"Hermione? Have you got a minute?"

"Oh, Arthur – of course! Come in… Here, I'll clear a space for you. I'm sorry there are papers everywhere, my office isn't usually like this."

"That's alright, mine is usually worse! How are you, Hermione dear? We missed you at the Burrow last week."

"Oh, didn't Ron tell you? The Wizengamot have begun considering my Lycanthropic Emancipation Bill this morning and I've just been up to my eyes getting all the documentation ready."

"Ah. I was going to say; you do look a trifle tired. Lovely as always, nonetheless!"

"Thanks Arthur. I'm just so nervous, now that it's out of my hands. I've been working on this for years and there are so many people counting on me to get the legislation in place, I don't know what I'll do if the council says no."

"You've done more than any witch or wizard in the past has – that alone means a great deal to the werewolf community here in Britain."

"I know, but it won't be enough unless…"

"Have confidence in your work, my dear. If Tiberius says your case is strong, you have a very good chance of succeeding."

"Did Mr. Ogden say something to you? Oh Arthur, did he really?"

"He's only one person, so mind your hopes don't climb too high… But yes, just between you and me, he is impressed."

"Oh thank goodness! He's such a sensible man, that makes me feel infinitely better about the whole thing."

"I'm glad, Hermione. I'm sure you'll be happy to get back to a nice calm workday when all this is over, eh?"

"Actually… I told Kingsley that if this law is passed, I'll take the transfer."

"Did you now? Well, I'm sure Molly will be thrilled to have a Head of Department in the family!"

"Oh, please don't tell her about it yet! I – I – It's just, I don't know how to tell Ron… I know it's terrible not to have brought it up but we've had such a lovely Christmas and New Year's and then there was Hugo's birthday – I didn't want to ruin it all."

"Do you think Ron will be unhappy with your promotion?"

"No. No, the exact opposite! I'm worried he won't say a bad word about it, even if the long hours drive us both crazy. I'm sorry, Arthur, I shouldn't be burdening you with this… I just don't want my marriage or my family to suffer."

"There is no need to apologise, Hermione dear. Your worries are completely understandable. However, I think you underestimate the sheer amount of effort and determination that both you and Ron put into your relationship. Our children may have homes of their own now, but we still keep an eye on you all. Molly and I have been around you two long enough to see that you have something a lot of other relationships lack."

"What do you mean?"

"You two communicate about everything, all the time. Whether you're happy, sad, angry, elated – nothing is kept inside, you always make sure the other knows where you're coming from.

"But that –"

"That builds a trust deeper and stronger than the vaults of Gringotts, my dear. We've seen you sitting at the dinner table with your heads close together, making joint decisions. We've seen you debating the best way to keep your children safe and happy. We've even seen you agree something with a single look, like a month ago, when you distracted us so that Ron could install that new water tank."

"Oh!"

"Thought we missed that, did you? We're not in our dotage yet, thank Godric!"

"Oh, that's not what I meant – we were only trying to –"

"You were looking out for us, Hermione. How many parents are lucky enough to have such thoughtful children?"

"But you deserve it, Arthur! After everything you've done for us, it would take a dozen lifetimes to repay you."

"What I'm trying to say is that you and Ron can survive anything, if you do it together."

"What if I'm never home long enough to talk to him, to know what he's thinking? How he's feeling? He already makes breakfast for everyone and gets Hugo up and ready for school. He's the one helping with the homework, when it's not too Muggle-specific, and the one who starts the dinner! It's not fair to ask him to shoulder so much."

"Have you considered that maybe he likes having a job that lets him do those things as well? From what I've heard recently, he and Hugo have great conversations over breakfast."

"Of course he loves spending time with Hugo, but I don't want him to feel that everything will fall to him from now on. I refuse to put him second!"

"Hermione, how much control does a Department Head usually have within their own department?"

"The final say, of course, unless it's an inter-departmental issue or the Minister or the courts have to be included."

"Exactly. So as Head of Department, can't you put a new system in place to make sure that you can give the position the time it needs, without compromising your family life completely?"

"Well, I suppose… I mean, I've always thought it was ridiculous that the Head of Department is called for any out of hours incident!"

"What would you do instead?"

"I think there should be specific emergency categories, ranging from 'Manageable' to 'Disaster', with protocols for how to act so that nobody has to be dragged from their bed to oversee minor theft or smuggling charges, just because it's after 6pm. There are always enough people on shift to do that and even if it's not possible, we have laws that allow for the overnight detention of suspected criminals."

"There you are then! You can make the department more efficient than ever, my dear. Kingsley has complete faith in your abilities, and so do I. I'm sure Ron will too, when you tell him."

"Thanks Arthur. You're right, of course! I'll speak to him about it tonight. Do you think I'm terribly silly for agonising over all this?"

"Not at all! Molly and I have spent far longer worrying about far less, it's very natural."

"Would you like to come over for a cup of tea? I'm sure I can finish a little bit early today, since there's not much for me to do while my work is being analysed."

"That would be lovely, thank you. Hugo has been promising to tell me about how Chinese Fireballs are at risk of extinction, after all."

"That's definitely a conversation you shouldn't miss! He has diagrams and badges made, you can take some for all your friends."

"Goodness, he gets more and more like you every day!"

"I'm going to take that as a compliment…"