Political Leanings.

Monday 27th February 1995, 8:00am.

The Great Hall fell silent as Harry walked in, and the boy felt every eye in the room follow him as he crossed over to the Gryffindor bench. Seeing Daphne seated there, with Fleur and Hermione opposite her, he approached them.

Apart from his brief meeting with Professor Babbling he had spent the entire weekend on the Island so most students hadn't seen him since the Second Task. Because of this everyone was pointing at him and whispering. He imagined that his performance in the task, as well as his speech at the conclusion of it, had been a major talking point all weekend.

That he seemed to disappear also had fuelled the many rumours about him, but Harry was used to this now after 4 years so simply ignored it all. Instead he greeted the girls. "Hey. How were your weekends?"

Hermione instantly broke into full recount of her study filled weekend. She had written 9 feet of assignments for classes, started her revision for exams, now only three months and a handful of days away, and had found a new Charms book that she hadn't seen before so was absorbing it.

She continued for a full five minutes before grinding to a sudden halt, blushing gently, as she realised she hadn't allowed anyone else a chance to answer. To save her from her embarrassment Daphne picked up the lead straight away.

"My weekend was quite uneventful, and I don't even have the privilege of having witnessed the Second Task to reflect on." She, of course, had been unconscious underwater during the whole thing. "You have been the centre of attention once again Harry. The stunt you pulled at the end of the Task has been the major talking point by all."

Even Hermione nodded at that, which showed how prevalent it was given her tendency to miss rumours. Harry just rolled his eyes, not surprised at the simplicity that most of the students lived their lives with.

"Most Slytherins assume that you are completely weak willed and Fleur is manipulating you to increase her odds. The Ravenclaw's have no idea what to believe. The Hufflepuff's are back cheering for you, seeing it as a Badger thing to do and therefore you are an honorary Puff giving them two Champions. I don't know about your house." As she finished she looked at Hermione hoping she could bring clarity to it.

Hermione just shrugged. "Wasn't really paying attention that much. How was your weekend Fleur? I didn't see you around."

"I was home. Zey allow Champions to return home weekend after Tasks to recover. It was good. Lovely weather and food." The French girl was beaming as she recalled her time away from the castle.

"Where in France is your home Fleur?" Harry asked her.

Her smile grew, obviously happy to be sharing about her home. "We live in Lyon. It a beautiful place to live. Also close to Geneva where Papa works. You must visit."

"I would love to Fleur. I have never been to France before so I look forward to it." Harry had been planning on travelling during the summer break, visiting his distant relatives around the planet, so adding one more place to the list wasn't a problem.

Hermione spoke up. "France is a great place to visit. However what I want to know is where you have been all weekend Harry? I heard you had a meeting with Professor Babbling but apart from that no one has seen you."

"I've been busy at my family home all weekend, but yes I did briefly meet with the Professor. She invited me to join her class, because I used Runes in the Task, but I turned her down." He answered honestly, even though he knew it wouldn't end well for him.

His friend looked shocked for a moment before she regained her voice. "You turned her down! Why would you do that? You obviously can learn them, you showed that, so it wouldn't be that much more work. I thought with your attitude this year that you would pick up your studies but obviously that isn't the case. Imagine turning down a teacher inviting you into their class? I can't believe you Harry, and am so disappointed in you!"

While he had been expecting all that, it still hurt him to disappoint his friend like this. It was kind of her fault, she didn't ask for an explanation and just expected the worst, but he still felt badly about it.

"Hermione, it's not like that. Do you have any idea how much I have to learn to be ready for when I leave Hogwarts outside of the school curriculum? I need to learn the name and face of every department Head in the Ministry plus their role, the same for the Wizengamot. I have to go over every law passed by the 'Mot or Ministry in the last 15 years or so. I need to learn my financial responsibilities, how to deal with finances, what to invest when and where, and a million other small things. The only other student in Hogwarts who is the same is Susan Bones and at least she has her Auntie to guide her and has probably been getting lessons for 5 years already on all this. I simply don't have the time or effort to start a new subject, especially one that I am a year and a half behind on. In fact next year I am dropping Divination and Magical Creatures and only continuing with the core subjects." While Harry was thrilled to find the stash of Lord Potter's journals, it was still a mountain of work for the boy.

While she understood what he said, Hermione was too stubborn to drop it that quickly. "You have Sirius and your lawyers to help you with all of that, surely you could…" It was left unfinished.

