Chapter 27

The waitress that greeted them looked alarmed as they entered. It wasn't an altogether unusual experience. But Harry, who spent his life accustomed to people looking alarmed when he entered any establishment, was used to it.

Still, her look was clear. Nothing great could come from five gaijin entering the restaurant. She pressed her lips together and greeted them in a cautious Japanese, enunciating each word slowly and deliberately as if she knew there was no chance they'd understand her.

Priya smiled brightly at her and answered her in a cheerful voice in her own perfect Japanese. Harry watched the waitress tense for a moment, before she visibly relaxed, her shoulders slumping.

He wondered if she ever grew sick of it. He'd never asked. But it was a fairly common occurrence. He couldn't really blame the Japanese. He was sure most of the tourists didn't speak any Japanese. They were always polite. Almost to a fault.

Hell, one time they'd been chatting in English while staring at a map in the Umeda station. They must have looked lost but in actuality they were merely killing time while waiting on Emily. During that twenty minutes they were approached three times by what Harry could only assume were locals asking if they needed help finding their hotel or the right train.

Every time Priya answered them in a cheerful Japanese, thanking them for their concern and assuring them that there was no need. It often took more than one denial before the would-be saviors would continue on their way.

It was a sort of strange dichotomy, he thought. At times they looked at him as if he wasn't from the same planet that they were. He'd grown accustomed to side-eyed stares and people pretending they weren't looking at him. But despite that, there was a certain politeness, and helpfulness, to the majority of the locals.

They were even more helpful when Priya wasn't around. If it was he and Emily they were approached even more for inquiries if they needed directions or anything of the nature. It was amusing, in a way. Emily wasn't quite as good at getting them to go away. And that grew even worse for the months where she was embarrassed about her Japanese.

When he was alone, well, there were usually two different types of people that approached him.

The first being students. It was a bit awkward at first, as he wasn't quite sure what they wanted. But it only took a couple of times for the oddity and uncertainty of the situation to bleed away. They wanted to ask questions in English. Apparently they got credit in school for doing so.

At first Harry thought it was a sloppy pickup line from school-aged girls, but it happened with such frequency that he figured it had to be true. He did his best to be personable. But he was never good at such things. Thankfully, he thought most of them weren't able to pick up on his body language and tone, even as he tried to be polite.

The second group was much easier to deal with. They were often older, and still approached under the guise of trying to practice or learn some English. They tended to be men about his age. And they didn't use the excuse of having homework to do. No, their excuse was much better, and often more blunt.

Hey, I want to practice my English, do you have time for me to buy you a drink?

Much like the schoolgirls, his first thought was it was bad flirting.

He'd never admit it to anyone but he'd been mildly disappointed when the first time he'd agreed it had been exactly that. Twenty minutes and one Kirin later and they parted ways. He wondered if he just gave off too straight of vibes, or if he'd mentioned his wife too much, or whatever he'd done to no longer be worth flirting with.

The fact that it has never been about flirting comforted him some, but he still felt oddly annoyed by the entire situation. Those encountered happened more often than he'd have expected. And he quickly learned that he rather liked Japanese whisky, even if Emily scoffed at it. And their beer was fine.

It was how he met his new friends. They were younger than him. Late in their post-college schooling, with two going for masters and one going for his doctorate. The doctoral candidate invited him out, saying he could use help with his English. It was better than most who asked him and he'd had nothing to do so he'd agreed.

They were mid conversation about the Carp losing to the Tigers when the first drink ended. The man, Akira, stood to leave but Harry asked if he'd like another round. It was only the sixth inning and he honestly didn't fully understand this game yet.

Akira paused, then shrugged his shoulders and turned to his seat and continued his lecture on the rules of baseball. Even now, months later, Harry didn't quite understand the game. And he thought that compared to Quidditch it was incredibly dull.

He grew to appreciate the required precision of it when they took him to a batting cage one drunken evening and he managed to hit absolutely nothing until the tenth or twelfth time they put him into the cage. As spring started they dragged him to a local diamond and made him learn the intricacies of fielding and hitting and throwing.

He cheated far more than he should have. The ball seemed to always find its way to his glove, even if he was just a little bit off. He was almost uncannily good at fielding bad hops, despite seeming like he misplayed it.

Thankfully he was relegated to the bench on their team. And it annoyed him that he was given number twenty and not number seven for his uniform. He didn't play much, but they told him that with how he was improving he'd become a fixture next year. He wasn't sure if he was looking forward to it or not. Priya said he looked good in the tight white pants.

