Potter Politics

Harry sat in his bed analyzing the events of the last few weeks. His godfather, Sirius Black, was murdered by his very own cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, at the Department of Mysteries. He could still recall the look of surprise on Sirius' face as he fell through the veil. Harry couldn't help but be a little mad at Sirius for not taking the duel seriously as he was taunting his cousin.

Harry spent a good amount of time mourning the loss of his father's closest friend. This caused Harry to grow angry at just about everyone who had anything to do with his godfather's death. He now considered Dumbledore an enemy almost as great as Voldemort himself. Dumbledore broke Harry's will in ways Voldemort never could have. First, he sent Harry to live with the Dursleys, who treated him worse than crap and made him their personal slave. Hermione pointed out an interesting stat to Harry from one of her statistics books: Following the Potters' death, almost 300,000 families offered to adopt Harry. Surely Dumbledore could have found one of them suitable for him. Also, Dumbledore had a nasty tendency to make decisions for people concerning their lives without input from the people who would be affected. Harry felt that Dumbledore should have told him about the prophecy sometime during his first year at Hogwarts.

He was also incredibly ticked off at his two best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. It turns out that during his fourth year right before the Tri-Wizard Tournament started, Dumbledore contacted Ron and Hermione to ask them to join the Order of Phoenix for the purpose of keeping tabs on Harry. His two best friends spying on him! Dobby, the house-elf whom Harry liberated after his second year from the tyranny of the Malfoys, told him this information after he heard Ron and Hermione having a late night conversation in the Gryffindor common room. He had some plans for them!

The more Harry thought of his circumstances, the more screwed he realized that he was. The two most powerful wizards in Great Britain, Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort, were his enemies. His two best friends, or ex- best friends, betrayed him to give a headmaster inside information. The one thing that Harry had going for him was the fact that the headmaster and his two best friends were blissfully unaware of his ill-will towards them. Harry was feeling more alone now than ever. The permanent absence of his greatest allies: his godfather, the headmaster, and his two best friends greatly depressed him. Harry realized that he didn't have many other friends and resolved to change that situation. The more Harry thought about this, the angrier he became, and he decided that it would be in his best interest to go outside for a walk to clear his mind.

Harry thought about asking the Dursleys' for permission to go outside, but they would probably say no. He didn't care what the Dursleys thought though, and if they caught him when he came back, how much worse could they make his life be? The Dursleys were in the living room, making it very easy to get out the kitchen door. They were all so absorbed in the television show that he doubted that they would notice anything if he made a noise. He quietly opened the door and stealthily snuck out.

Harry started walking down Privet Drive and kept on walking for about five minutes until he reached the park next to the adjoining neighborhood. The park, like everything else in that area, was meticulously kept, and it made Harry feel guilty stepping on the wood chips and seemingly putting them out of place. Harry saw a beautiful girl sitting on one of the park benches. As it was approaching evening, it was difficult to make out the intimate details of her, but he could verify that she was of about medium height, somewhat long silky black hair, and he was greatly admiring the upper part of her body when she directed her gaze towards him. Harry turned slightly red and to cover his embarrassment, he turned around and went to the swings. He started lightly swinging and did the best he could to avoid eye contact with her. Harry noticed that the girl started walking towards him, and unsure of what to do, he kept on looking straight ahead.

"Hi. Can I sit here?" the girl asked.

"Sure."

"My name's Molly Hamilton. What's yours?"

"I'm Harry- Harry Potter."

"Harry, that name sounds so familiar. Do you live around here?"

"Yeah, I live on Privet Drive."

"Which house?"

"Uh, #4."

"Oh, that's where I heard that name before. You're Dudley's cousin, aren't you?"

"Yeah, how do you know Dudley?"

"I was a cheerleader at one of the Stonewall high basketball games. He asked me to come to one of his boxing tournaments."

Harry couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. Did Dudley once go out with this beautiful girl? And on the same note, did this girl once go out with Dudley? He had to ask the question that was on his mind, "So did you and Dudley...like...you know..."

While Harry was stumbling over his own words, Molly got the idea of what he was aiming at and quickly replied, "No, of course not. I made up some excuse and told him that I couldn't go."

Harry was developing a great admiration for this girl. Dudley was a very intimidating person at his school, and not many people had the nerve to turn him or his gang down, even if they were girls. Added to her looks, this girl was a complete knock-out.

Molly was thinking along the same lines as Harry. She was definitely physically attracted to Harry and she couldn't seem to tear herself away from his gorgeous green eyes.

And if what she thought he had been looking at earlier, he was interested in her too. From what she could tell about Harry, he was a shy guy, since he was avoiding eye contact with her. She knew that if anything were to happen, she would have to make the first move.

"So Harry, are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Nothing much. What do you have in mind?"

"My parents are out of town and I was wondering if maybe you would want to come over to my house tomorrow night?"

"Sure, I'd love to. Where do you live?"

"Do you see that brick house with the three big trees in front of it. That's it."

"All right, so what time do you want me to come over?"

"What time works for you, Harry?"

"The Dursleys usually go to bed at around 10:30. But I could try to sneak out earlier if you want."

"No, 10:30 sounds good. Just try not to let your aunt know where you're at. I don't mean to offend you, but she tends to like to gossip and if my parents heard that I had a boy at my house..."

Harry interrupted her and said, "Molly, my aunt and uncle hate me. I don't talk to them-ever. You don't have to worry about that. They don't even keep tabs on me anymore. They just assume that I'm in my room. As long as they don't see me exit or enter the house, I'm good. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Good night."

"Good night, Harry."