- Harry… Harry… Harry? – The older woman was trying to get Harry's attention, but it seems like he was spacing out.
Harry quickly realized what was going on and quickly got back to reality, the dark-haired man looked at the older woman with a confused expression and shook his head as fast as he could, he didn't want to look like an idiot in front of Amelia.
- I'm sorry Amelia… It's just that… You look amazing tonight! – Harry told her and those words surprised the older woman.
Harry quickly felt his cheeks getting red, this was too embarrassing, he voiced his thoughts without thinking twice, Amelia smiled at him, he was too cute.
- Thank you, Harry… I could say the same to you… You look fantastic tonight – Amelia said as she approached him.
Harry took her hand to help her walk down the stairs that were in the mansion's door.
- Don't misunderstand me, I mean at the way you're dressed tonight – Harry was a little disappointed after he heard those words – Because you look handsome every day – Amelia winked at him.
Harry blushed deeply after she said that, he couldn't believe that the minister could say something like that to him, but he was happy to hear those words coming out of Amelia's mouth, it seems like tonight the destiny seems to want him to feel embarrassed, he sighed before he stared directly at Amelia's eyes.
- Oh those flowers are beautiful! – Amelia voiced out as she looked at the bouquet of roses that Harry was carrying with his other hand.
The younger man quickly shook his head, he tried to get his calm mind back, he smiled at Amelia.
- I'm glad you like them… These are for you! – Harry said before handling the older redhead the flowers that he managed to transfigurate a few moments earlier.
- Thank you, Harry, you didn't have to do that! – Amelia quickly took the flowers and smelled them without any care in the world.
- It's not a problem for me, trust me… - Harry said embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his head.
- Well then, shall we go already? – Asked Amelia calmly and Harry nodded at her.
It was already time for them to get to the party, they felt that they were getting late, and there was no way that the minister, the most important person after Harry Potter in terms of popularity could get this late, they grabbed each other's hands and apparated away from the minister's home.
A few moments later and they landed outside of a big and fancy saloon, Amelia felt a little guilty for celebrating in a place as luxurious as this after all the struggles in the war, but the group that organized this party was obsessed with celebrating it here.
- Let's go, Harry, I'm pretty sure that many people are already waiting for us – Amelia said to Harry who just nodded.
They didn't waste any second, they entered into the saloon as fast as they could, as they passed through the halls, many people were greeting them, Harry and Amelia smiled at the other people, many were happy to see them like that.
Many people speculated that Harry and Amelia were more like lovers than colleagues, some of them liked the idea, the minister dating the most powerful man in the world made them feel safe, if they would end up as a couple, the possibilities could be endless, they could be a power couple that no one will be able to stop.
Not only the important leaders of the families were here tonight, but the leaders of the other races were here too, some of them couldn't come but they sent their regards and due to the problems of communication of giants, they decided to send Hagrid to act as an ambassador or something like that, the tall man raised a glass and smiled once he saw Harry, but Amelia and Harry were suddenly approached.
- Hello you two – Harry and Amelia were in the middle of the dance floor greeting some people when they were suddenly approached by an older blonde.
The blonde was alone, she was wearing a blue tight dress with yellow high heels, she was smiling at the pair.
- Narcissa… It's such a pleasure to see you here – Amelia said with a soft smile on her face, Narcissa was smiling at the minister too.
But inside those smiles, there were more things that it looked like right now, they were hiding what they were feeling, but Harry was unaware of the attitude they had towards each other.
- Thank you for inviting me minister – Narcissa said with a soft smile on her face as she continued smiling at the redhead.
- Don't even mention it… After all, even after all the things that had happened, I couldn't deny the Malfoy family the chance to redeem themselves – Amelia said with a calm expression.
But those words were like a sting for Narcissa, the minister was mocking her, she was trying to put her in her place and she was doing it calmly, she reminded them about their past mistakes.
- Mother… I've finally found you! – Another man joined them.
