Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the story line . All rights belong to J.K. Rowling

Chapter Four

Revelations and Foundations

Things went by rapidly after that. Harry would spend a couple of hours each morning running errands throughout Wizarding England. Ginny would greet him when he returned and they would spend the rest of the day together, just getting to know each other all the more. Hermione would spend most of the day either at the library in Grimmauld Place, or she would be at Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley. Ron had started working with George at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes along with Percy and Lee Jordan. Things just fell into an easy routine, but Harry couldn't shake the feeling that things were building up in places that he just couldn't see.

Thus it came to a day about a week before his eighteenth birthday. He apparated just outside Longbottom manor and walked up to the door, grabbing the brass knocker. After a few moments the door opened, revealing Neville's rather formidable grandmother.

"Hello Mrs. Longbottom. Is Neville in?" Harry inquired.

"Hello Harry, please call me Augusta. And yes, my grandson is here. Please come in and I'll fetch him." She led him to a large sitting room and motioned for him to have a seat. He chose what looked correctly to be a very comfortable chair and sat down to wait.

It wasn't very long before Neville came bounding into the room. Harry noticed that the wounds that he had suffered during his stay in the room of requirement were starting to heal. The bruises had turned a sickly yellow color, and Harry knew from hard experience just what that meant.

"Hello Harry, welcome to our home," Neville beamed.

"Hello Neville," Harry said as he stood up to shake his hand. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Oh no, I was just down in the greenhouse, tending to some of my plants." Neville had found something that he truly excelled in when it came to Herbology. He had other strengths, but that was by far his best subject and he seemed to truly love it. "What did you need?"

"Well, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions," Harry started. Neville motioned for him to continue. "First, I found out a while back that Ginny had been tortured by Amycus Carrow while you guys were at Hogwarts." Neville scowled at the name. He nodded to show that what Harry had said was true.

"Do you know who rescued her Neville?" Harry could see that Neville was hesitating. "Please Neville, if you know it's very important that you tell me. I have to know who saved her."

"Alright Harry, I'll tell you what I know. I was in the hospital wing when she came in. I was recovering from a beating and cruciatus curse from Crabbe and Goyle when they brought her in. She was a right mess Harry, I won't kid you. She looked really bad. I know that this is going to startle you, but it was Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson what brought her in. Malfoy had wrapped her in his cloak, and he was carrying her in his arms. Pansy was making sure that he didn't trip or knock into things.

"Anyway, they got her settled on a bed, and she was pretty out of it. Pansy went to get Madame Pomfrey while Malfoy got her covered with the beddings. Then he reached under and gently removed his cloak. Madame Pomfrey got there and started to treat her, and Malfoy marched right over to my bed. He grabbed the front of my nightshirt and lifted me right off the bed. I was in no shape to fight him, and I shan't kid you, I was scared. 'Not a word of this to anyone' he hissed at me. I guess that my shock must have showed because he leaned down over me and whispered in my ear: 'Look, nobody deserves what they did to her,' he said, then he turned on his heal and left with Pansy in tow.

"I recon that he and Pansy had snuck up on Carrow and stunned him, because he went on a rampage the next few days, hunting D.A. members. He was really mad. He made it tough for the rest of us for a while." He pointed to the scar running down the side of his face. "Got this one from him during that time."

"Thanks Neville, you've been a great source of information. I really appreciate it." Harry got up and gave Neville a brief, manly hug.

"Anytime Harry. I was glad I could answer your question. If you ever need anything, let me know."

"I will Neville. I'm going to try and nail down a date for the wedding. As soon as I find out for sure, I'll owl you and Hagrid." He turned to leave.

"I'm looking forward to it. Take care Harry."

Harry turned back to face Neville. "Oh, there's one more question I have to ask. Did anything happen between Ginny…"

"I didn't do anything, I swear!" Neville blurted out. "All I did was hold her when she cried."

"Don't worry Neville," Harry said with a chuckle. "I was going to ask if anything happened between Ginny and Luna." Neville turned beet red. "I see," said Harry wistfully. "I see…" He spun back around and went out the door without a second glance, his hand on his chin and a bemused expression on his face.

*0*0*

Harry apparated next to a phone booth in the middle of London. He stepped into it and picked up the receiver on the phone. He quickly dialed the code, six-two-four-four-two, and waited. Shortly thereafter the operator's voice came on the line.

"Please state your name and the reason for your visit to the Ministry for Magic." It was a rather bored sounding woman's voice.

