The Heart of Things

Chapter 4: Dinner at Veronica's

Blair leaned against the bar, waiting for Potter to enter the Leaky Cauldron. She was dressed quite respectably this time, in a sleek black skirtsuit that screamed "business relationship!" Her hair was down, the curls spilling over her shoulders, though she had spent half an hour debating with herself whether or not she should wear it up. She had her argument in order; there was no way Potter would get the better of her. She was prepared, and therefore she was relaxed. Until he walked through the door.

He was handsome, to be sure, very handsome. He had the toned build of an Auror-to-be, and his messy black hair hung in his vibrant green eyes. Those eyes found her immediately and stared at her deliberately, before approaching her. His stature was confident, his hands in his pockets. He hadn't hidden the scar. Asshole.

"Mr. Potter. It's nice to formally meet you."

He nodded, taking her outstretched hand and shaking it. "And it's nice to meet you too, Miss MacLean. Although, I must say, you're not...what I expected."

Blair looked at him, puzzled. "How so?"

He shrugged casually. "You look...like a Muggle."

"Mmm hmm," she gave him a businesslike smile. "Now, can we take care of that scar before we go out? Seeing as it's the source of all this trouble in the first place."

It was his turn to be puzzled. "I thought we were eating here."

Blair shook her head. "We're having dinner on neutral ground, Potter. And the closest neutral ground is Veronica's."

Without waiting for his approval, she pulled her wand out of her purse and pointed it at his head.

"Claro," she muttered, and the scar immediately vanished.

"Neat trick," said Potter, brushing his fingers over where the scar had been moments before. "Not one I've heard of."

"It's normally used to charm off acne. But it should keep your scar hidden for at least three hours. Now, can we go?"

Potter nodded, following her out of the Leaky Cauldron and onto the crowded streets of London. It was dusk, but street lamps provided more than enough light for them as they stepped onto the sidewalk. Blair held her arm out for a taxi.

"What are you doing?"

"Hailing a cab, what does it look like?" asked Blair.

Potter shook his head with a knowing smile, pushing her arm to her side gently and making Blair want to scream at him.

"What?" she asked, keeping the edge off her voice.

"We can walk to Veronica's."

"Oh. Right." She felt a bit silly, but didn't let it show. She walked with Potter the three blocks to Veronica's, which proved to be just as charming as it had looked from the outside. Once they were seated, Blair switched to business mode.

"Let's skip the chit chat, Mr. Potter. Let me tell you exactly why you cannot involve Joanne Rowling in your lawsuits."

"If you can convince me, you get five stars."

Blair glared at him. "Mr. Potter, I do not appreciate your ridicule. You may not realize it, but I had to come here at the very shortest of notice. I had to put my personal life on hold to come and kiss your boo-boos, or I would have lost my job. I'm missing my sister's birthday tomorrow to make sure you're as comfortable as possible in facing life's many trials." So she didn't have a sister. But he deserved to feel bad.

Potter's eyes grew dark with anger. "Don't you talk to me about the bloody trials of life! I've faced more trials in this life than you'll ever have to even think about!"

Blair narrowed her eyes at him, but kept her voice steady and calm. She refused to lose her temper. "Potter, you don't know a fucking thing about what I've lived through, so don't play the tragic hero with me. I don't pity you one goddamn bit. I'm not here to play shrink with you, or to feel sorry for you. So don't bite my head off if I make a comments that you don't like, because in America, the name Harry Potter means nothing but a monopoly on the children's fantasy market and happy hour for a bunch of eight year olds."

Potter was seething. He looked like he wanted to scream at her, but didn't. "So why can't I sue Rowling?"

"I would have thought it to be simple logic. Rowling is a squib living completely in the Muggle world. She had a couple of spies in the beginning, with the first couple of books, but took it from there and has been making up most of her story from there on."

He waited for her to continue.

"So, say you sue Rowling. What's to stop her from demanding a Muggle lawyer? A Muggle court? Unfortunately, since she has not committed a crime, she cannot receive a subpoena to a magical court. So say you sue her the Muggle way. What do you tell them? You're suing her for damage to your reputation? You'll either be committed, made an international object of ridicule, or worse: be taken seriously."

"And what's to stop me from suing the Ministry?" bit Potter, still unconvinced.

Blair sighed. "Potter, even though you're a bit of a hothead, I can bet you're a pretty reasonable guy. What did the Ministry do to you, really? I get that they didn't do anything about Rowling, but what were they supposed to do? Bind her and gag her and throw her in a closet somewhere? People have the freedom to write fiction. You're gonna have to get a damn good lawyer to get money out of the government based solely on the fact that they didn't do anything about Rowling."

Potter shook his head. "I've been publicly exploited. Large aspects of my personal life have been published in seven wildly popular books all over the fucking world! I'm a public spectacle, for God's sake!"

"Look, it sucks, Potter, I know. But if you look at it reasonably, it might just be something you're going to have to live with. You're not exposed to the Muggle aspect of it anymore, so it's not as if it will be present in your everyday life. I know it makes you angry, it would anyone, but things'll cool down, and it might not be such a good idea for you to be severing ties with the Ministry just yet."

Potter sat back in his chair, flipping his lip back and forth with his forefinger.

"Potter," Blair said softly, placing her fingers lightly over his wrist. "Just do me this favor. I know I've kinda been a bitch, but I'm gonna lose my job if you end up suing someone, and this whole situation is just pissing me off. But I'll do anything, anything within reason, if you'll just do this for me, please," her eyes pleaded with her voice as she did her best 'persuasion', that she was supposedly so famous for. Potter melted before her eyes.

"Well, there was something..." he said, slyly.

"Anything other than sex, murder, or suicide."

"Nothing like that," chuckled Potter, "you see, some friends of mine are celebrating their success in the prankster business."

"Sounds like you know how to choose your friends, Potter."

"Thanks. Anyway, they're holding a big Benefit Ball this Saturday for St. Mungo's, to show that they're charitable or something like that. Be my date?"

Blair sat back, letting go of his wrist. "What?"

"You said anything."

"Yeah, but Potter...that's a week from tomorrow."

"Your imaginary sister can wait for her present."

Blair gaped at him.

"You don't think I didn't check you out? I had to know what I was in for. You made a good argument. The last bit was particularly brilliant," he winked flirtatiously.

Blair scowled.

"So what do you say? Come with me?"

"Fine," Blair mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Fine," said Blair firmly. "Owl me with the details."

She made to get up, but felt Potter's hand at her forearm, stopping her.

"Want to go out for drinks?" he asked, "I know this great place."

Blair held up a finger and took a pen out of her purse. She found a napkin sitting beside the salt and pepper on the table, and took one, writing upon it "I WILL NOT SUE THE MINISTRY, J.K. ROWLING, OR ANYONE ELSE, FOR THAT MATTER."

"Sign it," she demanded, pushing the napkin towards him.

Potter looked at the napkin for a moment, then folded it neatly into quarters, and slipped it into the pocket of his trousers.

"When I drop you off at the Leaky Cauldron after the Ball, I'll sign it."

Blair bit her lip to keep from snapping at him. He smiled at the gesture and held out his arm. "Now, about those drinks. Unless you're still hungry for dinner?"

Blair shook her head, but didn't take his outstretched arm. "Lead the way."