Separate Lives

Harry was having a strange dream. In his dream, Dora had told him he should pay Lupin a visit and get his old life back. The only trouble was, Lupin hadn't been very receptive. Yet, Harry could not understand why he would dream about such a thing. Dora would never make him go back - she knew Harry's feelings on the matter. Besides, if he did go back, he was sure Lupin would be nothing but happy and hospitable. He was his father's only surviving best friend, after all. Anyway, it wasn't worth thinking about -

"Ahhh!"

A loud scream pierced Harry's ears. As he slowly moved back to consciousness, his mind raced the possibilities of the origin of the scream. Either someone was in trouble or someone was hurt, but either way they needed his help. Perhaps Dora had had a fall, or maybe there was an intruder. Without even thinking about what he was doing, Harry opened his eyes and reached instinctively for his wand, pointing it in the direction of where the sound had come from.

"Petrificus -" he began, but before he could finish, someone snatched his wand from out of his hand, just as someone else started wailing.

Confused, Harry took a moment to look around the room. It was Lupin who had snatched his wand from him, and he was glaring angrily at Harry. Nearby, a little girl of no more than four with violet-coloured hair stood, terrified, tears falling from her face as she bawled. Harry managed to take in Tonks scooping her up in her arms and carrying her out of the room before everything suddenly clicked: it hadn't been a dream after all. He was in fact at Lupin's, and Lupin had been hostile.

Feeling foolish as he recalled Lupin telling him just a few hours previously that the girls would be up early, he apologised meekly to his now fuming host.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked in a voice of deathly quiet. "Katie's four. The last thing she needs - the last thing any child needs, is someone threatening her with a wand!"

The oldest of Lupin's daughters, who was sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen eating toast, stared curiously from Lupin to Harry as Harry repeated his apologies.

"Daddy, who is he?" she asked.

Lupin sighed and shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Charlotte," he said, perhaps a little harsher than he might have been normally to his daughter, staring all the while at Harry with a look Harry had never seen on him before: disapproval and regret. It was not like Lupin to be so judgemental.

Harry waited for a moment to see if Lupin would apologise, or else tell him to get out of his house. However, when neither happened and Harry realised that he still had Charlotte's curious eyes on him and Lupin's angry ones, he decided it would be best if he left them to it.

"I'll just get dressed and be out of your way," he muttered quietly, picking up the clothes that had once belonged to Nora's son and heading for the bathroom.

Harry couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. He'd forgotten himself for one moment and given Lupin cause to hate him more than he already did. But why did Lupin hate him? What had he done that been so wrong? Lupin had obiously changed a lot since Harry had last seen him, for he had never been like this before. He had always been quiet and had rarely passed judgement on anyone, let alone his best friend's son.

Harry recalled the time when he, Ron and Hermione had first disappeared in order to go looking for the horcruxes. Mrs Weasley had been beside herself with worry and had berated them all upon their return, as had most of the Order. They had showed their disapproval and expressed their wish that Harry not ruin the protection they had gone to great lengths to provide him with, the protection Lily had died to give him. But they had not stopped there. They had continued to inform Harry that his reckless behaviour not only risked his mother's death being in vain, but his father's and Sirius' too, for they too had died trying to save him. Harry had expected Lupin to react similarly, had expected a long lecture about how James, Lily and Sirius would have been disappointed in him. But the lecture had never come. Instead, he had showed complete understanding and given them his utmost trust. They obviously knew what they were doing, he had decided, much to the disappointment of the other Order members.

So why had Lupin changed all of a sudden? Since when had he become so cold and hostile? Now that he thought about it, Harry found he was angry. What had he ever done to deserve this kind of treatment? He'd been gone for eight years; surely they should all be happy? Even Tonks wasn't herself. She was nice enough, but there was something behind that happy exterior, as though she thought Lupin had a good reason to be upset with Harry. He kicked the wall in frustration. Nora had told him that it would all be okay when he returned, that everyone would be so happy to see him alive that he would be welcomed with open arms. Naively he had believed her.

Now fully dressed, Harry sighed and stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. He certainly looked a lot older, and he badly needed a shave. And there was still the problem of the missing scar... The strange disappearance of the facial feature he'd had since the age of one had haunted him for the past eight years and he still had no answers. It wasn't as though he had been able to reveal his worries to the other islanders. Even Alf, a wizard who had been living on the island, and his son Robert, also a wizard, could never be told about Harry's worries. How would he explain it without revealing his identity? He wasn't sure if they would have heard of him or not, but he wasn't prepared to take any chances. His anonymity was his only remaining weapon once he had been stripped of his magic.

However, now that he had returned, he had almost hoped Lupin would be able to give him an answer, but it seemed very unlikely. Even Lupin did have the answer, he didn't seem open to sharing Harry's problems at the moment and all Harry could do was attempt to accept that there was a reason for this behaviour and that things would get back to normal eventually.Maybe he would feel better about having Harry around once Harry looked like his normal self again. Rummaging in his bag, he found the razor he had remembered to bring with him and began to shave off the beard. Perhaps even he would feel better once he looked like himself.

