An hour in the car, and they pulled into 12 Grimmauld Place. Well, they
pulled up to 10 and 14 Grimmauld Place, but a few minutes later, 12
appeared.
Harry dragged his trunk out of the car; Cho was still upset about what she'd said to a muggle. After struggling up the front stairs with it, the front door swung open, and Moony was there to meet him.
"Harry! Good to see you!" He smiled. Harry smiled back. It was good to be back. Good until he saw how many people were living under his roof.
There were people everywhere. It was like Hogwarts, but the building was a hundredth of the size. Harry just stood there with his mouth open. Cho joined him when she came in.
"Err, Harry, these are the temporary residents of your house."
Every one stopped moving, all eyes laid on Harry.
"Guys, this is Harry, this is his house."
There were at least thirty kids, all ages, from toddlers to teens, coming up to Harry and thanking him.
Cho laughed. "You've got them pretty well trained, Professor Lupin." Everyone laughed with her.
After prying himself away, Harry got upstairs, taking care to notice that Mrs. Black was no longer a resident of the house. He wasn't sure where to go. Every thing had been changed into dormitories; there were at least five people's names on each door.
Lupin followed him upstairs. Cho came with, and Lupin pointed her towards a door on the left.
He led Harry down the hall. He was standing in front of the master bedroom. He opened the door, and before Harry stood a great room, decorated in red and gold, filled with furniture and books, and everything Harry could ever want in a bedroom.
"Padfoot was still getting it ready for you. He had gotten as far as painting it, putting furniture in it, and he even started filling it with stuff. All I had to do was make it yours. Well, really, you need to do that."
Harry nodded, he was still in awe. It was fabulous; he'd never seen anything that looked like more fun. Sirius really had wanted him there.
When he turned around, Lupin had already gone downstairs to keep order.
"Wow, that's pretty cool, Harry." Cho walked up behind him. "All I get is a
small room that I'm sharing with four other girls, right now at least. Sarah, who I don't know, Judith, from my year in Ravenclaw, Jill, a year
younger than you, and Pansy Parkinson." She shivered. "It's going to be
horrible."
Harry spun around. "What? Were her parents Death Eaters? I don't want her
in my house!"
"Harry!" Cho said angrily. "Pansy isn't a Death Eater, her parents were. Just because you don't get along, doesn't mean you can put her in exile!"
"But- you-" Harry started.
"I know, Harry, I said its horrible, but I wouldn't put her outside. Just like I said I would hurt your uncle, but I would never actually attack a
muggle!"
Harry shrugged. He wasn't about to get her riled up again. It hadn't been
him she was mad at, so Harry was happy.
"You're welcome in here whenever you want, if it gets to be too much in
there." He said.
Cho smiled. She walked in and flopped down on the big red couch. "Hey! I
said you were welcome here! I still want to be the first one in!" Harry
said, pouncing on her.
Cho laughed. "Harry! Get off! Stop it!" She shrieked.
She pushed Harry off, and he landed on the floor. He looked up, and noticed all the equipment. "Hey, cool! A T.V., and a computer, and a Gamecube, and
all sorts of stuff! Wow, Dudley would be so jealous!"
It was true. There was an entire wall in front of him, filled with
electrical equipment, including a big screen television, a computer, at
least three different game systems, and games to play on them.
"Harry, what are all those? Didn't Dudley have that kind of stuff?"
Cho had never really had a close look at all the stuff, just the T.V. at the Dursley's. They spent the next hour trying to figure out how to play
the games.
"Cho, do you think I should make this a public room, so all the other kids
can play?" Harry said, as he watched Cho's car go flying off the road.
She shrugged. "There's not really enough to go around, but you could
probably have a sign up sheet to play on it."
Harry thought about that for the next little while, not even noticing the
number of times that Cho knocked him off the course.
* * * * *
The next day, Harry sent an owl to Ron. He said how he wanted him to come and stay, and he was very sorry there wasn't room yet. Getting homes for kids wasn't going as well as they had hoped.
