Three Hallows' Eve || Harmione & Jily

Chapter 13.4

Tonight, Harry found himself extremely glad that he wasn't dragged to more of the speeches and functions that his parents often attended. The vast majority of the evening had been extremely boring, hearing Minister Foster and Dad make grand speeches to a crowd of journalists and people who thought of themselves as really quite important. These were the sorts of people that Mum and Dad had made a habit of shielding him and Thea from, and now here they were, sat on the stage in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic with strict instructions to look interested and to be polite as dozens of photographers took uncountable photos of them all. He was beginning to see spots.

About halfway through the Minister's long speech, he'd taken to mentally reciting the lyrics to some of his favourite songs in order to avoid falling asleep. Just last week Padfoot had bought him the Pet Shop Boys' latest LP, and the gift was starting to feel like a real godsend. There was just no way for a ten year old to find impassioned speeches about taxes, foreign citizen programs, and the Wizengamot interesting in any way shape or form.

Dad's speech was a little more interesting as he talked about restricting spells and potions that affected people's minds. Those sounded like something from the comic books he'd been reading, which was cool in a sort of scary way because all of the awful stuff that the villains did in the books could actually happen with magic. He had listened keenly while Dad spoke about werewolves and what people could do to help them - he'd spoken to Uncle Remus a few months ago about the full moon and what he had to go through every month. Making that process easier for him seemed like a worthy cause.

Once the speeches were finished and the Minister had answered some questions from the crowd, they were all ushered off of the stage and through a Floo to a large, fancy ballroom so that the important people could spend more time making themselves feel important by boasting to others about how important they were. It was all very tiresome, Harry thought.

He fidgeted with the collar of his shirt as they were led further into the ballroom, stopping every few feet as some Ministry person or another wanted to congratulate Dad on his speech or talk to Mum about the genealogy tests. That morning, Mum had taken him into town to buy a suit for the occasion. After an hour of being measured and paraded in and out of changing rooms trying on an uncountable number of jackets and matching trousers, they'd landed on a dark grey combo that was just a little too long for him in the leg. The shop assistant had told Mum that he looked handsome. He'd told Mum that the outfit was uncomfortable and itchy.

They stopped at the other side of the room not far from where the Minister's family were standing, waiting patiently as the man tried to wrap up a conversation with some old man or another. Once the old man finally got the message, the Minister ushered his family over to them and made introductions.

'James, I'm glad you decided to come. This is my wife, Esther, and my daughters Anna and Daisy.' He gestured to the girls in turn. Daisy looked to be a little younger than Thea, and was not-so-subtly trying to hide behind her Mum's legs. Anna, on the other hand, was standing straight and proud beside her father. 'Anna has just started her first year at Hogwarts - the Headmaster was kind enough to give her leave until Sunday on account of my win.'

'We wouldn't have missed it,' Dad said smoothly, and Harry consciously kept himself from voicing his disagreement. 'It's a pleasure to meet you, ladies. My wife, Lily Potter, and our kids, Harry and Thea.'

Harry gave a polite smile as Thea waved when Dad introduced her. He masterfully avoided rolling his eyes when Anna narrowed hers at him and seemed to search his forehead. When the adults quickly engaged themselves in a conversation about the evening and the general reaction to their speeches, Anna took up the opportunity to begin an inquisition.

'I thought you wore glasses,' she said without any sort of greeting or preamble, 'and people always say that you have a scar above your eye.'

Next to him, Thea snorted and Anna looked at her in confusion. 'He's never had a scar. People only say that because of those silly books.'