PhoenixSong.net :: A Harry/Ginny Fanfic and Fanart Archive

Author: legobean

Story: Harry Potter and the Toll of Destiny

Part: 18: Welcome Back Potter!

Rating: Teens

Status: WIP

Reviews: 32

Words: 9,215

Updated: April 23, 2008, 5:59am

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18: Welcome Back Potter!

Disclaimer: Man, I just got a nasty shock. Did you know somebody already wrote stories featuring Harry Potter? Yeah neither did I! Some British chick named J.K. Rowling. I mean what kind of name is that anyway? R-O-W-L-I-N-G That has to be a pseudonym.

So, as a result, I’m not allowed to make a profit from this story. It’s an outrage! It’s a scandal! It’s the law!

Bummer…

Harry had been pacing for a good ten minutes. He was due to go out on stage and give a speech in just a few minutes. While he’d been prepping with Hermione on a speech and what to say to the reporters afterwards he couldn’t help but be nervous. He thought he’d gotten the best advice from Mr. Weasley who advised him to be brief. He’d spoken several times with Wanda who’d insisted that it was necessary for him to say a few words. She had offered to write his speech herself, but Harry didn’t really feel like it was advisable for him to talk for fifteen straight minutes about nothing in particular, if Wanda’s speeches were anything like actually talking to her.

“Harry, calm down,” Cho commented as he paced past her once again.

He turned and looked at her. “Thanks, that’s helpful.”

Cho smiled at him. “Well if you’re going to use your feet that much, why don’t you practice your dance steps?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I think I’m about to get enough humiliation dancing, thank you.”

“You’ll be fine, if you just relax.”

“Everyone out there is expecting someone I’m not. I’ll walk out there and they’ll gawk at me like some transfiguration experiment gone wrong and then they’ll spend months hashing every little gesture I make out there in the press!”

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad, Harry. They love you.”

“They don’t even know me!” Harry objected. “They love the story. They love that a little boy made the monster go away and then he grew up and had to beat him again, but it’s not me. You….you just can’t understand.” Harry clenched his fists in frustration.

It was Cho’s laugh that caught him off guard. Harry stared at her for a moment, but she only laughed harder. “What?” he finally asked.

“You’re so the hero you pretend you’re not.” There must have been something in look on his face because Cho sobered immediately. “It’s okay, it’s all part of it, but you just don’t realize what it was like going to school with you. You were the star Seeker. I mean did you even ever lose a game when something crazy didn’t happen to interfere? At the end of every term you were involved in some crazy adventure that nobody else in the school could have survived. Then you went off and defeated the most evil wizard ever, but you don’t think you’re special.”

“See, that’s what I mean, I didn’t want to do any of that stuff!”

Cho walked over to him and put her arm around him. “No, but you did all of that stuff. Harry, you have no reason to be intimidated by any of those people out there. None of them could have ever done what you’ve done. None of them certainly ever did it.”

It was then that Harry noticed that the Minister had started speaking. He froze as he listened.

“…I hope you all got your work done tonight, because this should be the best party that the Ministry has seen in many years. But, enough about that, the time has come to introduce our guest of honor this evening. I’m sure he needs no introduction, but he certainly deserves one, so if you will bear with me just a moment. In every crisis there are two possible outcomes. Either no one steps forward, and the crisis turns into a complete disaster, or someone steps forward and takes responsibility. They lead the way for the rest of us to follow, and they do so without asking for recognition. These people are called heroes. Those who sacrifice of themselves so that others might live a better life. Our world has had many heroes, but none larger than our guest this evening. For tonight, we have with us the man that evil fears, he who never fails in the face of unspeakable danger. He has on two occasions rescued the entire wizarding world from destruction.” Minster Bell paused for several seconds. “Mr. Harry Potter!” Minister Bell stopped speaking and stepped back from the podium as Harry peeked out from behind the curtain. Silence fell over the crowd. It was so eerily quiet that the rattle and hum from the kitchen several doors away became the dominant source of noise.

In the antechamber, Cho whispered into Harry’s ear, “It’s okay, Harry. Just relax. You have no reason to be nervous. Just keep your head up and act confident. If you act confident, they’ll really believe you are confident. Just trust me, I will be right here with you.” Cho gently ran her hand down Harry’s back and then with a hard shove pushed him out on stage. Harry stumbled as he stepped out from behind the curtain and onto the stage.

However, the moment he stepped from behind the curtain, the room came alive with gasps of shock and whispers. Harry steeled his courage and gave the crowd a wave and started walking to the podium as Wanda had instructed him. As soon as he started moving, the shock of the crowd started to dissipate and a roar of cheering began. The normally rather stuffy crowd came alive as women twice Harry’s age started screaming his name. Harry walked up to the podium and shook the Minister’s outstretched hand. He leaned in and shouted something into Harry’s ear, but he couldn’t hear what it was. Harry gave a rather embarrassed smile to the crowd and continued waving distractedly at the groups. He searched the crowd for familiar faces, but the only people he recognized were Minister Bell just off to his right, Cho standing just outside the curtain from the antechamber, and Fred and Katie sitting at the table on a slightly raised platform right underneath the podium. Fred gave him a thumbs up and whistled loudly. He sighed and continued waving. When the standing ovation hit the fifteen minute mark, the Minister ordered security to flicker the lights to try and get the crowd to settle down. The ovation continued unabated for another few minutes until it settled down enough for Harry to be heard using a Sonorus spell.