"Sure my lawyers can help, and I will use them a lot to understand what laws mean, but I can not allow myself to lean on them or I always will. If I let them do it all now why would I ever bother to learn for myself when I can continue paying them to do it for me? Sirius will be some help but remember he spent a decade in prison so is going into this almost from the same level of readiness as me. He has almost as much stuff to do for the Black Family affairs as I do for the Potters, so I don't want to rely on him too much either. It falls to me Hermione. And there's one thing you are forgetting Mione." It was something that Harry was passionate about. He was going to be nobody's puppet, as others decided whom he would support and what he would vote for.

Instead of dignifying his final statement with a response, she waited silently for him to continue. Her glare was in full effect.

Taking her hint, Harry continued. "I will not be working in a traditional sense when I leave Hogwarts. It doesn't matter if I have only 1 O.W.L or 10 N.E.W.T.s, because I will still only be a Wizengamot Member until my eldest son is 17 at the minimum. That is if I was willing to pawn the responsibility off on to him straight away so as to escape from it, which I would never do. However you will be happy to know that I will still be putting due effort into my classes, and when I finally have got ahead of all that I need to do I will be hiring tutors so as to gain a better understanding about magic."

"Well that's something, I guess. And you better not putter through classes!" Hermione still seemed put out by it all. "No one will respect you if you get bad O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s."

Daphne burst out laughing at that. It was just so Hermione. "Hermione he is Harry Potter, Lord Potter, the Peverell seat holder, and heir Black… He is quite literally the top of the social hierarchy in the Wizarding world! Add to that the whole Boy-Who-Lived business… He will be the most respected person in our world since Merlin, even if he dropped out of Hogwarts today."

"Most respected since Merlin? What about Dumbledore?" Hermione interjected.

Fleur was simply watching this entire conversation, doing her best to follow along to a complex topic in a language other than her first. Harry felt sorry for her that this was all happening now.

"Dumbledore is respected yes, but not to the level that Harry will be in the coming years. He is respected as a teacher, a researcher, and most notably for his defeat of Grindelwald, but he is not a Lord like Harry. And remember Harry defeated a Dark Lord as well, as a 1-year-old. Dislike Harry being a "half-blood" that he runs TWO of the oldest families in our world, and is the heir to a third, will make him respected by those who don't value the defeats of Dark Lords, which is something Dumbledore has never achieved." Harry's eyes widened at what his fiancée was saying, having never thought about it. She squeezed his hand and gave him a sly smile.

Obviously her cunning Slytherin brain had thought of uses for this, but they both knew this wasn't the place to talk about it. Harry was unsure about how he should feel about this. A woman he had only met months ago was obviously planning on using him to achieve her own desires, but against that was the fact that she was his fiancée. They needed a long sit down.

"What else 'Arry? That can't have been all weekend." Fleur moved the conversation back on track.

Harry smiled at her before dropping a bomb. "Nothing much. Invited a friend to live at my manor, found a hidden stash of family documents, had the Queen come for a visit."

"Oh what was in the documen… The Queen! Of England?" Hermione looked sheepish as half the hall was now watching her after the outburst. She lowered her voice right down. "The Queen, Queen Elizabeth the Second, visited you?"

"Yes, her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. She took a ride on one of the Royal Air Force's new helicopters to visit. Apparently she meets with all the Most-Noble Lords when they take the role so as to ensure that they understand that we work for her and at her pleasure. She ended up staying for dinner." His tone inflected that it was nothing major, not an unannounced visit by his Sovereign.

Hermione sat staring at him, jaw hanging unhinged, and the other two girls weren't much better. Harry ignored them and grabbed a pancake to eat. With bacon and syrup it was delicious.

His best friend finally found her voice. "The Queen stayed for dinner? What did you have? No, how did you create a dinner for a surprise visit from the Queen?"

"Bulby made a nice, but simple, roast dinner. It wasn't anything over the top, but it was a small group." Harry speared a second pancake with his fork and transferred it to his plate.

Hermione looked at him suspiciously. "Who is Bulby?"

"The Potter family house… elf." He finished flinching at her glare.

She stood up and tried to whack him across the table, but couldn't reach. "Tell me you're joking Harry! Tell me you do not own a house elf!"

"It's not like that! Not exactly…" He stopped to think of how best to explain himself without having his friend hate him. "She is part of the Potter family and I would never treat her like the Malfoy's treated Dobby! She looks after the manor, and does a bunch of random things around the house. In return she has a house, food, all the work she could want, and is part of the family."

She looked far from pleased. "Are you paying her?"

"Hermione. We will talk about this later, in private." He hoped she would drop it.

She glared at him, and Harry was sure he heard her growl. "Fine, but we will be having words Harry Potter." She sat back down.

"Did you say that you had a friend move in?" Daphne wanted to shift onto safer topics.

