Harry stood in the center of The Leaky Cauldron, dressed in the exact suit that Cho had asked him to wear, complete with black silk tie. She had told him to meet at eight o'clock.
So, of course, Harry had arrived twenty minutes early.
Still, it was now ten after eight and there was still no sign of Cho. Maybe she was standing him up; some kind of punishment for the way he treated her in school? Harry didn't think that was likely but he couldn't honestly say that he knew Cho well enough to know one way or another whether that was her style.
Harry was especially nervous because the longer he stood there, the more attention he attracted from the tavern. Of course, when Harry had walked into the room, all eyes had locked on him. But after only a few minutes, most of the patrons had returned to their food, only sparing a few darts of the eyes towards him. Now, the fact that he stood alone, clearly waiting for someone while dressed as nicely as he was, was attracting its own attention.
Before Harry could give another thought to anyone else, Cho entered The Leaky Cauldron and Harry's brain stopped operating. Cho would never be confused for a supermodel. For one thing, she wasn't particularly tall. She also lacked the curves that most men seemed to ogle over (she had been quite the athlete at school after all).
But she was gorgeous nonetheless. Cho's dress was ostensibly silver but every time she turned or moved or even if the light hitting her adjusted slightly, the colors the silvery material reflected changed massively, covering every color of the rainbow and even some additional ones. The dress came to just below her knees and was cut longer in the back than in the front, showing off her incredibly toned legs. But the dress' main feature was the back, which was almost completely gone, wrapping from her waist up and around her shoulders, leaving her back open to the world.
If the room had gone quiet when Harry entered the room, it paled in comparison to the hush that fell over the crowd when Cho walked in.
"It's rude to stare." Cho mused gently as she stopped in front of him. "Also, your mouth is open."
"Cho, what the hell?" Harry replied, not even bothering to stop staring.
"I said we were going to a nice dinner."
"Yes, you did but why the hell did we have to meet here? Everyone is going to assume that we're going on a date!"
"Why should I care what they think?"
"You don't have to care." Harry said as he took Cho by the arm and lead her towards the door. Once they were out the door and back on the streets of Muggle London, Harry turned back to Cho.
"But I do."
Cho considered Harry's point for a moment before nodding her head.
"You're right." Cho replied. "I didn't even think about it. I'm sorry."
"It's not a big deal." Harry answered before reconsidering. "Well, it kind of is. It's definitely going to be in The Prophet on Monday morning but we'll survive."
"So you say. I saw what Rita Skeeter did to you during your fourth year." Cho chuckled.
"True but I'm still in the post-Battle honeymoon. No one would dare drum up stupid rumors like that yet."
"That's next week, right?" Cho said, flashing a brilliant smile as she joked with Harry.
"Something like that."
The rest of the brief walk to restaurant was filled with some idle chat about some of their former Hogwarts classmates, much like the conversation at the bar the previous night had been. When they arrived at the restaurant, Harry was surprised to see what was clearly a Ministry of Magic logo on the front door.
"The Ministry gives out permits to restaurants all around London that allow them to serve both Muggle and Magical people. They have to apply for a special permit and they're subject to weakly inspections." Cho said. When she noticed Harry's look, she added: "Don't worry about the logo. It's a rune so the Muggles can't see it."
"I never knew that they did things like that."
"It's not something most people know about. Obviously, most Purebloods wouldn't deign themselves to dine with Muggles and the average Muggleborn doesn't know these places even exist."
"You fall somewhere in between?"
"Sort of." Cho said, walking past Harry as he opened the door for her. "I'm an original. I just don't care."
For a moment, Harry was going to ask what she meant by the word original before Harry realized that this restaurant would likely have Muggles in the front area. So, original instead of Pureblood. It was a simple enough code for Harry to understand.
Harry noticed once they were inside the restaurant that there was a rather large group of people waiting for a table. While Harry wouldn't mind the time to talk to Cho, he was rather hungry as his grumbling stomach so kindly reminded him. However, instead of waiting in line, Cho walked straight through the crowd who waited for a table and approached the maitre'd.
"Sam, I would like my usual table, prepared for two."
"Of course, Ms. Chang." Sam replied, instantly recognizing Cho. "Follow me."
The fact that they were able to skip the entire line made Harry feel for those people who were still waiting their turn. But, on the other side, they had skipped the line and the staff hadn't even looked at Harry. They had gotten through entirely on Cho's reputation.
