Chapter 1
"I don't
believe this," said a very shocked Percy Weasly. "They opt for that procrastinating little boy instead of a more
experienced, rule-abiding wizards!"
Percy looked more than a little angry.
"Who,
like yourself?" remarked Fred with a chuckle.
"Oh,
it's an absolute shame you aren't the interim Minister of Magic, Mr. Supreme
Head Boy," commented George with a grin.
"At least I don't play jokes and have fun for a living!" shouted Percy,
sounding childish. Fred and George were
very successful inventors, and had a contract with Zonko's. They made quite a bit of money creating
funny pranks, like their famous Canary Creams of old.
"Hey,
we never dissed your job, did we?" said George, looking a little more serious.
"We
were just having a little fun, Perce.
Lighten up," remarked Fred.
Bill
entered the Burrow's kitchen and summoned a banana. "They've got a point, Percy.
You should be happy your younger brother is so successful," said the
eldest Weasly boy. "You are too," he
quickly added. "It's not like he's permanent
Minster anyway, and you hold a powerful position. I'm sure Ron would be more than happy to accept a little advice
from someone with a more experience."
"Well,
he should be," said a snobby Percy.
"But why didn't they want me?" he whined. Charlie walked in that instant.
"Maybe
it was because you were close to Fudge, and they wanted someone from a new
school of thought," suggested Charlie.
"I'd end this conversation now before Ron and Hermione get here," he
said. A murmur of agreement followed.
Just
then, Ron and Hermione Weasly apparated into the living room. Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Percy
walked over to greet them.
Percy
said hello to Ron, but found it difficult not to be very angry with his younger
brother.
"Anything
wrong, Percy?" asked Ron in a friendly manner.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," answered Percy distantly
with a sigh.
The
two death eaters that had attacked Cornelious Fudge a day ago lay unconscious.
"Stunned
'em pretty good," remarked Mundugus Fletcher.
"They're still out cold."
"I
never thought for one minute that Luscious Malfoy was back on our side,"
remarked Arabella Figg. "He always was
messing with the Dark Arts."
"Well,
they'll both be off to Azkaban for a while.
At least there will be no more attacks from these two. I used to go to Hogwarts with both of their
sons. Vincent Crabbe and Draco
Malfoy. What a bunch of gits they were,
and still are. You have to feel
bad for them with the upbringing they've had, though. Could have been different," said Harry, thoughtfully. Arabella changed the subject.
"We
should really tell Dumbledore. Though
retired as Headmaster and very old, he's still one of the most
formidable wizards out there," she suggested.
"Yeah,"
said Harry. "But I have to go visit our
new Interim Minister of Magic. You two
will have to go."
"Alright,
but you be careful. If Voldemort is
aware you stopped those death eaters, there could be trouble," said Mundugus,
warningly.
"I'll
be fine, really," assured Harry. "See
you later!" Harry said as he apparated to the Burrow.
"I
hope he'll be fine," worried Arabella.
"I
think I'll cover him, just in case," whispered Mundugus Fletcher to himself and
decided to apparate close to where Harry would be. He appeared instantly at a street near the Weasly's house.
"So how have things been
going at your new place, Ron? I hear
it's pretty nice," inquired Charlie.
"Oh,
everything's been great. It's a great
house, and there's plenty of tree cover so you can fly there without Muggles
seeing you, but there aren't many in that neighborhood," answered Ron
enthusiastically, glad to be the center of attention for once.
"How's
Hogwarts, Hermione? You must be doing a
great job as a teacher," said a very ecstatic Ginny Weasly.
"Thanks,
Ginny! It's great over there, loads of
improvements and new paintings. You'll
be excited to know that Gryffindor's won the House Cup for the three years I've
been Head of House," answered Hermione.
"How's your café doing?" asked Hermione.
Ginny
chuckled a bit and answered, "Great, since Mum and Dad now visit for lunch
nearly every day. I was surprised my
brothers visit so much."
