Gunther Berta looked up from the report he had just finished reading and grinned at the group of people waiting for him. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, you have successfully proven that the great Harry Potter did indeed use all three of the legendary Deathly Hallows during his final battle with the former Dark Lord."
The five or so people who he was addressing all smiled and let out sighs of relief, glad their years of research had finally paid off. "Now, I know we don't currently know the location of any of the objects in question but I fully intend to get into contact with Auror Potter so we can continue our study on the artifacts."
"Sir, there's just one problem. They belong to Potter; we have no right to try to get our hands on them. We've taken this as far as we can; we've proven the existence of the Deathly Hallows. What more can we do with this? It's enough as it is." the tall man standing at the back of the group spoke up and his colleagues all made sounds of agreement at his words.
Berta only smiled widely at the man. "Heider, we're studying artifacts with great potential to help the world. We owe it to society to study the Hallows and learn all we can from them. Think of the breakthroughs we can make with just the wand!" Heider shifted uneasily but nodded his acceptance reluctantly. "The five of you head home now, you've done great work. I'll see you on Monday and in the meantime I'll write to Mr. Potter to see what can be done about studying those Hallows, understood?"
Berta's team of researchers smiled and said their goodbyes before heading home to be with their families for the weekend. Their boss, on the other hand, went back to perusing the packet of parchment he held in his hands. His formally kind smile slowly transformed into a smirk as he pulled out a free sheet of parchment and a quill.
His elegant handwriting soon began to fill the sheet underneath the heading that read: Royal Academy of Magic, Director of Mythological Research: Gunther Berta. The neat office was silent except for the scratching of his quill as he wrote the letter he knew would make him famous.
Harry sighed wearily as he looked up from his desk in the Auror office and noticed the time. He swore softly when he noticed that it read an hour after he was supposed to arrive home. Reluctantly he stowed the reports he had been reading feverishly and prepared to return to his family. He was happy to be going home to his wife and kids, but his latest case was very worrying and he couldn't help but want to solve it, even if it did mean sacrificing time with his loved ones.
The office was almost deserted but there were a few people still working. His team, he noticed, had all left. Harry stood and headed towards the exit, waving goodbye to the few people still there. There wasn't a line at the apparition point and Harry managed to get home without being any later than he already was.
He arrived in the front hall of his home and smiled as he heard the sounds coming from the kitchen. All the stress that had accumulated throughout his long day at work seemed to fade as he put his cloak away and then headed towards the noise. What he found made him grin for the first time since he had left the house that morning.
His eldest son, James, was currently sitting at the head of the table with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Albus, his year younger brother was at the feet of the chair James was sitting in and was tugging at his brother's leg, looking a bit put out. The youngest of his three children, and the only girl, was sitting in her high chair and making more progress in furthering her artistic abilities than with getting any food actually into her mouth (although quite a bit had made it onto her face). His wife was presiding over the entire circus with a look that Harry recognized as her trying to hide her worry. That look quickly turned to relief when she noticed Harry standing in the doorway.
"Harry Potter! You are an hour late and your sons have been refusing to eat dinner for the past hour because you weren't here! What do you have to say for yourself, Mister?" Ginny asked in a sharp tone as she attempted to wipe the peas off of Lily's face. Lily wasn't being very cooperative since she had seen her father, and being a complete Daddy's girl, had instantly begun attempting to reach him.
The boys, on the other hand, had success in that arena as they both pounced on his legs, clamping onto them very tightly. "Daddy! Jamie said that you had gone away and put him in charge until you got back and all I was allowed to eat are veggietables and that Lily was gonna sleep in the basement and that I had to sleep with Kreacher and that-" Albus blurted out without pausing with only the tone a distressed three year old has.
Ginny looked at James sharply, which made Harry quickly intercede lest Ginny go into one of the famous Weasley Mother Rants. "Don't worry Al, I'm here and you get to stay in your own room. Jamie, what did your mum and I tell you about making up stories like that?" Harry scolded his son as he detached the two from his legs and gave them hugs for a hello. "You know you're not supposed to do things like that."
James hung his head with shame, "'m sorry Daddy. I won't do it again."
