Return Of The Elemental
Note: To make things easier guys, I will start writing different parts like this:
Thoughts will be written in Italic.
Harry talking to Animals is written in Bold.
Animals talking to Harry is written in Bold Italic.
Harry and Hermione talk will be written / like this /
Chapter 13 – A New Minister
Harry had a lot of thoughts running through his head this morning. The most prominent one being the war that he had just started with Hermione and her friends… the war with Voldemort came a close second. So you couldn't blame if was a little bit distracted when he arrived back in the Gryffindor common room after he finished his morning run. What he wasn't expecting though, was for the war that he had been thinking about had just begun. He quickly apparated to Hermione's side and became invisible, which was a good thing because he saw all the stunning spells that were aimed at him collide in the middle and explode with a bang and a shower of red sparks. Harry really didn't like fighting when he was invisible but for some reason he was scared.
'Potter, show yourself this instant.' Hermione growled through her teeth. Little did she know was that her prey was only a head turn away.
'Yes Harry, didn't you only say the other night that you didn't fight your battle's when you were invisible.' Crystal said with same malice as Hermione.
'Who said I was invisible.' Harry's voice said mysteriously from a place in which he wasn't. Immediately four curses were sent towards the spot in where he made his voice come from.
Illusions, I love em, Harry thought with a smile. He then stepped behind Hermione and blew softly against her hair, causing Hermione to look around swiftly, she then moved over to the open window and closed the shutters. She then moved back to her spot cautiously.
'You girls were really close with those curses' Harry's voice tormented again, 'I think one of you almost hit my shoulder.' He then waited for his turn to strike, he didn't have to wait long. The girls all turned around and sot at the portrait door. He then grabbed Hermione by the shoulders, turned her round and moved down and kissed her before she knew what was happening. She struggled for a few seconds before she started to kiss back. She moved her arms that were hanging limp at her sides up around her invisible boyfriend's neck and pushed him further down, all the while savouring every moment of the kiss. It was at this time that her other friends had turned from the door.
'Umm, Hermione, what are you doing? Hermione?' Crystal all but shouted. She didn't like being confused.
Hermione and Harry were paying them no mind though. They hadn't kissed for what was it now, 10 hours, so you could excuse them for their behaviour. But the point was the other girls couldn't see Harry. They thought that their friend was having some sort of fit. Finally it looked as though she had come out of her attack, but her face still looked a little dazed.
'Truce?' Harry said hopefully whilst returning visible, he then held out his hand to Hermione. Hermione slapped the offered hand away and jumped forward and kissed Harry passionately.
'Ahhhh, so that's what she was doing. Well it looks as though we have come to a truce girls.' Crystal said amusedly.
'I'd say your right Crys.' Lavender said whilst looking embarrassedly at the floor.
'Come on lets leave the couple to it.' Parvati pouted. She then turned and stalked out of the common room with Lavender close on her heels. It was then that Ginny came down from the girls stairs with Shydan curled sleepily in her arms. She bypassed Harry and Hermione and walked straight towards Crystal.
'What's this?' She asked curiously.
'This Ginny is a truce.' Crystal replied.
'I see… want to go get some breakfast, I think these guys could be here all morning, plus Shydan didn't get much to eat last night, I think he was sick.' Ginny said concernedly.
'Alright.' The two then left out the portrait hole. As soon as it was shut Harry and Hermione started to float off the ground, they were so caught up in their own activities that they didn't notice until they were disturbed by a couple of voices.
Harry, Hermione. You do realise that your floating a fair way above the ground don't you?
'What?'They both shouted.They opened their eyes and indeed they were floating about a metre off the floor. It was then that the concentration was gone and they landed on the floor with a thump. Harry quickly got up and pulled Hermione up like she was just a feather. Hermione would have said thank you but she was to busy rubbing her posterior better. Once she thought that she could live through the throbbing she turned to Harry.
'Why were you making us floating again?'
'I'm sorry to disappoint you Hermione, but that was all you. I think you just showed a bit of you Air power.' Harry replied whilst he walked over and patted Emmeris and Hedwig on their heads.
'Are you serious? That was me. Oh this is wonderful, I thought you said I could only talk to animals of the air and become an animagus. Did you know about this?' Hermione said all this quickly.
'Well I had planned for you to be able to use the air, but I didn't think it would show itself so quickly.' Harry said thoughtfully.
'This is fantastic Harry, thank you so much.' Hermione said whilst walking over to give Harry a hug. Once they were done hugging they looked back to see that Hedwig and Emmeris had flown off again.
'Come my princess, I think breakfast is calling us.' Harry said whilst offering his hand out to Hermione, which she took graciously. They then made their way down the corridors to the great hall, they were still five floors above the great hall when Hermione started to limp. Harry who was always the observant one when it came to Hermione stopped immediately.
'Are you alright?' He asked concernedly.
