Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Time to Live
A Surprising Offer
2 reviewsAU Post OotP, No HBP, With Voldemort gone it's time for Harry to Live.
5Original
Time to Live 13
By Loralee
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
A Surprising Offer
Harry was eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant when he saw Tonks enter and look around. He caught her eye and waved her over.
"Morning, Tonks, you want something to eat?"
"Wotcher, Harry, no I'm not hungry," she then filched a piece of bacon from his plate, "Kingsley wanted me to come past, make sure you were alright and asked you to stop by his office today if you have a minute." Then she snagged a piece of toast, as well.
"You sure you aren't hungry, Tonks? I can order you something," said Harry with a smirk.
"No, I have to go home for some sleep. Can't eat a lot just before I go to bed. I'll gain weight," said Tonks. She then took a drink of Harry's juice, wiped her mouth and stood.
"Well I should be going. Good work last night. Bye Harry." Tonks turned and sauntered out drawing the eyes of several other male guests and the glare of one female.
Harry chuckled to himself and tucked back into the remains of his breakfast. He needed fortification as he'd promised Dobby to look over some of the piles of mail he'd received.
He spent a couple of hours going through the mail, he'd received birthday presents and cards from half the Wizarding world it seemed. Presents from people he didn't know went directly into the give away pile. Dobby had assured him that there was a wizard orphanage that would be happy to receive the items. Anything they couldn't use would be sold to fund the place.
Harry also received his OWL scores and school letter. He'd set them aside not ready to deal with them yet. He also had quite a few letters from DA members wanting to thank him.
At 10am Harry returned to the Ministry and made his way toward Kingsley Shacklebolt's office.
"Harry." Harry turned as someone called his name in the hall just in front of the Auror Department. He was surprised to see Arthur Weasley hurry down the hall toward him.
"Hi, Mr. Weasley. I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to be rude," said Harry hurriedly. Arthur Weasley stared at him for a moment.
"You have nothing to apologize for Harry. You weren't the one who was rude. I'm rather ashamed of the behavior of my wife and daughter," he laid his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Actually, I was impressed by the way you handled yourself with Molly," Arthur said with a chuckle. "She gets her exercise by jumping to conclusions."
Harry blushed and shook his head, "I didn't want to cause trouble."
"You didn't, Harry. I wanted you to know, you are always welcome."
"Oh, Mr. Weasley, I intended to ask last night but I have tickets to the World Cup and wanted to invite Ron and Ginny to go with me."
"I don't know Harry, isn't that in Greece this year. I'm not sure that would be a good idea."
"Mr. Weasley, I already have the tickets and the place to stay arranged, if they can't go that's just wasted money. Sirius left me quite a bit that I'm supposed to use to have fun. I'd like to share it with people that I consider family. I've asked Hermione to go and Remus Lupin has agreed to chaperone. I want to travel muggle style so it will be a great learning experience," said Harry.
Arthur Weasley smiled slightly, "I don't think Ginevra deserves to attend but I will convince Molly to let Ron go."
"Brilliant, I'll owl you with the details," said Harry excitedly
"All right, Harry. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing," said Arthur, smiling at Harry's excitement.
"Oh, Kingsley Shacklebolt wanted to see me, probably about the Death Eaters last night," said Harry with a shrug.
Arthur looked alarmed, "Death Eaters, last night, Harry?"
"It was nothing, sir, really."
Shacklebolt stepped out a nearby door then.
"Hello, Harry, Arthur."
"Death Eaters, Kingsley?" said Arthur with some concern.
Shacklebolt chuckled, "Three more in custody now, thanks to Harry here. Well done, Harry."
Harry was embarrassed, "I didn't really do anything except bind them."
"Now Harry, no need to be modest. Most people in that situation would have run away. You captured the Death Eaters and called us."
"Well, I should get back to work," said Arthur, shaking his head.
"Come on into my office, Harry, there are a few things I'd like to talk to you about," said Kingsley.
Harry waved bye to Mr. Weasley and followed Kingsley into the Auror office area and finally in the Director's office.
"Have a seat Harry. I want to take the opportunity to thank you for everything. What you did yesterday at Gringotts was spectacular. I was very impressed, I know you said that you weren't sure you wanted to be an Auror but I'd like you to consider becoming a reserve Auror."
"A reserve Auror. I don't think..." started Harry.
"Let me give you some details first Harry. There are quite a few perks; you'd be authorized to carry a second wand, have access to our training grounds and Auror trainers, authorization to make portkeys, and of course a little more leeway for you if you have to resort to violence with the next Death Eaters that you come across, and finally if you decide to go active you'd be accepted automatically and bypass much of the standard training," said Kingsley with a smile.
Harry looked at the black Auror for a long moment.
"What would be required of me?" Harry finally asked.
