As the fair grew closer, things seemed to remain quiet in the wizarding world in general. There wouldn't be another Wizengamot session until after the new year, so Harry felt safe putting off his meeting with Fudge until after Boxing Day.
The failed attempt on Ollivander's shop had reinforced the public's will for the Ministry to step forward to protect them. A regular Auror patrol could now be found in both Diagon Ally and Hogsmeade. Harry mused to Luna over breakfast that it might have done more good to extend into Knockturn Alley as well. Many of the smaller wizarding villages arranged a rotating watch of concerned individuals who would raise an alarm so their friends and neighbors could flee.
In a private meeting, Snape had confided that Voldemort was concerned the only way to strike any significant blow to the Wizarding world at this point was to attack multiple places at once. Since Harry has killed or captured over a dozen of his lower level thugs he was spending a lot of time and resources recruiting more wizards to his ranks in order to further his agenda. It seemed that fewer and fewer people wanted to get on the wrong side of Harry's wand after his display at Godric's Hollow. This was pushing the Death Eaters towards recruiting dark creatures and wizards from the continent instead. Harry added this to the list of things that he would be discussing with Fudge once they had their sit down.
The Friday evening before the Fair had Harry and the other Professors working hard to transform the Great Hall so that it could support the infrastructure of the fair. Dumbledore and McGonagall were handling all of the heavy lifting with respect to transfiguration, crafting each stand to represent each of the vendors or attractions that would take place.
Snape was almost absentmindedly brewing a neutralization potion that Harry and Cho would need on hand in case anything got past their respective screeners. Professor Sprout was guiding Hagrid through the main doors with an absolutely gigantic Christmas tree. As it was moved into position, Flitwick waved his wand and the plethora of candles that combined to light the hall parted to make way for it.
Almost all of Hogsmeade and quite a bit of Diagon Ally vied for stands at the Fair. It wasn't often that they got unfettered access to the students and their pocket money just in time for the Yule break. Gladrags was stocking up on Christmas jumpers and Scrivenshafts had placed a double order for calendars for the new year.
Harry looked up from his clipboard and spoke to Transfiguration professors past and present, "Okay, after my booth is Cho's and then Honeydukes." They thanked him and got back to work. Looking around Harry was quite pleased to see the fruits of his labor coming together. Fred and George had gotten special dispensation to come early and decorate their own booth. McGonagall had done her best to keep them in check but her pride in her two ex-lions stopped her from holding the back too much.
They had just finished what Harry considered a comparatively subdued decoration attempt of their booth when Harry took his break and stepped over check-in with them. "Alright there Fred? George?" He asked flicking his wand and adding a small "Endorsed by Harry Potter" sign to the booth. Both of his business partners beamed a thank you but brought no further attention to the gesture.
"We're doing well. Don't know if it was you or Bill but some goblins stopped by the shop and reinforced our wards, gave us a couple of panic buttons too." Harry's answer was non-committal.
"I may have mentioned that your shop was a good investment and they may want to review how much gold you two were bringing into Gringotts." He grinned, "Best way to deal with goblins is to speak their currency."
Fred waved his hand around in an all-encompassing gesture, "This is all pretty impressive there Harry, was all of this your idea? Flitwick said it was all for charity, why not just make some big donation?"
Harry looked around, taking it all in, "Well my teaching salary is all getting donated, but this way everyone gets some of the soul healing. There is too much hate and anger in the world right now. I need to do all that I can to keep some ground for the light."
Both twins pulled their friend into a bear hug, "You're good people Harry Potter, we don't care what the Death Eaters say about you." Harry's reply of 'Gee, thanks.' Was muffled by the Weasley Christmas jumpers both were wearing for the occasion. Just as quickly both men released him and immediately turned toward the door. "See you in the morning Mr. Potter." They called back with a synchronized wave.
The next morning dawned cold and late, the sun barely making it over the trees by 8 o'clock. Breakfast buffets were set up in the common rooms so that the final touches could be completed by the vendors as they were finally given access to the makeshift fairground. Harry and Cho checked their stock of potions - from breath cleanser to neutralizing potion, Snape had not let them down.
The final version of Harry's t-shirt came in the various house colors - gold on red, silver on blue, black on golden yellow, and silver on green - all with the phrase, "I Snogged The-Boy-Who-Kissed," with a silhouette of Harry's glasses and telltale scar. Cho's was much less ornate, it was available in the same colors but read, "Hogwarts' Beauty Queen Took my Breath Away." It wasn't as exciting but Cho seemed to enjoy the moniker.
While Harry had Luna and Hermione acting as his assistants - and guardians - Cho has two Ravenclaw girls, Su Li and Marietta Edgecome helping her check her crowd and keep the queue orderly. The vendors from the various village shops began filing in as Harry adjusted the height of the stool he had conjured so that he didn't have to stand all day long. Trailing the group was Madam Rosmerta who was guiding two Seventh year prefects, directing them to hover her kegs of butterbeer to her stand where she would be selling it among other refreshments.
