This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter universe, which are trademarked by J.K. Rowling. I do not claim ownership of these characters nor the locations such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, etc. that are Rowling's creations.

I thank Rowling for the universe she has created that allows me to do something like this for my own entertainment and, hopefully, the entertainment of the readers.

"Hey," Harry greeted as he walked through the communications centre, bag swung over his shoulder as he strode towards his office.

"What are you doing here?" Cho asked sharply, jumping out of her seat and following him as he passed. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Good morning to you too, Cho," Harry said in a false cheery voice as he dumped his bag behind his desk and started going through the files laying on top of it.

"You're not supposed to come into work today," Cho told him.

"It was a decision, Cho," Harry replied tiredly. "A decision I have reversed my position on."

"It wasn't your position," Cho pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right, screw what I just said," Harry muttered as he walked past her and out of his office, accepting a file from a member of the communications staff.

"Harry, Amos's orders were very specific," Cho continued to argue with him, following him through the various workstations in the communications centre. "He ordered you to take the day off so you could have some time to relax before your wedding day."

"Well that wasn't likely to happen, now was it," Harry retorted. "Morning, Ron."

"Morning," Ron mumbled as he walked past, head buried in a large file.

"Those new polling numbers?" Harry asked as he followed Ron into his office.

"Yeah," Ron replied, not looking up.

"The overnights?"

"Yeah," Ron repeated. "Most of them, anyway. There's some bad weather up north. We're still waiting on Orkney and Shetland, and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross."

"They're both in play," Harry commented, looking at the map pinned up on the wall, both constituencies coloured in red.

"That's what we think," Ron answered, looking up as a member of the communications staff walked in and handed him a file. "Although not anymore," Ron commented as he read through the file, moving over to the map and tapping Orkney and Shetland, the constituency turning blue.

"Incumbents are up 11 in Orkney, up 3 in Caithness," Ron elaborated. "It's likely that neither constituency will change their representative, but 3 percentage points are easy to make up, even in a day."

Harry nodded. "Anything else interesting?"

Ron bit his lip thoughtfully, turning back to his original file. "Alea's dropped a point since last night."

Harry snorted. "Damn, so now she's only 32 points up."

Ron grinned. "Ash Tyler now has a twenty point lead," Ron continued. "David Spence was in a tight race but he's now up to seven points up."

"That should be safe," Harry commented. "I've got to say I was really worried when his challenger drew level a couple of weeks back."

"I wasn't," Ron replied, leaning back against his desk with a smile. "There has never been a more sly and cunning politician as David Spence. There was no way he was going to let himself lose his seat because of a little thing like the invasion of a South American dictatorship."

Harry gave a small smile, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Anything else?"

"Well," Ron said, scanning the file quickly. "Patty Green has pulled away, up 9. Darien Jewel is now down just 2, and with momentum so that could go either way."

"That'd be nice if it went our way," Harry commented. "Getting Forsyth out of the Wizengamot would be a real plus."

"Yeah, and what's more Petrov is gaining on Martel, it's too close to call," Ron added. "Alberts is done, he's out of the game. Mason is down 4, so she might be able to make a late challenge. And Stan Clinton is up 2."

Harry's head swivelled round. "He's up?" Harry asked incredulously. "I thought he was down 5."

"He was," Ron agreed. "But that was three days ago. He's been making steady progress, particularly with male voters in Barnsley." Ron took in a breath. "I know you don't like him, Harry, but if we can get Wilkinson out of that seat-"

"He's no better than Wilkinson," Harry argued. "No, in fact he's worse. We've figured out how to work round Wilkinson but we know nothing about how to deal with Clinton."

"I know, I know. I get it, Harry," Ron said agitatedly. "I get it, I understand. All I was saying was that at least he was getting Wilkinson kicked out and not somebody we actually like." Ron took a breath, watching Harry fume before him. "It's only two points," he consoled. "He's still in the margin for error. He might not win."

"And if he does?" Harry asked seriously.

Ron sighed. "Then we'll figure out how to deal with him," Ron told him. "We'll figure it out Harry."

Harry looked away, biting back a scathing response. "Keep me up to date with the polls," Harry said as he made his way to the office door.

"Harry," Ron called, pulling him back before he could leave. "We'll figure it out."

Harry nodded, before disappearing out of sight, leaving Ron alone in his office. With a sigh Ron rubbed tiredly at his eyes, looking over his hand as he pinched the bridge of his nose to study the map on the wall. Taking the file in one hand, his wand in the other, Ron went to work.

"Hey Neville," Harry said, knocking on the frame of the Deputy Chief of Staff's office door as he peered inside.

"Hey Harry," Neville replied, pausing in his scribbling to look at him. "Aren't you supposed to be at home right now?"

"That's what Amos thinks," Harry replied, walking in and taking a seat across from Neville.

"But you're here anyway," Neville replied.

"Yep," Harry answered flippantly. He glanced over the desk and sighed as he saw Neville raise an eyebrow at him. "Ginny moved to the Burrow this morning," Harry told him. "Something to do with not seeing the bride before the wedding."

"I thought it was you weren't supposed to see the bride in the wedding dress before the wedding," Neville commented. "Or at least it's bad luck to do so."

"Yeah, that's what I thought as well," Harry agreed. "And so did Ginny, but Molly…" Harry caught himself. "Mrs Weasley insisted. Something about bridesmaid central or something."

"It's best not to ask," Neville advised him.

"Agreed," Harry replied. Leaning back in his seat Harry gave Neville a sly grin. "You know Alea has dropped another point over night."

"In our poll," Neville pointed out.

"Alea's got her own polling?" Harry asked, to which Neville nodded. "What does her overnights show?"

"Down 2," Neville answered.

Harry winced. "That's not good," he commented needlessly. "What's that, a five point drop in the last week?" Neville nodded. "That's got to hurt."

"It's getting to her a little," Neville confirmed. "These days it seems like with every body returned from Peru another point is dropped." Neville grimaced slightly. "Still, she's heading for a 30+ point win to retain her seat and at this rate it would take until Halloween for her to fall behind."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "She has nothing to worry about. Your pal, Daniel Harrow, does."

"My pal?" Neville said questioningly.

"Yep," Harry replied with a grin. "You put a galleon on Harrow to win North Derby."

"Oh, I did, didn't I," Neville moaned, putting his face in his hands. "How bad is it?"

"Down 52," Harry commented with a laugh. "I've got to say, that's impressive. Managing to win less than a quarter of the votes is a real achievement, especially when you're running against someone as mind-numbingly boring as Chris Brownlow." Harry glanced at Neville in amusement. "Seriously, what were you thinking?"

Neville sighed. "I thought anyone could beat Brownlow," he complained. "We could have put up a bowtruckle against him and made it a tight race. How was I to know Harrow was such an idiot?"

Harry chuckled. "You need to research these things carefully," Harry told him. "You can't just jump in and hope you've guessed right. That's why I'll be getting your galleon."

Neville grumbled. "How much are you set to win?" he asked mutinously.

"Oh," Harry shrugged, counting up in his head. "About 20 galleons. 25 if Leyton beats Lacey. It's still too close to call but I know Hermione got it wrong to back Lindsay Lacey."

"Well," Neville said grudgingly. "At least I'm not your only victim. Say, how much is Ron due to win?"

"Do you really want to know?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"I think I can imagine," Neville said wearily. "It's a good thing these elections are only once every four years, otherwise the two of you would've run us dry."

"Yeah, that is a shame," Harry grinned back. There was a short pause in the conversation.

"So, what are you planning on doing today?" Neville asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, my schedule is pretty empty," he told him. "I stayed in late to get all my work completed for when I left and Dennis is covering everything else."

