Was it all enough? - Year 7

Harry quickly cast the unrecognizable spell on himself. "Good. I hope that's not all," she said not sounding very impressed.

Harry handed her the invisibility cloak and turned around. "Put something under the cloak. I've learned to see through them." Harry turned back around and mumbled a spell then quickly said, "It's a nice quill as well as your wand."

"Very good Harry. Do you know that mastering that spell is the first step to learning to become invisible?" she asked.

Harry chuckled as he said, "I found that out AFTER I learned to be invisible. I kept jumping around the book so I missed this spell at first."

"You've learned to be invisible as well?" she asked and Harry quickly became invisible and moved something around on her desk before reappearing.

"That's very advanced Harry. I think Dumbledore is the only one in the school that has accomplished it. Maybe you should start reading the books in the order they're written. It may make things easier for you. I don't suppose the cloak is important to you anymore."

"Oh yes it is. I have to go by myself without it," he said this before catching himself. "Um I mean not that we...I ever do anything like that."

"Of course you wouldn't. You have done very well staying out of trouble again this year," Professor Figg said but still gave him a knowing look.

"It's all the studying Hermione is making me do. She's a slave driver," Harry joked.

"That may be but I'd say it's paying off. Is there anything else you'd care to demonstrate?"

Harry thought. "I have tried learning a couple other things, but I'd rather not demonstrate on you. I don't think they're very pleasant."

"Don't be silly Harry. I am an Auror after all. Show me one. I give you full permission," she said confidently.

Harry didn't feel comfortable but he had wanted to see if he could really do this spell. He concentrated on her and without waving his wand mumbled the spell to force her mind to see her deepest fears. Suddenly Mrs. Figg's eyes got a terrified look and she stumbled back into the bookcases. Harry quickly released the spell and went to her. It took her a couple minutes to regain her composure. "I'm sorry Professor. Are you alright?" Harry asked concerned.

She was just staring at him. "Yes, Yes, I'm fine. Where did you learn that Harry?" she demanded.

"In a book I got over the summer. I should have picked something different to demonstrate, I just really wanted to know if it would work. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. I told you to do it. Now, this book. Where did you get it?"

Harry hesitated. "Um... Knockturn Alley," he said softly.

"When were you in Knockturn Alley? It's not safe there," she demanded again.

"I wasn't alone and we had our hoods pulled up on our cloaks. Once I saw we were going to be taught Dark Arts, I wanted to see what else was out there. That's were I got the book on becoming invisible as well."

"I can't say I approve, but we are being forced to teach some Dark Arts here so I can't complain. How do you intend to use these new spells?"

"I don't intend to, but if I need to I will. I don't go around tormenting people, even though the thought of doing it to Malfoy is almost too much to bear." He smiled.

The day of the Holiday Ball had arrived and all the girls were going crazy. They were talking all the time and running around. Harry and Ron just sat at the back of the common room laughing at them all. "What the heck gets into them?"

The two friends played a few games of chess and kept laughing at the chaos going on around them. With about thirty minutes left before the ball started Harry and Ron decided to go up and get ready. They were still back down before any of the girls were ready. Parvati was one of the first girls down and Ron could barely speak. "Um...you...nice," he muttered before she gave him a long kiss.

"Meet you down there Harry." He heard as Ron stepped out the portal. Ginny was the next one of his friends down. She looked great as well. Harry couldn't believe the changes in her over the past couple years. Colin was a very lucky person to be taking her. Harry was still remembering Ginny from previous years when he heard Neville say something. Turning he saw Hermione come down. She looked simply amazing. Harry just followed her down the stairs with his eyes. He was silently wishing it was him who would be taking Hermione to the ball. When she reached Neville, Harry said, "Neville. I think you're going to be the luckiest bloke at the ball."

Hermione blushed and said, "We'll see you down there Harry. Go pick up your mystery girl."

Harry followed them out and headed towards the girls bathroom. He made sure no one was around and yelled in. "Myrtle. It's Harry, are you ready?" He was about to yell again when she floated out. "Hello Harry. Sorry I'm late."

Harry was stunned. Myrtle actually looked great. You know, for a ghost. She had on a flowing dress and her hair was pulled up. She wasn't even wearing her glasses. "Myrtle. You look great! I didn't know..."

Myrtle chuckled. "No one's given me a reason to put much effort into it before." She held out her semi-transparent hand and Harry took it softly. Good thing since it felt almost like an over ripe peach. He tried not to flinch but Myrtle didn't mind. "That's the best I can do Harry."

