Harry Potter and the House Divided

Chapter Two "The Joys of Occlumency"

Four days later, Harry was impatiently waiting for his Occlumency teacher. Much as he hated to admit it, Professor Dumbledore's determination to keep his or her identity a secret until the last minute had engaged his curiosity. Someone that he would be pleased to see? Right now, there weren't too many people who Harry would be happy to see walking up the front steps of #4 Privet Drive.

He wasn't ready to see Ron or Hermione and knew that neither of them would have learned either Occlumency or Legilimency yet.

Without knowledge of how to shield the mind they certainly wouldn't know how to attack his thoughts.

Harry wasn't ready to see Remus Lupin either. Professor Lupin had been his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher during his third year and was Sirius' closest living friend. Seeing Remus now would bring back too many memories, thoughts of Sirius that Harry wasn't ready to deal with yet.

Harry knew that others might come to teach him Occlumency but he didn't feel close enough to any of them to believe that he would be pleased to see them. His confused emotions over the identity of his Occlumency tutor and joy at the realization that he wouldn't have to see the Dursleys for the entire day were more than enough to bring him to the front steps of #4 Privet Drive by 8:30 Saturday morning.

At one minute before nine, a tall, slender silver-haired girl appeared in front of him, folding the invisibility cloak that she had used to conceal her arrival into a small handbag thrown over her left shoulder.

"Fleur?" Harry gasped, shocked that the incredibly beautiful part veela would be standing on his relatives' front walk rather than doing... whatever she normally did with Ron's brother Bill on the weekends.

"'ello 'arry," she said with a laugh at his gob smacked expression.

"Are you..."

"Yes," she replied, before he could ask any questions that might draw undue attention to their activities.

"Uh," Harry said jumping to his feet. "Where do you want to do this?"

"Eet would be best if we deed eet inside."

"Well," Harry said with a sigh, "My relatives say that they'll not let me or anyone else do magic inside the house this summer."

"I weel give zem a note from Professeur Dumbledore, and if zey won't let us practice zere zen we will go to ze park and do it zere."

"What about Mrs. Figg's?" Harry asked, thinking that they could work there and not be bothered by the batty old squibb.

"She 'as been moved now zat Lord Voldemore ees back and knows zat she was to be one of 'your guardians. Zey 'ad to move 'er since she couldn't defend herself against ze Death Eaters eef zey decided to attack 'er."

"Right," Harry said, guilt twisting in his middle on knowing that yet another person's life had been affected by helping him.

"Should we go een?" Fleur asked, gesturing toward his relatives' front door.

"OK," Harry said, knowing that any conversation between Fleur and the Dursleys simply couldn't go well.

Harry opened the door for her and Fleur swept into the house as if she owned it. Harry supposed that the confidence that came with being truly and exquisitely beautiful could take someone a long way in life and only wished that he could match Fleur's obvious poise.

Uncle Vernon came thundering out of the kitchen, obviously determined to see the freak thrown out before she could engage in any of the abnormality that his nephew seemed to revel in.

"Who are you!" he demanded, moustache twitching.

"I am Fleur Delacour and I am 'ere to 'elp 'arry protect himself from 'e 'oo must not be named."

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" demanded Uncle Vernon with a laugh. "What kind of fool do you think I am...?" he asked, voice rising to a near shout. When Fleur seemed unimpressed by this offering he reinforced it by turning his back to her and snorting: "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named indeed!"

Unfortunately for Uncle Vernon, Dudley was standing right behind him, mouth gaping in great appreciation of Fleur's impressive... abnormality.

Though he had lost the layer of fat that cloaked him when he was younger, Dudley had replaced it with a lot of equally heavy muscle. According to Dudley, he was much lighter on his feet than he had been before learning how to box but he wasn't quick enough to avoid Uncle Vernon's sudden move.

There was a terrible crash as the Dursley men fell to the floor, the impact of their fall sufficient to shatter the sitting room window.

"Dudders!" Vernon yelled, picking himself up while trying to brush dust from his formerly immaculate suit.

"Sorry, Dad!" Dudley muttered, his piggy eyes still fixed on Fleur's fascinating form.

"Get back in the kitchen with your mother!" Vernon yelled, his words having absolutely no impact on Dudley's thoroughly overloaded brain.

Fleur, obviously used to displays like Dudley's, turned her back on him and waved her wand at the sitting room window. With a muttered "Reparo", the glass returned to the frame that it had so recently vacated.