Neville nodded in understanding. "Hey, how about you go to this meeting for me?" Neville suggested, rummaging around his desk for his schedule.

"What meeting is this?" Harry asked, sitting up straighter in his seat, interested.

"The BMRA," Neville replied, finding his schedule and pulling it out from under the rest of his files.

"The British Magical Research Authority," Harry acknowledged.

"Yes, them," said Neville. "They're coming in soon and I'm due to meet with them in about half an hour."

"What do they want to talk about?" Harry asked.

"Legalising the imperious curse," Neville responded.

Harry's eyes shot up. "You're serious?" he asked. "They want to legalise the imperious curse, one of the three unforgivable curses for which the punishment for using even once is life in Azkaban?"

"Yes," Neville replied calmly.

"Neville," Harry said exasperatedly. "Why are you even meeting with these people? This is ridiculous."

"Harry, it's the BMRA," Neville stressed. "These are serious people, the leading magical scientists in the country, in the world even. We should at least hear them out."

Harry regarded Neville for one long moment. "Okay, I'll do it," he agreed. "But only because I have nothing else to do. Don't expect anything from this."

"I wasn't expecting anything from this in the first place," Neville admitted, finally finding the file he was searching for and holding it out to Harry. "And if it counts for anything it gives me no pleasure to be passing this off to you."

"There's the pleasure of not having to deal with this yourself," Harry countered.

"Eu Contraire, I was quite looking forward to the meeting," Neville replied. "I thought it might be really interesting."

"Freak boy," Harry said jokingly, accepting the file and getting up from his seat. "I'll be back soon to tell you just how bad this went."

"Have fun," Neville told him, turning back to his work.

"Neville." Neville looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway to his office. "Happy Birthday."

Neville smiled. "Happy Birthday, Harry," he replied. Harry smiled at him before he rapped his knuckles against the frame of the door and walked off, leaving Neville staring out the empty doorway.

"Good morning, Minister," Amos announced himself as he walked into the Minister's office, interrupting a meeting with some finance personnel.

"Ah, good morning Amos," the Minister replied enthusiastically, his attention drawn away from the file in his hands. "Thanks guys, I'll call for you when I've looked through everything."

The finance personnel nodded respectfully before filing out the room, leaving the Minister and Amos alone in the office which today was filled with bright artificial sunlight from the large windows.

"What can I do for you, Amos?" the Minister asked cheerfully, dropping the files on his desk and smiling up at his old friend.

"I just wanted to stop by and let you know that Ron's keeping me up to date on all the latest polling data," Amos told him. "So far it seems as though all the major players are going to keep their seats, from both sides."

"Even Trent?" the Minister asked.

"His lead's been closed down to five points," Amos informed him. "It's unlikely he'll lose his seat but not out of the realms of possibility."

"Right, and you're getting this from the overnights?" the Minister asked. Amos nodded. "Well, alright, keep me up to date as the day goes on."

"Will do," Amos told him, backing out of the room and closing the door behind him. The Minister let out a slightly weary sigh as he slipped his glasses on and started to read through the report from his finance office. He hadn't got far before he was interrupted by a knock on his door.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but Remus wanted to know if you've got a minute," Blaise said as he stepped inside.

"Of course," said the Minister, slipping his glasses off and rising to his feet as Blaise left to get Remus. "Remus, how are you?"

"Good, Minister, really good," Remus said with a smile, shaking the Minister's hand enthusiastically. "I simply can't wait for tomorrow."

"Neither can I," the Minister agreed. "Can you believe it, our little ones are now all grown up. You'd've thought I'd be used to it by now but it always catches me off guard." Remus laughed. "Now, Remus, what is it you'd like to speak to me about?"

"Well, you see, I feel a bit bad asking this," Remus began. "With Harry being on his honeymoon I know you'll be quite shorthanded and I feel a bit bad to be asking-"

"Remus," the Minister cut across him. "Is everything ok?"

Remus smiled slightly. "Everything's fine," he said, seeming to calm slightly. "I just wanted to ask for some time off next week. You see, Tonks won three tickets to England vs Brazil on Wednesday, and Teddy would never forgive me if I didn't come with him."

"Of course," the Minister said, smiling. "I understand perfectly." He paused as Blaise appeared in the doorway again.

"Dennis is waiting for you outside," Blaise informed him.

"Thank you, Blaise," the Minister replied. "Could you tell him I'll just be a second." Blaise nodded and left the room.

"You wanted to talk to Dennis?" Remus asked, getting an idea of why the Minister may wish to speak with him.

"Yeah," the Minister nodded. "We haven't yet had a chance to talk, one on one. I figure it might be a good idea to get that out the way now."

Remus nodded. "I'll get out your way," he said, standing up.

"See you later, Remus," the Minister called after him. "And have fun at the game. The Brazilians are a very exciting team, or so Ron tells me."

Remus smiled before disappearing from sight. The Minister leaned against his desk for a moment, waiting for his next appointment, who made his way through the doorway a few seconds later.

"Dennis," the Minister said warmly, shaking hands with the slightly overwhelmed looking man as Blaise led him into the room. "It's good to finally talk to you properly. It seems ridiculous how long you've been here without me properly welcoming you to the staff."

"Thank you, Minister," Dennis blurted out, seemingly unable to think of anything to say. The Minister gestured for him to take a seat on the sofa.

"Blaise, could you get the door," he asked, Blaise silently doing what he was told and leaving the two of them alone. The Minister moved around to the seat opposite Dennis and let out a big sigh as he settled into it. Shifting slightly to get comfortable, the Minister turned to Dennis.

"Dennis," he said simply. "I am sure you don't need telling what's going to happen after the wedding." Dennis nodded. "We're going to be without our Communications Director, for two weeks, and we're going to need someone to step into the gap Harry will leave during that time. It's a big responsibility."

Dennis nodded again. "I understand sir," he said quietly. "Harry has been getting me caught up on everything he's been working on recently so I'm prepared."

"Good," the Minister said approvingly. "And has he warned you about what will happen over the next two weeks." Dennis hesitated. "I see." The Minister paused.

"Once the Wizengamot elections are completed and we know who's going to be representing the people of our nation we have a transition period," the Minister explained. "Two weeks isn't long, so it is an incredibly busy time for the Ministry, in particular the Communications Director." Dennis gulped. "You're going to have to meet with many many people, Warlocks from the Wizengamot, to discuss what they want to accomplish, where we can work together, what our goals are. Do you follow me?"

Dennis nodded.

"It's a big job, an incredibly important one," the Minister continued. "For new Warlocks this will be their first meeting with the Ministry, and first impressions are key. I'd just like to impress upon you this point, and also point out that, if you need help, there will be some available. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Amos, Remus, they'll all help if you ask for it. So don't be afraid to ask."

"Yes sir," Dennis said, his voice stronger than before. "I understand. I won't let you down."

The Minister smiled. "Well then," he said, clapping his hands together and rising to his feet. "I'll let you get back to work. It's been a pleasure speaking to you, Dennis."

"You too, Minister," Dennis replied and, knowing a dismissal when he saw one, he left the room. Standing by his desk, the Minister watched as Dennis left, silently thinking that he was going to be fine.

"Good afternoon everyone," Harry said as he walked into the Murphy Room, the contingent of men and women inside rising to meet him. "I'm Harry Potter. I hope you haven't been waiting too long."

