Yay! Another chapter! Now, I won't be updating next week, either this story or the other one that I'm doing. I have to make some homemade gifts for Christmas and I need to get working on them.
FYI, there are times that I can't upload on Friday, but instead upload on Saturday or Sunday. To know when that happens as opposed to waiting around for an upload all day and then cursing my existence for making you wait, (I currently am doing that with several authors that haven't uploaded for MONTHS!) I have a Facebook Page for Lady Celestial Star. I post when I'm going to upload, when I have uploaded and then when I start a whole new story.
But I will generally always upload on Fridays, unless I have to miss a week or two.
I don't own Harry Potter or The Hobbit.
By the time that the sky began to darken and nighttime had come to the part of the sky they were now in, Sirius and the others came inside the castle and made their way to the large den on the ground floor. It was a large, comfortable game room that Chippy and the other elves had prepared for them to while away the nighttime hours. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, plenty of comfortable chairs to sit in, tall bookshelves full of rare, informative tomes and in the center of the room, a dartboard on the wall and a large billiards table.
At first, they all looked around at the different things, but they soon settled into separate places in the room to rest after the long day of exchanging the story of their last few months. Hermione and Dumbledore poured over the books in the bookshelves, Mrs. Weasley sat in front of the fire and took out a bit of knitting, and the rest of them surrounded the pool table. But despite the interest in the table itself, Sirius and Remus were the only ones playing.
"Aren't you concerned that Harry has slept for such a long time?" asked Remus over to Sirius.
"We've been working like house-elves for the past four days, and he hasn't had a proper wink of sleep since we've gotten back." said Sirius as he lined up the cue. "I'd be more worried if he didn't get any sleep since we've left."
"Doing what?" asked Hermione, disregarding the figure of speech Sirius used.
"Trust me when I say being King isn't all giving orders and the like, there's more paperwork to do than what Harry knows what to do with." said Sirius. "We've been looking over mountains of scrolls..."
"So why are you are you not doing it now?" asked Hermione frowning slightly, she was never one to leave homework to the last moment, and this had to be high priority work for Harry to have to do it the moment he got back.
"This is a break, we've more than deserved this." said Sirius. "Also, we could use the help."
"Help in what?" asked Mr. Weasley.
"Everything." came a different voice.
The ones around the pool table looked and the people sitting down beside the fireplace turned around quickly. There was Harry, standing in the doorway and leaning against the frame. He was wearing black slacks, and a soft, white cotton shirt, his crown shining out brightly against his long black hair and on his face was a warm smile. "Guess I should say: Welcome to my new home."
The book in Hermione's hand went flying as she and the rest of the Weasley children launched themselves at him. They all wrapped their arms around him and hugged him, causing him to crash to the ground under the weight.
"Bloody hell mate! Don't do that again!" said Ron patting his back heartily as he helped his friend to his feet, his mother ignored the foul language as she herself was crying happily.
"You got taller Harry!" said Fred taking stock of the younger man's height.
"Aw, no more short jokes." said George shaking his head.
"So much for the classics." said Fred. "We'll have to come up with something new..."
"How about...'Mr. Sparkley'?" said George.
"Eh...not our best, but it'll do for now." said Fred with a shrug.
"Where in the world where you?" asked Hermione wiping happy tears away from her eyes as the twins debated about new jokes that they could use.
"It's so great to have you back!" said Ginny excitedly hugging him around his middle and giving him an extra squeeze when she felt him hug her back.
"Hey, where did your glasses go?" said Ron.
"It's a long story." said Harry.
"Longer than Sirius'?" said Ron. "We'll be up all night then."
After the children had their turn, the adults also came over and embraced Harry. Harry smiled and shook hands or hugged everyone that was there, except for two of them who kept in the back, the black haired man had his hand over his mouth and the blonde stared.
Before they had come to Castle Valor, Sirius had embraced the both of them when he saw them and had convinced the both of them to come to the castle to meet Harry. Now they were both a bit nervous about what Harry would think about them being absent for so long in his life.
"Who are they?" asked Harry as he broke apart from Mrs. Weasley's hug looking over at the strangers and pointing to the two of the with a frown on his face.