Emily had only shrugged, in a way that may have expressed her agreement, and left the room.

By now Priya had finished her conversation with the Hostess, who'd made them wait a few minutes for an open table in a back room. Harry saw her follow the hostess toward said table. He gestured for the other Englishmen to follow her as he brought up the rear.

He took a moment to appraise them further. Something about them rubbed him the wrong way, but he couldn't place it. Well, aside from the fact that they clearly worked for Fudge and anyone that willingly did that wasn't worth his time. There was something else about them that bothered him.

The old one still seemed bored. Which felt off. But it very well may have been a practiced facade. He'd clearly been in the business for a long time. And had the distinct aura of someone who couldn't be startled easily.

He knew a couple of other Japanese Aurors who had the same air about them. Both were into their seventies and were two of the more formidable wizards he'd ever met. They weren't much of a match for him, when it was all said and done. But they were competent and had seen their fair share of combat.

They never got around to sharing war stories. Harry doubted they were much interested in his, even after he'd destroyed them in round two. And he'd never bothered to ask about theirs. Mostly because he didn't like them. One of them had been the one who'd decided to hex Priya afterall.

Still, the older man would present some difficulty if need be. He'd have to make sure if it came to blows that he took him out first. Harry doubted the man could stop him. But he'd been around long enough to know there were other ways to stop someone. And going straight for Priya would almost certainly be his only move.

The younger one would probably be arrogant enough to assume he stood a chance against Harry. So that would buy Harry enough time to deal with the older one. Then the younger one. Then Fudge. He doubted the Minister would provide any real resistance.

He turned his attention to the younger one as they moved across the restaurant. While his partner projected an air of disinterest, he so clearly wanted to be noticed. He was obviously brash and thought the world of himself. And was blatantly staring at Priya's backside as she walked ahead of him.

Harry couldn't particularly blame him for that. As it was a rather exceptional backside. He'd go far enough to call it the best one he'd ever seen, especially when she wore those skinny jeans. But it still did nothing other than annoy Harry.

Priya arrived at the table and sat. Harry pulled one of the chairs around and slid it next to her. It put him at an odd angle, but he'd deal with that if it meant having her at his side. The hostess who led them to the table looked mildly annoyed as the other three took up their positions across from them.

Priya ordered two bottles of wine. The younger of the Aurors made a face at that. Harry wondered if it was because of the choice of alcohol, or the time of day. Until another thought flashed through his mind.

The man was pretending to not understand Japanese. Strike one, Harry thought as he peered at the man. Then again, there was a chance that the expression had nothing to do with the words spoken. Perhaps he was annoyed at the seating arrangements, as he clearly had the least amount of room of the others at the table. Or he could have been watching the bonito served at the next table.

But that felt wrong to Harry. The reaction was too close to the dialogue. He focused on the other man, needling his way for more. But the younger Auror wouldn't meet his eye. His attention shifted down to the menu he'd been offered. Harry knew at a glance that it wasn't in English. But he couldn't discern any notion that the man was reading it. For all he knew he may have been focusing on the pictures. As there were plenty of them.

Fudge was doing the same thing. He at least had the good manners to remove his hat while in the restaurant. He held it in his lap as he stared down at the menu on the table. His expression wasn't any different than the younger Auror. The older Auror spent his time surveying the room rather than the menu.

"What are you thinking?" Priya asked him. Harry figured she wasn't asking about his attempting to needle his way into the younger Auror's mind. He glanced toward the menu and commented on the first item he saw.

"The ikayaki sounds good," he said.

"Mmm," Priya entoned. She raised her head from the menu and peered at the other Englishmen. The younger Auror caught her eye and smirked at her. Harry didn't like it but used it as an excuse to again try to probe him. But he looked away after a moment. Harry frowned to himself, wondering if he'd need to take slightly more drastic measures or if he was merely overthinking the situation.

The older Auror continued to look around the room with narrowed eyes. He made no indication that he'd heard any of the conversation, or cared about it in any way.

"I've grown partial to gyoza," Fudge said. Harry thought that was one of the dumbest things he'd ever heard. But figured that a dumpling might be strange and exotic cuisine for Fudge.

It was rather amazing, he thought, that the man could irritate him with every single thing he managed to say, do, or even be associated with. Part of him wanted to tell Priya to order the strangest things she could find on the menu. He queued up his Japanese before the waitress returned with the wine.

