c11.2

Cornelius Fudge was very annoyed as he sat in his seat waiting for this no doubt pointless session to begin. He had been at home enjoying a very fine glass of scotch when he got the call and of course he immediately sent for Lucius as he always did for aid in meetings such as these.

He was at the edge of his patience when the door to the chamber opened revealing Albus Dumbledore and Arcturus Black, just the sight of them had him on edge. He was about to address the pair when he spotted none other than Harry Potter and an unfamiliar blonde teen, it was what the boy that was levitating behind him that caught the man short.

"Daphne?" Jonathan Greengrass called to his daughter who immediately ran in to her father's arms. "What is going on?" he questioned the girl.

"It's ok Dad Harry stopped them" She answered cryptically.

Before the two could speak anymore Fudge found his voice.

"How dare you Potter, those are my aurors and my Senior undersecretary" he roared spraying spittle in various directions and turning purple.

Harry was undeterred by the man's anger and was immediately filled with rage himself.

"No Fudge, how dare you" he replied dangerously. "How dare you expose school children to filth like this" he hissed gesturing to the pile of bodies.

"Excuse me?" the man replied clearly taken aback by the lack of fear and venom in the boys voice.

"You heard me" Harry growled angrily. "Your undersecretary and these sorry excuses for aurors were torturing children and this disgrace of a human being" he added pointing to Malfoy, "attempted to rape a young lady" Harry finished, the emerald fire roaring in his eyes.

Fudge just sputtered dumbly clearly not knowing what to say.

"Is that my son?" Malfoy asked disbelievingly and wide-eyed.

"Yes it is" Harry spat. "He and his friends here tried to rape Miss Greengrass and your idiot son used the Cruciatus curse on her" he explained to the blonde man who was quickly looking nervous.

"Is that true" Jonathan Greengrass roared as he got to his feet.

"It is sir" Harry replied. "But they were unsuccessful beyond the curse" Harry answered trying to placate the man. "There is an abundance of proof and I am happy to be questioned in any way you see fit, I am sure those four won't be so keen to be questioned under veritaserum" he finished knowingly.

The entirety of the room was in shock, this was not something they had envisioned would be occurring during this meeting.

Jonathan simply wrapped his arms around his daughter and took his seat again looking very pale at the thought of what could have happened to his little girl.

Harry took advantage of the silence and addressed Amelia Bones.

"Madame Bones, what is the current sentence for attempted rape?" he asked.

"Attempted rape is 5 years in Azkaban" she replied shaking herself from the shock.

"And the use of the cruciatus curse?" he followed up with.

"That would get you a life sentence or execution" she answered, her expression darkening.

"And the killing curse carries the same even for aurors unless it is a life or death situation, am I right?" he asked further.

"Indeed you are Lord Potter" she informedm.

"And what about this?" he asked removing the quill and the photo from his pocket and handing it to her. She paled when she recognised the offending item.

"Where did you get this?" she asked seriously.

"Madame Umbridge was forcing children to write with it as punishment" he explained. "The other students are all writing statements and I imagine they will find their way to you soon enough" he surmised.

"Well that will most definitely see Madame Umbridge in prison for the rest of her days" Amelia responded.

"Can you not see the boy is lying" Lucius Malfoy tried desperately.

"I have more than enough evidence to prove it Malfoy, are you questioning my honour?" Harry asked the man dangerously his eyes beginning to glow again.

Malfoy faltered at the glare the boy was giving him and swallowed deeply. He was rescued from the staring match by Fudge.

"For goodness sake the boy is clearly deranged" he shouted pointing accusingly at Harry.

"The only persons mental credibility that should be questioned is yours Fudge" Harry retorted. "Your own aurors, you own secretary and the son of your closest associate, it doesn't look good does it?" Harry questioned sarcastically. "And let me tell you I don't trust you to lead a waltz and yet you are leading our entire country" Harry finished shaking his head.

