The Difference One Choice Makes
22nd December 1996
Standing on the platform with the rest of the families watching as the Hogwarts Express finally arrived on the station platform, bringing the children home for the Christmas holidays, Edward felt glad that he had managed to get the day off of work to come and collect his younger siblings when they returned from Hogwarts.
While he enjoyed working and the independence his flat brought him dearly, he appreciated a day off whenever he could get one, with his work in the filing office of the Department of International Magical Cooperation becoming taxing at times.
Dressed in a simple set of light green robes, Edward kept his eye out for any sign of Harry and Euphemia as the students started to climb out of the carriages, eager to reunite with their families for the special holiday.
A good minute or so, Edward caught a glimpse of Euphemia dragging her trunk and empty owl cage along the platform, manoeuvring her way through the other people on the platform until she finally reached him.
When she finally reached him, she let him shrink her owl cage and trunk, placing them in the pocket of his robes before wrapping him in a hug, happy to see him again after three months.
"Missed me much?" said Edward holding her head against his chest for a moment before letting go.
"Yes… especially when I needed you and Harry the most" said Euphemia sadly.
Edward sighed, feeling the desire to hurt Zacharias Smith building within him once again.
"I can deal with him right now if you want… see how much he laughs at you when he's got pus pouring out of every single orifice in his body" said Edward darkly.
Euphemia shook her head and just held onto him tighter.
"Harry already gave him what he deserved… half of the people in our year don't talk to him anymore" said Euphemia with a hint of sadness in her voice, still feeling hurt by the betrayal that her ex-boyfriend and friend had subjected her to.
"There can never be enough punishment for what he did to you… even Dad threatened to put him through hell when you told us what had happened" said Edward icily.
On one of the rare occasions that he had decided to join his parents for breakfast at Potter Manor, Euphemia's letter had arrived, telling her parents all about what Zacharias Smith and Lucy Mclaggen had done to her, with James threatening to turn up at Hogwarts and put the pair of them through the worst hell imaginable for what had been done to his only daughter.
"Where's Harry by the way?" said Edward glancing behind Euphemia, expecting Harry to be walking towards them but he was nowhere in sight.
Letting go of him, Euphemia turned around, trying to catch a glimpse of her brother with no success.
"Still talking to Katie's parents I think… she pulled him over to talk to them after they got off the train" said Euphemia.
"We'll just have to wait for him here then" said Edward.
Euphemia turned back to him with a small smile on her face.
"So" said Euphemia.
Noticing the look in her eyes and exactly what it meant, Edward straightened up.
"What?" said Edward warily.
"Is there a new lady in your life right now?" said Euphemia curiously.
Edward sighed and shook his head.
Sure he had been on a few dates since he had last seen his siblings, they were nothing special and he found himself either being refused a second date or refusing a second date himself as those dates never tended to lead anywhere.
"You sound just like Grandmother now" said Edward wearily, remembering his grandmother's words from two months ago quite clearly.
"You are your father's heir Edward Potter… which means the family line continues through you" said Druella Black with a stern look on her face as she shared afternoon tea with her eldest grandson.
"Yes Grandmother" said Edward sarcastically.
"Do not use that tone with me young man… I get enough of that from your father and your Aunt Andromeda… you are an adult now, it's time you found yourself a respectable pure-blood wife to marry and continue the line with" said Druella sternly.
"There will be time for that" said Edward flatly, not wanting to discuss such matters with his grandmother even further.
Druella straightened up.
"Your cousin's seem to have ignored my advice about behaving like ladies of their status… Cassiopeia is off travelling the world with no sign of when she will come back home… and Nymphadora, difficult as she may be is marrying into a family of blood traitors, I can only hope that you have more sense than her and choose a proper wife from a worthy family" said Druella sternly.
Edward sighed and sipped his tea, not caring for her words in the slightest.