Harry grinned at that, thinking of the old Marauder in question. "My parents old friend from school, Remus. The place is much too large and needs someone living there while I'm at school most of the year."

"Remus?" Daphne didn't recognise anybody with that name.

"You know him as Professor Lupin, the Defence teacher from last year." Debating whether another pancake was in order or not, he settled on an orange. Much less exciting, but healthier for you.

Harry saw fear in his fiancées expression as she responded. "Prof… Professor Lupin? Isn't he a wer… A werewolf?" Her sentences broken up in fear.

"Yeah, but apart from during the full moon he is the nicest, gentlest man you could ever meet." Harry waved it off.

Unfortunately for Harry he hadn't grown up in the magical world so didn't realise the stigma that they faced. "He is a werewolf! I will not live in the same house as him!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Then you can live somewhere else, I'm not kicking Remus out. I owe him mine and Sirius' lives, and he has been protecting me my whole life, even when I didn't know it. He is as much my family as Sirius is, and will be welcome to live at my manor for as long as it is mine."

"But he's a werewolf!" She acted like that was explanation enough.

For Harry it wasn't. "So what?"

"He's a werewolf! He will kill you, or change you! They are evil." She visibly shuddered just thinking about it.

Harry scoffed at that. "Hardly. With wolfsbane potion he is no risk to anybody when he changes. And of all people you should be careful of labelling an entire group evil just for being part of that group, given there are people who say the same of Slytherin house. Tell you what; we will start out by having you two meet in between full moons, and if you haven't changed your mind by the end of school we will deal with it then."

"If they aren't so dangerous why are they classified as Dark Creatures?" She wasn't giving up so easily.

Harry rolled his eyes at that. "Because the Ministry is quite racist. With modern potions there is no risk from infected individuals, but instead the key ingredients for wolfsbane and other potions that ease the effects of Lycanthropy have massive tax hikes. A wolfsbane potion is around 100 galleons, when without those taxes it would cost… Less than 20 galleons. That means that it will cost a werewolf 1200 galleons a year just so that they are not a danger to others, while because of other Ministry regulations they would struggle to earn that a year. That will be one of the first things I will be changing."

"Professor Lupin was here for a whole year and didn't attack anyone. If werewolves were so dangerous there would have been half a dozen attacks over the year from him." Hermione said her piece.

Daphne did not look pleased at all this, especially the criticism, but was willing to let the conversation shift on. Soon they were leaving the hall and had headed to the days classes.

/

Monday 6th March 1995, 2:30pm.

Harry had just enjoyed his Care of Magical Creatures class, and was waiting for the rest of class to make their way back to the castle. The class had been looking at Demiguises, when they were visible, and it had been an interesting, if challenging, class.

"What 're ya still doin' 'ere Harry?" Hagrid asked of the only student who hadn't already left.

Harry pulled out a sealed envelope. "Sorry it's taken so long, but I finally have your Christmas present. It took a lot of persuading and insurances from me, but it's finally come through."

"What you got ther' then?" The giant of a man was intrigued by the boy's words.

Handing over the envelope Harry kept mysterious. "Just read it and then I will explain."

Opening up the envelope the man read through the two pages inside. Not believing what he was reading he read through them again. "Is this true?"

"Yes." Harry grinned. "If you accept you will be doing a two week training apprenticeship with the dragon reserve in Romania that we sent Norberta to. You will be training, and then working with the dragons, for a fortnight. I have already sorted everything for you; you have to go to the Ministry on June 30th and take an international portkey to Romania. It's already taken care of, and Charlie Weasley will meet you at the Romanian Ministry and take you to the reserve. I'm not sure exactly what you will be doing, but I have been assured that it will be a complete and intensive process. You will be delivered back to the Romanian Ministry and travel back to London when you are finished, so you don't have to worry about anything except having a wonderful time."

The half-giant pulled Harry into a bruising hug. Harry struggled to get air into his lungs as a dream came true for the Hogwarts staff member.

"Bless you laddy, bless you." Tears were streaming down Hagrid's face. Harry saw his expression change as the man realised something. "I cana leave. What would happen to Hogwarts? The animals?"

It was something that Harry had already planned for. "It's taken care of Hagrid. Newt Scamander has a new Mastery apprentice and has agreed to give him two weeks of on-site training here at Hogwarts. The animals on the grounds will be well taken care of."

The pair made their way to Hagrid's hut where the occupant set about preparing tea for the guest and himself. They enjoyed a casual hour talking, spending time in each other's company, and generally taking time to be together. Harry always had a soft spot in his heart for the man.

/

Saturday March 18th 1995, 10:30am.

Harry and Daphne were seated across from each other in the house that Harry and Sirius owned. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, so to avoid the chaos of the rest of the students in the township they had taken shelter.

