The Power of Apology

She had been dragged to the kitchens and placed in front of a sink full of dirty dishes. Martha had shouted, screamed and swore at the elves but they just ignored her. There were wards in place, preventing the raging witch from moving away from the sink but there was no way she was washing dishes.

After standing for a few hours, hunger forced the witch to ask a passing elf for something to eat. His reply, "no work – no food" left her shocked.

Last night's imprisonment had not lent itself to overeating and her period of mourning had very little food in it. Martha Flint was very hungry.

About two hours later the elves sat down to a meal, the aroma's of which were making her mouth water.

Martha watched them eat and chat amongst themselves while considering her options.

She could continue to stand here, doing nothing and starve to death or wash the dishes, earning a meal. She rolled up her sleeves.

After finishing one of the best meals she'd ever tasted an elf led her to a bench where others were preparing vegetables. She sat grating carrots while listening to the elves chat amongst them selves.

Their opinion of the Potters was only surpassed by an elf named Winky.

After a few days she had graduated to cooking which made her so proud until realising her situation. It was the following night, lying in bed when it struck her that she had enjoyed cooking today.

When Martha was returned to the main area she was almost sorry to be leaving.

As she saw Angela the difference was amazing, her daughter was talking confidently amongst friends with a young man by her side. Was this really Angela Flint?

When they caught each other's eye, neither was sure what to do next but when Angela came over and hugged her mother, both of them ended up crying.

Discovering they were invited to a Christmas Eve ball at Potter Manor was a bit of a shock, with no age limit on this one the younger Zabini's were going and could speak of little else.

Hearing that their mother was the new head of Slytherin was an even greater shock. The Potter's weren't just letting them work; they were handing out positions of immense responsibility.

Being approached by Narcissa to arrange an interview with the intension of discovering what Martha wanted to do with her life was another eye-opener.

Here was a woman whose husband and son were amongst the Dark Lord's most fanatical supporters yet the Potter's had made her their private secretary! She was beyond confused.

Martha was beginning to wonder if the Potter's were different, they certainly had changed the magical world. By the time the ball came round she had made up her mind to align herself with them and then that disgusting display had left her feeling sick. She couldn't believe falling for the hype of that arrogant prick. Here they come again, I wonder what bullshit he's going to hit us with now?

Harry and Hermione made their way to the stage and asked for quiet.

"Hi everyone, I feel I must apologise for earlier. It was a bad case of misjudgement on my part. I was copying a famous muggle entertainer without realising nobody here had ever heard of him. We are going to try something that's never been done before" said Harry, taking hold of Hermione's hand

He held out his hand, closed his eyes and a projection of Freddie Mercury appeared in front of them singing 'kind of magic'.

The entire audience looked on in stunned disbelief, the projection was practically a carbon copy of what Harry had done earlier.

Narcissa was watching the reactions of the guests and it was working on two levels, they could now see what Harry had been trying to achieve with his singing. Add to that the awe at the power required achieving a projection, never mind not using a pensieve, he wasn't even using a wand!

When it finished the crowd went nuts.

Harry and Hermione were mobbed while congratulations were coming from everywhere.

The guests were all thinking along similar lines to Martha Flint, most of them here tonight had tied themselves to Harry and Hermione in one form or another. The thought that their leader could be an arse had been extremely worrying.

The euphoria was mostly relief that the chosen one didn't have feet of clay and the whole incident has been a cultural misunderstanding.

Nowhere was the relief welcomed than with Harry and Hermione, they had made a serious error of judgement but recovered the only way they knew how. By admitting their mistake, apologising and trying to rectify it.

The twins, who had Alicia and Angelina as their dates, pulled them into a corner.

"Just the people we want to talk to," said Fred

"Could you please explain why we got invitations with Stag Industries employee stamped on them?" asked George

"C'mon guys, you know I already asked you to work on the muggle devices. What's the problem?" Harry returned

"You mean we get paid to take things apart?" a stunned Fred asked

....

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