The Necromancer

Chapter 36

To distract himself from the appalling idea of having to hire a living assistant, Harry pulled the newspaper closer while he finished his breakfast. The main article on the front page was all about the collapse of Hogwarts, with a huge picture of the rubble on the ground floor, but immediately below that was a moving picture of Harry and Marvolo helping students find their tents.

Harry Potter and friend keep Hogwarts students safe!

Snickering, Harry elbowed Marvolo and slid the newspaper in his direction. “At least we got some good press out of it.”

Marvolo peered down at the article and snorted. “And friend. Honestly. The way you’re looking at me in that photograph clearly shows we are so much more than friends.”

Harry studied the photo again and had to conclude that yes, in between showing students where to go, Harry was rather undressing Marvolo with his eyes. He laughed as he looked up, and then laughed louder when he noticed Sirius’ constipated expression as his godfather stared at him.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Sirius grumbled, pushing a fried egg around his plate with his fork. “I was going to suggest you invite your new fuckbuddy here to our Yule dinner tonight, but now I don’t think I will.”

Harry shut his mouth while he gave Sirius a confused look. “The what dinner where?”

“It’s Yule today,” Remus explained with far more patience than Sirius was willing to offer. “It’s traditional for family to come together for an elaborate meal. So, you and Marvolo are invited this evening at Black Manor.”

“We’ll be there,” Marvolo answered quickly, but Harry hardly saw reason to object to Marvolo deciding for him. Of course Harry was going to attend a family dinner his godfather was hosting.

“It’s just a few people,” Remus said as he went back to slicing up his bacon.

“Oh,” Harry said as he perked up in his chair. “Since it’s a day for family, I can invite my extended family to come over as well.”

Sirius looked surprisingly grateful at hearing that suggestion. “I’d love to properly catch up with Fleamont and Euphemia. And Lily, of course.”

“It’s a great idea,” James said with an approving smile. “I’m sure the family would enjoy mingling and catching up for an evening.”

“As for you hiring an assistant,” Remus said, much to Harry’s chagrin. “We’ve got a large batch of new residents coming in tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll be able to find someone wiling and capable to work as your new assistant.”

“Yeah, fine,” Harry sighed, realizing he might as well get that over with. It wasn’t that Harry didn’t want to spend time with the living. He liked the living well enough. It’s just that when it came to his own work, Harry simply preferred to do things his own way and he’d learned over the years that the dead were much easier to work with than the living. The dead didn’t ask annoying questions but simply followed whatever order you gave them. The living tended to need a lot more attention and such to keep them happy.

Honestly, working with the dead was just a lot more efficient, but even Harry could see that he was practically drowning in work and that there was only a lot more work on the horizon and he really needed help.