Power Plays Chapter 64

The fallout from the article was immense. Harry knew that Rita was incredibly talented at grabbing headlines and the public’s attention with her articles, but he underestimated just how much she’d gather this time.

When he entered the Ministry atrium the morning after the article was published, he was swarmed by reporters. The majority were looking to confirm his intended appointment of Advisor to the Minister for Magic under Daphne’s reign, should she be appointed Minister for Magic. Almost all of the response to the idea was positive. Harry did his best to confirm and expand upon all of the questions posed to him, but there were some more insidious ones that took precedence in his mind.

“What happened with Auror Proudfoot?”

The first time the question appeared, it sincerely surprised Harry. He hadn’t been aware of any leaks outside of the department, but he quickly recovered and handled the issue professionally. He declined to answer any speculation and merely commented that an ongoing investigation was in pursuit.

However, it only took a few more questions before someone asked another question about Proudfoot.

At first, Harry was eager to quickly resolve these questions, but he soon noticed a pattern.

Several reporters were far more keen than others to tackle this minor issue. While it was a significant move within the Auror Department to have a Senior Auror arrested, the press had never harped upon an issue like this in recent history as they well knew that a Head Auror would never reveal information about an internal case like this. Harry quickly became wary of the questions being posed to him and focused on remembering the names of the reporters who asked him far more poignant questions than was normal.

By the time he reached his office, Harry was certain that Amelia had her own reporters working for her.

He shouldn’t have expected anything different. Even though Rita was by far the most dominant journalist in their time, as she held the largest readership out of anyone in Britain, there were many other reporters from different publications who were eager to make a name for themselves. Amelia had yet to reply a formal rebuttal, but she’d clearly sent countless reporters on attack against him and Daphne. It was a blatant leak of private information, yet pursuing it would likely be fruitless; Harry had to imagine that she’d covered her tracks well enough that even if he could find a shred of evidence against her, it wouldn’t be worth the effort to put into it.

And even worse still, Delphini continued to be brought up in the news.

He’d hoped that his and Daphne’s impassioned plea would be enough to drop the issue that he was raising Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange’s daughter, but the succulent gossip around the topic was too much for most reporters to avoid. Thankfully, most of the articles focused on the narrative around Delphini, but it wouldn’t be long before they returned back to the wild speculation that she’d somehow turn out to be the next dark lady.

Daphne had confided in him that she feared that Delphini may have read a few articles about herself, so now Hobsy had taken it upon herself to ensure that all newspapers and magazines that had articles about Delphini were stored away in Daphne’s office. No child should ever have to read articles critiquing them for things that weren’t even their fault.

As the lift carried him up to his office, Harry took a moment to relax his body and mind before he was confronted with the cacophony of issues that plagued magical Britain.

However, to his pleasant surprise, he found the Auror Department relatively peaceful as he entered it. His Aurors were all at work and the support staff was busy fluttering about, bringing fresh parchment and quills to those who needed it and ferrying various intra-departmental notes as required. While it was busy, there was a calmness and uniformity to the work that reassured Harry that everything was progressing smoothly.

Harry passed by his Aurors, nodding to those who acknowledged his passing. When he reached his office though, he held up short at seeing the door open.

“It’s Hermione Granger, sir,” Cathy spoke up from her desk. “She insisted that she had an appointment with you even though it wasn’t in your schedule. I tried to refuse her, but she insisted that Minister Shacklebolt had requested this meeting and…”

“It’s alright, Cathy,” Harry quickly reassured the assistant. “Hermione should be welcomed any time she comes to visit. I’ll see her now, and please inform Miss Leanne that I’ll be late for our meeting about our security plans for the upcoming Quidditch World Cup.”

“Understood,” Cathy nodded readily before ducking back down to her paperwork.

Harry stepped into his office to find Hermione already seated and gingerly sipping at her mug of tea. She looked tired, but that wasn’t any different from how she’d been ever since she started working underneath Kingsley. Between that work and helping Daphne with her campaign, she was stretched thin, but that was how Hermione liked things to be.

“Hey,” Harry said as he closed the door behind him.

“Hey,” Hermione replied back lazily. She stretched her arms above her head and let out a sigh. “Your interview with Rita was really good. We’ve received a lot of enquiries for further interviews with Daphne, though most of them want you there too.”

“We need to strike a good balance,” Harry replied as he sat down behind his desk. “Daphne needs to be able to stand on her own without me.”

“But it’s also important for you to be seen next to her to help drum up popular support,” Hermione argued gently. “The public loves you, Harry, even if it may not seem like it. Like Daphne said, the members of the Wizengamot don’t reflect the makeup of the magical population here in Britain.”

“I just hope that they love Daphne enough as well,” he said. “She’s going to be the real face of everything. If they don’t feel the same love for her as they do for me, then it’ll only be a matter of time before people try to split us apart.”

