Matt and Hermione woke early the following morning, forcing themselves to get disentangled from one another. Matt grinned at the sleepy look on Hermione's face. She yawned and he leaned in to give her a good morning kiss, which Hermione was more than happy to reciprocate. Slowly she sat up and stretched, Matt drinking in the sight of her half naked body.
"You're staring." She chided with a smirk.
"Sorry. I can't help it. You're really sexy. And I like you and I love the fact you wanted to show off for me…" Matt said as his gaze swept down her body.
"Well, I felt it might help, after last night." Hermione said with a grin.
"It did. A lot." He said looking up into her eyes with a genuine smile of appreciation. "Thank you." Matt sat up as well and kissed her, his arms wrapping around her lightly. They slowly broke apart and Matt laid back down to look at her again.
"I don't think you've ever stared at me this much, ever!" Hermione said, amusement in her voice.
"It's just, I never thought I'd see this much of you and well…I really like it…and…"
"And? There's more?" Hermione felt her cheeks flush.
"I think your belly button is cute." Matt admitted, blushing hard. Hermione laughed and smiled.
"No one's ever said that to me before. Maybe I'll have to show it off more then!" She replied. Matt grinned and reached over to her, his fingers gently caressing her stomach and navel.
"You don't have to change you style on my account. Although I won't say no to seeing your tummy more often." Matt said, still red in the face.
"We'll see, maybe just for you." Hermione said and Matt nodded enthusiastically at the implication.
"We should get breakfast." Hermione said and climbed out of bed to change.
Although it would be unusual, Matt did not change into anything special. Just a simple black T-shirt, and sweatpants, was all he decided to put on. He knew he would be changing into his more formal clothes soon, so he decided to go very casual for breakfast. The couple dressed and linked hands as they walked through the corridor, meeting up with Ginny before going into the Great Hall for breakfast.
"You know, maybe we ought to go a little early." Matt said to Ginny as they ate.
"Whatever for?" she asked between bites of food.
"I'd like to stop in at the Apparition Test Centre. Take my Apparition test sometime soon." He replied.
"Oh, I suppose we could stop there couldn't we?" Ginny.
"You'll both be ahead of me, then." Hermione said. "I'm not set to arrive until nine thirty."
"Yeah, and we need to be there no later than nine fifteen anyway. So, we'll need to leave before you anyway. They have to brief us." Matt explained.
"Well, you had better hurry then, hadn't you?" Hermione said looking at her watch.
"It's almost seven thirty now, yeah, we better get a move on. C'mon Gin!" Matt said and wolfed down the last few bites of his breakfast. Ginny followed suit and the pair headed out of the Great Hall. Hermione caught herself watching Matt leave and admiring him, even with just his sweatpants and a t-shirt, he looked good to her. She looked down at her own casual clothes and thought maybe she would pull off a shorter shirt in warmer weather. Just for him.
Matt stepped out of the boy's dorm with Neville trailing after him, attempting to help him with this tie. Matt was wearing a white button-down dress shirt, with a gray blazer that matched his dress pants, a black belt and black dress shoes. He had on his typical Gryffindor tie, but he was having trouble getting it tied correctly.
"Stop moving so much." Neville scolded.
"I'm nervous, alright." Matt quipped.
"Well, be nervous after I help you with this tie!" Neville said as it was finally straight.
"Thanks." Matt said.
"Don't think too much about it. McGonagall said only the whole school and half of wizarding world of Great Britain will be there."
"Oh, only half?" Matt replied.
"Well, the rest are either dead or in prison…" Neville admitted.
"Great just what I wanted to hear…"
"Matt, you'll be fine." Ginny said. "Hermione's getting ready, and we need to be off." Ginny was wearing her own dress robes, which consisted of a dark green sleeveless dress with black trim, black stockings, and a pair of high-heeled dress shoes. Matt grinned at Ginny noticing she was slightly taller in the high heels.
"Feeling like you need the extra height?" Matt asked as they climbed out of the portrait.