"You have a duty to your family to carry on the line Edward Potter… sooner or later you will have to do just that" said Druella as she sipped her own tea.
"Do I look like Grandmother to you?" said Euphemia sternly.
Edward rolled his eyes.
"Probably better than she looked when she was your age" said Edward flatly.
Euphemia glared at him as they waited for Harry to finally emerge from the crowd with his trunk and Hedwig's empty cage, having said his goodbyes to his friends, Katie and her parents.
25th December 1996
As Euphemia walked into the kitchen at nearly eight o'clock in the morning with a slightly tired look on her face, she failed to notice who else was in the kitchen with her until said person spoke up.
"You're up early"
Euphemia turned her head in the direction of the voice, surprised to see Narcissa leaning against the counter, clad in her dressing gown and slippers, sipping from a steaming mug of coffee.
"I couldn't get back to sleep" said Euphemia with a hint of tiredness in her voice.
"Coffee?" said Narcissa.
Euphemia nodded and sat down at the small table in the kitchen as Narcissa waved her wand at the kettle which started to boil away on the stove while a small tub of ground coffee poured itself into an empty mug.
Once her mother had made a steaming mug of coffee for her, exactly how she liked it. Euphemia thanked her as she took the mug and sat down next to her, enjoying some quiet mother, daughter time while the boys and Cassiopeia were still asleep.
"How are you coping… with what happened?" said Narcissa softly.
Euphemia managed a small frown.
"Better now… but I still find it hard to understand why they did what they did" said Euphemia sadly.
Narcissa reached out and stroked her daughter's arm.
"Some people will throw away friendship and much deeper feelings without caring about who they hurt in the process" said Narcissa reassuringly.
Euphemia sighed and sipped her coffee.
"I know grandmother liked him because he was a pureblood from an old family but…" said Euphemia flatly before she trailed off.
Narcissa raised her eyebrow at her daughter as she sipped her coffee.
"But what?" said Narcissa testily.
Euphemia took a deep but nervous breath.
"Will you be honest with me Mum?" said Euphemia.
"Always darling" said Narcissa without hesitation, though the curiosity inside of her head was wondering about what her daughter was going to tell her.
"Do you want me to marry a pureblood?" said Euphemia testily.
Narcissa managed a small smile.
"Your father and I want you to marry someone who makes you happy… no matter what his blood status is" said Narcissa softy.
Euphemia internally breathed a small sigh of relief.
"So if I married a muggle-born?" said Euphemia.
Narcissa smiled and took her daughter's free hand, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
"Your father and I would be accepting of your choice darling" said Narcissa softly.
Euphemia nodded and squeezed her mother's hand right back.
"Even if I ended up marrying a muggle?" said Euphemia.
She felt a small amount of dread inside of her when she saw Narcissa's smile falter slightly.
"While that would be more difficult for your father and me to accept… I am sure that with time, we could come to accept it" said Narcissa truthfully.
Narcissa took a deep breath.
"Why are you asking me all of this darling?" said Narcissa sounding concerned.
Euphemia sighed.
"I don't know… I think I just wanted some reassurance that I could marry whomever I choose... when it comes to that of course" said Euphemia.
"Well, consider yourself reassured" said Narcissa softly as she sipped her coffee.
As the mother and daughter continued their pleasant, reassuring conversation over their morning coffee, they watched as James walked into the kitchen, followed by Harry, Edward and Cassiopeia, who was spending her Christmas holidays at Potter Manor after returning from her two-month stay in Portugal. The four helped themselves to tea and coffee before moving to the dining room for their breakfast.
Later that afternoon…
Looking around the bustling table which was adorned with the large Christmas dinner, designed to feed all nine people seated around the table, Nymphadora felt rather happy at being involved in the loving family atmosphere.
Wearing a hand-knitted jumper bearing the letter "N" on her chest, Dora loved the gift given to her by Molly Weasley who insisted that she was part of the family now.
