Ménage à Quatre

by Methos2523

Hogwarts is reopening after a year of rebuilding and fixing the damages from the war, but in that year a lot has changed for everyone. Now with some going back for their final year, and others moving on with their lives. Harry, Ginny and Hermione are looking to the future, discovering new relationships, and learning that the future might be far more open than they had believed...

14. Chapter 14

TITLE: Ménage à Quatre

DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong to J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

---

Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
England

Thursday 1st October, 1999

It was just after seven in the morning when Dudley Dursley stood in the living room, watching out the window as his mum and dad loaded up the trailer with the last of their 'essentials' from the house.

He hadn't really said anything last night when he'd got home from work and they'd still been arguing, having a part time job at the pub just over the other side of the park in Little Winging meant that he didn't get home until nearly midnight during the week, so he had absolutely no idea how long they'd actually been arguing for.

He'd caught enough of it to figure it out for himself though. One of the witches or wizards at the school had told everyone about how Harry had grown up, and apparently his mum thought they were all in mortal danger again.

As it was, he'd only caught a couple of hours sleep, thinking back to how Harry had defended him from that terrifying monster a couple of years ago now. That night had really changed everything for him, he didn't know what that monster was or what it was doing to him, but when it had attacked them he'd seen everything about his life in the monster's eyes, and found looking at himself and finding an even bigger monster than the one that was right in front of him.

From that night on he'd resolved to change himself, and he had. He'd even tried to make peace with Harry a couple of times. Sneaking extra food and cups of tea up to leave outside his bedroom door, and the last time he'd actually seen him he'd awkwardly shaken his hand, not really having the words to give the apology that he knew Harry deserved.

That had been over two years ago, and even now he had absolutely no idea what Harry was doing with his life now. Was he still in school, or did they have a magic college somewhere or something? Did he buy his own house somehow or was he staying with his mates or something like he knew he'd done some times over the summer to get away from here?

He knew outright that his parents didn't care, he was pretty sure that neither of them would even have thought about Harry once since they'd moved back home after everything, let alone thought or cared about what he was doing now or where he was living.

"Well, are you coming or not?" Vernon asked with a huff, standing in the front door and glaring at him, out of breath from loading the car up this morning with everything that Petunia 'couldn't bare to be without'.

"I'm staying here," Dudley said resolutely, shaking his head as he kept his stance firmly. He could see out of the living room window to where his mum was still standing by the car nervously, her head constantly turning to look down each side of the street with her eyes wide and searching for any thing that looked out of place.

"Son, you know what these freaks are capable of, they'll be coming here, for us!" Vernon argued.

"And who's fault is that?" Dudley shot back, turning to face his dad properly now. "You saw them when they hid us away, they were talking about sharing memories and showing things off." He argued when his dad was about to say something. "What do you think they'd do if Harry actually showed them all his memories of growing up here?" He demanded.

"We did nothing wrong!" Vernon sneered. "It's... it's that freak, him and his..."

"If you did nothing wrong, you won't mind me telling the neighbours, or the police that you kept Harry in a cupboard for his bedroom and fed him scraps from our dinner then? Or should I tell social services or the local newspaper?" Dudley shouted, seeing his dad's face turning purple. "Go on? If there's nothing wrong with it, there's nothing wrong with people knowing, right?" He asked.

He could see the way his dad was raging, staring at him and huffing like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"I heard everything mum said last night," Dudley said, letting out a small hysterical laugh. "Harry's allowed to do magic whenever he wants now. He can do whatever he wants whenever he wants." He laughed, shaking his head. "Do you really think he's going to be afraid of you anymore? After fighting evil wizards and dragons and monsters?" He laughed again as his dad turned a really ugly shade of red.

"Now you listen here..." Vernon shouted, storming up to him and grabbing Dudley's t-shirt.

"No dad," Dudley shouted back, shoving him away hard and causing him to fall onto the couch. "You listen." He shouted. "I know what you are now, just a bully, just a pathetic bully who enjoys treating people like shit." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I know, because I used to be just like you, just like you wanted me to be."

"Boy, you better..."

"No, I'd better not." Dudley cut his dad off. "I changed, I figured out that I don't want to be that sort of arsehole anymore. The sort of person people are afraid of and always talk about behind their backs. That's who you are dad, the only person that can even stand you is Aunt Marge, and that's only because you keep her drunk on enough sherry to put her ugly dogs to sleep."

"Now you listen here!" Vernon yelled, standing up from the sofa and raising his fist.

"No," Dudley said simply, using one hand and pushing his dad back again, making him fall back onto the sofa. "I'm not afraid of you anymore dad, you don't get to be the bully anymore." He said, shaking his head. "You run away with mum, run away from people stronger than you. That's it isn't it? You're happy to bully anyone that you think you can get away with it with, but people stronger than you? People with magic?" He laughed. "You'll run away with your tail between your legs, just like a coward."

He stepped back as Vernon stood up again, keeping his arms ready in case his dad raised his fists again. He wasn't really afraid of him though, he hadn't been for over a year now. His dad was fat, overweight and out of shape. He'd never done a proper day's work in his life.

Where as he'd been boxing for three years solid now, and went to the gym twice every week. Then when he wasn't at college, he was working at the bar, shifting around heavy beer barrels and crates of bottles easily, then helping out the bouncers on the door when it got extra busy on Friday and Saturday nights.

He could see it in his dad's eyes, the moment he realised he'd lost. Vernon simply huffed, shaking his head and storming out of the house muttering about a 'disappointment' under his breath before he slammed the front door and moved to the car, shouting for Petunia to get in before he climbed in the drivers side and started the engine.

Dudley simply watched as his parents drove away, not really knowing how he should feel about the whole thing. No matter what though, he wasn't a coward anymore, he wasn't a bully, and when Harry came back, he was going to properly say sorry for everything that had happened.

He could live on his own until then. He earned enough from the pub to pay for food and bits like that, the rest of the bills would automatically come out of his dad's bank account, so he didn't have to worry about much like that.

He'd just have to use his college train pass a bit more frugally than he normally would and start jogging around the neighbourhood instead of going to the London gym at the weekends, but it would be worth it if he could finally say sorry to Harry and make up for everything he'd done.

Letting out a deep breath he went into the kitchen, it was still early and he hadn't even had his breakfast yet. Since his mum didn't even know how the witches and wizards were going to find them, or even if they were going to be able to, he couldn't really worry about anything specific happening.

He'd just have to take it a day at a time, and focus on fixing all the mistakes he'd made growing up.

---

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hogsmeade
Scotland

As Ginny and Hermione made their way down to The Great Hall for lunch, they could both feel the atmosphere in the school had shifted quite drastically in the day they'd been away.

It wasn't hostile or anything, but there were certain glances and looks being sent towards all the teachers, dubious and wary, second guessing everything that was said and trusting their friends rather than anything the teachers actually said.

More than a few seemed to be watching Hermione specifically in lessons, watching her reactions to questions and what was being taught, and waiting to see how she answered things and how much respect she gave the professors.

It was easy enough to see where this attitude had come from. Professor Vector and Professor Flitwick hadn't been seen all day, their lessons had been cancelled, and there were rumours that they were both dealing with demands from the school board of governors, along with dealing with all the letters and howlers they'd received after the interview in the Daily Prophet.

"Hey," Neville smiled up from where he was sat at the Gryffindor table with Susan, both of them quietly eating their lunch while Neville was casually flicking through a herbology textbook while carefully eating a roast beef sandwich.

"Has it been like this in your lessons all day too?" Ginny asked, slipping onto the bench opposite the pair and sliding along so that Hermione could sit down next to her.

"Pretty much," Susan admitted with a small grimace. "How's Harry doing?" She asked quietly.

"Pissed off," Ginny admitted bluntly. "Think he's even madder because he can't do anything about it." She explained. "Dumbledore's been dead for ages now, so he can't chase him down or anything, and everyone else was just following his orders."

"It sucks," Neville frowned, finishing off his sandwich and dusting the crumbs off of his book. "I hate that there's nothing we can do. It's like Dumbledore ruined so many lives, and nobody can do anything about it."

"I know," Hermione sighed, piecing together a chicken sandwich for herself and sliding some salad onto her plate. "I think Harry's accepted that he can't do anything about it now, he's just... he's more frustrated than angry now I think." She explained. "I can understand him really... it's like every time we find out something new about what happened, it just makes everything worse and worse. Like we fought this entire war, and now we're finding out that the people that were supposed to be fighting with us were nearly as bad as the Death Eaters were."

"That's it." Ginny frowned, nodding in agreement.

"That make our world sound really bad," Susan muttered, not liking how it made the magical world sound at all. "Is he OK though? Being on his own at home while you two are here?" She asked.

"It does," Hermione nodded. "I think... I don't know, it's just... the more we learn about how everyone seemed to be doing their best to make Harry's life an utter hell... it's starting to feel like the magical world really didn't deserve to be saved at all."