At least that was the excuse that Harry had given Daphne, but he had a surprise planned for her. It was her birthday on the coming Tuesday but Harry wanted to give her her present early.

He had the best goblin smith work on it, and finally her engagement ring was ready. It had a large diamond, with two each of emeralds, sapphires and rubies surrounding it. Harry knew nothing about jewellery and to him the layout reminded him of something completely different.

They only way he could think of to describe it was like a dining table. The large diamond in the middle was the table, with an emerald above and below it in the places that the head and foot of the table would have had chairs. A sapphire was to the right (clockwise) of each emerald, and a ruby filled out the space between each sapphire and emerald.

The band was a dual weave of perfect goblin silver, that Harry had fought to get, and gleamed. It had goblin Runes engraved on the underside that would provide protection for Daphne. Harry wasn't sure if it had cost him a lot of money, as he had payed the goblin smith a ruby, emerald, sapphire and diamond from his collection.

When the pair had finished their Butterbeers Harry stood up and walked to a drawer to his left. Reaching in he pulled out a small box. His weird behaviour drew Daphne's eye.

"What you got there Harry?" Her eyes tracked him across to the drawer and back to the table.

He played with the box in his hands before handing it over to her. "I know it's a few days early, but here is a birthday present."

Daphne gasped as she opened it and looked inside. "Wow! It's gorgeous! Is it for me?"

"Yes. It's your engagement ring. I know we have come a unusual path to get here, but I feel it's important for you to have one so had this made for you." His eyes were on the ring as she removed it from the box and slipped it into her left ring finger. It fit perfectly.

"The gems are amazing! Where did you get them from?" She hadn't looked up from her hand.

He had the good sense to look embarrassed as he answered. "Found them lying around. The diamond is 3 carats and the others are all a half-carat." Whatever that means was left unsaid.

They spent the next five minutes sitting there as Daphne admired the ring. Finally she spoke again. "I have never seen silver so bright before, who made the ring?"

"Hammerhand, a goblin smith, made it. It is goblin silver, not ordinary silver. There are also several enchantments woven into the ring, protection Runes and the like, so remember to always wear it." That caught her attention and she looked up from the ring for the first time.

She processed what he said before answering. "What enchantments?"

"Basic detection ones, so from now on always hold your drink in your left hand. I don't know how, but it detects any poison in contact with any wood, glass or metal object you are holding. The ring will start to vibrate if it feels a poison, gently for a less serious one, or quite strongly for a deadly one. It also detects potions but has a different warning device for them. A positive potion or minor one and your ring finger will heat up noticeably. However if it is serious, like a love potion say, your whole hand will heat up. Do you want an example?" He waited for her to nod before crossing to a cupboard and pulling out two potions.

He handed her the first potion. "That feels weird. My finger is warm, not burning or anything, but warm. A pepper-up?"

"Yep, a harmless pepper-up, but it still alerts you. Swap you for this." They exchanged vials.

Daphne held it for several seconds before placing it on the table. "Very weird. That time it was my whole hand, but still a similar heat level. What is it?"

"Draught of Living Death. Your whole hand felt it because it is a serious potion, but it still wasn't that warm because it wasn't overly dangerous. A Death Potion would make your hand feel like it was on fire." He returned the two potions to where he had gotten them and returned with a vial half full of a toxic green liquid. "Here hold this."

As soon as she grasped it her hand started violently shaking. She dropped the vial but Harry was ready for it and caught it. "What in Merlin was that!"

"Only one of the deadliest substances on the planet. Basilisk venom. I don't have any other poisons in the building for you to experience with, but that gave you an example of what a very deadly poison would feel like." He stored it away. "So get in the habit of always using your left hand, as that is the best way for you to stay at least a little safer. And always pay attention to the ring and take it seriously."

She nodded to him when he said that. "I promise. Now tell me, why do you have basilisk venom and how did you get it?"

"Me and Sirius have been running some tests on it. It's not hard to get your hands on anything you want if you know where to look and have the capital to buy it." Harry waved it off, not yet ready to let her in on the big secret.

She still looked far from pleased. "Promise me you are being careful? It is deadly after all."

"Na I'm immune." Harry regretted saying it as soon as it left his mouth.

She raised an eyebrow. "Immune you say? What could possibly make you think you are immune to the deadliest poison in the magical world?"

"Second year." He knew he would have to tell her what had happened now. "I got bitten by Slytherin's monster, a basilisk. Fawkes the Phoenix cried in my wound and I was healed. The Phoenix tears in my blood make me immune to almost all poisons now, including basilisk venom."

