AN: This is the new story I started working on. It will feature OOC characters, so please keep that in mind when reading. I also did not write ahead for this story, meaning, I'll post as soon as I finish up a chapter. I won't follow a set posting schedule with this story. I know that turns some people off from a story, but I can promise I'll post at least once a month, usually more. I want to take this story at a leisurely pace and not have to push myself to deadlines (I do enough of that in college and my job). I can also promise that I will never abandon this story. This is one I've been thinking of for quite some time, and so I want to see it through to the end. As always, please review, even if it's just a couple of words. It helps the author improve as a writer. Anyways, I've said enough. Happy reading!
"Bollocks!" Harry shouted as he pounded his fist into the table. "You mean to tell me that they're all just going to get away with what they did? A light slap on the wrist? Is that it?"
"Potter, you need to calm down," Robards said as he looked at his subordinate. "I know the situation isn't ideal, hell, I'm not happy with the outcome, but there's nothing we can do. We catch the bad guys. The Wizengamot sentences them."
"They're all a bunch of morons," Harry seethed "Pompous purebloods who couldn't tell their head from their arse. I have a thousand Galleons that says money exchanged hands for this to have happened."
Robards sighed at the irate Potter as he rubbed his temple. "It probably did."
Harry was quiet for a moment before his shoulders sagged in defeat. "I thought after Voldemort was gone things would be better. I thought the hypocrisy and the corruption would disappear," Harry said softly.
"Some scars run too deep, Potter," Robards said as he took a sip of his coffee. He set the cup back down and continued. "Some habits are hard to break. Did you think it was going to happen overnight?"
"It's been two years!" Harry roared. "I didn't think it would happen so quickly, but I thought that after two years of rebuilding, we would've achieved something. We're still making the same mistakes we made in the past!"
"You have to be patient, Potter."
"It's a load of dragon dung, Robards, and you know it!"
"Of course, I know it!" Robards replied, raising his voice for the first time. "I know it, you know it, hell, everyone knows it. What can we do? Do you want to dismantle the entire government and reassemble it from the ground up?"
"If I have to," Harry said with a scowl.
"Merlin, Potter, you're so god damned stubborn," Robards said exasperatingly. "If you keep harping on about this you could wind up finding yourself in more trouble."
"Is that a threat?"
"From me, no. From someone else that is higher up, quite possibly," Robards said. "You scored very well on your entrance exam and your AAT. You're one of the best and brightest recruits that's ever been under my command. I'm not going to fire you unless you royally piss me off or directly disobey one of my orders in the field."
"Well, that's good to know then," Harry said as he leaned back in his seat.
Robards eyed Harry before downing the rest of his coffee and standing up. "At any rate, one man taking on the entire Ministry would be sheer folly."
"There's one thing I've never been known for, nor will I ever be known for, sir," Harry said.
Robards had just turned to walk out the door but stopped and turned back around.
Potter was now tilting his chair backwards and holding himself up with his knee. "Oh, yeah? And what's that?" he asked.
"My ability to exercise caution," Potter said as he grinned like a Cheshire cat.
Kingsley Shacklebolt sat at his desk as he leafed through file after file of court proceedings of all the Wizengamot sessions over the past two weeks.
It had been an officiating nightmare and some of the public were already sending him Howlers and calling for his resignation as if he was the sole reason for rapists and murderers getting away with what they did.
He didn't even care about the job, not really. He'd basically been forced to take the position because there had been no one else. He much preferred his role in the Auror department, but such was the way of moving up in the world.
He did care about the people and trying to make Wizardkind better as a whole, but he was starting to think that from his current position, that would be next to impossible. He didn't even know the first place to start to get rid of decades of systemic corruption and supremacy.
There was a knock at his door, and his assistant, Sophie, poked her head into the room. "There's a Mr. Harry Potter here to see you, sir."
Kingsley sighed. "Bring him in, Sophie."
Sophie backed out of the room, and all was quiet again.
"This should be enlightening," he thought to himself.
Thirty seconds later, Harry Potter strolled into his office looking agitated.
"Minister," Harry said in greeting.
"It's just Kingsley to you, Harry," he said as he gestured at the chair in front of his desk. Have a seat. What brings you by?"
"I'm sure you already know," Harry said darkly.
"The trials?"
"The trials," Harry confirmed.
Kingsley closed his eyes for a moment, breathed in slowly, and breathed out even slower. Harry had always been a temperamental lad ever since he met him five years ago. It was understandable with everything he had been forced to go through in his life, but in some instances, Harry's impassioned nature was a double-edged sword; like right now.
"I don't really know what I can say to appease you, Harry," he told the blacked-haired Auror. "The last few weeks have been a complete disaster."
"Cut the crap, Kingsley," Harry said with a cynical laugh. "I know you're just as hacked off as I am."
"I am," he agreed, "But I'm literally at a loss. I was thrown into this shitstorm and made interim minister at the end of a war. Every time I try to fix something ten more broken things pop up in its place. It's hard just keeping the peace at the moment."
