Ministry of Magic

Auror Office

Thursday, December 21, 2000

1:14 P.M.

"I just got an owl from Ginny," Harry told Ron. "And she sent this." He handed his brother-in-law the latest copy of Witch Weekly.

"Wait, are you talking about the same Ginny I'm thinking about?" asked Ron, looking cautiously at the magazine. "Is this some sort of prank?"

Harry looked at him oddly, then realized what he meant. "Oh! The only reason she reads Witch Weekly is to see if anyone's published any articles about our family. Do you remember that 'Family Security' meeting your mum called together after Fleur announced her pregnancy?"

"That was such a waste of time," said Ron. "I got the Make-Sure-There-Are-No-Animagi-Around-Listening-To-You position."

Harry grinned, then said, "Yeah, well, Ginny was assigned to read publications. The Daily Prophet, or Witch Weekly. . .all of them. And as she was looking through them, she came across an interesting article."

Ron face-palmed. "Let me guess: was it about me?"

He shook his head. "Just look at page forty-nine."

"Oh, no. . .forty-nine is never a good number," muttered Ron as he flipped to it. "The '50 Hottest Wizards of 2000,'" he read. "Hmmm. . .oh, look, you're number three!"

"Sadly, yes," said Harry, turning red in the face. "Go to number eleven. It's on page sixty-one."

"Every person gets their own page?" said Ron, turning to page sixty-one. "Oh my God, it's me! How the hell am I number eleven in the whole wizarding world?"

Harry laughed. "Now go to page one hundred," he said. "It's the '50 Hottest Witches of 2000.'"

"You're kidding me. Is this Witch Weekly's annual '100 Sexiest People of the Year' edition?" asked Ron, finally figuring out that he could flick his wand and have it turn to the page he wanted it to. "Let me guess. . .Ginny's - I guessed right, Ginny's number one. Ooh, what's her biography say?"

"Don't read that!" said Harry, reaching across his desk to grab the magazine from Ron.

Ron easily dodged Harry's attempt and read, "'You may be asking, "Why is a redhead number one?" And we would wonder the same thing if -' Hey! That's insulting!"

"Just finish it," said Harry tiredly.

"'- if we hadn't seen Miss Ginevra Molly Weasley Potter in the locker room.' Oh my God, only you are supposed to see Ginny in locker room attire. Why the hell do they go in there?" demanded Ron.

"My God, Ron," said Harry. "Why do you have to bring that up? And to answer your question, it's for press coverage. Their reasoning is that it's the only time they can get one-on-one interviews."

"Can't they do that when she's not half-naked?" he said.

Harry put his head in his hands. "You're making this really awkward. If you're going to read it, just go ahead and get it over with."

"Alright, alright," Ron agreed. "'. . .in the locker room. She stuns us all with her -' You know, I don't even want to know how she supposedly stuns us. If I don't know this stuff about my sister's body, how does Witch Weekly know about it?" He dropped the magazine back down on the desk, but before Harry could take it back, he said, "Wait, does that really say what I think it says?"

"I don't know, what do you think it says?" asked Harry.

Ron picked it back up and read the last line of the article. "Oh my God! 'We can probably expect this Quidditch star and her husband, the Chosen One, to give us some nice, pretty Potter babies soon.'"

"WHAT?!" Harry gasped, standing up. "I didn't see that one."

"Clearly," Ron snorted. "Did Ginny see it?"

"I dunno," said Harry. "Okay, before I send her an owl, go to page one hundred fifteen."

"How did you memorize all these page numbers?" Ron asked.

Harry laughed. "Ginny wrote them down for me, they're right here," he explained, holding up a sticky note.

Ron rolled his eyes, but gasped when he saw what was on page one hundred fifteen. "Hermione?!"

"Hermione," Harry confirmed.

"What the -?"

"You two really ought to actually do your work, instead of - oh my God, is that me?!"

Harry and Ron both looked up to see who had entered the office. Hermione grabbed the magazine from her husband's hands and said, "What is this?"

