Chapter Three
If you have the pea soup, make sure you eat it before it eats you
I skid to a stop, slipping into the shadows beside the giant purple bus. As I watch Fudge places a hand on Harry's shoulder, as someone inside the bus stares at him. Harry swivels around to look at the minister. Recognition flickers across his face, before he clearly remembers that Fudge, technically, had never met him. Another emotion appears on his face. It takes me a second to recognize. I haven't seen that look on his face since we were in the chamber of secrets. He has resigned himself to his fate…what has he done?
The minister starts to guide harry towards the pub. Oh, hell no. I'm not letting you out of my sight. I slip quickly out of the shadows and stroll casually up the street towards the pair. They both turn to look at me. Both freeze, shocked, then slowly a big relived smile flashed across Harry's face.
"Hey, little brother" I murmur quietly as I reach them, hugging him quickly "What did you do?" I whispered in his ear, my lips twitching. It's normally him asking me that. He shrugs a little, and looks apologetic and a little amused when I pull back. I raise one eyebrow at him and the lace my arm through his.
"Miss Potter?" the minister addresses me wearily. His eyes darting over my arm in Harry's. He looks a little worried. In his defense, we have only met once before. Last summer at the Ministry. And I did sort of shout at him…and call him a stuck up, self-centered, racist, cretin…but hey, I wasn't wrong. I give him my sweetest smile, which only seems to increase his discomfort.
"Good evening Minister" I say softly. "I cannot thank you enough for your concern over my brother, I truly appreciate it." I make my eyes a big as possible, trying to pretend that I actually do. I smile warmly at him "But I can take it from here. Thank you Sir" I say smoothly, then try to walk around him, bringing Harry with me, unfortunately, he has over ideas. We manage one step before his hand tightens on Harry's shoulder.
"You are most welcome, Miss Potter-"
"Please minister, call me Kayleigh" I say flashing him a smile, and trying once more to soften any blow for my bother. He better bloody appreciate this.
"Kayleigh" Fudge corrected himself, and smiles softly at me. I resist the urge to shudder "but, unfortunately, I need to talk to Mr. Potter, it is rather important" he says adamantly. Its no use. He wont be discouraged. Damn it.
"Fine, but I am coming with you" I snap, dropping the sweet facade. Fudge blinks, clearly shocked by the change. Suddenly he looks rather nervous, clearly remembering the last time he had seen that flash in my eyes. "Come one Harry, let's get this over with" I reluctantly follow the minister into the pub, Harry at my side. I flash him a what the fuck? Look. He looks, well, scared. His eyes flash around the pub as we enter,
"I blew up my Aunt" he breathes suddenly. I blink at him and quickly bite my lip. The urge to laugh is nearly unbearable. So that's why he looks so worried. Underage magic. Okay, this shouldn't be too bad. I can work with this. Hopefully, the whole Black situation will ease the fall a little. Plus, there's the whole 'Boy that lived' thing. That will play in his favor. My mind is going in overdrive as I work out how to help Harry. I barely hear Fudge as he directs Tom, the innkeeper, to take us to a private parlor. I am briefly aware that we have been followed into the pub by two people from the bus. An old bloke, who honestly looks like a walnut, and another, an incredibly pimply teenager. They are both staring at us. Unmistakable lust on spotty Normans face. I glare at him, and then turn my back on him. Harry said goodbye to the men before Tom lead us through the pub to a small room.
"Sit down, children," said Fudge, indicating to a chair by the fire. I glanced at Harry, and motioned for him to sit in the large armchair. He fidgeted nervously. I went over to him and perched on the arm of his chair, dropping my arm onto his shoulder. Fudge removed his pinstriped cloak and sat down in the chair opposite
"I am Cornelius Fudge, Harry. The Minister of Magic."
You don't say? I thought sarcastically. We where both well aware of who he was. I had actively met him, and we had both been present last year, when Fudge came to arrest Hagrid. Although, to be fair, we were under Dads old invisibility cloak at the time, so, he wasn't exactly aware of this.
Tom the innkeeper reappeared, wearing an apron over his nightshirt and bearing a tray of tea, crumpets and pea soup. He placed the tray on a table between us and left the parlor again, closing the door behind him.
"Well, Harry," said Fudge, pouring out tea, "you've had us all in a right flap, I don't mind telling you. Running away from your aunt and uncle's house like that! I'd started to think...but you're safe, and that's what matters."
Fudge buttered himself a crumpet and pushed the plate toward us. I looked at it suspiciously. I had had far too much experience with Tom's cooking.
"Eat, Harry, you look dead on your feet. Now then...You will be pleased to hear that we have dealt with the unfortunate blowing-up of Miss Marjorie Dursley. Two members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Department were dispatched to Privet Drive a few hours ago. Miss Dursley has been punctured and her memory has been modified. She has no recollection of the incident at all. So that's that and no harm done."
Fudge smiled at Harry over the rim of his teacup, rather like an uncle surveying a favorite nephew. Harry opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. Clearly at a lose. I frowned at Fudge. This really wasn't his usual MO.
"Ah, you're worrying about the reaction of your aunt and uncle?" said Fudge. "Well, I won't deny that they are extremely angry, Harry, but they are prepared to take you back next summer as long as you stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays."
"I always stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays," he said, "and I don't ever want to go back to Privet Drive."
"Now, now, I'm sure you'll feel differently once you've calmed down," said Fudge in a worried tone. "They are your family, after all, and I'm sure you are fond of each other - er - very deep down."