"Oh...these two you'll want to meet." said Sirius with a bright smile he placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "This, Harry, is Leroy Malfoy."
Harry blinked, "I thought he looked familiar...But why is he here?"
"The man standing beside him, is his husband, Rudolph Potter...your Great-Uncle." said Sirius pointing to the brunette.
Harry stared hard at the two men with a quirked brow. "Since when have I had a family on my dad's side?"
"They...they were down in Africa for a while." said Sirius looking over to Remus for clarification, who only nodded, he didn't want to mention that there were a few more Potters than just the ones that were there at the time.
"How long is 'a while'?" said Harry with a frown. He couldn't help it that he was a little upset andhe felt quite a bit betrayed. All this time he had a relative abroad and no one bothered to tell him? Why couldn't they come from wherever the hell they were and raise him? Hell, why didn't Sirius or Remus tell him about them, or even Dumbledore for that matter? Did no one want to mention this little fact?
Sirius seemed to sense the raging thoughts in Harry's head and made to head him off. "They didn't even seem to know that your parents were dead, they never got the letter that Remus or Dumbledore sent them all those years ago...the owl might have gotten itself chomped while it was flying over the jungles or savanna...it does happen sometimes..."
"And why didn't you tell me about them before?" asked Harry looking at the two Marauders and Headmaster coldly. "Even if they didn't know about me, it would be nice to know about them."
The three of them looked a bit uncomfortable. "We...I suppose...I thought you knew." said Sirius looking at Remus.
"And I thought you were told as well, till Dumbledore told us otherwise." said Remus.
"And I had not even thought about them coming back to England, I thought they had cut ties with their families in England." said Dumbledore, "That has also been known to happen, especially during those dark times. I did not...wish to tarnish your opinion of the Potter family."
He turned his head and looked shameful. "I am sorry I did not give you the chance to decide how you should feel."
"Families? There's more Potters around?" said Harry suddenly looking angry.
The brunette man nodded slowly. He didn't and wouldn't blame the lad if he wanted to kick them out of the castle, he wouldn't blame him at all...
Harry folded his arms and looked between Sirius, his newly discovered uncles and the rest of the people gathered in the den and sighed. "Well, you're here...so...I guess you can stay..." The anger was going to linger for a while, he knew that, but he was not going to miss this opportunity to learn about his family, so he'd have to put his anger on the back burner for a short while.
"Great, now tell us what the bloody hell happened!" said Ron quickly moving away from the awkward scenario and not wanting to question his easy dismissal of the situation, Harry was right scary when he was mad.
"Ronald!" scolded Mrs. Weasley. "Language..."
"Didn't Sirius tell you?" asked Harry.
"Not a ruddy thing."
"Arthur!"
Harry smiled and looked behind him. "Chippy?" he said to the empty corridor behind him.
A small tinkling sound came and the small elf known as Chippy appeared before him and bowed low. "Majesty called Chippy?"
"Yes, we're going to take dinner here, I suppose. I'll have the same thing that I had last night, but make the rest of them something nice." said Harry.
"Wouldn't it be easier to have us eat all the same thing?" asked Hermione looking disapprovingly between Harry and Chippy.
"Be my guest, I hope you all like simple venison stew, roasted rabbit and plain apples." said Harry with a smirk.
"What?" said Mr. Weasley.
"I've had to go weeks upon weeks with only having venison and rabbit either stew or roasted over an open flame. I'm not used to all prepossessed food anymore." said Harry. "I'm trying...but I'm not too sure I won't get really sick...I had some pumpkin juice the other day and spat it right out, it was far too sweet for me, and even bottled water tastes foul."
"Yeah, even I have to have the venison stew right, so dish out two bowls please, I'll pass one the rabbit, not a fan of the flavor, but I'll take the apples." said Sirius. "Also I'll have a pitcher of that honeyed milk that Harry made up, that was pretty good."
"So tell us what it was like! Tell us what happened!" said the twins eagerly as Chippy went around to ask what each of them wanted.
Harry smiled as he made his way to a large winged back chair before the fire. "I'm not a good storyteller like Bilbo was, ("Who?" asked Fred) but here we go, it all started when I left the Great Hall after dinner..."