There was a significant amount of cheering at this.

Fudge was simply dumbfounded. He hadn't really noticed the implications of the people involved. The boy was right, it really did not look good.

"Surely Lord Potter" he began in his best political tone, "we can find a way to deal with this without having to send usually upstanding members of our society to prison" he tried reasoning with Harry. "It must have been a momentary lapse in judgement, they must have been caught up in the heat of the moment" he explained with a nod.

The entire room were watching Harry, waiting to see what the young man would do. This could be a defining moment for him, this is how people would see him from now on, how he responded in this moment.

"Stop trying to make excuses for them, this was not a heat of the moment thing, this has been a continual and systematic approach to discipline by your staff, and these morons", he added gesturing to the students, "decided they wanted in on it, but they took it too far" Harry replied unwaveringly.

"Then you will be arrested also for attacking them" Fudge spat angrily.

"Fair enough" Harry shrugged and held out his wrists. "It just makes you look even more incompetent than what you are and what do you think the public will think when they learn that you had me locked up for stopping their children being tortured by your staff?" Harry questioned.

Fudge was clearly in a bind. Either way this was not going to end well for him. The boy would not be swayed to drop the matter and Cornelius knew that either way he was going to have to be making serious reparations in some form. He sunk back in his chair defeated knowing that it would be much better for him to just accept what had happened and weather the storm instead of adding fuel to an already roaring flame.

The members of the wizengamot were more than a little surprised at how well the fifteen year old handled himself. They knew that one day he would be quite the political force, be it ally or opposition.

"And just who are these other three students" Amelia asked having written down the major points of the meeting.

"That would be Crabbe, Goyle and Nott" Harry replied to which Amelia wrote down.

There was a sudden shout of rage from one of the gathered members and a man stood up pointing his wand at Harry.

"You dare attack my son and accuse him of such a disgusting thing" he roared. "I will kill you Potter" he finished breathing heavily.

To everyone's surprise it was Lucius Malfoy who intervened.

"Sit down Theodore" he hissed. "We will handle it" he said with a sharp look.

Harry knew that Malfoy was already formulating a plan to get his son off the charges but he would do everything he could to stop it.

"No" the other man shouted in rage. "I will not have this half-blooded bastard accuse my son and get away with it" he finished shaking in his anger.

"Well Lord Nott" Harry replied casually. "You could always make that a formal challenge, if you so wish".

"Theodore" Lucius hised warningly.

"Oh and you think you can take me do you?" the man asked laughing at the teen. "Then so be it Potter, I am going to wipe the floor with you" he spat.

"That didn't sound like a formal challenge to me" Harry intoned with a raised eyebrow.

"I, Theodore Dominus Nott challenge Harry Potter to a duel by the honour of my family" he stated firmly.

The gathered people in the room gasped. It was a very rare thing for a challenge to be made in such a way.

"I get to pick the place and you can pick the date" Harry replied not wanting to be caught in a trap.

"Fine" Nott spat.

"Then I accept" Harry declared, causing a red glow to surround the two.

Lucius sat back in his seat defeated. The Dark Lord was not going to be happy and Nott had no idea what he had just gotten himself in to. Chances are he was either going to be killed by the Dark Lord for his foolishness or by Potter in a duel.

"If that is all" Amelia cut in. "I have some prisoners to process" she explained. "Notification of trial dates will be issued to all of you pending the gathering of evidence" she informed the room.

With that the wizengamot filed out, headed by Nott senior who stormed from the room.

"You did well Potter" Arcturus praised. "And good job on not backing down from the challenge, it would have not looked good on you if you had" he said knowingly.

"It's his funeral" Harry replied to which the man grinned.

"Remember, never underestimate an opponent" the older man warned. "The Nott's are well known for their duelling ability" he informed the younger man.

"Who said I was going to duel him?" Harry asked. "As far as I am concerned it's a fight. I know he doesn't plan on playing nice so I won't either" Harry declared firmly.