She filled a glass for each of them, earning herself an arigato from the younger Auror which managed to once again draw Harry's attention to the man. But it wasn't anything that should have bothered him. It was a common enough phrase that he suspected it was in the lexicon of a vast majority of people.

And, on top of that, it wasn't like Fudge and his minions had just arrived in the country. It was an easy enough word to pick up in a very short amount of time in the country. It shouldn't have set off any alarm bells in his head. But, then again, he could be a little paranoid.

Before she left Priya ordered a handful of items off the menu, again talking in a pristine Japanese. She conversed for a few moments with the waitress, weighing the qualities of a few of the dishes against each other before deciding on a final order. The server rushed off when she'd finished and Priya turned her smile onto their new companions.

Priya took a moment to engage in small talk with Fudge. It was inane. But he knew she did it for a reason. In doing so he learned that the younger Auror was allegedly called Karl Anders and the older Auror was Nelson Entwhistle. Both, he assumed, were aliases.

Fudge chatted with her without seeming to care as the others watched. She tried to get a word or two in with both of the Aurors but they dodged the questions or changed the subject. Her attempts at fishing were obvious to everyone at the table. But she kept it up regardless, smiling brightly as she asked inane questions.

With each passing minute Fudge seemed more comfortable. His guard slowly slipped away with each sip of wine and he grew animated with each passing conversation. He even tried to get the Aurors involved in Priya's questioning. It didn't work, but an effort was made.

Anders turned his attention more to his wine than anything else. He sipped at it slowly, his expression betraying nothing as he drank. Entwhistle didn't even touch his. Which was a waste, Harry thought. While Emily scoffed at any wine that didn't come from France, both he and Priya found the Japanese varieties to be perfectly quaffable.

Of course, given the vitriol she'd reacted with when she'd found the fridge stocked with nothing but New Zealand whites, they had learned to understand that Emily's tantrums could come from odd places. And, in the end, she'd drink it. Then again, Harry was learning that she'd drink most anything if put before her. He wondered if it was a product of the time or if she just cared far less than she entoned. It wasn't worth pursuing more than that.

The first round of food arrived moments later. Fudge helped himself to some of the dumplings immediately. Which, like everything else the man had done, annoyed Harry. As he hadn't even had the good sense to wait for Priya to serve herself first.

It didn't help that he fumbled with the chopsticks as he served himself. Harry almost didn't contain his urge to roll his eyes. The utensils took some getting used to, he knew that. But no more than a couple of minutes. The fact that Fudge still struggled with them made him think the minister was even more incompetent than he'd previously believed.

The moron even offered the plate to his minions first. Entwhistle took two. Anders one. Before the plate made its way to Harry. He wasn't very interested in the food. He knew Priya ordered more so out of some obligation to be a good hostess than anything else.

He appreciated that he could lean on her like this. The other three seemed to have almost forgotten his existence as she continued to charm. She insisted they each try a little bit of everything, passing dishes around and sometimes going out of her way to ladle pieces of food onto their plates.

Entwhistle ignored most of the new additions to his plate. While the man was better at utilizing chopsticks than Fudge, he seemed utterly disinterested in the food. Anything that took his attention away from surveying his surroundings seemed to be low on his priority list.

Even Fudge noticed. He'd encouraged the man to eat, commenting that they weren't in any imminent danger and the man needed to eat. A few grunts and some soft exchanged words later and the man did start to eat.

Harry didn't have the heart to point out that they were in more danger with him than they realized. He was, afterall, considerably more powerful than the three of them. And while Priya refused to train with him, she had started taking some defense lessons from Emily.

He wondered if that should frighten him. But he gathered they made some rather interesting wagers on the outcomes of their sessions. They never told Harry what the exact details of said wagers were, but he suspected Emily threw the fights on occasion.

They claimed they'd tell him one day. Honestly, he wasn't sure it mattered. He figured what he imagined the wagers were would be far more amusing than whatever they actually were.

In the end he knew he could assume Priya was capable in a fight. He'd never witnessed her in one. And, aside from the time she'd been cursed by Japanese Aurors while he was building his school, he wasn't sure she'd ever been in one. He knew it was possible to be well trained and still freeze. There wasn't anything he could do about it until the event happened.