"Katie's going to be there when she's not at practice," Ginny said, trying to move the conversation on from how both Harry and Hermione were getting more and more disillusioned with the magical world, as she started picking out some chicken legs to add to her growing plate. "We'll keep his mind off things." She added with a grin before realising what she was saying.

"Katie?" Neville asked curiously. "Katie Bell?" He asked after wracking his brain for a minute. "From the year above us? Didn't she used to play for the Quidditch team?"

"Yeah, that's her." Ginny nodded quickly before laughing and shaking her head, dismissing the thought of keeping her relationship secret when she really didn't need to. "Me and Harry are dating her now too, so she's making sure he doesn't do anything stupid at home." She explained, ignoring the stunned expressions on Neville and Susan's faces.

"Did I look like that when you told me?" Hermione laughed, finding the situation quite amusing now that she was on the other side of it.

"Pretty much," Ginny grinned, idly pulling some chicken apart and popping it into her mouth with a smirk.

"Sorry, that's... sorry." Neville apologised, shaking his head as he tried to get his bearings on the conversation again.

"Katie was the tall girl right?" Susan asked. "The one with all the muscles?" She double checked. "I remember her when Hufflepuff was playing against Gryffindor, everyone knew she could throw the quaffle harder than anyone else in the school, even harder than any of the boys."

"That's her," Ginny grinned happily. "She's the forward chaser for the Harpies now." She proclaimed proudly, preening a bit at saying her girlfriend was the Harpies chaser aloud for the first time in public.

"That's great," Susan smiled over with a little smirk. "If I'd known you were looking for a third, I'd have tossed my wand into the hat myself." She teased with a grin.

"It just happened," Ginny laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "We weren't really looking, or even talked about it really... it was just... you know, right time and right place sort of thing?" She explained with a small shrug.

"They're actually disgusting sweet together," Hermione said, watching carefully how both Susan and Neville had completely accepted the relationship without even questioning it. "It's been good for Harry I think though, he seems a lot happier lately, more relaxed. Or he was anyway, until all of this."

"Good for him," Neville smiled, honestly happy for his friend.

"It's fun," Ginny smiled, still happily nibbling on her chicken bits. "It's nice having someone else to go out flying with or to work out with, and the stuff in the bedroom..." She trailed off with a wanton smirk, causing Susan to share a wide grin with her while Hermione rolled her eyes and shared a conciliatory embarrassed smile with Neville. "How's Hannah doing anyway?"

"Good," Neville smiled, thankful that Ginny wasn't going to go into any further details and embarrass him further with her tales. "She's busy at The Leaky most nights, but we spend as much time together as we can. It'll be easier over Christmas I guess."

"That's good, you two are great together." Ginny nodded thoughtfully.

"What about you and Ron? How's..." Susan trailed off awkwardly as she saw Hermione and Ginny both freeze at the same time. "What did I say?" She asked.

"Me and Ron aren't together anymore." Hermione said flatly, her tone completely empty as she reached for her glass of water.

"Oh... um, sorry?" Susan hedged.

"He should be the sorry one," Ginny muttered, shaking her head in disgust at the thought of her idiot brother.

The silence stretched on for a few minutes awkwardly as the four continued to nibble on their lunch, none of them really wanting to try and broach another conversation with that sort of awkwardness hanging over them.

"Actually Neville, yesterday, you said you'd come over some time to see Harry?" Hermione spoke up, breaking the awkward silence and calling everyone's attention over to her.

"Err, yes?" Neville half asked.

"What about Sunday?" Hermione asked. "Me, Ginny and Katie were going to go out for the day, I was thinking about doing it some other day, but I know Harry would just huff if I changed anything because of him."

Ginny had to laugh at that, knowing it was definitely the truth. Harry would certainly complain if she or Hermione changed anything about their plans because of the newspaper articles about him and his Hogwarts years.

"Yeah, I could do that." Neville nodded after a moment's thought. "It'd be good to see him again." He said with a small smile.

"That's settled then." Hermione smiled happily, content that there would be someone in the house with Harry while they were out. It wouldn't stop her worrying about him, but it would put her mind at ease knowing that Neville would be there to talk to Harry and catch up on everything. "If you couldn't make it, I was going to ask George or Bill if they could come over."

"I'll be there," Neville promised with a smile. "It's odd, but it actually feels a lot better having weekends away from the school now. Like it's a nice break to go home for two days and not be stuck here all the time."

"I love sleeping in at the weekends," Ginny added with a grin. "I never got to sleep in in the dorms, I'd definitely miss that if I had to come back here full time again."

"Me too," Susan nodded in agreement. "I heard that they might be keeping the 'of age' thing a permanent thing now, so all the students who are old enough can live at home for their last year from now on."

"Huh, I wonder why?" Hermione mused thoughtfully.

"Might be cheaper for the school?" Neville offered. "Having an entire year not needing beds and everything for an entire year? That'd probably save the school a bit."

"That's true," Hermione nodded absently, thinking it through and contemplating the idea.

"Doesn't really matter for us though," Ginny shrugged, they were all living at home this year anyway and would be gone from the school before it affected anyone in the next year, and none of them had any friends in sixth year currently, so it wouldn't affect them at all. "Besides, Professor Flitwick said that you and Harry would be able to live at home next year too right?"

"That's true," Hermione nodded.

"You decided to go for your masters too then?" Neville asked, perking up at this bit of information. "Harry too?"

"Yes," Hermione smiled proudly, nodding back to Neville in confirmation. "Harry's doing defence and duelling I think, but I'm doing mine in enchanting." She explained.

"Oh wow!" Neville stared in awe at that.

"Blimey Hermione, that's one of the hardest masteries to get." Susan exclaimed.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Hermione grinned, bouncing a bit eagerly on the bench. "I've been reading about it in the library, and it's all soo fascinating. It's going to be a whole new challenge and I can't wait to start it!"

"Crazy witch," Ginny laughed good naturedly, grinning when Hermione slapped her shoulder with a laugh.

"Rather you than me, I'll stick with my plants I think." Neville chuckled at the thought. "That's actually pretty great though, knowing you and Harry'll both be here for another two years with me." He explained with a smile. "I think it'd be weird if I was the only one still here studying like that."

"Actually Neville, talking about plants, I wanted to ask..." Hermione mused thoughtfully, looking at Neville properly now. "Are there still loads of mandrakes in the greenhouses?" She asked hopefully.

"Mandrakes?" Neville blinked, surprised by the question. "Yeah, we don't do much with them after second year though, they're pretty tame stuff compared to some of the bigger plants we're dealing with, but we've got a pretty good crop so far this year I think." He explained curiously. "Why?"

"If I asked you for a couple of leaves, could you get them for me?" Hermione asked with a little hopeful smile on her face.

"Probably," Neville tilted his head thoughtfully. Pruning the mandrakes wouldn't really be a problem, so he could easily get some leaves from there. "How many do you need?"

"A few, four I think, but maybe some as a backup in case something goes wrong." Hermione said thoughtfully, thinking about it properly now. "Six or eight would be best if you could."

"I can probably manage that, like I said, we've got a good crop this year. Eight leaves wouldn't be a problem." Neville shrugged. It wasn't exactly a big thing really, it was just tricky to prune the screeching plant without it's wails causing problems, but a decent silencing charm would do the trick well enough. "What do you need them for anyway? Fresh leaves aren't really useful for anything that I can think of, and you can buy dried leaves at the potions store in Diagon Alley cheaply enough?"

"It's a present for Harry, a thank you really." Hermione explained, drawing Ginny's attention over to her. "I found all the restricted books in the advanced transfiguration section, about the animagus ritual, fresh mandrake leaves are the first part of it." She explained when she spotted the curious glint in Ginny's eyes.

"To become an animagus? Really?" Ginny grinned widely at that.

"I thought it would be something fun to try," Hermione admitted with a smile. "I know Harry wanted to do it with Sirius, but..." She trailed off awkwardly as she thought about Sirius' untimely death and then the war and everything that had stopped Harry from doing it so far. "I just thought it'd be something nice to do for him, give him something that would connect him to Sirius and his dad."

"We can all do it?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"If we can get enough leaves," Hermione nodded with a smile as Ginny turned to Neville and gave him her biggest hopeful eyes.

"I'll get them," Neville promised, resolving to get the leaves this afternoon so he wouldn't forget them.

"The first part means keeping the leaf in your mouth for an entire lunar month." Hermione explained. "So we're probably best waiting for a new moon then starting the entire thing, that way we know exactly when it's finished."

"In your mouth?" Neville asked, frowning when Hermione nodded in confirmation. "It'll probably be the smaller leaves closer to the head of the mandrake then, not the big ones... there's more of the smaller leaves, so that'll make it easier."

"I'll check in the book to see if it specified which type of leaf, but I'm pretty sure it just said fresh mandrake root leaves." Hermione explained.

"I don't think there's a difference between the two, just smaller leaves growing closer to the ground while the bigger ones spread out more." Neville mused. "I'll ask Professor Sprout if it makes any difference for potions, maybe she'll know."

