Chapter Four -Trust and Corruption

A/N- Thank you sooo much to all who posted reviews! They are so encouraging, I can't even tell you.

"Harry, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Um. No, not really."

"Hmm. A boyfriend, perhaps?"

Harry looked down at his plate, ears burning. "No. No boyfriend, no girlfriend...nothing."

The man if front of him pursed his lips thoughfully. "Really. You know, when I was your age- and I'll be honest here- I would fuck anything that moved. Men, women, didn't matter to me. Of course, I have calmed down a bit since then. Got married, settled down, you know. Can't live like that when you're in the public eye. Sadly."

Harry didn't know what to say. His evening was turning out to be much stranger than he originally thought. He had planned to meet the minister, maybe eat a little, try to find out if Hogwarts was going to stay open, and leave. Maybe, just maybe, recieve a job offer and leave without promising anything. But there was one thing that he hadn't planned on- the conversation he was having, the conversation he had been having, the way the minister acted around him.

He was honest, direct.

Fatherly, in a way.

In other words, completly unlike Harry had thought he would be.

He had excpected a politician, a Cornelius Fudge version Two. Slimy, silver tongued, an insincere flatterer. Not the man sitting before him. He glanced up from the table at his companion thoughtfully.

Malcolm Winters caught his gaze and held it, blue eyes blazing. The new Minister of Magic was a bit young to be leading the magical world, only forty six, and women all over London mooned over him. Six feet tall, with wavy dark hair flecked with gray, and a strong jaw, he put off a raw, primal energy that was refreshing to many. Since the last minister's assasination, no one thought anybody would step forward to take his place. But then, as if out of thin air, Winters showed up. Took the world by storm.

Now, for all intensive purposes, he is the most powerful man in the world.

And now Harry was having dinner with him, eating, of all things, a hamburger. The minister himself was enjoying a chicken sandwich, wearing a small smirk as he sipped his drink, a pepsi.

He has a sense of humor, Harry realized.

"You know, Harry, you have the look of someone in love. So either you are lying to me, and you do have a girlfriend, or a boyfriend...or you have feelings for someone you shouldn't, someone you are ashamed to care for in that way. Who could it be?" the minister taps his fingers on the table impatiently, eyes boring into the Boy Who Lived. Harry shifted uncomfortably, a vision of Adriana floating before his eyes.

"Who could it be?" he repeats thoughtfully. Harry decided to change the subject and opens his mouth. "Minsister, I-"

Winters holds up his hand, revealing calloused and worn palms. "Harry, Harry. Please. It's Malcolm. If we are going to work together, we must be on a first name basis. I prefer it that way."

Harry's heartrate spead up as he spoke."That's what I wanted to talk to you about...Malcolm. Is the reason we are having dinner because-"

"You know-" the minister spoke as if Harry had said nothing. "-when I was about your age, I had a bit of a, well, thing for my cousin. Can you believe that?" he chuckled as if he had just told a very amusing joke.

Harry's cheeks reddened and he remained silent.

Winters leaned forward suddenly. "You know, my boy, you have been awfully quiet this evening. A lesser man than me could think that you don't like me very much. Or you don't trust me." he narrowed his eyes for a moment, studying Harry critically. "I believe it is the latter," he said at last. "How interesting."

Harry thought for a moment of Lupin's accusations of Winters, saying he was corrupt. "Minister- Malcolm- I don't know what to think of you. You're not at all like I expected you to be."

"What did you think I would be like, then?"

Harry shifted in his seat, an uncomfortable plastic thing that reminded him of the chairs of his old elementary school. "I don't know. More like Fudge, I guess."

"You mean corrupt?"

Harry looked up sharply. "What? How did...I mean, there was never any proof about that."

Winters smiled humorlessly. "One does not need proof after one lives through the initial years of Voldemort's return," he said quietly. Harry was surprised he used the Dark Lord's real name, and he felt himself respect the man if front of him more and more. "He could have done something, as I'm sure you know. Instead, he did...things that made me ashamed of being seen with him."

"What things?" Harry inquired curiously.

The minister looked at him. "You know, Harry, I don't think your distrust of me is completely your doing. You've been influenced by someone else, haven't you?"

"I-"

Winters raised his hand again. "Never mind. I can tell you're uncomfortable."

Harry shook his head. "Min- Malcolm, it's not that I don't like you. It's just..." he trailed off for a moment, wondering what he wanted to say. "...it's just, things have been said about you. Some...people...are suspicious of you."

Malcolm smiled coldly. "Ah. I think I know just what people you are referring to, Harry. I am well aware of the Order's existence, you know."

Harry felt all of the blood drain from his face at the minister's statement. It was impossible. Impossible. "W-what...?" he stammered. He was lying, Harry thought hopefully. Fishing. He doesn't really know anything.

Winters sighed. "I have my sources." he said shortly."It disturbs me that they feel that way about me, Harry. And the fact they are trying to turn you against me, as well..."