Her actions brought everyone's attention to Harry who had hoped to escape his relatives' notice while she spoke to them.

"Yes," she said, as if there hadn't been a break in the conversation. "Professeur Dumbledore 'as asked me to teach 'arry 'ow to protect his mind from attack by Lord Voldemort. Eef 'yu don't object I weel tutor 'im 'ere every zaturday morning and at least one afternoon during ze week as well."

"I certainly do mind if it requires you using..., that rubbish that he is learning at that freak school of his!" Vernon panted, much of his breath occupied by the effort required to hold Dudley back from his increasingly obvious attempts to get close to this apparent... freak whose beauty and poise seemed to be intentionally directed at making his son act... well, freakishly.

"Eet weel require the use of magic," Fleur said with a flip of her long tresses. "Zere is no ozer way to break into his mind than magic and Lord Voldemort will 'ave no respect for your opinions on ze matter."

"Then you'll have to do it somewhere else!" Vernon snapped, Aunt Petunia now helping him to drag Dudley away from the front hall.

"Very well, zen." Fleur said. "I weel 'tech 'Arry to ze park and weel return 'im to you by suppertime."

"You do that then!" barked Uncle Vernon, cutting off Dudley's demand to tell the new girl about his increasing fame as a junior heavy-weight boxing champion by closing the kitchen door with a perfunctory snap.

* * *

"Um, Fleur," Harry said tentatively some minutes later as they walked toward the near-by park where Dudley loved to spend his time beating up and blackmailing the neighbourhood children.

"I'm really sorry about Uncle Vernon....he really doesn't like magic much."

"Bill told me zat 'e might be zis way but I deedn't believe 'im." she said with a laugh. "'E tends to tell some tales about 'is time in Egypt and I zought zat 'e was telling stories about your family too."

"Probably," Harry said with a sigh, "he wasn't even telling you the worst about them."

"After today," she said with a frown, "I weel listen to 'im more closely."

Harry sighed, eyes still fixed firmly on the ground.

"What ees eet, 'arry?"

"Bill's lucky," he said after a minute's thought.

"'and 'ow is zat so?"

"When he tells stories you listen and learn which of them to believe. When I say something, most people don't listen to what I say. Instead they listen to everything that other people say about me and decide what they think on that, not on what I said in the first place."

Fleur stopped, her greater height forcing her to bend over in order to see his face and the sadness so deeply etched on it.

"'Arry, zere ees no doubt that you 'ave 'ad more problems zan anyone I 'ave ever met", she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Professeur Dumbledore told me a leetle bit about 'ow things 'ar for you and I know that eet's not easy to face what 'yu 'ave to...."

Harry jumped, angered that Dumbledore might have told Fleur about the prophecy when he hadn't even had the chance to decide whether he would tell Ron and Hermione about it.

Before he could explode with anger, Fleur's quiet voice brought him near to collapsing with grief.

"'Yu 'ave lost your gadfazer and 'u weel 'ave to be ready to lose more people zat 'u care about. We weel all 'ave people zat we love die soon and eet ees 'ard to zink about for anyone."

"But why me?" Harry demanded, now as frustrated that what he was really saying would not be apparent to his companion as he had been a minute earlier at the thought that she would know his most frightening secret.

"I do not know why 'u 'ad to be hurt so badly but eet ees obvious zat Lord Voldemort 'as a special 'atred for you. Professeur Dumbledore 'as told me to tell you zat 'e ees always ready to talk with 'u and zat 'e weel come to see 'u at least once every two weeks to keep you up to date on what ees 'appening. 'E also said to tell you zat 'e ees very sorry for not remembering the words of a wise muggle who once said that "knowledge is power," and zat 'e weel never forget zis again where 'u are concerned.

'E also told me to tell 'u zat zere ees not much time before Lord Voldemort weel be ready to take ze zing for which Sirius died from your mind and zat 'u and everyone zat you care about ees not safe until 'u 'ave learned Occlumency."

Harry groaned, knowing that Fleur was right but not yet ready to let her try to see his thoughts as he was quite sure that he didn't know enough to keep her from doing so.

"'U know zat we must work on zis 'arry," Fleur said softly.

"Yeah," Harry growled. "but I don't have to like it do I?"

"Non, 'u don't." she said with a sigh. "'Ow eef I 'elp you wiz some defensive techniques first and zen we weel see 'ow 'u can defend yourself against a quest for somezing zat we agree on."