'I'm fine, it's just that my butt hurts, it happened when we fell down in the common room. You go and I'll catch up, I won't be long' said Hermione. Harry wasn't going to take any of that, in a quick movement he was carrying a smiling Hermione in his arms down towards the great hall. When they entered everyone who was already at breakfast stopped what they were doing and looked at the oblivious couple. Harry took special care in putting Hermione back on the ground, which in turn earned him a smile, a thank you and a peck on the cheek. The rest of breakfast passed by with Harry telling Hermione how scared he was last night when he heard her screaming that she was going to kill him.
'So Harry did you really… you know… see us yesterday?' Crystal asked in a whisper.
'I won't lie to you girls.' Harry said then turned back to his food, which he checked for curses or jinx before he ate. The girls all looked at him expecting more but it never came.
'AND.' They all said, including Ginny who was sitting down with Shydan and listening to the whole conversation.
'Well I saw you, but I promise it was only me. And I meant what I said in the note that I gave you.' He finished with a mischievous grin. This made all the girls who heard the note blush.
'You're not to bad yourself Harry.' Parvati said with a wink. This was more than Hermione could take and Harry was sure that she was about to explode, so he thought he better step in.
'Hey Parvati, hows Dean, I haven't talked to him that much since I've come back. He is your boyfriend isn't he?' Harry said while emphasizing the boyfriend bit.
'O yes I suppose he is.' This seemed to do the trick because she then turned away and started having a conversation with Lavender. Harry then shared a smile with Crystal and Ginny before turning back to Hermione who was smiling warmly at him.
'Shall we go to Potions?' asked Harry.
'Yes we sha-. Oh I left my bag in the common room.' Hermione said.
'No problem I'll be back in a tick.' Harry said before calling his staff and apparating to the common room where he found Hermione's bag. He then apparated back to the great hall just as Hermione was trying to get up off her seat. He flung the bag over his shoulder and picked Hermione back up again. They said goodbye to their friends and walked, well one walked out of the great hall. As they were nearing the dungeons Hermione, who was playing with the ring Harry gave her spoke.
'Are you going to carry me around all day Mr Potter?'
'That depends' he then spoke in a whisper, 'whether you're fit to walk again Mrs Potter' making Hermione smile brightly.
'Potter what in the name of everything magical are you holding, it looks like some kind of wild Mudblood, surely you could find something better than that.' Draco Malfoy said in disgust as Harry and Hermione neared the classroom. This comment hurt Hermione deeply, she buried her head in Harry's chest, hiding her crying face from the laughing Slytherins.
But all of a sudden the laughing stopped, and a strong wing was blowing through the dungeons. Many people threw their arms over their faces so to cover their eyes from the dust that was blowing about from the wind. The wind died down and the scene was met with silence.
Harry placed Hermione on the ground softly. When Hermione saw Harry's eyes she let out a frightened gasp. The look in Harry's eyes was scary, it was then that Hermione knew Malfoy was in trouble. Harry's eyes were no longer green… but black, black with silver flashing in them like lightning. The wind that was blowing was now flowing near Harry making him formidable. It was making his hair move about like waves crashing against rocks at the beach. He took his first step towards, then the next, then the next. Shortly the distance had been crossed and Harry stood towering over the shuddering ferret. It was not known till now but it suddenly dawned on everyone just how tall Harry Potter was. His height plus the deadly aura that was surrounding him then was making him very, very intimidating.
Suddenly Harry swung his arm up in an upper cut style fashion and hit Malfoy below his proud jaw. The movement was so fast that everyone who was watching was wondering whether or not Harry did anything. As soon as Harry made contact he used the force of the punch and lifted Malfoy of the ground and sent him flying up towards the cramped ceiling, Malfoy hit the ceiling with a sickening thud and fell back down to the cold dungeon floor unconscious. Harry then lifted him back on his feet and hit him again this time square on the nose, which in turn broke Malfoys nose in five places, it now looked as though Malfoy had been born with a lightning shaped nose. Harry then made one more movement with his hand and brought Malfoy back to the land of the living.
'Never ever speak to Hermione again. Don't talk about her behind her back, don't even think about talking about her. Because if you do you will find yourself in a very bad situation, you have had your warning Draco, I suggest you heed it.' Harry spoke in a cold voice that didn't belong to him, and through his whole speech many people started to back away from him. Even Malfoy who had no sense of what he was doing could tell that he was in trouble. Slowly Harry let go of Malfoy and stepped away. As soon as this happened Malfoy fell down, Harry had hit him hard, so hard in fact that Malfoy didn't realise he had a broken jaw as well as a broken nose. Crabbe and Goyle who had been silently scared themselves moved forward to pick Malfoy up just as the Potions door opened.
'What's been going on here?' Snape demanded. Everyone stayed silent, except for Malfoy who was mumbling jibberish to himself. 'WELL.' Snape shouted again.
'Nothing,' came the cold reply from Harry, whose eyes still held their blackness. Snape saw this and couldn't help it when he stepped back a little from fright. Not wanting to fall apart in front of the class Snape tried to show some of his usual demeanour.
