Okay, first I want to get something off my chest that has been bothering me for a while now before starting with the next chapter. This goes to everyone who leaves insulting and offending comments: If you don't like my writing style or how the story progresses or even the whole story in general just stop reading. You're reading this voluntarily; no-one is forcing you. So please stop being mean about it. Everyone has their different taste in story-telling and if I can't meet yours, then go and find another story you enjoy more than mine. Don't make me report your review for abuse as it so beautifully says in the comment section. Thank you.

Harry63 – Wow. I spot a reading marathon :D Thank you for all of your comments! I will definitely continue writing this story, don't you worry about it. I'm curious as to what happens next as well ;D *smirks*

On with the chapter! Enjoy :D

Magical Energy

"We need to have a word with you. Or maybe two. It could turn out to be three as well," he continued, strolling after his wife and into Vernon's very normal hallway, "and we need you two to give us your undivided attention," he pulled out a long, brown stick and flicked it towards the front door, causing it to slam shut. "We need you to listen without interrupting us," he twitched the stick towards the inner part of the house to cause Petunia's stuttering words to break off immediately, "and we need you to know that we are more than furious."

Vernon gulped, his eyes widened as he saw the man move further into his house towards the kitchen and living room.

Harry scratched his head as yet another surge went through his body. He had no idea as to what was going on. In one moment he was standing in front of his wardrobe wondering what he should wear to his date with Hermione and in the next he was sitting on the floor feeling slightly dizzy. Was he getting a cold or something?

It was the weirdest feeling in the world, like something was attached to his body and was pulling with all its might. No, Harry thought. Not attached to his body. It was like it was something in him – like his bones wanting out? No, that sounded wrong as well. He had no idea what it felt like because he had never experienced anything like it before, making it difficult for him to put it into words.

He shook his head, hair flying everywhere and glasses sliding down his long nose. It didn't matter now anyways. It was probably some kind of wizard's flu or something. He had no clue if something like that existed, but keeping in mind what did exist, he wouldn't be surprised if this was something as common as hay fever.

Harry picked himself up off the floor. He needed to get a move on or otherwise he would be late for the date that had been his idea and Hermione would make sure that he would regret dawdling.

*~*HP*~*

Hermione smiled as she saw the familiar mob of black hair swaying in the wind, quickly followed by a glint of sunlight reflecting off of his round spectacles. It was nice to not be recognised and followed everywhere for once, she thought, sighing contently as she took in the street leading to the Muggle restaurant she was standing in front of.

A soft voice made her turn her head to her left. "Hey," he said, leaning forward to softly kiss her lips. Hermione hummed approvingly, enjoying the simple, yet sweet gesture.

"Hey," she answered, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

She knew it was ridiculous to still feel giddy like a love-sick teenager whenever he kissed, touched or just looked at her, but she quickly shook her head. It was good to still be head over heels in love, wasn't it? This was different than with Ron. This felt real, like it would like a lifetime and then some. That thought made her heart beat calm down and a pleasurable warmth spread through her body. Thinking of Ron still made her uneasy and intellectually she knew that she would eventually have to face that topic again, but it made her feel weak and vulnerable; a feeling she didn't like. She knew that nothing would happen to her ever again, Harry would make sure of that, but still. She couldn't help but feel insecure.

As Harry made his way through the people mingling and chatting on the streets, he took his time to take in her whole being. She was still in her blouse and skirt combo, sporting uncomfortable-looking and scarily high heels, but he couldn't help but feel his stomach flip at the sight. Hermione had always preferred flat shoes, not feeling comfortable and safe enough to trust the peace the world was at, always reading to run and fight, so seeing her in those scary-looking shoes was quite the treat that he knew to appreciate.

"How did the interview go?" he asked, seeing the glazed over brown eyes snap to him and the far-away look to disappear.