He sent the letter off just as Lupin walked in. "Harry, you said you wanted to help, right?" He asked.
Harry nodded.
"Follow me."
He led Harry down stairs, where Cho, Moody, Tonks, and a few others were waiting. They all had their cloaks on, and were ready to go. "Where are we going?" Harry asked.
Tonks grinned. "You wanted to help, so we're bringing you guys with us to the Ministry. There's work to be done!"
They walked outside into the warm sun. it felt good to be able to go out with out worrying about someone trying to kill him. "How are we getting there?" Harry asked.
No one said anything, because they were already at the subway station. Harry laughed, he knew that Moody was going to get strange looks for his eye, and Tonks was going to get even stranger looks for her hair, which at this moment, was electric blue, and fell around her ears.
As they got off the train, Cho leaned to Harry. "That man over there. The one with the brown jacket." Harry glanced over. A dark man with a brown leather jacket and graying hair was exiting the door at the other end of the car. "He's been behind us since we got on the train."
Harry looked at her skeptically. "So he got on and off the same stop. It's really no big deal. But I'll keep an eye out if it's bothering you." He added, seeing that Cho was looking hurt that he didn't believe her. She smiled. "Thanks."
Harry did keep an eye out, and it seemed Moody did too; he led them in a few circles. Once or twice the man would go another direction, but he always ended up behind them again.
"I see it too, I'm keeping an eye on him." Moody said quietly. Harry nodded.
The man disappeared as they walked up to the phone booth for the Ministry, and Harry didn't think about him again all day.
They went in twos down the elevator. When Harry got to the bottom, he gasped.
The entire atrium was destroyed. There were desks and bits of material from the walls and ceiling on the floor, there were confused memos flying everywhere, and it was completely empty.
"Good! You're here!" A voice rang out. Harry could tell it was that of his Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall. "Come in, come in!" She was standing at the other end of the atrium, signaling for them to come.
They rushed over to her, and she led them into a large room. There was a table in the centre, with one chair facing it.
Professor McGonagall seated them in empty seats. When they had all sat down, Cornelius Fudge stood up from his seat and spoke.
"Ahem. Everyone here is now on the staff of the Ministry of Magic, unless they do not want to, or they Are Professor Dumbledore or Harry. This is not a big enough staff, so we need to hire a new one. Let us begin."
He didn't sit down, but he walked over to Cho. "Ms. Chang," He said to her, "Would you be horribly offended if I asked if you would be my secretary? The pay isn't good right now, we don't have the money; but it will get better. Professor Dumbledore said you would do very well."
Cho looked slightly stunned, and Harry glanced over at Dumbledore, who winked. Harry looked back at Cho, who was nodding her head.
Cornelius Fudge shook her hand strongly, grinning. He handed her a pen and some papers. Actually, quite a lot of papers. "These are the applications. They're in alphabetical order, but we need you to take them out for the specific person, and write the minutes on this entire expedition. Harry is welcome to give help, if you need it." He looked slightly red as he finished, but he returned to his seat.
Harry looked at Cho. She was grinning. "My first job. This could be the start of something." She whispered.
Harry grinned back. "Do you want me to take care of these?" Harry asked, pointing to the pile of papers.
Cho smiled. "Please." Harry felt his insides melt. Cho hadn't smiled like that in a long time. It was a smile that said she was really happy, and she was smiling at him, because he'd dome something to make her smile.
Harry realized that the door had been opened, and the first person had come in. Harry squeezed Cho's free hand; he could see she was nervous.
"Name?" Some one called out. Harry could tell that it was Arthur Weasley. He smiled. It was good to see Mr. Weasley was moving up, after all the work he did.
"Abernathy, Atticus."
Harry scrambled to find his paper, which was easy, as it was the first one.
He sat back and listened. He was still thinking about the thing Fudge had whispered to him before he left, so quietly that Harry had almost missed it.
"Your opinion counts."
Harry smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yay chapter 2. . . it took SOOOOO long. Now, in a week, it will be up every few days! Huzzah!