"Not a lot. We could call on you in an emergency. You'd have to write an after action report. Keep a record of portkeys you make. We'd ask that you read several manuals and participate in a little training." Shacklebolt grinned at Harry, "After what happened in the Ministers office my people need the training as well."
Harry shook his head at this.
"Director Shacklebolt," Harry began.
"Kingsley, Harry, you've earned it, even if you turn me down," said Shacklebolt.
"Kingsley, I am not sure I want to work for the Ministry. I'm not a fan of the things that go on here. Sirius was imprisoned without trial, Fudge sent Hagrid to Azkaban in my second year simply 'to be seen doing something' again without a trial. Umbridge sic'd those Dementors on me last year and Fudge persecuted me over it. To top it off you've got Snape here now and last night an Auror let me into his cell to torture him. I don't think that's the kind of organization that I want to be associated with," Harry said with a sigh.
Kingsley sat up straighter at the last revelation.
"What do you mean Harry, that Tonks let you into Snape's cell to torture him?"
"Not Tonks, a different Auror, I'm sure she didn't know anything about it. When I was being escorted out of here last night the Auror took me down to Snape's cell. Let me in with my wand, hinted that I could torture Snape all I wanted as long as it wasn't too noticeable. Snape said he'd had a lot of visits from former students. He has bruises. I hate the man but I don't agree with torture of prisoners. I don't understand why he's here. You know as well as I that he was a spy for Dumbledore."
"I...Harry can you wait here for a moment? I need to check on this."
"Sure, Director Shacklebolt. I'll wait," said Harry.
Kingsley Shacklebolt left the office shutting the door behind him.
Almost 45 minutes later the door opened and an Auror poked his head in and said, "Mr. Potter, Director Shacklebolt asked me to escort you to him."
They ended up at the Minister's office.
"Hello Mr. Potter," said Amelia with a smile, "You are quite the troublemaker aren't you?"
"Minister?" said Harry with a glare for Shacklebolt.
"You're not in any trouble Mr. Potter, Harry, but you do have an irritating ability to shake things up. Kingsley came to me about your complaints, shall we say?" said Bones.
Harry said nothing, just waited. Amelia and Kingsley shared a look.
"I checked on Snape. There have been unauthorized visits made to him; he's in Medical now. He won't say what happened however," said Kingsley.
"There will be a full investigation, Harry. Also while Kingsley was doing that I fire called Dumbledore. At first he seemed to think I was asking because Mr. Snape had ask for him as an advocate. He informed me that he would be requesting Mr. Snape be paroled to him at the trial."
"Paroled?" asked Harry.
Amelia scowled and said, "It would mean that Mr. Snape would be Dumbledore's responsibility, that he would be required to report to and be under the supervision of Dumbledore. In effect a prison sentence without Azkaban."
"So that would mean that Dumbledore could force Snape to continue teaching even though he doesn't want to," said Harry with a sigh.
Amelia nodded.
"Madam Bones, what does a person have to do to be an Advocate? Aren't there solicitors in the Wizarding world?" asked Harry.
"The Wizarding world doesn't have solicitors for criminal cases, Harry. An Advocate is a person who has the political or financial status to speak for another at trial. Which is why Dumbledore could speak for you at that farce of a trial last year," she gave Harry a speculative look. "You now have that sort of power yourself, Harry."
Harry grimaced at the thought.
"I would also like to assure you that as Minister I intend to take steps to insure that no one is sent to Azkaban with out trial. I have one request of you Harry. Please continue to let me know of things you feel should be changed with in the Ministry. I cannot guarantee that they will be changed but I will always listen."
Harry looked surprised and said, "Thank you."
"Harry will you think about the reserve Auror position?" asked Kingsley.
"If I decide to do it, when would I have to train?" asked Harry, nervously.
"That's up to you, Harry. We can be pretty flexible with the training. A few days here, a few days there, holidays, even weekends after school starts back," said Kingsley with a smile. To get Harry to train with his people he would jump through whatever hoops he had to.
Harry grinned, a little more at ease now. "I have tickets to the World Cup and intend on spending a few days with friends in Athens."
"I wish I could go with you, Harry. I can't afford to take the time off however, Susan is quite upset with me, she wanted very much attend this year," said Amelia.
"Has she ever traveled muggle style, Amelia? She could go with us, Remus Lupin is chaperoning and I have a box reserved," Harry offered.
Amelia Bones looked surprised, "You'd let Susan go with you?"
"Sure, I like Susan, she's a friend," said Harry with a shrug, "I'll owl you the detail and you can let me know if she'd like to go."
Amelia nodded assent.
"Will Snape be on trial with the rest of the Death Eater's?" asked Harry getting back to the subject.
"The one's arrested at the Ministry break in will be first, and then those named," said Amelia.
"All right, I'll be there. I should be going if there is nothing else?" said Harry, standing.