The only Weasley who was not in attendance for the Christmas Holidays was her old school friend Charlie Weasley who sadly could not leave his job in Romania but wished them all a Happy Christmas nonetheless.
When Bill had invited her to come and spend some time with his family so she could get to know them better, Dora had been wary to do so, worrying that she might not get along with some of the other Weasley's, owing to her admittedly clumsy and quirky side.
Though, now that she had spent five months at the Burrow, Dora felt like her fiance's family really understood her and had quickly accepted her quirky side, especially Ginny who treated her like the sister she never had.
As she sipped from her glass of wine, Dora snorted with laughter as George threw mashed potatoes at Percy, covering one of the lenses on his glasses with the creamy white substance.
More laughs could be heard around the table as Percy wiped his glasses clean with a small scowl on his face, not enjoying the funny side of his brother's actions.
"Gravy Tonks?" said Ron, moving to pick up the steaming gravy boat and offer it to her.
In his hastiness to offer her some gravy, Ron ended up knocking the gravy boat over, causing Ginny to look up the table at Dora with a wicked smirk on her face.
Bill sighed and used his wand to silently return all of the gravy to the boat before taking it from Ron to hand it to Dora.
Ever since Ron had come home for Christmas, he had been forever trying to get advice on his relationship with Lavender out of Bill and Dora.
Though after hearing more details about the so-called relationship from Ginny and Ron himself, Dora was wondering if Ron actually knew that a relationship was about more than a bit of snogging.
After talking to Ginny, Dora also felt a little bit sorry for Janet Spinnet, with Ginny telling the older girl that Ron was angry at Janet for something that happened back in their fourth year and that he was too dense to realise that Janet had liked him since their fifth year.
22nd December 1996
"He jumped at the chance to be with Lavender as soon as she showed the slightest bit of interest in him… yet he was that oblivious to notice that the girl that he's had a crush on for over a year actually likes him in return" said Ginny, from her place on the living room settee next to Dora.
Sipping her hot cocoa, Dora pulled her feet up onto the settee and raised her eyebrow at Ginny, silently asking for more details.
"Though I'm not entirely sure why Janet even likes him in the first place… he was treating her like she was invisible even before he started going out with Lavender" said Ginny flatly.
"Why would he do that?" said Dora curiously.
Ginny let out a weary sigh with a hint of regret.
"Well… I might have pushed him too far… said something that made him angry" said Ginny with a hint of regret to her words.
Dora moved closer to her slightly.
"Let me guess… you told him that she went out with someone else didn't you?" said Dora.
Ginny shook her head.
"Not exactly… I told him that she had kissed some boy she went to the Yule Ball with back in their fourth year and it didn't sit well with him" said Ginny warily.
Dora sipped her cocoa.
"So what… she kissed someone else before she even liked him… I get that he might be jealous but that should not be bothering him that much" said Dora warily.
Seeing another flash of regret on Ginny's face, Dora knew that there was something Ginny was not telling her and sent her a pointed look that made it clear she wanted an explanation.
It only took a few minutes to get the full story about how Ginny mocked Ron for his lack of kissing experience when he had a go at her for kissing Josh Sloper in a deserted corridor and how this might have been a catalyst for Ron's anger with Janet, which had Dora feeling shocked and slightly embarrassed for the youngest Weasley boy.
"Ever since that night, he's been treating Janet like she was invisible… sometimes I can't tell if he's just with Lavender because he was just desperate to have a relationship… or if he might be using her to try and make Janet jealous" said Ginny.
Dora sighed and took another sip of her cocoa.
At least now she had a rough idea of exactly why Ron was constantly asking herself and Bill for relationship advice over the summer.
He was trying to work out how best to start a romantic relationship with Janet, only now he was possibly trying to make her jealous which was wrecking their friendship with each passing day, according to Ginny.
Accepting the gravy boat from Bill, Dora shook herself out of her thoughts as she poured some gravy over her parsnips, roast and mashed potatoes.
