Well, a new story that I simply could not get out of my head! Hope you like it! (No story suggestions for this one. I'm pretty sure I'm using them all up on my other story.)

Also, consider this a late Valentine's Day gift to you all. Hope you had a good day!

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Harry Potter: Paranormal Investigator

Chapter 1: A Boring Case

A rather young man walked slowly around the darkened house, passing a critical eye over each room. There wasn't a ton of light around, but that didn't give the man any difficulty as he passed through the house. This particular house wasn't very old, although the decoration used inside certainly tried to give an old feel to the house, with high-backed chairs and large landscape paintings. Still, the house was completely silent but for the normal creaks that one would expect in a house. It was very late in the night, and there was no other person inside the house, as the owners had taken their family to another family member's house. The lack of distractions helped the young man finish up his admittedly short investigation. A horrible squeaky scratch against one of the windows in the previous room caught the attention of the lone figure roaming the house, and brought him in a fast walk. A short once-over of the offending window, and the man turned away with an annoyed huff.

With one last walk through of the house, the young man had finally found what he was looking for and left, locking the front door behind him.

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The next morning, while fighting the effects of a lack of sleep, the young man met with a small family. The tense and disbelieving faces of the adults in the group indicated the level of stress they were dealing with. It didn't help that they weren't satisfied, but that certainly didn't mean that the investigator wouldn't get paid.

"I promise there is nothing in your house. My priority in any investigation is to make sure that the events are truly in the realm of the paranormal. I felt nothing out of the ordinary in your house. In fact, I found some answers to the concerns that you were having. My tools indicated that there is a high electromagnetic field inside your home. The best thing that I can suggest is that you look into updating your appliances or have the wiring in your house checked out by a professional. These fields can cause feelings of discomfort, paranoia, and even hallucinations. They actually can be bad for your health, even if the only consequence is the stress caused by the effects."

"So, the sounds that we are all hearing are supposed to be hallucinations?" The disbelief and the frustration in the mother's voice made him feel slightly sympathetic for how the experience must be affecting the family. Still, there was absolutely nothing in their house, he was sure.

"Ma'am, creaking sounds are normal to hear in a house. It could be anything from the water pipes, the wind outside, or even mice. Also, the scratching that you've reported from the outside of your house? There is a tree that's growing very close to one of the windows. Any time the wind is blowing, one of its branches can easily scratch against the window. I suggest you trim the branches that are too close to your house," he responded easily, trying to be patient with a troubled, but jumpy family.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. We appreciate the time you've put into this investigation." The father of the family, a Mr. Felix Krull, was and always had been the most unbelieving of any possible paranormal activity, although he, too, had reported some odd experiences. It wasn't surprising that he would be the first to accept the explanation, as he had rather been against hiring an investigator to begin with. It didn't help that the price to do so was rather high.

Harry began walking back to his car, half listening in to the argument between the parents over what was and was not a hallucination. It was sometimes hard for him to not roll his eyes when people talked about shadow figures in their houses, considering any shadow of pretty much any ordinary object could look like a 'shadow creature' in the dark, so he was somewhat glad that he had decided to leave.

It wasn't that muggles couldn't see most ghosts, it was simply more difficult for them. A lot of the times that they actually saw ghosts only occurred because the ghost wanted them to see.

By the time Harry had made it home, he was nearly falling asleep at the wheel. He took a moment, after depositing his keys on a table, to decide whether to take something and try to get some more work done, or just head back to bed and get a late start. A call on the phone from Hermione to meet for lunch made the decision for him, and soon after he was getting back into his car, freshly changed into more comfortable clothing.

When Harry made it to the restaurant, it was to find that Hermione and Ron were already there, with Ron looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Hey Hermione, Ron. How are you two doing?" he asked with a smile.

"Fine," Ron responded before glancing around him. "Why do you guys always insist on eating in places like this, though?" he asked.

Hermione looked at him sardonically and responded.