"I'll double check in the book as well." Hermione confirmed with a nod, definitely wanting to make sure she got this right for Harry.

"This is going to be so exciting," Ginny grinned and let out a little excited laugh. "I wonder what animal I'm going to be? I hope it's something fun and fast, oh maybe a bird like a kestral or a hawk or something?"

"I've got no idea," Hermione admitted when Ginny looked at her. "I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I can't even imagine what sort of animal I'd turn into."

"I wonder what Harry'll turn into," Ginny laughed, wracking her brain to try and picture what sort of animal would suit Harry the best.

"What else do you have to do for the animagus ritual?" Susan asked curiously. "What?" She asked when Neville looked at her. "It sounds fun, and could be useful. Running around like a cat or flying like a bird would be amazing don't you think?"

"Maybe," Neville nodded slowly as he thought about it.

"You have to use the leaf in a potion after you've kept it in your mouth for a lunar month. I'm still working on figuring out the potion though, it's really complex, actually worse than polyjuice. Some of the ingredients sound really exotic, I haven't even heard of some of them before." Hermione admitted. "After you'd had the leaf if your mouth for a month and made the potion up, you have to recite an incantation every day, then we just have to wait for a thunderstorm and drink the potion."

"That's actually simpler than I thought it was going to be." Susan admitted, musing on the idea. "Can I..." She asked, turning to Neville.

"I'll get more leaves," Neville chuckled as Susan grinned at him. "I might as well join in as well, like you said, it might be fun."

"I'll bet it's going to be," Ginny laughed, looking at Neville and Susan now and trying to imagine what sort of animals they were going to turn into. "Oh Merlin, what about Katie? What sort of animal do you think she'll be?" She laughed, trying to picture that.

Hermione simply shook her head in amusement, knowing that they were all going to be thinking about different animals all day now.

---

Ministry of Magic
Whitehall
London

Minister Shacklebolt looked up when he heard the door to his office open, suppressing the groan that threatened to eek it's way out when he saw Director Hammer in the doorway.

"Come on in," He said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as he put his quill down and pushed away the parchments he was going over. "Connie, I think I can assume what this is about?" He stated, looking back up as Director Hammer closed his office door and walked into the office properly.

"Probably," Director Hammer nodded, gesturing towards yesterday's copy of The Daily Prophet that was still on his desk. "I've pushed an official warrant out for Ms McGonagall's arrest. Just from that issue I've got her bang to rights on a dozen crimes, kidnapping and perjury are just the top billing right now, but I've been fielding owls left right and center from families that want her hung, drawn and quartered for sabotaging their children's education." She explained. "She's not on the undesirables list yet, but with the amount of unrest that's being kicked up, it's a close thing."

"I can imagine," Kingsley grimaced. "Do you think you'll find her?" He asked, honestly curious at the answer. Constance Hammer was one of Amelia's top lieutenants back when she'd run the DMLE, and had been top of the list to replace her. Thicknesse and Yaxley only got the Director's spot through corruption and pure blood favouritism, but he knew outright that he'd made the right decision to support her in the role after he'd been placed in the Minister's role.

"Not if she's smart," Constance admitted, shaking her head. "I've already sent two aurors down to speak to The Prophet, she was there all Sunday but left late afternoon, nobody's seen her since." She explained. "She's got a three day head start on us, and since she hasn't handed herself in, I'm putting galleons against knuts that she's fled the country already."

Kingsley sighed, but had to agree with Constance's theory on that. Minerva was smart enough to know that her name and face would be instantly recognisable to anyone who'd attended Hogwarts in the last fifty years, she wouldn't be able to hide out anywhere in England without someone noticing her, not without fully integrating herself into the muggle world anyway, and he was almost certain that Minerva had neither the knowledge nor skill to live as a muggle effectively without drawing too much attention to herself.

"How much of this has been corroborated?" Kingsley asked, waving his hand towards the issue of The Daily Prophet that was causing him so many headaches right now.

"Enough," Constance admitted. "Between her own words and the photos printed, it's pretty damning. It'd be enough to get Dumbledore tossed in a cell with a dementor." She said with a small shrug. "I've heard there's already talk from people wanting to have his mausoleum removed from the Hogwarts grounds, no idea what they want to do with his body, but I don't think it'd be pretty if they go ahead with it."

Kingsley grimaced at that thought, knowing that sort of mob mentality could turn into something truly disturbing if it wasn't tempered down and brought around to something more civil. "I'll speak with the Headmistress," He said with a small nod, knowing that it would be much easier for everyone if he organised the removal of Albus' tomb quietly himself.

The old headmaster might not deserve his respect or duty anymore, but he wouldn't stand by and see his tomb desecrated by a mob. He would just have to find a normal muggle cemetery to have Albus' body moved to, and leave his remains there in an unmarked grave.

It was hardly the ending that Albus would have wanted, but given what he now knew, it was certainly deserved.

Albus Dumbledore's reputation had taken blow after blow after blow since his death. Skeeter's book, 'The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore', had launched the first blows, but Mr Potter's interviews and memories had done the most damage. With them, and now Minerva's interview, both corroborating the theories and accounts in Skeeter's book about Albus' uncaring manipulations and his utter disregard for life, more and more people were looking at Albus, and anyone associated with him, with disdain, distrust, and more than a healthy share of disgust.

He'd heard mutterings for a while now about calling Albus a Dark Lord, it had only been muffled whispers at first from people that already hated him for one reason or another, but more and more lately he'd heard it whispered and questioned by more people who he never would have thought would have said such things before.

Minerva's interview had damned Albus far worse than anything else ever could have. On the front page there was a photo taken directly from her memory, of her standing outside Privet Drive with Albus and Hagrid. On it's own it was innocent enough, but the dialogue underneath was haunting, and damned Albus' reputation beyond recovery in one foul swoop.

'Is that where...' Minerva asked.

'Yes,' Albus confirmed with a small nod. 'He'll have that scar for ever.'

'Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?' Minerva asked.

Albus glanced down at the infamous lightning bolt scar before replying coldly. 'Even if I could, I wouldn't.'

That was it, that was the moment Kingsley knew that Albus had known all along about the horcrux held within Mr Potter's scar, and it confirmed everything else that Mr Potter's original interviews had suggested. Albus had indeed manipulated Mr Potter's entire life, and raised him quite literally to die for his own agenda.

Now everyone else that had stood with Albus was being dragged through the mud. Nobody was going to believe he didn't know any of this, he could scarcely believe it himself. He'd known Albus for so many years now and would never have believed that he could be so cold, so callous... so dark.

Maybe all this would have been forgotten, blown over and ignored if Mr Potter hadn't gone to the Daily Prophet originally and told his entire story in his own words. Nobody thought he would ever do something like that, Albus had told him repeatedly that Mr Potter shied away from the spotlight and hated anyone trying to pry him for details about his life. But there it had been, Mr Potter's entire life, proven with memories and spoken about in his own words, and it was horrific.

"You might have to wait for that," Constance said, drawing Kingsley out of his dark thoughts to look up at her curiously. "Griselda Marchbanks has taken a full team up to the school already." She explained. "Her entire department were up in arms with all the shit that Dumbledore and McGonagall pulled under her watch." She said with a grimace. "She's going to be like a dragon up there all week now, I'll bet galleons there'll be big reforms up at the school soon enough, there'll probably be letters sent out next week if I know old Gris."

Kingsley let out a deep sigh at that, knowing how tough Griselda was she would be tearing through Hogwarts, and woe betide anyone still at the school that was keeping Dumbledore and McGonagall's dumbed down syllabuses alive right now.

"I'm sure that's going over well," Kingsley sighed, slumping back in his chair and massaging his forehead. "Any idea of what they're going to do?" He asked.

"Nothing solid," Constance shook her head. "I know Griselda's been pushing for reforms for years now, but Dumbledore always pushed against them. Now she's got free reign and with the people behind her..." She trailed off with a 'there you go' gesture.

Kingsley simply nodded, knowing full well that Griselda had butted heads with Albus many times over the years, especially when it came to some of the teachers and their teaching methods.

He knew that Headmistress Vector had already dismissed Professor Trelawney, and with Horace in hiding as well, there weren't many of Albus' old guard left at the school anyway. He wouldn't be at all surprised if the ghost of Cuthbert Binns was removed by the end of the week, other courses like Muggle Studies would likely have a complete overhaul too.

Ironically the two most influential members of staff at the school now, Septima and Filius, were two that refused to be anything more than peripherally involved in Albus' schemes or his Order of the Phoenix, and both came out of all these revelations looking all the better for it. Perhaps they, and the other staff that refused to join Albus' side, had seen something that he had missed all those years. Because even he had to admit that if he'd known everything about Albus' plans back then, he certainly wouldn't have gone along with everything so blindly.

"Anything else?" Kingsley asked, rubbing his temples and knowing this was likely only the calm before the storm.