Glancing around the hall she spied Harry's setup and glided over on her high-heeled boots. "Harry dear when I heard that you were doing this I could not believe it. You're really taking a risk here, so is that cute little blonde thing you've been going around the village with."
"You're telling me! It was entirely her idea to. Hopefully she's not setting me up for some kind of girl trap where I should have protested harder or outright refused." He laughed nervously, "But I don't think that is something that Luna would do." The barmaid pulled a galleon out of a small purse and placed it on the counter and then - before he could react - grabbed Harry's shoulders, pulling him close before diverting slightly to place a large kiss on his cheek. Leaving him a little off balance, she took a Hufflepuff t-shirt from the table next to his stand and sauntered over to the scaled down bar that was installed as part of her stand.
Harry shook his head and went back to finishing up his setup. Dobby stopped in to ensure he didn't forget to eat, and by the time the Fair was open to the general populace of the school, he had mentally prepared himself for the day ahead. Word must have leaked about what he was planning for his stand because students rushed towards his and Cho's area before they even recognized the there were other activities on offer. Luna stood at the front of the queue looking stern with a clipboard as she stared the growing line of girls down.
Climbing to the top of Harry's counter she magically amplified her voice and called out over the sea of heads, "There are ground rules that will be strictly enforced. One! Girls not of age will receive a kiss on the cheek, girls of age may opt for a kiss on the lips, if you so much as think of slipping in some tongue I'll hex it off." There was a chittering of laughter at this, "Two! You get to do this once, Hermione and I will be keeping track of who has come through the line already and who hasn't. Three! Most importantly, any spells or potions you may be considering will be punished to the full extent of the law." Here she paused to gesture to an Auror who was there for the whole fair, but was conveniently placed for them to threaten the crowd with. "Prices are on the board, t-shirts will adjust to fit you, and please feel free to take whichever one you want, there's no house loyalty in fashion." As she finished the crowd let out a collective chuckle.
Before she was able to climb all the way down, Hermione was vetting the first girl in line, a second year Ravenclaw Harry recognized from class and the DA. "Hi Harry!" she greeted him excitedly as she stepped on a small stool provided for the sorter of his patrons. She dropped her sickles into the box and he leaned over and pressed his lips to her cheek. As he pulled away he could see the color spread from where his lips touched her skin to cover her entire face in a rosy hue.
The young Claw squeaked and nearly fell off of the stool. She gathered herself and managed to not make eye contact with anyone except Neville, who handed her a blue t-shirt. Once she had broken the ice, the line flowed at a steady speed. Harry took breaks every ten minutes and smiled as he took in water and refreshed his breath with a quick wave of his wand. He scanned the room and basked in the smiling faces of all the staff and students.
The last few weeks mornings in the Great Hall were somber as news of Voldemort's terrorist attacks flashed across the front page of the Daily Prophet. Editorials were also flowing into the paper to be published concerning the newfound danger of muggles and their weapons that were clearly developed to wipeout wizardingkind. Harry had owled Fudge and set up an appointment at the Minister's office for the first Monday of the new year.
The energy in the room during the fair or maybe it was just all the people in one place, warmed the feeling of the cold castle in winter. He stepped back up and the next person in line, Hannah Abbot, stepped forward. Harry winked at his friend and pulled her into a solid kiss. It didn't last long and didn't get out of hand out of respect for Neville. She puled back and muttered, "Nope, not as good as Neville." Before she shrugged and left to collect her t-shirt from her boyfriend.
Harry's afternoon continued in that manner, students and his friends waiting patiently in line. The buzz of happy energy in the room served as a feedback loop on his emotions, keeping him happy and focused on the task at hand, even when students who weren't exactly his definition of attractive made it to the front of the line.
As the crowd thinned, the few remaining girls waiting to be screened were a majority of the upper years of Slytherin. Harry smiled warmly at them - being their professor this term had put the lie to many of the things that were reported by his year mates. His friends scanned the last few and stood back, thankful for the break from the spell casting. Before long, Harry had finally cleared his line. He had even bravely shared a brief kiss with Milicent Bulstrode of all people. In an amusing turn of fate, Cho's line was still going strong and between customers, she sent him a glare. He returned a jaunty wave and made his way to explore the rest of the fair. He had used the breath freshening charm so much he was sick of the taste, but he had planned ahead for that and he reached into his pocket. Moments later he was biting down into a stick of cinnamon chewing gum - letting the sharp flavor overtake his sense of taste.
He took a quick circuit of the fair, filling his pockets with everything from apple candies to the latest wheezes from the Weasley brothers. Having been there from the start and having served on the setup crew, the fair held little novelty for him this late in the day and soon he was heading out of the Great Hall and headed in the general direction of his office. Ostensibly, he told himself, to do his own homework.