An incredibly high reputation for someone who was only a year removed from taking her NEWTs.
Her table was in the center of a room that was full of people who were clearly witches and wizards. In fact, one man even had an owl sitting on his shoulder, who he was feeding scraps of whatever was left on his plate. But unlike every magical room that Harry had ever walked into, no one even bothered to turn and look at him.
The look of surprise on his face must have been apparent because Cho laughed at him as they took their seats.
"Harry, these people have bigger things to worry about than your presence."
Sure enough, as Harry looked around, he noticed a few people that he recognized. Tiberius Ogden, Kingsley's Senior Undersecretary, sat in the corner at a table with Gawain Robards and two members of the Wizengamot whose names Harry couldn't place at the moment.
At another table sat John Dawlish, now one of the most Senior ranking Aurors, eating dinner with what appeared to be his wife and two children.
It was clear that this was a place for the magical elite, the cream of the crop.
"Cho, how did you get into this place?" Harry asked curiously.
"My father." Cho replied. "He used to work at the Ministry for years. Department of Magical Transportation, although he had no real knowledge in that field. My father is, above all else, a politician."
"You say he used to work for the Ministry. What does he do now?"
"Technically, I suppose you could say that he's retired. But he's still there, behind the scenes like he's always been. People come and talk to him, ask him for advice or favors. Nothing illegal, as far as I know, but he's the king of backroom deals. It was his job at the Ministry and he's just as good at wielding his influence from outside the Ministry as he was in it."
"I had no idea."
"Despite his popularity and influence, he values privacy or should I say secrecy. He only rarely makes public appearances and even when he does, it's never as the guest of honor. He just shows up, talks to a few people, shares a drink with the host and then leaves."
"I wish I could do that."
"I imagine it is tough to do that when the whole world has their eyes on you." Cho answered. "It's why I wanted to come here. Everyone knows who you are, obviously, but they really don't care. This group will care under two circumstances: if you are useful and if you are powerful."
"For this group, I don't care to be much of either at the moment."
"That's not what I heard from my resources inside the Wizengamot."
The phrase "resources inside the Wizengamot" intrigued Harry. Cho, a relatively new member of the Ministry, was already citing her own agents inside the Wizengamot. It seemed that the apple did not fall far from that particular tree.
"What do they tell you, Ms. Chang?" Harry said with a wicked twinkle in his eye.
"That you have been largely absent from most of the meetings but that when you are there, it is clear that you understand the power that you wield. However, they remain uncertain if that understanding will lead to something positive."
"Why is that?"
"They are not yet sure that you know just how to use it."
"I use it by helping people." Harry fired back. "How else?"
Harry didn't exactly know how to read Cho yet but the look on her face at Harry's comment was not altogether positive.
"The Wizengamot is not something that you just walk in and take over, Harry." Cho said, her voice clipped and clear but quiet enough that no one other than Harry could hear her. "For now, they listen to you and follow your lead. But when the honeymoon is over and the memory of the Battle of Hogwarts is long gone, they'll expect you to help them just as often as they help you."
"Wizengamot members are selected one of three ways. First, they inherit a family seat, much like you did with the Black seat. Second, they are the appointed member from their Ministry department. Finally, they are one of the alloted appointees for each Minister to make."
"I'm aware of this." Harry replied. "You think I didn't do my research before I jumped into that?"
"I've heard that you are a "leap first, ask questions later" type." Cho said wryly. "I know enough about you to agree with that sentiment. In either case, your awareness of it is one thing but if you really want to affect change, you've got to be willing to play their game."
"What if I change the game first?" Harry asked. "I'll always have my seat. I have the resources and the allies to press my advantage now. What if we're able to enact so much change over the next year that we effectively rewrite the rules of the game?"
Cho considered him for a moment before smiling slyly.
"You are the only one that could do that." Cho admitted. "But you will still need help."
"And you know where to get it?"
"Between my father and I, yes."
"Is that why you agreed to this dinner?" Harry said, doing exactly as Cho said and confronting her directly.
Cho opened her mouth to speak but paused before any sound could come out. It was clear based on the fire in her eyes, that she intended to be offended. But as she settled back into her seat, she looked calmer.