Neither of us bothered to correct him. I continued to frown at fudge. I didn't dare speak. The way he was talking, there wasn't going to be any punishment. Somehow, I didn't believe it. This really wasn't Fudge's style at all.
"So all that remains said Fudge, now buttering himself a second crumpet, "is to decide where you're going to spend the last two weeks of your vacation. I gather by your sister's unexpected appearance, that she plans to stay with you?" he looked at me expectantly. I inclined my head slightly in agreement, squeezing Harry's shoulder reassuringly " then I suggest you both take rooms here at the Leaky Cauldron and..."
"Hang on," blurted Harry. "What about my punishment?"
Fudge blinked. "Punishment?"
"I broke the law!" Harry said. "The Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry!"
"Oh, my dear boy, we're not going to punish you for a little thing like that!" cried Fudge, waving his crumpet impatiently. "It was an accident! We don't send people to Azkaban just for blowing up their aunts!"
Harry frowned.
"Last year, I got an official warning just because a house-elf smashed a pudding in my uncle's house!" he told Fudge, frowning. "The Ministry of Magic said I'd be expelled from Hogwarts if there was any more magic there!"
Shut up! I thought towards Harry. Who the hell reminds someone about their punishment? My eyes flickered to Fudge who was suddenly looking awkward.
"Circumstances change, Harry...We have to take into account...in the present climate...Surely you don't want to be expelled?"
"Of course I don't," said Harry.
"Well then, what's all the fuss about?" laughed Fudge. "Now, have a crumpet, Harry, while I go and see if Tom's got a room for you."
Fudge strode out of the parlor and Harry stared after him. I looked at Harry, who was frowning after Fudge. He looked up at me, clearly not understanding the situation. It was not normal for the minister of magic to get involved with a little case of underage magic. I shrugged at him, claiming to be just as confused. The truth was, I actually knew exactly why he was being so lenient on Harry. One word, Black.
Fudge came back, accompanied by Tom the innkeeper.
"Rooms eleven and twelve are free you two ," said Fudge. "I think you'll be very comfortable. Just one thing and I'm sure you'll understand...I don't want you wandering off into Muggle London, all right? Keep to Diagon Alley. And you're to be back here before dark each night. Sure you'll understand. Tom will be keeping an eye on you for me."
"Okay," said Harry slowly, "but why?"
"Don't want to lose you again, do we?" said Fudge with a hearty laugh. "No, no...Best we know where you are...I mean..." Fudge cleared his throat loudly and picked up his pinstriped cloak. "Well, I'll be off, plenty to do, you know..."
"Have you had any luck with Black yet?" Harry asked. Fudge's finger slipped on the silver fastenings of his cloak. My eyes flickered to him. So he had heard about Black. That could be an issue.
"What's that? Oh, you've heard - well, no, not yet, but it's only a matter of time. The Azkaban guards have never yet failed...and they are angrier than I've ever seen them." Fudge shuddered slightly. "So, I'll say good-bye."
He held out his hand to me, which I reluctantly shook. He smiled uncomfortably at my static expression, before holding his hand out to Harry. As he took the ministers hand, his face suddenly became thoughtful, as if something had suddenly occurred to him.
"Er - Minister? Can I ask you something?"
"Certainly," said Fudge with a smile.
"Well, third years at Hogwarts are allowed to visit Hogsmeade, but my aunt and uncle didn't sign the permission form. D'you think you could -?"
Ah, damn it. Fudge was looking uncomfortable. I shifted my eyes to him and gave him a don't even think about signing it expression. It will be about a million times easier to keep an eye on Harry this year if he is confined to the castle.
"Ah," Fudge said. "No, no, I'm very sorry, Harry, but as I'm not your parent or guardian -"
"But you're the Minister of Magic," said Harry eagerly. "If you gave me permission..." stop pressing it!
"No, I'm sorry, Harry, but rules are rules," said Fudge flatly. "Perhaps you'll be able to visit Hogsmeade next year. In fact, I think it's best if you don't...yes...well, I'll be off. Enjoy your stay, Harry, Kayleigh." And with a last smile and shake of Harry's hand, Fudge left the room. Tom now moved forward, beaming at us.
"If you'll follow me" Tom said, "I've already taken your things up..."
A/N - Hey Guys! I really hope that you are enjoying this story so far. So, by know you will have figured out the this is set during Prisoner. This is mainly because, personally, i didn't feel that there was enough in the first to books to accommodate Kay into the story. i would have ended up literally just retelling the whole story, exactly the same, but with the addition of a new character. But, Prisoner, has a lot more subsidence to it, so it is so much easier to add Kay to the story and develop her. I will try and do the occasional flashback to bits that would have been in the first two books, and even a few before, but i don't know how often this will be. Another idea that i have had is possibly doing a series of One Shots about Kayleigh. All little scenes that just wont be in here. For instance, when Kay meet Remus for the first time, her first day at Hogwarts, when she met Harry, faced Voldemort, etc etc. If this is something that you would be interested in, please let me know and i will see what i can do.
I will warn you that as 'A Touch Of Emerald' progresses you will see different sides to the characters. for instance, Remus is very different with Kay, compared to how he is with everyone else. You will also get to understand Kay a bit better. At the moment i know that she seems a little impatient and, possibly rude, but that is only one side of her, i promise. There is so much to her that i am cannot wait to share with you. I would love to know what you think of the story so far. I will update again soon.
Love Beth x