Disclaimer: Be VERY clear when you ask someone to violate the law if they're reluctant.

Democracy in Action

Percy crept into the room holding the ballot box and gave it a measured look. With a sigh, he pulled out his wand and set to work.

"What's best for the people," Percy muttered to himself. "That's a laugh." He eyed his handiwork, his resignation would be found in the morning and it wasn't like loosing this job would be too much of a hardship was it? After all, Penny had just gotten that job offer… granted it would require moving away from England, but it would be good to broaden their horizons. "Besides, there's no way I'll live in a country run by any of the candidates," Percy added aloud. "Not my brother, not a tentacle Monster, and certainly not…"

"What exactly are you doing Mr. Weasley?" Madame Bones asked calmly.

"What's best for the people," Percy said firmly.

"Oh?"

"I'm doing my best to ward this box so it can't be tampered with."

"And you're a ward specialist then?"

"No Madame Bones," Percy replied. "The only wards I know are the ones I read up on before coming here."

"Then why are you warding that box?"

"The Minister ordered me to do what's best for the people," Percy explained.

"I see… what's in that bag there?"

"Pre-filled ballots," Percy said promptly. "The Minister instructed me to bring them to this room."

"And what is that in your hand?"

"A spare key to the ballot box," Percy replied. "The Minister gave it to me earlier today."

"And with those things you came here to ward the ballot box to prevent tampering?"

"I am following my instructions to the letter," Percy said stiffly. "I was ordered to take that bag of ballots to this room and to do what's best for the people. I believe that I have done so, were there any other questions Madame Bones? If not, I really must be going."

"In a hurry then?"

"I still need to pack up my desk and put my resignation in the Minister's in box," Percy agreed. "Then I am going to call my girlfriend to tell her that I changed my mind and think it a marvellous idea for her to take that job abroad."

"Not to mention the fact that you've decided to go with her," she said dryly.

"Quite."

"When were you planning to leave the country?"

"As soon as possible," Percy said promptly. "Why?"

"Be sure not to leave before morning," Bones ordered. "Understand?"

"I shall do my best to accede to your request, Madame Bones," Percy said with as much dignity as he could muster. "If that is all, then I wish you good day."

"That's all." She waited till she left the room before she called out, "Auror Tonks."

"Yes Madame Bones?"

"See if Mr. And Mrs. Potter can join me will you?"

"I'll see if I can find them."

"Get them here before midnight," Bones said firmly. "Move."

IIIIIIIIII

"Hermione told me an interesting story while you were in the kitchen."

"Oh?"

"Apparently, you can get married by reading a book in the magical world."

"Uh huh?"

"And she just happened to have accidentally read the wrong book and gotten married to her friend Harry."

"Well," her mother said after a moment of thought. "It's better then getting knocked up."

"You think the story's true then?"

"I think it's true that you can accidentally get married," she agreed. "Not sure if our daughter wouldn't have done the legwork first. Though I do wish she'd waited until she got older before trying this, or that she'd at least tried dating him longer."

"They have known each other since they were children," he mused. "Though I am a bit worried that she decided to do things the way she did. Would have been nice to give her away."

"You can still do that, we'll have a ceremony after they leave school. And what did you expect? He can cook, clean, do jobs around the house, and landscape. She's always been sensible about these things."

"And she's never been much good at cooking, cleaning, doing jobs around the house, or landscaping."

"True."

IIIIIIIIII

"Come on Harry," Hermione demanded. "We don't have much time, we still have to change and go to the Ministry."

"I still don't see why we couldn't have gone there before we went home," Harry sighed.

"Because we have to take Crookshanks home first," Hermione said firmly. "Don't we baby," she cooed. "You'll like your new home so much and tomorrow we're going to go out and get you some toys so you won't get bored. Could you get the door for me, Harry?"

"Sure," he agreed. He opened the door and walked into the apartment, holding it open for his friend.

"Ow, he scratched me." Crookshanks had jumped out of Hermione's arms and was refusing to go through the door. "What's wrong?"

"Maybe he can sense the Dark Arts books you have in here," Harry suggested. "We could always…"

"Don't you dare suggest getting rid of my books," Hermione said quickly. "Come on Crookshanks, this is your new home. Besides, he never seemed to mind the forbidden section of the library."