"Not at all, Mr Potter," one of the men said warmly. He was a short man with a balding head and a thin face. His entire countenance just screamed of academia. "Please allow me to introduce myself and my colleagues. I'm Tobias Pearson, I'm Operating Director for Mental Health at the BMRA. This is my Deputy, Madeline Donaldson," he gestured to the woman who'd been sitting next to him. "My Research Coordinator, Donny Key," he gestured to the youngest of the group, an attractive man with wavy blonde hair. "His Deputy, Clara Reece," he motioned to an attractive young woman in a smart business suit. "Our Finance Director, Howard Church," he gestured to a chubby, grumpy looking man who hadn't even reacted to Harry's arrival. "And lastly our Head Magical Theorist, Phillis Kay." Harry had automatically focused in on Phillis as soon as he'd entered the room, the woman grabbing his attention with the most colourful set of robes he'd seen since he took Luna to Hogwarts Yule Ball back in sixth year.

"Great, well, I'm Harry Potter, the Communications Director for the Ministry of Magic," Harry properly introduced himself. "Why don't we all take a seat." The contingent from the BMRA did so and Harry sat opposite them, watching their expressions of nervous anticipation. "What can I help you with?"

"Ahem," Tobias Pearson cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to be difficult but I was to understand we were to have this meeting with the Deputy Chief of Staff. Not saying that I believe your presence to be anything of an insult…"

"Neville unfortunately has quite a busy day," Harry replied, not feeling insulted in the slightest. "He passed this meeting on to me. So, perhaps we can get down to the purpose of your visit."

Pearson shifted slightly before seeming to gather his wits. "Ah, yes, our proposal," he spoke, licking his licks nervously. "After much debate within the BMRA and much expert consultation with people like Phillis here, the BMRA would like to petition the Ministry for the legalisation of the Imperious Curse for use in medical magic."

There was silence in the room as he finished making his proposal and waited anxiously for a response. Down the entire length of the table the various representatives of the BMRA were waiting on tenterhooks to hear Harry's reaction, even Howard Church, who had yet to do anything since Harry had arrived.

"Why?" Harry asked, his voice breaking the silence in the meeting room. "For what purpose would you use an Unforgivable that could be classified in any way such that it would be of benefit to the one cast under it?"

"Obviously we wouldn't suggest to make the curse legal for just anyone to cast," Pearson said quickly, fidgeting under Harry's steady gaze. "Who could use the spell and what it would be used for would of course be closely monitored by the Ministry, and of course those breaking the law would be punished just as they are now."

"Great, more work for the Ministry," Harry said sarcastically, causing Pearson to flinch back at the response. "I don't care about rules and regulations, we can set those up later. What I want to know is why you think the Imperious Curse should be legal for anyone. What possible benefits could it have and why would it be within the Ministry's best interests to relax the restrictions on this curse?"

"There are many possible benefits to be found from the Imperious Curse," Clara Reece spoke up confidently, the Deputy Research Coordinator flipping her hair over her shoulder as she did so. "For the healing of the mind there is much to be gained from experimenting with this particular spell."

"Obviously we don't know anything for certain," Pearson cut in. "We haven't used the Imperious Curse so we don't know exactly it's effects."

"But you think there are possible benefits?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes," Pearson nodded emphatically, his glasses almost slipping off his nose.

"And what do you expect these benefits to be?" Harry asked, leaning back in his chair pensively.

"Who knows?" Pearson said excitedly and Harry was offered a brief glimpse at just what made him choose medical research as a career. He loved it. "So many of the hardest to combat conditions are the ones which play on the mind. Depression, Insomnia, Attention Deficiencies and even deficiencies such as Dyslexia, Autism, Alzheimers. There are so many conditions that pray on the brain and how we think that it is almost impossible to tackle these illnesses through known magical healing. We are forced to watch patients trapped in their own heads with no way of helping them except to make the material world as comfortable as possible. It, quite frankly, is a poor substitute for actual medical treatment."

Harry sat completely silent as he listened to the man speak, impressed with his passion and drive. It was clear that this wasn't simply an academic exercise to him, this was real. He wanted to help people, whichever way he could. He turned to Phillis Kay.

"Ms Kay, how much of a reason is there to believe that the Imperious curse could be used to help people suffering from mental disorders?"

Kay gave him a wide smile. "There is much of a reason to believe so," she said proudly, her head held high. "Even in its current form the curse can be used to stop people from committing suicide, or for that matter murdering another. I believe, with proper experimentation, the Imperious curse can be modified into a more subliminal form, allowing the user to put the patients mind at ease until it is able to tackle its illnesses on its own."

Harry nodded. "Is there any current work done on this particular use of the Imperious curse?"

"The Germans had a trial," Research Coordinator, Donny Key, spoke up. "Theirs was an investigation on how the curse could be utilised in law enforcement and was focused mainly on the aim of providing the German Auror Force with informants within criminal groups in such a way that not even the informants themselves realised they were passing on secrets to the GAF."

"What were the results?" Harry asked. Key hesitated.

"On the most part the experiment was a failure," he admitted. "The necessary strength of the Imperious magic was unknown due to a lack of past experimentation. The informants either were caught by their fellow gang members or became aware that something had been done to them that was affecting their day to day life. All subjects of this trial were killed after a while."

There was silence in the room again, the researchers from the BMRA looking more worried than ever off the back of Key's admission. Harry remained still as he took this all in, his finger tapping gently against the hardwood table as he stared off into space. Eventually he straightened up.

"For this to be feasible there will have to be incredibly tight restrictions," he warned the researchers, who all perked up suddenly at his words. "Who has authority to use the spell and what they can use it for will be strictly bounded. All records will have to be kept up to date and completely comprehensive. All work must be monitored by impartial outside observers to ensure that this opportunity is not abused."

"So, are you saying you are willing to think about this?" Pearson asked hopefully, leaning forward in his seat.

Harry sighed. "We've got to put it in our pockets for a while," he admitted. "It's the Wizengamot elections tomorrow, no one's going to have time to listen to you and hear you out." Harry stood up. "Get an appointment for after the election's over," he told them. "I'll bring some of my colleagues along and then we'll really get into it." He nodded politely to the assembled researchers before leaving the room.

"Are you going to go home now?" Cho appeared by his side immediately, although he was hardly surprised by her sudden appearance.

"Why would I do that?" Harry asked smoothly, continuing on through the hallway with Cho hurrying along at his side.

"You've finished with your meeting, you have no other work to do here. Just go home," Cho implored him.

Harry shook his head. "There's still a lot more to do," he informed her. "This is the Ministry, there is never a moment where work is done, just brief pauses where we choose to eat and sleep instead. Hey Ron, any new polling data?"

Ron glanced up as he spotted Harry coming from an adjacent hallway. "A lot of new polling data," he replied, a large file held open in his hands. "In fact, many of the constituencies have had several different polls since the overnights."

"And?" Harry asked, the two falling into step, Cho huffing as she followed along behind them.

"Not much change," Ron replied. "I'm still looking through the latest polls but it seems that things are stagnating at this point. Hey, watch it!"

An assistant had just bustled past Ron hurriedly, nearly knocking his polling profiles to the ground as he passed. As Ron cursed after the assistant, Harry stepped forward, his eyes going to the TV mounted on the wall.

"Ron."

Ron turned, his mouth halfway through forming another curse when he stopped dead, his eyes fixed on the TV. He stood frozen, his mouth slightly open as he watched the scene of carnage displayed before him.

Harry glanced past Ron to where Cho stood, her face deathly pale as she stared wide eyed at the TV screen.

"It seems I might have some work to do after all."

The silence in the flat was broken by the gentle scrape of keys in the lock. The sound reverberated through the empty house for a moment before the door was pushed open.

Harry sighed as he stepped from the darkness of the stairwell to the darkness of his living room. He gently closed the door behind him, mindful not to disrupt the peace of the silent and still flat.

