary and the one today had been no exception. “Yes and you start wonder are these meetings serving any purpose, today’s certainly was a waste of time” she said, in reality Parvati would have preferred to have read over old reports rather than to attend pointless meetings. It seems like nothing had changed since when Hermione used to work in the beast division. “How is your work going?” she asked the other woman.


Like all the other people in their year she was quite certain that Hermione would have gotten together with Ron and they would have married, however when she and Harry had got together it was a big shock for Parvati, even her twin couldn’t comprehend how that had happened. Soon enough the shock wore off and she was delighted for them both. “Your place must be nonstop action then, during the holidays” the witch laughed before sipping her drink. “Hermione, let’s face it he will always been a prankster and he wants to ensure that the next generation of pranksters are well equipped” she replied, though she knew that Anaya also enjoyed the odd joke and wind-up sometimes. “From what my daughter tells me, Adaline is more like you though I suppose her brothers will drag her into some troublemaking antics of theirs” she said with a hint of smirk on her lips.

It seemed that now more than ever, Hermione’s mind couldn’t shut off. She wasn’t particularly known for that in any case, but with everything going on, she was constantly thinking about what should be done. Joining Dimitte had been an easy decision, but the group needed to figure out their next move, as they really had just been trying to draw attention to just how deplorable the Death Eaters and purebloods were being treated. She was starting to think that they needed to amplify their Order of the Phoenix meetings as well, just to see if anyone had heard of anything going on. Clearly, they all needed to stick together and figure out what needed to be done. Hermione laughed lightly in response to Parvati’s joke about switching to firewhiskey, though the fiery liquor was sounding better by the moment with the deeper direction that her thoughts were taking her.

Hermione wished there was a way to figure out just what the man had been doing in her former division, knowing that there was a reason for him clearing it out. From the intensification of the Werewolf Registry and the complete removal of the Werewolf Support Services, Hermione found herself worried that it was involving those creatures—and that was something she was particularly passionate about. Lupin had proved to her that werewolves could be just as good if not better men and women than a normal witch and wizard and the way that they were treated was deplorable, “He most certainly does, there’s no doubt about that,” she said, though she didn’t say more knowing that this was more than likely not the best location to talk too much smack about the Minister. He did have a hell of a lot of supporters, or he wouldn’t still be in his position. Hermione shook her head slowly as she considered what the man could have in store for Hogwarts, but she knew that Parvati was right. They had seen firsthand what could happen, and she absolutely did not want to see that happen again. She wouldn’t be surprised if Umbridge jumped out of whatever hole she was hiding in in order to take that position back up if offered, and it seemed like something that the Minister would be absolutely all right with, “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was his next step.” It was unfortunate, but true. He seemed the type to get involved at Hogwarts—he’d probably want all of the purebloods to be housed in the damn Chamber of Secrets or something to avoid risk of them doing ‘evil’ deeds and harming other students. That was absolutely absurd enough to be a logical plan for Durant. “Sometimes they do seem rather pointless,” she agreed, trying to focus on the switch in conversation. This topic was clearly lighter and a lot safer to be having in public. Hermione took a sip of her wine before replying to the woman, “Well enough—I enjoy being able to go into the Muggle world on occasion, it’s a nice change of pace. Nothing particularly eventful has been going on as of late, though; but if things get worse on this end, the Muggles will start to notice more and then I’ll get quite busy,” she said, knowing that that was seemingly inevitable at this point.

The summer holidays were bound to be absolutely ridiculous, as always. It seemed that every year got crazier as Liam in particular got himself into more trouble. Deacon was always following him around doing whatever his big brother was, and really, Adaline got dragged into a lot of the madness—that was good though. She loved that her daughter enjoyed learning, but didn’t want her to be trapped in her books all the time like Hermione had been for some of her life. When the Weasleys were involved, everything only got more out of control, not that she would have it any other way, “Absolutely. Never a dull moment,” she replied, shaking her head in amusement at the thought. Hermione would always try to convince George to not give them so many of his ridiculous products to try out, but that always did more harm than good. Whenever she tried to confront the Weasley, it seemed as though more of his products ended up in her house. It was quite counterproductive, and irritating, “He does a hell of a job at that, that’s for sure,” Hermione agreed. George never would stop with that nonsense, though she was glad that the loss of his twin wasn’t stopping him from enjoying his shop the way they always had. Years had gone by, but the loss of Fred never had been something any of them had gotten over fully. “Oh yes, for all I know, she’s worse than the boys but is too smart to get caught,” she said, laughing. That would not at all come as a shock to her, though she would be a bit impressed with her daughter if she was worse than her brothers were.

Parvati wondered why she hadn't become closer friends to Hermione back during their Hogwarts days. She of course didn’t forget that they were vastly different people then, there were definitely moments however when they did speak and got along otherwise Hermione was busy hanging out with Harry and Ron and Parvati herself was friends with Lavender. She hadn’t meant to think of her former house mate and friend she missed dearly but in present company it was bound to come up at some point but she pushed those thoughts away. She would never forget their former housemate but she didn’t want to dampen the conversation she had going on with present company. When the other woman laughed at her joke, she half considered ordering the strong liquor once her butterbeer was over. A few quick shots of the stuff never hurt anyone. Though, she wasn’t sure if Hermione shared the same sentiment.


It really hurt her that she couldn’t do more from her position at the ministry in regards to getting the minister out her department or the department in which her husband worked. Why Durant was even sticking his nose in the area of education was beyond her. It didn’t surprise her however. It was as if nothing got done around the department unless he was involved. This over-managing concept was something she had read about in a muggle magazine once but it was about directors of major corporations or something of such nature, she didn’t know enough about muggle businesses. But this whole thing with the minister was something of a worry to her, though the only person she had shared this with was her husband. Heck she didn’t even see he sister enough to talk about such things with. Her eye brows rose as Hermione agreed with her idea of him having a secret agenda. Having her thoughts confirmed like that caused her to have another sip of her drink. Yes, perhaps she would have to move onto something stronger sooner. “That’s what worries me” she said as she looked around to see what kind of crowd was around them. The last thing they needed was anyone hearing their discussion. “Well I hope he doesn't resort to such drastic measures” Parvati commented. With her and Ernie both being purebloods, she feared what any involvement by the ministry at Hogwarts would mean for their daughter. To have Anaya go through what she and Ernie had gone through made her both panic and grow more fearful. Though, she didn’t express this outwardly. Especially when Hermione agreed on her point about the useless meetings in her department. “Thankfully I get few days break from that next week with my trip up to Manchester, even if that is for work too” she replied happily although a smile didn’t appear on her face. Hopefully the case she had to look into in an old abandoned manor up north would distract her enough , for now. “That’s great to hear, but I hope things in our world don’t extend out so that it gets to the point where the Muggles notice things” she replied, knowing it was bad enough the last time around when many of them lost their lives..


She smiled as Hermione spoke about how things were at home. Parvati was sure if she and Ernie had had more than one child it would be a similar story, but Anaya was enough for them both. “Bet you’re looking forward to the kids coming home then” she chuckled, but she was looking forward to seeing her daughter again and celebrating her birthday too. George was another story altogether but she was happy that he was doing something he loved despite how much he lost. And what he loved brought so much happiness to many others too. “See, our kids are all sorted then” she stated with a hint of smirk on her lips in regards to the prankster Weasley passing on his legacy. “I see, so pretty much a miniature version of you?” Parvati asked curiously in regards Adaline, knowing full well that Hermione did assist Harry and Ron plenty during their ventures