March 7, 2004
3:13 AM
"Greetings, Mr. Potter. I am here to kill you."
Despite her efforts, Harry could hear the Russian accent masked under her attempts to get rid of it.
"That's unfortunate." Harry replied with a cheap smile. "I really can't have you doing that. You see, I have dinner plans tomorrow night and I know that-"
"Stop your squabbling, Potter." Azoli roared. For being as beautiful as she was, her voice was rougher than the tail of that Hungarian Horntail that Harry had flown around his fourth year.
"Squabbling?" Harry asked mockingly. "What the hell is squabbling?"
"That is not important. What is important is that I have caught you unaware and unprepared. Now is the time to kill you." she growled.
"Unaware?" Harry asked as he raised his wand. "I could feel you watching me and I still have my wand in my hand. How is that unaware?"
"You will see." she said softly. "Now, should I kill you first or should I go downstairs and kill one of your guests?"
Harry knew from Noah's training exactly what she was doing. Her M.O. was to get you to attack first and then counter with an overwhelming barrage of attacks. Harry wasn't falling for it.
"Go for it." Harry bluffed. "I could stop you before you even got down the stairs."
"Really?" Azoli said before turning in place.
Harry had just moments notice before he turned as well and landed square in the middle of his living room, wand extended towards the Russian witch who had just landed before him.
"Very good, Potter." she said smoothly.
Harry looked around the room and noticed Cho and Noah looking up at him. He had been in the middle of getting dressed for bed when Azoli had interrupted him and so all he was wearing was a pair of pajama pants and socks. Not exactly the most threatening of battle attire. Harry couldn't help but notice that Cho's eyes were fixed squarely on his abs. Normally, Harry would have smiled. However, now wasn't the time for that.
"Get out of my house." Harry whispered menacingly.
"Make me."
"Harry..." Noah said warningly behind him.
"I know."
Finally, Azoli's eyes fixed firmly on Noah's face. Her eyes and face showed no emotion. If she was surprised to see him or knew that he was here, she would not tell them. She stared at him for several moments before looking back at Harry.
"Has he trained you well?" she asked mockingly.
"Yes." Harry replied simply.
"We shall see."
"I don't think so." Harry replied. "You see, you don't attack first. Neither do I. Therefore, no one will get attacked and you will leave in frustration."
"Is that what Noah told you?" Azoli shot back. "Noah hasn't seen me in five years. How the hell would he know anything about how I battle?"
"Because he trained you."
Suddenly, Azoli did her best Jester impersonation, laughing at an insanely high pitch. Harry could tell that this laugh was felt down to the tips of her toes. This laugh was for pandering or mocking, she was truly enjoying herself.
"He trained me? He formed me, Potter. He taught me the basics. Lord Voldemort trained me. He taught me things that would make your hair curl." Azoli said, reminding Harry of Rita Skeeter talking about Ludo Bagman.
Everyone had their secrets.
"Well, congratulations." Harry said. "I'm glad that your master was so well trained that he was able to beat a 17 year old wizard."
The joke wasn't lost on Azoli. Neither was her wand. Harry's incessant joking must have upset her because suddenly, her wand was up and firing.
If Harry hadn't been trained to defend from this, he would have been overwhelmed from the beginning. For what seemed like hours, Harry threw up shield after shield with no room to counter her attack. Harry's living room wasn't nearly big enough for this kind of warfare and Harry knew that he needed to change the scenery a bit. So, instead of using a normal Shield charm to block her attacks, Harry silently cast an Exploding Curse and then jumped back from her.
Sure enough, the combination of spells caused an explosion that rocked the house throwing all four of the houses inhabitants flying. Harry felt himself launched backwards through the kitchen and up against the back door, bending it in the process. As Harry stood up, he took note of his surroundings. Noah had been thrown from the room out the largest bay window. Cho laid on the stairs, coughing up blood but seemingly okay.
The Jester had been thrown through the wall in the front of the house and was in the process of climbing back inside. Harry quickly cast a Secrecy Shroud over his whole house. Now, all of the noises and images that would occur during this duel would be blocked from outside view assuming that no one was thrown outside of the bubble.
The distance that Harry had created between the two of them was perfect. They now stood nearly twenty feet apart and Harry could begin his strategy now. Leveling his wand at his opponent, Harry fired. As he knew would happen, The Jester dove, avoiding the attack. But this time, Harry was ready.
When Azoli stood up, Harry began to use her own strategy against her, firing an unsustainable pace of curses and hexes. Harry could see the look on her face and it was definitely one of worry. She had to be confused as to how he could duel with her so well despite having been out of the game for so long.
