Tuesday, December 23
"No," Snape said sternly. "I will not."
Harry blinked at him.
"Do not pout, it is unbecoming and juvenile," Snape said, pointing his fork threateningly at Harry. "I will not do it."
Harry sighed. "You'd make me go by myself?"
"Do not try and lie to me, Potter," Snape said curtly.
Harry was pretty sure he was calling him Potter as a joke though, which meant he'd probably cave if Harry kept pestering him.
"You will have every member of your motley band of misfits with you, you do not need me as well."
"Three choices," Harry said, smiling charmingly. Not that Snape was usually charmed by Harry's smiles, even if they worked on literally every other professor at Hogwarts, but it was worth a shot. "Option one, you go with us tomorrow and it's not horrible. Option two, you go with us on the 26th. Or option three, you do neither and I lock you out of our office for the rest of our break."
Mavis, who had been bringing in a fresh pot of coffee, chuckled quietly. "Master Harry is tricky and sneaky, and Mister Snoop has no one to blame but himself."
"He's right, this is your own fault," Harry shrugged. "Thanks, Mavis."
Snape sighed dramatically and looked up to the ceiling. "I believe I would prefer to take my chances with Horace on the 26th than I would Molly on the 24th."
"Wrong answer," Harry said with a grin. He slid the letter Fred's mum sent him across the table to Snape and pointed out the specific line where he had been invited. "'And please bring Severus, it's well past time I get to know him better, isn't it?' Sooo... either you have to go, or you've got to tell your future something-in-law that you don't care about her feelings. And—" this time Harry pointed his fork threateningly at Snape, "—Molly Weasley is a crier."
"Terrific," Snape scowled, shoving the letter away from his plate of kippers and toast. "What time are we expected to be there tomorrow?"
"Eleven," Harry grinned. He knew Snape would cave. "It's not so bad, Sev, Tonks will be there, won't she?"
That didn't seem to reassure Snape at all. In fact, he looked like he was rapidly losing all the color in his face. "Harry," he said slowly, "who all, precisely, will be at the Weasley residence tomorrow?"
"Everyone," Harry said simply. "Molly invited everyone, Sev."
"Son of a bitch."
"Yep." Harry grimaced in understanding. Snape liked people about as much as Harry did, which wasn't much really. Yeah, most of the people there would be Harry's friends and Harry's people, but there would also be Ginny Weasley, her current boyfriend, Dean Thomas, a few 'Order members', and Neville's gran. "See why I need you to go?"
"We could both skip," Snape offered quickly. "We will tell them we are too ill to attend. We wait until everyone else leaves, and I will let you drink bourbon, or even the firewhiskey you like, with me instead."
"Can't," Harry shrugged, poking at his eggs a bit moodily now. That sounded way more fun honestly. "Susan wants to go. Let's do that next year though. Plus, I promised Fred I'd be there. It's- it's the first holiday without his dad, which is why his mum went mad inviting people over. He said she wants a full house so she can be 'properly distracted'."
"We are being guilted by a grieving widow," Snape groaned. "Fantastic."
"We are," Harry agreed. "It's just one day though, we've dealt with way worse before, yeah?"
Snape curled his lip up, but he didn't really look too pissed so Harry wasn't worried about it. Honestly, as much as Harry had needed a break from Hogwarts, it seemed like Snape had too. Ever since they returned to Invisibility Way on Saturday, Snape had been almost happy, cheerful really. Which was a bit of an odd flip from his previous consistent doom and gloom.
Susan said it was probably because of Tonks, who she swore was now officially 'with' Snape.
Harry didn't think so though. He knew Snape fancied Tonks, but Snape had been downtrodden since summer started, and Harry doubted it was over Tonks. It was more like there had been a heavy weight on Snape's shoulders that he recently shed off.
Snape didn't answer him when Harry asked about his quick shift in moods when they first returned home from Hogwarts, but maybe Harry wasn't the only one who had been feeling a bit depressed lately. And it didn't matter what had been bothering him if it had apparently been resolved now.
Now Harry could be the only thing bothering him.
Which is the way he preferred it really.
"This was a fucking mistake," Harry muttered darkly the next morning when almost everyone who was spending the holidays at Invisibility Way were gathered on the front yard to apparate to the Burrow.
Theo looked like he agreed with him.
Draco, Luna, and Hermione did not.
"Ron's family is great," Draco said haughtily. "You're going to be a Weasley one day, you might as well get used to being around them all."
"There's a difference between being with just the Weasleys, and being around a million people," Theo scowled, tugging at his shirt collar nervously all the while.
"And Fred's going to change his last name, not me," Harry corrected Draco.
"Harry Weasley sounds ridiculous," Luna agreed serenely.
"Either way, you should get used to his family," said Hermione with a roll of her eyes. "And give his family a chance to get to know yours."
Harry squinted at Hermione and tilted his head slightly. "I'm an orphan, Mione. I don't really have any family."
"Hell of a thing to say in front of your brother," Theo said with his brows raised high.
"And your cousin," Draco sniffed.
"And your future sister-in-law," Hermione added with a shy smile towards Theo.
"We aren't related, but I wish we were," Luna said sweetly.
All fair points, Harry supposed.
"Can we just go?" Harry said, sick to death of waiting for Cissa to get ready and really wanting to get the day over with.