"Harry Potter, I need to see Arthur Weasley and I have business with the administration office."

"Thank you for your visit to the Ministry for Magic. Please make sure to affix your visitor's badge firmly to you robe at chest height. Please stop at the security desk to check your wand."

Harry fished the badge out of the slot that it had just slid down. He turned it over and groaned. It read: Harry Potter – Secretary Trainee. Why could they never get anything right? He attached the badge to his robes as the floor started dropping down into the ground below the phone booth.

Harry strode over to the security desk. Might as well get this over with. "Good morning Roger," he said. It amazed him that he had been here so much over the last couple of months that he was on a first name basis with most of the security staff.

"Morning Harry," he replied. He took Harry's wand and dropped it onto the scales. A moment later he handed it back to Harry, and ripped off a piece of paper and handed him the receipt. "Enjoy your visit to the Ministry."

"I'll try," Harry said, pushing through so as not to keep the queue that had formed behind him waiting any longer than absolutely necessary. He had found that if he allowed it, the security staff would happily keep him here all day pestering him with questions on every topic known to man.

He moved quickly over to the lifts, and scooted into the first available one. A number of inter-office memos floated on with him. They were shaped like Muggle paper airplanes and hovered there with him in the lift. The doors closed and the lift started up.

'Seventh floor: Department of Magical Games and Sport, including the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, the Official Gobstones Club and the Ludicrous Patents Office.'

'Sixth floor: Department of Transportation, including the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office and the Apparition Test Center.'

'Fifth floor: Department of International Magical Cooperation, including the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Office of Magical Law and International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats.'

'Fourth floor: Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures, including the Beast Division, the Being Division, the Spirit Division, the Goblin Liaison Office, the Centaur Liaison Office, the Pest Advisory Board and the Office of Misinformation.'

'Third Floor: Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Headquarters, and the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee.'

'Second Floor: Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Aurors' Office, the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, Wizengamot Administration Services, the Improper Use of Magic Office and the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects.'

Thank Merlin, Harry thought. He got out of the elevator and made his way down the hall. People waved congenially to him as he passed. More often than not this was his destination. He poked his head into the last cubical and found Arthur Weasley there, his head in his hands.

"Mr. Weasley, am I intruding?" he asked diffidently.

"What? No, of course not Harry. Do come in. Sit down." He waved to an empty seat. The office was typically cluttered with all different kinds of artifacts, most of which, Harry assumed were counterfeit protective objects.

"What can I do for you Harry?"

Harry hesitated. "Erm, Mr. Weasley, you know most of the people that work here don't you?"

"Well, yes," Arthur replied, somewhat curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Believe it or not, I'm looking for Draco Malfoy. I had heard through some sources that he had gotten a low-level functionary job here at the Ministry."

Arthur put his chin in his hand for a moment's thought. "Ah, yes, I do believe that you'll find young Mr. Malfoy down on level seven. Yes, I believe that's where they stuck him."

"Thanks. Look, there was one other thing. I'm going to be talking to Ginny today, and I'm going to see if we can set the wedding date for the day after her birthday. That would make it on August twelfth. That lands on a Wednesday, so do you think that you could get that day off?"

"I think I can do better than that Harry. I've been saving up my vacation time, and I'll take the whole of that week off. Merlin's Beard! I need to take some time off, and I can't think of a better time than my daughter's wedding."

"Brilliant. Now look. I don't want any argument out of you, and I need you to talk to Mrs. Weasley. I want to pay for everything." Arthur started to stammer at that. Harry cut him off with a look.

"I know that you make more money now that you have your new position, but truthfully, I'm still much more affluent than you are. Consider it my repaying you for seven years worth of room and board."

"Now Harry, you don't owe us a thing. If anything, we owe you for everything you've done for this family. You've been a son to Molly and I ever since your first year at Hogwarts." Arthur gave Harry a stern look.

"Okay, okay, but I'm still paying for everything. Look, I'm trying really hard to get Ginny to understand that we have money, and that she doesn't have to go without out of necessity now. If she goes without it is because she wants to." He looked up and saw the pained expression on Arthur's face.

"Mr. Weasley, please, I meant no offense. Remember, I had nothing for the first ten years of my life. I know what it's like, and I'm amazed that you managed to raise seven children on what you did. That was an amazing feat. Then, on top of that, you took me in every summer. Do you realize that you and your family are the only family I've ever known?"