"It'll be fine Myrtle. You know that after everybody sees you tonight, you may not be able to keep people out of your bathroom."

The corridor leading to the Great Hall was quiet since all of the other students had already gone in. Harry had been nervous about taking Myrtle. He originally asked her mainly to keep Cho happy. But, since Myrtle seemed so happy and was actually looking nice, he felt better about his choice. Harry opened the door for her and tried to walk along the side to where he knew his friends would be. The room was decorated magnificently again this year and Harry could already see many students from Beauxbatons on the dance floor. He could tell by all the mumbles that they had been spotted. He turned to his date. "Don't let anything they say bother you Myrtle, I'm glad you came with me."

"Oh, I won't Harry. I'm sure I've heard worse before," the ghost said still smiling.

They got to the table where Hermione and her date Neville had saved them some seats. All of his friends and their dates were just staring awe-struck. Ron was the first to say something. "Do you have some problem with brining living women to the ball?" Hermione and Ginny both hit Ron but surprisingly Myrtle just laughed.

Ginny was the first to ask, "So aren't you going to introduce us to your date?"

Harry quickly regained his manners and said, "I thought you all knew her already. Everybody, this is Myrtle. Myrtle, I imagine you know most everybody."

"That's Moaning Myrtle?" Ron exclaimed which resulted in Myrtle giving him a frightening look.

Parvati quickly saved Ron by saying how nice Myrtle looked. Harry noticed Myrtle seemed to enjoy talking to the other girls. Hermione leaned into him, "Why did you bring a ghost?"

"I was still seeing Cho when I asked her, remember. I didn't think she would get jealous of me bringing Myrtle." Harry shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"I suppose not," Hermione replied shaking her head.

The reason the other girls took to liking Myrtle so quickly was that the ghost knew so much gossip about other girls at the dance. Harry had been getting teased about bringing her non-stop since he sat down. It really wasn't bothering him much, Myrtle was a better date than he expected. He was actually about ready to interrupt her conversation with Ginny and Parvati when he heard.

"'Arry! There you are." Fleur had come up behind him. "I was 'oping your wouldn't miss it."

Harry stood up to greet her. "Hi Fleur. I couldn't miss the ball after all the lessons you gave me. I've been looking forward to it."

"Where's your date? Would she mind me stealing you for a couple dances?"

"Haven't you ever met Myrtle? Fleur, this is Myrtle, she's my date tonight." Harry presented the ghost to Fleur.

"Oh! 'Ello Myrtle. I wouldn't have recognized you. You're 'Arry's date this evening?" Fleur said with a questioning look to Harry.

"Oh yes! Isn't it grand? I promised Harry I wouldn't do anything to make Cho jealous," Myrtle said laughing

Harry asked Myrtle if he could dance with Fleur and quickly made his way to the dance floor with her.

"What are you doing bringing a ghost? After what Cho did, you should have brought the best looking girl in school," Fleur said

"I asked Myrtle before I found out about Cho. I didn't know if you heard about Cho or not."

"Of course I heard. Gabrielle was quite happy about it. How are you?" she asked with a concerned look.

"I'll be ok. It's my own fault. I just rushed into things,"

Harry said while really enjoying his dance with Fleur. "How about you, no serious beaus yet?"

"Me? Oh no. It will take a special man to handle a veela 'Arry!" she said smiling.

"How are things now with you and Cho?" the beautiful woman asked with genuine concern.

"We're not engaged or anything. I'm going to meet her during the Holiday, but the more I think about what she did, the less I even want to meet her. It's not the same."

Fleur was silent for a while and they were dancing more. "I don't think she would be safe near any of the Delacouer women anymore. Gabrielle may be small but she's learning more spells every day." The dance was over and while walking back, Fleur whispered, "If you ever need to talk or anything, I'll always be around."

"Thanks Fleur, that means a lot," Harry said before returning to Myrtle. "Well Myrtle, are you ready to give this a try?" Harry said extending his hand. Myrtle took it and giggled at Harry's reaction to her squishy hand.

After a couple minutes, Harry and Myrtle figured out just the right amount of contact between their hands. She was an easy partner to dance with since she just floated around. Harry could tell the other students were backing away from them but he didn't care at all. Harry was just enjoying looking around when he felt someone run into him. Harry lost his balance and ended up in a heap on the floor with Pansy Parkinson on top of him.

"Potter. Let go of my date." Harry heard Malfoy yell and pull Pansy up. "I didn't think you could stoop any lower than your mudblood girl Potter but I was wrong. You're all the way down to bringing a ghost who haunts a bathroom."