"Some of us," Hermione gave Harry a pointed look, "can't apparate until we learn how."
"I'll teach you," Harry offered immediately.
"I think we should wait for the Ministry official to do it," Theo said hastily. "Classes start next month."
"Suit yourself," Harry shrugged. He didn't really get the fuss all the other sixth years were making over apparation classes. Harry offered to teach them all how to do it, then they could just take the test on their seventeenth birthday, but nobody aside from Trent and Susan took him up on his offer.
"Finally," Draco sighed when his mum and Snape exited the house and made their way towards them. "What took so long?"
"Perfection," Cissa said with a small smile. She did look great, truthfully, but Cissa always looked great and she always took forever to get ready to go.
"Let's get this over with, shall we?" Snape said with his own scowl. He offered his arm to Theo, but Theo hesitated.
"I'll go with Harry, Hermione can go with you, sir," he said.
"Nobody is going with Harry," Snape said sharply. "Harry will be going with Draco and Narcissa and not flaunting his disdain for the laws when there will be aurors present at Molly Weasley's house."
Harry nodded seriously.
Then grabbed Theo's hand, quickly turned on the spot and disapparated to the Burrow.
"You bloody prat!" Theo howled as soon as they landed in Fred's mum's front yard. "You could have killed me!"
"How?" Harry asked curiously. He didn't think you could kill someone with surprise apparation, but if it was possible, Harry would give it a shot.
"You- I..." Theo faltered as he hooked his thumbs in his trouser pockets and tapped his fingers on his thighs. "Splinching, Harry," he said, trying to sound stern, "I could have been splinched."
So, no. Harry could not kill Timmy with surprise apparation.
"Riiiight," Harry drawled irritatingly with a smug smile. "You keep telling yourself that."
"I will," Theo muttered as two loud cracks signaled the arrival of the others.
"You idiot," Snape scowled at Harry as he steadied Hermione's clumsy landing with a hand on her elbow. Luna winked at Harry from Snape's other side. "You will end up arrested for your antics one day."
"Apparation without a license carries a maximum penalty of 1,000 galleons for a first offense," Hermione said factually. "Harry wouldn't be facing a prison sentence until his third charge."
"Ta," Harry grinned at her.
"Can we go or are we arguing?" Draco asked, inching eagerly away from the group towards the cockeyed house that Harry had been to a couple of times.
"I'd rather argue," Harry murmured to Snape as they began following him. "Why are you so fuckin excited, anyway?" Harry asked Draco. "We see Ron all the time."
Draco looked over his shoulder and gave Harry a wicked smile. "Daphne is coming," he said. "Which means that Ron is going to be an absolute idiot and I want to witness it for myself."
"Brilliant," Theo snickered. "Come on, love, let's hurry."
Hermione huffed, but she joined Harry, Luna, and Theo in jogging to catch up with Draco as he approached the door.
Harry barely raised his fist to knock before the door was thrown open by George.
"Darlin!" George cried happily. "You came!"
Harry cocked his head curiously at George and took a small step backwards. "Er... yeah?" he said uncertainly, unsure why George would call him that. He really only liked Fred to do it and hoped George didn't think they were friends just because he saw Harry shirtless once. "I told Fred I would, and I'm not much of a liar, am I?"
"I'm Fred," George said with a crooked smile. "Surely a few days apart hasn't made you mix me up with George?"
Harry snorted, catching on to the joke now. "It hasn't been a few days, it's been a couple hours," Harry smirked. "Fred was in my bed this morning. Not you."
"I bloody well hope not," Fred laughed, shoving George aside with his shoulder. "Quit being a git and let them in," he told his brother. "C'mon in," Fred said more politely to Harry's little group. "We're eating in the backyard though, mum invited too many people to fit in the house."
"But it's freezing out?" Hermione said as they stepped in the house. Theo waited and held the door open for Snape and Cissa.
"We're literally magic, Mione," Harry laughed.
"Oh. Of course."
Harry shook his head at her as Fred led them through the house.
"Adults are in there," Fred grinned at Snape and Cissa, jerking his thumb to the kitchen entrance. "I think it's just Mum, Fleur, Tonks, Shacklebolt, and Sirius so far."
"How many more are you expecting?" Snape sighed, eying the door distastefully.
"Remus, and Neville's gran," Fred said cheerily, probably picking up on Snape's 'I would rather be anywhere except here' mood. "Bit of a full house, really."
"Come, Severus," Cissa said brightly. "Let's go mingle with the 'adults'."
Snape glared at Harry one last time before he let Cissa lead him in to the kitchen while Fred led the rest of them to the backyard.
"Harry!" Trent yelled, waving Harry over to a cluster of picnic tables. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas," Harry told him, nodding at Trent as he took stock of everyone else in the yard.
Blaise and Trent were seated together with cards scattered in front of them. Susan, Bill, and Charlie were at another table, chatting together easily. Then Ginny and Dean Thomas were at another table, and Ginny didn't look very pleased at Harry's appearance so he smiled brightly at her and added a wink just to see Thomas scowl a bit.
"Try not to start a fight," Theo murmured to Harry with a smirk as they made their way towards the big gap between Susan's group and Trent's.
"But it's Christmas," Harry grinned. "Live a little, Theo."