“Thank you, thank you,” Harry said turning from side to side. As soon as he began speaking the crowd hushed to a whisper to hear him speak. “I can’t tell you what a nice welcome that was. My last few trips to the Ministry were a lot less friendly.” The crowd laughed somewhat politely at Harry’s joke. “I’m not really much of a speech maker, however I did want to tell all of you that it’s good to be back among you.” A cheer went up through the crowd. “I want to thank the Minister for this welcoming party. He’s been most gracious.”

“I love you, Harry!” a young woman in the audience screamed.

“Er, well, thank you,” Harry said as he felt his face heat up, and tried to keep from blushing.

“I guess I’d just like to thank everyone who helped out during the war. We needed all the help we could get. I’m glad it’s over, and I know many of you haven’t fully recovered. I certainly haven’t, but I look forward to enjoying life without the threat of Voldemort.” There was a general gasp in the crowd at the name. “Oh, really, come now. He’s dead. He is no longer worth fearing. It’s a chapter of my life that I’m ready to put behind me and just go back to being my regular self. I hope you can all understand that. Thanks everyone for coming and enjoy the party.” Harry gave a small wave to the crowd and stepped back from the podium.

After another rather long, but still much shorter ovation, Minister Bell walked up to the podium once again. “Thank you, Mr. Potter. That is a phrase that no one in our world can say frequently enough to repay you for your deeds. We owe you a great debt.” Harry felt crushed under the praise. He wanted to bolt from the room as quickly as possible. The Minister seemed to notice in Harry’s discomfort that he was losing his guest of honor and quickly moved on. “The schedule for this evening is an excellent dinner, a short press conference for the press to get a few quotes from Mr. Potter and then an evening of dancing and frivolity in celebration of Mr. Potter’s return. Tomorrow at eleven there will be a short parade through Hogsmeade. This will conclude the public appearances scheduled for Mr. Potter at this time. The Ministry will keep the public abreast of any further appearances as appropriate. Thank you all for being here and for that heartwarming welcome. I hope you all stay throughout the evening and help us celebrate this wonderful occasion. Let the feast begin!”

There was a general cheer by the crowd and the Minister motioned for Cho to come to the center of the stage where the staircases were. When she reached them he offered her his arm, and he escorted her to their seats. “Wanda never said anything about a parade,” Harry whispered to the Minister.

“Really? Well, my apologies, Mr. Potter. We don’t want to impose, but after the news hits the wireless and the papers tonight, we felt that the people would want an opportunity to see you for themselves. Hogsmeade was chosen, because it’s the only all magical community with streets wide enough to have the parade through. You’re a hero, Harry. The public wants to see you for themselves.” He smiled widely.

“Minister Bell, I do not enjoy being gawked at. It’s bad enough that I have to participate in this….this…spectacle, but I am not some trophy to be shown off.” Harry’s voice rose dangerously.

“Harry, I assure you I have nothing but the utmost respect for your privacy, but if you don’t allow the public to get an opportunity to see you in person once in a while, they will never leave you alone.”

Harry sighed deeply, and Cho elbowed him in the ribs. “Harry, you’re taking this all wrong. People want to celebrate, because you have finally come home. You might not want to celebrate, but you freed us, and you give hope to people. Don’t be petulant; they want you to know how they feel.”

Harry grunted. He looked around and found that the heads of people at the tables nearby were all turned towards him. “I’m not a hero, Cho. I’m not cut out for this. If they really knew me, they wouldn’t be like this.”

It was Cho’s turn to grunt. “Harry, what do you think a hero is exactly?”

“I don’t know. Someone who charges into danger to save people. A person who’s always willing to risk himself for others. Someone who looks at the bad guy and says, ‘I don’t care if I have no chance of winning, I’m going to try and stop you anyway.’ Someone who never fails. Somebody who always knows what to do and how to do it. Someone like Dumbledore,” Harry whispered angrily.

“You weren’t describing Dumbledore, Harry. Well, you were, but not really. Can you really not see? That’s you,” Cho replied, rubbing Harry’s hand sympathetically.

Harry scoffed in reply but dropped it, as the two of them were making quite a scene at the honored table, and they hadn’t even greeted their dinner companions. They were sitting with the Minister and a woman he introduced as a friend named Naomi Rizollio. Katie made a face when her father needlessly introduced her next, along with Fred, who pretended he had never heard of Harry Potter, and throughout the meal kept asking him questions like, “What did you say your name was again?” and “You say you were involved in some sort of fight with a dark wizard? Was it in the papers?” As the dinner wore on, Fred’s feinted cluelessness grew more severe until finally he declared. “I can’t believe they would hold a state dinner and a ball for such a run-of-the-mill person. You should meet my brother, Ron. You’d like him; not an interesting bone in his body.” Fred yelped and turned to glare at Katie, who was glaring daggers back at him. Harry watched as Katie clearly mouthed, Shut up, to Fred.

