Snapshots From Life

Chapter 23 - The Interview

Ginny was sitting in the kitchen enjoying her morning cup of tea and eating her breakfast. Harry had left for the office only minutes ago. Today was a strength training day so she would be going to the auror's gym about mid-morning for her work out and to have lunch with Harry. Andromeda was in the sitting room reading the Daily Prophet and Teddy was still asleep.

As Ginny put her dirty dishes in the sink, she heard a tapping on the window. She turned to see a large owl with a letter tied to its leg. She opened the window to let the owl in. It hopped to the windowsill and stuck out its leg. Once Ginny took the letter the owl flew off. Ginny unrolled the letter and read it. It said:

Abagail's back from her holiday. Tom's interviewing her at 9:30. He said we could witness it. Come to the office for 9:00.

Love,

Harry

Ginny's heart started racing as she read the letter over a second time. Several thoughts started running through Ginny's mind at once, 'She's back from holiday? Could this finally be over after today? Could we get back to our normal life?'

Ginny checked the time and saw it was just about 8:30. There was just enough time to get ready. As she left the kitchen and headed for the stairs, Ginny called, "Andie, I'm leaving early for the ministry. I have to meet Harry for 9:00."

After Ginny heard Andromeda's reply, she picked up her pace and ran up the stairs in no time. Ginny grabbed a pair of jeans and settled on a simple top before she took a quick shower. After her shower and a quick drying spell on her hair, she hastily tied it back into a ponytail. Ginny threw her gym clothes into a bag before heading back downstairs. As Ginny walked out to the back garden to the apparition point by the broom shed, her heart was pounding in her chest and she had a mixture of fear and elation. Ginny wasn't sure if she wanted to her what Abagail had to say. It truly scared her to think somebody who's been her teammate for the past two seasons would do this. At the same time there was a slight feeling of relief that all this could be over today. When she arrived at the Ministry, Harry was there waiting for her in the atrium.

Harry greeted her with a hug and a quick kiss. As he took Ginny's bag, he said, "Tom's bending some rules for us, so we need to keep this quiet." Ginny nodded in understanding.

According to Ministry protocol, Ginny and Harry couldn't be involved in any sort of way with the investigation. Robards had already turned a blind eye to the fact that Tom had let Harry read the interview transcripts and notes from the interviews with Ginny's teammates. Robards wouldn't say anything unless word got out of the department. If word got around the Ministry that Harry was involved, Robards would have no choice but to suspend him and pending a hearing, he would have to fire Harry. Tom would face the same outcome if it were found out that he passed the information to Harry. They were both confident that nobody would let word slip. People who worked for the Auror Department had a lot of respect for both Harry and Tom.

As they walked to the Auror Department Harry explained, "We're not going to be sitting in the interview room. We'll be sitting in the room next to it."

Ginny seemed a little confused. She asked, "How are we supposed to witness anything if we're not in the same room?"

Harry explained, "The room we'll be in has a magic panel. We'll be able to see and hear everything, but they won't be able to see us."

Ginny nodded in understanding and then asked, "If Tom isn't interviewing Abagail until 9:30, why did you have me show up for 9:00?"

Harry smiled, "I wanted to make sure we would get in the observation room without being noticed."