Fred heard their quiet discussion and laughed as he slung his arm over Harry's shoulder. He clearly didn't mind if Harry started a fight or not. Harry glanced up at him and thought Fred looked much less sad than he had before he left Harry's earlier that morning. He'd been sad since the anniversary of his dad's death, and he'd been miserable when he told Harry that they used to all always be together on Christmas Eve and now they couldn't be anymore, but he looked a little better now, thankfully.
Fred did a showy bow as Harry went to sit down, unfortunately having to sit beside Charlie so he could be across from Susan, and the others filed in randomly around them.
"Merry Christmas," Susan said with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes.
And since that was a stupid thing for Susan to say when she was obviously pretty unhappy about it, Harry didn't say it back. He nudged her foot under the table and twisted his leg around hers. Susan gave him a little smile as she hooked her foot on his ankle.
"Where's Ron?" Harry asked, not really speaking to anyone in particular. He looked around the yard again, but didn't see him anywhere. And usually if there were cards out, Ron would be in the middle of it.
Ron was a genius at cards and he knew it too.
"Cleaning," Bill snorted.
"What?" Harry squinted at him, unsure if he was joking or not. He glanced at Fred, who sat beside him, and raised a brow.
"He's serious," Fred said with a grin. "Ronnie's been cleaning since he got home."
"For Daaaaaphne," Charlie sang. "Nothing can have a speck of dust or else Daaaaaaphne might understand that Ron's a total prat."
"Ron is not a fuckin prat," Harry scowled.
He had no idea what Susan saw in Charlie. First off, Charlie was probably as strong as Susan's one arm was. He also had a few tattoo's and scars that made Harry naturally wary of him. And... just in general, Charlie wasn't nearly as fun as Fred or Ron were. Not that Harry knew much about him, besides the little bits Fred shared, but he couldn't imagine that someone who had 'terrible depression' and looked like a murderer could really be that fun to hang around.
Even Bill would have been a better choice.
If he weren't marrying Fleur.
"You're right," Charlie agreed, shockingly. He looked over and gave Harry a friendly smile, almost as if he could guess that Harry didn't like him and wanted to change his mind. "He is nervous for Daphne to meet all of us though."
"And, as his brothers, it is our duty to make it a hundred times worse," Bill said solemnly.
Harry scoffed. "I didn't make it worse on Theo when he brought Mione over for the first time, did I? I don't think there's a rule that says you have to make him miserable."
"No, there is," George said seriously from Fred's other side. "Right, Freddie?"
Fred glanced down at Harry then shrugged. "I mean, I think Ron's just excited."
"Traitor!" George howled, startling everyone else up and down the benches. "You're turning your back on us for Harry!"
"I've been saying that for years."
Harry leaned forward and raised his brows in interest at Ginny's little comment. For someone who thought he stabbed her and wiped her memory afterwards, Ginny really liked picking fights with him.
Harry opened his mouth to wheedle her a bit, kind of hoping he could provoke her in to an actual duel, but before he could, Trent stood up and glared at her.
"Watch yourself," Trent said harshly. "George was joking."
"You watch yourself," Ginny said hotly, getting to her feet as well while flicking her hair over her shoulder. Thomas hovered awkwardly, as if he didn't know if he should stand up as well, and mostly just looked a little confused. "You keep running around with Harry and next thing you know, you'll be waking up in the Hospital Wing with a bloody stab wound and no memory."
"Don't threaten Trent," Harry warned her, narrowing his eyes and leaning around Charlie to be sure she saw him. "He didn't do a damn thing to you."
"You don't talk to me," Ginny said, sounding like a child. "I will never understand what Fred sees in you."
"Oi, that's enough," Bill said firmly as Harry jumped to his feet as well now. "Gin, don't start a fight. You'll break mum's heart. Harry, knock it off. Trent, shush."
"Let's go for a walk," Ginny told Dean, snatching his hand and storming away towards the quidditch field the Weasley's used.
Every single time Harry had to interact with Ron and Fred's sister, he wished he had just killed her and left her in Slytherin's Chamber when he had the chance. Now, he was going to be stuck dealing with her all the fuckin time.
Fred was lucky he was one of the best people Harry had ever known, otherwise it might not be worth it.
"She's having a hard time," Charlie told Harry quietly as they all resumed their seats and watched Ginny and Thomas leave. "Ignore her, mate."
"Whatever," Harry said flippantly. "I don't care what she says about me, but she better not go after Trent again."
"You're embarrassing," Trent called down to him, causing Fred and Blaise to snicker. "I can handle myself."
"Awe, but why would you?" Blaise smirked. "When your big brother is there to fight your fights for you, little PJ."
"Quit," Harry snapped at him, unintentionally proving Blaise's point.
It was a little awkward for a moment until Luna started giggling quietly.
"Daphne's here," she said. "Harry, want to go support Ron with me?"
"Fuck yes," Harry breathed, jumping to his feet eagerly to escape the tense mood that he was pretty sure he caused. "I'll be back," he told Fred.
Fred puckered his lips out so Harry rolled his eyes and kissed him quickly, much to the amusement of his brothers who started hooting and hollering, then quickly sloped off towards the house with Luna.
"Thanks, Lue," he murmured. "I'm fucking this up, aren't I?"