It was a blonde man around the same age as Harry, he was dressed in a white suit, he sighed as he looked at his mother.
- Hey Potter – Said the blonde with a serious expression.
- Hey Malfoy – Harry returned the greeting.
Harry remained calm while Amelia talked with Narcissa, but the Malfoy heir was sensing the tension that was rising, as they were close to the drinks table, Harry was just enjoying a glass of whisky.
- How can you be so calm? – Asked Malfoy to the Potter.
- Uh? – Harry didn't understand what he meant by that, he looked at the blonde with a confused expression – What do you mean? – Asked Harry not knowing what Malfoy was implying.
- Come on… There's no way you can be that blind – Malfoy mumbled with a hint of anger in his voice.
Harry was still confused, he was starting to think that Malfoy was going mad, he continued focused on his drink, he decided to ignore Malfoy and his weird ideas.
- Hey! I'm talking to you, don't ignore me! – Complained the blonde and Harry sighed.
- What do you want for me Malfoy? I just want to enjoy my drink – Harry complained.
- Wake up Potter… Pay more attention to what happens around you… It's obvious that my mom and the minister are fighting… There's a silent rivalry between them – Malfoy mumbled.
He was still worried about the outcome of this, Narcissa and Amelia were chatting happily, but Draco knew that it was just a façade, they were thinking about destroying the other, this civil talk was just an excuse to get to know their rival better or to find a better way to humiliate the other.
Draco has been a witness of this kind of situations lots of times before, he's used to dealing with fake people that only want to get on your side because you have money, that's the thing that made his father end up locked in Azkaban, the dark lord promised him that he was going to get anything he wanted, but he needed his father's support.
- What? But, why would they fight? – Asked Harry confused he was starting to sense that things were getting weird between the two older women.
- It's obvious what's going on here… - Harry gulped at Malfoy's words – Mom is jealous that you get along better with the minister than us! – Draco looked at Harry angrily – The minister seems to favor you instead of us… The great Malfoy family… Mom is trying to show her why she's wrong for not treating us in the way we deserve! – Draco said completely angry.
Harry looked at the women for a few moments, and he decided to leave them alone, all these were just rivalries and a fight of egos between the upper class of magical Britain.
Harry sighed, that seemed like such a stupid reason to fight, he decided to not give them enough importance, he concentrated back on his drink, it wasn't his fault that the minister liked him better than them, he did what he could to save them from Azkaban, he couldn't do anything to save Lucius though, and he didn't regret that choice, he was happy that he couldn't help that bastard.
Meanwhile, Narcissa and Amelia were laughing at each other's joke, but it was a fake laugh.
- Seriously… You surprised me tonight… Seeing the way you and Harry are dressed tonight one would think that you both are dating – Narcissa slapped the minister shoulder softly before laughing.
Amelia remained in silence for a while but a few moments later she started to chuckle softly.
- It's true… We look good together – Amelia said with a soft smile before she looked at Harry who smiled at her back.
Narcissa was starting to get angrier after she heard Amelia's implication.
- I don't know what are you trying to do Amelia… But I think that you should think before you cross the line between friendship and love with Harry – Narcissa said a little angry.
Now, this was the time in which Amelia decided to look at the blonde, she was also serious, Narcissa was implying some things that she thought she could hide very well, but it seems like the blonde was more cunning than she previously thought.
- And what if I try to do it? There wouldn't be a problem, I mean… I'm single, he's single – Amelia smirked at the blonde who seemed to get angrier and angrier with each word that the redhead voiced out – And overall… Neither of us has children, I think we would look good together – Amelia mocked the blonde.
- Stop with that… You're older than his mother if she'd been alive! – Narcissa complained and Amelia didn't say anything – Harry did lots of things for us, for my family… He saved us from spending the rest of our lives locked up… Without his testimony, they could have thrown us without thinking twice – The blonde said in a sad tone – That's why I want to protect him from getting his heart broken – Narcissa confessed and those words surprised the older redhead.