Daphne was looking at him, eyes wide. "So the rumours are true?"

Harry laughed. "Well I don't know about that, but some of the rumours out there about me are grounded in truth. The simple version of the story is me, Fawkes, a Basilisk and some interesting shade version of Voldemort."

"Vol… He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? What?" The fear was evident in Daphne.

"That's a story for another time. Even I don't understand what was happening. How about we go shopping?" Trying to move beyond that slip up Harry led her out the door and into town.

/

Tuesday April 4th, 7:20pm.

Harry was seated right in the back of the library, tucked away from sight. He was among the 'Muggle History before Merlin' section, arguably the least visited section in the library, and was sure that he wouldn't be disturbed.

Harry was proofreading his Charms assignment, but the mood in the Gryffindor common room was weird so he had escaped to the quiet of the library. While the tournament provided great entertainment and gossip, it was only really the week before or after the tasks that it was the centre of attention leaving the students quite bored the rest of the time. Usually Quidditch captured their attention but that was not to be this year.

Dozens of bored, cooped-up teens made it a less than pleasant environment so Harry had left them to it. The last Hogsmeade weekend had been spoiled with poor weather, and the students were suffering through classes. The Easter break was fast closing, but until then the kids were over school.

With exams two months away Hermione had entered full-on study mode, and Harry didn't need that stress in his life. While she was as bad as the previous years, there was something different about her this time and Harry didn't know what. Her attitude and behaviour seemed off to him.

Ron was more than willing to discuss Quidditch with him, particularly around the Canons chances that season, or about superficial things, but for the most part stayed away from Harry. The green-eyed boy knew his friend was struggling with his preconceived notions about Slytherin and pushing the issue wouldn't help anyone. When Ron was willing to accept Daphne he would apologise and join back in with the group.

Everyone else in Gryffindor continued to be themselves. Loving him when he was bringing glory to Gryffindor, and wary whenever the Prophet or others slandered him. He ignored them like always.

The Prophet had behaved itself for the most part, only attacking him over his refusal to accept the Second Task points (because obviously he was under the Veela charm of Fleur), and over his accusation of Roger Davies. They quickly changed their tune after the trial when Harry and Fleur's memories had been shown as testimony, and started praising him completely forgetting that they had been the only ones outside of the Davies family attacking him over it.

Harry didn't have to sit exams, so the only thing he had left from the school year was the final Task, which left him with a fairly empty schedule. He still had classes and homework, but they were optional and not mandatory for him, allowing him too much free time on his hands.

This led to him over thinking everything. The Wizengamot. His Board of Governors duties. His future with Daphne. His lingering feelings for Hermione. The Final Task. They had all swamped his mind in recent times.

He almost wished that he was doing end-of-year exams. Almost. As a Champion he got a perfect score in all his classes for the year, as historically they didn't want Champions worrying about classes, so sitting the exams was defunct. Typically Champions were final year students, and so they received O level N.E.W.T.s but the sixth and fifth year students from the past also got the perfect scores from their year.

He was the first ever 4th year Champion, which annoyed Harry to some extent as it set him apart once more. One O.W.L.s year student had won it in the 1500s, by being the only Champion to live, and a handful of sixth years had hoisted the trophy, but by and large seventh year students had been victorious. If anybody lived long enough to win.

"Hello there Harrykins." The boy jumped, before looking up to see a grinning Fred and George.

"How's our favourite Triwizard Champion?" Asked Fred, leading Harry to assume that George had been the one to say hello.

Harry grunted. "Not too bad. Can I help you with something?"

Taking that as invitation enough the twins slid into the two chairs opposite from him. "We just thought you might appreciate being the first to see this." Fred handed over a piece of paper as George spoke.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Mail order practical joke objects for Witches and Wizards.

The page was double sided, and had a half dozen images on each side. From potions to fake wands, joke candy to mini explosives, it was an impressive selection of items. A small blurb and price was attached to each image.

"You've finished then? How long until you can start production?" Harry knew all about their business idea, in fact he was the one funding it.

He had given each of them 250 galleons after overhearing them discussing their dream of started a prank business. When they left Hogwarts it would become a full-blown business, but for now they were going to do Owl-mail orders. Harry saw it as fulfilling both their dream and his Potter duty of investing in good ideas.

George took the pamphlet off Harry before answering. "We have 20 packs of 5 of these ready to go." He pointed at the bouncing exploding balls.

"A dozen of these." Fred pointed at another item.

George pointed at three in quick succession. "10 of each of those."

"Several of all the rest. We will be handing these out to several people in Gryffindor in the coming days, and hanging up a larger copy on the house notice board tonight. We can keep up with any orders until Easter." Fred explained.