Harry was wondering the same thing. Rarely did one of Harry's dueling strategies go right and Harry figured that after years of decay in his dueling form, that this one was due to go wrong any moment.
Little did Harry know how right he was. After sending three Stunners back-to-back-to-back, Azoli stepped out of the way, leveling her wand. However, when Harry went to fire, she turned and Apparated away. Harry felt her appear behind him and turned to defend himself. However, he was too late. She blasted him directly in the back, sending him flying.
Harry flew through one of the outer walls of the house, landing in the snow outside. As Harry took a look at his surroundings, he was glad to see that he had not broken through the Shroud. Harry rolled over, knowing that standing up would take too long.
He was glad he did. Just as he rolled over, a Killing Curse smashed into the ground where he had been. The Jester came to the place where he had been thrown out and fired again. This time, Harry took another page out of her book and Apparated. However, this time he didn't Apparate just once because when she saw him disappear, she immediately turned around, waiting for his attack. Instead, once Harry landed, he Apparated again, landing in the place she had been when she had been attacking him outside.
"Incendio!" Harry yelled as a jet of flames rushed towards his opponents.
She managed to duck out of the way almost in time. However, the arms of the robe on her right side still caught fire. As she worked to put them out, Harry fired again. Even though she had been putting the fire out, she still had the awareness to raise her wand and block herself. This surprised Harry and the reflected spells forced him to the ground.
As he fell, his wand fell away and landed several inches from him. Harry moved to grab it when someone stepped on his arm. Harry looked up helplessly as The Jester looked down on him, grinning from ear-to-ear.
"The great Harry Potter, dead at last."
"I hope not." Harry said defiant to the end.
"Oh but it is." she replied as she aimed her wand just at Harry's chest.
As Harry heard those deadly words, he felt a rush into the room and suddenly the pressure from his arm was released. He looked up to see Noah, struggling with her. Harry rolled over quickly to get his wand and stood up to defend his friend.
Just as he did so, Noah was thrown back from Azoli. She aimed her wand and fired.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Nothing Harry could have done would have stopped it in time. Harry watched in horror as the curse collided with Noah's chest, blowing him backwards into the wall behind him and then letting him crumple on the floor.
Suddenly, Harry felt a fire burn up from his hear. Instantly, Harry leveled his wand and fired at Azoli. The Russian witch was caught completely off guard and was blasted off her feet and through two walls, landing outside in the yard.
Harry rushed after her, standing in the hole in the wall like she had over him. Harry watched her stand up, favoring his right leg. She turned around to Harry.
"You win this round, Potter. But now you don't have that pathetic wizard to train you anymore." she roared, both in anger and pain, before turning in place and Apparating away into the night.
Harry stood in awe for a moment over what had just happened. He had actually come out on top. Suddenly, he remembered why he had come out on top and raced back to the living room. Sure enough, Cho and Noah's body remained.
Harry raced over to Noah's body, flipping him over. He checked his pulse, knowing what he would find. Nothing. Tears settled in as he realized what had just happened. The one friend that Harry had made outside of London had been killed. One of the many reasons he had left England was to protect his friends. Now, he understood how pointless that had been. He couldn't protect anyone.
"D-d-don't y-you dare blame y-yourself, H-h-harry Potter."
Harry turned to the stairs to see Cho Chang. She was pretty badly bruised and burned from the explosion and had a large cut across her shoulder. However, more than anything, she looked terrified.
"How is it not my fault, Cho?" Harry asked as he raced to get a blanket to cover her up. Harry had just noticed that with all of the holes in the house, the brisk air of the Alaskan winter/spring was rushing in.
"He died saving you. He died so you could save all of us. Use it as motivation i-if you need to. B-but don't blame yourself." Cho said as the blanket that Harry threw onto her seemed to warm her up instantly.
"I'll try." Harry said before noticing that things were getting very warm. He turned around and saw that a small fire was climbing the wall.
"Are you going to put that out?" Cho asked nervously.
"No. It will be much easier to explain my disappearance if they think I'm dead. I'm going to take the Shroud off and then Apparate us to the bar where we can Floo back to London."
"No we can't. International Floo into England is nearly illegal now. Only in preapproved and extreme circumstances is that possible."
"Great." Harry replied glumly. "Do you need medical attention?"
Cho simply nodded her head slowly in reply.
"Is there somewhere in the US we can go?" Harry asked her as the fire climbed higher.