4th January 1997
The Hogwarts Express thundered along the snow-covered British countryside on its journey to Hogwarts.
Walking through one of the carriages on her way back from the toilets, Janet Spinnet found herself outside of a compartment containing Ron and Lavender locked in a passionate kissing embrace.
Feeling her anger and jealousy boiling away in her body, Janet thought about opening the compartment door and doing something to Ron that she might regret later but she willed herself to leave them alone.
After she had passed one of the compartments further along the carriage, she was so consumed by her jealousy and fading anger that she did not hear the compartment door open and close, only reacting when she heard a familiar voice addressing her.
"If you really want him to notice you… then try and make him jealous of you"
Janet spun around to see Ginny leaning against the closed compartment door.
"Good Christmas?" said Janet testily, not entirely sure of how to react to Ginny's words.
Ginny sent her a stern glare.
"It was nice enough… but don't change the subject" said Ginny sternly.
Janet sighed.
"What makes you think I want him to notice me now?" said Janet flatly.
Ginny folded her arms.
"Do you think I don't know that my brother and his darling Lav-Lav are practising their breath control in the other compartment, I could see how angry and jealous it made you as you walked past" said Ginny flatly, using air quotes for the name of "Lav-Lav" with mild distaste in her voice.
Janet frowned before bowing her head slightly.
"All right… how do you propose I make him jealous of me, it's not like he can tear himself away from Lavender long enough to notice me anyway" said Janet flatly, deciding to finally accept Ginny's help and advice.
Ginny smirked wickedly.
"My advice… let him see that you have moved on and make sure he sees you with something else, trust me, it will drive him nuts if he sees you with someone else" said Ginny.
Janet raised her head to look at Ginny with a look of puzzled shock on her face.
"Are you suggesting that I date someone else just to make him jealous… I don't want to hurt anyone else like that" said Janet in shock.
"I'm not saying you have to actually date them… just make him think that you are, trust me… he won't be able to bear the thought of you being with someone else instead of him" said Ginny reassuringly.
Janet frowned and sagged her shoulders.
"I don't know… what if he does not even notice me, given that he has barely said one word to me since November, especially when Lavender came into the mix" said Janet with a hint of sadness that turned into iciness when talking about Lavender.
Ginny frowned slightly.
"Yeah… part of that might have been my fault" said Ginny regretfully.
"Why?" said Janet warily.
Ginny took a deep breath to steady herself.
"I… I told him about Ivan, that night we had that big argument after Quidditch practice… he didn't take it well, he got really jealous and angry to tell you the truth" said Ginny regretfully.
Janet felt stunned as what she had suspected for the last month and a half had finally been confirmed to her.
Ron had been avoiding her all that time because he was angry and jealous of her for kissing some boy when she was fourteen.
"That… insufferable… prat… treating me like I was invisible because I kissed someone else… I can't believe him" said Janet angrily, feeling her anger bubbling to the surface.
"Oh dear" thought Ginny, feeling worried that she might have dropped Ron in deep water with Janet.
"Is that why he's going out with Lavender… using her to try and make me jealous, what a selfish prat" snarled Janet.
"What are you going to do?" said Ginny warily, hoping that Janet would calm down enough to prevent herself from going too far.
Janet slowly started to calm her anger.
"If he wants to make me jealous… let's see how he likes it when the boot is on the other foot" said Janet.
Ginny took a step towards the older girl.
"Promise me… promise me that you won't do anything stupid" said Ginny, with a hopeful tone of voice.
Making eye contact with Ginny, Janet nodded.
"Don't worry… I won't do anything too harsh to him, just teach him a bloody lesson about using people" said Janet.
With their conversation over, Janet started walking back to her own compartment, formulating her plan inside of her head.
As she watched Janet leave, Ginny felt slightly worried that Janet might do something too harsh to Ron, far exceeding the punishment he deserved from her.