They said their goodbyes and Harry left two bemused officials thinking that life had certainly taken an interesting turn.
Revised 1/18/07
By Loralee
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
A Surprising Offer
Harry was eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant when he saw Tonks enter and look around. He caught her eye and waved her over.
"Morning, Tonks, you want something to eat?"
"Wotcher, Harry, no I'm not hungry," she then filched a piece of bacon from his plate, "Kingsley wanted me to come past, make sure you were alright and asked you to stop by his office today if you have a minute." Then she snagged a piece of toast, as well.
"You sure you aren't hungry, Tonks? I can order you something," said Harry with a smirk.
"No, I have to go home for some sleep. Can't eat a lot just before I go to bed. I'll gain weight," said Tonks. She then took a drink of Harry's juice, wiped her mouth and stood.
"Well I should be going. Good work last night. Bye Harry." Tonks turned and sauntered out drawing the eyes of several other male guests and the glare of one female.
Harry chuckled to himself and tucked back into the remains of his breakfast. He needed fortification as he'd promised Dobby to look over some of the piles of mail he'd received.
He spent a couple of hours going through the mail, he'd received birthday presents and cards from half the Wizarding world it seemed. Presents from people he didn't know went directly into the give away pile. Dobby had assured him that there was a wizard orphanage that would be happy to receive the items. Anything they couldn't use would be sold to fund the place.
Harry also received his OWL scores and school letter. He'd set them aside not ready to deal with them yet. He also had quite a few letters from DA members wanting to thank him.
At 10am Harry returned to the Ministry and made his way toward Kingsley Shacklebolt's office.
"Harry." Harry turned as someone called his name in the hall just in front of the Auror Department. He was surprised to see Arthur Weasley hurry down the hall toward him.
"Hi, Mr. Weasley. I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to be rude," said Harry hurriedly. Arthur Weasley stared at him for a moment.
"You have nothing to apologize for Harry. You weren't the one who was rude. I'm rather ashamed of the behavior of my wife and daughter," he laid his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Actually, I was impressed by the way you handled yourself with Molly," Arthur said with a chuckle. "She gets her exercise by jumping to conclusions."
Harry blushed and shook his head, "I didn't want to cause trouble."
"You didn't, Harry. I wanted you to know, you are always welcome."
"Oh, Mr. Weasley, I intended to ask last night but I have tickets to the World Cup and wanted to invite Ron and Ginny to go with me."
"I don't know Harry, isn't that in Greece this year. I'm not sure that would be a good idea."
"Mr. Weasley, I already have the tickets and the place to stay arranged, if they can't go that's just wasted money. Sirius left me quite a bit that I'm supposed to use to have fun. I'd like to share it with people that I consider family. I've asked Hermione to go and Remus Lupin has agreed to chaperone. I want to travel muggle style so it will be a great learning experience," said Harry.
Arthur Weasley smiled slightly, "I don't think Ginevra deserves to attend but I will convince Molly to let Ron go."
"Brilliant, I'll owl you with the details," said Harry excitedly
"All right, Harry. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing," said Arthur, smiling at Harry's excitement.
"Oh, Kingsley Shacklebolt wanted to see me, probably about the Death Eaters last night," said Harry with a shrug.
Arthur looked alarmed, "Death Eaters, last night, Harry?"
"It was nothing, sir, really."
Shacklebolt stepped out a nearby door then.
"Hello, Harry, Arthur."
"Death Eaters, Kingsley?" said Arthur with some concern.
Shacklebolt chuckled, "Three more in custody now, thanks to Harry here. Well done, Harry."
Harry was embarrassed, "I didn't really do anything except bind them."
"Now Harry, no need to be modest. Most people in that situation would have run away. You captured the Death Eaters and called us."
"Well, I should get back to work," said Arthur, shaking his head.
"Come on into my office, Harry, there are a few things I'd like to talk to you about," said Kingsley.
Harry waved bye to Mr. Weasley and followed Kingsley into the Auror office area and finally in the Director's office.
"Have a seat Harry. I want to take the opportunity to thank you for everything. What you did yesterday at Gringotts was spectacular. I was very impressed, I know you said that you weren't sure you wanted to be an Auror but I'd like you to consider becoming a reserve Auror."
"A reserve Auror. I don't think..." started Harry.
"Let me give you some details first Harry. There are quite a few perks; you'd be authorized to carry a second wand, have access to our training grounds and Auror trainers, authorization to make portkeys, and of course a little more leeway for you if you have to resort to violence with the next Death Eaters that you come across, and finally if you decide to go active you'd be accepted automatically and bypass much of the standard training," said Kingsley with a smile.
Harry looked at the black Auror for a long moment.
"What would be required of me?" Harry finally asked.
"Not a lot. We could call on you in an emergency. You'd have to write an after action report. Keep a record of portkeys you make. We'd ask that you read several manuals and participate in a little training." Shacklebolt grinned at Harry, "After what happened in the Ministers office my people need the training as well."