"A quest?" Harry asked, glad that if he was going to have to perform Occlumency that he'd get a chance to learn something about the attacks that he was supposed to defend against.

"Yes, a quest." Fleur said, seemingly shocked that he didn't know anything about the terms that a ligillimens would use to describe the art. "Eef I just attack 'your mind wizout a specific focus I weel learn a lot about your daily life and 'your classes but 'ave leetle chance of learning ze things zat I want to."

"Oh," Harry said, eyes cast down toward his feet as they continued to drag across the grass. "When Snape attacked my mind he never told me that he was looking for something. He always seemed to see bad memories or things that I didn't want him to but there wasn't any specific pattern. He just told me to keep him out if I could."

"What?!" Fleur cried, her voice catching the ears of some nearby children. She calmed herself before she could continue and then went on in a near whisper.

"While Lord Voldemort might try zat on 'u, Professeur Snape should 'ave taught you by showing you what to do to protect yourself against an attack once you realized zat eet was 'appening before just ... just ..." she threw her hands into the air, obviously disgusted.

"Well, he didn't and he's a ruddy sadistic wanker too, but whatever happened, I should have known that Voldemort didn't have Sirius."

"'And 'ow should you 'ave known zat?!" Fleur demanded, gently directing him toward an isolated bench where they could talk without being overheard by curious muggles.

"Voldemort couldn't have had Sirius because Dumbledore told him, Sirius I mean, not to leave ... the place that he was staying."

"Zees ees true but Bill 'as told me zat eet ees also true zat Sirius tended to ... be un'appy zere. 'U couldn't 'ave known zat 'e wasn't in danger and 'adn't been taught enough about Occlumency and Ligillimancy to know zat zee visions zat 'u were receiving were false. 'U deed mek 'sum meesteks but in zis case Profeseur Dumbledore ees right when 'e says zat 'e and ozers in zee Order were more at fault than 'u were."

"But..."

"But nozing!" Fleur snapped, while leaning forward, her tightly fitting top and the tremendous curves that it didn't conceal so well distracting Harry's mind from thoughts of Sirius and the prophecy for a moment at least.

However, Fleur's tirade was more than sufficient to bring him back to the problems that he was facing.

"'U must not act like a leetle boy and tek all zee blame for zings zat 'u only 'ad some fault for. 'U 'ave tremendous burdens to bear and 'u won't do very well wiz zem eef 'u don't learn 'ow to see where your responsibilities end 'as well 'as where zey begin."

Harry didn't know what to say. He'd gotten so used to blaming himself for things that went wrong and being angry at adults who looked at him not as a fifteen year old wizard but as either James and Lily Potter's son or "The-Boy-Who-Lived", that he really had no idea what a normal teenager's problems and responsibilities might be, not to mention how he or she might be expected to handle them.

After a few minutes' silence, Fleur gently suggested that they should get to working on Occlumency so that they could get something to eat for lunch.

She explained to him that he needed to focus on some thought or feeling that he could use to prevent an attacker from having free access to his mind. At first, he would only be able to focus on this thought but over time he would truly be able to clear his mind, even while under attack and be able to set a layer that would literally block the quester's assault and ultimately make it possible for him to redirect the probe to parts of his mind where Harry would be able to decide what his attacker saw. She would also help him learn to clear his mind before going to sleep. She explained to him that doing so was really the only way to ensure that there were no thoughts or obsessions on which Lord Voldemort might be able to prey and so gain access to Harry's unconscious mind.

"'U can break an Impirius Curse and 'ave a very strong Patronus I zink?" she asked, curiously.

"Yes," Harry said, embarassed.

"Good." she said. "and 'U 'ave not been very susceptible to ze small amount of veela charm zat I 'ave eizer. Zis is common for older wizards but ..." she trailed off, seemingly not wanting to discuss the reactions that she obviously knew followed her where ever she went when she was at Hogwarts.

"Why is that important?" Harry asked, not wanting to admit that whether it was veela charm or simply the fact that he was sitting next to an extraordinarily beautiful girl, he was definitely... affected by Fleur in a way that he'd never been before.

"'Eet shows zat 'U 'ave a natural ability to keep ozer wizards and magical beings from affecting your mind. 'U should be able to learn 'ow to protect your mind fairly quickly eef we can teach 'U ze basics."

"Oh," Harry said his mind wandering from Fleur's words to her chest every time she took a breath.