While she did think that Ron needed to be taught a bit of a lesson if he was indeed using Lavender to make Janet jealous and get some sort of pointless revenge on the girl for something that happened in the past. Ron was still her brother and because he was her brother, she did not want to see him get in more trouble than was justified.
She just hoped that Janet would calm down before she had the chance to do anything to Ron as well as hoping that whatever happened would not cause any further damage to their already strained friendship.
After several seconds of quiet contemplation, Ginny walked back into the compartment she was sharing with Josh Sloper who wanted to know what happened between herself and Janet.
17th January 1997
Leaning back in his family seat in the Wizerngamot chambers, James felt his boredom threatening to overtake him as the meeting of the Wizerngamot droned on.
Feeling tired of attending these tedious meetings and being forced to listen to most of the member's drone on and on about what laws they wanted to be passed or abolished, James would often consider just stepping down from his position to allow Edward to take over the family seat.
Even now, listening to the Chief Warlock of the Wizerngamot, Albus Dumbledore stressing the importance of electing a new Minister For Magic, following Cornelius Fudge's removal from the post, after evidence implicating him in multiple counts of bribery and corruption came to light during the last meeting three days ago.
James leaned forwards slightly as Dumbledore banged his gavel and called for the nominations for the next Minister.
He watched as his close friend and former colleague Frank Longbottom Sr stood up with a confident look on his face.
"I nominate Madam Amelia Black" said Frank Longbottom proudly.
Amelia, who was sat in the seat designated for the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, stood up with as much confidence as Frank Longbottom.
Approving looks and noises around the room confirmed to everyone present that Amelia would be a popular choice to become the next Minister For Magic.
Others in the room, however, were not so enthusiastic about this appointment, with Hogwarts School Governor Tiberius Ogden getting to his feet.
"I nominate Bartemius Crouch Senior" said Tiberius Ogden proudly.
Barty Crouch Sr stood up straight with his hands behind his back looking stern and proud as some members voiced their approval of his nomination.
Had things been different, Barty Crouch Sr would have succeeded Millicent Bagnold as Minister For Magic, had his son not been revealed as a Death Eater and sent to Azkaban.
When Fudge had been elected as an outside choice, he had removed Crouch from his previous position as Head of the DMLE, choosing to make him the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation in an effort to distance Crouch from the position of Minister.
Once the noises of approval for Barty Crouch Sr had died down, Albert Runcorn stood up, looking around the room with a flat look on his face.
"House Runcorn nominates Reginald Vaisey" said Albert Runcorn, voice devoid of emotion.
Gaining some support from his friends and allies, the tall, intimidating black-haired Reginald Vaisey stood up with his chest proudly puffed out.
Again, once the approving noise had died down, Dumbledore called for quiet so the votes could be cast to elect the new Minister For Magic.
"All those in favour of Bartemius Crouch Senior" said Dumbledore.
Using Lumos charms with their wands raised to cast their votes, Barty Crouch Sr had proved to be a rather unpopular candidate after all, with less than a third of the Wizerngamot voting for the old but popular member.
After silently counting and noting the votes for Barty Crouch Sr, Dumbledore called for votes to be cast for Reginald Vaisey.
Safe to say, Reginald Vaisey was not too pleased when he saw that around a third of the Wizerngamot members voted for him, knowing that his political ambitions were fading into nothingness.
After counting and noting the votes for Reginald Vaisey, Dumbledore called for the votes for Amelia to be cast.
James added to the large number being cast for his best friend's wife, earning her a victory with just over half of the votes and electing her as the new Minister For Magic.
Amelia got back to her feet as Dumbledore made the official announcement electing her the new Minister For Magic, asking her to come and take her seat beside him.
As Amelia took her seat beside Dumbledore presiding over the room, she announced that Frank Longbottom Sr would take over her old position as Head of the DMLE.