A couple of weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry was enjoying a quiet breakfast at Grimmauld Place while thinking about the changes in his life since he returned to Hogwarts to retrieve the Ravenclaw Horcrux. He had gone from being Undesirable Number One to the most celebrated wizard in Britain. Hermione had pointed out that he really should be used to it by now, after all the times the public had turned on him before, but Harry was still having trouble coming to terms with the changes.

Hermione, for all her brilliance, couldn’t tell him how to cope with his change in status, the death of Voldemort, having almost died himself, losing so many people he cared about, coming to terms with the fact that he had been a Horcrux, and the revelations about Snape and Dumbledore. A few days after the battle, Harry had retreated from the chaos of Hogwarts for some time alone, hoping that some quiet reflection would help him come to terms with everything that had happened.

When he had first mentioned leaving, Mrs. Weasley had insisted that he come to the Burrow, but Harry had quickly begged off. As much as he loved his surrogate family, no one in their right mind would ever consider the Burrow a good place to go for peace and quiet. Instead, he had fled to Grimmauld Place and, with Hermione’s help, put up enough wards to deter the average witch or wizard from coming to call.

It helped that the only people who knew his location were Hermione, Ron, Andromeda, McGonagall, and Kingsley, and they had all sworn to keep his location secret. Hermione and Ron had come over several times a week to keep him company, and Andromeda and Teddy had stopped by a couple of times so Harry could get to know his godson. According to Ron, Ginny was furious that she wasn’t invited, but Harry knew that he needed a break from everyone, including her. They had exchanged a few letters, but he wasn’t ready to deal with anything else quite yet.

That morning, the particular person that occupied Harry’s thoughts was his ex-professor, Severus Snape. Shortly after the battle, Harry had gone back to the Shrieking Shack to retrieve the body, determined that Snape should have a place of honor among the fallen. To his utter shock, the shack had been empty other than a bottle that was left lying on the floor. Thankfully, Healer Smethwyck was one of the people who had come to Hogwarts to help after the battle, and he had been able to identify the drops left in the bottle as the anti-venom used to cure Mr. Weasley during Harry’s fifth year.

Stunned that Snape was apparently alive, Harry immediately alerted the remaining Order members to make sure they didn’t curse Snape if he showed up. There had been a few tense minutes when a Ministry clerk tried to demand that a warrant be issued for Snape’s arrest, but Ron and Hermione had bustled Harry out of hexing range while Kingsley dressed down his subordinate.

Since then, Kingsley had issued a full pardon for Snape to protect him from any other overzealous bureaucrats, though Snape still remained hidden. Apparently, the only person he had contacted was Harry. A little over a week after the battle, Harry had received a terse note in a familiar scrawl which read ‘Am safe, but still recovering. Will contact you again once I’m well. SS’

While Harry was still trying to reconcile the bastard Snape had been as a teacher with the information he’d gained from the man’s memories, he was glad that he could return to his admiration of the Half-Blood Prince. After a year of learning from that book, Harry had been horrified to learn that the author was Snape. While Snape’s memories had confused Harry, it at least made his regard for the Half-Blood Prince easier to bear.

Suddenly, just as Harry was finishing his breakfast, two owls flew into the kitchen, startling Harry from his musings. Taking the letters from them, Harry noticed the Hogwart’s seal on one and the Ministry’s seal on the other. Not feeling like dealing with the Ministry just yet, Harry opened the Hogwarts letter first.

Dear Mr. Potter,

After much debate, it is the decision of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to invalidate the 1997-1998 academic year. This decision was not made lightly, as we do not wish to ignore the many accomplishments our students made during this year. However, due to the faculty forced upon the school by the regime in place during this time, we do not feel that the students received the complete education they should be able to expect from our institution. Additionally, since so many students were unable to attend due to the biased policies in place, we felt it would only be appropriate to offer them a chance to rejoin their classmates in the least disruptive manner possible.

Due to the damage at the school, the start of the school year will be delayed until October 1st. Please send a return owl, no later than August 31st, indicating whether you plan to attend Hogwarts for the upcoming academic year. For those deciding to attend, you will find your supply list enclosed.

All fees paid for the 1997-1998 academic year will be applied to this year’s fees, whether or not you attended Hogwarts last year. This is to ensure that no family has any extra financial burden due to circumstances beyond their control.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall
Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

P.S. Harry, in case you were unaware, your fees were indeed paid last year; your parents paid all your fees in advance. MM

Harry wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, he was thrilled that there was a chance to finish his schooling. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with living at the school again. He loved his friends, but the rest of the student body could be a bit much at times. Realizing he had almost two months before he had to make a decision, Harry put the letter aside for the time being. As he picked up the letter from the Ministry, Harry laughed a bit as he imagined Hermione’s reaction if he passed up an opportunity to finish his schooling. Still chuckling, he read his second letter.

Harry,

At your earliest convenience, please come to see me at the Ministry. There have been a few recent decisions - some good, some not-so-good – that you need to be made aware of. I apologize for asking you to come here, but these really need to be discussed in person. I’d drop by for a visit, but I am not supposed to go anywhere without an Auror guard, and I didn’t want to risk bringing someone who might reveal your location.

Kingsley

Not liking the sound of the ‘not-so-good’ news, Harry decided to head over to the Ministry right away; he didn’t want a statement like that hanging over his head. Leaving a quick note explaining where he’d gone in case someone stopped by, Harry apparated to the Ministry Atrium. Taking a look around, Harry realized that, while the original fountain hadn’t been replaced yet, at least they had removed the monstrosity that had been there the year before.

Harry quickly made his way to the Security Desk. Holding out his wand, he said, “I’m here to see Minister Shacklebolt.”

“I’m sorry, all visitors to the Minister must be cleared ahead of time and there isn’t anyone listed to see him to-” As the young wizard looked up from his copy of the Daily Prophet, he suddenly trailed off as he realized who was standing in front of his desk. Eyes widening, he stammered, “Mr. P-p-potter, I’m sorry; I didn’t know it was you!”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Harry simply said, “I have a letter from the Minister requesting that I see him as soon as possible. I didn’t reply before I came, so he may not have put my name on the list.”

“I’m sure that rule doesn’t apply to you, sir! You just head on up and his assistant will let him know you’re here.”

Not really wanting to prolong the conversation, Harry still felt compelled to ask, “Don’t you need to register my wand?”

“Oh no, sir! That’s just for ordinary folk. I wouldn’t dream of asking you to hand over your wand!”

Unable to avoid shaking his head this time, Harry quickly made his way to the lifts. He thankfully managed to avoid being recognized by anyone else as he rode the lift up to level one. Stepping off the lift, Harry went straight to the Minister’s office and discovered, to his surprise, Percy sitting at the desk outside.

“Percy, good to see you! Ron didn’t mention you were working for Kingsley.”

Percy looked up from the large stack of parchments on his desk, and smiled when he realized who was there.

“It’s good to see you too, Harry. This is actually only my second day on the job so Ron probably hasn’t had a chance to tell you yet. Minster Shacklebolt approached my father a few days ago and asked if I’d be willing to step in; apparently his original assistant just wasn’t working out. ”

“Good on you, Percy.”

“I take it you’re here to see the Minister?”

“Yeah, but I don’t exactly have an appointment; he wrote me a letter and asked me to stop by as soon as possible. I can wait if he’s busy.”

Standing up and walking to the door, Percy said, “You’re in luck; he’s free at the moment. Just give me a moment to let him know that you’re here.”

A few seconds later, Percy was back in the outer office. “He’s ready to see you, Harry.”

As Harry walked into the office, Kingsley was rolling up a parchment. “Harry, I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

“Well, Minister, I was free and didn’t want your ‘not-so-good’ news hanging over my head the rest of the day,” said Harry dryly. “I figured it was better to come in and face the dragon, so to speak.”

“Harry, it’s Kingsley, not Minister. And don’t forget, there’s some good news too.”

“For some reason that wasn’t the part of the letter that caught my attention, but let’s hear the good news first. I need something to cheer me up after that security wizard downstairs.”

Laughing, Kingsley said, “Oh, you must mean Samuel. You’ve definitely got a fan there, Harry. He bothers everyone who has met you for stories of your ‘heroic adventures’.”

Groaning, Harry replied, “And you wonder why I’ve hidden myself in Grimmauld Place.”

Suddenly serious, Kingsley answered, “No, I understand completely why you needed time alone to recover. I hope the last couple of weeks have been relaxing; you’ve certainly earned it.”

Switching gears again, Kingsley continued, “Now, onto the good news. There are actually two things you’ll be happy to hear. The first is that I’ve finished the internal review of the senior Ministry personnel’s behavior over the last year. As you might imagine, I was looking for anyone who rigidly enforced the Death Eater’s laws and wasn’t under the Imperius Curse. Unfortunately, I can’t fire anyone since they were technically following the law, but I can reassign them to a more fitting position. The upshot is that Dolores Umbridge is now a member of the Centaur Liaison Office.”

Harry stared at Kingsley for a split second before bursting into laughter. Once he could almost breathe again, he gasped out, “You do know she’s petrified of centaurs, right?”

Eyes wide with fake innocence, Kingsley said, “She is?” The two men laughed for a few more minutes before Harry decided to get their conversation back on track.

“Okay, Kingsley. That alone was definitely worth the trip. What’s your other piece of good news?”

“I spoke with Gawain Robards a couple of days ago as part of that same review. He asked me to let you know that, if you’re still interested in becoming an Auror, he’s willing to waive the N.E.W.T. requirements and let you join immediately. He figures that what you did last year was more demanding than the normal testing, and that’s good enough for him.”

“If they’re interested, would that apply for Ron and Hermione too?”

“He didn’t mention them, but I doubt he would object if you made it a package deal. By the way, have you heard the news about Hogwarts?”

Nodding, Harry said, “I just received the letter this morning. I haven’t figured out whether I want to go back yet, though I don’t want to be in the same room as Hermione if I decide against it.”

Chuckling, Kingsley said, “She did strike me as the kind of person who places a lot of value on a solid education. Well, the Auror department certainly wouldn’t object if you finished your N.E.W.T.s, but I wanted you to know that they’re willing to hire you immediately if you’re interested.”

“That’s good to know, and it gives me some ammunition to use in the argument with Hermione if I decide against finishing my seventh year.”

Losing his good humor, Harry stared intently at Kingsley and continued, “Okay, now that you’ve buttered me up with the fall of Umbridge and a possible job, what’s this not-so-good news?”

Nervously, Kingsley shuffled some papers on his desk. “Well, you’re not going to be happy about this, but please don’t hex the messenger. This wasn’t my idea; in fact, I fought as hard as I could against it, but, since I’m only a temporary Minister, I don’t have the power to overrule a decision made by a qualified majority of the Department Heads.”

“You’re not making me feel any better, Kingsley.”

“Sorry, Harry. The senior Ministry staff has decided that we need some type of unifying event to reunite Wizarding Britain, and lift everyone’s spirits. Since you’re the most unifying figure, they decided they needed to do something positive involving you. The upshot is they’ve decreed you must conduct a public courtship.”

“They decided what? Just because I played a part in offing Voldemort doesn’t give them the right to decide who I’m going to marry!” bellowed Harry.

“Harry! Calm down and hear me out!” shouted Kingsley, trying to cut off the younger man before he really started ranting.

When Harry quieted, Kingsley continued in a calmer voice. “It’s not as bad as you’re thinking, though I’m sure you still won’t be thrilled once you have all the facts. The most important thing you need to know is that it’s not binding. While I’m sure the people behind this hope you do find someone to marry so they can top it off with a grand wedding, you are not obligated to accept any of your suitors.”

Harry heaved a huge sigh of relief as Kingsley went on. “The public courtship is an old tradition that fell out of practice generations ago. Blood purity was an issue long before Voldemort started a war over it, and pure-bloods stopped holding this type of courtship because they couldn’t bar Muggle-borns from participating. One of the guiding principles behind a public courtship is that anyone is allowed to participate. That is one of the reasons they chose this as their morale builder; after the persecution of Muggle-borns, the people behind this idea felt this would help ‘heal the wounds in the community’ since it’s so inclusive.”

“As if being allowed to paw at me is going to make up for people being killed or sent to Azkaban,” muttered Harry.

“No, it won’t,” said Kingsley mournfully. “I do agree that we need to make an effort to be more inclusive, but I also agree with you that this is mostly for show and to appeal to people’s awe of you. Unfortunately, as I’ve already said, I was overruled. I do want to put your mind at ease on one other thing. While you will have to meet people and go on some dates, there are no physical requirements beyond shaking someone’s hand. If someone does try to ‘paw at you’, you are fully within your rights to hex them.”

Seeing Harry’s small smile, Kingsley relaxed a bit. “Just so you know what to expect, let me explain the stages to the courting process. The first is the registration phase. Since the Ministry is coordinating your courtship, during this time all potential suitors must send a note to the Ministry indicating their intent to participate. They will also send a personal letter to you explaining why they think you should accept their suit. The good news is they cannot personally contact you other than that single letter between registering with the Ministry and the opening Gala.