The other members of the table were the Deputy Minister Leslie Lister and her husband, Garry, and Fabia Pendergraft, the head of Magical Law Enforcement. Also at their table was a portly fellow named Bartimus Talbot who claimed to own a whole line of products that Harry should really consider endorsing. His wife, Mercedes, who appeared to be at least sixty years younger than Mr. Talbot, claimed that she had known Harry at Hogwarts, although he couldn’t place her. He was somewhat amazed that she was old enough to have actually been at Hogwarts during his time there. The last of their dinner companions was Alstor Abbot, who Harry learned was the current chair of the Hogwarts’s Board of Governors. His wife, Victoria, reminded Harry of Professor McGonagall, only with less warmth and not as much tolerance for Fred’s antics. All in all, it proved to be not quite two of the most excruciating hours of Harry’s life.

It got off to an immediately bad start when Mercedes, convinced that Harry must remember her, recounted each and every time she had been within ten feet of Harry while they were both at Hogwarts. The fact that Cho didn’t have a single memory of her at all didn’t seem to bother her, but the fact that Harry refused to acknowledge any of the ‘special moments’ the two of them had shared while passing in the corridors did. Not recalling the time he sat just twenty seats away from her at a Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw match infuriated her more with each muttered apology. Her husband was largely ignoring his wife’s banal attempt to prove they had once been the closest of friends in favor of badgering Harry about coming in as soon a possible to sign an endorsement contract. He assured Harry they could have spots on the wireless within just a few days.

In a fit of desperation, he attempted to engage Fabia in conversation, as she was seated on just the other side of Cho, but he soon found her intimidating glares and the disdain in her voice to be grating and went back to trying to become invisible, while not insulting the Minister by actually disappearing. He was quietly stirring his veal cutlet and winter vegetables around on his plate, counting the minutes until his final meal was over, and he would face the firing squad of the press. He started looking around at some of the other tables and found that most people were still keeping a very close eye on him. He suddenly realized that Cho’s hand had made it way inside his, and she was squeezing it supportively.

After the dinner mercifully ended, Harry, Cho, and the Minister retreated to the VIP room while the elves cleared the tables and setup for the press conference. The magical band began preparations for their evening of work. When they returned to the stage, they found the room much changed. The tables were all on one side of the room, and there was a band on stage. A small group of fifteen or so people was huddled around the podium. When they stepped back out onto the stage, the room once again fell silent. The Minister walked directly to the podium.

“The press is now going to have the opportunity to ask a few questions. I urge you to be respectful. Mr. Potter will be answering only those questions he wants to answer. We will be keeping this brief as we have other festivities to move on to. With Mr. Potter’s permission, we can arrange a press conference some time in the future if there are additional questions. Mr. Potter, the podium is yours.”

Harry stepped up the podium and looked around. Every reporter had their hand in the air. He stood there waiting for one of them to ask a question. He looked helplessly at the Minister who came over a whispered in his ear. “Just point to the one you want to ask the question, and they will give their name and question.”

“Oh,” Harry pointed to the only face that he recognized in the crowd.

“Hi, Harry,” she said as he pointed at her. “Luna Lovegood, The Quibbler. After so many years away, what caused you to return now?”

Harry was momentarily stunned by the serious nature of Luna’s question. She seemed different; if not for her dreamy expression Harry might have thought this was a different Luna. Harry pondered all this for a moment before he answered. “Hi, Luna, it’s great to see you. I guess that it was just time. I had the help of some very good friends in my return, and I wanted to spend more time with them.”

Harry pointed to a short wizard in the back who was struggling to be seen. “Terry Gerhart, The Hogsmeade Tribune. Speculation on your whereabouts the last seven years has been rampant. Where have you been, Mr. Potter?”

“I was, uh, staying in a rather remote monastery.”

Harry pointed to another wizard closer to the front. “Paul Tribblehorn, The Wizarding Times. How did you defeat You-Know-Who?”

Harry winced a bit. “His name was Tom Riddle. I will not be addressed with questions about You-Know-Who or any other silly moniker. He was just a man, an evil man, yes, but only a man. I am not prepared to discuss the events of the final battle or the events leading up to it at this time. It was, needless to say, a difficult time.” Harry smiled inwardly at the double meaning of ‘not being prepared’ to discuss Voldemort’s demise.

Harry pointed to a witch standing next to Luna. “Pamela Tuttle, Wizarding Wireless News. Why were you gone for so long, Mr. Potter?”

Harry frowned. “I guess I just had a hard time dealing with the events of the previous couple of years, and I really didn’t want to deal with all of this,” Harry said gesturing around the room.

Harry continued on pointing at reporters. “Mathew Snyder, The Daily Prophet. Do you feel badly for the people you killed?”

Harry blanched and tried to remember the answer that he and Hermione had gone over. After what felt like an eternity he finally started rambling “I feel badly for everybody who lost someone during the war, no matter which side they were fighting on. As for the people I killed personally,” Harry felt like he might be ill, “I really wish they hadn’t chosen to align themselves with Voldemort.” A gasp went out from the crowd. “But he had to be stopped, and their actions defined them. Did I want to kill them? No. Obviously, I wish none of this had to have happened.

The questions continued on in a similar vein, all questions having to do with the mechanics of how Voldemort was defeated, Harry politely refused to answer. After the questions had taken on a slightly more banal tinge the Minister announced, “Last question.”

Harry pointed to the woman from Witch Weekly who had earlier asked him if he was displeased when he had been taken off the Sexiest Wizard Alive list because of speculation of his death. “Are you and your date this evening a serious item, Mr. Potter? I think the witches of Britain would like to know.”