'10 points from Gryffindor for lying Potter.' From the reaction of the class Snape knew that he had done something wrong. Harry stood up tall and walked right up to him and stared Snape straight in the eye. He stayed there for a few seconds before he walked on pass Snape and entered the dismal classroom. As soon as he was in the room a collective sigh went throughout the remaining students, Snape was just glad that his sigh had been drowned out from the rest that no one noticed.
Hermione then limped into the class after Harry, when she entered she saw Harry sitting in their seat in the very back corner. As she got nearer she could feel the anger from Harry washing waves over her body. She approached cautiously ignoring the rest of the class as they made there way in. As she was just behind Harry she reached out a hand and placed it on his left shoulder, immediately she felt him tense up, she then watched as Harry turned his head slowly. When she saw his eyes she stayed firm and leaned in closer and kissed his cheek and as she pulled back she saw that Harry was now smiling at her and had his eyes back to normal. With that done she returned the smile and sat down next to him.
What followed would remain one of the funniest Potions classes ever held. It all started when Snape was calling the roll.
'Goldstein.'
'Present.'
'Goyle.'
'What, aw yeah, present.'
'Granger.'
'Present.'
'Malfoy.'
'PISS OFF YOU SLIMY BASTARD.' Malfoy yelled.
Silence…
'What did you say?' Snape asked taken aback.
'Piss off. Shit. Shit, Prick.' Malfoy shouted deliriously. The hit that he had received from Harry had messed him up badly.
Snape didn't know what to do, he didn't want to take away points and he also didn't want to give away a detention. So he ignored it the best he could and continued with the class.
'Nott.'
'Present.'
'Parkinson.'
'Here.'
'Where, where's the whining bitch?' Malfoy said whilst throwing his head around quickly. It seems as though both Pansy and Snape weren't ready for this. But for the rest of the class, well minus the Slytherins, they were finding it hilarious. They watched as Snape shook his head and finished the roll.
'Potter.'
'Here.' Harry said, hiding his amusement. Inside he was cracking up. He looked across to Hermione and saw that she was having the same problems. Giving her a wink he looked back at Malfoy who was once again muttering under his breath. By this time Snape had finished with the roll and was explaining what potion they were 'attempting' to make today.
'The Riltonus Potion is one of the hardest potions you will have to make in th-'
'HIPPOGRIFF SHIT.'
Once again silence reigned the room.
'GIT.'
'Mr Malfoy please control your thoughts or I will have to be forced to deduct house points.' Snape growled.
It seemed as though Snape had controlled the mad beast they call Malfoy. So he continued.
'As I was saying the Riltonus Potion if made correctly can heal a person even if they are a hear beat away from death. It is so difficult that many of the top potion masters in the world can not achieve this feat. So it is beyond me as to see why the headmaster even set it. I mea-.'
'Can you make it SLIMY?' Malfoy yelled over the top of Snape.
'Of course I can Mr Malfoy, I am one of the top potion masters in the world, I have won ma-.' Once again he was cut in by Malfoy.
'Mother of Merlin you tell some pork pies don't you SLIMY.'
'Malfoy.' Snape had lost all patients for introductions.
'Yes GIT.'
'Get out of my classroom now.' Snape roared much to the amusement of the others.
'FINE, who needs a class taught by a greasy DICKHEAD.' Malfoy yelled then stood up only to fall straight back down unconscious.
'Crabbe, Goyle get Malfoy up to the hospital wing, the rest of you get out of my sight.' Snape then walked into his office and slammed the door leaving a gleeful class behind.
As soon as they were all out of the dungeons everyone who was in the memorable potions class burst out laughing, everyone who saw Harry laugh first soon joined in. Seeing that he was back to normal they started coming up to him and congratulating him on his superb knock out punch. Soon there was only Harry and Hermione left in the dark corridor, Harry was still laughing but was quickly shut up when he felt a pair of lips attack his own. It was over quickly but Harry still enjoyed it.
'What was that for?' Harry asked.
'That was for nearly killing Malfoy for me.' Hermione replied smiling.
I love this girl, Harry thought amusedely. He then bent down for another kiss only to find that he wasn't getting kissed back.
'Hermione are you alright?' Harry asked worriedly.
'Wh-What did you say?' Hermione said shakily.
'I said are you alright?'
'No bef-before that, I heard you in my head you said I love this girl.'
'What? Hang on. Hang on. Just hang on will you. Hermione listen, I'll try it again.'
/ Hermione, can you hear me/ His only response was a nervous nod.
'Hermione do you know what this means, well of course you do, you're the smartest witch ever.' Harry said ecstatically. 'Now you try to talk to me. Just picture me in your head and project your thoughts, its just like when you talk to Emmeris or Hedwig.'
Harry waited a couple of seconds before he heard her.
/ Ha-Harry is this working/
'Hermione you did it, I wonder how though?' Harry thought hard.