"Wizards' General in NYC. We can Floo to my apartment and then I can Apparate there so they'll never see you. When I get out, I'll owl you and we can fly home on a muggle plane. There's no way they'll know you're coming then."
"Perfect." Harry replied as he waved his wand, removing the Shroud from around his house. "Let's get out of here."
Slowly, he bent down and picked Cho up off the stairs and with a turn, they were gone and on their way back home.
March 10, 2004
6:33 PM
The Weasley family had been having a weekly dinner on Wednesday nights ever since the end of the Second Wizarding War. Originally, it was done to honor Fred's death. However, it had been continued as simply a way to get the family together each week. If you were available, you came.
The only time the dinners disappeared was for about a month after Molly was admitted into St. Mungo's. However, on one of her more lucid days, she scolded her husband for not having them and they were immediately back the next week.
During Hermione and Ron's separation, Hermione had stopped coming to the meals. However, with her and Ron doing their best to try and make things work between the two of them, she started to show up, even though she was only living at home on the weekends. Her flat in the city was much closer to the Ministry than the home she and Ron shared and with Hermione's workload, she simply found it easier to go there instead of all the way home where Ron would bombard her about her day. At her flat, no one would bother her and she would be able to get some sleep.
Tonight, most of the family was there. Arthur cooked the meal as always and even though it would never be as good as Molly had done, he was definitely getting better. Hermione and Ron were there with Ginny and Dean Thomas, her boyfriend. Percy was there with George and Angelina, his recently married wife. Bill and Fleur lived in Egypt and Charlie was still out of the country.
"So, Hermione, how goes the work with the Frenchman?" Arthur asked from the head of the table. Hermione was sure that, being Minister of Magic, he knew exactly how it was going. But, Hermione indulged him anway.
"He won't talk." she replied sullenly. "And there hasn't been a sighting of the Jester in nearly two months."
"Scared away by all the Aurors." Ron said with a wink.
"Doubtful." Ginny said with a grin. "At least not by Ronald Weasley."
"Whatever." Ron replied with a laugh.
"How are things with the Harpies?" Hermione asked Ginny.
"Fine." Ginny replied smugly. "Gwenog keeps jerking me around with my playing time. She's still upset that she hasn't been able to convince management to trade me to Chudley yet."
"Let her!" Ron pleaded. "Do you realize how unstoppable Chudley would be if you joined?"
"Do you realize that when Gwenog retires at the end of the season, I will be team captain." Ginny fired back. "If I join the Cannons, I have to compete with Viktor for that. I'm still not certain how they afforded him but that doesn't matter. I won't ever be team captain with him around."
"I imagine that the Cannons new co-owner probably had something to do with that." George Weasley, co-owner of the Chudley Cannons, said.
"Well obviously." Ron replied. "Krum wouldn't go there for what the other owner would want to pay him. How much did you offer him?"
"Double what his Romanian team was willing to offer. He turned it down. So we tripled it and he accepted." George replied with a grin.
Hermione blanked out as the conversation continued on with Quidditch. While she had learned to accept the sport as part of every day life for a wizard, she still didn't particularly care for it. So, Hermione started gathering the finished dishes around her and took them to the sink. As she washed the dishes, she looked out on the tree and the lake where Fred was buried. She could still remember all the time that Harry, Ron and Hermione spent out there.
Suddenly, she missed Harry all over again. It was almost as if she could see him out there, watching as the Weasleys swam.
Then, someone knocked on the door. Everyone looked around, curiously wondering who it could be. Bill and Fleur lived in Egypt permanently and Charlie was still in Romania for another year. Percy's fiancee, Penelope Clearwater, wasn't here but that's because she was working late that night at the Ministry.
"I'll get it." Ginny said as she stood from the table.
For some reason, Hermione followed Ginny to the door, unsure of what she would find. Then, as Ginny approached the door and opened it, Hermione knew why she had followed. As the door swung open, there stood Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived. She hadn't imagined him standing out there. He had been, probably looking at Fred's tombstone.
Hermione's eyes went from Harry to Ginny, who was standing in the doorway sputtering and choking on her breath.
"What's going on?" Dean said as he turned around and came face-to-face with Harry. "Oh my god."
Suddenly, the eyes of every person in the room shifted to the doorway. Hermione noticed that each person had a matching look of shock on their faces as they saw the face of the man they thought had left them forever.
"Hi everyone." Harry said softly.
As he spoke, Ginny burst into tears and rushed forward, nearly tackling him in one of the biggest hugs Hermione had ever seen. Everyone instantly stood from their places at the table and hurried over to the door to greet Harry.