He doubted that Priya would freeze. She'd worked in Emergency Rooms and Trauma Wards. She'd seen things that she'd had difficulty describing to him, although he wondered how hard she actually tried. There had been nights when she'd walked right up to him after returning from the hospital and simply hugged him. Sometimes she'd cry. Sometimes she'd be completely silent and just hold him, as if she never wanted to let go.

She'd never, as far as he knew, hesitated to react in any of those situations. Still, it hadn't been her life on the line there. And he knew there was a difference when push came to shove. If it came to a fight though, he fully expected she'd be able to hold her own. It wasn't quite as comforting as going into it with Avery or Emily, but it was comforting enough.

But Fudge and his cronies didn't need to know that. And it would only help Harry if they focused on him. The less competent they assumed Priya was the better. If they wanted to focus on him, he had no problem with her cleaning up the mess as they weren't paying attention.

He didn't think it would come to that. The Aurors were tense, but Fudge seemed more relieved than anything. Of course, he didn't know that Harry and Priya had already discussed a contingency for a situation like this.

They were stalling, intentionally. Harry knew he might be leading them into a trap. But he also knew he'd be able to counter any trap they could possibly throw at him. So he figured the most efficient way to deal with them was to trigger the trap. And they were giving them time to do just that.

While his companions were still on edge and seemed more like they were waiting for whatever trap they'd wandered into, Fudge continued to be jovial and happy. This wasn't, Harry didn't think, the reaction of someone waiting to attack.

It continued to bother him that Anders wouldn't look at him, though. Then again, either would Entwhistle. Part of him thought he should have looked more deeply into what exactly Auror training entailed. Or hell, even had bothered asking Neville about it.

He'd figured he didn't need to know what their capabilities were past the vague ideas as they would never be his enemy. He hoped that would remain true but now it seemed to be an obvious gap in his own preparations. One he felt like he wouldn't have enough time to rectify.

Anders drew his ire away from Fudge by continually complimenting Priya on her choice of selection and asking for inane details on each bit of food he was served. It didn't draw any suspicion from Entwhistle or Fudge. Which led Harry to believe it was a ploy not unlike their own.

It seemed clear they wanted the attention to be focused on Anders almost as much as Harry wanted it to be off himself. It wasn't the dynamic he'd expected. He'd have assumed Fudge would have filled the decoy role. Of course there was always the chance that the Aurors simply didn't trust the minister.

Anders still wouldn't meet his eyes. Harry found himself rather annoyed by it. He caught an occasional smirk from the man, as if he knew he was toying with him. Harry assumed he was. And that he'd learn nothing by peering into his head. And that the man wasn't in the wrong for not wanting someone to do just that.

But a smaller, more Emily-based part of him wanted to snap at the man and force his way in anyway. While Anders may have thought he needed eye contact like most mediocre Wizards, Harry could have proven to him that wasn't the case. It wouldn't have been a pleasant experience for the young man. In fact, Harry doubted he'd ever recover from the magical trauma. And Harry was starting to question whether or not he cared about the man's mental wellbeing.

He let the man bait him though. He knew he'd been slightly too obvious in his early attempts at peering into the minds of the Aurors. It wasn't his brightest course of action. But it let them know exactly what they thought of him, without him having to speak a word.

Of course, now that he thought more about it, hsi obsession with Anders had let Entwhistle and Fudge get off more or less scott free. He wondered if he should shift his focus to either of them. Then again, it wasn't like either of them would meet his eye either.

He wondered what an outsider would think. If they'd even notice the subtlety of it. A small group of foreigners that seemed amicable enough. They were talking, smiling, and laughing here and there. But there was still a palpable tension in the air as they conversed, one that didn't lessen no matter how many jokes seemed to be made, or entrees shared.

And they wouldn't quite look at eachother. They'd gaze in the direction, but their eyes would dart around, avoiding direct contact. And their words all had the slightest of edges to them. But would that be anything remotely close to something that anyone outside of their group would notice? Or would it simply be the eccentricities of the foreigners?

Either way, as their meal bled toward dessert, an assortment of items once again ordered entirely by Priya, Harry figured it was time to stop with the pleasantries and get down to business.

Well, not quite, he had to sample the daifuku first. Once that was done, though, it was time to figure out what was going on. He swallowed his bite of dessert and peered between all three men sharing his table. He paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and finally opened his mouth.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Anders smirked at him and kept eyeing Priya out of the side of his head, as if tauntingly appraising his wife. Harry wondered how crucial his eyes were to his job of protecting the minister. If he was a halfway capable wizard he could manage without them. But if he was a halfway capable wizard he wouldn't be working for the government.