"OK," Fleur said, straightening so that her arm could lie along the back of the bench on which they were sitting, the tip of her wand barely visible in the palm of her hand. "I 'am going to try to see into 'your mind. I am going to quest for zoughts about your friends. Keep me out by focusing on one zought or feeling zat is very important to 'u."

Harry sat back, mind flitting from one thing to another until he decided to focus on the feeling that he got when he was catching the snitch right out from under Draco Malfoy's nose.

"OK," he said, mind totally focused on the feelings that he'd had when he caught the snitch during his first and only game last year.

"Legilimens," Fleur said softly.

Harry stayed focused on the wonderful feeling that came with beating Malfoy, again, for several seconds but slowly his mind shifted to the events that had come after. The joyous celebration that had been interrupted by Malfoy's insults against Ginny...the anger that he felt while fighting side by side with Fred and George..., the joy that he felt when Fred and George escaped a flogging from Mr. Filch by summoning their brooms and making a wild run for freedom..., the nervousness that he'd felt while working with Hermione to help Sirius escape from Hogwarts...

He came out of his memories with a gasp, Fleur's arm now tightly around his shoulders in order to keep him from falling off of the bench.

"'U deed well but 'U deedn't stay focused on zat one feeling. Try anozer very simple one zat doesn't have too many outside associations....Somezing like lying in bed on a saturday morning wiz nozing to do zat day...."

Harry nodded, beginning to see what he needed to do. If only Snape had taught him in this way..., but thinking about that wouldn't help him keep Fleur out of his mind and he was determined to do well to impress her and to make sure that Hermione, Ron and everyone else he cared about stayed safe.

"OK," he said after a moment, a new thought in his mind.

"Legilimens..."

The amazing feeling that he'd had on his Nimbus 2001, riding around the Quidditch stadium watching for the snitch during one of his practices first year..., flying on his firebolt as he challenged the dragon during the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament..., being kissed by Fleur at the end of fourth year..., being kissed by Hermione at King's Cross station just before the horrible summer that opened his fifth year..., sharing a very wet kiss with Cho just before the Christmas holidays last year...

"Much better," Fleur said with a smile.

"But you still got in." Harry complained.

"Of Cours' I got een. 'U are a powerful wizard but 'U are still not ready to block your mind against someone wiz more training zan 'U 'ave."

"Right." Harry said, determined to do better this time. "Let's go again."

"OK," Fleur said. "Zis time I am going to quest for a dream or fantasy and try to force 'U to see it from ze beginning to ze end."

Harry shuddered. His dreams at the moment weren't fun to see once, and having to relive them with Fleur watching? Well, at least he had motivation to try to stop her.

"I'm ready," Harry said, jaw clenched.

"Legilimens..."

The joy of flying on his broom, circling the Quidditch stadium..., the joy of flying on his broom, circling the Quidditch stadium..., the joy of flying on his broom, circling the Quidditch stadium..., the twinge that he'd felt when he saw Cho for the first time during the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw match in the spring of his third year..., the powerful effect on him that seeing her had on him at the beginning of his fourth..., a barely remembered fantasy of doing..., things with her that he'd seen in the pictures in a copy of "Gentleman Wizard" that Fred and George had given him when all of those stupid girls had been asking him to the Yule ball..., the naked girl in his arms getting taller and growing a crop of long silver hair..., a funny feeling in his body..., a damp feeling in his underwear...

Harry snapped out of the spell and sent Fleur crashing to the grass with the force of his physical and magical reaction to what had just happened. Fortunately the nearby muggles only saw him literally thrust her away from himself using both hands which had, unfortunately, landed on her chest. He received more than a few frowns from neighbourhood parents who thought him incurably criminal thanks to Uncle Vernon's cover story but no one came to help Fleur as she rolled to her feet and made it clear that she was quite a bit bigger than Harry and probably able to take care of herself.

Harry shot to his feet, thoroughly embarassed that she had seen such an intimate thing about him. His first thought was that she must have impressed herself on his image of Cho but then realized that he had been having exactly those feelings about her only half an hour earlier.

"Did you have to go all the way to the end?" he demanded, mortified that she had seen and probably felt his reaction to that particular fantasy.

"I told 'U zat I would try to force 'u to ze end of any fantasy zat I could find," she said.

"Yeah, but..."

"'Arry, 'u are going to have to force Professeur Dumbledore out of your mind by ze end of ze summer and may be attacked by Voldemort 'as well before your training is finished. Zat was a pleasant fantasy for you and eet 'ad some good memories wiz it. 'U can't let yourself get distracted from ze main goal which ees to keep me-or anyone!--from zeeing zose memories."