The next day, once everyone had heard what had transpired with Harry and Sirius, Harry and Dumbledore wandered into the Throne room, the others were getting the grand tour of the castle by Chippy, complete with tales passed down through her family.
"So, what is one of the first order of business for you, Harry?" asked Dumbledore. "Or should I say, King Fainasinqui?" he added with a smile.
"Don't you go starting that, I'm just Harry..." said Harry with a smile of his own.
"You will always be Harry to myself and your friends, but it is a good thing to get used to your newly acquired." said Dumbledore with a kind smile. "And back to the matter at hand?"
"Well, I don't know. I've really only done my 'duties' for about four days or so, but it's so much...and it's one giant mess."
Dumbledore nodded in understanding. "I can understand that, when I took over for Dippet as Headmaster, he had the filing system for paperwork in such disarray that it took me years to get them back into some semblance of order. To think that he had the names of the house-elves under 'E' when they should be under 'H'."
Harry smiled.
"Have you thought of bringing someone to organize all the paperwork for you?" said Dumbledore. "A Secretary of sorts?"
"Actually," said Harry with a slight smile. "I had given Percy a thought, at the very least. Sirius offered him up as a suggestion..."
"A very good choice, he was one of the most organized students I had ever seen, and despite never getting his correct name, the late Mr. Crouch spoke of having no better secretary." said Dumbledore. "The next step is in the attempt to get him out of the Ministry."
Harry smirked as he sat down. "Well, if he wants to continue to climb the 'success ladder' surely being a King's secretary is quite a few rungs up. But all the organization in the world still won't lower the pile will it?"
"While it does not appear to lower the pile." said Dumbledore. "But it will put less of a strain on you. But who knows, perhaps he can simplify things and make the paperwork go a bit faster."
Harry crossed legs and placed his hand under his chin thinking deeply. Suddenly his eyes lit up. "You know, England had control over a lot of the world at some point..."
"Yes..." said Dumbledore.
"Thus they created Parliament, right?" said Harry with a smile.
"There was a bit more to it, but the premise is there." said Dumbledore with a small chuckle. "What sort of Parliament are you thinking of?"
"Not a parliament in name per se, but maybe like a council or something. Because if I'm off in Arda handling any unpleasantness there, I would prefer to have someone to keep an eye here. Granted, there hasn't been a king (in a physical corporeal sense) for a very long time, but if it will mediate the paperwork, I'll be happy." said Harry. "So...any thoughts on that?"
"I have plenty of thoughts on the subject, may I sit?" asked Dumbledore taking out his wand.
"Please." said Harry waving his hand and a wooden stool appeared. "Oops...ah...sorry about that." he said uncomfortably. "I'm...still a little..." he waved his hand again and a plush armchair replaced the stool. But Dumbledore only chuckled and took a seat. "I'm still not...there's a big difference between here and there. I still find myself sometimes going outside to take a bath and...uh...never mind." he finished, his face burning bright red.
"Fear not lad, from what Sirius said, it is quite a robust world there. But as for this world, it seems this places obeys your every wish, whether there is a house-elf nearby or not." said Dumbledore fondly.
"Furniture wise anyway, for food I still have to rely on the elves." said Harry. "Now, your thoughts on the council?"
"Before I do that, I would like to point out something quite interesting. Your manner of speaking has changed quite a bit since you've been in that other world" said Dumbledore smiling softly.
"Might have rubbed off on me a bit." said Harry with a blush. "But back to this council idea."
"Ah yes, how many would you prefer on this council?" said Dumbledore. "Seven has always been a fine number."
Harry reached up and ran his finger along one of the jewels circling around his brow. "Thirteen, not including me." said Harry "That's how many I want."
Dumbledore looked confused for a moment, but then looked at the crown and he smiled. "Ah, very well then. Before we move on, perhaps we should summon Young Mr. Weasley and have him document your wishes."
"Now for the million galleon question: Do you think he'd agree, despite being on an elevated plain of secretarial positions? He wasn't all that...supportive of me this past year." said Harry.
"He has been since the unfortunate loss of the Burrow, the loss of his family home was the straw that broke the thestrals back." said Dumbledore. "Since then he has been in contact with his mother and asked if anything in their home was salvaged. She saved their marvelous clock, but quite a bit of their possessions were lost."