"Sod off Malfoy. Myrtle's my friend and she doesn't just stay in the bathroom," Harry spat back getting up off the floor by himself.

"Are you too scared to try another living girl since Cho dumped you? You were way out of your league with her Potter," Malfoy smirked.

Harry was about to respond when Myrtle came directly in front of Malfoy. "One more word Draco and you won't have another peaceful night's sleep."

Harry saw Pansy pulling Draco away, but not before Malfoy said, "Always having some other pitiful creature fight your battles aren't you?"

"Don't worry about him Myrtle. It's just me he hates," Harry said rubbing his head.

"I won't do anything to him tonight," she said with a giggle. "Are you and Cho really broken up?" Harry nodded. "So why didn't you bring another girl tonight?"

"I asked you Myrtle. You're who I wanted to bring," Harry said and tried to twirl her around. They went back to the table and Myrtle seemed to be in a very good mood. She just sat there without saying anything while everyone else ate, but was back talkative afterwards.

Harry shifted down and asked Neville if he could have the next dance with Hermione. Once Neville agreed, Harry went to the other side of Hermione and whispered, "So, do you want to start working on you being remembered here?" Hermione just gave him a confused look but Harry whispered his plan to her. Her eyes got really big and then a grin came to her face.

"Do you think we can do it? You know we'll get into trouble," she said sounding nervous.

"I know we can do it and I don't care what the teachers think. Remember, this is about making a lasting impression. If we do it right, no one would get hurt and they'll be talking about it for a long time," Harry whispered back.

"Oh Harry, I don't know."

"Hermione, c'mon. You know that even if we get into trouble, McGonagall will love it. None of the other houses could pull this off."

Hermione finally agreed and the couple went to the dance floor just as the next song was beginning. They both got their wands out without anyone noticing but knew that once they started to cast spells, they needed to hurry before being stopped by a teacher. Hermione went first and was able to get most of the way through her spell before any of the students noticed what she was doing. Suddenly dark clouds began forming inside the Great Hall distracted all of the students. Everyone began looking up and there was a lot of mumbling.

Harry started his spell next and just before he finished, he saw the rain start to fall from Hermione's clouds but was able to finish his spell before any hit the ground. The lanterns around the Great Hall started flickering much brighter and suddenly hundreds of sparks of fire were shooting from the lanterns to hit the falling raindrops. With the clouds, the sky was dark and it was like watching a meteor shower with all the small fireballs flying across the sky. Each time one connected with a raindrop, there was a small sparkle and a hiss. The students seemed to be in awe and even Hermione was staring up with her mouth wide open in amazement. Harry smiled when he saw her and said, "Now, may I have this dance Ms. Granger?"

Hermione was obviously blushing but took Harry's hand and they began to dance. Everyone else was just standing around watching the sky. "I can't believe we just did that," she said. "I never thought it would look that amazing."

Harry smiled. "I told you we could do it. They'll be talking about this for years." It was almost the end of the song when most other students started to dance. Hermione was as happy as she had ever remembered being. She felt so safe and content in Harry's arms. He always made her feel confident and like she could do anything. Other students were trying to talk to them during the dance but they ignored every attempt to interrupt the dance. After the song, they looked into each other's eyes. Hermione always loved the brightness of Harry's green eyes.

"Should we leave it for the rest of the dance?" she asked.

"No way! This was for our song, not for them," Harry said firmly. They both took out their wands and ended the spells much to the disappointment of the other students. The couple pushed their way back to the table where the rest of their friends were still in shock.

"That was brilliant. What the hell was it?" Ron exclaimed.

Hermione was beaming, but Harry just said, "Part of that special project we're working on."

Harry and Hermione were in the middle of being congratulated by everyone when they heard. "Potter, Ms. Granger." Turning they saw Professor Snape with a very angry look on his face. "As Head Girl, I'm sure you were aware that there was to be no magic during the ball."

Hermione lost all the beaming in her face. "Yes, Professor I was aware of that."

Before Snape could say another word, Harry spoke up. "It was my fault Professor. I talked her into helping with that."

"I have no doubt about that Mr. Potter. However I would have expected Ms. Granger to take her duties as Head Girl more seriously. You will both be receiving detention and Mr. Potter, you will be receiving two," the Potions professor said before leaving.

Hermione suddenly became upset. "I shouldn't have done that. I knew better. What was I thinking?"

