Chapter 18: The Minister

Chapter 18: The Minister

"Draco, what are you doing here? Out in the open," Harry exclaimed.

"I was sick of hiding. Besides, I figured if you were coming out, I might as well. I'm not number one on Voldemort's most wanted list, after all."

"But I'm sure a couple of your 'friends' have you on their hit list," Ron said with a bit of a sneer.

"Nothing I can't handle," he answered, head high, "Oh and to save you the trouble of looking it up, Weasley, fallible means 'err making', to an extent."

"I knew that, Malfoy," Ron said stiffly.

"Sure you did, Weasley. And I'm the long lost Sir Roger Tichborne. Oh, but you probably don't know that story either."

With that, he brushed by them and strutted into the Great Hall. Ron looked after him with disgust, then turned back to the friends.

"Great, just what I always wanted. A smart Malfoy."

****

It seemed a bit like old times; Draco strutting down the halls with head held high, Crabbe and Goyle not too far behind. Of course, now Crabbe and Goyle followed Draco in hopes that they might catch him alone so they could show him exactly what they thought of 'traitors'. Not that this could be proved of course, but everyone knew that was their reason. Snape, however, was one step ahead of them and kept a close eye on Draco. He'd also insisted that Draco keep his same sleeping quarters behind the fireplace.

Harry, however, didn't have time to worry about Draco. He had a month's worth of schoolwork to make up, a quidditch team to start running again, (after, of course, there'd been an argument with the seventh-year replacement Seeker, who wasn't all too willing to give up his spot on the team) and to top it all off, O.W.L. s seemed to be approaching much faster than last year.

He was almost relieved to be called to the headmaster's office, glad for anything that could possibly take his mind off of everything else for a while. When he was near the top of the stairs, however, Draco suddenly came out of the office. The stairs stopped moving instantly, unsure of whether to go up or down.

"Speak of the devil," Draco said, giving a small sneer.

"Whatever happened to 'I'm sorry for all the rude remarks I've made over the years'?" Harry said, slightly amused.

" 'Speak of the devil' is just an expression, Potter. Besides, just because I'm sorry for those, doesn't mean I don't have a few more up my sleeve."

Draco started down the stairs, but Harry blocked his way.

"How can you be so calm?" he asked, "You act more carefree now than before, yet you life is in danger at ever corner. It doesn't make sense."

"You want the truth, Potter?" the boy asked, blank faced, "Do you want me, for once, to give a straight, honest answer and not some snide remark?"

Harry nodded solemnly.

"Well, Potter," Draco said, leaning smugly against the wall, "when I tell a bigheaded, brainless buffoon like yourself my innermost thoughts and feelings, it'll be a cold day in he-"

The stairs chose that moment to start moving upward again, causing Draco to fall forward on top of Harry. They toppled down the stairs, stopping in a tumbled heap at the bottom.

"Oh, my head…"

"I can't feel my arm. Get off me, Potter!"

"You're the one on top of me, Malfoy!"

"Can't they make more room at the bottom of this stairwell?!"

"Here, if you move your leg over here… oh wait, that's my leg."

"This isn't helping, Potter!"

"Well, you're not improving things, Malfoy!"

Suddenly, the gargoyle, which made a wall at the bottom of the staircase, moved out of the way. The two boys looked up to see a very amused Sirius standing over them.

"Now, it's your choice how you live, Harry, but I think you can do better than Malfoy."

"Oh, yuck, yuck, yuck! Get off me, Malfoy!" Harry yelled, shoving the boy out the door.

Malfoy quickly stood up, adjusting his robes and flattening his hair. "Black," he said stiffly, acknowledging the man before walking off.

Harry stood up, his godfather still looking extremely amused. "Had a nice fall, did we?"

Harry gave him a very weary look, causing the man to laugh.

"Harry, my boy," he said, putting his arm around Harry's shoulder, "you must learn to take things in stride. You can frown or laugh, but either way things happen."

"It's not just that," Harry said, starting up the stairs a second time, "I thought that Draco was actually going to be serious for once. I thought that he'd changed since he went into hiding, but I guess I thought wrong."

"No, you're right," Sirius said, "He has changed. He just doesn't want anyone to know."

They walked into the office, finding Dumbledore behind the desk. The man stood up, shaking both of their hands.

"I'm glad you came with such promptness, Harry, for I wanted to talk to you alone first. Of course, as long as Harry has no objection, you may listen in, too, Sirius. But let's first find a more secluded place, for the rest should be arriving soon."

He walked over to the painting of a past headmistress. She was asleep, snoring peacefully.

"Miranda?" Dumbledore said gently, "Uh, Miranda?"

The witch just shifted a bit in her frame. Calmly, Dumbledore whispered 'sonarus' and then said, in a largely magnified voice, "WAKE UP, MIRANDA!"

Miranda gave a surprised yell, falling from view for a second.

"What do you want, Albus?" she said, appearing once more and very irritable.

"I need to get into the conference room."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Password?"

"Voluptuousness."

The portrait and a section of the wall dissolved away, revealing a narrow hallway. Dumbledore ushered them in and Harry watched as the wall reappeared. At the end of the hall was a single door. It opened up into a round room, in the middle of which was a round table.