"Good" the older man replied. "I will see you at home" he finished nodding over the teens shoulder.

Harry turned to see Jonathan Greengrass approaching with Daphne still wrapped in his arms.

"Lord Potter" the man inclined with a bow. "It seems that I have to once again thank you for coming to the aide of my family" he added with a shake of his head.

"It will always be Harry Sir" Harry responded. "It does seem I have a knack for it" he chuckled.

"Then you may call me Jonathan" the man replied. "You, if anyone, has earned that right" he spoke sincerely. "You do seem to have a tendency for it" he added. "A tendency that I am of course grateful for" he finished.

"And your family seems to have a tendency for landing themselves in these situations" Harry pointed out causing the man to chuckle.

"That they do" he mused. "Well then I can only hope that you are around to get them out of them" he added with a grin.

"You can count on it" Harry replied looking at Daphne whose cheeks had turned pink.

"Well Harry I must be getting my daughter back to school" the man intoned much to the obvious displeasure of his daughter which Harry caught.

"I'd be glad to escort her, if you don't mind?" Harry offered.

Mr Greengrass smiled knowingly.

"You know" he said scratching his chin. "There is no man I would trust to escort my daughter anywhere apart from myself" he continued. "But I think I can add to you that very exclusive list Harry" he finished with a warm smile. "Thank you" he said sincerely offering the young man his hand which Harry accepted immediately.

"Anytime" Harry returned.

"Well Daphne I imagine your Mother will be writing to you first thing, enjoy the peace while you can" he advised. "And I will see you soon" he added pulling his daughter into a final hug. "I hope we get to see you soon also Harry" he added before making his exit.

The teens followed shortly with Harry escorting Daphne out of the ministry and apparating her back to Hogwarts. They walked together to the front doors in companionable silence and reached them quicker than either of the teens wanted to.

"Well Miss Greengrass" Harry began. "I do hope we get to meet sometime under better circumstances" he spoke sincerely. "And when you don't feel the need to shout at me" he added with a chuckle causing the girl to blush.

"I'm sorry about that" she said quietly. "I was just confused" she continued shaking her head.

"Confused?" Harry asked frowning.

"I was confused about how I feel about you" she replied in just above a whisper.

"Was confused?" he questioned raising an eyebrow.

Daphne nodded. "I'm not so confused anymore" she admitted shyly looking the boy in the eye. "Thank you Harry" she said gratefully and reached up, kissing him on the cheek.

"You called me by my first name" he acknowledged in surprise.

"Then you should call me Daphne" she replied with a soft smile.

"I'm sure I can do that Daphne" he responded.

There was a momentary silence between the two in which Daphne broke.

"Goodnight Harry" she bade farewell reluctantly squeezing his hand gently.

"Goodnight Daphne" Harry returned softly.

Daphne turned to leave but was stopped by the boy.

"Daphne?" he called. "The day in Hogsmeade" he continued. "Your patronus didn't work because the memory wasn't strong enough" he explained. "Your concentration is fine" he finished with a small smile.

"That is the happiest memory I have" she replied dejectedly looking downwards.

Harry approached her, placed two fingers under her chin and raised her head.

"Then we need to give you a better one" he suggested to the girl and placed a gentle kiss on her lips to which she immediately responded to.

The pair melted in to each other, caught up in how amazing the feeling of this moment was, a moment that neither would forget.

"Try now" Harry whispered softly to her.

Daphne removed her wand and focused on the feeling she felt in that moment and allowed it wash over her.

"Expecto Patronum" she intoned quietly not breaking the eye contact she was sharing with the boy.

The misty shield she was used to seeing was not present. In its place stood a large ethereal and pure white winged horse which made her gasp.

"That is quite something" Harry said in awe noting the similarity to his own.

"I did it" Daphne uttered in disbelief.

"You did" Harry responded proudly with a smile.