"Sirius told me of that fire, and that Hermione's place was also lost. I'm glad that her parents, the Weasleys and Kingsley are alright." said Harry honestly. "Fudge has a lot to answer for when I come to meet him face to face."
Percy had arrived home from the Ministry early, he couldn't take it anymore. Since the last time he talked to his mother they had been missing from the public eye. His father, while on hardship leave, but despite that, normally he stops in at work, just to see if anything interesting had happened...hadn't been seen in weeks, his brothers and sister was missing as well...where did his family go? Should he risk sending an owl? He had told the Minister they were missing, but he seemed to be a bit preoccupied with his own problems than willing to look for a family loyal to Dumbledore.
He walked into his bare kitchen and made to brew up a pot of tea, to try and calm his nerves, when a slightly familiar voice came to his ears.
"If you would like mint tea, I've already brewed up some."
Percy whipped around and stared, there was Harry Potter, sitting at his kitchen table, albeit, he looked older than the last time he saw him, healthier, taller and was dressed in finery that not even the Minister could afford.
"What? What are you doing here? I thought you were ill, ill and in hiding!" said Percy sputtering. "And how did you...where did you..."
"I was never sick, Umbridge attacked me..." said Harry simply, putting down the tea cup in his hand. "Have to say, when the Minister was trying to pick an elderly woman to teach a bunch of children...he sure picked a doozy."
"Umbridge would nev..." said Percy indignantly but then he faltered.
"She set fire to your and Hermione's house and the Burrow, I don't think attacking me is that far of a stretch." said Harry.
Percy said nothing, he knew that Umbridge had gone quite a bit overboard with the hunt for Harry. Hearing that she was in fact the cause behind the mysterious illness, or whatever it was that plagued Harry, was a bit difficult to swallow...but there was still that small shining seed of truth in the confusing darkness. He could feel his belief in the Ministry crumbling little by little and he was working hard to build it back up.
"Now, onto better things to discuss...I have a proposition for you..." said Harry as he sipped from what looked like an old canteen.
Percy backed up against the refrigerator. "What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously.
"I'm offering you a job, something pretty...politically important has happened as of late, I'm sure Fudge received a letter within the last few days." said Harry.
Percy's eyes widened slightly.
"From the King, King Fainasinqui?" said Harry a slow smile creeping over his mouth.
"How do you know the King?" asked Percy his suspicion rising by the minute, and his belief in the Ministry was rebuilding at a rapid pace. "Only those in select circles in the Ministry know about him! Did Dumbledore use his connections and find out something he had no business knowing yet?"
All of a sudden, bright flash flared up from where Harry sat, pushing his even further against the fridge. He had to throw up his hands to shield his eyes and a strange voice came from what seemed to be within the light, the voice kept changing it's pitch ever so slightly with every other word, it was coming right from where Harry was sitting, but he couldn't be the source of the light and the voice. "Take a wild guess Percy..."
Percy backed all the way up to wall, stunned beyond words and a cascade of thoughts ran through is mind: Could it be? Could he really be the new king? And he had...oh he was...but why was he offering him a job, and what sort of job? Was he supposed to spy on the Minister? He didn't' think he could do that, even when he had asked him to patch things up with his family and then report back to him when he did, he couldn't do it.
The light faded back into the gems leaving the kitchen darker in comparison and returning the Boy-Who-Lived back to the room. "Now that the dramatics are over with, I'd like to get back to business..."
"I'm not going to spy on the Minister!" said Percy quickly. "You cannot make me, I refuse!"
Harry blinked a few times. "What are you talking about? Whatever the Minister does, he has to report to me, and if he's hiding something from me, than that doesn't show him in a very good light. I just need...a secretary."
Percy blinked. "I...that doesn't work well with my plans." he said slowly.
Harry laughed. "What were your plans again? To become the Minister of Magic? I being a bit higher up on the food chain than a Minister tells me that the path you're taking isn't one that I would be very comfortable with you going down. Especially if you wanted to become the next Minister of Magic for England. In my opinion, you need to relearn quite a lot of things to being a proper leader in my eyes...not that I've had much expertise in the ways of politics, mind you, just common sense and really all rules of decency need apply...But I can say that taking an apparent easy path, and keeping the populace in the dark about the dangers that are quite real is not something I'm looking for. And frankly, where I'm sitting now, my opinion is the one that holds the most weight."