Entwhistle didn't acknowledge his question. He did, however, seem quite interested in the assortment of desserts. Which was far more than could have been said for the food that appeared on the table earlier.

"Well, we came to find you," Fudge said, as if that was obvious. Which it was. Harry knew that. But that didn't answer his question.

"Obviously," he drawled.

"Well then," Fudge stuttered as he peered at the desserts. Like most of the food he seemed concerned as to how to properly eat it with the provided utensils. Past a brief demonstration as he popped another piece into his own mouth, Harry didn't see much of a point in helping him.

"You tried to run me out of England. I would have thought my disappearance and your inability to find me would indicate just how I felt about that," Harry said.

"And yet we found you," Anders said. He was doing more damage to his food with his utensils than anything else. Harry found it annoying and childish. He raised his brows and snorted out a bark of laughter.

"You're not even on the right island," he said.

"Oh sure, because you're not the mysterious foreigners buying up penthouse property in Ehime," Anders rolled his eyes. Harry raised his brows and hoped his look to Priya wasn't too obvious. Outside of their home and Priya's clinic they hadn't bought anything. And they certainly hadn't done anything in Ehime. There was no chance, he knew, that the younger Auror realized just how much information he'd given up.

If there were mysterious foreigners buying up property near them they should probably look into it. Just for the sake of it never hurting to have any knowledge. Then again, it also may have been Emily, as they didn't ask what she spent their money on. Maybe they should have. But she seemed to have little interest in such things as buying property.

Although, if given her choice, he wouldn't be surprised if she decided to put a villa on top of the Bottleneck on K2 or something equally absurd. The thought of living thirty thousand feet higher than everyone else probably amused her. Part of him thought he should mention it to her, just to see if she'd do it.

Avery and Fumiko may have been a possibility. As far as he was aware they did know at least which island they were on. But they wouldn't have been dumb enough to use his name if they'd wanted to buy property. It would have been so much easier, and less noticeable to anyone interested, to do it in hers.

"That isn't us," Priya laughed. "We aren't that noticeable."

"Whatever you say," Anders chuckled.

"Didn't feel right," Entwhistle grunted. It earned him a glare from the younger Auror but the man seemed to know when it was better to not comment.

"I didn't mean to run you out of the country," Fudge said with a practiced frown. Harry took him at face value and smirked.

"No. I suspect you'd have preferred Azkaban," Harry quipped.

"That wouldn't have been necessary," Fudge said.

"So why did you bring a coterie of Aurors to my school?" Harry asked.

"Why did you run?" Anders commented.

"The Aurors seemed to be a bit more gung-ho than I would have preferred on campus. I took myself out of the equation in hopes that they wouldn't do anything they'd regret, like, say, hexing a student," Harry said.

"There was that unfortunate incident with Professor Farley and Professor Longbottom," Fudge said softly. Harry glared at the man. It was the first he'd heard of any such incident. Neville was durable but Gemma Farley didn't like being there in the best of times. And was probably the last professor he'd have guessed would have defended him. He'd owe her an apology if they'd ever meet again.

"Imagine the chaos had I shown my face then, if you're highly trained Aurors mistook Neville Longbottom and Gemma Farley for me," Harry scoffed.

"You're unnaturally cocky for a school teacher," Anders scoffed.

"Do you mind?" Harry asked, peering between him and Fudge. "The adults are talking."

"Karl, please don't antagonize Mister Potter. He's been nothing but a gracious host," Fudge said. Anders rolled his eyes but a glare for Entwhistle did shut him up for the moment.

"Thank you," Harry said with a nod. Their waitress returned and Priya ordered tea for everyone. He waited until it was served until he bothered speaking. Mostly because he was interested to see how long Anders would be able to keep his mouth shut. To his credit, the entire time.

"I apologize for the way things were handled at Hogwarts, Mister Potter…"

"Professor Potter," Harry interrupted. Anders snorted but Fudge caved.

"Forgive me, Professor Potter. Naturally it would be a disservice to remove the title you abandoned," Fudge answered. Harry couldn't help but smirk. Well played, he thought. Fudge was a politician for a reason.

"So what do you want?" Harry asked as he sipped the tea.

"It's past time we had a discussion, I think," Fudge said.

"Would have been a lot easier when I was a floo call or an owl away, don't you think?" Harry asked.