"It's Witch Weekly, Harry was showing it to me," said Ron.

"Well, obviously it's Witch Weekly, I recognize the font," said Hermione. "But why am I in it?"

"Ron's in it, too," Harry told her.

"And Harry," Ron added. "And Ginny."

Scanning the page with a picture of herself on it, Hermione said, "I'm number fourteen on what list?"

"Ginny's number one," said Ron quickly.

"What list is it?" she insisted.

"Page one hundred," said Harry. "Just go to page one hundred."

"No, don't -" Ron began.

Hermione flicked her wand to page one hundred. "'50 Hottest Witches of 2000'? This is so stupid. I'm number fourteen. But apparently someone here's married to the number one hottest witch of 2000."

Harry turned red. "Yeah, that might be me. . . ."

"And. . .whoa, Harry, they've got high expectations for you two, because they're going to be getting 'some nice, pretty Potter babies soon,'" she teased. "Where did you even get this?"

"Ginny sent it," Ron answered.

"Potter, Weasley," said the Auror secretary, coming into the office. "We've had a breakthrough in the case you two have been helping on."

"Oh," said Hermione. "I'll see you two tonight, then?"

They nodded as she left. Courtney Gordon, the secretary, dropped a manila folder on Harry's desk. "Minister Shacklebolt is sending Williams and Rodgers out on a mission to find the fugitive. But first you two have to decipher these runes."

"Code?" Harry repeated. "No, no, no. We don't know Ancient Runes, that's not a class we took."

Courtney frowned. "You two are the only ones eligible to translate them. Unless you can find another Auror who can, then I'm afraid -"

"My wife can," Ron interrupted. "She knows them."

"You'll have to get the Minister's permission first. She's not an Auror trainee or an Auror, so she has no business -" Courtney began.

"Hey, Ron, how about you set everything up? I'll go ask Kingsley," said Harry quickly.

"Will do," Ron agreed.

"Potter, Minister Shacklebolt is in a meeting right now -"

"Then I'll wait," Harry said, leaving the room. Courtney rolled her eyes and Ron bit his lip to keep from laughing at her annoyance. Needless to say, they weren't too fond of the secretary.

Holyhead, Wales

Dynasty Training Center

1:42 P.M.

Ginny stepped out of the fireplace in the Dynasty Training Center's lobby. "Twelve minutes late, Weasley," said Bobbi the receptionist from behind the desk.

"It's Potter, Bobbi. And I know," said Ginny quickly, grabbing the clipboard on the counter and scribbling down her name, the date, and the time.

"Try to put some more clothes on next time," Bobbi advised. "Gwenog'll be upset 'f ya don't. 'Specially after that article in Witch Weekly."

Ginny looked down at her Harpies t-shirt, leggings, and tennis shoes. "Do you really think I asked them to publish that?"

"Don't know. Still haven't made up my mind 'bout you," Bobbi stated, handing Ginny her practice robes and shoes. "The other gals are in the workout room upstairs. Gwenog wanted to see ya. But I wouldn't go see her in what you're wearing. She'd get suspicious."

"For goodness's sake, I was just doing errands today. Do you think I'm going to fancy up for that?" said Ginny impatiently.

"Last few times ya came ya were wearing dresses. Pretty short ones at that," said Bobbi.

As she ran down the hall, Ginny called, "Yeah, well, I had lunch dates, which I don't just wear leggings and a tee for. I, at least, try to look nice for my husband."

"Don't know, he'd probably like ya in what you're wearin' now," Bobbi yelled back.

Ginny was glad she was out of sight so that Bobbi couldn't see how madly she was blushing. She waved her wand at the door of the locker room (it only opened at the swish of certain wands, such as team members' and authorities') and sprinted to her locker.

"Weasley!"

"It's Potter, Gwenog," Ginny corrected, not bothering to turn around to face the Captain as she flung her shoes off.

Gwenog rolled her eyes. "Potter. Same thing. Anyway, Potter, we saw that you were the star of Witch Weekly."