As was their style, George took over here. "Over the break we can make stockpiles of them, with a week of no classes, and will expand to the other houses. Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and finally Slytherin. By the summer holidays we should have a devoted fan base and will spend the summer creating a whole new range."

"How are you going for funds?" Harry asked the pair, liking their plan.

Fred responded for the both of them. "We have around 200 galleons left. We had to buy several owls for delivery which dented the budget, but we should be fine."

"Between the remaining money and the profit from the items we will be selling we will be fine until summer. Research is where you lose the most money, we spent 150 galleons on that alone, so until we are developing new items we will be fine." George finished off.

With an unspoken agreement the twins stood up. "We will be seeing you later Harry."

"We're off to get this circulating." Twin speak finished, they vanished from the library silently.

Many times Harry had wondered how they got around after curfew without being caught, especially after they gave up the Marauders Map, but that gave him an indication. He didn't know how they had been silent, given there were two of them, but they had been.

While he had wanted to be on his own, he was grateful for the twins interruption. They were so bubbly that you couldn't help but be infected by their good mood. They were instant fun.

Turning back to his second of two feet from his Charms essay he buckled down. Ten minuteslater he was just finishing off his work, happy with what he had done. He was confident he had come up with a creative new application for the charm in question and Flitwick would be impressed.

Packing away his belongings he made his way to the exit where he bumped into Hermione, who was hustling into the library at a decent clip. The books she was carrying hit the ground, but luckily neither of the students did.

"What's the rush 'Mione? You could have gotten hurt." It was only the latest in a string of weird behaviour from his friend, but he was going to wait for her to explain what was wrong.

She scooped over and picked her books off the floor before responding. "I was looking for you. Can we talk?"

Like all teenage boys those three words, can we talk, installed in him an instant sense of fear. Slightly better than the four word alternative, we need to talk, but still terror inducing. A dozen plans of escape ran through his head in a second.

"Ah… Yes of course. Now?" Maybe he could delay the talk.

She grabbed his arm by the elbow and dragged him out of the library entrance and down the hall. She stopped to open a door and looked in, before dragging him down the hall once more.

Three doors later she seemed satisfied and led him into an unused classroom, one that thankfully seemed to have been recently cleaned. Leaning against a desk, worried that it would collapse on him, he watched amused as Hermione paced in front of him.

He was just debating with himself whether or not to interrupt when she came to a stop and turned to face him. "Harry what do you know about your special rights as a head of more than one recognised house?"

"That I have two votes on the Wizengamot. Why?" He had no idea where she was taking this.

Hermione shook her head. "I'm not talking about that. No offence but realistically the Peverell family means nothing. Apart from the fact they give you a second vote on the Wizengamot and whatever money and property you inherited they are irrelevant. I'm talking about with the Black Family that you will inherit from Sirius."

"The Blacks? Sirius? What have they got to do with anything?" Harry was thoroughly confused now.

"You are engaged to Daphne through the Black Family, and when you marry she will be a Black. If you choose however she will also be Lady Potter-Peverell." She paused for a moment, allowing for Harry to show that he understood her so far. "However you don't have to make her Lady Potter if you don't want, in fact you can marry another woman and have her as your wife for the Potter Family."

Harry nodded. "Yes I think I was told something like that. What is your point Hermione?"

"Iwanttobeladypotter." She spoke too fast for Harry to catch any of that.

The boy stood there, blinking. "Huh?"

"I want… I want to be Lady Potter…" She only repeated herself after taking several breaths to steady her nerves.

"What?" Harry was stunned. "Hermione… I… I can't handle this…"

The boy turned and dashed out of the room, heading straight to his dorm. He ignored everyone on his way and was soon sealed in his bed.

"Well… Shit." He muttered to himself.

/

Wednesday April 5th, 12:30pm.

Daphne was starting to get worried. She hadn't seen Harry all day and he had skipped class. Harry never skipped Defence.

Looking across the Hall she saw Hermione was still acting weird. Something must have happened between the two of them, it was the only explanation that made sense.

Daphne knew that the two were close friends, and like most of the school she had always assumed they were more than that. She had yet to gather the courage to ask Harry about it. Daphne knew that going into a relationship without talking about it was not good, but she still couldn't bring herself to ask him.

Scanning the rest of the Gryffindor table she noticed that nobody else was acting unusual, confirming her belief in Hermione being the cause for Harry's absence. Forcing herself to have several more bites of her sandwich, even though she wasn't hungry, she stood up and quietly exited the room.

Soon she was in front of the Fat Lady outside of the Gryffindor rooms. "Is there any chance you could let me in? Or at least tell someone inside to come out?"