"Harry, you are as much a part of our family as you would be had Molly born you. You are a Weasley, whether you have the name or not." He cast a plaintive look at his future son-in-law.

"You have no idea how much that means to me, but I'm still paying. You'll find that I can be every bit as stubborn as a Weasley as well. Now let's leave that for now. I have a few plans that I need to set in motion, and I'm going to need your help." Harry spent the next few minutes outlining what he wanted.

"You've really given this a lot of thought, haven't you Harry?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, well, believe it or not I've had a lot of spare time on my hands. Not much to do in those times but think. Well, that and clean up Sirius' old house. I guess I'll head over to the administration offices and file for the licenses and then get down to level seven. Thanks again Mr. Weasley," and with that he was gone.

After running his errands at the administration office, Harry once again braved the lift. Deftly tuning out the running monologue on what was located on what floor, Harry waited patiently for the indication that he was at floor number seven.

'Seventh floor: Department of Magical Games and Sport, including the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, the Official Gobstones Club and the Ludicrous Patents Office.'

Harry fled while his sanity was still intact. Whoever had created the lift had to have had a sick and twisted sense of humor. Of course, knowing who had been running the Ministry for the last few years, Harry didn't find this knowledge the least bit surprising.

Following the posted signs Harry stopped at the first convenient desk.

"May I help you?" was the rather board sounding rote response to a visitor at the witch's desk. She was a tall, lanky brunette witch who at the moment seemed more concerned with her fingernails than with the visitor to her department.

"Actually, I think that you might, er, Charlotte," Harry said, straining to read her name tag. The witch looked up, obviously bored with everything that was happening at the moment. She caught sight of Harry, and after a brief flash of recognition she sat bolt upright.

"Harry Potter! What do we owe this honor to?" she asked rather brightly, sizing Harry up like a slab of meat at the corner market.

"Well Charlotte, I would really like to know where I might find Draco Malfoy," he said, winking at her.

She only partially suppressed a giggle, and thought for a moment. "Malfoy, hmmm, is he the tall, ice blond wizard, kinda snooty?"

"That would be him. I've got some rather urgent business with him, actually. Do you know where he might be? I would be ever so grateful." Harry gave her a lopsided grin that practically melted her in her chair.

"Head down to the Gobstones Club and he's all the way in the back. He's a junior clerk in there, I believe." She pulled her wand and waved it over a small piece of parchment. She stood up and shook Harry's hand, palming the slip of parchment in his hand. "That's my address on the floo network," she whispered in his ear. She smelled of strawberries and melon. "Floo me," she mouthed at him.

"Thank you Charlotte, I'll take that under advisement," he replied, pocketing the slip of parchment. He strode off shaking his head. As soon as he was out of sight he took out his wand and banished the piece of parchment. As much as he was flattered, he was committed to Ginny, and extremely happy to be so at that.

It didn't take him long to find the small cubicle that housed Draco Malfoy. As he entered Malfoy looked up, saw who his visitor was and let out a low groan, burying his face in his hands. Harry heard his school rival let out a sigh as he looked back up.

"Potter," he said.

"Malfoy. Nice place you have here, I love what you've done with it."

"Very funny Potter, come to gloat have you?" Malfoy spat out.

"Actually Malfoy, no, I haven't. I came for a number of reasons, but before I get into them, what on earth are you doing here?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get work when you're family name is reviled and hated across the country?" Draco asked. "Look Potter, if you must know, I'm trying to at least have something of my own, something that I can have after I suffer the consequences of my upcoming trial." He looked utterly dejected. "It hasn't been a very good couple of years, Potter."

"Believe it or not, I can empathize with that Malfoy. In case you missed it my life for the last seven years has pretty much been a living hell. I guess we each had to come to terms with a death mark, didn't we."

Grudgingly Malfoy admitted that he agreed. "So what do you want Potter?"

Harry held his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Peace Malfoy, I told you there were several reasons that I came here. First off, let me make one thing perfectly clear." Harry leaned down over Malfoy's desk. "I don't like you Malfoy, and I probably never will, but I've recently had reason to, shall we say, reconsider some things in my life. So while I may not like you, I have come to have a grudging respect for you."

To say that Draco Malfoy was floored by this admission would probably be one of the greatest understatements in the history of mankind. He just sat there, mouth gaping wide.

"Just what the Hell made you come to that conclusion?" he asked, unable to contain himself.