"You're surprisingly bad at dealing with family for someone so naturally charismatic," Luna said thoughtfully. She linked her arm with Harry's and gave him a warm smile. "I think my parents would have liked you though."
"Yeah?"
"Oh yes," Luna said. "Daddy was quite mad, so he would have loved you. I know my mother would have liked you. Except, I suppose my mother was rather mad too, which is probably why I'm mad."
"You aren't mad," Harry said with a frown. "You're perfect, Lue."
Harry might be fucking things up with Fred's family, but the smile Luna gave him reassured him just a little.
They let themselves in to the Burrow, taking the kitchen entrance at Luna's insistence and got to step in just in time to hear Ron shouting that Daphne had arrived.
"Go let her in then!" Fred's mum, Molly, shouted from her position at the stove. She turned and smiled at Harry and Luna. "Harry, dear, I'm so glad you came! And Luna, how are you honey?"
"I'm adequate," Luna said, "would you like some help?"
"Oh, that would be wonderful, thank you dear," Molly said. She scooted over so Luna could join her at the stove and began explaining the sauce she had been working on.
Harry glanced around the room, taking note of the others at the overloaded dining table before Fleur stood up and quickly wrapped Harry in a hug.
"'Arry!" she cried happily. "I 'ave missed you! You do not write enough!"
"I write you... sometimes," Harry grinned as Fleur let go of him. He spotted the ring on her hand and waggled his brows. "Did you guys pick a date yet?"
"This summer," Molly said with a warm smile. "I expect you and Fred will want to wait a few years, at least until after you graduate?" she asked Harry with a bit of a pointed look.
Harry glanced at Snape, who was smirking at him in his spot beside Tonks.
"We haven't really talked about it much," Harry lied politely. "We can't do anything until after August 1st, anyway."
"Zat is when Bill and I are getting married!" Fleur said. "We should make eet a double wedding, non?"
"Er..." Fred had actually mentioned wanting to get married right after Harry's birthday, which had been fine with Harry. But Harry very much did not want a 'double wedding' with Fleur and Bill, as much as he might like Fleur. Harry glanced at Sirius for help this time, since Snape obviously wasn't going to help him, but Sirius just grinned and shook his head.
Bloody useless.
"Mum!"
Oh thank God.
Ron burst in the kitchen, a wide smile on his face and...
And what looked like Draco's dress robes on. Despite the fact everyone else in Ron's family that Harry had seen were all wearing Weasley sweaters.
Even Harry and Draco had their Weasley sweaters on.
Luna darted back to Harry's side, watching as Ron tripped in the room, his ears bright red, and held the door open for Daphne. Daphne gave Ron a peculiar look before stepping gracefully into the kitchen and smiling sweetly at Molly.
"Hello," she said, turning her head a little to address the rest of the room. "Thank you for inviting me."
"Of course!" Molly said, her smile growing as she took in Daphne's neat appearance and polite manners. "Any friend of Ron's is always welcome here!"
Daphne scrunched her brows for a moment before giving Ron a pointed look.
"Er..." Ron's ears turned so red that Harry was beginning to worry about his general health. He stepped up beside Daphne and grabbed her hand. "Girlfriend, mum. Daphne is my girlfriend, not just my friend."
"Oh." Molly glanced at Cissa for a moment as she wiped her hands off on her apron. "I thought Draco and Ron were dating?" she asked her.
Cissa, and pretty much everyone else in the room aside from Ron, laughed.
"Oh, no," Cissa said with an airy wave of her hand and a fond look towards Luna. "Draco and Luna are courting, I'm afraid he's quite spoken for."
"Quite," Luna agreed.
"I'm so sorry," Molly told Daphne, ignoring Ron's look of horror. "Well, it's lovely to meet you, dear! Are you in Slytherin as well?"
"Yes, ma'am," Daphne said politely. "May I help you with anything? You look terribly busy and woefully under-assisted. I thought Ron said he had five brothers?"
Harry wished he could do that. With just a few little sentences, Molly looked like she wholeheartedly approved of Daphne and she quickly ushered her and Luna to the stove to help her cook.
"That was easy," Ron murmured to Harry as they made their way to the table with the other adults sitting there.
"Way fuckin easier than dealing with your siblings," Harry agreed quietly.
"Bill loves you," Fleur tsk'd at Harry. "'E 'as said so 'imself."
"They're just..." Harry glanced towards the back door and lowered his voice so only Fleur could hear him. "They're always picking on each other, and... I dunno. Families are weird, Fleur."
"Zey are," Fleur agreed. She plucked up a biscuit off the table that had been decorated with an icing flower and handed it to Harry. "And every one eez different, my 'Arry. Bill's family eez ze oddest one I have met."
"Cheers then," Harry grinned. He nibbled on the biscuit as he listened to Fleur talk about wedding stuff for a while. They eventually moved back outside while they were going back and forth on the 'ideal wedding dinner' after Shacklebolt arrived and Harry felt like it was a little crammed in the kitchen. Snape and Tonks followed them out, and Tonks jumped in occasionally as Fleur described weddings she'd been to in the past.
"Whatcha talkin' about darlin?" Fred asked when they joined the ever growing group at the picnic tables. Harry nodded over at Neville, who must have shown up with his Gran at some point.