"Oh, yeah," said Ginny. "I saw that, too."

"When did you have the interview?" she asked. "You have to have our permission before you have any conferences."

Ginny frowned. "What interview? I never had an interview."

"Then why do they quote you?" said Gwenog.

"Quote me?" Ginny repeated. "When did they quote me?"

Gwenog looked down at the magazine and read, "'I work out every morning -'"

"I've never, ever said that," Ginny promised. "Because that would be a lie. I work out twice a week, one time with the team and one time by myself as part of the personal conditioning plan you gave us."

"So they're lying?"

"Mm-hmm. Do I look like I work out every day?"

"According to Witch Weekly you do," Gwenog pointed out.

"Well, I don't. Don't believe everything you read," she said. "I would have thought that you, of all people, would have learned that over the past few years. All that press."

"I don't read the newspaper," said Gwenog defiantly.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Says the woman who just freaked out over a fake quote in a magazine."

"Newspapers and magazines are two different things," she pointed out matter-of-factly. "Anyway, why were you - are you - late?"

Ginny sighed. "Can you, at least, wait until I'm changed?"

"Nope," Gwenog said.

"Fine. I was running errands. Last minute Christmas shopping and such," Ginny admitted. "My husband's pretty hard to shop for."

"Oh, so he wasn't around?" asked Gwenog.

"No. . . ." Ginny said slowly, looking cautiously at the Captain.

Gwenog raised her eyebrows innocently. "I was just wondering. Your attire says otherwise."

"This again," she sighed. "Really, I was just shopping. I haven't seen Harry since this morning. I don't know why everyone's so suggestive about what I'm wearing. Can a woman not be comfortable?"

"Sweetie, you're nineteen," said Gwenog. "Unlike Witch Weekly, I don't want 'some nice, pretty Potter babies soon.' I want a healthy Chaser."

"That's not what I was saying," Ginny muttered. "Just your luck. You're not going to get any, er, 'Potter babies' soon." She stood, finally done changing into her practice uniform.

"I sure hope not," said Gwenog. "C'mon, Weas -"

"Potter."

"- Potter. We've got a nice round of conditioning ahead of us," Gwenog said.

Ginny sighed. "Fun."

2:06 P.M.

"Let's go, ladies!" Gwenog yelled. "Our first match's on February the Tenth, and I want you girls in shape."

"Gwen, we're playing the Cannons," said Grey Shafiq, the Harpies' starting Seeker. "I'd say they're an easy win even if we're so fat we can barely balance on our broomsticks."

Gwenog sighed. "Shafiq, you're completely defeating the purpose of these exercises."

"I'm siding with Grey," Ginny said, wincing as she lifted another weight.

"But then you won't be the Sexiest Witch in the World anymore, Potter," teased Gemma Stoneson, a starting Chaser. "And wouldn't that be tragic?"

Gwenog ignored Gemma's jab and Ginny's profound blushing, instead yelling, "Ladies! I want you all lifting twenty-fives in both arms by the end of this session!"

Groans of pain and annoyance filled the room. "Twenty-fives?" Delilah Gerrup, another starting Chaser, repeated. "No way am I lifting twenty-fives."

"Yeah, Gwenog. We've got magic to go that for us," pitched in Elizabeth Geffrey, Gwenog's fellow Beater.

The Captain sighed. "Would you all just do what I ask?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Grey joked.

"Alright, girls. Enough fun," said Gwenog seriously to the roomful of women. "I want your husbands and boyfriends or whoever you're hooked with to remark on how in-shape you are at Christmas." As she walked by Ginny, she whispered, "The Hottest Witch of 2000 especially."

"Thanks," sighed Ginny. It was going to be a long day.

Hi again! This is my first multi-chapter story to ever be published. I've got the whole thing planned out, it's just a matter of actually writing it. The second chapter should be up soon, so stay tuned. Thanks so much for reading and please let me know how "Breakaway" is so far!

~Sunny