“That’s true,” Hermione agreed. “At the very least, our research has found that most voters support what Daphne’s done in the Wizengamot, though there aren’t too many who were aware of what she’d done before we told them. With all of the buzz about her lately, we’re hoping that’ll change for the better. It’s always better to let the press educate voters about the public; it makes their support of her feel more organic.”

“She has a press conference scheduled for this evening after her Wizengamot session, doesn’t she?” Harry asked.

“That’s tomorrow,” Hermione corrected him. “We thought it best to let Rita publish a follow-up article tomorrow morning to try to sway other reporters to look upon Daphne more favourably.”

“That might be tricky,” Harry grimaced. “When I was coming in today, there were a few reporters who were coming after me about Proudfoot. I think that Amelia has been whispering in their ears.”

Suddenly, Hermione sat up straighter. “Tell me everything about them.”

So, Harry recounted their names and descriptions as best he could remember. There were six of them in total today who’d pushed on the topic, but there could be more out there. Hermione wrote down everything Harry said diligently.

“I’ll keep an eye on them if they show up to the press conference tomorrow,” Hermione told him once he finished.

“Good,” Harry nodded in approval. “And I’ll have some of my Aurors watch them too.”

“Harry,” Hermione said with a warning in her tone. “Think about this. If the press gets wind of you spying on them, then more could turn on you.”

“We can’t just let Amelia run completely rampant though,” Harry argued.

“She won’t,” Hermione assured him. “Let me handle this. You keep your Aurors on the more important job of keeping Britain safe. You’re going to be under a lot of scrutiny too, and your behaviour as Head Auror has already been called into question by Amelia. We can’t have any mistakes before the election takes place.”

Harry let out a deep breath. “You’re right. I’ll focus on that then.”

“I need to get back to the Minister’s office,” Hermione said as she stood up. “Kingsley is having a few meetings with some foreign ministers to reassure them that the transition of power in this upcoming election won’t be anything like it was before with the Death Eaters.”

“Good luck,” Harry said.

As she left his office, Harry looked at the stack of paperwork on his desk with a sigh. This was one of the most tedious parts of his job: reviewing his Auror’s casework. While it could occasionally provide some interesting or amusing stories, more often than not it was simply boring rote work.

It took him until nearly noon to finish the first stack of parchment. The occasional visitor to his office provided brief moments of respite, but he knew that he had to forge on ahead to clear through this backlog.

However, a warm and familiar face gave him an excuse to put the second stack on pause for now.

“How’s it going, Gabrielle?” He smiled at her.

Gabrielle shut the door behind herself before she answered him. “Parvati got in touch with me,” she said in a rush. “Apparently, Aurora’s interested in meeting up with you. You’re supposed to swing by the Department of Magical Transportation tomorrow to talk with Parvati to set up a time for you to meet up with Aurora.”

“Oh?” Harry raised an eyebrow, pleased with the sudden turn. “What finally convinced her?”

“Parvati going on about how incredible you are in bed for a couple weeks straight did the trick,” Gabrielle smirked briefly before it fled. “But there’s something important to know too. Parvati’s being followed now.”

“By who?” Harry asked quickly.

“One of Rhys’ men,” Gabrielle told him. “Just some low-level idiot on his staff who’s far too obvious at his attempts to watch her at the Ministry and in Diagon Alley. Parvati noticed him too, but I told her to leave him be for now. Parvati’s worried that Aurora might also be trying to trap you with this encounter.”

“Good,” Harry said, confident of his abilities to deal with whatever Aurora threw his way. “You’ll be sure to keep her safe, right?”

“Of course,” Gabrielle replied, sounding mildly insulted that he’d assume otherwise. “I’ve got Sterling keeping an eye on both of them; he’s using one of our old invisibility cloaks to keep himself undetected.”

“Hopefully this’ll all be over soon in a few days,” Harry murmured.

“Just be sure to keep a level head,” Gabrielle said with a playful wink. “She’s looking to fuck you; don’t let that smaller head take control of your decisions.”

“It won’t,” Harry laughed. “Thanks for the warning though.”

“I figured you needed it,” Gabrielle replied. “And if you ever need a pre-game session before you go see her…”

“I know who to look for,” Harry snorted. He still never tired of how enthusiastic Gabrielle was to try to sleep with him. “Thank you, truly. I appreciate you getting me this information. Keep on Parvati’s follower and give me daily updates. The last thing I want to see is her getting hurt.”

“You’ve got it, boss,” Gabrielle said with a mock salute before she headed back out the door to work.

Harry leaned back in his seat and took a moment to bask in the satisfaction of a plan coming to fruition. It wasn’t done yet. It wouldn’t be until Aurora was dealt with. She was the best potential source of information he could find upon Rhys. Either he would find a way of convincing her to give up what information she had or, if his suspicions about Rhys’ plans were to be believed, she’d take their private moment of intimacy together as a chance to kill him.