'Harry isn't it obvious. It's because of the ring you gave me. You're an animagus of the air so I think that's how it's working.' Hermione said cheerfully. Now that she had gotten over the shock she was just as joyful as Harry.
'This is great.' Harry said whilst picking Hermione off the ground and twirling her around. He stopped when he heard a whimper come from Hermione. 'Hermione what's wrong? Did I hurt you?'
'No Harry it was my butt, it still hurts.' She said whilst rubbing it again.
'Hmm must be a cork, I can fix it for you tonight if you like.'
'That would be great. But for now do you think you could pick me up and take me to Herbology.' Hermione asked whilst sticking her bottom lip out.
'I have a better idea.' Harry said and before Hermione could ask what it was Harry had transformed into his unicorn animagus form. He then kneeled down for her.
/ Are you coming on or what, I promise I'll go slowly. /
Harry was then shocked when Hermione didn't hesitate at all and climbed on his back.
/ In case your wondering Harry I use to attend a riding school when I was younger. I just love little horsies. / She said in a teasing tone. Harry just snorted and stood up, he then walked along the many corridors passing lots of students on the way. Finally they reached the entrance hall where Professor Dumbledore was standing before them. Dumbledore reached up and patted Harry's head earning a snort in return, Dumbledore then looked up at Hermione and smiled.
'Miss Granger the next time you see Mr Potter could you please tell him that I would like a word with him tonight after dinner.' He then leaned into to Harry's ear. 'The password is Minties.' He then walked away humming to himself, whilst Harry continued to the greenhouses.
/ What do you think that was about/ Hermione asked curiously.
/ I haven't got a clue. /
But Harry didn't have to wait long, after that, the rest of the day passed in a flash. In Herbology Neville had to save Harry from a Stalk Lurcher, a type of humungous plant that kills its hunt from behind. Then at lunch time he listened to the many stories of Mad Malfoy, it amazed him how fast news had travelled round the school, each story was more ludicrous than the next. Harry laughed as he remembered Ron's reaction.
'He called Snape SLIMY, where is he I've gotta buy him a butterbeer.' The part about Harry hitting Malfoy had stayed between the class that was there, they wanted to hold onto something without it getting turned into gossip.
After lunch Harry and Hermione both had study periods in the library. It was very quite work due to the fact that Hermione wanted to study and Harry didn't, therefore he was forced to stay silent due to all the death glares he was receiving from both Hermione and Pince every time he spoke.
Dinner was a hearty occasion because it was the first time since Harry had been back that he felt that he was just like any other student, he talked to Dean, Seamus and Neville and listened to all the story's they told about Ron's sleeping habits. Ron was in this conversation to until it came up they he was a huge snorer, he didn't like that so he went away and sulked to Crystal who patted him on the back soothingly.
It was nearly the end of dinner when Harry stood up and started on his way to speak to Dumbledore. He was thinking about all the possible reasons as to why the headmaster would want to see him. He finally told himself that it had something to do with Death Eaters when he arrived at the stone Gargoyle that led to his information.
'Minties.' The gargoyle then moved away and revealed a staircase, Harry jumped on and rose up towards the door. He was about to knock, when he heard an old voice through the oak door.
'Come in Harry.'
Harry then pushed the door open and smiled at Dumbledore.
'Good evening professor, Hermione and a certain unicorn told me that you wanted to see me.'
'That would be correct Harry, please have a seat.' Harry did so and then faced his headmaster and friend.
'I suppose I better get right down to it.' Albus Dumbledore said seriously, this worried Harry.
'What is it professor, is it Death Eaters, have they attacked someone.' He was cut short from a raised hand from Dumbledore.
'Do not worry my boy, what I have to tell you has nothing to do with Death Eaters or even Voldemort.' This relaxed Harry a bit, but he was still on the edge of his seat waiting to hear the news from his headmaster. 'Harry I called you hear tonight to tell you that the nominations for the new Minister took place today…'
'And. Who were the nominees?' Albus just sighed and looked his age, he really didn't want to do this but he'd rather Harry find out instead of finding out the nominees tomorrow in the morning paper.
'There are three people who are running for the new Minister. The first is someone who I think you have had the pleasure to meet recently. Amelia Bones is the first candidate running for the position.'
'That's great, she would be an excellent Minister. Who are the other two?' Harry said, he was a little relieved, at least there was one good person running for Minister.
'The second candidate I'm sorry to say is Winston Ramosa. The reason that I said I'm sorry to say, is because it has come to our knowledge that Mr Ramosa is a Death Eater and is working for Voldemort.'
'You can't be serious? Let's see what we've got here. We've got one candidate working for the Ministry, another one working for Voldemort, let me take a wild guess the last one is a nobody who has just been forced to do it cause no one else would take the job.' Harry was yelling now and he was also pacing the floor, come to think of it, he didn't even realise he stood up. He stopped pacing and looked at the sad face of his grandfather.