"Nothing really," Constance shook her head. "If we ever actually catch McGonagall I'd like to have a proper interview with Harry Potter and his friends, probably a few others from his school year too. It wouldn't be essential, but I'd like to nail everyone involved in this conspiracy with as many curses as I can get."

Kingsley nodded, fighting hard to keep his expression neutral as he heard Connie's words. "Very well, keep me in the loop if there are any sightings of Minerva."

"I don't expect we'll find her, not any time soon anyway." Constance shook her head. "I'll keep my ear to the ground and get some patrols up to Hogwarts as well if I hear anything about Dumbledore's tomb."

"Good," Kingsley nodded. "Thank you."

Constance nodded back before leaving, closing the office door behind her before Kingsley slumped further in his chair and let out an audible and despondent sigh.

Things were definitely going to get worse from here on out, he could feel it in his wand. The public was already wary of The Ministry and any corruption due to The War, but the interviews Harry Potter had given to The Daily Prophet had stoked those wary feelings into apathy and disregard, bordering on discontent right now.

He could very easily imagine an uprising to destroy The Ministry itself if more and more mistakes came to light, and Merlin knew between Voldemort, Albus, Sirius Black and Barty Crouch, Umbridge, Fudge and Malfoy... The list went on, showing quite clearly that The Ministry had more than it's fair share of mistakes that it was hiding.

The painful thing was that there wasn't anyone to blame, no scapegoat and no villain to bring out and appease the people with. The Ministry was currently the only enemy left that the people were wary of, and while he was doing his best to change things and fix things inside, that was inside and out of sight from where people could see what he was doing.

In general, people liked a villain or an enemy that they could see caught and captured, defeated and vanquished, and right now, they didn't have one. Every major player in the conspiracy to control Mr Potter's life and everything that had happened during it was now dead. Minerva was the last major player, and she'd clearly left the country rather than face the masses that were firmly on Mr Potter's side and starting to rise against the corruption that had given power to those people that had sought to end Mr Potter's life so prematurely.

There were many that still sat on the fence though, believing Mr Potter didn't have the full story about what was going on, or his views and experiences were coloured by his inexperience and youth. But he knew that those people were getting well and truly turned around now with Minerva's testimony backing up Mr Potter's interview.

He already knew tomorrow's issue of The Prophet would be explosive, covering Harry's first year at Hogwarts and giving Minerva's own views on actually having Voldemort in the castle and helping Albus lure the madman there.

If The Prophet kept up their usual pattern, then it would be late next week by the time any stories involving him and his actions with Albus' Order of The Phoenix came to light, and those stories he was not looking forwards to.

By then, it would be far too late to do anything, and his complicity in keeping Mr Potter in an abusive home and helping Albus' plot the child's problems at Hogwarts would be well and truly in the public's eye.

He'd already heard whispers about a few Warlocks in the Wizengamot, neutral leaning mostly, who were talking about pushing for Albus to be posthumously recognised as Dark Lord Dumbledore at the next session. He hadn't thought anything of it at first, but now with everything else that had come to light, he was seeing more and more people looking at him wearily now, clearly remembering all too well how close he was with Albus prior to his death.

If the issue was raised at the Wizengamot, he couldn't see the motion being blocked. Albus didn't have that many fervent supporters left, and he was certain that even the small number that he did have would have had their faith shaken by yesterday's issue of The Daily Prophet.

It was more likely to be a when, not if, but when Albus Dumbledore was officially recognised as a Dark Lord, from there he knew outright that his term as Minister would be over before the week was out.

He'd already faced body blow after body blow with Mr Potter's interviews, his refusal to join The Auror Academy, his refusal to accept The Order of Merlin... Every blow against him was in the public's view, and having Minerva corroborate his story would truly be the death knell for his political career, him being linked to a recognised Dark Lord would just be the icing on the cake really.

The only decision now was whether he should wait and face the music, and be forced out of office by The Wizengamot forcing a no confidence vote, or if he should follow Minerva's example, and resign before leaving, and just hope that he could find a new country to settle in where his past mistakes wouldn't follow him.

It was going to be a difficult choice, and he had precious little time to make his decision in.

---

Flourish and Blotts
Diagon Alley
London
England

Katie was actually really glad the shop was empty as she cautiously made her way in, feeling extremely self conscious with the bag of galleons Harry had entrusted her with in her pocket.

She made a good living playing for The Harpies, more than good really. With her regular pay and bonuses for winning games, she made enough to live comfortably and still put some away in her savings regularly.

But there was a vast difference between her monthly pay from The Harpies, and the way Harry had entrusted her with a sack of galleons that was almost half her monthly pay in itself, just to pick up a rather expansive list of books for him and Hermione.

"Can I help you?"

Katie's eyes immediately rounded on the man behind the counter, smiling awkwardly at him before walking over. "Hi... I'm... I need to pick up some books?" She asked, not having actually been in this store for three years now, not since before the war when she'd finished her last year at Hogwarts.

"Of course, do you know what you are looking for?" The store person asked, apparently well used to people coming in and asking for help rather than getting lost in the maze of books that made up the stacks and shelves around the store.

Katie simply nodded, fishing in to her coat pocket and bringing out the two lists Harry had given her, handing them over with a small smile. She simply watched as the store man took the lists, his eyes running down them and his eyebrows quirking up every so often as he read through the titles that were listed.

"This is quite the list..." The store clerk mused, tapping the parchments thoughtfully in his hand as he lifted his glasses up onto his forehead. "Enchanting, duelling and defence?" He asked, raising a lone eyebrow. "Some of these are quite advanced." He commented.

"They're for a mastery, two really. Two people I mean." Katie explained.

"I had imagined," The clerk nodded, sliding his glasses back down and going over the lists once more. "I believe we have these in stock, as far as I am aware we do, it will be an expensive purchase however."

"I know," Katie nodded, feeling every galleon's worth of weight in the small expanded coin purse in her pocket. Intellectually she knew the bag didn't actually weigh anything, not with the charms on it, but mentally it felt heavier than anything she'd ever carried in her life right now.

"Very well," The clerk nodded again, bringing up his wand before lifting up the first list.

Katie just watched quietly as the clerk waved his wand in a few complicated motions, breaking a few seconds before starting another motion. She then quickly stepped back when one book came floating down through the store and came to a rest on the counter, followed by another, then another.

It took several minutes, but soon enough there were two rather large piles of books by the store clerk, piled neatly as he went through them, double checking the book titles against the list and ringing the prices up on the till as he went.

Her eyes actually widened as the till went over a hundred galleons, reaching a hundred and seventy two exactly by the time all twenty three books were accounted for.

When the store clerk looked at her she simply nodded, reaching into her pocket and lifting out the small beaded bag that Harry had given her, before she started counting out the galleons on the counter, letting the clerk arrange them in piles of tens before depositing them in the till.

It was mind blowing to count out that much gold at once, but an actual relief to actually pay for the books and hand the money over. She'd never carried two hundred galleons anywhere in her life before, and had been panicking about being cursed and mugged for the money ever since she'd first stepped foot in Diagon Alley.

She smiled nervously as the clerk found an expanded bag for her, shrinking down the books and putting them inside before handing it over.

"Thanks." She offered a small smile as she took the bag, breathing out a sigh of relief that it had a weightless charm on it as well, because she really hadn't been looking forwards to carrying all those books back to Harry's place.

"My pleasure my dear," The clerk smiled widely, far friendlier than Katie had ever seen before, and clearly very happy with the amount of money that he'd taken off her today.

Clutching the bag she quickly made her way out of the store, turning right along Diagon Alley and walking quickly down to The Weasley's store before heading inside, breathing out a sigh of relief as she pushed through the door and made it into a place she considered safe and friendly.

"Katie?" Angelina asked, casually looking up from where she was sitting at the store counter with George and counting out some stock to go on the shelves tomorrow. "What you doing here?" She asked curiously.

"Shopping for Harry," Katie explained, blowing out a relieved huff of air as she closed the store door behind her and headed over to the counter. "I said I'd do it for him after practice so he didn't have to come into Diagon today."

"Ah, probably best." George nodded with a pained expression. "We saw The Prophet yesterday, should'a known 'Mione was right on the money about everything."

"How is he?" Angelina asked, waiting for Katie to sit down on one of the counter stools and get comfortable first. "Bet it must have been hard with all that stuff being dug up again."

"Yeah," Katie nodded. "He was furious, I've never seen him like that before." She admitted. "He was out flying for hours just to burn it off, think it's worse that there's nothing he can do about it either."

"Right, yeah." George nodded. Dumbledore was long dead now, so there was nobody left for Harry to hunt down to get answers from. "Guess he'll be laying low for a bit then?"

"At least until all of McGonagall's articles are done with, Merlin knows how long that'll take." Katie sighed. "Probably a month or two after as well, you know how people get around him."

"Do I ever," George grimaced knowingly. "We'll keep coming over then, don't want Harrikins to go crazy cooped up on his own all the time."

"Thanks," Katie smiled, thankful for the offer.