"Partially, yes." Cho admitted. "In truth, I agreed to come to this dinner because you intrigue me."
"What?" Harry questioned. That was certainly not the answer that Harry had expected.
"It's why I was interested in you in the first place, Harry, all those years ago. I've lived the darker side of our society: the backroom deals, the private conversations, the money changing hands. Most of it is legal but that doesn't make it right."
"Then, along comes Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. Multiple times during our time at school, the whole world, myself included, turned against you. Any of those times, but particularly the Triwizard Tournament, you could have chosen to walk away and leave us to our fate. Whether there was some kind of prophecy or not, you had the choice to leave the people who didn't believe in you and you didn't."
"Would you?"
"Yes." Cho admitted. "Harry, I don't think you understand just how rare your compassion for others is in our world. If the Chosen One had been almost anyone else, our world would have been doomed. Typically, I found find that kind of generosity boring and highly impractical. It is something to value certainly but it doesn't usually make a person interesting. But you? You manage pull it off. It's clear to the rest of the world that, despite your compassionate nature, you aren't a saint. Not that you're a bad person but you never appeared to be an angel like Dumbledore."
"If you only knew…." Harry muttered.
"I read Skeeter's book."
"Not that it was a valuable resource." Harry added. "There's so much that didn't make it into the book."
"I read between the lines, just like you have to do with everything she writes." Cho countered. "In either case, most people who seem to fight for people like that are a wet blanket. They aren't willing to get their hands dirty and they aren't willing to play the game."
"Who says I am?"
"Because, without anyone asking you, you inserted yourself into the Wizengamot. You could have chosen a proxy and never looked back but you didn't. Now, I know you don't like the game. The fact that your first thought is to alter it beyond the point of recognition says enough about that. But I think my resources, who don't know you personally by the way, don't understand you that well."
"And you think that you do?"
"I don't know you that well." Cho admitted again. "Especially in your more recent years. But I watched you from a distance, just like everyone else did. Those of us that went to school with you and weren't blinded by personal pursuits, petty jealousy or house rivalries, we all saw the same thing."
"And that was?"
"A boy...then, a man who was willing to do what it takes to make the world a better place. Dumbledore's Army is the perfect example of that."
Harry was surprised that Cho, someone who he had barely had contact with over the last two years, had such a favorable impression of him, especially considering how they parted ways. But as Harry looked at the woman across from him, he realized that he could only barely recognize the same sixth year girl that he had dated only a few years earlier.
Gone was the overly emotional girl (although Harry was well aware that he probably should have handled her emotions as well as his own better). Now, she sat tall, confident of what she saw and the words she spoke. The same genuine smile was still there but instead of giving off a somewhat vapid and vacant vibe, it was clear that she felt more secure of herself and of her place in this world.
"What happened to you, Cho?" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself.
Cho didn't answer at first. But when she did, she answered earnestly. Harry appreciated this because she could have chosen not to answer him at all. Instead, for the first time in a long time, she opened up to him.
But unlike the last time, when he had been too lost in the emotions of Cedric's death, Harry was better equipped to handle it.
"My mother was an Auror." Cho whispered. "One of the best, according to everyone who worked for her. Obviously, I don't know much about her work but I do know that she loved it. Just before the Ministry fell, she was on a case and it was big. She wouldn't tell us what it was but over the span of a few months, she quizzed me on some of the people that went to school with us. I think she was trying to put together a case against the Malfoys."
"Everyone knew they were Death Eaters. Why did she need a case?"
"Because after Voldemort disappeared, Lucius got out of prison by saying that he had been placed under the Imperius Curse. He would have done it again if he had been given the chance. As it was, the chances of him remaining in Azkaban long term were small without more than just the Department of Mysteries to go on. When Scrimgeour was killed and Thicknesse took over, he met with my mother and ordered her to stop looking into...whatever it was. Mom came home, packed some bags and said that she was going undercover, that she wouldn't stop until she uncovered the truth. Dad and I, we tried to stop her but she was so damn stubborn."
"Her body turned up in the Thames four months later. They suspect that she had been captured by the Death Eaters or an ally of theirs and tortured for at least a month before she was finally killed and then dumped in the river. At the time, I had been just floating along at an entry level job in the DMLE. With the occupation, there was no sense in trying too hard. I wasn't connected to Voldemort or any of the old Pureblood families in any way. There was no chance for me to get promoted. But, I knew that I could do more and I knew that's what she would have wanted for me. But I also wanted it for her. I knew….well, I hoped that you would come back and beat Voldemort someday. So, I went to my father and offered to be his informant on the condition that he allow me to run his connections with the Ministry."