Not bothering to turn on a light, Harry removed his cloak and tossed it over the back of the sofa, the soft glow of the moon allowing him to navigate his way through the living area and into the adjoining kitchen, where he pulled open the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer, quickly closing the door to cut off the light that was streaming into the room. Opening one of the kitchen drawers, Harry fumbled with some utensils before finding a bottle opener, quickly removing the top of his beer with a well practised motion before venturing back into the living area to settle into the sofa and take a long swig of the cold liquid.

Closing his eyes Harry leaned back, allowing his body to fall into the soft cushions of the sofa as he felt some of the stress of the day drain away. It wasn't the perfect solution, but it did help, and as he started to relax his body he felt his mind start to drift away…

Harry's eyes darted open as a shrill sound shattered the silence of the flat. For a brief moment he panicked, forgetting for a second where he was, but as his wits returned to him he recognised quite clearly the sound of the phone ringing. With more effort than seemed necessary, Harry leaned over the arm of the sofa to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

The sound of her voice was enough to cause all the muscles in Harry's body to relax again, and a small smile spread across his face.

"Hey Ginny," he said softly, relaxing back into the sofa. "How are you?"

"I'm good," was Ginny's reply. "Mum's been driving me mental all day, checking and double checking that this has been arranged and that will be there on time and that everything is sorted. I swear, she's even worse than she was when Bill married Fleur."

Harry chuckled, his mind automatically conjuring up the image of Mrs Weasley, dressed in her flowery apron, charging around the house marshalling the girls as though they were getting ready for war. "I'm surprised she let you call me," Harry commented.

"She didn't," was Ginny's reply. "She sent me to bed. Can you believe that? She actually sent me to bed, like I'm twelve all over again." Harry grinned as he imagined the stubborn look that he knew was on Ginny's face right now. "But fortunately she doesn't understand modern technology very well, so I was able to sneak my mobile up to my room."

"You're such a rebel," Harry joked. "What would your mother say if she caught you?"

"I doubt she'd be surprised," Ginny answered. "But I wouldn't put it past her to ground me, even on my wedding day. The woman's vindictive, Harry."

Harry laughed. He loved Molly Weasley, he really did, but he'd spent enough time around Ron in his childhood to know that she was one woman you did not want to cross. He'd always had a little bit of a buffer to protect him from the worst of her ire, but he still remembered the viciousness of the howler she'd sent Ron after they'd crashed Mr Weasley's car into the Whomping Willow. When truly angry she could give even Professor McGonagall a run for her money.

"How are you, Harry?" Ginny asked suddenly, breaking Harry from his thoughts. Harry frowned at the inflection on her voice.

"I'm fine," he answered, and honestly too. His day may have taken a turn for the worse but simply talking to Ginny had lifted his spirits considerably.

"You went into work," Ginny pressed. Harry knew better than to try and deny it.

"How did you know?" he asked instead, wondering if Cho had decided to rat on him. It didn't seem likely, but Cho had been quite adamant that he go home before the shit hit the fan.

"I listened to dad's address to the nation," Ginny told him. "You've written pretty much every speech my father has made for the last three years, I'd recognise your particular style anywhere."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I went in today," he told her. "I didn't really want to spend all day hanging around the flat with nothing to do so I hit the gym in the morning and then went into work after that."

"What happened?"

Harry sighed. "One of the camps set up by our armed forces in Peru was attacked by a band of rebels," Harry told her. "They were what's left of the resistance in the countryside and they had formed into a group and had been on the run for several weeks now. We were starting to think that they'd just made for Lima before they struck."

"I spent most of the day locked in with Dennis to try and formulate our message for when the Minister had to address the nation, and also help Hermione out with dealing with the press."

"I heard she was having a tough time," Ginny said softly.

Harry grimaced. "That's putting it mildly," he replied. "The press didn't hold any punches. They were questioning our commitment to the war effort, our tactical strategies and Hermione didn't really have that much she could give them."

"I'm sorry for her," Ginny said. "And what of the election? This must throw everything up in the air, and only a day before voting closes."

"Yeah," Harry sighed. "I spent some time with Ron before heading home, he's in a right state. No one knows anything anymore, the polling data changes with every new sample. Twenty point swings in the space of just thirty minutes and with no real pattern. We're getting models spaced just minutes apart which are completely contradictory. People who were dead and buried are now riding high and surefire locks for election are now in real dogfights. I honestly couldn't tell you what's going to happen over the next twenty-four hours."

"Are the Ministry going to respond to try and get some revenge for this?" Ginny asked.

"We are," Harry replied. "But the problem is we were also doing that before. These rebels who were responsible for this, we were searching for them anyway. Of course we'll keep searching for them but there is a reason they were able to survive undetected for so long and they could just disappear off our radar. I want them to pay but the sad fact is that we don't know where they are, and they've evaded all our attempts to find out."

There was a long pause.

"Harry," Ginny's voice sounded from the other end of the phone. "Harry, you can't worry about this. I know you, I know you'll tear your hair out trying to think of something you can do but you can't."

"I know," Harry admitted quietly, his head drooping at the fact.

"You need to get some rest," Ginny told him. "Go to bed, sleep well and when you get up in the morning things will be better, I promise you."

"Thank you," Harry spoke, starting to finally feel his body run out of the energy needed to hold him up straight. "I know you're right, I just wish that you were with me tonight."

"One more day, Harry," Ginny reminded him. "Come tomorrow we'll never have to spend a night apart."

"Okay," Harry smiled. "I'll see you at the end of the aisle. I love you."

"Love you too," and the line went dead.

Slowly, with painfully tired movements, Harry mustered the energy to raise his body enough to put the phone back in its holder, sighing as it fell into place. The temptation to just fall back into the sofa and let it engulf him was strong but, knowing he'd pay for it tomorrow, Harry pulled together the energy to raise himself to his feet, and make his way to the bedroom.

The next morning saw the communications office in chaos. There seemed to be three times as many workers in the area, all running around with paperwork flying all over the place. Cho, Colin and Lizzie could barely be seen at their workstations for the pile of files that had become stacked on them over the course of the morning and even the offices of the senior staff had been taken over by the polling forms.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had holed themselves up in Ron's office, assistants running in and out to pass them new polling data as the three of them sifted through it and annotated the big map as things changed.

"I've got incumbents up 6 in Lancashire, 7 in East Yorkshire and 3 in Hartlepool," Hermione announced, approaching the map with her wand out.

"Can we trust Hartlepool?" Ron asked. "Last I heard the incumbent was down by 12."

"I've got incumbent up by 1 here," Harry announced without looking up from his file as Ron accepted new numbers from a passing assistant. "I think we need to call it a too close to call."

Hermione nodded, annotating Hartlepool. "And Lancashire and East Yorkshire?" she queried, wand at the ready.

"I haven't got anything on those," Harry answered. "I've got that the challenger in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is up 10."

"I've got up 8," Ron added, glancing up from his sheet. "Lancashire was too close to call from the overnights. I don't know about East Yorkshire but the numbers make sense given the current climate."

There was a brief silence as Hermione annotated the map and Harry and Ron continued looking through their own polling numbers. The silence was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hi, Neville," Hermione greeted as Harry and Ron turned in their chairs.

"Hi," Neville replied, stepping into the room slightly. "How's it going in here?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione glanced at each other. "It's still a bit up in the air," Harry answered cautiously. "We're just trying to make sense of our polling data."

Neville nodded. "Harry, could I borrow you for a second?" Harry raised an eyebrow but nodded, rising to his feet and dropping his polling data into his chair. He waded his way through the piles of papers littering the floor and walked outside, where Neville was waiting for him.