Harry looked over at the smoking rubbish bin in the corner and laughed. "Presents from your admirers?" he asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, if you count thirteen Howlers a gift."
Harry whistled. "And I thought my job sucked."
"Comes with the territory," he replied as he clasped his hands together. "Now, how about you tell me what you really came to talk to me about?"
"Sharp as ever, Kingsley," Potter said with a laugh. "Right-o. I want to help you rebuild the ministry."
"You fuckin what now?" Kingsley asked in surprise. Whatever he thought Potter was going to say, it definitely wasn't that.
Harry grinned. "I want to help you rebuild the ministry."
"Yeah, I heard that part!"
"Then why'd you make me repeat myself, Kingsley?"
Kingsley groaned. Dealing with Potter always gave him a headache. "I meant how, and why?"
"I mean, the why is pretty self-explanatory," Harry said. "I'm tired of the corruption. I'm tired of the same fucking families voting for or against laws. I'm tired of our society making the same mistakes over and over again. I don't want to bring children into a world where shady deals and bigotry are the norm. Do you know a piece of anti-werewolf legislation just passed a few weeks ago? Shit like that is why I wanna burn this entire place to the ground and start from scratch."
Kingsley knew of the bill. Unfortunately, he had had to sign off on it. He had tried to get it overturned but when eighty-five percent of the Wizengamot voted for it, there's not any overturning you can do.
"Having to sign off on that bill made my blood boil," he finally said. "Remus was one of the only friends I had in the Order; he and Tonks.
Harry nodded sympathetically. "I know there's only so much you can do," he said. "Which is why I want to help you. Which, coincidentally, brings me around to the how."
"You have some ideas?" he asked.
"Oh, do I!" Harry said with a conspiratorial grin and a chuckle. "I'll have to go home and brainstorm a little more first before I bring it to you, though. I want to make sure I'm only suggesting good ideas and things that will actually move things along."
"Well, I'd be happy with any help you could give me, Harry," Kingsley said as both men stood up and shook hands.
"I'll be in touch," Harry grinned.
Kingsley watched as Harry Potter walked out his office door and sat back down.
Harry Potter promised to help him rebuild the ministry and eliminate the corruption and bigotry. That should be cause for a little celebration jig at getting the vanquisher of Voldemort to help him.
If it was such a good thing, then why did he have such a bad feeling about it?
"Hey, love," Harry called out, "I'm home!"
Ginny appeared in the doorway sporting a long apron with a smile, her hand on a mixing bowl, as she stirred something around inside.
Harry walked over to her and kissed her passionately, causing Ginny to almost drop the bowl.
When they pulled apart, she giggled. "You seem to be in an awfully good mood today. Did work go well?"
"Nope! It was shit," Harry said with a smile.
Ginny laughed. Harry loved to hear Ginny laugh. It was bright and airy. Not as airy as Luna Lovegood's, that would just be abnormal, but airy in the fact that she laughed with her soul.
"Only you could come home from a shit day at work and be happy," she said.
"It's because I get to come home to you," Harry said as he leaned in and kissed her again.
Ginny smiled at him when they pulled apart; a smile full of love and warmth. "Alright, Romeo, go wash up for dinner," she said. "Oh, and Harry, dear?"
"Yes?" Harry asked questioningly.
She leaned in and nipped his ear with her teeth before whispering, "I'm not wearing any knickers."
She giggled and turned around, leaving him standing there with what he assumed was a very hilarious expression on his face as she walked back into the kitchen.
She hadn't been lying. She definitely wasn't wearing any knickers. The little minx wasn't wearing anything at all except the apron.
Laughing, Harry followed Ginny into the kitchen.
Later on, that night, Harry lay in bed trailing a finger down Ginny's naked sleeping body, as if trying to memorize every freckle, every curve, every detail of her pale, milky white skin.
Regret welled up inside of him, threatening to burst forth, but he pushed it back down. He didn't see any other way. There was no use going back on what he had already decided to do. He didn't beg internally for forgiveness. There wasn't any to be found.
Slowly, so as to not wake Ginny, he slid out of bed and got dressed. He was slow and methodical in his movements as if hoping that the rational part of his brain would somehow convince him that this was the worst idea he's ever had. A small part of him even hoped that Ginny would wake up and coax him back to bed, but she stayed asleep.
Once he was dressed, he grabbed his wand from the bedside table and turned to look at Ginny one last time.
She had shifted while his back was turned and now lay spread out on her back, one arm above her head, hair splayed out around in some type of remembrance of a fiery halo. The quilt had slipped down exposing one of her small yet perky breasts, skin that same milky white that he could roam his fingers and lips down for hours. It was an area of her body that he had become intimately familiar with over the past two years.
Pangs of longing hit him immediately knowing he would never get to gaze upon Ginny in this manner ever again. It was okay though.
