Only Ash Remains

Chapter 11

As Harry and Lucius headed toward the front door on their way to apparate to the Ministry, Harry paused. There was something he really ought to do. He frowned, considering. Something that Hermione kept nagging him about in her letters. But what was it?

He snapped his fingers. The Floo! He had the paperwork on his desk. He detoured to Narcissa's sitting room, intending to grab it. Only, he'd moved it. But where? He opened a few of the drawers at random, then hit the one he'd spelled shut. Of course.

He opened it and shuffled through the stack of parchment, looking for Ministry letterhead. That didn't help, since almost all the letters were on Ministry letterhead. Job offers, for the most part. He didn't want to think about those. Finally, he spotted it.

He grabbed the parchment, stuffed it into his back pocket beside his wand, and hurried back to where Lucius was still waiting.

"Sorry," he said. "Thought it might be easier to make appointments if we could use the Floo. We can stop there on the way."

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Harry left the Floo Certification Department completely exhausted. He'd had no idea how much paperwork was going to be involved in getting the Floo repaired. He'd thought it was just a simple form, but no. Now all he wanted to do was go home and sleep — but they hadn't even made it to their appointment with Kingsley yet. He groaned.

Lucius raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Harry trailed miserably after him down the hall to the lift and then up to Kingsley's office.

"Where on earth have you been?" Kingsley asked the moment they entered his office, glancing at the clock. "I do have other things to do today, you know." His brows were drawn down in irritation, his mouth pressed into a thin line as he drummed his fingers on the surface of his desk.

Harry dropped into one of the low chairs in front of Kingsley's desk with a groan. "Made the mistake of trying to get the Floo re-opened on the way here. Do you know how much paperwork that took? The Order left things horribly tangled, using it illegally. You all worked in the Ministry — surely one of you could have sorted it out."

"Ah," Kingsley said, leaning back in his chair. "No wonder you're so late. And if you recall we had other things on our plate at the time." He turned to Lucius. "Did you bring the... you know?"

Lucius raised his eyebrows again. "Surely we've moved beyond being afraid to call things by their name."

Kingsley grimaced. "Sorry. The files, then."

Lucius pulled the miniaturised bundle from his shirt pocket, handing it to Harry. "If you would be so kind as to enlarge these..."

They still weren't entirely sure if Lucius would be allowed to use his magic within the Ministry, but neither of them were willing to risk it.

Harry tapped the bundle with his wand, muttered a quick Engorgio, and jumped as a huge stack of papers materialised on his lap. He only just caught them in time.

"I didn't realise there were so many," he said sheepishly, wishing he'd thought to put them on the desk before enlarging them.

Kingsley slid the file on the top of the stack in front of him. "Merriweather. You know, I'd rather hoped he'd turn out to be one of the good ones. I had my eye on him as a potential candidate for Head Auror once Robards retires."

Lucius cleared his throat. "Merriweather was also, I'm certain, one of the men who attacked us that night in Diagon Alley."

Kingsley lowered the folder to the desktop. "Do you have proof?"