"I assume that he agreed?"
"Not at first but the first time that I interfered with one of his sources, he realized that I was starting to collect some real sway at the Ministry."
"How? You're still relatively new to the Ministry."
"Honestly, it's my connection to my father." Cho admitted. "My father may not have allied himself with the old guard but he had his ways of working with them. They knew that he knew their secrets and didn't dare cross him. As long as my father stayed silent, they let him be and kept pushing me further up within the Ministry. His connections got me into a lot of doors that would have normally been locked to me. A year ago, roughly about the time that Mother died, I was an entry level employee with the DMLE. Now, I am the primary Wizengamot consultant for the Head of the Department."
"You work with Meredith Breckinridge?"
"I am her chief adviser on all things related to the Wizengamot."
"Sounds like you're a good person to know."
"If you're on my good side, yes." Cho smiled. "Anyway, less talk about work."
"That isn't why you agreed to meet me?"
"I knew we would talk about it but honestly, I said yes because you asked. You went out of your way to connect with me. Even after everything that went down with Marietta, you went out of your way to talk with me at the memorial and then again at the Leaky Cauldron."
"To be fair, my head was swimming this morning so I might have just been too hungover to realize I was being an idiot."
"Still." Cho smiled sweetly. "Anyway, when do you start at the Auror Academy?"
The question shocked Harry slightly. While Harry had already decided that he wasn't going to become an Auror, he supposed that he had yet to make that news public. Considering the fight between McGonagall and Umbridge during Harry's career evaluation (which had become part of school legend despite the fact that only three people had been present), everyone knew about Harry's desire to become an Auror, something he had yet to publicly dismiss.
"Uh...I'm not."
"Really?" Cho asked with intrigue. "Why not?"
"For some reason, I'm a bit tired of chasing Dark wizards around." Harry smirked. "I want to do something with my life that doesn't involve constantly putting my life on the line."
"So, if not that, then what are you doing?"
It was the question that had been running through his head almost every day since May 2nd. Harry knew that simply sitting around with his money was an option, although not one that Harry found personally viable. As much as he loved Quidditch and could certainly get signed by a club somewhere simply for being Harry Potter, Quidditch wasn't something that he saw himself wanting to do in ten years.
So what was he going to do? Harry realized that, for the first time since he had asked the question, he had an answer.
"I'm going back to Hogwarts." Harry said, a rush of warmth coming over him as he realized that he was, in fact, going to be able to go home again. The school that had become the backbone of his life in the magical world would once again be there to support him as he figured out what he was doing now that Voldemort was dead.
"Really? I didn't figure that taking your NEWTs was that big of a deal to you."
"It is when you want to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts." Harry said with a grin. "McGonagall gave me an apprenticeship for two years so that I can finish school and then do my extended education."
"Then you'll be the Defense professor at Hogwarts?"
"If I want the job, yes." Harry replied. "Bill and Fleur Weasley are co-teaching it for two years and then I will take over."
Suddenly, Harry sat in the middle of a dinner with a woman that he only barely knew and finally felt that he had a sense of direction for his life. Relief washed over Harry as he relaxed into his chair, content with the decision that he had made. Obviously, he would have to let McGonagall know in relatively short order that he had accepted her offer.
But that time would come later. For now, he would enjoy a simple dinner with someone who he was interested in getting to know better.
Through dinner (a wonderful fish-based dish that Harry couldn't name if he tried), the pair chatted easily, bouncing through conversation like a Bludger in a hailstorm. They talked about Quidditch and the renewed rumors that Harry and George were trying to buy the Cannons, which just like the night before, Harry had to refute. After that, they pivoted to the number of new shops that had popped up in Diagon Alley since the war had finished.
They ended their evening with a wonderful raspberry sorbet and a talk about a number of their old classmates and what they were doing after they had left Hogwarts.
Upon hearing about Lee and Katie's upcoming wedding, Cho expressed surprise that Katie was marrying anyone. According to some of Cho's friends, Katie had been the subject of a cruel prank the summer after she graduated from Hogwarts.