'You are right and wrong Harry. The third and final candidate is not a nobody, in fact he is quite famous, but yes he has been forced. In fact he doesn't even know about it yet.' At the puzzled look his grandson was giving him he continued. 'The third candidate is you Harry.'
Like the last time when he exited the headmaster's office, Harry was once again lost in his thoughts.
How the bloody hell do I get into these freakin situations, Harry thought dejectedly. He walked morosely about the castle that night, and it was with great luck that he wasn't caught by Filch or his stupid cat Mrs Norris. The luck was given to Mrs Norris and Filch because if Harry were to come across them that night they probably would have been joining Malfoy in the hospital wing for the next week. So it was well over midnight when he arrived back in the Gryffindor common room. He expected it to be empty, which it was except for one other occupant, who was curled up asleep in her pyjamas and a fluffy green night robe. Harry couldn't help but smile at Hermione's sleeping form. Her damp hair was sprawled over her smooth face. As he got closer he could hear Hermione's nose making a wheezing sound, at this he laughed silently. No matter how old she got she was always going to be cute in everything she did. Harry sat opposite of her in a comfy seat and watched his girlfriend sleep.
It just occurred to him at this moment how extremely lucky he, Harry Potter was. When he was young he dreamed of escaping the life he was living. He hoped that one day he would grow up and meet friends, and yet here he was. He had escaped, but into what? A life in which he was hunted since the day he arrived. A life where he found out exactly what happened to his parents, but it was in this same life that he found friends, great friends… a great girlfriend. He smiled at just how strange life could be. It wasn't long after that till he himself found sleep in the comfy chair by the dying fire.
'Harry, come on Harry wake up.' A angelic voice said in his dreams. 'Harry if you don't wake up this instant I'm never going to kiss you again.' The angel had turned into a demon. Not liking the bit about never getting another kiss Harry eyes opened in a flash. It took him a while to gather his bearings, but finally he saw that he was right the first time it was an angel who was waking him up.
'It's about time, I've been trying to get you up for about five minutes' said an impatient Hermione, with her arms crossed over her chest and foot tapping on the ground.
'Well sorry, Miss ruiner of good dreams.' Harry said back whilst he stood up.
'Oh what was the dream?' Hermione asked intrigued.
'Well, first I was on a beach where the sand was as white as snow and the water was as clear as crystal, the next thing I knew I was surrounded by hundreds of beautiful women in bikinis. They all started walking towards me, but then all of a sudden they stopped…' Harry waited here to see Hermione's reaction. At the start were he was talking about the beach she was smiling but when he mentioned the women in bikinis a scowl was the new look that adorned her face, but now she had a curious look on her face. 'The reason they stopped was because there was another woman, this one was, from what I could see from the back was amazing, she wore a white bikini and had a very cute butt and she was standing directly in front of me, she started saying something and all the other women vanished… After this the woman turned round slowly and faced me…'
'Well who was it?' snapped Hermione.
Harry closed the distance between the two and then threw his arms around Hermione's back and pulled her closer. He then leaned down next to her ear.
'It was you.' He whispered huskily. He then moved his head down and caught Hermione's lips with his. Hermione didn't hesitate, she started kissing back full on, quickly slipping her tongue in Harry's mouth.
Harry loved all the kisses he had with Hermione, when they did it he always felt on fire. He slowly trailed his hands down Hermione's slender back and rested them on either side of Hermione's perfect bottom. Harry then spread his fingers and lightly grasped Hermione's butt, which earned a shocked gasp from Hermione in his mouth. Harry then spread his magic through his fingers and palm and healed the cork that Hermione had received yesterday. He then released his hands and placed them back on Hermione's hips. He then broke the kiss and smiled at Hermione's still shocked expression.
/ Hermione are you alright/
/ Harry what did you do? Put your hands back there this instant and do what ever you just did again. / Hermione pleaded.
'Hermione I healed that cork you were talking about. I could put my hands back down here.' He then placed his hands back over her rump and continued talking. 'But I wouldn't make you able to feel what you just did. What you felt was me heeling you and since you have nothing that needs healing I cant do anything. But I could do this.' Harry then started to move his hands lightly over Hermione's butt and thighs, he would then run his hands back up and down making Hermione bend at the knees. She threw her head back and closed her eyes, content in just enjoying the pleasure. Harry saw the open flesh on her neck as another striking point and sailed down and started kissing it. This action was more then Hermione could take, she let out a low animalistic moan and moved Harry's head up so that he was kissing her lips now. They continued kissing and using their hands like metal detectors for a few more minutes until they started to here movement from above, it looked as though it was time to rise for the other students. They both reluctantly pulled apart and stared each other in the eye. Harry wished he could have stayed like that but he knew he should share his news before Hermione found out from the Daily Prophet that morning.
/ Hermione I need to tell you something. It's about what Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about last night. / Harry said through their new mind link. He didn't want to be over heard. Not just yet.
/ What did he want Harry/ Hermione asked cautiously, she knew that there must be something wrong from the tone of her boyfriend's voice.