Harry rolled his eyes a bit before he caught himself. “Ms. Chang is a friend of mine. I was happy to become reacquainted with her since my return. I will say only that I am not currently looking for dates. Thank you, all of you.” Harry stepped back from the podium, and Minister Bell took his place.

“Thank you, Mr. Potter. The first dance of the evening with my lovely daughter, Katie, will be taking place in a few minutes. Please enjoy the rest of the evening. Remember this day, for today is great day, and tomorrow will only be better now that our champion has returned to us.”

When the Minister turned around, Harry shot him a glare, but the Minister just shrugged. They walked down the steps and through the crowd. Harry was instantly swarmed with people as the crowd had been let go from their formal moorings and allowed to mingle. Those who were desperate to see The-Boy-Who-Lived had pushed towards the front of the stage and Harry felt himself crushed by the sea of people all attempting to shake his hand, slap him on the back or, in the case of many of the women, kiss him. His connection with Cho remained unbroken only because she had latched onto one of his hands before they had entered the ocean of grasping hands and refused to let go. “Back off people!” Harry heard her shout, and there was a sudden ripple of magic as a three foot circle was cleared around Harry. He looked back at Cho and found her with her wand in hand and pointed at him. She turned her wand away from him and addressed the crowd. “You will be organized and respectful of Harry and myself, or you will find yourself spending the evening in St. Mungo’s. Do I make myself clear?” Cho barked angrily, glaring at the crowd. The circle around them grew slightly under the force of Cho’s glare. She turned and smiled at Harry. “This way.” She tugged on his hand and led him toward the people forming a ring around the dance floor.

They reached the inner ring around the dance floor. It was huge and crowded with people Harry didn’t know. He knew that somewhere in this crowd were Ron and Hermione. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were also here somewhere, but he had yet to see them. He was scanning the room when he came across a rather surprising face. Susan Bones was smiling and waving just a few people away from him. “Susan! Hi!” Harry called. He gave her a huge grin that was reflected on her face. Harry beckoned her over, and the crowd evaporated to let her move past.

“Harry, it’s so good to see you! This was all quite a shock. Thank goodness you’re okay.” Susan hugged Harry tentatively. When he hugged her back gently, she closed her arms around him more fiercely and held him. Harry felt slightly embarrassed at the display of affection. He and Susan had been friends since the DA in his fifth year, but this was the first time she had hugged him, and she did so with no self consciousness. It took him a moment before he realized that she was crying.

“Susan, are you okay?” Harry whispered into her ear.

She pulled back from him smiling. “I’m sorry, it’s just when I hugged you it was so real. I was afraid I’d never see you again. It’s just so wonderful.”

Harry’s embarrassment blossomed, and he started to fidget nervously. “It’s good to see a familiar face.”

Susan reached up and cupped his cheek with wonder in her eyes, as she looked at him endearingly. “Are you okay, mon ami?” a man just behind Susan asked. Susan spun around to face the man.

“I’m terrific. Claude, I want you to meet my friend, Harry Potter. Harry this is my husband, Claude Meyer.”

“Ah, but of course I know who Harry is. It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Potter. Susan speaks most highly of you.” Claude extended his hand to Harry.

“It’s nice to meet you, too. Please, call me Harry.” He shook the man’s hand firmly.

“And who is this lovely creature behind you?” Claude asked.

“Oh, sorry. This is, erm, Cho Chang.” Harry gestured rather weakly to Cho.

“A pleasure, Ms. Chang.” Claude bowed deeply as he took her hand.

“The same, Mr. Meyer.”

The music started abruptly, and Cho grabbed Harry’s arm. “We need to be ready.”

Katie and the Minister appeared suddenly in the middle of the dance floor and began a slow elaborate waltz. Katie looked perfectly at home with the steps in her father’s arms. Her father looked slightly less comfortable, but the two danced well together. Cho leaned over and pointed out a short man in a very formal robe. “When he points to you, you need to lead me out on the dance floor directly opposite Minister Bell and Katie and then begin to dance. Be ready.” Harry nodded. He watched the man, intently ignoring the dancing couple on the floor. When the prompt came Harry bolted onto the floor with Cho hanging on his arm. “Harry! Harry, slow down, we need to take synchronized steps,” Cho told him as quietly as she could with any hope of Harry hearing her. Harry did slow down enough that they could make a more graceful approach to the dancing couple. When they were in position, they paused for a moment and then started.

Harry was somewhat petrified by all the eyes watching him. He wanted desperately to look at his feet. But in all the lessons that Cho had given him the last several weeks, she had insisted that Harry look her in the eyes as much as possible and never look down. Looking down proved an impossible temptation as he brushed over Cho’s feet several times with awkward steps. “Harry, you’re missing the turns. We practiced this, you need to count the steps in your head, and make sure you get the turns,” Cho growled through a wide smile. Harry found that he was indeed badly out of sync with the turns of the other couple, and they were now dancing quite closely with the Minister and Katie. Mercifully, the song ended before the two couples managed to collide on the large dance floor. However he didn’t realize that he needed to bow to the other couple when the dance was over, and as a result bowed to them only after they and Cho had already finished their bow. The Minister then came and offered Cho his hand, which she took, and the couple stepped away back into dance position. Harry realized the problem only after Cho gestured with her head that Harry needed to go offer Katie his hand where she was patiently waiting. He sighed deeply and walked over to Katie and extended his open hand. She took it and the couple walked opposite the Minister and Cho.