Neville's Gran was thankfully wrapped up in a loud argument with Lupin, who also joined the group at some point, about creature rights within the Wizengamot, so Harry didn't have to speak to her.
"I was telling 'Arry zat we should 'ave a double wedding," Fleur told Fred. "Bill and I 'ave already paid for most of our costs, so eet would be simple to add you two and your guests."
"Are you two getting married then?" Neville's Gran called over to them, looking between Fred and Harry curiously. "Two men? Bah!"
"Zat eez an ignorant zing to say!" Fleur scowled, still looking rather pretty while she did so. She wrapped her arm around Harry's shoulders and stared the older witch down. "Love eez love. Who cares what eez inside zeir pants? Eet eez no ones business but zeirs!"
"Hear, hear," Fred laughed.
Neville looked momentarily embarrassed, until he glanced over and saw that Harry looked much more embarrassed, then he cleared his throat and grabbed Blaise's hand beside him.
"I'm gay," Neville said baldly.
Which was news to Harry. He glanced at Neville and Blaise's entwined hands and felt a bit guilty for not spending more time with them before now. He had no idea that Neville and Blaise were together. He glanced at Susan, who usually filled him in on things like that, but she just covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head.
"You told me you were dating that little Hufflepuff girl," his gran said, glaring a bit at Blaise who pulled Neville closer to his side and propped his chin on his shoulder.
"We broke up," Neville said. "Blaise and I are dating now. I love him."
His gran seemed momentarily caught off-guard, but she either gave up her views quickly, which would be pathetic, or realized she was outnumbered as nobody seemed inclined to agree with her, which was also pathetic.
"Well you're a long ways away from marriage," she said stiffly.
"I suppose I'll save my ring for another time," Blaise sighed with a forlorn look at Neville.
Susan was apparently quite a bit behind on gossip if Blaise already had a ring for Neville.
Draco cleared his throat and lazily began shuffling cards. "Anyone care for a game while we wait to eat?"
Harry happily joined in as most of them started up a complex game of poker that involved fourteen players, two decks of cards, and more rules than Harry could really track.
They had to clear the game away not much later when Sirius and Molly began levitating out platters and Daphne and Luna followed with stacks of plates that Harry quickly helped them carry.
"Well, this is lovely," Molly said with a quivering smile as everyone finally made it to their seats.
Harry accidentally caught Shacklebolt's eye and grimaced to himself.
He didn't think it was very lovely, but he wasn't going to say that aloud.
"Thank you all for coming," Molly went on. "I know Arthur would have been- well- he would have loved this."
And then, in a twist that even Harry saw coming from a mile away, Molly started crying and excused herself after telling everyone else to 'eat up'. Bill and Ginny excused themselves as well, quickly following their mum in the house.
"One day, I will get even," Snape whispered to Harry under the stilted and awkward conversations everyone else began as they passed around plates and serving utensils.
Harry nodded a little. "That seems fair," he whispered back. "This is terrible."
"Intolerable," Snape agreed.
"Horrifying."
"An atrocity."
"Er... completely barbaric?"
Snape snorted and gave Harry a small smile. "Next year, we will play sick."
"Deal," Harry grinned.
It wasn't too bad, after a while. Molly, Bill, and Ginny came back out, all three of them sporting red rimmed eyes, and the mood lightened a bit. Harry got drug in to a conversation about quidditch with Charlie, who supposedly had an offer to go pro after graduation, and Daphne, who Ron kept staring at with a soppy smile.
Harry was actually just deciding that maybe it wasn't too terrible spending the day with Fred's family, when a silver phoenix patronus flew through the yard to Shacklebolt and interrupted the desserts and killed all the conversation.
"Cornelius is dead," Dumbledore's voice came through the patronus. "I need you to hurry back to the ministry."
Harry's jaw dropped and he shared a horrified look with Susan.
"Son of a bitch," Tonks swore. She jumped to her feet as quickly as Kingsley did and frowned down at Susan. "Can you stay with Harry and Snape tonight?"
"Of course," Susan said.
Harry made to jump up too, wanting to find out first hand what happened, but Bill, who was seated next to Harry, kept him in his seat.
"Don't fuckin touch me," Harry snarled, ripping his shoulder out of his grip. "Tonks, can I come?"
"No," Tonks said shortly. "Stay with Susan. I'll update you when I get back."
The mood was pretty much shot after Tonks and Kingsley quickly apparated away.
On the one hand, Harry was shocked that Fudge had been killed. It was a real blow for more than just political reasons. Fudge was a terrible minister, but a decent bloke and Harry had come to like him just a bit.
Politically, unless Fudge was replaced with someone who liked using Harry's fame just as much as he had, it meant Harry no longer had a say in Ministry decisions.
On the other hand, Harry was minutely relieved that he hadn't been the one to completely ruin Christmas with Fred's family.
"Molly, I apologize, I should take them home," Snape said, his eyes flicking towards Harry with a bit of worry in them. "Until we know what happened, I would prefer to not be out in the open."
"Of course," Molly said quickly. She glanced around at her own kids and swallowed harshly. "I should... I should get this lot somewhere else."
"Absolutely," Snape agreed. "Harry, Theodore, Hermione, Luna, Susan, say your goodbyes quickly."