"Have a seat," Dumbledore said, taking his own advice.

Harry sat, something on the table catching his eye. Right near his seat, someone had carved a name, as if from boredom. 'Lancelot'.

"Is this- is this the round table?" Harry asked, eyes wide.

"Very perceptive," Dumbledore smiled, "Yes it is. The very one Arthur and his knights sat around. But I digress. Harry, I think by now you must have realized that you have quite a lot of work to catch up on."

"You're telling me."

"Since the professors simply cannot be expected to take time away from their work to help you, I think a peer tutor would be best. Who wou-"

"Azar."

Dumbledore laughed. "Well, that was easy. The question is, what do you think about the work?"

Harry looked a little disconcerted. "I dunno. There's so much work, and it's not like I have that much time before O.W.L. s…"

"I think you'll be able to catch up fairly easily."

"Me?" Harry asked, astounded.

"Yes, you, Harry," Dumbledore smiled, "You are a very bright boy, whether or not you'd like to show it. But you'd better show it now or else expect a very school-like summer. Now, to go over your course work that you missed."

They spent the next while reviewing all that Harry had to make-up, plus a bit into Harry's life with the Rileys. Sirius still seemed to find it beyond funny that Snape's sister was a chemistry teacher.

"Well, if that's all…" Dumbledore said, getting up.

"One last question, please, Professor," Harry said, standing himself, "Why is Voldemort still after me? He is once again in power, he has my blood to protect him; what more could he want?"

"You are the only one who ever lived through one of his attacks, Harry. He will never truly be satisfied until he has proved that no one escapes Lord Voldemort. Until then, he feels that he has a weakness and will do anything to get rid of it."

"Well, he's never getting rid of this weakness," Sirius said confidently, though behind his eyes something tried to hide. Something almost like…fear.

When they walked back into Dumbledore's office, Harry was met by quite a few more faces than he had expected. Professor Connerly and McGonagall were deep in conversation; Professor Snape sulked in a corner; the four eldest Weasley children were laughing uproariously while their parents stood just a few feet away, talking with…

"Remus!" Sirius exclaimed, rushing over to his friend, "It's been long, Moony. Too long. I'm glad to see you."

"Me, too, Padfoot," Remus smiled.

Sirius hugged him, causing a very surprised expression to appear on Remus' face.

"Er…are you sure your name is Sirius Black?"

"What?"

"Well, the Padfoot I know never was one for…showing his emotions, you could say."

"If there's one thing I learned in Azkaban," Sirius said, matter-of-factly, "it's to never mince on feelings. You never know when it'll be too late."

"Harry!"

The boy turned around to see the Weasley twins coming his way. Harry couldn't help but gape. For the first time since Harry had met them, the twins looked…well, not alike.

"It's been a while, mate!" Fred said, slapping him on the back.

"Yeah. Almost didn't recognize you," George grinned.

"You-you've changed, too…"

"Oh, you mean this?" Fred smiled, taking a hold of his almost shoulder-length hair, "Or are you talking about my new muggle attire?"

"Or maybe these," George said, giving his glasses a bounce.

"Yeah, all of that. You two look completely different."

"We know," George smiled, "Fred here decided to take Bill's route a bit."

"It's worth it. I tell you Harry, the girls just flock to a guy like me. Plus it drives mum nuts."

"But why don't you have glasses? I mean, if you're twins, you should both need them."

"Contacts," Fred said simply, "I couldn't go ruining my perfect face now, could I?"

"Is that all that's important to you now, Fred? Your looks?"

"If it gets me the girls, yes."

"Well I get just as many girls with robes, glasses, and short hair."

"Yeah, but mine are cute. Hey, that reminds me. What do you think you're doing, Harry, taking my true love away from me?" Fred smiled.

"Draco Malfoy is your true love?" Sirius asked, turning slightly with a ghost of a smile playing on his solemn face.

Both Fred and George jumped with shock, looking at Harry with nothing short of perplexity.

"Oh…uh, well…"

"Ron's really been getting his facts wrong if-"

Harry laughed. "Ignore him. Yes, I am going out with Azar."

"Good, 'cause I was really wondering where Ron's head was."

"How's the joke shop?"

"Ah, wonderful. We've got it down to an art. I deal with the customers and George deals with the numbers."

"And of course we're still inventing after hours."

"What are you guys doing here, anyways?"

"A meeting about the new Minister."

"New Minister?"

"You haven't heard?" George said, gawking.

"Well then, Harry," Fred said, taking Harry by the shoulder, "it's my pleasure to introduce you to the new Minister of Magic!"

Harry looked at the person before him and his jaw dropped.

~*~*~

A/N: It's time to play…CHOOSE…THAT…MINISTER!!!

Hehe…well, I've had trouble with this one. I mean, I have to replace Fudge, after all, but with whom? That's where you come in. Everyone in the room could possibly be the Minister, but you get to choose who! I have a small idea as to whom I want, but I'd rather get your opinion.

Thank you for the reviews! I love 'em to bits!!! But due to ffn's breakdown thing, I can't view them to thank you! *cry* I will next time, though.

Be excellent to each other!

-Ady