"It went well, I think," pulling the strap of her handbag back over her shoulder, she took his hand and let him lead her into the restaurant. "First they were acting like everyone else does when they talk to me. I don't know who they thought would come to the interview, but apparently my name on the invitation they had sent me wasn't enough of a warning. They asked questions about anything but the job itself. 'Why have you not applied to the Auror division, Ms. Granger?', 'Why have your friends, the rest of the Golden Trio, not applied for the Auror programme?'" she shook her head disapprovingly and smiled as a laughing Harry pulled back a chair for her to sit in.

"Anyway, as they got over the fact that my name and my friends are common knowledge," Harry snickered, "they finally started asking why I was so interested in working for the Department for the Restriction and Control of Magical Creatures, which led to a lengthy discussion about how the laws concerning house elves need to be revised. But I still got out of there in time to make it here and since I wasn't late and they seemed to actually be interested in what I had to say about the welfare of the elves in particular, I'm quite positive that it went well. At least I hope so. And," she continued, twirling some spaghetti that Harry had ordered during her monologue onto her fork, "if they actually think I might be the right person for the job, I will start working on picking apart the stupid prejudices people have about werewolves. Seeing Remus suffer as much as he did was too horrid to actually allow the mistreatment of werewolves to be a normal and acceptable thing. If I'm in the position to do some good, I will do my best. For Remus. And Teddy."

Hermione took a deep breath, causing Harry, who had silently listened to his girlfriend's rant, to chuckle, amused.

"That was one hell of a speech," he said and pointed his fork, complete with a piece of beef pierced onto its teeth, at Hermione, "and I would be very surprised if they didn't see your potential. Want to bet that you'll have a job come next week at the latest?"

Harry smirked at Hermione's blush and bit into the now rather cold piece of beef.

"You think so?" She looked down onto her plate absentmindedly twirling the spaghetti onto her fork. "You don't think I overdid it? I mean," she cleared her throat and looked up at Harry who was mid-cut into his steak and froze at her worried gaze. "I mean, you know how I was at Hogwarts," she continued, voice speaking softly.

Harry had to watch her lips in order to fully understand what she way saying. Her low voice made sure no Muggle in the restaurants could hear her, but it also showed, despite how confident she had seemed just a moment ago, how insecure she still was.

"Bossy, know-it-all Granger," she muttered, solely focussing on the food in front of her. She had lost her appetite. "What if I overwhelmed the with it all or what if they thought it to be a naive point of view or saw it as an attack of some sort or –"

"Hermione."

The anxious witch looked up at the bespectacled man in front of her, tears visible in her chocolate eyes.

"Showing so much passion and interest in a topic, no matter what topic," he added, successfully making her shut her mouth and listen, "is something positive. The people you're talking to don't necessarily have to agree with you. That is not what is important for them. They're not looking for someone who has the exact same views on the world as they do. What would happen to any kind of company, Ministry or not, if all of the employees were of the same opinion? There wouldn't be much of a future for said company anymore. Different points of view are important, especially for an institution such as the Ministry of Magic. So what you being passionate about a subject tells others is that you get invested in it, that you care about something enough for you to speak up and that is what an employer is looking for."

Hermione still looked doubtful, so Harry tried another method.

"Okay," he said, pushing his half-eaten meal away from him and leaning forward, "imagine a Quidditch team."

Hermione snickered, rolling her eyes lovingly at her boyfriend.

"I'm trying here," he said, allowing himself a short second to grin before he got serious again, "imagine a Quidditch team, playing after the same strategy time and time again. At first, they might be successful because everyone in the team knows what they're doing and what they are supposed to do. The opposite team, though, figures their strategy out. They know each and every one's weaknesses and since our team's captain remains stubborn and holds onto the old strategy, our team starts losing game after game until, one day, a new captain gets assigned and takes over the team's managing and starts training them differently. They start practicing different moves that lead to their first win in a long while.