"Are we still on for Sunday?" Angelina asked. "I mean I get it if Hermione wants to do it another time or something..."

"Me and Harry could go flying or something?" George asked. "It's not like I've got anything to do on Sunday anyway, other than brewing up some more stock." He said with a shrug when Katie looked at him. "You know Harry though, he'd probably hate thinking that he's being handled or taken care of or anything like that."

"Right, yeah." Katie nodded. "I'll check with Hermione first and see what she says, might be a good idea though. I just don't want Harry laying around the house and letting his thoughts get to him, you know?" She asked, getting two firm nods back in response. "I'll owl you tonight and let you know what Hermione says."

"Sure," Angelina nodded with a smile. "We can always do it another time, it's not like it was something important or anything." She said with a shrug.

"Mind if I use your floo?" Katie asked. "Harry asked me to grab all the books for him and Hermione's masteries, and I swear to Merlin I'm carrying nearly two hundred galleons of books here." She said, holding up the bag and waving it at them. "This lot cost more than I spent in my entire time at Hogwarts!" She said, shaking her head in amazement at the books.

"Bloody hell," George muttered, horrified at the idea of books costing that much.

"I remember NEWT books were expensive, mastery books must be bloody extortionate." Angelina chuckled. "Come on, I'll let you up." She laughed, walking out from behind the counter as Katie stood up from her stool.

"Tell Harry I'll pop by on Sunday anyway," George called out before the two girls walked off. "Might as well get out of the shop for a day, and he's much better company than risking it going back to The Burrow." He explained with a grimace.

"I'll tell him," Katie said with a smile of thanks before Angelina led her up stairs to the flat above the store.

"You keeping Harry occupied then?" Angelina asked with a cheeky grin as she walked up the stairs in the store, looking behind her and sending a wink back to Katie.

"I will tonight," Katie smirked back. "Last night we were all just talking until late and it didn't feel like the mood to do anything like that."

"Right," Angelina nodded in agreement with that, she wouldn't have been in the mood either after reading McGonagall's interview. "Tonight, get him to give you one for me and Alicia too will you?" She asked with a grin. "And what's the deal with that cock ring thing he's wearing?" She asked, spinning around to face Katie as she reached the top of the stairs that led to her flat. "I saw it when he got out of bed... spill." She said, crossing her arms and smirking to the taller witch.

"Just some fun," Katie grinned. "It's one of the Harpies broom rings we use for away matches. Slip them down the broom and it's got our name on them, stops anyone from trying to steal our brooms or picking them up by mistake."

"And you put it on his cock?" Angelina cackled at the thought as Katie grinned shamelessly and wiggled her eyebrows.

"It's got a nice shiny badge on it too," Katie laughed. "Property of Ginny and Katie." She said proudly with a devious smirk on her lips.

"Oh that's just perfect," Angelina laughed loudly at that, shaking her head in amusement before she turned and opened up the flat door. "Bet Ginny loves that."

"She does," Katie grinned as she followed Angelina through into the flat. "And she definitely loved those toffees." She added with a smirk.

"Alicia did too," Angelina grinned back. "George hasn't tried them yet, but I had one and gave her a proper night of it." She explained with a laugh. "It's definitely more fun thinking up magic sex toys than children's pranks and bits."

"I'll bet," Katie laughed. "Let me know if you think up any more fun bits. Anything I can do to keep Harry's mind off things and him smiling is a good thing in my book." She said.

"And if it leaves you shagged senseless, I'm sure you won't complain either." Angelina laughed at her. "Go on, get back to Mr Tongue and say hi from us." She said, pointing towards the fireplace. "Let me know what Hermione says."

"Will do," Katie nodded as she headed to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder. "I reckon he should be OK with it, just down to whether Hermione is up for it after everything."

"Either way," Angelina shrugged. "We can come by with George if she doesn't fancy shopping anyway, have another day just relaxing and chatting about everything."

"Sounds good to me," Katie smiled, walking into the fireplace. "I'll let you know." She said, offering one last goodbye smile before she dashed the floo powder at her feet, and with a shout of "Holy House!" was gone.

---

The Burrow
Ottery St Catchpole
Devon
West Country
England

Arthur sighed with relief as he walked through the floo at The Burrow, very happy to be home and away from the wary and dubious glances that he saw being sent his way any time he ventured out from his office.

He'd spent three hours this afternoon being questioned by the DMLE about his family's long standing relationship with Albus Dumbledore, and would sadly admit to himself that he knew it wouldn't be the last time he would be questioned either.

"Mollywobbles?" Arthur asked aloud as he walked through into the kitchen, taking his knitted hat off and putting it to the side on the kitchen counter when he saw the state Molly was in.

It wasn't just her ruffled hair and unkempt look that was worrying, but more the amount of letters around her, most folded in envelopes with Errol standing over them with a sad look on the old owl's face.

"Molly? What are you doing?" Arthur asked softly as he made his way over, hugging his wife from behind and kissing her gently on the back of her head, looking down and where she looked to be writing yet another letter.

"None of my babies want to talk to me anymore!" Molly practically wailed, leaning into Arthur as he wrapped his arms around her and simply held her there. "I've... I've tried... I'm really trying, but none of them will even take my letters." She explained, fresh tears running down her face as she explained what she was doing.

Arthur grimaced as he look a closer look at the letters. Noting several to Ginny, George and Harry there on the pile that apparently Errol was refusing to take. It was pretty clear that wherever Harry and Ginny were now, they must have set up an owl charm or something similar, or George had shown them how to do it.

Either way the result was the same really.

"You want to speak to them now?" Arthur asked quietly.

"I've been trying all day," Molly cried, shaking her head. "I tried sending Errol yesterday too, I thought he was just tired though and that it would take the letters this morning."

"Ah," Arthur sighed. "I take it that the pictures in the newspaper has given you a change of heart then?" He asked quietly, taking a deep breath when Molly nodded morosely into his shoulder.

"I can't believe Albus Dumbledore did such horrible things." Molly sobbed. "I... I just can't... I don't understand why... why did he do those things?"

"I don't know," Arthur sighed, gently stroking Molly's hair and doing his best to console her as best as he could. "The aurors have been talking with me all afternoon. Asking if I ever noticed anything wrong about Harry's home, or if he ever mentioned anything like that to me."

Molly simply sobbed harder, sinking in to Arthur's shoulder and remembering all those times Fred, George and Ron had said something, and she'd just brushed it off like it was nothing. She remembered oh so clearly them rescuing Harry from Privet Drive all those years ago, flying Arthur's car overnight to rescue him, and telling her repeatedly that they were starving him.

How many other times had they mentioned something was wrong, and she hadn't done a thing about it?

All those memories were building up now, and she was remembering things like Ron's first letter home when he'd mentioned first becoming friends with Harry, and how Harry had never had proper clothes or birthday presents or anything.

She'd just thought he was exaggerating at the time and had knitted Harry a special jumper for Christmas that year, but now she could see Ron hadn't been exaggerating at all. Neither had the twins. They'd all told her time and time again, and she'd just never listened to them.

How many years had Harry suffered simply because she refused to listen to her children?

That was at the core of everything William had accused her of, never listening to them. Never listening to what they wanted, or what they needed, and now she was seeing oh so clearly what her refusal to listen had actually cost her.

Arthur simply stayed silent, stroking Molly's hair and wondering if this change of heart was actually going to last, or if she would just slip back into her old routines again. It was a painful lesson, but apparently one that his wife needed to learn.

He would have to write to Ginny tomorrow from The Ministry and let her know what had happened, he could see if he could send her some extra galleons in the letter as well to make sure she had enough for everything.

The question of whether Ginny, George and Harry would be able to forgive Molly for everything she'd said to them... that was a question he didn't have the answer to, and right now, didn't have the heart to ponder too deeply, as he was afraid he already knew what the answer was going to be.

---

Holy House
Holyhead
Holy Island
Anglesey
Wales

"Hello?" Katie called out as she came through the floo, clutching the bag of books tightly so they wouldn't fall out or get damaged in any way.

"Kitchen!"

Katie laughed at hearing Ginny's familiar shout, walking through the living room with a smile to see Ginny and Hermione sat at the kitchen table while Harry was mixing something up in a bowl over to one side. "Everyone's here." She said with a smile, leaning down to give Ginny a kiss first before heading over and pulling Harry in for a quick kiss as well. "How was school?"

"Weird," Ginny admitted. "Everyone must have read yesterday's paper. It was like they were all talking about it quietly, whispering and watching us."

"Now you know how I always feel," Harry huffed with a dry laugh at his comment.

"Right," Katie nodded knowingly, remembering all too well how Harry hated the spotlight back in his Hogwarts days, and especially hated people talking about him behind his back. "I got them all for you." She said, holding up the bag of books and offering it to Harry.

"Give it to Hermione." Harry shook his head, holding up his hands to indicate the sauce covered mess that was currently all over them from where he'd been mixing something up.

"What are all these?" Hermione asked, looking up from where she was still going over yesterday's Daily Prophet with Ginny to take the offered bag from Katie.