"Thank you" the girl squealed and threw herself in his arms, kissing him again.

"You're welcome" Harry said warmly when she broke away.

"I have to go" Daphne sighed sadly. "But I don't want to".

"Then I had better write to you" Harry replied still smiling.

"I'd like that" Daphne admitted happily.

"Goodnight Daphne" Harry said placing a final kiss on her cheek and turned away and began his walk to the gates.

"Goodnight Harry" Daphne whispered touching the spot where his lips had just been.

Both the castle and the common room were both empty as Daphne made her way to her dorm. She entered her room to find an expectant Tracey and Astoria still awake and clearly waiting for her to return.

"Are you ok?" Tracey asked, concerned for her friend.

Daphne nodded.

"I'm fine Tracey" She responded. "Much better than anyone of them will be" she continued. "Harry tore Fudge and the rest of them a new one" she explained in amusement.

"Harry now is it?" Tracey questioned the blonde with a raised eyebrow, who began blushing instantly. "Ok spill, what happened?" she demanded.

"Nothing happened Tracey" Daphne replied trying to busy herself by preparing for bed, but she couldn't hide her smile.

"Oh come off it Daph" the girl huffed exasperatedly. "I would have been all over him the moment we left the castle" she said. "He's gorgeous, he's powerful and did you see how he handled that little firsty?" she asked. "My ovaries nearly exploded at how good he was with her" she finished.

"Tracey!" Daphne gasped in shock. "He just helped me with my patronus" she dismissed with a shrug but couldn't stop the smile forming at the memory.

"And how did he do that?" Astoria cut in.

"He kissed me" Daphne answered shyly, blushing further.

"He didn't" Tracey stated in shock. "What was it like?" she asked.

"Amazing" Daphne whispered.

"And how was that supposed to help with your patronus?" Astoria asked with a frown.

"He said that my memory wasn't happy enough and he kissed me, he said I needed something better" Daphne shrugged.

"And it worked?" Tracey asked in disbelief to which Daphne nodded.

"Show me" Tracey demanded.

Daphne removed her wand and cast her mind back to feeling in the moment she had shared with Harry.

"Expecto Patronum" she intoned in a somewhat dreamy voice and the beautiful winged horse formed before the trio.

"It's like his" Astoria whispered.

"Huh?" Daphne asked confused.

"His is a Thestral and yours is a winged horse" Astoria explained. "They look so similar" she finished.

Tracey just stood and stared, for once in her life she was speechless.

"Are they that alike?" Daphne asked quietly.

"Almost identical" Tracey breathed.

Daphne ended the spell causing the other two to snap out of their awestruck states.

"So you and Potter then?" Astoria asked her sister.

"I don't know" Daphne replied shaking her head. "He said he would write to me".

"And what about his harem?" Tracey asked with a smirk.

"I may have asked him about that" Daphne answered sheepishly. "He said none of it is true, he is either a very good liar or he was being honest with me" she mused.

"What do you think?" Astoria questioned.

"I don't think he was lying at all, the boy is too honest for his own good" Daphne answered without hesitation.

"We will just have to wait and see if he writes" Tracey responded with a nod. "But for now I am tired and need my bed, you know how grumpy I am if I don't get enough sleep" she intoned knowingly.

"Goodnight you two" Astoria said with a yawn and exited the room to head to her own bed.

Tracey and Daphne finished getting ready for bed themselves and got in, both exhausted from the day.

"Night Daph" Tracey called from her bed.

"Goodnight Tracey" Daphne replied.

Daphne stayed awake for some time replaying the day throughout her mind. It had been bad to start with and only got worse when they had been discovered by Umbridge. But again Harry Potter came to help her when she needed it most. Daphne Greengrass fell asleep that night the happiest she had ever been, her continuous smile would attest to the that.

She needn't wait long for the promised letter from Harry. Much to her and the other twos surprise, she received her very first letter the next morning at breakfast much to her relief and delight.