It took several minutes for everyone to get through and hug Harry before everyone finally settled down. They all took their seats around Harry who sat in between Hermione and Ron in the living room.
For the next half hour or so, everyone spent their time informing Harry about all of the things that he had missed over the years. Hermione watched Harry and noticed that his smile seemed real. However, she also noticed something else. Everyone else in the room was looked at. Everyone but her.
He still hadn't forgiven her.
March 10, 2004
7:47 PM
After over an hour of storytelling and such, things got more serious. Arthur looked at Harry seriously.
"Why did you come back?"
Harry had been afraid of this question ever since he had walked in the door.
"I came back because I knew that I needed to try again. I had been so angry for so long that I had forgotten really why I was angry. Things happened that I couldn't let go of, that I still haven't let go of. I am going to try to though."
Harry knew that Hermione would have noticed that he hadn't been able to look at her yet. While he was glad to see all of the rest of them, he still wasn't able to look at her without wanting to do more than set her robes on fire. But, he knew that he wanted to forgive her and that was a start.
"Arthur, may I speak with you and Hermione outside?"
"Certainly." Arthur said as he stood up and lead them to the front porch. Once they were there, he turned back to Harry. "What is it?"
"I am also here to help with your...situation." Harry said softly.
"Oh, Harry, that's wonde-"
"With a few stipulations." Harry said coldly.
"Alright." Arthur replied, noticing the chill in Harry's voice.
"First, the Ministry of Magic will go on record and say that they disagree with both rulings and that while no money will be asked back, both rulings have been overturned."
"Harr-"
"Second, the Ministry of Magic will pay reparations to me to the tune of 999,998 Galleons."
"Why that much?" Hermione asked.
"Because I am more forgiving than the Ministry is and so I am forgiving them for one Galleon." Harry replied roughly.
"H-"
"Finally, I will be appointed as a special consultant on the case. I will not in any way be a subordinate to Gawain Robards or anyone other than The Minister of Magic. As such, I will not be forced to abide by any rules that an employee of the Ministry will face. Also, any laws that I may or may not break during the course of this investigation will be ignored under the rules of diplomatic immunity."
"Harry, I don't th-"
"Arthur, these are my stipulations. If any of these cannot be met, I will not help you. I will be back in the country and I will defend myself if I am attacked but without these reparations, I will go no farther."
"Harry!" Hermione shouted. "What makes you think you can do this to us?"
"What makes me think that I can do this to you?" Harry asked in disgust. "Try being told that a war, an entire war, was your fault; that because of this the death of every single person on your side of the war legally was your fault; being removed from your job after one bad night when the man who is in charge of the Aurors is a walking drunk exploit himself. Then, after deciding to leave, having a good friend killed, another badly injured and your house burned to the ground by the witch that YOU, Hermione Weasley, are supposed to be looking for!"
"Harry..."
"You need me." Harry said blankly. "I want to come home and I want to help. However, I will not do it until things have been made right."
"Harry, we will do what we can." Arthur replied, obviously seeking to calm things down. "The two trial verdicts should be easy. As Minister, I have the power to pardon people. Pardoning you for the first one will effectively pardon you for the second. The money simply needs to be approved by the Ministry's treasurer. He works for me and so that shouldn't be a problem. The last one is going to be the most problematic."
"Why?" Harry said roughly.
"Because I think it's illegal to simply give you free reign, knowing that you plan to break some laws."
"Just claim me as an ambassador of the Ministry assigned to this case." Harry growled. "That will be enough."
"I can do that." Arthur said. "But, in return, I'll need your support. This is going to be looked upon unfavorably."
"Arthur, I'm not upset at you and I imagine that you are doing a wonderful job as Minister. However, until you fix what Kingsley was too afraid to stop, I'm not helping with anything."
Arthur took Harry's words and stopped to think for a moment. Finally, Harry was able to turn to Hermione.
"I will be at your office in the morning to meet with Christoph." Harry said softly. "I will meet with you then. Arthur, I'll come to you afterwards. I will be Apparating everywhere tomorrow. No one is to know that I am back until all of the proper procedures have been arranged."
"I'm sure that everything will be worked out." Arthur said. "By the time you get to my office tomorrow, I should have your money to your vault and have all the paperwork for your new position written up for you to sign."
"That sounds fantastic." Harry said. "I will see the two of you tomorrow. Tell everyone I'm sorry for leaving so quickly but I'm tired from my trip back and I really want to rest."