Harry grabbed her shoulders and said, "Hermione, think about what he did. He gave us detention but didn't take house points. He's either not really upset or McGonagall wouldn't let him take points. She can't be upset at all or we would have lost points."

Glancing at the teacher's table, they could see Professor McGonagall getting questioned by many of the other teachers and had a very satisfied look on her face. Seeing this made Hermione feel much better. The rest of the ball passed quickly. There were almost non-stop questions about how Harry and Hermione had made that magic happen. Harry was getting tired of answering the questions but it seemed Hermione was enjoying the attention.

The group of Gryffindors walked out of the Hall when they heard Professor Dumbledore say, "Ms. Granger, Harry a word please."

They broke away from the group who waited on them. "That was an impressive show you two put on. However I trust there will be no more public displays until your presentation."

Hermione quickly said, "No Professor. We won't do it again outside of our practice."

Dumbledore looked at Harry who quickly said, "I agree sir, we won't do anything like that again."

"Good. The staff had already been placing bets on if you would be successful in your presentation or not. The losers should be paying up now." Dumbledore grinned and then focused on Harry. "Harry, I can't remember Myrtle looking so happy. I'm glad you convinced her to come out. Well I must get back to collect my winnings. Goodnight."

They both said goodnight and went back to the group. Harry broke off and took Myrtle back to her bathroom before joining some of the others in the common room. Ron and Parvati, and a few of the other real couples quickly found quiet spots for themselves. Harry sat at the end of one of the couches listening to everyone talk about the ball. He was about to head up to bed when Hermione plopped down next to him. "Done with Neville already?" Harry asked.

Hermione laughed and said, "Oh yeah. He was nice to ask me to go with him." She looked at Harry and smiled, "Wasn't that great! I can't believe we did that. Can you believe Dumbledore bet on us?"

"I can't believe you're happy about getting detention. Of course Dumbledore bet on us. You're probably the smartest witch ever here," Harry said.

"It's not the first time I've had detention you know. At least no points were taken," she said happily. She wrapped her arm around his and said, "I'm so glad you talked me into that."

Harry was in the mood to tease her so he smiled slyly at her and said, "Exactly how glad are you? I've been sleeping alone for almost four months now."

She quickly blushed and slapped his arm. "Harry! With those kinds of comments, it will be a lot longer than four months before you convince anyone to help you out there."

"But you told me at the start of term that there were plenty of girls who could help me out. Surely you can suggest one of them." Harry tried to look serious.

"Harry I know you. You're not serious. You wouldn't do that."

"You're right. But, I did say sleep, not dance," he laughed.

"I'll tell you what. Since tonight was so fantastic, I'll sleep with you," she said seriously.

Now Harry blushed. "Hermione, I was kidding. You can't do that."

"Get your mind out of the gutter. Let's go up and change into normal clothes and get our books. Then we can read for a while and fall asleep on the couch. But, if you try anything, I've been learning some new hexes I'd like to try out."

They both changed quickly and came back down. They got on either end of the couch with their legs stretched out, Hermione's on top of Harry's. After a couple of awkward and embarrassing minutes, they both were reading their elemental magic books when Ginny and Colin came back in. "Where have you two been?" Hermione asked, trying to sound motherly.

Colin tried to mutter a response but Ginny spoke up. "Just having a walk. We're not that late, you wouldn't take points off for a few minutes." Colin came over and kissed Ginny on the cheek before running up to his dorm. Ginny came over near the couch and sat on the floor. "That was really amazing tonight. You two make a great team."

"I try to keep telling her that we could do anything but she doesn't seem to believe it. She must keep thinking I'll let her down or something," Harry joked.

"I think you can do anything and it's me I'm worried about. You're picking all this stuff up too easily. I keep struggling with it," Hermione responded.

"Ginny knows the truth. She's seen you have to explain things to me before I get it," Harry said.

Just then Ron and Parvati came in, both with their nice clothes very wrinkled. Now it was Ginny's turn. "Where have you two been? Maybe mum would like to know how late you've been out and the state of your clothes."

Ron blushed but Parvati didn't seem to mind. They both came over to one of the smaller couches to talk for a while.

"Ron, I had the map out a while ago and it sure didn't seem like there was much space between your two dots. Why do you think that was?" Harry joked.

"You did? I don't know, maybe we were just walking close to each other." His face going bright red.

"Nope, the dots weren't moving. At least not horizontally," Harry said and everyone laughed.

Ginny went up to bed and was quickly followed by Ron and Parvati. Harry and Hermione told them they were going to read a bit more but as soon as they were gone, Hermione turned around and laid back into Harry. "I'll let you out of the deal Hermione, you don't have to sleep with me."