"You still hold onto the belief that You-Know-Who is back?" said Percy with a sneer, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"Lord Voldemort is now dead, he's been dealt with and the entire world will know that the English Ministry did nothing to keep the people safe." said Harry firmly. "But that shouldn't matter right now, if you want the job, it's yours, but if you don't, then I will offer it to someone who will. I will give you the rest of the day to think about it, any owl will find me."
Harry stood up and raised his hand, but Percy stopped him.
"Wait, why ask me? I...I..." said Percy, unable to put into words the rising guilt coursing through his veins. If this was all true, it was quite the promotion, but why was he being offered this? Especially after all that he had said to his family about him the last time he saw them all, and he was sure they told Harry all about it.
"You're Ron's older brother, I thought I would take the opportunity to be prejudice and biased for once and pick you, also, Dumbledore said you were the best choice for the job." said Harry. "Even Mr. Crouch, before he died, said you were an exceptional assistant...But like I said, I will give you to the end of the day."
"I...I'd have to give notice..." said Percy uneasily.
"Say yes and I'll have the owl on it's way within two minutes." said Harry.
Percy looked down at the floor, and then back up to Harry. "I have the title of the Jun...Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, what would being your secretary entail?"
Harry quirked an eyebrow. "Being the secretary to the King? You're own office, free room and board in the castle and all the secretaries for every Minister has to answer to you?"
Percy's eyes lit up. "And I could be the Minister of Magic for England in a few years?" he blurted out on accident.
"You do realize that the people get a say on who is Minister, right? But you'll get the important preparation I want you to have, and I'll place you in different locations where you can gather a rapport with the people." said Harry. "If you do your job, and you learn, I could see you being the Minister in...ten years or so." said Harry.
Percy thought for a moment and nodded. "I'll take the job."
"Thank you so much, you have no idea how relieved I am." said Harry with a bright smile. "I have so much work that I need to get done...you'll be a great help."
Percy looked stunned for a moment, he was impressed on how...well...authoritative Harry was when dealing with him and trying to get him to take the job, then he switched back to the young boy that his youngest brother was best friends with. Was he just going to be a babysitter for this "king"?
"I have some employee contracts for you to sign at the castle, it'll make it a bit more...formal." said Harry. "I was just going to...I suppose apparate is the term that's close enough, out to the carriage, but shall we go down together?"
"Apparate? You can't apparate yet, you're too young, and you don't have a license..." said Percy quickly.
"I just said that 'Apparate' is just the term that fits what I do." said Harry. "But that's a story for a different day. I do have a rough sketch as to what I want, and translated into a legal contract...courtesy of Dumbledore...and your father."
Percy snatched the paperwork out of his hand and read it:
I...hearby offer my services and enter into employment to King Fainasinqui. My job will entail handling all paperwork and tasks that the King assigns to me and will complete them within the time alotted me. I also swear to place the safety and best interests of King Fainasinqui above all others, I will not betray my King to any enemies that he may have and will not share any personal business of the King to any media or outside persons.
…...
Percival Ignatius Weasley.
…...
His Majesty:
Harold James Potter
King Fainasinqui, Ruler of the Magical Worlds
…...
Drafted by:
Arthur Weasley
…...
Witnessed by
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
"Will I be working with my father?" asked Percy.
"You may interact with him, but you mostly deal with me." said Harry. "There is more paperwork for you to sign, but this is the first one you can look over."
He pondered for a moment, but nodded.
"Welcome aboard." said Harry with a smile.
Thanks for reading, please review!
Now remember there won't be an update next Friday.
Question of the Chapter (that's right, I'm bringing this back!) What was your most difficult handmade gift you made for someone?
Mine was those treasure chests from last year. I had gone to a craft store, got treasure chest boxes and then lined them with felt. I had to get the measurements absolutely perfect so that none of the inner wood showed and then I had to get the jewels and the coins for the boxes. My little cousins loved them though, they even traded the diamonds and rubies that were inside with each other.