"Where are you staying?" Hermione asked him.
"With Cho. She was moderately injured after The Jester attacked us. Plus, I don't have anywhere to live."
"That's not entirely true." Arthur said. "The Ministry still owns the deeds for 12 Grimmauld and Potter Manor. Once you have been absolved of your crimes, I can have the deeds transferred back to you."
"Thanks, Arthur. I appreciate that." Harry said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Harry turned around and looked into the night sky. He heard the door shut behind him and knew that once again he was alone. He still couldn't believe that he had actually come back. If Harry was honest with himself, it scared him a bit.
"Are you going to stay?"
Harry whipped around in place to see Ginny standing behind him. He saw the tears forming in her eyes and he knew that this could be a difficult conversation. However, if there was anyone that deserved it, it was Ginny.
"That is my plan." Harry replied simply.
"Good." Ginny said with a smile before letting silence take over. Both of them stood there for a couple moments before Harry spoke up.
"Listen, Gin, I have t-"
"I'm not happy with Dean."
"What?" Harry asked in shock.
"I mean that Dean is fine. Dean is a nice guy and he tries really hard to be everything for me. But the fact is that he isn't." she said saidly.
"Ginny..."
"Harry, I missed you so much." Ginny sobbed as tears flooded from her eyes. "Give me the word and he's gone."
Harry stepped up to Ginny and wrapped her up in his arms. He let her cry into his shoulder, comforting her as best he could. Finally, he stepped back and looked Ginny directly in the eyes.
"I love you, Ginny. I do. I love you like I love the rest of your family." Harry started before moving on to the bad news. "But I don't want to be in a relationship with you. Not right now. Who knows what could happen? I could be back a couple of years and change my mind. But honestly, I don't believe that will happen. Don't wait for me to make your life better. Find someone who makes you happy."
"You made me happy." Ginny said bluntly.
"I know."
Suddenly, Harry turned in place, leaving a teary Ginny holding onto nothing but air.
March 10, 2004
10:04 PM
"So how shocked were they?" Cho said as she sat down on the couch. Harry had been back for nearly an hour but Cho had been out taking care of some business and shopping now that they were back in London. Once she got back and was done putting everything away, she sat next to Harry and leaned on his shoulder.
"Pretty shocked." Harry said honestly. "Ron looked like he had seen a ghost."
"How did Ginny react?"
"She basically asked me if I was back for her."
"I'm certain she missed you." Cho said softly as she burrowed herself closer to Harry.
"Yeah." Harry replied. "I know she did. I missed her too. But not more than I missed any of the rest of them."
"I'm sure that she'll find someone to get her mind off of the great Harry Potter."
"I hope so." Harry said with a sly grin.
"So did you ask them?" Cho asked, changing the subject abruptly. Harry had told her what he was going to ask them for on the plane ride over to London.
"Yeah." Harry answered. "It wasn't pretty."
"Why?" Cho said as she began rubbing her eyes.
"I told them what I wanted. Hermione got upset that I was even asking so I kind of lost it. I yelled at her a bit. Thankfully, Arthur has a cooler head than either of us and was able to calm us down."
"That's good. So you're going to be wealthy Harry Potter again. That's good. Can you buy me a new apartment as a finder's fee?"
"Shouldn't they buy you that new apartment?" Harry said with a smile.
"True." she said as she groggily stood up. "What time are you going to work tomorrow?"
"I'll go meet with Hermione at 8, do the interrogation and then meet with Arthur at 10 hopefully. Why?"
"Well, I have yet to decide whether I want to go back to the States or stay here and find a new job." Cho replied as she stretched up to the ceiling.
"I think you should stay here." Harry said softly. "You're the only person I trust all of the time right now."
"Well that's sweet." Cho said as she leaned down and kissed Harry on the top of the head. "Fine. I'll go in with you tomorrow and find another job."
"Good idea."
"Alright, I'm going to bed." Cho said. "You can either stay out here or join me."
"Join you?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"It's nothing like that, Potter." Cho chided. "My couch isn't even big enough for you and my bed is enormous. I am offering you the other half of my bed."
Harry considered this for a moment. She was right about the couch. Harry stood at nearly six feet tall and her couch was barely five. He would either have to curl up on that or sleep on the floor. However, Harry was nervous about sharing a bed with someone like Cho, fearful of something that he might do. He had been without any friendly contact of any kind for so long that he was afraid that he may do something he would regret when faced with a semi-dressed Cho in the same bed as him.
"Fine." Harry replied stubbornly.