As he shaved, Harry reflected that perhaps he should have expected this kind of behaviour. Maybe it had been too much to expect that he would come back and everything would be as it had been when he left. And who was to say that Lupin would be the only one to react this way? He could be just one of many who had changed, who was not as keen to see him return as he might have hoped.

This was not the only thing, however, that bothered him about his return. He was well aware that eight whole years had gone by and so far he had failed to receive any information from Tonks or Lupin on what he had missed - except for the births of their three children, of course. He couldn't believe he had missed that... What if Ron and Hermione had had children? He had always hoped he'd be some kind of honorary uncle to their children - or even an actual uncle if he'd had his way... If he hadn't been a fool and kept Ginny constantly at arm's length, that was. But now that he thought about past events, he was almost glad that he had broken up with Ginny. Things would have been so much worse for her if they'd been together when he 'died'. He couldn't imagine how awful it would have been for her had her boyfriend died. As it was, he hoped that he had distanced himself from her enough for it not to hurt as much.

No, he had to stop thinking about Ginny. He couldn't bring himself to do it, to imagine how she might have moved on in the past eight years. She was so beautiful; any wizard in his right mind would want to be with her. Maybe Tonks would know what had happened to her. Ginny had always been quite keen on Tonks, had found her funny, so it was likely they would have kept in touch. Maybe Tonks would be able to introduce the two again, smooth things over with Ginny before Harry saw her again.

But the more Harry thought about the prospect of meeting Ginny, the more it worried him. What if she had moved on? Would he be able to cope? In the eight years he had been away from her, his love for her had only grown and a part of him had always believed that one day he would go back and sweep her off her feet, tell her how much he still loved her, that he was sorry for everything, and they would get married and have children. He'd planned it all in his head during the boring hours on the Scottish fishing island, for there had not been much else to do.

They would have a big wedding - he knew Ginny would like that. All their friends would come and all of Ginny's family, and they'd roll their eyes at the ancient relatives - most of whom Harry had previously met at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Like Bill and Fleur's, their wedding would take place at Harry's favourite place in the world: the Burrow. There would be white seats for the guests to sit on during the service, with a white platform at the front to match on which he and Ginny would stand with the Regiwizard (the wizard equivalent to a Registrar). The whole area would be adorned with beautiful flowers - lilies in remembrance of Harry's mum and white roses, since they were Ginny's favourite flower. Ginny would wear a beautiful white dress, long and tight enough to hug her curves in a way that would satisfy Harry, yet not tight enough to upset her family. The dress would have straps rather than sleeves, for it would be a summer wedding. She would carry a bouquet of white roses, her soft red hair pinned into a bun with white butterfly clips. Furthermore, white doves would saunter above them and Ginny would walk down the aisle to Pachabell's Canon, which would be played by a violin quartet.

Admittedly, not all of the ideas were his own. Many had come from watching Muggle films, something which had become a regular pastime whenever Robert, a local fisherman of about his own age, and the son of the wizard Alf, had taken him to the mainland for one reason or another. But still the thought was there, and Harry was sure Ginny would appreciate it.

After the wedding and reception, Harry would whisk Ginny off to some exotic island she had never been to where they could have long walks on the beach and have plenty of time to be alone. Then, a few months later, Ginny would find out she was pregnant and they would be ecstatic. When the baby finally came along, they would call it Lily for a girl or James for a boy. After that, they'd have several more children until they had a family as big - or perhaps bigger - than the Weasleys and Harry and Ginny would watch with a mixture of pride and sadness as they waved each of their children off to Hogwarts in turn.

Now that he was back in the real world, however, Harry felt slightly silly for his plan. The chances of him being able to come and sweep Ginny off her feet were pretty slim. If Lupin and Tonks were anything to go by, she'd have some questions that she'd want answered and she might even be scared. But he'd bring her round. He had to. He loved her and there was no way he was going to forget about her, whether she'd found someone else or not. He wasn't about to give up without a fight.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, which caused Harry, who had been lost in his thoughts, to jump and fall back onto the toilet behind him. Pulling himself up, he opened the door to see Tonks standing on the landing in front of him.

"Want to talk?" she asked kindly.

Harry nodded and followed Tonks down the stairs, past a series of happy family photos and school photos into the living room where only Emma remained, happily playing with her toys.

"Remus has taken the girls to school, and then he'll go straight to work," Tonks explained, ushering Harry towards a beige sofa.

"He found work then?" Harry asked. He remembered that Remus had not been able to get a job due to the fact that he was a werewolf. He wondered if perhaps they had found some sort of cure that had enabled Lupin to get a job.