"Oh."

"Could you open a can of tuna?" Hermione said without taking her eyes of the cat. "Maybe that'll convince him to come in."

"Sure," Harry agreed.

It was a rather odd scene Tonks came upon when she arrived a few minutes later. Hermione was on the ground eating tuna out of the can while muttering about how yummy it was and how it was too bad a certain cat wasn't in the apartment so that he could enjoy it too. While Harry seemed to be doing his best to pretend that the whole thing wasn't happening.

"Did I come at a bad time?"

"Crookshanks won't come into the apartment," Hermione said absently. "Mmmm, doesn't this tuna smell yummy? Tastes yummy too," she added while putting a pinch in her mouth. "You sure you don't want some?"

"Right." Tonks turned her attention to Harry. "Madame Bones was hoping that the two of you could meet with her."

"When?"

"Now if possible," Tonks replied. "But if you want to drop Hermione off in the St. Mungo's psychiatric wing on the way, I'm sure she'll understand."

"I'm not crazy," Hermione said firmly. "I'm trying to coax Crookshanks into the apartment. He doesn't want to come in for some reason."

"No one thinks you're crazy," Tonks said calmly. "We only want to go there to… uh… prove that you're sane."

"The cat really won't come in," Harry said with a yawn. "Come on Hermione, let's go."

"But Crookshanks…"

"Take him with you," Tonks suggested. "But we gotta go now."

"Fine," Hermione agreed. She walked out of the apartment and picked up her cat. "This isn't over," she whispered to the ugly beast.

IIIIIIIIII

"What's wrong Percy?"

"I did something that I believe will be good for the people but not necessarily good for me personally," Percy replied. "Is that job offer still good?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "I haven't sent in my rejection yet."

"Would you still like to take it?"

"Yes but…"

"Then please do so."

"But what about your career?" She asked. "I don't want to leave without you."

"I tendered my resignation before I left," Percy said pompously. "So I have no career and nothing to keep me from going with you. I am sure that I will be able to find an opportunity for employment once we get to our new home."

"Oh Percy," she moaned. "Um… wanna say goodbye to our apartment?"

"I don't see the…" His eyes lit up when he saw the expression on her face. "Need to delay any further," he added quickly. "Let us be about it then."

IIIIIIIIII

"Mr. Potter," Amelia said warmly. "So good of you and your wi… Ms. Granger to join us."

"What can we do for you, Madame Bones?"

"I was hoping that you'd be willing to take these wards off of the ballot box," she replied. "And after assuring yourself that it hasn't been tampered with, replace them with your own."

"Of course," Harry agreed. He spent a few seconds examining the box. "Hmmm, basic but creative."

"Oh?"

"I can remove them, but it would be difficult to modify them."

"Could you?"

"Oh yes," Harry said quickly. "But like I said, it would be difficult. Take me maybe… fifteen minutes?"

"Twenty here," Hermione muttered.

"And for a non Potter?"

"Without the family spells… a few hours maybe, there are some good non-family texts on the market."

"Thank you," Amelia said. "But please hurry, we've only got a few minutes before the election starts."

"Right." Harry's wand was in his hand and he removed the wards with a flick. "Wards are off."

"I don't see any obvious signs of tampering," Hermione volunteered.

Amelia opened the box and checked for hidden panels. "Seems good to me," she said slowly. "Could you replace the wards."

"Lock it up," Harry agreed. Harry spent the next few minutes raising wards, sweat poured down his face and he nearly collapsed when he was done. "That should do it," Harry panted. "Be sure to get me or Hermione when the election is done."

"Would you like the honour of casting the first votes?" Amelia asked with a glance at the clock. "The polls have just opened."

Hermione took the ballots and handed one to Harry. "Done Harry?"

"Yeah," he agreed.

"I'll put it in the box for you." She cast their ballots and took the opportunity to speak to Madame Bones. "This sort of thing takes a lot out of Harry," she whispered. "But he's too stubborn to admit it, do you think you could ask us to meet in your office and… uh… take your time getting there?"

"Will an hour be enough time?"