Harry stood up and followed Cho back to her room. What Harry saw was very surprising. Harry had expected her room to be very girly, clad in pink and purple. Then, Harry remembered that Cho wasn't Parvati Patil. Instead, her room was nearly all blue, the same blue that was the color of Ravenclaw House. Harry saw that there were pictures all over the room but one picture instantly drew his attention.
It was a picture of Cho and Cedric from the Yule Ball during Harry's fourth year. They looked so happy. Suddenly, Harry realized how much the world around him had changed since then. He had exchanged one problem for another. Voldemort for court cases. It was rather astonishing.
"That's one of my favorite pictures." Cho said softly as she came up behind Harry.
"I'm sorry things happened the way they did." Harry replied. "The two of you should have had longer together."
"We were never a couple, you know." Cho said informatively as she turned around and crawled into bed.
"Really?" Harry asked in shock.
"Really. He asked me to the dance and he asked me out later, but I turned him down. He was one of my best friends in the world but I never wanted to date him."
"Oh." Harry said awkwardly.
"Plus, there was some scrawny fourth year that I was interested in." Cho replied as Harry finally climbed into the other side of the bed.
"I'm make sure to tell Ron the next time I see him." Harry joked, relishing in the fact that he would actually be able to tell his friend anything.
"You know it wasn't Weasley."
"I know." Harry answered. "Just trying to lighten the mood."
"What needs lightening?"
"I dunno. The whole thing between us was a mess. I just hate that that had to happen to you."
"Harry, that was years ago. Forget it." Cho replied as she burrowed herself in under the covers. "Good night, Harry."
"Night, Cho."
March 11, 2004
6:44 AM
Harry woke up in an unfamiliar environment. He looked around, doing his best to see where he was without his glasses. Suddenly, it all came back to him. He was in Cho's apartment, more specifically Cho's bed.
That was when Harry became distinctly aware of a few facts. First, both Harry and Cho had shifted towards the center of the bed, seeking each other for warmth in the chilly spring morning. Second, Harry had taken his jeans off just before he had jumped into bed, leaving him wearing just his underwear. Finally and most shocking, Cho had done the same thing.
Any other twenty-four year old would have been jumping up and down at the opportunity to do this with someone as beautiful as Cho Chang. However, Harry was not a normal twenty-four year old. Due to hiding in the corners of the world for four years and being relatively sexually stunted during his youth because of Lord Voldemort's presence in his life, Harry was as inexperienced with women as one could be while being twenty-four years old.
Just as Harry started to slowly roll over and remove himself from the situation, Cho grumbled into her pillow.
"Don't you dare move a muscle." she said softly.
"Ahhhh, Cho." Harry said nervously. "Do you realize what just happened?"
"Yes. You are warmer than any blanket I've ever had and I'm freezing. I swear to everything holy that I will hex you into next week if you get up."
Now Harry was left in a horrible position. Should he ignore her and get up anyway? Should he tell her how uncomfortable he was with the whole thing and hope that she lets him get up? Or should he just suck it up and share body heat with the beautiful woman in front of him?
Suddenly, Cho turned around to face him.
"Don't freak out. It's not a big deal. We weren't even awake."
"I'm not freaking out." Harry lied.
"You are very much freaking out." Cho replied accusingly.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure what to do." Harry admitted. "I'm not exactly the most experienced guy in the world."
"Well then it's a good thing that we aren't having sex or anything like that." Cho said as she kissed him on the forehead before hopping out of bed. "You're cute. Now, I would suggest you get in the shower if you want to be to the Ministry on time."
"Why?"
"Well, I have a tendency to take really long showers and I wouldn't want you to be held up by me."
"Thanks."
7:57 AM
"You ready?" Harry shouted to the bathroom door Cho was hiding behind.
"Almost." she called back as he heard the sink's water. Suddenly, Harry heard the sink stop running and the door in front of him opened. Cho was dressed in a stylish yet simple black dress with her hair pulled back. She looked stunning yet ready for a day at work.
"Is her office where the Head of her Department's was when I was here?" Harry asked her.
"The same one." Cho confirmed as she finished putting two small golden hoop earrings into her ears. Once she was done, she made her way back to towards Harry.
Harry took Cho by the hand and before she could have known what happened, Harry turned and Apparated into Hermione's office.
Hermione didn't even bother to look up from the work she had been doing, simply choosing to address them vocally.
"Morning." she said.
"Morning." the two answered in unison.
Suddenly, Hermione looked up, shocked to see both of them there.