"That's ok Harry. If I say I'm going to sleep with someone, then by gosh I'm going to sleep with them," she giggled. They both quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, Ginny was the first one down and was shocked to see her two friends still on the couch. Harry's head was at one end and Hermione's was at the other but they were both flat down on the couch asleep. She thought for a moment about waking the others but decided to be nice to them. Walking over near the couch she softly shook Hermione awake but held her hand over her mouth so she wouldn't make a sound. Once Hermione was aware of what was going on around her, Ginny went to the other end and whispered. "C'mon love its time to get up."

Harry smiled in his sleep and said, "Ah 'Mione, let's stay in bed today." Hermione and Ginny both gasped at this, which woke Harry up. "What? Is everything ok?"

Hermione was blushing but Ginny started laughing and said, "Oh, everything's great, isn't it Hermione?"

Hermione and Harry quickly sat up and decided to get cleaned up and ready to go home for the holiday. Hermione was silently wondering what Harry had been dreaming about. She hoped his dreams were as nice as the ones she had been having. She had felt herself getting closer to Harry all year but kept flashing back to her vision of his future. She kept telling herself that it might not mean anything. She wasn't going to let that worry stop her from getting closer to Harry. If he had a worry about his future, he would try to push her away to keep her from being hurt, but she wanted to know him as well as she could, no matter what.

The group got a carriage down to Hogsmeade so that they could catch a train. Harry didn't take much home so he was just going to Apparate."I can't wait until we learn to Apparate.," Ginny said.

"You'll love it," Harry said. "It's so much better than the floo."

"Oh and it's so easy just to pop over to say Paris isn't it Harry?" Hermione said.

"Paris? Why would Harry want to go to Paris?" Ginny asked.

"Kristi! You're going to see Kristi aren't you?" Ron asked.

"I'm not going to see her, she just felt sorry for me being alone and invited me over for a couple days. That's it, no big deal," Harry stated.

"No big deal? You're not with Cho anymore and this is a gorgeous woman you see naked on a regular basis. I say that's a big deal," Ron exclaimed.

"It's not going to be anything like that. Maybe if you could convince Ginny to get naked I'd spend more time at your house," Harry joked before being hit by all three of them.

The train pulled away and Harry apparated home. Sirius and Kelly were there waiting for him. "Hey you two," Harry said giving Sirius a hug.

"Good to see you Harry," Sirius said.

Kelly came and hugged him and said, "Good to see you again Harry."

They spent a couple hours catching up. Harry was enjoying hearing that Sirius and Kelly had been enjoying themselves. Sirius was the one person Harry wanted to have a good life. "We heard about your little demonstration during the Holiday Ball," Sirius said trying to sound stern.

"What? It's not fair that you're friends with most of the teachers. I can't get away with anything," Harry groaned.

Sirius laughed. "I received a few owls the next day. They all wondered how and why you were learned to do it. I really think you made McGonagall's day with that stunt. All of the other head's of houses are envious that her students could do something like that."

Harry laughed. "Hermione was worried we were really in trouble when Snape came over after we stopped the spell. Once we realized he only gave us detention we knew that we weren't in any real trouble."

"That git gave you two detention? He's such a low-life," Sirius started.

"He gave two detentions to me and one to Hermione since I confessed it was my idea. It's no big deal; I haven't had detention in a long time."

"Um Harry. How would you feel if Kelly and I went to see some old friends over the holidays? Would you mind too much if I'm not around?" Sirius asked, looking worried.

"Not at all. I think that's great. It works out pretty good since I'm going to Ron's for Christmas and then to Paris for a couple days and then to Hermione's for a few days."

"Well aren't you just Mr. Popular," Kelly joked.

"Nah, they all feel sorry for me. They don't want to risk me being alone. I may as well play it for all I can."

"Let me take you two out to supper for Christmas Eve before you leave," Harry offered.

"You don't have to do that Harry," Sirius answered.

"C'mon I want to. I don't feel like sitting around here much," Harry said and Sirius could tell something was up.

"Fine, you can take us out," Sirius hesitated. "What's up with Cho?" Seeing the look on Harry's face, he added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Harry looked sad. "Really, I think it's over. I'm going to meet her tomorrow in Diagon Alley and we're going to talk more, but it's just not the same anymore."

"I'm sorry Harry. I wish she hadn't done that. Actually, I don't want to be around if she comes over. I doubt I'd be very polite to her," Sirius said before Kelly added.