The portrait looked at her for a moment before nodding and disappeared from the frame. A minute later a Gryffindor prefect appeared. "What you want?"

"I want to talk to my fiancée. Will you let me in?" She rolled her eyes at the way the boy looked at her with suspicion.

The prefect stepped to the side and let her pass, and closed the entrance behind her. Ignoring the prefect, and the two other students in the common room, Daphne walked to the staircase and straight to Harry's room.

She knocked on the door and waited 10 seconds. When she didn't get a response she opened the door and walked in, wrinkling her nose as the smell of teenage boys hit her. Looking around the room she was disgusted at the state of it.

How can boys be so messy? And smell so much? It was the complete opposite to her dorm room which was always clean and smelled nice. One of the beds had its curtains closed.

Setting that as her target she walked over and knocked on the post for the bed. After waiting and getting no answer she tried to open the curtains, only to find them sealed. Putting all her weight behind it she was able to wrench them open, only to find an empty bed.

Turning and moving to exit the room a muffled sound caught her ear. Looking over her shoulder she saw a tongue of flame on Harry's shoulder, who was now seated on his bed. The flame disappeared quickly from his shoulder, fading into nothing.

"Harry! Where were you? How did you get back? What is going on?" She was fully surprised by his appearance, and thoroughly confused by what was happening.

Harry laughed before brandishing his wand. He pointed it at the door before muttering some words under his breath. "I still have some secrets. What's going on? Not that I'm not pleased by this visit, just surprised at it."

"You haven't been at class all day, I was worried." She kept it simple.

Harry stretched his back before answering. "I've just been doing some research and training for the Third Task. I sacrificed the potential usefulness of class for some work out of advanced textbooks I have access to. Shouldn't you be at lunch?"

"Shouldn't you?" She fired back.

Harry laughed at her retort. "I've already eaten."

"So have I. Now are you going to tell me or do I have to force it out of you?" Her face turned hard as she grew serious.

The boy blinked, eyes as large as Hedwigs. "Huh? Tell you what?"

"Idiot. What happened between you and Hermione?" She was no longer mincing words.

Harry's attitude changed instantly. He was suddenly on guard. "Um… Nothing. Nothing happened. Why?"

"Cut the crap, Harry. Firstly you skip class, including D.A.D.A which you never miss. Especially given it's Moody, not someone useless like Lockhart. Secondly Hermione has been acting weird all day. Separately they mean nothing, but together? Together they show that something happened between the two of you." Daphne laid out her reasoning, and Harry had to admit that it did seem rather easy to follow.

Harry had to try a different tactic. "For both our sakes drop it."

"No, I will not drop it!" Daphne was angry now. "I let it go before when you said you have secrets, but now I'm not sure if I should have. We are going to be in this together, as husband and wife, and I think for that we can't have secrets."

As much as Harry hated to admit it, she had a valid point. "Well… Okay I agree with that. I can't tell you about the secret from earlier, not yet at least, but I will tell you about yesterday. Actually it started before yesterday; after I was chosen as a Champion nobody else stuck by me but her. We started dating. And then not long after that I found out about you and the Black contract so… We kinda broke up. But last night she told me she wants to marry me and be Lady Potter."

Daphne had not been expecting that if she was honest. Her surprise stopped her answering right away, and she stood there, jaw hanging open.

"What? What did you say?" The Slytherin finally regained the ability to speak.

A look of chagrin because dominant on the boy. "That I was engaged to you and couldn't handle this right now. Then I ran off." The last sentence was a whisper.

"You ran off?" Daphne couldn't believe what Harry was saying. "Never. Never. Do. That. Again."

She reinforced her point by hitting him with every word. Harry just stood there and took the beating. His embarrassment at how he had handled it persuaded him that he deserved it, so he took each impact without uttering a word.

"Now follow me as I try to fix the damage that your idiocy has caused, and if you know what's best for you don't utter a word." Without waiting for a reply she turned on her heel and walked over to the door.

She tried to open the door but found it sealed closed. Raising an eyebrow at him, Harry was quick to dispel the spells he had placed on the room, before she led him out of the room.

The pair were silent, bar the sound of footfall, as they made their way to an empty room on the ground floor of the castle. "Wait here Harry, I will be back shortly."

/

Harry was pacing. It had been almost ten minutes since Daphne had left him in the abandoned room and having nothing better to do he had started pacing. If she took much longer Harry was sure he would wear his path into the stone floor.

Despite many people's opinions he wasn't a complete idiot, and knew he had handled the Hermione situation yesterday terribly. In fact he had spent most of the day in his office at the Island trying to screw up the courage to apologise to her.