"Hello, Cho. I didn't expect to see you here this morning."
"Yeah, I'm going to go see Arthur. I'm resigning as American Ambassador." Cho informed her. "Speaking of which, do you know of any available openings?"
"Not yet." Hermione replied. "But, if I see something, I'll Owl you."
"Perfect." Cho said before turning to Harry. "I'll see you later."
"Alright." Harry replied.
As Cho walked out the door, Harry turned back and made his way to Hermione's desk, taking a seat in one of the chairs placed across from her. Hermione went back to her work, obviously doing everything she could to ignore Harry.
"What's that all about?" Hermione asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You and Cho is what I mean." Hermione replied, looking at him again.
"Cho and I are nothing." Harry replied honestly. "She brought me back and I don't have anywhere to live yet so I'm living with her for right now. She needed to come in as well so we came in together."
"OK, Harry. I was just curious because I talked to Ginny after you left last night."
"Great." Harry groaned. "What did she say?"
"She said she was glad that you told her what you did. Especially telling her that you loved her."
"I do." Harry answered. "I always will. Hopefully, we can get back to being good friends again. I love her like I love all of them."
"Them?"
"The Weasleys." Harry answered, not sure what Hermione was getting at.
"You do know what my last name is, right, Harry?"
Now Harry understood what she was getting at. Them, that's what he had said. He hadn't said you which would have included her.
"Yes, Hermione, I do know what your last name is."
"Good." Hermione replied. "Now, what did you mean by that?"
"Hermione, I didn't mean anything by it. You and Ron were only married a few months before I took off. It's still strange to think of you as a Weasley."
"I am, Harry." she shot back softly. "I am a Weasley. It hurts me to think that you don't love me like you do them. I was your best friend."
"Hermione, we've been over this." Harry said in annoyance. "You know why I'm upset."
"I do." Hermione admitted. "I wanted to apologize to you for that, by the way."
"Cho tried to do it for you." Harry replied. "Said something about Amos Diggory brainwashing you."
"Not exactly." Hermione replied with a chuckle. "No, more like I brainwashed myself. I was so concerned with making sure that I did everything by the books that I wasn't watching the man in charge."
"You were the only one." Harry shot back roughly. "While Amos didn't really do anything illegal, it was fairly obvious why he wanted to sit on that committee."
"Well, it is obvious now. That's part of the reason Arthur is going to be able to overturn your decisions. Basically, he will say that it was the influence of Amos Diggory that got you convicted."
"That's great, Hermione." Harry replied snidely. "That doesn't change what you said."
"It doesn't." Hermione admitted. "However, what I said had nothing to do with how we dealt with things. All I was doing was an analysis of what happened. After the fact, I wish we had involved the Order more. That doesn't mean that I disagree with how we did things. I'm simply saying that if we could go back and do it again, we would change some things that we did."
"We would." Harry admitted. "I'm just confused. Why couldn't you tell me that you were going to tell them that? You knew what it could mean for me both publicly and personally."
"I didn't tell you...I don't have a good reason for why I didn't tell you, Harry. I guess I didn't think that it would be that big of a deal."
Harry stood up and walked to the door.
"It was."
"I know."
"Let's go talk to The Frenchman."
As the door shut behind Harry, a sense of amazing familiarity passed over him. He was back in his interrogation room with a suspect in front of him. After everything that had happened, it was as if he had never left.
Now, while most people only used this as a simple interrogation room, Harry knew better. He had built these rooms himself and he knew all of the magical back doors to get people to talk.
Thankfully, Hermione had been able to convince the security staff that Harry could take his wand with him into the room. This would allow him to get to The Frenchman quicker.
Sitting in front of him was what was left of The Frenchman. His hair was long and matted and he had to have been starving himself.
"Bruno. How are you doing today?" Harry asked him.
Suddenly, the man came to life. His head flipped up and his eyes tried to burn a hole through Harry's forehead.
"Potter. I didn't think they would be able to find you."
"Neither did I." Harry said jokingly. "So, how about telling me everything you know about The Jester and who she works for?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, Azoli attacked me at my home in Alaska and I must say that I was not particularly impressed by her. Therefore, whatever you freaks are planning, she has to be getting orders from someone else. Otherwise, this is going to be very easy for me."
"Azoli doesn't work for anyone!"
Harry chuckled, knowing that this would be his response.
"Listen, Bruno, this is how this is going to work. You're going to tell me everything you know about her and who she works for. Otherwise, things are going to get really ugly for you quickly."