"But...but...but..."

"Zere are no buts 'ere. 'U must know 'ow to control when and where 'U zee zese zings. 'U 'ave made much progress today and I zink zat we should stop and ... clean 'U up before I tek 'U 'ome."

Needless to say, the thought of having Fleur clean this particular mess up was not pleasant but there really wasn't another choice. Harry suffered her ministrations in stony silence and wondered if he would ever be able to look her in the eye again. He didn't notice that she was talking to him for some moments and his attention only wandered to her when she straightened up from her former task.

"'U must remember zat because I am part veela I am drawn to fantasy and sex. Zis is part of ze Veela Charm we have the ze power to mek men and women fantasize about us and 'ope zat zey can impress us enough to allow ourselves to become zeir mates. 'U 'ave always resisted me well and I deedn't know zat 'u would be unprepared for me to seek zat kind of memory. I am sorry zat 'u feel zat your privacy 'as been invaded... zis is what I am 'oping to 'elp you learn to prevent zis summer and in all honesty I am complimented zat I 'ave some effect on you. I zink zat 'u weel probably be able to resist me by ze end of ze summer and could probably resist a full veela by zen as'wel. Eef so, 'u weel be able to act as an ambassador to ze Veela for Professeur Dumbledore and weel impress zem greatly by your ability to stop zem from affecting your mind."

Harry turned away, not at all comfortable with the conversation, the thought of further responsibility cast on him by his headmaster and most importantly, the memories of what had happened earlier. Fortunately, his turn took them toward the exit that they needed to use and so Fleur simply fell into step beside him, seemingly aware that further talk would not help right now.

* * *

Harry was silent, deep in thought as they walked back toward Privet Drive. Fleur's explanation for his reaction made sense but reasons didn't make his responses to her probe any less embarrassing. If someone would most naturally search for information that interested them, her ability to cause him to have the equivalent of a wet dream was consistent with a part veela's nature.

Her nature and interests were focused on passion and physical attraction. So if that was the case, what did that say about Snape? Could the greasy git really have wanted to torture him or was he trying to prepare Harry for the kinds of attacks that Voldemort might try? Either way, the lessons had failed and whether the trip to the ministry and Sirius death were Harry's fault, Snape's or some combination of the two, he wished that Dumbledore's first instructor had been a bit more... forthcoming in what was needed and more importantly, why.

"Uh, what!", Harry cried, his attention caught by a gentle tap on his elbow. They stood in front of a cafe and Fleur seemed to want something.

"'Arry, do you want to sit before I take you back to your relatives?"

"Uh, sure." Harry said, letting Fleur guide him toward a small table near one edge of the outdoor seating area.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them after Harry placed an order for a pot of tea and a plate of biscuits. Even though Fleur had explained why he had reacted to her so strongly, Harry couldn't exactly say that he was very comfortable around her. Certainly she wasn't as bad as Snape but it was kind of embarrassing to have one of the most attractive women in the world in your head and finding out about your fantasies about her. The fact that he'd had a physical reaction to the thoughts that she'd exposed was even worse since he hadn't been wearing his robes. Muggle clothes were far too revealing he thought glumly.

Fleur's voice, low and somehow soothing came to him as if in a dream. "'Arry," she murmured, "'U must not be shamed by your reaction. 'U couldn't 'ave resisted even a part-veela's charm when she touched 'u."

Harry grunted.

"You've never been rude to me and 'after you saved Gabrielle during ze seconde task, I 'owe you more zan I could ever pay back."

"But..." Harry tried to interrupt. After all, he had been stupid to hang around to save Gabrielle since Dumbledore wouldn't have let her die.

"Oh be quiet for a minute," Fleur snapped, her eyes hardening in a way that reminded Harry a great deal of Professor Dumbledore when he'd burst into the faux Moody's office at the end of his fourth year. "You stayed because 'you 'are 'honorable 'and deedn't know zat Professeur Dumbledore had prepared for ze pozibility zat one of ze victims would not be rescued. 'U were determined to mek sure zat zey would 'ave a chance to live and zat is what zey noticed when you got your points. Zat is a far better trait zan I showed by letting Madame Maxime 'elp me with ze tasks. I was wrong and 'ave learned as much from knowing you as you will learn from me."

Harry's eyes caught Fleur's and he could tell by looking at her that she believed everything she'd just told him. He thought about objecting and telling her that he'd cheated just as much as she did but couldn't screw up the courage to do it before she started talking again.