Thanks for all the reviews.
Jkr owns. . .not me
"If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone."
-unolimbo
Harry dragged his trunk out of the car; Cho was still upset about what she'd said to a muggle. After struggling up the front stairs with it, the front door swung open, and Moony was there to meet him.
"Harry! Good to see you!" He smiled. Harry smiled back. It was good to be back. Good until he saw how many people were living under his roof.
There were people everywhere. It was like Hogwarts, but the building was a hundredth of the size. Harry just stood there with his mouth open. Cho joined him when she came in.
"Err, Harry, these are the temporary residents of your house."
Every one stopped moving, all eyes laid on Harry.
"Guys, this is Harry, this is his house."
There were at least thirty kids, all ages, from toddlers to teens, coming up to Harry and thanking him.
Cho laughed. "You've got them pretty well trained, Professor Lupin." Everyone laughed with her.
After prying himself away, Harry got upstairs, taking care to notice that Mrs. Black was no longer a resident of the house. He wasn't sure where to go. Every thing had been changed into dormitories; there were at least five people's names on each door.
Lupin followed him upstairs. Cho came with, and Lupin pointed her towards a door on the left.
He led Harry down the hall. He was standing in front of the master bedroom. He opened the door, and before Harry stood a great room, decorated in red and gold, filled with furniture and books, and everything Harry could ever want in a bedroom.
"Padfoot was still getting it ready for you. He had gotten as far as painting it, putting furniture in it, and he even started filling it with stuff. All I had to do was make it yours. Well, really, you need to do that."
Harry nodded, he was still in awe. It was fabulous; he'd never seen anything that looked like more fun. Sirius really had wanted him there.
When he turned around, Lupin had already gone downstairs to keep order.
"Wow, that's pretty cool, Harry." Cho walked up behind him. "All I get is a
small room that I'm sharing with four other girls, right now at least. Sarah, who I don't know, Judith, from my year in Ravenclaw, Jill, a year
younger than you, and Pansy Parkinson." She shivered. "It's going to be
horrible."
Harry spun around. "What? Were her parents Death Eaters? I don't want her
in my house!"
"Harry!" Cho said angrily. "Pansy isn't a Death Eater, her parents were. Just because you don't get along, doesn't mean you can put her in exile!"
"But- you-" Harry started.
"I know, Harry, I said its horrible, but I wouldn't put her outside. Just like I said I would hurt your uncle, but I would never actually attack a
muggle!"
Harry shrugged. He wasn't about to get her riled up again. It hadn't been
him she was mad at, so Harry was happy.
"You're welcome in here whenever you want, if it gets to be too much in
there." He said.
Cho smiled. She walked in and flopped down on the big red couch. "Hey! I
said you were welcome here! I still want to be the first one in!" Harry
said, pouncing on her.
Cho laughed. "Harry! Get off! Stop it!" She shrieked.
She pushed Harry off, and he landed on the floor. He looked up, and noticed all the equipment. "Hey, cool! A T.V., and a computer, and a Gamecube, and
all sorts of stuff! Wow, Dudley would be so jealous!"
It was true. There was an entire wall in front of him, filled with
electrical equipment, including a big screen television, a computer, at
least three different game systems, and games to play on them.
"Harry, what are all those? Didn't Dudley have that kind of stuff?"
Cho had never really had a close look at all the stuff, just the T.V. at the Dursley's. They spent the next hour trying to figure out how to play
the games.
"Cho, do you think I should make this a public room, so all the other kids
can play?" Harry said, as he watched Cho's car go flying off the road.
She shrugged. "There's not really enough to go around, but you could
probably have a sign up sheet to play on it."
Harry thought about that for the next little while, not even noticing the
number of times that Cho knocked him off the course.
* * * * *
The next day, Harry sent an owl to Ron. He said how he wanted him to come and stay, and he was very sorry there wasn't room yet. Getting homes for kids wasn't going as well as they had hoped.
He sent the letter off just as Lupin walked in. "Harry, you said you wanted to help, right?" He asked.