“You will also have to undergo a physical exam to make sure you’re not under any type of coercion – love potions and the like – but it’s not terribly invasive and the results are kept absolutely private. Any Healer who violates that oath will lose their license.”

Feeling a little overwhelmed, Harry simply said, “Gala?”

“Yes, that marks the end of the registration phase of the courtship. There will be a receiving line to make sure you meet all of your suitors at least once, but beyond that it’s simply a large party. It is open to the public, but you will have Aurors watching out for you the whole time to make sure people behave themselves.

“After the Gala, you select seven suitors who will be allowed to continue. Once you’ve narrowed the field, you’ll be expected to go on at least two dinner dates with each person in the next two weeks. At the end of the first two weeks, you’ll narrow the field to four. Over the next seven weeks, you’ll be expected to see each of them at least once a week for some type of outing. At that point, you’ll announce the two finalists. They have a little less than a week to try to convince you and during that week you’ll be expected to see each of them at least once. Finally, at the end of that week will be the closing Soiree.”

Suddenly realizing something, Harry leapt to his feet. “Wait a minute! I’m an adult. How can the Ministry force me to do this? Can’t I just refuse to participate?”

“Unfortunately not. The only person who can refuse the Ministry once they’ve decided to hold a public courtship is a parent or guardian. The person being courted cannot decline for themselves, no matter what their age is. Since you don’t have a parent or guardian, there’s no one with the authority to refuse.”

“The Dursleys will! I think one of Vernon’s recurring nightmares is that I could get married one day and have children. He’d refuse on that principle alone, binding or not.”

“I already tried that, Harry. While they are technically your guardians, a muggle cannot overturn this decision. That’s why the courtship isn’t binding; the people who came up with the rules didn’t want a situation where it could be used to force a Muggle-born to marry against his or her will. They really weren’t trying to make something oppressive, just a standard means of courting.

“I read through all of the original documents trying to find a way out for you; from what I can tell, the stipulation that the Ministry could initiate a courtship came from the fact that Muggle-borns wanted to be able to follow some type of formal courtship process. All the others require a magical family member to initiate it, so Muggle-borns had no means of formally courting their intendeds. Believe it or not, they were trying to do something good.”

Harry slumped back into his chair. “So, I’m well and truly stuck doing this?”

“I promise you, Harry, I looked everywhere for something to invalidate this, but I couldn’t find anything. The announcement will be in tomorrow’s Daily Prophet and the Gala is being planned for June 13th, which is a week from Saturday. I know that doesn’t give you much time to get used to the idea, but this way the courtship will be over in early September and it won’t interfere with Hogwarts if you decide to go back.”

Knowing that Kingsley knew the laws far better than he did, Harry realized that he truly wasn’t going to be able to escape this. “So, you said this was pretty inclusive. Is there anyone who is barred from participating?”

“Not really; the restrictions are simply those that limit your choice of who to marry in general. All the participants have to be of age, or be 16 with their parent’s permission.”

Relieved, Harry realized that Ginny would be able to participate. He wasn’t ready to marry anyone yet, but he was pretty sure it wouldn’t go over well if his girlfriend was excluded from his courtship. Realizing that Kingsley wasn’t done yet, Harry started listening again.

“…can’t be immediate family. Anything beyond a first cousin is permitted, though that doesn’t rule out anyone for you since your father was an only child. Beyond that, I believe the only restriction is they cannot already be married or engaged.”

“Okay, what about the Gala? Anything special I need to know about it?”

“Not really; other than the receiving line, it’s a standard ball.”

Harry looked up sharply. “Ball? As in dancing?”

“Yes, there will be dancing. I take it by your tone that you’re not a big fan of dancing?”

“Didn’t you ever hear the stories about the Yule Ball? I haven’t the first clue how to dance.”

“Well, I can actually offer a decent suggestion for this problem; talk to Andromeda and see if she has some time to teach you the basics. I know she comes to visit, and I guarantee you that she’s had dance lessons. I know you don’t have a lot of time, but it should be enough to at least learn how to avoid your partner’s feet.”

“That was Neville’s problem, not mine, but it’s a good suggestion, thanks. Do I have to dance?”

“Well, it would be difficult to avoid dancing altogether at a ball, but you are free to turn down anyone you don’t want to dance with.”

“All right. Well, if that’s everything, then I’m going to head back to Grimmauld Place. I need to tell Ron and Hermione about this before they read about it in the paper tomorrow.”

“There are just a few final details. The day before the Gala we’ll send you a complete list of everyone who registered just in case there are some who don’t send you a private letter. You may want to make arrangements for a private owl-post box so you’re not flooded with owls at home. Also, don’t forget to make an appointment with a Healer sometime between now and next Saturday. You have to complete the physical before the Gala.”

“Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you next Saturday, Kingsley.”

As soon as Harry got home, he fire-called the Burrow. Thankfully, Ron and Hermione were alone in the kitchen; Harry really wasn’t in any frame of mind to explain, again, to Mrs. Weasley that he wanted to remain at Grimmauld Place for now.

“Hey, are you busy?”

Ron shook his head as Hermione replied, “Not right now. Why? Has something happened? Oh, are you calling about the Hogwart’s letter?”

“No, not Hogwarts, but you could definitely say something has happened,” replied Harry. “Would you mind popping over for a bit? I need to fill you in on the Ministry’s latest fiasco, and I don’t really want to discuss it over the floo.”

“Sure thing, mate. Let me tell Mum that we’re going, and we’ll be over.”

Harry pulled his head out of the fire and decided to start some tea. While he really could have used something stronger, he figured he needed to stay coherent enough to explain the situation to his friends.

Once Ron and Hermione arrived, Harry didn’t waste any time explaining the situation, repeating everything that Kingsley had told him. Once he was finished, his two friends sat in stunned silence for a minute. Finally, Hermione said, “Well, this is quite a mess, isn’t it? At least it’s not binding, though I’m sure that doesn’t help much in the short-term.”

Before she could continue Ron interrupted, “I know one thing we can do! Hermione could register for this thing. That way at least you’ve got one of your seven; actually, two if you count Ginny. It would at least lower the chance of having to deal with someone you can’t stand.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Ron. I can guarantee that this is going to turn into one long gossip-fest, and I don’t want to give the Daily Prophet an opportunity to bring up those articles from fourth year.”

Ron’s eyes widened, and Hermione said, “I agree, Harry. I’d be willing, but it’s probably not the best idea.”

Ron shrugged. “Well, at least there’s Ginny. I know Mum and Dad will agree, so at least one person will be okay. Hopefully you can find six others who aren’t total tro-, er, cows.”

Huffing, Hermione said, “Really, Ron. That’s not much better. Just for that, you get to be the one to tell Ginny and the rest of your family about this.”

“Just hex me now,” groaned Ron, face buried in his hands.

Ignoring her boyfriend’s theatrics, Hermione continued, “Not that I don’t trust Kingsley, but I’ll pop over to the Ministry this afternoon to take a look at the laws surrounding this. I doubt I’ll find anything, but it’s worth a try to see if I can find some way out of this that he missed.”

“Thanks, Hermione. It sounded like Kingsley looked over the rules pretty well, but if anyone can find a small loophole to save my hide it’s you.”

“I’ll do my best, Harry, but in the meantime let’s plan in case I can’t find that loophole. Is there anything else we can do to help?”

Thinking it over, Harry said, “Well, Kingsley suggested I ask Andromeda for dance lessons before the Gala, so hopefully I have that under control. If you two have time, I could use some company while I go to Diagon Alley. I want to set up that private owl-post box that Kingsley suggested, and I think it would be a good idea to go ahead and get some dress robes before the news breaks and everyone goes insane. Kingsley said that the people participating can’t approach me between registering and the Gala, but that doesn’t stop their friends and relatives once the news breaks.”

“Sure thing, Harry. Hopefully we can be a bit of a buffer between you and your adoring fans,” said Ron with a small laugh.

“Mum’s the word while we’re out about this. I’m already dreading tomorrow and I don’t want word to leak any earlier than necessary.”

“Well, why don’t we stick to Hogwarts as our public discussion,” said Hermione determinedly.

Recognizing that the inevitable lecture was about to begin, Harry headed outside while listening to Hermione preach about the value of a complete education.

Hours later, they returned to Grimmauld Place. Hermione had finally completed her education lecture, though she was mollified to hear that if Harry didn’t return to Hogwarts it would be because he would be joining the Aurors. Ron had been thrilled to hear that he likely had a place with them too, but had already promised his parents and Hermione that he’d complete his seventh year. Realizing that both his friends were definitely returning to school weighed on Harry’s mind, but, after the miniature mob-scene in Diagon Alley, he still wasn’t convinced that he wanted to leave his private home and return to school.

Unfortunately, Hermione’s trip to the Ministry didn’t yield any results, so Ron and Hermione left after dinner to break the news to the rest of the Weasleys while Harry puttered around his house enjoying his last evening of calm before the now inevitable storm.

The next morning, Harry retrieved his mail from his owl-post box. He had been very relieved to learn that they worked by having a private floo connection between a box in his home and the box where the mail was dropped, so he didn’t even have to leave his house to get his mail. He was hoping there weren’t any letters yet, but Hermione had convinced him to take out a subscription to the Daily Prophet for the next couple of months so he could at least keep up with what was being said about the courtship. He was momentarily relieved to find nothing in the box other than the paper until he read the headline.

Harry couldn’t bring himself to even glance at the rest of the paper. Ron and Hermione flooed in a few minutes later to find him softly banging his head on the table.

“So, I take it you’ve already seen the paper?” quipped Ron.

With a mild glare at his best mate, Harry took the cup of tea Hermione was holding out for him. After a few sips, he replied, “I couldn’t make it past the first article. Did they at least get the courtship details right?”

“Thankfully that was just a straight copy of the information available at the Ministry, though there was enough rubbish in the rest of the paper,” said Hermione.

“There was more than that headline?” asked Harry, horrified.

“Unfortunately, yes. They included a miniature biography, mainly focusing on your Hogwart’s years and the defeat of Voldemort, told in typical Prophet-style.”

“I suppose I can’t hope for a return to their fifth-year articles, can I? At this point, calling me a delusional attention-seeker would be wonderful.”

“Oh, I’m sure they will go there at some point, but probably not until after the Gala. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some nasty articles once you’ve selected the seven participants, but I’m sure the Ministry will be leaning on them to keep things positive.”

At that, Ron piped up. “Mum and Ginny about went mental when we told them. Everyone else was pretty horrified too, but Mum just wouldn’t stop fretting about you, and Ginny looked ready to hex everyone in sight. She’s already got Mum and Dad’s permission, and her letter was on the way to the Ministry as soon as the Prophet arrived.”

“Speaking of Ginny, she asked me to tell you that she’s still working on her private letter. She said if she wasn’t allowed to write or talk to you at all for another week, she wanted to make sure it was perfect.”

“She didn’t tell me that,” protested Ron.

“Ron, she’s not likely to ask her brother to pass on a message to Harry about a private letter,” Hermione calmly replied.

Wanting to cut off that argument before it had a chance to start, Harry quickly said, “So, I guess all I can do now is wait. Now that it’s public information, I’m going to get in touch with Andromeda about those dance lessons.”

Thankfully, Andromeda was free, so Harry and Ron spent the rest of the morning and afternoon learning some basic ballroom dances. Ron initially balked at the idea of joining, but Hermione’s insistence that he would dance with her at the Gala or there would be hell to pay finally convinced him. Considering what Harry was facing, he ended up enjoying the day far more than he expected to. Harry credited a good deal of that to little Teddy; he was convinced it was impossible to stay in a bad mood around the baby.

The next day, the letters started arriving. Most of them were from witches that Harry didn’t know, and who only seemed interested in him because he was ‘The Chosen One’. He was absolutely floored when he opened a letter to find it was from Ernie Macmillan.

Without stopping to read the letter, Harry ran to the floo, tossed in some powder, and called out, “Ministry of Magic, Minister Shacklebolt’s Office.”

Seeing Percy, Harry hurriedly said, “I need to speak with Kingsley, Percy. Is he available?”

Percy, seeing the frantic look in Harry’s eyes, replied, “He’s in a meeting, but I can get him right now if it’s an absolute emergency. If you can wait 10 minutes that would be better, but I know he’d understand the interruption if necessary.”

While it felt like an emergency to Harry, he reluctantly said, “It can wait, but please ask him to contact me as soon as he can.”

A few minutes later, Harry was still pacing in front of the fireplace when Kingsley appeared. “Percy said you needed to talk with me, Harry?”

“Kingsley, why am I getting letters from blokes?” asked a frantic Harry.

Kingsley looked at Harry with an odd expression on his face. “Harry, we talked about this. A public courtship is open to everyone.”

“But…I thought the point of this was to find someone for me to marry?”

“It is; there’s nothing to prevent two wizards from marrying.”

“There’s not?” asked a dumbfounded Harry.