Harry realized as soon as the music started that dancing with Katie was completely different than dancing with Cho. He was more familiar with Cho from their practices and was better able to anticipate her. Katie was a superior dancer, but not being a terribly wonderful dancer himself, he was not used to the queues she was giving him to assist him in leading them. She smiled widely at Harry and said as subtly as possible. “Harry, let me worry about the turns. Just let me go where I need to go. You concentrate on keeping the steps in tempo.” They tried this for a bit, and he found that they were finally doing a bit better at keeping in sync with the Minister. “Harry, relax. This is the fun part of the evening. Look at me.” Harry made eye contact with the pretty blond. “Good. Now smile.” Harry did his best, but he wasn’t sure how much improvement there was in his features. “Take a deep breath and don’t worry about them, just pay attention to me.” Several other couples had joined them on the dance floor forming a rather large circle. When the dance finally ended, Katie curtsied, and Harry gave her a brief bow. She grabbed his arm and directed him off to the side. “You did great, Harry. There isn’t too much more formal stuff. That was the worst of it, but you need to circulate a bit and ask some of the ladies to dance. Everyone is going to want a chance to dance with you. If you ignore them completely, it will be rude. You also shouldn’t ignore your date. And,” she smiled widely at him, “Save at least one more dance for me, please.” She gave a brief nod to Cho who had appeared at Harry’s elbow.

“Come on, Harry, dance a few more with me, before you start making the circuit.”

“The circuit?”

“Well, you have two choices. You dance every dance with me, or you can rotate around and give some of the other women a chance to feel what it’s like. It’s courtesy. If you sulk all night like you did with Parvati at the Yule Ball, it will be a nightmare in the press,” Cho advised.

“You noticed that?” Harry asked in a surprised tone.

“Everybody noticed that. I hope that had you asked me to the dance before Cedric did, that you would have shown me a better time than you did Parvati,” Cho stated flatly.

“You would have gone with me, if I’d asked you first?” Harry questioned.

“Harry, I would have definitely gone with you, but Cedric asked me first. You had barely said two words to me in three and a half years. I really didn’t expect the invitation. If I’d have known you were going to ask, I might have turned him down. But I really don’t regret going with him,” she clarified, her eyes sparkling slightly. “He was great, and I had a wonderful evening. It turned into something special. I cherish my memories of him, but I’ve always regretted that I had to turn you down in order for that to happen.” She tugged him back out on the dance floor as they were between songs and waited for the music to begin while Harry tried desperately not to look away from her shiny eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said sadly. “I wish I could have saved him. I wish I hadn’t let my stupid nobility get in the way of just taking the cup and the victory. He wanted me to take it, you know, but,” Harry sighed deeply, “I wanted to share the moment. He played well and he deserved the victory. Freaking Voldemort,” Harry spat.

“Hold me, Harry? Please? I don’t want to cry on you. Just give a minute to get myself together.” He wrapped an arm around her and held her tightly. She pressed up against him. He became instantly aware of how much of her he could feel through their dress robes and of the smooth exposed skin on her back where his hand was resting. He felt his body react to her beautiful scent and the feelings her body evoked in his mind. For a moment it felt they were back at Hogwarts in the Room of Requirement under the mistletoe. Harry recognized the feeling in his chest as she gave a shuddering sigh against him. He held her as closely as he could comfortably, and they moved in time to the music, although not in any particular step. With the number of people on the dance floor, the formal steps had started to break down in most places anyway. When the next song started, Cho burrowed further into his chest and sighed.

He saw something out of the corner of his eye that gave him pause. He thought he saw a flash of familiar red hair, but as soon as he looked again, whatever it was had gone. He felt Cho’s dancing change as she began to make rather a point of keeping herself pressed up against him, tightly. She finally looked up at him and the water in her eyes was gone, replaced by something else that Harry hadn’t seen there since the start of a horrible Valentine’s date many years before. He tried to put some distance back between the two of them, but Cho held firmly to him. He didn’t fight much, it was very pleasant there in her arms, and he had never quite felt anything like it. After the fourth straight song that they danced without pause Harry asked, “So do you think I should spend some time circulating?”

Cho sighed. “I suppose, unless you’d rather spend the evening here with me. I wouldn’t mind really. This is,” Cho paused looking for the right description, “perfect.”

“Well, I need a break, and then I suppose I should. I don’t want to be rude. I don’t really want to spend all night on my feet either, but I guess I don’t get a vote.”

Cho humored him with a small laugh. “Well don’t be away from me for too long. I won’t be able to accept any other dance partners since I need to keep an eye on you, and it will look weird if I am watching you all night, if you don’t come back to dance with me every so often.”

Harry agreed that he would dance with her occasionally, and after he made a quick stop at the bar, and shook the hands of more people he could count he accepted the request of middle-aged woman who asked if he could spare her a dance.