In either scenario, Harry would win. The information would be his either way. There was no chance that Aurora would ever be able to kill him; he’d meet her fully prepared to deal with whatever trap she had in mind for him.

The rest of the day went by far more smoothly. He cleared through a tremendous amount of work and nearly ended up reviewing every single scroll of parchment in the pile on his desk. He’d be thanking himself for that tomorrow.

It was half past five before he finally got up to leave for the day. The Auror Department was quieter at this time of day, though it’d pick back up in a couple of hours once the ruckus of the evening crowd reached Diagon Alley.

Harry said his goodbyes to the workers that acknowledged them and headed back through the atrium. He flooed back to Greengrass Manor and was met with Hobsy’s smiling face.

“I’ve prepared your evening coffee for you, Lord Potter,” Hobsy announced.

“Thank you, Hobsy,” Harry replied as he picked up the floating coffee mug. “Where’s Daphne?”

“She’s up with Miss Astoria,” Hobsy answered quickly, her ears twitching nervously. “The baby is getting close.”

“Has her water broken?” Harry asked, already striding down the hall as Hobsy followed him.

“No,” Hobsy shook her head. “But Miss Astoria says that she feels like the baby’s set to come out tonight.”

Distantly, Harry heard Anastasia chatting away with Delphini in one of the sitting rooms. He was incredibly grateful that Anastasia watched over Delphini whenever they needed. He quickly climbed the stairs towards Draco and Astoria’s bedroom, taking them two at a time. The door was open, and he heard a pained gasp escape Astoria’s lips.

“How long ago since the last contraction?” Draco’s harried voice asked.

“A little under fifteen minutes ago,” Daphne answered.

“They’re coming faster now,” Draco rambled.

As Harry stepped into the room, he found Draco pacing back and forth running his hands through his hair. Astoria was hunched over against a windowsill while Daphne tried to rub her back comfortingly.

“Is everything alright?” Harry asked as he walked over to Daphne’s side.

“No, everything isn’t bloody alright,” Astoria groaned in pain. She pushed herself back up to her full height and waddled over to her bed. “I need to go to St Mungo’s.”

Although most witches had home births with mediwitches coming by to help take care of the birthing process, Astoria was still technically under supervision even though the blood curse inside of her had been cured. She was at a high-enough risk that Andromeda had decided that it was best to have her watched over by a full team of professionals.

Unfortunately, due to her pregnancy, most means of magical transportation were off limits for Astoria. Apparation became more complicated due to the potential dangers of accidental splinching, and travel by floo was downright unpleasant and could trigger an early birth. That left a few means that were safe.

“I can still fly you on my broom—” Draco tried to offer.

“No, get me the Knight Bus,” Astoria groaned.

“I’ll go call for it,” Daphne said. She leaned in close to Harry. “Keep an eye on Draco and help him get Astoria’s things together. He’s more stressed out than her, and she doesn’t need that.”

“I’ve got it,” Harry murmured in reply.

As Daphne left, Harry stepped in front of Draco, deliberately blocking him from Astoria’s line of sight. Within his Auror robes, he pulled out a small bandoleer of potions that every Auror had on hand. He plucked out a calming potion and forced it into Draco’s hands.

“Take this and get your head on straight,” Harry whispered to him. “Astoria needs you to support her here, not the other way around.”

Draco didn’t argue the point. He swiftly uncorked the potions and downed it in a single gulp before shoving the empty vial back at Harry. “Astoria, darling, you sit down and rest for a minute while I get everything together.”

Finally calmed, Draco moved around their bedroom with a steady precision as he collected a bag with a couple sets of Astoria’s more comfortable robes and some of her toiletries in case she needed to stay at St Mungo’s for longer than expected. Harry sat with Astoria, murmuring calming reassurances that she only seemed to half hear. Once they had everything together, Draco and Harry helped Astoria to her feet and guided her downstairs to find Anastasia, Delphini, and Daphne all standing by the front door.

“One of us will come back to let you know when anything starts to happen,” Daphne promised Delphini.

“But I want to go with everyone,” Delphini whined.

“It’ll probably be hours until Astoria has her baby,” Daphne told her gently. “And staying around the hospital will be very boring.”

“If you stay here and behave, I’ll let you be the first one to see the baby,” Astoria promised Delphini. “Or, well, second after Draco here.”

Delphini pouted. “Promise?”

“I promise,” Astoria confirmed.

A slight banging sound outside confirmed the arrival of the Knight Bus.

“We’ve got to get going,” Daphne said as she pushed open the doors. She crouched down and planted a kiss atop Delphini’s head. “Be good.”

“Take care,” Harry smiled at Delphini and Anastasia.

Together, they helped Astoria up onto the Knight Bus. There was an unfamiliar conductor on board.

“To St Mungo’s quickly, please,” Daphne said in a curt tone that brokered no room for argument.

The Knight Bus sped off into the night.