“No, Harry, there’s not. I’m sorry I didn’t think to bring this up, but it honestly didn’t occur to me. There’s never been any type of restriction like that in the wizarding world, so I honestly forgot that it’s not allowed in the Muggle world.”

Deflated from his earlier panic, Harry couldn’t say anything other than, “Oh.”

“If that is a problem for you, Harry, you don’t have to select any wizards to continue after the Gala.”

Focusing again, Harry said, “It’s not a problem, I just really wasn’t expecting it. It’s not like I’m going to marry anyone at the end of this anyway. Sorry to bother you, Kingsley.”

“It’s no problem, Harry. You’ve been such a pivotal figure in our world for so long now that I sometimes forget that you were raised by Muggles and haven’t run across all the differences quite yet. Feel free to contact me whenever you have a question.”

“Thanks, Kingsley. I’ll talk to you later.”

Feeling rather foolish, Harry picked up Ernie’s letter.

Harry,

I’m sure you must be surprised to receive this letter. I debated for a bit before deciding to cast my lot in with the many others who I’m sure are participating in your courtship. I know we haven’t been the closest of friends, but I feel I know you well enough to think that we may be compatible; if not as partners, then at least as friends. Therefore, I decided to join your courtship in the hopes of strengthening our bonds of friendship, if nothing else.

The rest of the letter was simply some background information on Ernie, which Harry skimmed before adding the letter to Ginny’s in the possible pile, relieved that someone was participating that didn’t automatically assume that they’d be married at the end of this mess.

Harry was glad he’d seen a reasonably positive letter to bolster him when he opened the next one.

Potter,

I wouldn’t have bothered writing you a letter at all, but I didn’t have much choice since it’s a requirement of this stupid courtship. I don’t have the faintest interest in marrying you, or spending any more time with you at all. However, the Ministry still hasn’t decided mine and my parents’ punishment, and my mother thought that participating in an open courtship would show them that we’re willing to be tolerant of people who aren’t Purebloods. I suppose I won’t be able to avoid seeing you at the Gala, but I honestly cannot wait for this farce to be over.

Draco Malfoy

For a brief moment Harry was tempted to include Malfoy on his short list simply because he knew it would utterly infuriate the prat. However, he quickly realized that would obligate him to go on two dates with him, and quickly added that letter to the ‘not in a million years’ pile, which already held letters from Romilda Vane, Samuel Pickens, the wizard from the Ministry Security Desk, and Rufus Fudge, nephew of Cornelius Fudge.

A few days later, Harry left the sanctuary of Grimmauld Place for the first time since the courtship was announced to head to his Healer’s appointment. After consulting with Kingsley and discovering that Madame Pomfrey couldn’t perform the examination, Harry had contacted Healer Smethwyck since he was the only Healer Harry knew. It turned out that Healers were pretty specialized in what they treated, and Smethwyck didn’t really feel qualified to perform Harry’s exam.

Instead, he referred Harry to Miriam Strout who worked in the Janus Thickey ward and was therefore far better qualified to perform the type of examination Harry needed. Harry vaguely remembered that Neville seemed to like her from his brief visit in fifth-year, so he set up an appointment with her. Thankfully, she understood that having Harry Potter arrive in the lobby would certainly disrupt things at Saint Mungo’s, so she allowed him to floo directly to her office.

After his normal, disastrous floo exit, the first thing he heard was, “Oh dear, are you all right? You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”

Picking himself up off the floor and brushing off the soot, Harry said, “I’m fine, ma’am; I’ve just never quite figured out how to exit the floo without falling.”

“Well, if you’re sure, let’s get to this, Mr. Potter. I’m sure you’re very busy with your courtship, and I don’t want to delay you.”

After a battery of tests, Harry waited in Healer Strout’s office for the results. She entered and said, “Well, dearie, you’re almost in the clear. No sign of coercive spells, but I did find a faint hint of a mild love potion. From the looks of things, it’s been a year, give or take a few months, since you were last exposed, but there was just enough in your system to be detectable. Thankfully, one quick potion will get rid of it.

“The interesting thing is it’s quite subtle for a love potion; most witches or wizards who go that route use one of the stronger potions. This one doesn’t work immediately; instead it sparks an interest and slowly amplifies the feelings so it’s harder to detect unless someone does a test like this one.”

Assuming it was another failed attempt by Romilda Vane, Harry said, “If I’m right, the person used one of the stronger ones in their first attempt. They must have decided to try a less conspicuous potion after their first attempt went horribly wrong and they accidentally dosed the wrong person.”

“Well, that certainly sounds possible. In any case, take this potion and you’re set to go. I’ve got a letter for you to give to the Ministry certifying that you’re free from all outside influences, and, as I’m sure you know, all information will be held in the strictest confidence.”

Back at Grimmauld Place, Harry continued sorting through his ever growing pile of letters. To his utter horror, there were close to one hundred already, and more were constantly arriving. Ron and Hermione had offered to help him sort through the letters, but Harry felt he owed the people who took this type of thing seriously to keep the private letters private, though he did show them Draco’s letter.

While most of the letters followed the theme of proclaiming they were the perfect spouse for The Boy Who Lived, Harry had discovered a few from people that he thought he’d be able to deal with for a couple of dates. As he grabbed another letter from the pile, he recognized a spidery scrawl that he never, in a million years, would have expected to see on a courtship letter.

Mr. Potter,

I’m sure this letter comes as a complete surprise, but I hope that you will finish reading it rather than casting it aside immediately. Reading between the lines of the drivel printed in the Daily Prophet, I can only conclude that this courtship is the brain-child of some incompetent Ministry drone, and not the result of any burning desire on your part to immediately consign yourself to wedded bliss. If this is the case, I have a proposition for you to consider.

I fear that in the aftermath of the Dark Lord’s demise that Slytherins will be more despised than ever. While you can rightly point out that a majority of the people involved in the Dark Lord’s regime were Slytherins, I’d like to point out that not every Slytherin was actively involved. For the sake of those who are innocent of the blame being cast upon them, I’m taking it upon myself to attempt to aid in their redemption.

Since I was the Head of Slytherin House for many years, many people in our world view me as the archetypal Slytherin. My hope is that by participating in your courtship, I can engender some positive feeling towards the innocent Slytherins. I do not know if I will be successful, but I feel I must try to mitigate some of the pain I’ve helped cause my former students.

To this end, I have a request. If you have not already settled upon the suitors who will participate in the latter stages of the courtship, I ask that you consider including me among those chosen. I doubt you know any other Slytherins well enough to consider including them, but, after viewing my memories, I feel you know me well enough to know that I do not wish you any harm, despite our rancorous past. If nothing else, we can spend the time discussing the many questions I’m sure you have after viewing my memories.

Sincerely,

Severus Snape

Intrigued by the offer to discuss Snape’s memories, Harry put the letter in the possible pile. He was a little nervous about how the man would act in person, but the offer was definitely worth thinking about.

The day before the party, Harry opened his owl-post box to find the expected scroll from the Ministry, plus a few last minute letters; with the three letters in the box that morning, he was up to a total of 117 potential suitors. He quickly skimmed and dismissed the first two letters, but slowed down when he realized he recognized the writing on the last letter.

Harry,

Before I say anything else, let me assure you that this courtship is not my misguided attempt to ‘reveal my burning love for you that I’ve nurtured from afar’. However, when I started seeing phrases like that on the letters of intent to the Ministry, I realized that what you’re receiving is probably ten times worse. After all, they’re supposed to tell you why they would be the best suitor; all they have to give us is their name and a statement of intent to join the courtship.

Since I had no success when I tried to stop this thing, I figured the least I could do is provide you with a safe choice by joining the courtship. We can always discuss the ins and outs of Auror training in case you decide to take that path.

I held off sending this as long as I could to allow you to still be able to come to me with any questions, so I can only hope nothing drastic comes up in the next day.

Your friend,

Kingsley

Laughing, Harry put Kingsley’s letter in the possible pile. At that point, Andromeda arrived for his final dance lesson and he spent the rest of the day relaxing with her and Teddy.

The day of the Gala, Ron and Hermione came over for breakfast and to spend the day with Harry. This was largely to provide moral support, but partially because Ginny had threatened anyone who disturbed her while she was working on her hair and makeup with repeated Bat Bogey hexes, and they did need to get ready for the Gala.

At the appointed time, the trio apparated from Grimmauld Place to the atrium of the Ministry. Since Kingsley wasn’t allowed to see Harry until the Gala, Percy was there to greet them and lead them to the ballroom. Harry waved his friends off to enjoy the party while he resignedly joined the receiving line.

Two hours later the last person had gone through the receiving line, and Harry headed to get some food. On his way, he was intercepted by no less than a dozen people, all hoping to ‘steal just a minute of your time’. He begged off with the excuse of needing some refreshments, but he knew that wouldn’t keep them at bay for long. Thankfully, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasley clan were waiting for him at the buffet, and they helped provide a buffer against all the people trying to get his attention.

As they made their way to a table, they were joined by several people Harry knew from school, including Katie Bell who was participating in the courtship. Harry was stunned at the hostile looks that Ginny was giving Katie; he’d always thought the two were reasonably friendly. He might have been able to understand it if Ginny had any real reason to feel threatened, but Ron and Hermione had both sworn they’d already explained to Ginny that he didn’t have any choice about this courtship and that he wasn’t looking for a new girlfriend, let alone a wife. Just as the tension hit the point that it was so thick you could cut it with a knife, Kingsley stopped by.

“Harry, if you’re done eating, you should really take a stroll around the ballroom. If you stay here too much longer I can almost guarantee a nasty article in the Daily Prophet that you didn’t socialize with anyone other than other Gryffindors. I’ll go with you for now. Between the Aurors following you and the Aurors following me, they can deal with any overzealous suitors.”

As Harry and Kingsley made their way around the ballroom, Harry spotted several familiar faces. Thankfully the Malfoys were busy cozying up to various Ministry officials and didn’t approach him, but plenty of others did. Harry had just managed, with the help of the Aurors, to escape the clutches of an overly amorous witch he had mistakenly agreed to dance with when he heard a familiar voice call his name. Turning around, he noticed Neville and Luna walking up.

“How’re you holding up, Harry?” asked Neville.

“It’s rough, but I think I’ll survive.”

With a sly smile, Neville continued, “You know, you look awfully nice in those robes. Maybe I should have said yes when Gran tried to talk me into participating.”

Seeing the look on Harry’s face, Neville cracked up laughing. “Gotcha, Harry! Seriously, she did try to talk me into it, but you’re just not really my type. No offense.”

Laughing now, Harry said, “None taken. So…you and Luna?”

With his normal shy smile, Neville said, “Yes, it’s a little odd, but good. She utterly confuses Gran most of the time, but, amazingly, she seems to like Luna anyway.”

With that, they both turned to Luna, only to find that she was in the middle of a discussion with a very confused Kingsley that had the Aurors listening in bemusement.

“…wondering what happened to Fudge’s army of Heliopaths once he was removed from office. Since they weren’t at the final battle, my father and I were worried that meant they were loyal to Fudge personally rather than the office of the Minister. Do you think it’s a good idea for a private citizen to have control of such a powerful army? Also, I was wondering if you could confirm whether your appointment as Minister, following so closely to Rufus Scrimgeour, means the Rotfang conspiracy has reached its successful conclusion? If so, how have all the witches and wizards here tonight managed to hide the effects of the gum disease?”

Taking pity on Kingsley, Neville gently told Luna that the Gala wasn’t really the best place for those questions as he led her away with one final smile at Harry.

Kingsley could only stare at Harry in disbelief and sputter, “Rotfang conspiracy? Heliopaths?”

Laughing, Harry said, “I’ll have to agree with Neville that this probably isn’t the best time to try and explain Luna. Lovely girl and a good friend, but definitely a bit odd.”

As Harry turned away from the Minister, he noticed that Snape was standing a few feet away. When he saw that Harry had noticed him, he approached and asked, “May I have the honor of a dance, Mr. Potter?”

Kingsley looked sharply at Harry, but pulled back once he saw Harry nod. Right before they started to dance, Harry noticed Snape tucking his wand away. He looked at Snape curiously, and Snape clearly understood what the question was. “I merely cast the Muffliato charm to protect our privacy. The dance floor seemed the most likely place to not have our conversation interrupted, but it does little to prevent eavesdropping.”

They settled into a sedate waltz and danced in silence for a few minutes. Harry realized, with no small amount of surprise, that it was the first time all evening that he wasn’t panicked about dancing. While he may still be a novice, Snape was clearly an excellent dancer and had no problem leading them around the floor. In contrast, when Harry was leading he constantly felt like he was either going to stumble over his own feet or run into another couple.

After a few minutes, Snape quietly said, “I’m assuming you received my post. While I’m sure the idea of pretending to date me is horrifying, I hope you understand my reasons and that the incentive I offered has piqued your interest.”

Looking up at Snape while trying to not loose his place in the dance, Harry said, “Frankly, Professor, this whole thing is horrifying. There were points this past week when I honestly wondered if this was some type of punishment, and I doubt it’ll get much better before it’s all over. The press coverage alone has me ready to hide in my house and never come out again.