Tonks nodded proudly as she sat down in an armchair across from Harry. "Yeah, he's working at the Ministry as an Auror's Aid. It's just a desk job, but it requires knowledge of Defence. It's a pretty new job, too - Aurors only started having helpers about five years ago. They realised that Aurors could do their job better if they had someone to do all the paperwork and research for them, enabling them to go out and actually physically hunt dark wizards. Only the top Aurors have Aids, but it's a well-paid job and it satisfies Remus."

"Why not be a full Auror?" Harry questioned.

"They wouldn't let him," Tonks replied gravely. "The only reason he got the job was because of the changes they made to the Wolfsbane Potion. You remember that potion he was able to take to allow him to keep his mind when he transformed? Well they managed to extend it so that it stops the werewolf from transforming altogether. But it's completely dependent on the potion and doesn't cure the werewolf, which means there's still a lot of fear and prejudice."

Harry despised those who were prejudiced against people like Lupin just because they were what some, like Dolores Umbridge, the dreaded Hogwarts High Inquisitor from Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, referred to as 'half-breeds'.

"Well I'm glad he's got a good job, anyway," he said, and Tonks beamed at him.

They sat quietly for a while after this, neither of them having the courage to bring up a past that would inevitably involve many bad memories for Tonks and bad news for Harry. However, Harry found his head was buzzing with questions, so finally had the courage to break the silence.

"So - so what else can you tell me about what's happened?"

Tonks did not answer immediately. For a while, she merely continued to sit in her chair, looking thoughtful as she stared at the glass coffee table in front of her. Harry did not want to press her - he understood that it would be hard for her to answer his question and he was willing to allow her all the time it took for her to answer it. Eventually, she let out a deep sigh, shook her head and raised her eyes to Harry's. "It's not good, Harry, let me tell you that. I mean, I realise you probably want to know - that you need to know - but you're not going to like what you hear, and it's hard for me to bring it all up again."

Harry nodded. This much he had expected. "I understand," he said quietly. "But you're right - I need to know. If I'm ever going to go out and face this world again, I need to be prepared for how things have changed. Besides, the last thing I want is to draw attention to myself. I can't imagine Voldemort's old followers being too pleased about my return."

At this, Tonks nodded hard and something flicked her in eyes. It seemed to Harry that she had just remembered something that she had been meaning to tell him and that, whatever it was, it wouldn't be good news.

"Speaking of Voldemort's followers," she said, "you should know that they're still out there - they weren't all caught."

Harry felt his heart stop. After all he had done, after all he had been through to get rid of Voldemort and make the world a better place, the Ministry couldn't even catch his followers? What were they playing at? Time and again he had listed the names of all the Death Eaters he knew of, yet still the Ministry had made excuses for these people and refused to arrest them. It made Harry sick that people like Lucius Malfoy had been allowed to roam free when innocent wizards like Stan Shunpike - who would never hurt a fly let alone a human being - were being made to suffer in Azkaban. He wondered what had happened to Lucius and Stan in the end, whether they had received what they deserved, and he made a mental note to ask Tonks. However, it was clear that she had more to say on the matter.

"The Death Eaters want to avenge their master's death," she continued, her eyes full of fear as she spoke, "and they aim to do that by taking over again."

Harry sighed. "What's the Order doing to stop it?" he asked. If the Ministry were prating around, at least they could rely on the Order.

Tonks, however, shook her head. "The Order has disbanded now," she explained, much to Harry's horror. Before Harry could voice his outrage, she hastily continued. "There's not enough Death Eater activity to warrant such a group anymore, Harry. Rest assured, though, that Remus and I at least are on the lookout. We realise that they're going to learn from their past mistakes and that all they need is a leader to rally around, then they'll be back the way they were - perhaps even worse. What this means is that the last thing we need is for them to realise that you're back, because not only would it put you and all of us in this house in danger, but it might provoke more Death Eater activity than we've seen in eight years."

Harry felt himself shaking with anger. What did Tonks mean that there wasn't enough Death Eater activity to warrant such a group as the Order? If they were still around and the Ministry weren't getting rid of them, of course the Order were needed. He told Tonks this, expecting her to agree. However, instead of agreement, Tonks seemed to get angry.

"You've been gone for eight years, Harry, so you're hardly one to tell us what we should be doing," she snapped. "We have all done what we thought was best, which I'm sure is more than can be said for you! None of us went missing for eight years, did we?"

"YEAH, WELL NONE OF YOU KILLED VOLDEMORT, DID YOU?" he shouted, stung.

He had been trying to work on his anger of the years he had been gone - Nora had told him it wasn't good for his health or anyone else's. However, Tonks' accusation had injured him and instinct forced him to attack as a form of defence. He was so angry that there was no one doing anything about the Death Eater situation, and even more angry that Tonks saw his eight years of 'death' as cowardice. How dare she? Who was she to call him a coward? He was the one who had got rid of Voldemort, who had been so injured that he had had to have respite on a Muggle island for eight years while everyone else moved o with their lives.