/ You know how Fudge died in the Ministry attack last week. / He continued at Hermione's nod. / Well yesterday they took nominations for the new Minister. There are three people that are running for it. The first one is Amelia Bones, she's the one who helped me clear Sirius's name. The second nominee, according to Dumbledore is a Death Eater whose name is Winston Ramosa. / He was going to deliver the final blow but Hermione butted in.
/ What? Why are they letting a Death Eater run for Minister? Don't people know who he is/
/ Hermione calm down, apparently Ramosa is a highly known worker of the Ministry. He works in some law department. But Dumbledore said that one of his spy's has seen him talking with Voldemort. If Ramosa wins then Voldemort will take control of the Ministry using his new puppet. / Harry finished with a sigh as he started watching his fellow Gryffindors leave the common room to head down to start their new day activities. During their talk Harry and Hermione found their way to a chair by the fire, with Harry taking the chair and Hermione resting herself on Harry. Hermione leaned down and placed her head against Harry's chest, she knew that if this Ramosa man won then the magical world would head for dark times. She then realised that there was still one more opponent to go.
/ Who's the last candidate/ What she was expecting was not the answer Harry gave her.
/ Me. / Harry replied shortly.
It took Hermione's larger than normal intellectual mind a while to comprehend what her boyfriend had just said but when she did she didn't bother talking through their link but shouted loud enough to wake up the rest of Gryffindor tower who hadn't had the opportunity to wake up by themselves.
'WHAT DO YOU MEAN ME?' She screamed. 'YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS. WHAT MORON THREW YOU INTO THIS?' She was now standing up and throwing up her arms in exasperation. Harry stood up and tried to calm her down.
'Hermione, Hermione please listen. Hermione.' It was no use, he had to resort to drastic measures. He conjured his staff and pointed it directly at Hermione's head. 'HERMIONE PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME USE THIS.' He cried pleadingly. Hermione stopped to see what Harry meant only to find herself face to face with a gleaming gold stone. Harry saw that she had stopped and quickly spoke hoping to not use force. He lowered his staff and smiled.
'Hermione please calm down. I don't specifically who nominated me but apparently it was backed by a few people in the Ministry and apparently more people back those people so even without my consent I became one of the candidates that is running for the Minister of Magic. All we can do is wait I'm afraid. You probably already know how the election process works but I tell you anyway. Apparently today the Ministry workers go the poles, each worker then cast a vote for whatever candidate they want. This should take till about six o'clock tonight. After that the votes are tallied by Unspeakables. This should probably take the whole night and then by morning the news will be printed on every newspaper magazine or told over the magical network to the whole world… Tomorrow we shall see whether the Ministry be led by people of the Light… or Dark.' He finished in a whisper, he then vanished his staff and leant into a misty eyed Hermione for a comforting embrace.
'What does this all have to happen to you?' Hermione muffled voice said from Harry's chest.
'I don't know. I really don't know.' They spent the next couple of moments just enjoying each others body against them. Harry then pulled apart.
'You better go get your books and get down to breakfast.' He said whilst wiping a tear away from Hermione's warm cheek.
'Aren't you coming?' She asked with a sob.
'No. I've been given permission from Dumbledore to skip classes today. You know I haven't been flying in a while. Yeah, I think I'll go for a fly. Will you be alright? Hey do you think you can explain this to Ron, Crystal and Ginny? I don't think I could tell them.' Harry spoke whilst looking out the window to the quidditch pitch.
'I'll be fine, you just go and have some fun. Who knows if you win this election this may be the last day to have fun for the rest of your life.' Hermione tried to say this in a jocular fashion but for some reason it came out very seriously. Harry didn't answer but quickly transformed into his silver Eagle form and flew to Hermione shoulder.
/ I love you. / He said before he flew out of the common room window and soared off into the early morning sun rise. Hermione walked over to the window and followed his progress until Harry was nothing more than a speck of silver shining in the sun.
Hermione waited in the common room for Ron, Ginny and Crystal to tell them everything that Harry had told her. She watched as they all shared the same expressions that she had done and asked the same questions she had asked except with a little more vigour.
'What the bloody hell are those useless bastards at the ministry doing?' Ron shouted.
'Ron watch your language. But your right what the hell are they doing?' Crystal said. She had not known Harry long but from the short time they had spent together she had grown very close to him.
'And you say that this Ramosa is a Death Eater? How are they letting a git like that run for power?' Ginny asked
'But that's it Gin, power. If Ramosa wins then Voldemort will use him like a puppet. Anything Voldemort wants, Ramosa will give him. And when are you three stop going to flinch at Voldemort's NAME?' She finished with a shout. She was sick of people flinching at his name. Of course she used to do it, but now that Harry was here she had no more fear of the thing that had ruined her boyfriend's life.
'Where's Harry now?' Ron asked, avoiding Hermione's last question.