“On the whole, even without your reasons or your incentive, you’re a far better alternative than the vast majority of people in this room. I had already decided to include you on my list as long as you didn’t spend the entire evening sneering at me and comparing me to my father.”

Snape expression stayed neutral, though Harry detected a hint of surprise in his eyes. “That is…unexpected, but welcome news Mr. Potter. I appreciate your willingness to cooperate with me in this endeavor, and I will do my best to not make the experience an onerous one. Allow me to say that I have had some time to reflect since my brush with death, and have reassessed many of my assertions about your character that you saw in my memories. While I doubt you will ever convince me that you did not delight in breaking the rules, I have come to realize that you are far more you mother’s son than I ever gave you credit for.”

Before Harry could say anything, the song ended. Snape stepped back, gave Harry a slight bow, and walked off the dance floor. Mind still spinning from that last comment, Harry was thankfully still paying enough attention to notice the witch that had required the Aurors’ assistance earlier making a beeline for him. He quickly left the dance floor and looked for any familiar friendly face.

Thankfully, standing at the edge of the dance floor were Bill, Fleur and George, along with a very pretty blonde that Harry didn’t know but vaguely recognized from the receiving line. As he approached, Fleur cried out, “’arry! Eet’s so lovely to see you again. May I present my cousin, Aimee Rousseau. Gabrielle was most disappointed zat she was too young to participate, but I ‘ave been telling Aimee ‘ow wonderful you are.”

As Harry kissed Fleur’s cheek and Aimee’s hand, he recalled the young lady’s letter. It stuck in his head largely because it was one of the very few letters he’d received from a stranger that didn’t have him cringing in horror. She had merely said that she’d heard how nice he was from a mutual friend, and that she was interested in possibly getting to know him better. After shaking hands with Bill and George, he turned back to Aimee.

“You didn’t mention in your letter that our mutual friend was Fleur. I have to admit that I was wondering who this mysterious friend was who was saying such nice things about me.”

Aimee blushed a little and said, “I ‘eard you were dating Bill’s sister and I was worried about being too forward. I’m ‘onestly surprised that you remembered my letter at all.”

Laughing, Harry said, “I only wish more people shared your belief in not being pushy; you would not believe some of the letters I received.”

Joining in with Harry’s laughter, the group proceeded to discuss the highlights of Harry’s and Aimee’s background in an effort to let the two shyest members get to know each other a little better. A bit later, Harry remembered something he’d been meaning to ask about.

“Hey, George, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Were any of the love potions available at the store subtle in how they worked?”

Grinning, George replied, “Harrykins, have you ever known u-, me to be subtle? Why do you ask? Did someone actually manage to give a love potion to the great Harry Potter?”

With a small frown, Harry said, “According to the Healer, yes. I thought it was Romilda again, but, from what I remember, she wasn’t good enough to make a potion on her own; that’s why the one that Ron got hit with was one of the potions from your shop. As part of the whole courting thing I had to have a physical, and the Healer mentioned that she found some old traces of a love potion.”

Bill and George suddenly looked a bit more serious. “What did the Healer tell you about it, Harry?” asked Bill.

“She couldn’t tell me much; apparently it had been about a year since I was exposed to it so there wasn’t much left in my system. All she said was that it was a pretty subtle love potion; apparently, instead of working immediately, it builds up slowly.”

With an odd look, George said, “Hold on a minute and let me get Mum. She had a bit of a hobby playing with love potions when she was a girl; in fact, we got most of our recipes from her notes in the attic. She may recognize the one you’re describing.”

Harry, Fleur and Aimee all exchanged looks, unsure why the description of the love potion had caused a reaction from Bill and George. A minute later, George came back with the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione in tow.

“Harry, George said they found traces of a love potion in your system,” said Mrs. Weasley. “Can you tell me what the Healer said about it? I’m sure she was able to clear up the problem, but those are nothing to trifle with. I think it’s important that we figure out what potion you were given.”

Harry quickly relayed the little bit of information he’d learned from the Healer. As he finished, Mrs. Weasley turned to Ginny with a frown. “Please tell me that you did not do what I think you did, Ginevra.”

Harry, who hadn’t looked at anyone except Mrs. Weasley since he had started explaining what he knew about the love potion, suddenly looked at Ginny. She was completely pale, eyes darting from side to side, as she stammered, “Mum, how could you think I would….”

“Enough!” snapped Mrs. Weasley. “You’ve disgraced this family enough with your actions; please don’t compound it with your obvious lying.”

An awful realization was dawning on Harry as he heard Ginny’s shrill reply. “I didn’t do anything different from what Fred and George did, and you didn’t yell at them. It was just a little nudge!”

“Ginevra Molly Weasley! I cannot believe you’re attempting to justify this. You will go home this instant and sit in your room until I get there. Then we’re going to have a very long discussion on just how different this was and exactly what your punishment will include.”

Ginny looked at Harry, pleading with her eyes for him to say something. Harry, however, was frozen in place. His jaw was clenched and he was looking anywhere except at Ginny. At the moment he was mainly focusing on Hermione and Ron, who looked horrified and confused respectively. Realizing that no one was going to come to her aid, Ginny skulked off toward the exit.

Once she was gone, Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry. “Harry, you look like you’re about to fall over. Let’s sit at one of the tables for a minute, dear.”

Harry allowed himself to be lead towards to nearest empty table. Once everyone was seated, Mrs. Weasley continued, “I cannot apologize enough for what Ginny did. I promise you, Harry, that she will be severely punished for this.”

Harry, realizing he had to say something, quietly replied, “Mrs. Weasley, I trust you to deal with Ginny. However, I must admit I’m curious about the potion itself.”

Mrs. Weasley sighed heavily. “In a way it’s my fault, but I never thought she’d use the knowledge for something like this. George said he’d mentioned my old interest in love potions; I was really quite fascinated with them when I was a young girl. It was a harmless fascination for me, so I never thought there was any harm in sharing those stories with my daughter.

“Two summers ago, Ginny came to me and asked me to help her learn more about them. She said that seeing the potions at Fred and George’s store reminded her of the stories I used to tell, and she thought it would be a fun way to do some extra studying for her Potions O.W.L. I pulled down my old notes from the attic and she started working on them in her spare time that summer.

“Obviously, she perfected one of the potions. The potion she used takes any positive feeling, such as friendship, and slowly shifts it towards infatuation. It’s not considered dangerous because it does take time to work completely, and during that time you have to make sure the person gets a dose at least once a week.

“I’ve always felt it was dangerous simply because, out of all the love potions, it most closely mimics a person’s real feelings. While I certainly believe in love at first sight, most people develop their feelings over time as they get to know someone. Also, while it takes months to fully dose a person, the effects can last quite a while, even if the person is no longer taking the potion.

“You must believe me, Harry, that I had no idea that she meant to use my notes the way she did. I would never have condoned her playing with your feelings like that.”

Harry nodded stiffly. “I don’t hold you or anyone other than Ginny herself responsible, Mrs. Weasley.” Hearing her hold back a choked sob, Harry reached over and wrapped her in a hug before continuing. “In fact, I really should thank you; I never would have figured that out on my own. I’m not happy with what she did, but I’d much rather know the truth than continue to live a lie.”

Mrs. Weasley wrapped Harry in an almost smothering hug. “You are such a dear, sweet boy, Harry.” Stepping away from the table, she said, “Well, I need to go home and finish scolding my daughter. The rest of you stay here and enjoy the party.”

As she left, Harry decided he needed to lighten the mood a little. Noticing that a highly uncomfortable looking Aimee was still sitting with them, he asked, “Aimee, would you like to dance?”

Ron and Bill immediately followed his lead, and all three couples headed to the dance floor while George excused himself to find Lee Jordan. Harry was amazed to find that he actually enjoyed most of the rest of the party; George and Lee turned out to be even better protection than the Aurors when it came to keeping his stalkers away from him.

Sunday morning when Harry opened his owl-post box to get his copy of the Daily Prophet, he was shocked to find that it was filled to the brim with letters. Harry cursed as he realized that the one letter limitation only lasted until the Gala, and this must be the last minute efforts of most of the people involved to gain favor before he turned his list over to the Ministry.

Tossing the letters to the side, Harry did his best to brace himself before opening the Daily Prophet. He really wished he could simply ignore it, but he had to admit that Hermione had made a lot of sense when she lectured him on the importance of keeping up with what the paper had to say about the courtship.

The rest of the paper appeared to be an almost minute by minute analysis of every person he spoke to, danced with, or even stood anywhere near for the entire evening. Harry decided he was better off not reading the quotes about Snape, and set the paper aside.

Shortly after breakfast, Ron and Hermione arrived. They said they wanted to be there to lend moral support while he was figuring out which seven people would be the most tolerable over the next phase of the courtship. Before he started, he decided he needed to clear the air with Ron over what his sister had confessed to the night before.

“Hey, Ron, I don’t want to upset you, so I hope you understand why Ginny isn’t going to be on this list.”

“No worries, mate. If I were you, I’d never want to speak to her again, let alone date her. We’re all really hoping it doesn’t come to that, but only because it would make your visits to the Burrow a little awkward.”

Relieved that his rather hot-headed friend wasn’t going to fly off the handle, Harry turned to Hermione to get her reaction.

“Harry James Potter, you should know you don’t even have to ask! I don’t care if that potion is technically legal; we all know that Ginny is the one in the wrong here. Now, why don’t we get started on that list?”

“Believe it or not, I think I already have it figured out. I had picked seven pretty strong possibilities from their letters, mainly folks that I knew that didn’t come off as being marriage-crazy. I did pick out a few letters from people that I didn’t know that looked like they might be okay and I lucked out that one of those people seemed pretty nice last night, so she’ll fill the spot that opened up.”

“Ah, so Aimee did make the cut,” said Hermione brightly. “Fleur will be thrilled; all I’ve heard from her is how you two would make such a cute couple. Even if you’re not looking for marriage, you might get a nice girlfriend out of this whole mess.”

“Hermione, I hardly need you playing matchmaker; the entire Ministry, not the mention the Daily Prophet, is already doing that,” said Harry with a touch of exasperation.

“Oh, calm down. I’m hardly planning your wedding. I’m just saying that she seemed like a nice girl and you shouldn’t close yourself off to possibilities just because you don’t like the circumstances that allowed you to meet her. Now, to get back to the original subject, who have you picked?”

“Yeah, Harry,” piped up Ron. “We can’t take the suspense another minute.”

“Well, you’re right about Aimee, Hermione. Out of our classmates, I think I’m going to go with Hannah, Susan, Ernie, and Katie; their letters talked more about developing a stronger friendship than anything else.”

“Those all make sense, Harry, but you’re still missing two,” remarked Hermione.

“Well, the sixth person is Kingsley. He said he felt bad that he couldn’t get me out of the courtship altogether, so he entered to give me a no-stress option. Kind of like what Ron originally suggested you do, Hermione, except without the past allegations of a relationship. He said we could use our dates to talk about Auror training.”

Thinking it over, Hermione commented, “Well, the Ministry should be happy. If I remember correctly, Kingsley was in Ravenclaw, so you’ve got a mix of half-bloods and pure-bloods, not to mention representation from three Hogwarts houses. With all their blather about how inclusive this courtship is, they’ll probably be thrilled with your choices. If your seventh person is a Muggle-born or a Slytherin, they’ll declare the list to be perfect.”

Harry froze for a second before saying, “Well, the final person isn’t a Muggle-born, but he is a Slytherin.”

Dead silence greeted this announcement. Hermione looked a little surprised, but Harry was more concerned about Ron. His face was slowly turning an unhealthy shade of red. To cut off his friend’s imminent explosion, Harry quickly continued, “Snape is the seventh person. In his letter he asked me to let him participate to help redeem Slytherin house; I think he still feels guilty about what went on at Hogwarts last year. After everything he did to help, I couldn’t say no.”

Seeing that her boyfriend was still trying to reign in his temper, Hermione jumped in before Ron could say something he’d regret. “Harry, it’s nice that he’s trying to help, and even nicer that you’re willing to go along with it, but you and Snape… Well, you’re like Neville and Potions, almost guaranteed to cause an explosion.”

Harry shook his head in denial. “I can’t say I wasn’t worried about that, but he was really polite last night. This means a lot to him, so I think he’s willing to play nice while the courtship is going on.”

Ron, who finally managed to return to his normal color, simply said, “I think you’re barmy, but I’m not the one who has to spend time with the git.”

Relieved that his friends hadn’t totally lost it, Harry sent his list to the Ministry and then spent the rest of the day relaxing with his friends trying to ignore the chaos that the next day would bring.

Over the next week, it seemed that the Prophet seemed determined to print comments from every witch or wizard that wasn’t picked, along with wild speculation about why Ginny hadn't been selected since the Weasleys weren't giving any interviews. At least none of the people he selected gave any comments, but what was printed was bad enough.