Her name was Alinda, and she was quite a lot more dancer than Harry was used to. She was quick with her feet and was adding moves that continually surprised him, but he found that dancing with her was very enjoyable. Unlike Cho’s intensity or Katie’s encouragement, Alinda was just fun. Harry found himself actually laughing at the end of their dance and thanked her genuinely. He received rather a surprise when he finished dancing with Alinda, a small queue of women apparently waiting for him to ask them to dance had appeared not to far from where they were dancing. Alinda led him over to the group and whispered in his ear, “Choose wisely.”

Harry wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this development. There were rather a large number of women in the queue and he wasn’t exactly sure how he was supposed to choose. Alinda squeezed his arm and cheerily sang, “Thank you, Harry!”

Harry nervously picked out what he felt was the least intimidating of the group. Her name was Melody, and she smiled rather predatorily at Harry as they began to dance. Neither of them was particularly skilled and as such they weren’t making what one would call a sensible dance step. Harry did his best not to step on her, and Melody did her best to use her hand on Harry’s shoulder to fondle his neck and hair. The fact that she on several occasions bumped into Harry in a way that he could only presume was intentional wasn’t helping his disposition. When Harry thanked her for the dance when it ended she asked huskily, “Come now, Harry, wouldn’t you fancy another dance?”

“Well it seems there are several people waiting and, I, erm, don’t want to keep them,” Harry explained lamely.

She gave him a pouty expression but seemed to accept her fate and disappeared into the crowd. Harry danced with three more women. He had stuck to the slightly older of the crowd thinking that they might be safer, however he soon found his theory to be untrue as the last of them smashed herself tightly to him at the start of the music, and despite his most desperate efforts to escape, kept him smashed up against her bosom until the very last note of the song. At that point, Harry bolted away from the group of women, seeking some sort of safe haven from his annoying fans.

Cho caught up to him just as he left the dance floor. “Having fun, Harry?”

“No, not at all. This is dreadful. Who decided this was proper social interaction?”

Cho snorted. “I don’t think anybody decided that last one was proper. I think she saw her chance and took it. Must be a Gryffindor.” Harry shuddered. “Anyway, why don’t you dance a few with me and catch a break from your fans?”

“I just need to find someplace to sit down, or maybe hide,” Harry suggested. “Have you seen Ron or Hermione? They are supposed to be here somewhere.”

“Nope, but I’ve been watching you. Boy Gamma is watching the crowd. If I get a chance to ask him, I will. He’s been very well blended in, I’ve only just spotted him.” Harry and Cho walked around for a bit, looking for Ron, they found it quite impossible to make any headway through the crowd, as each person they passed seemed to want to introduce themselves and tell them what wonderful things they could do for him. He received a few cold glares from people, but most of the crowd was, if anything, too enthusiastic about him being there. The crowd had imbibed heavily from the Ministry’s bar, and the well wishers were getting less and less sedate in their thanking him for killing You-Know-Who and wanting to show him how happy they were that he’d returned.

Finally, after a half an hour they had barely made it off the dance floor, and Harry was tired of shaking hands and getting slapped on the back. He leaned in and whispered loudly to Cho, “This is awful. How do people deal with this constantly?”

“People don’t, but I’m afraid when you make public appearances, you can expect this for a while.”

“How long is a while?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I would guess not more than the next thirty to sixty years,” Cho replied teasingly.

The joke landed painfully on Harry’s stressed nerves. He rapped himself on his head causing him to become dillusioned .

“Harry, Harry, where are you going?” Cho called. She followed him briefly, but he soon got past the packed throng that had surrounded him and found that there were far fewer people anywhere that he wasn’t. The rest of the room was much less crowded than the pack of people he had been in the center of. He heard the murmurs on the edge of the crowd. “Do you see him? Can you tell where he is? Can we get closer? I’ve barely gotten to see him yet. I wish people would get out of my way. I want a dance! When is he going to start dancing again? Oh, he has such a cute bum. I want to touch it!” These people are the head of the State? Harry thought. No wonder the Wizarding government is so screwed up. As Harry broke away from the crowd, he reveled in the anonymity of being difficult to see Other than trying to keep people from running into you, it was much better than the alternative. He worked his way around the room looking for his friends trying not to move so quickly as to ruin the effect of the spell. He was walking by the dance floor again when he saw something familiar.

He moved closer and he saw it again, a flash of brilliant red hair. He stepped out onto the dance floor and there she was. Dancing in the arms of Dean Thomas, looking for all the world like she belonged there, was Ginny. Harry’s heart lurched, and he gasped for breath. She was smiling up at Dean as they moved around the dance floor. Dean had a look of lust and excitement on his face. Harry was familiar with the look, he’d seen it far too many times during his last year of schooling.

Harry’s blood bubbled with rage. What was she doing here? More importantly, if she was here, what was she doing with him? Harry rapped himself on the head causing him to become visible again. He heard the tittering begin in the background as people noticed him standing nearby once again, but he ignored it. His eyes burned into the dancing couple. The song ended, and Dean said something that caused Ginny to playfully swat him on the chest. He laughed and leaned in and whispered something to her. She nodded her head and linked her arm with his, and they started walking off the dance floor. Harry moved to put himself in front of them, not caring if he was rude, or even if he injured those in his way. He was blinded by his fury and could think of nothing but getting her away from him. Here she was cavorting and giggling with her ex. Had she no shame?

Ginny’s head turned towards him, and then realization crossed her face with a host of other emotions, first surprise, then embarrassment, then smug satisfaction and finally anger of her own. Harry stomped up to the couple with the intertwined arms. “Dean,” Harry growled, shooting him a look.