"I discovered that Snape was probably the bravest person I had ever met. That's a story for later on perhaps, but it started me thinking. Then there's the fact that you did defect at the end. As much as I hate to admit it, that took guts. Plus," at this point Harry leaned in even closer so as not to be overheard, "I found out what you did for Ginny."

Draco tried to wave it off. "After what that old fool Dumbledore tried to tell me before he died, I kind of had a change of heart during my seventh year. I, I didn't like what I was becoming. I just didn't see a way to get out."

"I kind of figured that it was something like that. To get on with why I'm here, I both have something for you, and I think I might have a mutually beneficial proposal for you."

"You have my interest Potter, Merlin help me, but you do. Go on."

Harry reached into his robes and pulled out the wand that he had taken from Malfoy a few months before. Twirling it in his fingers so that it was handle first, he handed it to Malfoy. "I believe that this is yours."

"You do realize that the only way this can work properly for me is for you to willingly renounce all rights to it. You took it from me in a fight." Draco looked at him imploringly.

"Yes, I do, and yes I do. It's yours and you deserve it. Call it a partial payment on what I owe you for what you did. I'm getting married in a couple of weeks, and I wouldn't be if you hadn't done what you did."

"Yeah, well you saved my life a couple of times too, even if you did almost kill in sixth year," Malfoy smirked. "You mentioned a mutually beneficial proposal Potter?" He slipped the wand inside of his robes. "I do hope you aren't planning to propose to me, because I can tell you right now that I don't go that way."

"Very funny Malfoy," Harry smirked. "Look, I need your help. You have contacts in places that I don't. There's something going on, and I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to solve it alone."

"Saint Potter is asking for my help? I thought you were the one man wrecking crew of the Wizarding world? How did this come about?" Malfoy drawled, his aristocratic sensibilities shining through.

"Contrary to what you might have read in a Rita Skeeter article Malfoy, I was never half as good as everyone made me out to be. I had help almost every time I accomplished something, and I had a damned sight more luck than I ever thought possible." Harry shook his head. "Look, if you don't believe me, ask Hermione or Ron, they'll tell you.

"I lost too many people that I cared about in this war. I don't want to lose anyone else. To keep that from happening I'm finding that I have to rethink a lot of my priorities. If that means accepting help from you, so be it." Harry scowled at his long time nemesis.

"So talk to me Potter, tell me how I, a lowly Slytherin, can be a help to you."

"I'm starting up a business in Hogsmeade. The new Minister wants me to enroll in the Auror Academy, but I don't think that is a wise idea until he proves to me that he's weeded out the corruption in the system. I'm giving him a year to show me he has, and then I'll consider it. In the meantime, I'm starting up a private detective agency. I was going to call it Potter Investigations, but I would consider calling it Potter and Malfoy, Private Investigators."

"Now why would you do that?" Malfoy asked. "Don't get me wrong, it sounds intriguing, but we can't stand each other."

"We don't have to like each other. I think you'll find me a cunning ally Malfoy. Look, I've never told this to anyone but Dumbledore. The sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin." Harry turned away for a moment, comporting himself. He turned back to Malfoy. "You need to establish yourself. I need a partner with your qualifications. If after a year I decide to become an Auror, I'll let you buy out my half of the business at a loss, just for the trouble of having to go it alone. It would be worth it to me to be able to deal with this."

"And just what is this?" Malfoy inquired.

"Oh no, I tell you if and when you agree to terms and we sign a contract. Tell you what, to sweeten the pot I'll throw this in. Call me as a defense witness at your trial. I'll make sure that I'm there. Face it Malfoy, I'm the only one left that knows what really happened when you defected, and you need me just as much as I need you."

"Let me think about this Potter. How long can you give me?"

"When's your trial?"

"August tenth. They're trying all three of us together. Damn it, you're right. I do need your help," he spat out.

"I'll be there. I will testify as a defense witness. I can't promise that I can get your Dad off, he did do a lot of nasty business to me, and to a lot of others as well, but I will tell the truth about what happened." Harry looked at him for a moment.

"Meet me in the Hog's Head on the thirtieth. I'll have contracts there and you can look them over. If you aren't satisfied with them, we'll discuss any proposed changes, or you can walk away. Regardless, I'll testify at the trial." Harry turned to walk out.

"Just a moment Potter, one question: why would you do that?"

"Because it's the right thing to do Draco," Harry said as he continued out of the cubicle.