Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

So, I decided, hopefully to the satisfaction of you all, to redo a bit of it. Read it, and you will find a new minister of magic, who I think would please at least one of my readers more. Small detail changes, but that's about it.

Thanks to indiegurl2008, who is my beta reader. She will read this chapter this time, and I am sure it will be much better. (Can't do it without you, indiegurl!)

Enjoy. And please tell me how much better or worse this one is than the last chapter 26

Chapter 26: Ministry Elections and Celebrations (Redone)

Harry was being watched over again night and day. No one had ever seen Severus Snape more watchful and concerned for a student before. It was almost like watching a father and son. Almost. Snape would not admit to anyone that he felt compassion and pity for the poor boy.

Harry woke up the next afternoon to loud noises from downstairs. No one was in his room at the time, so, acting simply as he normally would, he reached over to the table beside his bed, and put on his glasses. He stood up, more slowly this time. He felt the strength return to his body as soon as his feet touched the ground. He trudged slowly to the end of his bed and pulled on a shirt and a pair of pants. He made his way slowly down to the stairs, where he saw a tall red-haired young man getting hugged dramatically by his beaming mother. It was Kingsley Shacklebolt, in the midst of the celebration. "I can't believe it," people kept saying, congratulating and shaking his hand.

Harry decided not to interrupt the happy party with his entrance. He saw Sirius and Remus congratulating Shacklebolt for whatever it was that he had been awarded. Silently, he made his way upstairs unnoticed. Well, at least he thought unnoticed. As he closed the door to his room, someone knocked silently and pushed it open.

"Feeling better?" Came the silky voice of Professor Snape.

Harry nodded. "Much."

"Why did you leave? Didn't you want to congratulate Mr. Shacklebolt?"

"I didn't want to interrupt. It's his special time; I would have been a distraction."

"Do you always have such a negative image of yourself?"

"Not always." Harry paused. "Isn't it odd all that has happened in the past few weeks?"

"It is," Snape agreed.

"In the past year or so, I've really learned how much can happen in just a short matter of time. It's odd really. Most people don't really consider it."

"You're strange, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you," Harry said smiling faintly. "Of course, I could say the same thing about you. And one more thing though: Could you stop calling me 'Mr. Potter' when we're not in school? It's just Harry. That whole Mr. Potter thing is really starting to annoy me."

"Out of school," Snape agreed. "You are still Mr. Potter in class, though."

"Agreed. Are you going to start being more civil to me in class?"

"Not entirely. You're still cocky and arrogant. I won't be as cruel, but I won't baby you either."

"That's fine." Snape looked at him in surprise. "I don't like people giving me special treatment. It gets annoying. You're actually the one teacher who treated me almost like everyone else. I have always appreciated that, even if I didn't admit it to anyone, including myself."

"That's interesting," Snape muttered. "Well, the excitement should have died down by now. Why don't you go down and socialize for a while?"

Harry nodded. "I think I will. Thank you, Professor. For everything, I mean. You've saved me more times than anyone else. I'm indebted to you, you know."

"Oh trust me, you'll pay me back one day." Harry smiled, and then left the room. Snape could hear the excitement from the bedroom, as Harry was welcomed back by all of his friends.

There was a big celebration that night. For one reason, to celebrate Harry's near recovery, (He still had to be careful not to overextend himself.) Another reason was to celebrate Shacklebolt's ministry success. Everybody from the Order was there. Everybody, including Fred and George. They grinned a couple times at jokes made, but they pulled none of their usual pranks. It was sad to see them so depressed and not like their usual selves. Even their mother wished them back to their old ways.

Harry stayed away from mostly everyone except for Ron and Hermione, Sirius and Lupin. They chatted happily nearly all evening. Sirius and Harry talking about plans they would make once Shacklebolt cleared Sirius's name, and Lupin saying how he hoped they wouldn't be up to too much mischief. Harry and Sirius winked behind Remus's back.

Snape stayed in a corner away from the festivities. He was not in a festive mood in the least, and wanted mostly to get away from everyone, although Dumbledore always drug him back when he tried to escape. He noticed when Fred and George left the room, and took the initiative to follow.

They were sitting in the study, not talking, just seeming to be reflecting. Snape approached them cautiously. "Misters Weasley," he acknowledged carefully.

"The bat followed." Fred or George commented.

"I'm not in a partying mood either," Snape commented. "I just decided to come in here for a while."

"You mean to check on us," one said.

"He's getting as bad as our mother," the other one commented.

"Why don't you just go away, Snape. We're not in a socializing mood."

"I agree, George."

"I wasn't going to socialize. I merely wanted to talk to you about what happened."

"We know already what happened, as does everyone else by now" Fred commented. "So, what's to talk about?"

"The fact that I know what you're going through right now."

"You? How would you know anything?" George asked incredulously.

"I was in love once, believe it or not."

"You?!" Fred exclaimed. "You must be joking!"

Snape chose to ignore the tone. "I'm not joking. I was once married and once going to be a father, but that changed. She was stolen from me, and she never had the chance to defend herself, and I wasn't there to protect her."

"Unbelievable," they muttered in unison.

"Most people would say that. But let me tell you something. It does no good to anyone to dwell on it, least of all yourselves. You two are the clowns of the group; the ones everyone expects to brighten the worst days. If you lose your personality, you may just end up like me."

"Now there's a depressing thought," George said, eyes widened.

Snape glared. "All I'm saying is, I become so overcome in grief and despair that I forgot what it was like to be happy. It is really terrible to end up like that. Not that I have ever enjoyed the two of you and your sense of humor, but nearly everyone else does."

"Never thought of that," Fred muttered.

"Of course you didn't. The two of you never really think." With that, Snape turned, and went to his room, leaving a confused set of twins behind him.

"The oddest thing just happened," Fred muttered to Harry when they were able to speak without anyone else listening. "Snape just gave us a pep talk. Can you believe it?"

"A while ago, maybe not. But now I can."

"Mate, it was the strangest thing," George said. "Even if he did make sense." Harry grinned slightly.

Everyone noticed that night that Fred and George's personality changed almost entirely. Harry couldn't help but smile at Snape when he reentered the room later. Snape didn't acknowledge the smile, but he couldn't help but notice the relief on Harry's face. The only bad thing was when they placed and Exploding Egg in the punch bowl before the end of the festivities, but Dumbledore smiled, and everyone else was too glad to see Fred and George happy then to scold them.

&

A/n: Sorry it's short. Tried to get it out soon. Please r/r.