"He should be rested up enough to go home then," Hermione agreed. "Thank you."

"Not at all," Amelia said with a smile. It touched her to see the way they looked out for each other. "Mr. Potter, do you think you have time to meet with me tonight after I get done here?"

"Sure," Harry agreed. "I always have time to meet with the Director of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Good," she said. "Auror Tonks, please escort them to my office. I will be with you two as soon as I can."

"Come on you two," Tonks said.

Hermione took Harry by the hand and pulled him out of the chair. "Get up Harry, let's go." She wrapped an arm around his waist to support him and the group left the room.

IIIIIIIIII

"What are you looking for, my little kumquat?"

"The leather crafting supplies, Father," Luna replied. "I need to make a collar."

"In the safe to keep it safe from the Dingbats."

"Of course." Luna slapped her forehead. "How could I have forgotten."

"The brass tags are in the grandfather clock," he added. Being a father was so much work some times.

"Thank you, Father."

IIIIIIIIII

"And that's the Minister's office over there," Tonks said. She was greatly enjoying being a tour guide. "And here we are at Madame Bone's office."

Hermione made sure that her friend was in a chair before walking over to the pink haired Auror. "Tonks, could you go find us some tea or something?"

"Sure Hermione," she agreed.

"Harry likes milk in his and I like enough sugar to make a spoon stand up." She glanced at Harry to make sure he wasn't paying attention. "And could you take your time about it? Say… fifteen minutes?"

"I wonder what you need to have fifteen minutes alone here for?" Tonks asked with a sly grin. "Surprised you can get everything done so fast."

"Harry gets grumpy when he's tired," Hermione whispered. "I don't need to cheer him up too much, just enough to be good company. I'll… I'll make sure to finish cheering him up when we get home later."

"Ok," Tonks said with a knowing smile. "Be right back," she said loudly as she left the room.

Hermione peeked through the window. "She's gone."

"Great," Harry said with a smile. His fatigue washing away. "I just need to drop something in Fudge's in box."

"What is it?"

"Bank transfer," Harry said. "From Fudge's vault into the accounts receivable vault the goblins set up. Seems that any money that goes into it stays off the books, washed clean."

"Hmmmm," Hermione said with a smile. "How nice of him to offer to compensate us for all the slander."

"I thought so," Harry agreed with a smile. "I also had something I wanted to stick to the bottom of Amelia's chair."

"Starting that already?"

"Yup."

"Harry, that's mean. I like Amelia," she added with a pout.

"Fine, we'll put it under Kingsley's."

"Ok."

IIIIIIIIII

"Minister Fudge?"

"Director Bones. Shouldn't you be guarding the ballot boxes or something?"

"Don't worry, they are well protected by Potter Wards," she said with a lazy smile. "I was just on my way to meet with him when I met you."

"P-p-p-potter wards?"

"Yes, shortly after Mr. Weasley turned over a spare key to the ballot box."

"I hope you arrested that pretender to the office..."

"Mr. Percy Weasley, not Fred. Seems you gave it to him."

"Expletive deleted not! It's obviously a ploy to help his brother by framing me."

"Oh, good. Then you won't mind if those Aurors take you to a Ministry Holding cell and ask you a few questions under Veritaserum."

"I most certainly d..."

"Good. Take him away."

"You can't keep him boss," one of the Aurors whispered. "Not until he's out of office anyway."

"I know," Amelia replied. "But I just couldn't wait… let him go back to his office in a few minutes. Be sure he has a chance to sample the food before he goes, I'm told it's an experience."

"Yes Madame Bones," the Auror agreed. "I'll see to it."

IIIIIIIIII

"Miss?"

"Yes," answered Dark Bunny Gretchen.

"You just voted."

"Yes, that's true."

"But you got right back into line."

"Right."

"You are only allowed to vote once."

"What? What kind of democracy is this?"

"The kind where you are only allowed to vote once."

"That's undemocratic! When my master's the official Dark Lord there will be changes around here!"

"Yes, miss, but until then, you are still only allowed to vote once, so you might as well not spend the time to wait in line again."

"Oh expletive!"