“Harry, it’s great to see you.” He stuck out a hand, which Harry glanced at, then blatantly ignored.

“Ginny, may I speak with you privately?”

Ginny’s eyes travel briefly up to Dean’s face, and she gave him an apologetic look, further enraging Harry. “I’ll see you later, Dean. It was great to see you.” Harry watched her squeeze him on the arm and then release him. “What did you have in mind, Harry? This isn’t exactly a private party.”

“Take my hand.”

Ginny looked at his hand and gave him a reproachful look. “Where are we going?”

“Not far. Just somewhere we can talk.” Harry kept his hand out stretched.

Cho finally pushed her way up to the formation of grim faced friends. “Harry, what are you doing? You can’t just leave me behind like that!”

Hearing Cho’s words, Ginny shot her a vicious look and grabbed Harry’s outstretched hand. Harry pulled his wand and a moment later they were surrounded by smoke. There was a bright flash as Harry pulled Ginny to him, and they Apparated.

***

Ginny coughed as they reappeared from the full breath of smoke she took in just before Harry grabbed her. She wrenched herself out of his grasp.

“What the hell, Harry?” She looked up at him, and he still had the hurt, betrayed look in his eyes. “What was that all about?”

“I had to cover our exit, the smell and the sound of the Wards popping. It would be disadvantageous for everyone to know I can Apparate through the Ministry’s wards.”

“Well, thanks. Now I smell like smoke and sulfur. Care to explain what has you in such a snit?” Ginny spat at him.

“What are you doing here with him?”

“What kind of question is that? Don’t you speak to me like that. You don’t own me, Harry. I can’t even get you to concentrate on me. What right do you have to be jealous?” She watched Harry fume for a moment.

“I can’t believe you out there with him, dancing and cavorting like there is nothing between us, like you’d rather be with him! He’s your ex-boyfriend, Ginny. What am I supposed to think?”

“Oh, isn’t that the cauldron calling the kettle black? I saw you out there with Cho, your bodies pressed together like hormonally imbalanced teenagers,” Ginny bit out nastily.

“She’s my bodyguard, Ginny. I didn’t get a choice of who I wanted to bring to this bloody thing. You think I wanted to come with Cho? You think I’m secretly planning ways for the two of us to be together and trying to throw it in your face? I don’t want her, I want you!”

“Well, you have a pretty poor way of showing it. You spend every spare moment with her. You came to this dinner with her. You have her teach you how to dance instead of me. You sleep in the room next to her. How the hell am I supposed to feel, Harry? I cried when Hermione gave me her seat to this dinner. I was so happy that I would get to be here with you. I fought tooth and nail to get to the dance floor, and what do I see when I get there? You and Cho, dancing like it’s the most magical evening in the world, when you still think I’m at home. Well, thank you very much, Harry. Thanks for wanting me. Try showing me that you want me, because everything you do screams that you want her!”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be here? I would have found you as soon as I could have!”

“I tried, Harry. I’ve been over at the Burrow every day for a week, but there’s always someone there, Chantelle, or Cho, or that little blonde bitch with the stupid hair.”

As if her ears were burning, Wanda’s head popped into the room in which they were standing. “Harry? You’ve caused quite a commotion; you’re not supposed to be back here. I’m afraid your date is tearing the place apart looking for you.”

Harry sighed. “Ginny, I know you’re mad at me. I’m sorry. I don’t even want to be here. But can we please go back out there, so that I can ask the woman who’s most important to me to dance?” His eyes had softened and he gave her a look filled with longing. “Just so there is no more confusion, I’m talking about you.”

Her hair was tousled, and she’d let out a few tears in her anger. She was sure she was bright fuchsia by now, and she must look quite the sight. To be entirely truthful, Ginny really did not want to go back out there looking as she did and face the mob that was waiting for Harry, but a part of her ached for the chance to dance with Harry for real. She just wished it was when her make-up was still properly arranged, and her hair hadn’t broken out of the elaborate design she’d paid fifteen galleons for. She was still angry, and she wanted to yell and scream some more before she calmed down. Then again, Harry had asked her to dance, and who knew when she was going to get another chance? Ginny took a deep breath as swallowed the angry words that wanted to escape. Instead she said. “Okay, would you let me fix my make-up first, please?”

Harry nodded. “Can you point me in the direction of Ms. Chang, so I can get her to stop terrorizing your guests, and can you then please escort Ms. Weasley to a washroom?” He turned back to Ginny. “Although I don’t know how you’re going to improve things…you look amazing.”

“Merlin, Harry. Don’t make me shovel my way out of here,” Ginny teased. Her mood was rapidly improving with the compliments.

Harry closed the distance between them and placed an all too brief (and much too chaste) kiss on her lips before he said, “I’ll see you out there in a moment. Let me lasso Cho and make sure she doesn’t hex everyone. Just don’t keep me waiting too long. I’ve waited long enough.”

Ginny attempted to give him a demure smile, but as soon as he turned around she shook her head, because she just knew she was grinning like an idiot. That stupid man. Oh, the things he could get away with.

Ginny followed Wanda to the toilet as a steely silence built between them. Wanda had obviously heard her slinging arrows at Harry and the one about her. She debated the usefulness of apologizing, but in the end decided it would probably come off as insincere.