During that time, Harry ignored the courtship as much as possible, knowing that it would completely consume the next two weeks. Instead, he spent a lot of time with Ron, Hermione, various Weasleys, Andromeda and Teddy. He also invited Professor McGonagall over for lunch one day to discuss his concerns about re-enrolling in Hogwarts. He still hadn’t made up his mind one way or the other, but after talking with his Head of House, he did feel slightly more positive about returning to school.

Two weeks later Harry was utterly exhausted; fourteen dates in fourteen days wasn’t something he’d recommend to anyone. Exhaustion aside, it could have been much worse. All of the suitors were pleasant enough, and they had all respected his request to not talk to the press as long as they were still a part of the courtship. That didn’t stop reporters and photographers from following them on their dates, but it helped keep the number of stories down a little.

On the whole, the dates had gone well. With Susan, Hannah and Ernie they mainly reminisced about the DA and other Hogwarts memories. With Katie he’d enjoyed several hours of Quidditch discussions and Shacklebolt was more than happy to relay his memories of Auror training. Since he and Aimee were relative strangers, they spent their time simply getting to know each other a little better. Harry told her about some of his adventures at Hogwarts, and Aimee told him about her childhood in France.

Snape had been the true surprise; they’d spent a little over eight hours together without a single argument. Granted the man was still sarcastic as hell, but the maliciousness Harry had come to expect from his former professor never appeared. It probably helped that they’d agreed right away to avoid any discussion of Harry’s father or godfather. Instead, they spent the time discussing Snape’s friendship with Harry’s mother before they started Hogwarts. Harry hadn’t worked up the nerve to delve into more personal topics yet, but he had learned so much about his mother that it really didn’t matter.

Now Harry just had to brace himself for the fallout from the parchment he’d just sent to the Ministry listing the four suitors that he’d selected to continue. He hoped that the other three wouldn’t be too upset, but he knew the Prophet would probably have something nasty to say no matter what.

He had already mailed letters to the three not selected explaining how much he valued their friendship and expressing his hope that this wouldn’t cause any hard feelings, so now all there was to do was wait. In the meantime, he started preparing a nice home-cooked dinner and looked forward to having a few days off from this whole courtship nonsense.

Harry groaned and put the paper down after the first paragraph. He really hoped that Ernie, Susan and Hannah understood it wasn’t a house issue. He hadn’t even considered that when he made his list. Leave it to the Daily Prophet to put that kind of spin on things.

As expected, Hermione and Ron appeared shortly after breakfast. Before Harry even had a chance to say hello, Ron spouted, “Are you completely barking? You picked Snape over Susan and Hannah? I mean, I could maybe understand picking him over Ernie, but Susan and Hannah are both much nicer.”

Hermione glared at Ron as Harry cleared his throat and said, “Good morning, Ron. It’s nice to see you too. Yes, I have missed being able to spend time with you over the last two weeks.”

Chastised, Ron sunk into the nearest chair as Hermione walked over and gave Harry a hug. “It is good to see you, Harry, and we have missed you.”

She didn’t say anything else, but the look she gave Harry as she sat down indicated that she, too, was curious about his decision to include Snape. In a way, Harry felt like he really shouldn’t have to explain, but he also knew that if anyone in the world deserved an explanation, it was these two.

“Did you know that my mum dreamed of being a Healer when she was young? Or that she had a stuffed bear named Mr. Topsy? I’ve learned more about my mother during two meals with Snape than I have from anyone else; I finally feel like I’m getting to know her as a person, even if it is second-hand. I’ll keep Snape in this thing as long as possible if it means I can get to know more about my mum.”

Ron looked a bit taken aback, but far more accepting than he had a few minutes ago; Hermione looked like she was trying not to cry as she reached over to squeeze Harry’s hand.

Clearly not wanting to deal with his girlfriend’s emotional reaction, Ron spoke up after a moment in a clear bid to change the subject. “So, what about the other three? I mean, why them over the others?”

“Well, Kingsley’s told me a lot of useful things about Auror training, and I know for a fact he doesn’t expect anything out of the courtship. For the others, I just felt like I had more things to talk about with Katie and Aimee than with the others.”

Hermione, seemingly recovered, crisply answered, “Well, I’m glad to hear things are going as smoothly as possible. By the way, Mrs. Weasley insists that you come over for dinner this evening. She wants to start planning for your birthday party, and she absolutely will not take no for an answer.”

The next seven weeks went as well as could be expected. Katie managed to get some tickets to a few different Quidditch matches, so they went to those for most of their dates. The few times that there wasn’t a game scheduled, they went on a picnic and played some one-on-one Quidditch.

On the first of this series of dates, Katie had confided that she truly had no interest in getting married, or even seriously dating, at the moment. She had a tryout coming up for Pride of Portree and wanted to focus on getting a position on the team. Her parents, however, had insisted that she register for the courtship and were apparently thrilled that she was still in the running.

A few dates later she asked Harry to not select her as one of the two finalists. Apparently the final week of the courtship was right before her tryout, and she really needed the time to practice. Harry readily agreed and wished her luck on her tryout.

Harry and Kingsley continued their discussions about Auror training and what Harry could expect in his early career as an Auror, though they occasionally talked about mutual friends and what was going on with the Death Eaters captured at Hogwarts.

Harry’s time with Aimee continued to be pleasant, though he was beginning to realize that they really didn’t have much in common. Aimee had lived a pleasant life as the slightly spoiled only-child of a rather well-to-do member of the International Confederation of Wizards. She was reasonably down-to-earth, given her upbringing, but she really couldn’t relate to most of the things that Harry had gone through. Still, they had a reasonably good time whenever they were together, so Harry really didn’t feel like he had anything to complain about.

It was Harry’s dates with Snape that were causing him headaches. On their first date in the current round of the courtship, Snape had taken him to see ‘As You Like It’ at the Globe Theater. He remembered a teacher in primary talking about the historic theater, but hadn’t paid enough attention to the Muggle world since starting Hogwarts to realize that it had been rebuilt. That date was the first evening that they didn’t spend the majority of their time discussing Harry’s mother; instead, Snape spent quite a bit of time explaining some of the subtleties of the play, all the while bitterly complaining about the lack of a decent literature class at Hogwarts.

It was on their second date that Harry thought he’d blown it. Unable to hold back from asking the question a second longer, they’d been halfway through their dinner when he suddenly blurted out, “Were you in love with my mother?”

Snape froze and went paler than usual as Harry flushed in embarrassment. After a minute or so of silence, Harry was about to try an awkward subject change when Snape started speaking in an unusually soft voice.

“I was, though it’s only recently that I’ve truly started to understand the nature of that love. For years I fancied myself as the tragic figure in an unrequited love story. I was convinced your mother and I were meant to be together, and the fact that she fell in love with your father was a major source of my antipathy towards you. You were a living reminder that the person that I had deemed to be mine did not feel the same way towards me.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, coming face-to-face with death makes you re-evaluate many things in your life. While I always have, and always will, love your mother, I’ve realized that I was rather mistaken about the type of love. She was my best friend, really my only friend, for many years. Since she was the first person who elicited any type of positive feelings in me, I fancied myself in love with her. Once I forced myself to look at things more objectively, I realized that I loved her more like a sister than anything else; rather like what I imagine you feel for Miss Granger.”

Harry bit back a flood of questions. He knew he’d been rather rude to ask the question in the first place and was stunned that Snape hadn’t hexed him; he didn’t think it was a good idea to push the man any further. Snape took one look at the young man’s face, and said with a sigh. “Go ahead and ask your questions, Mr. Potter. While I cannot say I was looking forward to this conversation, I knew it was inevitable.”

Stunned that Snape was giving him permission to question him on something so personal, Harry didn’t say anything for a minute. Finally, he said, “Well, one thing I don’t understand is how you confused loving someone like a sister with being in love with them. I don’t have much experience with thinking I’m in love with someone, but, going back to your comparison, I knew I didn’t feel that way about Hermione.”

“Let me try and explain it in a way you might understand, Mr. Potter. Imagine what your life would have been like without Mr. Weasley and his family. Miss Granger is still your closest friend and you’d do anything for her, but you have not had those types of positive feelings from anyone else.

“Think back to your fifth year when most of the school had turned against you because you were reporting the Dark Lord’s rebirth. Imagine once again that it was only Miss Granger who believed in you, rather than the small group of supporters that stuck by you that year. Now imagine during that year someone who made your life difficult your entire time at Hogwarts, say Draco Malfoy, had started showing a romantic interest in Miss Granger. I had always been a bit protective of Lily, and I was convinced that your father was going to hurt her so I was determined to protect her from him.”

Snape trailed off for a minute, clearly lost in his memories, before continuing. “I convinced myself that the protectiveness that I felt towards Lily was really jealousy and that I really wanted Lily for myself. Albus often said you were one of the few people he had ever met who could match my stubbornness, so I’m hoping you can understand that once the idea was set in my head it was going to take something drastic before I was willing to re-evaluate what my feelings really meant.”

Harry, who remembered all too well being convinced the man sitting across the table from him was after the Philosopher’s Stone and that it took seeing Quirrell standing in the last chamber to convince him otherwise, merely nodded.

“I imagine if your parents had lived I would have come to terms with things sooner, but when she died… Well, the guilt I felt for not protecting her only fed my conviction that I had been in love with her. Lily was the only one who would’ve been able to make me see how foolish I was being, and she was gone. Like I said, it took almost dying before I was able to make myself realize the truth.”

Snape waited a minute, clearly offering Harry the chance to ask any other questions. When Harry remained silent, Snape turned the tables with a sly smile. “So, Mr. Potter, now that we’ve discussed my romantic past, or lack thereof, I wonder if you’ll permit me the same courtesy?”

“Huh?”

Sighing at Harry’s lack of eloquence, Snape tried again. “I’m wondering about your past romantic partners, Mr. Potter. In particular, I find myself very curious why Miss Weasley is not a part of your courtship. While I understand that you’re not actually planning to marry at the end of this, I was very surprised when she wasn’t listed as one of the candidates.”

Harry quickly explained about the love potion Ginny had used his sixth year, and how it had all come out during the Gala.

“I knew the chit was obsessed with you, but I have to admit I wouldn’t have predicted that particular method for trying to gain your attention. That actually solves another mystery that had been bothering me. A few days ago I received a letter from Mrs. Weasley withdrawing her daughter from N.E.W.T. Potions for the upcoming year. The letter only said that Miss Weasley was being withdrawn from the course because she had shown that she didn’t have the maturity to handle advanced potions work. Mrs. Weasley has always been very interested in her children’s academic success, and I was not aware of any mischief the girl had caused using potions, so I must admit to being rather curious what prompted that action.”

“Oh, are you going to teach Potions again this year?”

“Minerva and I just finished working out the details of my new teaching contract. After what happened last year she couldn’t get the Board of Governors to agree to my taking the Defense course, but they grudgingly accepted my re-appointment as Potions Master.”

They spent the rest of that dinner discussing Snape’s plans for the upcoming year as well as discussing the advantages and disadvantages of Harry returning to Hogwarts to complete his final year.

Snape continued to surprise Harry with interesting dates and equally interesting conversation. As Harry prepared for his final date with the man, which happened to be his last date in this round of the courtship, he was stunned to realize that they had somehow become friends rather than simply tolerating each other. Harry supposed that he should have realized that change several weeks ago when Snape invited Harry to call him by his first name, but he’d always been a bit slow when it came to dealing with people and relationships.

Harry was a bit anxious as he arrived at the apparation coordinates for his final date in this round of the courtship. After eight dates of allowing Harry to ask whatever questions he liked, Snape – no, Severus - had somehow convinced Harry to let him turn the tables on this date. Harry still wasn’t quite sure why he’d agreed, but, after fuming for a bit, simply accepted the fact that Severus was always going to be sneakier. He supposed all those years of spying had to have some benefit.

While they ate their appetizer and salads, Severus stuck with pretty easy questions. He grumbled a bit when he learned that a house-elf had managed to get through his wards and take his Gillyweed, but had to visibly fight back a laugh when he learned why Hermione had spent time in their second year as a partially transfigured cat.

Once the main course was served, Severus switched to more personal subjects. He asked several pointed questions about the Dursleys, scowling fiercely when he learned the full story behind Harry’s initial Hogwarts letters and that the bars on the window after Harry’s first year were not just something the twins made up trying to placate their mother. Harry also found himself explaining how they helped Sirius escape at the end of third year, simultaneously apologizing for attacking Severus in the Shrieking Shack. As Severus sat grumbling about interfering old men, Harry suddenly realized there was something else they should really talk about.

“Severus, I really owe you another apology. I should never have looked in your Pensieve during the Occlumency lessons…,” Harry trailed off, not really sure what else to say.

Severus’ face briefly clouded with anger, but he quickly calmed down. “Accepted, Harry. My own behavior was hardly without fault during those lessons, so you have my apologies as well.”

Before either of them could say anything else, the waiter stopped by to see how they were doing, breaking the awkwardness that had threatened to overcome their recent camaraderie. Once they were alone again, Severus switched back to lighter questions for the remainder of their meal.