"Well,
we all are very nice and caring guys, except Percy who likes work more than the
rest of us," remarked George with a grin.
Everyone laughed to some degree, but Percy didn't seem to find it
amusing.
"I
take my job very seriously, that's all," he said, looking on the verge of
hitting the George.
"He
was just kidding, Perce. We all know
there's a great guy deep down in you… somewhere," Fred said with large
smile. Again, the room was filled with
small chuckles.
"You
have the nerve to-" Percy began, but was cut off by Arthur.
"Now
Percy, we know it was just a joke," Arthur Weasly said. At that moment, Harry Potter apparated into
the kitchen and entered the living room to join the conversation and greet his
friends.
He
hugged Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, and the rest of them greeted him
enthusiasticly. But the most excited of
all was Percy.
"I
hear you caught those two death eaters in their tracks!" he said, and continued
to bombard Harry with all kinds of questions until Ron stepped in.
"Percy,
will you stop that! I'm sure he's had
enough of that for a whole year by now," Ron said. Harry continued to chat with the Weaslys for quite a while.
"I'm
going to go get a glass of water," Ron announced. "You want a glass two, honey?" he asked Hermione with a smile.
"No
thanks, Ron, I'm fine," she answered.
It
was then Harry realized how weird it was talking to your two best friends that
were married. Harry continued talking,
and eventually, he found himself flirting with Ginny a little.
"Sure,
I'd love to come visit your café!" he said.
"I've been meaning to drop by, but I've been busy as an auror."
"That
would be great!" said Ginny, obviously flattered.
"Meaning
he'd love to come flirt some more, he's been wanting to for a while," said Fred
with a grin and a laugh. Everyone was
enjoying himself or herself, having a good time with family and their friend, but
Harry noticed something rather disturbing.
A masked figure lay partially protected from view in the surrounding
trees of the Burrow.
"Could
I be excused for just a second?" asked Harry nervously. "There's something I have to take care
of." He left for the woods.
"I
wonder where he's going?" asked a curious Ron Weasly to himself. Harry was approaching the masked figure from
the side, silently. From out of
nowhere, another figure burst from a completely different part of the
woods.
"Avada
Ke-" the figure was saying the incantation for the killing curse, but Harry
stopped him.
"Stupefy!"
he shouted, and the masked figure fell to the ground. Harry Potter had completely forgotten about the other one, and he
was not where he had been seconds ago.
"Crucio!"
he shouted, and Harry immediately felt pain.
The cruciatous curse was truly horrible. "So, I have the famous Harry
Potter in pain, do I not? The Dark Lord
has wanted you dead since your birth, and recent events have just increased his
desire for you dying. I will be greatly
appreciated for the killing of our enemy, Harry Potter!" the death eater said
extremely cruelly. He then laughed
evilly.
"NO YOU DON'T, BUDDY!"
screamed a male voice from behind Harry.
"Stupefy!" came out of his mouth, right as the death eater
stunned Harry, knowing what would happen.
The night was pitch black,
and crickets chirped away when Harry woke up.
"I'm really getting too old
for this," remarked Mundugus Fletcher with a grin. The Weaslys and he were standing over him, looking amazingly worried,
when he came to.
"He must have been quite a powerful dark wizard, we
couldn't get you back for three hours!" said Ron.
"Yeah," Harry said in
agreement. "I just know that absolutely
no one is safe at the Ministry any more."
Author's Notes: That was sort of
long for me. I usually write chapters
about two thirds or one half of that length.
One sort of funny thing that I feel compelled to add here for some
reason is that Microsoft Word thought Arabella should be Arab Ella. I just find that kind of funny. Next chapter will probably be up soon, and
will probably be around this length. I
like this length for my chapters, so I think I will use it for a while. I read it, and it seemed sort of rushed and not
very descriptive. The only thing is
that the first few chapters are sort of used to get the plot underway, and I
was on a ton of sugar when this was written.
