Meetings with the Minister (Victoire)

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Hermione strode down the hallway to the Minister of Magics office. She had a large sheaf of papers balanced in her arms, which she shuffled slightly to check the time. Ten minutes early, per usual, though with this particular Minister she didn’t have to worry as much about being thirty seconds late, as she was also her eldest niece. She was quite proud of Victoire rising to what had to be the youngest Minister of Magic in living memory, as she knew Fleur and Bill were too. Not that she had done so bad herself – she remembered her conversation with Rufus Scrimgeour what seemed like ages ago. She had said something along the lines of wanting to do some good in the world rather than working for the department of Magical Law Enforcement, and here she was, the head of it all! She had been able to do some good first though with her house elf reformations and rights secured for other magical creatures before moving over. Now as the head, she had meetings with every other head, including Victoire.

Smiling to herself, Hermione stopped in front of her niece’s office and knocked lightly. “Victoire? It’s Hermione,” she said. She had quickly learned to drop the ‘Aunt’ when speaking with Vi and kept things more professional.

@victoire

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Victoire had scheduled a meeting with the Head of Magical law Enforcement, AKA her aunt Hermione. Hermione knew well enough, however, that Vic wasn’t the type to mix family and work. Even if she was mixing work and work... but that was another story. She had prepared the necessary documents and notes for the meeting and now all she had to do was think about what exactly she was going to say, how she was going to get all of this across.

Well, she was mostly worrying about how she was going to get all of this across without sounding like a crazy person. They already had Aurors at Hogwarts but Vic wanted more. She wanted to find the killer and find them fast. She wanted to close the school for a day and interview every single student with the truth potion Veritiserum... but she knew that was pushing it a little bit... but was it really? Was saving people less important than peoples privacy?

No, she wasn’t going to suggest that. Not yet, anyway.

She suddenly heard the knock at her door and looked up, "please, come in!" she called.

@hermionejean

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Upon Victoire’s call, Hermione turned the doorknob and came into the room. She greeted her niece with a warm smile as she saw a stack of papers similar to her own. With the murders of Muggleborns at Hogwarts, she couldn’t imagine the pressure the twenty-two year old was under – Hermione herself had felt stretched thin the past few months. She was lucky to have her best friend as the head of the Auror department, and communicating the dispatch of Aurors to Hogwarts had gone smoothly thanks to that. However, she imagined Victoire had called this meeting for more than just a quick catch up.
“I have the reports from the Auror department on their investigations into the murders at Hogwarts for you,” she said, out a blue folder and handing it to Victoire. She sat down in the cozy chair opposite her niece's desk, setting her papers in front of her.  She paused before continuing. “Judging from your stack of papers, I can tell you want more to be done to catch this murderer, and I have to agree with you. I have some ideas, but I’m all ears for suggestions from you first,” She told her, folding her hands together and sitting back in the chair.


@victoire

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Victoire smiled brightly as her aunt came in and stood from her desk to take the file from the womans hands. She sat back down and opened the file, browsing it quickly before setting it back down on her desk, but right in front of her. "I want to hear your thoughts first, Hermione. My ideas all seem a little... extreme and slightly insane in my mind. Saying them out loud with you may help, but I think you should start us off. I may have trained as an Auror, but this is your specialty." She leaned forward in her chair, placing her elbows on the desk and lacing her fingers together in front of her.

@hermionejean

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Hermione chuckled when Victoire called her ideas ‘extreme’. She highly doubted that at this point, nearly six months after the attack, that any idea Victoire had would be called extreme. “Well, as you know I went to Hogwarts last week to meet with Headmaster Longbottom; I figured he’s probably just as frustrated as us at this point that we haven’t caught the murderer. We came up with an idea that might work – it does involve some Muggle strategy, but we think that it might actually be even more helpful,” she began, and paused. Victoire was from a pureblood family; she wasn’t one hundred percent sure that she had heard of Psychology, much less researched it, but Hermione hoped she could explain it the best she could.