"A ridiculous amount of books." Katie laughed as she handed over the bag and moved around to stand behind Ginny, casually leaning down on her shoulders and kissing the top of her head tenderly.

"Oh Harry!" Hermione whispered as she started pulling books out of the bag, looking at the titles with wide eyes as she started making a pile on the kitchen table.

"Did you manage to get everything?" Harry asked curiously, turning around and idly looking at the pile Hermione was making with amusement.

"Yup," Katie smiled with a nod. "I've got change too."

"Leave it on the table," Harry chuckled, thankful that the collection of books hadn't been as expensive as he'd feared. "No problems getting them all?" He asked hopefully.

"Nope, they had everything, didn't even need to wait for them to do an order or anything." Katie shrugged, laughing at the way Hermione was still pulling books out with a gleeful glint in her eye like it was Christmas or something.

"You got all of them?" Hermione asked, wide eyed as she started pulling out more and more books. "Harry... this..."

"Like I said, we can add them to the library upstairs when we're done with them." Harry said, cutting Hermione's thoughts off. "We might need a new set of shelves for stuff like this though, keep them separate from our OWL and NEWT books?"

"That..." Hermione frowned as she considered what the best organisation would be. "Maybe. Setting them out by speciality would probably be better, rather than by grade. Keep all the defence text books together. Charms. Transfiguration. Potions." She ticked off on her fingers. "Have a shelf or two for each of them?"

"As long as you can organise it and I know where to put things back, I'm happy with whatever." Harry laughed, shaking his head as Hermione went back to eagerly looking through the book titles with a smile of pure joy on her face.

"I know this is a muggle house, but... I really can't imagine growing up somewhere like that." Katie muttered, the dismay in her tone clear as she spoke. "I don't mean in a muggle house... I mean, there, in that house, with those people." She explained when Hermione looked at her, causing her to tap the photo on the front page of the Daily Prophet that showed Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid outside of a muggle house.

"Not everyone is like they were," Hermione said quickly. "My parents loved knowing I was a witch, and supported me with everything." She explained, swallowing the lump that built up in her throat every time that she thought about her parents like that.

"I know, it just... it doesn't really look like a nice home anyway, and I don't even need to know how bad it was there to see that." Katie sighed. "Number Four Privet Drive, it even sounds dull and dreary, like..." She trailed off when she saw the way Hermione and Harry were staring at her. "What?"

"You know the address?" Harry asked.

"Yeah?" Katie asked. "It's in this photo, see?" She said, pointing to the looping photo of Minerva McGonagall signing one of the Hogwarts Invitation letters. The full address wasn't clear on the envelope as she sealed it, but the top lines with 'The Cupboard Under the Stairs' and 'Four Privet Drive' were clearly visible.

"I didn't even look at that," Ginny gasped, watching the animated photo loop around again to where the address was clearly visible.

"Harry..." Hermione grimaced, turning to him with an awkward expression on her face.

"Vernon's going to explode," Harry muttered, shaking his head in dismay. "I have to, don't I?" He asked.

"You don't have to," Hermione grimaced. "But... I know how horrible they were to you, but... would you be able to live with yourself if something happened to them and you didn't tell them?" She asked quietly.

Harry closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and blowing it out from his nose. "I hate that you're always right." He said with a sigh, shaking his head as he went to the sink and rinsed off the whiskey pepper sauce mix that he'd been blending up. "What can I even do though?"

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked, looking between the pair with Katie who was curiously watching how Harry and Hermione seemed to know exactly what each other was thinking without even saying much to the other at all.

"Harry's aunt, their house." Hermione explained when Harry stayed quiet. "Everyone knows where they live now." She explained. "It didn't matter before because apparently there was some sort of blood magic protecting them while Harry lived there... but now..."

"But now Harry doesn't live there anymore." Katie filled in with a small nod. "And The Daily Prophet just published their address for everyone to see."

"Not all of it," Ginny said, shaking her head. "The first line. There must be tons of Privet Drives around right?" She asked.

"It wouldn't take that long to look for them all, and considering there's a photo of the house as well..." Hermione trailed off, looking at the newspaper awkwardly.

"I know, I know." Harry sighed. "Can you... I don't know, can we even put any protections or anything up there without breaking The Statute?" He asked.

"Nothing overt," Hermione frowned as she considered the question. "Disguising things might actually be the best option. Changing subtle things about the front of the house so that anyone using that photo for a reference would think they'd got the wrong one."

"That'd work," Katie said, looking at the photo on the front page again. "Changing the door, some of the front of the house, the garden a bit?"

"I could do some charms to let us know if there was any magic being used there, but really... I don't know any long term protection charms that I could put up on a muggle house like that." Hermione explained.

"So... redecorating the front of the house basically?" Harry asked, double checking that was what Hermione and Katie had meant.

"In essence, I suppose." Hermione nodded.

"Fine," Harry blew out a huff of air. "I never wanted to even see that place again..." He muttered as he wandered through to the living room to grab his trench coat from the coat hooks by the front door.

"We're coming too," Ginny said quickly, following Hermione with Katie alongside. "It'll go faster if there's four of us right?" She asked when Harry looked at her. "And I'm not letting you face those gits alone. I've wanted to yell at them ever since I found out how horrible they were to you."

"Me too." Hermione admitted.

"Just..." Harry sighed as he pulled his coat on, trying to imagine just how loud Vernon and Petunia were going to yell when they saw him. "I don't know." He sighed as he watched the three grabbing their own coats and getting ready. "Can you remember it well enough to apparate to the street outside?" He asked, looking to Hermione as he opened the front door.

"Definitely," Hermione nodded. "I can take Katie?" She offered, following Harry out of the house and waiting for him to let Ginny and Katie come through before he closed the door behind them.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, accepting that was probably a good enough plan. He'd only be able to side-alone one person at a time, so Hermione bringing someone with her was the easiest way of doing it. "I really don't want to go back there." He muttered to himself as he started walking down the gravel path to head outside of the anti-apparition hex area that Hermione had set up around the house.

Hermione just looked at him with an apologetic grimace on her face when Ginny grabbed his hand and held it reassuringly.

After a minute or two's walking they were far enough away for them to apparate, with Harry and Ginny leaving first with an almost silent pop, before Hermione offered her hand to Katie, then apparated away when she took it with a small smile.

---

Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
England

The sun was setting as Harry and Ginny arrived at Privet Drive, with Hermione and Katie popping in on the street only a few seconds afterwards.

"It's exactly as it looks in the photo." Ginny commented, looking at the recognisable house that was only a few yards down from where they'd apparated to on the street.

"Yeah," Harry sighed. "Petunia hated changing anything." He admitted. "The gardens were always kept exactly the same. The curtains, the bushes, everything." He sighed. "She said she won some neighbourhood contest years ago for the tidiest garden, so everything had to be exactly as it was when she won it." He explained with a grimace. "And I was the one that always had to do it all."

"Do you think she's doing it again now then?" Ginny asked as they started walking towards the house in question.

"No idea," Harry shrugged, sliding his hand into his pocket and bringing out his wand. "Lets just do this and get out of here." He said firmly. "I don't want to be here any longer than we have to be."

"Alright," Hermione nodded in agreement with that. "Some growing charms on the flower beds and a few changes should make the front garden different enough." She explained. "I can start changing the windows and door, make them different styles and look completely different to the photo."

"I can do the garden?" Ginny offered. "I did enough of it back at The Burrow."

"I'll help with the windows," Katie offered, brandishing her own wand with a smile.

"I'll do the garage then," Harry sighed. "Let's just get it over with." He grimaced, looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone on the street watching before he casually flicked his wand towards the garage door, transfiguring it from it's clear white metal to an older wooden door instead.

Hermione nodded back, walking towards the front of the house and twirling her wand around, transfiguring the windows around to a more elegant and subtler shape, adding some stained glass decoratives to the top windows while making sure that everything was different enough that it wouldn't be recognisable.

Katie worked alongside her, transfiguring the front door away from it's solid wooden panels to an older looking door with a circular window and an old brass handle on the side.

She smiled back when Harry caught her eye and offered a small smile at what she'd done, clearly liking the change in the door even if he hated the house in question.

While Hermione was working on the windows, she had to step aside and move around as Ginny started growing a thick set of roses up the side of the house, causing Hermione to grin at her and transfigure a trellis around the windows as well, so the roses could grow up happily and look like they'd been growing there for years.

"That's great!" Hermione grinned enthusiastically. "No one will ever be able to tell that this was..."

The front door to Privet Drive slammed open at that, cutting off Hermione's words and causing all four of them to turn their wands towards the door, each of the four of them having more than a few curses ready to let loose at the first opportunity.

"Right, who's 'aving it first!"

"Dudley?" Harry snorted, staring at how his cousin was stood in the doorway with a cricket bat in his hands, wearing just some baggy jeans and trainers.

"Harry?" Dudley asked, lowering the cricket bat slightly as he stared across and tried to make out Harry in the dim evening light. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "Thought you'd be right shot of this place after everything."