"It's only a sandwich shop, and you should be certainly be used to them by now." A raised eyebrow caused Ron to smile and roll his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. It's still more your guys' scene. We could've gone to the pub instead," he lightly complained. Hermione simply smiled and shook her head before turning back to Harry.

"How is work going?" she asked, more interested in distracting Ron than anything else.

"It's going fine. Honestly, it's not exactly often that I actually have to deal with anything even remotely serious. Also, it certainly pays rather well." Ron sniggered, and Hermione sent him a glare.

"I'm sure that, for anyone without magic and an understanding of ghosts, even a friendly ghost would be terrifying," she said, feeling sympathy for the fear that some families had to deal with when they had a ghost or a ghoul infestation.

"I mostly appreciate that I can help them out a bit, and not see tons of stories about my 'heroism' in the papers," Harry responded with a roll of his eyes. "Although, I do get called a charlatan rather often." Ron outright laughed at that, and this time Hermione only rolled her eyes.

"You know, it's possible that many people who say they can get rid of ghosts are charlatans," Hermione said once Ron had calmed himself. "I doubt many actual wizards decide to dedicate their life to ridding non-magical families of paranormal problems."

Harry laughed. "Too true." He couldn't help but think how nice it was to get the Trio together when they had the time for it. "How are your jobs going?"

"Well, you know. Ron comes home late every night, and I still can't usually beat him there." Hermione looked at her husband with exasperation born of love. The two still had their spats, but it was never quite as bad as it had been in school.

"She's currently teaching the little brats how to transfigure animated objects. I still can't believe the stories she brings back. How can the little buggers get these things so wrong?" Ron smiled laughingly at his wife while she tried to defend her students' abilities.

"You were never all that proficient at Transfiguration either, Ronald," she reminded him, sounding remarkably like a professor disappointed in her student. A chuckle escaped Harry as he watched the interaction of his two best friends. Sometimes he wished he could have that closeness with someone, but it never seemed to work out well for him. Not with his fame.

After all of the food was finally consumed with ample help from the red-headed Auror, Harry sat back in his seat and considered the time.

"Well, guys, I need to get back home. It was great to see you both, but I need to check my email for any new cases, and then pass out!"

"You still doing all-nighters, then?" asked Ron. Harry nodded.

"Of course. It's the best time to make sure that no one stops by to 'check things out' while I'm using methods that they can't know about." Not only that, but it was rather expected of him to work at night. It kept the 'mystery' of everything.

"Well, that's nothing," Ron boasted. "I've had to stay up for two whole days while trailing a suspect!" Hermione just shook her head.

"Oh Ron, don't exaggerate. It wasn't two days. And I'm almost sure you weren't trailing anyone. You said you were staking out a 'suspicious building' or room, or something," Hermione lightly disagreed.

"It was two days! But, yeah, it was a stake-out, now that I think about it. Place was right creepy, it was," he responded. Harry laughed and got up, making sure to grab the check as he did. Ron scowled a little and Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry while he stuck out his tongue at the two of them and took the check to the counter in order to pay. They should have been used to it by now, especially since he was the one with a credit card.

Soon enough, Harry was back home and sitting at his desk while skimming through his emails. Scattered over his desk in a somewhat messy manner were a number of books covering any subject imaginable concerning ghosts, ghouls, boggarts, and poltergeists. Not all of the books were strictly from the magical world, but the most well-worn ones generally were. The computer screen shined on Harry's face brightly in the dimly lit room, hurting his eyes a bit. There were only a few emails that had anything to do with his chosen profession. None were too promising, so he decided to wait until tomorrow to figure out which one he'd give his time to. He was too tired to try to make a decision now, anyway.

Soon enough, he was cozy in bed and heading toward pleasant slumber.

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How do you guys feel about this story so far? Let me know!

I have a general outline of where I might like to take this one, but it is not entirely set in stone yet. Still, the next few chapters are already laid out, and one is finished, though I won't post it right away so I have time to change some things if I want.