Animagi Inc.

For Disclaimer etc., please see Chapter 1

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No Music More Enchanting

Chapter 2 – Animagi Inc.

When she reached the Gryffindor common room, Hermione was so deep in thought she noticed neither Harry nor Ron until Harry threw a pillow at her, hitting her square in the chest.

"Earth to Hermione. Where are you?" Harry snickered.

"Oh. I... I was thinking," Hermione replied sheepishly.

"Blimey!" exclaimed Ron in mock surprise. "Miss Granger is thinking!"

Hermione was relieved to see that Ron didn't seem to hold a grudge against her from their latest argument. But she knew she would not find any peace, let alone a quiet space, in the common room when it was so lively, and it was still an hour to go before dinner. Unfortunately, the library was out of the question...it would be packed with students cramming last-minute facts into their tired brains.

Sighing, Hermione fell into the nearest chair.

"What's up, Hermione?" Harry asked. "What did Kingsley want?"

"He offered me a job," she said evasively, having no intention of going into details. Looking at Harry's questioning face, she added, "He was very vague about the exact nature of it, but expects me to make up my mind by tomorrow evening."

Ginny, who had just entered the room and joined the little group, gasped in surprise. "You as well? Luna was offered a position in the Department of Mysteries."

"Luna?" Anyone else would have been less surprising than Luna Lovegood.

Hermione stood up abruptly. At Ron's questioning look, she said, "I'm going to find Luna and talk to her. I'll meet you in the Great Hall for dinner." With that, she hurried out of the common room and headed for the Ravenclaw wing.

Hermione did not have to walk far to find Luna and, to her surprise, Draco. They were deep in conversation, and Draco was scowling, reminding Hermione of their former Potions professor. She still could not help but think of Draco as the ferret. However, she knew Luna had been forming an odd friendship with the blond since the beginning of the year and refrained from making any comment.

"Hermione. I thought you might want to talk. The Minister told me he was planning to make an offer to you as well." She looked at Hermione with her wide eyes as if she was seeing her for the first time.

Hermione nodded quietly, completely ignoring Draco, until Luna started speaking again. "Isn't it terribly sad? Draco's parents are getting divorced."

Divorces in the wizarding world were almost unheard of, even less so between purebloods, and Draco looked suitably stricken. "I'm sorry to hear that, Draco. That must be very hard on you," Hermione said.

"I'll live," Draco said, his voice bitter. "It's not exactly unexpected, although I hate having Mother force me to take sides." He sighed and shrugged.

"She'll come around, Draco," Luna said. "Let her get over the fact that your father has turned away from all the stupid beliefs of pureblood supremacy. Maybe she'll realize one day how silly they are."

Turning to Luna, Draco's face softened. "Thanks, Luna. I let you go and talk with Granger here. See you around." With a curt nod, he turned, but stopped when Luna spoke again.

"Draco, do find Pansy and talk to her. If she loves you, and I think she does, she won't care about your parents' divorce."

Draco closed his eyes for a moment and then nodded before he finally turned and left.

Luna continued to ponder Draco's dilemma. "I'm very sad for him. Of course, I'm happy that Mr Malfoy radically changed his attitude ever since he thought Draco's life in danger in the last days of Voldemort's reign. I do hope that Mrs Malfoy will come out of her silly supremacist ideas one day." She'd started to walk towards the open entrance doors and pointed to the lake. "It's such a beautiful day. Why don't we enjoy the warm weather?"

When the two young women had found a comfortable spot on the lawn near the shore of the lake, Hermione looked curiously at Luna. "So, Kingsley has offered you a job with the Department of Mysteries. What are you going to do?"

"It's wonderful, isn't it..." Luna's eyes took on an air of far-away dreaminess. "What I would love to do is go to Germany. It has so much history that parallels ours, and besides, almost any town offers plenty of culture. And so many beautiful castles! A year or two there would be just perfect. I could maybe go to a university. It would be easy enough because most people speak English. And for everything else, there are translation charms. Also, my dad told me he's been hearing rumors that the Nazis hid the Ark of the Covenant somewhere in Germany before their downfall." She turned to Hermione, her eyes wide. "What are you planning to do?"

Hermione sighed. "I have no idea. A Muggle university sounds interesting. And going abroad for a couple of years would be nice, too. I've only been to a few European countries, and if, as Kingsley said, the work is very hard at the Department of Mysteries, I'm more likely to spend my holidays just recuperating, so I guess this is our only chance to see some parts of the world..."

"Universities have long summer holidays and winter holidays, too, you know. You could travel then. That way, you get to do everything you want. It would be nice if we went together. The prospect of going to a foreign country on my own is a bit daunting."

Hermione had to agree that Luna's plans sounded interesting. Living in another country for a while would be very different from merely visiting. Studying at a university would keep her rooted in the Muggle world for another couple of years. Her parents surely would approve. She hoped Kingsley would keep his promise to bring them back soon and reverse the memory charm.

Of course, living in Germany would be ironic in a way, Hermione thought idly. That was if her hopes came true the next day.

She would sleep over it and make up her mind then. But really, the offer was tempting enough for Hermione to accept, even if she didn't know exactly what her work would involve. It was not going to be boring, of that she was certain.

"Are you nervous about the NEWTs?" Luna asked.

"Yes. Transfiguration will be over by mid-day thankfully. Do you want to meet after lunch, and we'll talk about it again? I think I need to mull it over. Right now, I'm a bit overwhelmed still with Kingsley's offer," Hermione admitted.

"All right. Let's do that. I never thought I'd be offered a job with the Ministry. It's very exciting..."