Harry continued to glare at Tonks and finally she backed down. She sighed and shook her head as she walked over to Emma, who had begun to cry at Harry's outburst. Once Emma was content again, she returned to her seat and murmured, "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to undermine what you did. It was thoughtless of me, I'm sorry. But we all have to accept that none of us - not you, not Dumbledore, not the Order - predicted the loyalty of his followers. Or perhaps a better way to put it is the evil of his followers. None of us realised that they were such fanatics that they would continue - Master or no Master."

Harry sighed and nodded in agreement. Now that he thought about it, he felt stupid for not having realised it before. How could he have thought that the Death Eaters would stop wreaking havoc, would stop trying to create a pureblood dictatorship, just because their master was gone? Masters were easily replaced.

"You're right," he muttered. "I should have foreseen it. I was stupid."

"We all were," Tonks said, forcing a reassuring smile that did not quite reach her eyes.

For a moment, she simply seemed to stare at Harry and Harry thought he knew what was coming. Sure enough, tears soon began to rush down her cheeks as she asked the question Harry had been dreading. "What happened, Harry?" she asked desperately. "Where have you been? Why didn't you come back sooner? We all waited and hoped for your return for two years before we finally gave up. And now, six years after we accepted that you must be dead, you return."

It was Harry's turn to fill in the blanks. He sighed and began to recount his tale - or what he knew of it anyway. From what he gathered, Nora, a 72-year-old woman, had been on holiday visiting her son on mainland Scotland. She had found Harry's body and had taken him back to her son's home to nurse him back to health. However, he had been more poorly than she had first thought and she couldn't explain why. She was quite an old-fashioned woman, had been a doctor in the community she lived in before retiring and didn't believe in modern medicine. It was for this reason that she had not wanted to take Harry to hospital. Her son had disagreed - had said that Harry needed professional medical help and that he should be in Intensive Care. Nora had disagreed with her son and so she had taken him back to her own home in the Orkney Islands. For a long time, Harry had been feverish and drifting in and out of consciousness and had been in bed for months on end. Nora had feared for his life.

Then, almost a year since the day Nora had found him, he had been well enough to get out of bed. Unable to use his muscles, having not used them for so long, he had had to sit in an armchair of Nora's for most of the day. The island's doctor (a man trained by Nora and therefore just as untraditional) had come to visit him regularly, helping him get the use of his muscles back. Yet even when Harry could walk, he had found he was still having memory lapses, remembering only pieces of his past that did not seem to make sense. It had taken a long time for him to fully remember his past and years for him to recover fully. This slow recovery had stunned everyone on the island: they had never known such an illness, particularly since he had so few physical scars.

"But the Ministry would have noticed if you'd used magic on a Muggle island," Tonks said, puzzled.

"There was a wizard on the island," Harry explained. "He recognised me for what I was and once I'd recovered, we had a conversation about it. His name was Alf and he was quite old and said he hadn't taken Hogwarts up on their offer. His son Robert didn't even know about his magical heritage until his own Hogwarts letter came. So they were a perfect cover if I wanted to use magic - not that I could for a few years because I was so drained after the battle."

"Why didn't you come back once you recovered?" Tonks persisted.

This was the bit that Harry didn't want to tell her about, the bit he felt guilty about and felt she probably wouldn't understand.

"I didn't want to," he replied quietly. "I was worried about what I'd find when I returned, about how people's lives would have changed. It was about five years before I could even consider returning, and by then it had been too long. Besides, I didn't have the money and neither did Nora. And she had been so kind to me, I didn't want to repay her kindness by leaving. But she realised I was getting depressed - that I wanted to return, however much I pretended even to myself that I didn't."

Tonks nodded and Harry was pleased to see that she seemed to understand rather than be angry with him. "Well, you were right in thinking that things would have changed," she sighed. "I can't tell you about everyone else, you'll have to meet up with them yourself. But I can tell you about you, because you need to be careful Harry.

"I told you about the Death Eaters. Well it'll be pretty easy for them to learn about your return. You should be aware that you're more famous now than you were before. Killing You-Know-Who has given you huge status in both the wizarding world and the Muggle world."

"How do you mean?"

"Fudge and Scrimgeour were always in contact with the Muggle Prime Minister and Scotland's First Minister. They had told these ministers that there was a murderer on the loose and they had in turn passed this information on to their countries. You might remember back in '93 and '94 when Sirius was on the loose, Muggles were made aware of the situation. They were told they had a gun - a kind of metal wand thingy, I think. Anyway, they knew he was armed and dangerous and that they should stay away from him and let the authorities know if they saw him. Well, it was the same with Voldemort. So, naturally, when you killed him the Muggles were told. They know your name and they know what you look like - you were even knighted by the Muggle Queen!"

