Potter Politics

"Wow," was all Harry could mutter as his kiss with Molly ended. Cho certainly couldn't do that! After that kiss, Harry's nervousness seemed to dissipate and he felt much more comfortable. He looked at Molly intently, wondering what "type" of girl she was. Harry normally wasn't one to stereotype, but he couldn't help but wondering how often Molly "got around."

Similar thoughts were running through Molly's mind. She'd had about five boyfriends in the past school year, but she didn't really care about them, they were just hot guys that she dated. She definitely didn't love them, or even like them that much once she really thought about it. That's not to say she didn't have any morals, she never cheated on any of them once...

Something about Harry made him different. She didn't know what it was, she hardly knew anything about the guy. Sure, he was good-looking and seemed nice enough, but something was there that made her really want this guy.

"So Harry, what school do you go to? I've never seen you at Stonewall High."

"You know Vernon, er Mr. Dursley, well, he ships me off to a boarding school in Scotland. He says that it will 'teach that boy some manners.' Funny, coming from Dudley's dad, don't you think?"

"So do you have to go back there this year? Why can't you just go to a local school?" Molly said, becoming sad that she could already be losing her potential boyfriend.

"Well, you see, that's the thing, I don't really want to go back. I don't like the principal at my school because he's done some pretty mean things to me. And it's kind of hard making friends there when you're in my situation, so I've been trying to think of what to do."

"Why don't you just leave, then?"

"Molly, I'm only fifteen. I'll turn sixteen in a month. How am I supposed to just leave? There are laws saying that I have to go to school and"

"Who says you wouldn't be going to school? My cousin, Jeff, moved to the United States a couple of years ago. I heard my parents talking to him the other day and they told me that he bought two houses in the same neighborhood and he was planning on renting one of them out. I bet I could talk my parents into letting me stay there for the year since Jeff would be "watching me." And then I could sneak you there too, and as long as nobody knows about it, we could live together!"

"Molly, you can't be serious! We hardly even know each other. And you want us to live together? And move across the ocean to the United States," Harry suddenly stopped as he saw the hurt look in Molly's eyes.

Molly quickly regained her composure and said, "You like me, right?"

Harry nodded his head.

"Good, and I like you- a lot. Look, my parents are really rich so I can even cover the expenses for you. It will be so exciting, can you imagine how much fun we'll have? It'll be the wildest thing we've ever done. And you won't have to go back to that school you don't like, it's pefect. What do you say?"

"Let me think about this first, ok? I mean, this is kind of a big deal. But one thing is for sure; you won't be paying for me, I have some money that I can use to pay for it, if I do decide to go with this crazy idea of yours." Harry realized that he said this a bit stronger than he intended to and knew that he needed to fix it up.

"I'm sorry Molly, I wasn't trying to be so mean, I'll think about it, ok?" At that point, he pulled her closer and started kissing her ferociously. Molly wondered where that timid Harry that came here went, but decided that she didn't object to this one either. They continued kissing on and off for about the next hour or so. (Neither of them was looking at the clock.)

Harry finally got up and said, "So, er, Molly does this like mean you're my, er, girlfriend?"

Molly decided to test out her flirting abilities and started touching Harry's shirt and said, "I don't know, Harry. What do you think that makes me?"

"Well, er, I just thought, well nevermind, I guess that's ok..."

"Stop being silly, Harry. Of course I'll be your girlfriend. That would make things a lot more fun if we were to live together...unsupervised."

Harry took a big gulp as he thought about what he and Molly would be doing if they were living together, if this is what they did on the first date. "I guess I better leave, Molly, I got to get back to the Dursleys...I guess I'll see you tomorrow..."

"Harry, aren't you forgetting something." She grabbed a pad and scribbled seven digits on them. 'This is my phone number. You'll call me tomorrow, right?"

Harry found himself shaking his head yes as he started to leave.

"Harry, aren't you forgetting something else?"

As soon as Harry turned around Molly flung herself into his arms and gave him one final kiss. This grand finale proved to be no disappointment. They finally tore themselves away from each other and Harry began his walk back to Privet Drive.

When he was almost there, he realized that he had left his cloak in the park and returned to get it. He ran back, grabbed it, and snuck back into his house. As he got ready for bed, he took the chance to think about his future.

Surely he couldn't take Molly up on her offer? It just seemed too crazy. And plus, he hardly knew her. But Harry conceded to himself, what little he did know of her, he definitely liked. Was he begin to fall in love? He decided to stop thinking about such "mushy" things, and started thinking about whether or not to seriously consider Molly's offer.

She seemed pretty serious about it, even though it came up spur of the moment. And he could finally get away from Voldemort, his ex-best friends, and...Dumbledore. Harry enjoyed thinking about how hard it would be for Dumbledore explaining Harry's disappearance, and the world would blame the old fool for losing Harry. And Harry could spend his time with Molly, make some friends who didn't look at him as the Boy-Who-Lived, and get a second chance at life. The more he thought about it, the less crazy this plan seemed...It was almost...realistic.

If anything were to happen, Harry knew that he must get his finances in order. He took out the Gringotts letter, and began his reply:

Mr. Magwook,

Thank you for your condolences. It was greatly appreciated. In response to your letter, I would like to meet with you Wednesday if it suits you. I will plan on arriving at Gringotts sometime around noon for our meeting. If this is a problem, please let me know, and we can agree on a different time. Also, it would be greatly appreciated if you didn't discuss our meeting with anybody.

H. James Potter

Harry was quite proud of himself. It was as close as he was going to come to writing a formal letter, and he liked the H. James Potter touch at the end. It had a nice ring to it. He was also glad to be getting his finances in order, it was good to feel in control of something. Normally he didn't care or worry about money, but now that he was considering moving, he became curious as to how much he really had.

He was determined to make this work. He could have a perfect life, or as close to perfect as it was going to get for him. The thought of living with his girlfriend, having it all be a secret, getting rid of Voldemort and Dumbledore, all seemed too good to be true. Perhaps he really could lead a normal life. But could the magical world live without him?