When they had finished eating, Severus surprised Harry by asking him if he’d like to join him for a walk through St. James Park. After they had been walking for a while in companionable silence Snape said, “I must admit I had an ulterior motive in asking you to come here. I have something that I need to talk to you about and I’m not sure what your reaction will be, so I thought it best if we went somewhere a little more private than a restaurant.”

Harry looked at Severus and realized the man actually looked nervous. Worried about what could possibly have unsettled the normally stoic man, he asked, “What’s wrong, Severus? Is it something you need my help with?”

“Nothing is wrong, per se. I simply wish to talk with you about something, and I’m worried that you may not like what I have to say.”

After a long pause, Severus continued, “I hope you can agree with me that our time together during the courtship has been far more pleasant than either of us probably expected when this courtship began.”

Harry, not really understanding why Severus would think this would upset him, simply nodded.

“My reasons for entering this courtship were simple. I wanted to show the wizarding world that a Slytherin wasn’t opposed to something that included Muggle-borns, hoping that they wouldn’t judge the whole House for the actions of the Death Eaters. In exchange for your help, I was willing to offer you some knowledge of your mother. It was a simple exchange of favors; nothing more, nothing less.

“However, in the time we’ve spent together, it’s surprisingly turned into something more. I’ve learned that Albus was right when he repeatedly told me that you and I had far more in common than I was willing to admit. Much to my surprise, I found myself looking forward to our time together.”

“I’ve enjoyed it too, Severus,” said Harry, still confused as to why Severus thought any of this might upset him.

“I don’t think you quite understand, Harry. What I’m trying to say is that I find myself interested in the outcome of this courtship in a far different manner than I originally intended. While I realize that you’re hardly ready to marry, I would not be averse to our friendship developing into something more.”

Harry stopped dead in his tracks and blurted the first thing that came into his mind. “You’re gay?”

“I understand completely if you don’t share the same feelings towards me, but I felt I owed it to you to be honest.”

“But, but,” stuttered Harry, “you and my mum? I mean, I know you said you realized you weren’t in love with her, but how could the thought have even entered your mind if you like blokes?”

With a harsh laugh, Snape said, “Self-delusion is a powerful thing, Harry. It took me a long time to come to terms with my sexuality. I spent many years convinced that I was only attracted to men because I didn’t feel like I was betraying Lily by being with them. Even as I started to come to terms with it, I convinced myself that she was simply so special that my love for her overcame my normal inclinations.”

Harry was too stunned to say anything as Severus continued, “Even if you are not interested, I beg you to believe me that this has nothing to do with your mother. This is not some twisted means of trying to be with Lily through you. I am interested in you because you are Harry, not because you are Lily’s son.”

“I really don’t know what to say, Severus. I mean, I’ve never even thought about…”

“Harry, it’s fine. I knew it was unlikely you would be interested in me the same way; I am hardly anyone’s ideal. I just felt it was impor-”

“No, it’s not you! I’ve never thought about any guy like that. I mean, I didn’t even know it was accepted in the wizarding world until I started getting courtship letters from wizards; Kingsley had to explain it to me. It’s definitely not tolerated in the Muggle world, at least according to my family.” Harry said all this in a rush, not sure why it was so important that Severus understand.

“Ah, I see. You’re correct that homosexuality is less conventional amongst Muggles, though it’s slowly gaining acceptance. I’m assuming Kingsley explained this, but you are aware that it’s fairly common and completely accepted by the magical world?”

“Yes, he explained that to me. It’s just… I haven’t had much time to get used to idea, let alone figure out if it applies to me. If it weren’t for the love potion Ginny gave me, I doubt I would have had any romantic involvement with anyone over the last couple of years. While everyone else was worried about dating, I was too busy worrying about finding Voldemort’s Horcruxes and figuring out how to get rid of the bastard.”

“I know, Harry. Your life has left you far more mature than you should be at your age in many ways, but incredibly naïve in others.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Harry asked, “So, how did you know?”

“How did I know I was interested in you?” asked Severus.

“No, though that would be good to know too. I meant, how did you know you were interested in other guys?”

“Let’s start with your question first. It’s really no different from being interested in girls, at least up to a point,” said Severus with a smirk. “All of the same initial behaviors are there; wanting to spend time with someone, wanting them to notice you, wanting to look your best around them. The eventual mechanics are obviously quite different, but attraction is attraction, no matter what genders are involved.”

Not sure he was quite ready to hear why Severus was interested in him, Harry asked, “But, I haven’t really had those feelings towards anyone, at least when I wasn’t under the influence of a potion. I mean, I guess I felt some of that towards Cho, but that was years ago, and I certainly don’t feel that way towards her anymore.”

“Yes, I noticed the Aurors at the Gala made sure she kept her distance. If I may ask a personal question, were you ever physically intimate with Miss Chang in any way?” Seeing Harry blush in a way that would put a Weasley to shame, Snape couldn’t help a small laugh. “I didn’t mean that, Harry. I meant, did you hold hands, or perhaps kiss? If I’m remembering the gossip from the time correctly, you did go on at least one date with the girl.”

“Yeah, we went to Madame Puddifoot’s for Valentine’s Day. I felt like a right idiot the entire time, other than when we were talking about Quidditch. Nothing happened then, but she did kiss me once right before Christmas.”

“Well, feeling awkward on your first date is hardly any type of conclusive evidence. If you don’t mind me asking, what was your reaction to being kissed?”

“You’ll laugh, but my initial description of it was ‘wet’. She was crying, and I was clueless, so it definitely was not one of the great kisses of history. Kissing Ginny was better, but I can hardly trust that, can I?”

“The love potion does make that difficult.”

Harry barely heard him, too busy thinking over what Severus had said a few moments earlier. He had certainly enjoyed his time with Severus more than anyone else involved in the courtship, and, if he was honest with himself, he had spent a bit more time getting ready for their dates over the last few weeks. He was still terribly confused, but the idea didn’t seem as impossible as it had when their conversation had started.

Suddenly realizing one thing that could resolve quite a few of his issues, Harry abruptly turned to Severus and said, “Kiss me.”

The normally graceful Potions Master almost stumbled as he took his next step. Quickly recovering, he turned to face Harry and asked, “Are you sure?” Seeing Harry’s nod, he slipped an arm around the younger man’s waist pulling him closer. Once they were only centimeters apart, Severus tightened his hold around Harry’s waist with one arm and moved the other hand up and brushed his fingers along Harry’s jaw. When Harry didn’t pull away, Severus bent down so his lips were brushing Harry’s ear and murmured, “Are you still sure?”

Harry felt a tremor pass through him at that intimacy of the situation. Afraid that he’d make no sense if he said anything, he simply nodded again. That was apparently enough because a second later the lips that had been nuzzling his ear were gently brushing against his lips.

At first, the kiss stayed gentle. However, when a few moments had passed and Harry hadn’t pushed him away, Severus clearly decided to take things a step farther. The arm around his waist pulled him flush against the older man and the fingers that had been softly tracing his jaw threaded through his hair, tilting his head a bit, as the kiss intensified. Harry was lost; his own hands unconsciously tightened around Snape’s arms in an attempt to keep himself steady as his head spun. This was far better than the kiss he’d shared with Ginny on his seventeenth birthday, and this time he knew that there were no potions involved.

A few moments later, Severus gentled the kiss before pulling back a bit. Keeping his arms around Harry, Severus simply stared at Harry intently, clearly waiting for the younger man to say something. Harry shakily answered Severus’ unspoken question. “I think that answered my question on whether I have any interest in men. I can’t make any promises, Severus, but I’m willing to try.”

The older man’s eyes lit up in a way Harry had never seen. “As I said at the Gala, that is unexpected, but welcome news, Harry. I sincerely hope this means that I will see you for the final stage of the courtship.”

“Of course; even without this I planned on including you all the way to the end. Now I just have more incentive,” said Harry with a small smile.

“Well, I shall do my best to live up to your expectations,” bantered Severus. “For now though, we should probably wrap up this wonderful evening. May I escort you home?”

Harry nodded and they apparated back to Grimmauld Place. Severus left after one more searing kiss, and Harry dazedly wandered inside. As soon as he walked in the door, he heard Kingsley calling his name from the sitting room. “I’m here; hold on a second,” he yelled and walked quickly to his fireplace.

Seeing Harry’s attire, Kingsley quickly said, “Sorry, Harry. I didn’t think you’d just be coming in now.”

“No problem, Kingsley.”

“I would have contacted you at a more reasonable hour, but I’m afraid I’m going to be very busy for the foreseeable future. One of Umbridge’s cronies is trying to push through some potentially nasty legislation, and they’ve scheduled the vote for less than two weeks from today. On the surface, the legislation is about securing rights for Muggle-borns, but it includes a mandatory registration for all wizards to record their blood-status. I need to make sure everyone who honestly wants equal rights for Muggle-borns realizes that registration is included and just how damaging that could be. The upshot is that I’m going to need all my time between now and then in order to have time to talk to everyone involved.”

Suddenly understanding the reason Kingsley called, Harry said, “Oh, you need to be removed from the courtship. That’s fine, Kingsley; I appreciate you sticking it out this far, but I completely understand that blocking that registry is more important.”

“Thanks for understanding, Harry. I think they specifically waited to introduce this, assuming that I might be part of the last phase of the courtship and that I wouldn’t have time to fight it.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Thanks for the offer, Harry, but as long as I have time to talk to the people involved, I think we’ll be fine. I’ll let you know if anything comes up, but I need to run for now.”

Once Kingsley was gone from the fireplace, Harry wandered towards his room. Kingsley’s call had effectively snapped him out of the daze he’d been in since the kiss, so he now started to really think about his conversation with Severus earlier that evening. Was he gay? Well, he couldn’t really answer that yet, but it was far more possible than he would have thought before this evening. After all, he couldn’t deny that kissing another man had made his head spin and his heart race. Realizing that he didn’t have to figure out all the answers that night, Harry changed into pajamas and headed to bed.

The next morning, Harry collected his post from the box and sat down to eat some breakfast. He started to pick up the paper when he noticed Severus’ handwriting on one of the letters. Giving into his curiosity, he opened that letter first.

Harry,

I must apologize for the spectacle in this morning’s paper; I promise you that I had nothing to do with it. I thought since that park was a Muggle location that we would be able to have that conversation in private. If I had known there were other magical people there, I would have chosen another location. I hope this does not change your mind about the decision you made last night. While I understand that you likely did not want this displayed for public consumption, I still anticipate any time we can spend together.

Severus

Anxiously, Harry set aside the letter and opened the Daily Prophet. On the front page was a large photo of last night’s kiss, topped by the headline Exclusive Photo: Chosen One and Ex-Death Eater’s Secret Passion

Harry hadn’t made it past staring at the picture in horror, when he distantly heard the sound of his floo activating, followed by Ron’s voice yelling out, “Harry! Where the hell are you?”

Harry didn’t say anything, so he could hear Hermione scolding Ron as well as Ron’s indistinct grumbling as they made their way to the kitchen. When they walked in, Hermione silenced Ron just as he was clearly about to start yelling again.

“I was going to ask if you’d seen the paper this morning,” she said. “But I can tell by the look on your face you’re aware of the situation.”

Nodding, Harry quietly replied, “I haven’t read the article yet, but I’ve seen the picture. I had just opened the paper when you two arrived.” Worried that his friend may have a heart attack if he didn’t get to say something soon, and knowing that Ron had never really gotten the hang of silent casting, Harry took pity on his friend and cancelled the Silencing Charm.

“What the hell were you thinking, Harry? You actually kissed that git!”

Harry let his friend yell for a few minutes, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to have any type of rational conversation until Ron had a chance to vent. Before too long, Hermione clearly had enough. “Ron! If you would be quiet for a minute, maybe Harry could actually say something.”

Ron stopped ranting and both of his friends looked at him expectantly. Harry nervously cleared his throat and said, “I’m not sure what you’d like me to say. I can hardly deny kissing him, that’s a wizarding photo and those can’t be altered.”

“How ‘bout an explanation why you kissed the git,” sniped Ron. “Were you Confunded or something?”

Ignoring Hermione hissing her boyfriend’s name, Harry answered, “No, I was not Confunded.”

Ron continued like Harry hadn’t said anything. “I just know Snape must’ve done something. Maybe you should go back and see that Healer; I bet she can figure out what he did.”

“That’s enough, Ron!” snapped Hermione. “I’ll silence you again if you can’t be quiet for more than two seconds at a time.”

Once he was sure his red-haired friend was quiet for the moment, Harry continued, “This obviously isn’t the way I would’ve picked for anyone to find out, but Severus and I –”

“Oi, Severus is it?” yelled Ron. He’d barely finished saying that before Hermione had her wand back out and cast the Silencing Charm once again. Hermione glared at Ron briefly before asking Harry to continue.

“Like I was saying, Severus and I agreed last night to give being more than friends a try. That’s really all there is to know, other than I was the one to ask him to kiss me.”

