Casualties of the War
Ch.1: Money and Lunch
"I hereby bestow upon Harry Potter 10,000 galleons a year for his bravery and strength in defeating You-know-who along with an Order of Merlin fist class" Scrimgeour said with his voice amplified to the crowd at the ceremony which was created to honor Harry.
Harry, however, did not want to be there. He only wanted to spend time with his friends and surrogate family at the Burrow. This was why he accepted the money and the medal with a scowl. The crowd could not see his face very well unless they had omnoculars or were on the stage with him. Harry let the minister give him his awards, but he did not have a plan for them. He was on the verge of deciding not even to go through auror training though they had accepted him. Harry wanted to settle down and in the words of Hermione, satisfy his "saving people thing" on his own time without being told to do so.
Of course Harry could not tell these things to the minister who forced Harry there by giving him a sleeping potion with his dinner for his last night at St. Mungos so that he would wake up sitting on the stage with people filing in. Harry was not expected to say a speech. Actually the minister would probably prefer him not to because he would tell the crowd how he got there.
What was done was done, and Harry received the award, but something was missing. The crowd had no one that he knew personally unless you count Umbridge who he unfortunately got to know during his fifth year. Not even Hermione Ron or Ginny were there with him though without them he would have never been able to find the last horcruxes or find a way to defeat Voldemort. The ministry did not seem to deem it important to recognize the Weasleys or muggles. The ministry only wanted to recognize "the chosen one" who did not want to be chosen.
When the ceremony was over there was a reception, but Harry decided not to sit though that as he did the ceremony. He had enough of the ministry during the ceremony. As he was leaving the reception room so that he could escape the apparition wards, Scrimgeour approached him so Harry began to run, but he was not fast enough as the minister put a freezing charm on him.
"Now now Harry, what are you doing leaving so soon? Everyone want to talk to the great war hero who saved us all! Come on now, if you stay ill do anything for you, anything you want!"
"No minister, I will not stay. I do not belong with the ministry; I belong with my friends who I see were not invited."
"I couldn't invite them. They aren't who people want to see and their attendance would have been harder to get than yours!"
By this time a crowd of people were starting to form behind the minister and they began to see how manipulative he truly is.
That was when Amelia Bones interrupted their conversation by saying "Rufus, let the poor boy go home. He doesn't want to be with us. Let him go or I'm sure more negativity is going to come out about the ministry. Actually I think that it is time that you stepped down before we have to force you."
Silence, complete silence filled the room. Then a ministry worker who Harry did not know dropped a pin and the minister came to his senses, said "Finite Incantatem" and Harry was free to leave, and did so by running as fast as he could to the apparition point and apparating to the Burrow.
As soon as Harry apparated to the front lawn of the Burrow, he could see a few red heads peeking out the kitchen window with smiles to welcome him home. As he walked into the door, he saw much more than redheads. Along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fred, Ron, and Ginny, there were Hermione Fleur, Tonks,. McGongall, and even Mrs. Figg.
"Surprise!" they all yelled, and Harry then saw why. There was a banner reading "Congrats Harry on your Order of Merlin"
"Was I the only one that did not know about this?" He asked.
"Well, Harry as you were in St. Mungo's recovering from exhaustion and were not reading the newspaper, we decided to let it be a surprise and give you a little party here because you were released and got your prize all on the same day!" Hermione said brightly.
"We knew you probably would not agree to the ceremony so we allowed the minister to take you there because you deserved that award! Just think, you never have to work a day in your life with your inheritances from Sirius and your parents and your new income. 10,000 galleons a year is quite a lot!" Ron added with a grin. "And that should be enough for all three of us to live without a job the rest of our lives, and we got it before we turned 22!"
"Now Ron, let Harry choose how he wants to use his money, don't make plans for it until he agrees with you" Mrs. Weasley told Ron
"Yeah Ron, I gave good money for Harry, not my annoying little brother!" Fred smiled. Fred did not smile much since George had been put into St. Mungo's after he was hit with a memory charm so it was a good thing to hear him crack a smile.