"See that you don't, now sit down. You two have put off your dinners long enough. Your father's here now so eat up. You don't have anymore excuses." Ginny interrupted and shooed the boys to their seats, which already had heaping plates in front of them. Once her sons had been taken care of she turned to their father. "Why in Merlin's name are you so late? We'll be having a discussion about this later," she warned him, but she still pecked him on the cheek as he passed her on the way to get his own dinner.
"It got caught up in my case, we'll talk about it later. I'm sorry I'm late." Harry told her as he sat down and then turned to Lily, whose high chair was on his right. He lifted her from her seat as she shrieked in delight. "Hello, princess. Yes, I missed you too."
"Dada!" Lily shrieked and used her tiny fists to cling onto her father's shirt. At just over a year old she wasn't able to speak very well, but she was quite proficient in getting her point across. One of her favorite points to make was that while she loved her family there was no doubt that her father was her absolute favorite person. Since Lily looks were a great deal like Ginny's, the little girl's mother always laughed and said that Lily took after her in more than just looks.
Lily continued to occupy her father's lap while Harry ate his dinner and heard about every little detail that had occurred in his children's lives that day. While many people may have gotten annoyed with all of the insignificant information that littered their tale, Harry didn't mind in the least. One of his favorite times of the day was dinner with his family and hearing the story of the boys' day.
After dinner was through the two adults began the ordeal of keeping their children occupied. That ordeal meant trying to ware the children out enough so that they would fall asleep in a timely manner. They managed to do so fairly well and soon the two adults were alone in the kitchen while their children slept soundly in their rooms.
As the two of them began to clean the mess from dinner Ginny turned to Harry for the talk she had promised him earlier. "This is the third time you've been late in the past two weeks, Harry. What's going on that has you so concerned?" she demanded and fixed him with a pointed look just as he was about to protest. "Don't you dare try to pass it off as nothing, Mister. I've known you for too long for you to think you could try to get something past me. And besides that fact, I'm also the mother of your rather mischievous children who are exactly like you. I know all your tricks."
Harry chuckled at her words and then sat down at the table, motioning for Ginny to join him. "My latest case is disturbing, to say the least. Some monster out there is kidnapping women and then murdering them. Their bodies are left out in the open, without even an attempt to hide them. The worst part is that their killer also takes a part of them with him." Harry's voice was tense with emotion as he looked at his wife and tried hard not to remember some of the scenes where bodies had been discovered.
"There have been four victims so far. All of them have been female with ages ranging from 25 to 30 years of age. All of them were killed in the same way, suffocation. The first victim was missing her eyes and was found in a dumpster a day after she died. That was just over two weeks ago and she was found two days after she went missing." Harry's voice was rough with emotion and he rested his head in his hands as Ginny placed her hand on his shoulder. "The second was missing her hands, the third her ears and nose. The fourth was missing her legs, but her feet were left with her body in an empty warehouse."
Ginny stood abruptly and went to stand at the window while Harry continued to talk. "Another woman was reported missing this morning and we couldn't find her until this afternoon. Her body was missing its lower jaw." Ginny turned back towards her husband and found him watching her intently.
"Should you be telling me this? I mean, this sounds official and I don't think it's something that all the public should know, at least not the details." she asked, struggling to keep her voice light.
Harry stood and walked the few steps to her and embraced her tightly, burying his face in her hair. "The ministry is making an announcement about a serial killer tomorrow. I'm telling you this because I want you to be careful. These women who are dying are all around your age and I don't want you to be hurt. Please don't go anywhere by yourself Ginny. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
"I won't. I'll be careful." She whispered the words into his chest. "Just promise me you'll be careful too."
"Of course, love." Harry told her. After he spoke the silence stretched between them as they drew strength from each other. A long moment later Ginny pulled away from him and turned to other subjects.
"There's a new letter from the Royal Academy of Magic. It arrived this morning. They want to confirm the time for your arrival there with the Elder Wand tomorrow."
Harry snorted at her words and led her out of the kitchen and towards their room. "Oh? Was this letter addressed to you or do you make it a habit to read my mail?" Ginny gave him a smirk that he found irresistible as they entered their room and he swooped in to capture her lips with his own.