Apparently, some insidious Slytherins in her year had created a series of letters from a boy that Katie had met from Beauxbatons, inviting her to stay the summer with him before she started her Quidditch career. Needless to say, Katie jumped at the offer, sending him dozens of reply letters, all of which ended up in the Slytherin Common Room for everyone to read.
It had come to a head the day before The Battle of the Astronomy Tower when Katie saw her owl deliver a letter to the Slytherin table. Within a few hours, she had put together exactly what had happened, a malicious plan that had been in the making for months. If she hadn't discovered it that day, she would have likely paid a fair sum of money to get to France, only to find no one there to meet her.
Or worse: a group of Slytherins there to laugh at her plight.
Once dinner was over, Harry escorted Cho back to her apartment, a flat literally across the street from the Ministry of Magic entrance. It was also secretly only two or three blocks from Harry's home at Grimmauld Place but for the time being, Harry neglected to share that information.
As they approached the door to her building, she climbed the steps before turning back to Harry.
"You aren't coming up." she said shortly.
"Of course not, it wasn't a date." Harry said with a smile.
"Right." Cho said, although Harry thought that she didn't seem to believe it. "We should have another not date sometime."
"I would like that." Harry replied, unable to fight back the smile plastered on his face.
"Me too." Cho said before she climbed back down the steps until she was on the same level as Harry, her eyes just under his nose looking up at his.
"I meant what I said, Harry." she said earnestly. "The world doesn't deserve you."
"It does." Harry argued. "The world deserves to have people fight for it. If more people realized that, things might be better."
Cho smiled before popping up onto her toes and placing a small kiss on Harry's lips. When she settled back down onto the ground, her smile changed, a hint of nervousness hiding behind her grinning lips.
"With you leading the charge, I might just believe that."
Harry watched Cho as she turned back up the stairs, unlocked the front door and disappeared behind the wood of the door. For a few moments, Harry stood in place, watching where she had been only moments earlier as he reflected on the night he had just had.
Eventually, Harry turned and walked the short trip back to Grimmauld Place. The whole time he walked, he considered what another night with Cho would look like. It seemed as if life had rotated back to being fifteen years old again. He certainly was interested in Cho, now more than ever.
But, he was also aware that he wasn't certain he was ready for any sort of real relationship at the moment. While things were starting to improve in his life, there was still a part of him that hadn't completely healed from the war yet. If Harry was being truthful, he was worried that it would never really heal: a hole inside of him shaped like all those that he had lost.
That was added by the fact that there was still some confusion on how he felt about Ginny. He did not regret his decision to walk away from his relationship with her. However, because they had both done so amicably, there was no resentment, no anger harbored towards the other. The things about Ginny that he had fallen in love with were still there.
He didn't want to date her but that didn't stop him from having feelings for her.
Harry supposed he was getting ahead of himself. Cho had said that she was interested in another "not-date." While both of them knew what they meant, it was clear by the fact that neither of them had directly addressed that head-on that neither of them were trying to move things too quickly. Harry would certainly go on another "not-date" with Cho and see where things took him.
As he entered Grimmauld Place, he was surprised to see that Hermione was still up.
In fact, it looked like she had been waiting for him.
"Hermione, what is it?"
"Kingsley stopped by about an hour ago." Hermione said softly. "He had a couple of things to tell you but you weren't here."
"I had...dinner."
"A date?" Hermione asked sensitively.
"Sort of? It wasn't not a date...but it definitely wasn't a date either."
"With who?"
"...Cho."
As expected, Hermione's mood shifted entirely upon his utterance of Cho's name. Almost immediately, Hermione looked ready to roll her eyes out of her sockets.
"We're going to do this again?"
"Maybe?" Harry admitted. "She's different."
"Different how?"
"Just..different." Harry said dismissively. "What did Kingsley want?"
Hermione looked as if she was going to press Harry more on his date but chose against it. Instead, she handed Harry what appeared to be an unfinished Daily Prophet.
"You're going to get questions about it so you might as well be prepared." Hermione explained as she handed the paper to him. "Someone at the Prophet caught wind of your deal with the Malfoys."
"And?"
"You're not going to read the article?"
"I could or you could just tell me what it says since you've clearly already read it and then we don't have to waste that time."