Hermione waited a few seconds, clearly not wanting to interrupt Harry if he had anything else to say. Finally, she said, “Harry, I can’t speak for Ron, but the reason I’m feeling a bit confused at this is I didn’t even know you were interested in wizards.”

Harry shrugged, “I hadn’t really thought about it until last night; it took me by surprise, too. I’m not sure I can answer why I’m interested in him, I just am. I know I enjoy being with him and I enjoyed being kissed by him, so that’s all that really matters right now. Maybe with time I can figure out how to explain it, but for now please just take my word for it.”

Hermione stood up and started tugging Ron out of the room as she said, “Well, we can certainly do that. Now, I need to have a chat with Ron, and I’m sure you probably have other people you need to talk to and things to do, so we’ll see you tomorrow.”

Harry reluctantly grabbed the paper again once his friends had left. According to the article, the photo was taken by a witch who just happened to be walking through St. James Park. The woman wasn’t apparently any type of journalist, but recognized Harry and snapped a picture. Once Harry calmed down and took a closer look at the photo, he realized it could’ve been worse; the witch had only caught the last couple seconds of the kiss, any earlier and Ron probably would have had a stroke.

Harry wrote Severus a quick letter assuring him that he hadn’t changed his mind and didn’t hold the other man responsible in the slightest. He also mentioned that couldn’t wait to see him on Monday after the final two suitors were announced, and sent the letter off with Pig whom Harry had borrowed from Ron for the duration of the courtship. After that, Harry dosed the fire to prevent anyone from flooing him and enjoyed a rare peaceful, solitary day.

Two days later, Harry reluctantly retrieved the Sunday Daily Prophet from his owl-post box. Yesterday’s paper had been filled with speculation pieces as to who he would pick as the final two participants in his courtship, and he really wasn’t looking forward to what the paper would have to say now that they knew his decision. Surprisingly, the article was relatively even-handed. It was clear that the editors preferred Aimee as a final choice to Severus, but Harry had a feeling the Ministry had leaned very hard on the paper to not be completely biased.

Harry was surprised when shortly after breakfast he heard a knock on his front door; Ron and Hermione were the only ones who ever came uninvited, and they never knocked. Casting a quick spell to see who was on the other side of the door, Harry was shocked to see Severus standing there, but he quickly opened the door.

“Severus, this is a surprise. I thought we weren’t allowed to see each other until tomorrow?” asked Harry.

With a smug look, Severus answered, “I read through the rules governing the courtship, and they actually say that no contact is allowed between the last date and the public announcement of the two finalists.”

“Huh, I guess I just assumed this would be like all the earlier parts. Well, come on in; no sense in standing in the doorway.”

Severus seemed to suddenly realize that Harry was still in his pajama bottoms and robe. “I can come back later if this is too early. I didn’t mean to disturb your morning,” he said as he slowly took in the younger man’s tousled hair and partially clad body.

Harry flushed at the way Severus was obviously checking him out, but knew he really didn’t want the other man to go. “No, I was just lazing about. You’re not disturbing me.”

As they walked into the house, Harry continued, “There’s still some breakfast left if you’re hungry. I’ll just go and throw on some clothes and I’ll be right back.”

“If you like, but there’s no need to on my account. I quite like what you’re wearing right now.”

Harry flushed even further, but wasn’t really sure how to answer so he quickly went upstairs to take a shower and change. A few minutes later, he found Severus in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea and reading the paper. Still not quite sure how to react after the man’s blatant flirting, Harry paused at the door. Before he could do anything else, Severus looked up and asked, “Do you have any plans for today?” When Harry shook his head, Severus continued, “Would you be interested in spending the day together?”

“I’d love to.”

“Excellent, but I do need to ask you one thing before we go. The plans I have will keep us largely in Muggle areas, but clearly that does not mean we will be necessarily be the only magical people there….”

Severus suddenly trailed off, as though he was uncharacteristically unsure as to how to finish his thought. With a flash of insight, Harry realized what he was trying to say. “Severus, while I’m not fond of seeing myself in the paper, they’re probably not ever going to stop following me and I refuse to live my life differently because of them. Why don’t we just do whatever we would if there wasn’t a Daily Prophet?”

With a small smile, Severus stood and extended a hand to Harry. “That’s a rather Gryffindor solution, but I suppose I can live with it.” They walked outside and Severus said, “I’ll meet you at the Diagon Alley apparation point,” and was gone with a soft pop. Harry joined him there a few seconds later, and they quickly made their way out of the Alley and into Muggle London.

“So, where are we going today?” asked Harry.

“Well, first we’re headed to Charing Cross Pier. From there I thought we’d take a boat to Greenwich and spend the day poking around the market and taking in the sights.”

“That sounds like fun; other than crossing the lake first year, I’ve never been on a boat.”

They arrived at the pier minutes before the next boat was departing. They quickly paid for the tickets and boarded. Once onboard, Harry headed straight for the railing. To his surprise, Severus didn’t stand beside him. Instead, the older man stood directly behind Harry and wrapped his arms around his waist. Leaning over a bit, Severus murmured in his ear, “Am I being too forward?”

Harry shook his head, enjoying the feel of the man pressed up against his back. The strong arms kept him steady as the boat began to move, and Harry found himself leaning back and resting against the man behind him. Severus pointed out several sights along the Thames as they traveled, and all too soon they arrived at their destination. They spent the next several hours walking around looking at the various bric-a-brac and antique stores- walking hand in hand, often ducking down a convenient alley for a quick kiss. After dinner, they decided to simply apparate back to Harry’s home, rather than taking the return boat.

Arriving at his doorstep, Harry turned to face Severus, hoping for another goodnight kiss. Instead, Severus seemed to be keeping his distance as he asked, “Would you mind if I stay for a drink?”

Harry nodded and opened the door. The two were barely inside and the door shut behind them, when Snape suddenly grabbed Harry’s hand, pulled him close, and kissed him fiercely. Caught off guard, Harry gasped. Severus was entirely too Slytherin to let an opportunity like that pass, and he quickly deepened the kiss, his tongue moving sensually against Harry’s. To Harry, the kiss seemed to last forever, yet far too soon Severus pulled away slightly, though he continued to nip at Harry’s ear and neck. Once they were both breathing normally, Severus started to pull back more, but Harry grabbed him and held him close. Severus grasped Harry’s chin, tilting his head up, and gently kissed him again. This time, when they separated, he said, “Why don’t we get that drink I mentioned?”

Harry nodded and Snape stepped back, allowing Harry to lead him to the sitting room. Harry poured them each a Firewhiskey as Severus put the fire out to ensure they wouldn’t be interrupted. As Harry went to sit beside Severus on the sofa, Severus grabbed his hips at the last moment and moved him so he was sitting on his lap. Suddenly aware that he wasn’t the only one physically aroused by their earlier kiss, Harry felt uncharacteristically bold so he quickly leaned in for another kiss. This time Severus let Harry lead, and it was several minutes before they finally broke apart, breathing heavily.

Wrapping the younger man in his arms, Severus pulled him close and said, “I think we need to talk before this goes any farther.” Harry looked at him curiously, not sure why Severus sounded so hesitant. “Harry, I need to know what your limits are. The vast majority of my experience comes from encounters that were solely for physical release, so I find myself unsure how to court someone. I know you’ve no experience with men, and precious little with women, and I don’t want to push too far, too fast.”

Harry had been hoping to avoid this particular conversation, though he knew he wouldn’t have been able to do so forever. He didn’t think he’d be able to face Severus and say this, so he leaned his head against the taller man’s chest before mumbling, “I dunno…what we’ve done is just about as much as I’ve ever done. I know what comes next - I mean, you can’t live in a dorm with 4 other guys for 6 years and not figure that out – but I’ve never done any of it.”

Severus’ arms tightened around Harry and he leaned down slightly to kiss the top of his head. Feeling a little better now that Severus knew and apparently wasn’t horrified at his lack of experience, Harry said, “How about this? I promise I’ll ask you to stop if I’m uncomfortable. Unless that happens, you can safely assume you’re not going too far.”

“I think that Gryffindors are clearly too trusting, but what kind of Slytherin would I be if I turned down such a tempting offer?” The words had barely left Severus’ mouth before he leaned down to kiss Harry again. Without breaking the kiss, Severus maneuvered Harry’s hips and legs until he straddled Severus’ lap then pulled the younger man flush against him. A delightful moan was Severus’ reward as he started to softly thrust up against Harry’s rather obvious erection. When Harry didn’t pull back, Severus quickly rearranged their position so they were lying on the sofa. Harry was fine until Severus reached down towards his cock; he stiffened from head to toe as soon as he was touched, and not totally in a good way. Severus quickly moved his hand back up to twine through Harry’s hair as he slowly started to pull away.

“Sorry,” muttered Harry.

“There’s no need to apologize; we have all the time you need. However, I should go for this evening before I’m tempted to push any farther. I’ll see you in two days.” And with a final soft kiss, Severus stood and headed home.

Two mornings later, a loud knock on the door woke Harry. He stumbled downstairs to find Severus standing on his doorstep.

He took in Harry’s appearance and said, “I’m sorry if I woke you, Harry, though I could get used to seeing you in pajamas.”

Harry gestured for Severus to come in. “Don’t worry about it. I should’ve been up ages ago, but last night didn’t go so well and I didn’t get to bed until late.”

“What happened?”

Harry, needing some caffeine, started making tea as he explained. “Well, first Aimee was upset about that picture in the Prophet. Then she was even more upset when I wouldn’t kiss her too. She kept pushing, so I finally just flat told her that I really wasn’t interested in her that way. I guess she was really expecting something to happen even though she’d said she was okay with just being friends. I really would’ve preferred to have Katie or Kingsley in this last round, but they both had other obligations this week, so I really didn’t have any choice but to include Aimee.”

“Well, either you were lucky and there were no reporters around, or you managed to keep things fairly discreet because there wasn’t anything in the paper this morning.”

“If I haven’t said it already, thank you for the Muffliato spell. I cast it as soon as she started talking about the picture of us. Even so, I’m surprised that there aren’t any pictures of her storming out of the restaurant.”

“Indeed. Thankfully, you are only obligated to go on one outing with each of the final candidates this week, so you don’t have to see her again until the Soiree.”

“I know, and I told her as she left last night that I’d see her at the Soiree, which led to her storming out. I probably could’ve been nicer about it, but by the end of the night I just really didn’t want to see her again until I absolutely had to.”

Severus waited until Harry had placed both cups of tea on the table and tugged Harry into his lap before he could sit down in the other chair. “I am sorry you had a bad evening, but I have to admit I’m delighted at the outcome. I dislike sharing, and now I can have you all to myself this week,” he said, while nibbling on Harry’s ear.

And what a week it was! Harry found himself spending pretty much every waking hour with Severus. He had shown up every morning at breakfast, and they were together until late at night. Those late nights always included some fairly intense snogging, but, to Harry’s growing frustration, not much else. The day before the Soiree, he was determined to convince Severus that he was ready for more, even if he had to banish the man’s clothes to do it.

In the morning, feeling slightly guilty for ignoring them all week, he invited Ron and Hermione over for breakfast. Ron, clearly still upset about Harry’s burgeoning relationship with Severus, barely waited until he had stepped out of the Floo before laying into Harry. “I really don’t get you lately, Harry. I mean, you can kiss that git, but you don’t want to anything to do with a nice girl like Aimee. She was over at Bill and Fleur’s on Tuesday grumbling about your last date. How can you not be interested in her? She’s gorgeous, she’s nice and, most importantly, she’s not Snape!”

“Ronald Bilius Weasley!” snapped Hermione. “You will stop that right this second, or you can go home so I can have a pleasant visit with Harry.”

For a second, Ron almost looked like he was going to do exactly that, but Harry stopped him. “Please don’t go; I don’t want to lose either of you over this. If it makes you feel better to yell for a bit, go ahead. Just understand that it’s not going to change anything.”

“Just answer one thing for me, Harry. You said you couldn’t explain why you were interested in Snape, and frankly I wouldn’t want to hear it even if you could, but explain to me why you turned Aimee down. I mean, she’s everything that most guys dream about, so why isn’t she enough for you,” spat Ron.

“Well, let’s start with the fact that she’s said all the way along that she was okay with being friends, and then decides that seeing a picture of me kissing one of the people in the courtship means she automatically has a right to kiss me. As for why didn’t I want to kiss her… She’s nice enough, but she really doesn’t understand what my life has been like. I mean, I know not everyone was as affected by the war like we were, but Aimee spent those years growing up in a perfectly normal house and attending a perfectly safe school. I just don’t feel like I have anything in common with her.”

“Oh, Harry,” sighed Hermione. “Do you really think it’s the best idea to start a relationship with Professor Snape based on the fact that neither of you has had the easiest life?”

“It’s better than trying to start one based on nothing at all, Hermione. Besides, that’s not the only thing we have in common. I’m not asking you to understand it, but I hope you can accept it because it’s not going to go away anytime soon if I have anything to say about it.”