Amelia remained in silence for a while, she continued staring directly at Narcissa's eyes who didn't know what else to say after saying those words, but Amelia just made things get weird between them, she started to clap at the blonde who was getting confused as realized what the minister was doing.
- What—Narcissa was about to ask, but the cold look that Amelia had right now made her hold her words back.
- I'm surprised Narcissa, that's all… I think that you should participate in plays or something like that, after all, your family needs the money, working at the theater will help you with that… You were pretty good with this act – Narcissa was scandalized after Amelia said those words, she tried to look as if she didn't know what the redhead meant.
Amelia smirked at Narcissa's reaction, this was the way she was expecting the blonde to react.
- You can't fool me Narcissa... I know that your family is on the verge of bankruptcy… And I know that you're capable of doing anything to get what you want – Amelia said with a slight smirk on her face – I have zero doubts that you were planning on seducing Harry so you could get back that rich lifestyle that you and your son used to have… Forget about it – Amelia was getting ready to get with Harry, but Narcissa wanted to continue arguing.
- This isn't over, do you understand? I won't let you have him! – Narcissa said angrily to the minister.
Amelia remained in silence for a while, she rubbed her forehead and looked at the blonde with a cold expression.
- Well then… Good luck… You will need it – That was the last thing Amelia said before giving the blonde her back as she walked to the other side of the room.
It didn't matter what she would say to her, Amelia wasn't going to look back, Narcissa wanted to make a scandal, a scene, but she quickly remembered that she was at an important place, surrounded by many important and rich wizards, she couldn't afford herself to make a scene.
Amelia was angry and frustrated, she walked towards where Harry was, and then she was surprised by the younger man who decided to handle her a glass of vodka, she drank the thing as if it was water, which surprised Harry.
- Come on… Take as much as you could, I don't know what happened back there, but your face was telling me that you needed this – Harry said with a soft smile on his face.
Amelia looked at him for a few seconds, she felt a little ashamed after that little problem with Narcissa, Harry didn't say anything else, he knew that Amelia was angry, she had reacted like that many times before, during their trips, he knew that he needed to give her time to think clearly, she was too angry so, forcing things wouldn't end up well.
Amelia took another glass of vodka and drank it as fast as she could, she was going to tell Harry something, but then, all the lights disappeared except for one, and this was lighting Amelia, she was the center of attention now and everyone was looking at her.
- Excuse me, Harry… It's time for my speech – Amelia mumbled to the younger man who nodded at her.
Amelia gulped, she felt a little nervous, it's true that she was used to giving speeches, but this was the first time she was doing it in front of many important people, she had zero tolerance for mistakes right now, and that made her feel a little nervous, she conjured the sonorous spell so the whole room could hear her.
- Hello everyone… Ladies and gentlemen... I hope you're having a great time here at this humble party – Amelia said with a hint of sarcasm and almost everyone laughed.
They liked the irony, this party was everything in the world but humble.
- Well well, now speaking seriously… I'm glad that you're all here tonight – Amelia said before sighing – This year, it has flown… And many things have changed in our country and all those things are good for our progress – Everyone smiled after she said that – There's no such thing as perfection, I know that, but we're still working trying to restore the peace in this country that all of us love – Amelia said happily, she was genuinely happy this time.
She couldn't help but look at Harry for a few moments, he was raising his glass and smiling at her, she felt motivated to continue speaking.
- I hope that we can continue working like we've been doing this year, the war did so many bad things to us but also… It taught us lots of things, for example, to never take things for granted, that's why I want to thank you all for your constant support, without you, this wouldn't be possible – Everyone cheered at her words – Well then… Now that we're in the same mental state, why don't we start this party? – Amelia walked towards Harry and offered him her hand.
The green-eyed man was taken by surprise, he quickly remembered that they had to do the opening dance, and suddenly, he felt as if he was being back at Hogwarts, more specifically at the tri-wizard tournament.
***UPDATES***
Chapter #7 (Final): patr3on,com/mind_ctrl94