'He went for a fly. He should be back tonight, I think he just wanted to avoid the papers this morning, apparently there's going to be information and such on the three candidates. Professor Dumbledore has given him permission to skip classes so he transformed into his eagle form and left. Now come on lets get down to the hall and see what the damage is.'
When they entered the hall they could see that the Daily Prophet had not arrived yet. But as soon as they took there seats they heard the all familiar ruffle of hundreds of owls swooping down from the rafters. Hermione grabbed the Prophet as soon as the owl had landed and quickly paid it its five Knuts. Ron and Crystal who were beside her leaned over her shoulder and read the head line of the front page.
Ministry Goes To The Poles
Bones vs. Ramosa vs. Potter
And down below the head lines were pictures of the three. Amelia Bones looked in her seventies, but had had a warm smile on her face. She also wore a monocle in her left eye and looked as though she was not someone to mess with. Winston Ramosa looked exactly as Hermione pictured. A high classed, stiff upper lip, upturned nose, head held high, PILLOCK. Ramosa had slick black hair that was tied back in an elegant. He had cold blue eyes that shouted, 'VILLIAN' and wore an evil smirk that told anybody that had any common sense that this man was definitely a devious character. And last but not least was Harry. The picture of Harry was taken from the night of the ministry attack right after the battle had ended. You could see the power that he possessed even by looking at the way he held himself. You could see a few cut that he had gained during the battle on his face. And for the female readers you could see part of his chest due to a tear from a sword that came across his body during a fight with a crazy Death Eater. All in all Harry looked very strong. All pictures were moving of course. Where would a magical newspaper be without the magical photos? Madam Bones was smiling every now and then, Ramosa was winking and running his hand over his immaculate hair and last but not least Harry was staring off into space and if the reader were to look close enough you could see the battle had taken a mental edge off him. His eyes betrayed his stature. Harry's eyes held sorrow and anguish but hidden beneath all that was a deep and righteous anger. Anger that Hermione could see was directed at the Death Eaters and Voldemort.
She looked up from the newspaper to see that up at the staff table everyone was wearing shocked expressions at seeing one of their students running for minister… all but one. At the very end of the staff table sat Severus Snape. Snape was looking at his copy of the prophet with a very hatetrodic scowl. Hermione moved on from the vile potions professor and looked at the students that had received the Daily Prophet only to find that the exact same students were looking at her or more likely the Gryffindor table with keen interest, hoping that Harry would pop up at any second. She looked back up to the staff table only to see the person she was looking for was not there.
'Hey were do you think Dumbledore is?' She asked her friends.
'Don't know.' Ron said without bringing his head from the newspaper. 'Probably gone to the ministry hasn't he.'
'I suppose.' Hermione replied. 'Look I'll see you guys later.' She then grabbed her bag and walked out of the great hall, paying no attention to anything that was happening around her. This is how the rest of her day was spent. Going to classes but not listening. Going to lunch but not eating and then going back to class only to get lost in her thoughts once again. It was when she was heading to her last class of the day, Care of Magical Creatures, with the rest of the class when she was looking up at the sky when she noticed a small dot way up in the air getting larger and larger as each second went pass. She tapped Ron and Crystal on their shoulders and pointed up in the sky. Pretty soon the whole class were looking at the speeding bird, or so they called it, quickly reaching them. It was then that Hermione noticed that it wasn't a bird but Harry.
'What is he doing?' She cried.
'What are you talking about Herm-.' Ron had just noticed that the speeding bird was not what he thought it was. 'What the bloody hell is he playing at?' He yelled. He then watched as Harry kept diving.
'If he keeps going like this he'll crash into the lake.' A voice shouted from the back… the voice was right.
They all watched as Harry was close enough so they could see the look of concentration on his face. He got closer and closer to the lake, speeding at breakneck speed. They then saw his face change from concentration to surprise just before… SPLASH!
Harry had been flying in his eagle form for half the day when he decided to get his broom and play 'Catch me if you can'. The little game that he played with the snitch he made. Harry always made the snitch to reflect his mood. If he was relaxed and happy he would set the snitch at just a bit faster than normal. But if he was stressed and angry and had a lot of thoughts in his head he usually set the snitch at impossible, which equalled about 15 times faster than a normal snitch. This is where we find him now, speeding through the skies like a maniac. He had been chasing the snitch for well over two hours. He was ascending the skies like a rocket, chasing the snitch that would always be 5 to 10 metres aheads of him. He was so high in the air that pretty soon he would lose oxygen, it was thankfully at this time that the menacing little snitch decided to stop and fly straight back down to the ground. Harry turned sharply in the clouds and speed after his invention.
It was at this time that Harry realised how high up he was. Far below he could see Hogwarts, it looked as though it was the home for an ant not a great castle, he could see the vastness of the forbidden forest and a little puddle, that was not very little at all, but a huge lake. As he descended he was gaining more and more speed, pretty soon he was pushing the limits of his ice broom. The land and all its glory was slowly getting bigger. The ants house had turned into a large house and the puddle had turned into a pond. After a couple more seconds the pond was now a dam and the large house had turned into a manor. A few more seconds later and Harry could see Hogwarts the castle in its huge form and he could now see the water rippling through the great lake…
HANG ON… A LAKE… SPLASH!
