A Painful Choice

A Painful Choice


A/N I wish to thank all those that took the time to read and review. I am grateful for your input and Constructive criticism is always welcome. Moi, I agree with your assessment. Any suggestions on how to improve it would be gratefully accepted.


Chapter Nine


“I am home, Malfoy.” There were so many different emotions coming from the man in front of him, he regretted not having a fresh supply of Snape’s potion on hand.


“Don’t be so bloody difficult. We need you. Things have turned to complete shite, and you are the only one who can fix it. Robards is every bit as corrupt as Fudge ever was, and the bloody ministry of magic is sucking us dry We need our Hero back.


As Draco’s voice rose Harry gestured angrily at the house. “They aren’t deaf Malfoy. I can tell that you are upset, but what does any of this have to do with me. I did my bit. Robards was elected by the people and they are the ones that need to deal with him. If he is as bad as you say, why isn’t he being recalled?”


If anything Draco spoke louder. “I think your ‘friends ‘ might be interested in knowing what a coward you have become. What are running away from, Potter? The one thing I thought would be a constant was your idiotic Gryffindor bravery.”


“Draco, sit down and lower your voice or this conversation is over.”


Sighing he complied. “There is a power vacuum in our world. When Dumbledore died and you killed the Dark Lord, there was no one to follow. I know that sounds stupid to you, but it is the way it had always been. Witches and Wizards have grown up believing that they had to take the side of a powerful person, to behave something like sheep, and they haven’t learned how to think for themselves in the political arena. Robards is taking advantage of this. He had aligned himself with the remaining pure bloods that either sided with the light or remained neutral. He is using that influence to strip other families of their possessions and he is doing it all in the name of Muggle born and half blood citizens while at the same time keeping any of them from any position of power. You are the only person that might be able turn back the tides.” Malfoy looked worn after his impassioned speech.


“I suppose that it doesn’t matter that I am happy for the first time in my life. That I am finally making my own decisions and living my own life.” Harry was speaking mostly to himself and Draco wisely kept his mouth shut. “How did you find me?”


“Granger...Well Weasley now. She did a search for you on that box she has, and came up with an article that you wrote about the nature reserve. From there it was easy to find a house owned by H. J. Potter. It is a good thing that you weren’t a spy, Potter, you don’t know how to cover your tracks.”


“I had hoped not to have to. I thought saving the world once would be enough. Why didn’t Hermione come herself?”


“Stop being so melodramatic. Dumbledore killed off Grindelwald and he still had to contend with Voldemort.” Draco didn’t pause to let Harry retort. “I know bad example. Granger couldn’t travel because she is eight months pregnant with her second child and before you ask the Weasel didn’t make the trip because he agrees with you that you should be left alone. I might add, however, that they are both hurt that you haven’t made any contact for four years.”


Harry felt utterly defeated. It had been selfish of him to cut ties with his friends, he just wanted to be himself and anything relating to the wizarding world, including his best friends, dragged him back into the expectations of the boy who lived. “What exactly is Robards doing?”


Draco restrained the whoop of joy that he wanted to release. “I will give you a couple of examples. You remember Pansy Parkinson right?” Seeing Harry’s nod he continued. “Her family supported some of the Dark Lords ideas, but they never joined the ‘cause ‘. They weren’t at the final battle, they didn’t take the mark, and there is no evidence that they ever committed any crimes. Without a trial, all of their assets were seized including the Parkinson ancestral estate. Pansy’s little sister Iris was put into a Ministry run orphanage and her parents thrown into Azkaban. Much the same thing happened to the Zabinis, although there may have been some truth to the allegations against Blaise’s mother, she still deserved a trial. Snape doesn’t leave your house at all anymore. He went back to Hogwarts to teach potions for awhile, but he was forced to take Veritaserum once a week to make sure he wasn’t ‘corrupting ‘ the youth. A lot of good a Merlin first class medal does, huh?”


Harry let his head fall heavily onto his forearm. “I don’t know what I can do to help, but I will go back with you. I will need to talk to Kurt, Sandy and my editor. Do you want to stay for a day or two, or would you prefer to go back?”


“I will stay.” Draco didn’t want to give the Golden boy the opportunity to change his mind. “What happened to your glasses by the way?”


Harry smiled thinly. “Contacts. Sandy’s idea.”


Draco took a moment to look him over. “Smart Girl.”


Harry sniggered and led Draco back into the house. Seeing that Kurt and Sandy had moved to the living room to watch TV, Harry quickly showed Draco the house and told him he could take his bed for the night. Draco went to take a shower before bed and Harry went to talk to his friends.


They both looked up expectantly when he entered the room. Harry could tell that they had heard at least part of the conversation and damned himself for not thinking of a silencing charm. He had been in the Muggle world too long.


“How much did you hear?” Harry asked without preamble.


They shared a glance between them before Sandy spoke. “Enough to be worried about you. What is a Ministry of Magic? Are you a part of some kind of cult?”


Harry wanted to either laugh or cry at the entire absurd situation. He considered Obliviating them, but couldn’t bring himself to do that without at least trying to explain. “This is a long and frankly weird story. I will try to explain and then you can ask me questions. Okay?”


Once he had agreement he began. “Wizards and Witches are people that can perform magic just like in the fairy stories. When I was a year old a very powerful and evil Wizard, who called himself Lord Voldemort, killed my parents and tried to kill me. My mother saved me somehow and I became famous. There was a prophecy that stated that I would be the only one who would be able to defeat the dark lord for good. I didn’t know any of this until I was eleven and received an invitation to a magical school called Hogwarts. There I learned to use my magic, made and lost friends and eventually started to train to face my destiny. There was a great battle four years ago, and I finally killed the bastard. I absorbed a significant amount of power when I defeated him, so I came here to adjust. I met you two years after that. Now they need me to return to Briton to deal with a corrupt government.”
He knew that they wanted to believe him, but they were struggling. Deciding that a demonstration was in order, he waved his hand at the fireplace and it erupted in flame. “You can ask questions now if you like.”


Two pairs of shocked round eyes stared at him. Finally Kurt walked over to him and put am arm around his shoulders. “I am overwhelmed. I have so many questions rolling around in my head. What else can you do with magic besides start a fire?”


Harry laughed and transfigured Kurt’s blue shirt jeans into a hula skirt and coconut bra, then made himself invisible and walked over to kiss the still shocked Sandy. Reappearing in front of Kurt he changed back the clothing and grew serious. “You can’t tell anyone about any of this.”


Sandy shook her head and laughed wryly. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. No one believe us anyway. Are you going to go back?”


“Yes. Draco is right I have hidden myself for too long only thinking about myself.”


Sandy stood next to Kurt who still had a dazed look on his face. “Why does it have to be you? It sounds like you have done enough for those people and deserve to think of yourself, besides that I don’t want you to go.” Kurt nodded his head in agreement with her statement.


“I have to go. I would like for you to keep the house while I am gone. If I don’t come back it is yours anyway.” They were both shaking their heads, but Harry shushed them with a kiss each. “Can I spend the night with you?”


“Of course you can.” Sandy grabbed his hand and Kurt’s and led them to the bedroom where they would explore each other for perhaps the last time.

TBC