"What?" Harry gasped. Having grown up in the Muggle world, he knew that this meant he would have been awarded this great Muggle honour due to great services rendered to Muggle society. So did that mean he was now Sir Harry Potter? It sounded ridiculous - pompous, even. He didn't want recognition for what he had done; he just wanted the world to go back to normal.

Tonks nodded and allowed herself a small smile. "Sir Harry Potter," she teased. "And you were given an Order of Merlin First Class and the rest of us got the same - only Second and Third Class. But of course the wizarding world and the Muggle world assume that you're dead, so they may just assume you to be a look-a-like, except for the really clever Death Eaters, of course. You might also want to know that all the money you had left went to an orphanage in Surrey. It was Scrimgeour's idea - he said he thought it was what you would have wanted. He wanted to give the money to the Ministry first, but the Order and your friends all said there was no way you would have wanted that, so they decided on an orphanage. I think Scrimgeour just wanted to better his own reputation since he was the one who delivered the money. A whole edition of the Prophet was devoted to the occasion."

Harry frowned. That was not what he would have wanted to be done with the money. As much as he was sure the money would have been used well by the orphanage, he would have much preferred it to have gone to the Weasleys. He could think of no one more deserving of his money than the family who had adopted him as their own in every way except in the eyes of the law. However, this raised a problem that he had not actually considered: he no longer had any money. He was presumed dead so his Gringotts account was of course closed. Technically he shouldn't exist - how was he supposed to go about re-establishing his life. He imagined himself knocking on the door of Scrimgeour's office and announcing that he was back and cringed at the thought. Like that would go down well. His return wouldn't be kept quiet for long that was for sure.

There was one thing concerning this, however, that was bothering Harry. How was it that the Wizarding world came to decide that he was dead? Was it because he had been missing for so long without returning? Had they thought they'd found a body? He imagined a look-a-like of himself being found abandoned in a snowy forest and being worshipped by the world. He shivered at the thought and decided it would be better to ask Tonks and risk upsetting her than have mental images like that.

Once Harry had asked her, Tonks gulped and took a deep breath before slowly recounting the painful events for him. "Well," she began quietly, "the rest of us, the Order, we were battling the Death Eaters. Obviously you asked us not to intervene, to leave You-Know-Who to you. We didn't want to, but since you'd insisted, we realised that there was nothing we could do about it. We managed to kill some of his Death Eaters, but they managed to kill some of us, too. Charlie and George Weasley were among the casualties."

Harry gasped, feeling as though something had hit him hard in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him. Mrs Weasley had always known their family was big enough to be at risk of losing at least one member, but he couldn't express how sad he was that her predictions had come true.

"Are they - did they -" Harry began, but he couldn't bear to finish his sentence.

"Charlie survived. He was in a coma for a few months afterwards and he's slightly brain damaged - he suffers from short-term memory loss and he's lost the use of his right side. But George - George didn't make it."

Harry fought back tears. George Weasley, who had brought so much life and laughter to the wizarding world, was dead. George who was part of an inseparable duo had not made it - yet his twin brother had. Who would brighten up the lives of Hogwarts students without George?

"What about Fred?"

Tonks shrugged. "Well, Fred survived without sustaining major injuries. He and George were fighting different Death Eaters - George didn't survive, he did. Of course it was hard for him afterwards - I mean, can you ever get over the death of any member of your immediate family, let alone your twin? But he pulled through and I think he's okay. I couldn't tell you anymore than that, though - I'm not really in touch with the Weasleys anymore."

She glanced down at that point, almost embarrassedly, and Harry sensed that it would not do to press her. So instead he said, "Anyone else?"

"Kingsley died. He took Bellatrix Lestrange with him and finished off Lucius Malfoy before he went, though."

Harry merely nodded at this. He hadn't known Kingsley that well, but he realised the Auror would have been happy to know that he had brought down two of Voldemort's most notorious followers before departing the world.

"There were a few other deaths," Tonks continued, "but no one you ever met. The only person you know is Minerva McGonagall. But that was a few years later and not as a result of battle, it was because she caught Dragon Pox. Of course Dragon Pox is common at her age so it didn't come as that much of a surprise. Everyone else is still alive, still fine. I think most people suffered a few broken bones each and other minor injuries from minor curses or falls, but nothing that couldn't be healed quickly. Greyback bit a lot more people - again, though, none that you really knew." She paused and allowed herself a grin as she continued: "Remus managed to finish him off, though. It was his proudest moment.

"You should be aware, though, that most people sustained emotional injuries. Everyone was affected in some way by the war - most people lost someone or saw a lot of things they'd never forget. The world is a different place as a result and that's something I can't prepare you for - you have to find out about that for yourself."