Harry nodded.
"Follow me."
He led Harry down stairs, where Cho, Moody, Tonks, and a few others were waiting. They all had their cloaks on, and were ready to go. "Where are we going?" Harry asked.
Tonks grinned. "You wanted to help, so we're bringing you guys with us to the Ministry. There's work to be done!"
They walked outside into the warm sun. it felt good to be able to go out with out worrying about someone trying to kill him. "How are we getting there?" Harry asked.
No one said anything, because they were already at the subway station. Harry laughed, he knew that Moody was going to get strange looks for his eye, and Tonks was going to get even stranger looks for her hair, which at this moment, was electric blue, and fell around her ears.
As they got off the train, Cho leaned to Harry. "That man over there. The one with the brown jacket." Harry glanced over. A dark man with a brown leather jacket and graying hair was exiting the door at the other end of the car. "He's been behind us since we got on the train."
Harry looked at her skeptically. "So he got on and off the same stop. It's really no big deal. But I'll keep an eye out if it's bothering you." He added, seeing that Cho was looking hurt that he didn't believe her. She smiled. "Thanks."
Harry did keep an eye out, and it seemed Moody did too; he led them in a few circles. Once or twice the man would go another direction, but he always ended up behind them again.
"I see it too, I'm keeping an eye on him." Moody said quietly. Harry nodded.
The man disappeared as they walked up to the phone booth for the Ministry, and Harry didn't think about him again all day.
They went in twos down the elevator. When Harry got to the bottom, he gasped.
The entire atrium was destroyed. There were desks and bits of material from the walls and ceiling on the floor, there were confused memos flying everywhere, and it was completely empty.
"Good! You're here!" A voice rang out. Harry could tell it was that of his Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall. "Come in, come in!" She was standing at the other end of the atrium, signaling for them to come.
They rushed over to her, and she led them into a large room. There was a table in the centre, with one chair facing it.
Professor McGonagall seated them in empty seats. When they had all sat down, Cornelius Fudge stood up from his seat and spoke.
"Ahem. Everyone here is now on the staff of the Ministry of Magic, unless they do not want to, or they Are Professor Dumbledore or Harry. This is not a big enough staff, so we need to hire a new one. Let us begin."
He didn't sit down, but he walked over to Cho. "Ms. Chang," He said to her, "Would you be horribly offended if I asked if you would be my secretary? The pay isn't good right now, we don't have the money; but it will get better. Professor Dumbledore said you would do very well."
Cho looked slightly stunned, and Harry glanced over at Dumbledore, who winked. Harry looked back at Cho, who was nodding her head.
Cornelius Fudge shook her hand strongly, grinning. He handed her a pen and some papers. Actually, quite a lot of papers. "These are the applications. They're in alphabetical order, but we need you to take them out for the specific person, and write the minutes on this entire expedition. Harry is welcome to give help, if you need it." He looked slightly red as he finished, but he returned to his seat.
Harry looked at Cho. She was grinning. "My first job. This could be the start of something." She whispered.
Harry grinned back. "Do you want me to take care of these?" Harry asked, pointing to the pile of papers.
Cho smiled. "Please." Harry felt his insides melt. Cho hadn't smiled like that in a long time. It was a smile that said she was really happy, and she was smiling at him, because he'd dome something to make her smile.
Harry realized that the door had been opened, and the first person had come in. Harry squeezed Cho's free hand; he could see she was nervous.
"Name?" Some one called out. Harry could tell that it was Arthur Weasley. He smiled. It was good to see Mr. Weasley was moving up, after all the work he did.
"Abernathy, Atticus."
Harry scrambled to find his paper, which was easy, as it was the first one.
He sat back and listened. He was still thinking about the thing Fudge had whispered to him before he left, so quietly that Harry had almost missed it.
"Your opinion counts."
Harry smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yay chapter 2. . . it took SOOOOO long. Now, in a week, it will be up every few days! Huzzah!
Thanks for all the reviews.
Jkr owns. . .not me
"If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone."
-unolimbo