"That was the plan," Harry admitted, lowering his wand and walking over to Dudley hesitantly. "Where's... you know?"

"Mum and dad?" Dudley snorted, shaking his head. "Legged it this morning. Packed up and drove off." He explained. "Heard dad say something about Aunt Marge's place, dunno if that's where they're heading though. She didn't let us stay last time, don't reckon she'd let mum and dad stay there for too long anyway, would cut into her time fussing over all her ugly dogs."

"They left?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Mum said some... you know, one of yours came over yesterday. Told her something about a newspaper or something, she went completely nuts, right round the bend. Her and dad were shouting at each other all night." Dudley explained, correcting himself quickly where he would have said 'some freak' just out of the habit that his dad had trained into him, a habit that he was now fervently trying to get himself out of.

"Err... right." Harry blinked, not really having expected that at all. "You... you didn't go with them?" He asked curiously.

"Got college and work ain't I?" Dudley shrugged. "Besides, like I said when we had to go hiding before, you're not the waste of space dad always made you out like." He said, offering Harry a half smile at that.

"Right... that's..." Harry blinked, not knowing how to respond to that. "We were... I mean... I didn't want anyone coming here and... you know..."

"Destroying the place because mum and dad were arseholes to you?" Dudley offered, causing Harry to stare at him in shock. "Yeah, I figured it all out on my own." He said with a grimace. "Told dad if he didn't think he was doing anything wrong, why shouldn't I tell the papers or the police about how much of a arsehole he was to you when we were kids?"

"That's... wow." Harry muttered, ruffling his hair in confusion as he tried to figure out exactly what was going on here. "Anyway, we were just... changing things, making it look different so nobody figured out this was where I grew up."

"Why?" Dudley asked curiously. "After everything mum and dad did... why do you care?" He asked.

"Don't know," Harry admitted. "I hate them, I always will... but that doesn't mean I want them dead." He said quietly.

"Fair enough," Dudley nodded after a moment. "None of those floating black monsters around right?" He asked hesitantly, looking around at the three girls that were with Harry and flinching away slightly from the redhead standing in the garden.

"Dementors? No," Harry snorted, shaking his head. "Oh... uh, this is my cousin." He announced awkwardly, gesturing to the three witches. "Dudley." He introduced him with a small grimace. "Actually... no, first, why a cricket bat?" He asked with a snort, looking at the cricket bat Dudley was still awkwardly holding in one hand.

"Figured it'd be better than a pipe or something," Dudley shrugged. "Bigger flat side, that means it'd hurt more without killing them right?"

"He's... he's not wrong." Hermione admitted after a moment's thought.

"Look... we're nearly done here." Harry shook his head. "Give us two more minutes and we'll be gone." Harry said.

"Harry..." Dudley started awkwardly. "I... you know I've never been good with words or anything." He said, frowning as he tried to figure out how to say it. "I'm sorry." He blurted out, finally figuring that keeping it simple was probably the best way to do everything. "You know, about everything."

"That..." Harry stared for a moment before nodded. "Alright Dudley. Alright." He said, offering his cousin a small smile.

"Don't go, not..." Dudley frowned as he stumbled over his words again. "After that... you know, the thing that attacked us?"

"Dementor," Harry filled in with a nod.

"That," Dudley nodded. "I didn't want to be the old Dudley anymore." He explained. "Took up boxing. Actually studied proper hard like. Got into college and everything. Even got a proper job." He said proudly.

"College?" Harry asked, honestly surprised by that.

"If I ask you to come in, you're not going to give me a pigs tail or any sweets or anything right?" Dudley asked, his eyes flicking nervously to the redheaded girl on the front lawn again.

"No, I promise." Harry snorted with laughter, remembering both of the incidents Dudley obviously remembered clearly as well. "You know what... yeah, alright." He nodded, actually relaxing properly for the first time since he'd apparated to Privet Drive.

"Great," Dudley smiled widely at that. "I haven't got much, mum and dad packed everything up when they went on the run. But got a few beers and some crisps and bits?" He offered, turning back to the front door before blinking in surprise and looking at how different the house looks. "Mum's going to go off her rocker." He said with a grin.

"I know," Harry said, meeting Dudley's eyes and actually laughing out loud with him, possibly for the first time ever.

"Come on, I'll get you a beer." Dudley offered, walking into Number Four Privet Drive, and leaving the door open behind him for Harry to follow if he wanted.

"Harry?" Hermione asked curiously, looking at him to see if she could gauge what was going on in his mind. "Dudley... he was the one you protected with a Patronus before the war?" She asked, moving over to stand with him when Ginny and Katie did the same.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, ruffling his hair again before sliding his wand back inside his coat pocket. "Can a dementor change someone like that? Do they affect muggles differently or something?" He asked, looking to Hermione now for the answers.

"I have got no idea," Hermione admitted cautiously. "Do you want to..." She trailed off awkwardly, looking towards the open door. "We can leave if you want to?"

"I kinda want to know why he looked afraid of me," Ginny said with a frown. "I mean, compared to you two," She gestured between Harry and Katie. "I'm not exactly scary right?"

"You could give him a chance?" Hermione asked, looking to Harry with a pained expression on her face. "He is family right? Your family?"

Harry nodded at that, taking a deep breath when he realised Dudley was family and was waiting for him, while Hermione didn't have any family at all that remembered her anymore right now. "Alright." He said quietly. "But if he does anything, apparate back home as quick as you can. I'll deal with him." He said softly.

"Alright." Hermione nodded, waiting for Ginny and Katie to nod in agreement as well before Harry led the way inside, waiting by the front door for them all to come in before closing it behind them and walking through into the living room.

It was somewhat odd that the living room at Four Privet Drive looked almost identical to the last time he'd stood inside it over two years ago now. Almost empty of furniture and appliances, the fireplace was still boarded up, though the old electric fire wasn't in front of it anymore.

The old salmon pink and beige wallpaper was still as hideous as ever, but the sofa, chairs and cupboards had all gone from the room, and Harry didn't even know if they'd ever been replaced after the Dursley's had gone into hiding during the war.

"Sorry, don't have many glasses. Mum packed pretty much everything decent away." Dudley explained as he stood in the doorway that led through to the kitchen, holding up a six pack of beer in one hand, and a half empty bottle of Southern Comfort in the other. "Beer or whiskey?"

"Whiskey," Harry said with a nod, cautiously moving over when Dudley held the bottle out for him.

"What's muggle beer like?" Ginny asked curiously, watching the interaction between Harry and his cousin carefully.

"Only tried it once, I didn't like it." Harry shook his head. "But then, never tried normal whiskey either." He admitted, unscrewing the bottle of Southern Comfort and sniffing it curiously. "Is it supposed to smell sweet?" He asked, looking to Dudley curiously now.

"Yeah," Dudley laughed. "Come on, still got kitchen table and chairs. Mum couldn't pack that away." He said, gesturing for Harry to follow him through to the kitchen.

"Did you say you got a job as well as going to college?" Harry asked as he followed Dudley through to the kitchen, grimacing at the horrible pink and white room that was exactly as he remembered it being. He didn't even have to look around to know all three witches were just as horrified by the room as he'd always been.

"Yeah, got a job over at The Fox and Hound just over past the park." Dudley smiled proudly as he put the six pack of beer down on the kitchen table. "Only evening work though, and weekends, I help out with the bouncers when I can, but it's pretty good fun working there."

"That's... that's really good," Harry smiled, not having imagined Dudley having a job at all really. "What are you studying at college?" He asked curiously as he sat down at the kitchen table, nodding when Hermione sat down next to him with Ginny and Katie following on. "Sorry, I should have introduced you..." He grimaced awkwardly. "Hermione, Ginny, and Katie." He said, gesturing to the three witches in turn so Dudley would know who was who.

"Hi," Dudley gave a small hesitant wave. "You're all... you know... magic right?"

"Yes," Harry laughed, feeling very odd at laughing in the kitchen of Privet Drive right now. "You know... I never even imagined I'd step foot back inside this place, never." He admitted, looking to the bottle of Southern Comfort before shrugging and taking a large mouthful of it, swallowing easily and savouring the sweet and smokey burn that tingled down his throat.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again either." Dudley admitted, lifting one of the bottles of Old Speckled Hen out of the cardboard container and flicking the sealed cap off easily with one thumb in a swift and practised movement. "Try it if you want." He offered, putting the beer down on the table for any of the girls to try.

"What's it like?" Ginny asked, reaching for the bottle and sniffing it curiously like she'd seen Harry do.

"Uh... malt? It's a light beer, I think it's nice." Dudley offered with a small shrug.

"Alright," Ginny nodded, lifting the bottle to her lips and gingerly trying a taste. It wasn't too bad, bitter but with a sweet aftertaste, nothing like butter beer or anything though. "That's... I don't know, I've never tried anything like it before." She said, sipping at it again. "It's not bad, it's definitely not like butter beer though."

