Author's note:

Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story so far.

Chapter 2 - The New Face Of The Ministry

When I first saw Him he appeared to be a handsome man around thirty, with ash-blonde hair and a tanned face. I now know that it wasn't his real appearance. His true form was disgusting, frightening, un-human. The good-looking man I saw was the result of Polyjuice Potion, and I don't like to imagine what He did to the person whose looks he stole.

He had very little charm and much less warmth, but he made me fall for him so frighteningly easily. I had this thrilling sense of danger when I was around him, a strange feeling that inside his soul was a bottomless black hole. It turned out that my instinct was right. My reaction was, however, completely wrong. I ought to have run away from him instantly. Instead I hoped that he would change because of me. Isn't that the story of every foolish girl in love since the beginning of time?

Harry and Mr Weasley walked quickly to Mrs Figg's house, where they would use the fireplace to get to the Ministry through the Floo network. To Harry's surprise, Mr Weasley nodded to a curly-haired middle aged woman who passed them by. Harry had never seen her before.

"It's Tonks," Arthur Weasley explained. "Mundungus is also here, wearing his invisibility cloak, and a few Aurors from the Ministry are nearby too. You are not safe outside your home, so we have to be very cautious.

Arabella Figg greeted them warmly and wanted to offer them some tea and scones, but Mr Weasley politely refused, saying they were in a hurry. That suited Harry. Knowing he was about to hear Sirius's will gave him a gloomy, heavy feeling and he wanted everything to be over as quickly as possible.

Mr Weasley threw some Floo powder into Mrs Figg's fireplace and instructed Harry to step through and say: "Ministry of Magic". Harry obliged and found himself in the long hall lined with gilded fireplaces he knew very well. To his left was the Fountain of Magical Brethren. It had obviously been repaired, hastily and rather badly, since the duel that took place there not long ago.

Arthur Weasley appeared out of the fireplace immediately after Harry and hastily led him towards the smaller hall with the lifts. The halls were crowded with wizards and witches walking quickly, with serious looks on their faces. Some of them noticed Harry and smiled to him or whispered to others excitedly. He was a hero once again, now that he didn't feel like one at all.

The lift took them to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement on Level Two. As soon as he stepped out into the corridor, Harry spotted something that certainly hadn't been there before: a large, golden sign saying Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

Seeing the surprised look on Harry's face, Mr Weasley said: "Many things have changed, Harry. The Order is legal once again, just like it was during the First War."

There were other signs of change, too. Posters with messages like You-Know-Who is back! or Constant Vigilance! were hanged on the walls. Harry suspected that Mad-Eye Moody might have had something to do with the wording of these posters.

Harry noticed another strange thing: in addition to the usual sounds of people talking and memos shaped like paper aeroplanes zooming by, he could hear a noise, distant but strong, that sounded like many angry voices screaming at once.

"It's from Fudge's private office," Mr Weasley explained when Harry asked him about the noise. "He keeps getting Howlers from all over the country. People are understandably angry about him suppressing the news of You-Know-Who's return. Can't say I'm sorry for the chap."

Seeing the Ministry building, which brought back so many unpleasant memories, had made Harry feel even more miserable than before. But he smiled a little bit when he heard about Fudge's Howlers, and he realised something: in spite of all the sad memories, it felt good to be among fellow wizards and witches again. Yes, it felt good even if they kept staring at his scar and looking at him as if they expected him to defeat Voldemort any moment now. However irritating that was, at least they understood the danger the world was in.

Arthur Weasley didn't take him to the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters. He lead the way to a door at the other side of the corridor, which didn't seem to be that busy. A small sign on the door said: Inheritance and Family Law Office.

Before they entered the office, Mr Weasley turned to Harry and said quietly:

"There is something I have to explain before the reading starts. You see, wills aren't usually read here at the Ministry - a lawyer's or notary's office is more usual, or simply the home of the beneficiaries. But this is a special case - Sirius was only recently cleared of the criminal charges against him. He was in hiding when he wrote his will. Besides, the Order of the Phoenix is one of the beneficiaries, making this case important for the Ministry."

Harry nodded. He had no idea what the usual procedures for the reading of a will were among wizards, so it didn't really make a difference to him.

"Besides a Ministry official and Sirius's lawyer, Dumbledore is in there as the head of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Dumbledore is in there?" The thought made Harry uneasy.

"Yes. You are the only other beneficiary, so no one else's presence is required. I don't have to go inside if you don't want me to."

"No, please, go inside with me," Harry said nervously. He wasn't happy about meeting Dumbledore so soon after their troubled last conversation at Hogwarts.

"Very well," said Mr Weasley and opened the door.

I understood only much later what His motives were for courting me - if "courting" is a word I can use in the circumstances. I will not explain it yet. I'm trying to make this revelation as slow and gradual as possible. Let me just say this:

He never loved me, I'm completely sure about that. He never felt anything even remotely resembling love. Not even lust. These are human feelings, and his nature wasn't human.

However, it was a matter of greatest importance for him that I should love him. He would ask me whether I loved him and I would reply that I did, with great passion and enthusiasm. And I hoped, every time, that he would express his love in turn. He never did.

He would just stare firmly into my eyes, as if trying to read my mind. Then, when he was certain I had told the truth, a satisfied expression would appear on his face. I liked to believe that he had emotions after all, that he felt touched by my love. What a foolish idea. He was merely establishing a fact. As I understood later, it was essential for his plans that I fall in love with him.

I mentioned him staring into my eyes and trying to read my mind. Some women, when fantasising about an ideal lover, describe him as "able to read their every thought". Well, I have learned what it's like to have a lover who can read my every thought.

It's worse than any nightmare.

In the Lovegoods' office, the pages of the final version of the new "Quibbler" were falling out of the printing press. Luna, her father and the elves were folding the pages, assembling them in the right order and rolling them into scrolls. Then Mr Lovegood took an address book with the names and addresses of all their subscribers and started copying them onto the scrolls. Luna went outside and whistled softy.

Their home was on a clearing in the forest. The only sign of civilisation was an abandoned Muggle railway track, which served as a path leading to their house. The Lovegoods rarely had visitors, though. They didn't trust that many people, Muggle or wizard alike.

Shortly after Luna whistled, a brown owl flew from one of the trees nearby and landed on her arm.

"Take this to the post office as usual, Daphne," she said. She tied some money and a piece of parchment to the owl's leg. On the parchment she had written:

Please send as many postal owls as possible to The Quibbler editor's office.

Thank you

L. Lovegood

Meanwhile, the elves lined up in front of Mr Lovegood to receive that day's wages. Taking their coins, they went off into the forest, waving merrily to Luna. Members of the Syndicate of Free Elves were ideal employees for the Lovegoods, who weren't very rich. The free elves, unlike house-elves, demanded payment for their work. However, they never demanded much because they lived in the forest and rarely actually used the money. Being paid was more a matter of pride than of necessity to them.

After a while something resembling a small cloud could be seen flying over the forest towards the Lovegoods' home. When the cloud came closer it became clear what it was: twenty or more owls, of various colours and sizes. They landed on the grass around Luna and waited patiently for her to tie the copies of the magazine to their legs.

Luna sighed. That day's work would soon be over and she would be left alone with her thoughts - and her thoughts were, ever since her fifteenth birthday, mostly about her mother's letter.