"I was giving you space," Fudge said.

"And hoping I'd fail," Harry said.

"Don't be foolish. Why would I hope for that?" Fudge asked.

"So you can install Percy Weasley as your hand-picked successor to Hogwarts," Harry answered. "Which, I believe you did."

"While Mister Weasley was my first choice. If you succeeded it would have reflected just as positively on me, Mister Potter."

"Sure it would have," Harry said.

"I'm sure you noticed we rejected none of your proposed changes to the curriculum," Fudge countered. Harry had noticed that, and had assumed it was more Hermione's doing than Fudge's. But he wasn't naive enough to assume the minister didn't have something to do with it.

"Fair enough," Harry admitted. "I suppose it wouldn't have looked terrible to have brought back Harry Potter and had him drastically improve on the educational system."

"And had he failed at that, I would have been the only man brave enough to stand up to Harry Potter," Fudge added.

"And the Prophet would have eaten that up," Harry said.

"Naturally," Fudge nodded.

"So why are you here? I offered no defense. You could have spun that however you wanted," Harry said.

"Well we did receive some rather unsavory rumors about a trip you took to Iran and the subsequent destruction of a mountain and a series of mysterious civilian deaths linked to renegade magic of some type," Fudge said.

"Grindelwald," Harry answered.

"He said you'd blame him," Anders scoffed.

"Well, I did the mountain. He did the killings," Harry said.

"Good-gracious you blew up a mountain?" Fudge asked.

"Grindelwald's defensive charms blew up the mountain after I apparated through them. So fifty-fifty? He probably could have stopped it had he wanted to. But I'd have almost certainly killed him had he focused on it," Harry said.

"I doubt it," Anders said.

"You're welcome to," Harry said. "I notice you flatly believe Grindelwald over me. Seems a bit biased."

"You've killed people," Anders said.

"Some of them may have even deserved it," Harry agreed. "But if that's your standard then I still have a much cleaner ledger than Gellert Grindelwald."

"He at least had a cause," Anders scoffed. Harry raised his brows and looked to Fudge.

"You sure he's on your side?" Harry asked.

"He's young but loyal," Fudge said.

"He's a madman," Anders said. "But you can understand his point. You just do what you want. Because no one has the balls to stand up to you."

"Because those who do don't often stay standing."

"You're not that tough," Anders quipped back.

"He'd kill you in seconds," Entwhistle said. Anders and Fudge both looked at the man. He put another piece of desert in his mouth and ignored them.

"I doubt it," Anders said.

"I saw him fight at the Ministry when he was fifteen," Entwhistle said. "He was out of your league then. I doubt he's gotten worse."

"Everyone remembers that night differently. Most say You-Know-Who did most of the damage," Anders said.

"She did," Entwhistle said. "But not all of it. And remember who took her out at the end of the night."

"She killed herself," Harry scoffed.

"And if Grindelwald is to be believed you brought her back," Fudge said.

"I did," Harry agreed.

"Why on Earth would you do that if you weren't one of her followers?" Fudge asked. "You know she's every bit as evil as Grindelwald."

"Grindelwald is evil by choice. Emily was evil by circumstance. She got a raw deal. Everyone failed her," Harry said.

"That sounds like something one of her followers would say," Fudge said.

"He's not one of her followers," Priya interjected. Harry could sense the anger in her soft voice. He wondered if any of the other Englishmen would pick up on it.

"Excuse me miss Patel, but you-" Fudge started.

"Potter," Priya interjected, holding up her left hand out of spite.

"Miss Potter," Fudge corrected. "Excuse me but you don't know her. She could get into people's minds. Manipulate them, control them. And even their closest friends couldn't tell."

"I know," Priya said.

"So even you might not know if she's controlling him. She could be manipulating his every action," Fudge said.

"She's not," Priya laughed, as if the thought of it was absurd.

"How can you possibly know that?" It was Entwhistle that asked. His expression had darkened and Harry wondered if it was friends or family or both that he'd lost in the previous war. He'd probably been one of the ones who hadn't noticed.

He wondered what that would do to one's psyche. Not noticing that something else was messing with a friend's actions? And then after wondering why they hadn't bothered with you as well? Was it merely that you weren't good enough?

"Because he did it to her," she said. "She's his follower. Until the end. He not only showed her that she was wrong. That there was another way. That there could be another way. But he also gave her the choice, and then the challenge, to be better."