"Fine." Hermione scoffed. "The article outlines the deal that you made with Narcissa and Draco. It does not necessarily paint it in a positive light. But it does approve of you going after Lucius."
"It names me specifically?"
"Yes. It's clear that you were brought in to talk with the Malfoys and that you got Narcissa and Draco to fold on Lucius. While it doesn't like your deal necessarily, it does do a great deal into promoting just how much sway you have with the Ministry at the moment. While it doesn't comment directly on that, my guess is going to be that people are going to believe this to be the case."
"Even if it isn't."
"Harry, if Kingsley had fought you on the deal, would you have simply let Kingsley do what he wanted?"
"I don't know. Maybe?"
Hermione smiled knowingly. "Harry, I love you but you have a problem with authority sometimes, especially when they aren't doing what you believe to be right."
"Guilty as charged." Harry smirked.
"Anyway, so that's in there, as is the murder of an entire team of Aurors by a group of fugitive Death Eaters led by Sewlyn."
"Sewlyn?" Harry replied in surprised. "He doesn't seem like he would pull enough weight to get other Death Eaters to follow him."
"That's the last piece of the article." Hermione informed him. "It speculates that Antonin Dolohov is now in charge of the Death Eaters."
"Dolohov is in jail."
"I'm aware."
"So, this article speculates that Dolohov is leading the Death Eaters from behind the bars of Azkaban, which would represent a severe breach of security at the prison."
"It's not impossible." Hermione admitted. "With the dementors gone, Azkaban is being staffed by as many Aurors as they can but it's not enough. With the right money, and Dolohov's family had plenty, he could theoretically be getting messages in and out."
"Well, hopefully, we can get him convicted and then there will be nothing to talk about anymore."
Hermione grimaced at the mention of a conviction. "What is it?"
"The last thing Kingsley talked about. He went before the Wizengamot today and informed them that you, Ron and I would be testifying before them on Monday."
"Monday? That's soon." Harry replied in surprise. "I mean, I knew that he was going to have us do it eventually but I'm surprised he was able to get them on the same page so quickly."
"When they were promised the untold story of Lord Voldemort's defeat, I'm certain they got on board quickly."
"I suppose that's true." Harry replied. "We knew that this day was going to come eventually."
"Have you thought about what version of the true story you are going to tell them?"
"You're referring to my trip to Kings Cross Station?" Harry said cryptically, unsure if Ginny was home and listening.
Hermione smirked. "She's on a date when Neville so we're safe and yes, that is part of what I was referring to."
"What was the other part?"
"Parts exactly. Two things: Severus Snape and...Ron."
"What about them?"
"Let's be honest, Harry. They aren't going to want to hear this story from Ron or I, they are going to want to hear it from your mouth."
"And?"
"Are you going to tell them that Snape was on our side?"
"I haven't decided."
"Are you going to tell them that Ron left?"
"No."
"Then how did we get the Sword of Gryffindor?"
Immediately, Harry realized that Hermione made a good point. Harry was going to have to reveal one or the other. Either he was going to have to tell the truth or create some sort of fake scenario where Ron left, stole the Sword from Snape's office and returned the triumphant hero.
Only one of those stories would pass the test and unfortunately for Ron, it was not the latter.
"Snape gave it to me." Harry replied regretfully. "I'll make sure that is part of the redacted information. The less information available to the public, the less the remaining Death Eaters can know."
"Makes sense."
"I'm off to bed." Harry said suddenly, standing from his seat across from Hermione. "I need to meet with McGonagall tomorrow before we talk to the Wizengamot Monday."
"So you're taking her offer?"
"I am." Harry said firmly. "I feel like I need to complete that last chapter of my life before I move onto the next. Plus, it also gives me a nice step into the next part of my life with the potential to teach at Hogwarts."
"Maybe you'll just stay there forever?" Hermione said, clearly joking although Harry didn't really think that was too terrible a potential future.
"Maybe." Harry answered softly as he left the kitchen, heading towards his room where he fell fast asleep
The next morning, after sending her an owl to confirm his appointment, he walked into Professor McGonagall's office, standing in front of her desk while he waited for the Headmistress to finish working on some document that sat in front of her. Finally, she finished her work and looked up at him, a wry smile crossing her face.
"Mr. Potter, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You gave me time to think about your offer and I have decided to accept it."