IIIIIIIIII

"Thank you both for meeting with me again," Amelia said as she walked into her office to find Tonks smirking at a mellow Harry and a blushing Hermione. "I just wanted to ask you here to discuss your efforts to catch the Fox and the Hound."

"They've been fairly quiet," Harry said with a yawn. "So we haven't done much. We did find a dozen monitoring charms in your office while we waited though, I'd be happy to come back later to take another look if you want."

"A dozen?" She gasped.

"Thirteen," Hermione interjected. "You missed that one over there Harry, another point to me."

"Oh yeah."

"But I had my best people go over this… thank you, your offer is most appreciated and I would like you to clean out my office as soon as you can possibly manage it."

"How about after the election?" Hermione suggested.

"That will be fine." Amelia made a mental note to avoid discussing anything sensitive before the pair had a chance to sweep her office.

IIIIIIIIII

"You again?"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean good sir," the Dark Bunny Gretchen said in a deep voice. "As I am quite sure that I have never met you in my life."

"An enormous fake looking moustache isn't going to fool me," he replied. "I've told you, you can only vote once."

"You will rue the day you insulted my master like this," Gretchen threatened as she went off to rejoin the back of the line.

"Why me?" the man lamented. "It's a good job, she said. You only have to work every couple years and you can have the rest of the time off, she said. There's nothing more courageous then protecting our democratic process, she said. Professor McGonagall and I are going to have words the next time we meet."

IIIIIIIIII

Harry grabbed his friend as they walked towards their apartment. "Get your wand out," he said in a low voice. "The door's open."

"Right," she agreed. "Crookshanks." The cat had leapt out of her arms and pushed through the open door into their apartment.

"Would you like to share some of this yummy tuna I found on the counter?" Luna's voice asked. "Here you go, it's good isn't it?"

"Is that you, Luna?"

"I think so," Luna said uncertainly. "But one can never be sure about these things . . . but if I'm not me then who do you suppose I am?"

"It's Luna," Hermione said with a relived smile. "How'd you get him to… I can't go in Harry."

"Neither can I," Harry muttered. "Hmmm."

"What do you think it is?"

"We're tripping the wards for some reason," he replied. "Open the door the rest of the way."

Hermione complied. "Luna, what are you doing?"

"Sharing some Tuna with Crookshanks," Luna replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She was lying on her stomach in front of the door wearing nothing but a leather collar and an innocent expression on her face. "Why?"

"Got it," Harry said triumphantly. "I know why we can't get in and I know why Crookshanks wouldn't earlier."

"What are you… you don't mean?" She asked with a horrified expression. "We have to take off all our clothes and put on collars?"

"Only if you want to," Harry said as he stepped into the apartment. "Evening Luna."

"Good evening Harry."

"Aren't you a bit cold?"

"Why would I be cold?"

"Never mind," Harry said as he walked into the kitchen. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"What are we having?"

"Welsh Rarebit with leek and potato soup," Harry replied.

"Ok," she agreed. "Hello Hermione."

"Hello Luna," Hermione said with a forced smile. "Could you put some clothes on?"

"Hmmm?" Luna looked like she was deep in thought. "I believe I could… why?"

"Why don't we find out," Hermione suggested. "You like Harry's shirts right?"

"Uh huh?"

"Go put one on."

AN: The ongoing list of people that contributed to this fic without whom, it would not have been nearly as good . . . one might go so far as to say it would be quite bad: nonjon, Ed Becerra, ausfinbar, David Wangen, neil.reynolds, dogbertcarroll, hattenjc, the caitiff, AlanP, Lone Wolf, meteoricshipyards, Shawn Pickett, Morris Rague, luinlothana, Treck, Drake, David Brown, Moshehim, Arthur Hansen, Marneus Calgar, Goblin214, Chris LeBron, khadon99, Shawn Pickett, tekobaka, Freddie, Musings of Apathy, Brian Arcis, and everyone else on my yahoo group. They gave me scenes, ideas, and all sorts of other things. Tell me if I missed you so I can add to this list. Another thanks goes to meteoricshipyards who wrote the majority of the continuing adventures of the tentacle monster as well as several others. Anything I wrote on that sub plot was fairly minor so kudos. And still another goes to neil.reynolds who wrote a large number of scenes.