"It just feels like it fits better. Besides, if we're putting medals around necks, better to be closer to eye level." Ginny said with a slight blush. Matt smirked as they headed to the main entrance.
"I know it is going to be a lot of pressure, Mr. Santini. But Ms. Granger has every confidence in you. As do I. The whole school will be looking forward to this!" Professor McGonagall said as she met them at the main entrance. "You'll be taking the Knight Bus. It will get you there just in time, I believe."
"Thanks, Professor!" Matt and Ginny said as they walked to Hogsmeade and Ginny hailed the bus. She had heard from Harry how to do it, but this was her first actual time on the bus. Matt watched with amusement as the violently purple triple-decker bus screeched to a halt for them to get in.
"You know, no matter how many times I see it, the magic world doesn't disappoint. Things are so wildly different here." Matt said as Ginny paid the fee to Stan the conductor and told him they were heading for the Ministry of Magic in London.
"You don't have anything like this in America?" Ginny asked as they sat down, and the bus rocketed out of Hogsmeade and down the country roads. Matt was thrown back in his seat as the bus took off.
"No, it's mostly portkeys and Apparition." He replied and hung onto the railing as they sped through the countryside.
"So do you know how to Apparate already?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, but the license is only good in America. Every country has its own ways of governing things. Great Britain is different from the U.S. is different from Australia, you get the idea." Matt replied.
"Well, it should be easy for you then!" Ginny replied, and Matt nodded.
"Yeah. I want to be able to pop in and out of places. Although I'm told you can't do it inside Hogwarts."
"No, you really can't. Hermione must have told Ron and Harry dozens of times it was impossible to." Ginny said and Matt laughed, imagining her scolding the other two at her having to repeat herself.
"Ministry of Magic, London." Stan Shunpike announced as the bus banged to a stop in a small, dilapidated alleyway. There were several offices, a wall covered in graffiti and a pub nearby. Ginny and Matt stepped over to the red phone booth and she punched in the code 62442 on the phone's dial.
'Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and purpose for your visit.' A voice from thin air said.
"Matt Santini and Ginny Weasley here to present the Order of Merlin to Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, respectively." Ginny said, having been there before. The phone dropped their nametags, and the booth descended into the ground. Ginny handed Matt the badge and he placed it over his left breast, right above his heart.
"Keeping Hermione's name close to home huh?" Ginny asked with a smirk as she pinned her own badge onto her dress. Matt simply grinned at her. The door to the booth slid open and Matt and Ginny stepped out into the Atrium.
'All visitors must report to the security desk for check in' the Welcome Witch's voice rang from the booth as they stepped out. The Atrium was a large hallway with highly polished wooden floors, a high curved ceiling in a peacock blue color and gilded fireplaces lining the walls on the left and right sides. The fireplaces burst with emerald light as Ministry workers arrived and left via Floo powder.
"Wow, this place is incredible." Matt said as they walked down the Atrium, heading for the security desk. Halfway down the Atrium sat a large pool. The pool appeared to have been home to a fountain previously but was not presently there. Matt wondered whether they were working on a new one or if they were simply leaving it as a pool. He could not help but notice a large amount of gold piled in one corner, as if someone had emptied their entire wallet into the fountain.
"Visitors over here please!" a wizard called out to Matt and Ginny. She led him over to the Security Desk. The wizard who called them over was tall and very thin, with a pale pallid complexion, like he had not been outside in many years and very dark hair. "Visitors must check their wands before going to their respective destinations." He said gruffly.
"Makes sense." Matt said and drew out his wand and handed it to the guard. The wizard placed the wand on a golden scale-like device, a piece of paper with the wand's information spit out a moment later. The wizard scribbled Matt's name on the paper before handing it to him.
"You keep this," The guard said handing Matt the paper "I keep this." And he placed Matt's wand behind the desk. The security wizard repeated the process with Ginny.
"I'd like to stop at the Apparition Test Centre while I'm here. I'd like to setup a time to take my apparition test." Matt said. The security wizard looked annoyed at him.
"Fine, but you'll have to do it afterwards. According to your badge, you're here for the presentation, that comes first. We've a waiting area for you here. Follow me." The guard led the pair from the security desk over to a flight of stairs.
"This is different." Ginny whispered. "Harry told me about the first time he came here, they didn't confiscate wands…"
"Maybe protocols have changed after the war?" Matt asked as they ascended the stairs to a circular room three stories high. There were desks with stacks of books, papers and typewriters on them, the typewriters automatically punching up reports, clacking, scraping, and dinging away at parchment. The security wizard took them to the first level and led them through a wooden door.
"Wait here, someone will…collect you soon. And don't touch anything." The wizard said and pulled the door shut behind him. Matt shuddered.
"It's chilly, like being in a damned doctor's office or something." He said.
"Yeah, I've never done this before, or really been here officially." Ginny replied.
"You've been here unofficially?" Matt asked as they looked at the table in the center of the room. There was a large black velvet display stand with three medals on it. Each one had a small nameplate under it. H. Potter, H. Granger, R. Weasley. Above the nameplates were the three Order of Merlin medals. He leaned down to look at them at eye level, impressed by how detailed they were. The medal was a golden circle with an eight-pointed star behind it. Embossed on the circle was a large letter 'M' surrounded by a laurel wreath.
"Well, yes. We broke in during my fourth year, you see. To try and retrieve a prophecy to stop Voldemort." Ginny replied. "It did not go well."
"Hermione's mentioned it, but she's never gone into detail about it." Matt asked. "She keeps promising to."
"I'm sure she will when she's ready. That was kind of the first battle of the Second Wizarding War, really." Ginny explained. Matt nodded his understanding. "Hey Matt. I dare you to kiss Hermione when you present her with the medal."
"Alright, deal but only if you kiss Harry first!" he said with a grin and leaned against the table.
"Deal!" Ginny said.
The table itself looked sturdy but was apparently not; as soon as Matt rested against it, one of the legs gave out and the entire thing pitched forward, forcing Matt to stand and the medals to fall to the floor.
"Damnit." Matt swore as he leaned down to pick up Hermione's medal. Ginny did the same for Harry's. Suddenly the two felt a pull behind their navels and were instantly transported out of the waiting room.
Matt was off his feet and could not let go of the medal in his hand as the world spun around him. A moment later he slammed into the floor and smashed into something thick and heavy. He let go of the medal and a moment later Ginny slammed into him as well. He groaned in pain and coughed as the wind was knocked out of him. Everything swayed as he slowly sat upright.
"What the hell happened?" Matt asked. He looked around and swallowed hard.
"Why were the medals a Portkey?" Ginny asked as she sat up. The pair were in a cage with thick heavy metal bars as a wooden floor suspended above the bars just a few inches. There was no visible door to either of them and the cage itself was suspended from the ceiling with a thick metal chain.
"I don't know but I'm not fond of this." Matt said, panic rising in his voice. The cage swayed from their sudden arrival and Matt crawled to the middle of the wooden floor, unable to stand up.
"We've got to get out of here." Ginny said and reached for the bars. She yelped in pain and drew her hand back. "Someone just cursed the bars with flagrante! I can't touch them." She said annoyed. Matt reached out and screamed in pain as well.
"I don't like this…" he said, his voice was unsteady as he looked up. "I hope that chain holds up…"
"Oh no…" Ginny said realizing what was wrong. "You've got a fear of high places, don't you?"
"Yeah maybe…" Matt said cagily.
"That's why you wouldn't fly when we were rehabbing you over the summer, isn't it?"
Matt simply swallowed hard and nodded.
"Don't worry I'm sure there's just been some kind of misunderstanding, and that Harry and Hermione will be along shortly." Ginny bit her lip. She knew without their wands they were really in a lot of trouble. Not being able to see the door to the cage made using wandless magic to free them impossible. Alohomora only worked when the caster could see the lock they were releasing.
Matt looked out of their cage, they were in the back of a giant circular room, at the far end of the room was a small door and platform, the center of the room was entirely empty. He had an intense sense of foreboding and sat with his knees drawn up to his chest. Ginny placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
Hermione Granger and Harry Potter stepped out of one of the fireplaces in the Atrium. Harry, having been a ministry employee, used the standard entrance and brought Hermione in that way as well. The pair knew she would soon be an employee anyway, so it felt as if it made trivial difference.
Hermione had chosen to wear a set of white off the shoulder dress robes. They reached all the way to the floor with a slit up the left side; she also wore black high heeled shoes. She had taken some time that morning to tame her usual bushy light brown hair and turned it into a very elegant bun on the back of her head. Hermione completed her look with the new earrings she had gotten for her birthday.
Harry was dressed in his robes from Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding. It consisted of a purple oxford shirt, purple tie and a deep black blazer with matching dress pants and shoes. Harry's robes appeared more like a suit than actual dress robes.
The pair walked over to the security desk and greeted a wizard there. He was short with blonde hair.
"Hello, Harry Potter, from the auror's office, with my guest, Hermione Granger. We're here for the ceremony." He said clearly.
"Ah, very good! Your wand, Ms. Granger." The security guard said and examined her wand before handing it back and sticking a piece of paper on brass spike.
"You're all set. Congratulations, by the way, on the order of Merlin." The security wizard said.
"Thanks Eric." Harry said as he and Hermione stepped away from the security desk. As Harry and Hermione moved through the crowd of ministry officials, coming, and going, they were approached by Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic himself. The crowd parted in his wake as he smiled at the young pair.
"Harry, Hermione, good to see you." Kingsley said as she shook their hands. "Come with me, this way, please." The Minister said as he led them through the Atrium to the stairs. "We've converted a few of the courtrooms over specifically for this occasion." The Minister said in his deep voice as he led them down to level ten. "There has been an enormous amount of people wanting to witness this, due to your status Harry. This is by far the biggest ceremony we've ever held."
The Minister guided them through the corridors of level ten until they came to the right set of courtrooms.
"Now, have your presenters arrived?" Minister Shacklebolt asked.
"They should have by now, have you not seen them?" Harry asked.
"No, they have not checked in at security to my knowledge. I'm sure they're here. I know you know your way around Harry, but have either Mr. Santini or Ms. Weasley been here before?" The Minister inquired.
"Ginny was once, but I was with her almost the whole time and it was just on the lower levels." Harry said,
"Matt's been to London but never here." Hermione confirmed.
"Oh well, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about then." Minister Shacklebolt said. "Here, wait in here and I will personally go to find them."
Harry and Hermione followed the Minister's lead as he opened a side door for them. It was a small flight of stairs leading to a stage area, the curtains drawn over them. There were seemingly hundreds of voices on the other side of the curtain as Harry and Hermione could hear feet shuffling in and voices whispering and muttering as the audience took their seats.
Hermione could not help her own nerves as she peaked through the curtain to see if she could see either of their significant others waiting for them, but neither were on the other side of the curtain. Just hundreds of seats in the large circular room packed with people. A large group Hermione recognized as fellow students from Hogwarts, McGonagall and all the other teachers, even Filch was there, petting his cat Mrs. Norris. She even recognized other familiar faces, such as George Weasley, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, Cormac McLaggen, even the Diggory family had shown up.
"Harry, there's a lot of people out there…" Hermione said, trepidation in her voice.
"You're not getting stage fright, are you?" Harry said as Hermione paced, nervously.
"No, I just wish Matthew was here already." Hermione responded.
"Full name. Either you're angry with him or you're worried." Harry had a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not mad! I'm just concerned…"
"Worried then. Got it." Harry replied. "He's with Ginny, he'll be fine." The pair turned as the Minister came down the flight of stairs.
"I believe something is wrong. We do know that both Mr. Santini and Ms. Weasley did in fact come in through the visitors' entrance. They were issued badges. And we found these at the security desk." Minister Shacklebolt held out a pair of wands. Hermione's eyes grew wide, as she reached out and took Matt's wand.
"Why do you have their wands?" Hermione asked, she felt her stomach drop.
"I do not know. We do not confiscate wands, as you've seen. Something has gone wrong. No one can find your medals either. It looks as though there may have been a struggle." The Minister replied.
"Well, of course there probably was. He's probably got my sister!" came a voice as Ron descended the stairs to join them.
"Who does?" Kingsley asked.
"That Death Eater from America!" Ron said accusingly.
"Ron, leave it. How many times have we had to say he's not a Death Eater?" Harry asked. Hermione crossed her arms over herself and held onto Matt's wand.
"Then where is he and where is my sister?" Ron demanded.
"We don't know! And if you had bothered to use that thick skull of yours, you might have noticed that both Harry and I have their wands!" Hermione shouted. "Some auror the great Ronald Weasley is!"
"Everybody calm down. I am sure with just a little more time we can find them." The Minister said and slipped up the staircase.
"I'm not waiting around." Ron said and dashed after him.
"What does he think he's going to do?" Hermione asked. "He's got less than we do to go off."
"I dunno. It's Ron, he always does this, you know that." Harry replied.
"Oh, I'm well aware of how he likes to turn his back on us." Hermione replied coldly. Harry frowned and knew she was angry. What was worse, not only did he agree with Hermione, but he was also starting to question how good of a friend Ron had been to him.
The stage they were standing on gave a lurch as the curtains opened and the crowd around them stood in their seats, applauding. Slowly, the pair descended out of sight and the audience's cheers died down to confused murmuring.
"What's happening?!" Hermione asked as the platform lowered itself. They were in a large circular room identical to the one above them, but without the ring of seating. Harry and Hermione looked around and Hermione gasped, grabbing onto Harry, and pointing to an alcove on the far opposite side of the room.
A large metal cage hung from the ceiling, the bottom of it was a set of swinging doors, latched. In the middle of the cage was a wooden platform and on it were sitting Matthew Santini and Ginevra Weasley.
"Harry! Hermione!" Ginny called out to them. "Help us! The cage is cursed!"
"It's a trap!" Bellowed Matt. Harry and Hermione were confused as the ceiling above them parted. The large stone ceiling that had been the floor of the courtroom slowly retracted back into the walls. The audience that was formerly just a few feet off the ground were now sitting high above the honored pair. The confused murmuring turned to cheers and applause again upon seeing the heroes.
"Just hold on, I'll get you out of there. You have to trust me, Matt. I'll save you. I promise." Hermione called out across the converted courtroom. She no longer cared who knew she was dating him. She saw the look on his face, even across the large room, she knew he was scared.
Suddenly, the floor followed the suit of the ceiling, parting down the middle and slowly it retracted as something rose out of it. A second floor came into view, in the middle of it was a large mass of gold.
"What is that?" Ginny asked aloud, confused. The golden mass shifted slowly and unfurled itself. Two great wings stretched almost to the ceiling, as four stout legs the size of tree trunks pushed a thick scaled body upwards. Twin tails whipped out and a dragon's head arose, accompanied by two others, attached by long necks to the body of the beast.
"Oh my god. It's an abomination. It's a three headed dragon…" Matt looked sickened. "King Ghidorah in the flesh…"
The dragon gave an alien, undulating cry. Although it was golden, it was obvious that one head belonged to a Chinese Fireball, another head was a Ukrainian Ironbelly, and the final head belonged to a Hungarian Horntail. The beast gave another unnatural undulating cry before turning its three heads towards the stage. Harry and Hermione had no place to turn as the middle head opened its mouth and a gout of flame erupted, launching towards the stage.
"NO!" Matt screamed as the far-left head turned towards the disturbance and fired its own lethal flame at the cage…
To Be Continued