McGonagall gave a short smile, looking as pleased as Harry had ever seen her.
Then she replied, "Of course you did."
"You knew I would?"
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think you would say yes." McGonagall reasoned. "When I was told by the Minister of Magic that you were no longer considering becoming an Auror, I took a chance that you would desire to become the one thing that you should have considered from the beginning: an educator."
"Well, I'm glad that you have faith in me."
"I do. However, do not let it be wasted. You have a natural gift for Defense but these next two years will be the hardest of your educational life. If you do not work for the opportunity you have been given, you will fail, no matter how much talent you have."
"I understand."
"You don't." McGonagall countered. "But you will. Now, there is one small matter I would like to discuss with you: your living situation."
"What about it?"
"Being that you are of age, there is the potential that I can grant you some leniency in your living arrangements. Typically, you would still be required to live at the school. However, considering that I am aware of your residence and I know the protections there, I am prepared to offer you a limited exemption."
"Limited? How?"
"You will be able to return to Grimmauld Place or, if you so choose, The Burrow on any weekend of your choosing. Assuming that you provide adequate notice, we can arrange to have that weekend spent elsewhere."
"Why do I have to arrange it with you?"
McGonagall looked at him strangely. "Have you not noticed?"
"Not noticed what?"
McGonagall chuckled.
"They must be doing a good job." she muttered, mostly to herself before looking up at Harry. "Kingsley and Gawain Robards have had a rotating team of Aurors watching your home every day since the Battle. They will remain at that location but an additional guard is being placed around the school until the threat of the Death Eaters has been resolved."
"I'm being watched?" Harry asked, blatantly ignoring everything else the Headmistress had said.
"My boy, what would it look like if you survived Voldemort only to be killed by some random Death Eater. While no one can seem to remember exactly where your home is, Kingsley retained enough of a memory of its general location to place a team outside of it."
"So I'm not being followed."
"Just observed. You are perfectly free to go where you wish but once school starts back up, I would ask that you report your comings and goings to me so I can help the Ministry protect you."
"What if I say no? What if I said that I wanted to live at home?"
"You don't." McGonagall said with a knowing smirk.
"What if I did?"
"Harry, do not think that I am as impressed by your fame as others. Dumbledore, for all of his successes, used this school as a political tool far too often for my liking, a trait I will not share with him. If you are to work for me, and more importantly for the next year, be a student here at this school, you will follow my instructions."
Harry smiled at his professor.
"You got it."
McGonagall looked at him in confusion before nodding her head slightly.
"Mr. Potter, you have changed much in the last few months."
"When you aren't constantly looking over your shoulder, you notice more and you learn some new tricks. All I'm looking for these days is honesty. I wanted to see what you would say if I pushed back."
"Please continue to test me, Potter. It's good to be reminded that those in power need to prove that they are worthy of it more often than just the day they received it."
"Will do." Harry agreed. "So, if I go somewhere other than home or The Burrow, I notify you."
"Yes. Having said that, I will want you to meet with Bill and Fleur privately to ensure that you understand your responsibilities in their classroom."
"Gladly."
"Do you have any other questions for me, Potter?"
"Not at the moment, Professor."
"Then go home. I hear you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."
"How did you hear about that?"
"I had lunch with the Minister today who may have let slip that my future Defense Professor was testifying in front of the Wizengamot tomorrow." McGonagall said with a wink.
"Good to know that he's sharing state secrets with a schoolteacher." Harry countered.
At that, McGonagall and Harry shared a rare and brief laugh. As they finished, McGonagall stopped and looked at Harry seriously.
"We may joke but you need to prepare yourself. The Wizengamot has been easy on you so far but there are still Death Eater supporters in that room. They won't come after you too hard but they will come after you."
"I'm spending the rest of today preparing answers."
"I trust that Miss Granger came up with that idea."
"Actually, it was me." Harry said with a smile. "I don't think I'll ever want to do politics full time but I am certainly developing a better understanding of it."
"Maturation comes with age for some. I'm glad to see that awareness has come for you instead." McGonagall said. "You will receive more information when your Hogwarts letter comes. Until then, Mr. Potter."
Harry returned home to Grimmauld Place and did exactly as he said, preparing for their testimony the following day with Hermione. However, the whole time, a single thought burned in Harry's mind.
Harry Potter was returning to Hogwarts.