"Grimmauld Place," Bill whispered to Harry. "That's where Mum will want to take everyone."
"Brill," Harry said, nodding in quick understanding.
It made sense— if there had been an attack, or it was an ongoing fight, then Grimmauld Place was almost as secure as Invisibility Way. The difference was, Invisibility Way had Snape as a secret keeper and Grimmauld Place only had Dumbledore. But Harry figured they would all be safe enough there anyway.
"Percy!" Molly suddenly cried, startling everyone who had been quickly gathering their bags and cloaks. "Bill! Percy might be at the ministry!"
"Damn," Bill swore. "C'mon then."
And Harry was suddenly the one being apparated away with absolutely no notice.
"If you ever do that again, I'll fuckin kill you," Harry told Bill as the two of them landed outside the telephone booth entrance to the Ministry and Bill let go of Harry's elbow.
"Sorry, mate," Bill said with an apologetic look. "If I'm charging through the ministry on a rescue mission though, I'd rather have you than Fleur or Charlie."
"Of course you would," Harry shrugged as they jogged up to the telephone booth. "I'm powerful and important and Charlie is..." Harry scrunched his nose as he tried to remember the compliment Luna once gave him. "An expert in his field?"
"You're humility is my favorite thing about you," Bill chuckled. He squished himself in the corner of the booth so Harry could enter and picked up the phone.
"Bill Weasley, Harry Potter, rescue mission," Bill quipped to the magical voice that came through the receiver with a wink towards Harry.
"Oh." Harry had a sudden thought and grinned up at Bill as he handed him a badge that Harry carelessly dropped on the ground. He didn't think he really needed a badge for everyone in the ministry to know who he was. "Snape's going to be so pissed."
"Damn," Bill swore again. "He's going to kill me, isn't he?"
"Probably," Harry shrugged. "Not my problem though. Oh! Hey, if Snape kills you, d'you mind if Fred and I use your wedding stuff? I didn't wanna tell your mum, but we were actually planning on getting married this summer, so you ruined it, a bit."
"And my death wouldn't ruin it more?" Bill asked as the lift slowed to a stop.
"I mean... maybe?" Harry said, mostly lying. As long as Fred and Harry were alive, he didn't really think anyone else's death would 'ruin' anything.
Bill laughed loudly and clapped Harry on the shoulder. "I like you, let's go find Percy, alright?"
Harry grabbed his knife out of his trouser pocket as the doors slid open, unsure what sort of madness they were about to step in to.
"This is anticlimactic," Bill murmured as they stepped out in to an empty atrium.
"It's usually packed," Harry said quietly, his eyes constantly roaming around for possible death eaters. The fact that the atrium was deserted didn't bode well, in Harry's opinion. "Where does Percy work?"
"Level one," Bill said. He pulled his wand out and gave Harry an approving nod at his knife. "C'mon, follow me."
"Stairs," Harry hissed at Bill as he approached the lifts. "D'you want to announce our presence with a fuckin loud ding?"
"You're right," Bill said, swerving towards the doorway marked 'emergency stairs'. "See? Charlie wouldn't have thought of that."
Harry scoffed quietly as they entered the staircase. He didn't need Bill to tell him that Harry was more useful in a battle situation than Charlie was, Harry was already well aware.
The two of them creeped up the stairs quickly, but quietly, and Bill held his finger to his lips as he slowly opened the door for level one. Bill poked his head out, his ponytail whipping side to side as he looked down the corridor.
"It's empty," he whispered. "Let's find Percy and get the hell out of here."
Technically that was only part of Harry's plan. The main part involved finding out what happened to Fudge. The other part involved killing some death eaters.
But after that? Sure. He'd help find Percy.
"This way," Bill said, taking the lead since he knew where Percy's office was. Conveniently, it was also in the direction of the minister's office, so Harry didn't need to ditch Bill just yet.
Harry followed Bill's footsteps on light feet as they made their way through the eerily quiet corridor. Harry knew it was a holiday, but the utter silence of the ministry still put Harry on edge. The two of them made to turn a corner, making steady progress towards the minister's office, when—
"FREEZE!"
Harry barely got a shield up around the two of them before it was hit with an onslaught of red curses.
"OI! THAT'S HARRY POTTER YOU'RE STUNNING!" Bill yelled, like a fucking idiot. Harry couldn't see through what he assumed were stunning spells to tell if it was a group of ministry workers or death eaters.
If they were ministry workers, yeah, maybe announcing Harry's name would work.
If they were death eaters, then Harry hoped Bill was ready to fight like hell.
"God damnit, quit!" someone, Tonks, Harry was pretty sure, yelled. Harry didn't drop the shield, but he did squint through it to see who exactly had surrounded them.
It took a second of looking over the unfamiliar and grim faces before Harry landed on Johnny, then Tonks a few people over.
Not death eaters then. Or, at least not all death eaters. Tonks said that imperio was a constant threat in the aurors department, and without Draco's dad to report, Harry couldn't be certain who all was or wasn't working for Timmy.
Except for his people, obviously.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tonks demanded, glaring at Harry through the shield that he certainly wouldn't be dropping when surrounded by cops.
"Finding my brother," Bill said, speaking just as firmly as Tonks had. "Percy Weasley, is he here?"