“I’m hoping to instill a counselor, or psychiatrist at Hogwarts. Someone with wizarding blood that has Muggle psychology training that can serve as a safe haven for the students to come to. With professors, they’ll go to the Headmaster if they think there’s a problem, but psychologists have the doctor-patient confidentiality agreement. They don’t necessarily need to know that the counselor will be working with us to solve the murders.” She paused again, and pulled out a bottle of water from her bag at her feet. She took a quick few sips before continuing. “If this indeed was a murder fueled by hatred of Muggleborns, then anyone involved would be initially wary, and maybe even hostile towards someone who believes in Muggle practices. It could be a huge help to have someone on the inside,” she finished, waiting to see what Victoire’s reaction would be to her idea.

@victoire

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Victiore didn’t mind muggle strategy one bit. If they had good ideas then they should be used and shared. As she brought up the idea, Vics eyes widened. A small part of her wanted to tear up, but she would never do that while sitting in her office chair. She nodded, chewing on her lip a little as Hermione went on.

When she finished, Victoire nodded. ”Honestly, I don’t know why this hasn’t been done before. I mean, for you guys. Understandably the professors thought it would be enough to offer themselves as guidance but I think it would be smart to advertise a specific individual who is trained to handle these things. And, of course, it needs to be someone we trust. Have you and the Headmaster discussed this with the school board, yet?” she asked.

She could have used someone like this when she was in school. Her years were far less traumatic than that of Hermiones or her cousins now, but in general it was a wise idea. She was almost jealous that she hadn’t thought of it herself, but she could respect other peoples ideas as their own.

@hermionejean

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Hermione smiled kindly when Victoire questioned why this hadn’t been done before. “It’s due to the Muggle stigmatization that’s really only just been eased up since….well if were being honest, since I got here,” she said, a faint pink tinge creeping up to her cheeks. She never liked to brag about her accomplishments, but after the way Voldemort’s regime trashed the Ministry, it had taken a long time to regain those equal rights. She was glad that Victoire was agreeing with the plan though.

“We have not brought it up to the school board yet – there are a few on the board that we think might be less into the idea of a Muggle practice being brought in to the school. We wanted to talk to you about it first; if we had the backing of the Minister we’d probably have a better shot of getting it approved,” she explained. “Once we have your okay, Neville and I will go to the board to try and get a fast pass to get a counselor instilled as soon as possible. I’ve been doing some research and have a list of contenders if you’d like,” she added. She pulled out a sheet of parchment with a list of five names and slid it over to Victoire.

@victoire

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Vic couldn't help but smile as Hermione bragged a bit. Victoire was incredibly proud to call Hermione her aunt and to be a part of her family. The woman was a legend, after all, and Vic could only hope to do as much good in the world as she was doing. Vic nodded, "well, we are blessed to have your knowledge. I think it's brilliant," she reiterated.

Victoire reached forward and took the list from Hermione and glanced it over, "well, you have my support one hundred percent. If you'd like me to accompany you and Neville to the meeting I'd be more than wi-" suddenly someone burst into the door with wide eyes and a disheveled look.

"Miss Weasley, Mrs. Granger,"he stopped to catch his breath. "There's an attack at Hogwarts. We just received a message from Mrs. Longbottom. There are masked men there now-" before he even finished his sentence Victoire was up and walking toward him while he continued, "they are kidnapping 7th year purebloods according to the Headmaster. Harry Potter, Royal Shacklebolt and some others have already arrived to help," as he explained Victoires heart sunk into her stomach.

James.

She turned toward Hermione, "I should handle things from here, go-" she said, knowing her aunt was already forming her own plans.

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@hermionejean (I say you respond once and then this meeting is over. Short and sweet! I didn't mean to end it so soon but my muse got carried away with me XD)

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Hermione had opened her mouth to thank Victoire for her support when one of their coworkers burst in to tell them the news. For a second, Hermione froze; a ringing in her ears told her that her heart was thumping painfully now. She must get to the school, no first she must tell Ron. But wouldn’t Ron know what was happening since he’s back in the Aurors? Harry was at Hogwarts on a patrol duty though, maybe her husband didn’t know. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and was halfway out the door when Victoire dismissed her. She knew her niece could handle herself on the Ministry end; right now she had to get to her family.

Once in the hallway, she pulled out her wand. A silver otter burst from the tip and swam away in the air to find Ron. She ran to her office and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the jar next to her fireplace, which was cheerfully burning. How strange it was. “Hogwarts!” she shouted, and was gone in a whirl of emerald fire.


LE END