"I've seen him when he was mad at one of Remus' girlfriends who did something bad. It's not a pretty picture."

"Yeah, it hurt a bunch. I'm lucky I have good friends. Who knows, maybe it can still work out but it won't ever be the same."

"Is this trip to Paris part of your plan to get over Cho?" Sirius asked.

"Why? Are you taking someone?" Kelly asked.

"The chaser from the Quidditch team invited me, so I'll be with her. And no, it's not my plan to get over Cho. Kristi is just being nice. She said no strings attached," Harry stated.

Both Sirius and Kelly chuckled. "No strings attached? That means she's going to try to get you flat on your back before you can say Quidditch," Sirius said.

"I don't see that happening. But, that reminds me. Sirius, would you be my Quidditch manager? Cho did good because she's so pretty. I'm counting on the fact that everyone knows you were in Azkaban for twelve years to give you an edge in negotiating my contract. Same deal, 25% of the contract."

"I don't know Harry. Surely you can find a professional manager. I don't think I could do as well as a professional. Maybe Kelly could, she's great with business."

"C'mon Sirius. I know you can do it. Cho did great and it only took her a month or so. I need someone I can trust. If you want to split the money with Kelly and have her help, that's fine with me. C'mon it should be easy money."

"I'll tell you what. If you're not back with Cho by the time the contract comes around, I'll do it and I'll beg Kelly to help me so I don't mess up."

"So, what's been happening with Voldemort?" Harry said causing the couple to seem a bit shocked.

"Now that was a quick change of subjects. There's no news from him, but there have been more Death Eater attacks. They don't seem that coordinated. Our intelligence still says that Voldemort hasn't fully recovered from the time you two dueled in the forest."

"That's been a long time Sirius, there must be something else. I mean I'm totally fine now."

"True, but we don't know how bad he was hurt. We've also heard that there was an Egyptian man trying to help him recover but may have been stealing some of his powers. This man was rumored to have an ancient relic that has the power to absorb the power of dark wizards."

"Why couldn't we have used this thing before and just absorbed all of his power?" Harry asked.

"Well it's not that simple. We could have taken his power, but then the relic would still contain all that evil. It's supposedly been used before. If a wizard can find out how to harness all of that dark magic, they could potentially become much more dangerous than Voldemort ever was. Both sides are trying to find the relic. The Dark Side wants to give it to Voldemort so he can be stronger and our side wants to hide it."

"Why hide it? Why not destroy it?" Harry asked.

"It can't be destroyed by magic and there hasn't been any muggle means to destroy it either. At least that's what the minimal information we've found on the thing say."

"Ok, why can't we at least go and kill Voldemort why he's weak?"

"If we could find him, that's what we would do."

"Ok, so how's the campaign going?" Harry asked.

Sirius and Kelly both perked up. "Very well. I really think Arthur is going to win. Gallah hasn't turned to the dirty tricks we all expected. Probably because most people like Arthur and everybody except Death Eaters like you. The press is totally on our side."

"When's the final election?"

"The end of January. There have been rumors that Gallah may withdraw instead of risking defeat. If he drops out with some good story, he can retain the Minister of Education spot with many of his followers still intact. If he loses to Arthur, there's a good bet he would get forced out of his current position."

The next evening, Harry, Sirius and Kelly were ready to go to the restaurant. Harry had told them all to dress nicely but wouldn't say where they were going. They were all able to Apparate. at the same time and follow Harry to the restaurant. They arrived to find a long line of people since it was the holiday and this was a very popular place. Harry led them around the line of people, ignoring all the screams for autographs and pictures. He had actually made a reservation this time so they didn't need to push people back to get to a table. Harry had gotten used to getting right in and getting good tables but both Sirius and Kelly were still surprised at how Harry got treated in public. The female staff always flirted with him and laughed whenever he said anything remotely funny. After getting seated and getting drinks, both Sirius and Kelly were laughing at him. "What?" Harry asked.

"You're really don't even notice how differently they treat you than normal people, do you?" Sirius asked.

"Hey, I had a reservation. I followed the rules," Harry stated trying to convince the other two that he did everything correctly.

"I know. But you do know that it wouldn't matter. You could just walk in anytime and they'd find a place. You get these great tables and all the girls flirt with you."

"They don't flirt with me. They're just being nice. Quit making fun of me or I'll hex you both, right here in public," Harry snapped back.

"We're not making fun of you Harry," Kelly said. "I'm amazed you act so normal through it. Most people would be letting it go to their head and pushing for everything they could get."