"You can't intimidate me. You cannot get me in here." he replied defiantly.
"You may think so. But, do you want to know who built these rooms? Do you know who designed them?"
"No."
"I did." Harry growled as he waved his wand.
Suddenly, all of the lights in the room went out. Another wave of his wand and the lights began to flash at random increments. Harry Apparated himself around the room at random. This combined with the flashing lights gave the appearance of him being everywhere at once. Harry knew for a fact that it was terrifying.
"Tell me." Harry ordered softly.
"No!"
Again, Harry began waving his wand. This time, he conjured imaginary animals. Snakes, bats, scorpions and a random assortment of creepy creatures launched themselves at The Frenchman. In his mind, these were all totally real. However, Harry didn't yet have the heart to tell them that they were fake.
"Now, what about that information?" Harry asked again calmly.
"Never!"
"Fine. We can keep doing this!" Harry shouted with a faked maniacal glee.
For the third time, Harry began waving his wand. This time, however, he was sending actual curses at the barrier between the two of them. Between the lights and the creepy crawlers and the curses, The Frenchman began crying in fear.
"No! NO! NOOOO!"
"TELL ME!" Harry screamed. "TELL ME EVERYTHING!"
"No!"
Then, Harry used his greatest trick. When Harry had created the barrier, he made it with one small hole in the back of it. All he could do was stick his hand through it. No spells would be able to get through. However, Harry knew that if you thought you were protected and then someone grabbed you from behind, you would be terrified. He had never had to use it before.
Harry raced around to the back of the barrier and reached through the open hole. He grabbed the back of The Frenchman's shirt and pulled him up against the barrier.
"You tell me or you go to jail for the rest of your life! You tell me or I have you executed tomorrow!"
"OK!" The Frenchman screamed in terror.
Instantly, Harry let go and with a wave of his wand, every illusion that he had created was gone. Harry stepped around to the front of The Frenchman and proceeded forward.
"Who does she work for?"
"She never told me." he replied, tears still streaming down his face. "She only called it The Network. Various people around the world were supposed to have been apart of it."
"Did she know anyone else that was a member?"
"No." he replied as he shook his head. "You only knew your direct superior until you got up to a certain point within the organization. I think she was close though."
"Good. This will help a lot." Harry replied. "At the worst, you'll spend the rest of your life in jail. But now, there may be a possibility of you getting out."
Instantly, Harry turned around and exited the room. Hermione and Ron were waiting for him in viewing room.
"Harry, there's no way he'll get out." Ron said softly.
"He doesn't need to know that." Harry replied. "Now we have the information we need. We need to look into these two further. See if there's anything from their personal lives that could give us more information on The Network."
"I'll get some people on it." Hermione said.
"Yeah you will." Harry replied. "I'm going to do it."
"But we need you here, mate." Ron shot back.
"I'm needed wherever I can find information on how to stop The Jester and how to prevent this organization from doing whatever it is they want to do." Harry replied. "Now, I need to go meet with Arthur."
"I have good news, Harry."
"Great." Harry said as he took his seat across from Arthur. "What is it?"
"The Prophet will run a statement from me tomorrow evening. In it, I will outline my reasons for absolving you of your crimes."
"That's great." Harry replied. "I really appreciate that."
"It's nothing, Harry." Arthur said before continuing. "I've been able to name you a Special Investigator and Ambassador. This will give you the diplomatic immunity that you wanted. The only person you will answer to is me. Finally, tomorrow morning, Gringotts will receive a 999,999 Galleon deposit for your vault."
Arthur had done everything he had asked for. He had to admit that he was shocked that it could be done.
"Your office is right down the hall from here. There is only one problem with that."
"What is that?"
"Due to some magic of the Ministry building that we cannot change, you cannot Apparate directly into that office and there is no Floo there."
"So you're telling me that I have to come in the main entrances." Harry said softly. Everyone was going to know soon.
"You can Apparate here as long as I'm here. However, I tend to be in and out of my office all day. If you try to Apparate here and I'm not in, you will be bounced to the Atrium."
"Well, I can't hide forever." Harry said. "Plus, I imagine everyone will guess why you pardoned me now."
"I imagine they will." Arthur replied. "Now, Harry, I don't mean to kick you out, but I have a meeting with the Chinese Department of Magical Law Enforcement Head in three minutes and I really need to prepare."
"Not a problem." Harry said as he stood up and made his way to the door.
"It's good to have you back." Arthur said as Harry opened the door.
"It's nice to be back." Harry replied before leaving the office and walking out in the world again.