Harry blinked. "I don't think they were trying to turn me against you, Min-Malcolm, I just think they were trying to warn me. Prepare me, I guess."

"If we are going to work together, Harry, I need to be able to trust you. I can't be afraid you'll inform them on my every action."

"So you do want to offer me a job, then."

"Of course I do. You have the potential to be very useful for me, as I'm sure the Order has already told you." Harry nodded reluctantly. "But something I don't think they told you...this job will open doors for you, Harry. After working as my personal aid and advisor, you will be able to hold any position in the ministry you want. Maybe have my job one day." Winters laughed. "Wouldn't that be something?"

Harry stared at him, shocked and a little dismayed. Personal aid and advisor...that was more than he even thought about hoping for...He wouldn't just be his little poster boy- he would actually be doing something, something useful.

"School..." was all he could say.

Winters looked down at his lap for a moment before speaking. "I'm afraid Hogwarts won't be opening this year. At least, not in September. Perhaps later in the year, but it's doubtful. I did everything I could...but even I don't have absolute power," he said, true regret echoing in his voice.

Harry was surprised that he felt relatively nothing. Now, nothing stood in the way of taking this oppurtunity. And after what happened with Adriana...

It would be good to stay out of the house more often.

In that moment he made his decision. "Yes," he said firmly.

The minister raised an eyebrow. "Yes, what?"

"Yes, I will work for you. I accept your job offer, Malcolm."

Winters smiled widly, revealing white, even teeth. "Excellent, my boy! Excellent! We must celebrate! Here, I have just the thing..." meal forgotten, he reached into the briefcase he had brought with him and romoved a liqour bottle. "Mmmm...firewhiskey. Have you tried it before, Harry?" his eyes were bright as he took out pair of shot glasses.

Harry grinned back at him. "Yeah, once or twice," he said, licking his lips in anticipation. He had purchased a bottle before the end of the previous year, and had spent much of his stay at Privet Drive drunk out of his mind. He had quite liked the whole experience, and regretted not buying more. And regretted not thinking of the idea of drinking before.

"Excellent!" Malcolm said again, pouring the amber liquid into the glasses and sliding one to Harry across the grimy table.

"To the future!" he cried, raising his glass.

Harry laughed as he rose his own. "To the future!" he echoed, downing the alcohol in one swallow. Malcolm followed suit. It felt pleasently warm inside him after the initial burn in his throat.

"Another?" Malcolm raised the bottle and smiled at The Boy Who Lived aggressively.

Harry laughed again, his head already starting to swim.

"Why not?"

An hour later Harry was stumbling up to the door of Grimmauld Place, the cold night air whipping through his shoulder length black hair. The minister, as intoxicated as him, had apparated him back to his home and had his arm around him.

"I guess this is where we part ways," Harry slurred. His voice sounded loud to his own ears.

"Yesssss..." Malcolm mumbled. He stopped at the doorstep, supporting Harry. "Good of you to take the job." Harry felt his hot breath on his face.

"Good of you to offer it to me. " Harry tried to pat Malcolm on the shoulder, but he was so drunk that for a moment he thought he would miss. In the blink of an eye his hand landed on the minister's arm and he laughed. The world swam around him, and he could barely focus on the man in front of him. "I miss this."

Winters cocked his head comically. "Miss what?"

Harry motioned around, or, tried to motion. He ended up flailing his arms and accidentally smacking Malcolm in the chest. "Ha! Sorry. You know, thissss. Getting wasted. Haven't gotten a chance to lately." He blinked and suddenly the minister's hand was on the small of his back, his touch warm, and he was whispering to him, lips moving, tongue so close to his neck.

"Mmmmm..." he inhaled slowly, savoringly. "I miss this too. You don't know how much, Harry." He blinked again and the minister had let him go, and he stumbled forward, leaning on the door for support.

"Goodnight, Harry!" he called, waving to him from the end of the street.

Harry raised his hand back, and then the minister was gone. He heaved a sigh and stared at the door, heart pounding in his chest. That was wierd...had the minister just...? No. He was too intoxicated to decide anything.

Harry didn't want to go in, not after what had happend with Adriana. He didn't wan to have to face her, not now, not ever.

Hopefully she hadn't noticed anything, hopefully he had jumped off the bed in time. But she would still have questions.

Questions he didn't know how to answer.

Holding his breath, Harry opened the door cautiously. Despite his drunkenness, he was quiet enough not to wake anyone as he ascended the stairs to his bedroom. And then, just as relief was flooding through his viens, he saw that the light in his sister's room was on, and then the door opened, and then she was standing there, with so much of her creamy skin revealed by her pink nightgown, staring at him.

"Harry?"

The Boy Who Lived exhaled slowly and started forward, wishing he had just found some bench to sleep on.

He had a long night ahead of him.

End Ch. 4

A/N- Yay, I finally finished! What did you think of the minister? Reviews, as always, are appreciated.