Harry kicked the offending pebble out of his way as he trudged along the path to the grocery store. His 'family' had left him alone for the most part after the threat at Kings Cross Station. His eyes were bloodshot from crying and lack of sleep and everyone who came across him was frightened away by the deathly aura he held.

I'm so stupid. Why didn't I succeed in occlumency? Why did I have to fall into Voldemort's trap and go into the Department of Mysteries? Why didn't I see that Kreacher was lying to me? Why didn't I try harder to contact Sirius? If I did, he would still be alive. Why didn't I warn Sirius about Bellatrix? He could have avoided the killing curse and would still be alive. I'm such a failure.

As he delved deeper into self-loathing, he didn't see a leg in front of him and consequently tripped over it.

"Oi! Watch it, you creep! That's my leg you just tripped over! What's your problem? You wanna fight with me?!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. I'll just be going on my way and then we can both forget about this. I don't want to fight you. I try to avoid fighting girls."

"Are you saying I'm not good enough for you? What a sexist pig!"

Seeing no response, the girl picked herself up from the ground and stared at Harry.

"Huh, interesting scar you got there boy. And those eyes, wow they're green alright. You get them from your mum?"

Great, another witch who thinks my scar is the epitome of interesting. Why can't she leave me alone? I said I didn't want to fight with her!

"Look, I'm sorry for tripping over you. That was my fault. Please let me just be on my way," Harry said exasperatedly.

"Oh, so now it's my fault? I'm not letting you go on your way? You're the one who tripped over me while I was just minding my own business. You ruined my nail polish. Look!"

The girl shoved her right hand into Harry's face, the scent of nail polish wafting into his nose.

"Do you know how many times I've had to reapply that hand? I've almost used up my entire supply of cotton balls and nail polish remover trying to make this hand perfect and just when I thought it was possible, you came along and ruined everything. What do you have to say to that?"

"I'm…I'm sorry?"

"Damn right, you are! I don't even have the money to buy some new ones. If only it was possible to extract the liquid of something. Unfortunately, once you use the cotton balls once, you can't ever use it again. Maybe I should say 'accio clavum nitorem' or something. I mean,' accio' is Latin for summon and nail polish is 'clavum nitorem.' "

She really is a witch! 'Accio' is the Latin word for summon, that's true! Like when I summoned my Firebolt for the Tournament last year! But, I didn't say Firebolt in Latin, maybe she won't have to either.

"Hey um, I don't know your name but, I think if you just said 'accio Nail polish liquid' it should be enough. But you're not really summoning the liquid, it's more of an extraction. But I haven't learnt how to do that yet. Maybe it would work if we said 'Extractum nail polish remover?' "

"Yeah maybe boy. Listen, the name's Shelby. What's yours?

"My name is Harry Potter."

That's strange. Usually when people see my scar they know immediately who I am. Why would she ask my name? Maybe she wants to form an actual friendship with me.

"Nice name Harry."

"Thanks. You want to give it a try? Try extracting the liquid from your cotton balls?"

Without waiting for a response, he whipped out his wand and ignoring the loud gasp from Shelby, he said, "Extractum Nail Polish Remover!" He didn't know the wand movements so he hoped that his will was strong enough for the action to occur.

"What are you playing at, taking a wand out! Are you crazy?!"

"You're right Shelby. What if a muggle saw me? I'll be put into the Mental Institute for sure if they saw me. Thanks!"

He grinned at his new friend. He didn't think she would care about his safety so much.

"A muggle? What's a – is that an owl?"

Harry whipped his body around just in time to see an owl land in front of him carrying a letter in its beak. The owl glared at Harry before motioning for him to take the letter.

"Dear Mr Potter,

We have received intelligence that you performed an Extraction charm at four minutes past eleven this afternoon in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle. As this is not the first time, you are required to attend a hearing on the 17th July. Someone will come by shortly and obliviate the muggle.

Kind Regards,

Matilda Hopkirk

Department of Improper Use of Magic

"Wow! You're a wizard?"

"Yeah, I wonder who's the muggle though. I mean, you're a witch aren't you?"

"If you mean if I can do spells and stuff then no. I'm completely normal."

"No way, the muggle mentioned in this letter is you?"

"No need to get snappy with me boy. I don't know what made you think I was a witch but I am completely normal, and you are in trouble."

"No duh. I've just received an owl talking my hearing."

"No, I mean you're in trouble from my boyfriend," Shelby said, gesturing behind Harry.

He turned around for the second time that day and came face to face with a sturdy teenage boy with tattoos ornamenting his arms and chest. A cigarette was popped in his mouth and he had studs in his ears.

"Watcha doing with ma girl brat?"

"Calm down hon. We were just having an interesting conversation and now he's going to walk away slowly and do whatever he was supposed to be doing, right Harry?"

"Right, yeah. I'll just be on my way and do the grocery shopping. Good day to you both"

With that, he pelted down the streets to the shops, not stopping until he reached the safety of the supermarket knowing that people wouldn't try anything funny while he was in a crowded area.

It was the day of his hearing and someone had picked him up. True to their word, Shelby forgot everything about their meeting and he never saw her again.

He sucked in a deep breath and pushed the doors open.

"Ah. Mr Potter is finally here." Cornelius Fudge sneered in his direction.

"Did Mr Potter feel that he was too good to follow the laws that have been set in place since the ministry first started? Well, let me tell you straight. You have to follow our laws just like any other kid."

"Thank you Minister Fudge. If you don't mind, I'll take it from here. Mr Potter, I am Madam Bones as you might remember from your previous summer. Are you aware that this is your third time offense and your second trial? You may state your case but be warned that if your case does not pass, we are authorised to expel you from Hogwarts and possibly even snap your wand?"

"What! You can't snap my wand! I didn't commit a criminal offense!"

"Be that as it may Mr Potter, you have still continually committed an offense despite knowing that it was against our laws to do so. I'm afraid that if the worst comes pass, you will leave me no choice but to snap your wand."

"You can't do this to me! What about the prophecy where it states that only I have the power to defeat Voldemort? He's back you know! Minister Fudge, you should know that, you saw him personally!"

Put on the spot like that, Fudge turned a red colour.

"Now listen here boy. I won't pretend that you didn't defeat You-Know-Who when you were one. But that's all. You-Know-Who has not returned and I haven't seen him either. All I saw was you and Dumbledore trashing the entire ministry! You-Know-Who hasn't returned and will never return because he's dead…"

Oh boy. I'll never get out of this alive.

Thanks for reading. I don't really know about nail polish, I just had this story pop up when I was looking at someone take their nail polish off for school and I was like, huh, imagine if this happened. About the spells, google translate helped me so I apologise if there are mistakes.