"I doubt that would work," Fudge said.

"Most would," Priya shrugged. The waitress brought the bill and Harry took it. He had more than enough cash on him to cover it and did so. It wasn't until he put the money down that he realized he could have had the British magical taxpayer cover it for him. But that seemed petty.

"And you still haven't even told us why you're here. Or what was so important that you had to traipse across all of Japan looking for us. Poorly, mind you. Hell, for all you know Lord Voldemort herself could be waiting to hex you on my order," Harry said.

"We have reason to believe she's currently out of the country," Anders spat back, as if that was some sort of trump card.

"You talk too much," Entwhistle said, glaring at the younger Auror.

"Perhaps we could continue this discussion elsewhere. Like, say, your home?" Fudge asked.

"Never," Harry said. "But good try."

"We mean you no harm," Fudge said.

"The only reason we're having this conversation is that I don't think you're capable of harming me."

"You're a–," Anders started. He froze mid sentence though, so Harry would never find out what he was. He looked at the younger Auror and snapped his wrist. The man's head turned to face him. Harry stared into his eyes for a few moments. Nodded, and turned back to Fudge.

"Is that necessary?" Fudge asked.

"He'll live," Harry shrugged. "Why are you here?"

"I came to ask for your help," Fudge said.

"With Grindelwald?"

"Of course. With what else?"

"What's he doing?"

"I don't know," Fudge said.

"Then how can I possibly help?" Harry laughed.

"I'm losing power. I've been gone for six weeks and only received four requests for help. He's worming his way in somehow but I don't know how. He keeps teasing a great magical breakthrough," Fudge said.

"He thinks he can give Muggles magic," Harry said.

"Why would he think that?"

"Because he did it in Iran."

"Gracious really?"

"Well the Muggle went mad, used the power to enslave and rape a bunch of women and had to be put down. But yes. He gave a Muggle magic."

"Why would he want to do that?" Fudge asked.

"Best I can figure is that he thinks he can somehow take it and empower himself," Priya said. Fudge looked at her then back at Harry.

"She thinks the math works. I don't argue with her but I think it's a bit far-fetched," Harry shrugged. "Also I was told there would be no math."

"It's because he knows the math can't lie," Priya said. Harry shrugged in a gesture best considered agreement.

"So you'll help me then?" Fudge asked. "He's doing something to those around me. I'm losing influence. Something bad is coming."

"Yeah, I've been saying that for almost a year," Harry said. "Look where it got me."

"So you'll help me?" Fudge asked. His eyes widened and he looked positively elated.

"Eh, I dunno," Harry said. Fudge's face fell in an instant.

"Goodness why not?" Fudge asked.

"I like my life here," Harry shrugged.

"He'll come for you," Fudge scoffed.

"He might. Or he might content himself with Europe. From what I recall he has more of a grudge with the Americans anyway. I think he'd leave me alone if I returned the favor."

"Appeasement never works."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I think he's aware of what would be waiting for him if he tried."

"You've been so proactive against him until now. Longbottom even admitted that. And now you'll do nothing?" Fudge asked.

"Well, I'm happy now. It's a welcome change," Harry said. "And you've offered me nothing. So, yes, I'm not in much of a hurry to rush off to England and start a war."

"What do you want?" Fudge asked.

"Exactly what I have," Harry laughed. "A happy home for my wife and friends."

"I," Fudge started, then paused. He raised his brows at Harry and looked ready to negotiate. But, Harry figured that was enough for him to call it a day. He released the freeze on Anders in such a way where it would take him a couple of minutes to regain use of his extremities.

"I think we've reached an impasse for today," Harry said. He rose to his feet and offered his hand to Priya. She took it.

"What?" Fudge asked.

"Think on what we discussed," Harry said. "I expect a better offer."

"What?" Fudge asked again.

"Mitaki Temple. Friday at noon. You might want to divest yourself of that one," Harry said, with a nod toward Anders. "He's not as loyal to you as you think."

And with that, he pulled Priya through a magical vortex. They appeared outside of Hiroshima. She looked around and raised her brows. He shrugged and walked a few feet away before continuing covering their magical tracks before their return home.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing I do appreciate it. If you like to support me more I am available on PAT RE ON at TE7writes. There are I believe 5 additional chapters of this story available there as well as the first 13 chapters of my next Harry/Daphne fic, Conjurations & Catacombs.

Thanks for reading and reviewing I do appreciate it