Harry shook his head at this.
"Director Shacklebolt," Harry began.
"Kingsley, Harry, you've earned it, even if you turn me down," said Shacklebolt.
"Kingsley, I am not sure I want to work for the Ministry. I'm not a fan of the things that go on here. Sirius was imprisoned without trial, Fudge sent Hagrid to Azkaban in my second year simply 'to be seen doing something' again without a trial. Umbridge sic'd those Dementors on me last year and Fudge persecuted me over it. To top it off you've got Snape here now and last night an Auror let me into his cell to torture him. I don't think that's the kind of organization that I want to be associated with," Harry said with a sigh.
Kingsley sat up straighter at the last revelation.
"What do you mean Harry, that Tonks let you into Snape's cell to torture him?"
"Not Tonks, a different Auror, I'm sure she didn't know anything about it. When I was being escorted out of here last night the Auror took me down to Snape's cell. Let me in with my wand, hinted that I could torture Snape all I wanted as long as it wasn't too noticeable. Snape said he'd had a lot of visits from former students. He has bruises. I hate the man but I don't agree with torture of prisoners. I don't understand why he's here. You know as well as I that he was a spy for Dumbledore."
"I...Harry can you wait here for a moment? I need to check on this."
"Sure, Director Shacklebolt. I'll wait," said Harry.
Kingsley Shacklebolt left the office shutting the door behind him.
Almost 45 minutes later the door opened and an Auror poked his head in and said, "Mr. Potter, Director Shacklebolt asked me to escort you to him."
They ended up at the Minister's office.
"Hello Mr. Potter," said Amelia with a smile, "You are quite the troublemaker aren't you?"
"Minister?" said Harry with a glare for Shacklebolt.
"You're not in any trouble Mr. Potter, Harry, but you do have an irritating ability to shake things up. Kingsley came to me about your complaints, shall we say?" said Bones.
Harry said nothing, just waited. Amelia and Kingsley shared a look.
"I checked on Snape. There have been unauthorized visits made to him; he's in Medical now. He won't say what happened however," said Kingsley.
"There will be a full investigation, Harry. Also while Kingsley was doing that I fire called Dumbledore. At first he seemed to think I was asking because Mr. Snape had ask for him as an advocate. He informed me that he would be requesting Mr. Snape be paroled to him at the trial."
"Paroled?" asked Harry.
Amelia scowled and said, "It would mean that Mr. Snape would be Dumbledore's responsibility, that he would be required to report to and be under the supervision of Dumbledore. In effect a prison sentence without Azkaban."
"So that would mean that Dumbledore could force Snape to continue teaching even though he doesn't want to," said Harry with a sigh.
Amelia nodded.
"Madam Bones, what does a person have to do to be an Advocate? Aren't there solicitors in the Wizarding world?" asked Harry.
"The Wizarding world doesn't have solicitors for criminal cases, Harry. An Advocate is a person who has the political or financial status to speak for another at trial. Which is why Dumbledore could speak for you at that farce of a trial last year," she gave Harry a speculative look. "You now have that sort of power yourself, Harry."
Harry grimaced at the thought.
"I would also like to assure you that as Minister I intend to take steps to insure that no one is sent to Azkaban with out trial. I have one request of you Harry. Please continue to let me know of things you feel should be changed with in the Ministry. I cannot guarantee that they will be changed but I will always listen."
Harry looked surprised and said, "Thank you."
"Harry will you think about the reserve Auror position?" asked Kingsley.
"If I decide to do it, when would I have to train?" asked Harry, nervously.
"That's up to you, Harry. We can be pretty flexible with the training. A few days here, a few days there, holidays, even weekends after school starts back," said Kingsley with a smile. To get Harry to train with his people he would jump through whatever hoops he had to.
Harry grinned, a little more at ease now. "I have tickets to the World Cup and intend on spending a few days with friends in Athens."
"I wish I could go with you, Harry. I can't afford to take the time off however, Susan is quite upset with me, she wanted very much attend this year," said Amelia.
"Has she ever traveled muggle style, Amelia? She could go with us, Remus Lupin is chaperoning and I have a box reserved," Harry offered.
Amelia Bones looked surprised, "You'd let Susan go with you?"
"Sure, I like Susan, she's a friend," said Harry with a shrug, "I'll owl you the detail and you can let me know if she'd like to go."
Amelia nodded assent.
"Will Snape be on trial with the rest of the Death Eater's?" asked Harry getting back to the subject.
"The one's arrested at the Ministry break in will be first, and then those named," said Amelia.
"All right, I'll be there. I should be going if there is nothing else?" said Harry, standing.
They said their goodbyes and Harry left two bemused officials thinking that life had certainly taken an interesting turn.
Revised 1/18/07
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