“Why did you even ask her to participate in the last part of the courtship if you feel that way about her?” asked Hermione.

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear about that at Bill’s. I explained it to Aimee and she wasn’t terribly happy about that either.”

Harry quickly explained why Katie and Kingsley both needed to drop out of the courtship. “So, you see, Aimee was the only other person left. Trust me, if I’d known she was going to react like this, I would’ve kept Ernie or Susan or Hannah.”

Ron seemed a little calmer, and Hermione nodded in understanding, so Harry guessed he had explained things well enough for now. Deciding a change of subject was in order, Harry said, “By the way, I sent my acceptance letter to Professor McGonagall on Monday.”

Ron smiled for the first time since entering Grimmauld Place as Hermione cried, “That’s wonderful, Harry! Have you gotten all your supplies yet?”

“Not yet. I was wondering if you would be interested in going to Diagon Alley today. I’ve got to pick up a couple of things at Madam Malkin’s anyway, so I thought we could combine that with getting stuff for Hogwarts.”

Ron and Hermione quickly agreed, and the three set off for Diagon Alley. They quickly got the supplies Harry needed at the stationery shop and spent enough time at Flourish and Blott’s to satisfy Hermione before heading to Madame Malkin’s. As they entered the shop, they were greeted with the customary, “Hogwarts, dears?”

Ron and Hermione quickly replied that they already had their robes. Once Madame Malkin turned her attention to Harry, he said, “Actually, I’m here for a few things. I do need to be fitted for new Hogwarts robes, but I also need to pick up a few items that should be waiting for me. I ordered some dress robes a couple of weeks ago, and there should also be a package waiting for me from Severus Snape.”

Once she had finished fitting Harry for his Hogwarts robes, she wandered to the back to look for the other robes. Once she’d left, Ron hissed, “You’re letting him pick out your clothes now? Does he even know clothes come in something other than black?”

Not wanting to be overhead, Harry quickly cast Muffliato before answering. “Actually, Ron, he’s taking me somewhere tonight with some type of fancy dress code. He offered to order the robes for me a few days ago so I wouldn’t have to make another trip to the Alley and deal with the crowds.”

Obviously trying to keep the peace, Hermione interjected, “Well, that’s rather considerate of him, isn’t it?”

Before Ron could say anything else, Madame Malkin returned and Harry removed the spell. He quickly paid for all the robes, and they headed back to Grimmauld Place. Once there, Harry said, “Look, Severus is going to be here soon and I need to get ready. I know you don’t like him, but I was serious earlier when I said this wasn’t going to end anytime soon, so I hope you can figure out a way to deal with it. I don’t expect you to suddenly become friends, but I’d like it if our time together wasn’t completely taken over by you sniping about him.”

Ron just huffed, and flooed away. Hermione put a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “I’ll work on him, Harry. For myself, while I can’t pretend to understand it, I am happy that you’re happy, and I hope it works out.”

“Thanks, Hermione,” he said with a small smile.

A couple of hours later, after showering and changing into the most elaborate robes he’d ever seen, Harry was waiting for Severus. He was afraid to sit down for fear of wrinkling them, so, instead, he was pacing in the front hallway and worrying about going anyplace fancy enough to require robes like these. Hearing a rap on the door, he yanked open the door before Severus had even finished knocking.

“Excellent, you’re ready. Our reservations are in a half-hour, but it’s best if we arrive a little early.”

“Where are we going, Severus? I’ve never been anyplace that required robes like these.”

“That’s because most of the places that require robes like this are private clubs that won’t allow membership to anyone who cannot prove that they have no muggle blood in their ancestry for at least ten generations. Since neither of us can do that, we’re going to one of the few establishments of that caliber that are open to anyone magical.”

“So what’s so special about this place, other than the robes?”

“I’ll explain as we walk, it’s just a few blocks from here,” Severus replied, taking Harry’s hand in his. “The Sphinx is one of the nicest dining establishments in the wizarding world. The food and wine list are superb, but, I must admit, they weren’t the reason I chose this particular restaurant. It also has a live orchestra and an excellent dance floor. Tomorrow, I’ll have to share you with the rest of the wizarding world, so for tonight I wanted to be able to keep you to myself, in my arms, all night.”

The possessiveness in Severus’ voice sent a pleasant shiver down Harry’s spine as they walked. A few minutes later Severus opened a door which had no sign, but included an elaborate carving of a sphinx. As they stepped inside, Harry could hear the orchestra in the background, and a few minutes later the maitre d’hotel led them to their table.

They both thoroughly enjoyed an excellent meal, and as soon as it was finished, Severus led Harry to the dance floor. Thankfully the orchestra was playing a waltz, which was one of the few dances that Harry had learned decently well during his lessons with Andromeda. Relaxing a bit, Harry stepped even closer to Severus as they danced. “Severus, what’s going to happen after tomorrow? I mean, the courtship is over at that point.”

“As far as I’m concerned, nothing should change. It’s not uncommon for two people in a courtship to continue to see one another once the formal portion of the courtship has concluded; most people are not ready to commit to someone after only a few months no matter what the dunderheads at the Ministry think.”

“Will it cause problems at school? I mean, you’ll be my teacher again…”

“Do my ears deceive me, or is Harry Potter actually concerned about a school rule?” Severus smirked at the sour look Harry gave him but continued, “Student-teacher relationships are not exactly the norm, but they are allowed as long as the student is of age and it’s consensual. We’ll need to discuss it with Minerva, but I’m hoping she’ll allow you to take private potions instruction rather than attending class so we can avoid allegations of impropriety. Since it’s your final year, as long as you’re prepared for the N.E.W.T it really doesn’t matter if you’re in the class or not.”

Harry was still a little worried about school, but was determined not to let that ruin their evening. Hoping to get his idea for later across without actually saying anything, Harry stayed pressed close to Severus and let his hands wander as much as propriety would allow in public. After a simple, but rather sensual, tango, Severus held Harry close and whispered, “I think our next dance should be in a more private location.”

Not even waiting to see Harry’s nod, he quickly moved them back to their table, paid their check, and they hurried back to Grimmauld Place. Harry stepped through the door into Severus’ arms. With a sound that could only be described as a growl, Severus pulled Harry tight against him. “Do you have any idea how close I was to simply taking you right on that dance floor?”

With an impudent smile, Harry said, “Well there’s nothing stopping you now, is there?”

Severus didn’t bother replying, but apparated them straight to Harry’s bedroom. For a split second Harry wondered how the man knew which room was his, but quickly decided that it really didn’t matter once Severus kissed him. He felt Severus deftly unfastening his robe and did his best to reciprocate, but was rather distracted when the Potions Master’s lips and tongue started exploring the bare skin left behind as the robe was removed. Once Harry was left in just his boxers, Severus guided him toward the bed, quickly finished removing his own robe, and joined him.

Harry barely had a chance to look at the strong body that had been hidden beneath the robes before Severus kissed him again as his hands continued the earlier exploration. This time when he reached for Harry’s cock there was no hesitation, just a moan of pure pleasure. Desperate for more contact, Harry wrapped his legs around Severus’ and thrust his hips. With another growl, Severus moved his hands to Harry’s rear, pulled him even closer, and met him thrust for thrust.

Just as Harry felt he would explode, Severus withdrew slightly, flipped Harry onto his back and started kissing his way down Harry’s torso. Harry was briefly disappointed in the loss of contact, but didn’t mind a second later when those lips found his nipples and started sucking and lightly biting.

Harry dimly realized that Severus was removing his boxers as he continued to lavish attention from Harry’s neck to his navel. Harry didn’t really have a chance to register that he was naked before Severus moved again, this time swallowing Harry to the root. Overwhelmed by the heat and suction surrounding his cock, Harry bucked mindlessly into Severus’ mouth; strong hands gripped his hips, but didn’t try to impede his movement. He wished it could go on forever, but all too soon he realized he wasn’t going to be able to hold off his climax much longer, no matter how much he wanted to.

He reached down to tug lightly at Severus’ hair and managed to get out, “Sev’rus, I’m gonna…”

Rather than pulling away as Harry expected him to, Severus sucked even harder as his tongue provoked sensations that Harry hadn’t known were possible. A moment later, Harry’s climax hit him with the force of a Bludger. The next thing Harry knew, Severus was kissing him again. Pulling back slightly, Harry said, “I’m sorry…I mean, you didn’t…”

With a look of anticipation, Severus kissed him again. “The night isn’t over yet.”

Harry woke the next morning to the sensation of someone kissing his chest and shoulders. He was highly confused for a moment, until the memories of the night before made it through his sleep-fogged brain. “That’s much nicer than my normal alarm,” he mumbled.

He heard a low chuckle before Severus answered. “You’re welcome to wake-up service whenever you like. Normally it’s even nicer, but you mentioned your friends were coming over this morning, so I didn’t want to tease too much and not have time to follow through.”

At the mention of his friends, Harry froze. “Shit, they’ll be here any minute.”

With a sigh, Severus pulled away. “I suppose we should get ready to face the day then. Actually, it’s probably best if I leave before they arrive. It’s far too early in the morning to deal with the melodrama that would certainly result if they discovered me here.”

“I don’t even want to imagine Ron’s reaction to that, so I guess you’re right. I’ll see you tonight, then?”

“Of course.” After a final kiss, Severus gathered his robes and left.

A half-hour before the party was scheduled to start, Harry apparated to the Ministry and headed to Kingsley’s office; he’d received an owl earlier that day requesting that he stop by a bit early to discuss a few things about the closing Soiree. He greeted Percy, who told him to head straight in.

“Harry, glad you could make it,” greeted Kingsley.

“I appreciate you taking the time; I’m not quite sure what to expect tonight and I’m glad I won’t be walking in blind. But, before we get to that, how are things going with that Muggle-born legislation?”

“Don’t worry about that, Harry; I think we’ve got that under control. I’ve managed to talk to most of the people I needed to, and I should be able to catch up with a few more at the Soiree tonight. I don’t think we’ll have any problems blocking it.”

“Good to hear, Kingsley.”

“About tonight, I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that there isn’t a receiving line.”

“Thank Merlin; I really didn’t want to have to do that again!”

“You’ll be expected to dance at least once with each of the original seven finalists. At the end of each dance, you’ll do one of three things. If you bow to your partner, there’s no future obligation toward them, though a deep bow indicates a willingness to be friends. If there is anyone that you’re interested in dating beyond the courtship you’ll end the dance with a kiss on their cheek. If you’ve decided to marry one of them, you indicate that by kissing them.”

“No worries on the last one, Kingsley; I’m still not ready to get married.”

“I’d be stunned if you were; after all, you’re barely eighteen. By the way, I heard from Minerva that we’re going to have to wait a year before you join the Aurors. Gawain is quite upset with me; he was apparently counting on me to convince you to join them straightaway.”

Harry could only laugh. “You made it sound pretty tempting, but you were no match for the combined arguments of Hermione, Professor McGonagall and Severus.”

“Severus, eh.” Harry stiffened, waiting for another person to scold him. To his surprise, Kingsley said, “Not an outcome I expected, but I’m glad you got something good out of this mess.”

Harry beamed at Kingsley. “Thanks.”

“Well, to get back on topic, anyone you kiss, whether it’s on the cheek or lips, is allowed a response. They have the same options you had, and the meanings are the same.”

“Well, that’s simple enough, but that doesn’t explain why you asked me to come in to see you. You could’ve explained all that in a letter.”

Kingsley let out a booming laugh. “You’re becoming entirely too suspicious, Harry, though I supposed I can understand why. Honestly, I just wanted to let you know about the dances and give you a few minutes to relax. Unfortunately, we’re out of time, so unless you have any other questions, we should probably get going.”

To Harry’s surprise, the Soiree was going fairly well. So far he had danced with all of the suitors except Severus and, other than the dance with Aimee, all the dances had been reasonably pleasant. Despite the fact that he had made it clear to her that he wasn’t interested during their last date, Aimee had huffed off the dance floor when Harry bowed to her at the end of their dance. Harry was a little nervous about all the muttered conversations after she left, but Mrs. Weasley let him know that people were just a bit scandalized that she left without bowing back and, for once, it wasn’t anything about him.

Finally he got to enjoy a dance with Severus. A moment after it started, Severus said, “I miss the way we were dancing last night, both at the restaurant, and later.”

“Me too, though the photographers will make sure I behave, at least until we get home.”

“I suppose that means I have to behave too,” said Severus, but he pulled Harry a bit closer anyway.

As the song finished, Harry felt like every eye in the room was on them. Stretching to reach, Harry kissed Severus’ cheek. The entire ballroom broke out in whispers which only grew louder when Severus kissed his cheek in return. Now that their obligatory dance was finished, Harry and Severus made their way toward the exit as quickly as they could. They almost made a clean getaway, but, right before they apparated, Headmistress McGonagall caught up with them. “I expect both of you in my office tomorrow to discuss Potions tutoring for Harry. Congratulations to you both.”

Harry smiled and nodded, and they headed back to Grimmauld Place.