"Harry, I got a call from the BMRA," Neville told him as they walked away, trying to get clear of the hustle and bustle of the communications area. "What happened in there?"

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked, wondering what he could have done that would lead to such questioning.

"I got a call from them trying to arrange an appointment for after the transition period," Neville told him. "Or rather, Hannah got a call. Did you blow them off?"

Harry shook his head. "No, not at all, you're getting this all wrong," he told him adamantly. "I'm actually on board with this."

Neville blinked in surprise. "You're on board," he repeated, his voice disbelieving. "You're on board with legalising the Imperious Curse."

"In certain situations," Harry amended. "From the sounds of it the Imperious Curse could hold the key for magic to help with mental disabilities. There was this magical theorist with them that said a more subliminal form of the Imperious Curse could be put in place to teach people habits that could cause them to break through things like eating and sleeping disorders."

"So why did they call for another appointment?" Neville asked. "I'd have thought you'd've wanted to take this straight to the Minister."

Harry shook his head. "Nothing's going to happen until the new Wizengamot has sat," he said simply. "I wanted to bring some more people to properly discuss this before bringing in the Minister."

"Do you want me in the meeting?" Neville asked.

"That would be good," Harry said gratefully. "I want to get Amos in as well, if at all possible. I feel his own personal experiences could be useful."

"Well, why don't you go talk to him," Neville suggested. "I'm going to go arrange the meeting now, so you can just get Amos to have Luna communicate with Hannah and find a time that is agreeable."

"Cheers mate," Harry said, leaving Neville as they reached his office and heading towards the Chief of Staff's office.

Meanwhile, back in Ron's office Ron and Hermione continued to work through the polling numbers.

"I don't trust the numbers coming out of North East Somerset," Ron said, scanning through his file. "It has Davis up by 2 but woman are being largely oversampled. I'd say that number should be closer to 8."

Hermione amended the map silently, her eyes moving from scanning her own file to where Ron sat, head down and flipping through the pages in his hands. She bit her lip, wondering whether she should say anything. That choice was taken out of her hands as Ron looked up and saw her staring.

"What?" he asked, slightly defensively as though he'd been accused of something with her stare. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Hermione glanced away from Ron's questioning gaze before turning back to him, having found the courage to speak. "You haven't heard anything, about Peru?"

Ron's expression darkened. "No, I haven't," he said gruffly. "If you hadn't noticed I've been busy." Hermione wished she hadn't said anything. "Although I probably wouldn't have heard about anything anyway," Ron admitted, his tone softer as he looked back at his file. "My role is very domestic based. I'm not usually on the inside with things like these." Ron glanced up. "Have you heard anything?"

Hermione shook her head. "In situations like these I'm usually the last to know," she told him, although Ron already understood why. It was always important not to let on to anyone, including their own press, about a military intervention until after it had been completed.

"Do you reckon Harry knows anything?" Ron asked.

"Could he keep it a secret from us if he did?" Hermione responded. They shared a glance. They weren't entirely sure of the answer to that question.

"What do you think of Harry taking such an interest in these polling numbers?" Hermione asked, keen to change the subject. "It's his wedding day, shouldn't he be getting ready."

Ron shrugged. "It doesn't really take that long for guys to get ready," he commented. "And this is really important. I mean, whoever wins this election is going to be working with, or against, Harry for the next two years at least. And who knows, maybe even another four year spell after that if the Minister decides to run again."

"You think he will?" Hermione asked, watching Ron intently.

"I don't see why he wouldn't," Ron replied. "I mean, this is everything he wants, really. He always wants to help people and by being Minister he's able to help every magical person in the country. You can't beat that."

Hermione nodded in agreement but something told her that Ron wasn't as confident as he sounded, and that made her a lot less confident herself.

"Bradley is up 12 in the latest poll," Ron commented, his voice showing his disappointment. "I'd say he's probably safe."

"Hey Daphne, how are you?" Harry asked as he approached her desk.

"Good, Harry," Daphne replied, smiling up at him. "Ready for your big day?"

"More like wishing it would be over," Harry replied. "Right now I'm just a guy, on my own, but by tonight I'll be married to the most wonderful person I've ever met. I just want that time to come as soon as possible."

"Ah, you're so romantic," Daphne said with a wistful sigh. "If only all men were like you."

"If all men were like me this would be a pretty screwed up place, though, wouldn't it?" Harry joked back, causing Daphne to smile. "Anyway, the Minister wanted to see me."

"Ah, yes, he's just in with Blaise at the moment, you can go right in," she told him, gesturing to the door. Harry gave her a smile before walking in, knocking on the door as he went.

"Ah, Harry, there you are," the Minister said, looking over the top of his glasses at him as he looked up from whatever it was he'd been working on. "Blaise, could you perhaps step outside for a bit."

"Yes sir," Blaise said obediently, gathering up a pile of paperwork and leaving the room.

"Thanks Blaise," the Minister called at his retreating back before the door closed, leaving Harry and the Minister alone together.

"How did the attack go?" Harry asked once Blaise was out of earshot.

"I don't know yet," the Minister replied, removing his glasses and resting them on the desk. "Amos is coming from the situation room with news, he should be here any moment." The two men waited in silence, the only sound coming from the ticking of the clock as they waited for Amos's arrival.

The silence was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Minister," Amos greeted as he stepped in from the door adjoining the Minister's office to his own. "Harry, I'm glad you're here."

"What have we got Amos?" the Minister asked.

"The attack upon the rebel camp has been completed, and it is believed all the rebels have been either captured or killed, with no fatalities on our side, although there were a few injuries sustained during the attack."

Amos took a breath, before his face cracked into a smile. "Upon interrogation it was found that these rebels were the ones responsible for the attack on our troops yesterday."

"Yes," the Minister said exuberantly, clenching his fist in triumph.

Harry grinned. "So what happens now?" he asked, looking to Amos. "What do we do with the survivors?"

"We continue to question them, see if they know anything that might be of use to our efforts going forward," Amos explained. "Then we take them to Azkaban until such time as there is a Peruvian government we wish to negotiate with that wishes us to expedite them to their own prisons. Right now what we do is hold a press conference and have Hermione inform the press as to what has happened."

"We'll do that tomorrow," the Minister waved off. "I don't want this ruining my daughter's wedding day."

"I'm sorry, sir," Harry spoke up. "But you have to do it now."

"I'm sorry," the Minister replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Harry's right, sir," Amos agreed.

"Sir, with the way news works these days it won't be long until the press find out on their own," Harry explained. "We need to be the ones to break the story. We can't have it look like your daughter's wedding took priority over the safety of British soldiers in Peru. What's more a statement now, before voting closes should calm the reaction from the voters and allow them to choose their representatives through reason, rather than through panic and fear."

The Minister regarded Harry for a moment, leaning back in his chair as though to get a better look at him. "It's your call, Harry," he admitted. "I don't like for this sort of thing to overshadow my daughter's wedding day, but I trust your judgement."

"I'll go alert the rest of the staff to what has happened," Amos said. "Kingsley has sent an aide with a full report for you to read over."

"Thank you, Amos," the Minister said gratefully as Amos backed out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"You understand, sir, why we have to do this?" Harry asked. The Minister frowned.

"I understand," he replied slowly. "But I also understand that my daughter has dreamed about her wedding day since she was very little. She looked forward to this day more than any other, and I hate to think that I'm spoiling it for her."

"Sir, I think you underestimate Ginny," Harry told him, causing the Minister to raise an eyebrow. "I can't speak for her, but I know that this day won't mean any less to me because of this, and I think she'll agree. I'm about to marry the love of my life, there is nothing that can ruin this for me. Nothing."