"Magic beer?" Dudley asked curiously.

"Remember that Angel Delight stuff Aunt Petunia used to make in summer? The brown one? Butterscotch toffee or something?" Harry asked. "Tastes like that, but fizzy, with some cinnamon and more foam." He explained when Dudley nodded to confirm he remembered the stuff Harry was talking about.

"Sounds wicked," Dudley smiled at the thought.

"Can I?" Katie asked, holding out her hand for the beer and smiling when Ginny passed it over. Following Ginny's example she took a small mouthful first, tasting it before taking a bigger drink. "Not as sweet... but I could drink it." She nodded with a smile, offering the beer to Hermione who shook her head quickly at the bottle.

"What about you? What are you doing now?" Dudley asked curiously, looking at Harry seeing how much he'd grown and changed in the two and a half years since he'd last seen him. "Did you get your eyes fixed?" He asked, cottoning on to the big change that he could see.

He definitely wasn't going to ask about the bloody weird long coat that looked like it had been made out of a giant green snake or something. He still remembered having nightmares about that snake that had escaped from the zoo all those years ago on his birthday.

"Uh, yeah." Harry shrugged. That was definitely a much easier explanation than dying, getting rid of the horcrux inside him, and coming back to life. "I'm going back to do a mastery course next year, like college courses I guess." He explained, trying to put it into terms Dudley would understand.

"That's cool," Dudley smiled at that. "I know you're never going to come back here normally or talk to mum or dad or anything... I just... you know, it's good, knowing you're doing alright for yourself now." He said.

"Yeah, you too." Harry nodded over, offering a small smile to Dudley. "We shouldn't really stay long though, I was half way through cooking dinner when Katie realised the address here was in the paper." He explained. "I should have seen it yesterday but I wasn't paying enough attention to it all."

"I didn't think you'd come," Dudley admitted. "Not after everything mum and dad did to you." He said with a grimace. "Reckon it'd be their own fault if anything happened to them. Like karma or something." He said with a shrug.

"Maybe," Harry allowed, enjoying another mouthful of the whiskey before putting the bottle back on the table. "Is the phone here still working then?" He asked. "Or did Uncle Vernon disconnect it?"

"Dunno?" Dudley shrugged, walking into the living room and lifting up the receiver curiously. "Yeah, it's working." He said as he came back into the kitchen.

"Got a pen and some paper?" Harry asked. "I'll give you my number, so if any... you know, do turn up. Give me a call alright?"

"You'd do that?" Dudley asked in surprise, turning around when Harry nodded, fetching a yellow post-it and a biro from the 'odds and sods' drawer his mum was always complaining about.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "If anyone starts knocking around or asking, just tell them they've got the wrong house and you've never heard of me. If they hang around too much, just call and I'll come over and take care of it for you."

Harry could feel the approving smile from Hermione without even looking, so he simply chuckled and nudged the bottle of Southern Comfort over to her. "It's sweet, actually really nice." He explained when he saw her frown at the golden liquid in the bottle.

"Just a taste then," Hermione said, feeling very uncouth as she used both hands and lifted the large bottle to her lips to let a small mouthful in, being surprised the sweet flavour that was completely different to the fire whiskey Harry normally drank. "That's... oh, I like that." She blinked in surprise, licking her lips and staring at the bottle, not having expected to like the golden coloured drink at all.

She'd expected the burning aniseed aftertaste that she always got from fire whiskey, but this one actually went down really smoothly, and only gave a gentle warming sensation in her throat that really matched the sweet and smokey aftertaste.

"Is it like fire whiskey?" Ginny asked curiously.

"No... nothing like it actually, it's sweet... smokey," Hermione paused, licking her lips. "It's really nice." She exclaimed with a laugh.

"Birds normally drink it with lemonade or coke," Dudley explained with a smile.

"Oh, oh yes, I could see that being a really nice mixture." Hermione nodded at the thought, offering the bottle to Ginny.

"You've turned them into whiskey drinkers," Harry laughed out loud at that as he wrote down the number for Holy House on the yellow post-it's, watching with amusement as Ginny tried a taste of the whiskey first, before her eyes went as wide as Hermione's had and she happily went in for a bigger drink.

"It's bourbon actually, American whiskey." Dudley clarified. "Yeah I know, I don't know the difference either. But I know there is one now, I got taught all the different drinks. Whiskey, gin, bourbon, sherry, beers... Got to know them all to serve them right." He explained when he saw the curious look Harry gave him.

"Oh it's from New Orleans." Hermione said, taking the bottle back from Ginny and reading the back of it curiously before handing it back over to Ginny.

"Where's that?" Ginny asked, enjoying another mouthful before handing the bottle over to Katie with an eager smile.

"The south of America, right along the bottom I think." Hermione explained as she watched Katie enjoying a drink. "I know it's famous for it's music and festivals, it was actually mentioned in one of the NEWT defence books... I think it was about the difference between Inferi and zombies, something about voodoo and some famous vampires around there, I didn't concentrate on it much because we had more important things to study for our OWLs."

"I'll have to pop in to the pub some time, have a see what it's like." Harry nodded, handing the post-it back over to Dudley, doing his best to quickly move on from the conversation before Dudley started panicking about zombies, vampires and magic stuff. "I'll bring everyone since these three have found a taste for it." He chuckled, watching curiously as Ginny and Katie were passing the bottle between themselves and taking mouthfuls from it. "I'll buy you a new bottle next time I come as well." He added with a laugh.

"I'll buy some next time I go to the supermarket, they should have it there, or is it a speciality drink?" Hermione asked, looking at Dudley curiously now, as she'd never really paid attention to the alcohol aisles in the supermarkets before.

"Nah, most places have it. Think Asda have right big bottles of it like we keep in the pub, two or three litres I think." Dudley shrugged.

"I'll buy you a new bottle then," Hermione grinned, happily accepting the offered bottle back from Ginny and enjoying another drink.

"You know... this has actually been nothing like I was expecting." Harry smiled. "It's... I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's been fun." He offered with a nod.

"Yeah," Dudley smiled back, nodding in a shared moment with Harry. "You going to... I don't know, I remember something about a fireplace and some nutty stuff like that?" He asked, his eyes flicking back to Ginny again.

"Oh, yeah." Harry laughed. "George... he gave Dudley one of those tongue sweets." He explained when Ginny looked at him curiously. "Arthur had to shrink it back to normal."

"Oh," Ginny blinked in surprise at that bit of information.

"Gave me nightmares for ages, still can't look at toffees, they make me sick." Dudley grimaced at the thought. "I had nightmares about gingers for months after, dad went spare."

"That's... I didn't know that." Harry admitted.

"They're just jokes, well, normally." Ginny explained with a sly grin. "We don't use them for jokes but other people do." She said with a laugh.

"Ginny!" Hermione gasped out before a laugh bubbled up inside her.

"Right, it's definitely time to get these home before you start hearing too much about stuff you probably don't want to hear." Harry said, shaking his head in amusement as Katie laughed at him.

"You can have one tonight?" Ginny purred at Harry, smirking suggestively towards him.

"Definitely time to go," Harry laughed, spotting that Dudley had figured it out now and was holding back his laughter while grinning broadly at him. "Don't worry, no fireplaces." He said with a smile as he stood up, reaching over to put his arm around Ginny.

"This your girlfriend then?" Dudley asked curiously as Ginny lent up to kiss him quickly.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"And mine," Katie smirked, kissing Ginny first and then pulling Harry over for a kiss.

"Bloody hell, good on your cuz." Dudley laughed, shaking his head in amusement at the differences between the short ginger girl, and the far taller brunette. To be fair, they both looked pretty fit as far as he was concerned, in both ways of using the word, but he wasn't stupid enough to say anything aloud, not anymore anyway.

"Hermione, you ready?" Harry asked, looking around to see Hermione bashfully smiling at him from where she'd been taking another sip of the Southern Comfort. "Are you OK to apparate?" He asked with a grin.

"I'm fine." Hermione laughed at him. "Home?" She asked, moving over to link arms with Katie.

"Call me if you need anything, alright?" Harry asked, nodding to Dudley. "And don't Vernon or Petunia know who's number that is, I... I really don't want to see them again." He admitted.

"Yeah, fair enough." Dudley nodded, reaching out and offering his hand. "It's been good you know, seeing you again." He said with a smile. "Dad doesn't know what he's on about, you lot are a laugh." He grinned at that.

"See you later Dudley." Harry smiled, shaking the offered hand. "And... yeah, it was good. Give me a call sometime, you know, if you need anything." He said before twisting on the spot and vanishing with Ginny, Hermione and Katie following a few seconds later, leaving Dudley alone in the kitchen and very confused at what had just happened.

"Dad would really blow his top," Dudley laughed to himself at the thought, actually feeling content and happy with himself for the first time in a very long time, holding the number Harry had given him before he folded it up and put it in a safe place in his wallet.

Forgiveness definitely felt good, and he was now certain that he was doing the right thing, he just had to keep living up to it.