"You see? Different points of view on a certain matter aren't always a bad thing. The team might not agree with the captain at first, but after one match or two they will see how much better their new tactics are. They might even want to mix them with the old and traditional ones that made out their team's style of playing. Now, I'm not saying you should immediately take over the Ministry," Hermione laughed out loud, nearly choking on her water, "but I'm not saying that's not a possibility in the future."

He winked at her.

After a short while, the bushy-haired witch smiled at her boyfriend, tears again glistening in her eyes; this time for a different reason.

"Thank you," she said in earnest, reaching over the table and taking his hand in hers. "You are amazing, you know that?"

"You are more so. You're an incredibly strong woman. You just don't give yourself enough credit." He squeezed her hand gently as he waved for the waiter. She would understand and accept it eventually, he figured as he paid for their half-eaten meals and assured the worried waiter that nothing had been wrong with the food and to tell the chef that it had been delicious and they would come again very soon.

As he stood up, waiting for Hermione to pick up her handbag, a surge of dizziness hot him so violently that he started to sway and had to quickly grip onto the table for support to keep himself from falling over. White spots invaded his field of vision which he desperately tried to blink away, accompanied by a swooshing sound that made it difficult to hear anything apart from it.

"Harry!" Hermione dropped her bag and hurried to the other side of the table which her boyfriend was grabbing onto for dear life. His knuckles were turning white from the sheer force of his grip. She quickly grabbed hold of his other arm, trying to steady him somehow. "Harry, what's wrong?"

It didn't seem as if he could hear her. His face was pale and had an unhealthy sheen to it. His eyes were clenched shut and the hand she was clutching in hers was cold and trembled ever so slightly.

"Are you alright, Sir?" a waitress asked, looking worriedly at the unresponsive wizard before her. "Do you want me to call an ambulance?"

"No," Hermione squeezed Harry's hand, feeling it move slightly in hers. "Thank you, but it will be fine. I'll get him to a doctor myself. Come on, Harry," she added softly, as she took her handbag the waitress had picked up off the floor and started to slowly move her boyfriend out of the restaurant, hoping that the Muggles would soon stop staring.

As soon as she had managed to manoeuvre the trembling man into a small alleyway, Harry slid down the wall onto the floor, put his head in between his legs and tried to breathe. What was happening to him? This wasn't some kind of flu, this was something bigger, he thought numbly as he slowly started to feel the dizziness subside and his hearing to return to normal. He was shivering and his whole body was covered in a thin layer of cold sweat.

"Harry," Hermione's voice had him slowly raise his head and lean back against the hard brick wall of the building behind him. He had no idea how they had gotten into this alleyway, but right now that wasn't his main concern. "Harry, what's wrong?"

Warm hands grabbed onto his shoulders as the worried face of Hermione appeared in front of him as she knelt down.

"I don't know," his voice was weak as he tried to put the indescribable incidents he had had all day into words. "It started earlier today. I don't know how to explain it, really, but it felt as if something pulled something out of me that isn't meant to be pulled out. Something like that. I don't know. It sounds stupid, I can't explain it. All I know is that it happened twice today but never as strong as it did just now."

Hermione's pale face pulled into a worried frown as she reached into her bag to pull out her wand. She mumbled something under her breath and waved it over him in an elegant twirl. If Harry hadn't been as tired as he was, he would have paid enough attention to identify the movement as a diagnostic charm.

"You're totally exhausted," she said, wide eyes on the deep orange light his body had started to emit.

"Oh, really. I wouldn't have guessed," Harry deadpanned and scowled at his girlfriend.

"Stop rolling your eyes at me, Harry, you know that's not what I meant!" Hermione clicked her tongue disapprovingly as she gently helped him stand up and motioned him to grab onto her arm, moving to apparate them back home.

"I meant your magical core. It is nearly completely depleted."

At least one of you has figured out what is happening with Harry on AO3 xD (even before I had this chapter fully written)

Next up: Jily vs Dursley. Who will win?

I hope you liked this chapter! Until next time - see ya! :D