The corner of the Minister's mouth twitched. "Sometimes I forget just how good you are with words, Harry," he admitted. "When speeches reach my desk I often just take them for granted and forget that there is an architect to these words who is at once more poetic and powerful than I could ever hope to be."

"Thank you sir, but most of your speeches these days are written by Dennis," Harry reminded him.

"The small things, yes," the Minister agreed. "But the big speeches, like the one last night." He paused. "I didn't feel much hope for the situation, Harry, not much at all. I thought we'd never find them, even though Kingsley assured me they were doing everything to catch them. But when I read your words, and when I spoke them aloud, I believed. It takes a special person to be able to do that." Harry blushed, looking down at the ground with modest embarrassment.

"You know we've always considered you part of the family," the Minister continued, smiling at the man, who he still remembered well as a boy, standing before him. "We have done since that first time you stayed with us, back before your second year at Hogwarts. There was just something about you, something that told us that you weren't just any 12 year old boy. Something that told us that what you and Ron had wasn't just the normal childhood friendship, and that you'd be with us for a lot longer than we could possibly have predicted."

"I say this because I just want you to remember that you've always been part of this family, and though when we first met I couldn't have imagined you or Ron or Ginny as adults, not only living in our world but also making it a better place, I can't think of anything I'd like more than to give my beautiful little girl away to, well, to a son in all but blood."

"This afternoon you'll officially become part of the Weasley family, but I'd like you to always remember you aren't just a son-in-law or brother-in-law, you are my son, and my sons' brother. You are a Weasley."

Harry smiled, trying hard to fight back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes at the words the Minister spoke with such heartfelt honesty that it was making him weak at the knees. He cleared his throat.

"Thank you, sir," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "That means an awful lot to me. You and your wife and your children are like family to me. Remus and Sirius raised me and I will forever love them, but I never truly knew what it was to be loved by a parent until I met you and Mrs Weasley. I never…" He broke off, the emotion making his throat catch. "I never could have imagined my life taking this path, but I am so glad it did. And in as much as you say I'm a Weasley, you are a Potter."

The Minister's eyes were suspiciously moist as Harry finished speaking, the tears glinting in the light as they threatened to burst from his eyes. "Thank you, Harry," he said softly, his voice gentle and full of love. He sniffed.

"Oh, look at us, being so sentimental," he chuckled, conjuring up a handkerchief from thin air and using it to bad his eyes, prompting Harry to wipe his eyes with the sleeve of his robes. "You'd have thought we could've saved the tears for the actual wedding, eh?"

Harry laughed. "I'm sure we can manage a few more later," he said, the Minister smiling back at him. "I should go and start getting ready," he told him, gesturing to the door. "I'll start writing up something for Hermione to read from the podium."

The Minister nodded. "Thank you, Harry," he said as Harry made for the door. "And good luck." Harry paused at the door and smiled at the Minister, before disappearing from sight.

"Oi, stop pacing, you're making me nervous," Ron grouched as Harry continued to plough a furrow through the floor of his office, hands fiddling agitatedly at his cuff. Harry glared at him in annoyance before turning to the last occupant of the room.

"Are they ready yet?"

Cho shook her head. "There is still a lot of work before you can go down there," she told him. "This wedding is huge, there've been people working in the ballroom all day."

"I knew we should have eloped," Harry grumbled.

"Yeah, but then mum would have killed you," Ron pointed out with a grin. "I still think she murdered George for running off with Angelina."

"I met George just a few weeks ago," Cho said with a frown.

"Ron reckons Fred has been playing both twins since the wedding," Harry answered, shaking his head exasperatedly as Ron grinned. "Honestly, I might have second thoughts about this wedding if my soon to be brother-in-law gets any weirder."

"I'm surprised you haven't already done that," Ron answered. "How's Ginny doing?" He asked, directing his question at Cho.

"I haven't had a chance to see her yet," she told him. In between taking care of Harry, work, and getting ready herself Cho had yet to have the opportunity to visit the bride. "I'll just go see her now." As she left she heard Ron make a chuckling comment, to which Harry smacked him over the head.

The communications office was a lot quieter than it had been earlier. While it was election day pretty much every member of the department was attending the wedding, the result being that the communications office now held a large number of very well dressed employees as Cho made her way through the desks and out into the corridors of the ministry. There also she passed many well dressed ministry workers until she reached the press secretary's office, knocking and entering.

Ginny turned to face her as she entered, looking absolutely radiant in her flowing white wedding dress, wearing with it a dazzling smile.

"Cho, you look wonderful," Ginny said in way of greeting.

Cho smiled. "That's what I'm supposed to tell you," she replied. "You look gorgeous, Ginny. How are you feeling? It's a big day."

Ginny nodded seriously. "Yeah, it is," she said, blowing out a breath of air. "I'm quite nervous actually. There are going to be so many people there; I'm not used to being the centre of so much attention." She looked over at Cho. "How's Harry doing?"

"He's impatient," Cho said, with a smile Ginny reciprocated. "He and Ron have just been bantering back and forth, the usual. I get the impression that Harry just wants to be down there now and not have to wait."

"I feel the same," Ginny said before a knock on the door interrupted them. Hermione, looking stunning in her bridesmaid's dress, quickly entered and immediately started speaking.

"Your family are all here now," she informed Ginny in a business like manner. "Charlie had some difficulties with his international port key, it delayed him for a few hours but he's here now. And Fred and George lost track of time before Angelina pulled them from the shop."

"And they're all presentable?" Ginny asked, looking apprehensive. With brothers that included a curse breaker, a dragon handler, and the Weasley twins she had reason to do so.

"They're all fine," Hermione said to Ginny's relief. "I checked over them all myself, you have nothing to worry about."

"Thank god," Ginny said. "I was sure the twins were going to turn up in something completely ridiculous, like neon pink robes or something."

"I wouldn't have put it past them," Hermione said disapprovingly. "But Angelina has been running the rule over them, keeping them on track."

"A worthwhile addition to the family," Cho said with a smile.

"And hopefully there will be another one soon," Hermione agreed. "How is Harry?"

"Impatient," Cho answered. "He hates waiting for everyone to prepare the ceremony, he's not stopped pacing for the last half hour."

"They are finished with the preparations," Hermione told her. "The guests are all being escorted in so he can go down there now."

"Thank goodness," Cho replied. "I'll let him know." And she left, leaving Hermione and Ginny alone.

There was quiet in the room until Hermione spoke up. "How are you doing?" she asked, watching Ginny closely.

"I'm fine," Ginny replied, smiling back. Hermione frowned.

"There's nothing wrong with being worried," she said seriously, ignoring Ginny's cheerful expression. "It's normal to have doubts on your wedding day. You can tell me, Ginny. I'm here to help."

Ginny's smile faltered somewhat as she took in Hermione's expression and so she dropped it for a smaller, somewhat more real smile.

"I'm not having doubts," she told Hermione softly. "I'm worried, definitely. I can barely stand up, my legs are shaking so bad at just the thought of standing up in front of all those people. But I don't have any second thoughts about Harry."

Hermione smiled. "I didn't think you did," she assured her.

"Good, cause I honestly couldn't be happier right now knowing that I'm going to be marrying him," Ginny told her. "I honestly can't put into words how much I want to marry him. I just… can't wait to spend my life with him."

Hermione's smile matched Ginny's and she quickly dabbed a hankie at her eye so the water that had sprang up there wouldn't ruin her makeup. "The two of you love each other so much," Hermione said, her voice thick with emotion. "It's inspirational. I just hope that one day I can find what the two of you have."

"You will, Hermione," Ginny assured her, closing the distance between them and taking hold of her hands. "The day I met Harry I was as single as anyone, and now I'm getting married. It will happen for you. I know it."