He made it halfway to his destination before he felt a flurry of emotions directed towards him and then a hand reached through a tapestry and pulled him through it. Off balance and confused, he felt now two hands shove him against the wall and, as he recognized the angular features of Daphne Greengrass, her lips crashed into his. Unlike the familiar kisses of Luna that were giving and supportive, lifting him up out of his frequent melancholy moods, Daphne's kiss was needy. It took from him as the kiss deepened, an urgent maneuver that left him feeling breathless. Before he could completely recover, she was talking at him, "…and that clumsy plot you and Lovegood hatched to, what? Out me? There hasn't been a clumsier plan put into action in Hogwards since McClaggen tried to snog that girl from Beauxbatons at the Yule Ball in Fourth Year. You taste like cinnamon." Then she was gone. As quickly as the encounter had begun, Harry was left reeling with the taste of whatever fruity lip gloss Daphne favored…pomegranate?
Girls, Harry decided, were confusing.
The fat man looked around nervously as he waited for his customer to arrive. He normally didn't take on new clients without a thorough vetting, but Dimetri had sworn this lot was trustworthy, if a little odd. As he trend to scan the rear of the warehouse again he heard a rustle of wind, and as he turned back he nearly jumped out of his skin. Three people, two men and a woman, had snuck in while he was looking away. This made the collar of his shirt damp, if they could sneak in like that what would happen once they got their product?
"Jesus mate, you lot are right sneaky, you the ones Mikhail sent?" It was the oldest con in the book but you'd be surprised how often it paid off. "No," began the tall man with long blonde hair, "we spoke to Dimetri, but you know that, don't you?" The man, Edgar, showed a cracked-tooth grin, "Can't be too careful now, can I?" He waved them to follow him over to a table that had a sheet over the product he was keeping there.
They mystery didn't last very long as he drew the sheet away as his customers approached. "Now what you have here are Russian designed, Ukrainian manufactured RPG-7s. Good for quick and dirty demolition of hard targets and, if your aim is any good, quite a few soft targets as well," he paused here for a small chuckle before continuing, "next we have 20 kilos of PE4, freshly acquired from the Army. This quantity is enough to destroy a small building or destabilize a large structure." The man went on, pointing to pistols and machine guns as his customer seemed to be ticking off a checklist he had brought with him.
"So," he finished, rubbing his hands together, "all told we are looking at 750,000 pounds, and I'll throw in the ammunition for free." He waited until the man nodded, then stuck out his hand to seal the deal. As he did so, the man's companions pulled sticks from their pockets and waved them at him and his bodyguards. He felt himself stiffen and then he couldn't move, "I will honor our deal but we can't have you remembering anything about it…OBLIVIATE!"
Luna's laughter wasn't helping anything as Harry recalled the story of his encounter with Daphne, "S-s-she…" it was difficult for her to get words out due to her shaking, "She Cho'd you?" Luna finally burst out, rolling around on the couch with glee. Ron and Neville weren't helping either, "How did she even sneak up on you mate? Nobody sneaks up on you anymore. Mrs. Norris doesn't even try." Ron added, causing Harry to sigh as he thought about how to answer that.
"I do that by passively scanning for emotions directed at me. Real base stuff though, more like empathy than legillimency. I'm more in tune with negative emotions though, and I don't pay as close attention to positive ones because I'm kind of overloaded when Luna is around." He smiled at her and stole a kiss. "Before she grabbed me and pulled me into the passage I only barely caught a…" he moved his hands around frenetically, searching for the words, "flurry of emotions and then she had my shirt. It was almost like a slap in the face at first before I figured out what was happening."
"So what are you going to do now? " Prompted Neville once the collective laughter had abated. Harry opened his mouth to reply but Luna beat him to it. "We will schedule a visit over the holiday break for Harry to try to spend some more time with Daphne. If she is going to be a distraction for Harry then we would be better off with this all out in the open. I know Harry isn't thinking about his future beyond Tom, but when he does put that snake down we will need to reestablish the Potter and Black houses to their rightful state." Again, Harry opened his mouth to reply but Luna forestalled him with a hand. "It is important to the legacy of both houses and for the stability of the Wizarding World in general that you remain an engaged participant in the Wizengamot, even if it is through proxies."
Harry sat down hard in the chair by the fireplace, the commotion of the common room around him fading from his attention. Luna seemed to have a plan for him, for them really. She was absolutely right that he was entirely focused on his impending confrontation with Riddle. But he did have plans and hopes for after that, even if he didn't share them with anyone else. Maybe a year ago he wouldn't have thought that far ahead, but since the summer he had put some thought into it. He wanted a family eventually, he wanted to have lazy days with his wife, or wives if Luna had her way.
"I'm not going to rush any of us into anything, but I've read enough books on the subject to agree with you on the stability aspect of your plan. When I visit the Greengrasses over the holidays I will discuss it with Daphne and then her father, not the other way around." Harry sighed and rubbed his aching temples. Dark Lords he could deal with but girls, girls were a whole different can of worms.
"Okay…" Ron began, tapping his chin in thought, "so how exactly do you get an invite to the Greengrass estate then?" Instead of answering, Harry turned and raised an eyebrow at Luna who was the mastermind behind the whole plan. "If Daphne doesn't arrange an invitation on her own by the time break comes along, I will have a few words with her on the train, it won't be an issue." Luna answered, confidently.
With that, Harry got up and escorted Luna to her dormitory, leaving his friends behind him to speculate how his future life would be which, if their laughter was any indicator, was quite the humorous prospect.