The next morning was Saturday and, as usual, Harry was up early to make breakfast and take care of the children. Both James and Lily were morning people like him while Albus was very much like his mother in his avoidance of waking at a reasonable hour. This particular morning was special because the three children and their mother would be spending the day at their grandparents', one of their favorite places to visit.
They would spend the morning there and Harry would join them after lunch, since he had several things he had to do before going to the Burrow. Of course, the children weren't very happy with that because they always claimed that the Burrow wasn't as much fun without Daddy, and all their numerous uncles, there. Before they would even agree to floo he had to promise to arrive as soon as could. That promise they greeted skeptically, at least the boys did since Lily was too young to understand everything, but still went to the Burrow.
After both boys had gone through Ginny turned to Harry and gathered up Lily in her arms since the little girl was too young to use the floo by herself. "Let me know if you'll be later than one." she told him, kissed him on the cheek, and then stepped into the green flames and left.
Harry quickly locked up the house and left as well, the mundane way through the front door. He walked for a block before stopping in a dark alley and apparating to Diagon Alley. Once there his first stop was Gringotts where he stopped in his vault and was seen leaving it holding a small parcel. The next stop took just a bit longer and that was at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. He slipped inside the store, caught his brother-in-law's eye and then slipped into the back room.
He waited for a few moments before George appeared, bearing a rather large grin. "What can I do for you today, Harry, old chap?" he asked jovially.
"I need the item that you've been keeping for me." Harry told him rather seriously, although he did manage to smile while doing so.
"This item you speak of, does it happen to be the one you gave me before or after your eldest son was born?" George asked with a curious tone in his voice. "Or was it the one that came right before that trip to the Hog's Head? I seem to remember firewhiskey and Ron claiming had the 'fastest wand this side of Atlantis', am I correct?"
Harry shot the redhead a warning look a before he responded. "The second one I ever gave you, after the Triwizard Tournament. And it was this side of the Silk Road, but that's irrelevant because we promised never to speak of that night again, or your mum might be learning a few interesting facts. Maybe I should tell her what you did to her favorite vase, the one that was an heirloom?"
George paled at his words and quickly repented for his actions before leading Harry into his private workroom, which was through a hidden door at the back of the storage room. Once there he quickly pushed a few of the numerous items littering the room out of the way. Then he pointed his wand at the floor, winked at Harry, and pronounced "I did it, mum."
Harry doubled over laughing at the choice of password as the hidden door swung open to reveal stairs leading down. Regaining his composure Harry followed the older man down, closing the trapdoor behind him.
"That's the perfect password, no one would ever think of it and you'd never say it." Harry said.
"That's why I chose it." George responded. "Now what's going on that you need the old Elder Wand?"
Harry sighed and sat down in one of the comfy chairs in the surprisingly well lit hidden chamber. "I guess you of all people deserve to know the details, especially since I entrusted you with the safety of one of them.
"About two months ago the Royal Academy of Magic contacted me in regards to the Deathly Hallows. I responded that I had no idea what they were talking about. From there we began to negotiate and about a week ago I agreed to take in the Elder Wand to be studied as long as certain conditions were met." Harry glanced up to see that George was listening with a strangely blank expression on his face.
"The conditions are that I will bring in the Elder Wand and that I will place it where it will be held, no one else will touch it. It will have constant security and I have the power to remove it, and anyone who I feel will be problematic for its safety, at any time I wish. They will only study it when someone I have specifically said could supervise in my stead is there. Also, I will have access to all findings and I will get to decide any decisions that will need to be made regarding those findings. Those were my conditions, and that I could add on to the conditions at any time. Do you have anything that I should add to the list?"
George didn't answer for a long moment and just stood there before turning to one of the pictures on the wall, a landscape, and lifting it off the wall. "Not at the moment, but I'll think on it and let you know." George answered slowly as he pulled out the Elder Wand from the small hollow that had bend hidden by the landscape. "Here's your wand."
Harry stood to take it from him and the strange expression George had been wearing was replaced with a smirk. "I've been thinking that maybe I should sell this as one of my fake wands, just to see what would happen. Purely for research's sake."
Harry's response was a snort of disbelief, "you mean for chaos's sake, don't you." George shrugged and led the way out of the hidden room and back into the storage room.