A soft knock broke the silence that followed.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," the Minister said genially as he pushed the door open.

"No, of course not," Hermione said quickly, dabbing furiously at her eyes as she regained her composure. "I was just wishing Ginny luck," she covered herself quickly, turning back so she could face both the Minster and Ginny at once. "I'll see you down there," she promised Ginny with a smile. "Good luck." And she hurried out the office, leaving behind the Minster and his daughter as the last two members of the ceremony to come down.

Arthur smiled. "How you doin' Pumpkin?" he asked in a soft voice, taking in the sight of Ginny in her wedding dress.

"I'm doing fine, dad," Ginny answered, giving him a radiant smile.

Arthur chuckled. "I remember when you were a teenager and you were adamant that you would never get married, that it was a dated pointless tradition."

Ginny blushed slightly and looked down at her feet. "I was an idiot when I was a teenager," she countered, not looking at him.

"Yeah," Arthur agreed, chuckling when his daughter looked up and gave him an annoyed look. "But you were my idiot," he said fondly.

Ginny gave him a half amused, half exasperated look. "I'll always be your idiot, dad," she assured him.

"But now I'm being replaced," he countered. "It's a difficult time in a man's life when he realises he is no longer the man his daughter counts on the most." He paused at the look of pity on his daughters face. "But now I realise it's been a long time since you've truly needed me. You are a remarkable young woman, Ginny, and Harry is a remarkable young man. It is an honour to be able to give you away. I'm so proud of you."

Ginny's smile was brighter than it had ever been and she hugged her father tightly. "I love you dad," she whispered into his shoulder. Arthur tightened his grip on his only daughter and whispered back.

"I love you too, kid."

In a few minutes he would have to give her away, and do so gladly, but for now Arthur held on and relished in the moment as he held his beautiful, brave, caring little girl and savoured every last second she remained in his arms.

Harry breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. He repeated this process several times, keeping his eyes closed so as not to have to look out over the scene before him.

"Nervous?"

Harry opened his eyes and scowled. "No, why would I possibly be nervous," he bit back scathingly. Unfortunately, Ron took him at his word.

"It's a pretty big event," Ron pointed out. "Lots of people. Not to mention you're getting married, making a lifelong commitment…"

"Thank you, Ron," Harry cut in, feeling the anxiety creeping up on him again. He took a few more steadying breaths. "I am nervous, but could you please stop talking. Please."

Mercifully Ron did as he was told and Harry was able to return to his deep, steadying breaths. In, out. In, out. In, out. The anxiety started to lessen and Harry gave a subconscious sigh of relief, his shoulders relaxing somewhat as he calmed down.

"You know it'll be alright," Ron spoke up suddenly and Harry turned to look at him. He was looking quite earnest. "You're ready for this." The music started.

As one the attention of all in the grand ballroom turned to the aisle and a moment later entered young Victoire, looking quite beautiful and grown up as she lightly tossed flower petals before her. Teddy followed after her, carrying a red velvet pillow with the rings upon it, wearing a look of such caution and concentration that Harry knew he was desperate not to mess up. Harry gave him a smile as he approached and received a grin back as Teddy took his place with him at the front.

"I know I'm ready," Harry whispered to Ron as Remus and Tonks began their march down the aisle. "I know that, that's not the problem."

"Then what is?" Ron asked as the groomsman and bridesmaid reached them, Remus giving a smile and Tonks a wink.

"I know this sounds weird, and I know I really shouldn't think it, but I can't wait for this wedding to be over," Harry admitted as Neville and Luna began their walk. "I just want to be married already."

"It's not wrong," Remus spoke up from beside Ron. "If anything I'd say it's natural to feel that way. I did." He smiled at his wife, today sporting a brilliant mane of blonde hair. "It just means you're ready."

Harry reflected on those words as Neville and Luna reached the podium and took their positions, and as Hermione started to walk down the aisle, a bunch of vivacious flowers held in her hands as she positively beamed at him and took her place with the bridesmaids.

And then the music changed. The wedding march.

As one the ballroom rose to their feet for the bride and Harry felt the breath leave him in wonder as she stepped through the ornate entry doors and walked towards him. He barely noticed Ron mutter something beside him, or Hermione shush him, his attention was focused firmly on the beauty walking towards him on her father's arm. Ginny looked up at him, and smiled.

They reached the front and the minister very gently leaned in and kissed his daughters cheeks before turning to Harry and clasping his hand. No words needed to be said. He already knew Harry would look after her. He gave away his daughter's hand and retreated to his seat in the front row, right next to an already teary Mrs Weasley and a group of proud Weasley brothers.

Harry didn't hear much of what the minister officiating said, so entranced was he by the beauty of his bride. He was only prompted to tear his eyes away from his bride by Ron nudging him in the side and jerking his head in the direction of where Teddy stood, holding out the rings.

Harry turned and, for one brief moment, everything froze. The ballroom and all the people in it stilled as Harry's gaze fell upon a man, dressed smartly in a black suit, smiling widely with eyes glistening behind well kept bangs of shaggy black hair. He looked exactly as he did in all those dreams that had haunted Harry about his wedding day, exactly like he had the last time Harry had seen him before he died.

Except there was something different now. Whilst in his dream everything else would fade away until it was just Sirius left, standing alone, now it seemed as if his surroundings were coming into sharper focus. He could see Ron, grinning at Harry's inattention, Remus, with a small, understanding smile. He saw Neville and Hermione and Luna and Tonks and as he looked out over the crowd he could see the Weasleys, Dean and Seamus, Oliver Wood and the old Quidditch girls. Hundreds and hundreds of faces stood out to him now, all smiling and waiting and all there for him. And for the first time since the dreams of Sirius had resurfaced, Harry was at peace with them. He turned to face Ginny and smiled, picking up the ornate wedding band and sliding it onto her finger.

The party was jubilant. Everyone was laughing and smiling and enjoying the occasion as they danced and talked and sampled bites of the delicious food on offer to go down with their glasses of champagne. Everyone was getting lost in the occasion and all thoughts of the election which would conclude later that night were gone.

For everyone other than Ron Weasley, that is.

The aforementioned Political Strategies Director was bent over in his chair, skimming over a handful of documents resting in his lap, a plate of various assorted foods left forgotten on the table beside him. He was completely oblivious to what was going on around him until someone pulled up a chair and with a huff sat down beside him.

"Honestly, Ron, you could give yourself a bit more time away from the polls. This is your sister's wedding if you remember," Hermione scolded him.

"I'm well aware. I was standing up there with them just like you were," Ron shot back, not looking up from the papers.

"Come celebrate, Ron," Hermione told him. "There will never be an occasion quite like this. At least make an effort until they head off on their honeymoon."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, cause that's what I want to be thinking about," he retorted. "My best mate and my sister off to Hawaii for two weeks all alone doing…" He tailed off with a nauseous look on his face. "No, I don't want to be thinking about that."

"Well, at least come and have a dance. Look, even Teddy and Victoire are doing it." That caused Ron to look up and, sure enough, he spotted Teddy and Victoire on the dance floor, Victoire looking adoringly up at Teddy who himself looked as though he felt like he was the luckiest guy in the world.

"I'm surprised Teddy dared do that with Bill so close by," Ron said, sounding genuinely impressed by Teddy's balls. Hermione smiled.

"I think Fleur is seeing to that," Hermione pointed to where the married couple were dancing not too far away, Fleur looking even more beautiful than she already always did and Bill holding her close to him, their faces inches from each other.

"Ew, I don't want to see that," Ron complained, a disgusted look on his face as he raised his hand to block his view of the couple, looking away melodramatically. Hermione giggled.