“You’re lucky, you know,” Wanda stated flatly, as she stopped in front of a door marked ‘Women.’

“What?” Ginny asked, shaking her head out of her thoughts and back into the moment.

“Any witch would kill to have Harry say those things to her. I don’t think you really appreciate how lucky you are.”

Ginny burned inside. How could anyone understand the years of waiting for Harry to notice her, the years of waiting for him to be free of the war and Voldemort, then the years of waiting for him to return to her, and now the waiting for the opportunity to be with him as a whole person? How could anyone understand that? Would any witch really consider herself lucky to be in her position?

“I care about Harry, and I cherish my time with him, but he’s not the easiest person to be with,” Ginny finally answered.

“Perhaps you should be more appreciative of your opportunity, that’s all,” replied Wanda acidly. “There’s the door. If you keep him waiting, I’m sure we can find someone else to entertain him.”

“You know nothing of it, so mind your own business,” Ginny growled.

“I know if he whisked me away for a private moment during a Ministry celebration, I certainly wouldn’t be angry about it,” Wanda called over her shoulder as she walked away.

Ginny huffed. She hated women, almost all of them. Why did they all have to be so competitive when it came to Harry? Did he really not get what it had been like watching the girls in Gryffindor pining and strategizing ways to get his attention when she felt she’d already lost any chance she’d ever have? Did he not get that these women would give him whatever he wanted, all he had to do was ask? He hated it when she was jealous, but certainly she must have more right to be jealous than Harry did, didn’t she?

Ginny hiked her dress up and removed her wand from strap on her leg, just above the top of her stocking and used it to wash off her ruined make-up. She pulled out her small clutch and began the process of fixing the damage as best she could. It’s not like Dean was really interested in her. He’s just a playboy and a huge flirt. Sure they had dated for a while in school, and it had been nice, but she never had any real feelings for him. Harry must know that by now? It had always been about Harry. She had dumped Dean like a bad habit the minute Harry showed any interest. It was probably the only reason Dean still flirted with her; she was the one who had broken it off with him. She had been the one who had always said no, to every single invitation into a broom closet. Obviously Dean just enjoyed being told no.

Her ring was prickling fiercely on her finger, and it was irritating, almost painful. It had been bothering her ever since she and Harry had left the ballroom, and she wished it would stop. It was extremely distracting. She adjusted it in an attempt to make the sensation stop, but found it was so tight that she could only spin it on her finger this evening.

She sighed as she looked at her repaired make-up. Her hair had badly fallen out of her elaborate up-do, and she was convinced that any attempt she made at repairing it wouldn’t really improve the situation. Magic did have its limits. She decided to make use of the facilities while she was here; if Harry wanted to dance for a while, she didn’t want to have to stop later.

In just a few minutes she was stalking back towards the noise of the celebration. The anticipation began to bubble in her veins. She was going to dance with Harry in front of all these people. Others were going to see the way he looked at her. Nobody could deny the hungry intensity with which he gazed at her when he was holding her in his arms. She was getting chills now just thinking about it. She was working her way over towards the dance floor, where she knew Harry must be due to the throng of people. She really wasn’t looking forward to fighting her way through it once again.

The crowd had cleared out considerably from earlier and the room was fairly deserted except for the group around Harry. She pushed her way through them, rather more roughly than necessary. She had been shoved back a few times by other women also trying to make their way to the front. Ginny caught a couple of glimpses of Harry at the center speaking to Ron. Cho had her arm wrapped around Harry’s possessively. Whether she was just playing a part or not, Ginny really hated her. How could Harry think this wouldn’t bother her? Cho was standing exactly where Ginny belonged.

She’d finally managed to push her way through the crowd when she saw someone push his way through the other side of the circle surrounding Harry, his wand raised. He leveled his wand at Harry, and Ginny screamed.

“Harry!”

Ginny would never understand how, but blessedly a shield popped up behind Harry in the fraction of a second that the curse was in the air. “Ginny!” Harry yelled as he attempted to push towards her, and another attacker came from the side. Cho had pulled her wand from her hair, and blasted the man down before he got his curse off. Ron had leveled the first attacker with a crushing blow from his fist. Cho still had her arm linked with Harry’s as he tried to make his way towards Ginny. The crowd was pushing around them in a panic, and Harry was unable to close the distance, since she was being pushed back by the crowd. Someone grabbed her from behind, and Harry yelled again, “Ginny!” The last thing she saw was Cho grabbing her necklace, and she and Harry disappeared.

***

A/N: Hmm, the third evil cliffy in a row, maybe I really am evil. I promise the next chapter does not have a cliffhanger ending. I wanted to thank all of you who’ve stuck with the story so far. You’re the best!

On an unfortunate note, real life has been taking a toll on the time I have to spend working on this story. I think it’s taken a toll on everyone who works on this story. I just don’t know how regularly I can promise updates to the story anymore. Promising seems only to be a good way of ensuring that it doesn’t happen. I am sorry for this, but other priorities have had to take precedence. I really do appreciate everyone who’s read this story and left me a note. It means a great deal to me. As does this story. It isn’t going away. There are currently thirty one completed chapters (although some of them need a lot of work yet) and I really do hope I get to finish. I think there are about eight more left to write when I find the time.

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