"Professeur Dumbledore eez right when 'e says zat doing right is harder than taking ze eazy way. I respect you for doing ze right zing 'elping Gabrielle and you should stop thinking zat you were stupeed for 'elping her."

"Uh, OK...." Harry said, shocked by the emotion behind Fleur's words. He would have been more willing to believe her if there hadn't been so many other times when he'd not done the right thing and it seemed like most of them had happened last year.

Fleur's hand moved slightly and Harry refocused on her impassioned words.

"It is easy to keep being the leetle boy that you like to be sometimes and think zat you 'ave been stupid or zat somezing was 'your fault. William 'as talked wiz me about you and 'e says zat you think zat you shouldn't 'ave gone to ze ministry of magic last month....."

"But..."

Her hand rose sharply, cutting off his claim that indeed he shouldn't have led his friends and the order to disaster.

"I know, you think zat you shouldn't 'ave let Lord Voldemore trick you and you are right. 'You make ze right choice but you do it wizout doing everyzing you can to avoid ze problem in ze first place."

"But how could I!" Harry exploded. "Umbridge kept me from talking to anyone, she put Dumbledore out of the school and wouldn't let us send owls to anyone without looking at them first. It's not like I could write him and find out what to do."

"Non, but you should 'ave talked with Professeur Snape."

"Snape!" Harry cried, drawing attention from people sitting at several nearby tables and the young woman who was in the process of setting out their tea things.

Harry, seeing their interest, waited until they had turned back to their table mates. "He's a git and had more to do with killing Sirius than anyone except that hag Lestrange," he said, hotly.

"Non 'arry!" Fleur snapped back. "You 'ad far more to do with 'is death than Professeur Snape. Because you never gave 'im ze chance to 'elp you find out what was going on. You did ze easy zing and acted like a leetle boy razer zan acting like ze young man zat you zink you are. You didn't think through and find anozer way like trying to call Professeur Dumbledore's pheeneex or taking your vision to Professeur Snape before using illegal methods to try to find out what was 'appening." she said, chest heaving. "I don't know why you are so important to Professeur Dumbledore and to ze dark lord but whatever ze reeson, you 'ave to start acting like a young man and zink through everyzing you do from now on."

Harry looked down, feelings of anger and shame competing for dominance in his chest.

"But how was I going to get help when Fudge told that hag Umbridge to try to kill me with the dementors and then sent her up to school? She'd taken over and I don't care how much you think I should have talked with Snape, the only person who trusts Snape that I know is Dumbledore and I don't trust him much right now where anything to do with me is concerned."

"Meenester Fudge 'ad Professeur Umbridge zend ze dementors against you?" Fleur asked, face paling with obvious shock.

"Well, not really. She said that she did that on her own but it wasn't like Fudge was going to complain if I died or anything. He's a lying git and I can't believe that Dumbledore's helping Fudge rather than trying to get rid of him. After all, that's what I'd do if I was Dumbledore."

"'Arry, Professeur Dumbledore can't just get reed of ze meenester of magic."

"I don't see why not." Harry said, his voice rising on every word. "I mean, he lied about me, he lied about Dumbledore and he lied about Voldemort. The first two are OK, I can take it and I know Dumbledore can too... after all, he's the greatest wizard in the world but to lie about Voldemort being back? How can Fudge do that and not be thrown out?"

"'Arry, you know zat ze ministry has to preesent a united front. They can't afford to 'ave problems now."

"Well, of course not." Harry growled. "Even though their biggest problem is Fudge with Umbridge and Percy making it a race for stupidest prat in the ministry. With people like them in charge it'll be a wonder if anybody's alive outside of Hogwarts by the time we leave it."

Fleur frowned, obviously not sure how to continue their conversation. She looked skyward, seeming to seek inspiration but when her eyes widened precipitously, Harry quickly tried to see whatever she did. He half expected to see Death Eaters coming at them on broomsticks.

However, when she looked at her watch and then shot to her feet as if someone had put bubotuber puss on her chair, Harry realized that she was shocked by the amount of time that had passed while they sat at the cafe; they would have to hurry if they were to get back to no.4 Privet drive before the evening meal.

They hastily dropped a few pounds on the table but in their rush to leave the cafe neither noticed that their server had dropped her latest load of tea things and was frantically writing a note that would soon be on it's way to someone who was very interested in everything that Harry had to say.