"You say potato, I say potata. Will you be at the Burrow later?"
"About one, I've got to head to the Academy first. I'll see you later." Harry answered before leaving the store and apparating away from Diagon Alley.
He reappeared in front of a rather large mansion that looked like it was on the verge of being a castle. Cautiously he entered the building to find an entrance hall and a witch at a welcome desk.
"Excuse me, I'm here to see a Mr. Gunther Berta. We have a meeting." The witch glanced up from her magazine, nodded, pressed a button that was hidden because of the wall around the desk, and went back to her magazine.
"Just wait there, he'll be down in moment." Harry stepped back and tried not to show how annoyed he felt at her rude behavior. The next moment he nearly winced in annoyance as she began to pop her gum. He was rather grateful when a man came hurrying in just a few seconds later.
"Ah, Mr. Potter! So glad you could make it! I'm Gunther Berta, the Director of Mythological Research here at the Royal Academy of Magic, I'm so glad you could come today!" The man continued to be talkative as he steered Harry through the halls into a wing that had a sign stating 'Mythological Research'.
Overall Harry was not very impressed by the man. He was of average height and slightly overweight. His mousy brown hair was scarce and he had a comb-over that did a bad job of hiding the fact that the middle-aged man was going bald. His tendency to talk a lot and repeat himself did not help Harry's first impression at all, although the man was rather nice and seemed to know what he was talking about.
His meeting at the Academy lasted for almost three full hours as Harry met everyone on the staff, toured the facilities, and discussed security. Shortly before leaving he placed the Elder Wand in a special vault and had the security charms in place and tied to him. Then he was given a pass to apparate directly to the Mythological Research division (which Harry thought looked exactly like some muggle laboratory with everything being so sterile and white).
Then he finally glanced at his watch and noticed that it was nearly two o'clock. Being late was getting to be a bad habit of his, he thought ruefully as he apparated to the edge of the wards surrounding the Burrow. He then began to walk towards the house itself.
Upon reaching the Burrow Harry saw a sight that would make him laugh for years whenever he recalled it. Sticking out of one of the windows was a pair of legs that were quickly followed by the rest of Ron. Harry raised his eyebrow at his best mate.
"Do I want to know why you just crawled out the window?"
Ron shrugged in response, "You're late and mum was worried, as were our wives. Completely mental and they're guarding all the entrances. The only way to escape was through the window. Hurry up and go in so they don't murder us. Those women are bloody mental, you're only an hour late!"
"Let me get this straight. You climbed out a window to escape your mum, sister, and wife because they were worried about me and taking it out on everyone else?" Harry smirked at Ron.
"Just get in there and calm them down already!" he told Harry.
"Whatever you say, mate. Just know that I'll never forget the fact that you climbed out a window to escape your mum at age 28, and you already a father of two." Harry said as he walked toward the house. Moments later Ginny ran out and hugged him in relief, which quickly turned to anger.
"You git! You said you'd let us know if you were going to be late! We thought something had happened for you to be an hour late!" she scolded her husband using the tone she reserved for when the boys had done something that really got them in trouble.
Harry tried not to appear ashamed, like his sons did when she used that tone. "I didn't get the chance to do so. I've been at the Academy for the past three hours and had no way to contact you."
"Next time you find a way, young man." Harry felt even more ashamed when he saw Molly standing in the doorway, looking quite stern. The woman might be a grandmother but she still demanded respect as the matriarch of the Weasley family, especially since Muriel passed away a few years ago. "What good is your promotion to Head Auror if you never learn to delegate the unimportant things?"
Ron gave Harry a look that said 'I'm going to kill you for unleashing that monster' and Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm working on it, Molly. Do you have anything left over from lunch? I didn't get a chance to eat yet and I'm starving."
That statement immediately distracted Molly and she led them all into the kitchen where she began pulling out food. Harry had long since learned that the best way to distract Molly was to let her feed you. That tactic had yet to fail him. Unfortunately it didn't work at all on his wife.
A/N: This is a story I wrote a while ago and it's already complete, so expect the next chapter next week! Oh, and this is a story I wrote for a challenge on SIYE at least a year ago, maybe two, that I never got around to posting on here, but am doing so now. Enjoy!