Ginny would move on and find love from another, and Harry? Well, Harry was rebuilding a world people could be proud to live in; a world Ginny would feel safe bringing children into.
He wouldn't leave a note of apology explaining his reasoning. Things were better off this way. He had decided that earlier. It was probably better if Ginny grew to hate him. It would make this easier on her in the long run.
Not being able to help himself, and indulging himself once last time, he leaned forward and kissed Ginny on the forehead, before turning around and walking out the door.
The wind picked up slightly and nipped at his bones as Harry stood outside a fancy yet quaint two-story home on the outskirts of Worcester. He shivered slightly and pulled his cloak tighter around him.
Harry grinned at the home. It was a far cry from the lush and posh manor the inhabitant used to reside in.
He waited another hour, just to make sure the target was about to leave his bedroom and his fiancée was asleep, before he pulled out his invisibility cloak, donned it, and stepped up to the back door entrance.
He unlocked the door with a simple Alohomora spell and let himself in.
He walked down a hallway dimly lit with a couple of candles before turning right, walking through a kitchen, and into another hallway.
Harry paid no attention to the house's interior decorations. They didn't matter.
He reached his destination, unlocked the door, and let himself into his target's study before locking the door behind him and planting himself in an armchair by the fireplace.
He would be here soon enough.
Harry only had to wait five minutes before he heard the lock click on the door, and his target walked in.
The man sat down behind his desk and pulled a tumbler from a shelf behind him before pouring himself a shot of amber-colored liquid.
He raised the glass to his lips and knocked back the shot before lowering the glass back to his desk.
"I'll take a shot if you're feeling generous," Harry stated.
The man immediately jumped back and pulled out his wand but Harry was faster. "Expelliarmus!"
The man's wand sailed out of his hand and into Harry's as Harry took off his invisibility cloak.
"You!" the man said through gritted teeth.
"Me," Harry confirmed with a smile.
"What are you doing here?" the man asked. "What do you want from me? I did my time. I changed!"
"Of that, I have no doubt," Harry said as he summoned his own glass and poured some of the Firewhisky before downing it. "Damn, that's some good stuff."
The man never took his eyes off Harry. That was good. He had his full and undivided attention. Harry learned long ago that if you wanted to get people to fall in line and do what you want them to, fear was an excellent tactic to use.
"I need your help with a job."
"A job?" the man scoffed, "why do you need my help?"
"Regrettably, I can't do it on my own," Harry said as he twirled the glass in his hand. "I need another."
"Why should I help you?" the man asked as he shifted in his chair.
Harry grinned. "Because, if you don't, I'll kill you, your mother, and your pretty little fiancée asleep upstairs."
Harry could see the fear in the man's eyes as he gulped and slid his chair back. "You wouldn't do that. You're Harry Potter, the so-called Leader of the Light. Dumbledore's Golden Boy."
"I think you underestimate how tired I am of the Ministry's shit," Harry replied darkly as he stared at the man.
Harry saw the man shiver and laughed.
"What kind of job is it?" he asked.
"It doesn't matter," Harry said as he waved off the man's question. "I know you'll help me."
"You're so sure I will?" the man challenged, a bit of venom and hate beginning to creep up in his voice.
"I was going to kill you first if you refused," Harry said as he tilted his chair back while still maintaining eye contact, "but I could always kill you last and make you watch them die. Isn't that what your old master did?"
"You're insane!" the man exclaimed.
"Oh, yes!" Harry said with a laugh, "And rightfully so. These ministry asshats are still running around with their tails between their legs, doing the same shady deals that they've always been doing. You would think after I killed Tommy Boy, they'd get their act together, but no. They're still as dense as ever."
Harry leaned forward finally and looked at the scared man in front of him. "Don't you want to live in a world without all that?" Harry asked. "Don't you want to raise your kids in a world that's free from a corrupt government that could pass laws designed to hurt them?"
"What about you?" the man asked. "You're willing to risk everything to improve the world? You won't even get to enjoy it. I can see it in your eyes. Whatever you have planned, this doesn't end well for you."
"I've made my peace with that," Harry replied. "As long as the ones I love get to enjoy the world I'm trying to build for them, that's enough for me."
Harry's thoughts drifted to Ginny, sweet Ginny. Had she woken up in the middle of the night and found him gone yet? He thought of his best friends and the rest of the Weasleys, but it didn't deter him. In fact, it cemented his resolve. A vision of his godson, Teddy, swam in front of him. He was doing this for them.
The man sighed. "You're crazy, Potter, but you are right. I don't want to bring a child into this type of world either. I'll help you, whatever it is."
Harry grinned. "Excellent. That's good news indeed. I didn't really want to have to murder your fiancée. I don't care about you and your mother, but Greengrass is innocent. Although, she is marrying you, so her taste leaves much to be desired."
"I figured as much," the man said, his lip curling up in a sneer. "So, what now?"
"Now?" Harry asked with a wide smile that made the man shiver, "Why I want you to kill me of course."