Hermione ran as fast as her legs could carry her towards the lake whilst she tried to contact Harry through their link.
/ Harry. Harry can you hear me/ No response. She was now at the edge of the lake. / Harry Potter you come back up here this instant. / What she wasn't expecting was for Harry to actually listen to her.
Harry was thankful that he had enough presence of mind to build a shield before he hit the water or other wise he might have been sleeping with the Grindylow's. He pulled his broom up and headed for the surface, forgetting all about the troublesome snitch in the process. As he was nearing the surface he heard Hermione's voice in his head.
/ Harry Potter you come back up here this instant. / So he did.
Harry broke the top of the water and broke his shield, he then took a grateful breath of the forest air. It was then that he noticed his Hermione and Ron at the edge of the lake so he flew down to them. As soon as his feet touched the ground he was jumped upon by Hermione.
'Oh Harry I thought you died.' She then jumped back from the embraced and smacked Harry across the head. 'What do you think you were doing idiot. Do you like making me cry.' She yelled whilst rubbing her eyes.
'Hang on why aren't you wet?' She asked stupidly. Harry was rubbing his head were he got hit by his so called girlfriend.
'I put up a shield before I hit the water and now that you've decided to attack me I wished I left it up.' He sulked.
'I only hit you because you scared me. And I'm sure it didn't hurt that much.' Hermione said with a smile, she then laughed to see that Harry was still moping, which was probably a good thing since Harry was mumbling under his breath, something about 'Devil woman.'
'Righto class, what's goin on ere?' Hagrid's voice boomed from the background. 'O Harry, I didn see yer there. I was just looking fer yer, I needed yer elp with the dragon.' He then added a wink for good measure.
'Right, I'll just go get him for you Hagrid.' He then turned to Hermione. 'After class can you bring some dinner up to the common room.' He then walked past the awed class to the forbidden forest. As soon as he was in far enough he called for his staff and called for Taipan. Seconds later the clearing was filled with a massive dragon.
Hey there Taipan, are you up to doing another class for Hagrid?
Hello Harry, I think I could do that. Can I eat that little ferret child? Please.
Thanks, and believe me I'd let you eat him but when the time come I'd like to deliver the final blow. Now I'm not going to be here after the class is done so do you reckon you could just come back her and go back to my staff?
That should not be a problem Harry. Ah well I suppose I should go out there and show them how ferocious I am. Bye Harry.
See you Taipan, just listen to Hagrid. Was all Harry said before he apparated to the common room. Just before he apparated he heard a great roar and then a mental laugh coming from Taipan.
'Harry are you alright?' Hermione asked concernedly. It was the end of the day and she was carrying two plates of food with her bag.
'Oh hey honey, sorry I was just lost there for a minute. How was your day?' Harry asked as he grabbed the plate from Hermione's left hand.
'Well I'm not sure, I was pretty much lost in my thoughts all day. I don't think the professors minded though, they knew I was distracted.' She then started eating her own meal. The two sat in comfortable silence while they ate. After they had finished eating Hermione went over and snuggled up to Harry in his lap. They spent the rest of the night in this position. It wasn't till 12:00 o'clock did Harry start to move.
'Come on we better get some sleep or will never get through tomorrow alive.' He helped Hermione up and then kissed her gently goodnight and went up to his dorm where he got into his bed and fell into a fitful sleep.
Thursday: 19th September
It was the day that the Wizarding world found out who would lead the British ministry. And if the weather was anything to go by then today was going to be a very good day. There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining unnaturally brightly. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Crystal were currently walking towards the great hall. As soon as they stepped over the threshold of the great hall everything and anything stopped. The teachers up at the high table had stopped whatever they were doing to look at Harry. Each of them showing different emotions, the most common were: Pity, Fear and most surprisingly Respect. Harry didn't look at them to long though, he just continued to walk to his normal place at the Gryffindor table. He put some eggs and bacon on his plate but didn't really make any attempt in eating. He knew the inevitable was coming and sure enough he heard the birds flock into the hall. More owls than usual flew in today. The Prophet had decided to print a special edition of the newspaper on the Minister. Harry really didn't know if he could look so he closed his eyes and waited till Hermione opened her copy. He didn't have to wait long.
There's the rustle which means the owl has delivered her paper and has flown off. Thought Harry, he then felt his stomach drop and his heart quickened as he heard Hermione unravel the paper. Here it comes.
/ Oh my god Harry, look at this. / Hermione said through her mind to Harry. Harry took his hands away from his eyes and reached out blindly to take the paper off Hermione. Once he had a hold of it he moved it in front of his face. He then opened his eye slowly and read the headline.
'You've got to be joking.' He yelled.
Flyin Eagle