She sighed and turned absent-mindedly to watch Emma who was lying on a mat nearby, giggling cheerfully as she played with an assortment of toys dangling from a red plastic bar above her head. As Harry watched Tonks, he realised how much the war must have affected her. She was a different person now - everyone must be. She, like so many others, had seen so much death and destruction that it must have been hard not to sink into depression. He could see by the way she looked at Emma how hard she had tried to move on, to make something of her life in spite of her war scars. She had got married, had children and was doing her best to raise them in a carefree environment where their biggest worry was talking to strangers.

"I thought as much," Harry said finally.

Now he thought about it, it explained Remus' behaviour. Harry represented a past he had tried to forget, tried to move on from. Harry's return reminded them of harder times and posed a threat to a family who didn't one. Harry knew too well that he seemed to be a magnet for trouble and danger - it was why he had broken up with Ginny all those years ago. He knew that she hadn't fully understand his reasons - no one could, unless they had been Harry's position.

Similarly, Harry realised, no one could fully understand the pain experienced by people like Remus and Tonks unless they too had experienced it. They were so scarred that he, an outsider to their pain, would never be able to comprehend it. He felt guilty for not being there - for leaving those he loved to cope alone. He should have been there - he should have come back sooner, or else he should have been stronger and not have passed out. No one else had passed out and then disappeared for eight years, so why had he? He was curious, however, as to how it was decided that he was officially dead when no body had been found.

He found himself repeating the original question: "So what made the world think I was dead?"

Tonks sighed and shook her head. Harry understood that this was painful for her to think about. "Ron and Hermione told us. They returned from your journey to tell us that You-Know-Who was dead, but that you were missing and they couldn't find you anywhere. The Ministry sent out search parties to try and find you, they looked for magic being used in places it shouldn't have been used, but they couldn't find you anywhere. They even had the Muggles looking for you!

"Well, anyway, we couldn't find you anywhere, which Scrimgeour seemed to decide was bad press. He thought that it would be better for the wizarding public to believe you died a hero, so that's what he told them. Everyone was devastated and a national day of mourning was announced throughout the whole of the wizarding world and Muggle Britain. That day became known as Harry Potter Day in the wizarding world and 21^st August is still celebrated every year - it's a bank holiday in wizarding Britain."

Repulsed and embarrassed, particularly since Tonks looked so amused, Harry decided a change of subject was in order.

"So is Scrimgeour still Minister?" he asked.

To Harry's surprise, Tonks shook her head. "No, he's not. He lost his post a few months after the war - people were happy that the war had ended but not satisfied that you, their hero, had died in the process. They felt Scrimgeour had made some bad decisions, and that was highlighted further when it was established that he had embezzled hundreds of galleons of Ministry money. No - he was sent to Azkaban for five years in 1999. He was released in 2002 for good behaviour, serving only three years of his sentence. Now he writes for the Defensive Magic Journal, submitting essays on defence. He's still popular in the academic world at least."

"So who took over?" Harry inquired. "Anyone I know?"

"You might know him," Tonks replied, standing up to make a pot of tea now that the heavy conversation was over. These questions she could answer. "His name's Samuel James, he was a few years ahead of you at Hogwarts - a Hufflepuff. He's probably one of the youngest Ministers ever, but also one of the best. The wizarding public seemed to think that a young Minister would be less interested in politics and his career and more interested in their welfare. So far he's proved them right - he's made some good, responsible decisions."

Harry had never heard of Samuel James but pictured a pompous Percy Weasley-type in his head strutting around the Ministry, throwing his weight around.

"No doubt Percy got his pal the job," he guessed. "I'm surprised the pompous git didn't try to get the job himself."

Hearing this, Tonks slammed the mug she had been holding down on the counter hard and it smashed into pieces. She sighed as she pulled out her wand to clean up the pieces.

"Percy helped us a lot in the war, Harry," she said sullenly. "He provided us with a lot of Ministry intelligence and even managed to build bridges between the Ministry and the Order. Yes, not all of his decisions have been good ones but you can't judge him for them forever." She sighed. "Besides, Samuel James is several years younger than Percy - they don't even know each other that well. Actually, he's better friends with Ron."

"Ron?" Harry gasped in surprise.

Tonks nodded as she passed him his tea in a pink mug that had the word 'Charlotte' written on in white swirly writing, surrounded by white hearts and a Muggle logo at the very bottom in small letters.

"Yes, Ron. He works for the Department of Magical Games and Sports, but I believe he knows James through his wife."

"His wife? How on earth does Hermione know him?"

Shaking her head, Tonks said gently, "No, Harry. Not Hermione. Lavender."

"WHAT?!" Harry sputtered. "Why is he married to Lavender?"

It couldn't be. There was no way Ron would have gone back to Lavender. He and Hermione had been getting on so well - they had become an official couple and Ron had apologised for his childish behaviour during their sixth year with regards to Lavender. He had been completely and utterly embarrassed and had never wanted to see Lavender again. He recalled a time when they had bumped into her in Diagon Alley the summer after their sixth year and Lavender had not been too happy to see him hand-in-hand with Hermione. In fact Parvati had had to drag her away before Ron cursed her for the insults she was hurling at Hermione. Tonks must have got something wrong. Ron Weasley would never have married Lavender Brown.