It may seem weird that a boy who had out flown a dragon, slayed a basilisk, and was the bane of Dementors* was scared of a teenage girl, but Harry did not want to see his friend cry. He was sure his actions had caused her to cry, but as long as he didn't see evidence of that he could pretend otherwise.

He had just turned around for another lap when the door was opened. Daphne walked in, with Hermione beside her, the Gryffindor girl coming to a halt at seeing who occupied the room. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Seeing his best friend voiceless, Harry went to apologise before he noticed something. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears, threatening to burst forth. He was struck dumb, unable to find the words he needed.

Seeing the state of the pair Daphne rolled her eyes. "Looks like I have to get things started; both of you are idiots. Hermione that was way too upfront for a teenage boy, and Harry that was just plain stupid. Now that that's out of the way we can move onto more important things. Hermione did you mean it?"

"Pardon?" The oldest of the three wasn't prepared for that. "Well yes but…" She trailed off.

Daphne nodded at that. "Good, good. Perfect."

Harry and Hermione were both incredibly confused by that. Why would Daphne think that was good?

"Good? Perfect? What are you on about Daphne? Are we still talking about the same thing?" Harry asked his fiancée.

Daphne seemed distracted, not really paying attention, as she responded. "Politics. Hermione seems interested in pursuing politics… Are you?"

"I guess. Maybe. Kind of." Hermione, who the question had been directed at, responded.

A grin split the Slytherin's face. "Perfect."

"Just hurry up and explain it Daphne." Harry's patience had been pushed too far already. He wanted answers.

Given that neither of them had grown up in the magical world she decided to give them a pass for not understanding it yet. "Because of your seats on the Wizengamot you can never go into politics Harry. It's a shame because you would easily become Minister given your fame, especially when you win this tournament. On the other side I have no interest in following the political path as working for the Ministry, even as the Minister, doesn't captivate me in the least. It would be a shame to leave such a perfect opportunity unused however which is where you fit in Hermione."

"You think that if I was married to Harry that his influence would pass on to me?" Hermione was starting to understand the other girl's train of thought.

"Yes!" Daphne was excited now. "Many muggleborn Witches and Wizards trying to enter politics or the Ministry encounter what they see as blood-biased attitudes, but that is not the case. While there are many "Purebloods" who look down on people like you Hermione, as evidenced by the Death Eaters, they are not people with power or real influence. Malfoy for example only has brought influence, but no matter how rich he was Harry, because of his ancestry, would always be more politically powerful even if he was dirt poor. Would they have needed to use violence if like-minded individuals already controlled the Ministry? Of course not."

"If that isn't why they run into problems, what is?" Harry spoke up to ask that.

Daphne continued on. "Connections. Politics always comes down to connections, I bet that's the case in the muggle world as well. When you belong to a family, such as the Black's, Potter's, or even the Greengrasses, and you apply for a job or an apprenticeship you are backed by that house and all their influence. If you are disowned from the family, or a member of the "disappointment list", you lose that backing and are essentially on an even basis as a muggleborn. For example if I owned a Potions shop and needed an apprentice I may get three students applying straight out of Hogwarts. If two got O's for their N.E.W.T.s and the other got EE the obvious choice would be one of the two with a better grade. However if the student who got Exceeds was the grandchild of the Lord of a most-Noble family by hiring them the Lord would in essence owe me a favour. Or imagine he is a terrible employee the Lord might pay to keep that quiet as it would damage the reputation of the family. It's the same with the Ministry."

"So you're saying that if I don't marry Harry I couldn't work at the Ministry?" Hermione, rightfully so, seemed dejected at that.

Daphne shook her head. "It's not that simple. You obviously will have immaculate grades, and your friendship to Harry is well known, so you probably could get a job at the Ministry but it would probably be a lower level job and you would struggle to rise up the ranks. Marrying Harry simply opens up doors that you would otherwise have to spend years knocking down. You forget that Harry is arguably the most famous and influential figure in magical Britain, even if our society was different being married to him would still open doors."

"You are making it seem like you want me to also marry her Daphne." Harry was still trying to work his way through it all.

A thoughtful look took over her face. "It's not what I dreamed of for my life, but the benefits certainly are there. The chances of having sons increases with two wives, which removes a lot of the pressure on me, and it allows us to have a larger impact on our world. Hermione in the Ministry, you in the Wizengamot, and me running whatever business I decide to start. Just to name a few."

"Are we really doing this?" Harry still seemed sceptical.

Hermione chewed on her lip before answering. "Yes."

The pair turned to Daphne. "It's not as simple as that, there will be some details that we have to iron out, particularly with Hermione's parents… But yes. Yes we are doing this."