"Why don't we go ahead and eat lunch, poor Harry must be starving" Mrs. Weasley said smiling. "Let Harry think about what to do with his money later, he just got it!
Harry was not about to disagree with his surrogate mother, and followed everyone outside where tables that he had not noticed when he came in were set up with many good foods,. Harry sat down beside Ginny and across from Hermione and Ron.
He had shared much with them the past four years of searching for Horcruxes. The first two years with only Hermione and Ron then Ginny forced them to allow her to become a part of their small army because she was out of school. They visited the Burrow a few times but mainly spent nights at Gordric's hollow where they repaired the house that Harry had once lived in.
Together they destroyed the horcruxes and finally destroyed the final part of Voldemort's soul by simply sending a spell Hermione had found to give a person a feeling of love. Voledemort could not handle it as especially as all four of them focused on their friendship and love and cast the spell at the same time. Amoris patronum was the spell that saved the world.
After they said the spell, they all felt tired and so dissapearated to the front lawn of the Burrow where Mrs. Weasley found them when she went outside to get a breath of fresh air a few hours later. She sent an owl to McGonagall to tell her of her sleeping children and their friends. McGonagall and Mrs. Weasley together flooed the four to St. Mungo's where they one-by-one woke up and told select order members what happened.
During Lunch Harry told the Weasleys and their guests what happened at the ministry. From his confusion when he had woken up with people filing in to the large room to tring to leave and being stopped by Scrimgeour who Harry added may not be minister for long.
Right after Harry told his story, Amelia Bones appearated beside the tables and gave Harry an official looking letter before dissapearating.
"What is that Harry?" Ginny, who had bee quite silent when he returned, asked.
"I don't know, wait until I open it Gin, or would you like to open it before I get to it?"
"Alright!" Ginny exclaimed as she tore the letter out of Harry's hand and opened the envelope. "It says here that you have been officially voted in by the ministry as the next minister of magic blah blah blah and to send in your acceptance or denial of this position with reasons why. Personally I don't think you would be happy as minister, but we do need a new one. What do you think?"
"Well", Harry frowned, "I don't think I'll be accepting this job offer, maybe when I'm older and more experienced with life. I also think that I would like to have a little break, and a post Voldemort minister of Magic will definitely not allow me a break."
"But Harry, think of the fame and glory you would get. I bet you would be the youngest minister of magic ever! Oh wait, you already have a lot of fame, and you were the youngest Hogwarts quidditch player in 500 years." Tonks said. Even Fred smiled at this.
"Well, if you are sure you don't want to be minister, I guess I should not offer the Defense against Dark arts position to you. Remus, would you like to be next year's defense against dark arts teacher?" McGonagall asked
"Of course Minerva! Why don't we talk about this at another time? Now is a time to celebrate, not think about jobs" Remus answered.
"Very true Remus." McGonagall smiled. "Lets do some celebrating!"
At this everyone at the table laughed, got up, and went inside the Burrow. Inside they all talked and laughed about what the four heroes would do next. At the end everyone agreed that Remus's imagination was the best when he told the group
"Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny would have one big mass wedding in which all four would be married to each other. Harry would decide to become minister of magic and defence against dark arts teacher and Remus would therefore be out of a job. Hermione would put together her large collection of books and start a library in Diagon Ally. Ron would get jealous of Harry and decide he didn't want to be group married anymore and divorce from his sister and Harry who will be heartbroken at this. Ginny will decide that she did not have enough adventure and become an auror to satisfy her need to get away from her brother and sister-in-law who divorced her."
Soon it was dinner time, then bed time in which everyone left to either their respective houses or rooms. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all returned to Gordric's hollow for a good night's rest.
Harry, however, had some difficulty going to sleep. He had been sleeping for a few day's straight to get over his exhaustion after riding the world of Voldemort's soul. He decided to sit up for awhile in the living room to think about what to do with his life and so he left his room.
Author's note: so what do you think? Is it good, horrible, eh? Is it confusing? Could anything be improved? Please tell me!