~|~|~|~

Hermione's Transfiguration NEWT went better than she'd anticipated. Despite months of studying and training, she had been uncertain if she'd succeed Transforming for her practical exam. But she had managed admirably so, according to the examiner, who offered nothing but praise for her abilities.

Relieved that the first exam was over and her anxiety over NEWTs held at bay for the moment, the young witch made her way to the Great Hall for some lunch. Harry and Ron were already at the table, eating and talking. She took her seat next to Ron.

"How did yours go? Did you Transform?" Ron asked.

Hermione nodded and beamed. "Yes! I still can't quite believe it. What about you?" She looked from Ron to Harry and back to Ron, who both grinned widely.

"Bloody brilliant! All three of us!" Ron said between mouthfuls of food.

Hermione was unable to hide a relieved grin. All that studying and training together had finally paid off.

"The only thing is, we're going to have to register as Animagi now, won't we?" Harry asked. "I know my dad never did, but he didn't use his skill for the examiners to see either."

Hermione shrugged. "No big deal, is it? And besides, who ever looks at that register..."

"Why, you, of course, Hermione." Ron didn't stop grinning. "I remember a certain beetle that caught your attention..."

"Yeah, exactly. As long as we don't do stupid things while in our Animagus forms, nobody will have a reason to look! And if they do, so what." She really wasn't worried about being a known Animagus.

The three friends spent the next hour chatting about NEWTs in general, Animagi, and how this skill might even boost their future careers in particular until Luna arrived at the Gryffindor table.

"Oh, hi, Luna, how did your morning go?" Harry asked.

"It went well enough," Luna said pleasantly and smiled. "I didn't Transform, of course..."

"Of course," Ron snickered quietly.

If Luna heard his snicker, she ignored it. "I heard you did rather well. I'm very pleased for you."

It was so typical of Luna to be pleased for others even when she herself had not succeeded in the same task, Hermione felt her heart warm at the prospect of spending more time with the strange witch, who had constantly and without fail proven her loyalty to the trio. She was also one of the kindest people Hermione had ever come across. And one of the weirdest.

The Gryffindor witch rose from her seat. "Let's go for a walk, shall we?" she said to Luna. "We can plan our future outside and make the most of the Scottish summer while it lasts." She was keen to get away from Ron, preferably before Luna started talking about Germany. There was no need for her boyfriend to get worked up over something not yet cast in stone.

The two young witches headed leisurely for the lake and found a comfortable spot near the shore.

Hermione had learned during the last months of Voldemort's regime of terror how reliable Luna had proven, but she was surprised just how many interests she shared with the strange girl. By the time she was due to meet with the Minister again, her immediate future was planned out in detail...from the university of choice to memberships at libraries to long weekends dedicated to sightseeing.

"I am so pleased you decided to accept, Hermione," Kingsley said once he'd ensured she was seated. "As I told Luna already, I will be happy to arrange for any Muggle papers you may need, such as passport, residence permit and so on. The German authorities love red tape much more than the British. And if you want accommodation, I can arrange for that, too. I happen to know the owner of several houses in Munich - a wizard, and I'm sure he'll have a flat big enough for the both of you. Unless, of course, you'd rather have your own place."

"Oh, no, if it's okay with Luna, I'm happy to share a flat with her!" Hermione assured him.

They discussed more details, and Hermione was amazed at the help the Minister offered, not only pertaining to her time abroad but also dealing with the matter of returning her parents and reinstating their memory while she was still in the country. Finally, she signed her contract, gave her wand oath and at last stood up to leave.

"Oh, one more thing, Hermione," Kingsley said. "Congratulations on your success at today's Transfiguration NEWT. It may come in very handy to be an Animagus. And don't worry about registering...we might as well keep quiet about it. Tell Harry and Ron to wait a while, too, at least until other interesting things happen and the students forget about today."

One happy young witch left the headmistress' office late that evening, the issues with her boyfriend niggling on her consciousness not able to diminish her happiness over being the luckiest witch of the century. A talk with Ron would have to wait another couple of days.

~|~|~|~

The remaining NEWTs flew by in a haze, and the day of Professor Snape's memorial ceremony arrived. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna had been invited by the Ministry to occupy the front rows, as had Molly and Arthur Weasley and other surviving Order members. Ginny had not left Harry's side since Voldemort's death, and her seat next to him was assured. At the end of the row, Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson had taken up residence upon Luna's invitation.

"I'm so pleased Pansy is on Draco's side," Luna whispered in Hermione's ear. "He's been much happier since they've talked."

Hermione was not sure how appropriate Draco sitting with them was. On the other hand, she knew he had thought rather highly of Professor Snape, especially since he'd learned of the Unbreakable Vow his Head of House had entered with his mother. She figured Professor Snape would probably prefer Draco in the first row to anyone else occupying its seats. Nevertheless, she saw many attendees stare unabashedly at Draco and Pansy.

When the Minister of Magic arrived, the crowd went quiet immediately. Kingsley Shacklebolt headed straight to the front row and came to a standstill in front of Draco. "I am pleased to see you here, Mr Malfoy." Then he nodded at Pansy. "Miss Parkinson."

The speech the Minister gave was such that by the time the statue was unveiled, every single witch and wizard present, no matter their opinion of Severus Snape before this day, deeply appreciated and felt the unfairness for the hero who had died before he could experience the satisfaction of seeing the Dark Lord fall.

It was a solemn crowd of students, teachers, Ministry employees, Order members and other invited parties who headed towards the castle to end the day with a feast to commemorate the last wizarding war's great hero.

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Grateful thanks to southernwitch69 for the beta and littlebeloved for the alpha read.

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