An Ally

Chapter 31

The following month Harry spent studying at a dizzying pace. He was ready for his NEWTs and had managed to secure a testing slot so he could get them over with. He was just leaving the ministry after his final test-charms-to be whisked away by none other than the minister himself.

"Good afternoon, Minister. What can I do for you today?" Lucius nodded and steered him towards his office before cutting to the chase.

"Please, have a seat Mr. Potter. I'm afraid there was something I wished to bring to your attention." Harry gestured for him to continue. "It would seem that there are many within our world that are skeptical about the demise of You-Know-Who. I was curious if you would be willing to share your memories on the night for public viewing to placate them."

"I understand that very few were there to witness what had happened that day, but why is this just now becoming an issue? From what I've seen, everyone seems to have accepted it." Lucius nodded and poured them some tea.

"Ah, yes. You see, the public saw him disappear the night he gave you your infamous scar. Sure, there was talk that he would be back-he was feared that greatly. But they took Albus Dumbledore's words as blind truth. They believed him to be dead and then he returned. I'm sure you can see how they would be wary to believe that he's truly gone once more when they have not seen him die. Talk has been spreading that this is the same as it was before-that he will return one day because they have seen it happen." Harry nodded. After all, it made sense. The public had trusted blindly once before and had been put in immense danger because of it.

"Alright. But I have conditions. It's only available to the public until I'm of age, it's only going to be viewable in the Ministry's atrium as a projection so multiple people can view it at once and it will be free. If you think the populace will want to leave a donation then set up donation boxes."

The blond haired man nodded and wrote down Harry's conditions. "What sort of charity would you wish the donations to go to?"

"Are there any orphanages for magical children?" Lucius shook his head slowly.

"No, now that I think of it. It would be a good idea to have one."

"Give me a few days. I'll owl you with the donation information and the memory as soon as I get a few things squared away."

"A what? I'm sure I can't have heard you correctly. For a moment there I thought you said you wanted to open an orphanage for magical children." Severus snickered in the back of the library as Tom processed the information.

"You heard me! Look, you grew up as an orphan in the muggle world. You were stripped of any semblance of normalcy as an infant and I was beaten at the hands of my 'caretakers' because of the magic in my veins. Do you really want others to grow as we did?" This stopped Tom's impending rant in its tracks.

"No, I suppose not. I've heard the muggle world has gotten less cruel to those that are different; however, children naturally ostracize what is different. But we don't have anyone to run this orphanage of yours. And how will we maintain it? Where will it even be, I certainly don't have any properties that will be suitable for this." At this, Severus stepped forward.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of properties that belong to the Potter line that would be suitable. And I've heard that a certain red-headed matriarch is getting restless without her children at home. And with all the various laws regarding elf rights now, I'm sure we will be able to find many who wish to work but who either don't have families to serve or have been turned out for one reason or another. And there's a certain bushy-haired know-it-all who loves to push paperwork that would make a great addition."