"I think he's in his office, Bill," a witch with a pointed blue hat on said. "We told everyone to stay in their offices while we did a floor by floor sweep."
"Why?" Harry asked quickly. "Was the attack here?"
"No," Tonks said shortly. "Go home, Harry."
"Nah, I've gotta find Percy first," Harry said. He glanced quickly at Johnny before thoughtfully adding, "Maybe we could get someone to escort us to his office? So you don't try and fucking stun me again?"
"I'll do it," Johnny offered after a beat. "I don't mind."
Tonks narrowed her eyes at Harry, her hair flashed a dark red for a moment, before she sighed and her hair went back to pink. "Abbott, escort Harry and Bill to Percy's office then escort all three of them out of the ministry," she said with a stern look that Harry rolled his eyes at.
Honestly, Tonks was much more fun when she wasn't working. Tonks who irritated Snape with Harry was alright. Tonks who was a fuckin cop was annoying.
"Brill," Harry said smugly. He dispelled his shield and gave Johnny a small smirk. "Lead the way then, mate."
Johnny smirked back and turned so that Harry and Bill could step in front of him. Harry had barely taken three steps away from the group of the other DMLE staff before he heard someone whisper:
"That's Harry Potter? Bit of a dick, isn't he?"
"Don't," Johnny murmured, correctly guessing at Harry's intentions as he clenched his hand tightly. "Not worth it under the new Head. He's very pro 'Azkaban first, questions second'."
"What happened?" Harry asked him quietly as they slowly made their way to Percy's office.
"The Minister is dead," Johnny said bluntly.
"We know that," said Bill. "What exactly happened?"
"Not sure of all the details yet, but it looked like an attack at his house. Wife and kids are dead too."
Harry paused in the middle of the corridor and blinked at Johnny. "Fudge had kids?!" he hissed.
How had Harry spent so much time with Fudge and never known he had a whole family? There had been a picture of Fudge and a group of people that could possibly have been his family on his desk, but he had a picture of him and Harry on his desk too, so how was he supposed to know the other photo was his family?
"Three of them," Johnny said with a frown. "Little granddaughter too. All dead."
"That's terrible," Bill said, sounding truly mournful.
"That's... terrible," Harry echoed Bill after a moment. "Fuck."
"Dark mark over the house, then?" Bill asked.
"Yep. Two dead families in the muggle town a few miles from him too. We've got half our people over there dealing with that, the other half here doing a sweep."
"Why the sweep here?" Harry asked curiously.
"Thicknesse," Johnny said with a scowl that explained what he thought of his new boss. "He said it could be a 'ruse to divert our attention, leaving the ministry open for an attack'."
"That makes sense," Bill said while Harry nodded in agreement.
Johnny glanced around and pulled Bill and Harry in to a doorway before casting a few nonverbal muffling and privacy charms.
"I meant to try and get a message to you sooner, but I think Thicknesse works for Timmy," Johnny whispered quickly to Harry. "Could be imperio, could be his own free will. I don't have any proof, but something stinks about him."
Bill looked skeptical, but Harry trusted Johnny's instinct. If he thought Thicknesse wasn't to be trusted, then he probably had a good reason for it.
"Keep an eye out, and watch your back," Harry murmured. "Quit if it gets too hot, yeah? I'll find a different job for you, don't worry about money."
Harry could afford to pay Johnny for some private work of some sort. He couldn't afford to lose a member of the gang.
"Cheers, mate," Johnny winked. "Come on then, let's find your future brother in law and get you out of here before I actually get fired."
Johnny dispelled his charms and seemed to pick up the pace a little as they made their way towards Percy's office.
"How's Susan doing?" he asked casually. "I wrote her, after Madame Bones died, but I haven't heard back from her."
"Bit sad," Harry said. "Still Susan though, ya know?"
"Tell her I miss her, will you?" Johnny asked him with a grin. "Maybe I'll pop by next Hogsmeade weekend."
"Maybe you won't," Bill said with a smile that didn't seem very friendly. "Susan's seeing someone, isn't she, Harry? Big bloke, powerful, jealous."
"Is she?" Harry asked, shocked. He thought Susan fancied Charlie.
Jesus Christ. He really needed to pay more attention to his friends' lives apparently.
First Neville and Blaise, now Susan and some powerful bloke.
Bill rolled his eyes at Harry, but didn't say anything more as they approached Percy's door.
"I'll just wait out here," Johnny drawled with a sideways glance towards the posh little plaque on Percy's door. "Holler if you need me."
Harry snorted and threw Percy's door open, hoping to scare him a bit. Which he did. Percy jumped from a dark wooden chair behind a large polished desk and screamed as Harry and Bill stepped in his office.
"Bill?" Percy pushed his glasses on his nose then turned his bewildered gaze on Harry. "And Harry?"
"Hey, Perky," Harry said with a cold smile. "Your mum sent us."
"My Mum? Why?" Percy asked.
"No idea," Harry shrugged.
Bill stepped forward hastily and gave his brother a friendly smile. "She was worried about you, why don't you come to the Burrow with me so she can see you're alright?"
"I..." Percy glanced down at the paperwork on his desk then back up to his brother. "I can't, I have a lot to do..."