"If you had been dancing you wouldn't have seen that," she pointed out, laughing. "Come on, Ron, dance with me."

Ron hesitated, his gaze moving from Hermione, to the files in his lap to the dance floor.

"You can't do anything about this now," Hermione pointed out.

Ron let out a sigh. "Okay," he admitted, piling his papers on the table. "If I have to."

"That's what a girl likes to hear," Hermione answered wryly.

Throughout the ballroom many other conversations were taking place, and one in particular was held between two old friends.

"Molly, looking beautiful as ever," Amos greeted with a smile as he approached the Minister and his wife.

"Oh, Amos, you do know how to charm a woman," Molly replied, a happy flush to her cheeks as she watched the festivities around her. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Very much so, it is quite an event," Amos said. "The two of you are to be congratulated for putting this together, it's been a truly marvellous experience."

"I assure you, Amos, it was all Molly," Arthur spoke up, leaning in to kiss his blushing wife on the cheek.

"I have no doubt," Amos agreed with a smile before he was cut off.

"Excuse me, sorry," Charlie apologised to a number of important looking people as he fought his way through to his parents. "Mum, dance with me."

"Charlie, be polite," his mother warned him, though she was still smiling.

"I was dancing with Dominique but Fred stole her away from me," Charlie complained, finally reaching the group and pulling his mother exuberantly to her feet. Molly turned to look at Arthur.

"You have my blessing," he said with a chuckle. Charlie grinned and with that pulled his mother through the crowd and out onto the dance floor, making a bee-line to where Fred was swinging a happily screaming Dominique at breakneck speed.

"How are you holding up?" Amos asked, taking the seat that Molly had just vacated.

"Not bad," Arthur replied, his eyes still on the dance floor where he spotted many other members of his family. Ron had just appeared being half-dragged forward by Hermione and Percy was trying to do a very professional dance with his wife Audrey, which was being severely hampered by George, who was guiding Angelina through a quickstep that repeatedly cut across the other couple's path. "Not bad at all."

"I've heard that it is not easy to give your daughter away," Amos said, taking a sip of a glass of water he'd carried with him.

"No, it's not easy," Arthur mused. "But I think I'm a special case."

"Harry?"

Arthur nodded. "I imagine it's rare for the father of the bride to know the groom so well in these situations," Arthur pondered. "Harry's a wonderful man, and I trust him."

"Still, it can't have been easy," Amos continued.

"No," Arthur agreed. "But it's not like I wasn't expecting it. I've known for quite some time this day would come. I've had a lot of time to get to terms with it." There was a break in the conversation.

"I've just received some new polling data," Amos said, changing the topic. Arthur sighed.

"Must we talk about work," Arthur questioned, a displeased look clouding his face. "This day has already been blighted by the situation in Peru, can we not just wait before we go back to running the country."

Amos stared at the minister for a moment, before nodding. "Alright, we can do that," he agreed.

"You understand, don't you?" Arthur asked, looking over at his oldest friend. "You understand just how big a day this is?"

Amos nodded grimly. "Yes, I do," he said. "For the last few weeks I've kept on imagining what it would be like if I were in your place, if it were Cedric getting married…" he tailed off, taking a gulp of water to disguise his emotions.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said softly.

Amos sighed. "It's not your fault," he said matter-of-factly. "And for that matter the one responsible is now dead. That is a small comfort." He glanced at Arthur. "This day isn't about me though. It's about Ginny, and Harry too. You're right, we should celebrate."

Arthur just smiled at his friend and clasped a hand on his shoulder. No words were needed.

"Are these the latest numbers?" Harry asked, leaning over the papers Ron was holding out.

"Colin's been bringing them down to me as they come in," Ron replied. "There's more upstairs, obviously, but these are the important ones."

"Things are getting tight," Harry commented, to which Ron nodded grimly.

"Harry, put those away," Cho scolded him as she approached, Hermione and Demelza following behind her. "It's your wedding day."

"Sorry," Harry said guiltily, gently shoving the papers back to Ron who was himself getting a stern look from Hermione.

"Don't even think of looking at any polling numbers while you're off on your honeymoon," Cho continued to scold him. "You'll make sure he won't, won't you Ginny?"

Ginny had just turned to the conversation, having been saying goodbye to some of her Weasley relatives. "Oh, I think I can keep him distracted," she answered coyly, giving Harry a sly look and receiving a grin in return. Ron made a disgusted noise.

"It's almost time for your port-key," Hermione warned, pointing to the large gold band, roughly the size of a Quaffle, that was sitting on a plinth behind them.

"We should take it," Harry agreed. "Wouldn't want to miss our honeymoon."

"Definitely not," Ginny agreed.

"I'll see you all when we get back," Harry said to the rest of them, a group now including Neville and Alea. "Take care."

"You too," Hermione told him. "And enjoy Hawaii."

Harry grinned and together he and Ginny picked up the golden ring and, in a brief flash of blue, the two of them were gone. There was silence in the wake of their departure.

"Okay," Ron said, his voice suddenly serious. "Time for work."

The Ministry was quiet as the night ticked on. The deadline for the election had passed and the votes were being counted, leaving them nothing to do but wait. Most of the employees had gone home for the night, satisfied that they'd done a good day's work, but the senior staff remained.

Ron, Colin and Cho were out in the communications centre, watching a news station doing their coverage of the election. Across the room Dennis and Lizzie were talking quietly to each other, tiredly waiting for news.

"Anything?" Neville asked as he wandered into the room, his eyes immediately going to the tv. No one answered. No one needed to answer.

Eventually the rest of the senior staff gravitated to the communications centre. Remus returned to the building after having taken Teddy home for the night. Hermione joined them from the press room. Amos and the Minister wandered in ten minutes later, with Blaise following behind them.

"Amazing, isn't it." Ron glanced to the side where the Minister was sitting, having spoken without tearing his attention from the tv.

"What's amazing?" Ron asked, glancing between the tv and his father.

"That it's all come down to this," Arthur answered. "Months of hard work, weeks of pulling our hair out over the polls. And now we're here just… waiting. It's surreal."

Ron blew out a breath. "You can say that again," he agreed.

Arthur nodded. "After tonight it starts again," he warned, his voice carrying a harder edge than before. "It's going to be tough without Harry for the next two weeks, it's a vital time in our governance." His gaze moved from the tv to where Dennis was whispering with his brother. "Dennis is going to be buried under the workload that comes with Harry's office. It's going to be difficult, impossible for him to manage on his own. He's going to need you, we all will." Arthur glanced at his son out of the corner of his eye.

"Are you ready?"

Ron shifted in his seat, his eyes fixed on the tv. "Yes, I am."

Arthur nodded. "I know," he said simply, turning his attention to the tv again. They would spend much of the night and indeed the early hours of the next morning like this until eventually all the races were called and they knew who were the new Warlocks of the Wizengamot.

A/N: Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

First off I wanted to address the review from darkhunter999 about how I referred to the American Ministry. I know the US has MACUSA but since that stands for Magical Congress I've taken it to be a reflection of the way the US government is in the real world. Therefore when I say ministry I'm referring to the executive branch, i.e. the wizarding version of the white house, and when I talk about MACUSA it will be congress. Similar to how Britain has the ministry and the wizengamot.

Secondly I'd like to apologise for how long this update has taken. Unfortunately this is unlikely to change anytime soon. I have broad story and character arcs planned but each chapter requires certain things for the characters to actually be doing in terms of work and I'm struggling a bit in coming up with them. If anyone has a suggestion for any sort of political or social issue I could make a subject of a future chapter please let me know.

Thanks again for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter.