MetaFic

Ginny looked over her shoulder and watched Harry head towards the door. Throughout the morning she had been aware that Hermione had felt somewhat on the periphery of events. She found it hard to suppress a feeling of satisfaction that the relationships that were important to Harry now, were not the ones on which he had relied in Hogwarts.

Although she and Harry had shared a bed for his final two years at school, the support they gave each other was more emotional than practical and although she was party to a lot of the discussions that went on, she had been happy to sit and listen. She supposed that it was partly because she didn't quite believe that she was the one that Harry had chosen. In fact, even today she found it nothing short of amazing that he had chosen her above all others.

As Harry drew close to the door she noticed that Hermione was waiting for him. She wondered if Hermione was about to make a scene but when she saw them embrace she knew that Hermione had accepted the new status quo.

She led her brother’s and Penny into her office and after closing the door behind her drew her wand and sealed it tightly. She then cast a variety of silencing spells and charms so that they couldn't be overheard before taking her place behind her desk.

She looked up and noticed that the others were looking expectantly at her. It was a strange position to be in after all hadn't she spent most of her life being the baby of the family and not being allowed to do what she really wanted to? And yet here were three of her brothers looking to her leadership. If the matter that they were going to discuss hadn't been so serious, she would have laughed.

“Let’s begin shall we? If it’s agreeable, I’ll sum up where I think we are and then I’ll turn things over to Percy to give you the detail.”

When the others nodded their approval she continued.

“There are a number of rather important things going on in the Wizarding world which some of you are aware of and some of you are not. More specifically there are moves afoot within the Quidditch league to take over the various teams and Harry and I have been asked by certain parties to get involved. We have, declined to do so and that has, to say the least, upset a few people.

“I won't go into the details just now, but you need to know the truth because what you will read in the press over the coming weeks and months will be mainly lies and it will paint Harry and I and by associated my family and this company in a very poor light. I'll now turn the floor over to Percy, who can give you a bit more detail on this.”

As Ginny nodded in Percy’s direction, her brother smiled at everyone with uncharacteristic nervousness before taking a deep breath and starting to speak.

"Ginny has alluded to the unfolding events in the Wizarding world, specifically in the world of Quidditch. It is important that you know the details of what is going on because the press is, as Ginny said, going to go to town on this.
Barnabas Cuffe, proprietor of the Daily Prophet, has been using various third parties and a number of offshore companies to try and take over one or more of the Quidditch teams in the league. The two teams he has targeted are Puddlemere United and the Valia Vikings. You will note that both these teams are connected with Harry; something we believe is not coincidental.

“For some time now, we have been aware that Cuffe has been controlling things behind the scenes in the Department of Magical Games and Sports and also in the league. He has also done his best to control Harry and Ginny. Thankfully both are made of sterner stuff than he had imagined and following his failure to blackmail them, he has turned his attention elsewhere.

“He is now engineering a takeover of either Puddlemere or the Vikings to try and put Harry in an invidious position so that he loses people's goodwill and trust. He hopes Harry will end up being thrown out of the team and will no longer be a threat to him.

“We have, so far, been unable to find any proof of the web of corruption that Cuffe has woven, at least proof that will stand up in court. We do, however, know that the means by which Cuffe is taking over the teams is in direct violation of league rules. Because he is the owner of the Daily Prophet he cannot own 10% or more of any of team and thus being able to influence the agreements that are negotiated with WWN.”

“The Prophet doesn’t broadcast the games,” said Fred a puzzled look on his face, “ so how can that cause a problem?”

“A fair question and one that I shall attempt to answer. It’s taken a while, but we’ve been able to establish that the company that owns the Prophet has, via a number of shell companies, built up a controlling interest in the Wizarding Wireless Network. We don’t have the hard evidence to back this up, but the circumstantial evidence is compelling. The key point is that if he owns 10% or more of the team, then he is in the position to influence the contract negotiations in favour of his preferred bidder. . It doesn't matter that there are no other bidders, all that matters is that he can affect the team's decision to accept or reject the offer that they are being made.”

“So we can’t get him for corruption, but we can get him for conflict of interest,” asked Ginny. What good will that do?”

“In itself,” said Penny, “not a lot. Given the control he has over things he’ll probably escape with a rap over the knuckles. But what it will give is a chance for some other part of the Ministry to conduct an investigation in his affairs.”

“And assuming that we can ensure that none of his cronies are involved we should be able to find the evidence we need.”

"And if we can't?" asked Ginny.

"Then we better hope that Harry has enough money to buy a desert island for us all to live on because no where else will be safe."