"Is it more important than your family?" Bill asked softly. "It's Christmas Eve, Percy, Mum misses you. She's terrified now. Please?"
Percy looked torn as he glanced between his desk and Bill. Harry rolled his eyes, Percy was such a bloody swot.
"Your mum made you a fuckin sweater," Harry told him. "You're really going to ignore it? Fudge's entire family died today. Susan's aunt died last month. Your dad last year. You wanna spend Christmas at your desk or with the family you've got left?"
"Uh, not my desk," Percy said quietly. He quickly stuffed a bunch of parchments in a briefcase and nodded towards Bill. "Of course I'll come, if mum wants me there."
"She does," Bill said. He beamed at Harry and clapped his shoulder again. "Alright, let's get out here, eh?"
Harry, Bill, and Percy let Johnny lead them through the ministry back to the lift that would take them to the phone booth and Harry spent the time watching Percy cower and cringe around every corner with nothing short of amusement written all over his face.
"How did you make it to Gryffindor?" Harry asked once the three of them were in the lift together. "You're not very brave, or chivalrous."
"That is none of your business," Percy said pompously with his nose in the air.
"So you asked for Gryffindor?" Harry guessed with a grin. "Let me guess, the hat suggested Ravenclaw?"
Percy didn't answer, but his red cheeks were basically an answer anyway.
Bill chuckled and eyed Harry speculatively once they spilled out of the phone booth on to the street. "Am I taking you home?" he asked.
"Nah," Harry shrugged and pocketed his knife. "I'll get home. Ta, Bill. Later, Perky."
Percy was muttering the correct pronunciation of his name as Harry spun on the spot and went home.
When Harry landed back on his own front yard, Theo stood on the stairs to the porch and grinned wryly at Harry.
"Did you ask Bill to take you?" he asked.
"Nope. Lucky break, I guess."
"Good luck convincing Snape of that," Theo told him, glancing over his shoulder towards the house. "He's mad as hell."
Harry glanced towards the same direction Theo was a bit uneasily now. "Er... how mad?"
"He's definitely going to scream, and he might throw something," Theo said. "Probably not at you, but he's going to throw things."
"Fuck." Harry stuck his hand in his pocket and gripped his pocketknife tightly.
Theo gave him a sympathetic look. "I'll go with you," he offered.
"It'll be fine," Harry sighed. Theo stepped up beside him as he entered the house anyway, which Harry was only a little grateful for.
All in all, it could have been worse.
Snape threw a book, but he threw it at the wall opposite Harry. He did yell quite a bit, but Bill did Harry a real favor when he sent a patronus midway through Snape's tirade apologizing for 'stealing Harry'. Snape looked skeptical, as if Harry also orchestrated that, but it did take a bit of the sting from his tone.
"Today was rough," Theo murmured when the two of them finally were able to leave the sitting room and head up to their bedroom.
"It wasn't so bad," Harry disagreed. "I nearly got in to a duel with about a dozen aurors, that would have been brill, yeah?"
"No," Theo sighed, shaking his head. "That would have been not 'brill' at all. Idiot."
Theo was wrong.
Nearly getting in to a full on fight with the aurors at the ministry had been the only highlight in Harry's shitty day. Well, also that Snape thought he was punishing Harry by refusing to allow him to go to Slughorn's posh little Christmas party on the 26th.
Harry pretended to be put out about it, but honestly he was relieved.
"He probably did that on purpose, to apologize for yelling at you," Fred murmured when he finally came home that night and Harry filled him in on their change of plans.
Harry hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe," he conceded. "Hey, Bill stole our wedding date, I thought you were going to tell them we wanted August first?"
"I forgot," Fred admitted. "You probably don't want a double thing with Bill and Fleur, do you?"
"Not really."
Fred sighed dramatically and looked up to the ceiling. "Good, good. Yeah, mum's going to love this."
Harry smirked and moved closer to Fred, dropping his head on his chest. "That's your problem," he said unsympathetically. He thought about his chaotic day and suddenly remembered something. "Oh, hey, did you know Susan's got a boyfriend?"
Harry had no idea why Fred found the story Harry told him, explaining how the topic of Susan's boyfriend came up on a rescue mission at the ministry, so funny, but he just laughed and kissed Harry on the top of the head.
"I love you," he said warmly. "Merry Christmas, darlin."
The rest of Christmas break passed by quietly, and much less eventfully than the 24th had anyway.
Harry and the other inhabitants of his house had a simple meal together on Christmas night. They spent New Years at Harry's place with Tonks and Susan, all of them staying up well past midnight as they played cards and relaxed.
Snape even pretended not to notice Harry, Susan, and Draco sneaking drinks of a bottle of some sort of liquor that the Contessa sent Harry for Christmas in their goblets.
By the time they were ready to return to Hogwarts, despite the bad luck in losing the Minister and the subsequent appointment of a bloke named Rufus Scrimgeour that used to be Head Auror, Harry actually felt loads more relaxed than he had before the break. Not so cold, not so weighed down by everything anymore.
"I've got a good feeling about the rest of the year," he told Luna cheerfully before they floo'd back to Snape's office at Hogwarts together.
Luna hummed and fluttered her hand a bit at her side as she stared in the green flames. "I don't," she said quietly. "I don't feel good about it at all."
Which dashed Harry's optimism pretty quickly.