Unless... Hadn't Tonks told him that people had been emotionally scarred by the war? Hadn't she told him the world was a different place? Was it possible that Ron and Hermione's relationship had been ruined by the war? Or perhaps ruined by his 'death'?

"Yes, Lavender," Tonks said matter-of-factly. "I only spoke to her the once - I happened to be in Madam Malkin's when she was working and when I realised who she was, I asked her how things were. She seemed very nice - much more mature than Hermione and Ginny had made her out to be on the few occasions I spoke to them about it. She was pregnant, in fact. I hear they had a baby girl called Orchid Freesia after Lavender's favourite flower and her favourite clothes line. But as I say, it was only the once. I don't know Ron and Lavender that well."

Harry tried not to be side-tracked by this information, or by the mention of Ginny. He realised Tonks would not be willing to tell him too much. "So how does Lavender know the Minister anyway?" he asked dully. It wasn't the question he wanted to ask, but it was the only one he knew Tonks would answer.

"Through her friend Parvati," she replied. "Parvati is James' wife. They met in Madam Malkin's, or so I hear. But you would have to ask Ron these things - I've only heard this on the grapevine."

Harry nodded, attempting to take in this information. Well, he thought, the other Gryffindor boys had always thought Parvati and her twin Padma to be the best-looking girls, so perhaps it wasn't such a surprise that one of them had been snatched by the most important man in the wizarding world, particularly if he was as young as Tonks said he was. Perhaps harder to believe was the Minister's youth - how could such a young person become Minister for Magic?

"Good connections," was Tonks' answer when Harry asked her. "His father was Head of the Department of Mysteries, his uncle replaced Scrimgeour as Head of the Auror Office and his mother was one of the greatest Auror's the wizarding world has seen until she was killed by Death Eaters during the post-war attacks of '99. Thanks to his connections, he got a good job in the Ministry when he left Hogwarts and then it turned out that not only was he well connected but he was good at his job. Like I told you before, wizards liked him for his youth, but they also felt safe because the death of his mother meant that he would never stand for the dark arts.

"Don't get me wrong - he's no Barty Crouch," she added quickly. "Barty was a bit paranoid if you ask me. But Samuel James is different and I think it's because of his youth. He's level-headed enough to realise that there's anti-dark arts and then there's just plain obsessive. He'll never be bought out by Death Eaters, but he doesn't arrest everyone in sight either."

This sounded sensible reasoning to Harry, and he was beginning to regret pinning James as pompous and annoying. He could see himself getting on with him - particularly if Ron liked him. He wondered what Hermione would think of him - whether she would think that he was too liberal. And then he remembered that Ron was married to Lavender. If Ron and Lavender were married, he doubted that Hermione was still in Ron's life in any shape or form. Hermione would never have let Ron do something that stupid - she had never taken to Lavender, even before the snog-a-thon that had been Ron and Lavender's relationship back in sixth year. There was only one way to find out.

"How can I get in contact with Ron?" he asked.

Ron was surely the best person to start with, Harry decided. They had been best friends through thick and thin, had fallen out once in the entirety of their seven year friendship, so surely Ron would react best to his return. Now that he thought about it, he could see Hermione having a nervous breakdown and he wasn't ready to face Ginny yet. No, it had to be Ron. Ron might be a bit shocked at first but once he was sure it was really Harry he would be happy to see him back. Maybe he would even introduce Harry to Samuel James.

Tonks, however, didn't seem so sure, for after thinking for a moment she sighed and shook her head. "I don't think Ron's the place to start," she told him. When Harry looked confused, she continued: "I can't explain why, you'll just have to trust me on this one. No, start with Hermione."

She stood up and headed for the kitchen where she stooped down in order to reach a large green recycling box that had been hidden in a cupboard.

"You're lucky it's a Monday - the box gets put out for the men tomorrow," she told him as she pulled a newspaper out. "Revelio," she muttered, tapping her wand on the newspaper. Instantly, Harry saw the pictures begin to move and the flashes of an advert: it was a copy of the Daily Prophet, which had presumably been made to look like a Muggle paper in case the recycling men saw it.

