Yaayy, third chapter!! A little bit shorter than the last one, but I will make chapter 4 longer than this one.
Chapter 2: Oblivious
Harry crossed his arms as he took in the person sitting in front of him, not really in the mood to have an argument with Narcissa Malfoy of all people. They were seated at Harry's office at the Ministry, and by the look on Narcissa's face it was something important she wanted to discuss. Harry had asked when she came in what she wanted to discuss, to which he only received an hissed, "You know why I'm here."
In truth, Harry did know a little bit about why she was here, but they had already discussed that several times before. Was she really here to talk about that again?
"What is it, Ms Malfoy?" Harry asked, just to sound polite. Narcissa glared at him, crossing both her legs and arms.
"Don't 'Ms Malfoy' me, Potter, you know exactly why I'm here," she said, and Harry sighed, hunching his shoulders slightly. Honestly, Harry didn't want to have this conversation, especially not on the day he'd been given an extra hard case, being top Auror and all.
"I've tried everything, Narcissa, but no matter how much I brag and threaten the Minister about being 'The Boy Who Lived', he won't give in. These are criminals, dangerous criminals, in the Ministry's eyes, they won't release them," Harry said, with a hint of quilt in his voice. It wasn't his fault, he knew that, but that didn't stop him from thinking he could've helped them better, maybe giving the Ministry more reasons to release them. More than the little he'd already given. Narcissa sighed heavily, all energy seemingly draining from her body.
"The Ministry's gone mad. There are children there, MY child lives in that place, Potter," she said, looking at Harry with misty eyes, "Don't you understand how serious this is?"
Harry's eyes widened at the emotion Narcissa was showing. Malfoy's were thought of as stone cold, never showing emotion if it wasn't anger or cockiness, in Harry's opinion, but the pressure of both Lucius and Draco being in Azkaban must've really broken her mask of calm.
"I-I-I," he stuttered, but couldn't find the appropriate words. This was Narcissa Malfoy, whose husband and only child were locked up in the wizarding world's greatest prison, what was he going to say? Lie and say it was alright? No. Harry wasn't so mean he gave an already broken woman more broken promises.
Narcissa sighed, and stood up, already walking toward the door. Harry quickly got up from his chair.
"Wait!" he said, and Narcissa stopped. Her shoulders sagged forward making her look exhausted, which she probably was.
"You've done enough, Potter. It's clear even the precious savior can't fix the Ministry," she looked back at him, "The problem with you heroes is that you never help those who really need it. There are millions of people in the world needing help, but can't get it because no one notices they're broken. If you really want to fix this world, stop being oblivious and start listening instead of noticing."
And with that, she walked out, not looking back and closing the door a bit too violently. Harry, completely shocked by Narcissa's speech, could only sit down, eyes wide and body stiff, pondering over her words.
Was he really that oblivious to the rest of the wizarding world? He'd done plenty to help, like helping rebuilding Hogwarts and defending several accused at the Death eater trials. He'd even helped starting a few orphanages for the war children, donating and starting several fonds.
But…Azkaban was still horrible, even though Harry had said it was wrong and complained to the Ministry. There were still children there, children who never really got a trial but ended up there anyway. Children of the Death Eaters, innocent or not, were still seen as criminals in the Ministry's eyes, whether they had a crime record or not.
Harry sighed, grabbing a piece of parchment and quickly wring down a few letters. He would really need the others' help for this.