Tonks then handed the paper to Harry so that he could see that it was today's paper and the headline:

HOUSE-ELF SUEING FORMER MASTER FOR IMPROPER USE OF CLOTHES APPEARS IN FRONT OF WIZENGAMOT TODAY

Today sees the trial of an elf who believes he was wrongly given clothes - the traditional method for sacking a House Elf. Winkle the House Elf worked for the Macmillan family of Greater Snoring, Norfolk, until recently when he was given clothes for burning his Master's breakfast. The charge against Mr Edmund Macmillan is as follows:

"That he knowingly dismissed the House Elf Winkle for reasons that do not comply with the rules of the Registry of the Proper Use of Clothes, compiled by Creatures Inc. and approved by the Council of Magical Law, as well as the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

Our readers may remember that the Registry of the Proper Use of Clothes was approved by the Ministry only last year (see page 4) and therefore this case is the first of its kind. Never before has a House Elf been able to sue for 'Improper Use of Clothes'. Should the elf - Winkle - be successful, this is likely to be the first of many cases of the sort for House Elves.

Winkle is of course being represented by Creatures Inc., the organisation founded over three years ago by Ms Hermione Labelle, now 27, a former member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. The organisation was started in order to give creatures better rights, an aim which has never yet been achieved - until today. Should the case be won, Creatures Inc. will not only get more business but they will be entitled to Ministry approval and a Ministry grant. With so much resting on this case, it is hardly surprising that Labelle herself will be acting as Prosecutor against the Macmillans, defending the elf. In a press conference yesterday, Labelle had this to say: "Creatures Inc. has been working tirelessly for many years now. Provoked by the cruel treatment of many magical creatures, we believe that they are entitled to better than this and intend to change the laws to suit this purpose.

"Winkle the House Elf does not have a unique case. Winkle, who was under the impression that he would soon have his head chopped off, became very nervous and burned Mr Macmillan's breakfast. Consequently, not only was Winkle told to burn his hands, but he was given clothes. However, Winkle is just one of many elves treated in this way and we hope to prevent not only improper use of clothes, but also abusive and undeserved punishments that House Elves feel bound to perform should they do anything against their Master's will.

"This is the case I will be presenting in front of the Wizengamot tomorrow, and, together with my co-founder, Dobby the House Elf, I will not rest until we have achieved our aims. Whether we win tomorrow or not, the fact that this case has made it to the Wizengamot is a vast achievement and I hope that soon magical creatures will be able to feel comfortable in the fact that they are equal to wizards. Thank you very much."

Despite Labelle's determination, however, it seems that the rest of the wizarding world will not be so easily persuaded. When asked about today's case, Evelyn Price of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures told the Prophet that "House Elves are used to this kind of treatment - they understand that their purpose is to serve wizards. It's been going on for hundreds of years and everyone was happy with it until Creatures Inc. came along. Admittedly there are a few runt Elves who are not happy with serving wizards, but they are precisely that: runts. Thanks to Creatures Inc., however, these Elves are encouraging others to question their servitude. This should not be happening.

"While I'm sure that Ms Labelle believes that what she is doing is right, she is in fact misunderstanding a great wizarding tradition. I mean no disrespect when I say that Labelle, as a Muggle-born, does not understand the wizarding culture the way a pureblood might - or indeed any wizard brought up among wizards. I don't believe the Ministry is taking this case seriously; it is my belief that they are merely humouring Labelle. However, I for one will not be attending today's trial."

It seems that Price, however, is not the only person who does not seem to see today's trial as having great prospects. This reporter can confirm that the trial will be held in Courtroom Two, one of the Ministry's smaller courtrooms, and most members of the Wizengamot will be busy preparing for a different case concerning Quidditch player Oliver Wood, Keeper for the Montrose Magpies, who has been accused of using spells to enhance his play. This case takes place next week and seems to be much more on the forefront of the minds of wizards than the case of a confused, power-seeking House Elf who wants his job back. While readers are urged to make up their own minds, it is the opinion of this reporter that there is not much doubt of the outcome of this case.

THE FIRST EVER 'IMPROPER USE OF CLOTHES' TRIAL TAKES PLACE IN COURTROOM TWO OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC AT NINE AM. READERS SHOULD NOTE THAT THIS IS A PRIVATE TRIAL.

For more on the trial of Wood, see page 2.

For a re-cap on the Registry of the Proper Use of Clothes and how it began, see page 4.

As Harry put down the paper, he tried to push his disgust with the Prophet to the back of his mind as he attempted to process several things: Hermione was married; she had achieved her fourth-year dream in setting up Creatures Inc.; she had achieved this with the help of Dobby; and Oliver Wood was playing for the Montrose Magpies and had apparently been using spells to help his play. He shook his head, trying to sort out the many thoughts inside his head, all rushing to be considered first. There was one thought, however, more important than all the rest.

"Five-to-ten," he noted glancing at his watch, frowning.

"It'll be over soon, but you can just about make it if you hurry," said Tonks.

Harry nodded absent-mindedly as he stood up and made for the majestic marble fireplace. He took the powder from the plant pot that stood next to a hand-made clay house on top of the fireplace, threw them into the now blazing fire and opened his mouth to announce his destination.

"Harry?"

He looked up at Tonks, pausing in the once-familiar routine.

"Keep low."

Harry nodded at her final piece of advice before shouting, "The Ministry of Magic, London".